Into the Beginning of the End
By Quiet Chaos
Chapter Five
The school lawn lay littered with crowds of students, mingling in separate groups like drunkards beneath the morning haze and white wine sunlight. This was the first day ritual of Han'a High School--a ritual too familiar to the senior class. It was nothing more than the school's failing attempt to ease students back into the strict routine of early morning wake-ups and late night study-groups. But most students enjoyed the moment well enough. A brief hush would blanket the crowd as new waves of students came upon the campus, their eyes eagerly searching for familiar faces.
This was the scene that the Ronins walked into. They stopped beneath a cherry blossom tree to wait for the bell. Kento stretched loudly and groaned as a few bones cracked. "Next time I get the front seat," he exasperated before slumping down at the base of the tree. "Mia's back seat is too small for four people."
Rowen peacefully snoozed beside him, oblivious to the complaints. Sage stood on the other side of the tree in an effort to hide from any mob of girls that might pass by. Ryo and Cye stood on either side him like bodyguards.
They waited silently, enjoying each other's company while basking in the calm. Then the shrill ringing of the bell shattered the quiet, and the mass of students began to filter into the school doors. The principal and a few other teachers stood around the entrance, shouting: "Students, please head to the auditorium. Freshmen follow the general flow of the upperclassmen."
The Ronins and other groups of seniors waited patiently for the rush to go by. They watched a few late students get dropped off and make a mad dash into the stampede.
"Shall we?" Ryo asked when the flood had slowed to a trickle. He picked up his bag as Kento pushed Rowen up, but then something caught his eye. He stood straight, staring out towards the street.
Walking slowly down the entryway was a girl, wearing a long red trench coat, heavy boots and white pants. A backpack was lazily slung over one shoulder and swayed gently with each stride. Her hair was raven black, pulled into a thick ponytail and leaving only a few locks of hair to dangle before her eyes, which were also shaded with sunglasses.
"Ryo, what's the matter?" Cye asked when he saw his friend not moving for the school. Torrent, and everyone else, turned to see what Wildfire was staring at.
Kento's mouth gaped open. "That's the...Isn't she..." He frantically pointed at her as he stuttered. His fist clenched as he pulled together his composure. Then he stepped forward to engage her, but two sets of hands grabbed hold of him. "Hey!"
'Wait, Kento,' Sage thought to him along the armor bond. 'Remember where we are, and who else is here.' He eyed the principal who was coming down the steps towards the girl. Cye's hands also gently grasped Kento's shoulders. With a nod from Torrent, Hardrock relaxed, but continued to glare at the girl as she drew ever closer.
She strode by them without a glance or any hint of acknowledgment. The principal was beside her now and had placed a guiding hand on her shoulder. After a quick exchange of words, they ascended the school steps. The principal stopped and turned around, but pushed her on. "Seniors," he sternly called out to the leftover crowd. "Come along now before you're all late." Then he hurried up the last steps into the school.
"What's she doing here?!" Kento nearly shouted as soon as the principal was gone. He tossed his bag roughly over his shoulder in frustration.
"Do you think she might still be after you, Ryo?" Sage asked, matching strides with the red Ronin in the final wave of students.
"I don't know. But you can be sure I'll find out today," Ryo sighed.
"And we'll be right there with you to pound the answers out of her!" Kento said, slapping Ryo heartily in the back.
Wildfire remained quiet as they found some empty spots within the stadium seating of the auditorium. They could see the stage clearly: the principal stood in the center behind the podium, and a thin line of new students stretched behind him.
The older man cleared his throat and began the morning speech. "Welcome new and returning students to Han'a High School. I trust this will be another exceptional year for everyone."
"Does he have to repeat himself every year with the same exact speech?" whispered Kento. Cye grinned at him, but continued to watch the principal. The man was now going down the line of students, introducing them as foreign exchanges or transfers. A distinct hush fell over the crowd as he reached the end of the line, where the girl calmly sat; she had removed her sunglasses, but her eyes remained closed, as if she were sleeping or just didn't care.
"And joining the senior class as this year's only senior transfer student is Kurari Shiroi." The principal gestured towards her, not even bothering to see if she acknowledged his introduction. She didn't move.
"Kurari is it then," Sage muttered quietly.
Rowen had finally perked up. "When do you think we can confront her?"
"Lunch," Ryo whispered. "Our entire class has the same lunchtime. We'll get a hold of her then."
"Right," Kento agreed.
"Where should we meet?" Cye asked.
