Chapter 15 Discussions and peace

Everyone moved into the kitchen to talk and for once Cye didn't kick them out.

"Man I was so surprised this morning when he threw that pillow at me. I thought it was one you but then he told me not to wake ya'll up and he wanted breakfast." Said Cye as he was cooking.

"Its sure great to see him actually aware of his surroundings for a change. Its been a month since the night he spent out in the rain. I was starting to think he might never get better." Said Kento as he tried to reach a piece of bacon that was in his range.

"Don't even think about touching that Kento. I'm making all of Ryo's favorite things this morning. So you better not eat it all." Said Cye without even looking at Kento

"We were all thinking that he might not ever get better. Even though he is somewhat better, he is still so weak. Just his being up for that long drained him." Said Rowen

"Yeah but he'll get stronger faster now or at least my sister did. When she got sick with that bad fever, as soon as she woke up for real she started getting stronger a lot faster because she could eat real food instead of soup." Said Kento

"Breakfast is ready. Somebody go wake up Ryo and the rest of you help me set the table." Said Cye. Kento got up to get Ryo and everyone else moved to help. In the kitched everyone knew Cye was the boss. Whatever he said you did.

Ryo POV

Ryo felt someone nudging him and calling his name. It wasn't this though that actually got him to wake up. His nose smelled food. He was finally going to get to eat something.

"I'm up already." He said to get Kento to stop. He felt stronger again but he was still tired. So when Kento picked him he didn't complain. He wanted to be able to feed himself so he was saving all his energy for that task. He was placed in front of a plate full of food. He didn't even wait for everyone before he started eating. He was so hungry.

"Ryo if you don't slow down you're going to choke on your food." Said Kento while nodding his head knowingly.

Ryo mumbled something through his mouth full of food that no one could understand but he did slow down some. When Ryo had finished eating about twice as much as Kento, he decided that it was time that he had some questions answered.

"How long was I out? I know it had to be a while since most of my injuries have healed and I think I gained a little weight."

"You were out for a little over a month. For a while it was touch and go. We were afraid that you were going to die but you didn't. Then all you did was sleep. When we were able to wake you up, you weren't really aware of what was happening. We would feed you and get you out of bed, but never once did you actually say anything or show any sign that you were even there…" Sage trailed off.

"We were really worried about you. So when you woke up by yourself this morning we were really surprised." Added Rowen

Ryo remembered seeing everyone sleeping in his room this morning and decided that was another question that he needed answered.

"Have all of you been sleeping in my room since I got sick?"

"Yeah, we didn't want to leave you alone again. We all felt so bad about what we had done to you and we didn't want you to think that we abandoned you again." Said Cye.

"Guys I don't blame you. I did at first but I realized that you just didn't know what I was going through. I mean it wasn't like I did anything to make you want to help me. So stop worrying about it. Its done and over with." Said Ryo

Ryo hoped that would clear up everything because he wasn't sure he was going to be awake much longer. He could feel himself starting to lean forwards and his eyes starting to close. Rowen kept him from falling out of his chair. Ryo had enough time to send him a quick thanks before sleep engulfed him.

Two months later

Ryo thought back over the last two months. Cye had been forcing food down his throat every time he was awake for longer than ten minutes. He guessed he owed Cye for his weight gain. He was still about twenty pounds underweight but he no longer appeared to be a skeleton.

He also had gained a lot of his strength and energy back. He wasn't allowing Kento to carry him around any more and he wasn't falling asleep at strange times either. He only slept once or twice now during the day and stayed awake longer. It wasn't like before where he was up for fifteen minutes then asleep for two or three hours.

The Ronins were no longer acting like he was going to blame them for everything that happened. They were almost treating him like normal. Except that they sometimes acted like he was going to break if they touched him but he was planning on fixing that today.

He was watching the Ronins train. He hadn't been allowed to join in for the last two months but today he was planning on changing that. He knew that he was ready now and it wasn't just him trying to be macho either. He watched as Sage finally threw Kento. When the match was over he stood up and headed towards Rowen. Rowen was the next person up to fight and Ryo was pretty sure that if he went out there and tried to fight with Rowen that Rowen might let him fight.

"Ryo what are you doing? You know you're not ready to be out here yet." Said Rowen as Ryo approached

"Come on Rowen. I'm tired of just sitting around. Let me try this once and if I can't handle then I won't bother you about it until you tell me I'm ready." Said Ryo. He was purposely making himself sound whiny hoping that maybe Rowen would fall for his trick.

"Ok Ryo. I'll fight cha but I'm going to take it easy on you." Rowen turned to quiet all the complaints coming from the rest of guys and Ryo smiled to himself. He wasn't going to loose this match. He pulled down his barriers and allowed himself to feel everything that Rowen was feeling and thinking. As the fight began Ryo knew exactly what Rowen was going to do.

"Wow Ryo is actually doing good out there. I bet in a minute Rowen won't be holding anything back." Said Kento. He didn't get a reply. Everyone was to busy watching the fight.

Ryo finally saw the opening that he knew was about to occur and pinned Rowen. Everyone watching cheered.

"I guess you were right. You are ready to start training with us again." Said Rowen as Ryo helped him off the ground

"Hold on before we give him permission he had to fight me." Said Sage as he walked up.

Rowen opened his mouth to say something but quickly closed it when he saw Sage's face. Rowen turned and headed the side lines to watch the fight.

Ryo reached out again and realized with a start that he wasn't going to be able to read Sage's moves.

"Can't cheat this time. You sure that you want to go through with this now?" said Sage

So Sage knew he had been cheating in the match against Rowen. It didn't matter though. Ryo was still sure he could be beat Sage with out cheating. He smiled and nodded his head. The fight began.

Ryo felt himself going back to when he was first taught to fight. It wasn't to long after he had been taken from his father so he was still underweight and small. At first his size and weight hampered him. His opponents were always bigger and stronger. Not wanting to keep loosing until he was as big as he was supposed to be he created his own fighting form. He only used it for the few months that he was to small to really be a challenge. It was a tiring way of fighting but it made his wins all that much better. He felt himself slip into that way of fighting. He knew he was going to win.

"What's Ryo doing? Have any of you ever seen him fight like that?" asked Cye. Ryo's muscles were totally lax. There was no way for any of them to tell how he was going to move next.

"No but he is sure giving Sage a run for his money." Sage only made contact with Ryo one or two times and even then it was only glancing blows. Ryo's moves continued to be unpredictable. Sage pulled back trying to figure out how he was supposed to beat Ryo when he couldn't tell what Ryo was going to do next. Ryo took this moment to attack. He swung his foot out knocking Sage to the ground and then pinned him the same way he pinned Rowen.

"I told you I was ready." Said Ryo as he pulled Sage up. Everyone rushed over to talk to Ryo about the way he was fighting.

"How did you do that Ryo? You've never used that technique before." Asked Sage

"Sage you forgot that I learned to fight soon after being taken from my parents. I was underweight, weak, and small. I didn't stand a chance against any of my age mates who were all bigger and well fed. So I created my own way of fighting. I only used it for a short while and then I was finally strong enough to fight the way my instructors were teaching me. I was still small but that way of fighting, if it only does one thing it builds your strength." Replied Ryo

They could all tell that Ryo was tired. He was swaying on his feet but they could tell he was happy. For the first time since he woke up they were finally sure that everything was going to be o.k. Ryo was going to get better and everything would go back to the way it was before. They all laughed as they helped a tired Ryo back into the house. They were all finally at peace