Author's Introduction:
*Star smiles, offering a plate of cookies and glasses of plum wine* As King would have put it, Welcome back, Constant Reader! Welcome back indeed. We're quickly approaching the home stretch with this story, and while I can't make any promises, I can only hope to update with increasing frequency as we near the end of the tale.
Actually, the ending to the story was the first thing I ever wrote (back in 2007 and 325 miles away from where I'm currently standing—I'll never forget that day), and then I started working backwards till about the 75 percent mark, where I skipped back to the beginning and started posting. That's the real reason these last few chapters will come a little bit faster than the previous ones. That'll be fun, won't it?
Again, thank you, thank you to everyone who's read and reviewed. Your kind words made me want to get back to writing that much faster, so if anyone out there thinks their reviews don't matter, think again—encouragement is always a nice thing to get in the mail!
Cross My Heart, And Hope To Die
A Ronin Warriors fanfiction by Firestar9mm
Chapter Six: At The End Of The World Or The Last Thing I See
I never said I'd lie in wait forever
If I died we'd be together
I can't always forget her
But she could try
At the end of the world
Or the last thing I see
You are never coming home, never coming home
Could I?
Should I?
(My Chemical Romance, The Ghost Of You)
Sage was in the shower, hands braced against the tiled wall, letting the water hammer down on his head like a punishment. Stupid, stupid, stupid, he thought angrily.
Years of self-control and discipline out the window because he'd spent one second too long standing too close to her. She'd turned her face to his with that wistful look and he'd felt the answering longing in himself—the one that had never quite faded away—flare into bright life and take over.
Even hours later sensory memory seemed to have burned the curves of her body into his fingers, his palms. He'd elbowed Ryo out of the way to get into the shower first this morning because he couldn't shake the scent of her perfume clinging to his skin, teasing him. And one thought centered in his mind, repeating like a mantra. At last. Mia, Mia at last.
The gods knew he'd tried—he'd tried his damnedest to keep her at arm's length. He'd tried being as cold and dismissive as possible. About fifteen minutes in, he'd realized that she was far too smart for him, but he'd stubbornly tried to keep on with it. Getting close to her would lead to nothing but trouble, and he didn't need any more trouble.
That, at least, was what he kept telling himself when he was lying awake and staring at his ceiling.
All the other girls he knew were so…boring. He didn't know a single other girl who'd smart off to a police officer or carry a baseball bat as a weapon, who knew how to fix a carburetor or what an inline-six meant. He didn't know any other girls who offered to split the check at dinner, who wore thigh-high stockings and miniskirts while rattling off complicated theorems that confused scholars far older than she.
He'd tried to ignore all that. So there was one interesting girl. It didn't mean that she was the only interesting girl in the world.
Still, no one could argue that she wasn't beautiful, intelligent, fun, sweet. She was all of those things, and he liked it—he liked her.
And, he realized, that was special, because he didn't like a whole hell of a lot of people when you got right down to it. He tolerated them, but outside of his fellow Ronin, who were his best friends and heart's brothers, he was hard-pressed to come up with people he actually liked.
And he liked her—he liked her for her brave heart, her sun-steady loyalty, her fearless honesty. He liked her effortless femininity and her easy grace. He liked the way she wore her moods like clothes and wasn't afraid to speak her mind.
He liked her, and it was special—she was special.
And he couldn't deny it anymore, he realized, not when he was standing there shaking from just the memory of her slight weight in his lap, her soft lips opening beneath his and that heady feeling—At last, Mia mine at last—thrilling him down to his finger tips.
He'd been so close to telling her to hang up the phone and come back to his arms. But he'd stopped himself, knowing that if she agreed he'd pull her down into cool sheets, learn her with kisses and exhaust her far beyond the reach of nightmares. The superior system had taken over, frightened by the intensity of his desire, and suddenly letting go of her had been the hardest thing he'd ever had to do.
Oh, but how they'd left it squeezed his chest tight—exchanging small talk politely like strangers, searching each other's gaze, voices soft and subdued and the wanting, the wanting jumping back and forth between them like electricity the entire time. Where had they left it? Where had it left him?
Alone, shaking, fighting to remember every last detail of soft skin and racing heartbeat, breathe deep the lingering scent of perfume she'd left behind.
A knocking on the door interrupted his thoughts. "Hey, Sage?" Ryo called. "No rush, but can you try not to use all the hot water?"
A mirthless smile slashed Halo's features. "No worries," he promised his friend. There would be plenty of hot water—he hadn't used any at all this morning.
No one seemed in a terrible hurry to do anything strenuous, given the climate of the last few days. Cye had requested a sparring partner, stating that he didn't want to be caught off-guard by the demon a second time, and Ryo had volunteered readily. Rowen was doing his best not to strain his arm and seemed happy to drift around the cabin, striking up various conversations. Kento had offered to wash the breakfast dishes, and Mia had been grateful for extra time to look over their growing collection of pictures and notes. Sage had followed Ryo and Cye outside almost immediately, and she didn't dwell on that—she wasn't at all prepared to sort out what she would do about him. There were more pressing matters at hand—he'd said so himself; and it was that which she kept reminding herself so she wouldn't have to admit how nervous she was to deal with what had happened between them the night before.
Rowen padded back into the living room on stocking feet—he hadn't bothered to get into the shower yet and was still in a black thermal and a pair of flannel drawstring pants, hair uncombed. "Whatcha drawin'?" he asked, putting his hands on Mia's shoulders and peering at the paper she was scribbling on.
Mia sighed, adding a few more lines to her sketches—pictures of the demon, angry and snarling, as capricious in size as it had been in her memory. "Just trying to clear my head. I've been staring at Hiro's notes for hours, but nothing's making any sense to me."
"Those are good," Rowen said, looking at the paper. "You should draw f'r comics."
"Horror comics, maybe," Mia laughed, but the expression didn't last. She sighed. "Why can't I figure this out, Ro?"
The hands on her shoulders began a gentle massage of the tense muscles. "Take a break. You'll get it eventually. Ya always do," he soothed. "If anybody c'n take a buncha bones, a crazy ritual an' a flesh-eatin' monsta an' figure out 'zactly how they add up, it's you."
Mia smiled, arching one shoulder into the rubdown. "It's not exact. It's formulaic, but it's in no way exact. If it were, they'd call it science instead of magic."
Rowen dug his knuckles into the space where neck and shoulder met. "Damn, girl. You are tense." He glanced at the open notebook beside Mia. "If it ain't exact, how come all these ingredients are so important?"
Mia made a soft sound as he hit a particularly sore place at the top of her spine. "Well, you know how Kento's chocolate chip cookies always come out better than mine?"
"I like yer cookies," Rowen said defensively. "But Kento uses diff'rent chips than you do."
Mia nodded. "Exactly. He shapes the recipe so that it suits him better, and he gets a different result. It's the same way with magic, I think—it's one thing to get all the ingredients together, but everyone's energy is different. The spellcaster is going to shape the incantation so that it belongs only to them. Even the ingredients they choose are linked to them—it's their representation of what they're trying to do."
"Like a fingerprint," Rowen guessed. "A magical fingerprint."
She smiled as he wrapped up his massage with a gentle rubbing of her shoulders. "That's a great way to think of it. Unfortunately, the ritual's long over and I'll never be able to trace what the spellcaster used. That's why I'm focusing on the demon and trying to work backwards—maybe studying the end result will give me a clue as to how it came into being."
Rowen flopped beside her on the sofa and reached for the paper that contained the sketches of "the end result". "That third eye is throwin' me off," he said, frowning. "I keep waitin' for it t' shoot laser beams at us or somethin', but it doesn't. It doesn't do anythin'."
Mia laughed. "You read too many comics, Ro. Maybe the spellcaster just wanted to make the demon as scary as possible, and they thought three eyes would look more menacing than two."
Rowen shook his blue head. "Nah. There's got t'be more to it than that. Whoever's controllin' this demon is definitely usin' th' whole buffalo. Those claws had me pretty well pinned, an' even its spit is dangerous. Ev'ry single part of this thing is a weapon. I say we watch out f'r laser beams." He put the paper down and crossed his arms over his chest.
Mia picked up the pencil and added a sparkle to one of the drawings of the demon's face, just over the third eye, as if it were about to fire a laser beam. "One thing's for sure—whoever's behind this, they don't screw around."
