"Ronin Warriors: The Final Victor"
By Onikage
Scroll Thirty: Party At My House!!!
(A some what filler... but... at the request of a friend... ENJOY!)
"Ewww!" Kento shuddered and shook out his hair. "I'm allll weeet!" he whined.
"Quit whining, man. We all are!" Rowen snapped. "Ugh... Cold's not good on the lower extremities."
"Not like your going to use them later anyway," Sage miffed. Rowen slugged him in the arm. Kento growled.
"You sure know how to pick 'em, Ryo," he said angrily.
"What are you bitching about now, Kento?" Ryo retorted with a frown as he pulled off his rain soaked clothing.
"Leave it to a half-ancient to leave us all stranded in the middle of Tokyo, miles away from Tori's place or Rowen's for that matter in the pouring rain!"
"Hey!! She can't help that! It's not her fault and you know it!!" Ryo snapped and advanced on Kento.
"Oh really?!"
"Guys! Cut it out! There's nothing we can do about it now!" Sai snapped. He pulled the two apart. "WHAT the hell is your problem, Kento?!"
"YOU BOYS BETTER BE STRIPPIN' AND NOT FIGHTING!!" Tori called angrily from the kitchen. Sai and Ryo jumped nervously.
"Her highness sounds pissed," Kento frowned and peeled off his jeans and flung them into the dryer. He dug into his bag for dry clothing, falling silent. A bright pink something caught his eye by his foot.
"What time is it?" Sai yawned and pulled off his shirt.
"... Almost... ah hell if I know. It's dark!" Rowen said gruffly. Sai frowned.
"Why is everyone so damn testy all of a sudden?!" he snapped.
"SOME of us don't like frozen balls, you retard!" Rowen snapped after quickly stripping down to nothing. Ryo raised an eyebrow at Rowen.
"Shrinkage is a bitch, huh?"
"Shut it... Where the hell is my underwear?!" Something soft hit him in the face. He growled and inspected the object before blushing furiously at the pink and white little pigs smiling up at him happily. "Hey, after that cold shower you had, they're a perfect fit!" Kento laughed. Rowen shuddered and jumped away throwing them back at him. "Relax. They're not dirty," he laughed and put them back into the clothes hamper beside them. Rowen searched for a towel to dry off with before putting on his dry clothing.
"Kento. I don't think you should be snooping around in Tori's laundry," Sai warned and pulled himself out of his jeans. Kento rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, yeah... Look no touchie. I got it..."
"Don't forget what happened the last time you pissed her off," Sage reminded as he attempted to pull off the wet sock. He ended up falling to the ground, unable to balance on one leg. "Ow. You were a human cat toy." Kento was ignoring him and opened the lid of the hamper again. "Get out of there!!" Sage hissed, fumbling for his dry boxers.
"She'll do worse than tie you upside down as a kitty toy, man," Ryo warned.
"Jesus. You guys are NO fun! She rival's Kayura in the undies department," he snickered and lifted a black bra out. Sai snatched the black undergarment and attempted to prevent him from snooping anymore. "No! K-Ken-TO! Stop! Let go!" Ryo sighed heavily and ignored the two.
"Is it just me? Or was Tori a little... preoccupied today?" Ryo asked, tossing his clothing into the dryer along with the others. Rowen was scrubbing his blue locks with a towel.
"You DID see what happened, right?" he reminded. "Anubis was all, ugh... touchie-feely with her," he shuddered. Sage raised an eyebrow with a cool smirk.
"Maybe you're a little jealous that Red's got himself a little love bunny and Nasake won't give you squat," he suggested slyly.
"I am not!!" Rowen argued. "We're just friends!" A collective laugh rolled around the room from the others. Strata frowned.
"Pshh, friends my ass," Ryo chuckled.
"Yeah... I bet you two are 'best' friends every night!!" Rowen rolled up his wet shirt and snapped it like a whip at Sage's bareback with a loud pop.
"OWW! You tail-hole! That fucking hurt!" Sage shouted and rubbed his spine. Rowen glared.
"GOOD. Next time you talk shit about her, you'll be rubbin' somethin' else and wishing you could have little blonde kiddies with Ms. Domo in there!" Ryo pulled on his jeans.
"I bet he does that anyway," he chuckled. He pulled out a dry pair of socks. Sage flushed and yanked on his jeans.
"DAMMIT, Kento!" Sai yelled. "Stop!!"
"Woo! Too high for you, buddy?" Kento chuckled holding a purple bra this time high above Sai. Both had forgotten that they weren't quite dressed.
"Will you two stop fighting? I hope you both realize that you look like two queens fighting over panties," Rowen said. It was quite a sad sight to see Sai jumping for girl's underwear. Purple lacy ones. Where was the camera when he needed it?
"Ah, quit yer belly achin'. They're not gonna-"
"Gotcha!" Sai snatched the bra out of Kento's hands, holding a number of items all ready in his own.
"Hey!" Kento frowned.
"Serves you right, perv," Rowen laughed and went back to drying his hair. Kento rolled up his wet shirt and popped Rowen in the leg with it. "AGH! Shit!!!" he hissed and backed away, tripping over another laundry hamper. Ryo pulled on a dry shirt. He picked a naked Rowen up out of the pile of ladies' laundry just as Tori slammed open the door. The sound startled Sai enough to trip over his jeans in an attempt to get them on. He fell on top of a naked Kento.
"Dammit! Am I gonna have to strip you all down my... self?..." Her eyes widened. She opened the door more and leaned against the doorframe with a satisfied smile on her face. "... Do you boys have ANY idea how many bad jokes start out like this?" She saw Sai and Kento sprawled over each other like a bad male porn. Her underwear lay all over the room. She casually walked over to them and lifted her black bra off of Kento's chest. "Gee, Kento. If you want to borrow some of my stuff, you could have asked," she smiled. "Although these won't fit. I can order you some if you want," she offered casually. The serious in her voice deepened the shade of pink on Sai and Kento's faces. Sai pushed himself off of Kento and yanked on his jeans blushing, also giving her a full frontal view of the mighty Hardrock. Tori cocked her head to one side.
"Well... They certainly gave you the right armor, Kento," she giggled. "Stay out of my underwear or I'll call Megami in here..." Kento yanked his bag over his lap and grinned nervously.
"Heh, heh... S-sorry Tori... It won't happen again." Tori smiled.
"Good." Without turning around she placed her hands on her hips. "Are you going to put on some clothes Rowen? You can stay that way if you want to, but I don't think Nasake will like it too much," she said nonchalantly. "Hey. I have a kitten... and well... he attacks anything that just... dangles. You know: string, branches, spiders, little pom-poms... especially the blue ones." She stepped up to Rowen and pulled the towel around his waist. He was a little more than stunned.
"Toooorriiiiii..." Megami called as she stuck her head in the doorway. "Where are the..." She stopped in the doorway. She blinked. "... Um..." Kento turned several shades of red. Ryo calmly started the dryer as Sage tossed him a towel for his hair. "Hey, Megami," they greeted.
"U-Um..." she mumbled. She blinked again and slowly slid out of the laundry room. "N-never mind..."
"Ryo? Can you help me make dinner?" Tori asked and granted herself a pleasant view of Kento's behind as he finished putting on his jeans in record time before she met Ryo at the door.
"Sure. What did you have in mind?"
"Um... Well, the only thing we have is a package of hot dogs in the fridge, buuut..." she giggled. Ryo's face colored.
"Got a phone?"
"Yep!"
"Phone book?"
"... Uh, I think so..."
"Hey Kento, didn't your Uncle Chin reopen his restaurant around here?" Ryo asked. Kento nodded dumbly. "Gimme forty-five minutes and I'll have the best mushu-pork in town on the table." Tori hugged his arm.
