'The Terrible Trio' is a nickname Kento gave me, Rowen and Ryo not long after he met us. He meant it as a joke, but it stuck because there was more truth to it than he knew at the time. For one thing, we didn't exactly get off to a great start, Rowen and I; and for another, there was a great deal of unpleasantness, to understate the case somewhat, for all three of us that winter and spring. I suppose I have to call them bonding experiences, in spite of how cliche'd that sounds, for it was only by relying on each other that we came through more or less whole, and by the time summer was over we were practically inseparable. But no one observing us those first days could have guessed at the changes to come. 

There were two thoughts in my mind as I wound my way through the halls and up the stairs towards my locker. The first was how loud and crowded the school was; I'd been expecting the usual 'sleep-deprived' atmosphere of the first week of the new semester. Coming back after a break is always a little disorienting and everyone is usually pretty subdued until they adjust to the change in sleep schedules. One can always tell who's become used to sleeping in by the stifled- and not-so-stifled- yawns. But as internal clocks settle to the new pattern, everyone gets more lively- sometimes drastically so. I had to keep reminding myself that since I'd missed that week, I was getting a much louder and more rambunctious first day than most. 

My second thought was simply Ryo. Three long, lonely weeks of communicating by infrequent surreptitious notes and a fourth with no communication at all had left me very, very anxious to see my brother-friend. I knew he would have been worried when I didn't show up for classes and had racked my brain for a way to get a message to him, but it had been impossible. Now, as I wove past clumps of chattering kids and the occasional hurried teacher, I scanned the hall for a glimpse of him. And...there he was, standing a few steps from an open classroom door, facing the lockers, talking to a slim boy who was leaning against a closed locker door and nodding. I hurried the last few feet, smiling, and just as I was about to say his name, Ryo turned my way. 

"Sage!" His eyes lit up and he grinned, stepping towards me and reaching out. I stopped beside him and clasped his hand, feeling the familiar heat of Wildfire in his touch. 

"Ryo," I said happily in greeting, then asked quickly, "You've been well?" 

"Sage, it's so good to see you!" he exclaimed, and I felt my cheeks grow warm. "Yeah, I'm great, where've you- oh, did you get sick?" His voice turned ruefully sympathetic. 

"Afraid so," I admitted. "The day after I went shoe-hunting-" I paused and he nodded, indicating that he remembered the day we'd inadvertently met in the shoe-store and had lunch together afterwards. "I got a really nasty throat infection. Feverish, couldn't talk, couldn't hardly eat. Strep, they called it. Strep throat." 

"You probably got it from that man in the restaurant," Ryo mused, releasing my hand. "The one who was hoarse."

"That's what I figured. I was afraid you might have got it too." I paused a moment, then shrugged and added, trying to keep my voice casual, "I think I passed it to the General. Someone did, anyway."

"Oh, so there was a definite bright side to this," Ryo remarked with a sour smile. I didn't reply, but I did smile back. "Well, I'm fine- I rarely get sick. I was wondering about you, though. I thought he might have transferred you to a different school." Or harmed you went unspoken, but it was clear in his eyes. 

"Then he'd have to pay more in tuition." 

"True." Ryo turned and nodded at the boy he'd been speaking to. "This is Rowen. He's come from America, New York. His parents are working here now. Rowen, my friend Sage."

I pulled my attention from Ryo and regarded the boy rather dubiously. Americans usually have a lot of trouble learning Japanese- about as much trouble as we have learning English- and I wondered which language I should address him in. He seemed to have been following our conversation, though, for there was no hint of confusion in his expression. In fact, if Ryo hadn't told me he was American, I might not have guessed it. He was about my height but looked lighter than me- skinnier, I mean- with lively gray eyes in a rather narrow face. His hair was dark- I blinked. Then I blinked again. There was no mistaking it; his hair was neither black nor brown, but blue. Dark, night-sky blue. One side of his mouth went up in a little smile, almost a smirk, and I realized I was staring. Embarrassed and somewhat annoyed, I bowed and welcomed him to Japan in general and Hanai in particular. In Japanese.

