"Kawaii!" gushed twelve-year-old Pirika as she chased the hotarubi amidst the moonless night. She had been wandering in the clearing near their inn in the Patch Village, looking for her brother (who undoubtedly was forewarned of her arrival and had now gone into hiding) when she noticed the fireglow by the river. Immediately, she was drawn to the almost surreal emerald glow of the insects, and had followed them happily.
She took a step back when she saw the insects stop. Her eyes crinkled into a smile as her eyes followed the pretty glows appreciatively.
Footsteps suddenly startled the serenity of the place, prompting the fireflies to go away.
"M-Matte!" Pirika tried to catch up with them, but she suddenly slid off balance on the pebbled ground. She fell down on all fours, scratching her knee.
She inspected her stinging bruise- nothing an isopropyl alcohol couldn't treat, but nevertheless, it still hurts. She was about to wipe it when she heard someone speak behind her.
"So you were the noisy creature bothering my training." His head covered the starry skies, but even in the darkness, she recognized him. How couldn't she? His arrogant voice, his sexy perspiring scent that mixed naturally with the cool breeze of the forbidding night, his eyes alive with primitive savage satisfaction of exhausting himself in a physical battle. And of course, the hair. Ren Tao was one in a million.
Her heart- young, fragile, and utterly virgin in nature, which first learned to love when she met him- suddenly jumped. "R-Ren Tao?"
The moon suddenly appeared behind his head, having released itself from the blanket of the night sky. The luna regina gave out enough light to reveal their forms from the silhouettes awhile ago.
"You were expecting Santa Claus maybe?' Sarcasm was unmistakable in his voice. His gaze went to her injured knee, and for a moment, something unreadable flickered in his eyes. It disappeared as quickly as it came.
She stiffened when he knelt beside her, inspecting her bruise. Not contented, he put his weapon down and touched her abrasion.
"Clumsy idiot," he said, his voice losing substantial harshness, even bordering on tenderness. He looked at her sternly. "Let's go back in and clean the scrape."
And simple Pirika could only nod.
Chapter 5: UnforgettenPirika inspected the stage where the play would take place. It was only barely a week before the actual stage presentation, and she was now starting to feel the real pressure of being the director. Some of the actors were acting like prima donnas, not cooperating with the rehearsals. Some of the scene backdrops had gone terribly wrong too. To make matters worse, the electricity had started to get crazier than usual, going on and off for more than twice in the hour already.
She massaged her aching temples. Now she understood how abused directors of plays were. She reminded herself to be contented with being the scriptwriter next year.
"Pirika, we have a problem!" Her assistant director suddenly came to her side. "The electricity was cut off downtown so the scripts weren't photocopied!"
"N-Nani?" She slapped her head. She had made some revisions on the script yesterday and she wanted to go over these today. She quickly turned to the cast and noticed Ren holding his script. She turned to her assistant. "Get his script and I'll photocopy it."
"You don't have to bother doing such trivial task. I can do it for you," said her assistant.
"Iie. I want to show some of our uncooperative actors my kind of leadership- that of by example." She went to Ren anyway. "Hand me the script."
He looked up. "What for?"
She sighed. "Don't ask. I'm just going to do some revisions."
He held it out of her reach. "Thumberena's lines are garbage as they are right now; don't make it worse."
"Don't argue with your director." Thanks to her height advantage, she was able to take the script from him effortlessly. She turned her back on him and headed for the elevators that would take her to the top floor- the office of the administration. There was a photocopier there, if she could remember correctly.
"Hey, hey!" Ren managed to insert himself in between the closing doors of the elevator. "Give me back my script!" Behind him, the door shut.
Pirika ignored him; she was writing the revisions on the script furiously.
Ren snatched her pen away. "Hey, I'm talking to you!"
"The nerve!" Her temper wasn't in the best condition due to her stress. "Give that back!" Thank God they were the only ones inside the elevator!
"My script, give it back first!"
"The hell I will!" She fought the urge to punch him- she didn't want Thumberena to sport a black-eye on the day of the play. Count up to 10, Pirika. Release your anger…1…2…
"I said I'm talking to you!" he barked.
Count up to 100, Pirika.
"Gah! Look at me-" His words were cut when the elevator door opened. The teachers were about to enter the elevator too when Ren suddenly slammed on the close button of the elevator. It shut on the startled faces of the people.
Pirika was scandalized. "W-What did you do that for?!!"
"Well, that got your attention." Ren smirked again. "Now that I have your full and undivided attention, maybe I can start asking for my script again?"
"I can't believe this! You're getting worked up on something so trivial," she hissed. "I'm not even changing your lines, for pete's sake!"
He paused. "Why didn't you say so earlier?"
"Because you pissed me off."
"You don't say." He turned his back on her. "Well, in that case, I better go back down-"
The elevator suddenly stopped moving. Everything was still, and the sudden silence was deafening.
Pirika looked disturbed. "Engine trouble?"