Rowen took the pencil from her and drew a big, cartoony arrow on the biggest drawing of the demon, sticking out of the beast's chest. "Yeah, well, neitha do we," he promised.
By late morning, Mia was beginning to think she'd gotten nowhere. All she had was a list of clues that didn't seem to add up.
The story had started before she'd ever arrived in Toyama, she reflected as she reviewed her list again. Despite the Sun-Times' penchant for exaggerating the news (or making it up entirely), there was evidence from other news sources that there had been a series of mutilation attacks, although only one human victim had been reported. No one had come forward to claim the body; the victim's face had been far too damaged for a positive ID and he had been carrying no identification, leading police and news teams alike to speculate that the man had been simply an unlucky vagrant who had been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
1. Corpses torn to bits—mostly animals, one human (reported as homeless; no missing persons report on file)
2. Hiro Imamura—murdered, pushed down staircase, broken neck—likely the work of a human
She underlined "human", then continued reading over her list.
3. Small, hostile animal in library (3 eyes, 2 tails)
4. Dead dog in park
5. Small, hostile animal in park (3 eyes, 2 tails)
6. Large, hostile animal in sewers (3 eyes)
She put her pencil down. It had to be the same animal, she thought for the four hundredth time. There was no way there were multiple animals running around with two tails and three eyes. But how could it change size? Why? And what did it want?
She added one more point to the list.
7. Hostile animal seems to be after Hiro's satchel containing Hiro's notes—why?
She underlined "why" twice, then put aside the list and reached for the satchel. Drawing out Hiro's notebook and the textbook on ritual magic, she began searching through them for all the demons who looked even remotely doglike. There was the raiju, of course, or lightning wolf, borne to Earth on a lightning bolt. It had been known to change size—trees that were felled by lightning were sometimes said to have been scored by the raiju's claws; but it could also be small enough that some superstitious folk attributed their stomach ailments to the raiju's sleeping in their navel. Perhaps a raiju wolf?
No, she decided, flipping the page. Raiju was generally a peaceful creature, except when there was a thunderstorm—that was when it tended to spaz out. And the skies had been clear all week. Besides, if the raiju had wanted to electrocute her and Cye, it could have done it easily without having to employ the aid of a downed power line. So no, not the raiju.
Maybe an okuri-inu? No, those only followed travelers at night, and all the attacks on the Ronin had happened during the day. She turned the page again. Tanuki could shapeshift, but they were mischievous and happy, not malicious. They would never attack her and the boys the way this monster had, and they certainly didn't have the presence of mind to down a power line or sneak about in the sewers waiting for their chance—tanuki were easily bored and lost track of things quickly.
Mia felt her temper shortening as she flipped page after page. Not a kitsune, those had nine tails, and their demon only had two. Not an okami wolf; those weren't reported to change size. Not a jimenken; those dogs had human faces, and this one definitely didn't.
Her mind drifted back to her conversation with Sage in a darkened doorway—it seemed like so long ago. She'd told him she'd almost wanted the monster just to be a rabid dog, and Sage had nodded his agreement. "I sort of wanted it to be a..."
Maybe I'm thinking too vaguely, she decided after a while. Maybe it's not like a dog as much as it is a dog.
And it was there that she found the answer—by looking up a demon that didn't become a dog, but had in fact started out as one.
Hiro's textbook on ritual magic contained quite a few stories in which a ritual had been successfully employed, as reported "proof" of the effectiveness of such spells. The one Mia was looking at pertained to the inugami, quite literally, "dog spirit". What set the inugami apart from demons such as the raiju and the kitsune was that instead of simply coming into being as part of the will of the spirit world, inugami had to be created by human beings via sorcery.
And cruel sorcery it was—the story told of a woman who sought revenge against an enemy by burying her beloved dog in the ground up to its neck, promising to worship it if only it would do her bidding, sealing the bargain by sawing its head off and releasing its spirit as an inugami. The story never spoke of whether or not the woman achieved her revenge—all it said was that as payback for its painful death, the inugami haunted the woman for the rest of her days.
Mia shuddered, and it was the same chill she had felt in the library when she had crested the stairs and seen Hiro's forlorn corpse framed by the railings, the same cold that had gripped her when she saw those red lights flashing atop the power lines at the park. The more she read, the more right she felt.
According to the legend, the dog had to be buried and then surrounded by food that it could see but not reach—the boys had said they'd found meat near the skeleton of the dog that had been buried, but that it had not been eaten. The reason for this was to placate the spirit when it was released as an inugami; its dying wish would have been to eat, which was supposed to somehow make it obedient. Mia had a feeling that all it did was make the beast even hungrier, which would have explained the mutilated animals and that poor unfortunate man they'd found, a man with no one to miss him. And inugami were not trustworthy—they had been reported to turn on their owners and even possess them at times.
That's it, she thought, and she felt the same certainty that her grandfather had always had when he'd pieced together his beloved legends. This is the one. Now all they had to do was find out who was controlling the beast, and attack at the source.
She was about to get up and call the boys in for an update when she heard the sound of movement coming from the cabin's only bedroom. She'd slept there last night since she'd retired early, but she'd seen Rowen going towards it an hour before. Deciding to check on him—perhaps his arm was paining him more than he'd let on—she padded quietly down the short hallway.
Peeking around the doorjamb, she realized that the noise wasn't being made by Rowen, but by Sage, who was standing near the room's only window, tilting the blinds to let the sunlight in. Rowen was sprawled out on the bed, dead to the world—low blood pressure made the Ronin of Strata a sound sleeper anyway, and pain would only compound that. Still, the Warrior of Halo was nothing if not stealthy—Mia wouldn't likely have heard him either if he hadn't had to put aside the gorgeous no-dachi that became an extension of his arm in battle in order to adjust the blinds.
Spotting her, he held a finger to his lips, the message clear—shhhhh. She nodded, but remained in the doorway to see what he was going to do. Once he picked up the sword again she realized she should have guessed immediately; bringing the blade effortlessly up in a hanging guard, he directed the weak sunbeams to spill over his friend's injured arm, which was flung over the rumpled sheets. Not then or ever would Mia be able to tell if the gentle music she heard was magic or simply the wind chimes sparkling from the curtain rod.
Seemingly satisfied, Sage brought the sword down and indicated that they should leave with a flick of his head. Mia turned, half-expecting Rowen to stir, but he didn't.
"That was nice of you," she remarked as they returned to the front room. "Can I ask you something?"
"As long as it's not something about the meaning of life, or algebra," Sage said, and she felt something in her uncoil and relax at his seeming good humor.
Sitting on the sofa, she put her hands in her lap. "How do you know when that works?"
It was a good question; Sage smiled, sitting beside her, but at the other end of the sofa, leaving plenty of space between them. She wasn't sure what to make of that. "Halo never lets me down," he said. "It's like you said yesterday—it's magic. I call for healing, and healing comes." He shrugged. "I just...know. Rowen'll wake up feeling like a million bucks, and he'll never have to know he had a little help."
"I'm sure he'd thank you, if he did," Mia said. "I don't know why you never think anyone has to thank you for anything."
He smiled again. "You're my friends. Comrades. It's expected."
"You said that yesterday," Mia pointed out. "Why do you think we expect so much from you?"
He seemed to like that. "I expect it," he explained. "It's automatic. I don't think of it. Like...breathing."
Mia searched his face, and found only the serenity of one who was truly wise. Eventually, she nodded, sitting back.
"Find anything?" Sage asked, reaching for the textbook, which Mia had left open to the chapter on inugami. Stung into remembering what she had originally gotten up to do, she reached for Hiro's textbook.
"As a matter of fact, I did. Take a look at this," she said, handing the open book to him, then settling back to watch his eyes sweep back and forth over the text like twilight-colored radar as he read. When he made the connection she'd made, his blond brows disappeared almost into his hair. Turning a smile towards her, he handed the book back to her. "Smartest redhead in the world," he said affectionately. "So how do we kill it?"
Mia's face fell, the blood that had flooded her face at the compliment draining away just as quickly. "Ah," she hedged. "I haven't exactly gotten to that part yet." Embarrassed now, she reached for Hiro's notebook. "There must be something in these books that will help us—"
Sage's hand was gentle but firm on her wrist. Chastised, she turned her gaze to him, expecting a lecture, but he only smiled. "There must be," he agreed. "You take the textbook. I'll take this. You'll help me with the big words, won't you?"
