Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King or any of the characters from the manga or anime. I also do not profit in making fanfics.
What would Ren and Pirika talk about? I hope you would enjoy the next part of Yume to Yakusoku
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Chapter 10: Conversations under the moonlight
Pirika just finished taking a bath. Unlike her usual routine in the onsen, she didn't go back her room that night. She was thinking about it the whole day. She was going to talk to Ren tonight. She still doesn't have a clue as to what they would be talking about... but whatever it was it is surely of utmost importance. Ren looked serious when he invited her. It must be something about Men... there was nothing else that Pirika could think of.
She could only guess but that's all there was to it. The only way she would know is to go now to Ren and talk to him.
Pirika went towards the garden. The moon gleamed. Because of the moon Pirika didn't had a hard time looking for Ren. The Chinese Shaman looked majestic under the moonlight. His silk evening dress was shining under the moonlight. His hair was waving with the slightest of breeze. He looked serious as he gazed at the plants in the onsen's garden. Pirika almost stopped breathing... no words could describe how mesmerizing... no...magnificent... no... majestic he was.
"Ren?" Pirika called.
If he had not moved then she would have thought that he was a piece of priceless artwork. Ren was now looking at her. He looked directly at her. His eyes were intense.
Pirika can't help but hold on to herself. She could feel her knees giving in. Her heart was racing once more. Seeing Ren looked at her... she had remembered that date once more... that kiss... that rescue... and it did not help her heart go slower.
"What are we going to talk about?" Pirika asked seriously.
Ren sighed. It was hard for him as well. Just as Pirika was stunned at him... she too looked stunning. She might be wearing a simple white sleeping gown but Ren could not care less. She could be wearing a garbage bag and she would still look amazing!
Ren was lost. He cannot start now... seeing the girl in front of her. But he must. It is for his peace of mind. It is for Men and him.
"Tell me... why did you want Men to call you mama?" Ren asked, "why are you pretending?"
"I like Men... I don't know... it was just out of impulse. I didn't... I wasn't planning on anything." Pirika answered having a hard time speaking.
Ren was looking at her. Her thoughts were there but seeing those eyes makes it harder for her to speak.
"You wanted to be his mother?" Ren asked. He had already planned these questions and god knows how hard it is to just ask them.
"I just wanted him to be happy." Pirika answered. "I can't stand seeing him sad... or lonely."
"Then why did you reject me back then? You have not really answered my question directly and I think it was unfair."
Pirika agreed. It was truly unfair. He must know. She clenched her fist and braced herself. She looked down... and stared at the ground.
"Because... I do not want your reason for having a family. I do not want to have a child with a man with that kind of reason. It was just like my other ex-boyfriends... they didn't love me."
Pirika then looked at Ren's eyes. It didn't help. She was getting emotional.
"You don't love me. You just wanted to have a baby-maker!"
Ren was surprised by her words. It was true... the way he said it back then was just like that.
"But you wanted Men now. Even if he was not yours, you still want him?" Ren continued to ask.
He doesn't want to look at Pirika but he forced himself. Her eyes were already swimming in tears and shining with the moon's glow. She looked hurt but not looking at her would make him less of a man. He was serious about everything and looking directly at her eyes would prove it.
"I want Men to have a mother. I do not want Men to be lonely."
"He doesn't need a mother. He has me."
"Is that the reason why you left Iron Maiden Jeanne?" Pirika asked, "Because of your selfishness?"
Ren wanted to avert his gaze. Pirika was crying. With all his strength and willpower he was stopping himself to go towards her and embrace her. They have to talk. However he was starting to feel the emotions inside of him as well.
"Men is the only thing I have now!" Ren said almost shouting. "He is the only one who loves me now."
"But you cannot keep him for yourself!"
"You do not understand! No one loves me anymore aside from him. You... nor anyone else can take him away from me! He is my child!"
Pirika's tears were streaming down her eyes. Her thoughts were incoherent but she still wanted to speak. She was biting back the sobs and breathing continuously just so she could speak to him clearly.
"Men needs a mother! That is the reason why I let him call me that."
Ren then snorted.
"You lost your chance when you rejected me back then... it could be you. It could be us. But you said no so now you don't have any right to take him away from me. To take away the only soul that loves me... that needs me!"
Pirika then stomped her foot. She was having lesser and lesser control of herself.
"Ren Tao you idiot! I love you back then!" Pirika suddenly shouted.
Ren was about to say something when her words sunk in. He was suddenly shocked. The well-practiced questions were now no more... those words took him off-guard.
"What?" He could only ask.
"I love you! That's why I rejected you!" Pirika shouted. Tears were continuously flowing from her eyes.
"What?" He asked once more. He had lost control over his emotion as well.
"I wanted to have a family with you... a real family... I wanted you to have a child with me because you love me and not because..."
Pirika then paused. She wiped the tears away.
"not because... you wanted to have a powerful Shaman as an heir. I wanted...for me to be your wife..."
Pirika then chuckled.
"Maybe that was the reason why I cannot be contented in a relationship. I thought Masuda and the rest could make me forget about you... make me love them. But instead I was always longing for someone else. Even if I was with them... I wanted someone else. I wanted you. I have always loved you. I love you... Ren Tao."
The realization happened just now. Pirika cannot believe it herself. Somehow the reason was always buried somewhere deep inside her heart and now that she lost control of her heart she had seen it.
Pirika then looked at Ren. He was just stunned.
"You've got to be kidding me..." Ren muttered.
"I am not." Pirika answered sincerely.
"You think I would believe that? I know that when you finally got me to love you... you would leave. It was just like what you have done with Masuda and the rest."
"Ren?"
"You would leave me and you would take Men with you." Ren said almost talking to himself.
"I wouldn't..."
