Chapter Four
Danger
It didn't take long for Rena to become a part of the group. Things just seemed to click after that weekend at Mia's and her talk with Sage. Rena even was able to rework her class schedule so she could be with the guys. She was now in science with Ryo, Cye and Kento, art class with all of them, math with Ryo and Sage and she kept her advance english class so she could be with Rowen. The boys even went out and bought the right phones so they could talk to Rena over them.
It had been three weeks since the feeling of being watched completely disappeared. No one really talked about it. But for Rowen that first night and Sage who talked to Rena about it the next day at school. Rena was sitting at lunch with the boys as her mind wondered back to that conversation with Sage.
"Are you sure that thing couldn't follow us here?" Sage asked. He had met Rowen and Rena right after their first class. He was there just as they walked out the door. Rena guessed he skipped out of class a few minutes early to get there so quick. Rowen said good bye to them, as his next class was clear on the other side of the school campus. The two just waved back and headed for their next class. Which earn a few envious and some hateful glares from some of the girls at the school.
- It shouldn't have been able to. It had to be just a negative effect of you going there. I haven't sensed it in my fantasy world since then. -
"You went back in there with that thing?" Sage looked at her like she was nuts. Here she wasn't even sure what that thing really was and she went back in there? Alone? "That's not...You shouldn't have. It's not safe for you to be alone with that thing."
- I wasn't alone. Not really anyway. I told you, he would come for me if I was in danger. Besides, that things isn't there anymore. -
"I guess so," Sage look down thoughtfully. Rena looked over at him. Ok, so her, Sage and Rowen were so far the only ones who mentioned about being watched. She sensed it a bit in Kento but never asked him about it.
"Rena? Rena?" Kento's voice snapped her out of her thoughts.
- What? -
"We're going to hang out at my house this today after school and we're going by my family's restaurant for supper so Ma can see ya. Ma's been getting on to me that you haven't been over to see her since you got back to Japan," Kento rubbed the back of his right hand where his mom hit him with her wooden spoon when she learned Rena was back.
- I'm sorry, Ken. I didn't think of that. Want my Snickers bar? - Rena waved her candy bar in the air. Kento wasn't getting sign language as quick at Rowen was but this he understood perfectly.
"Apology accepted," Kento's eyes lit up as he torn into his prize. They laughed at their bottomless pit.
"Rena, don't forget, we have that writing assignment do at the beginning of next week," Rowen said. "Didn't you say that you had to go to the library after school?"
"Party pooper!" Kento whipped. "That's what weekends are for. She doesn't have to go after school."
- I almost forgot. I can go pick up the books I need right after school, return them home then meet you over at the restaurant. -
"Can't that wait?" Kento whined.
- Sorry, Kento. It can't. I need to get the books before someone else checks them out. The school library has them but they have already been checked out. I won't be long. -
"Rowen and I have to go to the dojo after school," Sage said. "It's not like we're all going to be able to go straight over to your house, Kento. Let her go. She can meet us at the restaurant later."
"Alright," Kento reluctantly gave in and pouted.
"Chill out, Kento. At least you have us," Cye replied. He was referring to himself and Ryo. They were the only ones going straight over to Kento's after school.
"Yeah, I guess. But you two aren't nearly as cute at Rena," Kento whined. A light pink rose on her cheeks as the food on her plate suddenly became very interesting.
"What was that?" Rowen raised an eyebrow at him.
"Well, I have to agree with him, Rowen," Ryo smiled and winked at Rena. That made her blush more. "She is pretty cute."
- Oh, good grief. - Rena signed then rolled her eyes. It was clear she wasn't use to being talked to in that fashion.
"Ryo!" Rowen practically screamed for the whole room to hear.
"What's wrong, Rowen? Don't you think she's cute?" Cye added. Rena shot him a couldn't believe it look. He was the quiet one. Why was he gladly joining this conversation so openly? She frowned into her food as the four boys continued arguing who thought she was cuter.
"What are you writing about?" Sage asked. He was the only one who noticed that she wasn't comfortable with this subject at all.
