"Hey onii-chan! Why didn't you sleep here last night?" asked Pirika cheerfully when Horo Horo entered the shack.
The boy paused, debating whether this was just another trap laid down by his psychotic sister. In the end, he decided that his sister might not go as far as homicide…yet. He would have just to tell her that yesterday's Doraemon episode was a replay only.
"I slept in Yoh's house," he replied at last.
She paused from rinsing the glasses in the sink. "You mean, you ate in Yoh's house."
He grinned sheepishly. "I forgot to bring home anything for you."
"You ate all of it," she stated that as a fact, something that all he could do is to rub his head. He was about to apologize when she continued speaking. "Fortunately, I have a cook. He made my dinner."
"A cook? You taught Kororo to cook?!" He was shocked. For all he knew, his crazy sister had psycho-maneuvered the spirit to do so.
"No. He's a human," she said.
"The kid you picked up in the forest?" he asked, looking around for a sweet and innocent-looking seven-year-old boy.
"Hey Pirika, I've washed the rice grains twice already, as you ordered!" said a male voice, coming from the yard. "Now can I rest?"
Pirika sighed, tossed her glossy hair behind her shoulders, then marched towards the backyard. Horo curiously followed his sister outside.
Only to see a boy with spiky dark, almost purple hair, crouched by the well, washing the grains of rice.
"Go start a fire so we can start cooking the rice already," she instructed him. Horo watched as the boy stood up. His face soured in dismay when he realized that the face of this piece of dark-haired flesh was not that of the seven-year-old kid that he was expecting. And within him was a growing gnawing feeling that this boy was older than a seven-year-old brat.
And this guy slept with Pirika last night, with only the two of them under this roof?!!
Ren looked pretty surprised too when he saw the blue-haired boy looking down at him in disdain. This must be the brother of the shrink. Pirika gave him an oral delivery of this guy's biography last night when he was bored and he couldn't sleep. He was insomniac, and he couldn't sleep without his daily dose of warm milk, but in the end, Pirika managed to put him to sleep still with her endless chatter.
"Onii-chan, this is Ren Tao. Ren, my brother." Pirika's brow rose when she saw that both were staring at each other challengingly. She sighed – she was hoping for sparks between her newfound guinea pig and her brother, but she got more than a spark. They were looking at each other with blazing displeasure.
She groaned. She read that humans are probably the only species of animal that doesn't have an internal inhibition against slaughtering other members of the species. And if she wouldn't interfere now, she had this sinking feeling that she might be able to see a live demo of that theory. "Ren, um, I think you better get started on the fire…"
Tense silence followed. It was obvious that the men didn't like each other.
"Pi_ri_ka," Horo spoke first, teeth gritted. "You're not Snow White, so what is a dwarf doing here with you?"
She shrugged. "I saved him, onii-chan."
"Yes, but we don't need a freeloader here!"
Ren rolled his eyes. "Hah! It was your sister who forced me to stay here, you know. She said that because she saved my life, the least I could do to show my gratitude was to stay here and let her finish her psychoanalysis project on me."
"You let her force you?!" Horo snorted.
Ren's face flamed. "Your sister is a shrink! How can I defend myself from someone who uses mental manipulation?"
"You mean there is something she could manipulate with the size of that hollow thing upon your shoulders that you dare call a 'head'?!" Horo Horo smirked.
The Tao clenched his fists. "Why you-"
"Hey, hey! Stop acting like mentally-deranged people!" she said, holding her hand up. "Onii-chan, Ren will stay here, since you don't want to be the subject of my projects. Unless of course, you want to take his place."
"What?!" Of course, it was like choosing between the devil and the deep blue sea. But really now, between having a freeloader in the house and having someone ask you constantly on what a certain inkblot means…well, it was quite easier to choose the lesser evil.
"Fine! He can stay here. But he has to work to compensate for the dinner and lodging we will give him," decided Horo Horo.
Ren snorted. "I won't exactly call this the best lodging."
Pirika beamed. "Thanks, Onii-chan. Don't worry, Ren will work for us while he's under my observation. I'm already beginning to acquaint him with the household chores."
Horo glared at the boy, then shrugged. "I'm going to sleep. Make sure that what he cooks is edible." He then walked back into the shack.
Ren groaned audibly. The whole circumstance that he was in was absurd. He, the great warrior Ren Tao, was being used as a guinea pig by a psycho, and was being used as a maid at the same time. Once his father hears about what happened to him, he was sure that En Tao would forever banish him from the clan.
But then, this was also serving him another purpose. He could recuperate here and buy time for himself as he awaits what the next move of his assassins would do. As the future head of the Tao clan, many wishes to eliminate him, thinking he was too young for it.
"Ren?"
He blinked, then looked up. Pirika was peering down at him worriedly, bent over his seated figure.
"Is something bothering you?" she asked. "It seems like you're remembering something-"
He didn't like what her concern was doing to him- it was sending him to confusion. "No. Just leave me alone and I'll cook the rice." He then realized from the look on her face that it was the wrong answer.
"Uh-uh." She knelt down beside him. "Do you know that repressing those thoughts you deem unfit for your standards can cause you a serious problem like obsessive-compulsive mental disorder?"
