Despite the slight against her aspirations to stardom Mi****o
found herself enjoying the morning as she sat next to Michiru on the
slope at the south edge of the park, watching out of the corners of
their eyes as the two of them were painted.
"She really likes art, huh?" Mi****o said, making conversation as
they posed. "I bet that feels good."
Michiru had to agree. "Yes, it does. She lacks spontaneity, but
her work is developing a good style." Of course that hadn't been what
Mi****o had meant. "It is nice having something to share with her. And
that she has people in the club to share an interest with. She
disliked me quite a bit when I made her sign up for it."
"It was all for the best though, right? You just wanted her to
have friends."
"Yes." Michiru found Mi****o's optimism infectious. And, as the
morning wore on, it also occurred to her that she had someone with
her who most likely knew the truths that had remained hidden
concerning Haruka's time away.
"It took me a while to notice after all that time," she said,
purposely oblique as she began to explain something so personal. "I
think it must be easy to miss the signs when you think you have
already reached the goal."
"Michiru-san?" Mi****o asked, utterly confused, before Hotaru once
again admonished her from the distance for moving.
"There is a distraction in her eyes," Michiru continued,
remaining motionless in her casual pose. "A distraction that I did
not think anything of. I was too busy enjoying her return."
"You mean Haruka-san..." Mi****o noted. Warning bells were going
off in her head, and they did not go unnoticed by Michiru.
"So you do know. She has always had secrets Mi****o-chan. She is a
woman far too complicated for her own peace of mind. It might only be
a lie of omission, because I don't know what questions to ask, but
she has not kept things from me for as long as we have been together.
Her worries have been mine for all that time, and now there is
something inside her, keeping her thoughts inside herself."
"I don't know what you mean," Mi****o half-lied. She didn't know,
but that didn't mean there were not possibilities that she could
guess at. "She seems okay to me. But isn't it a woman's prerogative
to have a few little secrets?"
Michiru found Mi****o's frankness amusing, but she didn't buy the
answer. "There was a time, not too long ago, when I seemed to be the
only person that she was truly comfortable around. Would you believe
me if I said that, now, she only seems to relax when not alone with
me?"
She sighed. "Naturally she has her secrets still, but Haruka is
no ordinary woman. I like to think that I know her, and now I find
myself at a loss. Is she simply wondering what new motorbike parts
she would like to buy? If it is so unim****tant, why does it seem to
pervade her mind so deeply? Does she feel too guilty, too ashamed or
too angry at something to tell me? There is a shade of seriousness
there that makes her bite her lip before a joke that she might
otherwise have made. That hesitant tenderness that appears now when
she takes my hand.
"It is as you say. I have my own secrets, as is a woman's
privilege, but she knows that. She permits me to have them because,
if they were ever to become im****tant - if they ever became something
that truly affected either of us - then she knows that I would tell
her."
Michiru bowed her head. "But Haruka has always allowed me to see
these things. It has been a part of *us*, because it was how I came
to know her, and how I saw her grow into the woman she is. Because
she permitted me to know those deepest, inner secrets of hers."
Mi****o didn't respond for a while, as Hotaru called to her mother
to keep her pose. Mi****o could see her friend's point, but it was not
her place to voice any of the reasons that came into her head. And,
even if she did, how could she know which one of them might be the
cause of what Michiru described.
But, most of all, Haruka was allowed her privacy. It was her
choice what to say and what to keep hidden, and it was not Mi****o's
place to meddle. At least, not when the results would betray their
confidence. The deaths, the loves, the dark results of the forces
they had tapped into, any one of those could damage the lives that
they had reclaimed now that they were home. They all had reasons to
hold their tongues, no matter how great or how insignificant those
reasons might have been.
But then, didn't everyone? Their situation was unusual and
extreme, but everyone kept secrets, and many would never matter
because that exactly what they were. Secret.