"Thank you," he said politely, returning the courtesy, and I noticed that though he hadn't exactly mastered bowing, he had it down better than most foreigners. "Welcome back to school- I hope I haven't taken your seat."

"Seat?" I wondered, mildly surprised at how good his Japanese was.

"I was given the last empty seat in here," he explained, nodding at Ryo's classroom. "I hope it wasn't yours." 

I felt a severe pang of jealousy at his words- the first of many. So many times I had wished I was in my friend's classroom- to hear that there had been a seat there, unused, that this boy had been allowed to claim made me feel that something had been taken from me. I forced back the feeling- it wasn't the boy's fault- and replied evenly, "Oh. I'm in room 252, around the corner. And I guess I better get there, the bell's about to ring." Glancing back at Ryo, I said briefly, "See you at lunch."

"Yeah," he replied, smiling, "and good luck." 

I smiled back, but let it fade as I hurried down the hall. So Ryo, figuring I wouldn't be back, had found a new friend to replace me? But he'd seemed so glad to see me... Well, maybe I was overreacting, jumping to a wrong conclusion. Perhaps he was just helping this new boy- in his class- get adjusted to a Japanese school. I hoped it was only that, but then where did the remark about him thinking I might have been transferred fit in? 'Don't be paranoid,' I told myself, sliding into my seat as the bell rang. 'Even if you did get transferred, it wouldn't mean he didn't want to be your friend anymore. There's the armor to consider, if nothing else.' But that was not a satisfying thought. I didn't want the armor to be the only reason Ryo associated with me!

The teacher came in then and I made myself pay attention to the Japanese grammar class. I had a lot of catching up to do and couldn't afford to be distracted.

I left the classroom as usual at the midmorning break, surprised at how quickly the time was passing (I had gotten used to long, tedious, dull days while I was ill) and was pleased to see Ryo lingering nearby...pleased, and more relieved than I expected to be. We spent the short time talking and I decided that maybe I didn't envy the new boy as much as all that- not after Ryo reminded me that Haruka was in their room and that they had both Temikyono-san and Minoro-san as teachers. I'd had Temikyono the previous year and knew how much trouble he had keeping order. Minoro was a different matter; I'd never had him, but I knew he didn't approve of foreigners and I was willing to bet he was giving this Rowen a rough time...the poor kid. 

"On the positive side, we do now have a very good English teacher," Ryo remarked, grinning. "Rowen's much better at it than Himete-san, though you don't need to mention that to anyone. But I doubt you'd need much of his help- not like me."

For a moment I was silent as another icy dart of jealousy flickered through me. Ryo had admired my skill in English several times in the past and I had done what I could to teach him some of the more baffling rules of the language. Now this boy, this American, would help him and I- I would be unnecessary. "Nothing like learning a language from a native speaker. Much better than trying to get it from another beginner," I remarked, trying to bow graciously to the inevitable, but something must have crept into my voice- or maybe Ryo was more sensitive to my mood than I thought. He tilted his head in that endearing way, and shrugged.

"Not like me and the twenty-eight other students in the class, if you want to be accurate," he replied. "I suspect his time will be limited, so I'll probably still bug you to help me out- if that's okay." 

"Of course, that's okay," I replied quickly. "And at least now when I don't know something, you can ask him and he'll tell you. And then you can tell me."

"You could ask him yourself..."

"If I was in your class, I could."

"True." Ryo nodded, then looked up at the clock and gave me a friendly pat on the arm. "See you at lunch, Seiji- for real this time." He grinned at my rueful smile- see you at lunch tomorrow had been the last thing he'd said before we parted that day in the cafe, before I got sick- and we went back to our respective rooms. 

I felt a little ashamed of myself as I returned to my desk and sat down, recognizing my jealousy for what it was and displeased with the discovery that I could get jealous. How was it that when Father had favored Yayoi, I had not resented her for it, yet I now found myself resenting this new boy Ryo had taken under his wing? Why had I automatically assumed- feared- that Ryo would no longer want much to do with me, now that he'd made a new friend? By thinking so, I was doing him a severe disservice. Friend couldn't really be the most accurate word- he'd only known the American kid for a week- but even if it had been a year, Ryo wouldn't just toss me aside and replace me with someone else. 

