He was getting more and more worried. They all were.

"What did Faust say?" Manta asked Tamao. She bit her lip.

"She's…perfectly healthy…"

Manta frowned. "But…?"

"She's under some kind of permanent unconsciousness… Yoh-sama is with her now."

"No kidding," Manta said sadly. "He hasn't left her side yet."

Tamao's gaze wandered over to Anna's room. Yoh cared so much for her. It wasn't too hard to wish for something like that.

"I think I'd better go down," she said softly. "There's a chance Horo-kun and the others may come…"

Manta nodded.

Yoh was frowning. His thinking was clouded.

What's wrong with her…?

"Yoh-dono."

Amidamaru appeared beside his master.

"Hi, Amidamaru," he said tiredly. "It's weird, isn't it? She's like some kind of sleeping beauty. Though if I kiss her, she may kill me."

"Yoh-dono…" Amidamaru cleared his throat. "You don't perhaps think it would be best to seek aid?"

"…I've already consulted Faust…" Yoh didn't want to look away from Anna.

"No," he said gently. "I mean, your grandparents. They may know of what to do…"

Yoh was silent. "Normally, I'd say yes in a heartbeat. But…"

"But…?"

"…Somehow, I don't want to leave her."

CARE AND CONTEMPLATION
"What do you plan to achieve by keeping me here?"

Anna was determined to be bitingly cold.

He won't break me.

"Anna," Hao said, looking bored. "What kind of husband would I be if I didn't pay attention to my wife? And how could I pay attention to her if she continued to stay at my brother's house?"

"I am not your—"

"Bride, then. It's a nice word, ne? It suits you… Anna-chan."

She opened her mouth. She meant to say something like, I am not your bride, or, Don't call me Anna-chan. But, instead, she choked out:

"It does not suit me."

"No?" Hao smiled serenely. "I disagree with you there."

Anna refused to blush. She wouldn't show such nauseating things in front of him. That practically invited him to further taunt her. Or touch her.

She looked away. He was sitting on the bed again, as was she. But this time he made no advances.

"Yoh and the others will find me," Anna said through clenched teeth. "And when they do—"

She stopped, because here Hao began laughing.

"Anna… Yoh won't be looking for you…"

Her eyebrows rose. "What do you mean? Of course he would be…"

"Well, if he is not as dense as I take him to be," Hao said carelessly. "But, you see, he won't go looking for you if he still believes that you haven't gone anywhere. And even if he does… he'll never find you."

Her throat felt something hard.

"What do you mean?"

Hao laughed again.

"Let's change the subject. Anna-chan, you are very, very sure of Yoh's success as Shaman King, yes?"

"I've said it once. I'll say it a million times—"

"But what about when it comes to his personal feelings toward you?"

She grimaced. Dammit.

"What… about them?"

"Forgive me for being blunt. Has he ever expressed any interest in you at all?"

"No."

She answered firmly. But her eyes shook a bit.

"No. But regardless of what he feels about me, he would still do his best to rescue me. Our relationship still extends beyond trainer and trainee. We're engaged, after all."

"But it was arranged by dear Kino, right?" Hao laughed again. "I would hardly call that especially lover-bound."

She looked away. "Like I said. Even if he only saw me as a friend, he'd still come."

"Is that a fact?" Hao lay down, in a position startlingly like Yoh's: eyes closed, with the back of his head resting on his hands, his arms making a sideward V-shape. "Then again, it's not like he'd know where to look, right?"

"What do you mean?" her eyes flashed at his words. He was enjoying it, she could tell, the way he could lay out some riddles for him.

"Ah, well, why spoil the fun…?"

"It's all a game to you!" she finally cried out. She couldn't help it; she was disgusted. "Pain, chaos, death… all of it. All your power… everything… you…"

Anna couldn't find the words to describe his inhuman behavior, actually. She had a pretty good feeling that whatever she said wouldn't matter to a guy like him. She turned her back on him, arms crossed.

She refused to speak to him any longer.

"Being a bit childish, aren't we?" he remarked. She didn't move. "Maa, maa, Anna. You know I love talking to you."

She was miffed at that. Let him talk, then. As long as he doesn't expect a reply.

"Well…" Hao sighed, and stood up. "Let's just say… you're in two places at once." He yawned. "Aren't dreams interesting? It's like a whole different place you can go to. All you need to do is sleep."

He disappeared, and something in Anna clicked.

Don't tell me…

If her suspicions were right, then that meant he was a lot more powerful than she expected.

"What's going on?" Horo-Horo and Pilika had come for a visit (much to Pilika's annoyance), to find Tamao on the verge of tears.

Quietly, she explained what had been going on.

"…Asleep?" Horo-Horo frowned. "For almost a week already? Masaka…"

"I don't understand it at all…" Tamao said, eyes tearing up. "Yoh-sama and I have been taking care of her. But aside from a living, breathing body, it's like she isn't here at all."

"And… how's Yoh?"

"…he—" Tamao swallowed, as Pilika tried to pat her comfortingly. "He's not doing so good."

She glanced wearily towards upstairs.

"I think he needs some rest."