Overnight of your Life

[Loki-chan]

[[sidecore! insert at first night after first day of school. Mana Ren Mithy only<3]]

Ren was off to see a man about a dance project. As much as it pained Ren to work on something so trivial, he found both himself and Mithy enthralled int eh project, dedicated to gettting it done, and getting it done /perfect/. Of course, Ren's motto was if it was worth doing, it was worth doing right... or perfect, in most cases. Mithy had mentioned what room he'd be in after last period, so Ren proceeded to seek out the tall British one in hopes of getting further into their project. Ren had finally decided that it was most definitly worth his time and effort, and if he was wrong, at least it count as so amount of training to subtract from his schedule.

Ren approached on the classroom, the noise of a familiar bicker meeting his ears. English accents flying, flying so fast that indeed, Ren picked up that they were so enthralled in their arguement they were speaking half in English. But he heard his name mentioned, that he could pick up on. And from the parts they did remember to speak in japanese, Ren could tell it was Mithos and Mana again. Mithos on his side, as expected. Irritably, Ren entered the room, in such a fit that the door shut behind him with a funny sounding 'click'.

"I've had just about enough, dammit. I can hear you, you know, Chinamen aren't deaf. You've been going on this this morning about the horrors of the goddamn Chinese. I don't know what your problem is, in fact, I don't care what it is. But if you happen to have a problem with me personally, adress me now. If it's merely my race which disturbs you, then please, do the world and myself a favor and go die, why don't you, because there's too much hate in the world already for it to be saturated with this racist crap you're spewing. Do you know? I really /hate/ generalizations." Ren fumed. Maybe it was his first insignificant step in the battle against hate, but Mana sounded too much like his father to bear. 'Oh, those evil people out there' 'betrayed by our country' and 'They are evil because they cannot help it' rang like cacophonous bells in Ren's head. She would have to shut up about his race or Ren was damn near about ready to just cut her tongue out.

[Mana Ego-Chan]

Indeed, Mithos and Mana were in another brawl. She had tried to find him so that they could walk home together. He mentioned the fact that he had to find Ren and could not walk home with her. That set her off in a huffy retreat mumbling "bastard" and that set Mithos off completely. Again they found themselves in yet another heated argument.

Then HE showed up with an odd click of the door. As if it wasn't enough that his presence was infuriating enough, but then he actually verbally ATTACKED her. That was enough to set her off. NO ONE, especially some school dick, was going to speak to her that way. Not Mana Covenant.

"You just shut your fucking mouth about this slimeball," she growled spinning on him, "It is none of your goddamned business why I hate you and your filthy race so much. All you need to know is that I hate your fucking guts and if you had any brains at all in that spikey head of yours you would stay the hell away from me. Even if you weren't Chinese, I would hate you because you are an arrogant bastard who thinks he is better than everyone and scowls all the time. So why don't you go back to obliterating the hearts of your loving fangirls and leave us be?"

[Emma]

"Mana!" Mithos snapped, grabbing his sister by the arm and tugging her back towards him before she could do any real damage. With a sigh, he slipped between the two of them, hoping to God he could diffuse the situation before it got any worse. "Mana has a very good reason for being prejudiced against the chinese." He said simply to Ren, then turned to his sister. "Mana. You need to accept the fact that I'm friends with him and that I'm working with him." He told her, then smiled tiredly. "Please. At least try not to explode every time you see him." He asked her in English, aware that Ren would understand very little of it.

"Now then, I've got to go - Ren and I need to get that work done." He added, stepping around Ren to the door to find it wouldn't open. "...Won't open." He muttered, tugging on it a little harder and swearing.

[Mana Ego-Chan]

Mana groaned. Those damned puppy dog eyes. She couldn't stand them. She nodded, but as he turned she threw a glare at Ren. She went to follow after Mithos but stopped when he tried to open the door.

"What do you mean 'won't open'," she said, irritation evident, "Move."

She moved him out of the way and turned the knob. It was true. The door wouldn't budge. She put her shoulder into it. No good. She tried kicking it, but only ended up hurting her foot. She squeaked a bit, but didn't let the real pain show on the outside. It was truely stuck. And it was all because....

"This is your fault," she hissed, spinning around on Ren, "If your the stand up guy Mithos claims you are, fix it. I really don't want to be trapped in here any longer than I have to."

[Loki-chan]

[[gah, so much to dooo today~ ]]

Ren glared at Mana with the white hot intensity of a thousand suns. "There are no good reasons." He spat, utterly infurieted with her closed-mindedness. "Probably lost somebody in a war, or something. China has certainly been in enough of them. And since you probably have no one specific to blame, you take it out on all the chinese in general. How foolish. Prejudiced people like you are the reason everyone suffers!" Ren glared at her, then looked over at Mithy's pathetic door opening attempt.

