Konnichiwa, Minna-san… Sorry I'm so late with this! I've had this blasted chapter sitting on my computer for two weeks now… I'm so hopeless. Anyway, to all of you who have been reading 'White Christmas', I finally thought of an ending!! Yay!! I'm working on it diligently while rotating it with four other stories so… it might not come out for a while.
Anyway, if you're interested in reading some different Anime stories done by me, be sure to check out my profile page. Plus, once I finish 'White Christmas', I might start a Hiei and Kurama fan-fiction or a Ryou and Keiichiro (From Tokyo Mew Mew). But probably not. Let's finish what I've already started, nyau?
Okay… Well off we go to read this lovely story that has been gathering dust on my hard-drive for a while now… okay, have fun! Ja ne!
Chapter Three: Nasty
"Nice fade."
Yaten looked at the clock, then his watch, then resumed pacing. This week had been the week from hell. Yaten could have sworn that there would never be a week like it again. It took all his energy not to scream in utter agony of the stupidity around him.
First off, Taiki was all in a tizzy about Ami being one of the Tsukiyasha members. He was so upset that he was fighting against his girlfriend, that he nearly quit the band. It took a lot of coaxing, and finally some threats before Taiki came to his senses. However, his tizzy about Ami and Tsukiyasha was still permanently etched into his skull.
His tizzy, however, seemed to fizzle out for a moment when Seiya refused to practice. This resulted in Taiki thinking that, without practice, the band would lose and he'd be free to love Ami without baggage…. Then they played after Seiya's so called 'break-time', and were better then ever. Thus resulting in Seiya's head becoming roughly the size of the moon, and Taiki's tizzy becoming even worse.
Yaten was about two steps away from beating the crap out of his companions… or any one else who might have had the guts to piss him off. They were getting on his nerves, and doing a wonderful job of it. With his luck, and with his companions' skills at nerve-breaking, he wouldn't have any nerves left to get on before this night was over. Such seemed his lot in life.
"Looking a little tense there… are we worried about the competition?"
His eyes darted toward a nearby wall, and there stood his bubble-headed, blonde enemy. Damned be his luck.
"I'm worried about how you're going to feel when we win!" Yaten growled at her, jade eyes narrowing in her direction.
"Tsk. Tsk. I'd be careful, Yaten. You know what they say: a big head leads to an empty pocket." She stood on her feet and smiled at him, blue eyes flashing with a sudden heat of the game.
"Then you must be greatly in debt." Yaten snapped quickly, tossing his liquid silver hair over his shoulder.
After all his time of being a cool, calm, collected, attractive, suave, and many other nice things, she was the only girl he had ever met that could invoke so much frustration within himself. Had it been a guy, or even a stupid girl for that matter, they would have been shot down instantly. What made her so damn special compared to others? Damn. Stupid girls.
"I am so hurt." She said, rolling her eyes. She walked toward her word-sparring mate calmly, ready to fight him in any battle he chose.
"Well, that's what I was aiming for." Yaten said calmly, shoving his hands in his pockets and smiling coldly at her.
"You're a snot, I hope you know that." She growled suddenly.
"That I am." He grinned back at her. Then he changed his tone from word-sparring, to conversational. "You seem to be in a nastier mood then last Saturday, may I inquire why?"
"Because you're stupid." She seethed, stopping about four feet from him.
"Yes… and you're a bubble-headed blonde."
"Jeez, Yaten," She sighed, running a hand through her hair and looking at him with exasperation. "Does your mouth ever stop?"
He smirked at her. "Does your head ever let out air?"
"Hey now!" A gruff voice said from behind him. Yaten slowly turned his head to look into a pair of dark brown eyes. He rolled his own jade ones, before turning his whole body to look at the man… or the giant rock that could be slightly counted as a man. Which ever you deem worthy.
"What do you want?" He asked nonchalantly.
"That's no way to treat a lady!" The rock said angrily.
"She's a lady? I never knew…" Yaten said with mock-surprise, he turned his expression to Usagi, who merely raised an eyebrow.
"Shove it, Yaten," She sneered in his direction. "At least this man is sticking up for me, which is more then I can say for you."
"Are you trying to say something, ya bubble-head!?"
