"Hey," Fuyuko exclaimed as a passerby clumsily bumped against her. "You okay? You gotta be more careful."
"Yes," Kazeko said hazily, trying to stand up straight and look alert. She was tried to focus as she walked toward her class, but she still wasn't at peace with her true nature, and the nagging doubts that lingered still tugged at her. As she walked down the hallway it looked long and directionless; all of the students looked the same, and the light that streamed from the windows seemed to blind and disorient her even more.
"You look kinda dazed," Fuyuko said, squinting her eyes and stepping forward. She was only inches from Kazeko; Kazeko shuffled backwards awkwardly. "I know you, don't I?"
"You're Sailor Pallas," Kazeko replied. She had known at much as soon as she ran into her; Fuyuko emanated the power that came from a sailor crystal. "I'm Kazeko. I think we've met a couple of times, when I was with...." she glanced about a bit nervously. "The others."
"Oh, then you must be..." she looked at Kazeko. "Hm. You know, I don't recall who you are."
"Ariel," Kazeko replied. "But you haven't seen me transform, so I'm not surprised that you don't recognize me."
"You weren't at the fight yesterday," Fuyuko remarked.
"No," she said. "I was home yesterday...thinking things over."
"What kinda things?"
"That I'm a Sailor Senshi," she replied, looking out a nearby window. "And what I'm going to do now."
Tsuki ni michibikarete doko ni tadoritsuku to mada kangaete iru
Yasashige na lullaby kiite kako wo sukoshi dake omou
Machigai mo hiai mo ippai dakedo anata ga iru kara
Koukai-shinai
Pink-iro no tsuki no shita ni iru kedo
Motto tsuyoi nagusame ga iru no
Tatoe ayamachi dake shitemo
I love you tte itte ne
Though I hold a mysterious destiny,
I'm still wondering to where I will struggle on,
being led by the moon
Listening to a gentle lullaby, I think just a little of the past
It's full of mistakes and sorrow, but since
You are here, I won't regret it
Though I'm under the pink moon,
I need an even stronger comfort
Even if I make only mistakes,
Say, "I love you," okay?
Moon Senshi: Unmei no Kodomo
Episode Sixteen:
"Black is the Color"
Fuyuko shrugged. "Isn't it obvious? Beat up monsters. Hang out with other sailor senshi."
Kazeko smiled patiently, if somewhat half-heartedly. "That isn't so much the part I'm struggling with. It's just...I've thought of the sailor senshi as gods. Now that I am one, I'm not sure how to think of them."
Fuyuko shrugged. "Why think anything at all? Just think of them as people.
"But we aren't just people," Kazeko said. "Our powers set us apart...they make us more than just people."
"Do they?" Fuyuko looked out the window at the courtyard below. "Hmm...I guess they make us a special kind of person. But I still think of myself as a normal person, just a person with special powers."
"Maybe you would know better than me," Kazeko said. "You've been a sailor senshi all this time."
"I have?" Fuyuko paused thoughtfully. "Well, I 'spose I've been one almost as long as I can remember. But that isn't too long."
"When did you find out?" Kazeko turned to Fuyuko, intensely interested.
"Well..." she crinkled her nose. "It's a little complicated. But basically, after I was saved by Hotaru, I found out I was a member of the Sailor Quartet. My memories only go back about a year before that, when the evil Queen Neherenia found me sleeping on Pallas." Fuyuko paused. "Now that I think about it, I've know I was a sailor senshi almost as long as I can remember."
"Maybe being a senshi feels normal to you because it's all you've ever known," Kazeko suggested. "You're not used to thinking of a senshi as a god, so what you've thought is 'normal' may not be so normal to other people."
Fuyuko paused, leaning her chin on her hand. "Could be," she said. "But...well, I'm not sure I've ever really felt normal, either," she admitted. "I suppose I haven't been around long enough to really decide what it means to be normal for most people. It's kinda like...there's not even really a me. I know so little about myself, I can't even form an opinion about who I am...besides Sailor Pallas."
"When we used to worship the Tuatha de Dannann," Kazeko told her, "we believed that they had personalities, likes and dislikes, just like normal people. It was just their power, their ability to change fate, that made them gods."
"Well, that sounds to me just like what I said," Fuyuko replied. "A person with special powers. If you never believed these god-people had superhuman personalities--just superhero powers--then why are you having so much trouble accepting that you could be one? Just take who you are and add superpowers. Bam! Your new identity."
"It doesn't seem like it should be that simple," Kazeko said. "If nothing else, I have new responsibilities now; phenomenal ones."
"You don't seem like the kinda person who can't handle responsibility," Fuyuko said dubiously. "Am I wrong?"
Kazeko sighed. She bit her lip as the images of the men in red came flooding back to her, images of abandonment and abandoning. "I-I don't know," she said at last.
They were silent for a long time, watching as early risers began to shuffle their way to class. "I know how that feels," she said, and for a moment, her carefree, perky voice seemed absent.
Kazeko looked at her curiously. "D-do you...have trouble accepting your life as a senshi?"
Fuyuko shook her head. "No. I'm having trouble knowing what kind of person I am. I don't even know. Who am I?" she smiled at Kazeko. "I'm a little jealous of you. You may have trouble accepting who you are, but at least you know who you are. You have a line of memories marching back to when you're still a kid and your mom had to wipe the snot from your nose. Me...my first memories only go back a few years. And a lot of those are bad ones--memories of trying to hurt the person I'm supposed to be protecting."
