I've had a bunch of silly projects to do in school lately, so I've only been able to use my word processor for research papers and the like :-( But here you are, yet another suspense builder!

Disclaimer: You guessed it!

Chapter Eleven: The Birth of Risky Reporting

Hiwon-Biwon got ready to leave Shantotto's manor at the same time Ajido-Marujido left, to make sure he could get away fast enough before he or Shantotto decided to investigate his presence. Ajido was tempted to do so, but knew Shantotto would never let him live down the moment of cautiousness, and simply made his way to his own manor in Windurst Waters.

Shantotto had thought she had felt another presence near her house while Ajido was around, but ignored it in order to remain focused on her conversation with the minister. Once he was out of range, she focused to see if anything was still detectable. However, Hiwon-Biwon was out of range too, so she felt nothing. She simply shrugged it off and began reading her newspaper again.

Hiwon went to his house and quickly spread his notes out on his desk. The first thing he decided to do was figure out just who this "Chikisasa" was. He went through years and years of editions of the Tarutaru Times, which were being collected by his family since the paper began. He knew that it was in one of those papers that he remembered seeing the name before. For two hours he scanned the papers for the name, but with no avail. Finally, he had gone back eight years, and was beginning to have his doubts. He came across an article on the second page of the paper. The headline: Mute Tarutaru and Family Meet A Tragic Fate. He skimmed the article, and found it: Chykisasa.

It was then that he remembered, he was young and still in school when it all happened, but he still remembered the little carrot-topped spectacle who had to go into hiding to avoid attention from the other Windurstians.

But, if she died eight years ago, why would she be living with Shantotto? In fact, why would anyone be living with Shantotto? When did she become involved with the whole affair? And why?

There were so many unanswered questions; half of the story was missing. Hiwon-Biwon's hopes sank–there was no way he could make a story with so many gaps and impossibilities. He was afraid his superiors would tell him to go on the record, and interview Shantotto and Chykisasa herself. He knew that would never work, she would (literally) kill him if he came forward and told her he had eavesdropped on her conversation, and had planned to publish it in the newspaper without her consent.

He paced about his floor, trying to feel his way around the story, and searching for another angle he could use. After a long time of pondering, he found his new angle, and even a headline to go with it: The Mute Girl Returns: Hidden, Not Dead.

He sorted the notes out out, and then used a different sheet of paper to elaborate on his shorthand more, and added in a few details of his own. He wrote and wrote through the evening, and had nearly gotten his final draft of the story done. However, he had lost all track of time, and looked at the clock at 20 minutes until midnight. He had become so enveloped in his fantasies of instant riches that he had forgotten to be tired, and went to his bed–disheartened that he had to sleep.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Uchi-Buychi's elaborate tree plan had worked, and he inconspicuously made his way to the spot where him and Chykisasa previously met. Chykisasa was nervous about the whole ordeal, but built up enough confidence to go. When she took the sheet off her head, they stared at the ground awkwardly for a moment, trying to figure out what to do.

Uchi-Buychi decided to start. "Uh...do you have any paper withy you?" he whispered, just loud enough for Chykisasa to hear him. She bounced out of her momentary daze and nodded, and reached into her sack, grabbing a note card off of the large stack. Uchi took it and read it to himself, as the moonlight was just bright enough for him to see the words:

"It's nice to see you again, Uchi-Buychi. I've got plenty of these cards to talk, and a few fire crystals too if you need some light to read them. Where is it you want to show me, and how did you get out without your parents knowing?"

"It's nice to see you too, I'm glady you came," he smiled, again keeping his voice very low. Don't worry, I didn'taru tell them a thing, I acted like I was sicky and went to bed early. Then I snuck out and came herey!" he whispered. "The first placey I want to show you is here in Windurst Waters, if you would follow me." Chykisasa was already writing a response on another card, and Uchi patiently waited for her as he placed the other card in one of the pockets in his tunica.

"Thank you for doing that, if they ever find out that it was a lie I will take full responsibility."

"Aww, I highly doubty they'll find out aboutaru this, we'll figure it outy when the time comes. Untily then, let's just not worry aboutaru it," Uchi said reassuringly. As he spoke he heard his own accent, and kicked himself in his mind. Whenever he was under a lot of pressure, especially emotional pressure, it got the best of his speech. He made a mental note to control it, and motioned for her to follow him.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Ajido-Marujido arrived at his house, he chose to go straight to bed. The anticipation he had felt through the day had taken its toll, and Shantotto's explanation had let him down even more.