"Sounds good..." she smiled as Ryo led her out of the room. Sage cast a worried glance over his shoulder at the others. They looked just as bothered.
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Domo looked back at Sage as they entered the Chinese restaurant. "You know, Sage. You didn't have to come with me to get the food," she said and attempted to dry out her umbrella.
"A pretty girl like you alone on the streets of Tokyo with the world's best Chinese food in hand? I think you'd need SOME kind of protection," he laughed and shook out the gravity defying hair. "Besides, I haven't seen Kento's uncle in a few years." Domo raised her eyebrow and reached over to Sage's hair. She touched it hesitantly.
"W-what are you doing?" he demanded with a blush. Domo smiled.
"... It's the armor. That's your secret, isn't it?!"
"WHAT secret?"
"Your hair..." Sage shrugged.
"Good genes?" he suggested unsurely. Domo smirked.
"Uh huh..."
"He-hello?" A small, elderly man greeted them as he hurried through the red curtain doorway. "Table two?" he asked. Domo flushed.
"Huh? Uh, no, uh..."
"Ah! One. All by self! One, one, one!" he chattered as he filed through the menus.
"No, no! I'm not-"
"You one or two? Make up mind!" he laughed. Domo covered her face.
"... I haaaaate this," she groaned to herself. Her 'distress' vanished when she started hearing a familiar voice speak perfect... PERFECT Chinese. She looked over at Sage and the old man. She sighed heavily.
"Of course you know Chinese..." (Damn, what can't he do?) she asked herself.
"OOOOOOOH. Why not you say you know Chin? Girlfriend talk too much!" he sputtered and hurried back through the red curtain.
"Girlfriend?" Domo repeated. Sage flushed.
"He's old... He wouldn't believe me if I said lady friend. He would think you're some kind of brothel girl," he explained calmly. "Are you mad?"
"Huh?! No! I just... Forget it. It's not important," she mumbled.
"SAGE!" Chin exclaimed as he rushed through the doorway. His large frame and cheery expression was the spitting image of the younger Hardrock. It made Domo smile. Before Sage could even bow, Chin plowed into him with a huge hug. "H-hello, Chin-san... W-when did you move back to Tokyo?" Chin instantly dropped Sage.
"Whoops. Excuse me! I ... A few months after that little incident with your friends is when... Heh... Business seemed to... stop." Sage lowered his eyes.
"Sorry about that..."
"You boys aren't in any... you know... 'trouble'?" Chin gestured to Domo. Sage blinked.
"Oh! It's all right. She knows. This is Domo."
"Oh? Every time I see you boys, you always seem to have such pretty girls with you!" Domo blushed and smiled. Sage rolled his eyes.
"Hi... The resemblance with Kento is... wow. You can tell you two are related." Chin laughed.
"That's my nephew! How is he doin' anyway?"
"Same old Kento," Sage smiled.
"Well that's good! I'm flattered that you'd bring your girl friend to MY restaurant. Anything you two love birds want is on the house!" he smiled. Domo blushed heavily.
"Uh, Chin-san... Um..."
"Did I say something wrong?" he asked innocently. Domo cleared her throat.
"I'll let you two catch up. I need to use the ladies' room," she said nervously.
"Down the hall right after the dining room," Chin directed. He turned back to Sage and nudged him. "Cute little bunny you have there, Sage!" he laughed. Domo flushed. She wasn't quite out of earshot. She heard Sage laugh nervously.
Domo followed the elaborate hallway past the dining room. Her eyes widened. "Niiice," she smiled and touched a lion by the doorway. When she stood she peered into the dining room. Gold and red dressed every corner, from tabletops to curtains. Elaborate dragons and painting hung on walls, separate booths were shielded with delicate paper screens, and on every table was a small red lantern. The whole dining area seemed to glow.
In the midst of all the red and gold, a splash of familiar blue hair of an older boy caught her eye in the corner. Curiosity taking the better of the situation she entered slowly, careful not to disturb anyone. A large vase was blocking her view a few feet in front of her. A waiter passed by, she ducked behind a dragon statue and snatched a menu. She opened it and slipped by him. (That was close). When she looked back at the table, the boy was gone. "Damn..."
"Domo!" a voice exclaimed. She jumped and nearly dropped the menu. She turned and saw someone she hadn't seen in a very long time.
"Ryu?" she blinked. He was very elegantly dressed. He smiled at her as he embraced her tightly.
"I was wondering when you were getting back," he said softly. Domo felt tears in her eyes as she clutched him tightly.
"... I... I missed you," she whispered. Ryu held her face and kissed her softly.
"I missed you too..." He dried her cheeks with a rolled up napkin from an empty table.
"W-what are you doing here?" she asked.
"My cousin's in town, remember? It's her birthday today. I'd introduce you two, but she's in the bathroom right now. I was about to go check on her when I saw you. What are you doing here?" Domo froze.
(Yeah, tell him you're with another boy getting Chinese food, instead of calling him!) she thought with a mental groan. "Oh... um... getting take out. The girls had a craving for wontons and moo-goo gai pan." He nuzzled the inside of her ear.
"Girls night out, hm? Too bad... If you had called, I would have had a welcome home... thing... planned," he purred against her ear. She smiled. "What are you doing tomorrow night?" he asked softly. Domo grinned darkly.
"Why you," she smiled. Ryu grinned and kissed her again.
"Domo? Whoa!" Sage flushed when he found a full-blown lip lock in front of him. Domo squeaked and pulled away.
"S-sage!"
"Sorry... I got the food for the girls and the guys... um..." Domo flushed and straightened.
"Oh, sorry... Ryu, this is Sage. I met him at that camp thing with Tori's grandfather... Sage... this is-"
"Ryu, her boyfriend," he answered quickly extending his hand. Sage smiled and extended his hand to him.
"Pleased to meet you. I've heard a lot about you from Domo," he said. Something snapped inside of him as their hands clasped. His brow furrowed faintly, catching the dark eyes. There was a dead silence. Domo cleared her throat. "Well... uh. We'd better get going, huh?" Sage nodded faintly. Domo turned to Ryu. "And I'll see YOU later," she smiled giving him a kiss. "Call me..."
"Of course..." Domo smiled and followed Sage out.
She found him waiting outside for her underneath the overhang of the restaurant. He was thoroughly embedded in thought. He looked almost worried. "What's wrong, Sage?"
"Huh?... Oh... It's nothing. I was... thinking. Let's go."
"S-sure."
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"Whaaaaaat?! Whaddya mean I'm out?!" Kento shouted. Megami spun the spinner lazily. She sighed.
"Your knee touched the mat, so you're out. Sorry Kento-kun. I like you a lot, but it's not fair if I play favorites," she explained. "I'll make it up to you, Kento-kin. Promise." Kento pouted.
"Aww maaan..." He frowned and rolled off the dotted mat leaving Rowen, Nasake, Ryo, Tori, and a very flexible Sai still in the game. Megami spun the colored spinner. "Oookaaaay! Um... Right hand on... red!"
"Ha! Too easy!" Rowen grunted and reached it with ease. Ryo reached as far as he could before loosing his balance. He landed flat taking Tori with him.
"HEY! Ryo! That was my boob!" she winced after impact with his hand. "When she said 'right hand on RED', she didn't mean ME!! You owe me a wonton for that!"
"Sorry," he flushed. He helped her to her feet and winked and Kento. He slipped him a high five.
"Nice move, dude."
"Of course," Ryo grinned. Megami frowned,
"You did that on purpose!?" Tori stiffened and tackled Ryo to the floor. Another game commenced of wrestling. "Banzai!!" she laughed.