Kazeko closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Fuyuko's energy was bright and focused, like a blue flame. There was great strength in that power. Kazeko reached into her bag, grabbing one of her Norse runes. She glanced down at the smooth, bright stone's inscription as she held it before her. "Tiwaz," she said aloud.
"Who-what-now?" Fuyuko asked, confused.
Kazeko held the rune toward the ice-haired girl. "It means...finding your strengths. The ability to analyze."
Fuyuko looked at the rune intensely. She seemed to take its message far more seriously than Seisui had. "Hey Kazeko," she said, "want to join the board games club with me?"
"Board games club?"
"Yeah, y'know...like Go, Chess, Othello...that kind of thing. I've been wanting to try it, but y'know, I was always stuck with the others before, and they weren't very good partners. But now that Natsuko is off trying to find her identity, I figure I should get a chance to, too."
Kazeko paused. She had often played board games with Iain, especially fidchell and stratego. She feared that such games would only bring back painful memories. "I...I don't know," she said at last.
"Come on," Fuyuko said cajolingly, grabbing Kazeko's hand. Kazeko pulled her hand away abruptly.
"P-please," she said, "don't..."
"I'm sorry," Fuyuko interjected. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. But will you try it with me? You seem like the kinda person that'd be an ace at board games."
"I am," Kazeko said, then blushed. She had spoken without thinking. "W-well, I mean--"
"Then let's do it together! Come on. I've only ever hung out with Chibi-Usa and the others. Not that that's a bad thing, but I'd like to explore on my own a bit. So let's join together. Please?"
Kazeko sighed. "Very well," she relented. "It matters not what I think."
"Sure it does," Fuyuko said. "But you'll have fun doing this, I promise. If I wasn't so sure, I wouldn't badger."
"Welcome," Michito said, opening the door for Jirou. "Dinner's just about ready."
"Damn...I never thought I would hear those words from anyone in this house," he said. "I thought I was too unclean to eat here." Michito smiled.
"Well, as you've probably heard, Fubuki's come to an agreement with her mother."
"Yeah," he said. "I heard." He slipped off his shoes and made his way into the living room, where Fubuki was smoking fuzz and looking out the window as she sat on her mother's expensive leather couch. "Anything interesting out there?" he asked.
Fubuki smiled. "Not anymore. But there was some cute guy walking by just a second ago."
"You're in a good mood, I see," he said, returning the smile.
"I think..." she sighed. "I think things will be okay." She looked over at him. "How are things at your house?"
"The same, with my parents," he replied. "Chikao's doing a bit better. Meimi has gotten him to take his schoolwork more seriously...maybe, unlike the two of us, he stands a chance."
"I..." Fubuki drew again from her stick. "Oh, fuck it."
"What?" Jirou asked, sitting down next to her. "Just spit it out. You'll regret it later if you don't."
"Hell, I guess I haven't...I guess you have a pretty fucked up family, too."
Jirou laughed. "Me and everybody else. Don't tell me you're feeling guilty now? Shit, the wonders never cease." Fubuki looked annoyed. "I appreciate it," he added more seriously. "But don't worry about my asshole family. We three are used to taking care of each other."
"Maybe...if things keep up well with my mom, and it's extra fucked up over there, you guys could--"
"Are you kidding? Staying here would be way too fucking awkward. But thanks anyway." He sat down next to her and put his arm around her. "Putting the others aside, though, I think I might take you up on your offer."
Fubuki hugged his midsection.
"What about Sailor Miranda? Now that Daisuke's your biggest fan--"
"Oh, shut the fuck up," Fubuki said, sitting up straight and throwing a throw pillow at him. Jirou laughed.
"Seriously," he said, "are you going to make a habit of killing these youma? Or are you just going to fuck them up when they get in your face?"
Fubuki put out her stick as she pondered his question. It smoked in a plume of prismatic color. "I hate to admit it," she said, "but I kind of enjoy spilling their guts across the floor. Somehow....it sets free all the anger that always feels like it's fucking eating me inside out. Maybe do-gooding can serve a higher purpose."
"Your enjoyment?" he asked with a grin.
"Damn straight," she replied.
"Dinner's ready," Michito announced. Fubuki and Jirou got up and made their way into the dining room. Warm dishes of croquette curry were laid out for each of them.
"Eat with us," Fubuki said.
"If you wish," Michito said. She went back into the kitchen and returned with a plate of the dish for herself.
"This is fucking awesome," Fubuki said appreciatively, shoving a croquette in her mouth.
Michito smiled. "Thank you," she said.
Jirou looked a little surprised. "It's okay for her to swear like that?"
Michito shrugged. "If I had a choice, I suppose I would prefer that Fubuki not swear. But honestly, I have more important things to worry about where her well-being is concerned. I'm more interested in making sure that she has friends and some kind of prospects for her future."
"Like what? Cram school?" Jirou asked skeptically.
Fubuki snorted. "Like you could get me within 50 feet of a cram school," she interjected.
"No," Michito said. "Fubuki's mother has, at various times, spoken about wanting Fubuki to get into a prestigious college. But I know that such an expectation is really not in line with Fubuki's personality or her interests. I was thinking a technical college might be more reasonable."
Jirou grinned. "Well, Fubuki? Can you see yourself in a tech school?"
Fubuki shrugged. "Sure, why the fuck not," she said. Jirou looked contemplatively at Michito, who ate her meal fastidiously and seemed resigned to Fubuki's bad manners.
"Your mom might suck, Fubuki," he said, "but Michito takes better care of you than all of our shitty-ass parents combined."
Fubuki looked at the passive Michito. "Yeah," she agreed. "That's probably true."
