Disclaimer: If Shaman King were mine, I wouldn't need to write fanfics.

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Not another school story, you say! Please, spare us! I would love to, but my invisible writing stalker won't let me! I promise I will skip over the dramatic shonen-ai shojo version, since I know probably no guys would actually do that, but there will shonen-ai! Pairings are still up in the air, but please know the love square before flaming me. The pairings I suggest may or may not be there in the end. And yes, there will be an end!

Note: I'm not sure if said this, but this is their sophomore year.

Chapter 10 – Accidentally in Love

Keiko gripped the steering wheel of her car. Mickey had been the civilized gentleman today, bringing back for her a tuna sub with chips and a Coke, obviously bought at Subway. He had sat down and had a pretty nice talk with her and everything seemed fine and dandy. Except Keiko couldn't get over how when she hugged Mikihisa good bye for the day, she smelled a faint whiff of Kimi's perfume on her ex husband.

But he did take time out of his day to talk to her. And they did catch up a few years the thirteen years they were apart. So maybe some part of it was productive.

She drove into the driveway, noticing Yoh and Lyserg sitting on the porch. It was a relatively warm day; Yoh was wearing a long sleeved track team T-shirt with dark cargo shorts. Lyserg was sitting next to him, talking (Keiko didn't know what about; she only saw his mouth moving and Yoh nodding). He was wearing the same skinny jeans and Converse he had worn to school, but Keiko had noticed that the black sweater he was currently wearing belonged to Yoh.

After parking in the garage, Keiko walked over to the front porch again and this time, Ren had joined the two. Keiko noticed that Ren was sitting pretty close for comfort next to her son. Sighing to herself, Keiko couldn't help but feel proud. She had raised such a cute son that everyone flocked to him.

"Hey, Ms. Asakura," Lyserg said, the polite child he was. Ren merely nodded, Keiko understood he was a person of few words (unless he was in the presence of Horokeu Usui). Yoh smiled. "How was work, mom?"

"Fine. Mickey came to see me today."

"Did he? How was it?"

"It was cordial." She ignored the way the three seemed to roll their eyes at her use of words. "Where's Horo?"

"Basketball practice." Ren pulled out his IPhone. "Talking about that, I should probably get going. I'm Horo's ride, after all." Ren was Horo's ride home after school, since he lived (relatively) close to Horo's house, and besides, there were no nearby bus stops near the school, or Horo would have taken public transportation.

You would expect two people who travel together often to get along.

"Bye Ren." Ren stood up and started walking down to the corner of the block, where the black Tao car was waiting for him. Ren hated the Tao presence anywhere where he felt somewhat normal.

"Yoh, you're such a popular boy!" Keiko said, as she followed the two inside the house. "You have so many friends."

"He does. He's so popular that he'd probably get away with stalking, maybe!" Lyserg added, staring at the back of his friend, laughing to himself as Yoh seemed to wilt with embarrassment again.

"Talking about stalking," Keiko said, although the subject had nothing to do with her question, "Lyserg, why are you wearing Yoh's sweater?"

Lyserg looked down. "Oh. Right. Ren threw a fit in art today and threw water on me. I've been wearing this all day. It's comfy."

"Is it now?" Keiko said, a slow smirk crossing her face. Yoh gave her a warning look and she went to get herself some ice coffee from the fridge. Lyserg didn't seem to notice and started humming something softly under his breath.

"What are you humming?" Yoh asked curiously as they crossed into the living room to get to the stairs, to Yoh's room.

"So she said what's the problem baby…what's the problem I don't know, well maybe I'm in love…think about it every time I think about it can't stop thinking about it…" Lyserg sang, his voice in perfect melody with the song. Keiko couldn't help but perk her ears whenever she heard Yoh's friend sing. Lyserg didn't sing very often in the presence of anyone other than Yoh or their 'band'. Lyserg had the perfect vocals voice; his voice seemed to have matured enough that he didn't have the high pitched tone when he was a child, but he could still sing pretty high for a boy.

"How much longer will it take to cure this? Just to cure it cause I can't ignore it if it's love… makes me want to turn around and face me but I don't know nothing about love…" Keiko chuckled to herself, hearing her own son's voice chime in (quieter) with Lyserg.

