Disclaimer: If Shaman King were mine, I wouldn't need to write fanfics. If any of these songs were mine, I wouldn't be writing fanfics.
Background music: Pretty. Odd. Track 2 – Nine in the Afternoon – Panic at the Disco
Chapter One – Nine in the Afternoon
It all started with a sock.
Well, technically had it been any other day, Keiko Asakura wouldn't have been so mad. After all, it wasn't like she wasn't picking up her younger son's white and gray socks every other day anyway. But today had been especially challenging. It wasn't easy being a kindergarten teacher, what with kids these days. Throwing paint and eating paste…and that was only the first hour. Not only that, during her supposed peaceful lunch break, she had found her out her archeologist husband, Mikihisa (or Mickey for short) was staying back at his site for a few more weeks because he had discovered 'some fantastic find'. After practically screaming at her husband for an hour for not being at home for more than a minute, Keiko had discovered one of her students had flown off the swings during recess and now his parent was already threatening a lawsuit…
You get the idea.
So maybe the sight of a sock hanging off the banister wasn't very welcoming.
Keiko grabbed the apparel that goes on your foot and stomped up the stairs. "ASAKURA YOH! WHERE ARE YOU?"
"Here, mom!" called a voice from a room to her left. The voice was offhanded and Keiko knew the owner of the voice was probably not even listening.
And as she predicted, she walked right into her son eating a Twinkie reading Rolling Stones in his messy room. Keiko nearly bristled as she saw the stacks of unwashed clothing and the messed up bed from twelve and a day nights ago. The bookshelf was dusty with nonuse and there was practically filth everywhere. Not to mention her good-for-nothing son hadn't even combed his hair from last night. Asakura Yoh looked up at his mother, yellow snack in mouth and backed away, brown eyes wide as dinner plates. "Hmmf?" he managed.
And he had good reason to. Keiko looked this close to exploding.
"How many times have I told you NOT to leave your clothes everywhere?" she screamed, waving the sock in the air. Her anger seemed magnified in the tiny room and Yoh let the magazine drop out of his hands. "First of all, you're already twenty-three, fresh out of collage, and you dare to INSIST to keep living at home? How does that make you feel?"
"Um…I love my family?" Yoh guessed, nearly choking on his hastily swallowed bite of Twinkie.
"NO! You are LAZY, young man, and I know if your father was home, he'd whup your little sorry ass!" Yoh cringed. When his mother swore, it meant she was ready to bite your throat. "I'm embarrassed to say that my son lives with me! YOU should have your own job and your own place! Hao's already out of here and although, yes, I miss your older brother, he's already by himself! What about YOU?"
"Hao's older than me," Yoh protested.
"By only FIVE minutes!" Keiko shouted, throwing the sock into Yoh's face. "That's it. I'm tired of cooking your meals and washing your clothes while you add NOTHING to his household! You're leaving. I don't care where. You're going somewhere, just NOT HERE!"
"But mom!" Keiko paid him no mind as she turned and slammed the door behind her.
Yoh let out a sigh of relief. This had happened before, but his mother hadn't been too angry that time. He'd let it all pass and lay low and after a while, his mother would be hugging him again and hopefully buy another box of Twinkies.
…
"I'm home," Yoh called out, walking into the house. Strangely enough, his mother had been all for his evening walk. He liked to take walks around the neighborhood before dinner. Sure, he was accompanied by some old folks, but during these times, he could let his mind wander to the ends of the world and he didn't have to worry about his mother whining about his nonproductivity. And the only thing to worry about was getting run over by a car. And that didn't happen…
Often.
Usually, Keiko would scold him for wasting his time and force him to stay home and help make dinner, but today, she couldn't get him out of the house fast enough. Yoh thought nothing of it, but should have figured that her absence from the kitchen was a bad thing.
One toe in his room and he knew why. His room was empty, void of EVERYTHING even the carpet which had been thrown out. All the posters were off the walls and the clothes and belongings were packed into boxes, one of which Keiko was currently sitting on with a smug look on her face.
"You couldn't come home faster, could you?" she asked with a pure evil look on her face. Yoh stared around. "All my stuff…"
"Don't worry. I didn't throw out anything, not even the half-eaten chicken sandwich I found buried under those papers." Keiko pointed to a blank spot where the pile had been. She tapped the side of the boxes. "All in here."
"Thanks for cleaning my room, mom, but you didn't have to put them all in boxes…" Yoh trailed off. "Where's my bed?"
"Oh, in the guest room." Keiko smiled. "I hate to break it to you, Yoh, but you're moving out."
