Note: I have nothing to do with Ronin Warriors and its characters except to be a fan who enjoys the series very much. This story is my extrapolation of the storylines as received in North America. I apologize if this story doesn't quite fit into the Japanese series.
Sage wandered aimlessly through the city, ignoring the stares that followed him around.
The stares didn't really bother him at first. It wasn't like he was wearing something outlandish, like his armor, in public. And he knew for a fact that he wasn't deformed or scarred. In fact, he knew he was good-looking and knew that other people noticed it. He sensed that the stares were admiring, especially from the women, and some were envious--those were from the men. Only a few bordered on hostility, but he doubted that anyone would try to accost or assault him.
It had been the same all day while he roamed the city, searching for a job he could stomach doing. He'd gotten used to the looks from men and women, and he'd become mostly inured to them.
It was when he suddenly sensed a new component in the stares that things went downhill.
"Hey, handsome, want to buy me a drink?"
Sage stopped and stared.
The girl lounged in the doorway of what looked like a bar or club preparing to open for its evening business. Sage realized with a shock that it was already late in the afternoon and the sun was well on its way towards the horizon. He realized with another shock that his roaming had brought him deep into the heart of the city's entertainment district.
He shook his head. "Excuse me?" he asked.
"Want to come in for a drink?" the girl asked again. "Your treat."
Sage studied the girl. At first glance she seemed attractive enough. The dark green dress she wore accented her dyed platinum and green hair. The dress hung loose and clung tightly in all the right places, flattering her rather full figure. She seemed pleasant and polite. There was something in her eyes, though, something that triggered Sage's suspicion.
Those were predator's eyes that studied him, eyes like White Blaze's when he was stalking through the house after Ryo or Yuli. Those eyes wanted something from him, and he doubted it was simply a drink.
"Ah, no, thank you," Sage said quickly. "I'm afraid I don't drink."
"Whatever," the girl said, smoothing the side of her dress in a decidedly sensual motion. "How about you buy and I drink?" Now there was a slightly desperate and impatient anger shining out of her eyes.
"No," Sage said firmly. "I'm afraid I really have to be leaving." He nodded once toward her, then moved steadily away.
The girl didn't call him back. Instead, he heard her call out to another passerby.
Sage sighed. Surface appearances could be so deceptive. The girl had seemed to be nice, but she had wanted something from him, and had apparently been willing to do a lot to get it.
He sighed again. The girl couldn't possibly have known, however, that he understood quite well just how deceptive appearances could be, the lesson having been driven forcibly home in the recent past, in the guise of Anubis and Lady Kayura.
Anubis, the Warlord of Cruelty, had been one of the Ronin Warriors' greatest opponents, being the strongest of Tulpa's four warlords. His armor, the Armor of the Ogre, had not lent itself to the fostering of "good" and peaceful intentions. However, Anubis had then fought free of Tulpa's control and becoming one of the Ronins' allies, even sacrificing his life to break Bademon's possession of Lady Kayura. That was certainly not what Sage would have expected from the Warlord of Cruelty, yet it had happened.
And Lady Kayura. She had been the Warriors' absolutely deadliest foe--excepting Tulpa himself--except that she seemed far too beautiful to be so evil. True, Anubis had broken the spells over her and she, too, became a great ally, but the fact remained that they'd initially underestimated her simply because she was a girl.
Just like that girl back there.
Sage sighed and stopped. Nothing had offered itself all day, so he decided to head for home.
He was just about to turn down a side street when a sign caught his eye:
Taking a deep breath, he went inside.
Five minutes later he stalked back onto the street, his face flaming red and a glare firmly entrenched on his face.
With one last disgusted glance at the club, he headed for home.
* * *
"Any luck today?" Mia asked as Kento and Rowan entered the living room.
Rowan shook his head. "Nada," he said. "Nothing. Zip. Zilch."
Kento threw up his hands. "You'd think," he snarled, "that with all the damage Tulpa's invasion caused to the city there would be some jobs available in rebuilding and construction, right? You'd think that somebody somewhere would need someone extra to help out, right? Wrong!"
"What our infuriated eating machine here's trying to say," Rowan drawled, "is that none of the construction crews wanted to hire anyone new, even on a daily basis. They all have more work than they can readily handle, but nobody's willing to give up even a hundred yen just to get the job done more efficiently."
Sai sighed. "That's because the construction industry can set their own pace now," he said sadly. "Everybody needs repair work done, and they don't care how long it takes or how much it will cost as long as it all gets done."
"You said it," Rowan said, nodding. He turned and scanned the room. "Ryo's not back yet? And Sage?"
"We're right here," a voice said behind him. Rowan turned.
