This took me some time to think through, but I finally decided on what Anna's reaction would be when she looked at the tape. Which is. . .dum dum dum. . .okay, bad response. To those who enjoyed the moment between Anna and Hao, thank you. And yes, Hao is falling for Anna. Or. . .has fallen, in better phrasing. I already said that in chapter 1, where he confessed his love to Anna. Chapter 10 everyone, please continue to read and review.

SPOILER: Ready to see if Ren is really as good as he says he is? Judge him in his seduction of Anna in this chapter!

CHAPTER 10

Anna raised her eyebrows as she watched an attractive young lady appear on the screen. Her eyes rose even further as she noticed that the lady's legs started to spread further. " That is one good-looking woman," Anna muttered to herself, taking a glance at herself in the mirror and sighed, her attention back on the television screen. Was this some sort of humor show? Because if it was, it was definitely not up to any good, being that the fact that it was introduced to Yoh by one of his stupid friends. Naming a few, Chocolove, Horo Horo. . .

She blinked as a man entered the show, and he sat next to her, the area between the two of them unnaturally small. " Come on, get away from him." Anna chanted under her breath as she watched the young lady embarrassed by the young man's leer, silently cheering the woman on the screen on. The man's eyes were staring at the woman's bosom with unflattering desire, and it surprised Anna that Yoh would even want to watch such a boring movie like this.

It was when she decided to switch off the television, when the man suddenly pounced on the woman, ripping off the many shreds of her clothing, laughing at the sound of her whimpers and cries, her hands beating against his back, but it only seemed to increase his lust for her.

" Push him off. . ." Anna breathed, pounding her fists on the ground now. " Come on, weak piece of trash. . ."

The man had forced himself into her, and was pumping into her faster and faster now, the woman no longer struggling. It was at that moment when she let out a strangled cry, and he roared out loud, the man spilling himself into her, and she lay there on the ground, breathing hard.

And there Anna sat like a voyeur, her mouth wide open, her hand still on the remote control in her palm. Somehow, she had still not pressed the stop button. There was a long moment of silence and stupefication that went out through her entire body, and only one clear, distinct sentence wrenched itself out of her throat, spilling out through her lips.

" Oh, my. . .Holy Shit." Anna whispered.

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Yoh sighed as the rest of his friends departed, and Hao and him stayed alone on the empty streets outside the diner. " Well, I don't think they were any much more of help than I was," Hao said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. " While Lyserg's idea was fairly passable, Faust's one was just plain. . ."

" . . .Gory." Yoh put in for him.

" Is he always this. . .?" Hao started.

" . . .Twisted? Yes." Yoh answered.

Hao's lips twitched. " And I thought that I was the one who could read thoughts." He said.

" I just know you very well, that's all." Yoh admitted.

Hao nodded and snapped his fingers, the two of them suddenly on top of his Spirit of Fire. " Come on," Hao said confidently. " You'll be fine with Anna. All you have to do is to take it slowly and one step at a time, and you'll be fine. You have my lessons to look forward to, don't you remember?"

He smiled at Yoh.

Yoh managed a sheepish grin back.

" Yeah." He said. " I guess."

Hao nodded. " For the time being. . ." he said. " Let me take you home."

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There was death written all over the room as Yoh entered, and Hao winced as he noticed the eerie atmosphere which was forced out of the house as soon as they opened the front door. Hao was about to take a step in, and his eyes widened as he noticed that Yoh had raised a hand, beckoning for him to stand back.

" What are you doing?" Hao asked.

" Anna's in no physical danger." Yoh replied, sighing as he put his hands in his pockets. " But I can't say much for me either; when I enter the house and there's this sort of setting. . .I don't think it's good that you stay with me. Not if you want to be kicked in the nuts again, anyway."

Hao just stared at his brother before nodding.

" Alright." He said. " Do you want me to call Faust in tomorrow in case anything happens to you?"

" That would be good." Yoh said, and stepped in, removing his shoes.

" Oh yeah, Yoh." Hao called out, and Yoh turned around.

" Do you want to have a birthday party with the guys on Friday?" he asked him, hands in his pockets. " It is, after all, your nineteenth birthday."

