Chapter 22. The one-sided truth finally comes out, after twenty one whole chapters of waiting. The last few chapters will be longer that the others. Please read and review.

CHAPTER 22

Hao entered the coffeeshop, a cheerful smile on his face as he made his way to the table where Yoh and the rest of the gang were sitting, four on one end of the rectangular table, three on the other. They noticed him come, and Ren glared at him, looking at his watch. " You're late." he said disapprovingly. " I thought you could appear in an instantwith the help of your Spirit of Fire. What the Hell took you so long? You're usually the earliest one to arrive when we meet up."

" That's right, Bok-chamma!" Bason said, bobbing his head furiously.

" My apologies," Hao said, sitting himself down between the two groups of people of the table. " I want to stay isolated so all of you can hear me clearly," he said, interrupting Yoh before he had a chance to speak. " What I am about to tell you is something I have keptsecret for the past few months. I believe when I finish telling you what I wish to say, none of you will wish to speak to me again, and will desire to attack me.I do not find that in any way a threat; just the opposite, it would be a long awaited relief."

" W. . .What do you mean?" Manta stammered nervously. " You're starting to freak me out."

A thin smile slid upon Hao's face.

" Does this have anything to do with your so-called lessons for Yoh?" Lyserg asked suspiciously.

" It has everything to do with the lessons of Yoh," Hao said lightly. " And the only reason why I have not been found out for such a long time is the fact that I still have a secret power hidden from all of you."

Their eyes widened.

" A hidden power?" Horo asked curiously.

" Yes." Hao said. " I thought Lyserg would know what I was talking about by now, since he spent so many of his years thinking of way to kill me; to find out my every weakness, and most importantly, my every strength."

All eyes were on Lyserg, who just stared back at Hao with a confused expression before it turned into shock and understanding. Hao nodded and crossed his arms across his chest. " That's right." he said, cutting into Lyserg's speech. At this, he turned to Ren, whose brow was furrowing deeper and deeper. " Why do you think Ren forgot such a small part of his life?" he asked the others casually.

" Wasn't that because of. . ." Manta started.

" I was lucky when you thought it was because of his fight with an attacker." Hao cut in, and Manta stopped abruptly. "I would think not. When he found out my true intentions I just simply had to manipulate his memory to forget everything from the moment he approached me in the library."

Ryu rose to his feet, arms raised.

" Don't." Yoh said plainly, and Ryu stopped in mid-action; turning to Yoh, hiseyes wide. Yoh looked up at him. " Let him finish whatever he has to say." he said. "Nothing comes out ofacting rash."

" You truly have grown up, Yoh." Hao said, amused.

" This sounds like a horrible joke, Hao." Faust said, suddenly seeming angry.

" And you want proof." Hao said, grinning, reading Faust's mind easily as day. After looking at him for a moment, Hao turned his attention back to Ryu, who after a moment of silence, sat back down again. " Since you want proof, I'll give it to you." he said quietly. " Has any of you seen Bason hovering near him while he was under my control?" he said. At this the coffeeshop suddenly seemed to darken, and thenlightened from the others understanding. " Also. . .has any of you seen Ren approach Pirika while he was under my control?" he continued, pointing his finger at Ren, whose face was ridden with sweat. Hao smirked. " Didn't think so."

" You piece of shit!" Horo Horo roared, getting to his feet this time, but in a second Yoh's hand was raised, stopping Horo Horo in his tracks. Horo's eyes widened and looked down at Yoh, whose gaze did not meet his, but was looking back at Hao. " Why did you choose Ren, of all people?" he asked his brother sullenly.

" Good question." Hao chuckled. " And in return I shall give you a good answer. I knew that in order to lay out my plan successfully, I couldn't do it by myself. I needed someone on the inside, and in a second I thought of the person I needed. Ren Tao. He was the smartest one out of all of you, and by far the most trusted. I believe I told that to you once, didn't I?" he said to Yoh, grinning; an action that for once Yoh did not return. " But just by that point alone it was not enough. So there was another fact added; he was the sole person besides Yoh thatAnna truly trusted. Hell, I believe she trusted Ren to further heights than Yoh. Thus, this added another point in my favour."

Yoh's face seemed to turn sour.

" So Ren was a piece on your chessboard." he said.

