Disclaimer: Don't own...blah blah blah...You know how it goes.
Generally speaking, Horohoro loved weekends when he would go and visit Yoh's place in Izumo. They could talk endlessly about all sorts of things, and they'd have great dinners. However, all that fun came with a price. The holy terror, Anna Kyouyama.
Every second when he wasn't socializing, she was constantly on his case, accusing him of being a freeloader. And then she'd force him, under threat of extreme physical pain, to carry out chores for her while she idly munched on snacks and watched TV.
Today was no different.
Sighing, Horohoro groaned in protest as Anna handed him the grocery list. It must have been at least a foot long. "Fresh mushrooms?" he whined. "Since when does Heiyu have 'fresh' mushrooms? They're all moldy!"
Anna scowled. "I never asked you to go to Heiyu. You're going to the outdoor market. The stuff there is fresher produce. Now go."
Seconds later, the Ainu felt himself being punted out the door and skidding across the dirt ground. "Awww..." he moaned unhappily. "That hurt."
He picked his sore bottom off the ground and walked a few blocks down the road, looking for the outdoor market Anna hadm entioned. It was swelteringly hot, and Horohoro had to tie his jacket around his waist on account of the heat. "Poor Yoh has to deal with this everyday," he said to himself as he wiped the sweat off his forehead.
"Oh, thank god," he rejoiced as he finally saw the market at the corner of the road. It looked very busy, and it even looked like a little fun. Horohoro jogged towards it, clutching the grocery list.
There were stalls filled with all sorts of fresh things everywhere. Horohoro's eyes were all buggish as he looked left and right, taking in all the sights and smells. "Let's see..." he muttered, going down the list. "Number one, lettuce. Okay, lettuce. Got it."
He strolled around, finding a stall with some good-looking lettuce. He bought the amount Anna had demanded before moving onto the next item on the list.
About an hour later, he was finally at the last item: peaches. "Okay," he said to himself. "Peaches. Yeah, peaches. Where the heck do they sell 'em?" He roamed the area, searching for any stall selling peaches.
"Ooh!" he exclaimed, spotting a stall packed with them. He started eagerly towards it, but when he was about five feet away, it suddenly fell apart and crashed to the ground, peaches flying everywhere.
"Yikes!" Horohoro said, jumping out of the way as an angered group of vendors trampled right through. "Stop that boy!" they screeched. Horohoro looked to the right, and he saw a boy with deeply colored purple-black hair spiked into a tongari running, clad in traditional Chinese clothing. A bag of what he assumed were stolen goods was clutched in his right hand, a kwan dao in his left.
Screams and shouts filled the area as the chase went on.
"Stop! Thief!"
"Grab that kid!"
"Don't let him get away!"
Scornfully, the thief swung his weapon, sending another random stall crashing to the floor. The people who were chasing him were forced to stop as wood, vegetables, and debris rained down upon them.
The boy turned and looked at Horohoro straight in the eye. The Ainu swore his heart must have skipped a beat as his eyes met with the boy's deep golden ones. The thief smirked at him before disappearing into the crowd.
It was about that time Horohoro realized his wallet was missing.
About an hour later, back at Yoh's home.
Anna closely inspected Horohoro's bags of purchases, suspicously examining each item. The Ainu held his breath, praying that she would not notice that he had failed to bring home any peaches. Unfortunately, she did.
"Where are the peaches I asked for?" she demanded.
Horohoro gulped. "I tried, Anna," he said quickly. "It wasn't my fault, okay? The place selling them was trampled 'cause there was this huge chase going on, and then this pickpocket stole my wallet, and..."
"Enough!" Anna snapped. "No more excuses!"
Horohoro sniffled unhappily when he found himself outside, with no dinner, doing the electric chair.
The next day, Anna commanded him to go buy more peaches, and if he returned home without them again, then he wouldn't be able to expect to see the light of tomorrow.
He returned to the market, looking for peaches again. He was only there for about ten minutes when yet another disturbance occured.
There was a crash from a nearby stall. Curious, the Ainu wandered over, squeezing to the front of the crowd that had gathered around the area. His eyes widened as the scene unfolded before them.
A large and excessively plump man with an apron on had grabbed another boy by the wrist. Horohoro realized the boy was none other than the thief from the previous day. Wondering what had happened, he watched on.