He was still very surprised at Chykisasa's knowledge in magic, considering her lack of formal training, that Uchi-Buychi had over her. He also couldn't believe that Shantotto had done so much for someone other than herself, and how much she cared for Chykisasa and her well-being. He realized just how close that they were, and how hard it must have it when they thought that they were dead. He even felt sorry for the two for a moment, but tried to get his mind off of it as he tried to fall asleep.

"So, they're in 'love' eh...somehow I can'taru believe that Shantotto had nothing to do with their liking each other..." he mumbled to himself. "Even so, it won'taru bode well if and when Uchi-Buychi's parents find outaru..."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Uchi-Buychi took Chykisasa to the edge of one of the wooded areas in Windurst Waters, across one of the bridges. The only others who saw Uchi were some guards, but Chykisasa revealed herself when they asked who he was, and gave them cards describing the situation. They smiled, and nearly giggled, and let them proceed.

There were some rocks that stuck out of the water near the bridges of Windurst Waters, and huge tree limbs that stuck out near them, so it was relatively easy to get across and into the woods. Once they got behind a few layers of trees, Chykisasa let down her cape and pulled out two fire crystals, which each let out the glow and warmth that was about the equivalent of a candle. They sat down on tree limbs across from each other, and Chykisasa put the crystals on the ground between them, like a small campfire.

"This placey would be good for night visitarus like this. I know some other placies we can go to in the daytime, but I'll show you them later. So...what do you want to talk aboutaru?" he asked, attempting to force his accent under control. He blushed in spite of himself, and Chykisasa wrote for a few moments while he composed himself:

"I'm not sure...do you have any questions? Like about how I got here? Or did Shantotto already tell you about it?"

Uchi leaned back, beginning to feel more comfortable. "Well, she told me the main gistaru of the story, but I was sort of wondering...just whataru did the Yagudo make you do?"

Chykisasa wasn't surprised by the question, and almost began to write her response, but Uchi cut her off. "Oooh, I shouldn'taru of asked that, I'm sorry-worry! It isn'taru my business, I'm so sorry!" he hissed to himself, putting his hand on his forehead. Chykisasa began to laugh and motioned her arms, telling him to stop. Uchi was confused as he watched her silently giggle to herself as she wrote:

"No, no, it's alright. I was expecting some sort of question like that, I wanted to get used to telling my story. Like you said, eventually everyone will have to find out, so I wanted to start now. Sort of strange, huh."

"Oh no, it's notaru strange at all!" Uchi quickly reassured her, and she smiled wider. "I understand what you mean, just telly me whataruever you want, I'm listening."

And so, Chykisasa began to fill out cards describing her daily routine and what the Yagudo made her do, and she would hand him the cards as she filled them up. Every few cards, she would ask Uchi-Buychi if he wanted her to stop, but he insisted that she went on. She recounted more of her story, becoming a bit teary in a few places.

Uchi-Buychi cut in, "If it's is making you sad, you don'taru have to tell me, I don't want you to say something-wumthing on my accounty." Chykisasa shook her head, and went on, explaining in her next card that she was alright with it.

The stories went on for a long time, as she described how she counted the days and would use her eating utensils to make minute markings on the back of her cell to mark the day. She even had a system to mark out the elemental day. She was inspired to do it from a fictional work she read while with Shantotto. Uchi-Buychi became fascinated with it, not just because of what she did, but in how young she had to have been to have read such a mature book.

Uchi commented on the subject, and she responded with, "Shantotto never gave me books to read, she let me pick out whatever I saw interesting. She also never regulated what I read, knowing that if I didn't like it, I wouldn't read it. I loved the freedom, but now I look back and I almost think that it was irresponsible of her to do so. I guess she wanted to give me a freedom I wouldn't have with my parents, and to try to see what kind of person I was through the books I read."

Uchi-Buychi was astounded at how mature she was. She wasn't like any other girls he had met, who did only the minimal amount of work and tried to get as much play in as possible. Because they were so "gifted" in magic the flouted their class work, but didn't fail because they aced the exams. They rejected him because he wasn't so gifted, and had to spend most of his free time studying.

But Chykisasa was different. She knew that everyone wasn't gifted in magic, and she knew that it took time to truly master spells. And she didn't let her pride get the best of her. Uchi-Buychi felt a comfort while he was around her–a comfort that he had never felt before around any other girl.

Chykisasa was equally amazed, but at Uchi-Buychi's curiosity. She had been afraid all day that he would be uncomfortable being around her, given how much had happened to her. However, it was just the opposite. Uchi was understanding, and wanted what was best for her. She had many male friends when she was younger, but most of them followed her around just to get attention from other adults. In fact, everyone around her didn't care about how she felt, apart from Shantotto. They never cared about what would make her happy, they just cared for what would make them happy–and acted like they cared about her problem. But no one really understood her.

