Disclaimer: Don't own them in any way shape or form… unless sunrise will take fifty dollars for them because that's all I have in my wallet at the moment.

Well… this is the awaited chapter that I was talking about. A chapter from Cye's p.o.v. my brother and Firestorm unknowingly inspired. Well… not the whole chapter will be from his p.o.v. but I estimate about ¼ to ½ of it to be.

Chapter 4

Cye awoke that morning lying on his right side. He rolled onto his back and looked at the clock; it read 7:15 a.m.; he always was an early bird. He turned his head to stare at the ceiling for a couple minutes and tried the move his hand behind his head. Only his left hand was successfully place behind his head; he looked down his right arm. 'Crap,' he thought 'my arm's asleep." He swung his shoulder in an attempt to get his arm at his head. He swung with such a force that his arm came flew through the air and, not being able to control his arm, smacked himself in the face. He smiled at himself and thought, 'Great move."

Now with more time to kill he looked over across the room and saw Kento laying on his stomach facing away form him. He wasn't snoring too loudly but loud enough for Cye to know he was still sleeping. He usually got up around eight sometimes nine; depending on how late he stayed up. He also never could figure out how he never got up to use the bathroom at night cause he almost always drank a few cups of water before bed.

His arm was now awake and he pushed the covers off and put on his house clothes. He tiptoed over to the door and slowly turned the knob and slowly pulled it open. He stepped through and quietly shut the door watching Kento to see if he had woken him; he had not.

He found it odd that he felt icky that morning. He always took showers the night before and never woke up feeling icky. He stepped into the bathroom to look at his reflection in the mirror. His face and hair was not oily; so he suspected it to be from where he was exhausted the night before. He shrugged it off saying to himself that he would shower later.

Now downstairs he saw Sage sitting on the couch watching television. "Are you the only one up?" Cye asked.

"Yep. Feeling better?" Sage asked.

"Yep. Couldn't sleep?" Cye asked.

Sage looked at Cye, contorted his eyebrows and turned of the TV. "Are you kidding me?" Sage said peppy, "Today's the tournament. Got my meditation done, stretched, I'm ready to go." Sage was practically bouncing on his feet; a smile of anticipation plastered on his face. When he was in one of these moods almost nothing brought him down.

Cye forgot how antsy and energetic Sage could be before a tournament. "Did you eat yet?" asked Cye as Sage followed him into the kitchen.

"Yeah: a banana, an apple, and a glass of orange juice," he replied counting on his fingers the things he ate. He reached into the fruit bowl and pulled out a peach, washed it off and began to eat it.

'Wow! No wonder you're so bouncy,' Cye thought. "Fruit does give you more energy than sugar. It's a lot healthier for you too."

Cye began to cook breakfast and Sage was cheerfully gathering and handing him the ingredients. Cye handed him back the butter and watched him bounce with every step back to the refrigerator. He placed the frying pan on the stove eye and grabbed a small glass of water; he went over to the medicine cabinet and got two ibuprofen and took them with the water. He turned around and saw that Sage was watching the pan for him. "You feeling okay, Cye?" Sage asked curious.

"Yeah, just a small headache," he replied.

A few minutes passed and Ryo walked into the kitchen looking fresh from the shower. Now Cye would have to deal with two bouncy people today. Even though Ryo is not competing in the tournament he's also crazy about martial arts, like Sage is. When events, such as a tournament, came up both of them were as hyper as Yulie. "Today's the big day," Ryo said with an excited grin.

"Don't I know it," Sage replied just the same way. "The thing that's going to kill me is occupying myself so that it won't seem like I've been waiting forever."

"That's not the only thing that's going to kill you," said Cye looking at the two of them with his own smile. "You two get out of here; you're driving me crazy." With the final word he walked over to the two and shooed them out of the swinging door. Cye was now alone in the kitchen his headache slightly feeling relieved.

Kento was now awake and downstairs playing video games. He didn't bother going into the kitchen to try and get some early bites of breakfast. He knew since the three of them were in there it would be impossible for him to get anything. Cye would be too distracted to stop him. 'Wait a minute,' Kento thought. 'Now's the perfect opportunity. I can get all the food that I want and slip out before he notices any of it missing.' With that last thought he grinned mischievously. He paused his video game and stood up. He turned and faced the kitchen door and saw Cye push Ryo and Sage out. Sighing he plopped back down on the floor and resumed his game. Ryo and Sage soon sat behind him on the couch watching his game intently. Kento paused and asked, "Do you two want to start a fighting tournament with me?"

