"So, whadda you think?" Ryo asked anxiously.

The man leaned back in his chair. "I can understand why you're all so worried. I would've preferred to have met your friend myself—"

"He'd never stand for it," Kento stated. He made a face suddenly. "Cye, she's doing it again!"

"Ave!"

"What?" the culprit gave an innocent smile.

"Leave Kento alone! You promised," Cye reminded her.

"I didn't touch him," said Avena.

"No, but you were blowing on my neck!" Kento complained.

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not, infinity, no call backs!" Before anyone could argue, she'd run out of the room and up the stairs.

"Dang it!" exclaimed Kento. He got up and shouted up the stairs, "You come back down here and fight like a man!"

"I'm a girl, you idiot! And it's not like you're a man!"

"Why you—"

"Why don't you come sit down?" the man suggested. Still growling, Kento complied. "Is she always like that or is she simply showing off?"

"She's always like that," all four boys confirmed.

"Hmmm…" the man mused.

"Y'know, Fazer, Crazy Avie could be a patient for you," said Ryo, an amused grin on his face. Cye gave him a warning glance.

"Hmmm," said Fazer in a tone of agreement. "But she's not the reason I'm here. As to your friend, uh…?"

"Rowen," Sage volunteered.

"Rowen. Now, as to Rowen, I think you should, well, back off."

"Back off?" asked Cye, confused.

"Yes."

"But-but-but we have to make him—"

"There!" Fazer interrupted Kento, jumping out of his chair and pointing his finger at the boy. "You've said it! 'We have to make him,' you said. When I was in high school, a friend of mine was always quoting books and songs and stuff. One of the things she used to say was: 'A man convinced against his will, is of his own opinion still.' You can't force your friend to act the way you think he should. It just doesn't work."

"So we should back off?" Ryo looked skeptical.

"Right. Just wait for…?"

"Rowen."

"—Rowen to make the first move and be ready to listen. When he does come around, he'll want to talk to someone. That's all you can do."

"But—"

"Please, this is my job. I know what I'm talking about. That high school friend of mine suffered through a trauma quite a bit like what Rowen is experiencing. She exhibited much the same behavior that you described Rowen as showing. When she came out of it, she needed someone to talk to more than anything. So, you guys just let Rowen be, and then be there for him when he decides he needs you."

"Okay," agreed Sage. "That's the best plan I've heard yet…So now what?"

Everyone sat quietyly, some fidgeting anxiously, for almost two minutes. Then Kento jumped up, screaming. He shook his finger towards the window behind Fazer's chair and stammered.

"What?" Cye looked to the window. "What! Avena!!!"

"Hiii~iii!" Avena waved…upside down. Outside the window, she was hanging from something upside down. She cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, "What'd I miss?"

Cye ran to the window and opened it. Apparently, Avena had hooked her ankles around the railing of one of the balconies upstairs. "Ave, get down from there! You'll break you neck!"

Avena put her hands on her hips, which—in her position—looked rather silly. "Aw, Cye, you're no fun. I'd rather stay here, thank'ee."

"Avena, get down," Cye ordered in a hard voice, one the other Ronins rarely heard. "Your face is turning red."

"No! I'm staying right here." She crossed her arms over her chest. "Whoooooaaaa!!!" she shrieked as she lost her leg-lock on the railing and fell.

Everyone jumped forward and Cye screamed, "Ave!" He scrambled through the window to his cousin's prone form. Lifting her head, he pleaded, "Oh, Avie, say something!"

Avena looked up at him. "No, Mummy, I didn't burn down the apple tree. It must've been Kenneth…Hey, didja know you have a twin? Ooooh, now there're four of youuuuuuu…" She pointed to Cye's left. Far left.

Ryo snickered. Kento guffawed. Sage laughed softly. Fazer stood there with a sympathetic smile. "That…can not be normal," he said.

"No, reeeeally,"Avena insisted. "There's four of my mummy. Seeeee? Hey, there are four of each of you, toooo…" She fainted.

Ryo fell to the ground, laughing so hard he cried.

Cye sat the unconscious Avena up. "Great," he said sarcastically. "Now, what do I do with her?"