A few kicks from Mana and Ren decided that it would be stupid to try kicking it again. So, he walked over to the door and ran a hand down it. Solid wood, cured, so it wouldn't burn well even if they had matches. From his blazer he drew a dagger, something he /obviously/ should not have with him at school, and plunged it into the door with great force. It stuck in deep, but when Ren tried to pull THAT out... it was stuck too. Even with the classic foot-on-door, hands-on-handle trick, he couldn't get his weapon out of the door. Probably, trying to cut through the door with anything besides a saw would be more effort than available anyways.
"Alright, one hundred more of those and we might have a hole big enough to get the first one out." Ren muttered sarcasticly, his golden orbs turning to stare at Mana critically.

"Oh shut it. Your continual babble makes my nerves cringe. Did you know you have a voice that's like grating glass on glass?" Ren insulted her blatently. He no longer had any cause to even consider being nice.
"It would seem, we are indeed stuck in here." Ren said, promptly turning to Mithos and ignoring Mana. "We're on the third floor... suppose jumping is a little out of the question..." Ren looked at the firmly sealed windows. He knew he could make the jump, since he'd fallen from altitudes of several thousand feet before. He also knew that would require an obvious display of his shamanic talent and questions he'd rather not answer.

Suddenly, a low rumble was heard in the pipeing of the school, followed by a clunk and the loss of the clatter that signified the air conditioner going. Ren looked at the air vent, as if daring that it stay off. "...What do you think that was, exactly?" Ren was no technician. He could be wrong.

[Mana Ego-Chan]

Mana gave Ren a flat look as he tried to open the door. Then as he attempted to insult her she chuckled. He looked just as frustrated as she. It was nice to know she was getting on his nerves. She then smirked and sat on one of the desks as the clanking in the ceiling began.

She looked up and listened. It continued repeditivly for a while and then stopped all together. She sighed and took off her beige blazer, revealing a black sleeveless top with a small tiger patch over to the left. She scoffed at Ren's question.

"Obviously," she said taking a know-it-all tone, moving her bangs from her eyes, "This craptastic school failed in upgrading their central air unit over the summer. It looks like it is going to be a very hot night for us unless someone comes to break us out sooner boys. Oh and by the way, *looks at Ren with her smirk resuming* at least I am supposed to sound like a high-pitched girl, what's your excuse shorty? Lack of cahones perhaps?"

[[Cahones= Spanish for Balls....and BURN! XDD]]

[Loki-chan]

"Hmph. I've never quite seen such a lack of respect. And such /vulgarity/ is despicable. Really, I guess it's true no one outside of China has heard of the Tao. Most of my countrymen would shake in fear before speaking that way to me. But, I forgot, you don't like my countryment, so why would you agree with them." Ren scoffed and rifled through his breifcase full of... everything. He fished out his change of clothes and slipped into pants, large, puffy pants that had good air circulation, right over his shorts. And in the brief moment that Ren had his shirt off to change tops, his back was visible (since of course, he wouldn't face the other two).

Amongst the faded scars was an art piece on his skin. A large tattoo signifying him as the heir (and indeed, now the head) of the Tao family. He'd seen it as a seal of hate, though ever since the defeat of his father it had changed in it's meaning to Ren. Now it was a symbol of a new beggining, one he had indeed been getting general hell for. Was it so hard to change the direction of one family? Apparently so.

Ren paid little mind to the tattoo as he slipped on a sleaveless, midriff shirt that clung to his muscles. He took a seat in the nearest desk, legs crossed at his thigh. "Hmph. What a rubbish school, not only do their doors stick, their air conditioning breaks. I wouldn't be surprised if the floor caved it. At least then we'd get out of here."

[Emma]

"I doubt it." Mithos chipped in as he slipped his tie off, staring up at the ceiling blankly. He had stayed silent during their little spat, knowing it would do more harm than good to defend either of them. His eyes, though, had been inexorably drawn to the myriad scars on Ren's back, giving the tattoo only a cursory glance. The boy had clearly earned his place as head of the family. The englishman sighed heavily as he sat on a table, swinging his now-bare feet up onto a chair.

"Seeing as we're likely to be stuck here for quite a while, do you two think you could possibly attempt being civil with each other, for my sake if not your own?" He asked after a moment, running a hand through his dark hair and taking off his glasses. If they didn't, it was likely to wear on his nerves as well as thier own, and neither of them had seen him truly enraged. It was, to say the least, not a pretty sight. It would take a lot of bickering, but he was certain that his two companions would be up to it.

