Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ Vamps and Ronins ❯ Regrets, Surprises, and Dinner For Two ( Chapter 5 )

Vamps and Ronins

Chapter Five: Regrets, Surprises, and Dinner for Two

By: Tiasha

~

We've seen our share of ups and downs

Oh how quickly life can turn around in an instant

It feels so good to reunite

Within yourself

And within your mind

Let's find peace there

Creed, "My Sacrifice"

~

Ryo looked up at the clock mounted above his teacher's desk once again, fervently hoping that some large amount of time had gone by since last he looked. Five minutes. Well, it was some amount of time! He frowned and proceeded to twirl his pencil in his hand as he listened to the teacher with a bored expression on his face. Having to wait for school to end was becoming more torturous than he had thought. They had all planned to go and surprise Robyn by dropping in this afternoon and sort of throw a small 'get well' party. Perhaps they would get lucky and catch her in a talkative mood, and then she might tell them what REALLY happened in Tokyo.

Rumors had been going around ever since word of Robyn's arrival in the hospital made it to the school, and the rumors were unsettling. The main rumor, which Ryo just knew was a lie, was that Robyn had been caught drug-dealing and was knocked up by a couple of the dealers. The person behind the rumor? Ryo could only guess that it was Miniko; she still had some vendetta against his red haired friend.

"Mr. Sanada, pay attention immediately."

Ryo lost his pencil in mid-twirl as the teacher's voice brought him out of his thoughts. He grinned sheepishly and silently prayed that the bell would ring soon; the last class of the day and he was steadily growing impatient on how long it was turning out to be.

B-R-I-N-G!

Grabbing his books rather haphazardly, Ryo raced out of the classroom and to his locker. Once at his locker, he shoved the books he need for homework into his book bag and the unneeded books into the bottom of his locker; he groaned, seeing his locker needed to be cleaned again. He slammed his locker shut and headed into the sea of students who filed out of the main foyer doors. There, he saw Cye and Kento already waiting off to the side of a large cherry tree.

"Hey guys," he greeted; he smiled as heard Kento complain about how hungry he was and how unfair Cye was for not agreeing to stop and grab a bite to eat. Cye merely shook his head at his friend's antics, saying that he could wait until they made it to the hospital.

Ryo looked over his shoulder as he heard a familiar voice off in the distance. He saw Rowen and Sage in deep conversation and neither looked too happy. He only caught one sentence of their conversation before the two joined the group and the conversation died.

"The question is Sage, are you going to support her?" was what Rowen had said, and Ryo had seen Sage reply with a sharp glare before calming down and looking away.

Ryo gave the bearer of Strata a puzzled look, which was promptly brushed off. Sighing in defeat, Ryo followed Cye and Kento towards the subway. Maybe he would have better luck talking with Robyn, she always had something to say.

~*~~*~~~*~~~~*~~~~~*

"Absolutely not."

"But Scott!" Robyn whined, hitting the sheets of her bed in frustration. "This food they serve tastes like crap!" she whispered, so that no nurse out in the hall would hear her complaint. "Couldn't you just, hop out and sneak something better tasting in? Please?"

"No."

"Why?"

"You would be left unguarded and Mariko would have a fit."

"So?"

Scott sighed in exasperation, "I am not in the mood to get a tongue-lashing from that Ronin! And believe me, she gives a REALLY good tongue-lashing."

Robyn allowed herself to fall backwards from her sitting position and proceeded to pull the covers and sheets over her head. "I'm going to die of food poisoning! Can you believe that? Not from strangers trying to kill me for my stupid marble but from FOOD POISONING!"

"Shut up! You'll cause one of the nurse's to come in here!"

Robyn sighed and pouted under the hospital bed covers. She really was going to die of food poisoning, either that or starvation. And the food honestly tasted terrible; she was not one to complain about food but this was one time she would not suck it down and bear the ungodly taste.

For some odd reason, the word Ronin drifted into her thoughts of food poisoning and escape plan to find a vending machine. Scott had referred to Mariko as ronin. Mariko was a ronin? She knew that Matt, the African-Egyptian, was a ronin...or atarashii ronin. At least that was what he had referred to himself as.

Robyn sat up suddenly, pulling the bed covers off of her and looked straight at Scott.

