Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King.

CHAPTER TWO – The Next Step

Morning - Ren's POV

I woke to find I was back in my room, safely tucked into my bed with bandages covering my wounds. I scanned my dark room and my eyes fell on the cutest sight ever.

There was an exhausted Ainu curled up in an armchair, snoring lightly. His blue spikes hung freely around his face without his headband to hold them up, and the black locks beneath them moved to an invisible breeze from the open window behind him. I smiled and whispered my angel's name.

"Horo..." he seemed to hear it or feel my saffron eyes on him, because he shifted then lifted his head a bit, bright blue eyes blinking open to look at me. He jumped up and quickly made his way to my side, sitting on the edge of the bed and staring at me with worried eyes.

"Ren. You're okay. I was so worried. How do you feel?" he asked. I had to admit that it felt good to have someone care.

"I'm fine, koi." I answered, hugging him. "Please, don't. I'm not worthy of that. If I had gotten there sooner, none of this would have happened. It's all my fault." he said, pulling away and running a hand through his hair.

"No, it's not. I'm the one who left without a weapon in revealing clothing and forgot that Bason was out to a ghost party in the graveyard. Besides, if you aren't worthy, why am I still in love with you?" I said and pulled him onto his back, his head resting on my lap. He looked up at me.

"You always have had strange taste." he laughed and I poked his stomach.

"You are so impossible!" I said. He gave a giant yawn and closed his eyes, apparently content to fall asleep right there.

"Horo?" I called.

"Hmm?" he responded, cracking one eye to look at me.

"How long have you been up? How much sleep have you gotten? You look terrible!" I said, noticing the dark rings under his eyes.

"Oh, I slept about an hour or two every day. Don't worry, I'm fine." he waved it off as though it were nothing.

"Have I been out that long?" I wondered aloud.

"Yeah. You've been unconscious for three days already." he said, closing his eyes again.

"Horo. You shouldn't neglect yourself because of me. You look like Faust." I said, running a hand through his hair. His eyes snapped open.

"Scary thought!" he said loudly. I laughed at him before regaining my seriousness. He looked up into my stern face, his smile fading.

"I know... But every time I tried to sleep, I imagined you, and I just couldn't without knowing you were going to be alright. I'm fine, though, really." he said and shifted his weight to his elbows so he could kiss me. After that he yawned again and I lay back, curling up against him as we fell asleep.

Afternoon – Ren's POV

I woke up to the sun's rays shining in my face. I blinked my eyes open, and then squeezed them shut; I was too comfortable to move. I buried my face in my pillow, efficiently eliminating both light and oxygen. I turned so that I was facing the other way. Much better.

Next to me a noise began blearing. How can I sleep with all this disturbance? I grabbed the pillow and covered my ears, but the sound still filtered through. Why me? I grabbed a random object which I suspect is a hairbrush from my bedside table and sent it flying at the annoying sound. This proved the fact that 'for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction' thing to be correct, because the old noise ended and a new one began.

"OW! Holy shit, what was that for!" I heard Horo Horo yelling from the other side of the room. Obviously, I hit the source of the racket directly. And apparently, it hated being hit as much as I hated its noise.

"Go 'way, Horo. 'M sleeping." I mumbled to him. "Ow! That hurt!" he continued to whine and complain. I guess he didn't learn the first time that it is bad to disturb my beauty sleep. He didn't do this last time he stayed over, as I recall. I snatched another random object, I think it was a clock this time, and chucked it at him. It hit the wall with a smash.

"Ha, you missed! Looks like you won't be getting up on time until you get a new one." he laughed. That. Was. It. I threw myself from bed, grabbing my kwan dao from its place against the wall and ran after him, screaming.

"Die, you villain! You dare to ruin the sleep of the great Tao Ren! Die!" I yelled, and he began running and dodging. He kicked the weapon from my hand and I tackled him. We wrestled on the floor for a few minutes until I pinned him, sitting in a straddling position on his lower stomach and holding his wrists down.

"Ren, don't kill me!" he shouted.

"Oh, I don't kill those that disturb my rest, oh, no, I do something much worse." I growled.

"What?" he asked me, cringing. I leaned down closer.

"You want to know?" I asked.

"Yeah?" he said it like a question.

"You really want to know?" I leaned closer.

"Yes." he replied.

"You really, really, really, really, absolutely, positively, really, really, reeeeeaaaallllyyyyyy-!" I began, but he interrupted, just as I thought he would.

"Yes! I really want to-!" he yelled, but was cut off when I leaned the rest of the way and took advantage of his open mouth. He responded and we lay there kissing for a few minutes until I pulled away for air.

