For the next week, Karisa stayed in bed, with Midnight and Ruby at her side, and the five young warriors took care of her. They took turns skipping a day of school to watch and take care of her. At first, Midnight and White Blaze eyed each other and were edgey around each other, but after a while, they began to grow used to each other and were friends. Ruby allowed White Blaze's presence with Karisa, but when he left, she would fligh down to her and sit on her shoulder, not leaving her sight. Karisa and the guys became really close friends. Karisa found out that they got into arguements a lot, most of time friendly, over things like games and sports. They were had been friends for years, but were best friends for about a year. They all had a great sense of humor and Karisa felt right at home with them. The Ronins found out that Karisa was in their same grade and was was exceptionally bright. She had a kind smile and was very sympathetic when she found out that Ryo was an orphan. Karisa loved cats the most, but she also loved her hawk aswell. She knew how to cheer them up if they were bummed out about something. Karisa considered them her brothers she could never have and they thought of her as a sister.
Karisa began to gain her strength back. After a week of being babied and forced to take terrible medicine, she was able to walk around and help out with small things, like washing the dishes, cooking the meals and doing the laundry. But they forbided her to go outside, for they were afraid she would get sick again. Whenever she got time to herself, Karisa would pull out her spell book and learn a few new ones. Soon, not only was she able to keep scents and memerioes on a specific item, she could have things come to her, have things do things themselves, such as the cltohes fold themselves and put themselves away and such. She learned how to help the others out as well, without them knowing. Like when Cye tripped with plates in his hands, Karisa was able to have him fall gently and the plates fall in his outstreched hands on the ground. After another two weeks, Karisa decided to enrole into their school.
"Well, while I'm here, I might as well continue my education," Karisa pointed out to Midnight.
"But we still need to search for the stones!" Midnight objected. But Karisa waved that away.
"We can look for those later. I need to get back to school." So, on Wensday, Karisa joined the five on theri walk to school. She found out that they had to wear uniforms. ("Man, this stinks! In my old school, we could wear whatever we wanted!") Girls had the choice of ether wearing a long or short black skirt, a white blouse and black cardigan. ("At least we can wear our own shoes and jewelry.") Boys wore black pants, a white short and black suit coat over that. They also had to wear a red tie. ("More like nooses," Kento muttered.) Karisa wore little earings with tiny feathers and a necklace with the Star of Taurus. the gem was a pale green, and looked very cool agaisnt the balck outfit. She wore a silver headband aswell.
"Just a few things you should know. One, never eat the cafeteria food. No one knows where it came from," Ryo said.
"Do we want to?" Rowen asked. Everyone smiled at this.
"Two, never get the principal mad. I did, and well, I still regret it," Ryo added.
"You still do," Sage added. Karisa couldn't help but grin when she saw Ryo glare at Sage.
"Three, do not, I repeat, do not stand in front of Sage unless you want to live," Kento added.
"Why?" Karisa asked.
"Because girls will come stampeding at him. His nickname is the Flirt," Kento explained. The look on Sage was priceless. Karisa tried very hard not to laugh.
"Okay, never eat the cafeteria food, won't be problem if I bring in lunch; don't piss the principal off, never did, never will; and three, watch out for herds so fgirls when around Sage. Got it," Karisa joked, ticking off her fingers at each one. When they finally arrived, Cye walked with Karsia too the office, while the others went to their lockers. After getting her locker number, combo and schedule, Cye pointed out her locker. It ended up being next to his.
"Great! If I ever get lost trying to find my locker, I can just look for you!" she kidded. After depositing her bag and lunch in her locker, she went over her schedule. "Let's see, first I have Math, then Chemistry. After that, Home Economics, then lunch, followed by Chorus, then Study hall. Then finally, writing. At least I don't have gym the first day. You guys can fill me in on what's going on in that calss."
"Let's see if I'm in any of your classes," Cye said, taking her schedule. "Okay, we have study hall together and Home Econimics. Other then lunch, that's it. Oh, and English."
"How about the others?" she asked.
"Well, all I know is that you, Ryo and Sage have gym class at the same time and Rown is in your writitng class. other then that, I don't know," Cye said. the bell rang. "Well, we better get going. Your math class is down this hall, make a left, go up the stairs, make another left, and it's the third door on the right." Karisa looked a little worried. "Don't worry about it. You'll find your way through. See ya!" and he ran off. Karisa loked around to see if the coast was clear, then, she pulled out the Star of taurus and held it in her hand.
