Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ Melancholy of Flowers ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: seeun402 
Anime/Manga: Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Adventure / Drama / Romance | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 04.09.2014 | Pages: 1 | Words: 4.6K | Visits: 172 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Adventure / Drama / Romance | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 04.09.2014 | Pages: 1 | Words: 4.6K | Visits: 172 | Status: Completed
Chapter Two
“Class, I will now hand you your results from yesterday’s quiz,” the professor announced.
Cye barely noticed his professor make the announcement or make his rounds about the classroom, distributing papers to his classmates. But then again, as the days went on, he noticed his studies, his classmates, and his professors less and less. Where his studies normally took up space in his head, Hana was now there, filling him with worry and concern. He never had seenher so upset that he couldn’t really do anything but comfort her.couldn't imagine the turmoil she was dealing with after being shunned from her own family.he could do was let her be for a bit and let time heal the wounds in her heart as much as possible.
“Cye Mouri, not very impressive. Please see me after class,” the professor said.
Cye looked down at his test and saw a C written in red pen in the corner. He gave a loud sigh and stuck it in his folder with the rest of his papers for that class. After closing the folder, Cye rested his head on his arms. It had been almost three weeks, and each paper he got back looked worse than the last. His homework assignments had corrections written all over them, and his last two quizzes had all C’s. Those past couple of weeks he only saw Hana sporadically. He would zone out while he sat at his desk at Mia’s,focusing on the work in front of him. His eyes fell on the tan desktop. He knew he was in trouble with his classes, but at the moment, it seemed that his main priority was Hana. Class ended, and Cye packed his things slowly. After all the students left the classroom, he went up to the professor.
“You wanted to see me?” he asked in a low voice. Exhaustion could be heard, as well, as he stood in front of his teacher. Tired and frustrated was what Cye was feeling. He knew what his professor was going to say, and he didn’t really want to hear it.
“Cye, your work lately has been declining. Your grades that you are getting on assignments are horrible. Is there anything wrong?” the professor asked.
“I’m just… having some family issues right now. It’s hard to concentrate when so much is going on right now. I’m terribly sorry.”
“I understand. I do hope though, that the problems will cease and that you will be back on top again.”
“Yes, sir.”
The professor smiled and patted Cye on the shoulder. “You are a good student, Cye. I hate to see the best fall.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Cye left the classroom and walked slowly down the hall. The teachers expected too much. The way things were going at the moment, what was there that he could do? What would he do?
“Cye?” a soft voice asked from behind him.
“Huh?” Cye turned around and saw Natsumi standing there with her books to her chest. “Oh, hi, Natsumi,” Cye said.
“You haven’t been yourself lately. Is anything wrong?” Worry was etched on her features as she looked at the tired man in front of her.
“No.” He paused for a moment. “Well... it’s Hana.”
“Did she… break up with you?”
“What? Oh, no. Nothing like that. Hana is just going through some tough times.”
“Oh… I see…”
“I don’t know what to do for her. I love her so much, and I hate seeing her the way she is.” Cye clenched his right fist and shook it with anger.
“Well, just being there for her is the best thing you can do.”
“I know. I just want to do so much more for her.”A pained expression formed on his features as he closed his eyes tightly.
Natsumi didn’t say anything and just stood there. She didn’t know what else to tell him.
“I’m sorry, Natsumi. I shouldn’t be telling you these things.” He looked at the girl in front of him apologetically.
She shook her head. “It’s okay. I’m happy that you telling me this.”
“You are?”
“Yes. I like you very much, Cye. I don’t want to see you down.”
Cye smiled weakly and patted Natsumi’s head. “Thank you, Natsumi. You are a good friend. I’ll see you later.” Cye continued walking down the hallway, leaving Natsumi standing where she was.
“I’m… just a friend…” Natsumi said to herself. She smiled meekly, but her heart ached.
“One night, my Uncle and my Aunt were discussing about how my parents were always careless. It made me really mad. That’s when I realized that I could destroy things around me, just because of my emotion. My Aunt’s dining room was destroyed because of me. My Aunt totally went mad and told me that I was the spawn of Satan. She told me to get out of her house and to stay away from their family. That happened recently… that’s why I came back here.”
Why? Why must Hana face such horrible events in her life? Why must she go through so much pain and sorrow? What’s worse is that I can’t do anything for her. I’m useless...
