Adult-FanFiction.org : Anime

Sons of Antiquity	By : Grumblebear Category: +M to R > Ronin Warriors Views: 2158 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Ronin Warriors, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 4
- 5
- 6
Chapter 2

Seiji was agitated. After sending his messenger to Touma the night
before, he had stayed up for hours waiting for his friend to come
welcome him home. He knew Touma would. He always did as soon as Seiji
returned from a trip. The messenger had returned saying that Touma
was out when he delivered the message, but that the head servant of
the house had promised to give the message to him as soon as he
returned. Seiji knew Tullius would do as he said.

So why had Touma never come by?

He stood on the large balcony that extended from the back of his
family’s home to the river’s edge, leaning on the railing
and staring blankly at the fish swimming in the water below. He began
to idly pick crumbs off a piece of flatbread in his hands and throw
them to the fish. A servant passing by admonished him for wasting
food, but Seiji was so thoroughly lost in his thoughts he barely
heard him. He and Touma had always been close, even as small
children. That closeness had followed them into their adult years,
and they were constant companions while in the same city. The other
three often teased them about it, saying that they ought to just get
married and be done with it. Seiji and Touma always took the teasing
in stride though. Their friends never meant any harm, and they were
comfortable enough with each other to not take the joking seriously.
Sometimes the two of them would even play along, but that was mostly
only when they had enjoyed too much to drink.

Eventually the sun grew hot on his neck and arms, and he glanced
up at the sky. The sun was just past its highest point. “Is it
that late in the day already?” he wondered aloud. He tossed
what was left of the bread out into the river and turned to head
inside, leaving the sound of frantic splashing behind as the fish
fought over the last of the free meal. He briefly considered going to
Touma’s home himself, but then thought better of it. “He
wouldn’t be awake yet this time of day anyways,” he
muttered, passing into the cool shadow of the house. He stared
unseeing at the ground as he walked through the tree-shaded courtyard
and towards the front of the house. He needed some water.

“Oh, Master Seiji. I was about to come get you,” he
heard their head servant say as he entered the atrium. He looked up
at the man. There, standing next to him was Touma. “Master
Touma just arrived for you,” he said.

Surprised by this unexpected visit, Seiji briefly forgot his
earlier annoyance, and his face lit up as he walked toward them.
Touma returned the smile as they greeted each other with a warm
embrace.

“Welcome home Seiji,” his friend said as they pulled
away from each other. “How was your trip?”

“Too long. I’m glad to be back.” Seiji replied
with a contented sigh. “Judea is too hot. Not enough trees and
too much sand.”

“And your parents?”

“Still resting from the return trip, but glad to be back as
well.”

Touma nodded and smiled, shifting his gaze down to the pool of
water in the middle of the atrium. “You’ll have to tell
me all about it.”

Seiji turned to the servant. “Would you make sure lunch is
being prepared?” The servant nodded and headed off into another
room. He turned back to Touma.

“You had planned to stay for awhile right?”

“Only if you didn’t already have plans for today.”
Touma continued to stare at the pool.

Seiji’s brow furrowed slightly. He realized that Touma
wasn’t looking him in the eye. In fact, it was as if he was
making a great effort to make sure they’re eyes didn’t
meet at all. Touma only did that when something was really bothering
him. Had something happened while he was gone? He frowned and ducked
down quickly into Touma’s line of vision, meeting him eye to
eye.

Touma blinked at him, startled for a moment. “What?”

Seiji narrowed his eyes at him but said nothing, and headed back
towards the other end of the house. “We always spend time
together after we return from a trip. It’s nothing new,”
he said, looking at his friend who walked beside him.

“I know,” Touma said with a sheepish grin. He
scratched his head, which was a nervous habit of his. “I’m
sorry I wasn’t able to come last night. I heard your messenger
stopped by shortly after I left. I didn’t arrive home until
long after dark. By that time it was too late to come calling.”

“It never stopped you before,” Seiji said as they
passed under the shade of the courtyard trees.

Touma looked at him. “I’m sorry. I figured I would
give you some time to settle back in.”

