A Very Good Liar
Disclaimer: As much as I wish it so, Shaman King will never be mine. God knows the havok I'd unleash. This fic revolves around RenPirika, though there are hints of YohAnna and HorohoroTamao.
I am terribly sorry that I have been excruciatingly late with the posting of this chapter! I meant to get it up shortly after chapter five, but writer's block and moving has kept me from fulfilling my wish. We moved a few months ago, and I haven't been able to get internet access from my computer, which has all of my data on it! Also, where we live now is boring, so it's hard to find creative inspiration to continue with my story.
No worries, though! I've found the inspiration I needed, and am moving on with the story as quickly and productively as I can! This chapter focuses quite a bit on HorohoroTamao and KotaroYuna.
I would also like to take this time to point out that flashbacks are usually in noone's POV, so I can cover alot in them. When a character leaves the scene, they're generally not a part of the flashback anymore!.I didn't know if that was confusing anyone, or not.
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Chapter Six
Please Stop Crying
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Ren hit the floor, Horohoro crashing to the ground beside him. The purple haired shaman propped himself up on his elbows and glared dangerously at the ice shaman beside him, "What the hell was that for, Asparagus-head!"
Horohoro quickly stood up and pointed an accusing finger at the Chinese shaman that was standing up as well, "That was for your little prank earlier, Tao! And don't call me Asparagus-head!" he yelled, brushing off his clothes. He frowned as Pirika hurried past him to check on Ren, "So you'll check on him, but you won't find out if your own flesh and blood is okay..." he mumbled under his breath.
"Oni-chan! How could you do that to Ren? You will appologise right now!" Horohoro gaped at his sister, "No, I will not! He deserved that!"
"Howso?"
"He knows what he did!"
"That's still no excuse for your behavior! Now, appologise!"
"Never!"
"Oni-chan!" The fueding siblings took no notice of their friends, who were standing nearby with amused looks adourning their faces, until Yuna walked up. Horohoro blushed and shushed his sister, going so far as to clap a hand over her mouth...which would soon be removed after Pirika sunk her teeth into it.
"Heh, Yuna, I see you found them! Thanks alot!" Horohoro exclaimed while shaking his victimised hand wildly in the air. "Not a problem, Horo-kun," at this Horohoro's face only grew in it's redness, and Kotaro glared at the Ainu, "Kotaro had already found them, anyway." Kotaro blushed when her smile became directed toward him, his glare quickly sliding off of his face and falling to the floor. He nodded modestly, and rubbed the back of his neck with his right hand.
Horohoro then cleared his throat, "Well, Yoh, Tamao, and Anna are waiting in the arcade, and they're probably wondering where we all are. Let's head off to play some games!" he pumped his fist in the air at his last sentence. Kotaro laughed, Yuna smiled, and all Ren did was smirk. The small band of shamans then began to walk down the hall.
As Yuna, Kotaro, and Ren engaged themselves in idle conversation, Horohoro pulled his younger sibling by the arm, a hand clapped over her mouth, into a different hallway. She had been about to bite his hand, again, when he removed it, motioning for her to be quiet.
After, he peeked around the corner to be sure that their friends had not notice their abscence. When he chanced a look back at his sister, he recieved a confused glare. "Onii-chan, why aren't we going to the arcade? If this is about Ren, then I don't want to-"
"No, it's not about Tao...it's about...Yuna..." Pirika's eyes narrowed, "What about Yuna?" Her brother sighed, "Well, I'm still not sure whether I really like Tamao-chan or not, and now she's here-"
"Onii-chan, I thought you told me that the issue had been resolved a long time ago!" She glared when Horohoro sheepishly put a hand behind his neck, "Not exactly..."
"You mean you still have a crush on Yuna!" (AN: Bet you weren't expecting that!) The Ainu boy quickly clapped his hands onto the yelling girl's mouth, peeked around the corner of the hallway, and released her with a pleading look on his face, "Pirika...I don't know anymore...Tamao's sweet and she's an excellent cook, she's also really pretty, beautiful even..."
"Then I don't see what the problem is..." Her brother sighed, running a hand through his spiky, azure hair. Her looked at his shoes as he replied, "Yuna didn't exactly 'grind my heart into the dirt' like I told you she did..."
