Ryo...

It was a whisper, a caress

Ryo...

It was a longing, a demand

"RYO!"

Shu rolled Ryo out of bed to hit the floor with a thud. Ryo snarled and sat up, rubbing his head and glared up at an impatient Shu.

"C'mon! I'm starving," Shu growled and hauled Ryo to his feet. Ryo managed jeans and an undershirt before being dragged down the staircase. Ryo cursed inwardly, scowling. He did not need this today. He didn't spare Shin his look of annoyance, but retained enough manners to thank him for the food. He was glad that it wasn't his turn to wake Toma. He felt that if it had been, had Toma gotten hurt he would not have cared. As he put his dishes in the sink and climbed up the stairs to get fully dressed, he pondered a feeling of something other inside him.

'It's been this way since our last encounter with that man,' he thought as he changed into his school uniform. 'I don't know if I like sharing my body with someone.'

He shook his head and gathered his books, his annoyance slowly bleeding away.

The warrior's attacks continued, but they weren't what they thought of when someone said "Dynasty."

"His attacks are scattered, not focusing in any one place. And they're little things. An apartment complex here, a resturant there. No place we could reach quickly. Which is the worst part of it."

"And any police that arrive on the scene? No one hears from them again. Not even bodies are found. The National Guard is too slow."

"Damn, we really are the only chance."

"Obi Wan Kanobi, you're our only hope," mocked Yuu as he sat down next to Ryo, startling them with his presence. They hadn't heard him coming.

"Yuu! What're you doing here?"

"I eat with you guys, remember? Why should I change now?"

Ryo snickered at the astonished looks on the guy's faces. They had never beleieved him when he told them he never heard nor felt Yuu approach.

"How much did you hear?"

"Only the 'we really are the only chance.' I'm afraid we're all doomed if Shu is trying to save us."

Ryo chuckled and Shu glared.

"What's that supposed to mean!"

"Nothing, nothing! Just teasing you," Yuu said with a grin.

Shu growled in both confusion and frustration. He didn't want to hit Yuu, he liked him, but he deserved it.

Yuu checked his watch.

"We have some time. Since you look so pissed, why not spar, Shu?"

"What?"

"I can fight. I know some martial arts, and you look like you're itching to pound me. Why not see how good I am?"

Shu grinned. "I won't go easy on you."

"I never thought you would," commented Yuu dryly as he stood and brushed off the grass from his pants, then took his jacket off. He streached slightly, looking Shu over. Once he was warmed up, he slipped into a guard stance.

"You ready?"

Shu grinned. "Of course."

Yuu smiled polietly, then charged. His eyes were blank and flat, but he was always searching for an opening. His movements were beautiful and fluid, with no excess movement. Shu admired his technique, and found himself only able to block and barely maintain distance. The lunch period was winding down, and Yuu decided to end the match. He feinted, then swept Shu's legs out from under him, flipped him over onto his stomach, and held one of his arms back as he hit the ground.

"Do you yeild?" His voice was the same, but there was something in it, an undertone, that was vaugely familiar, but that Ryo couldn't place.

Shu managed to squeak out, "I yeild."

Yuu let him go, and Shu breathed heavily as he sat up.

Yuu hadn't even broken a sweat.

Yuu sighed gustily, and walked over to where Ryo was standing, ignoring the awe and confusion on his face as Yuu picked up his jacket.

"I never knew you could fight so well."

Yuu smiled wryly, bitterly. "It's a skill I don't like."

Ryo blinked. "Why?"

"Because it seems like I was born only to that skill."

"What?"

"Ever since I was a child, I already knew various form of martial arts. When my mother took me to a Karate dojo in our town, I qualified for blackbelt within a few days. Same with Judo, and all other things of the like. It is as if I was born to be a warrior, to fight, but I live in a world where it is no longer necessary to have my skills."

Yuu smiled sadly.

"That's why I'm not in any of the martial arts clubs. It wouldn't be fair."

Yuu shrugged into his jacket, ran a hand through his hair, smiled slightly at Ryo, bowed to the rest of the Ronins, and walked away.

Shu was stunned.

A thought slowly formed in Seiji's mind, and he turned it over a few times before discarding it. Impossible. One of them would have been able to tell.