Chapter Five- Triple Trouble
Notes- I'm churning these out in quite the flurry, ne? ^^ Let me say I'm very flattered and my ego has been quite boosted thanks to the wonderful reviews everyone has given me. Domo Arigato! (Instead of handing out plushies, the author now hands out cookies) Enjoy!
~*~
"Are ya ready, Houjun-kun?"
"Hai, Hikou!"
The two boys shared excited grins as they made their way down the street.
"I'm gonna get more cakes than you will!"
"Ha, like that'll happen!" Hikou replied.
They broke into a run as they hurried towards the market, where they did their usual cake stealing. Well, not stealing exactly; Houjun preferred to think of it as making sure the cakes didn't go bad. After all, something as good as a honey cake deserved to be eaten right away, right? And Hikou, of course, agreed with his thoughts, so once again they were on their way to see what they could get for the day.
First off, though, they'd see if they could get any free samples.
"Ah! Houjun-kun, Hikou-kun!" Gerran said, smiling at the two boys as they approached. There was a sparkle in his eyes; he knew exactly what they were up to today.
Then again, he always did know. Ever since the boys were four they'd been trying to get at his honey cakes. At first he'd been annoyed; now he was merely amused. After all, he could have easily caught the two a number of times, but they'd only stolen one or two every day they tried.
And as popular as the honey cakes were, the mothers were quite strict around this village; his cakes weren't bought very often, and Gerran himself figured that it wouldn't hurt the kids to have a little more fat on them. Therefore, he only caught them and reprimanded them once every four or so times.
Not that he ever let them know that was his view on the matter. Kids were kids, after all, and he hadn't met a kid yet who hadn't parroted at least one or two things to their parents or other adults that were unnecessary for anyone to hear. Gerran did NOT have any urges to deal with any angry mothers, now or ever.
He winked at the two. "What can I do for ya, boys?"
"We're just lookin'," Hikou said innocently. He was grinning; his eyes were dancing with excitement, and laughter was quickly bubbling up in his throat. However, he managed to keep it down. "Seein' whatcha merchants got."
"Hai," Houjun added, also plastering an innocent smile on his face.
Gerran nodded. "Ah, I see. Well, why don't I give ya somethin' to treat on while you're looking around today, boys? On me."
"Hontou!?" both exclaimed, hands immediately clasped in front of them as though they were pleading. "You mean it, G-san?" Hikou said.
"Hai, of course I do!" Gerran laughed. "It's not like I'd say it and do something else! Set a bad example for you young 'uns. Here you go!" With that, he gave each of them a honey cake.
Hikou's eyes grew wide and sparkly at the sight and smell of a cake in his hands. "Aaaaaah," he said dreamily, staring at it.
Houjun blinked at his friend; he was already halfway done gobbling up his cake. "C'mon, Hikou," he said. "We gotta look at other stuff too."
"Huh? Oh, hai, hai, Houjun. Just another minute..." Hikou grinned as his eyes returned to the cake in his hands. "Honey caaaake," he sighed. "I love these. Houjun, have ya tried 'em? They're so good, so good...."
The blue-haired boy gave his friend a grin. "Hikou, I just finished mine. Of course I know 'bout them. Now c'mon!" He tugged on his friend's sleeve.
Hikou started to stuff his face with the cake so that he could wave at Gerran with his sticky hands while Houjun pulled him around the corner. "Arigato G-san!" both chorused before disappearing.
Gerran chuckled. "Let's see if that deters them for today..." He listened intently, and a moment later he could hear muffled giggles coming from behind his stand. He grinned. "I suppose not. Good thing I made an extra batch today," he murmured.
He smiled at a woman who was coming up to buy some cakes, and decided to let the boys go at it for today. If they got sick from taking too many of his cakes, he'd just make sure they didn't do so around his stand.
~*~
Houjun clamped a hand over his friend's mouth. "Hikou, you're gonna get us caught!" he hissed.
"No I'm not," his friend mumbled, and tried to pull Houjun's hand off of his mouth. "Stop it!"
"Iie. You'll just get us dis- dis- found!" Houjun replied.
"It's discovered," Hikou said helpfully. Then he poked out his tongue.