"Beneath the sakura tree right after class. Then we'll search for her." The assembly ended, and students began to mob the exits. "See you guys later!" Ryo called as the rush swept him up.
"See ya!"
"Later!"
"Bye guys!"
"Bye!"
***
The ticking of the clock was agonizingly slow and loud in the quiet room. The only competition of noise was the dull, monotone voice of the professor and the scratching of chalk on the blackboard. In his boredom, Ryo began to unconsciously tap his pencil to the clock's steady ticks. 'Ten minutes until lunch,' he inwardly groaned, letting his head droop closer to the desktop.
Suddenly he jerked forward, as if he'd been jabbed by a needle. The professor eyed him curiously, but continued on with the lecture. 'What the hell was that?' he thought, glancing around the room. After seeing nothing amiss in the general vicinity, he decided to check on the armors. He watched the professor for a moment, making sure the old man was lost in the sound of his own voice, before letting his mind drift inward. To be on the safe side, he let his eyes stay open but unfocused upon the blackboard.
In his mind, he could see the four armor threads that connected to Wildfire glowing with their individual colors. He gently fingered each thread, checking the bonds and testing the other side for any odd signs. He could feel each of his companions on the other end perk up a little as he plucked the threads, but calmed their curiosity with a quick wave of reassurance.
After finding nothing amiss with his friends, he moved on. What surprised him was that he found four new strings coming out of his mind. They were faint, but growing in intensity and becoming more tightly bound to him. He paused, checking again on the professor, before giving all four strings a hard yank.
Four voices mentally shrieked with surprise at the sudden jerk. Ryo nearly jumped out of his set as the new set of voices separated themselves to speak with him. Along the golden thread came Anubis's voice: 'Ah, hello there Wildfire.'
'Anubis?' he thought back. He felt the chuckle at the other end, and realized the myriad of emotions that had been sent along with that one word of acknowledgment.
The dark green thread spoke up next. 'We're all here.' That was Sekhmet.
'What do you mean 'you're all here'?'
'Kayura brought us to the Mortal Realm in order to join forces with everyone,' came Kale's voice. His line was murky blue, much darker than Rowen's.
'We're all at the mansion right now,' Dais said, his pink line quivered as he spoke. 'We'll talk when everyone returns here. There's a lot to discuss.'
'Uh...sure...' Ryo ended the transmission. He'd been caught off guard by the Warlords' stronger presences in his mind, and couldn't quite think straight as he brought himself back to the lecture. Luckily, the teacher had been oblivious to his mind's absence and was now writing down the homework. The bell rang soon after, and class was out for lunch.
After jotting down the assignment and fumbling with his bag, Ryo made his way into the rush. A flash of red caught his eye just as he stepped into the hallway. Glancing over the heads of students, he caught sight of Kurari a few paces away. She was leaning against the wall, as though she was waiting for something. He started to move through the crowd towards her.
As soon as he'd taken two steps, she stood and began to move though the rush of students. He tried to walk faster, but the flow of students going in the other direction kept him from catching up. He suddenly realized that she was leading him, holding him at a distance until they reached wherever she was taking him. When she stopped at a water fountain, he suddenly realized that he was at his locker. He smirked, marveling for a moment at her skill as he tossed his belongings into the metal box. As soon as he'd locked the door, she was moving again, so he hustled to catch up.
For a brief moment he lost sight of her in the crowd, but after jostling a few freshmen out of his way, he caught glimpse of her coat as it passed out of sight into an enclosed stairwell. He managed to get into the deserted shaft, and listened to her footsteps echo in the emptiness. She was taking slow, rhythmic steps, neither hurried nor tired, but lazy. He charged up the steps, taking two or three at a time, but she seemed to remain just out of sight, and only her footsteps to haunt the hall and urge him on.
The stairwell was deserted because it went straight to the roof. There were no doors to the second level, nor the basement. It existed only for access to the highest level. Normally, students weren't allowed atop the school, but the rules had been bent for the good weather and good behavior of the student population.
The clanging of the metal door echoed in the well, letting him know she was now outside. Taking a deep breath, he ran up the last few steps and charged through the door. The bright noonday light glared in his eyes for a moment, and he prepared to be ambushed in his vulnerability, but nothing came. His eyes adjusted, and he saw her standing across the roof from him, leaning casually against the chain-link perimeter fence.
He walked slowly towards her, his senses alert for any sign of aggression; he was treating the encounter as if he was meeting a snake. She opened her eyes, and the brightest emerald green color he'd ever seen flashed before him.
