Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King, nor any of the characters for the original manga. Hiroyuki Takei owns them. I own myself and all of my characters, that including Sofia Faust and Hana Horutari. I own the rights to this fanfic and the plot. Coz I thought of it. That's right. ME. Ta da. Don't sue!

Author's Note: See? Me + Deadlines my head on a pike. This chapter is kind of more filler then anything. Not much point but I thought it'd be nice to see Jun introduced to Sofia for a chapter. Will Ren's OTHER relatives come popping up? WHO KNOWS? I don't follow DEADLINES!

Ren leaned against the porch walls outside the hotel room in the early hours of 11 AM. Patch Village bustled with all sorts of shamans awaiting the first match of the Tournament. The heat of the desert sun had everyone on edge. Once in awhile a fight would break out in the streets and shaman fight officiates had to be called out to put it to an end. Though everyday someone would them when the second round would start. Every answer was 'Soon. Be patient.'

Though they should know that Tao Ren is NOT a very patient boy.

"Would you hurry UP!" Ren banged on the door to make himself louder. The wooden door creaked lightly under the blow and was set ajar.

"You're welcome to come in, Ren." Came the smooth voice of Faust eighth. He inwardly shivered at just how... CREEPY that man was. The tone too calm for Ren's liking.

"Just tell your daughter to actually get out here so we can LEAVE." Bason hovered beside him with a sweat drop at the side of his head.

"Master Ren..."

"Oh quiet down Ren and come inside!" That was Sofia's voice. Ren glared towards the door and hopefully towards her as well. He stood up straight and opened the door properly.

"If you would just realize that getting dressed doesn't take half the day, I wouldn't have to quiet down!"

Inside was the Patch hotel room of the Funbari Onsen team. Yoh was actually still fast asleep under the covers on his futon, Faust was sitting by the window while Eliza did Sofia's hair.

"And maybe if YOU realized that getting dressed also involves showering and combing out my hair, you'd be a little more patient." The statement soon followed a yawn. "I'm not used to being awake by 11."

"Hmph, perhaps you could learn from your Father and skip sleeping." Faust glanced over calmly and smiled sweetly at being commented on. Eliza arched an eyebrow at Ren and smiled back down at her daughter.

"/He's just like you described./"

"/I told you. But he can understand German./"

"Yes so gossiping while I'm here in another language won't do you any good." Ren cut in.

"/You make it seem like I cared if you heard./" Faust chuckled to himself, whilst Ren growled lowly.

Sofia had finally agreed to having Ren take her out for the day to the Village. As much as he hated shopping, he also found it increasingly frustrating finding Sofia wearing a lot of the same clothes so often. It annoyed him. He was planning on picking her up a few things and having lunch. Treating her the whole day.

And it also gave him a whole day alone with her.

Sofia tied her hair to a pony tail and stood up from her futon. She wore the same outfit she'd had from the graveyard he'd talked to her at so long ago. The black sweater and a pair of grey track shorts. Ren rolled his eyes.

"It's 28 degrees out there. You can expect to wear a sweater in this kind of heat." Frankensteiny, whom had been standing by the doorway, fetched Sofia's shoes and dropped them by her feet. Hana, whom glided over after looking herself over in a mirror (for whatever reason), managed to direct Sofia's hand.

"To the right, Sofia."

"I'll be FINE." She snapped. Ren groaned.

"Whatever! Just hurry up!" Five minutes later (Sofia had purposely exaggerated on putting on her shoes and Ren ended up yelling at her for it), the couple and their ghosts emerged from the room and into the sunlight. The Tao teen hadn't been lying about the heat. Two steps outside the door and Sofia's face was already red. "See? Now don't you feel silly?"

She just smiled at him for awhile. Once they were a good distance away from the Shaman rooms, she stopped and pulled off the sweater, revealing her black, spaghetti-strapped shirt. After tying the sweater around her waist, she then grabbed his hand and held it in hers. His cheeks instantly matched hers. "Now don't you feel silly?" She mocked him. Ren glared.

"So you're a whore now, are you? Sneaking out of the house with provocative clothing so mummy and daddy don't see?" Sofia laughed, but before she could come up with a comeback, someone started calling his name from behind.

"Liaan! Lian over here!" The two teens turned. Ren flinched, his nerves tightening up. There was only one girl who knew his Chinese name. A slender, 17-year-old girl with emerald green hair sauntered up to him whilst waving. Accompanied by a jiang-si at her side, the famous Lee Bailong joined in and waved cheerfully.

The purplenette's eye twitched and his face went pale. Sofia ended up mimicking his expression involuntarily, and furrowed her brows. "Who is it?"

"Lian! We've been looking for you all morning." Jun greeted, bending down to look him at eye-level. Ren scowled.

"What the hell are you doing here? You're not in the tournament!" She smiled. Sofia frowned in confusion.

"Lian?" Hana nodded.

"It's probably the Chinese translation to his name."

"We're here to cheer you on, of course." Ren sweat dropped. "I can't wait for your fight. It'll be so--oh." He blinked, and saw Jun's gaze drop down to between him and Sofia. "I hope we're not interrupting you two." Sofia was still holding his hand.

Ren snatched his hand back, his face flushed and distanced himself at least a meter away from Sofia. "She-- just needed me to guide her!" He blurted. Jun and Bailong blinked whilst Sofia just sweat dropped.

"Ohh that's adorable. Ren has a girlfriend!"

"Shut up!"

