Reunited
A week later...
Do. Do. Do. "Flight 132 to Hong Kong now boarding in Dock 12. Flight 132 to Hong Kong now boarding in Dock 12."came the announcement over the PA, repeating in several languages
"That's our flight." Horo said, grabbing his coat and carry-on bag. They found the dock, got their passports checked for about the ninth time and boarded the plane. They took their seats inside, all together. Horo and Yoh sat together, Ryu behind them on his own. Yoh put his headphones on and sat back, tapping his foot to the music, Ryu read his motorbike magazine and Horo stared out the window, eagerly anticipating seeing Ren again.
Before Ren left, he and Horo had declared their love to one another and had shared a binding kiss but the next day, Ren was gone. He'd apologized for his sudden departure, saying he'd had to leave for family matters. Horo hoped they could pick up where they left off, confident Ren still felt the same.
Three and a half hours later, they arrived in Hong Kong airport, hungry and stiff. They collected their luggage and left the building to find a restaurant, thinking they should be in good moods when they called on Ren.
They found a nice Italian joint and sat down, looking over the menus. Ren had taught Horo a bit of Chinese before he left so he had a vague sense of what it said.
"Ready to order?" a waitress asked in Chinese
"Um, Japanese..?" Yoh said in Japanese, gesturing to himself and the other two. She seemed to understand put a finger to say 'hang on a sec' and went off. Someone else appeared a moment later
"Ok, you guys know what you-- Horo?" asked a familiar, accented voice. All three Japs looked up and beamed
"Renny!" Horo shouted, jumping up and hugging the smaller boy tightly. Ren jumped in alarm but hugged back, hands still holding notepad and pen.
"W-why are you guys here?" Ren asked once Horo let go
"We came to see you, but it's just a coincidence you work here." Yoh said.
"Of all the places in town." Ren said with a cheery smile.
"Ren, get back to work!" called the manager
"Sure thing, sorry!" he replied. "I gotta work but my shift ends in an hour. You guys have your meal and we can catch up when I get off, ok?" They agreed. "Awesome. So, what'll it be then?" he asked, poising his pen - pink and purple stripes with a feathery top - on his notepad
"Um, ok... what does this say?" Horo asked, pointing to a sentence which had something to do with pizza
"Duck pizza with green pepper and onion." Ren translated. Horo nodded
"That'll do, does it come with fries?" he nodded "That's fine, I'll have that with fries then, please."
"Small, medium or large?"
"Medium."
"Deep or thin dish?"
"Um...deep." he said. Ren smiled and wrote it down "And I'll have a regular coke too." Ren nodded, jotting this down as well
"Okey dokey, what about you guys?" he asked the other two. While he took their orders, Horo got a chance to look at him. He wore black skinny jeans, a black shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and a dark navy apron with restaurant logo printed in white on the bottom right corner.
His hair had changed from the old single point to chin length, pinned back, bangs hanging over his face reaching his bright gold eyes, still deep purple. He had some pieces of blue and green string tied loosely around his thin wrist like a bracelet, the ends dangling. His hips were as thin as ever, the apron tied double to stay on. His shirt hid his true shape but he still looked thin. He was still short, having only grown a few inches since the Tournament but elegant, beautiful. "...Ok, so that's one medium deep dish duck pizza with fries, a large hamburger and fries, a medium thin dish margarita pizza with extra cheese and fries, a regular coke and two beers, right?" he asked, reading the order back to check. They all nodded and he went off to give in the order with a smile.
"Wow, he's changed." Yoh said. Horo nodded
"Yeah. He's even hotter and still totally adorable. And a lot sweeter. He's really, like, calm.." he said watching Ren work with a grin, taking orders, chatting to the customers and joking around with the other staff.
A different waiter gave them their meals and they dug in, chatting lightly. When they were finished, and pleasantly full, they paid the bill and waited for Ren.
"This is my last table, meet you outside." he said and went to take the orders. He submitted them, let the head waiter know he was off, bade people goodbye, stuffed his apron in his locker and grabbed his jumper. He met the others outside and suggested getting a coffee. They agreed and he led the way. They went to a quant little coffee shop down the road, the owner of which was a friend of Ren's
"Hey, Renny, nice to see you. Who're these guys?" asked the man behind the counter
"Hey, Ling, these are my buddies - Horo, Yoh and Ryu. They're Japanese."
"Welcome!" this was the extent of his Japanese - that, 'do you speak Chinese?' and 'where's the toilet?' - and continued in Chinese "What'll it be?"
"What do you guys want?" Ren asked them. Horo looked at the menu board behind Ling, looking for something he recognized
"Do they do cappuccinos?" Yoh asked. Ren nodded "Regular cappuccino then please."