"EW!" Houjun quickly wiped his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Don't do that, Hikou!" he reprimanded. "That's nasty!"
Hikou grinned. "It did what I wanted it to, ne?" he said quietly. "Now be quiet!"
"You be quiet!"
Both started laughing again, and clamped their hands over their mouths.
"Now, Houjun, ya ready?"
"Hai!"
"Whatcha doing?" came another voice.
Both boys froze, then groaned and turned to see what they were worried they'd see.
Kouran stood a few feet away from their hiding spot, looking at them with a curious expression on her face. Her hands her behind her head as she gave them a wide-eyed look of interest.
"Kouran, you'll get us caught!" Houjun whispered frantically.
"Caught...? You're stealing again!" she accused.
"No we ain't! We're eatin' 'em so they won't go bad!" Hikou said.
"Yeah!" Houjun added.
"You're gonna get in trouble!" she declared.
"Only if ya don't be quiet!" Hikou said.
"An' why should I?"
"Cause I told ya to!"
She sniffed. "I do what I wanna do, not what you wanna do, Hikou-chan."
Unlike Houjun, Hikou hated her calling him that. "Don't call me that!" he said, giving her a glare.
"Call ya what?" she asked with an innocent smile.
Houjun sighed. "What do ya want, Kouran?" he asked.
"Houjun!" Hikou said.
Kouran flashed the blue-haired boy a little grin and gave a victory pose. "I'm stealing some too!"
"You're what? No you're not!" Hikou said. "This is a boy thing! Ain't ya supposed to be inside somewhere making clothes?"
"Hikou!" Houjun whispered.
But the girl was already sniffling, her eyes now filling with unshed tears. "You're so mean, Hikou-chan! If you don't lemme come with ya I'll tell on you AN' say you made me cry."
Hikou paled. Houjun sighed again. "Daaaa," he said. "Alright, alright! Long as ya know we each only take our own cakes. Got it?"
The tears were already gone. Kouran was smiling again.
Both boys exhaled in relief at that, and returned their attention to where the honey cakes were being kept. Hikou frowned in disappointment; Gerran was checking over the cakes that he hadn't sold yet. "We haveta wait a minute," he muttered to Houjun. The blue-haired boy nodded.
Houjun let his thoughts turn to Kouran while he waited for his friend to signal that they could go. The young girl had started tagging along with him and Hikou ever since they'd all met four weeks ago. Well, not tagging along exactly; he saw her occasionally playing with other girls in town. However, it seemed that whenever he and Hikou were about to do something fun, just the two of them, she'd show up and demand to be allowed to join in.
Four weeks... It'd almost felt like years, at first. Houjun had nearly had a heart attack when Kouran appeared the first time; they'd almost been caught stealing cakes then.
Now, it was almost as everyday as anything else in this town was. Houjun had almost been expecting her to show up, and the minute she had done so, he'd accepted her appearance with resignation.
"Ready?" Hikou asked.
Houjun returned his thoughts to the matter at hand; stealing the cakes. "Hai!"
"Hai!" Kouran added.
Hikou winced, muttered a quick prayer, and then said, "Let's go!"
All three dove out of their hiding spots onto the stacks of cakes. Hikou quickly grabbed four; Houjun got two; Kouran got one.
Gerran didn't seem to notice them until they had already grabbed their respective cakes. "Hey! You little rascals, get back here and put those down!" he roared, waving his hands at them. However, since he had cakes in his hands at the moment, he couldn't do much to stop them at the moment.
Giggling at each other, the three raced away from the scene of their crime towards the river, which was about a five-minute sprint for them.
Finally, they reached the river and collapsed in a little heap of sticky cakes and laughing children. The three eventually pulled away from each other, panting, and looked over their prizes.
"Ha! Looks like I beat ya again, Houjun!" Hikou said proudly, holding up his cakes.
Houjun's face fell. "No fair! He saw us before I could get any!"
"Rules 'r rules," Hikou said. When he noticed his friend's disappointment however, he said, "Here, here's one more. Then we'll be even, ne?"
Houjun lit up again. "Arigato Hikou-kun! You're really a great friend!"
