Authors Notes at bottom of page.

Disclaimer: Ugh, too lazy to think up something funny. I don't own Pucca, so don't sue.

Warnings: This fic is for the pairing Abyo/Garu, so that means slash. If you dislike slash or the couple in general, then may I direct you to the top left corner of your screen. See that little 'back' arrow? I suggest you press it. I take no further responsibility for any further warping of your minds; I have done my part by simply warning you, it's not my fault if your eyeballs turn to pus from reading my fic. Heck, I'd find it funny.

Reviews cherished, flames used to roast marshmallows at the next 'slash fan girls convention'.

Word Count: 4872

In my defense, someone had to do it. Be grateful it was someone who could spell and doesn't TyPe liek th15.

Also, in this fic Abyo and Garu are both about 15. No, nothing else changes. They look exactly the same, act exactly the same etc. Age isn't even mentioned in the fic. I've just had people moaning to me before about how people that young can't know they're gay (not true, and for other shows, but I digress), so at least this stops them moaning about that retarded snippet of information.

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Abyo just didn't understand.

Okay, understatement of the century. There were plenty of things Abyo didn't understand, like why the sky was blue, or the grass green, or why Garu didn't simply initiate a restraining order on his little lovesick shadow. Of course, the first two could easily be explained by science, but Abyo never was the 'head stuck in a book' type of guy. Of the two 'B's', brawn out measured brain in Abyo's case by a startling amount. The final case was more of a mystery than anything, and it wasn't likely to be solved any time soon, what with Garu's vow of silence clamping a firm hand over his jaw. Maybe it was the thrill of the chase, the workout he got from avoiding the love dazed girl, or perhaps he liked Pucca a whole lot more than he let on.

Knowing Garu as he did though, Abyo was more inclined to believe the first two. Though a possibility, Abyo didn't find it likely Garu was simply playing hard to get. In fact, he couldn't recall Garu being interested in anyone, period. At least not romantically in any case.

Though feeling rather safe in his assumption that Garu was not interested in Pucca, he could still not claim to understand the intricacies of it, and it wasn't like he could ask his silent best friend about it either.

Of course, these were just the little day to day things he could not quite grasp, the full list of which included thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands of other random snippets of information or being which were beyond his capability to understand. It was nothing unusual, and nothing really to worry about. It wasn't as though he was primed to combust should he not find out the secret ingredient in the noodle stew served at the Goh-Rong restaurant in the next 24 hours.

But this, this matter, absolutely confounded the poor boy.

Garu and Abyo had been best friends, well, as long as he could remember. They had fought together, laughed together….fought together some more (Garu never had been one for crying openly, so crying together didn't quite fit in his musings), and just generally grown up in the others company. Hell, he was closer to Garu then he was his own family, that had to count for something! In all honestly, no matter how hard he thought about it, he couldn't imagine a life without Garu.

And it was perhaps from this that his problem grew.

As with most people, he hadn't noticed at first. Hadn't noticed how, during a fight, his skin would prickle with warmth where Garu came in contact with it (not that hard to do when fighting one who battled topless either). Hadn't noticed how, when Garu fixed dark obsidian eyes on him, he would stumble slightly, hadn't noticed how he would stutter his words till the orbs found something else to focus on. Hadn't noticed how a small spark of something akin to jealousy would flare deep in his chest every time Garu would run by, Pucca hot on his trail, lips puckered for a victory smooch.

Over time, these events developed into something much stronger, until even he could no longer deny them. He noticed everything, how every touch would cause his skin to burn red hot for minutes later, how he would trip and muddle his sentences, or even stop talking all together, once Garu turned eyes on him. Most of all, he noticed how, when Garu ran from Pucca, what was once a small spark erupted as a burning inferno of jealousy and anger in his chest, twisting his features into an ugly scowl and choking him with its burning heat. Even having a girlfriend did not sway his body, or his mind for that matter, for feeling what it did for Garu.

He and Ching had been going out the better part of the last 6 months, and Abyo would be lying if he didn't say he had enjoyed it immensely. He and Ching had been friends for a long time, and it had been he who suggested taking their relationship as friends to one as lovers. She was cute, smart, funny, everything he could have desired in a girlfriend and more, and he knew he didn't deserve her, but she still liked him anyway. He loved, well, liked her a whole lot too but, loathe as he was to admit it, his feelings for Garu were far greater than anything he had ever felt for Ching. In fact, in all honesty, his feelings for Ching didn't branch much past friendship at all, though he wished dearly that they did. What was his problem anyway?!

