Hello all,
First things first, the Talk won't be detailed, so there's nothing graphic for you to be afraid of, I'm focusing more on Yoh and Anna's reactions, so hope you have as much fun as I did writing it.
Second of all, sorry if the last chapter was really sad, but it aimed to help build on Yoh's character and give us a better understanding of the coldness within the Asakura family towards him. I hope this one will make up for it both in length and content because sweet Yohna alert ahead 3
Third of all and lastly, I've been really worried lately about the content of the story so if it isn't too much to ask and you have some time, I would love to hear your thoughts on it or the newest chapter. It would really help me with my motivation and calm my nerves. Also, if I do get 5 different reviews in total both from A03 and Fanfiction together I'll update the story faster than two-three weeks as usual, so no pressure, but I could use some feedback! If you know me on Twitter, happy to hear your thoughts there as well!
THANK YOU for your continuous-time spent on reading this story and especially for any time took to also comment, it means a lot to me 3
Take care all! ^_^
SUMMARY: Did Yoh and Anna ever get the famous talk about where do babies come from? Well they will sure get it now.
Chapter 23: The Talk
"Yoh-dono, are you OK?" Amidamaru materialized as soon as they were left by themselves.
"I'll be fine Amidamaru, I am more concerned about Anna." He replied as he put the spare key on the nightstand, reaching for the water bottle.
"Do you think Lizzy can see spirits?"
"I am not sure. I like to think she does considering how kind she seems, but I didn't want to risk it, not before Anna is also awake, just in case she's not what it seems."
"Do you think she will tell your family?"
"I genuinely don't know. I do trust she'll keep her promise though." Yoh admitted as he started to play with Anna's hair, letting his hand slide through her locks, unconsciously seeking her comfort. "It's confusing Amidamaru. Lizzy seems nice, but then again I met many humans in my life and they always have a reason to be nice. Other than being her job to make people feel better, I don't understand why she would be nice. If she's human, I genuinely have no clue, but if she's a shaman, she's definitely after something and knows for sure I am one because of my family name - we're one of those shaman families everyone knows about mostly because of our history."
"True."
"What did you think of her Amidamaru? I could feel you were keeping a close watch from the shadows."
"She did seem really kind, human or not. And it didn't feel to me she was faking it, but if she is, she's an incredibly good actor, Yoh-dono."
"I hope she is not…" Yoh said smiling sadly before he noticed Amidamaru came closer, looking at him with seriousness.
"What?" Yoh asked awkwardly despite feeling through their connection what the spirit was bothered about.
"I know I'm speaking about a lot of things that might not be my business lately, but both as your friend and guardian ghost, I must say that I'm totally appalled by the fact that you just said your family doesn't care about you. All of them? Not even your mother? I mean, I don't want to bring you more sorrow, but…"
"I really don't want to talk about it. They just don't care, I had plenty of examples throughout my life. None care…" Yoh interrupted Amidamaru harshly. "…or are allowed to care." He then added in a small voice that his guardian ghost barely heard.
Yoh felt bad for snapping at his friend, yet he didn't want to rattle himself any more than he'd already done that day - he felt mentally exhausted and was afraid there was still one battle to fight. But he will make one last effort. He had to - for Anna and their future together.
But first, he had to do better by his worried friend.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" Yoh looked apologetically yet tired towards Amidamaru,
The ghost raised his hand stopping him, eyes full of compassion and understanding.
"It's OK, Yoh-dono, we discussed it before and I know you're not yet ready, I pushed you, so no need to apologies."
"But I do, you're my friend and you're just concerned for me. And I don't have many friends who do, so I shouldn't be like this towards you."
"It's OK, I understand, you had a long rough day." Amidamaru smiled kindly.
"Thank you, Amidamaru. It means a lot!" The boy replied smiling back relieved and grateful before he moved his gaze back to Anna.
She had started to somehow purr. It sounded like a faded noise, yet Yoh could hear it. He found it cute and continued playing with her hair chuckling internally. Soon, however, the sound grew louder. He saw with the corner of his eyes Amidamaru's face palling and frenetically gesturing his way with his hands.
