Yoroiden Samurai Troopers:
in
Child of SaberStryke
A Miss Chang Po Production 3
~*Flashback *~
Lighting crashed and thunder roared as the storm raged on mercilessly through the night. Torrents of rain beat down from the blackened skies, unnoticed by two solitary warriors. Male and female, the two fighters donned in armor stood opposite each other on the rocky cliffside.
"Now, my adversary," the woman replied, unsheathing a large broad sword. "Are you prepared to die?"
"Must you insist on fighting me?" the man asked, reluctant to fight. He, however, drew twin blades from the folds of his cape. "I have no quarrel with you or your master."
"You lie!" the woman spat. "How dare you speak that way when you hold in your hands the very items that rightfully belong to him!"
The man's glowing blue eyes narrowed dangerously. "The Soul Swords belong to me." he answered in a low tone. "They have always belonged to me and they will remain in my possession until I die."
"Then I shall be the one to pry them from your cold, dead fingers!" the woman cried out as she charged towards him.
The man stood his ground until the woman was almost upon him. Suddenly, he sprung into action and charged toward his opponent. With a quick swipe of his swords, he zipped past her and came toa stop several yards away.
There was complete silence aside from the pitter-patter of rain hitting the ground. The sound of metal clattering against the ground soon broke that silence.
The female warrior stared at what was left of her shattered sword. Dropping the now useless weapon, she fell to her knees, clutching a wound at her side. "Impossible…" she gasped.
The man turned back to her. "I am one the greatest master swordsman of the Youja-kai (Dynasty)." he told her. "What made you think you could beat me?" Without waiting for an answer, he turned and began walking away.
"Matte… (Wait)," the woman rasped, struggling to get to her feet. "Don't you turn you back on me! This fight isn't over yet!"
He stopped, without looking back, he replied, "This fight was over before it even began."
The woman cursed under her breath as the man disappeared into the storm. "You're wrong…" she hissed. "This is far from over. I will hunt you down if I must travel to the ends of the universe. I will have my revenge, Kenbukyou, even if it means I must have it through your children's children!!"
~*End of Flashback *~
(AN:Okay, that may have seemed a little pointless to some of you, but try to bear with me. It'll make sense later on…or it should now anyway… ^.~)
It had been several days since the incident in the woods. Though Ryo had insisted that everyone stay on their guard, things for the most part had gone back to normal – or as normal as they possibly could given the circumstances.
"Ohayo, Shin-kun!" Kiyone replied as she walked into the kitchen.
Shin, who was busy preparing breakfast, looked up at her and smiled. "Ohayo, Kiyo-chan!" he smiled back. "You look rested. Did you sleep well?"
"I think so." Kiyone replied. "Better then I have in days."
"I'm glad to hear that." Shin smiled as Byauken trotted into the room and nuzzled Kiyone gently. "It appears Byauken is too."
Kiyone smiled and fixed the tiger a large bowl of milk. Watching as he lapped up the milk, she giggled. "A regular house cat." She turned to the warrior of Shin. "Anything I can help with?"
"Know how to make pancakes?"
"Hai." Kiyone answered as Shin handed her a bowl full of batter.
Shuu was the next to enter the kitchen. "Is breakfast ready yet, Shin?" he asked.
"No, not yet." Shin smiled apologetically. "Though, it should be soon."
Shuu pouted until he saw Kiyone. "Hoi, Kiyo-chan!" he grinned. "What's up?"
Kiyone grinned back. "Nothing much, Shuu-chan. Just helping out in the kitchen." However, her grin turned into a shy smile asTouma walked through. "Ohayo, Touma-kun." she said quietly.
Still half-asleep, Touma blinked at her. Remembering the conversation he had with Ryo the night of the storm along with Kiyone shoving out of his arms and rushing to Seiji, he became totally awake turned his head the other way, walking out of the room without saying a word.
Shuu and Shin blinked in unison.
Though visibly hurt, Kiyone pretended as if nothing had happened. "This batter needs a little more flour…" she said.
"Uhh…third cabinet from the left," Shin replied numbly. "Middle shelf on the right."
As Kiyone searched for the flour, Nasuti came into the room.
"Ohayo, minna (everyone)." she replied, setting a huge picnic basket on the table. "Do you think this is big enough, Shin?" she asked.
"I guess it'll have to do." Shin answered sarcastically. "You mean that was the biggest you could find?"
"No, actually." Nasuti chuckled. "There was a jumbo and a super jumbo sized one as well. As it is, there's not enough room in my jeep for all of this basket and us. So, I had to rent a minivan."
"A minivan?" Kiyone blinked. "What for?"
