James was staring at Kawa for a while. It was making the Earthling samurai more uncomfortable every second.

“What?” Kawa asked out of annoyance.

“Did you get laid or something?”

“No!” Kawa yelled, his face turning completely red. “Why do you keep asking that question?!”

“You’ve been sighing with that dreamy look on your face for the last ten minutes,” James grinned at him in amusement. He was enjoying his friend’s reaction. He put his hands behind his head, leaning backward a little bit on the chair. “So, who is she?”

“T-there isn’t anything like that!” Kawa shook his head furiously. He took a quick sip of herbal tea. “I mean… we are on Mars. I’m a little overwhelmed. It’s very different from Earth, you know?”

“You’re right. Only two hundred humans arrived here on Mars 1,500 years ago with a one-way trip. It’s quite amazing how fast the number of people grew here. It took humans, what, 10,000 years to maximize the number on Earth, yes?”

They heard a loud ring so they turned to the entrance door of the coffee shop. When they recognized two samurais by their red uniforms, they quickly picked up their tablets so that they could cover their faces.

“We shouldn’t be here,” one of the Martian samurais said. “We have been called back to the palace.”

“Oh, we are just dropping by!” The second dark-skinned samurai laughed heartily. “You have to try this awesome coffee with mocha! It’s called Red Cinnamon Mocha Coffee… with red-dyed whipping cream! It’s really delicious!”

“Fine. I'll try it, and then we will go straight to the palace, okay?” The first Martian samurai with messy red hair rolled his green eyes.

“Great!” The dark-skinned samurai exclaimed in excitement. He went up to the counter quickly. “Two Red Cinnamon Mocha Coffees, please! With whipping cream.”

“Back to business… Have you heard about one of Earth’s spaceships being brought in?” The red-haired samurai asked. After he received a ‘no’ headshake, he continued, “I wonder if that’s why they called us back to the palace. If that’s not it, then I don’t have any idea about the reason why they did so.”

“Pssst!” James whispered to Kawa. “I heard something similar about it too. Limitless was mentioned, but I don’t think it’s possible. It’s way too huge to be overlooked.”

“Unless…” Kawa said with a frown on his face. “Maybe they landed on this planet… somewhere too far that we wouldn’t be able to see?”

“The other half of the planet is completely deserted. The glass dome has its limits too.” James shrugged his shoulders.

They returned to listening to the conversation between two Martian samurais.

“Wow! This is really good!” The red-haired samurai exclaimed, earning the dark-skinned samurai’s grin and laughter. “I want to drink the entire thing but it’s way too hot, you know?”

“Just take your time!”

“We are going.” James nodded his head at his friend, who was the only one who understood the meaning behind the gesture. Because they were in the civilized society, they could not be seen with their own katanas at all. Or else the citizens would keep themselves away from them or worse, they would probably call police on them. Police would have led to the military… which meant felony and jail for life if they ever found out that they were not from Mars.

They left the coffee shop and were heading for their new apartment where they signed the lease for this morning.

“Soooooo…” James elbowed Kawa in the waist lightly. “Care to tell me about this girl you like?”

“Shut up.” Kawa snapped.

“C’moooooon!”

“She… she is a Martian samurai, okay? It’s not like we would ever be together.”

“Aha, the same one back on Ceres.” James blinked in surprise. “She’s here too? I wonder if she has something to do with Limitless?”

Kawa shrugged his shoulders. “She… She is not like other Martian samurais. She never wants to hurt anybody. Enemy or not.”

“How would you know? Don’t you remember when she was about to attack the Cereans?” James narrowed his eyes. He interrupted Kawa before he could say anything, “Look. You are right. She is a Martian samurai, so there’s no way you could be together at all.”

“Geez, James. Thanks for crushing my heart into pieces,” Kawa said sarcastically.

“Look, I’m sorry. There’s nothing I can do to help you.” James raised up his hands in the air as if he was trying to make peace with his friend. “I did not realize that it was the same girl you like. No matter how much you like her, you are not meant to be together.”

Kawa knew that James was right, but he just did not want to say it out loud. He refused to admit in front of his friend that he had such feelings for the girl he might never see again.

Eventually, they got to their new apartment. It was one of the tall buildings in the city with fancy glass windows. There were no solid walls at all. Only see-through walls. But the residents could always either close the curtains covering the entire glass walls or dim them as much dark, like tint, as possible.

“Welcome back.” The bellhop bowed his head as he opened the doors for the gentlemen who thanked him in return.

Kawa and James got into the elevator. The Lunan samurai pressed the button with the number 17. It only took them a few seconds to arrive at their destination.

“Okay, get your sword. Then, we’re off to the palace,” James said after entering their brand new apartment. 

Kawa found his sword in the same place where he left. It was leaning against the dimmed wall next to the dresser. He grabbed it and pulled it a little out of the holster. As usual, the flames were quick enough to try to taste the Martian air.

He had never forgotten the first time he saw this flame katana. After a few days of staying in the hospital, the nurses let him walk outside so that it would ease his stress about the news about his dead family. 

And, there it was. An innocent katana was just lying in the shadows under the tree. He curiously yet carefully picked it up. It looked quite old due to the scars and cuts on the handle. He looked around, wondering if someone forgot about it. But why would they bring such a weapon here? Near the hospital, out of all places?

