Disclaimer: Don't own it. Alas.

AN: Chapter 4.

I have no idea if this fic is good and IC or not. I tried to keep them IC as much as possible and I'm getting Ren to loosen up a bit in this chapter. He's just so adorable –glomps him-.

Anyway, enjoy it :3

Chapter 4: Tickle Doom

The next morning I wake up with a huge grin spread across my face. Nothing could ruin this day for me: I am going to China with Ren. Is it humanly possible to be this happy? Oh, and before I forget- I need to call Ueki to say I can't make it on Monday. Too bad for him, but nyah. I don't really care at the moment. I'm way too excited about the trip- not only am I going to see a foreign country, I'm also going with… my crush? I almost want to say 'with the man I love', but am I really that sure if this is love?

I know I like him. A lot.

Man, how can you tell if you're honestly in love? I don't want to hurt the guy- what if I suddenly realise I'm not really in love with him and just wanted to 'experiment'? Then again, I really am not that kind of guy at all… Shit, this is hard.

Think later, pack now. Yeah, that was the best method, though when I think, I usually tend to think only about Ren.

… I love him.

I don't know why, but somehow, my heart says it. I love him. I need him. Lately, my life only exists around him- like the Earth needs the Sun, I need him. I couldn't imagine my life without him anymore. It would just be as empty as it had been; even though I have Yoh, Manta, Pirika, Ryu and even Anna, I still felt lonely. Until Ren showed up.

When did I become such a girl?

Wait. Don't answer that. I know what you're thinking. 'Since you're playing Juliet'. Well, screw that!

And just remembering the time he has laughed when he was with me and the way he looks at me and the way I feel at those moments- I guess those memories make me feel like I truly love the guy. Almost every memory I have of him, make me feel warm inside and make me feel as if my life just revolves around him. Like he's a part of me.

Anyway, enough of these sappy things.

I grab my blue bag ( I almost have anything either blue or white) and walk out of my room, ready to say goodbye to Pirika. We haven't been apart ever since Mother and Father died (or at least, not this long apart) , so I am slightly worried about her- even though she's the one who usually takes care of me. She's responsible enough to stay alone, I know that, but still, I worry about her.

"Bye nee-san," she says, tears ready to stream down her face. "Write me!" I smile reassuringly at her and give her a quick hug.

"Don't worry, I'll be back before you know it," I say, grinning at her. "Besides, now you can invite all your friends over! Don't throw a party though, you know I want to be there when you do!" Pirika smiles.

"So you can make sure I'm alright?"

"No, stupid! So I can pick up girls!" I tease her. She smacks me on top of my head but laughs along, despite her tears. "Bye, Shorty," I continue and ruffle her blue hair, before walking off towards the- get ready for this- limousine that Ren sent to pick me up. Pirika waves at me, until the limousine is around the corner.

--

"Wow, Ren!" I say happily and innocently; I feel like a child on Christmas day or… Well, I feel like me on Christmas day, but still- this is wonderful! I've never been on an airplane before and the view is fantastic, even though the only thing I can see are the clouds and the ocean beneath us. Ren just rolls his eyes at me, but seems to be amused by my childish antics.

One hour later, I was bored. And when I'm bored, I'm quite dangerous.

One of Ren's servants who came along on the trip is asleep in one of the six chairs (there was also a couch and that was where Ren and I are sitting) and I grab a permanent marker out of my bag to doodle on his face. Jun, who is sitting on the other side of the plane, looks at me amusedly, before she returns to listening to her music.

"Horo," Ren warns me, but I don't listen to him. I chuckle as I draw a moustache and a matching beard on his face and, after ten seconds of this, Ren actually joins me. "Quick, give him big eyelashes!" he chuckles and I happily oblige- I've never seen Ren like this. He's usually the boring person out of us two and he never joins me in one of my pranks, no matter how good they are. I'm happy that he finally does and I'm happy that laughs again- I like his laugh.