This was going to be a long day.

[Mana Ego-Chan]

Get along? With REN? Mana laughed, leaning back to brace herself on the desk. It was all too shocking, coming from her brother who knew of her history. But it was also a hillarious concept.

"Mithos," she said looking at him, eyes dancing, "You can ask the Red Sea to part. You can ask a poor slave girl to marry a prince. But you cannot seriously be asking the two of us to get along. You are more likely to look forward to spending the night in a room of silence if you wish that. But it is best as opposed to bickering. And as far as the Tao name, I am well aware of the power it holds on poor frightened souls. I have done a lot of traveling in my youth. Your barbaric family has been known for black magic, which you call Shaman practice, and merciless slaughtering is it not? I am also aware that the Gozchu clan is directly linked with yours, is it not?"

Her eyes flickered over to Mithos. It is a name he should have recognized. They were the clan who brought grief to many families, but mostly their own on that dreadful day. The clan name was not mentioned, but they knew in their hearts that they did it. Odds were her father tried a peaceful solution and they blew him out of the water. Then they paid government officials and the Chief of Police to turn their suspect to a gas leak. It was how those dirty bastards played. Even their own government feared them. And who, should she find out upon more research, did they branch off from? Who was the one family that tought these mosters their dispicable ways. Only one name that rang in her heart with hatred since she had heard it, Tao. She wondered if Mithos even had a clue. That is why she hated Ren most of all. She wasn't fond of the Chinese, that was no lie. But she had never treated any of them as despicable as she had treated Ren. And now Mithos knew the truth.

[Loki-chan]

Ren rolled his eyes at Mithy's suggestion. He wasn't the one in this room with a problem. It was that psyco girl that he was related to. But as it appeared, she did have a more personal problem with him. When push came to shove, that made Ren slightly more happy than if she were just some racist bigot.

He perked an eyebrow when she asked about the Gozchu. Ren thought about it for a second... there were many supporting clans associated with the Tao. Ren had eyt to keep up with most of them, and indeed he'd already faced hell once for dissassociating with one of the clans. He tried to remember, then nodded. Indeed, the Gozchu were the very same he'd gotten in trouble with.

"They were." Ren replyed shortly. "They were a supporting clan up until about a year ago. They were let go and are currently out of commision, mafia-wise." Ren said with a knowing tone. Even since Ren decided he didn't like the senseless killing, he'd changed his family and thus, screwed with the fates of all the families tied to the Tao. Ren had done his best to clean up relations after the Gozchu incident.

"Black magic? How hurtful. I bet you can't even see ghosts." Ren smirked. "There's a reason the Tao are feared, maybe pick up a history book one day and figure it out. Not our fault. We were written out of most modern day texts anyways. Mention shamanism or ghosts and somebody might think you're crazy. Explains why the world is dying." Ren shrugged and looked at his briefcase. Inside lay Bason, currently slumbering. He hadn't been of too much use since the tournament ended.

"Say Mithy," Ren queried, changing the topic slightly. "You said you met Lyserg Diethyl, right? When were you aquaintences with him?"

[Emma]

Mithos was exceedingly close to having a go when Ren suddenly (and not too subtly) changed the subject. "...Not too long ago. A couple of years, maybe." He replied, then looked to Mana. "He mentioned the Shaman Tournament to me." He added, shrugging a little. "I'd hardly call it black magic, Mana. Channelling spirits - because that's what it really is - is something I tried myself once. Back when..." He trailed off and shook his head a little. "It doesn't matter. I know exactly who Ren is within the Tao, thanks to that nice tattoo accompanying all his scars." He added, laying back on the table and staring up at the ceiling.

"I know why you've got a problem with him, as well - But I highly doubt you can blame the sins of his family on him. He was our age when... It happened. No doubt already preparing for the Shaman Tournament." The englishman kept his gaze firmly on the ceiling at this point, though he could feel his sister glaring at him. God, sometimes he hated playing the peacekeeper. "At least Ren was prepared to make an effort at being civil." He added offhandedly. "If you won't bother trying, you may as well keep quiet." Before Mana could open her mouth, he turned his head, giving her his patented raised eyebrow look. "Didn't someone once say 'If you've nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all'?"

((OH NO YOU DIDN'T, MANA. D: I'M TOO LAZY TO EDIT. DELETE/REPOST?))

[Mana Ego-Chan]

Mana knew much of the Tao's. More than Ren thought she knew. When her father died, unbeknownst to Tom or Mithos, she had done research on those who killed her father. She had already made a plan to kill every one of them when she graduated. She vowed to make them pay. But she didn't know that the Tao had severed ties. This information suprised her a little. But still, they were associated when it mattered the most, so she still hated Ren.

