Episode 6: Giant Plant and Hana's Crush
Disclaimer: Standard Disclaimer applies
Hana was eating a banana, lying on the roof of the En Inn, thinking about what to do next, as he noted how uneventful.
"I wonder if those zowa-zowas gave up, oh man, I hope not…" he thought.
(A/N: Zowa-zowa is from the "Jan-ish" language; don't even try to understand what it means)
Elsewhere, Dr. Cutter and Telsat were planning their next assault on the Asakura Family.
"Doctor, for this past while now, we have not been able to get rid of those wretched Asakuras, we need a new strategy to deal a hard blow on them."
"Not to worry Telsat, I have something which might be able to give us control of the playing field."
Then Cutter inserted the Dark Dominance Key yet again, opening the gate to the Underworld, calling forth another monster.
"For your sake, doctor, you had better come up with something decent…" he threatened.
"Don't worry, if there was something I realized, it's that the young Asakura boy is apparently quite prone to infatuation with the second species…"
Back with Hana, Frank came to join him in his silent moping on the roof, "So Hana, what'cha up to?" he asked.
"Oh not much, just contemplating on something," replied Hana.
Then Frank asked, "What're you thinking about?"
"About whether or not I'll have a girlfriend,"
Frank looked puzzled, "A girlfriend, Hana, you're too young for that."
"I know, but, Frank, the thing is, I always want my life to be exciting, Uncle Ryu told me that if I ever get into high school, I don't need to participate in sports or join clubs, he said that a boy's life is exciting when he has a girlfriend, cause girls never get boring, and well, I kinda want one."
Frank patted Hana on the shoulder, "Well, I'm sure you can deal, there are plenty of fish in the sea, and from what I know, everyone knows which fish they like, it's all in taste."
"I sure hope so Frank, wanna get a donut?" asked Hana.
"Sure," then the two went to get a donut.
After getting his donut, Hana and Frank went to the park to sit down and think of what to do next, "Hey Hana…"
"Yeah?"
"How about we look for another one of those Gouryoushin? After all, Matamune said there were more than just him and Goutai, right?"
"Hmm… yeah, we could work with that."
Hana and Frank went to the beach, learning that the next Gouryoushin was sealed in a cave by the seaside.
"It must be a Water Gouryoushin, since it lives so close to the beach," said Hana.
"Probably, come on…"
Hana and Frank entered a cave on the far end of the coast, entering inside a nearby cave.
"Okay, this should be the place, now, where could it be?"
"Hana, check this out!" called Frank.
"What is it… Whoa," Frank had found a chamber of the cave with the walls, ceiling and ground covered in ice!
"But there can't be any ice here, I mean, it's summer, there can't be," stated Hana.
"Maybe the Gouryoushin has an influence on this place?" said Frank.
"Probably, let's go see…"
Hana and Frank ventured further into the cave, uncertain of what they might find.
"Hey Frank, over here!" called Hana.
Frank followed by and eventually found the shrine where the Gouryoushin's Dominance key was stored, with bits of ice particles.
Hana wiped some of the particles away, allowing him to pick up the box containing the key, and left.
Hana decided to go to the nearby creek and rest for a bit.
"So, Hana, what do you think's inside?" Frank asked.
"A penguin," he replied.
"Huh!?"
"I'm just kidding! But with all the ice in that cave, I'd think that whatever was inside must have something to do with ice, no?" asked Hana.
"Well, I guess, though, I seriously doubt Hao would have ever considered having a penguin for his spirits, who knows?"
"Hm…"
Hana were walking along the grassy outskirts of Funbari, until Frank happened upon something weird.
"Hey Hana, what's this?" Frank pointed to a small statue.
It had a short, oblong body, with a bird-like face, little hands with holes to insert something, round eyes, and what appeared to be a flat patch of hair on the head.
"That? That's a kappa-jizou," Hana replied.
"Kappa-?" Frank was confused.
"Kappa-jizou, he's the guardian deity of Funbari."
"Guardian deity?" said Frank
"Yeah, a hundred years ago, there was a man, who visited the river everyday, bringing offerings of cucumbers to the kappa every week, who loved the food, then one day, the kappa came before the man to grant him, as a reward for his generosity, a wish. The man wanted the kappa and the people of his region to be friends with the kappa, and he also asked that the kappa help protect their lands against those who would desecrate it. It's an old story told in most of Funbari." explained Hana.
"Hmm… kap-pa?" Frank knows enough Japanese to know that kappa is also the term for cucumber, which is rather odd, considering kappa is the name of the water-imps who love to eat it.
