I Hate Everything About You
Pairing: RenHoroRen (Though, as my current string of Mankin fics shows, I guess that's obvious? XD)
Disclaimer: Shaman King belongs to Hiroyuki Takei. Three Days Grace sings 'I Hate Everything About You'. I am not Hiroyuki Takei, or Three Days Grace. I don't believe Three Days Grace is Hiroyuki Takei either, so, basically, there's no connection. Oo;.
A/N: After pestering my online buddies into trying to help me untangle an idea for an April Fool's fanfic (yes, I did write this that long ago. But due to FF.net's formatting, haven't been able to post it), I gave up. Conveniently, 'I Hate Everything About You', by Three Days Grace, popped into my head. For whatever reason. Thus, I decided to write to that idea.
Enjoy ^^;. And yes, I will get working on chapter 2 of Snowed In...eventually.
Lyrics are in italics between backslashes.
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Chapter 1 of 1: Why Do I Love You?
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/Every time we lie awake
after every hit we take.../
Tao Ren was awake, unable to fall asleep. Sitting upon the thin ledge serving as a windowsill to the square hole in the wall that doubled as a window, legs pulled into his chest; one could easily tell by his expression he was troubled. Brow furrowed and catlike oculars of golden fixated upon the full moon in the cloudless night sky hanging above, his mind lingered over thoughts that had occurred just that day...which had resulted in the Ainu boy running from the Funbari Inn...because of Ren himself.
He remembered what had caused it...one of their usual fights that just got out of hand. Throwing sharp comments at each other eventually turned into Ren losing his cool, throwing a punch at Horo-Horo. A rather sharp one, right into the Ainu's ribs. Nothing broke; though from Horo's expression that had followed, it was quite obvious it had pained him. Or at least angered the boy greatly.
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The gaze of the bluenette was focused absently upon the street before him as he sat on the curb, silent as the night around him. How long had he been just sitting here? Since the fight, at least. It was still fresh on his mind...had he really irritated Ren that much? He honestly hadn't intended to...but...
'Kisama! Horo-Horo!' Ren growled, fists clenched as he leered daggers at the ice shaman standing before him, similarly annoyed, though not nearly as much. Another one of their fights had erupted, over Horo having apparently been staring at Ren. 'Your stupid face! I don't want to see it ever again!'
'I don't want to see yours, either, -REN-. Go back to China, why don't you? With your fat ass father and zombie fiends!' Horo-Horo's words seemed to have a tone of malice, whether unintentional or not.
'You! How dare you!' Ren's balled fist connected hard with Horo's chest, exposed due to the loosely tied, open yukata he had been lazing around in most of the day.
Horo's features twisted, eyes widening from the punch. Apparently, Ren was strong. He staggered backwards, before coming to grips with himself.
'I hate you, Horo-Horo! I never want to see your face around here again! And if I do...if I do...you, will pay! You dare insult the Taos! I should kill you!' the Chinese shaman growled deeply, fists remaining tightly clenched, incase Horo didn't heed his warnings.
'F-fine!' Horo turned on his heel, grabbing the snowboard on the floor near the doorway, sprinting away from the Inn; without as much as a glance backward. He didn't want anyone, Ren especially, to see the tears forming in his eyes. Not from the punch itself...but from the pain the whole fight in general had caused him.
Horo sighed, wrapping his arms around himself as the chill of the night air reached through the short-sleeved yukata he was still wearing. His snowboard was beside him, wrapped in its bag, the only thing he had managed to grab before he ran. He had half expected Ren to follow him and apologize...but, Ren was never the type to do that.
/Every feeling that I get
But I haven't missed you yet/
Why did he care Horo-Horo had run? He hated him. Every fiber of that Ainu-baka drove him to the brink of screaming. His annoying appearance, voice, obnoxiousness...everything. Yet, whenever he thought about the blue-haired shaman, he felt no anger or rage, most of the time. Ren felt something different...yet; he failed to find an explanation as to what that feeling was. It was foreign to him, though, he enjoyed the feeling. He refused to believe it was a certain four-letter word, that wasn't 'hate'.
Sighing softly, Ren's stare drifted from the moon. Where was Horo? He was sure that the Ainu would return; yet...he had not. However, certain that Horo would be back, he reassured himself. Horo would come back...and his 'stupid face' would be plastered with an apologetic grin as he begged for forgiveness for irritating him. And he, Ren Tao...would...
He would yell at him.
/Only when I stop to think about it
I hate everything about you
Why do I love you? /
'Tao Ren is a jackass. Tao Ren overuses 'Kisama'. Tao Ren is short. Tao Ren has an awful fashion sense. Tao Ren is Chinese. Tao Ren never sleeps. Tao Ren drinks too much milk. Tao Ren washes his hands three times with soap every time. Everything about Tao Ren I hate...everything except...him.' Horo's thoughts hardly made sense to himself; yet, they somehow did all the same. The only thing about Ren he could stand was Ren himself. The part of Ren that he knew was there; the Ren who acted normal, just like everyone else. The Ren that Horo only saw when he wasn't quarreling with him, or from stolen glances. Straining his mind, it dawned on him...he, Horokeu Usui...loved Tao Ren.