" Yes he was." Hao said. " His magical powers were well under mine, and I had a full amount of time to keep him well under my control. Throughout these last few months I have been feeding all of you hints of Ren's greatness of a friend, and what a loyal person he was. I think Yoh should remember most vividly."

Hao smiled. " Do people like Ren show to you acts of kindness?"

Ren stopped trying to ambush Hao from behind and paused.

" But yet you know he's your friend." Hao finished.

" Yeah." Yoh said sullenly, as Horo finally sat himself down.

The air at the table was so thick you could have cut it with a knife, and yet Hao was still smiling loungily. " I guess I should start from the beginning, shouldn't I?" he said. " It would be far too confusing if I just skipped back and forth with random scenes."

Silence.

" I'm still in love with Anna Kyoyuma." Hao said quietly, not looking at them now, but at the cup of coffee before him. " Ren was the first to notice this, and I realised straight away he was a threat to my well-being. However I could not do anything to him, because I knew I would need him later on. I believe Anna told you that I confessed my feelings to her, and in exchange she wanted me to give her a back rub. Despite what I did, she still shot me down. From the start, I wanted to try my luck with love again and paid a visit to the Asakura Household, only to see Yoh hanging up on the ceiling fan. That certainly was amusing." he added, his lips twitching.

He took a sip of coffee before continuing. " I found out from Yoh that Anna punished him for peeking at her in the shower. At this, I knew that the two of them still had not had physical contact yet. Thus, I used this as an excuse to get closer to Anna. In other words. . ." he said, looking straight into Yoh's eyes. " I did those lessons for my own gain, not yours. I believe I gave you a hint I would be getting Anna for myself before."

" She's really beautiful." Horo said, grinning at Yoh, who just turned another shade of red. " I would have gone after her long ago if it wasn't for the facts that she was Yoh's fiancé and that. . .well. . .she was so. . ."

" Scary." Ryu finished for him.

" And that if she wasn't Yoh s fiancé, I would be with her anyway." Hao said calmly.

" You were serious when you said that?" Horo asked, eyes wide.

" Yeah." Hao said. " Every word. Except she would still be mine even if she was Yoh's fiancee."

Yoh's hands gripped the cup before him, his knuckles whitening.

" But thanks to that, I found out Anna's sole weakness." he said, smirking. " From the start I wondered what was Anna's weakness, and finally I know. She's afraid of close contact." he finished, and Faust spat out the coffee that was in his mouth.

" Yes, that was my reaction at first too." Hao said, as Eliza wiped Faust's mouth gingerly. " I didn't believe it at first when Yoh told me Anna was embarrased that he peeked on her in the shower, so I did several other tests. At the night club before Anna saw you flirting with the girl at the bar, I hid you from view. As I did so, when our faces were close, I licked my lips. Obvious reaction, she blushed. That was test two. The third was the test with Horo Horo's tapes."

" That's strange." Yoh said, his eyebrows raised. " I didn't tell you about it."

" I read your mind when I entered the front door." Hao said.

" It's twenty dollars for a picture." Horo said, smirking. " But knowing you, you'll pay much more for that, won't you?"

Meanwhile, Yoh was blushing like crazy.

A picture of Anna. . .wearing nothing at all. . .God, that would be heaven. That would be. . .

" . . .Yoh being a pervert." came an amused voice from the door.

They looked up, and their eyes widened to see Hao grinning at them. " Sorry if I read your mind, Yoh." he said. " It's the thing that I'm most proud of. Apart from being so damn attractive, that is."

Yoh's eyes widened and Hao grinned.

" I guess you remember." he said. " You hid the tapes, but somehow they appeared on the table where Anna could find them easily."

The air seemed to turn rotten; sour like expired milk.

" It was you." Lyserg said, eyes wide.

" That's right." Hao said lightly. " I chose that one night where you promised to bring Anna out for dinner; one, to allow the romance between the two of you to slowly dispearse, and two, to let her be alone to watch the tapes by herself.I'm surprised you didn't want me to change the date for going out. The second time where you brought her out to dinner, I used a voodoo doll on you, to make you visualise Anna doing sexual actions to you. You thanked me, but then again I don't think you ever wondered. . ."

" Why you chose that moment to give it to Yoh." Ren snarled.

Hao smirked.

" Yeah, I suspected Ren was suspicious of that all along. I purposely did that so Yoh would not try to do anything to Anna in real life, for them to not have any romantic moments that night, and to make Yoh seem like a total idiot to her eyes. Later on Yoh asked me to give the same drug to Anna, but I refused, giving all sorts of lame excuses which you totally bought."

