Ronin Warriors
The Ugly Duckling~ Chapter 1: The Return
By ~*Angel*~
Oh my goodness, it's been so long! ^_^ I realized that all my fans have depleted and ran away due to the lack of updates…however, I shall not neglect my fanfics no more! Now if I can get working on the other fanfics…that'd be great. It'd be the first time I'd ever finished anything…Yes, this isn't such a great fanfic…but out of all of them, it's the only one I really have any heart to do. ^_^ Enjoy…
Disclaimer: Sue me please. You can have my brother…No no! It's no trouble! I REQUEST you take him. In fact, I'll PAY you to take him.
"1 year and a half…has it really been that long?" The tall curvaceous woman murmured against the window glass. Stepping back from the window, she glanced down at her hand, which held a heart shaped locket with emerald and diamond studs. She had opened this locket so many times that she was surprised that it wasn't worn down the least bit. Opening it again, she glanced at the picture contained in it. A beautiful brown haired woman with vibrant blue eyes and glossy long hair smiled back at her. Next to her was a handsome man that had bright red hair with the most outstanding blue eyes. "Mother…Father…" She whispered choking on her tears. They were now deceased. Killed in a senseless car crash because some drunken teenager was in a car. In France, they allowed 16 year olds to have beer…heck, you could go in and have alcohol, they wouldn't ask you for an identification. The worst thing was that the teenage boy driving in the car had barely gotten a scratch whilst her parents…"Oh god…" She cursed in vain as the tears started falling down her face more freely. Glancing at the large room, she took in all the wonderful things she was given as her inheritance. Her parents were rich. Richer then she had ever known…they had never told her because it didn't seem easy to raise a good sensible kid when the kid would obviously know that she could have whatever she wanted. So Rachel Koji and Daniel Koji raised their child in a more modern-like household situation. Mia had grown up sensible, sweet…the pride of her parents. Yeah right…me? I've always been a failure…I always will be. Mia quickly fell on her silk sheet bed made of feathers, tears cursing like waterfall down her face. She didn't care if she wrinkled her silk black suit. One hour ago, it was declared that her parents were really dead. They weren't coming back…never. Covering her mouth to stifle the whimper, Mia tried to compose herself. She had one more family member…blood related at least, left. Her grandfather…and he lived in Japan. She would have to go to Japan and back into the hellhole they called Hana High. Hana High…despicable place. She thought with a smirk on her face. Walking over to her well-stocked bureau, she glanced at her face in the mirror. She never cared to wear makeup…everyone said she didn't really need it. However, her eyes were starting to get red and puffy.
"Mademoiselle Koji?" A knock sounded at the door.
Clearing her dry throat and wiping the tears off her face, she called, "Come in."
A face poked through the double doors. "The guests are asking for you…Shall I tell them you would like to be by yourself?"
Mia turned back to her reflection in the mirror. Sighing, she shook her head. "No Marie…as hostess, I shall act like a hostess…I will be down in a few seconds…"
"Oui…mademoiselle…" The maid said as she closed the door.
Quickly wiping her face again and licking her salty lips, she walked toward the doors. I'm leaving France…wonderful France. I guess I had to leave sooner or later, right? At least…I have Cye.
~*~*~
"Arigato," Cye said as the girl gave him a box of chocolates. It was Valentine's Day and in Japan…girls would give the guys boxes of chocolates. The better the chocolate, the more the girl liked the guy. Flashing him a full row of shiny white teeth, she giggled, winked, and shashayed away. Sighing, he threw the box of chocolates in his bag along with the other boxes of chocolates. Looking over into the crowd, he spotted Sage Date. One of his best friends…and always followed by at least a few girls. Of course…Sage never accepted any dates so it was rumored he might be gay with Rowan. Rowan Hashiba…another one of his friends and the most smartest kid in the school. He too had many date offerings but told others that he wanted to find a mature woman so he was labeled gay also. "Hey Sage!" He called out running toward the blond haired with cornflower colored eyes, guy.
"Cye!" Sage called grinning, relieved to have an excuse to escape his…fans.
After walking a while, they started talking.
"So, how many boxes did you get?"
"Do you really have to ask that?" Sage questioned as he sat down on a bench putting down his leather briefcase-like bag. "You first."
Cye blushed as he reached for his bag and dumped out all the little square boxes. "Er…" Counting them quickly. "I guess around 13 to 15 boxes…Now it's your turn."
Sage blushed as he grabbed his bag and dumped out the contents. A mountain of candy soon followed.
"Wow Sage…I didn't know we had that many girls that liked you…" Cye said grinning as he exaggerated what the number of candy really was.
Sage's face turned BEAT red. "They…er…aren't…"
Cye raised an eyebrow. "Well spit it out boy!"
"They aren't just from girls."
Cye's eyes contradicted to dots. "Oro…Wow…We really have to get you a girlfriend."
A large sweat drop rolled down Sage's face. "You're telling me…"
Coughing, Cye decided to change the subject. "Kento's going to have fun chomping down on these,"
Sage laughed. "I doubt this would be even close to enough to the amount of food Kento consumes,"
Both of them erupted into laughter at the thought of their friend.
After a few moments, Cye took a box from the pile. "You think Meiala would like these?"
"Who's Meiala?"
"Oh didn't I tell you? She's coming back from France!" Cye grinned as the thought illuminated his face.
Sage was piqued. Cye had a girl he was actually interested in. "So…tell me about her,"
Cye shrugged. "Not much to tell really…She's sort of on the shy side and I haven't seen her for two years, we've been in contact through e-mail but her parents just died…" Letting the sentence die away, Cye rubbed his temples. "She must be feeling awful…This reminds me, I can't get together with you guys this weekend,"
"I understand," Sage said.