Yamiko sighed as she walked down the hallway at Goban. She looked down at her cell phone sadly; Kane hadn't called her once since the youma's attack. He had said he would take her to lunch yesterday, but he had never shown up. Yamiko had brought her lunch anyway, expecting to give it away to Seisui, but as 12:30 turned into 12:45, she realized he wasn't coming. She had eaten her lunch in miserable silence.
It's true, they weren't dating or anything crazy like that. And it was entirely logical that maybe he just needed to recuperate after being attacked. But they had gotten pretty close, and after such a harrowing incident she had hoped he would call and say something about it. Tell her he wasn't coming to lunch, at least. Yamiko felt a little disgusted at herself as she realized she was hoping to be somehow reassured that he hadn't become scared of her. Of what she was mixed up in. She looked down at the shiny, black pearlescent buttons of her cell phone, and, swallowing her fear, called Kane.
the phone rang and rang. "Sorry! I'm not around," his answering machine announced. "You'll have to console yourself with--"
Yamiko hung up. Her heart was practically in her mouth. She couldn't bring herself to leave a message. She paused for a moment, glancing out the window. Sighing, she went into her phone's text menu and started punching away. She asked him he was okay. If he wanted to talk to her. No...that sounded too desperate. Instead, she asked him if he was free to hang out or if he wanted to chat and hit the send button.
Before, she couldn't get rid of him. Whatever happened to that problem?
"Hey!" Tokimo said, dropping her head in front of Yamiko. Yamiko jumped what felt like a mile as Tokimo craned her neck over Yamiko's cell phone. "Who ya texting?"
"None of your business," she said evasively.
"Hmmm," Tokimo said thoughtfully. "Your boyfriend?"
Yamiko blushed. "I don't have a boyfriend," she said.
Tokimo grinned. "Yeah, but you wish he was your boyfriend," she said. "I can tell by the fact that you're redder than a pickled plum."
"What do you want?" Yamiko asked, annoyed.
"You look upset. Is he being mean to you? I could beat him up for you. It'll only cost you one item from your lunchbox. And I won't take the dessert, I promise."
"I don't want you to beat him up!" Yamiko said, disgusted and alarmed. "He's been beat up enough already...no thanks to all this senshi crap."
Tokimo thought for a minute. "So it is that guy from yesterday," she said. "Thought so. What's his name...?"
"Kane," she said. "Kane Amano." They were silent for a minute.
"Do you think he hates you because he's gotten attacked twice?"
Yamiko bit her lip. She was not going to cry in front of Tokimo. No. Fucking. Way. "Even if he doesn't, at this rate, if I really like him I'm beginning to think I'd be best off ignoring him, too. If he did start dating me, he'd probably be dead within a week. Things haven't exactly gone smoothly as my friend as far as his health is concerned."
"If he really likes you, he won't care about the danger." Tokimo turned away and looked a little misty eyed. "True love overcomes all obstacles!"
"Yeah well," Yamiko said, glancing down at her phone, "I can think of a couple it can't."
"Like what?" Tokimo said challengingly.
"Death," Yamiko replied, turning away and walking down the hall.
"He's not dead yet, Yamiko," Tokimo said after her. "And if he really loves you, he won't ignore you 'till he is! Just you wait--I'll set him straight!"
Erik watched Seisui as she sat on the periphery of a discussion group. They were reading Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, but most of the students were ignoring her--except for Tokimo, of course, who was basically grilling her for answers. Erik didn't really think Tokimo saw herself as using her friend, just needing liberal doses of help, but he already suspected Seisui tended to think of herself as being used. Especially right now.
And honestly, Brave New World was probably not the best book to assign to her right now.
"Seisui," he said casually, walking up to her discussion group. The other students glanced toward him and then quickly lost interest. "May I speak with you for a moment?"
Seisui put down her book and stood up, following him as he walked back to the teacher's desk. "I was wondering if you would be interested in reading something a little more advanced than the rest of the class, since your English skills are considerably better," he said.
"Sure," Seisui replied somewhat disinterestedly. "Like what?"
Erik pulled a volume out of a small, wooden box he carried with him to most of his classes. It was a copy of Jane Eyre, a book that was considerably harder linguistically, but spoke more of hope and love than the dark, superficial dystopia of Huxley's novel.
Seisui stared at the cover. "What's it about?" she asked.
"It's about a woman who is born hated and destitute, but changes her fortune," Erik says. "There's a strong romantic element in it, too. A lot of girls like it."
Seisui looked at it, a little dubious. "Okay, whatever," she said. "What do you want me to do now?"
"You can just read for the rest of class. Write a three-page response paper for your assignment."
"Okay," Seisui replied, bringing the book over to her desk and flipping it open.
"What's Erik want, huh?" Tokimo asked, sitting on top of Seisui's desk.
"He wants me to read this harder book," Seisui said, holding up the novel.
"Aw...so you won't be able to help me with this boring thing anymore?" Tokimo said, waving the Huxley novel around unenthusiastically.
Seisui smiled. "I can still help you," she replied, "Just not as much. You'll have to do more than skim the pages like you've been doing."
"Fudge-sickles," she said, sighing. "I hate this dumb book. It's depressing and stupid. If I wanted to know more about a world where people take happy drugs and solve all their emotional problems with dumb distractions, I'd just move to the Crystal Palace."
The other members of their discussion group looked at Tokimo, a little taken aback.
"--where I'm sure they have a much, um, bigger collection of books on that topic," she amended. The students raised their eyebrows or shook their heads, but said nothing.
Seisui chuckled. "Well, hopefully I'll be better off with Jane Eyre than you are with Brave New World."
"Couldn't be any worse," Tokimo said.
