Disclaimer:Unless it changes, or I have something to add, the disclaimer stays in the prologue.
Chapter One: One Ronin's Search, and the Chaos it Caused
By Valandra
Shin and Shu walked into the Koji Mansion with arms full of the freshly bought groceries.
"Hey guy's? We could use a hand caring in groceries!" Shin shouted once in the living room.
After dumping their lode in the kitchen, Shin started putting the groceries up while Shu followed behind, pulling out half of what was put up to make a "small" snack. Touma and Seiji walked in with the rest of the bags.
Touma was eyeing Shu, opened his mouth to make a comment, when Shin spoke up, "Where's Ryo?" wanting to know why he hadn't shown up to lend a hand, or at least to see what was bought.
"He's in his room packing a few things." Seiji responded, attempting to keep Shu away from the rest of the food. This stopped him where he stood.
"Packing? What for? Is he moving out? And while Nasuti's gone? Is he crazy?"
Rolling his eye's, Touma said, "No, he's not crazy. He's not moving out. We're not really sure why he's packing."
"We asked him, but he didn't seem to notice us." Seiji added.
"Not notice you? That's not like Ryo at all," Shin said, with a ting of worry.
"What's not like me?"
"Huh?" All four responded, surprised by the unexpected voice.
"I said," Ryo drawled out while walking into the kitchen, "what's not like me?"
"Seiji said you were packing, but when he and Touma asked why, you didn't seem to hear them." Shin answered
"Or even acknowledge our existence." Added Touma
At this point the four of them had Ryo surrounded. With a thoughtful look on his face, Ryo said, " I'm going somewhere."
"Where?!" All four guys asked in unison, Shu shouting and Touma on the verge of doing so, as Ryo pushed his way through them and over to the 'fridge, pulling out some juice.
"I don't know." He responded rather calmly, though Seiji thought he saw a hint of worry in Ryo's tiger blue eye's as he turned around while talking.
I wonder what he'd be worried about. "How can you be going somewhere that you don't know the location of?" he asked instead of commenting on what he saw. He looked at Touma to see if he too saw the flash of worry in Ryo's eyes this time. Apparently, he did.
They're not going to let this, or me, go, until I give them a solid answer, apparently. Not that I blame them, Ryo thought, as Touma and Seiji moved to corner him. Somehow, though neither could figure out how, Ryo managed to slip by the two. He went over to the counter, passing a confused Shin and Shu, though it looked like Shu was getting ready to beat some solid answers out of him. The five of them had become as close as brothers. And even though some didn't like to talk about their past too much, for which they had good reason since it was mostly pain, non of them really kept any secrets from each other. At least, nothing like this. What more, Ryo wasn't letting anything about this sudden trip be seen through the bond they all shared.
When he got to the counter, Ryo set his juice down with a small sigh. The other four looked expectantly towards him, knowing 1) they won and Ryo would tell exactually what was going on, and 2) they won far too easily.
Whatever it is, it must be really important, or really bad, thought Shin.
"I'm going to go look for some one." Ryo said, still with his back to his friends. He left it at that for a minute, and just as Shu was opening his mouth to ask whom, Ryo continued.
"An old friend." He said, turning around and looking at Shu first, then Shin, Seiji, and lastly Touma. After his gaze left Touma, he started walking to the screen door in the kitchen, which lead out back. He walked out onto the patio and leaned forward on the railings, looking out at the huge back yard and the trees beyond. As he was leaning there, he was aware that the others had followed him out.
"My friend travels a lot. That's why I don't know where I'm going. I was thinking I should start around Kyoto because of something said last time we saw each other, which was quite a few years before the wars. Should be somewhere around Kyoto." As he got to the end of what he was saying, his voice was lowering. His last sentence was practically whispered.
Sufficed to say, there was a stunned silence. Ryo, having gotten the idea his friends might be thinking he's not coming back or something, turned to face his friends and brothers-in-arms, smiled and said, "I do plan on coming back, you know. I should only be gone for about a month, maybe two."
"Two months?!" Shu bellowed, startling the boys beside him out of their shock.
"Two months?!" he repeated, just as loud. At Ryo's nod and calm manner, Shu carried on, in the same voice level, though sounding shocked, incredulous, and a little afraid.
