Chapter 14

	Monday morning, Ami lay in bed long after her alarm clock went 
off, reluctant to leave the safety of her room. Today would be the first 
day of classes since the release of the video, but, though she had 
assured Akira the night before that she would be fine, the thought of 
facing her classmates, knowing most of them had probably seen the video, 
was unbearable.

	“I can’t do this,” she murmured to herself, pulling her blanket 
tightly around her body. “It’s too embarrassing. I just won’t go. The 
professors will understand…”

	A knock on the door interrupted Ami’s monologue. “Ami-chan, are 
you up yet?” her roommate asked, a brunette head popping inside. 
“Breakfast is ready, and I know you have an early class.”

	“I don’t think I’m going today,” Ami mumbled into her pillow, not 
even bothering to look up.

	“Why? Are you sick?“ A concerned Makoto came inside and took a 
seat on the edge of Ami’s bed. With motherly affection, she placed a cool 
hand on Ami’s forehead and frowned. “Well, you don’t have a fever. Do you 
have a headache? Cramps?” 

	Ami sat up, realizing it was pointless to feign sickness, and 
threw herself into her surprised friend‘s arms, choking back a sob as she 
buried her face in Makoto‘s generous bosom. She knew she was acting like 
a child seeking comfort in her mother‘s embrace, but, at that moment, Ami 
wanted nothing more than to be comforted and told that everything would 
be alright. “Please, Mako-chan, don‘t make me go,” she begged, her voice 
muffled. “I can’t go back to class. I can’t face them, not yet.”

	“Is this about the video?” Makoto guessed, sighing as she wrapped 
her arms around Ami and tried to comfort her. “Oh, Ami-chan, you know you 
can’t hide in here forever. Eventually, you will have to deal with what 
happened.” 

	“I know, but the thought of going to class and everybody staring 
at me… I can‘t do it! I just can‘t!”

	“But don’t you have that big test today?”

	“I’ll ask the professor to give me a make-up test. I‘m sure 
Azuma-sensei will understand.”

	“Ami-chan, I know you’re embarrassed about the video, but you 
shouldn’t let that interfere with your schoolwork,” Makoto said, gently 
forcing Ami to sit back up on her own. Sympathy flickered in her forest 
green eyes, but her face was surprisingly stern as she delivered her 
lecture. “The Ami-chan I know always tries her best, no matter what the 
circumstances. Don’t let this thing run your life. You’re stronger than 
that.”

	“B-But--”

	“No buts. Now, get out of bed and get ready for school,” her 
roommate ordered. “After breakfast, I’m going to walk you to class, and 
if anybody gives you any trouble about that stupid video…” Makoto pounded 
a fist into the palm of her left hand. “I’ll cream them!”

	“You don’t need to do that, Mako-chan.”

	“It’s not a problem. Now, get dressed before your eggs get cold.”

	After Makoto left, Ami realized her roommate was right. No matter 
how much she wanted to hide, if she allowed her life to be dictated by 
her fear of embarrassment, she would be letting the person who had taped 
the video win. Reluctantly, she climbed out of bed and headed to her 
closet, determined to find the least revealing outfit she owned. 
Fortunately, most of her wardrobe already leaned toward the conservative 
side, so it wasn’t hard to find something to wear to class. She pulled 
out an ankle-length black skirt, a white button-down shirt, and an 
oversized brown cardigan sweater and got dressed.

	When Ami entered the kitchen a few minutes later, Makoto arched 
an eyebrow at her choice of clothes, which were a bit heavy considering a 
warm front had come in the previous night, but didn’t say anything. They 
ate their breakfast in silence, then headed off to the university. 

	“I don’t know if I can do this, Mako-chan,” Ami said as they 
passed a group of giggly, whispering girls. Though she couldn’t hear what 
they were discussing, if the none-too-subtle points in her direction were 
any indication, Ami had a fairly good idea of the topic of conversation. 
“I can already feel the stares.”

	“Ignore them.”

	“It’s not that easy. I feel so naked…” 

	Despite the unusually warm February weather, Ami felt a shiver 
travel down her spine. She pulled her heavy cardigan tighter around her 
body and blushed when she heard a low whistle as a rather attractive 
upperclassman passed them by.

	“Ecchi!” Makoto yelled after the whistler, waving a fist in his 
direction.

	“That’s it! I’m skipping class.” 

	Having enough, Ami started to turn back, but Makoto wouldn’t let 
her leave. The tall brunette grabbed her arm, pulling her back. “No, 
you’re not, Ami-chan,” she declared. “You’ve faced worse than this 
before. This should be a walk in the park compared to the battles you’ve 
fought as Sailor Mercury.”

	“At least as Sailor Mercury, I had the power to defend myself,” 
she reminded her fellow senshi.

	“You just can’t let these perverts get to you. Trust me, this 
will all blow over in a couple of weeks when they realize they can’t hurt 
you.”

	“Do you really think so, Mak-AHH!”

	Feeling a slap on her butt, Ami shrieked.

	“Now, that’s what I call one fine piece of ass,” another boy, 
whom she assumed was the person who slapped her, said, a lecherous leer 
on his lips.

	Ami was too stunned to react, but Makoto immediately went into 
action, anger blazing in her eyes. “Big mistake, buddy,” the aptly named 
soldier of protection growled, rolling up the sleeves of her shirt and 
pushing the boy hard against the brick wall of the history building. “Who 
do you think you are, slapping my friend’s butt? Didn’t your mother ever 
tell you that’s no way to treat a lady?”

	“And just who the hell are you? Mizuno-san’s girlfriend?” he 
asked, his eyes instinctively lowering to stare at Makoto’s generous 
chest. “Man, what I wouldn’t give to see some of that action…”

	“Ecchi!”

	Makoto moved to slap the pervert across the face, but the boy 
managed to grab her wrist before she made contact. “Don’t be that way, 
sexy. You haven’t even heard my offer yet. How about 100,000 yen each for 
filming and a cut of the profits? I can make the two of you stars.”

	“No deal!” she said, kneeing him in the groin area.

	The boy bowled over in pain, but, while most men probably would 
have given up after an attack to their precious jewels, Makoto’s 
aggressiveness inexplicably seemed to turn the guy on even more. “Oh, a 
feisty one… I like that,” he said between gasps of pain.

	Fearing what he might do next, Ami grabbed Makoto’s shoulder and 
pulled her away, not an easy task when the Amazon had at least a good 
fifteen pounds on her. “Mako-chan! Stop, he isn’t worth it!” she begged. 
“Come on, my class is about to begin.”

	“Not until this pathetic excuse for a man apologizes to you.”

	“Please, you’re making a scene,” Ami said, wanting nothing more 
than to leave before they drew a crowd. Already, she noticed a couple of 
curious students passing by had stopped to watch the unfolding drama.

	“Better listen to your girlfriend, honey,” the boy smirked. By 
then, he had mostly recovered from the attack to his manhood. “Don’t want 
to have to sleep on the couch, do you?” 

	“Do you have a death wish, buddy?” Makoto asked, breaking free 
from Ami’s grasp and waving a fist under his nose. “Apologize at once, 
you no-good-sorry-excuse-for-a-human-being, or face the wrath of Kino 
Makoto.”

	“Oh, I’m so scared! Somebody save me!” he mocked, his voice high 
and girlish. 

	Some of the students who had stopped to watch the fight giggled, 
obviously thinking Makoto was no threat to the boy, but Ami knew better. 
Makoto hadn’t earned a black belt in karate on the grace of her good 
looks. Even in civilian form, her fighting skills rivaled even most men, 
and, when Makoto was protecting someone she loved, nothing got in her 
way. The boy, no matter how much he may have deserved a little roughing 
up, wouldn’t have a chance against her.

	“Please, Mako-chan!” Ami pleaded one more time. “It’s okay. He 
doesn’t have to apologize.”

	Her pleas went unheeded, though, as the tall brunette pulled back 
her fist in preparation for a punch, her other hand grabbing the collar 
of his T-shirt. “Last chance, perv. Apologize to the lady, now, or else 
I’m going to rearrange that face so bad not even your mother will love 
you.”

	Fearing the worst, Ami tightly shut her eyes, but the expected 
punch never came. The boy, finally realizing that Makoto was serious, 
threw up his hands in surrender, and once she had let go of his shirt, 
bowed in apology.

	“Gomen nasai, Mizuno-san!” he apologized before quickly sprinting 
off.

	“Coward,” Makoto muttered under her breath. “Are you okay, Ami-
chan?”

	Nodding, Ami breathed a sigh of relief as the small crowd that 
had gathered around them started to disperse. “You really didn’t need to 
do that, Mako-chan.”

	“Of course I did. Nobody disrespects one of my friends and gets 
away with it, especially a seedy lowlife like him! Can you believe he 
actually asked us if we would be interested in filming a porn movie 
together? The nerve!”

	“Well, at least he’s gone,” Ami said as they continued onto 
class. “Thanks for sticking up for me.”

	“Anytime.”

	A couple of minutes later, they arrived at the math building. 
Only a few people were loitering outside, but fortunately, most of them 
had their noses stuck in their textbooks, going over formulas and 
comparing answers with their friends. Ami’s arrival was mercifully 
uneventful, and she began to think she might be able to handle class 
after all. Everybody was too wrapped up in the morning’s test to spend 
valuable study time engaged in idle gossip. 

	“Do you want me to go up with you to the classroom?” Makoto 
offered as they climbed up the stairs to the door.

	Adjusting the strap of the heavy book bag swung over her 
shoulder, Ami shook her head. “No, I think I’ll be okay.”

	“You sure?”

