Mikau: Hello everyone! Sorry that I haven't updated in…who knows how long. I've been pretty sick. I still am pretty sick, but for a week or so I didn't even get out of bed or touch my computer. I'm feeling a bit better, but my blood sugar is really messed up, and it's been hard to type. So that's the story of me not updating for forever.
Disclaimer: I don't own Shaman King.
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Difficult First Rehearsal
"Now are you sure you want to go to school today?" My father checked for the thirty thousandth and thirty-third time. "Cause you know, after last night, you don't have to."
I waved him away and continued munching on my toast. "Nothing happened last night. I'm fine. Even the bump on my head is completely healed. Besides, I have rehearsal tonight, and I'm the leading female role. I can't not show up."
"Come on Hao, let her go. Thorn's tough." My uncle Yoh put an arm around me and looked up with innocent eyes at his older twin.
"That's easy for you to say; you're not her father." Hao mumbled sullenly.
"If she says she's fine, she is." Valerie ruffled my father's hair playfully as she walked past. "Let her eat her breakfast; she needs her strength."
Hao was instantly distracted. "If you say so."
"Come on," She pulled him over to their seats at the table. "You have to eat to." She smiled and he melted. He smiled sappily with a love-struck look in his eyes and did whatever she told him.
"They're so in love." Being the romantic in the family, I sighed dreamily. I looked at my uncle who was also watching the lovebirds flirt heavily over breakfast. "They really should get married."
He nodded. "Yeah…they were made for each other. I'm surprised she hasn't told him yet."
"Told him what? That she's pregnant with his child?" I held my breath and waited hopefully.
Yoh blinked. "Hmm? Oh, no. That—never mind." My uncle smiled sheepishly, almost revealing information that he shouldn't have.
"Oh come on Yoh! You have to tell me!" I begged and pleaded, knowing that my uncle couldn't keep a secret from me very well.
"Yoh." Anna towered over the two of us looking displeased.
"Yes Anna?" Yoh was saved from revealing secrets by his wife.
"Why aren't you sitting by me at your usual spot? Am I not good enough for you anymore?" The blonde Itako looked angry.
"NO! No…Um…I'll see you Thorn." The Shaman King escaped with his wife.
A frustrated sigh left my lips as he got away. 'No one ever tells me anything.' I was distracted from my depressing thoughts shortly there after by a friendly greeting from my cousin.
Hana waved at me as he came dashing down the stairs, giving me a brief greeting. "Hey Thorn! How ya feelin'?"
"Fine thanks." I answered quickly as he took his seat next to Ivory and Makoto.
My sister walked slowly down the stairs after Hana and took her place next to me, a completely elated grin plastered permanently on her face. She hummed happily to herself, a dreamy look in her eye as she stirred her tea mechanically, not really perceiving anything that was happening around her.
"So, what are you high on?" I teased.
"Hmm?" She came back down to Earth for a minute, realizing where she was and what was going on. "Oh. Hello Thorn." She smiled brightly, unable to hide the gleaming light in her eyes. "I've just had the best night of my life."
It was then that I noticed all the hickeys she was trying to cover up under her clothes. "I see. Good customer?" I blushed faintly.
"No. Nothing like that. I'm in love. I'm quitting my job and taking another as a stripper." She announced proudly.
I blinked. "Dad'll be proud."
"Oh shit. Dad." All traces of happiness left her and guilt took over her features. "What have I done? Oh my God. He'll so totally kill me if—when he finds out. Oh my God." She buried her face in her hands.
I didn't completely follow her train of thoughts. "For sleeping with one guy? He doesn't seem to mind you doing it for a living. If you love this guy I don't see how Dad could be angry. I'm happy for you." I smiled encouragingly.
"Yeah…I guess…Oh well…What's done is done, and I'm meeting him again tonight." The euphoric grin returned to her face. I was happy that she finally fell in love with someone who could make her happy. She deserved to be like this after what she had gone through in the name of love. If this guy could make my sister happy, he couldn't be all bad.
"You seem really different." I cocked my head slightly. "You haven't used your Valley Girl accent in awhile. This guy's really changed you." A kiddish grin spread across my face.
"You're right…he has…I'd like to think maybe I changed him too. Maybe. But not too much or he might lose all the devilish qualities I love about him." She lapsed back into her dream world, and was lost to the rest of us.
