January 1, 2012: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MY LOVELY HUSBANDO. FUNNY HOW PEOPLE ALL OVER THE WORLD CELEBRATE YOUR BIRTHDAY. :3
So anyways, my lack of action for the past month on FFnet has been to work on this baby. 8D My threeshot for Ren's birthday. ^_^ If my math isn't horribly, horribly wrong (it's vacation week, okay?), he's 26 today~! YAY REN! Happy birthday again my hubby. ;D
...He and I will be together forever. O.O
Anyway, that aside, like I said this is a threeshot fic. (Hehe, get it? Three?) However when I first wrote this it was separated into 6 chapters - I was going to use some lame excuse that six is a lucky Chinese number - but I just couldn't not have this be a threefic. However, each chapter is split into two parts because there were certain flashback scenes that were at the beginning of each chapter that I didn't want to edit out.
NOTES PLEASE READ: Ren's Chinese name is Lian, which is actually a girl's name and means "lotus"; Ming Yue means "bright moon"; at certain points in some chapters when characters are speaking Mandarin and they are around Japanese characters, the words will be italicized like this to make point that the character is speaking Mandarin - when characters are speaking Mandarin and they are alone, the font is regular; there are flashback scenes at the beginning of each part (not saying who the flashback POV is!); AND VERY IMPORTANTLY, this takes place a few months or so after the KZB ending when Hao...you know...*SPOILER* becomes even more of a badass (I might say the exact date in here but I don't remember), so I'm pretty sure most things should be canon...ish. For the most part, canon manga is followed, but we'll see an anime adaptation in here.
ALSO VERY IMPORTANTO: One or two elements of the SK world about spirits is tampered with a little bit, you'll see what I mean toward the end of the fic.
Nothing else comes to mind for me to say. I'm off to celebrate Ren's birthday. ^_^ Hope you have a good day! Enjoy, leave a review, and the next chapter will hopefully be up tomorrow!
Special thanks to shamanhearts! She was my guinea pig for this project. However, even she doesn't know how it's turning out. ;D
Lonely Lotuses, Dark Moon
Chapter One
Part One
~Three Years Ago~
Dusk was gathering on the city of Tokyo. In the distance, the girl could hear the sounds of cars honking and people shouting, but the particular sidewalk she was walking on was nearly empty. Only the occasional car passed by; rush hour had passed, and this was a bit more of a quiet side-street, with mostly apartments and very small businesses on the sidewalk.
The girl was obviously Chinese, but instead of just wearing a regular shirt and jeans, she had on a casual blue kimono with the pattern of silver flowers, the color of which matched the hair band that was placed at the top of her long, dark hair. Her violet eyes were fixed upon the ground in front of her feet as she walked, and her facial muscles were twitching slightly, as if she were having an internal conflict.
And in fact, she was.
She took a moment to stop and look at her surroundings to check where she was. A hundred feet or so ahead—well, she didn't have a good judge of distance—was an intersection. She could see a figure walking up to the crosswalk. She had an absolutely absurd thought of who it could be—and her thought wasn't even remotely true in the slightest, but her anxiety had mounted—and she ducked into an open store.
Her heart was pounding so much, but she still somehow heard the cashier as he said, "Good after—are you feeling all right?"
The girl blinked as she put a hand up to one of her temples. "Mm? Oh, yes, I am." Her Japanese was rigid and lacked any contractions. There was no doubt that it was not her first language.
The cashier, who was probably in his forties and had brown hair and light brown eyes, smiled, and the light wrinkles in his face fit comfortably around his warm features. "Not a native, huh?"
The girl was a little confused by his amicable attitude, but she was too anxious to question it. "No," she replied. "My sister and I are studying here," she answered truthfully.
The man nodded. "Would you like something?" he asked, motioning towards the shelves. For the first time, she noticed that the small store was actually a bakery, with several types of bread and other goods, like French croissants, lying on the various surfaces. Her stomach was swirling with nerves, and she honestly thought she might puke if she ate, but she had the sense to think that eating might calm her anxiety. She nodded and began to look at the food wares, knowing that she had to get something small or her stomach would hate her.
