♆ A New Unikorin
Chapter 7Sage requested to go to his familiy's temple. He felt like it would help him reorient his energies. Ryo agreed but Cye took the lead on the idea. Ryo assisted Rowen and Kento into the car before he climbed in. He gave Cye a reassuring smile before he put on his seat belt and drove away.
Sage's confident steps made Cye feel better. If he always portrayed this self-assurance than he wouldn't have to worry.
"I didn't think you'd want to see your family in this state," Cye said.
"I'm not going to see them," Sage said as he looked both ways before they crossed the street. "There's something else I need to do at the temple."
"They might be able to hel-" Cye's mouth snapped shut when Sage looked at him with a glare he'd only seen the other use in battle before.
"I have something else I need to do at the temple."
They walked up the long steps in silence. Sage seemed to race up the steps. Cye chuckled to himself and jogged to catch up with the boy. At the top he saw only trees and buildings. His throat tightened and his stomach sank into his shoes. Sage grabbed his hand and pulled him to the side. Sage pressed his fingers against his lips to urge Cye to be quiet. Two women walked by.
"I'm sorry Sakura," the blonde girl said. "Sage isn't home. He's on vacation with his friends. I don't know when he'll be back. I can give you the number to reach him if you want to call him."
"No that's okay," she said with a shake of her head. "It's not a big deal. Thanks Miss Yayoi." She said in a whisper, "I was just worried about him."
Yayoi smiled and turned away, she walked back down the pathway away from the red headed girl. The remaining girl stared at the bushes and shivered.
"If you're a ghost, you better go away," she said. "I can totally dispel evil spirits and you're gonna regret hurting me."
At this Sage laughed which caused the young woman to lose color in her face. As she backed up to run he ran forward and grabbed her hand.
"Sakura, peace," he said. "Don't run," he pulled her away from Cye's hiding place and around a great tree. She slapped at his face and began to try and hit him again and again, "Sakura, look at me."
"Sage," she said as she pushed her eyes opened to the child before her. Her hands stopped at his head and touched his hair before they traced down to his cheeks and then brushed his bangs from his face. "What happened? You're cursed." She shook her head as her breaths stumbled in and out of her lips, "are you going to see your mother?"
"No," Sage said. "I don't know what's caused it and I don't want to risk it."
"Then why are you here," she said as she pushed her glasses up onto her nose. "They might be able to help, yes, but if you're not here for that, what's up?"
"Before I left, you said you wanted to meet with me today," he stood up and forced his posture to perfection. "I always keep my promises. This was going to be no different. I apologize for my current state of affairs though; I imagine you would not have much to say to a child." He gave her a smile and turned red when he saw the realization rise to her cheeks in a beautiful crimson shade of panic.
"I just wanted to give you this," she pushed a small box into his hands and blinked several times.
He opened the box to find a small white unicorn phone strap.
"It's a unicorn," he said with a laugh.
"It's a unikorin," she said with a nod. "I wanted to get you something but I couldn't think of what. Lately, I feel like something's been happening with you and I thought maybe if you had a unikorin again maybe you'd be okay?"
Sage's heart swelled and without thinking he wrapped his arms around the young woman before him. He shivered as she returned the hug and he forced down the need to cry and dump his insecurities at her feet.
"Thank you, I'll cherish it," he said with a sniffle.
The bushes moved as Cye climbed out. Sakura went on the defensive with the ease and grace of water. She pushed Cye against the tree and in the same motion pushed the pocket knife against his neck. The breath trapped in his throat as teal eyes pierced into his soul.
"Water," she said. Her head tilted but she did not look back.
"He's a friend of mine," Sage said as he stepped beside her and reached for her elbow. "He's the only reason I was able to make it here today."
"But it's the water that's doing this," Her hand stayed on his neck despite her mind's orders to release her captive. When Sage tugged on her sleeve, she released the other man from her grasp and knelt down to be on level with Sage. "But it's different than this water." She put her hands on Sage's shoulders and nodded before she turned back to the man she'd nearly killed. "Sorry, I thought I was being attacked."
"It's okay," Cye said as he rubbed his neck where the knife used to be. "I understand that I should have been more cautious." His arms crossed and to change the subject he looked at Sage, "it's a cute charm. Are you two serious?"
"Of course we are," Halo said with a nod.
