Chapter Twenty-Six: Ronin

I slept soundly that night, which surprised me. I should've been scared witless by what I heard about Ronin, any normal person would be, but I wasn't. I guess it's just hard to be scared when you're with the person that matters the most to you in the world.

I woke and slipped into my uniform, just as I did every morning. When I went downstairs for breakfast, I was surprised to see that our intergalactic tenants had returned. Today they were studying the toaster burn a piece of bread to a crisp. Kish poked the lever, mistrusting of the toaster. Pai and Tart stood over Kish's shoulder, analyzing the toaster fearfully.

"What do you think would happen if I stuck my hand in there?" Kish pondered as he tentatively fingered the shiny edge of the toaster. I shook my head. For aliens, they were pretty stupid. I snatched the toaster out of Kish's thin fingers.

"Your stupid hand would be torched. But, hey, if you don't believe me, just go ahead and do it anyway. I could do with a good laugh." I said setting the toaster onto the counter. The three of them looked over at the toaster, which then sprung out the nearly combusted toast. They jumped back in horrified surprise, Kish yelping at the top of his lungs.

"That's what I thought…It's so shameful. You're supposed to be mighty warriors, yet you revere common kitchen appliances." I snickered as I grabbed an oatmeal bar out of the pantry.

Ryou sprinted into the kitchen with a panicked look on his face. "Komori! Are you okay? I thought I heard you scream!" Ryou interrogated.

I laughed and pointed to the cluster of still-shaken aliens. "No, that was those three bozos. The toaster scared them." I giggled as I strided out of the kitchen. It was good to see that Kiyoshi's spell had worn off; the lethargic, drunken Ryou was more frightening than funny.

I arrived at school at my usual ungodly hour.

I doubt that even Takara will be here this early.

I was correct. Takara's presence was absent from her usual seat on the stairs, but it was replaced by someone else…Kiyoshi! My face lit up as I spotted him. I bolted over to him, the wind ferociously slapping my face. He looked up, his face grim and full of the fatigue that I had seen last night. My smile faded: something was wrong. I breathlessly took a seat next to him. He looked down at the ground vaguely, as if everything were a blurry dream. I placed my hand on his shoulder, but he didn't even bother to look up at me.

"Kiyoshi, what's bothering you?" I asked worriedly. He ran his fingers through his hair as he searched for words.

"This is going to upset you, Komori. Just let me start with that, okay?" Kiyoshi explained slowly, grasping my shoulders tightly. I nodded my head slowly, fearing for the worst.

"Okay, then. Don't say I didn't warn you. It involves Ronin, of course. It seems that Ronin has been doing a little research on you…your family…your friends…" he continued. I stared back in horror. Frightening images of what Ronin could be doing to my loved ones flashed through my mind. Chinese water-torture, medieval flails, and machine guns were a few of them.

Kiyoshi ran his fingers through his hair a second time. "Okay Komori…Well, Ronin…he—Ah…he…he got Takara. I wasn't able to catch him fast enough" Kiyoshi muttered as he put his hands over his face to hide his shame.

NO!

I shrieked and flung my hands to my mouth. Hot streams of tears poured down my face obscuring my vision. "She was my…my only friend!" I sobbed. By now a few people had started to arrive and were pointing fingers at us, probably thinking that we were breaking up or something stupid like that.

Kiyoshi's warm hand pulled me to him. He tilted his head down so he could easily whisper in my ear. "Komori. She's not dead, you goofball. He's using her as live bait." He whispered comfortingly. I sniffled. That wasn't much better.

"Kiyoshi, we have to go save her!" I yelled, hopping up. Kiyoshi grabbed my wrist and sternly yanked me back.

"Calm down! And, yes. We're going right now." He hissed in my ear.

"B-but wait. Won't we be ditching?" I asked. Yeah. As if ditching school was my biggest problem right now. Kiyoshi seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"A minute ago you just wanted to save her, and now you're worried about ditching class!...Whatever, I've already had all that stuff taken care of. The attendance office doesn't have very good locks on their doors, you see." He winked. I admired his uncanny ability to make me smile in the darkest of times. I choked down my laugh and got serious.

"Okay, do you know where Ronin's headquarters are?" I asked, realizing we needed to know where we were going.

"I don't know the exact location, but I've been scouting out this one place that looks really--."

"Take me there!" I demanded.

Kiyoshi and I had flown for approximately twenty minutes to land in the ((excuse the expression)) ghetto part of Tokyo. We now sat at the front of a particularly dark and smelly alleyway that would put a garbage dump to shame. I couldn't see more than three feet into it, but I could see the rats darting to and fro, their luminescent eyes peering at me curiously.

I'm getting severely creeped out.

"Do you see how it's unnaturally dark? Ronin makes it that way, but he does it to several different alleys and such all over, so it's nearly impossible to track him down…but if he's after you, then he should have made it fairly easy to find him." Kiyoshi explained. I would have been fascinated if I hadn't been scared stiff. He grasped my hand and smiled.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"Yes." I said, still uncertain as I clutched my Passion Sword in my other hand.

We plunged into the artificial shroud of darkness. The rancid stench of decomposing garbage filled the air, making it impossible to take a single breath without getting nauseated.

I think I'm gonna be sick…

"Whoo!" Kiyoshi swatted the air around his head in a futile attempt to get some breathable air. I decided to ignore him and concentrate on the task at hand: find the entrance. I continued to walk down the alleyway with Kiyoshi right behind me. The dark hung over us like a heavy curtain of velvet; I couldn't see my hand in front of my face.

"Allow me to be of assistance." Kiyoshi said as he took a flashlight out of the folds of his jacket. I gratefully accepted it and shined it down the alley.

I partly wished that I hadn't turned it on. I could now see all the vile creatures that inhabited the alley, who were now scurrying away from the light that they hadn't seen for so long. We continued our cautious walk down the alley, approaching a tall barrier of splintery wooden planks that had been perilously nailed together. Kiyoshi motioned for me to approach the barrier.

"This is it." Kiyoshi said, rubbing his hand over the grimy surface, looking for something that I couldn't see. A small click echoed through the alley, followed by the sound of tumblers rotating. Expecting a door of some sort to appear, I stood where I was. Kiyoshi, who seemed to know what he was doing, looked upwards. I followed his gaze to see a giant emerald-colored orb of energy slowly come over us. I latched myself onto Kiyoshi as I felt the portal's pull on both of us. We were thrown into a massive tunnel that looked to be made out of electricity that kept changing colors. Kiyoshi grasped me tighter as he sensed that we were landing. I felt a surge of pain ripple through my back as we were flung out of the tunnel and onto a slick marble floor. I rubbed my head and pushed myself up.

"Welcome, Komori. I've been expecting you." A dark voice hissed from the darkness.