"Ah, the perfect sandwich," Kento said as he set the monstrosity down on his plate.
Sage stared at it in awe and said," Do you really believe you can eat all that?!"
Rowin grinned and said, "That and much, much more."
"Hey, are you guys making fun of my eating habits?" Kento glared at the other two Ronins.
" No, not at all, Kento," Sage said in a voice saying he thought the exact opposite.
Kento continued glaring at them for a moment, then shrugged and began eating. Sage and Rowin exchanged a smile.
"Hey guys, what�s----in the name of all that is holy and sacred is that?!" Mia cried as she walked into the room and saw what Kento had on his plate.
"My lunch," Kento said indignantly and went back to cramming his face.
Sage and Rowin snickered.
Boom! Boom! Suddenly, thuds could be heard coming from the front room.
"Now, what could that be?" Mia asked as she walked out of the dining room and walked to the front door.
Sage and Rowin followed her while Kento remained eating. Mia opened the door. Standing there was Sai holding a girl in his arms. His leg was raised as if to kick the door again. Then he noticed Mia.
"Hello Mia. Do you mind opening the door a little wider? I kinda picked something up at the beach," he said.
Mia opened the door a little wider. Sai walked into the adjoining room and carefully set the girl down on the couch. Mia, Rowin, and Sage followed him.
"Who is she? What happened?" Mia asked Sai as he sat down in a chair.
"I�ll tell you in a minute but I need to tell everybody. Where�s Kento?" Sai asked.
"Coming," Kento called from the dining room.
He stuffed the last of his sandwich down his throat and walked into the other room.
"A little big for a seashell, Sai," Kento said as he saw the inanimate girl on the sofa.
"Where�s Ryo and Uli?" Sai asked.
"They�re still not back from the park," Mia replied.
"So, spill it, Sai, what happened?" Kento asked bluntly.
Sai related what had happened at the beach.
"So, Talpa may be....back?" Sage gasped in horror.
" �Fraid so," Sai replied.
"I wonder why those soldiers-if they were Talpa�s-were chasing the girl," Rowin said, looking at the unconscious form lying on the couch.
"Beats me," Sai shrugged.
"We�ll just have to wait for her to wake up," Mia said.
"Which might not be too long," Kento said as the girl began to stir.
And that�s when Ryo and Uli showed up.
" Hey guys, we�re back," Ryo said when he walked into the room.
Mia caught a glance of Uli, who was following Ryo and said," Uli, what happened?"
Uli�s eye had taken on a unique shade of purplish black.
"Well, there was a little girl who was beating Uli up and that�s when I jumped in but then another girl�" Ryo began but broke off when he saw the girl lying on the couch.
The girl opened her eyes and they met Ryo�s.
"You!" they both said simultaneously and pointed an accusing finger at each other.
"What the.....you know each other?" Mia cried in astonishment.
The girl leapt to her feet.
"All right what the crap is going on and where the hell am I?" she demanded.
"And what is he doing here?" she continued, gesturing to Ryo.
"For your information, I live here," Ryo said snidely.
"Well, where the hell is here? And just how did I get here? I better get some answers �cuz I�m seriously thinking of kicking all your butts," the girl demanded.
"Hey calm down. After you fought those soldiers, you fainted and Sai brought you here," Kento explained.
The girl glanced at Sai and a look of remembrance passed across her face. She appeared to have calmed down.
"Gomen nasai. I didn�t mean to cause a scene," she made a bow to Sai, "Domo arigatou for saving my life."
"Dou Itashimashite," Sai replied.
"How do you and Ryo know each other?" Rowin asked the girl.
"I�ll tell you how. The little brat she was baby-sitting attacked Uli and gave him a black eye!" Ryo exclaimed.
"Well, he started it," the girl protested, now pointing an accusing finger at Uli.
Then what Kento had said sank into Ryo�s mind.
"Wait a sec, what soldiers?" Ryo asked.
Sai told Ryo and Uli what had happened at the beach.
"Huh. So why were those soldiers chasing you?" Ryo asked the girl.
The girl remained silent.
"Where they Talpa�s soldiers?" Sage asked curiously.
The girl looked puzzled and asked," Who�s Talpa?"
"Never mind," Sage said, although he wasn�t sure the girl was telling the truth.