"Yoh-dono, stop." The spirit whispered.
"What? Why, she likes it, she's purring." Yoh looked at him puzzled.
"Yoh-dono, that's not a…"
"Hands. Off. My. Hair. YOH." A cold voice cut in making Amidamaru cry in fear before he dematerialized, but not before looking at Yoh apologetically for leaving him, yet he knew it would be worse if he stayed.
Yoh's hand froze in Anna's hair just as he realized that what he'd been hearing hadn't been a purr, but a growl. A growing annoyed growl.
The boy realized he sure was smitten after Anna if now her growls sounded like purrs to him and especially because even now he still found it somehow adorable.
The girl started to shift and she opened her eyes sleepily rubbing them with her free hand.
"Easy, mind the leg!" Yoh reminded her quickly moving his hand out of her hair towards her free hand to stop her from moving.
"The leg?" Anna asked dazed before she remembered and sighed.
As sleep started to fade away, Anna became more aware of the surroundings and looked around confused. She got up on her bottom so she could let herself lean on Yoh's chest, head on his shoulder.
"How did I get there?"
"I ran with you after…"
"Not to the hospital. Sleeping almost on you I mean…" She said blushing shyly averting her eyes.
"You moved in your sleep. You usually tend to move."
"I do?" She asked blush growing.
"Yes."
"Uhh!" She growled frustrated hiding her face with her hands.
She then moved the hands away as she realized he was still holding her hand. She looked at him shyly and he smiled tenderly before he kissed her forehead softly, cupping her cheek.
"A promise is a promise. It's easier to keep a promise happening in the near future too." Yoh said dropping his hand from her face.
Anna nodded, her face now a tomato. She trusted him that he'll keep his promise, yet seeing him fulfil it made those butterflies within her stomach go wild. She even forgot about the distant pain in her leg she could feel. His gesture touched her more than she expected.
Feeling grateful and loved, she felt a wave of adrenaline wash over her, so she used the momentum to thank him. She let go of his hand and grabbed his face bringing it closer so she could press her lips softly on his for barely a few seconds before she let go.
"Thank you." She mumbled turning away.
Yoh stood there speechless, face red, eyes wide and heart beating widely. He didn't expect this kind of gratitude. He liked it. He really did - finally something good is happening! His expression changed - his eyes started sparkling with joy and a huge grin spread on his face. He put his arms around her, giving her a back hug, and rested his chin on her shoulder.
"You're welcome!" He replied blushing and nuzzling on her side hugging her tightly.
"Yoh!" She cried surprised before she relaxed on his hold and just let him be.
It's not like she didn't enjoy it anyway - it felt warm and safe and she knew very well they both really needed some comfort. Too much had happened for both of them only on one day.
"If I could, I would purr like you." He commented.
"I wasn't purring." The girl growled blushing as she crossed her arms over his.
"How are you feeling? Does it hurt? Please be honest." Yoh asked looking at her.
Anna sighed and turned around in his hold to face him.
"It does a bit, but it's bearable so don't worry. You've been through worse anyways and you survived."
"Yeah, but this isn't about me, it's about you now."
"About that Yoh, I've been so selfish and only spoke about my struggles and made you focus on mine, but you seem to have your own ones too. No less important or smaller than mines, hidden so deep down here I haven't seen them till now." She said seriously before she made a pause to put her hand on his heart. "Why didn't you tell me before?" Anna asked a thin line on her lips.
"As I told Amidamaru, I'm not comfortable talking about it. Or ready. Or I'm not even sure where to start…" Yoh trailed looking at her sadly as he grabbed her hand from his heart and gave her an apologetic squeeze before letting it go so he could hug her instead. He then continued looking into her concerned golden eyes.
"All I can say is that I know my family doesn't care about me. They care about Yoh the Shaman who will win the tournament, otherwise, nothing…" Yoh sighed pushing aside any further emotions that threatened to overwhelm him and focused on the concerned girl in his arms. "…that's why I've actually asked Lizzy not to tell my family about what happened. If they care about something, that's you." Yoh admitted before he filled her on his plan and how the discussion with Lizzy went.
"So now we're waiting to see if she keeps her promise or we make a run for it?"
