Chapter 1
"EARTH TO SAGE! EARTH TO SAGE! Houston, we have a problem..."
Sage doesn’t answer, but with a Cheshire-cat grin, he begins to walk towards two swimsuit clad girls, totally oblivious. ‘ There he goes again . . . 3. 2. 1. 0. yep, turning on his personality’s built in girl Electro-magnet.' Several obscenities come to mind, but he figures them a waste of breath.
Rowen shakes his head irritably, keeping half an eye on his stunt kite. It had an annoying habit of veering off to the right, just like someone else he knew. Almost as if in silent deference to him, the kite shivers in the air, it's fabric vibrating slighting in the wind; an almost inaudibly whistle rises eerily as the wind drifts over the lines. Then with a grin that spoke volumes, he pulls back on the right handle, sending it into that beautifully wicked sixty-plus-mile-per-hour power-dive. It’s fabric vibrates again in the air, this time making a mind shattering roar. . . with Sage and his latest attempts right below. Sage and the girls look up as this multi-colored blur comes from above. The girls shriek and Sage dives for the ground. With seeming nonchalance, Rowen pulls back first his right hand, then punches both his handles forward, and the kite suddenly turns nose up again and hangs, stalled in the air. Then with a light twitch of his left line, the kite floats to a perfect landing on it’s wingtips. The kite was a blast to take out to the beach. . .
‘Whoops . . .’ Rowen realizes his mistake when Sage lunges for his kite, destruction on his mind. ‘Oh, no you don’t!’ Rowen re-launches his kite in a flurry of disturbed sand, showering Sage with a generous face-full.
"ROWEN!!! You jerk . . .!"
Rowen rolls his eyes and lands his kite downwind, away from Sage. Rowen pulls a tent stake from his belt loop, and stakes his handles so his kite won’t launch without him. He walks down the length of his line set to take his kite apart.
Rowen takes the spreaders out of his kite and folds it up; then winds his lines up figure-8 style on his winder. He joins a still fuming Sage on the sidewalk, his car keys are out and obviously ready to leave.
"Idiot, I should whip your butt . . ."
Rowen looks across the beach toward the girls, and sees their boyfriends walk up to them. "You were saying . . ."
Sage grimaces, and then sighs. He shakes his head back and forth, unsure whether to laugh himself sick or groan. "Knew it was too good to be true . . ."
They were obviously headed back to the jeep, "So where now?" Rowen asks, running a hand through his dark blue hair.
Sage shrugs noncommittally, "Got anyplace in mind? Cause I sure don’t."
Rowen frowns as he puts the tailgate down and slides his kite in. He was about equally clueless.
"Dunno. Maybe... There’s a Chicago-Style Hotdog place down on Main we haven’t tried yet..."
Sage tries hard not to make a face, but he can’t help it. Over the past week they’d eaten their fill of Beach-Front-Hot-Dog and Pizza stands, and one more was beyond his tolerance. But their spendable vacation money was running low and their still had to get back home with what they had.
Rowen catches the look on his face as he climbs in to the passenger seat, "Um . . .There’s a McDonalds down the road."
Sage rubs his eyes, trying to rid them of that overly dry feeling that always seemed to come from beaches, "Cardboard works I guess."
Rowen sighs, disbelieving that they could get bored of vacation this quick, but knowing that it’s the truth. So he says it very quietly: "Or we could go home . . ."
Sage gives Rowen a funny sideways look, "You too, Ro?"
They made it to the highway in record time, and turn back towards Toyama. It was definitely time to go home.
____
Later that day they find themselves lounging in the family room of Mia’s lavish Mansion.
Mia hadn’t been enthused to find her house once again filled with teenage boys. In fact, she's absolutely livid. Though admittedly, it was probably due to herunending work with the university and her obvious frustration in the romance department. Though none of them doubted that her house had probably been nice and peaceful with only herself and Yuli.
"I can’t believe all of you got bored this fast!!!" Mia gives the four young men a glare that would have melted solid rock, "You’d think all of you would want to stay away, having fun!"
Kento looks up from his bowl of triple-fudge ice cream, and shrugs simply. "My little brothers and sisters got on my nerves after a while."
