Having Only Each Other
By: Kichara
Chapter One: Won't Let You Go
*~*~*~*~
Whelp, here we go! Off to the wonderful world of shounen ai goodness! That's right, this is boys wit' boys, so if you dun like it, go 'way. ;P This story goes out to muh man-whore, Cassie, who was the one that corrupted me into the world of Ren Horohoro goodness. It's all her fault! And that makes me happy… ^^
*~*~*~*~
It was one of those great moment's that life gives you. The sun was almost setting, casting long shadows through the playground that Yoh, Manta, and Horohoro had decided, on impulse, to occupy on the way home, dragging Ren into the deserted area with them. He sat now, perched at the top of the monkey bars, observing the other three as they huddled together. And watching one in particular. His stare was quiet and intent, as it always was when there wasn't a chance of anyone seeing him as he watched the snowboarding shaman.
The Chinese boy loved times like this, when he could just watch and he didn't have to worry about anyone noticing. He could be forever content to just see Horohoro's wide grin, watch his eyes light up, hear his warm laugh of sunshine. Anyway, he had to be content with watching, what else could he do? He wondered, his eyes going out of focus as he pondered exactly what it was that he would do if he could.
A hand grabbing at his foot and a cheerful voice broke him out of the thoughts. He looked down in surprise to see Horohoro's bright eyes. "C'mon, we're gonna get a good game of Hide and Seek in before it gets too dark, and it's a lot more fun when you have four people instead of just three!"
Ren forced his usual frown, glaring at the boy below him. "Why should I have to act like an idiot with the rest of you?"
Horohoro's wide grin didn't subside, unaffected by Ren's icy glower. "Because it's better to have four than three, c'mon." And he gave a firm tug at Ren's hanging leg, forcing the boy to slip off the monkey bars and land gracefully next to him.
"Fine, if it'll shut you up." He snapped grumpily, wondering somewhere in his mind what the point of keeping up the front he'd had for so long was. Was it because that had been his true face for so long before, and old habits were hard to break? Or was it simply because he was too much of a coward to show his true feelings? He contemplated scornfully as he ran back to the others with Horohoro. Someone had once said that life was too short. Was he wasting it now by acting like someone he wasn't, and not trying to be someone he didn't even know who he was, as he'd never tried to be them?
"Alright, Yoh, you're it, gotta count to a hundred!" Horohoro demanded as they jogged up.
"One hundred, don't you think that's a bit much?" Yoh protested balefully, placing a hand on his hip. "Forty."
"What?! How the heck do you expect us to get good hiding spots with only forty seconds?! Eighty!"
"Sixty five, and I count slow. Or you can be it." The other boy said simply, smiling in victory as Horohoro shut his mouth before he could start something else.
"Alright, sixty five, but no peeking!" He demanded childishly, setting his hands on his hips and glaring at Yoh sternly.
"Hai, hai, of course." Yoh settled onto the ground, cross-legged, with his elbows on his knees. He set his head in his hands, covering his eyes, and, true to his word, began counting very slowly. "One-----two-----three----" The three other boys scattered, Manta heading off in one direction and Horohoro and Ren in the other.
"Hey, go find you're own hiding place!" Ren snapped as they ran through the trees together.
"Hey, you go! I was heading this way first!"
"Tch, or so you want to think."
"Whatever." Horohoro skidded to a halt, glaring at Ren fully, who stopped in his tracks.
"What, you got a problem?" The other boy snapped, lowering into a defensive position.
"Maybe my damned problem is how you always gotta be such a hardass, no matter what. Can't you just have fun for once?!" The words were becoming quite loud and exasperated.
"Why the hell do you care at all?" The shaman snapped back, inwardly wondering why the hell DID Horohoro care at all?
"Forget it." He turned his back, fists clenched at his sides, to go. "It's not like you'd care to listen anyway." He started walking off.
"Wait, you..." His words faltered and he stopped, eyes widening as he wondered what the hell he'd been about to say. The other boy stopped, half turning around and meeting Ren's eyes, his own wide with surprise.
"Ren?"
And then the world got turned upside down.