Uchi-Buychi was different because he cared, with all his being. He was the first person to care for her in a deep and non-parental way. He understood that she wanted to vent and practice, and respected her for who she was.

As time passed, their card-based conversations drifted on to other subjects. Uchi-Buychi told Chykisasa of his hard times at the Orastery, and Chykisasa told Uchi-Buychi of her problems in learning a magic no one had ever practiced before. All blushing ceased, and they simply talked on and on, about whatever they could think of. Both of them refused to keep track of time, in an effort to somehow prevent the night from ending. They understood each other so well, their conversation was simply magnetic, and they couldn't resist it's pull. At one point, Chykisasa ran out of fresh cards, and she simply turned the old ones over and used the other sides of them, cramming as much in as she could.

They managed to converse until dawn. Neither of them were tired, they were far too engrossed in their conversation to let their bodies tire. However, when the first light of day was breaking on the farthest horizon, they knew they had to part.

Chykisasa gathered up her crystals and cards, stood up, and looked at Uchi-Buychi. Their eyes were locked for a moment, but they soon came to.

"It was wonderful talking withy you Chykisasa, I can'taru believe we went on until dawn! I'm glad I foundy-wound someone who...well...understands me so well!" Uchi-Buychi said, as he stepped forward and clasped his hands over hers. Chykisasa nodded in agreement.

Seeing no need for words, she leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the cheek. Uchi-Buychi was frozen as she pulled away, and Chykisasa blushed and looked away in embarrassment. Uchi opened his mouth to speak, but decided that words weren't necessary either. He pulled her right arm up slightly, leaned over, and kissed her lightly on the top of her hand.

They beamed at each other for a little while longer, and soon nodded to each other, and–with heavy hearts and whirling minds–parted.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shantotto stayed up a good portion of the night waiting for Chykisasa, but gave up around midnight. She was highly curious as to what they could be doing for so long, and just how far they took it in one night. She was so excited that she even had to use a sip of a special potion to fall asleep. She did, however, wake up when Chykisasa walked in, but she acted like she was asleep until Chykisasa had gone to sleep herself.

Once she knew Chykisasa was asleep, Shantotto quietly exited her bed. And walked behind an enchanted screen. She stood behind it for just a second, and walked out the other side fully dressed. She never used magic to groom her hair, however. That was always done by hand, in order to ensure perfection.

However, she skipped that part for the time being. Shantotto silently walked to the door, where Chykisasa had haphazardly dropped her sack when she came in. Shantotto suppressed her giggles as best she could as she took out the cards that she had used to talk to Uchi-Buychi with. Without any sounds whatsoever, she began to pick them up and read their contents.

Unbeknownst to Shantotto, Chykisasa wasn't asleep at all. She knew all to well the mage's tricks, and knew that reading her cards would be the first thing she'd do when she got in. Just as Shantotto had begun to read to contents on some of the cards, Chykisasa wheeled around on her bed and–with a smirk on her face–looked the other straight in the eye.

Shantotto was very surprised at Chykisasa's alertness, but it wasn't something that she hadn't slightly anticipated. She had trained her well.

"Well, well, someone is wide awake! Something big happened, I take?" Shantotto smirked back, raising one eyebrow at the girl inquisitively.

Chykisasa rolled her eyes and exited her bed. She walked over to the table and began to write her response. Shantotto giggled in spite of herself and grabbed a few of the cards as she approached the table as well. When she got there, Chykisasa was just about finished with her response:

"I know exactly what you're thinking, and first I have to say no. All we did was talk. He wanted to know how it was at Oztroja, so I told him."

"Ohohohoho! Assuming that I believe what you say, did you tell him of your love or further delay?" Shantotto quickly inquired, wanting her to hurry up and spit out what happened. Chykisasa began writing very, very slow, spending several seconds on a single letter–in order to make her as miserable as possible. Shantotto sighed and nudged her, making her laugh and write faster. She was far too impatient to wait for her to finish, so Shantotto just read over Chykisasa's shoulder as she wrote:

"Out of all the things we talked about, that wasn't one of one of them. However, I think by the end of the night the feeling was mutual."

"Oho! I know something else happened, I can see it in your eyes! Tell me what is under this guise!" Shantotto said, nudging Chykisasa again. Chykisasa sighed and turned away from Shantotto, putting her arms in an elaborate thinking position, leaning back and looking straight up at the ceiling. In no way was she joking–telling someone like Shantotto about a kiss could cause a reaction that could start a hurricane. But, in the end she figured it would be better to get it over with, rather than drag it on and never hear the end of it. And so she turned back around and wrote two words on the paper:

"We kissed"

Just as expected, Shantotto exploded with laughter and embraced Chykisasa in with a death grip. "Ohohohohohohoho! Oh I never thought this day would come! See what a wonderful woman you've become! Ohohohohoho!"

