Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King, I do not own Shaman King, I do not own Shaman King.

Chapter Six: Just Talking

The Shaman King advanced towards the itako, no longer careful if he was heard or not. Anna already knew he was there. He was sure of that now.

She didn't acknowledge him as he arrived by her side. She continued to stare at the sky, at the moon, which was shaped in a perfect crescent. Yoh rested his elbows at the railing of the balcony. For a long moment, they stood like that, with Yoh occasionally glancing at Anna to see if she was still there.

Slowly, he began to panic. It was important that he would be able say the right thing at the right time. His heart began to beat faster, his breathing, heavier. Think, he urged himself, think!

From the corner of his eye, he saw Anna move. Just a little. Thinking it was a sign that said she was already running out of patience, Yoh blurted out the first that his panicked mind produced,

"You're hair is long."

Yoh mentally kicked himself, Shit. Did I just say that? What kind of comment was that? He was half afraid to look at her now. I blew it, he thought.

However, Anna was still there. She had now torn her gaze from the moon and rested it on Yoh, her eyebrow raised. "My hair was already long the last time we met," she remarked.

Yoh, who had fully expected to receive a slap from Anna for his stupidity, almost fainted in relief. But then, he reasoned, a slap would've been more familiar.

He thrust his hands inside his pocket and grinned sheepishly. "I know, but I didn't get to comment on it the last time," his voice softened, "you went away so fast, I didn't get the chance."

Anna turned away at this. Silently, she cursed herself. She didn't want this confrontation. Yet, she had allowed him to approach her. True to Yoh's suspicions, Anna did know he had followed her, and for some reason Anna herself did not know, she didn't avoid him.

Yoh knew he made a mistake. He shouldn't have brought the subject up so fast. He decided to back off, for now. Once again, he leaned against the railing, his head turned towards Anna.

"It looks good on you, the hair, I mean," he said as Anna gave him a puzzled look. "Not that the short one didn't look good or anything," he added hastily, just in case.

Anna didn't say anything. Yoh took this as a sign for him to go on.

"Will you believe that I came this close to having a punk hairstyle?" Yoh put two fingers close together, "Horo-horo almost convinced me four months ago that it was the way to go. Of course, there was a time I wanted to grow my hair really long-"

"You'd look like Hao," Anna retorted.

Yoh grinned, "Yeah. That's why I never did it."

He continued talking and for a while, Anna allowed his voice to wash over her. It had been a long time since she last heard it and for now, she was almost content to just listen to it and not do anything else. Strangely, it comforted her to hear such a sound. She supposed it was because it used to be so familiar, something that reminded her of the past, a time when life was a lot less complicated.

Yoh stopped talking suddenly and joined her in admiring the moon. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" he whispered. A silence ensued until finally,

"Anna, why did you go?"

Anna sighed softly. She knew it would come to this, sooner or later. Without looking at him, she said, "What do you want, Yoh?"

"I already told you what I want. I want to know why."

Anna shook her head and turned to face him. Her eyes were empty and emotionless, almost the same as when they were kids, but Yoh thought that this time, it was different.

"Yes, but what do you want that for, Yoh?" Anna asked quietly, "you don't need it."

"What are you talking about?" Yoh exclaimed incredulously, "Of course I need it. I need to understand everything that's happened. Why you went away, why you didn't come back, why after all those years that we'd been together, we come to this!"

Yoh breathed slowly, he was losing his cool, he knew that. He looked at Anna, who was, once again, silent. "Well? Aren't you going to say anything?"

"Yoh, you have a great life, don't you know that? You should learn to appreciate it."

Removing himself from the railing, Yoh said exasperatedly, "Can you stop talking in riddles?"

"I'm not."

"Then what do you mean I should appreciate my life? Of course I appreciate it," Yoh said.

"Then stop this."

Yoh looked at Anna in disbelief. What was she talking about? "What?"

"Go back to your friends, Yoh. What happened, happened. It was a long time ago. You should drop it." Anna said, without changing the expression on her face.

The Shaman King brushed his hand through his hair in frustration. "Look Anna," he began, "You want me to go back to my friends? Fine. Problem is, you're my friend, too, remember? I just want­–"

"We're not friends, Yoh."

Her words cut through him like a knife and for a moment he stood, rooted to the spot he was standing in.

"Wh-what?" he stammered.

"You should already know what true friends are by now," Anna looked at the ground, "friends are people who stick by you. I… I haven't done that, have I?" For a second, a strange expression flitted through her face. Was it guilt?

Yoh began to laugh. It was starting to make sense to him now. "Is that it? That's why you wouldn't come back?" he said, smiling widely. "Come on, Anna. You should know me better than that. Of course we're still friends, nothing's changed. I mean, I know we're no longer engaged but still, that doesn't mean we can't be friends, right? It's okay, I forgive you."

