Episode #2: Looks Can Be Deceiving

The very day that Kento and the others, well, except
for Rowen, were dreading had finally arrived: the
first day of school. Ryo, Kento, and Cye were waiting
outside the main entrance of Han`a High School for
Rowen, while Sage was busy chatting with some girls.
The five boys decided yesterday that, until they find
the kokoro, they would wear the rings on chains around
their necks. "I can't believe it," Cye said. "Rowen's
gonna be late for the first day of school." "Well,
what do you expect?" Kento replied. "He's always been
late for school. What made you think this year's gonna
be any different?" "Well, Rowen's probably the only
one who was looking forward to the first day of
school," Cye responded.

"Look, there he is!" Kento shouted. There was Rowen,
running down the street leading to Han`a High. When he
reached the main entrance, he stopped to catch his
breath. Sage managed to break away from the girls when
he saw Rowen breathing in heavily. He walked over to
Rowen, gave him a gentle slap on the back, and said,
"Late for the first day, Rowen? And I thought you were
looking so forward to the first day of school." After
taking in one more gulp of air, Rowen stood up and
replied, "I couldn't help it. I forgot to set my alarm
last night." "Yeah, right, Rowen," Kento teased. "The
alarm's not the problem. You always oversleep on
schooldays." "Maybe you ought to consider getting a
louder alarm clock," Cye suggested.

Ryo wasn't paying attention to what the guys were
saying. He was lost in his own thoughts. "Man, a lot
has happened to us in the past couple of days," Ryo
thought to himself. "First those strange dreams, then
those rings, then that fight with Dulcea, and there's
also Shuno. Now, we need to concentrate on finding the
kokoro before Dulcea strikes again." "Hey, Ryo! Come
on, snap out of it!" Cye shouted, interrupting Ryo's
train of thought. "Come on, we gotta get going, or
we'll be late for homeroom." The first bell rang,
indicating that everyone who wasn't in homeroom had
five minutes to get there. The five guys, along with
everyone else who was still outside, ran inside and
went their separate ways...

Ryo was sitting inside his homeroom, trying to block
out the typical noises of homeroom: kids talking to
each other and laughing, others throwing paper
airplanes and spit balls at the other kids. The noise
ceased as the teacher entered the room. "Good morning,
class" she said as she placed her books on her desk
and sat down. "Good morning, Mrs. Rose," the students
chorused. "Before I take attendance for today, I have
an announcement to make," Mrs. Rose said. "We have a
new student joining us this morning. In a minute or
so, Principal Hiroshi will escort her here. Now, I
expect you all to be on your best behavior and make
her feel welcome at Han`a High School."

Just then, the door opened, and a tall, skinny man
entered the room. He wore a navy blue suit and a red
tie. His hair was black, with a noticeable bald spot
at the top. "Good morning, Mr. Hiroshi," Mrs. Rose and
the students said. "Good morning, Mrs. Rose,
students," Mr. Hiroshi greeted. "I'm certain that your
teacher has told you about the new student. Please
welcome Miss Rita Niitsu." A slender sixteen-year-old
girl slowly entered the room, wearing a backpack and
carrying a metal cane in one hand, which she swung
back and forth repeatedly. Her long jet-black hair ran
down her back and ended at her waist. She wore a
short-sleeve red sweater, black shorts, red knee socks
and black shoes. When she looked up at the class, Ryo
realized her handicap from her eyes: they were clouded
over.

"As most of you can probably tell," Mr. Hiroshi
explained, "Miss Niitsu is visually impaired. I would
appreciate it if you can take your time to assist Miss
Niitsu around today. Good day to you all." With that,
the principal left the room, leaving Rita standing in
front of the class. Mrs. Rose got up from her desk and
stepped up to Rita. "Don't worry, Rita," she said,
placing a hand on Rita's shoulder, "we'll help you out
in any way possible." Just then, the bell rang, ending
homeroom. As the students got up from the desks, Mrs.
Rose said, "Hold it, everyone! No one's leaving until
I get a volunteer to help Miss Niitsu get to her
classes." A vast majority of the students groaned when
they heard this news.

"I'll help her, Mrs. Rose," Ryo said. "Thank you, Mr.
Sanada," his teacher said. "You are all dismissed."
All the students left, except for Ryo, Rita, and the
homeroom teacher. Mrs. Rose felt Rita's shoulder
quiver slightly. "I assure you, Rita," she said, "Ryo
Sanada is a perfect gentleman." Ryo turned red at the
comment as Mrs. Rose escorted the two out into the
hallway. As they walked down the hall, Ryo asked, "So,
Rita, what class do you have first period?" Rita
stopped, pulled a sheet of paper covered with series
of bumps out of a folder, and ran her finger over the
first line of bumps. " 'Introduction to World
Literature,' " she read, "in room 213." "I have the
same class," Ryo mentioned as they headed down the
hall toward class...

Meanwhile, in room 213, students gathered into the
classroom and took their seats. Among the students
were Sage and Kento. "Are you sure Ryo has this class
with us?" Kento asked Sage as they took two desks next
to each other. "Yes, I'm sure," Sage reassured his
anxious friend. "I saw his class schedule this
morning, and it said his first class was 'Introduction
to World Literature' in room 213, the exact class
we're in right now." Just then, they saw Ryo enter the
room, followed by a pretty young girl. "Wow, who's the
new girl?"  Kento asked Sage, who knew every girl who
attended Han`a High. "I don't know," Sage said, eyeing
her as she took her seat next to Ryo, "but I'll bet
Ryo does."

