Duo: Mines longer! Holds his braid out to examine

Hiten: No mine is!

Bankotsou: I have you both beat! Check this! Whips out braid

Author's note: I don't know if Ryo knows his mother's side of the family, but in this story, he won't know them.

Chapter 3

All five Ronins sat outside in conference. Suki and Tomomi were inside helping Mia with dinner. It had been an hour after telling the boys what they knew about their 'powers' and abilities. Sayuri and Mariko, the two tailed cats, romped outside in their larger forms with White blaze. Yuli, though small, ran between the big cats, tumbling with them.

"So, a demon exterminator?" Mia asked finally breaking the silence between them. The Ronins hadn't taken all the information in well. Suki nodded.

"My brother and I are the exterminators, while Tomomi and Tomoko are the ones who posses the spiritual powers. On a higher level technically." Suki placed a plate on the table. She could see one of the Ronins stuck to the window with drool coming out of his mouth. "We all have spiritual powers, its just theirs are more developed than ours," Suki added after seeing Mia's confusion. Mia had left when the girls were explaining everything to the boys. She had said it was for the respect of privacy, even though both girls told her they were fine in letting her listen.

"My grandfather has extensive research on the demon exterminators," Mia said with a small smile. "It was another passion besides the Ronins of course." Suki and Tomomi nodded. "Is it true that the first exterminator was a woman?" she asked excitedly. Tomomi giggled.

"That's how it goes," Tomomi said. "It all starts with the Shikon no Tama, as the story goes." Tomomi had a far away look in her eyes. Mia watched her with great interest. "As the story goes, a powerful priestess, who was said to have the strength of a hundred samurai, was deceived by a mortal who fell in love with her. Because of his weakness, demons sought him out and merged with him, combining their powers. They did so, because the priestess, Midoriko, could purify all four souls; human, demon, animal, and plant. For seven nights and seven days, they battled. They ended up in a cave, where they still rest or so they say. But as legend goes, Midoriko grabbed the demons' souls and with the last of her energy, pushed the two together and out of their bodies. Thus creating the Shikon no Tama."

"Nicely done. Still the best story teller of us four," Suki teased. Tomomi grinned. "Though you forgot to mention out ancestor, Sango," Suki pointed out. Tomomi winced.

"Forgot that huh?" She sat the silverware on the table next to the plates. Mia was quiet for a moment.

"Could I possibly hear what you told the guys? The story of the jewel sounds so familiar." She seemed dazed in a way. Suki tilted her head, much in the manner of her feline companion.

"Well, as we said there are four of us. The oldest is Isamu, then Tomoko, then Tomomi and last, me," Suki said, smiling fondly at a far away memory. "Each of us, like the Ronins, have a special virtue that defines our personalities. I tell you how we know of them in a bit," she added, knowing Mia was wondering why they knew so much of the boys when other people hadn't the slightest idea. "Isamu is represented by Courage, Tomoko is Wisdom, Tomomi is Friendship, and I, I am Love." Suki winced at hers. She had never considered her virtue to rule her personality. "Anyways, when each of us our in balance of understanding each other, we can merge into a single being, much to our brother's discomfort." The two sisters laughed. "Because the majority of us are women, our single being of course, is a woman. It is then, we can use all of our training together and best most opponents." Mai nodded, taking in the information quickly.

"We are told, by family, that this has something to do with our past ancestor Sango, though no one really knows why. But during around the same time the Ronins' armor was made, was the time of the jewel, or so it's said. Because armor is usually passed down in the family, and demon exterminators study all sorts of fighting skills, we somehow know Ryo's family." Suki grinned and looked out the window. 'That sad excuse for a man, boy really, was our childhood playmate." Mia's face shown with surprise, and so did Ryo's, who stood in the doorway.

"I don't know you!" He yelled, more of cried in surprise or denial. Whichever one it was, his voice was very loud, making the women wince. Suki frowned at the hot-tempered young man, before making a face at him. Ryo seemed hurt by her lack of comeback that the guys usually provided. Tomomi shrugged.

"We were little, so I wouldn't be surprised that you wouldn't remember," she said and smiled.

"Then how do you know?" Ryo demanded. Tomomi grinned and whipped out an old, faded picture. The edges were creased and fading.

"I can't believe you still carry that thing around!" Suki said and tried to snatch it out of her sister's hand, but Ryo was quicker. To his astonishment, there he was, about three or four by the looks of it, with a group of girls and another boy. He glanced up at Tomomi and Suki and then back at the picture. Ryo turned and left, picture in hand. Suki started to go after him.

