Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King.

Teaser: Who said sleeping with the enemy and saving the world can't be done at the same time? When Yoh and the others find out that Hao has a crush on Ren, they send Ren on a mission to execute a major threat to their world, by posing as Hao's date of death. (HaoRen)

Note: Major Hao ooc-ness…oh yeah…you'll see…right away…

Mission to Save the World

"Hey Ren, what's going on?" Horohoro and Chocolove approached their ever-steady team leader. Upon hearing his teammates walking into the room, Ren backed away from the window and slipped to the back wall. He leaned there casually as if nothing particular was going on and crossed his arms. "Nothing," he answered distantly. If Horohoro and Chocolove hadn't known Ren, they would've thought Ren was hiding something. They knew it was just Ren's way to be distant and keep others from getting into his business. However, this time it was a little different.

The two teammates strained their ears. Horohoro and Chocolove looked to each other quizzically. They realized neither of them were imagining it; there was music playing in the background. The two scramble towards the window and clung onto the ledge as they leaned out tobecome face to face with Asakura Hao…in a suit…with a guitar hung around him…singing on the street a few floors below. The fire shaman eyed them for about a second then dismissed them as they were not the one he was looking for. Hao put his head down and poured his whole heart back into his little presentation.

The boys' jaws hung in the air as they gaped at what could be the most unbelievable thing they have ever seen in their lives. It wasn't just them, other people were staring from the windows and on the streets. They watched Hao strumming happily on the guitar, body rocking playfully about to the tune, and singing. Wait, singing…? Horohoro stared dumbly at Hao's face and indeed his mouth was moving to the words of a song. The blue haired boy was so shocked that his ears had been numbed to the singing. He shook his head wildly and listen intently for the words.

"Ren…I love you…you are the one for me…"

The two boys couldn't take it anymore as they bended away from the window and hugged their stomachs' with uncontrollable laughter. "This is the best joke, ever!" Chocolove said through tears. They laughed loudly and Horohoro stuck a goofy face at Ren. "Oh my god, I think he likes you!" he shouted and flashed his eyes, hinting the comment was meant as a ridicule, however Ren just calmly pushed him away, entirely missing Horohoro's intention. He headed for the door and beckoned for the other two, who were curled up in laughter, to follow.

"Come on, we're meeting Yoh for breakfast today."

Seeing his teammates were slowly stumbling to follow him, though still laughing insanely, he contently stepped out through the door. Honestly, he couldn't understand why Hao's display was so funny. It's unusual to see Hao singing, but the guy's a little strange, and Ren always suspected that he had some strange hobbies. As for his song… Ren smirked confidently to himself.

'Who would dare to not like me? After all, I'm the great Tao Ren—the future strongest shaman on this planet.'

The group of friends met at a nearby café. As soon as they were settled at a table, Horohoro and Chocolove rushed to Yoh's side. They held their hands to their mouths to stifle their laughter and began giving the details of the morning's incident to the others. Everyone seemed to listen intently except for Ren, who just sat indifferently on the side. They gasped in awe and cast glances his way. He knew if he got involved now, it would only cause more trouble for him. Ren turned his head away and rested an arm on the back of the chair as he waited patiently for their idiotic actions to die down, that is until he felt a slight tugging on the leg of his pants.

Ren looked down and met the face of a wide bouquet of red roses held up by the arms of a very small boy. At that instant, several girls' voices shrieking in admiration can be heard. With much effort, the little boy lifted a small arm to point to a table off to the side. "The mister over there told me to give this to you," he piped cheerily, not quite realizing the dangers of his mission.

Yoh and the others watched, dumbfounded, and followed with their eyes to the direction the kid was pointing. Perched on a chair by the table was none other than Hao. No one truly believed Horohoro and Chocolove's wild story, but now they were seeing it with their own eyes. Hao was trying to court Ren. Hao waved good naturedly at the object of his obsession, but Ren didn't notice. In fact, he never looked Hao's way.

The Kwan Dao appeared in Ren's hands and the tip of it was pointed straight at the forehead of the little boy. Electricity flicked about Ren's darkened face as he angrily told the boy. "Do you have a death wish, kid?" The poor little boy had no idea what was going on. At least he was never told the receiver would have such a violent reaction. The big bouquet dropped from his hands and the little boy went screaming and running away. Satisfied, Ren let the end of the big spear slide to the ground, making a heavy 'clunck' sound.

"How dare he give me flowers. Do I look like a girl?"

Ren made his statement self-assuredly while standing in his usual 'cool pose' and everyone knew better than to object Ren at this state, however, being the compulsive idiot he was Horohoro couldn't help but blurt out, "But isn't your name a flower's…" Horohoro didn't even have the chance to finish his sentence and was sent to the vast sky with a swoop from Ren's deadly weapon.

Yoh took a look back at the table on the side; Hao was already gone, probably realizing his plan had failed…or maybe not. Something shiny caught Yoh's eye on the ground. The laid-back shaman walked over to the fallen bouquet and picked up the little waxed card that had dropped out. He put it close to his face and examined the words. "What is it, master Yoh?" Ryu asked beside him. He looked up at everyone and gave a strange face.

"It's a ticket to a concert…a samisen concert."

Everyone turned their heads to Ren with raised eyebrows. They had grins on their faces. "It's a date!" Chocolove took out a dried up prune and held it between his fingers. He raised it to the air and shouted loud enough for everyone to hear, "Ren's going to a concert with Hao!" They began laughing loudly and Ren slammed the end of his spear and his left foot to the ground to silence them. He screamed at them, "I am not going!"