Just then, an elderly man wearing black dress pants, a
white dress shirt, a striped tie, and glasses entered
the room. "Good morning, class, and welcome to
'Introduction to World Literature.' I'm your teacher,
Mr. Garner," he said as he wrote the course title and
his name on the chalkboard. "Now, I have to go to my
office to get your textbooks, but in the meantime, I
would like for you to divide up into groups of four
for a class discussion." With that, Mr. Garner left
the room as students started to move their desks
around. "Hey, Ryo!" Kento shouted to him, whom turned
around and looked at him. "Get over here!" Ryo got up
and went to where Sage and Kento were sitting,
followed by the new girl.

As Ryo moved a couple of desks around, Sage asked,
"Well, Ryo, aren't you going to introduce us to your
new friend?" "Oh, right," Ryo stuttered as he sat
down. "Guys, this is Rita Niitsu. Rita, these are two
of my friends: Kento Rei Fuan and Sage Date." "Hello,
nice to meet you," Rita said, still standing. "Aren't
you gonna sit down?" Kento asked. "Oh," Rita
exclaimed, feeling around with her free hand for the
empty desk. Finding it, she quickly sat down next to
Ryo. That's when Sage and Kento first noticed her
eyes. "Hey guys, what's wrong?" Ryo asked, noticing
the strange way they were staring at Rita. "Nothing,"
Kento said, still looking at Rita. "It's just that,
well...why do your eyes look like that, Rita?"

Ryo watched as Rita looked down at her lap, her face
turning slightly red. "I don't think it's any of your
business, Kento," he responded. "It's okay," Rita told
him. "Your friends have the right to know." She turned
toward Sage and Kento, and stated simply, "I'm blind."
"Sorry about that," Kento admitted sheepishly. "That's
all right, Kento," she said, smiling shyly. Just then,
Mr. Garner reentered the room with about two dozen
books in his arms. He laid the pile of books on his
desk, picked up the one from the top, and announced,
"Is Rita Niitsu here?" "I'm right here, Mr. Garner,"
Rita said, raising her hand. Mr. Garner walked up to
her and placed the textbook on her desk. "Here's the
textbook that was special-ordered for you," he
explained to Rita. With that, he returned to his desk
and continued to distribute the books.

Kento leaned over to take a better look at Rita's
book. The cover had a couple of rows of small bumps.
"Kento, sit down!" Sage exclaimed, pushing Kento back
in his seat. "Hey, Rita," Kento blurted out, "what are
all those bumps for?" "It's Braille," Rita explained,
with her hand resting on top of the book. "This is how
I'm able to read and write." "So… that book is the
same as ours?" "Should be. Only difference is that
mine's in Braille and yours is in print." Rita ran her
fingers along the two lines of Braille on the cover of
her book. " 'Introduction to World Literature: A
Collection of Short Stories and Poems From Around the
World,' " she read. "That is correct, right?" The
three boys quickly looked at their textbooks before
Ryo responded, "Yes, that's right." "All right,
everyone, settle down," Mr. Garner announced. Everyone
quieted down as Mr. Garner continued. "Now, I would
all of you to turn to page 143 in your textbooks..."

It's sixth period in the school cafeteria: lunch time
for most students at Han`a High School. Kento, Sage,
Cye, and Rowen were sitting at a table against the
wall. Rowen was reading a book, and Kento was gulping
down his food as though he hadn't eaten anything in
days. "You know, I passed Ryo a couple of times in the
hallway," Cye told the others, "and every time, this
girl was hanging around with him. Do any of you know
who she is?" "Yeah, her name's Rita," Sage explained.
"She was in our English class." Sage indicated himself
and Kento. "Yeah, and she's sitting with us for
lunch," Kento said. "And one more thing: Rita's
blind." "She is? Interesting," Rowen said, looking up
from his book.

Just then, Ryo and Rita arrived at the table, each
carrying a lunch tray. "Hey, guys," Ryo said to his
friends as he and Rita sat down. "Rita, this is Cye
Mouri and Rowen Hashiba, and you remember Sage and
Kento." "Hello, nice to meet you," Rita said to them.
"Hello, Rita," Cye said, "and welcome to Han`a High."
"Thank you, Cye," she replied, smiling shyly. Sage
quickly elbowed Rowen, who was busy studying Rita's
eyes. "Hi, Rita," he said quickly. The group of six
ate in silence for a few minutes, until Rowen asked,
"Rita, do you mind if I ask you a question?" Rita
looked up at him and said, "Of course not. Ask away."
"Exactly how long have you been blind?" Rowen asked.
"It doesn't seem like you've been blind from birth."

Rita was quiet for a moment before she replied, "Only
ten years. How could you tell?" "Yeah, Rowen," Ryo
asked curiously, "how can you tell?" "Well, over the
summer, I took a college course: 'Human Anatomy.' One
of the several things we discussed were disorders of
the eyes, including blindness." "Wait a minute!" Kento
interrupted. "You went to college?" "Yes, I did,"
Rowen told his friends. "The college officials offered
me a free summer course. Even my textbook was free.
Anyway," he continued, "the main difference between
hereditary blindness, and those caused by diseases and
such, is the appearance of the eyes. People who have
been blind all their lives have a thick, milky film
over the entire eye. Those who've become blind from
diseases or accidents have more of a bluish-gray film
that only covers the iris and pupil, such as in your
case, Rita."

