Sakura woke with a headache. Great, she thought bitterly, another one. She threw the covers off and stood up. Why was she so hot in her room? She went over to the window and opened it. A gust of wind blew into her room and passed over her face, causing her hair to flutter around her. A thought occurred to her. Her hair was down. That was odd; she remembered putting it up last night before she went to bed. She always did that; it was habit. Oh well.

A knock sounded on her door.

"Sakura, are you awake in there?" called Yamato, her brother.

"Yeah," she called. "You can come in."

Her bother walked in. He was taller than she was; she was about 5' 5" and he was about 5' 11". He had black hair and blue eyes, unlike her. Most people didn't even know that they were siblings. When Yamato came in, he shivered.

"Gods, Sakura. It's freezing in here. What's the matter with you? It's forty degrees out there," he asked, shutting the window she had just opened.

"Well, it's hot in here. Leave it open," she ordered. She opened her closet and pulled out a pair of black pants and a sleeveless blue turtleneck sweater along with shin-high black boots.

"If you catch pneumonia, it won't be my fault."

"That's right."

"I just came to say that, one, I'm leaving, and, two, Rowen called last night, but I don't him that you had gone to bed already. It didn't sound too important. He told me not to wake you up."

"Thanks, bro. Have a good day at work. See you when you get home."

"Chao, sis."

He left the room,shutting the door,and she got dressed. She glanced in her mirror on her way out of her room and then did a double take. She was very pale and had a cut by her hairline. How did that get there? She let her bangs hang over it and pulled the rest of her hair into a ponytail. Her dogs, or wolves rather, were waiting for her in the kitchen. She fed them and then took them for a quick walk. When she got home, she found the newspaper sitting on the counter. She looked at the front page and saw another report of the armored being. It read:

Another Attack on by Mysterious Being

Last night, around seven-thirty, the police say, was another vicious attack by the mysterious, armored person that has been lately attacking random places throughout the city. There are still no reports on who this person is or what he wants. At the latest attack, there appears to be someone else with this being. It seems that there was a fight between the two. A large hole is in the middle of the street and a streetlight had the glass shattered from its lamp…There is still no report on where this individual will attack next…

Sakura read the article three times to make sure she understood correctly. Another being? That could mean another armor. These two armors had to have loads of power to create a hole in the middle of the street. There was a picture of it. It wasn't a hole; it was a small crater. It looked to go deep down into the street. She could see the pipes.

A bark brought her back from her musings. She looked at the clock and gasped. It was 7:35! She was going to be late for school! She quickly grabbed her school things, said good-bye to her pets, and left her apartment, locking the door behind her.

Rowen was waiting from Sakura on the corner. She was never late. She must have overslept, he thought grumpily. (He was not a morning person.) But no, he corrected himself, she never overslept. Not in all the years that he had known her. He was about to start off without her when he heard the sounds of running feet. He turned around and saw Sakura racing toward him. She stopped right in front of him and leaned against him to catch her breath.

"It's about time," said Rowen.

"S-sorry, Rowen, but I wasn't paying attention to the time," panted Sakura.

"Well, you're here now, and that's important. Let's go. I don't want to be late for class."

Together they started off. Sakura showed Rowen the newspaper and then directed him where to walk as he read it. When he finished, she said, "That's why I was late. I was reading that article."

"I'll show it to the others at lunch today. Are you going to be there?" he asked. They turned into the sidewalk that ran in front of the school.

"No, I don't think so. The basketball coach said that I can use the gym today, and the only time that no one else is using it is when our lunch is. I'll get something to eat between classes," answered Sakura.

Theirother friends came up to them.

"Good morning," said Cye.

"Morning," said Sakura cheerfully. Rowen nodded. "Excuse him. He's not a morning person. I kinda ticked him off this morning by being a little late. He'll get over it by second hour, don't worry." She looked at her watch. "Dragons above us! Igotta go. I'll you guys later." She left, weaving through people in the hallway to get to her locker.

At lunch, Rowen was in better mood, as Sakura had predicted. He showed the others the newspaper that Sakura had shown him that morning. They looked at it.

"What do you think?" he asked them when they had finished reading.

