AWAY FROM HOME
CHAPTER3: THE ANGUISH
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Previously on Away from home:
After giving the last hug and an appropriate bow, Mr. and Mrs. Hashiba left their son behind at LPS. (Lincon's private school) Rowen waves good-bye to his parents till they were no longer in sight. He then looked at the sun that started to set. 'Good-bye freedom. Good-bye' He thought. Rowen then followed Mrs. White to the dorms. As he enters the dorm, his eyes widen in astonishment. The room was small, but it held a bed –which was next to the window-, a closet, a night table that was next to his bed, and a lamp. The good thing was that he wasn't sharing the room with no one. "Starting tomorrow, you will be wearing nothing more than the uniforms. You have three set of uniforms." Mrs. White said coldly as she opened the closet that held three unwrinkled uniforms and one pair of black shoes. Rowen nodded his head as he set his things next to his bed. "So when do I wear my own clothing's?" He asked. Mrs. White glared at him once more. "Never." She sneered. "You are now restricted on many things like all students here at LPS. You will follow our rules and regulation or meet the punishments." She said in a cold sneering voice. Rowen looked at her with a hint of fear in his blue eyes. 'Hello hell' He thought. Mrs. White left the room leaving a stunned, afraid Rowen behind. Once she was gone, Rowen raced to the bathroom and locked himself in it.
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Japan:
"Did he take it well Mr. Hashiba?" Sage asked. Mr. Hashiba nodded his head. "Yeah. He did acted sarcastically but he took it well." Mr. Hashiba said. "Is there anyway we can keep in touch with him?" Kento asked. "Yes. You can mail him regularly or E-mail. All students have their own laptop there, so there ain't no problem for him since he knows how to work a computer as if it was just another toy." Mr. Hashiba said. Mrs. Hashiba came back from the kitchen with some tea and rice balls. "Care for some Rice balls young men?" Mrs. Hashiba said. "All right! FOOD!" Kento said as he grabbed the tray from Mrs. Hashiba's hands. "Kento that is in proper!" Cye said as he got the tray from his bulky friend.
"But I'm hungry" Kento whined. Cye passed the tray to Sage who passed it to Ryo. "Sorry big guy but no food for you. Remember your diet." Ryo said.
Kento began to whine over it. "Stupid doctor just had to tell my folks of my obese state. God I would love to kill him that Baka!" he said as he slammed his fist to the table. "Suits you right for eating like a pig." Cye said. Everyone else chuckled from the scene. Mrs. Hashiba looked up at the grandfather clock that stood in the middle of the living room. "I believe it's late for all four of you. You should start your way home. I'll E-mail Touma that you all said hi." Mrs. Hashiba said. "It's all right Mrs. Hashiba. I own a computer of my own. I'll E-mail him." Sage said as he got up. "Speaking about time, I have practice in about an hour. I have to go." Sage said as he bows respectfully and left. The others did the same, as they walked not far from Sage.
Mrs. Hashiba sighted. All ready she misses Rowen's presence in the house. "It's real quiet with out Touma's presence in here." She said. Mr. Hashiba shook his head. "I told you to think of this outcome. Now we can't get him back for another year or two." He said. "Hey I believed it was the best for Touma! He can't be living in this apartment all alone almost everyday just because YOU are always in that lab of yours!" Mrs. Hashiba said. "You didn't want anything from him Marian! You knew from the very beginning that I can't keep my eyes on him because of my responsibility's at the job!" Mr. Hashiba yelled. " Oh quit with that crap Genichiro! You said that you'd take time to take care of him! You promise me, Touma, and the judges! But no! You went on with your job and left Touma all alone. That's why I got that idea of sending him to America!" Mrs. Hashiba said. She got her purse and walked out the door. "I'm late. I have to get to the airport. I have a project to do in Los Angeles. Talk to you soon" She said as she slams the door.
Mean while, Sage and the others walked down the streets. "So, you will E-mail Rowen soon?" Ryo asked. Sage sighted. "Yes I will. When I get his mail, I'll let you know about him. Kay?" "All right." Cye said. As they got to the corner of the block, they all looked at each other, realizing that something was missing. "When is Rowen coming back?" Ryo asked. "Mr. and Mrs. Hashiba said within the first week of summer. Hopefully" Sage said. "You know something Sage. You sometimes act as a hoe sometimes!" Kento said. "What! I haven't done a thing to set you up," Sage said in defense. "You are taken this crap as if nothing happened." Kento said. "Woah first time Kento is serious." Cye said. "Shut up fish boy! We all miss Rowen so much right? Well then I decided to do something about bringing Rowen back home. Even if it means we have to go to Arizona and kidnap him from that boot camp school." He finished to say.
"So tell us what to do oh genius one." Sage said as he cris-cross his arms. Kento tried to say something before becoming mute himself. "Thought so. Look as much as I miss Rowen; we can't do anything right now. Planing will take a while to do. I will confess something to you guys. I know I take this whole situation too…calmly as if nothing happened. But under Kami's eyes I also wish that there were something that I can do to bring Rowen back. Even if it means that I have to put MY LIFE for him I'll do it. But right now as we speak, there is nothing that we can do. So by the ancient death, let's take it one day at a time." He said. The other ronins nodded their heads. "Look I have to go. Grandfather is waiting for me in the DO-JO I'll talk to you guys later." With that said. Sage, Cye, Kento, and Ryo said their good byes and departed their own way.