Yoh shivered.

" I did not want to take any chances to let Anna fall for you, and later on when Ryu requested it from Opacho, I secretly added a hiden ingredient inside it."

Yoh's eyes widened.

" What did you put in?" he asked.

" I used another test to confirm Anna's weaknesses." Hao continued, ignoring Yoh. " I did a bet with Ren to see if he could seduce Anna, knowing that his tactic to pick up women was by rough play. That was what he demonstrated in the night club anyway. I also knew his pride in his own way of seduction,which meant he would definetly take the bet in order to not look like a coward.Anna was afraid of contact, so I thought that would confirm my suspicions. However, Ren was too good a friend to be rough to Yoh's fiancee, and did a soft, sweet move. My plan, for the first time, failed.I tried it again; knowing Anna's timetable, I made sure she would catch me making out with a girl. I made a bet with her that if she could read Yoh's mind, she would find out how perverted he was. This was tosee the reaction of her hearing all the perverted thoughts of her precious fiancee.This plan succeeded extremely well."

" What drug did you put in?" Yoh asked once again.

Hao grinned.

" I made her dream of me." he said matter-of-factly. " I made her dream of me raping her inside the library. Finally, it was confirmed. Although unwilling, she was filled with lust for me."

" Asshole." Yoh muttered, gritting his teeth.

" But one thing did not go according to plan though." Hao said, taking another sip of coffee. " I knew that my control over Ren was dangling by a very dangerous thread."

" What do you mean by that?" Amidamaru suddenly implored.

" When a person is sleeping and you give him a sharp pinch, he wakes up." Hao said matter-of-factly. " It's the same concept. As long as someone so much as phurts Ren, he would regain conciousness. Thus, when he raged a fight with one of my 'friends', I knew that he would get injured, and my power over him would quickly disappear. But it was emminent that he would regain conciousness sooner or later; I was timing him by my stopwatch, and knew he only had a few days left before I had to do away with him. Whether it was lucky or unlucky of me, Ren got a blow in the head, and 'forgot' a certain part of his memory. He didn't forget it because of the blow, he forgot because he was under my control."

Bason looked up at his master worriedly, and found him drenched with sweat, shaking from head to toe.

" Kino sent two spies after me." Hao said, getting to his feet. " That old lady is under my control now. Just give her an injury; even the slightest of cuts, and she'll snap out of it straight away."

" Where are you going?" Manta yelled after him.

Hao smirked and turned around.

" I'm going to take my chance with love once again." he said.

The others rose to their feet concurrently, glaring at him with utmost hate.

" You wouldn't dare." Faust whispered.

" Try me." Hao grinned, making motion to leave.

" You- - -" Ren roared, taking a step to attack Hao when Yoh stood in front of him, looking right back at Hao. His eyes were not dead as one would expect, they were alive; a fire that had long been thought to be extinguished was lit once again.

" Let him go." Yoh said, and the others stared at him with looks of shock. Hao stopped in mid-step. " I knew all along of his yet still undying love for Anna. I just trusted him to not take action."

Hao said nothing.

" You'll still go after her no matter what I do or say, wouldn't you, dear brother?" Yoh said, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

" That's right." Hao said quietly.

Yoh sat himself down on the chair behind him. " Then go." he said.

Hao turned around, not a look of shock on his face, but one of pure anger and resentment. " I do not need your consent or obligation, Yoh Asakura." he said, his voice bubbling with rage.

" No, I do not think you do." Yoh said lightly.

Silence.

Several other customers and waitresses inside the coffeeshop had already started to look from their tables to see what the commotion was all about.

" Are you not afraid that I would rape or hurt her?" Hao said.

" If you did, I guess by that I would be sure that you were not in love with her, wouldn't I?" Yoh said serenly.

Hao just stared at him for a full minute before turning his back to him and the others.

" Your explanations have loopholes, though." Yoh pointed out to him as Hao made his way to the door. " Why did you not choose to put Anna under your control instead? Why did you not murder me when you had so many opportunities? What is your true motive, Hao?"

Hao had his hand on the door handle by now.

" I guess that's something you can only dream to find out." he muttered, wrenching the door open, facing the rain that falling from the sky in buckets. " The coffee is my treat this time." he finished. " Enjoy your hot cups of coffee while you can. God knows if that's the last source of comfort you and your pitiful lives can find."

