Chapter 6
The bell rang at Han a' High, signaling lunch time. All the young teens filed into the large cafeteria or joined friends outside to sit on the picnic tables. Four girls in particular decided to stay inside that day instead of usually going outside like they would have. They sat glumly and quietly at a table in the cafeteria while other kids laughed and chatted with their friends about school and other things around them. None of the girls at the table really had much to say or didn't feel like talking. The news about Rylea being in the hospital had upset the other three young girls when Rona had told them earlier that morning now the day seemed too long and very different without the sounds of Rylea joking and horsing around or getting into fights while Rona tried in vain to keep her cousin out of trouble.
Heather sighed and looked up from her plate of food that she had barely touched, blinking as her jaw dropped when she noticed the young man walking towards them. She nudged Rona who was sitting next to her and said in hushed tones, "Look, it's that guy from the other day! The one who ran into you."
Rona glanced up, along with Keish and Kami, to see if it really was the same guy. Her jaw literally dropped like Heather's had when she indeed saw that it was the same guy.
Tadin smiled and strolled over to the four girls who were now staring at him like he'd grown a second head. "Hi," he greeted them all, "Can I sit with you four ladies?"
Heather smiled brightly and flipped her blond hair behind her shoulder. "Sure, please do," she replied, motioning with her hand for him to join them.
"Thanks," he said and took a seat next to Keish. Immediately his senses picked up the presence of strong auras around him. Tadin recognized two of them and figured the two new girls held the other ones he sensed. Looking at the gloomy faces the girls had he frowned, "Um, something wrong? You girls look like someone you know just died."
"Its been a bad day," Kami replied softly while trying her best to be cheerful, but it wasn't working. "I don't think I caught your name though."
"Sorry, I thought your friends had mentioned me to you," he said with a playful smile, "I'm, Tadin."
"Well, nice to meet ya, Tadin buddy," Keish responded enthusiastically to try and lighten the mood around the table.
Tadin smiled at her in return, "Now why are such kawaii girls like yourselves looking so gloomy? Boyfriends dump you or something?"
Heather grinned at his compliment while Kami blushed and went back to poking at her food.
When no one answered his question, Rona decided to speak up for them. "Our friend is in the hospital," she quietly informed him.
"Yeah, the rebel to our little group here, Rylea," Keish added and put her head on her hand that was placed on the table top.
"Rylea," Tadin repeated the name as if he liked the way it sounded, "That's an odd name, but very pretty."
Rona scowled at the dingy-blonde-haired man. She didn't like this guy very much for some reason, not after the shock she had gotten from him when he had touched her hand in the mall. Something about him just didn't set right with her. "Yeah, she's my cousin and is in the hospital. That's why we're all not in the peppiest of moods today," she told him crossly.
"So I can tell," he replied, catching the hint that Rona didn't like him all that much. "Well, I hope she's ok and maybe I can meet her when she comes back?"
"She was supposed to be getting out this morning and prolly should be back by tomorrow," Keish stated to him.
"That is if Uncle Ryo let's her," Kami implied to the conversation and got nods from her friends. They all understood how overly protective their Uncle Ryo was at times.
"But enough about, Lea," Heather said with a smile in Tadin's direction as she changed the subject, "What brings you to our happy little school?"
"I decided to check out this school and since I remembered you saying that Rona and you go here, I figured I'd just enroll here for the heck of it," Tadin explained with a grin at Heather.
"Oh," Heather said while trying to act surprised, "Well welcome to our school and we hope that you will enjoy it here."
Keish rolled her eyes in annoyance at the blond and her flirting. "Gimmie a break," she mumbled to herself while turning her head from the two. Kami gave her friend a stern glare, but only got an innocent grin from Keish in return.
Tadin smiled at Heather; there was something very different about Heather and her friends' auras something powerful and it just called to him.
The bell rang loudly again and lunch was over. The four girls groaned at the bell, but got up and threw away the remnants of their lunches, saying a goodbye to Tadin before following the crowd of kids back to their classes. Tadin watched them leave before going to his own class. He smiled coldly as he thought to himself, Oh yes, I think I'm going to enjoy my stay here. Very much so.