A sudden tremor moved the ground under their feet, setting them off balance, and the wind picked up dramatically, whipping their clothes and hair around them. A brilliant light flashed, and both young men's heads turned towards it, eyes searching for the source of all the sudden chaos.
The wind picked up more without any warning, and another tremor, fiercer this time, was enough to set both boys off their feet. Both were airborne for several feet, pushed by the sharp wind, which was growing steadily harsher, before they regained their footing, almost side by side.
"What's going on?!" Horohoro exclaimed over the wind, which whistled shrilly in his ears. He turned to Ren, who was watching the sky in front of them with intense eyes. "Ren?" The shaman turned, looking at where the other's golden eyes were fixed, and saw what held the other's rapt attention.
The sky was darkening unnaturally, while the wind blew harder, forcing Horohoro to set his feet down more firmly. A dark, unnatural purple began to tinge the sky, and it almost seemed to swirl, mixing with a blend of angry violets and blues. It WAS in fact swirling, creating what looked like some kind of vortex. The wind picked up further, suddenly catching Ren under his feet. He tumbled, clutching madly at the grass, trying vainly to grab a hold of anything to hold onto.
"Ren!" Horohoro called out, although his voice was lost in the hurricane force winds they were now facing. Keeping low, he let his feet lose their steady posture, sliding across the grass slipperily. "Ren!!" His voice was heard that time, as Ren's desperate eyes looked straight into his own, his hands gripping great chunks of soil and grass. They were only a few feet apart, and Horohoro reached out his hand, grabbing for Ren's as he let himself slip a bit closer, his body close to the ground.
Ren reached out, sacrificing his clumsy hold on the sod, and caught the outstretched hand, his eyes grateful and saying words that he would never be able to manage. "Ren!" Keeping a solid grip on that hand, Horohoro began lowering his body fully, helping the shaman gain the firm security of the earth below him. But just as the other boy's hand gripped at the ground, pulling himself down towards it, a great gust of wind grabbed the two of them, loosening the foothold of Horohoro's steady boots and sending the two of them flying through, right towards the dark vortex in the sky.
Ren's bright eyes saw it and they widened, looking at the person that was still had his hand in a vice grip. "You idiot! Let go! It wants me, can't you see that! Let go!!!" The iron grip remained, and Horohoro answered loudly through the winds that were wrapped around the two of them.
"What, and let you be alone again?! You've had enough of that, dammit!!" And as Ren's eyes widened, an inaudible gasp leaving his lips, all sight and sound vanished, leaving them only with silence and each other's strong hands. Gone was the roar of the wind, although it seemed to still be pulling them in that deaf darkness. And there was nothing, except for the tight grip of the other's hand that holding onto the their own, held on with a fierceness that was almost frightening.
And then sight and sound returned in a sudden blur, and the two fell to the ground unceremoniously, tumbling and rolling across the hard earth painfully. They eventually lost momentum, the world stopping it's violent frenzy, and the two dared to look around. The sight wasn't very inviting.
All around them the sky was blood red, the ground brown and cracked in dryness. Only black, dead trees broke the scenery surrounding them, jutting out of the ground like gnarled skeletons.
"What?" Horohoro managed to dizzily sit up, and then realized that he was still clutching Ren's hand quite tightly. The other boy, still on his back, winded, realized it as well. His eyes turned to his wrist, with its' hand holding the other boy's tightly. Horohoro let go quickly, seeming to scoot away from the retribution that Ren would issue about it, but none came. Instead Ren's eyes remained fixed on his hand, the fingers bent numbly, wondering about the sudden loss that was grabbing at his chest. A moment ago, all that the world had been was a pair of hands, holding onto the other in desperation. And it had been broken off. He didn't have any words for what he felt.
"Gods...where the heck are we?" Horohoro's eyes seemed to be frightened as he looked up at the unnatural crimson sky.
"I don't know. I don't understand any of this." Ren answered, gaining his composure back.
"Hey, how come you said that that vortex thing only wanted you?" He asked suddenly, confused.
"Because all the air that was being sucked towards it was all in my direction. You were just so close to me that you kept on getting caught up in it. Most of the time, it was all focused on me. Didn't you notice?"