Outside, the sound of someone shouting caught her and the man's attention. Curiously, but also hesitantly, she approached the open door and peered outside, the cashier hurrying to look as well.
What the two of them saw happening occurred too fast to truly take in. The images the girl took in were the sparks and the massive thing barreling off the road and onto the sidewalk toward them.
And at the edge of her vision, seen but not seen so far off in the distance, was an outline.
Wordlessly, the cashier grabbed the girl by the arms and shoved her back further into the shop. With what sounded like the sound of thunder, whatever-it-was smashed into the side of the shop. Glass broke and flew everywhere, along with parts of the wall and tables.
The girl wasn't sure what exactly hit her, but pain blossomed all around her body, especially in her arm. She fell, hitting her head, and within seconds everything was dark.
()()()()()()
"The moon fades and then hides itself. After that comes a moment of darkness. There is nothing more wonderful than darkness."
()()()()()()
~Present Day~
Ren closed his eyes and allowed himself to be visually surrounded by darkness. "Yes, Yoh," he said into the cell phone.
Yoh's voice, as always, was bright and cheery, though it was even more so at the moment. "That's great, Ren! I'll call everyone, and when you get here we'll have a huge dinner and everything…what, Ryu?" he said, his voice becoming a bit distant on the other end of the line. Ren was about to strain his ears to hear better, but suddenly Yoh's voice rose in pitch. "A-Anna needs me? Gotta go, Ren," he said quickly, and a second later the line went dead.
Ren snapped his phone shut, not knowing whether to be annoyed or amused by the hasty goodbye, although he was secretly a bit more swayed by the latter emotion. He slipped his phone back into his coat pocket.
"I assume Yoh-kun's happy to hear that we're coming to the inn?" Jun asked him.
Ren finally opened his eyes. "He's a carefree lunatic. Of course he is, Jun."
Her smiled widened, and she turned to Pailong, who sat beside her. "It'll be so much fun, Pailong…"
She continued talking, but Ren turned the two of them out a bit. The three of them were currently on a train, heading toward the distant jet that would take them to Japan. Jun had just celebrated her birthday, and she had wanted to go and visit Tokyo. And Ren couldn't say no to his sister. Travel from their home in China to the En Inn—where Ren was dead-set against staying at overnight after that one time HoroHoro farted repeatedly in his sleep, even though the Ainu was going to be busy in Hokkaido at present—would take a couple of days, which would give Ren plenty of enough time to come up with the best strategy to defeating Yoh in battle.
()()()()()()
At that moment, Manta had just gotten out of cram school. He stretched his short arms as he walked out of the front door and onto the sidewalk, breathing in the fresh air (well, as fresh as air could be in a busy city such as Tokyo) through his nose. He checked his watch, recalling that he'd promised to go over to the inn to hang out with Yoh—though he was sure that Anna would make them do something terrible, like cleaning. He felt it was worth it, though, to be able to hang out with Yoh and Ryu and the spirits, not to mention Tamao and…well, Anna could be enjoyable sometimes.
For old time's sake, Manta decided to walk through the cemetery to take a shortcut to Yoh's house. He climbed over the gate, doing his best not to fall flat onto his butt, and placed his feet onto the ground. He didn't have to hurry, so he took his time as he walked through the graveyard and when he ascended the stairs to the shrine.
It's pretty peaceful up here, he noted to himself when he reached the top and looked around at the scenery. Despite the creepiness of the place (something that he still hadn't completely gotten over), it was quiet, aside from the chatter of the resident spirits.
"Oh, Manta-dono!" a familiar voice called, and Amidamaru appeared out of thin air before the small teenager. Said boy gave a start, but was quickly able to shake off the feeling after knowing of Amidamaru and other spirits for nigh on three years.
"What're you doing here, Amidamaru?" Manta asked, curious. During the Shaman Fight, the samurai spirit had hardly left Yoh's side at all. It felt…wrong for him to be seen without Yoh.