Cye opens his eyes, awakened from his doze, and mumbles, "There are just so many amusement and water parks you can visit before they get old, y'know."
Mia rubs the bridge of her nose and turns to Rowen and Sage, and says, "I shouldn’t ask should I?"
Rowen looks up from his book and shakes his head, giving her a sheepish grin.
Mia throws her hands up in the air, and stalks out of the room; obviously in a black mood.
There’s a short silence, then Sage breaks it with a "Not too melodramatic . . ." in a bland, obviously bored voice.
Almost on cue, Yuli suddenly scuds into the room, his small face excited. He’s clutching a small box, wrapped in brown shipping paper and a letter to someone.
"What’cha got Yuli?" Cye asks, sitting up.
"My thingy for my Game Boy’s here."
Cye nods diplomatically. Nothing lasted especially long in Yuli’s hands, almost every toy that someone purchased for him was broken within the month. Didn’t matter that the tools were kept locked up now, one forgetful moment and Yuli was into them. Didn’t matter that Rowen kept his repair stuff for his kites locked in a toolbox, Yuli had somehow gotten hold of one of his epoxy tubes. Now Mia had a bleached spot in the middle of the rug in her study. Fortunately it had only been one of the two separate components of the epoxy, so it had only made a mess and bleached the rug. He figured it was a phase Yuli was going through, ‘Better get that letter away from him, or He’ll have that all to shreds . . .’
Cye quickly snatches the letter away from Yuli, "Who’s this for?" Everyone looks up expectantly, as Cye checks the name over the address, "It’s for Ryo." ‘Darn it.’
"What’s for me?"
Cye looks up to see Ryo in the doorway, his duffel over his shoulder, White Blaze at his side as always. "Hey, you too, Ryo?" Cye asks as he hands over the letter.
"Yep." Ryo tears the letter open, unfolds it. A wide smile spreads itself across his face. "Oh man, I didn’t think I hear from . . ." Ryo lets his voice trail off.
He sits on the edge of an empty easy chair, that silly smile plastered across his face. It was obviously from someone important to him. He nods occasionally, then suddenly explodes with laughter.
The other Ronins look at Ryo with an expression somewhere on the border between stunned disbelief and total curiosity.
"Ryo?"
"Um...Buddy?"
"Hey, Ry? Who’s it from?"
Ryo looks up at them, his face beaming. "My sister."
Kento gives Ryo a strange look, " ‘sister’?"
Sage springs to his feet, his violet eyes fairly sparkling. "Whoa, rewind and run that in slow-mo for me. You . . . have a sister!?"
Ryo’s dumb grin gets even impossibly larger and he nods. "Twin sister."
Rowen shakes his head. Ryo had always been something of a mystery man. He didn't speak much about his past, let alone his family. And now he has a sister the same age as he is. Screw diplomacy, as soon as Sage discovered that ‘twin’ meant same age, opposite sex, and (more than likely) fair game; it’d all go straight to hell.
"She’s coming to Toyama to see me. . ." Ryo starts.
Sage must have just gotten it, he interrupts Ryo, "Is she a Babe?"
That was a mistake.
The goofy grin vanishes from Ryo’s face as if had never been there, and he says in a dangerously quiet voice. "Touch her, Sage, and so help me . . ."
"P.B.B., Sage. Watch out." Kento chuckles, a grin spreading itself across his own face. He knew firsthand what had gotten into Ryo. As an big brother himself, he knew when it came to a younger or smaller sibling, there would be Hell to pay should the big brother's ire get raised. "Protective Big Brother. Don’t mess with him."
Ryo had stalked out of the room after warning Sage away, to ask Mia if she could stay here.
He almost gets to her study before he relaxes. "God...Why did I do that?" He mumbles to himself, and leans his forehead against the wall. His sister was a big girl, and she could take care of herself. His thoughts protested that she was protected, vulnerable, and would be totally unprepared for this household. However, that disgustingly sensible part of his mind insisted that she had an acidic mouth just like he did, full of insults and attitude.
"Ryo?" Kento comes up behind him. "You okay?"
Ryo turns around and leans against the wall, trying to keep from shaking. "Yeah . . .No. God, I don’t know. I just don’t her to get hurt, y’know?"
Kento smiles sympathetically, "You’ve got the same problem I do. It’s called ‘Love’, Ryo."
