Part 3 and last of the three chapters - The smitten boy and smitten girl who listened to their hearts. Aka the beginning chapters of the new arc ^_^

Sorry all for the big delay in updating this, life's been busy! Thanks so much to anyone making time read and especially comment on this story! It really makes any bad days so much better or make my good days amazing 3 It also motivates me to remember to keep working on this story, so please if you do have a few mins to spare, share your thoughts on this story with me. It will make my day/week/part of the day! 3

Hope you enjoy the new chapter and still remember what our heroes are or were up to!


SUMMARY: What training awaits Yoh? Just because he and Anna are dating now, does it mean any less work for the young shaman? Guess again ;-)


Chapter 26: …who listened to their hearts (Part 3)

Yoh put his hands on either side of Anna's face, mimicking her pose before he spoke.

"I believe you Anna, don't worry. You are far from fake, you are very real to me and I do love our fiction love story like grandma called it. I don't know how she ended up to that conclusion since I only got this part of your conversation with her, but I think it's sad she thinks love is a fictional concept because thanks to you I know what a wonderful feeling it can be. And now that we're on the same page, I think we should stop overthinking it, grandma is making us act silly. You love me and I love you for real, so no more doubt, OK?"

"Only if you also live up to your words." Anna replied smirking as she bought her forehead on his, closing her eyes content, feeling her anger subsidizing little by little.

"Of course. But please, if I ever do start acting like my grandfather or father, do tell me because I don't want to leave you by yourself and…"

"Yoh." She cut in harsher.

"OK, sorry, sorry, but I do mean it. I do want to be different from them and do better." He replied also leaning forward and closing his eyes.

They both let their hands fall on their laps where they met and intertwined.

"I know you definitely will, I trust you, so stop doubting yourself before I punch Amidamaru since I can't hit you." She assured him with a confident voice as she leaned forward to give him a quick peck on his lips before she retreated smirking.

She didn't need to open her eyes to know he was blushing.

"Payback for this morning?" He mumbled cheeks burning.

"Payback for this morning." She smirked. "And I will increase your weights and you will train at least another hour too."

"Amidamaru said you would increase the training."

"Speaking of, how long until he starts fangirling over us again. I know he's making an effort not to, but I usually hear his sobs by now. Thank God I scared all the other ghosts from the house before I called your grandfather."

"We could sit till he comes and says something about us being cute like Fernando and Camille, but you know he usually tries to give us privacy and only accidentally runs on us." Yoh changed the topic, ignoring the mention of his family of whom he didn't want to think of any longer, not after his grandmother's lecture or rather 'orders' for Anna that had upset them.

He always thought his family were working behind his back from the shadows ever since the whole hospital partnership thing, but apparently, they've been also controlling Anna's behavior towards him. It was very clear to Yoh his grandfather had gone to great efforts to make sure he was surrounded by a 'cold environment' that will prepare him for the tournament, including having his grandma, no doubt 'prepare' Anna like he taught his mother many years ago when he was only a child. It was a very similar mentality, so he had no doubt his grandfather probably had a saying in the matter too despite his grandmother having seemingly encouraged Anna's cold side by her own will. But why?

He was sure he could still be prepared or even more motivated to become Shaman King if he was happy rather than this cold person his grandmother believed him to be and his grandfather had been trying to grow him into becoming, yet failed due to his loving warm personality.

"Or you could go prepare breakfast, clean the house and do laundry because in less than an hour you have to go running around the town." Anna opened her eyes and moved away. "And we have to change too."

"Yeah, good point, we should be moving." Yoh also opened his eyes and nodded.

"I do hope for Amidamaru's own good he didn't overhear our discussion." Anna said in a dangerously low voice before she went to find some clothes since her dress was still in the washing machine because of the recent events.

Yoh sweat dropped. Good thing he sent Amidamaru to sit in the garden to look for Manta in case he could show up earlier like he sometimes did, but now he could call his ghost back because it was 'safe'.


"Decent breakfast." Anna commented later on after taking a few bites when they sat down to eat.

"Thank you, Anna." Yoh replied beaming munching on his eggs hungrily.

Both were dressed now. Yoh had his hair up in a ponytail, a white shirt and his blue trousers for running. Anna had also a white shirt and a blue skirt, but she didn't put her bandana on as that one was also in the washing machine.