Ren tried the buttons, but to no avail. Pirika looked for a phone, but found none. Franticness was starting to rise within her, but she fought to remain calm.
"Maybe a power failure. This thing will move soon," said Ren out of the blue. Was he trying to comfort her?
"Don't these things go with electricity back-ups or generators?" she asked.
He looked at the useless buttons. "No, I don't think so. But they have emergency measures for situations like these."
She leaned on the wall, suddenly feeling sweaty all over. Caged in the box with no ventilation or whatsoever was making her feel damn uncomfortable.
"Hell, it's hot!" Without warning, Ren took off his shirt.
She bit back her gasp. She saw his flesh back in Patch Village during his intense training and battles, then after some years when they were first rehearsing the play by the schoolyard, when he handed his shirt to cover her legs. But it was a worm viewpoint, not enough for her to fully appreciate it.
Now here he was topless, perspiration bathing the smooth ripples of muscles in his body.
And he was standing right beside her.
Now she felt hotter than ever. She turned her back on him, in an attempt to hide her flushed cheeks. Damn Ren Tao!
However, Ren had noticed her face. "You don't look too well. Unbutton your blouse a little," he instructed, mistaking her blush for a result of the claustrum.
"The hell I will!" she snapped.
"You might faint," he said, his voice strained. "Please, Pirika."
She blinked. He said 'please'?
He seemed to realize only now what he just said. He groaned. "Pirika, just do it! We don't know how long the power failure will be. I don't want you to faint."
"What is it to you if I faint?" she yelled.
"Will you stop acting childishly? I hold no malice, and I won't look at you, I promise," he said through gritted teeth.
"No!"
"I'll take that thing off myself then!"
She blinked, then blushed hotly. "I hate you!" She turned her back on him and undid the first button of her blouse. After some thought, she undid the second. After a little while, she felt better- air circulated inside her, cooling her a little.
She sat down on the floor, sighing. "Gomen nasai."
Ren sat down too, his eyes kept away from her as he promised. "Doushite?"
"I shouted at you…you were just being sensible. Gomen, Ren." She sighed audibly as she tucked her knees and placed her chin on them.
"I'm surprised," he said after a moment of thoughtful silence. "The last time I heard you apologize was…" His voice trailed off.
Her heart ached. Did he really have to remind her of that?
And before she could stop herself, memories rushed into her mind…
~*~
"Gomen nasai…" she said softly as Ren knelt down in front of her to treat her bruise. "I disturbed your training."
He glanced at her briefly. "Shut up."
She nodded and watched him wipe her bruise with a swab of cotton immersed in Betadine. This was much more painless than the usual alcohol treatment she does.
She watched his usually sullen face become gentle as he nursed her scrape. His touch was light and soft, and she was simply astounded. The same hands that hold the spear and could summon a powerful spirit like Bason was actually capable of such tenderness.
He was an enigma.
~*~
Ren could see that Pirika was reminiscing that fateful day again. He couldn't help but join her in the memory trek.
~*~
"You were looking for your brother," he suddenly said, out of having nothing to say.
She nodded. "Hai. He must have known I was coming. He can't understand that I'm doing all of these for his sake, because I want him to become a shaman king." Her voice faltered all of a sudden, perhaps realizing that it was only now that she was able to express her love for her onii-chan out loud, in front of Ren Tao even!
"He knows that," he said, his voice suddenly a bit too loud.
She blinked, and he cursed himself. He went back to treating her knee. What the hell was he doing anyway? Horo Horo asked him to distract Pirika for awhile- and he didn't specifically say that he was allowed to do this to her. Hell, Horo didn't even tell him to converse like this with the girl!
"Done," he said, forcing emotion out of his voice again. Apparently though, his defenses weren't ready for her disarming smile.
"Arigatou, Ren-kun…er, Ren Tao-san," she stammered, blushing.
He shrugged. "Dou itashimashite." He turned his back on her quickly, avoiding to look at her lovely crimson face. He returned the Betadine in the medicine cabinet, and found Pirika plucking a flower's petals when he returned in the living room.
~*~
Pirika's bitter laugh brought Ren back to reality.
"Ne, I can't forget that. I poured my heart and soul into confessing, and you told me to go to hell. You hurt me badly," she said, tucking her hair behind her ear.
He couldn't speak. How could he tell her that he only said that out of impulse? That he didn't know how to react, because she was the first woman to tell it to his face that she loves him?
He exhaled sharply. Why was he feeling the sudden need to explain? Why was her bitterness bothering him so? What the hell did he care?
"I'm sorry," he heard himself saying. And he found himself seated right next to her, his shoulder touching hers. Damn, how did he move without him being conscious of it?
"Why are you saying sorry?" she asked.
"I don't know." It was the truth.
Pirika looked at his eyes, seeing the reflection of the twelve-year-old girl who loved the Chinese shaman years ago. It was still there, within her. For all her attempts to bury that, she failed miserably on this one. She didn't count on them being alone like this in an almost isolated place, where it was next to impossible not to rekindle feelings.
