. The Beginning of Something New .

Yoh sighed and stared up at the ceiling above him, as he laid lazily in bed. It was nearly evening, and school was supposed to end hours ago. He began to wonder why his friend, Horo, hadn't come to pay him a visit yet. Even if he didn't deem it necessary, Yoh was certain there had to be some assignments for him to do. If that was so, why hadn't Horo come to pass him his assignments? Was he made to stay back for a trivial matter? What was much more important than leaving a best friend alone and then getting him in trouble for not doing his assignments?

Just then, Yoh hears some feminine squeals and voices of his elders coming from downstairs. It was so sudden, it nearly made him jump in shock. He began to wonder why his relatives were making so much noise, but came to the conclusion that perhaps Horo had finally come to pay him a visit. Strange, no one ever made such a fuss whenever Horo came to the house. Not giving it much thought thereafter, Yoh obliged himself to sit up in bed and wait for his friend.

He heard slow footsteps coming from the stairs, followed by his mother's voice.

"His room is in here. I have to apologise in advance if it happens to be in a mess."

Yoh furrowed his eyebrows; why was his mother saying such things to Horo? His friend never minded if his room was in a mess or not. Perhaps this visitor wasn't Horo? Perhaps it was someone else? If so, who? Yoh could feel a fluttering sensation building up in the pits of his stomach, but he simply remained in his bed, staring at the door just so he would be able to see the face of his new, mystery visitor. Any second now...

"Yoh?"

Yoh widened his eyes. For a moment there, he thought he was going to pass out - or even worse, die - because he was sure his heart had literally skipped a beat. Not only because of the voice he just heard, but also because of the identity of his 'mystery' visitor.

He was none other than Asakura Hao.

"Yoh?" the older brunette called out again. He waved his hand in front of Yoh's face, bringing him back to his senses. Both stared at each other blankly, before the elder of the two finally spoke up, "You know who I am, right?"

Yoh nodded meekly, and couldn't help but ask, "What about me? Do you know who I am?"

"Well, you're from Anna's class," Hao replied plainly.

At least he knows I exist. Yoh nodded and averted his gaze from the star as Hao advanced forward to sit beside him on the bed. Yoh tried to steady his breathing, and even his heart rate, when the elder proceeded to place a hand on his forehead to check his temperature. Yoh could do nothing more than to just stare at Hao as a concerned look took over the plain features on his face. Shit, he thought. Don't do anything stupid, Yoh!

"Are you feeling any better?" Hao asked, snapping Yoh right out of his chain of thoughts once again.

Yoh nodded, though he felt a slight tint of heat creeping up his face. "I-I suppose so," he mutterred. "I might actually be able to come to school tomorrow." The brunette then tilted his head at Hao. "How come you're here?"

Hao sighed, "That friend of yours sort of ditched you and ran off with Anna. I found this stack of papers on his table when I entered the classroom to find her. I figured they were for you, since your friend wrote your name on them. Turned out Anna, too, ditched me for your friend."

Hao gently placed a few sheets of papers right next to Yoh's right hand on the bed. Hao's palm still remained in its place, and Yoh couldn't help but notice that both their hands were only centimetres apart from each other. Something about this tingled the younger brunette on the inside, but Yoh knew better than to lose his self-control.

Trying his best to brush aside this odd feeling, Yoh dropped his voice to a whisper and asked, "Is it true?"

"Hm?" Hao arched a brow.

"That Horo and Anna are dating?"

Hao remained silent. He was surprised to hear those words, albeit the blank expression on his face still remained. Horo must be the name of Yoh's friend. He then recalled about the peculiar sight he came across on the school roof earlier that morning, but he decided not to mention anything about it. "I didn't know Anna was interested in such lackies...," he muttered, but it was more to himself than the other male.

Yoh raised a brow, but before he could say anything, Hao added, "I'm not calling you a lackey."

Yoh laughed quietly, but as his laughter died, the both of them found themselves in deafening silence, for the first time. 'Awkward' was clearly written all over the place. Yoh never liked awkward silences one bit, especially when Hao was around, so he decided to speak up. Besides, what other opportunities are there for a 'lackey' like him to be able to have a proper conversation with the school's star and hero, Asakura Hao? If he wanted to feel special, this would be his only chance to do so.

"Uhm," he began. His weird start did not at all help ease the awkwardness the both were feeling at that point of time. "D-don't you usually go out with your, uh, friends?"

