494. NaNoWriMo - Iori/Kyo - Untitled Prologue & Chapter 1.
Title: Untitled, for now.
Fandom: King of Fighters.
Characters: Iori/Kyo, primarily; various characters throughout.
Rating: R.
Summary: November Novel.
Prologue & Chapter One, with more to come, obviously.
Word count for this part: 2,099.
Total word count:
2099 / 50000
(4.2%)
Prologue
Kyo threw his bags down on the cushy mattress and stared around the room, angrily. Five minutes in this house and he was already pissed. Five minutes in this fucking town was five minutes too long, in his opinion.
Not that anyone asked for his opinion. If they had, he would have told them that he wasn't moving to East Fuck Derby or wherever, and that he'd be just fine renting an apartment downtown and going to school. It's not like his father didn't have the money for it.
But no, his father bowed to his mother's every whim and she wanted to keep the family together, even if it meant that a couple of them would be unhappy. Like Kyo. He was fuck-all unhappy about this arrangement.
Actually, he was downright pissed about having to move from their comfortable, moderately-sized house in the city to this ridiculous, bare place that reminded him a little too much of a horror movie, but he was even more ticked off about having to do it all in the middle of the school year, where he had to show up in a new class and go through the awkward “hi my name is Kyo I like to read and play hockey” bullshit. He had an established group of people back home, a little cult following for pretty much his every hobby, and here? He wasn't even sure they knew what hockey was here in East Fuck Derby.
What the fuck did these people do for fun, anyway? Competitive walnut picking? There were definitely enough fucking trees. Trees were everywhere. Kyo hated trees. He hadn't realized it until now, but he so did. Maybe he ought to go into a career in the logging industry and get rid of all the trees on the face of the planet. Yeah, that sounded good. Anything but doing what his dad told him sounded good right now.
He ignored the movers, who were bringing in all of the boxes marked “Kyo's shit” and stacking them neatly in the corner. Why didn't they just unpack it, too? He sure as hell wasn't going to do it. Unpacking meant they were fucking stuck here.
“Look, baby.” Well, shit. He could ignore the movers, but he couldn't ignore his mother. He didn't have to act happy about this, though. “A built in bookshelf for you! It looks like your room fits you just fine, doesn't it? Isn't that great? You're probably pretty eager to get your stuff unpacked, aren't you? I know I am.”
“Whatever,” Kyo replied glumly. “Yeah, I guess the bookshelf's fine. Do you know which box has my iPod?”
“Sure don't, baby,” Shizuka said airily, patting his cheek. “I hope you find it, though. Music always did motivate you to get something done.”
Kyo watched her wander out of his room and sighed. He'd have to unpack now, if his mom was going to be on his case about it like this, anyway. His dad would flay him alive if he managed to upset his mom, and that would just make everything worse. They were close enough to having to put her in a home without Kyo adding to it. That was why they'd moved to East Fuck Derby in the first place.
At this rate, he'd be thrilled to start school again just to have something to do during the day. Not that this town had any of his-
“Well, fuck. I've just argued myself in a circle.” He paused, staring around the empty room. “And I'm already talking to myself. This town is driving me nuts and I haven't even been here one night.”
***
After the movers had gone, and Kyo had watched them drive away-and after it became obvious that they weren't going to come back, laughing about how funny that practical joke was and saying that it was okay, they could go back home now-he turned to his room with a sigh.
Whoever had decorated this room in preparation for his father's arrival had done a totally shitty job. That had to be the first to go. The powder-blue curtains, the cheerful blue bedspread-totally not him. He didn't even want the fucking walls to be tinted blue.
Blue had been the color of his brother's room, back home.
Angrily, Kyo grabbed a fistful of curtains and tugged, pulling the rod from the wall with a crash and leaving just the shade to cover the window. Fine with him. Who needed curtains anyway?
“Stop making so much damned noise!” his father shouted up the stairs. “Your mother's already asleep!”
