Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King.

A/N: You must have finished the manga before continuing. May contain spoilers. You've been warned =p

Chapter 9

"YOU DECEITFUL IDIOT!" Rue aggressively dashed forward as she equipped Irkosu in her daisho aiming for Marco.

FLASHBACK

"As the apostles of Justice" Marco said, "we cannot condone his evil." referring to Ren killing Chrom. He was opposing reviving Ren because of this.

FLASHBACK END

Justice my ass! I cannot condone your spiteful personality! Rue thinks furiously as she started her attack on Marco.

"What about you, huh?" she shouted.

Probably because they were shocked that the other angels did not make any move to block her. However, Marco was faster than she predicted. She had swung her sword at him, but he was able to block using his gun. She was thrown back with so much force that she landed on her back; she grimaced at the pain of the rough floor scratching on her back, but she tried to ignore it as hard as she could. She was not finished yet, she rolled over to her feet and readied herself for another attack. Before I die, I, at least, want to give a piece of my mind to this egotistical bastard, she thought, smirking at the idea. Of course, when the others got over being stunned, she was sure that would be her end, so she needed to make it quick.

Rue, watch out! Ren tried to warn her, but to no avail. He was able to witness everything that played out as a soul, although not even Bason could see him.

She heard the gunshot as she stood up, but was unable to dodge completely in time. She immediately jumped away, but Michael had launched a powerful attack enough to leave cuts all over her body and onto her left cheek.

RUE! Ren shouted in worry.

It was only a sting, and with her current enemy, she could not afford being distracted by pain. With renewed rage, she shouted at Marco. Flames wrapped around her body, as the wound on her cheek, as well as on the other parts of her body, disappeared as if it evaporated in the heat. She charged once more, repeating in her mind, For Yoh. For Ren. For Lyserg. And for myself.

"How many have you killed just to get here? Killing for justice," she stopped to take a deep breath, "in my eyes, no end will ever justify your means!"

Marco did not hesitate and ordered Michael for another attack. In an instant, they saw Shamash get in between them, and then, instinctively, both changed directions to move away. That certainly would have been my end, she remembered just how her heart jumped even before she could make out Shamash' form in front of her. Could this be the power of a god-class spirit?

"Stop this." Both turned to look at the voice, it was the Maiden, "both of you, calm down, and undo your O.S," she said in a strict voice that Marco had followed without a word.

Seeing Marco undo his OS, Rue hesitantly did the same; although she kept Irkosu near her, just in case.

"Marco," Jeanne turned to look at said man, "Lying is the beginning of stealing." And she started to lecture him. The next thing they knew, Marco was apologizing to Jeanne for his behavior.

She then turned to look at Rue, "Rue Asakura," Rue looked directly at her, trying not to be intimidated, "I will forgive you for raising your arms against us, but just because it was Marco who provoked you. Rest assured that we will keep our promise to Yoh Asakura."

"Thank you." She grumbled. She mentally cursed herself, Shit! Shit! Control, Rue! I almost caused them to stop the ritual, dammit.

"Seeing as you have not done anything against the laws, and as our guest, I will forget what you've said for now. But if you continue to deny our justice, we will treat you as our enemy in the future; those who do not accept the law would eventually break them." Jeanne said in warning.

Deciding not to speak further, Rue just nodded in reply. They wouldn't like what I'd say, anyway, she thought.

But Marco did not stop there, "How could we know he would not do evil again when he wakes up?" he asked referring to Ren, he looked at Jeanne giving off a small – in Rue's mind, sinister – smile, "Will you give me permission to get rid of him?"

This alerted both Rue and Bason. I was right in coming here, that Marco! Rue thought.

This Marco, he's planning something, Bason thought.

Both turned to look at each other, and seemed to have the same worries.

"Do not worry Bason, I won't let him harm Ren any further." Rue said as she gripped her swords' hilts, with Irkosu standing protectively around her.

Stop this, Rue! Stop being stupid and get away from here! Ren's soul was trying to shout at Rue.