"Two months! Do you know what Nasuti's going to do when she comes home and finds out you'll be gone for two months! She'll flip, kill us for letting you go, or worse, have Touma cook all our meals while she hunts you down! Sudden death or slow death!" Pure horror could be seen on Shu's face at the thought of Touma's cooking.
With a scowl on his face, Touma said, with a hurt and indignant voice, "I'm getting better."
"As long as you don't practice in my kitchen, I'm happy for you." Shin murmured, just loud enough for everybody to hear.
Touma was about to respond, when Ryo spoke up.
"Nasuti already knows. I called her and told her last night. She said that she understood and wished me luck."
"You couldn't have said that sooner?" Shin asked.
"When are you leaving?" Seiji inquired.
"Whenever Byakuen shows up."
"And when were you planning on telling us?"
"When I came down from packing."
"So you did plan on telling us." Stated Touma, sounding a little upset.
"Of course. I've just been a bit pre-occupied lately, I guess. Gomen guys." Ryo said, turning back to the forest upon hearing some noise coming from it.
"I'll see you guy's when I get back. Try not to kill each other before Nasuti gets back." He smirks. "I'd hate to miss that."
All five of them laugh together, and Ryo went to get his duffle bag that he must have thrown out of his window. The bag was made of well-used flame red material, while the straps and thread were a type of forest green, and the zipper's were coal black. Even though Ryo wasn't taking much and the bag wasn't over-stuffed, you could tell that the bag had seen better days.
As Ryo walked back towards his brother's-in-arms, Shin, with a mischievous glint in his eyes, said, "Oh, don't worry, Ryo. We'll behave and make sure Nasuti stay's out of trouble when she gets back."
Touma looked at the British youth warily, not sure he likes the implications of the young man's eyes and the evil little smirk. These just weren't normal or natural on Shin. Ryo didn't seem to notice. Also not like him. Maybe he's worrying over...whatever it is, more than Seiji and I thought.
"Arigato." Ryo replied with a slightly grateful smile as he climbed onto Byakuen's back.
As they took off, Ryo turned around to look at his friends as they said farewell.
~I'll not be gone long. I will see you all again, soon.~ Ryo.
~Later dude. Have fun.~ Shu.
~Be safe, my friend.~ Shin
~Yeah, watch your back.~ Touma.
~Good luck finding your old friend.~ Seiji.
~Thanks guys. Take care.~ Ryo thought back as he seemed to almost vanish from their sights.
"I wonder who his old friend is." Shin said as they all walked back into the house.
"And why didn't he say anything about him before now?" Touma voiced the question they all were wondering.
"…"
"What is it, Seiji?" Touma asked, having seen Seiji's thoughtful expression, and a flicker of worry flash briefly in his eyes.
"Hmm? Oh, I'm just thinking. I'm going to go meditate."
And with that, Seiji walked back out of the house and headed for his favorite meditation spot deep in the forest, next to the lake.
Just where the forest opened up to the lake, which was crystal clear and gave such a soothing melody that no matter what troubled him, it always managed to put him at peace. He sat under an ancient Maple tree looking out at the lake, and, taking one last glance at the lake, Seiji started to meditate....
~****~
That was last week, and I still haven't found the reason why his leaving has caused me a strange sense of foreboding. Seiji thought to himself the same thing that he always does after replaying Ryo's departure in his mind.
Seiji once again sat in his favorite spot for meditation, trying not only to find the meaning of his sense of foreboding, but also his dreams/visions.
As he once again couldn't find any answers, he decided he would stay out just a couple more hours and continue to try to discover what he looked for.
****
"I know Seiji loves to meditate, but it's been five hours, and the sun set over an hour ago." Shin said, a little worried.
"Yea, and he even missed dinner." Shu added distractedly.
"He's been out meditating till ten in the evening for the past week. And still gets up at sunrise to meditate. I don't know how he does it." Touma told them as he sat on the armchair, his nose stuck in a book.
They were all in the living room watching the movie "Princess Mononoke," though no one was paying that much attention to it, aside from Shu.
Shin was staring at Touma, almost glaring. Touma could practically feel Shin trying to burn through and see his soul.
