Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King

Chapter 5

Exuse me, my name is Ren Tao, and yours? No… Hi, my name is Ren. Hmph… Sorry, what was your name? Ne…", he thought about a good line to break the ice.

He just injured his hand again, of course accidentally. At least that´s what he told them. He sat on a chair, while the red eyed girl, in front of him, bandaged his hand. She is so gentle, he thought while a blush formed on his cheeks.

„You seem to get yourself injured quite often.", she said and shook him out of his thoughts. „And always at the same spot.", Jeanne stated as she wrapped the bandage .

„Oh, I don´t know… maybe I am elsewhere with my thoughts.", he said slowly while leaning closer to her. "Do you always wanted to be a doctor?", he asked, hoping to start a conversation. She looked up to meet his eyes, smiled and shook her head. "No, I am not a doctor.", she answered him, then she continued her work.

"Oh, then you are a nurse?", he made sure to continue the conversation.

She shook her head again "No, I do not work here.", she said while grabbing a nearby scissor. "My father built this hospital. I come as often as I can and look after the children.", Jeanne answered while fixing the knot on his bandage. She rose from the chair and started to leave.

´Please don´t go!´, Ren thought, stands up and said: " Wait! Can I ask you something?" Jeanne turned around and gave him a questioned face. Ren took this as a sign to continue. "I saw you a few days ago at the train station, alone. The train arrived at the station. And as the train was leaving again, you were almost gone.", Ren said and noticed that he sounded like a stalker, first the train station and now in the hospital. But, he don´t care, he can´t stop himself now. "Did you expect someone?"

With that Jeanne turned around fully, a sad smile on her lips. "You just saw a girl, standing there, by herself. But, you haven´t seen a women with a ring on her finger.", Jeannes said, eyes never leaving Ren´s. "I am a married women. And I waited for my husband.", and with a last glance at Ren she turned around and leaved the room. Ren stood there froze with wide eyes, his mouth open slightly. He had no idea how long he was standing there, but after he caught himself, he bowed his head down. His eyes were covered by his bangs, while a sad smile appeared on his lips. I am too late.

xXx

"Hey Horo! Come here!", Ryu, the owner of the Café called out to the blue haired Waiter.

"Yea.", Horo said as he was standing next to his Boss.

"What is, going on? Why does everyone give cards and roses away?", Ryu asked while pointing at the lovey-dovey couples in his Café.

"Because it´s Rose Day!", Horo called out cheerfully, with a grin on his face.

"Oh, you mean the flower has its own day? I know about the ´Day of the Constitution´,´ Independence Day´, ´Birthday´s ´; but what the hell is the Rose day?" , Ryu asked confused, with narrowed eyes.

"It´s something special", Horo said while smiling wide.

"Why?", Ryu asked astonished.

"Because today, you can give every girl you like a rose and tell her about your feelings. Without being rejected.", the blue haired boy explained excited.

"Without being rejected..." , Ryu muttered to himself amazed. "That's really a great day!"

"Here...", Horo took a red and a yellow rose out of the pocket of his red apron and held it out to Ryu. "A red one for love and a yellow one for friendship.

Ryu took out a comb and brushed his hairdo before snapping a red rose from Horos hand. "You can keep the yellow one, I need a red one!", he called out before he leaves Horo behind. ´Oh man, today there will be no one safe from him´, Horo thought grinning, while watching Ryu leave the café.

The blue haired Waiter keeps working, till his eyes coughed a girl with pink hair, a pink blouse and a pink skirt at the opposite of the street. She looked at her watch before she crossed the road to the Café. Horo smiled and took out a red rose from his apron, hid it behind his back and started to approach her. Just when she saw Horo a black car parked right in front of her, whereupon she jumped in surprise. A boy, in the age of Horo, jumped out of the car, his messy brown hair were braided into a waist-long ponytail. He approached Tamao and took off his sunglasses, which uncovered his dark green eyes.

"Hey Baby.", the boy called Tamao, and tried to give her a hug.

´Baby?´, Horo thought with narrowed eyes.

"Where the hell, were you? You should have meet me an hour ago!", Tamao held him back, anger all over her face written and turned around, so that her back faced him.

"Hey, sorry baby.", he said slowly and took something out of his car.

"Seriously, how can you do this to me?", the pink haired girl said in a disappointed voice.

"See...", he held a bouquet of red roses over her shoulders. "That´s why I am late. I wanted to get you the most beautiful roses of all, baby."

A small smile appeared on her face and she took the bouquet from him. She turned around and looked at him. "That is the last time, you hear me?"

"Ok, my princess.", he smiled at her and took her in his arms. She hugged him back.

´Princess?!´, the red rose behind Horo´s back fell to the ground at the scene in front of him. He felt a pain in his chest, und gulped the imaginary knot in his throat down, and tried to hide his frustration as the couple approached him and smiled at them.

" Horo! This is Nichrom, my boyfriend and love of my life. Nicrom this is Horokeu a good friend since we were children.", Tamao introduce them to each other. "You are shocked, aren´t you?", she asked Horo with a smile.

"Yeah... a bid.", he said and put on a smile.

"Nice to meet you.", Nichrom said while reaching out his hand. Horo took his hand and shook it. "Yea, nice to meet you too", Horo replied slowly. "Is that your Café?", he asked and pointed behind Horo.

"No, I am just working here.", the asked boy answered.

"Then you are a Waiter?!", Nichrom tried hard not to laugh out loud.

"Yea.", Horo said and thought: what else, you idiot!

Nichrom´s handy rang, he apologized to Tamao and walked to his car, leaving Tamao and Horo behind.

"Ok, what now? Are you free? We want to watch a movie in the cinema. You want to join us?", she asked Horo, secretly hoping he would come along.