I smiled and got back to my meal. 'I wonder if Lian and I will be like that?'
A small clinking noise of dishes to my left made me jump and jarred my thoughts. I turned and blinked curiously at a petite, pale looking girl, taking a seat next to me. She looked up at me with big, bright, golden eyes. She opened her mouth and her voice sounded like wind chimes being rustled lightly in the breeze. "You are Thorn?"
I nodded, stunned into shocked silence by the emerald-haired girl. Her hair was up in two buns on the side of her head, but somehow she had enough hair left over to have some of it hang down, flowing gracefully down to the middle of her back. She wore a black mandarin shirt and black straight-legged chiffon capris. The darkness of the clothes perfectly set off the paleness of her skin and the lightness of her hair and eyes.
"I see." She knelt next to me at her place at the table. She closed her eyes, ceremoniously popping a pill into her mouth and delicately bringing a glass cup of milk to her lips. She sipped slowly. "I'm lactose intolerant, so in order to drink milk I have to take my medicine."
I nodded, still unable to speak. Perhaps I could have spoken if I wanted to, but I didn't know what to say. I watched her as she took a few small sips of her milk. She didn't look at me, but kept her eyes downward and talked softy so that I had to listen hard to hear her.
"I am Tao Jade by the way. First and only child of Tao Ren and Usui Pilika. Twelve years of age." She set down the cup and saucer of milk and picked up a piece of toast to nibble on.
I blinked, finally finding my voice. "Uh…I'm Asakura Thorn. Second child of Asakura Hao. Sixteen and a half years old." She nodded, assuring me that I had introduced myself correctly even though I had purposely left out my mother's name.
Her lips parted in a small smile. "Though you customarily name your older siblings after you state your parents. You didn't mention your mother by the way."
"Oh." I blinked. "Well, you said you didn't have any siblings, but I know for a fact that you aren't an only child."
Her smile broke and her eyes remained downcast. "I have no brother by name of Akira."
I racked my mind, trying to understand, but the Chinese and their ways are too complicated for me. "I thought—"
"—No. Things aren't that simple. True, Akira and I share both parents by blood, but I cannot say out loud that he is my brother or I shall upset my father. My father and Akira do not get along. They fight constantly whenever they speak, so they just don't talk…for my mother's sake. My father had a similar relationship with his own father. The Taos do not get along with their parents well…Even my mother and I are distant and she is not Tao by blood." Jade sipped delicately at her milk as she spoke softly. The girl truly reminded me of a dove in every aspect of her. All her motions, even the look of her was bird-like.
"I'm sorry." I voiced my condolences awkwardly. What do you say when a total stranger comes up to you and starts talking about private family problems?
"Oh don't be. It's my own fault that my family drifted apart. If I had not have gotten sick maybe we would all still be living together. I have leukemia. Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. I don't have the same blood type as either of my parents, and I needed a bone marrow transplant. Akira and I have the same blood type though. He wanted to be my donor, but…Daddy didn't want him to. Akira was always such a weak child too…very susceptible to disease and viruses and all kinds of stuff. He has a very weak immune system, and the doctors said it wouldn't be a good idea; with all the germs and blood and everything, there was a good chance he might catch some disease. And it would probably kill him. I don't really remember much of it…I was only six at the time, and I was dying. I have a very rare blood type, and there were no donors at the time. Daddy and Akira fought all the time. Akira said that my father didn't care if I died or not, and…well you know that both my father and Akira have extremely volatile personalities…they sort of disowned each other. By the time they found another donor for me, Akira was already living in Japan with Uncle Horo and his daughter Ivory. I wasn't allowed to speak to my brother anymore after that. I still got letters from him every month though. He somehow smuggled them to me, and my servants helped me get letters back to him, so we talked that way, but before he left we were very close. I miss my brother very much."
I was completely floored with information. I couldn't see the Akira I knew doing anything selfless for his little sister. "Maybe I don't know Akira as well as I thought I did…" I muttered under my breath.
Jade smiled and nodded, her golden eyes shining brightly. "He really isn't that cold jerk he pretends to be. You should get to know the real him. He's such a sweetie. Don't tell him I told you though. He wouldn't like it if you knew he writes poetry and cooks. I don't think even Hana-kun knows that, and he would hate me if he knew I told you. He likes you, you know." She put a finger to her lips as Akira walked lazily into the room, late to breakfast.
