"Tanjoubi Omedetou, Neesan"
-Vx Tao Ren xV
Disclaimer: Nope, don't own Shaman King… Takei Hiroyuki does, though…
Author's Notes: Wai!!! Tanjoubi Omedetou, Jun!!!! Whee!!! Yes, Incase you haven't already figured it out, October 10th is Tao Jun's birthday.. which is pretty much what this whole fic is about (hence the title). Oh yeah.. this may also have RenxJun hintings.. why? I'm not quite sure.. I'm not exactly what you would call a devoted fan to incest pairings.. but it may just turn out that way X.x..
P.O.V. Information: Okay.. since I am seriously narrative-impaired, I usually do character P.O.V. fics.. but this is regular, nothing special, narrative.. so it may not make sense at times.. I apologize.. it's a very strange habit.. Anyway, this is also anime-timeline based, so there's no Shaman Fight or anything.. just to clarify..
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"Tanjoubi Omedetou, Neesan"
It was early October, October 9th to be exact. China is particularly cold this time of year, and no one is usually seen roaming the streets, even in the afternoon, due to the unbearably cold weather… and the early arrival of snow. However, an individual, completely covered by a coat of black, and a yellow scarf hanging rather loosely around the collar, is walking through the streets of the main city, and looking through the windows of every shop he happened to pass, not entering a single one. Some may call him insane, to be roaming around in incredibly cold weather, and not seeking shelter in a single store or market… but the said individual, Tao Ren, certainly was insane… in his own view anyway.
Ren was not having a good day, not a good day at all. His sister's birthday was one day away, and he has yet to find a suitable gift to give her. Not that Ren hasn't been looking since the day before.. oh no, no, no.. Ren has been looking since her previous birthday.. telling himself that he would give her something extra special, something that she wouldn't forget. But, he hasn't exactly found that something yet, and he's still determined to find it… although he's running out of time.
Ren stopped in front of yet another shop, wind blowing colder than ever before against his uncovered face, and gazed into the window. This was a clothing store, window displaying several very warm-looking fur coats. 'No..', Ren thought to himself, while looking at a coat apparently made of white-tiger fur, or something that can easily be mistaken as it… 'I got her something just like that last year, except that one had a hood… damn it…'. Ren continued walking deeper into the city, still searching for a perfect gift to give to his sister the following day.
Feeling extremely defeated, Ren started slowing down his pace as he walked, thinking about what it was that he wanted. He claimed, at least for the past year he did, that he wanted to give her something more meaningful than any ordinary, material gift. Tomorrow would be Jun's twenty-second birthday, which would mean the first anniversary of when she became an official adult, not just his big sister. The first anniversary of when she broke out of their parent's control, even though she was still bound to the Tao family name, nothing of major importance was pushed onto her. The first anniversary of her freedom. This is why tomorrow was so special, to him anyway.
Ren had been out wandering the streets since 5:30 am, and it was now 4:00 pm. Needless to say, he was kinda cold. Okay, that's an understatement… a huge understatement. Ren was freezing, he had attempted to use his scarf to shield his face from certain frostbite, but it kept blowing away whenever the wind started up. He had lost the feeling in his feet an hour before, the dropping temperature of the snow penetrating his shoes and slicing through his socks, going directly to his feet. Ren never once thought of going back to the warmth of his home, only to get an earful of why he was out for such a long time, in the snow no less. But Ren was determined, very determined… not to mention stubborn, but that's not the point.
Still walking thought the snowy streets, it was now approaching nightfall, and Ren's mind was nowhere near stopping, even though he was approaching the end of town. Energy certainly drained out of him, he came to a stop at the very last shop, which was a food market. The snow had nearly completely hidden the small shop from view, and was obviously closed. At the edge of the town, there was a park, which wasn't very big, but it was peaceful, and was inhabited by only a few trees. However, small as it was, it seemed a mile long due to the snow, and Ren's vision, which has started to blur.
'God dammit! Why the hell can't I pick something?!?! Why am I being so freaking picky?! I'm going to die if I stay out here any longer…' Ren was now leaning against one of the trees in the park, wondering why on earth he didn't go home long ago. 'It's not like she wouldn't have understood if I said that I couldn't find anything perfect enough.. she would have shrugged it off as if it were nothing. Knowing this, I'm being stupid, and walking through a city, in the snow, loosing all feeling in my body, impairing my vision, draining my energy, and still haven't found anything…'
Just then, Ren collapsed from the cold, and his dropping body temperature. He was undoubtedly very ill, having been outside for well over 12 hours. And he never even bought his sister a birthday present after all of this.