"I repeat, why were they chasing you?" Ryo asked again.
The girl glared at him and said defiantly, " That�s for me to know and you never to find out!"
"Well, we can�t help you if you won�t tell us," Kento said.
"And who said I needed your help!" the girl replied angrily, her eyes flashing.
"All right, so maybe you don�t need our help but we do need to know if those were Talpa�s soldiers chasing you," Rowin said.
"I told you, I don�t know who Talpa is," the girl said.
"Somehow, I have a feeling that you aren�t telling the truth," Sage said darkly.
The Ronin Warriors began to form a sort of circle around the girl. Mia could fell the tension rising between them. Then there was a large stomach growl.
"Kento! You just ate!" Rowin cried.
"It wasn�t me!" Kento said defensively.
The girl grinned and said rather calmly," Sorry, I haven�t eaten all day. And all day yesterday. Come to think of it, I haven�t eaten in three days."
Mia�s jaw dropped.
"Three days?!"
The girl said thoughtfully, "Maybe four. I kinda lost track."
Mia grabbed her arm and said," Well then, by all means, come with me and I can make you something to eat."
Mia led her to the dining room and made her sit at the table.
"What do you like?" Mia asked the girl.
"Well, I�m used to eating berries, roots, and cooked meat. Usually rabbit, gopher, or other small rodents like that. Occasionally a bird," the girl replied.
Again, Mia�s jaw dropped wide enough to drive a truck through.
"Um, okay. I�ll see what I can do," she said, still in shock, and went into the kitchen.
The Ronin Warriors and Uli had followed the girl and Mia into the dining room. Each of them pulled out a chair and sat down.
"Three days? I think I would�ve been a pile of bones if I were you," Kento said.
"You would be a pile of bones if you didn�t eat every twenty minutes," Sai said with a mischievous grin.
"Shut up!" Kento snapped.
"So where do you live? I mean you�re either a hermit or have very weird tastes in food from what you said ," Rowin asked the girl in a casual manner.
"Actually, I�m not a hermit but I do live in the mountains," the girl replied.
Sage understood what Rowin was trying to do. None of them trusted the girl. She could be wanting the armors of the Ronin Warriors. They could tell she wasn�t telling the truth when she said she didn�t know Talpa. But why was she lying?
Who is this mysterious stranger? What does she want?
It was kind of like that song by Madonna, Beautiful Stranger. Sage looked at the girl. She was an attractive girl but that didn�t matter if she wasn�t on their side. Of course, Lady Kayura was beautiful but she had been with Talpa. On the other hand, she hadn�t been purely evil. The only reason she acted the way she did was because she had been brainwashed by Talpa when she was a young child. But now she was the Guardian of the Mortal Realm because she was the last of the Ancient Clan, who had guarded the world for thousands of years even before Kayura was born.
We need to know what this girl is doing here. We need to know what she wants and if she�s evil. And we need to know now, Sage thought.
He kept thinking about it until he couldn�t stand it anymore. Sage felt that if he kept silent any longer, he would burst.
"All right, no more games. Here�s the facts: we don�t trust you and we want to know what you want. We don�t believe you when you say you don�t know Talpa. You�d better tell us or....."
"Or what? You�ll kill me? No, I don�t think so. It�s not very nice and doesn�t seem to be your style. And I know what you were trying to do before. You were asking questions to find out more about me and what I�m doing here. Well, let me tell you something: I�m only going to tell you as much as I want and if I don�t tell you what you want to know, tough," the girl said, not even flinching at Sage�s sudden outburst.
The Ronin Warriors were taken aback by the girl�s startling statement. Sage was about to say something else when Mia placed a plate stacked high with food in front of the girl.
"I hope you like it," she said.
"I�m sure I will," the girl said and dug in.
In a few minutes, the food that was stacked high on the plate was gone. Not even the slightest crumb remained.
"Whoa! I�ve never even seen Kento eat that fast!" Rowin exclaimed.
Sai made a low whistle.
"Will you people just shut up about my eating habits?" Kento said irritably.
The girl stood and made a bow towards Mia.
"Domo arigatou for the food. I must be leaving now," she said and started for the door.
Suddenly, White Blaze blocked her way. He roared at her. The girl gave out a yelp and fell on her butt.