"You know since you'll be training after school and I'll be mostly in the first aid training, we won't see each other as much in the afternoons and evenings..."

"True." Yoh remarked, his previous joy suddenly replaced by sadness. "I didn't realize…" He added and the way his face fell made Anna flinch internally.

"I did and I've already come up with a plan to fix it." Her voice was confident and she was thrilled to see how his face once again lit up with joy.

"You do?" His eyes glittered with hope.

"Well, you can always come to pick me up and then we can have dinner together and…" She trailed mysteriously watching Yoh's eyes shine with excitement.

"And…?" He asked leaning over the table towards her.

"And you have to wash the dishes, come on it's late and Manta will show up any minute now." Anna said suddenly getting off to put the dishes in the sink.

"No, Anna, wait, tell me the rest!" Yoh whined getting up with his own empty plate to drop it into the sink and ran after her into the living room where she already made herself comfortable on the floor with a magazine.

"It's late Yoh, wash the dishes." Her voice sounded bored, yet her eyes shone with mischief.

"But you were telling me what we'll do, come ooooon." Yoh continued his plead bringing his face in front of her as close as possible so he could get a reaction from her.

"You have housework to do, I can tell you later." Anna replied cheeks colouring from the closure, her eyes focused on the magazine and trying very hard not to look at his puppy eyes - she couldn't resist his puppy eyes!

"If I do the housework, will you tell me?"

"Maybe…" She trailed risking to peek at his voice so she could see how his eyes lit up happily from her answer and he saw him ran towards the kitchen.

She wanted to make the housework feel better to him, so rather than a chore, it was now something to look forward to because he had a reward at the end - rice cake added.

Anna continued to browse her magazine while Amidamaru sat with her watching TV. Meanwhile Yoh ran through the house doing chores with a smile on his face and opening windows to air the house. She shivered unconsciously, too absorbed in her article until she heard his voice. Amidamaru suddenly disappeared, deciding it was time to take a long house tour. She raised her eyes faking boredom when she was in fact excited to hear him.

Yoh stood on her left with his orange hoodie in hand, grinning widely. When he said nothing, she was about to question him, yet he came closer and drop the hoodie on her shoulders.

"It's a chilly morning and I thought you might get cold with all those windows open. And I know you do like my hoodie and it was the closest thing I could find…" Yoh trailer leaning from one foot to another, cheeks betraying his fluster, yet it was clear he was also excited at the prospect of her wearing his hoodie again.

Anna was surprised by his gesture and rather touched by his care - she bit her lip in an attempt to control her swirling emotions. Her face coloured, her heart started to beat widely and her words just disappeared. She didn't even get a chance to compose herself before Yoh had already left for his next chore.

She was somehow grateful he didn't stay because as soon as he was out of sight, she put the hoodie on, embracing herself to feel the material better. She loved that hoodie because it reminded her of their first date and it smelled like Yoh which brought her great comfort. She continued her reading until her fiancée showed up again not even ten minutes later, with a wide grin on most likely caused by her wearing the sweater.

"All done."

"Good, now I need you to move the TV upstairs in our room." She told him simply as if she was talking about the weather outside.

"The TV?" He asked surprised.

"Yeah. We'll be exhausted after training all day, so we won't be able to do much after dinner, so I thought we could have…movie nights. Like in the movies…" Anna trailed off nervously, yet her eyes watched him intently awaiting his reaction.

"Watch movies together?" Yoh asked still puzzled.

"Yes, I read in the TV programme there's a channel showing movies every day just before our bedtime. We might be late by half an hour or forty-five minutes, but we'll have a movie night. It's good training to stay awake too, who knows if you'll get any sleep once the shaman competition starts." Anna added shrugging trying to disguise her nervousness with anything else.

Truth to be told, she'd been nervous to tell him about this particular plan, mostly because it would mess up their bedtime. And she really didn't want their relationship to affect his training in a negative way. However, before she could overthink further, she noticed Yoh's smile grow and saw him running for the TV.

"I like this idea!" He beamed as he started to unplug all the cables from the TV.

