Disclaimer: I do not claim any rights to Shaman King or its franchise, etc. All rights belong to Hiroyuki Takei. Arigatou. –Bows--
Warnings:
Jesus bashing: I apologize in advance for this.
–Bows— Also! Shonen-ai AKA Boy/Boy love, AKA Gay
guys, if you don't like it, then why would you even read this? It
says HoroxRen in the summary does it not? Ay yoi. So, you got a
problem with that, then don't read this. DON'T LIKE, DON'T
READ, DO NOT FLAME. I'm serious, they're awfully
annoying.
No warnings will be posted in further chapters unless
it is a single event, that only occurs in that chapter and no where
else. Got it? Get it? Good. On with the story. And I swear to God,
if you complain to me, and you didn't read this…I will –twitch—Do
unspeakable things to you.
All I
Want for Christmas is you Chapter One
Started: December 05, 2006 10:17pm
A loud crash resounded through the house, followed by a string of foreign curse words. The noise shook a small lump –hidden under think blankets- rudely awake.
The Lump groaned, expressing its unhappiness, and buried itself further beneath the covers.
A second crash joined the first, and then a third, accompanied by a shrill shriek.
The Lump slammed its fists – also hidden beneath the blankets- into the mattress, and growled. "Horokeu, what the hell are you doing!?" roared an extremely disgruntled Ren Tao –Still under the covers-.
"Tasgette!" Horo's voice drifted through the bedroom door to reach Ren, who still had not surfaced from the comforter.
Ren sighed in defeat, and rolled his eyes, wondering what his idiot boyfriend had gotten himself into now. So early in the morning too!
Horo screamed again from somewhere outside the bedroom, and Ren threw the blankets off angrily. He stomped through the house to find his 'damsel in distress'. Stalking into the living room dangerously, a glare set on his features, he scanned the area for his lover. The Chinese man opened his mouth to scold Horohoro for whatever it was –which was sure to be a disaster, since this was Horohoro after all- that he had done. "Do you-" Ren froze, and his jaw dropped, the sour look dropping off his face with it.
"Help…" Horo said weakly, pinned beneath a seven foot Christmas tree.
"Wha…You…Horo, what the hell?" Ren spluttered, still gaping at Horo imprisoned helplessly under the tree. All but his head and right arm were stuck beneath the fake pine.
"Just help meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" The Ainu whined, flailing his one arm, to emphasize his point, succeeding only in making a fool of himself, and looking like a fish.
Ren rolled his eyes again, and crossed the room, -the shock having finally receded- and lifted the tree off of Horo with barely any effort. "What were you doing?" he asked grumpily, offering Horo a hand, and leaning the tree against a wall.
"I was getting us a Christmas tree!" Horo exclaimed, grabbing a hold of Ren's hand and springing off the floor, suddenly full of energy.
Ren studied the tree, leaning against the wall next to Horo. "This early? Alone?" Ren asked, staring at Horo now, waiting for him to answer.
The bluenette grinned sheepishly, as he brushed pine needles off his clothes. "It was supposed to be a surprise." he admitted.
Ren looked back at the tree disdainfully, "It's fake." He said dryly.
Horo looked at Ren, offended. "Of course it's fake!" Horo began hotly "Why would I go cut down a tree just to watch it die slowly in our living room! Just for some stupid presents to sit under!?" he swore in Ainu, and stalked into the kitchen.
Ren –in his half awakened state- realized that he had insulted his boyfriend by saying something extremely stupid, and followed him into the kitchen to apologize.
The kitchen was all steel counter tops, and expensive pots and pans. Ren had bought them all himself, and had strictly instructed Horo not to touch a thing. Of course the day after, he had gone to make himself an omlette –about the most complicated thing Horo could cook for himself next to Kraft dinner and grilled cheese- and he had burned the pan, broken a plate, and melted the spatula to the stove.
"Horo…gomen ne, I'm just used to always having a real one." Ren sighed as he stood in the doorway of the kitchen, watching Horohoro dig around in the refrigerator –or more accurately, he stared at Horo's ass.
"You know…" Horo began,-a bit of playful-ness in his voice- still hunched over inside the refrigerator. He wiggled a little, then stood, and turned to face Ren. "If you really wanted to check out my ass, there are easier ways." He finished with a smirk, all anger from the moment before had gone.
