A/N: Hah, finally updating! Senior year is kicking my butt, so please forgive how slow I've been.

Also, I'm really wondering if people like this fiction ( other than my usual reviewers ). My one shot has more reviews than this chapter fic. O.o

Oh well, the plot is about to thicken immensely and things are about to get very interesting! Reviewer's responses and a few more notes at the end of the chapter!

-----------Chapter 4------------

She took deep breaths as she glared at him, her eyes burning with anger, hatred, and disgust. That should teach him! What kind of sick joke was he playing, anyways? Not once in her life had someone told her that they knew everything about her—not even her own fiancé had said such a thing. It sent a chill through her, but Anna ignored it. He was playing a practical joke. He was trying to get under her skin.

It wasn't going to work.

So it was much to her surprise when Hao smiled at her goofily, one hand still lightly touching that red hand print upon his cheek, where her slap had made contact. There was something about that smile that she didn't trust. She didn't want to stay around to find out what made him grin like that. Who in their right mind would grin after someone slapped them?

But grin he did, and he watched her with an expression that bespoke of amusement and something darker; Anna couldn't place that darkness, and she didn't want to. Turning on her heel, the blonde started to storm from the restroom, but again, a hand gripped her wrist and stopped her in her tracks.

The next moment was a whirlwind. Anna didn't exactly know how, yet before she knew it she was pinned against the wall again, both of her hands trapped above her head by one of his. A million scenes ran through her head, all inspired by books, movies, stories. Scenes of rape and horrible things. She struggled beneath the iron grip but found it a futile attempt; all the while, Hao beamed at her with that smile. "You're not going anywhere, dear Anna-chan..." He purred.

Something in his voice made her stop all attempts at freeing herself. A cold spiral ran down her spine.

"What do you want, Asakura-san?" The blonde wanted to hiss at him, but she was having enough trouble keeping her voice steady and emotionless as it was. For the first time, she was scared. Inches away from her face, Hao licked his lips, and the poor Itako was sure this was going to become the site of some horrible event she thought only existed in movies.

To her horror, Hao began to laugh. He didn't answer her, just laughed, in an obnoxious tone that set a vein pulsing in Anna's forehead. Just what was so funny? What was he plotting? After a few long moments of listening to that annoying sound, she was relieved when the male finally stopped, shaking his dainty head. "Ahaha, Anna-chan! I'm not going to rape you! I simply want to make you listen to me…" He explained, and the dark brown eyes of the blonde widened in shock. How had he known…?

"Its simple, Anna-chan. If you promise not to run away, I'll release you, and tell you everything. Just be a good girl!"

There was a long pause as he awaited the pinned female's response. Should she agree? What would happen if she didn't agree? Did she want to know what would happen? What was so important to go through such great lengths to tell her? And how…how had he known what she was thinking? Deciding it would be best to be cooperative for now, she gave a curt nod that signaled her consent, and immediately felt the release of pressure upon her wrists. Instinctively, she held both to her chest, massaging them softly, still able to feel his hands upon her skin. It was a relief to be freed of that grip, and even more appeasing when her capture of moments of go took a step back, allowing her more room. He gestured towards one of the metal chairs that had been brought in to serve as a stool when reaching supplies, and Anna took her cue to sit.

As soon as the blonde was seated, Hao gave a smile that said he was quite clearly pleased, and seated himself Indian-style before her. "Anna-chan—" he started, but was abruptly cut off.

"It's Kyoyama-san, Asakura-san."

"Oh, but of course. I don't see why we need to be so formal, though!"

Ugh. This was going nowhere and his voice, his chiming demeanor, was beginning to grate on her last nerve yet again. She had very little patience left by this point. As if to hint her frustration and discontent, she tapped her foot in a quick, rhythmic pace on the floor, and Hao took notice. Thankfully. His expression became slightly more serious, the smile fading to a mere curve of the lips.

"Ah…I suppose I should start from the beginning, and tell you the whole story, mm? But that will have to wait—O Soji will be done shortly, and I won't be able to tell you the best part!" He began, and Anna narrowed her eyes at him. She didn't like the sound of this already, but what choice did she have?