The other boy grinned. "O' course I am!" he boasted.
Kouran, meanwhile, had been staring from her single cake to the boys' collection of treats. A vein popped out in her head. "Excuse me? He already got two cakes!"
Hikou looked over, wide-eyed. "Well, yeah, so?"
"So? So! So I should get one more!" Kouran demanded. "It's only fair!"
The two boys blinked. "No, that's not how it works," Hikou explained. "Ya see, ya only share th' loot if ya wanna. An' I wanna share it with Houjun. Not with YOU."
"Oh yeah? I'll tell!"
"You always say that, you- you- girl!"
"Ooh! Stupid boys! You can't even come up with bad words!" She stuck her tongue out at him.
"Sure I can!" Hikou said, making a face back at her. "I know all o' em. Ya name 'em, I know 'em!"
"Oh yeah, prove it!"
Hikou puffed out his chest while Houjun watched in a mixture of amusement and exasperation. "Girls ain't supposed to learn bad words, so I can't say 'em," he said with a haughty expression.
Kouran rather quickly wiped that expression off of his face with a handful of dirt.
"YOU- YOU!" Hikou was at a loss for words. "You... destroyed... one o' my... cakes..." he said, staring at a dirt-and-grass-covered honey cake. His eyes were wide and threatened to spill tears.
The girl turned her nose up at him. "Serves you right fer that, Hikou-kun," she said.
"Minna," Houjun tried to cut in. "Here, Hikou-kun, have yer cake back..."
"Houjun-kun, I can't. This is WAR," Hikou declared, and reached for his own handful of dirt and grass while gobbling up his remaining honey cakes.
Houjun blinked, then turned away. "Daaaa," he complained.
Kouran giggled, and for a moment everything seemed to calm down. "You made a funny noise again," she said.
"He does that all the time," Hikou told her.
"Why?"
"'Cause he's Houjun, I guess."
"Ano... minna?" Houjun blinked as the two suddenly went from about to fight to almost-friends.
"I've never heard anyone say that 'fore."
"Yeah, neither have I. Mama says it's to make a point or somethin'," Hikou said, nodding. He once again had that wise, all-knowing look he usually wore when explaining things to kids his age.
"Hontou?" Kouran asked.
"I don't like being ignored," Houjun hinted.
"Go 'way, we're talkin' about you," Kouran told him.
"I thought you didn't like boys," Houjun said.
She blinked suddenly, and her eyes narrowed. "I don't. You stupid boys tricked me!" she said, her voice growing higher in pitch. Both boys winced.
"Now you've done it," Hikou said to his friend. Houjun nodded, wishing he could take it back now.
"First ya don't lemme play, then ya don't share, and NOW ya trick me!" she said. "You're so mean! An' I was tryin' to be nice too! I HATE you!" She turned and started to run away from them, following the riverbank.
The two watched her, then sighed at once. "She changes feelin's fast, doesn't she?" Houjun asked.
Hikou smacked him on the head. "NOW we gotta follow her!" he said.
"We do?" Houjun asked, rubbing his head.
"Hai! Remember that really slippery part further up? Where the water gets deep?"
Houjun suddenly blinked. "Uh-oh. Hai, Hikou-kun. She doesn't know about that place yet..."
"AAIIIYEEEE!"
"Now she does," Hikou said. "Come ON! If she dies we'll never be allowed t' play again!"
"Hai!"
With that, the two raced alongside the riverbank, and soon found what they were afraid to see.
This part of the riverbank was particularly hard to navigate, especially when one was trying to walk right next to the water. There was a large, old tree with huge roots sticking out and feeding into the water at this point, and the soil always seemed to be muddy, even in the hottest days of summer.
Kouran had tripped over a huge tree root and slid all the way down the bank into the water, which was a few feet deep, the deepest part of the river. She was now trying to tread water and scream for help at the same time.
Houjun took a second look at her, and his eyes widened in alarm. She wasn't treading water, she was thrashing! She couldn't swim!
A sudden need to protect filled him, and his eyes narrowed. An instant later, he felt a strange warmth and strength flow from somewhere in his right leg to his entire body, and without a second thought he barked out orders to Hikou.
