Holy Ravioli! The new chapter is here!! Yay!! I'm not really sure how I feel about this chapter since it's not planned, but I still think it's acceptable. But sometimes I fear I've made it too squishy. But I haven't gotten a lot of time to edit it, and I was determined to get this out before I left. So please excuse any grammar and/or spelling mistakes.
Ahhh! I couldn't think of a chapter title either!! So I just came up with something…sorry if its lame…
And thank you all for your wonderful reviews!! I love you!!
Please, Enjoy!!
Chapter 9:
"Perfectly"
I woke up, but didn't open my eyes, I was afraid that yesterday was all a dream. If I opened my eyes now, I'd be utterly disappointed if I found that it was just a dream. I moved my hands a little and smiled. My hands moved along Anna's small back and tangled a little in her hair. It wasn't a dream. Anna and I were going to get married.
Yoh opened his eyes and looked down. In his arms was Anna sleeping soundly against his chest. He smiled, it was no dream; he and Anna agreed to get married.
Anna moaned a little bit as she moved slightly. Yoh's movement must've woken her up. She opened her eyes and looked softly up to Yoh. A small smile was placed on her lips, "Good Morning."
Yoh smiled, "Good morning. Sleep well?"
She nodded and backed up a bit so she could look into his face better, "I had no nightmares."
His smile widened as he sat up, "That's good." She stayed lying down staring at him. He took her hands in his and stared at them. If only…if only he had a ring, to help remind him that it wasn't a dream. Then an idea struck him, "Stay right here." He said as he got up.
"W-what are you doing?" Anna sat up as she saw him go through some of his stuff.
"Hm, I might've left it in your room…" he said thoughtfully. Then he flashed her a smile, "Be right back!"
He left and she sat there wondering what he was doing. She heard a few things rumbling around. She lifted an eyebrow; she was tempted to go up there to see what he was doing. She hoped he wasn't going through her stuff.
"Found it!" he said coming down the stairs, but she saw nothing, though, it looked like something was in his hands.
"Found what?" She asked as he sat on the bed.
"Give me your left hand."
She didn't question him as she gave him her hand.
"Now, this is only temporary," He said while tying a ribbon around her ring-finger, "until I can afford to get you a ring."
When he was done, she examined the ribbon. It was white with little red apple decorations on it, "Th-this is…"
"It's so old, sorry."
"I can't believe you still had this!"
"I couldn't throw it away," he laughed.
The ribbon had been from when we were little. I gave her a roll of it for her 7th birthday. She loved and used it for everything: for her hair, for tying things, as a sort of bracelet, anything she could think of. And one time, I was leaving for the weekend to come to Funbari to visit my grandparents. It was the first time we were to be separated for that long since we've met. Neither of us wanted to be separated, so, Anna being the clever one that she is, tied the ribbon around my finger. When she was done, she smiled at me, "Don't forget me."
I smiled, as if I could ever forget her. When she tied it, she tied it on my left hand. She wore the ribbon in her hair, but also tied it on her left hand. Back then we didn't know the significance, but it would sure explain why our mothers were giggling and chanting "How cute!"
But it was around that time…when I got back that Haijime first showed up. But I refused to keep that part in my pleasant flashback.
Anna smiled, "And you did remember."
Yoh nodded, "Of course. But I didn't wear it because my fingers are too big. Luckily, yours are still the right size."
She still stared at her finger and whispered, "Perfect."
"And y'know," he smiled, "Your birthday's coming up. Perfect timing, huh?"
She looked up and nodded at him, "Then I'll be free from Haijime and I could marry you."
Something about those last four words made Yoh's heart jump. He never knew Anna saying those words could make him so happy. To be with Anna always; that would be a dream he never wanted to awake from. He hoped that she felt the same way.
Yoh leaned in to kiss her forehead. Anna closed her eyes as she felt his soft lips, "Yoh…"
He lifted her chin up so she could look at her. His eyebrows furrowed as he saw her worried look, "What's wrong?"
"I…I don't know if I deserve this," Anna turned away.
"What do you mean? You aren't still worried about Kyosuke, are you?" He gave her a half smile, "Don't believe anything he says."
She looked at her finger with the ribbon, "You've done so much for me…to remember me. I've…I've done nothing. I gave up, Yoh. I stopped living my life when I turned 14. I stopped hoping. I stopped trying," her eyes winced, "I stopped caring. I let them do whatever they wanted because I thought that I'd never see you and I'd probably end up dying anyway."
"Anna…"
"You shouldn't want me, Yoh. If you knew what was good for you, you'd stay with Julie."
Yoh rolled his eyes, "I don't like Julie, I want you."
"But, Yoh…" She closed her eyes, "What Kyosuke said was true!"
Once again, Yoh took a hold of her chin to have her look at him, "I don't care. It wasn't your choice."
"But…but I gave up, I let them," she winced as she tried to look away, but in the end, decided not to.
He gave her a soft smile, "And who could blame you?"
She looked at him; shocked.
