Disclaimer: I neither own Mannoko (Shaman King) or Wen (Cowboy Bebop).
Notes: Two characters from two different anime. MINOR characters, I might add, but they fit so well together. Wen is an ageless boy that never grew up, with no family or friends around him. Mannoko is a young girl that wants to be older and stronger than she is. These two meet and become more passionate than either of them ever supposed. This couple is awkward and charming. I have such love for it.
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Keep Me Here
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Mannoko was thirteen and longing to be respected as a real woman. Wen was nearing a hundred and did not want to be seen as a child. Together, they are reduced to predestined basics: girl and boy.
They sat together on a beach, with the sun near to setting and waves rumbling low in rising and falling motions. Mannoko dug her bare feet into heated sand and stared up at the sun. Wen sat squarely, with his back straight and fingers clasped, focused on the water. "The tide is coming," he said.
She looked at him. "We have a few more minutes." They were quiet.
In a moment his eyes shut in thought and when he opened them again she was not beside him. A small lump arose in Wen's throat, startling, as he had not yet grown accustomed to feeling. He was not used to concern, or the fact that she would worry him at times. (When he was notably far away or she was gone to school.) His short fingers clenched, hidden inside of his lap. "Mannoko?"
Wen stood after the water touched the tips of his shoes, then carefully he nestled her small Mary Janes into the crook of his arm. The sun set, making the ocean glitter as if a yellow jewel had been shattered with it's shards spreading out across the waves. The lump in his throat grew, and his stomach tightened in an anxious way. He would not call out for her, but instead retrieved the harmonica from his pocket. Lips pressing against the narrow instrument, he blew through the reeds a long wanting song until she appeared again, walking towards him with cheeks reddened and wet, as if she'd been crying.
"What happened?" He asked her, seemingly calm but with heart fluttering madly in his chest. "Why did you leave?"
"Nothing," Mannoko breathed and turned to the ocean again. "Let's go inside."
"Why are you crying, Mannoko?"
"I'm not."
There was a small pink dot on her neck; a bug bite, he thought, and stepped close. "It is fine to cry if you are hurt. You shouldn't hide from me." Wind whipped at her frail body, teasing her hair into messy tangles and causing it to catch behind her ear; making the dress mold against the shape of her legs. He touched her arm, felt her cold skin with goose bumps rising.
"It is stupid. It was an ant. On my neck," she whispered, feeling small.
"Ants hurt," Wen replied, and pressed his lips against the bite, with fingers coming to rest around her waist. He lifted his face and breathed into her hair.
Mannoko reddened, then laid her head over his cheek. "I love you," she whispered.