Authoress's note: Thank you to my reviewers and readers! I know the first chapter was sort of rough, but as promised, more character will be introduced this time around!If you pay close attention, you will notice that I'll be trying to keep many facts from the original series in this AU fiction as well.
If you look really close, you may even find a few hints as to how this will end.
No warnings for this chapter, folks, but if I don't have at least ten reviews in total, I may put this fic on Hiatus, so that I can focus a bit more on senior year. So I guess that means you need to review huh?
Now, on to the story!
-----------------Chapter Two-------------------
"Hm…"
Staring out over the venue of the city, the man placed a delicate, gloved hand on the ground behind him. His legs set Indian style, his head thrown back to take in the sites, poncho blowing gracefully in the wind…
Today was the day.
He had been watching for a year now. He had watched her struggle with her 'curse'.
He had read her mind.
He had seen her desire to get away from this place, this Earth. Her desire to be accepted.
To learn to accept herself.
Today…he would grant that wish.
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Anna jerked awake as though someone had blown a horn in her ear, sitting straight up in her bed, her eyes wide. Tommy raised his head to look at her questioningly from the foot of her bed, his large chocolate eyes making sure she was ok, before he lay back down, snorting through his nose.
The sun was just coming up on the horizon and the red digits of her alarm clock screamed at her that she had barely been asleep for four hours. She shouldn't have woken up. It wasn't like her, really. Anna was quite used to falling asleep and staying that way until her alarm went off.
Nothing, and no one woke her up, other than her alarm clock. That was just how it had always been. She would slap anyone who dared attempt otherwise, whether she be asleep or awake when she did it. So why, after a mere four hours, had she suddenly woken? She couldn't shake the strange feeling that something was slightly off, but after letting her wary eyes scan the room, she could find nothing out of place.
Of course, the smidgeons of sunlight filtering through the glass pane of the double doors that lead to her balcony didn't do much to illuminate the room, either. Shadows lurked in strange places and for a moment, the blonde felt herself giving into the childish fears of a ten year old, complete with the compulsion to check under her bed and then hide herself under the covers.
After all, following that same logic, if she couldn't see them, they couldn't see her.
Which, of course, she knew better. Proof was right at her feet. Tommy could see her parents, but her parents couldn't see him. And, to make this all the more ridiculous, Tommy was a ghost.
So, therefore, she'd be able to see any other ghosts or spirits in her room.
Which meant whatever was in there wasn't…
"Stop it!" She chided herself aloud, her voice seeming to echo in the early morning hours. This was purely ridiculous. Obviously, she had simply had a bad dream that she couldn't recall now. Or maybe she had rolled over on something, or hit her head…
Whatever it had been, she was wide awake now. Her eyes wandered back to the red digits of the clock, watching as it flipped to the next minute.
"Five in the morning…" Scowling, she tossed the covers off her and stepped into her slippers, leaving the matting and padding softly to the windows. At the very least, she could enjoy the sunrise. It was so quiet at this hour, with only a few cars on the roads outside, the birds stirring in their nests, calling to each other in greeting, chattering over where they would hunt for breakfast. At the thought, a soft smile flitted over her lips, one pale hand coming up to press against the clear glass, leaning closer, her breath misting over it slightly each time she exhaled. She could step onto her balcony to view the sunrise, but she knew it would be cold at this hour and hadn't bothered with a robe. Instead, she took in the peaceful sight through the restraining material that kept her from it.
The horizon was painted in shades of blue and purple that couldn't be captured even in photos, and lower, where the sun it's self resided, it blended smoothly into pinks, yellows…an effect that no artist could ever capture, and yet, so breathtakingly stunning. Anna imagined a beautiful young woman holding out her hands, offering all of the colors to the sky, and in return, the sky swept her up into its gentle embrace, and gave her to the sun and the moon, and she herself became a beautiful color…
She wanted to disappear into the sky.
