hello! i was really bored, so i thought i should update another chapter...

Disclaimer: i do not own shaman king (though i wish i owned ren evil smirk>)

Chapter 2

The Boys

Tao Ren awoke the next morning with a start. His older sister, Jun, was smiling down at him sweetly, which set off the warning alarms in his head. She wouldn't be smiling that sweetly if she didn't want something from him.

"Ren-chan, dear little brother. I have a favor to ask of you." Jun said, ever the pleasant one.

Ren was jolted out of his sleepiness and into a state of awareness. He snapped rudely, "Don't call me 'Ren-chan' ever again!"

"Oh, but dear little brother, won't you do my favor? It'd mean a great thing to me." Jun said, her patience thinning. "I just got a new restaurant yesterday. I'd hoped that you would clean the floors for me."

The boy did not answer. He did not want to be woken up at quarter to eight just to clean the stupid floors of his stupid sister's stupid restaurant. Ren liked the word 'stupid' and he often referred to it when he described something.

The siblings glared at each other for quite sometime, until Jun declared, her voice laced with pure anger, "You will clean the floors of my restaurant. So you had better hurry up and get dressed because I am leaving in fifteen minutes."

"I COULD CARE LESS ABOUT WHEN YOU'RE LEAVING BECAUSE I'M NOT GOING!" Ren yelled as she slammed his bedroom door closed. He glared at the door and covered himself with his blanket, deciding he would go back to sleep.

Although he had declared he wasn't going with her, Ren found himself fifteen minutes later in Jun's restaurant, a broom in his hand as he swept the floors. He cursed under his breath with each sweep, which was an awful lot of cussing considering it had taken him an hour to sweep the whole kitchen. When the clock struck nine, he took a break to eat and go home for a bit. But when it came around to be ten, he was called down to the restaurant once again to sweep the dining area of the restaurant.

As he was sweeping the dining area, a giggle erupted from the door of the restaurant. When he looked, he saw a blue-headed beauty, from which he quickly turned his face away from. He knew the girl, along with the other girl that followed alongside her.

At school, Ren was in a martial arts club. It just so happened that there was a certain idiot that came to jeer at the club members every time that there was training session. Ren usually beat the idiot up at the training sessions, much to every club members' joy. But it just so happens that the idiot's little sister was the one and only girl Ren had found himself to become fond of. And the girl that just so happened to be giggling at the door, was that certain idiot's little sister, along with her best friend.

"Oh, look at this, Ren!" he heard Jun's voice at the door. "We just opened and already we have customers! Isn't this a joyous day for us all?"

More giggles. Ren was about to break the broom he was holding in half, on account of his sister embarrassing him in front of the girl he adored.

"Oh, no, Miss. We were just simply passing by and admiring the place. We haven't any more money left on us." Pirika answered in an innocent voice that Ren knew was totally fake. There was no way Pirika was as sweet and innocent as she led people to believe.

"Then another time, perhaps?" Jun said in a false voice of setback. The girls giggled and walked away.

But Pirika would not walk away without saying goodbye, which she did, by yelling, "BYE-BYE TAO REN! I HOPE YOU HAVE FUN AT YOUR NEW JOB!"

Ren grimaced as Jun looked at him curiously. He then knew what the girls were giggling at. Him. And he did not like it one bit.

He threw down the broom angrily and ran out the door, going the opposite way the girls had walked.

Asakura Yoh was a popular, easy-going young man. He never made anybody cry and in reverse, tried to cheer them up when they were blue. He had a lot of friends and all his teachers loved him. When he got time off of things, he did some of his favorite things: sleep, listen to music, hang out with his friends, and be his lazy self. But there was one thing he'd never mention to people other than his friends, or say aloud, in fear for his life.

About a year before that present day, the house next to his had been put up for sale, and several weeks later, it was sold. And to his glee, a girl his age moved in. He remembered that day as much as he remembered his hands in front of his face. The girl had stepped out of the vehicle her aunt drove in, wearing a black dress, regardless of the warm, summer day. And a red bandana had been tied loosely around her neck. Her skin was as pale as a white rose and her coal black eyes stuck out of her beautiful face.

