By: chibi-chan
Disclaimer: *grumbles* Does it even look like me owning them is a possibility?
Author's Notes: I'm not exactly 100% obsessed with Ronin Warriors, so I don't know how, when, and/or where everyone met, so I'm doing my own thing as usual. ^^() This is M-chan's extremely belated Christmas present. This means fluff... LOTS of fluff. You were warned... (I put angst in for my enjoyment though :-D) ^^() Merry Christmas M-ies! Sorry for the delay. ^^
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Chapter Three: All Coming Together
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"And I opened the door and--" Kento nearly jumped
out of his skin as Cye's bedroom door slammed shut. The normally cheerful
warrior stormed past the dining room table and headed straight to the main
part of the kitchen.
Mia rubbed the sleep out of her eyes before picking
up the spatula and flipping the pancakes. To her annoyance the vote had
been pancakes over waffles, but right now she really didn't care. She watched
the edges of the batter bubble slightly as her mind wandered. She jumped
slightly as she felt arms around her waist and a chin on her shoulder.
She relaxed into the embraced as the gentle scent of the sea filled her
senses.
"You know, acting angry like that isn't very becoming..."
Mia murmured as Cye slowly rocked her back and forth.
"It kept Kento quiet," Cye whispered into her ear
as he gently took the spatula from her hand and flipped the pancakes while
not letting go.
"I suppose it's all right then," she laughed as
she turned and pecked Cye on the cheek. He blushed slightly before claiming
Mia's lips.
Rowen shoved open the swinging door and stalked
straight to the refrigerator, ignoring the happy couple. After shifting
through the refrigerator's contents, Rowen pulled out a half full carton
of milk and shut the door. He opened the top and started to chug it down.
He paused as he saw the couple.
"Eh, just don't burn the pancakes..." Rowen muttered
as he patted Cye's shoulder before leaving. Mia pulled back and leaned
to the side to see Rowen stalk back out of the kitchen.
Five pairs of eyes followed Rowen's sluggish form
as he made his way past the dining room table. The blue haired archer paused
with the milk carton moments away from his lips.
"What?" he questioned the all too curious group.
"So what was going on it there?!" Kento asked as
he slammed his palms on the table and jumped out of his chair. Rowen shrugged
lazily before replying.
"Go look for yourself." Four humans nearly trampled
one poor over grown house cat (White Blaze) as they tried to see exactly
what was going on in the kitchen. The swinging door flew open as five bodies
fell through the doorway in a tangled heap. Cye raised an eyebrow from
his place in front of the open refrigerator while Mia ignored them and
made more pancakes.
By the time the kitchen mess was sorted out Rowen
was upstairs debating whether or not to get changed.
'Aw hell, I can barely move...' After cursing a
few times he got up and changed into a pair of jeans but left his shirt
off to inspect his stomach.
'Damn. If that's a dream world then why the hell
is this still here?!' he berated himself for not avoiding Makoto's blow.
The large bruise he sported on his abs was the lovely gift from the ever-so-gracious
Mako-chan. He could only hope the brunette was in at least half the pain
he was. For being the girl she was, she sure dealt out a mean punch. After
donning a thin, worn, cotton t-shirt, Rowen fell back on his bed. Grabbing
a random book off of his night stand he began to read. Half way through
the thirty-second chapter the bright white pages went black.
* * * * *
'Annoyance doesn't even begin to describe this
any more...' he thought to himself as he watched the familiar fog and mist
swirl around his ankles in an endless dance.
"Hello Mr. Hashiba. I'm glad you came." Rowen
spun around to find himself face to face with some what of a rival. Kayura's
dark blue eyes held an inner laughter that did not keep him at ease. He
stepped back and frowned.
"No offense, but exactly what are you
doing here?" Kayura glared slightly at the gifted archer.
"Queen Serenity has sent me here to tell you
that--" Kayura smiled slowly as something began to wake Rowen up.
"Just remember not to try and kill anyone!" rang
through his ears as he blinked a few times.