The shaman shook his head, eyes now turned to the ground. "All I saw was how desperate you were, and I guess I wasn't thinking about anything else but how to help you out to notice stuff like that."
The words took Ren aback, and he watched Horohoro's bent figure for a long moment, trying to decipher his words and previous actions fully. Why did he care so much? And now that he thought about it--- "Before, you said that---that you wouldn't leave me alone, that I'd had enough of that. What did you mean?" He asked, his voice low.
"Hey now, I know you've been alone pretty much you're whole life! You don't have to act dumb." His tone softened. "I once talked to Bason about it, he told me how lonely you'd been before you became friends with Yoh. Even your sister wasn't too close to you, and he was so sad about it. He really cares for you, ya know? It's like he idolizes you." He smiled to himself.
"You forgot about yourself." Ren said suddenly, and Horohoro blinked in surprise.
"Huh?"
"You said I was lonely until I became friends with Yoh. There was you too, and Manta. But you---You changed something. When I was around you, I---" He cut off, realizing just how open he was at that exact moment, and how close he was to revealing those quiet places hidden inside himself. He shut his mouth.
"Ren---" Horohoro was a little put off by the other boy stopping, but somewhere in his mind he realized it had to do with the insecurity he held about himself. Ren liked to pretend that it wasn't there, and hid it away carefully from the rest of the world, but Horohoro knew that the vulnerable ness was just hidden very well, and was still very much there. "Thanks." The snowboarder said simply, then stood up, looking around them again. "Man, where are we? And where should we go?"
"You already said that, and as for where we should go, I have no idea. Any direction we set off in looks the exact same as the rest." Ren got to his feet, dusting himself off.
"Well, then let's go this way then." The snowboarder proclaimed, beginning to walk. "It's as good of a way as any."
Ren sighed, not finding any reason to argue, and followed, walking alongside the other boy through the dead and unchanging landscape.
After about five hours of walking, the sky began darken, as if it were nighttime. "Aieeee, we've been walking all day and it still looks the same! And now it's night, what're we supposed to do?!" Horohoro half whined, and then his stomach growled, adding to the noise.
"Quit your whining baka." Ren commanded, stooping down to pick up several sticks along the ground.
"But I'm so hungry! Man, we were just about to get dinner when we got to Yoh's house." He sighed mournfully, rubbing his empty belly sympathetically. "Hey, whatcha doing?" He wondered, watching as the other boy continued to fill his arms full of sticks.
"Getting wood for a fire, dumbass. It's probably going to be completely dark soon, and it's already starting to get cold out. We don't have any food, but we can at least have warmth."
"Oh! Crap, duh!" The blue haired shaman shook his head for not thinking of the same thing, quickly stooping down to gather up wood too.
"Make sure to get plenty. There's no knowing how damned long it's going to be dark, so we'll want to make sure there's plenty of firewood to keep it going."
"Hai, hai." Horohoro nodded in agreement, dumping his armload of wood on the ground next to Ren's, and then hurrying off to get more.
Half an hour later, they'd managed to get a good amount of wood piled up, as the sky continued to rapidly get darker. Horohoro sat on his heels, gathering together two slender branches and he began rapidly rubbing them against each other with practiced hands. Within a minute or so later, he'd caught a small flame and was carefully adding fuel to it, and had a nice little fire going soon enough.
"Not bad." Ren remarked, sitting down next to the other shaman from his place on the ground.
"Thanks, I've had plenty of practice, 'course, since I lived in the wilderness my whole life." He smiled, face turned towards the flames.
"Ah." The golden-eyed boy answered simply, relaxing onto the hard dirt best he could and then looking over at his companion, who was leaning back on his hands, boots stretched out towards the fire.
Dust still clung to the snowboarder's clothes, as he'd never tried to brush it off from earlier when they'd been rolling through the dirt. It was so like him, the way everything was pulled together in one great messy jumble of warmth. The way he wore clothes that kept himself warm, easy to open should it get too hot out, wore whatever he needed to keep his wild hair out of his bright eyes. He didn't care what the rest of the world thought, as long as his own world kept going. Ren thought that he probably envied that of the other boy more than anything else.
