Shaman Idol
Chapter 3: Stalker!
Disclaimer: Shaman King does not belong to me.
Uh. Yes. I'm alive. I just... lost my love for RenPiri (and Shaman King in general), but I will try and complete this. I like this plot, and I really should finish all my fics. Sorry it's short and late, though. >.> I'll try writing more.
Pirika wondered why she had even bothered showing up, waiting for an arrogant idol who she knew for sure would bring nothing but bad, bad news. It had been a great ordeal coming up with a hundred lies for her best friend, who did nothing wrong but drag her to this stupid airplane. The flight alone had given her an even bigger headache, the screams not quieting at all while Ren toured.
"Glad to see you came."
She stiffled a groan, resisting the urge to run away or give him a big slap across the face. "Yes, now what do you want?"
"I called you here to arrange marriage plans-"
Her scream was probably heard all the way back to Hokkaido, and 3 bodyguards armed with scary looking guns came barging out of the next room, looking alarmed behind their sunglasses. After one look at Pirika, obviously remembering her from before, they went back to their rooms looking very uninterested.
"HOW MANY TIMES MUST I TELL YOU FOR IT TO GET THROUGH YOUR THICK HEAD? I- AM- NOT- MARRYING YOU!"
"Will you please stop screaming in my ear? It's not like you have a choice. You can try and avoid me, but I'll always find you."
Pirika snorted. "Oh yeah? What if I run off to America or Iraq or China? What will you do then?"
"You won't." He said confidently, crossing his arms. "You don't have the money."
...That was true. In fact, she doubted she even had enough money to go back to Hokkaido. But wait a minute. Why did he know this?
Apparently Ren knew this, as he gave her a smirk and told her, "I looked you up. I know enough about you now as much as your brother."
This was not consoling at all. "I had my servants hack into a couple of servers." He said as if he was stating the weather. "Got a whole load of info about you."
She couldn't believe it. Of course keeping an online diary- although it had been completely locked and private, so only her closest friends could see it- had been a bad idea from the start. She was trapped, obviously. Was she going to end up as his showcase wife? "My brother will surely kill you." Pirika said venemously. "He'll tear you apart limb by limb, and throw you in the incinerator-"
"Ok, ok. I get the message that your dear brother is very 'strong'. But that doesn't change the fact that you'll be marrying me. I need you, Pirika."
The sexy syrupy voice didn't fool her. "You wish."
"My wish is always granted. Since I have a meeting with Uchida Hikaru soon, we'll have to postpone the plans." He took out a datebook- a datebook! Who knew stars kept neat little datebooks?- and squinted his eyes, studying it. "Meet me everyday from tomorrow at 10 at... how about Kichijoji? In front of the JR station ticket gates? I don't really want to go to crowded spots; more people recognize me. Although Kichijoji is crowded as it is."
She should just ignore the crazy man who was making crazy plans. This was all probably just a dream or a hallucination. "Are you stupid? Of course people will recognize you!"
Ren shrugged again. "I'll wear sunglasses."
Pirika laughed out loud at this; sunglasses? Did he seriously think sunglasses would hide his huge pointy head? She mentioned this to him in a very 'are you stupid?' voice.
He seemed to have no problem as he waved the statement away. "I better go. My manager is going to kill me if she finds out I'm not heading over there already... If I don't find you there at 10, I'll go head over to your house and come pick you up myself."
Once again she found herself envisioning her hands wringing the damned idols neck... "I hate you, Tao."
He just gave her a smirk as he tutted her. "Ren, Pirika, Ren."
In which she only replied with a rude one fingered gesture before stalking off, fuming.
She wasn't going, of course. What kind of right-minded vulnerable girl would go to Kichijoji with an insane person like Ren Tao?
"Are you okay, Pirika? You really seem... stressed today. You're not right, ever since we rode the plane..."
