8. Questioning

What am I to him? Anna wondered as she swept the front steps of the house off, lest Kino yell at her once again for neglecting her chores for three days in a row now ("Three days in a row now!" her mentor had shouted at her on the way out, hurling the broom at Anna's general direction). She hadn't heard from Yoh in weeks and she had been deliberating whether or not she should send another letter to him.

What if I just end up annoying him? She shook her head, resolved that that was probably what was going to happen. Or what has already happened, she thought snidely to herself. It was only natural that he would tire of her constant inquiries into his life. She couldn't help it though. His life seemed so…so charmed, so idyllic.

So perfect. She sighed as she scooped up a small pile of leaves and flung it to her right, whacking one of the neighboring boys in the face as he just exited his house.

Does he even think we're friends? Because he definitely is one of…mine, she thought, willing not to call him 'her friend,' lest she jinx it. She skillfully avoided stepping on the parts of the grounds she had already cleaned, weaving her legs into an intricate, inherent dance of sorts (and also a very effective evasive maneuver, it turned out as her unpredictable movements made her a very hard target to hit for the poor boy she had assaulted earlier with the pile of leaves).

She clenched her teeth together and tossed the broom from one hand from the other, firmly jutting the bristles of her cleaning utensil of choice into the cement. Anna, snap out of it. You are ice. You are strong. You are unfeeling. Stop…stop sulking, girl. You don't sulk. You can brood forlornly and mysteriously so that you appear refined to other people but, sulking? That's just unladylike. She exhaled sharply and turned around, narrowly missing getting hit by a water balloon the boy from next door had thrown at her.

Kyoyama Anna does not sulk. She frowned. She hated always questioning herself. Uncertainty was not very befitting of her.

What am I to her? Yoh wondered as he bit on the end of his pencil. He probably really should've been taking his math test but he had better, more worrisome things to think about than what the numerical value of eleven times thirteen was. He lazily wrote down the symbol for pi underneath one of the equations, despite the fact that their class hadn't learned what pi was (and it was completely beyond him how he knew the symbol for it either).

What if I just end up annoying her? He shook his own head. He had been deliberating whether or not he should send another letter to her, despite the fact she hadn't sent one to him in weeks. I mean, she's so pretty and perfect. Why would she want to associate with such a dorky loser…like me?

Maybe it got lost in the mail. He scrawled the Greek symbol for sigma underneath another problem on his test (perhaps he had somehow learned the Greek alphabet overnight when he was dreaming and his subconscious desire to practice his newfound knowledge decided to manifest itself via his nonsensical answers on his fifth grade math test. Or something.)

Does she even think we're friends? Because she definitely is one of…mine. His train of thought was interrupted when his teacher caught him staring out the window. Yoh immediately hunched back over the paper to put up appearances that he actually cared about school and work. (What a joke).

Yoh, snap out of it. You are laid back. You are carefree. You are somewhat…lazy. Stop…stop sulking! You don't sulk. You can daydream and space out so that you appear empty-headed but, sulking? That's just uncool. He let out another sigh and scribbled out an alpha sign before turning his test over and putting his head down on his desk.

Asakura Yoh does not sulk. He sighed. He hated always questioning himself. Uncertainty was not very befitting of him.

A/N: Happy (belated) Valentine's Day/Single's Awareness Day! I for one had the worst one of my life, hooray! anyways, TRIPLE update today! this chapter, a chapter of Heavy Hearts Brigade, and a new story: Europe Roundabout (for Roni-chan's winning bid for the Help Haiti! Auction) huzzah. it'd be awesome if you left a review! :) happy days