"The Wandering One"

He rustled under the layers on his futon, gripping the soft, clean blankets and rubbing them against his cheeks for warmth. It was very chilly, and the clouds had an icy look about them that created a sense of loneliness.

The boy sighed. He knew it was still too early. After all, the sun was still hidden over the horizon line. But he was a precocious child who didn't need an alarm to tell him what to do. He threw the covers off of him in a flash and rushed over to put some clothes on.

Scratching his head full of thick, bushy blond hair, he lifted the suspenders and snapped them. Overalls were the only clothes he needed. His free-spirited feet did not even dream of the day when they would don themselves with socks.

He crept down the hallway, crawling silently along so that he would not be heard. He couldn't afford that. Extremely intelligent for a six-year-old, he carefully got up from his crouched position to step into the kitchen.

"Hana-san."

"GWAAH!!" He jumped at the sound of his name, seemingly out of nowhere. He quickly turned his head toward the sound, looking to the direction of the television across the hall.

Heart still thumping wildly, he frowned and grit his teeth. It was just his mochirei (guardian spirit).

"Damn it, what exactly are you doing?" Hana inquired. He was still flustered, but managed to keep his voice down so that the others in his house would not hear him.

"Exactly what it appears, Hana-san," the cat told him. He raised his eyes and took the pipe from his mouth and into his right paw. Smiling contentedly, he finished his reply: "Reading."

"Yeah? Well, you keep doing that. 'Reading.'" Hana exhaled exasperatedly. "You scared me."

"Tsk," Matamune of the Cats clicked his tongue against his lips as he bookmarked his page. "And to think that I have tried so hard to become the opposite of the so-called 'haunting' ghosts that so many Western films love to depict. So much for my many years of death." Matamune floated over to his third master in about one thousand-seven years. "What are you up to?"

"Nothing, Matamune," Hana told the cat. "I can do this without you."

"Hana, I won't let anything happen to you. I stand in front of you firmly." The cat blocked his path into the kitchen. "I will not move."

"Jama ja yo!" Hana yelled, his voice barely audible. You're in my way!

"I was not pulled from a state of Nirvana for nothing," the cat lectured. "Your mother knew that I was needed for your father before the Shaman Fight was concluded almost seven years ago. And of course, after my assistance, I felt honored to see my Master's son brought into this world. You are a very special person, and your parents are the Great Ones. This means that they are not only great themselves, but that they greatly love you, too. While they are away, you are always to be watched out for. That is why I will not let you enter this room until I know what you are up to."

"Fine, guess I'll starve then," Hana sighed.

Matamune blinked. "Aah."

Hana attempted to walk through Matamune, but he forgot about the cat's solid state and fell to the ground. "Itai..."

"Hana-san, you shouldn't worry me like that," Matamune told him as the boy ate his soup. "An old cat like me shouldn't be chasing after such a mischievous child in the first place. Your father was nowhere near as hard to watch as you are—in any of his lives."

Hana sighed, as he often did around Matamune. "I want you to tell me if anyone wakes up."

The spirit narrowed his eyes, his intense neon-green slits. "I will not."

"Yes, you will!" Hana stood up straight and stamped his foot. Matamune didn't quiver a whisker. "Please..." Hana added a little more timidly.

"I need to know what you want me to do that for," Matamune insisted.

Hana's temper flared, and it came out as an exclamation at his mochirei: "NO, YOU DO NOT! COME ON, EVERYONE IS ALWAYS HOLDING ME BACK BECAUSE OF WHO I AM, BUT I HAVE AN AMBITION! I'M GOING TO UNITE THE LEGENDARY WARRIORS SO THAT TOUCHAN AND KAACHAN CAN RETURN! I CAN PROVE IT TO EVERYONE!"

"What is going on?"

Matamune unblinkingly turned toward the voice first. Hana was stationary, for a moment. He shut up and winced. He knew that his plans were ruined now. Kuso...

"Hana-kun...what are you trying to do, give me a heart attack?" The woman gazed desperately at the child she loved.

"Bachan..." Hana hung his head low. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"I know that you most certainly did not," said the woman, clad in a long black dress. She tiptoed over to Hana, her pink hair swishing about. She knelt down to look at him directly with her big, rosy-hued eyes. Matamune bowed his head out and took his leave to let them speak openly.

"Hana, we have talked about this before," the woman said. "You cannot just say these things when you have no control over them. You know that your parents are strong, intelligent people who will succeed in what they set out to do."

"But it's taking too long! Everyone says that and I can't believe them anymore," Hana explained, eyes growing wider with each word. "I can do this, Bachan. You know I'm strong! Along with Matamune, I can do anything."

"But you are still so young. I don't think you realize the consequences that your actions can lead to."

"Yes, I so do! Don't talk to me like I'm an idiot; I know that all of you are just hoping that I'll stand by and not tarnish the "Greatness" of my so-called "Legendary" parents. As long as they are away from me, they can accomplish their duties and keep making everyone realize how wonderful they are. And I don't care if they don't need me..." Hana's deep brown eyes welled up. "I just want everything to be normal for us."

"They do need you! That is why you stay here and behave just like any other normal boy your age. You would be going through the same thing if your parents came home. You are not left alone, Hana," his "aunt" reassured him kindly. She tightly hugged him.

"Bachan..." Hana whispered in her arms. "I love you."

"I love you too, Hana." Now she was close to tears. "More than you could ever know."

Hana pulled away. He grinned a silly smile. "That's why I am going to prove myself to be a warrior! You will be very proud of me!" He darted off with the speed that only small, spirited children possess.

"Hana! Get back here—"

The door slammed with a mighty 'BATAN!!'

"Aaahh..." She slumped to the ground. "This is getting tiring. I worry everyday."

"Tamao-san, you know it cannot be helped," Matamune said reassuringly putting his paw on her shoulder. "He is who he is."

"I know that," said Tamao. She half-smiled and scratched behind Matamune's ears, him purring involuntarily. "It's still so hard. I care for him too much."

"Tamao-chan?"

"Ah," the woman looked to the doorway. "Ryu-san."

"Want me to go get him?"

"Sure," Tamao said softly. "I'll call him off school...?"

"Yes."

"Sou desu ka. Thank you very much, Ryu-san."

"Iya-iya, it's nothing. But first, let me make you some breakfast. Should I take some to him, by the by?"

Tamao giggled a little. "He ate his in a hurry," she explained, gesturing toward the empty bowl at the table. "I see no need."

"Well, I guess it'll just be you and I then, Tamao-chan." Ryu snuck up from behind, his hair still let down from its usual pompadour. He kissed her cheek.

"Ah! Don't do that, Ryu-san!" Tamao fanned her blushing face. Ryu just shrugged and got to work as the Asakuras' cook. Secretly, Tamao smiled facing away from him at the table, waiting for her breakfast and his company.

Matamune chuckled to himself as he pretended to be absorbed in his book. Then, he looked down at the bear-claw necklace around his little furry neck. It was what kept him tangible.

"Yoh-san; Anna-san...You may be coming home sooner than you expect."