Thanks to cherri-chan, DeFunès, devilicioushaolover, lorenatazuro, deathlioness, DayDrEaMiNg-child, bOw-dOwN-tO-KeiKO, shaman7, and Shaman-king158. I feel so loved. -happy sigh- I might be cutting it short in this chapter, might not...dunno. I usually draw it out like the idiot I am. I hate writing endings...oh well, read the story. OOC-ness may abound.
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Disclaimer: Don't own, never will. Maybe. -evil grin-
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Haircut
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"Alas, the sad fate of those whose hearts break and then mend in crooked ways." The Tale of Despereaux, by Kate DiCamillo
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(They're twenty-one now, by the way. oO)
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Chapter Four--Hearts In Turmoil, A Proposal
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Three years later
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After only an hour of the argument, Ren had gone back to the Tao estate, while Pirika chose to stay and remain depressed for the rest of her days. At least, for around a year. Her heart had broken, and mended, but in crooked ways...as the quote above says. She went to college, coldly broke most of the male population's hearts in two years, and became heartless.
The icy Ainu ironically chose to have an intern's job at a...guess what...barber's shop. Around a week into her internship, Ren decided coincidentally (NOT) to go the local barber's for a...haircut. It's a cycle of doommmm!! ...I mean, anyways...
Ren walked into the shop, slinging his black coat casually over his shoulder. Strangely, he had gotten over his obsession of milk, and the moment he had stopped, he had immediately grown to be 1) lactose-intolerant and 2) tall. Very tall.
Heading over to the waiting table, he sat down, his eye twitching when he saw his reflection in the mirror. Jun had forgotten to tell Pailong to buy more gel and his hair wasn't in his normal spike; instead, it was straight, half-down his back. (You don't think the spike was NATURAL, do you? TT)
"Next," called the intern barber. A familiar, melodious voice. Ren strode over to the chair and sat down, closing his eyes and not bothering to look at the coiffeuse while she tied at piece of cloth around him so no hair would get on his clothing. "An inch off the bottom," he commanded, not bothering to be polite.
After a few moments of waiting, he opened his golden eyes and turned to stare at her.
The scissors she was holding, just about to cut, fell to the floor with a clatter.
"Pirika...?" he whispered.
The Ainu whirled around and fled for the door, head in her hands...just like before. But Ren wasn't making the same mistake as last time.
Because, after thinking for hours and hours on the airplane ride to the Tao mansion, he had discovered...
He loved her back.
Casting off the cloth, Ren got up quickly and grabbed onto Pirika's hand.
"Let go," she snapped, struggling. Icy tears fell from her eyes and froze before hitting the floor.
"Pirika," he said again. He hadn't realized how long it had been since he'd said that name. Or how much it meant to him...
She shook free of his grip and stood defiantly in front of him, rubbing the place where he had held onto her hand like it burned. "Do you know how much pain you've caused me?" she hissed.
"Do you know how long your face has been haunting my thoughts?" Ren countered.
Pirika said nothing. Ren continued.
"I've been a fool...even only three years, I've missed you." (-twitch- I hate writing cheese...) "For all that time you were gone, it felt like I was missing my right arm..."
"I'm sorry for hurting you." His voice dropped to lower now. "Hao was right. I am in love with you. So...Usui Pirika..." And, in front of everyone, Ren kneeled in front of her, on the dirty floor with all the hair cuttings on it. Quickly slipping off an ornate gold ring his mother had given him once, he presented it to her.
"Will you marry me?"
Pirika stood for a moment, staring down at him, the one she had loved and hated, on and off for the last three years, then dropped to the floor, threw her arms around him, and kissed him. "I will, Tao Ren," she whispered in his ear.
With that, the whole shop exploded in applause and cheers.
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And the moral (does it really count as a moral?) of this story is that they might mourn the sad fate of the one who's heart broke and mended crookedly in The Tale of Despereaux...but I'd more congratulate Pirika for getting her heart broken, mended crookedly, then fixed all the way by Tao Ren. -mutters- Lucky bum.
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Owari
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AHHHHHHH I really hate writing cheese. -dies- I hate it I hate it I hate it I hate it I hate it (and don't ask why) I hate it I hate it I hate ittttttttt x.x I told you there would be OOC-ness...can't believe I actually ended a story! Bless Paladine! ...Sorry, I'll go now. Review, and I'll be a happy otaku!
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P.S. The quote that Ren said, "For all that time you were gone, it felt like I was missing my right arm..." is actually from Dragonlance, where Tanis Half-Elven was talking to his wife. Hee-hee. Just fit this part so well. XD Look out for future RenPirika fics I'm going to write! (And I really am going to write more. Bwahahahaha...)