Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ Pain, Joy, Life ❯ Stealing and Hunting ( Chapter 12 )

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

Pain, Joy, Life


Chapter 12
Stealing and Hunting




Ryo-






Ryo blushed at Seiji's uncharacteristically enthusiastic praise, crossing his arms around his chest, almost as if he were hugging himself. 'I wasn't that good.' Ryo admitted to himself, angry and disgusted that he'd done so poorly. 'Mom was so much better than that, I should have kept up practice. I used the Ryuken better than that when I was five!'

But Seiji didn't seem willing to let the idea go that had gotten into his head. "Do you know how hard it is to find a good swordsman? There aren't many people who take the art seriously anymore. This is wonderful, grandfather will..."

"NO!" Ryo said firmly, casting his eyes to the floor. "I don't have t-time."

"But..."

"No." Ryo repeated, more softly this time. "I have things to do." Work, school, finding food, protecting granma. There were so many more important things than using a sword and Ryo didn't want to get his hopes up by indulging Seiji's wishes. 'It'll only hurt more when I have to stop. I'm not strong enough to use the Ryuken anymore and...' Ryo suddenly felt lightheaded and his vision darkened. Seiji said something, but Ryo couldn't hear him. His lips were tingling.

"Ryo!" Seiji grabbed Ryo's arm and gave him a bit of a shake. "I said, are you all right? You looked kind of...spacey for a minute."

Ryo blinked and Seiji came into focus, as Ryo's head stopped spinning. "Y-yeah. I-I'm okay." He tried to smile cheerfully, but from the look on Seiji's face, it didn't come out very well. "I just...um...I'm just a l-l-little hungry." It was true that Ryo hadn't eaten all day. There had been so little to eat that Ryo had been saving what little they had for his granma or Byakuen and saving very little for himself. 'Since the shelter closed it's been getting hard to find food.'

"Why don't you stay for dinner?" Seiji suggested. "I do most of the cooking and I'm pretty darned good, even if I do say so myself."

Ryo shook his head. "Gotta go back." 'I wish I could stay. It'd be nice to always stay here, but granma needs me.' Ryo started to clean up the cleaning supplies he'd been using and packing them away in the closet under Seiji's ever-watchful eye. 'I wonder what he's thinking. Seiji seems to know a lot more than he lets on, but I wasn't lying. I'm fine. I'm just a little hungry.' Being hungry didn't bother Ryo much anymore. It seemed that he'd spent his whole life being hungry. 'If I ignore it long enough, the pain in my stomach will go away. It always does.' Hunger pains never lasted long and if he could only ignore them until that time.

"You're not fine, Ryo." Seiji said softly. "You almost fell just now. That's not normal. If it's money you need for food, I'll give you more."

Ryo didn't even bother to look at Seiji. 'It doesn't matter. He knows I'll refuse. I can't take money I didn't earn. It's just not right.' But thinking this...Ryo had to ask himself, 'Then what makes stealing any better? If I can't take Seiji's money, I can't take stranger's money. But Seiji can't give me enough out of his own pocket for granma's medicine. I have to steal it.'






Touma-






Touma started the coffeepot going before sitting down to read the paper. At the Mouri kitchen table with Shin's moms on either side of him, watching him carefully, Touma opened the paper. Once the evening paper spread out in front of him, Touma stared down at it in horror, his face paling.

'No.'




MAN ATTACKED BY ABUSED SON!



HASHIBA TAKASHI, AGE 38, WAS TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL YESTERDAY FOR A STABBING WOUND GIVEN TO HIM BY HIS OWN SON, WHOM, WE ARE RELIABLY INFORMED, WAS BEING ABUSED BY HIS FATHER. OUR INFORMATION SAYS THE BOY, AGE 15, WAS BEING BEATEN WHEN A FRIEND OF HIS WALKED INTO THE FAMILY'S APARTMENT. THE ENRAGED FATHER ALLEGEDLY ATTACKED HIS SON'S FRIEND AND ATTEMPTED TO KILL HIM.