“It’s because of this new power that my life has turned for the worse...” Hana sobbed.
Why did Shijishaleave some of her power behind? Was it to punish Hana for destroying her plans of world domination? Was that it? Why…
“Cye? CYE!”
“Huh? Wha?” Cye opened his eyes and blinked. After his vision came into focus, he could see Kento leaning towards him.friend’s eyes had a mixture of curiosity and worry.
“Dude, are you okay?” Kento asked.
“Yeah. Why?” Cye asked as he sat up.
“You were sweating up a storm. Not to mention you were talking in your sleep.”
“I was?” Cye felt his shirt and realized that the collar was wet. “Must have had… a bad dream.”
“So, Hana has powers now?” Ryo asked, who was leaning against the tree, his hands in his jean pockets. He looked at Cye with a look of concern and seriousness. It was a look that showed up when something usually happened in battle, a look Cye knew too well.
“Yeah…” Cye said.
“I had no idea that her family disowned her. What a bunch of creeps,” Kento said.
“We can’t do anything about that now. What we can do for her is change the outlook on things,” Ryo said softly.
“How?” Cye asked. “How can we change something that we know can’t be undone?” Frustration was starting to rise.
“She has this new power. She doesn’t know how to channel it, let alone control it when it gets out of control. What needs to be done is teaching her how to channel her powers. Make them useful to her instead of making them destroy her,” Ryo answered calmly.
“That’s what you can do for her, Cye. Teach her how to use her powers,” Kento said as he placed a hand on Cye’s shoulder.
“I guess,” Cye said, looking at his two warrior friends.
“Go to her after school and suggest it. If she declines, force it on her,” Kento said loudly, pounding his fist into his hand.
“No, Kento. Force will just make it worse. Cye needs to do it gently and calmly,” Ryo said with a firm voice.
“I’ll do it. I’ll go to her after school and set things right. I can’t just sit here and expect things to magically make everything right in the world. I have to be by her side and make sure everything goes just the way she wants it,” Cye said.
“That’s the spirit, buddy!” Kento said and slapped Cye on the back.
Cye coughed from the slap and got up. “I don’t have any more classes for the day. I’m heading over now.”
“Good luck, Cye,” Ryo said.
Cye nodded and headed for his car. Ryo and Kento watched as he drove off and out of sight.
“Cye is a good guy, caring so much for his girl,” Kento said.
Ryo didn’t say anything.He simply stared out into the horizon.
“Cye? What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at school?” she asked in a surprised voice.
Cye grabbed her by the shoulders and looked directly into her eyes. “Hana, listen to me and listen to me carefully. The powers you possess aren’t bad. You just need to learn how to channel them correctly. You can use your powers for the right things. Just like me and my armor,” Cye said. “Hana, you are my world and I hate seeing you so depressed. We can turn this around.”
“Come inside, Cye,” Hana said and moved back to give him some space. Cye entered the apartment and sat down in the same armchair he sat when he first visited. Hana went into the kitchen and got two cans of Coke out of the fridge. She offered him one and sat down on the love seat next to him. “Let’s just say we do get these powers figured out and controlled. Then what? Will my family welcome me back with open arms and smiles?” Her voice was cold and harsh. Cye looked at her with incredulous eyes. He never heard her talk to him in that tone before. Hana glanced over in Cye’s direction and smiled briefly. “Come on, Cye. You know my past and how I was. I wasn’t such a sweet, innocent girl. There’s no way I can be all smiles right now. I have no one in my life.”
He got up from his seat and sat down next to Hana on the couch. He wrapped his arms around Hana’s body, holding her close. “I know, but you aren’t alone. I’ll always be here for you, and I will do whatever it takes to make you smile again,” Cye whispered.
Hana sighed and rested her elbows on her legs. “Let’s be realistic for a moment. I’m cursed with a power that could destroy lives. I already destroyed mine in less than a year.”
“Yes, but that’s why we need to work on controlling it and not make it such a burden on you. Like I said, we can turn this around. Power isn’t bad. It’s how you use it that determines if it’s good or evil. Hana, did I ever tell you about the armors the five of us possess?”
“I know about the armors, Cye. I’ve seen them with my own eyes.” Hana stated.“Yes, but they weren’t made for defending the good. They were originally from evil. Do you remember the events that happened four years ago?”