The sun was too hot for them to sit out on the balcony, so they
sat on a pair of couches just inside the alcove leading from the
courtyard to the balcony.

“You’re worrying me, Touma.” Seiji smiled
teasingly at him. “Normally you can’t wait to come find
me the moment I get back from somewhere.”

Touma wrinkled his nose. “Don’t make me sound like
your puppy. I can’t wait a few hours to come see my best friend
when he returns home? And you’re just as bad when I’m the
one returning from somewhere,” he scoffed.

“Am I?” Seiji raised his eyebrows in mock disbelief.

“I can go back home if you really want,” Touma crossed
his arms and feigned insult.

Seiji chuckled. This was more like it. He would have to find out
what was bothering his friend later. He didn’t want to inquire
about things that might be unpleasant as soon as they were reunited.
They spent the next hour or so catching up on what each other had
been doing while they were apart, talking mostly about Seiji’s
time in Judea. Touma laughed upon hearing the story of Herod’s
daughter, who was indeed obsessed with his friend. “She just
wouldn’t take no for an answer,” Seiji said with a sigh.
“I had to constantly watch my back because she would plan all
sorts of tricks to get us alone together. I spent half the time there
hiding in my room because of her!”

“Oh it couldn’t have been that bad…”

Seiji shot him a look that told him, yes, it certainly could have
been.

“Was she at least nice to look at?” Touma asked as he
picked a piece of goat's meat off a tray that had been placed in
between them for lunch.

“I’m sure she would have been if I could have gotten
past the conceit spewing forth from her mouth. I’ve never met
another woman more proud of her face than that one.”

Touma laughed again. “I heard she had an eye for you. I
didn’t realize it was that bad.”

Seiji groaned and looked at him. “Even people here in Rome
know about it?”

Touma hesitated, looking as if he had said something that he
hadn’t meant to.

“Who did you heard it from?”

“It was just gossip…” he tried to wave it off.

“Out with it,” Seiji said, narrowing his eyes and
taking a sip of wine.

Touma sighed. “Gaius.”

Seiji nearly choked. “You believe anything that comes out of
that snake’s mouth, don’t you?” he snapped. He
absolutely hated that man. He had hated him from the first time he
had met them and asked Touma to be his guest for an afternoon. And he
had hated the man even more when Touma first referred to him as his
friend. Everything he had ever heard about Gaius had presaged the man
turning into a monster as he aged. Nothing he had ever heard had
given him reason not to believe it true. But it seemed Touma would
not be dissuaded until the man personally wronged him. And because of
that, Seiji worried for his friend.

Touma flinched. “Well this time he was speaking the truth…”

“That’s beside the point. Honestly, why do you indulge
that man by calling him your friend?”

“He’s never given me reason not to…”

“You, no. But the way he’s treated other ‘friends’
in the past should be example enough.” He chewed aggressively
on a piece of cheese, letting his annoyance show.

“Maybe so. But I feel like I can keep a better eye on him if
I stay near him. Maybe prevent him from doing some harm,” Touma
said, staring off across the river.

“You think he would listen to you?”

“I hope he will.” Touma paused for a moment as a
gentle breeze sighed through the alcove. “I was going to have
to tell you this anyways...”

Seiji looked at him questioningly.

“He asked about you.”

“Asked about me?”

Touma nodded.

“What about me?”

The sideways glance Touma gave him told him all he needed to know.
He groaned and ran a hand through his blonde hair.

“Its alright.” Touma said quickly. “I told him
you were taken.”

“You lied to him?”

“Of course I did. I’m not letting him come after you.”

Seiji sat up to look his friend directly in the eye. “Touma
you don’t lie to a man like that,” he scolded. “There’s
no telling what he would do to you if he found out. I could have
handled it myself.”

“No, you couldn’t have.” Touma said seriously.
“He’s much less likely to lash out at me than he is at
you if he were to find out. I had to take that risk.”

“I appreciate it Touma, but you still shouldn’t have
done that. I don’t want you putting yourself in that position
for me,” Seiji said quietly and shook his head, the worry
evident on his face.