HOWEVER, HASHIBA'S SON ACTED QUICKLY AND USED A KNIFE TO DEFEND HIS FRIEND. HASHIBA WAS TAKEN TO AN AREA HOSPITAL AND IS STILL UNCONSCIOUS, RESULTING FROM THE TRAUMA. BEFORE HE SLIPPED INTO A COMA, HASHIBA TOLD POLICE THAT THE BOY HE ATTACKED HAD STABBED HIM, BUT APPARENTLY THIS WAS NOT TRUE.

HASHIBA'S SON'S FRIEND WANTED TO TAKE THE BLAME, FOR SOME UNKNOWN REASON, AND LIED TO THE POLICE ABOUT THE ATTACK, CLAIMING RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE CRIME. HE SUPPOSEDLY IMPLANTED THE IDEA IN HASHIBA'S MIND BEFORE MAKING HASHIBA'S SON RUN FROM THE SCENE OF THE CRIME.

HASHIBA'S SON IS CURRENTLY OUT OF JAIL ON BOND AND STAYING WITH A TEMPORARY FOSTER FAMILY. THIS FAMILY IS SAID TO BE THE FAMILY OF THE BOY WHO WAS ATTACKED BY HASHIBA.


EDITORIAL-


SOURCES ALSO INDICATE THAT THE FAMILY CONSISTS OF TWO LESBIAN WOMEN WHO ARE RAISING THEIR SON. READERS, THIS BOY ACCUSED OF COMMITTING ATTEMPTED MURDER IS UNDOUBTEDLY IN A DELICATE FRAME OF MIND, AND WE ARE WONDERING IF PUTTING HIM IN SUCH AN UNUSUAL FAMILY SETTING IS TO HIS BENEFIT. WOULD IT NOT BE BETTER TO HAVE HIM SOMEWHERE MORE TRADITIONAL?

WE'RE ASKING ALL READERS TO WRITE IN WITH THEIR COMMENTS ON THIS. DO YOU FEEL THE BOY WAS JUSTIFIED IN WHAT HE DID TO SAVE HIS FRIEND? WAS HIS FRIEND WRONG TO LIE TO THE POLICE FOR HIM? SHOULD A DIFFERENT HOME BE FOUND FOR THE BOY? TWENTY REPLIES WILL BE PUBLISHED IN NEXT WEEKS NEWSPAPER.





Touma-





'Damned reporters!' Touma cursed, looking down at the paper that lay in front of him on the Mouri's kitchen table. The front page was covered in not only the article, but pictures of his bruised, bloody face. 'Can't they leave me alone? They didn't have to show that fucking picture!' Touma felt the heat rising to his face. He knew they probably had the other pictures, too. Pictures of his back, his chest...practically his whole body! All the pictures the doctors had taken that time he'd gotten a broken arm and rib from his dad. 'Why'd I ever let Xiu take me to the hospital, anyway? I knew it was a mistake.'

Touma swallowed hard and folded the paper. 'I've never been so embarrassed in my whole life! Everyone knows. Everyone!' Touma hadn't thought that this whole thing would end up with his face in the papers and everyone knowing. Now, he wouldn't be able to walk down the street or go to school without everyone staring at him.

The worst part was that bastard who'd done the editorial. 'He didn't have to drag Shin's family into this! They've done nothing wrong!' Touma blushed, embarrassed, when Mrs. Mouri patted his shoulder from behind.

"I'm sorry." Shin's okasan, Akane, said softly. "It's better that you know this way rather than find out later, though."

"No, ma'am. I'm sorry." Touma said, not daring to look either woman in the face. "I'm sorry. It's my fault your family's being dragged into this. I didn't mean for all this to happen."

Mrs. Mouri gave him a gentle rap on the head. "What are you thinking with that long face?" She said with a slightly disapproving tone. "You saved our son's life." Her eyes suddenly filled with tears. "Do you have any idea how much that means to us? To me? Shin...Liam is all I have left of my dear Sean. I can see my late husband in ever word Shin says and even in his eyes. My husband lives on though Shin and if my baby had died..." She choked and Akane, her wife, went quickly to her side and put her arms around her.