With a mental sigh, guarded so his friends couldn't hear it, Touma shifted in the armchair, but didn't put his book down.
"Is something bothering you, Shin?" he asked casually, as though he believed there was nothing that needed to be worried over, which he knew wasn't true. Not that he could tell exactually why to Shin.
Shin's glare just increased. "What's going on with Seiji?"
"I don't know what..."
"Don't give me that, Touma. You're his best friend and roommate. He's been on edge lately, even more so since Ryo left; his lack of sloop is obvious. If I've noticed, then I'm sure you've noticed, if not about Seiji himself, then what could be doing this to him. Please Touma, tell me what's wrong with him."
"Shin, I can't..."
"Now Touma." Shin's tone left no room for argument.
"Are you going to let me finish a sentence?"
"I just did. Don't push your luck Touma. Tell me now."
This time Touma's sigh was audible. He still didn't move his book.
"He's just been having some nightmares, Shin. That, combined with his increased time of meditation, is why he's lost sleep, and his sleep loss has made him edgy." Touma explained logically, and honestly.
Shin believed him, though he knew that Touma wasn't telling something. However, he thought Touma seemed to know what he was talking about, so he let it slide, hoping Touma knew what he was doing.
"Did he say what happened in the dreams?"
"No, but he'll tell us if he feels he should."
"You're right. But if it is bothering him this much, then why hasn't he told you, Touma. You two are best friends, after all."
"I know." His nose still in his book, though if you looked at his eye's closely, you could see that they were unfocused, as though he were remembering something. Shin didn't seem to notice.
Through out this conversation, Shu was oblivious to anything but the movie, where you could see Prince (or ex-prince) Ashitaka take both arms off a Samurai with an arrow, and the head of another Samurai the same way.
Shin rolled his eyes at his friend's behavior. Touma smirked, and, getting up, said, "I'm going up stairs to wait for Seiji to get back."
"Don't you mean to read another book?"
Touma just smiled and headed up the stairs to the room he and Seiji shared.
"As long as you realize when he gets there." Shin muttered.
"No promises!"
Shin's eye's widened a bit because he hadn't meant to Touma to hear that.
Touma lied down on his bed with his favorite astronomy book. As he sat on the bed, he dropped the book in front of him, and, being as heavy as it was, did not bounce itself, but did send Touma up a couple of inches.
He positioned himself so that the door was to his left, just beyond his nightstand, which was buried under a mountain of books. A few feet to the right was Seiji's nightstand, all nice and clean, right next to his always made bed. That was all on the south wall. The door was on the west wall, and on the east wall were the double French doors that lead to the balcony. On the north wall were both their dressers opposite their beds, separated by two bookshelves that reach up to the ceiling, and were stacked full of books.
****
Seiji came out of his meditation feeling calm, peaceful, at ease, and all together great. That's not really all that unusual, but for the past week a feeling of foreboding and dread would also accompany the tranquility. Understandably so, considering the dreams that had been plaguing him for almost a month now. They were bad enough while I slept, but then they always came to me while I was meditating. No matter how much I tried, I couldn't get away from them…from the dreams.
No, don't focus on them now. I don't know why, but they didn't plague me this time. Maybe I'll get a peaceful night's sleep tonight too. He thought as he walked back to the mansion.
Hmm…I wonder if this has any thing to do with Ryo's leaving? This deep sense of dread started as soon as Ryo was out of sight when he left. Maybe I should have said something to him about my dreams. After all, there is that one point when…
****
About half an hour later and midway through his book, Touma looked up from his book, having heard what sounded like a drawer shutting. He saw Seiji pulling out his favorite silken night wear out of their closet.
With a look of slight annoyance, Touma looked at Seiji and asked, "When did you get back?"
With a hint of a smile on his lips as he walked to the door, he simply stated, "A few minutes ago." He walks out the door and heads to the bathroom, casually tossing back "And I did say something. You just didn't hear me."
His eye's tight, Touma looked around, trying to see if Seiji had set anything up.
Seiji hates to be ignored because it's rude and impolite. Seiji had been threatening to do something to him to break him out of his hard reading. Once, he had caught Seiji working with some ropes and had a couple of full bags, of what he didn't know, laying by his bed. Seiji had promptly hid all of these once Touma looked up, of course; and Touma still couldn't find them.
