Chapter 34: Ms. Frizzy

Naoto and Aku walked past stands selling all sorts of items, from shirts to kabobs.

"So where is this building at?"

Aku looked around in wonder, as everything looked like it was out of a dream. The entire area is lit by torches and strings of lights across the entire area.

'Can barely tell we are below ground with such lighting.

"It's just about a mile this way."

"Really with the way Ms. Ezzy talked about it. I assumed it was closer."

"When it comes to Ms. Ezzy, talking about distance to places, you shouldn't trust her."

He kicked a rock over a little bit.

"You see, while Ms. Ezzy is probably one of the smartest people in the village. She is also the fastest. So when it comes to getting to places, she doesn't always know the true distance between places,"

Aku walked behind the boy, seeing all sorts of stuff happening around them. The food all smelled unique, the demons surrounding them were almost all welcoming. He saw a couple who appeared to be around his age holding hands.

"Some call her Ms. Frizzy just due to how frizzy her hair is. You know some say her hair is actually really wavy, but only if she isn't using her Karada. Her hair is kind of like a clown's if you really think about it."

The boy laughed for a second as he walked. Aku saw more of the village's life with a mother helping her child who had dropped a basket of bread. The mother activated her shiryoku, which was a beautiful blue that hollowed out. All the bread floated off the ground as all the dirt that had got on the bread fell off. The basket returned to the kid who no longer looked upset.

'So free'

"Hey Naoto?"

"Yeah?"

"What would you say about this place to a newcomer?"

Naoto

"Oh, I see why I've never seen you around. If I had to make some obvious points about this place, it's definitely a good place to hide. Being underground has its advantages, but there are some disadvantages too, like no live TV. Most of our news is from the paper. If I'm being honest, I don't really know where we got that either."

"You're beginning to lose me…"

Aku scratched the back of his neck.

"How old are you, kid?"

"10."

"Where are your parents?"

"I don't have any, well, at least that I know of."

Aku felt a sense of relatability with Naoto.

"Sorry to hear that, any family at all?"

Naoto looked up at the sky as he walked.

"I guess Ms. Frizzy, other than that, really no one."

"How'd you get here?"

"They never really told me, I guess I just kind of showed up probably by Tarin or something."

Aku looked around at the scenery again, hearing about the kids' depressing life.

'Just seems like a troubled kid to me.'

"Hey, where are we even going?"

"Oh yeah Ms. Ezzy never told ya we are going to a place kids like to hang out. You see, I'm not the only kid without parents here, so the main spot for kids to stay in is this big building that also has this big play area where me and my friends like to hang out."

Naoto started to see a bunch of kids playing in the distance in a big playground.

"You know, despite this place being so boring, it's safe. In fact, I can't think of anywhere safer than here."

Naoto smiled in thought as his words sent Aku into an overwhelming sense of comfort.

'Maybe Yaki can adjust to this place.'

***

Aku and Naoto started to approach a building as a young girl awaited with a smile on her face. She was on top of a stone staircase that led into a large brick building.

'Jeez, there are so many kids in there.'

The little girl then walked up to both of them.

"Is this her?"

"Yeah."

Naoto's head was down. The little girl had blond hair with two pigtails. She reached towards them and held her hand out.

"Here you go."

Naoto rudely said, slapping the money back in the girl's hand.

"Thank you Naoto!"

Merindel said kindly as she jumped to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Naoto blushed as the girl walked away.

"You stole from a girl as kind as her?"

"Yeah, isn't her nice behavior sickening to look at?"

Naoto walked up the stairs as he muttered insults under his breath.

"Hey uh see ya…wait what was your name again?"

'That's right. I never introduced myself, only Ms. Ezzy said my name.'

Aku looked up at Naoto on top of the steps.

"My name is Aku."

"HA That's a dumb name. Guess it will be easy to remember."

Naoto opened the door.

"See ya around Aku."

"See ya Naoto."

Naoto closed the door behind him.

'What a strange kid…reminds me a little bit of myself."

Aku started to walk back to where he came from, but suddenly.

'Wait…I forgot what I was getting.'

Aku sighed as he started his walk of shame home.

'I hope it wasn't something for Yaki.'

It was for Yaki.