Hands Fall Together by Kihin Ranno

Part Seven: Confidence Man

After their emotional reunion, Sailor Mercury was quick to pull herself together. She was rather embarrassed about her outburst, but she didn't allow herself to be affected by the awkwardness of the situation. After all, there were more pressing matters to attend to. Jadeite was still out there. And so was Sailor Mars.

Mercury and Tuxedo Kamen made their way back to the street as quickly as they could. Their progress was significantly slowed by Tuxedo Kamen's weakened state. In any other situation, Mercury would have made sure that he had an opportunity to rest, but there simply wasn't time for that. She did her best to keep him going, bearing most of his weight and encouraging him when his legs threatened to buckle underneath him.

When they got back to where they had left Mars, they found that it had been cordoned off by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police. Mercury sighed. "I should have guessed that Jadeite would attract this kind of attention. If I'd bothered to think about it, I could have come up with an alternate route to begin with and--"

"It's all right," Tuxedo Kamen assured her, his voice still hoarse. "You'll figure out a way to get by them."

Mercury looked up at him, blinking. Hearing his confidence in her was reassuring, almost making her smile in spite of their predicament. She helped Tuxedo Kamen stand without her assistance, propping him up against a wall while he continued to try and get his bearings. Then she pulled out her mini-computer and tapped the earring on her right ear. Her visor appeared over her eyes, allowing her to single out everyone in the area, hidden or not. She continued scanning the area for several minutes, searching for a hole the police hadn't had time to cover yet.

It took awhile, but eventually, she found it. "If we double back two blocks and come at it from behind, we should be able to get to Rei without being detected. Are you up to that?"

In Mercury's opinion, he wasn't, but that didn't change his answer. "I'll be fine." Tuxedo Kamen pushed himself off the wall and staggered back over to her. As she was making sure that he was settled, she noticed him looking around. "Why do you suppose they haven't gone looking for anything yet?"

Mercury frowned, wondering at that herself. She hadn't considered it before he brought it up, too absorbed in their problems to bother with it. But now that it was on her mind, it was irritating her considerably. "I don't know. Perhaps they're too frightened?"

Tuxedo Kamen shrugged, but she could tell in the set of his jaw that the explanation wasn't entirely satisfying. "Maybe."

If they had the luxury of time, Mercury would have stopped to consider all of this. But they were in something of a hurry, and as soon as she thought that Tuxedo Kamen was steady, she started moving. "Come on. Mars will be waiting."

Mercury's route took them a good ten minutes out of the way, but they eventually managed to reach the alley without another incident. They found Sailor Mars right where Mercury had left her, sitting on the dirty ground with her back pressed up against the dull brick. The only difference was that she was awake and her cheeks were wet with tears.

"Mars!" Mercury cried, jogging over to the red clad soldier. She crouched beside Mars, instantly concerned. She gently touched Mars's shoulder. "What happened? Are you all right?"

Mars looked up, surprised to see her. Seconds later, her face twisted into a grimace and she pulled her arm away, forcing herself to her feet. She glared down at Mercury, wiping at her face as discreetly as possible. "Well, I'm alive. No thanks to you."

Mercury instantly knew what she was referring to. She kept her eyes lowered even as she got to her feet. "Mars, I... I'm sorry, but I had to--"

"What is wrong with you?!" Mars demanded, her voice strangled as if she were the one who had almost drowned. She was physically shaking and whiter than Mercury had ever seen her. And there was something in her eyes that was truly frightening. Mars had been angry before, but nothing like this. "I would never have left you like that! What happened to being comrades, Mercury?"

"I'm sorry," Mercury repeated softly.

Tuxedo Kamen took that moment to stagger forward, still not that steady on his feet after the battle with Jadeite. He held up his hands in a feeble attempt to placate the Senshi of Fire. "Mars, she didn't have a choice. She had to come after me and Jadeite."

"Jadeite," Mars hissed as if scorched by her own fire. "What does Jadeite matter? He's dead."

Tuxedo Kamen blinked in surprise, managing to straighten his back with that news. "Dead?"

"He came back here?" Mercury asked, her voice quiet with horror.

Mars looked back over to Mercury, her violet eyes narrowed dangerously. "Yes, of course he came back here. He came back to finish us off, but the only Senshi he found was me. Crumpled and unconscious in an alley with no one to see that I didn't die!"

Mercury stepped back as if Mars had slapped her, surprised that she hadn't at least tried to. Mercury clasped her hands together, holding them in front of her chest protectively. Her eyes were closed, and both of her allies were certain from her voice that she was trying to keep from crying. "I... never meant for that to happen, Mars. But if I hadn't--"

"If you hadn't, I wouldn't have almost been killed!" Mars insisted, unwilling to let Mercury finish. "And he could have done it too! I don't know why he hesitated, but--"

"Well, thank goodness he did," Tuxedo Kamen said neutrally, not wanting to get in the middle of their altercation. At any other time, he would have ended this, but he lacked the strength to talk Mars down.

"I was lucky he did. Especially since I'm the only one of us who stood a chance at hurting him," Mars agreed, her voice cracking oddly. "But I should have had backup."

Mercury swallowed and once again tried to make her case. "Mars, I--"

"I don't give a damn," Mars said, backing away from the two and preparing to leave. "I don't care what your motives were or if everything turned out okay. What matters is that you abandoned me. It wasn't the smart thing to do, not the brave thing to do, and it sure as hell wasn't the right thing to do."

If Mercury could have turned into a puddle and seeped into the sewers of Tokyo never to be seen again, she would have done so. As it was, all she could really do was stand there and take the abuse. It was all too much for her to take. "I'm sorry," she repeated one last time.

Mars dropped her transformation and walked back the way Tuxedo Kamen and Mercury had arrived, shaking her head. "I suppose in a way you ought to be grateful you weren't here." Rei swallowed, her eyes fluttering closed and her fingers trembling. "If I were you, I wouldn't have wanted to see Jadeite stagger out of the alley in an inferno."

Mercury's stomach lurched, her hand flying to her mouth. The image disturbed her deeply, and the knowledge that Rei had been forced to face it alone made her feel that much worse. She wished that she hadn't been told that. All it did was inform her why the police had been avoiding the area thus far. It was a horrible way to die, and none of them wanted to face the same fate.

"Rei," Tuxedo Kamen croaked.

"Good-bye," Rei said shortly.

Before either of her comrades could say anything more to make Rei understand what had happened, she'd turned on her heel and fled, running away from the scene of the crime as fast as she could. In spite of how the saying went, Mercury very much doubted she was ever going to return.

Mercury felt Tuxedo Kamen limp closer to her from behind. She sensed another movement, almost like he wanted to lay a hand on her shoulder. He didn't. "Are you all right?"

"No," Mercury whispered in despair. "She's right. I shouldn't have left her alone... but if I hadn't--"

He sighed, shaking his head. "You made a tough decision, and in the end everyone survived. Regardless of whether or not it was the right thing to do, you made the right choice. She can't hold that against you forever."

Mercury sniffed, opening her eyes and looking at him like a child doubting her parent's word for the first time. "Can't she?"

He didn't answer that, and she knew exactly why.

He let his transformation drop, rubbing his eyes with his palm as Mercury followed suit. "Hopefully, she'll come around. I'll make sure she knows about what happened at the pier, and then maybe she won't be so quick to judge."

Ami nodded slightly, dabbing at her eyes with her fingertips. "Maybe," she repeated, though not with much enthusiasm.

Mamoru started walking, waving her away when she immediately tried to assist him. She watched as he continued testing his limits, wobbling with every step, but remaining upright. It was impressive if not a little foolish.

He turned after he had walked for a little while, gesturing for her to follow. "Come on. We'd better get out of here."

"Right," Ami said, her voice almost too quiet to be heard.

"I'll walk you home," Mamoru offered.

Ami shook her head adamantly. "No, you don't have to--"

"I'll walk you home," Mamoru repeated a bit more sternly. While it normally would not have worked, Ami was too tired to put up much of a fight. Or maybe she just knew that she needed the company. Either way, she didn't say anything more about the subject, allowing him to stay by her side the whole way home.

-----

Mamoru arrived at his apartment some time later, thoroughly exhausted. He supposed it was only natural for him to feel so drained after what had happened, but that didn't make his predicament any less unfortunate.

He took several deep breaths, filling his lungs more than he usually did just to make sure they were still working. He found that his hands shook a bit when he thought back to what had happened at the docks, so he didn't allow himself to dwell on it for very long.

When Mamoru opened his door, his attention was drawn immediately to his answering machine. It beeped the moment he glanced around the apartment, and he couldn't help but be surprised when he saw that someone had left fourteen messages in the few hours he had been gone. Suspicious, he stepped into his flat, shutting the door behind him. He hit the play button, waving his hands as the machine informed him of the date and time of the call in a useless attempt to make it play faster. When it finally finished the endless introduction, a frantic voice came over the line.

"Mamoru, it's Motoki."

He slapped his forehead with his open palm. "Oh, crap."

"I'm calling from the Tsukinos. They let me use their phone," Motoki said, his voice tight and out of breath. "Mamoru, I don't know where you are, but if-- when you get this, I need you to call me back right away. Things back at the Crown... They... SHIT! Mamoru, you need to call me back."

The call ended there without leaving a number to follow his friend's instructions. Mamoru quickly skipped to the next message, hoping that Motoki had remembered to leave the number in the one of the other thirteen messages. Mamoru groaned loudly when the mechanical introduction came on again, quieting just in time to hear that this message had been left approximately eight minutes after the first. He felt his lungs begin to constrict with each passing second, knowing that Motoki must have been going crazy. For all he knew, Mamoru could be badly hurt.

For all he knew, Mamoru could have been dead.

Just as Motoki's voice started to come on the answering machine, Mamoru heard a loud banging coming from the hallway. A few moments later, someone began pounding on his door frantically. Then the door opened and slammed shut, followed by footsteps thumping down his short corridor.

Mamoru turned in time to see his friend standing at the entrance of his living room, breathing heavily. Motoki's face was whiter than a death shroud, his eyes impossibly wide. Seconds later, the shock dissolved into relief as Motoki all but ran forward, throwing his arms around Mamoru. It was the second embrace he had received that day, and Mamoru still wasn't comfortable with them.

"You bastard," Motoki whispered harshly into his shoulder. His breath was hot on Mamoru's neck, reminding him of their proximity. For whatever reason, his arms wound around Motoki in return, clapping him on the back in an attempt to comfort the other man. It didn't seem to help much. "You... son of a bitch. If you ever do that to me again--"

"I'm fine," Mamoru insisted, cutting Motoki off before he could become any more violent. It was a rare occasion that Motoki swore, and he was hardly proud to have been the cause. "It's all right. I'm fine."

Mamoru had to assure Motoki that he was all right at least three more times before the other man would actually let him go. He took a step back, wiping his face on his sleeve. It was too dark for Mamoru to be certain, but he thought that maybe Motoki had been crying. He wasn't entirely sure how to respond to that, so he turned around and shut off the answering machine to distract himself.

"Do you have any idea how worried I was?" Motoki asked, his voice sounding as if it was being squeezed out through a vice. "You just disappeared, and then that guy came and people were dying and--"

"No one died," Mamoru interrupted, walking over to the light switch. He would likely brood in the darkness later, but he couldn't abide holding a conversation with Motoki when he could barely see him.

Motoki took a moment to process that information before responding. "What?"

Mamoru flipped the switch, blinking a bit as his eyes adjusted to the light. "No one was killed. I stuck around long enough to find out that much."

He turned to find Motoki looking down at the ground, shaking his head slowly. "But that guy... He said that he was killing people. He said that he wasn't going to stop until those three... Until they showed up and--" Motoki looked up and cut himself off when he got a good look at Mamoru's face.

It was then that Mamoru remembered just how badly a beating he had taken from Jadeite, and he wished that he had thought of that before he turned the lights on. The man may not have hit him on the face at any time, but he had plenty of visible incidental injuries from hitting the ground so often.

Motoki crossed over to him, his cheeks coloring. "You stuck around for longer than that. God, Mamoru, what happened?"

"I just got knocked about a bit. That's all," Mamoru insisted, waving Motoki away before he started poking at him.

Motoki looked dubious, remaining silent for a moment. Then he shook his head, his eyes narrowed. "No, you're wheezing. I can hear it. You got more than knocked about."

"All right, so 'a bit' was an understatement," Mamoru admitted. "But there's no reason to panic. Yes, I got hit with the tail end of a blast and got thrown, but it's nothing to send me to the hospital over, so don't even think about suggesting it. Getting out of that war zone was no easy task, you know."

Mamoru quickly realized that he had said exactly the wrong thing. Motoki's head fell forward as if his neck refused to support his weight anymore. He shut his eyes tightly, the skin creasing in a manner that almost looked painful. "I should never have left you there," Motoki muttered miserably through clenched teeth. "I tried, but I had to get Usagi and her brother out of there." His left hand shot out, pounding on the wall and making what few decorations Mamoru had tremble. "God, I'm such an idiot!"

"No, you're not," Mamoru maintained.

The other man looked up quickly, his green eyes still shadowed in disbelief. "Some friend I turned out to be. I left you there to get hurt. I should have gone into the arcade and dragged you out by your ankles if I had to. But I left you behind."

Mamoru shook his head, amazed at how quick Motoki was to blame himself. Mamoru had never seen Motoki this upset before. Motoki looked ill, making Mamoru wonder if he had literally made himself sick over whether or not he was alive. "You did the right thing, Motoki. You needed to get out of there, and I am capable of taking care of myself. It's just a few bruises."

"And what if it wasn't just a few bruises?" Motoki demanded, the curve of his jaw tightening to reveal sharper edges than Mamoru wasn't used to seeing. "What if you were..." he trailed off, swallowing hard, unable to finish the sentence. "What then? Would it still be all right?"

Mamoru didn't answer immediately, thinking back to those few minutes at the Hinode Pier. The ones in between the moment Jadeite had sent him sprawling on to the aging wood and when Sailor Mercury had thrown her arms around him in near hysteria that he was all right. He couldn't remember them, not even as an endless, moonless night or as a journey towards a ray of light. But that didn't change the fact that they had happened and that there had been a few minutes where Mamoru had been much, much worse.

Motoki was never going to know about those moments.

"It wouldn't have been your fault," Mamoru told him, his voice almost stern. "It would have been mine for being too stupid to duck. Now stop this, or I'll get Reika to... do something horrible that I haven't come up with yet. I don't know, she's better at the revenge stuff."

Motoki held Mamoru's gaze for a few moments in silence, his eyes still shadowed in doubt. Then he turned his head to the side, his gaze dropping down to the ground. He took a deep breath and let his shoulders sag, muttering, "I'll tell Reika you almost got yourself decapitated. Then you'll have to deal with her."

Mamoru frowned. "I don't understand why she takes such a personal interest in my life. She's not my girlfriend."

"Somebody has to do it," Motoki muttered, taking another shot at himself that was so subtle Mamoru almost missed it.

The pair fell into silence, but it wasn't the sort that they usually found themselves in. Mamoru could tell that Motoki wanted nothing more than to continue insisting that he was at fault for leaving Mamoru behind. He was merely avoiding the subject because Mamoru wasn't putting up with it. He sighed, grasping Motoki's shoulder. "Thank you," he said sincerely.

Motoki furrowed his brow, obviously puzzled. "For what? Teaching you how short life can be in a frighteningly direct manner?"

"No," Mamoru said harshly. "For... giving a damn."

Motoki's eyes narrowed, his temper rising again. "Of course I give a damn, Mamoru. You're my friend! You--"

"I don't have many, Motoki," Mamoru reminded him. "I don't think many other people care much if I live or die. It's not something I brood about on a regular basis, but I don't want to take the people who are my friends for granted. So... thank you."

Motoki shook his head, accepting the compliment with less grace than he usually did. "I didn't do anything special."

Mamoru raised an eyebrow. "Really? Well, like I said, I'm not Mr. Popular, but I certainly don't know many men noble enough to go chasing down an idiotic eight-year-old and nearly get themselves killed."

Motoki blinked. "You saw that?"

Mamoru nodded. "Brat's lucky you were out there. I would have let him get fried. And I probably would have laughed about it afterwards."

Motoki looked at him for a moment before a tentative smile began to creep on to his lips. He shrugged slightly and said, "You would not."

"No, I would have," Mamoru insisted. "Nobody calls me 'mister' in that tone of voice and then gets saved by me in the same day. I make it a personal policy."

"Because you've saved so many people," Motoki countered.

Mamoru paused, trying not to laugh. Eventually he shrugged and said, "You never know. Maybe I moonlight as a superhero."

"If you wear tights, we are no longer speaking."

Mamoru tapped his chin thoughtfully. "I believe that we should employ a 'don't ask, don't tell' policy. It's best for everyone."

Motoki nodded, the smile on his face growing wider and returning to its status as a permanent fixture. A few seconds passed between them before Motoki sighed and said, "Well, I should go. Reika's waiting for me at her apartment so that someone can worry over me for a change." He ran a hand through his hair and said, "Sorry for busting into your apartment like that... and for possibly doing something to your car."

Mamoru felt rather ridiculous to realize that the blood was draining from his face. "Oh, God. You drove here when you were..." He shook a finger in Motoki's face, feigning anger. "If I find one thing wrong with my baby--"

Motoki snorted. "It's nice to know your priorities haven't changed." He turned to go, adding, "Listen, I know you have Reika's number. If you start to get dizzy or if anything spontaneously starts bleeding uncontrollably, call me."

"Yes, Motoki," Mamoru said dutifully, although he already knew he would do no such thing.

"And if I actually remembered to leave the Tsukino's number on your machine, you should think about calling Usagi," Motoki said as he started to walk into the main hallway.

