Reciprocal Motion

by Libellule

CONCLUDED Summary: Set directly after the events in A Stitch In Time. Will the troopers be able to endure the consequences of their actions?RyoxSeiji shounen ai

5. chapter five: russian roulette

Summary:  Set directly after the events in A Stitch In Time.  Seiji makes a drastic choice as his stalker is revealed.  Hastily, Ryo promises something that he cannot provide, and hurts the one he wishes to protect. 

Ryo/Seiji shounen ai drama R

Warning: This story contains shounen ai, which implies male/male love. Please do not read if such ideas upset you. Please use your good judgment. This fiction also contains violence, death, and scary little creatures that hide under your bed at night.  *grrr*

Rated R for violence, strong language and sexual situations.

Disclaimer: "Yoroiden Samurai Troopers" does not belong to me. I am but a lowly slug.

Plea:  Please read and review, oh wise and generous readers! 

*Any* comments or suggestions are welcome.

Comments are happily received at: Li_bell_ule@yahoo.com

Reciprocal Motion:

Chapter 5
Russian Roulette

Touma watched blue shadows dance on the walls as soft moonlight filtered in through the curtains of his open window. He'd been staring at the shadows' billowy gestures for hours. Their fluid movements were hypnotic, yet did not bring sleep. The quiet breeze that dictated the shadow dance contained a sinister tinge that made Touma shiver.

The archer rose from his bed wearily, moving to shut the open window. It closed with a dull thud and the curtains fell still. The unobstructed moonlight projected onto his roommate's empty bed.

Standing there, hands resting at the windowsill, Touma looked out into the blackness and wondered where Seiji was sleeping tonight. Was he safe? Seiji had a way of ignoring his natural warning system, believing it to be a frailty of his human body.

Touma sat on Seiji's neatly made bed, smoothing his hands across the padded quilt. It was immaculately maintained, but simple. Seiji only kept the bare essentials, his personal belongings being a precious few. Touma wished Seiji knew his own self worth-- that he placed enough value in himself to know when he needed help.

Touma sighed, deeply concerned, for he knew his friend thought himself to be worthless and was too proud to ask for the help he so desperately needed.

Seiji's behavior this afternoon was enough to convince Touma that action had to be taken-- whether it be voluntary or by force-- Seiji needed assistance.

However, Touma knew better than to push Seiji, who tended to recoil when pressed emotionally. Sometimes he lashed out, and Seiji's wrath was not something Touma ever wanted to be the focus of.

Exhaling in frustration, he lay back on Seiji's bed. He was trapped by his desire to help Seiji and his lack of knowledge of his friend's present situation. Talking to Seiji this afternoon had been about as eventful as talking to a brick wall. Touma knew that something consequential was just beyond his fingertips. And Ryo, who should understand better than anyone, was withholding information.

That made Touma seethe with anger. Where did Ryo get off, merely dismissing this-- acting as if he couldn't care less, when Touma knew Ryo was just as horrified as he was. It was Ryo's nature to worry about all of them. He felt it was his responsibility as assumed leader to protect them. But Ryo had failed this time-- he hadn't been able to protect Seiji from whatever was slowly destroying him.

Touma had nothing to go by except his own observations and speculations. It was clear to him that Seiji was suffering consequences of time distortion.

The sheer confused terror in Seiji's pale eyes, as he had stared at Touma after being resuscitated, had been unmistakable. Touma had recognized it immediately-- it had mirrored the absolute fear that had paralyzed him when he thought Seiji was dead on the floor.

A chill ran down the archer's spine. Touma rolled over onto his side and thought, If Seiji's suffering repercussions, then why isn't Ryo? They both went through time... they both changed the past... What happened to Seiji that didn't happen to Ryo?

With headlong speed, it struck him, the weight of such a keen understanding crushing the air from his lungs.

Touma bolted upright. Ryo didn't die... oh God...

When they had explained what had happened to them-- Touma didn't really believe that Seiji had been killed. He'd accepted time travel, and Arago's possessions, but death of a yoroiden? He would have known, he would have felt it if Seiji had died. He was his best friend for crying out loud, he definitely would have known.

But as Touma sat there, he started to shake, his body trembling beyond his control. It dawned on him-- he was feeling it now. That coldness, the utter lack of warmth, he'd felt whenever he was around Seiji--

His death was the difference-- it had to be.