"Don't worry Michiru-san. I mean, you know her better than me, so
I can't really say but... If it really matters, I'm sure she will
tell you. We all went thought a lot, but we're back now."
She smiled sadly at the memory as she stared off into the
distance. "You know, when we were going through everything, I
thought, 'What if we can't get back? Would it be so bad?'. I thought
that, if it wasn't for being manipulated by everyone, we could have
had an okay life in that world. But I was wrong. I was weak, and I
gave up too soon. And d'you know what Haruka-san said? She said she
was sorry for not giving up along with me, but all that she wanted
was to come back to you and Hotaru, and be a family again."
"Mi****o-chan..." That was a revelation for Michiru. She knew it
had been hard for them, Haruka's stories had not been sugar coated,
but the idea that Mi****o could have lost hope - that really gave her
pause for thought.
"I'm sure it's okay," Mi****o said again. "Maybe you're making a
meal out of a molehill?"
Michiru nodded, feeling a smile return to her face as she
pictured that mangled image. Of course, Michiru was a perceptive
young woman, and she didn't miss the undercurrent of tension beneath
Mi****o's words.
"Thank you, Mi****o-chan. I am sorry that you were put through
such trials and tribulations."
Mi****o shrugged, looking over to Haruka and Hotaru to see if she
could move again. "It's not like anyone said being a champion for
justice was easy." Then as Haruka and Hotaru both gave her a warning
look, she let out a sigh. "We can't move yet? My leg's gone to
sleep!"
"I did warn you not to sit at such an angle," Michiru quipped,
even as her thoughts began to turn over in the wake of their
conversation.
***
Behind her make****ft roadside stall, Myo****ya watched as the
bustle of Tokyo suburbia passed back and forth. These humans had been
ru****ng from place to place all day, and the day before that, and the
day before that. She had never expected there to be so may of the
creatures out away from the city centre, or that she would have been
able to blend in so inconspicuously with just a little magic.
Myo****ya wasn't even very good at disguises, but her sisters had
assured her that even her own meagre skill at illusions would be
enough, and they had been right.
Aretsuki had been partnered with her this time, and Myo****ya
watched with a morbid sort of fascination as the young girl
effortlessly served another of the ignorant human women who came to
gawp at her wares. Her youngest sister did it with such ease.
Myo****ya had barely been able to restrain her fear and loathing at
each and every one of those customers as they approached her, intent
on handing over more of their money in exchange for silver and gem
studded adornments. She wanted to reach out and pluck their energy
right out of them, if only to avenge herself. If only to protect
herself. If only to make them go away.
So Aretsuki, ever optimistic, had taken over the counter, and let
her get on with their jewelling. Myo****ya was good at it after all.
Even in her clumsy human guise the nimbleness and precision of her
fingers shone through in the brooches she made. In her true form she
could have moulded and carved the metal directly, but even relying on
tools she created brooch after brooch in a fraction of the time it
would have taken a human artisan.
And what brooches they were. The silver tendrils wrapped back and
forth around each other, with simple and yet carefully detailed
leaves folding across the surface, giving the delicate jewellery
enough strength so that its vine-line base did not simply snap as it
was handled. Then, in the centre of each, was the gemstone, each one
a subtly different colour from the last, set into the middle of a
silver flower.
They had not had much time to set up their operations, but
Aretsuki had suggested the flowers, as they were something that
Myo****ya herself took great pleasure in. While she feared and hated
the humans, she had taken a loving care over their brief studies of
the flowering plants that appeared around the city. The humans had a
hidden power, a power that had somehow destroyed her people, but the
flowers were honest. A beauty untainted by envy or jealousy or
ambition. Even her sisters were not without those vices, but Myo****ya
did at least trust them.