* * * * *
Rowen gingerly touched his stomach, which hurt a
lot less now, as he walked down the hallway to the stairs.
'Not to kill anyone?' he asked himself repeatedly.
The morning had flown by and lunch was over by now the genius observed
in a not-too-thrilled manner. After grabbing a sandwich, he headed out
to find Mia. If anyone would know anything about this she would. After
roaming the summer house and not finding the young woman, Rowen went outside
to check the lake. Cye loved the lake. Mia loved Cye. Rowen really hoped
Cye loved Mia. If not... Well... Cye would be doomed then, and the food
would probably end up being cooked by Kento... Rowen shuddered at this
thought.
* * * * *
It was near five o' clock now and Rowen hadn't seen
Cye or Mia. Sage told him they left a while ago, Kento said they wouldn't
be back till late, and Ryo said Mia was probably club hopping and she just
dropped Cye off some where. Rowen rolled his eyes.
'Mia club hopping without Cye... Not likely.' Taking
the occasion as a hopeless case, he decided to go up to 'his' star gazing
hill. It was a cliff rather than a hill, but more or less it's name was
'Strata's Star Gazing Hill'. The cliff was quite a bit away from the house,
but most of the places where the guys were. To get to his place, Rowen
had to go through the thick serene forest. Where the forest stopped and
where the cliff began was where he first met Sage. He had been practicing
his archery and trying to see exactly how far his arrows flew before crashing
into the restless sea below him. Sage came back often and both alternated
where they would spar each day. That's when they found Cye hopping from
rock to rock trying to get to the tiny cove that held all his fishy friends.
Everyone seemed to be drawn to this place. Mia's summer house was soon
built a mile or two down the road. But this was 'his' place because that's
where he went to clear his mind and senses. Just as Sage went to the forest,
Ryo to the volcano, and so on.
Sitting down on the lush green grass, Rowen closed
his eyes and breathed in the cooling air. Taking deep breaths, holding
them, and slowly letting them out slowly led Rowen into a meditating state.
His mind wandered everywhere. Mia was dragging Cye onto the dance floor,
Yuli and White Blaze were watching a movie, while Kento, Sage, and Ryo
sat trying to comprehend the cooking instructions on the back of a weird
instant dinner. His mind seemed to shift as he suddenly saw Usagi standing
on her tiptoes to kiss a much older looking man. Rowen shuddered. 'That's
enough of that!' he thought quickly. 'That guy didn't even look interested
until Usagi kissed him. Wonder who he is...' Searching for something new
to watch, Rowen stumbled across Makoto upset face. 'What's this?' he asked
himself, thoroughly intrigued.
A man about Makoto's age held her wrist tightly.
He leaned close to her ear and whispered a few words before letting his
lips brush her neck as he pulled back. Makoto had been struggling until
he whispered to her.
Rowen frowned. The visions didn't have sound so
it was like watching a silent movie with out subtitles. He strained his
eyes harder to try and read their lips.
"...babe! ...love you... go ...your place. No...
disturb us... Before... joke... didn't mean... hurt... want you back."
That was all Rowen could read from the guy's lips. Makoto gathered enough
strength to turn and look him in the eyes. Getting used to lip reading
Rowen could catch a lot more this time.
"Didn't mean to? Didn't mean to?!" Rowen watched
her cry. She ripped her arm from his hold. "You... killed Ken!" Rowen's
eyes would've bulged had he been in his physical body. This guy wasn't
any good, but he certainly didn't seem like a killer!
"But I he's fine now, babe!"
Rowen guessed the word he missed must've been nearly
or almost.
The man grabbed Makoto's arms roughly and kissed
her. Letting go he said, "Think about it, babe." before turning around
and running off. Makoto spit at his back.
"I already thought about it you asshole!" she screamed
before turning and running the other direction.
Rowen gasped for air as he braced himself for the
effects of meditating too long. The ground seemed to spin and tip at odd
angles, while he felt like he hadn't enough air in his lungs. Closing his
eyes, Rowen lowered his back to the ground.