Hana looked at her hands and thought about the past four years. It was a time when she was wild and didn’t care about consequences, the time that made her mother sick and then hospitalized due to Hana’s careless actions. However, she did remember the sky being weird and things happening that didn’t make any sense.The events on the TV were about explosions in certain parts of Japan and strange beings being sighted on the roads. She closed her eyes and remembered a time when she was trapped with a whole bunch of people in a small room. The room was dark, except for a couple of candles that were lit. No one seemed to know what was going on, but the fears on their faces were clear. Something was out to get them, something terrible. The rest was a blur to her after that. She remembered waking up in her bedroom and going on with her life. She opened her eyes and looked at Cye. “You mean the time when unexplained events happened?”
“Yes. We were fighting a horrible entity named Talpa. He was from the Netherworld. He was a very powerful source. Many years ago, before our fight with him, he tried to take over the human world. By that time, a being called The Ancient One fought him bravely. He was successful and banished Talpa to the Netherworld. The only thing that was left was his armor. The Ancient One divided the armor into nine. You know about our armors, but there were four others that were worn by the Warlords. Eventually they became our allies, but that’s not the point. The armors that we bear were from evil, but because of the virtues we have, we use them for good. You can too, Hana. You can use your power to do good in the world.”
She sat there looking at the floor while everything sank in. She never heard of how those armors came to be. “So, this Talpa being was responsible for all the destruction and chaos?”
“Yes, but only we knew about him. I wouldn’t have expected you to know about him.”Cye rested a hand on her shoulder.
Silence overtook the area as the two of them sat still, not looking at one another. Hana’s sight was fixated on her kitchen as she pondered. Will training be the answer to all her power problems? Or would the outcome stay the same and’s back to destroying herself and the people around her? Her eyes wandered over to the teapot clock on the wall. It was six-o-clock on the dot. A noise emanated from her mid-section, which made her snap out of her stupor.
“I’m hungry. Do you want me to make us some chicken while we talk things over?” she asked as she looked at Cye.
“That would be great,” Cye smiled.
Hana got up from her spot and headed for the kitchen. Cye leaned back and stretched his arms out. “You and Natsumi seemed to be getting along well at the gathering we had weeks ago,” Cye mentioned as he watched her prepare dinner.
“Yeah. She seems like a nice girl. You go to school with her?” she asked as she turned the water on.
“Yeah. We don’t have any classes together, but I do see her a lot in the hallways.”
“She seems to like you.”
“Yes, she does,” Cye said.
“She seemed upset when she saw me for the first time.”
“Well... she does have a crush on me.” Cye watched as Hana went back and forth from fridge to stove. It was as if nothing was said and she was just going on her way.
“I kind of figured that,” Hana said. She turned the chicken over and turned to the broccoli that was boiling in a medium sized pot. “I could tell… just by her reactions toward you and her facial expressions toward me. I’m a girl, Cye. We notice these things.” Hana turned her head and gave Cye a small smile.
Cye let out a soft sigh after hearing her response. “Anyway, it seems like she doesn’t have many friends. She joins us at lunch from time to time but that’s it. That’s why I invited her over to Mia’s.”
Hana turned the chicken in the pan slowly. Her eyes seemed focused on the marinated bird as it sizzled. “Why are you bringing this up?”
“I just thought it was nice seeing her talking to another girl,” Cye shrugged. “Are you jealous?”
“Me? Why would I be jealous?” Hana opened the fridge and took out two carrots. Cye watched as she raced over to rinse them out. “She has a crush on you and that’s fine. I’m sure a lot of girls have crushes on you.” She placed the carrots on the cutting board and started chopping them up.
Cye smiled, got up, and walked over to his girlfriend, who was cutting the carrot pieces a bit too big. “They are not even,” he said.
She stopped and looked down at the uneven pieces of carrot. “I-I knew that. I just wasn’t sure if you wanted them uneven or not…”
“You are jealous. Admit it.”
“I am not admitting anything. Now go and sit down. I don’t like it when people hover over me as I cook. It’s too nerve wracking.” Hana glanced over and saw Cye take a seat at the wooden kitchen table. It was true that she was a little jealous. She had been away from him for so long. She was sure there were tons of ladies at his school that were eyeing him as he walked. The uneven carrot pieces fell into the boiling water. She then took the chicken and placed it nicely on two plastic white plates. “I’m sorry I don’t have fancy plates.”