	“You can’t stay with me the entire day, Mako-chan,” Ami reminded 
her, though silently wishing she could. “You have your job at the 
restaurant and your own classes. Besides, I think I need to face this by 
myself. I can’t depend on you to be my personal bodyguard twenty-four 
hours a day for the rest of my life. I need to find my own strength and 
deal with this in my own way.”


	“That’s what I like to hear.” Smiling, Makoto gave Ami a 
comforting hug. “Just remember, if anybody else gives you any more 

trouble, ignore the perverts,” she whispered in Ami’s ear. “They aren’t 
worth getting upset over.”

	“I will. Thanks.”

	“Good luck on the test. I’ll see you later.”

	“Ja ne.”

	Breaking apart, the two friends went their separate ways.

*****

	Akira was still in bed the third time his alarm went off later 
that morning, the bright red numbers on the digital clock reading 9:30 
when he groggily cracked open an eye to check the time. The last time he 
had slept in so late on a school day, he had still been a student in 
college, but without a class to teach or papers to grade, Akira felt no 
rush to get out of bed, one of the only perks of his suspension. He hit 
the snooze button once again and rolled over on his side, pulling the 
blanket over his head to block out the sunlight that filtered in through 
the window.

	He only managed to grab a few more winks, however, before he was 
awakened again by the sound of somebody knocking on his front door. 
Groaning, Akira rolled out of bed and pulled a T-shirt over the comfy 
sweatpants he had worn to bed, wondering who would be visiting him at 
this hour of the day when normally he was at work.

	“Coming!” he called out as he headed to the living room, running 
a hand through his messy hair in lieu of a proper comb.

	Opening the door, Akira was surprised to see his mentor standing 
in the hallway, holding a medium-sized cardboard box in his arms. 
“Nakajima-sensei?”

	The genetics professor smiled weakly. “I heard what happened, 
Akira-kun,” Dr. Nakajima said as he accepted Akira’s nonverbal invitation 
to come in and handed him the box. “Here, I brought some things from your 
lab I thought you might want. Rumor is you aren’t allowed inside the 
building, so I thought I would bring these by. I hope you don‘t mind.”

	“No, not at all. Thank you.” Gratefully, Akira took the box, 
filled mostly with his research files and personal items like the 
photograph of him and his siblings, and sat it on the coffee table. “I 
appreciate it.”

	“I didn’t wake you, did I?”

	Akira rubbed the rest of the sleep out of his eyes and chuckled, 
realizing he must look quite the fright with his unkempt hair, unshaved 
stubble, and mismatched clothes. “No, no, it’s fine,” he assured the 
professor. “I needed to get out of bed anyway. Being on suspension is no 
reason to sleep the day away.” Letting one last yawn out of his system, 
Akira started toward the kitchen for a caffeine-fix. “Coffee? Juice? 
Tea?”

	Taking a seat on the couch, Dr. Nakajima shook his head. “No, 
thank you. I can’t stay long. I have a class at ten-fifteen,” he 
explained. “I imagine you haven’t had much rest since word broke, have 
you?”

	In the kitchen, where he was preparing a cup of instant coffee, 
Akira shrugged. It had been a struggle to fall asleep last night when he 
couldn’t stop worrying about the investigation, but, once he had taken 
some mild, over-the-counter sleeping pills, he had slept like a baby the 
rest of the night...and most of the morning.

	“I manage to survive,” he said, stirring the mug of steaming 
liquid. “But Ami…”

	Sighing, Akira wondered how Ami had faired that morning. The 
night before, she had decided to go back to her own apartment to study 
for her calculus test. He hoped she managed to get more sleep than she 
had on Saturday night. She was going to need it -- not only to do well on 
the exam, but to face her classmates for the first time since the video 
was leaked.

	“How is Mizuno-san handling things?” Dr. Nakajima asked, breaking 
Akira from his thoughts of his girlfriend.

	Coming back out of the kitchen, Akira took a seat in the 
armchair. “She’s better than she was when we first learned of the video, 
but still… It’s hard on her, I know. I can’t imagine what she’s going 
through this morning, having to go back to class for the first time since 
it happened.”

	“She’s decided to go to class?” the older professor inquired, 
surprised. 

	“Yeah.” Akira smiled. “I tried to convince her that nobody would 
fault her for wanting to skip a few days, but she insisted that she 
wouldn’t let some ugly gossip keep her from her academic 
responsibilities.”

	“That’s a dedicated student.”

	“More like she’s trying to keep up a strong front,” Akira said, 
his proud smile dropping into a frown. “Ami’s trying so hard to not let 
this bother her, but I know it’s tearing her up inside. And now with this 
bogus investigation…”

	At the mention of the investigation, Dr. Nakajima mournfully 
shook his head. “She doesn’t deserve this. Neither of you do,” he said. 
“To think Tanaka-sensei would accuse you of abusing your position in that 
way…”

	“He knows it isn’t true. His arguments are weak at best. Tanaka-
sensei is only concerned with the image of the school, and he’s using his 
accusations as a way of punishing me for the video, since he cannot 
officially reprimand me for my relationship with Ami.”

	“How did that video leak out, anyway? Was it yours?”

	“No, of course not,” Akira answered. He was starting to become 
annoyed by all the inquiries into the origins of the infamous video. Did 
he really give off the impression of being a guy who liked to videotape 
his sexual exploits?

	“If it was, I certainly won’t judge you. I realize the younger 
generation is looser about these sorts of things…”

	“Nakajima-sensei, we did not make that video,” Akira insisted. 
“Somebody taped us without our consent. I found the camera hidden in the 
fire alarm in my bedroom.”

	Dark brown eyes widened at the revelation. “You found the camera? 
Did you have the police check for evidence?”

	“I, uh, kind of broke it.” The confession was accompanied by a 
bashful blush over the bridge of Akira’s nose. For being such intelligent 
people, neither he nor Ami even thought about contacting the police until 
the next day, when the evidence was already destroyed and it was too 
late. “Ami was so upset, and I wasn’t thinking clearly… Not my finest 
moment.”

	“Well, do you know planted it? Did the pervert leave any other 
evidence behind?”

	Thinking back, Akira tried to remember if he noticed anything 
unusual in the days before the taped encounter, but his memory came up 
blank. Whoever had broken into his apartment and hid the camera had 
covered his tracks well. The lock on his door hadn’t even been touched, 
as far as he could tell. There was no sign of forced entry. 

	“I’m afraid not,” he sighed as the door to his bedroom opened and 
Mercury walked over, licking the hand Akira casually dangled over the arm 
of the chair. “Not unless this guy could somehow learn to talk how to 
talk. Mercury’s the only one who might know for sure who did this.”

	“Do you have any suspects at all?”

	“Not a one. Other than you, nobody knew about me and Ami.”

	“Are you certain about that?” Dr. Nakajima pressed, raising an 
eyebrow. “Isn’t it possible that somebody from the school could have seen 
you together?”

	“I suppose anything is possible, but we were usually so careful…” 

	Setting down his coffee on the table, Akira was suddenly struck 
by an unsettling thought. There was, in fact, one person he had not 
considered who not only might have seen them together, but also possessed 
a key to his apartment: his neighbor/dog-walker Matsuno Hideki. However, 
the idea that the computer science major was behind the video was 
preposterous. What would he possibly have to gain? Besides, Matsuno was a 
good kid. Akira never would have trusted him with Mercury and his extra 
key if he had suspected otherwise.

	“No, it couldn’t have been him,” Akira declared, unaware he had 
been thinking aloud until he saw the confused look on his guest’s face.

	“It couldn’t have been whom, Akira-kun?” the professor asked.

	“Matsuno-kun, my dog-walker. He’s a college student who lives 
next door. He walks Mercury whenever I’m not home, so he has a key to my 
place.”

	“It sounds like he had easy access, then.”

	“Yes, but I can’t imagine Matsuno-kun doing something like that,” 
Akira said, shaking his head as he stroked Mercury‘s fur. “He’s not even 
a student of mine. I only know him from living here, and we’ve always had 
a good, neighborly relationship. What motive would he have to cause so 
much trouble for me?”

	Dr. Nakajima frowned. “Have you considered the possibility that 
you may not have been the main target?” he asked. “Maybe the person 
behind this mess wasn’t after you at all.”

	“You mean, he may have been after Ami?” Akira felt sick to his 
stomach at the thought. 

	“It’s a possibility. If the person behind this only wanted to get 
you fired, then why did he send that video to everybody on campus instead 
of going straight to Tanaka-sensei?”

	“But who would want to hurt Ami like that?”

	“Toudai is one of the most prestigious schools in the country,” 
Dr. Nakajima reminded Akira, “and you know that competition to get into 
the medical school is fierce. Maybe this person thought that by revealing 
your relationship with Mizuno-san, she would be forced to transfer or 
drop out, therefore getting rid of the main competition. In any case, 
this scandal will probably significantly affect Mizuno-san‘s chances of 
acceptance into Tokyo Medical, no matter what happens. It certainly won‘t 
help her.”

	“Damn,” Akira cursed, his hand balling into a fist. He hadn’t 
even thought of that.

	Getting up from his chair, Akira walked over to the desk situated 
in the corner of the room and opened the bottom drawer. Though he had 
quit years ago, he always kept a package of cigarettes on hand for times 
of stress. Today definitely qualified. After digging around the drawer 
for a few seconds, Akira managed to find an unopened pack and a lighter 
at the bottom and walked over to the entrance to the balcony, sliding the 
glass door open.

	“Cigarette?” he offered, opening the pack and shaking out two 
cigarettes.

	Dr. Nakajima turned around on the couch, a look of disapproval on 
his face. “I thought you had quit smoking those filthy things, Akira-
kun.”