“It will be alright. I’m pretty sure Gaius won’t
pursue the issue.”

Seiji leaned back on the couch again with a sigh, popping a grape
into his mouth. After a moment, he smirked. “And if I’m
asked, who do I say is the lucky person?” he chuckled.

Touma smiled and lifted his cup to his mouth. “I don’t
know, pick someone. I know you have tons of admirers.”

“That person would have to know your secret though. For all
that trouble then I should just say its you.” He had meant it
mostly as a joke, but he noticed Touma visibly stiffen for a moment,
pausing with the cup still at his lips. “What?”

Touma lowered the cup and glanced sideways at him briefly, a hint
of regret in his eyes.

“Why? Did you already tell him it was you?” Seiji
asked incredulously.

His friend looked down and said nothing.

“Toum…”

Before he could finish, the sounds of voices at the front of the
house caught their ears. A loud male voice called out, “SEIJIII!”
followed by the sounds of angry scolding. Damn it! Seiji
closed his eyes in frustration. Why now? He desperately wanted
to continue his conversation with Touma, but he knew they wouldn’t
be able to with the new company. He stood with a sigh and looked down
at Touma, who was staring vacantly out over the balcony.

“Well finish this later then,” he said, letting a hint
of his frustration show in his voice. Touma simply nodded and stood.
Seiji turned from his friend and headed out to the courtyard, his
mind quickly retracing their conversation. Nervous butterflies leapt
in his stomach at the thought of Touma telling Gaius that they were
more than good friends. Would Touma really do that? He had never
given indication of truly having those feelings before, even through
all of their friend’s teasing and their own joking. Was Touma
really just trying to protect him from Gaius, or was there something
else to it? He shook his head. He would have to think about it later.

*****

Touma felt like a fool as they walked. He angrily berated himself
for not finding a better way to tell his friend about the lie. He had
anguished over it all night long, which was the reason he had chosen
to wait until the next day to come calling. But in the end, he
couldn’t find any other way to tell Seiji without also telling
him about what Gaius suspected. If he hadn’t told him then he
would have risked both friends finding out about the lie, and then
having both of them angry with him. So in the end he had decided to
tell Seiji about it and let him take his words however he wanted to.
He had planned to be more forthcoming with the truth, but nerves had
gotten the better of him and he had floundered towards the end of
their conversation. Now his friend was confused and he was
embarrassed.

They stepped out into the courtyard just as their three visitors
did the same. Ryo, Shuu and Shin spotted them and headed their way.

“See? I told you Touma would be here! Aren’t you glad
we didn’t stop by his house first now?” Shuu loudly
proclaimed.

Shin swatted him on the back of his head. “I told you to
keep your voice down. You’re being too loud in someone else’s
house.”

“I haven’t heard anyone complain yet!” he
growled back.

“They shouldn’t have to!” Shin said, raising his
own voice.

Shuu snickered. “Now who’s getting loud?”

Shin glared angrily at him.

The five of them met in the middle of the courtyard and greeted
each other warmly. Ryo smiled at Seiji. “Welcome back,”
he said. Shuu and Shin, briefly forgetting their argument, welcomed
their friend home as well. Seiji smiled at them, “Thank you,
its good to be back.”

Ryo motioned to his brother. “Shuu and I just arrived back
from Valencia yesterday. We thought we would go get the others and
come see you. We haven’t been together as a group in months.”

Nodding, Seiji motioned for them to follow him into the alcove he
and Touma had been sitting in. “We have a lot of catching up to
do, don’t we? We can sit and talk over here.”

For the next few hours they caught up on the events of each
other’s lives over the past few months. Seiji retold the events
of his time in Judea, for which the others teased him unrelentingly.
They knew how nervous the attentions from admirers often made him.
Shuu and Ryo told them about their trip to Valencia to visit Ryo’s
cousins. Shuu gloated about how popular he had been with the locals
because of his exotic looks.

