Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ Requiem of Summer ❯ Chapter Three ( Chapter 3 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

The feeling of defeat washed over Kento’s body as he looked down at his most recent school report. The big ‘C’, that was written in red pen stared back at him from the paper; it almost seemed like it was mocking him. Hands wrapped around his head as he groaned into the report. He was certain he would pass this one due to the fact that he spent hours in the library looking things up.

“Like I said before, this report is just a taste of what is to come for your final paper at the end of the semester,” his teacher announced as she wrote on the blackboard. She turned her head as her brown eyes scouted the classroom, making sure everyone was paying attention. “If you did poorly, I suggest you work harder.” She looked at Kento before returning her attention back to the board as she finished writing the assignment.

Kento glared at his teacher’s back from where he was sitting. When he first met her on the first day of the semester, he knew she was going to be a bitch. She always wore tight, knee length dresses and had her hair done in a bun. She wasn’t ugly, but she wasn’t a hot ticket, either. Asking her any kind of question was like pulling teeth from a lion.

“All right. This is your next assignment. Write it down, and I expect it on my desk a week from today,” she said with her arms crossed over her flat chest.

Everyone gathered their things and started for the classroom door. Kento banged his head against the desk with a thud; he gently started banging it repeatedly against the plastic surface. He stopped when he felt a light touch on his right shoulder. He picked up his head and saw Natsumi standing next to him, a look of concern on her face.

“Oh, hey, Natsumi,” Kento said. “What are you still doing here? Don’t you have your next class to get to?”

The brunette shook her head as she sat down at the desk next to his, her expression not changing. “It got canceled today. I have some free time,” she explained. “What’s going on?”

“I got a lousy ‘C’ on my report,” Kento said as he practically shoved the paper in her face. “All that time in the library, wasted. My head was spinning from all the books that I looked at.” His eyes glanced to the side of the room to see if their teacher was still present. Luckily she had packed her things and left the room. He sighed. “It also doesn’t help that the teacher is a major bitch. I can’t even approach her with simple things.”

Natsumi examined the front page of the report; notes written in red flooded the page. “I’m guessing English isn’t your strong suit?”

“Why do I need to learn this language when I’m going to become a cook?” Kento asked in an aggravated tone. Then again, half of the classes that were required weren’t even related to his major.

“What if you travel to different places that speak the language?” Natsumi asked softly, trying to think of reasons why he would need to know the language.

Kento sat in his seat for a moment and thought the question over. “You do have a point…”

A giggle escaped her lips as she got up from her seat. “I can help you, if you want. I got an ‘A’ on my report.”

The Bearer of Hardrock looked at the woman next to him with wide eyes. “You would help me?”

“Yeah. I know how to speak some English. I can help you on the next assignment,” she offere

Kento jumped up from his seat and grabbed Natsumi’s hands with his, a grateful smile spread across his face. “Yes, please help me! I can’t stand seeing that witch look at me every time she gives me back papers. It makes me sick just thinking about it.” He looked at the woman in front of him with pleading eyes.

A hint of pink spread across her cheeks as she looked at the man in front of her, who was still holding her hands. “I-in that case, we should make sure you don’t fail,” she said shyly. She still felt awkward around him, even though he said everything was fine and everything was in the past. She couldn’t help but remember all the accusations, which were true, and the distaste he had toward her. It surprised her that they all forgave her, but from what she was told, they were more understanding because of what they had dealt with and have seen. It was the least thing she could do for him. Helping any of the guys out was her way of making amends.

Kento let go of her hands and rubbed his midsection. “It’s lunchtime, and I am starving. This class drains the energy right out of me,” he said as he gathered his stuff. “Let’s go meet everyone by the tree.” Natsumi simply nodded as she followed her friend out of the classroom.

 

Ryo and Cye were the only ones at the usual meeting spot when the duo showed up. Kento heavily plopped himself down onto the fresh-cut grass, opening up his bento box that Cye had made him. He looked around the area and then back to his comrades. “Where’s Hana?” he asked.

