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: Track Eight – Pretty. Odd. – When the Day Met the Night

Chapter Seven – When the Day Met the Night

Ah. The end of summer. Every kid's nightmare. The time of the year where children cram all of summer's fun into a few days before the dreaded event of school. Trying to kill all their brain cells before the time to learn came back to haunt them. Lyserg was no different, skipping Smooth E shifts to romp around the city with which ever twin came to visit him first that morning.

But alas, the first day of school is inevitable.

Lyserg groaned as he trudged up the front gates of the collage. He should be over this, he was older now. So why was he feeling like an elementary school boy? And it was even worse that he couldn't find someone he knew to talk to and make it seem like he wasn't as lonerish and weird as he probably looked right now. Ag he hated hated being the new kid. Maybe he should have taken Hao up on the invite to consort him to the first class but he knew anything involving Hao would lead to something embarrassing that everyone would remember him for. So that was out if he hoped to make at least a good first impression.

Well, it seemed that people here didn't make much of a big deal of him as they did in England. At least he could walk down the hallway without being molested. Maybe that was good. No Chocoloves or Matts or heartbreak here. He made it to his first classroom safely and without the bother of assigned seats, took a seat way in the back. It didn't matter that he probably needed glasses and couldn't quite see the board very well, but he liked being lonerish. Who cared if people thought he was weird? Some people would somehow end up being physically attracted to him anyway.

"Lyserg!"

Lyserg blinked. He recognized that voice…oh, please. No. Please. Anything but that. He tried to act like he hadn't heard anything but the person who called his name bound up to him with a grin. Lyserg glanced up to look at Tamao, smiling in casual clothes and the usual black headband on her head. "I didn't know you went here!"

"I'm a transfer," Lyserg said coolly. "What are you doing here? Catering?" Please say you're just catering from Starbucks. Please.

He should have known better. "Nope! I go here too!" Tamao smiled at him as if he had never held a grudge against her (and still did) over the summer. "It's surprising to see you here! I hope we can be friends!" Lyserg saw she was eager to put the past behind them but asking Yoh out in front of him was still unforgivable the last time he checked. Giving a noncommittal nod, Lyserg ignored the hand offered to him. Tamao noticed the rejection and pulled her hand back. "Well," she said, feeling her positive mood dampen for a moment, "I hope we have a great year!"

Great year? That wish was gone.

…

Hao was being so bothersome at the moment.

After being ignored when he asked Yoh the millionth time why he seemed to know Lyserg better than he did and being ignored, Hao was taking it upon himself to flick blueberries from a spoon at Yoh, who was standing yards away from him at the counter. Presently, Silva had also joined in. Yoh rolled his eyes. He didn't think Lyserg would like him telling Hao about Chocolove. After all, it wasn't the Brit who told him about the murder, and even after he found out, Lyserg didn't like talking about it. Seeing as the greenette hadn't outwardly told them before, Yoh knew it was something Lyserg liked to keep secret. He felt a little bad knowing the truth, but he felt as if he knew the boy more and could slightly understand why he denied being in a relationship. After a relationship that ended so violently and sudden like that, Yoh knew that he personally would abstain from dating for maybe a couple years.

Still, that did not explain why Lyserg would just randomly grab him and make out with him.

"Stop!" Yoh turned and a blueberry ricocheted off his nose. Hao cheered and high fived Silva. "Good aim, Silv!"

"You guys are such a-holes!" Yoh grabbed a handful of banana and crushed it in his hand before chucking it across the room. Oops, he shouldn't have done that. Now he had just initiated a food fight, and knowing Silva, the manager would join in a heartbeat. Couldn't anyone be serious around here?

The banana hit Hao in the face and the older twin licked at it. "Facial!" he shouted. "Although, utouto, cucumber would be much preferable."

"Thanks for telling me, onii-chan. Next time I'll chuck a cucumber at you."

"Oh boys…" Silva laughed. "You two are so tight. How long have you been such brotherly brothers?"

Brotherly brothers? "Well, we've always been…you know…" Hao crossed his fingers.

