The Adventure of Kira Kantuai
chapter one
Voices From the Shadows
By Jansen
Kento Fang slowly opened his eyes. As he gazed at the clock, he muttered, “Man, it’s 3:00am.” He turned on his side, and shut his eyes. He was half way asleep, until he heard, a soft, gentle voice.
“Please help me.” Kento shut his eyes even tighter, trying to ignore it, which was probably his imagination. “Help me, Ronin Warrior.” The voice sounded quite frightened. “Help me.” As he heard it for the third time, he realized it was the voice of a young girl. Her plea echoed through his mind each time it was said. “Help me, please.” He turned on his other side, and
put his hands over his ears. “Help me!” He quickly got up, and ran to Cye Mori’s bed.
“Cye. Pssst! Cye!” Kento gently shook Cye. His eyes fluttered open.
“Kento?”
“Cye, I’m really freaked, man. There’s this voice, in my head, and it keeps asking me for help.”
“Asking help on what?”
“I don’t know! It keeps saying, ‘help me, Ronin Warrior, please,’ or something weird like that. Cye, I can’t sleep.”
Cye, who was half asleep muttered, “Go back to bed, Kento. Tell me in the morning.”
“But the voice is in my head!” Cye was already asleep, and couldn’t hear Kento. Kento scratched his head and headed for Cye’s closet. “I know they’re here somewhere...ah-ha!” He pulled out some headphones, and a walkman. He opened it up, and looked at the tape. “Sounds of the Whale - figures.” he shrugged, put the tape back in the walkman, and got back in his bed. Cye was always saying how soothing it was, and how it helps him fall
asleep. So, Kento decided now would be a good time to try it.
“Ronin Warrior, please listen!” Kento shook his head.
“You gotta snap out of this.” He put his headphones on, and hit the play button. Soon, he was fast asleep.
Kento’s eyes shot open. He took a deep breath, smelling the delicious bacon and eggs that awaited him. “Oooh! My favorite!” He jumped out of bed, took off the headphones, got dressed, and ran downstairs. He sat at the table, and smelled the meal. “Mmmmm-mmmm! Smells great, Cye!” Cye, who obviously forgot what happened the night before, stepped out of the kitchen with Kento’s plate.
“I figured you’d be the first one up! The others are still asleep.” Kento took the plate from Cye.
“Thanks.” He then began to stuff his face with eggs. He talked between mouthfulls. “It’s....sucha...shame that...that food is going....to get cold....since the others...are asleep.” Kento looked down at his plate. It was empty. “Awww, what do you know! I ate my food.” He got up, with his plate and headed back to the kitchen. He stopped dead in his tracks, when he heard
Cye exclaim, “OHHH, NO YOU DON’T!”
Kento turned towards Cye. “What?”
“I know that look of yours, Kento. You were going to eat the rest.” Kento stared at Cye with a wounded look.
“How could you say that? How? Me? Your best friend! How dare you think so poorly of me!” A tear streamed down Kento’s cheek. Cye took a step towards Kento.
“Aw, Kento, I’m sorry. What can I do to make it up to you?” Kento grinned, and continued his walk to the kitchen.
“KENTO! That was a dirty trick. Stop where you are!” Kento continued walking, until he heard...her again.
“Ronin Warrior. Please help me.” Surprised, Kento dropped his plate, and it hit the floor, shattering into pieces.
“Now look what you did, Kento. That’s Mia’s good plate. Boy, is she gonna pitch a fit!” Kento didn’t pay any attention to Cye. He rubbed his head as though he had a bad headache.
“I need your help. I’m scared. I want my mommy.”
“Kento? Are you all right?”
“That voice,” muttered Kento.
“Is that what you were babbling on about to me last night?” Kento slowly nodded, as he walked to the door.
“I need to go for a walk, Cye. See ya’!” He ran out of the house. He ran straight to the woods. He wasn’t paying any attention to where he was going, and he honestly didn’t care. Just as long as he got away from the voice. Before he knew it, he was heading straight into a tree. CRASH! He fell into a pile of mud, and lost consciousness.
“Please help me, Ronin Warrior.” Kento found himself in some
sweet-smelling grass, and was surrounded by shadows from some huge trees. He never knew such trees exited. He sat up, and rubbed his head.
“Woah, man. This is way too freaky.” He stood up.
“Ronin Warrior. I can finally see you.” A little girl stepped out from the shadows. Her blue eyes sparkled, and her brown hair blew gently in the wind. “I need your help.”
“Who are you? What do you want?”
“You will find out, soon enough. Just meet me at the lake near the house you live in, at midnight.”
