"Demons in the Doorway, Monsters Down the Hall"
By Ghost of the Dawn
Chapter Nine - The Long Winter Months
Robyn's body felt heavy as she got up that morning. Slight chills raced up
her body every time she moved and at breakfast she wasn't that hungry. Her head
was swimming when she got to school and by lunchtime, she wasn't faring much
better.
"So how's Rowen doing?" Ryo asked as he sat down at the lunch table. The
group was eating inside the school cafeteria now as it was getting too cold to
eat outside.
"He's in pain, but he's doing okay," Sage replied.
Robyn stared blankly at her lunch bag as the group discussed their friend's
current condition. Rowen had just returned home from the hospital in Tokyo the
other night. But Robyn wasn't interested in hearing anything. She knew she
should be, but she wasn't. All she could think about was how unappetizing her
lunch looked. She shuddered every time her clothes touched her skin and it
almost hurt to come in contact with another person. She was sick - but she
didn't say anything about it.
Her sixth hour creative writing class came and Robyn still wasn't faring
much better. If anything, she was feeling worse. Mrs. Matsuo had left her
students to do a short freelance writing assignment while she inputted grades at
her computer. Robyn was supposed to be writing but she couldn't concentrate. Her
mind was all muddled and she felt dizzy. She had a thick sweater on but she was
freezing and her head began to hurt as she could feel pressure build up behind
her skull.
Robyn looked up with unfocused eyes as a hand placed itself on her forehead.
The skin of the person touching her was pale and cool. Since Robyn was already
cold she didn't welcome the chilly hand and pulled away. She was only slightly
aware of Sage's concerned eyes looking into her own foggy green ones before he
moved away. Sage got up from his desk and went to talk with the teacher. Robyn
went back to staring listlessly at her paper, wishing she could just curl up in
bed and fall asleep.
The hand on her arm managed to catch her attention as Sage came back a
minute later and gently helped her to her feet. Robyn didn't see all the eyes
looking at her as Sage wordlessly guided her out of the room. And frankly, she
didn't care. All she knew now was that she was cold and sick and miserable.
Sage's light grip on her arm never left as he led her down the hall. Robyn
could feel the coolness of his skin seeping through her sleeve and into her arm.
But she was too weak to move away. They reached her locker first where Robyn
fumbled through her bag and then Sage pulled out her coat and put it over her.
That made her feel a bit better. At least she was warmer and she wouldn't have
to feel Sage's cold hands anymore.
The next stop was the front office and Sage sat her in a chair to wait. "I'm
going to call Cye's mother and have her come get you," Sage told her quietly.
"She's... not home," Robyn mumbled as she tiredly brushed some hair out of
her eyes.
Sage pursed his lips when his plan was shot down. He got up and went to talk
to the secretary anyway. His second idea was to get Cye himself out of class and
have him take Robyn home. But that, too didn't work as Cye was taking a test at
the moment and wasn't allowed out of class until it was completed. So Sage had
to settle for the next best thing.
Robyn was brought out of her trance as a large, strong hand closed over her
smaller one. This one was warm and rough, not cold and smooth like Sage's were.
Robyn gazed up into round, deep blue eyes.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" Kento asked gently.
"Honestly?" Robyn rasped. "Like pure, unadulterated crap."
"I'll have to look up that word later. But first, we're going to take you
home." He gently pulled her to her feet. "Come on, Sage."
"Me?" Sage objected. That sure wasn't part of his plan. "But I have to - I
mean I - I shouldn't..."
"Hey, you got her this far," Kento argued. "The least you could do is be
nice enough to help take her the rest of the way. So let's go."
Sage sighed and reluctantly followed. Kento kept an arm around Robyn as they
headed outside to the parking lot.
"Honestly, Sage," Kento said. "You're the only guy I know who's crazy enough
to pass up a chance to get out of school."
