Note: This isn't what really happened when Kento and Cye first meet, it's just an idea I've been pondering. I just changed a few things to make the story fit. So anyway, don't get on me about wrong info, because I know already.

An Unlikely Friendship

by SAW458

Part One

"Hey, Rocky."

"Yeah?" He looked up from the dirty, wrinkled issue of National Geographic that had been around for a month. A pale gangly form with greasy black hair stood in the doorway, smirking arrogantly. Rocky disliked his weasel-like face; it always seemed to be scheming something. But he never said so, it could cause trouble for him.

"Trying to be intellectual again?" he asked haughtily.

Rocky didn't look up, but retorted in an annoyed manner. He didn't like to be interrupted when he was by himself. "Reading a magazine is hardly intellectual, Leku. But that's probably the smartest thing you can do, isn't it?"

His comment was met by a scowl. "Yakasa called. He's got some new stuff for us to look at when he gets back." Rocky got up from the dingy cot he had been reclining on and went to the door of the office that constituted as his room. It wasn't really his in the first place, but he had claimed it for his own because he needed to have somewhere to be alone. No one cared enough to dispute his ownership. Besides, Yakasa allowed him to use that room, and no one went against that permission.

"Fine. Now if you don't mind, I'm busy." With that, he shut the door in Leku's face. He heard Leku curse at him from behind the door, but Rocky didn't care. The guy was all talk and Rocky could easily kick his ass. He could hardly contain a wave of disgust that washed over him as he pushed a folding chair under the knob of the door. That would keep out Leku or any other eavesdroppers. He plopped down on his cot and covered his face with his hands. God, why am I doing this? Of course, he knew perfectly well why. So he could survive. Before he had joined this loathsome group, he'd been starving on the street. Leku and Bakue had tried to rob him back then, not knowing he had nothing of value anyway. Well, he did have one thing, which is why he retaliated by giving Bakue a black eye and Leku a broken nose. It was part of the reason Leku despised him so much. But Yakasa had been so impressed by his strength and age that he offered Rocky a choice: work for him, or die right there. He may have been strong, but even he couldn't stop bullets.

So he went along with them and had been here for a month now. He hated every minute of it, but he felt helpless to do anything. He couldn't go back to his family now; they'd never live down the shame. I don't deserve their kindness anyway, Rocky thought sadly. This isn't what he had planned to do. Then again, when this started, he hadn't really had a plan to begin with.

Surprisingly enough, Rocky came from a wealthy family. He had two younger brothers and sisters. He smiled faintly as he thought of them, thinking how wonderful it would be to be annoyed by them again. His parents owned a prosperous restaurant, which was mainly responsible for their comfortable home life. Of course, Rocky was not really his name. He had made it up when he first came here. He remembered it was from some famous American movie. His real name was Kento Rei Fan, but he didn't think of himself as that anymore. To him, Kento was another person, and a name he didn't deserve. So Rocky he was. He sighed, his thoughts drifting back to better memories......

It had all started a hiking trip he had made with his father into the mountains when he was fifth-teen. Kento loved the mountains; the challenge they presented, the strength of them. He enjoyed the sound of the wind whistling through the caverns and around the jagged corners. He always felt a certain kinship when he was in that place.

"Ready to go back?" His father looked back at him as they walked up the trail.

Kento grinned happily, readjusting his pack over his shoulder. "Just a little longer?"

His father chuckled. "I'm getting too old for this." He sat down heavily on a rock, out of breath. "You can go on ahead. Just don't get too far away, ok?"

Kento nodded and headed higher up into the peaks. He wasn't worried about getting lost; he knew this place too well. He went farther then he had meant to, but as he thought back, it was like he had been lead through those mountains by some force. He came to an area he had never explored before, to a ledge high above the countryside. An odd sensation swept over him as he walked to the edge. In fact, he sensed an uncanny tinge of power near him. He turned to the side of the embankment he was standing by, seeing a soft orange light glowing from a tiny nook in the wall. He backed up cautiously, knowing that was not normal. Finally, curiosity getting the better of him, he stepped over to it and reached inside the hollow. His hand nearly got caught inside, but he managed to grab hold of a small round object. He pulled it out and wiped away the dust on it. The glow vanished and Kento gazed in awe at his newfound prize. It appeared to be a miniature glass orb with an orange symbol was inside. It stood for Gi, or justice.

