Shaman King Fan Fiction ❯ Princess ❯ Chapter Three ( Chapter 3 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Shaman King belongs to Hiroyuki Takei, not me.

Yoh went to bed several hours later, slipping into bed carefully so he wouldn't wake the baby. He fell asleep instantly, which was good because he had to get up at five o'clock and go running. Again.

He swatted the alarm quickly before the beeping could wake Anna, put on his workout clothes, and left for his three-mile run. When Anna first made him run for his workout program, he hated it, but now he found it relaxing. It gave him time to think. And he had a lot to think about.

Anna never spoke about her childhood or her training on Mount Osore. He still remembered what she was like when he first met her: angry, defiant, silent. She hated the world and wished everyone was dead, and she was only ten years old. Something must have happened to her. Something bad.

Before he knew it, he was back at his own house, done with his run even though thoughts were still jumping through his head. He silently made his way back upstairs. Anna-chan was sound asleep, the only noise in the room the soft sucking of her pacifier.

Yoh smoothed her silky hair away from her forehead. “Good morning, baby sunshine,” he singsonged. She blinked drowsily. “Good morning, baby sunshine.”

“Hi-hi,” Anna said, beaming. She held out her arms to Yoh. “Betfus?”

“Yes, time for breakfast,” he said. He picked her up and set her on his back.

“Yay!” Anna chirped. “Anna eat eggs `n' bacon `n' pancakes `n' cereal `n' berries `n' chocolate milk `n' faffles-“

“Faffles?” Yoh asked. He set her down on the counter.

“Iss!” Anna said. “Faffles! With butter `n' syrup!”

He laughed and kissed the tip of her snub nose. “Waffles,” he said.

She nodded vigorously. “That what Anna say! Faffles!”

“No faffles. How about some oatmeal?” Yoh was answered by a wrinkled nose and a stuck-out tongue. “But it'll be the way my mommy made it when I was little. With brown sugar and cream.” She still looked wary, but allowed him to make the hot cereal.

The others came downstairs as the smell of food permeated the house. “Good morning, little baby doll!” Pilika said. She blew a raspberry on Anna's round cheek.

“Yoh, what are you going to do with Anna today?” HoroHoro asked. He ruffled her silky hair as she ate her oatmeal. “We have that meeting for new students at school.”

Yoh slapped his forehead. “I forgot!” he moaned. They had been planning to attend the local public high school, but the parents collectively decided to send them to a private school in town instead.

“Ren can watch her!” Tamao suggested. “He went to Aizawa last year.”

“Hm?” Ren said.

“You have to watch Anna-chan,” Yoh said.

“What?” Ren screeched. “I am not watching a little girl all day!”

“Oh, please!” Yoh pleaded. “Look at the little angel!”

“Yoh, your little angel is sticking her head in the oatmeal bowl.”

“She'll be so good!” Yoh promised. “You won't even know she's there. All you have to do is give her something to eat at lunchtime and put her down for her nap afterwards. We'll be back long before she wakes up.”

Ren sighed. “I'll do it. As long as I don't have to…take her to the potty.”

Yoh laughed. “She's too old for that,” he said. “Thank you so much!”

“Yeah, whatever.”

In half an hour, the gang was ready to set out. Anna had been cleaned up, put into a new sky-blue dress with a white collar, and her hair had been tied into two neat little braids. “Just make sure she doesn't get hurt,” Yoh said. “Feed her, put her down for her nap. Pilika has her cell phone if you need me.” He kissed Anna several times. “Be very very good for your Uncle Ren, all right?” Yoh and Anna exchanged kisses on the cheek, and then Yoh set her on Ren's lap. “Bye, Anna.”

She waved as Yoh left. “Bye-bye!”

Ren looked down at the toddler on his lap. She smiled at him cheerfully. “Yes?” he said.

“Play with Anna?” she asked. “Please?”

“No,” he said flatly. He went back to his book.

A little hand reached up and batted against the spike in his hair. “Poky!” Anna squealed. “Poky poky poky poky…”

Ren picked her up and set her on the floor. “No,” he said. “Go play by yourself.”

He had barely returned to his book when he heard a loud high-pitched wail. Anna was sobbing miserably. “You mean! You mean! You meeeeean! I call Auntie Pilika on you!”

Yoh is going to kill me, Ren thought. He grabbed the phone out of her hand before she could hit the speed-dial. “Now, now, Anna,” he attempted. “Don't cry.”

“Play with me?” she begged tearfully.

“Sure, whatever,” Ren said.

“Hide and seek!” Anna chirped. “I go hidey, and you go seeky!”

“All right,” Ren agreed. “Go hide.”

