Vamps and Ronins

Chapter Thirteen: Many Smiles and Many Laughs to All

Written by: Tiasha

~

Put a smile on your face

Make the world a better place

Put a smile on your face

[watcha gonna do watcha gonna do]

Vitamin C, "Smile"

~

Robyn crossed her arms and rolled her eyes as Kento and Rowen argued over what movie to see, Cye and Ryo throwing in comments about a movie here and there, Sage calmly watching the 'discussion' with a raised eyebrow, Cody smiling in amusement and Mariko brooding over her work no doubt. Both Cody and herself had insisted, well, more like pestered, Mariko to come with them to the movies and afterwards the mall. To Robyn it seemed extremely hypocritical of Mariko to suggest a free day to everyone and then go stare at her laptop for hours on end going over information; furthermore, Robyn was not about to let Mariko be hypocritical.

But beside that, Robyn secretly wanted the female companionship of both twins. While she loved the time and company of the others…it just wasn't the same. Not only that, but Cody could 'protect' her from any comments Rowen happened to throw at her, and Mariko's humor would counteract any arguments; that is if Mariko would discontinue worrying about her work.

"Does anyone care to know what I would like to see?" Robyn asked in an exasperated tone, catching the attention of the arguing group.

"Oh please, grace us with the knowledge of what you want to see," Rowen quipped in a sarcastic manner.

The young redhead's face brightened immediately as she exclaimed, "Lilo and Stitch!"

Rowen gave her an odd look, "A Disney movie?"

Robyn nodded her head rapidly, "Yep! The alien is so cute!"

"How about no."

Her face fell slightly, "Why not?"

"I am not going to see a kid's movie."

Cody coughed and muttered under breath, "Says he who has every Disney movie under his bed…"

Rowen turned and glared at the younger twin. "What was that Witch-Doctor?" he shouted at an unsurprised Cody. She smiled sweetly at him as he waited for her to answer.

"You just seem like a Disney-loving kind of guy," she replied contritely, despite the satisfied smirk on her face.

"I what?"

"You do!"

Rowen stared at the youngest twin in something akin to mortification. Mariko chuckled, now taking interest in the situation, before she cleared her throat and suggesting that perhaps Robyn could think of another movie to see. Robyn thought for a moment and then smiled in triumph.

"That new MIB movie!" she exclaimed with enthusiasm. "It supposed to be just as funny as the first one."

No one argued with her suggestion and so the decision was made to see the second Men In Black movie.

---

It was mid-afternoon and having finished the movie not long ago, the group of eight wandered leisurely around the mall. They were currently in a Natural Wonders store where many members of the group were playing with the toys. Mariko, Cody and Robyn were entertaining themselves with ribbon wands while Cye was looking through some Sea Life material and objects, with Kento and Ryo playing with some yo-yos; Rowen was off somewhere else in the store, which left Sage to himself.

Sage merely watched the minor mayhem in a practiced patience and slight amusement. He allowed his gaze to wander over the store and his friends, lingering a bit longer on Robyn as she twirled the ribbon wand in pure delight. A ghost of a smile appeared on his face as he watched Robyn struggle to untangle her now tangled ribbon, a small, childish frown expressed upon her delicate features. She could act like a true child, finding amusement in the simplest of things, and yet, at the same time she took all of life's cruelty by the hand with a calmness and bravery even he envied.

Robyn, having now lost interest in her tangled ribbon wand, moved to look at the stuffed animals, squealing softly in glee as she hugged a cheetah doll. She turned and bounded towards Cye, stopping in front of him with a pleading look.

Cye looked at her pleading face, and then at the cheetah doll she had glomped in her arms before shaking his head. "No, I'm not buying it," he refused, ignoring the pout that appeared on her face.

"Aw, but Cye-kun, this is as close to a cat as I'm going to get!" she whined, glomping the doll harder.

"Which is exactly why you can get it yourself."