"Come on! Ow! It was in the way!"
"Yeah... I... bet!" she grunted and pinned Ryo. Megami spun again. Sai, Rowen, and Nasake were still playing and ignoring them.
"Okay... Left foot...green!" she called.
"ACHOO!" Rowen suddenly sneezed and collapsed to the ground. "Ow..." He rubbed his stomach. "Dammit... Tori? You don't own a dog, do you?"
"Rgh... Ow! N-No... 'Sake does! Eeek! You perv!" Tori squealed and poked Ryo in the stomach after another 'violation'. Rowen rubbed his nose.
"Sorry, Rowen... I missed my doggie. So I... saw him today. He's a poodle!" she beamed and moved her toe to a yellow circle as Megami called it out. "Wow, Sai... You're good at this!"
"Lots of practice, love!" he smiled.
"You play twister a lot?" she asked.
Sakura walked in from the kitchen with a large bowl of popcorn and other snacks. Sai grinned.
"Right hand blue!"
"... You could say that..."
"Sai, no! That's not fair to her!" Rowen ordered. Sai stuck out his tongue. "Oh that's mature!"
"Tellll meee!" Nasake whined and reached her left hand to a red dot. "How much did you play?"
"... Well... It wasn't exactly like... this..."
"What was it?"
"Left hand blue!"
"... GOT IT! Ugh... Foreplay," Sai said with a grin. Nasake squeaked and fell to the mat in shock.
"OW!.... Cheater," she muttered.
"I win!" Sai smiled and jumped up.
"Sai? Are you being perverted again?" Sakura scolded. Sai grabbed her by the waist in a tickling match.
"Maaaaaybe!"
"ACK! Hahaha! Eeee!"
"AHHH! I'm starving! What are they doing?! If they don't get back soon and feed me, I'm gonna die!!!...." He paused then stuck out his tongue, hanging his head over the back of the couch. "I'm dead." Megami picked up a wrapped candy bar and shoved it in his open mouth.
"Eat this you dummy!" she laughed. Kento started eating the wrapper. "AH NOT THE WRAPPER TOO!"
"HA! I win!" Ryo cheered triumphantly and pinned her arms up over her head. "Now what, Rekka?" Tori grinned.
"This!" She kicked Ryo up over her and pinned him in turn, before taking his head in her hands and licking his forehead.
"WHOA!" Ryo exclaimed and squirmed away. Sakura high fived Tori.
"What did she do to you, man?!" Rowen exclaimed.
"She... LICKED me!" Ryo squeaked. He wiped his forehead.
"Duuude... That's messed up!" Tori beamed.
"I won, didn't I?"
"Weeee're baaaack! Domo called. Kento bolted from the couch.
"FOOOOOOD! YES!"
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The midnight oil was burning rather low. Anubis leaned back in the computer chair and tossed his reading glasses to the desk, scrubbing at his eyes with a yawn. Still nothing to be found of the mysterious Amaranthine the Guardians spoke of. And he wasn't even halfway done with the large library of records, documents, and encyclopedias on armor and mythology. A large part of it was inside Mia's computer... He wasn't even going to touch the damn thing. The clock chimed a little after one in the morning, when he heard shuffling in the hallway. Whiteblaze, who had been lying at his side the whole time, lifted his head with a yawn. Anubis stroked the cat's ears. "Go back to sleep, old friend..."
Anubis padded out of the room. The noise came from the living room. He found the eldest of the Ronins stepping silently towards Mia as she slept on the couch. The young woman had fallen asleep in the middle of her own search. Dais had in his arms a large quilt. He carefully draped it over Mia after retrieving the book in her lap. Anubis watched silently and was a little shocked to see him lean down and give her a gentle kiss on the forehead. Anubis felt something in the pit of his stomach. He touched the healing gash on his cheek and sighed. He could not quite differentiate the emotion from guilt or yearning. Whichever it was... he didn't like it.
Dais took the book and turned to head in the direction of the study when he saw Anubis watching him fixedly. Anubis colored in shame as Dais did in his own embarrassment. He followed Anubis into the kitchen.
"I figured you had all ready gone to bed," he said. Anubis shrugged and sat at the counter. He removed a knife from the cutting block and fiddled with the edge. "... Couldn't sleep. Thought I would help Lady Mia with her search on Amaranthine," he replied. Dais smirked.
"Yes, I suppose so. You don't have a reason to get up early in the morning, now with nothing or no one to train." Anubis frowned.
"If you are referring to Tori, then you are greatly mistaken, Dais," he snipped. Dais shrugged off his reply with indifference.
"If you say so... You don't have to lie. I know she looks a lot like Zeal-"
"She's nothing like that witch!" Anubis spat quickly, hoping to remedy the huge mistake he made earlier that day. The guilt eating a hole in his stomach indicated he had a LONG way to go.
"Sorry... I was just going to say that because of the similarities she could remind you of her, none of us blame you for feeling an affinity towards Rekka."
"I don't... at least not in the way you think... She can't stand me anyway," he finished lamely. "I just feel guilty..." Anubis stood slowly, replacing the knife. He went to head to bed.
"Are you sure it's guilt?" Dais asked. Anubis stopped in the doorway for a brief moment, before continuing on to bed without a word.
Dais sighed heavily and remembered the book he had in hand. He flipped on a smaller lamp in the corner of the kitchen to flip through it. Upon closer inspection, he saw that the small book was in fact a journal of Mia's grandfather's. A logbook filled with notes, personal opinions, photos, sketches, and even some small scraps of newspaper. His brow furrowed. With just skimming, most of the information seemed to talk about Inferno. Dais flipped to the final entry of the journal dated several days before the attack of the Dynasty in Tokyo. "... 'Like a coin, everything has a twin. Night and day, good and evil, black and white. This must be true for the armors. Should all five combine, a greater force may be unleashed. But what of the other four? Could the Ancient One have created a second Inferno as well? I read somewhere of instead of six...' six? Six what? Damn it all..." He closed the book after he could no longer make out the writing that had been blurred by water.
Padding out of the kitchen, he placed the book on Mia's desk as he passed the room. Whiteblaze's ears perked.
"... Come on, old friend... Let's get you someplace more comfortable..." Dais led the tiger up the stairs to his room. He stopped for a moment before he switched off his lamp. "... Night and day..." He reached into his pocket and removed Serenity from it. He stared at it for a long time, until the clock again struck, calling the second hour to pass.
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Megami stood up with a large yawn. "Huuaaaaaaaaaah! I think I should be getting home. Daddy doesn't know that I'm home yet," she said.
"Mom's past the point of no curfew," Domo said and followed her friend. "Just as long as I don't wind up in handcuffs with two cops at the doorstep," she added.
"Troublemaker, are you?" Sage grinned.
"With a capital 'T', Goldie locks," she spat with a laugh. Kento spewed his soda all over Sai.
"KEN-TOOO!" "G-goldie locks?!" Kento laughed. Sage flushed with a frown. Domo grinned and ran her hands through his hair once.
"... Yep! Nice, strong, great head of hair. Great to... 'hang on to', huh, Sagie-boy?" Sage's cheeks flared. Kento's jaw dropped.
"DUDE!" he exclaimed. He leaned over close and blinked. "... You MADE it with her and didn't tell us?!" he hissed softly.
"NO!!" Sage sputtered.
"Keeeentoooo," Megami sang from the hallway. She leaned her head into the living room. Kento straightened and turned his head, blushing. "C'mere for a second..." She beckoned him with one orange tipped finger.
"Uh, oh... Great. She's drunk..." Sakura sighed.
"No'm nooot!" she spat from the hall. Kento was in the hallway in two seconds.