While Shantotto was hugging her, Chykisasa felt something drip onto her shoulder, and returned the embrace.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hiwon-Biwon bursted through the door of the Tarutaru Times building in Windurst Waters, clutching onto a book with a huge stack of papers on top of it. All the other Tarutaru who were in the building that early in the morning watched him in curiosity run straight to the back, and burst into the office of Naiko-Paneiko.

"Naiko-Paneiko, sir! I have here a scoopy that shall never be forgotten!" he cried as he ran past the four other editors in the room and slammed his papers on top of other things on Naiko's desk.

Naiko-Paneiko looked at the papers in shock for a moment, but quickly composed himself and looked at the boy angrily. "Hiwon-Biwon! Whataru's the meaning of this! Can'taru you see you've interrupted an important meeting!" he shouted.

Hiwon's overjoyed excitement turned his fear into nerve, "Sir! I've gotten-wotten the scoop of the century on Shantotto, just as I saidy I would!" he yelled. Naiko-Paneiko was only further infuriated, but the other editors were intrigued.

"Naiko, letaru us hear the boy out, maybe-wabey he's got the front page story we've been looking for," one of them said, hoping to prevent the meeting from turning sour.

Naiko-Paneiko sighed, and began to rub his temples with is forefingers. "Alrightaru Hiwon, let's hear it," he said, sensing the regret that was coming.

"Shantotto has been harboring a girl," he said, slightly hushing his voice in order to not be heard by anyone outside of the closed door of the office, "But notaru just any girl–the mute girl! Chykisasa!"He then picked up his final draft of the story and held it out to Naiko-Paneiko.

Before anyone else in the room could react, Naiko threw his head backward in his chair and began laughing. He laughed so hard at the boy that he closed his eyes and clutched his gut in mirth. The other editors tried to control themselves, but couldn't help themselves and began to chuckle as well.

That made it Hiwon-Biwon's turn to be furious, "Butaru I'm serious! Ajido-Marujido was even there!"

As soon as he said the Minister's name, everyone in the room stopped laughing. They simply looked at each other, wide-eyed and not sure of what to do. It was one thing to spy on a professor, but ministers were entirely different matter–especially one as acrid as Ajido-Marujido.

Hiwon-Biwon didn't know if the silence was a good thing or bad thing for his side of the argument. After a few more moments of look-exchanging and comments with facial expressions, Naiko-Paneiko cut in, "Alright, I'll bite, whataru is the full story here?" he asked, hushing his voice and leaning into his desk further. The other editors leaned in as well.

Hiwon told his end of the story to the editors of the paper in as much details as he could. As he finished, he could see in their eyes that they weren't thoroughly impressed with his explanation. In fact, a couple of them looked frightened. Naiko was the first to comment on it.

"There...are a lot of open-ended questions leftaru in there, Hiwon-Biwon," he started, watching the boy's expression dim. "But..." Hiwon's expression lifted, "We need a front page story-wory in less than an hour, in order to get tomorrow's paper outaru in time. I can'taru believe I'm saying this...but you get the spot."

Hiwon-Biwon squealed with joy, making Naiko flinch and the other editors cover their ears, "Oh thanky you sir! You won'taru regret it! This will be rememberued for decades to come!" he cried, grabbing Naiko-Paneiko's hand and shaking it violently.

One of the editors snorted, "If anyone is alivey by then, Shantotto is going to fry all of us when this comes outaru."

"Thataru may be so, but it was bound to get out eventually," Naiko sighed, as he stood up from his chair. "We were bound to try risky reporting sometimey in our lives. Whataru is better time then now?"

"B-but whataru of Ajido-Marujido!" one of the younger female editors squeaked. "If the ministers and even the Star Sibyl are involvied, we could be arrestarued!"

"I didn'taru put his namey in the article, I made it as if he wasn'taru even there!" Hiwon proudly stated.

Naiko was tired of dwelling on the subject. "It's either a sketchy-wetchy article or a big, fat, blank front page. The choice is yours," he said, looking at the other editors. They all looked worried, but no one spoke up. "Itaru is settled then. We give the story to the proofreaders and printers; and pray nonstop 'til tomorrow-worrow," he concluded, grabbing Hiwon-Biwon's article off the table.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Haha...cliffhanger for you :-P