Sorry for the delay of this chapter's production, I started on a happy note, but in the middle my depression got over it and the story became angsty. Well, I suppose this is good because it only meant that more spoilers are revealed, not that I would not write them here if I had not been depressed. Oh, to compensate, it was longer than my previous chapters… X)
If I own Shaman King, Ren would definitely be with Horohoro, and it would stretch longer than the 33 tankuobons it had now… X(
And before I forget, thank you to all the reviews received!
Rareitemhunter1: I have edited the first chapter, though I am not sure if it suits your taste, since its only a minor tweak…
Jazzy: My first anonymous review! Thank you; I liked it that you liked it! And for the 'strong sturdy chest' part, it's explained here, hope you like!
Aoimizuneko: Your review revved me up to finish this chapter... so thank you lots!
I appreciated your efforts to leave a piece of your mind here in my-not-so-worthy-of-a-fanfiction-story, and I can see an ending for this story already. In ten chapters perhaps? If the reviews keep pouring in of course… XD
Chapter 10: My Name Is Asakura Hao
My name is Asakura Hao. I am currently 26 this year, have long hair, handsome face, oh scratch that. A VERY handsome face, with smooth long tresses that I love to pamper with a highly exorbitant brand of conditioner and shampoo set, and I also made sure I always sleep with my facial mask. They are highly treasured in the upkeep of my delicate features, also highly effective against pimples, acnes; whatever you want to call them that can scar my face, even a single one is deleterious enough. I lay back on the armchair, preparing to snooze off for another piece of well-earned beauty sleep…
When it was oh-so unceremoniously disturbed by frantic knocks on my door.
"Aniki! Open the door!"
"Otouto?" I rushed to the door and opened it, only to be greeted by sounds of "We need help!" and "He fainted, aniki!". Two teenagers rushed in, one being my most beloved brother in the whole world, Yoh, and a green haired teen whom looked somewhat cute. I kneeled down to take her hand, but Yoh brushed it away. "You are jealous, aren't you, Yoh, by my liking towards this beautiful girl…"
"Excuse me, oji-san, I'm only 17, and I'm a boy." The green haired lad (I tried my best not to add a –y behind) muttered. Yoh smirked a little and from behind him, a Chinese boy surfaced. I could not help but mutter to myself. Wow, he looks cute as well… otouto sure know how to mix with pretty boys…
Then it dawned on me.
"I'm NOT an uncle! How dare you…"
"Anyway, put him here. I'll go and get some oil to wake him up." Yoh muttered as his cute green haired friend placed the fainted boy on the couch and sat by him.
"Hey!" I snapped. Ever since otouto was born, he had always been rebellious to me. That boy just knows no manners! Yoh reemerged from the kitchen with a bottle of brown coloured ointment and dabbed a bit of it on the fainted boy's nose. Moments later, the teen with the tongari (I have only realised this after he woke up) rubbed his eyes and appear glazed.
"Where am I?"
"You're in my house!" Yoh beamed. I smiled too, after all, it was MY smile whom he copied, MY looks who he had similarities to, and MY beautiful frown adorning his face. Just unlucky he did not appreciate my flair or love of all things beautiful…
From Yoh, the aforementioned single spiked hair teen looked at me. Who would not? After all, I am the epitome of beauty. I raised a hand to shake.
"Hello, how are you, young…"
"ARGH!" he screamed. I glared at Yoh. What is wrong with him, mixing with friends that are either not courteous or even worse, trying to deafen my eardrums?
"Yoh, who is he?"
"GHOST!" Spiky yelled again, face gone pale, hand clutching over his ears. I scowled at him. I decided, I need to educate otouto about the importance of befriending people that are not weird or eccentric.
"Em, aniki…" Yoh began. Something looked very weird here. I raised an eyebrow, prompting him to speak quickly. Green Lady proceeded to comfort Spiky; apparently, they looked aghast…
I touched my face. The greenish substance on my fingers …
"ARGH!"
"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry… I really have no intention of scaring you boys…"
"We are no longer kids, aniki." Yoh snapped. Hao rolled his eyes as he continued to wipe his face.
"As I said, I'm sorry you are frightened by the sight of me and my mask. I was planning to have my beauty sleep when you barged in. Yoh, I thought you were at your friend's house for a sleepover?"
"Well, Lyserg's house was in a mess, we couldn't find anything useful to wake him up, so we decided to run over, since here's nearest to his house." Hao perked his eyebrow.
"Mess…?"
"Aniki, don't think of naughty thoughts! Ren caused it when he was, well…"
"I lost control of myself, so sorry." Ren muttered bitterly. Hao raised an eyebrow, but upon Yoh's imploring look, stopped short of trying to question anything.
"Well, you had better take good care of yourself, ne! I believe you want to continue your sleepover…? Maybe you can try a threesome tonight…"
"Aniki!" Yoh blushed ever so furiously, his face turned brilliant pink.