Well, that was easy to answer. Though he blamed dratted teenage hormones for his attraction to his best friend, they had really done nothing but perhaps bring his feelings more into focus, made them easier for Abyo to notice. No, his problem was, simply put, Garu.

And he had no idea what to do about it.

In a lame attempt to remove his attraction to Garu, Abyo had been avoiding him the last few weeks, gluing himself to Ching and trying to become the love dazed boyfriend she deserved, but it wasn't to be. Though the avoiding Garu part of the operation had gone successfully he found that, no matter how hard he tried, he could not force himself to become attracted to Ching.

Then, of course, came the bad news.

A few days previous both Ching and (rather reluctantly) Pucca had left for a two week spa vacation in some far off town (he couldn't for the life of him remember what it was called) for some relaxing girl time. That naturally left Abyo stuck home, all alone, with Garu.

For the last four days he had found it easy to avoid the black-clad ninja, but he knew that, sooner or later, Garu was going to get tired of waiting for him to show up and start searching for him. And he had no doubt that, once Garu put his mind to finding him, it would only be a matter of time till he was again face to face with the object of his affections. The only reason he had been able to avoid him so long in any case was because Garu valued his privacy and was not often bothered by solitude, but even he could get lonely at times. At which point he would seek out his best friend to hang out with, as one naturally does.

Of course, normally the best friend in question is not secretly harbouring feelings for you, which makes things just slightly more awkward. And awkward is not something that should be felt around friends.

A sharp smack in the face jolted Abyo out of his musings, and brought him back to reality. He found himself standing in the midst of the bamboo forest, where he must have somehow managed to wonder whilst deep in thought. He glared at the offending stalk of foliage before him with narrowed eyes, willing the vegetation to explode into a million fragmented pieces. Or at the very least catch alight.

Mumbling grouchily under his breath, he turned and began to make his way out of the bamboo forest, following the rays cast by the setting Sun creeping over the western horizon. He froze in mid-step. Sunset. It was sunset.

Garu trained in the bamboo forest at sunset.

With a previously absent sense of urgency, Abyo bolted through the forest, thick, solid bamboo stalks swiping at him from all sides and tearing his thin shirt to tatters. It didn't matter; all that mattered was escaping this maze of foliage before Garu found him here. He didn't think he could withstand another encounter with his best friend, not now he had acknowledged his feelings for him. He refused to be reduced to a terrified, flustered, trembling puddle, and was even less inclined to admit his feelings for said friend.

It seemed luck wasn't on Abyo's side for, just as he broke the tree line, he tripped and crashed headlong into someone else trekking in the opposite direction, and they tumbled together along the edge of the bamboo forest, landing sprawled on their backs in a tangled heap a few metres later.

Abyo groaned, and after taking a few moments to clear his head, he jumped to his feet, gesturing wildly with one hand at the other person.

"What the hell is the matter with y-" He stopped mid-sentence, outstretched arm going limp and dropping to hang uselessly at his side. He stared in shock as the other person got to their feet also, wiping off any dust that had collected on their black ninja suit during the tumble.

"G-Garu?" Mumbled Abyo. Garu finished brushing off and looked up at him, fixing his gaze with the others. Upon meeting those dark eyes that had gone unseen for weeks, Abyo felt himself begin to shiver, slightly at first, but with each passing second the trembling grew worse. His jaw clamped shut and refused to move and his cheeks turned a vibrant red hue that would have put Rudolph to shame, but still he found he could not break his gaze away from those eyes.

Eventually Garu cocked his head at Abyo in obvious confusion, considering him with a measured 'What the hell are you doing?' look. And still, Abyo found himself muted and trembling, and berated himself for appearing so meek. Garu took a small step forward and raised an arm with which to poke Abyo, and Abyo finally regained some control over his body. Using all of his willpower, he knocked Garu's outstretched arm aside and about faced, bolting back into the cover of the bamboo stalks.