“It’s fine,” Cye said. “I don’t really care. If they can hold food, then it’s fine with me.”
Hana smiled a little and got the rest of the meal together. They spent a cozy evening talking small talk and enjoying their meal. Cye told her about his grades at school and how almost every teacher was asking him what was wrong. Concern masked Hana’s features as she heard the bad news. She knew that school was important to Cye because he wanted to become a marine biologist. It would be bad if he failed the semester because of her mistakes.
“I know what you are saying, Hana, but if something is happening to you, then of course I’m going to worry,” Cye said between bites. “School is important to me, but so are you.”
“What if you fail this semester? It’ll put you behind your goal,” Hana rebuked.
Cye took a swig of his water and placed the cup down gently. “If there was an attack tomorrow, then I would have to go and fight. There will be no second thought if I should attend school the next day. Education will always be there. Sometimes more important things come first.”
“If I said I was okay, would you stop worrying about me and focus?”
“Prove it to me first.”
Hana finished the last bit of food on her plate. “Okay. I’ll take the challenge and learn how to control this power I have within me. However, you must promise me that you’ll do good in school.”
Cye smiled and kissed Hana on her cheek before getting up with his empty plate. “Okay. It’s a deal. Starting tomorrow we’ll go over to Mia’s and see what she has to say. I would like to also know if it’s possible for spirits to leave behind a piece of themselves.”
Hana took the plate from Cye and smiled. “I can’t wait.”
She placed the dirty dishes into the sink and turned the water on. “Are you staying the night?”
“Do you want me to?” Cye asked.
“I would like the company. It gets lonely in here sometimes.”
“Then yes, I would love to spend the night with you.” He took his shirt off, exposing his well-toned torso. He waltzed over and planted a kiss on the side of her mouth before heading toward the bathroom.
Hana smiled to herself as she continued to wash the dishes. She heard the bathroom door close, leaving her alone with her thoughts. She inhaled through her nose as she heard her Aunt’s voice, yelling at her in her head. An image of her Aunt’s dining room and the look of disgust on her family’s faces entered her mind. The next thing she knew, she heard something loud break. Her eyes flew open and she looked down at her hands. Blood was dripping from a large slit in the middle of her left hand. To her right, she saw pieces of one of her cups lying in the bottom of the sink.
“Hana, I heard something break. Are you okay?” Cye asked as he ran out of the bathroom. He stopped at her side and saw the bloody mess before him. It looked like the sink was filled with tomato soup. “What happened?” He took her hand into his and got some paper towels to soak up the blood.
“I-I don’t know. I was just standing here, and the next thing I knew, I heard my Aunt’s voice. Then I saw images of the dining room and my family. I opened my eyes and I saw the blood,” Hana explained with fear in her voice. “What is happening?”
Cye noticed that Hana’s body was shaking as he wrapped the paper towel around her hand. “Don’t think about what happened. It triggers emotions, and that’s what starts off the power. Like you said, you got really angry and you destroyed that dining room. Don’t get emotional or try not to at least.” She nodded as he led her into the bathroom. “Do you have any band-aids?”
“I don’t think so. Try the second cabinet down.”
Cye found a box with only two left. “I guess I’ll use these to tape each side of the paper towel. They are way too small to cover the whole cut.”
“It’s fine, Cye. Whatever works.”
After the cut was tended to, the two of them went into the bedroom. “Let’s get some sleep. It’s been a busy day, and I’m sure you are exhausted.” Cye removed his jeans, leaving him only in his blue boxers. He helped Hana get dressed for bed, and the two of them slipped comfortably into bed. He placed his hand on her cheek and stroked her face with his fingers.Her eyelids were heavy, and thus much-needed sleep came quick.She drifted off to sleep with the man she loved, protecting her from harm.
A/N: Revised chapter 2 and basically stripped the entire chapter down. I took out the scene where Hana tried to kill herself because I thought that was going a little over board. However, that didn’t mean I would eliminate blood all around. Haha. I want to thank Halogazer for being my beta reader and helping me out with this chapter. I briefly looked over chapter 3 and I’m not sure what I’m adding or taking out just yet. I want to get this story done before I move on to anything else. Thanks for reading.
“Class, I will now hand you your results from yesterday’s quiz,” the professor announced.