Akane looked at Touma with a soft smile. "Shin means a lot to me, also. I love him like I would my own child. I will never have any other child than Shin. I know he has his faults like any other child, but...he is mine. We can never thank you enough for what you've done, Touma." Mrs. Mouri patted Touma's shoulder, kindly. "Shin will be home soon, if you need to talk to him. I know you'd probably rather talk with him than us, anyway."






Shin-





Touma had a very strict probation. He basically wasn't allowed out of the house without someone with him. That was the law and Shin's mom and okasan upheld it rigidly. That was why Shin was out alone when his mom had forgotten to do the grocery shopping that day. Even though it was late, the sun had long since set and the moon shone overhead. Shin liked having Touma living with him, even though Touma was so sad and depressed right now.

'He'll be all right.' Shin told himself. 'He did the right thing.' But there was a haunted look in Touma's eyes that made Shin doubt himself.

It was on this late, quiet evening when Shin saw Ryo. Shin smiled, feeling his mood brighten just from seeing Ryo. 'Everything's been so horrible lately, I'm glad he came back to school. At least I'll know he's safe.'

Shin watched Ryo walk calmly down the street, his eyes on the ground, and thought how lonely Ryo looked. 'I thought Seiji said something about Ryo living with his granma. What's he doing around here?'

Shin raised his hand to wave and get Ryo's attention but paused. Ryo changed directions abruptly and started following a lady carrying a shopping bag and a very large purse. He thought it was odd how close Ryo was walking to the strange woman. Suddenly, Ryo bumped into the woman and Shin was certain he saw Ryo's thin hand dip into the woman's purse before he babbled an apology and hurried away.

Shin stood in the middle of the sidewalk, absolutely shocked. His eyes were wide and he almost dropped his bag of groceries. Ryo? Stealing?

Shin felt himself slip from shock to anger. Why would Ryo do that? With a determined grimace, Shin followed where he saw Ryo dash away to. He would get answers! 'I do NOT need two friends in trouble with the law! I know he's having a rough time, but he should ask for help if he needs money!'

Ryo headed into a local park and Shin followed. He followed Ryo as closely as he could until Ryo quickly vanished into the darkness. 'Oh, damn.' Shin thought, shifting the weight of the grocery in his arms. 'If I didn't have these bloody bags with me, I'm sure I'd be able to chase him a little better.'

Shin found himself standing near a small pond, the moon light like silver on the perfectly still surface of the water. In the distance, a dog barked.





Ryo-






Ryo carefully counted out 20,000 yen from the third wallet he'd stolen that night. Stealing wasn't difficult when once got into the habit of it and Ryo had long since learned how to pick pockets without being caught.

'Well, that'll take care of granma's medicine for another few weeks. Now, it's time to make good on my promise to Yaku-Chan.' Ryo, passing by a small lake in the silent park, stuffed the money into his pocket. He didn't really like doing this, but Yaku-Chan needed food. No. That wasn't exactly true. Ryo loved hunting; he just didn't like the way it sometimes made him feel...not quite human. Ryo could honestly lose himself in the hunt.

And so the hunt began.

Ryo stood under the moonlight for a moment and closed his eyes, trying to get himself back into the right mind frame. It had been so long since he'd had to hunt that Ryo didn't know if he'd be able to do it. Fortunately, it wasn't as hard as Ryo thought it might be.

The wind rushed over Ryo's face and the sounds and smells of the park filled his senses. Very slowly, Ryo crouched down on his haunches and put the palms of his hands on the grass before lowering his face to the earth. Ryo breathed in deeply though his nose, taking in the scents even as he concentrated on listening. It was a sound, which caught Ryo's attention, just a rustle off to his left and the subtle movement of a bush.

Ryo swung his head toward the sound, but otherwise didn't move. His eyes narrowed, focusing on nothing but that tiny movement. Time passed, but Ryo didn't know how long. He was prepared to wait as long as necessary to have his prey come to him. 'I'm not strong enough for a chase and certainly not strong enough for a fight.' Ryo's right hand drifted down to the ground and he picked up the biggest rock he could find without taking his eyes off that one movement where he knew food was hiding.

Ryo's vision darkened, as it had at Seiji's dojo, but Ryo fought the feeling off. 'I've gotta be strong! This is no time to be hungry!' In truth, the hunger was starting to overwhelm Ryo. He didn't seem to be thinking straight and right now Ryo was more than happy to kill for food.