Sage raised an eyebrow intrigued. "Sure; nothing like virtual fighting to get my mind off of things."

"I'm first!" Ryo exclaimed darting and claiming a spot on the floor beside Kento. Kento put in the video game and the two began fighting.

Mia descended the stairs dressed to go to the city. She sat beside of Sage on the couch and watched the fighting match. "What are you all dressed up for?" Sage asked.

Mia scrunched her eyebrows and looked down at herself. "I'm not," she said after raising her head.

Sage looked at the clock on the wall; it read 8:30 am. "I mean dressed this early."

"Oh; I'm going to the city to get Yulie. He insisted on coming over here and riding with us, but I told him we would pick him up on the way there; since his house is in the direction of the stadium."

Mia and Sage looked over at the television as Ryo yelled in defeat and Kento yelled in victory. "My turn," Sage said darting in Ryo's spot and selecting a character to fight Kento with.

"Sa- I mean Ryo, would you go get Rowen up? Breakfast is almost finished," Cye asked standing in the doorway.

"Sure." Both Ryo and Mia stood up and proceeded toward the stairs. Mia grabbed the camera ready to snap a picture of Rowen when Ryo woke him. Almost each morning was different. A couple mornings ago he lit a match and put it between his toes. For that little episode Ryo had the entire household as an audience. After he was awake they swore they had never seen someone move as quickly as he did.

Now at the door, Ryo slowly cracked the door open and peeked inside. Rowen was still sound asleep sprawled out on his back. Mia's smile was wide as she tried to hide her snickers letting a few slip. Ryo also had a wide smile eager wake Rowen. He thought about running and jumping on top of him, but then thought of something better. He opened the door and he and Mia entered the room. He walked over to the stereo and put in a CD. He selected a track and turned up the volume almost maxing it out. He rested his finger on the play button and looked at Mia. She nodded ready to snap the shutter. Ryo pressed the play button and the music roared through speakers. Rowen gasped and bolted up in his bed wide eyed as Mia took a picture. Mia and Ryo fell to the floor with laughter.

"Breakfast is ready," Ryo said after turning off the music and gaining control of himself.

Rowen glared at both of them causing them to laugh more. "Please, Rowen, stop," Mia said between laughs clutching her stomach.

Cye had finished placing the food on the table and proceeded to the downstairs bathroom. He still had a headache but the ibuprofen he took lessened its intensity. He turned on cool water and washed off his face; he looked in the mirror. 'They say you look as bad as you feel. In this case I must look horrible because I feel horrible,' he thought. He washed off his face once more with the cool water and wiped it off with a towel. 'A little better. I'll take a shower after breakfast and then maybe I'll feel a little better,' he thought.

Cye stepped out of the bathroom as Rowen descended the stairs. He saw that everyone else was gathered around the table laughing and creating other ruckus as Mia passed the Polaroid picture of Rowen. Cye couldn't help but smile because he knew what the picture was of. He and Rowen approached the table and joined in on the commotion. "This one is definitely going in the collage," Mia laughed.

Mia was making a collage of pictures of everybody and gluing then on a large piece of cardboard. When the collage was finished she was hoping to have it framed and have it put on the wall. She was doing this to preserve the memories that the Ronins, Yulie and she shared together. They all realized that their memories would be with them in their hearts, but they decided that the collage would be a good subject.

Breakfast was eaten surprising considering everyone had been conversing and such. Sage finished eating and looked at the clock; it read 9:10 am. He stood up and went upstairs, brushed his teeth, and changed into a robe. The robe was a deep rich blue that looked almost purple. The robe reached down to his shins and looked like an ordinary bathrobe. He tossed his clothes into a laundry basket and went downstairs. As he was heading toward the front door Ryo, Cye, and Mia gave him inquiring looks. "I'm going to meditate," Sage answered their unspoken questions. "It will help to relax my spirit and mind before the tournament."

"First, we don't have to be there until noon, and second, why on earth are you wearing a robe to meditate?" Ryo questioned.

"Correction. The tournament starts at noon; registration starts at eleven. Secondly, I found a place to meditate." That was Sage's reply before heading to the door and slipping on a pair of flip-flops and proceeding outside.

"While Kento and Rowen are washing the dishes I will take a shower," Cye said.

"Are you feeling alright, Cye?" Asked Mia in concern, "you look a little pale."

"Yeah, I just have a headache."

Mia looked over at Ryo who still looked puzzled. "Don't tell me now I have to worry about two of us now," Ryo complained. "First Sage; now Cye."