"Twisted?" Silva guessed. Hao laughed.

"No, tight! It's the twin bond we share. But now we've got more in common so we're a lot more open with each other. Kind of."

"More in common?" Silva asked. Then his face lit up like a kid at Christmas. "Oh, you mean a certain Mr. Lyserg Diethyl that is currently off at collage at the moment?"

"Whoa! Great job, Silv! Two hundred for you!" Hao and Silva laughed as Yoh groaned.

…

Hao was just fifteen and he was already the biggest pimp on the high school campus. He had discovered the use of his looks and charm much earlier that Yoh and was already using them to his advantage. Girls (and occasionally, guys) followed him around and he was notoriously known to have at least the whole sophomore class girls go out with him ("There's enough Hao Asakura to go around!"). It seemed he was also going out with a few bi guys from other schools with his policy of 'loose, free, and open' relationships. He wasn't likely to say no to anyone. By anyone, he really meant anyone. He wasn't afraid to flaunt anyone he had at his shoulder, be it male, female, animal. Not that he had an animal to go out with, but should he had…

Yoh was only kept alive in the dog-eat-dog world of high school with Hao's protection and status of 'the pimp's entourage'. Yoh was an unlikely tagalong but would help Hao in any scheme or mess that he would get involved in. Yoh was in the truest sense the best brother a twin could have, but Hao wasn't afraid to abuse Yoh's flexible personality and carefree attitude. The two had shared the principle's office more than a hundred times already.

"Listen, utouto, you just gotta talk to some girls. I'll lend you some of mine."

"Eh…girls are boring." Yoh frowned. He was listening to music. Why did Hao have to bother him now?

"Oh, you're so slow, Yoh. Oh, see that girl over there? Her name's Anna. Go talk to her. Comment her on her hair or something." Hao gave Yoh a push (alright, a shove) in Anna's direction. Stumbling over to her, Yoh tapped her on the shoulder. The fierce blonde turned, along with the rest of her group.

"Hi…your hair's so…blonde today."

Hao winced as the whole hallway heard the slap Yoh received. Well, maybe his brother wasn't quite the charmer. But they shared the same looks, right? If only Yoh didn't look stoned all the time.

By the time they finished collage, Hao had already become an adult in the truest sense…while Yoh hadn't even had a girlfriend yet. Yoh didn't seem to care at all and had shuffled back home like a nerd who stays in his mother's basement. Not that he hadn't had offers, but he didn't quite care for a girlfriend and Hao had a feeling that should his brother have accepted one girl, she'd probably break up with him after he fell asleep during a date. If Yoh could fall asleep during class and lunch, he wouldn't have put it past him.

…

Lyserg really wished Tamao would stop trying to be his friend.

"Lyserg, want to sit with me during lunch?" Tamao asked cheerfully as they walked down the hallway.

"No."

"Oh, okay. Well…um, do you have a lab partner?"

"Yes." Actually he didn't, but he'd worry about that later.

Tamao pouted. "I don't get it. I haven't said or done anything to you but you're mad at me or something."

"Or something." He really wished Tamao would just go away.

"Is this about Yoh?"

"No!" Lyserg turned to her. "It's got nothing to do with him."

"Yes it does, or else you wouldn't get so mad." Tamao frowned. "Do you like him?"

"No."

Tamao wasn't sure if she should believe him, but hey, he had close to given her the good to go sign! "Oh, alright. I'll get off your back." Tamao fell back and started talking to someone else.

Whew. Finally.

…

"How was school?"

"You sound like my mother." Lyserg lounged on the sofa, doing homework, as Yoh was busy making something in the kitchen. Hao had had to stay after his shift to clean up after some fruit mess they had gotten into. Yoh had just managed to get out of it by saying some wild excuse that Silva accepted. But Silva was not going to let himself do all the work so he dragged Hao with him in the dark hole of clean up.

"So how was it?"

"You'd like it there," Lyserg said shortly, still busy with his homework. "Tamao also goes to school with me."