“She had to go to the library for a research paper that she has to do,” Cye explained before biting into his turkey sandwich. “She mentioned that the paper had to be ten pages long.”

“Papers suck,” Kento said with a frown. “I pity her.” He took a turkey with cheese sandwich into his large hand and shoved it into his mouth, savoring the combination of foods.

“It’s all part of the college life,” Cye said matter-of-factly with a shake of his head. “I take it you failed the paper?” He already knew the answer, but he had to ask. The way Kento acted was proof enough.

Kento swallowed hard as he looked at his best friend with hatred in his eyes. “I worked real hard on that stupid thing and the bitch gives me a ‘C’,” he sneered. “I’m starting to think she has it out for me.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Cye said with a roll of his eyes.

“In any case, Natsumi said she would help me with this next assignment we have,” Kento said with a wave of his hand. “I’m going to show this woman that I mean business.” The man stuffed the rest of the sandwich into his mouth.

Cye just shook his head more as Ryo looked down at his girlfriend, who was sitting beside him. “That’s nice that you offered to help him,” Ryo said softly as he wrapped his arm around her tiny frame.

“I could see that he was having problems,” Natsumi said quietly. “And I can agree that she isn’t the nicest person in the classroom.”

“Thank you, Natsumi,” Kento said after taking a swig of his water. “I’m telling you she is the spawn of Satan. It’s not even in the middle of the semester yet!”

“You have tackled way worse than this woman,” Ryo said with a laugh. “I think you can let this one slide.”

Kento scoffed as he finished off his lunch. “I’m not letting her win.”

“Suit yourself,” Ryo said as he took a bite of his fried rice.

Kento placed the lid on the container and got up from his seat on the grass. “I have to get going. My cooking instructor wants us there early so he can show us some cool moves. At least this is one class that I do excel at.”

“Have fun,” Cye said with a wave. “We’ll see you back at the house.”

Kento grinned and then looked at Natsumi. “I’ll see you later?”

Natsumi nodded. “I have to stop home first, but I’ll be over around five.” Kento gave a thumbs up before dashing off to his next destination. She leaned her body into Ryo’s, feeling the warmth of his body against hers. His temperature was slightly higher than the average person, but she figured that was because he wore the armor of Wildfire. “Are you going to be home?”

The arm around Natsumi’s body tightened. “Yeah,” he said as he finished off his lunch. “I don’t have work today.”

Cye cleared his throat as he stood up from his seat. “I’m going to see how Hana is doing,” he said with a smile. “I’ll leave you two alone.” Ryo just smiled at his friend as Cye made his exit.

“I feel safe with you,” Natsumi said softly as she closed her eyes. All the cares she had seemed to evaporate whenever she was with him.

“What?” Ryo asked as he looked down at the brunette. “Where did that come from?”

“I don’t know,” she said softly. “But whenever I’m with you, I feel like I’m untouchable for some reason.” Ryo didn’t say anything and rubbed the side of her arm with his hand. “I’m sorry if I’m sounding weird.”

A hand gently grabbed Natsumi’s chin and moved it so that she was staring into two, beautiful tiger-blue eyes. “You don’t have to apologize,” he said tenderly. “I’m glad that I make you feel safe, and I promise you that I will keep it that way.” He leaned in and captured her soft pink lips with his. Her entire body went limp as his tongue danced with hers. Time seemed to stop at that very moment, and she didn’t care if people were noticing. She reluctantly broke the kiss, her breathing labored as she tried to get oxygen into her lungs.

“I have to get to literature class,” she said, her cheeks slightly pink. “I’ll see you at five.”

“I look forward to it,” Ryo said and kissed her forehead. “Have fun at class.”

“Oh, I will. It’s a class that I enjoy,” Natsumi said with a smile. She waved and headed toward the building next to the library.

