End of Pain

Rowen was out of the hospital now. He was at the Koji mansion with Ryo, Sage, Cye, Kento, and Mia. It was pretty quiet now which was fine with him. Mia had placed him on the couch with plenty of pillows to keep him comfortable. And his friends let him have the TV, even Kento who usually tried to hog it.

Cye brought him some soda and a sandwich. "Here, you go, Rowen. Anything else I can get you?"

Rowen shook his head. "No thanks, Cye. And thank you." Cye nodded, then returned to the kitchen where he was helping Mia

Sage came to him, looking down concerned at him. "How ya feeling, Rowen?"

Rowen managed to smile. "I feel better actually. My head doesn’t even hurt."

Sage smiled. "That's good. You going to be able to come to school tomorrow?" he asked.

Rowen sighed. "I'd like to, but I don't know about Mia though. She might not let me."

Sage thought about that. "Yeah, she'd probably tie you down!"

That got them both to laugh, but Rowen had to stop as his head began to ache. Once he calmed down, the pain went away.

Eventually, Rowen fell asleep on the couch. Ryo turned down the TV so that it wouldn't disturb him, and the others just kept quiet. Even Yulie who had come over to play with White Blaze stayed quiet. They all wanted him to be fully rested. In his sleep, Rowen thought to himself that it was good to have friends like these.

Star was at home washing the supper dishes. She was alone, and wondering where Firestorm might have gone. All she said was that she was taking a walk and who knew when she would be back.

She rinsed off a plate and put it in the dish strainer. Her thoughts quickly turned to the blue haired teen who was in some of her classes.

She wondered about him. All she knew was his name, that he was incredibly smart, and that his best friend was the high school's flirting king. Other than that, she hardly knew him.

But I would like to get to know him, she thought as she rinsed off another plate. Question is how? He always acts like he has no time to associate with other people. But then again I could be wrong. Hm, maybe he's just shy. A lot of people tease him. Hump! They're just jealous because he's smart and they're not! I'd like to show them all a thing or two.

While she thought of the boy she finished the dishes, then thought she was done, until she saw more on the stove. She glared at them. Yuck. I hate doing dishes.

Firestorm was leaping over rocks and boulders along with her dog Shadow and her wolf hybrid Keisha. She was having a good time, and her pets were behaving themselves. Of course Shadow watched out for Keisha, never letting the year old pup get into mischief. For once Firestorm felt carefree and happy.

And then she noticed something. Several feet in front of her was a set of woods, but they were on fire! Oh no! The animals! She had to save them!

With a burst of speed she never knew she possessed she ran straight into the forest, with Shadow and Keisha chasing after her.

Firestorm did her best to save most of the animals. Some of the animals like the deer saw the dogs and ran away quickly away from the fire. Shadow and Keisha paid them no mind. They barked at Firestorm furiously, but she wasn't leaving until the animals were safe.

And then it was just her and her two dogs. She knew she was in danger now and that she would have to get Keisha, Shadow, and herself out of the burning woods before they were killed. But something caught her eye. She turned slowly toward her left, seeing a rainbow reflecting off the flames. It was so bizarre, so mesmerizing. She had to find out what it was. Gradually she walked over to it, heading straight for a tall maple tree that was surrounded by weeds. She knelt before the weeds, wondering in the back of her head why the heck was she doing this? She should be getting of out here! The flames and smoke were beginning to weigh heavily on her skin and lungs. But she reached through the weeds and felt her hands grasp something. She quickly pulled it out. An orb. A beautiful rainbow orb with some kind of Japanese word written on it. Honor.

Shadow barked loudly, getting her to come back to the world. She looked around and felt something tugging at her shirt. It was Keisha. The wolf hybrid was whining and looked scared. She quickly put the orb into her jeans pocket and ran for all she was worth.

Shadow and Keisha led her. They seemed to know the way to go and she trusted their instinct. In a matter of moments all three were safely out of the woods. Firestorm collapsed to her hands and knees, coughing up smoke and taking in fresh air like there was no tomorrow.

