Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ The Legend Of the Solar Whip ❯ Chapter one ( Chapter 1 )

The Legend Of the Solar Whip

By Wildfire
Chapter One

Sage sat in his dojo as Kento paced in front of him. Rowen sat in a corner, and Cye leaned against a wall. "Okay, let's just go! We're going to miss the MOVIE!" Kento said in an angry voice.

Cye looked at his watch. "We should give him five more minutes," Cye sighed.

"Why? He's not coming! This is the third time he has done this in a WEEK," Rowen said, looking up.

Sage looked up at Rowen. "Yeah, it's the third time, and he'll probably give us no reason of why he didn't show up."

"He never does!" Kento said as he stopped pacing and sat down. "All he says is 'Something just came up! Okay!' and then he just walks away!" Kento paused for a second. "You think he got a girlfriend?"

"I don't think so. I mean, if he got a girlfriend he'd tell us. And we'd probably never shut him up about it. No, this is something else." Rowen looked at Kento. "Maybe it's the Dynasty?"

"I doubt that. If the Dynasty was back he may try to keep it from us for a while, but not this long," Cye said, standing up. "Let's go! We've given him plenty of time." They nodded, then walked out the door.

*****

Two weeks later

Kento and Cye walked into a crowed lunchroom. Kento looked around and saw Sage and Rowen already eating their lunches. Cye and Kento got in the lunch line.

"Man, I thought that History class would never end!" Kento said as he grabbed a tray.

Cye laughed, "Yeah, well, looks to me like someone has a crush on you!" Cye said as he pointed to a girl that had short black hair and brown eyes; she was a little heavy but not bad. The girl was still staring at Kento.

"Go figure! A girl that likes me and not Sage." Kento shook his head and laughed. Cye's eyes narrowed. Kento turned around to see who he was looking at. Ryo walked through the doors with the rest of the soccer team behind him. "JERK," Kento spat.

"I don't know what happened to him! He used to be the coolest person I knew. Now it's like he... I don't think he would even care if the Dynasty attacked!" Cye said as he paid for the food.

"Oh, sure he would! I'm sure he'd love to go and become King of the Dynasty!" Kento started to walk towards the table. Cye rolled his eyes. Kento and Cye sat down; Sage looked up.

"Hey, Cye, do you have the homework assignment for Biology? I missed it," Sage said and took a bite of his apple.

"What, were the girls distracting you?" Cye said, and Sage blushed.

"Hey, did you guys hear that Ryo's going to quit soccer?" Rowen asked.

"No way! His life is soccer!" Kento said.

"It's true! Suey told me she was there when Ryo told the coach that this would be the last game he'd play," Cye said. "I guess everyone on his team is trying to make him change his mind."

"That makes no sense!" Kento said, plowing some more food in his mouth.

"You know what? I don't care! He can do whatever he wants, just as long as he stays away from me!" Sage said, then got up and threw away his remaining food and walked away.

"Damn! He always gets so mad when we talk about him." Kento didn't need to say who the 'him' was, they all knew.

*****

Ryo walked home slowly; his whole body hurt. He hadn't really played in the soccer game; in the beginning of the game he pretended he hurt his ankle and he sat out the rest of the game. The truth was his ankle was hurt, but not by soccer. Ryo looked at the house that was supposedly his 'home'. He shook his head; no, this was not his home, homes don't make you lose the best friends you ever had, homes don't make you quit at something you love more than anything. NO, this was not a home, it was just a lousy house! A house that he hated.

Ryo walked through the door as quietly as possible; he could see his foster mom asleep on the couch and there were a couple of beer cans laying around the couch. That was normal, but what scared him is he didn't see her boyfriend. That guy was always around, and for Ryo not to see him right away scared him. It meant that something was up, and he didn't want to be around to find out what. Ryo turned back around to leave, but right as he reached the door he heard two footsteps.

"Going somewhere? And without even saying hi." Ryo turned around to see Alen, his foster mom's boyfriend. "How rude! Maybe we should send you to that orphanage. You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

"Ahh, but honey, if we send him to that orphanage who would I practice my whip on?" Ryo whirled around to see that his foster mom had woken up. She went and stood next to Alen.

