Shaman King Fan Fiction ❯ Let Me Know You ❯ Chapter Two ( Chapter 2 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Shaman King belongs to Hiroyuki Takei, not me

“. . . And that's why I have to leave,” Anna finished. “I don't think that either of us will benefit from the marriage.”

Kino's eyes were unfathomable. “I understand, child,” she said. “Do you have someplace to go?”

“Yes,” Anna lied. “I'll be all right.”

“Then you may go, Anna,” Kino said. “Be careful.”

Anna nodded, picked up her things, and left. She was halfway down the drive when she heard quick footsteps behind her.

“Anna! Where're you going, Anna?” Yoh called.

“Away,” Anna said, not looking at him. “I'm leaving.”

“Leaving?” Yoh repeated, incredulous. “Leaving where? Why?”

“I don't think our marriage would be a good idea,” she told him, still walking down the driveway. “Your grandmother will find someone better for you.”

“But, Anna,” Yoh said. She could hear the confusion in his voice. “C'mon, Anna. Look at me!”

She finally looked at him. It broke her heart, and she had to turn away. “Goodbye, Yoh,” she said. “I hope you'll be happy with the one you marry.”

Anna could sense his eyes on her as she walked alone. Her shoes ground into the gravel, the only noise she could hear. She never looked back.

For a long time she just wandered along the road, until she saw the river beckoning in the distance, a shimmering silver ribbon, and followed its banks. She had no idea of where she could go, or what she could do. She had no money, no marketable skills. And no family to go home to. There was no one she could run to, no mother or father or brother or sister. There was no one to take care of her. She'd be on her own. Homeless at thirteen.

Anna was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't hear the thick slurping of her sandals caught in the mud, or feel the sharp shifting of the river's banks. She didn't notice the deep holes in the banks. Suddenly her foot got caught and she tumbled into the icy water.

-----

Yoh kicked at rocks. “C'mon, Anna,” he grumbled. “You're so obstinate.” With a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach he wondered if Anna had overheard him last night. He started jogging a little faster, hoping to catch up with her before she got too far ahead.

“Yoh!” He turned around.

“Jun, Ren!” he said in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

Ren shrugged. “We just dropped by and Amidamaru said you were out here,” he said.

“Where's Anna?” Jun asked.

“That's why I'm out here,” he told her. “Anna got it in her head to leave, and I wanted to talk to her.”

“So-” Jun's words were cut off by a sharp cry.

“Anna!” Yoh breathed. He broke into a run, searching for her.

Something was floating along the surface of the water. As he came closer, he realized it was a body. Anna's body.

Yoh kicked off his sandals and fell to his knees on the riverbed. “Anna!” he shouted, “Come on, reach for me!”

Her dark eyes continued to stare at the red, rippling stains on the surface of the water. Anna's pale lips were parted, stained with blood. Her head tipped limply, grotesquely, to the side. The blue beads of her rosary stretched gracefully from a nearby tree branch to her slender neck. Yoh wrapped his arm around her tiny waist and pulled her against him, dragging her out of the cold water.

“She's not breathing,” Ren said flatly.

“She's going to be fine!” Yoh barked. He set the cold little body on the rocky riverbank, mud mingling with the blood and the water. Anna's eyes were still wide open, staring without seeing. He wrapped his fingers around the slick dull beads, vainly struggling to loosen their grip around Anna's neck.

“The beads strangled her,” Jun said quietly. She placed her hand on Yoh's shoulder. “Yoh, she was dead long before you got here.”

Yoh wrenched away from her. “Anna!” he screamed. “Anna can't die!”

The blonde-haired girl was silent, as silent as the grave.

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