When he withdrew the katana from the scabbard, the flames suddenly appeared and almost overpowered him. He accidentally dropped it, setting fire on the tree. Hurting himself, he quickly put the sword back into the scabbard and then fled. They had been together since then, but he never understood why such rare fire-type katana chose to appear in front of him.

But now, he did. Fire is the symbol of rage. He had so much anger back then. He was angry at Mars for killing his mother and sister. He was angry at Europa for killing his father. He was even angry at himself for not being strong enough.

Yet, his rage had an entire different purpose compared to other people in similar situations as him. He wanted to eliminate the Lord of Mars so that he could stop the war. Stopping the war meant stopping the pain and harm for all of the people in the solar system. The cycle of hatred and revenge could be stopped for once and all.

“Kawa, are you coming?” James asked. “Did you find your sword yet?”

“Yes.” Kawa tied the sword scabbard at his waist. “Hey, James… I… I need to go somewhere before the palace. Is that ok with you?”

James raised an eyebrow at him. “Why is that?”

“I need to say… goodbye.” Kawa gave him a small smile. 

“Oh… Oh!” James scratched the back of his head with a light chuckle. “Well, you’re making the right decision. But please hurry back. It won’t be long before the gate to the palace is closed.”

“Will do!”

~EARTHxMARS~

Kawa was staring closely at the shrine temple. He had seen the similar ones back on Earth, but he had never seen the one on Mars. He would never think that there would be another temple. But then, every human came from Earth, no matter where they were. It was their ancestors who brought them to their new homes.

This temple building strongly resembled the old pyramids back in Egypt. The roof of the temple was clearly made of clay.  Kawa had read about it in one of his history classes before. Those ancient Egyptians had nothing but water and sands. But they learned how to farm somehow and survived for the next thousand years. 

At two sides of the temple, there were two tiger statues standing proudly with their open mouths showing off their powerful fangs.

So, that’s why Akane was nicknamed as Tiger Samurai. Kawa thought to himself.

He quickly dove behind one of the tiger statues just when he heard a few loud voices approaching. He peeked around the corner, trying to see whose voices were.

It was their white uniforms that confirmed that they were Europan samurais.

“Why is it only Martian and Venusian samurais who get to go into the palace? I’ve never been there before,” one of the Europan samurais complained.

Venusian? Kawa frowned in confusion. He tried to lean a little forward, trying to hear their conversation.

“True, but it was all thanks to the Venusian samurais who brought the spaceship here. We finally have a chance to beat Earth and Moon.”

“Yeah! That means Europa will finally rule the whole solar system! Peace is coming sooner than I thought.”

Kawa sank himself to the floor. Why? Venus has always been not only Earth’s ally but also sister ever since the beginning of the time. What did we do to them that they would betray us?

“Do you remember the name of the spaceship? Is it Limitless? Or something?” One of the Europan asked. “It’s a good thing that Venusian samurais found it before Earthlings and Lunans did, eh?”

How long has Venus been doing this behind Earth’s back? Kawa clenched his fists in anger. As much as he wanted to go on rampage, he waited patiently until the Europan samurais left, passing the shrine temple.

He got up, wiping his bottom with his bare hands. He made sure that his katana scabbard was tied tightly around his waist. His jeans made it difficult for him to move around easily, but he was in a hurry anyway, so it could not be helped at all.

“I thought you would be here.”

Kawa almost jumped out of his skin as he dove back behind the same tiger statue.

“Kawa, it’s me.” Chuckles escaped from her mouth.

“Akane?” The Earthling samurai stepped out of his hiding place. “You nearly gave me a heart attack! I didn’t think you would be here.”

“Either did I.” Akane crossed her arms after pushing her hair back behind her ear. “I followed the Europan samurais, but then I saw you. Sorry if I scared you.”

“No, you didn’t scare me.” Kawa chuckled softly. “Since you’re following them, mind if I join you?”

Akane shrugged her shoulders. “As long as you keep quiet, then that’s fine with me.”

“Soooo….” He walked along with the very woman he liked so much. “What’s the story with calling all Martian samurais to the Ares Palace? Aren’t you supposed to go there?”

“Nah. I got better things to do. Gracie will fill me in.  As you may already know, one of the Earthling spaceships had been captured by the Venusians. I am as surprised as you are. I had always thought that Venus had been neutral for as long as I can remember. They stayed out of the war. They refused to give their weapons to either Earth or Mars. But now, Venusians are here to sell the spaceship to us,” said Akane. “But of course, that’s up to Lord Ares.”

“Oh, I see. That’s how it is,” Kawa said softly.

Loud beeps got their attention, stopping their pursuit of the Europan samurais. Akane shushed at Kawa before she turned on her ear device with an annoyed look on her tan face. “What is it, Graciela?”

Kawa took the opportunity to analyze something amazing he was interested in. He was sure that he did not feel that way before but now he was wishing that he was Akane’s spandex, which was embracing and clinging closely to her skin. She also had long legs, which attracted him the most. He looked back up at Akane’s face. He loved how she had such different facial emotions. Anger, cheerfulness, seriousness, shyness, and so the list went.

“Kawa?”

“What’s wrong?” Kawa asked, noticing the unpleasant look on Akane.

“James had been captured at the Kitten Apartments.”