Amidamaru seemed to straighten up in importance. "Yoh-dono said it was important that I took a look around the nearby cemeteries to make sure no spirits were causing harm or needed help."
Manta nodded. "A shaman's number one job is to help the spirits and people nearby," he said, recalling the early days with Yoh, when the shaman had helped the spirit of the sign painter and helped save those kids from a fire. "See anything?" he asked conversationally, beginning to walk toward the other set of stairs that led down to the opposite end of the graveyard.
Amidamaru floated along beside him. "The resident ghosts here don't have too many problems, but they do say a female spirit has been wandering around lately and seems a bit restless. I haven't seen her myself, but they gave me a bit a description. I need to report to Yoh-dono, lest that spirit somehow become fixated and starts to wreak havoc on the people around her."
Manta looked up from concentrating on the stairs below his feet. "I hope she doesn't become fixated," he said with a shudder, remembering how he had almost been flattened by the billboard that the sign-painter ghost had possessed.
"Hopefully we will be able to find her before that happens," Amidamaru replied as they reached the bottom of the stairs. Together, the two exited the graveyard and headed to the En Inn.
()()()()()()
Yoh was getting the groceries when he nearly tripped over Manta.
The tiny boy skittered out of the shaman's way. "Yoh-kun! I thought you'd be at the house."
Yoh regained his footing—he had almost fallen flat on his face—and stood up straight. "Hi, Manta. Hey, Amidamaru," he greeted. He held up his grocery bags; he didn't have to verbally explain what he was doing for the other two to go "oooooh."
"Anyway," he went on as they all turned to go to down the sidewalk back toward the inn, "what's up?"
Manta shrugged. "Not much with me. But Amidamaru—"
"Yoh-dono," the samurai interrupted, coming forward and pointing at a spot a bit of the way down the street. Yoh, who'd been paying attention to Manta, picked up the aura of another spirit, and followed Amidamaru's guidance with his eyes to see a flicker of movement among the crowded street.
"What is it?" Manta asked, craning his head to try to see where the other two were looking.
"The spirits in the cemetery described a wandering spirit to me," Amidamaru said. "It looks like her. Manta-dono and I were wondering if she might become fixated, as she seems to be restless."
Yoh couldn't really the spirit from the distance; the best he could pick up was her black hair, and the colors silver and blue in what she wore. As politely as he could, he began to push through the people, though he didn't break into anything faster than a brisk walk. Manta hurried after him on his short legs, while Amidamaru just passed through the people in his way. Realizing that he might not catch up to the spirit girl before she slipped away, Yoh asked Amidamaru to go on ahead, and the samurai quickly morphed into his spirit-ball form and sped away.
When Yoh and Manta finally caught up to Amidamaru, they found themselves on a less-crowded sidewalk, as it led out into the lesser-visited area of Funbari, where the En Inn was. Amidamaru was still in his spirit-ball form, staring tensely at the spirit-ball form of the female ghost; her overall aura was bluish, and her long dark hair was topped by a silver hair band. She looked to be about Yoh's and Manta's age, or a little older, at the point when she had died. Her eyes, which were violet, were narrowed in tense unease as she gazed back at Amidamaru.
Yoh smiled at the spirit. "Konnichiwa," he greeted cheerily and friendlily. "I'm Yoh—this is Amidamaru, and Manta," he introduced, nodding at the others in turn. When the spirit didn't say anything and only looked at him warily, he continued, "Don't worry; I'm a shaman. Do you need help?"
The immediate reaction took Yoh a bit by surprise. The spirit's eyes widened, her expression seeming to both brighten and tighten in excitement at the same time. In a swirl of silvery-blue, she formed into her regular form: that of a young woman wearing a blue kimono with the pattern of silver flowers. The odd thing was that Yoh recognized her as Chinese, and he wondered why she would be wearing a Japanese garment.
"Shaman, you said?" The girl's Japanese, while fluent, lacked any sort of contractions. "You would help me?"
Yoh nodded. "That's what I do."