'Who was that guy?' Rowen asked, making the most
of his time. He seemed like a normal guy. He wore black jeans and a shirt
not unlike the one Rowen had on now, but there was some thing artificial
about the man. Something extremely misleading and uncomforting. The worst
part is Rowen couldn't understand what was so bad about the guy.
* * * * *
"Master, I have found unidentifiable powers. They're
are unlike anything we have encountered before, and it was hard to determine
what they were. I started to scout perimeters like you sent us to do, but
whenever I neared the source of power, which turns out to be a human, they
some how sensed me," the servant rambled aimlessly.
"Get to the point!" the one called 'Master' barked.
"To spy on them you have to play with their emotions
and become one of them."
* * * * *
With shaky hands Makoto opened the door to her apartment.
The whole ordeal was outrageous and... painful... extremely painful on
her part. Freddie came back, after all these years, he came back and asked
her to lead him back to her place or to a hotel room where they could kiss
and make up. And he had meant it literally.
Walking towards her bed, she paused at the phone.
Her hand hovered over it a few moments before she turned and flopped down
on her bed. This wasn't important enough to call Ken about. He'd probably
make a big fuss, and try to come over to make sure she was all right. Three
calls came after Makoto fell asleep. The messages were recorded as follows:
Beep: Hey Mako-chan it's us! Where the
heck are you? We just got out of the movies, and you never showed! It you
don't call Usagi by tomorrow-- What? Hey! How come everyone has to call
me?!?!-- we'll be by to see if you're ok. Bye!
Beep: Um hey Mako-chan, it's Ken. Are you all right? I have a bad feeling that something's wrong. Call me when you have the time.
Beep: Hey babe! Let's go some place tomorrow. 9:00's all right with me, so I'll just stop by to pick you up. Love ya.
The hair on the back of Makoto's neck stood up
as mist and fog swirled into view.
"Oh no... Not now," she whispered to herself.
"Nice to see you too," Rowen said from behind
her. Makoto whirled around to see Rowen standing with the mist at his ankles.
It was only then that she felt the petticoats of her princess dress. Rowen
raised an eyebrow at the the sight of it.
The elegant dress, that became known as her princess
dress, was a deep forest green satin that came up to her neck and was secured
with a choker-like accessory. It had no sleeves so long ivory gloves came
a little above her elbows. The layered petticoats forced the skirt to be
a bit puffier than necessary, but not enough to make her look like Little
Bo Peep. A small train laced with diamonds followed, and for the first
time she realized that her hair was done up in banana curls, held by a
tiara.
She was really beginning to hate this
place. Closing her eyes, Makoto changed her outfit to a pair of well worn
jeans and an over sized sweater. Her hair was held in a ponytail by the
usual beaded scrunchie. Rowen blinked at the change, but didn't comment.
Instead he changed the subject.
"So who was that guy you were with?" Rowen asked.
'Might as well clear my conscious while I'm here,' he thought as he sat
down on the floor.
"W-what guy?" Makoto asked trying to get out
of it. "I'm really tired, and I don't want to be here. So could you not
ask any more questions?"
Rowen raised an eyebrow. How was he supposed
to get smarter with out the answers to everything?
"Why don't you like him?"
"Stop it, Rowen..."
"What'd he do to Ken?"
"Shut up... Please..." her pleas come out in
nothing more than a whisper, so Rowen kept rattling off questions. The
more questions that fell out of his mouth, the more painful memories of
the motorcycle accident, Ken, the break up and how the whole relationship
was a joke. He wasn't even looking towards her any more because if he was,
he would've seen her sink to the floor. Tears gathered in her eyes slowly
at first, but they came faster as more memories appeared. Using the fury
and slow growing hatred for Freddie, Makoto pushed herself up and walked
slowly to Rowen. Towering over his chattering form, Makoto positioned herself
low enough to backhand* him with the rest of her remaining energy.