"Oji-san, there was four of us." Lyserg snapped. Hao glared at him, obviously with the usage of 'oji-san'.
"Then where's the fourth?"
"You don't want to know." Lyserg replied again with venom. He stood up. "Now, we would like to take leave."
"Young man, you are being very rude." Hao spontaneously answered.
"You deserve no better." With that, he dragged Ren up and headed for the door. "Now, the door, please."
"Why should I when I'm talking to such a rude androgynous kid?"
"Aniki, shut up!" Yoh fended, ears flaring, a sign that he was getting angry. "Please, we want to go back to Lyserg's house now, I'll be back tomorrow."
Knowing he lost, Hao grumblingly walked to the door and pulled the knob. "Don't come back again."
"I definitely won't." Lyserg spat, as he walked out.
Walking back to Lyserg's house, Yoh and Ren stared at Lyserg worriedly. For the first time, Ren had seen another part of Lyserg, and his cheeks flush in embarrassment upon remembering it was his fault they had went to Yoh's house in the first place. Still, it was not your fault, a part of his mind replied indignantly. They were the ones comparing you to another!
"Sorry, Ren." Lyserg began. Ren and Yoh stopped as well, seeing Lyserg remained stationary on his position. There were no cars by the road now, and Lyserg squatted to the floor, face looking down. Alarmed, Yoh and Ren did the same by his sides. "Sorry for making you remember bad memories. You'll forgive me right?" Clutching Ren's shoulders, Ren could see that Lyserg's eyes were filled with water.
"I forgive you, but you were the distressed one just now…" Ren whispered. Lyserg let go of Ren and looked back to the empty road, eyes looking faraway.
"I just wanted to take a look…"
"A look?" Yoh blinked. "My house?"
"Your aniki." Ren corrected.
"Still, I've seen, and now I'm happier." Lyserg stood back up in an instant and beamed at his two bewildered, still squatting friends. "Let's go back!"
"Talking about going back, where's Usui?" Ren began. Lyserg looked at him and a mischievous smile surfaced.
"Worrying about him, eh?"
"No…! I am just curious why he didn't follow." Ren frowned, his face already blushing.
"He wouldn't be interested to follow where I live; don't you know our friendship had already dropped to the point he had to distance away from me?" Yoh said with a twinkle in his eye, dropping an arm around Ren. "Our friendship is beyond salvage."
"Why…?" Ren was unable to let the question remain in his mouth and he looked at Yoh, whose face turned in an instant.
"Because they fell for the same girl." Lyserg spoke after a few minutes, when it was clear Yoh would not reply.
"Tamao would be much happier if she was with me." Yoh mumbled, looking away, the hand draped around Ren returning to his side. "But no, he fell for that bastard."
"We've reached." Lyserg nudged Ren and Yoh to keep quiet as he pushed open the door to reveal a clean house and a sleeping Horohoro, lying on the couch in a fetal position. "He really cleaned the house as promised."
"It must have taken all the breath out of him." Ren could not help but notice awe in Yoh's voice. Though his head was full with questions as to why Lyserg did not stay at his own house and instead left Horohoro to do the cleaning, and a few others, he decided not to probe on the matter.
A young bride garbed in Chinese wedding outfit stood silently by her room window, looking at the falling snow, and clutching her stomach, feeling the baby inside kicking. She silently wiped the tears away from her eyes to prevent smudging on her face, to look as presentable as possible. She swallowed the nervousness on her throat when strong arms hugged her from behind, startling her.
"Ling, finally you're mine." Feeling the man kissing her neck fervently, she closed her eyes to prevent herself from resisting this man, thinking about the benefits her family could receive from the Taos.
The reason why she was married now, to him, and having his baby.
Chen Yi-ling was actually a servant working for the Tao family. Sold to the family since young, she was taught never to resist her masters, and obey them. Therefore, it was only the same when the married master En dragged her to the stables and raped her, laughing maniacally for all its worth. He had screamed insanely about how beautiful she was throughout the years and how her beauty astounds many, more than the ugly looking woman he had to marry for a wife. She had laid there motionless, as En stripped her and enjoyed the feast before him, all noises that might rouse suspicion amongst the Tao clan members covered by the neighing of horses that seemed to pity her predicament.
When she got pregnant, En immediately proposed to marry her in front of the elders, immediately making her an enemy with the first wife, who she had served before, namely Tao Ran. They had no reason to object because that time Ling was already five months pregnant, the baby unable to be aborted, and to cover the shame, she was made to be married off the next day. Riches and titles were bestowed to her family by the Tao family, bringing the Chen family high to their level. Yi-ling knew, if she tried to run away, her family would suffer and disgraced beyond their imagination, so she had nodded meekly, knowing her and Ran cannot be on friendly terms again.
