"Ode to a Tree"
-Vx Tao Ren xV
Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King. Enough said.
Author's Notes: Due to an idea Yoh gave me that is just looming over my head. I've decided to continue with this.. it's pretty much the same.. except now, it's Ren's P.O.V. ^_^ Wai!.. Yeah… again.. I'm not really sure why I'm doing this. I'm just sitting at my desk and listening to Yu-Gi-Oh! Music…. Which I've been doing for 2 hours since I came home at 12:30 today from school.. and I also figured that this is more entertaining than homework..
Anyways, I'd like to thank all of my reviewers! Okay.. there aren't many since I posted this what? 3 days ago.. ::shrugs:: oh well!
Mahojin: You.. liked.. the title?... ::blinks:: WAI!! I'm glad someone out there likes it!! ^_^
Hao-sama rulze the world: I'm glad you liked it.. I liked it too.
Itako no Anna: Okay.. I'm glad you liked it and all.. but.. err.. yeah.. I'll deal with you on Friday…
InsaneRenFan: Aww.. Sankyuu!
Kyrie Sanctus: Woah! Calm Down there! Seriously, breathing is good! Hehe.. the only thing I can really say is.. wow..^_^ (is 'awsomenessousity' even a word? Well I guess it is now.. lol)
Ren-Tao: Okay.. I know ff.net was stupid and didn't post it up.. but I'll thank you anyway eventhough I have no idea what it said.. but I trust you when you said it was nice.. Sankyuu!! ^_^
***
JSF: Hmm… I actually just got your review now.. 8 hours after I started writing this.. which is why it's separated from the others.. (I had to put it on hold cuz I had to go to the city.. and just got back now.. at 10:30 pm.. @.@... [I started at around 2:30.. for no reason]).. Anyway.. I hope this answers your question.. please don't hate me if you don't like it X.x…
***
"Ode to a Tree"
I need to get away for a while..
Why is she even bothering me with all of this?!
It's ridiculous.. why does it even matter now?!
Arghh!!!
I'm walking through the park to hopefully get some peace and quiet after listening to Neesan for about an hour.
There's no one around.. good.. no one to bother me.
I'm walking towards this one hill with one single oak tree. It seems peaceful enough.. maybe I can get some sleep.
I approach the hill and hear a faint sound.. I try to identify it.. it sounds like someone chucking away at something.. whatever.. I shrug it off.
When I get to the hill.. I come to witness one of the last things I thought I would…
Horohoro.. slamming his head.. against a tree..
Wasn't Horohoro somewhat protective of nature? I guess he's just being stupid again.
"What on earth are you doing?"
He stops from his.. er.. whatever the hell you would classify constantly hitting your head against a tree as.. and just turns and looks at me..
… he looks at me straight in the face.. with the stupidest face I have ever seen.. It's like he was so bewildered, you'd think his soul was sucked out of him or something..
He's still looking at me.. no.. he's staring at me.. it's getting quite annoying, actually.
I shoot him a death glare so that he stops.. or before I murder him.. whichever comes first..
Damn! How long is he gonna sit there and stare at me?!?!?
"What the hell are you staring at me for?!?!"
He's still looking at me! What the hell is wrong with him?!
Maybe this wasn't the best place to be if I wanted to clear my mind.. God knows what happened to his..
"Whatever. I'm leaving. I didn't come here to get stared at by some brain-dead Ainu."
I turn my back and start to leave.. I probably only lake two steps when..
"No! Wait!!"
I stop.
So.. he's not completely braindead..
What the hell does he want now?
I turn around.
"So.. care to enlighten me with the revelation dawned upon you by continuously slamming your head against a tree?.. or are you just gonna sit there and stare at my face like you've been doing for the past 5 minutes?"
He just sits there and looks at me.. still.
".. Ri~ght.. I'm going now."
I turn to leave again..
Almost immediately..
"N-No! Wait!"
Argh! I turn around.. yet again.. and look at him.. no.. glare at him..
If he wants to be an idiot, he should go off and find Chocolove.. but not me!
"Look! If you want to say something to me, say it already! I don't have time for this!"
He's still looking at me with that stupid expression!
I swear.. the world is out to get me today.. first it's Neesan.. now it's this guy.. I'm not putting up with this.
"Ugh.. err.."
Forget it.
There's no way in hell that I'm gonna tolerate this.. not today.. He's tried my patience long enough..
I turn around and start to yell.
"You know what! Forget it!"
I turn around and start to stomp off.
I seriously need some peace around here… And I certainly wasn't going to get it anywhere near here.
Especially.. when Horohoro is here trying to talk to me about God knows what.. but keeps stuttering like a fool!
