Disclaimer: I don't own Shaman King.

Horohoro seized his chopsticks and began wolfing down his rice. He gulped down the last of the steaming hot soup and set the bowl down while Yoh and Manta stared at him wide-eyed. After a minute, the Ainu ran out of the room for water since the soup was so hot.

Yoh laughed, "What's the rush?"

Horohoro grinned, "Pirika might find me any moment and I want to eat!" He went into the kitchen and came back with a bowl of ice cream.

"It's a good thing Anna doesn't mind you being here since you already fought Yoh in the Shaman Tournament," Manta said. They all laughed. Luckily, Anna had gone outside for a walk.

"So, we're going to find out who we're going to fight in the third of the preliminary rounds tonight right?" Horohoro asked.

"Correct!" Manta answered. "Any minute now," he said tensely.

Beep! Yoh's oracle pager started up. "Opponent: Makaru Kenta."

"Who's that?" Yoh thought out loud. Horohoro's pager went off. "Who'd you get? Who'd you get?" Yoh asked, bouncing around. He fell into a deathly silence as Horohoro read out the text.

"July 20th, 7:15 PM at Mata Cemetery. Opponent: Ren Tao…"

"That's not very good…" Yoh mumbled.

"Like hell! You should withdraw or he'll kill you!" Manta exclaimed.

Horohoro gave Manta an Are-You-Joking? look. "I'm fighting." He snickered, "How bad can a guy with this crazy name be?"

"Its only two days from now; you better prepare," Yoh said. Horohoro looked at Yoh, confused. "Whatever you decide, I'm backing you up."

"Thanks buddy," Horohoro grinned. "I got to get back before Pirika finds out," he stood up to leave.

As Horohoro opened the door, Yoh said, "Just don't get yourself killed." The Ainu nodded and stepped out into the fresh night air.

As Horohoro was just about to step out beyond the gate, he turned around. "Yoh, this is it. We both have one win and one loss. Don't you lose to anyone else before I beat you!"

Yoh chuckled, "Me lose again? In your dreams!" They both laughed out loud and the blue-haired boy waved and left.

…

Ren looked out of his window. The room was nearly pitch-black and the only eerie light came from the large glass window. His oracle pager went off. Ren raised the yellow device to his eyes.

He snickered, "Horohoro, your grave awaits…"

A sound made the Tao turn around. It was the guys who had trespassed into his rented building earlier.

"Hey Ryu, do you really want to do this? He nearly killed us last time!" one of the guys whimpered to the one with a lot of gelled up hair. The other did not respond, but he took out his wooden sword.

"You defiled our happy place!" Ryu yelled. "Prepare for the consequences!" Ren took out his weapon.

"Bason, into the kwan dao!" Ren yelled.

"Ha ha! I'm ready this time! Tokageroh!" Ryu activated his oversoul. He lunged at the purple-haired boy. Ren brought up his kwan dao and easily blocked the attack. Ryu pushed at his wooden sword, trying to break Ren's hold, but it wouldn't budge.

"You're weak. I rather not waste my time with vermin like you," Ren dodged and knocked Ryu down with the shaft of the kwan dao.

Ryu's gang picked up their unconscious leader and ran out the door. "Hmph, that was almost entertaining," Ren muttered. "Ha, two days…"

…

July 20th dawned. Horohoro woke up to brush his teeth and wash up. After, he ran off to Yoh's house for breakfast. The day passed by quickly and soon it seemed as if time had jumped from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM. Horohoro arrived at Mata cemetery 15 minutes early. However, it wasn't until 7:13 that Ren arrived.

"Ha!" I thought you weren't coming at all!" Horohoro taunted.

Ren drew his kwan dao. "The first to boast will be the first to fall."

"Kororo, into the snowboard!"

"Bason, into the kwan dao!"

3, 2, 1… Fight! Both shamans jumped into the air for their starting move. Ren swung the blade at Horohoro, who dodged by spewing air out from his snowboard.

The Ainu turned his snowboard towards Ren. "Take this! Icicle Assault!" Chunks of ice flew at Ren. For a moment, there was nothing but thick mist. When it cleared, ice laid on the ground around an unscathed Ren.

"Is that the best you could do?" Ren asked, clearly bored. "Let me show you an attack." The Tao powered up his oversoul while Horohoro looked on in surprise. "Golden Punch!" Bason appeared and well, punched Horohoro in the stomach. He landed on the ground, knocked out of oversoul.

"That hurt, a little," Horohoro gasped as he got up and reestablished his oversoul. He took his snowboard and hooked it on his arm.

Horohoro ran at Ren who also charged. Horohoro ducked. "Nipopo Punch!" He hit the purple-haired Tao with full force. Ren flew a few feet and landed with a thud on the ground, also surprisingly knocked out of oversoul.

Ren stood up and spat a few drops of blood on the ground. His oversoul flared up again. "I wasn't expecting that."

A thin trickle of blood flowed freely from Horohoro's mouth from Ren's earlier attack. He wiped it on his sleeve. "Do not contaminate the ground with the filth of your blood," Horohoro muttered.

Ren snickered. "It is the humans who waste this world away. You either destroy or be destroyed!" He charged, "Rapid Tempo!" The Ainu got hit several times before jumping onto a tree. He was exhausted. Oddly enough, Ren was also panting.

'I'm… tired…' Ren thought.

Horohoro leaned against his tree. "You know, life isn't as harsh as you think. I have my friends to support me. Not all people are evil. I don't even think you're as bad as you act."

The Tao showed no expressional change, but he also didn't move. Both of their oversouls were starting to fade. Horohoro jumped out of his tree. "Icicle Assault!"

Ren jumped up. "Rapid Tempo!" Their attacks hit each other, exploded, and both of their oversouls dissipated. Horohoro lay unconscious on the ground; his bandanna had split and flew ten feet away. Ren struggled to his feet. "We tied…"

"Hmph! Friends are just false images," he said as he stood over Horohoro. Ren lifted his kwan dao above the Ainu. "You are not needed in this world." A few strands of Horohoro's hair had fallen down due to the loss of the bandanna. Just as Ren was about to bring the blade down, a drop of snow fell on Horohoro's cheeks.

The Ainu opened his eyes, "The sky is crying…" Ren halted his kwan dao and noticed for the first time that blood was flowing freely from a wound from his side. Horohoro was also bleeding on this shoulder and leg. "Nature is stained by our blood."

The two shamans watched the falling snow silently. Horohoro painfully tried to get up and collapsed. Hesitantly, Ren bent down and helped the surprised Ainu to his feet. Yoh jumped down from the tree he was hiding in and together, they headed for the nearest hospital. As the three half limped away, the falling snow covered the blood pools on dew-stained grass…

Okay, so this fanfiction didn't really have any purpose, but it was fun writing it! By the way, I did not intend it to be a RenHoro pairing, but it kind of hints it.