Ronin Warriors

The Ugly Duckling~ Chapter 5: Rowan's Sickness

By ~*Angel*~

Heyas all! Wow! I didn't think I'd be writing this chapter so quick! Anyways, since inspiration struck, I figured I'd write it down before I lose it all. I should really be working on my history project but I'm such a procrastinator that I can't help it. Enjoy. J

Disclaimer: Brrrrrrrrrrains.

            Mia grinned and shook Rowan's hand. "Hi." She greeted the second time as the boy kept on staring at her. Her confidence was wearing down with every second that he looked at her. She felt as if his deep blue eyes saw right through her façade…Turning her head away. She blushed. "Um…On second thought, I'm new to this town so I probably wouldn't be of much help to you anyways. It was silly of me to bother you…Actually, it isn't like me to just start a conversation-Oh my, I'm digging myself deeper into this then I'm suppose to…" She blabbered on aware that her face must be the same color of blood. Laughing awkwardly, she scratched her head and started inching away. "You know, I'm lost myself in this stupid store…so I'll leave you to your shopping and I'll go now…sorry to bother you," Turning around, she groaned inwardly. Baka! Baka! Baka! She scolded herself as a chibi-fied image of herself pounded another chibi-fied image of herself on the head.

            "Wait!" Rowan heard himself call out. He felt the blood rushing to his face again and started to take deep breaths so that his blood pressure would slow down…unfortunately, the blush was still visible. "I'm sorry, I have this weird tendency to…stare at people," Oh real good Rowan. Now she'll think you're a mental case. That is, if you AREN'T one already. "You know, I have a great idea,"

            "Yes?" Mia asked, her interest piqued.

            I can't believe I'm doing this. "Um…Since we're both lost, why don't we help each other find the way out? Like I always say, two heads are better then one right?" Rowan grinned as he winced inwardly. SMOOOOTH…REAL SMOOOTH…

            Mia chuckled. "Believe it or not, that's one of my favorite quotes,"

            Rowan's eyes widened. "Great…" He squeaked out. You were lucky that time…no more cheesy lines-what am I thinking? Cheesy lines? Am I trying to impress her? Okay, there's nothing wrong with that…Just no flirting. She's Sai's girl, she's off limits.

            Mia cleared her throat. "Um…where do we start?"

            "How about…that way?" Rowan randomly chose his left.

            Mia looked. "Alright, but if we run into the males' underwear section, I'll give you one of my cousin's world-famous noogies," A lopsided grin made its way on her face.

            Cousin? She has a cousin? Hmmm…could it be Sai? Dammit Ro, don't get your hopes up too high. Rowan smiled. "After you my lady,"

~*~*~

            "Where WERE you Ro? Did you get lost or something?" Sage whispered into his friend's ears.

            "Hai hai, I got lost in the shopping mall…you won't believe--," Rowan began whispering back before he was cut off.

            "Hashiba-san! Report to this front desk immediately," The teacher exclaimed glaring at him over her bifocals.

            Rowan gulped. This was not good. "H-hai, Sensei-san,"

~*~*~

            "Ah…" Kento sighed grinning as he slung an arm around Rowan's shoulders. "How does it FEEL to get your first detention slip?"

            Rowan glared at Kento as he gently took his arm off his shoulders.

            "Alright alright…sore subject, so, did you find out about Meiala and Sai?" Kento grinned, changing to a more neutral topic.

            Rowan's face burned bright red and stony silence ensnared.

            "Okay then…Something happened, this is juicy, do tell!" Kento grinned like a 3 year old child.

            Rowan looked into his locker as a flashback occurred.

~*~*~

            Rowan grinned sheepishly as he got out of the red jeep. "Thanks for giving me a ride, I can't believe I missed the bus like that…"

            "No problem, you helped me get out of that mall didn't you?" Mia questioned grinning.

            "Well, we helped each other didn't we?" Rowan stated more then questioned.

            "Nah, I say you helped out more…" Laughing, Mia smiled at Rowan. "Okay, this is getting us no where. Anyways, thanks for the wonderful afternoon, you're one of the first few friends I've made since coming back to Japan,"

            "Well I'm glad to have helped," Rowan said as he grinned bowing.

            Mia blushed. "It meant a lot…really,"

            Next thing that came out of Rowan's mouth gave himself the greatest shock. "You know Mia, you look really pretty when you blush,"

            Mia's eyes widened slightly but closed as if he had never said a word. "Thank you Rowan…I must be going, good day," With that she drove off.