"Awww. So everybody's goin' home?!" Rowen whined. "Maaan." Ryo chucked a pillow at him.
"Relax... they'll be back tomorrow. We have three days to party and whatnot."
"Was a 'whatnot'?" Tori asked and leaned across his lap.
"Great! Tori's wasted too!" Sakura huffed. "Alcohol will make you fat, you know!"
"I's noooo drivin'," she smiled.
Rowen looked over at Nasake. She was silent. "What's wrong, 'Sake?"
"Oh... um... nothing... Tori?" she asked. Tori sat up with a grin.
"Wha? Hehehehee!"
"Um, c-can I stay here tonight? I... I don't want to wake my grandmother when I go home." Tori nodded.
"Sure, sure, sure... You kin sleep in Kiku's old room..." The room fell suddenly silent. Tori looked at Ryo. "She won't be using it anymore..." Ryo stood slowly and lifted Tori to her feet.
"C'mon... Let's sleep off the alcohol," he said.
"Kay... You guys r stayin' here tonight... Yer not goin' home till yer sober," she ordered, loosing her balance. Ryo picked her up.
"How 'bout YOU sober up first?" Tori stuck her tongue out at him.
"Shut up and carry me to my room, man slave!" Sai fell off the couch in a fit of giggles, managing a laughable 'man slave' with every needed breath of air he tried to take.
"Who am I taking home then?" Kento announced (the only actual sober one of the group). He ran a hand through his now messy hair. Megami's shirt was slightly unbuttoned. Sakura, Megami, and Domo raised their hands... Sai did too. Kento chucked a pillow at him. "Not you, numb nuts."
"'Ey! I was up and at 'em twice as much as you on Prom night, remember?!" Sai spat drunkenly.
"Whaaaaat, whatEVER man!"
"You're just jealous cause, Hardrock didn't stay hard!" he spat back. Sakura's eyes widened with a blush. Domo's eyebrows rose.
"REALLY?"
"SAI!" Sage scolded. "Girls don't like that kind of talk!"
"Unless you're Domo!" Tori hollered from the top of the stairs. "OW!"
"Be nice!" Ryo scolded. Domo rolled her eyes.
"She's just mad cause Red's obsessed with Zeal," Domo spat with a smirk.
"I am not!!!!"
Sai shoved Sage away. "And YOU, Mista Very Large Halo Bearing Sword... Person... YOU rode her to a gallop till-hrmph!" Sage smothered Sai with a pillow.
"Shut up!" Domo crept her hand down the inside of Sage's jean cased thigh.
"Hung like a horse, aren't you?" Sage let go of Sai and squeaked.
"H-hey!" Domo placed herself in his lap.
"Don't be shy, Sagie boy..." Sai grinned.
"Get him goin' and he'll go all night!"
"SAI!"
"What?"
"Shut up!"
"I think we should be getting home before we go somewhere this party shouldn't go!" Sakura hollered over the laughter and giggling.
"R-right," Nasake agreed softly.
"All right, all right!" Domo sighed. She smiled down at Sage and ran a finger over the contour of his jaw line. "YOU are definitely on my list of things to DO," she giggled. Sage raised an eyebrow.
"Does Ryu know about this list?"
"Hmm... Maaaybe. I was just kidding Sage," Domo giggled and ran her hands through his hair, snagging it gently before kissing him fully on the mouth. Sage's cheeks heated as she pulled away.
"Nighty, night..." Rowen made a wolf whistle as she strode out of the room after the others. Sage rubbed the back of his neck.
"You know, Sage... If you were looking for the opportune moment... that was it," Rowen smirked. Sage flushed and quickly exited the room.
Nasake turned her head to Rowen.
"He's got a crush on her, doesn't he?"
"BIG time..." Nasake nodded slowly and watched Sai make a fort out of the couch cushions.
"Let's see Talpa break in here! Mwahaha!"
"'Sake?" Rowen asked suddenly.
"Huh?" She munched on a left over egg roll.
"... Why didn't you want to go home? The REAL reason." Nasake stiffened.
"I... I don't know what you're talking about, Rowen..." He sighed heavily and stood.
"Okay... If you don't wanna tell me, that's okay, but you should tell us if there's something goin' on at home that you know is bad... It's not good to keep it a secret. It eats away at you." He looked back down at her and saw her shaking. "Hey!" He kneeled and touched her shoulders.
"Don't touch me!" she exclaimed, slapping his cheek. She gasped in shock. She didn't realize what she had just done. "Oh, god, Rowen! I... I didn't mean... I..." Rowen fell back clutching his cheek in shock.
"S-s'okay... Oww..." Rowen sat up and carefully grasped her hand. "Hey... c'mon... I'll tuck you in, okay?" She nodded slowly before he helped her to her feet.
Kento latched the lock on the door and entered the living room.
A giant fortress towered before him completely constructed of couch cushions, sheets, chairs, and a makeshift war banner out of notebook paper, blue colored pencil, and duct tape. Torrent's symbol labeled the fortress.
"Um, Sai?"
"Yeeeeeesssssss?"
"What are you doin'?"
"Noooothin'."
"Uh huh... What's that?"
"My Fortress of Doom!"
Kento raised an eyebrow.
"... Uh huh..." Silence. "Hey, Sai?"
"Yes, evil minion?"
"Can I make a fort too?" Sai poked his samurai paper hat covered head out of the fort and grabbed a small couch pillow. He hurled it at Kento. "Go nuts." Kento pouted.
"Hey, Sai?"
"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?" he whined.
"GODZILLA!!"
"Nooooo!"
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Rowen yawned sleepily as Nasake slept on his chest as he stroked her soft hair. She had cried herself to sleep, not giving a word edgewise as to why. His brow furrowed as he thought about several things that had suddenly came to light.
= = Rowen hammered away at the roof as he was fixing the shingles from the last samurai attack. It looked like a storm was coming. He reached into his pocket for more nails. None. "Sake? Can you hand me a couple of nails?"
"Huh? Oh, sure!" She turned and dug into the toolbox for more. His eyes widened when he saw the large slash marks on her back. Two of them were rather large. "Here ya go!" she beamed.
"Thanks... What happened to your back, 'Sake?" He saw her face pale.
"Uh... I uh... got into a bike accident. It's nothing. Sage says they're healing up nicely. I'm okay..."
Nasake followed Rowen to her room as they came down from the attic where the others had congregated. "He really is gone, huh?" she quavered. Rowen nodded.
"M'fraid so, honey..." He went to pull her close when she backed away sharply. "'Sake... I'm not gonna hurt you," he whispered. She looked up at him as if it didn't happen.
"S-sorry. I'm just... jumpy..."
Rowen padded down the hallway. He stopped when he heard voices. "Aw, come on, 'Sake! It's just a magazine. There's no need to get mad!" Domo explained.
"Why not!? He should lock the bathroom door when Sekkie's doing... THAT!"
"Honestly, 'Sake," Domo sighed. "You're such a prude sometimes!"
"I'm not! I just don't think that it's right to bastardize girls like that!!!" she shouted and stormed out of their bedroom, slamming straight into Rowen. She gasped and ran downstairs quickly. She was crying.
"What's with her?" Rowen asked Domo.
"Beats the hell out of me... She's always been sensitive about things like that... Don't worry about it..." = =
He sighed heavily. Gently he kissed her forehead and leaned against it. He dug into his pocket and pulled out Strata. It glowed faintly. Rowen placed it on the nightstand, and listened to the soft rain before falling asleep.
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A/N: Too much saké with the boys is a GOOD thing. And yes... Sai was wearing a paper hat. Sooo cute! ARE YOU HAPPY NOW YOU PERVY ELF? (You know who you are...)
