Okay, be harsh.

This draft is very rough.  There's some parts I'm not happy with, and
would like your opinions on.  I've already had one *very* good analysis of
parts of this, but would like to hear other opinions before proceeding.
So anything you want to comment on, please do.

Oh, and a reminder:  This is based on the KOR manga, *not* the anime,
which includes both movies.  I also consider the novels to be part of the
anime continuity, too, since they are clearly based on the anime ending
rather than the manga ending.  Also, this part of my story references
manga stories not seen in the anime.  Let me know if you need summaries of
the stories referenced here.

I'm doing some radical things again.  ^_^  Let me know what you think.



Life So Dear

by

Richard Lawson


Part 2


Kyosuke had cried in pain before in his life.  Several times, actually.
Dressers had been known to fall on him for no readily apparent reason.
But never had he traveled beyond screaming, to a place where each new
flare of pain only caused him to whimper and sob.

His entire left hand was agony, a constant sharp and throbbing pain.  His
right hand was slowly coming to match it.  A wrench, a whimper, and
another one of his fingers was broken.

"Your will breaks easily, Kasuga."  The shape bent over him spoke in a
mocking, cruel tone.  "I thought you were made of stronger stuff.  I am...
disappointed."  Another snap, and this time Kyosuke managed a choking
scream.

He had to *think*.  If he could think, he could do something.  But he
couldn't, his mind was clouded and the pain was overwhelming and he
couldn't think.  This was a nightmare, but he should be waking up, oh God
please let me wake up.

"Ma... Madoka."

The torturer paused in his work.  "Oh?  Who is this?"

Kyosuke sobbed.  "Why?  Madoka, why?"

"Madoka?  Who is this... a girlfriend?"  The torturer leaned over
Kyosuke's face, his expression one of interest.  "Could it possibly be
that, among the many women you've bedded, there's one you actually cared
for?"

It didn't make sense, none of it did.  Madoka, he could see her, smell
her, she was turning in his arms and kissing him, where was she?
"Madoka..."

"Well, first things first."  With a sharp tug, Kyosuke's forefinger was
broken.

Kyosuke cried out again, and he felt his mind slipping.  Slipping
somewhere underneath the drugs and the pain, and taking his sanity with
him.  It was a relief, he was scared, he'd never come back and never see
Madoka but it was worth escaping the pain.

"You'll answer all my questions in time.  You'll feel pain as you've never
felt it before.  Days of it maybe, although I don't think you're that
strong.  We'll see what we can do."  The dark shape grabbed Kyosuke's
thumb firmly.

Madoka... he couldn't give up on Madoka.  He'd do anything for her,
anything.  Pain, pain, he hated the pain but he needed Madoka, but his
mind couldn't stand the pain, it was too much, he needed her he needed
her.  The pain, the loss, his mind, it was *his* mind, and he loved her.
"MADOKA!"

And his mind... went elsewhere.  And took his body with it.

---

Amano shot to his feet.  "Where did he go?!"

The tall man was staring blankly at the empty table, shock on his face.
His hands blurred, and a knife stabbed at the center of the table, deeply
imbedding itself in the wood.

Amano wanted to swear profusely, but he couldn't.  He had an image to
maintain even now.  "Find him.  Find him and kill him immediately.  He's
more dangerous than we thought."

The tall man produced a walkie-talkie.  He spoke softly but urgently into
it while moving towards the door.

"Also," Amano called out as the tall man was leaving, "find out who this
'Madoka' is."

---

Hiyama Hikaru approached the familiar house with dread.  She'd wanted to
avoid this.  She was supposed to be on a plane back to New York by now.
Not here, not in places that reminded her of the pain of her dreams
shattered, the pain of her sixteen-year-old heart being broken, the pain
of her two best friends in the world betraying the absolute trust she had
put in them.

Even now, she felt her eyes beginning to water with the hurt surfacing
anew.

But her friends were in trouble.  Something was wrong, and she needed to
figure out what it was.  Watching the wedding was supposed to have been a
catharsis, and instead it had fed a fear.  A fear that something bad was
happening to Madoka and Kyosuke.  A fear that all the pain and sacrifice
she had endured seven years ago had been for nothing.

Gathering herself as best she could, she strode towards the Ayukawa
residence.

The front door was open, and people were wandering in and out of the
house.  There were so many of them; the interior was literally packed.
Conversation buzzed loudly in her ears, along with the occasional bark of
laughter.  Somewhere a baby was wailing while several adults tried to coo
it into silence.

Hikaru stopped just inside the door, hoping no one would recognize her.
And she fervently hoped that nobody would try and take her to see the
bride and groom.  She wasn't prepared for that.

She sidled along the wall, looking for the pink dresses of the
bridesmaids.  Madoka had a lot of them, unfortunately, and pink satin
abounded.  This might be more difficult than Hikaru had imagined.

And then she saw her, walking down the stairs, looking around faintly
bored.  Hikaru raised her arm and gave half a wave.  After blinking
several times, recognition washed over Kurumi's face.  She grinned and
pushed her way through the crowd.  "Hikaru!  I didn't think you were
coming!  Oh, Kyosuke will definitely want to see you."