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/Only when I stop to think about you
I know./
"He's a slob...with blue hair and eyes. A pig, who never washes his hands. No. Matter. What. He has no manners at all, and is as immature as a little baby. Obnoxious to boot. He has no charming aspects, is as male as men come, and is essentially a tree hugging hippie." Ren's analysis of Horo-Horo was uttered to himself, tone lacking any hint of amusement. What was it about that idiot that caused him to feel the way he did? Although he posed that question to himself, he already knew the answer...it was because Horo was everything he himself wanted to be, but wasn't. Horo-Horo was perfect. He, Ren...was not. "Horo..."
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Horo's fists clenched, and he grabbed his snowboard from beside him on the curb. Slinging it over his shoulder, he dashed back towards the Funbari Inn.
Ren...
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Ren's eyes widened as the door to his room was flung open, head snapping to the left to see the Ainu shaman standing in the doorway, inhaling deeply. Azure met gold, before both gazes quickly shifted away.
Slowly, Horo-Horo's stare lifted from the floor to focus on the Chinese youth. "...You're...still up?"
Ren offered no response, looking back to the moon, lips pursed. Horo-Horo pressed on, slowly advancing towards the other boy. "H-having...trouble sleeping?" He questioned, before offering a bottle of milk to Ren.
Curiously looking at it, the violet-haired preteen took it from Horo, realizing it was warm. "Warm milk?"
"S'pposed to help you sleep." Horo smiled sheepishly. "Something in the milk helps induce sleep or something..." He explained with a nod, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Horo-Horo...I sincerely don't believe you've returned to educate me on milk's mysterious sleeping powers."
Horo sighed, leaning on his shoulder against the wall beside Ren, fingers tracing the rim of his sleeping yukata. "I'm...sorry. I didn't mean to make you mad earlier, Ren...I swear. I guess I just...I dunno. I just didn't realize what I was saying. If you would have insulted the Ainu, I probably would have snapped too."
Ren's gaze returned to the moon as used the bottle of milk as a ploy to keep from having to speak, taking long sips from it.
"Ren...don't be mad at me still. You're always mad at me, anyway though...do you really hate me -that- much?"
"I'm envious." Ren lowered the now-empty bottle of milk, tossing it at Horo-Horo's head. The Ainu was hit, and his wide-eyed expression from the words the Chinese boy had muttered changed to a mild wince.
"E-envious?" Horo repeated, eyebrows rising as he rubbed his forehead gently.
"Horo...how do you do it? How are you who you are? How? You're always grinning...are you truly that happy inside? How is it possible to be that happy all the time?"
"I...I dunno..."
"Horo...somehow...somehow, I seem to hate nearly everything about you...But..."
Horo listened silently, listening to Ren's words with intense curiosity, brow slightly furrowed.
/You hate everything about me
Why do you love me?/
Ren stood free from the windowsill, walking in front of Horo, gaze intently upon him, studying his expression as he willed himself to speak, quite possibly, the single most difficult sentence he thought he could say.
"I...love...you."
A faint pink blush came to the shorter boy's features as he uttered the words he never before had said, with much difficulty. Horo-Horo blushed similarly, before a small smile came to him.
"...And I...apologize, for hitting you."
Ren's gaze drifted quickly away towards the floor. Two firsts...witnessed by the single person he never could have imagined being the one to hear. A confession as well as an apology. He had to be ill or something.
"Ren?" Horo-Horo placed a digit beneath the shorter boy's chin, tilting it upwards the slightest, so that Ren's gaze met with his own. Saying no words, though not needing to, the Ainu closed his eyes, capturing the other's lips in a soft kiss that was accepted. Pulling away, Horo wrapped his arms around the Chinese youth, holding him tightly. "I'm sorry I insulted your family...and ran too...and made you stay up this late."
Ren rested his head on Horo's shoulder, eyes closing slowly. "Horo...it's alright."
The bluenette pulled Ren closer, the feeling of holding him in his arms all he needed to restore the warmth the wind had taken away while he sat on the curb. This was how it was possible to be happy...to love someone. Even more so to be loved back.
As he heard Ren's labored breathing, a sign that already the exhausted boy had fallen asleep, he slowly lifted his slumbering body in his arms, resting him on the nearby futon and pulling the blankets over his peaceful form.
"Ren...I love you, too..."
Brushing the violet-haired youth's bangs from his face, he set a soft kiss upon the other's forehead, trailing his hand across Ren's cheek gently, before rising and crossing the room, hand reaching for the knob of the door as he looked back.
"I won't ever leave your side again, promise..."
Closing the door behind him, he left the other boy to enjoy his peaceful dreams with the slightest hint of a smile.
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-.O.w.a.r.i.-
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A/N: Well, that was fun, ne? Granted, this is a semi-songfic, and I just used bits and pieces of the lyrics, since really, there's not many lyrics to this song ^^'. Review, onegai? Heh. This fanfic marks the first time Ren didn't use Kisama a boatload, and Horo didn't have an 'Operation'. It's a milestone for me xD.
Hope you liked it ^^;.
Though I think it wasn't that grand x-x. And it was cliché. XD
Oh, and no flames. I have a low confidence in my writing as is ^^;.