Man, they were a couple. Alen was a big man, he had quite a bit of muscle; Ryo also knew that he was great with a gun. He could probably shoot a bug off a moving truck. His foster mom on the other hand had ratty hair that Ryo guessed she hadn't brushed in her whole life. She was a short woman, and if you asked Ryo she had to be the ugliest woman he ever saw. He never got why Alen went for her. Not that he cared, anyway, cause as far as he cared they were both ugly.

His foster mom got closer to him. "You're going to be a good boy, right?" she asked. Ryo didn't respond, His foster mom's smile faded and she slapped him across the face. "Must we go through this AGAIN!" Ryo still remained silent. He would not give them the pleasure of his response.

"I guess that's a yes," Alen said, then grabbed Ryo and pushed him against the wall. "Take the position!" Ryo didn't move. Alen grumbled, then ripped Ryos' shirt off, revealing the many whip marks, bruises and cuts. He then put his arms on the wall. Ryo could hear movement and he just waited for the stinging blow. He heard Alen laugh, then a second later, he felt the sting of the whip as it made contact with his back. Ryo ground his teeth as more blows came one right after another. Ryo clenched his fists and slammed his eyes shut as his foster mom continued to torture him without mercy.

Ryo soon couldn't stand it and he started to cry out. This just made them laugh at him; tears ran from Ryo's eyes freely. Finally Ryo just couldn't stand up anymore, he fell to the ground.
Alen came over, grabbed his hair and hauled him back to his feet. "Stand straight, boy." Ryo tried to stand up straight but his back just hurt too much; Ryo fell again. Alen frowned and he pushed Ryo up against the wall and held him there. He started to dig his right elbow into Ryo's neck, then he took his left hand and started to scrape Ryo's already sore back with his nails. Ryo screamed in pain and tried to get away.

"Ahh, let him go!" Alen looked at Ryo's foster mom. He then looked back at Ryo who was trembling and crying. He scraped his nails into him one more time then threw him to the ground.

"No one has ever loved you! In fact, they all killed themselves just to get away from you! Or did you kill them? You're nothing! Just a spoiled BRAT! That gets more caring than he should ever have! ...Get out of my sight! I don't want to see your ugly face staring at me anymore."

Ryo scrambled up the stairs, and into his room. He feel to the ground in pain and anger! Oh how he wanted to just kill them both! But he hated the thought of maybe being sent to an orphanage! But was this worse? He thought back to the days in the orphanage; he knew that some orphanages weren't bad, but the one he was in was. No love, only yelling and screaming. He had just lost his grandma when he was sent there, the last person he could honestly call family. No one cared what it felt like, only what they wanted. No, he would never go back to an orphanage.

Ryo crawled over to his backpack. He pulled out a small, half-empty bag of chips. That was all he had anymore, a small bag of chips a day, half at lunch, half at night. Ryo felt the sticky red fluid running down his back. He knew his back was bleeding, but at the moment he didn't care. A tear ran down his face; it wasn't fair! He was always hungry, and in pain! It just wasn't fair!

*****

Sage sat on the living room couch, watching TV. For the past hour he had had this uneasy feeling that something wasn't right. He had been getting that feeling a lot lately. Sage jumped when his dad came bursting through the front door. "Sage, where's your mom?"

"Upstairs, she's folding laundry," Sage responded. Sage watched as he dad hurried up the stairs. Wonder what's up with him? Sage thought to himself, then just shrugged his shoulders and went back to the TV. The uneasy feeling he had was starting to fade away.

Sage watched a couple of shows. He was about to turn off the TV and head upstairs when his dad came downstairs. "Can I talk to you for a moment?" he asked Sage.

Ah. Oh, this can't be good. Wonder what I did this time? Sage sighed. "Sure, what's up?"

"Sage, what would you think if I had someone come and live with us for a while?" Sage's dad looked serious.

" 'Someone'? Who is someone? Is it male or female? Why do they need to stay here?" Sage asked his dad, being just as serious. This wasn't the first time his dad wanted someone to stay with them for a while. Every time someone came it ended in a big mess, and Sage usually got the worst of it.

