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Summary: It is believed that there is no longer samurais. But that is wrong. My name is Elizabeth Anderson and this is my story of being a samurai and a normal girl at the same time. Will someone break the barriers I have put up due to my intense training that have only once been broken?

A Samurai's Heart

by: butterfly-angel-babygirl

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

It was the next morning. I was still rather sore, but it was also because of training this morning. Everyone was gathered in front of the school doors, freezing cold. My bag, along with James', were on the ground, and James had his arms wrapped around me tightly.

“You two...seem different today,” Lily stated. I looked at James, wondering if we could tell them. I no longer held secrets from them. They were my friends, my teammates and practically my family. James nodded. I wondered how they would react and what they would say. I looked at the girls first, and James moved my hair to kiss my neck. I saw them look in confusion at first, and I turned bright red as realization dawned on all of them.

“Oh. My. Gosh!” all the girls squealed. They instantly burst in questions I felt extremely uncomfortable answering. I felt James release me to pound all of the guys' hands except for Cory's. I met Cory's eyes and remembered when James had told me that Cory was overprotective of us all, and that included me.

“Cory, you know I would never do anything to hurt her. I love her too damn much to let anything hurt her. I'm not going to leave her or do anything to hurt her. You know this.” James seemed to be pleading for his best friend's approval and I instantly became scared that he wouldn't.

“Did you use protection?” Cory asked. James and I nodded. “Whatever you two do is none of mine-or anyone else's- business. But I swear James, if you hurt her at all, I'm going to hurt you.”

“And I'll deserve whatever you give me times ten,” James said, “Thank you though.”

“Like I said, its no one else's business but your own,” Cory said shrugging.

There was a moment of awkward silence, and I remembered that Miyako was supposed to be arriving today.

“Miyako is supposed to be here today,” I stated.

“That's great! Are you excited?” Brittany asked.

“Yeah. It will be nice to meet her for real. I just hope everything goes quickly with whatever is supposed to be happening,” I said.

“Yeah. I'm tired of feeling like I can't trust anyone not in our group,” Jackalyn agreed.

I suddenly felt someone watching us, and I turned and met Garrett's eyes. I wondered why he was staring, when James suddenly released me, making me cold. “Sweets!” I exclaimed, trying to get back into his warm arms.

“Sorry! But we have to go inside baby,” James said laughing.

“Oh...okay,” I said blushing.

--

The day was quick. It was already after school actually. We were all in the training room. Training had begun an hour ago, but the doorbell had rang. I assumed it would be Miyako. I was surprised at how excited I was to meet her. I really couldn't wait.

The paper door opened and Hikari entered with beautiful girl I had met in the vision. The very same long, straight brown hair, and brown eyes. This time they held no sadness in them. It was Miyako Takashi.

“Hi. My name is Miyako Takashi. I was Ryou's fiancé before he was killed,” she greeted with a bow. Instantly I felt everyone else tense. I walked forward.

“Hi Miyako. I am Beth Anderson,” I introduced with a bow, “These are: Lily Warriner, Kelsey Greenan, Brittany Lowe, Jackalyn Rouse, Tricia White, Cory Knight, Joe Waters, Kevin O'Dell, Mark Clark, and my fiancé James Rainsford.” I pointed to each as I said their names, “I apologize for the tenseness and rudeness of them. Ryou left us with little trust in his friends and family.”

“I understand. I can assure you I am not like that though,” Miyako assured.

“I know. Its in your eyes,” I confirmed softly.

“Ryou spoke the truth of you. You are truly kind and knowledgeable. Extremely worthy of the Dragon Master Sword,” Miyako said smiling, “He said you had changed. You are allowing emotions to show.”

“Yes. My friends and family have helped me with it,” I replied.

“Did I interrupt something?” Miyako inquired after a moment.

“Only our training,” James said appearing beside me, “You are welcome to watch us if you would like.”

“If I will not be a burden,” Miyako said.

“Of course not,” I said smiling.

Training went by quickly after that. I faced Cory and Mark in hand-to-hand and Lily and Kelsey with swords. I felt Miyako watching mainly me. She was truly a good person. I could feel it.

