Shaman King Fan Fiction ❯ Let Me Know You ❯ Chapter Five ( Chapter 5 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Shaman King belongs to Hiroyuki Takei, not me

“Who is this Anna girl?” Hana muttered. He coughed as clouds of dust rose from the cardboard boxes. “If she lived in this house, there's bound to be something of hers around here.”

It took him several hours of creeping around in the hot, musty attic and rummaging through old boxes before he found a box labeled “Remnants of the Celestial Room.”

“Celestial Room?” Hana snickered. He cut the tape on the box and peeked inside.

There were only a few items in the box. Girl things: a few pieces of clothing, a couple of porcelain figurines from dime stores, a tiny toddler's dress. And then, at the bottom of the box, was a small book. The cheap lock broke off in his fingers, and he couldn't help but start reading.

The diary- it was obviously a diary- was fascinating. Apparently this Anna girl had had a rough life: abandoned by her family, kept in strict training, and forced into arranged marriage. And yet she still loved Yoh, which Hana thought was kind of gross. A teenage girl, in love with an old guy like his grandfather.

The last entry was dated nearly fifty years ago, when Anna was thirteen years old.

I overheard Yoh. He doesn't love me. He doesn't love me at all. He doesn't even want me around. I'm going to leave. I have to leave. And I'll never come back, not while I'm alive. I'll find work somewhere. I'll go to Tokyo or Kyoto and find a job there. They won't care if I'm only thirteen. And I'll never come back to the Asakura complex, not until I'm dead. When I'm dead, I'll stay here forever and ever. I can watch over him that way. The only way I can ever come back is if he wants me back. The second he wants me back, I'll be there. Even if I'm dead.

“Hana?”

Hana leaped up in surprise. “Gr-Gra-Grandpa!” he stammered, hiding the small book behind his back. “Wh-What are you doing here?”

Yoh scratched the back of his head. “I was about to ask you the same question,” he said. “Why would a kid like you want to come up to a place like-“ He adjusted his glasses and stared at the opened box. “What are you doing with that?”

“Grandpa, it's that girl,” Hana tried to explain.

“What are you doing with Anna's things?” Yoh demanded. “Why are you going through my Anna's things?”

Hana reluctantly held out the journal. “This was hers,” he admitted, placing it in his grandfather's hand. “And there's something in here you need to read. Something that she promised.”

Yoh took the small book, his hand trembling. “My Anna,” he whispered, stroking the old worn cover. “My little Anna.”

-----

“You promise she'll be down here?” Yoh asked.

“For the hundredth millionth time, yes, Grandpa!” Hana said. “She's here.”

The river made a gentle sound as it lapped over the rocks. Barely audible over the flow of the water was a soft sobbing sound.

“Anna?”

The figure turned around; all he could see was her large eyes, big enough to swallow the world.

“Is that you, Anna?”

“Hai,” she whispered. “It's me.”

Yoh held out his hand to her. “I didn't know…that you were still here, Anna,” he murmured.

“Why didn't you come for me?” she whispered.

“I'm sorry, Anna,” Yoh said. “I know that I was the one who killed you.”

Something feather light touched his cheek. “You're so old, Yoh.” Anna rested her weightless hand on his face. “You're not the boy I knew.”

“Anna,” Yoh began. “Anna…”

“Why do you keep saying my name?” she whispered.

“Because I have wished to say your name for years,” he told her. “I want to go back in time. I want to save you.”

When he said that, Anna faded away in his arms and everything went black.

For author's notes and commentary, please visit my homepage and go to the link marked “Fanfiction.”