-
Ryo awoke from his half asleep state on the couch when one of the steps on the stairs creaked loudly in the quiet stillness of the house. He darted his eyes to the direction of the stairs and sighed when he found his daughter making her way slowly down them trying not to make a sound. Unconsciously he noted that she had taken a pair of her brother's gray shorts and one of his shirts. He'll have a fit when he finds out they're gone. Ryo groggily registered in his mind.
"Rylea Marie," Ryo said sternly, smirking to himself when she jumped from the sound of his voice, "Just what in the name of the Ancient do you think you are doing out of bed, young lady?"
Rylea blinked at him before grinning mockingly as she came out of her startled stupor, "Oh, just out taking a stroll. It was just such a pretty day for one, ya know?"
Ryo felt his lips twitch at her comment, but forced himself to keep a neutral face. "Very cute. Get your butt back up those stairs and in that bed or I'll carry you, wakatta?" he threatened with a stern point in the direction of her room.
Rylea folded her arms crossly over her chest and glared at her father, "But, Dad, I'm hungry and I can't lay in that bed anymore or I'll go crazy and I know it!"
Ryo laid his head against the back of the couch while placing one of his hands over his eyes in aggravation. "Rylea, you just got out of the hospital. I don't want you up. If you were hungry why didn't you just tell me?" he stated to her slowly and plainly as if speaking to a child who had a mental disability.
"Because I didn't want to be a burden and you were sleeping, so I just thought I'd come down and make myself something," she replied back in the same slow and plain manner that he had.
Ryo chuckled and took his hand away from his eyes to focus them on his daughter. "When are you ever not a burden to me? It didn't matter if I was or wasn't asleep, you still should've woke me up," he retorted.
"Well, gee sorry, next time I will, ok?" she replied back sarcastically and continued on her way to the kitchen.
Ryo gave a sighof frustration for having such a sassy daughter as he got up to follow after her. "Lea, just what do you think you are doing?" he asked as he came into the kitchen after her.
Rylea glanced at him from over the top of the fridge door as she scanned the contents of the thing. "I thought it was pretty obvious," she threw at him.
Ryo shook his head at her as he leaned against the cupboard with folded arms over his chest and grinned, "You're something else, you know that, Jouchan?"
"Yeah, I know," Rylea replied happily to her father as she grinned brightly from ear to ear.
Ryo merely chuckled at her in amusement and then looked over at the back door,which came into the kitchen, when it opened. Ryu came in holding a paper bag that held something that smelled deliciously good. He stopped after he had shut the door behind him and glanced between the two people in the kitchen. "Um, hi?" he said cautiously and set the paper bag down on the table.
Rylea shut the fridge door and ran over to see what her brother had brought in.
Ryu blinked and backed away from his sister chuckling in humor as he watched her paw through the bag and pull out cartons of rice, noodles and other things. Rylea grabbed a pair of chop sticks, and then went to work on the rice cakes, fried rice, and noodles that she had found in the cartons.
Ryu scratched the back of his head and turned brown eyes on his father, who was smiling at Rylea's actions, "A little hungry was she?" he asked wryly.
Ryo smirked and cast tired eyes at his son, "What was your first hint?"
"I'm not sure since she always eats like that," he replied with sarcasm.
Rylea popped a whole rice cake in her mouth and looked over at her brother and father. "Come on you guys, the food's really good! Want some?" she asked them with a full mouth.
Ryo smiled tiredly at her, amused by his daughter. "No, Lea, you go ahead and eat to your little heart's content," he replied, walking over to her he placed a soft kiss on the top of her head before heading into the front room flopping down on the couch to try and rest.
Rylea stopped mid chew and looked over at her brother who in turn looked back at her and then both glanced back at their father who was now lounging on the couch. Both shrugging their shoulders at him, Rylea then went back to eating while Ryu smirked and watched her almost in hail the food.
"You know, the food's not going anywhere, Lea," Ryu told her jokingly as he snagged a rice cake from her pile of food.
"Hey!" Rylea protested loudly, "Keep your hands off my food!"
"Your food?" Ryu repeated with a raised eyebrow, "I believe the food belongs to me since I was the one who bought it."
"With money Dad gave you so nah," she retorted and stuck her tongue out at her brother.
Ryu smiled mischievously and reached across the table to grab his sister's tongue before she could pull it back in her mouth. He grinned more at the shocked look on her facedue tohis actions.