"Hikou-kun! GET HELP NO DA!"
"N-nani? Houjun, what're you-!"
SPLASH!
Houjun dove into the water- he'd learned to swim thanks to his father about a year ago- and swam over to Kouran, who was still thrashing and screaming. "GO!" he yelped.
Hikou blinked at his friend for a moment. Was it him, or had he seen something on Houjun's right knee glow? Then he shook his head and said, "H-hai!" He then turned and ran back to the village.
Houjun grabbed hold of Kouran, who was still thrashing. "Kouran! Kouran-chan! Calm down, I gotcha!" he said.
"I'm gonna drown, I'm gonna drown!" she screamed.
He sighed. "No, you're not. I gotcha, Kouran-chan!"
She stopped thrashing and looked around at him. "Y-you came in ta save me?" she asked, eyes wide.
It was that LOOK again. The one she gave him when he gave her back that dress... he blushed and looked away. "Da. Course I did. It'd be bad if I let a girl drown, y'know."
She stuck out her tongue at him. "Stupid."
"Shut up." He started to tow her back towards shore.
The two climbed up on the bank not too far from where Kouran had fallen in, and Houjun slipped out of his shirt to try and wring it out while Kouran worked on drying her hair a bit and brushing herself off. The two sat in silence for a while.
Then Kouran said, "Ya saved me, Houjun-chan."
Houjun looked up to once again see that look. "Ano, it was nothing. I didn't know ya couldn't swim," he muttered.
"I never learned," she admitted, picking at a piece of grass. "Never thought it'd be so hard."
"It gets easier once ya learn it," he said.
"Course it does. Then you KNOW it already. Stupid boy."
"Stupid girl."
"Hmph." Both folded their arms and looked away from each other.
"Ano..."
"Nani?" Houjun asked impatiently.
"...Domo Arigato, Houjun-chan."
He looked back, and was surprised to find her giving him a swift kiss on the cheek. He turned a beet red, and for a second wondered about cooties. Then he dismissed the idea and started to wonder about what he should do.
Kouran pulled back and giggled at the expression on his face. "Y'know, even if you're stupid like yer friend, you're nice... for a boy, anyway." She sat up and looked back towards the village. "Ah! Mama!" She stood up and started running towards someone in the distance.
Houjun continued to sit there, mind blank, while Hikou and a couple others from the village got closer. Then a blue tinge appeared under his eyes, and he finally turned and dunked his head into the river. Repeatedly.
"Da. Da. Daaaa!" he stated. "Why can't she just be MEAN?" he rubbed at his cheek where she'd kissed him. "Ew..."
"Houjun! You all right there, boy?" asked a man from the village.
The blue-haired boy looked up from his head- dunking to see Gerran. "Hai, I'm fine," he mumbled.
"Mighty brave of ya to help your friend there," he said with a little wink.
Houjun gave him a glare. "She is NOT my friend."
Gerran chuckled, patted him on the head, and turned away. "He'll be all right, everyone. Let's get back to market."
Mai, meanwhile, had come up to Houjun and was looking him over, tsk-ing and shaking her head. "Houjun-kun, how do you GET into these situations?" she asked. He started to open his mouth to answer. "Never mind. Let's get you home, dried, and into some other clothes or you'll get a cold within the week." With that, she abruptly picked her son up, wet clothes and all, and started to carry him home.
Houjun sighed, and glanced down at where Hikou was waving goodbye to him and Kouran was walking away hand-in-hand with her mother. Then he shook his head. Girls!
~*~
Hehe. That last sentence says a lot, ne? ^^ Devious Kouran, what is she up to now? Does she just like teasing poor Houjun, or is something else on her mind? I hope you enjoyed this.
Hey! Longest chapter yet! I'm so proud! (Sniffs and hugs fic)
Fic- (sweat-drops)
Random person- (sees the author hugging her computer and quickly turns around and walks away without making any comments)
Anyway, an extra note about something mentioned in this chapter- yes, Chichiri does have a father in this story. You'll be seeing him very soon, I promise you. He just likes to travel. But that's another chapter! Until then, everyone, take care! (Waves)
Notes- I'm churning these out in quite the flurry, ne? ^^ Let me say I'm very flattered and my ego has been quite boosted thanks to the wonderful reviews everyone has given me. Domo Arigato! (Instead of handing out plushies, the author now hands out cookies) Enjoy!
