AUTHOR'S NOTES: Whoo! At last, the last and culminating part of this fanfic has come. Sad to say, this story will end now. By the way, this'll be the longest part, for the reason that I really enjoyed doing this fic that I had a hard time ending it.

DISCLAIMER: How many times do I have to tell you all that I dont' own Shaman King?!

DEBUT
Four-Part Shaman King Fanfiction by: FiendisHSerapH

PART FOUR: BITTERSWEET

~REN~
I am back to sanity. I opened my eyes slightly and focsed on what's going on around me. I am surprised to see my sister staring back at me. I can hear her say something and it took me a few more moments to realize that she's calling my name. She then just fixed the cold compress above my forehead and asked me if I feel better. And now, I am still caught staring at her; she's so beautiful to not stare upon at. Oh goodness, I think I can't do away with forgetting her and my fondness for her that quick. Up till now I still feel weird about her. For me, she isn't only my sister --- I have loved her too well to forget her that easily. She just beamed gratefully as I slowly nodded back. Then, she positioned her face closer to me, and she supported her chin with her left hand and still stared, just like a little girl will do when she finds interest in something she's looking at. We stayed staring at each other for a few more minutes.

~JUN~
It's great to see that he is already okay. Now in my point of view, he seemed to be only a few inches away from my face. I really can't help but to stare at him for no apparent reason at all. Right now, he seemed to be so irritated about me hovering close to him, but I don't mind, for what's important is that I am here by his side. I observed his face right before me. I never thought that time could be so fast. A few years back I remember him as a silent yet naughty toddler who seemed to not care about everything about him. Now, look at him: he's already a handsome teenager who perseveres very much to become the Shaman King --- such a mature thing and responsibility to handle. I came along and fixed his disarranged hair. I let my hand travel down to his pallid cheeks, and to his jaw. He then reacted with a slight blush as he seemed to savor the moment. I know, he had been out of touch since his childhood years. He had been in deprivation andhe had seen so much gore in his life. As his elder sister,, I have seen the destruction of his innocence, plus his undetterable hate for humans. I think he suffered so mcuh and I want to erase all the pain that he had experienced away. I want to dry all the tears he had shed secretly every night on his bed.

This is Ren, my younger brother, and most people see him as a cruel shaman.

This is Ren, my little brother, and I see him as a child with a wrecked innocence and a poisoned mind.

This is Ren, and I would do anything to save him.

This is Ren... and I... and I...

I LOVE HIM.

I have discerned it now, this weird feeling that I secretly feel about him a year before, the day when he started training for the Shaman Fights. I LOVE HIM, more than as a little brother. It's clear to me; I love him as a special someone. I admire him for who he really is: an innocent soul who had been shattered by violence, a vulnerable little boy who can cry and reveal all his feelings, and I would try my best for him to be back in his old self because... I LOVE HIM.

~THIRD PERSON~
Ren's voice broke the silence with bittersweet moments.
"I... I'm sorry."
Jun was back to her own self and replied, "For what?"
Ren spoke despite of his blight weakness, "For I ha-haven't fulfilled my promise." He closed his eyes, but then he felt the warmth of Jun's hand comforting his.
"No, you haven't"
Ren's eyes shot back in question. Just then, Pai Long appeared beside Jun and gave her the rose, the eighteenth and freshest rose.
"Miss Jun asked me to keep it for her and wait for your arrival." Pai Long explained as he disappeared.
Ren's eyes looked and posed a million interrogations.
"Ren... I was the one who broke the promise. I have hurt you so you went away. It's all because of me; it's all my fault, so forgive me..." she settled her head on the mattress and sobbed. Ren then felt pity and stroked his sister's head, his hand travelling down to her jade green hair.
"I see..." he cut the dramatic air. Jun looked up.
"I see, you really let your hair down." He proceeded and beamed slightly. He then reached out for his sister's cheek and wiped the tears that lingered there. She then wiped off the remaining one and replied in a matter-of-factly tone, "Oh yes, actually..."
She stood up to let him see her dress. "I wore the one you recommended me." She grinned and settled by his bedside again.
Ren posed one of the few expressions that is impossible for him to have, a smile. he then asked, "How about the debut? Did it come out well?"
"I cancelled it." Jun's voice came out straight.
"WHAT? You cancelled it? But..." Ren can't believe what he heard.
"I cut it the moment I saw you by the door." Jun cut off.
"Oh... so I DID ruin your debut." he stooped. "No, you haven't. It's my free will." she replied with a smile, as if returning his a while ago.
"And... how about the guys? Did they ask you to dance?" Ren's voice sounded interested, like a child wanting for the whole story.
"Um. well... they asked me, but I didn't agree."
Ren can't believe what his sister is saying. He knows that she agrees on dancing, but why didn't she?
"But why? They are your boyfriends, right?"
Jun's eyes shot in bewilderment over what Ren said.
"I... don't have any boyfriend! I... I am too young for that!" se flushed, and Ren chuckled a little bit. But deep inside, he can't help but to be shocked and to wonder.
"And... the eighteen roses? How was it...?" Ren stuttered.
Jun smiled, closed her eyes over thinking, then said, "It's not yet done."
With that stated, she stood up and signalled Ren over the rose. Ren looked back inquisitively but he saw his sister's smile. He forgot all about his inhibitions, stood up, and gave her the rose. To Ren's surprise, she took his hand and started dancing out slowly.

~REN~
I think I will lose my breath over the scene playing before me. My gorgeous sister is there, right before my eyes... and a few inches away from me. And she's there, smiling at me, her well-tapered hands holding mine and enclosing it beneath her palms. I can't imagine that this will be happening in the real world! I mean, I have always dreamed of this almost everyday, and now it's here playing before me. Now, I am wondering: why did she do this? Does she feel the same embedded feelings as mine, or did this happen in her perspective of me as her puny little brother? Those thoughts dissolved away when she started to speak.

