Shaman King Fan Fiction ❯ A Gift of Love ❯ Now, Then, and Soon ( Chapter 29 )

I don't know about where you guys live, but here, it's really effin cold. My trampoline broke (It was NOT my fault!) so I had to start walking at night instead of jumping. In the cold. Red hands. Numbness… Ow.

 

Not to mention that I tend to get anxiety in the dark sometimes, only when it's quiet. Lately, the Iron Maiden from Resident Evil 4 has been making me think he's going to come get me. (For the record, it is not related to Jeanne) Thus, I enlisted Ren to walk with me and make sure I wasn't killed. However, he's all depressed about Pin-Mei, so I had to call up Hitsugaya to lend a hand also, because depressed people might get occupied, and that means we have a dead Jezebel on our hands. The Taicho has some free time since in the fillers he's been relieved of operational duty (I don't really know what that means, but I think it means he's having an unwanted vacation).

 

You might think I'm weird, but if I didn't have such an active imagination, we wouldn't have this looooooong story on our hands.

 

Did I mention how much I love you guys?

 

Notes: The first italicized section is a dream. The second one is a flashback to after Ren and Pin-Mei returned from their trip.

 

There's an implied-but-not-outright-said Spoiler in this chapter from episodes 59 and 60. You've been warned.

 

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A Gift of Love - Chapter Twenty-Nine: Now, Then, and Soon

 

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“Ren! Please! Don't go! Please come back! Please don't leave me alone! I love you!”

 

She was kneeling on the floor cradling Ren's limp body in her arms. There were five deep wounds on his body; one on each of his wrists and feet, and one in his chest. His body felt cold.

 

“Ren…”

 

She brushed back his bangs to look at his face, which had a content smirk on it. Her tears fell on his face and down his cheeks. She clutched his body tighter, his head against her chest. Then she did the only thing she could do at that point: scream.

 

“REEEEEEENNN!!!”

 

His body vanished.

 

That was when she heard a voice. It was one she had only heard a few times, but didn't who it belonged to, only that it was a woman's.

 

“Pin-Mei…listen to me…”

 

She looked up from her crying and stood. “Wh-Who's there?”

 

“I can't tell you right now…I apologize. But I need to make sure you know this.”

 

“What? Know what?”

 

“Very soon, Xu Pin-Mei, you will have to make a life or death decision. This will not only affect you, but Ren as well.”

 

“Do you…Do you mean I'll see him again?”

 

“…Yes…”

 

“Soon?”

 

“…Yes…”

 

“I'm so happy! Thank you!”

 

“You're missing the point. You will have to make this decision on your own. No one, not even Ren will be able to help you. It will be your choice and your choice alone. It may not be easy for you. But I know you'll make the right decision…”

 

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Pin-Mei quickly sat up. She slowly touched her heart, which was beating fast. “What was that?”

 

It had been almost a month since her return home. There had been no word from Ren, and Suo was still determined to make her life increasingly painful. Rong, Ling, and Shu had decided on their own that they would sleep on the floor around Pin-Mei's bed, reasoning that it would help them protect her.

 

A head appeared from the ground to her left. “Lady Pin-Mei, what is it?” Rong asked.

 

Pin-Mei touched her temple. “It was nothing…just a dream…” That's right Pin-Mei, it was just a dream.

 

Rong crawled onto her bed. “You mean a nightmare.” She sighed. “Lady Pin-Mei, we can't help you if you keep everything inside. C'mere.” She laid Pin-Mei back down on the bed and got behind her, wrapping her arms around her master. “Just pretend I'm him, okay?”

 

“Rong, I really don't think…”

 

Pin-Mei fell silent. Rong, the strongest and least ladylike of the three, had amazingly well-toned arms. Even if just a little, they did remind her of him. They may not have been as strong or large as his, but just the thought provided her with at least a little bit of comfort. She wondered if this is what he felt like when he was her age. Calmed, she quickly fell asleep again.

 

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“I wish I could have seen you compete in the Shaman Fight.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because I want to know what you were like a few years ago.”

 

“I wasn't much different from how I am now.”

 

“HoroHoro said that you acted a lot like how you did when you came to rescue me.”

 

He looked at her, uneasy. “…He told you that?”

 

She nodded. “Uh-huh. He said that you killed some people when you cut their car in half, and you tried to kill Yoh and Ryu, and you killed your Shaman Fight official, and--,”

 

He covered her mouth. She looked over at him, his hair hid his eyes.

 

“I don't like to be reminded of that…” he said quietly.

 

She stared at him as he moved his hand away. He rested it on his knee, then clenched it as he stood up.

 

“I'm going to take a shower…” He walked away from her.

 

After thinking about the situation for a few minutes, she clenched her own fist and tried to punch herself in the face.

 

“Dummy.”

 

She could still hear the water running from the weight room's shower. She got up and ran over to enter the room. As she quietly closed the door behind her, she tiptoed around the shower to the towel bin. Opening it, she took the softest, warmest, and largest one she could find. Then she sat and waited for the water to shut off.