With that, he slammed the door behind him.

The whole coffeehouse seemed to just focus on Yoh now, who just sighed and placed his cup of coffee down. " He won't harm Anna." he said quietly. " I know he's not a very nice person, but he would never harm the woman he loves. I can guarantee that."

" That's not the point, Yoh!" Manta exclaimed, speaking up all of a sudden. " What if he manages to steal Anna away from you? What if that was his true plan all along?"

" At this point, I don't know what to expect anymore."Ryu said miserably, sitting himself down on the chair behind him. " I was convinced from the start that Hao was our friend. . .What should we do?"

" All we can do now is wait, I guess." Ren said resolutely, and the others stared at him. " I doubt that Anna would even think of choosing Hao over Yoh; she detests the sole being of him. Besides, nothing comes out of being rash. The one person who should be the most worried is calmly sipping his tea. . .so I guess we don't have any reason to panic."

Yoh smiled up at him. " That's right." he said peacefully. " But even though he admitted being our enemy from the start. . ." he started, lifting the cup of coffee to his lips. " I still think he is our friend."

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Hao shut the door behind him firmly and made motion to walk foward when he saw Sumiko standing in the rain, an umbrella in her hand. He walked over to her, remaining expressionless as continued to move until they were just noses apart. The stood there staring at each other for a moment until Hao finally spoke up.

" I guess you heard everything, didn't you?" he said sullenly.

" Yes." she said quietly. " Yes I did."

" Was it worthy enough to write point-by-point into your little memo that you plan to give to Kino?" he said sarcastically.

" There's no use in that," she said flatly. " You have her under your control now, don't you?"

" That's right," he said.

Silence.

" So I guess you believe I'm a spy for her, don't you?"

" I know that," he said. " Frankly speaking, I don't care less what the Hell you are. Stay in my house, move out, commit suicide, do whatever the Hell you want. You came here to spy on me, didn't you?"

" No." she said. " I brought you an umbrella."

" You do know water simply bounces off me, don't you?" he said, voice so calm yet so gripping. " Or did you simply forget?"

When she said nothing, he simply stepped past her.

" I will be back late tonight." he said. " Tell Opacho I won't be home for dinner."

With that, in a burst of flames, he disappeared.

Sumiko just stood in the rain, looking at her feet silently.

" Yes," she said. " Hao-san."

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There was nobody in the house.

Something that had not happened for the past eight years. Anna was so used to Yoh and his friends popping in and out of the house that with them amiss, the house suddenly seemed as hollow as the insides of an egg cup. She made herself coffee before sitting down in front of the television set, sighing peacefully. " I should tell Yoh to get out of the house more often," she said, sipping her coffee approvingly. " I haven't had a quiet moment in this house since the day I moved my things in here to stay with him. I should give him a call to tell him to take his time to get back. Every girl deserves some time along once in a while."

At that, like a nasty joke, the doorbell rang.

First she made motion to answer it when she stopped and shook herself, taking another sip of her drink.

" I didn't hear anything. . ." she muttered to herself.

The doorbell rang again.

" I'm having my afternoon shower, the water's turned on so loud I can't hear the doorbell ringing. . ."

The doorbell rang, once again.

" What was that catchy song from that diaper advertisement? La la dum. . .da le dum de dum. . ."

The doorbell rang for the fourth time.

" Hold on. . .it was La la dum dum, da le dum de dum. . ."

It was as the doorbell rang for the fifth time when she placed the cup of coffee on the table and glared at the door menacingly. Muttering multiple curses within single sentences, she walked over to the door, unlocking it with sheer brute force. " Whoever this is, it better be good or I'm going to rip out your heart and stick it down your throat!" she yelled, opening it to come face-to-face with Hao Asakura, who was holding up a packet of rice crackers like a peace offering. His face bore the usual annoying smile.

" Having a good day?" he asked pleasantly.

" Right before you came." she muttered; her body still blocking the entrance of the doorway. " Where's Yoh? I thought you were having dinner with him?"

" He's still at the coffeehouse with the others." Hao said calmly. " Can I come in?"

" What for?" she asked suspiciously.

" Relax," he said, chuckling. " I just wanted to wait here for him; I finished eating before the others, so I said I'd head back here first. What, you think I killed all of them?"

