I decided to split this chapter in two so it's only about 12 pages. But hey, I bet you guys would get really irritated if I posted humongous chapters with every update, right?

Notes: Lien's voice is gone because Suōshǐ strangled her before he decided he wanted to use her for something else.

A "gi" is what you would call a martial arts uniform. I don't like to keep saying "martial arts", since I never use any other term, but I can't find a credible work to use. "Karate" is Japanese, "Tae kwon do" is Korean...bah humbug!

I tried to keep the fatherly "do as I say" phrases to a minimum. I don't like hearing those words, even though they're not directed at me. -shot- But honestly, I find it weird to have Ren saying things like that.

This chapter we meet Lien's Wei guardian, Sheng. Her name is part of the word "student" or "novice".

There's a part at the end that may boggle your mind a bit. It's referencing the fact that Rong was disowned by the Wei family.

Disclaimer: The anime/manga Shaman King and its characters were created by Hiroyuki Takei. All original characters made specifically for this fanfiction and any tie-in/spinoff pieces were created by Jezebel Parks.

A Gift of Love – Chapter Seventy-Two: Kirikirimai (Rushing Round and Round)

Suōshǐ stood up, holding his side. He was obviously trying not to look afraid. "Look who showed up, guys," he said. His minions were frozen in fear.

Ren slowly stood from the kneeling position he had taken after his attack.

"Aren't you supposed to be at the meet?"

He said nothing as he turned his head to glare at him. Suōshǐ cringed as Ren's cold and ruthless eyes came into view. He only glanced at him as if he found him worthless or unimportant, then he turned away again.

His gaze trailed to Lien, who was looking up at him in shock. But all he saw were the numerous bruises and trails of blood all over her body, her exposed bra, and the tears in her eyes.

She tilted her chin down and remembered how vulnerable she was. When she tried to cover herself, her arms could only rise an inch or two off the ground. Ren slowly knelt down beside her, intending to button her blouse, but stopped as he found a few missing, then turned his head a little and sighed. He buttoned up what he could in a motherly fashion, then picked her up and leaned her against a tree in a sitting position. After looking her over, he took the handkerchief from her blazer's breast pocket and gently wiped the blood from her face, not saying a word.

"Niisama..." she whispered. He wiped her eyes again and again, finally putting his hand on her head.

"It'll be over soon," he whispered back to her, then kissed her forehead.

She gave a weak smile, then looked to her right where Tadashi lay face-down on the ground in a bloody mess. Remorse flooded her eyes. "Tadashi..." Her voice was still barely audible due to the exhaustion and pain she was feeling. "Tadashi...he..."

Ren stood and leaned his classmate against a tree near Lien's. When he was done, he looked at the unconscious face before him. "I was wrong about you, Meihou. Thanks for buying me some time."

Finally, he slowly stood and turned his head to the side.

"I've given you a few moments to yourselves so you could pray to whatever deity you follow and ask it to give you a swift and painless death. Because unfortunately..." He raised his left hand slightly and snapped his fingers. "...I'm not that merciful."

He could see Suōshǐ sweating, but the bully still tried to look confident. "There's still five of us and only one of you. Lien and her little boyfriend were outnumbered and they lost. Why do you think you'll be any different?"

"Because,"

"Because?"

Ren was suddenly in front of him. He punched him and sent him flying across the clearing.

"Neither of them received an award for most knockouts by a first year – ever."

He turned to the rest of the group, who cringed.

"How long did you beat her?" he asked stoically. "Hm? How long? One minute? Five minutes?" He began walking toward them. "Ten minutes? Twenty? Thirty?"

He vanished. The boys looked around frantically, trying to see him so they would know where he was and where they could hide.

Ren reappeared among them. "It doesn't matter...Even a fraction of a second is too long." He did a roundhouse kick and scattered them. He stood silently for a moment, then walked over to one of them and picked him up by the collar. The boy whimpered and trembled, obviously scared out of his mind.

"Wimps like you make me sick." He punched him. "You knew what Suōshǐ was going to do was wrong, but when he made fun of you, you backed down when you could have saved her, thus saved yourselves from the beating I'm going to give you."

"P-Please...have mercy on me...I don't want to die!"