Ryo shakes his head, "It’s different, Kento." Ryo shakes his head, and lets out a shuddering sigh.
Kento puts one of his large hands on Ryo’s shoulder, obviously his sister’s homecoming was a double edged sword and it was proving difficult for him. "What, Man?"
Ryo sighs again, and squeezes his eyes shut. He clenches his fists to stop his hands from shaking.
"You can tell me, Ryo."
Ryo sighs, and then says, "She’s deaf."
Kento nods, not quite understanding. Even though he wasn't the brightest bulb in the box in his opinion, he'd done his share of volunteer work with the "Handicapped" or in his opinion "Handi-able." for most of the people he'd seen and worked with were in no way inhibited by their differences. He’d seen deaf people who could take care of themselves, and acted like there was no difference at all. He’d even heard that in some circles, being deaf was a culture in and of itself. It was definitely nothing to be ashamed of. He’d even seen one girl on Hard Copy who had pretended that she wasn’t deaf -actually had flatly refused to tell anyone she'd lost her hearing- and made it through college, drove a car, and participated in some pretty significant sports without anyone the wiser.
"Rahne acts like it doesn’t bother her, but it does. She takes all sorts of stupid risks, just to prove that she’s not weak. But she’s so gentle . . ." Ryo rubs his temples, his face getting red.
"It isn't that she's deaf then, is it?" Kento says evenly, softly. "She just worries the crud out of you."
Ryo looks up at him and nods, looking frustrated.
Kento stands, flashing a characteristic grin in an attempt to reassure his friend. "Hey, if it makes you feel any better, I’ll help keep and eye on her. Okay?"
"Hmmmm. . ." Ryo half sighs.
"Deal?" Kento says. "No sense in worrying until she's here. She just might surprise you."
"Okay." The black haired boy sighs heavily, before saying in a resigned tone. "Deal."
"Heh! Cool, my man! Ol' Hard Head won't let you down." Kento grins, walking back down the hall to leave Ryo to his own device to talk to Mia, and heads back to the living room. The others are watching TV, trying to forget Ryo’s short temper and once again moody nature.
Kento, however, opts to forget about it for now. He was hungry and there was a freshly stocked refrigerator to explore. Then he’d tell the guys.
____
A few weeks later, 11pm. Raina "Rahne" Sanada tries to relax in her airplane seat, feeling exhausted and uncomfortable. The seat was well padded and since this was a ‘red-eye’ flight, everyone was getting ready to sleep. But something just kept nagging her at the back of her mind.
Three nights ago, Rahne had gone to see a Magic Show with some friends, and had come home with some pretty familiar nightmares. She really didn’t want to sleep, because she already knew what the dreams would show. And what was worse was that it had absolutely nothing to do with the show other than when they started. She’d had the same set of nightmares a year ago when Ryo had seemed to drop right off the face of the planet for a while. They all depicted the deaths of her friends, family, and worst of all, she was always the cause. Rahne didn't know any reason why she would be the cause or reason for their deaths in any way, shape, or form; but that's what the dreams said. But what was most puzzling: Why had they started again?
‘What’s wrong with me?!’ Rahne think as she stares out the window. 'Am I going insane? Or is there some genuine reason for this?' She wanted to be with her brother, she always felt safe around him even though he was always mad at her for something she did. He especially didn't approve of her choosing to learn rock climbing, and for riding her motorcycle. He didn’t mind the dancing or gymnastics, or the martial arts...well for that one - it was only when he was there.
‘Stop brooding... I've gotta do something!’
Rahne picks up one of the books she brought with her and starts to read. She’s maybe read for an hour, when the man next to her asks her something. She can read lips, and with a scowl she throws her book down on the seat and shuts the light off.
The people of the night dance under a galaxy of maniacally shifting lights; darkly and lustfully.
The throbbing music matches the dancers perfectly: dark, seductive, immoral, yet weirdly sensual.
While all the dancers wear deep, rich colors, a young woman standing a pool of moonlight in front of the room’s only window and draped in a pale blue gown stands out. Beautiful and dreamlike.
And pure.