Mamoru followed him, thoroughly confused. "Odango? Why would I want to call her?"

Motoki craned to look back at Mamoru over his shoulder and said, "She was just this side of hysterical when I left. She's the one who made me stop calling you and head over here like a bat out of hell. I'm going to give her a ring when I get to Reika's, but you should give her a call."

Before Mamoru could say anything more on that subject, Motoki had waved and told Mamoru he would see him the next day. Still a bit dumbfounded, Mamoru found himself saying goodbye before he could formulate any other relevant sentence. Moments later, the door to his apartment closed and Motoki was gone.

"What happened?" a small female voice called out from somewhere by his feet.

It took Mamoru a minute to locate her, but eventually he made eye contact with Luna. Her brown eyes were filled with just as much concern as Motoki's, but she was clearly in much more control than he had been. Her emotions may have been involved, but it was really business first with her, even if she did care about Mamoru and the girls.

Mamoru sighed and turned to walk back into the apartment. "Jadeite's dead."

Luna's tail swished in surprise. "He is?"

Mamoru nodded. "Rei got him. I hear it was quite... gruesome."

"Death by fire usually is," Luna muttered knowingly, closing her eyes prudently. "Are the girls all right?"

Mamoru laughed mirthlessly and massaged the back of his neck. He flinched when his fingers came into contact with the deep bruise Jadeite had left behind, but he kept rubbing, hoping to alleviate some other aches and pains that were resulting from the kicks. "They're mostly shaken up... Although Rei and Ami aren't exactly on speaking terms." Before Luna could ask for more details, Mamoru held up his hand. "If you want to know what happened, ask one of them. It's not my business to tell you."

Luna frowned, her ears twitching in annoyance. "I will then." She paused, glancing at the few bruises visible to her eyes. "And you? How did you fare?"

Mamoru's fingers stilled with her question. His stormy eyes narrowed into small slits, looking away from her and out towards the city skyline. He could just make out the bay from his vantage point, but even if he hadn't been able to see it, he would have pretended he could. Or maybe he wouldn't have had any choice in the matter. Maybe his near death experience had created some kind of ghost that was going to haunt him for the rest of his days, until he died the next time.

He shuddered involuntarily.

"Mamoru?" Luna repeated, walking forward. "I asked if you were all right."

He nodded, his mouth suddenly dry. "Yeah. I'm fine. I just... really want to go to bed." Mamoru reached over to the switch and flicked the lights off again. Then he began to make his way back towards his bedroom. "My first exam is tomorrow at ten. If I go to bed now maybe I'll actually be able to make it."

"We'll see," Luna said skeptically, though Mamoru wasn't sure if it was about his insistence that he was well or his hopes that he would be able to get out of bed the next morning. "Are you going to call her?"

Mamoru stopped, looking over his shoulder at Luna. "Who? Reika?"

"No," Luna said testily. "Usagi."

Mamoru blinked, finding that he had nearly forgotten Motoki's suggestion. He thought perhaps that he hadn't wanted to remember it. "Oh. Right." He glanced over at his phone, looking at the twelve messages that he still hadn't listened to. He would delete them in the morning.

But he wouldn't call Usagi at all.

He finally shook his head, saying, "He probably didn't leave me the number anyway."

Before Luna could say anything more, Mamoru faced forward and continued into his bedroom. He shed his clothes as quickly as he could, not even bothering to pull on the pair of sweatpants he normally slept in. He merely collapsed into his bed the second he was down to his underwear, wincing as the lumps in his mattress came into contact with his various bruises. He exhaled, offering up a silent prayer that he would fall asleep quickly and not be tortured by dreams of princesses, sirens, or dead men.

He was granted this wish. He stayed awake long enough to be aware of Luna curling up underneath his arm, the sound of her purring lulling him into a deep sleep. And while he might have dreamt of all of those things and more that night, he didn't remember them when he woke up in the morning. That was the important thing.

-----

After the meeting with Beryl, Nephrite retired to his chambers to consider his next move. Well, that wasn't entirely true. He knew what his plan was, and he knew how he was going to begin to execute it; he just did not know who his victim would be.

He likely should have gotten started immediately but that obligation did not stop him from taking his seat again. He sat perfectly straight, crossing his legs and resting his chin on his fist. He narrowed his eyes pensively, basking in the silence of his chambers for a time. He did not know if it was out of some remainder of respect for Jadeite or if he was merely preparing himself for the start of his mission. If anyone had asked, he would not have immediately been able to come up with the answer, and it wasn't likely that he would go searching for one. Even though he was discontent, he found it sufficient to merely sit, allowing his mind to go blank and not examining his motives.

It was probable that fifteen minutes passed before Nephrite finally tipped his head back, closing his eyes with an unsettling deliberateness. He pictured the stone ceiling above him crumbling away, exposing the heavens that he knew lay above them. Eventually, Nephrite was able to see all of the stars and heavenly bodies ever created. There were stars long dead and stars not yet born and galaxies too far away for any other man to see. He saw the beginning and the end and everything in between and it looked right back at him. In those brief moments, he was at one with creation - something more than human. He gazed upon a sight that perhaps only Zeus had seen before him, and Nephrite knew that he was worthy.

Stars had many secrets. They could see everything even if they did not always understand. With their patterns, they hinted and teased many men before him, fooling them into believing lies and putting faith in coincidence. Some had gone mad, some had risen to greatness, and still others had been killed before either could happen. It had all been the whims of heaven, and they had always known what would become of them.

But only Nephrite could see past their trickery to find truth. In the beginning, they had led him astray, but he had a talent that Copernicus and many other mystics would have killed for. He knew their lies, and therefore, he knew their truth. He did not know if he was intuitive or if it was because he was just as treacherous as they were. It was another thing he did not care to examine.

He merely searched the constellations and the Zodiac, passing by a thousand possibilities he was shown. It took some time but at long last, Nephrite found the one he was searching for. A lonely woman recently spurned by a lover and desperate for a distraction. She would pour all of her energy into her work,
busying herself beyond her breaking point. But the stars were working in both their favors, conspiring to have her energy reach its peak. All he had to do was enhance it and tap into it once it reached its zenith.

Finally, the stars began to fade and the ceiling remade itself. Nephrite opened his eyes, staring out in front of him.

"Sakurada Haruna," Nephrite muttered to himself. "I'll be seeing you soon.

-----

It was Tuesday morning, and Tsukino Usagi very much wished that she had stayed home.

Her mother had offered - after what had happened the day before, she would have been cruel not to. She'd been a wreck when she'd gotten home. She'd clung to Shingo and wept and screamed and done all sorts of things that made her question her own sanity. But after Motoki had called her about an hour after going to check on Mamoru to inform her that he was all right and that everyone who had been involved was all right, Usagi had declined her mother's offer. She was shaken and terrified and she wanted to say yes, but she couldn't seem to get Ikuko's words out of her head. Ikuko was not willing to let her children stop living because of what was happening. Usagi had never thought of her mother as brave before, but she couldn't help but see that now. So Usagi had decided to be brave too and go on living as normally as possible.

Besides, now she was certain that the city had even more protectors than before. She had gotten to see Tuxedo Kamen again, fighting for her life and for the lives of all those people that man had attacked. And he had friends now. Powerful friends who would help him save the city when it was in danger. She hadn't seen very much (and she was glad of that), but she had seen enough to feel safe now that the chaos had ended. They were strong and capable, and they would do anything to keep innocent people from being hurt. Knowing that was probably the one thing that gave her enough courage to walk out of her house that morning.

"Tsukino-san!"

Usagi sat up ramrod straight, resisting the urge to dive under her desk, though just barely. She looked up into her teacher's blazing green eyes surrounded by eyeliner that had been haphazardly applied that morning. Usagi gulped and stammered out, "Yes, Haruna-sensei?"

"This is not the time to daydream!" Haruna barked, though Usagi could not even begin to guess how the woman had known that her mind was not on the lecture. "If you ever hope to pass your exams, I suggest that you focus on using this study period and stop letting your mind wander!"

After Haruna had turned on her heel, stalking back up to her desk in a manner that made everyone in the aisle lean away from her, Usagi finally let her shoulders droop. Yes, staying home definitely would have been a good idea. It sounded like heaven compared to having to spend the day with a very irritable Haruna.

"She's really in a bad mood, isn't she?" Naru whispered into Usagi's ear.

Terrified of facing even more of Haruna's wrath, Usagi didn't even dare to nod, hoping that Naru would take the hint.

Naru, who was usually at least somewhat intuitive, did not. "And did you notice how bad her make-up looks this morning? You know what that means don't you?"

Usagi did not know what it meant, nor was she interested to find out at that particular moment. Not to say that she wasn't curious, but she wanted to be curious at lunch when Haruna could not punish them for it.

"Look at her hands. They're shaking," Naru continued. "That only happens when she's had too much coffee and that only happens when she hasn't slept and that only happens when she's upset and that's usually because her boyfriend did something. It's got to be why she's so testy this morning. I wonder what he could have--"

"OSAKA-SAN!" Haruna shouted, snapping the chalk she was holding in half. "TSUKINO-SAN!"

"Oh, no," Usagi whimpered.

"Y-yes, Haruna-sensei?" Naru said, her voice shaking with fear and guilt.

By some miracle, Haruna did not publicly lecture them or chase them around the classroom. She merely scowled at them and thrust out her arm, pointing into the hallway. Not wanting Haruna to calm down enough to yell at them, Naru leapt to her feet and grabbed Usagi's wrist, pulling her out into the hallway. They jumped when the door slammed shut behind them.

After a moment, they relaxed, sighing and letting their shoulders sag. Usagi turned to glare at Naru. "Did you have to talk to me about it right then?"

Naru smiled knowingly. "Oh, don't act like you weren't curious."

Usagi stuck her lower lip out, folding her arms in front of her chest. "Well, I am,
but it could have waited, right?"

"You don't usually care about getting sent out into the hallway," Naru observed. She narrowed her eyes and tilted her head to the side. "Come to think of it, you've been acting weird all day. You've been really quiet and staring off into space all the time."

"Have I?" Usagi asked softly, turning her head away from Naru.

Naru nodded earnestly. "Usagi, did something happen yesterday?"

Usagi frowned, letting her eyelids droop. She supposed of all people, Naru would be the one to talk to about what had happened. After all, she'd been present at an attack as well. Granted, she'd been unconscious for most of it.

It didn't change the fact that Usagi just didn't want to talk about it. She'd arrived that morning to hear everyone in her class gossiping about the attack.
They'd spoken of it as though they had been there, but Usagi could tell from the little she allowed herself to listen to that they hadn't been. The story had been embellished so that it was scarcely recognizable, though they all seemed to agree on two things. No one had died, and that was all thanks to Tuxedo Kamen and the two Sailor Senshi.

She'd been invited into the conversation but declined, pretending that she had wanted to take a quick nap. In reality, she'd been wide awake, trying to focus on anything to block out the noise of her friends talking excitedly about what had been one of the most frightening moments of her life.

Oddly enough, Tuxedo Kamen seemed to do just the trick, but she didn't think of him in the context of rescuing her. She thought about wearing a gorgeous white gown under a sea of stars and crystal chandeliers suspended upon the air. She was dancing on water, and when she reached out her hand, he was there, dancing with her. She thought of being close to him, of seeing him smile, of curling up in his lap, and of kissing him under those stars and candlelight. And she thought about seeing his face.

Thinking about him seemed to be the only thing keeping her calm, and in her mind's eye, she could see herself clinging to him, burying her face in his chest while he shielded her from the world and from the dangers beyond it.

"Usagi?" Naru asked, waving a hand in front of her face. "Are you still with me?"

Usagi looked up, a faint blush on her cheeks. After a moment, she remembered herself and nodded brightly, closing her eyes lest they betray anything to her friend. "Yeah! Sorry about that. I... didn't get a lot of sleep last night, so I'm out of it."

Naru smirked and poked her in the arm. "Reading manga again?"

Usagi laughed sheepishly, wishing that had been the case. "Yeah! You know me. I was just so into the story that I didn't even notice the time and--"

She was cut off by Naru gently elbowing her in the ribs with her elbow. Usagi squeaked, looking up to scold Naru. Then she realized that the girl had been trying to get her attention. She nodded, looking out into the hallway. Usagi quickly followed her gaze, a little surprised to see Mizuno Ami walking towards her.

"Ami!" Usagi chirped, waving cheerfully as the girl came closer.

Ami seemed to have been lost in her own thoughts, so she hadn't noticed Usagi and Naru. She looked up from the ground when she heard her name, clearly surprised to have been addressed. She seemed even more surprised when she saw Usagi standing there, though in a different way. She swallowed, looking uncomfortable. "Good morning, Usagi. Osaka-san."

"Good morning, Mizuno-san," Naru responded civilly, though none too warmly.

"How are you?" Usagi asked. "I haven't seen you in ages."

"I'm..." Ami started, clearly starting to say that she was fine, when she seemed to rethink something. She cleared her throat and held up her hall pass. "Actually, I'm not feeling that well, so I--"

"Oh!" Usagi said, her hands flying to her mouth. "Oh, of course, go on. I'm so sorry. That was rude of me."

Ami stared at her for a moment. Then she shut her eyes and said, "It wasn't rude at all, Usagi." Before anything more could be said, Ami walked away from Naru and Usagi, moving much faster than she had been before.

Naru shook her head at Usagi, saying, "I told you that you should just forget about her, Usagi. You have been nothing but sweet to her, but she still acts like a total snob!"

Usagi turned to Naru, a little angry and said, "She's not a snob, Naru! Honest! She's just really--"

"Shy," Naru finished. "You keep saying. But there's a difference between being shy and just being unfriendly, and that's Mizuno-san."

Usagi wanted to answer, but at that precise moment, Haruna poked her head out from the classroom. Both Usagi and Naru leapt away as the older woman shouted, "Were you two actually talking out here?! When I was punishing you?!"

Naru and Usagi both bowed apologetically. "We're very sorry, Haruna-sensei," they chorused nervously, hoping that she wouldn't do anything more to them.

"Detention for both of you," Haruna snapped, dragging them back into the classroom. "And if I hear one peep out of either of you today, you'll have detention for the rest of the week."

Neither Usagi nor Naru wanted that, so they both kept their mouths shut for the rest of the day. But Usagi still managed to rack up several more detentions because she could not keep her mind on the lecture. Usagi almost asked Haruna if she could really punish her for thinking about a boy when she was having her own problems in that department, but she decided against it.

After all, it was embarrassing to admit that she had a crush on a man when she'd never even seen his face.

-----

Ami was standing in front of a sink, her palms flat against the cold porcelain, leaning over the spigot as water poured out of it at full blast. She had yet to touch it. For the moment, the sound and the smell of the water was enough to soothe her. However, judging by the way her throat kept tightening up, she might need to splash her face before too long.

Running into Usagi had done her no favors, but it hadn't been the reason Ami had gone to the bathroom. She'd endured more than enough trauma in the past twenty-four hours to send her reeling. She still didn't know how she managed to keep herself together during her exams, although she was sure that her teachers would be shocked by her poor performance this term. But some things were more important even than that.

For one thing, she was still learning to cope with nearly losing Mamoru. Every time she thought of him or water or anything else even remotely connected with the incident, she started trembling all over again. It didn't help that it seemed to be everyone's favorite topic of discussion that morning. She'd ducked out of her classroom several times already, telling her teacher that she wasn't feeling well. She would have felt guilty for lying but she was being very honest with him. The only reason she hadn't vomited that day was because she hadn't eaten anything since before yesterday's attack.

Ami had never been so terrified in her entire life. She had known that death was a possible consequence of what they were doing. She would have been an incredible fool not to realize that. But it had never been that close to her before then. Mamoru had been in Death's hands; it had taken him away for several minutes. And if she had gotten there just a few minutes later, or if she hadn't come around and been found by Jadeite...

Ami whimpered and shoved her head underneath the spigot, forcing the freezing water to calm her down.

Her guilt over having gone after Mamoru in the first place wasn't helping matters either. Everything Rei had said to her the day before was playing over and over again in her mind. It had gotten to the point where she could scarcely concentrate on her examinations. All she could hear was Rei's voice in her head, accusing her of being a coward among other things.

Ami shut her eyes tightly, emerging from the water to take a quick breath before returning to the exercise. It would have hurt regardless, but it was worse knowing that Rei was right on some level. In a perfect situation, Ami wouldn't have left her. Looked at from one point of view - Rei's point of view - Ami should not have abandoned her full stop. She felt terrible about what she had done, and Rei's reaction once it was all over had not helped matters.

Nevertheless, Ami also knew that logically, there had been nothing else she could do. Jadeite had taken Tuxedo Kamen, and he stood no chance against the man on his own. None of them did. It was a miracle that Rei had managed to catch him unaware, and lucky in and of itself that Rei had been the one left behind. Rei's comment about how she was the only one capable of doing him harm had been scathing, but it hadn't been a lie. There was no way that Ami could have left Tuxedo Kamen alone with Jadeite in good conscience, and if Ami had known that Jadeite would be coming back for Rei while she was gone, her decision would have been that much harder. But if she had stayed with Rei, Mamoru would be dead.

Moreover, Ami herself may have been killed in an attempt to save Rei had the other girl not woken up. And perhaps Rei would have gone down with her. There was no telling what could have happened, but Ami knew for certain that things had worked out for the best.

Unfortunately, her emotions couldn't have cared less.

Ami threw her head back, sending a spray of water onto the mirror. She glanced up, taking in her distorted reflection. When she looked at herself, all she could see was a white-faced girl with wet hair and eyes that conveyed nothing but numbness.

But Rei saw incompetence, cowardice, and in spite of all the steps she had taken towards improvement, weakness. The priestess took no time to mask her opinions of others. Ami had seen all that and more long before the fiasco in the alley. A confrontation would likely do nothing but bring them out again. Perhaps it would even be worse now that Rei had had time to think about what she should have said.

