Summary: In this first part of a two-shot story, an old menace from Anna's past resurfaces. Considering that Yoh will be the one who must deal with it, why does Anna want him to know as little as possible about it?

Written: God only knows how long this took to write. School sucks. Published on 10/3/07.

Rating: T for mild language and romantic themes.

Notes: This is another two-shot story arc in the making. (Don't hold your breath for the next part; as I've said over and over again, school sucks.) I hope you enjoy it! Thanks also for being patient with me; I know I made you wait way too long for new content. Honestly I don't see myself having very much spare time in the near future, but then again, it all depends on the kind of feedback I get...

The Interloper

Kiss #17

"So keep your mouth shut, keep your guard up. I swear I'll make it right."

-Dashboard Confessional, Thick As Thieves

"In a world so consumed with material things, it is refreshing to watch you work."

Anna's fingertips were as white as the clove of garlic she was fighting to peel. She scowled at the interloper who had just spoken, and, perhaps subconsciously, picked up a rather large steak knife from the countertop. Giving him a cold stare that would send lesser men hurdling away in fear, she sighed slightly when she recognized the powerfully built figure of Tao Ren.

She, however, maintained her grip on the knife. "What a…surprise to see you here, Ren."

The Chinese boy gave an exaggerated bow, so that the prominent spike of hair at the back of his scalp bore down upon Anna's face. "A pleasant surprise, I'm sure." His almond-shaped eyes fed upon Anna's seething malice, until they narrowed almost as severely as hers. Even Ren did not have complete immunity to Anna's intimidating aura, though, and he backed away just an inch and swallowed hard. "I have been wrong before. How are you, Anna—"

"Cut the crap," she replied, and the hand with the knife twitched, almost giving her outburst literal meaning. "You never come around unless you want to talk to Yoh. And seeing as how I'm doing the cooking today, you can bet your ass he isn't here." Ren felt the unspoken invitation to the front door that she had delivered, but he remained rooted to the spot.

"Lady Anna, I must insist upon speaking to Yoh today. It is a matter of grave importance."

"Listen to yourself," Anna sneered, savagely tearing leaves off a stalk of celery so that strings of pale green swirled to the floor like confetti, "you sound like you've got a broomstick up your butt. Besides, I hardly think spending the afternoon at the arcade is a 'matter of grave importance'." Inwardly she was suspicious; Ren had become almost civil, not at all his usual cynical, belligerent self.

Ren closed his eyes tightly, as though afraid and almost piteous for having to say what he would. "Lady Anna…I require Yoh's assistance to dispatch a…threat…that has resurfaced at Mount Osore."

The metallic thunk of a knife hitting the floor resounded around Anna's still figure. The beads upon her chest were still wobbling from her gasp, but she herself was ashen-face and stunned. Mount Osore…where Yoh rid me of that demon that possessed me, nearly six years ago…Has it returned?!

"I thought it would be appropriate for Yoh to assist me with this, since obviously he has a vested interest…"

Anna showed no sign of hearing his words whatsoever. She remained motionless, still staring at a bit of empty wall a few feet above and behind the spike of Ren's hairdo. Abruptly, her hair shook violently, as though some higher power had wrung her head out like a blonde mop, and she stooped to pick up the knife she had dropped.

"Lady Anna, I trust you understand?"

Her chest rose and fell sharply as she forced herself to calm down. "Yes…of course." A shaky hand clasped around a spotless glass, and her other hand wrenched open the refrigerator door. "Why don't you…"

Ren pulled himself a stool rather roughly and seated himself, accepting Anna's glass of milk graciously. "Thank you. I…" Ren's goldenrod eyes nervously shifted between the half-prepared meal next to the sink and Anna's face, which looked oddly vulnerable…

If she was indeed uncomfortable, however, she suppressed it decently. "When does Yoh need to be ready?"

He sipped his milk pensively. "The threat should be dispatched with all due haste. But I can understand if you need tonight to…um…Yoh will likely be gone several days, so…"

Anna looked at Ren's bashful expression with utter contempt. "I am not so dense as to miss what you're implying. Why do men always desire that as the preferred way to say goodbye?"

The glass of milk wobbled precariously on the table as Ren hastened to amend his statement. "Forgive me, Anna, I simply meant that since…this particular opponent might have special significance for the both of you, a little preparation might be in order."

