That's Just the Way Things Are

by Nic Jean aka Fate

When one Ronin falls victim to disease, the guys find themselves on a mysterious path through the unknown.

2. Whirlwind

Everyone waited on the porch for Kento and Rowen. Mia finally went and sat in the jeep and listened to the radio. The guys started tossing Ryo's old baseball back and forth. Mia had decided that Rowen had to go in for a checkup at the hospital and when she'd told him so, Rowen had locked himself in his room and refused to come out.

His stubborn streak was as well known to the household as Ryo's legendary temper. It could be a fine asset in battle. Such as the time he and Ryo had gone into the Dynasty to rescue the other three Ronins and he'd refused to give up on them even when he was so close to death he was hardly alive at all. Cye had once said that if Rowen hadn't been so stubbornly willing to sacrifice his life in a heartbeat so his friends could live none of them would have ever seen the light of day again. But it could also be a pain in the ass.

Like this time.

Sage had tried to convince Rowen through the door that it was for his own good but Rowen had just told him to go away in a not-so-polite way. Mia had found the key to the room but no one wanted to be the one to drag Rowen out. Ryo had gotten a bloody nose trying to wake him up last Tuesday—Rowen had apologized a half million times when he'd realized he'd done it—and Kento still had a black eye and plenty of bruises from the seizure episode the day before.

That was another thing—Rowen didn't remember a thing about the husk soldier or the death dream or any of that and he'd believed them, and only with great reluctance, when they'd said he'd had one of the attacks typical of his disease again.

Earlier that morning it had been Cye's turn to wake Rowen and he had emerged shaken and relieved to escape with his life. "I thought he was going to decapitate me!" Cye had cried to the others, who understood all too well.

Kento had mumbled, "At least you only have to do it once a week. Me and Sage have to do it twice a week and it hurts!"

"Yeah, I suppose you're right. Oh well, better you than me," Cye had said with a smile.

"Hey!" Kento cried and started chasing Cye, who laughed and easily evaded him, around the house until both were out of breath.

When Mia had found the key to Sage and Rowen's room everyone ended up drawing straws to see who'd be the unlucky one to get Rowen. The horrible lot had fallen to Kento.

"Nu-uh! No way am I goin' into the human cyclone's room. Look what he did to me when he was sleepin'!" Kento pointed to his black eye and said, "He's awake now and you guys know how great his aim is. He'll have me beat to a pulp before I'm within ten feet of him! Those books he throws are three inches thick. I'm not goin' in there!"

Ryo and Sage had pushed him in front of Rowen's door, given him the key, and run downstairs to join Cye and Mia. They'd all heard sounds that were no doubt Rowen and Kento fighting. Mostly it sounded like Kento getting hit by Rowen's projectiles. So they'd been waiting out here for half an hour.

Cye heard a thump coming from the second-story balcony window of the room and winced. "Maybe we should've helped him. It sounds like Rowen's giving Kento a hard time."

"You bet he is. Rowen really doesn't want to go back to the hospital. I'm just glad it's not me in there," Ryo said and threw his baseball to Sage.

"Rowen does have a weakness, if Kento can remember. If he threatens one of Rowen's favorite books and keeps a good distance, Rowen might hesitate for a moment and give Kento a chance to get him," Sage said and threw the ball to Cye.

Just then there was a yell of rage and the front door burst open.

"Open the car door!" Kento yelled. He ran out with a kicking, screaming, infuriated Rowen thrown over his shoulder.

"Ya bettah put me down righ' now, Kento, or I'm gonna kill ya! Le' go!" Rowen screamed and pounded Kento hard in the small of his back.

Mia opened the back door of the jeep and Kento flung Rowen in. Before Rowen could jump out Ryo commanded his tiger, "White Blaze, don't let Rowen get away. Sit on him if you have to." White Blaze jumped in the jeep and pinned Rowen to the seat by planting his big front paws squarely on the youth's chest.

"Lemme go! Ya stupid tigah! Ryo, tell yer tigah ta get offa me!" Rowen yelled and tried to push White Blaze off.

Ryo just laughed at the look on Rowen's face and climbed in the front passenger seat. The others piled in, too, and as Kento got in Rowen managed to smash his fist into Kento's gut. "This is all yer fault!" he growled.

Kento, deciding there was no way he was going to sit by Rowen, grabbed Cye from where he was sitting on the other side of Kento, lifted him up and over his lap, and plopped him down between himself and Rowen.

"Rowen, it's just a checkup. You probably won't have to stay in the hospital again," Mia said as she drove off her property and towards the city.

"Yeah, Ro, it's not the end of the world." Ryo turned around in his seat and grinned at the Warrior of Life who was still trying to shove White Blaze off himself even though he knew it was a futile effort.

Rowen glared at him and spat, "I don' care. You weren't tha one who's friends treated ya like ya were gonna break at that slightest touch. You weren't tha one who was trapped in one o' those lumpy boards they call beds all day, every day fa nine months. I hated it an' I'm not goin' back!"

"Sorry, Rowen, but it looks like you are. At least you probably won't have to stay there," Cye said gently.

Rowen narrowed his eyes at the auburn-haired boy beside him. "Et tu Cye?" he snarled.

Cye, completely familiar with the old Roman phrase, knew Rowen was implying that he was a traitor. "Sorry."

"You know, just outta curiosity, did ya meet any cute nurses when you were in the hospital or did Pretty-boy-slash-flirt-king distract them from their patients every time he visited you?" Kento was asking not only to find out what he'd asked but also to make an attempt at cheering the mood.

"Ken-tooo!" everyone groaned simultaneously.

"Just asking," he pouted but was pleased to notice the cloud of anger hanging over Rowen's head had dispelled for the time being.

Rowen snuck a conspiratorial wink at Sage. Kento didn't know how true his comment on Sage had been. Several times during Rowen's stay at the hospital two years ago Sage had done him the immense favor of distracting the hospital personnel long enough for Rowen to get out of bed and do something to stretch his muscles, including an occasional quick hovering a few feet off the ground just for fun, as a variable to the boring hospital routine. Sage winked back, knowing what Rowen was thinking of, but suddenly seemed to recall something Rowen didn't think he'd like too much.

"I think we forgot something. What're we gonna do with White Blaze in Tokyo? Remember how the police reacted that first day?" Sage questioned.

He was referring to the day the first fight against the Dynasty had begun. Ryo and White Blaze had been walking through Toyama and ended up being surrounded by the SWAT team with guns trained on them and having the story on live TV. After all, a large white tiger walking around with a teenage boy through crowds of people tended to cause a little commotion. Okay, so maybe it tended to cause a lot of commotion.

"I guess he'll have to stay in the car. Is that okay, boy?" Ryo asked White Blaze. The tiger sort of shrugged his shoulders in a tiger sort of way and concentrated on holding down Rowen, who'd taken advantage of White Blaze's moment of distraction and wriggled halfway out from under his paws.

Kento was quick to protest. "Hey, but then how the hell do we get Blue-boy outta the car and into the hospital?" he asked.

Everyone looked bewildered at this point and Rowen's expression became smug.

"You could carry him again," Cye suggested and then cried out, "Ow! Owww!" as both Rowen and Kento's elbows jabbed him in both sides of his stomach.

"Shuddup," Rowen hissed in his left ear.

"Ya tryin' to put me in the hospital?" Kento asked hostilely.

"Never mind," Cye whimpered and kept his mouth shut the rest of the ride.

"It's gonna be a long twenty minute drive," Sage sighed.

"Very long," Ryo and Mia agreed in unison.

* * * * *

Dr. Danji Kajtim looked at his clipboard. It had been a long day and it wasn't over yet.

"Twenty-seven down, a gazillion to go," he sighed, checking off yet another patient's name. "Let's see who's next."

His light green eyes scanned the list and brightened.

"The Hashiba boy. This should be interesting," he thought aloud.

At the mention of the name Hashiba several eyes glanced up from various work but quickly pretended not to have heard. Noticing this, Danji smirked. Last time that boy had been here not a single female nurse had failed to come to work. At least one of young Hashiba's four friends had always managed to visit him every day and the girls working at the hospital had formed sort of fan clubs for the teen they found most attractive.

The black haired boy with the tiger blue eyes, Ryo Sanada, had about 17 fans, the blond with the violet grey eyes, Sage Date, had 23, the ash haired and eyed fellow, Kento Fuan, had 14, the quiet British lad with the sea colored eyes and auburn hair, Cye Mouri, had 21, and even Rowen Hashiba himself had at least 20.

That poor kid had suffered from more than just his strange, rare disease during his stay at the hospital; there had been so many nurses always fussing over him that the boy seemed scared out of his wits at times. A lot of the girls working at Hogo Heart Hospital said his indigo eyes, blue hair eternally falling in his face, and accent made him seem exotic, intriguing, and irresistible.