 

Cye entered the quiet place that was home to millions of books. Students that occupied the tables were busy flipping through pages, trying to find the right information for their work. Whispers could be heard throughout the area as he searched for the reason why he was there in the first place. He finally found her sitting at the corner table, surrounded by small mountains of books. He quietly walked over and sat down in the wooden chair across from her, a smile plastered on his face. She stopped writing in her notebook when she felt the presence of her visitor.

“Hey, Cye,” she smiled. “What brings you here? Do you have a paper to write as well?”

The auburn haired man rested both elbows on the wooden table, clasping his hands together and resting his head on top of them. “I just wanted to see how you were coming along,” he said simply. His teal eyes moved to the right and studied the different books that were displayed next to him; most of them were Psychology books.

“It’s a challenge,” Hana said despairingly as she ran her fingers through her dark bangs. “It feels like these books are draining the life force out of me.” She looked at the pile and frowned. “I think my collection got bigger. I don’t remember getting up and adding more books, then again, I lost track of a lot of things. Apparently I missed my next class, but it wasn’t an important one. The teacher is approachable. I’ll explain myself at the next class I have with her. No biggie.”

Cye chuckled and placed his hand on top of hers. “Just hang in there. You have chosen this major, after all.”

“I know,” Hana said with a heavy sigh. “I want to help troubled adolescents with their problems.” She softly giggled as sat back against her wooden chair. “I was one at one point. Mind you I was possessed by a maniac, but that’s not the point. I want teens to know that they aren’t alone in life.”

“And neither are you,” Cye added as he squeezed her hand. Hana just smiled as Cye removed his hand and stood up from his seat. “I better get going. I have physics class next.”

“Okay. I’ll see you after my last class,” Hana said. Cye leaned over and kissed her forehead then departed out of the area, leaving Hana alone with her books.

 

When Natsumi got home, she raced into the kitchen and opened up the refrigerator door. She took out a clear medium sized plastic container with a smile spreading across her face. With the item in her possession, she turned to leave, only to find herself face to face with her uncle.

“Uncle Tim? I didn’t know you were home,” Natsumi said as she tucked the container into her backpack. “I thought you were working late.”

“Where are you going, Natsumi?” he asked. He sounded tired and looked worn out. Dark circles made themselves present underneath his eyes.

“I’m helping someone with their homework assignment,” Natsumi explained, trying to get out of the area as fast as possible.

“You know your father is coming home soon,” Tim said in a flat tone.

The feeling of dread washed over her body to the point that she almost dropped her bag on the floor. With all that was going on, she lost track of the weeks. “I’m sure he’ll be okay with me going out. I’ve been out before when he was home,” she said nervously. Her anxiety was rattling her nerves to the point where she felt sick to her stomach.

“I know you have, and he has noticed,” Tim said solemnly. “I just want you to be careful. You know that he can be unpredictable at times.”

“I know,” Natsumi whispered. The grip on the handle to her bag tightened as she slowly moved toward the exit of the kitchen. “I’ll be home later, okay?” Tim only nodded as Natsumi made her way down the hall and out the front door. She stopped for a moment after closing the door behind her, allowing her nerves to settle down. She took a seat on the concrete stoop and covered her face with her hands, anguish slowly taking over. “I can’t do this anymore…”

 

Ryo opened the front door to find Natsumi standing before him, looking down at the concrete, her eye lids half closed. “Is everything okay?” he asked as he watched his girlfriend slowly look up at him as if in a daze. “You seem troubled about something.”

Natsumi snapped out of her stupor and shook her head. “Oh, no. I’m fine,” she said, smiling weakly. “I was just deep in thought.” She was so preoccupied with her thoughts that she didn’t notice that she was standing right outside the Ryo’s house. He was obviously waiting for her because she didn’t knock on the door, or did she?

The bearer of Wildfire gave her a look, skepticism settling in for a moment, but then shrugged his shoulders. “Well, don’t just stand there. Come in,” Ryo chuckled as he stepped to the side so she could enter the house.

