Far Away From Home
Chapter One
Haliae
A/N: I just HAD to do it. I mean come on! Hwoarang and flippin Leo! And mind you, since Leo is a boy in my book, this will be slash. And since I'm preteh sure the rating is going to go up, it's definitely going to transform into a yaoi in later chapters. Yup.
I left the journal entries unsigned on purpose :D Can you guess which character they belong to? I'm going to reveal it later, though I'm sure it's obvious :P
Disclaimer: I quite obviously don't own Tekken or any of it's characters because…THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN A CG MOVIE BY NOW…if I did. One that would have given Advent Children a run for her money :D
Rating: T for potty mouth
...
Dear Journal,
I found a dead puppy today.
It began raining while I was in town on an errand for opa, so I ran for cover under the nearest tree to wait it out. There was a cardboard box there against the trunk that I didn't notice at first. I saw it…when I looked inside. The puppy. He didn't look as if he had been dead long. He didn't have the smell of rot.
After the shock left me, I became angry. I can't remember the last time I was so angry… How could someone leave a puppy so small behind without his parents? What kind of monster would take his mother away? And leave him to die alone?
I didn't realize I was crying until I was back at opa's old farm, underneath the old oak tree with the cardboard box and a shovel, wiping at my eyes. I didn't want to wait until the next day to bury him when it had stopped raining. I don't think I would have been able to handle the sight or smell of him rotting.
So I buried the wet puppy in the mud and set a stone there to mark the grave. It was then that I realized I had nothing to say for him. He had been a stray.
Much later, when I went back inside for the night, my opa didn't see any tears.
Only rain.
...
"Leo! Stay right there!"
The blonde boy of nineteen years jolted before squinting ahead to see who had called him—a girl running towards him across the school yard, dark hair flying behind her. He obeyed, coming to a stop as he waited patiently for her to catch up. The girl stumbled rather clumsily in front of him before resting her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath. When her panting slowed down and her breathing came easier, she straightened. And then flicked him hard on the forehead.
"Hey!"
Leo rubbed at where he had been attacked and stared accusingly at his schoolmate. Her soft features and cheery smile made him slightly woozy though, despite the stinging spot on his forehead. He briefly wondered how on earth such a sweet looking girl could inflict any kind of pain.
"What was that for?" he complained. He wasn't really upset though, just a little curious and a little sore.
"Because I didn't get to see you yesterday, silly" she replied breezily, as if it was that obvious. She flicked him again for emphasis, though not as hard this time, before spinning on her red heels. He watched her march in the opposite direction of the benches where he had initially intended to eat his packed lunch alone. With his best friend's schedule changed and the lack of any lunch buddies, this year the blonde found himself eating alone quite often. Glad that today wouldn't be the same, Leo fought back a huge grin as he rubbed absentmindedly at his forehead again before following.
"…Niklaus told me you were taking care of your grandfather, so you're forgiven" she was saying. When she noticed he was finally walking beside her, she looked up to him, dark eyes bright underneath her long lashes. "Is it alright with you if I come over today after school? To help out?"
He immediately forgot that he was going to ask her why she wasn't eating with her class sisters like she usually did—why she had gone out of her way to seek him out. They were on friendly terms sure, thanks to Niklaus, but this was definitely surprising. Any questions he might have asked were thrown out the window, because when she said that, Leo couldn't help the light tinge of pink that dusted his cheeks or the nibble of his bottom lip. He had to look away quickly, instead focusing straight ahead so that she couldn't see his blush.
Please God, don't let her have seen that…
Just the thought of having her over—kind, beautiful, wonderful Tabea—at his house…and she offered…
He inwardly sighed.
It was too bad that he couldn't have her over.
"You know how my opa gets when he doesn't get a challenge when he's out fighting," Leo responded, trying to keep himself from mumbling in both embarrassment and disappointment. The one day his grandfather chose to stay home was the day Tabea asked to come over. How great that was. Leo could feel her looking at him as he spoke and his blush darkened. "He's really cranky right now, so it's probably best if you didn't"
Leo was sure some of his displeasure had needled its way into his voice and hoped that the older girl hadn't noticed. If Tabea ever got a suspicion of how he felt for her, he would quite literally die of humiliation…assuming she hadn't already. The thought alone made him want to groan aloud.
