Let Me Fall
Callista Miralni
Hi everyone! Sorry for the late update, I would have had it up Wednesday, if the power hadn't gone out the night before, and I had to re-type everthing 'cause I didn't get to save the chapter.
Thanks to all my reviewers!
Yoh dashed down all the flights of the Senatorial Guest Hotel. On the 53rd floor, he nearly tackled Ren to the ground.
Furious that Yoh didn't even apologize, Ren ran after him.
The twosome continued their mad dash down the stairs. On the 49th floor, Horo Horo nearly got trampled.
So he ran after them, curious as to why they were running so fast.
The trio dashed down the long hallways and flights of stairs. On the stairs between the 43rd and 42nd floors, they ran past a completely perplexed Senator Duke Lyserg Diethyl of England.
Curious, Lyserg ran after the trio.
On the 38th floor, the quartet jumped over Ryu, who was lounging on the hallway floor.
Immediately, he got up and ran after them.
When all five reached the 32nd floor, Yoh, who didn't notice that he had attracted some curious ducks, jumped into the nearest airspeeder and took to the skies.
The other four followed the suit.
Finding the center of his calm, Yoh quickly found Amidamaru, who had possesed and immobilized the fleeting Kanna.
"Do you know who you were trying to kill?" Yoh asked Kanna gently as Amidamaru popped out of her.
"The Senator of Aomori." Kanna answered.
"Why are you trying to kill her?" Yoh asked her.
Kanna fell silent. Ryu placed his bokuto at her neck and growled, "Master Yoh asked you a question."
Kanna glared at Ryu. "I don't take orders from anyone but my master."
"You're Kanna Hanagumi, the older sister of Senator Mari Hanagumi of Italy, aren't you?" Lyserg said, recognition dawning on him.
"So what if I am?" she snapped back.
Ren growled angrily. "Listen you impudent..."
He was cut off by a deep mysterious voice calling to Kanna, saying,
"Kanna, it's not worth it. Come back to me."
Kanna bowed her head and softly answered, "Yes Master."
She disappeared in a burst of flame.
The five shamans stared at each other, perplexed.
It seemed like there was something deeper here that just a random assasination...
Supreme Chancellor Goldva stared thoughtfully at the young Senator in his office, her piercing gaze never once leaving his face.
This girl has been in my office more times than I can count. The random thought popped up into his head.
"Chancellor, I understand that you are busy with the Asakura situation, but I need answers, now." Anna said.
"I can't give you any answers, my dear. I do not know the answers myself." Goldva sighed.
The Chancellor caught sight of the young man leaning against the open doorway. The red handle of his sword glimmered as the light hit it, a promise of a quick death to his opponents.
"Anna-"
"Kyoyama, sir." Anna interjected.
"Senator Kyoyama, would you please introduce me to your bodyguard in the doorway?" The Chancellor said, his gaze not leaving the young man's face.
Anna spun around in her chair. "Yoh..." she said.
Yoh shifted his weight and strode over to Anna.
"Prince Asakura Yoh, Chancellor, the grandson of Asakura Yohmei, and heir to the throne of Shimane, Izumo." Anna calmly introduced.
"Any relations to Asakura Hao, my boy?"
Yoh looked up in surprise. "He's my twice reincarnated ancestor as my older twin brother, Your Excellency."
A chime rang through the Senate, the call for the next session. Anna got up and left the room but Chancellor Goldva held Yoh back.
"Yoh, this is a dangerous time for Senator Kyoyama to be in Nara."
"I understand sir."
"Senator Kyoyama must go into hiding. It is too dangerous for her here." Goldva looked at Yoh in the eye.
"Anna would never leave, not when she's worked this much and come this far. She knew my twin brother as well." Yoh argued, his voice full of respect.
Goldva sighed. The boy was right. Kyoyama Anna would never leave unless...
...Unless it was an executive order.
Anna was furious. This could not be happening, not when she had worked so hard and had come so far.
And yet, the Chancellor had ordered for her to flee into hiding.
Her, the strong and stubborn Anna Kyoyama?