"Don't," Mia said, holding the girl back. "He's just found a small portion of old 'family friends' that he never knew he had." Mia sighed. Suki stared after his retreating back. "Ryo's mother died when he was young, which I'm sure both of you know." Mia placed the last of the food on the table. "From what I know, his father travels all the time and he doesn't know his dad's side of the family. I don't know if he knows his mother's side." Mia said thoughtfully. Tomomi grabbed a near by spatula and smacked Kento's arm. The young man yelped.

"Served you right. Dinner isn't ready yet," she scolded. Mia and Suki laughed.

"So, you're saying that Suki and Tomomi are like a missing puzzle piece?" Cye offered. Mia nodded.

"I see." Cye sat down at the table and folded his hands in front of him. "We have come to a unanimous decision," he began. Suki could see the rest of the Ronins, including Kento, now nursing a wounded hand, pressed against the windows. Tomomi sighed.

"They made you the running man?" she asked and shook her head. She and Suki sat down before Cye. Mia waved a threatening spoon at them for streaking up her windows.

"We, though I must say they, have decided to put you on probation. You will have to prove that you are strong fighters and not be in the way." Cye shrugged. "Other than that, you're welcome to join us."

"So nice to have an invitation to something we've been trying to stop for the past five hundred years," Suki muttered. Tomomi stomped on her foot, making her yelp in pain.

"Dinner's ready!" Tomomi yelled over her sister's cries of pain. Kento rushed in, soon followed by the others. Ryo, however never showed up.

"Ryo?" Suki asked through the wooden door as she knocked. She was on the second floor, in the west wing. She had to go through every room, and was left with the last door, trying to find Ryo. "Don't make me break down this door," Suki said playfully as she continued her pounding. The door was flung open to a red-eyed Ryo, who looked very upset and angry. Suki took a step back, but stopped. "Quit sulking in there and eat your dinner." Suki pushed her way into his room and set down the plate of warm food on his desk. Ryo growled.

"You don't know what you are talking about!" he snapped. Suki spun around and glared back.

"What do you mean I don't know?" She growled. Her eyes flashed dangerously. Ryo, however didn't back down.

"You don't know what it's like having your father tour the world, even when his own son needs him here, and have a dead mother! You don't know what it's like growing up all alone!" Fresh new tears spilled down his cheeks. He still clutched the faded picture of her, her siblings and him.

"Quit pitying yourself and grow up!" Suki said harshly. "I remember when your mother died, but did you ever consider who you may be talking to? Our parents, both, are gone because of Tulpa and his minions. Half of our tribe is gone because of him! I've lost three aunts and two uncles and a...younger sister." Suki's voice lowered to a low whisper. She felt like a hypocrite. He youngest sister had died only a year ago by the hands of Tulpa, and it was still very fresh in her mind. She shook herself out of the bad memory and glared up at Ryo. "Look, you can't keep dealing with the past. You have others to think about now and even greater responsibilities to deal with." With that Suki left, leaving a very confused Ronin.

Tomomi swung a katana expertly. Every morning and night, right before bed, she would go through the dance patterns that her father had shown her. A small twist here, a jab there, and feint. Then she would spin and parry. She had been at it for at least an hour, working off frustration from not finding Tulpa right away. And a few bad memories that always had a way of finding their way into her dreams. Her breathing became labored as she went into even more complex patterns.

"Don't you think it's a bit late for doing that?" someone asked. Tomomi faltered and looked around, silently cursing herself for not paying attention. She could end up dead if she was fighting Tupla. Cye sat on the railing of the patio. He was clad in his training armor.

"I could ask you the same." She nodded at his armor. Cye glanced down at the light blue metal and shrugged.

"I'm on watch. The warlords tend to try and attack us on a regular basis." Cye swung his feet back and forth. "Rowen is next, then Ryo. Kento usually takes the midnight watch because of his snacking and Sage has the dawn watch." Tomomi slipped her katana back into the sheath. Cye pointed at the sword with his chin. "Do each of you have separate armors and weapons?" Tomomi walked over to him, picking up the sleepy Mariko.

"Only Suki and Isamu have the special exterminator armor. Tomoko and I only wear priestess garbs." She pulled herself up on to the railing next to Cye. "We all carry a katana in case our natural weapon of choice is missing or broken." Cye nodded.

"What are the other's weapons?" He asked curiously like most.

"Well, I carry a staff that an ancestor of ours first carried. Though I altered it a bit." She grinned and didn't add anymore to that. "Isamu carries a sickle on a long link chain, very handy with quick reflexes. Tomoko wields the bow and arrow with great precision." She smiled. "Then there is Suki, our heavy weapon expert. As you've already seen, she uses a rather over large boomerang. It's made of demon bones welded together in many layers. Very sturdy and the best for cutting down many enemies at any distance." Cye seemed impressed. He opened his mouth to ask how much the boomerang weighed, but was instantly cut off. Something or someone screamed bloody murder.

Please R&R!