Ch 11. When Does Love Begin? With Dialogue?

A month passed by in a flash and spring gave way to summer. The announcement of Anna's engagement to Manta had already reached everyone's ears and no longer stirred conversation. It was old news. And despite everything, it caused more suitors to show themselves before Anna. Thinking they could try one last time to change her mind, the admirers sent her their carefully crafted messages of courting. They came in the form of poetry, they came in the form of song, but she refused to be wooed. Always, she sent back the same line each time.

"Shall I ask Oyamada Manta to send you my response?"

Tao Ren in particular, laughed out loud to himself and crumpled Anna's note to the ground. He was impressed with her response, of her use of neat strokes, forming Chinese characters rather than hiragana. A woman who utilized a superior writing system that only men of high class were privileged to learn; Anna continued to appeal more to him.

A hand went to pick up the crumpled note from the ground. "What's this?"

"You seem ruder by the day, Hao, sneaking up on your friend like that."

Hao straightened out the note and read it in good humor. "This tells me you haven't given up on my Anna yet?"

"If she was your Anna, she wouldn't be engaged to another man. Besides, if I win, those precious locks of yours are getting cut off by my attendant Bason. Imagine what faces your devotees will make."

"I intend on keeping my hair. It's Horai, your sword, which you should worry about. Hug it all you want before I take it away from you. Imagine the look on your father's face after finding out you lost your family heirloom to me."

"Still cocky as ever, huh?"

"Don't worry Ren; you still have some time. Right now, I've put winning Anna on hold. I have other things to take care of."

"Other things?"

"The things that are missing. Ren, have you thought about what things we are missing in our lives?"

"Not particularly. We have everything. What else is missing?"

"You're telling me you are content right now?"

"The things I want I either already have or are within reach. I thought it was the same for you. Was I wrong, Hao?"

"Not initially."

"So now?"

"Now I want more. I want power."

"Power huh?"

"Power." Hao faced away from his friend and stared at the red glow of the setting sun. It left a crimson trail amongst the clouds, like a blood stain seeping across the sky.

Anna wandered through the gardens aimlessly. It was a labyrinth of moss covered walkways and flowers, bushes and hedges. Her blond locks were uncombed; it sprawled down the back of her maroon robe in wild waves. The robe itself was twisted and dragged on the ground as she paced around. She stepped onto the unruly parts of the gardens, the train of her robe wading through the summer blooms: orange marigolds, red gladiolas, pink peonies, purple cosmos and others flowers, all together displaying a full spectrum of colors.

And none of it succeeded in putting her at ease.

She refused to be bothered, yet there she was, unable to shake off her feelings of angst. His image adamantly remained in her head, as if it were seared into her mind. His teasing words replayed themselves over and over. Even the damned leaves that sailed through the air reminded her of his name.

She was glad he stopped showing up again…Wasn't she? She wouldn't fall for someone like him. She rebuffed the possibility. Soon her expectations in seeing him standing in her courtyard, every time she slid her bedroom doors open, would cease. And she would soon know what to write in her journals again, without her calligraphy brush pausing midair, before having to leave the new page as is, blank.

He has no effect on me. Not at all.

Think of something else, she told herself. So she diverted her thoughts to Manta. She had met with Manta a few times and genuinely learned to like him through their encounters. Although society in their day and age didn't discouraged pre-marital intimacy (as long as it was kept discreet), Manta reserved all desires to consummate their relationship. Afraid to betray any part of their chastity, he didn't dare show even the slightest hint of lust. She considered him "safe" when looking at the times they spent together, which were filled strictly with conversation. Respect grew for him in place of romantic love. Not that she was surprised her affections would be purely platonic; everything she did was deliberate.

At least she thought.

Her pacing came to a stop. Her slender fingers found the bloom of a while lily and she caressed the soft petals, not caring to avoid its pollen, which stained her fingertips yellow. Maybe she had been a fool. Love was not something she could calculate and control. Nor could she avoid it after all.

Her trance was soon broken by the sounds of brittle plants being crushed underneath a pair of feet. Anna, whose heart skipped a beat, squeezed her eyes shut. There was movement in her heart again, another ripple. Whether or not she hoped it was him, she couldn't control how her pulses seemed to lunge out of her skin. Without wanting to, she understood why her insides felt the way they did.

It didn't take long for a new feeling to set in. Disappointment sunk in. Not only that, she was also displeased that she would feel disappointed. "You don't look so good, ojou-chan." The voice didn't belong to him. It wasn't him.

Anna inhaled deeply before turning around to pierce Ren with her fierce glare. "Was one slap not enough? Was my written response not clear enough? Will it be clearer this time when I tell you that I want you to leave me alone?"

Ren returned her glare with a look of annoyance as he folded his arms across his chest. "So what if it's clear? Doesn't mean I'm going to do as you say. And what happened to you anyway? Did all the maids flee from you, terrified by your infamously foul moods, thus forcing you to get dressed by yourself?"

She tilted her head and gave him a sarcastic smile.

"Or is it your impending marriage that's making you so happy, that you don't even bother to run a comb through your hair before stepping outside of your room?"

"Why don't you consider your own hair before remarking on somebody else's?"

