Sometimes

A Yoh x Anna one-shot

Summary: Sometimes you don't need words to say you care, when you know that person as well as you know yourself…

A/N: Sorry, I suck at summaries, so please just read and review. By the way, I know Yoh's birthday was a while ago. That's when I got the idea for this, I just hadn't got around to writing it until now. I hope you like it, or at least think it isn't completely terrible…

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King. And I probably never will.

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Yoh yawned and stretched. He'd just woken up and was still sleepy. The pale light of a sun only just over the horizon lit his room, making it bright enough to see, but only just. He hated waking up this early - he really wasn't a morning person - but Anna had him well-trained by now. He knew that if he didn't make her breakfast exactly on time, he'd only have to make it up with extra chores or training.

His dark eyes were barely open, but he moved silently around his room, the movements practised and almost automatic. Waking Anna early was an even worse idea than being late with meals.

Sighing, he left his room fully-clothed and headed for the kitchen, still rubbing his eyes.

---

"Yoh," Anna's cold, clear voice rang through the kitchen, immediately diverting his attention from the orange he had been rolling across the table-top.

"Yes, Anna?" he asked.

"Today I want you to run 30 miles. And use the next set of weights - I think you're ready for them. Oh-" she paused, then handed him a piece of paper. "Don't forget to buy these."

"B-" Yoh began to protest, but thought better of it. "Yes, Anna. Anything else?"

"No, that's all," she told him.

"Ok," he said tiredly. "I'll see you later,"

"Goodbye, Yoh," she replied as he left the room. He headed to the front door, sitting on the step and strapping on his wrist and ankle weights before putting on his shoes and pulling the door open.

"Bye, Anna," he called. There was no response.

Sitting at the kitchen table, Anna heard the door shut behind him. She rolled the orange that Yoh had been playing with across the table, unconsciously mimicking his actions. She picked it up and looked at it before placing it down decisively. She stood up, walking out of the kitchen to the door. She had her own errands to run today.

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Yoh was angry at himself. What, had he expected it to be different just because it was his birthday? Of course it wouldn't be different - what mattered to Anna was making him keep up with his training, making him be the best he could be, not some trivial thing like him growing one year older. Today was just the same as any other day.

Amidamaru floated a short way behind Yoh as he ran. Usually they would be talking now, but he could see that Yoh wasn't in the mood - instead of his usual smile, Yoh's face wore a closed expression; a small frown of displeasure knitting his brows. Although Yoh hadn't said anything, Amidamaru knew he had been hoping that Anna would remember his birthday. Amidamaru sighed. Love could be so cruel, to give hope like that only for it to be taken away.

---

Hours later and the sun had shifted towards the western horizon, turning the sky the deep blue of late afternoon.

Yoh walked home, carrying two bags of groceries. He'd finished his run a while ago and bought everything on Anna's list, so now he and Amidamaru were heading back. They were talking now, and the current topic of conversation was Anna's free time.

"Well, she likes soap operas," Amidamaru said a little doubtfully.

"Yeah, but she couldn't watch them all day," Yoh returned. "They're not on TV all the time."

"You're right. What do you think she does?"

"I don't know," Yoh's face screwed up in an expression of intense thought. "Maybe… maybe…" He began to laugh. "Maybe she's an undercover spy in some government conspiracy!" Amidamaru joined in with his laughter as they walked down the path to the front door.

As Yoh walked in, he called out to let Anna know he was there. "Anna, I'm back! Oh-" She stood just a little way away from the front door, leaning against the wall next to the living room door, wincing slightly at his loud yell. "Sorry," he grinned. "I didn't know you were there. Hey,"

"Yoh, could you cook dinner?" she asked, ignoring his last comment. "I left the ingredients off the list so I went out and bought them,"

"Uh-huh," her nodded. "So what am I cooking?"

"Nira-tama," she paused, then added quietly, "If that's ok,"

"Yeah, sure thing," he replied absently. "Nira-tama it is." His training weights removed, he slipped out of his shoes and headed for the kitchen. Suddenly he stopped dead in his tracks. Wait a second, had Anna just been polite to him?

He turned, his mouth open to ask her if she was feeling ok (even though it would probably have earned him an extra ten miles to run the next day), only to find she had disappeared, the door sliding shut with a click behind her.

He sighed, rubbing the back of his head with one hand as he looked at the closed door, a little bewildered. In his head, Anna's word were replaying: "Yoh, could you cook dinner?" "Nira-tama… if that's ok…" Yes, that was definitely nice-Anna. And nice-Anna was definitely NOT normal-Anna. Shaking his head silently, he gave Amidamaru a look and continued to the kitchen. She was impossible to understand.

---

Later on, Yoh and Anna sat in front of the TV. Dinner had been delicious, they'd both taken a bath, and now they sat in silence - the comfortable silence of those who now each other well enough to not have to feel awkward. The news was on, but neither of them paid it much attention. Yoh was tired from the run and- well, he was just tired. After all, he could sleep any time. Anna, her face turned away from Yoh, was gazing at the television screen, her eyes glazed over. Her hands were clasped tightly in her lap. Slowly, she stood up and turned to face him.

"Yoh," she called softly. He looked so peaceful dozing there, happy even. A small smile touched her lips, she quickly banished it. "Yoh," she repeated, loud enough to rouse him.

"Huh?" he muttered sleepily.

"I think you should get an early night. You'll need your rest for tomorrow."

"'K," he murmured, yawned and turned over. "G'night, Anna,"

"Yoh!" Now she was using her commanding, listen-to-me-or-else tone of voice. "Go to your room and get some sleep. Now."

"Yes, Anna," he replied automatically to her order, picking himself up and shuffling out of the room. She watched him go, amused by his close resemblance to one of the zombies in that horror movie she'd seen last week. She turned off the TV and followed him out.

---

Yoh yawned as he walked, but he was waking up. Slowly. At least he knew the house and didn't trip over anything, although that might have had something to do with Anna's insistence on complete tidiness. Whatever it was, he reached his room without incident. He opened the door and stopped in surprise. On his bed there was a basket full of oranges. He took two steps over to it quickly.

Bending down, he noticed something balanced carefully on top of the pile of his favourite fruit. He picked it up and saw what it was: a small painting, not much bigger than his hand but beautifully detailed, of the place where he and Anna had met all those years ago. It looked exactly as it did in his memories.

He stepped out into the hallway, still holding the painting. Looking left and right, he saw a light on in the bathroom and headed towards it.

He stopped in the doorway. Anna looked up; she had been drying her face. "Thank you," he smiled. There was a pause.

"What for?" she asked sharply. "Go to bed."

Yoh grinned and turned. As he left, he thought he saw a faint blush colouring her cheeks.

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A/N: So what do you think? Please review, you can say anything. Tell me what you think was good or bad, even if you totally hated it. I need some comments so I can improve. Thank you for reading it, anyway. Bye!