By Onikage
Scroll Thirty: Party At My House!!!
(A some what filler... but... at the request of a friend... ENJOY!)
"Ewww!" Kento shuddered and shook out his hair. "I'm allll weeet!" he whined.
"Quit whining, man. We all are!" Rowen snapped. "Ugh... Cold's not good on the lower extremities."
"Not like your going to use them later anyway," Sage miffed. Rowen slugged him in the arm. Kento growled.
"You sure know how to pick 'em, Ryo," he said angrily.
"What are you bitching about now, Kento?" Ryo retorted with a frown as he pulled off his rain soaked clothing.
"Leave it to a half-ancient to leave us all stranded in the middle of Tokyo, miles away from Tori's place or Rowen's for that matter in the pouring rain!"
"Hey!! She can't help that! It's not her fault and you know it!!" Ryo snapped and advanced on Kento.
"Oh really?!"
"Guys! Cut it out! There's nothing we can do about it now!" Sai snapped. He pulled the two apart. "WHAT the hell is your problem, Kento?!"
"YOU BOYS BETTER BE STRIPPIN' AND NOT FIGHTING!!" Tori called angrily from the kitchen. Sai and Ryo jumped nervously.
"Her highness sounds pissed," Kento frowned and peeled off his jeans and flung them into the dryer. He dug into his bag for dry clothing, falling silent. A bright pink something caught his eye by his foot.
"What time is it?" Sai yawned and pulled off his shirt.
"... Almost... ah hell if I know. It's dark!" Rowen said gruffly. Sai frowned.
"Why is everyone so damn testy all of a sudden?!" he snapped.
"SOME of us don't like frozen balls, you retard!" Rowen snapped after quickly stripping down to nothing. Ryo raised an eyebrow at Rowen.
"Shrinkage is a bitch, huh?"
"Shut it... Where the hell is my underwear?!" Something soft hit him in the face. He growled and inspected the object before blushing furiously at the pink and white little pigs smiling up at him happily. "Hey, after that cold shower you had, they're a perfect fit!" Kento laughed. Rowen shuddered and jumped away throwing them back at him. "Relax. They're not dirty," he laughed and put them back into the clothes hamper beside them. Rowen searched for a towel to dry off with before putting on his dry clothing.
"Kento. I don't think you should be snooping around in Tori's laundry," Sai warned and pulled himself out of his jeans. Kento rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, yeah... Look no touchie. I got it..."
"Don't forget what happened the last time you pissed her off," Sage reminded as he attempted to pull off the wet sock. He ended up falling to the ground, unable to balance on one leg. "Ow. You were a human cat toy." Kento was ignoring him and opened the lid of the hamper again. "Get out of there!!" Sage hissed, fumbling for his dry boxers.
"She'll do worse than tie you upside down as a kitty toy, man," Ryo warned.
"Jesus. You guys are NO fun! She rival's Kayura in the undies department," he snickered and lifted a black bra out. Sai snatched the black undergarment and attempted to prevent him from snooping anymore. "No! K-Ken-TO! Stop! Let go!" Ryo sighed heavily and ignored the two.
"Is it just me? Or was Tori a little... preoccupied today?" Ryo asked, tossing his clothing into the dryer along with the others. Rowen was scrubbing his blue locks with a towel.
"You DID see what happened, right?" he reminded. "Anubis was all, ugh... touchie-feely with her," he shuddered. Sage raised an eyebrow with a cool smirk.
"Maybe you're a little jealous that Red's got himself a little love bunny and Nasake won't give you squat," he suggested slyly.
"I am not!!" Rowen argued. "We're just friends!" A collective laugh rolled around the room from the others. Strata frowned.
"Pshh, friends my ass," Ryo chuckled.
"Yeah... I bet you two are 'best' friends every night!!" Rowen rolled up his wet shirt and snapped it like a whip at Sage's bareback with a loud pop.
"OWW! You tail-hole! That fucking hurt!" Sage shouted and rubbed his spine. Rowen glared.
"GOOD. Next time you talk shit about her, you'll be rubbin' somethin' else and wishing you could have little blonde kiddies with Ms. Domo in there!" Ryo pulled on his jeans.
"I bet he does that anyway," he chuckled. He pulled out a dry pair of socks. Sage flushed and yanked on his jeans.
"DAMMIT, Kento!" Sai yelled. "Stop!!"
"Woo! Too high for you, buddy?" Kento chuckled holding a purple bra this time high above Sai. Both had forgotten that they weren't quite dressed.
"Will you two stop fighting? I hope you both realize that you look like two queens fighting over panties," Rowen said. It was quite a sad sight to see Sai jumping for girl's underwear. Purple lacy ones. Where was the camera when he needed it?
"Ah, quit yer belly achin'. They're not gonna-"
"Gotcha!" Sai snatched the bra out of Kento's hands, holding a number of items all ready in his own.
"Hey!" Kento frowned.
"Serves you right, perv," Rowen laughed and went back to drying his hair. Kento rolled up his wet shirt and popped Rowen in the leg with it. "AGH! Shit!!!" he hissed and backed away, tripping over another laundry hamper. Ryo pulled on a dry shirt. He picked a naked Rowen up out of the pile of ladies' laundry just as Tori slammed open the door. The sound startled Sai enough to trip over his jeans in an attempt to get them on. He fell on top of a naked Kento.
"Dammit! Am I gonna have to strip you all down my... self?..." Her eyes widened. She opened the door more and leaned against the doorframe with a satisfied smile on her face. "... Do you boys have ANY idea how many bad jokes start out like this?" She saw Sai and Kento sprawled over each other like a bad male porn. Her underwear lay all over the room. She casually walked over to them and lifted her black bra off of Kento's chest. "Gee, Kento. If you want to borrow some of my stuff, you could have asked," she smiled. "Although these won't fit. I can order you some if you want," she offered casually. The serious in her voice deepened the shade of pink on Sai and Kento's faces. Sai pushed himself off of Kento and yanked on his jeans blushing, also giving her a full frontal view of the mighty Hardrock. Tori cocked her head to one side.
"Well... They certainly gave you the right armor, Kento," she giggled. "Stay out of my underwear or I'll call Megami in here..." Kento yanked his bag over his lap and grinned nervously.
"Heh, heh... S-sorry Tori... It won't happen again." Tori smiled.
"Good." Without turning around she placed her hands on her hips. "Are you going to put on some clothes Rowen? You can stay that way if you want to, but I don't think Nasake will like it too much," she said nonchalantly. "Hey. I have a kitten... and well... he attacks anything that just... dangles. You know: string, branches, spiders, little pom-poms... especially the blue ones." She stepped up to Rowen and pulled the towel around his waist. He was a little more than stunned.
"Toooorriiiiii..." Megami called as she stuck her head in the doorway. "Where are the..." She stopped in the doorway. She blinked. "... Um..." Kento turned several shades of red. Ryo calmly started the dryer as Sage tossed him a towel for his hair. "Hey, Megami," they greeted.
"U-Um..." she mumbled. She blinked again and slowly slid out of the laundry room. "N-never mind..."
"Ryo? Can you help me make dinner?" Tori asked and granted herself a pleasant view of Kento's behind as he finished putting on his jeans in record time before she met Ryo at the door.
"Sure. What did you have in mind?"
"Um... Well, the only thing we have is a package of hot dogs in the fridge, buuut..." she giggled. Ryo's face colored.
"Got a phone?"
"Yep!"
"Phone book?"
"... Uh, I think so..."
"Hey Kento, didn't your Uncle Chin reopen his restaurant around here?" Ryo asked. Kento nodded dumbly. "Gimme forty-five minutes and I'll have the best mushu-pork in town on the table." Tori hugged his arm.