Rylea screeched and tried to get her tongue away from her brother who held onto itwith no intent on letting go anytime soon. "Dad!" she managed to get out.
Ryo groaned tiredly at his children's behavior, "Rye, leave your sister alone."
Ryu smirked and let go of his sister's tongue. "Next time keep it in your mouth." Rylea glowered in turnat her brother as she went back to her food, but said nothing.
Ryu smiled at her and took one of the cartons, grabbed a pair of chop sticks and started eating the food he'd bought.
Ryo mouthed a 'thank you, Gods' when the kitchen went silent and his children settled down. All he wanted to do was curl up on the couch and fall asleep for at least a good seven hours. The long stint he'd done in the hospital the night before with Rylea and not getting any sleep was wearing heavily on him now.
Ryo yawned and turned the tv down while getting comfortable on the couch. Now just let them stay quiet like this for a good three hours or so and I might not kill them, He thought with a small smile as he closed his eyes and tried to get some much needed sleep.
-
Rona and Heather stood off to the side of the stove as they watched the petite brunette help her Dad out with the cooking in the kitchen. It was after school now and the girls had decided to hang out at the restaurant for a while to help out or do what they could before going to meet Leinto for a training session. Keish was busy helping out by taking over for one of the waitresses since help was kind of low that day. Kami and Cye had oppted to help in the kitchen, but that was usual. Both of them usually eitherhelped out with the cooking or oversaw it at least. Kami would get an order done for Keish and then hand it off to the ash-blue haired girl who would then deliver it to the right table.
Kami sighed as she wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand and pulled her auburn-red/brown hair back away from her face. Wiping her hands on the apron she wore, she turned to her two friends who were watching her. "You know, you two could possibly help," she said to them suggestively.
"Ah, no thanks. Cooking is not my forté," Rona replied with a sheepish grin at her sea-loving friend while waving her hands in front of her.
Cye laughed and glanced over at the three girls from his own spot at the stove. "Why does that not surprise me?" he asked with humor evident in his voice, "Is it because you're Rowen's daughter and we all know how well Rowen does in the kitchen?"
Kami chuckled sweetly at her father's comment, "Dad, that wasn't nice."
Cye grinned and handed a plate of food to one of the waitresses, "I know, but it was the truth."
Rona half-laughed at the remarks about her father and his cooking as she leaned against the doorway to the kitchen area. "Well, I guess that's why he ended up becoming a doctor and not a cook, ne?" she asked back with a twinkle in her purple-blue eyes.
Cye nodded in thought, "Yeah, I guess that would be why. It'd be best for him to try and save lives, not end up poisoning them with his food."
"Dad!" Kami cried in shocked embarrassment and gave his arm a light slap.
Cye chuckled at his daughter while rubbing the spot where she had hit him. "Hey now, what was that for?" he asked her innocently.
Kami glared playfully at her father while setting her hands on her tiny hips, "You know full well what that was for."
Rona laughed at the two as Cye pulled his protesting daughter into a bear hug.
Heather hung up her cell phone that she had been talking on and raised an eyebrow at Cye and Kami before turning to Rona. "My Dad said he should be here in a few. If you want, I could get him to drop us off at the training spot instead of us having to walk there," Heather suggested while toying with the flip phone in her hands.
Rona nodded a 'yes' to the slightly shorter blond next to her. "Sure, if it's not too much trouble for him. I don't want him to go out of his way or anything," she said.
"Nah, he won't mind," Heather replied with a wave of her hand. "Come on, let's go wait out here for him. This heat back here is starting to make my hair frizz," she stated while grabbing ahold of Rona's arm and beginning to drag her away from the kitchen.
"Gah, Heather!" the royal-blue-haired teen protested at being dragged by the blond, "If it's not, Lea then it's you who'sdragging me."
Heather shrugged off her comment and let go of her arm, "Sorry, I had no idea that Lea did it do you as well." She took a seat on a stool in front of the island bar that sat in front of the pick up window.
Rona took a seat next to her while repositioning her top.
Heather brushed a hand through her golden blond hair and set her light blue eyes on Rona, "Have you talked to, Lea today?"
Rona looked up at her from fixing her clothes, surprised that Heather was asking about her cousin and tucked some of her royal-blue-hair behind her ear, "No, but I'm going to call her tonight and see how she is."
