"Hey, Kento

"Hey, Kento. What is it?"

"Nothing."

"Well, then why're you calling me so bleeding early?!"

"Whoo-hoo!" said the sarcastic voice. "It's not that early, Cye. You sound like Ro."

"Not that early?! It's seven o'clock in the morning! On a Saturday! Usually you'd be sleeping too, until around ten. I don't get up on Saturdays till at least eight."

"So?"

"So, what's the big idea?!"

"Nothing."

"You've already said that! Unless you can—oh."

"Yeah. That's right. 'Oh.'"

"Alright. Just a moment. Let me close the door." Cye set the phone down carefully. 'Figures,' he thought. 'At least Kento noticed before he said something we don't want her to hear.' He walked out silently from the tiny bedroom of his small apartment and entered the room that served as both living room and dining room. The kitchen branched off on the right, and the bathroom was right beside the bedroom door, on the left. The only furnishing of the living/dining room were a small TV set, a fair-sized aquarium housing a dozen different fish, a beat up old couch, and a coffee table set right in front of the couch. A phone set was on the little table and someone was holding the phone to their ear.

She was about 5'4" tall, had shiny, thick, chestnut brown hair halfway down to her waist (her back was to him). She was wearing faded blue jeans and a maroon tank top, and a beat up dark green duffel bag rested at her sandaled feet. She had a hand over the mouthpiece of the phone and appeared to be listening intently.

Cye tapped her on the shoulder. With a yelp, she whirled about and dropped the phone. "Oh, uh…hi, Cye." She smiled sheepishly, her light-brown eyes showing her guilt.

Cye laughed. "Hi, Avena. What are you doing?"

"Um…nothing?"

"Nice try but not good enough," he told her. "Why don't you stay away from the phone, so I can talk to Kento without your eavesdropping, and go get something to drink?"

"Oh, alright. Sorry."

"Yeah, right," laughed Cye.

"Shut up!" she laughed too as she headed for the kitchen.

Cye ran back to his bedroom, leaving the living room extension off the hook, hung up the bedroom extension, and returned to the living room to use that phone. That way, he could talk to Kento and keep an eye on Avena, who was bustling about in the kitchen. She apparently had decided to take it upon herself to fix breakfast.

"Hey, Kento, I'm back."

"You sure she's not listening?"

"Yes. I will never understand what makes her want to listen to my phone calls."

"Hey, bud, look on the bright side: you won't have to do any cooking or cleaning or whatever for a week or so."

"Yeah, I suppose."

Avena was Cye's cousin, his father's sister's daughter. Avena, her two brothers, Harmon and Kenneth, and their parents lived in London, England, where Cye's father and Avena's mother had been brought up. Avena and Cye had been born 4 days apart, Cye first, and had always been very close. Avena had given Cye his nickname when they were six or so, when she'd tried to pronounce the word cyan. She'd learned that it was a color of blue, and since Cye—called by his given name of Shin then—was always wearing blue, she'd tried to use 'cyan' to describe him but hadn't quite managed the word. Ever since, everyone—except his mother—called him Cye.

Cye occasionally spent the summer with Avena and her family, the Jamesons, in London, though mostly he stayed in Japan due to his mother's heart problems. Lately, her condition had been worse, and Cye and his sister, Sayoko, were careful that one of them was with her at all times. Consequently, Cye hadn't been to England for nearly two years. That didn't stop Avena. She managed to come to Japan frequently, staying for at least a week, bringing only the clothes on her back and whatever was in her "trusty ol' knappy", as she called her duffel bag. It never ceased to amaze Cye how much stuff she could fit in that thing.

As for accent, though the guys teased him often about the way his showed through when he spoke English, Avena, who didn't know any Japanese beyond 'sayonara', practically left them stunned speechless when she spoke. Ryo had once commented that, "Avena could probably catch more guys around here with that accent in one week than Sage could get girls in a whole year."

"So what did you want, Kento?"

