Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ Requiem of Summer ❯ Chapter Eleven ( Chapter 11 )

A groan escaped from Kento’s mouth as he fell to his knees, panting heavily with sweat dripping from his forehead and into the dirt below. His hands balled up into fists as he tried not to scream. The pressure within his body was too much for him to handle. Even though he was the strongest in the physical strength department, he did have his limits on what he could take on. Purple aurora surrounded his shaking form as Hana’s transparent body made its way out of the warrior. Her limp body fell to the hard ground, motionless at first. She began to cough and gasped for air as she came to. Her body felt weak, and she was lightheaded from the ordeal.

“A-Are… you… okay?” Kento panted. The Bearer of Hardrock was sitting on the ground with his legs crossed. “I think the timing was…better.”

“No…” Hana said through clenched teeth. “I don’t see nor feel any improvement. I am way weaker than I was the last few times we did this!” She slammed a fist on the ground with a growl. “I was able to do this with Kurushimi, and I will do it with you guys!”

“You also had that weird liquid in you,” Kento added. “Maybe that had something to do with you having enough strength.” Hana didn’t utter a word, but she couldn’t help but consider it. It was true that when that substance was coursing through her veins, her power increased tenfold. She felt invincible, but that substance was long gone. She had to make her inner strength grow stronger herself.

“I’ll be okay, Ken. You can go wash up. I’m going to stay out here for a little while longer,” Hana said as she sat with her legs crossed.

Kento wanted to protest, but he knew he wouldn’t win, and he could see the frustration in her eyes. “Okay, but don’t do anything that will harm yourself.”

Hana just smiled at her close friend as she watched him walk out of the wooded area. After taking a deep, long breath through her nose, she closed her eyes. She listened to the branches on the trees as they swayed with the gentle breeze. It was only herself in the clearing in the woods. Her breathing was even as she focused her energy at the center of her body; warmth filled her entire being, the power radiating from her.

“The mind and the body have to become one,” she thought. “I have to get stronger mentally and physically in order for that technique to work.”

She opened her eyes and saw a pair of Persian-blue eyes staring at her. Hana almost fell over in surprise, but caught herself just in time. She sighed when she realized who it was. “You scared me, Natsumi.”

“I called your name two times, but you never answered me,” Natsumi explained. “I’m sorry that I scared you. You must have been deep in thought.”

Hana straightened herself up. “I was meditating. I was focusing on my energy.”

“I see. Kento entered the house exhausted,” Natsumi said. “Cye asked him what was going on, but Kento didn’t answer. He just said that he was going to take a nap. He was with you, yes?”

Hana nodded her head. “Yeah. He has been helping me train.” There was a long pause between the two women. The dark-haired woman looked at her friend and saw that she had her eyes to the ground. She definitely had something on her mind. “What’s up? You didn’t just come here to look at some dirt.”

A small smile formed on the brunette’s lips. “I would… like some advice,” she said in almost a whisper.

“Advice? For what?” Hana wondered. She noticed that her friend’s cheeks had a tint of pink to them. “Natsumi, you can ask or tell me anything. I won’t judge you.”

“I know…” she said, her hands fidgeting. “I’m just embarrassed to bring it up.”

Hana had an idea on what she was talking about, but didn’t want to say anything first. She simply tilted her head to the left. “Bring what up?”

Natsumi swallowed hard. She could feel her hands get sweaty from being so nervous. “Ryo and I… made love…” Hana couldn’t contain the big smile that was forming on her lips. “What?”

“I kind of figured,” Hana grinned. “That would explain the weird behavior that I walked into yesterday morning. Good for you.” Natsumi smiled with her face bright red. She was relieved that the news was somewhat out in the open. “So, what kind of advice do you need?”

The timid woman’s fingers started to play with one another, unsure of how to put things. “Well, I know that you and Cye are experts. I was hoping you would… give me some advice on how to please… Ryo…” The name came out in a whisper as she looked up at her friend. Hana’s face was now the same shade of red, her eyes wide at what she was asked. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean…”

Hana blinked her eyes a few times and cleared her dry throat. “Why are you apologizing? It’s not like you asked anything bad. I’m not an expert on anything that relates to the bedroom. More experienced, maybe, but not an expert. As for pleasing… experiment with him. I’m sure he can tell you what feels good. Cye did that with me.”

“It’s all so new to me,” Natsumi whispered.

“And that’s okay. Everyone goes through it,” Hana said, remembering her first time with Cye. It kind of just happened on its own. The color on both women became more vibrant. “I should shower. I have to be at work soon. Don’t get so worked up over this.”

Natsumi simply nodded and helped Hana up from the ground. “It’s nice to have someone to talk to about these things.”

“I agree,” Hana smiled brightly as she led her friend out of the area.