Ren glared at him. "DO YOU THINK LIEN WANTED TO HAVE HER BLOOD SPILLED ON THE GROUND? DO YOU THINK SHE WANTED TO BE RAPED? DO YOU?"

The boy's whimpers and shaking worsened as shameless tears fell from his eyes. "I'm sorry! I-I should have stopped them! Please don't kill me! I...I didn't touch her! I REALLY DIDN'T!"

Ren smirked and looked back at Lien. "Is he telling the truth, Mei-Mei?"

Lien looked up and studied her brother's victim. She nodded after a few moments. Ren turned back to the boy, almost disappointed. He gripped him tighter.

"What's your name, vermin?"

"J-Jin..."

"Well, Jin, it looks like, thanks to my sister, you've been saved. I think you should thank her." Silence. Jin didn't move. "DO IT."

Scared, Jin looked at the girl. "T-Thank you Lien…"

Ren threw him harshly to the ground. "Good. Now get out of here. I'm not interested in spineless scum like you anymore." His eyes narrowed. "But know this: if you ever are part of a group that harasses my sister again, I'll kill you."

Jin stared at him, then got up and scampered away, screaming.

"That traitor…" Suōshǐ growled. He stood and drew a knife. "At least I've got this. No matter how good you are at martial arts, I've got the upper hand now."

Ren turned to him apathetically. "Go grab another if you want. It still won't make any difference."

Soushi gritted his teeth as Ren removed the jacket of his gi and placed it on Lien's shoulders.

"The rain's getting heavier. I don't want you to get sick." She stared at him with red cheeks. He placed the back of his hand on one of them. "You're already burning up. Your cheeks are proof; they're all red and hot."

"I feel…fine…" she whispered.

"HEY!"

The twins looked up as Suōshǐ growled, the knife still clenched in his right hand.

"Don't ignore me!" he yelled.

Ren stood and walked away from Lien in an attempt to divert the maniac's attention from her. "Well then, come at me if you're so eager."

Suōshǐ's eyes flared as he charged at the Tao heir. "You bastard! I'll make you taste your own blood!"

Ren just stood there, getting ready to sidestep him, but as he approached, Suōshǐ flung his left arm out and slashed Ren's shirt, then got behind him and slashed his back. Ren staggered.

Lien's eyes widened. "Niisama!" she cried in a voice that was barely a loud, raspy whisper.

"How do you like THAT?"Suōshǐ laughed, then looked at Ren's back more closely. His laughter faded until he was just staring. He pointed at him. "What the fuck is on your back?"

Ren stood and ripped the shirt from his body. "This? This is my family crest, of course. A remnant of my childhood, a reminder of the hatred you spurred in me all those years ago."

"Y-Your school will expel you when they find out about this! They won't allow a tattoo like that! I'll make sure they know about it!"

He chuckled and turned around. The bully's eyes focused on the mark on his chest. "W-What the hell is that?"

Ren touched the large scar that ran between his pecs. "A scar I gave myself in exchange for the trouble I caused my family as a result of your endless harassment. It's a symbol of the love I have for my sister." Suōshǐ was just staring at him. "Are you wondering why I used the word 'love'? I used it because that's what my true feelings are. I don't know how to feel love for someone in the sense that I want to be with them forever. The only love I know is the love I feel toward my family. That's the only emotion of that sort that I need."

He vanished and appeared behind the brute. Suōshǐ went to turn and face him, but Ren pulled the boy's wrist and kneed him in the stomach, then landed a crescent kick to his head. He walked over to the body and turned the head with his foot.

"You couldn't resist your desire for Lien, could you?" he whispered. "If I wasn't her brother, I'd probably feel sorry for you." He swung his leg back and kicked the body a few feet.

Suōshǐ's eyes were wide in horror. He was terrified. He knew that Ren was just playing with him, that he could kill him any time he wanted to. He was yanked up, his face brought close to Ren's.

"What's your favorite part of her? Hm?" Ren asked in a haunting voice. "Is it her hair? Her eyes? Her hips? Her legs?" He sneered. "Each of those things make her the beautiful creature she is. Personally, I find her tears to be the most intoxicating."

Suōshǐ shuddered. "You…You're a creep! S-Saying those t-things about your s-sister!"

