Shaman King Fan Fiction ❯ Rules Of Shamanism ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 2 )

 

 

 

 

Horo Horo lied on his back in the valley. The valley was actually an opening of a large spring. He preferred to come here when he wanted to be alone. Horo Horo had discovered this place a few months prior while he was hiking through the woods. It turned out that the Ainu children were forbidden from entering this whole area, told that they would die if they did so. Rules, Horo Horo hated rules, especially ones made by Ainu. But this was good. No one knew about this place, so no one would bother him here.

 

Horo Horo's hair waved in the wind as if it was some kind of life form. After all the experiences he'd had during his training, he decided to change his image a little. The only thing he could think of was his hair. He decided to let it grow out instead of cutting it every few months. Now it was just past his shoulders. He never thought his hair could grow so fast. After it had gained some length, Horo Horo decided he liked the way it looked. It was something new, a small change in his life. Pirika had recommended that he tie his hair in a ponytail, but Horo Horo decided not to. He just let his hair go where it wanted to. This place was so peaceful. The ground was perfect, not too hot or too rocky. No one could bother him here. Horo Horo lay there for an eternity, not quite asleep, not quite awake. He had been gone for minutes, but he didn't care if people wondered where he was. He could stay here forever.

 

Then he heard a rustling in the woods nearby. Horo Horo sat upright and scanned the surrounding woods. It was probably just an animal. The rustling again. Horo Horo slowly crawled towards the edge. Suddenly a small figure emerged from the dense meadow and into the clearing near the valley. Horo Horo quickly scooted himself deeper into the valley and away from the edge. The figure walked to the edge and stared into Horo Horo's eyes; it was Pirika. How did she find this place?

 

“So this is where you've been hiding,” Pirika said, scanning these new surroundings. The valley was fairly large, and surrounded on three sides by a horseshoe-shaped cliff face. The edge of the valley was a small clearing, beyond that lay dense foliage and vines. How did Pirika manage to get here?

 

“Well, it was a great secret place I had once,” Horo Horo muttered.

 

“What's that?” Pirika yelled; she was too far away to hear what Horo Horo said.

 

“Nothing,” he responded. “How did you get here? Were you following me?” he accused.

 

“Well… no. I just had a feeling you might be here. You weren't in any of your other hiding places, so I came here.” Pirika sat on the ground and folded her legs.

 

“How did you find this place?” Horo Horo asked. “No one knows about this place. You remember the rules, you're not supposed to go out this far.” He was starting to sound like one of the elder Ainu. Horo Horo shuddered at the thought.

 

“You're not the only one who breaks the rules, you know,” said Pirika. “I've been here before. But don't worry, no one else knows about it.”

 

“How come you never told me about this place before?” Horo Horo asked. “We have our `secret place' but that's no secret. I just found this place a few weeks ago, why didn't you ever bother to tell me?”

 

Pirika shrugged her shoulders. “You never asked,” she said. Horo Horo scowled. “Why don't you come out of the valley, it's almost supper time.”

“Umm…” Horo Horo mumbled, blushing. He still sat in the valley, only his head visible to Pirika.

 

“Well, what's taking so long?” Pirika shouted. “Come back over here.”

 

“No… I'll stay here… in the valley. Why don't you go back home? I'll meet you there later.”

 

“Why? I thought we could walk home together. What are you stalling for?” asked Pirika. She looked around and her eyes locked on a large, flat rock. She saw a pile of small clothes on the rock. They were Horo Horo's clothes, all of Horo Horo's clothes. “Oh… I see the problem,” she said. She ran to the rock and searched through the pile of clothes.

 

“No don't…” Horo Horo said but it was too late. Pirika picked up a pair of black shorts and waved them around like a flag.

 

“Is this what you're looking for?” said Pirika, giggling hysterically. Horo Horo's face turned red; he had never been so embarrassed. “Why don't you come and get them?” Pirika teased. Horo Horo was going to get her for this.