Yoh thought for a moment before shrugging. " I'm alright with anything. But I want the night free though, I want to spend some time with Anna later on."

Hao smiled and walked off. " If you can live until then, of course."

And he disappeared.

Yoh just stood there for a moment before sighing, and walked up the stairs of his house, each step emitting a creek from the steps below him. He had just reached his room when he noticed that the light in the television room was still on. " Is Anna still watching the television?" He said oddly, making his way over to the room, knocking on the door briefly before opening the sliding door.

He heard Anna gasp, the television shutting off immediately, her head wrenching itself around to face him. " Yoh." She said, sounding breathless. " What are you doing here so early?"

" I didn't feel like going out too long." He said simply. " What were you watching?"

" N. . .Nothing in particular." She said, sounding flustered, and his eyebrows raised. This certainly was not a common sight to see. The calm, cool and collected was flustered?

" Anna, are you alright?" he asked, concerned, making his way over to her.

" I'm fine." She snapped.

He seemed unsatisfied with her answer, but he shrugged it off, confident she was capable of taking care of herself. Meanwhile, on her side, her heart was beating painfully against her ribs. What in the world did she have to feel embarrassed about almost being caught by Yoh for watching HIS pornographic movies? It was stupid, now that she thought of it. The first thing she wanted to do was to just slap him fairly on the cheek. That seemed to be the most probable thing to do. But another part of her was shocked that her cheerful, innocent fiancée would. . .

And plus, did she just. . .ENJOY what she saw. . .?

" Anna?" he asked, and she jumped.

" Yes, Yoh?" she said, in a voice of false calm. Yoh just surveyed her with raised eyebrows, and she bit her lip and looked away, uncomfortable by his piercing gaze, when her eyes strayed to his crotch area. She mentally slapped herself. ' You stupid little skank.' She scolded herself.

" Nothing." He said, sounding hopeful to not get on her bad side.

Should I confront him? She asked herself furiously. What would his reaction be? Embarrassed? Scared? Happy? Once again, something clouded her mind, and she slapped herself mentally again. He was helping her turn off the back switch mildly, clearly unaware of the many situations that were happening in her mind. She bit her lip and watched him smile at her once again. " Goodnight, Anna." He said.

" Yeah." She said numbly. " Goodnight."

That was how she wanted to leave it as. Then maybe she would be given the night to storm it over. Ask him tomorrow or something. Or maybe question Horo Horo or something. She nodded to herself. Yes, she was being clever, not making a big deal out of it. But the next statement spilt out of her mouth.

" Who gave you the videos?" she asked.

He froze, and turned around in a comical robot walk, his face filled with guilt and nervousness. " What videos?" he asked, sweating through the soft material of his short.

" The ones I found in your room." She said plainly.

Damn. He cursed silently. I knew there was nothing I could hide from her.

" Oh, those." He said, trying his best to sound nonchalant, unaware that his voice broke at the last word, causing her eyebrows to rise. " Horo Horo lent me those, he said that I would be amused by them. In fact, I didn't even get to watch them yet. I was hoping to watch them tomorrow or something."

This sounded like a pretty lame excuse, and a cheap lie, even to a half-witted person such as himself. And if it sounded stupid and crappy to him, how would it sound like to Anna? The woman who saw through every thread of mischief and every little bit of a lie? But somehow she seemed satisfied with his answer and nodded, walking past him. " Alright." She said vaguely. " I'm going to be bed. Remember to switch off the corridor lights."

" Okay." He said, watching her leave, shutting the door behind her.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

" That was a pretty good impromptu lie over there." He muttered, patting himself on the back.

Little did he know that Anna was peeking at him through the tiny slit in her door. She smirked and shut the door and leaned her back against it. " That was your most pathetic one yet." She said silently. " Just how stupid do you think I am, Asakura Yoh?"

Nothing answered her but the silence of the night.

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" I KNEW you would get caught!" Horo Horo said furiously, glaring at Yoh, who was shrinking smaller and smaller by the furious glare by his two friends, Ren and said before person. Hao just sat in one corner, his eyes peering around the coffeehouse for beautiful women. " There's one golden rule in the art of pornographic movies, Yoh Asakura." Horo said, stabbing his finger onto Yoh's chest.