"Oh, right. Ryo called and had Papa wake me up. He's calling a 'meeting' this afternoon at the Manor."

"The Manor? Whoa, I haven't been there in a while. I hope I can remember the way. And I don't think the busses go out that far."

"You could, uh, have Avena drive you."

"She's younger than me! And neither of us are old enough! We just turned sixteen!"

"Well, yeah, but she looks older when she's driving. And I bet you won't run into any cops, so what's the problem? You did promise her once that she'd get to see Mia's old place."

"But—"

"Hey, man, chill! Just have her drive ya and get it over with. That's all there is to it."

"Fine. But the only reason you want her to is so you can see what kind of car she's rented this time."

Kento laughed. "Right on, fish-boy! You've found me out. So hurry and get your butt over to the old 'Ronin Manor' on the double!"

"You've been watching those American versions of British life movies again, haven't you?"

"Yeah! Those people know how to have fun, I'm tellin' you."

"You realize that they make the British sound completely different than they really do, right?"

"Whatever. See ya?"

"Sure. See you later."

"Okay. Bye!"

Cye practically tossed the phone on its hook as he headed for the kitchen. The smells emanating from it were becoming tantalizing. They brought with them a nostalgic reminder of England. Avena's prowess in the kitchen was the equivalent of Cye's own cooking talent. The food could wait, though. He hadn't seen his cousin in nearly two months.

"Avie! Put down the spatula for a second, would you?"

"Sorry, but I'd rather not," she said with a wicked grin.

"But Ave! I want to talk to you."

Avena just smiled and kept cooking. "Nuh-uh. You've got to tell me what you and Kent were talking about first. You mentioned me and my cars. So?" she asked in a sweet voice. "Tell your dear little ol' cuz what she wants to know, Little Fishy."

"You're evil, y'know that, Ave?"

"Of course I do. Now tell me before I come after you with a pitchfork." She waved a steak prong threateningly.

"Oh, fine. Do you remember when I told you about Mia's old place? The one where the guys and I were when all that weird stuff was happening in Toyama?"

That was a story they'd created to explain their absence during the second half of the war with Talpa. Though no one remembered the first half of the 'Demon War' everyone remembered the second. For a while the Ronins had feared being found out, that someone might have seen their faces while they were wearing their armor. Predictably, there was plenty of news coverage over the last battle with Talpa and the mysterious samurai who'd fought the "giant demon" on a rooftop. Luckily though, there were no videos or other photographic recordings and eventually the buzz of talk about the five unknown warriors died away to the occasional reference to 'that strange time when that giant demon was causing trouble'. The Ronins hid their secret by claiming to have been out at Mia's during it all with the electricity down, so they didn't see any TV or even hear the radio. Most people thought the anonymous warriors were a special team kept secret by the government anyway. Ryo always got a laugh out of that. "They'd never suspect that a bunch of fourteen-year-olds were their saviors!" he'd say.

Avena's grin had gotten bigger. "Yeah, I remember…go on."

"Well, I have to go out there today and, um…" Cye trailed off.

"You need a ride and I'm available," she finished for him. "Cool! So, I finally get to see the famous 'Manor'. Hey, will the guys be there?"

"Yes. Avena, please don't mess with their heads this time," he pleaded.

"What are you talking about?"

"You know! Last time, you had Ryo blushing so much he looked like he'd catch fire. And the time before that, you scared Sage bad enough to make him lock himself in his room for two hours. And before that, you made Rowen think he was going crazy till he fell off the roof. And then, there was the time when Kento—"

"Okay, okay! Point taken! You can stop listing my sins now. I guess I'll leave them be this time."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"On old man Davis's grave?"

"Cye…"

"Say it!"

"We were just little kids! I wasn't really that scared."

"Then you shouldn't have such a problem with it."

"Fine! I promise not to 'mess' with you friends' heads on old man Davis's grave this time. Happy now?"

"Yep. Mmm…" Cye said. "Something smells good. So, what's for breakfast, Avie?"