 

“Please give those back,” Horo Horo begged. He shouldn't have let his guard down like this. He thought that no one knew about this place, and he would have some privacy. He remained sitting on the ground, not moving any closer to the edge.

 

“Why would you need these shorts?” Pirika said sarcastically. “Aren't you wearing anything?” Horo Horo wished he could hide under a rock and never have to come out. “You can't hide the naked truth,” she taunted. “Don't feel like you've been stripped of your dignity. It looked like your plot has been exposed. I bet you can't bare to listen to me any longer.” Pirika giggled again. She was starting to get on Horo Horo's nerves. If she uttered one more pun, Horo Horo would go nuts. “Don't feel bad, it's not like you nude this would happen.” She continued to taunt Horo Horo by waving his shorts in the air.

 

“You are so dead,” said Horo Horo. “Why are you torturing me like this? What did I ever do to you?” Pirika just stuck her tongue out at him. “Give me back those shorts or I'll tell everyone that you wet your bed.” Blackmail, it was his only choice now. Pirika suddenly stopped, and stared blankly.

 

“How… how did you know about that?” she stuttered, mortified beyond belief. He wasn't supposed to know that. She never told anyone about that before, not even Horo Horo because she was so embarrassed. Besides she'd grown out of it. She hardly wet the bed anymore… except when she was nervous or scared.

 

“Ah-hah, now I see the tables have turned,” Horo Horo said with an evil cackle.

 

“I… I don't know what you're talking about,” said Pirika, feigning ignorance.

 

“I know about your little secret,” Horo Horo said, now the tormenter and not the tormented. “And I'll tell everyone unless you give me the shorts.” Rather than tempt fate, Pirika tossed Horo Horo's shorts in the water. After that, he swam to the shore and stepped out of the pond. He smirked at Pirika and walked over to the rock to fetch the rest of his clothes.

 

“That was mean,” she said, frowning.

 

“That was mean?” Horo Horo said, in disbelief. “What about what you did to me? You took my clothes and teased me with them. You're the bad one here.” Horo Horo began to pull on the rest of his clothes.

 

“It was kind of funny,” Pirika snickered. “But for what it's worth, I'm sorry.” She gave Horo Horo the puppy-dog-face.

 

“Well… I'm sorry too.” Horo Horo shouldn't have been angry with Pirika. She was just being playful. Horo Horo blamed himself for being so stupid as to take all of his clothes off when he went sunbathing. When Horo Horo had finished dressing, he began to walk Pirika back home.

 

“How did you know about my… problem?” Pirika asked, trying to hide her reddened face. “I've never told anyone.”

 

“Well…” Horo Horo mumbled, trying to annoy Pirika even further. “You told me yourself.”

 

“When? I never told you! I never told anyone about it.”

 

“You told me that time when you were sick and I had to take care of you, remember?” Pirika didn't recall what he was talking about. She remembered the time she was sick; she had the flu really bad. She had a high fever for hours and was almost delirious at times. “You were rambling about all sorts of things, and when you happened to say that you used to wet the bed, it caught my attention. I asked you about it, and you said you used to do it a lot, but now it only happens rarely.”

 

“How do you know that's true?” Pirika said defensively. “I was delirious, that could've been just hallucinations.”

 

“I know it's true because you did it.” Pirika's eyes widened. She didn't wet the bed while Horo Horo was taking care of her, did she? “It happened the night before you got better. It was the first sleep you'd gotten in hours. Before I went home, I heard Kororo say `uh-oh', and I asked what was wrong. And she told me you had an… `accident' and that you still did it sometimes. She said not to say anything to you the next morning because you'd be too embarrassed.”

 

“She told you that!” Pirika yelled, glaring at the koropokkur next to Horo Horo. “When I woke up that morning I found out that I… you know… and you were gone and I thought you didn't know about it. How come you never told me that you knew?” Pirika was angry that Horo Horo kept a secret that he knew her secret.

