Ash and Taruto Chapter 3:

Fun

Emiko, and actually everyone but Kisshu and Taruto were laughing over Professor Oak's little secret- still. It was quite a while before Ichigo finally calmed down enough to say, "Kisshu and Taruto are still fighting."

"Wow, really?" Brock asked. "Don't they get tired?"

"Apparently not," Emiko said. "I'll go stop them." She walked over to Kisshu and Taruto, who were still beating each other up. She watched their movements for a minute, then walked into the fight, and grabbed Kisshu's arm while stopping Taruto's punch at the same time. "Okay, that's enough fighting, you two," she said firmly. "Taruto, I don't know why you decided to whack Kisshu over the head, but I want you to apologize."

"What if I don't WANT to?" Taruto asked.

"Then I guess you'll be foregoing dessert for the next week," Emiko said.

Taruto looked horrified, and immediately said, "I'm sorry I whacked you while you were eating, Kisshu."

"Just don't do that again, runt," Kisshu said.

Taruto screamed, "I'M NOT A RUNT!"

"Kisshu, now you have to apologize," Emiko said. "Name-calling isn't okay either, you know."

"Whyyyyy?" Kisshu moaned.

"Because it's rude and it hurts people's feelings. Now, apologize to Taruto," Emiko said. "And Taruto, I want you to accept his apology without calling him a broccoli head like LAST time."

"Fine…" Taruto said. Emiko looked at Kisshu, who said reluctantly, "I'm sorry I called you a runt, Taruto."

"Apology accepted," Taruto said in a prim voice. Kisshu glowered at him, but didn't comment.

"Very good," Emiko said.

Both boys glared at her. "What?" Emiko asked.

"You act like you're our mother," Taruto grumbled.

"Well, someone has to," Emiko said. "It's certainly not going to be Ichigo, she's too busy snickering at Taruto."

"SHE'S WHAT!?" Taruto shouted. He tried to fly off, but Emiko grabbed his ear and dragged him back.

"You both seem to need someone who's at least able to stay calm in most situations," Emiko said. "If I have to act like your mother to get the two of you to behave, so be it."

"Hey, Pai's like that," Taruto said, smirking. "Maybe you and he should get together."

Emiko refused to be provoked and said calmly, "Pai already has Lettuce, and you know that very well. Besides, wouldn't me and Pai being together mean that we actually had feelings for one another?"

"Good point…" Taruto sighed. "I was just thinking that if you want to be our mother, the only one who's also capable of being calm in any situation is Pai. You could be our parents."

"I'm not exactly looking to be your mother," Emiko said. "I just seem to be the only one who everyone listens to, so I guess I've taken on that role."

"Well, at least you do a good job," Kisshu said.

"Thanks, I think," Emiko said. She headed back to the others, followed by Kisshu and Taruto.

"That was cool," Ash said when they reached him and the others.

"What was?" Emiko asked.

"You walked right into their fight, and just stopped them, like it was nothing," Ash said.

"It was nothing, compared to Mint and Ichigo," Emiko said. "Last time they fought, they both transformed and nearly destroyed the coffee table. I had to freeze both of them, and take their weapons away. Then I dragged them out the door, and left them frozen for the next two hours, on different sides of the house."

"They had weapons?" Brock asked.

"The Mews all have weapons when they transform," Emiko said. "Luckily, I usually get there before Mint and Ichigo take them out."

"'Take them out'?" Brock asked.

"Like us Cyniclons, the Mews summon their weapons out of thin air," Emiko explained. "Except they have to say the name of their weapon to get it out, and we don't. Look." She threw her arm out, and a large sword with an orange and black hilt and the kanji for fire on the blade appeared in her hand. "We all have a different hand motion, but we don't call out the name of our weapons," Emiko explained.

"That's cool," Brock said. "So I take it that you know how to use a sword."

"Kisshu taught me," Emiko said. "It was harder, though, since his weapon is two blades rather than one."

"Emiko's really good with that sword," Kisshu said.

"Thanks, but I had a great teacher," Emiko said. Kisshu grinned.

Max suddenly said, "I know this is off topic, but when Emiko was stopping that fight just now, she said something about Taruto calling Kisshu a broccoli head. Why would he do that?"

"Taruto's just jealous that my hair is green and his isn't," Kisshu said.

"Am not, who'd want green hair?" Taruto asked scathingly.

"It's better than brown," Kisshu said. "Your hair is boring."

"At least I don't look like a vegetable," Taruto said, smirking.

"Well, I'm glad my hair doesn't look like cow manure," Kisshu said.

"Asparagus head!"

"Midget!"

"Broccoli casserole!"

"Dung beetle!"

"Hag-lover!"

"Monkey-kisser!"

"HEY! I NEVER KISSED PUDDING!"

"AND ICHIGO IS NOT AN 'OLD HAG'!"

"IS TOO!"

"So if I said Pudding is a smelly monkey, you wouldn't care?"

"YES I DAMN WELL WOULD CARE! TAKE IT BACK!"

"NEVER!"

"JERK!"

"HA! YOU'RE RUNNING OUT OF INSULTS!"

"MAGGOT EATER!"

"Where did you get THAT from?"

"NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS! GO TO HELL!"

"You first."

"GO EAT WORMS!"

"For heaven's sake, think up something more creative!"

[this has been censored due to violence and bad language]

"EMIKO! GET THE SOAP!"

