Blind Ambition
Chapter 3: Oh Me, Oh My, The Drama
By: Saroya
Rated: PG-13 for now. (Language, suggestive humor)Warning: SHOUNEN-AI. All haters go elsewhere.
Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King.
"Yo, Horo!"
The blue and black-haired boy plodded through the halls, grumbling to himself. What the hell was that Tao Ren's problem! Horo did was try to be nice, maybe become friends with him. And what did he get in return? Insults! Attitude! Bitchiness! After they're little discrepancy in from of the class, no words had been exchanged, and both boys had rushed out of the room to lunch, Pirika trailing Ren. With his luck, she'd probably bring him to sit at lunch with him. "God damnit!" he groaned.
"Horo!" Someone suddenly pushed him from behind. He whirled around, eyes narrowed, and glared at Yoh. The brunette grinned sheepishly. "I called you a few minutes ago, but you didn't answer. Why are you so concentrated on getting to lunch?"
Horohoro frowned. "I'm not. I'm pissed off, man." The two started walking again. Yoh cocked his head curiously. "Some dumbass transferred here from Shinanome, and I tried to be nice to him, but he's an ass! I mean it!"
Yoh laughed beside him. "I'm sure it wasn't that bad."
"Yes, it was!" The boy clenched his fists. "He was rude! And mean! And called me an idiot, and all sorts of other things!" He jammed his hands in his pockets, dragging his feet.
"Watch out, Horohoro, you're pouting." Yoh smirked, watching his friend's face turn bright red.
"Am not! Ren's evil!"
"Evil?" Yoh laughed, hands up behind his head. "Man, I really want to meet this guy!"
"What the hell for!" Horo exclaimed.
Yoh winked at him. "I want to see the guy who can get you this riled up."
"Well, everyone, this is Tao Ren." Pirika smiled happily at the group at the lunch table, arm hooked around Ren's. Horohoro growled audibly from where he sat, not looking up. "Ren, these are mine and my brother's friends." She glared at said boy. "I know you two have already met."
Ren merely gazed- more like glared- at all of them, mouth set in a permanent frown. Horo felt those golden eyes on him, and quickly focused on his soda, leaning forwards to avoid the angry stare.
"W-well," Pirika laughed awkwardly, feeling the tension. "You just stay here while I get my lunch, okay?" With that, she releases his arm, and ran off towards the lines.
"Umn…you know…"Yoh said after several moments. "You can sit down." The entire group of seated boys burst out laughing. Ren, who had been standing in the same place ever since Pirika left, scowled.
"I don't need you to tell me what I can and cannot do!" he snapped, eyes narrowing. Nevertheless, he sat down in one of the cafeteria chairs, leaning his head on his hands and looking off away from the group.
"Geez," Horo snickered. "Rich boy can't do anything without little Miss Control-freak around, eh?" He smirked in the Chinese boy's direction, taking another sip from his drink. Ren leapt to his feet.
"Shut the hell up, you goddamn idiot!" The purple-haired boy reached across the table, and smacked the bottle in Horo's hands. Caught off-guard, the boy let go of the bottle and it spilled all over his face and clothes.
"You fuckin' jackass!" He yelled, jumping to his feet. Grabbing Ren by his shirt, he dragged the shorter boy across the table, his dark eyes flashing. The other's yellow eyes widened, almost panicking.
"Hey, Horo, calm down," Yoh said calmly from his side, his hand on the bluenette's arm. Horohoro took a deep breath, and loosened his grip on Ren's shirt, before letting it go completely. The Chinese boy carefully pulled himself up, and sat back down, not looking any of them in the eye.
"I got a great idea while I was in line!" A perky female voice suddenly squealed. All of them jumped in their seats, turning to find Pirika standing in front of the table, tray in hand, and a bright smile on her face.
"And that is…?" Anna sighed, eyes glaring at the younger girl. The blue-haired girl smiled with unfeigned glee.
"How about we have Ren hang out with us at Yoh's after school? He can see you all practice!"
"Anna…I don't think that's a good-" Yoh started.
"Ah, hell no!" Horohoro cried. Pirika glared at her brother.
"He's coming, and there's nothing you can do about it."