Akira took a seat in-between Jade and me. "Good morning Thorn. How are you feeling?" He asked tentatively.
Jade hovered to the side of us, smiling impishly and watching as one might a soap opera.
"I'm fine, thanks to you. Thank you again by the way." I tried to be civil, feeling indebt to him.
He smiled and blushed. "You're welcome. I'm glad I got there in time."
"I owe you." I tried not to sound as awkward as I felt. "I wish I could repay you somehow."
"You could marry him." Jade intervened, sipping at her milk again.
Both Akira and I blushed. He glared at his little sister. "Jade, you really shouldn't be sitting next to me. Your father might get angry."
"You are the one who sat next to me. I was here first. Maybe you should move because I'm not. Of course, if you still want to talk to her, you could sit on the other side of the pretty girl." Jade made it painfully obvious that she wasn't moving.
Akira blushed even more. I smiled, pleased to be called pretty. Hana came to Akira's rescue, picking up Jade gently and carting her off by where Ivory, Makoto and he were sitting. "Hey Princess! It's been a long time since I last saw you! You're getting heavy."
"Hana-kun!" She kissed him on the tip of his nose and hugged him tightly. "I'm not heavy; you're weak."
"Well then I'll just have to work out later. Want to watch? I'll take my shirt off and everything." Hana, being the lady-killer that he was, winked and grinned widely at the girl.
"Oh I'd like that very much!" Jade hugged him tighter. Ivory glared at the little girl attracting so much attention from Hana.
Akira growled softly under his breath. "Hana get your hands off my sister!"
"No way. She's mine." Hana grinned broadly, kissing Jade's neck playfully. Ivory rolled her eyes.
Akira snorted lightly. "Bastard."
The moment was killed instantly by a loud banging at the front door. Horo Horo got up to answer it, and as he opened the door, he was trampled under the feet of my father's followers. Blocken, the Boz, Han Zang-Chin, Peyote, Turbine, Bill, Luca, Opacho, Mari, Macchi, Kanna, and even Kanna's numerous children were all there. Anna looked upon them in dread; so many more mouths to feed, and all free loading.
Kanna's oldest daughter, Azariel, seemed to catch Hana's eye. He gaped openly at the tall, azure-haired half-angel. Her piercing blue eyes caught his and she smiled warmly at him, reducing him to a puddle of goo on the floor.
I chuckled warmly at my cousin; just getting over him myself, I was happy that he had found someone new.
Ivory elbowed Hana hard in the stomach, knocking him out of his playboyish fantasies.
Hana's grin broke; one of the few times I ever saw him without a smile. He glared sullenly at Ivory. "What was that for?" Hana set down Jade and took a seat next to his Ainu companion.
"You're making goo goo eyes at every woman in this room. It's rude and distasteful, so stop it." The Ainu girl was acting uncharacteristically moody.
"I'm not making goo goo eyes at every woman in the room." My cousin easily laughed his friend off.
"Oh?" She pouted.
"Yeah. I'm not making goo goo eyes at you." The playful grin quickly returned to Hana's face. "You're not jealous are you?"
"No!" Ivory replied too fast.
"Cause we can make out if you'd like…" Hana continued his merciless teasing.
"No, you pimp!" She slapped him hard and ran from the room, bawling.
Makoto, who had been sitting on her lap like a teddy bear, fell to the floor, glad to be released from Ivory, but concerned about his friend.
Hana's grin dropped. He thoughtfully rubbed his cheek as he gazed at the stairwell that Ivory had just run up. His eyes darted indecisively between Azariel and the stairs. He got up and took a hesitant step toward the stairs.
Azariel sauntered seductively over to where Ivory had been sitting by Hana and sat down next to him just as he got up to go after his friend. "So, how old are you?" Her voice was smooth as the surface of a mirror.
Hana completely forgot about Ivory, sinking back into his seat next to the pretty woman. "I'm 19."
Akira rolled his eyes and informed the girl, "He's 17 and three quarters. Hana, go check on Ivory."
My cousin looked apologetically at Azariel as he stood to go after Ivory. "Sorry I really should—"
"Oh please don't leave yet; we've barely had any time to get to know each other. Please don't go?" The sly angel stuck out her bottom lip and made puppy dog eyes at Hana.
