Author's Note: A note on the poll, this is the last chapter to vote. So for those who haven't voted on the pairing, the polls are still open until the next update, which is when Chapter 7 will be uploaded and the pairing decided. Sorry to everyone who wanted RenXAnna or HoroXAnna, it'd be hard to get them to work out for the plot I'm planning. Gomen.
YohXAnna - 7
HaoXAnna – 6
And yes, Hao is coming in this chapter! And Yoh has a part in this chapter, too! Whoo, I'm on a roll.
Please R&R, thanks.
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 VI
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A tidy desk for a tidy person, and a very tidy person she was – though, maybe not as much as Jeanne. Pleased with her wonderful organization skills, Anna sat back and admired her handiwork. What had been mounds of papers, forgotten messages, and unanswered calls was now as spotless as an Amish kitchen – which were hopefully quite clean; for this comparison to work anyway.
Unfortunately, Anna now had nothing to do. Is this what secretaries usually did? Sit around and wait for any meaningless task to roll their way? No wonder the slept with their bosses – to pass the time.
The blonde glanced at her wristwatch. The small hand pointed to the ten, and its longer counterpart rested just between the two and the three.
10:12 AM, Monday morning. Hana was dropped off at the nursery, and she was back at work for Ren. But he was attending some important business meeting or blah... leaving her with nothing to do but watch the screensaver of her computer go on, shake the mouse to return to the desktop, and repeat this process twenty minutes later.
Yes. She was truly productive.
But what troubled her most were her thoughts. These thoughts only invaded her mind when she was bored senseless. Like... now.
'Call him?'
The idea plagued her conscience. She wanted to talk to someone. Anyone. And it wouldn't mean anything, right? Just calling someone because you're bored and want to have a little chit-chat. Small talk. Right?
Right. And this was Anna's reasoning as she grabbed the phone sitting innocently on the corner of her desk and punched in the numbers.
Her call went through after about two long rings.
"Hello?" The voice was rather unfamiliar. But in any case...
"Hi, HoroHoro?" Anna inquired, wondering who exactly picked up the phone. She supposed the person was an assistant of some sort to Horo, and she had dialed his work number.
Yes, that had to be the case.
"Oh, I'm sorry he's out. Lunch break. Is this his wife?"
W-i-f-e. Four-letter word for L-I-A-R.
'Downhill love life my ass,' Anna thought, absently mumbling, "Nevermind. Sorry to bother."
And she hung up the phone.
The same. They were all the same. Men, that is. And a sudden revelation struck her.
'Just like Yoh.'
She'd almost committed a grave sin. Horo was prepared to cheat on his wife with her, just like Yoh had cheated on her with his secretary.
'But we didn't do anything.'
Anna let out a sigh of relief. It was best it ended this way, before anything even started. Two people talking over coffee and paying each other damage bills didn't mean anything. It was a kind act, something reasonable people normally did. Plus –
"ANNA!"
A loud yell interrupted her temporarily reassuring monologue. She narrowed her eyes as they stared up into the face of her "boss" standing in front of her desk.
"Good to see you too, Tao" she acknowledged half-heartedly.
"You realize I've been standing here for five minutes."
She faked an expression of shock.
"Oh no! Five minutes! Shame on me."
"Good to see you haven't lost your sarcasm, Asakura."
"Kyouyama," she found herself correcting. Her heart sank. It was the hardest thing to do, announcing to the world she was no longer an Asakura.
Ren blinked. He hadn't expected that sort of response from his blonde secretary.
"What do you want?" asked Anna, rather bluntly. She was suddenly curious. Ren only approached her during lunch, when they put on their little act – which, to Anna's contempt, Yoh still seemed oblivious of.
A light pink hue spread over Ren's cheeks as he mumbled something Anna couldn't quite hear.
"What?"
"...family reunion...need your help...pose as..."
She managed to pick out a few words. Barely. This was irritating.
"Speak up, Tao. You're wasting my time."
"Damnit woman! Do you need a hearing aid? I've got a family reunion in China and I need your help! They want me to bring back 'a nice girl' and I need you to pose as that 'nice girl'... damn bastards thinking any man who doesn't have a woman in his life is gay..."