Sakura's hair matched her cheeks in a millionth of second. She shook her head as she realized at once what Sage's friend asked. Sage, as usual, lacked understanding. With that thought she tried to push calm into her system but failed when the small Sage took her hand and started to worry about how flushed she was. He got her to sit down and began to dote.
"When was the last time you ate? Are you feeling light headed? Can you hear and see okay?" He touched her forehead and shook his head, "no fever. Oh!" He bolted across the temple grounds, down the steps, and across the street.
"I am sorry," Cye said as he pushed his eyes closed. "I was careless again. It's easy to see how much he does care about you, though."
"He is my best friend, after all," Sakura said. "I didn't catch your name, I'm Sakura."
"Cye," he said. "Does he always over react like this?"
"He's behaving normally to me," she said with a shrug. "I do feel a little light headed." She looked at her watch, "ah. That explains it."
On cue, Sage returned with some little donut balls and a soda. He pushed them into Sakura's hands and crossed his arms.
The tremble in her hands made it difficult to open the soda. Sage's tiny hands also caused trouble. Cye reached over and popped the can opened for her with a smile.
"Thank you," Sakura and Sage said with a breath of relief.
Sakura took a few sips of the soda and ate two donut balls before she took a deep and steady breath.
"I'm feeling better," she said.
"I take it you haven't eaten in awhile," Sage said with the shake of his head.
"That's not fair, Sage," she said as she ate another donut. "Usually we meet and then go get ice cream or we have tea! I wasn't expecting you to be a little kid."
"Sakura, you know better."
"That's not fair!" She stood up and sat back down. "I wasn't expecting as much trouble as it's been today. I planned to eat, honest."
"I know," he said as he patted her knee. "I can't stay any longer. They'll probably notice if I do. Can we walk you home?"
"No, Azura and Midorin are working. Shiro's got the day off but I think she really needs to recharge. I'll just sit here until the bus comes by. I'll be okay; you probably better leave now, before the curse stinks up the place."
Sage laughed and nodded. He motioned for Cye and they walked off together. For a long time they said nothing. They called Ryo and he came and got them. In the car, Ryo noticed the phone charm. Cye noticed that Rowen and Kento were not in the car.
"Where are our problem children," he said.
"They're at home with Yulie," Ryo said. "Ran into him on the way home, he wanted to hang out. Since he's younger I figured it'd be okay. Besides, he knows the guys, so it's not like I have to pay a fee or explain anything."
"That's true, so at least if they sort out it'll be no big deal for Yulie," Cye laughed.
"It might be if he's lording over the idea he's finally bigger than Kento and Rowen for once," Ryo said as his laughter echoed Cye's.
"That would be hilarious for Rowen to be five-ten again," Sage said from the back.
"And Kento big again with all his muscle while Yulie's trying to get them to listen to him," Ryo laughed harder.
Sage settled back into his seat. It would be nice if things would just even themselves out. It would be nice if everything could just go back to normal. Unikorin danced in his hands. Although he missed the plush he once had, this was a far better version. He noted all the detail of the clay and coloring. He smiled and his spirit began to settle once he realized that Sakura had made it.
"Where'd he get the unicorn," Ryo said with a quick glance to Cye.
"From his very serious lady friend," Torrent offered.
"How serious," Wildfire said with a raised eyebrow.
"He seriously has no idea," Cye said with sigh.
Ryo gave a defeated chuckle and nodded. They pulled up to the house and got out of the car. Yulie and Kento sat on the floor screeching insults at each other as they furiously mashed the buttons on their controllers. Ryo shut the sliding glass door and sat onto the couch. Sage dropped to a seat beside Kento. Cye counted the house's occupants.
"Where's Rowen?"
Silence. Cye repeated his question. The tap tap tap click click click of buttons responded.
"I'll find him," Sage said as he stood up. "He can't have gone far."
As Sage went by, Ryo grabbed him and plopped him onto the couch. He pointed across the room, where cushions, sheets, and chairs had been pushed around. The light of something shined from inside. The figure of a little boy with a book gave a striking silhouette. Cye knew when a child was missing. Ryo knew where they all were.
Chapter 1 ♆ Chapter 2 ♆ Chapter 3 ♆ Chapter 4 ♆ Chapter 5 ♆ Chapter 6 Chapter 8 ♆ Chapter 9