Ryo had to blink a few times to focus on his prey again and that was the moment when he saw two singing green eyes looking back at him. 'It's big.' Ryo almost grinned when he realized the animal had to be at least three feet high. 'Must be a dog.'

"Grrrrr." The hidden animal let out a warning when it realized it had been found, trying to send the hunter way.

'Not gonna work.' Ryo silently answered, reading himself to spring at the animal, his weapon gripped tightly in his hand. 'I need you. Sorry.' Before the animal had a chance to attack, Ryo pounce, launching himself at the eyes that stared him. It was dog; a big, muscular mutt and it bit Ryo deeply on the shoulder when he attacked. "ARRRRR!" Ryo cried out in pain, but he didn't let it stop him.

'My food. My food.' Ryo's thoughts were simple and primitive, not allowing him to acknowledge that he'd just been bitten. 'Kill! I'll kill you!' By now, Ryo had lost all reason. He was a hunter, an animal little different from the prey he was battling. 'I'll kill you and suck the marrow from your bones!' He thought about how sweet the marrow would taste and knew that Byakuen would let him have the bones. Byakuen had no desire to chew on the bones, but Ryo had always liked the taste of the marrow.

They wrestled for a short while, the dog barking and growling for all it was worth while it tried to bite at Ryo's face when it managed to roll Ryo over onto his back. It scratched Ryo with its sharp claws. Ryo managed to raise his arm and bash the rock against the dog's head, sending it to the ground. It was still alive, though, and Ryo raised the rock slamming it into the dog's head until Ryo was certain the mutt was dead.

Ryo crouched over the dead animal; shaking and his vision still focused on the dog in front of him. Ryo licked his lips, staring at the dog and he remembered the many times he'd gone hunting with Byakuen and, before that, mom. The thrill of the hunt was intoxicating, almost like drowning. It just swallowed one whole and left no room for thought or logic. There was only the hunt. The kill.

'I'm not an animal.' Ryo reminded himself, setting down the bloodied rock. He knelt beside the dog and his nose caught the metallic scent of the blood that oozed from the dog's broken head. It was black in the moonlight, but Ryo could never forget the smell of blood. 'It's a strong animal, healthy, I think.' Ryo felt the dog's muscles and the soft coat of fur. He examined the animal until he came to the collar and license around its neck.

Ryo didn't hesitated before pulling the collar off and throwing it into the bushes. He didn't want to look at it. Didn't want to think that this was someone's pet and friend. 'Like Byakuen. No, it's food, not a pet. This was no one's pet, no one loved it so no one will miss it.' But Ryo knew he was lying to himself. He lied so often, but never seemed to get better at it.

Ryo picked up the carcass and threw it over his shoulder, but not before some of the blood splattered onto his face. Ryo raised his hand to wipe his face off, but when he did he saw that his hand, the one used to kill the dog, was also shining with blood.

'It tasted so good.' Ryo remembered the one and only time he'd eaten the raw animal with Byakuen. How horrified he'd been and scared that his granma would find him like that. 'Still...' Ryo looked around at the empty park. 'No one would see now. I'm so hungry.' Ryo went back down to his knees and set the dog's body down again. 'Just a mouthful wouldn't hurt. I'll be careful and I won't get it on my clothes so granma would never notice.'

Hunger can make a person to desperate things. Ryo had once thought he'd never eat raw meat again, he'd been so horrified when he'd done it the first time, but his stomach was empty and demanding to be filled.

Ryo had never hunted without a weapon before, a knife or a bow, but he'd seen how Byakuen did this often enough. Bending down, Ryo buried his face in the dog's fur, sneezing when the fur tickled his nose. He took the skin with his teeth and bit down experimentally. At first the skin was tough, but Ryo bit as hard as he could and found that it broke easily enough. Blood seeped into his mouth, all ready growing cold, but it didn't spurt because the animal's heart wasn't beating. Ryo backed away to lick the blood off his lips before bending over again and biting in the same spot. This time, Ryo ripped the skin open, exposing the juicy innards.

