Author's Note: Thanks for checking out this fic! This is just a pointless little one-shot I wrote after being inspired by the first snow of the winter. I hope you enjoy it! Please leave a review if you could; I'd really appreciate it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Shaman King or any of the characters... unfortunately.

Dedication: To Matty and Kiki, my oldest and bestest friends ;)

Times Like These

Ren frowned, his arms folded and eyebrows raised.

"And this is what you've been getting excited about all this time?" His cold golden eyes met Horo's beaming face.

"Of course! Isn't it great? Now come on, come on! Everyone's waiting!" Horo was still grinning stupidly. With an agitated sigh, Ren let himself be dragged out of the door and into the yard by a very bouncy Horo.

The first thing that struck him was the cold, making him clutch his long coat around himself tighter. The glittering flakes fluttered to the ground, shaping spirals in the morning air. There was no sign at all of blue in the sky; it was completely covered by clouds, like a looming mist that hung high above them. Ren felt the creaking of the snow beneath his black shoes as he stopped in front of the others, all assembled together, smiling and laughing.

At the moment, all Ren could wonder was how they could all get so excited over the weather... He rolled his eyes, watching Yoh stepping from foot to foot on the spot, making holes in the snow.

"I know he'd get you out here," Yoh smiled to Ren, making an icy mist as he spoke.

Ren said nothing, just looked down to the snowflakes that were gathering slowly on his black coat.

"Just look at what Horo-kun and Yoh-sama made us!" he heard Tamamura exclaim. He knew just what she was talking about. Horo and Yoh had been working continuously over the past week, after low clouds drifted over Funbari – clouds that the Ainu said were full of snow. And in front of the group sat the fruits of their labour – three wooden sledges, crafted to perfection using old Ainu techniques of woodwork provided by Horo. For days now, the group had been waiting for the clouds to break their icy seams so that they could try them out as soon as they could. And they had all been rejoicing that morning when they woke up to find out that it had snowed overnight.

Ren still failed to see the excitement. While everyone else was looking forward to going to Funbari Park to test out the sledges, he had been protesting about going ever since the idea was even mentioned. Horo however, had declared to do his utmost to convince Ren of coming. And this was the result.

He noted how the others were all smiling in the same stupid way as Horo, eager to get going.

"Okay, is everyone ready?" Yoh asked, rubbing his gloved hands together for warmth.

His question was met with a multitude of shouts and cheers, as everyone headed for the gates of the yard.

"Ren, come on!" Horo ushered, running after the others.

Sighing, Ren followed along too.

Actually being at the park, Ren felt so much more different. He stared in wonder at how the snow had covered the ground; a thick, white, perfectly formed sheet across what was once the grassy ground. He admired the way the light reflected off this glistening carpet that stretched as far as he could see. Horo obviously did know the best spots in town for this sort of thing…

"You want to go first?"

The sound of Horo's voice brought him back to his senses, returning his golden stare to its usual piercing nature. "At what?" he asked, sharply.

"Sledging!" Horo pointed to the sledge by his side, the rope handle tight in his hand.

Ren shot him a sarcastic glare. "You must be kidding. I am not going near that thing."

Horo's eyes suddenly looked like those of a puppy-dog, and Ren found himself off-guard. How… adorable his midnight eyes looked now… "Ren, come on…"

"No," he said, simply, snapping back to his usual self. He turned his back on the Ainu and began to walk away, his face buried in his think yellow scarf. "Children can go and play by themselves."

Shows scraping through the gathered snow, Ren found a bench a little way back from the hill they had all chosen to sledge down. Dusting the snow off the seat with his gloved hands, it fell to the ground like sugar from a shaker. He sat down on the freezing seat heavily, holding his coat tighter still. Turning his eyes to the hill, he saw that Yoh was the first to break the snow. He hurtled down on one of the sleds, laughing, Tamamura clutching on to him from the seat behind him, her face screwed up in fear. Ren watched the shower of snow shoot up like spray, frosting their faces. The sledge reached the bottom of the hill and stopped abruptly, sending them both tumbling sideward to land in the snow.

Horo had reached the top of the hill now, dragging his own sledge behind him. He didn't even sit down on it – just jumped on and skidded downhill, riding it like a snowboard.

