By animeninjaNIPPON
The next day, we set off in search of the elusive Patch Village. Our journey seemed endless, but I didn't mind wandering aimlessly around America – if we ran into any other natives, I could impress them with my knowledge of their language…just like Chocolove liked to show off his knowledge of Japanese. Well, to some extent, anyway – I didn't make jokes out of words that rhymed the way he did. I might confuse pronunciations every once in a while, but not on purpose.
Chocolove's humor wasn't offensive, it was just…strange. I honestly didn't see how he could be so happy all of the time. Even Yoh and HoroHoro got depressed at times, and they were easygoing by my standards. What did he see in life that gave birth to such perpetual joy? Sure, he told us about his mentor, but I still didn't get it. Maybe I spent too much time brooding to understand the little delights of this world.
Suddenly, I felt a hand clap onto my shoulder. I looked up – it was Chocolove. "You need to smile more often," he remarked.
"I smile enough, thanks," I replied indignantly.
"No, I think he's right," HoroHoro added. "You're too serious. You need to lighten up sometimes."
"Like Master Yoh," Ryu pointed out.
"Yoh Asakura does things his own way," I answered, "and I do things mine."
"Suit yourself." HoroHoro threw his arms up in dismissal before resting on a rock. Ryu, Yoh, and their spirit allies followed in his example.
"It sure is hot out here," Ryu groaned, cooling himself off with a makeshift paper fan. Tokagero (his spirit ally) looked equally exhausted.
"HoroHoro, could you produce some ice?" Yoh asked.
"A shaded forest would be nice," Chocolove chipped in, dressing up like a tree. In response to his play on rhyme scheme, I poked him in the nose with my oversoul medium, something I had gotten into the habit of doing when he got on my nerves.
"Ow!" he shrieked, grabbing his nose. "What was that for?"
"Your jokes are unfunny," I replied flatly.
"What?" he cried, as though the idea just occurred to him. "Not funny? You don't find anything funny, do you?"
"No, he doesn't," Ryu answered for me.
"I'll laugh when I become the Shaman King," I remarked haughtily.
"You'll laugh when I become the Shaman King," Chocolove corrected, "when I spread the winds of laughter across the globe!"
"YOU making ME laugh?" I chuckled softly at this idea.
Chocolove grinned smugly. "I just did, didn't I?"
End of part two
The ice/forest joke is mine. It also makes sense in Japanese: koori is Japanese for ice,and mori is Japanese for forest, so it rhymes.
animeninjaNIPPON