Hana walked towards the kappa-jizou, stroking its head and chanting "Bereke Bereke" to the statue.
Then Frank asked, "Hana, what're you doing?"
"Paying homage, that's how to pay respect to the kappa-jizou, and we also have to keep it hydrated," replied Hana.
Hana went to pick up the dipper for the kappa, and then noticed something on the ground, "Oro? What's this?" Hana picked up an unusual plant bud, it had leaves, and roots, but the plant itself looked like an onion bulb.
"Frank, what kind of plant is this?" he asked, showing Frank the plant.
Frank examined the plant, but in all his time of gorging on plants for survival in life, he had never seen a plant like this, "It's not a mushroom, that's for sure, and I don't think it's a kind of vegetable either."
"Maybe we should take this to the florist, he might know," Hana suggested.
"Alright."
Later…
"Hmm… I'll have to look into this, in the meantime, you can just relax yourself," said the florist.
"Thanks."
The florist placed the plant in a pot and put it near an aquarium, "There, that ought to hold you until I can figure out what you are, then the florist left.
Unbeknownst to him, the plant released a long, thin vine like a tentacle, and reached into the aquarium water, sucking it dry…
Outside…
"Hmm, now what?" Hana was contemplating what to do next, when suddenly, he heard a loud yelp.
"Huh?"
Hana ran to the source of the disturbance, which led him back to the florist's shop. When he came inside, he was shocked to find the place covered in plant-stuff and several long vines tangled around the florist.
"Help me-mpff!" he shouted.
"Don't worry, Frank, Hyoi Gattai!" Hana grabbed his sword and started hacking at the vines, but no matter how many he sliced up, more came sprawling in from the next room, "Darn, there's no end to them!"
"Yes there is!" exclaimed Frank.
"What, how?" asked Hana.
"Plants derive all their nutrients and energy from their roots, if we cut them from their roots, we could be able to defeat this thing," explained Frank.
"Hmm… all right, good call, Frank, let's go!" Hana charged through the vines and arrived at the other room, where he found the plant root, "There it is!"
Hana continued running through the vines, slashing through, then he made it to the roots, "Got ya!" then he slashed them off, and in an instant, the plant turned into white ash.
"Looks like those zowa-zowas didn't give up after all. Well, I suppose that's a good thing, I hope…"
Frank went to check on the florist, "How is he?" asked Hana.
"Unconscious, but nothing too damaging, he'll wake up in a bit," reassured Frank.
Sunset…
Hana and Frank walked back home, pondering on how "easy" that last monster was, a little too much so.
"Hmm… it really didn't put much of a fight, didn't it?" asked Hana.
"It was kind of easy, it didn't even try to kill you," stated Frank.
"Yeah, maybe the zowa-zowas are trying something new," said Hana.
"Probably, we better stay more alert."
Just then, Hana noticed something lying along the road, it looked like an unconscious person, then he went towards it.
"Who do you think it is?" asked Frank, looking at the body which was lying face-first.
"Hey, you all right?" asked Hana.
"Hmm… yeah, I guess I'm fine," then the girl rose to her feet, facing Hana.
"Huh?" Hana was stunned by the pretty girl standing in front of him, with a girlish-pink hair and dark brown eyes, wearing a lovely white dress; dusting off dirt from her body, Hana was, for lack of a better word, mesmerized.
"Hello, are you okay?" asked the girl.
Hana broke out of his trance as soon as he could before he got into trouble.
"Wow, you're pretty," he said involuntarily.
"Uh, I mean… uh… uhm…" Hana stuttered to find the right words.
The girl giggled at Hana's awkwardness, "You're so silly," and continued giggling.
Hana scratched his head in embarrassment, not sure what to say in front of a girl, and a really attractive one at that.
"It's okay if you think I'm pretty, it makes girls like you better, you know?" said the girl with a smile.
An awkward silence fell upon them, until Hana broke it, "So, uh, you got a name? I'm Hana."
"I'm Miki, nice to meet you," then she held out her hand to shake.
"Yeah…" Hana took her hand, and well… shook.
"Uhm… I gotta go now, nice meeting you," he said.
Hana and Miki parted ways, but Hana could still see her face in his mind, she was that… attractive, it would seem.
"Hana-san, are you all right?" asked Frank.
"Frank, what's this feeling, it's so… nice," replied Hana.
"Oh, that… yeah, it's pretty good, for the first time…"
"First time?" asked Hana.