Suddenly, the orb in his hand vibrated, startling him. He lifted it in front of his face, peering at it intently. He swore he could see something inside. An orange armor that had a helmet with uneven horns on the top flashed into view. Then the image shifted to something else. It looked like a staff, one end with a sharp blade and the other with a blunt rod that had spiked protrusions around it. As he watched, it separated into three parts that were connected by a chain. Then the picture vanished, and the symbol of justice reappeared. Kento stood in mute silence, in shock at what had just happened. Maybe I just imagined it, he thought, disbelievingly. The high altitude could be playing tricks on his mind. Futile arguments, though, because Kento was not one to usually imagine things. As if to convince him further, the orb suddenly glowed briefly. What was this thing?

"Kento? Kento!" His father's voice broke through the quietness. "Come on, let's go!"

Kento instinctively pocketed the orb and replied, "Okay!" As he hurried down the trail to meet his dad, Kento was troubled by that strange event. When he got home, he immediately searched the books in his family's library. He knew he had seen that weapon before, but what was it? It took several hours, because these were advanced books and he wasn't very good with big words. Finally, he came across it in a dusty old volume. It wasn't exactly like the one he had seen, but it was the closest thing he could find that looked like it. It was called a tetsubo, or iron bo. It was a complicated weapon that was able to separate into three sections connected by a chain. It could be used as nunchuku, or it could be used a staff. He had trained to use a staff similar to it before and to use nunchuku, but not both in the same weapon. Kento may have been excellent at the art of Kung Fu and judo, but he had never seen anything like this. He shook his head and replaced the book. This was dumb. He must have just been seeing things.

That night, unable to sleep after tossing and turning half for hours, he snuck out of the house. He headed away from his home and put a good distance between him and the house. He stood there and looked out across the countryside, filled with a strange inner peace. He had a sudden feeling of connection to the land, to the earth. The wind picked up, ruffling his short blackish-blue hair, and he closed his eyes. He had never been in such a calm state and he could actually feel his senses heighten. "Kento of Hardrock......." Kento's eyes flashed open when he heard the voice. He searched around the vicinity for the source, but couldn't find anyone. Then it sounded again, tickling his ears as if carried on the wind. "Kento, warrior of justice, you have been chosen."

Kento put a hand to his head, feeling like he was going crazy. "Who's there?" His shout echoed through the night and died away. This is really weird, he thought. "What the heck is Hardrock?"

"It is the name of your armor." The voice answered. Kento looked up, finally convinced that he was officially insane.

"Who...who are you?" he asked in an almost timid manner.

"I have no name, but you may call me the Ancient One."

"Ancient? Well, why are you talking to me?"

"You have been selected to use the armor of Hardrock."

That again. Kento didn't understand this at all. "So, I get some kind of armor? Why?"

"The armor chose the person best suited to it. That happened to be you."

Somebody better call the funny farm and make a reservation, Kento thought. "Ok, so what do I do with it?"

The voice took on a grave tone. " An evil is coming to this earth soon. You must fight it! The fate of mankind depends on it!"

Kento was incredulous. "What?! What are you talking about? I'm supposed to be some kind of super hero and save the world?"

"Essentially, yes. It is your destiny."

"Aw, forget this! This is crazy! That's it, I must be going nuts!"

"It's true, Hardrock. Look!"

A chiming sound rang through the night, increasing in speed and volume. Kento had to cover his ears to block out the noise. Suddenly, a bright burst of light flashed above his head. When he looked up, he was amazed to see something hovering in the air over him, surrounded by a golden glow. He uncovered his ears and stared up at the object. It floated down to him and he reached out his hands as it landed in his palms. The shine vanished and Kento could finally see clearly at what he held in his possession. His eyes widened as he recognized it.

The staff he had seen in the orb! He gripped the handle, feeling it's hefty weight. But it wasn't heavy to him at all. The sharp naginata blade on the end of the staff glittered in the moonlight.