Eros watched his mirror in panic as Tokimo ran heedlessly to the school's VR consoles, no doubt with every intention of finding Kane's listed address. "No..." he muttered. Although he had a fake address--even a fake home--for his alter ego, he wasn't worried about Tokimo being suspicious of Kane. He was worried that Coeus would find out that Tokimo was looking for him and see it as an ideal opportunity to bring Yamiko into...
...into this.
"Well, Kane," Coeus said, standing in the doorway. "You final chance is coming. It's only a matter of time before Tokimo makes it to Kane's house. If he's there, I'm sure she'd be happy to call--or should I say lure--Yamiko there as well."
"I'll be there," Eros said dully. "Don't worry."
"Good," Coeus said, smirking self-assuredly. "I suppose I'll be going then. If you're a man of your word, as you ever have been, there will be no need for me in Tokyo."
"There never has been," Eros replied, "there or anywhere else."
Coeus frowned. He left Eros' room, scowling at a tasteless putti that adorned a nearby table. Like so many other surfaces in Eros' room, it was strewn with portraits of dead lovers. He slammed the door behind him as he left Eros' outlandishly Rococo quarters.
"What will we do, brother?" a placid voice asked from beside him. Coeus turned toward Mauros, who had been waiting for him outside Eros' room. His brother's hair was, as always, in tangles; it hung down to his knees in knots and twists. His dark gray jacket was similarly long and wrinkled.
"There's no way Eros will make good on his word. We will destroy him, and Yamiko, when he goes to Kane's mansion."
"Will I get to show them my shadow friends?" he asked.
"Of course," Coeus said. "And these senshi will be much more fun than the other ones you've played with."
"But I don't want to leave the old senshi," he said sadly. "I had a lot of fun playing."
"You'll just have to make new senshi friends, Mauros," Coeus snapped, "And like it."
"It's okay," he said, his voice almost apologetic. He tugged nervously on his hair. "It's okay. I'll always have my shadow friends, anyway. So they can keep me company, even if I have to leave all the senshi I meet."
Coeus just shrugged and walked past his brother; Mauros followed closely behind his blue-haired sibling, looking like a bewildered dog that follows its put-upon master.
"You weren't here for your first meet," she said, looking disapprovingly at Natsuko. The track team's club leader was tall and predictably lithe, her hair cut in the short bob that was practically part of the track team uniform.
Natsuko sighed. "I know. I'm really sorry, Hitomi. It's just, yesterday I--"
"You what? You don't look like you've broken a leg or anything, and you were at school, so it couldn't have been something that took up too much of your time."
"I had a big test, and I begged her to help me out," Akiko interjected from behind her older sister. Hitomi looked toward Akiko, surprised and little disgusted.
Natsuko glanced at Akiko. She had not expected her sister to show up here. She just prayed she hadn't brought the other two.
"You should study alone," Hitomi said disapprovingly, "instead of relying on your friend."
"We're family," Akiko said. "Anyway, to make it up to you, I'm joining the track team, too."
Hitomi looked even more disgusted, if such a thing was possible. "What makes you think that your joining the track team is such a wonderful thing to me? If your record in academics is any baseline for comparison, you'll just be bringing the team down."
"I will not, and I'm prepared to prove it!" Akiko retorted. Natsuko just looked on, a little confused.
"Fine," Hitomi retorted. "Run the track, and I'll time you."
Akiko grinned and ran to the locker room to change into her gym clothes. When she came back, her hair was tied back in a considerably more manageable and modest style, a simple braid with a gold and red tie. "All right," she said. "I'll show you."
"Well then," Hitomi replied, prepping her stopwatch as Akiko stepped up to the track. "On your mark. Get set. Go!" she shouted. Akiko was immediately off as Hitomi looked down at her timer. Natsuko watched, impressed, as Akiko kept a steady pace. She would have thought that Akiko would barrel forward with reckless abandon, foolishly hoping to break a record. Natsuko herself had overtaxed herself during her tryout, running too fast for the long 3,000 meter haul and slowing herself to a snail's pace at the end of the run. She also hadn't thought to take down her rather cumbersome hairstyle. Natsuko frowned. In the future, that might be an area where it would be good to follow her sibling's lead.
When Akiko finished the run, she was panting heavily.
"How did I do?" for all her seeming confidence before she began, Natsuko could tell that Akiko was nervous. She fingered the end of her braid as Hitomi frowned thoughtfully.
"Not badly," she said at last. "13:20:03. Good--for a beginner."
"So can I--er, am I going to join track team?"
"Yes," Hitomi replied. "If you show up," she added, glancing warningly at Natsuko. "Now get dressed, Natsuko. Everyone will be showing up soon--and from now on I expect you to pull your weight."
"Of course, Hitomi." She said, then added more sincerely, "I really did mean to make it yesterday. track team is important to me." She glanced at Akiko, an annoyed look on her face as she headed toward the locker room.
"I'll go with you," Akiko said, following after Natsuko. "I could do with washing off my face a bit." She quickened her pace, catching up to her green-haired sister.
"Akiko!" Natsuko snapped, looking toward a craftily smiling Akiko. "What the hell were you thinking? I wanted to join track team to find myself. I didn't want this to become another--" she looked away from Akiko toward the city beyond. "--Quartet picnic."
Akiko shrugged. "I wanted to know what all the fuss was about. I figure if you can find yourself by doing track and field, maybe I can, too."
"You can't find yourself by copying someone!" Natsuko snapped. "That's against the point!"
"I know, but..." Akiko frowned. "I don't really have any ideas for myself, either."