	Akira shrugged, sliding one of the cigarettes back in the box and 
lighting the other. “Old habits die hard,” he replied and took a long 
drag, blowing the smoke outside. “You’re welcome to join me.”

	The older professor kindly refused. “No, thank you,” he said 
before returning the subject back to the topic at hand. “Akira-kun, what 
do you plan to do?” he asked.

	Flicking his ashes outside the door, Akira shook his head. He 
still hadn’t made any definite decisions about his future. He knew Ami 
thought he should stay and fight for his job, but the more he thought 
about it, the more he leaned toward leaving. It wasn’t only his future he 
had to worry about, but Ami’s, too. What would happen if the 
investigation found him guilty of unfair treatment? What would that do to 
her chances of acceptance into Tokyo Medical or any other top-notch 
medical school? 

	“I don’t know,” he sighed. “Maybe I’ll resign, get a job a 
pharmaceutical company. This teaching position was only supposed to be a 
temporary arrangement, anyway. It was never my intention to make this my 
career.”

	“Resign? No, Akira-kun, you can‘t. You‘re one of the finest 
professors we have,” his mentor said, walking over to the balcony door 
and resting a comforting hand on Akira’s shoulder. “I can’t believe you 
would give up so easily. Teaching may not be your dream job, but I know 
you love it.”

	“I don’t see what other choice I have, Nakajima-sensei. You know 
as well as I do that it isn’t likely the board will change their minds. 
If it was just me this involved, I wouldn‘t mind the fight, but every 
time I think of what this investigation will do to Ami…” Pausing, Akira 
dropped his half-smoked cigarette and snuffed it with the bottom of his 
slipper. “How can I put her through even more pain and embarrassment?” he 
asked, turning around. “How can I allow her to put her lifelong dream in 
jeopardy? You said it yourself that this scandal might harm her chances 
to get into a good med school.”

	“The damage is already done. No matter what you do, nobody is 
going to forget this for a very long time. Even just the accusation that 
she was sleeping with you in exchange for good marks is damning in the 
eyes of the admissions office.”  

	“I know, I know, but maybe if I bow out quietly…” 

	“…you’ll never get the chance to prove your innocence,” Dr. 
Nakajima said. “Giving your resignation is as good as admitting you’re 
guilty, Akira-kun. Sure, it might save the both of you the embarrassment 
of the investigation and hearing, but is that really what you want to 
do?”

	Akira, who had no immediate answer to his question, chose not to 
reply. Sighing, Dr. Nakajima lightly squeezed his shoulder before 
glancing down at his watch. “I’d best be on my way to class,” the 
professor announced. “My lecture starts in fifteen minutes. I‘ll show 
myself out.”

	“Thank you for coming by, Nakajima-sensei. I really do appreciate 
it.”

	“Don’t do something you’re going to regret, Akira-kun. I’ll see 
you later.”

	“Ja.”

*****

	All morning long, Hideki kept expecting Professor Kitagawa Akira 
to show up on his doorstep, demanding answers for what had happened. He 
had been away for most of the weekend, having gone home to celebrate his 
mother’s birthday, so it wasn’t until that morning when he had switched 
on the news that Hideki learned of the mass e-mail sent to every single 
student and faculty member at the school which had contained a link to a 
website broadcasting the explicit video between the chemistry professor 
and his student. The video had already been taken down by the time he got 
the link from one of his friends, but, judging by the announcement of the 
professor’s suspension and the investigation into his grading practices, 
the damage had been done.

	He couldn’t believe Yui! She had taken things entirely too far. 
When Hideki agreed to help her, he never in his wildest dreams suspected 
she would do something so horrible. It was one thing to show the video to 
the proper authorities and let them take care of the matter privately, 
but Yui had set out to completely embarrass the professor and Miss 
Mizuno.

	“What was she thinking?” he asked himself aloud as he stuffed 
some textbooks into his backpack, too angry to care that one of them was 
from the previous semester.

	After zipping the bag and swinging it over his shoulder, Hideki 
grabbed a banana and headed out to the elevator. His first class of the 
day wasn’t until that afternoon since his morning lectures had been 
cancelled, but he thought he would try to catch Yui between classes, 
since all attempts to reach her on her cell or at the dorm had proven 
unsuccessful. Besides, it was better than waiting around his apartment 
for the other shoe to drop.

	When the elevator doors slid open and he stepped inside, Hideki 
breathed a sigh of relief. So far, Professor Kitagawa had made no attempt 
to contact him, which he assumed was a good sign. Perhaps the professor 
hadn’t yet made the connection between the break-in to hide the camera 
and the fact that he had a key to the apartment…

	“Hold the elevator!” somebody called just as the doors began to 
slide closed. 

	Automatically, Hideki’s hand shot out to stop the doors from 
closing on his neighbor, but when he saw who was heading toward the 
elevator, he silently cursed his good manners. It was just his luck that 
the man happened to be the professor himself, taking Mercury out for a 
walk.

	“Thanks, Matsuno-kun,” Professor Kitagawa said as he and the 
excitable Corgi joined Hideki in the small elevator. “I appreciate it. I 
overslept, so this guy is probably dying to go outside.”

	“N-No problem,” Hideki stuttered, trying to force a friendly 
smile and failing miserably.

	If the professor noticed how uncomfortable he was, though, he 
didn’t show it. “By the way, I probably should have called you sooner, 
but there‘s no need for you to come by this evening, or any night for the 
time being,” he said. “I assume you’ve probably heard about my 
suspension. I’ll have plenty of time to walk Mercury myself.”

	“I was sorry to hear about that, sensei,” Hideki honestly 
apologized. “Yui always said you were one of her favorite teachers.”

	“Yes, well, these things happen. I wasn’t exactly blameless in 
the situation, dating one of my students,” he admitted. Sighing, the 
professor ran a hand through his hair. “I sure wish I knew who was behind 
the making of that tape, though.”

	Involuntarily, Hideki gulped at the mention of the video. Was it 
possible that Professor Kitagawa suspected him after all? He had been 
nothing but friendly since coming onto the elevator, but who was to say 
it wasn’t some kind of ploy meant to trick him into confessing?

	In a slightly shaky voice, Hideki asked, “Do you have any idea 
who might have done such a thing?”

	Much to his relief, the professor shook his head. “No, not at 
all. The intruder didn’t leave behind many clues. It doesn’t even look 
like the lock was picked.”

	“Maybe you forgot to lock the door that day,” he suggested, 
knowing full well how lame it sounded. As if a brilliant professor would 
ever forget something as simple as locking his front door.

	Luckily, however, Professor Kitagawa seemed willing at least to 
accept the possibility, even if he didn’t sound very convinced. 
“Perhaps.”

	The rest of their slow ride down to the lobby was spent in 
awkward silence, Hideki fighting against the strong urge to confess right 
then and there to what he and Yui had done, no matter what the 
consequences were. The guilt was just too overwhelming. The professor, 
despite his forced nonchalant attitude earlier when informing Hideki of 
his suspension, looked positively devastated, and Hideki knew it was all 
their fault. He at least deserved to know the truth.

	Didn’t he?

	Clenching one of his hands into a fist, a determined Hideki 
opened his mouth to speak, but at that moment, their elevator jerked to a 
stop, the doors opening to reveal the building’s empty lobby. The 
professor tugged on Mercury’s leash and was about to leave when suddenly 
he turned back around, holding the sliding doors open with one of his 
hands. 

	“Matsuno-kun, you didn’t happen to notice anybody strange leaving 
or entering my apartment during the past week, did you?” Professor 
Kitagawa asked, causing Hideki to involuntarily jump. “I know it‘s 
probably a long shot, but if you have any information…”  

	It was the perfect opportunity, but though Hideki wanted to 
confess, something held him back. “Gomen nasai, Kitagawa-sensei. I didn’t 
see anybody,” he said, shaking his head.

	Disappointed, the dark-haired man sighed. “Well, it was worth a 
shot. Thanks for your help. Come on, Mercury.”  

	The dog seemed reluctant to leave, staring up at Hideki with 
large brown eyes. If Hideki didn’t know better, he would have sworn 
Mercury, the only witness to the crime, was encouraging him to confess, 
but, finally, the professor managed to pull the Corgi away. Exhaling 
loudly as he stepped out of the elevator and watched the two head 
outside, Hideki cursed his cowardice.

	What had Yui gotten him into?

*****

	The moment her psychology class was over, Yui jumped from her 
seat and rushed to Professor Azuma’s office, her heart pounding in 
anticipation. The calculus professor had promised to have that morning’s 
test graded by that afternoon, and, sure enough, when she arrived at the 
office, the balding, middle-aged man was posting the scores on the 
bulletin board beside his door.

	Already, a group of her classmates was there, as anxious as she 
was to find out their grades. Yui quietly joined them, not interested in 
engaging in their uninteresting banter, and nervously gnawed on her 
fingernail as the professor took his time in tacking the single sheet of 
paper to the board.

	‘Come on, sensei,’ she mentally prodded him. ‘Even snails are 
faster than this!’

	Yui wasn’t sure how much of more of the suspense she could take. 
That piece of paper would tell her if her efforts had been rewarded and 
she had finally beaten Mizuno Ami in the standings. Though the blue-
haired genius had surprisingly showed up for class that morning, albeit a 
minute late, Yui wasn’t particularly worried. It was clearly obvious from 
the dark circles under Miss Mizuno’s eyes that she had not slept well the 
night before. Still, Yui would feel better once she knew for certain that 
she had beaten the girl genius, who didn’t even have the courage to come 
find out her grade. Yui looked for her rival, but Miss Mizuno was not 
among the group that had gathered in front of the bulletin board.