Shadow and Keisha licked her face worriedly. She smiled. "I'm fine you two. I just need to catch my breath."

The two dogs waited for her. Finally she felt better and rose to her feet. She started walking, slowly at first, until she had the strength to move faster. Shadow and Keisha kept up with her.

Once she reached the house, she stopped and turned around, seeing that the woods were completely back to normal. For some reason she wasn't frantic about it. She had seen stranger things than that before. She took the orb out of her jeans pocket and studied it. "Definitely weird," she thought. And with that she put it in back inside her pocket and walked into the house.

Star turned around the minute the door opened. Firestorm, Shadow, and Keisha walked in. The two animals quickly went to their water bowl and began lapping it up as quickly as they could. Firestorm immediately to the fridge and got herself a glass of mountain dew.

"So did you have fun on your walk?" Star asked her friend. Firestorm nodded while gulping down her drink. Star raised her eyebrows. "Thirsty?" Another nod.

Firestorm finished her drink and set the empty glass on the counter. "Much better," she said.

"What were you doing, roughing with the dogs again?"

"Nope. We were racing."

Star nodded, while Firestorm went into the living room. She sat on the couch and flipped on the TV. She thought about telling her friend what had happened, but then decided that Star would just think her imagination was overdoing it again. She would keep it to herself, for now. When she was ready she would tell her everything.

On Monday, Star sat bored in Science class. The teacher was writing vocabulary words down on the chalkboard, and the class was told to wait until all of them were written down, before they started their work. She yawned then glanced over at Firestorm who was drawing. She should be an artist, Star thought with another boring yawn. Firestorm was drawing an orca whale rising up out of the ocean and into the sun.

Man, hurry up, Mr. Lasio! Star thought. I'm gonna scream if I get any more bored. She looked down at her text book, then notebook. She really wished she would have brought something to do that day while they all waited for the teacher to tell them to begin.

The door opened. Rowen walked in, handed the teacher his medical excuse and then took his seat after the teacher had signed it, and recorded his name in the attendance record.

Star smiled inwardly as she glanced at him. Yay, he's finally back! I wonder where he's been for this whole entire weekend? I hope he wasn't too sick. I'd like to talk to him, but he always seems so busy, and besides he wouldn't be interested in me. Would he?

"Class, you may now copy the words from the board and write down their meanings. You have fifteen minutes exactly, so I suggest you start now."

The class began their work.

As Rowen wrote down the words and their meanings he felt as if he were being watched. He glanced out of the corner of his eye and found Mitch eyeing him. Oh great, he thought. Just what I needed. I no sooner come back, and already Mitch is making plans to jump me.

"Mr. Mitch, I suggest you get back to work," Mr. Lasio ordered. The dark purpled haired boy jumped and quickly got to work. Rowen knew that Mitch would want to fight him, and as far as he was concerned, Rowen wasn't in the mood to fight. He had better things to do.

Firestorm stared at the word on the board. Cytokinesis. Isn't that like telekinesis? she wondered, then looked the word up in her glossary book. Nope. 'The division of the cytoplasm following mitosis; from the Greek word Kyoto and kinesis, meaning a hollow and motion.' She wrote down the meaning and then yawned tiredly. After school was over she was taking a nap.

"Alright, class put down your pencils and turn to page 331." Mr. Lasio instructed. The class did as it was told. "Today we will study bacteria. Now can anyone tell me what a bacteria is?"

"It's bug that makes you sick," someone said. The teacher nodded. "Yes, this is true, but what else it? Can anyone explain?"

Star raised her hand, and the teacher acknowledged her. "It's a very tiny organism, so small it cannot be seen with the naked eye alone. There are many different kinds of bacteria, but only two types. There is the good bacteria, and there is the bad bacteria. It is actually a single cell, and they can live just about anywhere."

Mr. Lasio nodded. "Very good, Star Guardian. Yes, bacteria is many things. They have been around for billions of years, and is the most successful living organism to live on our planet. Let us go over the different types of bacteria. Can anyone tell me which bacteria causes skin infections and give its Scientific name?"