"It's a girl; she's the same age as you. Someone found her in the woods and she has no clue who she is. All she knows is that her name is Chessica. I don't want to put her in an orphanage, not until we can find out something about her. And to tell you the truth, I don't really like dealing with Child Welfare anyway. They're a pain! So, how 'bout it?"

Sage sighed again. "All right! When will she be coming?"

"In about two weeks; they want to keep her at the police station for a while and make sure no one's after her. After all, she woke up with a pretty big bruise on her face."

Sage nodded his head. "What's she look like?" Sage said with a sly grin on his face. His father smiled and shook his head; Sage's father reached up and ruffled Sage's hair a little. Sage moved back a little. "HEY, not the hair." Sage and his father started laughing.

*****

Three days later

It was about ten at night. Ryo sat in a park next to a tree, holding his side. Ryo moved his hand a little so he could see the wound; his hand was covered in blood. Ryo grimaced, then put his hand back on the wound. He tried to sit up straighter and wished he hadn't, as his back started burning. He was always in pain now; she beat him every night. And every night it got worse, tonight was worse then anything he could have imagined.

It started with a normal whipping, then went to Alen scraping and tearing up his back. At that moment Ryo just couldn't take it anymore, he had fought back in anger. Alen pulled out a knife; he had slashed Ryo up his thigh. Ryo tried to get the knife out of Alen's hands, but he was too panicked to think right.

Alen had grabbed Ryo's wrist and twisted it behind his back. Ryo had screamed as he felt his wrist bone breaking. Ryo had tried to get away, but Alen threw the knife at Ryo and it slashed Ryo's side, making a deep gash in it. Ryo had run as fast as he could out the door. And he found himself in the park, looking at his wounds.

Ryo sighed again, then felt a wet nose nudge him in the face. Ryo looked at the tiger. "What am I gonna do, White Blaze? I can't go back! I thought about hiding in the woods till I'm eighteen, but now I need medical help! What if they put me in an orphanage? I don't think I could handle it!"

White Blaze roared softly and Ryo put his head on the tiger's neck. White Blaze roared again. "I know what you want me to do, boy. But how would I avoid Sage? And what if the guys are over? Then I'd never be able to avoid them." White Blaze brushed his head on Ryo's side, making him sit up. "What, you want me to tell them? No, I couldn't tell them, not that. It... I... they..." Ryo looked down. Ryo's eyes started to close. White Blaze roared at him again; Ryo jumped a little, then looked at White Blaze. "All right, I'll talk to Mr. Date, but that's it!"
Ryo slowly stood up, using White Blaze as a brace. It was hard to move his leg, and his side and back burned. His right arm was just numb. White Blaze crouched to the ground so Ryo could get on him easier; Ryo lifted his injured leg first. As soon as Ryo sat down, White Blaze got up slowly. White Blaze started walking slowly towards Sage's house; he wasn't going to risk the chance of Ryo falling off.

In about ten minutes, they were there. White Blaze laid on the ground again so Ryo could get off. Ryo hobbled to the door and rang the doorbell; no answer. He figured Sage's mom was at work since she was a doctor, and his grandfather probably went to BINGO, which meant everyone was in the dojo.

Ryo sighed and hobbled to the dojo, in the back. Ryo made himself walk straight and upright as he walked through the door. He heard Rowen's voice, whic meant the other guys were there as well. Ryo cursed to himself; there was no way he could get past them without one of them noticing. Oh well, it was none of their business any way. He tried to walk past the door as fast as possible. But it wasn't fast enough.

"RYO!" Cye shouted as he saw Ryo walk past. Sage and Kento stopped sparring. Ryo closed his eyes, waiting for Sage to kill him. Ryo tried to again stand up straighter. They knew he never slouched.

"WHAT! What are YOU doing in my house!" Sage yelled.

Ryo looked at him. "Your house is over there!" Ryo said, pointing with the arm he could use. "This dojo belongs to your parents! Why I'm here doesn't concern you!"

"You're not welcome here! Get out!" Sage said, pointing to the door.

"I'll be gone soon enough! I just need to talk to your father!"

"My FATHER is busy!" Sage said, taking a step forward.