" And that would be. . .?" Yoh asked sheepishly.

" NEVER get them found out." Ren finished for him.

" Oh, come on guys, get off him." Hao said kindly, receiving a gratefully smile from his brother. " It's not his fault that he's bad at hiding his stash. He should be glad that he's still in one piece. I didn't have to call Faust in, which is some sort of a miracle."

Yoh sighed, his chin hitting the coffee table. " Thanks a lot." He muttered.

" Besides, she's a lioness." Hao continued, leaning back in his chair, the four of them ignoring the usual stares that they always got when they entered the coffee shop and started their strange conversations. " I doubt that anyone would be able to seduce that easily. . .even me."

" What do you mean 'even you'?" Ren asked warily. " Shouldn't you say 'even Ren'?"

" But I'm better than you, my friend." Hao said pleasantly.

" No you're not." Ren said, his voice rising dangerously.

" What about the competition at the nightclub? I got more phone numbers than you did."

" I bet most of them did because they knew who you were. You were in your turf and prime at that time, anyway." Ren said factually. " You're nowhere close to me."

" Care to increase the wager?" Hao said, a strange glint in his eye.

Ren looked slightly suspicious at this.

" And what would that be?" he said.

" If you are able to kiss Anna fully on the lips without her slapping you then after, I would admit that you are on the same ground as me. If not, I will tell the name of the girl that you're in love with in front of everyone." He bent close to Ren, his eyes now red with bursting energy and enthusiasm. " Including her."

" That's stupid." Ren snapped. " For a first, I do not go off seducing my friend's fiancées."

" What's the matter, Ren?" Hao said. " Chicken?"

" No." Ren said, flushing. " I just don't want to betray my friend."

" Come on, Yoh won't mind. Won't you?" he added, looking in his brother's direction. He knew that Yoh would mind. He knew that Yoh knew that he knew that Yoh would mind. But he was still not sure if Yoh knew that he knew that if Ren knew that Yoh knew what he knew then he would be suspicious of the whole thing. Yoh looked wholly like he wanted to decline and make the two of them swear not to touch Anna. But on the other hand, he would seem like some sort of a spoilsport. He looked at Hao, and noticed he was smiling.

" This is also to see what are Anna's weaknesses and strengths." Hao said to him, nodding confidently at him. " Ren would be sure to tell you all about it."

Yoh bit his lip and sighed, nodding. " Alright then." He said, rather depressingly.

" Yoh. . ." Ren said slowly.

" No, it's okay." Yoh said, smiling. " You'll tell me what her reactions are, won't you?"

Ren's eyes widened before smiling. " Yeah." He said. " Of course."

Then he paused, and looked at Hao with narrowed eyes.

" Hang on." Ren said to Hao. " How do I know that you know what the name of the girl I like is?"

Hao smirked and bent low to Ren, and whispered out a single name.

" Pirika." He said softly, and drew away.

Ren's eyes were wide with shock before smirking.

" You truly are a master at your work." He said.

" Thank you." Hao said. He dropped several coins down on the table. " Shall we leave?"

Horo looked lost. Who is Ren in love with? He wondered.

Ren looked at Yoh once more, who just nodded and smiled confidently. " Alright." He said.

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Anna was doing the laundry.

That was not a common sight to see, but she had too many things on her mind, and just wanted to spend some time alone. Reading a book was stupid because she would need some certain amount of concentration, sleeping was impossible because she was too troubled, and watching television would be the worst of all, because that was the one true source of her problems. She bit her lip and tossed several of Yoh's jeans into the washer.

Outside, the four boys watched her.

" She looks really pretty when she's quiet." Horo said.

" Yeah." Hao said, shivering slightly.

Yoh bit his lip once more. Although he agreed to allow Ren to seduce Anna, it still angered him slightly at the sight of other guys ogling at his fiancée. And Ren read his mind perfectly. " Relax." Ren said, a hand on Yoh's shoulder. " I wouldn't do anything funny to Anna." He said. " I wouldn't dream of it."

Yoh smiled warmly. " Thank you."