"Sounds good..." she smiled as Ryo led her out of the room. Sage cast a worried glance over his shoulder at the others. They looked just as bothered.
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Domo looked back at Sage as they entered the Chinese restaurant. "You know, Sage. You didn't have to come with me to get the food," she said and attempted to dry out her umbrella.
"A pretty girl like you alone on the streets of Tokyo with the world's best Chinese food in hand? I think you'd need SOME kind of protection," he laughed and shook out the gravity defying hair. "Besides, I haven't seen Kento's uncle in a few years." Domo raised her eyebrow and reached over to Sage's hair. She touched it hesitantly.
"W-what are you doing?" he demanded with a blush. Domo smiled.
"... It's the armor. That's your secret, isn't it?!"
"WHAT secret?"
"Your hair..." Sage shrugged.
"Good genes?" he suggested unsurely. Domo smirked.
"Uh huh..."
"He-hello?" A small, elderly man greeted them as he hurried through the red curtain doorway. "Table two?" he asked. Domo flushed.
"Huh? Uh, no, uh..."
"Ah! One. All by self! One, one, one!" he chattered as he filed through the menus.
"No, no! I'm not-"
"You one or two? Make up mind!" he laughed. Domo covered her face.
"... I haaaaate this," she groaned to herself. Her 'distress' vanished when she started hearing a familiar voice speak perfect... PERFECT Chinese. She looked over at Sage and the old man. She sighed heavily.
"Of course you know Chinese..." (Damn, what can't he do?) she asked herself.
"OOOOOOOH. Why not you say you know Chin? Girlfriend talk too much!" he sputtered and hurried back through the red curtain.
"Girlfriend?" Domo repeated. Sage flushed.
"He's old... He wouldn't believe me if I said lady friend. He would think you're some kind of brothel girl," he explained calmly. "Are you mad?"
"Huh?! No! I just... Forget it. It's not important," she mumbled.
"SAGE!" Chin exclaimed as he rushed through the doorway. His large frame and cheery expression was the spitting image of the younger Hardrock. It made Domo smile. Before Sage could even bow, Chin plowed into him with a huge hug. "H-hello, Chin-san... W-when did you move back to Tokyo?" Chin instantly dropped Sage.
"Whoops. Excuse me! I ... A few months after that little incident with your friends is when... Heh... Business seemed to... stop." Sage lowered his eyes.
"Sorry about that..."
"You boys aren't in any... you know... 'trouble'?" Chin gestured to Domo. Sage blinked.
"Oh! It's all right. She knows. This is Domo."
"Oh? Every time I see you boys, you always seem to have such pretty girls with you!" Domo blushed and smiled. Sage rolled his eyes.
"Hi... The resemblance with Kento is... wow. You can tell you two are related." Chin laughed.
"That's my nephew! How is he doin' anyway?"
"Same old Kento," Sage smiled.
"Well that's good! I'm flattered that you'd bring your girl friend to MY restaurant. Anything you two love birds want is on the house!" he smiled. Domo blushed heavily.
"Uh, Chin-san... Um..."
"Did I say something wrong?" he asked innocently. Domo cleared her throat.
"I'll let you two catch up. I need to use the ladies' room," she said nervously.
"Down the hall right after the dining room," Chin directed. He turned back to Sage and nudged him. "Cute little bunny you have there, Sage!" he laughed. Domo flushed. She wasn't quite out of earshot. She heard Sage laugh nervously.
Domo followed the elaborate hallway past the dining room. Her eyes widened. "Niiice," she smiled and touched a lion by the doorway. When she stood she peered into the dining room. Gold and red dressed every corner, from tabletops to curtains. Elaborate dragons and painting hung on walls, separate booths were shielded with delicate paper screens, and on every table was a small red lantern. The whole dining area seemed to glow.
In the midst of all the red and gold, a splash of familiar blue hair of an older boy caught her eye in the corner. Curiosity taking the better of the situation she entered slowly, careful not to disturb anyone. A large vase was blocking her view a few feet in front of her. A waiter passed by, she ducked behind a dragon statue and snatched a menu. She opened it and slipped by him. (That was close). When she looked back at the table, the boy was gone. "Damn..."
"Domo!" a voice exclaimed. She jumped and nearly dropped the menu. She turned and saw someone she hadn't seen in a very long time.
"Ryu?" she blinked. He was very elegantly dressed. He smiled at her as he embraced her tightly.
"I was wondering when you were getting back," he said softly. Domo felt tears in her eyes as she clutched him tightly.
"... I... I missed you," she whispered. Ryu held her face and kissed her softly.
"I missed you too..." He dried her cheeks with a rolled up napkin from an empty table.
"W-what are you doing here?" she asked.
"My cousin's in town, remember? It's her birthday today. I'd introduce you two, but she's in the bathroom right now. I was about to go check on her when I saw you. What are you doing here?" Domo froze.
(Yeah, tell him you're with another boy getting Chinese food, instead of calling him!) she thought with a mental groan. "Oh... um... getting take out. The girls had a craving for wontons and moo-goo gai pan." He nuzzled the inside of her ear.
"Girls night out, hm? Too bad... If you had called, I would have had a welcome home... thing... planned," he purred against her ear. She smiled. "What are you doing tomorrow night?" he asked softly. Domo grinned darkly.
"Why you," she smiled. Ryu grinned and kissed her again.
"Domo? Whoa!" Sage flushed when he found a full-blown lip lock in front of him. Domo squeaked and pulled away.
"S-sage!"
"Sorry... I got the food for the girls and the guys... um..." Domo flushed and straightened.
"Oh, sorry... Ryu, this is Sage. I met him at that camp thing with Tori's grandfather... Sage... this is-"
"Ryu, her boyfriend," he answered quickly extending his hand. Sage smiled and extended his hand to him.
"Pleased to meet you. I've heard a lot about you from Domo," he said. Something snapped inside of him as their hands clasped. His brow furrowed faintly, catching the dark eyes. There was a dead silence. Domo cleared her throat. "Well... uh. We'd better get going, huh?" Sage nodded faintly. Domo turned to Ryu. "And I'll see YOU later," she smiled giving him a kiss. "Call me..."
"Of course..." Domo smiled and followed Sage out.
She found him waiting outside for her underneath the overhang of the restaurant. He was thoroughly embedded in thought. He looked almost worried. "What's wrong, Sage?"
"Huh?... Oh... It's nothing. I was... thinking. Let's go."
"S-sure."
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"Whaaaaaat?! Whaddya mean I'm out?!" Kento shouted. Megami spun the spinner lazily. She sighed.
"Your knee touched the mat, so you're out. Sorry Kento-kun. I like you a lot, but it's not fair if I play favorites," she explained. "I'll make it up to you, Kento-kin. Promise." Kento pouted.
"Aww maaan..." He frowned and rolled off the dotted mat leaving Rowen, Nasake, Ryo, Tori, and a very flexible Sai still in the game. Megami spun the colored spinner. "Oookaaaay! Um... Right hand on... red!"
"Ha! Too easy!" Rowen grunted and reached it with ease. Ryo reached as far as he could before loosing his balance. He landed flat taking Tori with him.
"HEY! Ryo! That was my boob!" she winced after impact with his hand. "When she said 'right hand on RED', she didn't mean ME!! You owe me a wonton for that!"
"Sorry," he flushed. He helped her to her feet and winked and Kento. He slipped him a high five.
"Nice move, dude."
"Of course," Ryo grinned. Megami frowned,
"You did that on purpose!?" Tori stiffened and tackled Ryo to the floor. Another game commenced of wrestling. "Banzai!!" she laughed.