If he was the kind of person to do that, he'd be the kind of person to pick friends who'd increase his status. And he's not, obviously, or he'd never befriend a gaijin- two of them, to be accurate, me and the American... I guess that's it, the same thing that led him to stand up for me must've led him to look after this boy Rowen. The jin. Once this Rowen finds a few friends, things'll get back to normal for Ryo and me.

Comforted, I pulled out a fresh piece of paper and got ready for math. This new kid would gradually join the ranks of kids that Ryo greeted in the hall or paused to talk with once in a while; the casual friends, acquaintances and fans. But I would still be his true friend, his brother at heart, Kourin to his Rekka.

This smug and self-satisfied mood lasted until the lunch break, when I began to think that I had been overly hasty in my re-assessment and might actually have something to be concerned about. 

When I got out of class for lunch, I went to the junction of the corridors and waited for Ryo to join me for the walk to the cafeteria. The hall emptied and grew quiet, but Ryo didn't appear. After waiting for another few moments, I ventured around the corner towards his classroom and looked down the hall. I wasn't exactly surprised at what I saw, but I was dismayed and displeased: he was standing by the classroom door, deep in quiet discussion with that new boy. I frowned at the realization that there was going to be more company at lunch than I had anticipated, but if we had to have that boy tagging along, the least we could do was get moving in the direction of the cafeteria. With that in mind, I went a little way down the hall and called, "Ryo." 

He turned quickly to look over his shoulder, smiled, and shocked me by saying, "Oh, there you are." As if he didn't know perfectly well that I had been waiting for him, the way I always had. "C'mon over-"

"Can't you talk in the cafeteria? The line's going to be out the door by now," I pointed out, not altogether courteously. 

"Oh, you didn't bring-?" Ryo turned the rest of the way around and I saw then that he was holding a brown-paper bag. The other boy, Rowen, had a a nylon lunch bag, the type you put a freezer-pack into to keep things cool. So they didn't need to stand in the long line, which apparently translated to 'no need to make forward progress.' 

"And all the seats will be taken," I added. And waited. Ryo continued to hesitate, glancing first at Rowen, then back at me, and I frowned at the indecision on his face. What was wrong with him? But before I could ask, the strange boy with blue hair said something I didn't catch and crouched down to sit cross-legged on the floor. Ryo looked down at him for a moment with that same uncertain expression, and I decided I'd had enough. If that weirdo wanted to eat in the hall, let him; if Ryo preferred to do the same rather than sit with me, then that was his choice. I turned my back without a word and walked away, bitterly angry and acutely aware of the jealousy that was reawakening within me. 

I heard Ryo calling me as I descended the stairs, but I didn't wait for him or or even slow down, just continued to the bottom and hurried down the hall to the swinging doors. I was vaguely glad to note that the racket didn't fade into staring silence when I stepped into the big room, but winced at the noise; I'd forgotten how loud it got in there, and how stifling the air was from the ovens. I had just taken a step or two towards the serving line when the door behind me swung open with a creak and a breath of cooler air. 

"Sage-" 

I glanced over my shoulder at Ryo, then looked pointedly at the long line of students waiting for their turn to get lunch. My friend stopped beside me, then sighed. "All right, I'll find a place to sit," he said, and turned to make his way through the crowds of kids. I went to take my place at the tail of the line, wondering what was on the menu today and whether it would be palatable. It was always easy to tell when fish was being served, by the smell, but the other dishes weren't nearly so obvious.

I got through the line with amazing speed, considering how long it was, and was soon- ten minutes later- sitting down across from Ryo at one of the tables, ignored by the upperclassmen using some of the nearby seats. He had opened up his lunch bag, but had not made much progress on his food yet, so for a few moments we both ate without talking. But when the older students left, Ryo put his drink down and looked at me. "You didn't have to walk off like that," he began rather petulantly.