*****
Roughly ten minutes later Kento's jeep, with its three passengers, pulled up
in front of the Mouri residence. Kento couldn't believe it was possible, but
Robyn looked even paler than she did before as he led her into the house. Sage
followed behind with his hands in his pockets, feeling useless and out of place.
Once in the house, Kento set Robyn on the couch and then went to go retrieve
a blanket from the closet. Sage took a seat quietly in a chair off to the side.
Kento returned and sat next to Robyn, pulling off her coat and replacing it with
the blanket. He then reached up and took his turn in feeling her forehead.
"Oh, man, you are sick," Kento commented. "You're burning up."
"I'm freezing," Robyn whined pitifully.
"Don't worry, we'll stay here until Cye gets home, all right?" Kento smiled
kindly as he pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders. Robyn nodded and
leaned her forehead tiredly against his shoulder.
Kento placed a kindly arm around her and Robyn almost subconsciously
snuggled closer to the warm body. It was a bit awkward at first. Kento had never
faced this type of dilemma before, and Robyn seemed unaware of what she was
doing. But eventually both got settled with Robyn snuggled up against Kento's
side while he had an arm draped loosely around her. Robyn let out a tired sigh
and then fell asleep.
It was a good hour later before Cye came home. He burst through the door,
looking a little out of breath. He had no doubt received the note Kento left for
him at the school office and had run all the way from the subway station.
"Hey, buddy," Kento said casually from the couch.
Cye didn't even return the greeting as he tossed his bag aside. "How's
Robyn?" Cye asked as he knelt in front of her. He reached out his hand to feel
her burning forehead. Robyn stirred slightly from the touch and cuddled closer
to Kento but didn't wake up.
"What do you think she's got?" Kento asked.
"Just the flu, I'm hoping," Cye replied. "It would make sense. Now's the
season for it. I'll have my mom look at her when she gets home tonight." Cye
reached out and picked up Robyn ever so slowly as not to disturb her. He turned
and carried her upstairs to her room where he put her to bed and pulled the
covers over her small, shivering form. He tarried for a moment to remove a few
strands of hair from her face. Then he turned and headed back down to where his
friends were.
"Thanks for taking Robyn home for me," Cye said when he returned, "I wish I
could have done it myself, but I had to finish that stupid test."
"Don't worry about it," Kento waved it off. "Either way you'd probably make
me take you guys home just the same, right?"
"Probably," Cye admitted with a smile. "But I can take it from here now if
there's somewhere you guys need to be."
"Yeah, I'd better head to work," Kento nodded. "Come on, Sage, I'll drop you
off on the way."
Kento had almost forgotten that his blonde friend was even there. Sage was
now resting in a somewhat uncomfortable-looking position in the chair and he was
fast asleep. Cye and Kento looked at each other. It was apparent to all the
Ronins that Sage wasn't getting much sleep. But any of them had yet to know the
cause. Even Rowen, whom Sage told everything, hadn't a clue as to what was
bothering the Warrior of Light so much to cause him to lose sleep.
Kento almost regretted waking Sage up when he shook his shoulder. "Sage,"
Kento called. "You need to wake up now. Time for us to go."
Sage mumbled something under his breath as he was brought out of his much
needed slumber. He blinked and then suddenly stiffened when he realized where he
was. Sage instantly jumped to his feet and did his best to hide his fatigue.
"Ready to go?" Kento asked.
"Yeah, I should be home," Sage replied as he tried to hide a yawn.
"Catch you later, Cye," Kento called as the two headed out the door.
"Take care."
"You too," Cye called as he waved them out. He shut the door behind him and
then looked to the staircase with a sigh. Worry pricked at the back of his mind
as he remembered how pale and sickly Robyn looked. I hope it's nothing
serious.
*****
It was little over a week before Rowen's mother - currently taking a
personal break from her job - allowed for Rowen to have any visitors. And it was
all for good reason. Even when the four other Ronins were finally allowed to
visit, Rowen still wasn't feeling all that well. Still confined to his bed,
Rowen was constantly on pain medication and at times didn't seem to be
completely there when one of his friends tried to talk to him. But he had gone
through brain surgery after all, so it was expected.