***
"Where is he?" Rowen moaned as he leaned against the trunk of the cherry tree. He let himself slide down the bark into a slump beside Kento and Cye.
"He probably got held up by the teacher." Cye took a thoughtful bite of his sandwich. "Hey! Kento! That's mine!" he yelled when he saw his snack moving away from him. He snatched hold of Kento's wrist and twisted.
"Aw, but it taste better than what I've got." He obediently dropped the brownie, but turned away to pout.
"Flattery will get you nowhere with me; you should know that by now." Cye took a devilishly large bite out of the chocolate square, grinning at Kento's childish antics. "Don't give me those puppy-dog eyes," he mockingly whined. "Aw, here." He pulled another brownie out of his lunch box and tossed it to the larger boy. "I knew you'd want one."
"Thanks, man; you're the best."
"I'm going to go look for them," Sage suddenly said.
"Give it another minute," Rowen yawned. "If Ryo was in trouble, we'd feel it through the link."
"But wouldn't he also tell us if he'd be late through the link?" Halo kicked a stone in frustration.
"Not if he was stuck talking to a teacher." Kento leaned back against the tree, his stomach satisfied for the moment.
"I'm still going to go look. It was odd enough for him to check on us during class, and now that he's late and isn't even contacting us..." Another stone went whizzing though the air. "I think something's up. And I'm not going to just go looking for Ryo. I'm going to look for that girl too."
"All right," Rowen stood, throwing his arms up in defeat. "You've made your point; we'll all go. Cye, Kento, you two go check the second floor; Sage and I will check the first. We'll keep the link open and give a holler if you find either of them."
***
All he could do was stand and stare at her as she stood, scrutinizing him. A light breeze picked up, gently stirring her hair and flapping the red trench coat so it looked like a breathing sea of blood.
"You were the one who attacked me, weren't you?"
She nodded.
"Why?"
Instead of answering, she pulled out a cigarette and lit it. Her silence was irritating him, but he still waited for her to suck in and spit out the foul black smoke. All the while she continued to stare at him.
"I already told you why," she finally said, the smoke curling around her. It stank, and it reminded him of the way Dynasty soldiers excreted smoke when he'd slashed them. "When you first asked me that night, remember?" She sighed. "You'll get the same answers I gave you then if you ask the same questions now."
He scowled at her, realizing he wouldn't get anywhere like this. "Why are your eyes green?" His question surprised him as much as it did her.
"Contacts." She took another breath from the cigarette, sucking away at the flickering stub of ash. "How's your cat?"
Ryo stared at her a little harder. Was she actually trying to be nice? Or was this just a way of avoiding the assassination attempt. "Better. You only gave him a flesh wound."
"I'm glad." The spent cigarette fell to the floor, and she snuffed the remaining sparks with her boot. Then, slowly, she walked the distance between them. He stood frozen to the spot, waiting for her to stop at arms length, but she kept coming and only stopped when she was partly pressed up against him.
They now stood, facing each other, with his right side pressed against hers. They were too close for combat, and even if either one of them started to move in aggression, the other could feel it. She breathed into his ear, and he waited. "Your life's been paid for. I'm here for myself."
"That's not good enough for me," he whispered, feeling oddly calmer. "I need answers." Her hair smelled faintly of smoke but also of sweet soap. Her pale skin felt colder than ice as it rested against his cheek. It was strange the way she felt against him.
She sighed. "Then we'll talk again later." She sidestepped around him, heading for the door. "Your friends are waiting for you."
It was after the door clanged shut that he realized she was gone. He pressed a hand against his cheek, where hers had been moments ago. His whole right side felt numb, even though it was a warm fall day.
***
"Well, we've checked almost everywhere on this floor, and still no sign of either of them." Rowen peered up and down the empty hallway.
"'Almost' is the key word, Rowen," Sage smirked. Rowen cocked an eyebrow as the blonde motioned towards the restrooms.
"Oh no. I'm not going into the girl's bathroom."
Sage only smiled. "I wasn't thinking that. But you could check the men's room."
"What about the other one? Do you think she'd really be hiding in there?" He started towards the bathroom.
"I'll ask one of the girl's here to check for me, that's all."
"What were you going to ask me Sage-chan?" a sweet voice interrupted. Sage turned to see a girl wearing a schoolgirl uniform with brown hair tied in a ponytail, smiling sweetly at him. She walked up to him and began to teasingly circle round him.
"Oh, Jessica," he gave her a smile and she stopped circling. "I was wondering if you could look into the girl's room to see if the new senior was in there."