Looking at the new customer at the stall, Myo****ya saw everything
that embodied what she disliked about humans. This one was tall and
carried herself with an undeserved, self-im****tant pride, which she
tried to hide behind veils of respectability and politeness. Her suit
was expensive and cut close to her figure, no doubt to reinforce her
tall stature and to show off a curvaceous form that was rare in a
Japanese woman. This one had to be more powerful and more beautiful
than those around her. There was a weight of responsibility in her
deep brown eyes, and she rewarded herself for it by tailoring herself
to be the superior of those around her. Her tan might have made her
appear loose or wilful to some eyes, but she had put together her
image so that everyone would see only the proper lady that others
aspired to be; affluent, powerful and presentable, yet still
desirable. More so than most.
The woman seemed to study each piece intently before moving on to
the next, as if looking for something intangible that she would only
recognise when she finally found it. All the better as far as
Myo****ya was concerned. The longer she stood at the stall the greater
the chance that she and Aretsuki could siphon off that trace of
energy from her. And if she bought a brooch then all the better.
"Excuse me, is this genuine garnet?" the lady asked.
Aretsuki blinked at the question before turning to her older
sister.
"Of course," Myo****ya answered, holding her tongue as best she
could. Aretsuki was talented with the humans, but at her age such
things were still a little beyond her knowledge.
The woman gave her a smile, one that made her feel unpleasantly
uncomfortable.
"No wonder your jewellery has become so popular so quickly," the
lady said. "They are such a good price for the workman****p, and with
such exquisite gems."
Myo****ya felt a small bloom of pride despite herself, and she
forced the feeling down as she accepted the compliment. "T-thank you.
You have good taste Miss. That particular stone would contrast your
hair very well."
"My thoughts exactly," the customer replied, handing over both
the money and her business card to Aretsuki.
"Meioh... Setsuna... You're a fa****on designer?"
Setsuna smiled and nodded. "Yes. And I do like your work. It is
my business to know jewellery after all."
'As well as to know the value of gemstones,' Setsuna thought to
herself. 'Something that these two have no clue over.' Having them
admit it had almost been too easy. True, this was the most beautiful
garnet she had ever seen, but those stones could, and would, be
bought by the dozen by any fa****on student. This jewellery was priced
for the connoisseur, worth it for the craftsman****p rather than the
gem, and this pair didn't even realise it.
"It is such a shame that people here don't have the same
enthusiasm for clothing and accessories recently," Setsuna lamented,
making sure not to actually wear the brooch, but instead getting a
paper bag for it. After all, the local women's apathy was not just
limited to fa****on, and now Setsuna had just confirmed her suspicions
as to why. The timing, with the appearance of the stall, was too much
of a coincidence.
Of course, they might just have assumed she was completely
ignorant and chosen not do disillusion her about the value of the
gem, but in that case seeing her business card should have got them
sweating bullets, trying to put one over on a professional. No, she
was sure, and it fitted a pattern that they had seen many times
before. Whoever or whatever this jeweller was, she was the one
responsible.
***
Ami had forgotten the fearful thrill of being Mercury. With
Sailor Moon, Venus and Mars beside her, the four of them leaping from
rooftop to rooftop, the sense of power was overwhelming. The power
was back within the depths of her body where it belonged. She did not
have to scour her past, dredging up all the memories she had so
carefully buried. Her friends were her courage, her Sailor Suit was
her armour, and the ice was running through her veins - not lonely
and cold - but both stimulating and serene. The fear of impending
battle felt small and unim****tant in the shadow of that chilled and
heady cocktail. Had she missed this rush so badly? How had battle in
Seiji terrified her when, in her heart, she had always been one of
the Sen****?
Beside her Sailor Mars let out a whoop, and the staring people
below replied with a cheer. Mercury smiled. So she was not the only
one who felt like that.
"I never thought I would have missed this!" Mars said, clearing
another alleyway in one well timed leap.
"What are you talking about?" Sailor Moon asked as she too made
the jump. "You forgot what it's like already?" She sighed as they all
ran. "And really, in the middle of the day too... Why can't the
monsters ever attack when I'm not caught up in something?"
"Wouldn't that be convenient!" Jupiter asked, careering up from
the fire escape they were passing and joining them in their charge.
