Magic

Chapter One: One September Day

Cye put the rest of the dishes in the dishwasher and started it up; he let out a long sigh and looked out the small kitchen window. Tomorrow would mark the start of a new school term for his four friends in their last year too. He graduated last year, due to his birthday; Cye had always been one year ahead in school. There was still college though.

College was something he was definitely looking into since it was his main reason for moving to Tokyo. Both of his parents went to college and Sayoko said she had no desire to. The only reason Cye hadn't jumped into college right after graduating was because he felt he had to save up a little more money, falling into debt for school was not really something he wanted to do.

As for his four close friends? Well Cye only knew what Kento had planned for his career, taking over the family business. The two best friends had agreed to enroll in the same college together so they could both study business. While studying all the things to go with running one's own small business Cye also wanted to further his first passion, cooking.

A good song from the small radio brought Cye out of his current thoughts and back to cleaning the kitchen. Leaning over and turning the music up a little he also caught the sounds of crashing and thudding from Kento's room.

Other thoughts did occupy his time these days as well, thoughts that any single man would think about. Since they no longer had to put on mystical armor, the real world had beckoned Cye into its arms.

At the start of the summer he had managed to open his own pottery shop a few blocks away from his apartment, business had been booming. Even though it was only him working in the shop he was able to get occasional help from Ryo or Kento, rarely would Rowen or Sage be able to help. Last month Cye had sent a few pictures of the shop to his mother who loved them and told Cye she's was so proud of him.

Glancing over at the kitchen counter, Cye spied the letter his grandmother had sent him earlier that month. In it was evidence of yet another step into normality and manhood, her concern about his life. The biggest of which was if he had a girlfriend, which he did not. That was an area of life that Cye was just not quite ready to venture into yet, maybe in a year or two he'd feel differently.

He had others things to worry about first.

Kento looked at the back of Cye's head, "You alright?"

Snapping around, Cye looked at his roommate. "Yeah I was just thinking."

"Don't think too hard." The young Chinese man said, "It hurts believe me."

Cye chuckled.

Kento smiled and sat on the sofa, a small grunt following.

"Was it your bed again?" Cye asked.

"Yeah," Kento sighed and rubbed his shoulder, "You'd think after four days of tossing and punching my mattress that it'd be good enough to let me sleep."

"I'll make you some oolong tea." Cye offered.

"Mm oolong tea."

Cye smiled and took a bamboo printed teapot off the tiny shelf just above the stove. Turning the water on and filling the pot just enough for two cups, then he set it on the stove and put the dial on medium. He opened the cupboard and took out two teacups for him and Kento.

Kento, who had been watching the whole time smiled. "You know I have to agree with Rowen about you."

Blinking Cye turned and looked at his friend, "What?"

"You will make someone a fine wife someday!" He grinned.

Cye looked thoughtful, "But then who will be my husband?" He asked in a high voice.

Now it was Kento's turn to laugh. "So what time are we meeting Sage, Rowen, and Ryo?"

"Um..." Cye turned around to look at the food themed calendar on the fridge. "Around one thirty; so we've got three hours to get ready."

Kento nodded, "It's weird to think this is our last year of high school."

"I know. To think that you're almost adults is weird in and of itself. Now you're in your last year of high school with college options popping their heads out of the water." The oven beeped and Cye opened it, taking out the batch of cookies he had been making. "I wonder what the rest of the year will be like?"

"Probably the usual, Sage getting followed by his group of giggling followers, Rowen staying at the top of the class, Ryo making soccer captain, and I'll be there to haul ass in gym. Oh and you'll be visiting us at lunch."

"If I can make it to eat lunch with you guys," Cye remarked.

Kento's eyes then fell on the tray Cye was holding. "WOOT! Cookies are done!" He stood up and ran into the kitchen.

However, Cye would have none of that. He spun past Kento and leapt onto the soft chair by the sofa. "Now look here Kento Rei Faun! I spent all morning making these for all five of us to snack on later. You are not going to gobble them down until later!"

Kento backed up by the fridge. "Cye you can get really scary, you know that?"

WHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

"WHA!" Kento jumped over the counter and into the dining room when the teapot started whistling.

Cye almost spilled the cookies he was laughing so hard. "A little jumping today?" He got off the chair and set the cookies on the countertop by the stove. Put on his lobster claw of an oven mitt and pulled the teapot off the stove.

"Gahh!" Kento stood up and tried to catch his breath. "Teapots are out to get me! Ever since I was a kid that whistle they make scares me."

"Any idea why?" Cye asked while pouring the tea.

Kento thought for a minute. "Not that I can remember." He said slowly. "I know something happened but I don't remember what."

"You must have been too young." Cye handed Kento a cup of oolong tea.

"Maybe," Kento took his cup, "Thanks man." He smiled.