            Rowan smacked himself in the forehead. "BAKA!" She's Sai's, not yours Ro. And of all the stupid things to say-…

~*~*~

            "Ro? Hey Ro!" Kento waved his hands feverously in front of Rowan. "Hello! Are you in there? Jeez, you zoned out for like ten minutes,"

            "Like? Kento, I think all those football practices and cheerleaders are getting to you," Sage started coming up from behind Kento. "Hey Ro, heard about the detention, sorry about that bud,"

            Rowan shrugged. "It's alright…it's only my first one. I'll be able to get some mid-term studying in anyways so it's good…"

            "Dammit, mid-terms…and I almost forgot about it," Kento groaned.

            "Then it's good we reminded you," Rowan commented coldly.

            "What's with the attitude today Ro? You seem a bit edgy," Ryo stated coming up from behind. "Oh…what'd you find out about Meiala?"

            Rowan saw another figure coming up towards him. Sai… Rubbing his forehead he gave them what he hoped to be a pained one. "Sorry Ryo, I have a pounding headache, I should probably get home and take some aspirin, sorry guys,"

            "Hey no prob, if you need anything, just call," Sage was concerned.

            "Yeah, I know, thanks for the offer but a few pills, hit the sack for a few hours and I'll all good," Rowan shut his locker and grabbed his briefcase-bag. "See ya," He waved walking out the doors.

            "Hey guys," Sai said a little out of breath. "Where's Ro going?"

            "Poor guy has a headache…probably all that numerous amount of studying that he's doing," Kento whistled.

            "That reminds me, we should organize a study group for the mid-terms…remember how we bombed last times?" Sage recalled from last year.

            Ryo and Kento groaned. They had barely past their midterms last year. Partying was their life back then. This year, they could start anew. Floating above them, images of a grinning Sage, Sai, and Rowan with 95s circling around them clouded Ryo's and Kento's thoughts. Sweat dropping, they nodded. "We're in!" They chorused.

            "You guys can use my house," Sai chirped in.

            "Alright, then it's settled! I'll call Rowan tonight!" Sage said.

~*~*~

            There was a troubled expression marring Sage's face as he slowly trodded his way through the forest, which was a short cut to his home. Something was bothering Rowan big time but it definitely wasn't the detention. Of course, he knew that that must've added to the thoughts that must've been going through his best friend's mind. Suddenly, he heard a few screams and found a large familiar fur ball practically flying towards him. "No no, down boy, DOW-!" Before he could step out of the way, the large sheep dog jumped on him and flattened him to the ground smothering Sage's face with wet kisses.

            The plump round women who had been screaming a moment earlier, gasped for air as she supported herself on a nearby tree. "Sorry Date-san, but Sean-chan broke free of his leash and started running here."

            Sage scratched his dog's head affectionately. "Awee…then I guess I'll have to take you shopping for a new leash huh? But no treats this time,"

            The dog stood erectly when the word treats had been used. Sean made a few small barks and whimpering noises as he turned on his back pawing the air with his gargantuan furry paws and his eyes drooping.

            "Alright alright you big fur ball, get up," Sage responded chuckling. "I'll buy you a big toy but only if you promise to not cause any more troubles for Miss Hana over there, okay?"

            The large dog barked happily as he jumped on Sage again slobbering all over the school uniform.

            Sage laughed. "Get off you big oaf," He patted the dog's head more affectionately once more.

            "You spoil that dog Date-san," Miss Hana chuckled and her rotund body shook with it.

            "That's because I got him so that I had someone to spoil," Sage gave her one of his famous grins as he walked ahead with Sean.

~*~*~

            What is WRONG with me? Rowan groaned as he put his head down on the desk, unable to concentrate on the study sheets he had carefully spread out on the desk. Peeking over his arm and looking out the window, he sighed and rubbed his temples. Today had probably been one of the worst days ever…first of all, if Meiala mentioned to Sai the comment Rowan gave her, Sai would wonder why he had been hanging out with his girlfriend. Second, Sai would wonder why Rowan was hitting on Meiala. Well, it's not as if Sai actually said they're going out, right? They could just be close—don't kid yourself Ro. Sighing once again, he downed his whole glass of water and averted his eyes back to papers. Enough about them…I need to worry about my midterms. If I'm able to take those college courses, I need to get a high grade on these. But ten minutes later, Rowan laid his head on top of his arms and slept. Resting my eyes can't hurt…

~*~*~

            "Oh my goodness, I can't believe it! They're actually letting me graduate early?" Mia exclaimed as she threw her arms around her grandfather.

