Love Bonds

Chapter 3: The Fox and The Tanuki

If you can't understand the title, I'm talking about Ren and Saya. I only own my characters.


Another day passed, and it looked like everyone in the valley was prepared for valentines day, even though it was now twelve days close; Ren wasn't paying it any mind, all he did to pass the time was work more on arranging the flowers in his garden. "The chrysanthemum's look good today, maybe I should put them with the asters... nah, maybe I should put the asters with the carnations."

"Ren, good morning."

Ren noticed as Shifu came by, and waved to him. "Good morning Shifu, here to smell the flowers?"

"Not really, but I knew that you were here," Shifu answered. "Aren't you going to get ready for valentines day?"

"I will, but I'm going to wait a while before I find a girl."

"What about Saya?"

"Saya... she's just a friend."

"So is Kaguya, but that didn't stop Ichi from dating her." Shifu said, smiling

"But, didn't Kaguya ask him out?" Ren asked

"What I'm trying to say is that you should go out with her, you might be able to find love with her."

"Love seems hard to believe... it's been years since I felt it."

Shifu felt sad for Ren, he knew he was just like Ichi because they both never opened up to their emotions, but they were starting to little by little; he really wanted to help, but he had no idea what to do. "Love will always be with you, but you have to learn to share it with others."

Ren wanted to feel it, he wanted to feel it more than anything, but he didn't know why it felt so hard for him; was it because of his life in the black dragon group, or was it because, like his power... he had a heart of ice? "Ren!"

Ren turned to see Ichi approaching him. "What's up?"

"Saya's here, she wants to talk to you." He answered

Ren walked to the hall of warriors, leaving Ichi and Shifu alone. "Were you listening?"

"No, but Saya asked me if Ren had a valentines yet, it's not that hard to figure out she likes him," Ichi explained. "I'm hoping that she can help him, so his heart can open up more."

Ichi had become wiser during his time in the palace, and Shifu was proud of him because of it. "You know, that didn't sound half bad."

"Wise, but still a kid." Shifu muttered

"Huh?"

"Nothing."


Meanwhile, Ren was in the hall of warriors, and opened the door to find Saya. "Hey Saya, is there something you need?"

"I want you to come with me, so we can go out." Saya answered

"Y-You mean on a date?" Ren stuttered

"Of course, now let's go!"

Saya didn't even give Ren time to answer, she just grabbed his hand and ran him right out; what Ren didn't know was that Ichi and Fu was watching him. "I was right, Saya does like him."

"That's so sweet." Fu said, smiling

"Yeah, we shouldn't bother them." Ichi explained.

"Yeah."

Five seconds later. "Wanna go screw with them?"

"God yes!" Ichi answered.


Meanwhile, Ren was trying to figure out what to do with Saya, they were friends and she wanted to go on a date with him; he just wasn't used to it. "Saya, can you please let me go?"

"No way, you're going out with me no matter what!" Saya exclaimed

"At least stop pulling my tail!"

"Huh, sorry."

For a while, Ren felt like he was going to become the first ever tailess tanuki. "Alright, now why did you want me to go out with you?"

"Well, cause we haven't gone out in a while," Saya answered. "Ever since we joined the black dragons, you seemed so distant. I just... I want to see the Ren I met as a kid."

Ren was surprised, but he knew that Saya was right, ever since his parents died, Ren had closed his heart to the people he care about; he knew that he could open up now, but he was afraid that his heart would end up breaking again from the loss of a loved one. And yet, Saya was trying to help him open up, what exactly could he do for this situation. The only thing he could do was laugh. "What's so funny?"

"You said "As a kid", but if I remember correctly, you were about the same as you are now when I first met you." Ren chuckled

"Are you calling me old, I could understand that fox sage, but me!?" Saya exclaimed

"Cut Xiaomu some slack, she's my cousin after all, besides you two have a lot in common," Ren explained. "Besides being werefoxes, you girls got some killer moves."

"Just so you know, I could've beat her if Fu didn't have her back."

Saya continued to argue about her fight with Xiaomu, while Ren just laughed a little. But little did they know, Ichi and Fu were watching from far away. "I think Xiaomu would go crazy if she heard that."

"Probably, but at least she's helping Ren open up, that's all that matters." Ichi said, smiling.

"So, what might you two be doing?"

The twins nearly jumped out of their fur when they heard Shifu's voice, who mearly smirked from their reactions. "Nothing, just watching Ren and Saya."

"And why is that?" Shifu asked

"We were worried about him, I feel like if Ren doesn't open his heart... he might end up being worse than I was," Ichi answered. "I don't want that to happen, I want everyone I care about to be happy."

Shifu was proud for the twins, he even gave Ichi a pat on the shoulder to comfort him. "With you two, I know he'll open up. But something tells me that there is more to why you want to watch them."

"Well, we were gonna mess with them a little." Fu admitted, which only made Shifu chuckle a little.

"Still kids, but I think I'll join in the fun." Shifu said, smiling.

"Oh no."

Ichi groaned at the sight of the three boars approaching Ren and Saya, it was the three boars, Dash, Cash, and Flash again. "Whoa there, who's this hot lady?"

"Why don't you ditch this zero, and hang out with us?" Cash smirked.