"In your eyes, maybe I am. But when your twin is something so stunning that it took the qualities of both parents to create, it's hard not to want to boast about and protect her." He pulled him close. "In fact, her purity is so important to me that I would take her before I would allow a filthy human like you to do the same."

His victim's eyes were wide as he stared up at him. "Y-You really ARE a freak! That-that's incest!"

Tadashi lifted his head slightly. Dammit…I didn't want it to get to this point. I'm too late…He's too attached. He let it fall again. Damn it all…

Ren looked up as he heard a whizzing sound. He reached out and grabbed Houraiken's hilt and smirked. "Finally." He looked at the sniveling boy before him. "Now we can begin your punishment."

"W-W-What are you g-gonna do t-to m-me?"

Ren smiled kindly and tossed him to the ground. A shiver went down Suōshǐ's spine as the happy smile stayed on his face.

"I'm going to kill you."

Suōshǐ's face went completely white. "K-K-K-K-K-K-K-KILL ME?"

Ren nodded as if he were affirming something to a dear friend. "Of course. You've done enough damage to this world – especially to my family."

"H-How..?"

The smiled disappeared. Ren's eyes burned with rage as he placed his foot on his prey's throat.

"How? YOU WANT TO KNOW HOW?" he yelled. "My sister and I lived in fear for our lives because of your campaign to turn all of our classmates against us. We had no friends and suffered with only the other to comfort us. I went home bruised and bloody so many times that I lost count. My mother cried for me, never understanding how people could be so cruel at such a young age. Worst of all, you made Lien bleed…and that's something you're about to pay for."

He flicked his wrist and Houraiken extended itself. Suōshǐ's eyes were getting wider by the second.

"This is your own fault," Ren continued. "If my blood had hit the ground on that fateful day instead of hers, I'd still be that useless wimpy coward that I was. But because you made me watch as you beat her until her blood was drawn, I became this…" He looked at his right hand and clenched it into a fist. "I can never return to being the person I once was. There are demons inside me that will never go away. They try to control me like they did that day. Sometimes I miss that part of me…the boy that was sensitive and loving and kissed his mother before he went to school each morning…but it doesn't matter. I'll never be him again."

"N-N-None of that is my fault! It's not my fault that you became a psycho! W-What have I done?"

The Tao's eyes flared again. He grabbed the brute by the hair and pulled him up so that he was on his knees. "You want to know what you and your family did? How all of you hurt the people I love? Fine, I'll tell you." His voice went low and his eyes showed more rage than they had all night.

"Back then, your mother commented that my parents were a "knocked up couple" because my mother was so young; that she was irresponsible for having children. After my mother's outburst, I thought that you all would keep your mouths shut, but no. As my father spoke with the teacher, his back turned, your parents walked past my mother, eager to have the last word."

"Mrs. Tao, I think it would be in your best interest to abort the child you're carrying now. From what I can see, you and your husband failed to teach your children right from wrong. With your son exhibiting such violence, I can only assume that's the way you brought them up. What a horrible environment."

Pin-Mei just stared at her with wide eyes.

"If you love that unborn child, you'll save it the cruel life it has ahead of it."

"I-I-I'm not sure I-"

"Do you not understand what I'm saying? You're an unfit mother and shouldn't have been allowed to have children in the first place. I can only hope that you're competent enough to teach that daughter of yours to keep her own legs together so she doesn't make the same mistakes you have."

Pin-Mei's eyes were wide and dull, almost corpse-like. Her son looked up at her and squeezed her hand to try to rouse her, but she didn't respond. She placed her left hand on her womb as the woman smiled.

"I'll be praying that whatever demon you worship helps you make the right decision." She and her husband left the room, Suōshǐ in tow. Ren glared at them.

Pin-Mei stared at where they had been. Slowly, walked back over to the couch that she and her husband had occupied during the meeting and sat down. Ren cautiously joined her, still holding her hand as he took a seat beside her. Soon, her body was quivering. He looked up and saw fat tears falling from her eyes. Not knowing what else to do, he hugged her above her midsection and gave her a peck.

"I love you, Mu Qin."

She smiled weakly and clutched him, stroking his hair. "I love you too, sweetheart…very much."

"You…You're the best mom in the world," he pushed the words out, not knowing what else to say.