Before Yoh could even utter a word, the boxes were thrust into his hands and with a pat and kiss, was sent to the curb. With a loud click, Yoh turned to the locked front door.
Damn it.
…
Yoh glanced up briefly as he sat on the rumpled couch. A glare was shot in his direction.
"Hi, Ren."
A steely glance replied without a word. Yoh turned back to the television. Horokeu (or Horo, really) Usui, his high school friend, really liked going out with strange people. After collage, Yoh had returned to find that his doctor bound friend was currently going out with someone. He hadn't expected Horo to be batting for the other team, but he seemed happy so Yoh wasn't complaining. But really…someone like Tao Ren? Sure, he was hot, but he had such an attitude.
But honestly, he shouldn't be complaining. He was intruding enough. After his mom had kicked him out, Yoh had arrived at Horo's door step, almost begging for mercy. He knew Horo would be busy, what with medical school and all, but he figured their friendship would be enough to give him a boost. And Horo was kindhearted. Horo's family hadn't been rich enough to send him to a nice collage (unlike Yoh being a Yale grad), but he worked hard and was now going to earn his PhD any time soon.
Horo walked in after Ren. "Hey, Yoh!"
"Hey, Horo." Yoh blinked as he noticed Ren give Horo a long glance before disappearing into the bedroom. Horo looked a little awkward and stood watching the Asakura watch television.
"Listen, buddy…" Horo took a deep breath. "You gotta get out of here."
Yoh turned, eyes reminiscent of a deer in headlights. "What?" He glanced at the open bedroom door and nodded toward it, mouthing, "Ren?"
"No," Horo insisted, but his eyes were nodding. "I got my own place…and I think you should too. I mean, you've been camping out here for a month already…"
"And I'm a good roommate!" Yoh protested. "I'm barely around when you and Ren are…you know…and I DON'T eat your ice cream!"
"I know that, and I'm glad you're not, but still!" Horo looked pleading. "Listen," he said, lowering his voice, "Ren thinks you're just going to freeload until I become like your mother or something."
"Why doesn't he like me?" Yoh whispered back. "I didn't do anything to him."
"Remember two weeks ago?"
Yoh frowned. "Dude, I apologized. I didn't mean to spill milk on his shirt."
"First of all, when it comes to Ren, you don't mess with milk. Second comes his clothes. I thought I told you this!"
"Sorry!" Yoh winced.
"I feel for you, man," Horo continued in the low voice. "I mean, if my folks kicked me out, I know you'd let me in. And I don't mind sharing my place with you…but really. You should get your own place, even if Ren wasn't forcing me to kick you out. And he's right. Yoh, you're old enough to get your own place."
Yoh looked crestfallen. "Nothing I say will make you let me stay?"
"Sorry dude. It's either you or Ren, and you know how he gets…"
Yoh nodded. "He might be a complete jerk, but you like him and I'm okay with that. I'll get out of your face."
Thus, back on the curb. Ren's face was quite similar to his mother's as he walked past him on his way out.
…
HOW did he get this awesome place?
Yoh opened the door and kicked a box into the apartment. Seriously, with his luck, he should be buying lottery tickets. Lady Luck was on his side these days.
A week ago, he had been sentenced to the curb. As he was wandering around with his cartload of stuff, he noticed a newspaper clipping at the community center. Bingo! A four hundred dollar a month apartment! Grabbing the paper like it was a million dollars, Yoh scanned the page for a sham. The address seemed legit. The picture was black and white and it didn't look so nice, but it was a four hundred dollar a month apartment! Yoh couldn't choose. He had a thousand bucks currently and could probably pay two months rent as he tried to find a job. It was close to the city.
But really? A four hundred dollar apartment? Yoh wasn't quite sure he believed it, and even more so as he walked up to the place, which happened to a nice, expensive looking high rise apartment. He knew he was screwed as he walked in and saw two flat screen T.Vs in the lobby and a fireplace. Not your everyday Motel 6. He figured he would just see the apartment manager and tell him or her about this fake ad and just hit the high road.
It was a bit difficult, however, since the manager was a seventy year old woman desperately in need of a hearing aid.
Finally, after about fifteen minutes of shouting, Yoh managed to get the story. The ad wasn't supposed to say four hundred dollars. It was supposed to be forty hundred dollars. Four grand. A month. The old lady guessed that the paper had heard her wrong. Yoh apologized quickly for wasting her time and made to leave, but the lady had noticed Yoh's condition and asked him to tell her what had happened.
So he did.
