Ronin Warriors

The Ugly Duckling~ Chapter 9: It's Been Done

By ~.:†:.~Kakeumei Tenshi~.:†:.~

Waaaaaa…@_@ I didn't actually think I'd have this chapter started so soon…I didn't think I'd actually have the eighth chapter done so soon either but dang…Maybe I'm a bit restless and that's way. Or…maybe it's because I've finally discovered another way to write fanfiction! ^_^ That, my friends…is to write it down on paper before you type it up! Thus, more ideas will be saved and much easier. Of course, it probably doesn't really help my writing…however, I am at least able to keep most of my ideas without forgetting them…mweheheh…Anyways, I have decided that if I don't see a chapter of Nagia's, Youkai's, and Silent's RW/YST fanfics (Into The Dark Knight, Blood Moon Rising/A Medieval Tale, and Angel's Flight, respectively), I'm gonna…I'm gonna…Well, I'm gonna go get the hot dog that's been sitting in my microwave (for about five minutes since it stopped…microwaving). ^_^;; Yeah.

Disclaimer: If any of y'all so much as touch a cent of ma money, Ima gonna kick all'o'ya arses so far up, you'll all be crappin' outta' yer noses!

Torch of spirit sought through five

Drinking strength from immortal fire

Darkest prison sheds the light

Swirling beneath a sea of salt

Buried within a throne of rock

Floating among the eyes of ages

Unmored in the stream of the sky…

            He stood as still as the silence prevailing him. When he tried to move, his legs did not listen. That would be a problem for he felt as if a hand was clutching his heart, making him unable to breath and it was getting worse by the moment. Unable to move…he was not dizzy, though. That was the strange thing. The fog surrounding him suddenly disappeared and in its place was a dark cloud. Strange as it was, the color of the cloud was not black. He did not know if it was even a color…for the only way he could describe it was that it was 'nothing'. It was void. Slowly…the cloud moved towards him and his heart struggled to beat even more. Suddenly, it enveloped him in it's billowy form; his heart pumped madly. A pain shot up his left arm and a few seconds later, he clutched his heart, screaming with all his might. Pain. Pain. Pain.

~*~*~*~*~

            Mia shrank away to the corner of the ambulance as three paramedics worked hard on the still body of her grandfather. She did nothing to fight the tears that were cursing down her face. Sobs threatened to wrack her slender frame but she bit her fist. Silently, she cried. "Grandfather, please be okay…please."

            She watched with observant eyes as one of the paramedics broke away from the other two to grab a needle and a syringe. She choked out a sob. "Is he going to be alright? Please, you have to help him. I can't lose him, I just can't! He means too much too me…" She said continuously.

            The same paramedic who had applied the needle to her grandfather brushed his dark bangs out of the way and looked at her sympathetically. "We will try our hardest miss,"

            One of his partners nodded in agreement, his eyes never leaving the patient.

            Mia drew in a ragged breath and pulled back her hair. "Thank you," She replied softly.

~*~*~*~*~

            "And Miss, how old is he?"

            "Around his 70s I imagine."

            "Has he had any heart problems before this?"

            "I wouldn't know…I just came to live with him a month ago because my parents died,"

            "Does he take any medications?"

            "He takes aspirin from time to time,"

            "Does he have osteoporosis, emphysema…any long term illness?"

            "I don't know, maybe osteoporosis or arthiritis…"

            "Alright, just sign this release form so we can be cleared to do some surgical procedures on him," The nurse said gently, handing the clipboard over to Mia.

            "Surgical procedures?" Mia asked, her voice soaked with fright.

            "Surgical procedures…It seems he had heart attack. In the process of it, we think he may have broke a rib bone and that the bone may have punctured the lungs," She explained.

            Mia felt the tears cursing wildly down her face, but she would not start sobbing. "Okay," Sighing the papers quickly, she tried not to shove the clipboard into the arms of the nurse and scream at the nurse to hurry up. Propriety kept her from doing so…and the fact she did not think that the nurse would've found it likable either.