"Love is like a jellyfish, Hana, you can't help but see how magnificent it is, and yet, it kills you, one way or another. Trust me."
"Oh…"
That night…
Hana was looking through the window of the En Inn, pondering about his meeting with Miki, and taking into account Frank's words, but truth be told, he really liked Miki, almost as if instantaneously, but wondered something, what if she didn't like him? What if Frank was right? What if… what if!?
Hana was totally confused, "Oh man, what am I gonna do?!" he huddled himself at the corner of his room and shivered like nuts, scared on what to do next, cause he knew nothing about girls other than the fact they're all really nice.
"Just tell her how you feel!"
Hana turned to Frank, "Just tell her you really like her, and if she likes you, then end of story, and if she doesn't like you, just get over yourself, sheesh!" Frank stated it as if it were all so simple, it made Hana think about whether Frank fell in love once.
Next Day…
Hana went to the place where he first met Miki, wondering if she's still around, "I wonder where she is, I hope she didn't go away."
"What're you doing back here?" Hana jumped at the voice which suddenly spoke to him.
Then there was giggling, "You're really funny, you know that?" Hana turned to find…
"Miki-chan!"
"What're you doing back here anyway?" asked Miki.
"Oh, um, well I was... I was…" Hana was once again at a loss for words.
"You know you really should say something," said Miki.
"Ah! I… I… oh fine, I… I like you… I REALLY like you, satisfied?" asked Hana, almost as if it sounded like he was frustrated at her, Dang he thought, realizing the manner of his voice when he said it.
"Hmm…" then she started giggling out loud, much to the distress of Hana, who only looked down in shame, "Hey, don't do that, you won't look good," said Miki.
"Oh, sorry," said Hana apologetically.
"Hana, you shouldn't be so down on the dumps, it's not good for you. And… I'm really glad you told me you liked me."
"Huh? Wait, why?" asked Hana.
"It's just… I've kinda been waiting for a boy to come and say that, you see, I never really had many friends…" said Miki sadly.
"Oh, I'm sorry…" said Hana apologetically.
"Ie, you shouldn't be worrying about me, it's not your problem."
"Miki, I… I also want a friend, but more than that, I… I want you to be my… friend," said Hana, not certain of what he just said.
"Thanks… Hana," and then, another silence crept over them.
It lasted for a full hour, with both unable to come to even a phrase for themselves.
"Hey, wanna come back to my place?" Miki asked.
"Sure," replied Hana.
Across the distance, hidden within a tree, were Frank and Matamune, "Something's fishy about that girl," said Matamune.
"She's got the scent of a genuine Mata Hari, let's tail them!" said Frank.
"Ee," then they both jumped off the tree and gone after Hana and Miki.
(A/N: "Ee" also means "yes" in Japanese, though I'm not really certain as there are varying pronunciations)
When Hana and Miki arrived at her house, an old temple just on the outskirts of Funbari, Miki asked Hana to sit near the table.
"Hey, Miki…"
"Yes, Hana?"
"Do you have any relatives living with you?" asked Hana.
"My grandpa, but he works elsewhere in Tokyo, so he only comes around a few days, but he was kind enough to teach me some things to take care of the house for him,"
"Oh, okay…"
Then Miki noticed that she didn't have any powdered teabags, "A-re? No more?"
"Anything wrong?" asked Hana.
"Oh, not much, I just noticed I don't have anymore tea, I'll go into town and get some, why don't you stay here, Hana?"
"Okay," replied Hana.
Miki left the house to go get some tea, little did she know, Frank and Matamune were spying on her, "She left the house and Hana didn't, did she kill him?!" thought Matamune.
"No, I can sense Hana from here; I think she's left him alone for now, but we better find a way to get rid of her!" said Frank, Matamune nodded and both went after her.
Hana…
Hana was waiting at Miki's house as he was asked, and decided to do something for fun, then he remembered bringing some of his figurines from at home, "Of course!" then he rummaged to see what he had.
After some searching, all he could find were his Wyvern Hades Pantheon God figurine, a MagiMother figurine, and his Wolzard Wolf Knight.
Hana sighed at the lack of playthings he had at the moment, but decided to improvise…
Elsewhere…
Miki went to the store selling the tea, unaware that she was being followed by:
Frank the ghost-possessed Chevrolet Camaro.
And Matamune, the living ghost-possessed CD-player of the Camaro.
Slowly, they encroached upon Miki as if they were stalkers, of sorts…
Frank drove up close, but didn't want to blow their cover, instead opting to follow her inside.