	Finally, Professor Azuma pushed in the final thumbtack and took a 
step back from the board, allowing the anxious students to crowd around 
the posting. “Congratulations, Yokoyama-san,” the professor said as she 
brushed by him on the way to join the mob. “Good work.”

	Encouraged by the congrats, Yui pushed herself to the front of 
crowd and squealed when she saw her name on the top of the list. 

	“I can’t believe this,” she breathed, her eyes still 
narcissistically glued to her name.

	Around her, the rest of her classmates were experiencing the same 
reaction, simultaneously congratulating Yui for her high mark and musing 
aloud about what had caused Mizuno Ami to have such a poor showing in the 
rankings. Curious, Yui glanced down the list for her rival’s name and was 
unable to hide a satisfied smirk when she saw the formerly infallible 
genius coming in at a lowly eighth, barely managing to hold onto an A. It 
was by far the lowest score the blue-haired genius had received in her 
two years at Tokyo University.

	Revenge was indeed sweet.

	“Yui!”

	Broken from her revelry by the sound of her boyfriend’s voice 
above the buzz of the crowd, Yui smiled brightly and turned around to 
search for him. She couldn’t wait to tell Hideki the good news. Finally, 
she had proved that she deserved his love, and Yui fully intended to 
thank him for his help, already thinking about what sexy nightgown she 
would wear over to his apartment that night for the celebration. After 
what he had done for her, Hideki had earned a little action.

	However, when she finally spotted her handsome boyfriend standing 
near the back of his crowd, his face was free of the proud smile she 
thought for sure he would be wearing, In fact, Hideki looked almost grim, 
his jaw set and his lips pursed together so that they formed a straight 
line across his face. Yui was confused, and became even more so when she 
managed to make her way over to where he stood and felt his fingers wrap 
around her wrist, roughly yanking her away from her classmates.

	“Hey! What do you think you’re doing, Hideki?” she yelped as he 
led her down a deserted hallway. “You’re hurting me!”

	“We need to talk,” he said, loosening his grip on her wrist but 
not completely letting go until they stopped in front an empty lecture 
hall. “I can’t believe you!” Hideki snapped once he was sure nobody else 
was around.

	“What?” Yui asked, honestly not knowing what had caused him to 
get so mad. 

	“What were you thinking, posting that video on the Internet and 
sending a link to every student and faculty member in the school? Are you 
insane?”

	Yui rolled her eyes. She couldn’t believe Hideki was getting so 
worked up about her sending those e-mails. “What did you think I was 
going to do with it?” she asked. “Keep it for my own viewing pleasure? 
You know I’m not that kind of girl.”  

	“I thought you planned on only sending it to the dean. He’s the 
only one who needed to know about Kitagawa-sensei’s and Mizuno-san’s 
relationship. There was no reason whatsoever for you to embarrass them on 
such a wide-scale level. Have you *completely* lost all sense of humanity 
in your quest for intellectual superiority?”

	“Don’t be so dramatic, Hideki,” she sighed. “From what I hear, 
Mizuno-san should be thanking me. There isn’t a guy on this campus who 
wouldn’t love to go out with her after seeing that video.”

	“Yeah, because they think she’s a slut.”

	“Oh, cry me a river.”

	Yui felt absolutely no sympathy whatsoever for her rival, though 
she did have some regret having to involve Professor Kitagawa, who had at 
one time been one of her favorite teachers. As far as she was concerned, 
Mizuno Ami got exactly what she deserved. It was about time people 
started to realize that Little Miss Perfect wasn’t so perfect after all 
and finally saw her for the lazy whore she really was.

	“Who are you?” Hideki asked after a moment of silence, staring at 
her as if they had just met for the very first time. “Geez, Yui, I don’t 
think I even know you any more.”

	“Don’t be silly. I’m the same person I’ve always been.”

	“Then I must have been blind to think I was ever in love with 
you.”

	“What are you saying, Hideki?” she asked.

	“I’m saying it’s over between us, Yui.”

	At those words, Yui felt her heart tighten in her chest. “What?” 
she gasped, positive that she must have heard wrong. “What did you say?”

	Sighing, Hideki leaned up against the wall and crossed his arms 
over his chest. “I want to break up,” he declared. “Whether you want to 
admit it or not, you’ve changed, Yui, and not for the better. I don’t 
like this new version of you. The old Yui never would have gone to such 
drastic measures to get a good grade.”

	“You’re being ridiculous, Hideki. I’m finally the woman you’ve 
always wanted, the woman you always deserved,” Yui said, refusing to 
accept that their relationship was over. He couldn’t break up with her, 
not when everything she had done was for him. “Didn‘t you see the test 
scores? For the first time, I was at the top of the list and Mizuno-san 
wasn‘t even in the top five.”

	“Congratulations. It must feel great to be number one, knowing 
the only reason you got there was by destroying the lives of two people 
who never did *anything* to hurt you,” Hideki replied, the sarcasm 
practically dripping from his voice.

	“Why are you acting like this? It’s not like you’re exactly 
blameless in this whole situation.”

	“Yes, I am partially to blame,” he admitted. “I will readily 
confess that, but at least I have the decency to feel horrible about what 
we did. In fact, I have half a mind to go down to the dean’s office right 
now and tell him I was the one who made the tape.”

	“You can’t! Are you insane? You’ll be expelled,” Yui reminded 
him, blocking his path when he started to leave.

	“There are worse things.”

	“Hideki!”

	In one last desperate act to get him to change his mind, Yui 
threw her arms around his neck, but Hideki calmly untangled himself from 
her embrace and brushed right past her.

	“Goodbye, Yui. I hope you enjoy being first in the class, because 
as of now, you are dead last on my list.” 	 

*****

	On the small balcony outside his apartment, Akira took a long 
drag on his cigarette and slowly exhaled as he stared down with 
disinterest at the teenage boy cleaning the building‘s swimming pool. It 
was the fifth one he had smoked since his conversation with Dr. Nakajima 
that morning, but, though he knew he ought to stop while he still could, 
Akira welcomed the calming effect the nicotine had on him.

	And boy, did he need it after what had happened over the last 
couple of days. Between learning about the video and getting suspended 
from his teaching duties, Akira’s stress levels were through the roof. It 
certainly didn’t help matters that he wasn’t even allowed access to his 
lab. Usually, work was his way of dealing with stress. Without that, who 
would begrudge him a cigarette or two?

	Taking another puff on the cigarette, Akira heard the glass door 
leading out onto the balcony slide open and another person join him 
outside. He didn’t even bother to glance behind him, knowing exactly who 
was there. Besides Matsuno the dog walker, who only came over when Akira 
was unable to walk Mercury, Ami was the only other person with a key to 
his apartment.

	“Yes, I know it’s a filthy habit,” he said after she had finished 
closing the door behind her, cutting her off before she could say 
anything about the lit cigarette in his hand. He was not in the mood for 
a lecture.

	Coming up beside him, the blue-haired girl folded her arms on top 
of the cast iron railing and shook her head. “I wasn’t going to say 
anything,” she lied.

	“Yes, you were,” Akira said, the slightest hint of a grin 
crossing his lips. “I bet you have an entire speech prepared, filled with 
statistics on the dangers of smoking.”

	“You know me too well.” Ami glanced over at him. “I didn’t know 
you smoked.”

	“I don’t, at least, not any more.” Sighing, Akira flicked his 
ashes off the edge of the balcony and hoped nobody was out on the balcony 
below him. “Back in college, I used to be a fairly heavy smoker,” he 
admitted. “It helped with my stress levels, yet didn’t mess up my brain 
like alcohol and other drugs would.”

	“That doesn’t mean it was any less dangerous.”

	“I know. That’s why I quit after graduation. I only smoke now 
when I feel under pressure.” Akira brought the cigarette back up to his 
lips and took one last drag before snuffing it out on the railing and 
tossing the used butt away. “So, how were classes today?” he asked, 
changing the subject.

	Beside him, Ami shrugged and pulled the dull brown cardigan she 
wore tighter around her waist, as if trying to keep out a chill even 
though it was comfortably warm for February. “It went as well as I 
expected, which isn’t saying much, but I’ll survive,” she said. “What 
about you? What did you do today?”

	“I decided to turn in my resignation.”

	With that blunt announcement, Akira turned to head back inside 
the apartment, unsurprised when his girlfriend decided to follow him. 
“Akira, what do you mean you’re turning in your resignation?” Ami 
demanded to know, closing the glass door behind her as he plopped down on 
the couch.

	“I meant exactly what I said, Ami.”  

	“But why?” Taking a seat on the couch, she stared at him in 
shock. “I don’t understand. The hearing’s only a couple of weeks away. 
Why resign now when there is a possibility that the school will allow you 
to teach again?”

	“Come on, Ami, don’t be so naïve. Do you honestly believe the 
school will revoke my suspension?” he asked, shaking his head at the 
memory of the meeting he had attended yesterday with the dean. “No, the 
board has already made their decision. The hearing is only a formality. 
At least if I resign quietly, maybe I’ll be able to retain a shred of 
dignity.”

	“You think refusing to fight for a job you love will protect your 
honor?” she asked in disbelief. “If you ask me, I think the only thing 
quitting does is make you a coward.”

	Akira inwardly flinched at the uncharacteristically mean words 
coming from her mouth, but he didn’t necessarily disagree with Ami’s 
assessment of the situation. Maybe he was being a coward, but he had 
struggled with the decision most of the day and had come to the 
conclusion that resigning from his teaching position would be the best 
solution for everyone. It was the only way to salvage what was left of 
their reputations, which would surely be ruined if the school continued 
to investigate into their relationship.