"Ronin?" she inquired, raising an eyebrow as the young, chestnut pony-tailed man shifted uncomfortably. He looked around the room before his gaze rested on her again, though she still could not see his eyes. Those damned sunglasses of his.

"I was hoping you wouldn't catch that," he said, somewhat upset. She rolled her eyes at him and gave him an annoyed look.

"I'm not a blonde, thank you very much. Now, Mariko is an atarashii ronin?"

Scott nodded.

"What is her armor? What does it do? What's its element? Come on, curious mind here has to be satisfied."

She watched as he chuckled at her and she smiled as his lips turned up into the slightest smile. Oh yeah, I've got talent. I can get the most indifferent guys to smile even the slightest bit. Yup, that's a God given talent, right there! Oh yeah, who's good?! I am! she thought, mentally doing one of her happy dances.

"Those are questions that had best wait until she can answer them herself, and yes, you do have a God-given talent. Quite a few in fact, I can tell," Scott said, smirking at Robyn as her stared at him, her jaw agape.

"How is it that you know what I'm thinking?! That is just...scary man! Can you like, read minds or something?" she joked, looking at him with amusement. However, when he began to shift uncomfortably again, her expression of amusement went to one of confusion and then one of realization.

"Whoa, that is just weird. Do all of you...psivamps read minds?" she asked, drawing her knees up to her chest.

Her supernatural companion nodded in…shame? Robyn stared at Scott in surprise. He was ashamed of what he was!

Man, what have I gotten myself into?

~*~~*~~~*~~~~*~~~~~*

Arain looked at his snack and then around the kitchen of his new home. He felt so...out of place. This whole house was unfamiliar, the neighborhood was unfamiliar and even the country was unfamiliar. Japan was nothing like his native Italy and he was constantly battling the nostalgia he felt every time he thought of his mother.

He looked up as an elderly woman entered the room, bustling about as if nothing was wrong and in her mind there wasn't. Yes, she was aware of the new living arrangement and situation but it did not bother her. His aunt seemed as if nothing was wrong now that he was safe...but there was. He missed home. He missed his mother.

"Arain, you haven't eaten a bite of pie," his Aunt said, a somewhat baffled expression on her careworn features. "Is it no good? If so I'll fetch a new pie in the morning."

"No Lyn, it's fine. I'm just not very hungry," he answered, knowing that the elderly woman could not stand to be called 'Aunt Lyn'. He watched as she frowned slightly at him in worry.

"Are you coming down with a cold?" she asked, moving to feel his forehead. He dodged the attempt and smiled slightly as she humphed at him. His smile faded quickly, however. Should he lie? Should he tell her that he was sick?

"No, I'm just still getting used to the time difference," Arain answered. Well, it was true; he was not quite hungry enough to eat.

"Oh, all right. I'll wrap it up then, and save it for later. How does that sound?" she asked in a tone his mother used to use.

"How about I take the day off and we go to the carnival? How does that sound?"

Arain attempted to swallow the lump in his throat induced by his valiant attempt not to cry. That was the last day the two off them had done something fun together. No worries, no cares, no father. Just the two of them. Now it was just.........

Me alone.........alone.........without.................mom, he thought to himself. He furiously rubbed at his eyes before excusing himself and racing to the room he was staying in. It was not his room...his room was back in Italy with his mother.

He sank down onto the double bed and grabbed a pillow from against the headboard, hugging it furiously. He blankly stared out the window, letting the tears trail down his childish cheeks. After all, there was only so much an eleven year old could take.

Mom......who's gonna protect you? Who?

~*~~*~~~*~~~~*~~~~~*

Cody could practically feel the nervous energy seeping out of the young woman next to her as the two of them stood in the elevator. She ignored Mia Koji's unusual fidgeting and continued to watch the number of floors increase.

Eleven. Twelve. Thirteen.

"The woman at the desk had said 1725, right? I did not misunderstand her, correct?" Mia's voice broke the silence. Cody did not turn to look at her.

Fourteen. "Yes, that is what the informant said," replied a slightly agitated Cody. She was in no mood to talk. Something just continued to tug at the back of her mind...rather her armor's mind. Something had stirred her armor's peaceful serenity, causing an uncharacteristic probing within its confines of the mystical orb.

