The Real Ronin Warriors
"Near disaster was averted today when deputy fire marshal Ryo Sanada tracked down the anonymous phone call to apartment 6B here, in downtown Toyama, rescuing the young family of four and quickly snuffing out the small fire that had already destroyed most of the family's kitchen. I'm here now with this local hero. What have you to say about your accomplishments, Mr. Sanada?" the petite Japanese woman asked, short hair pulled back behind her ears, shoving her microphone in the face of a large structured man with tumbled down black hair somewhere around his broad shoulders, soot and ash contrasting sharply with his shocking tiger blue eyes.
"Well, it was just good instincts, I guess," the twenty seven year old answered nervously, glancing at the camera momentarily. "I just hear this kind of crackling in the background and Mrs. Kumayari was screaming so I traced the call. I was just getting off duty anyway...." he trailed off, still not over his camera shyness completely.
"Outstanding job, Mr. Sanada. It's nice to see that our nation's youth are getting involved with the safety of others. You are a very responsible young man. Now, we'll go to the landlord with information on smoke alarms that apparently do not work. What have you to say on that sir?"
Sighing, the tall Japanese man turned around, searching for the family in question. He knew that they were being treated in one of ambulances and wanted to check on them. That little girl had gotten one or two serious burns.....
"Ryo! Ryo!" a voice caught his attention and he turned, seeing a frantic looking thirty something woman waving at him from the cut off line. Her brownish hair was falling down from her tight bun and the man next to her kept trying to calm her down. "Are you all right, Ryo?!"
Not moving forward, the man in question forced a smile to his face and waved one of his arms, his powerful voice booming, "Yeah, Nasuki! I'm all right! I'll see you in a second, just let me check on the family!"
"Okay, Ryo! Be careful though!"
Resuming his search, the man spied a nearby ambulance and walked over, relieved to see two tiny black haired individuals hugging a small girl tightly as a few tears streamed down her face. Her two younger brothers watched confused, both teething on various toys in the arms of the doctors. A large bandage covered the little girl's left cheek and one was wrapped around her left hand. Ryo's heart melted at the sight and he stepped forward, hoping not to disturb the scene but still needing to speak with the family. "Mr. and Mrs. Kumayari? Sachi?" he asked gently.
With alarmed looks on their faces, Mr. and Mrs. Kumayari spun around, still retaining their irongrips on their daughter. At the sight of the unruly looking man still in his grungy looking fire uniform, they visibly relaxed, loosening their hold on their daughter ever so slightly. The two boys began to clap and laugh, reaching out with chubby little hands to the fire marshal. "Mr. Sanada...." Mrs. Kumayari breathed.
"Ryo?" the little girl asked, perking up, most of her tears already stopping. She strained to see around her parents' protective shoulders, her tiny voice muffled. "Is Ryo here?"
Moving so that Sachi could see him better, Ryo began to nervously twist his hands together, still keeping eye contact however. He waved at the girl quickly, saying, "Hi, Sachi," before turning to her parents. "Is everything all right here?" He eyed the one or two bandages on the two adults, noting that the twins appeared to be unharmed.
"Yes, yes," the short, slightly balding man answered enthusiastically, rushing forward to vigorously shake Ryo's hand, a good six inches short than him. "Thanks to you; I don't know how I can ever thank you enough for saving our little girl here."
Tears began to spring up in Mrs. Kumayari's onyx black eyes, the same color as her daughter's. "She was supposed to be right next to me and we were holding hands... Somehow in the smoke and confusion she just slipped out and then I was shoved against a wall and I and I..." trailing off, she broke into sobs, tightly squeezing her eight year old daughter.
Confused, the two boys began to bawl along with their mother as she buried her face in her hands, her husband coming over to pat her back, whispering comforting words. Sachi looked like she would break out crying any moment now.
Ryo hated this. He hated scenarios that just seemed to play out like this, involving innocent people getting hurt for no reason. The Kumayaris had no reason to blame themselves either, as no one in that apartment had started the fire. It just filled him with so much rage when he thought that some idiot would purposely start a fire like that.... That .... jerk...