Yoh's grandparents hadn't been very…well…grandparenty. His grandpa had thrown stones at him every time he visited to 'build character' and his grandmother had ordered him to polish the floors. And of course, they had to live in the biggest house in the country. So he was a bit surprised that the old woman 'pulled a grandma' and offered him the apartment for only four hundred a month. Was he going to say no?
Come on. Yoh could be stupid, but he wasn't that stupid.
So now here he was. Yoh surveyed the apartment, the empty living room and kitchen and was struck with how movie-like it was. It was like he walked onto a set. This was probably where movies were shot. Probably. After a second, Yoh realized he had left all his boxes of stuff in the hallway.
After pulling all his shit into the apartment, he took another breath and decided to tour his new place. The bedroom was much better than the closet he slept in at Horo's. The bathroom actually had enough room to move in. Maybe if he put his bed in the bathroom, he could actually live there. The bathtub itself was big enough for two people…should that ever happen. Yoh felt his mood drop as he realized although he had gotten this huge big great deal, if he didn't get a job, this place wouldn't be staying in his life.
After unpacking and throwing away the chicken sandwich, Yoh found out he had enough furniture to fill about…
Oh, maybe one tenth of the apartment.
Milk crate sofa…milk crate coffee table…oh boy!
Yoh looked upon his sorry place and wished it didn't look so empty. Sighing, he turned and discovered, after being in this apartment for nearly two hours, that there was a balcony. Letting his curiosity get a hold of him, he walked over and slid open the sliding doors. A nice warm summer breeze blew into the place and Yoh stepped onto the landing. Used to the tiny rooms he lived in before, this balcony was about the size of a dance floor to Yoh. Made of entirely white stone, Yoh walked over to the edge and stared out at the city. The buildings rose toward the sky and seemed full of promise. Yoh smiled and the wind seemed to blow some luck toward him.
"Hello. New here?"
Yoh started and looked around. To his left was an empty balcony. To his right was…a garden? He couldn't help but stare at the greenery. Hanging from the door was at least two ferns. There were two potted palm trees reaching toward the skies. Flowers and bushes of all shapes and sizes littered the balcony in an organized fashion, like it was a part of the queen of England's garden. It was like a square of garden had been cut out of a magazine and pasted onto the white balcony, almost hidden by the green hanging vines. Sitting smack dab in the middle of his nature was someone with green hair that rivaled the grass around him. With those curves and that flawless face, Yoh had assumed this was a young woman. She was sitting on a white lawn chair, holding a novel in one hand and a bottle of citrus green tea in the other. On her face, covering her eyes, was a pair of stylish Jimmy Choo sunglasses, although she really didn't need them in the shade of her plants.
Giving this pretty lady another look down, Yoh noticed that for all her curves and feminine demeanor, the curves weren't that obvious and there were places that jutted out that shouldn't and places that were flat that were not supposed to. This person was as guy as he was. Yoh swallowed with his mistake, hoping the other hadn't noticed.
"Who are you?"
"I'm your neighbor." A small smile graced the features of this girly boy and Yoh was struck with how young he was. Probably still in college, if not graduating high school by now.
"I'm Yoh. Asakura Yoh."
"Japanese, are we?" Jade green eyes looked over the rims of the shades, twinkling with innocence. The smile grew a little. "Nice to meet you." The green disappeared as the eyes fell back down to the pages of the book.
"Um…what's your name?"
"Why do you want to know?" The eyes darted up again, the smile still lingering on his face.
"Because. You're my neighbor. Shouldn't I know your name at least?"
"Not really. I don't like giving out my name to people I don't know."
Yoh stared at him. "What do you want to know about me?"
"Everything." The book was placed on top of a bush, cut completely flat on the top. Swirling the contents of the green tea bottle, the greenette stared at him over the rims of the Jimmy Choo sunglasses.
"Alright. My name is Asakura Yoh, I'm twenty three, I graduated from Yale last year, majoring a bachelor's degree in physics…uhm…I have an older twin brother…I like orange, both the color and the fruit…I like music and I got these from said brother on my fourteenth birthday…" Yoh tapped the weathered orange retro headphones on his head. "My dad got me this from some dig he went on…he's an archaeologist…" He pulled on the twine around his neck connecting three bear claws. "What else…" He glanced over at the listener, who had taken off his glasses. Without the huge fashion shades on, Yoh was struck with how much more pretty this person was, looking so young he could be called a boy. The green eyes were giving him a lookdown, as if they were looking for something they had missed the first time around.
"Okay…"
"Um…" It was a bit weird to share his life story with someone he didn't even know. "I don't believe in worrying…"
"You don't believe in worrying?" There was a hint of laughter in the disbelieving voice.