Hao smiled softly. Ren really is a good friend. He thought.

" Well, get going." He said, taking out a watch. " How long should we have to wait?"

" Give me ten minutes." Ren said, smirking, before walking in, shutting the door behind him.

Yoh looked sideways at his brother doubtfully. He was finding it strange since the time when Hao first placed the bet with Ren. Why would he want to place such a ridiculous bet with him in the first place? Sure, he said it was to test on Anna's weaknesses and strengths. But what was his real motive? Yoh was not sure.

Hao smiled.

" Don't worry, Yoh." He said. " It's all part of my strategy."

And Yoh left it at that.

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Anna spun around, startled by the sudden noise, and blinked as she saw who was walking down the steps which led to where she was standing. " Ren-kun." She said, sounding rather confused. Ren was always there in her house when Yoh was there, but whenever Yoh would be training or out of the house, Ren would never be around. He never seemed to be that fond of Anna anyway. He respected her, yes, but he didn't seem to be the kind of person who would invite her to his birthday party or anything. " What are you doing here?"

" I thought that Yoh would be here. . ." Ren started, his voice purposely trailing off.

" He went out for lunch with his friends." Anna said.

Bingo. Ren smirked to himself. There she fell into his first trap. " Really?" Ren said, scratching his head. " He told me that he would meet me here at around this time. . ."

" Then I guess he's coming back soon." She said quietly.

Bingo. The second trap.

" Right." He said. " Is it okay if I stay here and wait?"

" Sure." She said. " The living room is. . ." she started, unknowingly falling into his next trap.

There was the third.

" No." he interrupted, and she stopped.

" What?" she asked.

" I was hoping. . .I could wait here." He said, notingly raising his voice slightly, perfectly sounding bashful, but yet at the same time seductive and peaceful.

Her eyes widened.

He scratched his head, putting on a doubtful front. " Unless you mind. . .?"

" No." she said, cutting him in. " You just shocked me, that's all."

Bang. Another one. This was almost too easy.

" Why?" he asked. " Am I always cold towards you?"

" Everyone but Yoh and Pirika." She said.

He counted softly under his breath, maintaining a short silence.

" You thought I hated you?" he said softly.

She turned, the pants she was ready to iron still in her hands. She looked questioning at his sudden change in behavior towards her. " You could say that."

Crap. He cursed silently. She didn't fall into that one.

He walked up until he was right behind her, her back still facing him, yet he was sure she could feel his warm breath tickling her ear. " I never did." He whispered. A hand snaked out to gently touch hers. He could almost feel her tense up against him. " In fact. . ." he whispered, his mouth just inches from her ear now.

" I think I'm in love with you." He added.

There was silence for a moment.

" What?" she asked, turning around this time, and this time they were barely noses apart. He put on his softest smile yet. " I know that you belong to one of my best friends." He whispered. " And I'm in no position to snatch you away from him; I don't want to destroy his life. . .or yours."

That was it.

Just a bit more.

" But I just had to say this to you." He said.

Her eyes were wide. What was that that dwelled deep inside?

He just couldn't make it out.

Say it. He thought fiercely. Come on. . .

" I'm sorry, Ren." Anna said, stepping away from him.

Yes, he thought in triumph. Time to put the icing on the cake.

" Anna." He called out, and she stopped.

" Can I do something to you?" he asked.

She flinched, her back still facing him.

" What is it?" she asked.

One. . .He counted.

Two. . .

Three. . .

Okay.

" Can I hug you?" he asked.

She turned, her peach-soft lips opened in a vague wondering expression that Ren found enchanting. Even he felt a soft blush grazing his cheeks at that moment. He wrapped his arms around her, clutching her into a deep embrace, noticing her let out a small gasp. " Ren. . ." she started.

He pulled away from her, and gazed into her eyes.

One. . .

Two. . .

Three. . .

This was it.

He bent down lower to press his lips on hers, shutting his eyes.

He felt his lips press against skin, and his eyes widened as he found out that the thing that met his lips was her finger. And there was no wondered expression on her face anymore. Instead there was that proud smirk, and her finger left his lips, chuckling slightly at his shocked look. " That was pretty well done, Ren-kun." She said. " There were times when I almost thought that what you meant what you said."