"If I'd waited for you, I'd still be waiting," I replied coolly. "I never realized the choice between eating in the hall and eating in here was so difficult for you." Which was nonsense, since the choice had never come up before, but it got my point across in an acceptably subtle manner. 

Ryo sighed again, more irritably. "Rowen doesn't like coming down here. He's claustrophobic, and when he gets in this little room jammed full of kids, he starts feeling like he can't breathe. So he eats in the hall. I've been keeping him company, and I have to say, it's a nice, quiet change."

"I see." I frowned at my tray, feeling a brief, sneaking sense of sympathy for the strange boy. It was too small in the cafeteria, too crowded, and would be a very difficult situation for any claustrophobe to handle. 

"If you'd just brought your lunch, it would've worked out fine, we all could have stayed in the hall," Ryo concluded, and my sympathy evaporated.

"Well I'm very sorry I didn't read your mind last night and take note that I needed to bring my food instead of buying it," I said, forcing myself to speak calmly, "but that isn't one of my talents, so I hope you won't be too cross about it."

Ryo stared across the table at me in amazement that had more than a hint of anger in it. "What is the matter with you?" he demanded. "What are you so mad about?"

"What have I got to be mad about?" I asked reasonably, seething inside. The nerve of him, blaming me for not bringing a lunch and somehow robbing him of the chance to sit with that weird kid upstairs! "You're the one who's being unreasonable, you're trying to hold me responsible for messing up this new eating arrangement that I had no way of knowing about. And if you wanted so badly to eat in the hall, why didn't you just do it? You had the choice. I didn't, I have to eat in here because that's where the meal is, and I don't think you're being at all fair about it. I didn't make you come down here, you know."

Ryo's aggrieved gaze dropped from me to the top of the table and he sat very still for a moment. "I- I wasn't holding you responsible," he said, low. "I just- was saying, it would be nice if you had, so I wouldn't have to choose... I wanted...I haven't seen you in so long, but I hate to think of him sitting up there all alone, too."

I pushed my tray aside, then changed my mind and got up to take it over to the clean-up area, mostly for the sake of giving myself some time to process that. I didn't like any of the implications at all, but when I sat back down, I couldn't really decide what to say. So I didn't say anything. 

It probably wasn't the best thing to do- but I didn't know that. I was barely thirteen, had never had a friend before, never experienced the jealousy and anger that accompany the fear of losing a friendship. I had seen betrayals and disloyalties since I was ten, and I had more reason than most to feel that I was a poor choice in comrades and could be easily replaced. Even if I had been older and more aware of what to say, I had been raised to be polite and to keep a lid on anything resembling confrontation. I was exceptionally good at keeping my feelings and reactions inside, no matter how I longed to share them. To top it all off, I had a nagging notion that if I raised a fuss, Ryo would shut me out completely in sheer disgust. At least as things were now, he was still being friendly, if not to the degree I had so quickly come to accept...to rely on.

The cafeteria was noisy all around us, but I was hardly aware of it. I sat silent in my chair, staring at the dull, off-white table and trying to blank my mind. Ryo was silent too, but his fingers tapped restlessly on the table and after a few moments he stood up. "I'm going back upstairs," he said abruptly; "come with me?"

I hesitated, then sighed and obeyed, grumbling to myself as we crossed the crowded room. At least he wants me to go with him...but he's just going back to that Rowen. Still, it's something... What am I going to do tomorrow? He wants me to bring lunch so I can eat with the two of them, but- damn it, what if I don't want to? What if I don't want to make a lunch and sit in the hall and hang around that boy? That American. Why couldn't he just stay in New York where he belonged? The silence of the hall filled my ears as we pushed through the heavy swinging doors, and cool air brushed my face.

"Whew," Ryo muttered. "I'd forgotten how loud it gets in there." I nodded, and we were both quiet until we reached the long staircase leading back to the classrooms. Ryo put one foot on the bottom step, then stopped and turned to regard me wistfully. 

"You're not saying anything. Still mad at me?"

I shrugged. "I don't know what I am right now," I told him, truthfully enough, and started climbing the stairs, hearing Ryo's footsteps behind me. I was a bit out of breath by the time I got to the top, and slowed my pace as I went down the hall. Ryo matched his steps to mine, and after a moment asked, "You all right?" in a slightly uncertain voice.

