Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction / Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Warrior Children ❯ Home ( Chapter 6 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Cousin D 
Life in the Youja-Kai.
Anime/Manga: Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction / Gundam Wing Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Romance / Fantasy / Drama / Angst / Adventure / Action | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 01.28.2003 | Updated On: 01.23.2006 | Pages: 8 | Words: 11.6K | Visits: 612 | Status: Work In Progress
Life in the Youja-Kai.
Anime/Manga: Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction / Gundam Wing Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Romance / Fantasy / Drama / Angst / Adventure / Action | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 01.28.2003 | Updated On: 01.23.2006 | Pages: 8 | Words: 11.6K | Visits: 612 | Status: Work In Progress
Chapter 6: Home
Saint Maxwell’s Orphanage-
Duo-
Ryou and Duo had been watching the autumn leaves as they drifted out of the trees when the man walked out of the dense forest as if he’d just been passing by. That, of course, was not possible. No one just passed by Saint Maxwell’s. They were so far out of the way that only people who had business at the orphanage ever came there, but, Duo wondered, why would anyone walk miles through the forest just to get to an orphanage.
“What are you looking at?” Ryou asked when he realized Duo’s attention wasn’t on the baseball game of the older kids. He followed Duo’s gaze until he, too, saw the approaching stranger. “Maybe he lives in the forest.”
It was possible, though the idea seemed strange to Duo. Ryou had lived his whole life in the forest so maybe it didn’t seem so odd to him. “Look,” Duo whispered. “He’s coming right to us.”
The man was tall and very thin, walking with a graceful gait until he came close enough for Duo to get a closer look. Such a man, Duo had never seen so far from the city. His pallid skin seemed to be tinged with green, but Duo knew that must just be a trick of the light. What couldn’t be described as a trick of the light was the purple eyelids that, somehow, didn’t look like make-up, and bright green hair that stuck up in a wild tangle. His lips were thin and his over-large eyes scanned the area, quickly taking in everything around him from the building to the baseball game nearby.
The man paused only for a moment when his eyes landed on Ryou and Duo. He stood still for a moment and turned his head a little to the side, as if thinking hard. Duo saw the man’s eyes flicker between him and Ryou, look irritated, then he continued walking. The man was dressed very traditionally, in a kimono of dark green and brown. When he saw Duo’s grin, the man scowled sourly. For a long time, neither of them said anything and just watched each other. “Are you a boy or a girl?”
Duo huffed himself up at that, always sensitive to his braid. “A boy, freak. What swamp did you crawl out of?”
“One that is about twenty minutes walk that way.” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. By this time, the man was standing right in front of them and had gained attention from more than just Ryou and Duo. Some of the other kids were watching him wearily and Duo felt fairly certain that sister Helen or one of the other sisters would be out in a minute. “Sanada Ryou.” He turned his attention to Ryou. “That would be you, if I’m not mistaken.”
Ryou blinked up at the stranger and looked surprised at being spoken to. Over the past few weeks, Ryou had gotten into the habit of speaking to only Duo. No one ever wanted to talk to Ryou, anyway, so he let Duo speak for both of them. Now, with the strangers attention on him, Ryou kept to his habit and didn’t so much as open his mouth. Instead, he looked at Duo, hopefully.
Never one to disappoint a friend, Duo told the stranger, "Ryou doesn't talk much. What do you want?"
“I‘ve come to offer Ryou a home with my family.” It didn’t seem to faze him that Ryou wouldn’t speak to him. “We’ve been looking for you.”
Ryou against Duo and took his friend's hand. "I...I want to stay with Duo."
"Well, we'll see about that." The green haired man looked up when sister Helen approached, no doubt suspicious of a stranger talking to her children, and he smiled at her charmingly.
Naaza-
The demand was almost too much to stand and Naaza had to use all his willpower not to simple take the boy. "What do you mean, you want to meet my wife?" They were in her office when sister Helen had begun the adoption discussion when he’d told her he was interested in having Ryou as his son. “Do you honestly believe I need a woman to raise a child?” How simple it would be to simply take Ryou and to Hell with inconvenient human conventions. Rajura, however, would want him to be subtle. “What day and age is this to be constrained by such outdated concerns?”
Sister Helen faced him down without a qualm or the slightest droop of her smile. That alone made her rise in Naaza’s estimation, a hard thing to do considering Naaza‘s long lasting hatred of humans. She tried to placate him, assuring him with her gentle tone, "Well, we need to ensure that the children have a proper home with a loving mother and father, Doku-san. We also want to be very sure you are the right type of people to raise a special boy like Ryou. He's had a hard time these past few months and is badly traumatized by the way his grandmother died." She sighed at that and motioned for him to sit. “You wouldn’t know, you only met him a moment ago, but Ryou’s one of our most troubled children. He’s working through bouts of depression, intense guilt, and has only just come out of a period of not speaking. His progress has been remarkable considering he only came to us a few weeks ago, but he’ll need continued therapy and support for a long time to come. In all honesty, I didn’t expect him to ever get adopted. Most people aren’t willing to put that kind of time, effort, or money into any child.”
Rajura knew the mind better than any living creature. If the boy needed therapy, then he would have the perfect therapist in Rajura. “I can assure you, he will have all the care he needs. My own brother is a psychologist.” He silently thanked Sh‘ten for teaching him the modern word for a person whose only duty was to listen. “Ryou will be excellently cared for.” ‘And if you don’t give him to me, I’ll just take him.’ He added the thought.
Sister Helen nodded. “I hope you’re right. All the proper channels must be followed, however. There’s paperwork to fill out and identification checks to make. Many, many regulations must be followed through. You do realize that you’ll have weekly home visits from the state department for quite a while, don’t you? The regulation about only married couples being allowed to adopt, I’m afraid, is old and far outdated, but it is the rule. You MUST be married in order to adopt. You are married, aren’t you?“
Naaza hesitated. ‘JURA, ARE YOU SURE YOU DON’T WANT ME TO JUST TAKE THE BOY?
YES. Rajura answered sternly. THERE’S NO NEED TO UPSET THE NINGENS BEFORE WE’RE READY TO CONQUER THEM. YOU’RE CLEVER ENOUGH. JUST BLUFF YOUR WAY THROUGH IT.
“Yes, I’m married.” Though the idea of binding himself to a ningen, willingly, made him sick to his stomach. “She’s a lovely woman.”
“Forgive me, but you do look rather young. How long have you been married?”
“A few months.”
“And her name?”
Naaza could think of only one word to properly describe the person he had in mind. “Zankoku.”
“There’s no need for that!” Sister Helen snapped, irritably. For a woman who supposedly worshiped the pacifist carpenter, she seemed to have quite the temper. “Calling your wife cruel…”
“No. That’s her name. Zankoku. Cute, huh?” He smiled just because he knew it would irritate her.
She looked at him doubtfully, but at last nodded. “Very well. Just bring your wife here, and we'll let you have a little visit with Ryou. You must understand that if this is what’s best for Ryou, then it‘ll take time to make all arrangements. There are papers to be signed and investigations to be made. We‘ll have to do a criminal check, of course."
Naaza sighed and tried very hard not show his impatience. Papers? Investigations? PLEASE, JUST LET ME TAKE THE BOY. HE’S SMALL. THEY WON’T EVEN NOTICE HE’S GONE.
NO. DO IT THE RIGHT WAY.
WHY?
BECAUSE SH’TEN’S HAVING FUN WATCHING YOU PLAY NINGEN. WHO AM I TO RUIN THE BOY’S FUN?
Ah. So, it was all Sh’ten’s doing. Fine. Two could play like that.
Youja Kai-
"Just put on the damned dress, Sh'ten!" Naaza allowed himself a grin at his little brother’s expense. “Rajura wants this played by Ningen rules because SOMEONE around here thinks I’m amusing. Wouldn’t want to go against Rajura-sensei, now would we?”
"I'll kill you for this, Naaza."
Ningen Sekai-
Ryou-
Together, Ryou and Duo had watched the green haired man stalk away, back into the forest he’d come from. “Weird.” Duo nudged Ryou in the ribs. “What’d you think? Maybe he’ll come back?”
“Maybe.” But maybe not. Ryou didn’t like getting his hopes up. The man was weird, but he was also the first person to show any interest in Ryou since he’d come to the orphanage. He probably wouldn’t come back. Not that it mattered much. Ryou didn’t want to leave Duo, anyway. “He seemed nice.”
Duo laughed loudly and stretched out of the steps they were still sitting on. “He was weird, but I liked him. Green hair. Did you see his face? He wore make up. Now, there’s a brave guy. I shouldn’t have given him a hard time. Maybe he’d want me, too. Green…heh, heh…cool.” There was none of Duo’s normal teasing, but real admiration in his voice.
Ryou watched the man until he couldn’t see him anymore. Funnily enough, Ryou liked him.
Not more than three hours later, when Ryou and Duo were taking math lessons when Ryou was starting to fall asleep, again. It wasn‘t really his fault. Lessons were boring. The sisters always enforced the rules about education which meant that everyone had math, reading, history, and science. The only one that was at all interesting was history because, Ryou thought, all those stories were real. They’d happened to real people. Science was real, but all of that was a bit over Ryou’s head. Reading was okay, if the story of good, but math…Ryou despised math. He just didn’t understand it. Why should any of it matter, so long as he could count what else mattered? That was the reason why Duo had been poking Ryou in the back with the tip of his pencil for the past twenty minute, to keep Ryou from snoring.
When the door of the classroom opened and sister Helen poked her head in and looked around before her eyes landed on Ryou with a pleased smile before she spoke to sister Mary, the math teacher. “Pardon me, sister Mary. May I borrow Ryou for a moment?”
Ryou, of course, went to sister Helen without waiting for sister Mary to tell him he could go. Sister Helen ruled the school and she was only asking out of politeness. If she needed him, he had to go. A glance of his shoulder showed Ryou that Duo was watching him curiously, but didn’t say a word, which was a bit odd for him.
He hadn’t done anything wrong, Ryou was sure of that. The times he did get in trouble, Duo was usually called to sister Helen’s office, too. Not that Ryou had ever ratted Duo out, but sister Helen was pretty clever about that sort of thing. So what it could be about, Ryou had no idea and he could only follow sister Helen through the empty halls to her office. Sister Helen didn’t seem angry, but it was hard to tell with her. She didn’t say a word until she was right at the door of her office and her hand was on the door knob.
“Don’t look so worried, Ryou, dear. This could be a great chance for you.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Just come in and keep an open mind. Tell me honestly what you think. Things will go smoothly from there.”
She opened the door and Ryou was surprised to see the green haired man from the other day half sitting on the corner of sister Helen’s desk. How odd that he’d come back so quickly. Duo had said that if the man came back it would be a couple of days, at least.
The green haired man smiled pleasantly at Ryou, though, so Ryou smiled back. Ryou thought that it must be his imagination, but he could have sworn he saw fangs instead of teeth.
“You know Doku-san, you met earlier.” Sister Helen ushered Ryou in and told him to sit in one of the chairs in front of her desk while whispering, “Mind your manners and be polite.” She raised her voice slightly to say, “This is his wife, Doku Zankoku, and they’ve come just to speak with you, Ryou.”
Zankoku was very pretty, but had a sever face and bright green eyes, rather like a cat. She didn’t look happy. In fact, she looked downright angry the way she stood ramrod straight, tapping her foot with her arms crossed over her chest. The most striking thing about the woman was her straight, red hair and the amazingly ugly green and purple polka dot dress.
“Well, there he is. Just like I told you.” Doku-san gave Ryou a pleased smile and, unless Ryou was hallucinating, showed off a pair of fangs. “He’ll do just fine, won’t he?” Doku-san elbowed his wife in the ribs. “Don’t look so standoffish, honey.”
It was enough to make Zankoku smile tightly with gritted teeth. "Hello," She managed to squeeze out as she looked down at Ryou. She wasn’t angry at him, Ryou was pretty sure of that. “It’s a pleasure.”
Sister Helen shook the lady’s hand and seemed quite pleased. "Ryou, dear, Doku-san and his wife want to take you home with them. They want you for their son. Isn't that wonderful?"
It didn’t feel wonderful. Ryou felt his stomach seize up and his mouth went dry very suddenly. “I…I want to stay with Duo.” He didn’t really want to be given to a new family. Surely, he didn’t deserve one after what he’d done to granma. Wouldn’t it be better for him to stay at the orphanage? At least when he was with Duo, he wasn’t likely to hurt anyone. “Duo takes care of me.”
Duo popped his head in the door. He was, as usual, exactly where he shouldn't be. "That's right! Where Ryou goes, I go! We're a team, a matching set!" He gave them a cheeky smile and jumped into the room, flinging an arm over Ryou's shoulder and grinning up at Doku-san and Zankoku.