“The women loved my eyes! They were convinced I had them
pinned back somehow to make them smaller. And they would follow me
everywhere asking me to do tricks for them!” Shuu loved women,
and never hesitated to point out when he received their attentions.

“He fell in love with one of them,” Ryo teased.

“I did not,” he growled. “She’s just very…
special to me, that’s all,” he said defensively.

They all chuckled.

“He writes her every day,” Ryo whispered through a
wide grin, loud enough for everyone to hear. Shuu adamantly denied it
and they playfully bickered back and forth for a while.

Shin told of his trip to Sicilia and of the ocean side villa he
had stayed in with family. Shin was in love with the ocean and took
every chance he could get to travel to see it. His Greek cousins had
taught him how to sail, and had tried to teach him to spear fish, but
he had adamantly opposed the latter. He had also opposed eating any
animal that had come from the sea, with the end result that he had
lost quite a bit of weight during his time there.

“It was like a double edged sword,” he said. “I
was happy to be near the ocean, but I was starving the entire time
because everything they ate came from there. And I couldn’t
bring myself to eat any of it. I think I insulted my aunt quite a bit
by not eating any of her food,” he said sheepishly.

His friends laughed. Poor Shin was the most sensitive of all of
them, and had always had an affinity to the sea. His refusal to eat
fish was nothing new to them, but they could only imagine how his
relatives must have felt at his refusal of their food. He was
tenacious if nothing else. But that’s part of what made him so
endearing.

When Touma revealed that he had only been doing much of what he
normally did, studying in the libraries of Rome and sleeping, they
all groaned and berated him just as his other friend had for not
having a more “exciting” life. He had grinned and
defended himself the best he could.

Eventually the conversation had shifted to other things and the
hours wore on into the evening. They were enjoying dinner when Shuu
suggested they all go riding the next day. “It would be nice to
get out into the city again. I missed all my fans in Rome,” he
said through a mouthful of cooked pig. The others agreed.

Reaching for his wine, Seiji said, “Then just stay here
tonight and we can all go out tomorrow together.”

“Good idea! We’re already all here anyways,”
Shin agreed.

Touma cursed silently. He remembered he had made plans already. “I
cant,” he said regretfully. “I have plans tomorrow.”

“Then break them!” Shuu commanded, pointing a bone
that had been picked clean of meat at him. He had consumed quite a
bit of wine so far and his manners were suffering for it.

Touma smiled sadly. “I cant. I made a promise.” He
noticed Seiji staring him down out of the corner of his eye.

“Who could be more important than us?” Shuu prodded.

Touma resisted the urge to throw something at him. Don’t
say it like that damn it! he thought. “Its not that he’s
more important…” Touma tried to defend himself but was
cut off loudly by Shuu.

“Ha! I knew it! You’re going to go hang out with your
buddy Caligula again! Trying to win favor with the next emperor?”
Shuu grinned teasingly. “Who else would you ditch us for?”

He frowned. “I’m not ditching you…” Touma
sighed and stole a glance at Seiji, who had shifted his gaze down to
the remnants of dinner in front of them, a reserved look on his face.
“I made the plans last night. If I had known that all of this
was going to happen today I would have refused his offer.”

“It’s alright Touma,” Ryo said. “We can
all do something when you come back. How long will you be gone?”

“A week at the most.”

Ryo nodded. “Alright then, we’ll just have to do
without you tomorrow then,” he smiled understandingly, and Shuu
seemed content to leave it at that.

Touma gave Ryo a grateful smile. The others didn’t have the
distaste for Gaius that Seiji did, and for that Touma was thankful.
It probably would have made for a very unpleasant conversation among
them. But now he worried that Seiji would be more upset with him than
ever.

The hours grew late and eventually Shin and Shuu dozed off from
all the wine they had consumed. Ryo, Seiji and Touma were reclining
on the balcony along the river, discussing random things. “We
should buy a house. For the five of us,” Ryo suggested with a
yawn.

“We certainly have made enough money to,” agreed
Seiji.

Touma stretched. “A nice big villa up in the hills
somewhere,” he said. “On the outskirts of the city.”