He ate it up. "Yes I suppose it would be rude of me to walk out on a lady before we're adequately acquainted." He retook his seat and motioned to the midget next to him. "Hey, Makoto. Be a pal and check on Rory for me; you two are close right?" He didn't skip a beat before turning back to the blue-haired half-angel. "So what's your name? I bet it's heavenly; an angelic name for an angelic woman?"
"Stupid Hana, you tail chasing…. Humph." Akira grunted indignantly as Makoto nodded and ran after Ivory.
Azariel smiled genuinely at the Asakura's overused pick-up line. "Actually, seeing as my father is the angel Raphael, my name would logically be somewhat paradise-related, wouldn't it?"
Hana's eyes widened slightly and his mouth formed an 'Oh' of amazement and awe. "An angel?"
"Half angel." She corrected. "Half wild cat; Kanna is my mother. I am Azariel, the oldest child of the seventeen or so. What of you? What's your name?"
"Hana." The boy was almost breathless as he looked upon her in all her heavenly beauty.
"Flower? Isn't that a girl's name?" Angel girl raised an eyebrow in amusement.
"It's a combination of the 'h' from Yoh, and the 'a-n-a' from Anna. It just so happens to be a girl's name." The words flowed easily out of his mouth, the whole spiel being previously rehearsed and regurgitated for many other curious people before.
"Oh. I see. That's really cute, you know." She paused, playing shamelessly with his bangs. "You're really cute." Azariel leaned in to lock lips with my cousin.
A hand appeared out of nowhere and bopped Azariel on the head. The stunned angel girl looked up into the displeased face of her mother. Kanna took the cigarette out of her mouth long enough to yell at her oldest child. "Aza! Stop seducing every man you see. It's okay to be a little sluty, but come on."
"MOM!" The rebellious teen hissed in embarrassment. "Stop it! It's not my fault I fall in love easily, and being this pretty, it's not that hard to get what I want."
"Rich married men and young handsome ones who you've just met? You're worse than Mari and Macchi! Now, go sit by your brothers and sisters, and, here, take the baby with you." Kanna handed the red headed toddler she had been balancing on her hip to her eldest daughter and shooed the girl off, away from the Asakura boy.
Azariel huffed and pouted to herself as she went off to join her younger siblings.
"Damn kids. I don't know why I had so many. Always trying to better themselves by taking advantage of others." The blue haired smoker muttered to herself, but then turned to Hana, saying, "Sorry about her…pay her no mind; she's a slut through and through, and if even her mother thinks so, it's got to be true. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to take care of another pair of sluts. Where did those two get to?" Kanna wandered off in search of Mari and Macchi.
The pair was heavily flirting with my father. As always. Hao fended off their attention as best as he could as Valerie sat beside him, looking uninterested in the affair going on right underneath her nose.
"HAO-SAMA! Oh Hao-sama I've missed you so!" Macchi attached herself to my father's leg and stroked it feverishly.
"Yeah. Yeah. I missed you too." Hao tried to free himself, but his efforts were wasted upon one of his biggest fangirls.
"Mari missed Hao-sama more!" Mari latched on to Hao's torso, squeezing the life from his body. "She cried every day that she woke and Hao-sama was not lying by her side."
Hao squirmed some more, trying to break away from the girls' amorous grips. "That's very sweet of you Mari. I missed you a lot as well." The Hanagumi girls didn't notice as Hao glanced at Valerie and mouthed, 'Help me!'
She looked away, standing and walking off. "You're fair game. You're a bachelor, remember? I'm not your wife, so there's nothing I can do for you."
He stared at her back as she trudged off. The pained look on his face was enough to tell me he loved her. His eyes were full of desire, but in there also was suffering, agony, and sorrow. I didn't understand why he didn't just tell her.
In any case, Valerie didn't help Hao, and he was still trapped in the arms of Mari and Macchi. Luckily, Yoh came to his brother's rescue. "Hey, Hao? I need to talk to you in private for a moment. Is that okay ladies?"
The Hanagumi glared at Yoh, but reluctantly let Hao go with a little urging from Hao himself. The twins disappeared into the living room, and I shifted my attention to other people at the table.