"Even still: I don't care. You're still Anna, whatever you've done," he smiled, "You're still the Anna that I love."
"Yoh…" her eyebrows furrowed as she embraced him, she rested her head on his shoulder and whispered, "You're too good for me."
"Nonsense, Anna," Yoh said as he held her tighter, "No one is better than the other."
"Even if they're apples and oranges?"
"Especially if they're apples and oranges," he closed his eyes as he smiled.
Since she was on his shoulder, she turned her head to kiss his neck.
He smiled, "You know, we're going to have to tell everyone."
"Mm," she moaned, not liking the idea and nuzzled against his neck, "Fine. You tell the boys, I'll tell the girls."
"And Hao?"
She pulled away and smirked, "Together."
He caught her smirk and laughed, "Okay."
"But…"
"But?"
"Rules," she backed away and put her index finger on his lips.
"Rules?" he slumped his shoulders down.
"Uh-huh," she pressed her finger tighter to his mouth, "No kissing in public."
"Wha?" He moved her finger, "Why not?"
She looked away with a faint blush, "It's embarrassing."
"So…no kissing?"
"No!"
"Not on the forehead?" He kissed her forehead softly, and before she could answer, kissed her on the cheek, "Or on the cheek?"
"N-no!"
Yoh pouted and crossed his arms, "Okay…you have to follow these rules too then."
She looked away again and her blush deepened, "Okay, fine. Only on the forehead and cheek. No lips."
Yoh smiled, "I can live with that."
"Oh, and one more thing."
Yoh moaned, "What is it?"
"No pet names," Anna gave a disgusted look.
Yoh laughed and pretended to be disappointed, "Aww, so you mean I can't call you Anna-baby?"
"Ew. Definitely not."
He laughed more, "It'll grow on you."
"As if," Anna rolled her eyes and then she looked around. Then her eyes locked on something, "Hm. I guess that'll have to do."
Yoh titled his head in a question as Anna got up and grabbed something.
"Give me your left hand." She demanded.
He did as he was told.
She opened the black marker that was in her hand and drew a ring around Yoh's figure, "That should do."
Yoh laughed, "Y'know…usually the boy doesn't wear the ring until the marriage."
"I know," she closed the marker, "But, you know we're practically married already, so this shouldn't matter. Besides," she gave a smirk, "I want everyone to know you're mine."
"Still worried about Julie?"
"Shut up."
"But you know," he looked at his finger, "Hao will probably guess what's happened. He's been bugging me to propose for a while now."
"Oh well," she smiled, "He'll still have a reaction."
Yoh laughed, "He sure will."
Anna gave him a quick peck on the lips, "Let's get breakfast."
"Okay!" Yoh smiled as Anna got up to get dressed.
While she was getting ready, Anna stared in the mirror and wondered how things would change. She already saw a change in her face. Her aura was much brighter and no matter how hard she tried, the ever-so small smile on her face would not disappear. But that was a good thing. She didn't want that smile to go away, because if she had that smile, then she could believe that everything would be all right.
So much had changed over night, it seemed. She had a sudden urge to kiss Yoh all over, over and over. She didn't know why it suddenly came to her. Maybe…maybe it was excitement? She had always tried to deny it, but she loved Yoh since she could remember. She wasn't always aware that she loved him, but she was definitely sure on that day Yoh had taken a beating for her. But she thought she would never see him again, so she pushed him out of her mind. But now she was here. And she was proud that it was her who confessed first.
She wondered too, if Yoh wanted to kiss her all over, over and over too. She had been doing pretty good, so far it was Yoh doing all the kissing. Anna gave a slight smile and blush. She was a little confused right now. Should she keep holding tight and being conservative? Or should she just let herself go? Her eyes widened, what was she thinking? Her pride would definitely not allow her to go wild…would it?
She almost laughed at herself in the mirror. This was ridiculous, thinking all these thoughts. She had to hurry, Yoh was waiting for her. She reached the door and put her hand on it. This was too good to be true. They couldn't really be getting married, could they? Just the thought of it was embarrassing and wonderful at the same time. She didn't know what to feel. She opened the door. Things wouldn't change and it shouldn't have to. She could be herself, like she was back when they first met.
Yoh was waiting quietly for Anna, staring at the black-marker ring around his finger. He was so utterly glad that Anna had told him she loved him. He always had a feeling that they would be together, but now that it was declared officially, emotions seemed to be jumping out from everywhere and he was having a hard time controlling himself.
Anna and I together. It was so natural and yet so astonishing. Words couldn't describe it. It came so slowly, but yet so fast. Ever since we were separated, it seemed so long until I would see Anna again, and yet here we are. As if no time had passed. And in just 2 months, we already decided that we would get married. It shouldn't be too big of a deal…can't say that no one expected it, but for some reason…I couldn't calm myself down. And not that I would want the smile to disappear from my face, but even if I tried I knew it wouldn't. She would be herself again, without fear of anything.