"Come on! Ow! It was in the way!"
"Yeah... I... bet!" she grunted and pinned Ryo. Megami spun again. Sai, Rowen, and Nasake were still playing and ignoring them.
"Okay... Left foot...green!" she called.
"ACHOO!" Rowen suddenly sneezed and collapsed to the ground. "Ow..." He rubbed his stomach. "Dammit... Tori? You don't own a dog, do you?"
"Rgh... Ow! N-No... 'Sake does! Eeek! You perv!" Tori squealed and poked Ryo in the stomach after another 'violation'. Rowen rubbed his nose.
"Sorry, Rowen... I missed my doggie. So I... saw him today. He's a poodle!" she beamed and moved her toe to a yellow circle as Megami called it out. "Wow, Sai... You're good at this!"
"Lots of practice, love!" he smiled.
"You play twister a lot?" she asked.
Sakura walked in from the kitchen with a large bowl of popcorn and other snacks. Sai grinned.
"Right hand blue!"
"... You could say that..."
"Sai, no! That's not fair to her!" Rowen ordered. Sai stuck out his tongue. "Oh that's mature!"
"Tellll meee!" Nasake whined and reached her left hand to a red dot. "How much did you play?"
"... Well... It wasn't exactly like... this..."
"What was it?"
"Left hand blue!"
"... GOT IT! Ugh... Foreplay," Sai said with a grin. Nasake squeaked and fell to the mat in shock.
"OW!.... Cheater," she muttered.
"I win!" Sai smiled and jumped up.
"Sai? Are you being perverted again?" Sakura scolded. Sai grabbed her by the waist in a tickling match.
"Maaaaaybe!"
"ACK! Hahaha! Eeee!"
"AHHH! I'm starving! What are they doing?! If they don't get back soon and feed me, I'm gonna die!!!...." He paused then stuck out his tongue, hanging his head over the back of the couch. "I'm dead." Megami picked up a wrapped candy bar and shoved it in his open mouth.
"Eat this you dummy!" she laughed. Kento started eating the wrapper. "AH NOT THE WRAPPER TOO!"
"HA! I win!" Ryo cheered triumphantly and pinned her arms up over her head. "Now what, Rekka?" Tori grinned.
"This!" She kicked Ryo up over her and pinned him in turn, before taking his head in her hands and licking his forehead.
"WHOA!" Ryo exclaimed and squirmed away. Sakura high fived Tori.
"What did she do to you, man?!" Rowen exclaimed.
"She... LICKED me!" Ryo squeaked. He wiped his forehead.
"Duuude... That's messed up!" Tori beamed.
"I won, didn't I?"
"Weeee're baaaack! Domo called. Kento bolted from the couch.
"FOOOOOOD! YES!"
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The midnight oil was burning rather low. Anubis leaned back in the computer chair and tossed his reading glasses to the desk, scrubbing at his eyes with a yawn. Still nothing to be found of the mysterious Amaranthine the Guardians spoke of. And he wasn't even halfway done with the large library of records, documents, and encyclopedias on armor and mythology. A large part of it was inside Mia's computer... He wasn't even going to touch the damn thing. The clock chimed a little after one in the morning, when he heard shuffling in the hallway. Whiteblaze, who had been lying at his side the whole time, lifted his head with a yawn. Anubis stroked the cat's ears. "Go back to sleep, old friend..."
Anubis padded out of the room. The noise came from the living room. He found the eldest of the Ronins stepping silently towards Mia as she slept on the couch. The young woman had fallen asleep in the middle of her own search. Dais had in his arms a large quilt. He carefully draped it over Mia after retrieving the book in her lap. Anubis watched silently and was a little shocked to see him lean down and give her a gentle kiss on the forehead. Anubis felt something in the pit of his stomach. He touched the healing gash on his cheek and sighed. He could not quite differentiate the emotion from guilt or yearning. Whichever it was... he didn't like it.
Dais took the book and turned to head in the direction of the study when he saw Anubis watching him fixedly. Anubis colored in shame as Dais did in his own embarrassment. He followed Anubis into the kitchen.
"I figured you had all ready gone to bed," he said. Anubis shrugged and sat at the counter. He removed a knife from the cutting block and fiddled with the edge. "... Couldn't sleep. Thought I would help Lady Mia with her search on Amaranthine," he replied. Dais smirked.
"Yes, I suppose so. You don't have a reason to get up early in the morning, now with nothing or no one to train." Anubis frowned.
"If you are referring to Tori, then you are greatly mistaken, Dais," he snipped. Dais shrugged off his reply with indifference.
"If you say so... You don't have to lie. I know she looks a lot like Zeal-"
"She's nothing like that witch!" Anubis spat quickly, hoping to remedy the huge mistake he made earlier that day. The guilt eating a hole in his stomach indicated he had a LONG way to go.
"Sorry... I was just going to say that because of the similarities she could remind you of her, none of us blame you for feeling an affinity towards Rekka."
"I don't... at least not in the way you think... She can't stand me anyway," he finished lamely. "I just feel guilty..." Anubis stood slowly, replacing the knife. He went to head to bed.
"Are you sure it's guilt?" Dais asked. Anubis stopped in the doorway for a brief moment, before continuing on to bed without a word.
Dais sighed heavily and remembered the book he had in hand. He flipped on a smaller lamp in the corner of the kitchen to flip through it. Upon closer inspection, he saw that the small book was in fact a journal of Mia's grandfather's. A logbook filled with notes, personal opinions, photos, sketches, and even some small scraps of newspaper. His brow furrowed. With just skimming, most of the information seemed to talk about Inferno. Dais flipped to the final entry of the journal dated several days before the attack of the Dynasty in Tokyo. "... 'Like a coin, everything has a twin. Night and day, good and evil, black and white. This must be true for the armors. Should all five combine, a greater force may be unleashed. But what of the other four? Could the Ancient One have created a second Inferno as well? I read somewhere of instead of six...' six? Six what? Damn it all..." He closed the book after he could no longer make out the writing that had been blurred by water.
Padding out of the kitchen, he placed the book on Mia's desk as he passed the room. Whiteblaze's ears perked.
"... Come on, old friend... Let's get you someplace more comfortable..." Dais led the tiger up the stairs to his room. He stopped for a moment before he switched off his lamp. "... Night and day..." He reached into his pocket and removed Serenity from it. He stared at it for a long time, until the clock again struck, calling the second hour to pass.
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Megami stood up with a large yawn. "Huuaaaaaaaaaah! I think I should be getting home. Daddy doesn't know that I'm home yet," she said.
"Mom's past the point of no curfew," Domo said and followed her friend. "Just as long as I don't wind up in handcuffs with two cops at the doorstep," she added.
"Troublemaker, are you?" Sage grinned.
"With a capital 'T', Goldie locks," she spat with a laugh. Kento spewed his soda all over Sai.
"KEN-TOOO!" "G-goldie locks?!" Kento laughed. Sage flushed with a frown. Domo grinned and ran her hands through his hair once.
"... Yep! Nice, strong, great head of hair. Great to... 'hang on to', huh, Sagie-boy?" Sage's cheeks flared. Kento's jaw dropped.
"DUDE!" he exclaimed. He leaned over close and blinked. "... You MADE it with her and didn't tell us?!" he hissed softly.
"NO!!" Sage sputtered.
"Keeeentoooo," Megami sang from the hallway. She leaned her head into the living room. Kento straightened and turned his head, blushing. "C'mere for a second..." She beckoned him with one orange tipped finger.
"Uh, oh... Great. She's drunk..." Sakura sighed.
"No'm nooot!" she spat from the hall. Kento was in the hallway in two seconds.