The other two nodded. “I’ve asked Shin and Shuu what
they thought,” Ryo said. “They like the idea. Maybe we
can go look for one when you get back Touma.”

Touma nodded. “Sounds good. So long as I have someplace to
watch the stars, I’ll be happy.”

The other two smiled. “You and your stars,” Ryo said
fondly.

Touma stifled a yawn and blinked up at the night sky. “Which
are telling me its late,” he said, sitting up. “I should
get going.”

Seiji sat up as well. “Why don’t you just stay here
for the night?”

“We’re leaving early in the morning. It’s a full
day’s ride to Tibur, and I still have to prepare.”

“Have a safe trip Touma,” Ryo said, smiling up from
the couch where he lay. “When you get back we will find
something more interesting to fill your time.”

Touma chuckled and smiled back at him. “Indeed.”

Seiji went to stand. “I’ll walk you out.” But
Touma held up his hand.

“Its alright. I’ll show myself out.” He just
wanted to get out of there without getting into another awkward
discussion with Seiji. He knew he was being a coward, and that he
should clarify things with his friend. But he was tired from the
wine, and just wanted to go home and retreat to his bed. We can
discuss it when I get back, he told himself. “Goodnight you
two,” he said and then headed back into the house.

*****

Seiji sat there for a moment, angry at his friend’s abrupt
departure. It had been uncomfortable between them all evening, and
now another week would go by without them resolving anything. He
couldn’t just let it go. He stood up suddenly and looked in the
direction Touma had just gone. “Ill be right back,” he
said to a startled Ryo, who stared questionably after him as he
hurried into the house. He headed into the atrium and through the
entryway leading to the street outside.

Touma was just about to mount his horse as he rushed out. “Touma,
wait,” he said, catching his friend’s arm. “I want
to talk to you.”

Touma blanched at his touch and gently twisted away from his
friend. “I told you, I have to go. Its late,” he said,
trying to ignore Seiji’s words. He vaulted swiftly onto his
horse and gathered the reins.

Seiji gritted his teeth and grabbed the horse’s bridle. “I
want to know Touma.”

“Seiji, let go of my horse.” He was obviously
desperate to leave, and Seiji’s refusal to let him go was only
making his urge to flee greater.

“Did you tell him it was you?”

“I didn’t tell him anything! You don’t tell
something like that to that man, otherwise he runs wild with it.”

“Did you want to tell him it was you?”

“Shut up!” Touma yelled angrily. “I only did it
to keep him from coming after you, like I said. That’s all!”
He paused suddenly, looking stricken by his own words.

“Touma…” Seiji stared up at him, unable to hide
the hurt that his friend’s words had elicited.

He turned from Seiji in dismay at his outburst. “I’m
sorry, I’ll talk to you when I get back.” He pulled the
horse’s head to the side, yanking the bridle from Seiji’s
grasp, and quickly took off down the road.

Seiji called after him, but his friend didn’t stop and was
soon lost from view. He stood there a moment, feeling utterly
helpless. He had meant to fix the situation, but now he feared he had
only aggravated it. “Why do you have to be so damn stubborn?”
he muttered angrily through his teeth.

“Seiji…” came Ryo’s voice from the
doorway.

He turned quickly to find his friend standing just inside the
door.

“What was all that about?” he asked carefully.

Seiji sighed and walked back inside, pushing his hair out of his
eyes. “Lover’s spat?” he offered jokingly, trying
to diffuse Ryo’s concern. The last thing he needed was his
friends getting involved. But Ryo didn’t look convinced. “It
was nothing. I meant to clarify something we had discussed earlier,
but it looks like I only made things worse. I’ll give him some
time too cool off and try again when he returns.” He wandered
back into the house.

Ryo stared off down the street in the direction Touma had
disappeared before closing the gate and following after Seiji.
“Anything I can help with?”

Seiji shook his head. “No, but thank you anyways. This is
something Touma and I will have to work out on our own.” Just
as soon as he gets back, he thought resolutely.

~Continued in Chapter 3~
- 4
- 5
- 6
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Sons of Antiquity