Chapter 14
Hoshi felt a soft kiss on her temple, but she only rolled over into his arms. She wasn't ready to let him go just yet, even though the sun was shining, and she really had way too many papers waiting to be graded, but he was just so warm.
She heard atrocious music coming from the living room and she groaned, only Leea had music that annoying.
Rowen grumbled and stirred, he didn't want to get up either, "what's that?"
"Leea," she replied as she shoved the covers off with a swift kick. She rubbed her eyes, "I forgot that she likes to surprise me with breakfast. You might want to get dressed, she doesn't care if she sees you butt naked."
He laid back with a smile on his face as she turned back to him, he was definitely a god in her bed. Tall, strong, and his muscles were outlined underneath her thin sheets. She felt herself grow hot as he complained, "but..."
She could see he was hard, but she blushed and looked away, "she's not afraid of walking in on us either..."
"No fair," he grinned as he reached for his clothes on the floor, "how did you end up with such a commandeering friend?"
"Hell if I remember," she answered as she searched for a pair of pajama pants and slipped them on. "You can use my master bath to take a shower if you want."
He stood up, and she found herself starring at his nice ass as he said, "I wanted to take a shower with you though."
She blushed trying to contain herself, "I'm telling you, she has no shame."
"Fine," he playfully grouched and headed to her bathroom. She straightened up the bed the best she could, fussed with her hair and calmly headed out of her room to meet her friend.
"Hey there, missy," Leea greeted instantly as she left the room. "Where's Blue Boy?"
Hoshi sighed and answered, "in the shower..."
"...You need one too..."
"...You really have to work on your entrances," she finished complaining as the smell of bacon filled her nose. "What time is it?"
"A little after ten," Leea answered as she grinned. "You and him are getting wild pretty often..."
"I can't help we both have a healthy appetite for each other," Hoshi answered and Leea only shook her head as she laughed.
"I picked up your clothes off the floor," she said pointing the couch with a spatula. "You could have made it less obvious you two were fucking..."
"Would you rather walk in on us in full coitus," Hoshi asked and the girl blushed.
Leea sighed, "so do you have your papers graded?"
Hoshi tried to avoid the question, but ended up with saying, "no."
Leea was about to scold her when she saw Rowen walk out of the bedroom, he was wearing just his pants, and his hair was still wet and dripping down his strong chest. She turned red, "he better have a friend..."
Hoshi glared at her her friend, "isn't it so nice of Leea to make us a nice breakfast?"
"Yeah," he smiled as he pulled on his shirt. "Thanks Leea, but I got to going... so I don't have time to eat, my class was canceled but I still have it's paper to finish."
Hoshi frowned as he came over and kissed her softly on the forehead, she finished buttoning his shirt, and he ran his hands down her sides then gave her another warm kiss but on the lips. She heard Leea groan, and he just smiled at them as he left. Hoshi grinned to herself as she leaned back against the fridge, and Leea just shook her head, "you need a shower..."
Hoshi smiled as she left the room, grabbed her clothes from the living room, and headed back to her bedroom. She put her clothes from the night before in her laundry basket, and shifted through her draws for another pair. She saw text on her phone from Rowen, alerting her that Ryo was going to meet her at her office. She was okay with that, he was pretty quiet and let her get her work done. Today was mostly just office work, and a short lecture class on Shakespearean literature. She probably taught more than the other chairs in their departments but she enjoyed her job as it was.
She climbed into her shower, it was still steaming from Rowen's shower. She wished she could have taken a shower with him, that really would have been nice. She slipped off her dress, and climbed into a the hot water of her shower. She felt the pain in her shoulder starting to return, but she wouldn't take her meds ever again. They didn't help anymore than a placebo would. Only her Rowen helped a lot of the pain go away, she always felt a lot less stiff after spending a night with him too. She rubbed herself over with soap quickly, and rinsed it off. She climbed out and grabbed a towel out of the cabinet to dry off. She looked in the mirror, remembering his every caress.
He can't protect you.
She saw a shadow in the mirror, but she wouldn't turn around. That would just give whatever was following her power. None of the Ronins saw them as they followed her about. Most of them just watched her from afar, but there were a few brave ones that came into her home or office. She paid them no mind.
He can't protect you if he hopes to have humanity survive.
She slipped on her clothes as the shadow continued on.
Let me give you power.
She blow dried her hair and the shadow vanished into the air. She looked back to where it was, and sighed. She wasn't going to let them bother her, they usually disappeared pretty quickly if she just ignored them, but she couldn't figure out why she was so important to them. She sighed as she went to go eat breakfast with Leea. It was going to be a long day.
The university was close to her house and her and Leea made it over quickly by walking. Leea teasing her that she glowed. She shook her head, maybe she needed to set Leea up with Cye or someone. She laughed to herself, Leea would be too much for any of them. She was almost too much for her at times. Leea parted ways once they reached the building and Hoshi saw Ryo waiting for her at her office. He was handsome enough, all the boys had that in common, with long black wavy hair and eyes as blue as White Blaze's. His outfit was more relaxed than Rowen, Cye, or Sage's, just jeans and a tshirt. He fixed on his hand held video game, and she smiled, "what is it today?"