"I hope you don't think I'm prying, Rita," Cye asked
cautiously, "but do you mind telling us how you became
blind?" She hesitated before saying, "No problem." The
five boys leaned in closer as Rita began to tell her
story. "About ten years ago," she started, "I lived in
Tokyo with my parents. The three of us were riding on
the subway; I don't remember where we were heading,
exactly. Suddenly, the car shook violently. I found
out later that the subway went off its tracks. I was
flung to the other end of the car. The back of my head
hit an open circuit breaker, and I passed out. When I
woke up in the hospital the next day, all I could see
was darkness. That's when I discovered I was blind."

"So, that's how it happened," Rowen muttered aloud.
"The electric current from the breaker must have
caused damage to the visual cortex in your occipital
lobe." "Rowen, please speak English," Kento pleaded.
Rowen looked at the guys, all with confused looks on
their faces. "Could you explain what you just said to
us?" Sage asked. Before Rowen could say anything, Rita
explained, "He's talking about the visual cortex,
which is located in the occipital lobe. The occipital
lobe is located at the base of the brain, in the back
of your head. It basically controls your vision. I
learned that from my doctors. That's pretty close to
how they described my condition." "How did your
parents react when they found out?" Ryo asked.

"I wouldn't know," Rita replied, with tears brimming
in her eyes. "They died in the crash. I was one of few
survivors." She started to cry, as both Ryo and Cye
comforted her. "I'm sorry, Rita," Ryo apologized
sympathetically. He remembered losing his father, and
the mother he only knew from pictures and home movies.
"Losing your parents is very difficult," Ryo admitted
truthfully. "You're an orphan, too?" Rita asked,
looking at Ryo with sad eyes. "Yeah," he acknowledged.
"My father was killed in Africa, during one of his
expeditions, by a lion, and my mother died when I was
still a baby." He handed Rita a napkin, and she wiped
her eyes with it. "Thank you," Rita said, smiling at
Ryo.

In the meantime, Kento, who already ran out of food,
was eyeing an apple on Rita's lunch tray. Undetected
by the guys, he slowly stretched his hand out to the
apple. When he finally had his hand around it, Kento
felt a slap and let go of the apple. "Sorry, Kento,
but that's my apple," Rita said. "Aww, man," Kento
exclaimed as he held his hand. "But, how did you--?"
"I heard you stretching your arm across the table,"
she explained. "You heard him?" Cye asked, with a
puzzled look on his face. "We didn't even notice Kento
trying to take your apple." "Well, my other senses are
more developed, since I have to rely on them more
often." Cye nodded, understanding what Rita said. "Who
do you live with now, Rita?" Sage asked. "With my
grandfather in Toyama," Rita responded. "He's the only
family I have left."

"Hold on," Ryo said. "If you lived with your
grandfather ever since the accident, how come we never
seen you before?" "Well, I had to go to a special
school for the visually impaired in Tokyo," she
explained. "I was taught how to get around by myself,
and also how to read and write in Braille. After a
couple of years in that school, I was transferred to
another school, where they taught typical school
courses, only we read books in Braille or use talking
books." Rita stopped for a moment before continuing.
"Traveling back and forth was becoming strenuous, and
my grandfather felt that I wasn't getting the
education I deserved. He wrote letters to local public
schools, but it appeared that no one wanted to accept
a blind student in their school. We were almost ready
to give up the search when Principal Hiroshi called us
and accepted me as a new student."

As Rita was talking to her new friends, some kids
sitting at a nearby table were planning a very cruel
trick. "I don't know about this, you guys," one boy
said. "Aww, come on, Mark," another boy pleaded. "You
have the best arm out of the three of us." "Yeah, and
don't forget," the third boy said to Mark as he placed
an apple in his open hand, "she's blind, so she'll
never see it coming." Mark gripped the apple in his
hand, and threw it straight at Rita's head. When the
apple was about a foot away from her head, she quickly
reached up and caught it. The guys gasped, not because
she actually caught the apple, but because somebody
had the nerve to try something like that. She even
tossed the apple to an astonished Kento.

Just then, Mr. Hiroshi entered the cafeteria. He
approached the table where Rita and the guys were
sitting and said, "Hello, Rita. I stopped by to see
how your first day was coming along." "Just fine, Mr.
Hiroshi," Rita said cheerfully. "There was just one
bad incident: someone threw an apple at me. It almost
hit me in the head." "Oh, really?" He looked up at the
boys and asked, "Did any of you see the perpetrator
responsible for this?" Before they could say anything,
Rita replied, "The three boys sitting at the table
behind us, they're responsible. Although Mark was the
one who threw the apple, his two friends provoked him,
so they're to blame as well." Mr. Hiroshi stood up and
approached the three boys. After a brief conversation,
the boys confessed to the incident, and were escorted
out of the cafeteria. Just then, the bell rang, ending
lunch period, and everyone started to gather their
belongings and leave...

Meanwhile, Dulcea was in her throne room, waiting
impatiently for the arrival of Devaki. She held a
glass goblet in her hand, staring at the remaining red
liquid, when she spotted Devaki through the glass. She
lowered her glass as Devaki quickly hobbled toward her
and bowed. "Well, what are the results?" she asked
bitterly. "The experiment was a success, Lady Dulcea,"
Devaki admitted gleefully. "Excellent," Dulcea said as
she stood up. "I would like to see for myself." "Right
away, Lady Dulcea," Devaki declared as he pulled on a
rope hanging from the ceiling. A loud, heavy gong was
heard throughout the castle three times. After the
third gong, five pale, corpse-like figures entered the
throne room, each one pushing a large glass tube on
wheels. All five tubes were connected by a thick
cable, and concealed with a black curtain. "You are
dismissed," Dulcea addressed to the figures, which
bowed to her and left.

