Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ Pain, Joy, Life ❯ Home ( Chapter 2 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

PAIN, JOY, LIFE



Chapter 2: Home



Ryo-




Ryo ran home, well most of the way, smiling and almost on the verge of laughing. Many teenagers were depressed when they got their fist job, but Ryo was so happy he could just burst. Now he could make a little money and maybe take better care of granma. She was going to be so proud of him!

It was a fairly long distance from Seiji's home to where Ryo had left granma and the sun was all ready starting to set by the time he reached the right neighborhood. The less respectable part of the city was a far cry from the pristine area where Seiji lived with its tall, manicured trees and white washed homes. The streets were darker, shadowed by tall; almost falling down buildings and the streets became less crowded people and more so with cars. No one wanted to walk in this area if they didn't have to.

As Ryo walked by, a red haired prostitute waved to him and shouted out, "Hey, Angel!" Ryo looked up and saw Yoko, a lady he'd gotten to know while living in this area. "It's late, you should be with your granma, kid. She's gonna get worried!"

Ryo smiled and waved back before crossing the street to talk with her. Yoko was a good person, even if her job was a little less than respectable, and Ryo liked her smile. She just seemed so happy all the time, like nothing ever bothered her. Ryo liked the way her hair was an incredible shade of dark red, it made her look so exotic and she'd once told him that it was natural, too. He even liked the way she smelled like peaches.

Yoko was a very thin lady and quite tall, and her face was sharp looking, made to look even harsher with all the make-up she wore. Yoko gave Ryo a one armed hug as soon as he'd run up to her, as if she'd known him his entire life instead of just a couple of weeks. "Missed you today, Angel. Where've you been?" She asked without taking her arm away from Ryo.

"School." Ryo was immensely proud he'd managed to spit the word out without spitting at her. He certainly didn't want to spit on such a pretty lady like Yoko.

Yoko's eyes widened when she took in his ill-fitting uniform and armful of books, which she hadn't seemed to notice before. "You little devil!" She laughed happily. "I knew you could do it!" She rustled his hair affectionately and brushed imaginary dust off the front of his jacket.

"Ryo."

Ryo turned slightly and saw, hiding in the shadows near the wall of a dilapidated building, Yoko's partner and constant companion. Joji was looking at Ryo from under his long curtain of pink hair that always seemed to be falling in his eyes. They, Yoko and Joji, watched over each other on the streets. Although Joji was a strange looking guy who had piercings almost everywhere on his body and had one completely white eye, showing that he was blind in that eye, Ryo still knew he was a good man.

Ryo pulled away from Yoko and went to stand in front of Joji, so the older man could look at him. Ryo smiled proudly, but the only reaction Joji gave him was a slight nod of approval.

After a minute of looking Ryo up and down, Joji patted the sidewalk beside him, signaling Ryo to sit, which Ryo did without hesitation. Ryo sat close to Joji while Yoko watched, leaning against a streetlight, her ever-present smile radiant, even in the fading daylight. Ryo wasn't stupid and he knew that there were very few people that could be trusted, especially with his lifestyle, but Yoko and Joji, he knew he could trust absolutely.

"You look younger." Joji commented quietly, taking a drag on his cigarette. "More like a kid." It was pretty obvious he didn't like that fact at all.

Joji wasn't as openly friendly as Yoko, but he took care of his partner and didn't let anyone hurt her. Whenever one of them had a john, the other went along. It was a rule that neither went anywhere without the other, for safety. While Yoko wore jeans ripped in specific, deliberate, places, Joji bare chested, showing off a spectacularly pure white skin and had on black trousers that looked like silk, almost see-though and whimsy. The strangest thing of all, to Ryo's mind, was Joji's fingernails. His nails were very long and painted bright pink, to match his hair. Joji never smiled, either, just had a kind of empty look on his face that never seemed to change while Yoko laughed at anything and everything. Ryo wasn't sure if it was love that held the two together or not, but they were a set. Now and forever.

"C-c-can't help it." Ryo said. He had to wear it, it was a school rule.

Joji took another drag and puffed out long trail of white smoke. "Don't wear it out here."

Ryo frowned at Joji's order, it had not been a request from Joji's tone. "B-b-b.."