"You think I would let that?" Ren asked, "You think I would let you take away the only precious person that loves me... the only one who still loves me."
Pirika was hurt. She had just confessed and Ren wouldn't believe it. She just can't handle it anymore.
"Still selfish..." Pirika muttered.
"You know what? I am happy I rejected you." Pirika said clearly, "If I would have said yes... then it might be more painful than this."
Pirika then turned around and started to walk. She cannot take it anymore... more from Ren and she might break down.
"You're leaving?" Ren asked.
"I swear I shall not take Men away from you." Pirika said her voice breaking once more. She breathed the moment she realized that her tears won't stop flowing now.
"Good... then leave me... like what you did to them. Leave me..."
Pirika obliged. She instantly ran towards the onsen leaving Ren under the moonlight. She vanished when she finally got inside and closed the door behind her.
The clouds started to block the moon. In an instant there was darkness.
"Leave me... before I completely believe you... before I completely love you." Ren muttered.
If he was not in Funbari then Ren might have torn himself up. He clenched his fist and punched himself.
It hurts...
But the pain that conversation brought was hurting him even more...
He finally decided to go back to his room. Men might wake up in the middle of the night and he doesn't want him to know that his father went out.
'That's right... it's only him and me now...like it has always been.'
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Pirika didn't go back to her room since Tamao would be there. Instead she went to a hidden part of the onsen and cried in a corner.
Her eyes were burning but she still cannot stop crying. She was trying her best not to make any noise. She would not want to wake up anyone. She doesn't want anyone to see her like this. She sobbed silently.
'Kami-sama... what am I going to do? Kami-sama help...'
While crying she felt like she was unable to breathe... she choked. Clutching her chest she tried to cough. She coughed silently until she found her breath once more. The moment she could breathe again she cried again.
"Are you really trying to kill yourself? You need to breathe you know..." A very familiar voice suddenly said in the darkness.
Pirika stopped crying. She feared to have wakened anyone...
The clouds finally passed over the moon. The light entered the windows until it shone upon the familiar voice. His long hair was radiant under the moonlight. His kimono was shining. His calm face had a smile on its lips.
Even without knowing him personally... even without talking to him face-to-face... ever... she knew him. How could she not? There was no one inside this onsen that could have not known him.
"Asakura..." Pirika gulped, "Hao."
"I am glad you could still remember me." Hao answered.
Hao was still the same age. He didn't grow up at all. He still looked like the same Hao Pirika saw during the Shaman Fight in Tokyo. However, as she felt his presence Pirika knew that he had changed. He was not the same Shaman she had seen before... he was more powerful... even a normal person would feel the difference in status.
He then bent and sat down in front of Pirika. His smile was still there in his face. Pirika was almost embarrassed by the way she looked. She must've been a mess.
"Why are you here?" She asked as her hands fixed her hair.
"You called for a god. I am the Shaman King and I control the Great Spirits... technically I am God." Hao said like it was a matter of fact.
Pirika thought. He was correct... but why would he appear in front of her? That was the question plaguing inside Pirika's mind.
'Is he... real? Or maybe I am dreaming.' Pirika thought.
"I am real Pirika... I am here to help you."
Pirika seemed surprised.
"Good. It seems my appearance had made you forget about your problem." Hao said praising himself.
"But what can you do?" Pirika asked.
Hao then lifted his eyebrow. He seemed insulted. Pirika noticed it at once and covered her mouth.
"Such ignorant and foolish creature." Hao whispered with a sigh, "I can do anything."
"I'm sorry." Pirika apologized at once.
"Ne... do you want to know where Iron Maiden Jeanne is?" Hao asked. This was one solution he could come up with.
"What? Even Lyserg-san doesn't know where she is exactly."
Hao chuckled.
"Lyserg may be a dowser but he's only a pathetic Shaman... don't even compare me to him." Hao said finding it humorous.
"Then could you take me to her?"
Hao laughed even more.
"You may be privileged to see me... but you're not that lucky." Hao said.
Pirika seemed confused. At least she isn't crying now.
"I would only tell you exactly where she is. It is up to you to get there..." Hao said patting Pirika's head.
It was enough for Pirika. Just knowing where she is was already too much information. She could not ask for more. Even though it might be hard for her but she wanted to talk to Iron Maiden Jeanne... Men needed a mother and she would be the only person who had the right to be so.
"Thank you... " Pirika whispered.
Hao smiled once more.
"So are you sure about going there?"
"Of course... "
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It was also night time at that place. Her silver hair was neatly tied in a bun. Her night gown was hugging her figure perfectly. She looked like an angel from afar... she always had been even after many years and even after childbirth.
"Are you sure you wanted to talk to her?"
It was Hao once more. He was sitting comfortably on a large sofa. He seemed to be talking to Pirika and to her at the same time.
The King can do anything.
"I thank you for appearing before me... I am truly honoured to be in your presence." The woman said.
"It is nothing. You once were a powerful Shaman... god class to be exact... "
The woman then looked at Hao. Her crimson eyes were mature but it was still as lovely as Hao remembered it.
"Iron Maiden Jeanne."
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Will Jeanne and Pirika meet? What would happen next?
Find out in the next chapter... just wait patiently...
Author's note: Kami-sama means god... or just 'Master Hair'. Yeah Hao is the Shaman King so he is god! This chapter is kind of short if you ask me... but actually this is my favourite part of the story. I have been itching to write that Ren and Piric conversation since chapter 5! The conversation had been revised like 4 times already but I am still not satisfied... it might be edited once more... or probably not because of my busy schedule. Well... I still hope you like it as much as I do. So please tell me what you think!
Thank you very much for supporting this fanfic and me... THANK YOU VERY MUCH!
I hope you continue on reading and I hope you leave a review before you go...
Once more THANK YOU VERY, VERY MUCH!