"Well, you're Sailor Vesta. You should join the cooking club."
"Do I look like I belong in a cooking club?" She snapped in irritation.
Natsuko smiled self-consciously. "Well...you're sort of like Mistress Rei. Maybe you could take up a spiritual practice?"
"Do I look spiritual to you?" Akiko asked.
Natsuko looked at her friend critically. "Maybe?"
Akiko scoffed. "I might join a different club, but for right now, I don't have any better ideas. So you're stuck with me."
"Hmmm," Natsuko paused. "Maybe you should volunteer at the animal shelter--what is it called?--Ark, I think."
"What?" Akiko said, a little surprised.
"You used to--well, we don't talk much about the old days, but you were an animal trainer."
"Yeah, with whips. Trust me--I know from experience that that is no way to treat an animal."
"Well, obviously. But it doesn't have to be that way. You could help animals, instead of hurting them. Y'know, help make up for your mistakes and all that jazz. Plus, animals are cute."
"I don't do cute!" Akiko growled. "Besides..." she frowned, her voice taking on a more somber note. "I'm not sure I trust myself around animals. Zirconia trained me to teach animals that way. I'm afraid that old habits might die hard."
"Are you still going around creating havoc for the Sailor Senshi?" Natsuko quipped. Akiko stuck out her tongue. "If you don't want to hurt the animals, I'm sure you won't."
"You just want to get rid of me."
Natsuko smiled. "Maybe," she said. "All the same, I think you would be better off doing something that you care about."
"Hmph."
"Think about it," Natsuko said seriously.
Mayumi almost felt sick as she saw Shin'ichiro waiting for her at the entrance of TA Girls school. The more she talked to him, the less she liked him. Which sucked, because in a month she would be spending a whole lot of time with him on tour in the USA--and her father made it perfectly clear she had no choice in the matter. He was talking to two blonde-haired girls with great enthusiasm as she approached him.
"Mayumi," he said gregariously, sweeping his long, burgundy hair back from his face and promptly ignoring his previous conversation partners. He wore a dark, navy blue suit with a matching striped tie. She could see the rest of the girls of TA eyeing her enviously as they left the schoolyard and headed for the front gate. The two blonde girls looked at Mayumi with unnervingly apparent hatred. "I was waiting for you. I thought you might like to drive home in my Ferrari."
Mayumi frowned at the decadent car. It's 'streamlined,' flat styling made it look, to her, like it had been smushed before going out to the lot. "Thanks, but no thanks," she said. "I was thinking I'd like to take a walk before I head home."
"Then I'll come with you," Shin'ichiro said. "I wouldn't dream of allowing a young lady to walk alone."
Mayumi frowned. "Yeah-huh. Because it's so dangerous in this neighborhood." Shin'ichiro was unsure if he should take her words seriously. Mayumi just sighed and started walking.
"Would you like to go shopping?" he asked. "I'm sure you'll want the latest fashions for your tour."
"No," Mayumi replied. "I don't need any new clothes. I have too many already."
"Would you like to go to a café? Get some sweets, perhaps?"
Mayumi paused. Sweets... "Maybe a bakery?" she suggested. "I don't feel like sitting down and eating a meal right now."
"Of course," he said, turning a corner toward a lane of shops. Mayumi followed behind him as he entered a quaint bakery, a quiet bell jingling behind them.
"Welcome," the sales clerk said. "What can I get for you?"
Mayumi shuffled happily up to the window where numerous sweets were displayed. "I'll have three cream horns, two eclairs, five cream puffs...hmmm..." she paused, looking over the window some more. "So hard to choose! Well, three blueberry tartlets, two cups of creme brulée and two raspberry pillows."
Shin'ichiro stared at Mayumi in horror. Where did she put it all? The sales clerk looked a little bemused but didn't seem as surprised as Shin'ichiro would have expected.
He looked a little taken aback as the clerk rang up the pastries and told him the price, but obediently pulled out his wallet and paid. She packed up the pastries in a insulated package and tied them in a cherry-printed wrap.
"Thanks, Shin'ichiro," Mayumi said sweetly, taking the pastries.
"Of course," he said kindly, staring at the reflection of the sun against Mayumi's silver hair. "Here, let me take th--"
"All right, let's go," she said, leaving the store and continuing to walk down the street. She glanced back quickly at Shin'ichiro and then walked as fast as she could around a corner and through a crowd of high schoolers on their way from class. Thankfully, she was in a rich enough neighborhood that no one was likely to accost her for an autograph, even if they recognized her. Shuffling quickly down another side street, she ended up at a long avenue of mansions lined with cherry trees sprouting their leaves. Sitting down on a bench was a tall, spindly figure, dressed in a long tan trench coat. He was wearing jeans, and the trench coat was open, revealing a black t-shirt beneath. He looked a combination between sullen and spaced-out, not really paying attention to where he was or what he was doing. The most remarkable thing about him wasn't even his fair, western skin, though that was uncommon enough. It was his hair. It was the longest hair Mayumi had ever seen; it was chestnut brown and held back in a loose ponytail, and it reached down past his knees. Mayumi hadn't even known people's hair could get that long. She thought there was like, some kind of genetic thing that kept it short. Or something.
"Hello," Mayumi said. He looked up, his expression almost like that of a scared animal. "What's your name?" Mayumi spoke in a quiet voice, almost like talking to dog. She thought maybe this guy was a few cards short of a deck, but there was something very compelling about him. Like a sad puppy.
"Um," he said awkwardly. "My brother said I shouldn't tell strangers my name."