Again, trees smacked at him from every angle, biting at his beared flesh where the cotton of his shirt had been torn. Said shirt hung from him now by mere threads, barely managing to cover any of his chest. Not that he minded much, he was as comfortable shirtless as he was with a shirt.

By the time he had finished running, the sun had set on the horizon and the first few stars were making themselves known on the blanket of night. Abyo stumbled to a stop and collapsed against a nearby bamboo stalk, panting heavily and wiping sweat from his drenched skin. Only now he had stopped running did he realise how cold it was out, and he instantly regretted allowing his shirt to be torn asunder, desperate of any sort of reprieve from the chilly night air.

Hugging his knees to his chest and rubbing quaking forearms with warm palms, Abyo sat with his back to the bamboo, happy that, despite his current situation, at least he had managed to lose Garu.

Or so he thought.

Cold surrounding him like a fog and a light breeze blowing in his ears, Abyo did not notice the intruder till he was, quite literally, right under his nose.

Abyo gave a rather undignified squawk of surprise and nearly toppled sideways to the dirt floor when he saw Garu's dark eyes a mere few inches from his own. All at once, the shuddering returned and his mouth clamped itself shut like a vice, his face turning a bright tomato red. Garu merely cocked an eyebrow at him and moved to settle next to him, getting as close as possible as if to ensure that he would be able to grab Abyo and haul him back should he make another attempt at escape.

As soon as Garu turned his head while sitting himself down Abyo pointedly faced the opposite direction, ensuring he wouldn't be snared in by beautiful black orbs again. His mouth relaxed and the shivering died down slightly, only to start back up again as he felt Garu sit beside him, their sides just barely touching. Despite the minimal contact, the feel of Garu's black ninja suit on his bare skin caused waves of heat to traverse his left side, centred at the contact points. He shifted on the spot awkwardly, resisting the urge to move away, to scratch his side. God, how he Itched!

After several minutes of tense silence, Garu coughed beside him, poking him in the ribs. Even this small contact caused waves of warmth to flow under his skin, and it took all his self control not to move the hand away before it burnt a hole through his flesh.

"W-what is it Garu?" Abyo muttered, forcing a quaky smile. Though still looking off to the side, he could feel Garu's eyes boring into the back of his head, and was startled when black-clad hands grasped his skull and turned it the 180 degrees to face his companion. His eyes locked on Garu's instantly, and at once the quaking came back full force, stronger even, their proximity causing Abyo to lose all control of his body.

Garu looked at him in obvious concern, one hand shifting to rest on Abyo's forehead, feeling for a temperature. Abyo instantly squawked and fell back, moving himself away from the touch of his best friend. At the sudden loss of contact, great waves of cold instantly washed over his body, and he was forced to huddle in on himself again for warmth. As Garu reached out to him again, began to move forward, Abyo launched himself to his feet and offered a shaky grin.

"W-well, uh, it was…nice seeing you again Garu. W-we should, um, d-do it again sometime! Yeah, so, um, I'm gonna go now. Lots of stuff to do, you know how it is. Well, bye!" Abyo pivoted on the spot and made to exit the forest, but Garu grasped his ankle and pulled his best friend down into a sitting position again, moving the hand to his shoulder to ensure he wouldn't get away again.

As tendrils of scorching heat once again coursed through his body, he turned to face Garu again, cursing himself for trembling like a leaf. Garu sighed and leant back against a pillar of bamboo, mouthing the words 'What's happening?' as he pressed his back against the green stalk. Abyo gave a shaky sigh and hung his head, sifting dirt between his shaking fingers.

"What do you mean Garu?" He mumbled quietly, thinking of nothing else to say. When he looked up and met Garu's eyes again, he realised it was a stupid thing to say, dark eyes narrowed and glaring at him in a 'you know very well what I mean' manner. Abyo sighed again, unable to break free from Garu's piercing gaze, and unable to think of anything else as the world shook around him.

"I…um…I…" He stuttered lamely, cheeks burning bright and body warmed by the single hand still clasping his shoulder. That look of concern flickered on Garu's face again, and to Abyo's horror he leaned in, a bare 2 inches from his face, mouth forming the line 'What's wrong?' And Abyo lost total control of his body.