Doku-san and Zankoku looked at each other and shrugged, indifferently. "Why not? How much trouble can an extra boy cause?" Doku-san asked before he looked at sister Helen and said, decisively, "We'll take them both."
"Both of them?" Sister Helen repeated with a frown. "I hope you realize what a responsibility it is, adopting children, I mean. Someone like Ryou will be hard enough. This new change won't be easy on him. Duo is another story entirely. He's highly intelligent, but he gets bored easily and tends to make trouble for fun. You have to be very patient with both of them."
Doku-san never stopped smiling. "Don't worry about that. We have all the time in the world. Would you like to be our children, boys?"
Duo nodded enthusiastically. "That'd be great!" He looked at Zankoku. "We'll be the best kids you could ever want, mama!"
Zankoku’s left eye twitched strangely at the word mama. "What about you, Ryou?"
Ryou, didn't know how to answer. 'Someone wants me? What if I hurt them?' He just stared and let himself cry until he felt a feather light touch on his cheek.
Zankoku touched his face gently and she smiled, really smiled, at him. She almost looked happy when she ran her thumb over Ryou’s tear stained cheek, brushing away the wetness with her calloused thumb. “You’re sweet when you cry, but there’s really no need for it. You don’t have to be afraid of us. We’re family, after all. You don’t have to be afraid, anymore.”
Ryou choked. "Y-you will?" Ryou didn't want to get a family if he was just going to kill them, too. He didn't want to hurt anyone else like he'd hurt granma. What if they didn't like him? He said bad words, after all, and that was what had led to his granma’s death. Ryou hugged himself, trying to calm down but Duo was getting agitated at seeing Ryou like this. He didn't even know why Ryou was crying, really.
"Don't cry, Ryou-chan! It'll be great, we'll be brothers for real and we'll have a family with a real dad and mama and everything. Please, don't cry!" Duo threw his arms around Ryou, trying to comfort him, and even kissed Ryou on the cheek to cheer him up, but Ryou kept crying.
Zankoku nodded. "Yes, we'll be a real family and you have uncles waiting to meet you and a little sister. We don't live too far away from here and there are so many new things for you to learn. Will you come with us, Ryou?"
Ryou wiped his nose with the back of his hand and blinked away tears. "With Duo?"
"With Duo."
Doku-san and Zankoku sat with sister Helen in the office to sign the papers and get all the information they needed about Ryou and Duo’s pasts. They scheduled home visits and learned about the boy’s allergies - Ryou couldn’t eat strawberries for fear of a rash and Duo got puffy when he ate olives - but throughout all the paperwork and forms, they both barely seemed to be paying attention. As if none of it mattered.
Duo, for the first time since Ryou had met him, was absolutely still. He and Ryou stood with their backs to the door, just watching their soon-to-be parents. While Ryou couldn’t help but be frightened with the memories of his granma screaming still fresh in his mind, Duo looked blissful. It was more than happy. His eyes shone and his wide mouth was pressed in a soft smile. He couldn’t take his eyes off them. It was so intense, Duo almost seemed to be studying them.
“Sure, I wanted to study them.” Duo admitted when he and Ryou were alone in the dorm room after Doke-san and Zankoku had left. They would return in several days to get the boys, but were told that the paperwork had to be filed and approved before anything could happen. “It isn’t everyday I get a family. Aren’t they great? Doku-san still has the weirdest hair I’ve ever seen and Zankoku was real grumpy, but they were still great. Just think, we won’t be sharing a bedroom with fifteen other guys.” Duo hopped up on the bed beside Ryou and leaned back until he was looking straight up at the ceiling. “They’ve got a big house and there’s others! We get a little sister. I always wanted a sister. Uncles, too. I wonder what their names are?”
Ryou couldn’t seem to muster the same enthusiasm. “Aren’t you afraid? Just a little?”
Duo rolled over to looked at Ryou. “Sure. At least you’ve had a family. You know what to do with them. This is a first for me.” His smile slipped. “No. That’s a lie.” He slapped himself in the mouth. “Mustn’t tell lies. Anyway, I have had a family, but now I have to leave her. Sister Helen raised me. The other nuns all come and go. The other kids get adopted or sent to other homes. Sister Helen, though…she was always here. You know, when I was little she used to let me sit on her lap and she’d sing to me. She taught me to read, too. I still remember her pointing out the words when she read the story of Noah’s Arc to me. I always liked that one. Of course, I’m afraid. I don’t really want to leave Sister Helen, but it’s time. She has loads of other kids to look after and I can’t stay here forever if I have a chance to move on. Think of it this way, if we go, she’ll have two other beds to give two other kids who need a home.”
It made sense. There were lots of kids in the world and in the colonies who needed a safe place to live and there was no safer place than under Sister Helen’s watchful eye. Maybe she would go out and find two kids who were starving on the streets. Thinking of it that way, it would be selfish not to go.
“So, we should go. Right?”
Ryou must not have sounded as confidant as he’d tried to be because Duo took his hand. “We ARE going. The papers are signed and they’ll come in a few days. It’s an adventure and it’ll be fun. No matter what, I promise I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”
The next few days seemed to go by too quickly, but Duo enjoyed every minute of it. Duo was nearly bursting with happiness when he lorded it over Akira about being adopted by a 'really cool guy' with green hair and a beautiful red haired lady. He made very sure that everyone knew that he and Ryou had found the absolute best parents.
Ryou was more nervous, however. He didn't know how to behave for Mr. Doku or Yoko, but he dearly wanted his new parents to like him. Duo had told him that people wouldn't like him because of his fire, that they would be afraid of him.
There seemed to be a chance that all Ryou’s worry and Duo’s happiness would be for nothing. The day before Doku-san and Zankoku were to come get them, Sister Helen spent the whole day looking very worried and talking seriously on the phone.
“There’s a problem with the paperwork.” Ryou overheard when he passed her office. “You don’t understand, sir. Yes, yes I understand the children must be placed as quickly as possible, but,” She stopped talking when the person on the other end of the phone said something. “No. I can’t find any Doku family and the address they gave me is a warehouse in Chuba. They aren’t who they say they are.”
When Ryou told Duo what he overheard that night, Duo chewed on his thumbnail uneasily. “Sister Helen won’t let us go with people she doesn’t trust.” Ryou knew that Duo trust Sister Helen without question and if she said the deal was off, Ryou knew they would be staying at the orphanage. “Well, we’ll hope for the best. It’s probably just some silly mistake. Now,” He sat cross-legged on Ryou’s bed and put on his serious face. “Do you remember what I told you?”
“Yes. Call Zankoku-san mama because mom’s like that. It’ll make her like us more and she’ll want to keep us.”
“Right. Doku-san doesn't matter as much. It only matters what mama says." Duo explained seriously with the wisdom of his years at the orphanage. "I don't know why, but that's the way it works. Hey, Ryou, will you brush my hair for me?" Duo held out his brush and let Ryou straighten his shoulder length hair out. “I hate going to bed with it loose, it always gets knotted up.” Ryou did this almost every day, a sort of ritual for them every morning after they washed up. Ryou would always braid Duo's hair as best as he could.
Whatever the mess with the paperwork was cleared up by morning because Sister Helen didn’t say a word about it and tearfully helped them pack little bags. She gave them both toothbrushes and a comb for Ryou and a hairbrush for Duo. She gave them a suit of nice clothes and gave them each kiss on the forehead. While she gave Ryou a wristwatch she pressed a small, worn bible into Duo’s hands.
“It’s the one she used to read to me from.” Duo later told Ryou when he asked why Duo cried when she gave it to him.
Sister Helen waited with them on the front steps of the orphanage when everyone else ate dinner, waiting for Doku-san and Zankoku. There was little to do to pass the time but talk and while they were talking, Duo asked Sister Helen about what Ryou had overheard about the paperwork.
“It was all a mistake.” She answered with an easy laugh. “I got a call that cleared everything up. There’s no reason to worry.”
“But what was the mistake?” Duo pressed.
“Nothing to worry about.” Her eyes looked a little unfocused when she said that. “Rajura-san explained it all.”
“Who?”
“He’s a friend of Doku-san’s…I think. Nothing to worry about. Look, there they are.”
Strangely, Doku-san and Zankoku walked out of the forest instead of coming down the road. They walked out of the same place Ryou and Duo had seen Doku-san walk out of the first time and both of them looked as well-dressed as if they were in the city. People just didn’t dress that well for walking in the forest.
Ryou tried not to think about that, it seemed very unimportant. He and Duo gave Sister Helen a last hug and kiss before they let Doku-san and Zankoku take their hands and they let themselves be led away.
Time for a new life.
Just a few minutes after leaving the orphanage found Ryou in familiar and comfortable surroundings. Doku-san and his wife had led Ryou and Duo right into the forest where they’d come from and it was in was in the forest that Ryou always felt most at home. ‘So long as I’m with Duo, anywhere can be home.’ It felt strange to hold someone’s hand, though. Even stranger to think that the red haired woman who was scowling so darkly was his new mama. ‘But I don’t want a new mama. I still love mine.’ It was only a few dim, fading memories, but Ryou could remember his mother before she’d died. He remembered that she laughed a lot.
Ryou looked over his shoulder at Duo who was holding Doku-san's hand and smiling happily, chattering about something. Duo seemed very much at ease with their new dad, but mama, on the other hand, was glaring straight ahead, not looking at Ryou who held her hand. Her good mood had seemed to evaporate as soon as they'd gotten out of sight of the orphanage.
"Did you start the fire?" Mama asked suddenly.
'How could she know that? Sister Helen must have told her.' Ryou started to shake, he was so afraid. Ryou licked his lips and tried to pull away her, but mama held on tight. "I-I didn't mean it." 'Please, don't hate me. Please, don't take me away from Duo.’ He was very frightened that his new mama would take him back to the orphanage but keep Duo. After all, Duo was normal and safe. Duo wouldn't hurt them just because he got mad.
“You’re so fragile. We’ll have to toughen you up a bit.” Mama looked down at Ryou with a tiny smile, as if she didn't want anyone to see it. "Don't be afraid."
Ryou, not really understanding what mama was talking about, just nodded. "Yes, mama."
"Please, don't call me mama." She shot a look of hatred at Naaza. "I will have my revenge for that, Naaza."
"I look forward to it, 'Ten-chan." Naaza answered easily.
Mama and Naaza led them to a kind of gate in the middle of the forest. Two large red and gold columns stood in the middle of a glade, ornate things that definitely shouldn't be out here. "Where are we?" Duo asked, looking around, confused. "What's this?"
"This is the way to get to our home." Naaza answered. "We just walk through the gates and then you can see your new home. Our brothers and sister are waiting for us on the other side." Naaza looked down at Duo. "Are you ready?"
Ryou took a tight grip of mama's hand and walked through with her, Duo behind with Naaza. Ryou pushed his doubts to the side. Duo was right. This was a good chance. They’d have a family and a real home. They all stepped through the gates together and there was a terrible feeling of being lightheaded for just a minute and then they in a hall.
Youja Kai-
Even the air tasted different from the forest. Not a bad taste, more bland. Like there was no life in the air. Ryou looked around and tightened his grip around the hand he was holding. There were tapestries hanging on the walls and elaborate rugs on the floors.
"Where are we, mama?" Duo asked from where he stood with Mr. Doku.
The hand released Ryou suddenly and scowled. "I'll thank you not to call me, mama, boy." Mama pulled the dress over her head, leaving her in nothing but short trousers, and let the dress drop to the ground.
Ryou frowned. He was sure Duo had told him something about girls looking different than guys without their clothes on. Mama looked just like a man! He would definitely have to ask Duo about this later.
Mama glared at Mr. Doku. "Meet me after dinner in the west courtyard. I'll settle this little humiliation."
Naaza laughed. "In your dreams, oni-chan. But I will meet you anyway. Your ego could use a good thrashing." He eyed mama up and down. “Rajura will thrash you if he catches you in front of the children like that.”
“I do hope so.”
"Forget it. Come on, boys. I'm sure you'd both like to explore a little and get to know our family. You can call me Naaza or oniisan, if you like." He pointed at mama. "He's Sh'ten and, as you can see, he's really a man. We just dressed him up like a woman so we could adopt you. I’m not married, you haven’t got a mama. Just a couple of brothers and a baby sister. You are, right now, in the Youja Kai, the realm of demons. We‘re the warlords of one of the most powerful demons of them all. This is the palace, you’ll be living here for the rest of your lives.”
