Title: Try Try Again
Author: kawaiichisaikitsune (piratekiari)
Rating: T
Pairings: (Implied) HoroRen
Summary: " 'Horo, I... I don't really know this feeling, but... I think... I think I like it...' " HoroRen slash. Three-shot fic.

Disclaimer - I don't own Shaman King or any of the characters staring in it.

Try Try Again

Chapter Three: Third Time's the Charm

The day was as quiet as the last. Horohoro was as quiet as he could be, ashamed of his doings. And Ren didn't even bother to leave his room. Their sisters began worrying more.

"I suppose we need to have another talk with them, don't we?" Pirika sighed, standing as she saw her friend near.

"Apparently so," Jun sighed herself, "Did Horokeu tell you everything?"

"Mostly, but I do have that odd feeling that he's holding something back," she replied, "Did Ren tell you his story?"

"There's not much I can do. The most I got from him was that he and Horo met at the cemetery unplanned. And, well, I suspect they had a row that turned out worse than ever."

"You've missed a lot, Jun," the Ainu smiled weakly, "It's okay though. Just leave everything to me."

Pirika knocked upon a solid wood frame before admitting herself into the room. It was just as she'd seen before. This time, however, the lump was pressed against the closed window. "Onii-san," she breathed into the dark, sliding the door shut behind her, "You know you can't just mope about like this."

Horohoro looked back to his sister, a dead expression left upon his face. "Go away."

"Oh come on! What is your problem?" she demanded, "Did he not accept your apology? You know this can't go on."

"I don't know," he sighed with a shake of his head, "He started to cry and I... I did it again..."

"And what did he do?"

"Well... He almost--"

"Do you want just 'almost's?"

He paused. "N...no."

------

Ren stumbled along the stoned path. Gravestones lined here and there in neat rows, showered with flowers or smoldering from the last touches of incense. The night was still and quiet, not even a chirping bug disrupting the heavy silence. The grinning moon hung in the navy sky by an invisible cord, the stars around it twinkling brightly in its presence. The familiar tree stood strong and tall, holding a gazing form in its branches.

"Horohoro," he whispered, almost angrily, as he easily picked out the azure locks from the dark leaves. Said person looked down at his name, a confused smile settled upon his lips. "What are you doing here?"

"I needed some air, Renny," he replied rather optimistically, "Besides, the view is so pretty. Especially from up here. Come and see."

The chinese hesitated, but eventually took the hand which had been offered to him. He was pulled up onto the sturdy tree branch, pressed between the trunk and Horo. Their legs dangled in the open air, highlighted like the rest of them in the nighttime glow.

"I think... we need to talk again, Renny," the ice shaman spoke at last, gaining only the slightest bit of attention; "About last night..."

He paused. Ren said nothing.

"I didn't go to do... that... I just wanted to apologize, but seeing you cry... It hurt me too, Renny," he looked over to the face which looked away, "I don't really know what's come over me, but I don't want it to go. I don't mind if you don't understand or return or whatever... But it's fair that you know that I think I... really like you."

The other shaman turned back. His rich golden eyes looked soft and confused, his face gentle. "Really...?" he whispered.

Horo's heart thumped in his chest, pounding in his ears to the beat of quick, heavy drums. His eyes glanced over the other, resting on peached pink lips, soft and ripe as they just sat there. A thick red blanketed his cheeks as he forced himself to look away. He would not make the same mistakes again.

Indeed he didn't, but Ren, on the other hand, did. He pressed himself close, meshing their lips together in a rather hungry manner. His tiger eyes were closed, where as the Ainu's were wide in surprise. It wasn't long, however, until he cupped his cheek and looped an arm around his waist to draw them even closer in return.

The branch suddenly bent over with a crackling snap, sending the two to the ground. It wasn't a long fall, but a fall nonetheless. Ren was sent first, Horo on top of him. Together they fell to the soft grass with a dull thump.

"Oh God, Renny!" the ice shaman jerked up on all fours, leaning over the other in concern, "Are you--"

"Horo, I... I don't really know this feeling, but... I think... I think I like it..." the other whispered. Horokeu didn't know what to say. So instead, he smiled.

The next day was as normal as every other day at the Funbari Inn. Excpet today, Tao Ren managed an actual smile.

End

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