Yoroiden Samurai Troopers:
in
All was quiet and peaceful in the Yagyuu household. However, the loud grumbling of Shuu's stomach - which alerted the others to the fact that the clock was soon approaching lunchtime, broke the tranquility.
The warrior of justice moaned in overdramatized agony.
Touma, who was sitting at the far end of the living room, along with the other troopers, looked up from his book. "Relax, Shuu," he said. "I'm sure Nasti knows it's lunchtime."
"I know that," Shuu grumbled. "But she sure is taking her time getting back here."
"If you're so hungry, why don't you goin the kitchen and fix something up yourself?" Seiji suggested.
"Careful, Seiji," Shin replied. "The last time that happened, we were all out of food and Nasti was almost out of a house."
"Hey, I can't help it if cooking isn'tmy forte." Shuu retorted. "But we all know eating is." Shin grinned.
Shuu only snorted.Just then, the front door flew open, attracting everyone's attention. "Sorry I'm late, minna." Nasuti said as she came in. "I had to run a few errands and stop at the post office."
"Finally she's back!" Shuu exclaimed,jumping out of his seat, making a mad rush for the door.
"I guessed you were hungry, Shuu, so there's some hamburgers out in the ca..." Nasuti barely had enough time to finish her sentence as the warrior of justice zoomed past her and out the door. "Save some for everyone else!"she called after him. "And while you're out there, you can help me bring in the groceries!"
"Nasti-chan, you know as well as I do that not a single one of those grocery bags will make it inside this house if you leave Shuu in charge of them." Ryo said as he walked towards the front door to help with the grocery bags.
Nasuti chuckled and tapped herself on the head. "Silly me," she grinned. "Here I was thinking those hamburgers would keep him occupied. So much for wishful thinking, ne?"
Ryo laughed and gave her a warm smile as he walked out the door. Nasuti smiled and watched him go. It was moments like these that made her love life without enemies or fighting. Ryo had finally admitted his love to her and although the other guys did not know of their relationship yet, his love for her was all that mattered to her.
"Hoi, Nasti-chan, what's this?" Nasuti was brought out of her reverie to see Seiji bringing in a large, but flat package wrapped in string and brown shipping paper.
"To be honest, I'm not sure." Nasuti admitted. "It's what I picked up from the post office."
"Well, let's open it and see what it is!" Shuu exclaimed, reaching for the parcel.
"Hold on, Shuu," Ryo said, holding him back. "It's Nasti's package, so we'll let her open it."
Nasuti smiled as Shuu began to pout. "Let's bring it into the living room, Seiji-kun," she said. "That way we can all see what it is."
"Okay." Seiji agreed.
~*~*~*~
With the mysterious package set on the living room table, and the guys gathered all around, Nasuti began to tear away the wrapping concealing the package.
"What do you think it could be?" Shuu asked, watching anxiously.
"I don't know." Nasuti answered as she pulled away at the wrapping. "I certainly didn't send for it-oh!"
"What is it?" Ryo asked.
Once all the wrapping paper was cleared away, the object in question was revealed to be a large frame. Once Nasuti set it down, it was clear to the others that it was a painting of an old temple resting by a lake as an orange sun set into the horizon.
"It's beautiful." Shin awed. "It is." Nasuti agreed, still staring at the painting in wonder.
"Who would send you something like this?" Ryo asked, his brows furrowed in curiosity.
"I think I know." Nasuti answered, noticing a small envelope tucked at the bottom of the frame. Opening it and taking out the letter inside, she read the following:
It's been a long time hasn't it? I hope you like the painting. I guess
you could say it's a sample from my stay in Kyoto. I think my impressionism is getting a little better, but I'll leave you to be the judge of that.
I don't mean to beat around the bush somuch, but like I said, it has been a long time. I know my letters have been few and far between, but at least you know I'm still alive, right? I've been traveling around a lot and something just feels so right about Japan. So, after I stop in Hokkaido, I thought I might come to Tokyo to visit….
