A/N: here is the next installment of this little ficcy of mine. I hope that you all like it.

Chapter 2

Horo awoke, feeling restless. He couldn't understand why he was so tired. Suddenly the pervious night's conversation came flooding into his thoughts. "Oh yeah," he groaned, hating the thought that he would have to tell Ren something this morning. He had spent half the night worrying about it, and still was no closer to an answer then he was the pervious evening. He knew that he liked Ren, but could admit the sort of love that Ren was for him. No, was the simple truth of the matter. And still part of him hoped that Yoh would see the error of his ways and drop Anna and come running back to him.

He reluctantly got out of bed and made his way to the kitchen, where he could smell coffee brewing. So it was no wonder to find Ren sitting at the table with a steaming cup of coffee clenched in his hands. Horo made his way over to the coffee machine and poured himself a cup. He sat across from the Tao.

Ren followed Horo's every movement with his eyes. He could tell that the Anui had had a restless night, and he couldn't blame him. He too had not slept much, his mind had been working over time. Finally when Horo sat down, he ventured to speak. "So, you couldn't really sleep either, huh?"

Horo nodded but made no incitation of speaking.

Ren sighed. He was going have to give him his space, no matter how much he wanted to find out what Horo had decided on the situation. He got up, placed his coffee cup in the sink and walked to the balcony. He looked out at the view of Japan, and remembered when he and Horo had gotten the apartment. The view had been the final straw at them buying the place, even though it was a little out of Horo's price range. Ren paid for the extra bit and found it well worth it. He loved this view. It was his own personal haven to escape from the rest of the world. A sound suddenly alerted him to a presence behind him.

Horo stood there in the doorway with his cup of coffee in hand. He stalked over to stand beside Ren. "It really is beautiful out here, isn't it?" he asked, looking out at the view.

"Yeah it is," Ren responded, not looking at the view but rather at Horo, who seemed to have decided to not look at Ren ever again. Or that is how it seemed to feel to the Toa. He wished that he could take last night back. This was torture and he just wanted his best friend back. "Horo," he started.

"No Ren. Let me speak." Horo led him back into the living room and sat him on the couch. The blue haired male took a deep breath and started to talk, letting the words flow through him. "First off, I am flattered by your confession."

Ren scowled slightly. This didn't seem to be going the way he wanted, but he would respect whatever discussion Horo made.

"...and I never would have guessed that you felt that way. I know that I have been an ass to live with ever since Yoh dumped me, and I can understand you wanting me to get over him. But I am not sure that the scars will ever truly be gone. He was my first love and that stays with you for all time. I am willing though to try and forget him and find love again. I can't state with surety that I love you in the way that you do, but I'd be a fool not to see how great you are and try and deny the feelings that are there for you. Maybe over time my feelings could become love, but I'm not sure. I guess what I'm trying to say is... would you consider giving me a chance?"

Ren's eyes lite up. "Of course Horo. I could ask of nothing better. And I hope that you do come to love me as much as I love you." He leaned over and brought his friend into a warm embrace. "You have truly made me the happiest man in the world, you know that?" he whispered in his ear.

"I just hope that I can live up to your expectations," was the whispered response.

XXXXXXXX

It had been a week since Horo had decided to start going out with Ren. There life hadn't really changed that much, except that when they were alone watching T.V. and such, they would snuggle up together.

Ren had decided that today would be a good day for their first date. He had asked Horo about it and together that had decided that they would head to the amusement park and afterwards if they were up to it, Horo's favourite karioke bar.

Ren looked down at the outfit that he had decided on. It was nothing too special, but he was dressed to impress. His shirt was a black and looked sleeveless, but when you looked closer you could see the sheer mesh that covered his somewhat muscular arms. A pair of tight red jeans covered his long legs. He had a pair of soft black sneakers that finished off the outfit. He took one more look at himself and put a bit more gel in his spike and headed off to the livingroom.

The boys had decided to get dressed apart from each other and met in the livingroom when they were finished. Ren was the first and sat down on the couch, waiting for Horo.

Horo was in the middle of a dilemma, he couldn't find anything to wear. He had been through almost his whole closet and he had still found nothing for the day. 'I never had this problem before,' he mused to himself. 'But then again, Yoh never really made the effort that Ren does for me.' Horo reached in the back of his closet and suddenly his clothing problems were gone. He had forgotten that he had every bought outfit. He had bought it on the off chance that Yoh would take him out someplace nice, but that had never happened. The only place that Yoh seemed to take him was to the graveyards and once and a while the soda shop.

