Author's Note: Here's the results of the poll for the pairing:
YohXAnna - 6
HaoXAnna – 3
Polls are open until Chapter 7, since I understand if you don't want to vote until Hao actually shows up in this fic :)
There is a little bit of HoroXAnna in this chapter, but I don't intend for them to be a coupling in this fic. It's simply needed for plot purposes.
Addressing a few questions/comment-thingers:
plumwarrior37 – Yeah, I made them pretty young, didn't I? I suppose it was me watching too many Primetime dramas where the women get pregnant during high school.
Keitorin Asthore – I'm having the divorce trial later on in the story, so don't worry all of your questions will be answered soon.
Disclaimer: I don't own Shaman King or any of the characters, etc. Hiroyuki Takei does. The storyline is based on a novel, Fourplay by Jane Moore (though, it's drifted away from the book's actual plot right about now).
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CHAPTER V
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"Ooof.. ow."
"Sorry, sorry, forgot you were still sore."
It had been a day since the accident; two minutes (give or take ten or twelve minutes due to heavy traffic) since she was released from the hospital and three seconds before she arrived in a taxi at the door of Jeanne's house. She rang the doorbell. And then came the bear hug.
It had been decided that Anna and Hana would be staying with Jeanne from then on. Lyserg moved in as well, and was having an interesting time being Hana's "big brother" of sorts.
While Anna and Jeanne prepared lunch, the green-haired boy was put in charge of the child.
"Hana, I don't think you should eat those."
Hana put the crayon down, only to pick up the glue later.
"Hana, I don't think you should climb on that."
The brunette released his grip on the curtain, and plummeted down into the sofa with a laugh.
Jeanne grinned, carrying two trays of food to the dining room table, one in each hand. Anna followed suit.
"Lyserg, you have a way with children," Anna commented.
"Children, maybe yes. Two-foot-terrors, perhaps not so much."
"Takes after you, eh Anna?" Jeanne chortled, nudging Anna with her elbow.
That's how the afternoon went by. They ate their meal together, chatting lightheartedly about any subject that happened to turn up. Hana was feasting on anything he could get his hands on. At the moment, it was the remote control for the TV.
During Hana's nap, the three were seated comfortably on the sofa, Jeanne in the middle, watching "Jerry Springer" and pointing and cackling at a few people from time to time.
"You know Anna, you should really go on that show with Yoh."
The blonde raised her eyebrow at Lyserg.
"You're not serious are you?"
"If you were I'd record that episode. But public humiliation, that's a tad bit extreme. Yoh's too sweet," Jeanne sympathized.
Before Anna could answer, her cell phone went off.
She dug into her back pocket for it, pulling out the small, ringing device.
The caller ID read, "Caller Unkown."
Anna shrugged and answered anyway.
"Hello?"
"Slacker."
"Tao? How did you get my number?"
"I know everything," he replied smoothly.
"Sure you do. What am I wearing now?"
"Clothing. Now quit dilly-dallying around. I heard about your accident."
"I'm not surprised. I mean you do know everything," she spat sarcastically.
"Yeah, well, a-are you okay?"
She was surprised.
"I'm fine."
"Right, good, great, because I'll expect you to be at work tomorrow. I don't mean anything funny by that either," Ren said in a rush, quickly hanging up.
'I wonder what that was about,' Anna thought to herself, waving off the quizzical looks Lyserg and Jeanne were giving her.
They turned their attention back to the TV and promptly began hooting.
She stuck her phone back into her pocket, but found it hitting resistance. Carefully setting the cell phone on the small cocktail table, she stuck her other hand in and pulled out a shred of paper.
It had a number and a name on it.
'Oh yeah, the Hobo guy.'
She made a mental note to call him later. Her car wasn't about to fix itself, you know.
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Jeanne could be summed up in three words: clean freak perfectionist.
So when the silver-haired girl attacked the pile of dirty dishes, Anna took that as her cue to clear the vicinity. She didn't want to get in the way, and let the silver-haired woman do her thing.
