Rule Number Four-A best friend is always on your side, even when you're in the wrong

Howl lazily stared at the sky, biting his lip while he traced patterns in the air with his finger. As he struggled to remember the spell which he was trying to attempt, he frowned before rolling over and burying his face in the sweet smelling grass. Laying there, he inhaled deeply and was ready to give up and just take a nap when he heard someone yelling his name from the bottom of the hill.

"Howl! HOWL!"

Noting that it was a guy's voice, and therefore not Kiki, Howl reasoned he had no obligation to get up and face whoever it was that was calling him. The voice grew louder as the person climbed up the hill, until it was so loud that Howl knew they were standing over him.

"Howl, come on," the boy whined, "You never want to hang out with me."

At that, Howl turned his face slowly to the side and he stared up at the boy with an unimpressed look on his face. Pushing himself up to a sitting position, Howl shook the grass out of his jet black hair and then stretched casually before finally saying, "Well no, not really. I mean, it isn't as if you guys can do magic and you don't understand it either so we don't have much in common, Michael."

Michael laughed at that, sitting down next to the wizard as he elbowed him and said, "We have more in common than you think, Howl Jenkins."

"Oh really?"

"Really. After all, you like girls. I like girls. I'd say that's a pretty big thing right there."

At Michael's statement, Howl smirked and ran a hand through his hair. It was true that he was fond of the girls who ran around town, although he had yet to make a move on any of them. Half of it was the fact that he knew Kiki would be furious if he broke someone's heart, yet the other half of him wanted to see what would happen.

Looking Michael in the eye, Howl said, "Well yeah, but you didn't really come here to ask me to hang out did you?"

Rubbing his head in a slightly ashamed manner, Michael laughed, "So you saw right through me, huh?"

Howl smirked again, replying, "It honestly was obvious from the start. We're friends and all, but whenever you come asking me to hang out it usually means you want a spell. Or it means you want me to set up some sort of thing where you'll get to see Kiki."

The boy shrugged before leaning forward and saying, "Look, Howl. It's like this; I want you to give me a spell that will make me invincible. That way, when I challenge the biggest guy in the school I'll be able to knock him down, and that'll make me the one that everyone looks up to."

Staring at Michael questioningly, Howl asked, "Why is this suddenly so important to you? I mean, Davie Robinson hasn't bothered you up to now, so why the sudden desire to be king of the school?"

With a grin, Michael said sheepishly, "Well, it's actually about this girl…Victoria was talking about how she really admires strong guys. And I heard her say that anyone who could beat Davie would be someone she'd be more than sweet on."

Howl laughed at this, grinning as he replied, "What a dumb reason to want a spell! Although, I guess I should just be glad you're not after Kiki anymore; she's my best friend, I'm not giving her up to anyone!"

Wringing his hands, Michael begged, "Come on Howl, just do this for me! Look, if you do this for me then I'll give you free lunch at the inn for the rest of the year. I'll even give you one today!"

For a second Howl contemplated that. It was true that while Howl despised the food that Wizard Crowe gave him, he was extremely fond of the food served at the inn. All the same, Howl wasn't really sure he wanted to waste that kind of time creating such a pointless spell, not to mention the fact that Howl didn't like how Michael only wanted to be friends when he needed something.

Deciding to play a little trick on Michael as way of revenge, Howl smiled and said, "Alright, Michael. How about that lunch then?"

Kiki and Howl were walking to the school together, the two of them arguing about the benefits of potions over spells when a two guys ran past yelling at them, "Hurry up! I heard something's going on in the schoolyard!"

Looking at Howl curiously, Kiki asked, "I wonder what it could be?" Howl, trying his hardest not to let on that he knew what was happening, shrugged and looked away. With a frown, Kiki grabbed his wrist and pulled him along, exclaiming, "Well don't just stand there, come on let's go find out what it is!"

When the two got to the schoolyard everyone else was already lined around the two boys in a circle, ringing them in. Kiki squinted, before gasping, "Isn't that Michael!"

