Sorry I took so long with the update. It's all because of the darn exams, if you must know; and I don't think I fared that well in it. Oh well. I don't know if some of you have realized this, but Hao's plan had repeated itself twice. I'll explain why I chose to do that in the later chapters. I received a rather humourous criticism from one of the reviews. . .not connected to to the internet right now. . .but he/she told me that I had repeated a scene twice. Good on you! I'm glad someone found that out. :) Thanks for reading my story so carefully. In a weird way, I'm honored. But, unfortunately, I don't think it will be possible for me to rewrite chapter 10 and 17. . .I'm really sorry if that disappoints you in any way. I'll try to get down on it after I finish this story. Promise, alright? (Waggles pinkie) Okay. Please keep reading and reviewing my story everyone! And thanks for voting in my poll! All those who haven't, please go to my homepage too! Thanks bunches!

CHAPTER 17

They were at the coffee house once again; Hao, Ren, Ryu and Horo, drinking their tea and coffees peacefully, discussing the current politics in the common society. In other words, the progressing of Yoh and Anna's relationship. Horo let out a depressed sigh as he took a sip from his coffee cup before pursing his lips together like a turkey's bottom. " This is ending up to become really bitter." he said softly.

" The coffee?" Ren asked curiously.

" The relationship." Horo snapped.

" The relationship of you and the coffee?" Hao said lazily; catching Ren's eye and smirking. Ren raised his eyebrows but said nothing. Horo said nothing after that, mumbling about something like bad manners and stupidity to its deepest depths. The rest ignored him, and it was another moment of silence that passed until one of them finally spoke up. " . . .You can't believe that the two of them are getting along so badly." Hao interrupted Ryu, who barely opened his mouth, no sooner speak. Ryu sighed again and opened his mouth.

" . . .Yes, it gets annoying. I know." Hao said.

Ren and Horo smirked into their coffees while Ryu looked rather annoyingly at Hao. " You know," Ryu said, waggling his finger in front of Hao. " It would be really bad for you if you were a girl, did you ever realize that?" he said. " Imagine your husband going to propose to you, but you say ' I do' before he even has time to say anything to you. That would be really dreadful, don't you think?"

Wile the others laughed, Hao stayed quiet.

" Anna could read every person's mind when she was young." he said.

The other three looked at him with skeptical looks.

" How do you know?" they asked him, almost all at the same time.

" I think I met her when we were young." he said casually, but it was one of the biggest secrets that he had which he never told anybody. They all looked at him with wide eyes and he merely smiled, looking away. " It's nothing to get shocked at about," he continued, despite the humourously shocked faces that the rest of them were giving him. " I doubt that she even remembers it. We were merely eight or nine."

" Then why do YOU remember it?" Ren asked, lips twitching.

He had got him fair and square, and Hao knew it. But he merely smiled back before changing the subject. " That's besides the point." he said calmly.

Silence.

" I bet twelve dollars that Anna would slap Yoh once tomorrow." Ryu said confidently.

" Thirteen for two." Horo said.

" Give me fifteen for five." Ren said.

They looked at Hao.

He smirked.

" Give me twenty for none." he said.

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It looked like Hao was going to win the bet by the way the others saw it. Anna had somewhat forgiven Yoh for calling her a whore, while Yoh just ignored the fact that Anna brought some guy over to their house near the dead of the night. Even as that was so, the two of them spoke to each other in polite, yet somewhat strained, voices.

It was that afternoon when hao was in the library, happily reaching out to get a book when he felt someone's eyes boring through the back of his skull. Eyebrows raised, he turned around, before his face turned into a smug grin. " Hello, Ren." he said, smirking. " Came here to pay me the money you owe me?"

" Don't try to be cute." Ren said witheringly, cornering him into the book corner that he was in. " What are you current plans with Yoh and Anna? It seems very well like your plan failed."

Hao calmly picked up a random book, flipping through the pages before looking back at Ren once again. " Fail?" he said mockingly. " Hao Asakura does not fail."

" You didn't pass the Economics test last week." Ren said.

" Not the point here." Hao said, stuffing the book back in its shelf. " What exactly do you want here? I'm rather busy at the task I'm at, and unless you're planning to help, I would like it if you left right away."

" I know exactly what you really want, Hao." Ren said, glaring at him piercingly, his vice-like grip on the bookshelf, threatening to turn it into toothpicks in seconds. " I can see what you see, even if the others don't."

" I don't know what you're talking about, Ren." Hao said, still smiling, yet his eyes were cold as marbles.

Ren glared at him for a moment before turning his back to Hao, his hands in his pockets. " I won't interfere with whatever you do," Ren said quietly. " But if you're planning exactly what I think you're going to do. . ."