"Yes."
"OK." She said simply.
"Just OK? Don't you have any other ideas or comments about my plan or…"
"You obviously thought of all the possibilities already and I'll just trust your judgment. And about your family, I really don't know what to say. I have…mixed feelings about them not just because of what you told me and have learned from your thoughts, but also from my own experience with them. I guess it's like you said…it's not easy to talk about it…" Anna admitted uncomfortably.
"Did they do something to you? Or did they said something? Has something happened before you came to Tokyo?" Yoh asked taken aback by her words.
It never crossed his mind his family would have done something to Anna considering the way they highly regarded her. His hold on her tightened instinctively.
"Nothing very serious, really don't worry Yoh, it's not the moment to talk. We can talk about your family some other time. When we're both more comfortable. And less exhausted."
Helplessly, Yoh nodded because he knew she was right. None had much emotional power left to go through a heavy discussion now.
"And Yoh?" Anna added leaning closer till her head was on his chest and her arms were around him. "I'm sorry they don't care about you. I do. I genuinely do care about you and did since that day we met. Even if I threatened to kill you." She said softly rubbing his back and she felt him giving her a light squeeze.
"I care about you a lot too. More than they do, I'm sure." Yoh said with a serious voice.
"I believe you." She whispered resting her head on his shoulder, enjoying their hug.
They both left a deep breath they didn't realize they were holding.
"I love you." They murmured to each other, eyes closed, living the moment.
They finally felt at peace and started to untense after the stressful day they had. They managed to channel their inner self and strength thanks to the comfort brought by being into the person they love's embrace The intimacy and closure gave them the peace they sought so desperately at that very moment.
They enjoyed the moment in silence for a while until they broke apart and just gazed into each other's eyes lovingly, their tender gaze reflected. Suddenly, a small sob escaped and the two broke apart to look towards the sound.
Anna crossed her arms and rolled her eyes while Yoh looked puzzled.
"Amidamaru? Are you OK?" He asked confused - he couldn't feel something wrong through the connection other than joy so he didn't understand why his spirit could be crying.
Anna bit her tongue from awing upon seeing how cute her fiancée looked when he was confused, how he leaned his head ever so slightly on the side, his eyes wide and his mouth kept on opening and closing unsure what to say. He looked like a puppy to Anna and she had to suppress a giggle at the thought.
"Yoh-dono!" Amidamaru cried suddenly materializing and making both teens slightly lean backwards upon seeing and hearing his pitchy voice.
He was sobbing loudly and Anna swore she could see hearts coming out of him because she sure heard those squeals before. She face-palmed just as Amidamaru started to rant.
"Yoh-dono, you two are so adorable, I swear I didn't mean to pry, but I stayed close just in case something could happen and checked on you and couldn't not notice you two! You and Anna are just so cuuuuuuute!" Amidamaru fangirled clasping his hands together while tears continued to flow from his eyes. "Like I saw Camille and Fernando before on TV being romantic, but seeing it live it's just a different experience, it just makes me so emotional more than I'm usually for them and I'm also just so happy to see you two so happy after the horrible day you both had!" The spirit added alternating between cries and awwws, imaginary hearts overflowing out of him in both teen's imagination.
Yoh sweat dropped unsure what to say or how to stop him, but Anna was ahead. She grabbed the pillow from behind - she was leaning on Yoh, so she didn't quite need it anyways, and threw it full force towards Amidamaru. The spirit stopped his awwws and cries to scream as the pillow went through him.
"Shut up or next I'll get you beaten up and stuffed in a drawer. You heard right, not even a wardrobe, a small tiny drawer!" Anna threatened and that was enough to make Amidamaru change from crying for them to crying for himself. "Do I need to repeat myself or are you still crying?!"
"No, Anna, no!" The spirit begged and muted himself before he disappeared as he heard footsteps approach.
Yoh's hands dropped from around Anna's at the same time she released his hold on him and moved ever so slightly away from him despite neither of them being happy with the new positions.
The door opened revealing Lizzy whose smiling expression changed to confusion upon seeing the pillow on the floor. She leaned down to grab it.
