Rekino was extremely angry at her brother and kept demanding to go back and finish off Mesu once and for all. Ryo himself was getting a headache from her constant shouting. and practically begged her to think about what she was doing.

“RYO, DAMN YOU!! YOU LET GO OF ME THIS INSTANT!! I WANT TO KICK MESU’S ASS!!”

“Rekino, stop it! You are too weak, and you are going to get yourself killed if you go back!” Ryo argued.

Rekino ignored him and turned to Blaze. “Open the gates!” she cried, struggling against Ryo. The wolf only stared back at her calmly as he sat there watching her struggle futilely against her brother. Finally he stood up and walked over to her, then he touched her forehead with his nose as the crystal around his neck glowed lightly. At once Rekino slumped over and appeared to be sleeping now.

Ryo’s eyes widen as he lifted his sister up more into his arms. He stared at the wolf who was walking away, then looked at Flash. “What did he just do?”

“He put her into a deep sleep. She won’t wake for a few hours at least. And when she does she’ll forget about wanting to come back here on her own,” Flash explained.

“Oh,” Ryo said. He’d have to find out more as it seemed confusing to him, but he would have to worry about that later. Right now, they needed to get home.

“Blaze!” Flash called. “Send us home!”

The wolf stopped and turned around and closed his eyes, concentrating as his crystal glowed brightly, enveloping them in its rays. In a blink of an eye, they disappeared.

By the time they all got home, they walked in to see Rowen and Rekino arguing at the top of their lungs. Everyone else was staring wide eyed at them, even though the Ronins and Lady Guardians were used to this sort of thing.. And it seemed neither one would back down either.

“Dang it, Rekino! You know you are too weak to go back and handle Mesu yourself!” Rowen argued. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?!”

“No, I’m not trying to get myself killed! I’m trying to protect all of you from getting killed!” Rekino stubbornly argued back.

“You act like we can’t defend ourselves either, Rekino! We are warriors just like you! We can fight as well! Damn it we’re a team! And teams work together!”

Rekino glared at him. “How can you yell at me, Rowen?! I care for you! You’re making this more difficult than it has to be!” Tears streamed down her face, but for once she didn’t care. She was tired, feeling neglected, and had so many mixed feelings she wasn’t sure what to do.

Rowen let out a long sigh. He really hated it when these fights happened.. What could he do to get Rekino to calm down? “Rekino, please listen to me..,” he began before she interrupted him.

“Rowen, I have cancer!” she screamed in frustration as everyone suddenly stared in shock. The whole room was in silent mode.. Not a muscle moved..

“Rekino.. what did you say?” Ryo asked as he refused to believe what he had just heard.

Rekino looked at them all, tears running down her cheeks. “I have cancer.. in my knee.. I never told you.. I didn’t want anyone feeling sorry for me.. I didn’t want to seem weak.”

Ryo held back his tears as he walked up to her and took her by the shoulders. “Rekka, you are never weak.. We would never think that of you.”

“He’s right, Rekino,” Hana said, trying to be helpful.

“Rekino.. I am so sorry!” Amaya said, tears glistening down her cheeks.

Rekino looked up at her friends. All of them had tears in their eyes, and Flash looked in shock. Only Thunder remained emotionless, but Rekino guessed he couldn’t shed tears. Then again she didn’t want him to. She didn’t want anyone feeling sorry for her.

“No,” she said.. “Please, don’t feel sorry for me. I’ve had for a long time.. I refuse to let it beat me.”

Josephine walked over to Rekino and brought her into a hug, "We won't let it beat you, Rekino. We'll fight this together. As a mighty force," She pulled away from her friend, who seemed to be crying harder, "Why are you crying?"

Rekino stepped back and looked at everyone, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys earlier. I was scared. I've had cancer since I was ten years old. I've never told anyone because of the fear of them neglecting me. I have cancer, that makes me different from everyone else," She turned to Rowen and looked at him with her teary eyes, "I'm sorry for fighting with you. You guys are the best thing that's ever happened to me, and I don't want to lose you to some freak who thinks he can take over the world."

"You'll never lose use, Rekino," Sage said, "I've always thought of you as a little sister. I'm sure the other guys do too. Well, except for Ryo and Rowen."

"So, don't sweat it. You'll be back to your old self in no time," Kento said in a jest voice.

"That's the thing," Rekino started. She wiped away her tears, "I'm scared of my 'old self'. I don't want anyone to know the real me. I'm not what I seem, and I can't take it anymore. I feel like I'm failing you and I don't know why. I always have this voice in the back you my head that tells me 'you're weak.' That's one of the main reasons why I push myself so hard. I don't want to be weak! I want to be strong, like you guys!"

"You're one of the strongest people I know, Rekino," Cye said. He looked at her with his sea blue eyes that were shimmering with tears, "Don't ever say you're weak because you're not. You have the blood of Hariel running through your veins. You're Ryo's sister for the love of the Gods!"