Anna walked halfway down the stairs and smiled at Yoh.
"Ready?" He asked as he walked to the staircase.
She nodded and waited for him to get where she was. Once he caught up, they made their way up the rest of the stairs and out the door.
On their way to the diner, Yoh slipped his hand in hers, "Is this allowed?"
She looked at their connected hands and then up into his eyes. A smirk was placed on her face, "Well aren't you bold? Doing this without consulting the rules beforehand."
"Well," Yoh shrugged, "You didn't mention it before, so I decided to take a chance."
The smirk turned into a smile, "Then fine. It is allowed."
"Awesome," he grinned and gave her hand a tight squeeze, "I'm looking forward to finding more loop holes."
She squeezed his hand harder, making him say "ow", "Oh, we'll see about that."
Yoh laughed, nothing between them had changed and he was glad.
They arrived at the diner and got their breakfast. They sat down comfortably at a round table (Yoh and Anna sitting across from each other) and started their breakfast. It was quite peaceful and relaxing until they heard a voice call:
"Anna!"
"We're just starting the day and you already have to bug me."
"Hey," Hao raised his hands defensively as he approached the table, "I was just wondering it you were all right."
"Why wouldn't I be?" She asked, and Hao sat at the table, technically in the middle of Yoh and Anna, "Yoh was perfectly capable of handling the situation."
"Oh, I see," it seemed as if he was about to laugh, but he was suddenly cut off. His eyes were fixed on something. Both Yoh and Anna looked confusedly at each other and then back at Hao.
Anna lifted a brow and tried to trace his eyes, it looked like he was concentrating, then suddenly she knew. She lifted her left hand and turned it into a fist and placed it under her chin, as she expected, his eyes followed.
"What is on your finger?" He asked.
"Oh? This?" She asked, pretending she didn't know.
"Lemme see it," Hao said as he grabbed her hand and examined the ribbon.
"Excuse me!" Anna pulled her hand away, "Is that anyway to ask?"
Hao looked at Yoh with a puzzled face, "Is that the ribbon she used to wear all the time?"
Yoh smiled, "Uh-huh!"
"You still had that thing?"
"Of course, why not?"
"Well why of all times would you—" something had struck Hao, "WHOA!! Don't tell me you…!"
"What?" Anna smirked as she leaned her head on her hand which was propped up on the table, "'Don't tell me you…' what?"
Hao hopefully turned to his brother, "You proposed??"
Yoh smiled, "Yup."
"AHA!" Hao cried out slapping Yoh's back, "So my little brother has balls after all!"
Yoh laughed, "Hey! What do you mean by that?"
"Geez…FINALLY!" Hao laughed, "I was afraid I'd have to convince Anna to propose."
"Hey, I'm not even 18 yet," Anna lifted a brow, "What's your hurry?"
"Well, everyone knew you two would get married! But the wait was killing all of us! Even Mom and Dad knew!" Hao turned to Yoh and then reached deep inside his pants pocket, "Oh! Which reminds me, remember how I was looking for something yesterday?"
"Yeah. What? You finally found it?" Yoh asked.
"Yup," Hao pulled it out of his pocket, but kept it covered, "It was actually for you."
"You giving me something? Doesn't seem right…"
"Well, more correctly, it's for Anna."
"What?" Anna was now paying more attention.
"What do you mean?" Yoh asked, frustrated that Hao always took long to get to the point.
"Okay, well while you were gone, Mom and Dad visited me," Hao rolled his eyes, "And they left me something to give to you. But I was a little embarrassed, so I hid it, and as you can tell I kinda lost it and—"
"Just tell us what it is already!" Anna got impatient.
"Voila!" Hao opened his palm to reveal a diamond ring.
"A…ring?" Yoh repeated slowly.
"Yup, Mom and Dad brought it for me to give to you and for you to give to Anna when you're ready."
Yoh took it and laughed, "Well, sorry Anna. I don't think me and Hao were supposed to have this conversation in front of you."
Hao rolled his eyes, "Whatever. At least I gave it to you. I probably would've forgotten."
Anna smiled, "That's okay."
"Should we take the ribbon off?" Yoh asked.
"No, I'll wear both."
Yoh smiled gently, and it was like suddenly Hao wasn't there. He reached out and softly took Anna's left hand and effortlessly slipped the ring on, "Anna, will you marry me?"
She forgot Hao was there as well, "Of course."
They leaned in towards each other, so close their lips almost touched until they heard a, "Whooo! Go little bro! Show that you've got balls after all!"
Yoh almost slammed his head into the table while Anna's foot slammed into Hao's leg.
"Owwwwwww! What the—!"
"You're lucky I didn't hit your balls!" Anna glared hard as she stood up and walked away.
Yoh's head was on the table, and although he was mad at his brother for ruining the moment, he couldn't help but laugh.
"Owww, I don't see what's so funny!" Hao said rubbing his leg, "I could've lost any hope of me reproducing!"
"That's what I'm laughing at," Yoh lifted his head, "You know not to mess with Anna."
