Disclaimer: Shaman King belongs to Hiroyuki Takei, not me.

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The small girl was given more than a few odd looks. She was such a strange, solitary little creature, her dark eyes wistful when she alone and sharp when she realized someone was paying attention to her. For the entire train trip, she sat alone, her hands folded in her lap, her eyes staring out the window, yet seeing something else.

Anna jolted out of her daydreaming as she realized the train had stopped in Funbari Hill. She took up her things and got off the train.

Finding Yoh wasn't too difficult. She'd kept tabs on him ever since New Year's. And now, it was time. Time for her to start training him, preparing him for the shaman tournament.

If he was still alive.

Anna's heart pounded as she neared the hospital. It was early morning; the paperboy was just starting his route. It was a known fact that most spirits slipped into the next world with the daybreak. What if...what if she was too late?

She shifted the stick on her shoulder and walked into the hospital. No one noticed her, not even the sleepy-eyed intern at the desk. She kept going, reaching out for Yoh's aura to find him. At long last she found his room.

But instead of silence, she heard screeching. A high-pitched voice, belonging to either a mouse or a very small child. Then a deeper one- a young man's. And then one that was incredibly familiar. Anna pushed open the door.

Yoh was sitting up in bed, smiling.

She covered her relief by spouting out, "Oh, settle down." Her keychain clinked as she leaned against the doorframe. "And I came all this way expecting to find you in a coma. What's all the commotion about, anyway?"

"Hold it right there! Who are you? You sure you have the right room?!" the high pitched voice said. Anna glanced down to see a boy about knee-high to her staring up at her in confusion. She glared.

"Uh, Manta, look out-" Yoh stammered.

Too late. Anna slapped the midget across the face.

"Don't talk to me like that, shrimp," she warned. "I'm a shaman- Anna, the itako. Yoh Asakura's fiancée."

The short guy didn't take the news well. "What?!" he exploded. "This girl is Yoh's...fiancée?!"

"Correct," she said, stepping into the room. "And I'm putting you on my special intensive training program today! No arguments!" She glanced at Yoh. "You're gonna make me the first lady of the shaman world."

"F-First lady?" the short guy sputtered. "Itako?! Training?! Fiancee?! This is insane! You're talking nonsense!"

"Anna..."Yoh said, his dark eyes wide. "How'd you find..." He paused, choosing his words carefully. "...uh, know I was here?"

The short guy took this information even harder. "YOU KNOW HER?!" he shouted.

Anna shrugged. "Of course I found you, Yoh," she said, speaking as she would to a very small and stupid child. "Your own grandmother, Kino Asakura, trained me." Now she turned to Yoh's friend. "My specialty is channeling. As an itako, I can summon ghosts wherever and whenever I want. Even ghosts in heaven, where normal shamans can't reach."

"Those are ghosts that-" the short one stuttered.

Anna settled her beads around her neck. "The ghosts of Funbari Hill keep me well informed on Yoh's activities," she said. She winked at her fiancé. "So, how ya been, Yoh? I haven't seen you since Kino and I went home for New Year's."

Yoh's vertically challenged friend was still trying to puzzle it out. "Huh...what?! You're both shamans, and you grew up together?"

Anna rolled her eyes. "You catch on quick," she said, her tone sarcastic. She sat on the bed, crossing her thin legs gracefully. "Amazing how thirsty you can get just walking around Tokyo. Hey, you," she said to the short one. "Get me a soda."

"What?!" he protested. "Why should-"

He shouldn't have tried to talk back. Anna slapped him across the face for the second time.

"Noisy little shrimp, aren't you?" she said, glaring at him through her bangs. "What're you to Yoh, anyway?"

"What am I? I'm his friend!" the boy wailed.

"Then you better stay on my good side," Anna said flatly.

"HUH?"

"Remember...the orders of the future wife of the Shaman King...will be obeyed," she said, her voice icy.

Yoh's microsized pal didn't wait. He tore out of the room like there was a fire in the seat of his pants.

"You were a little hard on Manta," Yoh told her.

"Is that his name?" Anna shrugged. "I think I was nicer than he deserved."

Yoh shrugged. It was useless to fight with Anna; he knew that well.

"So, Yoh," Anna said. "How badly were you hurt?"

He blinked. "He hit my shoulder," he said.

"What kind of weapon?"

"Halberd."

Anna nodded. "You should know better, Yoh. With a long weapon like a kwan do, you can use the top-heavy weight of the spearhead to your advantage. Understand?"

"Hai," Yoh sighed. "Um...I have to use the bathroom. Can I go?"

"Please. I don't want you wetting yourself," Anna said. Thrilled, Yoh left.

Now Anna turned to the ghost. "And now, for you," she said.

"Me?" the ghost squeaked.

"Don't think I couldn't see you. Name, please."

"Ami-Amidamaru," he stammered.

"Occupation."

"Samurai?"

"Age at death."

"Around twenty-four...I think..."

"Span of death."

"Six hundred years...thereabouts."

"I approve," Anna said. "But Yoh is stupid. He's probably trying to run away from me right now. But I've gotten myself a little insurance."

Before the samurai ghost had time to think, Anna yanked off her itako beads, swung them around, and tied up Amidamaru with a quick flip of her wrist. Much to her embarrassment, the samurai burst into tears.

"Oh, stop wailing," she snapped. "Yoh will realize you're gone and come back for you in just a minute or two."

Sure enough, Yoh sauntered back in, Manta at his heels. "You're late," she said. "I tied up the samurai ghost so you wouldn't run away."

"Amidamaru?!" Manta squealed.

"Lord Yoh, who is the she-devil?" Amidamaru sobbed.

Yoh's jaw twitched. "Darn it! I told you I wouldn't run away, Anna!" he said.