There's no way in hell I'm going to put up with him today.
"Aishiteru!!!"
I stop.
What the hell did he say?
Aishiteru?!?!
What the hell--?!?!
"What… did you just say…?"
"Uhmm… Aishiteru?"
I feel like I'm seconds away from lunging at his throat.
That stupid, mindless, git!! What the hell is he thinking.. saying something like that!
Then repeating it as if it were average and somewhat comical... and even as a second-guess question to himself!!!
"This isn't a joke you moron! What the hell would posses you to say that?!"
"Well… umm.. I said it because it's true.. at least.. I think it is.."
He what?
"What do you mean you think it is?"
"Well, I've been feeling a bit.. weird.. around you lately. Okay, it's happened before… but not this much. It's well, weird. I can't stop thinking about.. err.. you. Every damn Shaman Fight, every damn argument, and every damn waking moment.. I'm thinking about you.. And I don't even know why!"
I don't say anything..
I can't even register it.. this one of the last things I ever expected him to say.. not in a million years! Hao would have probably reincarnated himself 6 times over before I had expected that!
"Wait.. don't get me wrong. It's not like I don't care about you.. I mean.. well.. er.."
He's taking a deep breathe now.. probably to calm himself down to give me an explanation..
I really don't like where this is going..
"Look.."
He's being serious now..
It looks like I'm not leaving here after all.. Plus.. I'm kinda interested in what he has to say.. no one tells you "Aishiteru" out of nowhere, just for kicks, right?
"… lately, I've been getting really.. warm.. feeling when I'm around you. Before, I hated you.. then I envied you.. now.. I think that stepped up a little. I've been trying to figure out why you've been on my mind a lot, why I can't stop thinking about you.. but I think I know why, at least now I think I do."
Wait a second.. 'warm feeling'??
He envied me? There are other people he could have envied.. why was it me, of all people?
He hated me, I hated him.. "Aishiteru" was written anywhere in this!
"I'm not quite sure what to tell you. Except.. why me?"
"Uhm.. well, before I just envied you. Ya know.. because of your power I guess. I admired how you never.. uh.. waivered, as you would say. You were strong, you knew it.. and you made sure everyone around you knew it too. I dunno why I would envy you for that. In the beginning, I thought you were an arrogant, egotistical, asshole for it."
Nice justification there, Horohoro.. "I drew your name out of a hat" probably has more impact then your last choice of words..
"Oh.. that's encouraging.."
"Sorry… it's just.. lately, that err.. well.. because you do that, I start to believe that you can handle everything… that I don't even have to worry about anything.. because you were strong.. because you could handle it. And because of that, I put all of my faith in you."
He.. put all of his faith.. in me?
I never realized he did that…
He leans back on the tree and continues to talk.
"I think that's why I went insane when you, well, died. Because I put all my faith and beliefs in you, when you died, I lost everything. But when you came back, I started feeling a bit.. differently about you. I started noticing things about you that I never did before."
He looks to me.. with a different expression.. it's kind of a combination of caring and insightful..
…it's different..
I've never seen this side of Horohoro before..
"Did you know that you squint your eyes a tiny bit when you give a sort of caring expression? And that sometimes you smile in your sleep?"
…
Did I know what?!!
He watches me sleep, too?!
That's not something I'd want to know.
I glare at him. He definitely notices.
"You watch me sleep?"
He's starting to panic a bit. I think he just realized what he said.
"N-No! I mean.. sometimes I can't sleep at night, and well you know.. we share a room because we're on the same team and stuff.. and.. uhm.. sometimes I see you smiling.. uhmm.."
He just embarrassed himself.
He's looking down at the ground and I can see him blushing a bit.
"Oh.." is all I find myself saying.
This whole situation is really something.. unusual…
I sit back.. kinda like how he did before..
And start to think about the whole thing…
"And I guess… ever since you died I mean.. I've worried that you'd well.. die again.. so I guess I watched you to look over you or something. I'm not quite sure why myself… and I think all of that eventually led to well.. you know"..
He's looking at the ground again..
As I think about all of this.. there's one thing I can't really figure out.
"Why are you telling me all of this?"
Why was he telling me all of this? The whole thing didn't make too much sense to me. But Horohoro seemed to know what he was talking about.
I just continue to listen to his story.
"I dunno. I wasn't even sure if I.."
"..If I loved you.. or not.. so I came here to think it out. I don't even know if I was ever going to tell you.. but ya know.. you were here and saw me.. hitting my head on the tree.."
That's right.. the tree. So I guess this is why he was slamming his head against the tree.
