Disclaimer- I don't own Shaman King.
Edited 11/11/09
Waking up was always a noisy ordeal for Yoh. When they had first begun living together, it had been one of Anna's biggest pet peeves, but after four years of being married, Anna not only was used to it, she could even say she somewhat was glad for it. It alerted her as to when to begin plating up the food and get everything set on the table. For the first couple months after she had begun taking his impossible-to-ignore-cue, Yoh would come in, and upon seeing the steam rising from the plates would exclaim, "What are you, a magician?" causing Anna to turn around pretending to be doing dishes or wiping up the counter in order to hide her smile. By now, being greeted with breakfast had become a ritual, and Anna was no longer called a magician on a daily basis. Yoh would still tell her how much he appreciated it from time to time, and when he did so, Anna no longer turned to hide her smile.
She must have looked happier than she intended, because when Yoh walked in, his lopsided smile brightened when he caught sight of her. "It smells good," he said, making a point to close his eyes and deeply inhale the smell of French toast that hung in the air. His hair was a total mess, and the shirt he was wearing was inside out and so huge it was practically sliding off his shoulders. In the year since Yoh had won the Shaman Tournament, he had gained some weight, though not because he had eaten more, but because Anna had stopped training him as frequently and rigorously.
As he popped open the cap to the maple syrup, Anna thought about how much had changed since Yoh had won the Shaman Tournament. Their house, which had once reminded Anna of a hotel, had slowly emptied out, until it was just the two of them left. It seemed as though the common goal of winning the Shaman Tournament had gravitated the bunch together, and once it was won, everyone seemed to quickly disband and go their separate ways. Amidarmaru had even found his own lady ghost friend, whom he had spending copious amounts of time with. With everyone gone, Anna had begun to cook, since Yoh was completely helpless when it came to the art. She doubted he could use a can opener. For the most part Anna had given up on training, but every now and then, when she felt Yoh was getting a little too lazy, she made sure to whip him back in shape with a few intensive sessions. Besides that, in exchange for Anna cooking, Yoh did most of the household chores. Anna's high expectations coupled with Yoh's developed work habit made sure that he went above and beyond on his chores, which not only helped keep him in shape but left the house sparkling as well.
Everything seemed to fall together perfectly.
Of course, that wasn't to say Anna was including their relationship in the above statement. It could be considered more of a lack of relationship.
It was always difficult for Anna to read Yoh. His lazy-going attitude never seemed to falter, and neither ever brought up their arranged marriage. She loved him. He knew she loved him. She wasn't sure if she should take his silence on the matter as shyness or rejection. Even if he didn't love her like she loved him, she'd rather he just tell her. It became more painful as the years went on and she matured to live in such suspense.
"It's good," Yoh said, drawing Anna out of her thoughts. Some half-eaten French toast flew out of Yoh's mouth and Anna crinkled her nose in disgust.
"Chew with your mouth closed," she ordered, ignoring his compliment.
Yoh gave an easy laugh. "Come on, Anna. You're allowed to have some fun on Valentine's Day."
"What?" Anna's head snapped up.
"You know, Valentine's Day, the holiday where couples get each other chocolate and stuff?"
Valentine's Day? Anna's mind whirled. Last time she had checked the calendar, it had been the middle of January! Where had the time gone? How had it gone by so fast? She swore she would kill Yoh if he were pulling a fast one…
Yoh gobbled down his last bite, walking over and rinsing his plate. "Is it okay if I leave the plates 'till later? I want to get the grocery shopping done."
Anna nodded curtly. "Did you get me a present?" she blurted out. Realizing how rudely stated it was, she blushed, resisting the urge to throw her hands over her mouth in embarrassment.
"Uh…yeah," Yoh said, looking at her strangely. Anna supposed he had good reason. He didn't say anything else to her relief besides "See you later!" as he grabbed the keys off the counter.
Anna stared up at the big bright letters of the electronics superstore and groaned. She had to be the most unromantic and unoriginal person in the world. It was times like these that Anna wished Yoh and her had the same music taste so she could at least know a good CD to buy him.
She spent some time browsing through books hoping to find some good ones on Shamans and the like, but all the ones she found were laughably inaccurate. She looked around some more, but nothing popped out at her like she had hoped so she decided to resort to Plan B: buying Yoh a gift certificate.
As Anna approached the front of the store, she sighed. She had heard somewhere that saints cry over lost time, and she considered waiting in line one of them. The whole purpose of this outing was so that Yoh wouldn't find out she had forgotten about Valentine's day, and with the amount of time she had taken so far, he was sure to be home by the time she arrived back and ask where she was. It would probably be far worse to lie to someone you loved on such a day than to admit that you had forgotten about getting them something special. Either way, Anna would have to live with extreme embarrassment or extreme shame for the rest of her life, none of which sounded good at all.
