Lost Boy in Ronin Land
by MaryMQC

Disclaimer: These guys belong to their respective creators.  Thank you.
Note: This was written in an hour.  Forgive anything bad or wrong or just
plain dumb.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Part One ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Where in the world am I now?"

Rowan froze, his eyes traveling to his right to meet Kento's gaze.  Kento
looked just as confused as Rowan felt.  "Hey man, what's Sage-mmph!" His
spoken thoughts were abruptly cut off as Rowan clamped a hand over his mouth.

Sage's voice had come from behind a barrier of shrubs and tree trunks,
effectively blocking the two Ronins' view of him.  Rowan peered out from the
side of particularly large trunk just enough to spot two legs before he
ducked out of sight again.

As soon as Rowan's hand left his mouth, Kento whispered to him.  "I thought
Sage was back at the house."

"Apparently not," Rowan answered in a hushed voice.  "But shhh!  I want to
try an' sneak up on him."

"Heh, good luck," Kento whispered back.  Rowan shrugged.  He didn't except
success either, but he wasn't about to pass up an opportunity like this.
Maybe he would finally be able to surprise the unflappable Sage just this
once.  

"And maybe the coyote will one day catch the roadrunner," Kento snorted
below his breath.  He wasn't a mind-reader, but even he could tell what
Rowan was thinking.

Rowan shot him a dirty look.  "Ah, be quiet."  Kento made a face at him but
otherwise obeyed and kept silent.

As he concentrated, Rowan's eyebrows furrowed together.  He stilled his
breathing, trying his best not to make a sound, lest he be detected.  He
froze completely for an instant, preparing himself to make his move. 

And then Kento shifted, causing a twig underneath to crack.

Rowan winced as he heard the body through the bushes whirl around.  "Who's
there?" he heard Sage's voice demand.  Not wasting a moment, Rowan leaped
through the leaves and branches and threw himself against the other person,
sending them both tumbling to the ground.

Before Sage would have a chance to react, Rowan grabbed the sides of Sage's
head with both hands and forcefully pressed his mouth over his lips.  With
his tongue, he pried open his mouth and shoved it against Sage's own tongue.
With a satisfactory smile, he noted that the body beneath him was frozen
with shock.  

It wasn't until Rowan's tongue was fairly lodged into the back of Sage's
throat that his brain realized that the face before him didn't quite match
the image of Sage locked into memory.  Rowan's tongue hesitated in
mid-exploration as he discovered that the muscles underneath him were not
nearly as lean as Sage's.  He finally pulled away altogether when he
realized that the lips he was kissing definitely did not feel the way they
should.

As soon as his mouth broke contact, the person underneath him took that
chance to scramble away and jump to his feet.  "What-what-what are you
doing?!" he demanded.

Rowan looked up at him before also standing.  This person certainly was not
Sage.  His hair was dark and his body was broader.  And Sage's cheeks would
never blush any shade of pink, let alone the deep color of red burning the
other boy's cheeks.  

"Well, I *was* kissing you due to a case of mistaken identity," Rowan
explained matter-of-factly.  "Who th' hell are you?"

"Ryouga Hibiki."  He then glared indignantly at the Ronin Warrior.
"Mistaken identity?  Are you saying I look like a girl?" he angrily
challenged, puffing his chest out.

"No, of course not," replied Rowan simply.

"Then why the he..." Ryouga trailed off as his fading blush suddenly flared
back to life.  "Oh."  That statement, however, was inadequate, and Ryouga
felt a need to reiterate.  "*Oh*."

Just then, Kento emerged from hiding, his face also red.  However, his ruddy
cheeks weren't the result of embarrassment but of his attempt to contain his
laughter, which he let out in one loud, thundering burst of air.  He tried
to speak, but the snorting and guffaws created a inconvenient hindrance.
"Oh HAHAHAHA, if only you HEEHEEHEE saw...HAHAHA...It was HAHAHAHA
price-HEEHEE-less."  After this declaration, he was forced to stop as
laughter overtook him, refusing to let him spare any breath for talking.  He
bent over, his hands braced against his knees, as he continued to roar with
laughter.  

Ryouga didn't find it quite as amusing, as his crimson face revealed, and
Rowan was just annoyed.  The latter crossed his arms as he waited for his
friend to recapture his breath.  When Kento only continued to laugh, Rowan
turned to the stranger.  "What are you doing out he'ah, anyway?" 

Ryouga scratched the back of his neck.  "I, uh...got lost.  Heh."  He gave a
sheepish half-smile.  

Rowan returned his smile with a bewildered look.  "In this place?  Just
where were you headed?"

"Nerima."

Rowan blinked.  "Nerima?"

"Yeah."

"Huh."  Rowan found himself unable to articulate anything more,
concentrating instead on figuring out where the new guy could have possibly
taken a wrong turn.  

Kento continued to laugh.  "Oh, I wish Sage woulda saw this."  He laughed
for a few moments more before reconsidering.  "No, never mind, I don't think
he'd have much of reaction."  He chuckled some more.  "But hey, Ryo
definitely would've gotten a kick out of this.  And Sai.  Where was my
camera when I needed it?  Oh, I can't wait to tell them."

Five minutes later, when Kento's laughs finally began to die down, the trio
set out for the house, Ryouga having been promised help in finding his way
home. 

-

"That's the guy you'd mistaken me for?" Ryouga asked incredulously when
Rowan pointed him out from across the room.  Rowan nodded.  "That blonde
pretty boy?!  Oh come on, I could crush the guy!"