Anna's shoulders stiffened, and she looked as though she were about to nod, but then she shook her head. "No…Yoh cannot know. The agony and suffering that being possessed by a demon, an oni, can cause…That in itself is daunting, but if he knew I had been corrupted by the very same…No…If he knew…"

Ren realized how tactless it was of him to gawk at Anna at her moment of weakness, but at the same time he couldn't help himself. Anna was always so dauntless and pragmatic; when had she ever before looked so close to crying? "Yes, Lady Anna…this is certainly a uniquely trying situation. Yoh seems to operate best when he's relaxed. I suppose if he were forewarned of his opponent, he might not perform to his full potential. I understand."

"No, you don't," Anna hissed, a beet clutched so tightly in her right hand that blood-red sap began running down her forearm in angry rivulets. "Yoh cannot know how I was tormented. The darkest days of my childhood, the misery, the suffering…I bear them within myself, alone. To skive off any of it onto Yoh's shoulders…He doesn't deserve it, I couldn't…I love Yoh too much to…"

"Love?!" The words escaped Ren's lips before he could stop himself. "Servitude, punishment, slavery, are words that come to mind more readily—"

Smack!

"I love Yoh." Anna's tone of voice left no room for argument. "And I will tell him to expect you tomorrow morning. I don't want to see you again until then."

Ren rose from his stool and rubbed his reddened cheek resentfully. "Fine by me. Another token of your 'love,' I presume," he sniped as he made his way to the door.

She placed the beet on the cutting board, but gave a bloodcurdling scream as she plunged the knife into it savagely. Deep crimson dye splattered in all directions, welling forth from the incision and pooling at its base, and Anna imagined it was blood, Yoh's blood, freely flowing from his body as it had so many times before, in the shaman fights she could not bear to ponder, much less watch. Yoh, whom she could at turns not stand and not live without. Yoh, who deserved to remain innocent of the details of her tormented childhood, and Anna, who beneath her cold exterior had feelings, feelings that yearned to be shared with the man she loved...

"Anna, you have a very unusual way of slicing beets, I have to say."

Yoh stood at the threshold of the kitchen, a rumpled paper sack clutched in both of his hands. He had already laid it upon the floor and had his hand poised to open the pantry door when he noticed. Something was preoccupying Anna, and he would have bet dollars to dango that it wasn't the beet, but rather the person who had commented about the way she was cutting them…

"Actually, that cologne…Ren was here. Has he been hassling you again? You shouldn't let him get to you, he can come off as a jerk sometimes, but he means well, I think…" He trailed off, realizing he was babbling, and pulled a stool over to Anna. It was still warm and creased from Ren's presence. Almost reluctantly, Anna abandoned the mortally wounded beet and allowed herself to slump over in the seat.

"Yoh." Anna's shoulders hunched over towards her lap, and even her usually vibrant hair looked mottled and lifeless. Two delicate, beet-stained hands rose slowly, until she buried her face in them. Yoh tentatively approached her from behind, extending one of his own hands until it gently clasped around her wrist. Pulling it away slightly, he placed his other hand upon her chin, raising it inch by inch until she was looking into his sympathetic eyes.

He was surprised at her lack of resistance to his touch, but was infinitely more shocked by what he now saw. Her cheeks, where they weren't streaked by beet juice, were still flush with emotion, and a definite puffiness marred her usually clear eyes. Yoh swallowed hard; anything that brought Anna to the verge of tears was very bad news indeed. "Anna," he said in a voice that, even to him, sounded nothing at all like his, "if Ren's responsible for whatever's bothering you right now, I'm going to—"

"Best not to get too upset at him," she replied as though he hadn't spoken. "You're gonna be spending the better part of a week with the guy, after all."

As she had done not ten minutes ago, Yoh was now the one standing stock still, staring directly into Anna's stoic, strained face but seeing nothing. At last he managed a choked "What?"

"Ren has asked for your help to deal with a…" In the pause that followed, Yoh could see Anna lose her composure again for a moment before she plowed on. "…A malicious spirit that has returned to this world."

"Oh." At her words Yoh blinked once, and as his eyes opened again Yoh had to make sure Anna was still there, sitting on the stool doing her best to look calm and collected. Then, against his will, a resounding laugh left his lips, and a lightness surrounded his chest. He couldn't believe Anna was freaking out over something so mundane. "Is that it?! I've fought shamans who wouldn't think twice about snuffing my life out like a drowning candle. I've squared off against crazy spirit mediums who'd probably dissect my body and pickle my spleen as a trophy. Some 'malicious spirit'? It's as good as exorcised. Especially if Ren's got my back."

Anna bit back her reply; she knew she had to, for his sake. Forcing herself to give a little chuckle that rang false to both their ears, she nodded. In a shaky voice, she said, "Well, Yoh…you'd better rest up for tomorrow. I'll let you know when dinner is ready."

"Are you sure? I could finish this for you, no sweat—"

"No…I'd prefer to be alon—to finish what I started myself."