Ren shook his head, disbelieving of how childish Horo was. Casting his eyes down to his own folded arms, another thought followed his last almost immediately; and yet, how graceful he seemed to be. He forced the thought aside, harshly.

"Okay, now will you come?"

Agitated, Ren looked up to see Horo's face right in front of him, panting from all the running he was doing. Ren hadn't even noticed him approach. "What now?"

"I need someone to ride with! Ryu and Chocolove have stolen the other sledge and they're fighting over it; Tamamura's too scared to go on again; Yoh's with Manta and no one else will even try…" Horo bleated.

Ren stood up sharply. "Must you whine incessantly like that?"

"But it's no fun on my own!"
"You're still whining…"

"Please, Ren!"

"And you still continue…"

"Just one go?"

"You never give up, do you?"

"No, I don't," Horo finalised, before grabbing Ren by the hand and tugging him towards the hill.

"Let go of me!"

Horo just turned to look at him, grinning. "You'll love it once you try, I promise!"

Before Ren knew it, he had been pulled through the drifts of snow and up to the top of the hill. The next thing he knew, Horo was pushing down on his shoulders to get him to sit on the front seat of the sledge.

"There, now you hold on to that," Horo instructed, placing the worn rope that served as a handle into Ren's hands.

He felt its thickness through the wool of his gloves, taking it with hidden confusion into his palms. Lifting up his head, he looked down the hill – an icy descent of snow that looked relatively steep now. The others were at the bottom, quite a way away – from the looks of it, they were trying to patch up one of the sleds that seemed to have lost a broken part. Ren's confidence ebbed away.

The sled jumped and creaked a little, and the next thing Ren was aware of… were Horo's arms around his waist…

He looked down for a moment, focusing on this fact, all else forgotten. The warmth of Horo's touch was surprising in the cold.

"Let's go!"

Suddenly, he felt the sled tip slightly and begin to take off down the hill. Ren clutched tightly at the handle for a moment, caught unawares. When he realised what was going on, however, he relaxed a little.

The snow flew up either side of them, spattering his face gently. At first, he closed his eyes, but opened them soon after he began to miss the sight as they sped to the bottom of the hill. Everything glimmered all around, reflecting back what little light shone through the thick clouds. The snow was still falling, faster now, as though picking up speed along with them as they reached the halfway point of the hill. Horo was laughing behind him, and Ren felt the grip of the Ainu pull tighter against his body. He was aware of Horo's chest square against his back. The rush of air stung as it hit Ren's burning cheeks.

Suddenly, he saw the dip hurtle towards them – the end of the hill. It loomed closer still, coming closer faster and faster…

He felt the sled slide to the side. It pulled out form underneath him, tipping up to land him in the snow. Horo came after it, falling too.

Ren felt the weight of the bluenette land square upon him.

Horo was still laughing, eyes closed. He didn't seem to have noticed the awkward situation.

Ren froze stiff, cheeks burning red.

When Horo finally came around and opened his eyes, he saw how close their faces were. He stopped laughing, and stared too.

Ren could feel Horo's breath on his face, the warmth of his body close to his.

Both Shamans remained there for a few seconds, black eyes fixed in gold.

Ren pushed him away harshly. He glanced over to the others as he scrambled to his knees. They hadn't noticed, still hanging over the sled they were trying to fix. He felt colder now, sitting in the snow.

Horo continued to stare; his obsidian eyes seemed to dull.

Ren looked over the Ainu, noticing the way the snowflakes settled in his azure hair and caught in his thick eyelashes. He almost felt his heart stop just looking at him.

A small smile – that same stupid smile… - pushed over Horo's lips as Ren watched him. "You've… gone all red," he pointed out, childishly.

Ren diverted his gaze quickly. The feeling of Horo's warm body against his own still lingered – almost a nice feeling, as much as he hate to admit it. It made him wish… he could hold Horo closer, to himself…

He felt fingers grasp his own, entwined. Looking up, he saw Horo grinning.

"Let's go again!" Horo beamed, pulling Ren up from the ground as he took the sled in his other hand and began to race up the hill, dragging both behind him.

Ren smiled to himself as he stumbled over himself trying to keep up.

Let him have his fun.

Emily Nash-Medlyn

Monday 28th November 2005