The blonde had a meeting with HoroHoro that night anyhow. She'd called him earlier, and they were planning to meet at a local café at 6:00 PM, which was conveniently located next to Funbari Bank, should they need to check out money.
Anna was already dressed and, in her opinion, presentable.
It wasn't even 5:30 yet.
She sighed, and stepped out of the house anyway, waving goodbye to Jeanne, Lyserg, and her son – who was gnawing on a rubber ducky all the while latched to Lyserg's leg.
He'd grown fond of his 'big brother'.
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A barely distinguishable blur of blue sprinted into the café, stopping in front of a two-person table, where one seat was already occupied.
"How late am I?"
She checked her watch.
"Three minutes."
"What? Your clock must be buggered. Two minutes, tops!"
Anna took a sip of her latte, peering over the rim of the cup at the blue-haired boy, challenging him.
Horo decided it would be best just to get his coffee. A confrontation with the blonde should be avoided at all costs, especially if she recovered the ability to slap him senseless.
"So, I got your damage report," he informed her, ripping open a sugar packet and spilling the contents into his cappuccino, "And I think 2.5 thousand yen should just about wrap it up. Your insurance will deal with the rest."
She stirred her drink clockwise with the silver teaspoon, nodding in agreement.
"And I owe you how much?"
"Well my bumper just got mangled," he began. Then mumbled unexpectedly under his breath, "And so is my love life."
Even though he spoke quietly, Anna picked it up. Her hearing was as keen as her feminine instincts.
"What was that?"
"Um, nine hundred yen. That should do it, thanks and my insurance will cover the rest-"
"No. What you said before," she interrupted his babbling.
"My bumper is mangled?"
"And so is your love life."
Horo tugged at his shirt collar a bit, not expecting her to have picked up on that last part. This situation was uncomfortable suddenly.
"Let's just say, my love life is going downhill and doesn't seem to ascending anytime soon."
"Ascending. Such a big word, never imagined it'd come from your mouth," she taunted, but found herself sharing his sorrow.
He pouted, eyebrows knitting together. He anticipated this, her harsh remarks. Never did he expect her to understand how he was feeling.
"I'm going through the same thing myself," Anna confessed hesitantly, gauging his reaction.
The eyebrows unknotted, and shot up his forehead.
"Well, if your love life isn't ascending, at least your eyebrows are," the blonde observed, sarcasm lacing the tone of her voice.
He snorted, "I'm just surprised someone like you would be trying to comfort me."
"I'm not exactly comforting you; I'm finding solace in the fact that someone shares my misery."
An hour and a half later, the two were still seated in the café, firing rounds of twenty questions at each other. By this point, she had found out he was a professional snowboarder who wanted to retire and start up gardening. His favorite color was blue – which explained his hair. He never managed to convince her it was natural.
In the past ninety minutes, through a great deal of coaxing and ten French pastries later, she had spilled nearly every detail of her failed marriage, from the divorce papers to the court trial that would finalize it in one week.
It felt like an unbearable burden was lifted from her shoulders, and her heart. Somehow, talking with a near-complete stranger about her pain took it away. As for him, she wasn't sure what was going on with his romantic world, but she assumed he was dumped one too many times.
That's what they were, two people filled with sorrow, who found comfort in each other. Nothing more – she hoped – and nothing less, thankfully. And all because of a car crash, showing good things do come out of tragedy.
And then the night was over, both going their separate ways.
Anna never planned on calling him once again, but some things don't go according to plan. Life is like that, a rollercoaster of loops and turns, and you're strapped in for the ride.
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to be continued
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A/N: This was a lot different than my first draft. Slower, thus this story is going to be longer and more drawn-out than I first anticipated. I'm going to try and update this particular story at least once every two weeks or so from here on out. Less frequent, 'cause I'm starting school soon (tomorrow, September 2nd). Best way to be informed of when I update is to add me to your Author Alerts, but you can also e-mail me if I start slacking.
I'm sorry I didn't get to the bookstore part. That'll have to wait until next chapter. And Hao's making his appearance in the next chapter, too.