"Yes, sir," I say quietly, so we won't wake him up. "Let's see," I finally stop to look at his face and snicker- his lips are now humongous and he has a moustache and beard. His eyebrows are now the size of caterpillars (Ren: "It looks as though they could crawl around his face any second.") and his eyelashes are extended (hey, who needs make-up when you've got permanent markers?). "I feel like something's missing," I finally say, not entirely happy with the result. Ren nods next to me.

"Indeed. Perhaps some glasses?" I grin at him.

"Why, Ren, what a marvellous idea!" He pokes me in the ribs and chuckles. I draw incredibly thick glasses around his eyes and am finally satisfied.

"Horo, I had no idea you were such a talented artist," Ren jokes. I swing an arm around him and grin.

"As long as I have my muse," I say to him and I can see him blush again. I briefly glance over to Jun, who is looking at us again with a weird and calculating look on her face. I look back at Ren and take his arm to guide him back to the comfortable couch in the middle of the plane. The rest of the trip, we just talk. Or rather, I talk and Ren listens.

--

We arrive in China, where another limousine is waiting for us and another, slightly smaller car for the servants. Ren says that this particular limousine belongs to his grandfather and that we have another two hours of travelling ahead of us; I don't really mind, I like the company and Ren and I are always sitting closely together. Apparently, he doesn't mind contact that much, not when it's with me. I don't mind it either, the simple touches; our arms brushing against each other, or him grabbing my hand to drag me along, or me standing next to him and occasionally tap him on the shoulder to ask him something. I like everything and yet I want more.

After about half an hour, the limousine stops at a gas station and Ren goes briefly inside to buy something. I decide to remain outside and stretch my legs a bit- travelling isn't really my thing. To my amazement, Jun comes over to talk to me. I've always liked her- she seems to be very kind, but I've never really talked to her. I greet her cheerfully, but she doesn't return it. Instead, she crosses her arms and looks at me intently.

"What are you to my brother?" She asks bluntly. I blink. "Or rather, what does my brother mean to you?" I blink again and give her a confused look. She sighs. "Listen, I really love my little brother and you're the first person he trusts this much. I just want to know right away."

"He's…" I start and think about it. I'll answer her question truthfully; he's the one I talk to most, the one I hang out with. The one I trust most of all my friends. "He's my best friend," I finally say. And more than that, of course, but I don't think his sister will appreciate it if I told her that I, a boy, feel attracted to her little brother and that I love him. Jun nods and I grin at her happily.

I am kind of glad she asks me this- it means she really does care about him, even though Ren might fail to notice this. I knew, of course, that she does care, just by the way she interacts with him. It's different than his other family members do and I'm glad that Ren has had at least someone to protect him.

"You're sure he's only your best friend?" she asks me. Why did Ren have to have such an observant sister?

"What else could he be?" I retort. How the hell am I supposed to talk my way out of this? And then there comes my answer; before Jun could even reply, Ren walks out of the store and walks towards us.

"I've brought you something to drink," he says to me and hands me a can of soda. "And I brought you bananas." My face falls.

"Aw Ren, you know I hate bananas!"

"You hate everything that's healthy for you. Eat them," he says sternly. God, he really does sound like a mother. I look at Jun from the corner of my eyes and she seems amused by the way we act around each other. "I'm going to put these in the car," he says and I want to follow him, but Jun stops me, a gentle smile plastered on her face.

"Listen," she says softly. "I don't care whether you're a guy or not; as long as you make him happy. He deserves it."

"Wha- No- I mean- It's not-" I stammer, but I seem to have lost my voice as she pats me on the head. "It's not like that!" I finally exclaim, throwing my hands up in the air. Several other people (Chinese, so they probably couldn't even understand it, but I guess I am kind of loud) look up at us, but quickly continue as Jun sends them a glare. Never underestimate the powers of a Tao Death Glare.