"But," Lyserg said carefully, so as not to invoke the girl's wrath. "You weren't here to see what happened a minute ago. Ren…might not want to go."
Ren blinked, eyes shining with a light none of them had seen before. Smirking, he shook his head at Lyserg. "Actually, I think I'd love to go," he said smoothly. "It sounds very…intriguing." He glanced slyly in Horo's direction.
"Dammit…" the other growled quietly.
Horohoro heaved a sigh, leaning on the brick wall of the school. It was just five minutes before the final bell was supposed to ring to release the students to go home, but he'd told his teacher that he wasn't feeling well, and had been waiting there ever since. Buses were already lined up along the sidewalk outside, and several skippers, not unlike himself, were hanging about as well.
It had been a horrible day, and all thanks to Tao Ren. What was that guy's problem, anyway? Horo had never done anything to him to make him mad, and yet the Chinese boy seemed to completely hate him. He closed his eyes, a light breeze fluttering his wild blue and black hair.
A blaring noise interrupted his thoughts, and a second later students came rushing out the front doors, not even noticing the boy watching them. Sometimes, he wishes he really could be invisible. Things would be so much simpler…
"Hey, idiot!" Horohoro snapped awake, focusing on the purple-haired figure in front of him. His eyes met bright amber as Ren shook his head. "Those dimwits told me to come get you, so move." He jabbed his thumb towards the street, where the rest of the group stood, laughing their asses off. Horo scowled at them, sticking his tongue out, then moved quickly past Ren. A slight mumble reached his ears. "Did you say something?" He glanced over his shoulder at the new boy, who scoffed.
"Nope." The bluenette rolled his eyes and kept going towards the van that was parked, not seeing if Ren was following.
"Hey, Mrs. Asakura!" he greeted, waving to the woman in the driver's seat. She waved back, smiling happily as Ryu got in the passenger seat. "Pirika decided to bring along a friend, is that okay?"
"It's fine with me," the woman replied, "but it might be a tight fit back there now." Horo nodded and turned back to the others.
"I'll go in last- you all get situated first," he ordered. Yoh, Anna and Lyserg went first and sat in the middle-row seat, followed by Pirika and Ren, who sat in the back-row seat. Looking around, he could tell the only way he'd get a seat would be to sit real close to Ren, and that wasn't happening. "I know this ain't legal, but there's no other way," he called to Yoh's mother, and sat himself in the small space between the middle-row seat and the sliding door. "All set!" With that, Mrs. Asakura started the vehicle, and they started on their way.
"Yo, Horo!" Yoh said, craning around Lyserg to look at the other boy. "You said that you'd bring the lyrics and music for that new song today, right? Did you remember?"
"Of course!" He laughed, leaning back on the seat behind him. "I really think this new song will sound great when we put it all together. I spent five whole weeks getting the harmonies right. I just hope you all will like the lyrics."
"It's not some corny love song, is it?" Pirika groaned. "You write so many of those!" All the other boys stared at her in amazement, and her brother's cheeks went red. "Oh…were they not supposed to know about those…?" She asked nervously, biting her thumb. "Sorry…"
"It's okay," Horo sighed. "It's nothing important, anyway." Ryu laughed from up front.
"'No big deal'? I think it is definitely a big deal! I never would have pegged you for a mushy-type!" the older boy laughed. "So, when are we going to hear any of those love song?"
"Never," the blue-haired boy replied quickly. "They're all horrible. I've tried over and over to write something I like, but none of it comes out right. Just a big, corny mess." He pouted, and turned away from the group so that they couldn't see.
"Of course they don't come out right," Anna scoffed from where she sat, staring out the window. "You can't possibly write about love when you've never experienced it."
"Oh, shut up." Horo let out a small sigh, and looked back at Pirika, who looked as if she was about to cry. "Don't worry, sis, I don't care if they know." He gave her his silly grin, and she laughed quietly. Looking at Ren for the first time since getting in the car, he noticed that the new boy had been watching him carefully. Surprisingly, he didn't look, for once, like he was planning Horohoro ultimate destruction. The spike-haired boy looked thoughtful, almost kind, and jumped slightly when Horo met his eyes. "What're you staring at?"