"I can't, I have a job.", he replied and shook his head.

"Come on Tamao, we have to go!", Nichrom called out. "Ok!", replied the asked person short without leaving eye contact with Horo.

"Please Horo", she asked him again.

"I am sorry, but I can´t.", Horo said, a sad smile appearing on his lips while he looked deep in her eyes, knowing that this could be the last time he would see her up so close.

"Ok... see ya.", she turned around disappointed.

"Wait Tamao!", Horo took a yellow rose from his apron and held it in front of her face, as she turned back to him. She smiled warm at the sign of the rose, looked back up to meet Horo´s eyes and tilted her head to the right."Thank´s", she said, took the rose and headed back to her boyfriend.

When they were out of sign, Horo bend down and picked up the red rose, which he dropped earlier. ´So, It´s not meant to be, huh?`, he thought sadly.

xXx

"What... what are your doing now?", Yoh asked carefully while he placed a hand on Horo´s shoulder.

They were outside under the roof of the pavillion. It was late, and the sky was already dark. The three were the last one outside. Ren stood there with crossed arms, while Horo and Yoh sat on chairs. Horo´s head bowed down, elbows rested on his knees and fingers intertwined. "Nothing.", he said and looked at Yoh. "I should not meet her again.", he looked into the distant. "I should avoid her. I should forget her..."

"Great.", a voice called out and made the boys turned to look at the source. There stood Faust, on the steps of the pavillion, eyes fixed at Horo.

Yoh and Horo rose from their chairs.

"Very good.", he said and walked slowly to the boys, arms crossed in front of his chest. "You are really a whole guy.", the irony behind his words hardly to be overthrown. "A role model for everyone.", Now he was standing right in front of the students. "It is about the girl, you imagined at the front of the gate, am I right?"

"Yes, sir.", Horo answered sad.

"And today you just want to forget her, just because her heart belongs to another?", Faust stated and watched as Horo bowed his head down in embarrassments. "Very good, as a real man should be.", the teacher said, his eyes never leaving Horo.

"Pardon me, sir. There are many people who fall in love, whose love is not returned. Not everyone has as much luck as you do, sir.", Ren said while remembering the event with Jeanne, his hands clenched to fist at the memory.

Suddenly Faust eyes shifted towards Ren, looking him in the eyes and smiling sad. "I pray every night to God, that no one else suffer through the same fate like myself.", he paused for several seconds before continuing. "There cannot be speech of luck.", with that he turned slowly back to Horo and took a step. "The girl you are in love with. You can see her, you can hear her laugh, you can talk to her every day, you can stay by her side if she is not doing well.", Faust looked back to Ren. "I cannot do the same.", and smiled sadly.

"Why not, sir?", Yoh leaned over with a frown. The teacher looked at Yoh and smiled at his curiosity. "Because the girl, which loved me more than herself, can never be with me again...", he gulped before continuing. "Because, she is dead."

They froze and stood there with wide eyes. They looked at each other before Ren spoke "I am sorry, sir."

"No, why?", Faust turned to Ren. "You do not have to be, because I have not fallen in love, with the condition, that she will be there longer than me. Who loves, does not make any demands. So, you don´t need to be sorry.", he glanced back at Horo. "Even if I have lost this woman forever, my love has remained the same for all those years. I am aware that there will be no other, who is like her.", Faust shifted his glance to Yoh. "Sometimes, when I miss her, I just close my eyes. In those moments I forget everything around me. My love is with me and everything else is unimportant." Faust closed his eyes for a moment before opening them to look at Horo.

"Horokeu, you have fallen in love with the girl, without knowing if she would love you back. Do you tie your love to conditions? Only because she love someone else, you want to break contacts?!", Faust narrowed his eyes in disbelieve and shook his head. "No", he placed his palms on Horo´s shoulders and looked at him. "Promise me to not deny your feeling."

Horo nodded, taken aback by his words "Yes". Faust smiled, "Good. With love it is the same as with life, it does not only brings happiness and joy, but occasionally also pain. We accept the difficulties of life, then why not also of love?"

Just then the school bell rang to let the students know that it was time to go to their rooms. "There you go guys; the bell finishes the lecture. Please go to your rooms, because if Mister Lasso see you here... then there will be really no chance for love", Faust said laughing and soon Horo and Yoh joint. Ren just crossed his arms and smiled with his eyes closed.

"Goodnight, sir", the three called out while leaving the teacher behind under the roof of the Pavillion.

Faust stood there with crossed arms and close eyes.

"With love it is the same as with life, it does not only brings happiness and joy, but occasionally also pain. We accept the difficulties of life, then why not also of love?, he heard a lovely voice of a women. Then he felt a tender touch on his shoulder. A delicate hand of a woman placed on his shoulder. He smiled and took the small hand in his large one. He opened his eyes and turned to look at a beautiful young lady with long blonde hair, which reached her thigh. "Hello.", he smiled lovingly. "Hello.", she smiled back tenderly and a tilted her head.

"I've let you wait a long time.", he whispered slowly. With a pout, she snapped her hand out of his hold, turned around and crossed her arms over her chest. He smiled leant over and whispered "I am sorry."

"It´s alright.", the woman answered without turning back.

"Do you want to dance?", he asked her with a low voice. She smiled wide turned around and nodded. He stepped back and held a hand out. She took the offered hand and in one swift motion he pulled her towards him and placed the other hand on her waist, while she placed her free hand on his shoulders. They moved in a circle, before she stepped closer and leant her head against his shoulder. Dancing under the starry night and enjoying each other's company. Even if there was no music playing, it didn´t matter, what matters was he and she together again under the sky full of stars.