Like she's going to wake up anyway, Kyo thought bitterly, but he kept his mouth shut. His mom's pills kept her more or less in a coma, and if she could sleep through his dad screaming at him like that, then he doubted a little crash was going to bring her out of it. For once, he didn't feel like getting into it with his father, so he opened boxes as quietly as he could until he found his iPod, then fell onto his back onto the stupid blue bedspread and cranked the music as loudly as it would go.
“Fuck my life,” he muttered out loud, and closed his eyes.
Chapter One
Late to his first day of school wasn't the best way to start a new life. Kind of seemed typical, though. Apparently he'd fallen asleep on that shitty ass blanket and had woken up half an hour later than he'd hoped, so he had to rush around a little more than he would've liked for a first day. On the plus side, though, it meant that he had a good reason to miss breakfast with his parents-if his mom was even awake-and that was definitely a positive spin on waking up late.
Kyo pulled on his leather jacket and gloves, but only made it as far as the garage before he decided not to ride his bike to school after all. Not that he cared about being cocky, but for all he knew, it'd get defaced in a shithole town like this. Besides, it'd make way too much of an impact. Who rode a motorcycle in freezing weather, and to school, at that? It was common at home, which probably meant it'd be way out of the norm here.
He almost had himself convinced, he thought bitterly as he headed for the school on foot. To be honest, he'd probably never fucking ride the thing again. Good thing everything in this place was within walking distance, or he'd have to buy a car. God forbid. His best friend would probably bust a gut laughing at the mental image of Kyo Kusanagi bouncing around town in a little VW Beetle, or whatever.
He tried to keep from feeling awkward as he walked into the office to check in.
“Oh, you must be Kyo! I was hoping you'd get here a little early, sweetheart, go ahead and sit down.”
Well, wasn't that plan just shot to shit? Kyo sat, trying not to laugh or just walk out altogether. In his old school, there had been so many students that they'd barely recognized them in the office, much less known anyone by name on the day they came in.
“I've got your schedule already figured out, based on the classes you took in your old school. Shingo should be by any minute. He's in a few classes with you and he's agreed to show you around.”
“Fantastic,” Kyo replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm that the secretary didn't seem to catch.
“Oh, you'll just love him, I'm sure. It's hard not to! He's been watering my flowers since he was eight years old...”
Wonderful. Things just kept getting better and better. He'd come up with a plan on the way to school-if he couldn't just stay at home where his friends were, he'd remain safely anonymous here until the school year was over, until he was eighteen, and he'd move back. It'd be legal then. No use in getting attached to anyone, or even learn anyone's name. But of course he walked in and everything just went down the pipes because the secretary was having Shingo the eight year old wonder gardener show him around the school. The two buildings of the high school. Like he could possibly get lost.
“I just need you to sign these papers. And I need your parents to sign a couple-where are they, anyway? Where's your mom, sweetheart?”
Oh, sure, Kyo thought as he flipped through the papers she'd handed him. Why don't I just bring my crazy mother in here? That'd make a good first impression on Shingo the Gardener. You could call me sweetheart, my mom could call me baby, and everybody in the entire fucking world could see. You'd get along great.
“I'll take them to my dad to sign tonight,” Kyo said, faking a sweet smile. “Will that be okay?”
“That'll be fine. Just don't forget to bring them back to me tomorrow, all right? They go in your permanent file.”
Kyo didn't have to answer-the door flew open and a boy stumbled in, barely catching himself on the handle before straightening and giving the whole room a bright smile, despite the fact that there were only two people in it. This must have been-
“Shingo! You're just in time.”
The boy grinned. “I don't know, I kinda think I was a couple of minutes late,” he replied, plopping down in another chair. “Hi, Kyo! I'm Shingo. It's nice to meet you!”