Anna somehow relaxed as he watched him grab the TV and exit the room with it climbing the stairs carefully - it was quite heavy to carry! Meanwhile Amidamaru, who came back to check on them just in time to hear about movie nights, started crying quietly in a corner both for the TV being taken away as well as for how adorable 'his teens' were. Anna decided to ignore him, but dropped casually a 'we can still watch 'Love and Power' and Fernando and Camille upstairs' which really made the ghost smile.

Yoh barely made it halfway through the stairs when a familiar voice got his attention.

"Yoh, what are you doing with the TV?" Manta asked confused from the hallway.

The shaman froze and gently placed the TV on the steps, keeping his hands on it so it won't fall before he turned towards his little friend.

"Manta, hi Manta! Why are you…here?" Yoh tried to deflect – he realized his reply had been so awful he could feel Anna cringe at his fakeness from the living room.

And it wasn't the only one who noticed it.

"You know why, we always walk to school together, what's wrong with you, Yoh? You sound…weird?" Manta asked concerned trying to read his friend.

"He's started a new intensive training because he's been rather lazy lately, slacking during house chores, so I've made them harder." Anna said sternly, arms crossed as she appeared in the living room doorframe followed by Amidamaru.

Manta felt a shiver cross his back as her cold stare landed on him. He did notice she was wearing the hoodie he had thought was from her 'secret boyfriend', but this time he saw she also had a skirt on with it.

"We're not coming to school, Yoh got into a stupid gang fight last night, probably sent by that Tao boy, so the hospital recommended him to rest today and someone has to make sure he's training properly."

"But then shouldn't he be resting instead of…?" Manta trailed his gaze checking out his friend worried.

"He didn't get that badly hurt and as a shaman you know he heals faster. No need to waste the time on him slacking more." Anna said before her eyes moved to Yoh, narrowing dangerously. "Did I say to stop? I want you to go up and down with that TV at least 50 times and you barely done 10."

"B-but Anna, it's heavy!" Yoh complained taken by surprise by Anna's sudden made-up story – she was definitely better than him at keeping a straight face and coming up with plausible excuses on the spot.

"Heavy? Ok, then 100 times up and down, now."

"A-Anna!" Both Yoh and Manta exclaimed panicked.

"150." Anna said annoyed eyeing both daring them to complain again.

Yoh cried internally as he took the TV and started moving up the stairs with it, not looking forward to having to carry it back down.

"Faster Yoh, you also have to go running." Anna added before she went towards the bathroom.

As she passed in front of Manta, the boy noticed she seemed to be limping. His eyes also barely saw a white material creeping out of under her skirt as she moved before he noticed her dangerous gaze landing on him.

Yoh was just trying to climb down without dropping the TV when he heard a loud noise followed by an obvious breaking noise and felt Amidamaru cry through their bond.

"Don't you dare stop Yoh, he asked for it." Anna shouted. "Your friend can be such a pervert at times." She added grumpily stomping away as much as she could before the boy heard the door to the bathroom slamming.

As fast as possible, Yoh climbed downstairs with the TV and put it down before he ran to help Manta stand up. He was laying down between the pieces of what used to be a decorating vase, a red mark visible on his cheek.

"I wasn't staring in a perverted way Yoh, I swear!" Manta said genuinely as soon as he saw his friend approach.

"It's OK Manta, I believe you. Was it about the hoodie again? And are you OK?" Yoh asked concerned.

"The usual, she just blew me away with her legendary left, I barely saw it coming." Manta replied dismissively before he eyed Yoh. "And it wasn't the hoodie, Yoh. I thought Anna looked as if she was limping and then, I might be imagining, but I think I saw she had a bandage around her leg? I mean I didn't get a chance to see it properly because she saw me stare and send me flying because she thought I was being a pervert, but I swear I wasn't!"

"I believe you Manta, don't worry! A bandage you said…?" Yoh trailed uncertain, trying to think of his next answer.

"Yes. I think Anna might have hurt herself somewhere. Was she with you last night when she got attacked? Wait a sec, when did that happen, I thought I left you at home cooking dinner. Did she get attacked on the way home? She looked really angry when I passed her, were you OK?" Manta assaulted Yoh with questions upon realizing the gap in Anna's story.

Yoh slightly paled caught off guard, but Amidamaru jumped in.