Sage pulled into the driveway of his house, a mixture of dread, grief, and stress plagued his features. His father was standing outside in his police uniform with the same look etched on the older man’s face, minus the dread. He had gotten a phone call late the previous night. His grandfather, who practically raised him since he was a child, had passed away in his sleep. He was told it was a cardiac arrest, but that was just speculation. The blonde-haired man knew what was coming and had to withdraw from his classes that semester, much to his displeasure. He got out of the car and made his way toward the house.

“Hello, Father,” Sage greeted in a low voice. He stopped a couple of feet from the older man. “Was he okay before he went to bed?”

“He said he wasn’t feeling very well and told us not to worry,” clarified his father. “Of course your mother insisted we bring him to the doctor. She’s blaming herself for his death.”

“She shouldn’t. He was a stubborn man and did things his way,” Sage said with a shake of his head. “I’m not surprised at all that he refused.”

There was silence between the two men. “You do know what this means, Sage?” his father asked, almost hesitantly.

The Bearer of Halo took a deep breath through this nose, holding it for a few seconds before exhaling. “I know that he wanted me to take over the family dojo. I explained to him that I was a Ronin Warrior and that taking over the dojo was a fulltime job. I can’t do it right now. He said he understood, but of course, he had other plans.”

“It’s in his will that you be the successor,” his father said. “You are the only son.”

“And I’m a warrior who protects this world,” Sage retorted, his calm demeanor slowly slipping through his fingers. “I’m not a normal man and I never will be. I can’t just drop everything. There will always be evil in this world and I cannot let my friends, my comrades, go into battle without me.”

“Then juggle the two,” came a female voice. Both men turned their heads to see Yayoi, Sage’s older sister, standing in the doorway. “You knew you were getting the dojo. Stop making excuses, Sage.”

“Stay out of this, Yayoi,” Sage said through gritted teeth.

“No. It was Grandfather’s wish that the son of the Date clan take over his work. You are going to go against his wish?” she asked with a look of disgust.

“I never said I wouldn’t,” Sage spat. “I just can’t do it right now.”

“You were always weak,” she scoffed and left the area.

“Please, stop fighting,” his father pleaded. “I’m sorry I brought it up. Your mother is having a rough time right now. Please don’t make it worse.”

Sage closed his eyes and took deep, long breathes. “I’m sorry, Father. I shouldn’t have lost my temper like that. I know better.”

“Let’s go see your mother. I’m sure she wants to see you.”

He entered the brightly lit house. His mother was on the couch in the living room with a wastebasket to her left and a box of tissues on her lap. Her shoulder length blonde hair was tied up in a messy ponytail. She sniffed as she looked up and saw her son standing in front of her, his features were now soft and full of remorse. He hated seeing his mother cry.

“Sage…” she choked as she cried into an already damp tissue. “I’m so happy you are here.”

“Of course I’m here,” Sage said in a soothing voice. He sat down next to his mother’s shaking form, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

“I’m so sorry that you had to skip school,” she sniffed. “I know how much you like it.”

“I had to,” he said, trying not to sound bitter. He didn’t like how his calm demeanor was disappearing because of the recent events. He cleared his throat. “I knew what was coming and I can’t be in school right now.”

His mother tossed the soiled tissue into the garbage and took a fresh, clean one. “I know you are talking about the dojo.” Sage didn’t say anything, but focused his attention to the wall across the room, his face emotionless. He didn’t want to discuss the topic anymore. “I’ll run it until you are ready.” His head snapped to his right and looked at his mother with wide eyes. A light chuckle escaped her lips as she smiled at her dumbfounded son. “I do know things about the place. He was my father after all. I know you have things on your plate already. Being a warrior isn’t an easy task.” All Sage could do was blink his eyes. His father and older sister were giving him grief, and here was his mother trying to make things easy for him. “The wake will be held tomorrow.”

Sage nodded his head slowly and got up from his seat on the couch. “Thank you, Mother.” He leaned forward and planted a kiss on his mother’s cheek before heading up to his room.

Dirty glasses gently bumped into one another in the kitchen sink that was filled with soapy water. Natsumi scrubbed one of the pans with the rough side of the sponge. The night before, Kento decided to try out a new recipe that included most of the cookware in the house. Everyone was too full afterwards to be bothered with doing the dishes, so they were put on hold. She was the only one not working, so she took it upon herself to do the cleaning. A knock emanated from the front door. She quickly dried her hands with the dishcloth and headed toward the door.

“Who is it?” she asked.

“It’s Sage,” answered a tenor voice from the other side.

“Sage?” she asked herself quietly as she opened the door. “What a surprise. Please come in.”

“Thank you,” he said and stepped into the house. “Is anyone home?”

“The boys are at work. Hana just came home and is in the shower,” the brunette replied softly.

“I see,” he said and took a seat at the island. “Do you mind if I wait for them?”