"Is that all?" she made a pouting face, but then perked up with an idea. Sage inwardly groaned as he realized what that meant. "I'll do it if you take me out on a date."
"Aw, come on, Jessica. That's a little much for just looking in the bathroom." She stopped him with a raised finger.
"Then why don't you do it yourself?" She crossed her arms and turned away from him in an arrogant manner. "Why do you want to find her anyway?"
Sage looked over her head towards Rowen, who merely smirked and entered the men's room. 'Good luck with this one,' the archer thought at him.
Sage sighed, "Would you do it for a kiss instead?"
That caught her attention. "Really?!"
"Uh, sure," he nervously shifted his weight. 'I'm such an idiot.' He looked her directly in the eye. This had to be done; regrets could come later. "I'll give you a kiss on the cheek for every bathroom you check for me. How's that?"
"That's a done deal!" She bolted into the girls' room, leaving him alone to grasp the situation he'd created. No more than five seconds had passed before she came running out of the room. "Not in there!" She grabbed Sage's arm and began to drag him off towards the other set of restrooms. "That's one kiss you owe me!"
'Rowen? Where the heck are you? I need a hand!' he frantically thought.
'I'm coming. Sheesh. It's your own fault you know.'
'You can remind me of my stupidity later, just hurry up; we're already at the next bathroom.' As soon as he'd finished the transmission, she was already heading into the lavatory. Suddenly he heard a different door close. He looked up just in time to see Kurari stride around the corner and out of sight. He started after her, but a hand grabbed his arm.
"Sage, where are you going? You owe me two kisses now."
"Yeah. I just saw her going around the corner. Here," he bent down and kissed each cheek. "Thanks for the help."
She giggled happily. "Look me up next time you need another favor."
"Right." He watched to make sure Jessica was off before he headed in the direction Kurari went. 'Rowen, I just saw Kurari.'
'Okay, I'll be right there.'
Sage cautiously peered around the corner into the other hallway. He could see her at a locker, pulling out her belongings. Rowen came up behind him. With a nod they began to inch closer to the corner.
Suddenly the door behind them opened. Sage stood upright and pretended to nod to something Rowen had 'said.' They didn't want people thinking they were sneaking around school, which is exactly what they were doing. What surprised the blond was to see Ryo come walking out of the door. "Rowen, it's Ryo."
"Hey, Ryo!" Rowen called out. Ryo acted like he didn't see them as he began to walk in the other direction. Rowen gave Sage a wry look before chasing off after Ryo. "Hey!" He grabbed hold of Ryo's shoulder and spun him around. "What's the matter with you, Ryo?"
Ryo stared blankly at Rowen for a moment. The archer could see the tiger blue eyes were dazed and unfocused. He blinked. "Rowen?"
"Yeah, what's wrong? What happened to you?"
"Nothing. Nothing happened."
Sage came up behind them. "Hey, that's the same stairway Kurari came out of. Were you up on the roof with her?"
"Yeah, but nothing happened."
"Nothing? What do you mean nothing? We were all supposed to meet beneath the cherry tree to go confront her." Rowen stared at him. "What's the matter with you anyway?" he repeated, concern dripping from his voice.
"Nothing's wrong." Ryo was coming back into full consciousness now, and he was getting irritated. "I saw her after class and decided to follow her to the roof. She wouldn't answer my questions so we dropped it. That's all!" He was nearly shouting now, and they could hear a few teachers behind the classroom doors getting annoyed.
"All right, all right. Calm down here," Sage intervened, stepping between the two with his hands raised. "We shouldn't talk about this here." He motioned towards the classrooms. "Why don't we all just save it for when we get back to the mansion?"
"Fine by me," Rowen sighed. "I'll let Cye and Kento know."
"The warlords are at the mansion," Ryo quietly added.
"What?!"
"I guess we'll be talking about a lot after school."
"Yeah," Sage exasperated. "Guess so."
A/N- ~Sorry about the long wait; I had an extremely bad case of writer's block. I just hope the length made up for it. I hate to say this, but I'm not going to post the next chapter until I get at least ten more reviews (no more than two reviews from the same person please). Otherwise, it won't be up until late June or even July! I'm really sorry. I hate it when other authors do this, but now I'm doing it too, so I'm a stupid hypocrite. I just feel like I'm losing my fluency, and I'd really like to know how people are feeling about this story. I know I promised to explain the armor history, but this is the slow part, and I always have trouble sitting myself down to write this kind of stuff. As soon as things speed up, it'll be easier, I hope. Anyway, please let me know what you all like and dislike. Critical feedback please!