Ryou and Duo looked at each other, shocked. It couldn’t be true. But, there were torches with blue fire and they’d just walked through a gate in the forest that led them into this place. Besides, why would Naaza lie about something like that? Ryou decided that it must be true, but he wasn’t sure what he should think about it. Living in a world of demons?
Duo didn’t seem to have any reservations at all. He smiled brightly and ran to Sh'ten, giving him a hug. "That's great, mama Sh’ten!" He crowed happily. "We're so glad you came to get us."
"Don't call me mama!" Mama Sh’ten gave Duo a little push to get away from the overly affectionate child.
Duo's eyes took on a familiar gleam of wickedness. "But I love you, mama Sh’ten!"
Mama Sh’ten grumbled something about horrid children and began to stalk away, but that only made Naaza laugh and grab his arm. “Don’t be so touchy. You’ve been called worse things and he doesn’t mean any harm.”
“Since when do you stick up for any human?”
“He’s not just any human. He’s family.” Naaza took Duo’s hand again as they all started going down the hallway. "Don't worry about him, he's just grumpy because I made him wear a dress again."
"Again?" Duo looked up at him, honestly puzzled. "Why'd he wear it before?"
Naaza blushed. "I'll tell you when you're older." They walked a short while before Naaza looked down at Ryou. "You haven't said much, Ryou. Are you scared being here?"
Ryou shook his head, but looked at Duo for help.
Duo obligingly added, "He just doesn't like talking. Ryou will talk when he has something to say. Do we really get to stay here forever? Why did you want Ryou? How did that gate thing work? Why is the sky purple? How did mama Sh’ten know about Ryou's fire? Are those real soldiers? Why are they wearing armor? I once met a soldier, but he didn't look like that. He wasn't a very nice man and said bad things to the lady in the market, so I threw marbles on the streets and made him slip on his butt. It was really funny, but Sister Helen gave me a whack when she heard about it."
Naaza looked down at Ryou with an amused smile. Ryou was almost starting to get used to the fangs. "Does he always talk this much?"
Ryou nodded, giving his friend an exasperated smile. The smile faded when Ryou's eyes fell on one of the torches that lit the hallway. Ryou stopped walking and stared at the torch for a moment. His hand tightened around Naaza's, before he let go and ran around to Duo and hid behind him.
"What's wrong?" Naaza asked, confused.
Duo answered, petting Ryou's hair. "Ryou doesn't like fire. It scares him. Can we go somewhere where there's no fire?" As Ryou was staring with fear at the fire from behind Duo, Naaza agreed and they started walking again.
"You don't have to be afraid of fire, Ryou. That's part of who you are, your power over fire."
"He just doesn't like it." Duo answered defensively. "Leave him alone."
The rest of the family was found after a short hunt. “Anubisu is on nanny duty.“ Mama Sh’ten told them. “So, as soon as we hear,“ They all heard the baby’s wailing at the same time. “There she is. Our darling little sister, Kayura,. We’ll go meet Anubisu, shall we?”
Anubisu was trying to soothe the baby to sleep and failing miserably.
“Shut that door!” He bellowed as best as he could while whispering. “Those tin goons always wake her up when they stomp by!” His hair was blue and he was bigger than both Naaza and Sh’ten. He was so big that Ryou held back at the door until mama Sh’ten gave his arm a tug. The man looked like a giant with massively broad shoulders and a neck so thick and muscular that it barely looked human. When he turned around, the man entirely ruined the effect. Though his face was scarred horribly on one cheek, just under his eye, and his cool eyes were hard when regarding Naaza and mama Sh’ten, there was a tiny baby resting in his arms. She was small and pink, wrapped in a white blanket and howling with her mouth wide open.
“Wake her up?” Naaza made a face. “You can’t possibly think she’s anywhere near being asleep.”
“She’s almost there!” Anubisu insisted. The dark circles under his eyes told everyone that he’d been at it for a very long time. “She’s been fed and changed. I sang to her,”
“Well, no wonder she’s upset.” Sh’ten commented with a nasty smile.
“Shut up, Ten-chan. She’s ready for bed. She’d exhausted.”
It was at that point that someone walked in from behind them. The person gave mama Sh’ten and Naaza a rough shove, pushing them both out of the way and Ryou and Duo with them. Duo squawked, indignantly, but the man paid him no mind. He seized the baby from Anubisu’s arms and put her on his shoulder. A few soft pats on her back and one incredibly loud belch stopped the crying. The baby was almost instantly asleep on the man’s shoulder.
“The next time you let her cry that long, I’ll horsewhip you.” The man was smaller than everyone but mama Sh’ten and looked…well…not frightening. He just looked different. He wore an eye patch over one eye and had long white hair, though he didn’t really look all that old. His skin was incredibly white, almost transparent. Ryou could even see thin, spider webs of his veins sprawling across his porcelain skin. “I’ve told you a dozen times how gassy she gets.”
“Give me a break…”
“Which leg?”
“Baby. Now.” Anubisu held out his arms and took the baby from the white haired man. He gently lay the baby down in a little cradle at the back of the room and set it rocking. “If you think you can do so much better, why don’t you take over full time nanny duties? I’m doing my best here. I was never meant to be a father!”
Ryou leaned around mama Sh’ten to look at Duo. Duo looked back and Ryou and shrugged. He didn’t know what was going on, either. It seemed like kind of an odd family, to Ryou.
When mama Sh’ten spoke up it was with sharp words. “Really, Rajura, such arguing. And in front of children, no less.”
Both Anubisu and Rajura turned and seemed to see Ryou and Duo for the first time since they walked into the room. While Rajura’s one good eye scanned them up and down, he didn’t really react until he looked at mama Sh’ten. The single eye widened with horror and he exploded.
“Pervert! Get out of here!” He screamed swinging his fist at mama Sh’ten.
Mama Sh’ten dodged out of the way, letting go of Ryou’s hands as he did, and jumped lightly back towards the doorway. “Now, now…”
“How dare you come in here like that?! Where are your clothes?”
“I wasn’t going to wear that dress any longer than I had to.” He lurched to the side when Rajura raised his other hand and just managed to slip out of the still open door. “Naaza didn’t complain.”
“This is a nursery, fool! There are three children who don’t need your vile influence. Get out and get some clothes on!” When mama Sh’ten had gone Rajura muttered something under his breath about, “Underclothes….honestly…I’ve raised a pervert… You’d be Ryou.”
Ryou suddenly found that he was the center of attention and he didn’t like it at all, not after what he’d just seen. If this man was going to try to hit mama Sh’ten, then maybe he would try to hurt Ryou, too. Ryou didn’t answer the man, but backed away until he hit the wall.
“I’m Rajura, eldest of us all. Please, forgive Sh’ten’s lack of modesty. I’m sure you’ll get used to him, in time.” He bowed solemnly. “We’re all pleased to have you as part of our family, Ryou.”
“He’s not the only one here, you know.” As much as Ryou hated being the center of attention, Duo reveled in it. He grinned up at Rajura as soon as he had the man’s attention. “I’m Duo Maxwell, pleased to meet you.”
“Ah…yes.” Rajura studied Duo closely, looking him up and down and then circling around to look at him from behind. “Hmmm…we weren’t really expecting you. Still, you’ll do.”
Duo looked insulted. “What? Ryou gets the warm welcome and I’ll ‘do’? What’s that about?”
“You’re sturdy. A bit small, but that can be fixed with a decent diet and training. Naaza said you were quick, too. That’s good.” He smiled for Duo and put his hands on his hips. “It’s a hard life, here, but I think you’ll both survive. Welcome to the Youja Kai.”
Sh’ten-
Some weeks later-
Sh’ten liked having the children around. They made life interesting.
"AHHHHHHHHHHH! $%&#!" Rajura's screams filled the palace.
Naaza and Sh'ten looked up from their chess game. It was something new, a game Anubisu had picked up during one of his many trips to the Ningen Sekai. “How’d ‘Nubie’s job interview go, anyway?” Sh’ten asked when Rajura’s scream died away. “He never told me. Something about a training a kid at a military station in space?“
“Eh.” Naaza grunted. “He turned them down. Said the ‘thing’ in charge gave him the creeps. He was part human and part machine. It’s horrible what humans are doing these days.”
Rajura cursed at the top of his lungs, again.
“You just hate humans, never mind what they do to themselves. Still, it must have been pretty bad if ‘Nubie couldn’t stand being around him. I mean, really. We work for a demon. What could be creepier than that?”
“What your mouth, oni-chan. Offense might be taken.” Naaza’s warning tone wasn’t lost on Sh’ten, but he didn’t much care. Arago had more to worry about than what his ma-sho called him. “Anubisu made a good choice. I wouldn’t work for a human, either. No matter what they look like.”
“You wouldn’t spit on a human if they begged.”
The door was flung open and both Ryou and Duo ran in, slamming the door behind them. Duo looked around quickly. "Ryou, hide fast!" Duo dove under the table where Sh'ten and Naaza were playing chess, letting the table cloth hide him after he told the two adults, "Don't tell Rajura where I am!”
Ryou panicked and looked wildly for a hiding place. He looked ready to burst into tears. "Where? Where? Where?" He muttered to himself before his eyes lit up at seeing the long curtain that hung over the window. Hiding himself behind the curtains, Ryou didn't notice his toes sticking out of the bottom.
Naaza and Sh'ten almost laughed, except that at that moment, Rajura burst into the room and he was DEFINITELY not in a laughing mood. "Where are those brats!?"
Naaza stared in horror while Sh’ten tried not to laugh. Rajura's long white hair, his pride and joy, hung down his back, in long wet strands. He'd obviously just come from the baths, dressed only with a towel wrapped around his waist. His hair was bright, neon orange.
"Where are they? Those rotten little monsters!" Rajura stopped when he heard the little giggle and he marched to the table, throwing it and the chess game aside and revealing Duo who couldn't help but laugh at the sight of his big brother.
Duo rolled onto his back, laughing hysterically. "You look great, Rajura!"
Rajura got a murderous glint in his one good eye and he flexed his hands. "You...you..."
"It's my fault, oniisan." Ryou crept guiltily out from behind the curtain. "Don't blame Duo."
"What?" While it was common for Duo to play jokes on his family, Ryou was pretty good at staying out of trouble.
"Well, I remembered my granma used to dye her hair. She told me that old people like to dye their hair colors so they can look younger. Since you're old and you've got white hair, I thought you might like your hair colored. Duo told me how to do it and he helped me to mix the stuff to put in your shampoo, but it was my idea." He looked at Rajura for a moment before he finally burst into tears. "IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE RED, NOT ORANGE!!"
Rajura was quite a moment. "Really?"
"Yes." Ryou hung his head, deeply ashamed, but Duo rolled his eyes.
"Ryou, you should keep your mouth shut sometimes. You could have been kept right out of trouble."
Rajura rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I'm getting a headache." He murmured, before waving his hand which made his hair turned back to white. "Thank you for the thought, but I like my hair the color it is. Go play, Ryou-chan." He patted Ryou on the head, forgiving all.
Ryou wiped his tears with the back of one hand and did as he was told and ran out. Duo tried to follow, but Rajura caught him by the collar.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"Um, out with Ryou?"
"No."
"No?"
"You will clean the bath until all that orange stuff is cleaned up. I am fully aware of who was responsible for this mess and you and I both know it wasn't Ryou. Do you understand?"
Duo sighed, but he'd rather expected this. Rajura understood Duo just a little too well. "Yes, oniisan."
"Good. Now, what exactly did you put in my hair?"
"Oh, just some stuff I found in Naaza's lab." Duo replied before wandering out of the room.
"Just some stuff?" Rajura looked horrified.
Naaza patted him on the arm, comfortingly. "I'll go see what he was messing around with and I'll see if I can fix it. Hopefully, it's nothing that will make your hair stay permanently orange or fall out entirely."
"What?!" Rajura collapsed in tears right in Sh'ten's lap.
Sh'ten rolled his eyes as he held his friend. 'Kids.' He thought ruefully. Still, it was amusing to see Rajura reduced to tears like this.
It was mainly to relieve Duo's boredom that the Ma-Sho agreed to let the two go to the Ningen Sekai to play. Duo’s boredom would be the death of him if he couldn’t stop himself from playing pranks on Rajura. Just to get them out of the way for a little while, Rajura suggested that they spend some time away from the palace. "But not without protection!" Rajura had insisted. The boys were only twelve, after all.
"What?" Duo asked. "Are you coming with us?" For him that would ruin half the fun. He wanted to get out and away from his brothers for a while.
"No. That's why we want you two gone for a while." Anubisu answered. "We have some work to do and we don't want you involved."
Sh'ten looked at Anubisu. "Why don't you send the kittens with them?"
Anubisu nodded and went to the window. He stared out into the misty land of the Youja Kai for just a moment before coming back to where they were all seated at a table. "They're coming, they'll be here in a minute. There are a few rules you boys have to remember."