She messed up his bangs as she always liked to do. She kissed his cheek, then his forehead. "Thank you, Ren. That means a lot to me…It really does." She held him tighter and began sobbing as her husband turned around.

"...I...I just wanted to be a good mother..."

Ren gritted his teeth. "My mother cried for days because of you. She stayed in my parents room and just cried. She never told my father that your mother had said anything else to her, so he thought it was only that one comment about being a "knocked up couple" that had made her so upset. The stress her body suffered due to her anguish was enough to cause complications with her pregnancy. I almost didn't have a little brother because of your ignorant family. I had never seen my mother cry so hard and so much in my entire life. In fact, I still haven't."

His fist was shaking. Unable to control himself any longer, he punched Suōshǐ and let him fall to the ground. He placed his foot on the back of his head and tapped it a few times, forcing the boy's face into the soggy soil.

"My mother is the best mother any child could ever ask for. She loves her children unconditionally. Even after I kill you, she'll still give me as much love as she gave me this morning. She and my father raised their children brilliantly – my siblings are proof of that." His eyes narrowed. "You're never going to hurt my family again."

He grabbed the back of Suōshǐ's shirt and tossed him onto his back. The bully coughed and wiped the mud from his mouth, then looked up as he saw something glisten.

Ren's left arm rose as Houraiken reflected the lightning that flashed above them.

"Die."

Suōshǐ screamed and shut his eyes as the hand fell.

Idon'twannadieIdon'twannadieIdon'twannadieIdon'twannadieIDON'TWANNADIE!

But when he realized he still had a head, he cautiously opened one eye, thinking that maybe Ren had paused and was waiting for his eyes to open so he could see the object of his destruction. When he saw that Ren still wasn't moving, he opened the other. His eyes widened.

Ren was frozen in mid-motion, his eyes still insane with rage, as if he had every intention of slaying the boor that was at his mercy. Suōshǐ looked at the sword and the hand that held it...then at the hand that was grasping the young Tao's wrist.

"Let go, Father,"

"No, Ren. That's enough."

His son clenched the sword tighter. "You have no idea what this bastard has done...what he tried to do..." he said in a low voice. He jerked his head to the right. "Look over there – what do you see?"

Ren glanced to his right and saw Lien leaning against the tree – bruised, battered, and bloody. As he looked closer, he could see buttons missing from her blouse. She tried to smile at him, still in too much pain to speak in a voice loud enough for him to hear. He turned back to his son.

"He tried to rape her," he thought aloud.

The younger Ren grit his teeth and clenched his fist even tighter around the hilt. The veins in his arms were slightly more visible.

"That's right," he said. "This piece of shit tried to violate her, to break her down. He obviously doesn't give a fuck about her life, so I'm not giving one about his."

His father was silent for a moment.

"I know what you're feeling, but you can't just kill someone. If he had gone through with it, then there would be more reason behind it, but killing him is going too far."

The teen shook with anger. "How can you be so calm about this? LIEN WAS ALMOST RAPED! What if she had gotten pregnant? No matter what the reason she would have been kicked out of school!"

"But she wasn't, and she didn't. 'What if' doesn't do us any good here."

As they argued back and forth, Suōshǐ looked around to see his gang recovering and standing up. He nodded at them, and they surrounded the two Rens. The Tao head glanced at them, trying to come up with a plan.

If I let go of Ren to ward off these flunkies, there's a chance he could kill Suōshǐ while I'm distracted...but if I just sit here, I'll be subject to injury...

Before he could decide, a figure flew out from the bushes and kicked one of the boys in the head. She landed, then flipped around, punching and heli-kicking her way around the circle of delinquents until they all had resumed their rightful places on the ground.

The warrior finally stood, her short, spiked red hair covering her left eye.

"So you were following me, Wei Sheng," her lord said stoically. Sheng rushed over to him and assumed a kowtow position in front of him.

"Please forgive me, Lord Ren," she said. "When I saw Milord running after Houraiken without any reinforcements, I thought that I should accompany you in the event that you needed assistance."

"Well, you ended up being useful, so your actions are justified."

"Thank you, Milord."

The would-be killer struggled, trying to free himself from his father's grasp. Ren turned his attention back to the subject at hand.