"No buts." Yoko said firmly. "Joji's quite right. When you wear your street clothes, you blend in. Around here, that uniform makes you stand out a mile. Trust me, Ryo, you don't want to be noticed around here. Just change clothes at school and then back to your regular clothes after school."

"You look innocent." Joji said this as though it was a bad thing and Ryo knew it was. He wasn't innocent, but if he looked it, well nasty things could happen.

Ryo nodded and swallowed hard. It hadn't been all that long ago that he HAD been innocent. Back then, he'd looked innocent and someone had noticed him. They were quite right. Being noticed was NOT a good thing.

Joji put a hand on the back of Ryo's neck and Ryo, surprisingly, liked the feel of Joji's hand. Normally, Ryo hated it when people touched him. It made his skin crawl just to shake hands with someone. Joji and Yoko were different, though. Joji's hand was strong and warm, kind of how Ryo imagined his father's hand would feel. Joji wasn't much into touching, either, but he did give little signs that he cared about Ryo, like this. Ryo was sitting close enough to Joji that he could smell the heavy scent of cigarette smoke and he could feel the silky material of Joji's loose trousers.

Yoko laughed when she saw Ryo looking at Joji's trousers. "Shit Face bought them for him. Doesn't he just look good enough to eat?" She said in a strange tone, hate seeping though her smile. "Say's we'll get more customers if Joji looks more exotic." While she spoke, Yoko walked over to stand in front of Joji. She put one hand behind her back while leaning over her partner with her usual frozen smile. "You're so beautiful, Joji. I really should be jealous. You get more attention that I do." She ran her fingers though his pink hair, pulling the hair away from his white, blind, eye and Joji looked up at her. "How can I be jealous of an fallen angel, though?"

Ryo knew Shit Face was Yoko's pimp and, in a way, Joji's pimp, too. Joji never gave up his money to Shit Face, but Shit Face made more money because everyone would pay double for Yoko if they knew Joji was going to be around, too. The man's real name wasn't Shit Face, of course, but that's how Yoko always referred to him. Ryo had never met the man and, Yoko had said, if she had her way, he never would.

There was an uncomfortable moment when Ryo felt he should be anywhere rather than intruding on their private moment. He was about to jump up and leave when the moment ended and Yoko stepped away from Joji. "So, what else is going on in your life, kid?"

Ryo suddenly remembered the job he'd gotten at Seiji's home, so he told them that he'd found a way to make some money. Ryo was quite unprepared to have Joji's hard glare pinning him down. "What kind of work?" Joji demanded, though his voice was as quiet as ever and his hand tightened slightly on the back of Ryo's neck.

Yoko was still smiling, but it was tenser now. "Don't you tell me you've started walking the streets, kid. I may have to kick your ass, if that's the case." She shook a teasing finger at him, but there was a look in her eyes that told Ryo she was very serious.

Ryo's mouth fell open in shock that they thought he'd do something like street walking. "N-n-no!" He protested. "Hon-n-nest! I'm doing c-c-cleaning at a dojo."

Yoko seemed to believe him right away, though Joji glared at him for a moment longer. "That's good!" Yoko chirped. "You'll be a respectable man one day, Ryo."

Eventually, Ryo stood up and said he should be going. Yoko was right and it was far passed the time when granma had expect him back, plus he had homework to do for the first time in his life. So, after waving good bye to two, Ryo continued on his way.




Yoko-





"He's sweet." Yoko glowed looking after Ryo as he nearly ran down the street. "What a nice kid."

Joji only answered, "Bad things happen to nice kids."

"Ryo's not as innocent as he looks, Joji."

"He's not strong enough for this life."

A car pulled up on the corner near them and Yoko smiled, though her eyes shone with sadness. "You're wrong. He's too strong for this life. He's going to get out. You and I don't seem to be the ones strong enough to leave." With that, she turned and started to sway to her potential john, never doubting that Joji had risen to his feet behind her and was now following silently.





Ryo-




Holy Shepherd Home was one of the very few homeless shelters in the area and Ryo was incredibly glad he'd found it. It wasn't the best of buildings, but the place was warm and had lots of cots to sleep on. Most importantly, sister Jo made sure there were three meals a day served. It might not be big meals or made out of the best foods, but it was a meal and Sister Jo did the best she could.