After fearfully scanning the room a few times, he sighed in relief. He didn't do anything.
As Touma got off of his bed, he felt something move under the small pile of clothing, his, that he stepped on. He looked up when he heard something falling. What he saw, he didn't have time to analyze before it hit him. He did remember to close his midnight blue eyes before he was completely covered with…something that was thick, sticky, and neon pink.
Opening his mouth to scream Seiji's name, not caring that Shu and Shin are probably in bed, choked on it as he heard a "click" and saw what had to be a flash.
He slowly turned around, afraid of what he would see, but also because he couldn't move very well because the goop was so sticky.
His fears were realized and multiplied as he faced the door to his and Seiji's room. Another "click" and flash meet him, as well as the grinning faces of both Seiji and Shin.
"Both of you are dead." He pronounced the words carefully and darkly enough to have made any one of the Ma Sho think twice about their actions back during the wars.
"Do you think we should run?" Shin casually asked, not succeeding very well in concealing his mirth, not that Touma thought he was trying.
"No. We could walk and manage to stay away. He can't move very well with that mixture covering him. In fact…"
An evil glint in his eye, he looks strait at Touma and continues, "If he doesn't wash it off in the next few minutes, it will harden."
"WHAT!!!"
"Isn't that what you told me after you mixed it Shin?"
"Yes. That is what you wanted, isn't it?"
"Yes, it is."
During this exchange, Touma was making his way through the door, both of the pranksters moving to the side so as not to be touched with the mysterious concoction.
Neither being able to contain it any longer, both of them broke out laughing, both at Touma's appearance, and also at the cloths sticking to his ankles that he was dragging behind him.
After Touma slammed the bathroom door, which was on the other side of the hall than Seiji and Touma's room and only about two feet to the left, both Seiji and Shin made their way down stairs, Seiji in his forest green silken pj's, and Shin in his sea blue pj's that were covered in a variety of fish.
"Did you use all of the hot water?"
"Yes. After you turned the hot water heater off. All that's left is cold."
"As if right on cue, a resounding "Aaaaaaa!!!!" could be heard through out the house, causing the two on the couch to renew their laughter.
****
A few hours later Touma leaves the bathroom, keeping an eye out for the damn camera and the two walking dead men wielding it.
Reaching his room, he shut the door and breathed a sigh of relief. Looking up and moving to his bed, he froze, seeing Seiji in his own bed. He relaxed when Seiji didn't move, other than his breathing. He's asleep.
Crawling into and under the blankets on his bed, Touma caught a glimpse of both of his arms. I wonder if they meant for that stuff to do this. Ha! I wonder what the heck that stuff was! They are both going to die tomorrow. Slow, painful, and colorful.
So consumed in his thoughts, Touma didn't notice that for the first time in a long time, Seiji wasn't jerking in his sleep.
****
The morning was just like any other morning. Seiji was up at dawn to meditate and watch the sunrise for a few hours before coming in and showering for a half hour. Currently he was in the upstairs bathroom, drying his sun-kissed golden hair, knowing it would naturally fall the way he liked it, covering one eye.
Shin was in the kitchen cooking up a storm, enough food to feed three families of four, but was just enough for the four of them. He had to remember that neither Nasuti nor Ryo were here, so he had to cut the portions they normally ate. But like any good cook, and one who knows Shu, he's making more than enough.
Shu, having just gotten dressed and opened the door to his and Shin's room, smelled his favorite breakfast food, raspberry pancakes, and was in the kitchen in a flash.
However, after a moment of hovering over Shin, he could be found on the couch in the living room, an ice pack held against the side of his head. Next to Shin could be seen a skillet with a major indention in it.
Another five minutes and you can hear a pounding upstairs, then Shu shouting. "Seiji!! Get your blond butt out of the bathroom! Other people like to use it too, you know!"
"Go use the restroom downstairs."
"I can't!! It's still not working!"
Silence.
"Come out or I'll come in!"
Silence.
"Shu! Go wake Touma up!" Shin interjects.
"Why me?!"
"Because he'll kill Shin or me if we wake him up."