"Jupiter!" Sailor Moon fawned, taking her hand and pulling her
into step with them. "I thought you wouldn't come!"
Jupiter just frowned and gave a shrug. "I managed to get away
okay, it wasn't busy at work. Though that's because we have a
competitor right opposite us, and they're stealing all our
customers!"
Sailor Mars smirked and danced across to run beside her. "Well
you'll just have to start advertising then. Wear your green s****ts
top and shorts, and that tight apron..!"
Sailor Jupiter's eyes bulged a little. "What!? No!"
However, as the others laughed Mi****o stared straight ahead,
looking for the turning. "Guys, this is where Pluto said!"
Sailor Moon blinked, putting on her brakes before she overshot
their target. "What, already? It feels so long on the train!"
Dropping back down to the street proved Venus correct, and a
little way down the rows of sparse shops stood the stall, just as
Sailor Pluto had described. From a distance it looked like a fortune
teller's place, draped in deep blue cloth and hung with tassels.
However, as Sailor Mercury noted, most of the women in the area did
indeed wear one of the flower brooches that they had been warned
about.
Of course, their appearance had not gone unnoticed. Slowly the
street came to a halt as everyone simply stood and watched as five
bona fide super-heroines walked their way towards the stall. Super-
heroines that only ever appeared when people were in danger. Even
before a single move was made, every man and woman knew that this
street was about to become a battlefield, and they gradually either
found themselves a safe place to watch or stood in awe, ready to bolt
at the first sign of any danger headed their way.
Then, as the stall's two owners looked around, wondering what was
going on, another Sailor Sen**** appeared from behind the make****ft
shop front. "Thank you for coming so promptly, Sailor Moon."
"Pluto!" They exclaimed, and they jogged over to greet their
eldest member. "Where have you been?" Sailor Venus asked. "We haven't
seen you since we got back."
Sailor Pluto just smiled. "I am glad to see you all again. The
future had been a much darker place while you were away." Seeing a
genuine, happy smile on her face was a surprisingly rare thing, but
the fact that she was happy to see them again, and not simply calling
them to a fight, lifted all their spirits.
In their stall, sitting deathly still, both Myo****ya and Aretsuki
watched it all play out from the corners of their eyes. "It's
them..." Myo****ya whispered, feeling the sweat of fear roll down her
brow.
Beside her Arestuki was trying not to shake too much. "This is
not good. This is very, very not-good."
Then, with their little reunion over, Sailor Moon strode to the
stall, standing no more than twelve feet from it. She cleared her
throat.
Both the Dark Kingdom sisters had heard about this more-than-
human champion, but nothing could compare to seeing it.
"Accessories are the glimmer of a girl's heart, bought with her
hard earned money for... for..." Sailor Moon paused, standing in the
middle of the street and holding her pose.
Myo****ya's awe suddenly came cra****ng down, and shattered around
her ankles. "She's an idiot..."
"You didn't prepare your speech?!" Sailor Mars asked,
disbelieving, as Mercury, Jupiter and Pluto all sighed.
"I couldn't help it!" Sailor Moon cried back. "I've got all that
Tolstoy going around in my head!"
An idiot, Myo****ya realised, in love with her own image as a
'hero' for these worthless, powerless humans.
"Sailor Mercury," Pluto asked diplomatically as their princess
bickered with her best friend, "could you please analyse the stall
and the intruders. I have not yet managed to determine their origin,
or the exact method they are draining people's energy."
"They aren't using the brooches?" Jupiter asked. It was a simple
enough assumption to make, and they had seen many of the same styles
of attack in the past. Venus was amused to note that several of the
women watching quickly unfastened their own brooches as soon as
Jupiter had said that.
"I had thought so," Pluto agreed, "But I have not been able to
find any proof."
Meanwhile, as both Moon and Mars argued, Myo****ya felt a low
growl emanate from her throat. "An idiot," she finally said out loud,
"that killed my sisters, my queen, my Goddess... FOR THESE SPINELESS
CATTLE!?"