" One can never let their guard down when Hao Asakura is involved."

" My, you're starting a fan club all for me, aren't you?" Hao said, chuckling, as he walked past her, removing his shoes as he stepped past the door mat. She glared at him for a moment before walking in right behind him, and paused as he sat himself down on a chair in the living room. He sat there leisurely for a moment before grinning up at her, shrugging his shoulders. " Are you waiting for me to invite you to take a seat?"

" Shut up." she snapped, sitting down. " I do whatever I want whenever I want."

" That's sweet." he said. " Is it alright if I have a drink?"

" No." she said coldly.

" Do you have any coffee here?" he asked, ignoring her reply.

" You were at the coffee house."

" Where's your whipped cream? I hate it when I don't have that on top of my espresso. It's almost unhealthy to have coffee without toppings." Hao said, once again ignoring her reply.

" Hao, what the Hell are you here for?" Anna demanded, and Hao stopped. " Just cut to the chase, will you?"

It was at this when he stopped looking for the cream and shut the cabinet before turning around to face her. " You're not a woman who's fond of small talk, aren't you?"

" No, I can't say that I am."

He scratched the back of his head.

" Anna. . ." he started uncomfortably, and she cocked her head. " I love you."

" That's a good one," she snorted. " The great Hao Asakura falling for the imperfect Anna Kyoyuma."

" I think you're perfect." he said quietly, looking deep into her eyes.

Something inside her broke, but she shook it off. This was Hao Asakura who was standing before her. Not Yoh, Hao. Nothing that he said could be believed, nothing he stated could be trusted.

" You never cared about anyone in your life," she said. " Why the Hell would you suddenly fall in love with me?"

" What do you mean suddenly?" he asked, his voice suddenly turning sour. " You very well know that I've had deep desires for you since the day you slapped me during the Shaman King Tournament."

" That was six years ago." she snorted.

He said nothing.

Her eyes widened.

" I heard what Yohmei said to you." he said calmly, taking a bold step towards her. " He said that I was like the river, and that my feelings and emotions could change at any moment of time. I actually agree with him; if I was you I wouldn't trust myself either. However. . ." he continued, taking another step towards her. " Why are you the one person who no matter what I do, I can't erase from my heart?"

Anna, for once, felt her heart soften towards him.

" Hao. . ." she whispered softly.

" I still have your birthday present, by the way." he said, managing a small smile as he pulled out the necklace that was hidden under his coat. When she said nothing to that, he took one final step towards her until they were just noses apart. A sad smile lit upon his face; his hand reaching out to stroke her cheek affectionally. Surprisingly, she did not pull away. They just stared at each other as Hao threaded his fingers in her silky blonde hair. " You're really beautiful, you know that?" he muttered quietly. " If I didn't see you at first I would have thought you were an angel that dropped from the sky. Everything about you is unblemished, your legs. . ." a lone finger stroked her thighs and she shivered. " Your waist. . ." he went on, his devilish fingers drifting up to her upper body. " Your breasts. . ." he said, raw hunger in his eyes and she shivered. " . . .All the way to your dreamboat eyes." he finished, a small smile on his face.

Anna bit her bottom lip.

Damn, he was good at this.

Her brain was screaming at her to pull away, to slap him, to just stay as far as possible away from him. But something inside her was begging for his touch; so full of desire and so lustful that it scared her.

" I know you're tired of your current life, Anna." he said to her. " You're misunderstood by Yoh and all his friends. None of them dares to touch you, to talk to you, or even to stay in the same room alone with you. In a strange way, I'm the only person in the world who truly understands you."

Her hands gripped her dress tightly.

" Come with me." he said. " I'll love you forever and ever. And you know that I will."

" I. . ." she started.

He pulled her towards him into a hug and she gasped at the sudden contact. He moaned as he took in a waft of her intoxicating perfume, and pulled her tighter to him, just wishing that they could stay in this embrace for eternity. He had never been so close to her before, and he was unwilling to let her leave his side again. It was as he placed small kisses on her neck when she pushed him away, an oddly unguarded and troubled expression on her face. " I want you to leave, Hao." she said in a voice of forced firm. " Please. Get out of my house."

" Why are you denying me, damn it?" he yelled, frustrated. " You know that my love for you is ten times stronger and deeper than the respect that Yoh has for you! He's too afraid of you to do anything intimate with you. That fear would soon turn to mistrust, to dislike and then eventually hate! Why can't you see the light, Anna? Why can't you see that I love you more than Yoh loves you?"