"That's right." Naaza looked at them sternly. "Don't talk to anyone. No one at all, you never know who might be an enemy."
Rajura added in, "Stay together and you are to stay in the forest. Don't go into town for any reason."
"Take your weapons." Sh'ten told them, motioning to the weapons that were currently leaning against a wall, Ryou's little twin katanas and Duo's child-sized scythe.
"Most importantly," Anubisu said, "Stay with the kittens." He now went to the door and opened it. Two young tiger cubs walk in, a white one with black stripes going to Ryou and the black one going to Duo. "This is Byakuen." Anubisu named the white one near Ryou. "And that one near you, Duo, is Kokuen-Oh. They are more powerful than they look, so keep them with you."
That was the beginning of Ryou and Duo's adventures into the world of the mortals, playing in the forests and, occasionally, sneaking away to spy on some campers or others who happened into the mountains they liked to play in.
Ryou-
Three years later-
Anubisu screamed as he banged on the door. "Boys Get out of bed, you're going to be late!"
Ryou woke with a start and blinked, looking all around the room before he remembered what the hurry was all about. Ryou jumped out of bed and hurried to get dressed. It had taken a long time to convince his oniisan's that he and Duo should go to a regular school instead of just their brothers teaching them.
Ryou noticed that Duo was still fast asleep and knelt to shake Duo, hard. It always took a lot of work to wake Duo up. "Come on, Duo! This was your idea, I don't even want to go, so I'm not going without you!"
Duo groaned, rolling over and tried to hide under the blankets, but Ryou ripped them off. "If you don't come now, Rajura's not going to let us ever go to school. You know he didn't want us going in the first place."
Duo blinked groggily and rubbed his face with the back of his hand. "Jeeze, Ryou. You really know how to ruin a great dream, don't you?"
"What were you dreaming about?"
Duo giggled, and got out of bed. "You wouldn't understand. It was about this guy with bright blue eyes and hair all in his eyes. He was very serious and absolutely drop dead gorgeous!"
"Weird. I've been thinking about that guy we saw in the forest the other day. The blonde guy, you remember." Ryou's mind went to the quiet stranger that he'd been thinking about for several days now, the one with the lavender eye that was filled with loneliness. Blonde hair, like a halo around his head. Ahhhh.
Duo got a dreamy look on his face. "Yeah, he was nice, but he couldn't match the one in my dreams." Duo stared into space for a minute, apparently thinking about his own dream, before shaking himself. "Oh, yeah. School."
It had been Duo's idea, almost a year ago, that they should go to school in the Ningen Sekai. There was no one else for them to talk to or play with than their brothers and their young sister, Kay. Duo wanted other people to talk to and new things to do. That meant going to the Ningen Sekai.
For his part, Ryou would have been content to stay at home and practice his fighting with Rajura or exploring the wilderness of the Youja Kai with Anubisu. It was Duo who was lonely, he just didn't want to go to the Ningen Sekai alone, so Ryou was drafted into going, also. Besides, he wouldn't make Duo do something like this alone. They were always together, so they should do this together, too.
The one factor that had determined whether or not they would go was, in fact, their oldest brother, Rajura. Rajura ruled the household and all family matters. He was adamant that the boys should stay where it was safe in the Youja Kai, but Duo had ways of getting what he wanted.
Several weeks earlier-
"I'd just give in if I were you." Sh'ten advised Rajura.
Rajura stubbornly shook his head. "It's too dangerous out there, you know that. What if something happened to them, especially to Ryou? Duo's far too vulnerable, at least Ryou has his fire to protect him, Duo's only mortal." They were in Rajura's chambers discussing the issue of school. Rajura examined his knitting before continuing. "We have to keep them safe, we won't even be there to help if something should happen."
"They'll be perfectly safe. They are well trained in fighting and are more than a match for anyone they're going to meet." Sh'ten replied persuasively. "Duo is lonely, let him make a few outside friends."
Rajura jumped to his feet and headed for the door, obviously not wanting to talk about this anymore. "Forget it, 'Ten-chan. The boys are staying here." Rajura opened the door of his room and started to walk out when a bucket of water fell on his head, soaking him to the skin.
Sh'ten tried very hard not to laugh. Rajura had become Duo's favorite target after denying Duo's wish to go to school. The sight of a dripping wet Rajura, frozen in shock for a few seconds, was just too hard to ignore. Sh'ten burst out laughing.
Rajura closed his eyes and started to shake.
Maybe laughing wasn’t the best way Sh’ten should respond. Sh'ten immediately stopped laughing and looked at his brother. He stepped forward nervously. "Now, now, 'Jura, don't get yourself all worked up..."
"I-am-going-to-kill-that-boy!!!" Rajura screamed insanely, pulling a spear off his wall and making for the door, but Sh'ten managed to tackle him, dragging Rajura to the floor. They both knew which boy had set up this practical joke.
"Don't kill Duo! You'll hate yourself in the morning!" Sh'ten had to admit that he'd grown used to the children, as he had Kay, who was now ten years old, and didn't even mind being called, mama, anymore. Well, not really.
"Okay, I won't kill that demon-spawn, I'll just throw him in the dungeon for a few weeks, let the rats chew at that braid!" Rajura was struggling wildly, trying to get free, but Sh'ten was holding on as hard as he could.
"For the sake of your own sanity and health, please, let them go!" Sh'ten knew that the practical jokes Duo played wouldn't actually hurt anyone, but they were starting to get on Rajura's nerves. At this rate, Rajura would have a heart attack in a week.
Gradually, Rajura slowed his struggling until finally he was still. "Fine. I give up."
Sh'ten cautiously let Rajura up. "You mean it? I can tell the boys they can go to school?"
"Yes, of course you can." Rajura ran a hand through his hair, straightening it somewhat. "You know I won't let you catch me in a lie. Besides, I don‘t think my ulcer can stand much more of that boy."
Present time-
Duo and Ryou were dressed in record time, helping each other with the school ties and working with buttons and zippers, things they hadn't seen since their brothers had adopted them and they'd come to this place that seemed frozen hundreds of years in the past.
Ryou remembered that this was the day he had to wear the new clothes, the mortal clothes that students wore, instead of his usual kimono. The uniform was strange and Ryou had to struggle to get everything just right, especially the black tie. Running a hand through his hair, Ryou considered himself done and was going out to meet his brothers, Rajura, Naaza, Anubisu, and mama Sh’ten.
Duo called out before Ryou even got out the door. "Wait!"
"What?" Ryou looked over his shoulder to see Duo struggling with his hair.
"Help me braid it, will you?"
Ryou groaned. "I sometimes wish you'd just cut the silly thing off, you know." Still, Ryou picked up Duo's hairbrush and started to brush out the tangles. Duo usually left the long, single braid in overnight, but he'd decided he wanted to look his best for the first day of school. Duo sat patiently, the only time he ever did was when someone was fixing his hair for him, while Ryou quickly braided it. Finally, they ran out to the family room.
Naaza was setting the table with breakfast and looked at the boys with almost a sneer. "You look foolish."
"Where's mama Sh‘ten?" Ryou asked. It was Sh'ten who'd supported Duo when he'd first brought up the subject of going to school so the others had decided that Sh'ten could take care of the details of taking Ryou and Duo back and forth to school.
"I'm right here, but eat something before we go." Sh'ten told him.
"Oh, come on, mama Sh‘ten!" Duo was nearly begging, as he knew the minutes were ticking away. "We have to go, I don't want to be late!"
"Don't call me mama." Sh'ten told them out of reflex.
Rajura walked in just then and fixed his one good eye on his younger brothers. "Do as Sh'ten says, boys. You don't want to faint in the middle of class because you haven't eaten. Now that would be embarrassing."
Duo didn't need any more convincing and had eagerly sat down to eat as much as his stomach could hold.
Ryou rolled his eyes and quickly sat down at the low table, crossing his legs on the floor with the others. He ate quickly, but not so much as Duo who nearly choked himself on the food several times, and finally stood up while Sh'ten was still slowly eating.
Duo and Ryou stood impatiently, Duo tapping his foot, sure that mama Sh'ten was doing it on purpose! "Come on, mama Sh‘ten!" Duo yelled. "We'll get in trouble if we're late!"
"That's true." Anubisu agreed. "When I was mortal, I went to school and if a student was late, they were whipped."
Ryou paled at the thought. Whipped?
"True." Rajura agreed. "I remember once having to run three miles as a punishment in school."
Three miles?
"I never went to school." Naaza commented, "But I did see children often having their knuckles lashed."
Ryou was beginning to think that maybe this school thing wasn't such a good idea, even if Duo didn't seem bothered. "Um," Ryou started. "Maybe I should just stay here..."
Mama Sh'ten, finally finished, stood and took Ryou's arm. "Don't listen to them, they're only trying to frighten you. Do you two have everything?"
Duo patted his bag. "Paper, pencils, and some food for lunch. We're all set."
The gate was their only way to the Ningen Sekai, even if they didn't understand how this worked, Ryou and Duo had long ago accepted this as a fact in their lives. They were of the Youja Kai, not the Ningen Sekai. They were only visiting here, so they were not to get involved in the lives of anyone. Friends were all right, but not close friends. No one was supposed to know where they came from, or about where they lived. Rajura had even given them a cover story in case anyone asked about their family.
This time, as the gate was going to be open practically permanently, Sh'ten had set it up in an apartment. The gates were actually in a closet in the apartment, so it could be opened and closed whenever necessary. Sh'ten had rented the apartment, the boys had been told, just so they could use it as a place to put the gate.
"You come straight back here after school." Sh'ten told them seriously after they'd come into the empty apartment. Ryou and Duo were looking around the empty space curiously. "The gate will be open, so you can just walk through. We'll be waiting for you."
Sh’ten-
Youja Kai-
The four Ma-Sho were in full yoroi on the practice field where they enjoyed fighting each other. However, at that time, they weren‘t fighting. "They boys will have to be trained fully soon. The war should start any time now." Sh'ten told his brothers. "We want them to be able to defend themselves if the other yoroi bearers manage to get into our world."
"What do we do about Duo?" Rajura asked, worried. "He's no yoroi bearer, so he's going to be defenseless when we're away fighting for Emperor Arago."
Naaza laughed. "You really do care about the boy, no matter how much you deny it, don't you, Rajura?"
Rajura sniffed and turned away, as dignified as he could.
"I wouldn't worry about Duo." Naaza said. "I rather think the boy is smart enough to take care of himself and he is trained to use the scythe."
"Emperor Arago will want to see Ryou soon." Anubisu said, bringing them all back to the harsh reality of having the children live with them. "Ryou won't like it." He said, remembering the fires that constantly burned in their lord's throne room.
"He'll have to live with it." Sh'ten tried to sound cold. "It is our duty and honor to fight of Emperor Arago. We will take the Ningen Sekai and conquer everyone on it. Ryou and Duo will both help and they'll learn to be proud to be with us. Ryou's fear of fire will have to be overcome. The yoroi will come to him very soon, and he won't have a choice. The boys will help us. After all, we're their family." Though he spoke confidently, there was something in his heart that betray him. He knew this wasn't going to be as easy as it seemed.
Ningen Sekai-
Touma-
Touma was stargazing, his favorite hobby, the night he found it. It was nearly midnight and Touma kept glancing at his watch. He’d have to get off the roof, soon. Quatre worried so much if he was out too late. The stars called to Touma, though. They were so bright and the clear sky was brilliant with them. It was almost as if he could reach out and touch them.
Above him, just over Orion the archer, a comet with a long, fiery tail shot down to the Earth.
Touma sat up on the rooftop, shocked. Nothing had been in the reports of a comet that night! What a great night and, if Touma had seen correctly, it had landed in the woods near the house. Touma couldn’t help but smile. Yes, Quatre would yell at him if he found out, but he was fast asleep. Touma hopped up and climbed up to the window of his bedroom, determined to find out if anything of the space rock had survived the impact.
With a flashlight and nothing else, Touma took off into the forest. It wasn’t too hard to find, really. A large crater had opened up in the earth and, at the center, was the space object. Touma climbed down into the crater, scanning the area with his flashlight until he caught a gleam of something, like a tiny star, sitting in the dust.
"Yes!" Touma shouted happily. It was his first discovery, his own find! Touma rushed over to the shining thing in the dirt and found a small, perfectly round crystal. "What the Hell?" After dusting the crystal off, Touma saw on the inside of the crystal was marked, Wisdom, in Kanji. There is no way that thing could have come from space! It was impossible.
For one thing, it was cool, almost cold, to the touch, it should be burning hot. It had to be man made! 'But,' Touma thought as he looked up at the sky, 'I know it came from space. I saw it.'