"Neesan.." A boy of approximately 5 years old was holding the hand of his older sister, while walking down a flight of dark, gloomy, seemingly endless flight of steps. "Yes?".. The girl answered, approximately 5 years older than her brother, still descending the flight of steps. "Tomorrow's your birthday, right?".. The boy had a very sad, yet concerned tone into his voice. "Yes, You remembered that.. I'm glad. What about tomorrow, Ren?" She stopped. Not noticing Ren had let go of her hand, Jun turns around to see Ren now sitting on the stairs, about to break out into tears. "Ren.. what's the matter? What happened?", Jun, 10 years old, rushed to her brother's side and looked extremely worried. "Are..", starting to cry, the 5 year-old Ren started, "Are you going to leave me then?".. "What?! Why would I leave you?" "You'll be old enough to leave the house soon.. Are you going to leave me behind? I'm scared. I don't like being in the house by myself.. I don't want you to leave me, Neesan!" Now completely crying, Ren was cuddled into the arms of his sister, who were both sitting on the stairs, completely surrounded by darkness. "I'm never going to leave you alone. Just tell me something…" "Uh huh..", was all that was audible, due to Ren's crying. Tears began streaming down Jun's face as she hel her brother closer, "Just tell me that you won't leave me behind either…"
"Ren!"
Ren slowly opened his eyes due to a sudden warmth that wrapped around his entire body. He didn't have any idea what time it was, how long he was passed out for, where he was, hell, he could have been dead for all he knew.
His vision was blurry, to say the least, and it seemed as if everything was submerged in a pool of white.
"Ren! Wake up!"
Straightening his vision, Ren tried to get up, but found his body frozen and frostbitten. He must have been lying in the snow for hours. It was a wonder that he wasn't dead. Ren then started to hear things normally as well.
"Ren, Please wake up!"
Realizing who it was he was hearing, he soon recognized his situation. He was lying in the snow, in the park, which was at the end of the main city street. The warmth he recently woke up to, was the warmth of a coat wrapped around his body, and the voice was unmistakably his sister… Who's birthday was the next morning, if it were still the day he thought it was...
"N…Neesan…"
"Ren!", Jun's face was red from both the cold, and the excessive crying from finding her brother passed out in the snow, for God knows how long. She had gone out looking for him, since he wasn'r in the house since the moment she had waken up that moment, and was yet to return home. It wasn't a very pleasant experience running through the snowy streets, yelling Ren's name, and finding him in the snow, possibly dead. She was obviously overjoyed that he was alive.
Ren quickly understood what had happened. After failing to find a birthday gift, he passed out in the snow, and his sister came and found him. And now, she was propping up his back against her folded legs, and holding his head in her arms..
"Ren! What the hell were you thinking?!?! You could have been dead! What would Okasama have said if I returned hime with your corpse?!"
"I'm…"
"No, Ren! I'm not finished!", Now Jun was clearly hysterical, her relief quickly turned to anger and confusion, as to why Ren was in the storm in the first place.
"I'm sorry.. but I had to find it...". Ren clearly looked vulnerable, and was suffering from a fever, but felt the need to justify himself on why he didn't have a birthday present for his sister. He wasn't quite sure why, especially since he went through a near-death experience trying to find it.. but still had the need to explain himself.
"Find it? Find what?", Jun didn't have a clue what Ren was talking about, He could have been delusional from being in the freezing cold for nearly an entire day.
"Your perfect birthday present… I couldn't find it.", Ren sounded very defeated, and Jun couldn't help but feel some sort of pity for his condition.
"That's why you were out here all day, in the freezing snow! To get me a birthday present! You know I would have been happy with anything you would have given me… Why?", Jun broke into tears at the last part, not understanding what could have been so important.
"I know.. but I wanted to get you something special… since it's your anniversary…"
"My anniversary?"
"Yeah.. it's your one year anniversary of your being an adult, and your freedom from Oyaji.. I think that's special… so I wanted to get you something special, too…"
A light "Ren…" was the only thing Jun was able to say. She had absolutely no idea that's how Ren felt.
"But.. I don't understand…", Ren continued, "Why didn't you leave the house? I think I could protect myself now, not that I don't want you with me.. but… why didn't you leave..?"
Jun was now hugging Ren tighter than ever, breaking down into more tears than ever before.
"Ren.. if I had left… then who would have protected me?.. You said you wouldn't leave me behind either, right?"
"Neesan…"
The clock then rang 12 o'clock, and signaled the official start of October 10th… Tao Jun's birthday…
The two siblings remained in the snow for a bit longer, as the wind and snow began to subside.
"Tanjoubi Omedetou…"
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Woah! That was.. that was awesome! I think this is one of the best-written fics that I've ever done. I almost cried while writing that flashback thing of Chibi Ren and Chibi Jun. Kawaii!! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it! Please review!! Tanjoubi Omedetou, Jun-Oneesan!!