The shelter was nearly empty, though Sister Jo had told Ryo it would start to fill up around dinnertime, especially as the weather was looking to turn colder. Everyone would be coming in for the food and a safe place to spend the night. Safer now that Ryo had come and brought Byakuen with him. Byakuen, it seemed, didn't like his sleep disturbed and, therefore, everything kept rather quiet when people knew Byakuen was sleeping. Like all cats, Byakuen liked to sleep a lot.

Ryo started over to his granma when he saw Sister Jo sweeping out the common area where everyone ate at the large, long tables. She looked up and smiled warmly. "Hiya, kiddo." She said brightly, brushing a strand of pale blonde hair back under her habit. "How was school?"

Ryo just shrugged and Sister Jo laughed. "That bad, huh?"

Ryo thought a moment then shook his head. "M-m-made friends." Yeah, it had been pretty bad except for the guys he'd met.

"Well," Sister Jo beamed. "That's a fine start, anyway. I'm sure tomorrow will be even better. You wait and see. Um," She frowned, watching him set all his books on one of the long eating tables. "Is all that your homework?"

Ryo shook his head and held up his language book.

"Oh. You'd best get going on it, then. No shirking off on my watch!" She teased and shook a finger at him. "I'll see if I can find you some paper and a pen in the office, you go see your granma first, though. She's been waiting for you all day."

Ryo nodded, set all his books on the table, and went to the cot where his granma was still laying down. It looked as if she hadn't moved all day and Ryo was more than a little worried. Still, she smiled up at him when Ryo sat on the cot next to her. Though Sister Jo made sure they had as many blankets and pillows to make everyone as comfortable as possible, granma always looked like she was cold, her skin was getting pale. Sister Jo had even given granma the best cot, right next to the heater, but it didn't seem to help. On one side of the cot slept Byakuen, separating granma from anyone who might come to close.

"I heard what you said to Sister Jo, Ryo. I'm so glad you are having fun in school." She reached up a hand to touch his face fondly. "I wish I could repay her kindness." There was real regret in her voice, too. Granma hated owing debts to anyone, even someone so generous as Sister Jo. "She was saying that tonight will be bad, Ryo, dear. Why don't you lend her a hand?"

Ryo nodded, of course he would. He'd all ready told granma he would help Sister Jo, but granma's memory seemed to be getting worse lately. Ryo almost stood up to go see what Sister Jo would need him to do when his school book and a notebook landed on his lap. He looked up to see sister Jo, slightly scowling at him. "You don't do anything until that homework is done, buster. The crowd won't get here for another couple of hours, so just get your butt in gear."

It wasn't the sort of thing that Ryo would expect a nun to say, but he was never one to argue with Sister Jo. It just wasn't a smart thing to do. She always talked like this, actually, and it made her sound like a real person instead of quoting scripture all the time. Of course, Sister Jo was also known to gambol and swear, along with hiding cigarettes under her wimple. Ryo also knew for certain that Sister Jo carried a switchblade somewhere in her habit, and she knew how to use it. Ryo wasn't sure why a nun would do all these things, but no one could deny she took care of the people who came to her.

He'd known Sister Jo almost since the day they'd come to this part of the city, when the nun had offered him a place out of the cold. Granma had refused, of course, but Sister Jo had kept in touch with Ryo until she'd finally persuaded Ryo to bring his granma to the shelter.

Ryo opened the book and started to struggle with the assignment. It was hard, but he managed to finish just in time to help Sister Jo start handing out bowls of soup to people who were starting to drift in.




The next day-





The teacher studied Ryo's paper in front of the class with a frown on her face. "Sanada san, is this some kind of joke?" She asked acidly, pointing at his test paper. Everyone was watching him when the teacher had called him to the front of the room and Ryo knew they could hear every word being said.

Ryo shook his head vigorously. Ryo licked his lips nervously, waiting for punishment. He'd done his best on this assignment, but his reading level was about on par with an eight-year-old. Not the best for high school level literature. It might have been easier if he'd told someone that he'd never been to school before. The school knew, of course, but the administration didn't go out of its way to tell each and every teacher unless they came looking for information.

