The idea that Ryo and Kayura might ever be romantically involved is ridiculous. Still, I'm perfectly capable of wondering what _would_ happen. Wouldn't you?

This is not a romance.

Kayura's Fail-Safe, All-Purpose Tiger Trap for Troubled Tiger Men

II.

This time, Ryo was already sitting up and blinking before he even realized that he was awake and there was no pain. He was sore, true, but not nearly as sore as he expected his less than comfortable bed to make him. The dizziness, other than an average sleepy reluctance to wake, was gone completely, and his movement had so far failed to stir that horrible pain in his arm.

A fallen branch snapped and Kayura was standing over him. "I think, Ryo, that you should get up if you are able."

At her prompting, he threw back the robe that had covered him for the last few drowsy days, and made as if to stand.

He stopped in confusion at the sight of the bloody bandages wrapped tightly around his middle. He had never felt anything from his stomach. How could he be injured there? The pain was in his arm! As if the sight of the ghost wound stirred unknown memories, his hand flew suddenly to his throat, discovering cloth enwrapping him there too. But – talking, swallowing, nothing hurt. Only his arm and he could see no bandage there.

He sat there for sometime, one hand lightly resting against his bandaged neck, in a daze. Kayura waited him out at first, but her patience soon wore out. "Ryo?" she asked finally.

Ryo looked up at her slowly, blue eyes wide and lost. "I didn't know – I can't feel - what happened to me?"

As she had before, Kayura studied him carefully before answering patiently as though speaking to a child, "I don't know, Ryo. If I did, do you think I would hide it from you?"

Ryo flushed again, feeling very much like the child she must think him to be. "No!" he denied hopelessly.

"Get up then, Ryo. Walk around. If you can't and faint, so be it. Try not to fall too hard, will you?" With that rather curt instruction, she whirled, hair lifting with the movement and strode out from under the tree's protective branches.

"Cye! Are you ready?" Rowen called impatiently from the stairs.

"Yes, yes! Almost!" Cye answered in a rush. He hurried about his room flinging a change of clothes and his stuffed whale towards the small duffle. Then quickly making the bed and tidying his desk, he rushed down the stairs almost running head first in Rowen.

"All finished!" he assured the waiting ronin breathlessly.

"Good," Rowen nodded. "Now – "

"Oh!" Cye cried, hand flying to his face. Without warning, he shoved his bag and pillow and Herbert the Whale into Rowen's dazed arms. "I have to leave a message for Mia so she knows where we all are and then I have to make sure I've thrown out the old milk so she doesn't accidentally drink it and the grocery list needs to – " He ran into the kitchen without elaborating further.

"So..." came the smooth drawl behind Rowen. "I see we're making good time?" At the amused voice, Rowen gave Herbert an annoyed glare before lobbing another one to the blond who leaned nonchalantly against the open doorway. Kento waited in the yard behind Sage, glancing curiously past him into the house.

"Yo, Cye! Hurry your butt up!" he called in what he surely meant to be a helpful manner.

Cye bustled out of the kitchen, and huffed indignantly. "I am hurrying! As if I'll ever make pancakes for that ungrateful lug ever – " Rowen cut him off by returning his stuff – Herbert hit him squarely in the face – and getting a guiding grip on his elbow.

Without further interruption, Cye was propelled out the door and into the van. The other four followed. With a self-satisfied flick of his wrist Kento revealed the keys, started the car, and they were finally off.

Though not even they were entirely sure where they were going.

Ryo put a hand out and let his tired body sag against the bark. It was rough and oddly warm underneath his fingertips. Leaning there, regaining his breath, he again let his eyes follow the mammoth trunk of the tree as it rose up into its highest branches. What little sky he could see was blue and clear, but he could not see the sun – if there was a sun here in wherever they were, he thought miserably – and hadn't the faintest idea what time it was.

Walking from his sleeping place to the outer branches and back to the tree had tired him out. He was exhausted and confused, and his arm was sore. At least, even if he didn't know what had happened, he could _see_ the dark bruises surrounding his left elbow.