Any protest Robyn was going to make was forgotten momentarily as a shirt was placed in front of her. She frowned, not being able to read the writing upside down. Everyone began to laugh upon reading the phrase on the shirt and Robyn huffed in annoyance.

"What? What's it say?" she asked, attempting to read the writing and failing again.

"It suits you!" Rowen announced from behind her and Robyn realized that it was he who was holding the shirt.

"Rowen! What does it say!" she growled, futilely trying to read the shirt once more.

"-Be Patient: I'm Still Evolving-" Cody read aloud in between bouts of laughter.

Robyn frowned, her expression relaying that she did not find it AS funny as everyone else; therefore, she promptly turned and whacked the blue-haired youth on the head with the cheetah doll, disregarding his protests of being mistreated. Robyn again whacked Rowen on the head, just for good measure she assured him when he asked why he was getting hit for not doing anything wrong.

Having decided NOT to get the stuffed animal, Robyn lingered behind the others as they made their way to leave the store. She paused upon seeing an opportunity for payback. She picked up the purple astronomy shirt and cleared her throat, calling out, "Hey Rowen! This is perfect for you! It's got all of you star and spacey stuff AND it's purple! Only special guys can wear purple!"

That comment earned her a few chuckles as Rowen, not about to be beat at his own game, coolly walked over to her and took the shirt. He looked at it in a considering manner before holding it up to him and proudly agreeing with her. Robyn bit her bottom lip to keep from laughing aloud, but at the same time staring at him disbelief as he bought the shirt.

"What?" he asked her, "I don't see the big deal. You're the one who has reiterated the fact that you're a lesbian."

Robyn rolled her eyes, "Yeah and that's why I've turned down every come-on you've made when we're alone."

Attention was suddenly drawn to Sage as he seemed to choke down a laugh.

"What's the matter Sage? If you're laughing about that -night- then why don't you say so?" Rowen baited, wondering if any of the others would catch the way he had stressed 'night.'

"So you two are gay," Cody concluded with a smirk.

"Actually we're talking about a gay dinner we had," Robyn informed the younger twin, then clamped a hand over her mouth, muttering 'Oops.'

"Gay?" Ryo questioned.

"Gay as in happy!" Robyn protested loudly.

"Man, my best buds and I didn't even know," Kento teased, smiling as Sage turned and glared at him.

"None of us are gay, Kento," the bearer of Halo said with such finality that none dared comment or contradict him, save for one.

Mariko grinned evilly upon seeing an opening and Cody muttered a small prayer of protection for her elder sister.

"Oh really. So how would you know? Has Robyn proved differently to you on an intimate level?" the elder twin goaded, not allowing herself to be intimidated by the death-glare that was shot in her direction. Robyn squeaked in response to the suggestion Mariko had just made but no one else dared to gain Sage's attention as he and Mariko glared/stared at each other. Finally, Sage turned and left the store.

As soon as he was out of earshot range, Cody commented, "I guess that means no threesome for you all tonight."

Rowen smiled a Cheshire grin as they all left the store. "You know Cody, we could always make it a foursome. You in?" he offered in a joking manner, raising an eyebrow in expectance of an answer.

Cody took the offer into deep consideration and Robyn anxiously awaited her answer for she sensed that Cody was about to land a blow that was sure to shut Rowen up for at least ten minutes straight. Cody smiled sadly and shook her head, tsking at the thought of her joining to create a foursome.

"Sorry," she began, shoving her hands into her jean skirt pockets, "but if I did join you guys, you all wouldn't last very long, not even ten minutes," she paused and glanced at Rowen, shrugging her shoulders, "or at least you wouldn't."

Robyn smiled in delight as Rowen was stunned into silence, a smile stain of color spreading across his face. Robyn patted his shoulder, continuing to smile at his bruised ego.

"Does anyone know where Sage went?" Ryo asked, attempting to change the subject. They all glanced around them but found no trace of their blond friend.

"I guess I really ticked him off," Mariko brooded quietly, but then smiled. "That was fun. I'm gonna do it again!"

