Mia sighed and rubbed her temples. She could not count the number of times she had done research on this computer. Every time a strange incident came up, she was always inserting one of her grandfather’s disks into the computer and cracking code after code just to access it. Though she would never voice her feelings, Mia was getting tired of all this research.

She knew that Ryo had his heart set on finding out about this person who had pyrokinesis, but what if her grandfather had nothing on it? What would she tell him then? If she knew Ryo, he’d want to go to the States and begin an immediate search for the person.

But where exactly to start? With limited information to go by, she could barely scratch the surface of this mystery. And she knew her grandfather had never spoken about anyone with special abilities, rather than the Ronin Warriors and the Warlords. Was something amiss here? She didn’t know, but it would be great to find out. She was curious herself, but she felt as if she was getting nowhere.

Letting a sigh out she exited out of the program she was using and ejected the data disk. It was too bad her grandfather wasn’t alive. She could have informed him about what Ryo had seen on the news. But then.. what if her grandfather was just as shocked as she was?

Rising from her chair she debated for several moments. Should she go to the university and ask questions there? Surely there could be another professor who would know about this. But then, what if there wasn’t? None of the other professors had even mentioned anyone with pyrokinesis. In fact they might not even believed it existed. Sighing to herself, she shut her computer down and wandered back into the living room where she sat down on the sofa, contemplating. Perhaps she would truly make no discoveries this time.

But what would she tell Ryo? She did not wish to disappoint him. If only there was a way. A sound caught her ear and she raised her head slightly over her shoulder. Sage was coming down the stairs, seemingly lost in thought and looking slightly perturbed by something. She was silent for a while as he sat on the couch across from her, one arm resting on the arm of the couch, his hand propping his head.

Mia frowned in concentration. Of all the Ronins, Sage was the most mysterious. She barely knew his enjoyments other than meditation and Kendo. Often he kept to himself except when there was a meal or training or an outing. But she could tell something was bothering him. His behavior at the moment wasn’t conventional.

She finally decided to speak. “Sage?” He lifted his head to give her his full attention. “Is something wrong?”

Sage shifted a little and let a small sigh as he did not answer right away. He thought back to what he had seen during his vision. He knew there was no mistaking it. But what would the consequences be if informed to anyone? Yet, it would be most likely be crucial he did come forth. Sitting up straight now, he opened his mouth. “Mia, I know more about what happened in America than anyone else does. And probably too much.”

He had her full attention now. Was this the answer she was seeking? She remained calm on the outside, though on the inside her mind was racing. She hoped she would remember everything he was about to speak and cursed at herself for not having a notepad and pen at the ready.

“Today at the dojo a vision came to me. I could see the Jelly Bean Factory. There was a man and a girl, both discussing about something in the man’s office. The subject came up concerning a new ingredient.. I could hear the word poison and medicine and money. The girl was arguing with him, but her words got nowhere with the man. She left the building. Mia, when this girl stopped and faced the building. Never before have I seen that much rage on anyone’s face, other than Ryo and perhaps Talpa. At the same time she stared back at the factory it suddenly exploded into flames.”

Mia’s eyes were wide and her hand was to her mouth. She could feel her heart racing faster and faster with excitement and disbelief. Truly Sage had seen a remarkable, yet horrible event. If the girl truly had exploded the Jelly Bean Factory using total mind power, then there was a good excuse. Perhaps she had saved a lot of heartache if poison was to be used.

“Sage, I’m glad you told me,” Mia said when she was finally able to calm down. “This helps somewhat, but I wish we had a name for this girl. At least we do know it’s a girl, though.”

Sage nodded his head as he brought his knees up to his chin. A thoughtful look was upon his face. “If only we knew her name.”

Mia thought about that herself and wondered the possibility. What chances did they have in finding out a name? It was possible the girl kept herself hidden and did not tell anyone what power she had, for her own protection. But still…. “Is there a way we could find out?”