Devaki approached the tube on the far left and removed
the curtain. Inside was an exact duplicate of Ryo, in
his sub-armor, floating in a red-tinted fluid. He
continued to remove the veils from the other tubes.
Inside the others were exact duplicates of Sage, Cye,
Kento, and Rowen, all in their sub-armor, floating in
liquid-filled tubes tinted green, light blue, orange,
and dark blue. "As you can see for yourself," Devaki
explained, "I have created perfect clones of the Ronin
Warriors. The only difference is that our 'Ronin
Warriors' are programmed to be evil, thanks to
exposure to Black Chi." "You've outdone yourself,
Devaki," Dulcea admitted as she gazed at each of the
clones. She turned to Devaki and said sternly,
"Activate them, now." "Yes, my lady," he said as he
removed a remote control device from his jacket, and
flipped a switch on the remote.

Dulcea stepped back as the fluids were steadily
drained from the five tubes. She noticed something
about the sub-armors as the liquid was removed: the
armor was dark gray where it would normally be white.
"The color of their armor, it's different," she
remarked. "Just a slight side-effect from exposing
their DNA to Black Chi," Devaki explained. "Doesn't
matter," she said. "At least we'll be able to separate
them from the real Ronin Warriors." By then, the
fluids were completely drained, and glass doors opened
from the tubes. The Ronin clones stepped out of their
tubes and bowed to Dulcea. "We are here only to serve
and obey you, Lady Dulcea," the clones pledged
simultaneously.

The five clones looked up at Dulcea, and she was taken
aback by their eyes. Wildfire's eyes were red, Halo's
eyes were green, Torrent's eyes were light blue,
Hardrock's eyes were orange, and Strata's eyes were
dark blue. To top it off, none of the Ronin clones had
pupils. Dulcea yanked Devaki aside by his shirt collar
and whispered angrily, "Why are their eyes like that?"
"Umm…well, you see..." Devaki stuttered, "its just
another side-effect from exposing the DNA to Black Chi
energy." "I want you to fix it, now!" Dulcea muttered
coldly. "I'm afraid it's permanent," he admitted.
Dulcea responded by grabbing Devaki by his neck. "But,
look on the bright side," Devaki choked out. "They are
100% obedient to you, and only you!"

Dulcea thought about what he said for a moment and
replied, "You have a good point." She let go of
Devaki, who took in several deep breaths of air. "Are
their armors the same as the real Ronin Warriors?" she
asked as she sat back down on her throne. Devaki took
in a deep breath before responding, "Of course, Lady
Dulcea." "I would like to see a demonstration." "Yes,
my lady." Devaki turned to the Ronin clones and
barked, "You heard Lady Dulcea! Change into your
armors, now!" The five clones nodded and turned toward
Dulcea. "Armor of Wildfire! DAO JIN!" "Armor of Halo!
DAO CHI!" "Armor of Torrent! DAO SHIN!" "Armor of
Hardrock! DAO GI!" "Armor of Strata! DAO INOCHI!"

The five clones transformed into exact duplicates of
the real Ronin armors, weapons and all, only the armor
was still dark gray where it would normally be white.
"Excellent, Devaki," Dulcea admitted, turning toward
her assistant. "You've really outdone yourself this
time." She returned her attention to the Ronin clones.
"Wildfire, come forth!" Dulcea commanded. Wildfire
took a few steps forward, bowed, and said, "Yes, Lady
Dulcea?" "I have an important assignment for you,
Wildfire," Dulcea told him. "Do you think you can
handle it?" "I'm ready for anything," Wildfire stated
with confidence. "Just name it, and it shall be done."
"Excellent," Dulcea said. "Here's what I want you to
do..."

Meanwhile, back at Han`a High School, the final bell
rang, ending school for the day. Several students
busted out the front door, Ryo being among them. He
managed to squeeze out of the crowd and headed toward
an old oak tree near the main entrance. The oak tree
was where Ryo, Sage, Cye, Kento, and Rowen would
always meet before walking home together. While he was
waiting for the guys, Ryo spotted Rita in the crowd
and shouted, "Hey, Rita!" She stopped and looked
around, trying to figure out where Ryo was. Just then,
a student brushed roughly past her, causing her to
drop her book bag. Books and all sorts of items
spilled out of her bag. As Rita struggled to pick up
everything, Ryo ran to her side. "You need any help?"
he asked. "Sure, Ryo. I would appreciate it," Rita
answered as the two of them picked up an assortment of
books and placed them back in her book bag.

Ryo was about to get up when he noticed something a
couple of feet away from him. He picked it up and
realized that it was a sketchbook. It was the type of
sketchbook that would be given to a little girl,
smaller than professional sketchbooks, with pictures
of cute little cartoon bunnies and kittens on the
cover. Ryo flipped it over and on the back were Rita's
name and two addresses: one in Tokyo and one in
Toyama. The Tokyo address was crossed out with a thick
black marker. "Umm… Rita," Ryo said, "is this sketch
pad yours? It has your name and address on the back."
Rita looked at him and asked uncertainly, "You didn't
look inside, did you?" "No, I would never do anything
like that, honest," Ryo denied.

