"Consequences"

Shaman King

K+

Romance/Angst

One sided AnnaxHao, implied AnnaxYoh

Setting: The part when Hao and Anna first met. AU-ish. It's not exact, couldn't really remember what exactly happened. The scene is taken from there, but I changed it…a lot.

Summary: Leaving her that time was for the best. I didn't want her to be devoured by the darkness. The hate. But leaving her had its consequences. One sided HaoxAnna

A/N: Oh gosh, many thanks to Arah-chan (OrangeAce/RoyalDeuce), Patricia (Patbby) and Ya-chan (rookie-chan) for editing this fic, this wouldn't have been worth the read without you guys :)

"You'll always be by my side, right?"

"Yes."

"Forever… right?"

"Yeah. Forever."

Those same dark brown eyes of hers stared at me yet again, but rather than gentleness, they held intensity, they held coldness.

They held anger.

Her hair had not lost its shine; those shoulder length gold locks danced around her small face as she walked closer. She never did grow them anymore…

Not since then.

Of course not.

"You look good with long hair."

"R-Really?"

"Yeah, keep it like that."

I looked at her with amusement etched on my features; as I sat idly on the rock, she inched closer and closer– then stopped, when she was only at arm's length. Then I had that urge to touch her, to hold her tight in my arms…

"I'm scared…"

"Don't worry, I will never let go"

But no, I can't do that, she'd never allow it.

Never again.

Of course not.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, not betraying any kind of emotion. I wanted to laugh, Why so serious, Anna? But rather, I kept my amused smile intact. It is my fault why she'd turned out like this.

"Afraid that I would give this to Yoh?" she added, and then raised her right hand up showing me a book, it was the book of strategies that would eventually make Yoh stronger. I just stared at her, my smile never wavering.

"Not at all, actually, I was expecting you to give him this," I replied, her intense eyes never leaving mine. "I'd want Yoh to become stronger… much, much stronger," I explained further, jumping down the rock in the process. She moved back, probably not wanting to stay a close distance, but I crept closer.

"He is strong enough. Strong enough to defeat you, Hao" she said, confidence evident in her tone. I chuckled and raised an eyebrow. Really now? With that much confidence you can almost believe what she'd said.

Almost. Of course, reality is harsher. It always has been.

"You know that I will be Shaman king, Anna" It's useless to put your faith unto my foolish little brother, I wanted to add, but just kept it to myself. She glared at me, I just smirked in return. The way her name tasted in my mouth was so good; I wanted to repeat it over and over again, to feel it roll smoothly down my tongue.

I averted my eyes from her, to the companions she had behind. The moment my eyes landed on them, they froze but regained their ground in an instant – yet I could see it, see it in their eyes. Fear was evident. They couldn't hide that from me. See, Anna? Even your companions are afraid of me- of my power.

My eyes then returned to the girl in front of me; her expression had not changed. "You want to be the wife of the Shaman king, right?" I asked her, though I already knew the answer.

Of course I did.

"And that would be Yoh," she quickly replied, eyes becoming a little gentler. I've become slightly irritated; Yoh would never be the Shaman King. Not in the least. If only he wasn't my other half, I would have killed him long before.

If only.

"Wrong, Anna," I drawled, stepping forward – she did the opposite. Before she could go back any farther, I grabbed her arm and felt her stiffen. "If you want to be the wife of the Shaman King then you should have me as your fiancé…" I whispered in her ear. Being this close, I took the opportunity to take in her scent. She smelled like fresh blossoms.

I missed this smell.

I missed her.

The moment hadn't lasted long though; she swiftly pushed me away with her free hand and raised it up. She was about to slap me, but I caught it before the act was done. Now both of her hands were held by me.

"Don't resist me anymore, Anna. I know you missed me…" I said, teasing her. She looked at me fiercely, and tried to get out of my grasp. How could you not, I nearly murmured.

"Who would miss someone like you?" she said bitterly, then I felt pain coming from my stomach. She'd kicked me, making me release her arm. I laughed.

"You were always tough. I have always liked that."

I looked at her figure. Even though her shoulders hunched up and down, tired from her constant struggling, her face was still serious... and determined.

"Anna?" I heard someone call from behind, and a couple of calls such as "Yoh-kun!" and "Yoh!" could be heard. Anna looked behind her, and I did, too.

There he was-Yoh Asakura.

My little brother; my other half.

My rival.

I smiled sullenly; Anna stood straight, her head still turned towards him. Yoh wasn't alone; he was with his other so-called "friends" while wearing the black training outfit Anna had made for him.

Then he saw me, his smile quickly turned to a serious expression. I still kept my grin. "Nice to see you again, Yoh," I greeted. But I didn't want to stay for long, so I snapped my hands and the Spirit of Fire appeared. Suddenly, he and all his friends became alert and got their weapons. I chuckled. Foolish, foolish indeed… Did they seriously think that they'd beat me with something as weak as those?

I jumped to my spirit and rested on its shoulder. "Now's not the time," I said. "Become stronger, Yoh!" I shouted as the Spirit of Fire flew from the ground.

I took one last look at Anna, and something flitted on her face-a very familiar something.

"W-Where are you going?!" Anna asked me, her innocent eyes wide. She looked at me, tears threatening to spill.

Such a child, I thought. But then again, we we're technically the same age. I looked straight into her eyes and patted her head.

"Somewhere," I replied vaguely. She clutched my clothes and tried to pull me closer.

"Y-You promised! You'd stay with me, forever!" she shouted, tears already streaming down her cheeks. I smiled at her, a sad smile.

"I can't stay with you... I can't-" I tried to explain, but she shook her head hard, not letting go of my clothes.

"No! You promised!" She was stubborn – as I expected. I sighed and gently tried to pluck her little fingers off of my clothes.

Looking at her crying image was all that I could do before flying away with the Spirit of Fire.

I could not apologize, because saying ''I'm sorry" was not really enough.

"Hao, wait–! N-no! Come back, Hao...! HAO!" She screamed.

Her pleading voice lingered in my ears as she called out to me. It was the very last time that I was able to hear her longing for my presence.

For me.

She almost had the same sad expression back then. I sighed. Anna wasn't always like this. She wasn't always the serious girl that hardly showed any emotion. She had once been open about her feelings but… I changed it. I changed her.

Leaving her that time was for the best. I did not want her to be devoured by the darkness, the hate–even though I knew that leaving her had its own consequences, I still did. Then again, never had I thought that she'd eventually become my little brother's fiancée.

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair and lied down, arms crossed under my head.

I closed my eyes, and imagined her seven years ago – those big innocent brown eyes, flushed cheek and wide smile.

This was probably for the best.

…right?

Okay, that was pretty much OOC. So sorry. Well this is my first fic for Shaman King, and first for SO LONG, so I hope you guys liked it.

Reviews are very much welcome :)