She kept her mouth shut when he started rambling on about ghosts. She wasn't going to let him, nor Mithos know. She could actually see the slumbering spirit in Ren's briefcase. She didn't want anyone to know. Not yet anyway. Not until she could figure it all out. And she certainly wasn't going to let the boy she hated most know.

"Whatever Mithos," Mana said, "I don't want an effort. No matter what that bastard says, the fact remains that he is gone and it's all his family's fault. You just...you just don't get it. I thought YOU would understand better. But I guess I was wrong. Just because of your own selfishness in your friendship with him. Well I say whatever, take his side. I don't need you. You two can go makeout somewhere and live happily ever after. I just want to be left alone by the BOTH of you."

She was so irritated with him at the moment that she was shaking. She was even taking deep breaths to calm herself. She would not lose it infront of them. The fact that Ren was so chummy made her blood boil. Her heart broke a little at saying those words to Mithos. She still love him. But she had never felt so betrayed. So instead of another outbreak, she thrust her hand into her bag and took out her headphones, it was going to be a long night. Unfortunately, she had forgotten to charge her cell phone when she put it out, so it was basically dead. The only thing to do was to pretend not to exist until morning. Never more had she wished that Ellie was around. Of course when she needed her, she was probably resting at home.

She frowned at the pair and turned her back to them, putting her feet on the chiar and pushing play on her MP3. The first song, unfortunately, was the song she sang at her fathers funeral.

Have I told you lately, that I love you
Have I told you there's no one else above you.
You fill my heart with gladness
Take away all my sadness.
Ease my troubles, that's what you do.

She choked a bit, but made sure that it wasn't to obvious. She quickly changed the song to avoid any ackward situations to another classic hit from another of her favorite group Styx and she turned it up so she could not hear them. She was irritated with the both of them at the moment and wanted nothing more than to shut herself off from the both of them and be alone in her anger and irritation, which wasn't helped as the temperature started to increase.

[Loki-chan]

"Mm, thought you might know about it from him." Ren said plainly, once Mana had quit her meltdown. As he figured, They'd probably killed someone near to her. Maybe her father or brother, since they kept refferring to it as 'he'. He'd seen this type of vengeance before, previously however, the victem was one that Ren killed personally. Ren was still looking for a way to repent, but he knew from experience that the other, who let himself be consumed by vengeance, was hardly on the sane side when all was said and done.

Come to think of it, as Ren recalled, that same person had joined forces with Hao, for the sole purpose of just trying to get rid of Ren. Vengeance did horrible things to people.

"Lyserg is not the type to keep a lid on things. But you mentioned... you tried out some spiritual powers? Not very good with them then, I bet, I didn't see you in the tournament. And believe me, I faced all of the big fish at that tournament. Maybe you just didn't make it past the prelims?" Ren snickered and folded his arms. There was no better shaman in the room than Ren, and if not for Hao, in the school.

Ren however, quickly rethought crossing his arms and instead hung them on various parts of the desk. It /was/ getting rather stuffy in here. Ren became fully aware of it as the first bead of sweat ran down his cheek.

[Emma]

Mithos barely heard Ren as he turned on his sister, eyes blazing. "Don't you dare tell me I don't understand." He raged, swinging himself off the table and staling over to her, towering at his full height of six foot six. "You aren't the only one who lost their father to the Tao, and at least you've still got blood relatives!" This was something he had told nobody. The only other person that knew was Tom, and only because he had been there. "At least you didn't see it! Weren't forced to watch as they cut him into little pieces right in front of you! At least Gabriel wasn't tortured! I know exactly how my father died. I watched them cut him into pieces and bleed to death. But I was logical. I know Ren could not have had anything to do with it. I hate his family, but I don't hate him."

[Loki-chan]

Ren recoilled slightly when Mithy reacted. Such a calm boy, normally, but Ren figured that he should know by now that nice guys could be angry too. Just becaue Ren spent most of his time that way didn't mean he sucked up the only opportunity for anger from anyone else. Mithy seemed that, when he snapped, he snapped hard.

"Infact i'd be rather surprised if my family did it at all, really. I don't doubt her side of the story but no one in direct relation to my family kills that way." Ren tapped his fingers on the desk lightly. "Grandfather shoots things, mum and nee-san manipulate the dead, The Gozchu like electrocution and explosive devices. Father never did shit besides shout orders. And then there were five other branch clans who more liked to call themselves Tao than actually obey our orders... I wouldn't be surprised if they still went about like that." Ren thought about it, and there weren't that many in his family that still used knives and blades. In fact, in most recent times... Ren was the only one. Maybe it was a side clan.