Scratched and bleeding arms shot out, grasping the cloth of Garu's ninja suit tightly and yanking him forwards by the shoulders, closing that tormenting two inches of air and dust particles separating them to cover one pair of petal soft lips with his own, his love-starved body relishing the delicious warmth that coursed his veins at the small contact. For those few short seconds that seemed to last a blissful eternity to Abyo, everything was right, everything was perfect.

And then common sense snapped back into place, and Abyo's eyes shot open, hands curled in black fabric suddenly unfurling, pressing against Garu's chest and launching them from one another. As Garu toppled backwards Abyo shot to his feet, breath escaping his parted lips in short, strangled gasps and heart writhing in his chest as if in its death throws, attempting to smash its way through ribs that rose and fell with each breath taken. Fearfully, he glanced over at Garu's dark form. The young ninja lay where he had fallen in the dirt, composure forgotten as he stared up at Abyo with wide obsidian eyes, breathing uneven and ragged in shock as his mind attempted to make sense of the situation.

The two remained totally still as they each fought to make sense of what had just happened. Abyo taking in what he had just done.

'I-I kissed him. I kissed him! Oh, crap! Oh God! What do I do now?!'

As he stood in internal debate, Garu shifted from where he lay and pushed himself into a seating position. This, effectively, knocked Abyo out of his daze and he spun on the spot, dust winding up into the air as he scrabbled to get away from Garu, tearing off in a random direction and battling his way through the undergrowth once more, barely feeling the lashes administered to him by the bamboo as he recklessly drove into them, mind awash with his own fears.

He'd just kissed Garu! What was he going to do?! He'd just practically admitted his feelings for him, along with quite probably abolishing the best friendship he could ever hope to have. What was he going to do? Garu would surely hate him, as would Pucca (not that he was overly upset about that), and if Ching ever found out he'd secretly been in love with Garu the entire time they'd been going out she would leave him too!

Mind racing, Abyo stumbled to a halt, collapsing on his knees on the dry Earth and pulling at his hair. Tears stung his eyes but he batted them away furiously with one hand. He would not cry. Crying didn't solve anything. God, he was acting like such a woman!

Hands still latched tightly on ebony locks; he tugged on them sharply and growled his frustration. He had no idea what he could possibly do to fix all this, didn't think it was even possible to fix. He'd just screwed things up big time.

"A-Aw man…" he mumbled sadly, hands unravelling themselves from tattered locks of dark hair to curl around his midsection, the cold washing over him in waves now he had stopped running and what was left of his shirt had been obliterated by the bamboo. Tiredly, he rolled onto his side, limbs curled into his chest to help protect him from the chilling winds. He became dimly aware of a dull throb in his side as he fell into the haze of sleep.

--

Abyo awoke to a light insistent jabbing at his side and took a sleepy swipe at it, groaning and rolling to get a better view of his assailant. As he caught sight of them, all thoughts of sleep were instantly driven from his mind and he jolted up, wide awake, before falling to his right side, startled by a sharp pain that clawed at his stomach. Temporarily distracted from his companion, he looked down at his stomach and saw a dark smear of crimson stretching across his middle, a mere centimetre or two above his bellybutton. The wound, though crusted with dirt and clotting in patches, still wept a small but steady stream of blood at one end, possibly having been reopened by his sudden movements. He noticed similar, though much smaller, cuts zigzagging across his chest and arms, and the occasional bandage here and there where his companion had already patched up a few of his deeper injuries. He must have picked them up during his wild flee through the forest, and looked up at Garu, shaking slightly from both his presence and the cold, grateful he had been there to fix his injuries. Though still afraid of what the others reaction to the kiss would undoubtedly be, he was glad that Garu didn't hate him enough to leave him to die of blood loss.

Obviously doing all he could to avoid looking at Abyo directly; Garu pushed his friend back and studied the wound on his stomach. He grabbed a water bottle that had been sitting at his side and squirted the contents over the wound in an attempt to clean it. Abyo hissed as he did this, the cool water stinging the open wound and causing diluted blood to flow down his sides to mix with the dirt on the forest floor. Once the bottle was empty, Garu pulled out a roll of bandages and wrapped them tightly around Abyo's middle to stem the flow. Once several layers of crisp white bandage covered his stomach Garu tied off the end of the bandage and got to his feet, reaching a hand out for Abyo.