At the time they had arrived at the house, Yoh had been playing in the backyard with his twin brother, Hao. When he heard the car drive onto the gravel of the driveway, he rushed to see his new neighbors. When he saw the girl, he smiled and waved at her. She gave him the cold shoulder and pretended not to notice him. Yet, Yoh still tried. He climbed over the fence separating the two yards and walked up to the girl. He had tried to start a conversation. Still, the girl gave him the cold shoulder. She had told him to go away before she would hurt him. Yoh didn't listen. He was so intent on learning more about her that he still stood his ground near her. When he didn't listen to her warning, she had punched him and walked into the house. Obviously, from that day forward, she didn't like Yoh.

That didn't mean that Yoh didn't like her.

In fact, as he learned more about her from school, Yoh got more intrigued. Yet, that had turned into a crush. And that crush had turned into love. And to that present day, Yoh still loved Anna, though he'd never admit it to her or anybody else for that matter.

That present day, Yoh was waiting for Kyouyama Anna outside her house. It was Thursday, a school day. Yoh had started this routine long ago. Every morning he'd get ready for school then wait for Anna to come out of her house for school and they'd walk to school together. Or rather, she'd walk as fast as she could to the school while he'd follow several meters behind her. And if he so happened to catch up to her, she'd smack him upside the head, and he'd slow down once again.

But that morning, Anna did not come out of the house. Since she wasn't exiting the house, Yoh gathered all his courage and walked up to the front steps. But just as he placed his foot upon the first step, the door opened, and out walked Anna, clad in her school uniform and a nasty scowl on her face. When she saw Yoh standing before her, her scowl deepened and she brushed past him towards the sidewalk. The boy followed as fast as he could and caught up with her, saying hesitantly, "You took a long time today. I-I got worried."

Anna didn't say anything, but instead stared at the cement sidewalk. A look crossed her face that Yoh did not know. Seldom times she ever made such a face, yet he never knew what it meant. But, usually after Anna made that look, he was punched, which is why he slowed his pace so he could get away before she struck.

But to his surprise, Anna slowed down with him, so their walking was at the same pace. Yoh smiled, yet Anna did not look up, causing him to frown. Sometimes, Anna did her little trick, where she'd slow down to walk with him, or speed up her walking to get away from him. It confused Yoh but then again, almost anything confused him.

As soon as they got to school, Anna ran away, heading to her homeroom class before anyone could spot them. Yoh sighed disappointedly and headed to his own classroom. When he got there, he sat at his desk and laid his head on the desk for a nap. But as always, his nap was interrupted by one of his best friends banging on his brunette head.

"Yoh! Wake up! There's no time for a nap today, my good chap." Horo-horo, the blue-headed Ainu said, pounding his fist on Yoh's head eagerly.

When Yoh rose his head, Horo saw tears treading their way down his cheeks. The Ainu sighed and hit Yoh's head once again, saying, "There's no time for whining about how your head hurts, either! This is urgent!"

"How so?" Yoh said, then he blinked, for standing behind the Ainu was another good friend of his, Tamao, who had just entered the room. He raised his hand in a wave, "Hello, Tamao."

The Ainu spied the pink-headed girl and quickly turned his head to face Yoh again, a slight pink haze covering his cheeks.

"It concerns You-know-who." Horo whispered to his friend, jerking his thumb over his shoulder to indicate Tamao.

Once again, the brunette blinked. He had forgotten who You-know-who was. Scratching his head in utter confusion he laughed sheepishly, "Who's that again?"

Horo had had enough of Yoh's stupidness that day so far (even though on any other given day it would be his own stupidness that he'd be fed up with) and dragged his friend out into the hall.

"I want to ask Tamao out." The bluenette quickly confessed.

Suddenly, Yoh remembered who Horo was talking about. Tamao. How could he be so stupid? Horo had confessed thousands of times as to who he liked. And of all the things Yoh had to always forget, it was who his friend liked.

"And I wanted your opinions on my actions. Do you think I should, or is it still too early?" Horo shook Yoh by the shoulders, desperately wanting some kind of answers before the bell rung.