"Well as I mentioned... I've dissassociated with all of them. The famly changed, Mithy. Really, hating the family now would mean hating me. Try for a more specific target." Ren didn't know what possessed him to defend his family, but he wanted to emphasize that they'd taken a new route. He figured curing hate had to mean getting his enemies to like him again. Or something along those lines.

[Mana Ego-Chan]

Mana stared at Mithos in shock. This was a side of the story she had never heard before. Both he and Tom were especially quiet about the whole thing. Mana never wanted to push it either. She felt like utter crap at that moment. She loved Mithos. She loved it even more when he was happy, and the way he looked at her made her stomach turn. Then there was the song that was now permanantly stuck in her head. She searched her mind for anything that would divert these strong feelings she was going through. But only one thing came to mind. She looked away from him, closing her eyes so that the tears would not fall.

"Im sorry Mithos," she said softly as she looked at the floor, "I had never heard about that till now. If I had, I would not have been so hard on you. You know I love you and that I would do anything for you. And if there was one thing I never want is for you to hate me so..."

She smiled and got up. She got on her tip toes and encircled her arms around his large figure giving him a warm hug. Then she uttered the words that would always make anything between them better....

"Marco."

[Emma]

With a quiet sigh, the tall boy wrapped his arms around his little sister and hugged her tightly, chuckling a little. "Polo." He replied, voice barely above a whisper before moving away, towards the window, leaning his head against the cool glass and sighing once more. "Now you know." He said quietly, in english, "So please, for me - try and get on with Ren?" He really hoped she'd at least try, because if not, the evening looked to be very difficult, seeing as they were likely to be stuck here until morning. Turning around so his back was leant against the window, Mithos looked to Ren and spoke in Japanese once more, sounding tired. "Sorry about that outburst." He apologised, an exhausted smile across his face as he ran a hand through his dark hair.

[Loki-chan]

It somehow never ceased to irk Ren when they spoke in english. But he pushed it aside and walked over to the door, examining it again. He turned to face Mithy when spoken too, but just nodded. Like it mattered to him whether his sister was moping or not. And he generally took yelling to his face very casually. It was snide comments that got his feathers ruffled.

With a crack of his knuckles, Ren pressed his foot once more against the door, and gave a fierce yank to the dagger which still remained dormant in it. As he had expected, the heat had caused the door to expand... enough to make the hole he stabbed big enough to pull free. He examined the dagger and ran a finger over the flat side. Even the metal was warm.
"It's going to get dangerously hot in here. Ever heard about japanese summers?" Ren cloaked the dagger back from whence it came, and walked over to pick a towel out of his bag. He wiped nonchalantly at the sweat beads, which were making him glisten in the ever-dimming light of the classroom.

"Curious." Ren commented. "Late enough in the year to get an early sunset, but close enough to the center to make it excrusiatingly hot. Dark, and hot. Oh what a wonderful climate." Ren muttered sarcasticly, looking at the /warm/ tile floor. they might as well have been spending the night in an oven.

[Mana Ego-Chan]

"You know, you really don't have to keep pointing out the obvious," Mana said growing annoyed with the short boy repeating himself, "Im sure we are well aware of how hot it is. So unless you have something useful to say...."

She looked at Mithos, who only narrowed his eyes at her. She sighed and kept her mouth shut, putting in her headphones in again. Sweat was starting to glisten on her as she leaned back and stared at the vent, as if willing the AC to come back on again with her mind. Unfortunately it wasn't working, which just made her all the more irritated. At least her music would filter out any annoying little comments Ren would have to say or the boring conversations that would happen between him and Mithos. She figured the only way to keep her sanity, get through the night, and keep Mithos from being too angry with her, was to shut them out completely until morning. She just hoped the batteries in her MP3 would hold out. Without it, she would surely go mad.

At that thought, she looked down at the battery meter on it. Half full. She groaned loudly and sighed. Just her luck. This meant sooner or later, her batteries would die and she would have to face an annoying night of useless attempts to make peace. They weren't dead yet, so she got lost in the moment, preying this hot night would go by quickly.

[Emma]

With a heavy sigh, Mithos slipped off his tie and swiftly undid the top two buttons of his shirt. The temperature was rising far too fast for his liking, he decided as he perched on a table once more. He didn't need this after his first day, especially stuck in this oven with his sister and his friend who just happened not to get along. Bloody typical, he thought to himself, staring up at the ceiling.

"...So. What to do?"