 

“You never asked,” Horo Horo said. Pirika scowled and charged after him. Horo Horo ran through the woods with Pirika chasing him. She was really annoyed now. She would tackle Horo Horo as soon as she caught up with him. They emerged through the deep woods and ran through the mountain pass towards Pirika's house. Some of the children stared at Horo Horo and Pirika; those two were always pestering each other. Horo Horo ran to Pirika's house and sat on the chair. Pirika quickly followed and saw Horo Horo sitting on the chair. Deciding not to beat him up as she originally planned, Pirika plopped down on her bed to try and catch her breath.

 

“You're so mean!” Pirika said, still breathing heavily. “How did you know about my problem and not tell me?” Horo Horo shouldn't have told her that he knew. Now he wouldn't hear the end of it. “Promise you won't tell anyone,” she pleaded.

 

“Of course I promise, I would never tell anyone that.” He quietly snickered at the look on Pirika's face; she looked quite pitiful. “Oh, cheer up. You know that nobody will ever find out our little secrets. No matter how annoying you are.” Pirika scowled and threw her pillow at Horo Horo. He saw the pillow and caught it before it could hit him. “Okay, I get the point. You said it was almost supper time before… well what're we having?”

 

“Is food the only thing you ever think about?” said Pirika, shaking her head. Horo Horo nodded, rubbing his belly. “We're having seaweed stew! Mmmmm.” Horo Horo made a disgusted face, and Pirika giggled.

 

“Are you serious?” he said, starting to feel sick in his stomach. “I like your cooking, but… seaweed? I think I'll pass.” Seaweed? He'd rather eat worms.

 

“I'm just kidding, silly. I'm not making seaweed for dinner; we're having something special. I'm making soup out of these mushrooms I picked earlier. Besides, what do you have against seaweed? What did it ever do to you?”

 

“I… uhh. Wait a minute, why are you being so defensive of seaweed? I think you've finally gone off your nut.” Pirika made a crazy laugh. “Oh, definitely,” Horo Horo continued. “I think you've spent too much time in the Sun. You need to cool off.” It had been a hot day, that's why Horo Horo went to the valley in the first place. Maybe Pirika had overexerted herself and got heat exhaustion. The summer heat could make anyone crazy.

 

“I'm fine,” Pirika reassured. “You should go change into some clean clothes, you're all dirty.” Horo Horo looked at his dirt-smeared clothes and agreed. He did need to change. After all, he'd been wearing his Ainu robe all day, and it was starting to smell. The hot weather had made Horo Horo even lazier than he usually was. He wanted to wear nothing but his Ainu robe. So far, he had made it four days without washing his robe, a new record. Pirika thought it was gross, but Horo Horo told her he wouldn't understand because it was a guy thing.

 

“Okay, I'll go change,” said Horo Horo, standing up and leaving. Pirika dumped the basket of mushrooms she picked on the counter and began to chop them. She nibbled and ate a few more mushrooms as she prepared the soup.

 

 

 

Horo Horo had changed his clothes, and now he was brushing his hair. He looked in the mirror at his shoulder-length blue hair. He liked his new look. He wanted to grow it out as long as he could. Tamao thought it was cute and made him look like a rebel. Horo Horo sighed; everything was cute to her. He wished she would use something other than “cute” to describe him. He put on his headband and left the house, heading for Pirika's. When he entered her house, she wasn't cooking. He saw some partially chopped mushrooms on the counter, but Pirika wasn't doing anything with them. In fact, she wasn't cooking at all. Pirika was dancing and twirling around the house like some kind of ballerina.

 

“What in the world are you doing?” asked Horo Horo. Pirika stopped and looked at him. She ran up to him and hugged him hard.

 

“Oh you're back!” she said, slightly slurred.

 

“Are you okay?” Horo Horo asked. Pirika was definitely not herself right now. She was acting totally crazy.

 

“Oh I'm fine!” she cheered, releasing Horo Horo from her bear hug. “I feel great!” She stepped back and looked at Horo Horo's clothes. “I thought you were going to change into clean clothes.”

 

“What are you talking about? I did.”