"Oooh, come on, come on…turn a little faster…come on, come on, the world will follow after…come on, come on, cause everyone's after love…" Keiko poked her head out to see the two standing on the staircase, singing. Lyserg's voice went perfectly up and down the scales, the natural singer he was. He was standing two steps above Yoh, leaning against the railing and just letting out his voice. Yoh was watching him with something more than admiration. Keiko giggled to herself. Only one person could make her son be all like this.

Lyserg suddenly stopped, no doubt noticing that someone else was listening in with them. "Hello, Ms. Asakura. Care for a recording? It's only five dollars."

"Already selling a label? That's wonderful Lyserg, keep it up." Keiko smiled and disappeared into the kitchen.

"You're really good," Yoh breathed, and the way he said it plus the way he was standing suggested he had said this many times before.

"That's why I'm the vocals," Lyserg shrugged. "These lines of lightning mean we're never alone, never alone…"

"There's no escaping your love," Yoh murmured, caught up in the moment. Keiko wasn't looking and they seemed alone. He stepped up and leaned closer to Lyserg, the adrenaline of the moment rushing through him.

"Hey, that's before…" Lyserg protested, before trailing off. Yoh was leaning closer still, his lips a few inches away from Lyserg's, their breath the only sound in the deserted hallway. Lyserg felt his nerves tighten as Yoh let go of the railing behind him and stepped even closer.

"Yoh, don't bonk my head again," Lyserg warned, his voice shaking slightly as he tried to find a way to escape this growingly awkward situation and found he had no place to go. Yoh had placed his hands on either side of Lyserg, holding onto the railing the greenette was leaned against.

"I wasn't going to." God he was getting horny. Lyserg shivered as he felt Yoh's warm breath on his face. A kiss was almost unavoidable now and Yoh had never ever come this close to him before. Lyserg felt his face heat up.

What's stopping me from letting Yoh kiss me?

The fact that I like Horo, duh! But that itself sounded so feeble against the strange little part of him that had suddenly grown stronger and was egging on the situation.

"Wait." Lyserg slid a finger in-between their lips, quickly stopping Yoh's advances. That was so very close. "Um…I…I think I should go now."

"Are you sure?" Yoh couldn't hide his disappointment at being so close as he backed away. "I'm sorry that was a little awkward, I didn't mean to put you on the spot like that."

"It's okay…I mean, it wasn't okay, cause it was really weird and uncomfortable, but it wasn't like you were molesting me…that would be awkward…but…yeah…" Lyserg's face was cherry red, and he was more flustered than Yoh had ever seen him. Lyserg had become the calm, cool, collect person who only spoke barbs and never revealed how he really really felt…now all because of one little thing, he was starting to unravel and turn back into the shy boy Yoh had grown up with.

"Do…you want me to walk you home?"

"Um, maybe some other time…see you later, Yoh!" Lyserg ducked away from Yoh and scampered into the kitchen to grab his carrier bag and leave out the backdoor. Keiko raised her eyebrows as she noticed Lyserg rush into the kitchen and grab his bag without saying a word. "Leaving so soon, Lyserg?"

"Yeah…see you later, Ms. Asakura." Keiko stared at the door, which Lyserg had practically flown out of and turned as Yoh trudged into the kitchen.

"What was that about, Yoh?"

"Nothing."

"Hey mom."

Jean Diethyl looked up from her romance novel as her son entered the kitchen and got himself a Pepsi from the fridge. She took a sip from her Earl Grey in front of her in its cute little teacup and blinked again as she surveyed her son. He seemed different somehow…he looked less confident at the moment. "What is it, dear?"

"Um…can I talk to you?" Lyserg was avoiding his mother's eye at the moment, turning away with a reddened face.

"You can talk to me about anything, honey. What's wrong?"

"Um…um…" Lyserg grimaced as he slid in the seat across from his mother. This was hard to bring up. "Um, mom, I think Yoh likes me."

"Of course he does, dear," Jean said calmly, turning back to her romance novel.

"No, not like that, mom." Jean looked up at her son and saw his face was still red. "Yoh likes me, mom."

"Does he now?"

"Mom, don't tell me you knew about this?"

"Not really…" Jean decided not to mention the times she had spoken to Keiko over the phone. One of those times, Keiko had phoned her during dinner and before she could even say 'hello', Keiko had rushed into the conversation. "Jean! You'll never guess what I found about Yoh that involves Lyserg! Turns out…"

"I mean, how do you know?" Jean continued.