Automatically, Ren's hands went to touch the point on his head where his hair stuck awkwardly out. Since childhood, his hair grew untamable at that spot. And Anna had to callously point it out. Hardly any time had transpired and she already managed to agitate him. "Che!"

"Amazing how your words are always so eloquent. It's a wonder why no princess has snagged you as her husband yet." Again her sarcasm bit into him.

"I'll have you know that many princesses were, in fact, interested. I just don't think that marriage, itself, is a necessity." Then Ren took the time to give her a sneering smile before adding, "On the other hand, I want to congratulate you on your engagement. I'm sure Oyamada can make you very happy."

Anna continued to smile coyly at him. He was taken back by the way she looked, realizing that her mangled clothing and disheveled hair didn't make her any less attractive. It was actually the opposite effect, adding in a new kind of allure. Sensuality. Perhaps the enticement comes from, Ren reflected, likening her appearance to a woman who has just been made love to. This made him wonder if she had ever been made love to. Of course, he didn't plan on ending things with his imagination only, not if he could help it.

"What's with that look on your face, Tao? You're not having perverse thoughts, now are you?"

"Ehh--!" The remark made his face burn scarlet, a shade visible even in the dim evening light. He wondered how she could make him feel so embarrassed. It wasn't like he was inexperienced; it had actually been ages since he'd been a virgin. "And so what if I was? We're both adults. Does my presence make you feel uncomfortable? Scared even?" He gave her a menacing grin that showed all his teeth. He took a few steps closer to Anna, using the momentum he gained from having his sense of superiority returned. As if Tao Ren would ever back down from anyone, especially not a woman, no matter how beautiful.

Anna was very much amused, having forgotten her previous anxieties. Her playful side instinctually came out as she goaded him on. "Did you plan on being so charming that I'd let you seduce me in the garden?"

To hear her put it so bluntly shocked Ren. He broke off for a minute to think. Was he really intending to have his way with her? No. He had come, knowing that she would continue to be difficult. Lustful thoughts hadn't been on his mind until she triggered it just moments ago. Then why did he come? God no, not because I morbidly enjoy her verbal abuse? "Idiot, who would be crazy enough to seduce you? And here of all places? I don't want to end up with a bad back and a headache in the morning."

She gave another glare, this time penetrating him right through his soul. He had to suppress his urge to wince when he saw that her hands had formed into tight fist and were shaking violently at her sides. "Idiot, huh? You just shortened your life."

"Why? What are you going to do? Slap me to deat----h?.." A hard slap smarted his face before he could finish his last word. "GEEZE WOMAN! WHY ARE YOU SO VIOLENT! YOU JUST SLAPPED A TAO FOR THE SECOND TIME! EVEN IF YOU PRESENTED YOUR OWN HEAD ON A GOLDEN PLATTER AS AN APOLOGY, IT WOULDN'T ATONE FOR WHAT YOU JUST DID!"

"Oh? That serious huh? Then I feel satisfied." Anna moved past Ren and sat herself on the wooden bench behind him. She was still smirking, but Ren felt a genuine cheeriness exude from her this time.

Ren carefully rubbed his cheek where she smacked it. "Ouch, it stings," he complained resentfully. He found his way to where she was, but sat on the ground in front of her rather than on the bench with her, putting his back to Anna. "Honestly, I've never met any woman as shrewd as you are. What does the queen see in you? All I see is absolute terror. Plus you move from one extremity to another. One moment you're as cold and calm as ice. The next minute you erupt like a volcano."

"Don't forget yourself. You strut around as if you're a well-bred gentleman when in reality, you're still like a child. A child who stomps his feet on the ground and wails from not having things his way.

Ren blinked at her words. To prove her statement untrue, he spoke with forceful patience in his voice, "Your conjectures are wrong. Those kinds of inferences can only be drawn because you don't know me very well."

"I can return that same statement to you."
The Tao rubbed at his temples where his veins bulged, just above his twitching eyebrows. "You slapped me twice already, I might not know you very well, but I can still conclude you're a shrewd," he said through gritted teeth.

"Did you just mumble something?"

Ren rolled his eyes. "It was nothing important."

Waves of breezes swept by, rustling the bamboo leaves around them; it stirred an owl in the distant, causing the nocturnal bird to "whoo" into the night. The delicate stems of the garden blooms bent themselves in the direction of the light wind.

"You really plan to follow through with the marriage?"

"I wouldn't have accepted it if I didn't plan on following through."

"It's strange though. Of all the men to capture your heart, Oyamada does?"

"Who else would be capable?"

Me, for instance. He turned his head to the side, giving her a profile of his face. "But really, I'm not convinced that he did. I don't understand your reasoning, although I admit you are one unpredictable person, Kyouyama Anna.

"You did say that marriage is not a necessity, did you not? While I say it is love that is not a necessity."

"That's pretty grim, even for you."

He expected another disparaging retort from her, but instead, she simply said, "Good night, Tao Ren." His heart skipped a beat as the alluring blond walked away, leaving him to reflect by himself under the faded glow of a hazy moon.

AN: Thanks for reading this far! Unfortunately I won't be updating as frequently from now on, but I'll make it up starting next time by making the chapters longer (hopefully).

Why does Ren seem more Horohoro-like to me, then he does Ren? Damn it, it's late and I'm getting all my Mankin characters mixed up.

---September 10, 2005