            Trudging her way towards the nearest payment, she dug into her coat for a coin. Slipping it into the slot, she dialed the number to a person she knew would forgive her for calling him at such an hour.

~*~*~*~*~

            Sai wanted to leave school as early as he could. Heck, he had wanted to leave for the hospital when Mia had called but the strange harshness in her voice demanded he stayed in bed and went to school like always. She had also requested that he told Kayura that she couldn't make it to their tennis outing today but he hadn't had the chance to do so yet. Speak of the devil… He instantly thought when he said the familiar female figure walking towards him.

            "Hey Sai," She said cordially. "I was suppose to meet your cousin Mia after school…I can't seem to find her. Have you seen her?"

            How am I supposed to tell her? Sai cleared his throat. "Listen Kayura, Mia called me to cancel with you…Her grandfather had a bunch of health problems last night…well, more like 4 am in the morning. Anyways, she's at the hospital right now waiting for him to come out of surgery."

            Kayura's face instantly turned from pleasant to worried. "Oh, it's that serious? Mind if I tag along?"

            "Of course, I'm sure Mia would like the company," Sai said graciously as he walked out the door.

            "Thank you," Side-by-side, they walked out of the door towards his car. She turned her head to look behind her, which made Sai look behind them as well.

            "Hey Sai, buddy, where are you going so early? Aren't we supposed to have a study session?" Rowan asked as he, Sage, Kento and Ryo jogged up.

            "Sorry guys, I'm going to have to cancel, I have to go see Mia at the hospital." Sai explained apologetically. "Maybe we can resche-,"

            "The hospital?!" The four chorused.

            "What for?" Kento asked.

            Kayura bristled.

            "Grandfather Koji had a severe heart attack. He had to go into surgery for a punctured lung or something of that sort…anyways, Mia needs me so I'm going to her."

            "And what is she doing with you then?" Kento asked glaring at Kayura.

            "She's coming with me to see Mia," Sai explained calmly.

            "Well if she's going, then I'm going," Kento responded with a big puff.

            "Please. Don't be so generous." Kayura remarked, dryly.

            "I've really gotta get going, anyone of you wanna coming along?" He asked. "Course, I don't have enough seats in my car so you might have to take another one."

            "I have nothing else to do so sure," Ryo replied with a shrug.

            "We're in," Sage and Rowan chirped.

~*~*~*~*~

            "It isn't looking good Miss Koji. We have done all that we can. Now only time can tell…"

            Mia sat down slowly as she glanced at the pail, frail body before her. It seemed as if her grandfather had aged a few more decades…in fact, it looked as if he was disintegrating before her. Choking slightly as her sobs started up again, she took his hand and held on tightly, whispering words of comfort. Dear God…please help him. Please.

~*~*~*~*~

            "Hello, my cousin and her grandfather is here under Koji, could you please tell us what room?" Sai asked at the counter.

            "Are you family or friend?" She droned.

            "Family,"

            "Your friends?"

            "Er…they're family too."

            She arched an eyebrow and studied all of them in their green and gold school uniforms, "I see." Shrugging, she held out a clipboard to him and pointed to a column. "I need you all to sign here, the time you checked in and the time that you'll be checking out. Visiting hours are over at six,"

            "Thank you," Taking the clipboard, he quickly scrawled his name on it, handed it to Kayura who signed her name next to it who handed it to Ryo and so forth. After they were all done signing, they handed it back to the lady.

            "Room 35-61." The nurse replied.

            Sai nodded a quick thanks and the others thanked her as well. Hurrying to the elevator, he held a finger on "open door" and a button on "35". The first number of the room was always the number of the floor, the next number was the number of the actual room. "Guys, when I go in, just wait for me outside, Mia might be overwhelmed by all the people that'll be appearing in her room,"

            "Hai," The others chorused in response. (Surprisingly, Kento and Kayura weren't fighting.)