Hao remained silent for a while, as if pondering over something, before he proceeded to answer, "I don't really like them. All they ever think about is partying, getting wasted and..." Hao took a deep breath, but after that, his voice was no more than just a whisper, "Sex."

"I-I see...," Yoh nodded meekly, but refused to say anymore.

Hao then got to his feet hastily and announced, "I really should go now. You need to get better as soon as possible, after all"

You frowned, "So you can hang out with Anna again, right?"

Hao turned to face the brunette, before flashing him a friendly smile, "Nah. It's just that I like you, Yoh. You're really interesting.

"Next time, we should have a meal together," the teen added as he swiftly walked out of the room and made his way down the stairs. Yoh simply stared at the door, which was still left open. What could he say? He was just told by the one and only Asakura Hao that he liked him. But wait - exactly what did he mean by 'like'? Surely he couldn't have such affectionate feeling towards a lackey like him when they've only just started talking. Yoh groaned; Hao was really attractive for a teenage boy and all, but why must every attractive person be so mysterious?

He laid back in his bed and once again, covered his face with a massive pillow.

The following morning, Yoh was finally well enough to go to school. With his texts and calls being ignored by his best friend, Yoh had no choice but to walk to school alone. He bid his relatives goodbye as they exchanged blessings, before finally making his way to Shinra Academy.

When he finally stepped into his classroom, the first thing he spotted was his best friend, Horo, giving his newfround friend a teasing nudge, as they both laughed cheerfully. Yoh frowned as he begins to make his way to his own desk, in which he was being completely ignored by the two who were enjoying themselves in the corner. Unfortunately, for the Asakura, he had to endure two more hours of pure loneliness during lessons; his friend paid very little attention to him. Very often, Yoh would catch Horo grinning at Anna, who would sometimes grin back at him (sometimes!).

It was until lunch time that Yoh got himself some attention. While his friend ran out of the class with the blonde, Yoh stayed in his seat and fished out his lunch set from his bookcase. Having lunch alone in class was much better than being completely ignored by those two, anyway. He balefully took out the lid of his lunch set and stared at the bento his mother had prepared for him earlier that morning; suddenly, it didn't seem so appetizing.

"You're alone too, huh?"

Yoh looked up from his seat to find the school's star standing right before him. The star greeted him with a warm smile, whereas Yoh simply continued staring.

"What?" Hao asked. "I said we should have a meal together, remember?" The elder of the two dragged a chair over and chose to sit across the table, so he would be facing Yoh. He proceeded to open the lid of his lunch set, and smiled upon the sight of sixteen balls of takoyaki, which have been arranged neatly in the lunch set.

"Let's eat, shall we?" Hao invited, grinning at Yoh. Yoh merely nodded. The both of them picked up their chopsticks and began consuming their lunches. Occasionally, Hao would take a small portion of Yoh's lunch and eat it, before complimenting on his mother's cooking. Yoh didn't mind this at all, but somehow he couldn't bring himself to do the same to Hao. He just couldn't.

In the midst of eating their meals, Yoh leaned forward, looked around, before whispering to Hao, "Are you close to Anna?"

Hao paused in the process of chewing his food and stared at the younger blankly, before answering with his mouth full, "Quite. Why do you ask?"

Yoh blushed slightly, but he didn't know why. "It's nothing..," he muttered. "Well.. Anna has been my best friend since elementary school, but ever since she met you, she's been dying to get closer to you, so she stopped hanging out with me—"

"—and then you met Hollow, right?" Hao finished for him.

Yoh blinked, "Well, yeah, a-and his name is Horo... Actually, Horoke— never mind..."

Hao swallowed his food and gave himself a few moments to settle down, before getting into a small, laughing fit. Confused, Yoh tilted his head, "What's so funny?"

Hao shook his head as his laughter began to die slowly, "I just got reminded of something.."

It must be about something personal if he's not going to tell me about it, Yoh thought to himself, thus refusing to say anymore. The both of them continued having their lunch, but this time, in silence.

Lessons for the rest of the day were as per normal, and Yoh found himself wishing he was still having lunch with Hao. Even though the silence that always followed was the most uncomfortable one he had ever encountered, he enjoyed having Hao's company. It was different from being around a person who pretends to have ADD (actually, Yoh didn't know if Horo was just pretending or not) all the time; Hao was different. Yoh enjoyed watching his every move. Yoh liked it when he talked; he liked listening to his somewhat child-like and prepubescent voice. He envied Hao for being able to smile all the time, in any situation. What made him so special?