"Awww. So everybody's goin' home?!" Rowen whined. "Maaan." Ryo chucked a pillow at him.
"Relax... they'll be back tomorrow. We have three days to party and whatnot."
"Was a 'whatnot'?" Tori asked and leaned across his lap.
"Great! Tori's wasted too!" Sakura huffed. "Alcohol will make you fat, you know!"
"I's noooo drivin'," she smiled.
Rowen looked over at Nasake. She was silent. "What's wrong, 'Sake?"
"Oh... um... nothing... Tori?" she asked. Tori sat up with a grin.
"Wha? Hehehehee!"
"Um, c-can I stay here tonight? I... I don't want to wake my grandmother when I go home." Tori nodded.
"Sure, sure, sure... You kin sleep in Kiku's old room..." The room fell suddenly silent. Tori looked at Ryo. "She won't be using it anymore..." Ryo stood slowly and lifted Tori to her feet.
"C'mon... Let's sleep off the alcohol," he said.
"Kay... You guys r stayin' here tonight... Yer not goin' home till yer sober," she ordered, loosing her balance. Ryo picked her up.
"How 'bout YOU sober up first?" Tori stuck her tongue out at him.
"Shut up and carry me to my room, man slave!" Sai fell off the couch in a fit of giggles, managing a laughable 'man slave' with every needed breath of air he tried to take.
"Who am I taking home then?" Kento announced (the only actual sober one of the group). He ran a hand through his now messy hair. Megami's shirt was slightly unbuttoned. Sakura, Megami, and Domo raised their hands... Sai did too. Kento chucked a pillow at him. "Not you, numb nuts."
"'Ey! I was up and at 'em twice as much as you on Prom night, remember?!" Sai spat drunkenly.
"Whaaaaat, whatEVER man!"
"You're just jealous cause, Hardrock didn't stay hard!" he spat back. Sakura's eyes widened with a blush. Domo's eyebrows rose.
"REALLY?"
"SAI!" Sage scolded. "Girls don't like that kind of talk!"
"Unless you're Domo!" Tori hollered from the top of the stairs. "OW!"
"Be nice!" Ryo scolded. Domo rolled her eyes.
"She's just mad cause Red's obsessed with Zeal," Domo spat with a smirk.
"I am not!!!!"
Sai shoved Sage away. "And YOU, Mista Very Large Halo Bearing Sword... Person... YOU rode her to a gallop till-hrmph!" Sage smothered Sai with a pillow.
"Shut up!" Domo crept her hand down the inside of Sage's jean cased thigh.
"Hung like a horse, aren't you?" Sage let go of Sai and squeaked.
"H-hey!" Domo placed herself in his lap.
"Don't be shy, Sagie boy..." Sai grinned.
"Get him goin' and he'll go all night!"
"SAI!"
"What?"
"Shut up!"
"I think we should be getting home before we go somewhere this party shouldn't go!" Sakura hollered over the laughter and giggling.
"R-right," Nasake agreed softly.
"All right, all right!" Domo sighed. She smiled down at Sage and ran a finger over the contour of his jaw line. "YOU are definitely on my list of things to DO," she giggled. Sage raised an eyebrow.
"Does Ryu know about this list?"
"Hmm... Maaaybe. I was just kidding Sage," Domo giggled and ran her hands through his hair, snagging it gently before kissing him fully on the mouth. Sage's cheeks heated as she pulled away.
"Nighty, night..." Rowen made a wolf whistle as she strode out of the room after the others. Sage rubbed the back of his neck.
"You know, Sage... If you were looking for the opportune moment... that was it," Rowen smirked. Sage flushed and quickly exited the room.
Nasake turned her head to Rowen.
"He's got a crush on her, doesn't he?"
"BIG time..." Nasake nodded slowly and watched Sai make a fort out of the couch cushions.
"Let's see Talpa break in here! Mwahaha!"
"'Sake?" Rowen asked suddenly.
"Huh?" She munched on a left over egg roll.
"... Why didn't you want to go home? The REAL reason." Nasake stiffened.
"I... I don't know what you're talking about, Rowen..." He sighed heavily and stood.
"Okay... If you don't wanna tell me, that's okay, but you should tell us if there's something goin' on at home that you know is bad... It's not good to keep it a secret. It eats away at you." He looked back down at her and saw her shaking. "Hey!" He kneeled and touched her shoulders.
"Don't touch me!" she exclaimed, slapping his cheek. She gasped in shock. She didn't realize what she had just done. "Oh, god, Rowen! I... I didn't mean... I..." Rowen fell back clutching his cheek in shock.
"S-s'okay... Oww..." Rowen sat up and carefully grasped her hand. "Hey... c'mon... I'll tuck you in, okay?" She nodded slowly before he helped her to her feet.
Kento latched the lock on the door and entered the living room.
A giant fortress towered before him completely constructed of couch cushions, sheets, chairs, and a makeshift war banner out of notebook paper, blue colored pencil, and duct tape. Torrent's symbol labeled the fortress.
"Um, Sai?"
"Yeeeeeesssssss?"
"What are you doin'?"
"Noooothin'."
"Uh huh... What's that?"
"My Fortress of Doom!"
Kento raised an eyebrow.
"... Uh huh..." Silence. "Hey, Sai?"
"Yes, evil minion?"
"Can I make a fort too?" Sai poked his samurai paper hat covered head out of the fort and grabbed a small couch pillow. He hurled it at Kento. "Go nuts." Kento pouted.
"Hey, Sai?"
"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?" he whined.
"GODZILLA!!"
"Nooooo!"
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Rowen yawned sleepily as Nasake slept on his chest as he stroked her soft hair. She had cried herself to sleep, not giving a word edgewise as to why. His brow furrowed as he thought about several things that had suddenly came to light.
= = Rowen hammered away at the roof as he was fixing the shingles from the last samurai attack. It looked like a storm was coming. He reached into his pocket for more nails. None. "Sake? Can you hand me a couple of nails?"
"Huh? Oh, sure!" She turned and dug into the toolbox for more. His eyes widened when he saw the large slash marks on her back. Two of them were rather large. "Here ya go!" she beamed.
"Thanks... What happened to your back, 'Sake?" He saw her face pale.
"Uh... I uh... got into a bike accident. It's nothing. Sage says they're healing up nicely. I'm okay..."
Nasake followed Rowen to her room as they came down from the attic where the others had congregated. "He really is gone, huh?" she quavered. Rowen nodded.
"M'fraid so, honey..." He went to pull her close when she backed away sharply. "'Sake... I'm not gonna hurt you," he whispered. She looked up at him as if it didn't happen.
"S-sorry. I'm just... jumpy..."
Rowen padded down the hallway. He stopped when he heard voices. "Aw, come on, 'Sake! It's just a magazine. There's no need to get mad!" Domo explained.
"Why not!? He should lock the bathroom door when Sekkie's doing... THAT!"
"Honestly, 'Sake," Domo sighed. "You're such a prude sometimes!"
"I'm not! I just don't think that it's right to bastardize girls like that!!!" she shouted and stormed out of their bedroom, slamming straight into Rowen. She gasped and ran downstairs quickly. She was crying.
"What's with her?" Rowen asked Domo.
"Beats the hell out of me... She's always been sensitive about things like that... Don't worry about it..." = =
He sighed heavily. Gently he kissed her forehead and leaned against it. He dug into his pocket and pulled out Strata. It glowed faintly. Rowen placed it on the nightstand, and listened to the soft rain before falling asleep.
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A/N: Too much saké with the boys is a GOOD thing. And yes... Sai was wearing a paper hat. Sooo cute! ARE YOU HAPPY NOW YOU PERVY ELF? (You know who you are...)