He trailed off, as his words dawned on her.
"No," Anna blurted. It was the first thing that came to mind.
"I'll fire you."
Oh, tempting. But it wasn't like she did much in the first place... Even so. She'd be jobless and she needed money to raise Hana and she needed Ren to play along in her little "get-back-at-cheating-husband" scheme.
"When is it?"
"Two weeks from now," Ren answered smoothly. Then, thinking she had given in and decided to go with him for the sake of her job, added, "Meet me at the Izumi Airport at nine. Don't be late."
He strutted off to his office and slammed the door behind him.
Anna grumbled. There had to be some way out of this.
'How can I keep my job, but stay in this country at the same time?'
Life had a way of bullying you around. But, at least she had two weeks to come up with an excuse. More enough time, right?
A door opened.
"Oh, and you can have the rest of the day off," Ren's voice boomed.
Anna nearly jumped out of her seat, whether out of surprise or relief one would never know. But she was beyond glad she wouldn't have to sit in that stiff chair for the rest of the day. She grabbed her handbag and bolted out of the building.
'Freedom!'
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Yoh Asakura flicked a marble around his desk. He hadn't had a peaceful nap for three days straight. And that was quite unusual for him.
Why? Why was he so restless?
It had often crossed his mind to see a psychic on the matter, but they would probably tell him he was stressed out and he should just relax. Well, for Yoh Asakura, relaxing was his favorite past time. When he wasn't taking phone calls, he was lounging around listening to music. It was a great stress killer.
But, to his disbelief, it hadn't been working. Some unknown feeling pestered at him, and he didn't know the reason!
Well... maybe he did have some clue on why he'd been acting this way. It had to do with a certain blonde, and an empty feeling in his chest.
Maybe seeing that psychic wasn't such a bad idea. But there was something he had to do before that. Something that would lessen the emptiness gnawing at him inside.
Yoh hit the speaker button on his office phone, and called in his secretary for the last time.
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Anna loved bookstores. They were quiet. Anna loved record stores. They were peaceful. Even better were the bookstores with a music side-section. So very tranquil. And tranquility was priceless for the single mother.
The blonde browsed the selection. Her slim fingers skimmed over the CDs, picking out the interesting ones, before putting it back.
What CD had she wanted to buy again?
Oh yeah.
She traveled over to the 'Classical Music' section. Eyes quickly grazed over the titles, before she finally picked one out. It didn't really matter what CD it was. She was just doing this for Jeanne anyway, who had suggested that she listen to some classics. It would calm the maelstrom of burdens threatening to tear apart her apart mentally.
'Things can't get much worse,' Anna mused, now standing in line, ready to make her purchase. The line was short. And Anna was in a surprisingly good mood.
Well, that was until that wretched woman decided to shove in front of her.
"Excuse you," Anna snapped, not being one to take things lying down.
A freckled face stared turned to face her, "Pardon?"
"There is a line."
Ms. Freckles ignored her, turned back around.
"How much is this?"
"8000 yen."
"Ugh, you can't be serious."
"He is. It's called the price tag," Anna said.
The woman turned around again. And Anna couldn't stop herself – not that she wanted to anyway – when her hand flew up and slapped the woman across the face.
"That was for butting."
Now both were aggravated. But stopped shortly after the cashier cleared his throat.
Freckles 'hmphed' and walked past Anna to return the CD, preparing to leave. And in the process, bumping into her purposely.
Anna didn't notice the CD, unpaid-for, being dropped into her handbag.
But she did notice the security alarms going off as she tried to leave the store. Unfortunately, so did everyone else.
A strong arm grabbed her roughly, and the blonde cried out in protest.
"I never pegged you as a thief... Anna," a familiar voice stated, half-playful, half-accusing.
The startled girl whipped around to stare at a face she knew all too well.
She mumbled softly, "Of all the people..."
"Good to see you again, too, dear sister-in-law."
"Hao, I'm not in the mood." Her voice was sharp. Warning. It spoke of great annoyance and a very limited patience.