Cye barely noticed his professor make the announcement or make his rounds about the classroom, distributing papers to his classmates. But then again, as the days went on, he noticed his studies, his classmates, and his professors less and less. Where his studies normally took up space in his head, Hana was now there, filling him with worry and concern. He never had seenher so upset that he couldn’t really do anything but comfort her.couldn't imagine the turmoil she was dealing with after being shunned from her own family.he could do was let her be for a bit and let time heal the wounds in her heart as much as possible.
“Cye Mouri, not very impressive. Please see me after class,” the professor said.
Cye looked down at his test and saw a C written in red pen in the corner. He gave a loud sigh and stuck it in his folder with the rest of his papers for that class. After closing the folder, Cye rested his head on his arms. It had been almost three weeks, and each paper he got back looked worse than the last. His homework assignments had corrections written all over them, and his last two quizzes had all C’s. Those past couple of weeks he only saw Hana sporadically. He would zone out while he sat at his desk at Mia’s,focusing on the work in front of him. His eyes fell on the tan desktop. He knew he was in trouble with his classes, but at the moment, it seemed that his main priority was Hana. Class ended, and Cye packed his things slowly. After all the students left the classroom, he went up to the professor.
“You wanted to see me?” he asked in a low voice. Exhaustion could be heard, as well, as he stood in front of his teacher. Tired and frustrated was what Cye was feeling. He knew what his professor was going to say, and he didn’t really want to hear it.
“Cye, your work lately has been declining. Your grades that you are getting on assignments are horrible. Is there anything wrong?” the professor asked.
“I’m just… having some family issues right now. It’s hard to concentrate when so much is going on right now. I’m terribly sorry.”
“I understand. I do hope though, that the problems will cease and that you will be back on top again.”
“Yes, sir.”
The professor smiled and patted Cye on the shoulder. “You are a good student, Cye. I hate to see the best fall.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Cye left the classroom and walked slowly down the hall. The teachers expected too much. The way things were going at the moment, what was there that he could do? What would he do?
“Cye?” a soft voice asked from behind him.
“Huh?” Cye turned around and saw Natsumi standing there with her books to her chest. “Oh, hi, Natsumi,” Cye said.
“You haven’t been yourself lately. Is anything wrong?” Worry was etched on her features as she looked at the tired man in front of her.
“No.” He paused for a moment. “Well... it’s Hana.”
“Did she… break up with you?”
“What? Oh, no. Nothing like that. Hana is just going through some tough times.”
“Oh… I see…”
“I don’t know what to do for her. I love her so much, and I hate seeing her the way she is.” Cye clenched his right fist and shook it with anger.
“Well, just being there for her is the best thing you can do.”
“I know. I just want to do so much more for her.”A pained expression formed on his features as he closed his eyes tightly.
Natsumi didn’t say anything and just stood there. She didn’t know what else to tell him.
“I’m sorry, Natsumi. I shouldn’t be telling you these things.” He looked at the girl in front of him apologetically.
She shook her head. “It’s okay. I’m happy that you telling me this.”
“You are?”
“Yes. I like you very much, Cye. I don’t want to see you down.”
Cye smiled weakly and patted Natsumi’s head. “Thank you, Natsumi. You are a good friend. I’ll see you later.” Cye continued walking down the hallway, leaving Natsumi standing where she was.
“I’m… just a friend…” Natsumi said to herself. She smiled meekly, but her heart ached.
.*****
Cye got outside into the bright sunlight and wandered over to the tree where he usually sat under. He put his heavy bag down and just lay on the grass, looking up into the cloudless sky. It was such a beautiful, cloud free day. Everyone was feeling happy and full of energy. However, the energy he was feeling wasn’t so bright and carefree. Cye closed his eyes and felt the cool breeze on his face.“One night, my Uncle and my Aunt were discussing about how my parents were always careless. It made me really mad. That’s when I realized that I could destroy things around me, just because of my emotion. My Aunt’s dining room was destroyed because of me. My Aunt totally went mad and told me that I was the spawn of Satan. She told me to get out of her house and to stay away from their family. That happened recently… that’s why I came back here.”
Why? Why must Hana face such horrible events in her life? Why must she go through so much pain and sorrow? What’s worse is that I can’t do anything for her. I’m useless...
“It’s because of this new power that my life has turned for the worse...” Hana sobbed.