Natsumi barely stepped into the kitchen when she heard heavy footsteps heading her way. Kento entered the kitchen with a dirty, white, empty ceramic plate in his hand. “Hey,” he said as he placed the plate into the stainless steel sink. “You ready for me?”

“Sure, I guess,” Natsumi said softly. “I just have to give Ryo something.”

“Gotcha. I’ll go set up in the living room,” he said as he exited the area, leaving the couple alone.

“You have something for me?” Ryo inquired. He watched as Natsumi unzipped her backpack and produced the medium-sized container. She handed it to Ryo, her cheeks a hint of pink. He took off the lid and saw that it had kake udon within it.

“I made sure it was right this time,” she said, avoiding his gaze. “It shouldn’t be as salty.”

A chuckle emanated from Ryo’s throat as he made his way around the island that was sitting in the middle of the kitchen. He stopped at one of the drawers and took out a pair of red plastic chopsticks. He picked up a few noodles with the utensil and placed the food in his mouth. He slowly chewed the slippery noodles and swallowed with a smile on his lips.

“Way better than last time,” he said as he took another bite. “Perfect.”

A sense of pride filled the young woman’s being as she watched the man she loved eat the food she made. “Thank you, Ryo. It means a lot.”

“I’ll finish the rest later. I promised Cye I would help him with something outside,” he said as he placed the lid back on the container. He leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. “Have fun with Kento. Don’t let him get too distracted.”

“I won’t,” she smiled as she walked out of the kitchen.

When she entered the living room, she saw Kento sitting on the sofa with his workbook open in front of him; a puzzled look was well-written on his face.

“I have to write a two page story in English? I just did that and failed,” Kento said. A groan escaped his lips as he massaged his temple with his hands. “Can the witch think of anything else besides stories?”

“It’ll be okay. I’m here to help you,” Natsumi said reassuringly. She sat down next to him on the leather sofa, taking out her own workbook and a notebook. “You have been getting C’s, so you’re not terrible. You just need some more practice, that’s all.”

“Says you,” Kento scoffed. “How did you become so good at this language, anyway?” He looked at the brunette that was sitting next to him. An eyebrow rose when he saw her eyes grow wide.

She stopped writing in her notebook and stared at the blue horizontal lines across the paper. “My father… grew up in England. I picked up some English from him,” she said quietly. Her fingers tightly gripped the pen that was in her hand.

Kento waited to see if there was more, but she didn’t say anything else. Instead, she just continued to stare at her notebook. He noticed a hint of pain in her eyes as the atmosphere started to feel awkward. After clearing his throat, he brought his attention back to his workbook. “So I just need to write two pages and call it a day?”

“Um… yes,” Natsumi said as she looked at the assignment. “Start writing some things down, and I’ll take a look at them.”

“No problem,” Kento smiled and started to jot things down with his pen.

 

Two hours passed, and the two students finally finished their assignments. Natsumi explained the errors Kento made on his paper, which he picked up as the time went by.

“I will show that witch next week that I am no idiot,” he said as he placed his school books in his orange bag. “Thank you, Natsumi, for helping me out.”

“Don’t mention it,” she blushed. “It’s not an easy language to learn. You have to keep up with it and practice.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Kento said with a wave of his hand. He looked to his right and saw that Natsumi was sitting there, cheeks rosy red and her hands fumbling with each other. “What’s wrong?”

Natsumi snapped her head in Kento’s direction, a confused look on her features. “What do you mean?”

“You are sitting there red in the face as if you are on a date or something,” Kento explained with a smile. “What is up with you?”

She placed a gentle hand on one of her cheeks, feeling the warmth at the touch. “It’s still awkward… when you are with someone who has hated you at one point in your life. I’m still getting used to being around you all, even though you all said everything was forgiven.”

Kento’s smile remained after the girl’s confession. “When we first started out as Ronin Warriors, lots of events happened that we couldn’t really emotionally grasp. As time went on, though, we realized that people end up the way they are because of the evil in this world and that they can change,” he explained. “We met a few of those people who ended up turning into our allies.”