Caught up in his own emotions, he was broken out of it sharply when a small figure latched itself onto his leg. Looking down he saw gorgeous black eyes rimmed with tears blinking up at him, a large bandage nearly covering half of her left eye. Tiny white but now dirtied arms were attached to his leg firmly as the girl tried to keep a hold of her anchor. She barely reached up to his waist.
Kneeling down, the firefighter took off one of his clumsy flame retardant gloves, stroking the fizzed black hair with his large callused hand, trying to calm the rapidly panicking girl. "Tell me what's wrong, Sachi."
Burying her face into his grimy pant leg, Sachi whispered in a small voice, "I'm scared, Ryo."
"Of what, Sachi?" Ryo had lowered his voice to match her whisper.
"My face hurts. And there's this big mark there. What if it stays like that forever?" she whimpered, new tears beginning to slide down her tiny full cheeks.
Frowning, but keeping up the soothing stroking on her head, Ryo was at a lose for words. This all reminded him of that incident nearly fifteen years ago, when his uncle had been tracked down by some of his employers. The shack that they'd been living in was torched, with his uncle managing to get in a crawl space and saving his own skin. But the young boy... Ryo.... The deep scar on his upper right shoulder that led down to the middle of his back pulled as his muscles twitched, but the man ignored it, used to the little spasms of pain that it caused every time that happened. It was his disfigurement, not the only "gift" from the night, but the largest one. Burnt skin had formed scars on the soles of his feet, especially on the balls, making him feel as though he were continuously walking on needles when he didn't wear hard soled shoes. His shins and calves were laced with other scars and his entire right arm was disfigured. He knew what it felt like to live with scars. He knew how she'd be teased and taunted, eventually digging herself deeper and deeper into a shell of depression. Even if she had loving parents where he'd had social workers and strict nuns, it wouldn't be that much different for her. His heart ached at the mere thought of this young innocent girl in any more pain.
Tilting her tiny dimpled chin upwards so that his tiger blue eyes caught her black ones, he stared into them for a few minutes as the tears began to quit their flowing gradually. He smiled gingerly and the girl lighted up, once more feeling the calm reassurance that she had felt when he hand carried her out of the blazing kitchen and into the cool air of the street. "The doctors checked you out, right?" he asked.
She nodded shyly.
"Let me talk to them and your parents. There is this good friend of mine that is a very good doctor. He can cure just about anything with no scars. I'll talk to your parents and doctors about letting you go see him. Is that all right?" he questioned, softly moving a stray strand of hair away from her watering eyes.
Smiling, she nodded again, saying, "Sure, Ryo! And then I won't have to wear a bandage right?"
"That's right. Now go to your family and tell them that you're fine. Be a big girl for me, okay?"
"Okay, Ryo," she answered solemnly in the way that only a child can before walking over to her family and giving her parents a big hug, caught in between them and her now bored brothers.
"It's nice to see a happy ending, isn't it?" the older of the two doctors commented, folding her white robed arms across her chest.
"Sure is," her companion answered, hazel eyes trained on the embracing family.
"Hoshi, can I speak to you?" Ryo asked, coming up to the two musing women.
The younger one turned to him, eyes happy behind their glasses. "Certainly, Mr. Sanada! I still have to thank you for your quick thinking; you're quite the hero, did you know that?"
"Yes," he bowed his head in thanks and turned to the idea that he had in mind. "I'm sure that you know of Seiji Date."
When they answered with a reply of confirmation, he continued on.
"Well, he is one of the top dermalabrasionists in the eastern hemisphere, also a standing pediatrician. If you could transfer Sachi's records over to his hospital in Tokyo, I'm sure that he could do something about her scarring."
"You do know that we will need confirmation from the legal guardians, don't you, Ryo?" the older of the two women asked.
"Not to mention from her old doctors. The procedure will probably cost a lot of money too," Hoshi added, arms still crossed.
"Yes, but, from what I know, Mr. Kumayari makes quite a bit of money and Dr. Date is an old friend of mine. He will discount special situations; he's done it before."