"Drop Houraiken, Ren," he said in a calm voice. "I don't want to have to use force in order to stop you."

"Hypocrite…"

"What?"

"Hypocrite!" the young Tao yelled. "When mother was in Lien's place, you killed everyone there – you only spared one person because Yoh arrived before you could kill him! You have NO RIGHT to tell me to spare this philistine's life!"

"That doesn't make what I did right. Do as I say."

"If you loved Lien, you would do the same!"

"Drop the weapon."

"You don-!"

He collapsed as his father struck him on the side of the neck. Sighing, Ren bent down and picked up the sword. He glared at Suōshǐ, now cowering on the ground and sniveling like a baby.

"You may think I stopped him because I felt that you were a victim…You're wrong." He leaned down to whisper in his ear.

"If you HAD raped her, I would have stepped in and stopped him only so I could have the pleasure of killing you with my own hands."

Suōshǐ shook even more as Ren stood and went over to Lien. Worry filled his eyes as her wounds became more visible. He knelt down in front of her and brushed her bangs out of her face. With her eyes and hair, it was like looking at himself.

"Sorry I didn't win…Papa," she whispered. "Five on one…it was just too much for me to handle…" She smiled. "I got a couple of them, though…But then they ganged up on me and…and…"

"It's alright, you don't need to apologize," he replied softly. "There's not really anything you could have done to even the odds by yourself." He uncharacteristically gave her a weak smile in an attempt to soothe her, then gathered her in his arms and picked her up.

Sheng ran over to them and fell to the ground in another kowtow, this time for Lien. "I'm sorry I wasn't here to protect you, Mistress! I've failed at my one mission in life! Please forgive me!"

"It's okay, Sheng, really," Lien whispered. "I didn't think something like this was going to happen." She heard a groan and turned her head to see Tadashi using the tree he had been leaning against to hoist himself up. Her eyes softened. "Tadashi…"

He looked up at her. "Hey, Princess," he said with a weak smile. He nodded at Ren. "Nice to see you again, sir."

Ren returned the gesture. "Oh no, the pleasure's all mine," he said sarcastically.

The boy grinned, then looked down at himself. "Well, I'd better get home before all these cuts get infected," he said with a worried chuckle. "See you at school tomorrow, Lien." He turned and started hobbling off.

"Hold it."

"Eh?" Tadashi turned around, confused. Ren's face was stern.

"You're coming home with us."

He blinked at him. "Me? Why?"

"Because the nurses in our clinic will be able to treat your wounds better than you can by yourself." He turned. Tadashi didn't move. "Come on. Dinner should be ready soon, and Pin-Mei will be wondering where I went."

"Y-Yes sir!" He followed him.

Lien looked up at her father. "Papa, you didn't tell Mama where you were going?"

He shook his head. "There wasn't any time. I was just practicing my forms when Houraiken flew by me. I knew it couldn't be anything good, so I went after it, hoping I could find out what was going on. If I had stopped to tell your mother where I was going, I would have lost sight of it."

"I see."

Ren looked back to see that the delinquents had vanished. His son was now sitting up on his knees and staring at the ground. He walked past him as he began to start the trek home.

"Father…"

"What."

"…Thank you for stopping me…I...almost did something inhuman."

Silence.

"What you just experienced was the burning impulse of revenge. No matter how against the idea you would usually be, your emotions take over, and all you can think about is making the people who hurt the one you love suffer through as much as pain as possible."

More silence.

"Niisama…thank you."

Her brother looked up at her. "I'm just glad you're okay."

She blushed. "Still…thank you."

Behind them, Tadashi scowled.

"Great Spirits…what happened to you?" Pin-Mei cried as she watched her family walk in. She ran up to her husband and cradled the face of the girl in his arms, easily able to see her wounds. "Lien…What on Earth…?" She touched her forehead to her daughter's and started sobbing. "Why is it always MY children? …Why…?"

"I'm okay, Mama, I really am," Lien said, her voice somewhat restored. "Niisama and Tadashi saved me."

"Tada…shi?" She looked around and spied the boy behind her son and went over to him. She bowed. "Thank you for helping Lien."

He blushed and waved his hand in front of him in an embarrassed fashion. "No thanks necessary, really, Mrs. Tao." He winced slightly and grabbed his arm.