Touma thought about it for some time, still on his knees in the crater, and finally gave the mystery up for the night. He slipped the crystal into his pocket, where it would be safe. There was no question about throwing it away or giving it up to any kind of scientific study. It was special.
Time to go home. The first day of a new school year was just a few hours away.
Saint Maxwell’s Orphanage-
Duo-
Ryou and Duo had been watching the autumn leaves as they drifted out of the trees when the man walked out of the dense forest as if he’d just been passing by. That, of course, was not possible. No one just passed by Saint Maxwell’s. They were so far out of the way that only people who had business at the orphanage ever came there, but, Duo wondered, why would anyone walk miles through the forest just to get to an orphanage.
“What are you looking at?” Ryou asked when he realized Duo’s attention wasn’t on the baseball game of the older kids. He followed Duo’s gaze until he, too, saw the approaching stranger. “Maybe he lives in the forest.”
It was possible, though the idea seemed strange to Duo. Ryou had lived his whole life in the forest so maybe it didn’t seem so odd to him. “Look,” Duo whispered. “He’s coming right to us.”
The man was tall and very thin, walking with a graceful gait until he came close enough for Duo to get a closer look. Such a man, Duo had never seen so far from the city. His pallid skin seemed to be tinged with green, but Duo knew that must just be a trick of the light. What couldn’t be described as a trick of the light was the purple eyelids that, somehow, didn’t look like make-up, and bright green hair that stuck up in a wild tangle. His lips were thin and his over-large eyes scanned the area, quickly taking in everything around him from the building to the baseball game nearby.
The man paused only for a moment when his eyes landed on Ryou and Duo. He stood still for a moment and turned his head a little to the side, as if thinking hard. Duo saw the man’s eyes flicker between him and Ryou, look irritated, then he continued walking. The man was dressed very traditionally, in a kimono of dark green and brown. When he saw Duo’s grin, the man scowled sourly. For a long time, neither of them said anything and just watched each other. “Are you a boy or a girl?”
Duo huffed himself up at that, always sensitive to his braid. “A boy, freak. What swamp did you crawl out of?”
“One that is about twenty minutes walk that way.” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. By this time, the man was standing right in front of them and had gained attention from more than just Ryou and Duo. Some of the other kids were watching him wearily and Duo felt fairly certain that sister Helen or one of the other sisters would be out in a minute. “Sanada Ryou.” He turned his attention to Ryou. “That would be you, if I’m not mistaken.”
Ryou blinked up at the stranger and looked surprised at being spoken to. Over the past few weeks, Ryou had gotten into the habit of speaking to only Duo. No one ever wanted to talk to Ryou, anyway, so he let Duo speak for both of them. Now, with the strangers attention on him, Ryou kept to his habit and didn’t so much as open his mouth. Instead, he looked at Duo, hopefully.
Never one to disappoint a friend, Duo told the stranger, "Ryou doesn't talk much. What do you want?"
“I‘ve come to offer Ryou a home with my family.” It didn’t seem to faze him that Ryou wouldn’t speak to him. “We’ve been looking for you.”
Ryou against Duo and took his friend's hand. "I...I want to stay with Duo."
"Well, we'll see about that." The green haired man looked up when sister Helen approached, no doubt suspicious of a stranger talking to her children, and he smiled at her charmingly.
Naaza-
The demand was almost too much to stand and Naaza had to use all his willpower not to simple take the boy. "What do you mean, you want to meet my wife?" They were in her office when sister Helen had begun the adoption discussion when he’d told her he was interested in having Ryou as his son. “Do you honestly believe I need a woman to raise a child?” How simple it would be to simply take Ryou and to Hell with inconvenient human conventions. Rajura, however, would want him to be subtle. “What day and age is this to be constrained by such outdated concerns?”
Sister Helen faced him down without a qualm or the slightest droop of her smile. That alone made her rise in Naaza’s estimation, a hard thing to do considering Naaza‘s long lasting hatred of humans. She tried to placate him, assuring him with her gentle tone, "Well, we need to ensure that the children have a proper home with a loving mother and father, Doku-san. We also want to be very sure you are the right type of people to raise a special boy like Ryou. He's had a hard time these past few months and is badly traumatized by the way his grandmother died." She sighed at that and motioned for him to sit. “You wouldn’t know, you only met him a moment ago, but Ryou’s one of our most troubled children. He’s working through bouts of depression, intense guilt, and has only just come out of a period of not speaking. His progress has been remarkable considering he only came to us a few weeks ago, but he’ll need continued therapy and support for a long time to come. In all honesty, I didn’t expect him to ever get adopted. Most people aren’t willing to put that kind of time, effort, or money into any child.”
Rajura knew the mind better than any living creature. If the boy needed therapy, then he would have the perfect therapist in Rajura. “I can assure you, he will have all the care he needs. My own brother is a psychologist.” He silently thanked Sh‘ten for teaching him the modern word for a person whose only duty was to listen. “Ryou will be excellently cared for.” ‘And if you don’t give him to me, I’ll just take him.’ He added the thought.
Sister Helen nodded. “I hope you’re right. All the proper channels must be followed, however. There’s paperwork to fill out and identification checks to make. Many, many regulations must be followed through. You do realize that you’ll have weekly home visits from the state department for quite a while, don’t you? The regulation about only married couples being allowed to adopt, I’m afraid, is old and far outdated, but it is the rule. You MUST be married in order to adopt. You are married, aren’t you?“
Naaza hesitated. ‘JURA, ARE YOU SURE YOU DON’T WANT ME TO JUST TAKE THE BOY?
YES. Rajura answered sternly. THERE’S NO NEED TO UPSET THE NINGENS BEFORE WE’RE READY TO CONQUER THEM. YOU’RE CLEVER ENOUGH. JUST BLUFF YOUR WAY THROUGH IT.
“Yes, I’m married.” Though the idea of binding himself to a ningen, willingly, made him sick to his stomach. “She’s a lovely woman.”
“Forgive me, but you do look rather young. How long have you been married?”
“A few months.”
“And her name?”
Naaza could think of only one word to properly describe the person he had in mind. “Zankoku.”
“There’s no need for that!” Sister Helen snapped, irritably. For a woman who supposedly worshiped the pacifist carpenter, she seemed to have quite the temper. “Calling your wife cruel…”
“No. That’s her name. Zankoku. Cute, huh?” He smiled just because he knew it would irritate her.
She looked at him doubtfully, but at last nodded. “Very well. Just bring your wife here, and we'll let you have a little visit with Ryou. You must understand that if this is what’s best for Ryou, then it‘ll take time to make all arrangements. There are papers to be signed and investigations to be made. We‘ll have to do a criminal check, of course."
Naaza sighed and tried very hard not show his impatience. Papers? Investigations? PLEASE, JUST LET ME TAKE THE BOY. HE’S SMALL. THEY WON’T EVEN NOTICE HE’S GONE.
NO. DO IT THE RIGHT WAY.
WHY?
BECAUSE SH’TEN’S HAVING FUN WATCHING YOU PLAY NINGEN. WHO AM I TO RUIN THE BOY’S FUN?
Ah. So, it was all Sh’ten’s doing. Fine. Two could play like that.
Youja Kai-
"Just put on the damned dress, Sh'ten!" Naaza allowed himself a grin at his little brother’s expense. “Rajura wants this played by Ningen rules because SOMEONE around here thinks I’m amusing. Wouldn’t want to go against Rajura-sensei, now would we?”
"I'll kill you for this, Naaza."
Ningen Sekai-
Ryou-
Together, Ryou and Duo had watched the green haired man stalk away, back into the forest he’d come from. “Weird.” Duo nudged Ryou in the ribs. “What’d you think? Maybe he’ll come back?”
“Maybe.” But maybe not. Ryou didn’t like getting his hopes up. The man was weird, but he was also the first person to show any interest in Ryou since he’d come to the orphanage. He probably wouldn’t come back. Not that it mattered much. Ryou didn’t want to leave Duo, anyway. “He seemed nice.”
Duo laughed loudly and stretched out of the steps they were still sitting on. “He was weird, but I liked him. Green hair. Did you see his face? He wore make up. Now, there’s a brave guy. I shouldn’t have given him a hard time. Maybe he’d want me, too. Green…heh, heh…cool.” There was none of Duo’s normal teasing, but real admiration in his voice.
Ryou watched the man until he couldn’t see him anymore. Funnily enough, Ryou liked him.
Not more than three hours later, when Ryou and Duo were taking math lessons when Ryou was starting to fall asleep, again. It wasn‘t really his fault. Lessons were boring. The sisters always enforced the rules about education which meant that everyone had math, reading, history, and science. The only one that was at all interesting was history because, Ryou thought, all those stories were real. They’d happened to real people. Science was real, but all of that was a bit over Ryou’s head. Reading was okay, if the story of good, but math…Ryou despised math. He just didn’t understand it. Why should any of it matter, so long as he could count what else mattered? That was the reason why Duo had been poking Ryou in the back with the tip of his pencil for the past twenty minute, to keep Ryou from snoring.
When the door of the classroom opened and sister Helen poked her head in and looked around before her eyes landed on Ryou with a pleased smile before she spoke to sister Mary, the math teacher. “Pardon me, sister Mary. May I borrow Ryou for a moment?”
Ryou, of course, went to sister Helen without waiting for sister Mary to tell him he could go. Sister Helen ruled the school and she was only asking out of politeness. If she needed him, he had to go. A glance of his shoulder showed Ryou that Duo was watching him curiously, but didn’t say a word, which was a bit odd for him.
He hadn’t done anything wrong, Ryou was sure of that. The times he did get in trouble, Duo was usually called to sister Helen’s office, too. Not that Ryou had ever ratted Duo out, but sister Helen was pretty clever about that sort of thing. So what it could be about, Ryou had no idea and he could only follow sister Helen through the empty halls to her office. Sister Helen didn’t seem angry, but it was hard to tell with her. She didn’t say a word until she was right at the door of her office and her hand was on the door knob.
“Don’t look so worried, Ryou, dear. This could be a great chance for you.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Just come in and keep an open mind. Tell me honestly what you think. Things will go smoothly from there.”
She opened the door and Ryou was surprised to see the green haired man from the other day half sitting on the corner of sister Helen’s desk. How odd that he’d come back so quickly. Duo had said that if the man came back it would be a couple of days, at least.
The green haired man smiled pleasantly at Ryou, though, so Ryou smiled back. Ryou thought that it must be his imagination, but he could have sworn he saw fangs instead of teeth.
“You know Doku-san, you met earlier.” Sister Helen ushered Ryou in and told him to sit in one of the chairs in front of her desk while whispering, “Mind your manners and be polite.” She raised her voice slightly to say, “This is his wife, Doku Zankoku, and they’ve come just to speak with you, Ryou.”
Zankoku was very pretty, but had a sever face and bright green eyes, rather like a cat. She didn’t look happy. In fact, she looked downright angry the way she stood ramrod straight, tapping her foot with her arms crossed over her chest. The most striking thing about the woman was her straight, red hair and the amazingly ugly green and purple polka dot dress.
“Well, there he is. Just like I told you.” Doku-san gave Ryou a pleased smile and, unless Ryou was hallucinating, showed off a pair of fangs. “He’ll do just fine, won’t he?” Doku-san elbowed his wife in the ribs. “Don’t look so standoffish, honey.”
It was enough to make Zankoku smile tightly with gritted teeth. "Hello," She managed to squeeze out as she looked down at Ryou. She wasn’t angry at him, Ryou was pretty sure of that. “It’s a pleasure.”
Sister Helen shook the lady’s hand and seemed quite pleased. "Ryou, dear, Doku-san and his wife want to take you home with them. They want you for their son. Isn't that wonderful?"
It didn’t feel wonderful. Ryou felt his stomach seize up and his mouth went dry very suddenly. “I…I want to stay with Duo.” He didn’t really want to be given to a new family. Surely, he didn’t deserve one after what he’d done to granma. Wouldn’t it be better for him to stay at the orphanage? At least when he was with Duo, he wasn’t likely to hurt anyone. “Duo takes care of me.”
Duo popped his head in the door. He was, as usual, exactly where he shouldn't be. "That's right! Where Ryou goes, I go! We're a team, a matching set!" He gave them a cheeky smile and jumped into the room, flinging an arm over Ryou's shoulder and grinning up at Doku-san and Zankoku.
Doku-san and Zankoku looked at each other and shrugged, indifferently. "Why not? How much trouble can an extra boy cause?" Doku-san asked before he looked at sister Helen and said, decisively, "We'll take them both."