Realizing how severe and how completely irreversible these consequences might be, Touma felt a knot form in the pit of his stomach. Seiji might be taken from them after all... They were only five, and connected-- bonded whether they liked it or not-- to one another. To lose one of his close friends would be to lose a limb, an essential part of himself.

Touma tried to calm himself, but after several minutes of panic he knew that he would be unable to.

He had to do something-- he couldn't just sit back and watch as one of his friends withered before his eyes.

Quickly rising from the bed, he decided that some herbal tea would help to settle his nerves and then he could form rational thoughts and not be burdened down by sentiment.

Touma grabbed his tea cup from the previous evening off his night stand and quietly exited his room.

Descending the staircase, Touma assured himself that everything would be fine, that he was merely over reacting--

Touma stopped short as he rounded the corner, entering the kitchen.

 "Seiji!" He gasped.

Shocked, the tea cup fell from his suddenly inept hands and crashed to the floor, shattering into unfixable pieces.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Touma demanded of Seiji.

The warrior of light brandished a large, serrated kitchen knife as blood dripped down his arm in flowing rivulets. A deep incision marred his left wrist.

"I had to make sure." He said simply. "It's wrong."

"What's wrong?" Touma asked, taking a cautious step towards Seiji, who still held the knife.

Seiji shook his head as if to clear his mind. "It... it told me my blood had turned black..." The knife slipped through his weak grasp and clattered to the wooden floor. "It's not black, is it Touma?"

Touma crossed the distance between them in seconds, in time to catch Seiji as he collapsed.

*********************************************************************

It was nearly three o'clock in the morning when the door to Touma and Seiji's room finally opened. Shin emerged, wiping his hands with a bloodied cloth and noted Ryo gravely. He walked past Ryo silently and eased into the bathroom to clean himself up.

"Is he going to be all right?" Ryo asked, peering into the room. Seiji laid unconscious on his bed, his arm bandaged firmly.

"We stopped the bleeding in time." Touma informed him, stepping into the hallway and closing the door behind him. "But he's not all right." Touma folded his arms across his chest, speaking in a low voice. "Ryo, this can't continue."

"I know. But in a few days when he's had time to adjust--." Ryo started.

"Ryo, he's gone insane!" Touma fumed. "He sees things that aren't there. He hears voices in his head, telling him horrible things! He almost killed himself for crying out loud! He needs help."

"He's been through a lot, but--."

"No!" Touma shouted angrily. "No more excuses! We don't know how to help him-- Seiji needs to see a doctor, Ryo."

"And what would we tell him, Touma?" Ryo yelled back, his temper flaring. "That he died? Tell the doctor about the yoroi? Explain what we are? That wouldn't help Seiji-- they'd lock him up! Do you have any idea of how dangerous it is for one of us in a hospital? It would lead to a battery of testing and experiments-- they'd come after all of us!"

"You'd let him die again?" Touma asked incredulously. "Sacrifice one for the sake of the group, is that it fearless leader?"

In a fit of rage, Ryo grabbed Touma by the collar and thrust him against the wall.

"You think I'm like that? You think I don't care about him?" He screamed. "I wish to God I didn't care about him so much!"

"That's not good enough!" Touma retorted.

"What do you want from me?" Ryo yelled. "You want me to admit that this is all my fault-- you're right! If I hadn't messed up, none of this would have happened to him. But I can't undo it-- I can't mend what I've done to Seiji--."

Shaking with anger, Ryo let him go. "He's beyond mortal help. All we can do now is wait and see what happens next and go from there."

Touma shoved him away-- hard. "That's not your decision to make! What gives you the right to toy with him? He's suffered enough at your whim. I'm taking Seiji to the hospital tomorrow, whether you wish it or not!"

 Ryo's eyes narrowed as he perceived Touma's underlying threat. "Don't push me right now, Touma."

"Trust me," Touma began, opening the door to his room. "You'll know when I'm pushing you."

The archer withdrew from the argument to keep vigil over Seiji, leaving Ryo fuming in the hallway.

***************************************************************************

Shin cringed as he heard the back door slam, sounding Ryo's retreat to the backyard. He'd heard the whole heated row from inside the upstairs bathroom as he scrubbed the blood from his fingers.

