You're Mine

Summary: AU "Just remember that you're mine." It begins with those words, but rapidly becomes something deeper and far more complicated than a mere promise to get back the boy of her dreams.. YohxAnnaxHaoxTamao

Disclaimer: One would have thought that someone usually gets their dearest desire granted for Christmas. Apparently not; no unconscious Asakura Hao wrapped in reindeer paper this year. :( There's always next year, I suppose. But for now I own nothing of Shaman King.

Author's Note: 36 reviews for two chapters. You guys have no idea how special I feel; just in time for Christmas (which was barely past), too! Thank you all for contributing to what seems a terribly large number; I've put my other fanfics on hold for this one, according to the laws of popular demand, and I hope you enjoy the fic insofar as it's possible.

Review-lover? Yes I am; it tells me how much of an impact my story's making, how much attention people are paying to it. (The fact that people generally only spend five seconds with a review is omitted here.) It makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. :P

You may be wondering why I gave you that information in the previous author's note about their world; it'll come into play later. It'll probably be explained in the fic itself later, too, but I just felt that I needed to give you all a heads-up with regards to it, as there were some scant mentions of it in the fic.

Any ideas for what I should call the magic-makers in this world? Or should I just leave them as Shaman?

And the votes.. 5 Yoh x Anna, 4 Yoh x Tamao, 6 Hao x Anna, 5 Hao x Tamao.

Wow. HaoAnna's winning. Now there's an unexpected twist. –grinning hugely with malice and varied evils- And if you put the correct pairings together, they're tied. Any tiebreakers around here?

Chapter Three: Kisses and Fortune-Telling

She was waiting, just as he thought that she would be, in the midst of the park, seated by the fountain. She was always early to these gatherings – despite being relatively freed from his relationship with Anna, Yoh's mind still censored all mentions of the word 'date' from his thoughts, as though she might scan them and murder him for their contents. It sent a cringe of guilt shivering through his shoulder blades, occasionally, to think of how faithful she was, and how faithless he must seem in comparison. Always late, always easygoing where she was tense like a puppy with a new master.

But he loved the expression that alighted upon her features when she saw him each time, delicate as the frame of a butterfly mask, framed in a halo of silky pink that spilled about her visage. It was beautiful, as she was, but more importantly, it was for him.

If he had been Freud, he would have theorized that he had been starved of love at an early age – not familial love, for there had been plenty of that, but the simple exchange of affections that went on between a boy and a girl. The only person that he had been permitted to exchange such tokens with had been more interested in the amount of laps he could run around the neighborhood than the amount of romantic gestures that he would be willing to bestow upon her.

And then again, if he had been Freud, it was very likely that he would have been on drugs. So that all came to nothing.

"Yoh!" Her eyes snapped upwards, gaze trained warily throughout the park before they settled on him, finely sifted sunlight in the midst of gloom. And quite abruptly, she was no longer by the bench, but at his side, gaze tilted upwards, cupid's bow lips curled into a dazzled, childish smile, flushed only briefly with embarrassment as she realized that she'd forgotten to tack on the '-kun' suffix.

Her joy warmed him, and crookedly, he allowed himself a cautious smile. "Yo." He said, grinning mirthfully – a traditional pun upon his name that required no laughter, no response. And yet Tamao laughed at it, tremblingly, throwing her head back in a gesture of freedom as she clung to his arm.

Darker knowledge welled from within: Anna had never laughed at it.

"You didn't wait too long, did you?" The dark-haired boy inquired, draping an arm about her shoulders comfortingly. Accepting his comfort, the high-frequency vibrations that had swarmed through her body untensed slightly, allowing themselves relaxation in his company. "Sorry about being late; things got a little… hectic… at home."

"No, not too long." She murmured, managing a tremulous smile, though she never quite met his gaze. A faint blush tinted her cheeks lightly, brushing rose across palest ivory. The color faded rapidly as she absorbed the rest of his words, however, and the pink-haired girl glanced up in alarm. "Hectic? Hectic as in how? Not… Anna-san?" Her eyes brushed the already flourishingly-multicolored bruise that he sported upon his cheek, and the worry within her gaze deepened.