That stopped Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars in their tracks. "Eh?"
"ENOUGH OF THIS FACADE!" Myo****ya screamed, pitching the stall
aside and ripping free from her disguise. As her dress was shredded
another two pairs of arms appeared from her sides, her false hair was
cast aside to reveal a naturally hairless head, and her skin
blossomed into a delicate shade of blue as her illusions faded away.
"Aretsuki," she growled, "we need not be afraid of these tyrants."
Then a voice, handsome and refined, drifted out of nowhere.
"Tyrants? Women who fight so selflessly against those who would prey
on the innocent and the unprepared?"
Tuxedo Kamen hopped down from his perch on top of the broken
stall roof, his trademark rose held in his gloved hand. "Against
monsters like yourselves?"
"Kamen-sama," Sailor Moon said gently, feeling more than a little
embarrassed. "I do appreciate the compliment, but we've kind of done
the speeches bit..."
"Half done."
"Mars!"
Myo****ya felt herself boil as she righted herself after that
interruption. "You..."
"Heralded by a new age, Sailor Uranus, appearing elegantly!"
Aretsuki balled up her trembling fists by her sides as another
two Sen**** appeared. "How many of you are there!?!"
"Likewise, Sailor Neptune, appearing gracefully!"
"You people..." Myo****ya bit out, her thin and wiry eyebrow
twitching violently. "Innocence, grace, elegance, how self-satisfied
can you be?"
"You know, I do sort of agree with her there," Sailor Saturn said
as she followed Neptune and Uranus. "Those introductions do sound a
little egotistic."
"Really?" Uranus asked. "I always thought they had a sort of
punch to them."
Neptune nodded. "Grace and elegance under pressure prove that you
are not a soldier to be trifled with."
"By the way," Venus said, leaning over the capsized stall, "I
know this might seem a bit much, but can I ask who you two are? I
mean, do we have a new enemy organisation to be worried about or is
this just a one off sort of thing? Oh, and those extra arms must make
things really convenient for you!"
That was it for Myo****ya's patience. She had always been
embarrassed at having more limbs than her sisters. "You will learn
humility..." she seethed. "And if I must be the one to teach you,
then so be it!"
So saying she lashed out with one of her many arms, her long and
pointed fingers missing Venus' face by mere inches as she darted
away.
However, as her older sister attacked Aretsuki just stood
petrified. "Big Sister, there are more of them than us!"
A truer word had never been spoken as, from Myo****ya flank, both
Uranus and Neptune focused their magic in their hands.
"Deep Submerge!"
"World Shaking!"
The agile monster twisted at just the right moment, the joints in
her legs collapsing in all the wrong ways, like a folding chair in
the midst of a hurricane, but still she cried out as the two opposed
balls of magic scorched her many shoulders. "Aaargh! Your
arrogance..!"
That was distraction enough for Jupiter to slip behind her,
catching as many of the creature's arms as she could and forcing them
behind her back. From instinct born out of so many battles one of her
friends was ready to make the most of the opening, and Venus let off
a crescent beam dead centre into Myoshyia's unprotected chest.
"Big Sister!" Aretsuki cried. She leapt to her sister's defence,
discarding her disguise in the blink of an eye, and she jumped onto
Jupiter's back before any of the others could react. She dug her
claws into Jupiter's sides, her three huge, bushy tails flailing to
help her balance on the nimble girl, and she bit down hard into
Jupiter's shoulder.
Myo****ya felt the hold on her arms grow slack and, just as she
had with her legs, she slipped her elbows this way and that, sliding
free of Jupiter's hold as her other two hands clutched at her burning
chest.
Sailor Moon was not idle however, and swung at the animal-girl
with her baton. "Get off my friend you fox-demon-thing!"
Aretsuki gave a keening cry as she was dislodged, the baton
smacking hard into her head.
