*Quick key: Anything italicized in quotation marks are lines from A Midsummer Nights Dream.

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"I don't understand…" Marion sighs out. "Hao-sama is Demetrius, and that shark hair styled kid gets to be Helena? WHERE DID IT ALL GO WRONG!?"
Marion goes into another fit of lamenting, as the rest of our group, Lyserg, Matilda, and myself sit outside afterschool to rehearse our extract. The part we got is a bit weird…Act 1 Scene 1, it's the bit where Oberon the king of faeries is plotting with his henchman Puck, and Oberon witnesses Helena chasing Demetrius who doesn't seem to be interested in Helena. The parts that we got assigned were, me as Puck (whew, only a couple of lines in this scene!), Lyserg as Demetrius, Matilda as Helena and Marion as Oberon. o_0; She had a couple of qualms acting a man, but then she read her lines and threw herself in the part. But then every so often Marion goes on her runs of jealousy and lamenting. Like now.

"Look Mari, it was just the way it turned out… an accident…"
"Yes I know, but it's so WRONG!" Marion screeches again. "And to think it's the scene with Hao-sama fawning over that little BRAT!"
"Look Marion, we really need to rehearse." Lyserg sighs out, but maintaining a patient tone. "We're performing next lesson. I'm sure Yoh-kun's group is busy rehearsing too…"
"Oh god, what on earth could those two be DOING!?" Marion cries out in horror. "Rehearsing…all alone in a classroom…JUST THE TWO OF THEM! Nooooo, Hao-samaaaa!"
"Mari…"
"I'm going to spy on them! If that brat tries anything on Hao-sama…" Marion speeds away to the classrooms.
"Mari!" Matilda chases after the fanatical girl.
"I'll go and get them back…" truth be told, I want to make sure everything is OK with Yoh-kun's group. If anything, Marion shouldn't worry about Ren-kun making moves on Hao…it's the other way around.
"Manta-kun! Dear, this is quite awful…I guess we'll all have to go…" Lyserg-kun sighs out, somewhat defeated, and we all pursue the blond girl, worried of what may potentially happen if she gets too excited.

***

"So, basically I come in, say I love Ren…" Yoh-kun begins to give a brief summary of how the little extract that they're going to act out goes, for confirmation.
"Helena" Anna corrects him.
"Helena," Yoh-kun nods, and continues. "and then Hao…Demetrius wakes up and says he loves Helena…and Helena thinks we're mocking her…and then Anna, who's Hermia comes in. I say I don't love her, and then she gets angry at Helena."
"That's about right." Hao nods, sitting on a table. "I'm amazed that you've managed to figure that out with your brain."
"Haha Hao."
"At least he knows his lines, seeing as we are performing tomorrow…" Ren-kun adds bitterly.

Yoh-kun's group is rehearsing in an empty classroom. The sun is getting lower, and an orange hue is casting over. All four of us are just outside the classroom, under a window half covered by bushes. We plaster ourselves against the door. We can't really hear what's going on, but we can hear everything. By the sounds of it all four of them are in there…

"OK, so let's try it from the beginning again…" Anna-san commands. Looks like she's in charge here.
"OK then…" Yoh-kun begins. Marion and I tactfully hide ourselves in the bushes, and peek in through the window. Lyserg and Matilda reluctantly follow.
"Why should you think that I woo in scorn?"
"Dammit Yoh, you're useless." Anna-san clicks her tongue in irritation. "You have no heart in it, at all! You have to say it like you mean it."
"But…"
"Yoh, come outside with me…" Anna-san grabs Yoh-kun by the arm. He yelps, as she drags him out the classroom. I think it might have been me, but she gave Hao a quick glance and a nod… what the hell?