Danji had learned that the Hashiba boy's accent was from Brooklyn, New York City, that he was ½ American on his mother's side—a journalist, she apparently traveled a lot and had only visited him once for a week, though his father, a scientist of some sort, had showed up at least once every two weeks—from the brown haired, green eyed young woman who'd signed all his hospital forms. Danji had secretly become her fan. Now, there was a girl with guts. Her name was Mia Koji, she was a professor of History/Ancient Mythology at a university, and she let all five of those teenage boys live in her house.

The first time she'd come to visit the Hashiba kid in the hospital her presence had made the girls believe that 'Blue-boy', as the Fuan boy called Hashiba, had a girlfriend. Then she was seen with the other boys and eventually every girl in the hospital thought Koji was after the boy she admired. But the Date fellow was a major flirt and an equally flirtatious nurse had found out from him that Mia Koji was more family than anything else to all five of the boys.

Danji went over to the desk and asked the girl posted there how long Hashiba had been waiting. "Almost thirty minutes, sir, and his friends are having a difficult time keeping him from running away," she informed him.

"I bet you've enjoyed every moment they've been here, eh, Tamee? You're one of the Mouri fans, right?" he prodded and gave her a sly wink and headed for the waiting room door, leaving the desk clerk to blush until she was the color of a rose.

There he was. Danji had to stifle a laugh. The Fuan and Sanada boys were holding Hashiba's arms and he was struggling for all he was worth towards the door; he really didn't want to be here. Just then Hashiba freed his right arm from Fuan and clipped Sanada's jaw.

"No! Lemme go! I'm not goin' in the'ah! Ryo, I'm gonna kill ya! Ya traitors! Lemme go! You guys're worse than Kayura an' tha Warlords before they changed!"

At this last comment Sage clapped a hand over Rowen's mouth. "You trying to expose us? Quiet, okay?" he whispered.

"Jeez, Rowen, you read too much. That was just a book. Sorry about the commotion, folks," Ryo said loud enough for everyone in the lobby to hear. Sage yanked his hand away from Rowen's mouth with a half-yelp—apparently Rowen wasn't above biting.

"Hello, Mr. Hashiba and company," an amused familiar voice called across the waiting room.

The group looked up to see Rowen's doctor from two years ago standing in the doorway. Dr. Kajtim was 25, had slightly long black hair he kept pulled back with a green rubber band in a tight, very short ponytail that looked like he'd pulled his hair back and then whacked it off as close to the band as possible without touching the band. He had light green eyes, was 6'1" tall, lanky, and the sight of him made Rowen struggle even more against Ryo and Kento.

"Just a sec," Ryo called.

Dr. Kajtim nodded and watched in amusement as the Date and Mouri boys darted forward and caught Hashiba's legs, yanking them out from under him. In this fashion, with Fuan and Sanada holding his arms and Date and Mouri holding his legs, the group made a very noisy procession through the hospital. Danji was surprised at how vicious Hashiba was acting. Last time he'd been so calm, serious, and collective and Danji had been told he had an IQ of 250, giving him the intellectual capacity of a 35 year old, but now he was acting almost crazy.

"Ya bettah lemme go righ' now! Sage, Cye, le' go o' my legs! Whatcha think you're doin'? Kento, this is all yer fault!" Rowen yelled for the hundredth time.

Ryo shook his head and rolled his eyes with an amused smile. This is ridiculous. Wonder how they're gonna manage to keep him from flying out a window once we leave. Well, if anything, this is definitely entertaining. Suddenly a faint breeze brushed against his skin, startling his thoughts. What? But we're indoors…

Cye, Kento, and Sage felt the same thing but Sage was a bit more perceptive than Ryo. Let's see. There's a breeze and we're inside and we've got a very not-in-a-good-mood Rowen whose element is air and stuff…

"Oh shit!" he said. Everyone stared at him.

"Um…Mia, guys, can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked hesitantly, slipping a sideways, suspicious glance at Rowen. The others appeared puzzled but seemed to consent.

"You can use this room. I'll just wait here," Dr. Kajtim volunteered and opened a door to a room.

"Thanks," Mia said and closed the door behind them.

"Absolutely. Anytime," Danji breathed quietly to the closed, unresponding door and went to sit in a chair a little ways down the hall.

"Okay, Sage. What's up?" Ryo asked.

"Did you guys feel that breeze in the hall?"

"Yeah. Probably just the a.c. So what?" Kento grunted, struggling against Rowen. The others had let go of Rowen and Kento was holding him in a tight vise, wrapping his arms around Rowen so he couldn't move his arms.

"No. It was too warm. Guys, I think—" But Sage didn't get a chance to finish.

"I'm warnin' ya. Kento, if you don' le' go o' me righ' now, yer gonna regret it," Rowen said calmly but coldly. He'd stopped struggling and was staring at his feet with his eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Sorry, bud, but you're stayin' right here. I'm not stupid enough to let go of the human cyclone when he's full of hot air," Kento replied.

"Don' say I didn' warn ya," Rowen said and shrugged under Kento's restraint.

Rowen's unruly bangs began to lift off his brow as if a breeze were blowing them upward. He slowly raised his face and Sage somehow sensed that Rowen wasn't really aware of anything, and that he was in a sort of trance.

His indigo midnight blue eyes caught Sage's icy amethyst ones. Sage gasped. There were specks of silver swirling in a hypnotic circle within Rowen's eyes. As Sage watched the silver moved faster and faster until they were dizzying and they seemed to be wisps of wind dancing in Rowen's eyes.

Suddenly Rowen raised a hand and a whirlwind surrounded him and Kento. Kento found himself holding nothing but air and he couldn't see a thing past the walls of wind encircling him. Then Rowen was standing in front of him, his face grim, serious, and serene, yet vacant, as if he was looking past Kento…or through him…and his eyes were weird.

"Hey, Ro, chill dude! I didn't mean it!" Kento yelled over the wind.

Somehow, he figured, Rowen's gotta be doing this. He reached out to try and grab Rowen but Rowen raised his hand again and a gust of wind struck Kento full in the chest and threw him out of the whirlwind and against the wall.

"Kento! Where's Rowen?!" Cye shouted in his ear. Kento could hardly hear him.

Kento looked around and saw everyone else pushed up against the walls of the little room yet at the same time the whirlwind was pulling at them, too. Beside him, Cye was having difficulty not being sucked into the vacuum of the whirlwind. Kento grabbed his best friend and held him in one arm so he wouldn't get swept into the miniature tornado.

"He's in there! How's he doing this?!" Kento shouted to Sage, who was on the cabinet lined wall to his left with Ryo and Mia.

"I don't know! Try to get back in there!" Sage shouted back.

" 'Kay!" Kento helped Cye grab onto one of the cabinet doors that were wide open with all their contents smashed on the floor all across the room. Then the Warrior of Strength slowly made his way towards the whirlwind, having to both push and pull himself against the wind to make any progress. He finally reached it and hesitated but tentatively stepped through the violent wall.

Sage watched Kento enter the tornado and concentrated on holding onto the cabinet door he'd reached with one hand and one of Mia's hands with the other. Ryo was doing the same and a glimpse into Ryo's tiger-blue eyes told Sage that the flames of Ryo's temper were beginning to flicker to life within the Ronin of Wildfire yet again.

Sage couldn't believe Rowen was doing this. First, Rowen's death dream and now this. At least I'm not having a boring day, he thought dryly.

Suddenly an odd tugging at the back of his mind erupted into voice. Sage, would ya do somethin' already!

What! Sage could have sworn he'd just heard Rowen in his head.

Ya know, I might be mistaken but I think I just said ta do somethin' already, Sage, the voice said, friendly but growing exasperated.

He was hearing Rowen! But his voice was so weak, even if Rowen was trying to conceal it.

Rowen? But…how? What the hell did you—are you doing?!

Oh, I don' know. Hangin' around—literally. Oh yeah! An' I'm trying ta get my so called 'best friend' ta come help me but he's not really much of a help! Rowen's mental voice yelled angrily at him, on the verge of panic.

Calm down! Sorry, but this is weird and I thought I might be going crazy there for a minute. Now, whadda you mean you're 'hanging around, literally'? Sage asked.

Rowen sighed mentally and said, Sorry 'bout tha wind. It just sorta happened. But it hurts, Sage. It feels like tha wind's blowin' through me. Kento was he'ah a second ago but he got blown out agin so he's probably not gonna be able to help me.

I can't seem to stop it eith'ah. It's talkin' ta me an' it's like a part o' me. An' what I meant about hangin' around is that the wind's pickin' me up an' I get tha feelin' I won' like where it's gonna take me. So anyway…YA GONNA HELP ME OR NOT?! Shit!

Sage heard a groan and then silence. Ro? Rowen? Rowen!