"You're welcome." Cye took a sip of his tea. "So what shall I make for dinner tonight?"

Kento pointed at his friend. "You've cooked meals the last five days. I'm cooking tonight."

"Thanks Kento." Cye loved to cook but even he got tired of it from time to time.

A few hours later, both boys were casually walking down one of the many overly crowded streets of Tokyo. It was cold that day, almost close to winter cold. But with everyone walking so close together no one was cold for very long.

Kento looked around at the buildings. "So where are we meeting them again?"

"We're meeting up by Hachiko in the Shibuya District, then we are going to that Teishoku-ya." Cye said.

"Oh that place is sooo gooood!" Kento grinned.

Cye chuckled.

"I wonder how many people will be around Hachiko today?"

"Somewhere around too-many-to-count," Cye said. "I just hope we can find them easily."

"Just look for the squealing girls." Kento joked.

"Sage may be hiding from his fan club."

Kento chuckled. "Yeah I feel bad for him sometimes."

"Me too, I think the only girls that Sage is even a little comfortable around are Mia and Kayura."

"Probably because they don't worship the very ground he walks on." They both laughed. "Speaking of Kayura I wonder how she and the Warlords are doing?"

"Last time I heard anything they were doing alright. I'm not sure where they are or what they're doing." Cye shrugged. "Ryo might know, we can ask him."

"Good idea." Kento agreed.

"Yo! Cye! Kento!"

The two in question turned and smiled.

Speak of the devil. "Hey Ryo!" Kento grinned as their friend and leader jogged over to them. "You look frazzled."

"I blame my aunt." He said and sighed. "I'm grateful and all that she's letting me live with her but that woman fusses over everything. I swear she'll train White Blaze to vacuum before Christmas."

Cye laughed. "High strung is she?"

"No just very active."

"Hey active isn't bad."

"Anyways" Kento started, "Ryo, Cye and I wondered if you've heard from Kayura and the other Warlords?"

Ryo nodded, "I have, they're all doing well. Mia's letting Kayura stay in her house, so she took over the basement. I helped her get a sofa down there the other day." He chuckled. "I forgot how strong she can be."

"That's good that you're helping your lil' sister." The Chinese man smiled. "So where are Cale, Dais, and Sekhmet?"

"They are all in the Nether Realm."

"And here I thought They'd want to return to life in this world." Kento shrugged.

"I'm not sure they'd adjust that well Kento, things have changed since they lived here." Cye pointed out.

Ryo shrugged, "Oh and once we sit down to eat I've got a message from Mia for everyone."

"Oh? What is it?"

"Kento, he just said he had to wait for everyone." Cye sighed.

"Yeah but usually Mia calls us if she's got to say something." Kento looked at Ryo. "Is she okay?"

"Mia's fine. She's just too busy right now so she asked if I'd tell everyone, so I said okay." Ryo smiled. "It's nothing bad so don't worry."

Kento sighed muttering something about letting Kayura tell them instead.

Cye just laughed lightly while they rounded the corner and entered Shibuya. As usual the place was busier than a beehive. People their age and younger, ran in and out of the shops that lined the sidewalks. One could find almost anything in the form of fashion or electronics here, it was nuts!

"God this place is always so busy!" Ryo said uncomfortably.

"It's a wonder people don't get trampled to death here." Cye agreed.

Kento nodded. "Well let's get over to Hachiko and see if we can find the fan club."

"Yeah we've got a long walk."

They walked past shop after shop of different items. Clothes, food, electronics, luck charms, the list just went on and on. It was amazing how many shops where in this area of the city. The big question though would have to be were there more people than stores? Yes several times over.

"I still can't believe you're wearing a hat." Rowen said looking at Sage.

Sage looked at Rowen, "We are in a heavily crowded area."

"You'll have to take it off when we get food."

"…"

"Hey, look at it this way, if we get a waitress that thinks you're cute, we may get a discount."

"Rowen!" Sage glared.

Rowen laughed.

Sage sighed.

"If you hate it so much why do you put up with it as well as you do?"

"I have no idea." Sage shrugged. "I guess it's better than being feared because of the way I look."

Rowen decided it was time to change the subject. "I heard you on the phone with Satsuki this morning, she over her cold?"

"Almost, she says that she feels a lot better. I can still hear it in her voice though so I told her to take it easy until school starts back up."

"I hope she listens."

"She will." He let out a sigh, "Satsuki usually does listen when I say things to her."

Rowen looked at him, "She looks up to you."

Sage took his turn to change the subject, "So how's your dad?"

Rowen shrugged, "Fine I think. I haven't heard from him since I let him know where we had moved to."

"Is that a good thing?" Sage asked.

"Yeah, if I hear from him too much it means he doesn't have a lot of work to do and he's bored." Rowen leaned against the tree and closed his eyes.