Luca and Opacho were having a splendid conversation with a furious Anna, explaining how they were early to the party because they wanted to check up on Hao and his drinking problem. Horo and Ren were having a pointless fight. Chocolove was telling Pilika jokes. Kanna was scolding some of her children and Mari and Macchi at the same time. Peyote and Blocken kept to themselves, but Bill was having a friendly conversation with Ryu. Zang-Chin and Turbine covered their ears as the Boz played a rap re-mix of Chimi Chimi Moryo. Jun gossiped with Tamao while Hana entertained Jade. Hoshi was still lost in her dream world, and the Fausts made goo goo eyes at each other. Akira, still sitting next to me, stared down nervously at his tea, stirring it occasionally. The spirits talked animatedly, and Yoh and Manta laughed over some private joke.
"Wait. Didn't Yoh just walk off with my dad?" I looked expectantly at Akira, the only other person in the room not talking to someone else.
"I wasn't paying attention." Was his pathetic reply.
"Oh. I was probably just seeing things then…" I glanced at the doorway my dad had disappeared through. "Yes. That's it."
I followed my little brother as he led me into a remote room of the house. Yoh flopped over onto the couch, making himself completely comfortable, folding his hands behind his head and propping his legs up on the armrest.
I rolled my eyes. "What do you want Lucifer?" I let the words slip tiredly from my mouth.
The guise of my brother faded from the demon, and Lucifer looked up, slightly startled at me. "How'd ya know it was me?"
I took a seat by the window and sighed. "I may be oblivious sometimes, but don't you think I noticed that my little brother was laughing with his human friend at the other end of the table? Didn't you think I may get suspicious since there were two Yohs?"
He blinked. "Uh…sure…actually, I didn't notice Yoh sitting there…I guess I'm a little preoccupied." The devil smiled and sighed dreamily.
"Preoccupied? You? How so?" I didn't feel threatened in the least by him, so I allowed myself to turn my back his way.
"Oh. It's nothing." He chuckled to himself, maintaining a love-struck smile on his face. "Just this girl."
"Hmm." I raised my eyebrows slightly. "What's her name?"
"H—no. I shouldn't tell you anything." He looked at me as if considering for a moment, but he easily shook the urge to confess off. "I love her though. I guess you've guessed that I'm over Ivy?" Lucifer jumped randomly from topic to topic. "That's what I came to talk to you about."
I had a hard time keeping everything straight, but after blinking repeatedly and staring stupidly at him for a few minutes, I managed to say, "What about Ivy?"
"I don't love her anymore. You can keep her. Actually, I've not truly been in love with her for a while now. I've been trying to forget about her for a long time, and I think I've finally succeeded now that I found this new woman. I really think that Ivy was just a crush and that this one is the one."
I nodded, not sure what he was getting at. 'Okay, so he's no longer in love with my wife. Great, and why is he telling me this?'
"Things are happening so fast…I'm not really sure, but…I've never felt like this about someone before. I get this dizzying sickness when she looks at me and my heart starts pounding like a stampede of elephants. Last night when I slept with her…it was amazing…. For the first time I felt that maybe things would work out, and that maybe we could be a couple, and maybe it would be okay. I felt like someone cared about me…I felt that she loved me too." He looked up with questioning eyes at me.
'He wants advice.' I opened my mouth to impart some great knowledge upon him 'Don't fall in love. It's not worth all the heartbreak you'll suffer. No woman is worth that.', but only the obvious came out. "You're in love."
He smiled and nodded, sitting up on the couch for the first time since we got in the room.
"Does she know you're the Devil?" I looked back over my shoulder at him.
He nodded again, the smile growing. "What do you think? Do I stand a chance if I maybe—say—proposed to her?"
"How old is this woman?" I turned to face him as he racked his brain for a number.
"Uhh…well…ummm…sixteen and a half?" Lucifer bit his lower lip and fidgeted nervously.
"She's a human?" I didn't let any emotion slip into my voice, not wanting to upset him just yet.
"Shaman." He swallowed hard.
"You should wait awhile before you propose. She's still just a girl. It's bad enough that you're sleeping with her…. Maybe wait until she's 18 and then marry her." All traces of a grin evaporated off of Lucifer's face. "Or, if you like, propose now and talk to her about waiting a few years before getting married. If you truly love her, then isn't she worth waiting for?" 'Ivy…'
The smile returned to his face. "Thank you. I'll do that." He got up to leave, but then, as if it was an afterthought, "If she still won't tell you her true identity of her own free will, you could always force her hand."
"What?" I blinked incredulously.
"Ivy." He stated pointedly.