Ryo calmed himself down; he couldn't keep standing like this much longer, he was starting to feel light-headed. "I just need to ask him a simple question and then I'll be gone! I'm guessing he's in his office?"

Sage gritted his teeth. "He's busy!"

"Thanks," Ryo said and continued walking. Sage started to go after him, but Kento stopped him.

"He's not worth it. Come on, let's not let him destroy this night. It was supposed to be fun!" Kento said, and Sage nodded

Ryo could hear them talking back there; his leg was stiff and felt like it was burning up. Ryo kept himself under control and knocked on the door; he heard Mr. Date say 'come in'. And he stepped through the door.

"What can I... RYO!? What are you doing here?" Mr. Date said, looking up.

Ryo swallowed. "Sir? Ah, I was wondering if... you could help me."

Sage's dad looked at him. "I'll do my best; what do you need?"

"Your word that you'll do everything in your power to keep me out of an orphanage!" Ryo said, looking in the older man's eyes. "Otherwise I'll just leave, and you can forget I was ever here."

Mr. Date, seeing that something was wrong, nodded and said, "I will do what ever I can, but Ryo, you must understand I have little power over Child Welfare."

"But you will try?"

"I will do my best; what can I do for you?" he asked.

Ryo turned towards the door; at first Mr. Date thought he was going to leave, but then Ryo awkwardly removed his shirt with one hand. Mr. Date gasped as he saw Ryo's back. It reminded him of raw meat! Mr. Date slowly touched Ryo's back; Ryo's muscles tensed but didn't move. Mr. Date frowned at this, he then noticed the deep gash in Ryo's side.

"Shit! Ryo, I'm guessing this was your foster mom's work." Then a thought crossed his mind; he turned Ryo around so he could see his eyes. "Ryo... she didn't do anything... else, did she?"

"No, nothing like that! I would rather die then let her do that! My ankle's swollen, and I have a gash on my thigh, and I can't move my right arm. But other than that I'm okay."

"OTHER THAN THAT! Ryo, you're beat from head to toe!" Mr. Date grabbed his handkerchief and put it against the wound on Ryo's side, trying to stop the bleeding.

"Please keep your voice down, I don't want the guys to know."

"Is that why you guys stopped being friends! Ryo, they have the right to know!" Mr. Date sighed. Mr. Date put a little more pressure on Ryo's side. "What's your address, Ryo?"

"What? Why?"

"Well, I need to arrest her! Was there anybody else?" Mr. Date asked

"No, her boyfriend was ten times worse than her but I'm sure he'll be there too. Ahh... 4842 Angle Street..."

"All right." Mr. Date let go of the handkerchief and picked up the phone, dialed some numbers, then waited a second. "Ah, yes, I need you to take a couple officers down to 4842 Angle Street. I need you to arrest two people, a..."

"Molly Kerfer, and Alen Beky. I think."

"Goes by the names Molly Kerfer, and Alen Beky. Being arrested for child abuse." Mr. Date looked at Ryo. "Lots of child abuse. I also need an officer and paramedic to come down here, NOW. Make sure the paramedic has all his supplies, he'll need it. ...Yes, the officer is to take notes, and his comments... all right, hurry up, I want those two arrested RIGHT away. Bye." Mr. Date hung up the phone.

"Thanks, ah, I guess I should be going." Ryo started to stand up

"You sit that butt back down! There's an officer coming to question you and a paramedic to clean you up some! AND don't you even think about leaving after that either; you're staying in the guest room!" Mr. Date said and gestured towards the house. He then looked at Ryo. "When was the last time you ate a good meal? You look starved."

"Ahh... good meal? I don't have much of an appetite anymore," Ryo said, looking down.

"That long, huh? Why don't you just rest for a while, I'll go in and get you some good food. What do you want?" Mr. Date asked, and Ryo looked up.

"Whatever you have will do. It doesn't matter." Ryo kept his head down.

"Okay, I'll be right back" Mr. Date started to walk towards the door. "Don't you move! And put your shirt on. And keep some pressure on the wound! I don't want you bleeding to death!" Mr. Date walked out the door and Ryo slowly slipped the shirt over his head.