"NOOOOO!"

"THEN TAKE IT BACK!"

"I'm sorry I said that, you little-"

"SOAP!"

"-jerk…"

"OH, DECIDED TO GO BACK TO THE UNORIGINAL INSULTS, HUH? WELL, HERE'S ONE: YOU LOOK LIKE ROADKILL!"

"WELL, YOU LOOK LIKE A MONKEY!"

"THEN KISS ME, YOU LIKE KISSING MONKEYS!"

"EWWWW!"

"MONKEY LOVER!"

"SQUASH EATER!"

"I HATE SQUASH!"

"WELL, I HATE YOU!"

"Because I hate squash?"

"NO!"

"Then why?"

"JUST BECAUSE!"

"WELL, I HATE YOU TOO, SO THERE!"

"BRUSSELS SPROUT!"

"What's that?"

"Something green."

"DIRT FACE!"

"LITTLE OBNOXIOUS GREEN FREAK!"

"RUNT!"

"I'M NOT A RUNT!"

"You're smaller than me, so that makes you a runt."

"ICHIGO'S SMALLER THAN YOU TOO, SO SHE'S A RUNT?"

"DAMN YOU!"

"You walked right into that one, idiot."

"I'M NOT AN IDIOT!"

"YES YOU ARE! YOU CAN'T EVEN COUNT TO TEN!"

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten."

"I meant in… um…. Korean! Yeah, count to ten in Korean!"

"Hana, dul, set, net, dah-sul, yuh-seot, il-gop, yuh-deol, ah-hop, yeol."

"HOW DID YOU KNOW THAT?"

"The Internet. I was really bored."

"DAMN YOU! NOW DO IT IN JAPANESE!"

"WHY, SO YOU CAN GET HUMILIATED AGAIN?"

"Um…"

"HA! I BET YOU CAN'T DO IT, SO YOU WANT ME TO TEACH YOU!"

"I CAN DO IT!"

"PROVE IT!"

"Ichi, ni, san, shi, go, shichi, hachi, kyu, ju!"

"You forgot roku."

"DAMN IT!"

Meanwhile: Emiko and the others were simply watching this childish exchange. They were interested to know that Kisshu could count to ten in Korean, but after a while, Ash said, "Should we stop them?"

"Maybe, but I need to talk to Max first," Emiko said.

"Um… okay?" Ash said.

Emiko went over to Max and said, "Just so you know, it's not a good idea to say the words 'broccoli head' in front of Kisshu, whether you're aiming them at him or not."

"I had a feeling that I was somehow the cause of this," Max said.

"Well, I'm going to go stop them, but just don't say anything more about this, okay?" Emiko said.

"Yeah, sorry," Max said.

Emiko patted his shoulder, then went to stop the fight. She walked up to Kisshu and Taruto, and snapped her fingers. Both their mouths snapped shut, and they turned and gave her death glares.

Unfazed, Emiko said, "Okay, I think that's enough name-calling. And Taruto, no dessert for a week."

"MMMPH!?" Taruto tried to shout. He pointed at Kisshu accusingly.

"Kisshu did not use swear words, so his punishment will be less than yours," Emiko said.

Kisshu looked nervous. "Kisshu, no going through Ichigo's drawers for a week," Emiko said. "You can have dessert, but if I catch you going through her drawers, I'll take away your dessert too, and add another week onto the punishment. Got it?"

Kisshu and Taruto nodded, and Emiko unfroze their mouths. "I think it's time we got going," she said. "I'm sure Ash and his friends need to continue their journey, and I think you two need to go back home and cool off."

"Fine…" Kisshu and Taruto said.

Emiko nodded, and turned to Ash. "Sorry you guys had to listen to all that," she said. "We're going to go now, I have a feeling those two are just going to fight nonstop if we stay."

"They're glaring at each other behind your back, so I'd say you're right," Brock said. "It was nice to see you again."

"You too," Emiko said. She then turned to Ash and Pikachu, and said, "You know what to do if something happens, right?"

"Yep," Pikachu said.

"Good, then we'll be on our way," Emiko said. She rubbed Pikachu's head, then turned to Kisshu, who was already holding Ichigo's hand, and Taruto, and said, "Let's go, guys."

They all teleported back, but when Emiko, Kisshu and Ichigo landed in the living room, Taruto wasn't with them.

"Great…." Emiko said. "I'll see where he is." She closed her eyes and saw Taruto in the other dimension. "I'll go get him, he didn't teleport back with us," Emiko said. She teleported back, and saw Taruto with Ash and the others. She walked over, grabbed Taruto by the collar, and said, "You're coming with me, and if you don't behave, I'm putting a no-teleporting spell on you."

Taruto sighed, and Emiko waved, then teleported him back to the living room. They landed, and Taruto said, "Can you put me down now?"

"Are you going to try to escape?" Emiko asked.

"No," Taruto sighed.

Emiko put him down, and he ran off, presumably to find Pudding.

Lettuce came in, and said, "Oh, you're back!"

"Yeah, I think we were wearing out our welcome," Emiko said. "Kisshu and Taruto got into a name-calling fight after beating each other up. I've set punishments for both of them."

"Well, maybe next time they'll think first," Lettuce said. "Hey, want to read with me?"

"Sure," Emiko said. The girls sat down, and for the rest of the afternoon, they read together.

Well, that's the end. I hope you like this as much as I liked writing it.