Anna's handmadiens were busy packing clothes and other items into suitcases. Anna herself was in the living room, talking to Senator Manta Oyamada, an old friend of both Yoh and Anna.
"Understand, Oyamada, that this is the most crucial vote, and you are now the leader of the opposition to Asakura Hao's demands. The Chancellor knows this, and has agreed that your vote will count twice, one for Nara and one for Aomori." Anna said seriously.
Manta nodded and left the apartment. Anna turned to Yoh and said, "I don't like this idea of hiding. Your brother could easily find us anywhere we went."
Yoh smiled. "Relax Anna, we're going to the seaside. Hao's Spirit of Fire could never survive in the ocean."
Anna rolled her onyx orbs and turned to the task of packing some clothes for the journey (her handmadiens were packing things to be shipped back to the Aomori palace.)
"Oh by the way, we're leaving at midnight." Yoh called over his shoulder as he walked onto the apartment bedroom's balcony.
Anna closed the red drawstring knapsack."Why can't we leave now?"
Yoh shrugged and offered no response. Anna walked into her bathroom and emerged from it a few minutes later wearing her favorite outfit: a simple knee-length sleeveless black dress and a pair of red wooden sandals. She was wearing her blue itako beads and a blue beaded bracelet, a gift from Yoh when they were younger.
"Hey, where's the trademark red bandana?" Yoh remarked from her bedroom balcony. He was holding her red bandana.
"Give it here Yoh." Anna demanded, holding her hand out.
"C'mon, turn around Anna."
She glared at the older boy. "Yoh..." she said warningly. Anna tried to swipe the bandana from his hands, but because Yoh was taller, he had a slight advantage over her.
Yoh had wrapped his arms around Anna's waist in an effort to keep her still. "Hold still and turn around." he laughed.
Grudgingly, mainly because she wanted her bandana back, Anna turned around and kept still while Yoh secured the familiar red cloth on her head.
"There!" Yoh said as he tied the fabric into a knot. "That wasn't so hard."
Anna turned around and stared at Yoh in the eye. He was a good half a head taller than her now. The training that she had instituted in him eleven years ago had paid off, making his lean wiry frame muscular and strong. Anna noticed that he still wore those orange headphones, it didn't really look akward on his sleeveless orange trimmed black training outfit.
But the one thing that never changed after eight years of separation was his smile. That warm, caring smile that seemed to make all your troubles go away, no matter who you were.
Anna shook her head slightly. This was really not the time, or the situation to be dwelling on this right now. She left the balcony and picked up her bag.
"Hurry up, change, and pack Yoh.I don't care when the Chancellor says we're leaving. We are leaving now."
Yoh could only smile in return. That incident on the balcony was the only thing stuck in his mind. Althought he wasn't going to readily admit it, the feeling of Anna in his arms made him feel warm and fuzzy inside. That moment of silence between them had given him an opportunity to study her after eight years of separation.
Her dark golden hair was still as straight as he remembered it, only it was worn an inch below her shoulders. He didn't know what kind of physical training was involved with his grandmother's Itako training but it had given her naturally slender frame muscles that you would never know were there unless you were the recieving end of one of her slaps. Yoh had always thought that Anna was pretty but now she was... beautiful.
The only thing that stood out so vividly against Anna's naturally pale complexion was her sparkling onyx orbs, a trait that Yoh had never been able to find in anyone else.
Yoh shook his head and smiled to himself. He was being quite silly, looking at his best friend in ways that weren't even brotherly or friendly.
Anna's handmadiens and bodyguardswatched the couple in amusement. They could tell that they were in a state of denial, but their mutual emotions were as clear as day.
Besides, they looked really cute together anyways.
Hahahaha, I had lots of fun writing the YohAnna fluff. It was so hard not to laugh at my silliness; I am NOT a hopeless romantic and I'm even surprised that I could even pull off that last scene. Tahimik Panda, if you are reading this, go ahead, call me and laugh your head off 'cause I'll be laughing with you.
I am truly and deeply sorry for the late update!
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Happy Holidays for those who do not celebrate Christmas.
Callista Miralni