He turned so both their eyes met.

" . . .I'll kill you." he whispered.

Hao smiled.

" Remarkable." he said quietly. " You really are a good friend."

" And would you call yourself a good brother?" Ren asked quietly.

There was a strange flicker that danced in Hao's eyes; a sign of anger as he made a motion to come closer to Yoh when Lyserg appeared, books in his hands, a nonchalant expression on his face. " Hello," he said, his expression changing at the sight of the both of them. " What are you two doing here?"

" Just getting a book to read." hao said, while Ren turned and made motion to leave.

" Ren." Hao said, and Ren stopped in mid-step.

" What is it?" Ren asked when Hao said nothing more.

Hao smirked at him.

" You really don't think I would try to bring her in, don't you?" he whispered.

Lyserg frowned. ' Bring her in?' He thought.

Ren clenched his fists.

" Apparently you do." Hao said. At this, Lyserg looked at Hao, and would have screamed if he paid close attention to him. His eyes looked like they were alive and dead at the same time; his face contorted with anger and pain at the same time, yet he still carried a smile on his face; an awkwardly crooked smile. But in a second it was gone, and he smiled at Ren happily. " Don't worry." he said. " I won't."

Ren, still not turning his back to face Lyserg and Hao, walked out of the library swiftly, slamming the door behind him.

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" Alright Yoh, there's no need to be discouraged, we'll just try out a new question." Manta said to him comfortingly, biting into the apple in his hand before flipping randomly to a new page in the book that was in his hands. " How about this one. . .this looks easy enough. . . ' Je ne sais pas'. What is the meaning of it?"

Manta was giving Yoh a last minute french revision class before the exam, which was barely a day away. The two of them were in his living room, Yoh cramming every possible sort of information that was possible to be stuffed into his head as fast as possible. It was just a basic test, really, and basically everyone in the class knew what ' Bonjour' meant, let alone ' Je ne sais pas'. Yoh, however, who spent his class time either talking to Horo, staring dreamily at Anna or sleeping, knew nothing of the sort. Yoh rubbed his chin thoughtfully. " I recall hearing something like that during class time," he muttered silently to himself. " By any chance, could that possibly mean ' Merry Christmas'?"

" Nice try, but it's going to be a very doubtful Christmas with everyone wishing ' I don't know' to each other, don't you think?" came a rather dull voice behind the two of them, and they both spun around, noticing Anna standing there with half-lidded eyes. Manta gave a gasp and jumped to him feet comedically.

" I haven't made dinner yet!" he said.

" So I've noticed." she said.

With that, Manta toddled over to the kitchen as fast as he could. Anna and Yoh caught eye contact for the most brief of moments before Anna sat down on the couch directly opposite from where Yoh was sitting, and brought a magazine before herself to read. Yoh took another sidelong look at her before looking back down at the books below him. It was around half an hour later when she snapped the magazine shut and walked over to him, sitting down next to him. She did these three actions really quickly; so quickly that Yoh barely had time to react or say anything. " Let me help you with that." she said impatiently, whisking the notes from him.

He just stared at her for a moment.

" What?" he asked.

" Let me help you with that." she repeated, tempted to slap him well across the face.

He stared at her once again.

" Why?"

WHAP

Her hand whipped across his face before turning her attention back to the notes at hand, seemingly shuffling them before landing on one particular page. " Let's start with something easy, shall we?" she said in an extremely business-like tone. " What does ' Merci' mean? You should be able to get this, we bought chocolates with this name not too long ago."

When he didn't answer her, she turned to him, yet impatiently again, but her expression softened at the look on his face. " I thought you were angry at me." he said.

She blinked before looking away, face burning.

" Do you want me to?" she asked.

He just looked rather stonefully before grinning at her. " No." he replied. " No I do not."

They sat there in silence for a short while until they heard Manta's voice from the kitchen.

" Dinner's ready!" they heard him call out.

Anna nodded to herself before getting to her feet, her back facing Yoh.

" Hey, Anna." he called out, and she stopped. " Thank you."

She turned around, eyebrows raised, and he smiled cheekily.

" Or should I say. . .Merci." he said.

Blushing, she turned away. " Correct." she muttered before walking off, hoping that her flaming cheeks would recede, that she would control her lips from forming into a small smile.

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Ren sat at his desk, anger and confusion boiling up inside him. Sure, he thought he knew what Hao's plan was. Hell, he even kept the secret confined within himself; not even telling Bason or Pirika. But somehow something inside told him that Hao's simple idea of matchmaking Yoh and Anna was not as simple as it seemed on the outside. He picked up a pen at his desk and twirled it within his fingers, the frown on his forehead deepening with every passing second. There were blatant possibilities that Hao wanted what Ren thought he wanted; like near the start of it all where Anna told everyone how she was able to make Hao massage her back.

