Disclaimer - I don't own Ayatsuri Sakon.

In the horizon, the sun was setting in the distance. Hues could be seen on the horizon of orange, red and yellows, blending together like a wonderful melody or the perfect rhythm. It would have been nice to say that the sky wasn't cloudy, but the clouds colored on the horizon added to the effect of the sunset.

A bus was almost to its last stop, a small town in Japan outside of Tokyo that was starting to be integrated into the infrastructure of the bigger town. Changes that had long not been seen were happening at a rate that most of the younger generation was glad to see, but the older generation was not. The exception was a young boy, around fifteen to sixteen years of age.

One would have thought that he would have been starting to go to one of the major high schools in Tokyo. It wasn't as if his family couldn't afford it, because afford it they could. It also wasn't as if he didn't have the smarts to go to the school, he had proven many times that he had a high level of knowledge in his young head.

The reason he didn't go was that he had made the decision in elementary school that he would become a mawashi, a traveling puppeteer. On the side, he would work with his family in Bunraku, the puppetry style that his family was known for. He planed to follow in his families footsteps.

In elementary school, this obsession of puppetry had gotten him made fun of by the other boys at his school. He had only made one friend, Zenkichi Fujita, who was the same age as him. He was the one person who stood up for him when the other students put him down. Zenkichi was Sakon's age, but was already studying to become a journalistic photographer at a school in Tokyo along with going to high school.

Sakon was on the bus to go home to see his grandfather and mother. He was relaxed and happy with his box on his lap. He stared out the window and watched the sunset. He had thought about bringing his friend Ukon out, but the bus was crowded today with tourists and people going home. He didn't wish damage to come to his friend.

Suddenly, a little boy near him began to wail to his mother. She had a load of groceries next to her and was trying to keep the boy calm.

"I wanna go home! Why aren't we there yet! I'm bored!" The boy sobbed. His mother shushed him and tried to calm him, but it wasn't working. Many of the passengers were glaring at the two of them.

"Shut that boy up, or I'll do it myself!" A round Japanese lady stated. She wore excessively too much makeup.

Suddenly, Sakon reached into his box and pulled out Ukon. The red head puppet held up a thumb. "Oi, don't you dare cry boy!"

Many of the people gasped at this. The green haired boy had seemed so quite and docile up until then. They wanted to see what would happen next. However, the lady glared at Sakon with disproval. The boy though had his full attention on Ukon.

"You're not the only one upset with not getting to move around. This dunder head here, my partner, he just happens to have kept me in the box here for the whole trip." Ukon stretched. "Do you know how cramped that feels!"

This caused the boy to laugh. Sakon could see that the town was coming up. The bus slowly pulled to its fist stop. A few people, including the mother and the boy got up to leave. The mother nodded her head to Sakon. "Thank you so much."

After the bus pulled away, the lady spoke up. "What a disgrace!"

"What's that supposed to mean!" Ukon snapped at her. When somebody showed disrespect to him, he tended to show disrespect back. Sakon closed his eyes and sighed.

"Ukon… shush," This statement from the green haired boy only upset the lady further.

"Taking a national treasure and turning it into a disgrace!" The lady snapped at him. Sakon's eyes snapped open and he chocked. This was the first time anyone had said something like this to him and Ukon. He couldn't say anything in response.

Unfortunately, Ukon could. "Hey, lady… I am not a disgrace. I am me, Ukon and this is my puppeteer Sakon. We go together like peas in a pod. He's good at puppetry and we work together and we work to keep puppetry alive for those to enjoy a part of our culture."

"What can a boy your age understand about such a thing? The children in your generation are focused on television and worried more about what new toy they can get. In fact, you're just treating that Bunraku puppet like a toy. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if you stole that puppet." This statement from the woman caused Sakon to choke again.

"I…" Ukon found himself muffled by Sakon's hand. The bus pulled to a stop. Sakon got up and got off the bus. Ukon glared at him. "Sakon, that lady had her head full of cotton. I was going to say that your grandfather gave you to me."

Sakon let out a small laugh. "You mean you to me."

"That's what I said." Ukon said, folding his arms.

"No, you said gave me to you." Sakon was smiling but was obviously still upset.

"Actually, your father gave me to you and you to me." Ukon stated.

"So that is what you meant by what you said." Sakon said, smiling at the puppet.

"I didn't want to mention your father, and your grandfathers name strikes more meaning with people like her." Ukon glared at the ground. "You do know that this wasn't our stop, right Sakon?"

"I know. I just didn't want to have to listen to her and you argue. I've never had someone say that to me before, that what I do with you is wrong. If I didn't, I would lose one of my best friends ever!" Sakon smiled at the red haired puppet.

"I really need to get you a girlfriend." Ukon said rolling his eyes. "Shiho agrees with me."

"Shiho? She acts like she's my sister or something. Don't tell her I told you that." Sakon said.

"Well, she might have a crush on you, or look to you for a replacement for her dead brother. I am not sure which yet." Ukon piped up.

"Ukon! We have a long way to walk until we get home. Please, the subject of me getting a girlfriend is closed! And don't even think about teaming up with Shiho to get me one!" Sakon wasn't happy with his puppet friend.

"Considering that supposedly I am not supposed to be able to move when you aren't around!" Ukon made a face at Sakon.

"This is going to be a long walk home, isn't it?" Sakon said, groaning at his puppet friend.

"Ohh, I am going to make sure of it." Ukon laughed.