At this point, Nasuti stopped reading. Glancing at the bottom right corner of the painting, she saw theinitials 'K.D'. She couldn't believeher eyes. 'After all this time,could it really be….?' Turning backto the letter, she skimmed down to the bottom to read the words, "Your friend always, Kiyone."
~*~*~*~
"So, who's this Kei-yanna, or Kayla person you keep talking about?" Shuu asked.
Nasuti, who was rustling through a bunch of old books and boxes, looked up at him and smiled. "Her name's Kiyone. Kiyone Jade, she's an old friend of mine. We practically grew up together."
"Really?" Ryo asked. He was now interested in meeting this childhood friend of hers.
"Hai." Nasuti answered, rummaging through the pile of relics again. "I'm surprised to hear from her though. It'sbeen a long time since she visited."
"How long has it been?" Seiji asked.
Nasuti pulled out a picture and heldit out for the others to see. "This picture was taken the last time she was here." She replied. There were 3 people standing in front of Nasuti's house. The oldest of the three was Nasuti's grandfather, Prof. Yagyuu. With him were standing two young girls. The taller of the two girls had brownish-red hair and turquoise blew eyes. The other had striking blue hair and matching eyes. Both girls were sticking out their tongues and giving victory signs to the camera. Shin stared hard at the red head standing to the Professor's left.
"Hoi, that one's youisn't it?" he asked. "You look so cute in this picture!"
Nasuti blushed. Thinking for a moment, she replied, "This picture was taken a year or so before Arago showed up." She answered. "I was 16… so, that would make it about 5 years, give or take."
"That is a long time." Shin replied.
"Well, I can understand why." Nasuti replied. "You see, Kiyone and I grew up in an orphanage together. When mygrandfather took me in, Kiyone was still in the orphanage. That picture was taken when Kiyone had saved up enough money to visit and spend the summer with us."
"Was she ever adopted by anyone?" Ryo asked.
"I don't think so." Nasuti answeredsadly. "Eventually, she got into painting and left the orphanage to become an artist She's been traveling around ever since."
"It must be hard to keep in touch." Shin replied.
Nasuti managed a smile. "We manage." She responded. "I think you guys will like her."
Shuu glanced at the photo. "Well, she certainly is cute." He replied.
"That picture is five years old." Seiji pointed out.
"I have another picture of her." Nasuti replied, rummaging out another photo. " She sent this one to me during her stay in New York. That was about a year ago… so she's probably 19 or 20 now."
"So, she's younger than you?" Seiji asked. Mia nodded. Seiji looked at the picture and smiled. "You're right, Shuu, she is a looker."
Touma, who had been too engrossed inhis book to contribute to the conversation, finally looked up to eye Seiji skeptically. "Here we go again." He said dryly, looking at the photograph. "Looking to carve another knot in your bedpost?"
"Hey, all I said was that she was cute." Seiji protested.
"You only think that because she's about the same age as you." Touma snorted. "Not all girls flock to you like a magnet you know."
"Jealous?" Seiji grinned, causing Touma to set his face in a frown. "At least I'm not the kind of guy who looks at a trip to the library like it's a hot date."
Touma snorted. "All your dates come with batteries not included." He shot back. "You've got the worst taste when it comes to girls, Seiji, and you know it."
"It's not like a ask for them, they just flock to me for some reason." Seiji protested, flicking a stray strand of hair out of his face.
"Gee, I wonder why…?"
"Simmer down you two." Nasuti replied. "For your information, Kiyone is not an airhead. In fact, she's very well rounded. You guys already know that she's an artist; she's very intelligent as well. She even speaks four different languages." 'I feel like I'mthe host of some cheesy Love Connection show!' Nasuti thought to herself.
Touma 'humphed'. "Shuu speaks more than one language, but you don't see him beating off girls with a stick."
Shuu nodded, but soon realized the meaning behind Touma's words. "Hey…..!"