            After the elevator stopped, everyone quickly departed and read directions on the wall for where the room was located.

            Kayura wrinkled her nose when the smell of sterilization and medications engulfed her. She was never all that fond of hospitals…never really had a use for them until today.

            "Aha, here it is…" Lowering his voice, Sai ordered, "Stay right here," Opening the door, he slipped in fast enough that they could only get the glimpse of a shiny red head.

~*~*~*~*~

            "Oh Sai, I'm so glad you're here," She sobbed as she embraced him. "I d-don't know w-what happened…I w-was s-sleeping c-c-comfortably when all of the sudden, I hear grandfather screaming." Violently, she sobbed.

            "Shh shh…It's okay," Sai murmured into her ear as he kissed her forehead a couple of times and rubbed her back.

            "T-thank g-g-goodness we lived s-s-so close to an a-ambulance station or h-he probably wouldn't have m-made it!" Furrowing her face into Sai's uniformed shoulder, she sobbed.

            Sai frowned and hugged her tightly and kept his rub on her back persistant. Gradually, she calmed down, hiccupping.

            "I'm sorry," She sniffled. "I got your uniform all dirty and wet," Tears threatened to fall out of her eyes.

            "Hey hey, it's okay, it's not that important," Sai soothed still hugging her.

            Releasing each other, Mia took a couple of tissues and wiped her face. "I'm sorry to have bothered you last night…Anyways, how are you,"

            "That's not important right now, are you okay?" He asked, concerned only about her well-being.

            Mia nodded. "I am…"

            "Hey, I brought Kayura along," He said after a moment of silence. And about five other people you don't know. He thought, sweatdropping.

            Mia blinked. "Oh…you did? She must think horribly of me for canceling on her like that…"

            "Would you like her to come in?"

            "Sure," Mia replied as she wiped any trace of tears away from her face.

            Sai walked over to the door and swung it wide open. Mia's head cocked to one side as she caught sight of Sage's face. She lifted and hand and waved with Sage responding somewhat surprised, waving back. The door was shut and Mia looked into the face of Kayura.

            "Hey, how are you doing?" Kayura asked gently.

            Mia chuckled. "I'm doing fine, sorry for canceling on you, I feel really bad…how about we reschedule?"

            Kayura smiled and nodded. "I wouldn't mind at all and don't feel bad,"

            Mia pulled a surprised Kayura into a tight hug. "Thanks," She whispered.

            Kayura didn't know what to do. She had never received something as emotion felt as a hug. Hesitant at first, Kayura put her arms around Mia and hugged her. "You're welcome," She said gently.

            "Sai!" A voice boomed from the doorway.

            "Shhh!" Kayura and Sai responded instantly.

            Kento sweatdropped. "Gomen,"

            "Oh hello,"

            Kento turned his head towards the slender red head. "Hi! The name's Kento, you must be Meiala Koji?"

            Mia nodded. "Hai, I go by Mia though," She smiled.

            "Aaa…sorry for barging in on you like this," Kento apologized, laughing awkwardly.

            Frustration broke out on Kayura as she held up a fist, "You are so impulsive you know that?"

            "And you are such a naaaag," Kento responded, his eyes focused on Kayura.

            "Am not!" She countered, angrily.

            "Am too!"

            "Am not, am not, am not!"

            "Am too, am too, am too!"

            "Am not times infinity!"

            "Am too times two infinities!"

            "Baaaaka, there are no such things as two infinities! Infinity means forever and you can't have two forevers!"

            "You can if I say so!"

            "And just who are you to have the audacity to say things like that?!"

            Sai groaned in frustration as Mia chuckled relieving hours of built-up stress. A slight movement at the corner of her eye caused her to turn her head. Surprised, she pulled Sai's arm and pointed towards his friends. "Sai?"

