Chapter 6- Choking on Your Alibis

(One Month Later)

'It's been so long since I talked to him.' the Itako thought while munching on a Japanese rice cracker and staring at the T.V., but not really paying attention to it; she was lost in her own little world. The house just seemed so empty lately, well there were other people living there with there, but still, without him the month felt more like a whole year. Everyday Anna would stare out her bedroom window hoping that the shaman she's been longing to see again would come walking home with that smile he always wore when he's trying to cheer a friend up. Anna glanced over at the gang who were at the moment watching some dumb show on satellite and laughing like a bunch of idiots.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! Check out the she-male! It reminds me a little of Faust!" Horo snorted while tightly holding his stomach so his guts wouldn't explode from laughter.

Faust turned around and stared at the bluenett with no emotion, causing him to shiver.

Horo stopped laughing. His expression suddenly changed to the one of a little kid who had dropped his ice-cream cone on the pavement and quickly grabbed onto Ren's arm and buried his face in his shoulder like a frightened child.

"Ren...he scared me." he whimpered.

"Oh Horo. You're so sexy even when you're on the verge of pissing your pants." Ren smiled lustfully at the frightened Ainu.

"Oh Ren! Kiss me you sexy son of a bitch!"

"Hey my mother is not a female dog! Mmmmmm." Horo pulled Ren down on the floor.

Manta sweat-dropped. "They've been at each other like that ever since they started dating. I wouldn't be surprised if they already fuc-"

ANYWAYS! I think I need a morphine refill!" Faust quickly changed the subject to avoid talking about Ren and Horo's sex life, even though he knew the basic steps and what is required for male sex; being a doctor and all. So Manta didn't even try to bring it up again seeing that Faust could just easily play a little game of 'operation' with him.

Anna sighed and glanced over at the clowns who were at the moment a little preoccupied with very...let's just say, 'interesting' activities.

'Everyone just seems to have someone. Faust and Eliza, Ren and Horo, Jun and Bailong...everyone except me' Anna thought.

"Sigh."

"...oh ya? Well you look like a mother fu-"

"Sigh!"

"...well for your information, Horo and I had really hot sex last night, and that's not the best part! He unzipped my pants and sucked on my-"

"SIGH!"

Everyone jumped and averted their attention towards the pissed off Itako.

"What is the matter Miss Anna?" Ryu asked a bit shaken up and trying to get on her good side.

"Have you guys heard anything from Yoh lately?" she asked trying not to sound too rude since she's so used to ordering other people around.

"No we didn't. Not even by phone or online. Heh heh funny thing is, I was just about to ask you the same question. Heh heh heh maybe it's ESP or something!" Manta said trying to cheer up his friend.

"Oh, I see.." Anna lower her head in disappointment so her blond hair could fall in front of her face to shield herself of embarrassment. Never has she actually felt sad that she hasn't seen someone in a long time before. But as noted before, Yoh was someone different to her. Someone that no one else can ever replace. Yoh was Yoh. And nothing can change that.

"Oh Anna, don't worry about it. I told you, he said he just needed some time alone. He's not going to be gone forever. " Manta said reassuringly.

"But that's not what's bothering me Manta. What's wrong is the fact that he didn't believe me when I told him about what really happened between me and Hao. I want him to be able to trust me again."

"Well then, you're just going to have to let him know that somehow."

"Eh?" Anna turned around and saw Jun Tao at the doorway with her bodyguard Bailong.

"Hello everyone! Can we come in?" Jun waved gracefully at the doorway waiting to be invited in.

"Of course." said Anna

Jun made her way to where everyone else was seated and smiled at Ren making him blush with embarrassment.

"ACK! Must you humiliate me in front of everyone else sister?" Ren snapped. Despite his tough-guy act, it was obvious that he was just as glad as Jun was to see each other again. He was really close to her after all.

"Oooooo. Ren, you're so sexy when you're ticked off. Makes me wanna-"

"FOR CRYING OUT LOUD HORO MY FRIGGIN' SISTER'S HERE! I WOULDN'T EVEN WANNA MAKE LOVE TO YOH RIGHT NOW!"

Everyone gasped. Anna suddenly turned around and glared at Ren. "Would you mind repeat that last part?" she smiled as her head twitched.

"YA! WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA REN?" demanded Horo.

"Oh...urm..nothing!" studdered the Chinese shaman.

"Oh Ren you're so cute! Hahaha! Don't mind me, just feel fre to do whatever you want with who ever you want! Just pretend I'm not here!" she smiled.

"Ok... You're really starting to creep me out Jun." Ren slowly moved away from her.

"But how am I going to let him know? He doesn't even want to talk to me anymore." Anna sighed ignoring the previous conversation that they were all engaged in.

"I can answer that." Ren said out of the blue.

"You say that he doesn't even want to talk to you anymore and yet you didnt even make an effort to encourage him to face you by contacting him somehow. I mean you did tell us before that he caught you and Hao in the middle of something which he misinterpreted. So have you thought that maybe, just maybe he feels as though he's not good enough for you and by not talking to him, you give off the impression that he's so pathetic that he's not even worth the effort?"

"Ren...I..." Anna studdered as everyone stared wide-eyed. Since when was Ren Tao such an expert when it comes to love? Maybe advice about one-night stands, but actual LOVE?

"He's right dear Anna," Faust started. "nothing hurts more than the feeling that you're not good enough for the person you love most; or in your case, your 'fiance'."

"But that's not true! I-I..!"

"Now ask yourself this Anna, do you truly love Yoh enough to go through anything to win him back?" asked Faust.

"Uh...I...I"

"It's okay Anna, you don't need to rush."