Of the five warriors, Shin had the most medical instruction. He had first aid training and was a certified life guard, not to mention the in the field schooling he'd received over the years of battle. But this incident was beyond his ability-- the scent of all that blood had made him nauseous.

Shin hated that they were fighting, and he knew that Seiji wouldn't have wanted them to quarrel-- especially over him. Shin mentally winced-- he hadn't meant to refer to Seiji as if he were dead.

There was a succession of soft raps at the door. "Shin?"

 "Come in." He said, rinsing his hands under the running tap.

Shuu opened the door and quietly stepped inside. "Are you all right?" He asked.

"Me?" Shin questioned, not looking up from washing his hands. "I'm fine, Shuu."

"Why don't I believe you?" Shuu remarked, folding his arms across his chest.

Shin turned the faucet off and put his hands on either side of the sink, leaning against it. "What's happening to us, Shuu? Four days ago, everything was perfect. Too perfect, I guess. We were all safe, no fighting, no battles... Now Ryo and Touma are ready to kill each other and Seiji--."

He paused, hanging his head. "This is his blood..." Shin said fingering his stained shirt. "There was so much, everywhere..."

"I know," Shuu said quietly. "I saw the kitchen."

"I don't know if I can handle another war, Shuu." Shin looked up at him then.

"There's not going to be war-- it's over. Arago is gone."

"I know. That's why I'm afraid. We don't know what this is or how to fight it-- look at what it's doing to Seiji. He nearly succeeded in killing himself."

Shuu unfolded his arms and moved to stand beside Shin. "We don't know that this is supernatural."

"What do you mean? Of course it is."

"Shin, has it occurred to you that maybe Seiji has finally cracked? I mean, the guy is a fortress. He holds everything in, hardly shows us what's going on behind that hair. With all the shit we've been through, it's a wonder he hasn't gone insane before this."

Shin sighed. "With all that's happened in the past few days... I don't know what to think."

"We'll just have to roll with the punches." Shuu lightly struck his fist against Shin's shoulder in a playful gesture. "Don't worry so much. Whatever happens we'll deal with it."

Shin offered a small smile. "Get some sleep. I have a feeling we'll need it tomorrow."

"What about you?"

"There's just one more thing I need to do before I'll be able to get any rest."


****************************************************************

Ryo recoiled into his sweatshirt, drawing his numbing fingers into the sleeves and folding his arms across his chest. It was colder than he would have thought for a summer evening.

Fatigue tugged at his eyelids, but his mind was too occupied to find rest. He stared up into the cold night, pondering his dilemma.

Ryo heard the back door slide open and soft footsteps impress the grass. He did not have to turn to know who it was.

Shin crouched next to him. Ryo continued to study the map of stars, tracing over the invisible lines with his eyes as he recalled each constellation. He felt Shin's gaze boring into him, but Ryo's eyes did not stray from the stars.

"What's wrong with him?" Shin asked, speaking finally.

"I don't know." Ryo said, locating the north star.

"That's bullshit."

Ryo turned his eyes from the sky towards Shin, openly astonished. Shin rarely swore.

"You know more than you're saying." Shin said irately. "This affects all of us, Ryo-- not just you!"

"Shin, I--."

"Don't deny it, Ryo. You're not fooling anyone. We need to know exactly what happened with Arago, you and Seiji. What right have you to keep things from us?"

Anger made Ryo's response quick, "And what right have you to demand such information from me?"

"The blood on this shirt gives me all the right in the world to know." Shin said fiercely, pulling out his stained shirt for Ryo to see.

Ryo fingered it lightly then scoffed.

"What?" Shin asked annoyed.

Ryo mumbled, recoiling as the memory surfaced, "If I live a hundred years, nothing will ever surpass the pain of that moment-- of his death."

Regretting his harsh approach earlier, Shin asked hesitantly, "Does Seiji ever talk about it? Dying, I mean..."

"We tried once." Ryo whispered. "But he--"

They were quiet until Shin said, "It was really terrible, wasn't it?"

Ryo nodded mutely, his gaze returning to the stars.

"A horrible reality," Shin persisted. "One that the rest of us will never know because of you, Ryo. I know you think you've failed but you haven't-- you've saved us."

"I haven't saved anyone."

"Can you honestly say that my life would have been better had you not changed the past?"

Ryo thought back on the tragic lives of his friends before his journey and had to keep quiet.

