Chapter One: A Fateful Decision
Within the walls of a college campus, a young man was looking out the window. He rubbed the sword between his hands; completely hypnotized by a passing cloud, although he had no clue why.
"And next up is Baron! Baron? Are you with us?"
Without warning, a hand shoved the tawny man and almost sent his body to the floor. The young man snapped to attention, standing up as straight as a soldier.
"Begging your pardon, Sir!"
The coach shook his head at the blonde youth and laughed as his teammates did the same.
"Get your head into the sport, Baron! You're our best chance to take home the trophy this year, and we need you down here, not up in the clouds."
"Many apologies, Sir. Who is my opponent?"
The graying coach grinned and gestured at a larger man, who was struggling not to laugh.
"Have fun with Muta."
Baron nodded, and slipped the head mask over his face as his friend did the same.
"What were you dreaming about this time?" the larger one asked as he and his opponent bowed politely, and then assumed their stances.
"I have no idea," Baron sighed, avoiding his friend's lunge with ease, and making a cross on Muta's back. The slightly pudgy man wheeled around, and raised his sword to meet Baron's.
"Come on; you've been in space for almost a week! There must be something bugging you."
"Yeah, and it's you!" a dark-haired man called from the sidelines, one hand cupped to his mouth, to make sure that Muta would hear it. The larger man growled, and turned to attack the darker brunette.
"I'll get you for that, Toto!"
Baron calmly came between the two and twiddled his wrist just right to knock the sword from Muta's grasp. The blonde man smoothly caught the falling sword and swung one leg underneath the running opponent, sending him to the ground.
As Muta struggled to regain his breath, Baron gently placed the sword's tip to his friend's heart. His voice was a bit calmer than one would have expected from the victor of a duel.
"When I am your opponent, I am your only opponent. Save the fights with Toto for later."
The slightly pudgy man pouted angrily.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
"But Fatso does have a point," Toto said pointedly, as the trio walked down the street from the college. Baron gave him a slightly annoyed look, but kept silently walking.
"You've been really distracted ever since Louise-"
"Please don't say her name," Baron all but begged, silencing the memories that were threatening to resurface. His heart throbbed painfully, but the tawny man had always prided himself on his poker face. He kept his attention forward as he walked even more stiffly. Muta reached over and slapped the slimmer brunette upside the head.
"Idiot! Don't talk about that witch! But… is this about her?" the fatter brunette asked carefully. Baron sighed again, his yellow-green eyes starting to fade away with unfamiliar thoughts again.
"No. I don't know what it is, but it started long before… I found out about her little secret. Something's off, but I can't quite-"
"Toto, my love!" A random sandy blonde girl jumped the black-haired youth from behind, and wrapped her arms around his neck happily; almost hitting Muta upside the head with her lacrosse stick. The captive immediately lost his serious look, to be replaced by one of foolishness.
"Hiromi, my love!" He reached behind and managed to draw her into a deep dip in front of him, and kissed her soundly. The lacrosse stick had been swung around by the action, almost hitting Baron with it. The golden youth grimaced and snatched the lacrosse stick away from the girl, but she was too distracted to notice or care.
"Unless you learn how to control yourself, you're going to end up killing someone, Hiromi."
She giggled as Toto brought the kiss to a close.
"Not a chance. I keep missing, don't I?"
Muta growled at her.
"Statistics, Chicky. You're bound to hit someone sooner or later."
"Aim for the fatso," the boyfriend half-whispered to the girl, making her start laughing helplessly as the larger man raised his fist.
"If you call me that one more time…" Suddenly, his voice trailed off; dark eyes now cast to the ground. The other three also looked down.
A lovely brown cat, a single smooth chocolate shade from head to tail, was walking through the forest of their legs with a frantic air. This in itself wouldn't have been surprising, except for the little box that was hanging from the cat's mouth by the ribbon. But what Baron couldn't help but notice was the thick golden collar around the brown feline's neck, which was without a license. The cat nearly scrambled to the side of the road, and frantically looked both ways like a well-taught child.
"Wonder who the gift's for," Toto said softly, making Muta snicker.
"Maybe he's late for a date or something."
The two brunettes and single redhead laughed it off and kept walking down the sidewalk, but for some reason, Baron couldn't take his eyes off of the strange brown cat, which had determined that it was now safe to cross the road. He, or she, made a run for it, but about two-thirds across the road, the ribbon on the box slipped from the cat's mouth, making the sweet feline turn in its tracks and try to pick up the trifle.
This wouldn't have been a big deal, if it weren't for the changing light, and the oncoming truck, which was now heading straight for the cat.
Without thinking, Baron dropped his bag, and held the lacrosse stick with both hands as he ran into the street; a distant part of his mind hearing the protests from his friends. But his attention was completely focused on the brown cat, which had just gotten back its hold on the little box.
With singleness of purpose, Baron swept the cat safely into the net of the stick, and kept running as the truck tried to squeal to a halt, coming dangerously close to hitting the college boy as a few screams pierced the air.
With a practiced flair, the tawny youth released the stick with one hand in order to reach toward the bush he was about to run into, and gracefully flipped over onto the other side; his feet making a firm landing.
The cat fell out of the net with a yelp, and landed solidly on the dirt ground. Baron dropped the lacrosse stick to his side, and kneeled down to examine the feline. It was panting heavily; the tiny box fallen from its mouth. On closer inspection, the blonde determined that the cat had fainted from fright, and was actually perfectly fine. He breathed a heavy sigh of relief as his friends ran up to him; out of breath
"What… were… you thinking?!" Muta tried to yell, but was already too winded. Baron smiled softly at his friends, and wrapped up the comatose cat in his arms, returning the lacrosse stick to Hiromi with one hand, since it was miraculously still in one piece.
"My apologies for the scare, but it looks like this cat could use a few hours of peaceful rest."
Just before running the rest of the way home, Baron remembered the little box, and slipped it into his pocket after accepting his bag from a breathless Toto.
'With that collar, he or she probably already has a home. But it couldn't hurt to let the cat rest at my place for a while.'