They all watched in disbelief as the bearer of Phoenix bounded off into the small crowd of shoppers.

Cye shook his head and looked at Cody, "You're sister is crazy."

Cody nodded in agreement. "I know…" she sighed in exasperation, "actually, she just enjoys flaunting Death."

"Yeah but the only way to piss Sage off even more is if she-" Kento trailed off an enraged voice echoed throughout the mall.

"Leave me alone!" and Robyn realized that the voice sounded very much like Sage's.

Her eyebrows disappeared into her hairline, "There is no way that that was-"

"Yep, it was."

"But…I can't believe-"

"Believe it love," Cye said, shaking his head.

Mariko appeared suddenly and dodged behind Cody, an evil grin present on her face. She peeked over her younger sister's shoulder and sighed, placing her head on Cody's shoulder. Cody gave her sister a raspberry before declaring her an idiot.

"What did you do to him?" Robyn asked incredulously.

Mariko beamed, "What is the one thing blondie can't stand to have happen?"

"You messed up his hair?!"

Mariko nodded, "He's in the bathroom now…I think."

"You are cruel!" Cody laughed, shoving her sister's head off her shoulder. Mariko just shrugged her shoulders and smirked.

"Nah, I just like to annoy the blond one," she said, smiling in triumph.

"Really? What happened to you just annoying me?" an unfamiliar male voice questioned, or at least unfamiliar to the majority of the group.

The voice belonged to a young man in his early twenties who had dark brown, spiky hair that barely fell into his pristine blue eyes. He was medium built and accompanied by another young man in his mid-twenties who had very much the same build and appearance, only he had sandy-blond hair instead of brown.

"Jon!" both Mariko and Cody squealed, rushing to greet him. He warmly hugged each girl and causally draped an arm around them, eyeing the rest of the group.

"They look familiar," he announced, seeming somewhat clueless as to where he'd seen them.

Mariko rolled her eyes, "I didn't think you'd taken time to notice we were there, what with you hangin' all over your date and all last night."

"Don't get me started on the fact that he's my significant other!" the young man, Jon, quipped at Mariko.

She merely frowned and crossed her arms, turning her head away defiantly, "Hey, I agreed not to do anything about the two of you being together, but I still don't approve of him."

Cody, meanwhile, had been slowly moving her arm to poke Jon in the side and had just barely succeeded when the latter asked to be introduced to the rest of the group. Snapping her fingers, she poked him anyway and was rewarded with a squawk from the young man as he desperately shied out of harm's way, which meant he moved to the other side of Mariko.

"This is Jon," Mariko introduced, pointedly ignoring her sister and friend's antics. "He works at that club we went to last night, but is clueless to everything that's going on. He also is studying to become a choir teacher with a major in music, obviously."

Robyn had noticed the guys tense up when Mariko had mentioned the young man's job at the club and she groaned inwardly. Perhaps she could show them that not everyone was out to get her.

"Hi, I'm Robyn," she said, extending her hand to Jon. "It's nice to meet you."

Jon shook her hand and greeted the others politely, but quickly turned his attention to his companion who had tried to make himself into a wallflower.

"This is Jayzen. He just moved to the area and is finishing up college here. He's an English and music major."

The young man introduced as Jayzen, politely shook each of the guys' hand in greeting, before respectfully kissing the back of each of the ladies'. Cody made the smart-ass remark of how Jayzen was a true gentleman. Robyn however, was very much drawn to the young man's features and keenly interested in the fact that his majors were the same as what she wanted to major in.

"English and music? Maybe you could give me some tips on what to take in college next year," Robyn said, smiling as he agreed. She was not just happy now, she was extremely happy. She had an exceptionally attractive guy agreeing to help her with college applications and he was interested in the same fields of study as she was. Could her luck get any better?

Robyn felt that nothing could bring her good mood down now and so she smiled, barely noticing that Sage had mysteriously joined them again. Today, she decided, still smiling, was a good day. And because of this, she hardly noticed the hard look Sage was giving Jayzen, nor did she notice the pairs of gold and red eyes watching her intently form the other side of the mall.