"Alright. I understand. Is it okay if I come over another time, then?" she asked, somewhat pleadingly. This time she stopped walking and looked up at his face so hopefully, onyx eyes wide and lips parted in anticipation, that he couldn't stand to say anything other than a sheepish "yes". She giggled and continued on, thankfully unaware that his face resembled that of a tomato.
Tabea wants to come over my house to help me out…Leo thought in amazement. The blonde suddenly had an indescribable urge to cartwheel in the grass and whoop with glee, but managed to compromise with his giddy emotions with a hearty chuckle. Definitely not a giggle. The dark haired girl responsible for his happiness looked back and smiled again.
"Make sure you bring Niklaus over too. He was really worried, you know" she added.
Leo nodded vigorously, smiling at her nice white teeth and round cheeks. She was so pretty…
"Sure" he answered.
...
Hwoarang stretched himself fully, arching off the couch cushions as he worked out the kinks in his back. He looked up lazily at his best friend of who-knew-how-many-years as he walked into the den, arms full of cleaning products before he dumped them unceremoniously on the worn and beaten lounge chair by the coffee table. The older man straightened as his dark eyes scanned over the redhead—wearing nothing but a pair of dingy boxers and the goggles on his forehead—who was lying quite comfortably on his only couch.
That had better not be his damn pillow Hwoarang had cushioned between his legs…
"What the hell, man?" he groaned. He frowned at Hwoarang's playful laugh and threw a pillow at him, smack on the face. The grin on the redhead's face only grew wider. Damn him.
"Chill, what's your problem?" Hwoarang asked in amusement as he recovered the pillow from the floor. He positioned it comfortably behind his head as he studied his friend.
"Eagle, you look like shit" the redhead added.
"You'll look like shit in a minute if you don't get your fat ass off that couch" the older man growled. This only warranted a snicker and he frowned moodily.
Eagle was the nickname given to him by none other than the Red Talon himself, when the two had first met many years ago. And it fit. The white American was everything Hwoarang envisioned a soldier from that country to be. He was a freakin' living, breathing G.I. Joe for shit's sake. And perceptive as hell. But as harsh as he wanted to be, he was also one of the greatest people Hwoarang knew. And the closest thing he had to a brother.
"And put some damn clothes on" said friend added. The older of the two was supposedly glaring, but the heated stare wasn't holding much conviction. "You know I'm gonna be having company soon, Rang. I told you that an hour ago"
"Yeah, yeah, I know, don't get your panties in a bunch, old man" Hwoarang replied offhandedly as he stretched again.
The redhead took his sweet time with getting up from the couch, just to grate Eagle's apparently already grated nerves—and judging by the growl he heard, he did. Hwoarang scratched his butt idly as he scanned the small den, contemplating where he had thrown his clothes the night before.
Eagle watched him for a moment, still slightly irritated that the gang leader had pretty much ignored everything he had said. Sighing tiredly, he decided to ask a question that had been bugging him for some time.
"Why don't you sleep at your own place, anyway?" Eagle asked suspiciously."You haven't been kicked out yet, have you?"
And just like that, Hwoarang was painfully reminded of the situation he had found himself in for the past month. Why he could no longer stomach going back to his place most nights. Every night.
For a moment, Hwoarang didn't speak. Just watched as his friend stacked up old beat-up magazines on the coffee table, revealing a glass surface he didn't remember seeing in ages.
He finally shrugged. "I just wanted to crash here. Your house is closer than mine anyway and I didn't feel like riding over there"
Liar.
"You always crash here"
Eagle didn't sound convinced. At all. And now he was giving him that look. The one that peeled away all his fronts and saw everything Hwoarang didn't want him to see. That scrutinizing look that suddenly made the redhead much angrier then he should have been.
"And since when in hell did you care?" Hwoarang snapped. "It never bothered you before, so why're you being a dick about it now, huh?"
He tried not to think about the fact that he already knew.
It didn't help any.
Eagle gave him a hard look and Hwoarang immediately returned it with one of his own. He knew he was being an asshole at the moment, or a pest in the very least, but he couldn't stop himself. Anger was easier to deal with than other things—and he was mad.
"Well first of all, it's my damn house, but I won't go there," Eagle began harshly.
Hwoarang snorted. "Gee, thanks"
The older man sighed and gave him a look that he didn't recognize. It looked out of place on the otherwise hard features of his face. "You haven't forgotten about Meeyon, have you?"