Usagi glared… then, suddenly, her eyes got wide and sparkled with an emotion Yaten knew all too well…
"Yeah! I am!" She lowered her voice so the rock behind him couldn't hear her, then grabbed his collar and brought his face close to her own, grinning broadly. "Ten thousand yen says you can't seduce him before the end of the night."
Yaten gave a start, then grinned just as broadly as she. Now this was a bet! He could do this, hands down! And he certainly was never one to give up a bet, especially such a tantalizing bet with this bubble-head.
"You're on. I get him to 'go in the back room' you give me ten thousand."
"Minor alcohol only. Two drinks tops. And if you don't get him in there before one, you pay me." Her grin got broader as she held out her hand. "Deal?"
"Deal!" Yaten firmly grasped her hand. He was gonna win
"Good luck…" Usagi let go of his collar, and for a moment Yaten felt a swift brush of coldness run through his body. Giving a start he reeled back slightly, unable to pin-point the sensation.
'What was that?' Yaten thought for a moment, blinking at the dim, blond figure in the badly light back-stage area. The cool feeling had faded, but it left him with warm chills coursing though his body, and ending in his stomach.
"Ja ne, Ya-ten-ba-ka." She split the syllables and said them with a very girlish tone to her voice. Then she waved, and walked off, swishing her hips in a very enticing manner. Pausing for a moment, she turned around and blew a kiss in his direction, then continued on her trek.
'So… she thinks I can't seduce a man. She is dead wrong…' Yaten turned around and looked up at the taller man behind him. He smiled at him, immediately turning on his charm. He would not lose this bet. There was no way.
"Hi." He said in his smoothest voice, eyelashes fluttering with every breath. "What's your name?"
The man gave a start and took a tiny step back. Yaten followed innocently, filling the space quickly with his own body. He was not going to lose a bet to Usagi. There was no way in hell.
"Uh… I'm… Kaito." He said, shifting his weight uncomfortably, and trying to avoid both Yaten'' body and his gaze.
"Hello, Kaito… my name is Yaten." He smiled seductively at him, licking his lips before he did. "I hope to see you around. Ja." He brushed past him, making sure his body touched the rock's.
'He's mine…' Yaten grinned as he nearly skipped off to his group. Ten thousand yen to him, ten thousand yen to him!! He could dance, not only would he win ten thousand yen, but he would beat Usagi at her own game!
"You look disgustingly happy," Seiya said, rolling his eyes as the silver-haired man approached both him and Taiki.
"I am." Yaten just smiled in the direction of Seiya, saying nothing more about his bet or Usagi. For some strange reason Yaten felt slightly indignant that Seiya knew Usagi… but he wasn't quite sure why. "So, what's the deal, why hasn't this party started?"
Yaten was of course talking about the fact that every band had been waiting around like a fool for the last hour. The whole concert was supposed to begin at eight, and it was now eight fifty-nine. Oh… wait… correction, it's now nine.
Seiya shrugged, looking into the neck of his beer bottle. "Rumor says that one of the judges got a DUI, so they've been trying to find a replacement."
"A DUI? It's only nine!" Taiki said, raising an eyebrow skeptically at Seiya, then at the beer bottle in his hand. It was utterly ridiculous to get a DUI this early in the evening.
"Hey! Stop looking at me like that, Taiki! I'm not stupid enough to get drunk off my ass and them hop into a car. Duh." Seiya said forcefully at Taiki.
"His life must suck." Yaten said, examining his nails and considering ordering a drink himself. "There are times where you two have forced me to drink immeasurably… right now might be one of those times."
"Thanks for your vote confidence, Yaten." Seiya rolled his eyes, and taking a swig from his bottle.
"You're welcome."
"Hey… you boys!!"
Everyone turned to look behind him, and Seiya's eyes lit up like indigo stars. A bouncing blonde came bounding up to the three boys.
"Usagi-chan!" He called, waving.
"Ara! Seiya-kun! What are you doing here!?" Usagi batted her eyelashes innocently at Seiya, with a look of utter surprise on her face. What an actor.
Yaten resisted the urge to barf. She was so disgustingly fake, but Seiya didn't seem to notice. All he noticed was her… Yaten suddenly snorted. Seiya's eyes were seemingly drawn to the movement of her… er… breasts, and the way they jiggled when she talked.
