Ok, I'm back. Finally. My computer has become more suicidal than normal. It's almost like Marvin the Robot from Hitchhikers Guide from the Galaxy: "Life, don't talk to me about life." Come to think of it, I think I'll name it Marvin. It's fitting.

This chapter is the descent into darkness.

Reviewers: I hope I got everything right

KeLpIeenoch- Yeah, Hao is, I guess you would say, "playing" with her. I would call it, well, playing, dang, you've won this round.

Iliada- Here's a more Horohoro-based chapter.

Mizula- It looks like a crossover is in order. To wait for the rest of the manga to come out would drag this story out longer than I'm planning to have it drag. The anime would be easier than both of the earlier options, but the manga has such cooler things going on that the anime just doesn't have. Soooo….crossover. Help from the reviewers would be very helpful to keep me kicked in the right direction. Thanks for the overview of the options with an opinion other than mine. It helped a lot.

Pretty in Black

Chapter 21

Horohoro was ecstatic. They had won their first match, he had gotten an interview, though everyone else said it wasn't legitimate since he didn't fight at all, and he was going to get his long-awaited hot spring buns, courtesy of Rin. The only problem now was he didn't know where she was. Manta told him that Mitoko had taken her somewhere to talk to her. He frowned. That was at least an hour ago. I guess that's how girls are. They like to talk. I know for a fact that Pirika can talk for hours on end.

Yayoi had offered him her puzzle box to play with while he waited, and when he hesitated, she showed him how easy it was to do: she opened it in less than fifteen seconds, and laughed at him when it took him that hour to fail miserably. The kitsune cackled at him. "Don't worry." Yayoi said. "You'll get it one of these days. If you keep trying, the box will open for you and you'll be able to see what's inside."

"What's inside?" he had asked her. She just smiled and put a finger to her lips to indicate that it was a secret and skipped off.

The gang had made the Patch Café their new haunt since hanging out at the dorms proved to be boring and isolated. At least here they would be able to see everything that was happening as it happened. Plus, you can get something to eat or drink as you watch life in Patch Village go on.

Sigh. It was getting boring. Horohoro would have been happy just to have Chocolove crack off some bad jokes and Ren stab him, but whatever caused the illusion of a sun in the sky was starting to set and he wouldn't have been able to see much anyway. "Hey, Yayoi, do you know where your sister and Rin went?"

Yayoi stopped her giggling and looked back at him. "The dorms…I think. Oneechan wanted to talk to Rin-chan. Ooo! Can I come with you?"

Horohoro was amazed that she picked up on things so quickly. "Uh, yeah, sure. If you want to."

"Oh, yay!" she hopped out of her chair and scuttled to Horohoro's side. Grabbing his hand, she started towards the location of the dorms. "This will be fun! We'll have a lot of fun together!"

"Wha? We're just walking to the dorms! How is that going to be fun?"

"We can make a game of it!"

"What kind of game?" he asked suspiciously.

"A fun one!"

Oh, yeah. This will be fun. He thought sarcastically. Wait, did I just say fun? Arrgh! Now she's got me saying "fun"! This will be amusing, pleasurable, enjoyment. What are some more synonyms of fun?

"What did you have in mind?"

Yayoi thought. Her eyes lit up as she thought of something. "I spy!" The image of everyone sitting in the cave playing I spy crept into Horohoro's skull.

"Al-right."

"Now let's spy! Umm…them!"

"On people?!"

"Of course! That's the point of I spy!"

What have I gotten myself into?"So you understand what I'm saying don't you?" Mitoko asked Rin, who just nodded slowly.

"Yes. I do." She looked up. "I understand perfectly. It was bound to happen sooner or later. I'll take care of things from now on. You don't have to do anymore Mitoko. You can go now." Mitoko nodded and left the room. Rin waited until she was gone and sunk onto the sleeping platform and stared into the fading light. She didn't know how long she sat like that, alone with her thoughts, until she was awakened by the patter of feet. It was darker and voices came in from the hall.

"If you want to know, she's in our room. Come on Yayoi, let's get ready for bed."

Rin's breath caught when Horohoro came into the room. "Hey, you alright? How long have you been sitting there?" Rin got up and rested her forehead on his chest and wrapped her arms around him. Needless to say, Horohoro was surprised by this. Rin never hugged anyone. She would lean her head or touch you on the shoulder to show a small affection, but she never got too close. He returned the gesture and rested his head on hers. "Do you want to tell me what's wrong?"

He felt her head nod a yes.

"I've been horrible." Came the muffled reply. "Absolutely terrible. Looking back on it, it wasn't the best thing to do. I should have stayed home."

"You don't want to be in the shaman fight anymore?"

"I want to be in it, but nothing good will come out of it."

"What do you mean by that?"

"The best thing about not having friends is that there is no one to leave you."

"I'm your friend aren't I? What about Yoh, Ryu and everyone else?"

"Of course; but it's not exactly what it looks like."

Horohoro made her look up at him. "Ok, you're going to sit down and tell me everything from day one. No secrets, nothing held back."

"It won't be that simple." she whispered. "It's a long tale to tell."

