OMG! An update! I honestly can't believe it either. I was actually stuck with the desire to write again a couple weeks ago and even finished writing the chapter. Then I had an anime convention- JENNIFER CIHI! *fangirl squeal*- and finished typing the chapter last night. I'm not so much hating this story now, but the story will probably seem a little fast cause I just want to get it done! Anywhoo, enough about me. Enjoy.
Ronin Warriors: Inside a Box
Chapter 5- A Guest
Mia Koji sighed as she slid into the taxi. After a long flight and the chaos that could only be found in an airport, she was happy to get a moment to relax. Dark blue eyes watched the scenery pass out the window.
'It's good to be home,' she thought.
It had been two years since she had been on Japan soil. Two years since her grandfather passed away. For the past three years, Mia had been studying mythology abroad in America. She could clearly remember when he had first fallen ill, the call she received in her first year of schooling. She had rushed to his side, planning to stay in Japan to take care of her grandfather. Her grandfather, being the professor he was, ensured that she still kept to her studies. Shortly after, he died.
Mia returned to America and threw herself into her lessons. It felt like a connection to her beloved grandfather. Now with her education complete, she was returning to her grandfather's old home. The history and mythology researcher left the temple to her in his will.
'I better relax as much as I can. When I get to grandfather's...when I get home, I'll have a lot of work to do.'
Finished with his sweeping, Ryo surveyed the room. Rowen, being the tallest among the five, was cleaning the windows. Kento was currently moving the furniture that was in the room to the lawn to be cleaned by Sage. Cye was busy mopping the half of the room the other two did not occupy.
"I'm done. Guess I'll go help Kento and Sage," said Ryo.
"Alright," called back Rowen.
"We'll stop for lunch when we're done. That will give time for everything to dry." Cye paused in his work. "What would you guys like to eat?"
Ryo leaned against his broom in thought. "How about we get some pizza?"
Rowen perked in interest. "Pizza? What's that?"
Ryo smiled. "Pizza it is. Do you like peppers? Sausage? Pineapples?"
"Why not just get whatever you think it best," suggested the water demon, slightly confused with this "pizza". "Why don't you accompany him, Rowen? I can finish things up here."
"You sure?" questioned the tall teen.
Cye nodded. "We're nearly done with this room, anyway, thanks to all of us working together."
"Alright then. Let's go, Rowen."
Ryo leaned his broom outside in the hall, the sky demon placing his rag and cleaning spray- miraculously found in a kitchen cabinet which resulted in the deep cleaning upon discovery- on the small shelf next to it.
Ryo went to his room and picked up the box that once contained demons. Instead, it now guarded their money. The boy grabbed a few $20 bills, thinking he should get a couple extra pizzas for the Warlords.
'Not that they look like they'd enjoy pizza' he thought, heading to the entrance to meet up with Rowen.
The tall boy was talking to Sage and Kento when the dark haired teen reached the lawn. As he made his way over, Ryo was suddenly tackled by a rock.
"Pizza? Is it really good food? Can I come with you guys to get it?" Kento was giving his human friend puppy dog eyes, yet the effect was ruined slightly by a trail of drool from his mouth.
"Uh..."
"Not so fast! We already finished out chores! Besides, you'll eat everything before we even get it home," said Rowen.
"Just take him," said Sage with a wave at Kento. "He's starting to drive me crazy with his complaining.
"Hey!" Kento turned to the blonde. "I can't sit still. Plus all this cleaning is driving me crazy. I need some fun!"
Ryo smiled. "Then let's go. More hands to carry pizza boxes. We'll be back in about an hour, okay Sage."
The demon of light waved the small group off.
The trio returned in the promised hour carrying six large boxes of pizza- Kento just couldn't make up his mind with all the topping options. They had also stopped at a ramen stand and picked up some udon for the warlords, incase pizza didn't go over well with them.
Whiteblaze greeted them at the entrance, giving a quick rub against Ryo's legs before wandering back out of sight.
Sage, having followed the tiger from the building, called out, "Did Kento leave some food for us?"
"Hey!" cried the demon of rock. "I resent that!"
"Can't resent what's true." The blonde lifted the lid of the top box the burly boy carried. The smell assaulted his nose in an instant. A circle of dough was covered with assorted toppings, some familiar while others were not. Sage closed the lid. "Look like you have some restraint after all. It's still whole." A smirk was on his face. "If only you practiced it more."
