"What'd you say?"
"I said you're nothing but a big jerk!"
Hiroshi winced as his 'best buddy's' fist came flying into his jaw, smacking him backwards. The ex-soldier gritted his teeth and raised his own fists. With an angry yell, he lunged forward and aimed for Daisuke's head.
But, in the nick of time, someone stood in-between the two squabblers. "All right, you two, I think that's just enough!"
Hiroshi stopped right in his tracks. He might be angry at Daisuke, but he wasn't foolish enough to start a fight with Akane.
The short-haired Sheikah girl looked back and forth between the two boys, a frown on her face. After those seven years, she grew up into a skilled warrior, but also a cute-looking young woman who had many admirers among the refugees that were now living in Kakariko Village.
"Who started this?" she snapped. "And what's the meaning of this? As if Ganondorf's creatures wouldn't trouble us enough..."
"And then there's that monster..." she added mentally.
Daisuke gritted his teeth and pointed at the boy he normally called his 'best friend'. "He insulted me! He said I'd be a coward!"
"Of course you are!" Hiroshi snapped back. "What else would you call a man, who always stays hidden in a backwater village like this?"
He gestured towards the village gates. "Why don't we go out there and fight those monsters, instead of hiding like scared little children?"
"It's too dangerous!"
"Hah!" Hiroshi snarled. "You're just a big wimp!"
"You take that back!" Daisuke stepped forward, raising his fists.
"That's it, settle down, both of you!" Akane shouted. "Seriously, the way you are bickering, you'd think you two ARE a pair of immature kids. And Hiroshi, stop speaking such nonsense, okay? Do you want to take on Ganondorf's forces all by yourself? We have to stay here in the village, there's no other place to go, remember? And besides, it was my Mom's idea to hide here... do you want to imply that she's a coward as well? Or me, for that matter?"
Hiroshi meekly looked down to the ground. "No," he murmured. "No, of course not..."
Akane nodded at the two former soldiers. "Good. Now, I believe you two have something better to do, right? Go back on your posts and guard the village, instead of brawling with each other."
Hiroshi and Daisuke nodded and walked back to their posts.
With a sigh, Akane walked over to a bench and sat down. Watching over a complete village could be tiresome sometimes...
"Miss Tendo, you look beat. Would you like some milk?"
Akane looked up into the smiling face of Akari, the Cucco girl. She nodded. "Yes, I'd like that very much, thank you... But please, call me Akane!"
Akari gave Akane a glass of milk and sat down next to her.
Akane drank some milk. "Aaaah, I needed that," she sighed. "Thanks, Akari, that was refreshing." She looked down at her glass. "Although it's not as delicious as the infamous LonLon Milk..."
"I know," Akari nodded. "A shame really... with those steep prices Mr. Ingo is demanding, only very few people can afford to buy a bottle. And poor Mr. Talon..." She sadly looked over to where the ex-owner of the LonLon Ranch was lying in a warm patch of grass, snoring loudly.
Akane also looked at him. "Poor man... he had such a happy life, and all of a sudden, everything was taken away from him. And he has to worry about his daughter all the time."
"Yes," Akari said. "I wish there would be something we could do to help him..."
"Well, Ingo is under Ganondorf's protection, so there isn't much we can do without endangering the villagers," Akane sighed. "The only reason Ganondorf isn't attacking the village is because he doesn't believe the remaining people of Hyrule to be a threat. And he doesn't know that my mother is here, or else he would have sent his henchmen to capture her... or his General Onox." She shook her head. "I still can't believe Kuno turned into that... that... monster!" The Sheikah girl gritted her teeth. "If he was standing in front of me right now, I... I would pound the bastard into the ground. But he still isn't as bad as that monster Zora!"
"Excuse me, but can you help us?" a voice suddenly startled them.
Akane and Akari looked up at a pair of warriors, clothed in green tunics. The boy was equipped with an impressive-looking blade, while the girl was carrying some weird-looking weapon, that almost looked like a...
Akane frowned. Now why did that weapon look so familiar?
'Wait a minute...' she thought. 'Green clothes, a boy and a girl, two fairies hovering over their shoulders...'
"Ukyo?" she asked in disbelief. "Link?"
The blonde teenager blinked. "Do we know you?"
Ukyo gasped. "No way! You are... Are you... Akane?"
Akane jumped up in joy and hugged the surprised Ukyo, before turning to a bewildered Link and giving him the same treatment.
"It's really you! You're back! Oh, where have you been for all this time? Hey, did you visit the Sacred Realm? Oh, you have to tell me everything!"
"Hey, calm down there for a minute," Ukyo snickered.
"Oh, sorry..." Akane stepped back and took another look at her two friends. She still couldn't believe it. "I thought I'd never see you two again... how long has it been, seven years?"
She then looked the two of them over. "Say, you are looking good."
"Oh sure, just ignore us, we're only the annoying little fairy sidekicks..." Tatl huffed. Navi giggled when she saw her blonde friend's expression.
"Well, you are kinda tiny," Ukyo said with a smirk. "So it's pretty easy to overlook you. Hey, even I sometimes forget that you are there."
"Can't be," Link gasped mockingly. "The way she always prattles, how could you possibly overlook her?"
Ukyo shrugged with a grin. "Well, I guess I'm so used to her whiny little voice that her constant nagging turned into background noise for me."
"You're mean!" Tatl whined and pouted.
The others all laughed.
"Oh, you remember Akari, right, Ukyo?" Akane then asked.
"Of course," Ukyo replied. "Nice to see you again, Akari! How'd you do?"
"I can't complain," the Cucco Girl smiled. "Always busy with my little chickens, but I love being around them."
She picked up a clucking Cucco that had been looking up at them from the ground and cuddled it. "My little darling sometimes give me trouble, but I can't stay mad at them for very long... I sooo adore them."
She buried her nose in the soft feathers of her little pet... and the chicken stared at her with a terrified expression. Then it seemed to sigh. 'Here we go again...'
"AAAAH-CHOOOOOOOOOO!"
Clucking wildly, the Cucco flew through the air, propelled backwards by Akari's explosive sneeze.
Link stared at Akari. "Gesundheit!" he finally said.
Akari sniffed. "Thanks..."
Ukyo sweatdropped. "Looks like she's still allergic to Cuccos, huh?"
Akane nodded with a sigh.
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(Posted Tue, 01 May 2007 20:01)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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