"I am looking for someone," she said then, almost speaking over the last part of his sentence.
Manta blinked in surprise at her hurried tone. "Who?"
She became flustered in her excitement for a second. "I do not know his name. I am not sure if I have ever even seen him before." She wrung her hands, as if she was anxiously trying to find the right words. "The way he was described to me… He wore a yellow jacket, and…" She vaguely began gesturing in a triangular form above her head. "His hair…was…spiky?"
Understanding dawned in the male trio's eyes, and simultaneously they all said, "Oh, you mean Tao Ren."
The girl looked at them in confusion, her violet eyes scrunched up. "Tao…Lian?" she asked, her voice taking on even more of her Chinese accent as she actually said the name.
Yoh nodded. "We call him Ren. He's actually a good friend of ours. I mean, there can't be that many people who have that kind of spike in their hair," he pointed out with a chuckle.
Manta agreed with a laugh as well. "No, not many." He turned back to the spirit. "Why do you ask?"
The girl took the slightest second to respond. "I heard that he would be able to help me."
"Help you with what?" Yoh asked. "I'm able to help you. What do you need?"
She fidgeted slightly. "I need to find him."
Yoh couldn't say that he wasn't a bit unnerved at her assertions that she really needed to find Ren. What could Ren possibly help this girl with? Something suddenly occurred to him, but it must have occurred to Manta at the same time, because the short boy spoke up.
"You never told us your name," he pointed out to the girl. He suddenly seemed to become embarrassed. "I mean—you don't have to tell us, if you don't want to," he said quickly.
She paused and looked at him; something flashed in her eyes, something Yoh couldn't read. "Ming Yue," she said finally. She didn't elaborate on what her family name might have been. She looked back to Yoh. "Do you know where I could find this...Tao Lian?"
Yoh nodded. "He's actually going to come by my house in a couple of days and stay in Tokyo for a while with his sister. You can come by my house around then and I can introduce him to you if you want."
She seemed to consider his words for a moment. "I would like to see him as soon as possible," she admitted. "Would it be acceptable if I waited at your house? I would not interfere with you."
Yoh knew that Anna might not like if he just accepted Ming Yue's question. However, there was no way that he would turn down her request for help. "Of course you can."
Ming Yue talked little on the way to the En Inn; Yoh got the feeling that she was lost in thought. Manta and Amidamaru tried talking to her, but they soon gave up, and Yoh didn't even try to make conversation.
When they finally arrived at the En Inn, Anna met them by whipping open the front sliding door. Her eyes were immediately on Ming Yue. "Picked up a wandering spirit?" she asked Yoh, studying the ghost girl's appearance.
"She says she needs help—from Ren," Yoh explained, trying not to be nervous even though he knew that Anna wouldn't just be cruel to Ming Yue for no reason. "I was thinking that we could let her stay here until Ren comes to visit in a few days."
Ming Yue bowed to Anna. "If you would not mind, miss, I would like to stay here to wait for him. I would not get in your way. If it would please you, I would stay outside or where I could not be seen or get in your way."
Anna stared at her for a moment with half-lidded eyes. "Why do you want to see Ren?" she asked.
"I heard he could help me," Ming Yue answered simply.
"With what?" Anna asked in a deadpan tone. Ming Yue opened her mouth to speak; however, nothing came out for a few seconds, and Anna shrugged and said, "Whatever. Just don't get in my way, and leave this place as soon as possible. I don't like annoyances."
Ming Yue nodded, and Yoh couldn't help but note that her eyes seemed to be relieved. "Would you like for me to stay in a certain place?"
"Outside, out of the way, but I suppose it doesn't matter as the house is haunted anyway," Anna said before turning around and heading back further into the house.
And without any other prompting, Ming Yue turned and headed to the side of the yard beside the fence, and faced the entrance gate.
Yoh, Manta, and Amidamaru exchanged a look, but none of them knew what to do, so they followed after Anna, each one feeling rather awkward about Ming Yue's determination, and each one of them wondered, What could Ren possibly do for her?