Checking her watch, Anna frowned. It had been five minutes and the line had only moved one person. But her attention was quickly taken off the frustration concerning the line, when she heard a familiar voice say, "Anna?"
Her heart stopped a moment, and she turned around to see none other than Yoh.
In a move of desperation with not much thinking backing it up, Anna grabbed for the first thing she could find, which was a pack of trading cards. The little displays the stores set up to attempt to catch the customer's eye as they waited in the line had always been a source of mild annoyance to Anna, but had ended up saving her.
He walked up the remaining distance to meet her, one customer saying something about cutting in line, but Anna was too busy monitoring how close Yoh's feet had gotten to her while pretending to stare intently at the pack of cards.
His feet came into view, and she looked up at him, trying her best to give a nonchalant smile. "Y-Yoh," Anna stuttered, wincing.
"Trading cards?" Yoh asked in an amused voice.
It appeared the trading cards hadn't really saved her because they were a trap. "I collect them," she said in the most dignified voice she was able to muster. It was pretty awful to consider that just a moment ago she was thinking about how shameful it would be to lie to Yoh and that already, less that a minute later, she had resorted to doing just so. Of course, Yoh did say he was going to the grocery mart. So was he not the only one lying? Or maybe he had forgotten to get her a gift too! The idea that he had forgotten to get he a gift as well probably excited Anna more than it should have. Before he could inquire about her apparent collection of trading cards, Anna moved in to change the subject and call him out. "What happened with grocery shopping?"
Yoh laughed. "I did go grocery shopping! I just swung in here to get a CD I've been wanting for a long time." He waved around a CD he was holding. Anna squinted at the bands name, becoming further dismayed when she had never even heard of the album, much less the band itself.
"Well alright then," Anna said, not sure what to do now. She was pretty positive she did not want to start a collection of trading cards and had nothing else she was interested in buying. "I guess I better be going then.
Yoh cocked his head to the side. "Don't you want to stay with me in line?" he asked.
Like Anna could say no to that. "Sure."
When they got home, Anna rushed upstairs, ordering Yoh to do the dishes. When he responded saying that he had washed them all before they went shopping, Anna snapped back something along the lines of "well do them anyway." To say she was flustered was an understatement, and as she tore out all of her possessions, she found herself praying for a miracle, or more specifically a miracle that would turn her pajamas into a bunch of cutesy craft supplies so that she could do up something corny for Yoh. Up until this point in her life, she had always taken pride in her minimalist lifestyle. But there was nothing gift-like about any of her belongings, and even if they did have such a quality, there was no doubt that Yoh had already seen them.
Suddenly, she felt herself about to cry. This was bad. She didn't cry. Even as a child she hadn't cried, according to her mother. Unfortunately there was no denying it. She knew this foreign sensation well from the descriptions she had read in books and had seen in movies, but she didn't think it would feel so horribly familiar as she squeezed her eyes shut, demanding the tears go back to where they came from.
For all those years that she had strived to make sure Yoh wouldn't fail at becoming the Shaman King, she had forgotten about herself and was now failing at being a wife.
A wretched choke caught her off guard, and while wondering how such an awful sound had somehow come out of her, one tear slid its way down her cheek.
Then two. Then three.
And despite her desperate attempts to wipe them away, the number drastically increased until Anna knew that simply wiping them away would not help.
Then, to her complete mortification, the door slowly opened, revealing Yoh standing wide-eyed in the doorway.
Her vision was a little foggy from the tears, and it seemed like he was instantly by her side, embracing her in a warm hug. "Anna, what's wrong? You shouldn't be crying on Valentines day!"
She pulled away. "I didn't get you a present." She found she couldn't look Yoh in the eyes.
He laughed softly. "Woman and your material things. Don't you know Anna? You're more than I need." Smiling, he leaned down, kissing her.
The whole world stopped. It didn't matter that Yoh had walked in on her crying, or that she had forgotten to get him a present, or that one time she had forgotten to cook the potatoes before frying them. In later years, Anna would look back on the moment with a mixture of happiness and regret, because she had been thrown so off guard that all she remembered was the feeling of shock.
"I didn't buy you anything either," Yoh said. "That was your gift."
Anna was silent for a few moments, trying to think of something to say—some way to express how she felt right now. "Thank you," she finally said, settling for the only coherent thing she could think of. After all, she had a feeling that she had her whole life to let Yoh know exactly how he made her feel.
This may be a little AU—it's been over three years since I've read/watched Shaman King. Thanks much to puddingxownz for pointing out there are two different Valentine's Days in Japan.