"I heard shouting. And what happened to this pillow?"
Boldly and having regained some of her strength and willpower, Anna looked into Lizzy's eyes, ready to test how nice this woman actually was.
"Amidamaru was annoying so I shouted at him and then threw the pillow to make him shut up."
"Anna!" Yoh gasped at her admission, but she shushed him with one look.
"Amidamaru?" Lizzy asked confused as she took the pillow from the floor.
"Yes, Yoh's guardian ghost, have a problem with ghosts?" Anna glared into the nurse's eyes, voice firm and arms crossed.
She felt Yoh tense and heard his intake of air.
Lizzy's eyes went wide at the mention of ghost and she stared blankly at them for a few seconds, before her expression changed to her normal smiling one.
"Amidamaru, of course, how rude of me! I am sorry I didn't say hi, where is he now?" Lizzy asked looking around and Anna's serious face broke into awe for a second before she composed herself.
"T-there." Yoh mumbled pointing to her right and Lizzy turned around to Amidamaru who appeared at his master's call.
"Hi Amidamaru, I am sorry I haven't said anything before, my name is Lizzy, it's nice to meet you!" Lizzy said smiling before she extended her hand to shake it.
"It's nice to meet you too Lizzy! Thanks for taking care of Yoh-dono and Anna." The ghost replied beaming.
'Of course she had to see ghosts, only people who see ghosts aren't bad people.' Yoh thought, yet now he was rather anxious to find out what the nurse was really up to.
'So she isn't bad, but then what does she want from us?' Anna also thought her gaze glued to Lizzy trying to somehow see behind her smile, yet without her powers on, she knew she couldn't find out more than what she could read from her words and behavior - and Anna really didn't have any energy left to put up with her powers this night.
Amidamaru also extended his hand to shake Lizzy's hand back, smiling. However, before he had a chance to reach hers, despite obviously that he was aware it will go through, Lizzy was already shaking her hand up and down happily. Then she went to put the pillow back on the bed in its place.
Yoh and Anna also noticed that their previous worries disappeared replaced by total confusion.
"Uhhm, Lizzy, you do see Amidamaru, right?" Yoh asked.
"Well of course, he's right there where you pointed. If he wants to have a chat he'll have to wait till I check on Anna. How are you feeling, dear?"
"Can you describe Amidamaru? Did you hear when he said thank you for taking care of me and Yoh?" Anna questioned her gaze still glued to Lizzy, arms still crossed.
"Yes, he's the ghost smiling in the corner, but he does seem as stressed as you two. And I am sorry, my mind drifted away, you're very welcome Amidamaru! It's my job to make people feel better. Now Anna, how are you feeling? Does it hurt? Let me fill you up on what I already told Yoh about your wound." Lizzy said barely looking at Amidamaru, already checking on her bandages.
"I'm not convinced you can actually see him. You only said general things." Anna narrowed her eyes at Lizzy suspiciously. "Amidamaru, punch her, that should prove whether she does or not see you." Anna ordered eyeing the ghost.
"Punch her?!" Amidamaru and Yoh gasped at Anna.
"And I'm not convinced you heard my question about how you're feeling? I mean I'm glad you seem yourself judging from your very piercing gaze and commanding voice, but I need you to tell me how you're really feeling before I humor your imaginary friend more, although I find it rather rude that you made him punch me. I don't like violence, Anna, those men you met must have had a very strong influence on you!" Lizzy said in a lecturing tone eying the girl.
"Imaginary friend?" Both Yoh and Anna asked incredulously, the latter even ignoring the comment about herself, although Yoh had to suppress a chuckle upon hearing Lizzy's accurate description of his fiancée.
"Yes, isn't that what he is? Or, sorry, your imaginary friend ghost, I forgot you two really care about the terminology. But that's still no excuse for him to punch me." Lizzy insisted.
The two teens blinked a couple of times puzzled, before Yoh started laughing somehow relieved at the admission while Anna only hmphed unamused as she looked at the smiling nurse still waiting for an answer.
"It hurts a bit, but I can manage." Anna finally admitted. "And I was just bluffing to see if you just pretended to like him or us." The girl also added surprising herself because she didn't like explaining herself, yet she somehow felt she needed to this time.