“Count to eleventy-hundred first!” Anna shouted as she ran to go hide.

Ren meant to do the seeking part. He really did. But the book was so interesting, and he really wanted to find out what was going to happen to Harry…The next thing he knew, the door had opened and Yoh was dashing in.

“Hey!” he whispered. “Is Anna asleep?”

Ren slammed the book, hoping the “Rise and Fall of the Third Reich” dust jacket covering “Chamber of Secrets” would fool them. “Yes! I mean no! I mean…” He looked at the clock. “Oh, crap…”

Yoh grabbed him by the shirt collar. “What do you mean, `oh crap'?” he asked.

“Anna and I were playing hide and seek and I…” he swallowed hard. “I kind of forgot to seek.”

Yoh's eyes were nearly popping out his head. “How long ago did Anna hide?” he demanded.

“About…three hours ago?” Ren said meekly.

In a second he was on the floor as Yoh was running all over the house screaming Anna's name. “She could have fallen in the hot springs and drowned!” he exclaimed. “She could have hit her head! She could have pinched her finger in the door! She could be locked in a closet!” Yoh was clearly panicking. “ANNA!”

“What?” a grumpy little voice said. “You wake Anna up.” Anna was standing in the doorway of the kitchen, rubbing her eyes sleepily. Her braids were tousled and her dress was rumpled.

Yoh grabbed her into his arms. “Oh, baby doll!” he exclaimed, hugging her tightly. “Where were you?”

Anna yawned. “Anna go hidey in the cupboard, but Anna went sleepies.” She snuggled her head on his shoulder. “I hungry. Feed me.”

Yoh kissed her cheek. “Sure, honey. I'll take care of you.” He glared at Anna's erstwhile babysitter. “Unlike your Uncle Ren.”

Ren winced.

Tamao poked her head in. “Manta's here. He brought the crib,” she said. “I'll get Anna something to eat.”

“All right,” Yoh agreed. He handed Anna to Tamao. “She's probably starving.”

“Hai!” Anna said.

-----

Yoh, HoroHoro, Ren, and Manta all stared at the pieces of the crib. “How the heck are we supposed to put this thing together?” HoroHoro said. He picked two pieces up and tested them. “Widget 948 in Joint GV? I don't think so!”

“I'm sure it'll work out…” Yoh said. “It's just a crib, right? Not rocket science.”

It might not have been rocket science, but by the time the crib was set up, it was time to tuck Anna into it. The guys were quite pleased with their work, until…

“NO!” she shouted, kicking Yoh in the stomach. “NO!”

“But you'll be in the same room as me,” Yoh pleaded, talking louder to be heard over her sobs. “It's nice and safe and just perfect for you! Come on, Anna!”

“ANNA SNUGGLE WITH YOH! ANNA NO SLEEP ALONE!” Anna screamed. She pounded her tiny fists against his chest. Yoh held her at arms length.

“Anna, be quiet,” he said in calm authority. The temper tantrum stilled. “Anna, are you afraid to sleep alone?”

She nodded.

Yoh drew her into a hug and pressed his cheek against her warm forehead. “Then I will stand over your crib and watch over you until you fall asleep, all right?” he said. “You're a big girl and you need to sleep by yourself like a big girl.”

Anna nodded again, her face red with the exertion of her screams. She was exhausted now, and went willingly into her crib, laying her head on her pillow as Yoh turned off the overhead light and turned on the bedside lamp. Yoh tucked the sheet and quilt over her, then her soft yellow baby blanket. He picked up her stuffed duck. “Oh, he's a happy duck!” he sang, making the duckie dance on her tummy. Anna giggled and stretched out her little hands. She hugged the duck to her chest and stared up at him under sleepy, droopy lashes.

Yoh reached into the crib and stroked her forehead. Anna was warm and drowsy and smelled like her baby shampoo. He looked into her little face and began to sing her lullaby in the Shimane dialect of Japanese. His mother used to sing it to him and his brother when they were young, and it had never failed to soothe the restless little twins.

“Once upon a time, and long ago,” Yoh sang. “I heard someone singing, soft and low. Now, when day is done, and night is near, I recall this song I used to hear.” Anna sighed deeply. “My child, my very own, don't be afraid- you're not alone. Sleep until the dawn, for all is well.” The little girl was fast asleep now, her lashes curling against her cheek and her small chest rising and falling deeply. “Long ago this song was sung to me; now it's just a distant melody. Somewhere in the past, I used to know, once upon a time, and long ago.” He kissed her lightly on the forehead, wondering if, once upon a time in Anna's past, someone sang her to sleep with a gentle lullaby.

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