“Uh... hi,” Kyo answered. Out of the corner of his eye, he studied the boy. A few inches shorter than Kyo, but he kind of bore a resemblance, maybe like a cousin or something. He was wearing blue pants and a matching blue jacket that looked a lot like a uniform, with a white tee shirt underneath and grey sneakers. Kind of cute, in an innocent, little boy kind of way. He was probably younger, and probably the kind that blushed every time he heard a curse word. Really, he looked like he could be-no. Don't go there, Kusanagi.
“Now that Shingo's here, I'll send you on to class,” the secretary told him. “You just come back and see me at the end of the day and I'll get your slip, okay? You have a good day, now.”
What Kyo wanted to do was to walk out the front door, jump on his bike that he'd never ride, and leave this town in the dust. What he wanted was his mother back, whole and sane and off of the anti psychotics. What he wanted was to walk into his house and have his father be happy again, not look at him like the second favorite, younger son who was now the only heir he'd ever have.
What he got was Shingo, beaming at him from the open door and waiting for him to follow. Kyo sighed, resigned, and picked up his bookbag from the floor to follow.
“It's a pretty easy campus,” Shingo said cheerfully, bounding out of the office. “All your classes are pretty much all in the same hallway, except that you have gym right before lunch and that's over by the cafeteria. I can't take gym. I'm pretty much the biggest klutz on the face of the planet. Oh, and I'm not in your English class, either, but that's the classroom right there. Here's your locker. Your combination is 3-37-11. You don't have to use it if you don't want to, 'cause about half of us don't.”
He said it all in one big breath, without ever even glancing at Kyo's schedule. “Class starts in just a few minutes so we might want to get there and try your locker later, if that's what you want. Do you have any questions?”
Kyo stared at him. “Is everybody in this town as bubbly as you?” he asked, shaking his head. He didn't know if he was trying to be hateful or not, but of course it only made Shingo laugh. Kyo was beginning to think that everything made Shingo laugh.
“Come on.” He bounded into the classroom first off, leaving Kyo to follow, bewildered. “Professor, new student!”
“Oh, fantastic!” the professor called. “Come in, Kyo! We've all been waiting for you!”
Fan-fucking-tastic, indeed.
Fandom: King of Fighters.
Characters: Iori/Kyo, primarily; various characters throughout.
Rating: R.
Summary: November Novel.
Prologue & Chapter One, with more to come, obviously.
Word count for this part: 2,099.
Total word count:
2099 / 50000
(4.2%)
Prologue
Kyo threw his bags down on the cushy mattress and stared around the room, angrily. Five minutes in this house and he was already pissed. Five minutes in this fucking town was five minutes too long, in his opinion.
Not that anyone asked for his opinion. If they had, he would have told them that he wasn't moving to East Fuck Derby or wherever, and that he'd be just fine renting an apartment downtown and going to school. It's not like his father didn't have the money for it.
But no, his father bowed to his mother's every whim and she wanted to keep the family together, even if it meant that a couple of them would be unhappy. Like Kyo. He was fuck-all unhappy about this arrangement.
Actually, he was downright pissed about having to move from their comfortable, moderately-sized house in the city to this ridiculous, bare place that reminded him a little too much of a horror movie, but he was even more ticked off about having to do it all in the middle of the school year, where he had to show up in a new class and go through the awkward “hi my name is Kyo I like to read and play hockey” bullshit. He had an established group of people back home, a little cult following for pretty much his every hobby, and here? He wasn't even sure they knew what hockey was here in East Fuck Derby.
What the fuck did these people do for fun, anyway? Competitive walnut picking? There were definitely enough fucking trees. Trees were everywhere. Kyo hated trees. He hadn't realized it until now, but he so did. Maybe he ought to go into a career in the logging industry and get rid of all the trees on the face of the planet. Yeah, that sounded good. Anything but doing what his dad told him sounded good right now.
He ignored the movers, who were bringing in all of the boxes marked “Kyo's shit” and stacking them neatly in the corner. Why didn't they just unpack it, too? He sure as hell wasn't going to do it. Unpacking meant they were fucking stuck here.