Horohoro suddenly turned, probably drawn by the heat of the other's stare, blue eyes meeting gold. "What's wrong?"
Ren snorted, drawing his knees to his chest and wrapping his arms around them, tossing his head in the head direction. "Nothing." He said shortly, gazing out into the darkness, which was so pitch black he couldn't see anything.
A long minute passed, Ren still looking out at what he couldn't see, and then Horo spoke up. "Are you cold?"
"Course not." The shaman grunted, suppressing a sudden shiver as he did so. Stupid tank top wasn't exactly giving him the best cover in the world. Not that he'd let that baka know that. He was invulnerable, he was strong, he was--- A warm piece of fabric was suddenly wrapped around his shoulders.---in utter shock and very warm.
Ren blinked in surprise at the sudden warmth, and he looked down to see Horohoro's shirt clinging to his shoulders. He turned back, just as the other boy sat back down.
Horohoro, seeing that Ren had turned back to him, opened his mouth to speak up against the inevitable argument that was going to come--- But the look on Ren's face stopped him. Lemon yellow eyes wide, jaw dropped gently at ease, he was obviously startled and was making no effort to hide it. Horohoro smiled, his heart warmed by the human expression. "You don't have to pretend, I could see you were shivering."
"But… what about you?" The young man asked selflessly, adding more to Horo's astonishment.
"Ah, I'll be alright. Grew up in northern Japan, remember?" He smiled easily, astonished when Ren smiled back. The two fell silent, sliding into a companionable tranquility.
As Horohoro watched the fire with half-lidded eyes, Ren wrapped his warm shirt around himself tighter, fingers trailing along the hem in thoughtfulness. The other boy was so giving, selfless and sweet, everything that Ren wasn't. It was more reason to envy him, but instead of a bitter jealously, it left the Chinese boy feeling empty. He tugged the shirt around his shoulders a bit tighter, feeling a bit of the emptiness melt away.
Horo's eyelids were becoming heavier and heavier as he sleepily watched the dancing fire, and then he yawned loudly, settling onto his back with his arms pillowing his head. "G'night, Ren." He was answered by a soft grunt, and the boy smiled, staring upwards. But there was nothing, not even stars and the utter blackness of what he was looking up at scared Horohoro. Disturbed, he rolled over to his side, rocks rubbing his skin through his thin undershirt, back turned to Ren and closing his eyes, preferring the darkness of his closed eyes to the nothingness that was surrounding him then.
With Horohoro's back turned to him, Ren took the opportunity to watch him fully, arm propped on his knee, chin tucked in the crook of his elbow. Eventually the other boy's breathing evened out in sleep, and Ren scooted closer. 'I'm becoming a stalker.' He admonished himself with a shake of his head, but decided to ignore the thought for the moment. Horohoro's sleep didn't look all that pleasant, with nothing to protect his skin from the rough ground but his shorts and an undershirt. 'That baka, he didn't have to give me his shirt.' He frowned, irritated. The other boy's body curled in on itself, suddenly shivering and Ren's eyes widened.
"Idiot." He whispered, moving closer. And before he knew it, he was lying on his side next to Horohoro, body tucked against his. The other boy stirred, noticing the warmth, and Ren's eyes widened. 'What am I DOING?'
"Ren?" He muttered. "What're you doin'?" The boy mirrored Ren's thoughts sleepily.
"You're cold." The Chinese boy answered, trying to sound as emotionless as possible.
"Mmm, and you're warm." Horohoro answered, voice sluggish. He wriggled closer to Ren's warmth, till there was no space between them. Content, he fell back asleep instantly, snoring softly.
The feeling of being warm, in more ways than one, downed out any protests that Ren's sleepy mind could come up with, and he closed his eyes, resting his forehead against the back of Horohoro's neck. The emptiness that had consumed his being earlier vanished completely.
*~*~*~*~
And there you have it! Thus ends the first chapter of the madness! It can only go on from here! ('Specially since this isn't a short story, it really can't end at one chapter, now can it? ^.~) So tell me whatcha thought, and if your review only states your close mindedness about my coupling and nothing about the content of my actual writing, then I shall laugh at you and throw moldy shroomies at your review.
And laugh some more.