"Does she?" Lyserg glared at Yoh as the latter's voice betrayed interest. "Don't get any ideas."

"Like what?"

"Like you'll use me to get to her." Lyserg stuck his lip out. "Cause I won't do it."

"I wouldn't ask you to. I'd talk to her myself." Yoh laughed as a textbook was thrown in his direction. "Calm down, Lyserg! You'll hurt yourself."

"I'll hurt you, you air head!" Dropping his books on the ground, Lyserg launched himself at Yoh, tackling him and his bowl of Easy Mac onto the floor. Ignoring the spilled noodles and cheese, Lyserg pressed his lips on Yoh's, smiling as he felt the younger twin respond eagerly. "I need something to help me relieve stress on my first day."

"You should have said something earlier," Yoh chuckled, wrapping his arms around the younger's waist. They started to kiss again, ignoring when Hao walked in, seeming oblivious to the two making out. "Well, don't make me clean that mess up," he said, gesturing to the spilled macaroni and cheese. He collapsed in the midst of Lyserg's collage books and turned on the TV.

"Why do you two always come over?" Lyserg asked, breaking away from Yoh. "You guys have places of your own."

"Yeah, but we just naturally flock over to your place," Hao said aimlessly. "You're a magnet, Lyserg. You just pull us in. It's like when you walk up the stairs, you naturally migrate over to your room and you don't quite know why."

"What he said," Yoh said quickly, his arms still around Lyserg. Snuggling amidst the mess of orange on the floor, Yoh leaned against the island in the kitchen with Lyserg against his chest.

Before long, Hao had gotten so swept up in the soccer game he was watching ("Goddamn you, number seventy! The goal is in that fucking direction! You idiot!"), the two were left forgotten, watching the cheese harden on the polished hardwood floor. They would have continued about Lyserg's first day of school, except Hao had suddenly gotten more explicit with his language and Lyserg pulled Yoh toward the balcony. The umbrella trees were still giving off adequate shade and the plants were still as vibrant as they had been the first time Yoh had seen them. Yoh was vaguely surprised that there wasn't grass growing on the ground below him and realized that might have been a stupid thought. He was about to open his mouth and ask when Lyserg connected their lips again, kissing him despite the open view for Hao to ogle at them.

When they broke away, Yoh realized that Lyserg was giving off the same glow as he was the day he met them, the same familiar mischievous smile…and those eyes. Those brilliant green eyes. The pools of green that hid the tragic past and almost enticed you to drown yourself in them. Yoh wondered how things would have been like if he hadn't met this beautiful person in front of him, still smiling at him with his arms around his neck. He would have definitely been overwhelmed in this city and probably would have gone back groveling to his mother. But now he had a reason (or excuse) to do good or else he might be evicted and go somewhere away from this London native.

"Well, let's talk about your first day."

"Why should I?" Lyserg grinned as he pulled Yoh onto a lawnchair.

"Because. We're just going to sit and talk for a little while. I'll give you a smile in exchange for your time."

Lyserg laughed. "Yeah, because I've always wanted a smile of my very own. But alright…just because you asked." Lyserg cuddled up to Yoh. "Just don't leave me all alone when it gets boring, alright?"

"Just tell me what happened."

So Lyserg did, not leaving out the nitty gritty details of getting lost, smart-mouthing the teachers, and avoiding Tamao. So much detail, in fact, that Yoh was sure he could say he had been with Lyserg on his first day and could describe with detail each class Lyserg had gone to. He was sure that with ordinary people, they would have been boring as hell, but somehow Lyserg's voice and his wonderful green eyes kept him interested and glued next to this boy.

And he realized that despite the way Lyserg treated him and how he knew he shouldn't because it would be useless to feel so, Yoh knew he loved Lyserg. Loved the way the boy always found some way to get under your skin but it didn't bother you too much. Lyserg was a typical abuser in a relationship, not afraid to hit you if you got on his nerves and not thinking twice before calling you every single name in the book just for fun. Not to mention he could lie without batting an eye. That worried Yoh a bit, but he knew (well, he hoped) Lyserg would feel bad about it in the end and end up telling you anyway.