Yet Ami knew that there was no way to avoid talking to Rei about what had happened.

Even though Jadeite was dead, none of them doubted that their fight was nowhere near over. He had been clear that he was part of an organization, and they would likely be sending out a replacement within a matter of days.

Ami had no choice but to settle her dispute with Rei. They had to be able to work together under stressful situations, and that meant that they had to be able to get along. Any friction between them would have a negative impact on future battles, and Ami wasn't willing to risk the safety of others because Rei was angry with her.

"It's settled then," Ami murmured. She pressed her lips together and reached down to turn the water off. Then she stood in the silence of the bathroom, wishing that there was some other way to fix things.

-----

Rei pulled her hands from the water, turning off the tap with her elbows as she shook her fingers dry roughly, sending a small spray of water around her. She glared at it as if it had done her some great disservice, when actually it had only wet her skirt a bit. Still, she found herself irritated with that water and then water in general and then all things associated with water. Naturally, this got her thinking about Ami once again, which was the very person she had come to the bathroom to forget. And thus, Rei found herself become grumpy again, scowling into the mirror.

Rei was still beyond infuriated with Ami. If she had not woken up in time to roast Jadeite, she'd probably be dead. Getting rid of him might have been a bit of a confidence booster, but it was overshadowed by the near-death experience Ami had arranged for her. It had been dangerous and disrespectful and stupid.

She still couldn't remember making the decision to attack or even putting forth the effort it must have taken to produce that much fire. All she could remember was the aftermath, shaking like a spider on its web while she watched what had looked like a human being made of fire fleeing from the alley. She could still remember the sound of his scream, full of anguished defeat and excruciating pain. She wanted to reach into her ears and yank out the sound, tossing it in the nearby garbage bin, but it wasn't that simple. It was something that was going to haunt her for some time.

And it was only going to haunt her. She had been the only one to see it. Perhaps that was partially why she was so angry. Ami should have been there to suffer through that with her. She should not have been alone.

Rei shook her head roughly, running her fingers through her hair to fix nonexistent fly-aways. She was just stalling at this point, but she doubted any of the sisters would blame her if they knew anything about what had happened. It was bad enough that she couldn't get her mind off of it, but she didn't have anything to distract her. It was a day full of nothing but study periods and test-taking. The monotony was positively maddening, and Rei didn't know how she was going to make it through the day without yelling at someone.

Then three girls from the class below her walked in and that prediction became a certainty.

"So, tell us what it was like!" the one with pigtails squealed in a register that Rei thought was entirely too high-pitched to be legal.

"Yeah, you said you were going to call and then you didn't call!" the chubbier one whined. "I was up until at least midnight waiting for you. I hardly got any sleep!"

Rei made a face at that comment and muttered, "Pathetic."

The girl currently being interrogated, who had been in trouble multiple times for wearing her blouse too low-cut (though who she was showing off for in a school full of women was beyond Rei), blushed and said, "Oh, the date was absolutely wonderful. He paid for everything, and we went to this really cute little cafe and sat in the back corner where it was dark."

The chubby one nearly salivated at this detail, making Rei curl her lip in disgust. "Did you kiss him? Did you kiss him?"

Rei noticed that the girl's blush did not increase as she wound her finger into her ponytail, twirling the end of it, probably thinking that this made her appear coy.
"Well, I don't want to say..."

The first girl nearly shrieked, and Rei couldn't help but listen at the window to see if any dogs howled in response. "Oh, my God! You did!" Then she seemed to remember herself and said, "Don't you think that maybe you should have waited until you had been seeing him for longer?"

"I've known him since we were kids," the girlfriend said indignantly, straightening her shoulders and making the other one shrink back in response. "Besides, he's taken me out before. This is just the first time he paid."

"But you did kiss him?" she asked again, apparently finding that the last bit of conversation wasn't enough to confirm the answer.

"Did you use tongue?" the drooling one asked.

That did it for Rei. She practically squawked and rounded on the three, leaning in aggressively. "Do you three have any idea how rude you're being?"

They stared back at her in shock, making it perfectly clear that they did not.

Rei narrowed her eyes and continued, saying, "Does it look like I want to know the details of your little date with some snot-nosed brat with absolutely no taste in girlfriends?" she paused for an answer even though she meant it rhetorically. "If it does, I highly suggest you go to the nearest neurologist because you are clearly hallucinating."

They continued to look at her, stunned into what Rei thought was blissful silence. Sadly, it did not last as long as Rei had hoped. Eventually, the squeaky one mustered up the courage to point a trembling finger in Rei's direction. "Excuse me... but are you Hino Rei?"

"Yes," Rei snapped, too annoyed to think of why she would have asked that.

The bigger girl hopped up and down for a moment, excited by this discovery. "Wow! It really is true what they say about you!"

Rei arched an eyebrow, curious as to who they were and why they felt they needed to talk about her in the first place. "What's that?" she asked, deciding to keep her interrogation to a minimum.

"That you have the best insults in the whole school!" the girlfriend said earnestly.

The first girl went positively sparkly-eyed. "You're so awesome."

Rei thought she felt a blood vessel burst in her right eye. She stomped her foot and pointed to the door sharply, shouting, "Out! Out of this bathroom right now, or I'll report you to the nuns for loitering!"

The pig-tailed girl was confused. "But isn't that what you're doing?"

This, of course, was the last straw. Rei wasn't entirely sure what she screamed at them over the next five or ten seconds, but she was quite certain that it was not her best material. Thankfully, the volume was enough to chase the trio out, though she could tell that she hadn't swayed their high opinion of her and her poor disposition.

She would be amused by and even proud of this later. Just not at that precise moment.

Rei huffed, flipping her hair over her shoulder and turning back to glare at the mirror now that any real targets had been chased off. As if she hadn't been in a bad enough mood. Then she had to listen to some thirteen-year-olds giggle and fawn over some "relationship" that would likely prove to be nothing more than fabrication or misunderstanding. She had helped to save two of their classmates from certain doom the day before, but did they care about that? No. All they cared about were boys and kisses and shared milkshakes and other such prepubescent fantasies. It was frivolous, almost meaningless, and she very much wished that such talk was enough to distract her.

Suddenly, Rei had her brilliant idea. At the moment of her epiphany, her eyes lit up, her back straightened, and she actually managed to get her mind off her double life.

Rei needed a boyfriend.

It was the perfect solution to a very irritating problem. Having a boyfriend would mean having a life outside of the shrine and taking care of her grandfather. It would provide ample distraction from that and from her time spent as Sailor Mars. Granted, it meant being a bit more busy than usual, but it wasn't as if she wasn't accustomed to juggling multiple projects at once. Surely she would be able to handle a boyfriend, her grandfather, her work at the shrine, the various committees she headed and organizations she worked for, and saving the city every now and again. It wasn't as if she needed much sleep.

There was just one problem. This was hardly the first time she had ever thought about having a boyfriend. And while she had never settled on the idea with such conviction before, there was still the obstacle of finding the right guy. She did have very high standards after all. He had to be good-looking, fairly stylish,
and be willing to follow her instructions without too much complaint. Not that she wanted a complete drone of course. She just needed someone malleable enough to do everything exactly the way she wanted.

A few seconds later, Rei had her answer. She smirked into the mirror, fluffing up her hair in spite of the fact that it would be quite some time before she actually sought out her prey. She winked at no one in particular and said, "Get ready, Chiba Mamoru. I'm coming for you."

The hunt was on.

-----

It had already been a day filled with somewhat awkward silences, and it was only just now becoming noon. Upon seeing each other, neither Motoki nor Mamoru knew exactly what should be addressed or if anything should be addressed at all. They had already ascertained that no serious physical harm had befallen either one of them. There was really nothing more to say on the subject, but both of them knew on some level that there was, in fact, much, much more to be said. Unfortunately, they also both knew that the subject was as good as closed as far as Mamoru was concerned, and Motoki knew that pressure was not the best way to get his friend to cooperate. Instead, he merely told Mamoru that he had gotten in touch with Usagi, that she was very glad he was all right, and that all of them were well, save the emotional trauma. That said, a silent agreement had passed between the two to not speak of the previous day's events again. At least not for a very long time.

Unfortunately, this agreement resulted in another problem that Mamoru was less than thrilled about.

"Motoki, are you going to blink at any point in time?" Mamoru asked, a shrimp poised to pass through his teeth and make its way down his esophagus to more acidic pastures.

"I'm thinking," Motoki said in a tone that was almost defensive but wound up being little more than distracted.

Mamoru raised an eyebrow. "And you have to stare at me to do this thinking?"

Motoki shrugged. "It helps."

Mamoru frowned and said, "Is this about the kids' names again? I already told you, we are not naming our firstborn after your sister. I plan to have nothing but sons, and I will not see him being beat up every day for having a girl's name."

This pulled Motoki from his reverie enough to ball up a piece of paper near him and pitch it at Mamoru's head. Thankfully, this meant that Mamoru could go back to eating without being stared at, so he didn't mind the potential paper cut to his cornea.

"What? No comment about how you'll leave me if I continue to be abusive?" Motoki asked dryly.

Mamoru swallowed his current mouthful of food. "Please, Motoki. You know I never talk with my mouth full." He took a sip of his coffee, his third cup that day, and added, "Now, if you had been patient and waited for me to finish chewing, I would have said something far more clever than that. But alas, the moment has passed, and you will forever be deprived of it."

"I'm weeping on the inside," Motoki assured him.

"You are desolate and shamed on the inside," Mamoru corrected.

Tiring of this line of conversation, Motoki decided to shift it to suit his purposes. "I was thinking about whatever it is that's wrong with you."

Mamoru's hand stopped before his mouthful of rice actually made it past his lips. His eyes flickered up to meet Motoki's, hoping that they were not conveying the fact that his stomach was currently doing a gymnastics routine. "What do you mean?"

Motoki frowned. "I'm not an idiot, Mamoru."

Mamoru coughed discreetly, thinking of how much easier his life would be if Motoki were an idiot. Then again, they wouldn't be friends at all if Motoki were an idiot, so it was immaterial.

"You're missing classes," Motoki continued. "You always seem tired. You seem to flinch just about every time you sit down. You're distant. You're--"

"You're slightly obsessive about me," Mamoru interrupted, narrowing his eyes a bit. "Did you know?"

Motoki leaned back a bit, perhaps sensing the bite beneath the otherwise light-hearted remark. It seemed to only confirm his previous suspicions, making Mamoru wish that he had just let Motoki go on until he had reached the end of his diatribe. He didn't make mention of it, however, perhaps putting it down to Mamoru's reported insomnia. He merely shook his head and said, "It's just that there seems to be only one reason for your behavior as of late, and I must say Mamoru, I'm very disappointed in you."

Mamoru looked over at Motoki for a moment, once again reaching down for another bite of food as he asked, "What exactly have I done to earn your disapproval, best friend of mine?"

"I can't believe you didn't tell me that you got a girlfriend."

Naturally, Motoki got this sentence out just as Mamoru was about to swallow his last bite of food, resulting in a spectacular coughing fit that attracted the attention of several passers-by. Mamoru punched his chest to try and move the food along, concerned that he might start to asphyxiate it if he couldn't stop coughing.

"Do I need to Heimlech you?" Motoki asked disinterestedly, knowing that as long as Mamoru could produce enough air to cough, he was perfectly fine.

Still, Mamoru didn't appreciate the glib attitude Motoki was suddenly regarding his life with. Once Mamoru had finally swallowed the offensive shellfish, he glared at his friend openly. "What gave you the idea that I have a girlfriend?"

Motoki shrugged nonchalantly. "Oh, I don't know. Multiple cups of coffee. Sleepless nights. Unexplained bruises. It seems to be the obvious explanation."

"I do not have a girlfriend," Mamoru snapped, realizing too late that an imaginary girlfriend could actually serve to explain a lot of unexplainable things to Motoki. However, upon further consideration, creating another person to try and keep track of and fabricate interactions with would have been far more trouble than it was worth. Thus, in this case, honesty was the best policy.

"Oh?" Motoki questioned, unconvinced.

"Yes," Mamoru reiterated with conviction. "I am not seeing anyone. I am not thinking of seeing anyone. I am not having a fling with a married or unmarried person. I am thoroughly unattached."

"'Methinks the lady doth protest too much,'" Motoki quoted with a smirk.

Mamoru scowled, saying nothing.

Motoki thankfully got the hint. "You have to admit, Mamoru. The clues add up."

He did have to concede that point. "Nevertheless, you forgot to factor in one other thing."

"I did?" Motoki asked, furrowing his brow. "What's that?"

Mamoru grabbed a mouthful of Motoki's food before the fairer boy could protest. "I hate relationships." To punctuate his statement, he popped the bit of food into his mouth, but the effect was ruined when he screwed up his face in disgust. "How can you eat this? It's just a bunch of spice with a little meat seasoning."

"Serves you right," Motoki insisted, turning back to his lunch. "And I'd thought you had gotten past your perpetual bachelor phase."

"It isn't a phase," Mamoru maintained, grabbing Motoki's water to recover from his ordeal. "It is a lifestyle choice."

"To be alone forever?" Motoki asked.

Mamoru shrugged casually, finding that this subject was not as big of a deal as others seemed to think. "I see no point in associating myself with another human being simply because of some preconceived notion that everyone should be attached to someone else. I have no need for female companionship. Besides, I'd be terrible at it. I'm a workaholic, I'm not terribly sociable, and a certain someone has told me that I'm an... oh, how did you put it... an embittered curmudgeon destined to be the crazy old man that advocates beating children for not tying their shoes correctly."

Motoki feigned being offended. "I would never say that about you, Mamoru." He paused, making Mamoru wait for the inevitable punch line. "You'll never be an old man. You're destined to die young."

Mamoru probably should have found that amusing. After all, there were case studies about how people who were married had a longer life expectancy. Of course that was what Motoki was referring to.

But all Mamoru could think about was the murderous look in Jadeite's eye, the murky water of the bay, and the knowledge that he had been technically dead for at least a few minutes before Mercury came to find him. Mamoru found himself mulling over the fact that Motoki had no idea how right he was, how his prediction had already come true, and how likely it was that it was going to happen again if they couldn't get it together and fast.

"Mamoru?"

He looked up to find Motoki was staring at him, though he seemed a great deal more concerned than he had been a few moments before. He was obviously debating whether or not he had wanted to touch Mamoru to break him out of his reverie. Mamoru was grateful that he had decided against it.

"Yeah," Mamoru croaked, his throat feeling unbearably dry all of a sudden. "Sorry. Did you say something?"

Motoki shook his head. "No, you just... You went white." He narrowed his eyes, thinking back to the day before, but not saying anything about it directly. "Are you sure you're all right? Maybe you should--"

"I have another exam in a few hours, Motoki," Mamoru sighed. "My professors are all threatening to fail me at this point, and I could hardly blame them if they did." He checked his watch, getting to his feet. "Speaking of which, I'm making up a lab in a few minutes, and if I'm three seconds late, I think I'm going to be sacrificed to some demon god. Mind throwing this away for me?"

Motoki continued looking at Mamoru for a moment, not answering. He hadn't gotten an answer on what was wrong with Mamoru, and the last few seconds had likely done nothing to ease his worries. Still, he wouldn't press the issue. He nodded wordlessly, chewing on the inside of his cheek.

"Thanks," Mamoru said, gathering up his things. He turned to go, but looked over his shoulder to add. "The last thing I need is a girlfriend, Motoki. I have way too much going on."

Mamoru walked away after that, thinking later that that had to be the understatement of the century.

-----

"I need a man."

Sakurada Haruna found herself saying that precise sentence several times throughout her daily routine; however, she felt that in this instance, her lamentations were extremely appropriate.

Haruna was not a rich woman, and as a result of that unfortunate circumstance, she did not have the best vehicle that had ever been created. It was going on ten years old, and she had been spending a great deal of money keeping it together for the last four. The driver's side window jammed (usually halfway between open and closed in the middle of a snowstorm). The brakes squealed (though when passengers became worried, she assured them that this merely meant that they were working). And dings from the amount of fender-benders and shopping cart incidents peppered the framework in haphazard chaos (extremely frustrating since none of them had been remotely her fault whatsoever).

On this particular day, Haruna's car had decided that it was not going to start. She had been afraid of such a thing happening for the past few weeks, and, of course, it had finally died on the one day she was running late while it was raining after she had lost her umbrella some four days prior.

"It all just happens at once, doesn't it?" Haruna ground out through clenched teeth. She could feel her left eyebrow begin to spasm, a habit she had picked up during her adolescence when her mother had given birth to three identical accidents who liked to bite. "It all happens at once, and it always happens to me!"

Haruna, however, was not going to give up so easily. So she sat in her car for a good ten minutes, continually turning the key in the ignition. Each time, she prayed that the engine would randomly decide to turn over so that she could get going. Unfortunately, God was not listening to her that day, and her vehicle refused to respond to the number of threats she made against it.

"Come on," Haruna growled. "I have things to do, you piece of junk. I do not have time for this."

The car continued to ignore her until Haruna got so fed up with it that she started hitting the steering wheel, although what she hoped to accomplish doing that was a mystery even to her. When this was not enough to circumvent her rage, she screamed, sounding far too much like a crazed psychopath for her neighbors' liking. Once she ran out of air, she fell forward, her forehead lightly hitting the horn. The light tap was enough to cause her overzealous horn to blare out, scaring her out of her wits.

Haruna sat straight up, panting for a few minutes before she managed to get as close to being relaxed as she could manage. She sighed, closing her eyes. The car itself was really only part of her frustration, though she was loathe to admit it. The other half was the fact that her now ex-boyfriend was quite interested in cars. He had done all of her repairs for the past few months now, and she had thought that it was quite a handy skill for a potential husband to have. She had gotten her hopes up even when she had promised herself that she wouldn't.