Mia's heart skipped almost painfully; she swatted halfheartedly at him, desperately turning her eyes to the pages in Hiro's notebook in an attempt to regain her composure. "No talking in the library."
Sage chuckled, settling down on the opposite corner of the sofa to read.
Sage was glad that Mia was so engrossed in her research, because he didn't want her to notice that he wasn't going to be much help; he'd really only wanted her nearness, and even that was turning out to be more troubling than he'd imagined.
I'm in hell, he thought. His eyes had slid over the same line of text about four hundred times, but he couldn't focus when she kept…doing…things.
Simple things, and that made it all the more maddening. She'd cross one shapely leg over the other, revealing the top of her thigh-high stocking beneath her simple pink miniskirt; she chewed idly on her pen cap, the tip of her tongue darting out every so often against the plastic. He was going to lose it if she didn't stop. Lose it entirely.
She hadn't mentioned the kiss since it had happened, and he was furious with her for being able to focus so intently on the task at hand, when he couldn't think of anything but the taste of her mouth and the weight of her in his lap on that sofa, the ferocity with which she'd met his advance. Reaching deep within for the discipline he'd spent his entire life perfecting, he reminded himself sharply that there was a bigger maelstrom around them than just the dam of his feelings breaking. If the demon came for them and his focus was this shattered, he'd be of no use to anyone, least of all her.
And he would not let her down, he commanded himself fiercely. He would not let harm come to her, would never again come as close to losing her as he had that first night. He hadn't been kidding when he'd told her the memory of that night still rocked him badly. He still couldn't quite believe she felt well enough to joke about her brush with death, when his nightmares sometimes sent him stumbling through graveyards where every marble angel had her face.
Look at her, he thought idly, unable to reconcile the two images—an ice-bride locked within a wall of water and the cool, content girl curled into a corner of the sofa with a book. Sitting there like butter wouldn't melt in her mouth.
That mouth, soft little mouth opening beneath his and what skin he touched was fever-warm when she…
He had to physically shake the thought away, tossing his head, hair flipping off his eye and back again. Stop this, he told himself.
"You okay?" Mia asked, arching an auburn brow at him.
Scorpion woman, he thought viciously. What kind of question was that?
"Ah...yes," he said, turning his attention to the address book in his hand for what felt like the fortieth time. He wondered if Mia knew how to read all the squiggly symbols that dominated the entire back of it, then flipped forward again. He allowed himself a little smile as he noticed a small note Hiro Imamura had written to himself in the margin of the day-at-a-glance calendar that took up the second half of the book. Dinner with Eiko 8:00 pm at our favorite. Next to his wife's name, Imamura had scrawled a little heart.
Sage wondered how that felt, to be so sure, to share a favorite place, to have things that only belonged to the two of you, a code only the pair of you understood. "Poor Eiko Imamura," he remarked idly. "It's a good thing she went to her sister's. I couldn't imagine dealing with all of her troubles in an empty house."
"Me, either. Even my house is never..." Mia's eyes were faraway as she looked up from her book. Sage hadn't expected more than a nod at what he'd said, but he could practically see the gears turning in his companion's steel-trap mind as she processed his statement. "...empty..."
Sage arched a brow, unsure of where she was going, but then her soft, faraway gaze ignited as though someone had touched a match to her. "That's it," she exclaimed, jumping to her feet with the force of her excitement and executing a little spin, red hair swirling as she moved. Finishing the turn gracefully, she beamed at him. "Sage, you're a genius."
"I'm pretty sure you're the genius," he said, but he was pleased by the praise all the same. "I don't even know what I did."
"You're wonderful," she exulted, grinning. "I was so close I couldn't see it, but you're exactly right. Eiko Imamura. She said herself her dog is missing. Don't you remember?"
Brow furrowing, Sage examined his memory and realized that yes, Eiko Imamura had sobbed to Mia that she couldn't stay alone in her empty house, that even their dog had disappeared recently. "You think that Eiko is the one who summoned the inugami? But she seemed so upset." Sage didn't want to admit that there was a possibility Eiko had fooled him; her grief had seemed genuine at the service.
"Of course she's upset," Mia countered, eyes snapping with excitement. Sage had to smile at her exuberance; there were few things more fun to watch than her running down an idea. "She summoned a demon and it's killing people. Maybe she and Hiro were in it together!" Her eyes went wide with the new possibility.
"But why?" Sage asked. "Why would they do that? Why would they call up a demon?"
"Validation of Hiro's research?" Mia said. "Maybe they were just so immersed in it they couldn't help but see if it worked. I know I've been curious about some of the things I researched—I just didn't need any more proof that magic exists and there are people who know how to use it." She winked.
Sage knew that statement was for his benefit, but he had to admit she was on to something. "If Hiro was doing most of the work and Eiko was helping, it would make sense that she'd be upset and stressed out. She wouldn't have him to help her, and the demon is getting out of control—hell, it's already out of control. But this is all speculation, Mia. There's no way to prove it."
"I can talk to Eiko," Mia insisted. "Maybe when she's confronted with the theory, she'll break down and tell me the truth."
"Or maybe she'll send the demon to eat you," Sage countered, more ferociously than he'd intended. "I won't let you risk it. And you're missing something important in your theory."
She only smiled at him, seemingly glad for the sounding board. "Enlighten me."
He chuckled, glad for the brevity she was lending to a situation that was the perfect plot for a horror film. "Okay, Miss Smarty Pants. You're the one who's been saying from the beginning that a person killed Hiro. If your theory is correct, then the killer is Eiko herself." He held out the book, showing her the page with the scribbled heart. Eiko at our favorite. "I don't think these two were on the outs."
Mia considered this. "Maybe it was an accident," she conceded. "Maybe Eiko was trying to convince Hiro to put the demon back, and they struggled. Maybe she came to meet him in the library before he met me—it would explain him asking me for additional time. He might have wanted to talk to her and get her squared away before meeting me. Maybe that's what he really wanted my help for—putting the demon back!" Again, the realization left her with a shocked look on her face. "Anyway, if they argued and struggled, she could have killed him by mistake. You don't have to be smart or even strong to push someone down a flight of stairs."
Her expression softened as she took in his reluctant expression; boldly, she stepped forward and took his hands in hers. "Sage, I know you're worried about me and I couldn't appreciate it more. But we've got to stop this thing, and if talking to Eiko puts me in danger I'm willing to take that chance. Maybe we can get out ahead of this thing before it kills again."
He couldn't help but smile at her selflessness. "What put such a warrior's spirit inside that little body?"
"Sorry, but your princess is in another castle," Mia quipped, but then her expression softened. "Hope you're not too disappointed."
"Quite the contrary. I prefer you this way," he said, using their entwined hands to pull her closer. They shared a laugh, and then the comfortable silence settled between their locked gazes until he broke it. "Kiss me."
A blush stained her cheek and her lashes fluttered, once, twice, nervously. She chewed her lower lip shyly as her head bent close to his. He watched her eyes drift slowly closed as their noses brushed and a sigh escaped her lips. Her expression was fragile, as if she were trying to hold onto a dream. "Sage…"
He refused to lose her to the doubt and guilt he'd been wrestling with. "Mia. Kiss me," he repeated, even as he closed the small remaining distance to make the decision for her.
The outside world be damned, Sage thought as their lips touched. This, this. Outside there was bleeding and danger and dying, but here—here there was nothing but shared warmth as she accepted his embrace, their breath mingling between kisses.
"You're trembling," he murmured, feeling her shudder against him.
"I'm okay." Her whisper was soft against his face.
He tightened his hold on her and felt the dissatisfaction of being away from her begin to numb, as surely as balm on a wound. Her arms wound around his neck, fingertips playing gently with the hair at his nape, and it was all he could do not to purr at the touch. How had he managed to hold her at arm's length for so long, not knowing he could have had this?
"Just for a moment." It was almost as if she were talking to herself and not to him. Her eyes were heavy-lidded and dreamy, and she snuggled against him as if she wanted to hide in him. "I just need…a moment…"
No. He tensed at the idea of her running from him again. A moment just wasn't enough, and there was nothing but bruised minutes and sharp little seconds until the next time—didn't she feel that? "Mia. We can't keep wasting time," he said, his voice rough-edged with passion he could no longer keep in check.
