The Dark Truth.
What if Anna and Kino lied about Anna being abandoned? The truth about Anna's past is darker than anyone ever imagined.... and it's coming back to haunt her... and everyone who is close to her.
Chapter two: The Moon Brings Pain.
Talking "Opa Opa!"
Thinking "Opa Opa?"
~~~~~~~~{Story Time}~~~~~~~~
Anna sat at the table along with Yoh, Manta, Hao, Horohoro and Faust. Yoh looked over at Faust, he was a tall, somewhat lanky man. He had two large scars along his chest and in between the scars his flash had become a purple color. Well, you couldn't see it, because he took up wearing a white tee shirt over it. He still had his lab coat on along with his gloves. His wheel chair had removable arm rests so he could move around to tend wounds.
The bags that were under his eyes were less apparent, but they were still there and his once lifeless eyes were filled with amusement at poor Horohoro as he dabbed liquid on his bruised face.
"My, my, Miss Anna sure can slap can't she?"
Horohoro let out a pitiful groan and glared at Anna who was sitting at the table quietly eating her breakfast. She was already dressed for school as were the rest of them after Anna demanded them to be. Yoh let out a laugh as he shrugged.
"Well, Horo did throw about a whole jug full of water on her. He was lucky she didn't kill him."
Hao grinned as he saw Anna smirk ever-so slightly. It lasted less than a half second, but it had been there. Hao turned and looked at Yoh who was grinning widely. Maybe he saw Anna smirk?
"So, where is Tamao?" Hao asked.
Anna shifted lightly as she started to get up. She had decided that she had enough food.
"She left already. She said she had to go to the store to buy things for lunch."
Hao watched her stand up and smiled softly as he nodded.
"Alright. Well I've got some things in town to do today. I'll see you around five or so."
Manta watched as Hao stood up. Manta frowned slightly finding what Hao said confusing.
"Five or so? Don't you mean 'I'll see you in school'?"
Hao grinned and patted the top of Manta's head.
"No, I mean I'm going to be skipping school today."
Manta's mouth dropped open in shock as he watched Hao walk out saying goodbye as he did so. Horohoro smirked and Yoh laughed lightly at the look on Manta's face. Faust, who had finally finished fixing Horohoro 's bruises, sat quietly and picked at the plate of food Tamao gave him just before she left. Yoh looked up as Anna came back into the room. He gave her a lopsided smile, but she didn't even show a sign of seeing it.
"Alright, let's go to school already."
Yoh got up and so did Manta and Horohoro . Faust waved as the four of them walked out to go to school. Yoh looked over at his fiancé and saw her deep frown. It wasn't unusual for her to have a displeased look or even an angry look, but it looked different to him somehow.
"Are you alright Anna?"
Anna hesitated for a second but nodded.
"I'm fine." She huffed in reply.
Yoh gave her a funny look, as did Manta and Horohoro . Manta looked up at Horohoro with a confused look on his face.
"Hey, where is Pirka?"
Horohoro groaned because talking hurt, but he decided to answer Manta anyway.
"She went with Tamao, something about it being dangerous because of a bunch of murders or something like that…"
Manta paled as he turned to Anna.
"Is that true Anna?"
Anna nodded slightly, not really caring about the whole matter.
"Yeah, a few people were murdered in the back alleyways downtown. It's safe for Tamao and Pirka though since they'd never go back there to begin with. Anyway, it seems to be gang related due to the brutality of the murders."
Manta gulped and looked back at the sidewalk.
"Well, that's horrible. I hope that whoever did that is caught and put in jail where he belongs…"
~~~~{Tamao and Pirka}~~~~
A young girl with short pink haired walked beside a bright and cheery slightly taller girl with long blue hair.
"Well, that took longer than we thought. I've never seen such a long line. Have you Tamao?"
Tamao, the pink haired girl, shook her head with a slight timid look on her face. She had grown a little, and her hair was maybe a half an inch longer. She held her *bento under her arm as she walked. She still wore her same old attire despite Pirka trying to get her to wear something else, but she was wearing her school uniform for right now.