"Both of them?" Sister Helen repeated with a frown. "I hope you realize what a responsibility it is, adopting children, I mean. Someone like Ryou will be hard enough. This new change won't be easy on him. Duo is another story entirely. He's highly intelligent, but he gets bored easily and tends to make trouble for fun. You have to be very patient with both of them."
Doku-san never stopped smiling. "Don't worry about that. We have all the time in the world. Would you like to be our children, boys?"
Duo nodded enthusiastically. "That'd be great!" He looked at Zankoku. "We'll be the best kids you could ever want, mama!"
Zankoku’s left eye twitched strangely at the word mama. "What about you, Ryou?"
Ryou, didn't know how to answer. 'Someone wants me? What if I hurt them?' He just stared and let himself cry until he felt a feather light touch on his cheek.
Zankoku touched his face gently and she smiled, really smiled, at him. She almost looked happy when she ran her thumb over Ryou’s tear stained cheek, brushing away the wetness with her calloused thumb. “You’re sweet when you cry, but there’s really no need for it. You don’t have to be afraid of us. We’re family, after all. You don’t have to be afraid, anymore.”
Ryou choked. "Y-you will?" Ryou didn't want to get a family if he was just going to kill them, too. He didn't want to hurt anyone else like he'd hurt granma. What if they didn't like him? He said bad words, after all, and that was what had led to his granma’s death. Ryou hugged himself, trying to calm down but Duo was getting agitated at seeing Ryou like this. He didn't even know why Ryou was crying, really.
"Don't cry, Ryou-chan! It'll be great, we'll be brothers for real and we'll have a family with a real dad and mama and everything. Please, don't cry!" Duo threw his arms around Ryou, trying to comfort him, and even kissed Ryou on the cheek to cheer him up, but Ryou kept crying.
Zankoku nodded. "Yes, we'll be a real family and you have uncles waiting to meet you and a little sister. We don't live too far away from here and there are so many new things for you to learn. Will you come with us, Ryou?"
Ryou wiped his nose with the back of his hand and blinked away tears. "With Duo?"
"With Duo."
Doku-san and Zankoku sat with sister Helen in the office to sign the papers and get all the information they needed about Ryou and Duo’s pasts. They scheduled home visits and learned about the boy’s allergies - Ryou couldn’t eat strawberries for fear of a rash and Duo got puffy when he ate olives - but throughout all the paperwork and forms, they both barely seemed to be paying attention. As if none of it mattered.
Duo, for the first time since Ryou had met him, was absolutely still. He and Ryou stood with their backs to the door, just watching their soon-to-be parents. While Ryou couldn’t help but be frightened with the memories of his granma screaming still fresh in his mind, Duo looked blissful. It was more than happy. His eyes shone and his wide mouth was pressed in a soft smile. He couldn’t take his eyes off them. It was so intense, Duo almost seemed to be studying them.
“Sure, I wanted to study them.” Duo admitted when he and Ryou were alone in the dorm room after Doke-san and Zankoku had left. They would return in several days to get the boys, but were told that the paperwork had to be filed and approved before anything could happen. “It isn’t everyday I get a family. Aren’t they great? Doku-san still has the weirdest hair I’ve ever seen and Zankoku was real grumpy, but they were still great. Just think, we won’t be sharing a bedroom with fifteen other guys.” Duo hopped up on the bed beside Ryou and leaned back until he was looking straight up at the ceiling. “They’ve got a big house and there’s others! We get a little sister. I always wanted a sister. Uncles, too. I wonder what their names are?”
Ryou couldn’t seem to muster the same enthusiasm. “Aren’t you afraid? Just a little?”
Duo rolled over to looked at Ryou. “Sure. At least you’ve had a family. You know what to do with them. This is a first for me.” His smile slipped. “No. That’s a lie.” He slapped himself in the mouth. “Mustn’t tell lies. Anyway, I have had a family, but now I have to leave her. Sister Helen raised me. The other nuns all come and go. The other kids get adopted or sent to other homes. Sister Helen, though…she was always here. You know, when I was little she used to let me sit on her lap and she’d sing to me. She taught me to read, too. I still remember her pointing out the words when she read the story of Noah’s Arc to me. I always liked that one. Of course, I’m afraid. I don’t really want to leave Sister Helen, but it’s time. She has loads of other kids to look after and I can’t stay here forever if I have a chance to move on. Think of it this way, if we go, she’ll have two other beds to give two other kids who need a home.”
It made sense. There were lots of kids in the world and in the colonies who needed a safe place to live and there was no safer place than under Sister Helen’s watchful eye. Maybe she would go out and find two kids who were starving on the streets. Thinking of it that way, it would be selfish not to go.
“So, we should go. Right?”
Ryou must not have sounded as confidant as he’d tried to be because Duo took his hand. “We ARE going. The papers are signed and they’ll come in a few days. It’s an adventure and it’ll be fun. No matter what, I promise I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”
The next few days seemed to go by too quickly, but Duo enjoyed every minute of it. Duo was nearly bursting with happiness when he lorded it over Akira about being adopted by a 'really cool guy' with green hair and a beautiful red haired lady. He made very sure that everyone knew that he and Ryou had found the absolute best parents.
Ryou was more nervous, however. He didn't know how to behave for Mr. Doku or Yoko, but he dearly wanted his new parents to like him. Duo had told him that people wouldn't like him because of his fire, that they would be afraid of him.
There seemed to be a chance that all Ryou’s worry and Duo’s happiness would be for nothing. The day before Doku-san and Zankoku were to come get them, Sister Helen spent the whole day looking very worried and talking seriously on the phone.
“There’s a problem with the paperwork.” Ryou overheard when he passed her office. “You don’t understand, sir. Yes, yes I understand the children must be placed as quickly as possible, but,” She stopped talking when the person on the other end of the phone said something. “No. I can’t find any Doku family and the address they gave me is a warehouse in Chuba. They aren’t who they say they are.”
When Ryou told Duo what he overheard that night, Duo chewed on his thumbnail uneasily. “Sister Helen won’t let us go with people she doesn’t trust.” Ryou knew that Duo trust Sister Helen without question and if she said the deal was off, Ryou knew they would be staying at the orphanage. “Well, we’ll hope for the best. It’s probably just some silly mistake. Now,” He sat cross-legged on Ryou’s bed and put on his serious face. “Do you remember what I told you?”
“Yes. Call Zankoku-san mama because mom’s like that. It’ll make her like us more and she’ll want to keep us.”
“Right. Doku-san doesn't matter as much. It only matters what mama says." Duo explained seriously with the wisdom of his years at the orphanage. "I don't know why, but that's the way it works. Hey, Ryou, will you brush my hair for me?" Duo held out his brush and let Ryou straighten his shoulder length hair out. “I hate going to bed with it loose, it always gets knotted up.” Ryou did this almost every day, a sort of ritual for them every morning after they washed up. Ryou would always braid Duo's hair as best as he could.
Whatever the mess with the paperwork was cleared up by morning because Sister Helen didn’t say a word about it and tearfully helped them pack little bags. She gave them both toothbrushes and a comb for Ryou and a hairbrush for Duo. She gave them a suit of nice clothes and gave them each kiss on the forehead. While she gave Ryou a wristwatch she pressed a small, worn bible into Duo’s hands.
“It’s the one she used to read to me from.” Duo later told Ryou when he asked why Duo cried when she gave it to him.
Sister Helen waited with them on the front steps of the orphanage when everyone else ate dinner, waiting for Doku-san and Zankoku. There was little to do to pass the time but talk and while they were talking, Duo asked Sister Helen about what Ryou had overheard about the paperwork.
“It was all a mistake.” She answered with an easy laugh. “I got a call that cleared everything up. There’s no reason to worry.”
“But what was the mistake?” Duo pressed.
“Nothing to worry about.” Her eyes looked a little unfocused when she said that. “Rajura-san explained it all.”
“Who?”
“He’s a friend of Doku-san’s…I think. Nothing to worry about. Look, there they are.”
Strangely, Doku-san and Zankoku walked out of the forest instead of coming down the road. They walked out of the same place Ryou and Duo had seen Doku-san walk out of the first time and both of them looked as well-dressed as if they were in the city. People just didn’t dress that well for walking in the forest.
Ryou tried not to think about that, it seemed very unimportant. He and Duo gave Sister Helen a last hug and kiss before they let Doku-san and Zankoku take their hands and they let themselves be led away.
Time for a new life.
Just a few minutes after leaving the orphanage found Ryou in familiar and comfortable surroundings. Doku-san and his wife had led Ryou and Duo right into the forest where they’d come from and it was in was in the forest that Ryou always felt most at home. ‘So long as I’m with Duo, anywhere can be home.’ It felt strange to hold someone’s hand, though. Even stranger to think that the red haired woman who was scowling so darkly was his new mama. ‘But I don’t want a new mama. I still love mine.’ It was only a few dim, fading memories, but Ryou could remember his mother before she’d died. He remembered that she laughed a lot.
Ryou looked over his shoulder at Duo who was holding Doku-san's hand and smiling happily, chattering about something. Duo seemed very much at ease with their new dad, but mama, on the other hand, was glaring straight ahead, not looking at Ryou who held her hand. Her good mood had seemed to evaporate as soon as they'd gotten out of sight of the orphanage.
"Did you start the fire?" Mama asked suddenly.
'How could she know that? Sister Helen must have told her.' Ryou started to shake, he was so afraid. Ryou licked his lips and tried to pull away her, but mama held on tight. "I-I didn't mean it." 'Please, don't hate me. Please, don't take me away from Duo.’ He was very frightened that his new mama would take him back to the orphanage but keep Duo. After all, Duo was normal and safe. Duo wouldn't hurt them just because he got mad.
“You’re so fragile. We’ll have to toughen you up a bit.” Mama looked down at Ryou with a tiny smile, as if she didn't want anyone to see it. "Don't be afraid."
Ryou, not really understanding what mama was talking about, just nodded. "Yes, mama."
"Please, don't call me mama." She shot a look of hatred at Naaza. "I will have my revenge for that, Naaza."
"I look forward to it, 'Ten-chan." Naaza answered easily.
Mama and Naaza led them to a kind of gate in the middle of the forest. Two large red and gold columns stood in the middle of a glade, ornate things that definitely shouldn't be out here. "Where are we?" Duo asked, looking around, confused. "What's this?"
"This is the way to get to our home." Naaza answered. "We just walk through the gates and then you can see your new home. Our brothers and sister are waiting for us on the other side." Naaza looked down at Duo. "Are you ready?"
Ryou took a tight grip of mama's hand and walked through with her, Duo behind with Naaza. Ryou pushed his doubts to the side. Duo was right. This was a good chance. They’d have a family and a real home. They all stepped through the gates together and there was a terrible feeling of being lightheaded for just a minute and then they in a hall.
Youja Kai-
Even the air tasted different from the forest. Not a bad taste, more bland. Like there was no life in the air. Ryou looked around and tightened his grip around the hand he was holding. There were tapestries hanging on the walls and elaborate rugs on the floors.
"Where are we, mama?" Duo asked from where he stood with Mr. Doku.
The hand released Ryou suddenly and scowled. "I'll thank you not to call me, mama, boy." Mama pulled the dress over her head, leaving her in nothing but short trousers, and let the dress drop to the ground.
Ryou frowned. He was sure Duo had told him something about girls looking different than guys without their clothes on. Mama looked just like a man! He would definitely have to ask Duo about this later.
Mama glared at Mr. Doku. "Meet me after dinner in the west courtyard. I'll settle this little humiliation."
Naaza laughed. "In your dreams, oni-chan. But I will meet you anyway. Your ego could use a good thrashing." He eyed mama up and down. “Rajura will thrash you if he catches you in front of the children like that.”
“I do hope so.”
"Forget it. Come on, boys. I'm sure you'd both like to explore a little and get to know our family. You can call me Naaza or oniisan, if you like." He pointed at mama. "He's Sh'ten and, as you can see, he's really a man. We just dressed him up like a woman so we could adopt you. I’m not married, you haven’t got a mama. Just a couple of brothers and a baby sister. You are, right now, in the Youja Kai, the realm of demons. We‘re the warlords of one of the most powerful demons of them all. This is the palace, you’ll be living here for the rest of your lives.”
Ryou and Duo looked at each other, shocked. It couldn’t be true. But, there were torches with blue fire and they’d just walked through a gate in the forest that led them into this place. Besides, why would Naaza lie about something like that? Ryou decided that it must be true, but he wasn’t sure what he should think about it. Living in a world of demons?
Duo didn’t seem to have any reservations at all. He smiled brightly and ran to Sh'ten, giving him a hug. "That's great, mama Sh’ten!" He crowed happily. "We're so glad you came to get us."
