A Gift of Love

Today, Children, we are going to pretend that it doesn't snow near Ren and Pin-Mei's houses. Work with me here.

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A Gift of Love - Chapter Seven: Snow, Roses, and Butterflies

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“Oh my gosh! Look at this stuff, Ren! It just keeps falling! Eee! One fell on me! It's so cold!”

Ren watched from the front steps of the Asakura home as Pin-Mei ran around in circles like a little child, enchanted by the falling snowflakes. Yoh came out and handed him a mug of hot cocoa.

“She's cute, the way she acts I mean,” he said to his guest.

“Yeah…maybe…,” Ren replied, taking a sip of his cocoa. “I apologize that she never really introduced herself. She's never seen snow before.”

“Don't worry about it.” He smiled. “I just think it's nice that you're warming up to someone who lives closer to you.”

Ren spit out what he had just drank, pink in the face. “I am NOT warming up to her,” he asserted with a stern voice. “She is merely a fiancée chosen for me by my parents, and I am obligated to get acquainted with her because we are to be married some day.”

“If you say so…” He was still smiling.

“Listen you--,”

BAM!

Ren was stopped in mid-sentence by a well aimed snowball. As the snow slowly fell from the side of his face, he looked to a very scared Pin-Mei, her hands covering her mouth.

“Niisama! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hit you in the face! I was aiming at your body!”

“Excuses won't help you,” he said in a malignant tone. He put down his mug and stepped off the porch toward her.

“Hey! Wait a second, Ren!” Yoh cried as he also left the steps. “How about letting her off this one time, ne? She didn't mean to.”

“Silence, Yoh! She needs discipline.” He bent down, rolled up some snow, and patted it in his hands. “Take this, you little pest!” He tossed it at her. It hit her left arm.

“Eee! It's so cold!” she squealed.

“You better get ready, because another one's coming for you,” he warned.

She squealed again and ran behind a tree. He chased her, only to find that she was waiting for him, snowball in hand. She grinned evilly and threw it in his hair, then started to run away, giggling. Not to be outdone, Ren grabbed another handful of snow and stuffed it down her back.

“Hey! No fair!” she cried as she collapsed onto the ground. “No skin, no skin!”

“All's fair in love, war, and snowball fights,” he said with a grin.

Yoh smiled as he watched them from the steps. He may not admit it, but he's having fun. “Hey, you two! It's time for dinner!”

“Okay!” they both answered.

He watched Ren offer Pin-Mei his hand, helping her up when she offered her own. Ren calmly walked into the house. Pin-Mei followed, but stared at her feet, her cheeks the same shade of pink that her fiancée's was a few minutes before.

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The next day, as the snow began to melt, Ren escorted Pin-Mei around Tokyo, pointing out various things and allowing her to explore a bit. At her request, they walked around in a nearby mall. She peered into the windows at the unusual styles of clothing.

“This stuff is a little weird,” she commented.

“Well, some people like it.”

“Why would someone want to dress like a doll?”

He shrugged. “I don't dress like that, so I wouldn't know.”

She giggled. “Yeah, I can't exactly imagine you in a dress.” She saw another window and pressed herself against it. Her eyes lit up as she admired the clothes inside. Excited, she turned to Ren. “Can we go inside? Pleeeeease?”

He thought for a moment.

Girls, plus clothes, equals hours of boredom

Then again, if he told her it was time to go, she'd probably listen. He decided to risk it.

“Sure, why not?” he said finally.

“Yes! Thank you!”

She skittered through the doors and began examining the various designs. She looked around for a few minutes, then stopped in front of a mannequin.

He had been standing behind her the whole time. It was almost cute. She was just standing there gawking at an outfit, seemingly too awed or too scared to touch it.

“Do you want to try it on?”

She jumped as if she had forgotten he was even there. “Yeah,” she said quietly.

He waved over an employee, who led her to a dressing room. A few minutes later, she emerged in her regular clothes. He gave her a curious look.

“What happened?”

A slight trace of sadness was in her eyes. “Oh… it doesn't fit, and they don't have the next size… so that's that.” She forced a smile. “They're just clothes. No big deal. Let's go.”