I nodded. "A week sick never did much good for anyone's stamina." And since I was glad he'd noticed and asked, I turned to give him a little smile. 

"True," he agreed, glancing over, and I thought he relaxed a bit. Neither of us said anything more, but there was less tension between us... until I caught sight of the figure sitting on the floor outside Ryo's classroom. A few seconds later, we reached the hall-intersection down which I would go to my own classroom, and there I paused. "See you in the library?"

"Hm? Oh, well sure, but-" he looked down the hall at Rowen, then back at me, and gave an inviting little nod in that direction. "We've still got some time before lunch ends..." 

"Only about five minutes," I demurred. "Besides, I need to get into my locker." 

"Oh," he repeated. "Okay. Yeah, see you in the library then- and Sage..."

"Yes?"

"I really didn't mean to-"

"I know," I overrode him, forbearing to add the other things that were going through my mind. "You weren't really complaining, just mentioning. And maybe I overreacted a little. It's way too easy to do that in this place- 'specially the first day back." And especially when you're fighting a sense of jealousy. Today he'd chosen me...but what about tomorrow, and next week, and next month? 

"Hmm," Ryo agreed with an ironic look; "Definitely. Okay, then, we'll see you in the library. Good luck with the afternoon." And with a quick touch on my shoulder, he was gone, walking back to his classroom- and to that confounded American boy.

"We," I said under my breath as I walked down the hall to my locker. "Well, maybe 'we' will, and then again, maybe 'we' won't. And maybe 'we' will 'forget' to pack a lunch, so 'we' don't have to eat in the hall like a bunch of weirdos who-" I paused and sighed. "-Can't tolerate enclosed spaces. Blast it, what am I going to do?"

I was physically present in my classroom when the bell rang, but I might as well have been in another country entirely for all the attention I paid to my afternoon classes. I was too busy brooding about my dilemma. 

My instinctive reaction- that I was not going to hang around with Rowen, not even to have Ryo's company- was one solution, but the more I thought about it, the more I felt that it might be the wrong attitude to take. For one thing, avoiding them both would send a very clear message that something was wrong, and I didn't want to do that. Secondly, they don't say 'out of sight, out of mind' for nothing. Avoiding them would only work in Rowen's favor; if I was 'too busy' to be company for Ryo, then naturally he'd turn to Rowen as substitute company. Clearly, he was already in that habit, eating lunch with Rowen and apparently going to the library after class each day, too. No: the answer here was to keep a strong presence, to simultaneously show tolerance of the American and to suggest by my presence that I wasn't so easily forgotten or replaced. And I had known Ryo longer, had seniority, so to speak. Rowen would probably start to feel out of place with us; a third wheel on the bicycle, as the saying is. And who knew- he and Ryo might have a falling-out, and I would want to be there for that...

I felt rather ashamed of that last thought, but not enough to take it back. I had a lot to learn about sharing, among other things. 

Ryo and Rowen were both in the library when I got there, sitting at one of the round tables with an open book between them. I took the chair on Ryo's left and both of them looked up, smiling and greeting me in the friendliest way. I responded, though somewhat less whole-heartedly, and got busy with my lengthy list of assignments. I had missed a lot of work, and although most of my teachers had given me several days grace to get it all done, I knew Grandfather would expect me to be caught up in the shortest possible time. I decided to deal with the math first, a subject I've never enjoyed, and soon fell into such a state of deep concentration that I didn't notice what was going on next to me for a while. But gradually, the repetition of Ryo's voice and Rowen's made me wonder what they were talking about so persistently, and when I looked up, I frowned a little to see that the book they were poring over was the one for Japanese language class. 

"What are you doing?" I asked, for it looked like Ryo was helping Rowen and not the other way around, as I had half-expected. 

"Japanese," Ryo explained, lifting his pen from a sheet of paper that had basic kanji scribbled all over it. 