"I didn't think so. You and Seiji sacrificed something great to keep us oblivious-- to have us never know the sadness our lives could have been. I know you think you cannot bear it, but don't shut us out. It's our turn to endure the load."

Ryo sighed, it was just like Shin to try to make things better. Ryo coerced a smile to his face, exerting extra force to simply allow muscles to upturn his lips.

In the dimness of 3 a.m., his false smile fooled the warrior of Trust.

Shin continued, "Touma is upset-- he said many things in anger that he will regret. But he is rightly frustrated, Ryo. If not for his psychological trauma, then at least for his physical injuries, Seiji should go to a hospital."

"Shin, we can't-- not yet." Ryo protested. "Not until all hope is gone... he'd be taken from us."

"...because he's going crazy?"

"No!" Ryo snapped. "Because they wouldn't believe him-- and how could they? Our story is quite fantastic..."

"Then you believe his behavior has something to do with the mystical-- not the mental?"

"Shin, he's not suffering from insanity! I believe Seiji-- something is stalking him..." His voice trailed off, clearly frustrated.

Shin draped his arm around Ryo's shoulders. "Come on." He helped him to his feet. "It's been a hard day-- and something tells me tomorrow won't be any easier."

Ryo let himself be guided back to the house. His fatigue forced him to abandon his stubborn resolve.




*************************************************************************

"RYO!"

The warrior of virtue woke with a start. He opened his eyes slowly and found it was still dark outside. Groaning, he rolled over and glanced at the clock. 6:23 a.m. 

He'd barely gotten three hours of sleep and his head was pounding from exhaustion. There was no way he was getting up, he decided, and pulled the covers up, over his head.

"God damn you!" He heard Touma yell furiously as he ran through the hallway towards his room.

Byakuen lifted his head at the noise and glanced up at his master, but made no attempt to get up.

Ryo sighed and tried to ignore Touma's shouting-- he was too tired to deal with any of his righteous bullshit this morning.

"What have you done with him?"

With that one question, Ryo bolted out of bed and opened the door before Touma got there to kick it in.

"He's gone?" Ryo asked.

"Don't play dumb with me, Ryo!" Touma snapped. "If anything has happened to him, I'm holding you responsible!"

By this time, both Shuu and Shin had gathered in the hallway to see what all the commotion was. Nasuti was also awake, though she chose to listen to the argument behind her closed bedroom door.

"Touma, I don't know where Seiji is!" Ryo said honestly.

"Isn't that convenient!" Touma retorted. "I should have known..."

"Guys..." Shuu tried to cut in before things got out of hand.

"Let's everybody calm down..." Shin stated meekly.

Neither Ryo nor Touma paid any attention

Ryo narrowed his eyes, "What's that supposed to mean, Touma? I thought you were going to watch him."

"This is your fault, Ryo-- don't try to shift the blame." Touma shouted, jabbing Ryo in the chest with his finger.

"I'm so sick of your shit!" Ryo yelled. "Why are you acting this way? I've only been trying to help Seiji the best way I know how. I'm not the one who insisted on taking him to the hospital and I'm not the one who lost him!"

"Well, I'm not the one who let him die, now am I?"

"You son of a bitch!" Ryo lunged at him.

Shuu moved quickly to intercept the blow that surely would have broken Touma's nose.

"Gentlemen, that's enough!" Shuu roared, holding Ryo back. "There's one thing the two of you are forgetting. Seiji is a yoroiden. He knew the risks and he made his choice. It's no more Ryo's fault for what happened than it is yours, Touma. So, chill! All this fighting does is prevent us from finding him."

"Come on, lads. He can't have gotten far." Shin said as sunlight streamed through the windows with the rising sun.

Inside of five minutes it was certain that Seiji was not in the house or anywhere else on the property.

"Man, where in the hell is he?" Shuu asked.

"Ryo, do you want me to check the roads?" Nasuti offered. "I can have my car ready in five minutes."

"No, I can't picture him going inbound..."

"Where can you picture him?" Shin asked. "If not towards the city, then where?"

Suddenly, it clicked.

"I know where he would go--." Ryo blurted, and he was off, running with the speed of Rekka.

Ryo found Seiji in the field-- in that field-- the berth of their misfortune. He was sitting amid the tall grass as if waiting.

"Seiji?" Ryo asked breathlessly. "We've been looking everywhere for you... I was worried..."

