~Chapter 7~
It was packed, and very, very noisy. Four Ronins sat at the terminal of gate A25, awaiting the arrival of the next plane. Sai had asked the others to come along once he found out the time and flight number of Ryo's plane. Everyone was excited and they all couldn't wait to see their friend again. It had been a long, too long, time since they've done anything together and now that he was coming back, all that would change. He turned to Rowen.
"Hey, Ro...Did you tell Rich we were picking up Ryo before we left?"
"Naw." He turned a page of the book he had brought. "Couldn't find him and there was no time to leave a note."
"Well!" Kento commented. "He's sure gonna be surprised when we get home."
Sai nodded in agreement. "Well, it's his own fault for disappearing. So he'd better not be mad at us when he can't figure out where we are."
Sage looked at his watch. "Plane should be here any minute now. There wasn't supposed to be any delays."
Soon, the door to the walkway leading to the plane was opened and passengers started pouring out. The four Ronins stood to try to catch a better glimpse of the person they were expecting.
"Do you see him?" Kento asked, craning his neck from side to side to look around other passengers.
"Not yet." Rowen answered. A moment later he spotted him. "Oh! There he is!" He began waving a hand in the air and calling out his name. "Ryo! Over here!!"
Looking up from his curious inspection of the walkway and approaching terminal at the sound of the familiar name, Eyn noticed a strange blue-haired boy waving his arm. When he made eye contact, the blue haired guy motioned for him to come over. _-Do....I know him?-_ Shrugging, he made his way over.
Rowen smiled as Ryo came nearer. As soon as he was close enough, he grabbed his friend up in a huge bear hug. "Hey! I missed ya buddy!" He gave him a noogie for old time's sake.
Eyn looked up at him, once he was released, with an extremely confused look on his face. "Who human? How know Ari?"
"Oh-ho! Trying to pull the wool over my eyes, eh? Well sorry to burst your bubble, there, Ryo, but it ain't gonna work."
"What...human talk 'bout?"
Kento walked over and slung an arm around Eyn's shoulders. "Look, playin /this/ type of game is more my an' Ro's style. Give it up, man!"
"Yeah." Sai smiled. "We already know who you are. There's no need to try to trick us."
Eyn frowned. He was now more confused than ever. "Ari not know human. How human know Ari?"
As Kento, Sai and Rowen tried to convince Ryo to admit to being himself, Sage was watching Ryo. Something about him just didn't seem.../right/. Sure, he /looked/ like Ryo, but he didn't /act/ like Ryo. And Ryo certainly never had any scars on his face like that either nor would he wear clothes /that/ hideous. After all, he had /some/ taste. Finally deciding to join in the conversation, he gave Ryo a hard look. "Where'd you get the scars, Ryo?"
Before Eyn could answer, a familiar scent reached him and he turned to find Ryo walking towards them. His eyes lit up and he ran the remaining distance to him. "RYO!"
"Hey, kid." He smiled.
"What take Ryo long?"
"I couldn't help it. You took off so fast that I got caught behind a large group of people."
"Oh. Sorry."
"It's ok." He looked up in time to catch the expressions on his friends faces. "What? Why are you staring at me like that?"
"Ok, who spiked my drink?" Kento asked, staring into his can of soda.
Sai rolled his eyes. "No one did Kento." Turning to the two Ryos, he studied each one. "Right then...which one of you is the real Ryo?" He crossed his arms and waited for an answer.
Ryo laughed. "I am. Look, I promise a full explanation later. Let's just get out of here first, ok?"
Everyone agreed and the group made their way to Mia's red jeep.