"STOP IT!" Rekino screamed and put her hands on her ears, "I don't want to hear it anymore. I'm weak! I'm a NOBODY! I'm nothing without my armor. If I didn't have Lady Wildfire, I'd be dead!"

Rowen wrapped his arms around Rekino, "Sweetheart, please, calm down. I love you_"

"No you don't! I'm nothing to any of you! I have no place in this world," Rekino pushed Rowen away and back up, "Just LEAVE ME ALONE!" She turned around and ran up the stairs into her bedroom. There, she jumped on her bed and cried into her pillow. She looked to her right and saw a picture of her and Rowen on the nightstand. She grabbed it. I'm so sorry Rowen. I didn't want to be this way. I didn't want to have cancer and be a freak. I wanted to be normal. Just like you.

Rekino held onto the picture as she continued to cry. She refused to talk or see anyone tonight. She would go to school on her own tomorrow. She didn't want to be by herself, but she was shutting herself from the world. The raven beauty cried herself to sleep that night, holding the picture of her and Rowen that was taken on the six-month anniversary.

The next morning, everyone, except Rekino, were already up and read to go to school by 7:15 A.M. Ryo and Rowen were currently at Rekino's door trying to get her up. She didn't even come out of her room that morning to run her daily five miles! Rowen had stayed up all night watching her door. He'd gotten a, minimum, of three hours of sleep.

"Open the door, Rekino!" Rowen said, "I need to talk to you!"

"Go away!"

"Sis, you're going to miss school," Ryo said sweetly. He knocked on her door. He didn't hear her respond. This was ticking him off, "Open the damn door, imotochan! Right now!"

"I said GO THE HELL AWAY!"

"Fine, so be it!" Ryo said and stomped away.

Rowen stayed behind. He was gong to get that door open, "Sweetheart, please, open the door. I want to see you. I don't like to see you hurting. Please, open to door," Rowen backed away when Rekino threw one of her lamps at the door and it shattered.

"I'm not going to say it again, Rowen," Rekino said through the door, "Get the HELL away from my ROOM! GO TO SCHOOL!"

Rowen held back his tears. He had never seen her this angry before. It was hurting him on the inside so much that he couldn't describe it. With a final decision, he pressed his lips onto the door, hoping that she knew he was there, "I love you," He said enough for her to hear. He walked away and met up with the others downstairs.

"How is she?" Flash asked.

"She still won't come out. I'm worried about her," Rowen said. He glanced at his watched, "We need to leave. She'll be here when we get home. I'll get that door open if it's the last thing I do."

"Alrighty then! Whatever you say, dude," Kento muttered and walked out the door. He climbed in Mia's jeep and waited for the others, "As much as I hate to say this, I'm ready to go."

"My God!" Josephine exclaimed as she was walking towards Hana's explorer, "Kento actually wants to go to school!"

Rowen walked over to his blue Eclipse Spider and opened the door. He looked towards Rekino's window. He's eyes were wide when he saw her dark, silhouette form standing there. He mouthed the three words she loved to hear and climbed inside his car. He followed the others out of the driveway and headed towards Hana High.

Once they were gone, Rekino unlocked her bedroom door and walked downstairs to get a drink of water. She already had on her school uniform and was ready to go to school. She didn't feel ready though. Her hair was a mess and she wasn't in the best physically or emotional state to leave the house. All throughout the night, she had been cutting herself. It was something she did when she was little. She had slash marks on her arm and thighs. The problem was that she didn't own a skirt long enough to, completely; cover up the ones on her legs. Her white blouse had

some bloodstains on it from the ones on her arms bleeding that morning. She didn't care.

Rekino grabbed her book bag and car keys. She unlocked the front door and locked it again once she was out of the house. She walked over to her red 4-runner and climbed in. She cranked up the SUV and drove off. She was ten minutes from being at school and late! She parked in the school parking lot and got out her of vehicle. She grabbed her things, locked her doors, and ran into the school. No one was in the halls. She went straight to her locker and opened it up. Rekino quickly stuffed her book bag in the rusty locker and grabbed her books before shutting it. She ran down the halls at full speed.

When she was ten seconds away from her first class, she stopped. Something had hit her. She had Honors English 11 with Hana, Honors History 11 and Honors Algebra III with Mia, and she had Business Computer with Josephine. To top it all off, she had lunch and weightlifting with the girls and guys, except for Ryo and Kento. The bad part was, she had English first period.

"Damnit!" She was late for class, which was something she never did. She was on the edge of a mental breakdown. She started to walk slowly to her class. She would make a scene when she walked in late. The teacher was going to berate her! There was no doubt in her mind that she would be the talk of the school today. Rekino didn't mind though. Just let them say something around the others. She made it to the door and grasped it tightly. With a sharp breath, she opened it and immediately regretted it. All eyes were on her. The teacher glared at her, angrily.

Rekino let her head fall. The teacher would start on her any minute now. She wanted to be at home. Oh yeah, this is going to be a great day!