"This girl's strong," said Kento. In a lowered voice he added, "She nearly pounded us into the ground yesterday."

"I know," agreed Cye, also in a quieter voice than normal. "She could've finished us off."

"That crater's huge," said Kento. "It didn't look that bigger last night."

"It's just the camera, Kento. It's probably set on extreme zoom or something," explained Rowen.

"Hey, Rowen, do you know someone named Satsuki Hashiba?" asked Sage, looking at the end of the article.

"Yeah. Why?" replied Rowen.

"She's the one who wrote the article and took the photos," said Sage.

"What!"

Rowen grabbed the page from him and looked at the bottom of the article. Sage was correct; at the end of the article was typed "Written by Satsuki Hashiba. Photographs courtesy of Satsuki Hashiba." It was his mother for sure. His mother was a writer and photographer for one of the largest newspapers in Tokyo. She was the field correspondent and traveled a great deal with her job. He hadn't seen her in over a year. That's why she was stopping by his apartment that night; she was in town, back from an assignment.

"Why are you so shocked?" asked Cye.

"I haven't seen my mom in over a year. The last time I heard from her, she was in th U.S., inChicago. She was working on a story. She must've come back for a new assignment or something," said Rowen distractedly.

"Why are you so worked up? I'd be happy to see my mom if I hadn't seen her in over a year," said Sage.

"I guess so. I just haven't seen her in a long time. When I see her tonight, I'll talk to her," decided Rowen.

The bell rang and they spilt up to go to class. Rowen walked past the gym to see how Sakura was practicing only to find out that she wasn't in there. His basketball coach was there however.

"Hey, coach," he called.

His coach saw him and came over. "What can I help you with, Rowen?"

"Has Sakura Xiazylong been in here? She told me that the coaches let her practice in here today during lunch," explained Rowen.

"No. No one's been in here. The principal won't let anyone practice in there because the heater broke. It's like a winter day in there. It's really weird; the heater was working fine this morning," said his coach.

"Maybe it just malfunctioned. It happens to machines," suggested Rowen. "Can you tell Sakura that I was looking for her, if you see her?"

"Sure."

"Thanks, coach." Rowen left and went to class.

A girl was staring at the greenhouse that was on the roof of the school. She tried the door and found that it was locked. She balled her hand into a fist and pouched a hole through the door. Shards of glass cut her hand and wrist, but she didn't notice. She opened the door and walked in.

Green plants and late blooming flowers were on wooden racks, tables, and benches. Bright, yellow heat lamps shone down on them, supplying the plants with artificial sunlight. She smiled nastily. She unplugged the heat lamps and watched them slowly lose their brilliance. After five minutes of impatient waiting, she decided that it was time to act.

She grabbed the cord of the nearest one and ripped it from the ceiling, letting it fall on the plants. She did this for the rest of the lights that hung from the ceiling. The heavy lights crushed plants and smashed flowerpots. She hated heat. She hated everything that had anything to do with it. These plants needed sunlight to live, and sunlight was hot. If she had her way, she would block the sun and make the world into a huge glacier. Even if she destroyed the heat lamps, the thick windows could still retain the heat that the lamps had given off before she had broken them. She couldn't have that.

She picked up pieces of ceramic pot and some rocks and threw them at the glass roof of the greenhouse. The glass shattered and rained down on her. It didn't cut her. After she shattered all the glass in the roof windows, she proceeded to break the windows that made the walls. These were easier to break. Ever so carelessly, she pushed the benches and tables over. They broke there the glass, creating gapping holes in the sides.

She picked up each plant from the wooden racks and dropped it to the floor, where the pot shattered. She did this until she was bored. She pushed each rack hard against the wall, and watched, smiling, as it crashed through. Then she walked out the door of the terrorized greenhouse. She was about to walk down the stairs that led to the highest floor of the school, but paused. The botany students would simply get a new greenhouse and fix the heat lamps. It wouldn't take long until they had it running again.