"What do you think of this?" Ryo asked as he pointed to the ceiling. The
team was posting Rowen's new glow-in-the-dark star stickers in his room like
Sage had promised they would.
Rowen wasn't able to move his head much. He squinted his eyes as he looked
up at Ryo's new work of art.
"S'good, Ryo," Rowen muttered, his speech slurred from the drugs.
Ryo beamed and looked proud of his accomplishment. Rowen had pointed out a
few astrology books they could use to make patterns with the stars they had. But
after a few minutes of failing to mimic the complicated constellations, Ryo had
changed his design and made a smiley face on his ceiling instead.
The other Ronins were doing similar things as well. Cye, of course, was
copying the Pisces constellation while Kento was exercising some creativity of
his own and was doing Mickey Mouse. Sage was the only one without star stickers
in his hand as he sat in a chair at Rowen's bedside and just watched.
"So, Rowen," Cye said. "How long do you think it's going to be until you can
keep up with us again?"
There was a long stretch of patient silence. The guys had already learned
you had to wait a while when asking Rowen a uestion in his current state.
"Not sure," Rowen admitted. "Prolly long time." The normal, unmedicated
Rowen would have had the time calculated to the second. But for the moment, his
rough estimate would have to do. There was a longer span of silence as Rowen's
foggy mind finally realized something.
"Where's Robyn?" he asked.
Everyone paused in what they were doing and looked to the only person who
could give them the answer. Robyn hadn't been to school all week. There was only
one among them who knew her current condition.
Cye ignored all their gazes and looked at Rowen. "She's home in bed. She's
been really sick lately."
"What's she got?" Rowen asked again.
"Well, we thought it was just the flu at first," Cye explained. "Then she
started developing these headaches and a bad cough. The doctors say she's got
bronchitis and her sinuses are all messed up. And if we're not careful, she
could even come down with pneumonia."
"No thanks to you and your little late-night escapades," Kento interjected.
"You're the reason she's sick, you know."
"Hey, lay off him, Kento," Sage said, coming to Rowen's defense. "He didn't
know what would happen. It's not his fault."
"He's right, Kento," Cye admitted. "I'm sure Robyn's not blaming him
either." But despite his words, Rowen still looked like he felt bad for it.
"Hey, Rowen, don't worry about it," Ryo put a friendly hand on his shoulder.
"Robyn will get better soon enough. You'll see."
Rowen nodded but Cye didn't look too sure.
*****
Days later, the winter season made itself known when Toyama woke up one
morning to find itself blanketed in a new white layer of snow. And lucky for the
snow-loving Ronin boys, it was also a Saturday, so they were free to romp and
roam as they pleased. Snow was quite rare in Toyama. Sometimes it didn't even
snow the entire year. So Grandma Sanada wasn't at all surprised to see three
young men standing outside her door in their winter gear bright and early that
morning.
"Can Ryo come out and play?" Kento asked in a child-like voice. Cye and Sage
just beamed and looked eager to go.
"Well, I suppose he can," Grandma Sanada said. "But he'll have to get
dressed fir-"
"Bye, Grandma," Ryo sang as he whisked past in his coat and gloves. He
paused only a moment to give her a quick peck on the cheek before he jumped out
the door and raced merrily down the sidewalk with the other three boys at his
heels. Grandma Sanada shook her head as she watched them go. Her hand instantly
went to the top of White Blaze's head as he gently nudged it against her.
"They will grow up someday, right?" she asked the tiger. White Blaze looked
up at her and made a small rumble in his throat. "I suppose you're right. Let
them be young while they still can. There will be plenty of time for maturity
later. Come on."
Both turned and went back into the house to enjoy the warm fire.
*****
The four boys continued down the sidewalk until they reached the nearest
park in which they could have plenty of room to play snow games. When they got
there it was apparent that they weren't the only ones intent on enjoying the
day. There were kids all over. Most of them seemed to be engaged in a large
snowball fight in which the four teens joined right in. It didn't seem to bother
them one bit that they were the oldest ones there.