            Sai looked up and saw his three friends standing there awkwardly. "Oh man, sorry Mia, here, let me introduce you. The blue haired one is Rowan, the blond is Sage and the black haired one is Ryo."

            Mia smiled. "I didn't know Rowan and Sage were your friends much less friends with each other…" She chuckled. "We live in such a small world,"

            Sai was surprised. "Wait…you're met Rowan and Sage before?"

            Mia nodded. "Hai, both on totally different circumstances though,"

            "Are you mad that I brought them here?" Sai questioned.

            "No, not at all," Mia instantly responded.

~*~*~*~*~

            "So you guys are cousins?" Kayura asked, later as they sat on the subway to home. "You aren't related by blood are you?"

            Mia looked at her, surprised. "No, how did you know? Most people assume that we're cousins because we're cousins…"

            Kayura chuckled. "It's kind of like a sixth sense…"

            "You're very observant, obviously. I wish I were that observant, maybe I would've been able to sense that grandfather was about to have a heart attack and I could've helped him," Mia quietly stated.

            Kayura frowned sympathetically and pulled Mia into a hug. It surprised Mia but not as much as it surprised Kayura herself. So this is what it feels like to be a friend huh? Maybe humans aren't so bad after all.

~*~*~*~*~

            "I'm kind of mad about the hospital rules…No visitors after six. I wish I could've at least gone home with her or something…I feel helpless. First the death of her parents and then this," Sai said quietly as the five of them strolled down after coming home from a nearby ice cream shop.

            "Her parents are dead?" They chorused simultaneously.

            "Hai," Sai nodded effectively. "They died in a freak accident and since Mia had no living relatives but Grandfather Koji, she was sent to live with him."

            "What kind of cousin is she? I mean she doesn't really look like you except you both have red in your hair color. I would suspect that you and her would look much more like each other if you were related cousins…" Rowan commented as he looked over at Sai.

            "We aren't related except by marriage," Sai replied while kicking a small pebble. "However, she and I are as close as can be as if we were brother and sister." Looking over at them, Sai quickly spoke, "But it isn't what you think. I think of her as a sister and nothing else. Anyways, how do you and Sage know her?"

            "Sage knows her?" Rowan questioned. Turning to Sage, he asked again, "You know her?"

            Sage nodded to confirm his statement. "Yes, I know her she came over for dinner,"

            Rowan felt an unfamiliar feeling in the pit of his stomach. Oh my gosh, is this jealousy? "Oh…" He replied meekly.

            "How'd you meet her?" Sage questioned, look at his best friend with clouded eyes.

            Rowan shrugged. "She came up to me and offered to help me find the way around a mall…When Lindsay invited me out for a milkshake, I had to leave early because I got this really bad headache. Somehow, I ended up in her bedroom,"

            "I see…" Sage spoke with a hint of jealousy?

            No, that can't be it. Sage is never jealous over a girl. Rowan thought carefully as he decided to amuse himself with a small pebble just as Sai had done.

            Ryo and Kento looked at each other strangely, both with an ice cream spoon in their mouths. Rowan and Sage almost seemed hostile towards each other.

            How strange… Ryo thought to himself.

~*~*~*~*~

            Waving goodbye to Kayura, Mia grinned happily and then watched the taxi cab drive totally out of sight before closing the door. Once she had her back against the closed (and locked) door, she sank to the floor with it as support. Running a hand through her hair, she felt a warm trickle run down her cheeks. The few hours she had with Sai, his friends and Kayura made her happy, but it didn't take away the fear, anger, and pain.

~*~*~*~*~

            "Welcome back Kayura, the preparations are almost finished," Anubis informed her immediately upon her arrival.

            Kayura's eyes flashed as her uniform changed to the same armory as the night before. "I see. I think the armors' also know what's coming…and I think that's why I've finally started feeling little flashes of their power. I think they may have been revived by our preparation…so that they could find their armor bearers quickly to defend this world."

