Chapter 9 video and cold sleep

Everyone looked up as Sage and Mia came into the room. It had been a few hours since the incident with Ryo and Cye. Cye still hadn't woken up.

"He'll be ok. He just has a slight concussion. He'll be fine." Mia had told them this twice already but they still acted like they hadn't heard it every time she told them.

"Looks like a cold front is moving in to night and with it some rain. Everyone needs to stay indoors and bring in outside pets. It's going to be chilly folks.." Sage reached over and turned off the T.V. No one was really watching it anyway. Everyone was still trying to figure out what had happened. Why had Ryo attacked Cye and then started that fire. It didn't make any sense to any of them.

Mia interrupted everyone's silent thoughts. She had just remembered something that had come in the mail the day before. It was a small box. She hadn't really paid any attention to it because everyone was so busy finishing setting up for the party. She just assumed that is was a book for Rowen.

"Rowen I think a package came for you yesterday. It must be some book you ordered." Mia wasn't really sure why all of a sudden she felt that the package was very important.

"I didn't order any books. I wonder who the package is for then?" Rowen also felt that there was something very important about the package. It seemed that everyone now shared this feeling. Mia went to go find it.

"I think this package is important." Kento was sitting back down on the couch with a snack from the kitchen. Everyone just rolled their eyes at him. Sage didn't, he was thinking about the package and the sudden feeling of importance everyone had. He thought he had heard a voice in his head telling him that there was a package that would help explain some things. It was a growling sort of voice that Sage didn't recognize.

"Here it is. I found it." Mia came back into the room holding the small box. Rowen took the box and read out loud whom it was addressed to.

"It says that it is for the friends of Ryo Sanada." Everyone looked at each other as Rowen began to open the package. Everyone leaned forwards trying to see what was inside. There was a videotape that looked to be from a security camera, a voice recorder with a tape in it, and a letter. Rowen took the letter out first and read it.

"Dear friends of Ryo. The items that I am sending with this letter are to help explain some things about Ryo. Ryo has been one of my main concerns as he grew because of the mental barriers he has placed around some rather awful memories. I am afraid that when Ryo finally does remember these memories he will need the support of his friends. I wouldn't normally release confidential information on my patients to friends without the patient's knowledge but under the circumstances I thought this was best. On Ryo's last visit a year and a half ago he told me about all of you and how all of you were becoming like a family for him. I was so glad to hear this. Ryo has lost so many families during his lifetime. When a fellow doctor informed me that all of you had moved in together I realized that I could trust you with this information. Ryo will remember and when he does I want everyone to be ready to support him." Rowen looked up at everyone's confused faces. "It's not signed."

"Do any of you remember Ryo seeing a doctor around the time you first met?" asked Mia

"I don't remember him seeing a doctor exactly. I remember him disappearing one day without any explanation and going down town. That's the only time I remember that he could have gone to this doctor. The rest of the time we were together." Sage looked around to see if anyone else remembered. No one else said anything.

"I wonder what could have been so bad that Ryo would have forced himself to forget and then have to see a doctor about it for so long." Kento had forgotten how mad he had been at Ryo only a few moments ago and was now trying to figure out what could have happened to Ryo. Everyone was.

"I think we should watch the tape first the date on it is older that the one on the tape recorder." Rowen put tape in the VCR and hit play.

At first it was just a line of children that all looked to be around nine or ten standing in line in a school office. Then a door at the back of the room opened and a teacher walked in pulling a raven-haired young boy who was struggling with all his might to get away. They couldn't see the boy's face yet because he was facing away from the camera. The teacher bent down so that he was eye level with the boy and said something that the camera couldn't pick up but it was obvious that whatever it was it wasn't good.

"I know how that kid must feel, getting in trouble with a teacher and then being yelled at in front of everyone." Kento had been in trouble enough in his life to know. He was going to keep talking when the boy turned around and they saw his face. "That's Ryo." Kento said with an amazed voice.

Even though he was much younger they could still tell that it was Ryo. The eyes were the same for one and he had that same scared haunted look on his face that he had when the Ronins had first met him. They watched as Ryo fidgeted in line. He kept looking anxiously at the disappearing line and then at the teacher who was guarding the door. They could tell after knowing him for so many years that he was scared and was getting desperate. The line was almost gone. They watched as the last person went in and Ryo was left alone in the waiting room with the teacher. The teacher sat down on the sofa and called Ryo to come and sit with him. Ryo cringed when the nurse came out and asked him to come into the back.

They listened as the nurse talked to Ryo about how small he was. They expected him to say something back. Ryo was always easily angered when someone talked about his size. To their surprise Ryo only nodded his head and followed the nurse into the doctors office. They saw Ryo begin to look like he was going to bolt and start looking for a way out.

"What could be scaring him so much? It looks just like that examination we all had to have when we were in elementary school. It was nothing serious." No one answered Rowen because just then the doctor came into the room.

They could hear the doctor telling Ryo to take off his jacket and shirt. They heard Ryo scream his refusal and start to shake. Then Ryo went nuts and started attacking the doctor trying to get his jacket off.