It was like time froze as Rowen's face jerked
to the left with the force. The one thought that rang through his mind
as he saw Makoto was, "She's crying... and it's my fault." Tears pricked
his own eyes, but whether it was from the physical pain or just seeing
Makoto hurt so bad he never determined. The thoughts were so brief, Rowen
never remembered them afterwards.
As soon as he could turn his head again, Rowen
returned to his normal self.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!" he yelled as he
prepared to tackle her. He stopped himself as he saw her in a crumpled
heap on the floor. Not sure of what to do, he rubbed his cheek with a clenched
fist and glared at her. Makoto stared back as the tears she had held in
spilled down her cheeks and rolled down onto her jeans. Letting go of his
glare and dropping his arm, Rowen reached over and gathered Makoto into
his lap.
Makoto tiredly leaned her head on his shoulder,
now sobbing. After staring at her a few minutes, she calmed down enough
for Rowen to speak, "I feel like Santa Clause..." Makoto let out a strangled
laugh and sniffled a little bit before leaning close to Rowen's ear.
"I wanna go home Santa," she whispered tiredly.
Rowen rolled his eyes playfully.
"I said I feel like Santa not Galinda the good
witch*!" Makoto let out another choked laugh, but it seemed clearer this
time.
She lifted her head off of Rowen's shoulder when
her hand felt weird. "Hey! I'm waking up," she declared as she could see
through her hand. Makoto pushed herself up as she started to fade away.
Rowen sighed in relief.
"Good. My legs were falling asleep!"
Makoto glared, "I'm not that heavy!!!"
"That's what you think!"
Makoto lunged at him, but by the time she would've
reached him, she was gone. Rowen smirked. Teasing her was fun as long as
he wasn't attacked.
* * * * *
Makoto slowly opened her eyes and blinked to clear
her fuzzy vision. As soon as she had, she wished she hadn't. Two bright
cerulean eyes watched her.
"What the hell are you doing in my bed?" she asked
irritated.
"Uh... trying to figure out how I got here?" Rowen
answered back innocently.
In one swift movement, Makoto snatched a pillow
from underneath Rowen's head and whapped him with it.
A strangled "Ack!" came from Rowen as he got up
and made a mad dash towards the door. Makoto sprang out of bed and followed
him, waving a large and heavy pillow over her head.
"Rowen Hashiba, you're gonna get!" she yelled as
she turned the corner and raced around the kitchen table, still waving
the pillow.
'What if I don't want it?' he asked himself in extremely
mild fear as he turned another corner. Seeing that Makoto was only a little
further back, quickly he turned, pressed his back against the wall, and
stuck his foot out. When Makoto came around the corner, a bewildered look
covered her face as the pillow flew out of her hands and she headed towards
the floor.
'What happened?' she asked her self slowly as she
looked up. Rowen grinned at Makoto's confused face, and brought her up
straight. Makoto glared at him and snatched the pillow up. When the door
bell rang, Rowen took off in a mad dash, so he wouldn't get hit.
"Can't hit me 'cause I'm answering the door!" he
called. Makoto's reply came from the kitchen.
"Wouldn't dream of it, Hashiba," she called back
in a huffy tone. "You know I'm kicking you out by the end of the day!"
"Yah whatever," he shouted as he swung the door
open. A timid blonde girl stood in the door way. She stared for a few minutes
before going to check the apartment number.
"Hey guys, Mako's apartment number is 497, right?"
she called down the hall.
"Yes. Did you get lost Minako?" asked a polite voice.
"No, but a guy answered Mako's door!"
Silence reigned for a few moments before it was
followed by an "Oh...".
"He's has clothes on if that's what you're wondering!"
she called afterwards.
Suddenly Rowen didn't think the blonde was so timid
any more.
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Notes:
*A slap on the face with the back of your hand. It hurts tons more
than a normal slap.
*Wizard of Oz
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Done! And it wasn't that long of a wait. If I keep this up you people
will be expecting this. ^^()