---

"You should inform them of the new armor-bearer," the owner of the red eyes said softly, watching the young redhead and her friends carefully.

"Why don't you?" the companion of the other person asked.

"Because, I will be busy training the boy. He needs a female figurehead at the moment, not a male."

"And just how would you know this? See it in a cloud of smoke?"

The pair of red eyes narrowed in annoyance, "You would not joke so if it was Gaea or Phoenix doing the readings." This silenced the companion. "He has just left his mother, whom he loved and cared for deeply. His father was…abusive."

The companion nodded in understanding, "I'll mention the boy to Mariko."

"Good, thank you. Now, do you have any idea who the young man is?"

"That's Jon, a friend of Mariko and Cody's."

"And his companion?"

"Not a clue."

"I see. Keep an eye on him. I do not like the aura he is radiating. It has the slightest tinge of Dark magic; normally I would not care, but with the Empress in his company, I do not wish to take chances."

"My, my, my, protective aren't we?"

"Can you blame me? Totoyami must not be allowed to reign! All will be lost if we lose the Empress!"

"I'm growing tired of you knowing things that my comrades and I do not. If they involve Robyn, we have a right to know."

"I cannot change what the stars have written, but I am allowed to help. And that is why I will be spending my time training the boy. You will need his help in the upcoming battle of the Empress and the Emperor. Now, I need that orb. You know the plan; no mistakes, understood?"

The companion nodded, "Yes, I understand."

"Thank you, Joshua. May the Ancients watch over your journey and may they bless the Dark Mother Empress."

Joshua nodded as he watched the fellow soul-gaki leave the mall, her blonde hair cascading down her beautiful shoulders and blood red eyes now concealed behind a pair of sunglasses. Silence fell over him for a long moment as he leaned against the railing of the balcony, watching Robyn casually.

Yes, let us pray that the Ancient Ones bless and watch over Robyn, he thought as he played out the plan inside his mind. Ancient Ones, please let no foul-up occur.

---

The sensation of being watched flooded over Sage's senses as he followed silently behind the others. Turning his head in the direction of the inkling, he caught a glimpse of a strange shadow following at a distance but it quickly disappeared as he concentrated his gaze on it. His attention was then drawn to a young man who had been following them as well. He then recognized the man as Joshua, the soul-gaki who was quite familiar with Mariko. He frowned when Joshua motioned to Mariko, obviously wanting to speak to the bearer of Phoenix but at the same time not wanting to gain attention. He was not keen on the idea of going anywhere near Mariko again, not after what she had done to him, but he surmised from the expression on Joshua's face, that it was important. He nodded reluctantly, knowing that it might help in keeping Robyn safe and her safety was most important.

Sage came in step with Mariko and cleared his throat to gain her attention. When he had it, he whispered to her, "Better see what your friend has found out." She gave him a confounded look and then made an excuse to go off by herself, much to Cody's annoyance. The younger twin could tell that something was up and was not pleased at being left out because she then confronted Sage, demanding that he tell her what was going on. Sage merely looked at her impassively and said that Joshua needed to speak with Mariko in private.

At this Cody then turned her annoyance towards Mariko when the latter returned to the group. The twins then began to speak in hushed tones, ignored by the rest of the group as they all milled around the mall. The two new additions to the group left soon after Mariko returned, Jon saying that he'd call Mariko to set up a paper revision and practice (for what he did not know) and Jayzen said that he would speak with Robyn soon and would look forward to it.

This would not have bothered Sage, if it were not for the fact that Robyn was acting shy and blushing. When was she ever shy around a guy? And when did she ever blush? The only time he had seen her blush was earlier that morning when he had held her to keep her from falling. Without realizing it, Sage had glared at Jayzen when the latter had left and the others had said good-bye. Mariko came to stand next to him, also watching the young man leave, but did not show any sign of his surprise by her sudden appearance.