"I know, but you know she would've hit me anyway, just for being here," he smiled, "I just thought I'd make a good reason for it."
"Well you should've thought of something else to say," Yoh laughed and got up, "Excuse me, I gotta catch up with her."
Hao laughed and said to himself, "Eh, I guess the hit was worth it."
Yoh caught up with Anna and slipped his hand into hers, "Sorry Hao ruined the mood."
"Whatever," Anna grumbled.
Yoh gave a hopeful smile, "Wanna continue our conversation in our room?"
Now Anna looked up and smiled, "You and those loop-holes."
Yoh shrugged, "Hey, what can I say? I try."
"Oh!" Yoh and Anna heard a cry coming from their left.
"Hmph," Anna pouted, "Speaking of moment-ruin-ers, her comes the Queen of it herself!"
"Anna!" Yoh nudged her a bit as to signal: "Be nice!"
"Good Morning Yoh! Anna…," Julie trailed off once she saw their connected hands.
"Good Morning, Julie!" Yoh said happily.
"Oh," she blinked a couple of times as she looked at Yoh, "You seem in a good mood…"
"Well, it's been a very good day so far," Yoh beamed.
Once again Julie looked to their connected hands, "I see…"
"Was there something you needed?" Yoh asked politely, noticing that Julie was distracted.
"Um…" she forcefully looked away from their hands, "Anna, is it possible that I talk to you later on?"
Anna took a minute to answer, surely Julie saw that things were turning out for Yoh and her, but she decided to humor Julie anyway, "Okay, but I have work until 7:00."
"Okay, so about 7:30 at the diner, is that okay?"
Anna nodded.
"Okay, well, I've got to get going," Julie said quickly, "Class is going to start."
"See you later! Have a nice day!" Yoh shouted as Julie walked away.
Julie managed to show a quick smile, "Bye! You too!" And with that she quickly made her way to the door.
"Hm," Yoh gave a little moan, "I feel a little bad…You shouldn't have told me she likes me."
"It was obvious! And this was going to happen either way."
"Yeah, I know. But you know me…"
"I know, breaking her heart is something you shouldn't be proud of," Anna looked at Yoh, "Especially for you, as nice as you are."
"Yeah," he said slowly and quietly, and then looked to Anna, "But be nice to her, okay? Don't rub it in her face or anything."
"Can't promise you anything…"
"Anna!"
"Okay, fine," she mumbled, "I'll try my best."
Yoh smiled and gave her hand a light squeeze while playful saying, "You can do it."
Anna rolled her eyes, "Let's just get back to the room. I need to catch up on my shows."
"Shows?" Yoh's face dropped as she started pulling him to the B level, "But—But what about our conversation?"
"Hm," she moaned playfully, "I'm suddenly not in the mood."
Yoh's eyebrows furrowed, but then suddenly he smiled, "Is there any way of changing your mind?"
"Well," she said thoughtfully and then smirked, "We'll see."
It had been a while now since Yoh and Anna had watched her program together. It had always been one of them out at work. But Anna found a channel that showed re-runs of her show. So Yoh and Anna sat down to watch it. At first they sat at the end of the couch as they usually did, but then Yoh smiled, "Lay with me, Anna."
Anna looked at him and nodded. Yoh laid across the couch, but spread his legs apart so Anna could slip in with her head on his chest. She fit so nice and perfectly there, as if meant to be. She put her small hands on his chest and he wrapped his strong arms around her waist. Anna closed her eyes; she didn't care about her program. In fact, she didn't care about anything right now. Nothing but Yoh and she hoped that he felt the same.
As if Yoh could read her mind, he held her tighter. She looked up to look into his eyes. He smiled at her and said, "I'm so glad you agreed to my proposal."
"As if I would disagree," Anna smirked.
Yoh closed his eyes and smiled, "I wouldn't mind…staying like this."
Anna smiled and closed her eyes too as she rested against his chest, hearing his steady heartbeat, "Me neither."
They stayed close to each other just like that, enjoying each other's company without words. They didn't need them. Words weren't too important to Anna; Yoh's actions were always what counted. And right now she had never felt so loved. Love. It was something she didn't get much of. From her step-family she got false love, no, the word love couldn't even be used, even if it did have false in front of it, to describe what her step-family decided to give her. She had always been loved by Yoh and has always belonged to him. Everyone could see that, and now it was clearer than ever that their bond could try to be stopped, but it was stronger than anything else. Yoh knew this, and Anna was just starting to realize it.
I made a promise to myself and right at this moment. I promised that I would do anything in my power to make Anna happy, so that we may always have time to be like this. No one would ever hurt her again, not physically and definitely not emotionally. She could be herself and I can be myself. I loved Anna, and that's all that matters.
After time passed by, they tuned out the unchanging dialogue and sounds from the television. It was only until there was a change in the sound that Anna opened her eyes. It was the theme song of a totally different show, meaning that her time here was over and she needed to get ready for work. Anna groaned.