"Excuse me, who are these losers?" Saya asked

"The three bullies Ichi went through in his orphanage." Ren answered

"You know that loser?"

"That loser happens to be my cousin."

"Figures, that freak always has weird relatives." Flash retorted

"Listen, I don't care what you say about me, but I don't want you to talk about Ichi that way." Ren talked back.

"Oh yeah, why should we?" Dash asked

"Because I know how he feels, and maybe I still do," Ren explained. "But that doesn't mean you have the right to treat him like crap, so I'm gonna say this once and only once, say anything about him again I'll break you like glass."

The air became cold as ice, Ichi could tell that Ren was about to attack. "Kage Bunraku!"

The three boars stood still at first, but then they started to move by the commands Ichi gave them with his hand motions; Ren was confused at first, but then he laughed at how they were walking around like clowns. After Ren calmed down, and the cold air was gone, Ichi let go of his hold on the boars. "Geez, you're just like him, let's go!"

"Whoa, when could you do that?" Saya asked

"I can't... but a certain dog can." Ren muttered

Ren could hear giggling coming from behind him, but he ignored it. "I feel like hanging out now, so where do you want to go?"

"Why don't we go shopping, I could use someone to hold my clothes." Saya smirked.

"No way, if we're shopping we get an equal share of clothes." Ren said, smiling.

"Now that's the Ren I know and love."

"Scuse me?"

"Let's just go!"

Ren just followed Saya to the nearest store, leaving Shifu and the twins by themselves. "That was pretty funny, I didn't know you can control three people?"

"I've been working on my shadow puppet technique, I'm getting better." Ichi said, smiling

"You've been practicing it on Po haven't you?" Shifu asked.

"No... yes." He replied "Let's head back, I don't want to bother them anymore."

"You sure?"

"Ren's getting better, we don't need to watch to know what'll happen."

"I couldn't agree more." Shifu said, smiling.

Ren and Saya ran over to the nearest store and started shopping like never before, or at least Saya was, Ren just watched as she fought against everyone to get what she wanted; just seeing her made him remember his childhood, how they used to play together, and how Saya took the blame for when they'd get in trouble, which was a lot since she was older than him by over a hundred years. "Hey Ren, how's this?"

Saya came out in a somewhat gothic kimono, it was black and had vines with thorns that had Roses in the middle of them; Ren was at awe, he never saw Saya look so beautiful before. "Saya, you look amazing."

"Thanks, but is that all you have to say?" Saya asked

"You look like a beautiful rose garden, each rose pedal glistening beautifully."

"Very nice, I'm gonna try on something else."

For the rest of the day, Ren just watched and complimented as Saya showed off the new outfits she wore, it wasn't much, but he was happy either way; after she was done, Ren walked Saya back to the cafe. "This was nice, it was actually pretty fun."

"Well, thanks for hanging out with me," Saya said, smiling. "And I liked how you stood up for Ichi, you really are a good cousin."

"Thanks, but I kind of wanted to ask," Ren said. "Why did you want to go out with me, you'd be better off with some other guy."

"Ren I..."

"I'm not that much of a good looking guy in my opinion, and I even started to gain weight, but I guess that's natural for a tanuki. I don't think you'd like to be with someone like...!?"

Saya silenced him with a kiss on the lips, Ren was surprised, but he knew it felt nice; the air became cold, and snow fell from the sky, as if to show the beauty of their kiss. After a few minutes, they finally broke for air. "S-Saya."

"Do you remember when we first met?" Saya asked

It didn't take long, but Ren finally realized it. "I remember, my mom let me walk around a nearby village while she bought groceries, then I saw you with a group of people trying to hurt you. I was four then, but I knew it wasn't right, so I tried to protect you."

"They hated me, because I was a werefox, but you protected me," Saya continued. "No one came to my rescue before, when you did I made a promise to always be by your side, and to help you when anyway I can. That's why, when I heard that you joined the black dragons, I joined as well."

"You did all that... for me?" Ren asked

"I'd do anything for you, because I... I love you."

Loved him, she really loved him, that whole thought made Ren's heart melt; the ice that covered his heart began to melt as well, leaving a warm feeling in his heart. "Thank you, and I feel the same way."

Saya was happy, but a thought came to mind. "What's with the snow?"

"Well you surprised me, so my power just reacted to how I felt."

"Then I know exactly how you feel, happy valentines day, Ren Aisu."

"Happy valentines day, Ren."

Ren left the cafe, and headed back to the jade palace, with a smile on his face; he knew now that it was ok, it was ok to open up again, and to let others inside his heart. When he opened the door, he found Shifu and the twins in the hall of heroes. "Welcome back, and how was your day?"

"... Better, and it's going to be that way from now on," Ren answered. "You guys were following me, I recognized Ichi's shadow puppet technique."

"I didn't know you knew that move." Ichi said, surprised

"I've seen you use it on Po, after a while, it's actually funny to see a panda do the chicken dance."

"We wanted you to open up, and not freeze the three stooges," Fu explained. "No matter how much they deserved it."

Ren knew that they wanted to help all along, he knew it he was going to live a good life, as long as they were there with him. "Thanks."


To be continued.

I'll go back to Ichi's love life next chapter, but first I'm going back to demon slayer: yin and yang. I'm having a surprise guest in the story too, it'll really surprise you... oh I can't stand it, it's Black Raider!