"Yeah. It was an oversight in my education," Rowen said with a sigh. "My parents taught me to talk properly, even if they didn't quite get Japanese manners drilled into me... but they overlooked the reading and writing entirely. Though I'm sure," he added with a wry smile, "that if they'd ever thought I'd need to know it, they wouldn't have."

"Oh!" was all I could think to say for a moment, and I felt another twinge of sympathy for him, mingled with admiration. Coming into a new school in a new country couldn't be easy in itself, but being unable to read or write the language- even if he did speak it well- must be making things very difficult for him academically. And he probably wasn't having it too easy socially, I reminded myself, knowing from experience how the other students must have treated him. Well, maybe they hadn't been as rough on him as they had on me. After all, he was a genuine foreigner; not entirely accepted, but granted a certain amount of leeway for his ignorance. "That's very inconvenient," I concluded after a moment. "You know, there are other schools- English and French and even a few Spanish-speaking schools..." 

"I know, but they're too far away," Rowen explained. "And I was already enrolled here before anyone realized what a problem I'd have. So I'm kinda stuck. My Dad said he'd talk to the administration and try to get something arranged, a tutor or something, but nothing's happened." He shrugged. "Too complicated for 'em, I guess. They had a hissy fit when I enrolled, as it was- couldn't even arrange things in time to mail me the schedule."

"What's a ...hissy fit?" Ryo asked curiously, for those words had been in English.

"It's sort of like panicking, only more than the situation's worth. The expression's got a certain amount of contempt in it," Rowen explained. "I know now that it's not usual for someone to transfer in at the second term, but you'd think they'd have some way set up to handle it."

"The administration here is sometimes not very...active," I agreed, quietly. I didn't want anyone to hear me being critical of the teachers, even if it was true.

"I kinda got that impression, yeah." Rowen looked at Ryo with a small smile. "My luck Minoro-san- do you have him?"

"Fortunately, no."

"Lucky. Well, he made me Ryo's problem, to make sure I got caught up with the history chapters. So-" Rowen shrugged eloquently as Ryo shook his head.

"Oh, I see." Ryo hadn't mentioned that...or had he? I couldn't remember. Maybe there hadn't been enough time. "You would think," I observed, mentally turning some strong language on Minoro-san, "that a teacher would take the responsibility himself, not pass it off to the closest student."

"Yeah, you'd think, but I'm just as glad he didn't. That man is not nice," was Rowen's almost quaint understatement. 

"That's the truth," Ryo grumbled. 

"And in return, when something comes up in English, I give him a hand," Rowen concluded. For a moment I thought he meant Minoro, but then realized he was referring to Ryo. "Seems only fair."

"Yes, but only when you're not surrounded by two dozen other students all wanting the same hand," Ryo pointed out with a smile. 

"I do seem to get pretty popular after English class, for some strange reason," the blue-haired boy said, grinning so infectiously that I had to smile back. "Do you have Himete-san?"

"Yes," I said. "She's...not like Minoro-san."

"Yeah. He's mean; she's just really weird, and I'm pretty used to weird people," Rowen said frankly. "But I hope she's not typical of your English teachers, or most of these students are going to end up speaking nonsense." I blinked at that one, and Ryo made a shusshing gesture. "Oh. Was that bad manners again?"

"Just don't let anyone hear you. Some students do report to the teachers," I said warningly, and Rowen made a grimace.

"Sneaks. Well, it figures. You won't tattle on me, will you?" he asked with that engaging smile, and I smiled back. 

"I've studied a lot of English on my own, so I notice when what the teacher says doesn't match what my book says," I responded carefully. "But I don't tell the teacher she's wrong." 

Rowen seemed perplexed by that, if his sudden frown was any indication. "Well, yeah, I guess that wouldn't be polite." 

"Don't worry. Sage can keep secrets," Ryo told him, and then looked at me. "Americans are very direct. Sort of like me," he said cheerfully. 

"I think I might have noticed that," I agreed, taken rather aback but not displeased by the remark about my ability to keep a secret. Rowen grinned with surprising good humor. 

"I'm working on that. I have been taught what's proper behavior and what's not, in a general sort of way, but I never got a chance to practice. Not much opportunity to use Japanese manners in New York." 

