Disclaimer: Shaman King does not belong to me. (I can't think of anything wittier.)

The Beauty of Silence – Chapter 24

Pilica sucked in a breath from where she stood, mildly horrified by what she saw. The Ainu girl knew all along that their little ragtag group of shamans weren't the sanest of people one could find along a street, but what the Tao did was just over the top. Pilica had expected him to get angry, and perhaps yell a little. But not in a million years would Pilica have imagined him doing that. What is he thinking of, kissing my brother like that?

***

The moment dinner officially came to an end, the two unknowingly manipulated shamans left the dining room one after another. Pilica let out the breath she hadn't known she was holding, and waited for a full minute more before politely excusing herself as well. She knew where she had to be. Located at the second floor, the common balcony was the ideal place for spying. It afforded a good view of the backyard, and branches from trees lining the place shielded the viewer from those below. Should Horohoro or Ren look up, they would probably miss her. If not Tao Ren, at least Pilica was quite sure that Horohoro would. It's time.

Watching her brother walk towards the other without cheer, Pilica wondered for the hundredth time that day if she had done the right thing. But right wasn't exactly the correct word for it either. What if everything goes wrong? Perhaps she should have consulted Jun, or even Tamao, before rashly going ahead with her plan. But it's too late for regrets now. Chewing on her lower lip in anxiety, Pilica silently resolved that if things came down to the worst, she would help pick up any shattered pieces, and be there to offer comfort. To her shock, it seemed as if all her worries had been unfounded. Barely had she made her resolution before Ren crossed the remaining distance between the two, and before Pilica's horrified eyes, tilted Horohoro's face up and closed in for a kiss.

***
Anger clouded his mind for a moment, and before Tao Ren knew what he was doing, he was closing the distance between the two of them. Horohoro's voice had trailed off towards the end of the sentence, and the Ainu was now gibbering senselessly about something Ren was no longer interested in hearing. All that mattered was why his boyfriend (he didn't stop to reflect upon his choice of words) had chosen to keep such an important decision from him. Based on what his brain could register through all the mumblings and emotions flaring within, Horohoro seemed to be returning to Hokkaido for good. And since the ice shaman still resolutely refused to look anywhere but at the ground, Ren took hold of Horohoro's chin and tilted his face upwards towards him. The sudden gesture silenced the Ainu, and Ren took his chance to express all that he wanted to say.

Horohoro stopped trying to churn out excuses for not informing the other shaman earlier about his impending departure, and simply stared. The Tao was moving closer with each passing second, and even though he was shorter than Horohoro (and by quite a bit if you discount the hairstyle), managed to look all the more intimidating with each centimetre that he closed between them. At a distance of less than a couple of inches, there was no way Horohoro could ignore the furious golden eyes directed at his own, and he couldn't tear his gaze away from them. If this wasn't such an unnerving experience, he might have let his mind wander to more inappropriate thoughts, but Ren was clearly not in the mood for their first kiss.

"Tell me everything, from the start."

Ren mouthed each word slowly and clearly, and then reinforced the command with a glare. It was a good thing the other couldn't hear the restrained anger in his voice, or that coward might have turned tail and ran. Not that he would be able to escape from Ren, of course. Inwardly, Tao Ren couldn't understand where all of his anger was coming from. He cared about their relationship, that was definite, but he never realised just how seriously he had taken it until now. The issue with caring wasn't something new; he knew he had trouble with human interaction, liking someone enough to care, and then hiding his concern from the rest of the world. It was the same as with all his other friends, and he expected the emotions involved in this case to just be a little stronger. He knew he would fly into a rage when the others kept things from him, but compared to how he felt now, that seemed a rash, bad-tempered kind of anger. What he was experiencing at this moment was a more muted, smouldering form of anger, as if a layer of hot ashes was hiding something much more intimate and private. He wondered if Horohoro would feel the same way if the situation was reversed. What if he doesn't? And then it clicked. The anger stemmed from insecurity (though Hell would be frosted over before he admitted that to anyone) and a good measure of betrayal, though the latter was again something that came out of the blue. They had never openly made any commitments to the other, so how could any sort of betrayal happen?