Mei Ryu, Kento's younger brother, was there with a bunch of his little
friends as well. The second the older boys were spotted by them they were
showered with a barrage of snowballs - not to mention Mei Ryu led the charge in
trying to whitewash Ryo.
And thus an all out war exploded in the snow covered park. Basically, it was
the four older boys against all the little kids who wanted to join in the game.
But then Cye accidentally hit Kento with a snowball so the teams broke off
differently in which it was Kento and Sage verses Ryo and Cye. The younger
children divided themselves about however they wished and the war of the
snowballs continued.
Sage paused to mold a handful of snow to his liking. No one was targeting
him at the time, so he took a moment to realize how weird it was to not have
Rowen around. It felt like something was missing. The battle lacked its usual
excitement. Especially since Rowen wasn't there to make snide comments or give
Sage a snowball in the face when he wasn't looking. Rowen was always the best
sniper of the bunch. He was the one who usually kept the others on their toes
during snowball fights.
"Man, Rowen's sure missing out," Kento said, reflecting Sage's thoughts as
he came up beside him. A snowball was in each hand and he tossed them
effortlessly at two of his younger targets, easily pegging them both. "We should
go up and throw some snowballs at his bedroom window later on so he won't feel
left out."
Sage nodded in agreement. He couldn't wait for Rowen to be back out with the
rest of them. To get rid of the large empty feeling that formed whenever what
remained of their group got together. And still, if Rowen had been here, Sage
had to admit even that would not be enough to completely fill the gap. They
needed one other. Robyn, too needed to come back if they were ever to feel whole
again. Sage wasn't sure when it was that this girl had become so a part of them
- but it had happened. Now he just hoped that the emptiness wouldn't be there
for much longer.
*****
The days dragged on, turning into weeks and still the small group remained
two members short. Rowen was up and moving around now, but nowhere near well
enough to come back to school. Robyn had yet to show up to school either. Cye
never talked about how she was doing much, but from the way he acted one could
tell it wasn't too good. In fact, the bearer of Torrent wasn't looking too good
himself.
As of lately, Cye always looked tired and bags were forming under his eyes.
His friends began to notice how edgy he was getting and that his patience was
thinning terribly. In class he had trouble concentrating and he got discouraged
easily. But none of his friends ever asked; they could easily guess what was
bothering him. But then again, if it wasn't mentioned and they didn't dare ask,
the guys had to come up with other ways to find out what was going on at the
Mouri household. Such as what Ryo did that day at lunch.
"Hey you guys, there's a great movie coming out next weekend," Ryo announced
to his three friends. "We should all go." The other boys voiced their agreement
to the idea.
"Hey, Cye," Ryo then asked. "Do you think Robyn will be well enough to go by
then?"
Kento and Sage looked to Cye curiously for the answer. None of them ever
expected the kind of reply they got. Cye instantly sobered at the question. He
paused as if searching for some kind of answer. But nothing ever came out.
Instead, Cye slammed his fist on the table in frustration and then stormed away.
The three remaining Ronins looked at each other wondering what to do. Kento
was the one who took the initiative to go after his best friend.
"I got this," he announced as he stood and started out in the direction Cye
had fled. He caught up with the distraught young Englishman around the corner of
the school where Cye was leaning against the wall with his back to him. Kento
slowly approached. Cye's body stiffened as he heard the footsteps behind him,
but he didn't move.
"Is there something you want to talk about?" Kento asked casually as he
sidled up next to Cye.
The rusty haired youth looked to the ground and wrapped his arms around
himself. His face looked sad and worried. Kento stayed where he was, patiently
waiting for an answer.
"Robyn's not getting better," Cye said softly. He fought to keep his voice
placid but the emotion was beginning to show. "The doctor's say her immune
system is already exhausted and it can't do much more to fight off the disease."