She blinked like a waking sleeper; nodding absently, she shocked him by pulling out of his embrace and drifting towards the forgotten books. "You're right. You're right," she murmured, flipping through the pages of Hiro's notebook. "There should be a phone number somewhere..."
Sage was thunderstruck, cold rushing to fill the places she'd fit so well against him. Hurt by how badly she'd misunderstood, he pulled her back to him almost roughly, her hands opening in surprise, the book falling from them and spinning across the floor, forgotten. "I meant you and I can't keep wasting time," he said.
Her color was hectically brilliant, eyes wide. "Sage!" she said.
"I won't lose you," he said fiercely. "Not to demons, not to distance. Not anymore." The exhaustion of confession and the force of the vow were soothed by the contentment of having arms full of her again. "Kiss me, Mia, or tell me to go."
Her fingers tightened on the sleeves of his shirt and she let herself collapse against him once more, lifting her face to him. Sage bent his head to take her mouth, relief stealing over him at the closeness he'd been aching for since the last time they'd been alone together. He let his eyes drift closed as their lips touched.
"You guys bored of reading a bunch of dusty books yet?" Kento's cheerful voice came around the doorframe before the rest of him did. "We were thinking of ordering in, what do you guys w—ah." The Warrior of Hardrock's eyes went wide, his lips pursed in a soundless whistle. "Whoops."
Mia and Sage sprang apart like every bad soap opera that had ever aired. Mia dropped to her knees, grabbing the book that she'd dropped earlier and letting her hair fall forward to hide her flushed face like a curtain. Striding past Sage, she waved the book at Kento. "No time for food. We've got a lead."
Kento perked up. "Asskicking time?"
"Maybe," she promised. "Get the guys together. Dinner can wait."
Kento took off obediently, leaving Mia and Sage staring at each other. "Eventually, we are going to have to talk about this," Sage quipped, blond brows arching.
"I know." Mia clutched her book to her chest, blushing as if he'd just asked if he could walk her to class. "But not now."
"Not now," he agreed, nodding resignedly, and then he was past her, letting the air cool between them.
For now.
Sage spent a few nervous minutes wondering if he and Mia were going to have to explain anything to the others, but luckily as soon as all the Ronin were standing in the living room, an argument broke out almost immediately.
"No way," Ryo said, just as Cye said, "Absolutely not!"
Mia trembled and tensed beside Sage; as only a perfect partner could, he sensed that she was stopping herself from stamping her foot. Instead she crossed her arms. "It's the only way," she said for what seemed like the eighth time. "We have to stop the demon, and in order to do that we have to stop Eiko. I've already spoken to her about possibly getting Hiro's research published. I'll ask her to meet me at the university library. She won't suspect anything; she'll talk to me."
"I don't like it," Cye said, shaking his head.
Sage was happy that he wasn't the only one who thought it was downright insane to let her go confront Eiko. "Mia, it's too dangerous."
"I am the only one who can go," Mia reiterated. "Does anyone have a better idea?"
"I do," Kento said. "I'm goin' with you."
"So am I," Ryo and Cye added simultaneously.
"No," Mia said. "You can't. She knows me—she doesn't know you. I can't be showing up with a group of strangers—she'll get suspicious, and then we will be in danger. Don't you see it won't work?"
"You must allow us to accompany you," Sage said. "Even if we don't follow you into the actual meeting place, it's out of the question that you go unescorted. That is our choice, Mia."
"I appreciate your concern, but you'll spoil any chance of us learning anything from her," Mia said desperately.
Rowen had the answer. "'Ere's what we're gonna do. We—" He pinwheeled his arms to indicate himself and his fellow Ronin, "—are gonna go t' th' liberry an' pick up Mizz Eiko. Then we're gonna bring 'er back here, to ourturf, an' settle this f'r good."
"Good thinking," Ryo said. "Mia, you wait here where it's safe. Then, if Eiko agrees to come back with us, we'll be there to stop her from trying anything on the way. If she attacks as soon as she gets to the library, you'll be out of the line of fire."
"I don't like it," Mia said, crossing her arms. "I'll hate waiting."
"It's non-negotiable," Sage said. "We don't have a better plan, and you are too important to risk yourself like this."
"I want to go with you," Mia burst out before she could stop herself. "We're all in this together, and I'm no more important than anyone else!"
"I think you're important," Sage said ferociously, then, catching himself, opened the floor to his friends. "Who's with me?"
"Agreed," Ryo said firmly. "Mia, it's for the best."
"You've done all y'can, gorgeous," Rowen said, his tone affectionate. "Our turn, okay?"
Mia chewed her lower lip, but she was no match for the stern, loving stares of her five friends. Eventually she gave in. "...all right, but I want you to call me from the library the minute you know the lay of the land. That's my non-negotiable; you will keep me up to speed or I'll just come in there after you."
"Don't you threaten us," Kento said, but he was smiling. "You got it, babe. We'll be in constant radio contact."
"I think that's a good idea," Cye said. "Speaking of contact, Mia, how are you going to get in touch with Eiko?"
"I have Hiro's office number," Mia said, flipping pages in the steno pad she used to jot down notes for her books. "Let's hope that Eiko's been checking his messages. I'll ask her to meet me and give her this number, and then we'll just have to hope she calls back." She dialed, holding in a breath as the phone rang. As she waited, she reviewed the message she planned to leave in her head, and so was actually rather surprised when someone picked up the phone.
"Hiro Imamura's office," a voice said. At least, Mia thought that was what they were saying—it sounded as though the person speaking had a terrible head cold.
"Oh!" Mia said. What luck, to not only get an answer but to reach Eiko herself! "I—I was—This is Mia Koji. Mrs. Imamura, I'm so glad to have reached you instead of an answering machine."
The soft voice still sounded stuffy, but relieved. "Oh, yes, Ms. Koji, we spoke at the funeral. I'm just here sorting through Hiro's things. Please excuse how I sound...you can only imagine what this is like for me."
Mia could. She felt instinctively guilty for what she was about to do, but a glance over at the table where the Polaroids of the skeleton were laid out reminded her that this woman might be responsible for the death of the husband she was mourning. Tears didn't mean she was innocent. "Mrs. Imamura, I know this might be a bad time, but I'm so glad I caught you. The other day we were discussing having your husband's work published, and I was wondering if you'd be kind enough to meet with me to review some material of his." It wasn't exactly a lie, and that made Mia feel a little better—they wouldbe discussing Hiro's research.
Luckily, this seemed to cheer Eiko up considerably. "That is so kind of you, Ms. Koji," she said, sniffing. "It would mean so much to me to see Hiro's research fulfilled."
"I really think I can help you," Mia said gently. "Would you be willing to meet me at the university library tonight, and then we can go someplace quiet to talk?" As she spoke, Rowen gave her a thumbs-up. Quickly, before she lost her nerve, Mia skillfully talked Eiko into meeting her at the library as soon as it was full dark, stating that she couldn't get there sooner because she had work that needed to be done.
"Thank you, Ms. Koji, thank you," Eiko snuffled as soon as they'd hammered down the details. "You have no idea what a big help you'll be to me."
"I can help you," Mia repeated, still unwilling to believe that Eiko's involvement in this was malicious and not just an unhappy accident. "Please remember that, Mrs. Imamura, and I'll see you tonight."
"I'll be there." Eiko disconnected.
Mia hung up the phone and blinked at the pleased faces of the Ronin. "See?" she said cheerfully, trying to disguise her sudden nervousness. "Piece of cake!"
"That was almost too easy!" Ryo laughed, and Mia's stomach flipped. Something didn't feel right, and she wished her 'little brother' hadn't said exactly what she was thinking.
The rest of the day was devoted to preparing for battle. The boys sparred in the yard, checked their weapons and checked them again, discussed contingency plans for every possible sortie. Mia was proud of her prudent soldiers—they always hoped for the best, but were more than prepared for the worst, and that mentality had never failed them before. The problem was, she couldn't contribute anything else for now. She'd already done her part in setting the trap, and until they brought Eiko back to the cabin, there was nothing more she could do to help. That is, she hoped they'd bring Eiko back to the cabin—if Eiko and the demon blitzed the boys, they'd have to deal with her right then and there, and Mia hated the idea that she'd be hiding safely at the cabin while her friends battled for their lives.