"Shut up! We agreed to let you come with us with Maiden-sama's grace. But if you so much as move from that spot, you'll be joining Tao Ren in the afterlife." Marco said pointing at Rue.

Bason, what are you doing? Take her away from here! Baaaasssooonn! Ren shouted trying with all his might, hoping he could reach them.

"Marco, please stop threatening our guests."

"I apologize, Maiden-sama."

"Well then, let's continue."

When Lyserg was at ease, he stood by Rue to calm her.

"What the hell was that drama about, Lyserg?"

"Please calm down, Rue. Jeanne-sama sticks to her words. You can trust me on that." he replied with a small smile.

"I am calm!" She half shouted, half screeched. Tiredness, evident in her voice.

"We'll get back Ren for sure." Lyserg said still smiling at her.

"That idiot - always causing me troubles." She said, still alert and prepared for whatever plan Marco has cooked up.

I'm really sorry, Rue. But still, I can't let them go on with this. Ren's spirit thought as he witnessed the conversation that played through. He started to think of plans on how to prevent them from going further.

Jeanne started to tell everyone about the truth behind the story of sleeping beauty.

"Lyserg, what's this?" Rue said carefully.

"I-I'm not sure."

"Only a prince's kiss could revive her," the maiden said.

Rue's eyes went wide at the realization of her words. She grips Lyserg's left arm tightly. When the latter felt the pressure, he held her hand, putting a little force to reassure her, though he himself was uncertain of what will happen next.

Stupid, Ren. You'll pay for this later. Rue, annoyed, thought as she continued to watch Jeanne. Marco was obviously trying to hold himself back, while the other members were too shocked or too confused to move. Bason had his mouth hanging open as the Maiden started with her ceremony.

AAAhhhh! Ren was shouting, though no one could hear.

Rue closed her eyes, unable to handle the pressure.

Ren suddenly felt a force pulling him into his body once again. Wait…he thought as he looked at the scene before him, that's…! and then he was sucked back into his body.

Shamash!? Rue's eyes widened as soon as she risked a peek. That Jeanne really should have explained further.

It was then that Ryu came flying from the window, shouting nonsense.

Ha! I can see my payback now, Tao Ren. With all the commotion because of Ryu's sudden appearance, nobody saw Rue giving a wicked smile. She turned to look at Ryu; she mentally sighed, this does not surprise me anymore.

"How dare you disrupt our ceremony?!" Marco, agitated, pointed his gun at Ryu.

"Correct." Rue heard, and fought back the urge to run to him – to teach him a lesson, of course!

She, with a smile, turned her head to look at him as he said, "You're too slow, Ryu." He said it while intensely looking at Ryu, and he was just sleeping peacefully minutes ago – more like lifelessly, she shuddered at the thought, no, that's over now thanks to Yoh. But, could he know already? she thought, trying to figure out why he would say those words.

"You just caused more trouble," Ren said, a bit unkindly, to Jeanne. Sigh. If she didn't act all high-and-mighty, I would have felt sorry for this teary-eyed kid. Rue thought as she shook her head.

With that, Marco has officially lost all sanity and attacked Ren, but the latter without much effort had defeated Marco's angel in the blink of an eye.

As expected, Ren had grown his furyoku after being revived. Yoh was right, it was all okay… with Ren. For Yoh, it was a different matter. Have faith she remembers him saying. And I will she thinks to herself.

Before they left, she gave Lyserg a kiss on the cheek and whispered her thanks, and then dragged Ryu out of the building as they followed Ren. She passed Marco with a smirk, at least Marco had what he deserved.

"Bye, Lyserg," Ryu shouted before completely leaving the building.

In the forest...

As they walked, Manta had told Ren where Yoh was staying. Ren decided to go directly where Yoh was. Everybody else just followed.

"What does he think he's doing, deciding on his own?" Ren shouted as he faced the three. Manta and Ryu were too shocked to answer, while Rue only stared at him, giving off an unreadable expression.

"Dammit! I hate this." He hissed as he turned back to the road.