Why did Shijishaleave some of her power behind? Was it to punish Hana for destroying her plans of world domination? Was that it? Why…
“Cye? CYE!”
“Huh? Wha?” Cye opened his eyes and blinked. After his vision came into focus, he could see Kento leaning towards him.friend’s eyes had a mixture of curiosity and worry.
“Dude, are you okay?” Kento asked.
“Yeah. Why?” Cye asked as he sat up.
“You were sweating up a storm. Not to mention you were talking in your sleep.”
“I was?” Cye felt his shirt and realized that the collar was wet. “Must have had… a bad dream.”
“So, Hana has powers now?” Ryo asked, who was leaning against the tree, his hands in his jean pockets. He looked at Cye with a look of concern and seriousness. It was a look that showed up when something usually happened in battle, a look Cye knew too well.
“Yeah…” Cye said.
“I had no idea that her family disowned her. What a bunch of creeps,” Kento said.
“We can’t do anything about that now. What we can do for her is change the outlook on things,” Ryo said softly.
“How?” Cye asked. “How can we change something that we know can’t be undone?” Frustration was starting to rise.
“She has this new power. She doesn’t know how to channel it, let alone control it when it gets out of control. What needs to be done is teaching her how to channel her powers. Make them useful to her instead of making them destroy her,” Ryo answered calmly.
“That’s what you can do for her, Cye. Teach her how to use her powers,” Kento said as he placed a hand on Cye’s shoulder.
“I guess,” Cye said, looking at his two warrior friends.
“Go to her after school and suggest it. If she declines, force it on her,” Kento said loudly, pounding his fist into his hand.
“No, Kento. Force will just make it worse. Cye needs to do it gently and calmly,” Ryo said with a firm voice.
“I’ll do it. I’ll go to her after school and set things right. I can’t just sit here and expect things to magically make everything right in the world. I have to be by her side and make sure everything goes just the way she wants it,” Cye said.
“That’s the spirit, buddy!” Kento said and slapped Cye on the back.
Cye coughed from the slap and got up. “I don’t have any more classes for the day. I’m heading over now.”
“Good luck, Cye,” Ryo said.
Cye nodded and headed for his car. Ryo and Kento watched as he drove off and out of sight.
“Cye is a good guy, caring so much for his girl,” Kento said.
Ryo didn’t say anything.He simply stared out into the horizon.
*****
Cye raced to Hana’s place as fast as he could. Once he was there, he stopped at Hana’s apartment door. He was here once before, when Hana let him in and he spent the night. Cye knocked on the door lightly. The door opened with Hana standing before him in a pink tank top and black sport shorts. “Cye? What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at school?” she asked in a surprised voice.
Cye grabbed her by the shoulders and looked directly into her eyes. “Hana, listen to me and listen to me carefully. The powers you possess aren’t bad. You just need to learn how to channel them correctly. You can use your powers for the right things. Just like me and my armor,” Cye said. “Hana, you are my world and I hate seeing you so depressed. We can turn this around.”
“Come inside, Cye,” Hana said and moved back to give him some space. Cye entered the apartment and sat down in the same armchair he sat when he first visited. Hana went into the kitchen and got two cans of Coke out of the fridge. She offered him one and sat down on the love seat next to him. “Let’s just say we do get these powers figured out and controlled. Then what? Will my family welcome me back with open arms and smiles?” Her voice was cold and harsh. Cye looked at her with incredulous eyes. He never heard her talk to him in that tone before. Hana glanced over in Cye’s direction and smiled briefly. “Come on, Cye. You know my past and how I was. I wasn’t such a sweet, innocent girl. There’s no way I can be all smiles right now. I have no one in my life.”
He got up from his seat and sat down next to Hana on the couch. He wrapped his arms around Hana’s body, holding her close. “I know, but you aren’t alone. I’ll always be here for you, and I will do whatever it takes to make you smile again,” Cye whispered.
Hana sighed and rested her elbows on her legs. “Let’s be realistic for a moment. I’m cursed with a power that could destroy lives. I already destroyed mine in less than a year.”
“Yes, but that’s why we need to work on controlling it and not make it such a burden on you. Like I said, we can turn this around. Power isn’t bad. It’s how you use it that determines if it’s good or evil. Hana, did I ever tell you about the armors the five of us possess?”