Worse, she couldn't shake the nagging feeling that things were falling into place a little too well. Suppose Eiko had caught on to what Mia was really up to by now. She'd had all day to think about it, and if she decided to stage an attack, Mia was sending the Ronin to the slaughter. The very idea of that was intolerable, but the boys had flatly refused to discuss the idea of her accompanying them any further.
All of this translated into her spending a lot of the day getting underfoot as she tried desperately to be close to her knights in the last few hours before they tramped off to war. She managed to while away an hour at the kitchen table helping Rowen fletch arrows, but soon her hands were shaking so badly imagining what he'd need them for that the Ronin of Strata sensed her discomfort and gently sent her to the living room.
"Hey, Mia," Kento said cheerfully, having witnessed the entire scene. "Think you can give me a hand over here?" he asked, displaying his naginata to her. The blade flashed as he tilted it, and for one moment she caught sight of her own face—eyes haunted and hollow, cheeks bright with nervous color.
Despite the fact that she knew Kento was indulging her and that whatever he needed was nothing he couldn't handle himself, she tripped eagerly over to where he was seated on the sofa. "Sure, Kento, what's up?"
Laying the staff of the naginata across both their laps, he said, "It's real easy. I just need you to hold that really steady. I'm sharpening the edge." Grinning at her, he added, "Did you know some knights used to sharp their shields so they could use the edges like a blade if they were disarmed?"
Mia actually did know that, but she smiled. "Really? That sounds smart."
"Yeah, but we don't need to do that," Hardrock bragged, scraping the whetstone he'd found against the shining blade. "We're too damn good to lose our weapons!"
Mia laughed, but it sounded brittle even to her own ears. Kento stopped his work, smiling so gently at her. Cupping a big hand over her knee and patting it, he said, "Don't be scared. This is nothing compared to some stuff we've done. You know that."
Caught, she looked down at her hands clutching the naginata. "I just...I hate that I can't be out there with you."
"We'll be back before you know it," Kento soothed, patting her again. "And we'll bring you the prize. That's something else that knights do."
Despite everything, Mia smiled. "What else do knights do?"
Now Hardrock's eyes twinkled. "They protect their princess. They take up arms for her, 'cause they'd do anything for her."
Sighing, Mia leaned against Kento's strong shoulder. "Why is it that the more nervous I get, the happier you seem? You sound almost relieved that this is coming to a breaking point."
"Hell yes I'm relieved," the warrior of Hardrock said. "I was a bit nervous when I thought we were dealing with some cloak-and-dagger murderer, but now that I know it's something mystical, I ain't scared. We can deal with that!"
Mia shook her head and laughed. "You know, for most people, it's the other way around."
Kento hefted his whetstone again. "We're not most people, baby. Now hold this for me. I want it so sharp that mutt won't even feel its head falling off."
"Damn straight," she said, heartened by his enthusiasm. No, they were definitely not most people, not at all.
By the time twilight shaded down from the trees, they were as ready as they were ever going to be. Mia found herself hyperaware, trying desperately to hold on to things-the way Rowen's close-cropped hair had felt under her hands as she'd clasped her arms around his neck and hugged him, Cye's far-off gaze as he considered the horizon, the way the light of the table lamp was glinting off Kento's subarmor, making even a weapon of war look golden and friendly, Ryo's laughter as he gave instructions to White Blaze. She did not like the idea of being left behind while they rode into danger, because there was always a chance, however slight, that one or all might not return. Suddenly overwhelmed with anxiety, she spun and headed into the kitchen, intending to open the back door and get some fresh air; she couldn't let them see her so upset, not right before they left, when so much was at stake tonight.
She should have known Sage would be out there already, collecting the light of the dying day to hold close as he rode into battle. Now he seemed to shine in the center of the yard, as though he'd spent all day charging himself up to glow in the dark like a beacon. Mia halted unsteadily on the back steps; she was reminded of Kento's earlier talk of knights; the man before her now resembled nothing less than a young king, ready to take up arms to defend his lands from the demons of war. She felt suddenly small in the presence of such effortless majesty.
"They're ready," she said, somehow unable to force her voice above a whisper.
"So am I," he answered calmly, the nod of his head singular and precise. Unable to control her fear any longer, she leapt from the three crude wooden steps to fling her arms around his neck. He was rock steady to catch her, something that gave her hope; his voice was just as strong as he spoke comfort into her ear.
"We're going to take care of this," he promised softly. "And then you and I are going to have a long talk. About you and me."
"I'd like that." Her heart thudded wildly against her breastbone as she drew back from him. You and me. Her head spun delightfully with the possibilities of it, but there were bigger things to worry about right now. "We can talk...when you come back," she said, her eyes stinging. "So come back as soon as you can."
His eyes softened just the tiniest bit, and he gave her the smile he saved only for her. "Watch for me by moonlight. I'll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way."
He reached up, a cool brush of gauntleted knuckles against her cheek, the barest touch, then he was gone, into the house to join his comrades.
Mia was jolted out of her paralysis by the slap of the screen door against the frame, and she dashed quickly around the house. The boys would tell her that she should remain inside, out of sight, but she could not let her heroes leave without seeing them off.
Breathlessly, she rounded the house to see Ryo on one knee, hugging White Blaze around the neck. When the tiger saw Mia, he trotted obediently to her side, and she knew he would not leave her until there was no more cause to worry. Ryo grinned and held up one hand in a thumbs-up, and Mia tried to burn the image of that smile into her mind. The others looked similarly cheerful as they turned to head towards the car—they were taking her Jeep, to keep up the ruse that she was the one going to meet Eiko tonight. She wondered if they all felt as Kento did—relieved that there would be action finally, that there was something they could do to take a stand.
"Guys?" she asked. They turned as one to face her.
"Kick its ass," she said, her expression bloodthirsty.
They nodded with a vengeance.
Right from the beginning, the waiting was maddening. Mia paced the cabin floor with White Blaze's eyes following her for long minutes, thinking. Unfortunately she knew that the boys were right. She'd reached the limit of her usefulness on this one—books and cleverness weren't going to be any help if there was a demon attack tonight, and the best place for her was far, far away from it. But oh, how she wished she could help them, fight by their side instead of worrying herself sick over them.
She wasn't afraid for herself, not really—White Blaze was no stranger to warfare either. He'd taken his role as protector very seriously, and if some grotesque creature did come for them, she had no doubt he'd be warned way in advance of an enemy who smelled strongly and couldn't run as fast as he could. So she wasn't worried for herself, but she wouldn't be easy until her boys were back safe.
She almost wished she felt hungry enough to cook, just to pass the time, but her stomach was flipping and she knew if she ate anything, she'd vomit from pure stress. Instead she began to clean the cabin. It wasn't all that messy to begin with, but she desperately needed a distraction; she mopped the floors, dusted the tables, washed the dishes that the boys had left in the sink. She sang while she worked, hating the silence that rang through the empty house, until she elected to clean the stove, which had so much caked-on grease and grime in it that she needed to save her breath for scrubbing.
When there wasn't a speck of dust or dirt left in the cabin, Mia leaned back on her heels and blew out an exhausted breath, scrubbing a hand over her sweaty face. She'd shower, she decided, and dry her hair and that would pass the time, too. Maybe when she came out they'd be back, and she couldn't interrogate Eiko looking like a sweaty, dusty ragbag.
Getting to her feet and turning to head for the shower, she almost tripped over White Blaze, who'd kept his watchful eye on her during the entirety of her whirlwind cleaning spree. Chuckling, she bent and smacked a kiss against his head. "Enough!" she said cheerfully. "You don't have to keep such a close watch on me, big cat. I'm just going in to take a shower. If it'll make you feel better, you can patrol the house until I get out, O.K.?"
White Blaze flattened his ears and made a sound like a weed-whacker; his way of letting her know he was not happy with this idea. Frowning playfully, Mia opened the hall closet and selected Ryo's baseball bat from the jumble of sporting goods that threatened to cascade down (she hadn't been quite desperate enough to clean the closets). "Here. See? I'll take this in with me, and if anyone gets past you I'll knock them out of the park."