	“I’ve already made my decision,” he declared. “My letter of 
resignation is written, ready to be delivered to the dean tomorrow, and I 
have a new job lined up for me at Awayuki Pharmaceuticals.”

	“Awayuki Pharmaceuticals?” she repeated. “But aren’t they located 
in Kyoto?”

	Turning his face away from hers, Akira nodded. “I’ll be going 
down there this weekend to look for a place.”

	“You’re moving?” Placing her hands on her lap, Ami was quiet for 
a long moment before softly asking, “But what about us?”

	It pained Akira to hear the slight waver in Ami’s voice as she 
asked the question he had been dreading to answer ever since he had come 
to his decision. He didn’t want to hurt her, but surely she must realize 
what he had known all along. They had no future together. It had been 
wrong to pretend they could. At the back of their minds, they both should 
have known it would have to end sooner or later.

	“There is no ‘us,’” Akira finally declared, his fingernails 
digging painfully into the palms of his clenched hands. “I think it’s 
best for all involved if we decided to end this relationship.”

	“Best for who? Certainly not best for me.”

	“Try to look at this objectively…”

	“Love isn’t supposed to be objective, Akira!” Ami exclaimed, 
jumping to her feet. “That is why it is called an emotion, and if you can 
turn it off so easily, then I have to wonder if you even felt it in the 
first place.”

	“Do you think I *want* to do this?” he asked. “Ami, if there was 
some way we could be together, I would do it in an instant, but there 
isn’t. Even if by some miracle the board did decide to reinstate me, they 
would no doubt insist we stop seeing each other.”

	“You’re probably right, but that doesn’t mean you have to move to 
Kyoto. You could get another job here in Tokyo. Awayuki Pharmaceuticals 
isn’t the only drug company in Japan.”

	“Stay here, where everybody knows I slept with one of my 
students?” Bitterness coated his voice as he recalled an incident that 
had happened earlier that day when he had taken Mercury out for a walk. 
“When I went to McDonald’s this morning for breakfast, do you know what 
happened? This sweet old woman who lives on the floor above me came over, 
slapped me, and called me a pervert in front of the entire restaurant.”

	“It hasn’t been a picnic for me either, you know,” Ami shot back. 
“Can you imagine how it felt for me today, going back to class, knowing 
almost every boy I passed had seen the video and was mentally undressing 
me with his eyes? I won’t even mention some of the lewd things they said 
to me, but you know what? I’m going back tomorrow, and the next day, and 
the next because I refuse to be a victim. I spent too much of my life 
dreaming of attending okaa-san’s alma mater to throw it all away over 
something like this. I won‘t let this setback cost me my dreams!” 

	By the time she finished, Ami was practically in tears, her 
entire body shaking with a combination of anger, sadness, and 
embarrassment. Akira hadn't even thought of how his revelation would 
affect Ami, he'd been so caught up in his own emotions, and a wave of 
guilt and tenderness swept over him.

	“Oh, Ami…”

	Standing, he moved to comfort her, but before Akira could even 
lay a hand on her, Ami stepped back from his touch, shaking her head. 
“Don’t touch me unless you mean it, Akira,” she said. “I don’t want your 
pity. All I want is you, but if you can’t give me that, then I think I 
better go.”

	Though more than anything, he wanted to take Ami back into his 
arms and tell her everything was going to be alright, he knew he couldn
‘t. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I can’t do that.”

	“Then, goodbye, Akira.”

*****

	Ami exited Akira’s building, the tears she had struggled to hold 
back when she walked out the apartment now streaming freely down her 
face. She didn’t even bother trying to wipe them away, although she knew 
people were staring at her as she passed them by. She was already the 
subject of the hottest gossip in town, so why not give the people even 
more to talk about? Her reputation was ruined, anyway.

	Up ahead, there was a bus stop at the intersection where the road 
leading to the university met with the street Akira lived on, but Ami 
passed it by without a second glance. The last place she felt like being 
at the moment was on a crowded bus with a bunch of strangers whispering 
behind their newspapers and perverted businessmen trying to grope her 
behind. Instead, she continued walking, unsure of where she was going, 
but knowing that she wasn’t ready to go back to the penthouse and face 
Makoto’s inevitable questions about what had happened just yet.

	How could she explain when she didn’t even understand what 
happened? Ami thought they had agreed to face the scandal together, 
investigation and all. She had told Akira she didn’t care what happened 
to her as long as they could stay together, so why was he so quick to 
give up without a fight? Worse, why was he so willing to leave her for 
another job in Kyoto?

	Ami would have accepted it if Akira just decided to resign from 
his teaching position. It would have been a shame for the university to 
lose such a wonderful professor, and she might have been disappointed at 
first, but at least Ami would have understood why he did it. Akira was 
right; there was very little chance the board would reinstate him. Most 
likely, the school’s investigation into their affair would cause more 
harm to their reputations than good, so a resignation made sense to spare 
them any further embarrassment. But the fact that he was willing to not 
only sacrifice his job but their relationship as well -- it hurt.

	As she arbitrarily turned a corner, Ami wondered if Akira had 
ever even loved her at all. Maybe he was just using her for sex, and once 
the truth came out about their relationship, she had lost all her appeal 
as a piece of forbidden fruit. After all, it was human nature to want 
what a person couldn’t have. With their affair out in the open and no 
need to hide anymore, maybe he had lost interest in her.

	Ami shook her head. No, she knew Akira. He would never do 
something like that. Besides, she had been the one to insist they keep 
seeing each other after that night, not the other way around. Akira was 
the one who thought they should have stopped while they were ahead. 

	In retrospect, she realized he was right.

	What an idiot she had been.

	None of this would have happened if she hadn’t been so caught up 
in the romance of it all, thinking she and Akira shared a love that 
rivaled even Usagi’s and Mamoru’s. She should have known better. From 
what little she knew of the senshi of the future, none of them were 
married or even had lovers, so what made her think she could change that? 
Maybe the senshi really were destined to never be happy in love, their 
lives devoted solely to the royal family.  

	“Baka Ami,” she muttered to herself, swiping the sleeve of her 
cardigan across her teary eyes. 

	Looking around to see where she was, Ami realized she had somehow 
made it to the Crown Arcade and Fruit Parlor. She had no idea what had 
brought her there of all places, but the familiar sights and sounds of 
the arcade’s many games triggered a wave of nostalgia to come over her, 
reminding her of a time when she was still an innocent schoolgirl, her 
life devoted only to her studies and her duties as a senshi. Ami wiped 
away the last of her tears and headed inside, exchanging the money she 
found in her pocket for a roll of tokens.

	Many of the games she remembered from her teens were gone, but 
one game, practically hidden in the corner, still remained: Sailor V. It 
had long lost favor with younger patrons more dazzled by the increasingly 
sophisticated visuals of the newer games, yet Motoki, who had taken 
control after his father decided to retire, swore he would never sell or 
throw it away, no matter how old and out-dated it became, as a tribute to 
the group of girls who had saved his life on more than one occasion. Ami 
looked around for the handsome manager so she could say hello, but it 
appeared Motoki was out on business or in back, so she took a seat in 
front of the archaic game and placed a token in the coin slot to begin.

	Despite the fact that she was greatly out of practice, Ami 
breezed through the levels as if she had never stopped playing. It didn’t 
provide much of a challenge, but she had to admit it was therapeutic to 
take out her frustrations on the youma dancing across the screen. She 
just imagined they were Dean Tanaka and his other cronies on the board, 
feeling a sense of satisfaction every time she managed to get a hit.

	She was so engrossed in the game that Ami failed to notice when 
somebody came up behind her, looking over her shoulder at her score on 
the screen.

	“I see you’re as amazing as always, Ami-chan.”

	Ami jumped, startled by the familiar voice, and missed hitting 
her target, which unfortunately gave the youma the chance to attack her 
instead, landing a fatal blow.  As the “Game Over” screen popped up, Ami 
twirled around on her stool to face an apologetic Furuhata Motoki.

	“Gomen, I didn’t mean to distract you,” he apologized, rubbing 
the back of his neck. “I was just so surprised to see you he-- Hey, have 
you been crying, Ami-chan?” 

	Ami brought her hand to her cheek, feeling the wetness of a tear 
running down her face. Where had that come from? She didn’t remember 
starting to cry again. 

	“It’s nothing,” she insisted, wiping the tear away.

	“Nothing?” Reaching into the pocket of his ever-present apron, 
Motoki pulled out a handkerchief and handed it to Ami. “It doesn’t look 
like nothing. Your eyes are all red. Either you’ve been crying or 
drinking, and since you don’t strike me as the sake-binging type, that 
leaves only one choice.”     

	Looking down, Ami wrung the green handkerchief around her 
fingers. “It’s just been a bad day,” she said softly, wondering if Motoki 
knew about the video. “I don’t really feel like talking about it right 
now.”

	“I see. Well, I don’t know what happened, but I do know something 
that might cheer you up,” he said. Evidently, he hadn’t heard the gossip. 
“I’m about due for a break, so why don’t I take you upstairs and get you 
a smoothie? Your favorite is still passion fruit, right?”

	“No, I couldn’t--”

	“I insist. My treat. My family does own the place, after all.”

	Motoki took off his apron and hung it on a hook on the wall 
behind the main counter. Then, before Ami could protest, he took her hand 
and led her upstairs to the Crown Fruit Parlor.

	“Unazuki, one large passion fruit smoothie and a glass of green 
tea,” Motoki called out to his younger sister, who still worked as a 
waitress there.

	“Coming right up, onii-chan!”