"Just spit it out, Asakura-san. I don't have all day."

"My, my, so impatient…alright." Slender arms moving behind him to support his body, he looked up towards the ceiling in thought. "You're an Itako, neh, Anna-chan? Of course you are. You already know this… and you possess the Reishii, too. They're such powerful gifts…so powerful, and you could be so powerful, too, Anna-chan."

It was as though time stopped. Anna's heart skipped a few beats. No way could he know that she possessed such gifts. Her face lost all color and her eyes widened. How did he know? It wasn't possible! Only Yoh knew, and Yoh would never have told anyone. He knew how difficult things already were for her. Her mind whirled. What was Hao playing at? Was it some sick joke, one that hit too close to home on accident? Or did he really know? A lumped formed in her throat, and all her attempts to swallow it failed. She had to play this off. He didn't know. He couldn't possibly know.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Asakura-san. You're wasting my time." Snapped the blonde moodily, her voice nicely even and irritated, a point on her part.

"I too possess the Reishii, Anna." He said it so calmly. So calmly, and Anna swallowed hard again. No, he didn't. This was insane. It wasn't possible. She told herself that over and over again, unknowingly shaking her head once. For the first time she could remember, there was a serious sort of silence from Hao and when her brown eyes finally looked at him again, all traces of his smile were gone and those dark eyes that reminded her so much of Yoh held no speck of a joke.

This was real.

She refused to accept it. Finding she had nothing to say—or perhaps it was the fact that her voice was stuck behind the growing lump in her throat, she merely waited for him to continue.

"What I don't understand, Anna-chan, is why you haven't used the Reishii on me all this time." A soft chuckle. "Or rather, attempted to use it. It wouldn't have worked, naturally, but you have no way of knowing that. Why don't you open your mind more often, Anna-chan?"

The blonde's mouth opened to say something, but stopped. She didn't have to explain herself to this man, and so she wouldn't. Putting the hardest scowl she could manage on her face, the rate at which she tapped her foot became more pronounced, louder. Hao continued speaking as though she was not growing excruciatingly annoyed.

"Ah, that doesn't matter…you'll tell me eventually. I suppose you have a very good reason, ne? Of course you do. You don't seem the type to do things without good reason. Scratch that…you aren't the type to do things without good reason." Here, he paused, as though contemplating something. His next words were chosen very carefully. "Kyoyama-san…I can help you hone your abilities. I can make you stronger. You won't have to fear anymore." His use of her formal name reminded her of how serious he was, even as a smirk that no longer reminded Anna of her fiancé slipped across his features. Something sinister was behind it, but before it could be registered it was gone, replaced by a serene calmness as he contemplated, eyes fastened upon the blonde before him. There was something piercing in that gaze and in the brief yet uncomfortable silence that followed. Anna tried not to show how tense she felt, keeping her expression bored, unimpressed, and unamused. She let him known she thought this was all a very poor joke and really had no idea what he was talking about.

But her mind was whirling. If he was telling the truth, how did he know? And why wouldn't she be able to use the Reishii upon him? How did another upon this planet possess the Reishii, when she had believed it to be a gift so rare that very few diseases could even match this?

Giving into impulse, she opened her mind, aiming all of her ability at Hao. Soon, she would see his thoughts, his heart. Everything would be revealed.

But there was nothing. For the first time, she encountered an empty void. No matter how hard she tried, no thought, no word, no emotion, no feeling penetrated the blackness she encountered.

Hao sensed this, and his lips split into a large grin. "However much you deny it, you know that I am telling you the truth." He stated, and leaned forward to press the tips of his fingers together, elbows resting casually upon his knees. "If you understand that, Kyoyama-san, I can give you the true purpose of why I am here." His eyes moved to hers at this and locked, and Anna found all words stuck in her throat again. She refused to break the gaze, however, trying to hold some part of herself steady and in control. When Hao got no answer, he took this as his permission to continue.