White Blaze made that annoyed sound again and pushed his head against her thigh, but didn't make any attempt to stop her. Rifling through her duffle bag for a comfortable outfit, Mia headed for the shower, hoping that the waiting was almost over.
"I spy, with my little eye, something beginning with B."
"Books. I spy, wit' my li'l eye, somethin' beginnin' wit' L."
"Literature. I spy, with my little eye, something beginning with T."
"Texts. I spy, wit' my li'l—"
"Enough, you two," Ryo roared at Rowen and Kento, one of whom was seated at the book-return desk and one of whom was leaning over the second-landing railing. "I can't stand it anymore. Where the hell is she?"
Sage and Cye, who had taken up posts at the north and east windows, turned back to glance at their leader. Ryo had been mostly quiet the entire time, but apparently an hour and a half of waiting once they'd arrived at the library had gotten to him.
Sage wasn't happy either. He could not shake the feeling that something was wrong, and every minute they tarried here made him more nervous for Mia's safety. "There are no pedestrians out there."
"There's no anything out there," Cye agreed. "I'm wondering if we should search the grounds."
"We should do something," Ryo said, cracking his gauntleted knuckles. Even his wild dark hair seemed to be lashing with the force of his frustration as he paced. "Maybe we should split up and do a quick patrol."
"We said we wasn't gonna split up no more," Rowen argued.
Kento nodded. "Right. We should go together."
"We can't do that, either," Cye pointed out. "If Eiko is simply running late, she may show up while we're gone. It's either risk splitting up, or we call the whole thing off altogether."
After a quick huddle, Cye and Sage elected to stay in the library in case Eiko showed up, while Ryo, Rowen and Kento did a cursory search of the nearby grounds. Everyone seemed happy with that idea, especially Ryo, who was practically jogging in place in hopes of some action. "All right, you guys hold the place down. If you hear sounds of carnage, back us up, would you?"
Sage and Cye exchanged looks, then Cye gave his leader a warning look. "A quick search," he reminded Wildfire. "Quick and quiet and if you don't find anything, come back here and we'll figure out what to do next."
Ryo clapped his gauntleted hands, as though they were finishing up a time-out in basketball. "Awesome. We'll be back before you know it." He sprinted out the double doors with Kento and Rowen in pursuit.
Once the others had vacated the library, Cye felt it safe to voice his concerns to Sage. "Between you and me, I think we've been squirreled," he confided.
"Something's definitely wrong about this deal," Sage agreed. "I don't like it at all, but I also hate to go back to Mia empty-handed."
"Should we call her?" Cye asked. "She might have an idea of how she wants to proceed, and she's bound to be worried since we haven't reported in to her yet. It's been a while."
Sage considered this, then shook his head. "Wait a little longer. She's already upset enough, and there's no point in calling just to worry her more. She's going to be even more agitated when she hears there's no sign of Eiko here."
"Do you think Eiko figured out the trick?" Cye wondered. "She might have been watching for Mia, and when she saw us instead, maybe she hid, knowing what was coming."
Sage set his jaw. "If that's the case, then Ryo, Rowen and Kento will flush her out. Either way, we're not leaving here without some answers."
The Warrior of Halo was very right indeed, but it would be at least another precious twenty or thirty minutes before he put the entire puzzle together. More's the pity.
White Blaze lay by the bathroom door, listening to the steady swish of water. The big cat's tail twitched. He knew that the Ronin had entrusted him with a very important job tonight, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong, and he was missing it.
The big cat cocked his ear towards the bathroom door, hoping he'd hear the sweet voice he loved singing happily beneath the water, but no such luck. Poor Mia. He could tell she was unhappy, too—he'd watched her worry all day, and he knew she wished they were all still together. The redhead was so rarely unhappy, and he hated to see her seashore eyes darken with worry. Mia was his special friend; she had opened her house to him when he could not follow Ryo to the city, and his days were never lonely with her for company. She walked with him every morning, read parts of her books to him for approval, hugged him when they both felt sad, always shared her ice cream. He'd jump into the jaws of hell before he would allow anything to happen to his friend, and she was absolutely safe with him, the tiger reasoned. If anything bad came calling, he would protect her.
That feeling. It was like a scent on the wind—something far-off he couldn't quite grasp, but he knew it was Not Good, and maybe it was better not to wait until the danger breached the house. If he went out to meet it, Mia would never be at risk, and he could handle it before it got anywhere near her. The white noise of the water tapered off and was replaced by another sound he knew well, the click and whirr of a blow dryer; she would never have to be scared if he were quick about it and returned before she was finished cleaning up.
The decision made, the big cat rose and padded out his door with ninja stealth.
Ryo, Rowen and Kento had done a cursory search of the grounds surrounding the library, the gatehouse, and the humanities building, and they'd quickly come to the same conclusion as Cye and Sage. "We been had," Rowen said in disgust, scuffing a metal-toed boot against the ground. "There ain't nobody around here."
"We'd better get back to Mia pronto," Ryo agreed. "We're wasting time here."
But when they turned back towards the library , Kento noticed something they hadn't seen before-something they couldn't have seen, because full dark hadn't fallen until after they'd been closeted in the library for over an hour. "Check that out," Hardrock said.
"That" was a small window set in the side of the building, less than a foot off the ground, to the left of the double doors that led into the library. What hadn't been visible in the light of the dying day was that a lamp was on in the room the window opened into.
"Basement," Rowen deduced, and it wasn't long before the three Ronin found a way in around the side of the library-a storm door without a lock on it that opened to reveal a stone staircase leading down to a narrow, tiled hallway.
"Bingo," Ryo hissed, and with the exchange of a quick nod, the boys readied themselves and crept down the stone stairs as silently as they were able to. Rowen closed the storm door over behind them and the corridor beneath the earth was immediately plunged into near-darkness, the only light coming from the room at the end of the hall-the door was ajar, spilling just enough light into the hall for them to see the way to their destination.
The three Ronin moved quickly; the narrow corridor provided no cover and a quick twist of a few doorknobs by Kento revealed that the doors that lined the way were locked. They'd have no problem forcing them in an emergency, but small square windows set in each doorway revealed that the rooms themselves were dark, and there was no point in searching further when the lamp in the last room glowed like a welcoming beacon. The stingy light was enough for the boys to read the plates on each door—Storage; Satou, K.; Archives; Lab. And finally, the slightly open door at the end of the hall—Imamura, H.
Kento couldn't imagine working down in a dungeon like this, but he got the feeling that Mia's friend Hiro had probably liked it; it was private down here and quiet, and he could work uninterrupted while the world busied itself above his head. Still, he felt sort of sorry for whoever "Satou, K." was—they were stuck down here, too. Pointing silently to himself, he advanced to the front of his party and prepared to kick open the door, ready to scare the daylights out of Eiko if she were hiding in there. The element of surprise would work in their favor; she might be disoriented long enough for them to subdue her and tell her they weren't going to hurt her; they just wanted some answers.
Ryo and Rowen each nodded, and the Warrior of Hardrock opened the office door with a tremendous kick.
Or, tried to; the door's momentum was dulled almost immediately as it bounced into something and wobbled back towards the surprised Ronin. Tensing, they raised their fists and spread their feet to anchor themselves, but there was no sound from within the office, and nothing came rushing out to attack them.
The boys exchanged quizzical looks, until Kento finally broke the spell by saying, "...the hell?"
"Try it again," Ryo suggested, and Kento put both hands on the door and pushed, only to meet the same resistance.
"Something's in the way," he reported, and gave the door another shove. This time whatever it was moved enough for him to squeeze into the small office, but barely; the obstruction was fairly large and was now trapped between the door and the wall, leaving precious little space for the door to open.
Nothing seemed disturbed; the warm, friendly light was coming from a desk lamp that had been switched on, but there was no one sitting at the tidy desk. The desktop computer was also on, and a word processing program was open. From where he was standing, Kento could read the words typed onto the screen:
I CAN'T DO THIS ANYMORE...IT'S TOO MUCH WITHOUT HIRO
I'M SORRY
A sick feeling overtook the Warrior of Hardrock, and before he looked down at the object that had been blocking the door, he already knew what he'd see-the body of Eiko Imamura, lying with her bleached cheek pressed into a pool of her own blood. Dead. Very, very dead.