"That's understandable," I had to agree, slightly amused at his explanation. "Our countries are very different. I'll try not to confuse you too much."

"Thanks," was the sincere reply. "Lots of people seem to like making things harder for me, not easier."

I felt another, deeper pang of sympathy. For all his cheerful manner, I got the feeling that Rowen was feeling very alone and somewhat lost in this strange new culture that he'd never gotten to 'practice'. Kids in general are resilient, but getting dropped into a totally different culture is extremely disorienting for anyone, even if the natives are very helpful. And 'helpful' wasn't how I was inclined to describe most of the kids in Hanai- though, admittedly, I was biased. 

"I remember that feeling," Ryo muttered. "And I only came from a little town to a large one..." He was interrupted as the final bell rang and we all gathered up our books and things to leave. 

"Why are the darn bells so loud?" Rowen asked rather plaintively, glancing up as he lifted his backpack- dark blue, I noticed, interested in spite of myself at the unfamiliar logo. "They always make me jump."

I shrugged. "Maybe some teachers are hard of hearing."

"Maybe they just like to scare everyone," Ryo joked as he led the way towards the library doors. The other students were filing out as well, making a sort of logjam in the narrow doorway, but we soon got past that and out into the cold January afternoon. Ryo and I paused on the steps, out of habit, and Rowen stopped a step below us. "See you- and good luck," my friend told me, as he so often did. 

"Thanks. That reminds me, maybe this weekend?" I said rather cryptically, knowing Ryo would understand what I meant. "Not Saturday, he's making me go to a tournament-"

"After you've been sick?" Ryo demanded crossly.

"Go to, not compete in," I corrected quickly. "It's a senior class- I won't be competing for at least another week."

"Oh." Ryo's frown faded a bit. "Sunday, then?" 

I nodded and watched for a moment as he trotted down the steps and hurried toward the train station. Then I descended the steps myself and turned to walk in the opposite direction, home to where the General waited for me. The good part of the day was over, and it had been... different. Not as good as usual. A disagreement with Ryo, this new boy to contend with, jealousy, uncertainty... all because that blasted bigot Minoro had been too lazy or prejudiced to tutor a new foreign student himself. 

So what would happen when Ryo's 'assignment' was over and Rowen was all caught up? It would be nice to think that Ryo would then end his association with the interesting American, but I was pretty sure that wouldn't be the case- the evidence was all to the contrary. Besides, kanji weren't easy to learn, so unless Rowen turned out to be some sort of language genius, he'd just fall behind again whenever Ryo stopped helping him. Ryo obviously wouldn't want that to happen- which meant I had better resign myself to the thought that this might go on all term. It seemed my first 'paranoid' reaction had been the right one after all; my friendship with Ryo was in jeopardy and I might just find myself the loser. I swore to myself that I wouldn't let that happen and determined at all costs to find some way of detaching Rowen from his place at my friend's side. I was not going to give up the best thing in my life without a fight- but I would have to be careful not to turn Ryo himself against me in the process. 

The notion of the three of us being friends together didn't occur to me, and if it had, I probably would have dismissed it as ridiculously unlikely. I didn't want any other friend, and I couldn't see why Ryo would, either. Or, well, that was the problem. Being me, I could see a little too well why he'd prefer someone else to me. 

Lost in thought, I didn't notice I had company until I'd walked most of a block. Then I caught a flash of blue from the corner of my eye and turned in surprise to see that boy about a pace behind me. My immediate reaction was to think he must be following me for no good reason. Other students lived in this direction too, of course, but none of them ever walked so close unless they had something nasty to say. I would just discourage that right now... "Well, what?" I asked curtly, turning on him suddenly.

Rowen's eyebrows went up. "What do you mean, what?" he asked, pausing. "I didn't say anything."

I hesitated, thrown off-guard by his mild reply and a bit embarrassed at my own aggressiveness. "I...didn't expect to see you," I said more courteously. "I thought for a minute that someone unfriendly was following me." 

"Oh, like one of Haruka's goons?" Rowen made a face. "They are an unfriendly bunch."