	The two of them sat down in one of the booths next to the large 
window looking down onto the street below. Motoki, much to Ami’s relief, 
didn’t try to get her to talk about what happened, instead filling her in 
on what was going on in his life. She tried to be an attentive listener, 
but it was hard to do when Ami kept imagining she saw Akira passing by on 
the street, despite the fact that she knew he couldn’t possibly know 
where she was.

	“Looking for somebody?” Motoki asked about the sixth time Ami 
glanced out the window.

	“Huh?” Turning her attention back to her companion, Ami blushed 
when she realized what she was doing. “Oh, gomen nasai, Motoki-onii-san,” 
she apologized. “I’m not being good company, am I?”

	“I don’t mind, although I am a bit concerned. Ami-chan, I know 
you said you didn’t want to talk about what apparently happened, but you 
really look like you could use a friend right now. Even if you don’t feel 
comfortable talking to me, maybe you should go see Usagi-chan or one of 
the others.”  

 	“No, not yet. I’m still too embarrassed.”

	“Embarrassed? Of what?”

	“You really don’t know, do you?” Ami asked as Unazuki came by and 
set down their drinks in front of them.

	“Know what? Did you get in a fight with one of the girls or 
something?”

	Ami shook her head. She wished it were only that. “No, it’s 
nothing like that. It’s a…school thing.”

	“Don’t tell me the girl genius finally flunked a test?”

	His lame attempt at humor at least got a smile out of Ami.

	“My boyfriend and I broke up,” she finally admitted.

	“Boyfriend? I didn’t know you were dating anybody. Usagi-chan 
never mentioned a word to me, and she usually tells me everything 
whenever she comes by the arcade after a hard day of cram school, whether 
I want to know or not.”

	“She didn’t know. Nobody knew, except for Mako-chan.”

	“Oh, I see.” Motoki stirred his tea and took a drink. “Well, 
break-ups are hard, but you shouldn’t be embarrassed. Everybody goes 
through them. Just ask Mako-chan and Minako-chan.”

	“It’s not that I’m embarrassed about; it’s the reason why we 
broke up.” After taking a sip of her smoothie, Ami set the cup back down 
and took a deep breath. Motoki was going to learn what happened 
eventually, either from Usagi and Mamoru or from a customer, so it might 
as well be from her and not some gossiper with all the wrong facts. “You 
see, my boyfriend was a professor at Toudai.”

	Motoki nearly choked on his tea. “You were dating your 
professor?” he asked after he recovered from his coughing fit.

	Ami nodded. “Hai. That’s why I couldn’t tell Usagi-chan and the 
others. Mako-chan didn’t even know who he was, only that I was seeing 
someone.”

	“I can certainly understand why you felt you couldn’t tell them. 
Dating a professor isn’t usually looked on too kindly by the school,” 
Motoki said, his eyes widening slightly in understanding. “Is that what 
happened? Your relationship was discovered?”

	“In the worst possible way.”

	“Oh, Ami-chan, it couldn’t have been that bad.”

	“Somebody taped us, Motoki-san.”  

	“Taped you? Like on a date or something?”

	Shaking her head, Ami looked down at the Formica tabletop and 
fought the urge to break down again. Why was she even telling him this? 
It wasn’t as if they were ever especially close. Back when she first 
started coming to Crown, she had had a mild crush on Motoki -- as had 
most of the girls, sans Rei -- but that was about the extent of their 
relationship beyond the fact that he was one of the few outsiders who 
knew her secret identity as Sailor Mercury. He was a good friend to the 
senshi, but he’d always been closest to Usagi and Minako.

	Still, he was being so kind…

	“Then what?” he asked when Ami didn‘t provide any further 
explanation. Motoki’s hand slid across the table to cover hers in 
comfort. “Ami-chan, what happened? It couldn’t be as bad as you think. 
It’s not as if they filmed you being…uh, you know…oh.”

	She didn’t need to tell him that he had guessed right. Motoki 
withdrew his hand and sighed. “It was you, wasn’t it? In the video they 
showed on TV? I caught the very end of the clip they showed, but even 
with the blue hair, I never thought it could be you. Oh, Ami-chan…”  

	Blinking back tears, Ami slid out of the booth. It had been a 
mistake to confide in him. Instead of helping her, it just made her feel 
worse. “I have to go,” she said hoarsely. “Thank you for the smoothie, 
Motoki.”

	“Wait, Ami-chan. Don’t go!”

	As Ami headed downstairs and back out onto the street, she was 
aware that Motoki was following her. She made it all the way to the 
street corner before he managed to catch up to her, grabbing her arm. 

	“Ami-chan!”

	Ami didn’t resist as Motoki pulled her into a comforting hug. It 
felt so good to be held by somebody, anybody. As she sobbed into the 
fabric of his shirt, Motoki whispered, “It’ll be okay,” over and over 
again until Ami almost started to believe it.

	“Gomen nasai, Motoki-onii-san,” Ami apologized when she finally 
lifted her head. “I shouldn’t be burdening you with my problems, not like 
this.”

	“You’re not a burden,” he said. “Come, let’s sit down.”

	Motoki led her over to a bench in front of a nearby store, where 
they sat down and he handed her a napkin he must have grabbed from the 
fruit parlor before he chased after her. Ami used it to wipe away her few 
remaining tears, knowing she must look like an absolute wreck, and 
finished telling Motoki the rest of the story, somehow managing to keep 
her composure.

	“I see,” Motoki said once she had finished her story. “No wonder 
why you’re so upset.”

	“It’s like Akira doesn’t care about me any more,” Ami murmured, 
crumpling the napkin into a tight ball in her hand. “I don’t understand. 
I told him numerous times that I didn’t care what happened to me as long 
as we could be together, so why does he want to leave?”

	“I think I understand.”

	“You do?”

	Motoki nodded. “This situation reminds me a lot of when Reika 
left for Europe,” he said. “She was torn between pursuing her life-long 
dream or staying here with me.”

	Ami remembered. Motoki and his girlfriend had almost broken up 
over Reika’s job offer, but, in the end, they managed to work it out, so 
she didn’t understand why he was comparing that situation to hers.

	“What does that have to do with Akira breaking up with me?” she 
asked.

	“I didn’t want Reika to leave. I wanted her to stay and marry me, 
but I knew that if she did, a part of her would always resent me for 
standing in the way of her dreams, so I decided to let her go. Maybe 
Akira-san feels the same way, that he will only get in the way of your 
dreams if he continues to stay in your life.”

	“That’s ridiculous!” Ami exclaimed.

	“Is it? You want to be a doctor, right? How many medical schools 
do you think would accept you if they knew about the scandal?”

	“It’s already public knowledge. Akira deciding to break up with 
me does nothing to change that.”

	“No, it doesn’t, but, over time, people will forget, especially 
if the investigation ends and you two aren’t together to remind anyone of 
what happened.” 	

	She supposed he was right, although Ami still thought it would 
have been better to let the school investigate them so they could prove 
once and for all that nothing illegal had happened between them. With 
Akira quitting before the investigation could even begin, they would 
never be able to prove their innocence. Even if the scandal blew over, 
would anybody ever really forget the allegations against them?

	“But, hey, what do I know?” Motoki said with a shrug when she 
didn’t say anything. “I don’t even know the guy, so maybe our situations 
aren’t so similar. Whoever he was, though, I think he’s a fool for 
letting a great girl like you get away.”

	Ami smiled at the compliment, feeling a bit better after their 
chat. “Thanks, Motoki-onii-san, for everything,” she said, standing. “I 
should probably be heading back home. I have a lot of studying to do for 
tomorrow.”

	“Yeah, I should get back to the arcade myself. Just think about 
what I said, okay?”

	“I will.” 

*****

	When her final class of the day ended, Yui headed back to her 
dorm, feeling grateful when she saw that Yoko was not there. According to 
the note Yoko had left her on the dry-erase board hanging on the back of 
their door, her slutty roommate was going to a party and didn’t expect to 
be back until morning, which was perfectly fine with Yui. She was not in 
the mood to deal with that helium-voiced bimbo, not after what had 
happened.

	Yui didn’t understand. Today should have been one of the happiest 
days of her life. Not only had she beat Miss Mizuno in the rankings, she 
had completely crushed her -- and in one of her best subjects, to boot. 

	But then Hideki had to grow a conscience and ruin everything.

	Hadn’t he realized that everything she had done was for his 
benefit, just as much as hers? It wasn’t every guy who could say he was 
going out with the smartest girl in school. For the first time since they 
had started dating, Yui finally felt like she was worthy enough to be 
called Matsuno Hikdeki‘s girlfriend, but, instead of being proud of her 
accomplishment, he had broken up with her. 

	Strangely enough, Yui didn’t feel like crying. That was the usual 
reaction to such an event, but she was far too angry to wallow in 
heartbreak. Grabbing a framed photograph of her former boyfriend off her 
desk, Yui raised it above her head and smashed it on the floor as hard as 
she could. Tiny pieces of glass flew everywhere.

	Stepping over the mess -- she had forgotten to take off her shoes 
when she came in, so Yui wasn’t worried about cutting herself -- she 
threw herself on her bed and buried her face in one of her pillows to 
scream without garnering the attention of her neighbors. It was cathartic 
to let out her anger, and when she sat back up a few minutes later, Yui 
felt much calmer. She cleaned up the broken glass, then walked over to 
the phone to call Hideki, hoping that he had come to his senses. She 
refused to believe it was truly over between them. Hideki may have been 
mad at her, but she was certain that he would eventually see things from 
her point of view and forgive her for sending those emails.