Rowen glanced around the room, waiting to see if anyone would raise their hand. No one did, so he raised his. "It's a spherical bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus."

"Very good, Rowen. Now what bacteria can infect the liver or the brain?"

A girl raised her hand. "It's a spiral bacteria, called Leptospira."

"Excellent, Hallia. Alright I want you to read pages 331 to 335, and answer the questions at the bottom of the page."

The class got to work. It was silent now, so Mr. Lasio took the time to do some work at his desk. Rowen finished his work rather quickly, then looked for something else to do.

Star was finding it very difficult to concentrate on her work. Everytime she glanced in Rowen's direction, her heart would pound madly. She tried not to look at him. But he was just so hot! she told herself. Oh, come on, he wouldn't be interested in you! Shut up! she told her evil consciousness. She returned to her work.

Ten minutes later the bell rang, and the students quickly said good-bye and left the class.

No sooner did Rowen walk out of the class room when Mitch came up to him. "So Mr. Genius is back, uh? You should have just stayed home with your daddy and all of your nerdy book, you geek!"

"Better to be smart than to be stupid," Rowen retorted.

Mitch's face turned red. "Are you calling me stupid?!"

"If the shoe fits." Before Rowen knew it, his body slammed against the locker. Pain shot through his head and he winced. Visions of his father beating him came to like a sudden downpour.

Mitch raised a fist while everyone crowded around, cheering them on. He went to punch Rowen, but his arm suddenly froze in mid-air. He tried yanking it free, but it was no use.

"Drop him," came a voice. Mitch obeyed then whirled around. "Well, if it isn't blond boy himself!" he sneered.

Sage stared at him with that one violet eye, cutting right into him. Mitch found it very hard to stare back.

"You better leave my friend alone," Sage warned calmly. "He has better things to do than waste his time with a punk like you."

Mitch snorted. "Ain't my fault he's such a geek and a half."

Sage narrowed his eyes, and then suddenly, lifted Mitch off his feet with one hand and threw him into an open locker, stuffing the boy inside. He quickly closed the door, then checked to make sure there was airway. He wanted to teach the jerk a lesson, not kill him.

Mitch pounded from the inside of the locker, screaming angrily. Sage ignored him, and all the kids who stood there with their mouths hanging open. He turned to Rowen.

"You OK?" he asked. Rowen nodded.

"Yeah, I just have a headache, that's all. I'll be fine. Thanks, Sage."

"No problem. Come on, let's go."

And the two Ronins walked off.

Firestorm glared at her locker. She was suppose to meet Star in five minutes, but her locker was being very stubborn today. She had it unlocked, it's just the stupid thing wouldn't open. And it was really beginning to tick her off.

"Come on you stupid locker! Open!" She kicked and punched at it, but it was still being stubborn. She was about to give up.

A fist suddenly reached over her and banged against the locker. She jumped when it suddenly opened.

"Having some trouble, I saw," came an English accent. She turned to her right, and there he stood. She froze, staring at him in shock. "I.... uh, thanks a lot."

He smiled and nodded. "Sure anytime. If I were I'd have the custodian check that out for you." He walked down the hall.

Firestorm watched him go, then began to grab her things. She mentally kicked herself. I'm such a baka! Why do I always freeze up when he's right in front of me? Why?!

Star was tapping her foot against the ground. Students passed her on both sides, heading in every direction, but there was no sign of Firestorm. "Where is she?" she muttered.

"Where's who?"

Star jumped, then whirled around. "Don't do that!" she scolded her friend.

"Sorry," Firestorm apologized.

"What took you so long anyway?" Star asked, as they started to walk.

"Oh, my locker was being evil. I think it was being possessed by a netherspirit."

"Netherspirit? What makes you say that?"

Firestorm paused, a look of confusion on her face. "I... I don't know. What the heck is a netherspirit?"

"Beats me," Star said with a shrug. "Let's just go."