"No, I haven't. Thanks for coming with me Pirka…"
The blue haired girl gave a big grin. She was also in her school uniform but after school she normally donned dark blue jeans and an icy blue tee shirt along with her light blue bandanna of course.
"Aw, no problem Tamao! It was fun!"
Tamao gave a sheepish smile. As the two of them kept walking, they came up to a police line that people were gathered around muttering things. There was also a news crew, but they weren't quite set up yet. Wanting to see what happened, the two girls pushed through the crowd and saw blood splattered on the sidewalk. Tamao gasped and Pirka grimaced.
"Another murder…" Pirka muttered.
Tamao looked around and saw two men talking. They seemed to be investigating the scene.
"Ponchi, Conchi…" Tamao whispered causing two spirits to appear behind her. One was a fox like creature and the other a raccoon dog. "Please listen in on what they are saying…"
The two spirits nodded and flew off. Tamao looked around wondering a few things. Pirka saw the thoughtful look on Tamao's face and raised an eyebrow.
"What's up Tamao? Why did you send them to spy on the cops?"
Tamao frowned deeper.
"Something just doesn't seem right…"
Ponchi and Conchi flew up beside the men. One was tall and skinny, and the other short and pudgy. They seemed to be with the police.
"Man, Kuja, another one… this was just as bad as the first…"
Kuja, the tall man, nodded.
"Yeah Torot, it seemed that the poor guy had no idea what hit him. It's like someone took an axe to his back."
Torot sighed and glanced around to make sure no one could hear them.
"This seems like more than a gang murder. Maybe a wild animal got lose? Like a tiger or a bear?"
Kuja scoffed.
"I'm sure we would have heard of something like that. Anyway, people these days are capable of this kinda thing."
Torot growled in disgust.
"Whatever, we'll find whoever is doing this and make sure they get the ultimate punishment. Even thought that guy was a gangster, he was someone's son or maybe even somebody's dad."
Kuja crossed his arms and nodded.
"I agree. Alright, the press wants an interview. Let's go and tell 'em what we can..."
Torot rolled his eyes and followed Kuja. Ponchi and Conchi flew back over and told Tamao and Pirka what was said. Pirka sighed sorrowfully, but Tamao just frowned. Pirka looked over at Tamao puzzled.
"What's up Tamao, something bothering you?"
Tamao looked around more before looking at Pirka.
"Where is his ghost? Do you see it anywhere?"
Pirka made a face, confused.
"His ghost? No, maybe he moved on?"
Tamao looked somewhat troubled as her eyes scanned the area.
"No… from what they heard… this murder was sudden. Normally a ghost doesn't move on right after something like this. It either sticks around wondering what happened or it becomes fixated and haunts where he died. Either way… he should be here."
Pirka frowned as did the two spirits that hovered by Tamao. Tamao sighed and started walking to school.
"We can't do anything right now; we'll talk to Anna about this. She'll know what's going on."
Pirka caught up. He was now slightly worried. Tamao was really bothered by this. Hopefully, this was really nothing to worry about. At least, that what Pirka was hoping…
~~~~{???}~~~~
"I was hungry!!" A deep voice growled. "I couldn't help it, no one saw me!"
A sigh was heard somewhere from the darkness.
"Whatever, just make sure you eat it all next time."
A deep chuckle resounded around the room. The creature that it came from seemed shaggy and tall.
"I'll try. Maybe a kid next time?"
A whip cracked in frustration, making the shaggy creature flinch.
"Listen, I don't care what you eat! A kid, a gangster, a monk, or maybe one of each! However! If you leave anything behind, I will make you regret being created!"
The shaggy creature swallowed his fear and nodded.
"Alright, I will."
The person seemed satisfied by that response.
"Alright then, Tsuki… you remember what I made you for?"
The shaggy creature, now known as Tsuki, nodded.
"Yes master."
Evil laughter filled the air. This time from Tsuki's master.
"Good boy, now go do your job."
Tsuki gave a large toothy grin, revealing long sharp teeth.
"I shall master… with great pleasure."