"Um…I have no clue, Horo. I have no knowledge in that field." Yoh answered sheepishly, glancing down the hall.

Horo shook his head. Both he and Yoh had no knowledge in any kind of field, well, except food.

"What can I say? We're both complete idiots!" Horo said, linking his arm around Yoh's shoulders and steering him back into the classroom.

"Yeah…" Yoh responded, although he had no clue as to what he was responding too. Something down the hall had caught his eye and he paid more attention to it than to his friend. He stared at the blonde head for several seconds until their eyes came in contact. But just as they made eye contact, she turned her head away, walking into her own classroom, leaving Yoh to sigh in utter disappointment.

Horo-horo, champion at eating and A+ student in stupidity, was having quite a dilemma in his love life. For quite some time after the freshman year, the Ainu had been infatuated with something other than food: Tamao. And two years later, during the present senior year, he was still very fond of her. There was just one tiny detail that kept him from asking her out on a date.

Tamao loved Yoh Asakura.

And this, as it so happens, turned out to be very hard for the Ainu. For one, he got upset because the girls Horo liked always liked Yoh. Two, it pained Horo to see Tamao so heartbroken every time the brunette glanced so lovingly at the Ice Queen. And three, he didn't want to tell Tamao that Yoh would most likely never like her more than a friend.

But Horo tried not to let it show, always putting on a happy masquerade to hide his sad feelings whenever he saw Tamao. Tough, lately, it was becoming harder and harder for him to do it, even though he had been at it for nearly three years.

But Horo was finally gaining courage. That day, he was going to ask her out. He was sure of that much. There was only one tiny thing that kept him from actually going up to the pink-headed girl and asking her. And that was her response.

Horo didn't know how she'd react if he told her how he felt. And he felt that if she didn't return his feelings that his whole world would come to a stop.

That day, though, he risked the stopping of his world and walked up to her at lunch and pulled her aside. Tamao always sat by his little sister at lunch. And Horo-horo did not want Pirika to overhear what he had to say to Tamao.

He led Tamao into the hall. When he stopped to look at her, he regretted ever asking her to talk with him. She was beautiful, to say the least, with her short pink hair surrounding her cute, rounded face. Beautiful eyes gleamed in the light of the hallway up at him and the Ainu could feel himself being absorbed into them.

Finally, he snapped himself out of his daze when Tamao asked politely, "Horo-san, what is it?"

Horo-horo couldn't speak. All the words were locked up in his throat. He stuttered but the words would still not come out. He felt as though he were drowning.

"Horo-san, are you all right? You look pale." Tamao pointed out shyly, a light blush filling her cheeks. Something he loved about her: how much she blushed at the little things.

The Ainu nodded and stuttered, "T-Tamao, I…I really l-like…you."

There. He had said it. No harm done. All that was left was…

"What?" Tamao stepped back, her blush deepening. She stared shyly at the tiles on the floor. In fact, both of them did at that moment. It was the weirdest thing for the both of them. Tamao had been Pirika's friend since middle school, and to her, Horo-horo was just like a big brother. And all that time, Horo-horo had watched from afar, falling in love with everything she did or said.

The Ainu repeated, "I really, really like…You—ee. I really like Yui. From our physical education class."

Tamao blinked and then sighed, "Oh, Yui. Why are you telling me?"

Horo took the chance to glance up from the floor. Tamao was staring at him with a confused look.

"Would you tell me how to make her like me?" Nice one, Stupid. You've one the noble prize with that plan, he scolded himself mentally.

Reluctantly, the pink-headed girl replied, "A-all right, Horo-san. If you want, I could go to your house tonight and help you. Is that okay?"

Horo-horo's head jolted up in excitement. "Yes, that'd be g-great. Thank you. Thank you so much!"

And as he watched Tamao walk back into the cafeteria, the Ainu said aloud, "Maybe I just might win the noble prize with this plan."

there it is...this chapter! ta da! not so great but that's okay! leave a review before i sick my imaginary friend Koushiro on you!

Koushiro: (foaming at the mouth)

trust me...you don't want me to let him loose! SO REVIEW! (heehee greedy me!)