For days, Yoh never once saw Ming Yue move from that spot beside the fence. She hardly seemed to move at all; since she wasn't tangible, the wind didn't stir her hair, so she looked to be just a colorful, semi-transparent statue. She also rarely said anything if one of them walked in and out of the house, nor did she even seem to acknowledge Ponchi and Conchi when they harassed her—although for some reason they did stop bugging her rather abruptly.
All Ming Yue did was stare at the entrance gate, an unreadable expression on her face.
()()()()()
Ren watched with his cat-like eyes as the workers—as kyonshii were too noticeable out and about in daylight—took his and Jun's luggage off the private jet. He himself only carried his sword, which was concealed underneath his blazer, at his hip just above his shorts; he went nowhere without it.
"Oh, Lian, be more happy," Jun chided as Pailong went to pick up a couple of her bags. "You should smile—we're going to see Yoh and everyone after we put our things in the hotel."
Ren rolled his eyes. "Jun, I'm thinking," he explained before turning away from the jet and heading for the limo. Jun followed him after a moment, as did Pailong; the workers put their luggage in the trunk. Before long, the driver started the limo and drove out of the jetport and headed toward Tokyo.
Ren crossed his legs and stared out the window. He, of course, was contemplating whether or not he should challenge Yoh as soon as he saw him. He was definitely leaning toward actually doing so, though he remembered how he had failed to kill Yoh after he had struck him with lightning. His hand tightened into a fist, and he knew that there was no way he could let that happen again if he was going to win.
After they had dropped off their belongings at their hotel, Ren, Jun, and Pailong had their driver take them to the En Inn. Upon arrival, the trio got out of the car and instructed the driver not to wait for them, and they headed toward the entrance gate.
A moment before they reached it, Ren's determined thoughts were interrupted by his sixth sense: an unfamiliar spirit was in the area. Jun stopped walking for a moment, too, and the two exchanged a look of confusion. Yoh didn't say anything about a new spirit, Ren thought as he continued walking toward the gate. Though he wasn't afraid or anything of the unexpected presence, he was surprised and curious.
The first thing Ren saw when he walked onto the property was Yoh, Manta, and Amidamaru waiting on the front steps; exactly where Yoh had sat when he and Ren had talked the night of their draw.
Just as he was about to point at Yoh and confidently declare a challenge, his field of vision was taken up by a face, and a large pair of violet eyes.
"Tao Lian," the spirit girl said importantly in Mandarin—though with the slightest of tremors in her voice, "you need to help me find my killer."
Part Two
~Three Years Ago~
A girl sat in the uncomfortable waiting room chair. Worry was apparent in her facial expression, body language, everything about her. Her hands were clasped together before her mouth, and her violet eyes stared blankly at the wall. Several other families were in the room as well, but she was alone.
A few minutes later, a young man hurried into the room. Though he was only a year or two older than the girl, his anxious face was tired from a long workday. Shoving his windblown hair out of his eyes, he looked around until his eyes landed on the young woman, and he hurried to her side.
"Mi-" he began, cutting himself off when she turned to him, tears in her eyes.
"Yuichi," she gasped, flinging her arms around him. Her breathing became uneven and full of wet sobs.
He wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "…How is she?" he whispered into her hair.
The girl managed to control her breathing enough to speak. "She…it doesn't look good…. Her arm and chest were hit most…she hit her head…burns..."
Anything else she said became incomprehensible once more. Yuichi patted her head, knowing that any words he said to her to calm her down could be a lie. There was little doubt that the one they were waiting for would not come out of this alive.
()()()()()()()
~Present Day~
Ren stared at the spirit in front of him, perplexed by her sudden request. "Who are you?" he asked suspiciously, responding to her in Mandarin. Having been surprised by her sudden appearance, he had backed down out of his overconfident stance, though his stature was still tall as he looked at her.
An unreadable expression flashed across her face, and though Ren did not miss it he had no idea what it meant. "Xian Ming Yue," she replied, and once again a small look flashed across her face; he thought he could recognize a bit of...panic. "I need your help finding my killer," she repeated, her voice strong and insistent.
