121st Spell: Volunteer

"Is something wrong, Haru?"

Surprised, Haru looked at the entrance to his room. Gyoku was standing there in a formal yukata that was wintergreen-blue with white trimming. Haru then picked up the gold baton with the red string and walked over to Gyoku.

"What is that?" Gyoku asked, noticing the baton in Haru's hand.

"I don't know," Haru replied.

"Did you pick that up somewhere?"

"No, it fell out of my jacket. But I don't remember having it in there before…."

"That's weird," Gyoku remarked. "May I take a look?"

Haru nodded and handed the baton over to Gyoku. As Gyoku examined the baton carefully, he noticed a series of letters carved on one side.

"'Tashiwa Rumono,'" Gyoku recited.

"Is that a name?" Haru wondered.

"I'm not sure. Never heard of such a person."

"Neither have I," Haru replied.

"Mind if I hold onto this?" Gyoku suggested as he gripped the baton. "I'd like to study it further to see if I can figure out what it is."

Haru shrugged. "Sure, go ahead."

After tucking the gold baton into his wintergreen yukata, Gyoku made his way down the hallway into the dining room veranda while Haru followed him. To Haru's surprise, Datsu was standing near Meru looking nervous.

"Before we begin dinner, I would like to make an announcement," Meru said. "Datsu the Zashiki-warashi has volunteered to accompany Gyoku to Mahoutokoro for this year."

"Really?" Gaane eyed her little brother with envy. "How come none of the Zashiki-warashi in this house ever volunteered to go with me?"

"Or I," Fuyou added.

"If you recall, girls, a Zashiki-warashi may choose to come and go from the houses they dwell in as they please…unless they've lived a house for so long that they become permanently attached to the house they live in," Meru stated.

"What does she mean?" Haru asked Rui quietly.

"After a Zashiki-warashi has lived a house for a long time, they become permanently bound to that house which means the house's human occupants must pay tribute to it or face its wrath if it gets neglected," Rui explained. "But younger Zashiki-warashi like Datsu can move from one place to another through a consensual agreement between him and the occupant of the new place he's moving to."

Rui then realized she spoke too loud causing everyone at the table to look at her including Meru.

"Did I say you two could talk while I'm talking?" Meru asked Rui and Haru.

"You didn't, Momma," Rui said, lowering her head.

"Then I suggest you two be quiet until I finish speaking," Meru insisted. Once a moment of silence passed, she continued, "Now, Gyoku-kun, do you accept Datsu's offer?"

"Are you sure I'm ready for that kind of responsibility?" Gyoku said with doubt in his voice. "I mean, I just learned how to make azuki meshi…."

"That can be taken care of." Meru then walked into the kitchen and came back holding two items. One was a stone tablet with a golden orb carved into it, and the other was a clay bowl with a lid on top. "Here's a portable shrine for you to pay tribute to Datsu every evening for his help, and an Owari bowl."

Haru was confused. "What's an Owari bowl?"

"It's an enchanted food bowl that magically refills whatever dish you put into it," Meru explained. "So that way, you don't run out of food at parties or other social gatherings."

"Wow! That's amazing," Haru remarked. "My Manai mom would have loved something like that, if she were still alive…."

Seeing the pained look on Haru's face, Rui rubbed his shoulder in comfort. Meanwhile, Meru returned her attention to Gyoku.

"It's not often that a Zashiki-warashi decides to accompany someone to another place outside their normal dwelling," Meru said to her son. "So I interpret this as a sign of your good fortune going into the Secondary School of Mahoutokoro. Therefore, if I were you, I wouldn't ignore Datsu's offer."

Feeling his mother's intense gaze upon him, Gyoku nodded. "All right. I'll let Datsu come with me to Mahoutokoro."

"Excellent!" Meru smiled. "Then let's have the Zashiki Agreement Ceremony after we're finished with dinner, okay?"

"That suits me fine, Lady Meru," Datsu said before glancing at Gyoku with concern. "Unless Lord Gyoku says otherwise…."

"No, let's do the ceremony then," Gyoku agreed.

During dinner, Haru was immediately questioned by Meru about where he ended up after he got lost through the Zen Network on the way to Tateroji. So he reluctantly told her about landing in Māreroji by mistake, though specifically in the backyard of Madam Hōsaku's Escort Service. He strongly emphasized that the Pleasure Witches didn't try to harass him in any way nor he of them before he was found by Higa and brought back to Tateroji where he bumped into the Maki family by chance.

"Those Makis," Meru grumbled. "I swear that politeness of theirs is just a front for the conniving serpents they really are!"

"I wholly agree," Peri added. "The way they treated Hikari's Manai parents like they were alien creatures was despicable!"

"Hikari has Manai parents?" Meru turned to Rui. "Why have you never told me that?"

"Because we only found out today when Hikari's parents accompanied her to Tateroji," Rui said. "Apparently, Hikari wanted to buy her own broomstick at Hōkiga's Sporting Goods. But they wouldn't let her have it unless her parents signed a waiver on her behalf."

"Waiver?" Haru heard his Manai parents use that word before, but didn't know what it meant.

"A document that rids one party of all responsibility for what happens to the other," replied Meru. "So in Hikari's case, the waiver Hōkiga's Sporting Goods made her parents sign legally puts all responsibility that happens to Hikari and her broom on her parents instead of the shop itself. That way, if something bad does happen like the broom gets destroyed or malfunctions the shop can't be sued."

"Isn't that when you make someone pay you money for something they did?" asked Fuyou.

"Correct," Meru confirmed. "Therefore, Hikari's parents can't force Hōkiga's Sporting Goods to pay them money for any harm done to Hikari or her broom because of that waiver they signed."

To be continued…