Hate This Place
By Stephanie

Chapter Eleven

"Put it down Kento!" Cye shouted.

"No!" Kento and Cye were brawling in the kitchen. They were rolling on
the floor with food everywhere!

"You can wait 10 minutes til lunch!" Cye proclaimed while thwarting one
of Kento's attempts at grabbing the food from the counter.

"But I want it now!" Kento whined. Ryo, Sage, and Rowen ran into the room
and quickly joined in.

"Stop it guys!" Ryo shouted as he tried to seperate Kento and Cye. Cye
shook a fist at Kento.

"If you ruin another meal, I swear I'll never forgive you." Cye shouted,
then he and Kento went head on, both getting the other in a headlock. Sage
and Rowen started cheering them on while all Ryo could do was try and keep
them apart. In a few short seconds, Rowen was hit in the jaw by Kento.

"What was that for?!" Rowen shouted. Then he punched at Kento and Kento
started punching back. Pretty soon, all five of the Ronin Warriors were
brawling in Mia's kitchen. All of them froze when they heard someone clear
their throat rather loudly. They looked towards the staircase to see a very
angry Mia standing and tapping her foot impatiently. Behind her stood a
laughing Anubis. The five guys quickly let go of eachother and looked down
at the ground, cringing at the thought of punishment from Mia.

"Do you all mind telling me what is going on?" As soon as she asked the
question, she regretted it. All of them started talking at once.

"It was all Kento!"

"Nu-uh! Cye wouldn't let me have anything!"

"Cye punched me!"

"They messed up my hair!"

"He attacked me!"

"It was you Kento!"

"It was your fault!"

"No, yours!"

"My hair!!!!"

The chorus of blaming, complaining, and whining ended when Mia lost her
patience.

"Alright! All of you stop it now! Kento, out of the kitchen. Rowen, if he
even thinks about coming in this kitchen again remind him what happened the
last time he messed with Cye's cooking. Ryo, you help Cye clean this all up.

Sage, you help Rowen keep Kento under control."

"But my hair!" Sage whined, but quickly retreated to the living room
after Mia's glare.

"Phew, glad that little fiasco is taken care of." Mia rolled her eyes.
"They can be so childish." She turned around to see Anubis laughing. "And
what's so funny?"

"To think, these five are what stands between Talpa and world domination."

He chuckled again. "And they were just ordered around by a girl." He
laughed again.

"Hey! Watch it! You are in my house ya know." Mia threatened teasingly.

"Yes ma'am." Anubis said with humor in his voice. ~Strange,~ Mia
thought. ~He seems different somehow.~ Mia rolled her eyes and let out a
tired sigh when she heard Kento grumbling again.

 

When lunch was ready, the guys all ran into the kitchen, totally
forgetting they had a warlord in their mists. Mia walked up to Anubis.

"You hungry?" She asked cheerfully.

"Naw, not really." Anubis lied. He was too busy thinking to worry about
food. Mia saw the look of intense concentration on his face.

"What's bothering you?" She asked worridly.

"I've just been thinking."

"About what?"

"About why Talpa wants you so much." Anubis replied, looking away from
her for a moment. "This isn't the place to talk about such things." Anubis
sighed. Mia looked out towards the balcony.

"We can talk alone out there." She pointed to it, a hopeful look on her
face. Anubis nodded.

"As you wish." He responded, following her outside to the balcony where
they could talk in peace.

"Thought of any reasons yet?" Mia asked when they were outside. She
leaned against the edge of the wooden railing.

"I still can't figure it out. But I'm leaning towards it's because the
Ronins would not hurt you, even if you were evil." Anubis responded.

"I wouldn't be so sure....." Mia put her hand to her cheek, remembering
that night so long ago when Ryo hit her. (from Chapter 3) She closed her
eyes, trying to forget the pain, both emotional and physical. Anubis didn't
catch what she was saying and didn't see the look of pain on her face.

"Perhaps, but that is the only thing I can think of." Anubis looked over
at Mia and gave her a concerned look. "Are you alright Mia?" He asked in
concern.

"I'm fine Anubis...." Mia lied. She opened her strange gold eyes and
looked out into the distance, refusing to look him in the eye or fear he
would sense her weakness. Anubis edged closer to her and put his hand on her
chin, tilting her face towards him and looking deeply into her golden eyes.
Anubis lingered there, just staring into them as they stared back at him.
Mia could feel his breath on her lips and she felt his arm wrap around her.
They each leaned forward towards one another and their lips neared. They
were suddenly broken from their trance when an evil and familiar voice
spoke.

"How touching." Seckment sneered at them. Anubis gritted his teeth.

"Get out of here!" He shouted shaking a threatening fist at the warlord
of venom. Seckment grinned.

"Oh, but I came to bring you back. Both of you." A wave of fear came
over Mia. She tightened her grip on Anubis and Anubis did the same. Anubis
pulled her to him. Seckment watched with cold, glaring eyes as the two were
thrown into the dark portal created by the nether realm. In the dark void,
they were sure to seperate. And when they did, he would take care of the
traitor, Anubis, and bring the girl back to Talpa.