"Anna sent him shopping for something he forgot to get and he got attacked on the way back. Anna sensed something was wrong and brought us the sword, but we might have been careless and didn't see if she got pushed by one of the guys. She probably didn't want to worry you, Yoh-dono, so maybe that's why she didn't say anything?" Amidamaru explained face stoic putting a concerned hand on his master's shoulder.

Yoh blinked a few times before his ghost's story sank in and he finally addressed Manta.

"Thank you, Manta. I will ask Anna about it after you leave so she doesn't pick again on you. If I were you though, I wouldn't bring it up again when she's here, I don't think she would enjoy knowing that you noticed that. But I appreciate it." Yoh beamed, but his smile didn't quite reach his eyes as guilt over lying to his friend washed over him.

"Yeah, can't risk having the wrath of Anna Kyoyama the almighty on me for having pointed a possible wound on her and thus insinuate she might have been weak cause that would be the dead of me, I get it!" Manta mumbled rolling his eyes before his gaze narrowed concerned towards his friend. "You should take it easy Yoh! That TV does look very heavy and you also got hurt!" Manta told him seemingly satisfied with what he learned.

"You should better go to school, Manta, it's getting late." Yoh reminded him worried over Anna coming back as much as over his little friend asking more questions that would result in more lies from him.

"Ahhhh, you're right!" Manta screamed looking at the time. "Take care, Yoh, I'll bring you homework later and let the teachers know about you and Anna! See you Amidamaru!" The little boy waved as he dashed out.

Halfway through his dash, however, Manta slowed down and thought things over.

'Something felt off about this meeting, Yoh especially. Anna was her usual self, but Amidamaru seemed a bit…cold? Rigid? Too serious? He is usually more relaxed …Yoh might be worried about Anna indeed getting hurt but even that felt off somehow. Like he did feel worried, but yet there was something more about it that I'm not entirely sure how to explain it…Could they be hiding something from me? Could Yoh?' Manta thought as a wave of sadness hit him.

He shouldn't assume.

He did before and it ended him in a mess although he still had some doubts about that event too. He should just confront Yoh next time they were alone. Both him and Amidamaru. After all, they were his friends and he could tell when Yoh was hiding something.

Manta entered the school building determined to get through the day and then confront Yoh about his worries.


"You didn't have to hit him that hard." Yoh told Anna when she entered the kitchen later on.

Yoh was just throwing the remains of the vase in the bin.

"Have you got the TV in your room?" She ignored his question.

"Yes, it's all set up. And seriously, he's my friend. Our friend and we're plainly lying to him. He was just worried about you, he saw your bandage or he thought he did."

"I thought he did see it, so I tried to make sure he doesn't remember it. And he's your friend not mine."

"Anna, you can't just hit Manta senseless in order to make him forget things. And he is your friend otherwise he wouldn't care."

"Well Yoh, then he should be less nosy like he was last time. He really doesn't learn. Carrying about my well being doesn't make him my friend. The nurse also cared about my well being and that doesn't mean we're besties now." Anna crossed her arms looking at him annoyed - Yoh barely ever started fights.

"Anna, it's OK to let others care, you know…"

"No, Yoh, I don't and I don't want to. They don't actually care, it's just a temporary feeling caused by them feeling compassion, but in the longer term, no one cares, they have better things to do." She replied harshly, her eyes cold, yet Yoh saw hurt flash in them briefly.

"But Anna…"

"I don't want to discuss this anymore. You know where I stand, so don't push me. I only care about you, full stop. Manta should learn to mind his own business before he gets hurt again and that's his problem not mine. He's your friend, not mine. He should just keep his distance from me." Anna snapped angrily avoiding Yoh's eyes.

'He could be your friend too if you let him…' Yoh thought but stopped himself. Anna was right. Pushing Manta's friendship on her won't help. Regardless of how happy she was with him, that didn't erase her previous trauma, so he knew where she was coming from. She didn't trust people. She didn't believe in friendship. He just had to let things happen. And after all, he wasn't doing a good job at being a friend himself with all the lying, but he just didn't feel ready to tell Manta about Anna. It took him long enough to share with Amidamaru and that was mostly because his ghost friend was seeing and feeling too much through their bond, but with Manta…with Manta it was a different story.