Ren scoffed at his lover's energy in the mornings, and his inability to hold a grudge, and strode out if the kitchen, into the living room, and slumped onto a couch. It was way too early to be awake. The dark haired man snatched the remote from the coffee table, as though he had an unknown quarrel with it, and switched the television on with more effort that was probably needed. Horo could be heard in the hallway on the opposite side of the living room wall, moving his Christmas tree steadily in Ren's direction. The Tao sighed for the umpteenth time that morning. What did he care about Christmas for anyways? When had Christmas ever brought him anything but unhappiness? As far as Ren was concerned, Christmas was a lousy holiday, who cares if it was Jesus' birthday? And since when did everyone else get presents when they were celebrating the birth of some other person? Stupid. It was all stupid.
Horohoro appeared in the living room entrance, tree in tow. "So you gonna help me with this monster?" He asked, grinning like an idiot.
'No, it's idiotic, it's stupid! I hate this holiday, and I refuse to decorate a stupid-' "Of course I will." Ren said, a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Anything for Horokeu it seemed. The Chinese man lifted himself lethargically from the couch, still in his pajamas, and not aiming to get dressed any time soon. He was wearing a pair of white, silk pajama pants, and no shirt, and Horo though it was sexy as hell.
"I'll get the decorations!" The bluenette exclaimed, racing out of the room and down the hall to the closet, leaving a teetering tree in his wake. Ren steadied the tree, then pushed it into a corner, and Horo returned holding a medium sized box in his hands, a Cheshire cat grin anointed his features.
Horo looked at the tree, where Ren had pushed it, and frowned. He placed the box of decorations on the table, and slid the tree across the room, nearly dropping it on himself more than a few times, until he reached the corner diagonal to the doorway. It sat with the floor-to-ceiling windows behind it, and the couch facing it, the TV to the left of it, in the other corner. The tree stood a majestic seven feet high, and nearly brushed the ceiling, and the view of the city stood behind it, in its morning beauty.
Horo dug through the box of tree-goodies, and come out holding Christmas lights, he untangled them and scurried over to his precious tree to hang them. He got about halfway through and he jumped, spinning around to face Ren, gearing up to explain his obvious epiphany. "We need Christmas music!" Horo exclaimed, as excited as if he were saying; 'I'll get the condoms!'
"No, this is too much Christmas for me already." Ren replied, crossing his arms over his bare chest.
Horo's face fell and he sighed "Fine then, no music." He agreed disappointedly. Horo turned back to his lights, and continued to wrap them the rest of the way around. Ren walked around the back of the tree and helped Horohoro string the lights for a while, until Horo's face brightened again, another idea striking him. "Hey! We should have a Christmas party!"
Ren groaned. "No!"
Horo ignored him. "We could invite Ryu, and Lyserg, and I haven't seen Faust in a while! We should invite him too….You think Manta would come? Then we should ask Yoh, and Hao, but not An—"
"You want to invite Hao?!" Ren nearly screamed, dropping the lights.
"Well…I can't just not invite him…" Horohoro muttered, not looking at Ren
"You can't want to invite him, after what he—"
"I know what he did Ren." Horo snapped. He exhaled heavily, and dragged his fingers through his hair – a nervous habit. "He's changed, since he's been with Yoh. He's a lot better now, than…before." He trailed off.
"I can't believe you." Ren growled, walking out of the living room.
"Ren…" Horo breathed out, dragging out his name, and chasing after him. He went straight to the kitchen –Ren would be looking for a glass of milk – where he knew Ren would go. Just as Horo walked through the kitchen doorway, Ren slammed the refrigerator door shut.
"We're out of milk!" Ren nearly screamed, Horo winced, and Ren brushed past Horo to the bedroom. Horo followed, feet scuffing along the carpet, he lingered in the doorway, and followed Ren's movements with his eyes. Ren tore through the dresser and dragged on a shirt. Horo's stomach dropped, and his body went cold. Was Ren leaving?
"R-Ren…"
Ren's eyes flicked to Horo, taking in his scared eyes, and nervous stance and he shut his eyes, trying to calm down. "I'm going for a walk. We need milk anyways." He said quietly, looking up to see Horo relax.
Horo slumped against the doorframe in relief, and let go of the breath he didn't know he had been holding. He let Ren walk past as he headed for the front door, and his coat and shoes, knowing not to say anything else on the matter of the Christmas party until Ren had returned.
Ren walked down the street, on his way back from the store, wishing he had changed his pants before he's left. He had only realized that he was still in pajamas when the old lady at the cash of the corner store gave him a dirty look. He had been confused for a few moments, not even sure what he had done to deserve such a judging glare, before he had realized what he was wearing. He supposed he was lucky enough to have remembered to throw on a shirt before he had stormed out.