"Me too." said Horo
"I'll have a small espresso, please." said Ryu
"Two regular cappuccinos, a small espresso and a regular latte, please." Ren said to Ling. The man nodded and got to work
"That'll be 12 fen, please." (a/n: 12 Chinese fen = about 10 US dollars according to my phone converter ^.^) Ling said, placing the tray of drinks on the counter. Ren handed over the cash and carried the tray over to where the others were sitting
"Here ya go." he said, sitting down with a grin "So, what's been going on? Is everyone ok?"
"Yeah, they're fine. Manta's doing his exams, you're doing yours right?"
"Yup, nearly finished, just got the last Art one to go."
"You're doing Art?" Ren nodded
"Yeah, its fun so, why not? I'm pretty good at it, although I suck at water-paintings, they always turn out looking like turd." the others laughed, sipping their coffees.
"So, how's China?" Yoh asked.
"'S good, dad's being a bit...ya know, but I don't live there anymore."
"Do you live with Jun? You can't have your own house." Ren shook his head
"I'm staying with my--" he was interrupted by his cell phone ringing "Hang on, sorry. Hello?.. Oh, hi, we were just talking about you, well about to anyway... I met some old friends from Japan, we're just catching up... At Ling's if you wanna come, you can meet my buddies, huh?.. Ok, see you in a minute then... Uh-huh, bye." he hung up, stowing his cell back into his pocket "Quan's on his way, you can meet him."
"Quan?" Yoh asked
"My boyfriend." he said. Horo's face fell. Boyfriend?
"Excuse me a minute.." Horo muttered, making a beeline for the restrooms. He went into a cubicle, locking the door and took a deep breath. He absolutely refused to cry, replacing sadness with anger. He punched the wall, ignoring the pain that shocked up his arm.
He wasn't angry at Ren by any means, he was angry at the bastard who took him away from him. This 'Quan'.
Just then he heard someone come into the restroom
"Horo?" Ren. "You ok?" No.
"Y-yeah.." he replied, trying to steady his voice but epically failing
"Sure? You don't sound it." Horo sighed
"How can you have a boyfriend?" he could practically hear Ren frown
"Huh?"
"I thought me and you had something going."
"We did, two years ago. You didn't expect me too stay true to you, did you? We didn't even kiss properly." Horo came out of the cubicle, brushing past Ren to wash his face.
"I came all the way here to ask you to move back to--"
"Horo, what's wrong with your hand?" Ren asked, spotting the bloodied, bruised knuckles. He took his hand gently, holding it carefully. Horo said nothing. He watched Ren bring his hand up to his lips and plant a small, soft kiss on the beaten knuckles.
He looked up at Horo, smiled "I'm sorry, I didn't think you'd even remember us, so I made myself forget too... I met Quan last year and we started going out, I stopped myself thinking about you... I've never stopped wishing I'd stayed with you." tears were welling in his eyes "Oh my God, I'm such a girl." he said, rubbing his eyes "Um, I just never thought...you'd remember me..." Horo smiled sadly and hugged the smaller boy's thin shoulders. Ren sniffed, hugging his torso.
"I'm here aren't I?" he nodded
"Yeah, but...I-I'm with Quan. I can't just dump him for you, that's horrible..." he rubbed the liquid from his eyes and sighed shakily. Horo thought for a moment
"…What if he catches you cheating?" Ren looked up at him
"No! I-I can't, that's horrible…I can't. He'd...hurt you--"
"Why would he hurt me?"
"'Cause he's a bit…violent sometimes…"
"To you?"
"No, not usually… but he's really over-protective and…beats people up. He beat the crap out of this one guy for trying to feel me up…" he shivered at the memory and buried his face in Horo chest. Horo hugged him, trying to think of a way round it all
"…You could come back to Japan with us." Ren looked up "Just leave, he'd never think of looking for you in Japan, would he?"
"Well, no.. But I finally have a life here. I've got a job, friends, a relationship, I'm still at school, I can't just take off.."
"You have friends in Japan. And you can have a relationship and a job there too. How about you finish your exams and then come back, ne?" Ren sighed
"I'll think about it, ok? But that's not a yes." he said quickly, seeing Horo grin
"Yet." Ren smiled and splashed his face with water, getting rid of the evidence that he'd been crying
"Ren, you in here?" asked a deep Chinese voice. Ren and Horo looked up. The door opened to reveal a huge guy with dark brown hair, thick eyebrows and a heavy biuld, he looked vaguely Samoan "Who's he?" he demanded, eyeing Horo suspiciously. Ren dried his face with a paper towel and went over to him
"He's an old friend, Quan. I just met him and the other guys in Luigi'sand we're just catching up. Horo this is Quan, um, my boyfriend.. Quan, this is Horo." Horo smiled at the guy, who gave him a warning look and put an arm around Ren's shoulders. They went out of the restroom to sit with Yoh and Ryu, Horo close behind. "This is Quan, guys. This is Yoh and Ryu." Quan grunted in greeting. Japanese boys glanced between them and smiled half-heartedly. "Um, don't mind, Quan. He's just a bit...shy.." Ren said, dropping lightly into his seat. Quan sat down in the seat beside, the ever present arm around him. The older guy looked kind of annoyed so the others decided to stay quiet. Ren was looking down at his hands, like he was worried or something.