Puppy ciao!
By: Kichara
Chapter One: Won't Let You Go
*~*~*~*~
Whelp, here we go! Off to the wonderful world of shounen ai goodness! That's right, this is boys wit' boys, so if you dun like it, go 'way. ;P This story goes out to muh man-whore, Cassie, who was the one that corrupted me into the world of Ren Horohoro goodness. It's all her fault! And that makes me happy… ^^
*~*~*~*~
It was one of those great moment's that life gives you. The sun was almost setting, casting long shadows through the playground that Yoh, Manta, and Horohoro had decided, on impulse, to occupy on the way home, dragging Ren into the deserted area with them. He sat now, perched at the top of the monkey bars, observing the other three as they huddled together. And watching one in particular. His stare was quiet and intent, as it always was when there wasn't a chance of anyone seeing him as he watched the snowboarding shaman.
The Chinese boy loved times like this, when he could just watch and he didn't have to worry about anyone noticing. He could be forever content to just see Horohoro's wide grin, watch his eyes light up, hear his warm laugh of sunshine. Anyway, he had to be content with watching, what else could he do? He wondered, his eyes going out of focus as he pondered exactly what it was that he would do if he could.
A hand grabbing at his foot and a cheerful voice broke him out of the thoughts. He looked down in surprise to see Horohoro's bright eyes. "C'mon, we're gonna get a good game of Hide and Seek in before it gets too dark, and it's a lot more fun when you have four people instead of just three!"
Ren forced his usual frown, glaring at the boy below him. "Why should I have to act like an idiot with the rest of you?"
Horohoro's wide grin didn't subside, unaffected by Ren's icy glower. "Because it's better to have four than three, c'mon." And he gave a firm tug at Ren's hanging leg, forcing the boy to slip off the monkey bars and land gracefully next to him.
"Fine, if it'll shut you up." He snapped grumpily, wondering somewhere in his mind what the point of keeping up the front he'd had for so long was. Was it because that had been his true face for so long before, and old habits were hard to break? Or was it simply because he was too much of a coward to show his true feelings? He contemplated scornfully as he ran back to the others with Horohoro. Someone had once said that life was too short. Was he wasting it now by acting like someone he wasn't, and not trying to be someone he didn't even know who he was, as he'd never tried to be them?
"Alright, Yoh, you're it, gotta count to a hundred!" Horohoro demanded as they jogged up.
"One hundred, don't you think that's a bit much?" Yoh protested balefully, placing a hand on his hip. "Forty."
"What?! How the heck do you expect us to get good hiding spots with only forty seconds?! Eighty!"
"Sixty five, and I count slow. Or you can be it." The other boy said simply, smiling in victory as Horohoro shut his mouth before he could start something else.
"Alright, sixty five, but no peeking!" He demanded childishly, setting his hands on his hips and glaring at Yoh sternly.
"Hai, hai, of course." Yoh settled onto the ground, cross-legged, with his elbows on his knees. He set his head in his hands, covering his eyes, and, true to his word, began counting very slowly. "One-----two-----three----" The three other boys scattered, Manta heading off in one direction and Horohoro and Ren in the other.
"Hey, go find you're own hiding place!" Ren snapped as they ran through the trees together.
"Hey, you go! I was heading this way first!"
"Tch, or so you want to think."
"Whatever." Horohoro skidded to a halt, glaring at Ren fully, who stopped in his tracks.
"What, you got a problem?" The other boy snapped, lowering into a defensive position.
"Maybe my damned problem is how you always gotta be such a hardass, no matter what. Can't you just have fun for once?!" The words were becoming quite loud and exasperated.
"Why the hell do you care at all?" The shaman snapped back, inwardly wondering why the hell DID Horohoro care at all?
"Forget it." He turned his back, fists clenched at his sides, to go. "It's not like you'd care to listen anyway." He started walking off.
"Wait, you..." His words faltered and he stopped, eyes widening as he wondered what the hell he'd been about to say. The other boy stopped, half turning around and meeting Ren's eyes, his own wide with surprise.
"Ren?"
And then the world got turned upside down.