 

“No you didn't, silly. You're clothes are all covered with bugs,” she giggled.

 

“Are you sure you're okay?” Pirika nodded. She collapsed on the floor and started giggling uncontrollably. Horo Horo went up to her and tried to get her to come to her senses. “Pirika, calm down.” She stood up and stumbled to the counter. She grabbed a mushroom and presented it to Horo Horo.

 

“You should try these,” she said. “They're really yummy.” Horo Horo grabbed the mushroom from her and took a close look at it. He immediately grabbed the basket and shoved all the mushrooms into it.

 

“You've been eating these?” Horo Horo said, horrified. “These are poisonous! What did I tell you about these mushrooms? Remember the time I ate one of these? I thought I was gonna die!”

 

“That was fun,” Pirika said, falling into another fit of giggling.

 

“How many did you eat?” he asked, gently shaking Pirika to get her attention.

 

“Oh maybe a few… two or three. Why are you so worried? Come on, have one!” she giggled again.

 

“You ate three mushrooms?” Pirika smiled. “When? How long ago?”

 

“While you were changing,” she replied. She stopped giggling, grabbed her stomach, and groaned. “Oh… I don't feel so good. I think those mushrooms were bad. I think I'm gonna be sick.” Horo Horo tried to sit her down. She winced in pain as cramps ravaged her digestive system. Pirika coughed and moaned about feeling sick. Then, without warning, she started retching. She vomited violently, all over herself and Horo Horo. After regurgitating most of her stomach contents she looked at Horo Horo. “Oh, I'm sorry,” she said, almost crying.

 

Horo Horo helped her stand up to take her outside. Before they reached the door, she doubled over and vomited again. This time she completely emptied her stomach. Horo Horo saw the undigested pieces of mushroom on the floor and almost puked at the sight of Pirika's stomach contents. He walked her over to the stream so he could clean her off. She lay on the ground and continued moaning.

 

Horo Horo ran back to her house to fetch a washcloth and a pair of her pajamas. Horo Horo helped Pirika change out of her soiled dress and into her pajamas. He used the cloth to wipe off her face. Horo Horo took off his robe, which Pirika had vomited on. He piled the dirty clothes next to the stream and went back to Pirika, who was lying on the ground. She was half asleep. Horo Horo picked Pirika up and carried her back to her house. He gently placed her on the bed and pulled the covers over her. She rolled over and fell into a sound sleep. Now Horo Horo had to clean up. He scrubbed the floor and washed their soiled clothes. Horo Horo still couldn't believe that she ate those poisonous mushrooms. He remembered when he had eaten them, and how sick they made him. She had a completely different reaction than he did. He had been delirious, but Pirika just acted weird. It was like she was drunk. He would have to stay at her house tonight, to make sure she would be okay. Pirika was strong; she would get over it.

 

 

 

The woman who solicited Kyoukan's services tried to act normally for the next few hours. She couldn't allow people to think that she was doing something. She had overslept this morning, and was running late for an important meeting. She rushed through the village gates and into the village. She hoped Tamamura wouldn't be too angry. She was headed for her monthly meeting that Tamamura had with all his government staff: the military leaders, diplomats, and his cabinet of advisors. The woman stopped at the door that led to Tamamura's meeting room. She opened the door and passed through.

 

“Ah, Duchess Jamanen, you're here,” Tamamura said cordially. “Have a seat.”

 

“I apologize for my lateness, Tamamura-san,” mumbled Jamanen. “I…”

 

“Don't worry about it,” said Tamamura. He never got angry over petty mistakes, he had more important things to worry about. Jamanen bowed slightly and took her usual seat at the small, round conference table. “Let's get down to business,” said Tamamura, initiating the conference. “First, I need to know what's going on militarily. Let's start with the Naby, Admiral Vivica?” The admiral began speaking about various naval strategies that Jamanen couldn't care less about right now. Jamanen wasn't paying any attention to what was being said. She thought about the deal she made with Kyoukan last night. Jamanen wished she didn't have to do this, but it was necessary. It was the only way she could get what she wanted.

