Well, here's my first fanfiction on this account. It's Christmas and I'm not in a very Christmassy mood, so there. Pairing is RenxAnna, which may drive several thousand people away.
To YohxAnna shippers: I love you. I love your pairing. Really, I do. But this story just doesn't fit as a YohxAnna. If you still hate me then I promise I'll write you a nice fluffy YohxAnna someday. Okay?
To RenxAnna shippers: I love you too. I love this pairing. It's my OTP. Therefore I write this. This being my first try at a fanfiction with a pairing.
To Whom It May Concern: This is not my first account, I'll give you that. You could try guessing who I am, though.
To... hell with it, just read the story.
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It was the night before Christmas, and not all was going well. Well, not all was going well for Ren, at least.
"What is the point of giving Christmas gifts on this stupid holiday?" Ren muttered contemptuously, crumpling up another failed attempt at a Christmas gift list. He couldn't get anyone gifts anymore, not at this time of the night. Most of the stores had to be closed by then. With a final groan, he threw the paper forcefully into the trash can.
Yoh walked into the room just as the force of Ren's throw toppled the trash can. He could feel the non-festive mood. "Having a good Christmas Eve, Ren?"
Ren glared at him. "I hate giving gifts."
"You should have worked on this earlier, then," said Yoh. "You can't buy presents at this time of night."
"You think I don't know that?" Ren snapped. "I was about to give up on that list when you walked in."
"So does that mean no one's getting gifts from you this year?"
"Not just this year. Not ever."
Yoh frowned, disheartened by his friend's lack of holiday cheer. "Oh, come on, you can't forget every year."
"I'm not going to forget. I give up on Christmas."
"Don't give up!" Yoh protested. "Then I'll have to deal with two of my friends losing Christmas cheer!"
"Huh?" Ren was confused. "So there's someone else who forgot to buy Christmas presents?"
"She doesn't forget," Yoh said gloomily. "She just refuses to buy any. Anna. Every single year."
The two shamans sat in silence, lost in their thoughts about the holiday spirit. After about a minute of just sitting there, Yoh stood up.
"Well, I'd better go to sleep," Yoh said. "It's almost midnight."
He got up and left, clearly wanting to leave before Ren's oh-so-festive mood spoiled his holiday spirit. "Merry Christmas, Ren."
When Yoh left, Ren expected he would get peace and quiet. But no: it being Christmas and all, Horohoro and Pirika were causing a commotion downstairs. And, as far as Ren could hear, Ryu, Faust, Jun and several other people were celebrating the holiday spirit as well. But, since the noise downstairs was getting progressively softer, he guessed that the party was about to end.
He looked at the clock on the wall behind him. It was past midnight, and officially Christmas Day.
Ren stared spitefully at the clock. Stupid holiday. Why did everyone have to be so damned happy all Christmas season?
He heard footsteps on the stairs, which meant that the party had ended. Soon, he saw Jun, Horohoro and Pirika emerging from the doorway, looking very festive. And happy.
"Merry Christmas, Ren!" Jun greeted her younger brother.
Ren simply glared at her.
Unnerved by Ren's grumpy mood, Jun edged away from her brother, and made her way to her room. Meanwhile, Horohoro, clearly oblivious to the sour mood in the room, walked up to Ren and sat next to him. "Don't you just love Christmas, Ren?"
This was the very last straw for Ren. He stood up, seething with anger, and shouted.
"I HATE THIS TIME OF YEAR," he yelled at the two siblings.
While hating the holidays wasn't exactly fun, it made him feel better to think that everyone was as miserable as he was.
After this outburst, Horohoro looked reasonably less happy, and Pirika looked downright sad.
"Wow, Ren, way to be festive," Horohoro said.
Ren stared angrily at him. He was on the verge of taking out his kwan dao and slicing down the Christmas decorations to prove a point.
"Will you all be quiet?" another voice cut in angrily.
Horohoro turned around and saw yet another bastion of holiday cheer—Anna.
"W-w-well, g-good night, then," Horohoro stammered, inching his way to the other door. When he found he couldn't escape the ice queen's glare fast enough, he broke into a run. He lived in perpetual fear of the ice queen. He bumped into the side of the doorway, knocking down the mistletoe that was hanging from it.
Pirika, sensing an uncomfortable situation coming up, followed her brother, only stopping to fix the mistletoe that he had previously knocked down.
After the two siblings had left, Anna turned her glare on Ren. "You may hate Christmas, but that doesn't mean you can yell it out when people are about to go to sleep."
Ren stared angrily back at her, too. This had to be one of the worst Christmases he'd ever had.
Anna walked to the doorway Horohoro and Pirika had passed through, also about to go to sleep. She was about to pass the doorway when Ren interrupted. "Don't you hate the holidays, too?"
"What's it to you? At least I'm not yelling about it." Anna replied coldly.
"What do you hate about the holidays?" Ren asked, clearly wanting to make everyone as miserable as he was.
"Well, from your yelling a while ago, you obviously hate buying Christmas gifts," Anna smirked. "I hate the cold, parties, decorations, and Santa Claus."
Ren walked up to Anna. And, with one last glance at the mistletoe above her, before Anna could raise a hand to stop him, Ren had taken one step closer and kissed her.
He really hadn't meant to do that sort of thing, but it was probably just some sort of mistletoe instinct that took over. And it was probably that mistletoe instinct that kept him kissing her a few seconds longer than what was necessary to prove a point.
After the kiss broke apart, Anna seemed to be in shock. For about two seconds. Then, regaining her senses, she slapped Ren hard across the face.
Ren stared blankly at Anna for a while before he realized what he had done. Then, looking as shocked as she did, he retreated down the hallway to his room, the side of his face still stinging from Anna's slap. But about halfway to his room, he stopped, realizing something.
"There's another thing you can hate about the holidays," he said, without turning around. "Mistletoe."
And, with that parting comment, he walked the rest of the way to his room, hurrying inside and slamming the door behind him.
Anna looked down the hallway, still a bit in shock about what had happened. Then, a thought came to her. Mistletoe? Maybe Christmas isn't that bad after all, she thought, smiling.
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I give up. At being serious. At life. Review.