"Whoa....." Kento was almost afraid to hold it in the fear he might break it. He carefully twisted one end of the staff and it released from the rest of the staff, hanging by a strong chain. He did the same with the other end, just the like the book had shown. Well, I may as well see what this thing can do, Kento thought. He reconnected the two parts back into the staff and took his stance. He did a few standard moves, going slow at first to get a feel for the weapon. He found that it was easy to use the staff, like he was an expert at it. At least until he whacked himself over the head with the tail-end of the blunt side. The staff clunked to the ground as he grabbed his head, wincing. "OW!!!! Man, good thing that wasn't the knife part of it."

"Careful! You must learn to work with your weapon. Try to unite your body, mind and skill into one."

Kento scowled in frustration, but he picked up the staff once more to give it another try. Left, right, forward, whoa, watch it! He concentrated hard, getting faster and faster. Soon he was just a blur of movement to anyone watching. He suddenly raised the weapon above his head, spinning it in a fast circle. He focused on a tree standing off a few yards from him. He thrust his staff forward, shooting out the blunt end with the sharp protrusions on it. It whizzed through the air and rammed into the tree trunk. Bits of bark flew everywhere as the trunk was snapped in half, and the top of the tree toppled over with a loud crash. The blunt end of the staff was reeled back to its original position on the weapon by its chain, thudding back into place.

Kento was silent for a moment, then straightened up and stared in amazement at the smashed-up tree. "Geez," he whispered.

The voice was approving. "Well done. You seem to have an excellent handle on your weapon. Now," the voice said urgently as Kento's staff disappeared from his hands, "go to the city of Toyama! You can call upon your armor and weapon at the time when the evil will appear there."

"Hey, wait a sec!" Kento protested, suddenly irritated at this disembodied voice telling him what was and what wasn't important. "I can't just up and leave! I've got a family here! And besides, my parents will never buy this story!" Kento was sick of this. He turned toward his house and began walking away. "Get someone else to do it. I'm going back to real life."

"There is no other way! If you do not stop the Dynasty, it will not just be the city of Toyama that is attacked. The entire world will be attacked and your family will suffer along with every other innocent person!"

Kento stopped dead in his tracks, stiffening at those words. His family..... He thought of them, of his parents training him in fighting techniques when he was younger. Of his father knocking him down in one of their spars, then helping him up with an apologetic smile and asking him if he wanted to try again. His mother standing off to the side, watching her son proudly as she took part in his teachings. His little brothers and sisters, laughing hysterically as he chased them down and tickled them until they were all rolling in laughter. All those happy times they had experienced flooded through his mind. His fist clenched without his awareness, his anger rising. Nobody was going to hurt his family, not if he could help it.

"Will you fight, Kento of Hardrock?"

Kento's hand unclenched and his shoulders sagged slightly. "All right," he said in a defeated tone. He had to protect his family, so he had no choice but to listen to this strange person.

The voice was sympathetic. "Do not be discouraged. You may feel like this responsibility is too much for just you, but don't worry. You are not alone....."

"Huh?" Kento looked up at that. "What're you saying?"

"Go to Toyama......" the voice repeated, fading away. "The...world....depends...on...you.....Ronin.....Warrior.....of.....justice....." Then it was gone. Kento heard nothing now except the wind blowing through the night. He waited for a moment, then slowly headed back to his home.

What else could he do? He quietly stole back into his house only to grab the orb and a jacket. He also took the cash he had saved from his room. It wasn't much, but he refused to take any money from his parents. He was doing this for them and the rest of his family. He was sad that he couldn't even say goodbye to them. But he knew if they found out what he was doing, they'd try to stop him. He shut the door behind him and trudged toward the lights of the city Yokohama. He had enough to get a taxi to Toyama, then he'd have to worry about finding a place to stay. Pausing in his steps, he glanced back once and bid farewell to his family. "Goodbye. I'll come back someday, I promise." His voice caught slightly in his throat. "I love you guys....." Then he turned and walked away without a second look.

Kento shivered, pulling his coat collar up higher. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he looked around the lonely, dark streets. He would probably have to spend the night in an alley again. He didn't like the idea, but there was nowhere else to go. He'd been here in Toyama for about a month, waiting for some kind of horrible evil to attack. Nothing had happened yet, but he still waited, even though all his money was gone. He'd tried to get a job, but no one would take a fifth-teen year old kid from off the streets. His stomach growled at him, a constant reminder of how hungry he was. Having a big appetite, he wasn't used to an empty stomach. However, he tolerated it as best as he could. Sighing, he pulled out the orb out of his pocket and looked at each, feeling very dismal. It usually cheered him up somewhat, but now it only depressed him further. A sudden feeling of longing swelled up in him. He desperately wanted to go home, to see his family. They must have been worried sick about him at this point. The hell with this, he thought abruptly. Nothing's coming here. That voice was just some bogus dream. He quickly turned in the opposite direction, remembering he had seen a pay phone awhile back. He could call collect to his parents and they would come to get him. He could go home and forget about all this. He wanted to live a normal life, not be out here.