A couple seconds after Mr. Date left, Sage came barging in. Rowen, Cye, and Kento came after him. "I want answers why are you here! And why did I hear my dad yell 'SHIT'? And then he yelled, what was it, oh yeah, 'other than that'. Why was he yelling, what's going on?"

"It's none of your business!" Ryo looked down. "Just... just leave me alone!" Ryo turned his head away from them.

"Now..."

Kento grabbed Sage's shoulder. Sage looked at Kento; Kento was shaking his head. A couple of seconds later, Ryo heard the door shut. He looked back to see that no one was there.

A couple of minutes later, Mr. Date walked back in with a plate. Ryo looked at the plate; it was nothing fancy, just a sandwich and some chips. But to Ryo, it looked great. Mr. Date handed him the plate. Ryo took it; he had a little problem eating since he was right-handed and he couldn't use his right arm. "Mr. Date? Ahh, I'd rather not stay here."

Mr. Date looked at Ryo and sighed. "Where do you want to stay, Ryo?"

Ryo looked down at his half-eaten food. "I don't know. I'd just rather not stay here."

"You really should tell them. I'm sure they'd forgive you for... whatever you did." Mr. Date put a hand on Ryo's shoulder

"That's the thing! I don't want them to be my friends again out of PITY, to feel like they should be. I want them to be my friends cause they want to be, and that's all," Ryo said, then picked up a chip. He started to eat it, but then put it back down. Mr. Date nodded his head.

*****

Sage and Kento were sparring in the dojo. Sage was fighting like crazy; Kento was just blocking, hoping to stay alive. "Sage, you're GONNA kill me!" Kento yelled as he ducked under Sage's blow.

"THAT JERK, thinks HE CAN JUST COME IN HERE! LIKE EVERYTHING IS STILL COOL!!" Sage swiped under Kento's legs, then did a high kick. Kento jumped backwards, eyes wide.

"Calm down! MAN, you're going to take my HEAD off! Jeeze, what did he do, anyway! I mean, we were all really mad at him for ditching us so many times, but you weren't until one day, and then you were just STEAMED, to say the least. What happened!"

Sage charged Kento "He's a JERK, that's what happened! HE SAID HE'D BE THERE!"

Kento stopped fighting. "Be where?" he asked, confused.

"I had a meeting with this kendo dude, I was supposed to bring someone else along so they could see me fight! Ryo said he'd come... he didn't! I lost it, it was for a full scholarship to any college that'd accept me! I also would've gotten to be this kendo champion thing and would have gotten a job and lots of money! But since he didn't show up some other dude got it! I mean, you should have seen this guy! MY little sister could've beaten him blindfolded. HELL, Kento, your little sister could've beaten him! IT WAS MINE! But he didn't show up, SO now I have to find another way to get through college! It's not fair!" Sage yelled and threw his weapon down.

"Damn, never thought Ryo would do that! Did you ask him why he didn't come?" Kento asked. Rowen and Cye both stood up.

"Yeah, and he said 'Something came up!' That's all he ever says! Then he walked away! LIKE IT WAS NOTHING!" Sage was about to keep going when he heard the dojo door open; a second later a police officer and a paramedic came rushing past them.

*****

Ryo sat in a chair as Mr. Date tried to get his side to stop bleeding; so far he wasn't having much luck. Ryo was starting to feel quite dizzy, and his face kept getting whiter and whiter. Mr. Date looked at Ryo, who was starting to shake. Mr. Date put a hand on his forehead; he sighed, "Ryo, how you feeling?" with concern in his voice.

Ryo looked at Mr. Date; his eyelids were heavy. He hoped that the guys didn't come in now, he would never be able to hide his pain. Ryo swallowed. "Pain," he said in a weak voice, then looked back down

Mr. Date nodded and half-smiled. "I was wondering when you would stop hiding it. When you get better you'll have to tell me how to hide pain like that!" A knock came at the door. Ryo prayed it wasn't the guys. Mr. Date looked at Ryo, then looked at the door. "Who is it?"

"Sir? It's Deb. Moree. You called for us?" came the voice through the door.