"He tries to harm who ever wakes him up, why should you two be any different?" Shu's beginning to sound both desperate and exasperated, remembering how he had hurt for a few days after the last time he woke Touma up.
"He was reading a book when I came in last night."
That was all it took. Even under threat of possible death, he was going to see what Seiji had done. He knew very well that Seiji had threatened Touma, and knew he had carried through with that threat. And Shin had obviously helped.
So, for once, he was more than willing to wake Touma up.
As Shu walked into Touma's room, Seiji walked out of the bathroom, smirking as he passed his and Touma's room. As he passed, he called out to Shu, "The camera is under my pillows."
Just after Seiji sat down, both he and Shin jerked in mild surprise at the resounding bellow of "Wha… You're all pink!!" Then they heard, over their quiet laughter, a very loud crash and two screams, though it sounded like one was forced through a lot of laughter; the other, well, couldn't really be described.
Both guy's down stairs thought that they heard very light footsteps and a door shutting quietly over their gasping. Neither one was breathing properly, nor could they, because they were laughing so hard.
****
After chasing Shu out of his room, Shu chanting "Pink Panther" the whole time after he took another picture, Touma had to cut his quest to pound his friend to into a quivering mass of nothing short because he was currently hiding in the bathroom. Hearing the toilet flush and then the shower running, Touma went back to his room to get dressed. That taking but a minute, he headed down stairs for some breakfast. What he saw upon entering the kitchen made him freeze with worry, then turn crimson.
Both Seiji and Shin lay on the kitchen floor, tears streaming from Shin's eyes, and both gasping for breath.
"I hope you both choke." He growled menacingly as he walked toward the two on the floor.
Upon hearing Touma's voice, both tried to get up so they could run, neither one succeeding.
Seiji did indeed choke on his laughter as Touma bent down next to him, some rope resting in his hands, as well as a hand towel from the kitchen. Touma promptly used the hand towel to gag Seiji before he could make any sound to warn Shin, since Shin couldn't see what was going on. He then used some of the rope to tie Seiji's hands in front of him, and then to his ankles.
Moving away from the now totally immobilized Seiji to the still gasping Shin, Touma gagged him before he even saw him and could make a noise to alert Shu that something was amiss. He then tied Shin up the same as he had Seiji so he couldn't run while Touma dealt with Seiji.
Both Shin and Seiji had stopped laughing by now and were trying in vain to break free of their bonds.
He returned to Seiji's side, squatting in front of him so that the last thing Seiji saw before he was blindfolded was Touma's wicked grin. This is not good. At least he hasn't had any sugar. Seiji thought, trying to look on the bright side, as he felt himself being half dragged, half carried out of the kitchen. I wonder what Touma plans on doing to us. I should have seen this coming. Baka!
Realizing that he was in the short hallway down stairs and not moving, Seiji again tried futilely to escape, knowing now at least part of what Touma had in store for him. He heard a door open with a slight creak, and he started moving again. The basement. Part of which Touma had converted into his own little sanctuary, a mini-laboratory. He was dragged over to the corner of the back wall and the wall that separates the basement from Touma's laboratory. He was again dropped while Touma looked for something.
Having found what he was looking for, a two inch thick, ten-foot long extension cord, he come back over to Seiji. Using his expert aim, he threw one end of the cord over one of the rafters in the ceiling since it had no covering. The cord came back down to him, and he promptly looped it through a clamp that Nasuti had down there. Touma remembered how it had taken Shu, Ryo, and himself to move the thing from the garage down to the basement. Ryo… he was about to begin thinking about Ryo's abrupt departure, when he noticed his captive was inching his way towards the exit.
"Oh no, you don't." He said as he once again dragged Seiji back to the corner and tied the cord he had found to the ropes already holding Seiji's hands. After making certain it was secure, he hoisted Seiji up into the air by the cord, just enough that he was off the floor by a few feet, then untied one rope around Seiji's ankles, letting his legs fall from in front of him, but his ankles still tied. Touma then hoisted him even higher because Seiji's feet could once again touch the ground, and Touma wanted him dangling in the air.
On his way out, Touma turned the lights out and shut the door. Seiji heard a distinct "click," and knew Touma had locked the door from the outside.
****
"And just where do you think you're going?"
