dis-claim'er, noun:a denial or disavowal of legal claim: relinquishment of or formal refusal to accept an interest or estate; b: a writing that embodies a legal disclaimer; c: a statement made to save one's own ass.

Interruptions

Sage had just gotten home an hour before a knock came at his. He hadn't been expecting company, but Rowen did say he was going to surprise him with something. It took a lot for others to get the best of him, but he was willing to wait and see. Seeing who as on the other side of the door when he answered really did leave him in shock.

Hana Utano was dressed in some dark blue scrubs, her hair up in a high ponytail, and her face painted prettier than any female he'd ever see. He had seen Hana without the makeup on her face, but seeing her made up just went to show him that she appeared like a full blown Goddess.

"Well, Hana Utano. This is certainly unplanned."

She gave him a rather seductive smile, "You gonna invite me in or let me stand outside all day?"

"It's a good thing the temperature is mild today."

"Mm," she moved past him into the sitting area, but not before removing her shoes by the door. "I grew up in Germany so this isn't anything I haven't experienced."

Sage shut the door quietly behind him while locking it. The apartment he shared with Rowen was moderate, but not too big. The living room and kitchen connected to one another while a hallway was off to the left of the living room. They had a small area for a washer and dryer in the kitchen. A perk of this place as the balcony. Sage had spent many nights on it for meditation. He opened out a chair for her to sit in.

"Do I need to ask how you found me?" He moved his hand toward the kitchen. "Would you like some tea?"

"Please. It doesn't matter what flavor," she crossed her legs watching him go fill the kettle up with water. "I'm not part of some secret agency just so you know."

"That would be rather attractive," he held up a hand in quick defense. "Not that you already aren't."

Hana reached up to undo her golden color hair from the restraint, "Josephine made mention she was going to see Kento today. A conversation early this week came down the vine that you and Rowen lived in the same complex as he did. So, I just asked her to ask him for the apartment number."

The kettle whistled loudly signaling the water was done. As she had been talking, Sage was moving around the kitchen to get two cups and some tea. He sat the pot on the table and put a cup in front of their respective seats.

"It seems you went to a lot of trouble to find me."

She shrugged, smiling, "All I did was ask questions. My daddy always said I should have been a detective."

Sage sat and waited for the tea to steep, "Where are your parents?"

"My mother died a long time ago. My daddy and brother live in Germany on the base Baumholder. I came here to study abroad. My mother was Japanese and my father is English and part Native American. He actually took my mother's name when they got married."

Sage uncovered his tea glass, "Interesting. My father married into my mother's family as well. I have two sisters – one older and younger – and my grandfather is the head of our house."

The blonde guardian sipped her tea, "We have been talking two weeks and none of this came up."

"If you agree that sending me memes of my mishap on the road is 'talking', then I suppose we are."

She gazed into his silver eyes with her midnight blue ones. "I'm glad you did almost hit me with your car."

"Oh?"

"I'm not one to overlook destiny."

"They really did that?" Cye asked between laughs.

Josephine nodded her head, "Sure did. Kento and I would go to school covered in bruises from our mother's teaching us Iron Body Kung Fu. Teachers thought we were being abused."

"Our siblings didn't have to endure what we did," Kento nodded seriously. "I'm supposed to take over the family from grandpa so I must be strong, yada, yada."

"I don't even know why mom and auntie made me train so hard. I'm not taking over shit—ow! Amaya!"

The French lady had gone from laughing to serious, "Time and place, Josephine."

"Why is your name 'Josephine'. It isn't a very Chinese sounding name," Cye asked in a very straightforward tone.

"Ah," the Hardrock Guardian smiled sheepishly. "Mom was a big time American film watcher. She loved Josephine Barker so...that's how I got my name."

Kento looked at Amaya, "And you are from France?"

"Y-yes," she tucked a brown strand behind her ear. "I was born in Paris, but moved to Nice when I was three. I have two older sisters and a younger brother. My parents are bakers."