It was only then, as she narrowly dodged the razor sharp rose
that zipped past her ear, that Myo****ya realised the depth of her
mistake. These people were arrogant, prideful and self im****tant, but
they had also destroyed her home with the powers they wielded. Even
if she took down one of them, there would be eight others with
Aretsuki and herself in their sights.
A vast ball of electricity slammed into her, and she fell
twitching to the floor. "Aretsuki! Run!"
The animal-child took one look at her sister before she did as
she was told, and sprinted away just as Sailor Moon levelled her
sceptre at her. Myo****ya herself seemed to become boneless as she
twisted and weaved past a frustrated Sailor Pluto.
But the Sen**** were prepared, and Mars was ready. "Flame..."
She levelled her burning bow at the retreating monster, and her
hands froze. She would release her arrow...
'I can't,'
...and that faux ****va would be consumed in flames...
'No!'
...to become one more death in her name.
All the Sen****'s eyes turned to her when the arrow of fire didn't
come, and Sailor Mars found the tears pouring from her eyes as she
looked down the line of her Flame Sniper. "I..."
"Mars! They're getting away!" Neptune yelled, but as she prepared
an attack of her own the fleeing pair had already reached their
escape route. Sailor Moon watched with a queasiness in her stomach as
the multi-limbed monster seemed to dislocate all six of her shoulders
as squeeze herself through the sewer opening set into the curb,
followed by the nimble fox-girl.
"I knew about people with double joints, but ewww!"
That was the least of her worries though, as Sailor Pluto and
Sailor Neptune both turned their full attention to Mars. "What was
that about Sailor Mars?" Pluto asked, a devastating trace of
displeasure in her voice. "You could have ended it. Now we will have
to hunt them out, or worse wait for them to strike again."
"I'm sorry," Mars said through her tears. "I just..."
"It's okay, right Mars? We can always get them next time," Sailor
Moon said, trying to get between her friend and their older comrades.
"Besides, they were kind of weak. I mean, I felt bad for hitting the
little one. It was almost like I was bullying her."
Mars didn't say anything, but when Jupiter took her hand the
Sen**** of flame just threw herself into her girlfriend's arms,
weeping into her chest.
"It's okay," Jupiter comforted, watched by their worried allies
and unconcerned by the minor wounds she had suffered as Saturn tended
to them. "It's over."
It was almost sympathetic as Sailor Moon took Tuxedo Kamen's
hand, and leaned into him.
In the end Sailor Pluto just shook her head, content to leave
explanations for another time. "Mercury, did you have enough time to
discover their origins or methods?"
Mercury nodded, glad that she could take the attention off her
friend for a while. "The brooches are harmless. It was the jewels in
the stall decorations that were absorbing energy. The longer a
customer browsed, the more energy they would inevitably take."
Venus could see the logic in that. "And the more people that
bought the brooches, the more they were advertising the stall. At
least they weren't draining them dry this time."
"This time," Pluto echoed as she walked over to the toppled
booth, bringing her staff down on each of the large, disk-like gems
set into the backing cloth.
"It doesn't matter," Mercury said. "The energy is gone, and they
seem inert now. They must have been able to take the energy with them
somehow. I'm more worried about *who* they were."
"Oh?" Sailor Moon asked. "You know them?"
"We all do. At least, the five of us do," she said, meaning
herself and the rest of the 'Inner' Sen****. "They had the same energy
signature as the DD Girls, and as Thetis. They were youma."
"You mean, an in *Youma* youma," Venus asked, her eyes wide in
surprise. "As in Dark Kingdom youma?!"
Again Mercury nodded.
However, they didn't have time to discuss that revelation, as the
crowd that had been watching from the relative safety of the shop-
fronts and alleys had emerged. To them all that mattered was that all
the Sen**** were back, and they had already driven off a monster. It
did not take long for the cheers and chanting to start up, leaving
the girls to make their hasty exits before they were mobbed. The news
vans were already setting up as quickly as they could, hoping to
catch more footage than their rivals before their subjects
disappeared again.