"I'm sorry Anna, didn't mean to push Manta on you. It's just he's my friend aside from you and Amidamaru and he cares and I feel bad I'm lying to him despite being my choice to lie to him as much as it's yours…" Yoh admitted looking ashamed.

"I know Yoh, but the fact that you don't want to share that with him makes me think he is more a friend to you than you are to him, so it's you that needs to work our things rather than me accepting Manta's friendship."

"Anna…" Yoh raised his eyes to look at her, surprised by her words.

"Look, I know you never had friends before me and Manta is your first human friend, but it doesn't just work through labelling Yoh. Sure, you can call someone your friend to show them you want to build this kind of relationship with them, but the words have to live up to the practice. Take for example us - we were fiancées because your family said so, but it was our choice to actually be together and now to do something more about it. Same with Manta. Sure you are worried about him and spend time with him, but he's still not your 'I would tell him everything' friend. You still need to work on your relationship and making me be his friend or asking me to act in a certain way towards him won't improve your relationship. It has to come from you only."

Yoh's eyes grew wide upon being called out – he didn't expect this turn of events. He didn't even realize that it was actually what was really bothering him until she spelt it out for him.

"I do think he's being a good friend and I know you are trying to be yourself a good friend, but you need time to actually and totally feel comfortable around someone else than yourself. This is by no means me trying to make you tell Manta about us because I personally don't want Manta to find about us, but the fact that you, yourself, don't feel like telling him, makes me think there's more to it, Yoh."

"But I can't just tell him everything about me, Anna…"

"And that's fine too, Yoh. You didn't tell me about your family and I didn't tell you about my relationship with your family, but we are both aware of it and working on it. We're not lying, it's a difference and it's easier to live with. I mean, what I'm saying is that you don't have to tell Manta the whole truth, but if it makes you feel better, you can just admit there's something you don't know how to put into words yet."

Yoh's previous surprised face changed into pure joy and he just jumped on Anna before she even saw it coming. She almost fell off her feet if it weren't for the wall behind her that helped her regain her balance.

"Yoh, I'm going to kill you, IDIOT!" She growled trying to get a hold of herself – his happy outburst sent butterflies in her stomach, making her face a tomato and feel as if she had been literally swept off her feet. Scrap that, she realized she actually couldn't feel the floor, her feet were definitely dangling above the floor – Yoh was holding her slightly up.

"Yoh, I'm murdering you for using our minor height difference to your advantage! Put me down!" She roared eyes burning, yet she didn't actually trust her feet and her face was still all flustered, so her voice came more pitchy than intended.

"Thank you, Anna, I really needed to hear that!" Yoh replied instead ignoring her previous comments as he twirled around the kitchen with her.

Her arms instinctively circled around his neck and she found herself gazing into his brown joyful eyes.

Her heart skipped a bit. Or more.

"Your leg is still hurt, you shouldn't be standing." The boy added grinning widely as he gave the girl a light squeeze around her middle.

Anna felt touched by his care for her once again, which only made her lose her words. So she did what she always did – hid her face in his shoulder. She felt overwhelmed by joy and love for her tender fiancée and, as much as she tried to hide it, her eyes flooded with tears. His genuine loving reactions were still getting her.

"Anna, you OK? Your leg hurting? Should I get the painkillers? Should I call the hos…" Yoh asked concerned upon feeling his shoulder wet.

Before he got a chance to finish his sentence, he felt a pair of soft lips on his mouth that retreated as quickly as they came.

"Thank you, Yoh. Now shut up because there are that many emotions I can handle at once coming from you." Anna mumbled shily avoiding his gaze.

"I should thank you Anna, I really never considered that!" Yoh gave her another squeeze before he finally let her down gently and then kissed her forehead, his eyes looking at her with adoration.

"Have you finished your TV training?" Anna enquired trying to change the topic before she lost herself in his tender gaze.

"I thought you weren't serious about that." Yoh suddenly panicked, dropping his hands from around her.

"Well, I was." Anna replied crossing her arms, eyes very serious.

Yoh's face fell.

Anna's stern look didn't waver.

Yoh's eyes grew in panic.

Anna bit her lip suddenly.

Yoh was ready to dash when he suddenly noticed her gesture.