She could always break down and call him of course. He would just be waking up, and he didn't live that far away. She couldn't even question whether or not he would come. They had a somewhat notorious on-again/off-again relationship. Generally, when one called the other, one thing would lead to another and whatever problem they had had would be forgotten, though rarely resolved.

Unfortunately for both of them, Haruna was in no mood for reconciliation. If he wanted her back, he could pick up the phone and take the first step, but she wasn't about to do that. After all, it was his fault. She had definitely caught him looking at that tawdry waitress's cleavage right in front of her. What was she supposed to do?

Well, she certainly knew that she wasn't going to call him to fix her car and have him think that it was some sort of code language. She would not have him come over to find out that she had been quite serious about the car, and though it would have gotten fixed, she was quite aware of how she got around him. Before she knew it, they would be kissing in the front seat and then she'd never make it to school and she would hate herself for giving in like she always seemed to do.

And that was why she could not call him no matter how much she wanted to. Even if that did mean that she was going to have to arrive at school half an hour late and soaked to the bone. Never mind that it was exams week and she had stayed up half the night grading exams that weren't due for another week and half to avoid going to sleep and dreaming about Akihito. She had known from the start that it was going to be a horrible day. But did it really have to be a bad-hair day as well?

Haruna whimpered pathetically and fell forward again, this time taking care to avoid the horn. "I hate my life," she whined.

"That's an awfully strong opinion for this hour of the morning."

Smooth though it had been, Haruna couldn't help but jump at the sound of another person's voice. She looked up and was surprised to see an exceptionally good-looking man she had never seen before standing next to her car. If she hadn't already known that he didn't live in her apartment complex (as Haruna had memorized the appearance, status, and income of every male in her building), she certainly would have known it from his attire. She almost wanted to ask him what he was doing there, but that would have been rude, and the last thing she was going to do was be rude to a man who was smiling at her like that.

After a moment that probably seemed much longer than it actually was, Haruna was able to respond. "I find that my opinions are strong no matter what the hour, particularly when there is so much evidence to support it." She meant it, but she was sure to smile when she said it, hoping that her hair wasn't too messed from when she had tried to pull it out of her scalp earlier.

He chuckled, his ice blue eyes briefly closing in amusement. "Car trouble?"

"Among other things," Haruna muttered, taking a moment to compare this man to her ex-boyfriend. They were about even in looks, but this man definitely had a leg up on Akihito in funds, and that meant that she was as of now completely unattached. She smiled up at the stranger with as much allure as was proper for a school teacher in distress and said, "I don't suppose you know anything about cars, do you?"

She expected him to say no, which was why she was so surprised when the man shrugged off his white jacket, tossing it to her casually. She caught it with a blush, staring at him as he walked around to the front of her car and popped open the hood. She climbed out of the car as quickly as she could, grateful that she had parked under the awning the night before. "You really don't have to help."

"It's no trouble," the stranger said as he leaned forward to get a better look at the engine. Haruna took the opportunity to get a better look at this man's physique, and as far as she was concerned, Akihito had ceased to exist.

"Are you sure?" she asked, hoping that she wasn't talking him out of it.

He looked up at her and grinned, and she was quite sure that he made her blush again. "Quite."

Haruna stood on her tip-toes to get a look at what this man was doing, but it was all for naught. She had absolutely no idea what went where and she quickly gave up the attempt. Besides, this stranger's exceptionally broad shoulders made it difficult for her to see. "It's very nice of you to do this," she offered lamely,
wanting to keep the conversation going. "I don't know many men who would stop to help a perfect stranger."

"Many men are idiots," he replied smoothly. "I'm no genius, but I do believe in chivalry. It's a dying art, and I think that's a shame."

Haruna glanced down at her nails casually even if he wasn't paying the slightest attention to her. "Your wife must think she's very lucky," she said, hoping that her hope didn't betray itself in her voice.

He laughed. "I'm not married."

Haruna perked up considerably. "Really? Oh, but surely you must have a girlfriend."

"No, actually," he said lightly, as if he didn't think this portion of the conversation had any consequence. He strained for a minute as he rearranged some parts of her engine. "If I were involved, I don't think I'd have time to help lovely ladies in their hour of need." He glanced up at her and smiled before returning to his work.

Haruna had to physically restrain herself from jumping up and down in joy. Or worse, jumping him. She was a respectable lady after all, and respectable ladies did not go around leaping upon every handsome man who knew his way around a carburetor.

"I also doubt I'd have time to cook as much as I do," he added nonchalantly.

It was at that moment that Haruna knew that she had just met her future husband. She closed her eyes in glee, picturing them standing in front of the priest, tears streaming down the handsome stranger's face as he professed everlasting love to her, and her married sisters glaring at their husbands and wondering what they had ever done to deserve such buffoons. She sighed happily, clapping her hands together.

She was so involved in these thoughts that she didn't notice the strange light emanating from underneath the hood of her car.

"There," he proclaimed, slamming the hood shut with satisfaction. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the grease from his fingers. "That should do it. Do me a favor and test it just to make sure."

Haruna would have done just about anything as a favor to him at that point, so she did not hesitate in popping behind the wheel and keying the ignition. In spite of her confidence in her rescuer, she still gasped when the engine finally turned over. She leaned out of her window, handing the man's jacket back to him reluctantly. "I can't thank you enough..."

He instantly picked up on why she was trailing off and tipped an imaginary hat at her. "Sanjouin Masato."

"Sakurada Haruna," she replied, perhaps a bit too eagerly. If that was the case, he barely blinked. "You are truly a miracle-worker."

Masato shrugged casually. "I don't know about that, Haruna-san. I prefer to think of it as being exceptionally lucky." He grinned at her, making sure that she knew there was a double meaning to that statement.

She giggled girlishly, hoping that it made her seem younger than she actually was. "I hope I'll see you again, Sanjouin-san."

He chuckled. "Somehow, I think it will be difficult to avoid such a meeting."

-----

Ami stared up the seemingly endless flight of stairs, wanting nothing more than to turn around and go home. She knew it was silly to be frightened of facing a human being after everything she had gone through, but it wasn't something that she could shake no matter how hard she tried. Rei was just as terrifying as any youma. Perhaps more so.

"You're being silly," Ami murmured to herself, trying to be reasonable. "She's not going to light you on fire or some other nonsense. The worst she can do is yell."

Knowing that did not make Ami go up the stairs any faster.

She sighed, hanging her head. She may as well just give up. She was never going to work up the courage to face the Fire Senshi. Perhaps she could just ignore it and the whole thing would eventually blow over.

She pondered that for a moment and then shook her head. No, there was no chance of that happening. She was going to have to talk to Rei eventually, and it might as well happen now. No sense in putting things off.

Ami closed her eyes. "Idiot, idiot. I am an idiot."

"I think that's rather appropriate actually."

Ami practically jumped out of her skin, spinning around to face the speaker. Just as she had feared, it was Rei standing behind her. Clearly, Ami was not a welcome sight.

"Rei," Ami croaked, her mouth suddenly going dry. "G-Good afternoon."

Rei rolled her eyes. "Do we really have to suffer through pleasantries, Ami?"

Ami supposed they didn't have to, but the fact of the matter was that she had been hoping for at least ten minutes of small talk for her to ease into the situation.
Now that Rei had thrown that notion out the window, Ami had no idea how to begin. She stammered for a few seconds before Rei finally lost patience.

"Honestly, Ami, you've faced me before without any trouble," Rei pointed out, already at her wit's end. "What's different now?"

The difference was that no one's life was on the line. There had been motivation for Ami's courage when she had thrust the henshin pen into Rei's hands previously. Now she was there of her own volition with only a vague idea of what was to come in the battle. Sadly, it wasn't enough to make her feel steady.

"I just came..." Ami finally managed to force out. "To apologize."

Rei looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to continue. When it didn't happen, she raised an eyebrow and folded her arms across her chest. "Well?"

Ami had rather hoped that would be enough, but that had obviously been wishful thinking. She took a deep breath and pressed on. "I just wanted you to know... that in another situation, I wouldn't have--"

"Left me to be killed or worse by the forces of evil?" Rei asked dryly. "If that's all you have to say, Ami, I'd much rather you left." She began to ascend the stairs.

Miraculously, Ami's feet started to ascend behind her. "Rei, I really am sorry. But Mamoru was--"

"I don't really care what Mamoru's situation was," Rei snapped.

She felt her cheeks color and her fingers tighten around the handle of her briefcase. "He would have died."

Rei came to an abrupt halt. Ami saw that she nearly dropped her case in surprise. She stood there for a moment, and Ami thought that perhaps she had gotten through to the priestess. Her hopes were dashed when Rei shook her head, turning to glare at Ami over her shoulder. "If you had tried to bring me around, maybe we both could have done him some good," Rei said.

"I did try," Ami insisted, shocked that Rei had thought otherwise. "You didn't respond."

Rei huffed, annoyed that Ami had found a hole in her logic. "Obviously you didn't try hard enough."

Ami truly resented that comment. She stomped up so that she was on the same step as Rei, now eye-to-eye with her. "I tried as hard as I could! Now, I'm not saying I'm proud of what happened--"

"I should hope not," Rei spat, violet eyes flashing.

"But I didn't have a choice," Ami continued, undaunted. "I had to go save Mamoru, and if I hadn't gotten there when I had, he would be dead right now. Jadeite was already gone when I arrived, but I had to drag Mamoru out of the bay and give him CPR. He was clinically dead, Rei. I don't see how you can still be upset with me knowing that."

For a moment, Ami thought she saw Rei's face soften. It seemed as if she had finally gotten through to Rei the difficulty she faced in making her decision to go help Mamoru instead of staying with her, but then Rei did something strange. She laughed as if something about their situation was actually amusing.

"Stop it, Ami. You'll send me into hysterics."

Ami stared at her in confusion. "What do you--"

"I still can't believe that you actually thought you'd be able to help with Jadeite," Rei interrupted. "It was a stroke of luck that you arrived after everything happened. If you had gotten there earlier, all of us would be dead. Of that I'm quite sure."

Ami felt rebuked and embarrassed, but she tried to make it seem like she was angry. She wasn't doing a very good job. "I could have--"

"Done what?" Rei asked. "Made him get lost in a fog? Given him an impromptu shower? Please." She flipped her hair and then pointed at Ami, eyes narrowed. "The fact of the matter is that you should have waited until I came around. You were no match for Jadeite, and you knew it, but you still went after him. I would have been able to do something. I did do something. I killed him. What would you have done?"

Unfortunately, Ami didn't have an answer for that. She felt her lower lip begin to tremble.

"I saved his life," Ami maintained, her voice a painful whisper.

Rei scoffed. "So you gave him CPR. So what? It's common heroism. I'm the one that managed to take care of Jadeite."

Ami shut her eyes as she felt her nose start to itch from heat. She would not cry. She would not shed one tear in front of Rei when that had obviously been her goal from the start. "I'm not worthless. I helped."

"But you were wrong," Rei said again, and this time Ami believed it. "And I can't forgive you for that."

Rei left her after that, perhaps to preserve Ami's dignity.

Ami sat down on the stairs of the shrine. She pulled her knees to her chest and covered her ears to shield them from the memory of Rei's harsh words. But it didn't stop the noise nor did it mask the truth of them. And it also didn't block out the sound of her crying or the crows crying out, indifferent to her pain.

-----

He knew he was dreaming because he was waltzing. While Mamoru didn't think he had two left feet, he also knew that he was not that talented.

They were twirling in a dance floor covered by fog. Occasionally, he would see a tall candelabra rising from the smoke or the hint of a chandelier hanging above them in spite of the lack of ceiling. He was reminded of The Phantom of the Opera and smiled grimly at the realization that he was wearing a mask.

He didn't dwell on that long, however, because he had to focus most of his attention on his dance partner. He knew instinctively that she was the same princess as before, but not even their proximity did anything to hint at her identity. She was just as elusive as ever, her features becoming inexact every time he tried to focus on them. All he could be sure of was her hair, golden as ancient coins when they were new.

Or maybe it was silver.

He sighed, unable to stop himself. "I wish you would show me your face."

"My face has no importance," she replied, and he was surprised that she was no longer being cryptic. He began to hope they might actually have a conversation. "You know me even if you can't see me."

Mamoru had absolutely no idea what she meant by that, and he decided not to press the issue. Instead, he remained true to duty, thinking that Luna would be proud of him. "Are you the princess we're looking for?"

Even though he couldn't actually get a clear picture of her face, he could tell she was pondering the question. She knew the answer, but there was only so much she could reveal. Heaven forbid she make this easy for him after all. "I am a princess," she said finally. "And I am looking for something I need you to find. In that way, I suppose I could be."

They continued twirling, spinning the fog around them as they did so. It swirled around them like a makeshift typhoon, and Mamoru thought he could see silhouettes in them every now and again. Sometimes he saw other couples. Other times he saw monsters. He tried not to focus on it too much either way.

"Why should I do anything for you?" he asked, embittered and bold because of it. "I don't know you."

"You know me," she said smoothly. "You're just unaware."

He wanted to kick something. Preferably her. "I wish you could be direct about something."

"I could be direct," she said in a voice that he was certain was amused. "You're just not asking the right questions."

He scowled. "Wonderful," he drawled. "I'm trapped in a cliché fantasy novel. Isn't that spectacular?"

"I wouldn't know," she joked. "I haven't read any."

Mamoru stared and then laughed at her quip before he could put a stop to it. Then he turned back to his partner, trying once again to gaze into her eyes. He tried to focus on the color of her iris but all he saw was white.

"I do need your help," she said quietly, as if softened by the intensity of his gaze. "Truly."

"And I would like to help you," Mamoru replied, surprised by his honesty. "But there isn't much I can do if you continue to be evasive."

She sighed regretfully and twirled away from him for a moment, still grasping his hand. "It is the way it must be."

"Why?" he asked, wishing it had not sounded so painful the moment it left his lips.

"I know not," she answered, sounding a bit irritated. She was in his arms once again and they continued their movements. "Help me anyway."

She was practically pleading with him yet still retaining her pride. It was an admirable achievement, one that broke down his last defenses. Then again, he had been willing to do anything for her when she was just a silhouette. Her tangibility had made him bristle, but she'd broken him down as if he were barely solid. He could make no further pretense.

"What do you need?" he queried. "No riddles."

"I need the Ginzuishou," she stated simply, clearing up absolutely nothing.

He hadn't noticed the music before, but when he heard it, he realized that it called for a dip. He did so, irritated with the mandatory move and her endless ambiguities. Mamoru looked down at her, his jaw set and his hand rough on the small of her back. "What is the Ginzuishou?"

He could sense her surprise, as if not knowing was somehow blasphemy. There was a moment of silence as they hung there, caught between the passing seconds in a perfect pose no one else could see. Then she spoke and he could already feel things beginning to recede as if something were waking him up.

"The Ginzuishou is everything."

Mamoru woke up after that to the sound of his alarm going off. He had gone to bed early, planning to wake up at three in the morning in order to finish the final draft on one of his papers. However, as he grumbled and reached over to begin his half hour ritual of hitting the snooze button, he was fairly sure that he would be going back to sleep for a few more hours and damn all the consequences.

He didn't know why of course. He would not return to that dream. Even if he could, she would not tell him anything else. She couldn't for whatever reason. Law of Dreamland or some other crap.

He cursed quietly and buried his face in the pillow. The dreams were coming more and more frequently, and they were also becoming clearer. He had never been close enough to touch her before. He might even be able to see her at the rate he was going. He wasn't sure why that mattered so much to him, especially after she had told him that it didn't matter, but it hardly changed his desire to see her face. He knew already that she was beautiful. Possibly more beautiful than any real girl he had ever met. The promise of something that awe-inspiring was daunting. It wouldn't let him alone and neither would she.

Of course, he supposed he should be grateful for the encounter. He knew a bit more than he had known before. He had more questions, yes, but at least he finally knew what he was meant to look for.

The Ginzuishou.

He had absolutely no idea what the princess could possibly want with a "mysterious silver crystal," but it wasn't like she would tell him if he asked. Perhaps it was some trinket given to her by a lover and she couldn't move on to the afterlife until it was located. That didn't explain why he was the one who had to look for it, but it was all he could come up with in his sleepy haze.

In addition to that, she had also hinted at the idea that she and the Moon Princess were one in the same. He had been assuming so for awhile, but she still had not confirmed it. Even so, he felt justified in continuing to associate the two together. He didn't much want to think about dealing with two princesses. One was troublesome enough, and she wasn't even corporeal.

With that evidence, he really should have reached over to the dark furball curled up by his knee and told her about the dream. As a matter of fact, he should have mentioned the dreams from the moment he knew they were looking for a princess. It could have been important. It might mean the difference between finding her and losing her forever.

Still, Mamoru couldn't bring himself to do it.

There was something deeply personal about his dreams that made it impossible for him to even think about them out loud for fear that he would be heard. She was coming to him for a reason. He rather thought that she didn't want Luna or either of the girls to know about it, at least not yet. Besides, as insufferable as she could be, he got some amount of enjoyment from the dreams. He might wake up angry when she came to him, but it was better than waking up feeling longing when she didn't.

So he reached over to his screaming alarm once again and shut it off. Then he nestled into the covers, closed his eyes, and prepared to sleep the day away. He might have had more important things to do - ranging from papers to finding long lost royalty - but they could wait.

Rest was more important. Especially since he didn't know what was coming next.

-----

Ami didn't sleep particularly well that night. The unrelenting voice of Hino Rei dogged her as she tried to rest, resulting in sweat-drenched sheets tangled up in her limbs. She knew that she must have dozed off on occasion, but sound sleep eluded her for the eight hours she always gave herself. The last two were spent looking out the window, watching the sun rise on a grey, cloudy morning.

