For the next two days, all the ronins did was sit around in the living room. Kento was extremely sore, and the others were just wiped out. Cye was the only one who managed to stay active without feeling terrible. He ran around the house helping anyone who needed it. He helped wash White Blaze, cooked meals, and cleaned. However, what he didn't show was that at the end of the day, he was wasted. After Kento had fallen asleep, he would quietly saunter in and collapse on his bed, not even bothering to change or get under the covers. What he didn't know was that Kento usually wasn't asleep, and he, or one of the other guys would come in and get him bed ready. Funny thing was, he never caught on, even when he awoke the next morning.

On the third day, Cye didn't come down when the others did. Mia was packed and ready to go to the airport. She was summoned to a university on another island, and she had to leave by 9 AM. Before going downstairs, she checked up on him. Cye was passed out beyond waking abilities; he was laying on his stomach, with one leg uncovered, the rest of the blanket spooled around his waist, and one of his arms hanging off the bed. She contained a giggle and leaned down to place a soft kiss on his cheek. Cye stirred and sighed, making Mia giggle again. She closed the door and went down to say goodbye to the others. Surprisingly enough, Rowen was up, too, but his hair was a mess, and he was still in his sleep attire.

"We hops you have a safe trip, Mia."

"I will."

"We'll miss you a lot!"

All f them nodded, except for Rowen, who was rubbing at his tired eyes. Ryo smiled.

"Rowen will miss you too!"

"I'm glad!"

"Man, it's too bad Cye isn't up to say farewell!"

"Oh, I went up to check on him a few moments ago. The poor thing looked exhausted! Promise me you'll get him to take it easy today."

"We will."

Then, Ryo walked up close to Mia and they shared a long kiss. He wrapped his arms around her waist and she looped hers around his neck. Alas, the transport bus was right outside waiting for her, and she had to leave the warmth of Ryo's embrace. She would long for the end of her trip, so she could return to the home she has built with her friends. With a final wave, she closed the door and left. Ryo stood at the door watching as the transport bus disappeared over the hill.

Cye awoke two hours later, and gasped as he saw the time on the clock. He hurriedly got showered and dressed, and ran down the stairs. He tripped, but Kento was just coming up, and caught him around the waist.

"Kento!"

"Good morning, sleepy head! I was just coming up to complain about breakfast!"

"Oh, really? I'm sorry about that!"

Kento let Cye go, and they both walked down the stairs. Sage was sitting on the armchair reading a book, Rowen was in the bathroom, and Ryo was rolling around on the floor, trying to pry White Blaze off of him. Cye tried his hardest to hold in a laugh, and then he saw Sage wave.

"Good morning, everyone. I'm sorry I woke up so late! I'll go make brunch now!"

Ryo looked up from the floor behind the couch, having temporarily given up on prying the tiger off him.

"What's the rush? I mean, you just got up, Cye!"

"Yes, but you all must be terribly hungry, right?"

"I'm fine."

"I can last a while on just coffee."

Then Cye turned to Kento, who was beginning to understand why the others were refusing such good food. Cye turned his head, and Kento let out a big sigh.

"I could wait for noon."

Cye almost fell down.

"What is going on here? When Kento refuses food, especially MY food, there's definitely something up!"

"No, nothing's up!"

Cye threw a glare at his leader. Sage saved him.

"You've just been working so hard lately, we thought you could use a break. Mia asked us to, also."

"Oh, I see where this is going… Really, guys, I'm fine! I'm not overdoing it!"

"Oh? And that's why you collapse every night and sleep in longer than usual?"

"I, uh…"

"Look, you need some time to rest!"

"Oh, nonsense!"

"Sage is right, man! You could use a day of rest and relaxation!"

Cye turned around and stared at Kento with his hands on his hips.

"Whose side are you on?"

"We're all on your side, Cye."

White Blaze was lying on the rug by the fireplace now, off of Ryo, and the warrior of wildfire was walking towards him. Ryo set his hands on Cye's shoulders and spoke in a strict, but sincere tone.

"We're worried about you. We know you're strong, but everyone needs a rest now and then."

"I know that, but…"

"Please? Even if you just rest for an hour, it would be good for you."

Eventually, Cye gave in. An hour later, he and Ryo were outside, meditating. They could sense that Sage was doing the same inside, but they understood that he liked his peace and privacy while doing so. The two were completely silent as they sat across from each other in silence. They were keeping their minds blank, but every time they tried to silence their minds, they would sense something sinister. They were in sync (no pun intended) with each other, and together they sensed it as something came near them. They couldn't sense exactly what it was, but as their minds listened for the incoming being, they started to reach for their armor orbs. Ryo had his when the entity was right behind him, and he opened his eyes and held out the orb at whoever it was coming up behind him.

"Armor of wildfi-"

He didn't get to finish his call, as a big, white tiger pounced on him. Once again, he was knocked to the ground, letting out a little shriek. Cye jumped, but then broke out laughing. Ryo was struggling t get free from the affectionate tiger, and White Blaze kept thinking he wanted to play.

"Blaze! Hey, get offa' me already! Geeze!"

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

Ryo managed to wrestle the tiger off, and he sat up as White Blaze lied down next to him, purring like mad and nuzzling his side.

"Silly tiger… you scared the living daylights out of me, you know!"

"True…I actually thought there was another enemy there, also! I'm relieved to know it was only White Blaze!"

"Yeah…"

That's when Cye looked at his watch.

"Oh! It's already been an hour and a half!"

"Has it? Time flew by really quickly…"

"No kidding! I'd better get inside and start on lunch."

Cye got up and started towards the house, but he stopped when Ryo called his name. He looked back to see Ryo leaning around the tiger to see him. He was smiling.