"I can't wait until tomorrow, I am so waking you up again." he said evilly.

I got up and walked to the kitchen, leaving him lying on the floor with these words to chew on, "That is what I do for first offenders." In the kitchen, I saw Bason's memorial tablet lying on the counter. I got a carton of milk from the fridge and sipped it, noticing that every now and then Bason would peek through at me.

"Bason." I called him.

"Hai, bocchama." he said, appearing before me and looking ridiculously guilty.

"What the hell is up with you? You act like a dog with its tail between its legs." I said.

"I-I'm so sorry, young master! It was all my fault! I should have been with you!" he said.

"Bason. It was my fault. You seriously need to lighten up. Get a spirit girlfriend or something." I told him.

"B-Bocchama!" he said before disappearing back into his memorial tablet.

Later – Ren's POV

Why, oh why does Horo have to have such cute puppy dog eyes? Yes, you guessed it; he has somehow managed to drag me to some stupid party. Here I stand in the corner, wishing I was somewhere else.

"Here." he hands me a cup of punch and runs off to the refreshment table to stuff his face. I quickly downed it, feeling the need to do something. I went and got some more, damn, it was good. After about my fifth cup of it, I noticed that the strange taste in it must have been alcohol. Of course someone spiked the punch. Someone always spikes the punch. At this point, I was probably too drunk to care so I just let its effects wash over me. I think I even started to sway to the beat of the music.

I didn't even notice when someone started dancing with me, but soon I found myself in the middle of the dance floor, dancing like some freakish slut, as everyone made a circle around me and cheered me on. I think that's when Horo Horo realized something was up, and he pushed his way too me.

He grabbed my wrist and dragged me outside, people booing at him as we went. He plopped me onto a bench and crouched in front of me, confirming to himself that I was indeed drunk. I stared back for a moment before squinting at him.

"Hello, koi. What are you doing way over there?" I asked with a ridiculous smile. Oh, god, I hope no one saw that.

"Geez, Ren, how much did you drink?" he asked. I laughed as though he'd just made a hilarious joke and started to fall on him. He set me upright again and held me like that.

"You are going to have one hell of a hangover." he said.

"A what? I can sit on my own two feet!" I said, pushing his hand away. Could I be any dumber? I began to fall again and he sat beside me, holding me up again. I swung myself so that I was sitting in his lap and kissed him. I made my way down his neck and was about to take it further when, thank god, he caught my hand.

"No, Ren. Not while you're drunk." he said firmly. I whimpered and snuggled closer.

"C'mon, Ren, let's get you to bed." he sighed and carried me home.

"You stay in my bed, too." I demanded. He decided not to argue, but absolutely refused to go any farther than kissing and cuddling while I was not in my right mind. I have got to thank him for that.

The next morning was as though Hell itself froze over. "Oh, god, my head." I moped around all day with a headache and Horo followed me and tried to comfort me as best he could. He told me about his first hangover and gave me different foods that are supposed to help. I have really got to thank him for being so patient.

Jan. 1 - Horo's POV

The days have passed by and it is now Ren's birthday. I'm so nervous, I could die. The reason is I've got a special surprise for my koi. I'm going to propose to him. I know we've only been together for less than a month, but it feels like we've been together for years. I know how I feel, and I'm pretty sure he feels the same, but still, I am so nervous. I got him a pretty plain ring, mostly because he is constantly reminding me that he doesn't like being that girly, even if he is the submissive one. Only five more hours.

Ren's POV

I spent the whole day with Horo and he's acting so strange, like he's got something to hide. I am going to kill him if he asks me to wear a dress again. He did that a few days ago and I almost fainted.

Later - Horo's POV

Well, it's time. Everyone is here and I've got Jun taping the whole thing. I insisted that he open my gift first. He opened it to find the box. He glanced up at me with a look that said, 'if it's something girly, you are so dead.' He opened it and stared at the plain golden ring. He looked down and gasped when he saw I was on one knee.

I took one of his hands in mine and said, "Tao Ren, will you marry me?" All was silent. Not even the animals dared move. He looked considerate for a moment, and then looked at me harshly.

"Only if I don't have to wear a dress." he said with a smile. I jumped up and took him into my arms. I was so happy I thought I would die.

"Horo, you're killing the bride." Manta said. I released Ren to run after the midget with his kwan dao in hand.

"How dare you call me the bride, you little pip squeak!" Therefore, yet another day has gone by in the Asakura residence, in which we made a record of killing Chocolove fifty-three times and Ren and I became fiancés. I think I saw Pilika turn green and run to the bathroom again, but who knows?