Sage opened his eyes and looked over at Ryo. "Ryo, I've gotta go help Rowen! Hold onto Mia real tight! I'm gonna let go!" he yelled to him.

"Yeah, sure! No problem!" Ryo shouted back, sarcastically.

Sage let go of Mia's hand and took a deep breath before letting go of the cabinet door. Instantly he was flying straight into the cyclone and deposited on the floor in the center of it. He was able to stand up and found Kento pushing his way inside for the third time.

"Hey, Sage, how'd you get in here?! It was next to impossible for me!" Kento yelled.

"I think it's because Rowen wanted me to come in here!" Sage answered with a shrug.

"Whatever! If you're lookin' for him, Blue-boy's up there!" Kento shouted and pointed upwards. Sage looked up.

"Shit," he cursed under his breath.

Rowen was about 15 feet or so off the ground—which was impossible because the ceiling was supposed to be only 10 feet up—and floating limply in the air, surrounded by his dark blue aura. As the wind howled around them, Sage realized it was getting stronger and that there was no way to get to Rowen.

"Kento, give me a boost!" he ordered.

" 'Kay! Ready?!" Kento asked, cupping his hands for Sage's foot.

"Yeah! Let's go! Hurry!" Sage yelled over the scream of the wind.

With a grunt Kento propelled Sage upward. Sage reached as far as he could and his fingers brushed Rowen's foot.

"Shit, shit, shit!!!" Sage cursed loudly as he landed on the ground again. Rowen was getting higher.

"Let's try, again! This time jump when you throw me!" Sage yelled to Kento.

"No problem!" Kento shouted back and they prepared to repeat the action.

Before Kento pushed him up, Sage closed his eyes and willed Rowen to hear him. Come on, Ro! Listen, you've got to reach down to me. I can't help you if you don't. Do you hear me?

Sage? Well, it's about time! Glad ya decided ta join tha party! Sure, I'll try but I'm not givin' any guarantees, Rowen's mental voice replied. He sounded weaker than before despite his attempt to hide it.

"Okay, Kento!" Sage signaled and he was flying toward Rowen again.

Rowen's pale, skinny arm was stretched downward but his eyes were still closed and his body was still limp. Sage reached until his arm hurt and somehow his hand closed around Rowen's wrist. As he fell back to solid ground, pulling Rowen with him, everything seemed to slow down and the howl and scream of the wind reached a painful crescendo and it seemed as if it was trying to rip Rowen away from him. But when Sage's feet hit the ground, the moment Rowen touched Kento the wind vanished.

Sage looked around. The room was demolished. Cye, Mia, and Ryo were standing by the wall, looking very confused and uncertain, surrounded by smashed and spilled medicine bottles. A painting that had been on the wall was shredded beyond recognition and broken glass was everywhere.

"Sage? Kento? What happened?" Cye asked apprehensively.

Rowen opened eyes and looked up at Kento. "I warned ya," he said weakly, a faint, shaky smile on his face. Then he flinched as if in pain.

"Sage?" he gasped.

"I'm right here, Ro. What is it?" Sage moved over to Kento and nodded a silent command. Kento gently deposited Rowen in Sage's arms and Sage once again experienced that near panic when he realized how light Rowen had become again.

Rowen looked up at him through glazing eyes. "Thanks fa tha help. Ya definitely took long enough. But it hurts. It hurts like hell. I don' think I cin keep goin' like this. I'm so tired, too. I feel like I could sleep fa a week," he joked.

"Go ahead. Heck, Ro, you can sleep for a month if you want to," Sage laughed.

Rowen smiled and continued, "I'm sorry 'bout tha wind. I didn' mean to. It jist sorta happened. An' I did warn ya." He looked at Kento with an apologetic but teasing smile.

Then a confused look came over his face and he said, "Sage, there's somethin' I can't rememb'ah but somethin' tells me you can. It had somethin' ta do with wind but I can't think what. It's important that ya rememb'ah it an' I don' know why."

Suddenly he tensed, shut his eyes tight, and clenched his jaw. His breath began to become quick, uneven, and shallow until he was gasping desperately.

"Kento, take him now!" Sage ordered and Kento took Rowen from him.

Ryo and Cye were already trying to clear the checkup-table pushed up against the wall of the rubbish the wind had thrown there. Sage helped them and Kento laid Rowen on the table.

"Oh, great! Here we go again!" he said as Rowen's muscles began to twitch.

"I'll get Dr. Kajtim!" Mia said and ran out.

Rowen opened his eyes and looked at Sage fearfully. "Sage, it's killin' me! It hurts worse than it's ever hurt before an' I cin tell it's gonna kill me. I don' wanna die," he gasped out, practically whimpering the last sentence.

Sage panicked when he heard Rowen speak in that almost childlike voice. "You're not gonna die, Rowen! I promised, remember?"

"No…It hurts!" Rowen practically screamed. He'd never been awake during an attack and even though he'd always still experienced the pain, he now felt as if every molecule of his body were being ripped apart.

Just then Mia returned with Kajtim in tow. Kajtim glanced briefly about the cataclysmic room before rushing to the side of the writhing teenager.

"What happened in here?" he demanded.

"Dammit!" Ryo said, realizing how difficult it was going to be to explain all this.

"Hold him still," Kajtim ordered, only to discover the boys were already doing just that—with apparent experience. He concentrated on his patient. "Rowen? Can you still see and hear?"

"Yeah," came the weak reply.

"Good. When either one starts to go, I want you to tell me. Okay?"

" 'Kay."

Danji couldn't help feeling some respect for the kid. It had to be hard to endure the disease threatening his life and the boy acted as mature as possible when it came to that pain. And his friends did the same through all the tension, stress, and anguish of knowing the death of a friend could very well be imminent. Danji could still remember the day he'd met them.

"Ey, Ryo?"

"What, Rowen?"

"Ya got some spa' change?"

"Yeah."

"Well, cin I borrow some?"

"Hmmm. Let me think about it…No."

"Why not?"

"Cuz you'd use it to buy something from that snack machine you've been eyeing for the past ten minutes and Mia said not to let you get hold of any sugar."

"Na, I wouldn'!"

"Would too."

"Would not!"

"Too."

"Not!"

"Too."

"Ne'er mind! Shuddup!"

"…Would too."

Nami watched as the blue-haired teen went at his black-haired friend for the third time that hour. This time was different, though. The blue-haired boy somehow managed to swipe his friend's wallet and, before the other boy could react, was feeding money into the candy dispenser. He was rewarded by a king-sized chocolate candy bar and was ripping off the wrapper eagerly. He was about to take his first bite when two big, burly arms wrapped around him, pinning his arms to his sides.

"Oh, no you don't, Blue-boy," the ash-haired and eyed boy said, eyeing his captive's candy hungrily.

"Thanks, Kento. Mia never would've let me hear the end of it if I let Rowen go on another sugar-rush," the black-haired boy said and sighed in relief.

"No problem, Ryo. I don't really want Rowen bouncin' off the walls again, either," the teen named Kento replied.

"Awww, come on, guys. Jist one little, teensy, weensy bite? Please?" Rowen pleaded, struggling to get his chocolate to his mouth.

"No!" both of his friends snapped.

"Jeez. Fine, if ya wanna do it tha hard way, I cin oblige," Rowen said.

With his empty hand he pinched Kento's thigh hard enough to make the bigger boy squawk and let go of him. Ryo lunged at him but he sidestepped him and Ryo barreled into Kento, both of them falling to the floor. Rowen laughed at them but his eyes widened when both his friends regained their feet, angry and growling, and he took off across the room.

Nami's eyes bulged as she watched the kid called Rowen easily hurdle a couch, a row of chairs, and then even the fish tank, which was mounted on a table so it's top was five feet above the floor. His friends only hurdled the couch and chairs but weren't far behind. When they rounded the fish tank, they found Rowen was already being held to the carpet by a small, gentle looking, mahogany-haired, sea-eyed teen who'd apparently been hiding behind the fish tank.

"Really, can't you two handle him without our help for once?" the boy asked.

"Come on, guys," Rowen pleaded but was ignored.

"Yeah, Cye and I can't trust you three alone for five minutes," jested another blond-haired, pale lavender-grey eyed teen—or at least Nami believed his eyes must be that color, it was difficult to tell when his hair covered one eye—leaning against the fish tank with Rowen's confiscated candy in hand.

"Guys, please," Rowen whined, still being ignored.

"Hey, it's not our fault Rowen practically flies over furniture, Sage," Ryo retorted.

"Guys!"

Nami rolled her eyes and left the desk to confront the five teenagers. Why do things like this always seem to happen on my shift?

"Excuse me, boys. This is a hospital and there are other people around," she said, motioning to the other people waiting in the lobby, most of whom were staring at the group of boys and giggling or whispering comments over the group's behavior.

