Disclaimer: Hmm… Just in case, I'm stating that I do not own the Trooper/ Ronin Universe®, though any characters/ villainous beings that don't exist in the show or OVA's are MINE! Use only with permission, SVP.

Kimiko had woken late today; apparently her alarm had never gone off. It was a good thing then, she mused, that she was so used to getting up early anyway.

Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she decided she still had time for a quick shower before Amber swung by to walk with her to Saturday morning classes. Breakfast, though, might be eaten on the run. Again.

Groaning at the thought, she scampered into the bathroom.


"Poor Sai-kun…" Rachel gave him a sympathetic look. "Having to see that. And so early in the morning too." She took another nibble of toast.

Kayura was rubbing her temples, muttering to herself some very unpleasant sounding threats. Her most-likely intended targets sat at the other end of the table, partially out fear, and partially because it was at least a little quieter.

"And 'Nichan! I am ashamed!" Katie chided her brother across from her, purposely tapping her spoon against the side of her bowl. It was funny to watch all the culprits of Sai's misery cringe in unison. "I'd thought that you knew better. And that you could hold your alcohol like more of a man." Shaking her head in mock disappointment, she turned to Rachel. "Men."

"Would you please stop that…" Ryo growled from over his oatmeal. He hadn't touched a bite. "It's only making things worse…"

"Fair punishment, I'd say," Sage quipped without looking up from his own breakfast. He was trying very hard not to crack up, and so stuffed another clump of rice into his mouth before anyone could notice.

"Where is Strata?" Kayura asked suddenly, as if just now noticing the empty chair. She blinked at the odd looks she got from those not trying to hold down their stomachs contents, and then realized she'd slipped back into an old habit. "I mean, where is Rowen?"

"He'll be down any minute now." Again, Sage didn't bother to look up.

As if on cue, there was a rapid pounding marking someone's quick decent on the stairs, and the kitchen door blew open revealing a very harried looking blue-haired boy. "Why doesn't anybody wake me up when I sleep in!" he cried, diving into his chair. "I'm barely gonna have time to eat!"

"Correction: you won't have time to eat." Katie gestured to the spot on the table where Sai usually placed breakfast. It was, in his eyes, the most depressingly empty spot he'd ever seen on a table. "Maybe make some toast?"

"Where is breakfast!" The panic seeped into his voice as he spun on the seemingly negligent chef.

Sai cowered down. "Sorry."

"Chill out, Rowen. He was too busy prying Kale's body off the stove this morning to cook anything."

He turned to the always calm Sage with a very quizzical look. Perhaps he was still not awake, because he had to have heard that wrong. "Eh?"

"You see, it all started this morning when I woke up to a scream…"


"Ahhh! Hot hot!" Kimiko tossed the toast in the air between her hands before giving up and setting it on a napkin on the counter.

DING DONG.

"Kyaaaa!" She ran to the door, trying to pull her hair up into a ponytail. "Comiiiiiing!"

She opened it and offered a sheepish grin to the girl waiting outside. "I'm sorry, Amber-chan. I'll be ready in a second." She felt her hair to make sure she'd done it right and realized there were toast crumbs everywhere. Exasperated she shook her head vigorously all the way back to her toast, which she grabbed in one hand while swiping her school bag off the table with the other.

"All set!" She beamed at her friend, who seemed to be very amused at the situation. "Oh, don't tell me you never sleep in!"

"How can I, with that house full of maniacs down the road making ruckus so early?"

Kimiko glowered at her obvious teasing, knowing how she felt about one of the members of said household. She huffed as she closed the door behind them and locked it.

"Oh, what a nice day," she commented, noting the sky's clear blue and lack of clouds. Except for one area, which seemed to have an odd convergence of them. Slightly off the path from school, but almost certainly the way the 'household' would be going to get there.

"You ready to go?" Amber asked, waving a hand in front of her face and startling her out of her thoughts.