By Quiet Chaos
Chapter Five
The school lawn lay littered with crowds of students, mingling in separate groups like drunkards beneath the morning haze and white wine sunlight. This was the first day ritual of Han'a High School--a ritual too familiar to the senior class. It was nothing more than the school's failing attempt to ease students back into the strict routine of early morning wake-ups and late night study-groups. But most students enjoyed the moment well enough. A brief hush would blanket the crowd as new waves of students came upon the campus, their eyes eagerly searching for familiar faces.
This was the scene that the Ronins walked into. They stopped beneath a cherry blossom tree to wait for the bell. Kento stretched loudly and groaned as a few bones cracked. "Next time I get the front seat," he exasperated before slumping down at the base of the tree. "Mia's back seat is too small for four people."
Rowen peacefully snoozed beside him, oblivious to the complaints. Sage stood on the other side of the tree in an effort to hide from any mob of girls that might pass by. Ryo and Cye stood on either side him like bodyguards.
They waited silently, enjoying each other's company while basking in the calm. Then the shrill ringing of the bell shattered the quiet, and the mass of students began to filter into the school doors. The principal and a few other teachers stood around the entrance, shouting: "Students, please head to the auditorium. Freshmen follow the general flow of the upperclassmen."
The Ronins and other groups of seniors waited patiently for the rush to go by. They watched a few late students get dropped off and make a mad dash into the stampede.
"Shall we?" Ryo asked when the flood had slowed to a trickle. He picked up his bag as Kento pushed Rowen up, but then something caught his eye. He stood straight, staring out towards the street.
Walking slowly down the entryway was a girl, wearing a long red trench coat, heavy boots and white pants. A backpack was lazily slung over one shoulder and swayed gently with each stride. Her hair was raven black, pulled into a thick ponytail and leaving only a few locks of hair to dangle before her eyes, which were also shaded with sunglasses.
"Ryo, what's the matter?" Cye asked when he saw his friend not moving for the school. Torrent, and everyone else, turned to see what Wildfire was staring at.
Kento's mouth gaped open. "That's the...Isn't she..." He frantically pointed at her as he stuttered. His fist clenched as he pulled together his composure. Then he stepped forward to engage her, but two sets of hands grabbed hold of him. "Hey!"
'Wait, Kento,' Sage thought to him along the armor bond. 'Remember where we are, and who else is here.' He eyed the principal who was coming down the steps towards the girl. Cye's hands also gently grasped Kento's shoulders. With a nod from Torrent, Hardrock relaxed, but continued to glare at the girl as she drew ever closer.
She strode by them without a glance or any hint of acknowledgment. The principal was beside her now and had placed a guiding hand on her shoulder. After a quick exchange of words, they ascended the school steps. The principal stopped and turned around, but pushed her on. "Seniors," he sternly called out to the leftover crowd. "Come along now before you're all late." Then he hurried up the last steps into the school.
"What's she doing here?!" Kento nearly shouted as soon as the principal was gone. He tossed his bag roughly over his shoulder in frustration.
"Do you think she might still be after you, Ryo?" Sage asked, matching strides with the red Ronin in the final wave of students.
"I don't know. But you can be sure I'll find out today," Ryo sighed.
"And we'll be right there with you to pound the answers out of her!" Kento said, slapping Ryo heartily in the back.
Wildfire remained quiet as they found some empty spots within the stadium seating of the auditorium. They could see the stage clearly: the principal stood in the center behind the podium, and a thin line of new students stretched behind him.
The older man cleared his throat and began the morning speech. "Welcome new and returning students to Han'a High School. I trust this will be another exceptional year for everyone."
"Does he have to repeat himself every year with the same exact speech?" whispered Kento. Cye grinned at him, but continued to watch the principal. The man was now going down the line of students, introducing them as foreign exchanges or transfers. A distinct hush fell over the crowd as he reached the end of the line, where the girl calmly sat; she had removed her sunglasses, but her eyes remained closed, as if she were sleeping or just didn't care.
"And joining the senior class as this year's only senior transfer student is Kurari Shiroi." The principal gestured towards her, not even bothering to see if she acknowledged his introduction. She didn't move.
"Kurari is it then," Sage muttered quietly.
Rowen had finally perked up. "When do you think we can confront her?"
"Lunch," Ryo whispered. "Our entire class has the same lunchtime. We'll get a hold of her then."
"Right," Kento agreed.
"Where should we meet?" Cye asked.