"You sense something about him, right?" she whispered in question.

His eyes narrowed further, now stretching his senses out more than he had earlier, searching for Jayzen's aura. He'd had no reason to sense the young man's aura beforehand but Mariko's question caused him to worry. He was not happy by the type of aura he found, but it was possible that he'd had a rough childhood or some tragic life-changing event to make his aura feel that way.

Deciding not to dwell on the aura issue, he changed the subject. "So what did-" he began but found himself cut off by Mariko.

"You'll find out when I tell the others."

"When are you going to tell them about the prophecy?"

"It's just a poem."

"Don't try fooling yourself. You and I both know that you're not stupid enough to believe that it's just a poem."

"It's one of three. I want to decipher the other two before I say anything."

"That's a stupid excuse, you know."

"Yeah, but it's my stupid excuse, so shove it, blondie," she hissed in a dangerous tone. Sage ignored the warning in her tone and looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"If you don't tell them, I will," he threatened. Mariko gave him a sour look and he gave her an indifferent one.

"Why? What does it matter to you if Robyn does or doesn't know. It's too late now, she has the seedling and there is no way of getting rid of it. Even if she were to try and kill herself she wouldn't die. The seedling has a self-protection spell that won't allow it." She paused and watched him for a moment. "You were jealous earlier."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"I thought you were glaring at him because you had sensed his aura but…never mind."

Sage watched Robyn for a moment before mentioning the shadow he had seen earlier. Mariko took on a thoughtful look and began to examine their surroundings intently, mainly the shadows was his guess. He looked at her when she suddenly sighed, waiting outside a music store that they had stopped at, looking at her expectantly.

"It's a shadow-elf, no worries…I think. It's aura feels slightly familiar," she explained. "Probably just wanted to see Robyn with its own eyes. She's quite popular with the other realms now. I heard that Yume came to see her last night and it's something if Yume comes to see you."

"Yume?" Sage asked doubtfully. He was now starting to wonder about Mariko's state of mind.

"Don't even give me that look. Shadow will vouch for the existence of Yume, but I wouldn't advise asking Robyn about it. She now has powers she had never thought possible. Her senses are already on overdrive, this morning is a perfect example. Her body sensed a threat and she reacted without thinking. I think she might have a bit of a hard time getting used to everything."

"But you're going to help her through it, right? That's what you had told her this morning," Sage pressed, wanting to satisfy a sudden worry. If Robyn had trouble coming and not telling them what was going on in Tokyo, then she would no doubt have trouble talking to them about what she was now going through. But she would have to talk to someone about it, and he'd rather it Mariko than Shadow. He could handle speaking with Mariko more than he could with Shadow. Shadow had a tendency to give him warning looks.

"Yes, of course I will. What did you think? That I wouldn't?" she asked him in an exasperated tone. He suddenly felt slightly embarrassed at his distrust but did not show it. Mariko had been helping Robyn from the beginning, so how could he think such a thing?

Because you're worried about her, said a little voice inside his head. You're worried that dream will come true. That's why you're worried about her…

Sage ignored anything else the voice had to say, for Matt had suddenly shown up and was speaking to Robyn in hushed tones. He seemed excited about something and quite animated in his explanation to Robyn. Robyn, however, seemed just as excited and nodded her head to something Matt said. Matt suddenly whooped for joy, thanked her and ran off. It was then that Sage noticed that Matt looked about nineteen instead of twenty-eight or fifteen. He turned his attention to Robyn as Kento asked what the whole conversation was about. Robyn merely smiled secretively, saying that it was none of their business.

Sage frowned; if it pertained to her safety it was most certainly their business. But he did not say a word for it seemed that they were being watched again. From where, he couldn't tell, but it did not feel like a threatening presence so he left it be. Mariko's shake of the head also told him that the presence was not a danger, but Sage maintained constant vigilance for the rest of the day since none of the others seemed to notice the different presence that followed them around the mall.