- I'm writing a story about Mt. Fuji. It's a fantasy. -
"I'm not surprised at that," Sage smiled.
- I always like fantasy stuff. And they do say write about what you love. -
"That's true," Sage nodded and smiled. "You'll have to let me read it one day."
- Well, I guess. I've never really shared my storied with anyone. -
"You must be good at writing if you were placed in Rowen's advanced class," Sage replied.
"You bet she is!" Kento suddenly joined their conversation.
"Rena was all the time writing stories as a kid and would read them to us," Rowen added. "They were always about fairies and such."
Sage looked at Rena. He wasn't surprised by that. It fit that she would have been writing about magic since she had been kissed by it. Rena just shrugged.
The group wasn't together again until they met up for their art class. Rena was content with keeping her attention on her pastel drawing and half heartedly listening to Kento talk about his mother's cooking. She wasn't paying much attention to what she was doing in her drawing until the art teacher walked over and gasped. Rena about jumped out of her chair when this happened. "It's beautiful!"
Rena looked at their art teacher, Ms. Haruno. Ms. Haruno was one of the younger teachers at the school. She had long black hair and deep brown eyes. She hid her figure beneath semi baggy clothes, which suggested she wasn't really the dating type, she did love art a lot how every. Ms. Haruno picked up the drawing and placed it in on another easel for the rest of the class could look at it. "Where did you come up with such a beautiful concept?"
Rena gave her a questionable look. She glanced over at the students gathered around her drawing. Some left it and went back to their own drawings. Rena's eyes widened when she saw what she had done. Her draw had an angelic looking guy, who was her fairy friend, right in the middle of the top of the paper, it was only of his head down to his shoulders. She also had put hands on the sides of the paper holding a floating girl between them, which was Rena, floating like she was dead, below that standing on the ground, was the guys dressed as fairies and their wings were the color of their respective armors and wielding their armor weapons. And below them in the bottom left corner was a black mass with an outline of red. That's what caught her attention and Sage's the most.
Luckily, she didn't fill in the boys faces and no one really recognized them. And even more lucky for her, the guys, but Sage, didn't seem interested in her drawing. Some students did point out similarities to the boys in the drawing to the ronins but they just attributed it to her being friends with them.
She didn't have to look at Sage to know he was looking at her. For now, their teacher continued to talk to her about the drawing. Since Ms. Haruno didn't know sign Rowen was translating for her. The bell ending class also save her from facing Sage at the moment. She quickly put her stuff away and hurried out of the room to her locker. Sage wasn't going to let her get away that easy. He followed just as quick. "Are you crazy? What were you thinking doing a drawing like that?"
- I'm sorry! I didn't realize what I was doing! I was just drawing! -
"You came so close to reveal our secret!" Sage tried to keep his voice down as students passed by them. Rena wasn't sure if he meant their armor secret or the secret that Rena knew about their armors. Either way it didn't matter. It was a mistake that she couldn't allow to happen again. Sage would stop talking when students pass by. "That was too close."
- I know. I'm sorry. I don't know why I didn't that. - Rena and Sage paused as more students passed by. Unknown to them, a couple girls were standing down the hall a bit from them. It was some of Sage's admirers.
"I don't believe how she is talking to him," A girl with short brown hair said.
"I know. They haven't even know each other for long. Do you think they are dating?" Another girl with medium brown hair asked.
"No way," The third girl had long black hair and sharp green eyes. She was obviously the leader of the other two girls and the one who had the more serious crush on Sage. "She can't even talk. She's not Sage's type."
"Well, she seems like Sage's type. Look at how serious they are talking," The Short haired girl said. "It looks like you've got some serious competition, Mina."
"We'll see about that," Mina glared at the new girl talking to her Sage. "We'll just see about that."
The other two girls exchanged shrugs. Mina spun around and left with her two friends following.
"Hey, what's with the quick ditch?" Kento asked as he and the others ran up to them. Sage and Rena exchanged glares.
- Sorry, Kento. I was just in a hurry to get to the library so I can get to your family's restaurant. All that talk about food has made me hungry. -
"Yeah. I know what you mean," Kento said while rubbing his stomach.