* * * * * * * * *

There were two messages on the answering machine when Rowen got back to the apartment. One was from the supervisor of their apartment complex in Osaka, notifying them that their apartment was ready for them when they got there. The other was a surprise: Mia had called.

"Rowen, pick up. C'mon! Since when are you out and about at 11:45 on a Saturday? Are you still in bed? You would be, wouldn't you…Rowen, GET UP!!!" There was a pause. "Oh, well. Just called to see if maybe you'd like to meet me for lunch. I haven't seen you in a while, other than the other day at the store, but that doesn't count. Have the guys been bugging you? I could tell 'em to back off… As if they'd listen," she muttered that part, obviously to herself. Rowen laughed at her annoyed tone as he put the groceries away. She continued in a cheery voice, "I shook Ryo and Sage for the day. Blaze is going to get to pay a special visit to those nice vets at the zoo, aren't you, you big black-an'-white furball?" Rowen could hear the tiger's unhappy growl in the background. "Oh, shut up, kitty," Mia said. Rowen had to sit down, he was laughing so hard. "Ryo was supposed to take him, but he "forgot"," disgust filled her tone. "Anyway, gimme a call whenever… Uh, could ya call me on my cell phone? I know you don't wanna talk to the jerks I allow in my house. I swear I'll kick Ryo out next week. For real this time… Well, bye, I guess." There was the click of a hangup.

Rowen looked at the clock. 1:53, it said in flashing red. Probably too late now, if she'd called at 11:45… With a sigh, he finished putting away the groceries. He'd only been able to afford two bags' worth, and he'd have to make it last till at least next Thursday.

He looked around the apartment. What to do? He really didn't want to stay in here. He didn't want to admit it but…he felt pretty lonely…

He turned on the TV. There was a commercial on for some new computer model. "Well, there's an idea," Rowen said. He switched off the television set and shrugged into a windbreaker jacket. There was a public library four blocks away that had some 20 computers, with Internet connections, open to anyone. He might as well go do something on the 'Net. It was 2 o'clock now. He had until 6:30, when his father would get off work, and then Rowen should be at the apartment, in case his father actually came home on time for once.

With another of his increasingly-frequent sighs, Rowen locked the apartment door behind him, left the building, and trudged off for the library. He found himself thinking that he hoped he wouldn't have another of those cold spasms. They were starting to get a bit more painful than before.

"Jeeze, it's cold today. What a wind," he muttered absently and pushed onward.

* * * * * * * * *

"GO. A. WAY!!!"

"Ave, shhh. You really hurt yourself. You shouldn't shout; you should rest."

"I'm fine! Just lemme be," the girl pleaded. The guys had placed her in a bedroom and Cye was trying to get her to stay put. She'd been out cold for the past hour but now that she was awake, she wanted out of the room.

"Please, Avie, just go back to bed. You don't have to sleep," reasoned Cye, "just rest up a bit." He stood between his angry kin and the door, a position he didn't much care for.

"No. I 'rested' for an hour already! I'm just grand now, happy? Now get outta my way!" She tried to shove her way past him again.

Cye decided to be firm. Standing his ground, he shouted back, "No! Avena May Jameson, you go get in that bed this instant and don't move from it until I say otherwise!" Angry now, he screamed in her face, "If you don't, you'll find out just what I learned from Sage's grandfather at their dojo! And I don't think you wanna know!"

Just as furious as her cousin, Avena howled, "Who're you to say what I do and don't want?! And if you do show me your little karate-chop-show-off moves, that'd be a big hypocritical, considering the whole reason we're having this argument is because you want me to rest cuz I got hurt!" Renewing her air supply, she finished with a shrieking, "Besides, I can take you anyway!"

On the other side of the door, the other three teenagers listened to this entertaining dispute. Fazer had left 45 minutes ago. Now, following Avena's last comment, they heard a loud smack-crack-thud sound and then the door burst open and a purplish-blue-and-brown blur stormed past them, down the stairs, and into Mia's room.

The three boys just blinked. "Ooooh, that hurt!" Cye moaned, emerging from the room, hand held to his left eye.

"Cye?" Kento's expression was blank.

"What?"

"You're a Ronin Warrior, right?" Sage asked, as blank-faced as Kento.

