The King's Tutor

Disclaimer: I do not own Ronin Warriors or anything, really. My cats are their own free spirits. Besides myself. I'm not making any money off of this, you can tell by the fact that I'm... writing fanfiction. I'm sure I'd have more of a life if I weren't flat broke. So don't bother suing, you won't get a cent from me. Unless it's my two cents. I seem to have a quite a bit of those.

Rating: M (in future chapters)

Summary: If you've read any of my other stuff and examine the title closely, I think it's abundantly apparent where I'm going with this. Must love Seiji to enjoy this story, but they all get plenty of stardom in this ficcy.

.o0o.

Touma's family had always been below poverty level. His father, while technically employed by a college, barely had enough to scrape by on his own, make no mention of his fifteen year old son. He only taught one class so he could devote most of his time to research, a research that the school refused to endorse as not cost effective. So since the time his mother had left them, when Touma had not yet even turned eight, to pursue a journalist career, Touma had been making his own way. His father paid for their one bedroom apartment and occaisisionally crashed on the couch when he wasn't able to pull anymore all nighters at his lab. Other than that, he wasn't around much for Touma. Touma didn't begrudge him his life's dream, he just wished he'd spend more time at home. With his son.

It wasn't like Touma's life was that difficult. His best friend, Shuu, invited him over on a daily basis and always made sure to feed him. Shuu's mother had basically adopted him a long time ago. He got all of Shuu's hand-me-downs because his little brother was still much too small for them. Touma was too small for them as well, too slender for their wider cut, but he'd long since learned how to pull them in.

Shin had taught him that, along with most of his home economics skills. Shin was Shuu's love interest. Not that Shuu had any intention of putting the moves on him. Touma and Shuu had been trying to figure out if he was even interested in men since they'd met him three years ago. It was hard to tell how much of his effeminate clothing and gestures had to do with being raised by his mother and sister and how much was just Shin. And Shuu absolutely refused to breathe a word until he was at least somewhat sure of Shin's inclinations. Shin loved to cook and frequently brought extra for Touma and Shuu.

But it was Ryo that Touma had actually known the longest. His mother used to take him over there on play dates since before he could remember. It was kind gestures like that that made Touma believe that maybe... maybe she hadn't meant to leave forever. That maybe she had meant to come back, or even write a letter. He didn't remember much of what happened when she left, but she hadn't ever seemed like a bad mother to him. Until she left, that is.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Touma was startled from his thoughts by the shrill banshee that called itself a smoke detector. Crap. He must have hit a wrong button. Ryo's grandmother had hired him at her factory so he could make some extra money for things his dad couldn't cover. Like school supplies. She was pretty well off and he had a suspicion that his wages were substantially higher than his coworkers because even though he could only fit in a few hours a week, he managed to keep the bills paid and have enough left over for a night out every once in a while. And with Ryo teaching him martial arts on the weekends and Shuu playing video games with him on the weeknights, Touma almost felt like a normal kid. Almost.

"Just leave it! Growled Tatsuya, an older coworker who was slightly resentful of Touma's lax hours. "I'll fix it. You better get going or you'll be late for school."

"Thanks!" Touma smiled helplessly at the handyman and ran from the building, stopping briefly to wave to a friend. He wasn't sure where the time had gone as he raced down the street. He arrived at Shuu's family restaurant completely out of breath. Shuu was waiting outside, kicking at a rock.

"'Bout time!" He huffed and started walking towards school. "You know how Ms. Ichinou gets when we're late."

Touma just smiled. It was nice to be in one of Shuu's classes, even if it was too easy for Touma. All of the classes were too easy for him, so he might as well take them with his friends. "Sorry. I was too busy destroying more property."

Shuu made a face. "Just think how much she'd pay you if you didn't break everything." Touma had shared his thoughts to Shuu about his wages late one evening. Shuu told him not to worry about it.

"She wouldn't do it if she couldn't afford it." He'd said, shrugging. "And whether you admit it or not, you need the money. How else are you supposed to pay the school's tuition?"

Touma had nodded, just as he was doing now. He hated all this worrying about money all the time.

As if reading his mind, Shuu slapped him on the back and changed the topic. "So did you hear about the King?" The pair crossed the courtyard and headed up the stone steps to the prison-like building called Han A High.

"Not you, too! Ryo's been going on about it all week." Touma caught his mistake just a few seconds too late. Shuu didn't like Ryo. There were only a few people that he couldn't stand and Ryo was one of them. If Touma were honest, he knew the reasons. Touma spent too much time with Ryo and not enough time with his best friend. And more importantly, while Shuu had managed to make friends with almost everyone in the school within two months of his freshman year, the one he wanted to talk to most was Ryo's only friend besides Touma. Shin. Touma tried to backtrack. "Yeah, he's apparently as dumb as a rock."

"Why do you hang out with that jerk?"

"Ryo?" Touma knew the answer. "He's not a jerk." The bell rang, saving them from another awkward conversation. "We better get going."

.o0o.