~~~~{Sitting in class}~~~~
Yoh leaned back in his chair as he watched the hands on the clock slowly tick by. Yoh stifled a yawn and closed his heavy eyes. He wasn't sure how long his eyes were closed, but they quickly opened when he felt something slam against his desk. Yoh looked up and gave a sheepish grin to his angry teacher while some of the class giggled at Yoh's misfortune of being caught asleep.
"Asakura! This is a class room, not a bedroom! While you are here, you will remain awake! Understand?!"
Yoh nodded and watched the teacher walk back to his desk mumbling something about detention and the like. Yoh grinned lightly as he heard Horohoro chuckle and Anna's mumblings about how to figure a way to keep him awake in class. Yoh propped his head up on his desk with his hand and sighed.
Ren, Manta, and Hao, who had skipped, were in this class with Yoh as well. Ryu was out of school and was most likely poking around in Yoh's house. Tamao, Pirka, and Cocolove were in another class. Tamao had been instructed by Kino, Yoh's grandma, to stay with Yoh and Anna in order to clean the house and help out.
Pirka stayed with Horohoro and they lived in Yoh's house. Anna sometimes complained about having a free loader full time. Cocolove decided that he would come home with them to see if the people that lived in Japan would like his jokes better. Sadly, that was a huge no, but at least he had an apartment. It was horribly shabby, but at least he didn't live near Anna. If he did, he'd be six feet under by now.
Jun lived with her brother Ren in a big apartment not too far from Yoh's house. Yoh wasn't sure why they didn't go home to China, but he liked the fact that they were still nearby. Faust lived near the Chokohama graveyard, which still made Manta have the shakes. Ryu…. well no one really knew where he lived, but Anna always said he lived with rats in an alleyway somewhere.
Although, Ryu really jumped around places. He would crash at Ball Boy's a few nights and then Muscle Punch's for a day or so, and so on so forth. Manta still lived at his parent's house, but he sneaked out to hang with Yoh and the others. His mom and dad still hated Yoh, Anna and everyone else he knew really. Hao of course lived with Yoh. Poor Yoh still has double training. Yoh yawned coming out of his thoughts.
"How much longer?"
Yoh almost groaned in misery as he looked at the clock.
"Twenty more minutes…"
Yoh sighed as he mulled over what he had thought to himself. A lot of the things he thought about had Anna in there somewhere. Yoh smiled lightly at the thought of her. However, the smiled didn't last long and it was replaced by a frown. Yoh though about saying how he felt, maybe even giving her a hug or two. The idea of doing something like that to Anna always died as he thought over the possible outcomes.
Slap, training increase, instant death, instant death and then the torture of his spirit, and total annihilation of both his body and spirit. Yeah, the idea of hugs or something else along the lines of affection always died after the 'total annihilation of both his body and spirit' part. To be truthful, Yoh wasn't sure that she could do that but never take a chance with Anna Kyoyama. Ever.
However, Yoh loved her. He wasn't sure why or how. He just did. Yoh sighed and shrugged… although… there was something that got his hopes up about her more and it wasn't very long ago…
~~~~{Flashback}~~~~
The rain pounded hard against Yoh as he ran. He felt the pain of exhaustion creep up his legs. The new training Anna was making him do was very hard and he only got to rest after it was done and then he had to do it all over again the next day. Although it was raining, he was still sweating.
"Guh… g-gotta keep going…"
His legs were wobbly and his eyes were starting to blur. He felt his legs give out, and he went careening into the hard sidewalk. He grunted as he did so and tried to pull himself off of the ground only to find that his arms were too weak. Yoh's eyes fluttered before they shut. Just before he fell unconscious he thought he heard a faint voice calling out to him.
"Yoh!"
Yoh groaned as he regained his consciousness, but he kept his eyes closed. He felt that his head was laying on something soft and warm although somewhat wet from the rain. He heard the rain, but he didn't feel it. He must be under an umbrella he mused.
"Yoh…" A soft voice began. "… can you move at all?"
Yoh murmured something like a yeah, but he wasn't really sure what he said. Man, was his head pounding. It must have been from the fall.
