Popcorn

By Em0tions

Ren sat alone at the table, as he usually was of late, eating a bowl of steaming rice. Ever since the end of Shaman Fight had ended, Ren had often been alone. Anna married Yoh, Manta still went to cram school and studied all the time, Jun and Bailong had gone back to China, and Horo-Horo... He had stayed and was living in the woods. As he sat there, he couldn't remember why he had decided to stay. No point in it. No reasons.

"Friends," a small voice said in the back of his mind.

Ren almost laughed. The Tao's don't have friends. The smile quickly faded almost as soon as it had appeared. Maybe they were his friends. He paused to think about all they had been through, all the battles together, nearly dying for each other and in his case.. actually dying. They had to be friends. If they weren't then why would he have gone through all that with them?

He sat there, thinking about them all individually. Yoh, the boy who could find the silver lining in any raincloud. Manta, seizure boy, looking up to Yoh for being a powerful shaman. Anna, her being as cruel as she was but underneath her icy exterior, she loved Yoh with all her heart. Chocolove always telling his stupid jokes and being a pain. Ryu and his interesting obsession with young boys who looked like girls. Lyserg, still looking to find justice in the world. And Horo. Horo being there to talk even though they usually ended up fighting, making him laugh and find out that there was still good in the world. Horo being the one he had died for.

Why? Why him? Ever since Jeanne revived him after he died, he's been asking himself why. Why was he so willing to give up his life for Horo's?

Was it the way he smiled? The way he was just fun to be around? The way he knew that if he were to die, everyone would be sad?

Yes, that was it! Ren knew that if Horo were to die, more people would be saddened. More people would cry. He knew that Horo was more loved than him. But the thought didn't anger him like one would imagine. No, in fact, he was happy that Horo was loved. He knew how important it was to feel loved and to love. Could that be because he loved him and wanted his love? Ren wasn't sure. He had never loved anyone before. Heck, he had just realized he had friends!

But it could be very easy for a person to fall in love with Horo and not even be aware of it. That type of thing wasn't something Ren would easily admit to. To himself or anyone. He smiled, which was a rare occurrence. Yes, he loved Horo. He was about to finish the last bit of his rice when there cam a knock at his door.

Who would come over to his house at this time of night? No one ever came over. He got up and walked to the door opening it.

"Hey, Ren!" called a certain blue-haired Shaman.

"Horo? What are you doing here?" he asked unsurely.

"Well, I went and rented some movies and Pilika doesn't like action and stuff so I thought you would like to watch them with me!" Horo-Horo replied joyfully.

"But why me? Why not Yoh and Anna?"

"Well, I figured you would be lonely since Jun isn't here anymore and you would like some company. But I guess not. I'll go there then." He said sounding slightly hurt.

"No, that's not what I mean. I was just wondering why you wanted to watch them with me. That's all."

"Because your my buddy! And buddies spend time with their buddies."

"Well, come on in then. I just finished dinner. I could make you something, though, if you wanted," he said stepping aside letting Horo inside.

"That''s OK. Pilika made something slightly edible for once so I'm fine," he smile. "Oh, but I brought popcorn," holding up the bag to signify where it was.

Ren took the popcorn and walked to the kitchen to put it in the microwave.

Horo-Horo followed him and sat himself on his counter.

"You know what?" he began.

"Know what, Horo?" Ren turned his head to look at him.

"This is the first time I've been in your kitchen," he smiled his usual goofy smile and combed his fingers through his wild mane.

The microwave timer dinged and Ren removed the bag.

"Hey, Horo, would you mind getting me a bowl? They're in the cabinet below you."

"Sure," he hoped off the counter and started rummaging through the cabinet until he found the right size bowl. "Why do you call me that?"

Ren froze. "Call you what?"

"Horo. Everyone else calls me Horo-Horo' well, except Yoh who still insists on calling me Boro-Boro..."

Ren thought about it for a minute. "I guess it's because people give nicknames to the people they love."

Horo-Horo looked up at him. "What did you say?"

He turned so he was completely facing Horo. "I said.. 'People give nicknames to the people they love.' "

He knelt there stunned. Ren had just told him that he loved him. He really didn't know what to say.

He just got up and took the bowl of popcorn from him. "Come on, let's go watch the movie."

"OK..." Well, atleast he didn't get upset. He wasn't sure what he was. He led Horo to the living room and put the movie in.

"This is one of my favorites." Horo informed him. He sat down on the couch in front of the TV.

Ren sat beside him, not too close as to make him feel uncomfortable but then not too far away to make it seem like he was hurt of upset at him.

"What is it?"

"Um ... well, it's a Lee Bailong movie. I hope you don't mind," he said coyly, scratching the back of his head.

"No, not at all." Ren pressed play and the movie began.

Somewhere near the middle of the movie, after the popcorn ran out, Horo suddenly grabbed hold of Ren's hand. Ren looked at him but Horo wouldn't look at him. He just continued to watch the movie.

"This is my favorite part." He said, still not looking at him.

Ren turned his attention back to the movie, liking the feel of his hand in Horo's. They finished watching the movie without anything else happening or being said. The credits rolled and still nothing.

Horo finally broke the silence.

"Me too."

"What?" Ren asked.

"I love you, too," he blushed slightly. "I was thinking about it the whole movie and I figured out that

I love you. I mean you died for me. And I've been meaning to ask you. Why?"

"Because I knew that no one would cry for me, but they would cry for you." He looked down.

"I cried."

"You what?"

"I cried when you died. When I held you, I just couldn't help it. The tears just came."

Ren studied his eyes and found out he was telling the truth. "I didn't mean to make you do that. I was trying to avoid tears."

"Silly. But that's another reason why I love you."

"I love you, Horo."

Horo leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on Ren's lips, smiling the whole time.

OK. I'm done. I wrote this for Kyrie! She loves pointless HoroRen. And so do I so I wrote it for her. She's the best beta reader! So this is also as a thank you present. Please review it. If you think it's good bad whatever, I don't care just please review it.