"Then what is all this scrawl?" She gestured at the obscure, childish writing. It honestly looked as if a first grader had done the test. Some of the answers made no sense at all and others were illegible. "It looks as if you didn't even read half the questions!" She shook her head sadly. "I would hate to fail you on your first test in a new school, Mr. Sanada, but I may have to." Her eyes narrowed in thought as she regarded her silent, nervous student. He looked very sad, but wouldn't say anything in his own defense. Most students she had would have tried to think up an excuse, but Ryo just stood there and took it. "I'll tell you what, Mr. Sanada. I'll let you take a make up exam, but you must pass it. Do you understand? I will give you only one chance."

Ryo gulped and, with his face red as the rest of the class staring at him, nodded solemnly. He slowly took his seat with his failed test in hand. Ryo stared at the top of his desk, refusing to look up until the class ended. He'd worked so damned hard! Sister Jo had helped him a little when he couldn't understand homework and even Yoko, when she and Joji had come to the shelter for a hot meal, had helped him with his math. They couldn't help him now, though, and Ryo wanted to die of shame and he slouched down in his seat, miserably.

How was he supposed to pass this? Ryo felt like crying and he glared at the red marks that covered the paper. Reading was the hardest class for him, he just couldn't do it! Ryo felt the fire trying to grow, to feed on his negative emotions. A corner of the paper in his hands stared to turn brown and then black and a thin wisp of smoke, only barely visible, wafted up from the paper. Ryo felt the fire tried to fight free in his mind, forcing itself upwards to where it could find a release. If he let it get out...A hand touched Ryo's shoulder, instantly dousing the fire. Touma, who sat behind Ryo, was giving him a crooked smile.

Ryo quickly covered the burnt edge of his test paper with one hand. The last thing he needed was for his friend to start thinking he was weird.

Touma took pity on him with a sympathetic smile. "Hey, if you like, I'll help you study. I guess if you're in a new school, everything can be kinda hard at first. I all ready help Shin with his Japanese, so it shouldn't be to much different."

Ryo looked at him for a moment, before nodding slowly. He wasn't sure if it was safe to trust Touma, but the other boy seemed to really want to help and Touma had been very nice to him. Hesitantly, Ryo smiled. He DID need the help, after all.

"Great, I'll meet you in the library at lunch time. OK?"




Touma-




Touma knew something was odd very quickly as he sat with Ryo at the library table. The way Ryo was glaring at the textbook in front of him was a rather big tip off. The way he almost seemed angry when Touma asked him questions about what he was reading was the clincher.

Finally, Touma closed the book and forced Ryo to look at him. "You can't read, can you?"

Ryo, once again, blushed. "N-n-not much." He said ashamed, but he didn't seem surprised that Touma had noticed.

Touma wasn't all that surprised. From the way Ryo had been acting, it was pretty obvious. "Don't worry about it." Touma smiled at his new friend. "I'll help you learn." Ryo's face brightened with hope. "Of course, we'll have to tell the teacher." Ryo's face fell. "Oh, relax. It won't be as bad as all that. Besides, when she finds out, I'm sure she'll be a little more generous with your work."

Xiu was suddenly with them and flopped down in a chair. "Hey guys! What are you doing in here instead of eating?" Xiu set his bag on the table they were sitting at before sitting next to Touma.

"Some of us study at school." Touma told him with a superior, but teasing, air.

Xiu shook his head, pitying his friend. "Not at lunch time, you don't." With a sweep of his arm, Xiu pushed all of Touma's books (all thirty-eight of them) onto the floor where they landed with a crash and then looked at Ryo. "You have to watch this guy. He forgets to eat if he gets his nose in a book." With a cheery smile, as he ignored Touma's acid looks from where Touma was picking up his books.

"I do not forget to eat!" Touma defended himself. Then he looked down and mumbled, "It just slips my mind sometimes. Why aren't you with Seiji, anyway?" Touma grinned at Xiu, who blushed darkly and mumbled,

"He's busy in the kendo club and I got lonely, so, I thought I come visit you guys. Shin's busy in the home ec room, anyway." Xiu got a dreamy look in his eyes. "He's making okonomiyaki today!"