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Flashback, Yuna - Seven years old, Horohoro - Seven years old, Kotaro - Seven years old, Pirika - Six years old
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"Umm, Yuna-chan?" Horohoro asked his friend, propping his child-sized snowboard against a tree. The raven haired girl smiled at him, "Yes, Horo-kun, what is it?" The ocean eyed boy blushed at her nickname for him.
"Umm...er...I mean...I think that you're really pretty and...and I really...like you..." Yuna's eyes widened and her cheeks tinged slightly pink. She motioned for Horohoro to come closer, so he took a few steps closer, but refused to go any farther.
"Horohoro, I think that you're really nice, but..." she stoped when the Ainu looked at the ground, his eyes beginning to water. With a sigh, the Chinese girl looked to the side and went over what she was about to say in her head, 'If I let him down easy then there won't be very much harm done, right?'.
"Horo-kun, we're only seven years old...I remember Jun-san saying that 'all love takes time', so maybe when we're older we might feel different...I think that we should stay friends...at least for now, okay Horo-kun?" Her friend's head was still facing downward, but it quickly snapped up, a smile firmly set in place, "Jun-san is right, Yuna-chan. Maybe I just got confused, or something?"
"Maybe." Yuna agreed, a smile also gracing her features. For the first time since Yuna had begun to stay in Patch Village, Horohoro didn't blush when around her. "Arigatou, Yuna-chan!" the azure haired Ainu exclaimed, hugging the chocolate eyed girl tightly before laughing at himself and putting her down.
"Wow, that's the first time I've really been able to hug you without spazzing out! You're right, being friends is much eaisier!" Yuna smiled at her friend, but was distracted by a rustling in the trees behind her.
The pair watched for a moment before seeing the steel eyed Kotaro leaping down from it's branches. "Hey Yuna-chan, Horohoro-kun! What're you up to?" The raven-haired girl glared at the navy haired intruder, "You know very well what we're up to, because you listened in on us, Kotaro-kun!"
Kotaro flinched and backed away as she got closer, "Okay, I did! Gomen nasai!" he looked at the lighter haired male, "And you're okay with this, Horohoro?" The said boy nodded, his smile firmly in place once more.
Horohoro stetched, yawning widely before grinning, "I'm surprised that Pirika hasn't found me yet! I better find a new hiding place soon, though. If she comes over here, then say you didn't see me!"
"Sure." Yuna and Kotaro said unanimously, secretly crossing their fingers behind their backs. When the ocean eyed boy left the clearing they both turned to each other. Kotaro put a hand behind his neck, "Gomen nasai for eavesdropping, Yuna-chan. I was only curious...he finally admitted his crush, though? He's braver than I thought! Who knew that he'd actually go through with the dare?"
"What dare?" his companion asked icily, a harsh glare startling him backwards into a large root that was sticking out of the ground. He scotted backwards even more, having tripped and fallen over the root, out of fear of the girl standing over him.
"Ummm, don't get mad, Yuna-chan," he softly said, "I dared Horohoro-kun to tell you about his feelings, but I figured that he wouldn't do it. Gomen nasai, Yuna!" He exclaimed, covering his head and shutting his eyes, preparing for the beating he knew was coming.
Instead of feeling pain, he heard muffled sobbing to his right. He peeked through his arms to see Yuna wiping away tears as they fell down her face as she sat down on a fallen tree. Imeadiately, Kotaro felt a wave of guilt come hurtling at him. He quicky picked himself up from the dirt, rushing over to sit next to his friend.
Kotaro placed a comforting hand on Yuna's shoulder, "Hey, you know the truth now, right? Everything turned out okay, right?" she gave a small nodd, "Then what's wrong, Yuna-chan?" She sniffled a little bit before looking into his grey eyes, "I don't like hurting people, Taro-kun," the boy blushed at the pet name she used, rarely, for him, "He looked so sad when I told him that we should be friends...and then..."
"What, Yuna-chan?" Kotaro encouraged, a sad smile on his face. He was glad that Yuna was talking openly to him, as she was usually very reserved whenever he was around, but he wasn't very happy with himself for being the reason she was crying in the first place. He hated it when girls cried, but he hated it more when he was helpless in the situation.
