Tamao Shrugged. I Don T Mind It, She Said

Princess

“This house is too scheduled,” Pilika complained. She poked at the orange in the big bowl on the kitchen counter. “Every day it’s the same thing. Yoh wakes up at an ungodly hour and goes running. Then Tamao gets up. Then Yoh comes back and wakes up Anna. Then he makes breakfast. Then Anna comes downstairs, complains a little, yells a lot, and eats breakfast. Then we all meet here and go to school. Unless, of course, it’s a Saturday like today, and we all just show up and hang here.”

Tamao shrugged. “I don’t mind it,” she said.

“But where’s the spontaneity?” Pilika demanded, throwing her hands in the air. “The excitement! The novelty! The-“

“I hungry.”

Pilika blinked. “Tamao? Since when do you not use proper grammar?”

“That wasn’t me,” Tamao said.

“I said, I hungry.”

The two girls looked over the counter. A little girl with flyaway blonde hair was standing by the foot of the steps, scowling in a very familiar manner. “Anna hungry,” she announced.

“Well, there’s some excitement, all right,” Tamao said faintly.

Pilika grabbed Tamao’s arm. “Tamao,” she whispered. “She said ‘Anna.’ Does that mean…”

“I guess that’s our Anna,” the pink haired girl said.

Pilika screamed.

The little girl’s expression was a mixture of exasperation and fear. “Why she scream?” she asked. “Spider?” When no one answered her, the toddler attempted to climb up on one of the stools. “Isn’t there food for Anna? I hungry! Where Yoh? And who is you?”

HoroHoro and Ren came racing into the room. “What’s wrong?” Ren demanded. “Why’d you scream?”

“Aw, where’d the cute little girl come from?” HoroHoro asked. He tried to help the child. The darling little tot responded by kicking him in the shins.

“DEVIL CHILD!” HoroHoro shrieked, jumping up and down in pain. “SHE’S A DEVIL CHILD!”

The little girl’s chin began to tremble. “I not devil,” she said. “You mean to me. I tell Yoh!” She ran into the living room.

“What was that?” Ren asked.

“Anna,” Tamao said. “She’s…she’s Anna.”

“I’m going to call Faust. Maybe he can recommend a good shrink,” HoroHoro said.

Pilika grabbed Ren. “What are we going to do?” she wailed. “The evil queen is now a preschooler!”

“First of all…stop grabbing me,” Ren said. “Second of all, she doesn’t recognize us, but she keeps asking for Yoh. He should be back soon, so he can take care of it. Her. The…baby.”

“Oh, Kami,” Tamao moaned. “I need to sit down…”

“Why? Are you all right?” Yoh came into the kitchen, his ponytail wet from the rain.

“Yoh! Hallelujah! You can save us!” Pilika screamed.

“From what?” he asked, puzzled.

“From the evils of the chibi from hell, that’s what,” she told him.

“Anna’s a toddler,” Tamao explained. “We don’t know why, but…she came downstairs this morning, and she was little.”

“Where is she now?” Yoh asked, taking in the stunning turn of events with typical lazy acceptance.

“The living room, I think,” Ren said.

“And keep your shins well guarded. She already maimed HoroHoro,” Pilika warned.

Yoh peeked into the living room. “Anna?” he called tentatively. “Are you in here?”

“No,” came a muffled little voice. “Go ‘way.”

He grinned. There was a rather large bump in one of the floor-length curtains. “Anna, it’s me,” he said. “Yoh.”

A tiny hand pushed back the curtains. “Yoh ?” Anna repeated. She toddled out from behind the panel.

The tiniest, most exquisite little girl he had ever seen gazed up at him with wide dark eyes. Tousled blonde hair hung to the middle of her back. She was wearing a sleeveless black dress, and as she stared at him in apprehension the middle two fingers of her small right hand crept into her mouth.

“Come here, honey, it’s okay,” Yoh said, kneeling on the floor. He held out his arms. “Can I pick you up?” Anna shook her head, but slipped her soft hand into his callused one. “How about we find something for you to eat, hm? What are you hungry for?”
“Pancakes,” she said. Her small fingers curled around his big fingers as she followed him into the kitchen.

Yoh picked her up and set her on the counter. “Pancakes it is, then,” he said cheerfully.

He watched the little girl carefully as he started making breakfast. Why didn’t I listen more when Grammy was talking? He vaguely remembered her telling him something about “childhood avoidance regression.” However, he had no earthly idea what the term meant. All he knew was that it had something to do with the solemn-eyed preschooler sitting opposite him.

“Yoh? I got a call from HoroHoro, and thought I should come over.” Faust came into the kitchen and stopped dead in his tracks. “Oh, my.”

“Faust, this is Anna. Anna, this is Dr. Faust. He’s very nice,” Yoh reassured her.

