Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Ronin Warriors or any supporting characters. Original ones are mine.
Sage meditated against the tree, though to any random bystander it looked like he was simply relaxing against it. He breathed slowly in and out, counting the breaths as his mind settled.
Or for as long as Kento would let it settle.
"Hey, earth to Sage! Ronins calling," the big guy said. Sage furrowed his brow a little but went back to counting. One-hundred twenty-eight…one-hundred twenty-nine…one-hundre-ECK! He was shaken awake, and glared up at the culprit, who merely grinned down at him.
"Come on, now's not the time for meditating. We need to plan what to do this weekend. Ryo wants to train in the mountains but I say we should take a break and have some fun for a change. We've been doing that every weekend for two months straight. It's time for a change! What do you say?" Kento asked. From the look on the boy's face he was hopeful but knew what the true answer would be. You didn't have to break my concentration for this, Sage thought. He shifted back into position and closed his eyes.
"Discipline is important when in combat. The more the better," was his simple reply. He heard Kento sigh and mutter an "I know." The corner of Sage's mouth twitched but he breathed in and slipped back into his meditation.
At least, that's what he'd been aiming for. But the people around him began making a big fuss over something, though few actually moved towards the item of interest. Sage gave up trying to meditate and got up to stretch. Rowen was still rubbing the sleep from his eyes after Kento had shaken Sage. The boy had fallen asleep on his shoulder as mornings were not his thing. Ryo and Kento had been working on plans for the weekend and Cye was over chatting with some classmates about a project.
But all attention turned towards a group of girls entering the school grounds. They were all dressed in the Toyama High School uniform, so they were within dress code, but the girls themselves were…rather unique. One had an orange head of curly hair, from what looked to be like a failed dye job. She was stockier than the others, though by no way overweight. She munched on a steamed bun as she watched the other students.
One of the others had a head of bright, almost translucent blonde hair. She chatted with another girl, whose head was covered in a straight black mane. They were about the same height and almost identical build. The blonde girl simply had a curl to her hair that her companion did not.
The fourth girl seemed to be the shiest, as she kept her face lowered. But when a companion asked her a question, she raised her head and Sage could see she had very delicate features paired with a set of doe eyes. Her hair was aquamarine and reminded him of the sea, especially with the natural wave.
Her companion and the final girl was probably the tallest, though the lot was short to begin with. She looked rather bored and frankly, there was nothing extraordinary about her, save for the long light blue hair that was piled into a pony tail on her head. It nearly reached her waist tied up and almost covered an eye, as if to give her an air of mystery.
Sage nearly snorted. He'd used the same line that most of the girls who liked him said. That he had an air of mystery about him, since he rarely talked to girls and kept one eye covered. He was also particularly focused on his studies so he talked very little to other people. But all five of them were intense when it came to their school work. That was one of the conditions all their parents had set down before living with Mia. They had to keep their grades high and stay out of trouble at school.
The girls simply walked into the school, though they managed to part the crowd like Moses and the Red Sea. They were foreigners, no doubt in that, but this particular school got few foreign exchange students, most going for the extreme urban schools at the heart of Tokyo than those in Toyama. After the group disappeared, the gossip reached a fever pitch, many wondering where they came from and what they were doing here. The other Ronins looked at each other, Cye having long since come to join them. Sage simply gathered his things and headed for the school as the first bell rang.
The halls were mad, but the Ronin Warriors had long ago figured out how to get through the crowds without getting pummeled. It was rather uneventful getting to class today, save for the spilled water and Ryo nearly getting tripped by a student who'd slipped. He jumped out of the way just in time but the poor victim kept sliding like he was headed for home base. They helped him up, but there was little they could do to repair the social damage.
At some point, Rowen disappeared into his homeroom, while Cye and Ryo went into theirs. Sage and Kento gave a brief wave good-bye as they entered their own. Some of the girls giggled as Sage passed by but he just closed his eyes. He let his body take him to his seat in the back, and he felt Kento sit down in front of him. The bell rang shortly after and another normal school day began.
Or so he thought.
Partway through their math lesson, there was a knock on the door. The teacher quietly investigated before allowing the person to enter. Sage was slightly shocked, though his features remained set in his poker face.
"Class, we have a new student joining us today. Why don't you introduce yourself?" he asked the girl. Her hair looked more like a banner from this distance, advertising her I'd-rather-be-anywhere-else-but-here attitude. But she smiled at the teacher before turning back to the class.
"Hello, my name is Aubrey Jackson. My cousins and I just moved here from America. Please take care of us," she said, bowing.
"Thank you Ms. Jackson. Please take the seat in the back by Mr. Date. Date, could you raise your hand so that Ms. Jackson can see where to sit?" the teacher asked.
For a moment, Sage blanched. But only for a moment. No one else caught it as he raised his hand. No one except Kento that is.
She quietly walked back, not making eye contact but still managing to weird him out. It was rare for any one to weird him out, even a girl. But something about her seemed…off. He'd watched her from a safe distance before, but up close there was something strange about her.
Sitting down with an audible sigh, the girl didn't even crack her notebook but just slumped down and watched the teacher at the white board. She didn't seem interested in the lesson at all.
Sage glanced at Kento but the other boy just shrugged. He had no idea how foreigners were supposed to act but he was sure it wasn't like this.
Author's Note: Wow, it's been forever since I typed up anything Ronin Warrior related. I think after Sailor Moon, this was my first real anime. The first one I sat down and watched all 39 episodes of. I still love it. That's why I'm writing this but I'm not trying to make it Mary Sue-esque. It may seem that way right now but Ms. Boredom does not fall for Sage. I just didn't know who or how to open the story. Criticism is welcome, though best if it's constructive. I'm sorry if this first chapter is boring, I didn't know how to begin the story.