Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ Valentine's Day ❯ The Bad News ( Chapter 2 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
Valentine's Day: The Bad News
Firestar

Disclaimer: You all know the ronins aren't mine. You should also know I'm not making any money
of this.
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Sage looked sadly from the prone form in front of him to the tiny object in his hand. A doctor
had handed him a tiny box when he had come into see Ryo. They said it had fallen from Ryo's coat
pocket when he was brought into the emergency room.

Sage's hands started to shake when he saw what was inside. It was a pair of rings, beautifully
engraved with both his and Ryo's kanji. Tears started in his eyes then, threatening to drown him
with their saltiness. "Ryo, they're beautiful," he whispered, wishing his love was awake so that
he could slip one of the rings onto his finger.
But Ryo wasn't awake. Sage turned to look once more at his love. The room's sterile whiteness
only emphasized his love's pale skin and he looked so fragile hooked up to the machines looming by his
bed.

The blond warrior shut the box with a snap. He wouldn't open it again until Ryo could share the moment
with him.

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Blackness swirled around him, sucking him into its depths. He tried to climb out, to open his eyes,
but even when he thought he had succeeded, the blackness refused to go away.

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"Ryo? Ryo, can you hear me?" Sage asked hopefully.

The black-haired boy stirred and let out a faint groan. "S-Sage."

"How are you feeling Ryo?" he asked with concern.

Ryo's beautiful blue eyes opened slowly and he ignored Sage's query. "Where am I?"

"You're in the hospital. You've been out for five days."

Ryo closed his eyes slowly and then opened them once more. Speaking in an eerily calm voice he
asked the question Sage had been dreading most. "Why is it so dark in here?"

Sage's already white skin paled further, but Ryo didn't see it. "Do you remember the accident, Ryo?"
he asked, trying to think of a way to break the news to Ryo gently.

"Kinda. It-it's all mixed up, though. Like a big blur. The car came out of nowhere. I
didn't have time to get out of the way." Ryo's voice quavered a bit with uncertainty and remembered fear.

"But Sage, what does that have to do with it being so dark?"

Before Sage could answer, a doctor came walking into the room. Glancing up from his clipboard, he
smile cheerily. "Hello Mr. Sanada, it's so nice to see you're finally awake.

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Ryo stared vacantly into space, his crystal blue eyes rimmed by redness.
All his attention was turned inwards as he tried to understand how this could have
happened and what he was going to do now.

The doctor had given him the news almost cheerfully, stressing how lucky he was
to be alive. A slow, burning sensation had been building since then. A feeling
of despair. He was useless now. He couldn't fight, and if he were to try, he knew
he would only prove himself to be a liablity.

It would have been better if he had died. Then the Wildfire armor would have
passed to someone who could actually use it.

He didn't know how he could live like this. He'd gone through it once before,
but only briefly, and Sage had healed him. Ever since then, he'd harbored a fear
of the dark, although he hid it very carefully.