The two shaman girls were riding on the train, both sitting on the heated chairs, waiting for the Funbari-ga-oka station. It seemed extremely faraway as Pirika had been mumbling curses the whole ride, wringing imaginary necks- Ren Tao's, to be exact. This really worried Tamao; it wasn't like Pirika to be so sullen for so long.
"Can you keep a secret, Tamao?"
Tamao blinked at the sudden question. "Of course... why?"
"Promise you won't tell anyone? And that you won't scream or want to kill me after I tell you?"
Now she was genuinely curious. What could it be? A proposal from the great Ren Tao? She almost laughed at that little thought; the chances had to be below zero, and she knew her friend wasn't very fond of him. She'd seen the displeasure on her face when Ren-sama had begun talking on the microphone for the tour.
"That demented lunatic wants me to marry him."
...so maybe the chances weren't below zero.
"WHAT?"
Heads turned their way, old ladies with cranes glaring at them with scary flashes of glasses. Pirika hurriedly indicated for her to shut up, looking obviously panicked. "Shhh. This isn't my fault, you know. He forced me into it. And now I need to go visit him tomorrow at Kichijoji, even though he's a lunatic let loose from the mental hospital."
"Ren-sama wants to marry you?" Tamao said faintly, hardly daring to believe it. The man of her dreams wanted to marry her best friend. Why did she have such bad luck in men? Or maybe this was her glorious chance to snatch him?
"Yes, but I don't want to marry an asshole like him." Pirika said, immense dislike etched in her face. "Do you think you can distract him by going to Kichijoji for me instead?"
Her dream date. A once in a life chance. Any sane girl would snatch at the opportunity. "No, Pirika, you have to go."
She'd blown it. She'd tossed the winning lottery down the drain, into the shredder... Why she didn't accept her offer, she didn't know. Maybe it was because deep down, she had always known that Yoh or Ren would always be someone out of range. Unable to be obtained. And here was her best friend, suddenly getting proposed by a movie star she didn't even like!
Life was so unfair.
"You'll have to drag my dead corpse to Kichijoji to get me there." Pirika scowled. "But for some reason I'm scared of what he'll do if I don't go."
"You have to go, Pirika." Tamao said soothingly. "He's Ren Tao. How many people do you think he's proposed to before?"
"You're misunderstanding something, Tamao. He wants me to marry him because if he marrys, apparently his father will let him quit this show business."
Silence.
"Nevermind, Pirika. I'll kill you if you go to Kichijoji tomorrow."
A grin formed on the ainu's face. "Kill me if I try and go. And kill Tao, too, if he shows up."
"Funbari-ga-oka! Funbari-ga-oka!"
Their boding time was interrupted as their station loomed into view. Pirika wasted no time snatching up her duffelbag and heading over to the sliding doors. "Come on, Tamao! We're going to meet oniichan!"
Tamao smiled at the happy girl who was excitedly looking out the window. This was the real Pirika.
"ONIICHAN!"
Pirika threw herself at the spiky haired ainu, tossing her duffelbag at Ryu, who was currently working at the 'En'. "I missed you so, so much!" Suddenly, she pulled away from him with a completely different scary expression. "You made me come to Tokyo."
Horohoro felt himself sweating. His sister was now glaring at him, her hands on her hips. Even Yoh and Ryu looked scared- they'd seen this expression before. On a certain scary, scary itako, just as she would raise her left hand...
SLAP!
The poor boy went flying off a few meters away, a new red handprint appearing on his right cheek. Everyone looked completely slackjawed except for Anna who had come up from behind Yoh. She regarded the Ainu siblings with cool eyes and lifted her mouth a milimeter to Pirika. It had to be the first time she'd smiled to anyone besides Yoh.
And she stalked off back into the 'En', looking oddly satisfied for some reason, leaving everyone even more slackjawed.
Pirika, on the otherhand, looked thrilled at being smiled to from the Itako. She idolized Anna very much... which would explain where she got that legendary lefthand slap.