Sage shifted as he smoothed down his jeans and then slowly lifted his eyes to see her. “I could try meditating to see if I can find out. But there are no guarantees.”

Mia nodded as she rose from her sitting position. “It’s a start at least. I better go put some fresh tea on. Would you like some?”

“Yes, thank you.”

Mia nodded and walked toward the kitchen as Sage remained where he was. He frowned deeply. If this girl was not found, what trouble if any, could arise? He had a feeling this was going to be quite an adventure, and no doubt a frustrating one.

By the time Rowen had gotten off the phone, he decided to head to the library. He wanted to see if he could view the microfilm and see if anything came up from San Francisco, California. He did want to help Ryo, but curiosity played a part in it as well. He had never known anyone with pyrokinesis before. Ryo had fire power, but could not call it forth until he was in his full Wildfire or Inferno armor.

Reaching the Toyama University, he went inside and headed directly to the library section. Going over to the desk, he informed the Librarian what he needed and immediately gave his ID and library card to her. He had to sign a form, and then was led to the back room. Thanking her, he took the seat at the microfilm and began to fiddle with it until it finally came on.

Scrolling through several sections, his eyes kept a sharp look out for fires. He came across several. Chicago Apartment building fire: deaths 23... Cause: faulty wiring. Japanese lab explosion.. German tank exploding… and so forth. He did not give up, but kept himself seated, continuously scrolling. Then his eyes viewed a burning house. He read the description underneath the picture.

Rowen came to the end and studied the photograph. The fire was huge and thick black smoke can be seen coming from it as it rose into the air and darkened the sky. Could this be what he was looking for? He quickly decided to print it out. After doing so, he fished in his pocket for a nickel and shut down the microfilm, and then headed back to the circulation desk. He showed his print and paid for it, and was handed back his ID and library card.

“Thank you,” he said graciously as he took them.

“You’re welcome. Have a good day,” the Librarian replied in monotone.

Rowen quickly left and headed for home. Along the way, he wondered if he had found what they had been searching for. It seemed fitting that the house fire on Baker street could have been caused by pyrokinesis, as no other cause could explain it. Could this truly be the girl they were looking for? He could only hope he was right.

Reaching home he quickly entered inside and found Sage and Mia sipping tea. “Hey, where’s Ryo?”

“He was in the kitchen earlier,” Mia replied. “But I think he went upstairs.”

Rowen nodded and immediately headed up the stairs, carrying the printout. He could barely contain his excitement as he thought about what he had discovered. He was almost positive this was the one who had the pyrokinesis and the same one who caused the destruction of the Jelly Bean Factory.

He passed Cye’s and Kento’s room and went directly to Ryo’s. Looking into the open room he smiled upon seeing Ryo and White Blaze playing tug-o-war with one of Ryo’s old shirts. It was easy to tell who would win. Ryo was strong, but the tiger was powerful. Already his strong jaws were tearing the fabric.

He cleared his throat and got their attention immediately. Ryo’s face was somewhat flushed as if he had been doing this for a while. He smiled upon seeing Rowen. “Hey, Rowen, what’s up?”

“This,” Rowen replied as he walked into the room, holding the printout up. He handed it to Ryo and stood there in silence as the other teen looked over it.

Ryo’s eyes widen as he looked at the photo, then read the description. A strange feeling came over him and he felt almost the same way he had earlier while playing soccer. He looked at Rowen and found the same serious expression in his face as before. “Do you think it could be possible?” Ryo asked him.

“I don’t see why not, buddy. I thought it was rather strange myself.” Rowen looked toward the printout again as Ryo looked down at it once again. “What are you going to do about it?”

“Show the others and see if they think as we do,” Ryo replied. He turned to look at his tiger. “Come on, White Blaze.”

The tiger followed after the two Ronins as they exited from Ryo’s room. Coming to the next bedroom, Ryo tapped on the door and called through it. “Hey, Kento! Cye!”

A second later, the door opened and Kento stuck his head out. “What’s up, man?