"Don't judge me," Yoh said, frowning. "I don't think life's long enough to worry about the little things, that's it."
"What are…'little things'?" The smile was starting to grow.
"I don't know…like taxes."
"Yoh, if you don't pay taxes, the government's going to make sure you have hell to pay!" The boy's laughter filled both balconies.
"Don't laugh at me!"
"I'm sorry." But this didn't seem very apologetic.
Yoh cocked his head. "You have an accent."
"So do you."
"Are you from England?"
"What part?"
Yoh considered this. "Manchester?"
"Nope."
"London."
"Good job!" The tinkly laughter rang out again and Yoh bristled.
"You don't need to mock me!" he protested. "You don't even know me."
"I'm sorry." This time, it sounded genuine, but Yoh had a hard time believing those mischievous eyes. "I'm sorry," he said again, "It's just I'm a little rude to people I don't really know. But I guess I do know you quite a bit now."
"Good." Yoh paused again. "So what's your name?"
"My name? It's Eduardo Michael Smithsonian." As Yoh gave him a funny look, Eduardo laughed. "I'm kidding, my name's Lyserg. Lyserg Diethyl. I'm twenty and I'm a transfer student from England." Lyserg smiled. "And I'm a guy."
"I figured."
"So you're not trying to come on to me?"
"No!" Yoh insisted.
"So you're not interested in being any more than a friend with me?"
"Well, I don't even know you and besides…what you said. You're a guy." Yoh thought he saw the jade green become a bit murkier as the smile grew.
"Alright then!" The shades slid back up onto the angelic face. "I'll see you later then. Nice meeting you."
"Yeah, you too…" Yoh gave him another look but Lyserg was already back reading his book again. Not giving it another thought, Yoh walked back into his apartment, distantly hearing the wind chimes from his neighbor's balcony. Maybe its chimes were to blame, but he thought he heard his neighbor murmur, "Jerk…", but he couldn't be sure.
…
Lyserg stretched as the summer sun started to set over the buildings, his metropolitan horizon. Today had been quite eventful, with a new neighbor and all. He set the book on the bush again, with no worries of it being blown over the balcony. Sliding his sunglasses onto his head, he drained the bottle with a small slurp and just as he stood to throw it away, heard his doorbell ring.
"I'm coming!" he called, nearly tripping on the towel beneath the lawn chair in haste. The baggy Bermudas he wore hung off his skinny waist well (sometimes called girly, actually) and he stumbled through the books and clothes left on the living room floor. Flinging the bottle into the trash can with a crash, he nearly collided with the door as he peered through the peephole. Brown eyes appeared, with a hint of a smile on the face he had gotten to know.
"I'm here!" He unlocked the door and let the guest in. Brown hair swayed behind the figure entering the apartment. Turning with a smirk, the guest faced Lyserg, who was watching him with shining green eyes as he closed the door. "Hello…" the deep voice made Lyserg shiver with excitement; he loved it whenever he came over. Leaning down to kiss Lyserg on the cheek, somehow the lips migrated until they found a matching pair.
"Hey…hey…" Lyserg broke out of the kiss with a smile, staring into the preoccupied cocoa eyes. "Listen…listen…"
"I'm listening."
"Do you have a brother?"
The preoccupied eyes became confused. "Yes, why?"
"How old is he?"
"My brother? Oh, much younger. He's a little kid."
"Really?" Lyserg's face fell and the guest tilted the greenette's face so their eyes could meet again, making the younger of the two giggle. "Why? What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Lyserg let his hand rest on the other's. "It's just…I've got a new neighbor, that's it. But he's a jerk. He could never be related to you."
"A jerk?" The honey smooth voice suddenly sharpened. "Why? Was he rude to you?"
"Don't beat him up!" Lyserg laughed. "I can handle him. He's just intolerant and a bit slow."
"Intolerant?"
"I told him I was a guy, since a lot of people seem to mistake me for a girl…"
"You have the kind of beauty most girls would die for." Lyserg let a shy smile cross his face and felt a shadow of a flush flutter across his cheeks. Such a flatterer. "Anyway, I told him not to hit on me and he said he'd never do that because he didn't know me and I was a guy."
The brown eyes became blank for a moment. "What a jerk."
"I know, right?" Lyserg smiled. "But who cares about him. There are a lot of jerks out there. So what do you want to do now?"
Note: although I only got two actual reviews, I'm guessing by the 33 hits (last time I checked) that some may have looked it over…so…here…goes! Another multi chap fic! More stress for me! More fun for you! Read and review, thanks!