Mr. Date sighed, "Come in."

The door opened and in walked two men; one was wearing a cop outfit. The other was wearing plain white and carrying a bag. The man in white walked up to Ryo and knelt down in front of him. "So you're Ryo, huh?" The man looked in to Ryo's eyes and shook his head; he turned to Mr. Date. "His eyes are dilated." He turned back to Ryo. "I'm Tony; can you tell me where it hurts the most?" Mr. Date watched as Tony checked Ryo out. After a couple of minutes Tony stood up and walked over to Mr. Date. "I wanna take him to the hospital. Now don't get me wrong, he should be just fine, BUT he has lost a lot of blood. I'd rather be safe." Mr Date nodded.

"Sir, should I question him now or tomorrow?" the officer said, looking at Ryo; his face was extremely pale.

"No, we'll do it tomorrow." Mr. Date knelt down next to Ryo. "Ryo, we're going to take you to the hospital. You've lost a lot of blood and it looks like you're going to need to be stitched up. Okay?"

Ryo nodded weakly. Mr. Date gently brushed Ryo's hair away from his face. He hated to see things like this; out of all the people he had to deal with on his job, people who hurt kids were by far the hardest. Mr. Date stood up and faced the other cop. "Moree, I want you to go and make sure those two PEOPLE were arrested and locked up! Doctor Tony, could you get Ryo ready? I'll go get the car ready!"

The two other men nodded; Moree walked out the door and Mr. Date followed. Mr. Date sounded like Kento sparring. He turned back around and walked into the room they were walked quickly to the car; he was about to walk outside but then he heard Sage and what sparring in. "Hey, boys, having fun?"

Sage and Kento stopped sparring. "Dad? What's up?" Sage asked.

"Sage, I'm going to be going out for a while, I don't know when I'll be back. Do you want me to get you anything?" Mr. Date asked.

"No, we're cool. Dad, where are you going?" Sage asked, figuring it had something to do with Ryo.

"Just going out. Okay, well, I'll be back as soon as possible." Mr. Date turned to the other boys. "You boys feel free to help yourselves to anything you want. And Kento, do try to leave us a little food," Mr. Date said with a smile on his face. Kento put on a sheepish grin. Mr. Date walked out the door.

Sage frowned. "I hate it when he keeps secrets."

Rowen walked up. "It must be something pretty big," he sighed. "I hope Ryo's okay. He looked kinda pale." Rowen looked toward the office door. Sage glared at him. Rowen looked at him. "Come on, Sage! Sure, he's been a jerk lately, but if he's in trouble I'm going to help him! I mean, come on, SAGE. Think about how many times he saved your BUTT! And he's there whether he's mad at you or NOT!"

Sage looked down, a little ashamed. "You don't think it's too serious, do you?" Rowen shrugged his shoulders.

*****

Officer Moree ran up to Mr. Date's car. "Sir!" the officer yelled, waving his hands in the air.

"Moree, what's wrong? Why are you yelling at the top of your lungs?" Mr. Date asked, a little irrated. Moree was a new officer and always around him, asking how to be a good cop.

"Sir, we have a problem! That Alen guy that had been beating that boy is really Billy Black! And..."

"BILLY BLACK! THE MURDERER BILLY BLACK! The guy that we've been after for four months! THE guy that has killed four people? THAT BOY WAS IN THE SAME HOUSE AS THAT MAN!!"
"Yes, sir, he was, but that's not the bad part! He escaped! Officer Danler was shot in the leg."

"Rachel got shot? Is she all right?" Mr. Date asked, concerned; Rachel was one of the best cops he had.

"Yes, sir, she's at the hospital now. But, sir, Billy Black knows Ryo's here!"

Mr. Date looked at Moree. Mr. Date's face darkened. "What do you mean?"

"Well, when we were arresting the two he started yelling, 'It was the boy, wasn't it! You guys came too quickly! He has to be at the sheriff's house!' Then he got out of Rachel's grip, and before she could react he grabbed her gun and shot her in the leg. Then he must have had smoke bombs or something, 'cause they said the whole neighborhood filled with smoke. When it cleared he was gone."