She grunted in annoyance and frustration, continuing to stare at the numbers. She had missed fifteen; what in heaven's name will I do now? she thought sarcastically.

She watched as sixteen went by and began to feel the elevator slow to a stop at floor seventeen. The usual chime of the elevator heralded the arrival at floor seventeen as the doors slide open. Cody calmly stepped out and quickly assessed the area, trying to familiarize herself with her new and present surroundings.

She turned and waited patiently as Mia Koji also received her bearings and followed the brunette down one hall. It was unnervingly quiet and Cody was starting to wonder if this whole meeting was actually a trap. However, dull voices caught her attention as she and Mia stopped in front of a hospital door labeled 1725.

"This is it," she heard Mia say as the brunette turned the doorknob. Cody quickly glanced inside after the door was opened. She saw Robyn laying in a hospital bed, Mariko in a chair next to the bed, Joshua by Mariko's side as always, Matt leaning against a wall next to the former three and…Cody scanned the room again. Scott was nowhere in sight, yet, she could still sense him.

"Look out," Cody said, pulling Mia out of the way and blocking a punch that would have rendered the young woman unconscious. Cody glared at the psivamp as his face took on an expression of recognition.

"Cody?" he asked, slightly startled as she sneered at him. She was in no mood to speak with neither him nor Joshua, whom was now looking at her with surprise and regret. "Cody, I did not know you had survived…I would have stayed and helped had I known…"

"I brought Miss Mia Koji," she stated, clearly indicating that she did not wish to discuss the matter. She then turned to look at the bearer of Phoenix. "Mariko…I hear you have a proposition for myself and the orijinaru Ronins?"

The young shorthaired woman nodded her head, "Yes I do, Yang. I want us all to work together on this. My companions and I will not be able to win on our own. Our numbers decrease and it takes longer to search the city while one is here guarding Robyn's hospital room and it takes more time for a change of guards when searching the city."

Cody frowned, "Searching for what? Certainly not Dragon's little whorehouse. You already know where that is."

"No, not his night club, his hideout. I know he is hiding his allies somewhere, I just do not know where."

It made sense now. If Mariko was able to lure one of Dragon's men into a trap, they could possibly find out where exactly they were hiding. Very well thought out. But what did that have to do with Robyn, other than needing her as bait?

"What is it you want from Robyn?" Cody asked, motioning to the redhead on the bed, now looking at them curiously.

Mariko smiled slyly, "That will be revealed in all good time, my dear sister."

Cody watched as Mariko stood and made her way over to Mia Koji who was silent throughout this whole exchange of information. Mariko bowed to the brunette and smiled kindly.

"Forgive my rudeness. My name is Mariko Ying; I am the bearer of the atarashii armor of Phoenix. The young man who tried to hit you is Scott, the one with purple hair is the bearer of the atarashii armor of Isis, Matt and the other young man is Joshua. They are my small band of trusted warriors," Mariko said, motioning to each young man in turn.

"You called Cody your sister…" Mia left the sentence hanging and Cody knew exactly what she was thinking. How could sisters fight against each other? She often wondered the same thing…but the answer always slapped her in the face right away. Mariko was raised in a realm of darkness whereas she was raised in a realm of light and purity…at least more purity and light than Mariko's realm. They were two peas but from a different pod, same vine, just different pod.

"Yes, we are sisters, however, we were raised apart…against our will," Mariko said, a remorseful expression appearing on her face.

A face that looks a lot like mine, Cody thought regretfully. Yes, they were sisters...but sometimes it felt so odd, so distant, as if it were not real at all.

"But you would not change it if you had a second chance, would you Ying?" Cody asked; she knew her sister's answer already, she would not change it…for better or worse.

"No, I would not Yang," the bearer of Phoenix said quietly.

"When are the guys supposed to get here?" Robyn's voice asked. Cody watched as Mia smiled somewhat impishly.

"As soon as school is out. I suggested the idea of a surprise get-well party to Cye late last night. He agreed and I am assuming that the others agreed as well," Mia said, happy that her little plan had worked.

Cody smirked, "So you tricked the Ronins into coming?"

"Exactly," replied Mia.

"Perfect."