"I've seen you two, there's definitely something going on here that has surpassed friendship," she continues. "Are you two together or not?" I shake my head and she smiles. "Like I said; I don't care, as long as he's happy. Just be careful around our parents and grandfather with this." I nod mutely, still in shock that she's entirely okay with me being in love with her little brother. "Oh, before I forget," she adds, this time looking serious. "If you ever hurt him, I'll cut off your balls and feed them to our tiger. Got that?" … Wow. Definitely a Tao. Again, I nod and her glare turns into a smile as if she hadn't threatened to cut off my manhood mere seconds ago.

I walk back to the car and sit next to Ren. Jun apparently decided to sit next to the chauffeur, so we are both alone. In a limousine. With very, very nice and soft seats. Even though there is a lot of space, we sit closely together.

"Did you have a nice talk with Jun?" he suddenly asks me. I pale immediately.

"No- wha- Why are you asking?" I stammer again, nervously. What if he heard what we were talking about? I'd die!

"Just because. She seems to like you," he points out. I sigh out of relief. "Was it about me?" he asks suddenly, looking up at me with his golden eyes. I pause to take in that look and face; he's beautiful. It sounds so… different to be saying that about a guy, but I can't help it- he is. I nod.

"Yup."

"What did you two say about me?"

"She asks me what you are to me," I answer truthfully. It's better to just tell him honestly than to hide it from him; after all, the first part of the conversation wasn't that bad.

"What did you say?" he asks me. I grin at him and grab his hand briefly. He flushes slightly, but doesn't pull his hand away.

"That you're my best friend," I reply, smiling at him. Ren's eyes widen and, before I know it, he pulls his hand away from mine and flicks me on the head. "Ow! What was that for?"

"I just felt like it," he says, crossing his arms.

"You know, you don't hit your best friends!" I huff, throwing my nose in the air and he smirks.

"I see Yoh and you hit each other all the time," he replies. I grin at him briefly, before I push him down on the seat and pin him underneath me triumphantly and hold his wrists so he can't push me away. He's writhing underneath me and I look at his flushed face, his lips parted slightly and- crap. I see the rather… compromising position we're in. "Horo, get off of me!" he hisses and I happily oblige. Any more of that writhing and it would've caused an unfortunate reaction in my lower regions… I really need to start thinking about what I can and can't do to him.

"Sorry," I say sheepishly to him and I notice he's still blushing heavily as he sits up straight, fumbling with his clothes a bit to make them look as neat as they did before I attacked him.

--

His grandfather was a cheerful old man, I can give him that. Yet, there was still something creepy about him. Same went for all of his other family members, they seemed nice, but they had this creepyness surrounding them, with the exception of Jun.

"So, Horo, where are you from, exactly?" his grandfather asks me during dinner, trying to keep the conversation going. Remember how I said that Ren's mansion in Japan was the biggest house I had ever seen? Well, this surpasses that one. It was huge and only one person lived there- along with his servants, of course. But still, it was a big house.

"Hokkaido," I answer. "But I now live in Tokyo."

"Ah, with your parents?"

"No, with my little sister. My parents are dead," I answer truthfully, eating.

"I'm sorry to hear that," the old man says, but he doesn't sound very sorry for me. I don't really care though. "I suppose your parents left you quite a bit of money then?" I wince.

"No," I reply. "My parents didn't have a lot of money. They made just enough money to make our lives comfortable, but there wasn't a lot of money left after they died. They didn't really care about money and neither do I," I continue, looking intently at the older man who has his hands folded on the table. From the corner of my eye, I can see Ren looking murderously at his grandfather, but I quickly look back at the older man.

"You don't now? Well, if I had a rich friend and I was rather… unfortunate, like you are, I would take advantage of it," his grandfather says. What! How dare he? I'll make him pay for that, or my name is Queen Victoria!

"Well, that certainly says something about you, sir," I answer calmly. The man looks at me intently, but doesn't move. "Although I appreciate your concern for your grandson, I can assure you that I don't care about his money. I'm Ren's friend, because he's a good and nice guy and we have fun. I hang out at his place, he hangs out at mine- I'd rather die than lower myself to a greedy bastard," I continue honestly. I have to refrain myself from saying too much about Ren- I don't want anyone else to find out. "My parents always taught me that money doesn't matter in the long run; money won't keep you happy and I'll always remember that lesson." I add and it seems as though his grandfather looks satisfied and turns to Ren.