"Hmm? Oh, sorry. Say, um, would you mind if we went on a little detour?"

The blonde gave her an odd look.

"Well," she looked at the ground sheepishly, "they might be going along over that way today and I was thinking…" She trailed off, looking up with a goofy grin, hoping she would fall for it.

"Whatever, as long as we're not late."

She smiled to her self. Success.


"Where are you off to again?" Kayura called out the door after them.

"School. We've got half day today 'cause it's Saturday," Rachel called over her shoulder as Sage kept pace beside her.

"We'll be home in a few hours!" Rowen added, shoving the hunk of toast into his mouth so he could slide his book bag over his shoulder.

"Where is it?"

Katie pointed off in the direction of the city. "We've gotta hurry and catch the bus that takes us that direction though, so see 'ya!" She skipped ahead, laughing as Sai ran to keep up, tagging the lagging Rowen on his way. Sage took off too, followed by Rachel, and the blue-haired teen growled through his toast as he gave chase.


"It is rather convenient that Mia-san has such a spacious house out here, away from so many prying eyes."

Anubis cracked one eye open and regarded Kayura for a moment before resting his head back on the table with a grunt of acknowledgment. "Yes, and the forest and lake are both very nice," he mumbled into his sleeve.

"Oh?" She raised an eyebrow in amusement.

He nodded numbly. "At night, you can go for walks down the path to the lake. It's long, and not very direct," he yawned, "but it makes for an enjoyable evening of watching the stars and thinking…"

"Or, perhaps, talking with someone?"

"Yes, that too…"

She smirked to herself. He was obviously quite unaware of where she was steering this conversation.

"Kay-chaaaaan…"

Kayura hung her head as Kale's whining reached her ears. "Coming," she called back, causing Anubis to wince. "Ah, sorry." She gave his arm a comforting pat. "I'll be back to check on you in a little while."

Anubis nodded again and tried to drift off to sleep, remembering nights of watching the sky by the lake.


"Well, I think we're gonna be fine," Katie commented as they disembarked the public bus that dropped them within a few blocks of where the school's bus stop was.

Sage stopped as he noticed the clouds above them. A rather odd color, he noted, and hanging awfully low.

Rachel had noticed them as well. "Weird. They weren't around when we left, where they?"

Without realizing it, Rowen, Sai, and Sage had each reached reflexively for their yoroi spheres. Even the girls felt something odd in the air around them and, without warning, there was a deafening boom as a single bolt of lightning shot down from the clouds. They dove backwards instinctively, the boys each subconsciously calling their under armors.

The dust quickly dissipated, revealing something they'd hoped never to see again.


If it weren't for the fact that his stomach had already emptied itself long ago of all contents, Ryo was sure he'd have made another ugly mess. Unfortunately, this time his stomach's turning had nothing to do with alcohol.

He got up quickly and immediately regretted it, his head swimming. Nonetheless, he grabbed reflexively for his yoroi sphere and headed towards the stairs. Kento was already down by the door, his queasy expression now mixing with his usual blend of determination and anger.

As he cautiously made his way down the steps, he was quickly joined by the Warlords who all seemed to have magically overcome their incapacitation at a moment's notice.

"Kayura, what's going on?"

Ryo heard the slamming of the back door and Kayura came flying in from the kitchen with terrified eyes.

"A gate!" She pointed in the direction of the city.

"What?" came the unanimous cry as they all stopped running mid-stride.

"There's a Dynasty gate!"

Ranting:

OMG! It has only been… like… ten and a half months… since I last posted on this… Eh. Heh… Heh…

Oh my.

It really didn't seem like that long.

But, yes, another chapter is up. I introduced a new character, and she'll show up much more in the next chapter or so.

Also, the next chapter will, hopefully, be a battle scene. So please bear with me, as I've not done them before, and much prefer writing dialog to action. But, yes, anywho… Please read, maybe review?