	The phone rang a total of five times before his answering machine 
answered and Yui gave up, cursing and slamming the receiver back down in 
its cradle. She knew his schedule by heart, so she knew Hideki had to be 
home, screening his calls so that he wouldn’t have to talk to her. Her 
left hand clenched into a tight fist, and it took all her willpower to 
fight the urge to go over to his apartment and sock him in the nose.

	How dare he treat her this way! His hands were just as dirty as 
hers. Nobody had forced him to go along with her plan to catch Professor 
Kitagawa and Mizuno Ami in the act. He could have told her that he would 
have no part in it from the very beginning, but no, Hideki had willingly 
agreed to help her, thinking that there would be nothing to catch. Well, 
it wasn’t *her* fault that he hadn’t believed her when she told him that 
Miss Mizuno was having an affair with the professor, and if he hadn’t 
even considered the possibility that she would take the video public 
considering her history with Miss Mizuno, then maybe he wasn’t as smart 
as she always thought he was. He had no right to be act so smug and self
-righteous.

	The thing that worried Yui most, though, about Hideki’s newfound 
guilty conscience was his threat to go to the authorities with what he 
knew. If the school learned she was behind the distribution of the video, 
she was bound to be expelled and everything she had done to destroy Miss 
Mizuno’s reputation would be for nothing. She couldn’t let that happen.

	Yui began pacing around the small room, trying to figure out how 
she could stop Hideki from going to the dean -- assuming he hadn’t 
already. However, the only thing she could think of was to get him to 
take her back, something that was not likely to happen any time soon 
considering how mad he was at her. Yui honestly had never seen him so 
angry, and, while she had no doubt that Hideki would eventually forgive 
her, she didn’t have time to wait for his forgiveness.

	“Dammit, this wasn’t supposed to happen!” she swore, kicking one 
of Yoko’s plushies across the room. “Even when she’s down, Mizuno’s still 
making my life hell. First, she steals my limelight, and now because of 
her, I‘ve lost my boyfriend and possibly my future career. What do I have 
to do to win over her?”

	The ringing of the telephone cut short her tirade, and Yui’s 
heart leapt as she quickly ran over to answer it, nearly tripping over 
another of Yoko’s plushies in her excitement. Maybe her luck was about to 
change. 

	“Hideki?” she said hopefully, bringing the receiver up to her 
ear. “I’m so glad you called. About this afternoon--”

	“Yo, is Yoko-chan there?” a voice which obviously didn’t belong 
to Hideki interrupted.

	Yui scowled. That girl really needed to get herself a cell phone 
so she wouldn’t have to deal with Yoko’s boyfriends, if they could even 
be called that. She was tired of always having to cover for her roommate. 
“No, she isn’t,” Yui said in the most sweetly pleasant voice she could 
fake. “Maybe you should check out the Photography Club party. She won’t 
be hard to find. I’m sure she’ll probably be the one letting the guys 
take pictures of her topless. Goodbye.”

	She hung up the phone before Yoko’s friend could react, not 
particularly caring if her roommate got mad at her for spilling the beans 
after her note specifically said to tell any guy who called that she was 
studying at the library. As far as she was concerned, she had done the 
guy a favor, just like she had done for the whole school when she 
revealed what a dirty little whore Little Miss Perfect was.

	If only she could get Hideki to understand that…

*****

	After her shift at the restaurant was over, Makoto headed back to 
the apartment with her boyfriend, walking hand-in-hand down the quiet 
streets as a full moon shone down on them from above. Normally, her 
romantic late-night strolls with Itto, who insisted on walking her home 
whenever she had a late shift even though he knew she was more than 
capable of taking care of herself, were the highlight of her day, but her 
concern for Ami took precedence over her own enjoyment.

	She had been worried about her roommate all day long, ever since 
she left Ami at the math building that morning. Maybe she shouldn’t have 
convinced Ami to go to class so soon after the video’s release. If what 
had happened earlier with the future Hugh Hefner was any indication of 
what Ami would have to put up with from her fellow classmates, then it 
might have been wiser to wait until the gossip died down.

	Oh, if only she attended Tokyo University!

	“You’re awfully quiet today, Mako-chan,” Itto commented, breaking 
the silence between them. “Busy day at the restaurant?”

	Makoto shook her head, feeling bad about ignoring him after he 
had gone out of his way to meet her. “Gomen nasai,” she apologized. “I 
just have other things on my mind tonight.”

	“Like Ami-chan?”

	“How did you know?” Makoto asked, her eyes widening slightly when 
he guessed correctly.

	“Don’t act so surprised. I know you, Mako-chan. Your friends are 
the most important thing in your life, and whenever one of them is in 
trouble, you worry about them. It’s one of the things I like best about 
you.”

	Makoto blushed at the compliment, but, before Itto could notice, 
she looked down and started kicking a large pebble with the toe of her 
sneakers. “Today was Ami-chan’s first day back at the university since 
the video’s release,” she explained.

	“She actually decided to go to classes?”

	“Well, she was a bit hesitant at first, but I managed to convince 
her to go. I thought it was best that she face the gossip head on, but 
now I’m not so sure it was such a great idea.”

	“Why not?”

	Makoto told him what happened with the guy who had harassed Ami 
that morning. By the time she got to the part where he offered them both 
a part in a porno, Itto was visibly enraged.

	“He did WHAT?!”

	“Don’t worry. I showed him exactly what I thought of that idea.” 
Remembering the look on the pervert’s face when she kneed him in the 
balls, Makoto smirked in satisfaction. He had gotten exactly what he 
deserved. “But what if somebody else bothered Ami-chan after I left?” she 
asked.

	“After what you did to that guy, I doubt anybody else would try,” 
Itto assured her, wincing slightly in sympathy. “By the way, remind me 
never to get on your bad side, Mako-chan.”

	“I did get him pretty good.”

	“See? With a protector like you on her side, nobody will mess 
with Ami-san.”

	“I hope you’re right, Itto-kun,” Makoto sighed, clinging onto his 
arm as they crossed the street to the apartment building. “Ami-chan has 
already been through enough already.”

	“I know. I still can’t believe she was dating her chemistry 
professor. You really had no idea?”

	Makoto shook her head. “I knew she was seeing someone, but she 
told me he was a businessman separated from his wife. I never suspected 
her real boyfriend was Kitagawa-sensei. I mean, sure, the other girls and 
I liked to tease her sometimes about having a crush on him, but we never 
seriously thought it was true. Ami-chan was always so…so…”

	“Prudish?”

	“Well, yeah. This whole affair came right out of left field. And 
the video…”

	“Do they know who made the tape?” Itto asked, pushing the “UP” 
button for the elevator.

	“No, not a clue. Ami-chan says it wasn’t Kitagawa-sensei, but I 
don’t know who else would have known about them. I live with Ami-chan and 
I didn‘t even know, so it seems unlikely that somebody else would have 
found out. They did a pretty good job keeping their relationship a secret 
until the tape was released.”

	“Could it have been the pervert from earlier? The one who wanted 
to film the porno?”

	Shrugging her shoulders, Makoto boarded the elevator as the doors 
slid open, Itto right behind her. “Anything is possible, I suppose,” she 
said, “but I don’t think so. Ami-chan didn’t seem to recognize him, and 
he didn’t mention anything about it. Most likely, he was just somebody 
who happened to see the video.”

	“Well, I hope they find whoever is behind this.”

	“Me, too.”

	A couple of seconds later, the elevator stopped on the top floor 
of the building. Silently, Makoto and Itto got off together and walked 
over to the door of the penthouse.

	“Well, here we are,” she said, digging in her purse for her keys 
when she saw that the door was locked. “Gomen, Itto-kun. I would invite 
you in, but…”

	Itto held up his hand, interrupting before she could finish. “No 
need to explain,” he said. “I understand. You need to focus on Ami-san.”

	“Thanks.” Glad that he understood, Makoto smiled and lightly 
caressed his cheek. She really did have the best boyfriend in the world. 
“I really am lucky to have you in my life. You know that, right?”

	“No, *I’m* the lucky one,” he insisted, chastely kissing her 
cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Mako-chan.”

	“Good night.”

	Once Itto had left, Makoto turned around and unlocked the door. 
“Tadaima!” she called out, entering the apartment. “Ami-chan? Are you 
home?”

	Though a lamp in the living room was turned on and Makoto saw the 
half-eaten remnants of a cup of ramen noodles laying on the coffee table, 
her roommate was nowhere in sight. Makoto picked up the trash, and after 
tossing it away, she headed toward Ami’s bedroom, wondering if she had 
already gone to bed. Pressing an ear against the wooden door, Makoto 
could just barely make out what sounded like weeping on the other side.

	“Ami-chan?” Makoto hesitantly knocked on the door, unsure if she 
should bother Ami when she was obviously upset about something. “Ami-
chan, it’s me. Can I come in?”

	There was no answer.

	Makoto started to head toward her own room, but her concern for 
her roommate caused her to turn back. Even if Ami wanted to be alone, she 
ought to make sure she was at least okay.  

	Quietly, Makoto opened the door and peeked inside. She found Ami 
laying face down, her head facing toward the foot of the bed. Laying 
beside her was an opened textbook and a pack of multi-colored 
highlighters, but only a couple of lines on the page had been highlighted 
in an half-hearted attempt at studying. Makoto walked over to the bed and 
closed the book, setting it aside on the nightstand. She then took a seat 
on the edge of the mattress and began rubbing her friend’s back, Ami’s 
muffled sobs breaking her heart.

	What had happened? Makoto had never seen Ami so upset in her 
life. 

	“Ami-chan, what’s wrong?” she finally asked, her voice soft and 
full of concern. “Did something happen at school?”