'I'll save the rest for Yaku-Chan, but he won't mind if I just have a bite. Just one little bite.'

Ryo liked the smell of raw meat. It reminded him of long ago when he helped his mom to skin the game they caught and the long happy days of winter when Ryo would spend dressed up in the skins of the animals they'd skinned that passed summer. He thought of those long ago days when he buried his face into the dog's opened stomach. 'Mom. I miss you so much.' Ryo took a mouthful of muscle and tore it out. Ryo sat down and held the raw meat in his hands while he chewed it. 'So good...'

"RYO!!"

Ryo whirled around, horrified. 'No. Shin.'

Yep. There was Shin standing only a few yards away and looking like he was going to throw up. His mouth was open in shock and Shin dropped a bag of groceries that he'd been holding.

"What are you doing, Ryo?" Shin's voice was breathy, as if he simply couldn't believe what he was seeing. "What...?"

'I've got blood all over my face. What's he gonna think?' Ryo stood up shakily, but there was the voice in his head muttering, growing stronger and stronger.

'This is a good time to escape.' The voice told Ryo. 'He won't understand what you've done, yet. He'll understand later.' Strangely, the fire never grew stronger or warmer like it always had when Ryo felt threatened, angry, or scared. 'We can't hurt him.' The voice told Ryo. 'We can't ever hurt him. We have to protect him!'

For one of the very few times, Ryo took the voice's advice. He picked up the dog and ran as fast as he could, desperate to get as far away from Shin's disgusted expression.

'I'm not an animal! I'm just hungry!'







Shin-





"Why, Ryo?" Shin couldn't understand as he watched Ryo disappear again. "Why did you do that?" Shin didn't bother chasing after Ryo again. It was to late to catch him, anyway.

Shin had found Ryo at the end of his fight with the dog, when Ryo had the poor creature on the ground and was battering its head with a large stone. He'd almost spoken then, but there was something about the way Ryo looked, crouched on all fours and panting heavily under the moon light, his lips drawn back to show off his startling white teeth and his eyes narrowed when he stared at the dog as if obsessed. Ryo was hurt, but didn't seem to care. Shin could see the blood dripping down Ryo's shoulder and onto his back, seeping though Ryo's thin shirt. There was something dangerous about Ryo in that moment.

With a scowl at the night that had swallowed up Ryo, Shin turned to find his way home. 'This isn't like Ryo at all!' Then again, what did he know about his friend, anyway? Ryo rarely spoke about himself or his family. He was willing to listen to anything and liked them all well enough, but when it came to himself, Ryo tended to steer the conversation to other things. Shin only knew what he knew about Ryo from little things that he'd heard Touma or Seiji say when they weren't paying attention.

'But I never thought I'd catch him stealing or eating raw animals!' Shin felt his stomach churn crazily when he thought of seeing Ryo hunched over the dog, eating like he was an animal himself. 'God! That poor animal! What the Hell is happening to my friend?'

Shin sighed. 'It's like pulling teeth just to find out anything around here! I think Touma said something about taking Ryo to Xiu's house tomorrow to study.' He smiled slyly. 'Well, if Ryo won't talk to me, he'll talk to Touma. I'll just have Touma wheedle some information out of Ryo.'





The next day-
Touma-






'I'll kill Shin for this, I swear.'

Touma tried very hard not to glare while the four of them: Shin, Xiu, Ryo, and Touma, walked down the street to Xiu's home. Shin was being strangely silent as he walked a few steps behind the rest of them, but Xiu was making up for Shin by talking almost nonstop.

'Please,' Shin had asked last night when he'd gotten home from the grocery shopping. 'Ask where he was last night.' Touma remembered Shin's pleading face. 'I worried, he ran away from me. You said you know about his past so he be more likely to talk to you.'

"Touma?" Ryo said. "Are you a-all right?"

"Huh?" Touma looked up, taken by surprise at Ryo noticing that he wasn't concentrating. Touma was anything but stupid and he could feel the tension in the air. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Court is in a couple of days and it's starting to get under my skin." Something had happened last night, obviously and whatever it had been was making Ryo act like a dog about to be whipped. He kept his eyes firmly fixed on his feet while they walked and he seemed to be forcing himself not to look back at Shin. Ryo also seemed to be walking stiffly, holding his arm close to his side, as if it hurt.