That was why Ami couldn't say that the sound of the tea kettle whistling woke her up. It startled her and it got her out of bed, but she had been awake for quite some time. Still, she moved with the same disorientation that someone who had just been roused from slumber did, and she rubbed her eyes when she stepped into the brightly lit kitchen. She squinted out from under her fingers and was surprised to find that she wasn't alone.

"Mother?" Ami asked drowsily. "What are you doing here?"

Mizuno Emi wasn't the least bit perturbed by her daughter's appearance. In fact, judging by the smile, Ami was willing to bet that the older woman had put on the tea specifically to get Ami out of bed. Not wanting to begrudge her that victory, Ami did not complain about her nearly sleepless night. "Is that any way to greet your mother, young lady?" She strode forward and kissed Ami on her brow.

Ami smiled. "I suppose not," she admitted a little sheepishly. "It's just I don't usually see you in the morning."

Emi nodded in agreement, pouring the freshly brewed tea into the twin cups on the counter. "Well, by nothing short of a miracle, I don't have to go in for a few hours yet. I thought I ought to have breakfast with my daughter while I have the chance."

"That is a miracle," Ami said happily, pleased with the all too infrequent opportunity to spend time with her mother.

"I hope you don't mind that I got you up early," her mother said as she pushed Ami's cup towards her and then went back to preparing the remainder of breakfast. It was just cold cereal and milk because Ami's mother had no idea how to make anything except tea, rice, and cookies. Still, even if the preparation was simple, Ami always thought that these breakfasts were the best in the world.

"Not at all," Ami said, hiding her mouth behind the rim of her cup.

Emi smiled, her shoulders sagging in relief, as she pulled the milk out of the refrigerator. She began to pour it and said, "Well, we have a lot of catching up to do, don't we? You still haven't had a chance to tell me about those two who--"

Ami had begun to tense as her mother brought up Rei and Mamoru. She had seen them in the aftermath of the hospital, but the pair had not had much of a chance to discuss any of the niceties of that day, few and far between as they were. Ami knew that her mother was anxious to find out who these friends were - just as anxious as Ami was not to talk about them. Whenever the subject was broached, all Ami could think of was how Luna had told them that family members and friends were endangered by association. Ami had experienced that firsthand during Tetis's massacre, and she was in no hurry to repeat it. She wanted nothing more than for her mother to forget about the two people she had seen so that she never had to be told about them. It was better to keep her as apart as possible.

But all of that fretting was rather pointless in the end for Dr. Mizuno's beeper had gone off in the middle of her sentence. Emi managed to slosh a fair amount of milk at the sound. She wasn't surprised; in fact, she'd probably been expecting it. But it didn't change the fact that it was the last sound she wanted to hear right then.

"Drat," her mother muttered, glancing down at the screen. "Another emergency."

The word emergency made Ami's stomach twist itself into a painful knot. She choked a bit on her tea. "Emergency?"

Instantly knowing the source of her daughter's worry, Emi walked over and smoothed her hair. "Nothing like that, Ami. Just a consult that can't wait if the patient is going to survive."

Ami began to untie her intestines, but as always, it was a slow process. "Oh."

Her mother sighed sadly, her nails briefly scratching Ami's scalp. "I don't mean to sound callous, but sometimes..." she trailed off, deciding it was better not to say anything at all. She shook her head and said, "I am sorry about this, dear. I got you up for nothing."

"Not for nothing," Ami protested, straightening in her seat. "I'm happy to see you."

Emi stared for a minute and then leaned over to kiss Ami again. She hugged her briefly and said, "Whatever did I do to deserve such a sweet daughter?"

"Saved a few hundred lives," Ami joked somewhat grimly, bringing them back to the issue at hand.

Her mother took the hint and pulled away, collecting her things. "Quite," she said, her tone already hardening into that of the brisk, professional woman that she used at work without fail. As she finished getting ready to leave, she said, "Still, I think it's high time we had some quality time, wouldn't you say?"

Ami nodded in agreement. She and her mother hadn't sat down and had a meal for well over a month. Aside from notes, phone calls, and brief conversations that consisted essentially of greetings, they had barely spoken. It was convenient for fighting the forces of evil, but Ami would have preferred to endure the hardship of concealing her dangerous activities.

"Right. Well, I have Friday night off, and come hell or high water, it is going to stay that way. I suggest that we go out and have dinner and talk without pausing to breathe. Sound like a plan?" Emi was nearly out the door, obviously wanting to leave but waiting for Ami's answer.

Normally, Ami would have agreed to such an arrangement without hesitation. However, there were other things to consider now. Luna might want the three of them to meet for whatever reason. Or someone might attack. Or the princess could come knocking at her door expecting to find her there and, upon finding an empty apartment, would vanish for all eternity, certain that she was unwanted.

The final scenario was highly unlikely of course, but it didn't change the fact that Ami had other obligations. She bit her lip, trying to decide what to do. She began to wish that she had called Luna after speaking with Rei. She had thought about it, but decided against it at the time. Now she would have liked to undo that just to be certain if she would be otherwise preoccupied Friday night.

Although, even if Luna had nothing planned, the enemy certainly hadn't given them an hourly schedule for their convenience, had they?

"Ami?" Emi asked impatiently. "I have to go."

"Sorry," she apologized automatically. Ami shook her head. "I mean, yes. Yes, of course I'll go."

Emi smiled again, though this one was not quite as bright as her others had been. "Excellent. I'll see you tomorrow night then." That said, the famous doctor nodded smartly and left the apartment, pulling the door shut behind her.

Ami sighed as soon as her mother was gone and then set about to finishing breakfast by herself. She briefly wondered if she had made the wrong decision once again, but she quickly decided that this was one of those rare occasions where there was neither a right nor a wrong answer.

If the enemy was going to come, it was certainly not going to be dependant on her dinner arrangements after all.

-----

The end of the term is always a stressful time for students. They're scrambling to get in some last minute studying before their exams at nearly all times. Places that serve coffee - good, bad, or ugly - are bombarded at all hours, and woe betide the establishment that dares to run out of the caffeinated substance. Some students get shorter tempers. Others have nervous breakdowns. But, of course, there is the rare exception to the madness - a calm, collected individual who feels completely prepared for whatever his or her professors might put on the exam. They are the ones that the others will look on with envy and hatred, and they will wonder just how they managed to be so well-prepared.

That is what people thought they were seeing when they saw Chiba Mamoru walking to his last exam on Friday morning. In actuality, Mamoru had never felt less prepared for any test in his life. However, considering everything else that had happened, he couldn't bring himself to care.

"You know, I don't remember you so much as glancing in the general direction of a textbook in the past few weeks," Luna said suspiciously.

Mamoru shrugged. "I suppose you haven't been paying very good attention."

Luna bristled with indignation. "I have been paying excellent attention."

"How?" Mamoru asked, genuinely puzzled. "You sleep sixteen hours a day."

Luna glared darkly, but had no response to his retort. Granted, sixteen was an outside figure, but she had to concede the point. Mamoru smirked with triumph, happy that his magical pet was so easy to make fun of.

That pleasure quickly faded as he repeated that sentence in his head. He really hated how much his life resembled a cartoon show.

The conversation might have continued with Mamoru bemoaning this predicament aloud, when a familiar face bobbed up in front of him. "Good morning, Mamoru!" Rei chirped brightly, making him jump a bit. It wasn't just that she had come out of nowhere, but he wouldn't have expected her to be so bubbly. It didn't sit well with him.

"Good morning, Rei," he said hesitantly, looking around nervously to see if there were any signs that this was actually a youma come to eat his brains or something. He swallowed and glanced at Luna, who didn't seem concerned. Just perplexed. He looked back at Rei, forcing a smile, and said, "How are you doing?"

It was a loaded question, and the brief shadow that passed through her eyes illustrated that Rei was quite aware of that. He started to regret it when Rei seemed to shake it off, vanishing from her gaze like so much vapor. She smiled at him, filling him with relief, and said, "Oh, I'll be fine. Don't worry about me."

Mamoru's smile relaxed. Hearing that made him genuinely happy. "I'm glad," he said sincerely. "I was worried about you after..." He glanced around and decided that there were too many people around to be candid. Besides, some students who knew him to be a life-long bachelor were curious about his holding a conversation with a very pretty girl - fourteen or not. "After what happened," he finished lamely.

Rei nodded knowingly, pushing a few locks of hair behind her ear. "Yeah, it was hard at first, but I'm moving on."

Mamoru returned her nod, moving his head a few more times than he thought was necessary in an attempt to fill the awkward silence. He also took the opportunity to glance down at his watch and, noting the time, become puzzled once more. "Say, shouldn't you be in class right now?"

Rei blinked at him for a moment. Her cheeks colored. "Well, I--"

"Come to think of it, your school isn't even near here," Mamoru continued on aimlessly, ignoring Luna's exasperated sigh. "Or the shrine for that matter. What are you doing here?"

Rei's whole face had now shifted from pale to rosy pink. Nevertheless, her next words didn't even come close to answering his question. "Listen, I was just thinking that it might be a good idea for us to, you know, get to know each other better. In a more social setting I mean. Not just..." she looked around. "Not just in the usual way."

Mamoru nodded, feeling slightly out of his depth. "Social setting?" he queried, arching an eyebrow. Luna made another noise, and he wasn't quite sure if she was mocking him or choking on hairball.

"Yeah," Rei said brightly. "I invited Ami to go, but it turns out she has something she needs to do. But I figured the two of us could still sit and talk somewhere.
Don't you think that's a good idea?"

Well, when she put it like that, he wasn't sure he could actually refuse the idea. He shrugged and said, "Are you sure Ami can't go? What does she have to--"

"Oh, she probably wants to get started on next term's homework or something," Rei said flippantly, waving a hand at him. "But seriously, how about it?"

Mamoru pondered it for a moment, and while he found Rei's behavior odd, he couldn't pinpoint anything wrong with the suggestion. He smiled at her warmly and said, "Sure, it sounds like fun. I don't think I've done anything socially in over a decade, so might as well, right?"

Rei's face practically broke apart with the force of her smile. "Great!" she exclaimed a bit too loudly. "There's this new Italian place that just opened that I've been dying to try. And it isn't that expensive from what I hear. What do you say we meet there tomorrow at eight o'clock?"

Mamoru agreed, and after he got very precise directions from Rei, she went on her way. He happened to notice there was a bounce in her step and stared after her, wondering at her. He shook his head and looked over at Luna. "She bounces back fast, doesn't she?"

Luna said nothing but kept looking after Rei, her whiskers twitching.

-----

Usagi didn't know what had gotten into Haruna, but she knew she didn't like it.

Knowing that Haruna had just ended her relationship with her long-time boyfriend, named Chisaki Akihito according to the school's resident gossip, Umino Gurio, had caused the majority of students to tolerate Sakurada Haruna's mood swings. However, there were some things that simply could neither be explained nor tolerated. The woman's current behavior went far beyond that.

Usagi hadn't even arrived late that day, thanks to her brother deciding to wake her up with a bucket of water that morning. He claimed she smelled, but Usagi had a suspicion that their mother had prompted him to do it so she wasn't late for exams. However, that little personal triumph had gone completely unnoticed by Haruna. In fact, Usagi was quite sure that it would have been better to be late.

"What took you so long?" Haruna asked her incredulously, scowling. "You should have been here hours ago!"

Usagi blinked slowly. She knew that she wasn't the smartest person in the world, but even she wasn't that dim. "But, Haruna-sensei, it was dark a few hours ago. I--"

"As if that's any excuse!" Haruna chastised, though Usagi had to strain to understand her because of the speed at which she was talking. It was making her dizzy. "A dedicated student would have been waiting at the gate for the maintenance man to open up so that they could begin their test before the others!"

Usagi still couldn't grasp this logic. "But wouldn't the maintenance man have been asleep as well? So I wouldn't have been able to start my exam... right?"

Haruna looked extremely frustrated with Usagi's apparent stupidity. "Foolish girl! You could have given up after half an hour and climbed the fence yourself! I would have been waiting for you. I was here at four this morning."

Usagi found herself gaping. "Four AM?! But Haruna-sensei, you're supposed to still be asleep at that time!"

"It's morning, isn't it? Aren't people meant to be up in the morning?"

"Yes, well, there's morning, and then there's morning," Usagi tried to explain, although she knew that her logic wasn't all that convincing, especially for someone as fanatical as Haruna currently was. Usagi frowned. "Haruna-sensei, should I maybe go get the school nurse? You see a little--"

"Don't bother," Naru called wearily from the back of the room. Usagi turned to look at her friend, who was currently hunched over a packet of papers, scribbling on it furiously. "I already tried that."

"I am quite fine, and I'll not have you suggesting otherwise," Haruna snapped rapidly. Then she reached behind her and grabbed a similar packet that Naru and several other students had. She thrust it into Usagi's hands, and she had to scramble to keep from dropping it.

"That's your English exam," Haruna explained brusquely. "You have--"

"Exam?!" Usagi exclaimed, causing nearly everyone including several students milling about in the hallway to jump. "You can't issue the exam yet! The final bell hasn't rung yet! That's not fair to the others!"

Haruna was quite affronted. "I'll have you know that my system is completely fair! Every student will be given ten minutes to complete the exam. I am timing it as we speak."

Usagi was seriously beginning to doubt her teacher's sanity. She looked down at the test, a hopeless expression on her face. "But this is an essay test! And it's four pages long. Finishing it in that amount of time is impossible!"

"I did it," Haruna said proudly. "And while the other students might be able to do it, you'll have significantly harder time of it because you've already wasted sixty seconds."

Usagi gaped at the woman for less than a second before zooming into her seat. She pulled out a pencil as fast as she could make her hands work and hurriedly began to write. She knew that she didn't understand the questions very well, but that couldn't be helped. As long as she had something written down for every essay, perhaps Haruna would be merciful.

"Speaking of time," Haruna said, walking briskly over to Naru's desk. "Your ten minutes are up, Osaka-san. Please give me your exam. I'll give you exactly one minute to rest, and then you can begin on your history test."

Naru stilled. Even with the time constraint, Usagi was eager for a distraction from her exam, so she couldn't help but look over at her friend. She recognized the look on Naru's face instantly and began to inch her desk away from the scene. Naru hardly had a hair-trigger temper, but when she did get angry, it was best to get out of her way.

"I'm not finished," Naru said, her voice tight.

Several of the other students recognized her tone and looked up to watch the unfolding drama. Haruna frowned down at Naru and held out her hand. "Osaka-san, I told you when you arrived that you would have ten minutes. Those ten minutes are up, now give me your test. You're using up your rest period."

Naru's head snapped up, her eyes narrowed. "I thought you were joking or something. I never thought you seriously expected us to finish in ten minutes! It's impossible!"

"I did it," Haruna repeated.

Naru rolled her eyes openly, something Usagi knew she would never be brave enough to do. "You wrote the test!"

"Osaka-san, don't you understand what limited time I have?" Haruna asked in disbelief. "I have to proctor your exams, grade them, file my reports, clean my office, supervise detention, run my errands, clean my apartment, and do countless other things! I don't have time to give you as much time as you'd like on every exam."

Naru stood up from her desk, knocking her chair over. Usagi winced. "I don't care about what all you have to do! I have to be a good student and get good grades so that I can become a nurse! And I'm not going to have you screw it up just because you don't want to be here!"

"Watch your tone," Haruna snapped.

"I won't watch my tone!" Naru challenged. "I've always respected you, Haruna-sensei, even if you are a little high-strung. But this is ridiculous! This is--"

Naru was cut off when Haruna slapped her across the face, the sound echoing through the room and nearly sending Naru to the ground. Usagi didn't even realize that she had screamed until Haruna turned to glare at her.

"Quiet, Tsukino-san! You only have six minutes!" Haruna turned back to Naru, glaring with barely suppressed rage. "As for you, Osaka-san, if you will not respect me or live up to my standard, then I don't want you in my classroom. Please leave immediately."

Naru stood there for a minute, holding her cheek in amazement. Usagi could see that Haruna had left a mark that would likely turn into a light bruise within hours. She closed her eyes and swallowed, a sure sign that she was about to cry. Usagi was about to ask if she was all right when she turned and fled the room, leaving her things behind.

"Naru!" Usagi cried out before she could stop herself.

"QUIET!" Haruna barked. Usagi was too scared of the woman to do anything but obey, so she turned back to her test.

Usagi was trembling all over now. She had never seen a teacher lay a hand like that on a student. She had heard horror stories of teachers losing it before,
but she never would have thought that anything like that would happen to Haruna. Certainly the woman had alarming mood swings, but overall, Usagi and everyone else had thought she was quite stable. She was intelligent and kind for all her bravado, and there was a rumor that she had once taken a fellow teacher to task for being unnecessarily cruel to a slower student. Yes, she yelled at Usagi and others for poor performance, but she had never directly called her stupid. That was why Usagi had always liked her.

But now she was not only lashing out at students verbally, but physically, as well. It was scary and in Usagi's opinion, out of character. And she could do nothing but sit there and take it.

"Haruna?" a voice called tentatively from the doorway.

Usagi and the other students looked up to see the Home Economics teacher, Akiyama Higure. She was a timid woman, but it was well-known that she was Haruna's best friend among the staff. Usagi suspected that Naru had gone to fetch her immediately, or perhaps she had just found her by chance. It wouldn't be surprising to find her wandering the halls even so close to the final bell. After all, she had little to do except for accept students' final projects and grade them on sight.

"Higure!" Haruna said in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

Higure clearly saw that something was off about Haruna. She frowned and made a move as if to step forward but decided against it. "I've heard that perhaps you're not feeling well today, Haruna."