Shin quickly increased the speed by which he was inching his way to the down stairs restroom, hoping to lock himself up in there so he could get free. When he bumped into what felt like flesh, he groaned, knowing he had gone strait to Touma. Hearing Touma chuckling did not help, especially as he was being blindfolded.
"Come on Shin. We're going back to the kitchen to…discuss what that mix was."
****
Discuss. HA!! Shin thought, one thought among many like it, as he glared at Touma, who was walking down the stairs, his color natural, including his hair, which was back to being blue.
Touma looked up and saw Shin glaring at him. Looking him innocently, though his smile gave away his unending mirth, he said, "What's wrong, Shin? I told you I would clean it up and I did."
"You still attempted to cook in my kitchen!! With me tied to a chair and blindfolded in there too!!"
Touma just gave him a look that said "And your point is?"
"Where's Seiji?" he grated out the question that had been plaguing him since just after Touma had tied him to that chair. Touma had only been gone for a few minutes when he came back for Shin. Not much he could have done to him in just those few minutes, right? It's not like he's had any major, or minor for that matter, type of sugar in the past two weeks, at least. Then again, he is a genius. Who knows what he could come up with.
"Just hanging…in the basement." Touma slowly drawled out, enjoying the look on Shin's face far too much. He's been down there for almost two hours now. Either he's in fear of losing his sanity by now, or just about ready to kill me. Probably ready to kill me. To bad for him I'm not done with him yet. We still have some…unfinished business.
As Touma headed for the basement, Shin was more than a little worried for Seiji. He knows how much Seiji hate's the dark. And that glint in his eye's say that he's not done with him yet.
As Touma walked over to Seiji, he felt a twinge of guilt mixed with worry. Seiji wasn't moving much, his chest moving very slowly with his shallow breath, which Touma could slightly hear. After he removed Seiji's blindfold and a little prodding, Touma came to the conclusion that Seiji was meditating. Not for long.
Smirking, Touma was about to give Seiji a rude awakening, but stopped short as Seiji's breathing increased and grew harder, and he started moving slightly, though it was more like jerking. Upon closer inspection, Touma could see that Seiji's eyes were moving rapidly behind his eyelids.
Could he be having a vision? Touma thought, but as Seiji started to convulse, Touma's worry increased, and a new thought came to him. Maybe it's the same thing that has been plaguing his nights.
"Shit! Seiji, snap out of it!" Touma shouted, trying to wake Seiji up as his convulsions increased and he started mumbling. Touma grabbed the cord and lowered Seiji to the floor; he then pined him there in hopes of stopping Seiji's writhing.
"Seiji! Come on man, wake up!"
And with a sharp intake of breath, he did. Seiji came to with a start, going completely stiff, and gasping for the air that just seconds ago he couldn't seem to get.
Touma rolled off of him and knelt next to him to help him sit up, unable to get over the pure fear he saw in Seiji's eyes.
"Seiji, are you alright?"
Seiji immediately stiffened even more in Touma's hands, which were on his shoulders, then relaxed when it became clear to him that it was Touma beside him and not one of those…things from his dreams.
"What did you see?"
Turning his head so that he was looking straight at Touma, showing Touma that he had that fear he saw earlier almost completely hidden, and asked, "What do you mean?"
Raising one blue eyebrow at his best friend, he said bluntly, "What's been bothering you in you're dreams and meditations? And don't say nothing. I'm not blind, Seiji. The lack of sleep is apparent whenever I look at you. You started getting bags under your eyes last week. And you have been a lot slower. You should have expected some retaliation, but you haven't been thinking as clearly as you normally do. This wasn't the first time either. And after this, I know they're haunting you during your meditations. For how long, Seiji?"
One look at the set of Touma's jaw and Seiji knew that his infamous stubborn streak was in action full force.
Sighing in defeat, Seiji asked, "Can you at least untie me first?"
"You won't run?" he asked, dead serious.
"…No, I won't run."
After untying him, Touma sat in front of Seiji, looking at him expectantly. Seiji drew his legs up to his chest, wrapped his arms around them, and rested his chin on top of his knees. He stared strait through Touma for a few minutes before saying, "The dreams started about a month ago…." And it all went down hill from there.