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Arizona:
"BRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGG" The alarm clock went. Rowen tossed and turned till finally he gave up. Siting up on the bed, Rowen looked around in his surrounding. 'I'm still in Arizona. Great now I can live happy.' He thought. It was Monday morning. All ready his second day in the campus. The other night he tried to give his best impression with his fellow students. Only, things didn't go as he expected. Getting up from bed, Rowen made his way to his closet and took out his uniform and headed to the bathroom. Minutes later, Rowen checked himself in the mirror. "All dressed up, but what to do with these bruises on my cheeks?" He asked to himself as he winced to the touch. That's when he heard the school bell go on. "Oh God I'm late!" He yelled. Rowen grabbed his backpack and his armor orb and left his room.
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Later:
"All right students settle in." The teacher said. All the students took their seat and started to whisper quietly. "Well as you all know, next week is our midterm of the new term. And I hope you all-" "WATCH OUT!" Rowen cried as he slipped into the hallway. "BAM!! CRASH!" "What was that?" The teacher asked. He and all the student's came out from the classroom to see Rowen under the grantors cleaning equipment with the bucket on his head. The student's started laughing at the scene. "My God are you all right young man?" The teacher asked. Rowen nodded his head. "Yes. I'm just not use on walking on wax floors with these shoes on." He said. "What class do you have now?" The teacher asked. "Umm..Math." Rowen said. "Well then you made it to the right place. Come in come in." The teacher said. Rowen entered followed by the other students. Though after entering, the door was slammed shut. "You are late!" The teacher said. Rowen looked at him confusingly. "I-" "Don't say a word!" The teacher said. All of the other students looked at Rowen who seems still confused. The teacher walked around him making and inspection on his pressed uniform. "Well I believe you are the new student here. Hashiba Touma am I correct?" The teacher asked as he looked at the attendance sheet. Rowen nodded his head.
"Well I'll take it for granted. But next time, get here on time. Am I'm clear Hashiba!!" The teacher said. "Y..Yes sir." Rowen said.
"Very well then. Sit to the side where Niki sit. Niki please raise your hand. Rowen looked to the class and saw a girl raising her hand. He looked at her closely. She had auburn hair, her eyes were light brown, and her complexion was ivory. "Ahem. Hashiba. Get to your seat." The teacher said. Rowen nodded his head and headed to the desk. "All right. Before I was RUDELY INTERRUPTED, next week, we'll have our midterm of the term. I hope you all have been studying through out your textbook. So now, let's get on with the class. So now, we are going to quadrilateral and logic. As I was telling you last week, the degrees are a important part of ………" The teacher said. But Rowen lost track on what the teacher said. Instead, he kept his full attention to Niki who was bored herself. She took out a small picture that was attached to her binder and sighted.
"Mr. Hashiba!" The teacher said. Rowen jumped and looked at the teacher who was furious. "Gomen Nazi sinsei." Rowen said. "TALK ENGLISH!" The teacher said. "I'm sorry sir." Rowen said. He heard the soft laughter of the other students in the room. Then the bell rang. Rowen grabbed his stuff and started his way out. "Hashiba! Get back here. I need to talk to you." The teacher said. Rowen slumped his head down and walks back to the classroom. "Yes sir?" Rowen asked. The teacher placed a hand on Rowen's shoulder. "Listen kid. I don't know where you came from, but I know by just looking at you that you are a good kid." He said. "I get that all the time sir. The thing is that I come from Japan and our culture is way different from here. So I'm just not used to all this and my new environment." Rowen said. "I understand. I know I sounded kind of rough back there, but if I get soft on you just because you are new, then the other kids will expect me to be soft on them too. But keep in mind that I and all the staff here will be here for you and all the other student's. Understand?" The teacher said. Rowen nodded his head in understanding.
Then the late bell rang. "Oh Crap! I'm late!" Rowen said as he began to run out. "Touma. Come back." The teacher said. Rowen looked at him. "Yes sir?" He said. "First, no cussing, and two, I'll give you a pass." The teacher said. After giving the pass, Rowen left the classroom to the other class he suppose to have. He then looks at the pass that had the teacher's name on it. 'Mr. Chaser huh.' He thought.
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Hours later:
Rowen slumped to his bed. The day was hatic for him. All day, he was bragging with the teachers and he hasn't eaten a thing all day. Rowen heard his stomach rumble angrily at him. 'God. How bad can it get?' He asked himself. He then looked at the out side window, all the other kids in the school were all having a great time playing basket ball and volley ball. Rowen turned over and looked at the night table that held the pictures of his friends. 'When will this be over?' He thought. Then he felt a slight burn that came from one of his pockets. Taking out his armor orb, he looked at it with awe. The orb glowed with a bright blue shine. "Armor of Strata. Please help me to get through this." He said. Then a soft whisper was heard. 'Close your eyes' the voice said. Rowen did as he was told. Then all of the sudden, he felt himself flying in the air. 'Open your eyes' the voice said. Rowen opens his eyes to see himself flying in space. "Cool." He said. He then saw his armor of Strata in front of him. 'You will never be alone Rowen. I will always be here for you' Strata said. "Thank you Strata" Rowen said. Then all went white.
Rowen opens his eyes to see himself back in his room. He looked at the clock that was hanging on the wall. It was six at night all ready. "Time to eat." He said with a chuckle to hear his stomach grumbling in response. He got up from the bed and started his way to the cafeteria.
End of chapter 3
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Author's note:
Manika: Well there you have it. I know it sounds crucial, but that's the way it is. Don't worry people, the story will lighten up a bit and more action will come in time. Just take it easy. Please review the story. Thanks for all the support.