As he passed a dimly lit alley way, two hands suddenly shot out of the darkness and pulled him into the corridor. He didn't even have time to react as he was thrown into a pile of trash cans. Kento crashed hard on his side, overturning several of them. Sitting up with some difficulty, he stuffed the orb back into his coat. He had a feeling that he was in for a rough night.

"Going somewhere?" Kento narrowed his eyes at the gangly youth that spoke. He appeared to be only a few years older than Kento, and by the look in his blank, glazed expression, he had been frying his brain cells for some time now. Another guy with matted brown hair and dull brown eyes was behind him, looking mockingly at Kento.

Kento stood up and brushed himself off. "That's none of your business," he said coldly, glaring at them defiantly. "Excuse me." He strode forward and was almost past the gangly one when a fist caught him in the gut, knocking the wind out of him. Kento staggered back, gasping for air and feeling an intense rage building up inside him.

"I don't think so. You're in the wrong place at the wrong time," the brown-haired guy said, cracking his knuckles. "Get it?"

Straightening up, Kento took a deep breath. He tried to control his anger, but he was coming close to ripping both these guys' heads off. "I don't have any money," he said, saying each word slowly and deliberately.

The gangly one snickered loudly. "Too bad, then. We'll just have to see if you have anything else." The brown-haired one suddenly lunged at Kento, attempting to hit him. Kento dodged and then kicked him hard in the face. He had lost all his tolerance for these idiots. The brown-haired teen went down, clutching his face in pain. The gangly guy was so shocked that he didn't react for a second. Then his face contorted in hatred. Without warning, he pulled out a switchblade and the knife snapped up. He whirled around to face Kento, expecting him to intervene. He was startled to see the guy just standing there, waiting for him to do something. His face was set in a haughty expression.

"Well? You gonna attack or are you just gonna waste my time?"

"You little....!" The gangly guy slashed at him and missed as Kento sidestepped. Then he grabbed the other's wrist and twisted it hard, making him drop the blade. Pulling the gangly guy forward, Kento slammed his elbow into his face and felt a strange sense of satisfaction as he heard a cracking sound. He dropped the injured person who immediately crumpled to the ground, screaming in agony as he held his nose.

Kento chuckled, although he felt no joy in this. His laughter was abruptly cut off as a bullet grazed the ground near his foot, causing him to jump in fright. He looked to see a person with spiky blond hair step into the alley, holding a pistol. He glanced rather scornfully at the two fallen teens. "Leku, Bakue, go back to the warehouse and wait for me. Now."

They both staggered to their feet and walked off painfully. Leku threw a look of loathing at Kento before disappearing around the corner. Once they were gone, the blond lowered the gun and scrutinized the boy before him. "That was very interesting. You're good for a kid your age."

"What about it?" Kento asked indignantly.

"I could use a kid like you in my group. How about working for me? It pays surprisingly well."

Kento scoffed at that. "Sorry, but no thanks. I have an idea of what you guys do to earn your pay." Kento shoved his way past the guy and started walking away. Then he halted as he heard the gun barrel click.

"Are you sure about that?" Kento turned around slowly to see the gun raised again, aimed at him. "There's no room for conscience out here. We all do what we can to survive in this city." The guy smiled slightly, making Kento realize that he would be killed and this guy would feel no remorse over it. "Last chance. You coming or not?"

Kento sighed heavily. He was fully prepared to die here rather than work for this scum bag. He bid a silent farewell to his family before answering. But before he could get the words out, he felt the orb in his pocket vibrate. He looked down in surprise, seeing a soft glow emitting through the pocket. Go with him, Hardrock......... Kento clearly heard the ancient's voice in his head. It actually wanted him to join this guy's ranks! But why? Maybe it can lead me to what I'm looking for, Kento thought. He's gonna kill me if I don't and I'll probably starve out here by myself. He had serious misgivings about this, but he had no choice but to trust the voice and his instincts. He put on his best cocky smile, feeling sick at the same time at what he was about to say. "Sure, why not?"