"He tried to kiss me at his house," Lyserg mumbled, wishing it didn't sound so awkward to tell to his own mother. God, he hated talking to his mom about things like this. He avoided it at all costs, but he was in a bind at the moment and he wasn't sure how to get out. Besides, his mom should know about things like this, right? She was married and she wrote romance novels for a living! They're weren't immediate best sellers, but he knew a lot of middle aged women in the neighborhood that were big fans of his mother's work.

"How?"

"He leaned up really close to me and…what do you mean HOW mum, why does it matter? The fact is that he did!" Lyserg's accent was starting to creep up as he got more agitated.

"Did you want him too?" Jean asked, still engrossed in her novel.

She looked up when Lyserg didn't answer immediately. Her son was looking away, and with an expression she hadn't seen since the sixth grade. A look of complete vulnerability and utter helplessness. "Um…well, I wouldn't mind exactly…but I can't like Yoh."

"What do you mean you can't?"

"I like someone else," Lyserg mumbled. This was so uncomfortable and he was wondering if he would have been better off looking up Dear Abby's on the Internet.

No, his father would look up the history to find his ESPN site and wonder who was looking up Dear Abby…THAT would be embarrassing.

"Does this person like you back?"

Lyserg frowned, although it somehow managed to soften his features at the same time. "No…" Horo didn't like him. It was completely obvious and no matter what he told himself, he knew the Usui never would. At least, not in that way. He was only fooling himself thinking that he would be able to change that.

Whereas Yoh already did like him, and they were pretty close anyway…

He wouldn't mind going out with Yoh. He might appear harsh to that Asakura, but in fact he really cared a lot about Yoh. After all, Yoh had been his lifeline for a long time before he decided to cut himself loose to explore on his own. The comfort of being cared for and looked after…he hadn't felt that in a long time.

He decided he missed the feeling. Did that mean he liked Yoh now?

"It sounds like you've started liking Yoh accidentally," Jean concluded, taking another sip of her tea. "I can see it on your face. You're a cutie, Lyserg. I'd be surprised if Yoh didn't like you."

"Will I grow out of it?"

"I don't know."

"What should I do?"

"I don't know."

Lyserg glared at his mother. "You're supposed to be a romance novelist, mom. You should know these kinds of things."

"Yes, but I set up my characters in a setting which I control. I can't control what you or Yoh does. Besides, I've never written anything about two boys falling in love before."

"We're not in love!" Lyserg shouted, feeling his blush come back. He stood up suddenly and grabbed his Pepsi. "I'm not sure how I feel about Yoh, but it definitely isn't love!" He was so confused right now and he had been happy not knowing about Yoh's feelings. He wished it never happened. He was fine as it was before.

But he did feel somewhat…happy…knowing Yoh felt the way he did.

Or was he reading too much into it?

Keiko was just about to start cooking when the doorbell rang. She glanced out of the kitchen window and saw a familiar pickup truck in the driveway. "Yoh, Mikihisa's here."

"Really?" Yoh's voice floated over to the kitchen from where he was in the living room, reading something.

Keiko opened the door and blinked, a confused albeit happy smile suddenly drawn on her face. Mikihisa was sporting his trademark ponytail again with a black T-shirt and jeans. Hao was standing next to him, looking bored in a baby tee that flattered his figure and baggy black pants that looked two sizes too big, being kept up by a star studded black belt.

"Take out?" Mikihisa said jokingly, holding up a few boxes of food.

"Maybe not the most romantic getting-back-together kind of dinner, but I'll take it," Keiko smirked. She opened the door wider and the two stepped into the house. Yoh was standing in the doorway to the living room, his eyes widening slightly as he saw his brother.

"Hey, Hao."

"Utouto." Hao smiled. "What's up?"

"Nothing."

"Lyserg's not here?" Hao asked, looking around. "Strange. He seems to practically live here…but you'd like that wouldn't you?"

Yoh glared at him as Keiko and Mikihisa side stepped around them and tried to blend into the background.

"No, he's not here, Hao. Things popped up and he went home."

"What kind of things dear brother?"

Yoh rolled his eyes. "Leave me alone," he muttered, turning and leaving the room. Hao followed him.