Heather nodded and absently tapped her nails on the top of the counter, "Ok."
Rona sighed and laid her head on her hand, "I really don't feel like going to training today. It was hard enough trying to get through school. You think Leinto would give us a day off since we're short one member?"
Heather shrugged her shoulders lightly as an answer. "I don't know, Rons. Sometimes I can't figure that guy out at all. You'd think he would, though," she replied and eyed the door to their right when it opened, frowning lightly when she saw it wasn't her father who came in.
"Well, let's just go and then we can ask him for the day off when we get there," Rona suggested logically.
Heather nodded at her words, but wasn't really interested in what she was saying. She was preoccupied with watching the door for her father.
Rona rolled her eyes at the blond when she noticed Heather wasn't listening to her anymore and idly watched the people going in out of the building as she waited for her Uncle Sage to show up.
-
Leinto appeared in the Sanada household later that night and was surprised to find it so eerily quiet. Never in all the short time he had known them had he heard the house this quiet. Curious as to where everyone was, Leinto walked further into the house until he came upon Ryo's lounging form in the front room. The dark haired man almost looked as if he were mesmerized or in some kind of a trance by the tv with the way he was just staring at the screen. Leinto cleared his throat in an attempt to gain the young man's attention when it became apparent that he wasn't going to notice him.
Ryo jerked his head up from the tv from the sound to where Leinto was standing and blinked in slight confusion upon seeing the charge there.
The first thing Leinto noticed about Ryo's appearance was how tired and stressed the dark haired man looked. There were dark circles under his bright blue eyes, which meant he hadn't slept in a while and he just had this tired look about him. "Are you ok?" Leinto asked him, concerned by his appearance.
Ryo sighed in reply while massaging his eyes in hopes to clear his vision. "Yeah, I've just had a very bad night and day yesterday," he replied to him, trying not to sound as tired as he felt.
Leinto frowned lightly at the dark haired man, he could tell in the way he talked and acted that he was just drained physically and mentally. "I see," he replied, trying to keep his voice light. "Well, then, I really hate to drop this on you now, but I thought it would be best if I did."
Ryo suddenly became alarmed by what Leinto was saying. He didn't know why, but hehad a feeling it was something bad. "What is it?" he asked hesitantly as if he wasn't sure he wanted to know what it was he was going to tell him.
Leinto studied Ryo for a moment or two, seriously considering against telling him; the poor guy looked like he had enough problems on his mindas it was. "This has to do with, Rylea, Ryo," he told him calmly.
Ryo raised one dark eyebrow at the graying man in almost, what seemed to be, humor, "Ok, what did she do this time?"
Leinto gave him a light smile. "Nothing new," he said and then cleared his throat. "Ryo, lately I've been seeing a drastic change in her attitude and not the for better, I'm afraid. She's been showing up late to practices and then, when she finally does decide to show up not all the timebut most of the time she'll act like her evil twin. I'm very concerned about her."
"You wouldn't be the only one. I've noticed it too," Ryo replied as he hunched over and laid his arms on his legs. "She'll snap sometimes at the littlest things. Like yesterday for example; I went to wake her up yesterday morning and she went off on me. The yelling at me was nothing new, but the look in her eyes ..." he said as he trailed off in thought, envisioning the look he had seen in his daughter's eyes.
Leinto looked at him now with growing curiosity, "What about her eyes?"
Ryo covered his face with his hands, trying to just block everything out. "When I looked into her eyes, I could have sworn I saw something there something almost evil, pacing, just waiting to be let out. Of course, she blinked and it disappeared, but the chill I had from her eyes was unbelievable," he answered and took his hands away from his face. "It was like nothing I'd ever felt before."
Leinto frowned deeply at what Ryo had just told him. From what he had seen out of her and now what Ryo was telling him he'd seen, this whole thing was not looking good to him. He had this nagging sense of dread that he knew what was going on. "She's turning fifteen in a few weeks, right?" he asked Ryo suddenly when a thought occurred to him.
Ryo looked up at the graying man suspiciously as to why he would ask him that, "Hai, she'll be fifteen July twenty-fifth, why?"
"No reason," Leinto replied almost a little too fast. "Keep an eye on her, though, and inform me of any new actions from her."