Ren raised an eyebrow and then shook his head. "I'm afraid I'm busy at the moment," he told her stiffly, making to move around her.
"Lian!" Jun scolded, joining in the conversation with Mandarin; her tone caused even Ming Yue, who had been staring determinedly at Ren, to look up at her. "Don't just ignore her!"
"Um...what are you guys talking about?" Manta called out. He had stood up, as had Yoh. "What did you say, Ming Yue?"
The spirit girl ignored him and continued speaking in rapid Mandarin. "I've heard of you. You're Chinese," she stated. She paused, as if realizing that she had stated the obvious and was embarrassed by it, then said strongly, "Spirits I talked to said that you were near where it happened."
Before Ren could respond, Yoh called, "Oi, don't you guys think you could speak Japanese?" He was sweat-dropping. "I don't understand what's going on..."
Ren let out a breath of anger. "Yoh," he said, switching back to Japanese. He gestured toward Ming Yue. "Why do you have a stray spirit in the yard?" He said "stray spirit" almost as if he had said "stray dog."
Ming Yue bristled. "Don't speak about me that way!" she snapped at him.
Yoh stared at Ming Yue; he was surprised, and not just because she had spoken in Mandarin. "I didn't know you were this…excitable," he said, unable to come up with a better word.
Ren crossed his arms. "So you did know. Why didn't you try to help her?"
Yoh looked at Ren indignantly. "I did! She said she wanted to find you—she didn't know your name, but when she described you I knew it was you." He grinned. "I mean, who else has hair like you?"
Ren's tongari twitched slightly. "I don't know why I even came here," he mumbled quietly to himself. His whole battle-ready mood had left him thanks to the distraction by the spirit girl.
Ming Yue turned to Yoh in irritation. She spoke in Japanese, and though her undertone was impatient, it was far different from hearing her speak in Mandarin. "Is there any way you can get him to help me?"
Ren scowled. "Don't talk as if I'm not here. And I never said I wouldn't, but it's not like I have the time."
Yoh frowned. "C'mon, Ren, it's our job as shamans to help spirits pass on."
The sound of footsteps announced Anna's arrival; she opened the front door and leaned against the doorframe. Her cold eyes studied the scene. "You might as well do it, Tao," she said. "She's been here for days. She's starting to annoy me, being there all the time."
Ming Yue suddenly became impatient, and she rushed up to Ren and used her levitation to loom over him. "I need your help," she insisted in rapid, urgent Mandarin.
Ren was a little unsettled at having his personal space invaded, but he shrugged. "When I have the time," he replied loudly to her, annoyed, before turning toward Yoh. "But first-"
"No," Anna commanded.
Both boys blinked in surprise and looked at her. She huffed.
"Honestly, Tao. All you want to do is fight. But not here, where you could destroy my inn."
Ren leered at her, but he didn't dare say anything against her. Even he was hesitant to challenge Anna. "Fine, then. We can always go somewhere else to fight."
Yoh looked confused. "Who said we were fighting?"
Ren's tongari shot up, and he pointed accusingly at Yoh. "Why else do you think I'd come here?"
"I don't know." Yoh blinked. "To have a good time and hang out?"
Ren's mouth hung open uselessly. Ming Yue opened her own mouth to speak, but before anything could happen, Anna snapped.
"You know what, Tao? Yoh'll battle you once you've helped her—I will not allow it otherwise." She huffed and crossed her arms. "I'm tired of this," she finished before heading back inside.
"A-Anna..." Yoh stared after her before casting an apologetic glance at Ren and hurrying inside after his fiancée.
Ren stared at the spot where Yoh had disappeared inside. He had no idea what had just happened, aside from the fact that his plan had just been shot and ground down into the dirt. After a couple of seconds of incredulous speechlessness, he spun on his heel and stalked away, meaning to leave through the entrance gate.
"Lian!" Jun called, now concerned. "Where are you going?"