A sudden tremor moved the ground under their feet, setting them off balance, and the wind picked up dramatically, whipping their clothes and hair around them. A brilliant light flashed, and both young men's heads turned towards it, eyes searching for the source of all the sudden chaos.
The wind picked up more without any warning, and another tremor, fiercer this time, was enough to set both boys off their feet. Both were airborne for several feet, pushed by the sharp wind, which was growing steadily harsher, before they regained their footing, almost side by side.
"What's going on?!" Horohoro exclaimed over the wind, which whistled shrilly in his ears. He turned to Ren, who was watching the sky in front of them with intense eyes. "Ren?" The shaman turned, looking at where the other's golden eyes were fixed, and saw what held the other's rapt attention.
The sky was darkening unnaturally, while the wind blew harder, forcing Horohoro to set his feet down more firmly. A dark, unnatural purple began to tinge the sky, and it almost seemed to swirl, mixing with a blend of angry violets and blues. It WAS in fact swirling, creating what looked like some kind of vortex. The wind picked up further, suddenly catching Ren under his feet. He tumbled, clutching madly at the grass, trying vainly to grab a hold of anything to hold onto.
"Ren!" Horohoro called out, although his voice was lost in the hurricane force winds they were now facing. Keeping low, he let his feet lose their steady posture, sliding across the grass slipperily. "Ren!!" His voice was heard that time, as Ren's desperate eyes looked straight into his own, his hands gripping great chunks of soil and grass. They were only a few feet apart, and Horohoro reached out his hand, grabbing for Ren's as he let himself slip a bit closer, his body close to the ground.
Ren reached out, sacrificing his clumsy hold on the sod, and caught the outstretched hand, his eyes grateful and saying words that he would never be able to manage. "Ren!" Keeping a solid grip on that hand, Horohoro began lowering his body fully, helping the shaman gain the firm security of the earth below him. But just as the other boy's hand gripped at the ground, pulling himself down towards it, a great gust of wind grabbed the two of them, loosening the foothold of Horohoro's steady boots and sending the two of them flying through, right towards the dark vortex in the sky.
Ren's bright eyes saw it and they widened, looking at the person that was still had his hand in a vice grip. "You idiot! Let go! It wants me, can't you see that! Let go!!!" The iron grip remained, and Horohoro answered loudly through the winds that were wrapped around the two of them.
"What, and let you be alone again?! You've had enough of that, dammit!!" And as Ren's eyes widened, an inaudible gasp leaving his lips, all sight and sound vanished, leaving them only with silence and each other's strong hands. Gone was the roar of the wind, although it seemed to still be pulling them in that deaf darkness. And there was nothing, except for the tight grip of the other's hand that holding onto the their own, held on with a fierceness that was almost frightening.
And then sight and sound returned in a sudden blur, and the two fell to the ground unceremoniously, tumbling and rolling across the hard earth painfully. They eventually lost momentum, the world stopping it's violent frenzy, and the two dared to look around. The sight wasn't very inviting.
All around them the sky was blood red, the ground brown and cracked in dryness. Only black, dead trees broke the scenery surrounding them, jutting out of the ground like gnarled skeletons.
"What?" Horohoro managed to dizzily sit up, and then realized that he was still clutching Ren's hand quite tightly. The other boy, still on his back, winded, realized it as well. His eyes turned to his wrist, with its' hand holding the other boy's tightly. Horohoro let go quickly, seeming to scoot away from the retribution that Ren would issue about it, but none came. Instead Ren's eyes remained fixed on his hand, the fingers bent numbly, wondering about the sudden loss that was grabbing at his chest. A moment ago, all that the world had been was a pair of hands, holding onto the other in desperation. And it had been broken off. He didn't have any words for what he felt.
"Gods...where the heck are we?" Horohoro's eyes seemed to be frightened as he looked up at the unnatural crimson sky.
"I don't know. I don't understand any of this." Ren answered, gaining his composure back.
"Hey, how come you said that that vortex thing only wanted you?" He asked suddenly, confused.
"Because all the air that was being sucked towards it was all in my direction. You were just so close to me that you kept on getting caught up in it. Most of the time, it was all focused on me. Didn't you notice?"