"You will have to cook me something one day!" Kento put a fist in his open palm. "I love homemade food since our family operates a chain restaurant."

Amaya blushed, "You-you can come to my bakery downtown. It is small, but we attract a lot of business."

"Amaya's cooking is the best!" Jo exclaimed. "It's almost as good as her fighting."

Kento and Cye took this moment to look the French native up and down. Kento put his hands behind his head.

"I don't believe it."

This made Amaya quirk an eyebrow, "I assure you that I only use my martial art to defend myself and the weak."

"Kento," Cye said wearily, noticing the look in his friends eyes, "remember we are taught to never judge a book by its cover."

Amaya smoothed her hands down the top of her skirt, "Your friend is right. Only God can judge."

"I'll tell ya what," Kento said slowly, "you get the better of me and I'll come get your bread. Hell, I'll work for ya. Cye, too."

"Hey, you can't-!"

Josephine put her fist on the table, "You're on! I'll take you both down."

"No, just Amaya," the blue haired warrior exclaimed. "I don't mean to judge, but for someone who has your beliefs can't be that scary."

"See her get after you with a wooden spoon and you won't think that way for long," the Chinese woman shuddered at the memories.

"You've made this mistake before, Kento. Don't do it again," Cye protested humorously.

Amaya stood slowly with her hands folded in front of her, "I have said I do not fight for the sheer pleasure of fighting, but a spar can't hurt. You have stated your terms for losing. What are mine?"

Kento rubbed his chin in thought. Josephine sat anxiously in her chair waiting for the response. Cye was in pure disbelief that his friend would do something like this and to a lady no less. Maybe this was his way of asking her out on a date? He couldn't figure it out.

"Um," he looked at Amaya's petite form as if he was trying to gauge her. "You hafta come back and cook. I've never had French food."

"Like a date?"

"Uh, maybe."

Amaya's whole face turned crimson red. Josephine fell out of her chair in surprise. Cye couldn't believe what he just had heard. Kento stood up, extending his arm out to the female next to him. The French warrior bit her lip while massaging her rosary in the pocket of her skirt. One minute seemed to be an hour before she took his hand agreeing to the terms.

Kento gave her a big smile, "I'll move the furniture in the living room. Help me out, Cye."

The two men disappeared into the living room. While the two females were alone, Josephine leaned over to her friend.

"Uhm, 'Mya, you said not an hour ago that you were pretty much still a 'bride for Christ', so what do you think will happen if you lose this?"

"I suppose then I must win," Amaya said softly. "Your cousin bargained free labor for himself and his friend at the bakery. You have been telling me that the teenagers I hired were no good."

"Yea, yea, but that means I will have to see them every day!"

She put her rosary on the table, "I have seen the way you look at Cye. I can feel your emotions, remember? Empath."

The two females walked into the living room to see that the couch and chairs had been moved against the wall. Pictures had been taken off the wall and furniture to be placed flat down on a smooth surface so they wouldn't break. Josephine rubbed her nose.

"This reminds me of back home when we used to turn our sitting rooms into tiny dojos," she giggled. "I'll state the rules of combat!"

Cye moved to stand beside Josephine. Kento cracked his knuckles as well as his neck in order to get himself limber. Amaya did a repetitive motion of squats to relax her leg muscles. The Hardrock warrior went as far as to take off his shirt, revealing his toned upper body and arms. This action made Amaya blush again.

"What are the rules?" Cye asked inquisitively.

Josephine but her hands in her back pockets, "Only two. Have fun and don't break things. First to get three contact points wins."

Kento took his fighting stance. It had been a long time since he had sparred with a female. He was amazed when Amaya put her right leg in front, bent her knees, and rotated her arms in a circular motion before they stopped with her palms facing him. It appeared that she knew something. It didn't matter. He was a Ronin Warrior and could take anything!

