Zouichi smiled a little. "It's not like I did it by myself. And give yourself some credit -- I'm sure there are a lot of people out there who wish they could do what you can with a sword."

Besides, Hana had something else: a kind of infectious excitement that was hard to resist and probably even harder to duplicate. Zouichi didn't think he could ever be so openly happy about things the way Hana often was.

"Oh yeah? As pets?" A baby fish came up to nibble at one of Hana's fingers, attracted by the motion.