"Pirika... don't you think you were a little too harsh?" Ryu asked timidly, holding up her blue duffelbag. The owner of 'En' himself had gone running off to Horohoro who, for the time being, seemed clearly knocked out.
She dusted off her hands, sniffing disdainfully. "No. Do you know how much it costs, paying for all the damage he does?" She snatched up her duffelbag and headed into the 'En' after Anna. Even Tamao looked surprised at the sudden slap, and she hurried off after Pirika calling her name.
"Horohoro! Are you alive?" Ryu yelled, lightly slapping him across the face again.
"Nooo," He moaned. "Forgive me, Pirika, don't kill me..."
Yoh nodded gravely. "That evil left-hand slap has that kind of effect." For once, Ryu was glad he didn't have any close women around him who would give him one of those evil slaps.
"Ergh... I guess I deserved it, though. But boy, I never knew she had such a mean slap... I shouldn't have let her near Anna too much." he said with a groan, rubbing his poor cheeks.
"Anna's not that bad." Yoh said defensively. "She's just a bit strict."
While the boy's tried to revive Horohoro, Pirika and Tamao had joined Anna on the table sipping tea. Apparently they had interrupted a moment of tea time.
A tense silence followed as Pirika fidgeted uneasily in her seat, and Tamao kept giving her meaningful glances. "You should ask for Anna's advice... she gives out good ones when it comes to men." she whispered.
Scary people like Anna are said to have a devils ear. "What?"
You can't help but cower when she pins you with those cold eyes. "Um... well..."
Tamao elbowed her hard in the ribs. "She's being chased." She said with surprising courage from a shy girl like her. "She needs advice on warding him off, right?"
The Ainu scowled at her for revealing her secret. But Anna actually seemed interested- slightly, of course- as she set down her tea. "And who the hell is this bastard chasing you?"
Pirika really had no desire letting more people know about her run in with the famous star. But then again, this was Anna. You could trust Anna... usually. "It's Tao... Ren Tao. Apparently he needs a bride, so he could quit his job as a famous drama star."
A brief silence as Anna sipped her tea again. It was broken, however, as Yoh and Ryu came inside dragging a still dead-to-the-world Horohoro with them.
"Anna okami? Can we use one of the cold sticky things for Horohoro here?"
The mistress wasn't listening to him. Her eyes never strayed from Pirika as she answered, quite cooly, "Kill him. The world could do with one less bastard."
An icy atmosphere filled the already falling apart guesthouse. It was obvious the men thought she had been talking about Horohoro, while, in truth, she had simply been giving Pirika advice. Scary and useless advice, but an advice nonetheless.
"...Uh, nevermind about the sticky thing..."
And so the girls were left alone again as the three men fled quickly from Anna's wrath. "...Kill him?"
Anna thought for a moment. "Actually, you think you could drag him here?" An evil plan was already forming in the itako's head. "And we'll advertise that the drama star is here, and then guests will be fighting to stay here-"
"I am not inviting him to stay here!" Pirika spat, appalled at the very though. Him, here in this old house that threated to fall apart at the smallest earthquakes? She would never be able to live it down.
"It'll be good for the guesthouse!" She insisted. "People will pay just to step foot into this house!"
Pirika shook her head. "I rode a plane full of fangirls, and it was no picnic, I assure you. Right, Tamao?"
"Um, well, it was very loud-"
"Don't worry, we'll be making money like crazy..." The guesthouse mistress really would do anything to make money and have an easier life, wouldn't she?
"Anna, I don't think it's a good idea. I hate his guts, and I'm planning on never talking to him again-"
RRRRRING!
Pirika scrambled for her cellphone, wondering who in the world could be calling her. Only her brother, Tamao and a handful of friends had her phonenumber... And all of them rarely called her, except for her brother.
"Hello-"
"Miss me?"