"Pancakes, sausage, hot rolls, bacon, and orange juice, all supplied by yours truly. You need to learn how to grocery shop. I think that's why you're so bloody scrawny."

"Whatever. Let's just eat. Aren't you even tired? Most people would've had jet lag after that flight."

"I slept through the entire trip. Now, eat up," she ordered. "While we have breakfast, we can exchange news. I've got tons to tell and time to hear."

"Alright. Where to start?" Immediately, Rowen's mother's death came to mind. "Um, oh man. Do you remember Rowen's mom?"

"Yeah. She was fun to talk to. How is she?"

"Ave…she was killed in a plane crash four weeks ago."

Avena just sat and stared. "Oh, my Lord in Heaven," she breathed.

* * * * * * * * *

"Shut up, Sage!"

"What? I didn't say anything," Sage defended, but grinned maliciously.

"No, but you were going to," Ryo said.

"Maybe I was, maybe I wasn't. Now, quit scowling and help me move this."

"Why?"

"Because Mia wants to put it over that rug."

"Why?"

"Because Mia wants to put it over that rug."

"Why?"

"So that next time you drop something, it won't break so easily."

"Oh. Okay." Ryo helped heft the dining table and move it across the room to stand over the thick rug. Then he trudged into the living room and collapsed on the couch with the TV remote. He started hitting the channel button without even really paying attention to what was on. He was exhausted. And according to the clock, it was only 11:22. That settled it. He hated babysitting. Even if it was Yuli. He'd gotten home twelve minutes ago, after spending yesterday and the night at Yule's place to baby-sit. He'd been paid twenty bucks and had to give it to Mia right away.

"Did you call everyone?" asked Sage, walking in with a glass of tea.

"Yeah, everyone but the person it's about," Ryo said miserable. "Actually, I called Kento and he said he'd call Cye."

"Oh, yeah!" said Sage. "Cye called right before you walked in. He said he's going to have to bring someone with him."

"Who?"

"Guess."

"…oh, I know. Crazy Avie?"

"Yep."

"Well, she got me last time, so whose turn is it?"

"Um…I was before you and Ro was before me. I guess it's Kento's turn." Sage sipped his tea with a grin.

"Wonder what she'll do to him."

"Who knows, but it'll be fun to watch."

"No kidding. Did Mia say where she was going?"

"She said she didn't want to be around for one of our "rowdy meetings", especially if Avena was going to be here. So she took Blaze and headed for the woods. That tiger wanted to go for a walk anyway."

"Did she say when that guy'd get here?"

"Yeah. His name's Barret Fazer and he's supposed to be here around one o'clock…Ryo, I'm not so sure about this. I mean, a psychologist is… If Ro knew—" Sage shook his head slowly.

Ryo shrugged. "Then we won't tell him."

Sage closed his eyes and sighed.

* * * * * * * * *

"Left, Avie! Left!"

"Okay! Stop screaming!"

"I'm not screaming, you're screaming!"

"You're screaming, too!"

"Fine! We'll both stop screaming, okay?"

"Fine with me!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"Okay!"

"Okay!"…

… "Ave?"

"Yeah?"

"That's a stop sign."

"Huh? Omigod!" Avena slammed on the brakes. The car jerked to a halt just as a minivan roared by. The two of them sat in silence for a moment before both began laughing.

"Why are we laughing?" Cye gasped. "We were nearly killed!"

"I dunno. Guess it was just funny."

Finally, their laughter died and the little silver convertible started forward, this time more cautiously. Avena was paying more attention now.

"So, why d'you need to go to the Manor, anyway?" Avena asked, without taking her eyes from the road. "I mean, not that I'm complaining," and she grinned, "but really, Cye, what's gotten you all into a huff? You're not usually so jumpy."

"Ave, remember what I told you about how Rowen's been acting since the—uh—accident?"

"Avena frowned, still unnerved by the knowledge. "Yes. What, you fellows aren't that worried, now are you?"