"N-nothing," Ren replied, quickly turning to look out the window. The blue-haired boy shrugged, and turned his attention back to the others.
"Needless to same, though, I'm really excited about this new song."
"Alright, boys and girls, here's your stop," Mrs. Asakura laughed from the driver's seat. Horo pulled the heavy door, sliding it across. Stepping out, he stretched his back, looking at the huge Asakura house. It was perfect- white picket fence, giant door, crystal-clear glass windows and perfectly clean white siding. As everyone climbed out, Yoh ran to the front door, and disappeared inside.
Horo looked back at where Pirika and Ren stood. "You sure your parents will be okay with you not being home on time? We stay pretty late."
"I'm fine. My parents probably won't be home at all tonight, and my sister doesn't care," Ren replied, sounding almost sad. The blue-haired boy paused a moment, wanting to find out what was wrong. He shook that thought out of his head. He had to remember whom he was talking to.
Suddenly there was a loud, mechanical sound from the garage, and, slowly, the huge door began to open. "Well, c'mon." Horo walk into the large garage, looking around at the familiar room. To one side here was a homemade stage, equipped with a drum set, three guitars, a keyboard, and five mics with stands. On the other side, there was an old, large couch, a min-fridge, a huge stereo, and a small desk.
"You kids have fun," Mrs. Asakura said happily before entering her house. The blue-haired boy grinned and grabbed his backpack, sinking into the couch.
"So it's right to work, then?" Yoh sighed, watching the other boy rummage through his messy pack.
"Of course!" Horohoro replied. "We need to get some real work done, for once."
Lyserg yawned, walking over to the keyboard. "It's not our fault you never like how we play your songs."
"Yeah," Yoh agreed, but still began to set up a mic. "You always whine about how my voice doesn't sound right."
"It doesn't," Horo pouted, flipping through his papers. "Don't get me wrong, you have a great voice, but it's not right for the kind of songs we've been trying to sing." Inside, he frowned. All the songs he'd written before we angry, sad, depressing songs, which only a person could understand if they had felt that way before. Yoh, however, hadn't had anything really bad happen to him in his life. "This new song, though, is a bit different. I think it'll sound great on you."
"That's a relief," the others laughed, while setting up all the rest of the instruments.
"Wait 'til you hear them, Ren!" Pirika squealed excitedly from her seat next to Horo. Ren, who was sitting next to her, with Anna on his other side, merely shrugged. "I know they may seem like a bunch of idiots, but they are really talented! My bro is a musical genius!"
"Could've fooled me," the Chinese boy snickered. Horohoro twitched, but continued looking through his work. Finally, he found what he was looking for.
"Here we go!" he said triumphantly, rising to his feet. He handed out each of the parts- the guitar section to Ryu, the piano part to Lyserg, the voice part to Yoh, and last, he set the percussion part on his stand next to the drum set. "Read over your parts and the lyrics, and then we'll practice."
"Hey," Anna said from the couch. "I just realized something. Where is Manta?" Horohoro gave her a small smile.
"He's staying after school today, so I'm in charge."
"Oh boy, now we're in trouble," she snorted. The boy rolled his eyes before returning them to his paper. After a few minutes of reading, he walked over to Yoh, who, for once, was in deep concentration.
"Everything okay?"
"Uh-huh," the brunette replied, "but I'm not sure I'm getting the melody. Will you sing it once for me?" Yoh glanced up quickly, but quickly looked back down.
"Oh, no, you're not foolin' me," Horo growled. "You can't trick me into singing anything."
"Oh, c'mon. I haven't heard you sing in forever!"
"And you're not gonna hear me any time soon." Horo crossed his arms across his chest, shaking his head.
"Well then I guess we won't be playing this new song anytime soon," Ryu sighed from where he stood, waiting to start playing. The other groaned, his hanging his head in defeat. All he wanted was to have them have one good song. Then they could try to get gigs. But no, his friends had to be difficult! Grabbing Yoh's mic, he glared at the boy.
"Don't blame me if I suck," he grumbled. He frowned before opening his mouth. "I-"
"Hey, everyone!" Horohoro nearly fell off the stage as another boy walked into the garage. Dark brown hair fell down past his shoulders, and he wore a fuchsia school uniform.