Ryo-





Ryo smiled and Touma openly laughed at Xiu's food fixation, but Ryo's smile faded when Xiu began to unpack his bag. No one could eat so much! Seven sandwiches, six bottles of soda, junk food, a whole bag of apples, not to mention a mixing bowl full of rice and three whole fish along with about two pounds of chicken. "Mama always gives me the leftovers from the restaurant." Xiu explained to Ryo when he saw Ryo's stare.

Ryo's stomach started to ache looking at it. He'd eaten this morning, cold cereal and milk, but all that food looked really, really good.

"Say, Touma, did you even bring any lunch today?" Xiu asked, casting his friend a sidelong glance. "Or did you forget that, too?"

Ryo watched as Touma froze for just a moment before looking up with a very forced smile. "I forgot again. You know me, always forgetting something." Ryo thought that this was a very odd reaction. Even Ryo could tell Touma was lying and usually, he was pretty oblivious to such things. Why would Touma lie about lunch?

Xiu kept smiling his fake smile and pushed a large part of his lunch to Touma with a serious expression. "You're starting to get skinny. You've got to remember to eat." Touma smiled gratefully and started eating, though he ate slowly. Ryo wondered if there was something that was going on with Touma, but he didn't ask. It wasn't his business, so he had no right to get involved.

The three boys sat in the library quietly while Ryo tried not to think of his stomach that seemed to be burning. He desperately wanted to ask Xiu for a bite to eat, but granma had always taught him to act with pride. He was from a long line of proud warriors, granma told him. Proud people who would never beg anything.

Ryo's mind flashed back to a day long ago when he'd asked his granma why they didn't go to the local shelter for food and warmth. Back before she'd started getting weak and sick.



Flashback-



Granma looked at him sternly as they walked down the streets. "Shelters are for those who have nothing, Ryo. We can not take away from the truly needy." She lectured. "We are able to work for our food and, what we can't earn, we don't need." His dignified grandmother, then stronger, had led him away from the crowded shelter and onto find another, probably, temporary job. Even homeless, she had always been so regal, even dressed in rags.



Flashback-



Then again, Ryo thought bitterly as he brought his mind back to the present, proud warriors would never steal, either, but that wasn't beneath his dignity.

"Hey, man, aren't you going to eat? Lunch is almost over?" Touma looked at where Ryo was just sitting, staring at the book in front of him.

Ryo shook his head, but his stomach betrayed him by choosing that time exactly to growl loudly. Both of his friends stared at him before they smiled. "If you forgot your lunch, just say something! You can have part of mine." Xiu generously pushed more of his food to Ryo. Ryo stared at the food and wanted to cry. Food! And he didn't even have to ask for it!

The bell rang, calling them to the next class. Touma and Xiu jumped up quickly, with Xiu helping Touma carry all his books, and said good bye as they hurried to their next class. Ryo, when he was sure they were both gone, Ryo ripped the sandwich in half and ate only one half before wrapping the sandwich back up in the cellophane it had been wrapped in. He chewed slowly, relishing the taste of roast beef, something he'd never gotten to eat before. Still, he'd have to make it last a while, so Ryo opened his bag and scooped the sandwich and apple in. He'd have the apple when he walked from school to Seiji's house and the rest of the sandwich after the work was finished, while he was walking back to the shelter.

Ryo just didn't have the nerve to ask Sister Jo for food to take to school, not when she was so busy and working so hard at the shelter and she was watching granma for him. No, that would just be selfish of him.

Ryo left the library happily and tried to think of a way to repay Xiu for his kindness. Ryo had learned that much from his granma, anyway. You always had to repay kindness. He stopped in the hall on his way to his next class and guzzled water from the drinking fountain to quench the hunger pains and continued his day.




Touma-




After school, Touma walked with Ryo out into the open air along with all the other students. Dad was going to be home today and the thought of what was waiting for him at home was making Touma unbearably nervous. "I can come to your place to help you study someday, if you like." Touma offered. "Maybe tomorrow?"

Ryo stopped walking and looked at his sneakers. "N-n-no." He said in a flat voice.

Touma frowned. "Why not?"

Ryo swallowed hard and refused to look at Touma. "N-n-not a g-g-good idea." With that, Ryo took off running and leaving a confused and hurt Touma behind.

"What was that all about?" Xiu was walked up beside Touma and had apparently seen everything.