Silence reigns in the classroom, as Ren-kun and Hao are left alone. I wonder if Marion's worries may be coming somewhat true… I can hear her seething next to me. Dear God…
"Well, since those two have gone away, presumably Anna giving Yoh-kun a Spartan lesson in acting..." Hao smiles, and hops of the desk. "I pity Yoh's soul." Ren-kun mumbles. Ren-kun is leaning against a desk, his back towards us. I can't see his face, but I think he'd look somewhat tired.
"…I say we practice our interactions." Hao is just arms length away from Ren-kun. Since he's a fair bit taller, and Ren-kun is leaning slightly, I can see his eye's over Ren-kun's head.
"Hao, there is nothing for us to practice… our interactions are fairly limited without Lysander in it…or Hermia."
"Well, we can have a shot." Hao beams, and sits himself against a table, and feigns sleep. Ren-kun rolls his eyes.
"You just want to embarrass me playing the part of the woman." He says irritably, but all the while standing in a place which is probably his position. Hao, though he has his eyes closed, smiles. He then slowly opens his eyes, and looks up at Ren.

"O Helen, goddess, nymph, perfect, devine!" I can't see Ren-kun's face, but any bets he's got a disgusted face. I feel Marion clawing at my head. Hao has the most spookiest expression on his face: a mix of revelation, wonder, and…a predatory glance…oh this can't be good…
"To what, my love, shall I compare thine eyne?" I boggle at Hao's next move, as Matilda takes in a sharp breath. Hao gets up, and approaches Ren-kun, backing him in to a table.
"Crystal is muddy! O, how ripe in show is thy lips, those kissing cherries tempting grow…" Hao's gotten so close to Ren-kun, the Ren-kun is forced on to the table.
"What the hell…Hao!" Ren-kun begins, but his voice sounds shaky and short. Hao, whilst saying his lines leans into Ren-kun. He slowly nuzzles himself under Ren-kun, and hooks one of Ren-kun's legs over his shoulder, leaving the two in a very compromising situation. Marion was about to protest violently, but Matilda clamps one hand over her mouth, and Lyserg-kun restrains her by grabbing her arms. I just sit there awed. I knew Hao was direct, but this is just…

"…what the hell is wrong with you!" Ren-kun yells, but doesn't move lest he falls off the table and straight on to Hao. Hao smirks.
"Acting."
"Bullshit…" Ren-kun turns away. Oi. Aren't you going to do anything about it? I feel like confronting Ren-kun. If you don't retaliate, Hao'd think that you...
"O let me kiss this princess of pure white, this seal of bliss…" Hao says the last few lines in a very breathy and hot voice. He's murmured them into Ren-kun's ear, lips almost brushing against his earlobe. Ren-kun has one hand tightly gripping Hao's arm, the other supporting his weight. Hao flicks his tongue and nibbles on Ren-kun's earlobe.

"Fuck! Hao…!" Ren-kun angrily hisses. Hao parts from Ren-kun slightly, and looks at him levelly.
"Do you want to?"
"What?"
"Fuck."
"WHAT!?"

"Manta-kun, I think we should leave…" Lyserg tugs at me and points to Marion. She's sitting there in a total state of shock, unmoving. I wonder if I should be thankful or not. On the one had we don't have a ranting, rabies infested girl, but on the other we have an empty shell shocked one.
"No, not yet!" Matilda hisses, somewhat excited, and looks back into the classroom. "Those two are so… SEXY TOGETHER!"
I think I'm going to faint.
"I really didn't think I'd dig it, but Haoren is just TOO DAMN HOT!"
"Mati…you're a fan girl?"

"Just kidding." Hao smiles playfully and pokes Ren-kun in the stomach. Ren-kun squirms. "Come on, your lines."
Silence prevails in the classroom for a while. Hao shifts slightly, and looks into Ren-kun's face.
"Ren?"
"O SPITE, O HELL!" Ren-kun yells violently, and throws Hao off him in a swift and accurate movement. Hao just takes the throw carefully, and lands perfectly, not a hair out of place. Damn these bishounen type people…Hao merely laughs, as a very flustered Ren-kun stands there, heaving and breathing hard.

