The Beauty of Silence
Summary: He had never once doubted the roar of happiness that surrounded him, until the day the sound of solitude seized him suddenly. Can he still hear his true love calling through the silence? (renhoro)
Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King and any characters inside belongs to the lucky man (I've no idea how to spell his name)
Acknowledgements: This title and summary (part of it anyway) is taken from a magazine I happened to read… However, I assure that the plot will be different…
Chapter 1
"Come back here, baka-Ainu!" Ren shouted while brandishing his Kwan-Dao at the Ice Shaman, who was, at the moment, laughing all the way as he ran down the stairs, his newly acquired prize clutched tightly in his hands.
The reason the usually stolid Tao Ren actually flared up was that Horohoro had actually dared to mess with his must-have for the day — his daily milk rations. Everyone knew the consequences of meddling with his milk, and all of them respected that unspoken rule, all except for that Ainu, whose every action seemed to be challenging him. If Horohoro dared to spill even a drop of that precious liquid, he'll personally slaughter him.
Meanwhile, unaware of Ren's murderous intents, Horohoro continued his way back to kitchen, where he had first nicked the few bottles of milk. He unscrewed the bottles while being chased as he held the opened bottles above the sink. He doubted that Ren would risk having his milk wasted by attacking him rashly.
"Come get me if you dare!" Horohoro sang in a particular singsong tone that he knew would make Tao Ren ever more furious. It's not that he loved to anger his team leader; it's just that the huge reactions that Ren gave whenever he was irritated were just too amusing to be missed. After all, Ren seemed to enjoy insulting him too. At times, he does felt guilty when he carried his jokes a little too far, but pride prevented him from apologizing.
"Put down the milk, you bastard. Or I'll castrate you the moment you…" Ren never did get to finish his threat, for that baka Ainu had tripped over the unassuming Manta as he went to the kitchen to fetch something for Anna. That stupid blue-haired shaman had dropped all the opened bottles of milk into the sink, and even as he watched in horror, his precious milk was emptying themselves out of the bottles and gurgling down the sinkhole and into the sewerage.
Horohoro's eyes widened in shock as he saw what had happened. He had carried his joke too far again! As he prepared himself for a beating, he tried his very best to defend himself verbally, but to no avail. Ren was too angry at the moment to listen to any sense at the moment. He was in for it this time…
Ren's amber eyes narrowed into silts as the chase continued. Horohoro was trying his best to explain, but he didn't care. He did witness the whole sequence of events, and didn't need another recount. What matters know is to beat that guy who just ruined his mood for the day into submission, and force him to go out this particular instance to buy more milk. Horohoro, in his bid to remain relatively unharmed, was weaving in and out among the other teammates while Ren continued to hurl insults at him. During the night, when the silence allowed him to think, he had thought he felt something more than friendship for his friend, but he could see that they were wrong now. There was no way that anyone could have any feelings towards that pathetic excuse for a man, who took to hiding behind Yoh while being chased by himself.
"If you know what's good for you, you'd kneel down to receive your due punishment before forking out money from your own pocket and going off humbly to buy some more milk for me!" If Horohoro had understood his words, he didn't show it. He was still busy running circles round Yoh, and using Yoh, who couldn't be bothered to move away, as a shield at times. Eventually, he did manage to corner the now breathless boy, and pointing his Kwan-Dao at his jugular vein, repeated his demands again.
Horohoro could feel the cold steel upon his neck, but was unwilling to back down without a fight. His inner voice told him that it was his fault all right, but admitting his faults to the arrogant Tao Ren? Not a chance. Who does he think he is anyway? The boss of the world? Horohoro could feel something stirring in the depths of his heart, but chose to ignore it, for right now, Ren was saying something about pulverizing it, which doesn't exactly place him number one on the "to-be-loved" list.
Twenty minutes later, Horohoro found himself walking grudgingly down the lane with a few bottles of milk in the plastic bag he was carrying. At least he didn't give in to Ren directly, it was Anna who ordered him to go out so she can have some peace and quiet around the house. He looked towards the sky as his continued his way. It was nearly sunset, and the sky was awash in brilliant colours, streaks of crimson among the gold and vermilion clouds that dotted the skies. The birds were just about to return to their nests, and many of them were flying in pairs. Horohoro sighed. He had always pictured himself enjoying this picturesque scene with someone he loved, someone like…
In a spilt second, he found his world collapsing as he heard the screech of tires along the lane before everything went black…
Author's note: Urm..well..don't really know what to say, but hoped you guys enjoyed the first chapter. This is my first attempt at writing yaoi and it just feels a little strange. Please review and tell me the length of chapters you all generally prefer and I'll try to change whatever bad points I have in my work… Hopefully the plot doesn't get too predictable…
Yoh: Yes, DO review or she'll set Anna on me! cringes in fear