~*~
"Are ya ready, Houjun-kun?"
"Hai, Hikou!"
The two boys shared excited grins as they made their way down the street.
"I'm gonna get more cakes than you will!"
"Ha, like that'll happen!" Hikou replied.
They broke into a run as they hurried towards the market, where they did their usual cake stealing. Well, not stealing exactly; Houjun preferred to think of it as making sure the cakes didn't go bad. After all, something as good as a honey cake deserved to be eaten right away, right? And Hikou, of course, agreed with his thoughts, so once again they were on their way to see what they could get for the day.
First off, though, they'd see if they could get any free samples.
"Ah! Houjun-kun, Hikou-kun!" Gerran said, smiling at the two boys as they approached. There was a sparkle in his eyes; he knew exactly what they were up to today.
Then again, he always did know. Ever since the boys were four they'd been trying to get at his honey cakes. At first he'd been annoyed; now he was merely amused. After all, he could have easily caught the two a number of times, but they'd only stolen one or two every day they tried.
And as popular as the honey cakes were, the mothers were quite strict around this village; his cakes weren't bought very often, and Gerran himself figured that it wouldn't hurt the kids to have a little more fat on them. Therefore, he only caught them and reprimanded them once every four or so times.
Not that he ever let them know that was his view on the matter. Kids were kids, after all, and he hadn't met a kid yet who hadn't parroted at least one or two things to their parents or other adults that were unnecessary for anyone to hear. Gerran did NOT have any urges to deal with any angry mothers, now or ever.
He winked at the two. "What can I do for ya, boys?"
"We're just lookin'," Hikou said innocently. He was grinning; his eyes were dancing with excitement, and laughter was quickly bubbling up in his throat. However, he managed to keep it down. "Seein' whatcha merchants got."
"Hai," Houjun added, also plastering an innocent smile on his face.
Gerran nodded. "Ah, I see. Well, why don't I give ya somethin' to treat on while you're looking around today, boys? On me."
"Hontou!?" both exclaimed, hands immediately clasped in front of them as though they were pleading. "You mean it, G-san?" Hikou said.
"Hai, of course I do!" Gerran laughed. "It's not like I'd say it and do something else! Set a bad example for you young 'uns. Here you go!" With that, he gave each of them a honey cake.
Hikou's eyes grew wide and sparkly at the sight and smell of a cake in his hands. "Aaaaaah," he said dreamily, staring at it.
Houjun blinked at his friend; he was already halfway done gobbling up his cake. "C'mon, Hikou," he said. "We gotta look at other stuff too."
"Huh? Oh, hai, hai, Houjun. Just another minute..." Hikou grinned as his eyes returned to the cake in his hands. "Honey caaaake," he sighed. "I love these. Houjun, have ya tried 'em? They're so good, so good...."
The blue-haired boy gave his friend a grin. "Hikou, I just finished mine. Of course I know 'bout them. Now c'mon!" He tugged on his friend's sleeve.
Hikou started to stuff his face with the cake so that he could wave at Gerran with his sticky hands while Houjun pulled him around the corner. "Arigato G-san!" both chorused before disappearing.
Gerran chuckled. "Let's see if that deters them for today..." He listened intently, and a moment later he could hear muffled giggles coming from behind his stand. He grinned. "I suppose not. Good thing I made an extra batch today," he murmured.
He smiled at a woman who was coming up to buy some cakes, and decided to let the boys go at it for today. If they got sick from taking too many of his cakes, he'd just make sure they didn't do so around his stand.
~*~
Houjun clamped a hand over his friend's mouth. "Hikou, you're gonna get us caught!" he hissed.
"No I'm not," his friend mumbled, and tried to pull Houjun's hand off of his mouth. "Stop it!"
"Iie. You'll just get us dis- dis- found!" Houjun replied.
"It's discovered," Hikou said helpfully. Then he poked out his tongue.