" That may be so. . ." Anna said silently, almost mercilessly. " But I love him."

His face fell.

" . . .Not you."

God, she wished she felt as confident as she sounded. There was an internal struggle that was going on within her; his words were so strong and powerful that there was actually something within her that wanted to follow him. Yet there was something else inside her. And that part of her belonged solely to Yoh Asakura, the man she loved. She was about to leave when she noticed a lone tear falling from his face, and her eyes widened. He wiped it away hastily, looking away from her.

" I'm sorry." she said, feeling a pang of guilt.

" Don't be." he said lightly. " It's not your fault you hate me, right?"

" I don't. . ." she started, and he blinked. " I dislike you. I could never. . .hate you."

He let out a somewhat forced smile. " Thank you." he said, bowing. " That's better than nothing, I guess."

She laughed rather nervously, and he smiled.

It was at that when he turned away from her and started to make his way to the door, pointing to the packet of rice crackers that he had left on the table. " Those were for you." he said. " At first all I wanted to do was to give them to you, but I ended up bawling like an idiot. Immature, isn't it?"

" You should do that more often." she said, and he turned around.

" Excuse me?" he asked curiously.

" You're too professional at your work." she said. " Whatever you do is fixed; pick-up lines are rehearsed, actions are practiced, even jokes and stories are copied from other people."

He looked at her with a dawning expression.

" Is that why you chose Yoh over me?" he asked. " Because he was imperfect?"

" You'll never know that, won't you?" she said, smiling slightly before turning around. " Goodbye, Hao."

He watched her walk away for a moment, wiping away the last of his tears before running up to her. He grabbed her hand, turning her around to face him. " Do you remember Yoh's birthday?"

" Yes. . ." she said slowly.

" Remember when you lost to me in a bet and had to do one sole thing for me?"

" Yes. . ." she said again.

" I said I wanted you to kiss Yoh. But do you know what I really wanted?"

Yes, she did.

" Please let me kiss you." he whispered.

She just stared at him as he touched her cheek softly, before closing the gap between the two of them. As soon as their lips touched each others, Hao moaned and pulled her closer to him, wrapping his arms around her slim waist. She whimpered as she placed her arms on his chest in a vain attempt to pull away from him. It was seconds, minutes, hours before he pulled away from her, both of them panting for breath.

He looked at her for a minute before putting on his shoes, turning his back on her for the last time.

At that moment, something dawned upon her.

" Hao. . ." she said slowly. " Wasn't that. . .?"

" Yes." he answered. " That was my first kiss."

And at the snap of his fingers, Hao burst into flames before vanishing from the front of the Asakura Household.

Anna pressed her fingers to her lips gingerly before walked over to the door and sighed.

" Hao. . ." she whispered. " I truly am sorry."

On the other end of the door, Hao smiled sadly.

" Yeah." he said, a tear falling from his face. " I know."

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Yoh sipped his coffee.

The others waited.

Yoh put the cup down, wiped his mouth, smiled at a nearby waitress before taking another sip of coffee.

The others waited.

" Are you quite done, Yoh?" Manta asked, eyebrows raised, rapping the table. " All of us have finished our coffees already, I've never seen you enjoy a cup of mocha so much before."

" Well, today's batch tastes better than yesterday's, anyway." Yoh said calmly.

" That's true." Faust said, as Eliza dipped two sugars into his coffee before handing it to him.

" Yoh, what the Hell are you doing?" Horo asked impatiently. " You do know that Hao placed a curse on the coffeehouse to lock everyone inside it until all of us finish drinking our coffees, don't you?"

" Yes, I suspected he would do something like that." Yoh said, ever so peacefully, grinning as two teenage girls struggled with the vice-like doors, slamming their bodies against it.

" Then why don't you just bolt it down?" Lyserg asked, impatiently now.

" It seems like such a horrible waste." Yoh said, smiling at him.

Ren opened his mouth to argue when he noticed something. The similarity between the expressions of both Yoh and Hao in the past was appalling, and he finally realized what Yoh was doing. He was giving Hao time. He did not know why Yoh was being so merciful to a man who found out Anna's sole weakness, physical contact, but when Horo mentioned Hao's name, there was that small smile that curved upon Yoh's face, seemingly like a recognition, like a sign of forgiveness.