In fact, he found the visual explanation of the crippling pain he'd felt strangely reassuring, especially when he still could not feel anything from the ghost wounds on his stomach and neck. The utterly inexplicable nature of his injured state combined with his unknown surroundings prevented any attempt to remove the bandages. He was just still too weirded out.

The branches swished. Ryo rolled his body over so that he was standing with his back against the trunk as Kayura re-entered the circle of branches.

Kayura paused when she saw him. She looked as cold and callous as she had every other time he'd seen her in this place, and when she opened her mouth he waited dejectedly for the efficient, cutting wisdom that seemed to endlessly fountain from her.

Strangely, she seemed to know it. "Ryo..." she began in supreme, unfathomable wisdom. Then with a frown and a minute skittering of embarrassment across her face, she stopped.

"I..." she sighed and dropped completely the pose of distant matriarch, "Ryo, don't force yourself. You look horrible," she told him matter-of-factly.

To his surprise, she came over and took his arm, lending him support as she lead him back to his spot under the tree. Definitely his spot since he didn't seem destined to ever leave it. 

"I think you should sleep," she said, crouched next to him in the dirt.

Ryo pulled away from her in protest.

"Ah! I've _been_ sleeping!"

Kayura shifted, bringing her face close to his and studying him intently. "But you are still tired aren't you?" She pointed out not unkindly.

In fact there was a hint of actual human concern lurking behind her eyes, signaling that she had managed to overcome whatever strange bout of inhuman nastiness had been bothering her on his previous awakenings.

Ryo wondered distantly if he was, in every clichéd sense of the word, now seeing the 'real' Kayura. A mysterious assailant could generate enough stress to unbalance anybody. And, he admitted to himself, having to deal with an injured ronin appearing out of nowhere probably hadn't helped any.

Then again, maybe she was just crazy.

Unfortunately, he was not able to ponder that further because, to his irritation, he discovered that he was just as tired as she thought he was. With a certain amount of resignation, he felt himself falling inescapably into slumber for the _fourth_ time.

Secretly, all terrifying freakiness of the situation aside, he thought this was getting kinda old.

The high-rise apartment building loomed above the city street, dark and foreboding. The four ebony mirrors that formed its walls reflected city life derisively back at awed observers.

Kento was impressed by its sheer size while Sage ignored it completely, bored by perfection. Cye merely worried, while Rowen hopelessly fought to find a parking space while keeping Kento's eyes on the road.

Finally, the beaten old van was ensconced in the underground garage and the four of them bustled into the luxurious lobby, done in black shining marble or heavy midnight velvet when stone failed. An elderly rhinoceros of a woman glowered at them inquisitively from behind a darkly marbled reception desk.

Rowen approached confidently, adopting the easy swagger of one who knew he belonged. Kento, still impressed, leaned over to check his teeth in the reflection on the perfectly polished stone. Cye hardly helped inspire confidence, seeming as nervous as the fourth grader who has just stolen a snickers bar from the 7-11 and expects to find the National Guard on his trail.

"May I...help you?" she asked skeptically.

Rowen smiled winningly. "Yes. We're here to visit a friend. Not really sure which apartment he's in, but if you would be so kind..."

"Name?" the woman asked dangerously, eyes narrowed and nose upturned.

Rowen paused. "Aheh heh...that's...a really good question." He turned to whisper urgently to one of his companions. "Cye! Name?"

Cye looked lost. "I don't know! Ex-Warlord of Corruption?"

"Scarface!" Kento suggested.

The receptionist coughed.

Rowen turned to look at her slowly. "Er...Cale?" he guessed.

She gave him one of those looks that people usually reserve for small vermin that have stolen into the house and chewed up great-great-grandmother's ancient lace tablecloth. "Last name?" she grated impatiently.

Sage had hung back through this conversation, studying the opulent lobby with a casual eye. Finally, as the conversation seemed to deteriorate dangerously, he absently approached the desk, silent and unobtrusive so that no one noticed him until he was leaning against the marble.

"Kujuurou Sasaki. Could you tell him we're here?" he murmured pleasantly before turning back to his perusal of the morbid decoration. The previous combatants were dumbfounded. The old rhinoceros in particular was something of a landed fish.

After a second or so, Sage looked back to favor her with a glance that clearly said, "Oh, are you still there?" The woman picked up the phone and quickly dialed.

