"Of course I found you, Onii-chan! I am, after all, your only younger sister." Pirika stated blithely.

"Arigatou!" Horohoro grinned before gobbling down the lunch she had brought him at a rate that could put even wild boars to shame.

When he was finally done (which was actually no more than 5 minutes considering his insane speed), he lifted up his oracle bell and began scrutinizing it.

A minute passed. His brows were furrowed in deep concentration.

Another passed. Pirika looked on eagerly.

Yet another. Yes, he was beginning to get it!

And another. Yes, yes, she was sure about it! Any moment now and- "Err… could you repeat it again?" he muttered sheepishly.

A flock of birds took off from the nearby tree, startled by what sounded like a very violent knock-out punch followed by an "ONII-CHAN!"

"Okay, I'll repeat it one last time," she breathed, her voice dripping with venom. "First, press the up button on your oracle bell. Then, press left, down, right, left, left, up, down, down, right, right, up. You listening?"

An obviously lost Horohoro nodded back dazedly, "heard every word you said." She raised an eyebrow expectantly.

A drop of sweat slid down his cheek as he began, "err… up… right… left…

BONK.

"ONI-CHAN!"

A pouting Horohoro rubbed the two growing lumps on his head as Pirika took over the oracle bell, concluding he was probably the last person one should ever ask for help if it involved any device with buttons.

With nimble fingers, she quickly keyed in the combination. In response, the screen began blinking, before four Japanese characters appeared, reading "Horohoro".

Horohoro watched quizzically as numbers appeared beside his name. "9520? I don't have that much on me!"

"Ano.. I don't think that's how much money you have on you, Onii-chan, it's a measurement of your furyoku." Horohoro beamed, it sure seemed like a large sum to him. Wringing her hands, Pirika continued, "and this is how much Hao has."

Her hands hovered hesitantly above the buttons, before slowly pushing them. Slowly, the oracle bell began to form the digits, as Horohoro leaned forward.

He froze.

I've lost to Hao.

"Twelve… million." He could swear he had heard his heart grind to a standstill as his quivering lips struggled to form the words.

I've lost my dream

His mind had become instantly flooded by a million surging thoughts. He had journeyed so far, trained so hard. And now… it was all over. What was he to do?

"Onii-chan," Pirika whispered, "let's go home."

Slowly, he turned to face her, his eyes void of emotion.

She squeezed his hand, 'It'll be ok,' she silently conveyed.

It wouldn't. He knew that as well as she did

"Horohoro-kun!" Ryu was running towards them, his arms in the air, "Let's go."

I'll never win. No, not against such a massive amount of furyoku.

He must have sensed the tension in the air, for he paused. "We'll defeat Hao for sure," his voice hadn't lost its confidence.

Horohoro looked up and a smile crept across his face, "together," he added.

But even so, I'll fight to the end.

Because it's my friends I'm fighting for.

Pirika, it's you I'm fighting for.