"Wait a second," Anna walked up to Ren with her arms crossed. Her voice was cool and her eyes held a serious gleam. "This could be our chance to get close to Hao." Horohoro held out his fists and bended forward. He shouted excitedly, "You mean like act undercover as the enemy's date and then when he least expects it…" Horohoro slapped a fist into his palm causing some of his listeners to gasp. Anna gave him a nod and the others began cheering. There's finally a way to save the world from Hao, except…

"No!" Ren shouted, angry that his friends were dancing about and ignoring him, "I won't do it!"

Anna glared at him with the intensity Yoh was always most afraid of. The brunette unconsciously shrunk away even thought it wasn't directed towards him. "This isn't a request. This is an order," she whispered. Though she had no right to order anyone other than her lazy fiancé, this was a one in a million chance that involved saving billions of lives and Anna wasn't about to let one self-centered kid spoil it.

Fully agreeing with Anna's plan, the others were beginning to gang up on him. Even his own teammates were betraying him with Chocolove and Horohoro saying useless things like, 'this is for the better' and 'we're just trying to save the world so dun kill us'. But before the shamans were able to fully close in on him, Ren took a turn and fled in the highest speed he could manage.

"He's getting away!"

They chased after him and Ren ran with all his might. He was not about to let someone else tell him what to do. Ren was short but he surely can run. Twisting and turning through the streets of Funbari, he lost his pursuers in no time. At least they were no longer in sight behind him. The wary boy had his head behind him when all of a sudden he felt someone pushing him to the ground from the side. Not understanding how he could have gotten caught, Ren turned around to see the face of Yoh, in spirit unity.

He struggled, but Yoh had a good grip over him. Ren gritted his teeth and scrunched up his face in frustration. It wasn't fair. He never thought his friends would go as far as using their powers on him. He was about the scream at Yoh when suddenly Anna stepped up behind them. She had a deep scowl on her face. Anyone could tell she was hanging on her last thin string of tolerance.

"Stop being so childish. Don't you realize how important this chance is to us!"

Anna had raised her voice. She sounded angry yet at the same time there was a hint of desperation mixed into the tone of her voice. It made Ren stop in his struggles and stare up at her with a shocked expression. 'Were they truly serious about using him against Hao,' the thought crossed his mind. "Ren." He turned back to look at Yoh. His friend had on the same face as well, a pleading look.

"We don't really want to force you, but this is really important to us. You know we don't have much chance against Hao."

Golden colored eyes turned away. Ren felt ashamed all of a sudden, yet angry at the same time. Yoh released him and got up from the ground. He held out a hand and offered it to Ren. "So how about it…Ren?" Yoh gave him a cheery smile that spoke he would neither get angry nor hate him if he were to refuse. Ren knew there was only one thing he could do. Reluctantly, he took Yoh's hand and muttered, "Fine."

"What a coincidence," Hao mused as he strolled down the street to where the three were standing. He acted surprised as if his appearance before them so conveniently was purely incidental. There were three before him, including his other half, but his eyes were only trained on Ren. "Our love for each other must be strong."

Anna and Yoh narrowed their eyes. Hao better have not overheard their plan. It didn't seem that way though… Hao was now beside Ren, holding his hands and rubbing them in his own. It was causing the shorter boy to visibly shake but Ren didn't shove him away like he really wanted to and Anna and Yoh were relieved. Though it was part of the plan, Yoh didn't like watching a friend suffering for long. He stepped in between them and swiftly grabbed Ren's hands from Hao's.

"Sorry but, we're kind of in a hurry."

"No problem," Hao replied generously without any anger, but with an amused smirk on his face. He turned to Ren. "So will I be seeing you at the concert?" the long haired shaman said hopefully. Ren's eyes looked away for a second, as if he was considering, then they turned back to Hao's. He nodded, signing the pact to their date. A grin appeared on Hao's face.

"Great! Then I'll pick you up at six tomorrow." He turned to Anna and Yoh then told them smugly. "Don't worry, I'll have him back by eight."

"Oh, only for two hours?"

It was Anna. Ren didn't know what she was trying to do, but spending a night with Hao for two hours was more than enough to him. She continued, "Why don't you two continue your date at our house? We're going to be out for the night." Two pairs of eyes immediately darted towards Anna's, but Anna shot them down and any questions that have yet to be voiced with one admonishing look.

"Sure," Hao replied, delighted. He didn't seem to suspect any of them, but only seemed amused. He smiled brightly at Ren. "Ren, I'll see you tomorrow!" He waved goodbye and blew kisses in his direction as he walked away. Only when Hao's figure has fully retreated from their street did Yoh and Ren let out the breath they had been holding in. They turned to Anna; one was about to burst from anger and the other was confused to no end. Yoh was the first to speak.

"Why did you say that Anna?" he began, but Anna put a stop to any further questions by raising a palm of her hand. She turned and began walking away as her hand beckoned for the boys to follow. "Come, we have a lot of work to do." Her voice was calm and she seemed to know what she was doing. The boys reluctantly followed. Though confused, they were curious as to what Anna had in mind. Whether the boys realized or not, there was a lot of planning to do, planning for the mission to save the world. Anna scowled to herself. It was going to be a long night.

Poor Ren-chan. This whole setup is forcing him to become a big softy isn't it? But we all know Ren isn't really a softy, right? He's the proud and self-assertive Tao Ren who doesn't do anything that others tell him to do…except in this fic, he he. Hao is so lucky!