Discliamer: I don't own Samurai Troopers. I only own Shakalli. And anyone else not from the original story. And one more thing. There will be no yaoi pairings. Or Kayura/Troopers pairings, or Kayura/Masho pairings. It may seem like this story will be Kayura/Ryo, but isn't.

The Path of a Leader

Chapter 4 Friends and past Aquantaintces

'I'm going to kick his ass. I may have to wait until I get my hands on my katanas, but I will definately kick his ass.' Ryo thought as he sat in 'his' room playing with his red shirt. It had been five days since he woke up, ate, and drank tea with Seiji-san. Since then, he had bathed four times, been given new clothes, and had even won over Yayoi-san and Satsuki-san. While the younger of the two still didn't trust him completely, she definately liked him more. However, Seiji-san had ordered a guard to be posted outside of the room in order to keep Ryo from running away, or from 'borrowing' a weapon and killing himself.

Even though he really didn't like being cooped up in there until he wanted to use the restroom or take a bath, he knew Seiji-san wanted to keep him out of danger. And to keep him from causing a scene within the castle. Seiji-san had also said that his fiance would not like being within the same castle as a ninja, they really did scare her. So he was left with nothing to do, except annoy his guard. And that was the only thing that gave him something to do, other than go to the restroom, the bath, eat and sleep. But even he knew when not to irritate the guard. It's just that that didn't happen that often.

"Oi, Tomokazu-san. What game shall we play today?" he asked the already irritated guard. He had learned the first full day he was awake, that Tomokazu disliked Ryo teasing him about his size. He was shorter than some of the guards and heavier than them too. And Ryo loved cracking jokes.

"Hey, you know that I don't like participating in any of the games you like to play. So stop pestering me with your questions." 'Uh oh, he's mad already. This is starting to get good'

"Aww, do you have so mean to me? I'm already upset because I'm stuck in here all the time. And now your being so mean to me." he sounded like his feelings were hurt, but in all acuallity, he was trying ununsuccessfully not to laugh. 'He gets so riled up easily. Just like me. Maybe I should tell him that.' Ryo pulled a ten inch length of fabric out ofthepocket of his navy blue pants and pulled his unruly mop of hair up in to a ponytail. When he was finished, his hair was pulled up to the back of his head. Not as high as the top of his head, like a samurai might wear it, but not as low as the nape of his neck either. He heard a shuffling out side of the door, and heard the guard say something to Seiji-san before he entered.

"Ryo, I need to ask you something." Seiji said as he opened the door. Ryo saw his form appear in the door way and bowed his head in respect for Seiji. "Ryo, you couldn't sleep last night, am I correct?" 'Damnhe's good.' Ryo nodded. "Why couldn't you sleep? You were in some sort of pain. And I could feel it."

"I had a nightmare. I don't know what it was about, but it had something to do with someone coming here, with danger following them. It might have been following me, but I'm not certain."

"Do you have dreams like that, often?" 'That was a very good question.'

"Only every now and then. And I don't know why either. I just do." Seiji looked as though he had just come across a riddle. Then someone pushed Seiji out of the doorway.

"Here's your lunch, Ryo-san."

"Arigato, Satsuki-san." Ryo took the tray out of her hands and walked to the center of the room. Seiji gave his sister a look of aggitation for pushing him like she had, but wasn't allowed to dwell on it. Another guard came running up to Seiji before coming to astop and bowing before the young master.

"Seiji-sama, there are two people here to see you. They wear the robes of the Ancients. And they say it is important."

"Take me to them then." Seiji turns to follow the guard, when Ryo's hand reaches out and grabs Seiji's arm. He looks up to see that Ryo looks disturbed by something. The look on his face makes Seiji curious about this meeting.

"Seiji-san, please be careful. I've got a bad feeling about this. The Ancient clan has been thought to have been extinct. I know they were most likely hiding, but why have they suddenly decided to show their faces? And why here of all places? Something doesn't bode well about all this." He drops his grip from Seiji's arm, but his face still shows concern. Seiji wonders what has caused this turn about in his friend's cheerful mood.

"They won't do anything. But I will be careful. They will most likely tell me why they need to see me. Nothing bad will happen." 'At least I hope not' Seiji thinks to himself. And then turns to follow the guard to his guests. Satsuki and Tomokazu are staring at Ryo. Neither has seen him this deturmined about anything. Ryo realizes that they are staring at him and he closes his door and returns to his food. Still a little nervous about what will happen.