Ryo and Rowen were brought to laughter as Kento sputtered, wanting to grab the blonde but unable to because of his precious packages.
It was while they laughed, carefree and relaxed, that a yellow taxi pulled up in front of the entryway. Startled and confused, the boys watched as a young women stepped out, the driver getting her bag from the trunk.
Ryo had a bad feeling about this.
The taxi rolled to a stop in front of her grandfather's- no her temple. As the driver went around getting her bags, Mia stepped out, digging in her purse for her wallet. She paid her fare and the taxi took off.
With a deep breath, Mia turned to face her second home. She was quite shocked. The building that sat more or less abandoned for the past few years looked almost. Movement in the corner of her eye brought her attention to a burly boy as he fell from the bushes, a stack of pizza boxes balanced precariously in his hands.
"Way to go, rock head." A tall boy stepped out from the foliage as well. He too carried three pizza boxes.
"You pushed me!" shouted the first, beginning to stand.
"Why are we hiding anyway?" A blonde joined the other two, a dark haired boy carrying a plastic back followed close behind. "Can we help you, Miss?"
Mia shook off the puzzlement she felt. "I should be asking you that. What are you doing at my grandfather's temple?"
"Grandfather?"
The group had gathered in the main sitting room, catching Cye and informing him of the unfolding events. Introductions were made and the food momentarily forgotten.
'What's going to happen now?' wondered Ryo. Unlike his demonic friends, he knew the severity of the situation. This place belonged to the woman. They were trespassers. They'd have to leave. Blue eyes swept over the others. He'd have to leave his new family. And go back there... His hands clenched on his knees.
During his mental torment, the four young demons were having a conversation of their own in their minds.
"Should we say we're demons?" questioned Kento.
"Would she believe us?" wondered Rowen.
"She is Koji's granddaughter. Maybe he told her about us?" pondered Sage.
"You're the demons that were sealed in the box, aren't you?" The calmly stated question caught the entire group by surprise. Mia just smiled warmly. "My grandfather often told me stories about you. Before he died, he wrote me a letter explaining that he wanted me to look after the box after his passing. When I had decided to finish my studies abroad, I would have never guessed that you all would be released."
"Yeah, we owe it all to Ryo here!" Kento slapped his friend on the back happily.
"Uh...yeah...I just-"
"Where's the food?" demanded a gruff voice. She met entered the room. "Cye?"
"Oh! Ryo bought some food. There's something called pizza and some udon." The water warrior gestured to the food that was placed on a nearby coffee table. The venom master proceeded to dig through the bag of udon, turning to walk out the way he came.
"Uh..." began Rowen. "We have a guest. She's Koji's granddaughter."
The green haired man waved off the comment. "Anubis can deal with it."
"Deal with what?" questioned the warlord leader. He looked into the room when his companion didn't offer an explanation. "Oh, the Koji girl." He calmly stated.
The ronins were floored. "You KNOW her!?" all for cried out.
"Professor Koji had many pictures of his granddaughter around. I figured she would arrive sooner or later." Anubis took a seat. "My name is Anubis, leader of the Warlords and Ronins."
"My pleasure. I am Mia Koji, as you already are aware."
"Well, Miss Koji, what will you have us do? This is rightfully your property. If you wish it, we will leave."
Mia was silent for a moment before asking her own question. "What will you do if I ask you to leave? I can't imagine you'll have an easy time finding lodging for all of you."
"We will follow young Ryo, as he opened the box and became our master."
At that Mia turned her gaze to the nervous boy. "The Master of demons? Ryo, what will you do if I turn you away?"
The dark haired child bit his lip. He could feel his hands clamming up, sweat falling from his brow. He couldn't go back, didn't want to go back. And yet he couldn't go anywhere with eight other people, not to mention a full grown tiger! The others would ask questions if they found themselves drifting from abandoned building to building. He was thankful they hadn't asked about his life already! "Well...uh..."
Mia watched as Ryo's face sunk into deep despair, as if his whole world was crashing down around him. She hadn't wanted to distress the boy, but just learn about his intentions in her home. She had quickly guessed that Ryo had to be an orphan or runaway, his appearance clearly saying he hadn't received much care prior to the demons' release.