The next moment Rue randomly picks up a pebble on the ground and hits Ren squarely at the back of his head.

"HEY! What the hell?!" When he turned around, Manta and Ryu were pointing at Rue.

"That's for dying you good-for-nothing brat!" she shouted.

Ren's face softened at the sight of Rue's angry face. He remembered all she's done since seeing his body by the river.

"Yeah – sorry." He said, looking away.

Rue was slightly taken aback with Ren's immediate apology. She was expecting she would have to throw more pebbles, or maybe Manta, before she could get an acceptable reaction from Ren.

After regaining her composure, she started walking forward, ahead of everybody.

"Oh, by the way Ren," they stopped when she turned around to look at Ren, "how was your first kiss?"

She said this all too seriously that everybody stood motionless as they processed her question. She, on the other hand smiled and turned around as if nothing happened. Suddenly, Ryu burst out laughing, followed by Manta chuckling, obviously trying to hold back his laughs. Bason was trying to hide his embarrassment and started shouting at the laughing duo to stop teasing his master.

Ren,pissed, was red all over trying to think of ways to respond - and possibly, ways to murder the two behind him. In the middle of the laughter, she saw Rue look back with a content smile on her face. We're gonna be okay, she thinks to herself. Now, he was flushed for another reason. He marched his way forward completely ignoring the teasing behind him.

When they reached Yoh, Ren cut in Yoh and Amidamaru's conversation, while Rue jumped immediately on Yoh hugging him tightly. She turned her back to Ren, so he couldn't see her expression. She whispered, "Thank you, Yoh." He just patted her head in response. Ren waited for them to finish before speaking, okay, let them do their thing, he thought as he mentally rolled his eyes.

"Ren you're revived!" Yoh shouted.

"Why do you look like you're the one going to die?!" he unintentionally shouted, seeing Yoh's face.

"Oh! Let me take care of that, Yoh." Rue said as he healed Yoh's bruises.

They listened while Yoh and Ren exchanged their thoughts.

"I don't get you guys," Ryu started.

"Never mind them. They're both surprisingly stubborn in different ways." Rue told him.

But then, Yoh noticed the scar left on Ren's body. Bason was shouting at Ryu blaming him for interrupting the healing ceremony. I would have laughed out loud if he hadn't interrupted, thought Rue.

But Ren wasn't that regretful of having the scar, he removed the towel draped on his back to reveal the Tao emblem split in half by his scar. Rue cringed at the image, whatever Ren says, it reminds her of what happened back by that river. "That's nasty," she whispered and tried to look somewhere else.

Moments Later...

Yoh told everybody that he'll be announcing something that night. He, Ryu and Manta left to search for the others.

"You shouldn't have come there. Even if Lyserg was there, it was still the enemies' turf." Ren started when everyone else has gone.

"What? I'll have you know I can take care of myself."

"Dammit! That's not what I was saying." Frustrated, he walked to stand closer to her.

"I'm really glad you're alive, though." She said as she sat by the window looking outside.

"Even though it cost Yoh his shot to become the Shaman King?"

"I'm unhappy about that, too. But it was Yoh's decision. I chose to follow Yoh from the beginning. It was not just all handed down to me. It doesn't matter to me if he becomes the Shaman King, anymore. I'm happy that despite all this, the Yoh I've followed is still here." She turned around to look at Ren. "Honestly, I was not even calm enough to think about stuff back then, but I'm glad that Yoh had the courage to make that decision. If I were asked, I'd say I have no regrets from Yoh's decision. I think, I wouldn't respect him again if he did otherwise." She gave him a smile and returned to watching the forest from the window.

"You Asakuras are too confusing. Aren't you contradicting yourselves, saying all that stuff about preparing since childhood to have Yoh as shaman king and then supporting him when he resigned from the fight?" he asked crossing his arms.

"Ren, are you that unhappy to be saved by Yoh?" she frowned

"Uh, well…" his face was scrunched up, surprised with the question.