"EW!" Houjun quickly wiped his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Don't do that, Hikou!" he reprimanded. "That's nasty!"
Hikou grinned. "It did what I wanted it to, ne?" he said quietly. "Now be quiet!"
"You be quiet!"
Both started laughing again, and clamped their hands over their mouths.
"Now, Houjun, ya ready?"
"Hai!"
"Whatcha doing?" came another voice.
Both boys froze, then groaned and turned to see what they were worried they'd see.
Kouran stood a few feet away from their hiding spot, looking at them with a curious expression on her face. Her hands her behind her head as she gave them a wide-eyed look of interest.
"Kouran, you'll get us caught!" Houjun whispered frantically.
"Caught...? You're stealing again!" she accused.
"No we ain't! We're eatin' 'em so they won't go bad!" Hikou said.
"Yeah!" Houjun added.
"You're gonna get in trouble!" she declared.
"Only if ya don't be quiet!" Hikou said.
"An' why should I?"
"Cause I told ya to!"
She sniffed. "I do what I wanna do, not what you wanna do, Hikou-chan."
Unlike Houjun, Hikou hated her calling him that. "Don't call me that!" he said, giving her a glare.
"Call ya what?" she asked with an innocent smile.
Houjun sighed. "What do ya want, Kouran?" he asked.
"Houjun!" Hikou said.
Kouran flashed the blue-haired boy a little grin and gave a victory pose. "I'm stealing some too!"
"You're what? No you're not!" Hikou said. "This is a boy thing! Ain't ya supposed to be inside somewhere making clothes?"
"Hikou!" Houjun whispered.
But the girl was already sniffling, her eyes now filling with unshed tears. "You're so mean, Hikou-chan! If you don't lemme come with ya I'll tell on you AN' say you made me cry."
Hikou paled. Houjun sighed again. "Daaaa," he said. "Alright, alright! Long as ya know we each only take our own cakes. Got it?"
The tears were already gone. Kouran was smiling again.
Both boys exhaled in relief at that, and returned their attention to where the honey cakes were being kept. Hikou frowned in disappointment; Gerran was checking over the cakes that he hadn't sold yet. "We haveta wait a minute," he muttered to Houjun. The blue-haired boy nodded.
Houjun let his thoughts turn to Kouran while he waited for his friend to signal that they could go. The young girl had started tagging along with him and Hikou ever since they'd all met four weeks ago. Well, not tagging along exactly; he saw her occasionally playing with other girls in town. However, it seemed that whenever he and Hikou were about to do something fun, just the two of them, she'd show up and demand to be allowed to join in.
Four weeks... It'd almost felt like years, at first. Houjun had nearly had a heart attack when Kouran appeared the first time; they'd almost been caught stealing cakes then.
Now, it was almost as everyday as anything else in this town was. Houjun had almost been expecting her to show up, and the minute she had done so, he'd accepted her appearance with resignation.
"Ready?" Hikou asked.
Houjun returned his thoughts to the matter at hand; stealing the cakes. "Hai!"
"Hai!" Kouran added.
Hikou winced, muttered a quick prayer, and then said, "Let's go!"
All three dove out of their hiding spots onto the stacks of cakes. Hikou quickly grabbed four; Houjun got two; Kouran got one.
Gerran didn't seem to notice them until they had already grabbed their respective cakes. "Hey! You little rascals, get back here and put those down!" he roared, waving his hands at them. However, since he had cakes in his hands at the moment, he couldn't do much to stop them at the moment.
Giggling at each other, the three raced away from the scene of their crime towards the river, which was about a five-minute sprint for them.
Finally, they reached the river and collapsed in a little heap of sticky cakes and laughing children. The three eventually pulled away from each other, panting, and looked over their prizes.
"Ha! Looks like I beat ya again, Houjun!" Hikou said proudly, holding up his cakes.
Houjun's face fell. "No fair! He saw us before I could get any!"
"Rules 'r rules," Hikou said. When he noticed his friend's disappointment however, he said, "Here, here's one more. Then we'll be even, ne?"
Houjun lit up again. "Arigato Hikou-kun! You're really a great friend!"