Warily, Abyo accepted the hand and was pulled to stand next to Garu, whose gaze was now locked on him, boring into his own questioningly. Unable to stop his trembling, Abyo used all his will and managed to break his eyes away from Garu, looking down at his feet guiltily and gently rubbing the bandages on his stomach.

They stood in there in silence for the better part of ten minutes, before Abyo heard Garu sigh lightly, and his friend turned from him, heading back into the forest towards his home, where Abyo realised he must have already been, since he hadn't been carrying water and bandages when they had bumped into one another in the forest. As the sound of feet shuffling through dirt began to fade away, Abyo raised his head and spoke up, calling out to Garu.

"G-Garu!"

Several metres ahead the ninja stopped walking, turning so he was once again facing Abyo, looking at him curiously as he waited for more to be said. Abyo took a deep breath and steeled himself, doing all he could to avoid Garu's gaze.

"Look, Garu. I'm-I'm sorry, okay? I shouldn't have, well, y'know…But I promise it'll never happen again! I don't know what came over me! Just, please, I can understand if you hate me for it, but, can we still be friends?"

Abyo's voice trailed off as he finished his speech and he cautiously looked up to meet Garu's gaze, startled to find him standing just a few feet away. Man, did that ninja training ever pay off. His gaze was still focused unwaveringly on Abyo, eyes narrowed in silent fury. Abyo braced himself as he began walking forward, taking a few steps away from the advancing ninja, only to find Garu standing right before him the next second. It was creepy how he did that. Abyo continued to walk backwards, desperate to put some space between them, but before he could get far Garu had closed the gap once more and fisted one hand in Abyo's dark hair.

Abyo hissed as his hair was pulled at by Garu, and barely managed a surprised squawk before Garu tugged his head forwards slightly, bridging the gap and forcing their lips to meet with bruising force. Abyo stared wide-eyed at Garu, whose own eyes had scrunched themselves tightly shut. A few seconds later, Garu broke he kiss, panting slightly due to lack of air (he had neglected to breathe through his nose). Hand still embedded in Abyo's hair, preventing escape, Garu moved to Abyo's left ear and took a breath, willing unused vocal cords into action.

"N-Never, ever, run away before I get my say Abyo." He whispered, voice slightly weak from disuse and oddly husky. Abyo stood stock still for several more seconds, shivering only slightly as Garu's breath tickled his ear and face burning in a familiar heat, before belatedly jumping, shocked to hear Garu's voice after so long. Garu released his hair, stepping back to observe him, eyes muddled with a confusing mix of determination and uncertainty. Abyo stood staring at him, trying to make sense of what just happened.

"Y-you talked? Since when do you talk?!" Garu shrugged, smiling slightly as Abyo continued talking "You…kissed me? You just, then, but, whuh?"

Garu suppressed the urge to laugh as Abyo stood before him, slack-jawed and staring. He calmly walked up to his friend, grasping him by the arm and nudging him forwards, guiding him through the trees to his house, mindful to keep stray branches from irritating Abyo's wounds. Abyo calmed himself down, blushing an amusing shade of crimson as Garu herded him through the trees, asking questions as they went.

"Vow of silence?"

Garu shrugged "Some events give cause for them to be broken."

"Okay. Then…you don't mind? Y'know. Me, liking you. You don't care?"

"I think you know the answer to that." Garu replied, smirking as Abyo attempted to suppress his grin, scorched cheeks darkening a shade.

"Pucca?"

Garu glared sidelong at him, but finally smirked. "Ching?"

Abyo did grin at that, albeit hesitantly and a little guiltily. How was he supposed to break this to her?

And suddenly he looked up and they were at the house, its windows bright and shining in the light of the moon. Garu led him up the front steps and into the house, sliding the door closed behind them and leading them to Garu's bedroom, where a spare futon had already been set up for him, obviously prepared while he lay asleep in the forest.

'Wow, I must have been out for a while.' Abyo thought absently, looking over at Garu, who had already settled down on his own futon.

"So I take it I'm staying the night then?" He mumbled, flopping down on the spare futon. Garu looked at him and nodded, smiling.

"No way I'm sending you out there in the cold again, especially topless. You'll get yourself killed." Was the muttered reply, Garu gesturing at his bandaged midsection. Abyo smiled appreciatively, then grinned, another thought popping unbidden into his mind. Lying on his side on his futon, Abyo glanced at Garu cheekily.