"Alright, then try and stand…"
Yoh groaned, but he did as he was told. He felt a small hand on his back as he stood and wobbled. Just as he was about to fall over to the side, the person grabbed his arm and put it over their shoulder then wrapped their arm around his waist. He leaned into the person enjoying the warmth that came from the person. The person was a girl, his blurry mind figured out finally.
"Ok, we're going to head home. Let me know if you feel any worse, ok?"
Yoh nodded as he walked, but then his mind froze. Home?! Then, this must be someone he knew. She did know his name as well. Let's see, Pirka was over at Ren and Jun's with Horohoro and Jun was at her home. It could be Tamao… but that was quickly dismissed. Because this voice, while soft, was strong and not timid at all. The only other person was Jeanne, but she was in Europe somewhere and he was pretty sure she still disliked him. Then who…. wait. There was someone else, but no way she would do this.
"A-Anna?"
Yoh's voice was weak, and his head was still swirling in pain, but he still heard her.
"What?" She stopped. "Are you getting worse?"
Yoh felt his mind go into overdrive. Anna?! Was she helping him like this!? She was being everything she wasn't. What in the world was going on!?
"Yoh?"
Yoh then remembered her question.
"I'm alright…"
Yoh's voice was weaker then. He felt Anna nod and continue walking with him along side. They said nothing the whole walk and Yoh still felt horrible. They finally made it home and Anna put down the umbrella and opened the door and made sure Yoh didn't run into anything.
"Do you think you can handle the stairs?"
Yoh nodded, holding in a groan as he did so. Anna slowly helped him up the stairs and led him to his room. She kicked back the covers on his futon and made him sit and then lay down. Yoh heard her leave and he slowly opened his eyes. It hurt like crazy, but he managed anyway.
Yoh looked around the room wondering where Anna had gone. She came back into the room. She had a first aid kit and a glass of water, and she kneeled down beside him. She put a straw in the water and gave him some pain medicine from the first aid kit. Yoh swallowed the medicine, and Anna helped him take a sip of water. He leaned his head back on the pillow and let out a small groan.
Anna pulled out a rag from the first aid kit and poured some alcohol on it. She then carefully dabbed at his forehead, right above his eyebrow. Yoh winced as he felt stinging coming from where she was applying the alcohol.
"Why does it hurt?" Yoh asked dumbly.
Anna sighed as she kept applying the alcohol.
"You have a cut from where you fell."
Yoh made a sigh that sounded somewhat like an 'oh'. Yoh then closed his eyes as Anna continued to try and clean his wound. After a minute or two of Yoh flinching and Anna complaining about his sudden movements, his wound was clean. Anna put away the rag and took out a bandage and stuck it over the cut. She then stood up and looked down at Yoh, who had opened his eyes when he felt her get up.
"Don't think this means you get out of your training Yoh…"
Yoh gave her a sleepy grin that caused her to give him a quick glare and walk out of the room. Yoh's grin turned into a smile. If this was the treatment he got from the training, he didn't want a cut on his forehead to get him off.
~~~~{End Flashback}~~~~
After he was able to get up, he had found a paper showing what he had to do for training. Everything was slightly decreased. Yoh grinned and heard a loud ring. Class was over, thank goodness. This was the last class of the day and Yoh couldn't wait to get home. Yoh made his way out of the class and leaned next to the door out in the hallway. He had decided earlier that he was going to walk home with Anna, since something seemed to be bugging her.
"Yoh?"
Yoh looked up and saw Anna looking at him with a raised eyebrow. He normally walked on ahead if she wasn't out here already.
"Hey Anna, I wanted to walk with you today. You don't mind do you?"
Anna stared at him for a second but shook her head. She then started walking with Yoh right beside her.
"So." Yoh started. "What should I make tonight?"
Anna shrugged.
"Whatever. Just make sure it's good."
Yoh blinked. Normally she always told him what to make.
"Anna… are you alright?"
Anna looked over at Yoh. Yoh grinned lightly under her gaze making her frown very slightly. Just as Anna was about to say something, a shout was heard.
"Yoh, Anna! Wait up!"
They turned and looked back at Manta who was running down the hall towards them.
"Hey guys, sorry the teacher held me up."
Yoh nodded.