"Man something must be seriously wrong with Ryo for him to be attacking the doctor." Kento watched as the nurse came in with the sedative. They all gasped when they saw what the doctor saw hidden under Ryo's jacket. No one talked now; they were all watching the doctor and Ryo's tiny form. They watched Ryo lay down and the doctor pull out a pair of scissors to cut the shirt off. Mia started crying at what they saw. Black bruises covering Ryo's small chest.

"Ryo was abused and he didn't tell us."

"Kento he doesn't remember. He couldn't tell us." Sage answered not even looking away from the screen.

Mia got up and said she was going to go check on Cye. She couldn't stand to watch any longer. The camera picked up Ryo's answer a question that the doctor had asked.

"Birthday was a couple of weeks ago" Ryo slurred "I got a bat" He giggled a little. They all realized the same thing the doctor did. The bruises were shaped like the side of a bat. Kento almost left when the doctor had started the physical and they saw how small and skinny Ryo was. His legs and arms were like sticks. There wasn't any fat or muscle on them it was only skin and bone. They could see his ribs and every vertebrae of his back. Rowen reached towards the VCR and fast-forwarded he couldn't stand to see Ryo like that either. Rowen stopped the tape when the doctor picked Ryo up and was holding him. They listened to the doctor telling Ryo that it wasn't his fault. The tape ended soon after that. No one moved to turn off the T.V. or stop the tape. For a few minutes no one talked.

"I can't believe that his parents would hit him with a bat, and on his birthday. My father knocked me around some but never like that." Everyone looked at Rowen. They all knew that Rowen had a bad past. He would show up to school with bruises and say he had fallen down the stairs or ran into things but he didn't fool his friends for long. "I just realized that it was Ryo who first confronted me about those bruises that I kept showing up with. Kento already knew of course but that was because we had known each other long before we met all of you."

"Do you remember just after we met Ryo, he was quiet and just followed us around? Who would have thought that he would become our leader? He has changed so much since then." Sage added in.

"Remember how surprised he was when he went to my birthday party and saw my whole family? He must not have known what a real birthday party was like, with family, friends, and real presents. This explains a lot about Ryo." Kento sort of trailed off. They were all absorbed in memories of Ryo when they had first met.

"We still have a tape recorder to listen to. Does everyone want to listen to this now or do you want to wait?" Everyone said they wanted to listen to it now. Rowen hit the play button.

"How many families have you been through in the last two years Ryo?" There was no answer. They could hear what sounded to be like someone crying. "You're eleven now, you're to old to be crying." The Ronins all took an instant dislike to this doctor.

"If you won't answer the question I'll answer it for you. Four Ryo, four families. You lived with them, began to love them and then each time something happened. Why don't you tell me what happened to your first family?" They could hear the crying growing worse. "Not going to answer again are you. They were in a car accident that wiped out the entire family except you. You were the only survivor. Now what happened to your second family? Lets see they too met an unfortunate end. Children killed in a hunting accident while camping near the house. You were with them when it happened and once again you survived. The parents couldn't stand that you had survived and sent you back to the foster system." Everyone now was gritting their teeth in anger. This doctor was supposed to be helping Ryo, not reminding him of everything he had lost.

"Your third family you were taken away from because your welfare agent discovered the father was abusing the other children. Again you hadn't been touched. Do you see the pattern yet Ryo? All these things have happened to your families and yet you have come out relatively unharmed. Still don't see? Well I'll keep going then. Your most recent family you stayed the longest with. They died in a fire whose cause could not be determined, but it seems that even though you survived the fire you didn't come out unscathed. Report shows that you had been beaten quite recently. So how did that fire start? Ryo did you do it?" Ryo's breathing changed. He was no longer crying. He was angry. "They hit you and you got mad and set the house on fire didn't you?" They heard Ryo yell and then the man scream. "What kind of monster are you? How did you start that fire right now?" Ryo didn't stop he kept screaming. It was a scream of anger and hopelessness. They could hear the fire now. The tape recorder cut off.

"Ryo killed them didn't he." Asked Kento

"I'm not sure. Ryo probably didn't know what he was doing. He didn't have full control of his powers yet." Rowen replied. The tape continued then, it was a different doctor talking now.

"I took Ryo's case soon after this. It was determined that the fire was started by one of the candles that had been lit in the room. The doctor that had seen him then refused to take him back. He was convinced that Ryo was no normal child. He had convinced himself that Ryo had control over fire. I am only going to allow you to hear a message that Ryo left for me on my recorder during his last session with me. Unlike his first doctor we actually worked on solving some of his problems. Many of the sessions are very personal and I do not believe that he would want his friends to hear them."

"I know you'll find this later but I wanted to tell you that this is going to be our last session. I know that I told you about my new friends and how I think that I may finally have a family that won't leave me and I just wanted you to know that I appreciate everything you have done for me. If it weren't for you I never would have learned to trust people again. I know that you are trying to get me to remember what happened to me during that blank space in my memories and I am sorry that I was never able to remember. I don't think I want to remember. I know it has to be something bad.