"White Blaze!" Uli scolded the tiger and walked over to him.
"You know not to do that," Uli said in a reprimanding voice.
Then to the girl he said," He won�t bite, I promise."
The girl looked at Uli and then White Blaze.
"Yeah, I know," she said as she sat on top of her legs and scratched the tiger behind the ears. White Blaze began to purr loudly.
"Hey, he likes you," Uli said.
"Yeah, well, let�s just say we have an understanding," the girl replied.
"White Blaze! Get away from her! She could contaminate you or something!" Ryo said and stood between the tiger and the girl. The girl angrily jumped to her feet.
"Look, I know you don�t like me, but I�m not going to hurt any of you and I�m not evil!" the girl cried.
"How can we be sure?" Ryo asked.
"You can�t because I can�t prove it to you and you don�t trust my word," the girl retorted.
Before their bickering could get any worse, however, a knocking sound came from the front door.
"Now who could that be? I don�t think we can handle anymore visitors," Mia said and opened the door.
A small, brown hair girl stood on the doorstep.
"Konichi wa. Is there someone named Kara here?" she asked.
The girl that had been fighting with Ryo came up behind Mia.
"Aiko? What are you doing here?" she asked.
"Looking for you," Aiko answered.
"How did you know to find me here?" Kara asked Aiko.
"A man in a funny-looking blue and white robe with a weird triangle shaped hat told me," she replied.
"Really?" Kara asked excitedly.
Aiko nodded.
"He told me to tell you something. He said to tell you," Aiko paused as she tried to remember, "he said be careful, it is near."
"Oh no," Kara said with dread in her voice.
"But I also wanted to ask you something else," Aiko said.
"What�s that?" Kara asked.
"My mom and dad said.....they said that you told them you wouldn�t be able to baby-sit me anymore. Is it true?" Aiko asked.
Kara bit her lip and quietly said," Yes, it is, Aiko. I�m sorry."
"But why?" Aiko cried.
"Because...because I would only bring trouble. I might even put you in danger, which I�m not going to do if I can help it," Kara replied.
"But...Kara I wish I�d never met you!" Aiko cried and ran away into the night.
"Aiko!" Kara yelled after her.
Aiko kept running until she was out of sight.
"Maybe it would�ve been better if we hadn�t met," Kara murmured and then noticed how dark it had gotten, "Kuso. It�ll be hard getting back to the mountain this late."
Mia, who had witnessed the whole thing said," Kara? You could stay here. We have enough rooms and it wouldn�t be much trouble."
Ryo, who was also in the room, began to protest but Mia silenced him with a look. Kara looked doubtful.
"Well, if it won�t be too much trouble," she began.
"Trust me, it won�t. I even have some clothes you could change into if you want," Mia replied.
"All right, I guess, but if you don�t mind, I want to go to bed now. It�s been a long day," Kara said.
"Sure, come with me," Mia led Kara upstairs where the bedrooms were.
She guided Kara into her room and pulled open a dresser drawer. Mia withdrew a T-shirt and some flannel sleeping pants. She handed them to Kara. Kara looked dubiously at the T-shirt.
"Mia, no offense, but I don�t like T-shirts. Do you have a long sleeve shirt I could wear instead?" she asked.
"Sure," Mia replied and rummaged around in her drawer before pulling out a long sleeved shirt and handing it to Kara.
"Domo arigatou," Kara said.
"Dou Itashimashite. Come on your room�s this way," Mia said and showed her to a room near Mia�s.
"If you need anything, just tell me," Mia said.
"Okay. Domo arigatou," Kara replied.
"Will you stop saying that? It�s really no trouble. Oyasumi nasai," Mia said and left.
"Oyasumi nasai," Kara called after her.
She sighed and changed into the clothes Mia had given her. Tiredly, she climbed into bed.
This is not going to get any better, she thought before she drifted to sleep.
Boy, that�s a long chapter. For those of you who don�t speak Japanese (including the author :) here�s what I said in the chapter:
Gomen nasai = very sorry
Domo arigatou = thank you very much
Dou Itashimashite = you�re welcome (probably something more like "Think nothing of it"
Konichi wa = hello or good afternoon
Oyasumi (nasai) = good night (when going to bed)