Finally Horo could take no more of the awkward silence and tried to start a conversation.
"So, how's life, Quan?"
"Um, h-he doesn't speak Japanese.." Ren said quietly. "He asked how's life." he translated to Quan, who shrugged. "He's not very talkative..."
"Apparently.." Yoh muttered, exchanging a look with Horo.
"Is he still at school?" Ryu asked Ren, who shook his head. "What does he do?"
"Um, nothing.. His parents give him money.." So he was a lazy bastard too?
"Renny, you ok?" Yoh asked, the Chinese boy seemed...scared. Ren looked up and nodded
"Um, yeah, just a little...on edge, that's all.." he said, smiled weakly. Quan glared around the table at the Japanese boys and muttered something to Ren to which Ren replied quickly, bright red. The Japanese boys watched with mixed emotions: curiosity, anger, guilt, et cetera. Ren looked down, embarrassed, while Quan continued to glare at Horo. Horo glared straight back, holding his gaze with a colder one.
A blast from Ren's phone made everyone jump but Ren nearly fell of his chair
"Hello?" he got up and walked away to take the call, leaving his friends with Quan with apologies. The older Chinese still glared at them. Then he got up and went over to where Ren was standing, latching his mouth onto his. They watched Ren's eyes widen then, to Horo's annoyance, drift shut as he kissed back. Quan broke away, smirked right at Horo and bade Ren good-bye, leaving the coffee shop. Ren frowned and continued with his phone conversation. When he was finished, he returned to their table and sighed
"What is that guy's problem?" Ryu asked
"He's...a little, um, like... I have no idea.." Ren said, failing his explanation miserably
"What do you see in him?" Horo demanded bitterly. Ren looked sad
"I-I don't know...he's hot and he seemed like a nice guy so... It wasn't until we started getting more...physical he got like that.." he sighed. "He won't even let my sister hug me. He thinks she'll, like, molest me or something. He says no-one else can touch me except him.. It never really bothered me until he started, ya know, hurting people..."
"Does he hurt you?" Yoh asked.
"Only if he's really angry." he said, nervously brushing his bangs over his forehead. Horo caught hold of his wrist and moved his hair away, revealing a large dark bruise above one slender eyebrow,
"What did you do get that, ne?"
"Um...I can't really remember much..." Ren said, looking down.
"Has he got something against Japanese people or is he like that to everyone?" Yoh asked.
"He's not usually that rude, something must have happened..." Ren said. Horo rubbing his back reassuringly, feeling many bones.
"Renny, c'mere a sec." Ling called from the counter. Ren got up and went over.
"What's up, Ling?" he asked, doing his best to stay casual
"You ok? Quan looked like he was giving you a hard time. Is everything alright?"
"Yeah, don't worry." he said with a weak smile.
"Your Japanese friends seem nice, especially the one with blue hair."
"Yeah, we used to go out before I moved back here. He's great and I want to get back together with him but with Quan its...hard.. I don't want Quan to hurt him." the old man nodded understandingly
"I see what you mean... Well concentrate on your last exam and then think about that, ok?"
"Yeah, thanks, Ling." he smiled and went back to the table. "Let's get out of here, I need some air.." he said. The others agreed and they left the coffee shop, bidding Ling goodbye.
Ren took them to a cute park area nearby with benches and a little playground for kids. They sat down under the shade of a big tree and relaxed "I come here a lot, it's a good place to think.." Ren said, fiddling with a blade of grass. Horo smiled and hugged him. Ren turned bright red and pushed him away, looking around frantically
"What was that for?" Horo asked, scowling
"I-I don't want anyone to see us... Someone might know me and tell Quan and... S-sorry, I didn't mean to be like that.."
"Its ok, I understand. Sorry." he smiled, tousling the purple hair in a sort of big-brotherly way. Ren giggled softly and released his hair from the forgotten clips he had to wear for work. He ruffled it up a bit, letting it do what it wanted, he didn't mind.
"Man, you're hot right now." Horo said.