 

“Jamanen,” a voice said. “Duchess Jamanen,” said Tamamura again. Startled, Jamanen gathered her papers and smiled. “What's happening in your department?” Duchess Jamanen was one of Tamamura's most trusted cabinet members. She was in charge of the Foreign Affairs and diplomatic department.

 

“Oh, yes,” Jamanen said, trying to gather her thoughts. “There's not much happening now. The Germans ratified the non-aggression treaty and want to schedule a banquet to celebrate. They want to do it sometime next week.” She shuffled through her papers again. “Oh, and there's a small delegation due to arrive in Tokyo sometime this month; it's the chief of the Shaman Tournament.”

 

“Goldva?” asked Tamamura. He was familiar with the Shaman Tournament about to go on.

 

“Yes, Goldva. He wants to meet in South Funbari, probably to discuss where it will be.” Jamanen flipped a page over. “He'll bring over someone called Sakuya.” Jamanen told Tamamura that was all the information she had. The next person began to drone on about her cabinet department. Jamanen's mind faded out again, as she thought about her plan, and how she was going to carry it out.

 

 

 

During the night, Horo Horo had washed his and Pirika's clothes, and hung them out to dry. Then he had to scrub the floor and clean up the mess that Pirika had made. At first he had planned to sleep at Pirika's house, but it didn't turn out that way. Horo Horo didn't sleep at all. He was worried about Pirika and decided to stay up all night and watch her. Next morning had come and he hadn't slept at all. He was so tired. He'd been up for more than a day and he wanted to sleep. Pirika will be okay, he thought. I can rest my eyes for just a minute. He rested his head on his hand and closed his eyes.

 

A rustling noise woke him up a few minutes later. He groggily looked at Pirika's bed. She was finally moving; she slowly sat up and stretched her arms. She turned her head and saw the exhausted Horo Horo, half asleep in a chair. “Uhhhh… what happened?” she moaned.

 

“You were totally out of it last night,” replied Horo Horo. Pirika tried to remember the previous night, but her mind was a total blank. She couldn't remember a thing that happened yesterday.

 

“I don't feel good,” she complained. “My stomach hurts, my head hurts, my neck hurts, and my arms hurt, my…”

“I get the idea,” Horo Horo interrupted. “Do you remember what happened last night?”

 

She searched her memories. “I have no idea,” she replied. “I can't remember anything, everything is a blur.”

 

“Well, you had a pretty interesting night. You ate some mushrooms, bad mushrooms. You were totally crazy. You were dancing around the house, you were giggling like crazy, you hallucinated, and you finally threw up all over me and yourself.”

 

“Oh… I'm sorry,” said Pirika. “I didn't mean to…”

 

“It's okay,” Horo Horo reassured. “It wasn't your fault. You ate those poisonous mushrooms and they made you go insane. Remember the time I ate the mushrooms? They made me hallucinate and I was sick for hours… and I ate just half. I don't know you survived, let alone recovered in one night.” Pirika shrugged her shoulders. “What's the last thing you remember from yesterday?”

 

“Ummm… I think I was walking in the woods. Yes, I was picking berries and I got some mushrooms, too. I thought the mushrooms were the good kind. I hadn't had mushrooms in a while, so I wanted to pick some. I remember eating one while I was picking them and… that's it. I can't remember anything else.” That was a little scary to Pirika. It made her uncomfortable to not be able to remember anything from last night. She was uneasy not having any recollection of what happened.

 

“So… do you remember what happened when you found me at the valley?” asked Horo Horo.

 

“Valley? What valley?” She had no idea what he was talking about. Horo Horo, however, secretly cheered inside.

 

“Oh, the valley,” he mumbled. “You found me when I went to the valley; it's no big deal,” he said, pretending to shrug it off. This is great! He thought. She doesn't remember anything that happened at the valley! That means she doesn't know about my embarrassing moment and she doesn't know that I know her little secret. Except… Kororo knows. That stupid koropokkur better not say anything.