--

“You did very well in training Beth,” Miyako complimented as we ate dinner, “Ryou did not lie when he said you were an excellent fighter.”

“Thank you. I have trained since I was five. It has been my whole life,” I said.

“It shows when you fight. You are extremely graceful. You make fighting like an art,” Miyako said.

“Thank you. It is the way I have been taught. You have to be light on your toes,” I said.

“That is for sure,” Miyako agreed smiling.

“Are you going to be home schooled?” James asked.

“No. I am already enrolled in your school,” Miyako said.

“But won't you only be here for a short time?” James questioned.

“Probably not. It mainly depends on how many people want the sword. And also how often they attack. I hope to return to my home by August at the latest,” Miyako corrected.

“Do you have any idea about how long it would be?” I inquired.

“No. It all depends on when we are attacked and if we are able to figure out who it is. Also how many times we are attacked before we get them,” Miyako said.

I hoped that it would happen soon. I was tired of sitting around and doing nothing but train.

“Chouchou, have you thought about your birthday lately?” mother asked.

“No. There is a month still,” I said.

“Okay. If you want everyone to spend the night, that's fine,” mother suggested.

“Maybe. That does sound like a good idea though,” I said.

“Okay. Your birthday is a Thursday, so it would probably be Friday to Saturday,” mother said.

“Alright. Whatever is fine with me. I'm not used to actually celebrating, you know that,” I said.

“Okay. Do you know of anything special really for activities? Or even what you want,” Hikari asked.

“Not really for activities. For what I want, mainly money,” I answered.

“Alright then,” Kevin said.

--

Miyako stood with all of us the next morning. She would be staring today, when she got her schedule before classes started for the day. I hoped she had a lot of classes with us so we could help her easily.

“Miyako, why don't I take you to the office to get your schedule?” I offered.

“That would be nice. Thank you,” Miyako said.

“Of course,” I said smiling. I went to move but James's arms were tight against me, “Sweets, come on, I have to go!”

“Why?” James wondered.

“Miyako is going to need her schedule before its impossible to get there,” I said.

“Fine,” James said. He kissed me lightly before releasing me.

“You and James are very serious,” Miyako stated as we started into the school.

“Yes. We love each other deeply,” I confirmed. I opened the door and shifted my books around, allowing me to hold the door open for her.

“It shows in both your's and his eyes,” Miyako said.

“I seem to be told that a lot,” I said smiling.

“It is the truth. I have never seen two people ever look at each other with as much love as you two do,” Miyako said.

We headed to the office. The secretary immediately directed us to the guidance office. I had forgotten that they were who held the schedules. “Ah! Miyako Takashi! We have been waiting for you,” one of the two guidance consolers, Mrs. Wood, greeted. She was a small woman, and was reaching on her tip-toes to get a paper from the tall copier. I walked over and smiled, taking the paper out of it. I was a good about two inches taller than her, and that was just enough to be able to reach the paper.

“Thank you,” Miyako said smiling. Mrs. Wood handed her paper, which I assumed was Miyako's schedule.

“Are you going to be helping her Elizabeth?” Mrs. Wood inquired as I stood beside Miyako.

“Yes,” I confirmed nodding.

“Alright,” Mrs. Wood said. I looked over at Miyako's schedule. Her schedule was exactly the same as mine. I saw Mrs. Wood leave and go into her own small office.

“You have all day with me, so you can borrow my notes and everything if you need to,” I said.

“Okay. Thank you,” Miyako said. The two of us then left silently. The bell rang, allowing students to enter the school building. We both headed up the nearest stairs, heading up to our lockers.

--

“Hey baby,” James said as he sat down beside me in lunch. The others were right behind him, all taking a seat at the large circular table we sat at every day. I swallowed my piece of sandwich before responding to him.

“Yeah?” I said.

“Do you want to double date with Cory and Lily on Friday?” James wondered. I heard chairs scraping all over the cafeteria. Some were loud, some were soft.

