Rain
A Shaman King One-Shot
Asakura Yoh/Kyouyama Anna Pairing
Author's note: It's all Kaiyrah's fault! She Mankin-ized me! Shaman King doesn't belong to me, but to Takei-san , or the lyrics to the song "On Fire" by Switchfoot. I heard these lines and it inspired me to write this. I forewarn you: I've only seen the series and read Volumes 1-3. Any other information, well, I made it up. If anything is inaccurate, please bear this in mind. And forgive me again for OOC-ness. Thanks.
…Give me everything you are…
I've been running for about ½ an hour already. The hair at the nape of my neck is standing…I know it's gonna rain soon. And all Anna said was "Run faster, then." I complied of course. Since the Shaman King wasn't established, I have to keep my training up.
Geez, these weights around my wrists are starting to make me itch. While keeping my pace at a jog, I weave my fingers to my right weight cuff and scratch the skin underneath.
I began to run through my head the things I need to do. While Anna was going to sit in the house, I have to start dinner. I already bought groceries so we should be okay.
A lot of strangers wonder why I would follow every order of Anna. My friends already get the idea; she can get scary. Hell hath no fury like Anna's scorn, or so the saying goes.
Ren says I'm whipped. I'll ask him later what that means.
Sure, Anna can get really intimidating, unless one doesn't mind a re-arranged face, but she has her reasons. Maybe, in a way, I'm bragging that I know her unlike the others. I mean, I met her when I was a kid. I even had enough guts to say she was cute. Of course, she smacked me.
Hey, if I remember correctly, I think she was blushing.
Maybe she didn't know how to deal with such a comment.
I can hear a deep, thick rumble coming from the sky.
…Give me one more chance to be near you…
But after a while, I got to know her. Kyouyama Anna is the no-nonsense type of person. She is completely practical and lacks what other girls have, like whining and complaining. I guess it's due to the way my grandmother raised her. Grandfather told me that when he first met her, Grandmother was like an icicle… and violent. So it only makes sense, seeing as how Anna turned out.
It's not as if she has no warmth at all. Like once when she spent all night sewing up my outfit. And when I was leaving for a while, she spent the whole night with me. She moved all the way to Tokyo to visit me after my first fight with Ren. Sure, she put me on training but it was only so I could become the best shaman I could. If it weren't for her, I would have forgotten why I became a shaman in the first place: to be Shaman King.
…When everything inside of me…
It sounds as if I'm justifying her actions.
It's only because I understand her. After knowing her for so long, she makes sense to me.
Well, that's a funny thought.
Why don't I mind her around, considering my painful, traumatizing history with her?
…Looks like everything I hate…
I suppose it's because I admire her in a way. She's everything I'm not: focused, goal-oriented, hard working, responsible…
And I really want to be a more reliable person. And in a way, Anna has helped me. Through all her training and ordering, my priorities have aligned before me. I can't relax, listen to music and kick back until I am Shaman King. I got to work for it. Even though I don't really need school to be a shaman, I could at least graduate for myself, knowing that I achieved modern knowledge. She even pushes me in school too.
So I guess ever since she came to Tokyo, she's been such a strong influence in my life. I do want to give back, but I have no money. The only way I could think of returning all her efforts is for me to be Shaman King and be a better person. After all, she deserves nothing less.
…You're the hope I have for change…
But what if I don't become the Shaman King? We were betrothed to keep part of the Shaman world alive. But if I don't become Shaman King, her attempt to be Queen is ruined.
She wouldn't leave, would she?
Anna deserves the best… but if I fail…
And I realize that if I fail, I don't give a care to what my family would think or what my friends would say.
What would Anna say? What would she do?
If she stays, we'll still get married, right?
If she leaves, I don't have to follow her orders anymore. I can do my own thing. Two years ago, this kind of thought would make me ecstatic. But now…
…I don't want her to leave.
I can feel it.
I can feel my chest turning heavy and my stomach feeling so hollow. And quickly, all my insides feel empty as I think of what it would be like if she left me.
I stopped running and slowed down to a walk. I didn't bother with the light drizzling, coming from the sky.
I mean, it's not such a big deal. We're not going out and we're not even married. And our engagement isn't written in stone or blood. So if she does leave, I can't do anything…besides fight for her? But how can I do that if she's happy to be without me? I can't keep her a like a caged animal. If she wants to leave, she can leave. But it's gonna hurt a lot if she does. I like having her around. I'm happy when Anna is with me.
Drizzle turns to rain.
…You're the only chance I'll take…
I'm happy when Anna is with me.
…
Shoot.
When did this happen? This…feeling? How long has this thought been here? I must have been standing out here for 10 minutes, totally baffled.
I'm happy when Kyouyama Anna is with me.
Maybe this…feeling has been here for a while but only now I realized I can name it.
I let my feet guide me, not really conscious of where I'm going.
Could I really care for a person so much? I didn't know it was possible. But here I am, in the pouring rain, finally realizing that I'm in love with the girl that's been bullying me since we were kids.
And I laugh. Really hard.
Because I'm in front of the house. At that same moment, Anna comes out of the front door with a pink umbrella shielding her from the rain. She sees me and slowly approaches me.
…And I'm on fire when you're near me…
I feel my body heat up and I walk towards her.
She scowls at me. "What took you so long? Where were--?"
I fall to my knees in front of her, wrap my arms around her waist and rest my head against her stomach. She stumbles a bit and I could feel her clutching my shoulder, trying to pull me off.
"Yoh!" she exclaims. "What are you doing?!"
"I'm happy when…" I start.
I feel her hand leave my shoulder and it flies to my forehead. "Yoh," she says, "you're starting to run a fever."
"Just a little longer," I ask.
"What the--?"
"I'm happy when you're with me," I tell her. "So don't leave, please."
And her body stiffens, reacting to my words. My limbs go weak and I try to cling onto the waist of her dress, but suddenly, it all goes black.
…I'm on fire when you speak…
When I open my eyes, I find myself in my bedroom.
"Awake now?" I hear.
And when I turn, I see Anna is beside me, dipping a washcloth in a bucket of water.
I smile at her. "Tadaima."
She arches an eyebrow and slaps the cold cloth on my forehead. "Idiot." Anna turns away from me, stifling a yawn. She looks tired. Did she stay up looking after me?
"What time is it?" I ask.
"7am."
"Oh."
"You have to get better so you can continue training."
"I know," I said, closing my eyes.
"You know, if you become Shaman King, your training will relax a little. But if you don't, I'll just train you twice as hard," Anna tells me. "So don't screw up."
I open my eyes and before I could make eye contact, she turns away and says, "I'll get your breakfast," leaving me alone in the room.
And I can't help but smile.
…I'm on fire burning at these mysteries…
…fin…