Cye flinched, remembering the conversation yesterday in the school cafeteria and the unanimous concern he and the others had expressed for their friend. "Yes, we are that worried. You haven't seen Ro yet. He's changed from what you remember of him, since the accident. As to what's got me all in a huff… There's going to be a psychologist at the Manor today."

"A shrink?!"

"Yes. We're going to ask him what we should do about Rowen."

"A shrink! Call me crazy—"

"We already do," Cye interrupted, grinning.

"Shut up! What I was saying was that I don't think Rowen will like that much. I doubt he'll cooperate."

"…he won't be there. We didn't tell him."

"Oh, dear… Is he really that bad?"

"Example: remember that time when you made nearly enough food for an army and Rowen and Kento ate all of it?"

"Yup, took 'em less than an hour!"

" 'Kay, well, imagine Rowen forgetting to eat breakfast yesterday."

"So?"

"And dinner the night before."

"Oh…I see…So who's the shrink?"

"A friend of Mia's: Fazer or something like that."

"Mia thinks Ro needs help too?"

"She only agreed because she saw his eyes. We can't get him to look us in the eye, but Mia literally bumped into him at a grocery store the other day and she got a good look at him. She said his eyes were just…wrong."

"So, why's he not coming today? Why'd you not tell him?"

Cye frowned sadly. "He doesn't like even the slightest word about the accident or his behavior. He all but attacks us when we try to talk to him."

"Maybe I could try. I can be a pretty persuasive person."

"No, Avie. I think you should leave Rowen alone."

"But—"

"No buts please…you need to turn right here."

Avena started to turn the corner. A black truck nearly plowed them over.

"Your other right, Avena!!!" screamed Cye.

* * * * * * * * *

Rowen locked the door behind him and headed for the elevator. He had to go shopping again.

As for his father…he'd gone to work. Rowen had dragged him out of bed, still sleeping, and into the bathroom. There, he'd maneuvered the slumbering man into the tub and turned on the cold water, full blast. Rowen had run out of the bathroom and locked the door, listening to his father's infuriated roars from the safety of the other side. Genichirou was still too drunk to even pull himself out of the tub.

After a while, the roars died down and there was a loud thud. Every morning…. It had become a sort of routine. Rowen went in to find Genichirou sprawled on the floor, totally soaked, looking surprised, confused, and pathetic. Rowen would help him to his feet and into the living room, where he'd drop on the couch. Rowen found something edible, got a glass of water and an aspirin, and brought it all to his father, who downed it all.

In the end, the result was always the same: Genichirou would get sober but have an awful hangover, Rowen would help him prepare for work, and eventually Genichirou would head out. Neither of them ever mentioned anything about what the older Hashiba had done or even spoke to each other. They never even met each other's eyes.

Rowen walked out of the apartment building, nodding to the security guard on duty in the lobby. Once he was a good block away from the apartment complex, he stopped and gritted his teeth. His leg and arm were pretty sore and his head was throbbing terribly. He rolled his sleeve up and looked at his bandaged forearm with a grimace. The cut probably needed stitches but he couldn't let anyone see it. He rolled his sleeve back down. What would he tell a doctor? 'Hey, could ya fix me up, here? My dad beat the crap outta me.'? Yeah, right!

When he was about three blocks from the apartment complex, Rowen let out a little gasp. Suddenly, he had to stop and lean against a wall. His chest was cold inside again. It made him feel exhausted and it was slightly painful. He almost wanted to just lie down right there and go to sleep.

Forcing himself to take long, deep breaths, Rowen waited for the cold spasm to pass. Finally, it was over. He started walking again. What was up with him now? Rowen couldn't figure out what the freezing spells that had seized him lately were. That was the third time, counting the time last night, when he'd wakened from a dead sleep to that strange inner coldness. It kinda made it hard to breathe.

Reaching the grocery store, Rowen pushed all those thoughts away and concentrated on the task at hand.