WHAT THE HELL?

" What do you mean?" he said, throat dry.

" I noticed that your eyes shone when I mentioned Pirika's name. It was then when I realized that you were in love with her, and not me. Hao called Yoh yesterday, and Yoh told me that you were meeting them. Your smooth lie turned out to be the largest mistake that you made. I'm guessing that Hao dared you to kiss me without me hitting you. You're too nice a friend of Yoh to even try to hug me."

Ren's eyes were wide as saucers now.

" So. . .You were acting that you were affected by me?" he asked.

" That's right." She said. " But don't be disappointed that you didn't manage to win me over; a normal girl would have been head-over-heals in love with you by now. It was very well done, and for that I applaud you."

His eyes were now, if possible, even wider now.

She grinned.

" I knew that Hao would get you to do something like this. That's a weakness of yours, your pride is too big. I guess he said something about respecting you if you managed to succeed?"

Ren nodded mutely.

" Trust him to come up with something this original." She muttered, turning around. " Tell him to try his luck on me, and I'll dump him faster than I did to you. . .how about that?"

Ren was speechless.

She truly was better than him.

She was better than Hao.

Than anyone.

" Thank you." He said, and walked off, before stopping.

" Anna-san?" he said.

" Yes?" she answered.

" Please don't mention this to Pirika." He said, ears red.

She smiled softly. " Won't breathe a word."

He smirked and walked off. " Thank you." He said.

He left the room, and shut the door behind him, but he had time to whisper one last question to her.

" What are you, Anna Kyoyuma?" he whispered, shutting the door behind him.

She raised her eyebrows, looking at the door that now held Ren, and most probably the others, who were anxious to see how it went. " You'll just have to find that out, won't you?" she said silently.

END CHAPTER 10

How was it? I hope Anna wasn't OOC or anything. How was Ren? Smooth enough? Please put down your comments here! Thank you! Chapter 11 will be up as soon as possible! Yoh's birthday's coming up! Dum dum dum!

ReViEw ReSpOnSeS

katsumi01- - -Lolz. Thank you. Yes, the bad boy falling for his brother's badass fiancee. What else could be worse?

Iria- - -Thank you. Glad you liked it. Hey cool, I know a French word!

kawaiisaru07- - - -Thank you.

Anime Master Inu- - -Whoa, that would mean me having to stop the story if both of them realize each other's love, wouldn't it? Grins Thanks for adding me to your favourites!

hannami08- - -Haha. I love your reviews. They're all so bubbly and nice. :) Thanks for the compliment. Please continue to check out my story.

Miakoda13- - -Yep, I wanted Hao to just be imagining that Anna was seducing him in her mind when all she wanted to do was talk to him. . .but I just thought that I should give him some action, and hey. . .nobody's complaining right?

azngirlchibi- - -It's definetly Yoh/Anna, but with some Hao/Anna scenes. Don't worry.

Orphen27- - -Why, thanks. Yeah, it would be impossible if Hao wasn't dreaming. Never mind that, thanks for supporting my story!

Peacemaker- - -Yep, un-forced is my middle name.

Exploded Toilet Bowl- - -I don't think I will. Maybe a little RenXPirika, not none of Horo/Tamao. Sorry.

hanna-asakura- - -One can only hope that she will remember.

cherryblossom- - -I guess most of you are pissed that she forgot his birthday. But let me put it this way. . .she might have even forgotten her birthday too if nobody reminded her.

BabyKaoru-Sama- - -Thank you.

candee- - -Well, you could say that, in a way. . .Lolz.

pendulumxswing- - -Grins Yup yup yup!

Harmony8390- - -Then I guess I'd better get right down to work, shouldn't I? Lolz.

YumeTakato- - -Yep, thanks for the review. I'll see you too.

Satori-chan- - -Don't worry. She'll remember somehow. I think. . .

blackyuki- - -Looks like you all are pissed because she did huh?

Felix-samma- - -Lolz. I'm glad I tricked all of you at that one.

D3m0n Slayer- - -Horo Horo's ass is, anyway.

Anna - - - -Thank you.