"So, if you don't mind, could you please refrain from performing your ignominious games in here? It would be greatly appreciated," she finished.

Ryo and Kento looked slightly perplexed. Kento leaned over and looked at Rowen—who was still being held to the floor by Cye—upside down. "Umm, Rowen, what's ig…ig…igno…whatever mean?"

Rowen pushed Cye off himself and rolled his eyes at Kento and Ryo's ignorance. "Ignominious. Marked by or deservin' shame or disgrace, dishonorable. Deeply humiliatin', embarrassin'," he said.

"Ohhh," both Ryo and Kento said.

"Don't worry, ma'am. We won't do it anymore," Cye promised politely, his British accent adding elegance to his words.

Nami smiled. "Thank you," she said sweetly and walked back to her desk.

Sage's eyes—or eye rather—followed her movements with interest and Rowen took advantage of his distraction, grabbing the candy bar and biting off half of it before anyone could stop him.

They managed to seize the rest of it from him but the damage had been done; it wouldn't be long before the sugar had Rowen acting like a hyperactive sparrow hawk. He'd be swooping about, driving people up the wall with sugar-induced antics, and they'd have a hard time keeping him from accidentally activating his flight capabilities in front of everyone.

Ryo mostly dreaded Mia's reaction when she discovered Rowen had gotten hold of candy when she'd trusted them to keep him away from it. Rowen + sugar = trouble, they'd learned and Mia didn't want trouble—not the kind Rowen "Einstein" Hashiba made when on a sugar-rush. With the intelligence of a 35-year-old, Rowen's brain could formulate two hundred devious plans of mischief in only five minutes if given a sugar boost.

Gods, Mia's going to give me hell for this, Ryo thought.

The only reason they were here was because Rowen had been having problems with breathing lately, his migraines had gotten worse to the point he was having them almost every five hours, and then he'd started having these little muscle spasms where a muscle would twitch uncontrollably.

When the muscle spasms started Mia had told him he should go in for a checkup and he'd said he would next time he and the guys went into the city. So when Ryo wanted to get a new soccer ball and the kitchen needed to be restocked—thanks to Kento—and the boys all decided to just have a run around town for the day, Rowen said he'd go in for a checkup.

Mia had called the other four into the kitchen and they'd argued over whose turn it was to go on "sugar-watch". According to Mia's calendar record, Sage had been on duty last time they'd gone to town, Cye before him, and Kento before him, which left the responsibility to Ryo. He'd accepted the fate of following Rowen around for a full day and being dragged through every bookstore and library in Tokyo. But Mia's threat to beat him over the head with a frying pan if Rowen came home with a sugar-rush didn't sound too pleasant right now.

Rowen started to hiccup and everyone groaned. That was the beginning of the sugarized onslaught. Rowen giggled. He never giggled unless under the influence of the result of his sweet tooth.

"Stage Two," Kento groaned and plopped into a chair.

"Okay, Sage, you and me'll get him from behind. Cye, you distract him. Try not to cause too much commotion. Remember last time?"

"Who could forget?" Sage answered Ryo's rhetorical question.

Last time Rowen had gotten so hyper he'd accidentally started to hover off the ground in the middle of a crowd of people. Sage had had to drag him to Kento's van and stuff him in there before someone noticed the flying kid.

Cye got in front of Rowen and started asking him questions like, "Hey, Rowen, what's your favorite constellation?" or "What exactly is a supernova?" stuff only Rowen would know and only Rowen would want to talk about. At any rate, Cye had Rowen's attention and that gave Sage and Ryo a chance to grab him and grab him they did.

"Ey, whatcha doin'?" the surprised New Yorker asked as his captors literally dragged him over to the one of the chairs and pushed him into it.

They didn't answer but Sage pulled a big thick tome out of his backpack and handed it to Rowen, who started eagerly reading it.

Ryo looked at Sage curiously and asked, "Why'd you bring that? I know you don't read that stuff. I mean, The Scientific Theories of Celestial Phenomenon?" He had a little difficulty with the last two words.

Sage smiled. "No I don't read that but Rowen does and I've found a couple of tricks for sugar-watch. That should keep him busy for at least fifteen minutes. Once Rowen hangs you upside down from a tree for the first time you learn to be ready for a sugar-rush at all times."

Ryo laughed and settled into a chair between the ones Sage and Cye, who was next to Kento, were sitting in. They began discussing various topics of interest and were soon engrossed in a debate over one of Ryo's soccer games, which he and Kento believed Ryo's team should have won but Sage and Cye believed was won fairly by the opposing team.

"Rowen Hashiba?" a voice called to the people in the lobby.

Cye answered the nurse who was asking for the next patient. "Just a moment. He'll be right there."

The nurse nodded curtly, tired and wanting to go home, and started writing something on her clipboard.

"Hey, Rowen, it's time for your checkup. Come on," Ryo said, trying to pull the book out of his friend's hands.

"Uh-huh. Sure. Jist a sec. Lemme finish this chapt'ah," Rowen mumbled and slapped Ryo's hands, flipping another page.

Kento looked over Rowen's shoulder and nearly fell into the book when he saw the page number. "He's only had that thing for five minutes and he's already on page thirty-six!" he stuttered.

He was pointing his index finger into the book. Rowen looked at Kento's finger and Sage noted the mischievous glint in his eyes a split second before—

"Aaaahhh!" Kento screamed.

Rowen had slammed the book shut, catching the finger, and getting just the result he wanted. He held the book shut tight with Kento's finger still trapped within and giggled hysterically. "All done. Did anyone else he'ah somethin'?"

"You blue-haired freak! Let go of my finger!" Kento screamed and reached out with his free hand, grabbed a handful of Rowen's hair, and instantly felt the jaws of the evil, horrid book release his poor finger, but he didn't let go of the hair.

This sobered Rowen up very quickly. All traces of the sugar-rush vanished and he began to get angry.

"Kento, le' go o' my hair or I'll pulverize ya!" he growled.

Kento ignored him and started to pull him towards the nurse, who was giggling behind her hand. The others followed, laughing at the sight. Ryo commented that it reminded him of a mother pulling her child by the ear and Cye agreed. But Sage was thinking of how many schemes for revenge must be formulating in Rowen's mind.

Poor Kento, he thought.

"Which of you is Mr. Hashiba?" the nurse asked once she composed herself.

"Me! Kento, stop it!" Rowen growled.

Kento finally let go of the blue locks only to have Rowen automatically deliver a punishing blow to his gut. He doubled up and fell to his knees with the impact.

Rowen hissed in his ear, "I'll deal with your insignificant excuse for an ass lat'ah."

Kento just groaned and watched Rowen's feet move after the nurse's, followed by his friends, who snickered at him. Kento shot out a hand and grabbed Cye's ankle, pulling him to the floor.

"You're stayin' with me. I want company if "Einstein" decides to kill me."

Cye rolled his eyes with a smile. "Oh, Kento, let go. I'll stay with you but who said you have to wait for Rowen to kill you? We came in two vehicles remember? You and I can leave in your van right now without a hitch. Okay?"

"Umm…all right. Let's go."

And with that the two took off for the exit and Kento's van.

The nurse left the remaining three teens in one of those awful little rooms where you wait for a doctor to show up and it wasn't long before Rowen started fidgeting. Ryo and Sage exchanged glances and said in unison, "Here we go again."

With the hair-grabbing-Kento problem taken care of for the moment, Rowen's sugar-rush started to reinstate itself. He sat on the edge of a counter and played with the lone lock hanging in his eyes for a moment, blowing his breath upwards to make it float in the air for a split second repeatedly, jumped up and paced around the room, then leapt up onto the countertop and executed a back flip off again only to flip right back up.

This continued for nearly seven minutes before he got bored and decided to try something different. He crouched on the checkup table and sprang at Sage and Ryo, pinning Ryo to the floor.

He asked, panting, "Ey, Ryo? Ya rememb'ah when you an' I were attacked by Kayura fa tha first time an' ya used jist me an' tha staff ta create tha Inferno an' blast that Dynasty gate? Well, that was so cool, man!"

And he jumped off Ryo without waiting for an answer and turned to Sage. "Ey, Sage? Ya rememb'ah tha oth'ah night when I refused ta turn off my lamp cuz I wanted ta finish that book an' ya were real patient? Thanks!"

"Alright. Umm…Rowen, did you have any other candy today?" Sage asked. He didn't think that half a chocolate bar could get Rowen this hyper.

"Yup! I found these in a little bag in Kento's van. Guess I'm lucky, huh? They're my favorite!" Rowen said and pulled a bunch of little plastic colored tubes bundled together with a rubber band out of his back pocket.

Ryo stared at them, groaned, and slapped himself on the forehead. "Great. Pixie Stix," he moaned. "Call the morgue. I'm officially dead. Mia's gonna kill me!"