Miki turned her head, feeling something strange approaching her, "A-re? I thought there was someone behind me…"
Miki continued surveying around, but found no one; she shrugged and continued looking for the tea.
Frank and Matamune assumed the forms of a rolling orange (Frank), And Matamune possessed a rolling lemon…
"Hey, Frank, why are we fruits?" asked Matamune.
"There was nothing smaller, now come on…" the orange and lemon rolled after Miki.
Miki finally found the tea she was looking for, then she felt someone again spying on her, she turned and saw an orange and lemon next to her, "Huh? What are they doing here?" she thought.
Miki left for the counter, when Frank and Mata-sama went after her, a cart rolled by and flattened them both…
"Itai!" They both exclaimed.
Miki left the market by this time…
"Aah! We have to tail her!" shouted Matamune.
Frank took over a nearby police car, while Matamune hitched a ride as, once again, the police car's sound system.
Unfortunately, Miki was already a good distance away, so Frank and Matamune had to rush at her with top speed.
However, Frank went so fast he couldn't turn to the side, and now he and Matamune were two blocks away from where they were.
"We'll never find her like this!" said Frank.
"Let's just go back to her house, we might still catch her!" said Matamune.
"Good idea!" then Frank was about to start up again when… "Uhm, Matamune, which way was her house again?"
"Argh!"
Miki arrived back at her house, "I'm back, Hana!" she shouted, but she got no reply.
She went to check after Hana, who was playing with his figurines…
"Bwahahaha! You are finished, Louise!" said Wyvern.
"Damn, he's too tough for me!" said Louise, as Magimother.
"DIE!" shouted Wyvern.
Then he fired a powerful blast of hellish energy, boom! And Wyvern thought they were finished, he walked away, but then saw that Louise lived, and it was because of…
"Saito!" Louise's loyal tsukaima and, by extension, love interest.
"You tried to hurt my Mistress, I shall not forgive you! Golu Golu Goludiiro!" and Saito became Wolzard Fire!
Then Hana noticed Miki came back for the tea, "Oh, Miki, you're back."
"I'll go get the tea ready…" she grinned, ignoring Hana playing with his "action figures."
As for Matamune and Frank, they were lost due to Frank having not paid attention to the direction he and Matamune used to follow Miki to the market, "I think maybe we go right, and left at the second corner," said Matamune, who also didn't know.
Miki got the tea ready and went back to Hana, giving him some, "Arigatou, Miki."
The two drank their tea in silence, until Miki politely offered Hana some of her rice balls, which Hana gladly accepted.
"Wow, Miki, you're really good with rice balls, for that matter, you're practically an adult!" said Hana, surprised by Miki's amazing talents.
"Heh, well, I get by, and it's not as hard as you think," said Miki.
They followed that with some giggles, then another silence overcame them, "So, you wanna talk about anything? Like your hobby?" asked Hana.
"Well, I like knitting…" and both talked and talked for quite a while…
Finally, it was getting late, and Hana had to leave, though not before he said goodbye to Miki.
Miki suddenly had an ominous feeling creep over her, and then she crouched into a fetal position.
"Go AWAY!!" she shouted, before the feeling began prying into her, "I don't want to do it, Go AWAY!"
It was no use, there was no point, "I… I don't want to hurt him," then she started crying.
"Why can't you leave him ALONE!?! sob" then a voice simply said…
Because he must die!
Hana was heading back home, looking at the Dominance Key he recently got on his hand, wondering if there might be another way for him to access its power without Frank's help, after all, he did it without using a real Spirit Node, so why not do another impossible task?
Miki suddenly appeared a good distance away from him, "Huh, Miki-san, what are you doing here?" he asked, going over to Miki's side.
"Hana, I… I don't want to see you anymore," she said, her head bent so you couldn't see her eyes.
"Eh, Miki-san, what are you talking about?" asked Hana, thinking this was a joke.
"I mean, you can't see me anymore, goodbye," her voice sounded rather cold, and then she started to walk away, leaving Hana somewhat confused.
"Wait a minute, Miki, what are you saying? Why?" he asked, grabbing her arm.
"I said to leave me alone!" then Miki punched Hana, sending Hana flying away a good distance.
When he got up, he staggered to see Miki, who had tears in her eyes, and a pack of vines twisted into a fist in her hand, "What the heck?" Hana was confused, and then Miki revealed her true identity.
"Really Hana 'sob', you had me there for a second 'sob' but, it's been fun playing with you, really it 'sob' has," Miki was having trouble speaking, with all the sobs, Hana could sense that Miki was in pain, and he knew why, "Miki, you don't have to do this…"
"Urusai! If I kill you now, then the pain will all go away…" said Miki, not certain of herself.