            Her grandfather shook his head. "No, they're giving you a chance to. If you can pass four entrance exams into the college, then the Hana High will let you pass. However, you have to get past a 95 on all of them."

            "When is the testing scheduled?" Mia asked as she sat down on a couch, wrapping her long legs under her.

            "The way they're going to do it is that each test will be on one day of the week. On each of the test, they give you a maximum of three hours but a minimum of 1 and a half hour so if you finish early, you have to stay until that one and a half hour is up. Tuesday is your Math exam, Wednesday is your English, Thursday will be your History exam, and Friday will be your Science exam. Now, these tests are extremely hard and I have no doubt that they'll be much harder since every year, they change it. It's during the last week of June, right before summer vacation." Grandfather Koji explained as he seated himself in a nearby recliner.

            "Wow…I don't have much time do I?" Said Mia as she pulled her long hair in a ponytail.

            "Considering you need to recall 12 years of studying for four subjects, I would say so…don't forget, this isn't your normal entrance exam so no doubt they'll throw in a few college-level questions,"

            "So I should study more?"

            "Just for caution, my dear,"

            Mia laughed. "I'll study as much as they want me to! Wow…I'm going to be able to graduate a year early…" She threw her arms in the air. "Yay!"

            Grandfather Koji chuckled as he watched his usually composed granddaughter dance around the room.

~*~*~

            Rowan cleared his throat for the third time that day. Of all the time to catch a cold…I get one right before midterms. GREAT. Ugh…when did I become such a complaining brat…He turned away and coughed into the palm of his hand; his body shook in rhythm with it.

            "God you sound horrible," a familiar voice spook from his side.

            Rowan grimaced inwardly and turned around to face his confronter. "Just a little cold," he rasped out. Clearing his throat, he massaged a tender part of his throat with his hand. "What do you need Lindsay,"

            Her jaw dropped. "Rowan, do I need an excuse to see you?" Her voice sounding hurt.

            Rowan looked apologetically at her. "Sorry Lindsay, I guess I'm getting irritated at my cold,"

            She grinned. "Apology accepted…and you're right, it's only a little cold, why don't you come and get a drink with me? I'm sure it'll help your throat!" Lindsay bubbled enthusiastically.

            Rowan shook his head. "No, I feel horrible, I need to sleep this out…besides, I have to study tonight,"

            Lindsay grabbed his arm. "Rowan, come on, my treat! And I'm not going to leave you alone till you say yes,"

            Rowan knew she was serious when she had said she wouldn't leave him alone. "Alright, one drink, and then I'm going home,"

            "Great! It's a date!" Lindsay chirped out grinning.

            Rowan winced at the word.

~*~*~

            "And so I told her, if she talked that way to me again, I would slap her so hard, her jaw would pop…I swear, she has no sense of manners at all! She had to get into my business…and I wouldn't have pushed the books off Jamie's table if he hadn't been…"

            Rowan had stopped listening a long time ago. His head was pounding, his throat throbbed, and he couldn't drink anything without pain in his throat.

            "Rowan! You aren't listening to me!" Lindsay whined.

            Rowan smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry Lindsay, but I have a really bad headache…Thanks for the drink," he said and motioned to his almost-full glass.

            "But you hardly had any," said Lindsay as she stood up with him.

            "My throat hurts and I wasn't able to drink much so I apologize," he grimaced as he started coughing again.

            "That's okay, some other time then?" Lindsay asked grinning.

            Rowan knew she thought he would say yes. He stretched his lips into as much of a smile as he could, "I'll think about it," He shrugged on his jacket and before he could button it up, Lindsay grabbed his arm.

            "Hey, I'll walk you home! Wouldn't want you keeling over," She grinned up at him.

            He shook her arm off gently. "No thanks, I'm not that sick." Walking out the diner door, he waved. "Ja,"

            Lindsay grinned. Perfect.

~*~*~

            Rowan felt his legs grow heavier and heavier before he sat down on the bench near the bus stop. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a familiar brown head ducking from view. What is she following me for? Is she obsessed or something? He felt himself growing irritated at the smallest things as he waited for the bus. Rubbing his temples, he grimaced as his head started to throb harder and harder. He quickly got up to shake off the sleep that was invading his body. "Oh god…" He groaned before sitting back down. Getting up made him even more dizzy and fatigued.