I shook my head. "No. I got that part. What about forcing her hand? What do you mean; how?"
He smirked devilishly and tossed a small, square box to me. I caught it easily. "Propose to Valerie. Ivy will have a fit, and in a moment of rash fear of losing you to her other personality, she'll sing like a bird for you. Thanks again Hao." He winked and was gone in a red puff of smoke.
I coughed as the foggy stuff cleared. 'I hate how he's always doing that…' I looked down at the ring box, deciding to open it. A gorgeous phoenix made out of rubies and emeralds for eyes stared back at me as I opened the lid and gaped at the ring. 'Propose to Valerie? Force her hand…Yes…that might work…' I smiled happily as I walked back to the dinning room.
A few minutes later, my father came back into the room alone and retook his seat. I looked over to where I had earlier seen Yoh and Manta, and sure enough, they were still there gabbing. If Yoh was with Manta, then who was my father with? I didn't have any more time to think about it, for it was time to go to school.
The day slipped quickly by me as the hours of boredom flew by in a whirl. Before I knew it, it was time for musical rehearsal. I was a bit apprehensive about the practice. As I've said before, I'm nervous by nature, and don't do well in new situations. My hands were shaking as I approached the theatre.
"Hey, Thorn." A kind voice from behind me made me jump at least to the ceiling. "Sorry. Didn't mean to startle you." I was surprised to see Akira standing there.
"I…I wasn't scared if that's what you were thinking." I muttered dejectedly, sort of embarrassed that he had made me jump.
"I didn't say that you were scared. I just caught you off guard, that's all. You were thinking about rehearsal weren't you? Nervous? Don't worry; I'm sure you'll be great. They wouldn't have given you the part unless they thought you could handle it." He pushed past me into the theatre, and I was left gaping.
'Since when did he get so nice?' "Hey! Akira!" I called after him, making him peek his head back out the theatre door, a questioning look on his face. "Why are you acting so weird lately? Ever since last night you've been so nice to me. What are you up to?" I glared suspiciously up at him.
He blinked and cocked his head at me. "Last night I realized that I love you." He disappeared back into the theatre and left me completely boggled.
I stared dumbly at the oak doors in front of me. "He…he…"
"He what?" A light-hearted voice from behind me questioned.
My incomplete thoughts were interrupted by my sister. I turned to face Hoshi, only to find her in the arms of some pretty man. I say 'pretty' because that's really what he was, with his eggshell white skin, raven black eyes, and mid-back length crimson hair pulled up in a high pony tail all gave him feminine qualities that were hard not to notice.
I blinked, trying to find words to answer with. "Um…I…who's this Hoshi? He looks familiar." I decided not to answer at all, but pose a question to her instead.
"Him? He's Lucifer. Lucifer…" She looked uncertainly at him.
"…Richardson. Lucifer Richardson. I'm Hoshi's…" He looked uncertainly at her.
"…Boyfriend?" She asked. "Lover maybe?" My sister's gaze shifted between Lucifer and me.
"Both?" He snuck a glance at me to see how I would react to the news.
"Yeah, that sounds right." Hoshi smiled widely at the man of her dreams.
He smiled back and kissed her on the forehead. And again on the cheek. And then the lips. After that it sort of turned into a full-out make-out session.
"Nice to meet you." I nodded and turned away blushing. There was nowhere left to go but into the theatre. I held my breath and stepped inside.
It really wasn't as awful as I thought it would be. The only thing was that I had to kiss Akira. I still can't believe on the first day we had to practice a kissing scene. Some schools don't allow students to practice kissing scenes before they are preformed on opening night, but it seemed that my school wasn't one of those schools. I leaned in slowly to kiss him, and quickly pulled away when he responded to the kiss.
The director shook her head. "No, no. Kiss him like you mean it. It's okay to be timid in practice, but it has to be real, hot, fiery passion for the show. Come on Thorn, you LOVE him!" The old woman was too into it for my taste. I would prefer not kissing Akira unless it was absolutely necessary.
I nodded and we tried the scene again. I still couldn't do it. I couldn't bear to kiss Akira even if he had been nice to me that morning. He had been so awful before, and I just couldn't do it.
The director was about to have a fit. Thankfully, before she exploded at me, Hana jumped up on stage to argue my defense. "Mind if I coach her Mrs. Topplemen?" The tired old woman nodded reluctantly, giving in to Hana's request.
