Shaman King Fan Fiction ❯ A Gift of Love ❯ More Fears, and Pain ( Chapter 5 )

 

In this chapter, we get to see Pin-Mei make a mistake! Oh goodness! She is not the prefectxxors! (yes. I misspelled that on purpose) I really needed to stop making Pin-Mei look like the victim. It was getting boring.

 

Disclaimer: I should have done this a while ago, but I don't own Shaman King. Only the characters Pin-Mei and Ma Ying, and even then, Ma Ying was a real person, so I really don't own her either. Oh well.

 

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

A Gift of Love - Chapter Five: More Fears, and Pain

 

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

“Ren-Niisama…”

 

He groaned. “What is it now?” he said briskly as he worked a rowing machine.

 

“Remember that thing we spoke about earlier today…?” the four-year-old said quietly. Her hands were behind her back and she was swinging gently from side to side.

 

“What about it?” He was still concentrating on what he was doing, not even glancing at her.

 

“Um… can we do it?”

 

“What did I say about the conditions for doing it?”

 

“We'd do it after dinner if I didn't annoy you.”

 

“What do you think you're doing now?”

 

She looked hurt. “Annoying you?” she ventured.

 

“Bingo,” he said flatly. Her face fell even more. “Go cry to your mom. Like I said, it's not my responsibility to get you a spirit.”

 

“My mom's not here,” Pin-Mei replied quietly.

 

“Then when you go home. You know what I mean.”

 

“She's not at home.”

 

“Well then where the hell is she, hm? Out with another man? Hope your parents aren't just dumping you on us.”

 

The next thing he knew, his nose was bleeding and Pin-Mei was gone. He looked around and spotted a bloody two pound barbell on the floor near him. After putting his hand to his nose and confirming the blood factor, he angrily picked up the barbell and threw it at the wall, making a hole.

 

That fucking brat! he thought as he stormed out of the room. She's going to be so dead once I find her!

 

He walked quickly down the hall in search of the little girl. When he rounded a corner, he bumped into his mother. He almost just passed her, continuing on his way, but…

 

“Ren, come here.”

 

He turned, about to tell her that he was busy, but was met by a harsh hand. His cheek burned, a sensation almost foreign to his body. Stunned, and with wide eyes, he touched his cheek.

 

“Mother…”

 

“That was for what you said to Pin-Mei. You should know better,” she said angrily. “You and Jun are lucky to have had me all your lives, but she has not been as fortunate.”

 

“What are you talking about?”

 

“Xu Hua, her mother, died shortly after giving birth to her. What do you think life is like for a child with no mother, and with a father who has so many women at his beck and call? Are you aware of the backlash a child receives from their relatives when their mother dies giving birth to them?”

 

She began walking away.

 

“You think about that, Ren.” Soon, she was out of sight.

 

As the warm stinging on his cheek faded, so did his anger. Despite the fact that she was nothing but a bother to him, it was clear that he had gone a little too far. It was then that he decided to go look for her. A flash of light entered from the many large windows in the hallway, soon followed by the crackling of thunder. He ignored it, and went about the rooms in search of her.

 

For almost an hour he searched for the little girl, but he still did not find her. Even after going back and opening all the cabinets in the house, there was no sign of her. After searching the last room, he was about to give up.

 

I've even looked in the places too small for her to fit into… where the hell could she have gone?

 

After another flash of lightning and boom of thunder, he looked to the nearby window, his eyes wide.

 

“She wouldn't…” he whispered to himself. The rain poured down and clung to the window panes, gathering before falling to the ground. He couldn't even see out of them; they were too fogged up. What if she was out there? Unable to rule out the possibility, he turned and ran out of the room.

 

Multiple times, while running down the halls, he would almost collide with a servant, but managed to dodge them. It was at times like these that made him curse his large home. There were too many places to look and halls to run down. Yet, he finally reached the hallway leading to yard.

 

He ran and slammed the sliding door open.

 

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

“I see you showed up,” he said with a cocky smile.

 

Pin-Mei was standing on the porch before him dressed as he had requested; in a shirt and shorts, no skirt. “Of course I did!” she cried, putting her hands on her hips. “What? You were expecting me to chicken out?”

 

He smirked. “You're going to wish you had when you find out what we're doing.”

 

She looked at him suspiciously. “What do you mean?”

 

“You'll find out.”

 

He guided her away from the yard, through a field and eventually to a lake of crystal clear water. Looking back at her, Ren could already see the discomfort on her face.

 

“W-What are we going to do here, Niisama?”

 

“Today, you're going to learn how to swim.”

 

“WHAT??” She took a few steps back. “No way! Absolutely NO WAY! I did NOT sign up for this!” She started to run back up the hill toward home.

 

Ren sighed. He ran and easily caught up with her, grabbing her arm. “I'm taking time out of my day to do this, so you could be a little more grateful,” he said in an annoyed tone. “Besides, are you saying you don't trust me?”

 

His question caught her by surprise. She bowed her head slightly in shame. “I…I do…”

 

“Alright then, let's go.” He started back down the bank, then turned around to realize she wasn't following him. After a deep healing breath, he marched up to her, took her wrist, and then marched back down again. “Listen, I realize you're scared, but if you're a baby about it, it'll just piss me off. You're not four anymore, so don't act like it.”

 

Pin-Mei gave her wrist a shake in an act of defiance. “If you DID understand, then you'd be a little nicer about it.” A dark grin formed on her face. “Of course, considering how great you are, you've never been scared, so how would you know how I feel?” The grin faded when he looked back at her, a bereaved expression on his face.

 

They were at the edge of the water. He made her take off her shoes while he did the same, in addition to his shirt. After taking her wrist again, he stopped before heading into the water.

 

“Don't think I've never been afraid,” he said without looking at her. “I've had to do things although I was afraid… I'm human too, you know.”

 

At that instant, Pin-Mei felt a deep pang in her heart. She knew then why the water had been turned on before she could confess to him. This “love” that she had for him simply wasn't deep enough. Not yet. If it had been, she would have never said something so thoughtless.

 

I'll wait, she thought, closing her eyes. I'll wait until I'm not a child anymore before I say it. It will mean nothing other wise. She opened her eyes again. “Ren, I—,”

 

“Let's go,” he said, cutting her off. “And don't be afraid. I won't let anything bad happen to you.”

 

She only nodded and made a small sound of agreement before allowing him to guide her into the water. A tear ran down her face that she quickly wiped away.

 

Thank you.