"You know Rowen," Sage crossed his arms, "you have a very strange relationship with your parents."

Rowen opened his eyes, "You just now realized this?"

Sage smiled. "Oh I think I see Kento's big mouth."

"Hm?" Rowen followed Sage's gaze.

"There they are." Cye said, spotting Rowen's blue hair.

"Yo!" Kento waved to their friends.

Ryo smiled as they approached the statue of Hachiko where their friend waited. "You guys been here long?"

"About fifteen minutes." Sage said.

"Whoa." Kento blinked. "Sage is wearing a hat."

"Don't you dare take it off either!" Sage warned.

Kento moved away from Sage. "So how are you guys?" He asked Rowen.

"Fine," He answered.

"That's good to hear." Cye said.

Sage looked at Cye and Ryo. "And are you guys doing well?"

"Can't complain," Cye said.

Ryo shrugged, "Eh I'm good."

"Let's get some lunch, I'm starving." Kento said.

"Me too," Rowen smiled.

"Let's feed the two bottomless pits." Cye said playfully.

Kento grinned, "Cye made a bunch of cookies for later."

Rowen's face brightened at the very mention of sugar.

Oh great… Sage thought.

Ryo smiled and walked beside Sage as they made their way to the Teishoku-ya restaurant that had become yet another one of their hangouts. Rowen and Kento were talking about which tempura was better, which left Cye feeling rather ill when Rowen said shrimp tempura. Ryo and Sage talked about the events that had taken place so far that year. Both agreed the only big change was being at school without Cye.

Cye's age complicated visits at school; still it wasn't like they never saw him. The school allowed friends to visit at lunch, so they always ate on the roof. It was easier that way to get away from the other students.

The boys entered the Teishoku-ya and were greeted by a young waiter named Haru. "Wow I haven't seen you five for a while." He smiled.

"Hi Haru," Kento grinned, "Can we get our usual spot in the back?"

"Of course!" Haru lead the way to the back of the restaurant. "I'm even assigned to that area today. So if you're all getting the usual orders I can get them started for you."

Ryo smiled, "That is great Haru."

Haru led them to a table and waited until all five of his customers sat down. "The usual drinks too?"

"Please." Cye nodded.

Haru nodded and slipped through the door that led to the kitchen.

"Man why can't a cool guy like Haru work at my family's place?" Kento asked.

Rowen chuckled, "Probably because he'd be the one with more tips than you."

"Hey!"

Sage chuckled. "So Cye, how's work going?"

"It's been busy the last few days." Cye answered. "A tour group from France came through the other day and I almost sold everything in the shop to them. Pottery must be popular in France."

Kento pouted, "Cye won't be joining us tomorrow for lunch. He's got that monthly check up with the land lady again."

"She's just going in to check you out." Ryo said.

Cye turned slightly green, "Ryo, don't even joke about that."

Everyone laughed and Haru brought the drinks out. Kento took a sip of his coke-a-cola then remembered something. "Hey Ryo?"

The leader looked over at him, "Hm?"

"Didn't you say Mia wanted you to tell us all something?"

Cye blinked now also remembering that.

"That's odd." Rowen said, "Mia hardly ever has us tell each other things."

Ryo cleared his throat, obviously not too comfortable that he had to do this. "Well it's a bit shocking but I'll just say it..." he paused looking at Sage, "Um you'll wanna put that down."

Sage raised his visible eyebrow and set his Diet Coke back on the table. What on earth would Ryo have to relay to them that way so shocking that Sage might lose his drink?

Now that he had everyone's attention Ryo said it. "Mia is engaged."

Suddenly Sage was very glad he did put the drink down.

Kento's eyes were about to fall out of his head, "She's what…?"

"Are you kidding?" Cye was happy for Mia but this was still quite the shock.

Rowen asked, "Is Jack her fiancé?" He seemed to be the only one unfazed by the news.

Sage just listened. He wasn't sure what to say.

"Yeah it's Jack." Ryo said. "Mia asked me to tell you guys because she won't be back until the 8th of October. She and Jack are off looking at wedding locations."

"Wow… just wow." Kento rubbed the side of his head to calm himself down. "I guess we shouldn't be too surprised. I mean Jack's been dating her for two years, it must have only been a matter of time before he popped the question."

"At least Jack is aware of the fact that if he hurts Mia in any way," Sage sipped his Diet Coke, "That they'll be nothing left of him to find."

Everyone nodded. No one hurt their Mia without suffering for it.

"So did they set a date for the wedding?" Cye asked.

Ryo thought for a moment, "I think Mia said they were talking about doing it a few weeks after we graduate."

Rowen nodded, "Mia would do a thing like that too."

Scuffing Kento said, "You're the only one who could even miss class anyways."

"It's not my fault you never study for a test." Rowen said.