Mr. Date sighed. "Go get the boy! I want him out of here NOW!" Mr. Date thought for a moment. "GO!" Mr. Date trotted back into the dojo. "SAGE!"

Sage appeared at the door. "What is it, Dad?"

"Sage, I want you and your friends to go stay somewhere else tonight. I want you to leave NOW!"

"Dad, what's wrong?" Sage asked, taking a step closer.

"Sage, please just do it! I want you out of here NOW!" With that, Mr. Date walked away, towards his office.

Sage shrugged his shoulders. "Any ideas?"

Kento took a step up. "You guys can come to my place. MY mom always complains that I don't have my friends over enough!"

"Kay, I guess I'll call my mom over there," Cye said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"My dad won't know the difference," Rowen said and started to collect his stuff.

Sage stood there for a minute. "Thanks, Kento," he said without moving. "I'm going to go get my stuff." Sage walked out of the room.

"He's pissed!" Rowen said, watching Sage.

"That would be an understatement!" Cye said and also started to collect his stuff.

Kento gathered his stuff, then stood by the door waiting for the others to finish. "Hey, guys, do you really think there is something wrong with Ryo?"

"Yeah, Kento, he's dying! How should we know?" Came Rowen's sarcastic remark, standing up.

"Dang, dude! Don't bite my head off!" Kento said, getting upset.

Cye stood up, seeing the start of a fight. "Come on, guys, let's NOT fight. We all are curious about Ryo! But fighting won't help! So just cool it. Let's just go wait outside for Sage? All right?" Cye looked at the two of them. Kento and Rowen had gone into a staring match, and neither planned on moving first.

*****

The doctor was trying to get Ryo up, but Ryo had just given up and was not in the mood to move. "Ryo?" the doctor asked. "Ryo, I know you're tired! But we need to get you into the car. Can you get up for me?" Ryo didn't respond; the doctor sighed.

Mr. Date walked through the door. "What's wrong?" he asked, seeing the doctors' face.
"I can't get him to stand up! He used all his strength trying to seem like he wasn't hurt. He's just too weak."

Mr. Date looked at Ryo. Ryo had his head down and was breathing in short breaths. His face had gone even paler, if that was possible. His side was still bleeding. Mr. Date sighed; there was no way Ryo was going to move. He walked over to him and picked him up. "Come on, we need to get out of here now!" Mr. Date walked quickly, stopping only a second to make sure that Sage and the others had left. He didn't want them here when that sicko might come this way. He loaded Ryo into the car. Mr. Date picked up the cell phone to call his wife, who worked at the hospital.

"Hello?" came the voice on the other line.

"Hey, hon, we have a little problem happening at home. I'm bringing Ryo to the hospital; it turns out he's been being beat! But..."

"WHAT! What do you mea Ryo's been being beat! Who would hurt him? He's such a sweet boy!" Mrs. Date yells over the phone.

Mr. Date held the phone away from his ear waiting a second to make sure she was done yelling. "Hon, they don't care how sweet these kids are! These people have serious problems! But Sage is going to go stay at one of his friends' houses! The people that beat Ryo got away... well, one did! But he's coming here! The girls are at their friends' houses as well!"

"That MONSTER is going to MY house? NO!" There was short pause on the phone. "How hurt is Ryo?"

Mr. Date sighed, "Pretty bad; he has a huge gash in his side, and it won't stop bleeding! He has other wounds on him as well. But don't worry, I have some cops coming there to watch the house. Our kids are safe! And I'm leaving now; we'll be down there as soon as possible. Kay? Look, I gotta go! Talk to you soon! ...Bye." Mr. Date hung up his cell phone.

Morrie came walking up. "Sir?" Morrie asked.

Mr. Date whirled around. "Morrie? I want you to take the doctor and meet us at the hospital! I'm going to go through the house and make sure everyone's gone." Morrie nodded and walked off to get the doctor. Mr. Date looked at Ryo, then ran into the house. He checked all the rooms in the house, then went to the dojo and checked all those rooms as well. Mr. Date went back to the car; Ryo was asleep. Mr. Date smiled weakly. He wished he could just say that Ryo was safe. But Ryo was far from safe!