Despite the way Lyserg would usually act, Yoh also knew that the greenette had a good heart. He always thought you had to have a good heart to truly be in a relationship, otherwise you'd just end up hurting your partner. Lyserg's past with Chocolove had shown him a side of the Brit that he had never known since the latter refused to show it.

Not that Yoh was so good that it was all based on personality. After all, he was a guy, and he was also attracted to physicality. Lyserg was a damn good kisser even though he let Yoh have the controls. Not to mention that the greenette had a strangely feminine body that seemed to click with his, like a key in a lock. He would know; after all, it wasn't like his hands were stationary during one of their numerous makeout sessions. Yoh would have been lying if he said he didn't want to sleep with the boy next to him, but Lyserg had already stated almost a dozen times he wasn't interested in anything past friendship with either twin (or anyone for that matter). Also, making out counted as an activity friends usually engage in.

Did he already mention those green eyes?

Yoh was never very good at keeping secrets. In fact, as Lyserg was finishing his day, Yoh started opening his mouth. "Hey, Lyserg, listen…"

"Hmm?" Lyserg looked up, his green eyes searching Yoh's brown. Hoping he wasn't going to betray what he was going to say with his eyes, Yoh gulped. "I know we've known each other for a long time…"

"Fourish months does not count as long time," Lyserg pointed out, smiling. Yoh rolled his eyes and was going to push on when Hao burst through the patio doors.

"Hey, you two! Guess what! We should go somewhere!"

"Where?" Lyserg was instantly distracted as Yoh let out a sigh of frusteration.

"I was thinking somewhere along the coast!"

"Why?"

"Just because. It's boring just staying home."

"But today's a school day."

"For you, maybe, but not for me and Yoh. And the city's not fun enough. We've been out in the city too many times. We need to go somewhere we've never been before!"

Lyserg gave Hao a look. "You and your spontaneity. Fine. I guess I can afford to fail early in the year. Let's go now!"

…

The coastal parts of the city were on the outskirts and was about a fifteen minutes drive away from BRSJ apartments. Neither the twins or Lyserg had a car and strangely all the cabs in the city were in service at exactly the same time, so it took them around forty five minutes to walk. Of course, that included the time Hao got them lost and nearly got into a fight with a dog.

But finally, they had gotten there, but it didn't seem as glamorous as Hao had made it out to be. The beach turned out to be nothing more than a thin strip of sand flanking rocks, wood, and other trash that had washed up on the beach. Short stone walls prevented flooding and also blocked access to the deeper parts of water. Wandering over to a part where the water was open to all, Lyserg clamored into the water, letting the cold September lake run past his calves. He was really having too much fun with this, seeing as he was twenty and was currently acting like a child.

Hao was sitting on one of the walls watching over Lyserg and his brother like a responsible adult. Yoh was being a loner by himself, walking along the sand and staring at the tide, slowly becoming high. He had been so close to telling Lyserg, but now that he had time to think before he could say what he needed to say, he had started having second thoughts. Not on how he felt, because he was sure of his feelings, but how Lyserg would react. The boy had already made it quite clear that he wasn't after a relationship at the time and even infrequently called them his friends. So what was he to the Brit? After all, Lyserg knew Hao longer than he had known him, and currently the two were in a 'relationship'.

Yoh wasn't used to thinking this hard about relationships with other people that he was getting an awful headache.

"Yoh? Are you okay?" Lyserg had walked up to him when he had been too preoccupied and Yoh looked up with a start. Lyserg drew back after seeing he had startled the younger twin. "You're all by yourself and I was wondering if you were okay."

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just thinking."

"About whom?"

"Do I have to be thinking of someone and not something?"

"Yes." Lyserg cocked his head to the side. "Because you had the look on your face that you were thinking of a person. Who is it?"

"I'm not telling you."

"It's not Tamao, is it?" Lyserg frowned.

"No."