"I like him," he declares and slaps Ren on the back. I blink and look at Ren questioningly.

"What just happened?" I ask him. Ren just shrugs.

"Although I don't approve, grandfather always likes to 'test' people. I don't bring a lot of people home with me, but when I do, he always tests them to see if they're only here for my money. Apparently, he thinks you're honest."

"You know I don't give a rat's ass- pardon my French, sir- about your money!" I protest, looking at Ren. Again, he shrugs.

"I know that. I never believed you were, seeing as though we couldn't quite get along in the beginning," we both grin at the memory of us continuously bickering (which we still do, but not a lot). "And, given your personality, I already knew you didn't care about money. But my grandfather didn't, although I tried to make it clear to him over the phone. He doesn't listen to anybody."

"So that's where you get it from!" I point at him, pretending to be surprised. His grandfather barks a laugh and he just looks at me as if he had just swallowed a lemon. I laugh too and Jun chuckles. Ren gives her a glare as well, but it doesn't seem to have any effect on her.

Dinner went on like this for quite some time, before Ren finally grabs my hand and starts pulling me up the stairs. I quickly wave goodbye to Jun and the old man, before hurrying after the purple-haired boy.

God, why does their house have to be so gigantic? I swear, if Ren and I ever get together, we are going to live in a simple apartment, where I can't get lost.

--

"So, what are we going to do today?" I ask him, flopping down on the king size bed in the room. Apparently, this was Ren's room before he moved to Japan, and it's practically the same as the other one. I like Ren's rooms. Why do I always feel so at home with Ren? Well, maybe because I feel like we really belong with each other- even though we might be the exact opposite of each other.

"I thought we could go for a ride," he replies.

"Whaaaaat?" I whine- I don't want to ride in one of his limousines again! It was so boring. "I don't wanna be in a car all day again!" Ren rolls his eyes at me.

"On horses." I blink. Horses? As in, those big things with four legs? As in, those things people ride on? With hooves and manes and… No way! I have horsephobia. I don't even like them. "What's wrong?" Ren asks, confused, as he takes off his shirt. What's wrong? The fact that you're undressing right in front of my eyes and that you look like a goddamn Sex God, that's what's wrong!

"Ren… I don't really like horses," I say. He smirks and walks towards me. I can get a better view of his muscles; not too many, thank God. I don't really like muscles that much, but he has just the right amount to make me drool.

"You're scared of them?"

"Well, I'm not so much as scared," I start. Ren, with the smirk still plastered on his face, lies down next to me on the bed. With. No. Shirt. I slap myself mentally and take my eyes off his body and focus on the poster hanging on the wall instead.

"You're just scared," he states, poking me in the ribs. "I knew it. HoroHoro is a chicken!" And before he knows it, I'm right on top of him again; compromising position, or not, he'll pay for that remark.

"Take that back, Tao Ren!" Ren just laughs as he tries to throw me off, but I hold his wrists firmly above his head.

"Chicken! Chicken!" he yells between laughs and I decide to do something else.

"Tickle Doom!" I scream at the top of my lungs and he stops briefly, looking horrified.

"No! Don't!"

"Then take it back," I say, grinning down at him.

"Never!" That's it- I let go of his wrists and start tickling him everywhere. It's perfect; I can touch his bare chest and make him pay. My inner-chibi is doing one of his victory-dances right now. "S-stop," Ren laughs. "I-I take it back!" I stop immediately and get off of him and fall back on the bed next to him, we're both still laughing. After a couple of minutes, we both stop, panting heavily.

"I haven't laughed like that in a long time," I admit- and it's true, I haven't. I laugh a lot, but never this much at a time.

"My cheeks hurt," Ren points out. I smile.

"I guess you're going to have to train those muscles too then." He smirks at me.

"I have a good coach for that, so it's not going to be a problem." I grin back. This is going to be a great week.