As Horo dressed he thought about how wonderful Ren had been to him during the past week. He had never once forced himself on him. Hell they hadn't even kissed since he had stopped Ren's rant the night that he had confessed his feelings. Horo put the white shirt with the deep blue trim and the light blue pants. Horo spiked his hair and walked into the livingroom. He stopped in the doorway admiring Ren. When suddenly it hit him. He was starting to fall for his friend who had already fallen for him. He was shocked. He had dated Yoh for over a year, and sure he had said that he loved the Shaman King, but know he wasn't so sure. What he was feeling for Ren was much more powerful and deeper; and this had been after only a week of dating.

Ren seemed to have felt Horo's gaze on him, because suddenly he turned around. As he took a look at the Anui, his face broke out in a grin. It seemed as if he had been grinning and smiling a lot more since he had started going out with Horo.

"You look really good," Ren commented as he walked over to Horo, his eyes never leaving the blue haired male. He reached out and grabbed his hand. "Come on, we should get going, if we want to get all of the rides in."

Horo smiled and followed Ren, his gaze drifting continuously to their joined hands. They had never held hands in public before and Horo was a little giddy at the thought. "I never thought of you as one who would like fair rides," he teased.

Ren faltered. "I don't really like them," he answered, looking to the ground. "But I know that you do, and... and I want to make you happy," he finished, still staring at that one spot on the ground as if it held the answers to the univerrse.

Horo almost chocked up. He had never been treated so well. He released Ren's hand and reached for his face. Tilting it up he placed a chaste kiss on those sweet lips. "How about we compromise and we go on some rides and play some games too. That way we can both enjoy the fair."

Ren looked at Horo with surprise. He had never thought of that the Anui would be the one to initiate their kisses. He reached up and gently ran his fingers gently over his lips. Too stunned to talk, he nodded his head and let Horo lead them the rest of the way to the bus stop.

Horo was mentally giggling at the way that Ren was reacting to the kiss. Sure, he too wanted to just sit and think about it for awhile, but they had planned a wonderful day and he wanted to spend it together. He knew that today would be just perfect.

But the day didn't start off that way. As they climbed on the bus, talking (Ren had snapped out of his daze from the kiss) and holding hands, they got more then a few evil glances. One woman even had the nerve to stare at them for a couple of minutes, and when Ren questioned her about it she screamed you and your kind should go to hell. Horo cringed at that but Ren just glared at her and told her to fuck off. Nobody looked their way after that, afraid of getting the bunt end of the wrath of the Toa.

They walked off the bus and onto the fair grounds. It was a huge fair. Rides everywhere, games placed near the lines and food stands off in one corner. Horo was giddy with excitement, but Ren kept hold of his hand so that he couldn't get lost.

"Come on Ren," Horo whined, pulling him towards the food stands. "We should go get some food."

Ren grimaced. "Don't you think that food would be better after the rides. I, for one, do not want to get sick. Now come on Horo, you can be the one to decide on the rides, since you are the one who enjoys them."

Ren would regret those words. Horo took him on the fastest, scariest and wildest rides that the fair had to offer.

Ren walked off of one such ride, clutching his stomach and cursing in Chinese. Horo followed him talking about how great the ride was. Ren glared at him and he shut up almost instantly. "Ren, are you going to be okay?"

Ren sighed, sitting down on a bench. "I'll be fine, I just need to need to rest for a few minutes."

Horo nodded and sat beside him, rubbing his back so that he would feel better faster. "How about we play some games for awhile, and there is one more ride that I would like to take you on," Ren groaned. "No, no, no. I can promise that this one won't make me feel sick."

"Alright, as long as you promise that I won't get sick." Horo nodded.

The two males spent the next two hours playing games. Horo didn't win that many, but that was made up for by Ren's uncanny ability to win every game that he played. They had won so many stuffed animals and Horo was wondering what they were going to do with them all. Ren hailed a taxi and placed the stuffed animals in it. "Go to this address please and let the administer there that they are from Uncle Ren." The taxi driver nodded and speed off with Ren's money and instructions in hand.

"What is all that about?" Horo asked.

Ren blushed. "I sponsor a group home that takes in street kids who need to work out their anger issues. They remind me a bit of myself before the Shaman Tournament."

Horo was stunned and didn't know what to say. "Why have you never mentioned it before?"

"I just never really thought about it. This was something that I did wanting to help others who were once like me. I don't know if I do any good but if I can reach one child then I have done some good in the world," when Horo sniffed, Ren stated in a cheerful voice. "I did keep something for you though."

Horo perked up. "What do you mean?"

Ren reached behind his back and pulled out a stuffed tiger. "I just couldn't help but want you to have this one." He handed it to Horo, and leaned in to place a kiss on his cheek. "I hope you like it."