 "I'm not crazy, Ryo." Seiji said bluntly.

Ryo was quiet as he sat on the ground next to him.

"I know you all think I've lost my mind." Seiji glanced at him. "But the things I see and hear are real."

"Seiji, you may think they are--."

"Ryo, I know the difference..." Seiji said with conviction.

Ryo sighed and ran his fingers through his black hair.

 "You don't believe me." Seiji whispered.

"Yes, I do."

Seiji reached over and turned Ryo's face to him. "Look at me and say that."

The warrior of virtue looked at him, staring intently into Seiji's pale eyes. "I believe you."

Ryo was trapped there-- caught forever in his violet gaze, fated to drown in the endless depths.

Shin arrived first. "Th-there you are, Seiji..." He said, gasping. Shuu, Touma and Nasuti quickly followed.

Ryo glanced up as the others came up behind them.

The atmosphere was dimming, the sun disappearing while the sky was drained of its color to a stark, endless, white. Slowly, clouds turned from white to dark shades of gray as they swirled, forming a puckering hole in the sky, the hole leaking blackness into the world.

Of the blackness, congealed the form of a woman. She surveyed the group with several small dogs...

"My God..." Ryo breathed. "I see her, Seiji."

"We all can..." Touma whispered in disbelief.


*****************************************************************************

The woman standing before them was not human, nor had she ever been. Her eyes were cold and black and her skin was pale and preternatural. Her presence breathed regality, but there was something frightfully lethal in her gaze.

Nasuti's body realized she was in danger before her mind did-- Nasuti felt herself shaking with fear.

She could not tear her focus from the woman for she bore an uncanny resemblance to her mother. But her eyes were wrong-- they were black, soulless.

"You." The woman pointed, raising her arm in a chilling gesture. "I have come for you, girl."

Nasuti shrieked in terror as frigid blasts of air whipped around her. Tiny jabs of pinpricking pain assaulted her skin and she cried out for help.

The woman's jackals snarled, and then pounced, the dark pack rushing towards Nasuti.

The warriors tried to protect her, but found they were rooted to their spots. Nasuti screamed as the black creatures overtook her.

"Stop!"

Unaffected by the paralysis that plagued the others, Seiji moved through the darkness, his voice brimming with authority.

This was a farce and he knew it. This creature had not come for Nasuti. It was unclear exactly why she wanted him, though Seiji was certain that it had to do with the short time that he was amoung the dead.

"Let her go." Seiji demanded.

"You dare order me?" The woman hissed.

"Yes." He was not afraid to cast his eyes upon her.

She narrowed her eyes, then smiled wryly. "I've come for a soul-- a death is owed me--." She looked at him with a smirk for she knew that Seiji knew what she wanted from him.

"You must say it." She whispered. "It must be your will."

Wasn't it the way these things always went-- torture until you want it, and then you must beg for more?

Seiji wished for once that things could just be straightforward.

"You can't!" He heard Ryo scream. Suddenly, Seiji feared that Ryo might do something reckless.

Ryo's body would not obey, and he remained frozen in place, with only his voice as a weapon. "What right have you to take lives?"

The woman sneered, turning her unnerving sight towards him.

"You don't recognize me, though I take all shapes and forms."

 "Who are you, then?" Shin asked, finding his voice.

Her identity was so blatantly obvious at that moment that Ryo wondered how he could have missed it before.


"She's Death." Touma answered quietly.

"Wise lad." The woman replied.

She spoke to Seiji without moving her lips or making a sound. :It's your choice.: Then she set her black gaze upon his friends, her dead eyes resting on Ryo's defiant form. :We can do this the easy way or the hard way...: Her jackals began pacing in small circles, growling fiercely.

It was all coming together now. Seiji balled his hands into fists. She had stripped him of life-- made it so that he no longer desired to live, and was now asking him to submit to death. If he didn't concede, the consequences could cost his friend's lives.

That was the choice he had to make.

But what choice was there, really? His will to live had been considerably ruined-- existence bringing him nothing but pain. His thirst for life had been vanquished, and he felt that nothing could restore it.

Seiji looked at her with perfect apathy and said, "Take me. I accept your offer."

At these words, the warriors were released from their stagnation.

"No!!" Ryo uttered, coming between Seiji and Lady Death.