"Not to mention that he's not exactly low in the funds himself," the older woman commented a little dryly.
"Well... yes. But I'm sure Mr. and Mrs. Kumayari will agree and, if you two help to influence her regular doctors along with her parents, I know that they'll give in. And," he cast his sad blue eyes at her achingly. "I know what children with scars go through."
"Ah... yes," Hoshi said lamely, trying to avoid further discussion. "Well, if you agree to speak with her guardians about this...."
He nodded.
"Then we'll support you and discuss the matter with her regular doctors. When do you think we can contact Dr. Date?" the older woman finished for Hoshi.
"I'm supposed to be meeting with him sometime tonight, Maiji," Ryo answered serenely, glad that the young girl would be getting the care that she deserved. "I can speak to him about it tonight and give you confirmation tomorrow at about two. Is that good for you, Hoshi?"
"Yes, now speak with the family. I have to go tend some more of my patients," and the group parted.
Third chapter done! Yay!
(this is for the first time i posted and yes! i kept every review! thank you! ^_^) And thanks to everyone for the reviews! I'd especially like to thank new reviewers DawningLight2000 and maryd! And, of course, Firestorm. Wow! My first groupie!
Yeah, riiiiiiiiight......
What do you mean, what did I do to Shin, DawningLight? And don't worry, Takatome can take care of herself! ^_^ But don't worry, all people have problems. And, perhaps, if I get enough encouragement, I'll fully explain what happened to Shin. But, like a lot of people, the Ronins don't really like to talk or think about most bad things that happen to their friends. Ryo is the obvious exception because he's so honest and open with his feelings. So there we goes!
And, let's see... Four reviews from last time... Very nice! Thank you! ^_^
Can I get five reviews more to continue, please?
Let's see if this story is good enough for that many....
Arigato again to all my wonderful little reviewers!
Ja ne!
Keebler ^_^
(Oh, and maryd? If you really want to do that fic, go on, I guess. I don't want to stop ANYONE from doing ANY idea that they think of. Just make sure that it doesn't sound like mine please. Thank you again for the review!)
"Near disaster was averted today when deputy fire marshal Ryo Sanada tracked down the anonymous phone call to apartment 6B here, in downtown Toyama, rescuing the young family of four and quickly snuffing out the small fire that had already destroyed most of the family's kitchen. I'm here now with this local hero. What have you to say about your accomplishments, Mr. Sanada?" the petite Japanese woman asked, short hair pulled back behind her ears, shoving her microphone in the face of a large structured man with tumbled down black hair somewhere around his broad shoulders, soot and ash contrasting sharply with his shocking tiger blue eyes.
"Well, it was just good instincts, I guess," the twenty seven year old answered nervously, glancing at the camera momentarily. "I just hear this kind of crackling in the background and Mrs. Kumayari was screaming so I traced the call. I was just getting off duty anyway...." he trailed off, still not over his camera shyness completely.
"Outstanding job, Mr. Sanada. It's nice to see that our nation's youth are getting involved with the safety of others. You are a very responsible young man. Now, we'll go to the landlord with information on smoke alarms that apparently do not work. What have you to say on that sir?"
Sighing, the tall Japanese man turned around, searching for the family in question. He knew that they were being treated in one of ambulances and wanted to check on them. That little girl had gotten one or two serious burns.....
"Ryo! Ryo!" a voice caught his attention and he turned, seeing a frantic looking thirty something woman waving at him from the cut off line. Her brownish hair was falling down from her tight bun and the man next to her kept trying to calm her down. "Are you all right, Ryo?!"
Not moving forward, the man in question forced a smile to his face and waved one of his arms, his powerful voice booming, "Yeah, Nasuki! I'm all right! I'll see you in a second, just let me check on the family!"
"Okay, Ryo! Be careful though!"
Resuming his search, the man spied a nearby ambulance and walked over, relieved to see two tiny black haired individuals hugging a small girl tightly as a few tears streamed down her face. Her two younger brothers watched confused, both teething on various toys in the arms of the doctors. A large bandage covered the little girl's left cheek and one was wrapped around her left hand. Ryo's heart melted at the sight and he stepped forward, hoping not to disturb the scene but still needing to speak with the family. "Mr. and Mrs. Kumayari? Sachi?" he asked gently.