And now he was here, still waiting for an answer. Something to tell him what he was supposed to do, that all this was worth it. So far though, fate or destiny, whichever one had brought him here, had put Rocky on hold. He hadn't heard the ancient since that time and his orb hadn't done any light shows and shaking either. Rocky had been part of some pretty shady stuff. He got the gist of some of the things this gang was involved in, but he avoided most of it. He'd done some mugging, a few drug store hold-ups, and other petty crimes. But one thing he didn't mind were the gang fights.

The territory they were in had several other factions scattered throughout the area. Yakasa's group had steadily taken over this part of town and this was mostly due to the addition of Rocky to the gang. His first fight established his skill. Rocky hadn't wanted to hurt anyone, but after he had taken a few punches from the drugged-up ass-holes, all his reservations about it vanished. He took them all down with one hit. Rocky found an outlet for his frustrations and angry by beating the crap out of his opponents. But he never went too far, no matter how enraged he got during brawls. Something in the back of his mind always warned him when he was getting too brutal. Lucky for Rocky, he'd manage to get his head back before he seriously hurt anyone. And as time went, he found himself enjoying the fights more and more. This disturbed him greatly, especially since he had been taught to only fight in defense. But he had realized a long time ago that he would be killed if he didn't fight back.

His thoughts were interrupted as he heard the sound of a car pull up. Rocky sighed, standing up and walking to the door. Yakasa and the others were back. He came out just as the spiky-haired blond young man stepped through the door. He glanced over at Rocky with his icy blue eyes, making him shiver inwardly.

"Hey, Yakasa," Leku said, sucking up as usual. "Get anything good?"

Yakasa smiled his usual immoral smile. "Yeah. Took a while, but we came across some pansy-assed English kid. He must have been looking for a hotel. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been dumb enough to carry this whole bag with him." Bakue came forward and produced a large, tan duffel bag.

"He was loaded too!" Taro, another part of the group entered after finishing his job of locking the car, even though it still stood a good choice of being highjacked. He rubbed his stubbly shaved head in disbelief as he fingered the wad of money in his hands. "Must have been some rich kid who ran away from home to be carrying this much cash."

Yakasa abruptly plucked the money out of Taro's grip and tossed it into jar full of assorted cash and other valuables. It was sort of a collection plate that Yakasa monitored carefully. No one was stupid enough to try and take anything from that jar without their leader's permission. "Well, he should have known better than to walk through such a dangerous part of town," he said, laughing.

Bakue tapped Yakasa's shoulder. "Look what else I got off him." He pulled a small glass ball from his pocket and showed it to him. Yakasa took it and turned it over a couple of times in his palm, frowning.

"Hmm, weird little thing. What's this thing in the middle mean?"

Leku, Taro, and Bakue crowded around and examined the orb. "Beats me," Leku said, shrugging.

Yakasa turned to Rocky. "Got any idea what this means?" he asked, tossing the orb to him.

Rocky caught it and glanced down, nearly falling over in shock. A familiar looking glass orb laid in his hand. It was identical to his, but the symbol in the center was different. It was light blue and it stood for Trust. Rocky had a sudden uncanny sense of deja ve. Quickly hiding his shocked expression, he shook his head. "No idea. It's probably just junk."

"Yeah, okay." Yakasa went back to the duffel bag, talking over his shoulder. "Just toss it. We can sell the rest later." He smirked arrogantly. "With this stuff and that guy's pocket change, we can afford to do some redecorating."

Everyone laughed at that and began rooting through the bag, except Rocky. He silently headed back to his room, the orb still in his possession. He jammed his door again and quickly pulled out his orb, comparing it with the new one. They glittered in the dim light, briefly burning in a light-blue and orange glow, leaving Rocky a little shaken. Could this be the sign he was looking for? As he stared at the two orbs, he had no way of knowing that his answers were finally coming........

Well, that's the first part. Kento fans, please don't get too mad at me. As I said, this is just an idea I've had. I know how things really happened, so this is just one of those "what-if" stories. Maybe also how Kento got to like fighting so much. I hope you liked it! See ya!