DarkTaoAngel: I do not own Shaman King, however many times I wish that I did. I do own this story, so please review it if you like it!
He stared down at the necklace in his hand. It was a Yang necklace, the Yin half to it dangling around his neck. His sister had given them both to him, with the sole intent that he would give the other half to the girl with whom he liked, but the problem was, Ren did not seem to like anybody.
There was only one girl he had ever liked. Her name was Pirika, but she was his friend's sister, so he had absolutely no chance with her. Besides that point, there seemed no way for him to casually give it to her without uprooting suspicions.
Though there may be one way for him to give it to her. It was Pirika's birthday tomorrow, and he would have liked more than anything to give the necklace to her at that time.
That was where he was now, pondering what he should do about his predicament. He had no idea of what her reaction would be, but he figured that either way he would not be pleased by it. He had made a vow long ago to never depend upon anyone, and to live as though he was on his own all the way. He had broken that vow when he had met Yoh Asakura, his first true friend, and he promised himself that he would not let it happen again. Though he did like her, and finding out if she liked him too was enough to make anyone curious.
In the end his decision was clear. He would give it to her shortly after everyone else, so as not to rouse anyone's attention. He waited the hour when he could finally meet her, eye to eye, as he had never really been alone with her before. He would keep it in a box beside his bed until then, safe from harm as he wore his own around his neck.
It was finally the anniversary of Pirika's birth. Ren waited in his bedroom, preparing her gift, and making sure that everyone had left before leaving himself. He checked to make sure that every occupant had deserted the Inn, everyone except Pirika, who was the only one left behind. It was now or never for Ren to give her his gift.
He made his way to the living room, to find her waiting for the others to get back from shopping for her presents. He checked one last time that no one was about, before walking as casually as he could into the room.
She was surprised to see him, though inwardly pleased by his presence. She could feel herself starting to blush, but she ignored it, hoping that it would go away soon.
"What are you doing here?" Pirika asked, though she hoped that the reason she thought he was here was right.
"I… um… I came to give you your… uh… birthday present…." He averted his gaze away from her, trying hard to suppress the deep crimson that was threatening to appear on his already pink tinged face.
Ren held out the box that he had spent the past hour perfectly wrapping and sealing, presenting it to her while trying to look as confident as possible, though he was pulling it off very poorly.
She took it in partially shaking hands, though she ignored them as she took the small partial from him.
"Thank you." That sounded even worse as she went through it in her mind, but it was all she could think to say to him.
Pirika opened the packaging, careful not to tear the wrapping too horribly. When finally all of the dark purple paper had been removed, to reveal a small white box, she opened it silently, Ren's pressing glares not striking her because there surprisingly were none.
It opened to unveil a necklace, white Yang with a small circle of black in the corner. She looked up at him and smiled as he took the other half to the necklace out of his shirt, lifting his head up and smiling at her as well.
Their eyes met and they seemed connected, unwavering their gazes for several moments before turning away, dark red staining each ones face.
"Thank you so much." Pirika said, barely speaking above a whisper into her shirt as she placed the necklace around her own neck and fastened the clasp.
Ren merely nodded, unable to look her square in the eyes without severe signs of emotion showing everywhere on his face. Pirika seemed unsatisfied however, because the next thing Ren felt was a pair of lips pressed hard against his. She put her arms around his neck, and he placed his arms around her waist.
They shared the kiss for quite a long time before breaking apart, gasping for breath as they both fought the overwhelming desire to run away, unsure of what the other had thought. Luckily for them both, they were spared further embarrassment due to the fact that the others had just now returned to the Inn.
Ren did not want to be questioned by them, so he left for his room on hearing their footsteps.
"Thank you." Both Ren and Pirika said at the exact time, before Ren disappeared down the hall, listening to the laughter that erupted from the living room that was once so silent.
When he finally got back into the safety of his own room, Ren through himself onto his bed. He had so many thoughts going through his head right now, but most of all happiness, the one thought that he was finally truly able to feel with her help. He touched his hand to his lips, remembering the kiss as though it had been so very long ago. It had been her move, not his, which proved to him that she had liked, maybe even loved him all along, and he had the same thoughts about her.