"I'll meet up with you later," he answered without looking back. He left the property and headed in a random direction, which ended up being away from the main city. At the moment, aside from Bason, he wanted to be away from everything and everyone; he was fuming.
"Would you stop following me?" he asked Ming Yue after a couple of minutes of silence on both of their ends. He didn't even turn to look at her, and he kept walking, entering a small band of woods.
She gave a slight noise of surprise, as if she was startled by his sudden address to her. "Not until you help me," she insisted. "I'm not going to stop."
Ren stopped short, his already tense muscles tightening. "Stop."
"No."
Ren whipped around. "I'll help you later," he snapped. "Leave me alone."
Ming Yue shook her head vehemently. "I heard what she said: you can't battle Yoh until you help me. And I'm not leaving you until you do."
The determination in her violet eyes was steely, and her words were tense; Ren paused as he noticed this. She sounded as if she were trying to say something without saying it.
A sudden bout of overwhelming anger and impatience took hold of Ren, and he pulled out his sword and flicked it so that it extended to its full length before he hurled it at a tree. Its tip embedded into the wood; the sword was so sharp, and Ren had thrown it with such strength, that it had nearly went through the entirety of the thick trunk.
The only reason I came here with Jun was to win against Yoh, he thought violently. His fists shook at his sides, and the sudden soreness of his throat betrayed the fact that he had just yelled without realizing that he had done so. And as soon as I get here, he pisses me off as always, and Anna fucking forbids me to do anything, and on top of those things, this—this girl-
He broke off in his thoughts, realizing how stupid and childish he was sounding to himself. Despite how much he wanted to defeat Yoh, it was impossible for anyone to stay angry at the lazy boy forever—although Ren was often annoyed by him. And Ren was a shaman—he was supposed to help spirits that needed him. Just because he wasn't getting what he wanted didn't mean that he was in the right to act this way.
Although his logic still didn't completely calm him down, he let out a breath and managed to subdue his emotions. He walked over to the tree and pulled his sword out of it before he shortened it once again and slipped it into its holder. And finally, he turned to Ming Yue, who was looking at him with wide eyes. He recognized the fear and alarm in her eyes and scolded himself silently. He couldn't believe that he had been unable to control his own feelings.
"...I apologize," he said, crossing his arms and leaning his back against the trunk of the tree. "I'll help you."
Ming Yue stared at him for a moment. Very quickly, her eyes narrowed determinedly once more. "Help me find my killer," she repeated from earlier.
Ren sighed tiredly. "Revenge?"
The oddest range of expressions crossed her face for a brief second, but then she nodded. "Yes. But most of all, I want to know why."
Ren's hand tightened around his arm. He once again wished that he had become Shaman King: there would be no hatred if he had gotten his way. "You know revenge doesn't do a whole lot of good?" he pointed out. "It's hard to know who you are if you let hatred define you."
By the look on her face, Ren guessed that this thought had never crossed her mind. She thought for a moment. "I still want to find him. That's all I've been able to think about for years."
Bason appeared beside his master. "Are you sure you've considered Bocchama's words?"
Ming Yue seemed a tad surprised at the other spirit's sudden appearance, but she nodded without a word.
Ren knew that there was little he could do to change her mind, so he decided to just go along with what she wanted. "When and where were you killed?"
"I was killed three years ago," she replied, and then went on to describe the name of a bakery that had been near the corner of two streets in one of the less-busy sections of the city.
Ren nodded; he had a pretty good idea of the location, though he wasn't entirely sure how to get there due to his unfamiliar sense of the area compared to his own home. "Could you lead me there?"
Ming Yue nodded and pointed out of the woods the way they had come. "I think just walking would take us almost an hour to get there, though..."
Ren didn't really care. He stood up fully and motioned for Ming Yue to lead the way.
()()()()()
"Anna, you know you need to-" Yoh began, but his fiancée cut him off.
"Shut up, Yoh," she snapped. She continued to munch on her rice cakes and stared at the television.
"But it's bad for the-" He broke off when Anna sent him a glare. Scared for his life, he backed out of the room and nervously hurried to the kitchen.