~THIRD PERSON~
"Ren, do you know what the eighteenth rose means?"
Jun's voice sliced through the silence. They both held on to each other, as if neither of them wants to let go of the other. She beamed and proceeded,
"It means that the person giving the last "freshest" rose to the debutant is the person most important in her life..."
Ren still looked up at his sister with curious eyes, curious over what those said words meant.
Jun continued, "I bet you know what that means..." she paused, then placed her tapered hands on Ren's cheeks then stated, "It's you, Ren. You are the most special person in my life." Ren still stared, but it's noticeable that his eyes have grown as round as that of the saucers'.

~JUN~
Have I said the right words? He seemed to be such a startled young boy right now. I don't care, for I promised myself that I will reveal and tell him what I really feel this very night. He's the eighteenth rose, the most important rose in my life. We stopped dancing and I just lead him back to his own bed. This time, he let me sit by his side. He never removed his innocently flushed face and he just grew silent in one corner. He is as if thinking very deeply, and I dare not to disturb him right now. I stayed still too, thinking about how fates had worked so hard just to bring this love --- love so treacherous and forbidden --- and grant it between me and my little brother.

~THIRD PERSON~
Ren's yawn broke the still and dull moment of thinking. Jun grinned at him and said, "Yeah, I know you're already sleepy, so I'll just go now and you better have some rest." She was about to stand up when she heard Ren reply, "Jun... I-I am sc--scared..."
Jun's forehead creased. She wanted to laugh over how comical and dorky Ren had looked by those moments but then she fought. A powerful and strong shaman now scared of the dark? Maybe it's just because of his fever, she thought. So, Jun walked back to Ren and she settled there, right beside him on his bed. Ren reacted with a shocked face and stated, "B--but... I am just s-scared of the dark..."
Jun just smiled and replied, "I know, and I will be here to hold you close if anything bad happens."

~REN~
To tell you, I am not really afraid of the dark. It is just because I want to be with her longer now. Maybe it is such a weird request but yes, I really want to e with her longer this very eager moment. I am afraid to lose her --- not only now --- but someday, too. I am scared that she will go away and leave me, as my dream this afternoon went. I looked up at her; she's still wide awake and she seemed to enjoy the moment with me. Her smile makes me forget about the futuer. It is as if telling me not to worry about it, but instead I should enjoy what's happening right now. And besides, there's something I want to give her...

~THIRD PERSON~
The night is already deep. The haze is already going down the hill, yet they still lie there, feeling each other's presence... not daring to make any sound. Each one can hear the other;s beating rhythm of heart and the rising and falling of the other's chest. Either of them can sleep because they were in deep contemplation over the love --- a deeper kind of love --- that they are feeling towards each other.
And Ren broke the ice...
"Sister..." he faced Jun, but he stopped when he saw the goddess-like beauty of her. The latter finally turned to him, her amethyst eyes seemed to glow deep beneath the darkness, and asked him why.
"Uh I... I want to give you... something."
Jun smiled in reply, the kind of smile that seemed to slice beneath the ice even more, thus making the distance between them more feasible.
Ren then reached out to his pocket and began to get something. jun looked back with curious eyes.
"What's that, Ren?" Jun, unsuspecting over Ren's gift, asked.
"This, sister, is my debut gift for you." he replied as he fished out, and it took a few minutes to glow. Jun was taken aback by the greenish hue on Ren's hold.
It's something sparkling beneath the darkness, just like a lamp giving life somewhere in the darkness.
It took minutes for Jun to see the outline of the gift beneath the moon's hasty shadows.

And guess what it is? It is a bracelet made up of black pearls and in the middle, a vegetative element, the jade.
"But Ren... the black pearl is somewhere deep in the river due west, right?" Jun looked at Ren with am astonished face. Ren nodded slightly.
"So Ren... you swum all the way down the river bottom to get this for me...? Is that so, Ren?" Jun reassured. Ren nodded once more.
To Ren's second surprise this night, he felt something wet fell over his shoulder (A/N: They're lying side by side this time.) He looked back and saw his sister crying.... an expression which seemed to be a far cry from the tough shaman priestess that he had known.
"Jun... why are you... crying? Please don't cry; it's bad for a debutant, you know..."
His sister's sobs ceased, and he heard another voice.
"REN!" She exclaimed and she hugged him close. Ren felt like fainting over his sister's hold. At long last, what he had dreamt of has come true... had finally ensued in the real world.... even though only temporarily.
"Thank you..." She murmured.
Ren sighed then, and said more like a murmur, "You're welcome..."
She let go of her hold, and lay there still. He also lay there, speechless over what happened.
Jun finally spoke, "Know what?"
Ren looked back in question.
"This is the most memorable birthday I ever had, Ren!"
Ren stopped to think about it. Yes, everything that had happened this day had been so surprising and rapid in pace, and to think that his sister values him more than he ever knows is enough to make his world turn round.
Ren posed another rare expression, his fragile and subtle smile, and finally stated,

"Yes, it is.... it really is one..."

And the Tao residence resided in the dark, with the two siblings lying side by side not minding tomorrow and having no idea that the bond between them will cause much disapproval in their parent's part.... and it will turn out to be a mistake...

A BIG MISTAKE

But they will fight together, even though it's bad and no matter what, until the end.

So right now they just enjoyed each other's company for that night, letting their dreams sweep them wherever the future of this forbidden love may bring.

~OWARI~

FOOTNOTES: Done at last! INCEST-HATERS will kill me as soon as they read. X_X;; Thanks for all the previous reviews; I totally enjoyed writing this fic, and I hope you also did enjoy reading! Oyasumi! ^^