“I know about the armors, Cye. I’ve seen them with my own eyes.” Hana stated.“Yes, but they weren’t made for defending the good. They were originally from evil. Do you remember the events that happened four years ago?”
Hana looked at her hands and thought about the past four years. It was a time when she was wild and didn’t care about consequences, the time that made her mother sick and then hospitalized due to Hana’s careless actions. However, she did remember the sky being weird and things happening that didn’t make any sense.The events on the TV were about explosions in certain parts of Japan and strange beings being sighted on the roads. She closed her eyes and remembered a time when she was trapped with a whole bunch of people in a small room. The room was dark, except for a couple of candles that were lit. No one seemed to know what was going on, but the fears on their faces were clear. Something was out to get them, something terrible. The rest was a blur to her after that. She remembered waking up in her bedroom and going on with her life. She opened her eyes and looked at Cye. “You mean the time when unexplained events happened?”
“Yes. We were fighting a horrible entity named Talpa. He was from the Netherworld. He was a very powerful source. Many years ago, before our fight with him, he tried to take over the human world. By that time, a being called The Ancient One fought him bravely. He was successful and banished Talpa to the Netherworld. The only thing that was left was his armor. The Ancient One divided the armor into nine. You know about our armors, but there were four others that were worn by the Warlords. Eventually they became our allies, but that’s not the point. The armors that we bear were from evil, but because of the virtues we have, we use them for good. You can too, Hana. You can use your power to do good in the world.”
She sat there looking at the floor while everything sank in. She never heard of how those armors came to be. “So, this Talpa being was responsible for all the destruction and chaos?”
“Yes, but only we knew about him. I wouldn’t have expected you to know about him.”Cye rested a hand on her shoulder.
Silence overtook the area as the two of them sat still, not looking at one another. Hana’s sight was fixated on her kitchen as she pondered. Will training be the answer to all her power problems? Or would the outcome stay the same and’s back to destroying herself and the people around her? Her eyes wandered over to the teapot clock on the wall. It was six-o-clock on the dot. A noise emanated from her mid-section, which made her snap out of her stupor.
“I’m hungry. Do you want me to make us some chicken while we talk things over?” she asked as she looked at Cye.
“That would be great,” Cye smiled.
Hana got up from her spot and headed for the kitchen. Cye leaned back and stretched his arms out. “You and Natsumi seemed to be getting along well at the gathering we had weeks ago,” Cye mentioned as he watched her prepare dinner.
“Yeah. She seems like a nice girl. You go to school with her?” she asked as she turned the water on.
“Yeah. We don’t have any classes together, but I do see her a lot in the hallways.”
“She seems to like you.”
“Yes, she does,” Cye said.
“She seemed upset when she saw me for the first time.”
“Well... she does have a crush on me.” Cye watched as Hana went back and forth from fridge to stove. It was as if nothing was said and she was just going on her way.
“I kind of figured that,” Hana said. She turned the chicken over and turned to the broccoli that was boiling in a medium sized pot. “I could tell… just by her reactions toward you and her facial expressions toward me. I’m a girl, Cye. We notice these things.” Hana turned her head and gave Cye a small smile.
Cye let out a soft sigh after hearing her response. “Anyway, it seems like she doesn’t have many friends. She joins us at lunch from time to time but that’s it. That’s why I invited her over to Mia’s.”
Hana turned the chicken in the pan slowly. Her eyes seemed focused on the marinated bird as it sizzled. “Why are you bringing this up?”
“I just thought it was nice seeing her talking to another girl,” Cye shrugged. “Are you jealous?”
“Me? Why would I be jealous?” Hana opened the fridge and took out two carrots. Cye watched as she raced over to rinse them out. “She has a crush on you and that’s fine. I’m sure a lot of girls have crushes on you.” She placed the carrots on the cutting board and started chopping them up.
Cye smiled, got up, and walked over to his girlfriend, who was cutting the carrot pieces a bit too big. “They are not even,” he said.
She stopped and looked down at the uneven pieces of carrot. “I-I knew that. I just wasn’t sure if you wanted them uneven or not…”
“You are jealous. Admit it.”
“I am not admitting anything. Now go and sit down. I don’t like it when people hover over me as I cook. It’s too nerve wracking.” Hana glanced over and saw Cye take a seat at the wooden kitchen table. It was true that she was a little jealous. She had been away from him for so long. She was sure there were tons of ladies at his school that were eyeing him as he walked. The uneven carrot pieces fell into the boiling water. She then took the chicken and placed it nicely on two plastic white plates. “I’m sorry I don’t have fancy plates.”