"What's wrong?" Yoh opened his eyes to look at her.
"Work," she moaned, she attempted to get up, but Yoh's arms were still around her.
Yoh slowly held onto her as he brought them both up. She was now on his lap. He gave a sheepish smile, "I never thought work could be such a drag."
Anna smirked, "I just realized something."
"Hm? What is it?"
"Since you're the owner…" her smirk was still present, "When I marry you…will that make me co-owner?"
"I guess," Yoh shrugged.
"Great!" Anna said while getting up and stretching, "Then I've got a lot of ideas to improve this ol' Inn."
Yoh started to laugh, "Oh really? You're looking forward to owning this Inn with me?"
"Of course," Anna smiled, "We'll share the same job and improve it together. And you're going to give me an easy life."
Yoh smiled a gentle smile, "Of course, Anna. I'd like nothing more."
Anna smiled and kissed him, "I've got to get ready. We'll continue this later."
Yoh gave a little groan as Anna walked away and headed up the stairs, "It's always later!"
He could hear Anna give out a little laugh as she entered the room to get ready. When she was done she said her goodbyes and left for work. Work always seemed to go by fast whenever she was dreading to meet up with someone, and this time definitely didn't fail her. She actually was rather busy, but being busy just made the time go by so much faster than she thought it would and before she knew it Yoh showed up to start his shift. Meaning she only had a half hour of work left.
"Hey Anna," Yoh smiled, "How's work so far?"
"Too fast," she said while looking at the list of rooms she assigned to people.
"Well you've only got about a half hour left…" Yoh started.
"Don't remind me."
"Why are you so worked up? Julie's not going to do anything to you," he laughed.
"I know," she glared, "I just…have a bad feeling about it."
Yoh's face got serious, "What kind of bad feeling?"
"It's nothing," she turned away from him. Maybe it was just her extreme dislike for Julie that was making her antsy.
Yoh looked at her skeptically.
"I just don't like Julie, okay?"
Yoh sighed and turned back to his work, "Okay. I believe you."
As expected, the last 30 minutes was more like 5. Anna couldn't believe it went by so quickly. She didn't even get up when it was 5 minutes past the time she was supposed to get off.
"Anna," Yoh put a hand on her shoulder, "Your shift was over 5 minutes ago."
"I know," she couldn't shake the bad feeling she had. But its true, what was Julie going to do? Anna instantly got mad at herself; she wasn't going to let Julie make her feel like this, "I was just double checking the rooms."
Anna handed Yoh the list and walked out of the front desk area, "I'll see you later."
"Okay. Have a nice chat."
"Whatever," Anna mumbled as she walked to the B level to change. It didn't take her long at all to change, so she decided to wait at the diner and grab a quick snack. It frustrated her how Julie worried her so much. That Julie could invoke negative emotions in Anna and make her flustered about things.
After finishing her snack and waiting a bit, Anna looked up to the clock. It read 7:31; one minute pasted the given time. It was forgivable, she had been late to their meetings before, so Anna decided to over-look it and wait. But when it was now 7:36, Anna decided to get up. Usually Julie was very punctual and at times over polite, so this was not like her at all. She didn't think it was possible for Julie to do, but was Anna possibly stood up? Anna's eyes narrowed as she quickly strode to the front desk.
"What's Julie's room number?"
"What? Why?" asked a confused Yoh, "Did you have your meeting yet?"
"No, that's why I'm asking you what her room number is," Anna impatiently crossed her arms.
Yoh gave a confused look.
"She didn't show up. I want her room number to see if she's there."
"Are you worried about her?"
"No, I'm angry with her," Anna impatiently tapped her fingers against her arm, "It's now 7:40, she's 10 minutes late."
"Well everyone can be late once in a while…"
"Julie's never late."
Yoh's face turned serious, "You don't think that the bad feeling you had…"
"I'm sure nothing's wrong," she uncrossed her arms, "Now, the room number please?"
"514, fifth floor."
"514, okay, I got it," she said turning to leave.
"Um, Anna," she stopped and he gave a concerned face, "Please let me know if anything's wrong."
Anna nodded and turned to leave. As she walked to the fifth floor, her stomach started to churn. What was wrong? She couldn't possibly be worried about Julie, could she? But then what was this feeling in her stomach? Her head and stomach pounded as she stopped in front of room 514.
Anna clenched her hand into a tight fist to knock, but then something stopped her. She heard a muffled noise and maybe, she wasn't sure, but she thought she heard someone saying: "Sshh…"
"J-Julie?" She asked as she leaned her ear to the door. She heard another muffled noise and slight movement. Anna's eyebrows furrowed, "I…I'm coming in."
She slowly reached for the door, but then quickly opened it just to get it over with, "Julie?"
The sight made her eyes widen. Julie was up against the wall, eyes wide and tears streaming down her cheeks, some of her blouse's buttons were undone, "A-Anna…"
"Why, if it isn't Anna-chan…"
"Kyosuke…but…" Anna's lips trembled as she slowly backed up.