I hope you'll understand me quitting my sessions like this. You have been seeing me for the last three years. You have become almost like a father figure for me. My new friends are patient with me. They let me follow them around and they don't mind that I don't talk very much. I just wanted you know that I think I have finally found somewhere that I belong." The tape recorder stopped. Everyone sat quietly for a few minutes. They had just heard how much Ryo trusted them and how much they meant to him. They just couldn't understand. If all that was true then why had Ryo done what he had to Cye?

"You don't think that Ryo went back to his parents do you?" Rowen asked

No one had a chance to answer because just then Mia yelled from upstairs that Cye was waking up. Everyone temporarily forgot about Ryo and raced upstairs to see about Cye.

Cye could feel himself finally waking up. He could already feel what was going to be a killer headache forming. Then he heard what sounded like a stampede coming up the stairs and into his room. He opened his eyes to be greeted by the smiling faces of his friends.

"We were worried about you for a while there Cye." Kento was almost bouncing up and down on the bed he was so excited that Cye was ok. Cye kind of suspected that some of the excitement was coming from the knowledge that Kento's favorite cook wasn't going to be out of business anytime soon. Cye looked around at the faces of his friends but the one he was looking for wasn't there.

"Where's Ryo? He wasn't hurt badly was he?" Cye asked still looking to see if maybe he had missed him.

"Why would you think that he was hurt? You're the one you should be worried about. It was Ryo that gave you that concussion. We saw the whole thing. Ryo pushed you into the porch for no reason and then started a fire, but don't worry we got rid of him for you. He won't attack you again." Kento was smiling when he finished but when he looked at Cye he stopped. Cye looked beyond angry.

"You made him leave! He didn't do anything to me." Cye was yelling

"He attacked you. We saw the whole thing." Rowen said calmly.

"He didn't attack me! The concussion was an accident. If he hadn't pushed me out of the way and then absorbed the fire I would have died! And now he is gone AGAIN!"

"Wait what do you mean he saved you life?" asked Sage

"There was something wrong with the grill. I couldn't get it to light. I started to panic because I couldn't get the gas to turn off either. It kept pumping into the air. All it was going to take was a little spark and the whole thing was going to blow up. I don't know how Ryo knew that I was in trouble but he saved my life." Cye glared at everyone in the room. No one could keep eye contact with him and they all looked down at their feet. "He had to have been hurt. He didn't have his armor on to protect his hands when he stuck them in the fire. Didn't you notice if he was burnt or not?" Cye looked at everyone again. None of them answered. "We have to go find him."

"We have done a terrible thing haven't we Sage. Ryo trusted us, felt safe with us, and we didn't even give him the chance to explain. We assumed he was guilty without even asking and then we made him leave." Rowen could hardly stand to think about what they had done after seeing that video and hearing that tape. "We were his family, he said that he knew that we wouldn't leave him and we made him leave." No one said anything. They wanted to go and look for him but they were no longer sure that if they found him he would still want to come back. They had chased him away twice. The only thing that could be heard was the rain that was beginning to come down.

Ryo POV

Ryo kept running until he was too tired to run anymore. Running had helped clear his mind some. He had recovered from the shock of Cye's panic and from the burning pain of everyone else's anger. He could think enough now to realize what had happened. His friends had made him leave again. They hadn't given him time to explain what had happened they had just assumed that he was guilty. Ryo knew that he was going to have to leave for good now. He only hoped that Cye was ok.

Whiteblaze I need you.

I know. I am on my way. Glad to see that you found yourself again. You were giving me headache with your constant calls for my help.

Ryo would have been irritated with him but he could feel Whiteblaze's relief behind his words. Ryo realized something. He hadn't noticed before while he was running but he could feel it now.

I'm hurt. My hands are burnt. Whiteblaze please hurry its getting cold fast.

Whiteblaze could feel the pain in what Ryo was saying. He couldn't feel the cold though, not yet. It wasn't cold enough but at the rate the temperature was dropping it wouldn't be long before it would become dangerous for Ryo to be out here. To make it worse he could smell rain in the clouds overhead. He only hoped that he could reach Ryo before it started raining.

I am going as fast as I can. Just don't move ok Ryo. Stay where you are.

Ryo couldn't even make himself angry with Whiteblaze for treating him like a little boy. The cold was already starting to affect him. He could feel himself starting to shake. Ryo tried to start a fire so that he could stay a little warmer while he waited for Whiteblaze to find him but when he tried the burns on his hand sent jolts of pain up his arm. There was no way he was going to be able to start a fire. Ryo leaned back against a nearby tree. He knew it was dangerous to fall asleep while he was cold but between the shock and the running all his body wanted to do was sleep. Ryo fought it off as long as he could but he could feel his eyes slowly closing.

Whiteblaze, I'm falling asleep. I can't stop. Please hurry.

Ryo's eyes closed just as the first drops of rain began to fall.