(AUTHOR'S NOTE: Chapter 1)

FLASHBACK

" Yes. . ." she said, flinching as Yoh's grip increased. " He wanted to invite me to join his group of. . .somethings. He said he would do anything for me if I did, and I told him all I wanted was a good back rub."

They stared at her, slack-jawed.

" And did you. . .?" Manta asked.

" Don't be stupid." she snapped. " I told him he didn't do it well enough, and would not agree. He offered to do it once more, but I told him I had better things to do. Then he said that he loved me. . ."

" HE SAID HE LOVED YOU?" the others gasped, and Yoh's grip tightened, if possible, even more.

" Yes. . .Yoh, would you relax?. . .And I told him I had no interest in him, so he just smiled and left. Nothing to fuss about."

END FLASHBACK

Hao clearly wanted Anna to follow him, and that he still loved her. Ren noticed Hao's deep craving for one of his best friends' fiancee along the way, and he was sure that Hao would not be willing to let Yoh and Anna come together. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Then his eyes widened. Hao had successfully managed to make Yoh and Anna quarrel two times; both being huge arguments. Although this could be part of his small plan too, he also made Ren flirt with Anna, Horo have a moment with her. . .

It seemed like they were just chess pieces on Hao's chessboard.

Ren got to his feet, breathing hard as though he had been running. He finally knew what Hao's intentions were. He was going to take Anna away from Yoh. He did not care whatsoever if Yoh and Anna cancelled their engagement; all he wanted was to get Anna in his hands once and for all. Apparently his plan was working; because Anna was fond of him enough to buy him a birthday present. " Hao. . ." he growled, grabbing his coat, opening his closet doors and reached in, grabbing the family heirloom; the antique sword.

" We're going, Bason." he hissed, and Bason appeared behind him.

" Where to, master?" he asked, confused.

" We're going to war with the devil himself." Ren whispered, glaring at the sky.

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Hao lifted his knight and planted it near Opacho's king.

" Checkmate." he said.

It was at that moment when the sky suddenly seemed to darken; dark clouds swirling above his house, hate seeming to envelope the entire area that he was in. Hao got to his feet, the smile still on his face. " Go inside, Opacho." he said. " We have guests that I do not want you to meet."

Scrambling inside, Opacho shut the door behind him. It was just as the doors locked shut when a lone figure appeared before Hao, his sword in his hand, an expression on his face so menacing that the very air around him seemed to blacken and die. Hao sighed and took a step towards him. But no sooner had he done that, Bason rose behind Ren, glaring angrily at Hao, dislike for him equaling his master. Hao seemed to pause for a moment before his expression stoned. " What's the meaning of this, Ren?" he asked.

" I think you should ask yourself that, Hao." Ren growled, brandishing his sword. " The whole idea of bringing Yoh and Anna was total rubbish wasn't it?"

" I. . .don't know what you're saying." Hao said quietly.

" All that crap about being a good brother didn't fool me, Hao." Ren sneered. " I always knew that it was strange of you to suddenly want to help Yoh when it dawned to me. . .you wanted to take Anna away from Yoh."

There was a strange light that danced in Hao's eyes.

" Is that what you assume?" Hao whispered.

" That is what I know." Ren snarled, pointing his sword at Hao.

" Which is why you're going to fight me?" Hao asked, his lips twitching.

" I don't see you denying my claim." Ren hissed.

" I don't need to." Hao said, his hand raising, a small hint of fire emitting from it. " What you're speaking of is just rubbish that you choose to believe."

" Shut the Hell up." Ren whispered.

" Make me." Hao said.

With that, Ren burst towards Hao, slashing his sword in Hao's direction, but Hao dodged it effortlessly, before catching the tip within his hands. " You know. . ." he said, enjoying the look of amazement and hate in Ren's eyes. " I could just simply break this piece of junk that you call a Tao heirloom. But I pity you enough for that, so. . ." he swung Ren away, his back hitting the wall behind him, crumpling to the ground in a heap. " When did you ever suppose that you could defeat me?" he asked Ren. " The only person that comes close to beating me is Jeanne or Anna, and neither of them has ever been able to get a scratch on me before."

" Anna has. . ." Ren gasped, struggling to his feet. " How. . .many. . .times. . .has. . .she slapped you. . .before?" he panted. It was sheer pride and will that he was able to stay conscious and on his feet. At that moment, rain started to fall in buckets, and Hao looked up, smiling.

" That's true." he said lightly.