"Beneath the sakura tree right after class. Then we'll search for her." The assembly ended, and students began to mob the exits. "See you guys later!" Ryo called as the rush swept him up.
"See ya!"
"Later!"
"Bye guys!"
"Bye!"
***
The ticking of the clock was agonizingly slow and loud in the quiet room. The only competition of noise was the dull, monotone voice of the professor and the scratching of chalk on the blackboard. In his boredom, Ryo began to unconsciously tap his pencil to the clock's steady ticks. 'Ten minutes until lunch,' he inwardly groaned, letting his head droop closer to the desktop.
Suddenly he jerked forward, as if he'd been jabbed by a needle. The professor eyed him curiously, but continued on with the lecture. 'What the hell was that?' he thought, glancing around the room. After seeing nothing amiss in the general vicinity, he decided to check on the armors. He watched the professor for a moment, making sure the old man was lost in the sound of his own voice, before letting his mind drift inward. To be on the safe side, he let his eyes stay open but unfocused upon the blackboard.
In his mind, he could see the four armor threads that connected to Wildfire glowing with their individual colors. He gently fingered each thread, checking the bonds and testing the other side for any odd signs. He could feel each of his companions on the other end perk up a little as he plucked the threads, but calmed their curiosity with a quick wave of reassurance.
After finding nothing amiss with his friends, he moved on. What surprised him was that he found four new strings coming out of his mind. They were faint, but growing in intensity and becoming more tightly bound to him. He paused, checking again on the professor, before giving all four strings a hard yank.
Four voices mentally shrieked with surprise at the sudden jerk. Ryo nearly jumped out of his set as the new set of voices separated themselves to speak with him. Along the golden thread came Anubis's voice: 'Ah, hello there Wildfire.'
'Anubis?' he thought back. He felt the chuckle at the other end, and realized the myriad of emotions that had been sent along with that one word of acknowledgment.
The dark green thread spoke up next. 'We're all here.' That was Sekhmet.
'What do you mean 'you're all here'?'
'Kayura brought us to the Mortal Realm in order to join forces with everyone,' came Kale's voice. His line was murky blue, much darker than Rowen's.
'We're all at the mansion right now,' Dais said, his pink line quivered as he spoke. 'We'll talk when everyone returns here. There's a lot to discuss.'
'Uh...sure...' Ryo ended the transmission. He'd been caught off guard by the Warlords' stronger presences in his mind, and couldn't quite think straight as he brought himself back to the lecture. Luckily, the teacher had been oblivious to his mind's absence and was now writing down the homework. The bell rang soon after, and class was out for lunch.
After jotting down the assignment and fumbling with his bag, Ryo made his way into the rush. A flash of red caught his eye just as he stepped into the hallway. Glancing over the heads of students, he caught sight of Kurari a few paces away. She was leaning against the wall, as though she was waiting for something. He started to move through the crowd towards her.
As soon as he'd taken two steps, she stood and began to move though the rush of students. He tried to walk faster, but the flow of students going in the other direction kept him from catching up. He suddenly realized that she was leading him, holding him at a distance until they reached wherever she was taking him. When she stopped at a water fountain, he suddenly realized that he was at his locker. He smirked, marveling for a moment at her skill as he tossed his belongings into the metal box. As soon as he'd locked the door, she was moving again, so he hustled to catch up.
For a brief moment he lost sight of her in the crowd, but after jostling a few freshmen out of his way, he caught glimpse of her coat as it passed out of sight into an enclosed stairwell. He managed to get into the deserted shaft, and listened to her footsteps echo in the emptiness. She was taking slow, rhythmic steps, neither hurried nor tired, but lazy. He charged up the steps, taking two or three at a time, but she seemed to remain just out of sight, and only her footsteps to haunt the hall and urge him on.
The stairwell was deserted because it went straight to the roof. There were no doors to the second level, nor the basement. It existed only for access to the highest level. Normally, students weren't allowed atop the school, but the rules had been bent for the good weather and good behavior of the student population.
The clanging of the metal door echoed in the well, letting him know she was now outside. Taking a deep breath, he ran up the last few steps and charged through the door. The bright noonday light glared in his eyes for a moment, and he prepared to be ambushed in his vulnerability, but nothing came. His eyes adjusted, and he saw her standing across the roof from him, leaning casually against the chain-link perimeter fence.
He walked slowly towards her, his senses alert for any sign of aggression; he was treating the encounter as if he was meeting a snake. She opened her eyes, and the brightest emerald green color he'd ever seen flashed before him.
