Ren kept staring at Horohoro in shock. Just a day earlier, Horohoro had been so cruel to him, and all of a sudden, such kindness? There had to be something wrong, perhaps it was a trap.
At last, when it was almost time for sleeping, he couldn't resist from asking.
"Why?" Ren asked, looking downwards. "Why...are you being so nice to me? Aren't you...aren't you g-going to...hit me?"
Horohoro raised an eyebrow. "What? Do you want me to?"
"N-no, that's not what I meant," Ren said quickly. "You just...all of a sudden..."
Horohoro laughed amiably. "It's nothing," he said, grinning in a somewhat embarrased tone. "I'm not sure either..." he said. "But I think it might have some weird thing to do with...lo-"
Before he could finish the sentence, there was a vicious knocking on the cabin door. "Usui!" they heard Hao growl. "Open this door right now! What the hell is wrong with you!?"
Horohoro walked calmly to the door, opening it. "What do you want, Hao?" he asked smoothly, confident with his new heart.
Hao shoved past Horohoro. "You," he hissed, pointing at Ren with a menacing finger. "What have you done to Horohoro? Blackmail, is it? Why's he acting all friendly to you all of a sudden!?"
Terrified, Ren replied as truthfully as he could. "I don't know..."
"Filthy worm," Hao hissed, grabbing Ren's shirt collar. "You do so know."
"N-no," the frightened Chinese boy stammered. "I don't - truthfully...I d-did nothing..."
"You lie again," Hao accused in a dangerous whisper. "You're going to regret it, Tao. I'm going to kill you."
Ren's eyes widened as Hao gave him a sinister smirk before swaggering away. "Don't expect to see the the light of tomorrow."
"Shut up and leave him alone, Hao," Horohoro snapped. "I'm not going to let you kill him. He hasn't done anything. It's all my own choosing, so get over it and if you want to hurt someone so bad, it should be me."
"If you insist."
Hao gave Horohoro a hard punch to the face before spitting on the floor at his feet. "You're a damn traitor, Usui," he said, before climbing into his bunk and shoving the covers overh is head, leaving a scowling Horohoro and a fearful Ren.
Hao often hurt him, but he had never actually threatened to kill Ren before. This scared the boy very much, and despite his efforts to hold them in, a few tears trickled from his eyes and down his cheeks.
"It's alright, Ren."
Ren's eyes widened as he felt a pair of strong arms put themselves around him, enclosing him with safe barrier and warmth.
Horohoro smiled warmly at the boy, a soft and serene expression on his face. He didn't care that he was doing something that would have been unthinkable just a few days ago. All he wanted was Ren to feel safe, and for himself to finally accept his own feelings.
"Did you already forget? Didn't I say I was going to take care of you?"
Comforted, Ren let himself lean into the embrace, closing his eyes. He had never felt so safe before. It's a curious thing. Just a few days earlier, something like this would have been unacceptable. But now, it felt perfectly normal, perfectly alright...
Horohoro patted Ren's head. "Now go to sleep, alright?"