"Shit," he whispered. "Shit—" And then he was pushing all the way into the room, leaving space for Ryo and Rowen to follow him; their expressions were similarly horrified when they saw the sad tableau. Eiko's bright blonde hair was matted and sticky, the buttery waves soaking up the blood she lay in. A dark puddle had formed beneath her, a few red rivulets creeping back towards Hiro's desk. One hand was stretched away from her, and while Kento's intrusion had moved her and swiped the blood across the floor, the boys could see the ragged cut on her upturned wrist and knew without looking that they'd find an identical one on her opposite hand.
"Gods," Kento breathed. "Why? What was so awful that she'd have died before she told anyone? We could've worked it out—we would've helped," he said, voice soft with horror. "Mia said she'd help, Mia promised! Why didn't she let Mia help her?"
Rowen was thinking along different lines. "Somethin' ain't right about this. Why's she by th' door? Why didn't she sit at th' desk, make 'erself comfortable? It looks like she was tryin' ta leave."
Ryo didn't want to think about it. "Maybe she changed her mind, tried to go for help, but it was too late and she fell down to die here. See, she's got a bruise on her head, like she hit it or something when she fell." He sketched a line in the air to display what he meant, but refrained from getting close to the corpse to point it out.
Rowen shook his head. "Nah, man, it ain't right," he insisted. "She wrote her note. She didn't change 'er mind—somethin's wrong 'ere. Lookit this. She was runnin' for th' door."
That struck a chord in Ryo, and he strode to Hiro's desk, the final words of Eiko Imamura—I'M SORRY—burning in green pixels on the dark monitor screen. "Look," he said triumphantly, ignoring the haunting image and indicating the spotless desk with a wave of his hand. "There's a phone here. She could have called for help, called the paramedics. But there's no blood on the phone, or anywhere near the desk. She wasn't sitting here when she slashed her wrists. She didn't touch the phone. If she'd changed her mind about killing herself, why didn't she do the things that would have saved her?"
"She wasn't trying to save herself, maybe," Kento said, trying to mimic Rowen and get inside the dead woman's mind for a minute to see things from her point of view. "She's dying, and she runs to the door because she's..."
It dawned on them all at the same time, and while there was no hard evidence in the room to support the theory, they nonetheless knew they were right. It was Rowen who vocalized it. "Chasin' someone," he said fiercely. "Someone else wuz in this room, an' they hit Eiko, knocked 'er down maybe, then tried t'make it look like she killed herself."
"Eiko woke up," Ryo continued, propelled on the combined force of their collective intuition. "Eiko woke up and even though she knew she was dying, she tried to stop her killer. She went down fighting," he said appreciatively. "Good for her, poor thing."
"So Eiko wasn't the killer after all?" Kento said. "This is nuts, man. First Hiro, now his wife. Why?"
"Because they knew," Rowen said determinedly. "They knew about th' inugami, an' the killer is tryin' t'cover his tracks. They're takin' out ev'ryone who knows about th' inugami, an' th' only one left is—"
No one bothered to say her name aloud; all three boys exchanged a panicked look.
"We gotta jam. Now!" Ryo said, and Rowen followed him out into the corridor at a dead sprint. No need to be quiet now.
But even in their haste, Kento spared a precious few seconds to kneel by the body of Eiko Imamura, uncaring of the mess. Carefully, gently, he tucked a lock of bloody hair behind her ear and closed her eyelids. "You did all you could," he told the dead woman. "Let us make it right. And we will, too."
Then the Warrior of Hardrock was dashing after his friends, leaving only a bloody smudge on the tiled floor to mark the passing of his boots.
"Where are they?" Cye hissed, glancing out the window for the fortieth time. Turning back to Sage, he asked, "How can you sit there and read at a time like this?"
"I'm not reading, I'm researching," Sage said calmly, turning a page in the book he held, the text from Hiro's satchel. He had read part of it with Mia that morning—was it only that morning?—and she'd pointed out the inugami in one of the chapters that claimed to focus on divination and the summoning of spirits. "None of this is adding up, and I'm tired of being in the dark."
Cye nodded, wandering towards the desk where Halo sat. "The key is here and we're missing it," he agreed in frustration, picking up Hiro's address book from the desk and leafing through it. "It's something we just can't see."
A puzzle piece turned and clicked into place in Sage's mind. "Not something we can't see," he said, pushing his chair back from the table, hands flat on the surface as he propelled himself to his feet. "Something we can't read. Give me that."
Cye handed the address book over, and Sage traded him for the textbook. Cye took it, opening it idly to a middle page, but kept his gaze on his friend. "Mia went over and over all this stuff, Sage," he pointed out. "She said none of it was helpful."
"Mia didn't know what we were looking for," Sage insisted, paging through the address book until he found the page he wanted. "It's this. It's been here the whole time and we haven't realized it."
Cye looked at the page Sage displayed to him. "Looks like a bunch of squiggles."
"It isn't," Sage said. "I'll bet you anything it isn't. We can't read it, and I have a hunch the killer can't read it either. Mia just thought it was weird, that it was Hiro's own special shorthand, but it's not—it's an alphabet," the Warrior of Halo pronounced, pointing to the open text he'd handed Cye, which was currently open to a chapter on runic divination. Several of the symbols in Hiro's address book could be matched to symbols in the text—Thurisaz, rune of change, which looked like a stem with a thorn sticking out of it, hence its translation "thorn"; Jera, the Year, a stylized yin-yang symbol that represented the harvest, Dagaz, the Dawn, the hourglass rune that symbolized awakening. "Now, when we have a problem with ancient legends and dead languages, who do we call?"
The light bulb went bing over Cye's head. "No wonder the demon is trying to steal the satchel and keeps chasing Mia! The killer must think Mia can read this stuff."
"Hiro went to Mia for help," Sage said. "She agreed to meet him here, and he gave her all of this stuff to hold on to, so when the killer confronted him looking for the books, he didn't have them on him. Maybe over the course of the encounter, Hiro realized what the killer had done, and he'd have known about the inugami from his research. So he had to go. But the killer didn't get the location of the book out of him. They probably thought it was still here in the library somewhere."
"That's why you and Mia ran into the demon," Cye figured. "It was sent to look for the book."
"Right."
"So that explains Hiro's murder, and the other indiscriminate killings are simply because they've lost control of the demon," Cye said. "But there's one thing that's been bothering me. If Eiko and Hiro worked together to summon a demon and now Eiko wants to put it back, why on Earth didn't she know where to find a spell that would do so? Wouldn't she and Hiro have figured that out well beforehand? He was a professor of mythology, and from what Mia says, he wasn't stupid."
Sage nodded. "Even if Eiko had already figured out that we were gunning for her tonight, we've been cooling our heels here too long. If Rowen's earlier theory is correct and the demon is after the satchel with Hiro's notes, it still should have shown up to play Easter Egg hunt by now. But it hasn't, and I don't like it."
Cye tossed the address book onto the desk and it remained open to the page with the runes. Sage's eyes flickered over it idly—then widened as a sequence of events and locations suddenly resolved themselves into an explanation that made sense. Grabbing for the textbook, his eyes scanned the page like nervous radar until they found the symbol he was looking for—a long, three-pronged stroke that matched a mark in Hiro's address book…and a memory in Sage's mind.
Algiz, the text said. Protection. Shield. For defense against evil, the urge to protect oneself.
"We have to get back to Mia," Sage said sharply, slamming the book with a sound like a gunshot. "Now."
"What?" Cye said in alarm. "The others aren't—"
"Then we find them and get the hell out of here as fast as we can." Sage pushed the textbook back into the satchel and pointed to the address book with his other hand, gauntleted finger indenting the page over the rune Algiz, the rune he'd seen but yesterday and hadn't recognized until now. "I've seen this symbol before," he said, to cut off Cye's confused questions for the moment, "and I will explain everything on the way but we have to go now."
As they pushed through the double doors, they practically ran into their equally alarmed brothers. A quick explanation from both parties put them all on the same page, and in less than two minutes they were sprinting towards the Jeep, covering ground like scared wolves, all too aware that time was running out.