By now, tears were desperately pouring down Anna's cheeks. "YES! I LOVE HIM! I LOVE YOH WITH ALL MY HEART! DID YOU HEAR THAT ASAKURA YOH? I LOVE YOU!" she collapsed on Jun's lap bawling like she's never bawled before while saying her fiance's name between sobs as she clench on Jun's dress for comfort. Everyone gathered around trying their best to sooth Anna's pain, but their efforts seemed to be in vain.

"Geez Faust did you really have to be that hard on her?" Horo said giving Faust an I-can't-believe-you-did-that look.

"Now now, mien dear friend. When it comes to love, I have to most experience in that matter. Isn't that right my sweet Eliza?" Horo turned to the direction to where Faust was smiling and almost immediately had the crap scared out of him as Eliza appeared out of no where and nodded sending back a smile to Faust.

"DUDE!" shouted Horo. "Sigh. I don't think I'll ever get used to this." he said as he slouched in depression.

Jun leaned over to Anna's ear. "You know, it's not too late to let Yoh know how you feel." she whispered.

Anna looked at her asthe Chinesegave her a reassuring smile.

-------------

(next day)

"You can't be serious!" You're really gonna go after him?" spazzed Manta.

"That's right." Anna nodded while packing her bags without a care in the world. Well, except for one and that had to do with you-know-who.

"First Yoh goes all drama-queen and leaves, and now you're leaving too? What next, Lyserg gets a sex change? God! When will it end?"

"I won't be gone forever." she said in a quiet voice. More quieter than her usual nagging tone in the morning or any other time of the day.

Manta rolled his eyes. "Ya, that's exactly what Yoh said before he vanished for like a whole month!"

Anna sighed and looked at her vertically challenged friend. "Look, I'll go and talk to Yoh in person. If he still doesn't understand, well, then I'll come straight back. How's that sound?"

Manta sighed as he was getting ready to leave the room. "Do what you want. It's your life. All I want is for you two to stop acting like a couple of drama-queens and just return things back to normal." he turned around and smiled. "Okay?"

Anna smiled back. "Okay." she nodded. For some reason Manta made her actually feel confident that Yoh and her can put this all behind them. Sure, Manta wasn't exactly the closest friend Anna had, he was more like a servant or a maid around the house back then, so they never really had a chance to actually 'talk' like normal friends. But just having him in her presence really comforted her because at a time like this, she could really use a friend.

"Well, I'll just leave you alone right now to pack. Say hi to Yoh for me 'kay?" With that, Manta left her alone to pack her belongings.

'I'll just go and see him. If it doesn't go well, then I'll decide what to do.'

She sighed. "If only you knew how much I miss you right now..." Anna looked out the window, lost in the beauty of the blue sky that reminded her so much of Yoh. If only, just only that situation didn't happen they wouldn't end up in this mess right now. They would carry on they're daily routines and arguments and...god, did she mess him. Just one glimpse of him. Just one, was all she wanted the most in the world right now.

"I love you..." Anna whispered.

"I love you..." Yoh found himself saying as he stared at the picture of him and Anna when they were little that he had left behind when he moved to Funbari. No matter how hurt he was, he still couldn't fight the passion he had for her inside his heart. But it doesn't matter now because he feels so distant from her that he's starting to think that nothing can go back to the way they were. This was just like Hao! Always trying to take away the things that Yoh had and he didn't. Obviously that included Anna.

"Dammit Anna. Why is it when everytime I do try to forget about you, I think of you even more?" Yoh shook his head and cleared everything in his mind. He focused on only the tunes coming from his radio.

"You're listening to Mix 99.9! Up next we have Maroon 5, 'She Will be Loved'."

"Wha..." groaned Yoh.

"...I don't mind spending everyday, out on your corner in the pouring rain."

"Why do you torture me?" Yoh said out loud.

"...Look for the girl with the broken smile..."

"Shut up!"

"...and ask her if she wants to stay a while..."

"Screw you..."

"And she will be loved..."

"I'm warning you. Shut up!"

"...and she will be loved..."

"Seriously S.T.U.F!"

"...and she will be looooooooooooooved."

"SCREW YOU!" Yoh threw his pillow at the radio as an attempt of shutting it off but instead just changed the station.

"Up next we have Matchbox 20 in 'If You're Gone'. You're listening to 102.9 K-Lite FM."

"Oh no..." Yoh grumbled

"...If you're gone, baby I need you to come home..."

"Sigh..." Yoh sank in his futon and buried his head in the covers while the radio tortured his guilty conscience all day long.

(Meanwhile...)

Anna stood at the bus station waiting for the 2:15 ride to Izumo. She mumbled angrily at her watch.

'2:15 my ass! It's already 3:30!' she thought.

She slouched back on the bench and started to think about what she would say when she sees Yoh. For Pete's sake! They haven't seen or talked to each for a whole month and it's going to be pretty awkward to talk again! It's like that feeling you get when you try to talk to someone that you don't know so well but at the same time you try not to say anything stupid or weird that would create an awkward silence between the two of you.

Anna closed her eyes, trying to relax instead of panicking over what she and Yoh should talk about. Maybe Jun was right, all that needs to be done is to let Yoh know that there is total trust and comfort between them. But then that would be kind of hard to maintain after what happened.

'Sigh...I wish Yoh and I could have the kind of relationship a normal couple would have. Well, we're not exactly a couple yet, but there still could've been a chance if only stupid Hao would keep his dirty hands off of me. And if only I had more self-restraint.'

Finally, her ride came and she got on without any further hesitation.

'Okay this is it...It's all up to fate now.' she thought looking out the window, throwing glaces of goodbyes at the neighbourhood she's leaving behind.

End- Chapter 6