***
"Where is he?" Rowen moaned as he leaned against the trunk of the cherry tree. He let himself slide down the bark into a slump beside Kento and Cye.
"He probably got held up by the teacher." Cye took a thoughtful bite of his sandwich. "Hey! Kento! That's mine!" he yelled when he saw his snack moving away from him. He snatched hold of Kento's wrist and twisted.
"Aw, but it taste better than what I've got." He obediently dropped the brownie, but turned away to pout.
"Flattery will get you nowhere with me; you should know that by now." Cye took a devilishly large bite out of the chocolate square, grinning at Kento's childish antics. "Don't give me those puppy-dog eyes," he mockingly whined. "Aw, here." He pulled another brownie out of his lunch box and tossed it to the larger boy. "I knew you'd want one."
"Thanks, man; you're the best."
"I'm going to go look for them," Sage suddenly said.
"Give it another minute," Rowen yawned. "If Ryo was in trouble, we'd feel it through the link."
"But wouldn't he also tell us if he'd be late through the link?" Halo kicked a stone in frustration.
"Not if he was stuck talking to a teacher." Kento leaned back against the tree, his stomach satisfied for the moment.
"I'm still going to go look. It was odd enough for him to check on us during class, and now that he's late and isn't even contacting us..." Another stone went whizzing though the air. "I think something's up. And I'm not going to just go looking for Ryo. I'm going to look for that girl too."
"All right," Rowen stood, throwing his arms up in defeat. "You've made your point; we'll all go. Cye, Kento, you two go check the second floor; Sage and I will check the first. We'll keep the link open and give a holler if you find either of them."
***
All he could do was stand and stare at her as she stood, scrutinizing him. A light breeze picked up, gently stirring her hair and flapping the red trench coat so it looked like a breathing sea of blood.
"You were the one who attacked me, weren't you?"
She nodded.
"Why?"
Instead of answering, she pulled out a cigarette and lit it. Her silence was irritating him, but he still waited for her to suck in and spit out the foul black smoke. All the while she continued to stare at him.
"I already told you why," she finally said, the smoke curling around her. It stank, and it reminded him of the way Dynasty soldiers excreted smoke when he'd slashed them. "When you first asked me that night, remember?" She sighed. "You'll get the same answers I gave you then if you ask the same questions now."
He scowled at her, realizing he wouldn't get anywhere like this. "Why are your eyes green?" His question surprised him as much as it did her.
"Contacts." She took another breath from the cigarette, sucking away at the flickering stub of ash. "How's your cat?"
Ryo stared at her a little harder. Was she actually trying to be nice? Or was this just a way of avoiding the assassination attempt. "Better. You only gave him a flesh wound."
"I'm glad." The spent cigarette fell to the floor, and she snuffed the remaining sparks with her boot. Then, slowly, she walked the distance between them. He stood frozen to the spot, waiting for her to stop at arms length, but she kept coming and only stopped when she was partly pressed up against him.
They now stood, facing each other, with his right side pressed against hers. They were too close for combat, and even if either one of them started to move in aggression, the other could feel it. She breathed into his ear, and he waited. "Your life's been paid for. I'm here for myself."
"That's not good enough for me," he whispered, feeling oddly calmer. "I need answers." Her hair smelled faintly of smoke but also of sweet soap. Her pale skin felt colder than ice as it rested against his cheek. It was strange the way she felt against him.
She sighed. "Then we'll talk again later." She sidestepped around him, heading for the door. "Your friends are waiting for you."
It was after the door clanged shut that he realized she was gone. He pressed a hand against his cheek, where hers had been moments ago. His whole right side felt numb, even though it was a warm fall day.
***
"Well, we've checked almost everywhere on this floor, and still no sign of either of them." Rowen peered up and down the empty hallway.
"'Almost' is the key word, Rowen," Sage smirked. Rowen cocked an eyebrow as the blonde motioned towards the restrooms.
"Oh no. I'm not going into the girl's bathroom."
Sage only smiled. "I wasn't thinking that. But you could check the men's room."
"What about the other one? Do you think she'd really be hiding in there?" He started towards the bathroom.
"I'll ask one of the girl's here to check for me, that's all."
"What were you going to ask me Sage-chan?" a sweet voice interrupted. Sage turned to see a girl wearing a schoolgirl uniform with brown hair tied in a ponytail, smiling sweetly at him. She walked up to him and began to teasingly circle round him.
"Oh, Jessica," he gave her a smile and she stopped circling. "I was wondering if you could look into the girl's room to see if the new senior was in there."