"Uh-uh-uh," Kyosuke shook his head slowly, "Do you really want to back out of this room and leave me with this beautiful girl?"
Anna's eyes shifted to Julie. Sure Anna wasn't fond of Julie, but nothing Julie could do would make her deserve this. Julie was absolutely terrified, silent tears were running down her cheeks and she was shaking. Anna looked at Kyosuke and swallowed hard. She decided to enter the room.
"That's a good girl, now close the door," he signaled for her to come closer, "We wouldn't want any other intruders."
Anna did as she was told and slowly stepped closer to Kyosuke; she tried to keep her strong face, "I thought Yoh told you never to come back here!"
"Like I'd listen to Yoh…" he said as he stroked her cheek with the back of his hand.
Anna flinched at the touch, "Why did you involve Julie?"
Kyosuke laughed coldly as he started to walk to Julie and stroked her cheek the same way he did with Anna, "This sweet ol' thing?"
"P-please don't…" Julie closed her eyes tightly.
"Stop it!" Anna yelled. She would hate to see Julie go through what Anna had.
Kyosuke then turned to Anna and played with a lock of her hair, "Well actually from the back, I thought she was you. So when I found out that she wasn't you, I asked about you. She told me that you were going to meet her later and she told me she'd take me to you." He then turned to look at Julie, "Instead I followed her here to lure you here. So I decided to have a little fun before you came…"
"You disgusting pig!" Anna yelled as she slapped Kyosuke. She slapped so hard she could feel her own hand sting. She knew that hitting him would result in her own pain and punishment. But it did feel wonderful, being able to smack the perverseness off his disgusting face. Even if she got hurt a thousand times more than he did, it was still worth it.
"You BITCH!" Kyosuke pushed Anna against the wall and slapped her, pushing down one of Julie's tables.
"ANNA!" Julie cried out; her voice was full of fright.
"Julie! Go get Yoh!" Anna cried out, trying to get away from Kyosuke's grip.
Kyosuke roughly turned his head to Julie while still pinning Anna tightly to the wall, "You will stay right there or I can promise things won't turn out well for Anna."
"Julie! Just go!"
"But…Anna…you'll…!"
"Shut up!" Kyosuke once again slapped Anna.
She hit her head pretty bad against the wall and things were starting to get fuzzy and dizzy, "Please, Julie! I've dealt with worse…just please get Yoh!"
"N-no…" Julie cried…covering her mouth with her hand, and saying in-between sharp breaths, "I…I can't…! Anna!"
"When will you learn your lesson…" Kyosuke growled as he once again hit her.
"I'm not afraid of you anymore!" Anna yelled back at Kyosuke, "I'm not your play thing!"
"To hell you're not!" Kyosuke pressed tighter against Anna, "I'll make you regret those words! You're mine and will always be mine!"
"Get off!" She tried to move her legs to get him to back off, "I won't let you…!"
Kyosuke laughed coldly while Julie quietly backed up. She was directly behind Kyosuke, so he couldn't see that she had picked up the phone and quietly pressed the "Front Desk" button. She was crouched down on the floor and closed her eyes tightly, trying to drain out the yelling that was going on behind her and silently prayed for Yoh to answer the phone. She was hoping that he'd pick up the phone and hear the noise going on. It rang for what seemed like forever until finally she heard Yoh's voice, "Hello, this is the front Desk, Asakura Yoh speaking."
Right after that, the noise behind her stopped and Julie opened her eyes…Kyosuke didn't hear Yoh, did he? Then she felt a shadow upon her. She slowly looked up to see Kyosuke standing above her; his face was unpleased. Her eyes widened as she heard Yoh ask again, "Hello?"
"Yoh!! Please help!! Anna's—" Then the phone jack was disconnected.
"That was very naughty of you, Julie-chan," Kyosuke bent down to be Julie's height. He cupped her face in his hands, "You're going to have to be punished…"
"No…please," tears streamed down her cheeks.
"Bastard!" Anna said as she punched Kyosuke, knocking him over, "Leave Julie out of this."
Kyosuke stood up and laughed, "Why, you're awfully brave today aren't you?" Kyosuke rubbed his cheek. Something was different, it wasn't a regular punch, something harder had hit him. And that something made him bleed. That's when he noticed her finger, "Oh…I see…"
Anna followed his eyes to her finger as she tried to hide it behind her, "Don't touch me…"
"Why you little whore," he stepped closer to Anna. Unfortunately, she ran into the same problem she always seemed to run into, she backed into a wall. Kyosuke forcefully grabbed her hand, "What's this?!"
"We told you already! Yoh and I are going to get married! We aren't afraid of you anymore!"
Kyosuke let out a frustrated growl as he gripped onto Anna's small wrists so tight she was losing circulation, "Let go!"
"No!" Kyosuke threw off Anna's ring and pulled on her ribbon.
"Stop!" Anna tried to pull away.