Sage, who had strolled over to find out what the commotion was about, heard
the last remark.  Without cracking into any kind of expression, he drew back
his arm and immediately slugged Ryouga in the face.

Startled, Ryouga stumbled backwards a few steps before a look of rage
crossed his face.  "Why you...!"  With that, he backed the ever-calm Sage
into the wall and punched his fist into the wall beside his head.  A myriad
of cracks spread out from under his knuckles.  Sage didn't even flinch.

Behind him, Ryouga heard a female voice sigh.  Turning around, he saw a
young woman gather up some materials and nudge the two boys away from the
wall as she spread newspaper onto the floor.  Setting a bucket on the floor,
she immediately began to re-plaster the cracked wall.  "I wished you all
would stop playing in the house," she sighed, shaking her head.   

Ryouga blinked.  "Oh, I'm sorry..."  

Mia didn't even turn around from the wall, acknowledging him with only a
wave of her hand.  "That's all right, Sage."

"Sage?  Who's Sage?" Ryouga asked confused.  Kento began to laugh again as
Sage lazily lifted a hand up with a short flick of the wrist in answer.

Mia paused and looked over her shoulder.  "Oh!  Oh my goodness, I thought
you were Sage."

"Why would you think-"

Sage interrupted him.  "Because your voice is the same as mine."

Ryouga looked at him in surprise.  "Hey, it is.  Wow.  That's strange."
Sage nodded slightly.  Ryouga thought about that for a moment.  "Hey, could
you say 'Prepare to die, RANMA!'?"

Sage looked at him and raised an eyebrow.  "What?"

"Say it.  'Prepare to die, Ranma.'  Just say it."

"No."

"Oh, come on, I want to see how threatening I sound."

"You mean he'ah," Rowan corrected.

Ryouga turned to him.  "What?"

"You can't see how you sound, you he'ah."  

Ryouga only looked at him before turning back to Sage.  "Please?"

"No."

"Come on, please?"

Up at the top of the stairs, Ryo paused, listening to the sounds downstairs.
He cocked an eyebrow.  Why was Sage arguing with himself?  Needing to see
for himself, he bounded down the steps.

He halted to a stop when he saw the two boys arguing, while Rowan, Kento,
and Mia were scattered nearby.  "Hey, what's up?"

Kento turned to him with a large grin on his face.  "Me and Rowan found this
guy wandering around lost in the woods."  He laughed.  "Oh man, I have to
tell you this story.  It was great!"

Rowan shot him a glare.  "Oh, no you don't."

"Awww, c'mon Rowan," Kento whined, but Rowan refused to back down.  However,
Kento would not agree to keep such a great story from Ryo and so continued
to plead with Rowan. 

Soon, the house was filled with pleas from Kento and Ryouga and refusals
from Sage and Rowan.  Rubbing his forehead, Ryo felt a headache approaching.
Mia met his gaze with a roll of her eyes.

"Please??" both Kento and Ryouga begged.

"No!" Rowan and Sage simultaneously answered.

Just then, the auburn-haired Sai wandered into the room.  "What is going on
here?" he asked, his eyebrows knitted together. 

Ryo walked over to him.  "We have a visitor."

"Oh, really?  Who?" Sai inquired in his English accent.

"I haven't gotten that far yet.  All I know, it's apparently a very funny
story, and embarrassing to Rowan, but don't ask me how."

"Oh.  Okay."

"Yeah."  The two stood silently for a few moments, watching the arguing in
front of them.  Then Ryo mentioned, "Oh, and the new guy sounds exactly like
Sage."  He thought for a moment and added, "Only with emotion."

Sai blinked.  "You're right.  That's just incredible!"

"Okay, FINE, Kento!" They heard Rowan shout above the noise.  "Why don't I
just demonstrate instead, huh?  That would be amusing to you, wouldn't it?"
he angrily yelled.  He stomped over to Ryo.  "Okay Ryo, since Kento thinks
you would just loooove to see this, I'll just show you first hand what I did."  

Rowan then proceeded to march towards Ryouga, and as soon as he was a few
steps away, he threw himself against the other boy.  They once again fell
bodily to the floor.

"Oh, n-mmph!"  Ryouga exclaimed before Rowan's mouth muffled his cry.  The
others stood in various states of surprise as Rowan thrust his tongue into
Ryouga's mouth.  

"Heh, Rowan actually did that?" Ryo asked, a grin tugging at his lips.  

Kento nodded with his own grin.  "Yep, with a complete stranger.  You
shoulda *seen* the look on the guy's face!"  The others chuckled at the
thought.  

Then a few moments passed as Rowan and Ryouga continued their lip-lock on
the ground, the grins slowly faltering and eventually disappearing from the
Ronins' faces.  They watched in shocked silence as Rowan ran his hands
through Ryouga's hair, clutching the strands with his fingers.  As the
others looked on, Ryouga tilted his head back and unconsciously wrapped his
arms around Rowan's back.  

"Uh, Rowan..." Kento began. "I think they understand now.  Rowan?"  Rowan
ignored him as the two on the floor continued their kiss.  "Rowan?"

"But, but...why did Rowan do that?" Sai asked, bewildered.  "I mean...oh,
my," he softly exclaimed as Rowan ran his hand along the side of the new boy
and slide it underneath his backside.

"He, uh," Kento stuttered, running a hand around his collar.  "He thought it
was Sage."

"Oh." 


To be continued...


marymqc

marymqc@netscape.net