Few months later, she bore his first child, Jun, and she remembered the disgust on En's face when he found out it was not a boy as wished. Jun was made to cross-dress and mix with the boys of the clan. Yi-ling was not allowed to take care of her daughter and was shied away from the Tao clan. Nevertheless, everything changed five years later.
Ran who was barren from the beginning (and having laughed under covers that En resorted to a lowly servant only to have a baby girl), could only grind her teeth as she noticed another bulge in Yi-ling's stomach; it was probably an evidence that En had went to Yi-ling's chambers with high hopes of harboring a baby boy.
Tao Ren was born, and Ran's fate was sealed.
She knew that since Ren was a boy, he would be treated with all lavish treats there was in the world; and herself would be distanced. It became reality when En announced that Yi-ling would be the first wife, and Ran second, while he rarely stepped into her room anymore; instead spending all his time with baby Ren and Jun, who was allowed to be dressed in girl's outfits again. Angered with jealousy and brazen by hate (she was after all, the daughter of a respected minister, and her ego did not allow much mercy to be placed below a lowly caste girl), she had plotted for Yi-ling's downfall, and she was sure to make it permanent.
Horohoro woke up about a few hours later, his mind somewhat dizzy over a vivid dream he had, and sat up to see Ren sleeping by his side. Wondering if it was his dream he was seeing, Horohoro looked further and saw Lyserg watching the television, Yoh asleep beside him.
"Good evening, you fell asleep, Usui."
"Hn." Horohoro replied as he sat up and stretched himself. "What time is it?"
"About seven, now Detective Conan's on the television."
"Oh." Sitting beside Lyserg as they watched Conan hiding behind Mouri (yet again) and solving another case that would not be under his name, Horohoro adjusted his bandana comfortably.
"Do you like watching Conan, Usui?"
"Just Horohoro." Horohoro bluntly answered. "I don't like formalities."
"Horohoro, I take it that you aren't much of a fan."
"You came to my house before; you know I don't have televisions at home."
"Ah, yes." Lyserg laughed in spite of himself, and Horohoro gave a sound of disapproval, when he turned serious.
"Why did you waste your time to go over Yoh's place? That's so illogical when you have a medicine box in your own house, and why did you carry Ren along? You're acting so irrational." For a moment, Lyserg turned back to look at him, and his lip curled.
"You know why."
"That's so pointless." Horohoro tried to look nonchalant although there were sudden flickers of panic in his eyes.
"Thank you for your efforts to rein Ren in." Lyserg stared at him, suddenly jumping away from the topic. "I must say he gave quite a fight, eh?"
"Hn." Horohoro mumbled. "I was nearest to him." Lyserg rolled his eyes playfully.
"Still in denial eh? Well, we had nothing much to do anyway now since Ren and Yoh are asleep, since all the things I've planned include the three of you."
"Like playing chess involved four people." Horohoro could not help saying. Lyserg smiled again at him, a knowing twinkle in his eyes.
"Well, it was fun, isn't it?"
"Hell its fun."
"Anyway…" Lyserg let the calm permeate them for a while, his attention diverted back to the television. "Tamao-chan told me much about you and Yoh."
"I take it you're psychic."
"So I am, if you say so." Lyserg smiled again. "But I'm more like a listener; I cannot predict futures and such."
"You are possessed that day you saw me bloodied." Horohoro began again. "By Tamao."
"I didn't know you possess great intellect, Horohoro-kun." The 'kun' was clearly emphasized, but Horohoro pretended not to notice the flirting tone that came with it.
"Where is she now? Is she still around?"
"She's gone for rebirth." Lyserg said dreamily. "Waiting for Ren's arrival consumed her time more than most."
"Why had she not spoken to me or Yoh then before this?" Horohoro solemnly asked. Lyserg turned to look at him; the dreamy quality still apparent, but this time there was a tinge of sadness.
"Because she didn't want you or Yoh to blame yourselves for her death."
Vocabulary
Ojisan-uncle
Aniki-older brother
Otouto-younger brother
Explanations
Chinese families give great importance to baby boys (apparently it's a symbol of pride and such), which is why many Chinese families tried their best to have at least a baby boy. In poor Yi-ling's case, her first child was a girl (Jun), but her luck changed when she got Ren. Women who gave birth to boys are highly regarded, and poor Ran(who was their original mother in the series, sorry for the altering, hehe) who was barren, was further misplaced in the family hierarchy since she could never give birth, not even to a baby girl. Such was the cruelty of Chinese families… X(
Homage is paid to Detective Conan, I liked Mouri, although he is indeed sometimes rather a slob and lazy man (and suck in investigating)….
And I believe this explains the beginning of chapter three a little (and chapter two too, if you recall a little of what I wrote in that chapter), though I had wondered why no one asked who that girl was… hmmm… Well, I believe now more questions are raised, ne? Oh yeah, for Yoh and Lyserg, do you think they should be together or should I pair them with other people? I'm still rather undecided…
Well, thank you for reading, please review! Onegai?