"You're lying." Lyserg pouted. "I knew I shouldn't have brought her up."

"Well, that's your loss."

"Yoh!" Lyserg bent down and threw water up at Yoh, slightly drenching him in the cold lake water.

"Thanks a lot, Lyserg, now I'll be freezing and I'll catch cold and die. Happy?"

"No. I'll keep you warm." Lyserg smiled as he leaned up and captured Yoh's lips in a chaste kiss. Again, Yoh's head began to spin and all doubts seemed to vanish from his mind. "Listen, Lyserg, I have something to tell you."

"What?"

"Hey! You two!" The two turned and Hao seemed to be doing somersaults on the wall. "Get a room if you want, but just don't do it on the beach. That's so horribly cliché. And let me say one thing: sand in your pants."

"Hao, that's not what we're doing." Lyserg broke away and started walking toward Hao. "What are you doing?"

"Stuff." Hao did a small back flip. Yoh shook his head as he followed Lyserg to the wall. It wasn't very tall and if Hao fell, he wouldn't die, but this was still pretty reckless. Still, his brother was pretty nimble when it came to gymnastics and he would have been a good gymnast if he didn't think being so was flakey and didn't want to burn rubber gym equipment.

"I wanna do that." Lyserg climbed onto the wall as Hao jumped off, effectively putting both twins at both left and right of the Brit. "How did you do that?"

Hao shrugged. "Skills, I guess."

"No fair." Lyserg frowned. "I want to do something cool like that." He stood up and nearly tripped on the narrow path.

"Let's try and get you across first," Hao laughed.

"Alright, but if I fall, you two have got to catch me, okay?"

"Lyserg, the wall's only three feet off the ground."

"Still."

Lyserg made his way down the wall, both twins flanking his side. He had already nearly tripped numerous times and each time, both twins had grabbed his hand, making sure he didn't fall. They hadn't made it half way down the wall and Lyserg was already laughing.

"You two are like my body guards or something, with you practically at my beck and call, you know that? Don't get any ideas, I'm not going to be paying either of you soon…"

Lyserg should have learned last time he nearly fell that he should either focus on talking or walking, for he had as much foot to wall motor skills as a rock. In his defense, the stupid seaweed should have been off the wall, but in the wall's defense, Lyserg should have watched where he was going. Stepping on his slippery obstacle, Lyserg teetered dangerously on the wall, tipping from one side to the other, an amused expression on his face. Both twins had reached out for him since it was obvious he wasn't going to be staying on the wall this time. However, which twin he fell toward was a different story. Lyserg seemed to be having fun manipulating the two, leaning toward Yoh before changing direction to Hao. Laughing wildly, the Brit let gravity have its fun as he finally lost contact with the wall.

Yoh let his hands drop to his sides and a stupid grin etch itself on his face. He should have known. Lyserg had been leaning toward him but had changed sides at the last minute and fell into Hao's arms. What was he thinking? Of course Lyserg would prefer Hao to him. They had known each other longer and besides, Lyserg preferred working with Hao anyway. Hao was right. They were just toys, nothing more. He had been stupid to think that maybe Lyserg would feel differently.

Even if Lyserg liked him, he was still being inconsiderate. Hao had been there before him, and he knew his aniki liked Lyserg as much as he did. It was obvious by the way Hao always tried to take everything further before Lyserg would somehow crush his libido. Even now, Hao was carrying the greenette bridal style, his hand inching toward Lyserg's ass. They had never made a pact, but it was a given that finders keepers – first come, first serve. He would just be selfish if he tried to take something Hao had owned first.

As if to bolster his thinking, his cell phone started ringing in his pocket. Pulling it out, Yoh turned away to scan the caller ID. Tamao?

"Hello?"

"Yoh?" Tamao's voice sounded breathless, as if she had run a mile nonstop. "Listen…are you…are you busy this Friday?"

"Um…" Yoh glanced back at the two, Hao still holding Lyserg, who was still laughing. "I think so. Why?"