"Since the shaman king tournament has ended, my father didn't see the need for me to stay with you guys anymore. He said he needed help with the fields, and I needed training of a different kind. And after the accident, he thought I might as well…"

Each word Horohoro said rang clear in his ears, and not for the first time, the Chinese shaman found the narratives in books inaccurate. In such a situation, one was expected to be listening in a numb, detached fashion, mind hardly comprehending what was being said. It was definitely not the case here. It was now obvious that the Ainu had procrastinated updating Ren because he cared just as much for the existence of a 'them' as Ren did, what with the way Horohoro went off on a tangent when ranting about how he tried his goddamn best to wriggle out of returning, and the spark of irritation that was slowly growing bigger as the Ainu realised how Ren had assumed otherwise. Calmly, the heat dissipating out of him as quickly as it had arrived, Ren processed all that was being said one thing at a time. He couldn't refute the logic behind Horohoro's father's demands, but even a fool could see how those would bring dire consequences upon their relationship. Was there a chance that the elder would relent if they could commit to each other? He wouldn't speak for Horohoro, but Ren knew he himself could and wanted to, or he wouldn't have understood the situation so easily. A simple crush would not leave one to come up with such a solution, and more sadness at the thought of being separated would be present instead of this inexplicable determination to stay together. But first things first, something else had to be taken care of right now.

***
Startled by the sound of Tamao calling her, Pilica hurriedly turned around to greet her friend. She made sure to shield as much of the happenings below as she could with her body, and changed the topic awkwardly when questioned on what she was doing out there on the balcony. Sound was not a problem as the voices could not carry that far to where they was. Of course, that also meant that she had been gauging everything based on what actions she could make out. Despite it all, her expression must have given her away, for Tamao was now looking curiously at her and past her to see if anything was happening down in the backyard below. I can't let her see such a private moment in my brother's life!

Tamao stifled a gasp when she caught a peek of Tao Ren bending over Horohoro, and came to the same conclusion as her blue-haired friend. No wonder Pilica was looking so flustered! Pink blossoming across her cheeks, Tamao tried to remember why she had been looking for Pilica. Let's see, I was asking around for Pilica, and…

"Tamao, have you found Plica yet? I could always dowse for her location and-"

Lyserg cut himself off as he took in the strange scene in front of him. The two girls were blushing madly and looking away from the backyard, even though the balcony was built to overlook it. Identifying who the girls were spying on wasn't hard. Horohoro's shamanic presence was almost always tinged with a sense of coolness and ice, while Ren's was almost always controlled and intimidating. He had guessed a long time ago as to the relationship between the Ainu and the Chinese, but it still surprised him a little that Ren, the more silent one of the two, was taking the initiative so. I shouldn't be intruding on something that private, but something feels off to me…

***
"We need to talk in private."

Placing emphasis on the last word, Ren made sure Horohoro became aware of the third party who had been watching everything from the balcony on the second floor. Once his mind was no longer fogged by emotions, it became apparent that someone else had arranged for this meeting. And there was no one other than the Ainu's sister who could pull it off. Concentrating slightly, he sensed the two new occupants who had joined in on Pilica, and smirked. If they wanted a show, they would get one. Horohoro was a born prankster, though he probably wasn't scheming enough to pull any proper pranks off, but even he had no problems following a born leader's orders.

Now that all the anxiety was no longer eating away at him, Horohoro fumed at the realisation of having being manipulated by Pilica. He should have known his sister well enough to catch it! It's time for payback. Though the slightly feral grin on Ren's face spooked him just a little, he knew what they were planning to do — put up a good show. Because Horohoro knew he would be ribbed later on for his slowness in catching the situation this time, he was determined not to let Ren steal all the limelight. Horohoro rather much entertained the idea of being a better actor than his team leader, after all. Allowing his own devilish grin to surface, he made sure to squirm a little (as if he was enjoying but still rather embarrassed by the non-existent kiss), before grabbing the shorter shaman by the shoulders and spinning him around so that their positions were reversed. Horohoro was sure that, even if he knew zilch about playing with angles in film-making, his sister would let her wild imaginations get the better of her.

But of course, seeing the great Tao Ren nonplussed, even if it was just for a mere moment, was the icing on the cake.

***
That concludes Chapter 24 of TBoS! For those who were expecting a much more 'explosive' sort of confrontation, I apologise for the disappointment you guys probably feel. I wanted the two of them to somewhat walk the line between trust and lack of faith (or something resembling it), as well as demonstrate a more mature handling of the situation. After all, evolving maturity is crucial for a teenage relationship to last, right? (And no fighting on a slow, lazy Valentine Day's night!)

I couldn't resist lightening the chapter up a little with the prank at the end, and hopefully it has achieved my target for it. TBoS isn't an angst-y fic, and I intend to keep it that way. Angst-ing over separation is not something I could see Horohoro or Ren doing, especially in this context. With that said, are the characters still in-character? Do drop me a review to let me know what you guys think. (And as for the side characters appearing in this chapter, rest assured that they will lead to something happening for our two male leads, and soon xP).

Lastly, REVIEW! No, I really meant to say: Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! (: