Yoroiden Samurai Troopers:
in
Child of SaberStryke
A Miss Chang Po Production 3
"Let's see now… double slash, x, y, enter, capital f, slash, s, return, double slash, exclamation point, question mark." Nasuti sat back and reviewed her work. "I wonder if I'll ever be able to decipher all these codes." she said aloud.
"Hard at work as usual." Nasuti turned around to see Kiyone standing at the door of the study. "Some things will never change."
"I suppose not." Nasuti replied with a laugh. "How'd your sketch come out?"
"Pretty good." Kiyone answered. "I was thinking about using it for another art piece, but I haven't decided what kind of medium to use."
"I'm sure you'll think of something."Nasuti smiled reassuringly. "You always do." Kiyone responded with a bow. Nasuti took notice of the oversized jacket her friend was wearing. "Where'd you get that?" she asked.
"Oh!" Kiyone blushed, realizing she was still wearing Touma's jacket. "It'sTouma-kun's jacket. He let me wear it when it got too cold outside. I guess I forgot to give it back to him."
"Funny," Nasuti smiled, resting her chin on her fist, "Touma is being awfully nice to you. Giving you a ride here, offering you his jacket. He must really like you."
"Like me?" Kiyone blinked. "What makes you say that?"
"Well, I don't know," Nasuti answered. "He certainly hasn't been himself since you got here. He usually goes out of his way to avoid women."
"Is he…?"
"Kiyone!"
"I was just asking."
"No, it's just that Touma focuses more on academics than anything else." Nasuti replied. "Believe me, if he really wanted to, he'd be beating off girls with a stick." Kiyone visibly frowned at this. Nasuti laughed.
"You really thinks he likes me?" Kiyone asked.
Nasuti nodded. "It would explain why he's acting the way he is." she answered. "If I didn't know any better, I think Seiji likes you, too."
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me."
"Well, with Seiji, it's hard to tell sometimes." Nasuti replied. "Seiji's a bit of a playboy. He flirts with a lot of girls but usually loses interest after a while."
Kiyone slumped down in a chair next to Nasuti's desk.
"Don't look so ecstatic." Nasuti grinned. "Most girls would flip to have two cute guys interested in her."
"That's not funny, Nasu-chan." Kiyone replied. "You know me, I don't have time for stuff like that."
"Still think that nobody's as good as Him?" Nasuti asked quietly.
Kiyone looked up at the older woman. "I know that no one is as good as Him." she corrected firmly. "And no one ever will be."
Nasuti glanced over at a picture of the two of them that sat upon her computer's monitor. "How long has it been, Ki-chan?" she asked. "13…14 years since he…?"
Nasuti trailed off when Kiyone averted her gaze to the window.
"Kiyone," Nasuti replied. "I know you just got here and all, and I don't want to bring back old memories, but…"
"You're saying I should let go of the past?" Kiyone finished, looking back at her. Nasuti nodded. "I know." Kiyone glanced at the picture sitting on the monitor. It was the same picture Nasuti had showed the troopers earlier. "I still have the letter you sent me telling me that oji-sama (grandfather) had died." Nasuti's eyes widened at this. "I refused to come to the funeral. I didn't want to believe that he was gone. We both thought he would live forever, right? But to be taken by a heart attack…? It just didn't seem right."
Nasuti lowered her eyes at this. It wasn't as if she could have told Kiyone the truth. That her grandfather had died from being possessed by one of Arago's youjas.
(AN: You all remember that episode, right? The one where Sekmet/Naaza confronted Ryo and co. at Prof. Yagyuu's university?)
As much as her grandfather's death had hurt her, Nasuti did not want to face all the questions by explaining what had really happened. Therefore, she had lied to cover up the truth.
Kiyone went on, "You know, Oji-sama offered to take me in."
"He did?" Nasuti asked. "Then why didn't…?"
Kiyone shrugged. "I didn't want to be taken in by anyone." she answered. "I didn't want anyone to replace the ones I had lost. It hurt too much."
"Kiyone…" Nasuti said softly.
Kiyone turned to her friend with an impish grin on her face. "Would you listen to me?" she laughed. "I sound all deep and depressed. This isn't like me at all."
Nasuti sighed. This was Kiyone all right. On the outside she was bright and cheerful, but on the inside, there lay a deeply troubled soul. Though they were close friends, to this day Nasuti did not know what had caused Kiyone to be hurt so deeply. 'What will it take for her to really open up?'
Kiyone yawned slightly and glanced at her watch. It read 11:45 p.m. "Wow, check out the time." she said aloud. "You planning on pullin' an all-nighter?"
"I do every once in a while." Nasuti smiled. "I've got a lot of work to finish."
"What do you have there?" Kiyone asked.
"Oh, nothing much. Just cataloguing some information from Oji-sama's notes." Nasuti answered. "You remember his old research, right?"
"Oh yeah," Kiyone replied, rubbing her eyes sleepily. "About swords, and ancient armor and stuff like that, ne?" Nasuti nodded. "You're interested in that stuff?"
"I guess you could say that." Nasuti smiled knowingly. "To each his own, I suppose?" Kiyone gave her a sleepy smile. "It looks as though all those travel miles are starting to catch up toyou, Ki-chan." she then replied. "Why don't you go to bed?"
Kiyone yawned. "Are you going to be all right here by yourself?"
Nasuti nodded. "Byauken's still awake, and I'm sure Ryo will be down to pry me away from the computer soon."
Kiyone was about to say something, but deciding to save it for tomorrow, smiled and said, "I'll see you in the morning then."
Nasuti smiled. "Oyasuminasai." (Good night) With that, she went back to her work.
~*~*~*~
The place she found herself could only be described as a void. There was no darkness, no light. Nor was there any heat or cold. It was if she was in emptiness itself.
'Where am I?' Kiyone asked herself. 'What kind of freaky dream is this?' Her question went unanswered as she floated aimlessly with no destination through the void. She tried identifying her surroundings, but there was nothing for as far as she could see. 'An endless void, how original.' she thought dryly. 'This isn't the dream where I keep falling for all eternity, is it?'
Once again her question went unanswered. However, instead of getting only silence, this time she heard a low grumbling sound. Kiyone looked up to see the silhouette of a large tiger with glowing yellow eyes. The same tiger she had envisioned upon meeting Byauken.
"Who are you?" she asked aloud.
The tiger's eyes briefly acknowledged her before the beast itself turned to walk away.
"Wait, don't go!" Kiyone called out. "Who are you?" She tried running after the tiger for a few paces, but as she tried to run, it seemed as though she got further and further away. "What is going on here?" Using all her strength, she made a great effort to reach the animal with one big leap. It seemed she was getting to close to reaching the tiger, but when her feet touched the ground again, she found herself in an entirely different place.
She was in a cave of sorts. It was dark, dank and cold, and Kiyone could see water dripping from the stalactites as she wove her way around the stalagmites protruding out of the cave's floor.
"This is definitely not my falling dream." she mused aloud. With no particular destination in mind, Kiyone satisfied herself with merely following the path of a soft breeze that wafted through the cavern. After walking for several minutes, Kiyone could make out the faint sound of metal clashing against metal. "Someone else is here!" she exclaimed. She took off running, following the sound until it got louder and louder. She found herself standing at the edge of a large cavern. Standing several feet from her was the same glowing-eyed tiger. "Oh, it's you again."
The tiger bowed its head at her and then turned its attention towards something in the center of the cavern. Kiyone followed its gaze until she discovered the origin of the metal sound. In the center of the cavern, six figures zipped around each other.
"What's this?" she asked, turning to the tiger. Realizing that she would get no answer from the tiger, she turned back to the figures. Like she had noted before, there were six of them. All of the figures donned armor of different colors. It seemed that five of the others were fighting the sixth figure.
"Five on one isn't fair odds." she said in disgust. She gasped when one of the five figures took a swing at his opponent with a long sword. The sword came in contact with the armored warrior, sending him colliding with a large stalagmite. Kiyone immediately rushed to his side to check his injuries. "Hoi, daijobu ka?" she asked, lifting him up. (Hey, areyou okay?)
The warrior wore a helmet hiding his features, but Kiyone could see his eyes through the faceplate. His blue eyes seemed glow.
"It's you…" the warrior spoke slowly, bringing up a gloved hand to touch her face.
"You shouldn't move," Kiyone tried to caution. However, his voice struck a chord in her memory. "I know you…"
"Hoi!" a gruff voice called, forcing Kiyone to turn around. The other five armored warriors now surrounded them. Kiyone had no idea who they were or why they were fighting, but she felt somehow threatened by them. The armor they wore looked dark and evil, as if it had a mind of its own.
"Who are you?" Kiyone asked, standing up in front of the fallen warrior, spreading her arms out wide in a protective gesture. "What are you for that matter? You all, who fight by such dishonorable means, call yourselves warriors? Why don't you just leave him alone?"
The five warriors looked at her with glowing eyes and laughed menacingly. Fear started to grip Kiyone but she dare not show it. She continued to stand her ground. She could not let anyone hurt him.
"Iie, child," the wounded warrior rasped. "Escape…"
"You should listen to him." the leader of the five growled. "This is none of your business. He has something that belongs to us."
"Now if you don't want to share his fate, I suggest you leave." another replied.
Kiyone continued to stand her ground. She could not let anyone hurt him.
"Humph," the leader snickered. "She's got guts. Show her what we do to gutsy girls."
One of the five snickered and stepped forward. The archer of the group, Kiyone noted, prepared to finish her off.
'If you don't move, you'll die you know.' a voice in her head told her.
'I'm not moving.' she told herself. 'I can't move. I won't let them hurt him.'
The archer let out a sick laugh. "Sayonara!" he bellowed as he let loose thearrow.
Kiyone prepared herself for the final blow, but found herself roughly pushed aside as the arrow zipped past her and found its mark.
The warrior she was determined to protect grunted and dropped to the ground, gripping the arrow that was lodged through his chest.
"No, no!" Kiyone cried out, rushing to his side.
"You're… as beautiful as ever…" the warrior whispered, tracing a hand across her face. "I'll remember you this way…always…"
"You can't go! You have to stay! You'd promised you'd stay!" Kiyone cried, hugging him tightly, though she had no idea why she was acting this way. Did she know this person?
"G-gomen gozaimas…" he said before his head drooped to the side and his body went limp.
Kiyone gasped. She could hear the tiger's mournful howl in the background. Only then was she aware of the five dark warriors turning on her.
"He's right about one thing…" the archer sneered. "You are a pretty thing."
Kiyone got up and backed away as far as she could until she reached the wall of the cavern. The warriors were still closing in on her. "No," she said fearfully. "Just stay away from me. Don't come anywhere near me!" She could only scream as her pleas went unheard.
End of Chapter 4
Author's Notes:
Miss Chang Po: Hey, minna, I'm still alive!
Wufei: ::mutters under his breath:: Unfortunately...
Miss Chang Po: Summer sure is getting into full swing, isn't it? It's incredibly hot where I am!
Wufei: Only the weak get hot.
Miss Chang Po: Right... ::grins as he wipes sweat from his forehead:: Anyway, I hope you guys are still reading out there. I'm sorry for the delay, but after this week, I really won't have any time to write at all. I'm going to summer college. (Five weeks away from my god-awful family! YES!!) ::clears her throat:: However, while I'm gone, please feel free to continue reading and reviewing my fics. And for those of you still waiting for more 'Boys Meet Girls', it's official: I have Writer's Block.
Wufei: Say it ain't so.
Miss Chang Po: ::doesn't catch his sarcasm:: I know! If you guys have any suggestions, any ideas, requests, anything at all that you'd like to see... please, please, please (I'm begging here!) send them my way! I'd be grateful for any help!
Wufei: Hmph. Only the weak beg.
Miss Chang Po: ::growls chucks her mouse at him:: =[