"I told him that maybe when we were older we could be more than friends..." Her chocolate eyes began to water even more, but Kotaro hugged his crying friend, "I know, I heard everything, remember? What's wrong with telling him that?"
This was apparently the wrong thing to say, because Yuna broke into full-blown sobs, hugging the confused boy tightly as her crying made the shoulder of his red sweater damp. "Sssshhhh, it's okay. Horohoro is going to be fine, so what's wrong?" he asked again, holding her out at arms-length.
"I lied to him, Taro-kun! I like him as a friend, but now I'll just have to say the same things when we're older...I'm a bad friend, Taro-kun!" Kotaro frowned at her, "No you're not! You're still one of Horohoro's best friends, and now you're closer with each other than ever! You're friends with Ren, Pirika, and me...you were and still are one of my favorite people! Maybe you did lie to him, but we'll take care of that when it happens. I promise that you'll never be a bad friend to me, Yuna-chan!"
His words consoled Yuna, and her crying was reduced to sniffles as she hugged Kotaro again, "Arigatou, Taro-kun. You're such a great person!" He blushed at her words, putting a sheepish hand behind his head.
She released him and he pushed himself up off the log, holding his hand out to assist her up, as well. The black-clad girl took it and smiled warmly at his gentle touch. They looked at each other for a few moments, but were startled five feet apart by a rustling at the opposite end of the clearing.
The rustling quieted as the younger Ainu sibling stepped past the bushes. She smiled widely at seeing Kotaro, giving a slightly more forced smile when she glanced at Yuna, "Hey, have either of you seen Onii-chan? Ren-kun and I searched the house, but we couldn't find him."
Kotaro smirked, "We'll help you look for him!" Pirika looked back at Yuna, concern showing in her ocean eyes, "Yuna-chan, have you been crying?" Yuna's eyes widened and she hesitated to speak, but Kotaro cut in, "She skinned her knee earlier, we were just about to go inside so we could clean her up." he supplied.
"Oh, are you alright?" the Ainu girl asked, geniune concern laced into her words. Even though she and Yuna didn't get along very well, when someone was hurt or sad, Pirika would always be there to lend a hand. Yuna nodded, a real smile finding it's way to her face, "I'm fine, Pirika-chan, thanks to Kotaro-kun."
The said boy blushed, but this went unnoticed by Pirika, "If you're sure. Are you two going to help Ren and I find Onii-chan?" she asked, a hopeful smile on her face. The trio chuckled slightly, before heading out of the clearing.
Yuna and Kotaro hung back a little bit, and Yuna quickly hugged the startled boy. "What was that for?" he asked in a whisper. "For not telling Pirika why I was really crying." His eyes danced with mirth and pride as he said, "I figured that you wouldn't want anyone to know, Yuna-chan." They smiled at each other and quickened their paces to catch up with Pirika.
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Present Time
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Pirika looked with disapproval at her brother, who cringed at her glare. "I'm just not sure about anything anymore, Pirika...I don't think that I have a crush on Yuna, but what she said a long time ago keeps running around in my head. I never thought that I would see her again, to be completely honest."
Pirika's expression softened, and she sighed, "Onii-chan, the only one who knows the real answer to your problem is you. I can help you figure it out, but you're the only one who has the solution." Horohoro slid down against the wall he'd been leaning on, "Arigatou, Imotou, this means alot to me."
"I know, Onii-chan. Now, how do you feel when you're around Yuna?" Her brother looked at the ceiling for awhile before answering, "Warm, I guess. She's pretty and sophisticated, but she gets really bossy sometimes. I haven't seen her in a long time, but I'm pretty sure that this feelings different from the one I felt for her before."
"When you had a crush on her, or when you were friends?"
"I don't know..."
"That doesn't help, Onii-chan." she sighed again, "Alright, how do you feel about Tamao?" Horohoro smiled, "She's beautiful, she's a great cook, and she listens to my crazy stories, even if she knows they're not true. She laughs with me and not at me, and she actually appears to like having me around..."