	Her roommate shook her head but didn’t look up from the pillow 
she had buried her face in. “School was fine,” Ami said, or at least that 
was what Makoto thought she said. It was hard to tell when her mouth was 
covered.

	“Oh.” That was good, at least. Makoto supposed news of her near-
rumble with the pervert had done its job of preventing any more major 
harassment from Ami’s classmates over the video. “Do you want to talk 
about what’s bothering you, then?” she asked. “I mean, if you don’t, 
that’s fine. I can leave if you want…”

	“No, don’t go.” One of Ami’s hands shot out from underneath her 
pillow, grabbing Makoto’s wrist before she could stand. Unable to move, 
Makoto sat there until Ami’s head finally rose from the pillow, her eyes 
rimmed with red and her skin blotchy. “Don’t go,” she reiterated again, 
her voice lowered to a soft whisper. “Please, Mako-chan, don‘t go.”

	Makoto couldn’t help thinking Ami sounded like a little girl 
begging her mommy not to leave her on the first day of school. She felt a 
strong wave of maternal instinct come over her, and letting Ami rest her 
head in her lap, Makoto affectionately petted her messy blue hair and 
whispered what she hoped were words of comfort until Ami had finished 
crying what was left of her tears.

	“Gomen nasai, Mako-chan,” Ami apologized, sitting up and swiping 
the sleeve of her cardigan over her watery eyes. “I didn’t mean--”

	“It’s okay,” Makoto assured her. “I didn’t mind.”

	Ami stood from the bed and went over to her vanity, grabbing a 
couple of tissues from the box sitting on the table. “I look an absolute 
mess,” she said as she looked at her reflection in the mirror, trying her 
best to blot away the evidence of her moment of weakness. It didn’t help 
much.

	“What happened?” Makoto asked again.

	At her question, Ami stopped in mid-blot, crumpling her tissue 
and tossing it into a nearby wastebasket. For a long moment, she was 
silent, but eventually, she turned back around to face Makoto, the look 
of absolute heartbreak on her face. Even before Ami said the words aloud, 
Makoto knew what had happened.

	“Oh, Ami-chan…”

	Going over to her friend, Makoto pulled Ami into a tight hug and 
began rocking the smaller girl back and forth as a fresh batch of tears 
started running down her face.

	“H-He left me, Mako-chan,” Ami said, barely able to get the words 
out of her mouth. “Akira broke up with me and he’s moving to Kyoto. After 
everything we‘ve been through, he just threw it all away…”

	Makoto shushed her, her emotions alternating between concern for 
Ami and a raging anger toward the man who had caused her best friend such 
pain. How *dare* he break up with Ami after everything had happened! She 
had met more than her share of jerks in her lifetime, but Professor 
Kitagawa just about took the cake. What kind of guy dumped a girl after 
the kind of public embarrassment he had put her through?

	“You want me to go break his kneecaps for you?” Makoto offered, 
only partially joking. “Because I will. All you have to do is say the 
word, and I’ll go over to his apartment right now…”

	Against her shoulder, she felt Ami shake her head “no.” 

	“It’s okay, Mako-chan. It’s not his fault, not really.”

	“What do you mean it’s not his fault? Don’t tell me you’re 
blaming yourself for what happened.”

	“No, it’s not really anybody’s fault.” Sniffling, Ami pulled out 
of Makoto’s embrace and took a seat back on the bed after grabbing 
another tissue from the box. “Maybe our love just wasn’t meant to be. 
Maybe this is fate’s way of telling me that I’m not meant to have a love 
life.”

	“I don’t believe that for a second,” Makoto declared, as much for 
her sake as for Ami’s. She didn’t like to admit it, but, in the past, she 
had often had that same fear, that she and the other senshi were destined 
to live the rest of their lives without experiencing the kind of love 
Usagi and Mamoru shared. Of course, that was before she started dating 
Itto. She didn’t worry as much about it now, but occasionally the voice 
in the back of her mind would speak up and remind her that love didn’t 
always last forever.

	At the moment, the voice was almost deafening.   

	“How can you be so sure?” Ami demanded to know, looking up at 
Makoto. 

	“Because I believe there’s somebody out there for everybody, even 
us senshi,” Makoto replied, forcing herself to ignore the voice. “Some 
people might never find that special someone, but that doesn’t mean that 
person doesn’t exist. All you have to do is find him, Ami-chan.”

	“But I thought I had,” she groaned

	With a loud sigh, Ami fell back on her neatly-made bed and hugged 
a pillow tightly to her chest. Despite the situation, Makoto couldn’t 
help being a little bit amused. After years of being completely devoted 
to her studies, it was kind of comforting to know that even bookworm Ami 
could act like a regular twenty-year-old girl on occasion.

	“Well, maybe Kitagawa-sensei just wasn’t the guy you were meant 
to be with,” Makoto said, taking a seat beside her roommate on the bed. 
“I mean, he is almost a decade older than you, and he was your professor… 
You have to admit it wasn‘t the most ideal relationship.”

	“Some people might say that you and Asanuma-kun don’t have an 
ideal relationship either, Mako-chan,” Ami said. “He’s a year younger 
than you, isn‘t he?”

	Makoto frowned. “You don’t think that’s strange, do you? I mean, 
some of Itto-kun‘s friends like to tease him about his ‘older woman,’ but 
you never said anything…”

	“Oh, no, of course I don’t!” Ami sat back up, shaking her head. 
“I didn’t mean that at all. I think you two have a great relationship, 
and Asanuma-kun’s a wonderful guy. I only meant that just because two 
people don’t necessarily fit into society’s idea of what a couple should 
be doesn’t mean that they can’t have a successful relationship. It didn‘t 
matter to me that there was a large age difference between us or that 
Akira was my teacher, just like it doesn’t matter to you that Asanuma-kun 
is one year younger than you. I loved him for who he was.”  

	“You really did, didn’t you?”

	Ami nodded, reaching for the drawer to her nightstand and pulling 
out a framed photograph Makoto had never seen before. It appeared to have 
been taken at the shrine where Ami had gone for New Year‘s; Makoto 
recognized the scenery from some of the other boyfriend-free photos Ami 
had shown her of her holiday trip. Ami was dressed up in the beautiful 
blue kimono Makoto had made for her, and the man next to her -- Professor 
Kitagawa -- looked very handsome in his tailored suit. 

	“He’s not the jerk I know you think he is, Mako-chan,” Ami said 
softly, her eyes not looking up from the picture she held. “I know you 
still think he was behind the video‘s release, but he wasn’t. Akira’s 
just as embarrassed about the whole thing as I am, and he’s trying his 
best to do what he thinks is right.”

	“By leaving you? If you ask me, he sounds like a coward. If 
Kitagawa-sensei really loved you, wouldn‘t he do everything in his power 
to stay with you?”

	“Not if he thought I was better off without him.” Sighing, Ami 
placed the picture frame facedown on her nightstand and stood up to look 
out her window. “I didn’t really understand it until I talked with 
Motoki-onii-san, but I guess sometimes when you love someone, you have to 
know when to let them go, even if you don’t want to. I realize that now,” 
she said, pulling back one of the curtains. “The scandal has put Akira in 
a bad spot. The school board’s already suspended him, and he will more 
than likely be fired once the investigation is over. His reputation is 
ruined, so who am I to stand in the way of his fresh start?”

	“But what about you?” Makoto asked, her hands unconsciously 
balling into fists at the unfairness of it all. Why was she making 
excuses for him? “What about your fresh start, Ami-chan? Your reputation 
is as shot as his. Why does he get to run off to another city while you 
stay behind to deal with the fallout of this mess?” 

	Much to Makoto’s surprise, Ami actually looked over her shoulder 
and smiled. It wasn’t a happy smile, but a smile nonetheless. “I guess 
I’m too stubborn,” Ami said, turning back around to face Makoto. “I’m not 
willing to leave Toudai, not even for him. It would be easy for us to run 
away together, for me to transfer to a Kyoto school and him to take his 
new job at Awayuki Pharmaceuticals, but would either of us be truly 
happy? I would be giving up my dream of graduating from okaa-san’s alma 
mater just for him, meaning Akira would have to live with that guilt for 
the rest of his life. And I can’t force him to stay in Tokyo when he’s 
likely out of a job and the whole city thinks he’s a pervert who took 
advantage of his student. That would be selfish of me. As much as I hate 
to admit it, maybe Akira was right. It probably is for the best that we 
don‘t see each other anymore. Even if he did stay here with me, people 
will never accept our relationship.”

	“You don’t know that. Maybe if he actually stayed and fought 
whatever charges the school board is making instead of running away with 
his tail between his legs, you two could convince everybody that there 
was nothing dirty about your relationship.”  

	Ami shook her head. “Mako-chan, it’s a nice thought, but I don’t 
see that happening,” she said, sitting back down on the bed and reaching 
for the book Makoto had set aside. “I just have to accept that this was 
for the best. That’s the only way I’ll get through this. Thank you for 
your sympathy, but I’m fine now. I should probably get back to work on my 
studies.”

	“Are you sure?”

	Makoto had a sneaking suspicion that Ami was only saying that so 
she would leave, but the blue-haired girl nodded as she moved to sit 
against the headboard and turned back to the page where she left off.

	“Well, then, good night,” Makoto said as she stood up, reluctant 
to leave but honoring Ami’s wishes. “Just remember, if you ever want to 
talk--”

	“--you’ll be there.”


DISCLAIMER: "Sailor Moon" is the property of Takeuchi Naoko.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Comments and criticisms can be sent to me at 
ElysionDream@aol.com. Special thanks to my editors, Starsea and I 
Abibde/Samuraiter.