"I already told you I'm not playing pretend here. And there's nothing wrong with having an imaginary friend, ghost or not. I used to have too and in between us, I still speak to them sometimes, so can't judge you for wanting to get me involved! Imaginary friends calm your nerves, don't they?" Lizzy smiled softly winking at the teens before she continued. "Good to know it's not hurting too bad! Then I'll add some less strong painkillers for you to take at home if the pain does become worse and those shouldn't make you sleepy. Also, as I said, please try not to lean to much on your foot aside from toilet breaks and sleep on the other side or at least make sure you have a pillow for it to lean on in case you move in your sleep. And try to avoid putting any pressure on the leg and especially on the wound. Respect all those pieces of advice and you should be able to walk in two-three days again. You're very fortunate and also your body seems to work fast against getting that wound fixed asap!"
The teens nodded, Yoh's face looking serious as he listened.
"Now, I still have three things to discuss with you all." Lizzy said, her voice suddenly serious as she pulled a chair closer to the bed so she could sit at eye level with them.
Yoh and Anna tensed and their hands met and held each other, eyes on Lizzy.
"I'll start with the conflicting one because I'm sure that's what we all want to deal with first." She sighed, trying to find her words.
Should she say Yoh was right? His family really didn't care and it was showing that much that even her boss knew? Should she even mention that discussion? A million questions wrecked her brain, but Lizzy put them aside, trying to just go for the most straightforward and clear option - which for an overthinker like herself it was rather hard to put into few words.
"Since there's no clear instructions on Anna and surprisingly, not even records, I will let this one pass just because you two have already seem to have been through a lot and getting your family involved would only make things complicated."
"So you won't tell my family about Anna?" Yoh asked surprised she actually agreed - he thought there would be more arguments or persuasion, yet Lizzy looked rather 'defeated'.
"No, and as I said, since there are not even any records, I don't have what to record, so I'll just list it as another street fight of yours Yoh. Since she won't be able to go to school, I suppose you will stay at home with her to help her…"
"I can take care of myself, I'm not helpless." Anna snarled.
"Let me finish. Stay at home to help her so your school doesn't question your absence or hers because then she can just say she is sick. I will make sure your school is aware about this and not something else, so I hope you can keep your part of the deal and not go hanging around with your friends. Am I understood? You at home for two days, less social interaction and if you do want to go out, just go somewhere where no one knows you, fresh air is still good for both of you!"
"Yes." Anna nodded and she heard Yoh take a relieved breath.
She realized the situation between his family and her must have been really weighing on him. She made a mental note to ask him later more about this.
"Now, moving on, I have to give you two the Talk. You're living together, two young teens that are engaged, so as a health professional it is my duty to make sure you both know how things work. Your family might have already mentioned something, but I feel I should make sure you both still have the most updated version for your age." Lizzy smiled brightly.
"Wait, do we really need to listen to this?" Anna asked her face slowly colouring because unlike Yoh, she knew very much from the media what the 'Talk' was.
"Yes! How do you prefer? Do you want individual talks or want to hear it together?"
"Come on Anna, how bad can it be? Sounds like something important for us, so I would rather stick together." Yoh beamed.
"Yoh, I don't think you will think the same after you hear it. But so be it, if you wish to go through this together, OK, let's do it. The sooner it ends, the better!" Anna's voice was slightly shrieking from the embarrassment and her face was already rather red.
Yoh tilted his head confused, unsure yet why the 'Talk' seemed to make Anna so uncomfortable, but that meant all the more to him that he should stay with her.
Anna heard before some things from Kino, some things from TV or even overheard things at school. However, she never properly heard the 'Talk' aka 'where do babies come from', so she felt it would be a great opportunity to hear it from a professional despite her growing embarrassment. So she tried to be brave and listen to it attentively and focus less on the fact that Yoh was also there.
Lizzy started explaining from the beginning as in from how puberty hit, changes, how it worked and then moved on to what happened going forward like hormones and teenage years concluding with how kids are made, not sparing the two teens any embarrassing detail. At the beginning, Yoh was listening with interest before his mind finally started to understand what this 'Talk' implied. Consequently, his face started turning redder and redder till both his and Anna's were looking like ripped tomatoes.