Birds flew dramatically out of the trees at her high-pitched shriek of surprise. Anna looked slightly annoyed as she scowled at her. "You have one heck of a voice, girl."
And so Pirika did the only thing that seemed sane then: she hung up on him, and then turned off her cellphone. Stalkers were dangerous... she should change her cellphone number soon. She never would have even dreamed that Ren would really try and stalk her, just to get her to marry him...
"Who was it?" Tamao asked curiously. Pirika never looked so panicked from a phonecall. Not counting the call from her brother, of course.
"...Um, no one."
God, she really couldn't lie in front of Tamao... Everyone had always said her emotions came up so clearly on her face. Like now, for instance. Like the twisted, angry yet nervous expression on her face just then.
"Was it The Bastard?"
The Bastard. It was now completely capitalized like it was a real name. "...Yes, it was." Pirika admitted grudgingly, stuffing back the cellphone. "I'm not inviting him to the En, Anna, so please forget about it."
Surprising both Tamao and Pirika, Anna jutted out her lower lip very out of character-edly, crossing her arms. "Fine."
This was unbelievable. Anna wasn't supposed to just say 'fine'. She was supposed to be more forceful and threaten to ring their necks if they didn't oblige. She wasn't supposed to end it with a single word.
Sensing a trap somewhere, Pirika cautiously got up and backed out to the door. "I'm going to go see how my brother's doing..."
Tamao was up in a flash, running after Pirika. "Um, I think I'll go and see how Horohoro is doing, too."
They were pretty sure that they weren't imagining the ice cold glare boring into their backs.
Ren scowled as he tossed the phone a few feet away from him violently, chipping the plastic slightly. "Women. I don't get what the hell they want and what the hell they don't want."
"Kindly do not break the furniture, dear brother." Jun leaned over and picked up the thrown phone, setting it on the coffee table. "Now what's this about women? You can consult anything to your sister."
His scowl deepened. "Do me a favor and tell father to take back his ridiculous conditions. I don't mind if you kill him in the process."
Jun grinned. "Women trouble, dear brother? Do you hate your current job that much?"
"Must I say more?"
"You just have to marry, Ren. You can pick anyone out of the tidal wave of fangirls who are camping out in front of our mansion."
Fangirls were camping out in front of their mansion? That just proved more how pathetic humans were.
"Father wants a pure shaman bride, Jun." He said stiffly. "You know that."
Why the hell was her smile getting wider? "And I guess you found one already, considering your temper and all. That lucky girl must have fainted with pleasure when you proposed to her."
"Oh, no." Ren answered sarcastically. "She just had to scream with pleasure."
"WHY THE HELL WOULD I MARRY A BASTARD LIKE YOU?"
Yeah. With complete utter pleasure.
Jun must have read his expression; her grin widened another centimeter. "Feisty girl, eh? But I'll bet she'll be a good medicine for you. When do I get to meet her?"
"I don't know. I'm meeting her tomorrow at Kichijoji. If she turns up."
"If? There can't be any if's here. We're talking about you. No one can resist an offer from you."
That was why he was very unpleasantly surprised now. She had to be the first one to yell at him and turn him down and call him horrible names. As much as it pained him to admit it, he couldn't really lie to his sister. "Just one. Just that one girl, who has to slap me and punch me in the nose whenever I try to even touch her damned skin. But don't get me wrong, Jun." He flashed his eyes dangerously to his sister. "I have not lost my touch. I will make her marry me and I will quit this stupid worthless job the moment I get the chance."
He received a slightly sad smile in return. "Just... just don't hurt her, alright? She may be a bit feisty, but she's still a normal girl. It isn't fair to her if you just use her."
Ren shrugged unfeelingly. "I don't really care. She's just a tool; I'll get rid of her the moment I quit the job."
That said, and not wanting to feel anymore guiltier, he stood up and headed for his room. He had a plan to make.
End chapter 3. Dunno when the next update'll be. XD;;