Rita was quiet for a moment, thinking about what Ryo
said. "All right, I believe you," she finally said.
"Look, I have reasons why I don't want other people
seeing this, but I trust that you won't tell anyone
about this." "I won't tell anybody about this, I
promise," Ryo replied. "Is there anywhere nearby where
we can sit down?" Rita asked. Ryo responded by taking
her hand and leading her to a nearby bench. As they
sat down, Rita said, "I'll take that as a yes. Do you
still have my sketch pad?" "Yes, I do," Ryo said,
holding the sketchpad in his lap. "Okay, then. Turn to
the first page, please," Rita said. Ryo did so and
gasped. The first page was a perfect drawing of the
Ancient, with White Blaze at his side.

"I know what you're thinking," Rita said. "You're
probably thinking: 'How could a blind girl draw so
well?' Well, over a year ago, I had these strange
visions in my sleep. Whenever I would wake up from one
of these visions, I would grab this sketchpad and a
pencil, and draw those images accurately. At least,
that's according to my grandfather." "How would you be
able to draw like this," Ryo asked curiously, "if you
couldn't see anything at all?" "That's the strangest
thing, Ryo, " she answered. "I'm not sure of it
myself, but it was like an invisible, unnatural force
guided my hand on the paper. It's kind of hard to
believe, isn't it?" "Not exactly," Ryo muttered aloud.
"What do you mean?" "Well, I like to keep an open mind
on everything."

Rita seemed to accept his explanation and continued.
"The first drawing is of an elderly monk, carrying
some sort of staff, and a white tiger. To tell you the
truth, I'm not sure what any of these visions mean,
but I'm sure there's some reason why I had them. Turn
to the next page." Ryo flipped over to the second
page, and was more astonished by it than the first. It
was a drawing of all five Ronin Warriors in full
armor, weapons withdrawn. Ryo was in the foreground,
with White Blaze at his side. To the left, in order
from left to right, were Sage, Rowen, and Kento, and
to the right was Cye. "These are five young samurai
warriors," Rita explained, not knowing that Ryo
recognized the warriors in the picture. "The tiger
reappeared in this vision: I'm not sure why, though.
Their armors were all different colors. The one to the
far left has green armor, the next one has dark blue
armor, the next has orange armor, the one in front has
red armor, and the one to the far right has light blue
armor."

Ryo flipped to the next drawing of Rowen in his
sub-armor. "This was the boy who wore the dark blue
armor," Rita told him. "Basically, everything matched
his armor: his eyes, his headband; even his hair was
blue." The next picture was Cye in his sub-armor.
"This boy was wearing the light blue armor. His hair
was a reddish-brown, and his eyes were green." The
next picture was Sage in his sub-armor. "This boy was
wearing the green armor. His hair was blonde, and his
eyes were sort of a violet-gray color." The next
picture was Kento in his sub-armor. "This was the boy
who wore the orange armor. His hair was a dark gray,
his headband was yellow, and his eyes were blue."

Ryo flipped over to the last drawing, which was of him
in his sub-armor. "This last drawing," Rita said,
smiling, "is of the boy in the red armor. He happens
to be my favorite." As she paused for a moment, Ryo
felt his cheeks turning red, since he knew that she
was talking about him. "So, can you tell me why he's
your favorite out of all five?" Ryo asked her. "Well,
I happen to think that he's very handsome," Rita
replied sincerely. That comment made Ryo even redder
in the face. "I just love the way he looks with that
long jet-black hair and those sparkling blue eyes."
Rita sighed deeply before she continued. "But, who am
I kidding? Even if this boy was real, he probably
never be interested in me."

"You shouldn't say things like that, Rita," Ryo said,
taking her hand. "You're a beautiful girl, both inside
and outside." Rita looked up at him and said, "Do you
really think so?" "I don't think so, Rita. I know so,"
Ryo replied. He leaned in closer and was about to kiss
her, until he heard a familiar voice shout, "Hey, Ryo!
Where are you?" Ryo quickly pulled away from Rita and
shouted, "I'm over here, Kento!" His burly friend soon
appeared, followed by Cye, Rowen, and Sage. "Oh, hi,
Rita," Rowen said. "Ryo, you ready to go?" "Oh, yeah,"
Ryo said as he and Rita got up from the bench. "I have
to be going, too," Rita replied. "I need to ride the
bus home. I'll see you all tomorrow, even if I don't
see you. Bye!" She waved at them as she made her way
to the bus terminal.

As the five boys headed down the road, Cye asked,
"Ryo, is there something wrong? You seem troubled."
"No, nothing's wrong," Ryo replied. "So, what were you
and Rita talking about earlier?" Kento asked
teasingly. "That's none of your business, Kento," Ryo
retorted. "Ooo, touchy," Kento taunted. "Leave him
alone, Kento," Rowen told him. "He doesn't need to
tell you anything, if he doesn't want to." The five
boys moved to the side of the road so some buses could
pass by. As they continued down the road, Sage noticed
something that Ryo was carrying. "Hey, Ryo, what is
that thing?" he asked. Ryo looked down and realized
that he still had Rita's sketchpad.

"Aww, man," Ryo muttered. "I forgot to give this back
to her." "Oh, it belongs to Rita?" Sage asked
curiously. "Yeah," Ryo answered. "She was showing me
some things in here before you guys showed up." "Like
what?" Kento pried. "Look, I promised her not to tell
anyone what I saw in here," Ryo told his friends
sternly. "Well, how do you plan on returning it to
her?" Rowen asked. "Her address is on the back," Ryo
said, flipping over the sketchpad so his friends could
see. "Hey, I recognize this address," Sage exclaimed.
"It's a small dojo, run by an elderly man." "Must be
Rita's grandfather," Cye said. "You know, I thought I
recognized Rita's last name," Sage replied, "and now I
know why. Mr. Niitsu was a good friend of my
grandfather, that is, before he passed away." "Look,"
Rowen said, pointing at a street sign. "That's the
street mentioned in the address." "Mr. Niitsu doesn't
live far down the road," Sage said, "so why don't we
go there now?" The others agreed as they started down
the road...