But, needless to say, the girls had a lot to think about as they
left. It had been many years since they had defeated the Dark
Kingdom, and it had cost them dearly the first time around. Granted,
they had become many times more powerful since then, but still, had
it not been for the power of the Silver Crystal, none of the younger
girls would have survived it. And as many of them knew, death was not
an easy memory to shake.
***
Rei ran. In the pitch black it didn't matter where she was or
where she was going, as long as she was running. Somewhere in that
obsidian gloom it was watching. They were watching. Somehow they
could see her in that darkness, while Rei could not even see the
ground beneath her feet. They could see them all. Usagi ran beside
her, as did Makoto, and Mi****o, and everyone else. They ran from
those unseen eyes and away from the malice they held. Away from the
fangs that promised exquisite pain and the lips that twisted into
smiles which held no happiness.
Then Rei was running alone again. One by one her friends had
disappeared. Had they made that fatal stumble? Had they been picked
off as they had lagged behind? Had they found the unseen ground
beneath them vanish before they had toppled into the inescapable
blackness?
Rei could feel herself tiring. No matter how hard she gasped she
could not get enough air to keep her going. Her muscles burned and
her joints felt as though they wanted to scream, but still she tried
to run. Because if she stopped running, they would get her. She would
get her. It would get her.
Then she felt the hand fall lightly on her shoulder, and in that
instant her very skin was set afire. She wanted to scream, but no
sound came from her lips. All she could do was shudder as the dream
shattered around her.
The second that she realised she was awake Rei tried to move, to
scramble away, but all she could manage was a terrified spasm. Unable
to move her arms or legs she began to panic, but only moments later
she recognised her fear for what it was. It was just a nightmare, and
she was safe. Soon her muscles relaxed themselves, and she lay
gasping on her futon, sweat rolling down her forehead.
That had not been a nice dream. It had almost had that prophetic
edge that all her worst nightmares had, but as usual it made no sense
to her, and it probably wouldn't until it was needed. Rei blew out a
sigh and looked up at the ceiling, calming the rest of her nerves.
Her prophecies were always rather useless like that. Of course, the
appearance of a new enemy was more than reason enough for them to
start.
Not that she wanted to think about that. She had let her friends
down, and let their enemy escape. It was so silly. She had helped to
kill hundred of creatures like that before. They were monsters,
praying on the unsuspecting public.
But, Rei thought, they were also people of a sort. Should she be
allowed to kill them so easily? She shook her head and rolled over.
It didn't matter. She had already shown that she couldn't do it,
regardless of whether she should or not. She never wanted to feel
that guilt again. She didn't want to see people die at her hands any
more, even if they weren't human. She would have to find a way to
make it up to everyone, but she was going to have to pass the grim
duty onto someone else. Usagi would take it, if only for the chance
to redeem those youma, if it was possible. None of the 'Outers' would
turn down the responsibility either. They were too sworn to their
duty to let something silly like guilt stop them, if they even felt
it.
"And you'd do it too, wouldn't you," she asked, lying on her
front as she watched Makoto sleeping in the futon that was head to
head with hers. "You could be noble in my place."
Rei had fallen in love with Makoto all over again that night.
After slipping further from her as she retreated away from the
attention they were being lavished with, Makoto had come back to
catch Rei as she had fallen.
They had been together for what had remained of the afternoon, in
each other's arms as often as not even after night had fallen. Rei
still could not bring herself to go the distance, but she had been in
no shape to try. She had wept for a full hour, comforted by her tall,
protective girlfriend while Rei's grandfather had done what he could
to ease her mind. And, when they had been alone, the kisses they had
shared had meant everything to Rei. Makoto's lips were soft and
gentle in a way that Rei knew her own had never been. Where her own
passion was reaching and almost forceful, Makoto's simply flowed as
it was needed. It slowly soothed, accepting Rei's touch and yet never
forcing herself back against that passion. Instead Makoto caressed,
and only when Rei had retreated back into her regret had Makoto's
lips taken on the strength that she was capable of. A romantic
strength that wiped Rei's slate clean of all her fear and sorrow,
with the simple assurance that it didn't matter. Makoto was there for
her regardless.