"Is that all?" she made a pouting face, but then perked up with an idea. Sage inwardly groaned as he realized what that meant. "I'll do it if you take me out on a date."
"Aw, come on, Jessica. That's a little much for just looking in the bathroom." She stopped him with a raised finger.
"Then why don't you do it yourself?" She crossed her arms and turned away from him in an arrogant manner. "Why do you want to find her anyway?"
Sage looked over her head towards Rowen, who merely smirked and entered the men's room. 'Good luck with this one,' the archer thought at him.
Sage sighed, "Would you do it for a kiss instead?"
That caught her attention. "Really?!"
"Uh, sure," he nervously shifted his weight. 'I'm such an idiot.' He looked her directly in the eye. This had to be done; regrets could come later. "I'll give you a kiss on the cheek for every bathroom you check for me. How's that?"
"That's a done deal!" She bolted into the girls' room, leaving him alone to grasp the situation he'd created. No more than five seconds had passed before she came running out of the room. "Not in there!" She grabbed Sage's arm and began to drag him off towards the other set of restrooms. "That's one kiss you owe me!"
'Rowen? Where the heck are you? I need a hand!' he frantically thought.
'I'm coming. Sheesh. It's your own fault you know.'
'You can remind me of my stupidity later, just hurry up; we're already at the next bathroom.' As soon as he'd finished the transmission, she was already heading into the lavatory. Suddenly he heard a different door close. He looked up just in time to see Kurari stride around the corner and out of sight. He started after her, but a hand grabbed his arm.
"Sage, where are you going? You owe me two kisses now."
"Yeah. I just saw her going around the corner. Here," he bent down and kissed each cheek. "Thanks for the help."
She giggled happily. "Look me up next time you need another favor."
"Right." He watched to make sure Jessica was off before he headed in the direction Kurari went. 'Rowen, I just saw Kurari.'
'Okay, I'll be right there.'
Sage cautiously peered around the corner into the other hallway. He could see her at a locker, pulling out her belongings. Rowen came up behind him. With a nod they began to inch closer to the corner.
Suddenly the door behind them opened. Sage stood upright and pretended to nod to something Rowen had 'said.' They didn't want people thinking they were sneaking around school, which is exactly what they were doing. What surprised the blond was to see Ryo come walking out of the door. "Rowen, it's Ryo."
"Hey, Ryo!" Rowen called out. Ryo acted like he didn't see them as he began to walk in the other direction. Rowen gave Sage a wry look before chasing off after Ryo. "Hey!" He grabbed hold of Ryo's shoulder and spun him around. "What's the matter with you, Ryo?"
Ryo stared blankly at Rowen for a moment. The archer could see the tiger blue eyes were dazed and unfocused. He blinked. "Rowen?"
"Yeah, what's wrong? What happened to you?"
"Nothing. Nothing happened."
Sage came up behind them. "Hey, that's the same stairway Kurari came out of. Were you up on the roof with her?"
"Yeah, but nothing happened."
"Nothing? What do you mean nothing? We were all supposed to meet beneath the cherry tree to go confront her." Rowen stared at him. "What's the matter with you anyway?" he repeated, concern dripping from his voice.
"Nothing's wrong." Ryo was coming back into full consciousness now, and he was getting irritated. "I saw her after class and decided to follow her to the roof. She wouldn't answer my questions so we dropped it. That's all!" He was nearly shouting now, and they could hear a few teachers behind the classroom doors getting annoyed.
"All right, all right. Calm down here," Sage intervened, stepping between the two with his hands raised. "We shouldn't talk about this here." He motioned towards the classrooms. "Why don't we all just save it for when we get back to the mansion?"
"Fine by me," Rowen sighed. "I'll let Cye and Kento know."
"The warlords are at the mansion," Ryo quietly added.
"What?!"
"I guess we'll be talking about a lot after school."
"Yeah," Sage exasperated. "Guess so."
A/N- ~Sorry about the long wait; I had an extremely bad case of writer's block. I just hope the length made up for it. I hate to say this, but I'm not going to post the next chapter until I get at least ten more reviews (no more than two reviews from the same person please). Otherwise, it won't be up until late June or even July! I'm really sorry. I hate it when other authors do this, but now I'm doing it too, so I'm a stupid hypocrite. I just feel like I'm losing my fluency, and I'd really like to know how people are feeling about this story. I know I promised to explain the armor history, but this is the slow part, and I always have trouble sitting myself down to write this kind of stuff. As soon as things speed up, it'll be easier, I hope. Anyway, please let me know what you all like and dislike. Critical feedback please!