"You're always hungry," Cye stated. "You don't count."
"Oh, hush up, fish boy." Kento threatened.
"Well, we better get going then," Ryo broke in before Kento could grab Cye into a headlock. The group turned and headed for the door. Sage and Rena lingered back so they could talk.
"What's the deal with the shadow figure? It was the same one that was in your fantasy," Sage whispered.
- It couldn't have been. Why would I have drew him? -
"Why did you draw us as fairies?" Sage asked. Rena looked at him. She didn't have an answer for either of them.
"What are you two whispering about?" Kento asked as he dropped back and dropped his arms around their shoulders. "You're not hitting on my girl are you Sage Date?"
"What? Or course not. I wouldn't do that," Sage huffed.
"Right. I know how you are with the ladies," Kento glared at his friend.
- Chill, Kento. He wasn't flirting. -
"Really?"
- Really. And so what if he was? It's none of your business. -
"It is so! I know this guy!"
- Oh yeah? And what if he was flirting with me? - Rena stepped out from Kento's arm and stepped over to Sage's other side. She promptly put her arms around Sage's and smirked at Kento. Kento's mouth hung open as the other just laughed at him. Sage just shook his head. Might as well play along.
"Yeah, Kento. What if I was flirting with her?" Sage followed Rena's lead and put his hand over hers. Rowen raised an eyebrow. Kento's mouth just bobbed up and down. For once he had nothing to say. They all laughed harder.
- I better get going. Bye, lover boy. - Rena traced a flirty finger over Sage's chest before running off.
"Hey!" Kento cried as she went. She just waved at them. Kento's wrath turned to Sage, who was trying to get away before Hardrock noticed. "Sage!"
"Come on, Rowen," Sage yelped and grabbed Rowen's arm. "My dad is waiting for us!"
"Sage, you coward! Come back here!" Kento stomped his foot and proceeded to change after the romeo of the group. Cye and Ryo just chuckled and kept their slower pace. They were going to hear and earful about this later.
Rena sighed as she looked over the shelves of books. She had gotten lost in the fantasy section of the library. She always did that. She knew she had to get the books she wanted and get them home before getting over to Kento's restaurant. She was going to get reprimanded if she was late. Luckily the books she was looking for were close together. She grabbed them and checked out.
She shoved them in her bag as she exited the library then looked at her watch. They were meeting at six thirty. It was five forty five. Rena picked up her speed as she raced down the sidewalk. She rounded a corner and ran into someone. She hit them so hard that she fell back on her backside. She rubbed her head. - Sorry! I'm in a hurry! -
Rena looked up at who she bumped into and froze. Two rough looking guys started down at her. But that did really scare her. What did was the fact that they both had a dark glow to them that was outlined in blood red. That thing that was in her fantasy did follow her into the real world. Rena didn't have time to thing about how that happened. She had to get away from them. And fast.
Rena jumped to her feet but barely got turned around before the guys grabbed her arms and dragged her into a dead end alley. They tossed her away from them. Luckily she was able to stay on her feet. She turned to face them. They were blocking her only way out. Things were bad.
Sage and Rowen were done with their days lesson and began putting up the dojo mats. Rowen paused for a second and looked over at Sage. He wondered why Sage was so friendly with Rena. Sage usually was a bit shy towards girls because of his sister. He knew Sage would politely turn down girls who asked him to be her boyfriend and would later fuss about them hanging all over him. Rena was different from those girls. Maybe that's why he liked her. "Hey, Sage?"
"Hm?" Sage mumbled a replied as he put up the last mat.
"Do you...um...," Rowen rubbed the back of his head.
"What's up, Rowen?" Sage turned to his best friend.
"About you and...," Sage waited patiently as Rowen tried to get the words out. "I was wondering if you and Rena..."
Just as Rowen said her name a bad feeling washed over him and Sage. They exchanged looks and dashed out of the dojo.