"Who's killing who?" an amused voice asked from the doorway. A tall, black haired man in typical doctor uniform entered the room and viewed the three boys through friendly, bright green eyes. "Which of you is Hashiba? Oh yeah, and no killing's allowed in this hospital."

"That's okay. No one's going to kill anyone but Ryo here's gonna be in a lot of trouble. That's Rowen, he's your patient," Sage said and leaned against the wall.

"Well, Rowen, I'm Dr. Danji Kajtim. Now, why are you here today?"

Rowen blinked. "Uh…Jist a sec. I forgot," he said and downed another tube of powdered sugar.

Ryo grabbed the Pixie Stix from Rowen's hand and turned to Kajtim.

"Sorry. Usually he's a regular genius. He's got an IQ of 250 or something like that but I think he's had way too many of these," he said, holding the Pixie Stix away from Rowen with one hand and holding Rowen back with the other. "They kinda mess up the way he thinks for a few hours. Say, you wouldn't happen to have something that'd calm him down, would ya?"

"Sure, but according to the forms, he's been having extreme migraines, breathing problems, and muscle spasms. There's no mention of simply being hyper," Kajtim said sarcastically and smiled.

Ryo tossed the Pixie Stix to Sage and Rowen followed them. "Yeah, but you see, you're not gonna get a word of sense out of him while he's like this," Ryo pointed out.

"Sage! Please lemme have 'em. Come on, Sage. Pleeeease," Rowen pleaded.

"A little help here," Sage called, struggling to keep the Pixie Stix out of his best friend's reach.

"I see your point," Kajtim sighed. "Here, toss those to me," he called to the blond.

"Thanks!" the teen said gratefully and threw the candy bundle to Kajtim.

Rowen followed them again but Danji pocketed the Pixie Stix, earning a scowl from the blue-haired boy. Danji couldn't help wondering if that was the kid's natural hair color. On anyone else it would have made them look like a crazy punk but it actually looked good on this kid.

He asked, "Mr. Hashiba, would you mind sitting on that table please?"

Rowen eyed him suspiciously but obeyed. Danji went to the cabinet and found a little white bottle. Taking two red tablets from the bottle, he handed them to Rowen.

"Chew these," he commanded firmly.

Again, Rowen eyed him suspiciously but again, he obeyed.

"How long will it take?" Ryo asked.

"About five minutes. They're very effective," Danji informed him.

While Rowen sat fidgeting on the table and humming the Star Wars theme songs, Danji, Sage, and Ryo struck up a conversation, introducing themselves and talking about nothing in particular. Sure enough, Rowen started to calm down. After around five minutes, he blinked, yawned, and looked at Sage curiously.

"Ey, Sage, what time is it?"

"Umm…7:13 p.m."

"Jeez, Mia's not gonna be too happy. She said she wants us home by 8:30," Rowen said with a frown. "Ryo, if we get back late, and she's mad, I promise to tell her it's my fault. Sorry if she beats ya ta death."

Danji cut in. "Okay, Rowen, let's get down to business. Describe your symptoms to me please," he ordered. Turning to Sage and Ryo he said, "Mr. Sanada, Mr. Date, you can wait in the library for your friend."

Ryo and Sage left the room and Rowen got started. "Let's see. About two weeks ago I got a really bad migraine an' had some difficulty with my respiratory functions…"

…About half an hour later, Rowen sauntered into the lobby with a grim, pensive expression on his face. He saw some blond and black hair peeking over and between a couple of chairs across the hospital waiting room and walked over to find Sage and Ryo asleep in the hard lobby chairs. Ryo was sprawled over three chairs and leaning against Sage, who was sleeping sitting up with his chin resting in his hand, elbow propped up on a chair arm.

Rowen watched them sleeping for a few moments before sitting down across from them. He watched the last patient leave and there weren't any hospital personnel around, so he pulled his legs up to his chest and, wrapping his arms around his shins, dropped his head on his knees and sat like that, unmoving for what seemed to him an eternity in the darkened hospital lobby.

Sage felt the presence of someone even through the sweet calm and stillness of sleep and opened his eyes. Rowen was curled up in a chair across from him, looking very miserable and desolate.

Worried, Sage stood up, letting Ryo's head fall and hit the arm of his chair, which of course woke him up very quickly. Cursing, Ryo fell off the chairs and cursed even louder when he landed on the floor. Rowen looked up, startled, and quickly jumped to his feet.

Sage put a hand on his shoulder. "Rowen, is something wrong?"

"Na, everything's fine. Let's jist get home, okay?" Rowen said.

Sage could tell he was lying; there was definitely something wrong, but he didn't say anything. They stepped over Ryo and Sage followed Rowen out to Mia's jeep. They could easily pass for someone of the legal age to drive and Mia had no problem with it as long as they didn't get caught.

Rowen was the smoothest driver, though, he did sometimes get lost if he wasn't extremely familiar with the area or someone gave him directions. His father never noticed much of anything he did so that wasn't something he worried about and his mother was hardly ever in Japan, anyway. Sage's parents permitted him to drive so he could travel and help out with the dojo. Cye could drive far more often than the rest of them because, due to his mother's heart condition, he'd gotten a hardship license so he could better take care of the family business and his mother. Kento also had a hardship license because of his large family and their restaurant's frequent need for a delivery boy. Ryo usually stayed with either Mia or his grandmother and both allowed him to drive whenever he wanted.

The biggest contradiction when more than one Ronin was in a vehicle involved the fact that unless someone beat him to it, Ryo always got in the front passenger seat. Rowen got behind the wheel and Sage took the passenger seat, thinking, Well, at least I don't have to let Ryo sit up here this time.

Ryo ran out of the hospital door, scowled at Sage when he saw where he was sitting, piled in the back, and Rowen hit the accelerator. Hard.

Ryo flew forward and hit the back of Sage's seat. "Whoa! Hey, Rowen, mind layin' off the speed a bit?!" he exclaimed.

Sage held onto the armrest and the dashboard so tight his knuckles turned white but he just stared at Rowen. Rowen's jaw was clenched, face set, and his eyes, trained on the road, lit up like stars, filled with rage.

"No, I won't! Now, sit back, get yer damn seatbelt on, an' shut tha hell up!" he yelled.

Ryo stared in surprise but did just that. No way am I gonna make him any madder than he is now. He might really hit the pedal then, he thought.

"Rowen?" Sage began gently.

"What?" Rowen spat.

"What's wrong?" Sage asked even more gently, a note of persuasion echoing in his voice.

Rowen glanced at him for less than a second but Sage managed to catch his eyes in that second and when Rowen returned his angry gaze back to the road, it softened a little and he seemed to relent, easing up on the gas pedal just the slightest bit. He sighed, his shoulders sagged beneath the weight of some invisible burden, and he let the car slow to a more reasonable speed.

"I've got somethin'," he said quietly.

"Whadda ya mean?" Ryo asked, gently, for even he sensed the sensitivity of the subject.

"That Doc, what's his name? Kajtim? He took a blood test an' the'ah were some foreign cells in my blood. Tha guys in tha lab said it was a disease. So Kajtim told me ta come back ta tha hospital this Saturday an' check in," Rowen began.

"Apparently, tha disease is somethin' of an enigma but they do know it's lethal an' those little muscle spasms are gonna grow inta full scale seizures. I'll experience temporary blindness an' deafness lastin' up ta two days an' eventually I'll die," he said matter-of-factly. "There's no cure but tha doc wants me ta stay in tha hospital."

He suddenly became angry again. "I've fought tha Dynasty, Kayura, even Talpa, an' survived but then a damn force o' nature that doesn't even have a name's gonna kill me an' the'ah's nothin' I cin do about it!" Rowen yelled and slammed his fist on the wheel.

"Here, Ro. Pull over and I'll drive," Sage suggested gently.

Rowen sighed again and pulled the car to the shoulder of the road. He and Sage traded places and Sage pulled back onto the road. Rowen curled up and fell asleep almost instantly.

Sage looked at his best friend and felt like he could up in the same way and just cry. He could feel the miserableness coming from Rowen and there was something else. A faint golden warm glow in Rowen's aura that seemed familiar and yet unfamiliar at the same time seemed to be woven into the spiritual fabric of the aura but Sage could feel no wrongness about it.

Rowen had pulled himself into such a small bundle he fit into the hollow of his seat, hugging his knees under his chin. Sage couldn't remember ever seeing Rowen so miserable or looking so much like a little child.

"What do we do?" Ryo asked.

"I don't know. I really just don't know," Sage said and silence engulfed them for the remainder of the drive.

When they pulled up to Mia's house, Sage shook Rowen's shoulder and said, "We're home. Get up and go inside."

After a few more shakes and one rough shove Rowen mumbled, "Mmm…sure. Whatever." He seemed to have momentarily forgotten about his diagnosis as he stumbled off into the house with his backpack.