“Of course not. You are family to them, so this house is also your home,” Natsumi blushed. She glanced at Sage and saw that his eyes were on her. She quickly averted her gaze and returned to the task she was working on. She could sense those lovely lavender eyes of his still on her. “W-Would you like some tea?”

“Yes, please,” he said politely. “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it,” she said and quickly went for the cupboard that held the cups. She took out the stainless steel tea kettle and placed it on one of the stove plates. His eyes were still on her. What did he want?

“How are you feeling?” he asked. “You seem to be doing well.”

Natsumi stopped what she was doing. She knew Sage wasn’t the small-talking type of person; she learned that from Ryo. He also didn’t talk to girls that much, either. It felt kind of awkward. “Y-Yes. I’m doing much better. Thank you,” she stammered. “I… owe it all to you.”

“I did it because you are someone special to Ryo,” he said simply. Her heart sank a bit hearing those nonchalant words. She didn’t know why. It wasn’t like they were close friends or anything like that. “You are also a part of the group now. I can’t ignore it if one of us gets injured. We’re family.”

Natsumi blushed at the last sentence while she turned on the stove.

“That’s the first time that I’ve heard you say that,” came a voice. The pair looked at the entrance to the kitchen and saw Hana standing there. She was wrapped in a green bathrobe with her hair held up in a towel. “I didn’t know you were in town, Sage.” The blonde-haired man just gave a small smile. “What’s up? There has to be a reason why you are back in town while school is still in session.”

“You are very observant,” he said, the small smile disappearing from his lips. “My grandfather passed away.”

“I’m so sorry,” Hana said solemnly. “My condolences to you and your family.”

“Same here,” Natsumi said softly as she placed a steaming cup of tea in front of him.

“Thank you,” Sage said and took a sip of the hot liquid. “Thank you both. My grandfather was the one who mainly raised me. He wanted me to take over the family dojo when his time had come. He taught me everything that I needed to know and more.”

“And you don’t want that responsibility,” Hana concluded as she sat on one of the stools at the island.

“It’s not that I don’t want to. It’s that I can’t right now. I told my father this. He was married into the family, and I guess he feels like he should take some responsibility. I told him that my responsibility right now is being a Ronin Warrior. No matter how we try to live normal lives, evil always shows its face. My mother said that she’ll look after her father’s dojo until I am ready, but I don’t want that burden on her.” Silence filled the room as the girls listened to the story. “My older sister isn’t making it any easier. She’s saying that I’m irresponsible and weak.”

“Well, that’s not very nice considering the situation you are in,” Hana said with a look of disgust on her face.

“It has to be hard on her, too,” Natsumi said softly as she looked at the tiled flooring of the kitchen. “Maybe she doesn’t know how to word her words properly.”

“She has always been this way with me. I don’t know if it’s because she’s the older sibling or if she enjoys my torment,” Sage said with a sigh. “For now, I’m trying to stay away from her until I get my head wrapped around the situation.”

“You can always stay here,” Hana offered. “We do have a spare bedroom on the second floor by Ryo’s room. It was meant for you and Rowen, just in case.”

“Thank you for the offer, but I can’t tonight. I have to go home and help with the funeral arrangements,” he said.

Natsumi and Hana just nodded their heads in understanding. This was the first time that Sage actually opened himself up to them. Maybe it was because he was getting more comfortable with them being there. The front door opened and Ryo walked into the house with Cye not too far behind.

“Sage?” Ryo asked in surprise. “What are you doing here? Don’t you have school?” Both men put their belongings down and joined their friends at the island. Cye bent down and lightly kissed Hana on the lips before turning his attention to his fellow comrade. Ryo sat next to Natsumi and looked into Sage’s eyes “What’s going on? Something happened. Is it another enemy?”

Sage took a deep breath through his nose before telling his other friends about the situation he was in. By the end of the story, everyone had sympathetic looks on their faces.

“I’m sorry to hear about your grandpa,” Cye said solemnly. “But it seems like everyone is dealing with this loss in their own way.”

“But it’s not right that they are attacking him like that,” Hana retorted.

“They aren’t attacking me,” Sage said. “They have high expectations from me. Being a Ronin Warrior is something that they keep forgetting somehow.” He paused. “If you want, my grandfather’s wake is tomorrow…”

“Of course we will be there to support you,” Cye said with a light smile.

“Just tell us the time and place. We will be there,” Ryo said. “We will also tell Kento when he comes home.”

Sage looked at his friends with a grateful smile on his face. “Thank you all.”

The next day came with dark gray clouds and heavy rain. It didn’t help the mood at all as Ryo and the others sat in one of the rows, each clad in black. Sage and his family were sitting in the front row. The air was filled with the scent of different flowers. Relatives of the Date family were sniffling and dabbing their eyes with tissues. The priest that was standing amongst them all said a few words before chanting from the sutra. One by one people got up and offered their incense to the incense urn; Sage’s family did the same in front of his late grandfather.

