It only took a split second for the whole world to change.
Asakura Yoh could only watch in concern as his friend suddenly halted midsentence, coughing and sputtering.
"Horo…? E~to…daijoubu? HORO! What's wrong?!"
He couldn't breathe – in a desperate effort for oxygen, he clawed at his chest, where an awful, unreal pain had taken hold, twisting and flaring and destroying!
Abruptly, it was gone, and Yoh was holding him steady, eyes wide with concern. "What happened?"
He gasped out his answer, terrified at how certain he was of its accuracy. "Ren…he's…something's happened, I don't know…"
Yoh's eyes widened even further. Bason's sudden, horrified cry had him running back into the house, with the blue-haired boy hot on his heels.
----------
"…You're kidding me, Ren..."
Tao Ren, Mr. Three-Bottles-of-Milk-a-Day-and-Never-Neglecting-Physical-Health-Makes-Me-Stronger-Than-You? Dropped by a heart attack, of all things? Horohoro resisted the urge to giggle like an idiot, the morbid strangeness of the situation wearing hard on his already-frayed nerves.
The boy in the bed, however, defied humor of any sort. Ren's face was so pale that Horo got the impression of a corpse lying in state. (I've GOT to stop thinking such things.) Horo took one limp hand, squeezing gently – no response. Those slim fingers lay limp and still against his palm. It wasn't right, thought the ice shaman, suppressing a shudder. Ren should be vibrantly alive, bickering with Horo, demanding his milk from Tamao, taunting Manta.
But instead he lay there. Frozen, only the faintest rise and fall of his chest and the steady blipping of the monitor proclaiming a tenuous hold on life.
Behind him, Amidamaru led a distraught Bason out of the room, leaving the two of them alone.
"Damn it," Horohoro growled. "Ren, you can get through this, ne?"
:Ainu-baka, try addressing me, not the kyonshii in the bed.:
Horo's eyes rounded like marbles as he dropped the hand and spun around. "Ren!?"
:Hai: The faint, see-through form of the Chinese shaman hovered near the ceiling. The Ainu boy inhaled sharply. "But if you're over there, then-"
:I'm NOT dead. Yet. Thanks to you:
Horohoro would normally be a twitching heap on the floor by this point, but having had too many shocks in one day caused him to settle for a glare in the 'ghost's' general direction. "Say WHAT?"
:You held me back:
"And why do you sound so reproachful about it? K'so, that was one PAINFUL hold-back! I'd rather have gone without it, you know?"
:So you'd rather I was gone. Fine, fine, it's not like I needed to linger:
"Ren, matte~" I didn't mean it that way!
:Horohoro, why did you?:
"Eh? Did what?"
:Why did you anchor me to your soul?:
Major sweatdropping by now. "Why can't you stick to one subject?" Horo was painfully aware that he was arguing with a ghost, one who could disappear at any second and dash all of his own dreams in the process.
:I see: Ren's spirit smirked, a familiar expression. :Let me go. It's not fair of me to take you along: He kept his smirk, but deep in his chest once again, the Ainu felt exhaustion, sorrow, and a little fear hit him like a tidal wave. And suddenly, Ren's 'ghost' was right in front of him.
Kissing him, in fact, although all the blue-haired shaman felt was a feathery brush against his lips. It was enough to freeze him to the spot, eyes bugging out of their sockets.
:Now you know. And now I'll be going, before I embarrass either of us further:
Horo blinked; out of the corner of his eye, he saw an erratic jump on the heart monitor. The second awareness that had started with the pain began to slide away, leaving a yawning darkness in its place – and Horo grabbed desperately at it, following Ren into the hole he'd fallen through, holding him fast.
Do you want to die? DO you?
No. But…so tired. I want to rest. A tug, annoyance radiating between them. Let me go, Horohoro. I don't want you to die.
And you think I want you to? Jesus, Ren, first you do the kissy-kissy on me and then you pull this? A grip of solid stubbornness – he was going to bring Ren back, no matter what it cost him. Not your time yet.
A ghost of a smile, tingeing pallid lips with soft humor. How do you know that? You can feel my spirit – I'm worn to the bone. Let me sleep.
Is this Tao Ren talking? Strong, arrogant, masterful Tao Ren? A sob, suppressed halfway. Hah. Well, you sure had me convinced for awhile. It was all a lie, then?
Don't say that! It's not true!
You're different from the Ren I know.
I…
Ren. Come back. You can rest, in your body, in LIFE! His tone grows softer, sadder, pleading. For me?
I can't. Sliding…away. I'm being pulled onwards, and I don't want to fight it…
NO. The grip on him grows, if anything, stronger, drawing him away from the warming darkness. Don't you DARE! You don't just throw life away, Ren! What's to be so tired of? Koropokkuru take me, you're SUCH a big chicken…
A core of warm anger rekindles, growing into a bright, revitalizing flame.
WHAT did you say?
…not even trying, geh, what's wrong with you? You're supposed to be such a tough guy? Well, you're not exactly being convincing right now!
And as he says this, he pulls the other one back into the world of light, and sound, and feeling, with an awesome rush of joy—
Only to receive a massive punch in the face.
From his position on the floor, Horo watched swirly-eyed as the upright figure in the bed flexed his hand, glaring down at him with angry golden eyes. "How dare you!"
"Eee, itai…you don't need to hit me so hard!"
And Ren blinked in sudden, late-reaction to the significance of his just being there. "You brought me back…"
"H-hai," replied Horohoro, still rather dizzy from Ren's punch. "I'd rather be kissed by you when you're solid, you know?"
Ren just growled something incoherent in reply.
And somehow, they both realized that it was all going to work out just fine.
~-~-~-~-~
A/N: WAAARGH! THEY'RE SO OOC! . And this wasn't a five-minute one either…more like five hours! It didn't work out the way I wanted it to, either. Not one bit! ________
Gyah. Oh well. I finally wrote a HoroxRen – yes, they are my favorite couple! (Although HaoRen is a pretty close second.) And yes, apparently I am going through the main characters. Lemme see…that's Hao, Ren, and Horo. At least I know what I write next. It'll be HaoxYoh XD And then maybe a little Hao and Opacho thingee… (Not that way. Ick.)
No, I don't know how I come up with these things. ^^; Talent (*snort*)? Boredom-killer? Muses on the rampage? *thinks a bit about the last one and glances off to the side*
Jiaan, Jorntil, Rukkhn, Maroku: *Zzzzzzz…*
Geh, maybe not. Oh, Kaori, yep, I remember now. It's from this AWESOME site called Shaman King MTV. And White Eagle… O_O I did? *glances at story* Umm…
You can all flame me for this horrible thing now, if you like… ^_^;