She shies away from the dancers, her very nature warning her away. Phantasmagoric swirls of color\light throb in time to the music - that even while deaf she can still sense through the exaggerated bass beat. She’s thankful for being unable to hear anything in this place, but it makes her all the more uneasy. The sense of danger is almost palpable.
A soft tap on her bare shoulder breaks her from her brooding. A tall man stands just outside her circle of moonlight, handsome from what she can see of his face.
For a second, she thinks her eye must be playing ticks on her, - ‘Was that an eye-patch?’ -, then it vanishes.
He says something to her, almost shyly. She reads his lips carefully... - ‘He wants me to dance with him..’ -
"Of course..." She breathes, her voice too perfect, since she’s never heard her own voice.
He leads her to the dance floor, then briefly standing apart and still as if contemplating her. He offers her his hand and she accepts it. He spins her in close to his body, then out again. She catches the rhythm of his dance, and lets him lead her in what she perceives as a waltz combined with one of the sensual Spanish dances.
He places one hand on her lower back and helps her perform a dip. The room shifts weirdly, suddenly it’s over looking a battle field, that’s littered with bodies.
Her partner gently spins her again, then lifts her briefly.
The corpses shift like foul, brackish water. A few rise from the others, impaled on spears or sharp outcrops of rock. One of them is her father. Then there’s her friends from Michigan. She can’t see Ryo or White Blaze. - ‘Where are they? Are they safe!?’ -
As he swirls her past the window, she notices the curtains: White tiger fur. Suspended from the middle of the window like a grisly ornament is a tiger’s skull. It’s warm and intelligent brown eyes looking glazed in death. - ‘WHITE BLAZE!!!’ -
There’s a pit now in the center of the dance floor, covered by a grate. A stench like burning meat and Sulfuric Acid combined fill the air. She tries to shut her eyes; she doesn’t want to look. Somehow, the the world itself shifts again so she’s looking down. She has no choice but to look down, no matter how much she wants to pull away and run. Amidst the steam now wafting up is a shock of perpetually wildly styled black hair, the rest is submerged in boiling acid.
Then he’s leading her back to her pool of moonlight under the glaring flashes of paparazzi cameras. When they reach her pool of moonlight, the people seem to miraculously forget about them and start dancing again.
The man says something to her, but Rahne’s mind denies this perverted reality. She looks at this denial, and then she starts to fight this intrusion with her mind. - ’This isn’t right!!! It’s all fake!’ -
Briefly she see the man as he truly must appear: Tall, with long black hair and not much older than herself.
- An illusion!!!- "Who are you!? What do you want!? Leave me ALONE!!!!!" Rahne screams at him, her pulse hammering as the illusion becomes visible once more.
The man sighs and steps backwards into deeper shadow. He seems to fade away completely, dissipating into shadows. From the window behind her glows the gentle and peaceful moonlight like a beacon. One word hangs subliminally in the air like an echo of half-dreamed sound:
hope.
Rahne awakens with a small squeak that would have been something louder had she not bitten her lip at the last moment to stifle the sound.
She puts her hands over her eyes, trying to keep from crying. It wasn’t the worst nightmare she’s had lately, but after losing so much sleep, it feels worse than it actually was. On a morbid, tired whim she checks the time: 9am Eastern Standard Time, USA; which given the time difference, it was 11pm Toyama.
Rahne had been awakened by the light footsteps of the flight attendants as they woke everyone up to fasten their seatbelts, they were approaching Toyama. They couldn’t get there soon enough for her; she wanted to be with Ryo like yesterday.
At the same time down on the ground at the Toyama International Airport . . .
Ryo leans against a support column in the airport terminal, waiting for his sister’s flight to come in.
She had hopped a "red-eye" flight from Grand Rapids, Michigan to L.A., California, now she was about to arrive in Toyama: at midnight.
There was definitely something to be said about time-zones, but Rahne was bound to have some pretty severe jet-lag. Ryo chuckles to himself, but actually feels a little sorry for his sister.
The guys were combing the airport, trying to find out what the delay was. She was supposed to have gotten in an hour ago. Mia’s standing over by customs, speaking with one of the officials about something.
The sound system has been making all sorts of crazy-sounding announcements and reeling off endless flight numbers since they got here. Now he hears the number he’s been waiting for: #129 from L.A.
His sister was home.