One Week

A/N: Ack, I'm sorry for not updating. Let's see … it looks like I haven't updated in about 2 months :( Well I apologize. It seems some of you guys are aggravated from the slow updating, hehe. Well I know one person seems really eager and encouraging for me to finish. That person is : yiLee. I would like to thank you for your reviews. You are a fantastic authoress and I admire your work, truly. You are so kind and you seem very interested in my fic and that means a lot to me :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King.

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/This chapter is dedicated to yiLee/

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Being Shaman King is tough. Sometimes there are some unfortunate accidents that happen, that I must take care of. These accidents are not surprising.

Living my life, it isn't easy. Things weren't not handed down to me so easily. There were some good times, and bad times. That goes the same for bad news.

And with that said .. that brings me to my point and where I am now.

'Heart disease'

I don't understand how something like this can happen. But not just to anyone … how can this happen to Anna?

I thought she was stronger than that. I thought she was a strong-willed person with a strong spirit. Never letting her guard down, nor the walls she built up around her.

Those walls that she has held up for the many years I've known her. But now, I think for the first time in her life, she was breaking down those walls.

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I let the tape stop, and when the tape stopped, I think my world did too.

Everything just seemed to freeze in place. I didn't know how to react to this. Out of all the bad events I've seen, all the bad news I've been told …. this was the worst.

Why did this have to happen to her?

To someone I've known for so long.

To someone I care about.

How could this have happened to Anna?

Questions built up and flooded my mind. They blinded my senses and I lost control of everything. That's when I felt something cold and wet. I lifted a finger to my eyes. I felt liquid. Tears were starting to form in my eyes.

I couldn't restrain it. Plus, I've always been a cry baby. Anna would know … since she's often been the main reason why I would bawl.

But .. this time was different.

The reason why I cried, remained. I was crying because of Anna. But not because she hit me, teased me, intimidated me, or bullied me.

I was crying because she was dying.

Once I realized this, I snapped back into reality.

Anna Kyouyama was dying.

Actual death.

When it comes to friends or family, I will immediately take action when they are in any sort of danger.

So I quickly wiped my tears, as Anna would've probably told me to do when I'm on the verge of a breakdown.

I had to be strong, for her.

I got up and ejected tape 1. I suppose the next tape would contain more information. I needed to know what was to happen next, for I surely did not know.

I threw tape 1 aside with the rest of the tapes on the bedspread and grabbed tape 2 and pushed it into the VCR.

Afterwards, I eagerly pressed 'Play' and awaited for what was next.

(A/N: Hmm.. why is it that I continue to change the scene once Yoh presses 'Play' ? I dunno, I'm weird XD)

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"Where's Daddy?"

Mina looked up startled at her daughter, having been in deep thought.

"O-Oh.. He's busy doing something upstairs."

"Oh okay. I'll get Daddy for you," Sakura offered as she pushed aside her chair and scampered away onto the stairs.

"No!"

Sakura stopped in her tracks and turned around to face her mother.

"What is it Mommy?"

"Umm .. I mean... you shouldn't bother your father right now. He's busy, okay?"

Sakura gave a reluctant face and walked back to her seat like a defeated soldier.

"Okay …I wonder what he's doing." Sakura said as she sat back in her seat.

"Me too," Mina whispered.

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"Hello Yoh. It's me again."

I silently gulped.

"Hey Anna.." I whispered.

"Okay … well I hope you've enjoyed tape 1," Anna laughed.

I was surprised to see her smile and hear her laugh. But her laugh was obviously a sarcastic one.

I smiled.

"Well Yoh … to start off. I'm sure you have some questions so let me answer them for you."

"Yoh, I do have heart disease and .."

For a second she was at a loss of words, trying to find the right words to say.

"What caused this was .. stress."

"Stress? How is it that Anna stresses so much that she has heart disease?" I wondered.

"Yoh, stress is considered a risk factor for heart disease. The effects of emotional stress, behavior habits, and socioeconomic status on the risk of heart disease and heart attack. I've learned that stressful situations have raised my heart rate and blood pressure, increasing my heart's need for oxygen. This need for oxygen can bring on angina pectoris or chest pain."

I had no idea that stress was such a big deal.

But one thing still bothered me which was why would Anna be stressing?

"But besides the whole stress lesson, I have a confession to make."

I scooted up closer to the television.

"I've … been doing some .. drinking lately. And .. I couldn't bring myself to stop. In my case, drinking is very bad. Drinking leads to high blood pressure, stroke, or cardiomyopathy, another type of disease."

When I heard this, my ears burned from what they've heard. I couldn't believe this.

Anna? Drinking? This couldn't be. This isn't like her!

"I'm sorry, Yoh."

I became even more confused.

"You're probably disappointed in me. I'm sure that you expect only good things from me, but I've disappointed you Yoh. I'm much stronger than this and yet, I let this all happen. I'm the cause of my own sickness. Plus, I don't mean to put you down with this news. I don't want to upset you now when you're probably already married and you have kids. I don't mean to disturb your life right now, when you're so happy. I'm sorry Yoh."

Anna bowed down her head, asking for forgiveness.

Now could I forgive her?

Of course.

But why did she drink in the first place?

I don't know..

I continued to watch the rest of tape 2.

After Anna was done speaking, she lifted up her head and then I saw tears in her soft eyes.

It seemed that Anna didn't notice the tears falling from her eyes until she brought her hands up to wipe them away.

"Oh god, I don't mean to be such a big baby about this." Anna cried.

I was shocked. Anna was crying. I've always wondered if the Ice Queen could cry, but now that I have gotten my answer. I regret wondering it.

Seeing her like this was horrible. All I wanted to do was bring her to me and cradle her in my arms, telling her everything's going to be okay.

No matter how many times I've said that, I think every time I've told her that, she would always believe me.

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A/N: Well …? How was it? I hope you enjoyed it to your liking. If not, then I'm sorry that I suck as a writer, ahah. Read and review! Please and thank you.