“Midnight?!” The little girl nodded and stepped back into the shadows.
“See you there, Ronin Warrior.”
He walked up to the door, and was about to turn the knob, until he rememberd something. He touched his forehead, and saw the blood on his hand. Then, he looked down at his mud covered clothes. He couldn’t just walk in there, and pretend nothing had happened. He took off his shoes, which were
also covered in mud, and left them by the door. He walked in, slowly, making sure no one was watching him. He crept up the stairs. He was about to turn into the hallway that led to his room, but was stopped, when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
“What’s up?” The voice belonged to Sage Date. “And why do you have mud...all...over..you?” He took his hand off of Kento’s shoulder, and looked at the mud on the palm of his hand with disgust. “Yuck.” Kento turned around and faced Sage. “Oh, my gosh! What happened to you, Kento? You have BLOOD on
your face. You look like you just got done trying to beat the Dyanasty! What happened?!”
“Shhhh!” Hissed Kento. “Do you hafta yell it out loud?!” It was too late, though. Cye, Ryo Sanada, and Rowen Hashiba came running down the hallway to Sage and Kento. Sage tried to get a closer look at the cut, but Kento stepped back. “Dude, I’m okay!” Cye looked at the blood and mud.
“I thought were just going for a walk, not picking a fight with someone, Kento.”
“I wasn’t picking a fight, Cye.”
“Then just what were you doing?” Asked Rowen.
“I was going for a walk, and bumped into a tree.”
“Seems like you broke into a run to me,” said Ryo, as he observed the cut. “If you simply bumped into the tree, you probably would have a bruise. It’s more like you smashed into a tree, with a lot of impact.” Sage nodded in
agreement.
“I hafta agree with Ryo. You definatly smashed into that tree.”
“Come on, Kento,” said Cye. “What happened out there? You can tell us. We’re your friends!” Kento thought for a moment. Cye was right. They were his friends. He told them of the voice, and of the girl he saw. When he was done, everyone just stared at him. There was silence, until, Sage turned bright red, and doubled over laughing. Cye, had a strange look on his face, and Ryo
and Rowen began to chuckle to themselves.
“What? Don’t you believe me?”
“Kento,” said Sage, “you’ve done some strange things, and pulled some wierd stunts, but this has got to be the strangest.” Rowen burst out laughing. Ryo and Cye just kept quiet.
“She said she would be near the lake at midnight!” exclaimed Kento. “We’ll all go out there together!”
As the group left the house, the night, the slowly approached the lake.
The wind began to softly blow, and their seemed to be black everywhere. When
they got to the dock, Kento saw a silhouette - that girl! “There she is!”
“Where? I don’t see anything!”
“What do you mean, Ryo?” Kento pointed to the girl. “Right THERE!”
“There’s nothing there, Kento.” Rowen headed back for the house. “This is
a waste of my time.”
“Yeah,” said Sage, as he followed Rowen, “you probably just made up an
imaginary girl friend.” Rowen and Sage both laughed, and walked away. Ryo and
Cye stood next to Kento.
“You guys believe me, right?” Inquired Kento, as he stared at the girl,
who just stared back at him.
“I do,” said Cye.
“I’m just not sure, Kento. Yeah, sure. I guess I do.” Ryo shrugged. “You
sure you’re not seeing things?”
“I’m positive!”
“Fine, fine!” Ryo and Cye walked back to the house. Kento stood there, in
front of the girl.
“Who are you? And why can’t they see you? Why?” The girl looked at Kento.
“I am Princess Kira Kanturai. You see...I am invisable to everyone,
except you. I want to keep hidden, to avoid detection from a woman named
Teberaishe. She knows I’m here on Earth - she just can’t pin point where I
am.”
“Why are you here? You’re just a kid. Why do you need me?”
“I hope to help me planet with the Ronin Warriors.”
“You?! You?!” Kento stared at Kira. “You’re just a kid. What can you
do?!”
Kira smiled sweetly. She jumped high into the air, and kicked Kento in the jaw.
He flew into the lake.
“How dare you speak that way to me. I’m capable of doing a lot - maybe even more than you! Please don’t make me hurt you even more.”
A soaked Kento climbed back onto the dock. “Okay, okay. Sorry!” Kira grabbed Kento by the arm. “Come. We must go to the planet Hashera - my home.”
“Wait a minute!” Yelled Kento. “You expect one Ronin Warrior to help you?
Excuse me...Princess Kira...you need ALL of them, and if I’m the only one that can see you, you are going to have a hard time getting the others to help.”
“So what...I just have to make them believe.” Kento sighed. This was going to be a hard week.