***

"Well, that's something new…" Lyserg-kun sighs out. We'd somehow managed to drag the excited Matilda away from the classroom lest we be discovered, and carried an empty Marion back to where we were before. "I knew Hao was…you know…able to swing both ways, but seeing it…and with Ren-kun…"
"Well, like he said, they could have been acting…" I nervously twiddle my fingers.
"Like hell they were!" Lyserg-kun stands up, and raises his voice. "The might as well be…oh hell. And it's not like Ren-kun was retaliating at all…"
"Maybe he was shell shocked…" I offer an alternative. Chances are Lyserg is right, and Hao was NOT acting. Acting on his hormones, perhaps. Good thing he stopped where he did, if not Matilda may have died due to severe blood loss via a blood nose.

"I can't let such a vile act continue… poor Ren-kun! He'll be eaten!" I don't think I fully understood the nuances of what Lyserg just said, but when he says he can't let it continue…

"I'll have to take it to the Student Council immediately!" A

hhhh, I knew it… ever since Lyserg's joined the Student Council he's been a bit fanatic…

"What was wrong with that!?" Matilda bounds up to us, clearly in a good mood. "Hao-sama was soooo sexy…and that Chinese kid looked so VULNERABEL, it was DELICIOUS! Oh, why COULDN'T they have continued…"
"Mati, it's under age sex we're talking about here…"
"Oh, who CARES?" The two begin to argue the pros and cons of bisexuality, and I sit there wondering what was exactly going on: Anna-san led Yoh-kun out, essentially leaving Hao and Ren alone. Something seems very off here…

***

"So rehearsals went well?" Yoh-kun asks me, as Ren-kun and I walk beside Yoh-kun on our way home. The sun has pretty much gone down, and the only source of light seemed to come from the dimly waking street-lights.
"Uuum, I guess so… we should be OK by tomorrow…" as long as Marion snaps out of her semi-coma, I add to myself. Yoh-kun grins lopsidedly, and eyes Ren-kun out of the corner of his eye. But Ren-kun being himself, picked up the subtle movement, and returns the look.

"What?" he asks?
"Huh? Ahhh, nothing…" Yoh-kun beings a bit flustered, but then regains his composure. "Just you seemed…well, it seems like something on your mind is bothering you…" Bulls eye. Ren-kun's face flushes a quite amazing shade of strawberry, as he begins to stutter and get slightly angry.
"Wh- what makes you th-think that!?"
"Just you're really quiet, more so than usual…and you've got that face on…"
"What face!?"
"This face." Yoh-kun mock mimics Ren-kun's expression, dramatized for special effects.
"I don't need to be made a fool of by you twins!" Ren-kun huffs, still slightly blushing. "I'm going this way now…!" Ren-kun totters away at the large intersect he turns off to to get home.
"See ya Ren…!" Yoh-kun waves rather serenely behind the retreating figure. Whilst he doesn't turn back, Ren-kun raises his arm in acknowledgement of the temporary parting message.

Looking at the Ren-kun disappearing, I begin to wonder what exactly he was pondering about. No doubt that it was about what Hao did to him before…that we (unfortunately) witnessed. Isn't that liable for sexual harassment?

"Yoh-kun…" I begin, not sure if I should tell my friend what happened earlier that evening.
"Yeah… I can tell…" Yoh-kun smiles a bit sadly, still looking in the general direction Ren-kun disappeared off to. "Something happened between him and Hao right?" I can only nod in affirmation.
"Did he…" Yoh-kun then stops his train of speech. He hesitates, but then looks at me. "What did Hao exactly do to him?"
"Nothing much…" I begin, not sure how to go about this. But then I snort. "Well, not much probably in Hao's books."
"Sure." Yoh-kun grins rather impishly, seemingly understanding where I'm coming from. We both start our walk home again.
"He just sort of backed Ren-kun into a table and…well, yeah…the usual." I try to give details, but seeing as this isn't my area of expertise I let it slide.
"Haha, I bet Ren gave him a bit of a beating for that." Yoh-kun says rather jovially, but I remain silent. Yoh-kun senses something's amiss, and turns to me.
"Well…not really…" I begin.
"?"
"Not really…"
"I see…" Yoh-kun says softly. "Did…" Yoh-kun was about to ask something, but he hesitates again. "What did…Ren…do then?"
"…nothing."