~*~~*~~~*~~~~*~~~~~*

Ryo frowned in displeasure and worry as he and the others found Robyn's hospital room full of strangers, well not all. Mia and Robyn were there but the other five occupants were absolutely unfamiliar, except maybe one. Her facial features reminded him of somebody, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

He looked towards the brunette questioningly, "Mia?" She was sitting next to Robyn and was avoiding his gaze. Slightly hurt, Ryo looked at Robyn…only to find her doing the same thing. Everyone just seemed to be avoiding him today. He sighed in defeat, but perked up slightly when Mia finally did turn to look at them. She offered a wane smile before looking at the one occupant that had Ryo searching his mind for the person she resembled.

"It looks like everyone is here, other than the warlords," she announced softly. "But then they were not going to be involved in this, were they?"

"The warlords are of no concern to us. Kayura will send help if need be, but we have come to an agreement that this war has no need of them," a soprano voice stated; Ryo found that it came from a shorthaired young woman. Her hair was a forest green color and her eyes were the iciest blue he had ever seen. She wore a strangely designed purple top and a pair of loose-fitting denim jeans with hiking boots.

It was her eyes that caused that nagging in the back of his mind to grow stronger, fighting to remember where he had seen her. It was important but he could not quite remember. It was slowly agitating him.

"Mariko? What are you doing here?" Ryo heard Sage question.

Ryo turned to his blond companion and cocked his head to the side. "You know her?" he asked, slightly surprised that Sage knew this young woman.

Sage nodded, "She just recently started working at the dojo."

Ryo nodded in understanding and turned back to the group of strangers. This green-haired woman obviously knew the warlords, but how? How could she know the warlords AND have talked to them just recently? The warlords were in the Nether Realm, a place no one supposedly knew about. How could she possibly know about the Nether Realm and the Warlords unless…

The girl! That girl in my dream! She had gotten another armor…one called Phoenix…that's it! She has to be the one in my dream! She has to be that little girl! he thought to himself as fragments from the dream slowly came to the surface.

Ryo's attention shifted to another occupant, a young woman with long, wavy forest green hair. She stood next to 'Mariko' and Ryo had to blink a few times to make sure that he was not seeing double. Yes, the other woman looked very much like 'Mariko' with the only differences being the length of the hair and the color of the eyes. Ryo started when he really looked into the young woman's eyes; he found himself staring into a pair of maroon pools, pools of fire or lava or…

He cut off the next word, not really wishing to think of anyone's eyes resembling that.

"Allow me to introduce myself orijinaru Ronins. I am Cody Yang, the atarashii ronin of Gaea," the long, wavy-haired woman said, narrowing her eyes slightly at 'Mariko'. She then looked back at the five of them and bowed in respect. Ryo nodded his head at this, only to be polite. He no idea why she would respect them, they had never met this person in their life.

He was a little foggy on why she had called them orijinaru Ronins and herself atarashii ronin. Were they supposed to replace them? Was that why she called them the original Ronins and herself the new? If so, why? Their armors were just as strong as theirs no doubt.

Ryo froze; were their armors stronger? Was that why the name orijinaru and atarashii? Were their armors better? More improved? Ryo felt sick; this could not be happening.

Two men, one with solid gold eyes and one with a pair of sunglasses, introduced themselves as Joshua and Scott, the former being Joshua and the latter being Scott. A third young man with purple hair and sapphire eyes introduced himself as Matt of Isis.

"Anyone else noticing a trend in the names of these armors?" Rowen asked, crossing his arms and looking slightly interested in the arrival of these new armors.

Ryo nodded, "Yeah, they are all Goddesses of some sort, right?"

Rowen nodded. "Gaea is the Greek Goddess of the earth and Isis is the Egyptian Goddess of magic," he said, narrowing his eyes slightly at Matt. Ryo looked at Matt as well and watched as the young man was encircled in a blue smoke and disappeared, replaced by Robyn. Robyn?

Ryo looked at the hospital bed and noticed a small amount of blue smoke dissipating around what used to be Robyn. In the redhead's place was the purple-haired atarashii ronin. Ryo looked back at the Robyn standing and then back at the purple-haired young man.

"I take it you can do that because of your armor," he said, warily watching the young man in the bed.

The young man opened his mouth to speak but… "Ryo you had better stop looking at me like that! And Matthew! I thought you said you would not do that again! It's just…too freaky to see myself standing in front of me!" came Robyn's voice from the open mouth. Ryo looked at the young man in the bed in absolute shock as blue smoke surrounded him then disappeared, leaving Robyn in the young man's place.