Meanwhile, a bus stopped in front of a narrow gravel
driveway. The doors opened, and Rita stepped off the
bus. "Thank you," she shouted to the bus driver as he
closed the doors and drove off. At the end of the
driveway was a nice, oriental-style, two-story home
with a small dojo to the side of the house. Rita stood
there for a moment to take in the sweet smell from the
lilac bushes bordering one side of the driveway. As
she started down the driveway, she heard a twig snap
from behind the bushes. She stopped and listened
carefully for any more noises. Hearing nothing else,
Rita shrugged her shoulders and continued walking.
"Must have been a squirrel," she assured herself.

Suddenly, she heard some loud rustling from the
bushes. A figure emerged from the row of lilacs and
knocked Rita out with a blow to the head. Rita slumped
to the ground, unconscious. The figure was Wildfire,
wearing his red and gray sub-armor. He picked up the
unconscious girl and teleported away. A few moments
later, Ryo and his friends arrived at the edge of the
driveway. "Well, this is it, guys," Ryo said,
double-checking the address on Rita's sketchpad.
"Yeah, I recognize this house," Sage replied. "It's
Mr. Niitsu's, and right next to it is the dojo I told
you about." He started to walk down the driveway when
he realized he was alone. Sage turned around and said,
"Come on, guys."

The others followed Sage down the driveway to the
front door of the house.  Sage rang the doorbell, and
an elderly man's voice replied, "Hold on! I'm coming!"
A few moments later, a short, stout man opened the
door. He wore a white T-shirt and black sweatpants.
"Hello, how may I help you?" he asked, not recognizing
Sage. "Mr. Niitsu, don't you recognize me?" Sage asked
him. The elderly man looked at Sage more closely and
gasped. "Oh, you're Seiji Date's grandson! It's Sage,
right?" "Yeah, that's me," Sage answered. "Oh, and
these are my friends, Ryo, Kento, Cye and Rowen."
"Well, don't just stand there!" Mr. Niitsu said. "Come
in, come in!" He waved his hands toward the hallway,
and the five boys came in.

The boys stepped into a well-furnished living room,
followed by Mr. Niitsu. "Well, go ahead," Mr. Niitsu
said. "Sit down!" "Thank you, Mr. Niitsu," Sage
replied, "but we can't stay long." "I understand." Mr.
Niitsu took a long look at Sage before continuing.
"So, Sage," he started, "it's been a few years. I
remember, the last time I saw you, we were both the
same height! You've grown a lot in eight years. Wish I
could say the same about myself." He chuckled to
himself before he continued. "You would be about
sixteen, seventeen, right?" Sage nodded his head yes.
"You go to Han`a High School?" "Yes, sir," Sage
responded. "Well, my granddaughter just started going
there today. Have you met Rita?" Mr. Niitsu asked.

"Yes, we have, Mr. Niitsu," Sage answered, "and that's
part of the reason why we're here. You see, my friend,
Ryo," gesturing to Ryo, "found something that belonged
to Rita. Is she here, by any chance?" "No, she hasn't
come home yet," Mr. Niitsu replied, "but I'll give
this back to her when she does." Ryo handed Mr. Niitsu
the sketchbook as Sage said, "Well, it was nice seeing
you again, but we better get going." "All right,
then," Mr. Niitsu replied. "Say hi to your parents for
me." "Sure thing," Sage said as he and the others made
their way to the door. "Goodbye, Mr. Niitsu."
"Goodbye, Sage," Mr. Niitsu said as he opened the door
for them, "and it was nice meeting your friends." The
five boys left the house and headed back down the
road...

Meanwhile, inside Mt. Fuji, Wildfire teleported inside
with Rita over his shoulder. As he laid the
unconscious girl on the ground, he heard a voice say,
"Wildfire!" He closed his eyes and said, through his
thoughts, "Yes, Lady Dulcea?" "Did you succeed with
capturing the kokoro of fire?" she asked. "Yes, I have
her with me," he replied. "Excellent. Tell me, what's
your location?" Dulcea asked. "I'm inside Mt. Fuji."
"Excellent. You know what to do now," she replied
coldly. "Do not worry yourself, Lady Dulcea," Wildfire
responded, chuckling evilly. "The kokoro of fire will
no longer be a threat to us." "Excellent. Get started
right away." Wildfire picked up Rita and carried her
to a nearby jagged boulder. He took a heavy chain and
proceeded to wrap it around Rita and the boulder...

In the meantime, Ryo was walking down the road that
led to his grandmother's house, where he lived. As he
headed toward the house, Ryo recognized a huge black
and white tiger bounding straight at him. "Hey, White
Blaze," he greeted him as the tiger stopped and rubbed
against his legs. Ryo petted White Blaze on the head,
and together, they walked to the house. Suddenly,
White Blaze roared and stood ready for a battle.
"White Blaze, what's wrong?" Ryo asked his pet tiger.
The massive cat turned toward him, growling at him.
Ryo felt something hot against his chest. He pulled
out the chain he was wearing from underneath his
sweater. The ring of Virtue glowed bright red, and was
heating up in his bare hand.