The other boy grinned. "O' course I am!" he boasted.
Kouran, meanwhile, had been staring from her single cake to the boys' collection of treats. A vein popped out in her head. "Excuse me? He already got two cakes!"
Hikou looked over, wide-eyed. "Well, yeah, so?"
"So? So! So I should get one more!" Kouran demanded. "It's only fair!"
The two boys blinked. "No, that's not how it works," Hikou explained. "Ya see, ya only share th' loot if ya wanna. An' I wanna share it with Houjun. Not with YOU."
"Oh yeah? I'll tell!"
"You always say that, you- you- girl!"
"Ooh! Stupid boys! You can't even come up with bad words!" She stuck her tongue out at him.
"Sure I can!" Hikou said, making a face back at her. "I know all o' em. Ya name 'em, I know 'em!"
"Oh yeah, prove it!"
Hikou puffed out his chest while Houjun watched in a mixture of amusement and exasperation. "Girls ain't supposed to learn bad words, so I can't say 'em," he said with a haughty expression.
Kouran rather quickly wiped that expression off of his face with a handful of dirt.
"YOU- YOU!" Hikou was at a loss for words. "You... destroyed... one o' my... cakes..." he said, staring at a dirt-and-grass-covered honey cake. His eyes were wide and threatened to spill tears.
The girl turned her nose up at him. "Serves you right fer that, Hikou-kun," she said.
"Minna," Houjun tried to cut in. "Here, Hikou-kun, have yer cake back..."
"Houjun-kun, I can't. This is WAR," Hikou declared, and reached for his own handful of dirt and grass while gobbling up his remaining honey cakes.
Houjun blinked, then turned away. "Daaaa," he complained.
Kouran giggled, and for a moment everything seemed to calm down. "You made a funny noise again," she said.
"He does that all the time," Hikou told her.
"Why?"
"'Cause he's Houjun, I guess."
"Ano... minna?" Houjun blinked as the two suddenly went from about to fight to almost-friends.
"I've never heard anyone say that 'fore."
"Yeah, neither have I. Mama says it's to make a point or somethin'," Hikou said, nodding. He once again had that wise, all-knowing look he usually wore when explaining things to kids his age.
"Hontou?" Kouran asked.
"I don't like being ignored," Houjun hinted.
"Go 'way, we're talkin' about you," Kouran told him.
"I thought you didn't like boys," Houjun said.
She blinked suddenly, and her eyes narrowed. "I don't. You stupid boys tricked me!" she said, her voice growing higher in pitch. Both boys winced.
"Now you've done it," Hikou said to his friend. Houjun nodded, wishing he could take it back now.
"First ya don't lemme play, then ya don't share, and NOW ya trick me!" she said. "You're so mean! An' I was tryin' to be nice too! I HATE you!" She turned and started to run away from them, following the riverbank.
The two watched her, then sighed at once. "She changes feelin's fast, doesn't she?" Houjun asked.
Hikou smacked him on the head. "NOW we gotta follow her!" he said.
"We do?" Houjun asked, rubbing his head.
"Hai! Remember that really slippery part further up? Where the water gets deep?"
Houjun suddenly blinked. "Uh-oh. Hai, Hikou-kun. She doesn't know about that place yet..."
"AAIIIYEEEE!"
"Now she does," Hikou said. "Come ON! If she dies we'll never be allowed t' play again!"
"Hai!"
With that, the two raced alongside the riverbank, and soon found what they were afraid to see.
This part of the riverbank was particularly hard to navigate, especially when one was trying to walk right next to the water. There was a large, old tree with huge roots sticking out and feeding into the water at this point, and the soil always seemed to be muddy, even in the hottest days of summer.
Kouran had tripped over a huge tree root and slid all the way down the bank into the water, which was a few feet deep, the deepest part of the river. She was now trying to tread water and scream for help at the same time.
Houjun took a second look at her, and his eyes widened in alarm. She wasn't treading water, she was thrashing! She couldn't swim!
A sudden need to protect filled him, and his eyes narrowed. An instant later, he felt a strange warmth and strength flow from somewhere in his right leg to his entire body, and without a second thought he barked out orders to Hikou.