"Don't start you two." Cye warned.

Sage and Ryo nodded agreeing with Cye.

"Fine," Both boys said.

Haru appeared with another waiter the boys hadn't seen yet. "I hope you're hungry, the chef made a little extra." Haru and the other boy then set the food down in all the right places.

It was all Kento could do to keep from drooling. "Haru you're the best!"

"I do my best." Haru said with a grin. "Enjoy." He led the other waiter to another table.

"Training the new guy," Sage summed up.

Rowen picked up his chopsticks, "Must be."

Cye smiled, "So did you two decide if you are getting a pet or not?" he asked looking at Sage and Rowen.

Sage nodded, "We looked over the rules of the apartment and we can get a pet as long as it's small. So we decided to get a cat."

"We thought about going to the animal shelter later tonight." Rowen said. "And the down payment for damages has been paid."

Kento studied his blue haired friend. "Rowen I never pictured you as a cat lover."

Rowen looked over, "I like cats. I would like a dog too but we aren't really zoned for one." He glanced at Sage then said, "Besides Sage hates dogs."

The blonde twitched slightly, "I really do."

Kento chuckled.

"On the subject of animals, how is White Blaze?" Sage asked looking at Ryo.

"He's okay." Ryo said. He took a few bites of food then said, "White Blaze is just annoyed that he has to stay in the house or the backyard. I don't blame him for that Aunt Kimiko's back yard is tiny! I can't even play soccer back there."

"Aww, poor Ryo." Cye joked.

Ryo lowered his head, "I'm suffering!" He joked.

The other four laughed, they knew he was hardly suffering.

"How's your sister, Cye?" Rowen asked.

He smiled. "Very well, I spoke to her yesterday and she sounded tired. But that's not too surprising."

"Aren't they planning to start a family soon?" Ryo remembered Cye mentioning that.

Kento chuckled. "I can't wait to see those kids running up and squealing 'Uncle Cye'."

"Yeah, But you'll have a long wait to be called uncle, huh Kento?"

Cye and Kento laughed. "Not really." The Chinese man said. "They're kids in the clan that call me uncle all the time."

"This is funny, since he's really a cousin."

"What the hell goes on in your family?" Rowen asked sarcastically.

"Stuff that would make you paler than Sage," Kento shot back.

"Is that even possible?" Ryo asked.

"I don't know; you got really pale with that summer cold." Sage eyed Ryo. "Which is amazing since you're skin gets so tan."

Ryo caved in. "Okay you have me there."

"Ahh damn that was good!" Kento grinned.

"I thought you were going to eat the plate too."

Kento eyed Cye. "I was just going to tell you the same."

"Nah, Ceramic isn't very high in fiber or protein."

"It's very bland too." Ryo said.

"That's not true." Cye leaned over to look at Ryo, "Sometimes it tastes like sand."

Sage shook his head, "I don't even want to know how you found that out."

"You really don't." Cye assured him.

Kento chuckled. "So we'll catch you guys tomorrow?" He asked looking at Rowen and Sage.

"Late as usual," Sage said.

Rowen sighed heavily, oh how he hated early mornings!

Ryo chuckled, "I'll be sure to distract the teacher."

"Please do. If Rowen makes me late again-"

"Now hold on! You don't always have to wait for me you know."

"Sage needs a body guard." Cye smirked.

Sage said nothing.

"Gee thanks Cye." Rowen said. It was no secret that the girls in school didn't talk to Rowen because of how high his IQ was.

"Poor Rowen!" Kento patted the smart one's shoulder. "Maybe you'll have better luck in college?"

Rowen hung his head and sighed.

Haru walked over. "I have the bills." He handed each of the five boys their bills. "Don't forget to tip me."

He couldn't help it, "Tip you or trip you?"

"Trip me Kento and see what I do to you in your place." Haru smirked.

"I've too much class to trip you, Haru."

Sage bit his tongue.

Rowen did his best not to crack a smile, "No comment."

"HEY!"

"We better get to the store before it closes." Cye quickly stopped the fight that was about to break out. He handed his bill back to Haru, who finished gathering the other four.

"See you tomorrow." They all said.

Rowen and Sage walked away from their three friends. Sage took out a small business card and read it.

Looking over Rowen asked. "You sure we should go look tonight?"

"Yeah," Sage nodded, "We can get our pet tonight then let it settle down in the apartment tomorrow while we are at school."

"True. So are we far from the animal shelter?"

"No jut a couple blocks-ah shoot." Sage stopped.

Blinking his blue-haired friend asked, "What's wrong?"

"It's over by the couple hotels…"

Rowen felt sick.

"I'm not braving that." Sage stated.

"Neither of us are, let's just head back to the apartment. There is a shelter near there I think." Rowen said.

Sage nodded.