HOOOOONK. BREEEEP.
The noises of the day began outside; the church nearby telling her she had spent an hour watching the sun rise. Six, already? It couldn't possibly be. She'd only been standing at the window for maybe five minutes…
Yet upon casting her gaze back to her alarm clock, the numbers there defied her and agreed with the beings outside.
Sunrise was over and day had begun. In about an hour, she would have to start getting ready for school.
Her eyes wandered at her bed again. Should she try for another hour?
No.
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Indeed, day had officially arrived. Taking another bite of her apple, the blonde let her wooden sandals carry her further down the street, past the bustling coffee shops, the businesses opening for the day, the taxis filling with rushed people, the traffic honking and filling the air with an annoying buzz.
She couldn't see the sky much past the tall buildings and the smog of Tokyo.
So she didn't try.
Deafly, she discarded the core of her apple in a nearby trash can, using her now-free hand to smooth her blouse and the green skirt of the academy. This was her last year, and then, she would move to America. She would study at a University there, come back, and be a doctor. A respectable profession for a respectable woman from what her parents hoped she would someday rebuild into a respectable family.
Weaving through the crowd, she followed a memorized path all the way to Shinra Private Academy, where she was immediately greeted by the same thing as every other day: the bustling kids, the idiotic squeals of some girl fawning over a magazine model with her friends, the boys swapping stories from their weekend, making bets over which of the girls had a shorter skirt.
How disgusting.
Coming to a complete halt in front of the large building, she gazed up at it for a long moment, and then let her eyes fall shut and took a deep breath. Another day in paradise.
Right.
She could hear the whispers as she walked past, feel the stares, and see the fingers.
'There, her. She thinks she's so much better than anyone else…'
'If she wasn't engaged to that Asakura boy, I'd have knocked her down a few pegs a while back. But they're such a shady family. Probably part of the mafia…'
'Why is she with Yoh, anyways? His family is weird but he's such a sweet guy…and she's a total bitch!'
How absurd. Anna tried to block out the whispers, as she did everyday. You'd think they'd get bored after a while, really.
She was looking for two people, anyways. One would be very hard to spot, as he was much too short to be seen in the crowd, but the bright orange head phones the other one wore would make up for it. Smoothing a strand of blonde hair out of her face, her feet carried her to the place she normal met them. In a matter of moments, she was there, greeted by none other than…
"Yoh, Manta. Good morning."
As if on cue, the two looked at her: Yoh, his hands fastened behind his head, gave a sheepish smile. "Morning, Anna."
"Ohayo, Anna." She had to look down to see who said this. Leaning against the lowest rail of the stairway was Manta, who, bless his heart, had grown maybe four inches since she had met him at thirteen. He still hadn't reached past four feet in height.
In truth, she had known Manta longer than Yoh, and there was a silent, unspoken relationship between the two. Manta had been the first person she'd ever met who could also see spirits, but that seemed to be the limit of his abilities. Still, it had drawn her to him, and there was a shared respect for one another.
It still didn't stop her from bossing him around.
A nod to her vertically-challenged friend, and she brought her eyes back to Yoh; the faint hum of his headphones met her ears, meaning he was listening to BOB love, as usual. He hadn't changed a bit since she'd met him three years ago, except maybe…
Well, he looked older. That was as far into that topic as Anna had ever allowed herself to venture. She and the physical really did not mix too well.
"Yoh, did you finish reading the assigned chapter for physics?" Hands on her hips, she waited for the little play that would come now.
Yoh blinked. His grin grew more sheepish and he rubbed at the back of his head nervously. She could almost mouth the next words with him.
"We had to read?"
It really was the same thing every morning.
"Yes, we had to read and take notes, Yoh-kun!" Manta piped, shaking his head in disdain at the lack of brain capacity his laid-back friend had. Again, Anna could almost mouth the next words for him.