Touma scowled at Ryo's back. "He asked me to help him with his school work, but when I offered to go to his house, he said no! Some friend. He acted like I had the plague." Touma was more than a little hurt by this. Ryo had probably heard others talking about him. Touma knew quite well that he was one of the school freaks. The blue haired genius. Somehow, he'd thought Ryo would be different with his stutter and all. He had thought that Ryo would know what it was like to be different. How wrong can you judge a person?

"Well," Xiu looked after where Ryo had gone with a thoughtful expression. "Why didn't you invite him to your house?"

Touma looked at his friend, shocked. "Are you mad!? How can you suggest that?" His mind went to his constantly abusive father. Xiu knew what Touma's dad was like and had even seen the evidence more than once in the form of injuries on Touma's body.

Xiu gave him a meaningful look. "So if you have a reason for not wanting people at your home, maybe Ryo does, too."

Touma stared and them smiled. "My friend, your intelligence is seriously underrate." Then he turned serious. "We'll have to talk to Ryo when we see him tomorrow. I have to go home, Xiu."

Xiu's smile faded quickly. "Are you sure? Sei-kun, Shin, and I are getting together tonight at Sei-kun's house. He's having some wind-ding, some big deal Sabbat. He's serving tea and poppyseed bread." Xiu said in a tempting voice, even though it sounded as if he wasn't really looking forward to the food all that much.

"Candelmas?" Touma asked. Seiji had once told him all the sabbat's he celebrated during the year and this seemed like the right time of year for the Candelmas. Yes, that's right. Seiji was a witch, or was it warlock? He practices Wicca, Touma knew that for sure, anyway. Touma wasn't sure he understood half the stuff that had to do with Seiji's religion, but he knew enough to respect it.

Seiji didn't bother to hide himself away and, as a result, had very few friends. He would have been harassed at school if it hadn't been for the fact that he was a fierce fighter and didn't take crap from anyone. The first boy who'd make a crack about Seiji's 'broomstick' had gone home with a broken nose and a sprained ankle. Not to mention the rather large figure of Xiu looming right behind Seiji also helped to scare away possible threats.

Xiu nodded. "Yeah, he says since it's February second, he wants to celebrate and he wanted me to ask you to come. I'm not really sure what it is, but Sei-kun thinks it's a pretty big deal." He stood in Touma's path, blocking him from simply walking away. "His family won't have anything to do with it, so his friends should be with him, I think. I'm bringing some music and Shin said he'll cook some snacks for us. We're going to party all night, and you don't want to miss out on that. I'm sure you'd have more fun coming to Sei-kun's party than going back home."

"Yeah, Seiji's parties do end up a bit wild, don't they?" Seiji only ever invited friends to his house, which meant Touma, Shin, and (especially) Xiu. When they were all together with nothing holding them back, there was no telling what would happen. "Dad's expecting me tonight and I'll catch Hell if I don't show up. Tell Seiji happy Candelmas for me, will ya?" Touma knew Xiu, and the others, wanted him to stay away from home. But Touma knew his dad was just angry. Mom had left so long ago that Touma really didn't remember her and dad said Touma looked like mom. His dad was just angry, he didn't really MEAN to hurt Touma.

Not really...





Continued...


Cousin D: OK, folks, how was that? I thought it was much more interesting that the first way the story was turning out.

Evil Little god of Writing: I Like this story. It was good the first time around, but now you're making it even better. Not only are you torturing Ryo, but also Touma with the usual abuse thing, Shin barely being able to speak Japanese, and now Seiji as a practitioner of Wicca.

Cousin D: Seiji doesn't seem all that tormented to me.

Evil Little god of Writing: I'm not talking about Seiji being tormented, I'm talking about the readers. Do you have any idea of the amount of people who will be offended by you turning Seiji into a witch? You'll get a flame for this one for sure!

Cousin D: I'm sorry. You're mistaking me for someone who gives a damn.

Evil Little god of Writing: (Pats cousin D on the head) Good girl! I've taught you well.

Lil' Demoness: You two are bad influences on each other. Can't you think about the nice things? I like Yoko and Joji, very mysterious. How do they fit in the story?

Cousin D: You'll have to wait and see.