Sage and Ryo weren't far behind but they each carried two bags of groceries. They walked to the kitchen and deposited the bags on the counter and were about to follow Rowen's example of heading straight to bed but Mia intervened.

"Ryo, is it true?" she asked angrily from her study door.

"Is what true, Mia?" Ryo asked tiredly.

"Cye and Kento said Rowen got hold of some chocolate on your sugar-watch. Ryo Sanada, if that's true, you'd better have a decent excuse," she said and poked him in the chest.

He grabbed her wrist and started angrily, "Mia, don't start with me! I had to spend and entire day with Rowen and he stole my wallet to buy that chocolate and made me and Kento look like buffoons in front of a lobby full of people.

"Then, to top it off, Rowen came out of that hospital driving like a maniac with a death wish cuz he's got a disease and just found out he's probably gonna die. Oh, and guess what? Rowen isn't on a sugar-rush cuz the doctor gave him a couple pills that calmed him down; so you can just keep your comments to yourself! Okay?!"

Mia let the words sink in and stared in shock. She asked quietly, "Rowen has a disease? He's gonna die?"

Ryo started to apologize for snapping at her. Seeing her like that made him regret telling her about Rowen the way he had and he didn't like to see the tears starting to brim in her eyes.

"Listen, you two, it's been a long day," Sage broke in. "I think we should wait and discuss this in the morning. That way we won't have to repeat it for Cye and Kento. And I'm sure I'm not the only one who'd like to get some sleep."

Ryo and Mia nodded in agreement and soon the house was silent as all the residents drifted into slumber…

…That Friday they'd all gone out for the day to have some fun before Rowen had to go to the hospital on Saturday. When they finally got home and everyone else was asleep, Sage was about to slip into bed himself when Rowen had unexpectedly hugged him for less than a millisecond.

"You're more than my best friend, Seiji," he said.

Sage, surprised, just stood there. He could tell Rowen was very serious when he used his Japanese name.

"You're like the brother I never had. Thanks," Rowen said and turned to his own bed.

"Yeah, we're brothers, Touma. And I promise I'll always be there for you," Sage said and in the darkness he heard Rowen sigh as if in extreme relief and could almost feel him smile.

"Night, Sage," Rowen mumbled from his bed.

"Night, Touma-chan," Sage returned, knowing full well the reaction he'd get.

"Don't you chan me!" Rowen shouted and a pillow hit Sage in the head.

Soon both were engaged in a full-scale pillow fight, laughing till their sides hurt and finally collapsing in a tired heap on the floor. Leaning against one another, they fell asleep back-to-back and spent the last night they'd spend in their room together for nine months like that on the floor.

Kajtim ran to the door and called into the hall, "We have an emergency in here. Get a room ready and I need some assistance now!"

He grabbed the arm of a passing nurse and told her the name of Rowen's medication, ordering her to find it immediately, and she bustled off in a hurry as two other doctors and a nurse entered. A few seconds later, the others found themselves standing on the sidelines, except for Sage. He refused to leave Rowen's side and actually pushed one of the doctors when she tried to gently move him aside.

"Doc, I can't see anymore," Rowen said through clenched teeth.

"Okay. Hold on, Rowen. We'll have your medicine in a moment," Kajtim said but Sage saw the look he exchanged with the lady doctor.

"You don't have any of his medicine, do you?" he demanded angrily.

"No. The disease is so rare and he's the only patient we've ever had with his condition. No one expected to need that medicine again and no one knows where to look for it. Hopefully, we'll find it in time," the third doctor said grimly.

Sage wanted to strangle them all to death.

"I've got some. I brought it cuz I figured you wouldn't have any if I needed it. It's—" Rowen was broken off when he had to gasp and struggle for breath again.

When he didn't continue, Kajtim asked impatiently, "Where is it, Rowen? Rowen, where is it?"

Sage, realizing what must have happened, said, "I don't think he can hear you anymore."

"Shit!" Kajtim ran to the door again. "Suki, where's that medicine?!"

"I'm looking, sir!"

"Well, look faster!"

Sage could feel another one of those odd tuggings at the back of his mind he seemed to be having so much lately and another of those crazy ideas started forming as he looked into Rowen's blind eyes and he could have sworn it was coming from Rowen himself. Now that he thought of it, all those odd tuggings he'd been having had felt like Rowen. Rowen wanted me to remember something. What could it be?

Slowly, he took Rowen's hand in his own, drew in a lungful of breath, and closed his eyes.

The harried voices of the three doctors, nurse, and his friends, the bustle of fast movement, the hum of hospital machines, all floated away and grew distant. A soft breeze whispered through the darkness and through his mind's eye he found himself witnessing a vision of the night three months ago when Sage had woken to find Rowen standing on the balcony railing, arms outstretched, face lifted to the starry night sky.

Thinking perhaps Rowen was sleepwalking, the vision-Sage went out and tried to pull Rowen off the railing. Rowen resisted, yanking his arm away from Sage and, remarkably, keeping his balance.

"Look at tha sky, Sage. Isn' it beautiful? An' I cin touch tha air, he'ah tha stars, see tha wind. We're all in sync with one anothah. Funny, that sounds like that spiritual stuff yer always tryin' ta teach me. Come on, Sage. Gimme yer hand. I wanna show ya somethin', Rowen said persuasively.

Curious, Sage let Rowen take his hand and pull him up on the railing.

"Now, raise yer arms, lift yer face, an' breathe real deep," Rowen instructed.

Sage did so, wondering the whole time what Rowen was doing, and listened to his instructions.

"Close yer eyes an' empty yer mind an' relax."

That was something Sage was an expert with but Rowen had never held an interest in meditation or any of that kind of thing, which Sage had attempted to teach him several times. Still, he put these thoughts aside and followed Rowen's directions.

As the vision-Sage relaxed, he felt the night air stir with breeze which grew warm and it felt as if it were winding itself around his body. It crawled up his neck and made a very human noise in his ear. Suddenly it seemed to whisper in a musical voice words of wisdom even Sage, the Warrior of Wisdom, couldn't understand.

Startled, the vision-Sage's eyes shot open and he stared at Rowen, who had a knowing, pleased grin on his face. Rowen's voice took on an enchanting quality as he spoke.

"Ya heard her didn' ya? She's amazing isn' she? Tha wind, I mean. I knew she'd talk ta ya."

Sage nodded, swallowed and asked, "How'd you do that? Don't tell me you didn't, I know that look on your face way too well." He shook his finger at Rowen to emphasize his words.

Rowen just grinned even wider, stepped off the rail, and stretched out in the hammock he kept on the balcony.

"I was thinkin' 'bout how we're connected ta our elements an' got ta wonderin' if we could do somethin' with 'em. An' I rememb'ahd that stuff you'd told me about emptyin' yer mind—yes, I was listenin', I jist didn' care ta try it out till now—so anyway, I came out he'ah an' next thing I knew she was talkin' ta me.

"I'll tell tha oth'ahs someday but, fa now, I wanted jist you ta know an' she said she'd try ta talk ta ya. But she had ta do somethin' ta you an' me before she could—don't worry, it's nothin' bad. She jist established a link between us," he informed Sage, who was becoming more than a little surprised.

"What kind of link?"

"One involvin' our arm'as. She said we sorta already had one an' we have it with tha oth'ahs, too; she jist sped up tha strengthenin' process with yers an' mine. Y'know what? She promised that if we ev'ah need help she'll do anythin' she can an' all we have ta do is call her. She says her name's Zephyr. Pretty cool, huh?" Rowen sounded very pleased and content and Sage could tell his friend was already falling asleep.

"Yeah, I guess," he replied and was answered by the deepened breathing of Rowen's sleep. He went to bed and in the morning, when Rowen didn't say anything about it, Sage recalled that he'd decided the night's events must have been a dream.

With that, the vision ended and Sage knew exactly what he needed to do.

"Zephyr, I need—Rowen needs—your help. Zephyr, are you here?" he called into the darkness.

"I am here. What is it that troubles you, Lord Korin?" came that same melodic voice from three months ago.

Sage turned to find a slim young woman of around sixteen years age standing, or floating, or whatever it was you did in this darkness, before him. He estimated her to be about five foot, five inches tall. She was dressed in a blue and white toga of the ancient Greek era and had a silver headband with tiny silver bells hanging from it every half inch that tinkled musically with her every movement. Her hair was a gentle silver color and it would have been down to her waist if it weren't constantly dancing about her for no apparent reason.

Her eyes were what caught and held his attention. They were unlike any eyes he'd ever seen or heard of in his life and they entranced him. They were the same gentle silver of her hair with little specks of gold in the top left corners of the irises that reminded him of stars.

Stunned, he thought, Gods, she's beautiful. But she's wind, how can she be human?

"How—" he started but she interrupted.