“H’llo,” Anna said shyly.

“Why, good morning, little one,” Faust said, smiling at her. “So your name is Anna?” She nodded. “My, that’s a pretty name. And how old are you, Anna?” She held up three fingers. “Three years old? You’re practically grown up!” Anna nodded gravely.

“I a big girl,” she said.

“Yes, you are,” Faust said. “Now, I have a special toy that I use that lets me listen to the hearts of big girls like you. Will you let me do that?” She shook her head, eyes wide. “How about I let you listen to Yoh’s heart first? Then will you let me listen to yours?” Anna nodded once slowly. Faust beckoned to Yoh. He set down the wire whisk and sat down next to Anna as Faust put the stethoscope plugs in her ears. She held the instrument against his chest, cocking her head and biting her lip in concentration as she listened to his heart. Yoh studied her piquant face. The delicate nose was the same, and the dainty ears, and the sweet cupid-bow mouth. Everything was younger, though- softer and rounder than the sharp lines and planes of her face when she was older.

“There, you see?” Faust said. “Nothing to be scared off. Now may I listen to yours?” Anna nodded this time, handing the stethoscope back to him. Yoh went back to making the toddler’s breakfast, keeping a sharp eye on the medical examination as Faust listened to Anna’s heart and breathing. “All done. And it looks like Yoh is done making your pancakes, so you can stay here and eat while we talk, all right?”

“T’ank you,” she said politely, reaching for the warm pancake that Yoh had cut into bite-size bits for her to eat. Faust tugged Yoh into the living room.

“Well, she’s healthy,” he said. “A little small and thin for her age, but she’s always been that way.”

“But what happened to her that made her like this?” Yoh asked.

“Did Anna have a bad childhood?”

Yoh’s brow furrowed. “All we know about her life before was that she was abandoned,” he said. “And my grandmother raised her pretty strictly.”

“Just as I thought,” Faust said. “Anna is going through childhood avoidance regression. She became a child again so that she can have some happy memories of her childhood, and erase some of the bad ones.”

“Yes, but when will she get back to normal?” Yoh pestered.

“As soon as she subconsciously feels she’s ready,” Faust shrugged. “In the meantime, though, you have a precocious three-year-old on your hands. It’s a good age, actually. Old enough to be out of diapers and little enough to still be blankie-dependent.” He smiled at little Anna, who was busily eating the pancake bites with her fingers. “Take good care of her, and call me if you need anything.”

Yoh nodded and went over to the toddler. “Are you full yet?” he asked.

“Really full,” Anna sighed.

He sat down on the seat next to her. “Well, guess what, honey. We’re going to have to take you shopping for new clothes,” he said.

Pilika poked her head in the kitchen. “Did I hear something about new clothes?” she asked.

“New clothes for Anna,” he said. “She doesn’t have anything except this dress, so I want you and Tamao to take her shopping.”

“Oh, no,” Tamao said. “If we’re taking Anna shopping, you have to come too. She’ll be completely wild if you don’t come watch her.”

Yoh picked Anna up and set her on his knees. “You want me to come with you, Anna-chan?” he asked.

“Hai,” she said, nestling against him. “Want Yoh.”

“Let me just grab my stuff,” Pilika said. “Shopping with a miniature Anna…oh, the fun I’m going to have today…”

They arrived at the mall about an hour later with a heartily protesting Anna in tow. “Anna walk!” she shouted. “I big girl! I walk!”

“You can’t, Anna-chan, you don’t have any shoes,” Yoh explained patiently, readjusting the squirming toddler on his hip. “As soon as we get you some shoes you can walk, okay? But now you have to be still and let me carry you.” She scowled, but obeyed. “So…we just pick up some clothes for her and go, right?”

“Oh, no,” Tamao said. “She’ll need dresses and playclothes and shoes and pajamas…there’s quite a lot to get.”

“We won’t need to get her a crib; I called Manta and he’s going to bring Mannoko’s old one over,” Yoh said.

“She’ll need some other baby things, though,” Pilika said. “Tell you what. We’ll all go get Anna shoes, and then Tamao and I will get her clothes while you buy her sipper cups and suchlike.”

“Want shoes. Then Anna walk,” the toddler insisted. “I big girl, ‘member?”

“Yes, I know you’re a big girl,” Yoh said. “Let’s go get you shoes.”

The first thing Anna pointed to was a pair of shiny patent leather Mary Janes with bows. “Want!” she squealed. “Want! Anna want!”

“Not at that price, baby doll,” Yoh said. He slung the wriggling little girl over his arm. “Let’s look at these.”

She pouted. “Ugly boy shoes,” Anna complained.