            "Do you think that will be a problem?"

            "Not at all. By the time they'll have found their armor bearers, our plan would have already been set into motion and it would have gone too far for anybody to stop by then. I wonder…"

            "Yes?"

            Kayura hesitated then sighed. "It is nothing."

            Anubis nodded. "Of course,"

            "I'm dreadfully tired," As if to prove her point, she yawned for a full minute. "I'm going to bed. Please tell the others to sleep well for we have days of work ahead of us."

            "I will inform them of that,"

            Kayura smiled at Anubis. "This applies to you too,"

            Anubis smiled in return. "I would not have thought otherwise."

~*~*~*~*~

            Sai closed the door behind him and he literally threw himself onto his bed. Groaning softly, he thought about the events that occurred. Like Ryo and Kento, he could sense the hostility between Rowan and Sage but because he had been so caught up in his own thoughts, he pushed it aside for times like these to think about. It was possible that they were hostile over Mia…It seemed that Rowan had developed a tender for Mia which was also the same with Sage. Both obviously knew the other liked her and both wanted to say something to each other about it but both were afraid. Mia wouldn't believe me if I told her. Sai thought wryly as he flipped over onto his stomach and played with a tag on his pillow. For five minutes, he twisted, turned, and folded the irritable thing before he decided to just rip it out. As he went to tug it, he realized his hand was glowing a slight shade of blue. Blinking again, he looked at it. Oh man… He quickly rushed to close the light off. Staring at his glowing hand, he felt afraid yet fascinated at the same time.

            "Sai, what are you doing with your lights off?" Came the voice from the door as Mrs. Mouri turned on the light. "What are you doing sitting here in the dark? Have you been studying too much?"

            Sai gaped at her for a full minute before answer. "I-I thought I saw something."

            "And you decided to turn off the light to get a good look at it?" Mrs. Mouri arched her eyebrow. "Really Sai…I think you're working too hard. Why don't you go to sleep early tonight?"

            Sai could only nod absent-minded while staring at his hand. Wasn't it just glowing a few moments ago? He thought as his mother sighed and walked out of the room throwing her arms up exasperatedly.

~*~*~*~*~

            It has begun.

            Grandfather Koji shot straight up in bed, his monitors shooting off crazily.

Next on Ronin Warriors…

Ryo: Strange things have been happening lately and that plus all the anxiety everyone has been feeling because of the midterms are clashing with each other and adding to all the stress everyone has been feeling.

Kento: Rowan and Sage are making me mad…why won't they just speak to each other? It's as if they know what's bugging them about each other but they won't do anything about it!

Rowan: It's not that I won't talk to him about it…It's just that…

Sage: Do you like her Rowan? Do you?

Sai: Guys…

Kayura: Next time on Ronin Warriors: The Ugly Duckling~ Chapter 10: Monsters, Magic, Mia – Oh My!

Mia: I…can't….breathe.

Oh my goodness, don't ask me how I came up with the title of the next chapter, it just popped into my head. ^_^;; Now it's repeating itself over and over again in my head…Gah, it's a catchy phrase. O_O Anyways, I almost forgot to put this little note at the end…personally, it probably would be better if I didn't but I love talking so if you don't wanna listen then don't. :-P

Anyways, I can't believe I have two chapters done in less then a week of each other. This gives me time to read these babies over to find if any is wrong with them…I'll post them up within one week of each other. This way, I hope the stories will be edited so none of you will get irritated when I use the wrong verb or something [Yeah yeah, I know you said you didn't really care Youkai, but you're just too darn nice. ^_~]…I know that I get irritated when I run across a simple sentence that is formatted in the wrong way. Of course, even after all my editing and what not, there will still be mistakes so please forgive me for that. ^_^;;

Well I guess that's about it…Now to go and study my History test. @_O;; Ja ne minna!

~Kakeumei Tenshi~