Kento put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Well, we both know Robyn wasn't
the healthiest person when she came here in the first place, Cye. Isn't she on
medication or anything?"
An almost hateful look crossed Cye's face. "Yeah, the doctors have given us
all types of stuff, but none of it's helping." He looked into Kento's face with
eyes full of fear. "What if she doesn't get better, Kento? I can't stand seeing
her hurting like that everyday. I can't stand not being able to help her. What
if she dies? I don't want to lose her again!"
Kento grabbed his shoulders forcefully. "Cye, buddy, calm down. I know this
is hard on you, but you can't let yourself get carried away like this. With all
this worrying you do you're going to get sick too and you're not going to be
able to do anything for Robyn if that happens. Just hang in there, okay? Robyn's
a tough little cookie, she'll get through this."
Cye closed his eyes and pushed some hair away from his forehead. "That
doesn't make it any easier," he said softly.
"Well, who said you had to face this by yourself?" Kento wanted to know.
"We're your friends, remember? We're a team. And we'll be here for you whenever
you need it. And you know, as your best friend, I'll always be here if you need
someone to talk to. Right?"
Cye looked into his friend's strong, hopeful face and he suddenly felt some
strength as well. "Right," he smiled weakly. "We'll get through this." "You
bet," Kento agreed as he steered them both back to the lunch table. "Now let's
go back and finish our lunches. Were you going to eat that Twinkie you brought?"
"No, Kento, you can have it."
"Yes!"
"And Kento?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks."
Kento grinned. "What are friends for?"
*****
Cye shivered in his sleep and he clutched his blankets tighter around him.
He moaned as his worry-filled dreams plagued him and prevented him from a
restful night's sleep. His eyes popped open when he realized how uncomfortable
he really was. He sat up and pulled his blanket around him when he noticed just
how cold his room had become. It was freezing!
A glance at the clock told him it was a little after one. Cye instantly felt
fatigued again as his body ached for more sleep. But then again, his body was
also begging for some warmth as well. Cye grumbled as he got out of bed.
Pressing his bare feet to the freezing floor was a rude wake-up call for him.
The heater must have blown out during the night - that lousy piece of junk. Cye
hugged himself to keep warm as he trudged into the hall to find some more
blankets for himself. He reached the closet in the pitch dark of the night and
felt around until he found the thickest, warmest blanket they had. That should
do it.
As he started back for his own room with the blanket around his shoulders he
paused when he heard sounds in the darkness. Faint coughing came from the end of
the hall where the door was left open half way. Cye shuffled up to it and peeked
inside. Robyn was asleep in her bed, a raspy sound escaping her lips with each
breath. She coughed weakly in her sleep. Her throat sounded sore and abused from
all her daytime coughing fits. Robyn gave a weak moan as she shivered and rolled
over in bed, her back now facing the doorway.
Cye instantly felt like a selfish scumbag. He had been so stuck on how cold
he was he didn't even think as to how Robyn was feeling. Here she was sick and
miserable and Cye wouldn't have even noticed if she hadn't have coughed while he
was out in the hall. Cye padded slowly into the room and looked down at the
sleeping form. He reached for her arm and found it was indeed cold to the touch.
The brown haired youth took a deep breath as he pulled back the covers and
climbed in the bed next to her. He took the blanket he was holding with him and
wrapped it around the both of them before pulling the bed covers back into
place. Her body felt cold against him as he pulled her close, pressing her back
against his chest.
Cye rested his chin on the top of her head as he waited for his body heat to
help warm her up. In the meantime, Robyn's body continued to be wracked with
coughing fits and Cye held her tight during each one. As her body warmed up, she
started coughing less and less until she was sleeping peacefully again. Cye
sighed as he remained holding her through the night. He wasn't feeling too tired
now. His mind wandered back into old memories as he recalled the last time he
had held Robyn and how even then he had felt just as helpless.
The images were vague for it had been a long time. Cye remembered the voice.