“She’s right, Yoh, they’re as ugly as sin,” Pilika agreed. “How about these, Anna?” She held up a tiny pair of tan suede sandals with gold butterfly buckles.

Interested, Anna poked the shiny buckles. “Pretty,” she commented.

Yoh set her down on a chair. “Then let’s try them on,” he said. He slipped the sandal onto her small foot. “Wow…you’re tiny.”

“What did you expect, Yoh? She’s three,” Tamao said, looking at the different sneakers. “Ooh! Look how cute! Do you want to try these on, Anna?”

The toddler swung her little legs back and forth, watching the light catch on the buckles on her sandals. “See, pretty!” she chirped.

“Yes, I see, honey, but you need to try on some other shoes too,” Yoh said. He tugged the little shoes off before Anna could wail in protest. “We’ll get these, but you have to try on some other ones first.”

Anna fidgeted through six more pairs of shoes, until Tamao and Pilika finally decided on a pair of sneakers and a pair of Mary Janes, besides the little sandals. “Bored,” Anna fussed.

“I know you are, kiddo,” Pilika said. “Tell you what. If you tell me and Tamao your favorite colors, we’ll pick out all of your clothes and Yoh can take you for the other things you need, okay?”

Anna nodded vigorously. “Pink and boo and lello,” she said.

“Blue and yellow?” Pilika guessed.

“Anna like boo and lello.”

“I see…”

“And Anna like dressies.” The little eyebrows furrowed. “Only dressies.”

“Uh…allrighty then.”

Tamao handed Yoh a piece of paper. “I made out a list of things she’ll need. There’s a Babies R Us at the south end of the mall. Meet us back by the doors at five, okay?” she said.

Yoh finished buckling the sandals back onto Anna’s feet. “Sure, sure,” he said. He set Anna on the floor and took her hand. “Let’s go buy things, shall we?”

“Can Anna get toys?” she inquired, cocking her head to one side.

“Probably,” he grinned, knowing that most likely he would buy any toy she asked for. She skipped to keep up with him, clinging to his hand.

“Yoh-san! Yoh-san!”

Yoh winced. “Oh, crap,” he muttered.

Anna poked him. “Bad word,” she reprimanded.

“Hi, Yoh-san! What are you doing here?” Suki chirped.

He shifted his weight from one foot to another. “Uh…shopping,” he said.

“That’s awesome! So am I!” she exclaimed. “Oh, and who is this cute little angel?”

Anna ducked behind Yoh, wrapping her short arms around his leg. “My…my…eh…my foster sister,” he finally stammered. “Yeah. Foster sister. Her parents died, so my parents took her in. She’s visiting with me.”

“Ooh, what a cute little darling!” Suki cooed. Anna buried her face in the back of Yoh’s knee. “Yes, you are! Yes, you are!”

Yoh reached down and smoothed Anna’s hair to calm her down. “Well, I really have to go, so I’ll see you at school,” he said.

Suki looked disappointed. “Well…okay,” she said. “Bye, Yoh-san. Bye, little cutie-pie!”

Anna peeked up at Yoh. “Me no like her. She too perky,” she commented. Yoh laughed and ruffled her hair.

The Babies R Us gave Yoh a rather unsettling feeling. So many baby things…He hadn’t thought he’d need to buy baby things for a couple more years. Anna toddled obediently at his side, sucking on her fingers. The shopping continued in complacent silence for quite a while, until Anna spotted something.

“Passie!” the baby squeaked. She stopped dead in her tracks, tugged on Yoh’s pants, and pointed to a small package high above her little head. “Anna want passie!”

“You’re too big for a pacifier, Anna,” Yoh said absently as he checked the list. “C’mon, let’s go.”

That’s when it started.

First her dark eyes grew wide and dewy.

Then her little mouth began to tremble.

The long eyelashes began to blink.

A tear dripped down the round cheek.

And the floodgates broke.

“Anna w-want passie!” she wailed desolately. “P-Please! Anna w-want!”

Yoh quickly knelt down to the tiny girl’s eyelevel. “It’s okay, honey, it’s okay,” he tried to soothe her. “You’re not too big for a pacifier. I’ll get one for you.” He grabbed the package nearest him and put it in the shopping cart. She sniffled. “See, it’s all right. You don’t need to cry.” He picked her up and set her in the cart’s child seat. Anna still looked miserable. Yoh began to feel inexplicably guilty. “Hey, do you want a plushie? How about a cow? Or a duck?” He handed her a soft buttercup-yellow duck. She clutched it to her chest, staring up at him with huge teary eyes. “We can get you a blankie too, would that make you happy?” He frantically tossed several more items into the cart, hoping to alleviate the sadness in the tiny face. She sniffed, rubbing her eyes with the backs of her little hands, and studied the ground rolling beneath her from her vantage point at the top of the shopping cart.