Then Kyosuke's arm swung around and hit Anna hard on the cheek, making her land on the floor with a loud "thud".
"Anna!" Julie cried out while seeing Anna's body hit the ground.
"Now your punishment…" Kyosuke turned to Julie.
"Anna! What did you do to Anna?" Julie asked backing away to the door.
"I shut her up for a while…she's such a noisy little one…" Kyosuke stepped closer and closer, "Don't even think of leaving. I know where you live now. Besides, if you leave now…you'll be responsible for what I do to Anna…"
"I…thought you said you were her brother…"
Kyosuke laughed, "Dear, I am her owner. She belongs to me and I was simply retrieving her." Then he looked at Anna, who was unconscious on the floor, "But then Yoh got in the way and now she has these stupid ideas that she could live freely here."
Then Kyosuke pulled onto Julie's wrists, "You'd better learn from this, Julie-chan. You don't mess with me. Whatever I want, I get and right now I want…" He licked his lips.
"Oh God…" Julie breathed.
Then suddenly the door opened, "Get your hands off the girl!"
Kyosuke's eyes widened; the police were here. Immediately he let go of Julie, "I-it's not what it looks like…"
"Save it, I know you're the same guy as yesterday," the police officer said as he got out his handcuffs.
"Anna?!" Yoh asked making his way through the police officers.
"Yoh!" Julie cried, getting his attention.
"Julie! Are you okay?" He put his hands on her shoulders to examine her better, "And where's Anna??"
"I'm fine, I wasn't hurt…but Anna," Julie turned to where Anna was lying.
Yoh followed Julie's eyes and saw Anna on the floor. His eyes widened with fright, then he turned angrily to Kyosuke, "You bastard!" He launched forward.
"Yoh!" Julie pulled him back while the police out stretched a hand to signal Yoh to stop.
"Don't worry, this man was caught in the act," the police officer said, "Beating him up will not be good on your half."
Yoh let out a frustrated sigh and said with a solid deep voice, "You will NEVER come here again. You WILL leave Anna alone. Got it?"
Kyosuke just looked away in frustration.
"Don't worry, sir," the police officer said, "We'll make sure of that."
"Thank you," Yoh nodded as he went to where Anna was. He knelt down and propped her up, "Anna? Please tell me you're okay?"
"Mmm…" she groaned, "…Yoh?"
"I'm here," he said sadly, "I'm sorry I wasn't here earlier and you ended up like this."
"No, it's okay, really," she opened her eyes slightly and sat up a bit. Her injuries weren't serious. She gave out a little smile, "I finally……I finally got my "justice"."
Yoh's eyes widened.
"I'm not afraid of him anymore," she still had the smile, "I'm a little glad that you weren't here. If you were here I probably wouldn't have had the chance to punch him."
"She did it twice," Julie informed.
Yoh smiled at Anna and she smiled back, "Thank you for making me feel like I shouldn't be afraid. This is actually turning out into a wonderful day, I finally got to punch him, and now he's getting arrested."
Yoh gave out a little laugh, "I'm glad you're okay, Anna."
"Of course," Anna said while trying to get up. Yoh ended up helping her and she leaned on him. He held on tightly to her.
"Here," Julie said as she handed something to Anna, "Kyosuke threw these off."
In Julie's hand was Anna's ring and ribbon. Yoh took them and said "thanks" and he put the ring back onto Anna's finger and tied the ribbon around it. Anna smiled as she looked into Yoh's eyes. Even though she just had a horrible run-in with Kyosuke, she couldn't help be feel happy. He was getting arrested, she saw him in handcuffs, and she finally got her "justice", she was able to punch him…twice. And to top it all off, she was still here…with Yoh.
Yoh leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips. When he pulled back he heard her grumble, "Excuse me?"
"I said," Anna gave a slight glare, "I knew you'd break the rules…"
Yoh's face dropped, "B-but…but…"
"Rules are rules: no kissing in public," Anna crossed her arms, "And sorry, there are no loop-holes for that one."
"Aw, c'mon, Anna!"
"Nope," she turned away, "Now I must think of a punishment."
"Aww…" Yoh moaned and Julie giggled.
Anna looked at Julie after hearing her giggle, "You were very brave, Julie."
"Anna…who was that?"
Anna closed her eyes and gave out a sigh, "My step-brother…"
"Has he done this before?" Julie quietly asked.
All Anna could do was simply nod.
Then one of the police officers interrupted, "We need you for questioning."
Anna was first and then Julie, then Yoh, just to confirm things. While Yoh was getting his questioning done, Anna was waiting for him. So Julie too this time to talk to Anna, "Um, thank you. If you hadn't had come…I don't know what would've happened…"
"It was nothing," Anna shrugged and crossed her arms, "I've been through a lot worse and at least this time he ended up arrested."
"Anna?"
"Hm?"
"I know you don't like me much, but believe me when I say I wish for the best with you and Yoh," she looked away nervously, "And I hope that we could become friends?"