"Notice how he doesn't deny it." Bailong pointed out. Jun giggled and turned back to the blonde girl. "She was one of Ren's friends that helped at Tao Yuan's." The greenette nodded and placed a hand over Sofia's shoulder.

"What were you and Ren planning on doing today?" Jun asked. Sofia paused, turning her head gently towards the 17-year-old. There was a strong air of protective warming up in Sofia's body. It looked as if Jun was worried about her brother.

"Leave her alone and stop bothering us!" Ren barked, marching back to Sofia's side. Jun smiled down at him.

"All you wanted to do was guide her right? Why don't I do it for you?" Ren's eyes widened.

"N-no! I'm fine doing it myself!" Jun waved her hand to dismiss the idea.

"Nonsense! I just want to talk with Sofia properly. I'm sure she'd prefer the friendly conversation as opposed to your constant insults." Ren grew three stress veins. A new record. Bason managed to back up while laughing nervously.

"Master Ren, I'm sure she just wants to talk." Jun nodded.

"See? Bason agrees with me. Come on then." She took a hold of the clueless German girl's hand and led her off down the street. Bailong followed them whilst Ren simply stood there with an incredulous expression.

"Wh-what the hell just happened!" Bason sighed.

"I believe that's what's called 'A woman's logic'."

"What do you think she'll do to Sofia?"

"She said she just wanted to talk. Miss Jun is probably just worried about you." Ren glared down the street, Jun and Sofia were just turning a corner.

"She has a sadistic way of showing it."

---

"Where were you and Ren going today again?" Jun asked, her vibrant blue eyes wandering over the several diners and souvenir shops. Sofia paused. She was still very unaware of what Jun was really planning for her. Unfortunately, there were so many people around her that her empathy was basically a puddle of reactions and emotions. She'd decided to be done with changing her expression every three seconds and had detached herself.

"We were going shopping." Jun raised her brows.

"Eeh? Ren wanted to go shopping?" Sofia nodded slowly. "I'm so jealous. You must have quite the effect on him." She shrugged. "You really must forgive me for muddling up your day with him like this. Though you must understand, Ren is my only sibling and this... confuses me."

"This?" They passed by a tavern with another fight in the process.

"This... as in this thing Ren and you have. Do you understand?" Another nod. Sofia smiled. Jun was confused about how Ren was... doing what he was doing with the blonde. "I hope you don't mind me being too forward about it."

"Not at all. I understand why you're confused." Sofia managed a giggle. She supposed anyone who knew Ren was confused about the entire situation. Jun smiled.

"Well, in exchange, I'll go shopping with you instead." Bailong sweat dropped, and noticed that Sofia was smiling nervously. "So how did you two get together?" Bailong smiled. Jun was always one for gossiping. "Ooh this places looks nice."

They walked into a clothing store and Sofia retold the Halloween dance to Jun whilst she picked something out for her. A few times Jun went 'No! He didn't-- did he?' Sofia couldn't help but laugh at her reactions. She'd never had a girlfriend before. Jun hesitated when asking what kind of clothing she liked, but Hana was nice enough to explain the sort of colors and styles Sofia enjoyed.

"Ren dancing, I only wished I had been there for it. But I was still in China at the time." Sofia nodded in acknowledgement. "So... what is it you like about Ren?" Jun went through another rack and started making two separate piles. Sofia blushed.

"Oh, uhhm." Jun looked back and smiled.

"I suppose that's too forward-- here. Stand up." Jun took the clothes from one pile and loaded them up in Sofia's arms. "Try these on."

"All of them?" Sofia's eyes widened. She already heard so much about how outrageous the prices were in the Pache Village. How could Jun afford so much?

"Of course! We have to figure out what looks good. Now go on-- do you need help? No-no. Of course not. That really IS too forward." Another giggle and Sofia was inside the change room. "Alright, alright. Another question." Sofia heard Bailong laugh.

"Miss Jun, you're scaring her."

"No I'm not! It's just girl talk. Isn't that right, Sofia?" The blonde sweat dropped but laughed.

"Right. Right."

"See? She likes it." She heard someone step into the change room stall beside her. "Do you know what Ren likes about you?" Sofia nearly jumped. Jun was the one in the stall beside her. She paused.

"No... no I don't. No idea."

"You'd said you were an empath though." Sofia nodded to herself. She had explained to Jun about her ability whilst retelling Halloween night. The Chinese girl wasn't surprised.

"Yes, I am. But I only get quick impulse feelings. Nothing like specific thoughts. If he feels... attracted to me, " Hana giggled. She could almost hear Sofia blushing. "Then I end up feeling strong attraction feelings. I don't get the thoughts of WHY he feels that way."

Sofia walked out of the change room, adorned in a light grey jacket over top of her black shirt. Her lower half wore a long, grey, cotton skirt designed with red, intricate, native patterns. Jun stepped out in a long black dress with a tan, moccasin jacket over top. She glanced over at Sofia and smiled. "How do you like it?"

"It's a good fit, and the skirt is nice. Does it look good on me Hana?" The brunette nodded, hovering around the teen.

"Very. Tao Jun made a good choice."

"Alright, let's just pay for these at the counter and I'll take you back to Ren. I'm sure he's furious with me for stealing you. By the way--" Sofia glanced up to show she was listening. "I'm glad Ren's with you." The blonde stared, then lowered her head with a muttered 'so am I.' Jun threw an arm over Sofia's shoulder and led her to the cash. "And if you break his heart, I'll have your head."