"If it takes all night, it will be worth it." Rin sat down on the bed and hesitantly started.

"You already know that Mitoko and Yayoi are my cousins, and we don't have the same last name although their father and my father were brothers. Now that I think of it, they've never told you their last name: Matsumura. I've told you from the beginning that mine is Akari. It's Matsumura." Before Horohoro could reply, Rin continued. "Anna figured it out a few days after I started staying at Funbari Inn. She's one of those people who can see right through you. Yoh's like that too, so it was extremely hard to keep the façade secret for too long around them. That's why I spent most of my time away from them in my room. Anna has been a saint about keeping that secret all of this time. Secrets are always safe with her."

"Go on."

"My parents and brother died when I was ten; my father of blood poisoning, my brother of pneumonia, my mother of a broken heart. My father, Yoshiyo, was the head of our family. You have to know what my family was like before it happened. We never lived by anything modern. Everything was by tradition. It held us together, brought us closer to nature and to each other. We could focus on the simple pleasures of life without all of the distractions. It was serene." Her eyes glassed over into a faraway look. "They called me "Little Bell"; because of my name.

Then one day they didn't want to live that way anymore. They wanted to modernize, so they left and took their children with them, willing or unwilling. I, father, mother and Tsuji, that was my brother's name, stayed behind. Eventually the few servants we had left shortly afterward. We made do with what we had. Father and Tsuji were always working hard to make sure mother and I were comfortable and safe. Naturally, mother and I took care of the house. Even though everyone else was gone, I was happy in the safe little world we had created. Tsuji was my playmate whenever he could spare the time, and we had parents who loved us. When they died, that world was shattered."

"So that's why you wear black?"

Rin looked down at her clothing. "I knew that black kimonos are the most formal worn by married women at their children's weddings, but I didn't care. Black reminds me how dark everything is in my life." She sighed. "Now everything has become darker."

The cold tone that came into her voice just now sent a cold wave through Horohoro, so he knew that he wasn't going to like what was coming next.

"So I became the head of the Matsumura family. It was somewhat forced upon me, but it was my decision. I sent out letters, but either no one responded, or they came back saying that they didn't want to return. I became angry and cut them off; cut myself of from the world, and narrow-mindedly refused to see anything else around me." She shrugged. "So I came here when I remembered that my brother was training for the shaman fight and I had always wanted my own destiny when I was little." She laughed. "I was always jealous that Tsuji had a path set for him and he knew where he was going in life: he was going to be a shaman and fight in the fights. I wanted that, but I wasn't going to be allowed to. After he died, I took his destiny and made it my own. I thought I was fighting for us, but I learned later that I was fighting for him."

That cold wave became colder when Horohoro suddenly knew who she was talking about. "Hao? You're fighting for him?"

"I have nothing against him other than his being extremely annoying and arrogant. He's done nothing to me, so why should I hate him? I have no reason too."

Horohoro couldn't believe this. Out of the millions of things in this world, she had to team up with Hao of all people!

"But why?" He was starting to get a little angry, and Rin saw that. "You don't have to! He's a self-absorbed, murderous, scheming jerk!"

Rin stood up. "I have to! I've spent my whole life angry at the rest of my family and saw them as oath breakers! If I don't do this one thing, what do you think they'll think of me when they find out? Especially Yayoi and Mitoko? They've grown up with stories about me and how I've remained true despite every obstacle thrown in my way! Backing out now will just weaken my image as head of the family! They'll lose the rest of what little respect they have for me!" It was her turn to become a little angry as well. She didn't want to go with Hao, but she had no other choice. In a manner of speaking, it was a matter of politics.

"I'm sorry Horohoro. This is my choice. If you and everyone else want to hate me for it, I'm fine with that. That's why I said when you don't have any friends, there's no one to leave you, and you don't have to leave anyone else. You remain the same. Unchanged. That's how I prefer to leave it."

Horohoro had remained seated and for a while it was just the two of them staring at each other in silence. "If things were different, I'd stay with you. Honestly, I would. I don't want us to part with bad feelings between us." She got down onto her knees and looked him in the eyes, then looked down. "You'd better go now. Yayoi needs to get to bed, and Yoh will be wondering where you are."

Horohoro got up and headed for the door.

"We won't hate you, you know. You've traveled with us this far with us, and you've been a good comrade. If you ever want to join us again, we'll welcome you back no matter what."

After Horohoro had left Rin whispered to herself, "Even Lyserg?"

I hope I got the kimono reference right. I did a little research and found that young girls and unmarried women wore more colorful kimonos, and black kimonos with the pattern below the obi were worn by older women at their children's wedding. Huh, now that I think on it, if Rin was a traditionalist, she'd be wearing something suited for her age. Oh well, that's why it's called a fan fiction. Real life can be twisted a bit.

I've been reading the Otori series by Lian Hearn (it's soooooo good!), and after reading it, I realized how mediocre my knowledge of not only the political structure of medieval Japan, but fashions (especially fashions!) and manners and such was. It's such a good series! You people should read it. You won't regret it.

Review!