"Hmmmm, yes it would seem not. But I'm not in the mood to be robbed, even if we are related." Hao seemed serious. Well, half-serious, for his ever-so-pleasant smile was still in place.
"I didn't steal anything! Are you insane? Your security must have malfunctioned or something! And your brain, too, for that matter if you can't clearly see I bought this CD!"
Hao's hand reached into her handbag and pulled out the object the freckled woman had dropped in there.
"And this too, eh?"
Anna looked shocked before the realization dawned on her.
"That cheap, sneaky little bitch!"
Before they caused a scene, or more of one, the brunette dragged Anna up a flight of stairs, and into his office. The girl uttered profanities every step of the way.
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"You believe me, right?"
"Of course."
"You do not!"
Hao sighed. He'd given up reasoning with the girl sitting in front of him. Couldn't his brother have married a less stubborn girl?
Speaking of brothers...
"How's that little brother of mine?"
He hadn't seen Yoh since they'd gone their separate ways. Yoh had taken over the Asakura Association, and Hao decided leave – no one knew exactly why except himself, of course – to start a business of his own, launching a chain of bookstores. Which became a huge success, as expected from an Asakura. But he had lost contact with his family, until now.
Anna froze and began shifting nervously in her seat.
"He's probably happy now," she mumbled, feeling wet tears pricking her eyes.
Up raised a finely trimmed eyebrow. Why was she suddenly so uncomfortable? And what did she mean...?
But, being the gentleman he was, Hao decided to change the subject. Slightly. She would tell him when she was ready. Still, it hurt him to see her in such a state...
"Nervous around little ol' me?" he teased, peering out the window onto the busy street, brimming with people rushing hither and tither.
Her fiery eyes stared at his grinning face intensely.
His grin only widened. "No? Then why so agitated, hm?"
She said the only thing that came to mind.
He looked genuinely surprised now. And chuckled.
"Honestly? Well, while we're confessing, I've got a small case of acrophobia, myself."
"You don't need to pity me," Anna mumbled.
"I'm not, I am deathly afraid of heights."
"Then why is your office on the top floor?"
"You think I could help it?"
"Hmph." Yes, that was her brilliant retort. And she reprimanded herself for it.
"But you know, I'm not really afraid of falling. That would be exhilarating. I'm actually scared of the impact, when you land."
He was staring thoughtfully at the ceiling, and she found herself blinking in his direction. It was as if he had voiced her thoughts aloud.
Hao had always seemed so distant to her. She'd met him when she met Yoh. When they were five. And he would tend to avoid her. And then he'd left suddenly after they'd gotten out of junior high.
But now they sat, face-to-face, having a civil conversation. And she realized. Maybe, they weren't so different after all.
However, that didn't explain the avoiding.
"When we were kids, why did you always dodge me?"
Hao's face was now serious, as he tilted his head to look at her intently.
"Same reason I left the Asakuras."
"And that would be?"
The brunette contemplated whether or not to tell the truth. But in the end, he knew he couldn't lie to her. Because, she was the reason after all...
"Yoh and I were always very close," he began.
Anna nodded, her full attention now focused on the man in front of her.
"We shared everything, and I was never envious, because we were equal. The same. Brothers... no. Twins. But then, when we turned five, a limousine pulled up in front of the Asakura mansion. It was delivering something for Yoh. And Yoh alone. It was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen in my life. And... I guess that was the first time I was actually jealous of him. Ever since then, I've wanted to leave as soon as possible."
The blonde's eyes widened. She was skeptical. Jealousy? Hao didn't seem the type to let something like that affect him. And curiosity got the better of her.
"What was in the limo?" she asked.
Earnest eyes gazed back into hers with firm resolve, as he answered with heartbreaking sincerity.
"You."
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to be continued
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A/N: I updated I updated! One of my longer chapters (for the long wait). Sorry if there are lots of mistakes. I'm doing this at midnight, and I'll go back and fix all the errors tomorrow. Thanks for all the reviews and encouragement, by the way! All are very much appreciated! Melovesyouallkthx.