It was Hana’s turn to make an offering. As she stood before the incense urn, tears started to involuntarily fall from her eyes. The images of her standing before her deceased family made her heart ache to the point where she almost fell to her knees. She caught herself before she made contact with the ground. After straightening up, she wiped the tears from her eyes and made the offering. She turned to her right and was face to face with Cye. She slightly nodded her head, trying to tell him that everything was okay. After walking past him, she sat back down in her chair and waited for the others.

The wake ended once the priest finished his chant. Everyone in the vicinity slowly got to their feet and made their way to the immediate family. Condolences were said along with a small gift. In return, everyone received a token of gratitude. The group made their farewells and exited the building to leave Sage and his family alone.

The blonde-haired warrior separated himself from his family for a bit and took a walk outside. The sound of the pouring rain as it hit the ground was sort of relaxing for him. It was a long, dreadful day that at last came to an end. Of course he still had the funeral to attend to; it was for only the immediate family members. He took his hand and brushed it through his bangs as he leaned against the building wall.

His ears perked up when he heard footsteps make their way outside. He turned his head to find Yayoi standing by the entrance, a concerned look on her face. He let out a loud sigh of aggravation; the last thing he needed was a lecture from his older sister. “What do you want, Yayoi?”

“I came to check up on you,” she answered softly. “You seemed pretty shaken up when you made your offer. I haven’t seen you cry in so long.” Sage didn’t say anything. He just stared out into the distance, still listening to the falling rain. “Look, I’m sorry that I was hard on you. I just… wanted you to succeed. I wanted Grandfather to be happy with you.” He raised an eyebrow and looked at the woman next to him. “Maybe it was jealousy. He looked to you, the middle child, as the successor. I guess I was jealous that I couldn’t be the one to make Grandfather happy. I was always just one of the daughters to him, nothing more.” She maneuvered over to her younger brother and stood next to him by the wall. “I’m not blind, you know. I know you have greater duties other than the dojo.”

“Every day I wake up wondering what is out there. Who is planning their next evil move on this world? As long as I have the armor of Halo, I am destined to fight evil. No matter how much I try to live a normal life, something interrupts it,” he said. “Grandfather sort of understood that.”

“Mother said that she will manage the dojo for now. I told her that I would accompany her, that way it won’t be too much.”

A small smile formed on Sage’s lips. “I’m sure Grandfather would appreciate that.”

Yayoi smiled in return. “Even though I am just one of the daughters of the Date clan?”

Sage nodded his head. The two siblings stood side by side, listening to the falling rain together.

The gang entered the house one by one, taking off their wet jackets and hanging them up on the coat rack. Hana made her way to the bedroom and slowly closed the door behind her. She plopped herself down on the bed, letting out a sigh. Wakes were never easy for her, and after her family’s death, it had gotten worse. She closed her eyes and fell back onto the bed. She could see her aunt glare at her. The other family members were whispering amongst themselves, occasionally looking at her. Tears fell one by one down her cheeks as she sobbed into her palms. Her aunt must have said something to make the other relatives act the way they did. Her entire family was gone because of that man.

She remembered her Uncle Take making his way to her. He told her that he had some good news, but her Aunt told him not to say anything. Hana wiped her tears the best she could and walked away. She tried to put on the tough look, but it was hard. She never got to hear what her uncle wanted to tell her.

She opened her eyes and found herself surrounded by purple aurora. Cye was standing at the foot of the bed, concern etched on his features. The aurora disappeared as Hana sat up.

“What were you thinking about? You had a painful look on your face,” he asked as he sat down next to her.

“I was thinking about the events at my family’s wake,” she replied. “Some of my relatives turned their backs on me. My aunt must have said something to them. I also remembered my uncle trying to tell me something good, but my aunt stopped him.”

“She’s a piece of work,” Cye said in revulsion. “I guess that’s why you had a hard time at Sage’s grandfather’s wake?”

“I guess,” Hana shrugged. “Death was never easy for me, but Sage is a friend and I had to go for him.”

Cye wrapped an arm around her shoulders and kissed the top of her head. “Well, you made it through. You are tougher than you let on. One of these days, your aunt is going to see how incredibly wrong she was.”

“I seriously doubt that, but thanks,” Hana giggled.

Cye smiled at his girlfriend and got up from his seat on the bed. “I’m going to make dinner before Kento starts whining of starvation.”

“Okay. I’m going to stay here and take a little nap,” Hana smiled.

“I’ll wake you when dinner is ready. I love you,” he said. He exited the room, closing the door behind him.

“I love you, too,” Hana whispered. She crawled under the soft covers and rested her head on the fluffy pillow. “My aunt will never see the good in me, no matter what happens.” Her eyes slowly closed as sleep welcomed her into its open arms.