Cye grinned. "Thanks man,"
"No prob," Sage grinned back.
~*~*~
"Flight 197 now boarding, flight 285 now landing." The announcement echoed through the airport.
Mia looked down at her watch as she scoured the crowd for a man with resemblance to the picture she held in her hand. In her other hand, she held a black messenger bag and in her Chanel suit pocket was a Nokia phone.
"Mia?" A soft deep tenor voice called from the crowd.
Glancing towards the direction of where the voice came from, she saw him. A tall well-built man with long grey hair, wrinkles and a mustache on his face; she smiled for the first time in three days. "Grandpa?"
He smiled, laugh lines showing at the corner of his eyes. "Welcome home dear Meiala Koji."
Meiala…No one has called me that for years…Except for Cye. Mia thought as she looked at her grandfather.
Clearing his throat, he offered to take her bags.
She gave him her black messenger bag. "Thanks grandpa,"
"You're welcome, so when are your other bags arriving?" He asked as they walked to the doorway toward a red jeep.
"They should be arriving in a few days…along with everything else. The money has already been transferred," Mia answered as she got into the passenger side and her grandfather got into the driver's side. It was the opposite of how they drove in France.
"That's good…Mia, I have a question,"
"Shoot,"
"Now I know your parents said that they would like me to take care of the money that they had given to you…"
"That's true, of course, I'm not receiving all of it at the same time…" I could support a whole army with what I have now.
"Right…You receive a portion of it every year you turn a certain age,"
"Yes…"
"I was thinking…since you are old enough and obviously smart enough…"
Mia blushed at the thought of how she did academically.
"No need to be modest," her grandfather laughed as he looked at her face.
"I—I…" True, Mia was a genius when it came to math, science, etc. "I'm just lucky…"
"Not lucky Meiala, smart. Truly smart and I figured that by taking care of your own finances, you'd learn the business kind of smart," Her grandfather said.
"Oh…"
"You don't really understand what I'm saying are you?"
Mia blushed. "Not particularly…"
Her grandfather laughed. "I don't either…Generally, I want you to take care of your finances." He smiled. "In doing so, you'll be able to keep your money management skills…There wasn't one conversation I hadn't had with your parents where they boasted of how well you managed your allowance,"
"Mother and Father didn't believe in spending money foolishly,"
"And I don't believe it either…So hopefully, with this new money, if you have any problems, I will help…but since you have a larger amount to tend to, I would like it if you took care of it yourself…get a feel of it, know what I mean?"
"Hai," Mia grinned. "I understand…Thank you grandfather."
"Anything for my little cherry blossom…" He smiled as they drove out of the highway and into town.
~*~*~
"Hey Cye! Wait up!" A girl yelled.
Miko…was that her name? Yeah… Cye turned around running backwards. "Can't, I've gotta hurry home and get ready,"
"Alright," She grinned as he turned around and started running once more.
Close… He thought as he ran quickly to his car. Throwing the books in, he jumped into the seat and looked in the mirror. His school uniform was a bit rumpled if anything but with a flattened palm, he smoothed all the wrinkles out. Straightening his tie he turned on the ignition and quickly drove off towards where Mia was staying.
~*~*~
"Hey Grandpa Koji! It's Mouri Cye here, I know Mia is coming home tonight so no matter what she says, tell her I'm taking her out for a little fun tonight, see ya! "
Grandfather Koji chuckled. "That boy…I believe this is the first time he's ever don't something spontaneously,"
"Cye…" Mia smiled to herself. She was finally meeting her best friend after all these years.
"Well Mia, you should probably get ready…if I didn't know that boy better, I'd say he'd be here in a few minutes," Her grandfather said tapping his watch. Smiling again, he motioned toward the stairs. "I'll show you to your room,"
When Mia first came into the house, she was astonished at the size of it! It was much, much larger then her home in France and the style of the rooms were just wonderful. The rooms had a touch of Victorian yet Oriental feeling to it. "Wow…This house is beautiful," She murmured as she walked down the hall, which the wall showed portraits of relatives. At the end of the hall by her room was a painted picture of her father and mother smiling with a little girl dressed in pink smiling brightly while sitting on her mommy's lap.
"Thank you, and here's your room," her grandfather said as he opened the doors into a large room.
"Wow…" Mia breathed as she took in her surroundings. Turning back to her grandfather, she smiled. "This room, shouldn't it be yours?"
"Nope, it's yours sweetheart, mine is down the hall from yours," He said pointing down the hall. "Do you like it? I tried to figure out how you'd like the room done but then I figured you might've wanted to style it yourself so—,"
Mia turned and hugged him suddenly. "No, it's great, thank you so very much, grandpa,"
He smiled and hugged her back.
~*~*~
Cye checked his reflection in the mirror again as he pondered his thoughts. Would Mia remember him? Did he change much over the years? More importantly, how much did she change?
Getting out of his car, he felt a sudden rush of nerves coming on. Get a hold of yourself Cye…this is Mia we're talking about!
Just as he was about to ring the doorbell, it swung open on him. Standing before him was Mia…looking like a goddess.
"Mia?" He asked as his eyes bugged out.
"Cye?" She grinned.
Opening his arms, they hugged each other. Cye closed his hand and pulled her into a headlock. "Noogy!" He grinned as he rubbed his fist over her head.
Author's Note: Woot! Chapter 1 is now done…Woozahs! Hope you enjoyed it! ^_^ Review please! (Or not…whichever one you prefer…^_^;;)
~Angel