"Goons? I don't think I know that expression," I mused aloud, "but it sounds right. Do you live this way, or are you going to the bus-stop?"

"I live down there." Rowen turned slightly and pointed. "In one of those salt-towers- the second one from the left."

I looked at the tall, sparkling-white apartment buildings and had to smile. "Salt towers," I repeated, and started walking again. Rowen fell in beside me as I added, "I never thought of them like that before, but they do resemble salt." I paused. "Or sugar..."

"Don't let that get around, kids might start chipping off pieces to taste," the American joked, and I smiled again, wondering if all his countrymen had a sense of humor like his. "So do you take the bus?"

"I can, but mostly I walk. A few blocks past your salt-towers."

"Oh, in an actual house? Cool. Never lived in a house myself; always apartments." Rowen shifted his backpack, then shoved his hands into his jacket pockets. "Mind if I ask what you guys were talkin' about, a few minutes ago? Or is that none of my business?"

I looked over at him, then turned my attention back to the crowded sidewalk. No one was paying any attention to the two gaijin, and my curiosity was growing... there really was no reason not to tell him, and besides- "Do you- have you ever done any sort of sword-work?" 

"Sword-work? No, archery is my thing," was the ready reply, and I sighed internally in relief. The last thing I wanted was Ryo giving him sword-lessons, too. 

"We've both been learning sword-work since we were much younger- nine and ten- but he's much better than I am," I explained. "He's had dojo training; I've only had family lessons. My grandfather insists that I attend several tournaments a year, but I've never done very well at them, so Ryo agreed to show me some methods that might help me improve. Grandfather would be angry if he knew an outsider was teaching me, though, so we have to meet privately, when we both have spare time." 

"Ahh, I see." Rowen walked a while in silence, then remarked gravely, "Not so good, when someone thinks their way is the only right way to do something." 

"Well...it's a tradition that the head of the household arranges the training for the younger generations," I explained. "Either they find a suitable person- a teacher- or they do the job themself. What the trainee may desire is...not considered important, since they haven't the experience or judgment needed to make such important decisions."

"Codswallop," was Rowen's succinct retort.

"What?"

"Sheer nonsense," he clarified firmly. "Utterly ridiculous. It might be amusing, if it wasn't so- damn. Something a dictator would do, I can't think of the word." And when I didn't answer, he gave me another sidelong look. "No offense meant, but it rubs me the wrong way when people take other people's choices away from them."

"Oh, none taken," I said quickly, and I meant it. I completely agreed with him, even if I didn't quite dare to say so. "None at all. I got a little distracted by the vocabulary question... you do speak this language incredibly well. You said your parents taught you?"

Rowen accepted the change of subject with another of his half-smiles and explained that he'd grown up learning both English and Japanese. "By the time I was four or five, it was Japanese at home ninety percent of the time. But I had English at school all the time, and in all the shops and restaurants and books and TV shows and stuff, so I've got a better English vocabulary than Japanese. And it's tricky sometimes, rearranging the grammar."

"The more English I learn, the more I start to think grammar is perhaps not the right word," I began, then realized how insulting that sounded. "I mean-"

"You're absolutely right," Rowen replied, laughing quietly. "English- American- is a messed-up language, 'cause it borrows from so many other languages and cultures. The rules are completely random, almost insane, and even experts can't agree on some things. So don't feel bad." And to my surprise, he stopped. "I turn here," he said, and I looked over to see the 'salt-tower' buildings squarely on my right. 

"Oh. Well, see you tomorrow," I said.

"Sure thing." He smiled. "Nice to finally meet you." And he turned and walked unhurriedly down the access road to the apartments, leaving me to wonder what that meant. Had Ryo spoken to him of me? At last I started walking again, feeling a little lonely without a companion to talk to; there was no denying that, odd or not, the kid was not bad company. I could see why Ryo liked him- and at the thought, I sighed. I pulled the collar of my coat a little tighter against the cold wind that was heralding the onset of dusk and quickened my pace, no longer sure of anything except that it was cold and I didn't want to be late getting home. 

And that things were going to be different for a while.