Ryo looked at where Robyn had been standing and found Matthew/Matt standing in her place. Or had she even moved to stand?

"Heh, heh, sorry Red. I'm still trying to get the voice throwing to work…but hey, I got the image switch right!" the young man defended, suddenly sounding like a child. Ryo watched as Robyn crossed her arms and lay back against the headboard of the hospital bed.

"Would you Ronins care for me to be blunt? Or should I draw the reason for this meeting out into the depths of the night?" Mariko asked suddenly.

Ryo looked at her startled. Meeting? This visit had originally been in the good intentions of a get-well party...

"Let me guess, you owe them something, don't you Trouble?" Ryo heard Sage comment and he turned a sharp glare at the blond kendo warrior, briefly noting that the others had done the same thing.

"No actually, they're trying to protect me," Robyn answered somewhat sheepishly.

"And had you listened to me, you would not have been shot," snapped Cody, narrowing her eyes at the young redhead. Mariko put a hand on Cody's shoulder in warning.

"Do not be upset and begrudge her, Yang. She is inexperienced in this and panicked, which is absolutely understandable. She is merely a beginner, as well as the orijinaru Ronins," the shorthaired woman stated calmly.

"We are NOT beginners! Dude, I bet we've had our armors longer than you!" Ryo heard Kento shout in annoyance. Kento was probably right, they probably had had their armors longer than these new Ronins.

Cody glared at all of them, "Any experience in killing a living creature? And no Talpa does not count; he was merely a demon spirit who found an armor to occupy. Bounty Hunting is not a job to be taken lightly."

"Just who are you proposing we destroy?" Sage asked calmly. Mariko was about to answer when Matt hissed like a cat and let out a loud, high-pitched shriek. Ryo looked at the purple-haired young man startled as he moved behind Mariko, as if attempting to either hide or protect her.

Mariko's gaze shifted towards the window with a fearful face, which surprised Ryo. Her personality from what he had seen so far was one of leadership, strength, purpose, trust, determination and hope. Fear, in his mind, was not even considered an option for her personality. Yet, she stood in front of them with fear on her face as Matt once again hissed.

"The sun is almost down," the gold-eyed young man stated placidly as he looked towards the window. Ryo watched as the young man with sunglasses smiled cruelly and headed towards the large bay window. Taking off his sunglasses, he pulled the curtains back just as the last ray of pure sunlight disappeared and opened the bay window, inhaling deeply.

"There's a certain satisfaction in sensing dinner," the young man stated, continuing to smile cruelly. Scott turned and looked in Matt's direction and motioned for the latter to follow him. To Ryo's surprise, Matt did just that almost as if he was in a trance.

"You guys behave! I mean it! Hey wait! Scott you ate at two this morning! You should be full! Scott? Scott! SCOTT!" Mariko's protests went unanswered as the two men disappeared in a cloud of blue smoke.

Ryo watched as the shorthaired woman growled in frustration and slammed the bay door closed. She then turned towards the rest of them in a huff, arms crossed and glowering down at the floor. After a moment, she looked up almost pouting. There was a muffled laugh from the direction of the bed and Mariko threw a glare at the redhead who was trying to keep her laughter from being heard.

Robyn realizing she had been caught let lose and laughed until tears of mirth formed in her eyes.

"Not. A. Word."

The tone in Mariko's voice, Ryo noticed, was laced with a playful warning. Ryo watched as Robyn waved the warning off.

"Do all vampires act like them?" Robyn's voice was completely normal, with an undertone of laughter.

Ryo's widened, "Vampires?"

Cody nodded, "Yes, that and an atarashii ronin. Those are our enemies."

A Ronin Warrior and vampires? That was what Robyn had gotten herself into? Ryo turned his gaze to Robyn and she met his eyes. Ryo grimaced as he saw the guilt in her eyes, and smiled slightly in reassurance as her eyes pleaded him for forgiveness. Did she actually believe they would hate her for this? That they would not back her up?

"In answer to your unasked question Robyn...what are friends for?" he said, smiling as she sighed in relief and smiled back at him. And for the first time in days, Ryo noted that Robyn looked a lot more cheerful.