To clear his mind. Kind of like why I came here.
"Yeah… I was wondering why you were doing that.."
Now he's looking at me again.. and he's blushing at me.. again…
"You were?"
I realize what I had just said.
"N-Not like that!"
"Oh.."
I see him looking down at the ground.. yet again.. and is looking quite.. err.. depressed..
Ugh.. why me?
"It's just that not every day you see someone ranting while continuously bashing their head against a tree like that! It's not normal!"
Wait! Why am I justifying myself to him?! What did I even do that needed justifying?!
Arghh!! This whole situation is making me crazy?! Why am I letting it get to me?!
"Yeah.. I guess… I just got frustrated 'cuz I couldn't figure out what the feelings that I had about you were.. but now I'm glad that you showed up.. since I told you.. I understand now.. thanks."
I just look at him.. I'm seriously wondering what the hell is going on with me today…
This whole damn day is confusing! Arghh!!
But.. well.. the tone in which he said that was so.. err.. soft.. I really can't help but be somewhat affected by it..
But I'm still confused over all of this.. I don't know why…
"Uhmm.. you're welcome.. I guess.."
"Hey.. what were you doing here anyway?"
God that's right.. Neesan.. I almost forgot why I had come here.. Why the hell am I still here, anyway?
"Neesan was talking to me about why I haven't got a girlfriend or some crap like that.. I just needed to get out of the hotel and clear my mind I guess.. then I find you hitting your head against a tree.. and telling me about how you love me.. ironic turn of events, isn't it?"
Come to think of it.. it was a bit funny.. but not really funny 'haha'.. like funny amusing..
Horohoro is laughing like it was the funniest thing he'd ever heard, however.. ri~ght.. I think he forgot how to breathe.. it looks as if he's gonna have a heart attack cuz he's laughing so much..
"It's not that funny, you know.."
"I know.."
He did? Could have fooled me…
Now he's staring at my face again! Dear God! What's with the obsession with my face today!
Now he's approaching me..
Awkward is an extreme understatement for this current situation..
..he's still coming towards me..
"Oi! What are you do—"
The next thing I know.. He pressed his lips against mine.. and is seemingly enjoying it..
Holy shit! The bastard is kissing me! And he's enjoying it, too!
I'm too shocked to do anything, and my body isn't responding at all.. but I'm really afraid that there's one part of my mind that doesn't want to do anything to stop it..
Needless to say, I must look like a fool. My body isn't moving.. my eyes are widened from the overall shock of what the Ainu-baka just did.. and I'm probably twitching or something like that.. God damn…
He looks at me for a bit, then moves towards me again.. but this time.. he whispers something in my ear…
"Aishiteru… Tao Ren…"
He gets up and walks away.. and doesn't look back..
As he leaves, I get the feeling back in my body and try to.. er.. recover… but as he leaves there's a tiny voice in the back of my mind that I'd prefer to ignore right about now.. I think I will.. but it's so damn annoying! It's screaming in my God-forsaken mind, "No! Wait!".. kinda like what Horohoro kept saying to me earlier..
Arghh!!!! Damn it!!!!!
I feel like slamming my head against the tree to drive away these thoughts that are undoubtedly there..
But as I turn around to look at the tree.. I notice something..
.. it looks like.. it kinda looks like a dent..
… it's from where Horohoro was slamming his head…
I blink.. and think about the situation..
I get up and decide to go back to Neesan.. maybe her rantings and a cold glass of Milk would clear my mind..
.. God I hope so.. or else there may be another dent in that freakin' tree…
***
Owari!
Wow! That made no sense at all! Okay.. I had a bit of trouble.. since I really don't have a liking for RenxHoro.. but I tried to make everyone happy.. See how nice I'm trying to be.. ::sighs:: I think I confused myself when writing it.. Aiiee!! I hope you liked it.. and please review if you did.. it'd make my day a whole lot better.. since I just spent 2 hours on a bus at 4:00 and and hour on the subway at 10:00 (Damn NYC public transportation.. I was waiting for my life to end on that damn bus! Aiee!!!).. and the damn store didn't have my Hao-Sama shoes!! Arghhh!!! I have to wait a month 'till I can try to buy them again!!! Aiiieeee!!!! ::goes off to slam head on wall::
Oh yeah.. did anyone happen to catch that in Chapter 1.. Horohoro doesn't say Ren's name at all until the ending when he says, "Aishiteru…" again? Huh, Huh?! Did you catch it?! I did that on purpose by the way.. ::sighs:: none of you probably caught it.. I just wanted to point it out ^_^
Oyasumi to Arigatou Minna!