A minute later Seiji-san has been led to his guests. He was greeted by a young woman with hair the color of the midnight sky. Her hair goes down to her knees. Seiji sees a type of wrinkle her hair and decides she must normally wear her up on top of her head. He also sees an old man with white hair. However, upon closer inspection, his hair is the only thing that looks old, for his face, and posture, are that of a young man. In his left hand is a shakujo. Seiji bows in their presence and they return the gesture.

"I have been told that the two of you are from the Ancient clan. May I ask why the two of you are here asking for an audience with me?" Seiji was still more than a little worried about what Ryo had said. Ryo had his gifts, and Seiji had his own. And one of those gifts told him that there was definately following these two, so he had to be cautious.

"To be completely honest, Seiji-san, we are in search of nine young men with various abilities and fighting skills. My apprentice, Kayura and I think that one of those young men is you. We need these fighters to take on a dangerous task. To fight a demon named Arago. And I think that there is another in this castle." 'Well at least he's being honest. But what could he mean by me being one of these warriors?' Seiji thought to himself.

"You have gifts that even you don't know about, Seiji-san. And we think those gifts will help you and those who you are to fight alongside in combat." the young woman named Kayura spoke with such strength.

"I hate to tell you this, but I only have one gift. And that is to tell if someone is telling the truth or not. I know that you are telling the truth, but I must now ask you to leave my presence. I understand that you must have been riding for a while and I will provide rooms for you to stay in for a couple of days. However you are mistaken about me being a famous and 'supposed' warrior." and with that Seiji turned to leave. He din't see Kayura run behind him, jump in front of him and place both of her hands on his head.

"Aaahhhh." was all he could say before being over come with pain. He could feel someone, or something, searching through his thoughts. A wave of pain sweeps over him and he becomes aware of doing things he had no memory of doing. He knows that he could tell when someone is lying, but somehow he knows that he can also tell if there is a shift in someones emotions. And he also becomes aware that it was he who healed Ryo's wound. These new abilities seemed almost subconsious and it seemed to him that he had healed Ryo's wound while being unconsious. That was strange. At last Kayura let go of his head, and he feels like he could pass out.

"You are one of the nine." is all Kayura says. Seiji's guards on on her almost immediately. The older of the two, or older looking of the two, walks to Seiji.

"It would seem as though you hold more power than you know."

"Stand down. Release your hold on her. Now." Seiji doesn't need to repeat himself. Kayura is released immediately. Trying to steady himself, Seiji uses his no-datchi to help himself stand. "Oookay, the two of you have proved yourselves." Seiji holds a hand to his head to ward off his now growing headache, and to his surprise, it completely disappears. "Now, you say that there is another within the castle, right? So where is he?" The man holds the shakujo above his head and a light emits from it. A few seconds later, he lowers it and the light vanishes.

"Upstairs." and that's all he says. Seiji has a funny feeling that the young man now in question, is Ryo. He doesn't say anything. He nods his head to signal for them to go on up the stairs. The two turn towards the stairs before going up them, Seiji trailing several yards behind them. He looks at his guards and tells them everything is going to be okay.

Upstairs, Ryo has only eaten half of his food. He brings the rest to the door and hands it to a servant. Satsuki, Tomokazu, and now Yayoi are waiting outside his room, waiting for an explaination. They don't get the chance as two strangely dressed people come walking down the hall. Ryo, who still has his door open, hears someone approaching, looks out to see the pair walking towards him. This bothers him as Seiji is following them, looking like he has just weathered a typhoon. And upon closer inspection of the two, he cringes. This was definately not his month. The man with the shakujo looks to see Ryo and a smile grin appears upon his face. Kayura sees Ryo and becomes deep in thought. The man walks to Ryo, stands in front of him, and tells Seiji,

"This is the young man I was talking about. And he is also, your leader, Seiji-san." 'Leader, what is he talking about? Kaos, that's his name. But what is he talking about?' Ryo knows better than to speak in the presence of someone as Kaos, leader of the Ancient clan. Especially after the last time he ran into him. Kayura is now frowning. 'So she remembers the last time the three of us had a confrontation. That's not good.'

"Kaos-san, it's been awhile hasn't it? It's been, what nine years now?" Ryo tries to talk his way out of the trouble he knows he's in. And Seiji, although apparently not all there, definately sences the tremendous shift in emotions, and can't help but wonder why.