"I want to take you away from all of this. I can give you unlimited training and power; offer you a world where no one can discriminate against you." There was a pause as he stood, regally, and his words seemed to hold something foreboding and ominous, as he stretched his hand out to the wide-eyed girl before him, who had never felt so small in her life. She did not take the offered hand. She stared at it as though it might clench around her throat the next moment and drain the life from her. Hao did not seem discouraged. "Come with me. You can be powerful, so powerful…no one will be able to hurt you again."

Still there was silence from Anna, and the brunette paused his speaking before a smirk of undeniable knowing and scheming lit up his face, eyes coming alive.

"They won't be able to call you a demon anymore."

That did it. Anna snapped. She stood so fast from her chair that it clattered loudly to the floor, the noise echoing off the tile of the walls. Her fist were clenched at her side, nails digging into the skin of her palms, knuckles white. Her voice was a dangerous hiss. "You know nothing about me, Asakura Hao. You know nothing. And if you come near me again, I swear to you, it'll be the last thing you do."

Her feet had carried her to the door before he spoke again, his voice laughing. "You make things so difficult, Anna-chan…"

But Anna didn't comprehend his words. She left the restroom in a huff, slamming the door behind her. And once that door divided her from his sight, she began to run. Her feet pounded against the floor until they had carried her away from the restroom, far away.

She had to find Yoh.

Yoh, meanwhile, had just finished his cleaning in the east hall—the teacher had stuck him with the worst possible task, since Yoh often fell asleep in class. It really wasn't his fault that chemistry made his head hurt. Besides, he could get the notes from Anna or Manta later. Making a face as he dropped the last slipper into the dryer, he slammed it shut, and removed the clothes pin from his nose, rubbing the sore piece of cartridge. No more stinky feet smell. Now, he could go home, and take a nap. His hand was on the handle of the door when it flew open quite suddenly.

It startled him, quite obviously. He stumbled a few steps back, and his surprise doubled at the sight of the girl before him. Anna. Something was wrong. He could sense it. Her chest rose and fell in quick, shallow breathes and her face was red. She had been running—and Anna never ran. "Anna?" His tone was worried. Anna stepped towards him, and it was obvious she was trying to keep up her façade as an Ice Queen—a mask Yoh very rarely saw fall away.

"Yoh—I—I just wanted to make sure that you were finished and not goofing off." She snapped, but there was something behind the icy tone. Something that sounded suspiciously like fear. Yoh didn't buy her excuse at all. He stepped towards her cautiously and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Anna, what's wrong? Did something happen?" His mind went over possibilities at quicker speeds than most thought he could manage; when it came to Anna, his mind always worked a bit harder. He remembered immediately that she was working with Hao, and that she obviously disliked the new student. The brunette himself had to admit that there was something he didn't trust about the man, but he often tried to reserve judgment on people. Still, it was the one thing that he could think would have upset her this much. "Was it Asakura-san? Did he do something to you, Anna?"

The worried tone, the gentle, caring look on her fiancé's face, nearly brought Anna to a full break down, but she tried to stand tall even as she gave a slow nod. "Yoh, he—it's like he knows everything. Everything that he can't know. Why couldn't I read him, Yoh? Why was his mind blank, his heart not speaking to me when I opened myself to receive it? It doesn't make sense!"

She was babbling, she was breaking. Yoh wasn't sure what had happened but it had truly shaken the normally distant and calm blonde. He had never seen her like this. "Anna!"

He called her name to get her to stop, to calm her. Yet she kept going. "He knew about the Reishii. About the names. The names, Yoh! Demon child, demon child…He knew it all! And his eyes—I've never seen a look like that in anyone's eyes!"

"ANNA!" Yoh snapped, shaking her shoulders, and the Itako stopped her ranting, staring up at him with shocked brown eyes. Yoh never yelled at her. He never shook her. It surprised her and brought her rant to an end almost immediately, her hands clenched at her sides in small fists. Yoh sighed, and brushed a blonde bang from her face with the side of his hand. "Anna…please, explain everything. Calmly. Start from the beginning."

A gulp, and she nodded, and began.

