AN: Eek, new story XD Again. I hope this one is a bit more original than 'For All The Right Reasons', I actually am quite happy with this idea… I don't know how to go through with it, though and IF I continue, it depends if people are interested in this, I suppose.

Anyway, I hope you leave a review after you read this :3

Warning: Again, this fic contains yaoi.

Pairings: RenHoro, YohAnna. And maybe some implied RyuLyserg xD I think they fit together, but imagining Ryu to be with ANYONE is a bit scary XD

Disclaimer: Don't own Shaman King. I do own the storyline :3 … I think xD

Prologue

Horo sighed as he stepped out of the school, a disappointed look on his face as he unlocked his car and headed home. Again, he had not been hired and it was depressing. Though he had graduated from school with reasonably high grades, he just couldn't find a job.

This was his ninth interview with a school's vice-principal. He had said that he was qualified to teach, though they were searching for someone with more experience and someone perhaps a bit older, as he was only twenty-two years old and had never really taught in front of a class. Maybe he should start aiming on some of the lower rated schools? They would pay less, but perhaps they would hire him. Of course, the chances were slim and, to be honest, he was getting tired of going on an interview time after time and getting rejected all the same. If they didn't want someone so young, they shouldn't have even called him for an interview.

Damn bastards.

His scowl grew as he quickly drove to Funbari Onsen, a hotel which was owned by two of his friends; Yoh and Anna. They were both married, arranged, but seemed to love each other. Horo had always liked Anna, though he feared her all the same. She could be rather scary, but loved Yoh a lot- she trusted him and cared for him and pushed him to do things. If she wasn't around, her husband would never make any money and would probably end up homeless on the street. It was a good thing she was there, making him do chores.

Yoh loved her in return, even though you wouldn't see it by the way he always cowered in fear for her whenever she was around. He had told Horo once that he couldn't imagine living without her anymore- sure, it wouldn't be as troublesome as living with her, but it would surely be a boring and lonely existence. Besides, she was good looking, could cook pretty well and didn't ask anything… very unreasonable of him. That and she always let friends of him stay over whenever they wished, provided they would clean their own rooms and make their own food.

He parked his car and stepped out, sighing and loosened the tie around his neck. He lived at the Funbari Onsen currently, as he had no money for his own apartment. Anna and Yoh had welcomed him happily as always- Yoh was happy to have a friend staying over. If it were up to him, Horo could stay there until he died, but, unfortunately, it wasn't up to him. Anna was pushing Horo to look for a job so he could move out again. Horo sighed again- Anna would throw a fit if she knew he was, once again, rejected. He'd probably have to clean the hot spring or something.

"Horo!" Yoh said as Horo entered the living room. He was listening to some music, as usual, and lying on the couch. As usual. "So? How did it go?" The Ainu sighed and looked at his friend, a look of disappointment on his face. "Ah, you didn't get hired? Well, no worries, because Anna found a good job for you! Well, I think it's good- she said something about you getting to live there…" Yoh tapped his chin thoughtfully, looking up at the ceiling. Horo's face immediately brightened with curiosity.

"Indeed I have," both boys looked startled as they saw Anna standing in the doorway, leaning against the wall and her arms crossed. "Yoh's family are friends with the Tao's, a Chinese family. They've recently moved to Japan and are looking for a private tutor for their seventeen year old son," she said, rather disinterested. "I've managed to put in a good word for you and, after modifying your résumé a bit, they've decided to hire you. They'll be calling later today." Horo blinked. Private tutor? Modifying a résumé? This could go wrong in so many ways. "They're very rich, so they'll pay you a lot of money and you get to live at their mansion for free. You'd better thank me for this Horokeu," she added. Not that she did it entirely for him, but also for herself and Yoh- a baby was on the way and she wanted to spend some remaining time with her husband, before she had to give her full attention to their newborn. Of course, she hadn't told Horo yet- they decided to keep it a secret for a while (at least, Anna had decided that).

"Thanks Anna, you're the best," Horo said, a grin on his face. Even though he actually wasn't very comfortable with the idea of tutoring at such a place- what if they found out that he wasn't qualified to tutor their son? That he didn't have a lot of experience?

He shrugged. It was a job- besides, he was entitled to have some luck now and then. And how bad could it be?

--

"This is bad. This is very bad. Bad, bad, bad."

HoroHoro, a simple Ainu-boy with hardly any money, stood in front of one of the biggest. Mansions. E-V-E-R. He shrugged and was ready to step back into his car, forget that it had ever happened and move on with his life. Maybe he could get a job at the local Chinese restaurant or something, as a delivery boy; anything to get himself out of this mess.

But, unfortunately for him, the door opened at that point, revealing a neatly dressed butler, who stopped him before he could even drive away.

"Ah, mister Usui, the family has been waiting," he said and grabbed the poor Ainu's arm, practically dragging him inside the house. The mansion was slightly on the dark side, giving it a creepy feel to it- inside the hallway, Horo saw several paintings of people hanging on the walls, carpets of China gracing the floor, the ceiling actually being held up by pillars.

Damn rich bastards.

Horo scowled as the butler took his jacket and suitcase and then guiding him through the hallway, still half-dragging him actually, and though other various halls, before entering a big room. It looked like a dining-room- a big, long and wooden table standing in the middle of it, a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The only thing that seemed kind of off was the fireplace at the other end of the long room. Only until the man spoke, he noticed him sitting at the head of the table.

"Mr. Usui, I presume?" he asked. The man, though he seemed to be quite cheerful, had a certain creepiness surrounding him. Horo immediately compared him to the house; it had a nice exterior, but once inside it was totally different- a darker side, if you will. At Horo's nod, he gestured the boy to sit down on the chair next to him. The Ainu complied and sat, folding his hands on his lap. "So. Ren will be here shortly. Unfortunately, you can't meet his father and mother today as they are out on a business meeting," he said, which made Horo feel at least a bit better. He hated meeting new people, in a new house. Especially people who were as rich as they were and people who he was actually deceiving. Well, technically, Anna was deceiving them… he could always use that if someone found out about it. "Ah, I believe that that's him," the old man said as he heard a knocking sound and nodded towards another door, opposite of the one Horo had entered with.

Horo looked back and saw the door opening. He gaped as he saw what entered- a short boy, though muscled, with the most beautiful face he had ever seen. He had yellow eyes, almost cat-like one, his hair a deep shade of purple. Though Horo at first thought he looked arrogant, he saw something else in those golden eyes and interpreted it as loneliness, which it probably was. He wore a sleeveless shirt with dark jeans, barely fitting on his hips and almost dropping, had it not been for the damn belt. Their eyes met briefly, before Ren cast away his eyes towards his grandfather.

"This is my grandson, Tao Ren."

Horo swallowed- he felt attraction towards this boy almost immediately.

This was even worse than bad; this was terrible.