"It's alright Manta. I was just going to walk home with Anna."
Manta arched an eyebrow.
"But, Yoh… she just left."
Yoh blinked and turned around just in time to see the school doors close with Anna on the other side. Yoh sighed and looked down at his little friend.
"Something has been bothering her…"
Manta sighed as well, shaking his head.
"Maybe she wants to be left alone?"
Yoh looked back to the school doors, not seeing her. She must have walked off. He sighed, disappointed.
"Yeah, I guess so."
~~~~{Anna}~~~~
Anna let out a sigh as she walked down the street. She removed her eyes from the ground to look at the Bowling alley as she passed by it. As she walked by it, she recalled that was where she had met Ryu for the first time. She looked back at the ground watching her feet take slow steps.
"Ugh, I can't wait to get home…"
Ever since that dream, she had been feeling off all day. Even before that dream, she had felt something was going to happen. At first she thought Hao was cooking up something to hurt Yoh, but there was no evidence of Hao doing anything behind their backs.
"Yoh… I'm starting to be too easy on you…"
Anna frowned. She decreased his training. Sure it was still hard as hell, but she considered it being way too easy on him. It was hard and she hated it, but it had to be done. Sure, she is the Ice Queen the icy cold itako of Osorozan, but she still had feelings. True, they were buried deep inside of her trapped by a hard wall of ice, but they were still there. It was all Yoh's fault, she had almost frozen them into oblivion, but he just had to come along and mess it all up.
He was always so nice to her. Even though she made him do painful tasks, his only reward was a slap, a few mean words, and an order to go make dinner. A rustle in the bushes snapped her out of her deep thoughts and caused her to stop. Her eyes scanned the area. She was almost home. Maybe she should run the rest of the way? No. She was Anna Kyoyama. She ran from no one. So she stood her ground, wishing she had brought her beads. Then she started to feel a malicious presence near her. The mana the person had was starting to show as well.
"Why didn't I feel this before? Whoever is there must have found a way to hide his mana, but why would he show it now? It's like he's toying with me…"
Anna frowned. It was hard to cover up mana like that; you would need some kind of talisman. Something rustled in the bushes again making Anna clinch her hands into fists and whirl around to face the shaken bush.
"Who is there!? Show yourself!!"
Anna stayed completely still, after she had yelled, the moving stopped. That meant one of two things. One, the person was messing with her and is now waiting for a chance to get away unseen. Two, the person likes his vantage point and is about to attack. A loud rustle sounded and Anna knew right then.
"Damn it. He's attacking."
Anna turned to face her attacker. He was up in the air, and he was grinning down at her. Her eyes widened at the sight of him and he chuckled. She got ready to dodge and hoped she could keep him away long enough for someone to come by.
"Hello Kyoyama-san, I'm Tsuki, your murderer."
~~~~{Yoh and Manta}~~~~
"No way, Anna did that?!"
Yoh laughed at Manta's shell shocked face. Poor Manta's jaw was almost hitting the floor.
"Yeah, I guess I was so tired I passed out. When I woke up, there she was holding an umbrella over my head."
Manta blinked and his mouth was still open in shock.
"And she held you up while you walked home?"
Manta let out a shriek and turned around. He sighed in relief when he saw Amidamaru floating beside him with wide and confused eyes.
"Manta, are you alright? I am sorry if I startled you."
Manta let out a small laugh and waved his hand in a dismissive manner.
"No, no, it's alright. I don't know what it is, but I'm feeling a bit…. on edge today."
Yoh's smile faltered and Amidamaru arched an eyebrow. Amidamaru turned to Yoh, a frown on his face.
"This seems to be going around. I too, feel on edge."
Yoh shrugged, his smile gone.
"Well, all I know is that Anna has been feeling less than good. She didn't even yell at me for not paying attention in class."
Manta and Amidamaru both frowned at this.
"Well", Manta began "that is awfully out of character for Anna…"
Amidamaru nodded his head in agreement.
"That, as well as the decreased training, does suggest something is amiss."
Just as Manta was about to say something, a cold and bitter feeling swept over his little frame leaving a sickly feeling behind.