"Well, I'll tell you my name anyway. It's Mayumi. Mayumi Hatsuhara. My sign is Sagittarius. And my favorite food is Skittles. What's your favorite food?"
He looked at her a little blankly. "I've never eaten food before."
Mayumi frowned. "Wow, really? That's...." Mayumi almost said 'awful,' but she didn't want to sound insultingly pitying, which her father had warned her about when dealing with poor people. "Here, I have a whole bunch of pastries here. Let's have some."
He looked at the box a little hesitantly. "It doesn't look very tasty."
Mayumi laughed. "No, this is the box, silly! The pastries are inside." She sat down on the bench next to him. The man looked a little bewildered as Mayumi opened the box and pulled out a cream horn, handing it to Mauros. "This is a cream horn. It's my favorite. Try it!"
"Okay," he said, biting on the confection. He began chomping it down at an alarming rate, licking the cream from around his mouth when it smushed out of its pastry shell. Mayumi handed him a napkin and then he tried biting on that too. He frowned in disgust.
"That's for wiping your mouth, silly. You don't eat that."
"Oh." He wiped the cream from his mouth and stared expectantly at Mayumi.
"Did you like it okay?" she asked.
"Yes," he replied. "It was very good."
"Why are you sitting here all alone? Where's your brother?"
"He's looking for Kane. But I'm not supposed to talk about it," he replied.
"It's okay," Mayumi said. "You can trust me. By the way, what's your name again?"
"Mauros," he replied. "I mean--uh....what's the Japanese word for 'black'?"
"Kuro," Mayumi obediently replied.
"Right. Kuro. That was it."
"Do you come here often, Kuro?" Mayumi asked. "Or are you just here because you're looking for Kane?" That name sounded familiar. Hm.
"Just because of Kane."
"You should come here after school every day," Mayumi said. "We could hang out."
"...Like friends?" Mauros asked.
"Of course!" Mayumi replied. "Aren't we already friends?" Mauros grinned happily.
"Mayumi," Shin'ichiro said, running up to her. "I was looking everywhere for you! You shouldn't just run off like that. Who knows what could happen to someone famous like you? Someone might see a good opportunity for a kidnapping."
"I'm not a little kid," Mayumi said. "And trust me, if someone tried to kidnap me, I'd make them think twice about it."
Shin'ichiro put his hands on his hips. "With what? Your extensive knowledge of judo? You couldn't stand up for yourself in a fight and you know it."
Mayumi frowned and narrowed her eyes. "You might be surprised," she said cryptically.
"Anyway, is this creep bothering you?" He looked at Mauros. "Get lost, weirdo."
"I was the one talking to him, not the other way around!" Mayumi said. "And don't call him a weirdo. He's cute. I like him. And he doesn't even try to buy his way into my heart!" Mayumi shouted. Shin'ichiro looked at her dumbly; Mayumi blushed and turned away, looking toward the ground. Her father would not be pleased if he heard about this. "Look, I'm sorry, Shin'ichiro. But I was just...Kuro looked lonely and I didn't have anywhere to be, so I thought I would hang out. So please don't accuse him of anything." Mayumi put the lid back on the pastry box and tied it back together. "Come on, Shin'ichiro, let's head back to your car and you can take me home."
"The cream horn was nice," Mauros said.
"Thank you, Kuro," Mayumi said with a smile. Shin'ichiro was not pleased at her enthusiastic reaction or her lightly blushing cheeks.
"Come on," he said curtly, grabbing her wrist and pulling her away.
"Bye Kuro," she said.
"Bye bye," he wistfully replied.
"So," Fuyuko said excitedly, "since I roped you into this, you should choose the first game." The clubroom was filled with the gentle clicking of game pieces against boards and tables.
"We can play fidchell," Kazeko suggested timidly.
"Ooo...what's that? I've never heard of it. I wanna play!"
Kazeko drew the board on a piece of paper and swiped some black and white pieces from an unused chess set. "I'll bring a real set next time," she said. "Basically, the idea is to get the High King, in the middle, to the outside edge. You try to stop me from doing that. So it's a little like chess."
"Hmm...really. Tell me more!"
Kazeko went on to explain all of the rules of the game, showing Fuyuko a few moves while she was at it. Fuyuko may have seemed like a ditz, between the oddball hairstyle and her somewhat off-kilter personality, but she wasn't. She picked up the rules very quickly, and when they started playing, Fuyuko was almost keeping up with her. "Have you played many board games before?"
"Some," Fuyuko said. "It was a bummer because the rest of the quartet would never play with me. Akiko and Natsuko both always said they were boring, and Haruko hates losing, so she stopped playing pretty quickly too. So most of the time I played by myself."
"I used to play with--" Kazeko stopped, frowning, as she thought of Ian.
"With who?" Fuyuko prompted.
"My brother," Kazeko said quietly, glancing around the room. She didn't think that the COP would have undercover agents this far afield, but she didn't want to make any bets.
"Did something..." Fuyuko dropped her voice to a whisper. "Happen to him?"
Kazeko bit her lip. "There was...an incident. But...I....I d-don't like to talk about it."
"Well, you're a Sailor Senshi, I'm a Sailor Senshi...I'm sure there's something we could do."
"Can you go back in time?" Kazeko asked, half-joking.
"No, but Sailor Pluto can," Fuyuko suggested helpfully.
"I don't think she'd be willing to change the past to suit my personal desires," Kazeko replied. "And even if she was, I don't think it would be a good idea."
"Did you lose someone?" Fuyuko asked. Kazeko just looked sad for a long time. Eventually she played her next move. "Well?" Fuyuko persisted, moving back.