"Well, here it goes," she muttered.
Star ofTaurus,
Grant me your power.
Show me the way,
to where I need to be.
The gem glowed, and then a white light appeared, forming an arrow. Karisa followed it's direction and eventually got to her class. The gem went dull and she left it go. It hung on her neck like a normal necklace. Karisa took a deep breath and opned the door. Inside, a woman teacher looked at her. the woman had pale brown hair and bright green eyes. She placed the peice of chalk down in it's tray and said, "Come in. You must be the new student?"
"Yes," Karisa said quietly. Then, the teacher smiled kindly and Karisa relaxed a little.
"My name is Mrs. Allen. Please some in. Don't be shy," she said. Karisa walked into room, clutching her books to her chest. All of the students looked up at her. Not one of them were familiar. "Class, I would like you to meet Karisa Sendra. She will be joining our class," Mrs. Allen said.
"Hello," chorused the class.
"Why don't you take a seat next to Mr. Mathews in the back. Alex?" A boy with arburn hair raised his hand to show Karisa. She walked to the back of the room and slid into the chair next to him.
He leaned over and said, "Hi, my name is Alexander, but everyone calls me Alex. You new here in Toyama?" Karisa nodded.
"I'm origanily from Tokyo, but something happened and I hade to move away." before they could talk anymore, Mrs. Allen began her class once again and they had to sop talking. For the period, Karisa took notes and answered some question froma text book she was given. She found out that Alex was in a lot of her classes and the two became friends. Next was Chemistry. In that class, Alex ended causing an explosion, and class ended early. After that, she had Home Ecnomics with Cye. That day, they were cooking some chicken stir fry and she told Cye about her day. When she told him about Chemsitry, he laughed.
"That's Alex! He's a pretty cool guy and is a joker," Cye said, smiling. After that, the two walked to lunch. Alex asked her to sit with him and some friends at lunch, but she had promised to sit with the guys. She and Cye joined the guys at the lunch table outside and talked about their day. Everyone laughed when Karisa told them about Chemistry class.
"So, you like it here so far?" Ryo asked, before biting into his apple.
"Ya, it's pretty cool. I did get to meet the principal when Alex made the explosion. Man, he can yell. You should of seen Alex just standing there, while Mr. Rogers yelled up a storm," Karisa said, biting into her sandwich. "Really nice. And sweet. When I told him about my parents, he told me that I'll pull through and that they're watching over me. Really sweet guy."
"So, what do you have next?" Rowen asked, as Kento stuffed a rice cake into his mouth.
"Uh...I have chorus, then study, and then finally writing."
"I have writing with you, and Cye is in Study with you," Rowen said, looking at her schedule. She nodded. So, for the rest of the period, they ate, goofed off, made fun of the principal and complained about homework. Soon, the bell rang and they had to split up. Kento and Cye went to English, Sage to Science, Ryo to Study Hall and rowen to Algebra. Karisa caught up with Alex and the two went to Chorus. There, she made friends with a girl named Clarissa. She had straight blue hair and bright green eyes. She had a beautiful voice, but she found out that she was very shy. Clarissa complemented Karisa on her voice, and Karisa did the same. When the teacher asked the two to do a small duet on a peice, Clarissa imediatly declined. Karisa saw a tint of red apear on Clarissa's face, so she declined as well. But after that, throughout class, a girl with dark red hair glare at her. After class, Karisa quickley walk away, feeling the girl's glare on her back, and talked with Alex. In study hall, Alex and Clarissa joined her and Cye at a small table at the end of the room, and talked quietly amungst each other. Well, except for Clariisa. She stayed silent the entire time and burried her nose into a book. After that, she joined Rowen in writing class. She decided to write a story about a young girl, who had just lost her parents, try to find her family. She got some ubsorbed in writing, she didn't even hear the bell ring. Rowen had to shake her in order to get her attention and stop. After that, she went to her locker and met Cye there. then, they joined up with the others and walked home. She asked Clarissa if she wanted to come over to work on some homework, but she rejected. She said that she needed to do some things at home. Alex asked for her number and told Karisa that he would call her later. Before she left, she spotted the same girl who was staring at her as she left the building with the others. With her were three other girls, who were also glaring at her. Karisa gave her a confused look and then left with the others.