"Hikou-kun! GET HELP NO DA!"
"N-nani? Houjun, what're you-!"
SPLASH!
Houjun dove into the water- he'd learned to swim thanks to his father about a year ago- and swam over to Kouran, who was still thrashing and screaming. "GO!" he yelped.
Hikou blinked at his friend for a moment. Was it him, or had he seen something on Houjun's right knee glow? Then he shook his head and said, "H-hai!" He then turned and ran back to the village.
Houjun grabbed hold of Kouran, who was still thrashing. "Kouran! Kouran-chan! Calm down, I gotcha!" he said.
"I'm gonna drown, I'm gonna drown!" she screamed.
He sighed. "No, you're not. I gotcha, Kouran-chan!"
She stopped thrashing and looked around at him. "Y-you came in ta save me?" she asked, eyes wide.
It was that LOOK again. The one she gave him when he gave her back that dress... he blushed and looked away. "Da. Course I did. It'd be bad if I let a girl drown, y'know."
She stuck out her tongue at him. "Stupid."
"Shut up." He started to tow her back towards shore.
The two climbed up on the bank not too far from where Kouran had fallen in, and Houjun slipped out of his shirt to try and wring it out while Kouran worked on drying her hair a bit and brushing herself off. The two sat in silence for a while.
Then Kouran said, "Ya saved me, Houjun-chan."
Houjun looked up to once again see that look. "Ano, it was nothing. I didn't know ya couldn't swim," he muttered.
"I never learned," she admitted, picking at a piece of grass. "Never thought it'd be so hard."
"It gets easier once ya learn it," he said.
"Course it does. Then you KNOW it already. Stupid boy."
"Stupid girl."
"Hmph." Both folded their arms and looked away from each other.
"Ano..."
"Nani?" Houjun asked impatiently.
"...Domo Arigato, Houjun-chan."
He looked back, and was surprised to find her giving him a swift kiss on the cheek. He turned a beet red, and for a second wondered about cooties. Then he dismissed the idea and started to wonder about what he should do.
Kouran pulled back and giggled at the expression on his face. "Y'know, even if you're stupid like yer friend, you're nice... for a boy, anyway." She sat up and looked back towards the village. "Ah! Mama!" She stood up and started running towards someone in the distance.
Houjun continued to sit there, mind blank, while Hikou and a couple others from the village got closer. Then a blue tinge appeared under his eyes, and he finally turned and dunked his head into the river. Repeatedly.
"Da. Da. Daaaa!" he stated. "Why can't she just be MEAN?" he rubbed at his cheek where she'd kissed him. "Ew..."
"Houjun! You all right there, boy?" asked a man from the village.
The blue-haired boy looked up from his head- dunking to see Gerran. "Hai, I'm fine," he mumbled.
"Mighty brave of ya to help your friend there," he said with a little wink.
Houjun gave him a glare. "She is NOT my friend."
Gerran chuckled, patted him on the head, and turned away. "He'll be all right, everyone. Let's get back to market."
Mai, meanwhile, had come up to Houjun and was looking him over, tsk-ing and shaking her head. "Houjun-kun, how do you GET into these situations?" she asked. He started to open his mouth to answer. "Never mind. Let's get you home, dried, and into some other clothes or you'll get a cold within the week." With that, she abruptly picked her son up, wet clothes and all, and started to carry him home.
Houjun sighed, and glanced down at where Hikou was waving goodbye to him and Kouran was walking away hand-in-hand with her mother. Then he shook his head. Girls!
~*~
Hehe. That last sentence says a lot, ne? ^^ Devious Kouran, what is she up to now? Does she just like teasing poor Houjun, or is something else on her mind? I hope you enjoyed this.
Hey! Longest chapter yet! I'm so proud! (Sniffs and hugs fic)
Fic- (sweat-drops)
Random person- (sees the author hugging her computer and quickly turns around and walks away without making any comments)
Anyway, an extra note about something mentioned in this chapter- yes, Chichiri does have a father in this story. You'll be seeing him very soon, I promise you. He just likes to travel. But that's another chapter! Until then, everyone, take care! (Waves)