He charged at her. Amaya sucked in a calm breath before pivoting on her right foot to kick his arm away. She used both of her open palmed hands to strike him in the sternum and stomach. That technique stopped his forward movement giving her the time to bend down and swipe at his knees. She came up quickly to deliver a kick to his stomach that pushed him back to the other side of the room.

Josephine clapped loudly while Cye stood beside her speechless. Kento jumped up to gather his bearings, but not before Amaya delivered a swift kick to his chin. He fell back against the wall. His granite eyes widened when his opponent's fist came to his face, but stopped. A pair of brown eyes looked down at him before offering her hand to help him up.

"Was that three? I wasn't even counting."

"May have been only two, but it was amazing! 'Mya always looks so cool when she fights."

Kento took the offered hand, standing up only to laugh, "That was fun, yo! It didn't last long, but wow!"

Amaya smiled at him, "I can assure you that I would have used more strength, but I do not wish for you or Cye to have to pay for the repairs."

"Next time," Kento put back on his shirt, "we will have to go to a park or something."

Cye looked amused, "I suppose this makes you our 'boss'?"

"We open at six a.m., but I get there at four to start baking the bread. I want the customers to have fresh food every day, but we do not throw out the waste. We are closed on Sundays so I can deliver what we didn't sell to the homeless or local shelters," Amaya went back into the kitchen to get her rosary.

"Oh, we close at seven p.m.," Josephine said casually. "We still got college and stuff to do. Amaya takes hers online mostly."

"Do all of your friends help your business?" Cye helped Kento move the couch back to its original position. He pushed one recliner while Kento got the other.

Amaya grabbed some pictures and put them back where they belonged, "When they can. Hana and Candace both work at Shinjuku Memorial part time as well as doing college classes."

"Next time, I'm getting a piece of you, cuz," Kento laughed loudly.

"Man, you didn't even finish your training. I did," Jo nodded at him. "I'm a lot stronger than I look."

"You said Candace was a helluva fighter, too," the blue-haired male inquired.

Amaya chuckled, "Candace scares me when we spar. Sometimes it seems like she wants to kill me."

Kento rolled his eyes, "I've seen some crazy women fight. She can't be that bad."

The two Guardians exchanged glances. No one had any idea how crazy and deadly "Candace" could actually be.

Rekino sneezed loudly twice during her thousand kick drills. She felt it. Someone had to be talking about her. Nevertheless, she resumed her count. Part of her training was to do however many kicks she knew one thousand times against a non-moving target. The giant oak tree in their backyard was her chosen enemy. She had been doing this for years. The end result was being able to kick someone with enough strength to hurt them.

498...499...500…

She switched from her front kick to the sideswipe kick. She picked up her right leg and moved it over the shin of her left to connect to the tree. She did it again and again regardless of how tired she was.

623...624...625…

Rekino moved her body around and repeated the same moves except it was her left leg going over her right shin to strike the tree. The repetitive movements also trained her brain to be able to perform techniques without having to think. Almost like Pavlov's dog. Her master taught her that classical conditioning was the key to a great martial artist.

765...766...767…

She stopped and started to deliver side kicks to the tree. These had a tendency to leave her shins bruised and bloody. She couldn't shake the feeling that something was happening behind her back. It was eight o'clock and none of her friends were around. She knew Josephine had went to see her cousin, but what about Amaya and Hana? She knew the blonde's schedule because they worked together, but she had heard not hide or hair from their French friend.

A soft meow made the kunoichi stop and turn around. Her cat was pawing at her from the kitchen window. In her own mind, Rekino had forgotten about her baby. It was okay to stop at almost nine hundred kicks. She could just add what she didn't do to tomorrow's training.

Rekino went inside through the sliding glass door, and she was immediately greeted by her black and gray munchkin cat, Kitty. She had adopted the cat at an animal shelter three years so. Kitty had helped her through some tough times. Whenever Rekino was anxious or upset, Kitty would always come to her. The thought of leaving her behind with her adoptive parents had left her crying miserably, but Hana had agreed that the animal could come.