Ryo nodded his head slowly; something told him Leinto knew a little more than what he was letting on. "Yeah, sure thing," he said.
Leinto gave him a light smile before then turning and disappearing from in front of him.
Ryo sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. The house was quiet, which meant Rylea was sleeping and Ryu was either not there or was outside. Ryo whistled for Whiteblaze and, when the tiger didn't come, he figured Ryu had taken his pet with him. The dark haired man sighed in exestuation as he laid down once again on the couch, figuring he could get some more much needed sleep while Rylea was out.
-
Tadin walked the streets of the demon community, the same streets he had walked since he was a little boy. He couldn't remember how he had ended up there; all he knew was that he had found himself wandering these same streets one day. It had scared him when he saw the people here; they looked weird some of them had scales, others horns, and some he didn't know what they were or find the right words to describe them.
A woman had found him cowering in an alleyway. She had been one of the few who had seemed to look normal almost normal anyway. She still had a strange look about her though. Her green eyes seemed luminescent and menacing in the darkness of the night,while she had an evil glow about her that made her features look dark and scary. Tadin had at first been afraid of the woman but, when she had started to talk to him, all doubt he had about her had disappeared.
She took him and raised him as if he were her own, taught him about who he was, and told him the reason he could see scary people was because he was a hybrid, a demon. The woman had taught him that only demons could see other demons and that, to humans, they looked like normal people.
Tadin smirked at the memory he had brought up and squashed it back, deep into his subconscious mind. The last thing he needed was to go down memory lane and dig up the past, because the past could sometimes be a painful thing to have and remember.
Turning the corner, he walked straight into the penthouse, his home for the time being. It looked more like an old abandoned building on the outside, but was far from that on the inside. He walked into the first floor of the penthouse and found a few of the other tenants were home now. Sato and Adian were their names at least that's what he thought they were, he really paid no heed to any of the other demons who lived there along with him.
"Hey Tadin, where ya been buddy?" Sato asked him as his appearance into the room caught his eye. Sato was a big, muscular guy. Most of the other guys who stayed in the penthouse were afraid of him and they had aright to be. Sato was a dark man, tall and had fire red hair that was long and hung down past his shoulder blades. He always had his hair pulled back in a loose ponytail down his back, though.
Tadin walked right past him, almost as if he hadn't heard or seen Sato, and headed for his room. "Out," was his only reply to Sato.
Adian scoffed at his answer and turned around on the couch, looking over the back of it at the dingy blond. "Out? We're your friends and all you can tell us is you were out?" he asked him, sounding insulted in some way. Adian was not a big man like Sato, but was still quite muscular and could prove to be very dangerous when he wanted to. Unlike Sato, Adian had shaggy forest green hair and amber eyes.
Tadin paid him no heed and simply brushed his question off while he headed to open the door to his room. "You know," Sato started to catch Tadin's attention and the dingy blond stopped mid open of his door, "Word is you're after that new demon. Are the rumors true?"
Tadin smirked at Sato's question; word traveled fast in the demon community, he knew that, but it still surprised him how fast it had spread. He thought it would at least take a good week or two. "What's it to you?" he threw back at Sato from over his shoulder where he stood poised at the door to his room.
Sato held his hands up in defense. "Nothin' man, I was just wondering," he replied with a grin that said other wise.
"We're hoping that you find her though, Tadin," Adian put in as he settled himself back down on the couch to watch tv, "We don't really want to see someone else claim the glory from you."
I'm sure you do. Tadin chuckled softly, almost cynically, at their comments as he continued into his room, shutting the door after him. It had been a very long day and his bed was calling to him now. Discarding his jacket, he flopped down on the bed, closing his eyes and letting his mind go into melt-down mode while he fell into a half conscious sleep. Onecouldn't let their guard down, even to sleep, when you lived in the place thathe did.
-
AN: Ok, here's chap 6. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed this story. You're comments, good ones and even some critiques are much appreciated. Special thanks go to MorganRay, Desert Fox and BlackBull289. Um, I got a review from some chick named shigamoni and I really couldn't understand what it was she had meant in the review. If anyone knows who she is or can understand what it is she's talkin bout, let me know please. One last thing, I'm not going to post any more chaps until I start to get some more feed back from you ppl on this story. If you like this story and want me to continue it, then get to reviewing otherwise I might just discontinue it.