“Yeah, that sounds great!” I agreed grinning. For some reason today, my mind was all over the place. It never stayed in one area for very long.

“Okay,” James said smiling.

“Friday, seven-thirty at Applebee's and we catch a movie afterwards?” Cory suggested.

“Sure. It doesn't matter to me,” I said shrugging.

“What movie?” Lily inquired.

“Fame?” Cory offered. The three of us just nodded. I had seen commercials for the movie, and it seemed rather good.

Mark speaking caught my attention. The guys so rarely spoke at lunch. It was usually just us girls that spoke. “So Miyako, how are you liking our school so far?” he asked.

“It is very nice. Your school is much smaller than my one in Tokyo. I like it very much so far,” Miyako said.

“It helps to have the valedictorian of our class in all of your classes too,” Jackalyn said.

“Valedictorian?” Miyako questioned. Her face scrunched up in confusion. I remembered that they would call it something else in Japan.

“The student with the highest marks,” I clarified. I saw her eyes lit up in understanding and in shock.

“You have the highest marks?” Miyako inquired.

“Yes. My average is a ninety-seven. Its a 3.88 in Tokyo,” I confirmed.

“Oh wow. That is very good! How did you manage that high of a mark?” Miyako wondered.

“Before this year, I didn't have any friends or anything besides training to distract me from my schoolwork,” I answered.

“Oh. At least you do now,” Miyako said.

“Yes. I am extremely grateful for them,” I said smiling. I felt James lay a hand on my leg. I looked over at him and kissed his cheek as I saw the love in them. It meant so much to see all of the love in his eyes.

“Yes. All of your bonds with each other are extremely strong. You protect each other as if you are family,” Miyako said.

“All of us, except for Beth, trained together until we were thirteen. And once Beth let herself go, she fitted in perfectly with us,” Tricia said.

“You all are very lucky to have each other. It is rare that such strong bonds are formed- especially with samurai,” Miyako said.

“Really?” Cory questioned.

“Yes. Many samurai groups are of only one or two people,” Miyako said.

“That would make sense. That way you know if something is told, who told it. And if they are your husband or wife, you know if you are truly able to trust them or not,” Jackalyn said.

“Yes. That is the reason why there are so few groups like you all. I actually believe that you are the only group,” Miyako said.

“Wow,” we all said. I smiled when I realized we had all said it at the same time.

“I believe that is why you all are the most powerful samurai though,” Miyako said.

“Are we really the most powerful samurai?” Kelsey doubted.

“You all are the final ones with magic. I do not even have any. And James and Beth are the masters of the DMS,” Miyako said.

“True,” Kevin said.

It amazed me how freely we were talking about this. Before Miyako, we wouldn't say the word samurai, for fear it would give us away. We practically made that part of our lives a forbidden topic outside of our homes.

“Any ideas on what we are doing in training?” Joe asked.

“Nope,” I said. James started to rub my thigh and I looked over at him in confusion. He kissed me.

“Are you okay?” he wondered.

“Yeah. Why?” I inquired.

“You just seem out of it,” James said.

“Yeah, I'm fine,” I said.

“You sure?” James questioned.

“Yeah, stop worrying sweets,” I reassured smiling.

“Okay...” James said.

--

I dodged Miyako's kick and grabbed her other ankle, pulling it to make her fall. She pulled her hands up and saved herself with them, kicking me in the shoulder with her free leg. Pain went through it for a moment before I grabbed it and twisted it. I released it and instantly jumped back.

“You have a good defense. A very good one,” I complimented.

“My family trained me more with defense then offense,” Miyako said. She headed towards me. I closed my eyes and concentrated. I could see her still, and knew she was aiming for my shoulder. The same one she hit, my bad side. I instantly went to the right and grabbed her free-flying leg and her opened fist. Twirling her, I felt bad as she hit the ground with a loud thump.

“You were trained mainly if offense,” Miyako inferred as she stood up a second later.

“No. I was trained equally with both,” I corrected. It was my turn to charge, but before I could come close, pain shot through my whole body. I screamed and fell to the ground. The sword flashed in my eyes. I looked over at James, who was instantly out of the room.