The shaman shook his head, eyes now turned to the ground. "All I saw was how desperate you were, and I guess I wasn't thinking about anything else but how to help you out to notice stuff like that."
The words took Ren aback, and he watched Horohoro's bent figure for a long moment, trying to decipher his words and previous actions fully. Why did he care so much? And now that he thought about it--- "Before, you said that---that you wouldn't leave me alone, that I'd had enough of that. What did you mean?" He asked, his voice low.
"Hey now, I know you've been alone pretty much you're whole life! You don't have to act dumb." His tone softened. "I once talked to Bason about it, he told me how lonely you'd been before you became friends with Yoh. Even your sister wasn't too close to you, and he was so sad about it. He really cares for you, ya know? It's like he idolizes you." He smiled to himself.
"You forgot about yourself." Ren said suddenly, and Horohoro blinked in surprise.
"Huh?"
"You said I was lonely until I became friends with Yoh. There was you too, and Manta. But you---You changed something. When I was around you, I---" He cut off, realizing just how open he was at that exact moment, and how close he was to revealing those quiet places hidden inside himself. He shut his mouth.
"Ren---" Horohoro was a little put off by the other boy stopping, but somewhere in his mind he realized it had to do with the insecurity he held about himself. Ren liked to pretend that it wasn't there, and hid it away carefully from the rest of the world, but Horohoro knew that the vulnerable ness was just hidden very well, and was still very much there. "Thanks." The snowboarder said simply, then stood up, looking around them again. "Man, where are we? And where should we go?"
"You already said that, and as for where we should go, I have no idea. Any direction we set off in looks the exact same as the rest." Ren got to his feet, dusting himself off.
"Well, then let's go this way then." The snowboarder proclaimed, beginning to walk. "It's as good of a way as any."
Ren sighed, not finding any reason to argue, and followed, walking alongside the other boy through the dead and unchanging landscape.
After about five hours of walking, the sky began darken, as if it were nighttime. "Aieeee, we've been walking all day and it still looks the same! And now it's night, what're we supposed to do?!" Horohoro half whined, and then his stomach growled, adding to the noise.
"Quit your whining baka." Ren commanded, stooping down to pick up several sticks along the ground.
"But I'm so hungry! Man, we were just about to get dinner when we got to Yoh's house." He sighed mournfully, rubbing his empty belly sympathetically. "Hey, whatcha doing?" He wondered, watching as the other boy continued to fill his arms full of sticks.
"Getting wood for a fire, dumbass. It's probably going to be completely dark soon, and it's already starting to get cold out. We don't have any food, but we can at least have warmth."
"Oh! Crap, duh!" The blue haired shaman shook his head for not thinking of the same thing, quickly stooping down to gather up wood too.
"Make sure to get plenty. There's no knowing how damned long it's going to be dark, so we'll want to make sure there's plenty of firewood to keep it going."
"Hai, hai." Horohoro nodded in agreement, dumping his armload of wood on the ground next to Ren's, and then hurrying off to get more.
Half an hour later, they'd managed to get a good amount of wood piled up, as the sky continued to rapidly get darker. Horohoro sat on his heels, gathering together two slender branches and he began rapidly rubbing them against each other with practiced hands. Within a minute or so later, he'd caught a small flame and was carefully adding fuel to it, and had a nice little fire going soon enough.
"Not bad." Ren remarked, sitting down next to the other shaman from his place on the ground.
"Thanks, I've had plenty of practice, 'course, since I lived in the wilderness my whole life." He smiled, face turned towards the flames.
"Ah." The golden-eyed boy answered simply, relaxing onto the hard dirt best he could and then looking over at his companion, who was leaning back on his hands, boots stretched out towards the fire.
Dust still clung to the snowboarder's clothes, as he'd never tried to brush it off from earlier when they'd been rolling through the dirt. It was so like him, the way everything was pulled together in one great messy jumble of warmth. The way he wore clothes that kept himself warm, easy to open should it get too hot out, wore whatever he needed to keep his wild hair out of his bright eyes. He didn't care what the rest of the world thought, as long as his own world kept going. Ren thought that he probably envied that of the other boy more than anything else.