“I see,” was all Natsumi could say as she leaned against the back of the sofa.

A noise emanated from Kento’s midsection, which resulted in him rubbing his empty stomach. “I’m getting hungry. I wonder if Cye is back from training with Hana.”

Natsumi looked at the dark blue-haired man with a confused look on her face. “Training? With what?”

Kento leaned back against the back of the sofa and stretched his tired muscles. “Cye is helping Hana train. She still struggles with the power she has. They started training before that evil brat made you her guinea pig.” The mention of Kurushimi made a shiver go down Natsumi’s spine. “Her power increases based on her emotions, I guess. Her aunt really upset her and that caused some kind of destruction.”

“Her aunt?” Natsumi asked curiously. She sat up straight in her seat, looking at Kento with interest. She didn’t know that much about Hana’s family.

“Yeah. That bitch rejected Hana, telling her never to come back into the family,” Kento said through clenched teeth.

“They abandoned her?” she asked in disbelief.

“Yeah. A bunch of scumbags, if you ask me,” Kento sneered. “Actually, I shouldn’t say all of them. Her uncle did show up at Mia’s to see how she was doing. I don’t know how, but even with all the bad things that has happened to her, she has pulled through.”

Natsumi sat still for a moment in thought. “Can you tell me where Hana is?”

 

Deep within the woods that were located behind the house, yelling could be heard. Hana stood with her feet spread apart, her hands held out in front, her breathing labored. Cye and Ryo stood off to the side in their sub-armor. The black-haired woman regained composure and looked at the clearing in front of her. The group of trees that were once standing in front of her was now lying on the ground on top of each other.

“You’re still not controlling your emotions,” Cye said as he walked over to his girlfriend. He brushed a few strands of hair from her dirty face. “That blast shouldn’t have happened.”

Hana wiped her brow with the back of her hand. “You don’t think I know that?” she asked, her tone almost hard. “We have been at this for hours and all I feel is hate toward her.” She sat herself down on the dirt ground, crossed legged. She took a deep breath through her nose and exhaled out through her mouth. “I’m surprised I lasted this long. I could have sworn my energy level would have plummeted by now.”

“You are doing fine,” Ryo said as he approached the couple. “This is going to take time.”

“I want this resolved now,” Hana said tenaciously. “I don’t want to wait until something else happens and I destroy more lives.”

“I understand that you want this problem fixed right away, but that’s not being realistic,” Cye said in a calm tone. “We are here to help you.”

Hana sighed loudly as if in defeat. “I know and I appreciate all the help.”

The sound of a twig snapping made the trio look to their side. Natsumi emerged from the thicket of trees and into the clearing. She noticed Hana sitting on the ground with the two men clad in armor.

“Hana, are you okay?” she asked as she made her way to her friend, concern etched on her face.

Hana smiled and nodded her head. “Yeah. I just overdid myself, again,” she said with a small laugh.

“Are you all done with homework?” Ryo asked as he walked over to the brunette.

“Yeah. Kento just needs to practice more,” Natsumi replied. “I’m sure he’ll pass the class.”

“I hope so, because I don’t want to hear him complaining anymore,” Cye said, rolling his eyes playfully.

Natsumi giggled at the comment then looked at the two men, remembering the reason why she came all the way out there. “Do you mind if I talk to Hana alone?”

“Of course,” Cye said as his sub-armor disappeared and his street clothes reappeared on his body. “I’m sure Kento is starving by now.”

“He did say he was hungry,” Natsumi mentioned with a smile.

“Figures,” Cye said with a heavy sigh. “I better make dinner before he puts on an act.”

“We’ll see you two later,” Ryo said with a simple wave as the two men headed out of the area.