Ren spent the next few hours in his room, listening to the loud cheers coming from the downstairs kitchens. When finally it seemed that everyone had left once again, back to their normal lives and duties, Ren chanced going down the stairs again. He checked the kitchen, but Pirika was not there, just as he had suspected. She would be out shopping again, of course, and so he would wait until she got home to talk to her.
Hours later someone finally got home, not Pirika, but a very flustered Yoh. He was sweating as though he had been running for a while, and he looked, for the most part, scared. He flung the door open and began shouting at Ren.
"Pirika's hurt! Come on Ren, we have to go and help her!" and with that Yoh left, Ren jumping up from the couch, and following Yoh out the door. He too was worried about Pirika, especially as his thoughts raced to this morning, and the kiss they had shared only a few hours beforehand. He was just as scared as Yoh, even more scared, but he could not be slowed down by his emotions, he had to run as fast as he could, and save Pirika when he got there.
They found Pirika, lying in a pool of her own blood, hurt badly but not dead, yet. Horo, Tamara, Anna and Rio were all there, having witnessed it all happen before their eyes. Ren ran up to Pirika, bringing her into his arms, holding her through her possibly last breaths.
"There was a car accident. It happened so quickly, none of us was there to help…." Tamara said, tears forming quickly in her soft, delicate pink eyes. The others were crying too, some more than others, but none more than Ren.
He looked down at Pirika once again, seeing that she was still wearing the Yang necklace bothered him even more, because he could have been there, he could have saved her had he actually told her how he felt about her, then they could have been walking together.
Ren took Pirika's hand, completely unaware that there were any other people around him, and felt her pulse. It was much slower now, and he was sure there was no way she could live much longer. His tears fell onto her hair, coming down in thick drops, giving away his weakest feeling that was love.
"I… love… you." Ren looked down to see Pirika, barely alive, telling him that she loved him. He began to cry harder now, knowing that she was about to die, but she had still told him what he felt about her. Now he had to honor her final words with what he knew she must want to hear.
"I love you, too." Pirika smiled one last smile, then cringed due to the pain, and was not to say another word ever again.
Ren lay her down, standing up to see the others, shocked at the fact that he actually had feelings, least of all love, but they said nothing at this delicate moment. They all could sense that Ren was at the breaking point, so they tried to not disturb him as he ran as fast as he could towards the Inn, tears spilling out of his red tinged eyes.
He went up to his room and flung himself against his bed, not wanting to be around the others, not wanting to show that he was weak. Pirika had been the only one who he loved, and who had loved him back, but now their love could go on no longer, and he would never see her smile again.
The others came back hours later to tell him that they had buried Pirika and said their goodbyes, and that he could do so later if he wished. But he did not wish to say goodbye, he never wanted to have to see someone die because of him again.
He looked down at his necklace, the Yin to Pirika's Yang. That necklace was the cause of all this, the reason they had become so close, and the reason they had both been hurt so badly. He despised that necklace for all it had done, and he wanted it to do something for him to make it so that they could be happy because of it.
He took off the necklace, eyeing it in with a glare that would kill if looks could, and used the sharp point of it to slice his wrist vertically, bleeding on contact. He knew he would die at that minute, but then he could be with Pirika again, and all of his tears would have paid off.
Now the darkness that was in his heart was tearing at him, destroying him from the inside, destroying his already broken heart.
In his final moments of life he smiled one last time, just as Pirika had done for him, and said, "I love you Pirika, and now I can be where you are, forever." And he died in the next moment.
He had hoped that he could be with Pirika forever, but now he could never be with her. It had all happened so fast, with no time for him to think it through, and now he had killed himself for something that seemed to have been all along, from the time he had given her the necklace up until now, it was never meant to be. He was dark, just like Yin, and he was never meant to be with the light that was Pirika's Yang. Just like the real Yin and Yang.
DarkTaoAngel: Sorry for the length, I wanted to make it a oneshot, so this was what I came up with. I hope you liked it; it even made me sad to read it. Please review, and let me know how you liked the slight romance because I have been trying to become better at writing it!