            "Rowan?" A soft voice spoke in his ear.

            "Huh?" He slowly lifted his face up to glance at the owner of the soft voice. "Oh…" He didn't know if it was his sickness or what…but he felt his cheeks burning. "Mia…?"

            Her face broke out into a grin. "Oh, you remember me…"

            He nodded smiling and patted the empty seat next to him.

            She sat down frowning as soon as she got a closer look at him. Taking her gloves off, she felt his cheeks and forehead. "Oh my goodness, you're burning up,"

            Rowan didn't reply. He was savoring the velvety-soft and cool feeling of Mia's palm. That feels so good…no, no…don't take it away…

            Mia took her hands away and gathered up her gloves. "Rowan, I'm giving you a ride home…I don't want you out in this weather waiting for that stupid bus, come on,"

            "Okay," he meekly agreed, getting up as she put her arms around his waist. He couldn't miss how her body molded his tall frame so perfectly. A sweet scent floated into his nose; he breathed deeply. Her hair…it was the scent of peaches. So sweet… "Mia…"

            "Hmm?" She murmured as she helped him to her red jeep.

            "Nothing," He spoke quietly as she helped him into the jeep. As she pulled away, he wanted to reach out and pull her into his arms, snuggling until he fell asleep…but that would be embarrassing. Oh God…help me. I like Sai's girlfriend…a lot. Groaning more from the thought then his throbbing head…he closed his eyes.

            "Oh Rowan, hold on, I'll get you home in less then a minute," She murmured softly as she helped him with the seat belt, and then closed the door. Quickly running to the other side of the jeep, she jumped in and started the car. Turning the heat to full blast, she looked over at the flushed boy. "Rowan?" She murmured softly. "Rowan?" She murmured again. Peering at his face, she noticed that he had fallen asleep. Great. I don't even know where his house is… Driving out of the parked space, she smiled as an idea hit her. I'm sure grandfather won't mind…

~*~*~

            "Weird…" Sage murmured as he put his phone down.

            "Who was that?" His sister called from up the stairs.

            "Ro's mom," came the reply.

            "Did Rei-san want something?" His mother asked, coming out of the kitchen.

            Sage rubbed the back of his neck and frowned. "Yeah, she was wondering where Rowan was…apparently, he hasn't been home since three…which was…" Taking a check at his watch, his eyes narrowed. "Eight hours ago,"

            "Oh dear…has she contacted the police?" She asked.

            Sage shook his head. "No, you can't file a missing person report until twenty-four hours has passed…"

            "Well that's a stupid law if you ask me…" His mother grumbled as she reached for the phone. Handing it to Sage, she sternly said, "Call everyone and see if they've heard about Rowan,"

            Sage nodded. "Alright,"


~*~*~

            "Moshi moshi,"

            "Moshi moshi, this is the Mouri residence, who am I speaking to?"

            "Sage, um, is Sai home?"

            "Oh hello Sage! How are you doing? And no, Sai isn't home…he got a call from Mia…is there a message I can take down for him?"

            "Well, we were just wondering if he saw Rowan anywhere after school and I'm doing fine thank you,"

            "Alright, I'll relay the message to him…Tell your mom I said hi!"

            "Okay, thank you Mrs. Mouri,"

            "Anything Sage-chan,"

~*~*~

            "Moshi moshi?"

            "Hey Sai, it's your mom here, Sage just called…he was wondering if you'd seen Rowan?"

            "Yeah, he's over here now,"

            "Alright, you better call Sage back, he sounded really worried."

            "Yeah mom, thanks for telling me! Love you!"

            "Don't stay out too late at your cousin's house you hear?"

            "Yeah mom, promise! Ja!"

            "Ja!"

~*~*~

            Sage stared at the phone, waiting patiently. Someone had to have seen Rowan…the boy couldn't have just disappeared off the face of the planet could he? No…So the staring contest went on. Suddenly, the phone rang and he lunged at him. "Date residence, may I ask who I am speaking to?"

            "Hey man, it's Sage, you called about Rowan?"

            "Yeah, have you seen him?"

            "Yep, and don't worry, he's fine, Mia took good care of him…and you don't have to worry about calling Mrs. Hashiba, I already called her,"

            Sage sighed in relief but then curiosity kicked in. "Wait…why is he at--,"

            "Hey Sage, I've gotta go, Rowan woke up, see ya!"