"Finally!" the fat man said. "You've been stealing my goods for weeks, haven't you, you dirty little thief? Now, I've finally caught you!"
The boy struggled, trying to jerk his wrist away from the man's grip. "Let go of me, you fat bastard!" he yelled, wriggling wildly.
Horohoro watched as the man looped his arm around the young thief's neck, pinning him in a chokehold. He wrestled the bag of stolen items away from him, dumping its contents onto the floor.
Smiling sinisterly, he said, "Oh, you're a greedy little rat. Look at all this. Why are you so scrawny if you have so much to eat?"
"Because I'm not stealing it for myself," snapped the boy.
"Liar!" the fat man proclaimed, tightening his hold around the boy's neck, causing him to choke. "Thiefs aren't generous or charitable people. They're no better than stray dogs!"
"Sir," the boy yelped. "I beg of you, let me go! My...my sister's starving! Please, I have to get something for her to eat!"
The man laughed. "You expected me to believe you?" He swiftly slapped him, sending him sprawling to the ground. Laughter erupted from the spectating crowd.
"Shall I fetch the police, mister?" asked one bystander.
"Nah," the fat man replied, eyes glittering with a malicious shine. "I'd rather take care of him myself. You see, this is a personal matter. I'll be happier knowing that I've avenged all my precious produce that he stole!"
He kicked the boy in the stomach, raising more laughter from the crowd. Horohoro couldn't stand to watch anymore. He had to do something, anything.
The man stumbled back, howling in pain as Horohoro stepped out of the crowd and brought his foot between the poor man's legs, right where it hurts the most.
He howled in agony as Horohoro grabbed the thief's hand, pulling him to his feet. "C'mon!" he urged. "We've gotta get out of here."
"Stop those punks!" the man screeched as Horohoro dashed as fast as he could away from the scene, leading the other boy by the hand. He wove in and out of crowds, dodging and twisting, ducking and leaping.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone grab the thief he was attempting to lead to safety by the shirt. The Ainu was about to give this person a piece of his mind, but the other boy was faster. Howling in pain, the pursuer fell on his bottom as Horohoro led the boy farther away.
He ducked into an alley, quickly jumping behind some trash cans, pulling the boy along with him.
"Shhh," he whispered. "Don't make a single peep."
A crowd of people ran right past, failing to notice where they were safely hidden. They were all screaming to each other, yelling and pointing fingers.
"Where'd those brats go?"
"How am I supposed to know?"
"You idiot! It's your fault we lost them!"
Horohoro waited tensely, his heart pounding. After what seemed like an eternity, their chasers had finally left and their constant chatter was out of earshot.
"You okay?" he whispered to the boy.
"Yeah."
"Can I ask you one thing?" the Ainu asked curiously, turning to look at the thief.
"Sure."
"What's your name?"
The boy answered, "Ren...Tao Ren."
"Oh. That's a nice name."
"Thanks. And who're you?"
"Usui Horokeu. Or, Horohoro, if you'd like."
There was a long silence before the boy, Ren, rose to his feet. "It was nice meeting you. Thanks for saving me, er...Boroboro, was it?"
"Horohoro!" the Ainu screeched, enraged.
"Oh. Sorry."
"No problem," Horohoro said cheerfully, anger dissolving instantly. This kid was, for some strange reason, so easy to forgive. If he had been someone else, he probably would have punched him in the face.
"Well...Horohoro. I...I'd better go. I have to bring some food to my sister."
"Oh...Okay."
The boy began walking away. He turned around to look at Horohoro one last time. "I'll see you around then, I guess."
"Yeah," Horohoro replied. "I'd...really like to see you again."
"Bye."
And he was gone.
Sighing, the Ainu got his butt off the ground and started off in the direction of home. He couldn't get it out of his mind: the golden eyes, the darkly colored tongari, the tingling sensation he had felt when he had grabbed his hand. Tao Ren. What a great person.
When he was basically at the doorstep of Yoh and Anna's residence, it finally hit him.
Crap.
His new wallet was gone. It had been stolen. AGAIN.
"Argh! That dirty little thief!" Horohoro snapped, stamping his foot.
Double crap.
He had forgotten to buy the peaches. AGAIN.