"Miki, don't do it, you'll only hurt yourself more…" pleaded Hana.
"Hana…" Miki shed one last tear before going berserk, "Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!"
Soon, her clothes tore off, and she was enclosed in a white flower bud, and from underneath that, the stalk of a flower emerged from underneath it, "You… you were the plant that attacked that shop!" said Hana, recognizing the giant monster plant.
Then Miki emerged from the bud, with her legs and half her thigh attached to the flower.
"I'm sorry, Hana-kun!" she shouted.
Then several long, tentacle-tendrils emerged from the plant, and began their attack on Hana, trying to smash him with their big bulbs.
"Wha-!" Hana rolled and jumped from the marauding tendrils, doing a whole slew of unimaginable feats to do so.
Hana nearly missed one when it scratched his face, leaving a small bruise, "Just great, where are Frank and Mata-sama when you need them?" he thought helplessly.
Hana was caught by surprise when a tendril sweeped his feet, throwing him to the ground.
Miki tearfully stated her goodbye to Hana, "I'm sorry, but I'll never be able to stop them, I'm so sorry Hana!" then the tendril was about to perform a finisher on Hana, until the dominance Key Hana was holding suddenly let out a blue shine.
"Nani!?" said both Hana and Miki.
"Shakkin!" suddenly, something glowing aqua blue jumped out of a portal produced by the key, it was…
…A shark?
An anthropomorphic shark, with limbs, and samurai armor, and his tailfin, "Who are you?" asked Hana.
"Not now kid, evil looms…" said the shark.
"Urusai!" shouted Miki, and then she unleashed a whole flurry of tendrils to attack the shark.
"Kori-Same Ken!" then the shark summoned a pair of swords to his side.
When the tendrils were close to him, he performed a wild attack, swinging his sword around wildly, cutting the thousands of them into shreds in an instant, and then he called to Hana.
"Yo, kid! If you wanna live, fight with me!" he said.
"Wha- um, okay, Oversoul!"
Then the shark transformed into a metallic robot mode of itself, similar to Goutai.
"Neat!" said Hana, then the shark shifted into a kind of hover board.
"Damn you!" Miki let loose another attack, but the shark, along with Hana, was able to dodge all the blows, "Go, kid! GO!" shouted the shark.
Then Hana was given his pair of the swords the shark had wielded and charged for the base of the stalk, "I'm sorry, Miki…" Hana muttered, and then he combined both swords together, creating a larger blade.
"Alright, together!" he exclaimed.
Hana charged his new weapon with furyoku, creating a frozen beam of energy for his next attack.
Then the shark spirit released two jets of ice at Miki, freezing her entire body, and then Hana performed the finishing touch, "Hissatsu Hyou-giri!" Hana slashed horizontally at the frozen plant, causing cracks to appear all over itself, then burst in a fiery explosion, but not before Miki muttered, "Thank you, Hana-kun…"
Later…
Hana looked out into the river, lost in his thoughts, and was waiting for Miki, "Who am I kidding? She isn't coming back…" and Hana unconsciously shed a tear, not having realized it.
But as he was trying to take in these recent string of events, Hana was being watched by a blonde little girl, roughly his age, wearing a pink windbreaker and black, frilly skirt, looking sadly at him from the distance…
And whatever happened to Frank and Matamune?
"Matamune, I think we're going in circles" said Frank.
"And I say, we're going the right way!" shouted Matamune.
"But Matamune, we've passed the same sushi shop for the seventh time now, I say we turn left…" said Frank.
"No! I'm sure it was somewhere to the right of this street, now keep moving!" said Matamune.
"You know what, how about I shift into Barricade and…"
"Frank! You are not a Transformer!" shouted Matamune.
"But Matamune, you're practically where Frenzy was in the movie…" countered Frank, apparently moving the topic away from Hana and towards something else…
(sweatdrop)
Preview of the next chapter…
Hana: I found a new Gouryoushin!
Matamune: Good work Hana.
Nero: Hey guys, I'm back…
Hana: Nero!
Yoh: Hey Anna, something's been making the water foul lately.
Anna: Probably that fish-guy I saw in the canal.
Hana: Does anyone know who that girl is?
Matamune: I don't see anyone Hana
Hana: But she's right here!
Frank: Hana, only you and I can see her
Hana: Huh?
Nimian Flyer: Dash to the next chapter…
Episode 7: The New Girl