Seiji would never know what gave Ryo the audacity to challenge her.

"You've no choice in the matter, Ryo." Seiji countered.

"You can't have him! Or her!" Ryo yelled in defiance.

"A death is owed me. Someone must pay it." Lady Death retorted.

"We went through time to fix this!"

"Infidel!" She roared, breaking out of her human manifestation. Her presence grew instantly to intimidating heights.

"You went through time to cheat me! Did you think I would not catch up to you? I came for what is mine."

"What of the one who caused this?" Ryo shouted at Death. "Why does he go unpunished as you come to collect the innocent?"

"And what of him? I am indiscriminant! It does not matter to me what he has done with his mortal life."

"You speak of those who have cheated you, but no one has cheated death more times than Arago!"

That name sparked interest in her dark eyes. "How has this Arago cheated me?"

"He's lived for thousands of years! Leaching off the life force and energy of warriors around him, he abuses the natural order of life. He steals others lives so he can continue living. If there is anyone you should be coming for, it is Arago."

As Death paused to consider this, Seiji saw his chance at peace fading. Slowly, she declined back to her less intimidating form. A plan was shaping in her mind.

"This Arago is not in the mortal world."

"No." Ryo replied. "He hides from you."

Ryo held his breath as she offered her ultimatum.

"Bring him to this world by sundown and the death owed me will be repaid." The woman said. "But he is marked!"

She shouted pointing to Seiji. "If Arago is not delivered to me, then I will come for him."

She retreated back into the convergence in the sky, her black dogs following behind.

They were all silent after such an exchange.

Bartering with a tangible death was something they never thought they'd encounter.

The task Ryo had put before them was impossible.

"Ryo," Touma began. "We can't bring Arago here... We destroyed him-- banished him from this world."

"We will find a way!" Ryo snapped. He turned to find Seiji's steeled gaze fixed upon him.

"You selfish bastard." Seiji retorted. He walked away from Ryo without so much as a backward glance.

The others wisely stayed behind, watching Ryo pursue him with fury hastening in his steps.

 "What have you done?" Ryo asked angrily, pulling Seiji aside.

"Accepting my fate." He replied, giving Ryo a hard look. Seiji shook his arm free. "I advise you to do the same."

"How can you say that?" Ryo exploded. "This is your life, god damn it! Don't you understand? This is not a game of Russian roulette-- the bullet is absolutely in the chamber!"

"I want to die." Seiji hissed.

Ryo stepped back from him, as if slapped. He murmured, "How can you say that to me after all we've been through... you don't even care..."

Violent emotion coursed through Seiji and he uncharacteristically let it take control. "Don't you understand?" He shouted. "But life embraces you, how could you possibly? I had to do it! I've not had a moment's peace-- the cost of protecting those I love. Even if I didn't yearn for death, I still would have had no other option!" He turned, and started for the house.

"Because you're in love with Nasuti." Ryo retorted, bitterness tainting his words.

Seiji stopped and turned slowly, looking back at Ryo. "No. Because I'm in love with you."

Ryo's eye grew wide, and he could only stare at him, breath stolen from his lungs, blinking in surprise.

Seiji stepped closer, leaning in to whisper in his ear. "I've watched and waited for you to return the sentiment that I keep hidden deep within my being... the passion that burns in my heart of ice-- the last flame of my heart. You've been feeding that flame, Ryo. It consumes me now. And I can no longer wait for you."

Ryo was frozen, caught in hesitation-- this unexpected revelation leaving him speechless.

At his silence, Seiji leaned forward and gently kissed his cheek, whispering, "Think back on me with kindness."

Pulling back, plainly hurt, Seiji retorted, "It's okay, Ryo." Seiji backed off, and said callously, "You can whisper it to my gravestone."

To be continued in chapter six…

******************************************************************************************

This chapter-- oh it was difficult, chalk full of information!

Please review?  Please?  I've worked very hard on this story and I feel like no one is reading it :(

For those who are reading it and would like to receive notices when I update my fiction, please send e-mail to li_bell_ule@yahoo.com and just write "update" in the subject line.  I'll add you to the list.

Want to know more about me, and my story/site progress on a day-to-day basis?

 Visit: http://dragonflyupdates.blogspot.com

And as always check out http://thedragonflysleeps.tripod.com/
to see my ryo/seiji art and other troopers multimedia (which has been updated).