Horo breathed a sigh of relief. "Hey, Hao!"
"Hey, Bro!" Yoh greeted. Immediately everyone dropped what they were doing to go say hello to the other Asakura boy.
"Did I interrupt anything?" Hao asked as Oversoul put down their instruments.
"No, no, nothing at all," Horo answered quickly. The rest of the group glared at him.
"Actually," Yoh said, grabbing the bluenette by the arm. "Horohoro was about to sing for us." The other Asakura raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, really? I don't think I've ever heard you sing. This could be interesting." Yoh dragged Horo up to the stage.
"Well, go on."
"Gah…fine,"
the boy muttered, before closing his eyes a moment. Then, holding the
mic tightly to try and hide the fact his hands were shaking, he began
to sing:
"I wanna change the world,
I wanna find my pearl,
I wanna be the one who in the end gets the pretty girl,
Don't wanna be out done,
I wanna be second to none,
I wanna be the hero not a zero to everyone,
But I'm subtracting by addition,
And I'm a pretty fat magician,
I haven't figured out my mission,
Just another boy with blind ambition"
Horo dropped his eyes, not looking around the room.
"Now, you see, with a voice like that, why don't you sing more often?" The blue-haired boy looked up, seeing Yoh watching him and smiling. He turned a light shade of pink, and shook his head. He couldn't explain why- none of them would understand. "Man, you get shy at the weirdest times." Trudging back to the couch, Horo sank down next to Pirika.
"It doesn't surprise me at all you never sing. You're horrible." Horohoro whipped his head in the direction the voice came from. Ren sat, arms crossed, a smirk on his face. His face darkened.
"I don't need any more shit from you," he growled. "You don't know anything about music, teacher's pet, so don't bug me."
"Music is a worthless profession," Ren stated haughtily. "You have to have a great deal of luck on your side to actually make it, and anyone who doesn't make it have no way of making a decent living. I don't see why you all are wasting your time with this."
"Just shut up!" Horohoro yelled, getting to his feet. "Our reasons are none of your business. We didn't even invite you here in the first place!"
"Hmn…you do make a good point," the Chinese boy chuckled. "You actually have a brain in there somewhere. I was expecting some kind of speech about how music is your life or something." The other twitched. "Or were you saving that to tell me now?"
"Whether music if my life or not…isn't any concern of yours," he replied slowly, giving a small shrug. "I honestly don't care about what you think of me. Go to hell." He turned around to the rest of them. "Well, you all got what you wanted. Now, I think I'm gonna head home. You all practice your parts- I already have mine memorized. Is it alright if I borrow your moped?" he asked Yoh.
"Yeah, just return it tomorrow at school."
"Okay." He turned to look at Pirika. "Are you coming with me?" His sister shook her head, long blue hair bouncing.
"No. I'll have Mrs. Asakura give me a ride later."
"Fine." With that, he left the garage.
Saroya's Note: Hah! I finally updated! Sorry for the long wait, school's been hell. I'm really surprised that you all have still been reviewing. You rock:laughs: Anyways, as you can see, these two have a long way to go before we get to the wonderful, sappy romantic stuff. But I promise, it'll be a fun ride. And I apologize for two things. One, I haven't gotten into Hao, Lyserg, Ryu, or Anna's personalities. I'm sorry to all fans of said characters, but they really don't play that big a role just yet. Hopefully they will late. And two, I didn't do much description of Horohoro's singing. Quite honestly, I have no idea how to describe singing without it being really corny and bad. If anyone can help, email or IM me. Thanks in advance! Well, I hope you enjoyed that. It was much longer than the other chapters. Review, people! It motivates me to work!
For all the people who noticed this little thing next to the song lyrics, good for you! I was just wondering if anyone knows where this song is from? It's pretty funny, and kind of sad (on my part), but this song inspired the entire story, so I had to include it! I'll tell you the answer in chapter four, but if you know where it's from, say so! I give you…a cookie? ;
Saroya's Preview: We get into Ren's head a bit, and see his point of view on the whole situation. Secrets about his old school, his parents and much more are revealed!