With alarmed looks on their faces, Mr. and Mrs. Kumayari spun around, still retaining their irongrips on their daughter. At the sight of the unruly looking man still in his grungy looking fire uniform, they visibly relaxed, loosening their hold on their daughter ever so slightly. The two boys began to clap and laugh, reaching out with chubby little hands to the fire marshal. "Mr. Sanada...." Mrs. Kumayari breathed.
"Ryo?" the little girl asked, perking up, most of her tears already stopping. She strained to see around her parents' protective shoulders, her tiny voice muffled. "Is Ryo here?"
Moving so that Sachi could see him better, Ryo began to nervously twist his hands together, still keeping eye contact however. He waved at the girl quickly, saying, "Hi, Sachi," before turning to her parents. "Is everything all right here?" He eyed the one or two bandages on the two adults, noting that the twins appeared to be unharmed.
"Yes, yes," the short, slightly balding man answered enthusiastically, rushing forward to vigorously shake Ryo's hand, a good six inches short than him. "Thanks to you; I don't know how I can ever thank you enough for saving our little girl here."
Tears began to spring up in Mrs. Kumayari's onyx black eyes, the same color as her daughter's. "She was supposed to be right next to me and we were holding hands... Somehow in the smoke and confusion she just slipped out and then I was shoved against a wall and I and I..." trailing off, she broke into sobs, tightly squeezing her eight year old daughter.
Confused, the two boys began to bawl along with their mother as she buried her face in her hands, her husband coming over to pat her back, whispering comforting words. Sachi looked like she would break out crying any moment now.
Ryo hated this. He hated scenarios that just seemed to play out like this, involving innocent people getting hurt for no reason. The Kumayaris had no reason to blame themselves either, as no one in that apartment had started the fire. It just filled him with so much rage when he thought that some idiot would purposely start a fire like that.... That .... jerk...
Caught up in his own emotions, he was broken out of it sharply when a small figure latched itself onto his leg. Looking down he saw gorgeous black eyes rimmed with tears blinking up at him, a large bandage nearly covering half of her left eye. Tiny white but now dirtied arms were attached to his leg firmly as the girl tried to keep a hold of her anchor. She barely reached up to his waist.
Kneeling down, the firefighter took off one of his clumsy flame retardant gloves, stroking the fizzed black hair with his large callused hand, trying to calm the rapidly panicking girl. "Tell me what's wrong, Sachi."
Burying her face into his grimy pant leg, Sachi whispered in a small voice, "I'm scared, Ryo."
"Of what, Sachi?" Ryo had lowered his voice to match her whisper.
"My face hurts. And there's this big mark there. What if it stays like that forever?" she whimpered, new tears beginning to slide down her tiny full cheeks.
Frowning, but keeping up the soothing stroking on her head, Ryo was at a lose for words. This all reminded him of that incident nearly fifteen years ago, when his uncle had been tracked down by some of his employers. The shack that they'd been living in was torched, with his uncle managing to get in a crawl space and saving his own skin. But the young boy... Ryo.... The deep scar on his upper right shoulder that led down to the middle of his back pulled as his muscles twitched, but the man ignored it, used to the little spasms of pain that it caused every time that happened. It was his disfigurement, not the only "gift" from the night, but the largest one. Burnt skin had formed scars on the soles of his feet, especially on the balls, making him feel as though he were continuously walking on needles when he didn't wear hard soled shoes. His shins and calves were laced with other scars and his entire right arm was disfigured. He knew what it felt like to live with scars. He knew how she'd be teased and taunted, eventually digging herself deeper and deeper into a shell of depression. Even if she had loving parents where he'd had social workers and strict nuns, it wouldn't be that much different for her. His heart ached at the mere thought of this young innocent girl in any more pain.