"Hai, Anna." Yoh said laughingly, attempting to brush off her worries as though they were mere dust upon ancient things that he sought to polish anew. "Don't worry so about it."

But some dust was more resistant to removal than others.

"Was.. was she very angry?" Tamao inquired timidly, nestling lightly against him, then away, as though uncertain as to whether he would object to the invasion of his space.

Yoh shrugged offhandedly, with a carelessness that he didn't feel. His eyes had tapered into arcs of smiling contentment as he leaned lightly against her head. (She was a full head shorter than he.) His thoughts were only to soothe the reticent youngling that had put herself into his care, his hands, and seemed liable to break with the slightest swaying breeze.

"No more so than usual," He responded at last, with a charming smile. "Eiha, usually she's so cold that I can barely tell when she's angry at all! Relax," he soothed her, pulling her against him, feeling her worry in the tense, unwilling lines of her body. "It will all work out."

Reluctantly, she tilted her head upwards, her lips finding his in a bumbling, chaste manner. A tiny, hot breath escaped her, brushing his cheek like some ephemeral spirit before they found each other.

Their lips bumped together clumsily once, twice, like moths in the process of being drawn to a flame. There was still a newness to their kissing, a thrill derived simply from touching each other, from knowing that a simple reaching movement would bring them in contact to the other's skin. Nothing was quite like it – the second kiss that was a more comforting embrace than a touch of passion. But it was no less appreciated in its capacity.

Long after their lips had broken apart, they stood still in the midst of an enveloping twilight, simply holding each other, enjoying the warmth and comfort that the other emanated. The growing darkness troubled neither of them; they didn't need to look at each other, to see each other in order to know that the other was smiling distantly, giddily, lovingly…

It was Yoh who spoke first, though less to her, it seemed, than to the world at large.

"The stars are really beautiful tonight."

She laughed quietly, tremblingly, but not quite as fearfully as before, as though fortified by his presence. "You always say that. Every night." There was a teasing lilt to her voice.

"True things don't get any less true just because you say them often." The boy responded seriously. As though to counteract that solemnity, however, he smiled, releasing her suddenly. "And that's why people need to tell you how beautiful you are more often." He finished.

Her cheeks flushed with a bright, delicate rose. "I- I'm not.." She managed to stammer.

"Beauty's in the eye of the beholder." Yoh quoted teasingly. As her cheeks reddened still further, however, he became concerned. "You know I mean it.." He murmured, for people had often taunted her on the same subject before. "Just relax and have fun; nothing bad's going to happen." A thought struck him, and he pointed to the clusters of stars that had appeared in the skies. "Your hobby is astrology, isn't it? Telling fortunes by the stars?"

She gave a mute nod, too accustomed to silence to break it now.

"Will you tell me my fortune?" It was difficult to tell whether he was mocking her or playing the deliberate fool at such magical tricks – his eyes were wide with earnestness, and his open smile showed his sheepishness at being unable to perform such a task himself.

She nodded, at first gradually, then resolutely. Two heads, one dark, one light, tilted upwards in open study of the stars above…

Tamao didn't need to ask him his birthday or any general facts about him; it seemed to her as though she'd always known. But the look in her eyes as she returned them to the earth was not one of wonderment, but of muted horror and a gradual terror that had not yet been accepted.

"What is it?" Yoh inquired laughingly, seeing the anxiety within her gaze and striving to pull it away. She was a creature of sunlight and joyful days; unhappiness should never cloud her gaze the way it did now. "Will my children all be cursed with baldness? Will my left toe grow a bunion?"

"I- Without a formal chart, I'm not sure…" Tamao said slowly. "But it seems as though… as though you'll come into some terrible misfortune and – oh Yoh-kun…" The gaze that she lifted to meet his was dark with tragedy.

"It looks like it's coming soon."

He was thrown by this statement, uncertain as to how to respond – how to brush it away. She was no charlatan, no skilless fortune-teller by the wayside. His grandfather himself, the not unskilled Yohmei-dono, was in the process of training her. And if she said it…it was almost certain to be true.

Perhaps later they would go to see a movie. But for now, there was nothing but silence.