Haruna waved her off so quickly that her hand was little more than flesh-colored blur. "Rumors and lies, Higure. I'm just fine."

Clearly, Higure did not believe her. She glanced around the room and said, "Giving the students a head start on the test? How generous of you."

Haruna blinked in surprise. "Head start? I don't know what you're talking about. They've all been given ten minutes to complete their test. As a matter of fact, your time is up, Komatsu-san."

The boy in question was about to either protest or burst into tears when Higure gasped loudly, covering her hand with her mouth. She stared at Haruna and whispered, "So what Osaka-san said was true? You really... struck her?"

Terrified that Haruna was going to deny it, Usagi leapt to her feet before she knew what she was doing. Now that there was another adult in the room, even if it was someone as meek as Akiyama Higure, Usagi felt more confident. "She did Akiyama-sensei! I saw it happen!"

Higure, who had never had much faith in Usagi's work ethic, did not doubt the girl's honesty. She shook her head at Haruna in disapproval. "Haruna, how could you? You have never, ever behaved like that before."

"She was being disrespectful!" Haruna insisted. "And she wasn't working fast enough!" The truly surprising thing about that statement was how much more importance Haruna seemed to place on the latter mistake.

Higure looked over her shoulder and called out to someone. Usagi was surprised to see Ami's homeroom teacher, Kawabata Daichi, loom behind Higure. She noticed that Naru was with him, and she had obviously been crying.

Haruna glared at the two distrustfully. "So, Osaka-san brought reinforcements, did she?"

Kawabata, a teacher known all over for his temper, was remarkably calm as he started to approach Haruna. "Look, I know that you're upset about Akihito. But that is no excuse--"

"This has nothing to do with Akihito!" Haruna insisted. "I have work to do! I can't waste time watching them take a test! I have to hurry!"

"There's no hurry, Haruna," Kawabata insisted coolly. "I think that you should calm down."

Haruna's face started to color. "I am perfectly calm."

Kawabata, who was also known for saying the wrong thing at the most inopportune time, chose that particular moment to quip, "Yeah, Haruna. You're as stable as a corpse."

Usagi didn't even think the particular jab made sense, but it was enough to push Haruna past her breaking point. She watched in horror as Haruna lunged at her colleague, shrieking along with every other member of the class. Kawabata managed to catch her wrists before she clawed at his face and spun her around, holding on to her. He yelled for Higure to go get help, which she did without question. Usagi got out of her seat and ran to Naru, enveloping the girl in her arms, weeping openly.

Seconds later, other staff members were pouring into the room, nearly knocking the two girls over. Collectively, they managed to remove Haruna from the room, screaming about how she didn't have time to be accosted all the way.

Usagi and Naru stared after the retreating teachers, clutching each other so tightly that their arms were starting to go numb. All of the other students had come out of their classrooms, their faces a myriad of horror, shock, and even amusement. Usagi heard someone running toward them and was surprised to see Ami.

"Osaka-san! Usagi!" she panted, wearing a stricken expression. "Are you all right?"

Naru seemed too surprised by her concern to speak, making it necessary for Usagi to speak. She sniffled, still quaking and said, "Ami, I don't know what happened. I know that she's upset about her boyfriend, but I have never, ever seen her act like this before. She hit Naru!"

Ami turned to the redhead, blood draining from her face. "That doesn't sound like Haruna-sensei at all!"

"It's not!" Usagi sobbed. "Ami, it's not like her! What's wrong with her?"

Ami looked past the two girls at where Haruna had gone. She had a strange expression on her face, one that Usagi could only classify as that of suspicion. She frowned and said, "I wish I knew."

Usagi wished she knew too.

-----

A few hours later, both Mamoru and Luna arrived back at his apartment. Mamoru's exam had not gone all that well in his opinion, but then what could he expect? Luna's assessment of his studying habits had been spot on. Of course, he could blame Jadeite for his poor results, but he sincerely doubted the professor would care even if he could be told.

But Mamoru wasn't as concerned with his test results at the moment. He was more focused on how Luna had been acting ever since he had gotten out of the exam. She had been even shorter with him than usual, sometimes glaring at him and sometimes laughing at him. He could see no reason for her to act this way, and had been waiting until they arrived home so that he could have it out with her. The moment his door was closed and bolted, he pressed her for information.

"All right, you obviously have something of great importance to impart to me," Mamoru said, his voice laden with sarcasm. "Why don't you just get it out now?"

Luna stared at him for a moment and then shook her head, chuckling wryly. "It's nothing too important, Mamoru. I'm really just amazed at you."

Mamoru shifted uncomfortably. He could tell that she hadn't meant that as a compliment. "What do you mean?"

"For someone as clever as you, you certainly are a complete buffoon when it comes to girls," she quipped, flicking her tail smartly.

Mamoru blinked. "What are you talking about?"

Luna looked at him with equal amounts of pity and condescension. "Oh, Mamoru. It really is a shame that no one's been able to teach you about the opposite sex."

For whatever reason, Mamoru felt that this conversation was too embarrassing for him to handle. He felt his ears start to burn. "Why don't you just get to the point," he snapped.

"Because this is fun," Luna said with a laugh. However, she took pity on him soon after and said, "Don't you know what Rei meant by 'getting to know you in a social setting?'"

Mamoru stared, failing to see the point of this. "She meant that she wanted to know more about me as a human being and not just a guy in a cape?" He hadn't meant for that to come out as a question; it made him seem that much more incompetent.

Luna clucked her tongue at him. He felt like he was twelve again. "No, what she meant was that she likes you."

Mamoru failed to grasp the full meaning of her statement. "So?"

"Mamoru, you great clod," Luna said crossly. "She was asking you out on a date."

Mamoru stared at her openly, his mouth falling open a bit. He could understand the make up of an atom with minimal difficulty, but this revelation was totally over his head. "She was not," he insisted.

Luna rolled her eyes at him. "Please. Girls don't ask young men to take them to Italian restaurants as friends."

Mamoru still refused to believe this. "Luna, you're being ridiculous. She said that she'd asked Ami--"

"And I'm sure that if we asked Ami about it, she'd have absolutely no idea what we're talking about," Luna maintained. "Think, Mamoru. The last time we saw Rei, she wanted to string Ami up by her thumbnails."

Mamoru had to admit, that part of Rei's story did seem a bit odd when she'd recounted it. "But she was concerned about the price. It's only a date if I pay, right?"

"Oh, you're going to," Luna said, still laughing at him. "The reason she brought it up is so that you didn't think you were going to go broke by paying for her dinner."

Mamoru stared at Luna. He was beginning to think that she might be right about this. "But... She's fourteen! I don't date fourteen-year-olds! Luna, I don't date anyone!"

Luna just looked at him. "Mamoru, look in a mirror. You are every fourteen-year-old's dream. And it doesn't help that you assume the role of "knight in shining armor" somewhat literally."

Presented with all of this evidence, Mamoru had no choice but to admit the truth. He was going on a date with Hino Rei. He hadn't been tricked into it, but it wasn't something that he wanted to do. And he couldn't back out of it now. Rei was his ally, and if he did something to offend her, it was going to lead to problems on the battlefield. He was backed into a corner and his escape was blocked by a temperamental, fire-wielding teenager who also happened to have a crush on him.

He was, in a word, doomed.

-----

Mamoru had done everything possible to make himself physically ill before his date with Rei. He took a cold shower and opened all of the windows of his apartment in order to dry off. He ate impossible amounts of sugar and grease, even going so far as to throw together disgusting food combinations in hopes of making himself vomit. All the chocolate covered pickle and pepperoni pizza had done was cause him to make a desperate, late night investment in mouthwash. None of his efforts had been the least bit successful, and so he had no choice but to arrive at the restaurant on time. He could only hope that the evening was quick and painless.

"Mamoru!" Rei called from across the street, waving frantically at him.

He returned the greeting with trepidation and felt his heart sink when he saw what she was wearing. He hadn't done much to improve on his regular appearance, but Rei was dressed as close to the nines as a shrine maiden could manage. She was clothed in a red dress that wasn't the least bit distasteful, but he could tell that she thought it was risqué. She also had a flower in her hair and a gold locket at her throat. As she grew closer, he saw that she had applied some mascara and lip gloss, perhaps in an attempt to look older.

Rei instantly looped her arm through his, and he had to suppress a groan. She didn't notice his discomfort and said, "Didn't I tell you this place was fantastic?"

Mamoru wanted to say that no, actually she hadn't told him anything about the quality of the restaurant, and he could hardly form an opinion since all he had seen was the door. But he was already feeling bad enough about his extreme aversion to this social ritual and how she was more than likely going to end up with her heart broken. So he just nodded wordlessly, trying to come up with a way to get her off him without being too obvious.

Rei led him inside, though Mamoru would later insist that it was more appropriate to say that she dragged him inside. He wouldn't be wrong. She went up to the host confidently and said, "We have a reservation for two under Chiba."

Mamoru felt horrible for thinking it, but he really wished that a youma could appear and spare him this travesty of an evening.

The host glanced at both of them in turn, first noting how very young Rei was and then noticing how very old Mamoru was. He glared at Mamoru as if he was escorting his own daughter down the aisle in handcuffs.

"Oh, kill me now," Mamoru muttered.

"What was that?" Rei asked, still smiling brightly enough to make his eyes hurt.

Mamoru forced himself to be cheerful for her sake. "Nothing," he insisted. "Just remembering that I forgot to change Luna's water this morning."

She took that at face value and turned her attention back to the host. He was having some trouble finding their name, so Rei took the list from him. She scanned it, found their reservation, and crossed it off herself, all while holding on to Mamoru's arm. She handed it back to the host confidentially. "We'd like a table somewhat out of the way if you don't mind."

Mamoru felt like he was going to be violently ill, and he didn't understand why that couldn't have started sooner.

They were led to a table that, much to Mamoru's relief, was right in the center of the restaurant. Rei looked like she was going to launch into a protest that likely would have commanded the other patrons' attention, but the host left before she could get out the first syllable. Mamoru didn't doubt that she would have gone after him if he hadn't desperately thrown himself into the type of senseless prattle that made him loathe the process of dating in the first place.

"So tell me about what life's like at the shrine," Mamoru asked even though he had absolutely no interest in the subject whatsoever. He was completely shocked when she actually told him in extreme detail just how life at the shrine was. He had no idea that anyone could construct such a lengthy monologue on the subject of sweeping stairs and selling charms.

The worst part was that she seemed to have an endless supply of what he was sure she thought were incredibly amusing anecdotes concerning Hikawa Jinja. And perhaps they were humorous at times, but he had tuned her out within the first few minutes of her speech, making a noise every now and again to keep up the illusion that he was interested.

"So what about you?" Rei asked when she had finally come to the end of her speech.

Mamoru blinked at her, unsure of how to respond. "Err... Funny story, I don't actually live at a shrine so--"

She laughed a bit too loudly, attracting the attention of a passing waitress. The waitress looked at each of them in turn and then shot Mamoru an apologetic look. Mamoru watched her go sadly, wondering if she could possibly save him from this ordeal. Of course if she did, she was probably going to expect a date in return, and no way in hell was he doing that again in this lifetime.

"I meant what about your life?" she clarified, heralding the beginning of the awkward interview standard with all first dates. He supposed he should be grateful that she hadn't led off by asking him what his favorite color was. "You're in college, right? What are you studying?"

He found something horribly offensive about the fact that she hadn't been sure whether or not he was attending a university. Still, he nodded and sipped his water as if nothing was out of the ordinary. "I'm Pre-Med."

She stared at him for a moment and laughed nervously. Apparently, she hadn't been expecting that. He saw a faint blush color her cheeks as she scrambled to recover. "Wow! That's impressive."

In spite of himself, her reaction intrigued him. "You seem surprised."

Her blush deepened. "Oh, no! Well, I am, but not because I didn't think you were capable. I just... Well, I know that that field requires a lot of studying, and you don't seem like you're pressed for time."

Mamoru laughed bitterly and took another sip of his water. "I should note that I don't think I did fairly well this term because of... you know."

Rei nodded sadly, looking down at her hands and likely berating herself for her mistake. Mamoru thought this would have been a good time to tell her that it was all right, but the waiter appeared at that precise moment to see if they wanted any appetizers. Mamoru was going to decline, but Rei beat him to the punch, ordering a sampler platter that was the most expensive thing in that section of the menu.

After that, Mamoru didn't think that he wanted to tell her that it was all right.

Once the waiter had left, Rei turned to him, smiling as if she hadn't done anything the least bit wrong all evening. She leaned forward, resting her chin on her hands and said, "So, aren't you going to ask me?"

He was sincerely afraid of what she meant by that, so he wasted no time in getting clarification. "Ask you what?"

"What my dreams and goals and such are."

Mamoru felt his entire face twitch. This was a dating horror story that would go in the record books. He was going to have to tell Motoki about it just as soon as he didn't want to commit suicide every time he thought about it. "Apparently you don't need me too."

She didn't take the hint and immediately launched into what he swore was a rehearsed diatribe beginning with a list of at least ten different careers, none of which had anything to do with one another or the Shinto religion. The rest of the evening continued on in a similar vein. She'd ask him a question, he would give a short answer, and then she'd babble on about the same subject for what felt like hours. It was hellish.

Mamoru was seriously considering sawing his hand off in the middle of the salad course when an unexpected distraction happened to come into the restaurant. He didn't see her coming until she had reached their table, obviously puzzled.

"Mamoru?" Ami asked, pulling all of the attention away from the intended star of the evening. "Rei?"

Mamoru stole a look at Rei and saw the panicked look on her face. This confirmed Luna's hypothesis that Ami had never been involved in Rei's plans for the evening. He had given her the benefit of the doubt, assuming that he had simply been oblivious as usual. But seeing how guilty Rei was at being caught in a lie, Mamoru knew that he had been manipulated into this outing. To say that he was annoyed was a grand understatement.

He turned back to Ami and said, "Ami! What a surprise. I didn't know that another dinner was the reason why you couldn't join us this evening." He saw Rei wince out of his peripheral vision.

Ami clearly had no idea what he was talking about. "Join you? I didn't--"

"Ami, what's going on?" another, older voice called out from a few feet away. The three of them turned to see Dr. Mizuno walk up to them. She seemed to catch on the moment she saw Mamoru, and she didn't look happy. "Oh," she said simply.

Sensing the disapproval and eager to dispel it, Mamoru quickly got up from his seat, bumping it a bit in the process. He hoped fervently that no crumbs were falling off his lap as he bowed deeply. "Dr. Mizuno. How nice to see you outside of a hospital. Please allow me to introduce my friend, Hino Rei." He didn't put any undue stress on the term friend for fear of embarrassing them all, but he did hope that Rei started to get the picture.

He could tell instantly that she hadn't. She and Dr. Mizuno bowed to each other in turn while Ami remained as still as a statue. Then the doctor turned back to Mamoru, not bothering to mask the frown she was wearing. "It's nice to see you so... healthy." She eyed Rei with an equal amount of distaste, and Mamoru felt very much like throwing himself out the window in hopes of ending it all.

Rei hadn't missed the look and immediately went on the defensive. "I can assure you, Dr. Mizuno, that he isn't quite that healthy."

Even though Mamoru was thoroughly exasperated with her, he had to give Rei credit for that comment.

Ami was blushing furiously in response to Rei's curt response, but she managed to compose herself enough to say, "So you two are here together?"

Mamoru instantly regretted any joy that he had gotten out of the evening. He held up his hands and said, "Actually, I wouldn't be the least bit offended if the two of you wanted to join us. I'm sure Rei would be thrilled." He looked back at her, hoping that she was willing to play along.

Rei folded her arms across her chest and glared.

"Of course," Mamoru murmured, crestfallen.

"We wouldn't want to impose," Dr. Mizuno said smoothly, laying her hands on her daughter's shoulders. "Besides, it isn't often that I get to spend time alone with my daughter, and I plan on taking advantage of it. But thank you for your generous offer."

The group fell into an awkward silence. However, it didn't last very long. Just when Rei had been about to hurry the Mizunos along to their own lives, Ami excused herself, practically running from the table. Both Mamoru and her mother called out after her, but Rei didn't seem to be the least bit concerned with the predicament.

Dr. Mizuno turned back to Mamoru and gave him a hard stare. "I certainly hope you're pleased with yourself," she said coldly before going after her daughter.

Mamoru stared after her, his shoulders quickly sagging. "I'm not actually," he whispered, too softly for Rei to hear.

-----

Ami barely had time to make it into the bathroom before she started crying. She locked herself in one of the stalls and began to sob quietly while she sat on the toilet.

She knew that it was ridiculous to get so worked up over seeing Mamoru and Rei together, but she couldn't help herself. They had wanted to spend time together without her. Ami knew that Rei wanted nothing to do with her, but she had thought Mamoru at least liked her a little bit. Or failing that, he didn't actively dislike her.

But finding them at the restaurant disproved all of that. They hadn't invited her to come along. They'd both looked like she'd caught them doing something horrible when they saw she was there. They wanted nothing to do with her, and all because she'd tried to do the right thing.

Ami buried her face in her hands. This happened to her every time she was close to making friends. Either they'd accuse her of flaunting her money and her grades or they would try to get Ami to do something she didn't believe was right and then stop speaking to her when she refused. The situation was simply magnified now because Mamoru and Rei weren't just potential friends; they were her comrades. How was she supposed to fight alongside them knowing that they hated her?

She hadn't noticed when her mother entered the bathroom, but her crying was interrupted by the sound of a knock at the door. "Ami?" she asked gently. "Are you all right?"

Ami immediately began wiping away her tears. She didn't like crying in front of her mother. It made her feel inadequate in the face of the woman's overwhelming competence. "I'm fine," Ami insisted, hoping that her mother didn't notice the way her voice was trembling. "I just started to feel sick that's all."