 

“I hope I didn't cause too much trouble,” Pirika said, feeling embarrassed. Horo Horo shook his head. “It's so weird not being able to remember last night. I mean I know I was really sick because I feel bad now. Of course, I probably don't want to remember what happened.”

 

“You're right,” Horo Horo said. “You were…” Horo Horo tried to think of a word. “You were out of your mind. It was almost kind of funny.” Horo Horo smirked.

 

“You look tired,” Pirika said, concerned.

 

“Well, that's cause I stayed up all night watching you to make sure you were all right.”

 

“Oh that's so sweet,” Pirika said in a slightly teasing voice. “You should go home and sleep. I take it you washed my clothes for me?” Horo Horo nodded. “I'll go outside and get them. Now you go home and go to sleep, okay?”

 

“All right,” Horo Horo said. Sleep, he could finally go to sleep. Horo Horo stood up to leave, and so did Pirika. She smiled at him and walked outside to get the clothes from the line. Strangely, Kororo stayed behind. Horo Horo glowered at the koropokkur.

 

“If you say a word to her about what happened at the valley…” Horo Horo threatened, “I'll hit you with a flyswatter.” The koropokkur knew Horo Horo wasn't serious, but she decided to obey him anyways. The koropokkur stood there for a moment, and then flew out of the house. Horo Horo quickly walked back to his house. When he got inside, he didn't even bother taking any of his clothes off. He collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep instantly.

 

 

 

Horo Horo opened his eyes. He felt so much better now, so refreshed. It felt so good to have finally gotten some sleep. Judging by the level of light in his house, it must've been nearly dusk. Either that, or it was dawn. No, it couldn't have been dawn. He didn't sleep that long. Horo Horo got out from under the covers and stretched. Horo Horo wondered if he should bother getting up or go back to sleep.

 

Then he heard a strange noise coming from just outside his door; someone was on his balcony. It was probably Pirika. “Hello?” Horo Horo called. The person walked into his house. To Horo Horo's surprise, it wasn't Pirika; it was Tamao. Why was she here? Tamao had a habit of turning up at the most unexpected times. “What're you doing here?” Horo Horo asked.

 

“What do you mean?” Tamao replied. “I was supposed to come here today, remember? We were supposed to spend the day together,” she said in a nagging tone, putting her arms on her hips.

 

“We were?” Horo Horo scanned his memory. He had totally forgotten that he and Tamai had plans today. She was supposed to come over today and they were going to spend the day together. But that was before Pirika got sick. Horo Horo was so tired from staying up all night that he slept through the whole day. “Oh yeah. I'm sorry,” he apologized. “I was up all night watching Pirika because she was sick `cause she ate some bad mushrooms. And I stayed up to make sure she didn't…”

 

“I know, I know,” Tamao interrupted. “Pirika told me.”

 

“Why didn't you wake me up when you got here? I wouldn't have minded you…”

 

“You needed your sleep,” she interrupted again. “You look so cute when you're sleeping. I didn't have the heart to wake you up.” Tamao went over to the bed and sat down next to Horo Horo. “It's so nice how you took care of Pirika. You stayed up all night to make sure she would be all right; that's so sweet. You know, it's not that late. We could still do something.”

 

“Like what?” Horo Horo asked. “You probably have to go home soon, and there's not much to do here at night. Did you have any ideas?”

 

“Actually, I do. You can come over to my house.”

 

“Your house?” Horo Horo said. “To the mansion?”

 

“Yeah,” she replied. “You can spend the night there. After all, I stayed here for more than a week for Yoh-sama, and it's only fair that you should come over to my house once in a while. So do you want to come? Oh of course you do. Go on and get your stuff.”

 

“Um, I don't really have any `stuff'. I'll just bring extra clothes.” Horo Horo stood up and packed some extra clothes. He couldn't refuse Tamao's offer to go to Funbari village. He had been there before, but he had never spent the night. Horo Horo admired the way that Tamao was so persistent. She had offered to let Horo Horo stay at the village, and got him ready to go before he could even respond. This quality in any other person would have annoyed Horo Horo, but in Tamao it was different. He didn't mind her making decisions for him. Besides, she always made the same decision he would've made anyway. He packed a couple days' worth of clothes into his backpack.

