A/N: Hey guys! Thank you so much for the reviews! I'm sorry it took me a few days to update. I couldn't think straight lately. Anyway, here's chapter 2! By the way, Yoh, Manta, Ryu, and Ren are a band here.

Disclaimer: I don't own them.


Chapter 2

Yoh looked around. He was home. He was back home sitting on the cool grass. But…how? He heard voices behind him…a child talking to himself. He turned around and his mouth fell open. There, sitting under the large cherry blossom tree, was his seven-year-old self planning his future and what he would do if he became shaman king. "What the—? What's going on? This must be a dream. I better get up."

But he can't get up yet. Little Anna had just walked towards the little Yoh.

"What are you doing here?" She snapped. "Are you done with your training?"

"Yes, Anna." Yoh replied, "I meditated for two hours just like what grandpa said."

Anna crossed her arms, "And are you done with the push-ups I told you to do?"

"Yup!" He lied. Yoh stood up and grinned, "Hey Anna, want to play a game?"

"What kind of game?" Anna slowly backed away as if she already knew what Yoh wanted to play.

Yoh smirked, "I think you already know, Anna." Anna began to run around with Yoh at her tail. Yoh gave her a threatening look when ever she looked back making her run even faster.

"Stop chasing me!" She yelled, "I order you to stop!"

The older Yoh sat down on the grass again as he watched his younger self and a young Anna run around. Those were the times when he had attempted to soften Anna up by trying to play games with her and trying to make her laugh.

"Gotcha!" The young Yoh jumped and caught Anna's feet.

"Ah! Let go of me!" She shrieked. "Let go of—!" Laughter stopped her words as Yoh tickled her sides.

Their joined laughter echoed as Yoh's surroundings began to disappear. He closed his eyes. It was one of his fondest memories of her. It used to make him smile. Now, it makes him feel as if his heart was being beaten up by all of the shamans in the world.

'I loved you ever since we were children, Yoh.'

'I tried to make you fall in love with me! I really tried!'

"But Anna…"

'You're free now, Yoh Asakura.'

'Goodbye, Yoh…'

"No…Don't leave me, Anna." He reached out into the darkness. He searched for her hand…her face…anything. Anything that would just tell him that Anna did not leave at all. "Anna…" Then he felt it. Two hands holding his and leading them to a soft cheek. But… it doesn't feel like Anna.

Slowly, Yoh opened his eyes and turned to the one who took his hand. At first, he could only see a blurry figure with a touch of pink on where the head is supposed to be. He knew who it was. "Tamao? Is that you?" His eyes finally adjusted and he could see her perfectly know. Yes, it is Tamao Tamamura.

'…you like somebody else. It's Tamao, right?'

Yoh pulled his hand away from her immediately and tried to sit up. "What happened?"

Tamao helped him sit up. "Silva and Manta went out looking for you and Anna when both of you left. They found you lying on the street. They said you nearly got run over by a car." A sigh escaped from her lips, "It was a good thing they came just in time. You were asleep for two days and you also had a very high fever." She placed a hand over his forehead, "It seems like the fever is gone now."

Yoh gently pushed her hand away and looked around, "Uh…yeah. Where are the others? Where are Ryu, Ren, and Manta? I have to talk to them about…"

"Your recording session?" Tamao interrupted. "Ryu said the date's been moved since you were sick."

"Oh." Yoh looked down thinking about what happened last night. "Um…Tamao?"

"Yes, Yoh?"

"Could you leave me alone with Amidamaru for a minute? I need to talk to him." He reached for the tombstone he carved, "And can you call Manta and Ryu? I have something to tell them too."

Tamao nodded, "Okay, but you have to eat while you're talking to them." She took a tray with a bowl of soup on top of it and placed it on his lap.

"Thanks, Tamao. I'm really hungry." He smiled weakly at her as she went out of his room.

"Amidamaru?"

Amidamaru floated out of the tombstone and hovered beside him. "It's good to see you awake, Yoh."

"It's good to see you too, Amidamaru." Yoh looked at the bowl of soup sitting on his lap. "Erm…Amidamaru, did you ever get confused…about love?"

"Love?" Amidamaru blinked, "Never. Why? What's the matter, Yoh?"

"It's Anna…" He looked at the door, "And Tamao too." He looked at his soup again and took a sip. "You see, Anna told me she loves me last night."

Amidamaru looked surprised, "She did?"

"Yes." Yoh leaned back on his pillow and sighed. "She loved me ever since we were children."

"And do you love her in return?" Amidamaru asked.

Yoh sighed again, "I don't know."

"That's where Tamao comes in, right?"

"Yes." He took another sip of his soup before continuing, "Tamao's really nice, Amidamaru. She really cares about me a lot. She doesn't yell and boss other people like Anna… A few years ago, I thought about talking to Anna about reconsidering the marriage. I had a crush on Tamao then…but I realized that…"

"That you like Anna too?" Amidamaru smiled and placed a hand on Yoh's shoulder. "Would you mind telling me why you like Anna?"

"I can't really explain it." Yoh placed the tray and bowl on the floor. "I don't really know why I like her. Probably because she was the one who trained me to become shaman king. Or…or maybe because I liked tickling her when we were little." A small smile began to form on his lips. "Or maybe because she looks so cute whenever she orders people around…and, when she hides her true feelings, she acts so confident and strong. I always saw her true feelings in her eyes…her beautiful big black eyes. But I never saw love in them. Maybe a little but I never thought it was really love. I never really thought she loves me." That small smile on his lips disappeared, "She was really hard to predict when it comes to that kind of thing but I could really tell whenever something's bothering her. I wish I saw that love before. Maybe if I did…I wouldn't have this crush on Tamao…I wouldn't be so confused right now…and Anna wouldn't have left."