She knew that her mother didn't believe her. "Ami, don't lie to me. I'm your mother. I can always tell."

Ami didn't say anything to that. If her mother could always tell when she was lying, she would have bigger problems than Rei and Mamoru's feelings about her.

"Seeing them together really upset you, didn't it?"

Ami considered keeping up a pretense to avoid talking about the subject, but she quickly realized that was futile. Her mother knew she was unhappy, and there would be no getting around it for the rest of the evening if not beyond that. She nodded sadly and said, "It did."

Her mother sighed, and Ami knew exactly what face she was making based on the noise she made. "Oh, Ami... I told you that it was best if you stayed away from that boy."

Ami winced and curled her hands into fists. She took a deep breath and said, "He's not a bad person, Mama."

"He's made you cry, hasn't he?" she asked. "I don't think that makes him a good person either."

Ami was surprised to find that she was making excuses for Mamoru. "He didn't know what he was doing. He seems clueless to me sometimes."

Dr. Mizuno snorted. "Yes. He does at that."

Ami paused a moment, giving herself time to regroup. Once she felt like she could speak without the threat of crying again, she said, "Mamoru's really a very nice person. He's helped me out a few times when I don't think anyone else would have." She rubbed at her eyes again, smearing unshed tears onto her cheekbones. "I didn't think he would avoid me like this."

Her mother inhaled deeply. "Ami, when I met your father, I thought he was the greatest man to have ever walked the Earth. He was handsome, clever, and artistic. He was everything I wanted at the time, and that made me completely blind to his faults. I didn't open my eyes until well after we'd gotten married, and by then it was too late to end things without a lot of people getting hurt. Including you."

Ami felt herself begin to get choked up again. It wasn't often that her mother spoke of her relationship with Ami's father. It was an emotional subject for both of them. "Mama, what does this have to do with--"

"Don't make the same mistake I did, Ami," her mother interrupted softly. "Look at the whole person you're dealing with and not just the good things."

It didn't take very long for Ami to realize what her mother was alluding to. Ami stood up like someone had fired a gun and threw open the bathroom door, her mouth agape. "You think that I'm... in love with Mamoru?" Just saying it made her face turn as red as the dress Rei had been wearing.

Dr. Mizuno shook her head. "Ami, I'm just saying--"

"I'm not!" Ami insisted, trying desperately to return to her normal pallor and failing at it. "He's just a friend! And Rei's sort of my friend too, and... I didn't think they'd--"

Before Ami could continue, her mother had enveloped her in an embrace. Normally, Ami relished in any sort of outward display of affection from her mother, but she would have rather this hadn't happened. Still, she remained locked in her mother's arms, listening as she whispered, "Ami, just promise me that you'll be more careful than I was."

The combination of her mother's body heat and her fierce blush were making Ami uncomfortably warm. "Mother, please--"

"Just promise."

Ami was not the sort of person who enjoyed it when people had the wrong impressions about something. Part of her desperately wanted to be able to make sure that her mother understood that she didn't have those sorts of feelings for Mamoru. But the situation was just so complicated and there were so many things Ami couldn't fully explain without lying to her mother outright. Not to mention the fact that just thinking about being in love with Mamoru was one of the most mortifying experiences of her life, and Ami felt that she had had more than her share of those.

So, rather than continue on with the uncomfortable situation, Ami let out a defeated sigh that she was quite sure her mother was misinterpreting entirely. "Yes, mother."

Dr. Mizuno pulled away, a satisfied smile on her painted lips. "I'm glad."

Ami wished that she could have returned the sentiment.

-----

The evening was not going as Rei had planned.

To begin with, she certainly had not expected to be caught by Ami. It had been an unfortunate coincidence that Rei could blame on her bad karma. She had tossed in the lie about Ami being busy on a whim in hopes that it would make Mamoru be more inclined to go out on a date with her if he didn't realize that he was going on a date with her. It was an underhanded strategy, but an effective one.

Unfortunately, now Mamoru knew that the whole thing had been a ruse, and he was definitely not happy about it. He still hadn't said anything to her, but the look on his face left little to the imagination.

Eventually, Rei sighed. "Look, if you want to get angry, then get angry, but don't just sit there glaring at me."

Mamoru needed little encouragement. "Fine. Rei, this has got to be the sneakiest, most manipulative thing that I have ever been subjected to, but let us just get one thing straight before I launch into just how disgusted I am about that.

"I don't date. Period. End of story."

He stopped abruptly, giving Rei time to absorb that caveat. She stared at him in a fair amount of disbelief. She knew that there were some students serious enough about their school work that they swore off dating no matter what the circumstance. However, she had never thought to apply that stereotype to Mamoru. Ami was that sort of person, but not Mamoru.

"But why not?" she asked before she could stop herself. Once it had been said, there was no taking it back, but Rei hated that she had made herself sound so childish in front of him.

The question exasperated him just as she had feared it would. "Rei, it's a personal choice, and I don't need to explain it to you."

Rei scowled. "I hate it when people answer questions like that."

"And I hate it when I get tricked into doing something that I don't otherwise do," Mamoru countered.

Rei opened her mouth to fire something back, but every possible retort stalled in her throat. She could have responded, but there was no way to refute his logic without sounding like a petulant child.

Mamoru took that opportunity to continue on his tangent, and Rei took that opportunity to completely ignore him. He'd made his point; now he was just rubbing it in to appear self-righteous and vent his own frustrations. She saw no reason to remain engaged during a lecture, so she began to look around the restaurant.

Much to her chagrin, the place was full of couples who were having a much better time than she was. The restaurant was a new hotspot for romantic outings, so it was no surprise to see so much budding happiness in the room, but it still left a sour taste in her mouth. Rei saw an older couple who were probably there for their anniversary, a pair of newlyweds still thoroughly entrenched in the honeymoon period, and a couple somewhere between her and Mamoru's age so desperately in love with one another that they nauseated Rei from across the room.

She glanced back at Mamoru and wondered why she couldn't have been so lucky.

Just then, Rei heard the sound of tires squealing against the pavement outside. It was a sound that attracted the attention of every patron and employee of the restaurant. However, it was different for Rei. She suddenly got a terrible feeling in the pit of her stomach and the back of her arms began to perspire. She swallowed on a throat that was bone dry as she realized what had to be happening.

Something evil was near.

"Rei, what are you doing?"

She was pulled out of her short trance by the sound of Mamoru's voice. He was no longer infuriated with her, but concerned. She blinked and realized that she had gripped his hand.

"Mamoru," she whispered in as quiet a voice as possible. "There's something you don't know about me."

"What's going on?" he whispered back.

"I can sense things," she hissed. "I know when bad things are going to happen and I can tell a good man from an evil one by looking at them. And I can tell you that something very, very bad is about to happen in connection with that sound we just heard. I don't know what, but…"

Mamoru paled at her words, and she was pleased that in spite of how much she had deceived him in the past twenty-four hours, he believed her then. "But what?"

"We need the Senshi. Now."

-----

After being unceremoniously turned out of the school for a forced sabbatical the day before, Haruna had not gone home. She had been driving around ever since the incident, speeding past her apartment and every other place she could have and should have stopped for more than twenty-four hours. She wasn't feeling the least bit tired, and perhaps that's why she didn't wonder about why she hadn't needed to stop for gas at any point.

She still couldn't believe the nerve of them. Didn't they understand how busy she was? She didn't even have time to get out of her car and run her errands. She had been driving frantically from place to place for hours now, but she never seemed to have enough time to spend at any one location. There was too much of a pressing need to stay in her car to get to the next place in the dim hope that she would be able to make it there in time. She never did, so she just kept driving.

She'd been honked at numerous times, even sworn at. They thought she was reckless, but no one else understood. Haruna had to speed. The imposed speed limits wouldn't get her anywhere fast enough. She didn't understand how other people did it.

Right now, Haruna was rushing to have dinner. She had heard about a new Italian place that had opened up in Juuban recently. She was starving, but hadn't had time to eat. If she could just make it to the restaurant in the next twenty seconds, she could maybe squeeze in a minute to take a plate. After all, she was beginning to get dizzy in spite of how energetic she was. Everyone needed their nourishment.

She turned right at the street, ignoring the stoplight. It turned out to be her undoing as she noticed two students that attended Juuban Junior High School,
slowly making their way across the street. They looked excited, probably relieved to be done with their exams and taking their sweet time now that they had the leisure, making it impossible for people like her to get anywhere on time.

She honked her horn and shouted, "Out of my way, brats!"

The girls looked up in surprise and shrieked. One of them was smart enough to dive out of the way, but the other just stood there, gaping in disbelief as Haruna's car sped towards her without any signs of stopping. She didn't stop screaming.

"Damn it," Haruna cursed, slamming on brakes. The tires squealed against the pavement, attracting the attention of several passers-by.

The girl was still standing there like an idiot. Finally, some quick thinking boy from the high school ran into the street and pushed the girl out of the way. They landed on the pavement, several feet out of the way of her car as Haruna went hurtling passed them. Haruna would have kept right on going, but there were still more people in the way in front of her. While she didn't have time to stop, she also didn't have time to go to jail for vehicular manslaughter. She chose the lesser of two evils.

"So much for getting dinner," Haruna muttered angrily.

-----

Ami's mother had left the table a few minutes before, so she was not around to hear the tires squeal from just outside the restaurant. She also missed Rei come running towards her, looking a bit shaken. Ami had no idea what Rei wanted to speak to her about, but she knew from her face that it was serious.

"There you are," Rei said breathlessly. "I've been looking all over the place for you."

"I'm sorry," Ami answered softly without thinking. She winced and said, "I mean--"

"Look, I don't have time for this," Rei snapped. "Something's up. I found..." she trailed off and looked around, making sure that everyone else had returned to their conversation after her entrance. Not quite satisfied with that, Rei pitched her voice low. "I sensed something just now. Mamoru went outside to check it out, but you're going to have to come with me now."

Ami looked up, her face pale. She looked back towards the bathroom and said, "But my mother--"

"She'll forget it," Rei insisted, becoming annoyed.

Ami was still hesitant to go with Rei. She didn't question Rei's judgment or the fact that it was important, but she wanted to at least give her mother some explanation. She just wanted to wait long enough for her mother to return from the bathroom, and then she would go with Rei without question. She was about to explain all of this when Rei started speaking again.

"Oh, for God's sake. Is this about what's going on with us?" Rei accused. "I have to say, Ami, I didn't think you were that petty."

Ami narrowed her eyes and got to her feet. "It's not that at all, Rei! I just--"

"Then it's because I went out with Mamoru behind your back?" Rei asked. "All right. I admit it. I like him. Last time I checked, that isn't a crime. Yes, I sort of tricked him into it by saying that I invited you, but it's not like I'm part of an evil organization hell-bent on destroying the world. So, if you'd like to come off your high horse and be of some help, do it quickly."

Ami was shaking by the time Rei was done with her diatribe. It explained so much about the evening. Mamoru hadn't been avoiding her; Rei had been. She should have known to expect it from the girl. She had already seen just how far Rei would go to get what she wanted, and the world of dating was certainly no exception.

Ami knew that she could have said a variety of things. She had the courage to fire an argument back at Rei point for point. She'd done it before when it mattered, and Ami was sure that she could draw upon her anger over what Rei had done easily enough. Still, she knew that she could get her point across with just a few short words, and that was the path she choose.

"I just want to let my mother know I'm leaving," Ami said coolly as Dr. Mizuno approached the table.

At least Rei had the good sense to be embarrassed. She blushed and looked away, unsure of how to answer that.

Thankfully, she didn't have to. Dr. Mizuno had increased her pace when she saw Ami locked in an intense conversation with Rei and was speaking before she reached the table. "Ami--"

Ami forced herself to be as gracious as possible. "I'm really sorry, Mama, but I'm going to have to leave a bit early."

Dr. Mizuno stared at her daughter in disbelief. Ami wondered if her mother had ever considered the possibility that one day she might need to leave early. When she saw the look on her mother's face, Ami realized with sickening clarity just how awful Dr. Mizuno felt every time she was called away. She hated it.

"But why?" Dr. Mizuno asked, turning her gaze on Rei. She might not have known what was going on, but she knew who to blame for it. "Ami, I want to know what's going on."

Ami found herself scrambling for a probable lie. "Well, Mamoru and Rei feel terrible about upsetting me earlier. It turns out there was some sort of miscommunication between Rei and I."

Rei knew a cue when she heard one. She looked up and said, "Yes, I thought that I invited Ami to come with us, but it turns out that I dialed the wrong number and left the message on the wrong machine. So we'd like very much to make it up to her, if that's all right with you, Dr. Mizuno."

Ami turned back to her mother, her eyes pleading. When she saw the apprehension in her gaze, Ami knew exactly how to appeal to her. "I promise I'll be careful, Mama."

The hardness in Dr. Mizuno's face faded. She looked at each of the girls and saw what she must have thought was earnestness. She deflated a second later, waving Ami away. "All right. But don't stay out too late, and don't be afraid to call me if you need to come home." The line of her lips thinned and her tone altered slightly to make sure Ami understood how serious she was. "I mean it, Ami. I'll always come get you no matter what. Understand?"

Ami smiled gratefully and threw her arms around her mother's neck. She kissed the woman's cheek, thanking her profusely. Before Dr. Mizuno could say or do anything more, Ami had pulled away. She and Rei turned and practically ran out of the restaurant, leaving Ami's mother to the check and her solitude.

Once they were outside, Ami and Rei spotted Mamoru immediately. He was standing on the edge of a sidewalk, watching a dramatic scene unfold in the street. From what Ami could tell, someone had nearly been run over by a car, which accounted for the noise they had all heard a few moments before. The girls moved forward to get a closer look.

"I'm telling you, I don't have time for this nonsense!"

Ami paled. "I know that voice," she whispered, moving faster.

"What?" Rei asked, hurrying to catch up. "Who is it?"

When they reached Mamoru, Ami's worst suspicions were confirmed. Standing just next to her vehicle, her hand still poised on the door to reenter it was soon as she was given leave, stood Sakurada Haruna, Usagi's homeroom teacher. Ami had witnessed the end of the scene the day before and had been surprised by the raving look the teacher had possessed. That was nothing compared to how she looked now.

"She's a teacher at my school," Ami said quietly. She turned to Rei, wondering if this could explain her odd behavior the day before. "You think she's evil?"

Rei was about to snap at Ami for doubting her, but she thought better of it. She turned back to the situation at hand, studying it intently. She frowned and said, "It's strange. I feel an evil presence and it seems to be emanating from her, but I don't feel as if she's evil."

"Could she be possessed?" Mamoru asked softly, glancing around to be certain that no one was eavesdropping. Luckily, everyone was far too absorbed in the argument to worry about whatever they were saying.

Rei pursed her lips. "It's not… It's similar to that, but--" Suddenly, her eyes went wide, and her knees started to buckle. Both Mamoru and Ami had to reach out to steady her before she hit the ground.

"Rei!" Mamoru shouted, clearly fearful for her.

"What is it?" Ami asked, guessing the cause of Rei's condition. "What do you sense?"

Rei took a moment to catch her breath, gripping both of their arms tightly. She stared past them and the drama unfolding in the middle of the road. She was trembling. "That man. He's evil. I know he's evil."

Both Ami and Mamoru followed her gaze to a man standing across the street. He had auburn hair and was dressed in fine clothing, but other than that, they could sense nothing else about him. Still, they didn't doubt Rei's judgment. If she felt that strongly about it, it couldn't be wrong.

"Was he there before?" Ami asked Mamoru.

Mamoru shook his head. "I don't think so."

"It was like... he just appeared out of nowhere. It took me off guard," Rei explained, still staring at him. "And there's something else."

"What is it?" Mamoru asked.

"He feels just like Jadeite."

They needed no further prompting. Ami and Mamoru helped Rei to her feet and led her to the nearest secluded area. There was no time to waste.

-----

He had twenty seconds to go.

"You could have killed us!" the girl who had been smart enough to jump away and leave her friend behind shouted. "What are you? Nuts?"

Nephrite smiled and muttered, "Something like that."

Haruna scoffed. "As if I have time to be looking out for brats like you! I'm a very busy woman!"

Fifteen seconds.

The girl scowled. "Doing what? It's not like someone as crazy as you could have a boyfriend!"

This insult struck a nerve with Haruna. Nephrite felt her energy spike, getting closer to its peak. "I don't have time to have a boyfriend!" she insisted, ignoring how everyone else guffawed at her statement.

Ten seconds.

"So, you're not just schizoid? You're delusional too?"

Eight seconds.

"I'm too busy to get into a shouting match with a child!"

"Make time."

Nephrite only had to wait five more seconds. Then the youma would activate inside her vehicle in time with her energy's zenith. After that, it was a matter of watching and waiting for the life force to be delivered.

"I can't," Haruna answered, unaware of the significance of her words.

"Hey, you!!" a voice shouted from several feet away, approaching fast.

Nephrite turned, shocked to find a vaguely familiar red-clad girl racing towards him. She was accompanied by two hours, and he didn't have to wonder about who they could be. He ignored them, glancing back to make sure Haruna had not moved. He was relieved to find that she hadn't. He started to chuckle to himself, knowing that they were too late.

"THERE'S NEVER ENOUGH TIME!" Haruna screeched, her fingers digging into the car door.

Finally, time was up, and Haruna's energy was at its peak. Light exploded all down the street as the night air was broken apart with the sound of Haruna's shriek. Most people didn't wait to see what happened next. This and the appearance of Tokyo's warriors were more than enough. It was no longer safe to be there.

A shadow appeared to replace the vehicle, and two limbs that were meant to be arms wrapped around Haruna's waist. Her energy was drained rapidly while the three warriors looked on, gaping as the once young teacher turned into an old woman in their presence.