Suddenly, a beam of red light shot out from the ring.
The beam projected a flat red oval in front of Ryo.
Through the oval, he saw several images, all in
various shades of red. He saw Rita chained up against
a boulder. Ryo recognized the surrounding area as the
interior of Mt. Fuji. The next image he saw completely
took him by surprise. Ryo saw himself, or someone that
looked exactly like him, wearing the armor of
Wildfire. "No way!" he exclaimed. "That can't be me!"
He watched in horror as his mirror twin connected the
swords of Wildfire, raised them above his head, and
yelled "FLARE UP NOW!" The last image Ryo saw was of
his twin bringing down the swords of Wildfire toward
Rita. The flat oval disappeared, and the ring stopped
glowing.

Ryo stood there for minute, puzzled about what he just
witnessed. "I don't get it," he mumbled to himself as
he stared at the ring of Virtue. "Why was Rita in that
image?" Just then, Ryo remembered something that Shuno
told him: "The rings you have will indicate their
presence to you, and also, their mortal identities."
"That's it!" Ryo cried out triumphantly. "Rita must be
a kokoro! She's the kokoro of fire, like the one in my
dream." Ryo quickly changed into his sub-armor.
"Rita's in trouble, I can feel it," he said to
himself. "Come on, White Blaze!" He got on White
Blaze's back, and the tiger ran off toward Mt. Fuji.
"I don't know why there was an image of me attacking
Rita," Ryo thought to himself, "but I'm gonna find
out."

Meanwhile, back at Mt. Fuji, Rita slowly started to
wake up. She tried to walk, but soon realized that she
was chained to something heavy. She started to sweat
profusely from the intense heat surrounding her.
Suddenly, Rita heard an evil chuckle that seemed to
come from everywhere. "So, you're finally awake," a
deep, masculine voice boomed. Rita gasped when she
heard this strange voice. "That sounded like Ryo," she
thought to herself, "but it couldn't be him. That
voice sounded too deep and sinister to be Ryo." "Who
are you?" she asked boldly. "Who I am doesn't matter,"
Wildfire, in his full armor, responded sternly, "since
you won't live long enough to find out for yourself."

Wildfire withdrew his katanas, joined them together by
the handles, and raised them above his head. Before
Wildfire could finish the attack, White Blaze pounced
on him and knocked him down, causing him to drop his
weapons. As he struggled to get the massive tiger off,
Wildfire looked up and saw Ryo standing on top of the
volcano, wearing his sub-armor. Ryo was in shock over
the figure he saw pinned down by White Blaze. "I can't
believe it," he muttered to himself. "He looks just
like me, armor and all." Ryo jumped into the volcano
and landed behind the boulder that Rita was chained
against. "Ryo," Rita asked, "is that you?" "Yeah, it's
me," he replied as he picked up the chain with both of
his hands. "Hold still, I'm gonna get you out of
here."

Ryo pulled the chain taunt between his hands and with
all his strength, pulled as hard as he could. A few
moments later, one of the links gave way. At the same
time, Wildfire managed to knock White Blaze off and
was reaching for his weapons. Ryo finally got the
chains off of Rita, when he saw Wildfire standing
there with his katanas. "You won't escape from me," he
yelled as he raised the conjoined swords above his
head. "Prepare for your demise! FLARE UP NOW!" Ryo
quickly grabbed Rita and jumped out of the way,
narrowly avoiding the massive blast. As they landed
some distance away, Rita asked fearfully, "Ryo, what's
going on?" "I'm not exactly sure," he replied, "but
you can't stay here. It's too dangerous, and I don't
want to see you get hurt."

Rita looked toward Ryo questionably as he shouted out,
"White Blaze!" The massive white tiger quickly bounded
to his owner's side. "Get Rita out of here, now!" he
told White Blaze. Rita gasped as the tiger went
underneath her legs and propped her on his back. "Hold
on," Ryo instructed her. She managed to get a good
grip as White Blaze ran off. Ryo turned toward
Wildfire, who was watching the girl and tiger head for
the opening of the volcano. "Your attempts are
pathetic," Wildfire told Ryo. "I'll destroy her
eventually, but for now, I'll settle for destroying
you!" "We'll just see about that," Ryo retorted back.
"Armor of Wildfire! DAO JIN!" After the transformation
was complete, Ryo withdrew his own katanas, ready for
battle.

Ryo charged straight at Wildfire, holding one of his
katanas above his head. As he brought down the katana,
Wildfire surprisingly dodged the attack. "I believe
this is what you were trying to do," he stated as he
succeeded with the very same attack Ryo tried earlier.
Ryo was stunned for a moment, but he shook it off.
"But, how-" "Don't forget, Ryo of Wildfire," his
double replied sinisterly, "I am part of you. I know
your moves and your thoughts." He rammed Ryo hard;
knocking him against the boulder that Rita was once
chained to. White Blaze watched the battle on top of
Mt. Fuji, while Rita listened. "It doesn't sound like
Ryo's winning," she muttered to herself. "I wish there
was some way I could help him."

Suddenly, Rita felt some strange warmth near her hand.
She felt around and picked up a small metal object,
which was the ring of Virtue. As she held the ring in
her open hand, a narrow beam of red light emerged from
the ring and connected with her forehead. Slowly, the
kanji of Virtue appeared on Rita's forehead. She heard
an unfamiliar man's voice speak to her. "Rita Niitsu,"
the voice said, "I am Shuno, ruler of the kokoro. You,
my dear child, are the kokoro of fire reborn, destined
to help the Ronin Warriors defend the mortal world
from evil. Ryo is one of the Ronin Warriors. He wears
the armor of Wildfire. The time has finally come to
remove the veil that has shrouded your vision for so
long."