"Don't call me mama!" Mama Sh’ten gave Duo a little push to get away from the overly affectionate child.
Duo's eyes took on a familiar gleam of wickedness. "But I love you, mama Sh’ten!"
Mama Sh’ten grumbled something about horrid children and began to stalk away, but that only made Naaza laugh and grab his arm. “Don’t be so touchy. You’ve been called worse things and he doesn’t mean any harm.”
“Since when do you stick up for any human?”
“He’s not just any human. He’s family.” Naaza took Duo’s hand again as they all started going down the hallway. "Don't worry about him, he's just grumpy because I made him wear a dress again."
"Again?" Duo looked up at him, honestly puzzled. "Why'd he wear it before?"
Naaza blushed. "I'll tell you when you're older." They walked a short while before Naaza looked down at Ryou. "You haven't said much, Ryou. Are you scared being here?"
Ryou shook his head, but looked at Duo for help.
Duo obligingly added, "He just doesn't like talking. Ryou will talk when he has something to say. Do we really get to stay here forever? Why did you want Ryou? How did that gate thing work? Why is the sky purple? How did mama Sh’ten know about Ryou's fire? Are those real soldiers? Why are they wearing armor? I once met a soldier, but he didn't look like that. He wasn't a very nice man and said bad things to the lady in the market, so I threw marbles on the streets and made him slip on his butt. It was really funny, but Sister Helen gave me a whack when she heard about it."
Naaza looked down at Ryou with an amused smile. Ryou was almost starting to get used to the fangs. "Does he always talk this much?"
Ryou nodded, giving his friend an exasperated smile. The smile faded when Ryou's eyes fell on one of the torches that lit the hallway. Ryou stopped walking and stared at the torch for a moment. His hand tightened around Naaza's, before he let go and ran around to Duo and hid behind him.
"What's wrong?" Naaza asked, confused.
Duo answered, petting Ryou's hair. "Ryou doesn't like fire. It scares him. Can we go somewhere where there's no fire?" As Ryou was staring with fear at the fire from behind Duo, Naaza agreed and they started walking again.
"You don't have to be afraid of fire, Ryou. That's part of who you are, your power over fire."
"He just doesn't like it." Duo answered defensively. "Leave him alone."
The rest of the family was found after a short hunt. “Anubisu is on nanny duty.“ Mama Sh’ten told them. “So, as soon as we hear,“ They all heard the baby’s wailing at the same time. “There she is. Our darling little sister, Kayura,. We’ll go meet Anubisu, shall we?”
Anubisu was trying to soothe the baby to sleep and failing miserably.
“Shut that door!” He bellowed as best as he could while whispering. “Those tin goons always wake her up when they stomp by!” His hair was blue and he was bigger than both Naaza and Sh’ten. He was so big that Ryou held back at the door until mama Sh’ten gave his arm a tug. The man looked like a giant with massively broad shoulders and a neck so thick and muscular that it barely looked human. When he turned around, the man entirely ruined the effect. Though his face was scarred horribly on one cheek, just under his eye, and his cool eyes were hard when regarding Naaza and mama Sh’ten, there was a tiny baby resting in his arms. She was small and pink, wrapped in a white blanket and howling with her mouth wide open.
“Wake her up?” Naaza made a face. “You can’t possibly think she’s anywhere near being asleep.”
“She’s almost there!” Anubisu insisted. The dark circles under his eyes told everyone that he’d been at it for a very long time. “She’s been fed and changed. I sang to her,”
“Well, no wonder she’s upset.” Sh’ten commented with a nasty smile.
“Shut up, Ten-chan. She’s ready for bed. She’d exhausted.”
It was at that point that someone walked in from behind them. The person gave mama Sh’ten and Naaza a rough shove, pushing them both out of the way and Ryou and Duo with them. Duo squawked, indignantly, but the man paid him no mind. He seized the baby from Anubisu’s arms and put her on his shoulder. A few soft pats on her back and one incredibly loud belch stopped the crying. The baby was almost instantly asleep on the man’s shoulder.
“The next time you let her cry that long, I’ll horsewhip you.” The man was smaller than everyone but mama Sh’ten and looked…well…not frightening. He just looked different. He wore an eye patch over one eye and had long white hair, though he didn’t really look all that old. His skin was incredibly white, almost transparent. Ryou could even see thin, spider webs of his veins sprawling across his porcelain skin. “I’ve told you a dozen times how gassy she gets.”
“Give me a break…”
“Which leg?”
“Baby. Now.” Anubisu held out his arms and took the baby from the white haired man. He gently lay the baby down in a little cradle at the back of the room and set it rocking. “If you think you can do so much better, why don’t you take over full time nanny duties? I’m doing my best here. I was never meant to be a father!”
Ryou leaned around mama Sh’ten to look at Duo. Duo looked back and Ryou and shrugged. He didn’t know what was going on, either. It seemed like kind of an odd family, to Ryou.
When mama Sh’ten spoke up it was with sharp words. “Really, Rajura, such arguing. And in front of children, no less.”
Both Anubisu and Rajura turned and seemed to see Ryou and Duo for the first time since they walked into the room. While Rajura’s one good eye scanned them up and down, he didn’t really react until he looked at mama Sh’ten. The single eye widened with horror and he exploded.
“Pervert! Get out of here!” He screamed swinging his fist at mama Sh’ten.
Mama Sh’ten dodged out of the way, letting go of Ryou’s hands as he did, and jumped lightly back towards the doorway. “Now, now…”
“How dare you come in here like that?! Where are your clothes?”
“I wasn’t going to wear that dress any longer than I had to.” He lurched to the side when Rajura raised his other hand and just managed to slip out of the still open door. “Naaza didn’t complain.”
“This is a nursery, fool! There are three children who don’t need your vile influence. Get out and get some clothes on!” When mama Sh’ten had gone Rajura muttered something under his breath about, “Underclothes….honestly…I’ve raised a pervert… You’d be Ryou.”
Ryou suddenly found that he was the center of attention and he didn’t like it at all, not after what he’d just seen. If this man was going to try to hit mama Sh’ten, then maybe he would try to hurt Ryou, too. Ryou didn’t answer the man, but backed away until he hit the wall.
“I’m Rajura, eldest of us all. Please, forgive Sh’ten’s lack of modesty. I’m sure you’ll get used to him, in time.” He bowed solemnly. “We’re all pleased to have you as part of our family, Ryou.”
“He’s not the only one here, you know.” As much as Ryou hated being the center of attention, Duo reveled in it. He grinned up at Rajura as soon as he had the man’s attention. “I’m Duo Maxwell, pleased to meet you.”
“Ah…yes.” Rajura studied Duo closely, looking him up and down and then circling around to look at him from behind. “Hmmm…we weren’t really expecting you. Still, you’ll do.”
Duo looked insulted. “What? Ryou gets the warm welcome and I’ll ‘do’? What’s that about?”
“You’re sturdy. A bit small, but that can be fixed with a decent diet and training. Naaza said you were quick, too. That’s good.” He smiled for Duo and put his hands on his hips. “It’s a hard life, here, but I think you’ll both survive. Welcome to the Youja Kai.”
Sh’ten-
Some weeks later-
Sh’ten liked having the children around. They made life interesting.
"AHHHHHHHHHHH! $%&#!" Rajura's screams filled the palace.
Naaza and Sh'ten looked up from their chess game. It was something new, a game Anubisu had picked up during one of his many trips to the Ningen Sekai. “How’d ‘Nubie’s job interview go, anyway?” Sh’ten asked when Rajura’s scream died away. “He never told me. Something about a training a kid at a military station in space?“
“Eh.” Naaza grunted. “He turned them down. Said the ‘thing’ in charge gave him the creeps. He was part human and part machine. It’s horrible what humans are doing these days.”
Rajura cursed at the top of his lungs, again.
“You just hate humans, never mind what they do to themselves. Still, it must have been pretty bad if ‘Nubie couldn’t stand being around him. I mean, really. We work for a demon. What could be creepier than that?”
“What your mouth, oni-chan. Offense might be taken.” Naaza’s warning tone wasn’t lost on Sh’ten, but he didn’t much care. Arago had more to worry about than what his ma-sho called him. “Anubisu made a good choice. I wouldn’t work for a human, either. No matter what they look like.”
“You wouldn’t spit on a human if they begged.”
The door was flung open and both Ryou and Duo ran in, slamming the door behind them. Duo looked around quickly. "Ryou, hide fast!" Duo dove under the table where Sh'ten and Naaza were playing chess, letting the table cloth hide him after he told the two adults, "Don't tell Rajura where I am!”
Ryou panicked and looked wildly for a hiding place. He looked ready to burst into tears. "Where? Where? Where?" He muttered to himself before his eyes lit up at seeing the long curtain that hung over the window. Hiding himself behind the curtains, Ryou didn't notice his toes sticking out of the bottom.
Naaza and Sh'ten almost laughed, except that at that moment, Rajura burst into the room and he was DEFINITELY not in a laughing mood. "Where are those brats!?"
Naaza stared in horror while Sh’ten tried not to laugh. Rajura's long white hair, his pride and joy, hung down his back, in long wet strands. He'd obviously just come from the baths, dressed only with a towel wrapped around his waist. His hair was bright, neon orange.
"Where are they? Those rotten little monsters!" Rajura stopped when he heard the little giggle and he marched to the table, throwing it and the chess game aside and revealing Duo who couldn't help but laugh at the sight of his big brother.
Duo rolled onto his back, laughing hysterically. "You look great, Rajura!"
Rajura got a murderous glint in his one good eye and he flexed his hands. "You...you..."
"It's my fault, oniisan." Ryou crept guiltily out from behind the curtain. "Don't blame Duo."
"What?" While it was common for Duo to play jokes on his family, Ryou was pretty good at staying out of trouble.
"Well, I remembered my granma used to dye her hair. She told me that old people like to dye their hair colors so they can look younger. Since you're old and you've got white hair, I thought you might like your hair colored. Duo told me how to do it and he helped me to mix the stuff to put in your shampoo, but it was my idea." He looked at Rajura for a moment before he finally burst into tears. "IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE RED, NOT ORANGE!!"
Rajura was quite a moment. "Really?"
"Yes." Ryou hung his head, deeply ashamed, but Duo rolled his eyes.
"Ryou, you should keep your mouth shut sometimes. You could have been kept right out of trouble."
Rajura rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I'm getting a headache." He murmured, before waving his hand which made his hair turned back to white. "Thank you for the thought, but I like my hair the color it is. Go play, Ryou-chan." He patted Ryou on the head, forgiving all.
Ryou wiped his tears with the back of one hand and did as he was told and ran out. Duo tried to follow, but Rajura caught him by the collar.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"Um, out with Ryou?"
"No."
"No?"
"You will clean the bath until all that orange stuff is cleaned up. I am fully aware of who was responsible for this mess and you and I both know it wasn't Ryou. Do you understand?"
Duo sighed, but he'd rather expected this. Rajura understood Duo just a little too well. "Yes, oniisan."
"Good. Now, what exactly did you put in my hair?"
"Oh, just some stuff I found in Naaza's lab." Duo replied before wandering out of the room.
"Just some stuff?" Rajura looked horrified.
Naaza patted him on the arm, comfortingly. "I'll go see what he was messing around with and I'll see if I can fix it. Hopefully, it's nothing that will make your hair stay permanently orange or fall out entirely."
"What?!" Rajura collapsed in tears right in Sh'ten's lap.
Sh'ten rolled his eyes as he held his friend. 'Kids.' He thought ruefully. Still, it was amusing to see Rajura reduced to tears like this.
It was mainly to relieve Duo's boredom that the Ma-Sho agreed to let the two go to the Ningen Sekai to play. Duo’s boredom would be the death of him if he couldn’t stop himself from playing pranks on Rajura. Just to get them out of the way for a little while, Rajura suggested that they spend some time away from the palace. "But not without protection!" Rajura had insisted. The boys were only twelve, after all.
"What?" Duo asked. "Are you coming with us?" For him that would ruin half the fun. He wanted to get out and away from his brothers for a while.
"No. That's why we want you two gone for a while." Anubisu answered. "We have some work to do and we don't want you involved."
Sh'ten looked at Anubisu. "Why don't you send the kittens with them?"
Anubisu nodded and went to the window. He stared out into the misty land of the Youja Kai for just a moment before coming back to where they were all seated at a table. "They're coming, they'll be here in a minute. There are a few rules you boys have to remember."
"That's right." Naaza looked at them sternly. "Don't talk to anyone. No one at all, you never know who might be an enemy."
Rajura added in, "Stay together and you are to stay in the forest. Don't go into town for any reason."