"Man, what a day!" Kento sighed. "Mr. Anderson never does know when to shut up."
"I know. He can go on and on and on," Ryo agreed.
"The explosion was the highlight of my day," Karisa said. "You should have seen it though! It was awesome! I think I'm going to be awake all night! And, do I still have to where this heavy jacket? I'm hot! Besides, I'm fine. I'm not going to get that sick."
"Alright," Sage sighed. Karisa smiled and took off the coat. She sighed with releif and welcomed the cool afternoon air against her.
"I see you're fitting well," Rowen commented. Karisa nodded.
"Well, except for this one girl. In chorus, a girl with dark red hair was glaring at me. We past her when we left the school. I don't know what her problem is, but she has one," Karisa explained.
"Oh, you mean Selena. She can be a real pain in the ass," Ryo said, with a frown. "She and her little friends are always going around the school, putting people lower then her down, flirting with all of the guys."
"Including me," Sage added. Karisa gave hima sympathetic look.
"But why should she hate me?" Karisa asked. Ryo shrugged.
"Maybe because you're the new kid. I have no idea," Ryo said. They continued on in silence. When they reached the house, they heard a screech and Ruby came flying down to greet Karisa. Karisa laughed, placed her books down and held out her arm. Ruby landed gently, being careful not dig her claws into her caretaker's arm.
"How's my girl? Did you do alright?" Karisa cooed and gently stroked Ruby's feathers. With her one free arm, she gathered her books and coat and followed the other's into the house. At once, White Blaze came in, with Midnight on his back. Midnight jumped down and rubbed against Karisa's legs. After dropping their books on to the couch, Karisa and the guys went outside. Ruby flew off and went in search for her evening meal. Everyone sat down, ether on the ground or in a clawn chair. A gentle breeze ruffled their hair as they sat in silence.
"You know," Karisa said, breaking the silence, "I want to thank you guys, you know, for taking care of me when I was sick, letting me stay here for this month. It has really helped me out after I lost me mother. I don't know. I guess I fell at home here. You're like family to me." They smiled.
"It's really no problem. It's nice to have someone around other then ourselves. You're like our little sister," Cye said. She smiled.
"I'm just really grateful that I met you guys. I've been getting over my mother much better than I expected," Karisa said.
"Hey, don't worry. We're always here for you. If you need any help, just say the word," Kento said. That made Karisa think.
Maybe I should tell them. I mean, I've known them for about a month now. Plus, Midnight even told me I could trust them. But why do I hesitate. I mean, I can tell them right now, but why can't I?
Because you're afraid that they won't want to be your friend anymore, a voice in her mind said. She sighed and closed her eyes.
Midnight watched as Karisa sighed and closed her eyes. She knew what she was thinking. Midnight looked from one boy to another.
A star never lies. I think they are trustworthy, the cat thought. But not yet. We need to wait a little longer.
But the longer we wait, the better chance Maaya has of finding the gems, a voice in her mind said. Midnight sat there, thinking hard about what to do.
* * *
Alex opened the door to his apartment and entered. Inside, he dumped his books onto the kitchen counter, grabbed a soda from the fridge and went into the livingroom. Someone was already sitting there. A woman with long, lavender hair and deep black eyes was sitting in a cahir by the window. She saw Alex, smiled and stood up. Her long, dark blue dress swayed as she moved.
"Ah Alex, what have for me today?" the woman asked.
"I have found Karisa," he replied, sitting down. The woman sat down next to him.
"Very good. I was quite uspset when I couldn't find Rilania. It is such a ptiy that she is dead. No matter though. Her daughter will do," the woman said, playing with a strand of her hair. "And she doesn't suspect you?"
"No. I believe within a few weeks, I will be able to bring her to you," Alex replied, taking a sip of his soda. The woman smiled.
"Very good. I must leave you now. Do not fail me," she said, then leaned over and kissed him. Then, she stood up and pulled the hood of her cloak over her head. She vanished in a blink of an eye.
"I will not fail you, Maaya," Alex whispered, touching his lips.