"Go ahead if you think it will help."
My cousin approached me hesitantly. "Hey, Thorn, it would help if maybe you touched him. It's pretty hard to kiss someone decently without having a hand on their waist or around their neck or somewhere, so why don't you put your arms…here…and…here." He placed one of my arms around his neck, and the other under his arm with my hand in the middle of his back. "That comfortable enough?"
Akira and Ivory looked on jealously as I nodded and blushed.
Hana ignored his angry friends and continued my lesson. "Now, lean in and just do whatever feels right. Make sure it looks real though. You can close your eyes if you want and imagine that I'm whoever you want. Just picture that person's face with your eyes closed, and you should be able to kiss anyone. Ready?" He smiled and waited for me to make the first move.
I nodded again and leaned in not as slowly as I had with Akira. I closed my eyes and kissed my cousin. There was a slight murmur when he kissed me back. I could just see Ivory out in the audience fuming, Akira was probably plotting ways of torturing Hana, and Hoshi was sitting wrapped in Lucifer's arms, chuckling softly as her boyfriend/lover nipped gently at her neck.
I pulled away and looked toward the director, blushing my head off. "How was that Mrs. Topplemen?"
"PERFECT!" The woman looked like she wanted to kiss me. "Fabulous! Now, if only you and Akira could kiss with that much passion and realism for our show! Do you think you could try with him? Thank you so much Hana; we really should have cast you as Danny like we originally planned. I don't remember why we chose Akira over you…anyway, do the scene again Thorn with Akira."
Hana looked apologetically at Akira as he took his seat back in the audience next to Ivory. The Ainu, still steamed from that morning, scooted away bitterly as she glared at Hana.
I looked nervously at Akira before saying my line again and leaning in to kiss him. I did as Hana instructed, closing my eyes, wrapping my arms around Akira, and picturing Lian's masked face. For a minute I felt as though I really was kissing the man I was in love with. It felt like his lips, his hands, everything seemed like him and the way it was that night at the masquerade.
I pulled away, blushing again, and looked toward the elderly director. "Mrs. Topplemen?"
"There's hope for this show after all!" The old woman joyously exclaimed, hopping out of her chair to do a jig. "Good job Thorn."
"Thanks. Can I go lie down in the teacher's lounge? I feel really sick." She nodded and I ran out of the theatre, desperate to get as far away from Akira as possible. It was just too scary kissing him and feeling like he really was him.
The lounge was abandoned since it was after hours, and I had the whole place to myself. I grabbed a pillow, lay down on the couch, and cried. I don't know how long I lay there, but I must have fallen asleep. I awoke as Makoto gently shook my arm.
"Miss Asakura? Miss? Miss Thorn? Thorn, are you okay? Wake up."
My red, puffy eyes slowly opened and I blinked sleepily. "Makoto? What time is it?"
"Oh good. I thought you were really sick Miss Thorn. Don't worry, you've only been gone for fifteen minutes, but Akira was worried about you and since I'm the Stage Manager, he said that no one would question me if I went to check up on you. Oh I shouldn't have told you that it was Akira who asked me to check on you…Well it's not like you're need or anything yet. We're working on the 'Beauty School Drop-Out' scene, and Lucifer is playing the Teen Angel. Hoshi told me to tell you that. Don't you think it's ironic that Mrs. Topplemen would pick Lucifer of all people for the part? But I'm rambling; how are you doing?"
I blinked, rubbing the sleep and dried tears from my eyes. I quickly processed all the information he had thrown at me. "Oh, I'm fine. You can thank Akira for me. As long as they don't need me I'd prefer to lie in here. I'm not feeling well. I'm sure I'll be better soon, but for now…if you please?" I lay back down and closed my eyes.
He nodded and slowly withdrew from the room. "Yes. I suppose it's best if you rest. Feel better Thorn-san." The door softly clicked shut and I was left to my solitude once again. I was glad to be alone.
My happiness was short-lived, for as soon as the door closed behind Makoto, voices from the other side of the wood wafted into the room and intruded upon my ears. "Oh! Akira. What are you doing here?" Makoto's shocked voice echoed into my empty room.
"Is she okay?" The familiar voice of Akira joined Makoto's.
"She says she's fine. I don't think she's telling the truth though." The midget responded. There was a pause. "She's sleeping, and I think she wants to be left alone, so I really wouldn't if I were you Akira."
