A.C.: tis... been... a... long... time... Bad A.C. bad

Yoh was in shock. He was in his room rocking back and forth not letting anyone except Anna near. His friends were all worried, and especially for Ren since no one had seen the hide or hair of the Chinese shaman since that night. Jun had visited once throwing Yoh, who was sleeping fitfully, a revolted look before leaving to find her baby brother.

And now it was night and Yoh was still awake clutching his head reliving the moment when he stabbed Ren over and over again. The door slid open to reveal Anna solemnly looking at Yoh. She walked over to him sitting down and taking hold of his shoulders.

"Calm down Yoh, it wasn't your fault." Yoh did not respond for a few seconds then he burst in to tears burying his face into the nape of her neck as he cried and frantically described the night he stabbed Ren.

"But... But you weren't there Anna! You didn't hold him in your arms as his b... blood got all over the place, you weren't the one who stabbed him, you weren't the one who made him disappear!!"

'Slap!' Yoh's hand flew to his reddening cheek as Anna's hands carefully wove a beaded necklace around his neck.

"It wasn't your fault Yoh, it wasn't your fault that Ren disappeared... no it's not..." Yoh's eyes turned blank as his face hid in the shadows with Anna's hands stroking his cheeks softly, almost lovingly. "It's Tao Ren's fault that you are like this right now... remember it."

"Yes Anna"

Moonlight glinted off the jaded necklace around Yoh's neck.

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Ren tossed and turned feverishly, finally setting his head just off from above the plushy material beneath him. Then he proceeded to empty his stomach of a half digested meal he had long ago. He stopped to wipe his mouth on his wristbands and sit up grimacing in disgust at the puke pooling below.

He flexed his hands scowling at the weakness he found in them. Most of his body had been bandaged though it showed some wetness, as if it had been done half way in the rain.

Or it could have been the damp air swirling around him, a cool contrast the hellish heat that flushed against his body.

The door clicked open,

And Hao entered holding a tray of what appeared to be soup and a glass of water.

"You're awake" said the shaman smugly setting down the tray before Ren and with surprising gentleness, placing his gloved hand on the Chinese shaman's brow.

Hao frowned briefly but it was gone in a second leaving Ren to wonder if it had been there in the first place.

"Where... Where am I?" his words came out forced, slow, his tongue feeling sluggish in the dry corners of his mouth. His hand grabbed the glass of water from the tray, and few seconds later the glass was empty save for few drops of moisture that clung on to the cup.

Hao watched in amusement taking his hand off from Ren's forehead.

"No where in particular..." the fingers trailed down Ren's face caressing the jaw line before dipping under the collarbone and finally in the chest.

Ren gasped sharply as pain imploded in his chest, stars crossed his vision and his torso felt like his 'father' was ironing it.

"It hurts doesn't it?" blood showed against the thick bandaging as Hao pressed harder only stopping when series of whimpers rolled off Ren's tongue his face suddenly going pale drenched with a thick coating of sweat. "It should, it did come out through the back." The chocolate haired shaman watched in a morbid fascination as Ren slumped over revealing a half way hidden insignia of the Tao clan engraved on his back.

Ren looked resentfully up at Hao from under the purple locks, his hand itching for the familiar feel of his spear.

"Bastard." Sickening sensation spread across his chest making his fingers slightly tingle. He shuddered and slowly sat up clutching his chest incase Hao tried 'poking' it again. He looked at the soup sordidly, as if daring Hao to feed him the steaming bowl of concoction laced with who-knows-what.

Ren had forgotten something; Hao could read minds to some extent. He wasn't Asukara Hao for nothing. Hao's hands had snaked up his own effectively restraining them as he flipped the Chinese on to his back.

"Was that a challenge?" the keeper of the spirit of fire purred, using one free hand to grope Ren a little, the slender fingers straying a bit too far. Ren blushed as Hao drank some of the soup, obviously thinking of something or another, then locked their lips together forcing Ren into a mushroom and cream flavored kiss.

Ren flailed his spear somehow appearing before his hands perfectly aimed at Hao's neck. The other just laughed and jumped away, the soup bowl fell to the floor crashing as it did so.

Ren froze, his hands and spear stuck in midair as he was struck by a sense of dejavu. Golden eyes widened then launched themselves through a door. With a sickening thud the door fell but not before something heavy had landed on top of him. It was still raining, the cold liquid spraying his face, but his eyes remained wide, unfocused as if seeing something entirely different.

Hao had cursed something out loud, but it was incomprehensible, lost through the thick of the rain and his... mind? Perhaps... His fingers lay palm up on the ground, he could still see himself fighting them and... him.

As if he had read his mind, which he probably did, Hao stroked the pale cheeks gently before gracing them with a kiss, nibbling slowly down the side of his face and his lower jaws before biting the Chinese shaman's lower lips.

Ren still did not respond, and they stayed in that position thoughtfully eyeing each other, mostly on Hao's part, till the rain stopped to a slight drizzle, then nothing at all.

Ren's lips, blue with the cold, moved slightly though the first words were lost to the air the next ones were clearly heard as Ren said,

"Who am I Hao...?" Hao just flashed that mysterious smile of his before tucking a bit of loose black hair behind Ren's ears. He leaned in closer until Ren could literally feel the warm trickle of air on his neck.

"You are..." Hao kissed him briefly before getting off the smaller shaman to lift him up in his arms. "Mine..."

"Yours...?" Golden eyes met hazel as confusion cleared only to reveal another.

"Mine... purely mine..."