“It’s fine,” Cye said. “I don’t really care. If they can hold food, then it’s fine with me.”
Hana smiled a little and got the rest of the meal together. They spent a cozy evening talking small talk and enjoying their meal. Cye told her about his grades at school and how almost every teacher was asking him what was wrong. Concern masked Hana’s features as she heard the bad news. She knew that school was important to Cye because he wanted to become a marine biologist. It would be bad if he failed the semester because of her mistakes.
“I know what you are saying, Hana, but if something is happening to you, then of course I’m going to worry,” Cye said between bites. “School is important to me, but so are you.”
“What if you fail this semester? It’ll put you behind your goal,” Hana rebuked.
Cye took a swig of his water and placed the cup down gently. “If there was an attack tomorrow, then I would have to go and fight. There will be no second thought if I should attend school the next day. Education will always be there. Sometimes more important things come first.”
“If I said I was okay, would you stop worrying about me and focus?”
“Prove it to me first.”
Hana finished the last bit of food on her plate. “Okay. I’ll take the challenge and learn how to control this power I have within me. However, you must promise me that you’ll do good in school.”
Cye smiled and kissed Hana on her cheek before getting up with his empty plate. “Okay. It’s a deal. Starting tomorrow we’ll go over to Mia’s and see what she has to say. I would like to also know if it’s possible for spirits to leave behind a piece of themselves.”
Hana took the plate from Cye and smiled. “I can’t wait.”
She placed the dirty dishes into the sink and turned the water on. “Are you staying the night?”
“Do you want me to?” Cye asked.
“I would like the company. It gets lonely in here sometimes.”
“Then yes, I would love to spend the night with you.” He took his shirt off, exposing his well-toned torso. He waltzed over and planted a kiss on the side of her mouth before heading toward the bathroom.
Hana smiled to herself as she continued to wash the dishes. She heard the bathroom door close, leaving her alone with her thoughts. She inhaled through her nose as she heard her Aunt’s voice, yelling at her in her head. An image of her Aunt’s dining room and the look of disgust on her family’s faces entered her mind. The next thing she knew, she heard something loud break. Her eyes flew open and she looked down at her hands. Blood was dripping from a large slit in the middle of her left hand. To her right, she saw pieces of one of her cups lying in the bottom of the sink.
“Hana, I heard something break. Are you okay?” Cye asked as he ran out of the bathroom. He stopped at her side and saw the bloody mess before him. It looked like the sink was filled with tomato soup. “What happened?” He took her hand into his and got some paper towels to soak up the blood.
“I-I don’t know. I was just standing here, and the next thing I knew, I heard my Aunt’s voice. Then I saw images of the dining room and my family. I opened my eyes and I saw the blood,” Hana explained with fear in her voice. “What is happening?”
Cye noticed that Hana’s body was shaking as he wrapped the paper towel around her hand. “Don’t think about what happened. It triggers emotions, and that’s what starts off the power. Like you said, you got really angry and you destroyed that dining room. Don’t get emotional or try not to at least.” She nodded as he led her into the bathroom. “Do you have any band-aids?”
“I don’t think so. Try the second cabinet down.”
Cye found a box with only two left. “I guess I’ll use these to tape each side of the paper towel. They are way too small to cover the whole cut.”
“It’s fine, Cye. Whatever works.”
After the cut was tended to, the two of them went into the bedroom. “Let’s get some sleep. It’s been a busy day, and I’m sure you are exhausted.” Cye removed his jeans, leaving him only in his blue boxers. He helped Hana get dressed for bed, and the two of them slipped comfortably into bed. He placed his hand on her cheek and stroked her face with his fingers.Her eyelids were heavy, and thus much-needed sleep came quick.She drifted off to sleep with the man she loved, protecting her from harm.
A/N: Revised chapter 2 and basically stripped the entire chapter down. I took out the scene where Hana tried to kill herself because I thought that was going a little over board. However, that didn’t mean I would eliminate blood all around. Haha. I want to thank Halogazer for being my beta reader and helping me out with this chapter. I briefly looked over chapter 3 and I’m not sure what I’m adding or taking out just yet. I want to get this story done before I move on to anything else. Thanks for reading.