"And that's the Talk! Any questions?" Lizzy beamed watching the two amused.
Yoh remembered his mother did want to tell him about these things when he was told his fiancée had been decided, but he just turned his headphones on and pretended to listen while nodding regularly. He was going to see the girl anyway, why listen to embarrassing details about her and his body? Then years later his grandfather had also tried to tell him some stuff, but he said the magic words his grandfather liked to hear "I want to train." and in mere seconds Yohmei had forgotten about any intention of giving his grandson the 'Talk' his absent father owned him. So, Yoh never actually got a proper talk aside from some things he overheard at school or saw on the media accidentally.
And now when he finally heard the Talk and understood what it was he sure had a million questions especially because mid discussion he got distracted by getting so much information in and now everything just felt a mess in his head. He did understand that getting close to Anna might result in having a baby with her, so he looked horrified at their hands and before he could control himself, he blurted out in panic.
"Does holding hands make her pregnant? Or kissing?"
Lizzy's eyes went wide while Anna inhaled sharply looking at Yoh and then at her tummy and then at their hands before her gaze was back on him rather nervous.
"No, no, not at all! Let me explain again and please stop me when you don't understand!" Lizzy said quickly as she noticed the teens getting distressed and tried not to laugh at their misunderstanding - she didn't want to make them think their lack of knowledge on the topic was something to be made fun of, she wanted them to trust her and put questions if needed.
The Talk started again and Yoh tried to pay much more attention. It did help that Lizzy stopped this time and asked if he understood and if yes what did he get. Yoh had mumbled his answers which were or not accurate and Lizzy had to repeat herself. When she finished the boy was still extremely red, almost as if he was suffocating and it almost looked like smoke was coming out of him from all the embarrassment, but he nodded in understanding and the nurse was certain he got it. Yoh did and he was both grateful he got it as much as he was for the discussion to have ended.
However, to both his surprise and Lizzy's, there was still one person with questions.
"So, if people sleep together and hug, they get pregnant depending on the time of the month?" Anna mumbled shyly, eyes on her lap and her grip on Yoh's hand sweaty.
"Well, not exactly, let me try and rephrase that for you and this time you put any questions." Lizzy replied trying to suppress her giggles because she didn't want to embarrass the girl further or even make her close up after she obviously made an effort to ask her - she was glad both teens did put questions despite their visible mortification.
She didn't think for a second they were stupid for putting her repeat herself so many times. She was sure that they zoned out from all the information and that probably, because their relationship seemed more advanced than she thought, Yoh and Anna tended to panic and overreact in fear they had already done something 'wrong'.
Lizzy repeated once again and this time she made sure Anna got it, yet compared to Yoh, she got mostly nods than full sentences when she put questions. The girl did mumble some questions herself or stopped her a few times and even Yoh cut in at some point.
By the end, Lizzy was certain both teens got the Talk and were certain no one's pregnant. Both Yoh and Anna were still blushing madly and avoided looking at her, their gaze pinned in their laps. Lizzy put some fliers in a small bag together with Anna's painkillers and informed them they can read what she already explained on their own just in case they forgot anything.
"Now for the third and last thing before I finally let you home. I thought to keep it last to help you get over your mortification from the Talk! It is past midnight, time sure flies! Are you sure you don't want to stay over the night here rather than walk at night? I can order you a taxi maybe? I am sure getting one!"
"No, we'll be fine, don't worry! I can carry Anna and we'll make sure to take the main lighted paths and no weird shortcuts." Yoh assured her slightly looking in her direction, face still burning.