Rei reached over with a sad smile, and gently traced her fingers
across Makoto's sleeping cheek, bru****ng back her hair and making the
girl ****ft on her pillow. "Makoto," Rei whispered, "I wonder what it
is you saw in me. I don't know any more, but I'm really grateful.
I'll try to make sure that I deserve it, because I don't think I want
to give you up. I won't keep you waiting long. I promise. I'm just
scared."
She leaned down and lay a careful kiss on Makoto's sleeping brow.
"And I'll help you too. You don't think about yourself enough, silly
thing."
***
Outside, sitting on the wooden walkway around the shrine, Grandpa
Hino looked up at the stars, wondering about his granddaughter. To
come home in tears, and insist that her friend be allowed to stay,
even as she protested that Makoto had better things to do...
And to make such obvious excuses too. "Just a sleepover, Rei? Are
you okay with that? Is she?"
He cracked a small, honest smile. "Am I?"
***
Ami stood in the darkened hallway of her mother's apartment,
resting her back against the wall and looking up at the ceiling, away
from the moonlight that shone in through the window of the front
door. The phone was cradled against her ear, but she wasn't listening
to it.
"Of course you're not there," she said to herself, the dull
ringing repeating over and over, "you have a girlfriend now. Goodness
knows that she needs you tonight. You are so responsible Mako-chan,
even if you don't think anything of it."
Ami said it with a strange sort of smile on her lips. That night
she had had something of a revelation; one that had eased her mind in
its own strange way. She knew what depression was after all. Her
early years at school had not been happy for her. She had always been
the smartest, but that had isolated her from her classmates. They saw
her as something else, something to be belittled, because she had
achieved a level of success that they had not. Her teachers had
praised her, but it had never been without the constant urging to do
even more. To perform even better. Somehow her happiness at hearing
that praise had been laced with a feeling of inadequacy. She had
known she was intelligent, she had permitted her ego that much, but
that constant pressure had been given no outlet.
In the end she had found her ways of coping. Taking up swimming
as more than just a survival skill had been among the best. Actually
talking about things with her mother had been another.
But Ami had realised a very im****tant fact that evening. She was
not coping now. She could start taking the time out to visit the
leisure centre, but simply exhausting herself and forgetting her
troubles in the water would not help solve her problems. Only
postpone them.
But she couldn't talk to Makoto or Rei. Both were willing, she
knew, but they needed each other right then. Mi****o knew, but as sad
as it was to say, the two of them had never really talked heart to
heart. They were such different people. What was common sense to Ami
would miss Mi****o completely, and vice versa. She might have gone to
Usagi, just as she might have gone to her mother. Both of them would
listen and neither would judge in the least...
But how could she admit the causes to them? Ami didn't want them
to know. She didn't want to see the disappointment or that sympathy
for a confused child in their eyes.
She pressed the disconnect button on the phone, and dialled
again. It was not the best last resort, but at least it was safe. At
least now she knew that she needed help Ami could be content to ask
for it. It was such a weight off her mind, even if it meant admitting
to her friends that she was genuinely unhappy.
"Hello? Ah, hello Hotaru-chan, it is Ami... No, there isn't an
emergency... I know, I'm sorry for calling so late. Is Haruka-san
there?.. Ah, that's good, could I speak with her?.. Thank you."
***
To Be Continued...
***
Please send any comments and constructive criticism to:
nutzoide@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
are always greatly appreciated, and there is no better reward
for a writer than to hear back from the readers.
Many thanks to Richard King for his proofreading assistance.
(c) Nutzoide 2007
http://www.nutzoide.net
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