Tilting her tiny dimpled chin upwards so that his tiger blue eyes caught her black ones, he stared into them for a few minutes as the tears began to quit their flowing gradually. He smiled gingerly and the girl lighted up, once more feeling the calm reassurance that she had felt when he hand carried her out of the blazing kitchen and into the cool air of the street. "The doctors checked you out, right?" he asked.
She nodded shyly.
"Let me talk to them and your parents. There is this good friend of mine that is a very good doctor. He can cure just about anything with no scars. I'll talk to your parents and doctors about letting you go see him. Is that all right?" he questioned, softly moving a stray strand of hair away from her watering eyes.
Smiling, she nodded again, saying, "Sure, Ryo! And then I won't have to wear a bandage right?"
"That's right. Now go to your family and tell them that you're fine. Be a big girl for me, okay?"
"Okay, Ryo," she answered solemnly in the way that only a child can before walking over to her family and giving her parents a big hug, caught in between them and her now bored brothers.
"It's nice to see a happy ending, isn't it?" the older of the two doctors commented, folding her white robed arms across her chest.
"Sure is," her companion answered, hazel eyes trained on the embracing family.
"Hoshi, can I speak to you?" Ryo asked, coming up to the two musing women.
The younger one turned to him, eyes happy behind their glasses. "Certainly, Mr. Sanada! I still have to thank you for your quick thinking; you're quite the hero, did you know that?"
"Yes," he bowed his head in thanks and turned to the idea that he had in mind. "I'm sure that you know of Seiji Date."
When they answered with a reply of confirmation, he continued on.
"Well, he is one of the top dermalabrasionists in the eastern hemisphere, also a standing pediatrician. If you could transfer Sachi's records over to his hospital in Tokyo, I'm sure that he could do something about her scarring."
"You do know that we will need confirmation from the legal guardians, don't you, Ryo?" the older of the two women asked.
"Not to mention from her old doctors. The procedure will probably cost a lot of money too," Hoshi added, arms still crossed.
"Yes, but, from what I know, Mr. Kumayari makes quite a bit of money and Dr. Date is an old friend of mine. He will discount special situations; he's done it before."
"Not to mention that he's not exactly low in the funds himself," the older woman commented a little dryly.
"Well... yes. But I'm sure Mr. and Mrs. Kumayari will agree and, if you two help to influence her regular doctors along with her parents, I know that they'll give in. And," he cast his sad blue eyes at her achingly. "I know what children with scars go through."
"Ah... yes," Hoshi said lamely, trying to avoid further discussion. "Well, if you agree to speak with her guardians about this...."
He nodded.
"Then we'll support you and discuss the matter with her regular doctors. When do you think we can contact Dr. Date?" the older woman finished for Hoshi.
"I'm supposed to be meeting with him sometime tonight, Maiji," Ryo answered serenely, glad that the young girl would be getting the care that she deserved. "I can speak to him about it tonight and give you confirmation tomorrow at about two. Is that good for you, Hoshi?"
"Yes, now speak with the family. I have to go tend some more of my patients," and the group parted.
Third chapter done! Yay!
(this is for the first time i posted and yes! i kept every review! thank you! ^_^) And thanks to everyone for the reviews! I'd especially like to thank new reviewers DawningLight2000 and maryd! And, of course, Firestorm. Wow! My first groupie!
Yeah, riiiiiiiiight......
What do you mean, what did I do to Shin, DawningLight? And don't worry, Takatome can take care of herself! ^_^ But don't worry, all people have problems. And, perhaps, if I get enough encouragement, I'll fully explain what happened to Shin. But, like a lot of people, the Ronins don't really like to talk or think about most bad things that happen to their friends. Ryo is the obvious exception because he's so honest and open with his feelings. So there we goes!
And, let's see... Four reviews from last time... Very nice! Thank you! ^_^
Can I get five reviews more to continue, please?
Let's see if this story is good enough for that many....
Arigato again to all my wonderful little reviewers!
Ja ne!
Keebler ^_^
(Oh, and maryd? If you really want to do that fic, go on, I guess. I don't want to stop ANYONE from doing ANY idea that they think of. Just make sure that it doesn't sound like mine please. Thank you again for the review!)