[Shaman King] Twin Stars * chapter 1: slipping into the facade

[lucathia]

Title: Twin Stars
Chapters: 1/?

Author: lucathia_rykatu
Series: Shaman King
Genre: General / Romance
Characters: (main) Hao, Yoh, Anna, Jeanne, Ren (side) Horo Horo, Tamao, Faust, Pirika, Ryu, Lyserg, Marco, Ryu, Manta, Nichrome, Opacho, and others
Disclaimer: Shaman King is not mine.
Archive: livejournal / ffnet

Summary: A child of the streets, Hao is awarded a chance to earn some money.  The catch?  Crossdressing.  AU world of singers and idols.  Throw in Yoh who is oblivious to Hao's existence, Anna and Jeanne who are competing for the top spot in popularity, and Ren who somehow thinks that Hao would be a good edition to his fan-girl base. Eventual romance.

(prompt #89: she)

-----chapter 1: slipping into the façade-----

“Thank you for coming!” yelled the announcer into the microphone. The announcer’s voice blasted through the entire auditorium. The crowd cheered enthusiastically, almost drowning out the announcer’s next words.

“Now we will start the fourth Spring Sky live concert performed by none other thaaaaan...” The announcer dragged the sentence out, letting the audience finish.

In unison, the crowd shouted.

“KYOYAMA ANNA!”

“Bingo! Correct answer! Now, welcome her in with your cheer!” The announcer held his microphone out to the crowd.

The crowd went crazy, trying to make as much noise as possible. Many yelled at the top of their lungs. Some even cupped their hands around their mouths to project their voices farther.

When the first few notes of the background music started playing, the crowd’s cheer became even louder. Their idol was going to make an appearance any moment now!

The lights danced, shining from the stage outwards. Jets of smoke blasted out, cloaking the rising figure of a girl on the stage. She had her back to the crowd, her golden hair glimmering in the light. Slowly, she brought the microphone to her mouth.

“Yomigaere!”

The crowd cheered at the top of their lungs.

Anna finally turned around. Her eyes swept over the audience before she closed them and started singing with all her might.

“Sora to daichi ga-”

Faust turned the television off, his face void of happiness.

Funbari Spirits had gone all out on Anna’s recent concerts. The auditorium was fairly large, the lighting was good, the stage was well set up, and the special effects were all there. Faust grimaced. At the present, his company would not even be able to rent an auditorium half that size.

The child that he had found in the streets sat down on the other side of the sofa with one eyebrow raised as she toweled her long hair dry. She had discarded her ragged clothes, now wearing Eliza’s old sundress. Faust could already see that the child not only had a good voice, but was also one of physical beauty. The sundress seemed out of place on the child. Perhaps that was because the dress was too big for her?

“Well, that’s Kyoyama Anna,” said Faust finally, answering Hao’s silent question. “She’s currently the most popular female singer. Actually, she’s currently the most popular singer out of both males and females. As you can see, the company that’s promoting her is rich.”

To them, Bones Entertainment wasn’t a threat at all. He had to admit, however, that being rich wasn’t the only advantage Funbari Spirits had over his company. Kyoyama Anna truly was a talented singer.

“Following closely behind Anna is Iron Maiden Jeanne. She has been rising in popularity ever since she started her own radio show to answer incoming questions. She’s a good listener and gives good advice, though I am suspicious why some of her rivals in that department have mysteriously been injured.”

He more than suspected that it was the work of the X-laws, the company that was promoting Jeanne. Even though Jeanne herself was the very image of an innocent and pure girl, the X-laws were actually cruel and used any means to get what they wanted.

“They’re your two main competitors. Are you ready for this?”

Faust focused his attention on the child, who gave a barely perceptible but resolute nod.

Faust smiled.

“Shall we go shopping then?”

Since Faust’s mind was already set on buying the best clothes for Hao out of his tight budget, he didn’t notice the grimace that spread across Hao’s face.

-----0-----

When they stopped in front of the clothing store displaying stylish clothing for teenage girls, Hao felt like groaning.

Did he really want to do this? The sundress that Faust had given him to wear was already bad enough. He didn’t need to look at more of those horrible clothing.

Right when they entered the store, rows upon rows of PINK clothing greeted him. He stared at them, speechless.

Faust pursed his lips and muttered out loud to himself. “Iron Maiden Jeanne is presented as a pure, angelic girl. She wears mostly white, lacey dresses and even brings around an iron casket sometimes.” Faust glanced around the store, his eyes passing over the section with clothing similar to Jeanne’s. Those wouldn’t work. “Kyoyama Anna is presented as a sharp Ice Queen. I don’t know why, but many people seem to like her attitude since she seems hard to approach. She wears mostly plain, solid-colored dresses and a red bandanna.” He needed to cross out that type of clothing from the list as well. “What kind of image should Hao have? What kind of image would be able to combat those two deeply alluring, deeply ingrained images?”

Hao shrugged, even though Faust wasn’t asking him the question.

“As long as it’s doesn’t include pink, I’m fine,” muttered Hao under his breath.

Faust continued musing. “Angel. Ice Queen. The third thing in the list...has to be Devil then.”

Hao blinked.

Faust turned to him with a smile. “What do you think?”

Him? Presented as the Devil? That idea didn’t seem too bad to him. At least he didn’t have to pretend to be some nice, little, obedient girl.

“That’s okay with me.”

Faust nodded. “Great. Then let’s pick out your new clothes.”

They headed far away from the rows of pink, thank goodness.

Faust picked out a silky, one-piece black dress with red sleeves. The long sleeves were wide and had web-like cuffs. The hems of the dress held a similar design. Hao glanced at it, unable to imagine himself wearing it.

A flimsy, black dress.

The sad thing was...the dress was much better quality than anything he had ever worn in his lifetime.

He picked out the next set of clothing himself, a simple, short-sleeved black turtle-neck and a pleated black dress. He then picked out a pair of red gloves, a red belt, and some red boots.

Their hands were full by the time they both finished picking out suitable clothing for Hao. Hao almost blushed when they headed towards the lingerie section of the store. He quickly shepherded Faust out of the section, telling the older man that he could pick out his undergarments himself. When Faust protested, Hao muttered “pervert” under his breath, effectively shutting Faust up. Hao was then left on his own to pick out his undergarments.

After the embarrassing scene at the lingerie section, they picked out some long, dark dress pants before Faust announced that they had picked out enough clothes. He barely had enough money to pay for what they were going to buy. They’d have to wait for Hao to rake in some money before they bought more stuff.

Faust quickly paid for the clothing.

Hao was glad when they left the store. He didn’t want to step foot in there anytime in the near future. He hoped that he would never have to go there again! He also hoped that these clothes would make him look more like a girl.

After all, he couldn’t afford to be suspected otherwise.

-----tbc-----