"You don't need to worry about them. Cye said he's fine and I'm sure he is; his kanji is trust for a reason." Mia told Ryo. She is the one who was best at making the guys feel better; she is like a mother figure to them. She grabbed the digital camera out of her purse and said, "As for Sage, I think he's going to the waterfall to meditate. I want to go get a picture of him; it will be great for the collage."

Before Ryo could say anything Rowen burst out of the kitchen chased by Kento. "Get him Ryo!" Kento shouted.

Rowen grabbed Ryo by his shoulders and shoved him in front of him as a shield. Rowen had a smile showing his teeth the whole time. "You'll have to get through Ryo to get to me!" He said from behind his human shield.

Ryo looked at Kento who also had a smile on his face. Ryo couldn't help but smile seeing the front of Kento's shirt wet. "So be it," Kento said grinning evilly.

Ryo's eyes widened as he saw Kento dart toward him and very quickly the three of them were on the floor wrestling and laughing. Mia also couldn't hold back her laughter. "Try not to make too much of a mess while I'm gone. I'll be back in thirty minutes," she said before stepping out the door to follow of Sage.

Cye, now upstairs, entered his and Kento's room and grabbed a pair of boxers. He then went to the hall and grabbed a towel from the linen closet. He placed his boxers on the toilet lid and shut the door. He looked at himself once more in the mirror. 'Nope, I still look like crap,' he thought. After brushing his teeth he turned on the water to take a shower. After removing his clothes he checked the temperature and stepped in. He let the cool water hit is body and began to relax. The then placed his head under the water; after feeling refreshed he began to wash.

Sage was walking through the woods heading toward a waterfall that he recently discovered. The walk was long but he didn't mind; he knew he would have time plenty of time to get ready. Before every tournament he would meditate to relax himself. Doing this he felt he would win; no doubt considering that he placed first for the last six years.

At first everyone was really excited when he placed first the first time. The second time everyone was practically ecstatic. He was also "the buzz" around the city for a while; which ultimately added more to his "flirt king" status. When he won the third time people were happy but there wasn't as big as a crowd. After that he was approached by several companies wanting him to be their sponsor. He politely refused all offers. He said he liked the martial arts for the sake of being connected with his inner spirit. Supporting sponsors would cause him to be fighting for publicity and money, and that those things would dampen his spirit for fighting and the serenity of it. Every year after his third consecutive win he was interviewed for the local television news and newspapers. The fourth time he won he was approached by a few people and asked to purposely lose. They were afraid that he would discourage other martial artists from signing up. Needless to say he refused infuriated. If anything he brought more people to the tournament; he was looked up to as a role model and as a competitor. People were eager to see him fight and were asking themselves wondering if the would win again; the fifth and six wins were their answers.

Sage now came upon the waterfall; it seemed that his thinking made the trip seem shorter. He walked up to a rock and placed his flip-flops on top of it once they were off. He waded into the water and was soon waist deep; he continued until he could walk no farther and swam. He pulled himself up on a large rock that part of the waterfall hit; he sat Indian style as the water fell on top of him.

Unbeknownst to him, Mia sat crouched behind some bushes. She looked at the screen and zoomed in. Sage was in the center and the water was falling all over. Only the top part of the rock was visible. She snapped the shutter. "This looks like a post card," she said to herself previewing the picture. She then turned and headed back toward the house before Sage caught her.

Cye was downstairs sitting on the couch watching as Kento and Rowen were fighting one another in the video game. He, Kento, Rowen, and Ryo were all having a fighting tournament until Sage got back. "After one of you two wins one of you need to take a shower. Sage will kill us if we're not ready by the time he gets back," Cye said.

"Oh come on!" Shouted Kento loosing the round, "you ginks me Cye!" Kento then went upstairs to take a shower.

'You think he could be quiet,' Cye thought. 'But this is Kento. Him and quiet go together like chocolate pudding and pickle relish.' He shuddered at the thought. Ryo stood up from the couch and claimed Kento's seat in the floor. "I'll be right back, but in case I'm not when one you looses give me a holler," Cye said. Ryo nodded.

A few seconds later Cye returned having taken a couple ibuprofens. He sat down beside of Ryo, Rowen being the loser, and began his fight. Even though he did have a headache, he wasn't going to let that stop him from having fun. Besides, he also didn't want to miss Sage's big tournament. Video game or tournament fighting didn't bother Cye taking into account one was fake and the other had some type of referee. It was survival fighting he didn't like. He didn't like the mental torture of wondering if he would survive the next battle or if he one of his friends would get hurt or killed.