“Kento, Rowen’s found some things out about the one who may have caused that fire earlier,” Ryo explained, as Cye came and stood behind Kento. “We’re going downstairs to discuss it with Sage and Mia.”

“Well, let’s go then,” Cye said as he and Kento stepped through the door. The four Ronins headed downstairs and found Mia and Sage sitting in their respective spots. Seeing the news article in Ryo’s hand, Sage raised his eyebrows. “Ryo, what’s that?”

Ryo once again explained and laid the article upon the coffee table. Now they all had a decent look at it. Mia studied the little girl’s face and frowned. Could this be the same girl Sage had seen earlier that day?

“I really do believe this is the one who has the pyrokinesis,” Rowen said as he sat down next to Mia. “Now whether or not she’s still alive, or even still has this power remains to be seen.”

Sage was quiet at first, but something was nagging at him. He stared at the photo in the article, his heart pulsing, and feeling as if he were in a haze. Scrutinizing the little girl’s face he saw the familiarity. He looked up. “I know this is the girl,” he said at last.

He had the full attention of everyone now. It was known by all of them that Sage was capable of extraordinary things, which have helped the Ronins in the past. Case in point, the encounter of Dais fooling them into fighting one another.

Ryo came closer to Sage and sat beside him. “Sage, you had a vision, didn’t you?” he asked.

Sage nodded and Ryo prodded him on. Sage began to describe what he had seen and their eyes widened, specifically; Ryo’s. When he had finished, he took up his tea and took a few sips of it.

“What do you think, Ryo?” Cye asked as he looked at him.

“I believe it all matches,” Ryo said. “And if the Jelly Bean factory did want to poison the people to make people buy a new drug made from pharmacists, then we should perhaps investigate the matter.”

“What if the girl is in danger from doing what she did?” Kento asked, his voice laced with concern. “Someone could have found out about her. So we can‘t leave her there in America. And even if she does have pyrokinesis, that doesn‘t make her invincible.”

“Kento has a point,” Rowen said as he pressed his hand to his chin in deep thought.

What could they do about it though? They knew they could not stay here and not do anything, but yet could they go there, even with classes? But then, were their classes more important than a life?

“You know,” Mia said, “what if a couple of you went to America? Ryo, you could go, because your element would be attracted to her power.”

“Mia’s right,” Rowen said as he looked at Ryo again. “Your Wildfire armor may react when near her. If I’m thinking correctly, the girl’s normal body temperature would be higher than a normal human being’s because of the pyrokinesis.”

Cye winced. “I cannot even began to think what that must feel like, especially in the summer time.”

“Heh, think of it this way, dude, she may not freeze in the winter time,” Kento said with a grin.

Ryo nodded in response to Mia. “It’ll take a few strings to pull, but I can do it. He turned to look at Sage. “Sage, you know better than us at what she looks like now. Would you come with me?”

Sage nodded his head. “I’ll come, but I’ll have to let my parents and instructors know.”

“I’ll see about getting plane tickets ordered for you two,” Rowen said as he stood up. “How soon did you want to leave?”

“As soon as possible,” Ryo said as he stood up as well and headed for the phone. He would have to make several calls before leaving to San Francisco.

Rowen nodded and promised he would do what he could and immediately headed up the stairs to his own computer. Entering his room he sat down at his desk and turned his computer on, then logged onto the internet. Going immediately to he entered the departure and destination, the date for leaving, and how many were going. A few seconds later, he was awarded with the listings for flight departures. He studied the details and found a flight going from Toyama to San Francisco itself in two days. Other than that, no other flights were available. Clicking on that flight, he took out the Ronins’ emergency credit card and entered the account number to pay for the tickets. Upon doing so, he was given instructions to print out the receipt with the information on it, and did so when prompted.

He studied the receipt in his hand, and immediately headed out of his room and downstairs. He had a feeling that this trip would be quite an experience for Ryo and Sage and he hoped nothing bad would happen to them. At least this time, neither were going alone.