"Well," Shin told Touma brightly. "Do not worry. Will all work out." He stopped just as they got close to the Phoenix Rising and hit the side of his head with his hand. "I forget! Have to do cooking tonight. I see you later." He waved and Touma watched him run off.

'You coward.' Touma thought, halfway bitter. He'd known all along that Shin planned to leave this little mission to Touma, but it still felt like he was being abandoned. 'I don't know what happened last night, but it must be bad if Shin thinks he's going to upset Ryo by staying.'

Ryo looked confused. "But, isn't he s-s-supposed to s-stay with you?"

"Shin trusts you to keep me out of trouble." Touma replied easily. Shin trusted entirely to easily and Touma had the distinct feeling that Ryo could get into as much trouble as Touma could.

Touma was going to tutor Ryo at Xiu's home, to help Ryo with his reading. Xiu was not rich by any means, but his home felt rich. The Faun family lived over the family restaurant and his mom could usually be found in the restaurant cooking and filling the house above with wonderful smells. There was just the feeling of love when you entered the Faun home and Touma loved this place. Touma spent as much time here as he did at Shin's home. The Faun family didn't mind in the slightest. They all seemed to have adopted him long ago.

Touma remembered when he was eleven he had fallen at school and the nurse couldn't get a hold of his father. Big surprise.

Xiu had called his mama and Mama Faun practically ran to the school and took him to the doctors where they found out he had a broken arm. It was Mama Faun who paid for the treatment and painkillers. When she and Xiu walked Touma back to his apartment, she saw Touma's dad was passed out drunk on the floor. Needless to say, Touma stayed Xiu's home until his arm was healed because Xiu's mom was worried about what would happen to him if he weren't able to take care of himself. The only reason Touma went home was that after several weeks, was that his dad had apparently noticed he was missing and was looking around for him.

When Touma was thirteen, Papa Faun took both him and Xiu to the father/son picnic in the park. It was the first time in his life that Touma had ever had a man to look up to, someone strong and smart who loved his children with all of his heart. Touma loved the Fauns and would do anything for them. He had practically been adopted into the family. As it was, all of Xiu's little brothers and sisters called him big brother. He'd even helped Xiu to baby-sit brothers and sisters occasionally. All six of them.

Ryo all ready knew about Touma's dad, it wasn't a secret anymore, obviously. The newspaper article from last night proved that. But Ryo seemed to understand and didn't press for answers to any question he might have. In fact, he hadn't even mentioned it, yet.

Touma and Xiu both assured Ryo that Xiu's mom wouldn't mind having a guest. "In fact," Xiu said smiling. "She'll probably invite you to dinner and then to stay the night. Mama loves visitors. She'll wash your clothes for you and tell you to take a long, hot both. My mama babies everyone and treats anyone as if they were her children."

Ryo was doubtful, but Xiu and Touma proved to be right when Mama Faun greeted him with a hug in her family kitchen. "Welcome! You must be Ryo, Xiu talks about you almost as much as he talks about Seiji." She laughed and Ryo liked how red her cheeks were, as if she was used to laughing. "Touma-Chan!" She turned to Touma and Touma swallowed hard.

'She's still smiling at me. She must have heard, but she still likes me.' He'd been very worried about that.

Mama Faun opened her arms. "Well? Where's my hug?"

Touma threw himself into her arms and let himself be smothered in her embrace. It felt so good to have people who liked him enough that they believed in him.

"Come on, man." Xiu grabbed Touma's arm and pulled him away from Mama Fuan. "Jeeze, my papa's gonna get jealous if you keep hugging mama like that, Touma!" Xiu laughed at Touma's blush before turning to his mama. "We're going to study, mama." Xiu told the large woman with a kiss on the cheek. "Can we have a snack?"

Mama Faun patted her son on the head. "Such a good boy, but I'm glad you're studying with friends. Good thing he has you to help him, Touma, dear, or he'd never get any studying done." She looked at Xiu sternly. "Study first and then snack."

"Awwww."







To be continued...