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Sumiko was sitting at the dining table alone, reading a book quietly while chewing on a lemon when the front door suddenly opened, and there stood Hao Asakura, looking tired and forlorn. She ignored him as he stepped past her and sat down on the chair opposite her, flipping to the second page sullenly. He took a second glance at her before walking over to the refrigerator. " Did you cook anything for dinner?" he asked.

" I'm not a good cook, Hao-san." she said mildly.

" Oh." he said, his stomach growling. " Never mind then. Are you free tomorrow morning? There's this new sushi restaurant that just opened two blocks from here. I was hoping to try it out for breakfast."

She shut her book. " I thought you wanted me to leave." she said.

He blinked.

" I was upset when I said that," he started, feeling strangely guilty about the whole ordeal. After all, it wasn't her fault that she wanted to bring him an umbrella. " . . .I'm sorry."

She lay the book down and removed the spectacles from her eyes. " I'm sorry too, Hao-san." she said softly. " I've been lying to you about my identity from the very second we met. I was sent from Kino to spy on your every move."

" Yeah, I guessed that she would do that. But there's no need for that anymore anyway," Hao said sullenly, sitting down beside her. " Because I doubt Yoh and the others would let me take a step near them anyway."

" The incident in the coffee house?" she asked shrewdly.

" Yeah. . ." he said sheepishly. " Do you think I was too hard on them?"

" A tad, Hao-san."

He nodded, before grinning at her.

" What's with all the formality?" he asked, laughing slightly. " Just call me Hao."

" I can't do that."

" Well. . ." he said, raising his eyebrows.

" Would Asakura do?" she said.

" Er. . ." he started, before sighing. " I guess so."

" Thanks." she said quietly. " . . .Asakura."

He smiled at her before getting up from his seat.

She continued to chew on her lemon before taking it out of her mouth. " I've been spying on you for around a week now." she said quietly. " And I noticed something about you that I didn't think I would; being the fact that you have so many friends, and have had so many past relationships."

He stopped in his steps, his back facing her.

" And what would that be?" he asked.

" You're lonely."

Time seemed to stop right there, and Hao turned around to face her. She had already got up to her feet, and was walking over to him, a strangely concerned look on her face. Everything else other than the two of them had seemed to cease moving, and Sumiko suddenly seemed like a sole human being in a puppet show. The birds outside the window seemed to stop flying, a dog was standing up against the tree in mid-bark, a man outside had one foot in mid-air, the other leg being the only thing keeping him to the ground. It was like the whole world outside had stopped for this sole moment. He looked at her, bewildered, and she just stared right back at him.

" What do you mean by that?" he asked.

" I see you crying in your sleep." she replied without a trace of emotion. " I see you spending most of your time alone in your room, looking out the window. You have no photographs of your loved ones, you do not get phone calls from friends to ask you to go out for the movies, or even to have dinner together."

He just stared at her in bewilderment.

" You've been doing your research." he said.

" Well, I've- - -" she started, but she was cut off by Hao's lips pressing firmly against hers.

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" Hao confessed to you?"

" Yes," Anna muttered. " I told him to forget it because I still belonged to Yoh, and I'm sorry to say this, but I'm feeling rather guilty about the whole ordeal."

Tao Jun sighed and scratched the back of her head, looking at Anna in somewhat of an appraising look. " What I'm worried about the most now is Hao's current emotional state."

" What do you mean?" Anna asked, puzzled.

Tao Jun sighed rather sheepishly. " That's right, you don't have a clue about feelings, don't you?" she muttered under her breath before her face turned serious once more. " When a man is feeling downright depressed because he was shot down by the woman he loves, he most likely will feel strong feelings for the girl nearest to him."

" But Hao's living without any females in his apartment." Anna said.

" Is that so?" Jun said, sounding relieved. " Then that's alright I guess. The most Hao would do now is to hit night clubs and sleep around. Which is pretty similar to what he did before you shot him down, anyway." she finished, the corners of her lips twitching.

" But what would it be like if Hao was living with a girl?" Anna asked curiously.

" Well, it's pretty understandable if Hao acts the way I think he would." Jun said, shrugging. " Emotions are pretty tricky things, you know. After being shot down, a man feels unflatteringly insecure. Especially a playboy like Hao. Suddenly, the closet woman next to him would seem unexplainably attractive."