Horo hugged the tiger to his chest. "Of course I like it. I love it Ren, and coming from you makes it even more special. Now come on, there is that other ride that I want you to ride with me."

Ren groaned. "I thought that you would forget about that."

"No chance, Buddy. No chance at all. I have been waiting for this all day," Horo looked to the sky and grinned at the setting sun. "and this will make for the perfect time to go on this ride." He grabbed Ren's hand and pulled him in the direction of the ride. "You are going to enjoy this," he tried to reassure the Toa.

Ren allowed Horo to pull him along, if only because he wanted to see him smile.

"Ren, can I ask you to do one more thing for me?" Horo questioned, hesitantly. A nod told him to go ahead and ask. "Would you... close your eyes."

Ren looked up, not knowing how to take such a question. He raised an eyebrow.

"I mean..." Horo stumbled over the words. "I want this last ride to be meaningful and I think that it would be more meaningful if you didn't know what ride we were going on, till we got there."

Ren thought for a moment. He didn't know that Horo was so cute to do such things. The spike-haired one closed his eyes and held out a hand. "If you even think about leading me into a garbage can or something, you will be killed... and I don't care if I have witnesses or not," he growled playfully.

Horo took good care to make sure that Ren did not accidentally bump into any random objects or people. He didn't want to envoke the wrath of the great Toa. When it was finally there time to get on the ride, he lead Ren up the ramp and placed him in the box. "You can open your eyes now," he instructed.

Ren opened his eyes and couldn't believe where he was. He had noticed the Ferris wheel earlier in the day, but had thought that Horo would find the ride a bit too unadventurous to even consider riding it, so he had not mentioned it. But here he was sitting in the cab with Horo grinning at him like a maniac. "Horo... this is great. I love my surprise ride." He flashed him a smile and looked out to glimpse the view.

Horo fidgeted as they approached the top of the Ferris wheel. "Ren?" he finally managed to squeak out.

"What is it?"

"Well... there is this tradition about the Ferris wheel..." he faltered again.

"Go on."

"When you reach the top you are suppose to kiss the one in the car with you." Horo turned his head, blushing a deep red, avoiding Ren's gaze.

Ren also turned a shade of red, but his was much lighter then his boyfriends. As they reached the top of the Ferris wheel, he leaned in and gently placed his lips against the soft, inviting ones of Horo. He could feel Horo reacting to the kiss, so he decided to take it to the next level and deepen the kiss. His tongue ran its way over Horo's lips and he finally gained entrance. His brain fogged as he tasted his boyfriend to the deepest extent yet.

Horo gasped as he felt Ren push past his lips. He opened up further and started to circle his tongue around the invading one. Finally, feeling that he had played keep away with the tongue long enough, he pushed past it and becoming the invading tongue in Ren's mouth. He traced his tongue in every corner that he could reach of the mouth. After what seemed an eternity, yet still too small an about of time, Horo reluctantly broke away from Ren. He gasped a few times, filling his lungs with the much needed air.

Ren's face was red from desire. He too was taking large gulps of the oxygen that he had used. It was in that moment, that he noticed that the ride had stopped and that the ride attendant was staring at them, with a face that was as red as Hoa's fire spirit. "Ummm..." he tried to explain, looking at Horo hoping for some sort of support. Instead he found his boyfriend was laughing and pointing at the attendant. 'He's going to be no help,' thought Ren. The Toa reached over, grabbing Horo's hand and running out of the fair, muttering an apology.

When they were finally far enough from the fair grounds, for Ren's liking, he slowed down and looked to Horo. "Why the hell were you laughing like that?" he demanded.

Horo looked a little stunned. "Didn't you find that the least bit funny, Ren?"

Ren flushed. "I most certainly did not!"

Horo flopped his arm around his older boyfriend, staring straight into the yellow eyes. "I can see it in your eyes, and you did find that enjoyable."

Ren flushed some more, but didn't turn his face away. "It wasn't the attendant's reaction that I found enjoyable," he purred out, his voice becoming deeper and dripping with seduction. He almost laughed with satisfaction as he saw Horo's jaw drop to the ground. "I think that you might be catching flies, Horo."

Horo came back to his senses and managed to pick his jaw off the ground, but he still couldn't believe what Ren had said. It was true that he too had been enjoying the amazing kiss but he didn't think that he would ever be able to state it like that.

"So Ren, babe, where are we going now?" the Anui asked, stopping and looking straight at him.

Ren placed a hand behind his head, running it along the length of his spike. "Well, we had agreed on the kareoke bar, so that is where I figured we would be heading."

A/N: Thanks to all who have reviewed. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Thanks to Frutti4eva and i'minlovewithtristan.

Love ya

Biku-san