"Lord Korin, you called me to the aid of Lord Tenku. What is it that he needs of me?" She spoke precisely, never shortening words or using conjunctions. That, plus the way she used the Japanese names of their armors and called them lords, made her seem ancient beyond her physical years.

Sage had to force himself not to meet her eyes; otherwise he'd just lose himself in them again. "Lord Tenku—Rowen—is dying of a disease and we need to know where his medicine is in order to save him. Is it possible you could find it?"

Zephyr thought a moment and answered, "I believe it may be possible. I will need to know what the object I am searching for looks like. Can you produce an image of it for me? All you must do is think of it and it should appear."

Sage didn't argue and thought of the medicine bottle. Suddenly a half transparent image of it appeared floating in the space between them. Zephyr smiled approvingly and took the image into her pale, slender hands.

"Very good, Lord Korin. You are as wise as Lord Tenku informed me. He said your soul is Wisdom. I see why. Now, it is important that you speak to Lord Tenku and help him to calm his body. I promise to do my best in finding the medicine."

Her hair began to sweep about her body, surrounding her and rippling so fast Sage's eyes only saw a blur of silver, and suddenly she was gone and a warm, gentle breeze brushed against him.

He heard Zephyr's melodic voice whisper in his ear, "Remember, I can come if you or Lord Tenku call me, I promise. Sweet winds to you, Lord Seiji of Korin."

And the wind vanished without a murmur.

"Bye," Sage muttered as the darkness began to recede.

When he'd met Mia he'd still been having difficulty talking to girls—thanks to his sister Yayoi's endless teasing—but she'd helped him to overcome that problem and he'd actually become the most experienced dater and the biggest flirt among his friends. But when he'd seen Zephyr, he'd found himself unable to say anything beyond the absolutely necessary.

Man, if the guys found out about this, I'd never live it down.

Sage opened his eyes to find himself lying on the floor, his hand still clutching tightly to Rowen's, and the face of the nurse hovering anxiously about him. He was surprised to feel himself shivering, very weak, and he was still holding his breath.

He breathed deeply and felt gentle, yet strong, small hands supporting his back and helping him to sit up. Sage turned and found it was Cye, who looked very worried.

"What happened?" Sage asked, slightly confused.

"You closed your eyes and dropped. We couldn't pry your hand off Rowen's and we couldn't get you to breathe so we've been trying to wake you up," Cye said and glanced at his watch. He seemed surprised. "You've been out for two minutes without breath! I didn't know you could hold your breath for that long."

Sage ignored the comment. "Did they find Rowen's medicine?"

"Not yet."

Sage slowly stood up, pushing aside the weakness he'd felt so no one else would notice, and, still holding Rowen's hand, willed Rowen to hear him mentally. Hey, Ro, you remember that night three months ago when you introduced me to Zephyr? I just spoke to her again and she's gonna help us find your medicine. You need to try to relax and calm your body so the disease can't win as much. Do you think you can tell me where your medicine is?

Yeah, I think so. Gods, Sage, I can't take much more o' this. An' I'm havin' difficulty rememberin' things, now. I've got tha oddest feelin' someone's takin' my memories. Pretty wack, huh? Whoever or whatever is doin' this is tryin' ta keep me from talkin' ta ya, too. I— Rowen groaned mentally and gasped out, Dammit, Sage, I can't fight 'em anymore. I don't rememb'ah where I left my medicine an' they're gonna do somethin'— Rowen groaned again.

Hold on, Ro. I've got an idea. Then Sage called out loud, not caring if everyone thought he'd lost his mind, "Zephyr, try to speak to Rowen and find out where the medicine is!"

Sure enough, everyone stared at him and Ryo met his eyes, from across the checkup table and Rowen's writhing form. Ryo searched for some sort of an answer in the eyes of the Ronin of Light. Sage returned his fiery, tiger-blue stare with his own usual icy, apathetic, amethyst gaze and decided to try something.

Ryo, listen. You have to trust me.

Ryo's eyes widened and he stared at Sage.

Yeah, I know it's weird. I'll explain later, okay? Sage thought to the incredulous faced leader of the Ronins.

Ryo just nodded in reply but his eyes were taking on the "I'm-the-leader-so you-better-tell-me-everything" look.

Suddenly a breeze blew through the room and swirled about Sage and Rowen. The hospital personnel backed up and gawked but the others stayed put stubbornly, even though they were still slightly surprised by what they saw next. The breeze seemed to twist upon itself until it formed a translucent human figure and its face leaned close to Rowen's ear.

Sage was close enough to hear Zephyr whisper, "My Lord Tenku, Lord Korin called me to your aid and I am going to search your mind for the answer to the question of the location of your medication. Do not fear, my lord. I will not harm you." Sage could also hear her say something else but could not discern the two words.

She backed away and, hovering above Rowen, placed her hands, open and palm down, mere millimeters above his face. She closed her eyes and her translucent face of wind betook the peaceful expression Sage knew to be that of a trance of some sort. She remained like that for a few moments, and then she opened her eyes, turned to Sage, and gave him an assuring smile. Then, just as abruptly as she had come, her form dissipated and the breeze swept beneath the door.

"What…just happened?" Dr. Bonan, the male doctor who'd answered Kajtim's demand for assistance, asked shakily.

The other doctor who'd come to Kajtim's aid, Dr. Sona, having dismissed her initial surprise and fear and seeming very calm and composed, said simply, "My guess is that it has something to do with them, since they weren't very surprised or scared." She cocked an eyebrow curiously at the group around the checkup table.

Sage had his back to them and was speaking mentally nonstop to Rowen, mostly about fond memories they shared which he thought would help Rowen to calm his body. He knew from Rowen himself that his friend was fighting off more than just a disease and needed all the help he could get. Mentally, he could hear Rowen battling an unseen horror bravely but he also heard him moan and, once, scream in agony.

Sage looked at Ryo across the table and sent a message. Hey, Ryo, help me out here. Think of things to tell Rowen that would help him calm his body so he can fight the disease. Zephyr should find the medicine soon. I'm gonna try to get the other guys to do this, too.

Umm…okay. You'd better explain this later, Ryo said and started thinking to Rowen.

Sage called out mentally to both Cye and Kento, Hey, you two! Before you do or say anything, I know it's weird but I'll explain later. I need you guys to do this with Rowen, talk to him with Ryo about stuff to help him calm himself. Can you do it?

Cye was the first to recover. Like this? Just 'think' to him? he asked.

Yeah. Can you do it, Kento?

Uh…I guess so.

Good. Now, I gotta go. Be right back! Sage thought to all the Ronins at once and rushed out the door, grabbing Kajtim and pulling the doctor out with him.

"Excuse me! I think I should know what's going on here!" Danji yelled at the Date boy as they rushed down the hall, hospital personnel jumping out of their way.

"Later. Right now we have to find Zephyr," the blond teen said and pulled him around a corner.

"Who?"

Suddenly the abandoned hall ahead was filled with wind, seeming to dance about the corridor almost as if it were beckoning to them to follow. Sage did follow it to a door at the end of the hall. At first, he had the distinct feeling the door was locked but the doorknob made an odd clicking-snap sound as the wind seemed to seep through the keyhole just before he touched it and when he twisted it, it was unlocked.

The small, closet-like room was full of shelves stocked full of medicine packaged every way imaginable, lighting was poor, and Sage could tell no one had been in there for a long, long, time. And, looking at the row upon row upon row of shelved medications, Sage realized that if Rowen's medicine was in here—mentally, he emphasized the if—he'd never find it. He noticed the wind was swirling in place nearby, slowly dying down to a breeze.

"Zephyr, where is it?" he called to the breeze.

The breeze picked up speed and raced to every corner of the room, touching everything but disturbing nothing, not even the dust covering the floor, shelves, medicines, and everything else. It filled the entire room and suddenly a familiar, brown bottle flew straight towards Kajtim.

Danji tried to back away but the Date kid grabbed his wrist and made him hold out his hand. The boy's grip was surprisingly strong and Danji didn't resist for fear of the teen breaking his wrist. The bottle placed itself in his hand and he closed his fingers about it.

The breeze immediately died down and twisted into a whirlwind and for a moment Danji sincerely believed he needed to seek psychiatric help.

Before his eyes, the breeze had transformed into a human girl in her teens, dressed in a toga, silver hair swirling constantly, silver eyes specked with golden stars gazing straight at him. She smiled at him then turned to the Date boy.

"Lord Korin, I fear this one bottle will not be enough for Lord Tenku this time," she said and Sage noticed she sounded tired. "That is why I searched his mind for the other bottle's location and I will retrieve it but it would be wise to please inform Lord Rekka to be expecting the mystic Byakuen's arrival. You must hurry back to Lord Tenku now, for I feel him fading. I must go."