HIS voice; yelling and screaming with fists pounding on the door outside. Cye
remembered how scared he had been. He always thought he was safe inside his own
house, but then suddenly he wasn't so sure. Robyn, too had thought of the Mouri
house as a sanctuary. That's where she had fled during one of her father's more
violent drunken rages. But this time, he had followed.
Robyn's father was outside the front door, yelling and threatening all who
were in the house. Cye's mother was busily calling the police while Cye and
Robyn remained huddled in fear on the kitchen floor. The young girl's face was
battered and bruised from an earlier beating. She had gotten some blood from a
cut in her cheek on Cye's sweater, but he didn't care.
That was the last time he had been able to see Robyn. Shortly after the
police arrived, a woman from social services came and took her away where some
family members in America were given custody for her. Cye never thought he would
see her again after that.
Those were trying times for the both of them. Cye had wanted to grow up so
fast when he was little. It was always his nature to want to protect. He had
once asked his mother why these things happened the way they did. She would
always reply that he would understand in time. Cye couldn't wait until he was
big. Then he could finally understand it all and he would be able to protect the
people he cared about.
Tears stung his eyes as Cye looked down at the weak little form in his arms.
He was big now; he understood. But he still could not protect her - not from
this. He was still as helpless as he was on that night all those many years ago.
His courage, his strength, even his armor could do nothing to save Robyn now. It
was all up to her. And just like that night, all Cye could do now was pray and
hope for a miracle.
*****
Cye didn't go to school that morning. His mother was going to be gone all
day so he decided he would stay home to watch Robyn and fix the heater. He had
been leaning over the stubborn contraption for hours with screwdriver in hand.
The ornery thing simply refused to work. Cye stood up and took a moment to pop
his back and stretch his tired muscles. He was about to give it another go when
the doorbell rang.
Throwing the heater one last dirty look, Cye went to answer it. He opened
the door to find a familiar, yet unexpected figure standing on his porch.
"Sage?" Cye wondered. "Aren't you supposed to be in school?"
"Aren't you?" Sage countered as he stepped into the house without further
invitation.
Cye closed the door and gave his friend a perplexed look. "Is there anything
I can do for you, Sage, or are you just here for the tour?"
Sage ignored the accusing sarcasm. "Where's Robyn?"
Cye blinked in surprise at the bluntness. "Uh, upstairs in her room. Why do
you-"
Sage didn't wait for him to finish the question before he started for the
stairs. Cye curiously followed after. He glanced at the clock as he went by. It
would be lunchtime at the school right now. So that was why Sage was in a hurry.
Whatever it was he came here to do he was going to make it fast and then get
back to school before the lunch hour was over.
Sage went up the stairs and down the hall to the last door. It was shut and
he opened it without hesitation. It was dark inside the room with the curtains
drawn. The atmosphere was damp as a humidifier chugged away in the corner. The
figure in the bed rested quietly, her skin more pale than usual and her
breathing shallow. Sage walked up to her and placed a hand on her head.
It was then that Cye made it to the doorway. He was about to go in and tell
Sage what for about barging into people's rooms like that, but what he saw made
him hold his peace. From Sage's hand came a dull green glow in the darkened room
as he pressed it to Robyn's forehead. It was only there for a second before Sage
pulled away and promptly left the room.
Cye stood there dumbfounded as Sage passed by him and down the hall. He
couldn't believe it. Sage had used his healing powers to help Robyn. He NEVER
used his powers for such things. Sage had made it abundantly clear that he only
used them during life and death situations such as if one of his comrades were
injured badly during a battle and such. He was asked one night why he was so
adamant about only using his ability to heal in emergencies, when using it on a
normal basis would be a lot more convenient to himself and everyone.
Sage had quite an interesting answer for them. He had told them in his usual
calm voice how he hated to use his armor's healing powers. Not because he
disliked helping people, but because of something more profound. Sage admitted
openly that he felt exposed when using his powers on someone else. In this he
was giving up a part of himself - a part of his life essence to heal. And in
that instant he was an open book and that invisible blockade he coveted so much
would fade and there would be no more barriers to hide him.