His eyes widened, "I'm in love, aren't I?" he asked, a smile on his face as he stood up. Pirika smiled with him, only to be hugged tightly by the taller Ainu. "Thanks sis."
"No problem, Onii-chan." He released her after awhile, and looked around the corner, "Huh, I thought I heard something..." he said while walking out into the empty hallway. Pirika shrugged, "Who knows? Let's go to the arcade and find Tamao-chan!" The siblings laughed a little and headed toward the arcade.
Inside, they found the group, but they all looked concerned about the one missing member. "Where's Tamao?" Horohoro asked, a confused look on his face. Yuna stepped forward, a sad frown on her face, "She noticed that you and Pirika had gone into that hallway, so she started to follow you. She came back to the arcade crying and told us that she would be in her room. Did something bad happen to her?"
Horohoro and Pirika looked at each other, "I'll go and get her." the spiky haired boy volunteered, before turning on heel and heading out of the arcade. Ren walked up to Pirika, concern showing on his features as well, "What happened, Pirika?"
"I'm not sure."
With Horohoro
Horohoro slipped his key card into the mechanical slot on the door to the room that he and Tamao shared, opening the door quietly and walking inside. He heard muffled sobbing, and his heart clenched from within his chest. He stopped in the doorway to peer at his love.
She was sitting on the edge of her bed, facing the window, and, though he couldn't see her face, he knew that it was red from crying. "Tamao-chan?" he asked cautiously, taking a few steps closer. The pink haired girl quieted her sobbing, but did nothing after that.
Horohoro decided to move closer, and almost got to edge of her bed that she wasn't on, but was stopped wen she spoke, "Why are you here, Horohoro?" she asked, sniffling a bit when she finished her question. He took a couple of cautios steps closer, "I'm here to see what's wrong, Tamao." He felt pains stab at his heart, because for the first time in the years that they'd known each other, his name was spoken by her without "-kun" on the end.
"Why do you care? You should just go back to Akira-san, I'm sure she's getting lonely." she muttered quietly, surprising Horohoro, as she had never used such a spite-filled tone of voice before. "Yuna? What are you talking about, Tamao?" he asked in bewilderment, edging closer.
"Why do you care?" she asked, sobbing into her hands once again. She felt her hands being pulled gently away from her face to be held by two larger, more callous hands. She looked up into the face of the man that she felt had betrayed her, and was pulled into an embrace.
"I care, because you're the most beautiful woman I have ever met and will ever meet, your cooking skills are unrivaled by even the most famous of chefs, you're so kind that it's a miracle that I even know you, Tamao-chan, and...and..."
She hesitantly wrapped her arms around the ice shaman that was trying to comfort her, a blush staining her cheeks, "And what, Horohoro?"
"Aishiteru, Tamamura Tamao, aishiteru..." He felt her start sobbing again, and he tried again to soothe her crying, "Everything is going to be okay, Tamao-chan, I promise you that." He pulled her tighter to his body, kissing her forehead occaisionally.
"Horo-kun?" she asked, tentatively looking up. Horohoro's heart soared at the pet name, "Yes, Tamao-chan?" She lifted her head and connected his lips to hers.
After a few moments of pounding hearts, closed eyes, and pure bliss, the kiss was broken by Tamao, "Aishiteru yo, Horo-kun." A wide smile blessed his lips, and he pulled her in for another kiss.
After several gentle kisses and loving gazes, the two agreed that it was time to head back to the arcade. When they arrived, the entire group broke into smiles, because they needed no explanation. The could see Horohoro and Tamao's intertwined hands.
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There's the HorohoroTamao fluff for the reviewers that were secretly longing for it! PLEASE forgive my tardiness, as I stated in the beginning of this chapter, I was lacking in internet acess and inspiration!
I hope you enjoyed this chapter of "A Very Good Liar", and I hope that you further understand why Kotaro and Yuna like each other so much. I have gotten way more reviews than I had asked for, and I am grateful to those who still like my story! It is more than I deserve.
Should I write more HorohoroTamao fics? See, Yuna isn't that evil!
In case the point was missed, Tamao overheard Horohoro and Pirika's conversation, but only the part in which they discussed Horohoro's past crush on Yuna.
Thank you for reading, please review!