"Er, alright…" Yoh turned away; he would have preferred to have a talk with Anna about her unusual behavior, but he knew that when Anna was so willing to do the chores that were usually his responsibility, there was no room for negotiation.

In his room he felt restless, despite Anna's recommendation that he relax. Her demeanor had definitely thrown him for a loop, and as he inattentively shoved clothes into a battered backpack he wondered why Anna was so obviously distressed over another mundane exorcism. Even during his shaman fights she had been a paragon of stoicism, appearing as though she could care less that his life was on the line. Was there something, about his opponent, or perhaps something only she could explain, that forced her to drop the cavalier attitude?

Soon, as he forced the zippers shut on the now bulging backpack, the smells of a well-prepared meal began seeping into his room. He stood up, expecting Anna to knock on his door any second now, and when he heard footsteps in the hallway, his stomach gave an anticipatory growl. But the creaking gait echoed past his door, punctuated by the rumbling of a sliding door opening. Yoh waited for a minute or two, and when the footsteps did not return, made his way to the hall. Anna had left the door open to her room, and through it came a faint sound, like sucking on a straw in a nearly empty cup—a sniffle? Then he heard, barely louder than the sound of his own surprised breath, what he swore was a whimper, a plaintive yet emotional sob.

On his tiptoes, Yoh crept to the doorway, poking his neck around the door frame. Anna was sitting atop the foot of her bed; her hair obscured her face, but her hands cradled something in her lap. About a foot long and stone-grey, it curved and narrowed to a wicked tip. Perhaps it was the shock of seeing Anna so vulnerable, or perhaps he was simply too caught up in realizing why she had been in such an unusual mood, but Yoh spoke out loud:

"An oni horn…I see now."

Anna's neck whipped around, but she merely looked up at Yoh, still subconsciously turning the horn over in her pale hands. He had not been invited in, but nor had she charged him furiously, so he approached her, until he could see every chip and scrape on the horn's surface. He didn't know what to say, but she spoke of her own accord.

"It's horrible, Yoh, just awful…No words can describe what it's like, to be…"

"Possessed," he almost finished for her, but the last word, he realized, didn't need to be spoken.

"You don't know how lucky, how thankful I am that you freed me from it, Yoh. No one should ever feel that, the way your very soul is rent asunder whenever the oni wants to escape your body. No one should ever feel the sense of never-ending despair and cold hatred that fills your body when it attacks, and the perverted joy you feel in the pit of your stomach when it…kills…oh, Yoh, no one should ever have to go through what I did before I met you…"

Yoh found himself sitting on the bed, close enough to Anna to feel the warmth of her tears upon his neck, looking down onto her forehead intensely, as though he could see her scarred soul through her flawless skin.

"You have to succeed in driving it back to hell. I know you can do it. I don't love failures, but I…I love you, Yoh."

"I love you too, Anna," he almost replied, until he figured that sometimes, actions speak louder than words. His fingertips glided over the teary streaks on her face, rubbing them away, and began combing her disheveled hair. Her body was still trembling as he pressed it against his, but when he embraced it with both his arms the quivering stopped. Anna's eyes were still watery, but Yoh's glimmered with resolve. They stared into one another for several moments, until—

Yoh's lips, intent on comforting his fiancée, advanced suddenly, not stopping until they found hers. He could feel her begin to quake again, but rather than fear, it was passion that sent her palpitating now, passion that he could taste more and more distinctly the more their tongues lilted together. Yoh could not delete the scars the oni had left, but as their lips remained locked he almost sensed that his soul was entering hers, melding with hers, filling in the void the demon had carved. They completed each other, but alas, the kiss was complete as well.

Slowly Yoh reclined on the bed, gently pulling Anna with him, and he could feel the ends of her hairs poking through his shirt as she laid her head upon his chest. She perceived the warm, rhythmic pulse of his heart, and it somehow reassured her that everything would turn out all right. But abruptly, she sat up, twirling a few strands of her own hair around one of her fingers. Yoh watched, confused, as she took a pair of scissors to the roots, snipping off several of her delicate blonde strands and loosely knotting them in a bundle.

"You know," she said softly, placing them in Yoh's hands and clasping her own around them, "so a little bit of me can go with you."

"Oh…how sweet, Anna…"

The dinner she had so meticulously prepared downstairs was growing cold, but upstairs things had never been quite so warm, with Anna in Yoh's arms upon a soft bed. She fell asleep with his gentle, soothing breath tickling her cheek, and he rested easy as well, not knowing what would come later, but at the same time certain he couldn't help but succeed, if only for—or perhaps because of—her love…