Ryo watched the two girls walk off. He stared after Firestorm. He found it very strange that she would know something about netherspirits, but she also seemed to be confused by what she said. He didn't know how, but he knew there was something special about those two girls. I'm going to keep my eye on them, he thought. The others came not long after that, and they began their walk home.

"You threw him in the locker?!" Kento asked in surprise ten minutes later.

"That's what Sage just said, Kento," Cye said with a smile. Sage and Rowen had just told them what had happened after 7th period, before the last bell had rang.

"I wonder if he's still stuck in there," Ryo said.

"He deserves what came to him," Sage said emotionlessly. "I'm tired of that jerk picking on everybody and acting like he's Mr. Bad Ass all the time. Someone has to teach him a lesson. Ever notice he only picks on the smart and smaller kids?"

Ryo nodded, and Cye said, "He picked on me lots of time, until I got fed up and busted his lip. That was what, two months ago? And Kento told him if he even dared tried to jump me, Mitch wouldn't ever walk again. I've had no problems since then."

"Well, we all know that Mitch hates me," Rowen said lamely.

"He better lay off you," Ryo said firmly. "I'm not as gentle as Sage."

Rowen nodded. The group came to a stop in front of a large brick house. Kento waved at them. "I'll see you guys later! Cye, don't forget to ask, K?" Cye nodded, watching his best friend climb the steps and go inside the house.

"Don't forget to ask what?" Ryo asked Cye.

"Oh, he wants me to ask my mom, if he can come with me when I fly to England when my sister has her baby. He wants to start saving and planning."

"Planning?" Sage said in shock.

"Are you sure that's Kento?" Rowen asked.

Cye shrugged with a smile. The next stop was Sage's. He waved good-bye to his friends and went inside the two story white home.

Ryo, Cye, and Rowen walked on. Rowen did not want to go home, but he had no choice. His father had told him that if he didn't come home, he sending the cops after him, and if had to do that Rowen was seriously going to get it.

The Koji mansion came into view. Cye turned to look at him. "Rowen, do you want to come in?" he asked.

Rowen wanted to say, last one is a rotten egg, but he shook his head. "No. I... I can't. I have to go. See you guys later." He quickly walked off.

The two boys watched him go. They glanced at each other. "It's his choice, Cye. Come on, let's go."

Rowen was almost home. He saw the red house standing there on the corner, and headed for it. He opened the door and went inside, and shut it behind him. He looked around, then stepped over a few beer bottles. The house stunk. He saw the ashtray was full of cigarettes, the trash needed to be take out. There was a wet spot in the middle of the carpeting, beer probably.

He went through the house. He kept silent, fearing his father would come after him if he heard him. But the house was empty. Rowen let out a sigh of relief, and laid his backpack on his bed. He went to the kitchen and grabbed a new garbage bag, and changed the one in the living room. He threw all the empty beer bottles away, and poured the ones that were half full down the drain. He emptied the ashtrays, wrinkling his nose in disgust. He found something to scrub up that wet spot, then changed the garbage in the kitchen. He took the trash outside, then returned to cleaning the house. It was two hours before the house was finally clean. Rowen collapsed on his bed and fell asleep. Thank goodness he had no homework.

Star was walking through a dirt road that went straight through a meadow of some sort. Flowers danced in the night, and the stars shone forth their brilliance. It was completely quiet all around.

Where am I? she wondered as she walked on. Nothing looked familiar. The sky took on a pinkish color as the clouds began to build up. She was sure it was going to rain and she wanted to get home before she did. But which way was home? The clouds quickly turned to a light purple as some kind of light streaked through. She felt something smack her on her head.

"OW!" she cried, raised her hand to her head. Something smacked down into her palm and she stared at it. It was a light purple orb with the Japanese symbol for love.

Star sat up in bed, with a surprised look on her face. She took a deep breath and then let out slowly. It was just a dream, she told herself. She felt something in her left hand and opened. There was the orb. She stared down at it in complete shock. This was just getting weirder and weirder.