Hana waited until the two figures were out of sight before looking up at Natsumi. “What’s up?” she asked. The timid girl sat down across from her friend, her nerves slowly making them known throughout her body. Her Persian blue eyes looked into Hana’s cobalt blue eyes. The words got caught in her throat as she sat there. “What is it? Is something wrong?”

“No… I mean… yes…” Natsumi stuttered before looking down at the dirt.

“You came here for something,” Hana said as she watched the girl’s hands move about on her lap. “You can talk to me.”

“K-Kento told me about what happened with you and your family,” Natsumi said quietly. “He told me that you went through so much and that you conquered all these obstacles. I just… wanted to know more about you… I guess.”

Hana picked up a few small stones that were lying on the ground. Purple aurora surrounded the stones, making them levitate into the air above the palm of her hand. “You want to learn about me and my family?” Hana asked as she looked at her. Natsumi looked at the magic that was happening in front of her with wide eyes. She experienced the wrath of Hana’s power before and it took all of her might not to back away in terror. “My mom was a teacher at the college we attend to right now. She was a music teacher. She loved music and I think that’s where my little sister, Aika, got it from. Aika always listened to music and she loved to play the violin. She told me at one point that her goal was to play every instrument that was known to man. At that time, I didn’t really care what she wanted to do. She was six years younger than me. I had a twin brother who was older than me by two minutes. His name was Ken. He was on the basketball team at our middle school. My dad was an engineer. He was hard on me at times, especially during my last year in middle school, but he meant well. He would always come home with a smile on his face.” Tears slowly rolled down Hana’s dirty cheeks as her heart felt like it was being torn in two.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what happened during your final year in middle school?” Natsumi asked quietly as Hana wiped the moisture from her eyes.

Hana’s face grew hard as she dropped the stones back on the ground. “I was a rebel; at least, that’s what some people called me. Others said I was a bully. It didn’t really matter to me because I didn’t care. I skipped classes, picked on people, and occasionally beat them up. I would go out and come home really late. That drove my parents insane, especially my dad. I met this one girl named Sakiko on the roof of our school. She asked me what my reason was to be up there. Looking at her, I told her that I was fed up with school and life. She had this evil smirk on her face when she heard my answer. From that day on, she and I would hang out together. We went to stores to shoplift, hung out at the park, and other things. The one thing I did not do was drugs or drink. She did all that.”

“Did your parents know about her?” Natsumi asked curiously.

“Yeah, they knew. My mom tried to reason with me and my dad had forbidden me to go see her. Of course, I didn’t listen. At the time, my brother didn’t want anything to do with me. We would get into verbal fights when he tried to reason with me. At one point, I scared Aika because of my outbursts. You have no idea how many times I got scolded by my dad. Sakiko set me up at one point during all this. She was outraged with one of her teachers and she told me she was going to get him back. She never told me the reason. All she said to me was that she needed my help. We broke into his house late at night. She started taking anything she could get her hands on. I was on the lookout. I heard a noise and told her he was coming. She gave me that evil smirk and told me good luck. She ditched me and before I could, he caught me. He was an old man in his late sixties and I told him what had happened. Somehow, he forgave me. I wasn’t off the hook just because he forgave me. My parents were told about the incident and I was grounded. That didn’t stop me from sneaking out at night.”

“Geez,” Natsumi said in disbelief. Hana didn’t seem like the type of person who could do all that. She didn’t say anything more and just listened.

“It gets worse. A couple of days after the incident at the teacher’s house, I started collecting weird things: old looking torches, candles, statues, you name it. It was at that point, Shijisha made herself known. She was able to take over my body, but not for long periods of time. At that point I would black out and find myself in weird places. All the stuff I gathered was for the awakening of Akui. I met Sakiko at the park one night. She was with a couple of friends. I was enraged and started yelling at her.”