Ren grimaced. He had walked out on Horo. He saw the terrified look on his boyfriend's face before he had left. Horokeu though he was leaving him. The Ainu had an irrational fear that people would leave him. It was a fear that Horo had had ever since his father had died when he was only nine. Suddenly Ren felt extremely guilty. He still couldn't understand why Ren would want to invite Hao of all people to a Christmas party. It was just ridiculous. Especially after what Hao had done to Horo.
In Horo's Junior1 year, he had been living with Hao, and it had been fine at first. But slowly, Hao became more controlling, and aggressive towards Horo. Horo had let it continue, partially because he was terrified of what Hao would do if he said anything, and partially because –on some level- he though he deserved it. Ren had found out about it one day at school, and tried to help Horo, and eventually one thing led to another and Horo was kissing him in the boys' bathroom. Horo finally told Yoh, who told the police, who took Hao away. But he had been back from wherever they had sent him for a few months now. After he was released, he made short work of Yoh's shaky heterosexuality, and was now dating his twin. But Hao hadn't really spoken to Horo, or been alone with him since before he'd been arrested. And now Horo wanted to be all buddy-buddy with him again? It didn't make any sense at all.
Ren sighed, and dug in his coat pockets, to check for his keys. He walked through the front parking lot to the apartment building, and shifted his bag of milk to his other hand, to unlock the door. At least he had remembered his keys, or he'd be standing outside –frozen to the bone- waiting for someone else to open the door for him. It was embarrassing enough to have some old lady glaring at the back of your head as you shopped for you milk, but having to wait for someone to unlock the door for him because he had forgotten his keys and didn't want to phone his boyfriend upstairs to come and get him. That sounded much worse.
He let himself in through the entryway and into the lobby, and pressed the up button on the wall next to the elevator. Ren silently entered the elevator, pressed the Penthouse button on the elevator panel, and rode the elevator alone to the top floor, fully intending on forgiving his boyfriend, and apologizing for screaming at him. And then apologizing again, and again, if need be. (If you catch the drift)
The elevator dinged and the doors slid open, and Ren walked out, and turned left, towards his apartment door. He went to unlock his door, and realized that it was already unlocked, and slightly open. Maybe he hadn't closed it when he had left? Ren ignored it and pushed the door open, and slid off his coat, shutting the door behind him. Turning to call out to Horohoro, he froze, and his blood ran cold.
Horo was underneath some mistletoe –he must have put up after Ren had left, since it hadn't been there before- pinned up between the doorframe in the hallway and Hao Asakura, and he was kissing him. Fury boiled up in Ren, rage stronger and more intense than he had ever felt and he stalked over to the par, ripped Hao away from Horo, and started screaming cruel and untrue things at him. Hao seemed to skulk away, and leave somewhere in the middle of Ren's tirade, and Horokeu only slid to the ground and cried. Ren continued to scream for a good ten minutes without any response from Horo except for sobs, and he raised his hand, with intent to strike Horo, when he saw the look in Horohoro's eyes, and realized what he was doing. He was exactly like his father. He lowered his hand, shaking slightly, and another wave of realization hit him. Horo had been cheating on him with Hao. That was why he wanted to invite him to the party. Ren felt tears stinging at his eyes, and didn't bother to try and stop them. It seemed like a good enough time to cry, since his entire life seemed to be falling apart.
"I'm leaving." He heard himself say venomously to Horohoro, who was still crouched on the ground against the doorframe, that same terrified look in his eyes. This time Ren realized that the only reason he looked so scared was because he had been found out. Pathetic. Maybe he had deserved what Hao had done to him. Horo winced, and Ren realized that he had said it out loud. All the better, he probably deserved that too. And then he left. He took his coat and his phone, and walked out the door. Slamming the door and leaving the milk behind, forgotten on the floor. And he went back to China.
End Chapter One
1 High school in Japan is only for three years, because they have Middle school up until 9th grade. Thus, freshman year in Japanese high school would be 10th grade, Junior would be 11th, and senior year; grade 12.
Ahem. This story will be posted in the expanse of two days time; December 24th, and maybe a little on Christmas day. Since this is a Christmas fic. Also! This isn't really an angsty fic, so probably most of what you're thinking after reading this chapter if false. Next chapter is in Horo's point of view, so be excited! P.S. isn't the scene change line fun? It reminds me of Christmas lights. It's 2:38 am and I'm tired. So GOODNIGHT. Review and I will love you forever. Flame and I will probably get very upset and write more about whatever it was you flamed about, just to spite you. Bai bai! -
Spell check errors: My spell check tried to tell me that "Lyserg" should be changed to "Loser". Poor Lyserg. --u