"You're lucky I know you so well Garu, or else I'd have thought you'd set this whole thing up as an excuse to sleep with me."

Garu turned to stare at him, his own cheeks turning a dusty pink as he stifled his blush. Abyo snorted with laughter at the sight, and Garu glared at him, launching a black wad of clothing at Abyo which struck him square in the face. Abyo grumbled and picked up the ball of cloth, rolling it in his hands and trying to unfurl it.

"What is this?"

Garu rolled his eyes, snatching the material from him and unravelling it.

"It's a shirt. I'm not having you walk around my house topless tomorrow."

Abyo pouted but said nothing, wrapping himself in the covers of the futon and finding a position that didn't irritate his wounds. Beside him in his own futon, he heard Garu do the same, curling up on his side under the blankets, ninja suit still in place.

"Goodnight Garu."

"Night." Mumbled Garu. Abyo's last thought before he allowed himself to be drawn in by the lull of sleep was that, just maybe, he didn't know Garu quite as well as he thought he did.

--

Two weeks had passed and everything was back to normal for the teens of Sooga Village. Abyo and Garu had resumed their sparring sessions and were hanging out more than usual, not uncommon among friends, though few knew the real reason.

Ching was one of those few. After returning with Pucca from their spa vacation a few days earlier, she had met up with Abyo, who had immediately told her what was going on (he didn't want to mislead his friend, and Garu had insisted he tell, becoming rather talkative for one who had just broken their vow of silence). Surprisingly he found she didn't cry or hit him, and instead had smiled and hugged him sweetly.

Ching told him she had known all along. Hell, he wasn't keeping it THAT quiet. Anyone with eyes could see the way he acted around Garu (not that many people were playing close attention at all, the whole town appeared blinded except her), she knew it was just a matter of time, and was happy they'd finally sorted things out. She was getting tired of Abyo using her as an excuse to run from Garu, one reason she had organised the spa trip with Pucca, eliminating all distractions and forcing the two to see each other. That wasn't to say Ching didn't like Abyo. She had always liked him, and had a feeling she'd always have some form of deep-seated attraction to him, but she knew his heart wasn't in it and it was good to see him and Garu happy and talking to one another again, the way it should be. Besides, there were plenty more fish in the sea.

She had also agreed with Abyo that perhaps it would be good to let Pucca calm down a bit before breaking the news to her. Since arriving back home she'd barely let Garu leave her side, sticking to him like a love-dazed leech. They'd have to tell her eventually, and no matter when it was all hell was sure to break loose, but better broken limbs than mangled bodies strewn down the marketplace.

And, finally, everything was as it should be in their group.

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Well, how was it? I hope I didn't do too badly. I think I kept them in character relatively well. Well, at least as well as possible with a couple like this. This also turned out to be way longer than I expected. I was aiming for 3 pages on MS word. I ended up with 10. So, yeah, longer than I expected. The Ching thing at the end was also a last minute idea, but I think it worked quite well overall.

I began this one shot in oh, say, January? Perhaps beginning of Feb at the latest. I just never got round to finishing it, but since I found myself able to grab a couple hours free time I thought I might as well do it. The beauty of one shots also is that you don't get pressured to update, which is why I've been writing them increasingly often as of late. I also have about 3 others I've started (for other shows and pairings), but this one was the most complete (about half way done I believe) so I went for this one.

All in all I have to say I'm rather proud with how it came out. Sure the writing was a little sloppier towards the end (this tends to be my problem when writing the actual pairing bit, I have so many ideas buzzing around it becomes harder to structure my sentences as wonderfully) but I think it was pretty well done, especially at the beginning.

Any who. No, I will not make this a multi chapter or anything. It stays a one shot. That's final. I may write future fics for this pairing, I don't know, we'll have to see, depends how well this one goes down I guess.

And before you start moaning this is not a jab at those who write for GaruxPucca and AbyoxChing. I actually LIKE Garu x Pucca, it's incredibly funny. Hell, far as I'm concerned, if you don't like that pairing you have no business watching the show, since its all about it. And as for Abyo x Ching, I guess I'm indifferent to it.

Well, hope you enjoyed reading as much as I did writing. Flames and reviews are both welcome, as is concrit.

Flash

xxx