“Look, baby.” Well, shit. He could ignore the movers, but he couldn't ignore his mother. He didn't have to act happy about this, though. “A built in bookshelf for you! It looks like your room fits you just fine, doesn't it? Isn't that great? You're probably pretty eager to get your stuff unpacked, aren't you? I know I am.”
“Whatever,” Kyo replied glumly. “Yeah, I guess the bookshelf's fine. Do you know which box has my iPod?”
“Sure don't, baby,” Shizuka said airily, patting his cheek. “I hope you find it, though. Music always did motivate you to get something done.”
Kyo watched her wander out of his room and sighed. He'd have to unpack now, if his mom was going to be on his case about it like this, anyway. His dad would flay him alive if he managed to upset his mom, and that would just make everything worse. They were close enough to having to put her in a home without Kyo adding to it. That was why they'd moved to East Fuck Derby in the first place.
At this rate, he'd be thrilled to start school again just to have something to do during the day. Not that this town had any of his-
“Well, fuck. I've just argued myself in a circle.” He paused, staring around the empty room. “And I'm already talking to myself. This town is driving me nuts and I haven't even been here one night.”
***
After the movers had gone, and Kyo had watched them drive away-and after it became obvious that they weren't going to come back, laughing about how funny that practical joke was and saying that it was okay, they could go back home now-he turned to his room with a sigh.
Whoever had decorated this room in preparation for his father's arrival had done a totally shitty job. That had to be the first to go. The powder-blue curtains, the cheerful blue bedspread-totally not him. He didn't even want the fucking walls to be tinted blue.
Blue had been the color of his brother's room, back home.
Angrily, Kyo grabbed a fistful of curtains and tugged, pulling the rod from the wall with a crash and leaving just the shade to cover the window. Fine with him. Who needed curtains anyway?
“Stop making so much damned noise!” his father shouted up the stairs. “Your mother's already asleep!”
Like she's going to wake up anyway, Kyo thought bitterly, but he kept his mouth shut. His mom's pills kept her more or less in a coma, and if she could sleep through his dad screaming at him like that, then he doubted a little crash was going to bring her out of it. For once, he didn't feel like getting into it with his father, so he opened boxes as quietly as he could until he found his iPod, then fell onto his back onto the stupid blue bedspread and cranked the music as loudly as it would go.
“Fuck my life,” he muttered out loud, and closed his eyes.
Chapter One
Late to his first day of school wasn't the best way to start a new life. Kind of seemed typical, though. Apparently he'd fallen asleep on that shitty ass blanket and had woken up half an hour later than he'd hoped, so he had to rush around a little more than he would've liked for a first day. On the plus side, though, it meant that he had a good reason to miss breakfast with his parents-if his mom was even awake-and that was definitely a positive spin on waking up late.
Kyo pulled on his leather jacket and gloves, but only made it as far as the garage before he decided not to ride his bike to school after all. Not that he cared about being cocky, but for all he knew, it'd get defaced in a shithole town like this. Besides, it'd make way too much of an impact. Who rode a motorcycle in freezing weather, and to school, at that? It was common at home, which probably meant it'd be way out of the norm here.
He almost had himself convinced, he thought bitterly as he headed for the school on foot. To be honest, he'd probably never fucking ride the thing again. Good thing everything in this place was within walking distance, or he'd have to buy a car. God forbid. His best friend would probably bust a gut laughing at the mental image of Kyo Kusanagi bouncing around town in a little VW Beetle, or whatever.
He tried to keep from feeling awkward as he walked into the office to check in.
“Oh, you must be Kyo! I was hoping you'd get here a little early, sweetheart, go ahead and sit down.”
Well, wasn't that plan just shot to shit? Kyo sat, trying not to laugh or just walk out altogether. In his old school, there had been so many students that they'd barely recognized them in the office, much less known anyone by name on the day they came in.