When school was finally over, students bolt out of their classrooms and tried to leave the campus as quickly as they could. Yoh wasn't one of them; he was the kind who liked to take things easy.

After packing all his stuff into his tiny bookcase, he strolled out of his classroom and proceeded to exit through the main gate. On the way there, he heard a familiar voice calling out his name from behind. It turned out that his friend, Horo, was trying to catch up with him.

"Did you... did you have to leave so fast?" Horo panted. Yoh simply arched a brow.

"I thought you were the one who preferred to leave school early," he replied as he continued to walk out the school gate. His friend followed closely behind.

"Uuuhhmm...," the bluenette sighed and scratched the back of his neck nervously. "Sorry for, uh.. not talking to you and... stuff..."

"It's okay," Yoh said, as he brought forth a smile. At least I got to talk to Hao.

"Let me guess...," the brunette added, narrowing his eyes playfully at Horo. "You're going somewhere with your 'girlfriend' after this, am I right?"

Horo laughed once again, "Yeeaaahh... if you don't mind..."

Yoh shook his head, "Go on. I don't mind at all."

"Thanks, dude!" Horo flashed his friend a grin before he sped off and disappeared in the crowd before him, leaving the brunette alone to just watch him.

"You know, if you're upset with him, just tell 'im."

Yoh sighed, "Nah, I can't just say that to him bluntly. Besides, he's my friend and— w-wait..." Yoh turned around, only to find another fellow brunette standing right behind him. He still wore the friendly smile on his face, like he always did when he was around Yoh.

"H-Hao!" Yoh gasped.

"Yo!" Hao greeted as he waved at the teen before him.

"Stop sneaking up on me randomly like that!"

Hao giggled, "Sorry, but I can't help it." He began walking alongside his new friend. "I'm glad to see you're doing well."

Yoh averted his gaze from the other Asakura, trying as best as he could to hide the blush that was beginning to form on his face, "Wh-why are you following me?"

"For fun."

Yoh felt even more heat creeping up his cheeks, "Are you.. accompanying me?"

Hao remained silent at first, then he replied, "Sort of. I saw how that lackey ditched you again. How can you still be friends with him?"

"When Anna ditched me for you, he stuck with me and made sure I never felt lonely," Yoh explained.

For a second, Yoh swore he just spotted a frown on the elder's face, but when he blinked, it was no longer there. It must have been replaced by the star's signature blank expression, which he must have spent a long time mastering. "Do you know the reason for his actions?" he pondered.

Yoh began to think before shaking his head, "No, but I don't see the need to. Why should I know? As long as I'm still friends with him, then everything will be fine."

Amused, Hao smiled at Yoh's reply, before getting into yet another laughing fit. Thinking that he just got reminded of something else, Yoh shrugged and ignored his mocking laughter.

The two boys continued to walk until they have finally reached the Asakura household. They stopped just by the gate.

"I'm here already," Yoh informed the other male. "You can go now."

"Enjoyed my company?" Hao asked playfully, the innocent smile present once again on his face.

"...S-sort of, yes..," Yoh averted his gaze from his friend once again to avoid revealing his blush. "Though I didn't quite enjoy the silence between us just now..."

Hao chuckled, "Then next time we should talk more."

Both remained oddly silent before Yoh spoke up, "I-I'll see you, then...!"

"Sure." Hao nodded and patted Yoh's shoulder lightly, "Call me up if you ever need my company again, 'kay?"

Yoh nodded and entered his house.

"So, exactly where are you taking me?"

"Don't worry. It's really close to the school."

The bluenette and blonde were now taking a stroll in the nearby park, which has been deserted for a fairly long amount of time, because of the trees that surrounded the area and gave it a gloomy atmosphere. Because of this, it was a popular spot for lovers, but the couple we're supposed to focus on looked and behaved nothing like lovers.

The two continued to walk for a bit longer, walking past the ixora plants and spider lilies. The whole place looked too dead to be filled with such bright-coloured flowers.

"I, uhh," Horo began. He cleared his throat, hoping it would get rid of the uneasy feeling that was residing in his abdomen. "I actually wanted to talk to you about Hao."

"I knew it," Anna sighed.

"Wait, listen to me first..," Horo pleaded. "Do you.. do you like him?"