"I know, baby," she reached down the pick up her animal companion. "Momma forgot to feed you. Come on."

The cat licked Rekino's face affectionately while balancing on the ebony haired girl's shoulder. While fixing the feline's dinner, she still couldn't help but wonder what was going on with her comrades.

"So," the red haired lady let out, "does this mean we are official since you are inviting me to meet your roommate?"

Rowen hesitated on his answer. He looked at their interlocked fingers only for his fast paced brain to picture them walking together down the aisle. He smiled but returned his gaze forward

"If that is what you would like," the blue haired genius said slowly. As much as he cared for his parents, he knew that getting his mom and dad together to meet Invidya would be impossible. The other Ronin Warriors were his family and their approval meant more to him than his parents. He had been independent most of his life since his mother traveled for journalism and his father was deep in research.

Invidya tightened the grip on his hand, smiling at him, "It is."

The two had been talking for almost a month. To Rowen, it seemed longer than that. His days were filled with endless laughter from her and the way she sent text messages and meme's. Twenty-four hours just felt like not enough time. He hated going to bed because he couldn't talk to her. The first act of communication with a human being after he woke up was with her. He even skipped one of his classes so they could go out to eat, but it wasn't like he didn't know what was going on. He was still in Summa Cum Laude.

Invidya was by far the best thing that had happened to him since he met his friends; however, his dreams were filled with someone else. The ebony haired girl that he met while he was out with his friends: Candace Askea. In his dreams, she was always walking in front of him. She would turn around and smile as her long, unbound hair whipped around her body. Her amethyst eyes would shine just like the soothing stone itself. It was odd, though, because he hadn't actually seen her eye color. He didn't know why they appeared that way in his dreams. It was funny because he remembered Ryo saying something about having a sister with similar eye color.

Come to think of it, her smile looks very similar to his…

"I would love to know what is going through that big brain of yours, Ro."

He was brought back to reality by Invidya's voice. He couldn't tell her that his mind had traveled to that of another female.

"I was just thinking that it seemed like we have been talking forever," he said smoothly, "and that there simply aren't enough hours in the day for us to spend together."

Invidya's smile was from ear to ear, "That makes me happy." She raised up on her tip toes to kiss his lips gently.

The kiss, however, made a fire ignite in the tall warrior. He felt his arousal starting to churn inside him like a tornado, unrestrained and restricted. He, however, stopped himself from ravishing his now girlfriend in public. Things like this he had no knowledge about. Sure, he had watched men and women kiss in a movie or on the television, but he had never actually done it himself. He wasn't ashamed to say he had never been with a woman because the desire simply wasn't there, but this particular female made him feel things he had never felt before.

"As much as I would like to continue this, I want to get into my apartment first."

The couple ascended the two flights of stairs rather quickly. Rowen argued if it seemed too quick. He didn't want to scare her off by his overwhelming desire to touch her in places he had never seen on a woman in real life. He blushed at the thought of actually consummating the relationship with her. They stopped in front of a door labeled 2C.

He fished his keys out of his pocket, "It's late so Sage may not be up. He has been a little busy lately."

Rowen opened the door as normally as he could, but stopped and stared at the scene before him.

Sage was sitting on the sofa in the living room with the blonde he supposedly hit with his car in his lap. Hana had her hands buried in Sage's hair while the male had one arm wrapped around her waist with the other arm bunched with blonde locks behind Hana's head. The two stopped their intimate session the minute the sound of the door opened.

There was an awkward silence before someone behind Rowen and Invidya surprisingly shouted at both of the blonde's. Rowen turned around quickly to see Kento and Cye with the other two females he met a few weeks ago.

"Hana?!" The brunette French female said shockingly.

The beautiful, blonde sitting in Sage's lap smirked and held up her hand in a greeting gesture, "Hey."

Josephine's granite colored eyes widened in surprise, "What the hell did we interrupt?"

Next chapter: Anger, Jealousy, and Loneliness