Rena let out a silent cry as one of the thugs gave her a round house kick to the head. She felt her forehead split open and blood seeped down her face. She wiped the blood away from her eye and glared at the thugs. The thugs advanced on her. She clapped her hands together and formed a light green shield around herself. The thugs began to beat down on the shield, which wasn't holding up well thanks to the shadow form around them. One more hit from each of them broke the shield. - What do you want? -
The two thugs just smirked. She guessed this thing controlling them didn't understand sign. No surprise there. The two pulled back and punched. She couldn't force herself to close her eyes as they swung at her. Their fists were about to collide with her face when they went flying into the buildings. Rena was shocked and sat frozen. "Rena? Rena, are you alright?"
Rowen shook her shoulders and she sat there. Sage glanced at them then to the thugs. He flinched as he saw the shadow around the thugs disappear into the surrounding shadows. Rowen place head hand on Rena's face. "Rena?"
Rena looked up at him with tears in her eyes. Anger washed over him as the two thugs began to groan and pick themselves up off the ground. He turned and glared at them with such sharp daggers that would put his Strata arrows to shame. "You stupid street trash. How dare you touch her."
Sage and Rena were shocked as Rowen lashed out at the thugs and punched them square on the noses. They looked at him, shocked. "What's your problem, kid?"
"Don't you ever touch Rena again!"
"What are you talking about?" One of them asked.
"Rowen, stop!" Sage cried.
"Stay out of this, Sage," Rowen hissed. "They are going to pay for hurting her."
Sage had no choice but to let his friend go. It wasn't the thugs fault but how could he tell him that without revealing Rena's secret. Sage looked at Rena. She was shaken and just continued to stare at Rowen. Sage kneed down beside her. He cringed at the cut on her forehead. "Rena? Rena, you have to tell him."
Rena looked at him. "He's going to kill them if you don't tell him it wasn't their fault."
- I...can't. - Tears streamed down her face.
"Rena," The two continued to watch Rowen. Rena felt bad. She shook her head and leaped to her feet. She threw her arms around Rowen's waist and hid her face in his chest just before he could punch again.
"Rena?" Rowen was caught off guard and forgot his anger. Rena shook her head.
- Don't, Rowen. Let them go. -
"But, Rena,"
- Rowen, please? Just let it go. They're not worth it. Please? -
Rowen stared into her eyes as she cried. He relaxed and put his arms around her. "Ok, Rena. Ok."
"You crazy, kid," One of the thugs said as they scrambled up to their feet.
"You're going to get it for this!" The second one snapped. They turned to leave but came face to face with a cold stare from Sage. They froze at the power this young blonde held within his eyes.
"It would be better for all if you two just forget what happened here today," Sage's voice matched the coldness of his eyes.
"Y-Yeah. Sure," The thugs stuttered before running away. Sage watched them go before turning around to his friends. Rowen had calmed down a lot and was quietly speaking to a shaken Rena. Sage knew she should have told him the truth. But at least she stopped him before Rowen did some real damage.
"It's ok. They're not going to hurt you again," Rowen whispered as he stroked her hair.
"You ok, Rena?" Sage asked as he stepped back over to them. Rena gave him a slight nod. Rowen released her for a minute to rip a piece of his shirt tail off. He then took it and cleaned up Rena's cut the best he could. "Is it deep? Do we need to take her to the hospital?"
"No. It's not too bad," Rowen replied.
"That's good," Sage gave a sigh of relief. It was fine. This time. Sage studied Rena's face. She had quit crying but was still shaken. "We better get going."
"Ok," Rowen put his arm around Rena's shoulders and lead her out of the alley. Rena gladly accepted the support and put her arm around in waist and leaned against him. Sage kept glancing around, making sure that shadow thing was gone. He didn't stop until he felt a small hand take his. He looked down to see Rena had sensed what he was doing. She locked eyes with him and slightly shook her head. Sage gave her a pleading look. They need to tell Rowen what happened. Rena shook her head again. Sage reluctantly gave into her and closed his hand around hers.
"I'm telling you," Kento said as he paced around the restaurant. He kept glancing at the entrance and out the window. He sensed something was wrong but wasn't sure what. "Something's wrong. We should go look for them!"