“I've got your schedule already figured out, based on the classes you took in your old school. Shingo should be by any minute. He's in a few classes with you and he's agreed to show you around.”
“Fantastic,” Kyo replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm that the secretary didn't seem to catch.
“Oh, you'll just love him, I'm sure. It's hard not to! He's been watering my flowers since he was eight years old...”
Wonderful. Things just kept getting better and better. He'd come up with a plan on the way to school-if he couldn't just stay at home where his friends were, he'd remain safely anonymous here until the school year was over, until he was eighteen, and he'd move back. It'd be legal then. No use in getting attached to anyone, or even learn anyone's name. But of course he walked in and everything just went down the pipes because the secretary was having Shingo the eight year old wonder gardener show him around the school. The two buildings of the high school. Like he could possibly get lost.
“I just need you to sign these papers. And I need your parents to sign a couple-where are they, anyway? Where's your mom, sweetheart?”
Oh, sure, Kyo thought as he flipped through the papers she'd handed him. Why don't I just bring my crazy mother in here? That'd make a good first impression on Shingo the Gardener. You could call me sweetheart, my mom could call me baby, and everybody in the entire fucking world could see. You'd get along great.
“I'll take them to my dad to sign tonight,” Kyo said, faking a sweet smile. “Will that be okay?”
“That'll be fine. Just don't forget to bring them back to me tomorrow, all right? They go in your permanent file.”
Kyo didn't have to answer-the door flew open and a boy stumbled in, barely catching himself on the handle before straightening and giving the whole room a bright smile, despite the fact that there were only two people in it. This must have been-
“Shingo! You're just in time.”
The boy grinned. “I don't know, I kinda think I was a couple of minutes late,” he replied, plopping down in another chair. “Hi, Kyo! I'm Shingo. It's nice to meet you!”
“Uh... hi,” Kyo answered. Out of the corner of his eye, he studied the boy. A few inches shorter than Kyo, but he kind of bore a resemblance, maybe like a cousin or something. He was wearing blue pants and a matching blue jacket that looked a lot like a uniform, with a white tee shirt underneath and grey sneakers. Kind of cute, in an innocent, little boy kind of way. He was probably younger, and probably the kind that blushed every time he heard a curse word. Really, he looked like he could be-no. Don't go there, Kusanagi.
“Now that Shingo's here, I'll send you on to class,” the secretary told him. “You just come back and see me at the end of the day and I'll get your slip, okay? You have a good day, now.”
What Kyo wanted to do was to walk out the front door, jump on his bike that he'd never ride, and leave this town in the dust. What he wanted was his mother back, whole and sane and off of the anti psychotics. What he wanted was to walk into his house and have his father be happy again, not look at him like the second favorite, younger son who was now the only heir he'd ever have.
What he got was Shingo, beaming at him from the open door and waiting for him to follow. Kyo sighed, resigned, and picked up his bookbag from the floor to follow.
“It's a pretty easy campus,” Shingo said cheerfully, bounding out of the office. “All your classes are pretty much all in the same hallway, except that you have gym right before lunch and that's over by the cafeteria. I can't take gym. I'm pretty much the biggest klutz on the face of the planet. Oh, and I'm not in your English class, either, but that's the classroom right there. Here's your locker. Your combination is 3-37-11. You don't have to use it if you don't want to, 'cause about half of us don't.”
He said it all in one big breath, without ever even glancing at Kyo's schedule. “Class starts in just a few minutes so we might want to get there and try your locker later, if that's what you want. Do you have any questions?”
Kyo stared at him. “Is everybody in this town as bubbly as you?” he asked, shaking his head. He didn't know if he was trying to be hateful or not, but of course it only made Shingo laugh. Kyo was beginning to think that everything made Shingo laugh.
“Come on.” He bounded into the classroom first off, leaving Kyo to follow, bewildered. “Professor, new student!”
“Oh, fantastic!” the professor called. “Come in, Kyo! We've all been waiting for you!”
Fan-fucking-tastic, indeed.