"Street fighter II," he smiled at her, his smile was gregarious. It was hard to be grumpy when he was around, she could see why he was their leader.
She opened the office, "you're not going to help me grade papers are you?"
"Not in your wildest dreams," he smiled and she shook her head.
"I think I should start paying you boys."
He looked up at her and grinned, "I don't think Ro would like that much."
Hoshi chuckled as she sat down at her desk. The papers were still there, and she groaned. She was going to get them done today! Ryo sat down at a chair as she started to work, he was fixated with the game. It didn't bother her, at least he was quiet and wasn't pestering her to eat or anything. She started working on them, and her head began to hurt profusely. She leaned over, and covered her eyes with her hand.
Ryo looked up at her, "you okay?"
"I'm fine," she mumbled, she wasn't going to take her meds anymore. She was strong enough to withstand the headaches without them.
Ryo then said, "Rowen didn't ask us to look after just because of the nether realm. He was concerned you would try to be strong through everything."
She looked up warily, "it's not that bad."
"I can get you some water," he offered but she shook her head. "You're really stubborn."
She nodded, "I have been told that from time to time."
"He's just as stubborn though," Ryo laughed but then turned serious. "Did he ever tell you about any of our battles?"
She shook her head and put her papers to the side so that she listen to him without being distracted by a freshman's deplorable grammar.
Ryo paused his game and began, "there was a time during our second fight with Talpa where Sage, Cye, and Kento had been taken prisoner. I was a mess, but he was firm with his opinion. I was worried, frightened, and angry, but Rowen kept his cool despite how he felt exactly the same. I would have gone rushing in, but he forced me make a plan. I was mad at him though, and the entire time I thought he was a stubborn fool, but everything turned out okay. He was right in the situation where I could have easily gotten it so very wrong. There's a reason why I depend on him in battle, I mean depend on each of them for different reasons, but Rowen knows a good plan."
She smiled at their leader, despite his age, his eyes looked so old, "it takes a good leader to trust in his comrades."
He smiled at her, "what time does your class start?"
"Two thirty," she answered briefly as she shifted her papers back over. She saw him reach over and grab her hand, he pulled her to her feet, "what in blazes is this?"
"Come on," he said pulling her out of the office and to the roof. She followed behind reluctantly as they climbed to the roof. The air was nice and cool and he let go of her hand. He leaned over on the banister, "the nether realm wanted to take all this."
She looked over the city with him, "you bare a great responsibility, Ryo."
He turned to look at her, "I had to ask though...and its weighed on my mind. I can't let you suffer this fate, It would be unwise of me to let someone with a normal life get pulled into all this!"
She sighed, "oh...I see..."
He blinked at her as she shook her head and chuckled. Ryo sighed seriously, "can you forgive him if he dies? Or one of us if something happens to him?"
She stopped her laughing, "you're so melodramatic. Look, I already talked to Rowen about this stuff. I mean, its inevitable that there is some sort of risk with all this. I mean, even I could become some sort of target..." she paused to consider her words more thoughtfully, "I can't say I won't grieve...I can't say I won't be mad...but I understand the reality of it. It's dangerous, it's not a video game, if you tell me to vamoose, I'll trust your wisdom on the matter. However, you have to trust me too."
He looked at her, "trust you how?"
"Trust that I won't just break," she paused again to think of what exactly she was going to say, "I'm not your average girl..." She paused, he was watching her intently, as she continued she pulled back her hair to show off her scars, "I've lived through my own battles, and I won't hurt as easily as you might think."
Ryo sighed and came over to her, he could see how serious her scars were, "how did you get these scars?"
She looked up at him, one of her eyes was slightly discolored, "I guess I've only told Rowen huh?"
Ryo nodded.
She paused, she didn't really want to talk about the event again, and then said, "look, if I trust you take care of Rowen, you have to trust me that I won't break. These scars were inflicted by humans, petty and half knowledgeable human beings. I don't hate them, although they caused my circumstances, they have to deal with what they have done as we all do."
Ryo looked sadly at her, "they are still alive then?"
"Yes, and for a long time that troubled me," she paused and looked away. "Ryo, you told me you trusted Rowen."
"I do."
"Then let me trust him too... and I'll trust in you too that you know what to do in the worst of situations," she paused looked at her cell phone. "These papers are never gonna get done up here, do you want pizza? Cye wouldn't let me have pizza yesterday!"
He grinned as he followed her back in, "I get to pick the type though, that pineapple stuff is gross!"
The wind blew softly as a Raleigh appeared in her wolf form. She watched the two enter back into the building and she said softly to herself, I can only hope that you trust in them wisely.
A shadow figure appeared on the roof in front of the wolf, music was dancing softly in the air. Raleigh growled at the figure and leaped at it, but in only vanished, leaving her snarling only at music filled wind.