She was right; the boy stood confidently despite the fact that his opponent towered over him by a good foot or so. Michael caught sight of Kiki and Howl and winked one eye at them before swaggering up to the bigger boy and issuing a challenge in a loud voice.

"I bet you can't beat me in a fight," Michael teased the older boy, who grunted and began to crack his knuckles. For a second Howl debated telling Michael that he the spell he'd given him was completely pointless, but found he was unable to as Michael was sent flying three feet when the older boy punched him.

Wincing and gritting his teeth, Michael held his side and he muttered, "What the hell?" In a second, he seemed to realize it was Howl's fault, and the boy looked over at the wizard with a glare before being hit again by his opponent. Everyone surrounding the fight winced and made sounds of pity as Michael was beaten soundly by Davie Robinson. Fifteen minutes into the fight, Davie seemed to grow bored with the whole affair and let go of Michael, walking off as everyone flocked after him and left Michael in the dust.

Kiki, Howl, and a few other kids of the class all ran to where Michael sat groaning on the ground. Worriedly, Kiki knelt down and put a hand gently on Michael's head before reprimanding him with a, "What was that for!? You know better than anyone not to challenge Davie, he's the biggest kid in the school! How did you think you could win?"

At Kiki's question, Michael spit to the side and wiped an arm over his face before weakly getting to his feet and pointing accusingly at Howl. With a cough, Michael yelled, "You tricked me! That stupid spell you gave me was completely useless!"

Howl, feigning innocence, glared back indignantly.

"Me?" He said in what sounded like an outraged voice to everyone but Kiki, "I don't know what you're talking about. I held up my end of the bargain; I gave you a spell didn't I?" Howl smirked inwardly when he saw that everyone was buying his performance until he caught Kiki's eye. She looked outraged, and for a second he thought that she would call him out on his acting.

Instead, Kiki just sighed loudly and shook her head.

"Michael," she said gently, "You know you can't blame Howl for this. If he really gave you a spell, then he DID hold up his end of the bargain."

Raging, Michael growled, "He was SUPPOSED to give me a spell to make me invincible!"

Kiki grabbed Michael by the shoulders and said sternly, "Look, it's not Howl's fault. If anything, it's yours for trying to win a fight unfairly. I'm sure Howl gave you the best he could; you forget that he's still training and learning spells. Howl didn't purposely sabotage you-you expected too much from a wizard in training."

Howl watched as Michael seemed to deflate, before the innkeeper's son nodded and came up to Howl apologetically. Reaching out a hand to shake Howl's, Michael said, "I'm sorry, Howl. I shouldn't have asked you to do something ridiculous and then gotten angry when you couldn't really do it. And I shouldn't have tried to win a fight relying on anything but myself."

Shaking the boy's hand, Howl forgave him and as Michael was towed off by the rest of the group towards his house for clean-up the young wizard felt a sense of satisfaction at his trick. That satisfaction instantly evaporated as soon as Kiki grabbed his ear and muttered, "Come with me."

"Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-OW! Kiki STOPPIT!" Howl whined, pawing at his ear as he tried to shake his friend off. The young witch was having none of it though. As soon as the two of them were in a secluded area, she chastised her friend thoroughly.

"HOWL JENKINS!" Kiki cried, "You can do invincibility spells perfectly well, so why did you give Michael something so faulty? Furthermore, why did you even agree to give him a spell in the first place? If I didn't cover for you, you would have been exposed as a fraud and no one in the village would ever trust you with spells again, and then you wouldn't be able to make any money by selling simple spells to others. Wizard Crowe probably would have found out too! What do you have to say for yourself?"

Instead of acting ashamed, Howl grabbed Kiki in a tight hug and said, "Thank you, Kiki! I know I did something stupid and irrational, but it won't happen again I promise!"

"Won't happen again?" Kiki muttered darkly. "That'll be the day."

When she looked up though and saw her friend's beaming face, Kiki couldn't help but smile too as she hugged him back. She knew that this wouldn't be the last time she covered for him.