"You're hurt," Pin-Mei observed dumbly. She touched his arm, but her son grabbed it.

"Heal Lien first. She's the most injured…plus, she's your daughter."

Pin-Mei stopped. "Oh, yes, yes, of course!" She switched patients, placing her hands on Lien's face like she had done moments earlier.

Lien's cuts seemed to dissolve like drops of water on a hot stove, quickly healing and vanishing without leaving a trace. Within a few minutes, the process was complete. Tadashi flinched as she placed a hand on his arm and the other on his chest. He watched in awe as his wounds closed and the pain he had been feeling only moments before disappeared. Once she was done, Pin-Mei surveyed her handiwork.

"Good as new!" she said cheerfully.

Sheng came running up behind her holding a small armchair over her head. She set it down and straightened it.

"Milady, a chair."

"Oh! Thank you, Sheng!" She sat down.

Tadashi was still looking himself over. "That's amazing! How did you do that?"

Pin-Mei blushed. "I had to learn the spell from a book my mother left me. It wasn't easy, but I was able to learn it in about two weeks. But it only taught me the most basic healing techniques. After that, it's up to me to hone my techniques and make them more effective, as well as highten my ability to do it for an extended period of time."

"It's because of the whole shaman thing, right? That's pretty awesome. Is there anything else you can do?"

"Well, I-"

"My wife doesn't live to entertain you," Ren said in an annoyed tone. Tadashi shrank away from him.

"Do you need anything else, Milady?" Sheng said.

"No, I'm fine, but thank you."

Tadashi studied the girl. She stood at about 5'9" with an athletic build and a red halter top.

"Who's this?" he asked Lien, who was now standing without assistance.

"Oh, this is..."

"I'm Wei Sheng," the warrior said. "I come from the Wei family, which currently resides in Xu-Tao Castle in the Hunan province. I was born for the sole purpose of protecting and serving Lady Lien. The seal on my back is proof of that." She turned for a moment, allowing Tadashi to glance at it briefly before she went full circle. "I came into her service about ten years ago when mysterious attempts on the li-"

"That's enough, Sheng," Ren cut in. He didn't want the guard to divulge the information about how his wife and daughter were almost killed. The assassination attempts mysteriously stopped after he had threatened Huan once more, though she had tearfully denied any involvement in them. An attempt hadn't been made in about nine years, but he never let his guard down.

Sheng bowed her head. "My deepest apologies, My Liege."

Tadashi blinked. "Mrs. Tao, did you have a bodyguard too?"

Pin-Mei smiled and nodded. "Yes, I-"

"Lady Pin-Mei's former guardian died in battle more than twenty years ago while escorting her to Tao Castle," Sheng said. "Unfortunately, her name is known to no one. That is to be expected, seeing as we are to be minor players in the lives of our mistresses. Though she was by then in Master Ren's care, another warrior, my honorable aunt, was assigned to her."

Pin-Mei looked at her with large, pained eyes. How could Rong's own brother tell such lies...?

Tadashi looked at them, confused. "That's...cool, I guess..." He looked at his watch, brushing some dirt off of the face so he could read it properly, then turned to leave. "It's getting late. I need to get home and start dinner." He laughed nervously. "Plus, I have to go look for my bookbag."

"Oh...Okay..." Lien said as she watched him head for the door.

"Meihou."

The boy froze and turned slowly, looking over his shoulder. "Yes, Sir?"

Ren closed his eyes and sighed, not used to the words he was about to say, then looked his daughter's savior in the eye. "...Thank you for coming to Lien's aid. If you hadn't...she would have suffered more than she did." He paused. "You're welcome here anytime you wish."

His son's eyes widened and gave him a look that seemed to question his sanity. Tadashi stared at the Tao head, then smiled.

"Thank you. I appreciate your offer, but I'll try not to abuse it."

He looked in front of him to see Lien. She stood, seemingly emotionless, then suddenly lunged and hugged him.

"Thank you," she whispered. "I...I'm sorry I slapped you. I won't do it again."

His eyes were wide at the sudden action, but they softened as he returned the embrace. He savored it, knowing that it may be a long time before he would receive another one – if he ever did.

"You're welcome...Lien."

He closed his eyes. Maybe this is what happiness is like...