" Would that be long term?" Anna asked.

Jun sighed.

" That's the sad thing." she said. " It's usually in the heat of the moment. . .I sincerely believe that he will regret whatever he does the next day."

" That's pretty tragic." Anna said.

" You think?"

" I guess it's good that Hao lives in a house devoid of females."

" I guess so." Tao Jun agreed.

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" Oh God. . ."

Hao pushed Sumiko backwards against the table, one of her hands hitting against the table behind to stop herself from falling, the other clenching the coat covering Hao's chest, her eyes wide open with shock. However, the one most surprised in the room had to be Hao himself. It was just not like himself to act on impulse. Yet, somehow, he did not want to stop. He did not know what had come over himself, or why, but he was lost in Sumiko's lips; a raw hunger overcoming him as he longed to touch her, to kiss her, to love her.

He grasped both her milky legs before pushing her onto the table, laying her down before getting on top of her. He pulled away from her for a second to look deep in her eyes, and there was something in them that he found unexplainably attractive. There was fear, and there was confusion. As he buried his face in her neck, biting down hard on it to receive a painful gasp from her, he found out she was similar to Anna in many ways. One was that both of them were silent, hard to approach and mainly just plain beautiful.

The other thing was that they never had close contact with a man for all their years of living, and it excited Hao to know he was the one who would soon take over one of them. One of his hands dug into her skirt, his fingers pressing against her secret place, and she moaned, her hands pressing against his chest desperately.

" Asakura. . ." she breathed.

" Call me Hao," he muttered, a finger drawing onto her black blouse, ripping off the buttons, and shrugged it off her shoulders, leaving her in nothing expect a black bra. He pressed his lips against hers now, more forcefully still, and she gasped as his tongue entered her mouth, his hands still continuing their furious assault onto her body.

" Asakura, please. . ." she pleaded.

" It's Hao, Sumiko." he whispered, pressing kisses on her pale skin.

Her body was nowhere compatible to Anna, but she was beautiful in her own way; her skin was pale and white, her body was still sculpted to perfection. He practically had to force his finger into her, hearing her let out a strangled cry, trying to push away from him in vain. He smirked deviously, inserting a second finger into her now, listening to her painful cries. God, this felt good. He bet she would be crazy in bed. Not anywhere near Anna, though, but. . .

His eyes widened.

Anna. . .?

He pulled away from her, leaving her on the table, half naked. She grabbed up her clothes, looking at him in fear. He looked away from her, getting to his feet. They stayed in this position for a moment, silence filling the entire household except for the dull tick of the clock on the ceiling of the kitchen wall. " I'm sorry," Hao muttered. " I don't know what came over me just now. . ."

She said nothing, her breath still coming out in pants.

" Are you free for breakfast tomorrow?" he asked.

" I guess so." she said silently, desperately trying to breathe normally again.

" See you then." he said, walking away from her, but stopped at the entrance of the kitchen. " Once again. . .I'm sorry." he said before exiting, his footsteps heard making its way up the stairs until it was silenced by the slam of a door.

Sumiko put on her shirt quietly.

" It's alright." she said.

But Hao did not answer her.

Nothing answered her but the dull sounds coming from the darkness of the night.

END CHAPTER 22

Well, this chapter was a trifle longer than the others, wasn't it? Proud grin Yes, I know. Well, finally Hao's secret is out for everyone to hear. However, is this the whole truth? Or was it just a white lie? The other side of the story will be out in one of the last three chapters. Well, I have one last exploding news to tell you. Yoh and Anna most likely will. . .er. . .make love, in either the next chapter, or the one after. How great is that? I'm amazed I've been able to hold these two lovebirds off for twenty two whole chapters! Damn, I have to tell you, it took a lot of willpower in me. The next chapter will be back to love and romance, everyone! Ren and Pirika might get their romance scene together, while Yoh and Anna might finally get their loving moment! I promise chappie 23 will be up as soon as possible!

Just some background info, I love the number 23. It's Michael Jordan's The Greatest basketball player in the universe jersey number and it is a number to be respected. Well, you might not care much about that, but I just wanted to remind everyone about his greatness. Lolz. Please look forward to chapter 23!

Writers love reviews, Please be a responsible reader, and review if you enjoyed the chapter! Feedback is what I need the most from all of you:) Well then. . .see you soon!