But the show goes on.
"I had my revenge." A semi-sardonic smile spread on her face. "I cast you as Thumberena. No need to pity me." She looked up at the ceiling of the elevator. "But you know what, after this play, I want to stop this silly war already." She smiled sadly. The more we bicker, the more you are endeared to my heart. If this continues, I'm afraid I would fall in love with you again. My heart is battered enough as it is.
"What then?" he asked.
She blinked. Was he asking about the future? What would happen between the two of them? Nah, just a misinterpretation of his words perhaps. Why would he be interested in such things? He had told her to go to hell, didn't he? She didn't dare to hope- disappointment was a painful thing to bear.
But she couldn't concentrate on thinking anymore- his face was suspiciously coming closer to hers, or was it the heat playing tricks on her vision? Of course it was the latter. Why in the world would Ren Tao want to kiss her?
She felt a finger tip her chin up gently, and the back of the palm caress her cheek. The heat must be playing tricks on her sense of touch too, for why would Ren want to stroke her face this way?
Warm breath fanned the tendrils of her sweat-dampened bangs, and his fingers (in her imagination too?) combed them away from her eyes. She really had to snap out of this- it was getting too vivid for comfort.
And when she felt something delightfully warm touch her forehead, and electricity ran up and down her spine, she realized that she could have a pretty detailed imagination. If she would just dare not open her eyes…maybe she could go on imagining…
The warmth traced the delicate contour of her face, then paused. She didn't open her eyes- she didn't want her imagination to end yet.
"Pirika…"
The sound of him softly calling her name…it was enough to make all her goose bumps rise in romantic anticipation. The voice that could move heaven and hell, the voice that could command powerful spirits…once again she marveled on how tender it could be when not in battle, just like his touch.
"I have this stupid but insistent urge to kiss you," the voice continued, almost hesitantly. "May I?"
Did she nod?
No matter, his lips were on hers already anyway. It was tentative at first, giving her a chance to pull away. She didn't, and his gentle pressure increased, urging her to open her mouth. When she did, he probed all its corners seekingly. When he found it, she could only shiver in pleasure. He was drawing out the honey-sweetness of her mouth, rendering her strengthless. She collapsed onto him, and his arms were quick to catch her, but their mouths never parted.
He pulled away a little to catch his breath, and she didn't realize that she was holding hers too. He let out a chuckle-one she knew she would only hear in her imaginations, just like this one.
"If I've only known sooner how lovely kissing you is, I shouldn't have denied the urge years ago," he murmured.
Years ago?
"One more kiss?" he asked hopefully.
Her thoughts were disoriented, but she was aware of how beautiful the kiss was. Funny, she didn't know imaginations could be this lucid…
When a sudden movement jerked both of them on the floor. The door opened, revealing the entire cast and crew of the play gaping at them.
"Wha-" Scandalized looks, amused looks, sneers, teasing looks…they were all thrown mercilessly at them, and there and then, she realized that what happened in the elevator…the kiss…it was…
"Shit!" She stood up, not bothering to button her uniform. She had to get out of that place! Her face turned crimson as she remembered how she easily forgot about her promise to never fall for Ren Tao again. God, he kissed her and she consented it!
She was outside the school gates already when she stumbled. She fell down on the ground, and to her dismay, scraped her knee too.
Her eyes welled with tears. This would go right to the record books as the worst day of her life.
"You are still clumsy." Ren Tao appeared from the school gates.
She shamefully wiped her tears away. "W-What are you doing here? It's rehearsal."
"And you?"
"I'm resigning from being the director."
"Because I kissed you in the elevator?" He gazed at her steadily. "Just to set the record straight: I will not apologize for kissing you." He knelt down beside her and looked at her bruise. "Let's go back to the stage and clean that bruise."
Years ago, she could have just nod and obeyed him meekly. But that was then. She slapped his hand away. "Do you enjoy hurting me all the time, Ren Tao?"
"What gave you such idea?"
"You won't apologize for kissing me. Is that because I'm cheap as a whore?"
"I won't say sorry because you kissed me back, and you delighted me," he said calmly. He carried her effortlessly.
"Damn it, put me down! Ren Tao, I demand that you let me go!"
"Shut up."
Her face crumpled. "That's the problem with you! You never take me seriously! You told me to go hell when I told you I love you! You made fun of me because I was so easy to respond to your kiss. You're so cruel!" She clenched her fists. "OK, I'm sorry for challenging you with that red card. Just…just put me down."
"No."
"Please?"
That got him. He looked down at her, and when he saw how miserable she looked, he sighed audibly. "Fine. Go take a rest when you get home."
The minute she was deposited back to her feet, she ran towards the street. She needed her onii-chan desperately; she promised him that if she can't endure the situation anymore, he was always there.
Ren, on the other hand, could only watch her, a face mixed with a tumult of emotions.
tsuzuku