Ch 7. Dialogue

Yoh eyed the umbrella as he got to the door. Then, looking down at Anna who was unconscious in his arms, he thought, never mind that. It would be too hard to carry both. With the first step outside, he saw that at least the pounding rain had slowed down to a drizzle. Times like this made him think of Faust. He smiled, recalling the doctor's enthusiasm to help, and wished he were here. But Yoh was alone now, so who else would help him better than himself? Lift one foot in front of the other. As long as his feet carried him, they would get there. That's all that mattered at the moment.

Yoh walked against the downward current of rain. Sounds of rainwater running down the gutters of the nearby homes soothed him. Halos formed around the bulbs of all the light posts lining the street. One light post flickered on and off. It had switched on, when he passed beneath it, illuminating Anna's face. A flush of pink had spread on her cheeks and her breaths got deep. Raindrops collected in her hairline and brimmed over, spilling off the sides of her face. Her sopping hair hung low, skimming against his knees as he walked. He hugged her closer to him, trying to shield her from the moisture and the cold.

Everything felt surreal. Only drops of rain served as a reminder that he wasn't dreaming. His brash attitude had been real. Sense and reasoning had been obstructed by--

What was it?

Jealousy?

There was also anger. Resentment even. All these bitter feelings had spewed from his month. He'd never made that mistake before, but it looked this first time had already done so much damage. He played right into Hao's hands, but exactly how did he trigger all of this?

"Although you're the Shaman King, why isn't everything as easy going as you intended?" The voice stunned Yoh. His eyes widened when its owner slowly stepped out from the shadows of the trees.

"What are you doing here?"

"Visiting my brother----and his young wife." Hao emphasized wife and grinned enthusiastically. "I could ask how you two are doing, but then I already know the answer."

Yoh looked at his mirror image skeptically. "What do you mean by that?"

"You haven't figured it out yet? Really Yoh, you can be so dull sometimes." His younger brother answered with a sharp look in his eye. "Maybe ignorance is bliss."

"I'm sorry I'm not as cunning as you," Yoh replied.

"Hmmph. It's no wonder Anna is bored with you. But thanks to that, I get to play husband. I've become quite good at that game."

"If you're trying to provoke me, Hao, it's not working."

"There's a lovely birthmark below her left breast."

Yoh gave him a frosty glare. "Leave her out of this."

"There's fierceness in the way that she kisses. Yet everything else is soft. Her lips, the back of her neck, even her throat."

This made Yoh freeze. He couldn't remember the last time they made love.

"Do you think it will be a boy or a girl?"

This caught Yoh's full attention. A lump formed in his throat.

What?

He wanted to ask it, but it would not come out.

"No wait, the real question to ask is: Do I congratulate you? Or should you congratulate me?" The smug expression on Hao's face--- Yoh felt suffocated by it.

The air that had felt cool and crisp earlier was now heavy and humid. It was making him feel feverish too. He looked up. The brightness of the stars was fading.

Were they the same celestial bodies as before?

He stood there for a long time. Everything blurred. He couldn't remember if any more words were exchanged between Hao and himself. He couldn't recall when Hao left him alone. All he remembered was standing under a sky that threatened to fall down at any minute.

Pristine glass windows gleamed from the enormous building before Yoh. He smiled at his unconscious wife's face. His fingers tenderly wiped away the drops of rain from her face. "We finally reached the hospital, Anna."

The petite woman with dark hair flipped through the pages on her clipboard. "Yumi-chan, where is the person who brought in Asakura Anna?"

The young intern looked up nervously; this was her first day acting as nurse. "Asakura Anna….Asakura…..oh yes, her husband is that man sitting at the end of the corridor. His name is……." She trailed off.

"Never mind that, I see it on the first page here. Thanks." The doctor adjusted her glasses and walked towards her patient's husband. He was seated on the bench and faced her with his profile. He was fixated on something. She followed his gaze, which lead to the far window. The sun was rising, painting citrus colors across the horizon.

"Asakura Yoh?" Despite the dark circles beneath his eyes, she was surprised to see such a handsome face when his head turned her way. Stubbles dotted his chiseled jaw and chin; he managed to wear them gracefully.

"Good morning Asano-sensei. Thanks for seeing us," Yoh said in the most cheerful voice he could muster, after reading her name off the tag on her clean white uniform. The middle-aged doctor nodded her head in acknowledgement. A look of concern suddenly crossed his face. "Is she okay?"

"For the time being she is fine. But there are some things you need to be aware of." She continued on after making sure he was listening carefully. "As you should know, she is less than three months pregnant….." The young man's expression changed back to being unreadable. "The fetus is healthy. Howeverthere is a lot of strain on her body. I would imagine a lot of strain on her mind as well. To put it simply, if that keeps up, she'll go into early labor. It's very possible for the child to be born at 7 or 8 months. That doesn't necessarily pose grave danger, but it would complicate things. It's a risk to her health and her child's. Do your best to help her avoid stress."

His long bangs covered his eye when he looked down at his feet, but she didn't permit the silence to linger any longer, she filled it in for him. "Asakura-san, it's okay to visit her now. She's awake in room 407."