Horohoro suddenly turned, probably drawn by the heat of the other's stare, blue eyes meeting gold. "What's wrong?"
Ren snorted, drawing his knees to his chest and wrapping his arms around them, tossing his head in the head direction. "Nothing." He said shortly, gazing out into the darkness, which was so pitch black he couldn't see anything.
A long minute passed, Ren still looking out at what he couldn't see, and then Horo spoke up. "Are you cold?"
"Course not." The shaman grunted, suppressing a sudden shiver as he did so. Stupid tank top wasn't exactly giving him the best cover in the world. Not that he'd let that baka know that. He was invulnerable, he was strong, he was--- A warm piece of fabric was suddenly wrapped around his shoulders.---in utter shock and very warm.
Ren blinked in surprise at the sudden warmth, and he looked down to see Horohoro's shirt clinging to his shoulders. He turned back, just as the other boy sat back down.
Horohoro, seeing that Ren had turned back to him, opened his mouth to speak up against the inevitable argument that was going to come--- But the look on Ren's face stopped him. Lemon yellow eyes wide, jaw dropped gently at ease, he was obviously startled and was making no effort to hide it. Horohoro smiled, his heart warmed by the human expression. "You don't have to pretend, I could see you were shivering."
"But… what about you?" The young man asked selflessly, adding more to Horo's astonishment.
"Ah, I'll be alright. Grew up in northern Japan, remember?" He smiled easily, astonished when Ren smiled back. The two fell silent, sliding into a companionable tranquility.
As Horohoro watched the fire with half-lidded eyes, Ren wrapped his warm shirt around himself tighter, fingers trailing along the hem in thoughtfulness. The other boy was so giving, selfless and sweet, everything that Ren wasn't. It was more reason to envy him, but instead of a bitter jealously, it left the Chinese boy feeling empty. He tugged the shirt around his shoulders a bit tighter, feeling a bit of the emptiness melt away.
Horo's eyelids were becoming heavier and heavier as he sleepily watched the dancing fire, and then he yawned loudly, settling onto his back with his arms pillowing his head. "G'night, Ren." He was answered by a soft grunt, and the boy smiled, staring upwards. But there was nothing, not even stars and the utter blackness of what he was looking up at scared Horohoro. Disturbed, he rolled over to his side, rocks rubbing his skin through his thin undershirt, back turned to Ren and closing his eyes, preferring the darkness of his closed eyes to the nothingness that was surrounding him then.
With Horohoro's back turned to him, Ren took the opportunity to watch him fully, arm propped on his knee, chin tucked in the crook of his elbow. Eventually the other boy's breathing evened out in sleep, and Ren scooted closer. 'I'm becoming a stalker.' He admonished himself with a shake of his head, but decided to ignore the thought for the moment. Horohoro's sleep didn't look all that pleasant, with nothing to protect his skin from the rough ground but his shorts and an undershirt. 'That baka, he didn't have to give me his shirt.' He frowned, irritated. The other boy's body curled in on itself, suddenly shivering and Ren's eyes widened.
"Idiot." He whispered, moving closer. And before he knew it, he was lying on his side next to Horohoro, body tucked against his. The other boy stirred, noticing the warmth, and Ren's eyes widened. 'What am I DOING?'
"Ren?" He muttered. "What're you doin'?" The boy mirrored Ren's thoughts sleepily.
"You're cold." The Chinese boy answered, trying to sound as emotionless as possible.
"Mmm, and you're warm." Horohoro answered, voice sluggish. He wriggled closer to Ren's warmth, till there was no space between them. Content, he fell back asleep instantly, snoring softly.
The feeling of being warm, in more ways than one, downed out any protests that Ren's sleepy mind could come up with, and he closed his eyes, resting his forehead against the back of Horohoro's neck. The emptiness that had consumed his being earlier vanished completely.
*~*~*~*~
And there you have it! Thus ends the first chapter of the madness! It can only go on from here! ('Specially since this isn't a short story, it really can't end at one chapter, now can it? ^.~) So tell me whatcha thought, and if your review only states your close mindedness about my coupling and nothing about the content of my actual writing, then I shall laugh at you and throw moldy shroomies at your review.
And laugh some more.
Puppy ciao!