Disclaimer: I do not own Bunny Drop or Shaman King

"That's weird!"

"What do you mean?" Rin asked, staring blankly at the three other kids who were surrounding her. They each wore a different combination of disgust and confusion. The short-haired girl who had been yelling at Rin placed her hands on her hips.

"Everybody has a mommy and daddy. Men can't have babies." she said obnoxiously.

"Yeah!" the other two kids chimed in.

Rin frowned. She had been living with Daikichi for a couple days now. There wasn't anything weird about that was there. After all, she had a daddy once; gramps was daddy, but he had passed away recently. Was it weird that she didn't have a mommy though?

"You guys are stupid! Butt faces!" came a yell from behind Rin.

She turned around to see a sandy haired boy standing there with his hands on his hips. His acket was unbuttoned and his cap was hanging on his back. The kids who had been bugging her let out cries of protest as the boy approached them.

"So what if she doesn't have a mommy or daddy. I only have a mom!" the boy continued.

The short-haired girl stuck her tongue out at him and sneered.

"But you're a weirdo."

The boy kicked dirt into her face and then grabbed Rin's hand. He dragged Rin over to the other side of the slide. Then he sat down and grinned up at her.

"Don't let them get to you," he said. "They're just dumb."

Rin stared at him. It surprised her how quickly he had come to her defense. He usually didn't talk to anybody and was always picking fights, but, with him beaming at her, he actually seemed nice. She smiled.

"Thanks, Hana…"

Then she reached up and placed the orange cap that was hanging around his neck on his head.

Daikichi skidded around the corner as he rushed up to the day care. As he reached the gate he slowed to a brisk walk and caught his breath. Then he walked up to the glass door and knocked. The care taker greeted him and then called to Rin to come.

Daikichi watched through the door as the little girl grabbed up her things. He smiled as she ran up to him.

"Daikichi!"

"Sorry I'm late," he said. He turned to the care taker and thanked her, then he and Rin began to walk away. "What would you like for dinner?"

"Umm… let's see-" Rin suddenly stopped mid sentence.

A beautiful young woman with bubblegum pink hair stood in front of them panting. She was dressed in a parka and a pair of tight jeans. Daikichi wondered what such a young woman would be doing her at this hour. From behind them they heard the care taker call into the building:

"Hana! Your mom's here!"

Daikichi and Rin's eyes grew wide.

"You're Hana's mom?" Rin gasped.

The woman looked down at her, pink eyes sparkling. She smiled and bowed slightly.

"You must be Rin," she said softly.

Suddenly Hana burst through the door and ran over to the woman. He beamed up at her. The woman gave him a distressed look.

"What did you do?"

"Nothing," the boy said pertly.

"I somehow doubt that," she muttered. Then she looked up at Daikichi, as the two kids began to converse. "My name is Tamamura Tamao, nice to meet you."

Daikichi was still in shock, but perhaps the woman just looked young. He bowed to her.

"I'm Kawachi Daikichi," he said, taking Rin's hand.

"Mom, can we walk home together?" Hana blurted.

Tamao glanced down at the two children and nodded.

"Sure."

Daikichi and Tamao walked side by side down the street while Hana and Rin chatted ahead of them.

"Your mom is beautiful, Hana," Rin said, leaning over and taking the boy's hand.

Daikichi could see Tamao blush.

"Yeah but she's a crazy witch at home," Hana grumbled.

The two adults suddenly stiffened up. Daikichi looked at Tamao who was uncomfortably laughing it off. She smiled serenely and kept walking. He gulped and thought about whether or not he should say something to Hana about insulting his mother.

"It's nice to see Hana is so close with someone," the young woman said, eyes full of warmth.

Daikichi cleared his throat and tried to look pleasant.

"Is it?" he asked.

Tamao nodded as she watched the two children clopping down the sidewalk.

"Hana isn't very social, and when he is he can be a bit too rough," She whispered. "Thank you."

Dakichi leaped back, waving enthusiastically.

"No, no. I should be thanking you," he stammered. "Rin's not very social, so I'm just as glad as you. Must be a bird of a feather flock together type thing."

Rin stopped and turned to glare at Daikichi. Then she stamped over to the man and pouted.

"Daikichi!" she scolded. "You were talking about me, weren't you?"

"Nonsense," he soothed her. "Now go walk fast."

Rin furrowed her eyebrows but nodded and ran ahead. Daikichi laughed and smiled at Tamao, who was suppressing a giggle. Suddenly there was a holler from Hana who was pointing towards a park.

"Hana! What are you talking about?" Rin yelled.

Tamao's face went pale and she rushed ahead to the kids' sides. Daikichi rushed after her. When he arrived Tamao was whispering something to Hana who was pouting. Her face was stern. Rin stared off into the distance towards the park. Daikich slowly approached her.

"What is it?" he asked, kneeling by her side.

She shook her head and looked at him. Her eyes were sad and confused.

"I don't know," she said.

Daikichi studied Rin's face carefully for a few second before standing with a grunt. Tamao smiled up at him. She grabbed Hana's hand.

"I'm sorry. We're going to go on ahead," She said with a slight bow. "Goodnight."

"Bye Rin," Hana said.

Then the two of them jogged off into the night.

"Bye bye!" Rin called after them, waving.

Daikichi watched the woman and child disappear over the hill. Then he took Rin's hand. The girl smiled up at him. Then he began walking again. After a few moments of silence, Rin tugged on his arm.

"Hana's family is like ours," Rin said.

"What?"

"Hana told me that he doesn't have a dad," she continued. Then she lowered her head. "I wonder if it's the same reason my mom's not around."

Daikichi looked down at the girl, acutely aware of the sweat running down his back. Then he knelt down and picked the protesting girl up. Then he began walking down the road towards home. A few minutes passed in silence; he couldn't quite shake the strange occurrence earlier.

"Hana's a strange kid isn't he?" he grumbled.

"Yup!"

"But you like him?"

"Yup!"

A/N: Thanks for reading. I'm hoping to carry this for a while. Please tell me what you think.