"I did," she said. "I lost...I--" she put a hand on her forehead, shading her eyes. "I lost everyone."
Fuyuko frowned and looked thoughtful. "Well, you have friends now, right?"
Kazeko looked a little lost. Could she really consider Seisui and Tokimo friends? She wasn't sure. Seisui trusted her, though--she was perhaps the only person that Seisui trusted right now. "Yes," Kazeko replied. "Seisui is my friend. And Tokimo is too, although I think Tokimo is friends with just about anyone who will let her."
"Good," Fuyuko said. "And we can hang out in club together now, too. I know it won't change the past, but...maybe it's not all over, you know?"
"Maybe," Kazeko said, though she was not sure she believed it.
"So," Kouken asked, "Is this it? Kane's house?"
Tokimo glanced down at her cell phone, which had a map indicating the location of Kane's house. It was only about a block away from Fubuki's, she noted with interest. "Yup. That's what the VR con said." In front of them was a tall, stately house, made of what looked like stone. It had a circular partition and a huge porch. Plus a garden--with lots and lots of rose plants, more roses than Tokimo had ever seen in one place. Most of them were just starting to bud, but even with the few in full bloom, there was a powerfully lovely aroma wafting through the air.
"It looks like a castle," he remarked. "Or a church."
"It looks like the the kind of doll house Yamiko woulda owned as a kid," Tokimo agreed. "I bet she had one just like it. With 21st-century style loligoth dolls and everything." Kouken really couldn't think of an appropriate response to this, so he said nothing.
Tokimo walked up to the large, mahogany colored door and pounded loudly with the intricate, vine motif-styled knocker.
No answer. She pounded again, and when the answer was similarly quiet, she tried the doorknob. It was open, and Tokimo decided to take that as an invitation.
"Whoa, wait!" Kouken said, stopping Tokimo midway through opening the door. "You can't just barge into someone's house!"
"Sure I can," Tokimo replied. "I'm doing it right now. See?" she said, entering the house and ignoring Kouken's protestations.
Inside, the house was dark and empty. There was expensive furniture and everything was sparklingly clean.
"It looks abandoned," Tokimo murmured.
"It's too clean," Kouken replied. "An abandoned house would be dusty. They're probably just out."
"Yeah, but there's no stuff," Tokimo said. "People's houses have stuff lying around. Like coats on the hangers, or papers on the table."
"Not everyone is as messy as you," Kouken retorted.
"Oh yeah? We'll try the study," she said, walking into a huge living room and trying a door. Good guess; there study was right there. Sure enough, an ebony table was clean and free of any actual signs of work--there were no papers on the desk, not even a desk calendar.
"Someone could pick up after them."
"If there were servants," Tokimo said, continuing around the maze of the house and peeking in rooms, "They'd be here. And don't tell me that they're just extra-neat. If I know anything from watching TV, it's that nobody in an office leaves their desk totally clean. No, if Tokimo Joshi--master spy--knows anything, it's that there's something very fishy going on--"
"Tokimo."
Tokimo almost jumped out of her skin. She turned to see Kane standing in the door to a bathroom. "Kane!" she said. "I gotta talk to you--"
"I know," he said. "You're going to take me to task for not showing up for lunch yesterday. Tokimo, you must leave this place right away. And you must tell Yamiko that I can't see her anymore."
"What? That's stupid, you--"
"Tokimo!" he said, his voice urgent, almost paranoid. "There's no time for lectures. It's too late for any of that. Tell Yamiko..." he paused. "Tell her that I just wanted to marry her for her family's fortune. She will believe that."
"But that's horrible! And I can tell it's not true. Your face has that feeling all over it--um, guilt?"
"Regret," Kane corrected her.
"Right," she said. "Even if you did start talking to her for her money, It's not true anymore, right? You love Yamiko, don't you?"
Kane looked defeated. "I--"
"Look, don't tell it to me," Tokimo replied. "If you have something to say, say it to Yamiko." With that, she pulled out her watch and typed in 'Phoebe.'
"Yamiko," she said as a rather defeated looking Yamiko appeared on the screen. "Kane is here, and he has some stuff to say to you." Tokimo glanced up as Kane lunged toward her arm; she hung up on Yamiko before Kane could get a chance to get a word in edgewise.
"You fool!" he snapped. "That's exactly what Coeus will want! If she comes here--" he shook his head. "I have to leave."
"You're not going anywhere!" Tokimo replied. "Charon prism power, make up!" she cried as her fuku formed around her.
"Charon," Kouken shouted, disgusted, "What are you--"
"Space-time blast!"
Kane fell backward into the bathroom as he was consumed by nausea. He wasn't sure exactly what was happening, and he didn't currently have the presence of mind to think about it.
"I can't believe those three," Haruko said disapprovingly, looking sullenly toward the sidewalk as she walked through the school gates with Hiroshi and Usako. "We're supposed to stick together."
"They deserve to have lives of their own, Haruko," Usako said. "Why don't you try a hobby?"
"My hobby is protecting you, Usako," she said. "That's the onlyhobby I need."
"What about gardening club?" Diana suggested.
"I think that's a good idea," Hiroshi agreed. "You should join, Haruko."
"I have a duty, He--Hiroshi!" she snapped. "And unlike you, I don't abandon it for my personal satisfaction!"
Hiroshi frowned. "I once felt that way, Haruko, but I realized...being a person of my own is important, too."
"You're just being bitter because the Quartet has always relied on you, and now they're not doing everything you say," Usako said angrily.