Hana’s hands turned into tight fists to the point her knuckles turned white, her lips were a thin line as her blood started to boil. “I hated her for what she did. She totally used me, and I was dumb enough to even listen to her in the first place. We got into a fist fight, but I lost. She laughed along with her friends, and they left me there on the ground. I went home only to find Ken waiting for me on the stoop of the house. I met his gaze and he slapped me across the face. He told me mom was ill and I was the reason why she was in bad shape. He informed me that she was in the hospital and that dad and Aika were there. She got sick and then collapsed. The doctors said it was because she was over-stressed. I don’t really know what happened, but I dropped to my knees and started crying.”

Hana paused and swallowed the huge lump that was forming in her throat. In her head, she could still see the scene. An oxygen mask was placed over her mother’s nose and mouth. IV tubes were in both of her arms. The heart monitor beeping with each heartbeat. She had dark circles under her eyes and she looked white as a ghost. Hana could feel tears brimming beneath her eyes again. She wiped them away before they could fall down her face.

“I went to see her and apologized over and over. My mom just smiled and said that it was okay. I didn’t understand and told her that she should be angry. She said that she still loved me and that she would always forgive. I stopped my rebellious act and started attending my classes. My mom was out of the hospital the next couple of weeks. Even though I changed how I acted, I still went out at night.”

“To bring Akui back?” Natsumi inquired.

Hana nodded. “I think the reason why I went though that phase was because Shijisha was getting stronger. All the negative energy that she possessed was coursing through me.” Hana closed her eyes and took a deep breath through her nostrils. “I can’t believe I told you all that. I’ve been trying to block that out of my memory.”

“You’re strong, though, unlike me,” Natsumi said quietly, almost to the point of a whisper.

Hana raised her head and looked at her friend. “What?”

“With everything you have gone through, you still go on. You’ve faced many obstacles head on. As for me, I’m a coward,” Natsumi said lowering her head.

“I’m not as strong as you think I am,” Hana pointed out. “If I really was strong as you say, the power I possess wouldn’t get the best of me. Because of this power that was left to me, I destroyed my chance of any future with my relatives.”

“Kento did mention that part,” Natsumi said solemnly. “That you were banished by your aunt.”

The mention of her aunt made the heat within Hana rise to an alarming rate. She could feel her power trying to break through. “It’s best we don’t mention her,” Hana said as she closed to eyes, trying to clear her mind.

“I’m sorry,” Natsumi apologized. “I didn’t know…” Her aunt was definitely a trigger word and she felt bad about bringing her up.

Hana smiled at her friend once her body calmed down. “It’s fine. Now, what’s all this talk about you being a coward?”

Silence filled the air as Natsumi sat where she was, looking off to the side. “I can’t tell you…” she whispered.

“Are you in trouble?” Hana asked. “Please, if you are, you have to let us know.”

“I can’t just tell you guys what is going on,” Natsumi said, her voice breaking. “If I do…” Tears started to leak from her eyes as she placed her hands over her face. The feeling of stress and anxiety was taking over as she tried to calm down. Her shoulders started to shake.

“You don’t have to talk about it, but if something is happening, you have the power to change it,” Hana said softly.

“H-how do I? I’m afraid,” Natsumi cried. Hana moved closer and wrapped her arms around the shaking girl’s body. “I’m afraid of what will happen.”

“You said I was strong in some sense. I tell myself that it’s my life and only I can change what happens in it,” Hana said as she rubbed her friend’s back. “That’s what you need to do. Whatever is causing you grief, you have to try to not let it get to you. It’s a hard thing to do, but you can’t give up. Take the bull by the horns and say enough is enough. I know you have the courage deep within you.”

Natsumi took the back of her hand and wiped the tears from her eyes. “Thank you, Hana.”

“Don’t mention it,” Hana said with a smile. “We all feel regret and anguish at some point in our lives, right?” The two girls got up from the ground and brushed themselves off. The sun was setting, turning the sky into a hue of bright orange and pink. “Let’s go see what Cye is making for dinner. Hopefully there is still some left for us if Kento hasn’t eaten it all by now.” The duo laughed as they headed out of the training area and back toward the house.