"Take your weapons." Sh'ten told them, motioning to the weapons that were currently leaning against a wall, Ryou's little twin katanas and Duo's child-sized scythe.
"Most importantly," Anubisu said, "Stay with the kittens." He now went to the door and opened it. Two young tiger cubs walk in, a white one with black stripes going to Ryou and the black one going to Duo. "This is Byakuen." Anubisu named the white one near Ryou. "And that one near you, Duo, is Kokuen-Oh. They are more powerful than they look, so keep them with you."
That was the beginning of Ryou and Duo's adventures into the world of the mortals, playing in the forests and, occasionally, sneaking away to spy on some campers or others who happened into the mountains they liked to play in.
Ryou-
Three years later-
Anubisu screamed as he banged on the door. "Boys Get out of bed, you're going to be late!"
Ryou woke with a start and blinked, looking all around the room before he remembered what the hurry was all about. Ryou jumped out of bed and hurried to get dressed. It had taken a long time to convince his oniisan's that he and Duo should go to a regular school instead of just their brothers teaching them.
Ryou noticed that Duo was still fast asleep and knelt to shake Duo, hard. It always took a lot of work to wake Duo up. "Come on, Duo! This was your idea, I don't even want to go, so I'm not going without you!"
Duo groaned, rolling over and tried to hide under the blankets, but Ryou ripped them off. "If you don't come now, Rajura's not going to let us ever go to school. You know he didn't want us going in the first place."
Duo blinked groggily and rubbed his face with the back of his hand. "Jeeze, Ryou. You really know how to ruin a great dream, don't you?"
"What were you dreaming about?"
Duo giggled, and got out of bed. "You wouldn't understand. It was about this guy with bright blue eyes and hair all in his eyes. He was very serious and absolutely drop dead gorgeous!"
"Weird. I've been thinking about that guy we saw in the forest the other day. The blonde guy, you remember." Ryou's mind went to the quiet stranger that he'd been thinking about for several days now, the one with the lavender eye that was filled with loneliness. Blonde hair, like a halo around his head. Ahhhh.
Duo got a dreamy look on his face. "Yeah, he was nice, but he couldn't match the one in my dreams." Duo stared into space for a minute, apparently thinking about his own dream, before shaking himself. "Oh, yeah. School."
It had been Duo's idea, almost a year ago, that they should go to school in the Ningen Sekai. There was no one else for them to talk to or play with than their brothers and their young sister, Kay. Duo wanted other people to talk to and new things to do. That meant going to the Ningen Sekai.
For his part, Ryou would have been content to stay at home and practice his fighting with Rajura or exploring the wilderness of the Youja Kai with Anubisu. It was Duo who was lonely, he just didn't want to go to the Ningen Sekai alone, so Ryou was drafted into going, also. Besides, he wouldn't make Duo do something like this alone. They were always together, so they should do this together, too.
The one factor that had determined whether or not they would go was, in fact, their oldest brother, Rajura. Rajura ruled the household and all family matters. He was adamant that the boys should stay where it was safe in the Youja Kai, but Duo had ways of getting what he wanted.
Several weeks earlier-
"I'd just give in if I were you." Sh'ten advised Rajura.
Rajura stubbornly shook his head. "It's too dangerous out there, you know that. What if something happened to them, especially to Ryou? Duo's far too vulnerable, at least Ryou has his fire to protect him, Duo's only mortal." They were in Rajura's chambers discussing the issue of school. Rajura examined his knitting before continuing. "We have to keep them safe, we won't even be there to help if something should happen."
"They'll be perfectly safe. They are well trained in fighting and are more than a match for anyone they're going to meet." Sh'ten replied persuasively. "Duo is lonely, let him make a few outside friends."
Rajura jumped to his feet and headed for the door, obviously not wanting to talk about this anymore. "Forget it, 'Ten-chan. The boys are staying here." Rajura opened the door of his room and started to walk out when a bucket of water fell on his head, soaking him to the skin.
Sh'ten tried very hard not to laugh. Rajura had become Duo's favorite target after denying Duo's wish to go to school. The sight of a dripping wet Rajura, frozen in shock for a few seconds, was just too hard to ignore. Sh'ten burst out laughing.
Rajura closed his eyes and started to shake.
Maybe laughing wasn’t the best way Sh’ten should respond. Sh'ten immediately stopped laughing and looked at his brother. He stepped forward nervously. "Now, now, 'Jura, don't get yourself all worked up..."
"I-am-going-to-kill-that-boy!!!" Rajura screamed insanely, pulling a spear off his wall and making for the door, but Sh'ten managed to tackle him, dragging Rajura to the floor. They both knew which boy had set up this practical joke.
"Don't kill Duo! You'll hate yourself in the morning!" Sh'ten had to admit that he'd grown used to the children, as he had Kay, who was now ten years old, and didn't even mind being called, mama, anymore. Well, not really.
"Okay, I won't kill that demon-spawn, I'll just throw him in the dungeon for a few weeks, let the rats chew at that braid!" Rajura was struggling wildly, trying to get free, but Sh'ten was holding on as hard as he could.
"For the sake of your own sanity and health, please, let them go!" Sh'ten knew that the practical jokes Duo played wouldn't actually hurt anyone, but they were starting to get on Rajura's nerves. At this rate, Rajura would have a heart attack in a week.
Gradually, Rajura slowed his struggling until finally he was still. "Fine. I give up."
Sh'ten cautiously let Rajura up. "You mean it? I can tell the boys they can go to school?"
"Yes, of course you can." Rajura ran a hand through his hair, straightening it somewhat. "You know I won't let you catch me in a lie. Besides, I don‘t think my ulcer can stand much more of that boy."
Present time-
Duo and Ryou were dressed in record time, helping each other with the school ties and working with buttons and zippers, things they hadn't seen since their brothers had adopted them and they'd come to this place that seemed frozen hundreds of years in the past.
Ryou remembered that this was the day he had to wear the new clothes, the mortal clothes that students wore, instead of his usual kimono. The uniform was strange and Ryou had to struggle to get everything just right, especially the black tie. Running a hand through his hair, Ryou considered himself done and was going out to meet his brothers, Rajura, Naaza, Anubisu, and mama Sh’ten.
Duo called out before Ryou even got out the door. "Wait!"
"What?" Ryou looked over his shoulder to see Duo struggling with his hair.
"Help me braid it, will you?"
Ryou groaned. "I sometimes wish you'd just cut the silly thing off, you know." Still, Ryou picked up Duo's hairbrush and started to brush out the tangles. Duo usually left the long, single braid in overnight, but he'd decided he wanted to look his best for the first day of school. Duo sat patiently, the only time he ever did was when someone was fixing his hair for him, while Ryou quickly braided it. Finally, they ran out to the family room.
Naaza was setting the table with breakfast and looked at the boys with almost a sneer. "You look foolish."
"Where's mama Sh‘ten?" Ryou asked. It was Sh'ten who'd supported Duo when he'd first brought up the subject of going to school so the others had decided that Sh'ten could take care of the details of taking Ryou and Duo back and forth to school.
"I'm right here, but eat something before we go." Sh'ten told him.
"Oh, come on, mama Sh‘ten!" Duo was nearly begging, as he knew the minutes were ticking away. "We have to go, I don't want to be late!"
"Don't call me mama." Sh'ten told them out of reflex.
Rajura walked in just then and fixed his one good eye on his younger brothers. "Do as Sh'ten says, boys. You don't want to faint in the middle of class because you haven't eaten. Now that would be embarrassing."
Duo didn't need any more convincing and had eagerly sat down to eat as much as his stomach could hold.
Ryou rolled his eyes and quickly sat down at the low table, crossing his legs on the floor with the others. He ate quickly, but not so much as Duo who nearly choked himself on the food several times, and finally stood up while Sh'ten was still slowly eating.
Duo and Ryou stood impatiently, Duo tapping his foot, sure that mama Sh'ten was doing it on purpose! "Come on, mama Sh‘ten!" Duo yelled. "We'll get in trouble if we're late!"
"That's true." Anubisu agreed. "When I was mortal, I went to school and if a student was late, they were whipped."
Ryou paled at the thought. Whipped?
"True." Rajura agreed. "I remember once having to run three miles as a punishment in school."
Three miles?
"I never went to school." Naaza commented, "But I did see children often having their knuckles lashed."
Ryou was beginning to think that maybe this school thing wasn't such a good idea, even if Duo didn't seem bothered. "Um," Ryou started. "Maybe I should just stay here..."
Mama Sh'ten, finally finished, stood and took Ryou's arm. "Don't listen to them, they're only trying to frighten you. Do you two have everything?"
Duo patted his bag. "Paper, pencils, and some food for lunch. We're all set."
The gate was their only way to the Ningen Sekai, even if they didn't understand how this worked, Ryou and Duo had long ago accepted this as a fact in their lives. They were of the Youja Kai, not the Ningen Sekai. They were only visiting here, so they were not to get involved in the lives of anyone. Friends were all right, but not close friends. No one was supposed to know where they came from, or about where they lived. Rajura had even given them a cover story in case anyone asked about their family.
This time, as the gate was going to be open practically permanently, Sh'ten had set it up in an apartment. The gates were actually in a closet in the apartment, so it could be opened and closed whenever necessary. Sh'ten had rented the apartment, the boys had been told, just so they could use it as a place to put the gate.
"You come straight back here after school." Sh'ten told them seriously after they'd come into the empty apartment. Ryou and Duo were looking around the empty space curiously. "The gate will be open, so you can just walk through. We'll be waiting for you."
Sh’ten-
Youja Kai-
The four Ma-Sho were in full yoroi on the practice field where they enjoyed fighting each other. However, at that time, they weren‘t fighting. "They boys will have to be trained fully soon. The war should start any time now." Sh'ten told his brothers. "We want them to be able to defend themselves if the other yoroi bearers manage to get into our world."
"What do we do about Duo?" Rajura asked, worried. "He's no yoroi bearer, so he's going to be defenseless when we're away fighting for Emperor Arago."
Naaza laughed. "You really do care about the boy, no matter how much you deny it, don't you, Rajura?"
Rajura sniffed and turned away, as dignified as he could.
"I wouldn't worry about Duo." Naaza said. "I rather think the boy is smart enough to take care of himself and he is trained to use the scythe."
"Emperor Arago will want to see Ryou soon." Anubisu said, bringing them all back to the harsh reality of having the children live with them. "Ryou won't like it." He said, remembering the fires that constantly burned in their lord's throne room.
"He'll have to live with it." Sh'ten tried to sound cold. "It is our duty and honor to fight of Emperor Arago. We will take the Ningen Sekai and conquer everyone on it. Ryou and Duo will both help and they'll learn to be proud to be with us. Ryou's fear of fire will have to be overcome. The yoroi will come to him very soon, and he won't have a choice. The boys will help us. After all, we're their family." Though he spoke confidently, there was something in his heart that betray him. He knew this wasn't going to be as easy as it seemed.
Ningen Sekai-
Touma-
Touma was stargazing, his favorite hobby, the night he found it. It was nearly midnight and Touma kept glancing at his watch. He’d have to get off the roof, soon. Quatre worried so much if he was out too late. The stars called to Touma, though. They were so bright and the clear sky was brilliant with them. It was almost as if he could reach out and touch them.
Above him, just over Orion the archer, a comet with a long, fiery tail shot down to the Earth.
Touma sat up on the rooftop, shocked. Nothing had been in the reports of a comet that night! What a great night and, if Touma had seen correctly, it had landed in the woods near the house. Touma couldn’t help but smile. Yes, Quatre would yell at him if he found out, but he was fast asleep. Touma hopped up and climbed up to the window of his bedroom, determined to find out if anything of the space rock had survived the impact.
With a flashlight and nothing else, Touma took off into the forest. It wasn’t too hard to find, really. A large crater had opened up in the earth and, at the center, was the space object. Touma climbed down into the crater, scanning the area with his flashlight until he caught a gleam of something, like a tiny star, sitting in the dust.
"Yes!" Touma shouted happily. It was his first discovery, his own find! Touma rushed over to the shining thing in the dirt and found a small, perfectly round crystal. "What the Hell?" After dusting the crystal off, Touma saw on the inside of the crystal was marked, Wisdom, in Kanji. There is no way that thing could have come from space! It was impossible.
For one thing, it was cool, almost cold, to the touch, it should be burning hot. It had to be man made! 'But,' Touma thought as he looked up at the sky, 'I know it came from space. I saw it.'
Touma thought about it for some time, still on his knees in the crater, and finally gave the mystery up for the night. He slipped the crystal into his pocket, where it would be safe. There was no question about throwing it away or giving it up to any kind of scientific study. It was special.
Time to go home. The first day of a new school year was just a few hours away.