"Thanks… for taking a break when I know you didn't want to."

"No, I should thank you, for making me! I feel much better!"

"Good!"

Inside, Sage was doing what the others thought he was- meditating in silence. Sage often went to his room to do this, but there was something peaceful about the quiet living room that made him decide to do it there. Aside from that, he and Rowen shared a room upstairs, which was located next to Kento and Cye's, and the two were currently playing a rather loud video game there.

As Sage sat and relaxed, very slowly, he sensed uneasiness in his friends outside. Shortly after it passed them, it seemed to come towards him. In his mind, he had a very vivid picture of a shadow in black and green entering the house. The image stopped right next to Sage, and it watched as sweat rolled down the ronin's brow. Sage tried to put a face to the intruding spirit, but he couldn't form one. The evil was so strong, he could not see through it. That thought disturbed him. He was usually so level-headed… Then, as he struggled to regain 'consciousness', the figure moved on. Sage lost his concentration as Ryo and Cye came stumbling in the house, laughing like mad over the freaky events that had taken place. Smiling, and temporarily ignoring his uneasy feeling, Sage turned to the two.

"How did the meditation go?"

"Great!"

"Did anything happen?"

"Well, we thought we sensed something, but it turned out to be just White Blaze, sneaking up on us!"

"Oh, I see! From the sounds of it, you had a blast."

"Yeah, we had our fun…! Now, if you don't mind, I need to get lunch started!"

"No, we wouldn't want Kento to starve, now would we?"

Ryo was laughing as he passed where Sage was sitting cross-legged on the couch, but when he looked over, he saw the uncertain expression.

"What's wrong, Sage? Didn't your meditation go well?"

"Well, I'm not sure. I'm going to take a look around, if you know what I mean."

"Yeah, okay."

"Ryo! Why don't you go get cleaned up and rouse the other two?"

"Okay, okay… wow, Cye can be bossy when it comes to his cooking!"

"I heard that, Ryo…!"

"Uh-oh! I'd better run!"

Ryo laughed and ran up the stairs, and Sage could imagine Cye in the kitchen, waving a frying pan around. He let out a small laugh before beginning to focus again.

Kento was losing to Rowen in the games, and for the umpteenth time, he groaned in defeat. However, Ryo was in the doorway just in time to see the final blow on a mortal combat game.

"Ha! I beat you every time when we play this, Kento! Why don't you give up, already?"

"No way! I'll beat you somehow! Lets play again!"

"Ha ha!"

"Well, here's a warning, you two… Cye is making lunch! I estimate it will be ready in about twenty minutes!"

"Oh, yay!"

Kento abandoned his video game and jumped off his bed, pushing past Ryo to get to the living room and then the kitchen. Rowen took his time in getting the Playstation equipment together, and then doing a secret handshake with Ryo before going down to sit in the backyard for a while. It was his usual routine during that time of the day, and his usual meditation spot. After his friends faded from sight, Ryo went down the hall to his and Mia's room to freshen up. They were deep in a relationship, but they chose to have two separate beds for the time being. Though, one of them would usually sneak into the others' bed to snuggle.

Ryo smiled at the thought of holding Mia close to him, and sighed, knowing that he would be a little colder for the week and a half that she would be gone. Though, when he was lonely as a kid, Ryo would often go and sleep next to White Blaze. The tiger was one of his closest friends, and would never let him down. When in his room, Ryo closed the door and turned the light on. The room was big enough to house four, like the others, but it was well furnished. It had two beds, a desk, two dressers, its own bathroom, and a balcony and a bench on it.

The raven haired boy, after staring at a few of the group pictures on the desks, looked back at the door and saw his reflection in the mirror hanging there. He smiled, shy at seeing himself. He was handsome. No one would deny that, but he was still a bit modest when it came to his looks. Shaking his head, Ryo removed his shirt. Once it was off, he realized just how warm he had gotten from sitting outside for so long, and tossed the garment on his bed, to be put in the hamper later in the evening. Ryo wasn't neat, when he didn't have to be.

Just as he was about to retrieve another shirt, he glanced back up at the mirror on the door, and saw a dark shadow standing behind him. Ryo quickly turned around, facing the open window, and nothing. He was about to dismiss it as a hallucination until a dark figure with burning green eyes appeared right in front of him. He only had a second to take a step back before his face collided with the top of his writing desk. Somehow, in the split second Ryo was off guard, the intruder had managed to get behind him, roughly fold the boy's arms behind his back and slam him into the desk.

Once he registered this possibility, he tried to push back on his captor, but he wasn't giving in. Ryo could feel the hard wood, and a pen on top that his face was being pushed down against.

"W-who are you? What do you want!"

There was no answer. Ryo had been taken off guard, but he was not weak. He summoned the strength to push himself and his attacker back, getting free for only a moment before the intruder got behind him again and, once again, pinned his arms behind his back. This time, however, he was pushed into the mirror, shattering it. the glass cut into the skin on his cheek, and it fell to the floor about Ryo's feet. H had to tread softly, as he was not wearing shoes. Again, Ryo tried to talk to his attacker.

"Tell me who you are!"

"…"

"Tell me or I'll be forced to attack you without mercy."

"You can't hurt me, little fire…"

Ryo could feel the attacker get close to his ear. That's when he felt the cold of an armor suit press against his bare back, and he shuddered, feeling cold breath by his ear.

"You've already done as much damage as you could. Now, it's my turn."

"What?"

"I hope you said goodbye."

Ryo was released, but then hit on the back of his head, Ryo's body fell to the floor with a dull thud. He hit his head, and as he faded out of the conscious world, he was troubled by the disturbingly familiar voice that had spoken to him.