As Rita stood there, listening to Shuno's voice, her
eyes started to change color. The bluish-gray film
disappeared and was replaced by a reddish-brown color,
and black pupils shone through her irises. When her
vision came back, at first, everything appeared
blurry. After a minute or two, Rita could see
everything clearly, as though she never lost her
vision to begin with. She was startled a bit when she
saw White Blaze standing there. Rita looked down into
the volcano and saw Ryo, wearing the exact armor that
she drew, fighting a figure that almost looked exactly
like him, armor and all. She put on the ring, looked
at the tiger and said, "Come on, White Blaze. Ryo
needs our help." Rita cautiously got on White Blaze's
back, and he made his way down into Mt. Fuji.

Meanwhile, Ryo was fighting Wildfire as best as he
could, but he was obviously struggling. Wildfire
punched him in the face, and it knocked Ryo down into
the ground. As he attempted to get up, he saw Rita and
White Blaze heading toward him. "No, Rita, get out of
here, now!" Ryo ordered before he passed out. Wildfire
looked up at her and chuckled evilly. "Now, it's your
turn," he snickered as he slowly advanced toward her.
White Blaze pounced on him, but Wildfire simply
knocked the tiger off.  Rita backed away from him as
much as she could, until she was on the edge of a
small cliff protruding over the pool of lava. "There's
no one left to save you now!" Wildfire claimed as he
grabbed Rita's arm.

Suddenly, a bright flash of red light illuminated from
the ring and blinded Wildfire. "Ahh, my eyes!" he
screamed as he let go of Rita and covered his eyes
with his hands. Rita felt something warm resting in
her hand. She looked down at a small ball of fire that
formed in her hand. Rita concentrated on the fireball,
and it grew bigger and brighter. As Rita continued to
concentrate, a second fireball appeared in her other
hand and grew as well. By the time Wildfire regained
his vision, the two fireballs were bigger than Rita's
head. "You'll pay for that!" Wildfire cried out as he
charged at Rita. She begun to spin around rapidly,
with the fireballs continually growing. "FIRE SPIN!"
she yelled as the two fireballs left her hands and
went straight at Wildfire.

The unexpected attack took Wildfire by surprise. The
force of the attack knocked Wildfire off the edge of
the cliff. "You haven't seen the last of me!" he
claimed before he fell into the bubbling pool of
magma. "Wow! Did I really do that?" Rita asked herself
as she looked down at the lava pit. Suddenly, she
heard a mournful roar from behind her. She turned
around and saw White Blaze nudging Ryo with his head.
"Oh, no! Ryo!" Rita exclaimed as she ran to his side.
She knelt down and gently lifted Ryo's head. "Come on,
Ryo!" she pleaded with her voice quivering. "Please
wake up!" Rita closed her eyes as tears ran down her
face. One teardrop lingered on her chin for a moment,
and fell on Ryo's cheek.

Ryo's eyes slowly fluttered open. The first thing he
saw was Rita, with tears running down her face. He
lifted his hand and wiped away some of the tears from
her cheek. Rita gasped when she felt a warm hand touch
her cheek. She quickly opened her eyes and saw Ryo
looking up at her, alive and well. "Ryo?" she managed
to say. "You're alive?" "Yeah, I'm okay," Ryo replied
as he sat up. "What happened? Where's that guy that I
was…?" "Don't worry about him, Ryo," Rita said
reassuringly. "He's gone." He looked up at Rita's face
and noticed her eyes for the first time. "Umm… Rita,"
he started, "what happened to your eyes?" "What do you
mean?" she asked. "Well, your eyes, they're different.
They're now brown."

"Oh, well, you see," Rita started, "the strangest
thing happened to me. I picked up this ring," she
pointed to the ring of Virtue on her right ring
finger, "and I heard this strange voice talking to me.
It said its name was Shuno, that I was a kokoro of
fire reborn, and that I needed to help you, Ryo. After
the voice went away, I felt this strange sensation in
my eyes. All of a sudden, my vision returned. I can
see now, Ryo. I can see you." As Rita was talking, she
and Ryo stood up. "So, do you know why you had those
visions?" Ryo asked. "Yes, it's clear to me now," Rita
answered. "I had those visions so I would know who to
look for. Does that make sense to you?" "Yes, it
does," he replied. "Umm, Ryo?" Rita asked. "About your
friends: Sage, Kento, Cye, and Rowen. Are they...?"

"Yes, they're all Ronin Warriors," Ryo said before she
finished. "I know you have a lot of questions, and
I'll try to answer all of them." "Well, first of all,
where are we?" "We're inside Mt. Fuji. It's an active
volcano," Ryo replied. "I see," Rita murmured, looking
around the interior of the volcano. "Can you tell me
more about the Ronin Warriors and these kokoro that
Shuno mentioned?" "Well, it's a long story," Ryo
explained. "Well, it's a long walk," Rita exclaimed,
taking Ryo's hand. "Toyama and Mt. Fuji are pretty far
apart." "Yeah, you're right," Ryo said, a smile
forming on his face. "Come on," he said, leading her
toward White Blaze. Ryo got on the tiger's back and
Rita sat behind him. "Hold on," he instructed her.
Rita wrapped her arms around Ryo's waist before White
Blaze bounded off toward the opening of Mt. Fuji...TO
BE CONTINUED.