"Yes. Mr. Sasaki there are some people here to see you. They might be friends of yours. Yes? Alright, sir."

It was barely ten minutes before the elevators doors dinged open, and a rumpled man of indiscriminate age and ruffled blue hair walked out to stare at them in shock.

"What are _you_ doing here?"

Cale's apartment was plain and had thankfully broken free of heavy darkness of the building's color scheme. He led them in to a tastefully decorated common room of blues and grays while he entered the small kitchen attached to it.

"Please sit down," he urged. "I'll make tea or something.

The ronins sat on the long couch and the few chairs scattered on the deep blue rug. Kento leaned over to playfully slug Sage in the shoulder, whispering subversively, "Sage, that was awesome!"

"What was?" Sage inquired impassively. Kento rolled his eyes with a snicker.

Soon Cale re-entered the room with a tray of four steaming mugs.

"Thank you," Cye said.

"Oh, don't thank me yet. I...uh...used the microwave." The former warlord looked self-conscious at the praise and nervous as if he had betrayed someone or something with his new alliance to modern technology. Tea in the microwave wasn't going to end the world.

Cale absently straightened the collar of the wrinkled white shirt he wore. Cye wondered if he'd been sleeping in his clothes or if he'd even been sleeping much at all. His eyes were half closed and a little blood-shot while his shirt and pants were stained and rumpled from wear.

"I know you're surprised to see us, but we really don't want to bother you. We were looking for Dais actually," Rowen explained.

"Oh, yes. Well, that's an excellent idea. You go look for him if you like," Cale said with a touch of bitterness.

Rowen hesitated. "You don't know where he is?"

"No. Haven't the foggiest."

"He's missing?" Cye asked anxiously, paranoia creeping in.

"No," Cale said, sinking exhaustedly into a large armchair. "No, he's just...Dais."

"Er...I see," Rowen said, uncertain of what his next step should be.

"This is his apartment you know. I didn't pick this price or the décor. But he abandoned it, left me a key. I didn't even know about it until then," Cale added as an afterthought. His fingers tapped restlessly on flower-upholstered arm of the chair.

"Oh. Well, freaking _marvelous_," Kento burst out. "That guy still makes my head hurt."

Cale seemed actually comforted by that. It must have been something of a shared sentiment. "Why were you looking for him?" he asked.

There was an embarrassed lull. "We've lost Ryo," Rowen explained, taking the lead again.

Cale was skeptical. "Are you sure? He'd didn't seem like the most responsible person. Maybe he just ran off somewhere."

"Hey, listen! You shut up about Ryo!" Kento slammed his cup onto the table, tea sloshing angrily. He half rose from the couch though it was unclear what, if anything, he planned to do.

"Kento, can it!" Cye elbowed him in the side. Kento fell back down, holding his ribs and glowering, full of protective anger.

Sage took of slow sip of his tea, apparently oblivious to the excitement. He looked up slowly meeting Cale's eyes.

"Ryo," he began flatly, with the barest undertone of anger, "would not do that."

There was tense pause as Sage and Cale glared each other down. Already worn out, Cale eventually gave in, glancing away towards the kitchen.

Then Sage was looking back into his teacup, adding absently, "Not unless he had a stupidly self-sacrificing reason to do it."

Rowen winced. "Okay, whatever. Let's just say he didn't just run off for no reason. Capisce? Still, we think something weird may have happened and frankly, we don't have the faintest idea where to start."

Cale became mildly embarrassed. "Well, to tell the truth – Kayura's missing too. I just got back from looking for her about three hours ago. You woke me up," he admitted. Cye's eyes widened in sympathy, taking in anew the older man's frazzled appearance.

"Oh," Rowen said. He shared a worried glance with his friends. Even Sage was letting his anxiety show. "Oh, fuck."

In other news, the title is too long for ff.net. I feel, somehow, that I have reached a new high.

Also, if anyone has found a Ryo/Kayura fic, I'd be interested in reading it.

P.S. someone asked me if I'd started this before? No. Very random product of not wanting to finish chapter 6 of Monkey See, Monkey Do. What were you thinking of?