"Ah…really? Daijobu datte…"
After three years, Anna knew that was his catch phrase. 'Daijobu datte'. Everything will work out. But when it came to school, it rarely did. Perhaps in every other aspect of his life, the motto came to the rescue…but not in school.
"Yoh." The brunette winced at his fiancé's stern tone, and he too could almost mouth the exact words that she would say. "You're failing three classes."
That hadn't been what he had expected. Surprised, he blinked at her. "I…am?"
Both Manta and the blonde Itako sweat dropped, and Manta squeaked something about how obvious it was, wondering aloud how Yoh didn't know. Anna merely shook her head, dark eyes moving towards the entrance of the school as the first bell rang. She turned on her heel to march inside, her perfectly calm, mightier-than-thou air in place, nose held slightly in the air. "I expect you to try harder. No fiancé of mine is going to be a drop out."
With a defeated sigh, Yoh followed her in, Manta tagging along and giving his friend reassurances.
A few yards back, leaning against a tree, was a figure that made some of the passing girls stop and stare, before running off to grab the attention of other friends.
Clad in the school uniform, yet somehow managing to make it look like casual wear—yet another student the teachers would eventually give up on, for he, like Yoh, would never button his shirt fully—was a man that looked remarkably like the fiancé of Anna Kyoyama. With his long hair tied back, the resemblance was even more striking, but there was something distinctly feminine about him, at the same time. A sort of composed grace…
He watched Anna go. He watched the one that resembled him follow her in, followed by the midget.
He laughed.
And then he, too, went inside.
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First period. Physics. It seemed to be a favorite pastime of their teacher to call on Yoh for each and every question, knowing that the boy hadn't done a bit of homework. Manta, in the desk next to him, was palming his forehead and feeling embarrassed for the other, Yoh was laughing nervously at each question and spouting off answers that drew quiet snickers from classmates, and Anna, a desk behind him, would intensify her glare upon his back with each failure, so that by the third question, Yoh could almost feel physical heat from her gaze.
Another normal day.
Akio-sensei opened his mouth to correct Yoh's most recent lame attempt at an answer, and possibly give him yet another, 'simpler' question, when the door swung open and the school secretary motioned for the exasperated teacher to step outside into the hall. Yoh let out a relieved sigh, then winced as he felt Anna's hand make sharp contact with the back of his head. "Nani!" He turned partially in his desk to look at her, and she opened her mouth to speak, but their conversation was cut off by Akio-sensei reentering, followed by a sight that made a few of the girls in the class gasp. Even Anna's eyes widened, but not for the reasons of those around her.
He looked…like Yoh.
"We have a new student from Kyoto, Asakura Hao. Everyone, please welcome him to the class."
A murmur went around immediately and Yoh blinked, even as everyone bowed their heads respectfully and issued a 'Welcome, Asakura-san.'
Her eyes followed him. He looked too much like Yoh, and there was something else about him that sent a silent chill down her spine…Anna swallowed the sudden lump in her throat and kept her expression indifferent. Yoh didn't seem to know this person, either, yet they had the same last name.
Perhaps it was just coincidence?
But the strange feeling didn't leave, and she had the raging compulsion to slap Akio-sensei when Hao was pointed to take the desk next to her. Almost every eye in the class followed him to the desk, and he just gave a wave and a smile that again sent a pang of recognition through her.
"Yo!"
Anna couldn't concentrate on another word Akio-sensei said for the rest of the lesson.
-----------------End Chapter-------------------
Aha, I know it was short this time around. But as promised, Hao was introduced—if you didn't catch that was him in the beginning, I really need to work on my writing. Excuse the choppiness and the lack of flow in this chapter, I'm extremely tired and haven't slept tonight. Please review, if you want me to continue.
On another note: There are going to be some huge plot twists once I get this thing going. It's slow right now so forgive me, but once it gets farther in, things will get interesting. If you're wondering how they have the same last name, it'll be explained later.