Ryo and Cye began their fighting match with Cye gaining the upper hand rather quickly. Cye's character swept Ryo's and then standing up fired a fireball. The two of them were leaning with the controller, as if leaning would make their player fight better. Cye won the first round and the two were ready to start their second. The two of them were quickly down to a quarter of their health bar when Mia walked through the door. Ryo looked away from the screen to face her. Cye took this opportunity to deliver a triple flying kick at Ryo's character killing him. "No fair, Cye!" shouted Ryo snapping his head to the TV hearing the words 'player one wins.' "Did you find him Mia?"

Cye reached over and turned off the video game. "Yeah," she replied. "I got a great picture; it looks somewhat like a postcard," she added walking over to them and showing them the picture on the display screen.

"Wow, that's a really good picture," said Rowen. "I didn't even know there was a waterfall around here."

"How did you know he would be going there?" Ryo asked.

"I just took wild guess see the robes he's wearing," she answered.

"Hit the showers bucko it's time I finished what I started," Kento said bounding downstairs and pointing at the video game system.

Rowen did as Kento said and went to take a shower. Not like he has any choice anyway; he is the only one who hadn't showered yet. Kento looked down at the video game system and saw it was off. 'Oh well,' he thought. 'At least I won't be in the middle of something important in the game when we have to leave and have to turn it off. I hate it when that happens.' He walked over the see the picture Mia had taken. "Wow, that's looks great. It's like he's one with the water," he said.

Kento received looks of shock from the other three. "What? Can't the hardhead of the group say something creative once in a while?" Kento said.

A couple minutes later Sage walked in soaking. He was asked why he was all soaked, and he told them all where he was. Mia couldn't keep a smile hid and she confessed and showed him the picture. They all knew that he like his privacy, especially when meditating, and were a little surprised when he laughed and complimented Mia's picture. After they thought about it why should he have gotten mad; she just took a picture and he was already in a good mood? Sage left them and entered the downstairs bathroom to take another shower before they left.

Cye's headache had finally gone away and was just left with the lightheaded aftereffects. He walked over and joined Ryo, Mia, and Kento on the couch; they were watching some sort of Japanese reality series. He grabbed a piece of paper and began to fan himself. He was burning up just sitting on the couch. No boy his age should be sweating sitting on the couch. Mia looked at him and said, "Are you alright, Cye? You look a little flushed."

"Yeah," he replied. "Just a little hot."

Mia reached out her hand and felt of his face. "You're hot. Did you take anything?"

He looked at the clock. I read 10:10 am. "Yeah, just about twenty minutes ago."

"Are you feeling alright though?" Ryo asked.

"Yeah, I just have a headache is all. I classify that as alright."

"Alright, but let me know if you start to feel worse," Mia finished.

Cye nodded and then went upstairs to get dressed. They had all planned to leave at eleven to get to the arena on time, but they all knew that as soon as everyone was ready they would leave. He went to his closet and pulled out a white t-shirt and light blue jeans. He dressed and went downstairs and put on his shoes. Rowen was now downstairs sitting beside of Ryo. He reclaimed his seat on the couch beside of Mia to join everyone in watching television; waiting for Sage to get out of the shower and get dressed.

A little while later, approximately 10:45 am, everyone was ready and outside. Sage stood behind Mia's jeep and tossed his duffle bag in back. He shut the door and proceeded to sit in the passenger seat. The rest were sitting in the back with Cye and Rowen in the middle given that they were the thinnest of the four. They all knew, except for Sage, that after picking up Yulie he would be sitting up front in Sage's lap.

Cye did not feel well to begin with and being cramped in between Rowen and Kento certainly was not helping the matter. He left the house feeling hot and now in Mia's tiny jeep he felt hotter. The air conditioner was not helping much for that matter. "If you don't mind can you turn up the air? I'm roasting back here," he asked politely.

"Sure thing, Cye," Mia replied turning the knob. She also readjusted the vent so that it would blow more directly on Cye.

He could feel the cold air sweeping him in the face. He shut his eyes feeling slight relief as his bangs blew from the air current. He breathed deeply and opened his eyes again; he began to feel better.

A little while later they were now heading toward the arena, now with Yulie in the vehicle. Sage was less than pleased to have Yulie sitting in his lap. Earlier nothing could dampen his upbeat spirit, but now with a bouncing bubbly nine year old that could talk a mile a minute is the only thing that stands in his way. Everyone was quite amused with the way Sage was acting now, but they all knew they'd better not laugh; so they all smiled.

11:20 am

They were all now at the arena and standing at the registration desk. Sage signed the paper and everyone went into the stadium to claim some seats. Of course the seat they chose wouldn't be their permanent seats bearing in mind that multiple matches would be conducted at once. More time passed and the announcer called for all the contestants to the locker room to prepare for the tournament.