With that, Touma smirked and got up from his seat and walked out of the room before Shuu could hurl a seat cushion at him.
Seiji smirked. "With an attitude like that, it'll be a cold day before Hashiba Touma snags himself a girl."
"Be nice, Seiji." Nasuti replied.
~*~*~*~
"Here you are, that'll be 550 yen."
Touma fished the desired amount of money out of his pants' pocket and handed it to the woman at the counter. In turn, she handed him the book he had purchased. (AN: I don't actually know the monetary value in Japan, so I'm guessing…. sue me. =P)
"Here you are, Hashiba-kun." She smiled, batting her eyelashes at him.
Touma blinked, since when were the staff getting so friendly? "Uh… domo arigato…." He squinted to read the name on her ID tag. "Aino-san. See you next week." With that he waved and walked out of the store. The young woman swooned as he left. (AN: Who wouldn't? We all know Touma's a bishounen.)
'That's it,' he decided. 'I have to find another bookstore. Every time I become a regular at one, girls start flocking in. There's no way I'm gonna become Seiji.' Shuddering atthat thought, he promptly stuck his nose into the book as he walked to where he had parked Nasuti's jeep.
"A-ano…" Touma looked up from his book to see a young woman standing in front of him. She stood a few inches shorter than him, and wore a pair of wide legged khakis, a tight sky-blue t-shirt, and a dark blue jacket. By the lightness of her aqua green hair and tanned skin, Touma could tell she spent a lot of time outdoors. She looked slightly familiar, but the warrior of firmament just couldn't put his finger on where he had seen her before.
'Probably one of Seiji's ex's.' he told himself.
However, what seemed to hold his attention the most were her eyes. They were a clear, crystal blue and seemed to hold an intensity to them to the likes Touma had never seen.
'She can't be one of Seiji's,' he thendecided. 'She's beautiful!' But he would never admit that fact to anyone – certainly not to her or Seiji.
Touma's lack of response seemed to make the woman a little nervous, so she stepped forward, eyeing him closely. "Moshi-moshi?" she asked, waving a hand in front of his face. "Daijobu ka?"
"Nani?" Touma blinked, his face turning a slight shade of pink at the realization of how close she was. "Gomen ne… Can I help you?" Relieved that he was all right and not certifiable, the young woman smiled brightly.
'And she's got a beautiful smile…stop it, stopit, Touma!! You're not a girl-crazy wolf like Seiji!'
From a duffel bag slung over her shoulder, the young woman produced a folded up piece of paper and gave it to Touma.
"What's this?" he asked."I told you, it's a bus schedule." The girl answered. "I can't quite figure it out though. I'm trying get out of Shinjuku, but I think I may have missed the last bus."
Touma didn't particularly like riding the bus, whichis why he often drove into the city. He took the schedule and glanced down it. "Well, sorry to say, but it doesn't look like another bus will be passing through until another hour or two."
The girl muttered something in something Touma thought to be either English or French, but he wasn't sure. He was not fluent in either language. "I would take the train," she then replied, "but that would take me too far out of the way, and I don't really need to go that far anyway."
"Where is it you're trying to get to?" Touma asked. "If you don't mind my asking, that is."
"I'm supposed to be visiting a friend of mine." The young woman answered. "She lives right outside the city."
Touma blinked. 'What were the chances…?' "If it's just outside the city, I could give you a ride."
The young woman looked him over, trying to see if she could trust him. 'Well.. what the hell. For his sake, I hope he doesn't try anything… he's kinda cute.' With that, she smiled. "Are you sure you don't mind?"
"Not at all." Touma answered. 'I must be addicted to that smile ofhers…' he thought absently to himself. Why else would he offer a ride to some girl he didn't even know? "By the way, my name is Hashiba Touma. And you are?"
The young woman bowed her head slightly. "A pleasure to meet you, Hashiba Touma." She replied. "My name is Kiyone Jade."
End of Chapter 1