Akira had stepped toward the door and placed his hand upon the knob. "I need to speak with her, so if you don't mind Makoto."
I inferred that Makoto had stepped in front of the Tao, blocking the doorway. "It's not a good idea. She'll get angry, and Miss Thorn is very scary when she's angry, especially when she's mad at you."
I glanced through the glass panel on the door and saw as Akira lifted Makoto by the scruff of the neck and set him aside. "Thanks for the warning, but I have to talk to her. Come and get me when they need me."
I shut my eyes tight and feigned sleep. The door opened and I could sense Akira sitting in the chair next to me. I tried to keep my cool façade and pretend to be sleeping.
He wasn't fooled. "Hey Thorn. Are you feeling okay?"
I reluctantly opened my eyes and sat up. He took the seat next to me on the couch and looked me over. "I'm fine." I mumbled.
"No you're not. What's the matter? You're not really sick." I couldn't hide anything from him.
But that didn't keep me from trying. "I said, 'I'm fine.'"
He tilted my chin upwards so I would be forced to look at him. "I heard the words leave your mouth, but that doesn't mean the words are true. Something's wrong. Care to tell me what that something is?"
I jerked my head away from his grasp. I did not enjoy being handled by him. "Please leave me alone Akira."
"Did you know you've only directly called me by name five times? Once when you were about to be raped, again when you were thanking me for saving you, then again when last night you said, 'Goodnight Akira.' The fourth time was when you were trying to get my attention earlier today outside the theatre, and then once more right now."
I gaped at him.
He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Yes, I counted, but don't you find if funny that you've called me by name five times in the past twenty-four hours? If you've never done something before, but then all of the sudden you make a habit of it, doesn't that mean something? Maybe that we're getting more comfortable with each other or that maybe you're warming up to me?"
I looked away again, chills running up and down my spine. "Look, I'm fine will you just leave me alone now? I'm just a little sick, that's all."
"You don't want to kiss me, do you? Is that it?" He didn't sound disappointed like I would have expected.
"That's not exactly it…" I hesitated to describe to him what 'exactly' it was.
"But it's part of it. You don't have any feelings for me, and you don't want to kiss me." His voice remained level.
"It's not—"
"Don't start with me Thorn, that's exactly what it is. Don't even bother to say you're sorry for not loving me after I confessed my love for you. I don't want any pity. I'm perfectly fine with you being in love with someone else. Yes, I know all about you and Dao Lian. If your heart already belongs to him, then I'm fine with it. Have fun with Lian at the party this weekend." He got up and left, leaving me, again, totally stupefied.
I couldn't make heads or tails of him. He acted like a complete jerk to me one day, but the next he was completely mellow and sort of sweet. Then all of the sudden he says he loves me. When I don't return his love because I'm already in love with another guy he says that it's fine and he doesn't care. It was at that time when I realized I could never understand men. They are far too complex creatures, more so than the Chinese. I would never understand their motives, but that didn't stop me from trying. I sat there and mauled over the human puzzle-box that was Tao Akira.
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Mikau: Okay, pretty much after next chapter the story kind of picks up pace and everything happens one thing right after the other, and some things happen at the same time, and it's really confusing. Plotting, confessions, betrayal, and all that jazz. As I say this, I'm looking at my forever changing outline and groaning, thinking 'Why did I cram so many complexities into one story? Was I trying to make it hard on myself?' Yeah, so I've got my work cut out for me if I hope to make the rest of this story up until the end understandable. Whatever happens, bear with me and don't shoot me. Please?
Thanks To: kari tao(ren's little sister), GothicShamaness13, MaiValentinefan, HAO-Addictive, Untitled Sorrow, demon thing, isa18, Kiva Kyoyama, knux33, KaZuYa MiNeKuRa, Firebane5, Touch of the Wind, Andrea Nefisto, LilacBreeze, clamp school, thoughtless dreamer, Sonseray, Dannie, and Tippy-chan.
To Tippy-chan: TIPPY! -Glomps- I've missed you sooooooo much! I'm doing pretty well. Well, as well as one can do when one is sick. Oh well. It's okay to be lazy every once in awhile, but try not to do it too often because I miss you when you're gone. I'm glad you like the story and my OCs; I'm having a lot of fun writing. Good luck getting in to the high school you want! When will you know if you made it in?
PLEASE REVIEW!