Hesitantly Manta stepped up to the door and knocked lightly. His hopes of Yoh answering the door while Anna was still asleep were crushed in an instant as the Itako herself cracked opened the door. "Oh, you. Come in; the dishes need washing." Obviously Anna thought that was the end of the conversation, as she turned to take the trip back upstairs.

"Uh, b-but I was just looking for Yoh…"

"And you think I know where that lazy-ass is?" Then, with an air of finality, she finished with, "Dishes."

Groaning inwardly, as this is what he had feared would happen, Manta entered through the doorway, then stared as he got a full view of Anna. She looked like a wreck; her red bandana was missing, her hair was all over the place, and her black dress looked suspiciously as though it had been worn the day before. What was worse, she looked ashen and sickly, and her normally hard eyes looked slightly unfocused.

"Are you-"

"I didn't say the door needed cleaning, although if you wish to stay there and do it, you can." With that, she left rather hurriedly, and locked herself in the bathroom. Blinking, Manta hurried to the kitchen, hoping to finish the dishes and find Yoh before she came back. After an hour had passed Manta had finished the dishes, though still had not found Yoh, and was starting to wonder if Anna was really sick. Before he had time to ponder any more, though, the doorbell pinged and a rambunctious voice rang through the air.

"Yoh? Yoh! YOOOOH! Y-" The blue-haired Ainu cut off as Manta came into his sight. "Oh, hey, I was just looking for Yoh," with a grin he added to this shocking statement, "Kororo's missed seeing you." With an outraged expression Manta was opening his mouth for a retort, when loud sounds assailed their eardrums.

"NO WAY! Yoh never told me he had an elephant!"

"That's not an elephant! It's Anna, I think she's sick; she's been throwing up all morning." They both went silent as the she walked into the kitchen, fumbling around for Tylenol.

"Hey Anna, er, you ok? Where's Yoh?"

"Do I look like his keeper! I don't remember…"

"Er, did something happen."

"Yes. I have a migraine moron."

"Ugh…it's just that well…you look…"

"I look what," Anna snapped at Horohoro with flames in her eyes.

"Ugh-wonderful!"

"Yeah. I believe that. Look, go find Yoh and bring him here," turning to go, she hesitates a moment, "I don't…remember where he went. We were together last night…and then I everything's fuzzy…so I don't know where he might be." As she strode off in the direction of her room both boys looked at each other with wide eyes.

"Hey…wait," HoroHoro broke the silence with gusto in his voice, "This happened to ladies in my village back home! They got this morning sickness where they threw up ALL the time, and the worse they got the more they would complain about some night that seemed fuzzy or something…" As he trailed off Manta looked at him expectantly; waiting for the answer to the riddle of Anna's sickness. After several moments HoroHoro grinned foolishly, "I forget."

"How could you forget? This could be serious!" Manta cried incredulously at the other boy who was scrunching his face in an attempt of intense concentration.

"OH YEAH, I remember now, the sickness wa-" Again the blue-haired teenager stopped, but this time with a look of shock on his face. "No…he didn't…that dog…"

Still lost, the doll-sized boy looked anxiously at HoroHoro. "Dog? What? What's the illness?"

"Well…you know…"

"No! What!"

"I think she's…you know…"

"WHAT!" Manta's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, which was not helped by HoroHoro's broad gestures around the stomach. Seeming to give up on this tactic, he leaned down to Manta's height and whispered in his ear.

"No…no way! Is that even possible? You really think she's?"

"Yup, I think she's-" Both boys stared wide-eyed at each other, unable to finish their sentences. They were too shocked to do anything but make vague gestures around their stomachs…

Kaida: (Jumps on a soap-box) Come one, come all! There has been a break-through in technology! You can tell your thoughts by simply clicking on a tiny blue button! Go ahead-try it!