The redhead groaned out loud at the mention of her name and decided not to comment on the way he had looked at him.
Of course he remembered. Though God knew he didn't want to. The disgusted look on his face must have shown how he felt because then he heard a laugh, and just like a switch had been flipped, the tension between them dissipated. And Hwoarang was glad. Meeyon's name had brought up stirrings of emotion that had been messing with his health lately and he didn't want to deal with that now. Or ever, for that matter.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I remember your lady friend. You're getting soft on me, old man" Hwoarang said, wanting to keep things in the sense of normalcy that they both knew. It had taken some effort not to call Meeyon what he had actually been thinking and hoped his friend hadn't noticed. Hwoarang smiled easily at the older man, swallowing down a few choice words he had reserved just for the likes of her.
"Look at you…you're even cleaning everything and she isn't even here yet" he started, watching as Eagle shot him a measured glare. "No wonder you're so pissy. You're already like her little bit—"
"Finish that sentence and I'm shoving this bleach spray up your ass" Eagle warned, holding the bottle up threateningly.
Hwoarang laughed at that, forgetting for a moment that he was upset.
"You kinky bastard" he said, smiling. "I never knew you swung that way"
The glare intensified, but the redhead continued on. "I wonder what Meeyon would say if she knew you wanted to get in my pants" Hwoarang couldn't help but give him a lewd smirk as he wiggle his brows, cocking his hips in a suggestive pose.
Before he knew it, he was dodging a spray bottle aimed to his head. Hwoarang was unable to hold back the laugh that escaped him as it fell harmlessly on the sofa behind him. He turned back and grinned impishly at his friend who was trying very hard to look angry.
"Get the hell out" Eagle demanded, failing miserably to fight the smile of his face completely. "And put your damn clothes on. You left them on my bathroom floor, dumb ass"
"Dammit, don't rush me, I'm leaving" the redhead retorted back as he held up his hands in surrender.
Feeling much better than he had before, Hwoarang walked over to the coffee table and made to slide between his larger friend and the lounge chair when a hand on his elbow stopped him.
It was that same look from before that made the redhead freeze. The one he was unfamiliar with, coming from the hardened American.
"You know," Eagle began softly. "When Meeyon moves in, you won't be able to crash here anymore, Hwoarang. And I won't be able to hang with the gang like I used to"
And to top it all off, he had to call him that. Hwoarang hated when Eagle called him by his first name like that. He never did it unless he was saying something he knew the redhead wouldn't like. And despite the comforting hand on Hwoarang's arm and the gentle quality of Eagle's voice as he spoke, the underlying resolve there was strong and unquestionable. When the older man spoke like that, Hwoarang knew there was no room for argument.
A little annoyed, probably because he hated to be spoken to as if he'd be crushed, probably because deep down he knew that he was, Hwoarang snorted and snatched his elbow away.
It wasn't like he didn't know.
"Don't flatter yourself. I could care less" he snapped, angry with his long-time friend and himself. The childishness of his behavior even made him want to wince, but Hwoarang couldn't take it back. So he just plowed on.
"Hwoara—"
"And we can make just as much without you. Don't underestimate my gang"
The redhead smirked at him then, hiding his turbulent feelings behind a well-rehearsed facade of indifference and arrogance. He didn't want to deal with the conversation he had felt coming. He didn't want to talk. Not now.
Eagle said nothing, just simply stared back at him, with that glaringly unreadable expression that Hwoarang was so familiar with. He was bullshitting and Eagle wasn't buying the crap. But the older man must have known the fragility of Hwoarang's state of mind, because he didn't call him out on it. And he was grateful.
But Hwoarang knew he would be bringing this up again.
...
Yes :D Finished~ This has been floating around in my computer for a while, so I decided to edit and post it. The 2nd chapter is half done already, I'm just at a little road block with it, haha. I wanted a little break from My World, which I won't be updating until I get a certain amount of reviews *pumps fist*
On another note, who agrees Leo is too cute not to be in a slash fic? I mean, heck, I customized my Leo with these cute black shorts and boots, gave him a little hoody, shoulder length hair, and every time I see him I get a nose bleed xD
I won't entertain any comments trying to convince me Leo is a girl, so don't bother. I have all the arguments I need right here: /leo_ Now comments on how you liked/disliked the story, any critiques and things like that, are a totally different story :)
Peace out!