“Chouchou, what's wrong?” mother asked.

“The sword...it flashed in my mind. I don't know...all I know is my...my whole body hurts,” I gritted through my teeth. The pain was unbearable and getting worse every second. I knew if it didn't subside in a moment, I would black out.

And that was the last thing I remember.

--

I could hear people talking all around me. I tried to open my eyes, but was instantly greeted with pain and too much brightness. I tried to move something. But anything I moved caused pain to go throughout my entire body. A whimper escaped me, and I felt a tear slide down my cheek.

“Butterfly? Baby, are you awake?” James's voice held so much worry it it, it almost broke my heart hearing it.

“It...hurts,” I rasped. My throat started burning. My whole face went into a flash of pain.

“What does?” mother asked. Her voice was questioning, and held much worry in it.

“E-eve-everything.” It was painful just to say that single word. A tear fell down my cheek again.

“Chouchou, we'll need to lift you up slightly. We need to get this potion into your system,” mother warned. I nodded and felt someone gently lean me forward. I let a small whimper out. “Open your mouth.” I opened it slightly and the pain increased. A liquid poured down my throat. It burned even worse than before as I swallowed.

The pain throughout my whole body subsided in a minute. I opened my eyes. It took them a moment to focus on everything in the room. Everyone was still there. Mother and grandfather were on my right, and James was on my left. I looked around and noticed that we were in my bedroom.

“What happened?” I rasped.

“The sword is perfectly fine. You were attacked by magic. Somehow this person was able to get into both your minds to plant the idea that something had happened to the sword. This person also managed to get into your nervous system, Chouchou, and make it so you couldn't move without it hurting,” grandfather explained.

“How could this happen though?” I inquired.

“We don't know. But this person is extremely powerful,” Hikari said.

“I am going to put a mental shield around you until you can master it yourself,” mother said.

“How will I know if it doesn't work?” I questioned.

“I can't explain it. But you'll know when it happens,” mother said, “This won't hurt. You'll feel it shield you, but we'll still need to double check. So Cory is going to attack your mind.”

I nodded. Mother closed her eyes and put a hand on my forehead. I closed my eyes as well. I knew what she meant when she said I was going to know. It felt almost as if a blanket was placed over my mind. Mother took her hand off my forehead and I opened my eyes. I then turned to Cory, who closed his eyes after meeting mind. Nothing happened. Cory opened his eyes and I shook my head.

“Shield is up. I could feel it resisting. It is extremely powerful,” Cory said.

“Okay. Thank you Cory,” mother said.

“Training is over obviously. You all may go home,” Wei said.

“We'll see you tomorrow Beth, James, Miyako,” Lily said.

“Okay,” we said and everyone but the adults, James and Miyako left.

“How long was I out for?” I asked.

“Two hours,” James stated.

“Its okay that I move, right?” I wondered.

“Now that the shield is up and you have drank the potion,” mother said.

“Good. I'm hungry,” I said and everyone laughed.

“I'll go order some pizza. Is just pepperoni okay with everyone?” Kevin asked.

“Yeah,” we all said. Everyone but James then left. I stood up and went to my dresser to get clothes for bed out. James appeared behind me and wrapped his arms around me. He kissed my shoulder gently.

“I was so worried Butterfly. I'm so glad you're okay. I really don't know what I would do if you weren't,” James said.

“I'm glad I'm okay too. Now I'd like to shower and get ready for bed sweets,” I said turning around.

“Aw, alright,” James said. I rolled my eyes and twisted in his arms. My breath stopped as I looked into his eyes and saw love and worry beyond belief.

“I love you.” I said as I wrapped my arms around his neck.

“I love you too,” James said. He leaned in and kissed me deeply. I ran my hands through his hair and I felt him run his over my back and through my hair.

I pulled back and took deep breaths. “I need to shower sweets. And so do you,” I said.

“Fine,” James said sighing. He smiled and kissed me lightly before leaving the room.

--

I hope you like that chapter. Sorry its been so long. Please review and thank you to: Narq for your review!

-Butterfly