"Enough with the questions. I'm going home."

"Just answer this one question!" Horo begged. He clasped both his hands together, tilted his head and pouted, trying his best to, well, seduce her (sort of) into agreeing with him. Anna's face softened upon seeing him like this; he looked just as ridiculous and adorable as a puppy! Anna didn't know what to think of this; should she be whining over the bluenette's somewhat pathetic look, or should she feel disgusted that she was actually feeling this way?

"Well...," Anna sighed, giving in to the boy. "I do like him more than a friend, but there's no way I can have him.."

Horo arched a brow, "Why not? Because he's popular? Because he has so many admirers?"

Anna shook her head, "That's not it."

"But just think about it; you could be the most popular girl in the campus if you hooked up with him. You could a hell lot of respect from everyone, just like Hao—"

"I can't have Hao because he doesn't fancy me!" Anna snapped.

Horo blinked at the blonde as a thrilling chill ran down his spine. With just one final question haunting his mind, he questioned, "Does he like someone else?"

Anna nodded, "I don't know who he is, though."

Horo furrowed his eyebrows, "He?"

It was Anna's turn to stare blankly at the male. "You didn't know?" she asked, surprised. "Hao's gay."

And here, I present you, the third chapter of Masquerade. *bows* I think the only part I liked about this chapter was the beginning, when Yoh finally gets to speak to Hao. xD Also, it was in the midst of planning this chapter that made me realise how old-fashioned I am. I guess that's just how Asians are like, huh? xD

I wish I had a friend like Hao; you know, just someone who would walk me home from school everyday? It would be nice. Usually, I'm the one who accompany my friends, not the other way round! Not only that, I'm also the one who asks them stuff like, "Enjoyed my company?". There must be something wrong with me, I'm sure of it!

Allow me to just rant about my personal problem here. You are free to skip this entire paragraph and resume on the next one. Here I go; uhm, my parents are divorced, and I'm the youngest in the family (excluding my step siblings, seeing as my father remarried). My elder brother and I have never had a proper conversation for over six years. Same goes for my parents because whenever we talk, we end up arguing over trivial matters. Anyway, today my mother, brother and I were 'spending time together', and I actually realised for the first time how close my brother and mother were. And I'm just, like, in the middle. :| I'm so jealous; why can't I have a parent-child relationship like that? :(

On the brighter side, I have a huuuuge feeling you guys are going to enjoy the next chapter! :D And I'm so glad people are actually liking this fic. I thought it might turn out bad. xD I apologise if you think it is, but I'll try my best to make it more exciting! Probably in the later chapters... like, the tenth chapter or so. I have to keep in mind that the party is only less than three weeks away, after all! And I'm in the midst of planning the sixth chapter - already there are less than twenty days by then until the party! *panics because her planning is failing but also because she's getting nearer to the chapter about the party where she's finally allowed to write lots of fluffy stuff between you-know-whos*

Hehehehehh. Anyway I've decided to add in a little bit of something in my author's notes, and that is Review Replies! I forgot to do this the last chapter, pardon me. xD Alright, on to the point:

Anonymous - Glad you do! Thanks!

Nyeh - I'm glad it does! And I will, thanks!

Yoah Asakura - That's pleasing to hear. xD I will, thank you very much!

complicatedmind21 - Haha, that was what I wanted to do initially, but I changed my mind in the last minute. :P And Yoh's not gay, he's actually bi. I was only planning to reveal this until a few chapters later, but I didn't want anyone to get the wrong idea.

SK-fan7 - I call everything weird. xD Awh! D: I hope you get well soon, dear! And I'm ready for anything.

RoseblossomWarrior - You have no idea just how much I'm in love with your username. xD I was getting kinda tired of seeing everyone 'abusing' Anna's character and making her... more violent than she already is, and besides, Anna's the hardest character for me to write. xD I didn't plan for her to be OOC in this fic, but it just.. happened. So I left it like that. I'll turn her back to normal though, at the very last chapter of this fic. :3 *shot*

H And N - Y-you...! *points* You can speak Mandarin! Th-that's... AMAZING! Too bad I only know very basic words and phrases, like the one you used in your reviews.. And anyway, thanks a lot for your comments! They really motivated me. 83 It's because of readers like you that give me the joy in writing. Thanks, again!

Aaaaand I believe that's all. Thanks for all those who reviewed! Now I'm off to write the next chapter. Till next time!

- A