"I wasn't asking for forgiveness." Anna's voice had turned cold.

"Of course, you weren't," Yoh said, using a tone that sounded like he was talking to a stubborn child, "I'm just saying that you shouldn't be too hard on yourself, that's all"

Anna was angry. Yoh was starting to infuriate her! Why can't he understand that that wasn't the case?

"Yoh, I stopped being your friend the minute I left you in that forest eight months ago."

"Come on Anna, stop being–" Yoh started.

"And I wanted it that way."

For the second time, the words coming from Anna's mouth sent shockwaves through his system. Yoh looked at her, confusion starting to pour in. He thought he already knew what was going on but… what was going on?

"You, your friends and everything else that is connected to you, I already cut from my life, you should do the same about me." There was no emotion in Anna's voice; it was as if she had already memorized it word for word.

It took a great effort for Yoh to finally speak, "I don't believe you."

"Frankly, I don't really care if you do or not. The important thing I did what I came here to do."

Yoh steadied himself, he still haven't quite recovered from the blow she had given him. "You came to the Shaman Convention just so you can tell me that my friends and I are like insignificant bugs to you?" he asked sardonically.

If Anna was affected by what he said, she didn't show it, instead she was silent. In a way, she was glad Yoh had mentioned it. For a second, she had forgotten why she was in the Shaman Convention in the first place. It wasn't for Yoh, it was never about him. It was for something else. Something more important.

However, Yoh was the reason she didn't escape when she knew he was following her. She owed him the truth, even if it wasn't the whole truth. As long as she did that, her obligation was done and she wouldn't have to talk to him again.

"I still don't believe you."

Anna shook herself from her reverie and found herself staring at Yoh's eyes which were boring down on her. She shrugged her shoulders, "You don't have to, if you don't want to," she said.

"Anna, why are you doing this? Why don't you just tell me what happened five years ago, drink some tea afterwards and forget everything that happened?"

His tone was almost pleading and somehow, Anna was amused by this. Only Yoh could suggest something so ridiculous.

"If life would be that easy, then you won't have much of a job, would you, your highness?" she said coolly, referring to his title.

Yoh's emotions have already been building up a long time ago, giving way to anger, "That's right, I am Shaman King," he said, "And I order you to tell me what I want to know!"

It was feeble attempt; Yoh knew that Anna would never submit to that. Still, he waited for her answer, when she didn't give it, he said,

"I'm sorry Anna, I know I'm acting like a jerk." He sighed, "It's been weird, that's all. I just want to know why."

They were back to that again.

Why.

Anna was tired of it. "That's none of your business." She said.

"I could make it mine."

Anna's eyes turned hard as steel, "Leave it alone, Yoh. I don't want you anywhere near my life as of now. The only reason I'm talking to you right now is to tell you that. That's it. Now go back to your friends, go back to your girlfriend and leave me alone. We don't know each other anymore, alright?"

Uh-oh, bad idea. Anna thought as Yoh advanced towards her. Since they have been talking, they had a considerable distance between them. She took a step backward, but Yoh was already right in front of her. He placed his hands on Anna's shoulders firmly, but they didn't hurt her.

"You can't just decide to leave my life and then come back as you please without offering an explanation. You messed up my life, did you know that?" his voice sounded calm, but it was obvious he was anything but.

"Let go of me, Yoh," Anna said calmly.

"Look, I'm confused and I'm tired of it. Tell me what I need to hear and not that bullshit you've been dishing out earlier."

"I already told you what you needed to hear, now let me go. This conversation is over." Anna wriggled away from Yoh's grip but it was no use.

Meanwhile Yoh wanted to scream and shake her into her senses. Why was she doing this?

"Anna–" he started.

"She said let her go."

A voice came from the darkness and both Yoh and Anna whirled around to see who it was.

Keiji. For once in the whole evening, Anna was glad to see. When she said the conversation was over she meant it.

"I know you're the Shaman King, but if you don't let her go, I swear, I'll forget that that title," Keiji said dangerously.

Yoh was tempted for a second to take on his offer for a fight, but thought better of it. He had an image to uphold. Reluctantly, released Anna from his grip.

Keiji removed his eyes from Yoh and looked at Anna with concern. "Are you alright?" he asked. Anna nodded. "That's good," he threw Yoh a dirty look; "We should go, before anything else happens."

Yoh thought he was going to be sick. Who did this guy think he is? But as he watched Keiji led Anna away, he realized this may he just had to try one more time.

"Wait!"

They both stopped and Keiji frowned at him. Yoh ignored him and looked directly at Anna.

"Was it my fault?"

Anna avoided his eyes when she said, "No. It wasn't your fault."

a/n: So sorry I took so long, been really busy. I hope you're not mad at me or anything. I'll try to update faster. I mean, I'll try. Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter. It's the longest one I made so far. Hope it didn't bore you.