"Of course!"

"Then why'd you just get beat up by a girl?" Ryo started to laugh, Kento and Sage joining in.

"That," Cye growled loudly, "is not a girl! That's Avena!"

"AND PROUD OF IT, LOVE!!!" came Avena's booming enthusiasm. " 'EY, LADS, KENTO'S NOT ALLOWED TO TOUCH MY CAR, OKAY?"

"OKAY!" Ryo shouted back as Kento whined, "Awww, man…"

* * * * * * * * *

Avena sat on Mia's bed. This room was much nicer than the boys' guest rooms, mostly because it was clean. Her eye landed on a computer on a desk in the corner. She went over to it, sat down, and fired up the machine. Surely Mia wouldn't mind i9f she played around on the 'Net using Mia's computer. As soon as she'd logged on, she went in search of an interesting chat room. Amazing what people would tell you when they didn't know who you were.

"Ah," Avena mumbled, seeing the screen name of one of her online buddies, Redyrage. "This looks promising." She clicked the mouse.

* * * * * * * * *

Rowen was already getting bored. He'd been on the 'Net for 20 minutes and already he'd ordered himself a new school uniform—since his old one was somewhere buried in the trash, bloody and torn—and charged it to the school's account. He'd checked his email, found nothing but spam, and now he was looking for something else to do.

He could always go chat… Why not? He had no one else to talk to.

Finding a chat room that looked halfway solemn, halfway fun, he just watched the other people's words scroll across the screen. After a while, he started typing.

* * * * * * * * *

Aerostar: Hi.

Technorap: Hiya!

Mummergirl: Hey!

Redyrage: Whassup!

Zanyloon: Hi there!

Mummergirl: Where's everyone from? I'm in Paris, France.

Technorap: I'm from Chile, but I'm visiting family in Mexico.

Aerostar: Japan.

Redyrage: Newport, California, U.S.A.: Land of the waves!

Zanyloon: I was born & raised in London, England, but I'm in Japan right now. What part of Japan are you in, Aerostar?

Aerostar: Around.

Technorap: Man, you don't talk much, do ya?

Aerostar: No.

Mummergirl: Why not? Something wrong?

Redyrage: You can talk to us! We're all cool!

Zanyloon: Dude, lay off the ! marks.

Technorap: Hey, let Star answer Mummer's question already.

Aerostar: I've got some home problems.

Mummergirl: Like what?

Aerostar: It's not that easy to talk about.

Zanyloon: Try.

Redyrage: It helps to talk sometimes. Or so I'm told.

Technorap: Are you still there, Star? It's been 3 min.

Aerostar: Yeah, I'm still here. Just trying to figure out how to word this.

Mummergirl: Take your time. Don't rush it.

Technorap: While we're waiting, what is everybody?

Zanyloon: Human, duh!

Technorap: No, I thought you were a bird!

Zanyloon: Well, I am a loon! lol

Redyrage: A zany loon.

Technorap: Seriously though. I'm 16/m.

Mummergirl: 17/f

Zanyloon: 16/f, from Planet X

Redyrage: 15/m, from Planet L.A.!

Mummergirl: Planet L.A.? What does L.A. stand for?

Redyrage: Los Angeles

Mummergirl: Honey, that's a city, not a planet. Isn't it?

Redyrage: But Zane got to use a planet with a letter for a name!

Technorap: That's bcuz Planet X is a real planet. Out beyond Pluto.

Mummergirl: Star? U OK? Still there?

Technorap: Star?

Redyrage: My turn! Yo, Star, U still hangin, dude?

Zanyloon: This is Planet X calling Aerostar. Come in, Aerostar. Aerostar, do you read me?

Aerostar: Yeah, I read you: in the weirdest shade of purple I've seen in my life.

Zanyloon: lol

Technorap: Hey, where'd you go, Star?

Aerostar: I spaced out. I do that sometimes.

Mummergirl: U ready to talk now?