Yoh-kun's face doesn't indicate anything at the moment. He does this on occasions. You can't really tell what he's thinking at times. But you can tell that whatever it is, he's very seriously contemplating the implications of my statement. You can't tell what they're thinking. Perhaps this is another point Hao and Yoh-kun share.

"But then afterwards Ren-kun regained himself and threw Hao off." I added, remembering the slightly delayed reaction that Ren-kun would usually executed had anyone else done something like that on him.
"That's good to know…" Yoh-kun smiles a bit forcefully. "Nah Manta, do you think…"
"I really don't know Yoh-kun, I really don't." I interrupt him. How would I know what Ren-kun thinks about Hao?

"Hey Manta, wanna stop for some tea or something? It's getting a bit dark… you could stay the night or something if you want to." I look at Yoh-kun, thrown off at the sudden invitation. I think, if anything, he's wanting to talk to someone, no, needing to talk to someone. As a friend who said he'll help Yoh-kun to get his sweetheart, I've been doing a pretty lousy job.
"Well, if it's OK with you and Keiko-san…"
"Nah, mum doesn't mind. She loves having my friends over. Last time Horohoro and Chocolove came to stay when we had to prepare for that biology presentation and stuff. She loves it."
"Has Ren-kun ever stayed at your place?" I ask.
"…Nah, he hasn't. Really haven't had an excuse to invite him over." Yoh-kun smiles grimly.
"Yoh-kun… you don't really need an excuse to invite someone over…I mean, you're just inviting me over now for no particular reason…aren't you?"
"True." Yoh-kun smiles slightly warmer now, and turns to me. "Thanks Manta…I really appreciate this…"
"Appreciate what?" I ask, genuinely curious.
"For being here…" I smile back.

We arrive a couple of seconds later to the Asakura resident.
"Mum, I'm home…and it's OK if Manta stays the night, yeah?"
"Manta-kun? Why I haven't seen him for such a long time…" Keiko-san appears from the living room, and beams at me. "Hello Manta-kun! Gee, you must have grown since I saw you last." I laugh somewhat apprehensively. I think my growth stopped when I was in year 3…
"It's always a pleasure to have you over… Yoh, could you prepare dinner tonight? I know you're all tired from rehearsals and all, but I need to make an urgent phonecall…"
"Sure… but why can't Hao cook? He's home, isn't he?"
"He's asleep. He came home a bit earlier than you two and fell right asleep at the couch…"
"Really?" I couldn't help but ask rather incredulously.
"What ever." Yoh-kun shrugs nonchalantly, and heads to the kitchen. "Come in Manta, make yourself at home." "Ojyamashimasu…" I say apprehensively, but totter into the kitchen.

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Haha, really not much again, is there? This story is really going in directions I have no idea about…I wrote the first half of this chapter quite a while ago… but it's been sitting still for sometime now. I couldn't write humor for a while, and even the second half of this chapter is a lame shot at humor in my opinion. The next chapter is taking a bit of a break from Shakespear (I have an oral presentation to make soon about Macbeth… let me escape for just a bit, yeah? ^_~)

I might add that in my eyes, Yoh and Manta are friends only. ONLY. Very good friends though. :D I can't do YohxManta to save my life, and I never really viewed their relationship as something like that...I dunno why. At least in this fic, the setting is that they are very close friends with a very trusting relationship. People who have such a friendship are very, very fortunate.