She crossed the roof to a building at had some electrical things in it. She walked in, the door unlocked. Well that was stupid; they lock the greenhouse but not the electrical shed. She looked around and saw circuit breakers. She smiled evilly and opened them. She scanned them, reading the labels of each one. The chemistry lab, the computer lab, the office…the list went on and on. She reached forward and pulled out all the cables, destroyed the fuses. The school lost all electricity. She grinned and made her way to the stairs, back to class.

"What the hell?" said Kento. He was sitting in chemistry class when the lights went out.

"Kento, language," said his teacher sternly. "I'll call up to the office and find out what's going on. No one panic." She made her way to her desk and called the office with the phone that sat on her desk. "Yes, this is Sensei Moro. What happened to the lights?" She talked on the phone for a few minutes before putting the receiver down.

"Well, what's the deal, sensei?" asked Kento.

"What the "deal" is, Kento, is that no one in the school has lights. The custodian went up to the electrical shed on the roof and found that all the fuses and wires had been ripped out. And the greenhouse has been completely destroyed. It seems we have a delinquent at our school," remarked Sensei Moro.

That's terrible, thought Kento, who would do something like that?

School let out early that day because of the electricity. Rowen, Kento, Cye, and Sage met outside the school, waiting for Ryo. He was late again. For a leader, his sense of time was not very good. He came out about ten minutes of waiting.

"What took you so long?" asked Kento.

"I saw Sakura by her locker and talked few a minutes," said Ryo.

Sakura walked out of the doors and over to them. "Hello, boys," she said cheerfully.

Sage noticed a bandage wrapped around her right hand and wrist. "What happened?" he asked, pointing to her hand.

She held it up, looking at it. "I don't know. I don't remember hurting it."

"I'd think I'd remember if I hurt my hand that badly," said Cye.

"Why weren't you in the gym practicing today?" questioned Rowen.

"The basketball coach said that the heater was broken and I didn't have enough time to eat lunch so I just went to the library." She fanned her face with her hand. "Is it hot out here or is it just me?"

The temperature was probably fifty degrees, and she thought it was hot? Maybe she was sick or something. Rowen put a hand on her forehead.

"Hey!" said Sakura, pushing his hand away. "What's the big idea?"

"Just checking to see if you were sick," said Rowen. "You're acting strange."

"Are you sure I'm the one acting strange?" she demanded. "I have to go."

She left in a huff, her braided hair swinging behind her. She was acting weird. She didn't remember how she hurt her hand and she that it was hot outside when most people wore windbreakers. She walked around in a sleeveless shirt with her hair pulled back. Rowen would have to keep an eye on her.

Rowen walked home after getting a snack with the other Ronins. When he got home, he found the door open so he walked in. His mother sat at the counter, hunched over sheets of paper and photographs. She didn't even hear him enter.

"Hey, Mom," he said loudly. She was a very focused worker.

She looked up and smiled widely at him. "Rowen dear, I didn't hear you come in. How are you? I thought school got out later than this."

"I'm fine, I guess. Normally school does get out later but there were electrical problems and the principal saw no reason in letting us stay when we can't see what the teachers are trying to teach us," explained Rowen. He grabbed a soda out of the fridge and put a bottle of water in front of her.

"Thanks, dear," she said.

"Umm, I saw that you're doing the armor story in the paper," he commented.

"Yes, my boss called me back after the first sighting. He said that if anyone could figure out who this person was, it was me. Isn't it exciting? I wonder where he will strike next."

"You mean 'she'," corrected Rowen without thinking.

"This person's a girl? How do you know that?" inquired his mother.

"Oh it's just a guess that's all," he said hastily. He drained his soda and grabbed his book bag. "I'm goin to work on my homework. Can you let me know when you leave?"

"Sure, dear." His mother sounded sad that he was deserting her.

He gave her a quick hug and said, "I missed you while you were away. Can you tell me anything new you find out about this story?" He pulled away and grabbed his soda and backpack.

"Sure, dear, but why are you so curious?"

"Well, in history class, we're supposed to keep track of a story in the news until it ends. I just figured that with you being the leading reporter you could let me know of anything the papers don't tell the public," answered Rowen, shrugging.

"Anything for you, dear," replied his mother.

She went back to her work and Rowen went down the hall to his room to do his homework.