Ten minutes later, Anna had finished a detailed account of what had happened in the restroom, leaving not a single piece of dialogue or movement out. When she finally stopped, her normally laid-back fiancé was watching her with slightly glazed eyes; the glaze was not his usual 'I-tuned-out-half-way-through' glaze, but more of a contemplating gaze. He said nothing for a very long moment, and Anna finally broke the silence. "Well?"

"Anna…" He thought over his words again. He definitely did not like this. Most definitely not. Something was very wrong here. "I don't know what he's up to Anna, but I don't think he was joking. Still, no one who possesses the ability to see spirits can be a bad person, ne? Maybe I should talk to him."

That was Yoh. Always looking at the bright side of things; optimism was an ability Anna had never been able to master. They both figured that Hao could see spirits, just as they could, or his knowledge of Anna's abilities would be unexplainable. Besides, he definitely had that aura to him…

Clanking the heels of her shoes against the door of the dryer, which she had assumed as her seat when she began to recount her afternoon to Yoh, the young woman heaved a heavy sigh. "I don't like it at all, Yoh. Something doesn't feel right." Her dark eyes locked with his, and he offered her that sweet, irresistibly goofy smile that always made her melt inwardly, no matter how she hid it on the outside.

"It'll be ok, Anna! Just be careful, and I'll talk to him when I get the chance, ok?" Taking a few quick steps up to her, he brushed the hair from her eyes again, that same smile still there. "I'll make sure everything is alright."

Great Spirits, she wanted to believe him, wanted to trust him. She knew he meant what he said. Yet she couldn't chase the chill, the feeling of something being horribly wrong. Her eyes lowered away from his, breaking the contact. She didn't want to admit that she was scared; of what, she didn't even know anymore. But Yoh knew, and quite suddenly, she felt strong arms around her. It made her stiffen, eyes widening.

Yoh simply let his chin rest atop her head, inhaling the scent of her blonde hair. He felt her stiffen, and then, slowly, she relaxed, and allowed him the privilege of holding her. Neither said a word but it was a cherished moment that Yoh would remember for years to come. His hand stroked soothingly through her locks, and she laid her cheek against his chest to listen to his heartbeat.

Suddenly, it seemed that nothing could go wrong.

They were very wrong.

-----------------/End Chapter----------------

Preview of the next chapter:

What happens when Anna doesn't show up to school the next day, and neither does Hao? When a mysterious note is found on her vanity? And what exactly is the secret of Yoh's family?

Meanwhile, Anna wakes up in an unfamiliar bed and an unfamiliar world…a world where spirits roam freely and a giant pillar called the 'Great Spirit' looms on the horizon ominously. A reluctant and kidnapped Anna will accept the training offered to her by none other than Hao, with no knowledge of how to return home. Promises are made, intentions brought to the surface, and secrets revealed…

Reader responses:

AJ: Hey. xD Thanks for giving me my fifteenth review. I like nice even multiples of 5. I'm glad you like my writing and I'll keep it up. I have so many ideas for this story, it's just trying to find time to write it! See you at school, and thanks for reading!

LadyoftheDarkSky: I'm glad you like it. Please keep reading, and reviewing!

KagomeAnna: Ah, HaoxAnna—you'll be getting more of that later in the story, but there will also be YohxAnna, like in this chapter. And I promise you, the end of this story has a twist no one is expecting.

Little-Anna-Chan: Update! xD Well, the plot on this one is about to get really intense. I can't wait to read your next chapter, and no worries, I won't tell anyone! feels special

Jenny-R: I was actually planning on having a YohxAnna scene in this chapter even before you asked! Haha, there'll be more, but I can't give too much away. I'm glad you like my fic, and I'll do my best to keep making it 'attractive' for you! Thanks for your reviews!

Mrs Asakura Hao: Psh, yeah. Hao is awesome, although he currently seems like the bad guy of the story, mn? Well, I can't tell you too much or I'll reveal my crucial plot! Muwahah! But there will be plenty more ass-kicking scenes, so keep on reading and reviewing.