Nasuti blinked in response. "Didn't I tell you?" Kiyone shook her head slowly. "We're going on a picnic."
Three other heads popped into the room. "A picnic??" they all chorused.
~*~*~*~
"That sure is a lot of food in the picnic basket Shin packed. I think I'll just take a peek…"
SMACK!
"Itai (ouch)! Kiyo-chan…!" Shuu sulked, pulling his hand back. "That smarts!"
"Sorry, Shuu-chan, but you heard, Nasu-chan." Kiyone replied, closing the lid of the picnic basket seated next to her. "She specifically said that no one was to open the picnic basket until we arrived."
Shuu pouted and turned around, directing his attention towards the driver's seat. "Nasuti, are we-?"
"No, we're not there yet, Shuu, and leave the picnic basket alone for the 12th time." Nasuti interrupted.
Shin laughed. "It's a good thing Nasuti put someone on guard duty." he replied. "Or else that food would have been gone even before we left."
Kiyone yawned and stretched. "It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it."
"You look tired," Seiji replied, "How about I take a shift?"
Kiyone smiled in gratitude. "Arigato, Seiji-kun." she smiled, shifting in her seat. Before closing her eyes to take a nap, she looked up at the seats in front of them. Ryo sat with Nasuti in the front, in the seat behind them were Shuu, Shin, and Touma. Kiyone looked at Touma, who was seated by the window, completely immersed in his book – or so she thought. With sigh she turned and gazed out the window.
Shin and Shuu looked at her and then at Touma and then Seiji. Seiji shot a glare at Touma and then looked out the window on his side. Shin and Shuu looked at each other and then shrugged before turning back around in their seats.
~*~*~*~
"Here we are, minna!" Nasuti exclaimed as she and Ryo stepped out of the minivan.
Kiyone, who was handing the picnic basket to Seiji, looked up to take a look at their surroundings. "Whoa…" she awed. Nasuti had taken the Troopers and co. to a park in the city. Kiyone looked at the large, now in bloomcherry trees that surrounded a clear blue lake.
"You like it?" Seiji asked.
Kiyone nodded as she hopped out of the van. Spinning around like a giddy schoolgirl, she laughed, "It's beautiful out here!"
Touma, who had just stepped out of the van, looked up to see Kiyone laughing and spinning around. His breath caught in his throat as a gentle breeze teased her hair, cherry blossom petals falling to the ground around her. (AN: okay, so I'm not good at those kinds of descriptions... bare with me)
"Oi, Touma? Touma?" Shuu waved a hand in front of his face. "You in there?" When he got no response, he looked at Shin, who could only shrug.
Ryo chuckled slightly and walked overto Touma, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Go over and tell her your feelings for her." he told him.
Touma blinked. "What feelings?" he frowned, shrugging his hand away. Ryo held his hands up in defense and with a sigh, went back over to the van to help Nasuti unpack the rest of the things.
"What was that all about?" Nasuti asked as she handed Ryo the picnic blanket.
"I don't know," Ryo answered. "From what he had told me before, I was sure he was totally gone on her. Now…"
Nasuti smiled knowingly. "Oh, he's just being stubborn." she replied. "I guess it's not easy for him to except how he's feeling. He's unsure of himself."
"Hmm," Ryo replied as he glanced over at Kiyone who was engaged in a leaf fight with Seiji and Shuu. "I guess I can see why."
Nasuti followed his gaze. Seiji had just lifted Kiyone up into his arms as he attempted to tickle her. "Competition?"
Ryo shrugged and closed the vandoor. "I guess the guys are really drawn to her."
"Hmm," Nasuti replied, her gaze locked his. "Are you?"
"Not like that." Ryo said with a grin. "Kiyone's more like one of the guys. Besides, there's only one girl who's got my attention."
"Oh? And who might that be?" Nasuti asked him with a mock frown.
Ryo pretended to be deep in thought. He looked up at her with a playful grin and started over towards the group. "I don't think I'm going to tell you."
"Oh, you!"
End of Chapter 9
Author's Notes:
Miss Chang Po: Hello, everyone! I'm back!
Wufei: Fortunately for only a short period of time.
Miss Chang Po: ::ignores his statement:: I'm on break from summer college all this week, which means I get to work on my fics! Yay!
Wufei: Don't you have some sort of homework to do.
Miss Chang Po: Ehhhh... Maybe.
Wufei: Slacker.
Miss Chang Po: Come on now, which one do you think is going to take more effort? The fanfics, or the homework? Don't worry, I'll get to my homework... eventually.
Wufei: Procrastinator.
Miss Chang Po: ::grins proudly:: That would be me.