Disclaimer: I still do not own Shaman King… lolx… What else's new?

Elemental-Zero: lolx… no need to say sorry! I'm sure the coming chapter will be worth waiting for… the rough times will soothe itself out soon…

Lady girl: I'm sorry if you didn't understand. Hao is Yoh's twin elder brother. Perhaps he's known as Zeke in your country?

MeeLee: actually, I'm not all that sure about the problems being deaf would bring 'sheepish grin' Perhaps you can enlighten me in that aspect?

FallenTruth: Haha…Torturing characters is kind of like my forte. And yeah, Pilica do seem a little too petty, but oh well, it's part of Ren's torture then. 'devilish grin this time'

The Beauty of Silence — Chapter 6

The little visits Ren made went almost unnoticed by everyone, with the exception of Anna, who seems to know everything. Everyday, just before noon, Ren would head for the hospital, and enter Horohoro's ward after Pilica had left for lunch. It was a good thing that Pilica had gotten sick of the bland cafeteria food just after two days, for this meant that she would have to travel further for her lunch, giving the boys more time in each other's company. One thing that worried Ren was that Horo was bickering less with him, and often, there would just be this awkward silence between them, whereby nobody bothered to start a conversation.

Horohoro used to be so talkative and noisy, yet he's becoming significantly quieter now. I wonder why, thinking that this may be a sensitive topic for his friend, Ren had refrained from asking the question outright, but chose to rely on his observation skills to obtain the answer.

It seems so strange; I actually don't feel like bickering with Ren anymore. Half the novelty just wears off when I know I'm going to win. Even if I can see Ren physically in the room, part of him isn't there to me, cause I can't hear his movements, even the sound of his breathing. I hate this goddamn silence. Shut off from the sounds, everythingbecame so dead, without life… Unnoticed by everyone, frustration had been mounting inside Horohoro over this past week. Especially at night, where sounds are usually amplified due to the stillness, the roomappeared exceptionally cold and devoid of life. In the morning, there were no cries of birds or even Koloro's voice to wake him up. He had not told anyone that the doctor had informed him, in the form of notes, that it would be good to start learning sign language, for brain scans had suggested that he won't be regaining his hearing for a pretty long time.

Ren tapped the whiteboard again, waving the marker in front of Horohoro's eyes. The Ainu had been in some form of daze, perhaps dwelling upon his thoughts. If this had been before, he would have already thrown Horo and insult, perhaps by 'complimenting' Horo on finally finding his brain, for the Ainu had never really shown any signs of deep thinking before. Now, he was just worried that the once happy-go-lucky shaman was changing too much in too short a time.

"Huh?" Horohoro finally noticed the marker dancing in front of his eyes. The words on the whiteboard read: I'm going now. Bason says that Pilica's coming. With that, Tao Ren left the room after thrusting the whiteboard and duster in Horohoro's hands. That baka-Ainu, thought Tao Ren, why didn't he tell us that he'd be discharged tomorrow and a week later, he'd be studying in The School for the Deaf? Ren had known all this from the doctor the day before, and was slightly irritated that his friend hadn't mentioned it at all.

"Pilica, is there anything wrong between you and Ren?" Horohoro asked Pilica in a seemingly nonchalant way, for up till now, Ren still would not tell him anything no matter how he begged, threatened, asked nicely or not so politely. He had not asked Pilica so far for fear that she'll over-react, and he finally realized that his worries were not unfounded and that he wouldn't be getting a decent answer today. Pilica took a deep death and started, if he was not wrong, shrieking into his ears, forgetting that her brother was deaf. If I wasn't deaf before, I'll definitely be deaf after this blast. Horohoro braced himself for the breaking of the windowpanes, for he knew how high his sister's voice could reach, and the medical staff who would rush in to see what happened, depending on which came first.

The medical staff arrived first. If not for Horohoro's intervention, she'll probably be sedated or something similar will take place. It was just an innocent question, why must she get so worked up? Unknown to him, the 'cold war' had escalated to something much bigger during the past five days, and if not for Anna, the inn would have collapsed under the full blow of the sound waves. Every time they met, either in the corridors or the kitchen, something was bound to happen, such as whole jugs of water being emptied (on Ren), a table getting chopped up (Ren hitting the table with his weapon to vent anger) and so on, with having loud voices as the most destructive weapons. Both had said pretty nasty things to each other, and despite Yoh's efforts at being mediator, their relationship didn't improve. The only one happy to see all this was Hao, who took pleasure at witnessing and commenting on such arguments.

Hao had been pretty much inactive these past few days, only making snide remarks at times. Anna had allowed him to stay at the inn, so long as he paid his bills regularly and not peep at Yoh's 'secret' training. Hao had agreed to these terms, but would not say what he came here for. As Hao was quite an unfathomable person, the others couldn't guess the true reason for his visit, for they certainly didn't believe the rubbish he gave about missing Yoh and the lovely Anna (and received a slap from said beauty in return).

The next day arrived in the wink of an eye, and soon, Horohoro reached the inn, where they could stay for free as long as Pilica served as a free cook and Horo as a servant, or slave as he calls it, to Anna. Pilica opened the door and shoved her way rudely past Ren, who was drinking his milk near the doorway to the room that the sibling's shared. Hao was also there, and he seemed to be asking Horohoro a question, but of course, he was ignored. Horohoro had received news that Hao was at the inn, and was determined not to let Hao know about his new weakness.

"I'm not used to being ignored, you know," Hao said softly, in a tone which most would define as dangerous. Horohoro paid no heed to him and went to his room, leaving a stunned Hao in its wake.

"Then start getting used to it," having thought of a reasonable retort, Ren entered his own room. Now that he finally back, perhaps the number of arguments with Pilica would decrease. I'm sure she realized that I'm to one would had foot the medical bills. Let's just hope that the two Ainu siblings would return back to normal. Upon hearing a knock upon his door, Ren took the book he left on his table and locked it in his drawer. The book was entitled: Beginner's Guide to Sign Language.

Author's note: Argh! The days are flying by too quickly! This chapter took a longer time, though it isn't exceptionally better. Gomenasai for that, cause the school holidays are ending soon and the pile of homework kept haunting me. Wish me luck in completing them! 'groans at homework'