Aerostar: No, but I never will be. So, here goes…

Aerostar: A while back, my mother died. It really tore my dad up, I guess, because almost every night since he's come home drunk. Then he gets mad at me for one reason or another, usually the stupidest thing you can think of, and then he beats me up. I know my friends are worried about me but I can't tell them anything because my dad would get in trouble and I don't want that cuz I love him and I know he doesn't know what he's doing and he loves me too. My friends just think I'm still upset about my mom and they're a little pushy sometimes about trying to get me to talk to them. I decided that I'm gonna have to do 1 of 4 things: run away, stay with my dad, get help, or simply die.

Redyrage: I thought you said it wasn't that EZ to talk about.

Aerostar: It's different when you're typing. No emotional pauses can be heard. Believe me, tho, it's not EZ.

Mummergirl: Star, we understand what you're going through. But you can mark 1 thing off your 4 choices list. You can't just die.

Zanyloon: And you shouldn't stay with your dad.

Technorap: Getting help would be the best thing.

Aerostar: But I don't want my dad to get in trouble.

Mummergirl: How old are U, Star?

Aerostar: 25

Technorap: M/F ?

Aerostar: M

Mummergirl: Do U have any relatives other than your dad?

Aerostar: My grandfather on my dad's side, but he's pretty old.

Redyrage: Why don't you stay with him?

Aerostar: Like I said: he's old. & he'd tell on my dad.

Technorap: Maybe that would be for the best.

Aerostar: I don't want to take the chance that it wouldn't be.

Mummergirl: Sometimes it's better to do what you don't want to.

Aerostar: Can we change the subject?

Zanyloon: Sure. Hey, Rage, seen any movie stars lately?

Redyrage: Oh, yeah! Just 4 days ago, I saw Jim Carrey drive by in a stretch limo!

Zanyloon: There U go w/the ! marks again.

Mummergirl: Who is Jim Carrey?

Technorap: How often do you see movie stars?

Redyrage: Jim Carrey is a comedy actor.

Redyrage: I see m-stars about once a month.

Mummergirl: Oh. Never seen him. We don't have many American movies in France. I've got to go. It's 5:30 a.m. over here and I've got to go to work soon. Maybe we could meet up next week.

Technorap: How? We've all got different times.

Aerostar: Same day, next week. Mummer gets on at 10 p.m., her time. I get on at 8 a.m., my time. Rage gets on at 1 p.m., his time. Tech, will you still be in Mexico next week?

Technorap: Yes.

Aerostar: Then you get on at 3 p.m. Mexican time. Zane, will you be in Japan next week?

Zanyloon: No, probably not. I think I'll be back in London.

Aerostar: U'll get on at 9 p.m. London time, if you're there. Otherwise, get on at 8 a.m., Japan time. Does that work for everybody?

Mummergirl: Yes.

Redyrage: Yep!

Zanyloon: Yeah.

Technorap: Yes.

Mummergirl: See you next week then. Bye!

Aerostar: I'll be going too in 5 min.

Technorap: I have to go now. Next week then!

Zanyloon: I should probably go. I'm borrowing this comp.

Redyrage: Chat ya up later, Zane. & email me more often. I've put plenty of junk in your inbox.

Zanyloon: Aw, gee, thanx! More junk. What would I do w/o U, Rage?

Redyrage: Have a party.

Zanyloon: U're probably right. Gotta split. See ya!

Redyrage: Well, I'm goin' too. Catch ya next week, Star!

* * * * * * * * *

Rowen sighed yet again, then blinked as a private I'm popped on screen. It was from Zanyloon, who had said she was signing off but apparently hadn't. The message stated, in the odd purple color that personalized Zanyloon's IMs: In the words of George Eliot: "What do we live for, if not to make the world less difficult for each other?"…If you wanna email me, my addy is: ajcraze@wingit.com…I can't say that I truly understand your situation, but I can be a friend. Hang in there, Star.

Not wanting to risk that he'd forget about the chat meet next week or Zane's email address—for he'd been forgetting a lot of things lately—Rowen printed out the IMs and pocketed them. He tried to will himself to surf around the 'Net a while longer but couldn't. So, he carefully erased all evidence of his Internet activities from the computer—a little paranoid, but oh well—and went to find a book to read until he had to go home—ha, home!—which he didn't quite wish to do just yet.

He soon discovered how hard it was to read when all he could think about was the way his life was falling apart.