"Anna?"

The girl couldn't resist any longer and she started giggling.

"You should have seen your face." She was fully laughing now.

"You got me there!" Yoh pouted, crossing his arms, yet his eyes sparkled with joy - he loved hearing her laugh as much as he enjoyed her playful side.

"As if I'm letting you train with our only TV!" Anna huffed. "What if you drop it? Then what? Make Manta buy one so I don't kill you?" She teased and Yoh rolled his eyes playfully at her antics before mischief shone in his eyes.

"I told you to leave Manta out of this!" Yoh said as he lounged with his hands towards her sides to tickle her, but she moved away.

"Nice try, but without TV training you're still left with your jogging. Let's go now, it's late!" Anna ordered leaving the room towards the garden, yet her eyes still sparkled with joy from the tease.

"Wait, what do you mean let's go? You can't jog with me!" Yoh shouted running after her.

He was surprised however to find her outside sitting comfortably on a red medium-sized garden trolley. She had cushions at the back, a cover on the side and a jacket covering her lap, a small bag and magazines – she was actually already reading one, feet stretched sticking outside the trolley. Yoh realized she must have had that prepared sometime after Manta left.

"I'm not jogging, you are, but I'm coming with you." Anna replied paying attention to her magazine.

"You mean I have to carry you on the jog?"

"Yes, there's a strap you can put around your middle. Now come on, it's late, I'll have to add extra km for you to make up."

"But you should stay home and keep your leg rested!" Yoh protested.

"Yoh." Her eyes met him and she put the magazine aside. "Do you want me to stay at home where I can't do much with this leg in the way instead of making sure you do your training properly or..." Her voice dropped dangerously low. "...do you actually just have a problem with the additional weight on top of your usual ones?"

"No, no, I didn't mean it that way! I mean it's nice you're coming!" Yoh immediately explained panicked – of course he wasn't thrilled with the extra weight that he was sure wasn't his fiancée but the trolley and whatever else she added in it.

"Very well then, start running." Anna ordered returning to her magazine.

"Wait, Amidamaru's not here yet." Yoh noticed confused.

"He is not?" Anna looked up from her reading, visible annoyed to be interrupted once again.

Amidamaru finally showed up and apologized for the delay.

"Are you OK Amidamaru?" Yoh asked. "Thanks for the save earlier, I am sorry if I made you lie for us…"

"Don't worry Yoh-dono, I understand!" Amidamaru looked kindly his way before he felt Anna's piercing gaze on him.

"Were you crying about how sweet we are in some corner of the house?" She asked.

Amidamaru paled.

"Knew it." Anna rolled her eyes and continued to read - or so the ghost thought before he saw a stone fly through him.

"Yoh-dono!" He cried hiding behind Yoh who was looking sheepishly at Amidamaru – his ghost's reactions were embarrassing him as much as they were amusing him.

"Serves him right! Now move it Yoh!" Anna commanded as she sprayed Yoh with water.

"Anna, wait, what is this?!" The boy looked confused wiping his face on his arm.

"It's a water spray. Obviously you need some kind of motivation and we have decided violence is not the way to it so this would do instead. Move it." Anna sprayed him again and Yoh tried avoiding it but failed since he had the trolley already attached so he just jumped with her.

The movement caused a rattling noise coming from within the trolley.

"Anna, I'm not a cat! Did you take this idea from that cat advert that plays all the time on TV? And what's that noise?" Yoh asked.

"Maybe…" The girl shrugged bored before she started to arrange stuff within the trolley, seemingly uninterested as she added "The noise? Oh, just some stones."

"Stones?!"

"Well obviously I am too light for you to carry, so I added some rocks. Don't worry, they're good to throw at Amidamaru too in case he's fangirling too much about us or Fernando and Camille, can't let him distract you and annoy me. I took plenty." The girl smirked watching the ghost cry.

Yoh cried too – he knew she had brought more stuff.

"I don't see you move." She sprayed him again.

Yoh felt the cold water hit him and he started running, so Anna returned to her reading, putting the spray aside.

'This will definitely be an 'interesting' training day.' Yoh and Amidamaru thought still crying internally.

And they had no idea Anna wouldn't be their only 'interesting aspect' of the day.