Tokito, Tokito. Hey, Tokito, wake up" Said a man with a gentle voice. He was trying to wake a woman who was sleeping near a bundle of charcoal which was actually the remaining of a campfire.

"Mmmm…." Groaned Tokito. She slowly woke up and rubbed her eyes.

"Good morning, Tokito. Take a bath in a river near there. I'll find some food" said the man.

"Don't you dare to even try to peep. Do that and I'll kill you" Warned Tokito

The man chuckled and said "Don't worry, I won't peep you. Besides, I am blind, you know. Come on now, hurry up. We still have grounds to cover."

Tokito grumbled and headed to the river. The man walked to the forest to find some edible fruits. About ten minutes later, Akira has gathered some delicious looking fruits and Tokito has also finished her bath. Akira was sitting near a big rock when Tokito enter the open ground.

"Oh, you're finished. Here, eat this. You must be hungry" Akira gave a green-colored fruit to Tokito. He took one of the fruits on the ground and ate it.

"What is this thing?" Tokito gave a disgusted look to the fruit.

"That's a pear. Try to eat this. Don't worry, it's not poisonous." Akira said and took a bite from the fruit that he holds.

Tokito took a bite from the fruit. "It's delicious" she said and took another bite from the pear.

"Eat as much as you like. We have to walk for about 6 hours." Said Akira

After eating up the fruits, both of them continued their walk to Osaka. They eventually reached their destination at 6 o'clock. Akira brought her to his house. His house was big and it even has a garden with a pond.

"This is my house." Akira said as they entered the entrance. "Come, I'll show you to your room" he said. Both of them went upstairs. Akira opened a door and they entered it. "This is your room. Feel free to use it as much as you like. My room is just next to yours." He said.

"Okay" Tokito said weakly. She winced as she sat down on the tatami, hoping fervently that Akira had not taken notice of her sudden exhaustion.

"What's the matter? Are you tired?" Asked Akira, concerned about the young lady. He approached and knelt next to her.

"Oh great. He noticed it." She thought. "A bit." She replied and averted her eyes from Akira's face

"Well, that explains her strange behaviour." he thought "Let's eat downstairs. I'll cook" Akira said. He stood up and helped Tokito to get on her feet.

They went to the tatami room downstairs. Akira's house was big but simple. The tatami room was the biggest room there.

"Wait here. I won't take long to cook." He said

"Yeah, yeah... Just shut up and do your work." She said. The young lady sat next to the tatami.

"Such rude behaviour..." Akira thought. "I'll be back soon." The young dragon said and left the room.

"This house is quite nice..." Tokito said to herself. "I wonder how that lowly human afford this house." She said and gazed the room. She walked to a slide door and opened it. The door leaded to the garden. The fragrant scent of flowers filled the tatami room. "The flowers are beautiful." She said. She noticed a yellow flower. The young Taishiro approached it and knelt. "It's just like the flower that mother used to plant." She said. She smiled and remembered the time when her mother was still alive. When Tokito was still enjoying her memories with her parents, Akira opened the door and brought the food with him. The sound of the opened door startled Tokito.

"Oh, you're back." She said and stood up. "Tch. That idiot disturbs my memories..." she thought. Her smiling face changed to her usual expression.

"Yes, I am. Come on, let's eat." Akira said. He put the food on the table. "I could have sworn I saw Tokito smiled just then... She's a lot better when she's smilling." He thought and sat on the tatami. Tokito walked to the table and sat in front of Akira. "Did he saw me smile? I hope he did not.." She thought.

"Eat this. You'll need it to recover your strength." Akira said.

"Shut up. Don't try to teach me, garbage." She said. She was angry, but didn't have the strength to shout. She took a bowl of rice and some vegetables and began eating it. "Hey, it's delicious. I didn't know garbage like you can cook" she said.

"Eat as much as you like. There are still a lot of them" he said calmly. "This girl can be so annoying sometimes…" he thought.

In the middle of the meal, Tokito builded up her courage to ask something to Akira that has been on her mind.