 

Once it did, she stood against the clouded fiberglass walls near the door, facing away from where Ren had been bathing. As she heard it open, she closed her eyes and thrust her arm out to her left, towel in hand.

 

“Here!”

 

Ren blinked at the cloth, then slowly took it. “Thanks.” After he wrapped it around him, he came out and saw her staring at the floor, her fists clenched in front of her. He looked at her quizzically. “What is it?”

 

She looked up at him with shameful eyes, then quickly hugged him.

 

“Hey--,”

 

“I'm sorry!”

 

“What?”

 

“I'm sorry I said those things about killing people! I shouldn't have! It was a dumb! I wasn't thinking about how you felt! I'm sorry I hurt you!”

 

He looked down at her, then sighed. “You say a lot of stupid things, you know that?”

 

She looked up at him like a beaten puppy. He put his hand on her head.

 

“Don't dwell on things. They lead to grudges. And grudges can be a horrible thing.”

 

She put her forehead against his chest. “I'm still sorry…It's just that…he was telling me all about it because I asked him to, and when I asked about you, he said that stuff.” She squeezed him. “But then, he said that you became a better person, and that he knew that you cared about everyone, even if you acted like you didn't. He said that you saved his life once.”

 

He was silent for a moment. “He didn't…tell you what happened, did he?”

 

“What?”

 

“Like…details?”

 

She blinked. “No. Why? What happened?”

 

He breathed a sigh of relief. “Never mind.”

 

“No! I wanna know!”

 

“And I want to get dressed, so I'm going now.”

 

“HEY! I'll take that towel back!”

 

He looked back at her slyly. “Naughty girl.” Then continued walking away. Pin-Mei huddled in the corner, trying to figure out where her innocence had gone.

 

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“Ren, darling, you have some mail,” Ran called as her son walked in from training outside. She handed him a thick envelope.

 

Ren examined it as he walked down the hall to his room. At first, he had no idea what it was. Then he saw the address: it was from Japan. A photo studio in Japan. They were the pictures of Pin-Mei. He stopped, turned around, and headed for the study instead.

 

Once inside, he sat down in one of the large armchairs and carefully opened his precious parcel. He took a deep breath. The first time he'd been able to see a real picture of her in almost a month. This was going to be painful. He slipped the photos out and laid them on the table.

 

They were beautiful. Nearly every one was a scene of perfection.

 

At least it wasn't a waste of money.

 

He began separating them by which ones he liked best. To his surprise, he actually liked one of the mistakes. In one shot, Pin-Mei had turned to look at him and wave, exposing her profile. He remembered them getting irritated at her and threatened to make Ren leave if she wouldn't pay attention. He smiled.

 

When he was done, he looked around the room absentmindedly. His piles of books were still on the tables. After a sigh, he decided he should put them back. He was surprised to discover that the books were already in order.

 

Whatever…just makes it easier for me…

 

As he was putting away the stack containing the most recent records, he wobbled and a couple of the books fell to the floor. He groaned and put away the ones in his hands, then went to retrieve the fallen ones.

 

Ren stopped.

 

On the floor, wide open, was the photo album. Its pages were turned to show the pictures of the couple as children. In the corner was their photo club sticker.

 

“Pin-Mei…”

 

He picked the book up and returned to his chair. Flipping through the pages, he found the photos of himself and his family; things he had never seen before. He flipped the page with the sticker on it to find a picture of him with everyone from Japan the night they had come to help him defeat his father.

 

They sat around a table eating. Ren at the head, HoroHoro next to his right, sniffing the food to make sure it wasn't tainted; Yoh to his left, then Jun, his mother and grandfather, and Ryu and Manta.

 

I think I need to go back there. To Japan.

 

He was about to get up, but first he took his favorite picture from one of the piles. After looking at it and smiling weakly, he placed it in the album. She was kneeling in a field of flowers with her hands in her lap. Her smile was sweet, not too big, and not too small. She looked almost delicate, a quality she didn't usually possess. After placing it in, he took a picture of the both of them and added it also.

 

Pin-Mei had demanded that Ren be in at least a few of the pictures, but instead they gave her a few minutes with him, telling them to go for a walk. Little did they know that some candids had been taken as they did so. The result was a picture of them standing on the small bridge hugging, her head on his chest and his head on hers. A content smile was on both their lips.

 

“The clever bastards…”

 

He shut it and left the room.

 

I need to get away from here…at least for a while.

 

So it was off to Japan.

 

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Back at the Xu/Fan mansion, Pin-Mei awoke as her body was shaken by a warm hand. At first, she rolled over and tried to ignore it, but it persisted and she finally had to answer it.

 

“What the hell…is it?”

 

Her father came to whisper in her ear.

 

“It's time, Pin-Mei. Rong, Ling, and Shu are already prepared. Rurikka has been readied as well. Put on your mother's training uniform so you can ride her.”

 

“Whaaaa?”

 

“All is ready…

 

Tonight, you're going back.”