"Thank you, Asano-sensei."

"Take good care of her." Yoh nodded.

The young nurse had just finished securing the ends of Anna's braid with a red hair band when Yoh stepped into the room. She smiled warmly at Yoh, but his wife remained seated on her bed, facing the window. "I'll be leaving then. Take care of yourself, Anna-san."

"Thank you, Yumi," his wife replied meekly. Yoh smiled at Yumi as she left them alone.

Whiteness surrounded them, the four walls, the bed linen, the blinds and even Anna's hospital gown. In the midst of the pale room, the redness of Anna's hair band stood out. It was the first time he'd seen her hair in a braid. It accentuated the graceful back of her neck.

She makes a beautiful mother, he realized. And she was right there in front of him, within reach. He did nothing. He could only speak.

"The sunrise was beautiful this morning." The burst of saffron hues were gone from the sky now that the sun had peaked higher. Rays in muted yellow streamed through the venetian blinds, casting lines in the room. Anna simply glowed in it. "It makes you forget that it rained last night." Still no answer from Anna. She just listened quietly to his words, taking it all in. "It's okay if you have nothing you want to say to me right now."

Yoh sat on the window ledge and looked out. Down below, a nurse was helping a small boy fly a kite. "I did a lot of thinking while you were asleep. Asking myself things like what kind of person am I. Just who was I last night? A man in love? A man in fear of losing something precious? Then I also thought about how we've been in the last few days and months. How did we get like this? Living as husband and wife, yet living like strangers."

The boy flying the kite tripped and fell down. Concerned, the nurse rushed over to him. Instead of being greeted by tears, she was met by the boy's smile. Both the nurse and the boy laughed. "I can't begin to put my heart into words. But you feel them, don't you? Eventually I'll learn to express them, one fragment at a time. We both will." Yoh walked over to the bed and sat down next to her. "I'm sorry for letting my fears override my faith in us. Especially when you've always held on to yours."

"So you no longer wonder whose child I'm carrying?" When she finally spoke, her tone was challenging.

"No. I realized it wasn't something that I even needed to ask you."

"Baka, you're so slow. You're lucky you're already the Shaman King." Yoh looked at Anna with puzzlement. "Because I would have added another 20 laps, 50 push ups and 50 pull ups to your training." Yoh grinned from ear to ear. It looked like he was already forgiven. "But with that moronic grin on your face, I think I'll do it anyway." (He shuddered at the thought) She continued, saying it so softly he almost didn't hear it. "Yoh, I was afraid."

"Afraid?"

"Of failing as a mother." She lifted up her hands to examine them in the air, the same hands that only knew harsh methods, not a mother's tenderness. "What role model did I have?" Anna couldn't express her feelings beyond that. Couldn't express the conflicting feelings she had about dropping her guard. For her, it would always be there.

"Is that what you've been worried about the whole time? Is that why you've been so quiet?"

"Don't be so surprised. Don't you know pregnant women also get mood swings?"

He gave a boyish laugh. "Gomen! Gomen! This is my first time meeting one. But things will work out. You'll be a fine mother...a little strict maybe…." Yoh received a piercing look in return.

"Well now I'm more worried about you."

"Me?"

"Having such a lazy father, he may take after you." Anna said this matter-of-factly.

"Wait a minute….he?"

"I've already decided that it would be a boy." Yoh's jaw dropped.

"How do you decide something like that?"

Anna frowned at her gawking husband. "Woman's intuition," she declared simply.

Yoh scratched the back of his head uneasily. "I see." He stopped there because he could never beat her at talking.

And although everything went back to normal, an unpleasant feeling seemed to nip at him.

Hao.

True, Yoh had been very naïve, allowing Hao to take advantage of their vulnerabilities, even forgetting Hao's ability to read their minds. But there was something more. As uncharacteristic as it was for Yoh to believe such blatant lies and actually lose control, it also seemed odd that Hao would stoop to such a level. As if he was desperate. And desperate was not a word he liked to describe his brother with.

So why?

He managed to lose his pursuers by hiding in the cave behind the waterfall. When it seemed relatively safe, he collapsed against the stone wall, gasping. The large gash on his arm stung and blood trickled down to his forearm. He was losing blood badly and needed to bandage the wound. Without thinking, he tore off a piece of cloth from his cloak with his mouth.

Wait.

He stopped at the sight of his now tattered cloak, his pride more wounded than his body. Rags! He violently jerked the cloak off of himself with his injured arm, ignoring the ripping pain that shot through his raw flesh as he did so.

He was laughing madly now and no longer cared whether it echoed through the night.

She may have been right; he was reduced to this now.

June 22, 2005. Reads the previous chapter reviews and blushes I tried to redeem Yoh's character…but now I'm afraid I put in more fluff than I intended. Well, some of you might not call it fluff. And as my English teacher used to say, SEE ANY FORESHADOWING! Stay tuned for the next chapter. I promise that it'll be the climax!

Anyway thanks for reviewing and if you haven't yet…nudge nudge…..poke poke………

10/30/05 Revised & reposted