"Mosuke once had the same trouble." Amidamaru told Yoh.

Yoh looked up at his guardian ghost, "He did?"

"Yes." Amidamaru crossed his arms and recalled what happened to Mosuke when they were teenagers. "He liked this girl in town. She was a doctor's daughter. I think her name was Hikaru. Hikaru was the one who cured him when a tree fell on his leg (it was my fault. I was practicing that time). He liked her ever since that day. But, one rainy night, his little brother got a dangerously high fever and we had to take him to Hikaru's father. Hikaru was already asleep that night but her younger sister was awake. Her name was Himiko. She tried to calm down Mosuke who was freaking out and helped her father cure his brother. The next day, he fell in love with her too. He became so confused about them that he didn't sleep, eat, or talk much for nearly a month."

"Really? What did he do about it?"

"He met with Hikaru one day and Himiko on the next day. Then, he thought about why he loved both of them and about how he really felt when he is with either one of them." Amidamaru sighed, "It took him nearly two weeks to think about that. He chose Hikaru in the end. But…"

Yoh raised his eyebrows, "But what?"

"Hikaru died when he was about to tell her that he chose her." Amidamaru sighed again, "She picked up a disease from a patient…"

"Whoa…he must've had a tough time."

"Mosuke tortured himself saying that he should have told her earlier." Amidamaru looked at the ground in silence for a minute before looking at Yoh again. "Mosuke thought about his feelings for each girl. What about you? What will you do?"

Yoh linked his fingers together and looked at them, "I want to find Anna…and, while I'm at it, I should think about my feelings like what Mosuke did. But I won't let myself think that long." He gave Amidamaru a small grin.

His guardian ghost grinned back, "It would be a big mistake if it will take you that long to think."

The door suddenly opened and Manta's voice came to their ears. "Think about what?"

"Manta! Ryu!" Yoh exclaimed, "How are you guys?"

"Oh we're fine." Manta replied as he and Ryu sat beside Yoh's futon. "What about you, Yoh? Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah." Yoh grinned, "I think I can go to the recording session on saturday."

"No way, man." Ryu shook his head. "You're not well enough. We'll do it after a week. Once you're completely well."

"But I am!" Yoh said, "Come on, Ryu. I slept for two days straight. I'm fine now. If you want, we'll do it the day after tomorrow."

"Are you sure, Yoh?"

"Of course I am!" Yoh looked at his lap with a smile that slowly began to disappear. 'What are you doing? Keep smiling! Or else they'll think…'

"He's lying. Isn't he, Amidamaru?" Manta asked Yoh's guardian ghost.

"Yoh is physically well, Manta." Amidamaru replied, "But he is not well deep inside."

"Why?" Ryu asked, "What's the matter, Yoh?"

"Is it about…" Manta hesitated for a while before saying, "Anna?"

Yoh gave a small nod before he lied back down on his back with his hands on the back of his head. "Erm…Can you guys do me a favor?"

"Sure!" Manta said at once.

"What is it that you want us to do, Yoh?"

"Can you guys go to Izumo and look for Anna there?" Yoh gave a hopeful smile to the ceiling, "She told me last night that she'll be going back home so she has to be there."

"Sure Yoh." Manta said, "We'll go there immediately this afternoon."

"Uh…I hope you don't mind me asking you this Yoh but…" Ryu looked at Amidamaru and back at Yoh again, "Why did Anna leave?"

That wiped of the smile on Yoh's face. He stared at the ceiling for a while searching for a way to tell the two the reason briefly. "She wanted me to be free." He began, "She cancelled the wedding and told me to choose whoever I want to be my shaman queen."

Ryu and Manta's jaws dropped to the floor, "What?"

"But I thought Anna really wanted to be shaman queen." Manta said.

"She did." Yoh darkened his look at the ceiling, "But what she really wanted was…for me to love her back."

"Love her back?" Ryu repeated.

Manta blinked. "You mean—?"

"Yes Manta. She loved me." Yoh sighed.

Manta stared at Yoh's saddened expression. "Uh…Yoh…do you love her back?"

"Oh, come one Manta!" Ryu said, "Yoh never loved—."

"I don't know." Yoh replied, ignoring Ryu. "I have to think about it."

"I don't get it…" Ryu said after a few moments of silence, "You're shaman king, Yoh, why can't you just use your powers to look for her?"

"She doesn't want me to use my powers… Erm…" Yoh bit his lip. He has to think of something to cheer himself up. It only hurts him more to talk about her leaving. He would feel a lot better if the thought of her going back stayed in his mind. What could cheer him up in a moment like this?

Yoh sat up, "I'd rather not talk about this right now." He looked down for a while before flashing Manta and Ryu a grin. "I'm really hungry! Can you guys get me a double cheeseburger?"

Ryu's eyes widened but Manta smiled at Yoh. "Sure thing pal! Come on let's get Yoh a double cheeseburger."

"Alright." Ryu stood up with Manta and left the room.

"Make it triple!" Yoh called after them.

"You should get some rest if you want to do a recording session soon, Yoh." Amidamaru suggested.

"Um…maybe later." Yoh placed his hands behind his head and looked up, "I expect the others will be coming by later. Tamao would have told the whole world right now that I already woke up." Yoh chuckled.

Amidamaru gave Yoh a smile but, inside, he frowned. Yoh was deeply hurt by Anna's decision but he still managed to hide all of his sorrow. 'If he keeps hiding his feelings, he could blow up.'


A/N: Okay…so it wasn't as great as the first chapter. I'm really really sorry! I'll be posting the next chapter tomorrow. Promise! Please review!