"What's up with Anna-san?" Manta asked when he walked into the room.
Yoh fought against the heat that rose in his cheeks and the bubble of happiness in his belly at the thought of his and Anna's secret. "She's just being Anna," he answered. He looked to Jun, who was drinking tea while sitting beside Tamao and Pailong. "Jun, how are you?" he asked, not having had the opportunity to greet her earlier during all the commotion.
"I'm fine," she replied. She rubbed her thumb along the edge of her cup. "I'm a bit worried about Lian, though," she admitted.
"Ren can take care of himself," Yoh replied.
Manta nodded. "I wouldn't worry, Jun-san." He paused. "Maybe he's helping Ming Yue-san... What did she want him to do?" he asked.
Jun looked troubled. "She said she wanted him to help her find her killer. She said he was in the area when it happened."
Pailong frowned. "Why was she killed, though?"
No one had an answer.
()()()()()
Ren was hit with a sense of déjà vu—not entirely surprising, really, as Ming Yue had said that other spirits had seen him in this area before when she had been killed three years ago—when he stepped up to the edge of the crosswalk. He wasn't quite sure, however, if he could remember what he had been doing here or how long ago he had last come here. He looked to Ming Yue. "Where did it happen?"
He noted that a certain tenseness had come to Ming Yue, and he could understand why. Plenty of spirits haunted the place where they had died or been buried or where their ashes or monuments were placed; however, who was to say that they enjoyed it?
She looked around slowly at the crowd of people around them as she took in their surroundings. Then, she slowly pointed to the corner just across the street that was to their left, and without warning she started floating in that direction. Ren was a little annoyed, and he had to wait for the light to change before he could cross with a bunch of random strangers who were heading in the same direction.
When he finally caught up with her, she was still, staring at the sign above a store door. Ren took a glance up to see that it read, "SHIGERU'S PRINTING," before he turned his attention back to Ming Yue.
"Didn't you say this was a bakery?" he asked.
She stared at it for a moment longer before shaking her head as if to clear it. "It would make sense that it's been changed," she muttered, looking down at the ground.
Ren was confused. "Why's that?"
Ming Yue opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She was still facing the ground.
Something occurred to Ren, and he wondered why he had never brought up the point before. "How did you die, Ming Yue?" He knew she had been killed by someone, but that was the extent of his knowledge.
At this, her face grew red with emotion and her shoulders shook. She held her hands up in front of her mouth and shook her head, still not looking at him or anything else for that matter. Ghostly tears began to spill from her eyes, gaining enough emotional form to splatter onto the ground.
If anything made Ren uncomfortable, it was a girl crying. "M-Ming Yue, I can't help you if you don't tell me," he explained, taking a small step closer. He had no idea what to do.
She shook her head in a short, jerky movement. After a couple of moments, she found her voice. "C-can I...find you tomorrow...?"
Through his discomfort, Ren felt a flash of irritation; he wanted to get this whole deal done and over with as quickly as possible. But even though he really wanted to push Ming Yue through this emotional hurdle due to his impatience, something about her expression caused him to hesitate.
And just when he was about to open his mouth and prompt her to speak, she disappeared from sight. Ren was taken aback, and he whipped his head around to try to find her, but she was gone.
()()()()()
Incredibly beyond frustrated, Ren went back to his hotel and went straight to the private weight room to try to blow off some steam. As he trained, he glared at nothing, and tried unsuccessfully to subdue his thoughts. Thanks to Ming Yue ditching him, he had had to find his way back to the hotel by himself—which admittedly wasn't that hard to do—and besides that, he was plain irritated by everything that had happened that day. He had just finished travelling on top of it all.
It took him a long time, but eventually he became exhausted, both physically and mentally. He trudged to his bathroom and took a shower, letting the hot water warm his muscles. Afterwards, when he had lazily dried off, he slipped on a pair of boxers and slid into his bed. Exhausted as he was, it took him a few minutes to begin to drift off.
"Don't wake me, Bason," he muttered before closing his eyes.