"OK, if you're sure." Lizzy trailed uncertain but decided to let this one pass, she had already gotten involved more than she should have and was still doing it! "As I was saying, my last thing to tell you is that as part of my training here at the hospital, I have to recruit someone and train them on first aid, so it shows that I have a strong understanding of my learning and I am able to manage others under my authority. It's part of my career development. I was supposed to work on putting up an advert next week, but I realized I could offer it to one of you considering how often you get hurt. It would help you both to know what to do at least till you get to the hospital and make you better assess the severity of the situation as well as help you save a life if something really dangerous does happen. The training is for high school level, but you both seem really mature, so I think you can handle it! I must also mention it costs, but I think your family can cover that for you if you make them understand it would be beneficial for you. You don't have to tell me now, I still have to make sure my boss agrees, but since it's coming from an Asakura patient, I don't think he would say no. Just call at the hospital tomorrow or in two days and ask for Nurse Cathy if it's something you would like, what do you say?"
There was a small break in which the teens assessed the information and then in one short eye exchange between one another, Lizzy could see they have already taken a decision.
"Yoh is too busy sorting out family matters, but I have a self-defense course that finishes in two weeks, so I could do this first aid training, it does sound useful to have. I also have a better academic record than him in case that's needed. I will speak with the Asakuras." Anna said determined as she made eye contact with Lizzy, but then she looked away as she added. "Thank you for suggesting it and for the Talk, but now we should go because it is very late and Yoh has many family errands to run tomorrow especially because we're not going to school."
"Great! Then I shall wait for your call and then I will give you more information! We can agree on a schedule that also suits your timetable, so you can come every day after school for 2-3 hours at the hospital to learn." Lizzy explained and Anna nodded.
"Thank you for all Lizzy! For Anna and for agreeing to help us, we promise we won't get you in trouble!" Yoh said gratefully as he got up from the bed reaching for Anna.
"You're very welcome! Are you sure you can carry her all the way home?" Lizzy replied watching the boy hold the girl.
"Are you insinuating I am too heavy for him to carry me?" Anna growled piercing Lizzy with her gaze as she circled her arms around Yoh's neck for more support.
"No, not at all! You look perfectly fine for your age! It's just late and thought he might already be tired!" Lizzy said sweat dropping - that stare still felt very intimidating despite coming from a teen.
"He'll manage. Come on Yoh, let's go!" Anna ordered.
"Don't forget your bag with fliers! And please change the bandages at least twice a day, morning and evening!" Lizzy instructed smiling as she kept the door open for them to leave the room.
Although she felt she did more than she should have for them, Lizzy still felt sorry she couldn't do more. She was still rather hurt by what she learnt about Yoh's family and how they simply didn't care more than something life-threatening happening to him or even if Anna had been registered to a hospital before. Maybe it was none of her business, but it was in her personality to care this much even for some strangers. And she didn't' regret a bit she helped them and stayed so much overtime.
She went back to her office to get her stuff and finally leave home herself.
"Are you OK Anna? Does your leg hurt bad?"
"No, Yoh, keep going and increase that pace or we will get home in the morning. I also hope you didn't forget Amidamaru at the hospital because I really don't feel like going any soon back till that first aid training if I do get it."
"No, no, he's following us, but he's still recovering from that Talk too."
"Remind me to kill him for staying there while we were listening." Anna growled cheeks red.
"He was curious and just didn't realize he should leave! He couldn't just let us unprotected with you already hurt!"
Anna only continued to growl.
"You're purring again, it's so cute Anna!" Yoh awed looking at her softly.
"I'm not purring, Yoh!" She shirked embarrassed both because of his comment and of still not being over the fact Amidamaru listened to their Talk and all the questions they asked the nurse about it.
Yoh tried to speed up his walk, getting closer and closer to the house when a thought suddenly crossed his mind.
"Anna…?" Yoh trailed his voice uncertain.
"Yes, Yoh?" She looked at him waiting, yet he didn't meet her eyes.
"Will you still…you know…stay with me in my room?"
"Of course Yoh, especially after the Talk, we both know how things work, so we should be more than fine!"
"Great!" Yoh replied relieved and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, making her cheeks colour.
"Stupid, can't believe you actually thought you left me pregnant."
"Well I didn't!" Yoh chuckled and she smiled.
There will be a time for that too, but not now when they still had so much to learn about each other, their growing relationship and how their emotions played a role in all this on top of the problems and arguments that came along. And they still had the Shaman King competition to consider too. But at least they had each other to lean on.
They got home safely and went to sleep.