"That was sudden," Keiko said slowly. She started to unwrap the takeout when she felt arms circle her waist and turn her around. Mikihisa smiled as he pulled her closer to him, smiling in her dark hair.

"That was sudden," Keiko said again, this time giggling as she said it. "Getting all touchy feeling, aren't we?"

"That's right. I haven't seen you for a long time and I missed you."

"You saw me this afternoon," Keiko said, looking up at her ex, frowning. Hmm…Mickey hadn't shaved today. And that was strangely suiting.

"Alright…then I haven't kissed you in a long time."

Keiko blushed. "You kissed me after our date and you kissed me when you left, which was…hmm, two hours ago!" She glanced at the clock above his head.

"Don't tell me you didn't miss that."

Keiko groaned. "I guess not."

"Let's catch up." Mikihisa leaned down and propped Keiko's chin up.

"The kids are here," Keiko whispered.

"So? Let them see. We're going to be living together soon, aren't we?"

Keiko rolled her eyes. "I guess."

Mikihisa smiled and kissed Keiko gently on the lips, smiling slightly as he felt her respond. It was all soft, timid, full of feeling. Mickey knew he had to taking it slow. He wanted to, anyway. Keiko wrapped her arms around her ex's neck, and as she was leaning forward, a flash of color caught her eye.

Leaning backward, Keiko frowned. "This is lipstick on your collar, isn't it?"

Mikihisa looked down. There was a telltale sign of a smudge of pink lipstick on his collar. It wasn't in its trademark lip mark, and it wasn't as obvious as if would be on a dress shirt, but Keiko still checked his neck anyway, breathing a sigh of relief as she found it unmarked. Her relief was replaced by suspicion almost instantly.

"Who's it from?"

Mickey shrugged, feeling a slight panic fill him as Keiko broke out his grasp. "You weren't wearing that shirt when I left from work. Who could you have met during that short time?" Keiko paused to think about it and frowned. "Kimi," she said, no spat.

"Look, you're reading way into this and it's now what seems. I was getting my coat after you left and she suggested a place where I could pick up something to surprise you. I told her I wanted to change first so she waited by the car as I changed clothes…"

"She was watching you change?" Keiko asked, horrified.

"No! I don't think so, at least. I didn't want her to. Anyway, after that, I told her to get in the car and we'd go over to the place she recommended…"

"Where was Hao?" Keiko asked. She was going to have to recruit her other son to be her spy.

"School. He was planning on signing up for basketball so he was going to stay behind and watch Horokeu's practice. Anyway, nothing happened; she tripped on her way up the seat and fell onto my shoulder. I guess her mouth must have brushed against my collar."

"On purpose?"

"Of course not! Keiko, what are you saying? Anyway, we went and got some takeout and I drove her home. That Tao boy drove her son home already. I picked up Hao at her house and we came over here."

"So you went on a date with her?"

"No! Keiko, what's wrong?"

"What's wrong? What's wrong is that you, who said we were supposed to be getting back together, seems to be getting a little personal with another woman! Is that what you want?"

"No!" Mikihisa sputtered, watching as Keiko started pulling (almost ripping) the covers off the takeout. "Keiko, you know I would never do that!"

"Well, I wouldn't know! I haven't known you for thirteen years! Kimi's coming on to you!" Keiko blurted, feeling frantic over loosing her husband again. "She likes you, Mickey, can't you tell?"

"Naw, she's just friendly. She supports us getting back together."

"While meeting with you? Secretly behind my back? She never tells me anything anymore, Mickey! Not about anything involving you! Stay away from her!" She couldn't help it but the last sentence had come out as an order.

"You're being unreasonable now, Keiko. Kimi's only a friend." He stopped, watching Keiko spoon the food into dishes quietly and angrily. "But if you don't want me to spend time with her, I'll stop."

Keiko turned, her expression angry but Mikihisa saw a glint of reassurance in her eyes. "Really?"

"You have my word."

Keiko smiled and dropped the spoon she was holding and wasted no time showing Mickey how she felt.

Note: Um…hopefully that was good…thank you ShinjukuAlligator for reading and reviewing this so far! Hopefully I will be getting more reviews! I haven't updated lately like I always do…that's what you get for a triple release, readers. Keep reading and reviewing, please! The next chapter might be a little shojo clichéd…sorry ahead of time.