Ren glared at him and dashed towards him, catching him by surprise. Hao gasped as Ren's blade cut into his cloak, the front buttons coming off, the remains of the cloak landing in a heap on the ground. Hao looked at it before looking at Ren, a flicker of irritation now dancing in his eyes. " You just never know when to give up, don't you?" he hissed, snapping his fingers, his Spirit of Fire towering behind him. " What's spurring you on?"

" My friendship with Yoh and my respect for Anna." Ren growled.

" Admirable." Hao said, nodding his head. " I always knew you were a good friend."

" As you are as a good brother?" Ren said.

This time it was not irritation, but it was anger.

Hao grabbed Ren by the collar, hate dwelling deep in his eyes. " If you don't know anything about me." he hissed. " Then just shut the Hell up."

" Oh. . .yeah?" Ren said, struggling to keep focused. " Says you and what army?"

Hao smirked and lit a small fire near Ren's throat, enjoying the sound of his gasping in pain. " You're scared, Ren." he said. " I know every single thought that's going through your head right now. You're angry at me. You're afraid of Anna. You're sorry for Yoh. And. . .you're worried for Pirika."

Ren's eyes snapped open.

" I knew that would get a reaction somehow." Hao said smugly. " You're afraid of dying here. Afraid of me killing you. Afraid of what Pirika would say if you. . ."

" SHUT UP!" Ren roared, throwing a punch at Hao aimlessly, missing, and Hao kicked Ren in the stomach, Ren flying backwards onto the floor, the rain falling down on him like pebbles from the sky.

Hao looked up and shut his eyes, allowing the rain to pour down on his face. " Come to think of it. . ." he whispered. " It was raining when I first met her too."

Ren opened a strained eye.

" You. . .weren't lying in the coffeeshop." Ren choked.

" I do not lie, Ren." Hao said.

" So you were telling the truth when you claimed to want Yoh and Anna to end up together?"

Hao kicked Ren painfully in the ribs and he gasped out, clutching his sides. " Just so you know. . ." Hao said pleasantly, like inviting a new friend to a birthday party. " Anna had the same characteristics as she did when she was just a kid. Reluctant to listen to orders, silent, beautiful. . .and to tell you the truth, rather spoilt."

" And what does that have to do with me?" Ren asked, struggling to get up.

" Nothing much, once I think about it." Hao said. " I just thought you would be interested in that, that's all."

" You. . .and your. . .twisted logic." Ren panted.

" If you would just care to listen to what I have to say to you," Hao said. " You would know that I am clearly on your side."

" You were always good at playing with words." Ren snarled.

" That I do not deny." Hao said, grinning broadly.

" And I will not be swindled into believing your lies."

" They are not lies, my dear Ren." Hao said, picking up Ren's sword and stabbing it in the shirt not far from his neck. Ren let out a gasp of breath at the dangerously close sword to his neck. " Now that you are unable to move," Hao said calmly. " I will have you listen to everything I have to tell you."

" Bok-chamma!" Bason shouted.

Ren glared at Hao.

Hao's face remained emotionless.

Ren shut his eyes before sighing.

" And. . .what would that. . .be?" he asked in defeat.

Hao smirked.

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It was around nine at the night when Hao and Ren entered Yoh's house. Yoh raised his eyebrows at the sight of them. " Wow, who spoilt their clocks?"

" Just went out for a talk, Yoh." Ren said wearily, sitting himself down on the couch.

" Indeed." Hao said.

Anna looked over the book she was reading and noticed that there were bruises all over their faces. " Where did you talk in? A rowdy bar?" she questioned.

" Sharp as always, Anna." Hao applauded.

" We just had a tiff, that's all." Ren said.

" Yeah," hao said, catching Ren's eyes and grinned. " Just a tiff."

Unknowingly, Ren grinned back.

" But we're alright now." he said.

" Quite correct." hao muttered. " Quite correct."

Yoh looked at Anna.

Anna looked at Yoh.

There was a sense of knowing that seemed to pass through the both of them when the two of them came to the same resolute point and motion.

They both shrugged.

END CHAPTER 17

So sorry to everyone who had to wait for around a month for my newest chapter! Hopefully the twist in the story would entice you a bit! Is Hao a friend or a foe? Is he trying to help Yoh or take Anna away? We'll find out in the following chapters to come. Not really surprised at all that in my vote Anna and Yoh reign supreme as the most favourite couple. However, Hao and Anna received a surprising amount of votes; even I did not expect so many of you to like these two. Chapter 19 will be up faster that this chapter was up, I promise the whole lot of you! Deal? This chapter did not have so much romance in it, but I promise that chapter 19 will be full of it! Well then, please look foward to chapter 19!