'At least I'm not a hopeless pervert like Seiya,' Yaten thought, laughing silently. He had class at what he did: steal the hearts of girls with style. It was a good game.
He did notice one thing though, Usagi had used 'kun' with Seiya. She didn't use such a formal term with himself. She called him just by name, and it made him ponder for a moment exactly why she did that…
"We're here for the contest." Seiya said calmly, a blush creeping across his cheeks at the sight of his blonde infatuation.
"Duh, bubble-head." Yaten rolled his eyes.
"Shove-it, Yaten-baka." Usagi snapped. Then, she turned to him, grinning broadly. "How are things going with you anyway…?"
"It'll be over before you know it, bubble-head." Yaten grinned.
"Is that so?"
"I know that look." Yaten rose an eyebrow. "Don't interfere."
"Oh I won't… I won't… I just wanna see you do it, Yaten."
"You can bet on it." He winked.
Usagi suddenly grinned at him, and Yaten couldn't help but return the gesture. He was in the heat of battle, and it was fun as hell.
"ATTENTION!"
Usagi and Yaten's gaze broke as everyone turned to see a short, bald man in a gray suite, standing on a large box. He looked rather nervous, and his eyes kept darting nervously around to the groups of people. Understandable, there were some pretty shady bands that had some how managed to wiggle their way into the contest.
"Can everyone hear me?"
There was a collective grunt.
"Uh… due to some unforeseen… uh… problems. Tonight's preliminary judging is postponed until tomorrow. So please, all of you who wish to stay in the 'Battle of the Bands' contest, report back here at the same time tomorrow, and preliminary judging will commence. Thank you."
Usagi's eyes suddenly brightened as she got an idea.
"Hey you! Are drinks on the house!?" She called up to the nervous, little man.
"Huh?" His eyes went wide and he turned to the tiny blonde.
"Are drinks on the house!? I spent a good hour of my young life here, can you make up for me losing a precious hour of my life?" Usagi called back.
Yaten snorted and Usagi elbowed him in the side.
"I wanna see if I can pull it off," She whispered to him under her breath.
"Good luck," He laughed.
They turned to each other and noticed that they were both grinning like maniacs. The heat of the game was burning through their veins, and it elated them both to no extent. It was strange how complete enemies could become companions so quickly because of the Game.
The man took out a handkerchief and mopped his shiny head. "Ah… I don't think I can…"
Hey! Why wasn't Yaten having any fun? He should be right there with Usagi in the battle.
"Awe ta'hell with you!" He called. "I'm going to The Fire Squad." He shook his head and headed for the door. Usagi covered her giggling mouth with her hand.
"Hey!" The man called weakly. "w-wait!"
Yaten walked through the double back doors without looking back. He could here a surge of snorting and stifling laughter. Yaten's personality was almost as famous as his band, and everyone knew that he was just trying to mess with the little man.
He didn't really want anything to drink. He didn't even really want to mess with the little man. He actually just wanted to get away from everything for a moment. To relax without noise or pressure, or stupid band members.
"Oi, matte!"
He turned around and saw a certain, pretty, bubble-headed blonde approaching him with a bright smile.
"Yeah?" he asked nonchalantly.
"That was a pretty good stunt you pulled back there." She matched his pace and followed him down the street.
"How do you know I was lying?" He asked, smiling at her.
"Because your eyes glint the same way mine do when I joke." She smiled genuinely at him, and Yaten was a little taken aback. He never noticed how pretty she really was.
"That's scary." He said after a moment.
"Thank you." She stated quite calmly. "So, how's your seduction of the rock?"
"I give up. You want me to pay you?" He didn't really care all that much that he had lost. He just needed some quiet time, and he didn't want her pestering him about losing a bet and not paying her.
"Nah…" She shrugged. "I figured you would lose anyway. He's homophobic."
"Thanks for telling me this now."
A growl broke the sudden silence and Yaten stopped to look at Usagi, or more specifically, her stomach.
"Loud enough?"
"I guess I didn't know how hungry I was… wanna get something to eat?"
"What? With you?" He raised an eyebrow and gave a lopsided smile.
"Sure." Usagi said laughing. "An enemy can take another enemy out to eat, can't she?"
"Aw, hell… why not?"
And the two of them started off in semi-silence towards the nearest diner.