'Well' she thought, 'Let's change that.'
Putting on a comforting smile, Mia reached across the coffee table to rest her hand on Ryo's knee. The contact startled Ryo out of his thoughts to look at the woman curiously.
"This temple is large. It was made for a big family. I would be awfully lonely living here all by myself."
Tiger blue eyes blinked, stunned by the older woman's words.
"Ms. Koji, you're saying you can stay?" questioned Sage, more for Ryo's benefit than his own clarity. He too had noticed the increasing panic when his friend was questioned.
Mia's smile grew. "Yes. I hope we can all become one big happy family."
"Alright!" Kento leapt up in joy. "You can be like the Mom!"
"Family roles, huh?" pondered Cye. "Well, then if Anubis is the leader, he'd be the dad. And the others the big brothers...no. I think uncles would be better."
Rowen looked horror stricken. "Mia lets us live in her house and you wanna pair her with Anubis!?" The bluenette quickly clamped his hand over his mouth for seeming to insult the Warlord of Cruelty, but the man seems to be ignoring their antics.
"Older sister," stated Sage.
"Yea," agreed Kento. "She has that older sister vibe!"
Mia giggled. "Well, I'm honored to be your older sister. I have always wanted siblings."
"Now that that's settled..." began Rowen.
"Miss Koji, would you like a your? Oh! But I guess you don't need one since this is your place." Cye blushed, slightly embarrassed.
"We should introduce her to the others," said Sage.
"Hey!" cried Kento. "I just realized She met took all the food! I really wanted to try that pizza stuff!" The muscled boy took off like a shot out of the room. "You jerks! Save some for me!"
Laughter echoed off the walls of the room.
"Sorry about him. He's crazy, but you get used to it," said Rowen good naturally.
"Not a problem. I did interrupt your meal after all."
"Miss Koji, shall we join him?" asked Cye as he stood.
"Please just call me Mia. I am you're big sister after all," she replied with a wink.
"Very well, Mia."
"We should hurry or there won't be anything left for us," said Sage. He led the two out, heading towards Kento's and Cale's shouts of war over food.
Rowen turned to Ryo before leaving. "Hey, Ryo, you-" He fell silent upon laying his eyes on his dark haired friend.
While more relaxed now than when Mia first arrived, the lively conversation didn't completely erase the tension from the teenager's body. He was still wound up as if his world could still snap apart. The warrior of heavens wanted to go and comfort his friend, but a look to the other occupant in the room had him exit. Anubis would handle Ryo for now. While the warlord was known for his cruelty, there was a reason the others followed him. He'd find out what troubled the boy. Besides, Ryo might not be ready to open up to all of them yet. His soul, while strong, still seemed so fragile.
Didn't mean Rowen was happy with leaving Ryo with Anubis.
"I'm not going to force you to explain yourself," began Anubis, breaking the thick silence that had filled the room. "I may not know exactly what your life has been like before you stumbled your way here, but it's plainly obvious you're afraid to go back."
Silence once again, Ryo refusing to look to the older man.
"It's an orphanage, isn't it?"
Immediately Ryo tensed, Anubis' warrior eyes not missing the slight trembling.
"I've seen many orphans in my time. Once the wars had ended, many unsavory people often too in the orphan children to get money from the government. And not many people cared, as long as the kids were off the streets and out of sight." Anubis stood then. "Like I said earlier, I won't make you talk, but when you need to, I'll listen. After all, we orphans have to look out for each other."
Anubis took his leave when nothing was said from the human. Stepping into the hall, he waved to the passing feline. "You take care of him. He is yours now, isn't he?"
The large white tiger ignored the demon, continuing his quiet walk to his charge. He could sense the distress rolling off the cub. Whiteblaze sat himself down in front of the boy, but he went unnoticed. Calling out with a soft rumble, blue eyes met brown.
"Blaze..." Ryo fell from his seat to kneel before his friend, burying his face into furry shoulder. "I'm so pathetic. I was so scared. I thought I'd have to go back there."
A comforting rumble and a gentle lick from a sandpaper tongue brought a small smile to Ryo's face.
"Thanks buddy."
Yume- Yeah, just soooooo loved the ending. Well, until next time, whenever that may be.