There were several people in the large locker room; approximately 34. He walked over to a bench close to his locker and set his duffle bag down. He opened it and took out his martial arts robes. He undressed and dressed putting his casual clothes in his bag. He walked over to his assigned locker, opened it and tossed in his bag.

One of the officials walked in and said, "May I have your attention please? Like last year there will be multiple rounds occurring at once. The first session will consist of five rounds four those having four matches the last with one match. The second session will consist of three rounds of three matches. The last match, however, will have a combatant, chosen by random, from the first round to fill the quota. The third session is one round with four matches. After that, are the semi-finals. The semi-finals will consist of two rounds, one match each. Then there are the finals. After each round there will be a five minute break to gather scores with the exception of the final round which will be proceeded by the awards ceremony of the third, second, and first place winners. For the returning contestants this will be repeat information, but to the new it won't. The rules are simple: no malicious fighting, no purpose knockouts, no hitting in the groin area, and no foul fighting such as eye gouging and such. There is a giant board outside that tells the first rounds you will be fighting in. Also before the next rounds start the contestants will be called and your names will be on the animated sign. "

The official left and everyone was conversing with each other. "You're Sage Date, right?" asked a young boy.

The way looked to be around Sage's age maybe a year older at the most. "Yeah," he replied.

"I'm Shimi (She -me)," the boy said stretching out his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Like wise."

"I know you probably get this a lot but you're the reason why I came to this martial arts tournament."

"Surprisingly I don't hear that too often. I mostly get the crazy hormonally crazed preteens swooning all over me," Sage said with a small laugh. "I'm glad that I inspired you to participate. I think you'll find it quite fun and satisfying. This is you're first year, right?"

"Yeah. I know this sound crazy, but my goal in this is to beat you."

"Now I do get that a lot. About everyone here comes here with that same goal."

Shimi smiled. "Yeah, I'd say so. I practiced and trained for four years straight just so that I could be ready to combat you. My mother tried to get me to stop training so heavily, but I wouldn't. I told her that if I wanted to stand a chance against you I need all of the practice I could get."

"That's good. Are your parents here with you?"

"No, I'm here with my best friend. My father ran off and left me and mother four years ago. When he left I was so depressed and when I saw you fighting on television it was like my spirit had been lifted. It was you who gave me a new goal in life."

"Oh, I'm glad that I had an impact on your life, but I'm sorry that it took your dad to leave home for it to happen. What about your mom?"

"She died a little over a year ago. I've been living at my best friend's house ever since. His mother and father adopted me. We've been so close for so long that it has been like family all our lives. Now it's kind of creepy when I have to refer to him now as my brother. Foster brother, of course."

"Oh, I shouldn't have asked," Sage frowned.

"Don't worry about it. I believe we have a tournament to win."

"See you in the finals," Sage finished as they grabbed hands and locked around each others thumbs. He couldn't really explain it, but he really felt a strong bond with Shimi. The bond fell all too familiar yet so different.

Author's Note: Sorry this took so long to post. If you haven't guessed by now I had a bad case of writer's block. I also couldn't find a good place to end the chapter where I would be satisfied. The saying goes "You're your own worst critic." I hope I please everyone with this semi-Cye chapter; it was hard for me to come up with ideas to add so it wouldn't be a chapter of Cye's day. A person needs to identify when chapters such as those are important, and this was definitely not one of those times.

The story about Cye slapping himself in the face was actually true. My brother did that one morning and told me about it. Also the one where Ryo wakes Rowen up with the Music is also true; I did that to my brother. To give you a better understanding of how I woke my brother I'll go into brief detail. The song was "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" by Stevie Nicks. If you've heard it before then you'll know how strongly it opens; now imagine that song almost maxed out on an expensive stereo.

I've also started college so you can expect later update as well. Just thought I would let you know.

Reviews:

Rogue Ronin: I'm glad you liked the chapter. Yeah, I hate writer's block. Sometimes I can write and write and write with great ideas and other times I just have nothing. It kills me when it last for days on end.

Firestorm: LOL. I'm glad that I could make your eyes widen. I guess everyone just have to wait and see what else is in store for Cye. Like I said before I'm trying to give everyone their little parts; although I'm coming up short for Rowen and a little on Kento.

Yakumo 27: Glad to hear that everything is going well. Hope you get over your case of writer's block, it appears to be contagious.

Everyone Else: Thanks for reading my fanfic even if you chose not to review.