Sage jealously guarded his private thoughts and feelings. Anything that
could get past the walls he put around himself was avoided as much as possible.
Even when Rowen had asked for a little help with his current condition Sage had
refused. Cye didn't blame him much for taking off as soon as he was done. After
taking one last look at Robyn he shut the door just in time to hear Sage leave
the house and head back for school.
*****
It was the next weekend when Kento's jeep pulled up in front of the Mouri
household, full of hyper, happy passengers. Mrs. Mouri looked up as the four
boys tromped into the house and instantly filed into the kitchen to look for
snacks.
"I thought you boys were going to go into town and do some stuff," she said
as she raised an eyebrow questioningly at her only son.
"We are," Kento answered for him, grinning at Cye's mom. "But we wanted to
grab some snacks first and your guys' house was the closest."
"They followed me in Mom, I swear," Cye defended. "I was just dropping off
my books."
"Well, it's all right," Cye's mother assured them all. "You know you boys
are always welcome here anytime."
Sage thanked Mrs. Mouri politely while Ryo and Kento only mumbled because
they already had chips in their mouths.
"Hey guys, what's up?" came a raspy voice from the doorway.
All eyes turned up to see Robyn standing there. Her hair was in a loose
braid that looked like she had slept in it - which she probably had. She wore a
large heavy sweater, baggy sweats, and socks with fuzzy slippers. Most of the
articles of clothing she wore looked like she had confiscated them from Cye's
closet. A bit of color was now returning to her face and she was smiling.
"Whoa, hey Robyn," Kento grinned. "Long time no see."
"Yeah," Ryo chimed in. "We've missed you."
Cye grinned. "I think these guys tricked me into letting them come here just
so they could see how you were doing."
Robyn chuckled and then broke into a fit of coughs. "Well, I appreciate the
thought," she rasped in a scratchy voice. She had a roundish object under one
arm and carried it with her as she moved to the sink. It looked like a large
plastic bowl and Robyn began filling it with water.
"So, how have you been feeling?" Sage asked quietly.
"Well, I won't be in any singing contests any time soon. But I'm not doing
too bad."
"Any idea when you're going to come back to school?" It was Ryo who had
asked that.
"Hopefully sometime next week if I can," Robyn replied.
"Only if you stay in bed and get plenty of rest for the next few days,"
Cye's mother told her.
"Right," Robyn nodded as she finished filling the object she brought. She
replaced the long, oddly shaped lid and started back out of the kitchen.
"Leaving already," Kento said with disappointment.
Robyn reached the doorway and turned to look at them. "Sorry, but I'm going
back to bed with my good friend Mr. Humidifier. See you guys later." The guys
waved her off as she headed back to her room.
"So," Cye then announced. "If you guys have eaten enough of our food, are
you ready to get going?"
The guys grinned and nodded. Cye was in a much better mood these days. The
four reached for their jackets and started out the door.
"Hold on, guys," Kento suddenly announced as if he were forgetting something
important. "I gotta do something first. I'll be right back." He dashed back into
the house without waiting for a reply.
"Hmm," Ryo mumbled as he watched him. "Well, I guess if you gotta go then
you gotta go." Sage and Cye just grinned and shrugged.
Up in her room, Robyn had just plugged in her humidifier and was ready to
crawl back in bed. She turned around only to come in contact with a body that
seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. "Kento?" Robyn asked in surprise. She
was cut off as Kento's strong arms wrapped loosely around her and Robyn couldn't
help but blush from surprise.
"We're glad you're all right," he said in a soothing voice.
Robyn smiled and relaxed in his arms. "Thanks," she whispered in a hoarse
voice as she momentarily leaned against him.
Kento gave her a little squeeze and then was gone as fast as he had
appeared. Minutes later the loud roaring of Kento's jeep could be heard as it
rumbled away. Robyn smiled to herself as she hopped into her bed. She couldn't
wait to get back out there and join her friends again.