Author's Note: Heh.. and I'll just leave it there. I'm not sure that it's as good as the previous two chapters, but I hope that it'll be satisfactory until I can type up the fourth chapter. (Which, I can safely inform you all, is probably my favorite chapter to date. No, not because of the pairing, but the dialogue, the scene. Fwah. You'll have to wait and see.)

As for the misfortune mentioned.. that's going to come into play too. You'll see. (Author currently has a face like this - D Look at it sideways.)

Please leave a review! And here're the previous chapter's review replies..:

bow-down-to-keiko: I don't know, I can tolerate Yoh/Tamao and Hao/Anna, or else I wouldn't be writing it. :) But in this instance, it could go either way. Think you could live with an alternate ending, though, if it came to that?

Meisha: -laughs- And there's another vote that brings me to a sticky place in history. We'll see, I guess.

Ravendream: Eiha.. thank you?

Kira-Asakura: I'm genuinely appreciative of the congratulations, but it seems as though you've posted it on seemingly every fic on So I suppose you're spreading indiscriminate Christmas cheer and I thank you anyway.

Anonymous: The votes aren't going your way so far.. xD But even if the votes don't turn out that way, I know that I'll be making little spin-offs, and an alternate ending for the rejected pairing.

Koneko-Koneko: Eiha, thank you. :) So far it seems as though you're going with the general consensus.

The Summer Stars: My writing? It tends to the mediocre, insofar as that goes, but all the same, I'm glad that you like it. I know that I won't leave Tamao out in the cold after the fic's complete, but she'll have her share of angst too.. Despite your adoration for her, try not to kill me when that happens? ;)

YamiandAnzu4ever: -grins- The votes are definitely going your way. Canonly, I'd agree that YohxAnna is inevitable. But remember, this is an AU.. so try to look at Hao with an unbiased eye, and don't kill him whenever I insert a HaoxAnna moment, okay? And according to calculations, there's a YohxAnna-ish moment in Chapter Seven, so watch for it.

Dark Lady1: Ah.. good. I was really worried about Hao; he seems really catty to me, but I was afraid that others mightn't see it that way.

Aly: Thanks for the review – did your second one get cut off or something?

Trisyl: Yes, yes, I'll remember the bruise. It won't have an important part, but it'll still be there as a reminder, three days later, in chapter eleven, when.. But I digress.

Inulover4eva: Doesn't everybody reply to their reviews? ' Have I been a bit of a gaffer or something? To me it seems a bit rude not to; like someone calling you to tell you you did a good job on this or that, and you not calling back to say thank you. I don't know what the protocol is on , though.

asn water: Yeah, it probably was a bit OOC to have Anna not shoot him down on sight for dating Tamao, but I put it down to her being in shock – like the time Hao ate Yoh's soul, and she didn't pummel him into the ground.

yami1: Hope this was soon enough for you. :)

KristiexxNguyen: Aww.. why's Yoh pissing you off? I tried to stay true to his easygoing nature – maybe I'm not doing it right.. but this is how I see him. He's a bit more of a sweetheart in this chapter, I think, and hopefully I got across more of the reasons why he's dating Tamao in the first place (other than the fact that she loves him and he's under the impression that Anna doesn't). But in the other respect, I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you; all four will be paired up. The minor characters may be bereft of relationships (although I have a rather wicked plan for poor Ren regarding relationships) but the major ones will be stuck in them, according to the will of the Goddes- hem, I mean, me. :D

Akira: Well, about Hao/Tamao.. the first scene that features it in this fic? I can say that Hao will probably enjoy it. Tamao? She'll be terrified out of her wits.

Kago: Aww, thank you. That was nice of you to say. :)

Yuriel: You probably haven't been looking in the right places, then. ;)

Tensei: An update in two days; hope this is soon enough for you. xD

Nakashima-Michiyo: The administrator of such a successful community could hardly be illiterate; don't worry about it.

thefutureMrs.Kaiba: Yoh/Anna is the only perfectly canon pairing that I know of in Shaman King, despite what they say about HoroRen. So naturally, as a devoted SK fan, I'd support it too. But then again, that's also what I love about fandom; freedom to elaborate. And hey, the US dub is good for the Hao/Anna fans among us too; didn't you see the episode where they first met? Wonderful stuff.