Anna sighed and uncrossed her arms, "…I'm sure that's possible…"
"Really?" Julie's face brightened.
Anna nodded, "I may have been…" 'wrong about you' is what could've been suspected, but Anna didn't believe she was wrong and even if she was, she would never admit it, so instead she said, "…a little mean, but now you understand where I come from. I can't trust people that easily, and Yoh is the only one I trust."
Julie slowly nodded and said quietly, "I understand."
Then, with perfect timing, Yoh was done with his interview and walked over to Anna and Julie.
"Finally," Anna said, "I'm tired, let's go home."
"You're sure you're all right, Julie?" Yoh asked.
Julie nodded, "Thanks, and thanks for your excellent timing."
Yoh smiled, "If there's any trouble or problems, come see me."
"Thanks," she nodded, "Goodnight."
"Goodnight," Yoh and Anna said in unison as they turned to make their way to the B level.
"How are you doing Anna?" He asked as he slipped his hand into hers.
"I'm actually…" she gave a smile, "…fine. I'm perfectly fine."
Yoh saw no lie in Anna's face. She must've just been relieved that she saw Kyosuke with her own eyes getting arrested. She seemed really mellow right now, though Yoh was still worried because from what Julie said, Anna was hit multiple times. But Anna seemed absolutely fine, and that was enough for Yoh.
They reached their rooms and Anna turned to Yoh, "I'm really tired. I think I'll go to bed."
"Okay, goodnight Anna," Yoh leaned in to kiss her goodnight.
Anna put her index finger on his lips, "Punishment."
"What?" Yoh asked, "This is my punishment??"
"Yup," she crossed her arms and smirked, "No goodnight kiss."
"At all?"
"No."
"Not even on the cheek?"
"No. No kisses until tomorrow."
"But Anna…" he whined.
"You brought this upon yourself."
Yoh sighed, "Fine, then. Goodnight."
"Goodnight," she smirked and turned to go into her room.
Yoh sighed and descended down the stairs. He made his bed and got ready to sleep. He stared at the ceiling and smiled. It made him happy to see that Kyosuke was arrested and to hear that Anna was no longer afraid of him. He raised his arms over his head and rested it on his hands.
It was great. Things were finally starting to look up for Anna. Julie explained to me a bit when Anna was being questioned about the Kyosuke incident. I was very proud of Anna and I'm sure she was very proud of herself. She had control of her life finally. No, she had always been in control of her life; she was just so haunted that she didn't realize it. The past was always something that was in the back of her mind constantly, warning her about stuff, not letting her be herself. But now she wasn't afraid, she was safe and she knew that she could live here without having to constantly be cautious about her life. She did live a horrible life, but now it was all behind her, and it will never harm her again. And I never blamed Anna for the way she's acted. Who's to say that I wouldn't act the same way if I was her? I believe that—
"Hm?" Anna was standing by his bedside, "What is it, Anna?"
"I can't sleep," she mumbled.
"Me neither," he smiled and lifted the sheets for her, "Join me?"
Anna didn't have to answer as she slipped in.
"Goodnight, Anna," Yoh said as he closed his eyes, but then opened them when he felt her lips upon his, "B-but the punishment…?"
"Screw the punishment," she said against his lips, "I've changed my mind."
Yoh smiled into her lips, "If you say so."
—She was perfectly in the right mind.
Well…I guess there's no use for those pajama bottoms now XD Hahaha, jk.
Whoo! That was the last chapter!! I hope you liked it!! The Epilogue will most likely be short. Yes, short. We'll see if it's possible for me to do that on this story, but I believe it will be. I really don't have much idea of what to do…I sorta know what I want, but I'm open to any suggestions. All I really know is that it's set in the future (obviously), but like years-later-future and then I've got like the two pages written in my notebook, but I don't want to spoil it. So please, suggestions are welcome. I can't guarantee that I'll use it, but it is still very much appreciated. : )
And I'd like to thank the song "Paris 2004" by Peter, Bjorn & John for giving me an idea for the beginning of this chapter. I was listening to my music like I always do when I write and I was totally stuck, staring at my computer screen when the song popped up and I heard the verse that said:
"Monday morning,
We have to fly back home again. (totally last chapter)
While I'm sleeping,
You paint a ring on my finger with your black marker-pen." (ta-da! Anna drawing on Yoh's finger!!)
And then there's another part where he says "Let's skip breakfast", but every time I hear it, it sounds like he says "Let's get breakfast." So that's why I put that part in. : D And then he says "We need this precious time just to comprehend", so there, it kinda fit.
Thanks so much for reading!! I feel so bad that the Epilogue will most likely be the shortest one I've written and you have to wait the longest for it to come out. : (
But I'll definitely try to upload it as soon as I can! I'm bringing my notebook with me so I'll be writing while I'm away! So please leave me nice reviews so I can look at them when I come back!! When I'm sore from hiking every where, they'll definitely make me feel better!! I'll really be looking forward to it!! Thanks so much! I hope you liked it!! Until next time, Ja ne!