With that said, she vanished and the breeze died down to nothing. Before Danji could ask or say or do anything, Date grabbed his arm and pulled him along so fast Danji couldn't see more than a blur as they returned to the room holding Hashiba and the others. Date grabbed the medicine from him and handed it to Dr. Sona, who held it for Dr. Bonan to fill a hypodermic needle from. Dr. Bonan quickly administered the injection to Rowen, who was hardly breathing at all.

Sage watched all this and then thought to Ryo, Be on the lookout for White Blaze. Zephyr said he'd show up. You might want to come up with a quick excuse to tell the doctors about a tiger being in the hospital.

"Shit!" Ryo cried and thumped himself on the forehead with the heel of his hand.

Mia scowled at him and chided, "You know, you've all been acting a little odd lately. Unless you have a good reason to cuss, shut up!"

Ryo ignored her and called to Dr. Kajtim, "Umm…when a large white tiger shows up, don't be surprised. He's mine, he's tame, and he's only here to help."

To everyone's surprise, Kajtim answered very seriously, "No problem. As long as you can keep him under control, I don't mind at all."

Dr. Sona suddenly sighed in both exasperation and relief, catching everyone's attention. "The medicine is kicking in and he's calming down. I'm afraid, however, that we're going to need more in order to keep him alive. This bottle," she informed them, "barely contained enough for that one dose and he needs more to stabilize his condition. He's breathing isn't even anywhere near normal yet."

She dropped into a hard chair Kento picked up from the floor for her. Holding it in her hand, she stared at the empty bottle blankly for a minute then she, Dr. Bonan, and the nurse suddenly became aware of their surroundings. For the past half hour, with all the rush and panic while trying to attend to Rowen, the three of them hadn't spared a moment to notice the catastrophic state of the room.

"Gods, what happened in here?!" Bonan exclaimed.

No one had a chance to reply though because White Blaze chose that moment to burst through the half open door and skid across the linoleum floor in a futile effort to stop. He skidded into the wall with a thump, shook his head in obvious disapproval of the annoying slick floor, and slid over to Ryo.

Ryo accepted the medicine bottle White Blaze dropped in his hand. Dr. Sona, ignoring the intimidating tiger entirely, stepped up beside him and Ryo gave the bottle to her.

"Marv, catch!" she cried and threw it to Dr. Bonan.

He caught it expertly and almost instantly he had a hypodermic syringe full and was injecting it into Rowen's arm. With that accomplished, Rowen began to breathe normally after only a few minutes. Eventually he blinked, rubbed his eyes, shook his head slightly, and sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the table.

"I'm nev'ah gonna get used ta these headaches," he moaned and put a hand to the side of his head.

"Rowen, can you see and hear now?" Kajtim asked.

"Yeah. Cin I have some aspirin or somethin'? My head's killin' me," Rowen said with a half-grin.

"Sure, I'll get you some," Sona said, grinning openly, for she always loved to see a patient smile in the face of whatever brought them to a hospital door, and left the room to retrieve the aspirin for him.

Rowen started to get off the table but Bonan and Kajtim stopped him.

"Sorry, kid, but you're gonna have to stay put until we can move you to a room," Bonan said, not noticing the frantic warning gestures of Rowen's friends behind the teen.

Rowen's eyes widened. "R-room?"

Kajtim, also unaware of the danger of what he was saying, said, "Yep. You're in for another stay here."

Rowen jumped off the bed and ran for the door. "No way! I'm not stayin' he'ah again!" he cried and swung the door open wide.

But as his friend was running down the hall, Sage called out, "Zephyr, prevent Rowen from leaving. He should stay for his own good."

Immediately Rowen was struck full in the stomach by a gust of wind, swept off his feet, and blown backwards until he landed in a heap at Kento's feet. Kento automatically pinned him to the floor and White Blaze jumped forward to help. With Kento and the tiger keeping Rowen from escaping, Ryo and Kajtim decided they wanted to know about everything that had been happening.

They each grabbed one of Sage's arms and said in unison, "Now, explain!"

Sage sighed, shrugged them off, and said tranquilly, "Can it wait? I'm suddenly very tired."

Cye looked up from where he was kneeling on the floor, trying to convince Rowen that his staying at the hospital wouldn't be that bad—definitely a fruitless task—and noticed Sage was swaying slightly. Cye was about to get up but Sage abruptly tilted forward and Cye flung himself across the slick floor, sliding towards Sage's feet and stretching out his arms to catch the falling blond. He sat up and gently lowered Sage, unconscious, to the floor. He checked Sage's pulse and found it a little weak.

Looking up at Kajtim and Ryo, who were looking somewhat stunned, he asked sternly, "Well, are you two going to help me with him or not? His pulse is slightly weak and he may need some medical attention."

Rowen had stopped struggling when he heard Sage's last comment and then seen him fall and he was becoming very worried about his best friend. That worry quickly turned into anger.

Without warning, he kicked White Blaze in the belly with surprising strength and clipped Kento's jaw with even more vehemence than he'd meant to but it accomplished his goal and they both let him go. He was at Sage's side in an instant, shoving Ryo and Kajtim aside angrily, and cradling Sage in his arms as he sat on the floor.

Watching Rowen, seeing how vulnerable and helpless, almost childlike, both he and Sage seemed at that moment, Cye wished he could just reach out and touch them and make everything normal again. It was as if everything they were feeling was seeping into him and it felt awful. Rowen felt furious and miserable, even slightly disappointed, and there were still traces of pain, and Sage felt worried, angry, somewhat sad, and, not unlike what he'd said, he also felt very tired, as if he hadn't slept for a week.

Still unaccustomed to the telepathic link, Cye gently thought to Rowen, He's okay, Rowen. He just tired himself out somehow. He's not hurt or sick or anything and he'll be fine once he gets a little rest. Believe me, I know for reasons I can't exactly explain right now. He was going to explain everything, you know, like the wind and all that, but he obviously can't right now and Ryo looks about ready to explode so maybe you could tell us.

Rowen looked up at the Warrior of Trust and sighed. "Okay, I'll do it."

Danji felt thoroughly confused now, watching all this and he got the impression that Sanada felt the same. There was a well-known ring in his ears and abruptly a flood of thoughts poured into his mind like familiar memories and he had the answers to a lot of questions but even more questions than before.

A crowd of hospital employees had gathered and Danji could see that at least half of them were fans of the boys but most were pointing and whispering frightfully about the tiger. Danji saw nothing odd about Sanada's pet—he didn't know why, it probably had something to do with that flood of thoughts—but he actually felt comfortable with it.

Danji noticed a movement in the crowd and suddenly saw a face that heralded trouble: Dice Salem. She was a quiet, sweet girl and a good friend of his. She was seventeen and had been working at Hogo Heart Hospital for a little over a year now in the children's wing, where she was extremely popular with the kids.

She had dark, earth-colored hair that fell to a little below her shoulders when she let it down, which was rare since it was almost always in a ponytail, and an odd orange-bronze lock that was always falling barely to the side of her left eye and reached to the bottom of her jaw.

He'd helped her try to dye that lock to match the rest of her hair twice before but it seemed to resist the coloring. She'd mentioned that the kids loved the lock anyway, so, to her, it was worth it to look a little freakish.

Her eyes were fawn colored except for a funny little squiggle of orange along the bottom right side of the irises. She had a slight tan and well toned muscles because she enjoyed working out and was 5'3 ½" inches tall.

She wasn't the trouble but her cousin, Macine, was and Dice was always running ahead to forewarn others of her cousin's impending arrival. A fan of the Date boy, Macine was always making a huge fuss over him and whenever he'd visited Hashiba all that time ago, she'd followed him around, trying to get his attention, squealing over everything he did, and causing a horrible disturbance. Often, someone had locked her in a closet when he was around to keep her from disturbing people, particularly patients. And if Dice were here, that meant Macine would be soon.

Where is she? Danji mouthed silently to Dice.

She pointed down the hall in reply and sure enough, the green-eyed, blond terror was running towards them.

Thinking fast, Danji suggested, "Why don't we go somewhere quiet? I know the perfect place, just follow me."

Ryo and White Blaze offered to carry Sage on White Blaze's back but Rowen turned them down. "I think I cin wake 'im up," he told them.

He whispered something in Sage's ear and Sage's eyes immediately shot open. With Rowen and Cye's help, he got to his feet and, leaning on them both tiredly, began to follow Kajtim down the hall.

Cye thought he looked like he was sleepwalking and over Sage's drooping head he asked Rowen, "What exactly did you say to him?"

Rowen just said, "Lat'ah."

Cye sighed. I'm starting to really hate that word.

Author's Notes:

1) "Danji" is pronounced (DON GEE)

2) I know that I manipulated the age for people to be doctors or even to be working in a hospital, but that's part of the magic of fanfiction.

3) All new characters belong to me. If you wish to use them, please ask.