She hid her face and walked past him and out of the store. He caught up with her and grabbed her wrist. “Hey, why are you acting so upset?” he asked. When she turned to look at him, he was taken aback for a moment, but quickly rebounded. “Why are you crying?”

She sniffled a couple times. “It's just always like this,” she said. “Just because I don't have a big chest, it's so hard to find things that fit…It's so frustrating! I'm sick of it!”

Again, Ren was stunned. He had never interested himself with her body, and therefore, never looked at it. It was an awkward situation to be in. He felt like there wouldn't be anything he could say to make it better. No- he knew there wasn't. Even so, he had an idea. He looked around spotted two stores.

“Pin-Mei, why don't you go into that store over there?” he said pointing to a store named Cospa.

She looked slightly reluctant. “Why? Where are you going?”

“I just remembered that Jun wanted me to buy her something at one of these stores. So just go in there and wait for me, alright?” Despite his good intentions, he consciously used a stern tone.

She glanced at the floor. “Alright…”

He watched her walk in, just to make sure she didn't run off or get picked up, then walked hurriedly in the opposite direction.

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About fifteen minutes later, he met up with Pin-Mei in the store.

“This is a neat store,” she said smiling. Just as he had hoped, it had helped her get the recent event out of her head. She turned to him. “What IS all this stuff?”

“It's called cosplay,” he replied. “People dress up like characters from the cartoons here and have parties…or something like that.”

She blinked. “Weird,” she said.

She picked up a pocket watch and looked at it curiously. She opened it to reveal the face and gasped. “Niisama! Someone carved something on the inside of the watch!”

He looked over her shoulder. “I think it's supposed to be like that.”

“Really?? That's so weird!”

He shrugged. “It isn't weird to the people who buy them.” But she didn't hear him. She had already moved on to the jewelry.

“That's one's so pretty!” she exclaimed pointing to a pink ring with the image of a rose imprinted on it.

“It's time to go,” Ren said looking at him watch.

“Aww…”

“Go on, I'll be out in a second.”

She walked out and stood outside for a good minute before he joined her. “What took you so long?” she asked.

“Some lady was asking me for directions.”

“Oh…”

“Come on, let's go home.”

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After dinner, Ren caught Pin-Mei before she was able to involve herself in anything. He stood with his back to a couch, her facing him.

“Close your eyes,” he said.

She did. He waved his hand in front of her to clarify that she couldn't see anything.

“Hold out your hands.”

When she did this, he took a small box from his jacket and placed it between her hands, allowing her to cup the box. He grinned slightly at the quizzical look on her face. As a final touch, he removed the lid.

“Alright, open,” he said.

Pin-Mei opened her eyes. Before her, in the box, were two small butterfly hair clips with purple gems in them. Whether they were real or not was yet to be seen, but it was all the same to her. Across from her, Ren watched her eyes light up at the sudden gift. She looked at the clips, then him, then the clips, then back to him.

“These are beautiful… but why?” she asked, practically breathless.

He grinned again, as if this were part of a plot. “I figured I could get you something where you wouldn't have to worry about the size.” She was just staring at him. He chuckled. “Well, are you going to put them on, or just gawk at me like that?”

“Oh!” she said, as if the idea had never occurred to her. She placed the box on the table and attached each clip to the bottom of her braids.

“Well?” he said.

She just looked at him again, trying to keep herself under control. Finally, she gave in. She launched herself at him, knocking him down onto the couch in a tight hug.

“Thank you so much…” she said, as she began to cry again.

“No problem,” he replied as if he had just picked something up off the floor for her. He pushed her off and walked toward the bedroom door. “It's time for bed.”

She nodded. “I'm going to take a shower then.” Before she went into the bathroom, she looked back at him. “Thanks again, Niisama.” She was smiling.

He gave a small smile back and went into their room. The two beds were separated by a nightstand. He thought about how he had acted when he found out she was his fiancée, and how he was acting now. He looked at his reflection in the mirror before him.

“What am I doing…” he asked himself.

He sighed, closing his eyes. Opening them, he looked at himself again.

“Are you really the same Tao Ren that sliced a car in half…that once fought Asakura Yoh with an intention to kill?”

He closed his eyes again. A soft-eyed smile appeared this time upon opening them again.

“Yeah, I am,” he said. He looked to the bathroom door.

“I'm just not alone anymore.”