            "Wait--,"

            "Ja!"

            Sage stared at the phone receiver in his hand. Rowan at Sai's girlfriend's house…Rowan waking up? What in blazes is going on?

~*~*~

            Rowan didn't feel the throbbing feeling in his head anymore. His body and throat, did, however, feel much better. Wearily opening his eyes, a faint light from the lamp shone through. He felt silky comforters covering his body and the scent of peaches invaded his nose again. "Peaches…"

            "Oh I'm sorry, does the scent bother you?" Came a voice from behind him.

            Turning his head, he focused his eyes on a blurry figure until it became clear. "Mia?"

            She smiled and handed him a glass of water. "Hey, welcome back, how was your nap?"

            He sat up slowly and took the water, gulping the contents down. "That was refreshing," He smiled at her.

            She took the glass and set it on the night table sitting down at the foot of the bed. "How are you feeling?"

            "Good…where am I?" He said as he finally realized his surroundings.

            She blushed.

            "You're in Mia's room, Ro," Came a familiar voice from the door.

            Sai? Mia's room? Oh my damn… Rowan started blushing furiously.

            Sai chuckled as he came around and stood by Mia. "Yeah, Mia's room…don't let it get you all flustered now,"

            Rowan coughed and cleared his voice. "Um…I'm sorry to have intruded,"

            "Intruded? No, I wanted to put you in one of the other rooms but the other rooms hadn't been used for so long that they would've been coated in dust. Grandfather's room has a lot of incense, and the smell may have bothered you…but I guess my room probably wasn't such a great idea because I coat this room's scent in peach body spray," She chuckled.

            Shaking his head, he replied, "No, it doesn't bother me, in fact, it's very refreshing,"

            "Oh thank you!" She said blushing happily.

            Sai looked at Rowan's face…who was trained on Mia's face at the moment. Mia, had been looking over at Sai.

            "Sai, his parents were alerted right?"

            He nodded. "Yup, Mrs. Hashiba was a rather worried but I promised to bring Rowan home as soon as he woke up,"

            "Alright, Rowan you up for a car ride then?" Mia asked as she walked over to the nearest light switch, flicking it on.

            He nodded. "Yeah,"

            "Then you better take him home Sai…I'm sure his mom is wondering what he's doing at an unfamiliar girl's house this late at night," She laughed.

            Sai chuckled. "Mia!" He gasped mockingly.

            "Oh hush," she slapped him softly.

            Rowan watched the adoring exchanges and looked away. Just my luck…I like a girl and she likes my friend. Yeah, life is really fair…

~*~*~

            "Hey man, you gonna be okay?" Sai asked as Rowan got out of the car.

            Rowan wanted to yell at him, shout, whatever as long as he ranted out his frustrations. He couldn't though…he had no reason to. "Yeah man, I'm going to be fine…see ya tomorrow if I come to school,"

            "Later!" Sai replied before driving off.

~*~*~

            After medicine and a hot dinner, Rowan laid in his bed. Closing his eyes, he remembered the sweet scent of peaches and her laugh. "Dammit," he swore into his covers as he pulled them up around his shoulders. He would think about this tomorrow…for now, he needed his sleep.

Next on Ronin Warriors…

Kento: Rowan finally came back to school after being absent for two days and Sage had told us that Rowan had spent most of the night at Mia's house. Isn't she Sai's girlfriend?

Rowan: Look, that was never official okay? He could be her cousin…I heard him mentioning a cousin at one point or another…

Ryo: Wait…are you defending her? Do you actually like this chick?

Rowan: Am not! I'm just looking at all the possibilities!

Ryo: Soooo…how did it FEEL to sleep in her bed eh? ::wiggling eyebrows::

Rowan: ::slams elbow down on Ryo's head::

Sai: Next on Ronin Warriors: The Ugly Duckling~ Chapter 6: Sage's Curiosity (That Killed The Cat)

Sage: I'm going to get to the bottom of this. What is it about that girl?

Well, that's this chapter! I didn't proofread it because I'm on a schedule but if anyone wants to…go ahead and be my guest. I hope you enjoyed this…see ya in the next chapter! Ja!

~Angel

Oh yeah…I got a domain name but not all the pages are up yet…however, if you want to see what I have so far, check it out at:

http://www.animequeens.com/

Ja!