"Oh…" Yoh could nearly hear the shy smile on the pinkette's face. "Um…my friend…my friend got me reservations at this restaurant for this Friday, but he can't make it…"

"He?" Yoh was surprised to hear the apparent jealousy in his voice. And this was coming from a person who had just announced (although internally) that he loved Lyserg. Was he just so caught up in the moment that he thought so? Surely if he honestly and truly loved Lyserg, he wouldn't feel jealous at hearing that Tamao would have gone out with another guy, right?

"Oh! It's not what you think, Yoh!" Tamao said quickly. "He's just a friend…my friend from high school. But something came up and he had to leave the city before we could have dinner. So I was wondering…maybe…you'd like to come with me? It's completely fine if you don't, of course. I have a lot of girl friends I could take with me!" Tamao's voice gave away that she suspected that Lyserg would come between them yet again. Yoh glanced at the two again, and this double take had alerted Lyserg, who had stopped laughing and was now watching him.

He cared for Tamao, he couldn't lie. He didn't like hearing that she had almost gone somewhere alone with another guy, and he had to admit he was attracted to her in a way. And if Lyserg didn't think of him the way he did, then there was no point to dwell on something that would never happen, right? He had to answer the opportunities that came knocking. He had a sure future with Tamao, whom he was pretty sure liked him a lot. He wasn't quite sure of the extent of his feelings for her at the moment, but knew they were easily changeable.

"No, I can go."

The happiness was unmasked. "That's great! Um…should I meet you there at seven or…"

Yoh blinked as he realized this was his first official date (Hao would have slaughtered him if he found out he was already twenty-three and had never gone on a date before). He had to do this RIGHT! "No, I'll pick you up." Sure he didn't have a car, but he was sure he could easily arrange something…somehow…

"Oh!" Tamao's surprise melted into excitement again. "Well, I guess I'll see you later, Yoh! I'm so glad you come with me this time!" There was a pause and Yoh almost heard the unspoken question.

"Oh, yeah, well, Lyserg won't care this time. After all, he's got someone else."

"Right. I almost forgot. Well, anyway, I guess I'll see you later!" The anxiety and anticipation in her voice was causing her to repeat like a broken record player. She seemed to be debating on how to bid him good bye. "Um…well…bye!"

"Bye, Tamao."

As Yoh hung up, Hao was the first to speak. "What was that, utouto?"

Yoh turned, finding Lyserg's eyes first, before turning to Hao. "Tamao. She asked me out on Friday."

Hao whistled. "Smooth, utouto. You gonna lay the moves on her?"

"No he's not!" Lyserg protested. "Because he's not going!"

The twins stared at him. Jumping out of Hao's arms skillfully, Lyserg turned to Yoh. "Right? Because you don't like her the way she likes you and going out with her would just be like leading her on!"

"Still," said Hao, the pimp side of him fighting to dominate. "That's a good reason."

"No…" Yoh shrugged. "I don't mind going out with her. And I'm not leading her on…really."

Well, he really wasn't. He had considered Tamao for some time and now that he could finally do something about it. Maybe they would hit it off. He wouldn't be surprised…or unwilling. Something was still nagging in the back of his mind Hello! What about Lyserg? I thought you liked him!...Yoh shook his head. He couldn't chase after something so uncertain when Tamao would easily agree to a relationship. Still…the way Lyserg was looking at him made him feel oddly guilty although he really hadn't done anything wrong. It made him feel like he kicked a little puppy.

Turning to the horizon, Yoh realized the sky had turned golden with the sunset, signaling the end of the day and the beginning of something new.

To be continued…

Note: Next up will be Yoh's date with Tamao! And then…Lyserg takes one of his relationships to another level! God I should go into the advertisement industry.

A few things: (1) the twisted joke happened between two people I knew. I did NOT think of it (2) the song (When the Day Met the Night) was first used to create the pilot of Pretty. Odd. So the first chapter was really based on the song, since I had originally planned on making the first chapter a one shot in itself. But now since I elongated it, the chapter no longer takes place in summer, as the song says. But oh well. Review.