She crossed her arms smugly. "Don't pretend you're tough, Yoh," she said coolly.

His mouth dropped open. "What did you...okay, pack up your special training and go! I have my own way of doing things, so beat it!" he shouted.

A little pang shot through her heart, but she squelched it. "I guess this means...you want to die," Anna said, her voice quiet and steely.

"Wh-wh-what?" Yoh stammered.

She straightened to her full but still rather petite height and stared him in the face. "If that Ren guy comes after you, you'll be lucky to achieve one-hundred-percent integration again." Her voice softened, just enough for Yoh to hear. "And just look what it did to you this time."

"How- how did you know about Ren?" he asked, his eyes wide.

"I told you. I know everything about you," Anna said simply. "And at your present level, you can't beat him...or the powerful shamans from all over the world you have to face. Shaman King is a highly contested position...a dream upon a dream."

"The world?" Amidamaru repeated.

"Hold on! What do you mean from all over the world?! Is that why that Ren guy came to Japan?" Manta demanded.

"Y-you don't mean..." Yoh started to say.

Anna turned to the window. "Yep." She looked out to watch the sunrise. "Mankind has forgotten the spiritual world and succumbed to greed...the time of gathering is coming. Shamans from all over the world want to find the great spirit. It's time to see who will be the next shaman king...the next messiah." She turned back around to look at them, her dark eyessnapping. "Shaman Fight in Tokyo is coming."

Her serious and dramatic moment was entirely destroyed by Manta.

"Shaman Fight? Tokyo?" He started snickering. "Is that some kind of sports event? And why Tokyo?"

For the third time in under an hour, Anna swatted Manta. This time it was so harsh he clunked to the floor. Anna crossed her arms. "This is serious," she said. "The shaman fight takes place wherever the most disorder prevails. That's where the messiah will appear. The world's most powerful shamans have already begun to assemble in Tokyo, bringing their foreign beliefs and their prized ghosts."

"Then Ren was one of them?" Amidamaru said. "So that...was a shaman fight."

Anna turned on her heel. "Yoh!" she said. He gulped. She stared him in the eyes. "For you to survive these battles, I have to pound the laziness out of you. My goal is to be the first lady of the shaman world. You're going to be my husband, so you will be the Shaman King- even if it kills you." She jammed her fists on her skinny hips. "After all, I deserve nothing less."
It was quite satisfying to see all three of their jaws drop in exasperation.

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Anna watched Yoh carefully, trying to see if he was straining his sore shoulder too much. He never complained, she would give him that. But every once in a while his face would twist. "That's enough training for today," she said. "After all, it's only your first day out of the hospital."

"I suppose I should thank you," Yoh barked. Sweat dripped from his thin face.

"Yes, you should," Anna said. She picked up her kerchief-on-a-stick. "And now, we're going home. Lead the way."

"You're living with me?" Yoh asked.

"Where did you think I would live? The park?" she asked coolly. "Come on, Yoh, while I'm still young."

Grumbling, Yoh obeyed. Anna trailed behind him. The workout she'd made him go through at the gym showed her what she needed him to work on. Which was basically everything. He was as skinny as a bean pole.

"This is my house," Yoh said, pushing open the gate with a not-so- happy look on his face.

Anna stepped inside. "It'll do," she said. Actually, to her it was a palace. Much better than the cramped quarters of Kino's training camp.

Yoh tramped inside. "Yoh. What are you doing?" she said.

"Going inside?" he blinked.

"Shoes!" she barked. Rolling his eyes, Yoh kicked off his sandals and dumped them on the floor before entering the main part of the house. Anna set her sandals neatly beside his and followed him.

"I guess you'll sleep upstairs," Yoh said. He was starting to get used to the idea of her living with him. "It's going to be nice to have another person in the house. Living person, I mean." He led her to the second story and opened the door. "This is your room. I guess."

Almost timidly Anna peeked inside. It was a nice, airy room, surprisingly clean. A door led out to what she supposed was a balcony. "I like it," she told him.

"There's a spare futon downstairs," he said.

"So..." she said.

"So what?"

"So you're going to get it, right?" she said.

He opened his mouth to argue, but thought better of it. "All right," he agreed.

"And go get dinner started. I'm starving," she called as he tramped down the stairs. She could hear him muttering as he went to obey.

Anna untied her kerchief and shook her long hair free. She folded the long piece of red cloth, setting it on the floor next to her stick. So this was her new home. A home far away from the familiarity of Aomori, a home where she was, once again, by herself. She rubbed her bare arms. She'd insisted on sleeveless dresses when she found out she was moving to the much warmer area. After ten years of heavy coats and thick kimonos, she could finally wear something else. But now she regretted it. She was freezing in the drafty house.

A gentle hand touched her elbow. "You okay?" Yoh asked. Anna pinched the skin between his first and middle fingers. "Ow!" he wailed, yanking his hand away.

"Lesson number one: don't touch me. Lesson number two: don't assume I'm weak. And lesson number three: my word is law. Got it?" she said.

Yoh stuck out his tongue. "I got it, but I don't like it. Fine with you?"

"Fine," she shrugged. "I don't care how you feel as long as you obey."

Yoh unfolded her futon on the floor. "There's your futon. I'm working on dinner. Happy?" he asked.

"I'll get back to you on that," Anna said.

She wasn't about to tell him the truth: she was thrilled.

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Author's Notes:

I actually cut the last couple of pages from this story. I just didn't like them.

I wrote this by going back to the Viz editions of the manga and writing the exposition around the dialogue. Slightly tedious, if I do say say.

I'm eventually going to write the ultimate Anna back story. I'm determined to do it before I retire from fanfiction....