"Wow, I didn't know that," he said sarcastically.
"Uh-huh," she said, nodding solemnly. "You know, I can help. Maybe you-"
"No, thank you! Leave and let me be!" He rolled his eyes and decided to use another tactic. "I'm fine, alright? My father's an assassin, and he hates me. He uses my body as a punching bag when he's in a foul mood. My mother is a wacko, and she likes to feed me hydrogen peroxide for breakfast. The only normal person in the family is my sister, and even then, she's fond of corpses. We're your average family, you see. There, do I still need to be interrogated, Doc?" He said sarcastically before he shifted his attention back to the fire he was building.
To his surprise, Pirika merely smiled. "OK, I'll ask again tonight. There's an element of truth in what you said, I can feel."
He snorted. He should have known.
He placed the pot of washed rice over the fire and covered it. Pirika still hadn't left his side.
"What else do you want?" he asked when she didn't make a move to get up. "Don't tell me you're trying to sense my aura or something."
"Um, actually, I'm trying to sense what kind of shampoo do you use," she admitted, laughing. "Hmm, very nice."
He nearly choked. His shampoo? This shrink was impossible!
"It's aloe vera," he said at last.
"Ah, I'm not very good with botany, gomen nasai," she apologized. "Next time, will you pick some for me too? I want to try natural shampoo on my hair."
"It's great as it is," he said absentmindedly.
"It?"
"Your hair. It's fine," he said.
"You think so, huh?" She looked amused.
He glared at her. He was just trying to be civil to her, why did she have to laugh at his efforts?
But her hair was fine, really. In fact, it looked kind of nice to run his hand on the soft-looking strands…
"Shit!" Ren stood up at once. Was that another psychological trick that the shrink set up for him?
"What's wrong now?" she asked, genuinely bewildered.
"Nothing's wrong! I'm fine, your hair's fine…" He realized what he said, and he nearly kicked himself for it. "Oh shit," he muttered instead.
Pirika self-consciously touched her hair, then smiled up at him. She grabbed his hand before he could react, and placed it on her scalp. "There. Do it. Don't stop yourself from doing it."
Her crown was silky-smooth, something new to his calloused palms used to holding only his weapon. And the strange sensation warming him was alarming him. He abruptly pulled away. "Go in, Pirika. Don't disturb me with useless things." He turned his attention back to the rice.
She looked at him, then smiled. "I'll talk to you tonight." She went back into the house, leaving Ren sighing and muttering curses over and over.
Pirika was about to sit down the floor and get started on reading her Psychology books again when she noticed her brother snoring outside, under the shade of a tree. She got up and placed a blanket on him, then decided that she would just continue to read outside too.
She had always wanted to go to school, ever since she had a brief taste of academics a year back, when a short-lived literacy program was launched in their area. But what perked up her interest was what one of her teachers said: that people can study how other people's minds work. She wanted to do that too, and so the kind teacher sent her pamphlets about psychology. Little by little, her interest grew, until she herself went down to the foot of the mountains just to borrow Psychology books from the library. Her Ainu mind wasn't made sharp for nothing. She was able to grasp the concepts behind the human mind after a few times of reading and re-reading, and she discovered that some of the theories discussed in the books truly apply to the people around her.
She would be happier though if she could pursue a college degree on psychology, but then, that would be asking for too much. She was simply thankful that she and her brother manage to get by everyday ever since they were orphaned early in childhood, and was parented instead by the entire tribe they belong to.
The women in the tribe also insist that instead of pursuing education, she should just learn how to be a homemaker so that when she marries, she wouldn't have to adjust so much. Her brother wouldn't let her though. Always overprotective, her onii-chan insists that she was simply too young to be taught that yet. Although he did make it sound that she would always be forever too young to learn.
Her onii-chan.
She smiled as she touched his hair, reflecting on him.
Her brother carried the burden of responsibility early in his life – to find food for them to eat. To be the pillar of strength for the two of them. Add to the fact that he was both a father and a mother to her, among being her big brother, her best friend, and her knight.
The only time that he could show his childish, boyish side was whenever he was with Tamao. He treated her like she was his mother, looking for in her the attention and affection he always craved since he was a child.
My brother who grew up too fast, she smiled.
She turned her attention once more to the books she brought with her, but she couldn't concentrate. This time, she was thinking of another boy…Ren Tao, to be exact.
He was a perfect psychology specimen- the one any psychologist would want to open up. He was a person of many secrets, she knew that. For one, why would she find him badly beaten up in the forest? And his hands…they were calloused, but not normally. They were palms of someone who holds blades, like that of their blacksmith.
And his eyes…they were too closed and unreadable. Normally, she could see through people when she looks at them in the eyes. But somehow, Ren Tao had perfected the art of impeccable mask, for she couldn't very well say what was he feeling. But at least she was sure of one thing: he was easily irritable.
She sighed and rested her head against the tree. She would find out all of the answers she seek eventually. Deciphering Ren Tao was a challenge, but not a challenge she would back out on. But right now, she just wanted to rest.
tsuzuku