"You're pretty hot yourself.." Ren said in Chinese, so the others wouldn't understand
"What was that?" Ren's eyes snapped up to look at the speaker, his blood ran cold. Quan stood, 6-foot-something, above them. He roughly grabbed the shoulder of Ren's shirt and pulled him up "I knew there was something with you two, you cheating little whore!" he bellowed, smacking Ren around the face. The much smaller boy staggered backwards, dazed. Quan grabbed his wrist tightly, making him whimper
"Quan, please, we're not-- Ow!!" he cried, trying to get his hand away. Horo stood up and swung a punch at Quan but missed completely. Quan smirked and returned it with a direct hit to Horo's jaw. With Horo dazed, Quan turned back to Ren "Stop it, Quan! What's wrong with you?!" he said, trying to struggle against the vice grip on his thin wrist. Ryu and Yoh tried to attack the man but he batted them away like flies, socking Yoh in the stomach and sending a kick to Ryu's nether regions, both fell to their knees, gasping and clutching their inflictions. Horo had recovered and was still trying to hit Quan. The large man got impatient and punched him twice, hard in the face, knocking him to the ground
"Hey, what's going on?" asked a passer by who had noticed the disturbance
"Nothin', just having a bit of fun. Right, Renny?" Quan asked aggressively before slapping Ren again. The man was joined by a few more, a small army forming against Quan. With a snarl and another vicious slap, Quan let Ren go, who shrank away from him. Some of the guys chased after Quan as he tried to leg it but they took him down while another called the police.
"Are you ok?" asked the first man who'd come to his aid. The purple-haired boy nodded, rubbing his bruised wrist
"Yeah.. Thanks." he said weakly. He gingerly touched where it hurt the most on his cheek.
"Ren? Renny?" called a familiar voice. Ren looked up to see none other than Ling plowing through the small crowd.
"Ling?" the old man hugged the boy
"I told you he was bad news, didn't I? But no, you didn't listen and now look, he's hurt you." he said, turning the boy's face to see the bruises better
"Hey, you his dad?" asked the passer-by. Ling glanced at Ren and grinned
"Father-figure, let's say. No relation." The man smiled
"That's nice. Hey, kid, there's lots a bad guys out there so be careful, ok?"
"I will, thanks. Thanks guys, you really saved my butt." the other men smiled and dispersed saying things like 'nice kid' et cetera. Horo got up from his sprawl on the floor, rubbing his jaw.
"Ow! Where is he? I'll beat him with my fist!" he growled, looking round for the absent Quan "Where'd he go?"
"He's gone, Horo. Thanks for trying though." Ren said, smiling. Horo gasped and grabbed his chin, moving his head to see the bruising
"Oh my God, Renny, I'm so sorry! I'm such a knob cheese!" Ren laughed
"Yeah, you are, but don't worry, I'm totally fine." he said. Horo didn't look convinced, eyeing the bruises suspiciously. They helped Ryu and Yoh up, who were still groaning. "C'mon guys, don't be such babies. So, I'm actually homeless now. I was staying with Quan but that's not happening. Any suggestions?"
"You can share our hotel room, when we get one." Horo offered
"Really? You wouldn't mind?"
"Of course we wouldn't, baka!" he laughed. Ren smiled
"Thanks, I really appreciate it. I'll pay my share and--"
"Renny, shut up." he said with a smile. "That bruise looks like it hurts.." he said, lightly prodding the contusion. He pressured it ever so slightly and Ren flinched. "Sorry. He hurt your pretty face, this means war."
"Horo, please, don't do anything stupid." Horo smiled softly, stroking his uninjured cheek
"I won't, don't worry."
"Renny, do have anywhere to stay?" Ling asked, not understanding
"Yeah, I'm gonna get a hotel with these guys." he saw Ling look uncertainly at the other two, he liked Horo but he didn't really know Ryu or Yoh "They're good guys, Ling, I promise, I'll be fine. They'll protect me." he said with a giggle.
"Alright, call me if you need anything, ok?"
"Sure, thanks, I'll see you later."
"Bye." the old man walked away in the direction of his coffee shop.
"Ah shit, everything I own is at Quan's.." Ren said, just remembering.
"Oh, that is a problem, what do you want to do?" Ren took a deep breath
"Go there and see if I can get in. He shouldn't be there.."
"I'm coming with you." Horo said.
"Ok, thanks."
"We'll find a place then go, ok?" Ren nodded and he, Horo, Ryu and Yoh went hotel hunting.
After two hours of wandering around Hong Kong, they found a nice place with low prices in a good neighborhood. They booked two rooms with twin beds and got settled in. Ren and Horo shared one room and Yoh and Ryu had the other. The three Japanese boys unpacked their stuff then Horo and Ren went to get Ren's things from Quan's abode.
Bit of a long one there (that's what she said, whoooa!!) hope you're hooked…probably not…hmm?
Sorry about Ren's OOCness if that ain't your thang…
Review?
Please?