Ryo had just entered the hall. Beyond him Rowan could see Sage closing the front door. "Hey, guys, how'd it go today?"
Ryo flopped down onto the sofa. "Man, I'm dragging!" he said. "Who knew that teaching could be so rough?"
"What, couldn't be patient enough with your students?" Kento asked.
"Nah, I had the novices today," Ryo said. "The first class was fine. Those were the young kids. It was when I was working with the older class this afternoon that I got really frustrated. I swear, I don't think they even knew which end of the sword to hold!"
Rowan shook his head. "Maybe you're expecting too much, Ryo," he said.
"Excuse me? They're supposed to know how to grip the sword by now. I'm not their first instructor."
"I think Rowan's right," Mia said. "You expect the younger students to have trouble, so you don't become impatient with them. On the other hand, you expect the older students--I assume they're all around your age themselves--not to have any problems, so you get frustrated when they do."
"I don't--"
"Really?" Rowan interrupted. "Think about it, Ryo. You've accomplished a lot, and you expect others your own age to be able to do the same things. But when they can't, you think that they're at fault, when the truth is that you are. They didn't have to fight with the Dark Warlords and Tulpa's nether spirits. You did."
Ryo started to speak, then stopped, nibbling his lip. "Maybe you're right, Rowan."
Rowan smirked. "Of course I am," he said. "I'm the smartest, remember?"
"And I thought I was the Warrior of Wisdom."
Rowan smirked again. "You are, Sage," he said, "but I'm still smarter than you."
"Never mind him, Sage," Kento said. "Did you get a job?"
Sage shook his head. "Nothing."
Rowan's eyes narrowed. "You're leaving something out, Sage. Spill it."
Sage sighed. "All right. I found a place where I could have gotten a job, but I didn't accept it."
Sai blinked. "Whyever not?"
Sage turned and studied Sai. "Let me put it this way. You could go inside that place in the skimpiest bathing suit you could find, and no one would turn you away."
Sai frowned. "What are you talking about? I don't understand."
Rowan laughed. "What were you doing in the entertainment district?"
"Wandering."
Rowan laughed harder. "And you thought about getting a job there?"
"I was asking about a waiter or security position," Sage said, sounding offended. "They wanted me to be a dancer instead!"
Sai caught on suddenly and flushed a bright red. "What were you doing in a place like that, Sage?"
Sage shook his head. "Look, let's just drop it. If you want to go there tomorrow, I'll give you directions. In the meantime, just forget about it."
Rowan pulled at his lip. "Well, maybe I'll go there tomorrow," he said. He flinched when everybody turned and stared at him. "What?" he demanded defensively. "I'd make a much better bartender than dancer, and they'd be a fool to turn me away as the one if I didn't want to be the other, right?"
There was a moment of silence.
"He has a point about the dancing," Kento said.
"Oh, I don't know," Sai countered. "He was like an octopus the last time we went out together."
Kento laughed. "That's because you were stone-cold drunk and hallucinating on top of that!"
"Was not!"
"Was too!"
"Was not!"
"Guys!" Sage shouted, shaking his head. He turned to Mia. "I don't think I'll ever find a job that I could stomach right now, so maybe I should just stay home and help around the house. You know, cooking, cleaning, the laundry, whatever you need help with."
Kento snorted. "Sage, you want to be a housewife?" he demanded incredulously.
Sage whirled around and fixed a cold stare on the other warrior.
"Not that there's anything wrong with that," Kento added quickly.
Rowan nodded. "Sure, it makes sense," he said. "Sage can be the official den-mother of this troop while the rest of us are out on real jobs." He grinned when Sage turned his glare on him. "Oh, relax, Sage," he said. "You can help Mia around the house, and when all your errands are done you can help her with her grandfather's suits of armor and research."
"Not to mention catch fish for White Blaze," Ryo added.
"And do the shopping," Kento said. "But leave the cooking to Sai."
"Why me?" Sai demanded. "You're a perfectly good cook yourself."
"But you're better at it," Sage said, the glare turning into a small but definite grin.
Rowan nodded. Two of them had jobs now--sort of--and it was only a matter of time before the rest of them did, too. He'd definitely look into that club Sage had mentioned. Of course, if something better came along...well, the club could be a last, desperate resource. Any job was better than no job.
Right?
* * *
"The new one. Ryo. How did he do?"
"There is power in him, master. The novices could sense it. They did better than ever before."
"His style is strange. Have we ever seen anything like it before?"
"No, master."
"Still, I'm sure he has something to teach us, yes?"
"Yes, master."
"Very well, then. Tomorrow he will take one of the advanced classes, and we will all observe him. Yes?"
"Yes, master!"
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