Disclaimer: If Shaman King were mine, I wouldn't need to write fanfics. If any of these songs were mine, I wouldn't be writing fanfics.

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Sittin' in a Tree

Lyserg swung his legs back and forth absent mindedly as he perched on the sturdy branch. Good thing he had good balance or he would have surely fallen off on his head like Yoh did a few hours ago when he tried to escape Anna's workload. It seemed that this tree was the ideal place for escape from anything, for presently, Lyserg was trying to hide from Horo, who was so consumed by boredom, he had put it upon himself to make crazy nicknames for any victims in eyeshot. Horo probably wouldn't think to look up so Lyserg figured he was probably safe for the time being.

Some divine power must have found him too content because a few seconds of peace later, someone clamored onto the branch next to him. Taking a teetering seat, Hao grinned at him. "Funny seeing you here, Lyserg!"

Sighing at the intrusion of privacy and relative quiet, Lyserg turned to Hao with an antagonized look. "Why are you here?"

"Horo's getting too unmanageable and Yoh won't let me burn him. Besides, you can't hate me forever."

"Try me." Lyserg turned away as Hao chuckled. It was true he didn't hate him anymore with a burning passion (well, at least he didn't want to kill him every chance he got), but it wasn't like they were now new best friends. Hao was still annoying and made him homicidal sometimes, but at least he was now tolerable. And what made it worse was how Hao was targeting him for every single prank/attack. "Out of every tree in the yard he picks this one," Lyserg muttered to himself.

"So!" Hao said, sounding like they were the best of friends. "What have you been up to?" He was swinging his legs so fervently that the branch was now shaking. If Horo missed a moving tree, he would have been truly unobservant. Sighing again, Lyserg chose his words carefully to avoid some kind of teasing on Hao's behalf.

"Same thing as you…trying not to kill myself while living in Flame Inn…why are you asking anyway? We're all in the same house so you know what I'm up to."

"Our views on things are different."

"No shit, Sherlock." Lyserg blinked as Hao burst out laughing. This joke had gone on deaf ears before; Yoh hadn't gotten it, Ren was against profanity despite using it constantly himself, it went over Horo's head, Choco had gone off on a joke about Sherlock Holmes, and Anna had taken it as a jab at authority and sent him to do double chores. Sure, it wasn't funny at all, but Hao was laughing it off as the best thing in the world.

"It wasn't that funny."

"Yes, but only you're stupid enough to poke fun at yourself purposely, 'Mr. Detective'," Hao explained, using air quotes with a haughty expression on his face.

"I can't believe you and Yoh are related!"

"There you two are!"

The two in the tree looked down as two pairs of eyes stared up at them. Horo's mischievous blue was glittering like a child who's just found his friends after a long grueling hide-an-seek. Surprisingly, Ren was standing next to him, probably dragged to look for them by said Usui. "Were you two hiding from me?"

"Yes," the two answered at the same time.

"Hey!" The stupid grin had appeared on Horo's face again. "Hao and Lyserg, sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

"Grow up," Lyserg scoffed, rolling his eyes. "First of all, what makes you think I want to kiss Hao, and second, why in a freakin' tree?"

"Oh, hush." Lyserg turned at Hao's interruption and his eyes widened as Hao pressed his lips against his. He should have been glad Hao had a hold on his arm because he had become so stiff he could have nearly fallen out of the tree. Horo let out an impressed whistle as Ren shook his head.

"Hao!" Lyserg broke off the kiss, backing away with a fierce blush that would have put Anna's scarf to shame. Hao's usual grin was on his face and Lyserg glared at him. "You're such an ass, Hao, kissing me just for a joke."

"Who said it was just a joke?" Hao's grin grew as Lyserg started to look confused. "First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in a baby carriage!"

"Go to hell!" Hao laughed as Lyserg pushed him out of the tree, the two on the ground carefully sidestepped to avoid the falling body. "Too bad I've already been to it, but thanks for the invite, Lyserg!"

"Shameless flirting," Ren muttered, looking disgusted.

"We're not flirting!"

"Wow, Lyserg, you look even more like a strawberry in denial now!" Horo laughed. The three on the ground scattered as Lyserg's wrath hit the ground and spread to consume everyone in its path.

Owari

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Note: Wow…some spur of the moment crap. I kind of like this idea, so I think I'm going to write one of my Zero drabshots with this concept. Everything's a joke with Hao. Review, thank you and please!