The shadow dropped Haruna to the ground and began to warp. Her energy was the catalyst to turn it into a monster that would do Nephrite's bidding. It became something that had clearly once been a car but now resembled something like a living tank. It's skin was similar to the car's paint job: dark blue except for the left arm, which was yellow. Its eyes were pure white. A tire was strapped to its back. And of course, it had fangs, which was standard in any self-respecting creature of the night.

"Mission accomplished," Nephrite said to no one in particular. He turned towards the people who would become his enemies. "You've arrived too late, soldiers. Her energy is mine."

Mercury seemed to be too busy staring at his victim in horror to respond to his bragging.

"Heal her this instant!" Mars demanded over the sound of panicked people fleeing the area.

"We won't forgive you for attacking an innocent woman," Tuxedo Kamen echoed, moving into a battle stance.

Nephrite sniffed, thoroughly unconcerned. "I don't have time for this." He held out his hand casually, straining only at the last moment. A ball of light resembling a shooting star came flying out of his hand. Before any of the other soldiers had time to react, the attack slammed into Mars's stomach. Both Mercury and Tuxedo Kamen dashed forward to keep her from falling, but the force of his attack was strong enough to send all three of them flying backwards. They stopped only when they came into contact with a car parked on the street, and Mercury still went flying over the hood.

"Listen well, Sailor Senshi. Tuxedo Kamen," Nephrite intoned greatly. "I am no one to be trifled with. I am Dark King Nephrite, and I will not make the same mistakes my predecessor made." He narrowed his eyes, surprising himself with his vigor. "You will pay for his death and for the embarrassment you've caused the Dark Kingdom. Make no mistake about that."

Deciding that he had said enough for the evening, Nephrite vanished and returned to the Dark Kingdom, where he would wait for the energy to arrive.

-----

Sailor Mars was suffering from the blow that Nephrite had dealt her, and she doubted that Mercury and Tuxedo Kamen were much better off. She struggled to step away from Tuxedo Kamen to give him room to recover. She looked over her shoulder and called, "Mercury! Are you all right?"

Sailor Mercury's head appeared over the hood of the car. She looked to be moving with some difficulty. She nodded to Mars, swallowing and looking back at their current predicament. "I need you two to get the youma away from Haruna-sensei." That said, Mercury saw no reason to remain and ducked down to fulfill her end of the plan.

Mars wasn't pleased to be ordered around by Mercury of all people. Last time she checked, Mercury had not been designated the leader, and Mars would have protested any such appointment with as much passion as she possessed. She would have made an issue of it, but at the moment, getting rid of this monster was a lot more important. She looked over at Tuxedo Kamen and hissed, "You start. If I attack, I'll probably wind up roasting her in the process."

Tuxedo Kamen didn't deny this possibility. She was slightly annoyed with him for that.

As it turned out, the youma wasn't going to need much prompting to move away from Haruna. Its eyes flickered, reminding Mars of a car's headlights. It glowered and spat, "What's the matter with you? You're supposed to be the soldiers meant to stop us. What are you standing around for?!"

Tuxedo Kamen stepped forward, even going so far as to swagger. He was a little unsteady on his feet, but she doubted that the monster could tell. He smirked, tilting his head at an angle that Mars thought he must have practiced. "Sorry about that. We really are going to attack you, but - and this might just be me - I'm finding it pretty hard to keep a straight face looking at that paint job. I mean, you have to admit, it is pretty bad."

This was just what they needed to say to get the youma away from its victim. Unfortunately, they had not counted on the fact that the monster could move a great deal faster than they could. It tried to growl at them, but it sounded far more like an engine attempting to turn over. Mars noticed that the monster was straining, and happened to look down to see wheels spring out of the bottoms of its feet. She swore and pushed Tuxedo Kamen out of the way, taking him down to the ground just as the monster would have run them both over.

She hopped to her feet and pulled him up with her, barely catching his hurried whisper in the process. "Thank you."

"Now we're even," she responded quickly. She heard an engine rev again and spun around just in time to see the youma speeding towards them once more. "Move!" she shouted, leaping upwards in order to avoid being run over. She saw Tuxedo Kamen spin to his right in order to save himself while Mars continued soaring overhead, flipping in the air and landing on her feet.

She ducked behind a car to give herself a moment to regroup. She sighed and muttered, "Mercury better have moved her already."

-----

As it turned out, Sailor Mercury was having a much more difficult time of moving Haruna than she would have thought. It wasn't that the woman was too heavy for her to move; the energy drain had also resulted in the woman becoming a bit lighter than she would have been otherwise. The problem was that Mercury had no idea where she was supposed to put her in order to keep her from getting hurt. She hadn't anticipated on the monster being able to move so quickly. She had no idea how she was going to get Haruna to a safe area without being noticed.

Mercury stopped behind a car to take a look at the state of the battle. Mars and Tuxedo Kamen had just been charged again, but they'd both managed to get out of the way before they were road kill. Tuxedo Kamen spun out of the way, producing a red rose as he turned. He flung his arm out with a cry, throwing the steel-tipped flower with as much accuracy as ever. The weapon made contact, embedding itself into the youma's left arm.

It stopped suddenly, just before it would have been a few feet away from Mercury. She saw Tuxedo Kamen make eye contact with her briefly, and she knew that it had been intentional on his part. Guilt rose up within her as she realized that he was practically martyring himself again.

She wanted to scream at him until she was hoarse. She felt like hating him when he did things like that, and the most painful part of it was that she couldn't. She clenched her fist and struggled not to scream at him. Didn't he know how stupid he was? Didn't he realize that if she and Mars lost him, they'd be devastated? What exactly was she supposed to do if he got killed?

Mercury felt ill, and she chose not to think about it. She hooked her arms underneath Haruna's shoulders again and proceeded to drag her away, satisfied that the youma's attention was elsewhere for the time being. It was too bad that she couldn't be satisfied with anything else.

She heard the monster rush again, but she didn't dare turn around. She simply moved faster, hoping to get rid of the teacher's body in time to be of more use to her allies.

Unfortunately, she couldn't have moved fast enough to prevent what happened next. She heard the all too familiar sound of Tuxedo Kamen taking a hit and nearly dropped Haruna to the ground in order to see what was happening. She turned in time to see Tuxedo Kamen go flying away from the youma's outstretched arm; it had landed an incredibly powerful punch. Tuxedo Kamen went careening into a light post. His back arched painfully, and he cried out.

"Tuxedo Kamen!" Mars shouted over the squealing. She looked over at the youma in rage, pulling out her ofunda. She sprang forward, shouting, "Aku Ryo... TAI SEN!"

The slip of paper went flying towards the youma at what Mercury thought was an impossible speed, but the monster was still faster. It zoomed out of the way,
allowing the ofunda to flutter uselessly to the ground. Mars ground her teeth and shouted, "Mercury! A little help here!"

Mercury knew she couldn't waste anymore time. She moved Haruna into an open shop where some of the witnesses were hiding. She exited just as quickly as she entered and began to make her way back to the battle when she noticed that someone had accidentally left their trunk slightly ajar.

Normally, Mercury would have bemoaned the silliness of people for not thoroughly checking their vehicles before they parked on the street and closed the trunk for them. However, this time, she thought she might be able to make used of something in the trunk. She jogged over and flung it open, hoping for something that could be used as a weapon.

She was lucky enough to find a tire iron.

"This should work," she muttered, slamming the trunk closed behind her. She leapt up onto the top of the car and looked around for the monster. It was hardly a chore to locate it - it was currently trying to run over her two allies, both of whom were dodging it admirably. Neither of them seemed to be happy about the situation.

Mercury knew that she wasn't strong enough to do any harm to the monster by whacking it over the head with her weapon; Tuxedo Kamen might have been, but he was clearly still suffering from the effects of the last blow he had taken. She stayed on top of the car for a moment, when she got an idea. She smiled and shouted over to the youma. "Hey!"

The youma came to a screeching halt, seething at her like a race car desperate to cross the starting line.

"Don't you get tired of playing bob and weave with those two?" Mercury taunted, hoping that nobody noticed the way her knees were knocking together. "There's another Sailor Senshi around, you know."

Mars was looking at her like she'd just lost her mind. She started to move forward to attack the monster again, but paid her no mind. It chuckled deeply and then rushed towards Mercury.

The blue soldier forced herself to hold her ground as she was charged. Her adrenaline was rushing through her body, telling her that it was time to flee, but she knew better. It was time to fight, but not quite in the way her ancestors had done. She waited, tightening her grip on the tire iron as the youma came closer.

"Mercury!" Mars shouted angrily. "Get out of the way!"

"Stop it! You'll be killed!" Tuxedo Kamen echoed.

Mercury shook her head. "Not today I won't," she muttered.

The monster was now within arm's reach. Mercury ground her teeth together and swung the tire iron like a bat, aiming right for the youma's eyes.

-----

The force of the impact sent Mercury flying off the top of the car. Tuxedo Kamen rushed over to Mercury, who was holding her right arm and winced. He crouched beside her and grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her a bit. "What's the matter with you?" he demanded. "Are you insane?"

She gave him a look that he knew was meant to say that he really shouldn't lecture her on self-sacrifice all things considered.

"Crazy or not, I think she just did us a favor," Mars remarked as she moved beside them, gesturing up to the youma. "Look."

Tuxedo Kamen followed her gaze and had to suppress a hardy laugh when he saw the monster's predicament. It was clawing at its own face and looking around frantically for its enemies. Sadly for the monster, it couldn't see them or anything else, and it wasn't going to for the rest of its short life.

Mercury had just knocked the youma's headlights out; it was completely blind.

He glanced down at her with a wide smile. "I should know better than to doubt you."

The compliment was unexpected and made Sailor Mercury blush furiously. Mars had absolutely no patience for that sort of thing and made that perfectly clear by reaching down and hauling Mercury to her feet. The red Senshi looked over at Tuxedo Kamen with some amount of irritation. As usual, he had no idea what he had done to deserve it.

"Are we going to finish this thing or what?" she asked brusquely.

Tuxedo Kamen looked back at the flailing monster, who was currently demanding that they all speak up so that she could tell where they were. Apparently the echo and the noise of the ongoing car alarm was disguising their precise location. It spun around, prominently displaying the spare tire strapped to its back.

He grinned and motioned for Mercury to follow him. "Just give us a few seconds,
Pyro."

Mars clearly would have been more than happy to rip him a new one for that comment, but Tuxedo Kamen didn't give her time. He grabbed Mercury's wrist long enough to make sure she was running, and then they both ran towards the monster. He started to pry the tire off its back, giving Mercury some idea of what they were doing. With her help they managed to get it off quickly.

The youma began flailing around wildly, sensing that something bad was about to happen. Tuxedo Kamen and Mercury dodged wildly, trying to avoid being hit by the blinded demon. Finally, Mercury crouched down and launched a kick to the back of its knees. The youma crumpled.

This gave Tuxedo Kamen opportunity to do as he had planned. He hefted the tire over his head and pushed it down onto the youma. He once again needed Mercury's assistance, but it wasn't long before they had the monster's arms sufficiently pinned and incapacitated.

"You bastards!" the sightless youma screeched. "You'll pay for this!"

"Maybe," Tuxedo Kamen agreed.

He and Mercury pushed the monster in Mars's direction, and it became very hard to remain menacing when it turned on its side and started rolling. Mars looked up at them with equal parts amusement and annoyance. "I fail to see why the tire is important."

Mercury shrugged. "It makes it flammable?"

"Oh, just light it on fire already," Tuxedo Kamen instructed.

The youma seemed to go pale. "Fire? Light what on fire?"

They all decided that it was more merciful not to answer.

-----

Sakurada Haruna awoke some time later with a very large bruise on her back and no idea how it had gotten there. However, she had not woken up alone, and her company managed to fill her in on what seemed to have occurred.

A policeman explained to her that she appeared to be the latest victim of one of the now famed "mysterious incidents." She must have been attacked by something and had her energy drained, for she'd had a similar pallor to the previous victims when she'd been found. Still, she should count herself lucky because she was much better off than some others had been. Witnesses had not been remiss in calling the proper authorities. They had arrived too late, but they had been in time to see the three strange warriors fleeing the scene.

She sighed sadly, crossing her arms in front of her chest as a policeman finished explaining that if she was willing to wait around awhile, he could arrange for someone to take her home. When he had first said that to her, Haruna had begun to insist that she would drive herself home. Sadly, he had been forced to inform her that her car had been a rather unfortunate casualty of the evening. They could not figure out what exactly had happened to it; his best explanation was spontaneous combustion.

In spite of being told how lucky she was, Haruna felt miserable. Not only had she lost her car, but she'd lost all of her memories of the past few days. Judging by the looks several of the witnesses were giving her, nothing good had happened. She did not want to think about what had happened at the school or anyone else she had encountered as of late. She was ashamed and she didn't even know what it was she had done. She wanted nothing more than to go home and have a good long cry in the shower.

She also realized that she had never missed Akihito more than at that moment. She sniffed and rubbed at her nose with the back of her hand. She would have hated to cry in front of so many people, but she was beginning to think that she was going to have little choice in the matter.

"Please, I have to see her!"

Haruna looked up at the sound of the familiar voice, her heart skipping a beat. "It can't be," she whispered, slowly getting to her feet. "It can't be."

"Haruna!" someone shouted from behind the police barricade. She spun around to see the most welcome face in the world bobbing up above the crowd and the two policeman telling him that he couldn't cross the line. "Haruna, it's me!"

Pride be damned, Haruna started crying instantly. She threw off the blanket someone had wrapped around her shoulders and ran forward. "Akihito!" she cried.

Akihito finally managed to get past the barricade, at least partially because the men stopped being concerned once they saw that he did in fact know the victim. He met her halfway, throwing his arms around her and practically crushing her with relief. "You're all right," he whispered happily. "Oh, thank God. You're all right."

"You're here!" she sobbed, hoping she didn't sound too hysterical. "What are you doing here?" She blushed, realizing her faux pas and quickly corrected herself. "I just mean--"

"Someone called and said you needed me," he explained into her hair. "They gave me this address, and I came because... Well, then I saw all of the police and the ambulance. I was so scared that you'd been hurt."

Haruna screwed her eyes shut, her shoulders shaking as her body was wracked with sobs. She pulled away and shook her head, whispering, "I'm so sorry, Akihito. I was an idiot. I should never have started the fight and I never should have let this go on for as long as it did and I never should have--"

Haruna could have gone on for a lot longer than that, but Akihito would have none of it. And he probably could have said something profound to make her be silent, but he was a man of action. So it was a surprise to neither of them when he stopped her words with a kiss he'd been dying to give her since the night she'd thrown him out of her apartment. And just like that, everything was fixed.

It was a perfect ending to one rotten evening.

-----

Once assured that Akihito had arrived at the scene of the attack, Ami finally said that it was all right for them to leave. They had watched over Haruna until help had arrived for her, and normally they would have left right after that. However, in addition to calling the authorities, Ami had also placed a call to Haruna's old boyfriend, deciding that she needed him more than anyone else right about then.

"How did you know his phone number?" Mamoru asked as the three of them hobbled away from the scene of the crime, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible.

Ami shrugged, her eyes focused on the pavement. "Haruna-sensei's love life is the best gossip at school. I don't think there's anyone left who doesn't know his name. I just took a gamble that he'd be in the phone book."

Mamoru chuckled, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Right. I should have known. I sometimes remember what middle school was like."

Rei glanced at the two of them out of the corner of her eye, her hands clasped behind her back. She turned her nose up a bit, making it clear to both Mamoru and Ami that the feud between the two girls was far from forgotten. "I do have to admit that it was quite a romantic way to end the night." She flipped her hair and leveled her gaze on Mamoru. "Wish I could say the same for my evening."

Mamoru rolled his eyes, not caring that he felt like a twelve-year-old doing it. "Rei, you are not going to make me feel guilty for what happened."

"Maybe not, but I'm allowed to try," Rei insisted with a glimmer in her eye.

Mamoru failed to follow her logic. "Listen, do I really need to say this again? I do not date. Just because you tricked me into coming on one doesn't mean that's changed. And even if I did date, you're too young for me. And even if you weren't too young for me, I don't believe in office romances."

Ami giggled, blushing when Rei and Mamoru turned to look at her. She shrugged sheepishly and said, "Sorry. I just thought it was funny. 'Office romance.'"

Mamoru chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. "You're right. It's not exactly apt, is it?" He looked over at Rei, expecting her to either be amused by his unintentional joke or furious that he was still refusing her.

She surprised him by looking perfectly calm.

Mamoru looked at her warily. "What is it?"

Rei looked up at him, her face still completely placid. "You might say that now, Mamoru, but that doesn't mean I'm going to give up."

Mamoru felt the muscles between his shoulders start to tense painfully. "Rei--"

"Don't worry, I won't trick you anymore," Rei assured him. "I'll just have to go about getting you the old-fashioned way. But I don't mind that. Contrary to popular belief, I can be patient when I want to be." That said, she flounced ahead of them, moving towards Mamoru's parked car.

Mamoru stared after her, completely flabbergasted. "I don't believe her."

"Neither do I," Ami answered. "But you have to admire her tenacity."

Mamoru shifted his gaze down to her and was shocked to discover that Ami was smiling. He was now thoroughly perplexed. "You people are driving me crazy. I thought you two were fighting!"

"We are," Ami said, her voice just a bit wistful. "But that doesn't mean I have to hate her." Ami smiled at him and then ran after Rei to climb into the backseat.

Mamoru just looked after them wondering what he had done to deserve this. He had to spend all of his free time battling deadly monsters from another world. The second round of the war had just started, and Nephrite wasn't going to be any easier to defeat than Jadeite had been. And his allies were two incomprehensible teenage girls.

"Luna's right. I'll never understand women."

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