Haruko looked ready to say something. "Stop it, both of you," Hiroshi interrupted. "You're saying things you don't mean. Usako, I'm not mad at Haruko. And Haruko, Usako may have spoken too harshly, but I think it may be true that you're feeling a little abandoned. I can understand that; you four have always been inseparable. But just because they're trying to find themselves doesn't mean they don't care about you anymore. I think you should follow Natsuko's lead. Rather than seeing this as a betrayal, see it as an invitation to explore your life outside of being a sailor senshi."
"I don't have a life outside of being a senshi," she replied. "This is my life. Our life."
"You only say that because you haven't been at it for very long. Trust me, after a few years when you've actually been fighting the enemy, having something that resembles normalcy is all you want," Usako replied.
"Well, this school isn't giving us much of that. Not if the Moon Senshi are any indication."
"There's no point in going off on another tirade about the Moon Senshi," Hiroshi said. "We all know they--" He stopped as he looked toward Haruko. She was looking sullenly away from them, toward the wall; Hiroshi almost thought he saw her shaking a little. "What's wrong?" he asked, alarmed.
"When I think back to this time last year," she said, her voice wavering a little, "Everything was so different. It makes me angry, how they have changed things. Who are they to come into our lives and ruin the peace we fought so hard for? You're always defending them, Usako, but when I look at them..." she turned toward Chibi-Usa. "They're just petty jerks. We don't owe them anything."
"I didn't owe you anything, either, Haruko. But I still saved you, because you deserved another chance."
Haruko looked back toward the school; Hotaru was standing there, her expression calm. Behind her stood the three other Quartet members, and Kazeko. Haruko thought she remembered Kazeko saying she was a Moon Senshi at that meeting they had had once. "Hotaru, what--"
"Listen. You must have patience, Haruko. The Moon Senshi are young senshi, even younger than you, and they have a dark history to contend with. Their misdeeds are not half of yours or mine, so it would be wise not to judge them too harshly."
Haruko frowned. "What are you doing here?"
"Erik has had a premonition. There is danger afoot and he has asked us go to ahead of him."
"Why?" she asked. She couldn't help but be a little suspicious of Erik's intentions in sending them into danger ahead of himself.
"Seisui is trying to go, and he must convince her not to at all costs. That will take awhile, since Seisui isn't exactly known for being compliant," Hotaru explained.
"And why shouldn't she help?" Haruko asked.
"Don't play dumb, Haruko," Usako said. "We both know she's been having trouble transforming."
"Even if she can transform, her control of her guardian is very poor," Kazeko said. "There's no guarantee she could make a sustained attack."
Haruko shrugged. "I suppose you're right," she admitted reluctantly.
"There's no more time to lose with our talk," Hotaru said. "Let's go."
"Be careful!" Diana shouted as they ran off.
"What do you mean I'm not coming?" Seisui said angrily, glaring at Erik. "You're not my father. This decision isn't yours to make."
"Seisui, this is going to be very dangerous."
"You don't know that," she retorted. "And even if you did, I invaded the Crystal Palace itself--when I was outnumbered by all of the senshi. I think I can handle myself against a youma or two. Especially with the do-gooder brigade there."
"I have a feeling this is a lot more dangerous than that," Erik said. "And, well, Seisui..." he looked down at her awkwardly. "Recently, you've been having trouble with your powers. I don't want you in harm's way."
"Why should you care? At best, I'm just another Moon Senshi to you. You don't care about me any more than any of the others. And at worst," she added, "I'm someone that gets in your way, a psychopathic killing machine that you constantly have to stop."
Erik looked a little taken aback. "Is that really how you think I think of you?" he paused. "Listen, Seisui...I really do care about you, about the Moon Senshi. It's true that we haven't always had the same goals in mind, but I have never thought of you as a nuisance. And I've certainly never thought of you as a psychopath."
"You really care about me?" Seisui scoffed. "Don't make me laugh, Erik. It's part of your oath to 'really care' about all of the senshi. You'd care about a stone if it had a sailor collar." she smirked ironically. "Maybe I should take back that comment about my father. You share an awful lot in common with him."
Erik looked stricken. "Seisui, that's--"
"What can you possibly say? If you disagree with me, you're breaking your Knight's Code, aren't you?"
"Well, I..." he looked a little lost. "Listen, Seisui...when it comes down to it, my duty as a knight is to protect you, no matter what senshi you are. But the truth is, you mean more to me than just any senshi. I think we have a lot in common, I...I'd like to be someone you can count on."
"I'm not sure I can count on anyone," Seisui said. "It hasn't worked that well for me in the past."
"I've often felt the same way," Erik replied, looking down at the floor. "Sometimes it seems like the people you've come to trust are either all too willing to abandon you, or as ephemeral as the blossoms on cherry trees. Still...what point is there to being alive, if we don't have the chance to find someone?" He looked back toward her, realizing somewhat sheepishly that he had been talking as much, or more, to himself than her.
"Hmph," Seisui replied rather lamely. "Even if I can trust you, and even if I do mean more to you than any other Moon Senshi, it's not your decision whether I go or not."
Erik paused. "You're right," he admitted. "It's true that I can't stop you. But I wish you wouldn't go. Listen, Seisui. After this is over, I'll work with you to try and get your powers back."
"Kazeko couldn't do it...I don't see why you should be any more successful."
"I've spent a lot of time honing myself mentally and physically. Kazeko is spiritually powerful, but I doubt she has as much martial prowess."
Seisui sighed.
"There's nothing wrong with taking the time you need to become strong again," he said. "Isn't it better to hone yourself and become a better warrior before you put your life on the line?"
"Fine," she said, relenting. "I'll stay this time."
"Thank you, Seisui," Erik said with deep sincerity.