Mia clicked off her blow-dryer and ran her fingers through her hair. She knew the boys might think it was silly that she'd bothered with it tonight, but the simple act of grooming had calmed her and made her feel more ready for their return. She had no idea what she was going to say to Eiko once she was here, but she'd be put together and organized, ready to confront the woman with solid evidence that they knew what she was up to. Then, together, maybe they could all figure out how to put an end to this nightmare once and for all.
It occurred to the redhead that she hadn't heard White Blaze lurking around ever since she'd gotten out of the shower. Carefully, slowly, Mia picked up Ryo's baseball bat and eased open the bathroom door. No one was in the hall. After a quick debate over giving away her position by speaking, she realized the shower water and the sound of the dryer would have done that anyway and decided to risk it. Opening the bathroom door all the way, she called out for the big cat. "White Blaze?"
No paws padding to greet her. No striped tail twitching hello.
A quick cold jolt of apprehension sent her moving quickly towards the living room, but the answer was waiting for her there—a swinging kitty-door, its hinges creaking and the rough wooden edge bumping against the floor. Ryo wasn't exactly a handyman, but he did his best; Mia smiled in relief. "He must have gone out to patrol the house like I said. I'll make sure there's water for him when he comes back." The phone rang, and she brightened; it was sure to be the boys telling her they were on their way back. Resting the bat against the door, she turned around and crossed the room to answer it.
Mia picked up the receiver eagerly, but the sound of her movement wasn't enough to mask a new creak from the door, and the greeting froze on her lips as she realized a second too late what was happening.
"Wait. Wait," Cye said as the Jeep turned onto the street leading away from the university. "There's a pay phone. Pull over."
"Pull over?" Sage asked incredulously, as if Cye had suggested they all get out and run circles around the car. "Cye, there's no time—"
"We don't know for sure," Cye said. "Let's call her. If we come crashing in and nothing's wrong, we'll scare the daylights out of her, and she's been frightened enough. Let's just make sure. Okay?"
"That's actually a good idea," Ryo said. "It will only take a minute."
Sage did not look happy. "Fine, but I'm sitting here with my foot on the accelerator ready to burn rubber if she doesn't answer the phone."
Despite the gravity of the situation, the others exchanged amused looks. It was Rowen who said it. "Sage, pull in ova there an' turn off th' engine so ya don't reflexively stomp on th' gas an' end up wrappin' us around a tree."
"I agree," the other three immediately chorused.
"Oh, so this is a democratic group of samurai, is it?" Sage grumbled, but in the interest of saving time, he did as Ryo said, pulling the Jeep up beside the phone. Luckily, the area was deserted so late at night, and no one noticed a car full of armored samurai stopping along the curb.
Cye got out along with Rowen. The Warrior of Torrent patted his subarmor, looking sheepish. "Anyone have a quarter?"
With an absolutely droll expression, Rowen smashed a gauntleted fist into the base of the phone. When he withdrew his hand from the hole, coins spilled out like molten silver.
"Frat boys did it," he said simply as Cye shook his head in disapproval. Torrent frowned, but selected a quarter.
"It's ringing," he reported, looking at the anxious faces of the others.
Cye waited, counting rings. "Three…four…five…come on, girl," he muttered nervously.
As the others looked on, he startled at something he'd heard on the other end of the line. Clutching the receiver, he asked, "Mia?"
Four Ronin tensed, waiting.
"Mia?" Cye repeated. "Are you there?" His eyes narrowed. "What was that noise?"
Sage's hands tightened on the steering wheel, the tortured leather creaking beneath his gauntlets.
Cye's eyes widened at another sound. "Mia, sweetie, answer me, tell me you're all right—"
Blinking, Cye suddenly took the phone from his ear. Looking confused, he reported, "There was a noise—a crash, like the phone dropped to the floor, then nothing. I heard breathing, but then…someone hung up."
Rowen was already shepherding Cye back into the Jeep as Sage shifted gears in as close to panic as the Warrior of Halo ever came.
The sharp whistle of a weapon through the air reached Mia's ears, and she had no way of knowing if it was blunt or blade, only that she had to duck. Dropping, she heard it slice the air above her. Missed me, missed me, now you've got to—
"Kiss me," Sage said in her memory as the return swing clipped the side of the head and pain screamed through her like bottle rockets.
Her senses scrambled as she fell, and her dizzy mind began confusing reality with memories of falling, falling down into the icy waterfall five years before, arms and legs immobile from the chill. She thought she heard Cale's mocking laugh above her but she knew it was wrong; Cale's laugh shouldn't have had such a feminine ring to it. Hitting the floor felt like an earthquake, but she refused to scream, she would not be defeated, and darkness covered the face of the mountain…
Blindness ate the world. Ryo, was this what it was like when the sword sliced across your eyes?
Falling. I'm going away, she thought languidly. Falling. But so dark.
Sage's voice in the back of her mind. "Mia. We can't keep wasting time."
Right before she passed out, Mia felt more productive than she had all week. She pieced together exactly what had happened, not only to her but to Hiro Imamura, and knew the person responsible; she could count every single wasted minute she'd ever let escape her; she saw Sage's ice-pale eyes hazy with passion in the low light of memory and even had time to realize what an idiot she'd been.
In stark contrast to earlier in the week, no one was yelling at Sage for driving like a drag racer as he gunned the Jeep out of the city at emergency speeds. Kento and Rowen were stationed at windows on either side, watching for patrol cars. "Just try not to get pulled over, man," Ryo said, but not unkindly.
"If they come after us, I'll outrun them," Sage answered, an edge of ferocity in his voice. "No one's catching me tonight."
"Be quick, but don't hurry," Cye advised, another concern coming to mind. "Getting into a car accident will not get us to her faster."
He received a curt nod from Sage in answer, but in three seconds the pedal was to the floor anyway.
Kento grinned weakly. "If you wreck us, I'll kill you, Halo."
Sage didn't smile back. "If we're too late to save her, I'll let you," he said grimly, shifting gears.
Author's Notes:
We're sorry, but your princess is in another castle: Few things were more frustrating to a 1980s Nintendo player than getting to the end of every Bowser castle in Super Mario Brothers only to meet a Mushroom Retainer who informed us that the princess was indeed in another castle. That was back when she was going by the name "Toadstool"—am I dating myself here or what? *smiles and winks*
All of the demons Mia looks up are well-catalogued in Japanese lore, and yes, I intentionally left out the thing about the tanuki testicles (Japanese ghost stories, in my opinion, range from the weird to the just plain ridiculous). Just be glad I didn't include the demon with the eyeball in its…well, you go ahead and look that one up if you dare. *snickers.*
Sharping a shield: I can't find any historical documents that corroborate the idea of "sharping" a shield in order to use its edge as a blade, but I've read about the technique in plenty of fantasy stories and think it's a salty way to turn the tide in a desperate battle. The first time I encountered it in fantasy, it was in fact a squirrel who had done so—Jacques's Borderer who was a force for good. Stars shine bright over your brave bones, Mr. Jacques! We miss you.
I'll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way: Like a true knight, Sage wouldn't say goodbye to Mia without pulling out all the stops—he quotes one of the saddest, sweetest poems ever written, Alfred Noyes' The Highwayman.
The Elder Futhark: I first became acquainted with the runic alphabet of the Elder Futhark nearly twenty years ago reading Lisa Jane Smith's The Forbidden Game. Smith only used a small section of the alphabet in her writings (including Thurisaz, the Thorn, and Dagaz, the Dawn), but there are many more runes that can be used for divination. Algiz carries a primary meaning of "shield", protection of oneself or others, defense against evil. Lucky for Mia that Sage got bored in the library and felt like picking up a book!
A special thank-you: To the reviewer who signed in as "YFF", if you're still reading, you honor me with your attention and I couldn't be more flattered—I read "Chains Unleashed" and "Blood Moon Rising" years ago and found them delightful; it's stories like those that made me itch to put pen to paper myself!
For you art lovers: http:/ nekosaiko. deviantart. com /art/: Nekosaiko on DA is a hell of an artist, she is super nice, and she does beautiful YST art which includes some heartstopping Seiji/Nasuti doujinshi. Her Bleach stuff is just as gorgeous—anything she does is lovely. Go check her page out. She's outrageous!
Next chapter: So now both the Ronin and Mia know who's behind this bloodbath, but as my favorite soldiers say, knowing is only half the battle. *smiles and winks.* Good thing the Ronin have weapons for the other half!