"G-guh" Manta choked on his words for a second but managed to force them out "w-what was that?!"
As Manta turned to face his best friend, Yoh ran past him leaving Manta to gasp and run after the young Shaman King.
"Y-Yoh, what's wrong?!"
Yoh was running full throttle and poor Manta was tripping over himself to keep up. Amidamaru floated near the two boys, his face twisted in worry and dread.
"Something is wrong with Lady Anna. Didn't you feel that strange pulse?"
Manta made a strangled gasping noise as he quickly started to run out of breath.
"Yeah, it's just… are you sure that came from Anna of all people?"
Amidamaru's face became even darker at that question.
"The fact that those feelings came from Anna makes this a most dire situation."
Manta knit his brow in concern. Anna wasn't even scared of Hao when they met for the first time. What could make Anna send out feelings like this!?
"The only thing I could think of would involve Yoh and him either being close to death, in severe danger, or already dead."
The trio flew past the bowling alley, rather, Amidamaru flew, and Yoh and Manta ran very fast past it. An earsplitting roar pierced the air and a boom came shortly after making the worry feeling fade and the just plain scared feeling took hold.
"Hold on Anna, we're almost there..." Yoh thought.
Yoh and Manta skidded to a halt when they reached a clearing. The ground was torn, trees were toppled, and blood was on the ground. Manta let out a startled gasp as he looked over the blood. It was not a lot, but it was enough. Manta's eyes followed the small blood trail leading his eyes to a barely standing Anna. Manta looked up at Yoh, his eyes were wide open in shock, and Amidamaru held a scary look in his eyes.
"Heh, so it seems your fiancé and his friends are here. Now, we can finally get this party started."
Manta's eyes darted to the source of the deep raspy voice and gasped at it. It was a six foot seven, golden eyed and dark smoky grey werewolf. The werewolf grinned and revealed sharp four inch canines and dozens of smaller, but just as sharp, teeth. Manta gulped as he looked over the Werewolf's heavily muscled body. The bad thing was Yoh didn't have Harusame to cut this thing down. Manta was trying to sum up how much this thing weighed when he heard Amidamaru growl in disgust.
"You cur, how dare you attack Lady Anna."
Manta looked at Yoh, his body was tense, and his jaw was set.
"Manta…" Yoh's voice was low and firm. "Go to Anna. Make sure she's ok."
With a nod, Manta ran over to Anna leaving Yoh and Amidamaru with Tsuki. Tsuki sneered at Yoh and Amidamaru.
"You aren't as big as I'd thought you'd be."
Yoh quirked an eyebrow and Amidamaru gave the Werewolf a look of revulsion.
"Why did you hurt Anna?"
Tsuki blinked his yellow eyes in confusion. He thought he'd get a rise out of the Shaman King, but his voice was calm and even. Shaking off the bewilderment Tsuki grinned.
"I have my orders. My master wants your wife-to-be to suffer."
Yoh's eyes widened. Sure, Anna could get on peoples' nerves, but never enough to get someone that upset with her. Not as long as he knew Anna and he has known her for awhile. Besides, if there was trouble with someone… she would tell him, right?
"I'm not going to let you hurt Anna."
Tsuki let out a harsh laugh.
"And how are you going to stop me? With your own two hands?"
Yoh glanced at Amidamaru, seeing the ghost nod, Yoh looked back at Tsuki.
"If I have to."
The Werewolf chuckled darkly as a sinister grin grew showing off his many gleaming sharp teeth.
"Very well, watching you die will hurt Kyoyama more than anything physical being done to her. So, on that note…" With a mighty thrust from his back legs, he was up in the air. His long claws were ready to shred whatever his teeth missed. In short, if Yoh wasn't careful, he'd end up in the spirit world, with Anna and Manta not too far behind him. As Tsuki descended, his eyes narrowed. He bared his teeth, and the pupils of his eyes became small. As he spoke, his voice took on a feral tone, one full of malice and madness. "Prepare to die, Asakura Yoh."
~~~~~~~~~{End Chapter)~~~~~~~~~
*Bento - A Japanese lunch box, at least I think it is. ^_^`