 

“Oh good, are you ready?” asked Tamao excitedly. “We should probably go before it gets dark.” She grabbed Horo Horo's arm and pulled him towards the door. When they both exited Horo Horo's house, they stood for a moment.

 

“Um… I should go to Pirika's house and tell her where I'm going,” said Horo Horo, starting to head towards Pirika's house. Tamao stopped him by grabbing his arm again, and he turned his head to look at her.

 

“Don't worry,” she said. “I already told her you were going to the village.”

 

“Huh? When?” he asked, slightly confused.

 

“While you were sleeping. I already planned everything. All you had to do was wake up.” It figures. Tamao always seemed to have everything planned before she even asked Horo Horo. She always knew what Horo Horo's response would be before she even asked him a question. Tamao could read him like a book.

 

“Oh… okay,” he mumbled. “But shouldn't I go check on her anyways? I should go see if she's okay. I want to make sure she's still not sick from those funny mushrooms.” Tamao stopped him as he was walking again.

 

“You worry too much,” she told him. “Pirika's fine, I was with her the whole day. Besides, if she gets sick again, there are plenty of other people who can take care of her. You don't always have to do everything yourself. You need to relax once in a while.” Horo Horo knew that was true. He often felt like he was the only one who could help. He always went out of his way for everyone. He somehow felt obligated to give more than he needed to. This generosity often had less-than-satisfactory results for him, however. He usually neglected himself and didn't take the time to do things he wanted.

 

“Yeah, you're right,” Horo Horo said. Tamao was always right; she always knew what to say to him.

 

“Well, come on. Let's go,” Tamao nagged. She tugged Horo Horo's arm and they both walked to the exit of the Ainu woods.

 

“Are we just going to walk to the village?” Horo Horo asked. I mean, I don't mind. It's not that far. But do you mind walking that far?”

 

“There you go again, always looking out for me. To answer your question, we are walking.” They exited the woods to see a spirit floating outside the entrance to the woods.

 

“Tamamura-sama,” said the ghost, bowing. He turned around and began to float back towards the village; Horo Horo and Tamao followed a little ways behind her.

 

“Papa wouldn't let me walk over by myself,” Tamao whispered to Horo Horo. “So he sent this ghost to follow me over here. She's really nice, though. She's not a mean, boring spirit like Conchi and Ponchi.”

 

“Was she waiting out there all day?” Horo Horo asked. Tamao nodded. “Doesn't she get bored doing nothing like that?” Horo Horo couldn't understand how someone could wait for minutes like that. Horo Horo couldn't stand not doing anything. That ghost's job would drive him crazy.

 

“Don't worry about her,” Tamao said. “She doesn't mind not doing anything,” she said loud enough for the ghost to hear. “Isn't that right, Aiko?”

 

“Of course, Tamamura-sama,” the ghost responded with a smile.

 

“See,” Tamao said. “I'm sure she doesn't mind taking a time out every once in a while.”

 

“So, what are we gonna do when we get to the village?” Horo Horo asked.

 

“I don't know… probably eat dinner first.” Horo Horo's face brightened and he patted his stomach. Food, he hadn't eaten in almost a day. He was famished. The thought of eating all that rich food made Horo Horo's mouth water. “You like that, don't you?” Tamao teased. “Is your stomach the only thing you ever think about?” Horo Horo nodded his head. She thought it was cute to see him like this. It made him seem so innocent and child-like. Of course Horo Horo was a child, but he usually didn't act like one. He and Tamao were both very mature for their ages. And Horo Horo had enough bad experiences to last him a lifetime. He thought of the food again. The food in the village was so much more elaborate and tasteful than what he usually ate. They walked across the stairwell. It would only be a few minutes until they were inside the mansion.