"It's really hard for me, too. I can only imagine what it feels like for Yoh – and Anna. But one can never be truly happy if they do something they know they'd regret forever. Yoh is definitely sad about it, but at that time Yoh chose his friend's life; sure, he might feel regrets for giving up the shaman fight, but he would never be able to live with the regret of failing his friend." She smiled as spoke, "It would never be like him if he chose otherwise."

"Why do you seem to have accepted it already?"

"Ren," she stood up and faced him to look in his eyes, "I'm just glad you're still here," and then smiled.

"Didn't imagine you to be this gentle."

Smack!

"Don't get too used to it, brat." She said playfully, and again sat herself comfortably by the window.

"I'm sorry." He said suddenly.

"For what, I wonder?" Rue answered, a bit shocked.

"For making you cry." It was so unexpected that Rue was thankful she had her back on Ren, otherwise he'll see her flushed and wide-eyed at his words.

Maybe dying changed him somehow, she reasoned. After a few moments to calm herself, she answered softly, "Better not do it again, jerk."

Silence came over them, until Rue, unable to bear the tension, stood up. She tried so hard not to meet his face, which thankfully was still downcast. She mumbled an excuse to go to the bathroom as she turned to walk towards the door.

One step... Two steps... Before she could land her third step, she felt something grabbing her left arm. Her body swiveled by her foot on the floor, next thing she knew, she was trapped in Ren's arms.

"I won't, and thank you." For staying with me. It must have been hard especially with what happened to Yoh. Ren left most of it unsaid. "Your family is annoying especially for me, but sometimes… it's not all bad."

She was surprised with the sudden turn of events that she stood dumbfounded while Ren only tightened his hold on her. "You know one of the good things that came out in all of this is that I've realized that I'm not alone." he smiled against her hair, "but what I want to say is, you're not, too."

Whatever happened to this brat? she thought, I think I feel my heart melting with all of this.

She remembered the revelation she received just earlier that day, and how Yoh kept it from her. And then, Yoh had to break another news to her, she couldn't stop her memories flashing to the scene by the river and remember the helplessness she felt – Ren was dead, Yoh gave up the fight, and they were requesting help from X-Laws, no less. She slowly wrapped her arms around the other and started crying, pouring out what she's been holding in. It has been a really long day.

Ren jumped at the contact. He was expecting Rue to scold him and smack him more because of what he did; not this.

"I'm sorry." She started, "Not only was I not with you to fight, I couldn't even help when I got there. Even though Jeanne and I have the same shamanic powers, I couldn't have done anything by myself," she said in between sobs.

Ren panicked, he tried patting her head, or rubbing circles on her back, but she kept on crying. AH! I don't have any idea what to do in these kind of situations! He mentally shouted. Say something, you fool, he shouted mentally at himself, but no thought came.

When she finally calmed down, she wiped her wet face and murmured a thank you, while Ren did not release her from the hug. Rue, feeling good after crying thought of something, so with a wicked smile, she tightened her hold on Ren and kissed his cheek.

"Wha…" dumbfounded, that was all Ren could say before she pushed him out of the hug and turned her back on him, but not before smacking his head.

"Damn brat! You don't need to say anything. Rest up."

"Wait, Rue…"

She started to run to the door while saying, "Ah - I need to find the others."

Ren stood rooted on his previous spot as he watched Rue disappear from the room. He was still feeling flustered from her gesture, and too embarrassed to run after her.

It was only later that he found out he had made a big mistake.

I should have followed her.

Okay, this chapter was my try on fluff - again XD - on RenxRue. I know it came out a little OOC (even for Rue, Ha!), but I hope not that much! XP

Dasiy Flower: you won't be waiting long ;D (I hope :p)

Moo: How do you know all this stuff? (*_*) *amazed*. Yeah, when I think about it, you're right, excuse me for that. I can't change it now - I'm not sure how to rewrite the scene, exactly (sorry!). But thanks for always pointing out things like those, and for the great reviews! ;) thank you thank you so much! :D

Sara Lee: I'm really happy you enjoyed it! XD

Thanks for reading you guys! :D