"Hey." She said

"You're talking to me?" He asked

"Of course I'm talking to you, moron." She said. "How foolish can this moron be?" She thought

"You could at least try to call my name." He said calmly. "This girl really need to learn some manners." He thought

"Well, Whatever." She said. "Anyway, how do you afford this house?" She asked

"This house was given to me because I saved this town from rounins 4 years ago." He answered

"So you are sometimes useful.." She mocked. "A town hero, huh? Disgusting.." She thought

"As a human, I must help the others." He said

"What good is it to help those lowly humans?" She said

"You'll see soon enough." Akira said. He stood up and brought the dishes to the kitchen. Tokito went to the garden. Akira realised something and went to looked for Tokito after he washed the dishes. He managed to found her sitting on the floor near the garden.

"There you are. I've been looking for you" Akira said and sat next to Tokito

"What do you want, garbage?" Tokito asked grumpily.

"That's not very nice, isn't it? You must learn some manners, you know" Said Akira

"Shut up! How dare a garbage like you try to teach me?" Shouted Tokito

"Anyway, I don't have any woman clothes. So do you want to go out shopping some clothes first?" Asked Akira

She thought about it for a while and replied, "Okay, I want to see how the humans do their things"

"Okay then, follow me" Said Akira. They left the house and walked to town.

During the walked, everybody greeted Akira. He replied them politely. They reached a store and entered it. A nice looking woman greeted them and helped Tokito to picked the clothes. The woman's name's Mrs. Kitagura. She's about 40 years old and has a very warm smile. After finished shopping at Mrs. Kitagura's shop, both of them returned back to the house. On the way back, they had a little chat.

"You're quite popular among the villagers, aren't you?" asked Tokito

"As I said to you yesterday, the villagers here are nice and kind. The town's small, so everyone knows who's who" replied Akira.

"I think I'll like this town" said Tokito in a very small voice

"Sorry?" asked Akira

"Nothing" replied Tokito

"Can we stop by there to buy some food?" He asked

"Sure" She said. Akira was quite shocked when he heard Tokito said "sure". They stopped by the food store.

"Hey, Akira! Long time no see!" The owner of the store said. He was about the same age as Akira

"Hello, Ichiro. It's been a while." Akira said

"Yeah. Hey, who's that cute girl next to you? Your girlfriend?" Ichiro asked

"Watch your tongue, human!" Tokito said angrily

"Sorry, Ichiro. She has a short temper." Akira said

"What did you say?" Tokito protested

"Anyway, her name's Tokito and she's not my girlfriend." Akira answered

"No problem about that. So, what would you like, Akira and Tokito? Pick which ever you want. My vegetables are all fresh." Ichiro said

"You know what I want, Ichiro." Akira said

"Sure. I'll get it at once." Ichiro said and picked some vegetables. He gave Akira a bag full of fresh vegetables. Just when Akira was about to pay, Ichiro shaked his head.

"No need to pay, Akira." Ichiro said and smiled at him

"Are you sure?" Akira asked

"Yeah. Just take it as a gift for welcoming you again to the city." Ichiro said

"Thanks, Ichiro." Akira said

"Hey, Akira. Are you going to start working again tomorrow?" Ichiro asked before Akira and Tokito left

"Of course I will. The town depends on me." Akira said

"That's a good news. I'll tell the others." Ichiro said

"It's up to you." Akira said

"Sure thing." Ichiro said. Akira and Tokito left Ichiro's shop.

"The town's peoples are nice, right?" Akira asked the young Taishiro

"Yeah. You didn't even pay for this clothes and foods." Tokito said

"They're sometimes too nice..." Akira said

"You are working?" She asked

"Yeah, I work as the head police here." He answered

"Oh, I see…" Tokito said

They went back to the Akira's house. Both of them were living in the same house and in the same town, Osaka, now. Would Tokito be able to change her rude behavior? Would she be accepted in the town? What would happen to both of them and the rest of their companions?

--------------------------------------------

Thanks to Jun for the correction.