"Chill out, Kento," Cye replied. "I'm sure they'll be here soon. You know Rena had to go to the library then go home."
"But it's almost been an hour. And where is Rowen and Sage?" Kento asked looking again out the window.
"Maybe we should go look for them," Ryo said. Cye looked to his friend. Even Ryo had a worried look on his face. Great. Now it was spreading as Cye remembered the feeling of being watched. The three exchanged looks then headed for the door. Just as they were about to exit their missing friends entered. "About time you got here. We were about to..."
"Rena!" Kento screamed and grabbed her shoulders. "What happened?"
- I'm fine. - Rena replied tiredly. - I'm gonna go wash my face. -
Rena pulled away from her friends and headed for the bathroom, not realizing they all were following. Kento was demanding what happened. Rowen was to focused on Rena to answer. Ryo and Cye were just as curious as Kento. So that left Sage the explain what happened. Rena grabbed her some paper towels and ran some water over it. She tiredly dabbed her cut with it. Thankfully, Rowen noticed how tired she was and took it from her. He motioned for her to sit down on the sink. She did.
"Man, I knew something was wrong," Kento punched his fist into his palm. "I should have listened to my feelings!"
"No need to punish yourself, Kento," Sage ran a hand through his hair. "We, or rather, Rowen took care of it."
"But still," Kento grumbled. "Rena's my friend and I should have been there for her."
"Let's just be glad Rowen and Sage were," Cye said.
"Oh yeah," Ryo looked at Sage. "How did you know she was in trouble?"
"Oh," Sage felt caught. Rena looked over at him. Was he going to tell? "Well, I was with Rowen when she was in trouble. I guess since he felt it I felt it from him."
The group remained quiet. Sage wasn't the best of liars and hated to lie to his friends so he wasn't sure if they were going to buy it. They did. "AH!"
The boys looked to see a woman at the bathroom door scream and run out.
"What was that about?" Kento asked. The boys exchanged looks just seconds before Kento's mother came busting into the bathroom.
"What in the world do you think you boys are doing in here?" She demanded as she waved her spoon. Kento's mother was a tough looking woman. Almost a female version of Kento. She glared at the boys. "You should all know better than this!"
"What? What's up, ma?" Kento asked. She sighed and pressed some fingers to her forehead. They didn't realize they were in the girls bathroom.
"Ok. You all can stay," She started calmly then erupted like a volcano as she whipped open the door. She pointed to the sign. "If you all dress up in pink dresses!"
Ryo, Cye and Sage blushed while Kento still remained clueless. They grabbed their thick headed friend and dragged him out the door. "What? Why are we leaving? Let go!"
"You clueless bonehead," Sage grumbled as they left.
Kento's mother then turned to the last remaining boy in forbidden territory. Rowen sensed her looking at him. "I'm not leaving her."
"Huh?" That was when Mrs. Faun noticed the girl sitting on the sink. She rushed over to them. "Rena? Oh my gosh! What happened, child?"
"She was assaulted by a couple of thugs," Rowen replied, not taking his eyes off Rena.
"You poor dear," Mr. Faun took over taking care of Rena. Rena sat patiently as she was fussed over by the other woman. Once she was giving the ok, Rowen lead Rena, by the hand, to the table where their friends were waiting for them. Things had settled down by then. Kento had ordered just about everything on the menu and the group settled down into eating. Even Rena went back to normal as her stomach began to grumble.
Sage was the only one who wasn't talkative. He kept stealing glances at Rena. They really needed to tell the the others. But could he convince Rena of that? Sage poked his food then looked at Rena. She caught him this time and met his stare with one of her own.
Ryo was the only one who caught their little stare down. He wondered what was being said between this quiet conversation. And, for that matter, why was Sage acting so concerned about her? It wasn't like she was right in the middle of Dynasty territory. They all would be protective of her then. But just because she was attacked by a couple of thugs? No. Ryo knew Sage better that. Something was up. Something to do with Rena. The only question now was, were they going to tell them what was going on before it was too late?
Notes: That's it for chapter four! Hope ya'll like it and let me know! I'll soon get chapter five up in the next couple of days. Enjoy!