"Kurumi, please."  Hikaru quickly looked both ways, afraid that Kyosuke
would suddenly pop up out of nowhere.  "Don't.  I... I didn't come here
to... to talk to him."

"You didn't?"  Kurumi peered at her.  "Hikaru, why *are* you here?"

Hikaru stared back at her former classmate.  She and Kurumi had managed to
be in the same homeroom all during junior high and high school.  They'd
been friends, although not particularly close friends.  Kurumi's biggest
charm had been her unwavering support for Hikaru's relationship with
Kyosuke.  But she, too, had been among those who had known about Madoka
and hadn't told Hikaru.

She shook her head to clear it of extraneous thought.  Right now, Kurumi
was the person Hikaru trusted the most.  "Um... do you remember when...
when I went around seducing men?"

To say that Kurumi reacted calmly to this statement would have been like
saying Kyosuke was a decisive man.  Kurumi's jaw dropped open and her eyes
grew wide.  "What?"

"Don't you remember?"  Hikaru pointed to her mouth.  "I went around late
at night and attacked them all with lipstick."

Kurumi blushed.  "Um... why would you bring this up all of a sudden?"

"Something happened to me," Hikaru persisted.  "I... I didn't remember
acting that way.  It was as if I was a different person."

A nervous smile appeared on Kurumi's face.  She looked from side to side.
"Well, that was an interesting thing, wasn't it?  But you got over it.
Um, I have to go, uh, help with the food."

Hikaru frowned, leaned forward, and grabbed Kurumi's wrist.  "Kurumi,
please listen to me.  Something like that's happened to Kasuga-sempai.
And Madoka-san.  They weren't themselves at the wedding."

Kurumi giggled nervously.  "I'm sure it was your imagination.  They were
under stress because they were getting married.  That's all.  Um..."

Hikaru shook her head violently.  "No!  Did you see how your brother
behaved?  The way he acted?  Did it seem normal to you?"

"He just forgot what he was supposed to be doing.  He's like that.  He's a
little high-strung sometimes."

"Not that!"  Desperation was welling up in Hikaru.  Couldn't anyone else
*see*?  "The way he looked at her, the way he treated her!  It wasn't
*him*!"

Another denial began to form on Kurumi's lips.  It froze there, then faded
away as her expression turned thoughtful.  "Hmm."  She touched her finger
to her pursed lips, then turned to look into the crowd.

Hikaru did her best to will belief into Kurumi.  She'd had experience
doing this.  Not *good* experience; all her efforts to will reciprocal
affection into Kyosuke had come to naught.  But this time she seemed to
have a better chance of success.

Kurumi looked back at Hikaru, then apparently decided something.  "Come."
She reversed Hikaru's grip on her wrist and pulled her into the crowd.

"No!"  Hikaru dug in her heels.  "I don't want to see him!"

"Silly."  Kurumi released Hikaru's wrist and jumped up into the air.
"Manami!"

Hikaru was normally not one to shy from attention.  But this was not the
place she wanted to be nor the attention she wanted to receive.  She did
her best to fade from sight right where she stood.  The best she could do
was to duck her head and hunch her shoulders.

"Kurumi!"  This voice sounded cross as it approached.  "Don't be so rude."

"It's not *my* fault.  She wouldn't let me go look for you."

Hikaru finally raised her head.  A woman wearing another bridesmaid's gown
stood next to Kurumi.  She had long hair flowing down her shoulders.
Intelligent brown eyes looked out from a very attractive face.

They blinked at each other for a moment.  Then the woman smiled.
"Hikaru!"

Hikaru was a little slower on the uptake.  Then she realized... tie the
hair in a ponytail, put some glasses on the face...  "Manami!"

Manami's smile grew wider.  "I'm so glad you came! Kyosuke will be very
happy to see you."

"Um..."  Hikaru sighed.

"She's not here to see him.  She thinks he and Madoka-san have been
hypnotized or something.  Do you think he's been acting strange today?"

Manami looked at Kurumi steadily for a second.  Then her eyes lost focus.
"Hmm."  She turned to look off somewhere to her right.  Hikaru followed
her gaze and blanched.  Standing together in front of the fireplace were
Madoka and Kyosuke.  Madoka was still smiling blankly and nodding at
something a woman was saying to her.  Kyosuke was slightly behind her
shoulder, as if using her as a shield.  His expression seemed to be a
mixture of anxiety and contempt.  He was holding a mostly-full glass of
champagne in front of his mouth but didn't appear to be attempting to
drink it.  His eyes were scanning the crowd.

And then his eyes met hers.

Hikaru eeped and looked hastily down, her face burning, all rationality
leaving her in a rush of embarrassment.  Oh God, he'd seen her, he'd seen
her *here*.  He'd think she'd come here to try and win him away one last
time, and he'd be friendly and nice like he always was but underneath
she'd feel the pity, the sincere regret that Hikaru had grown infatuated
with him, and she couldn't stand that, not then and not now.  Oh God, he'd
seen her and she'd never live this down.  She waited, waited for him to
come up to her and call her "Hikaru-chan", for her humiliation to begin.

Nothing happened.

She slowly raised her head.  Kyosuke was now looking off somewhere else,
the champagne glass still in front of his mouth.  He was ignoring her.

Hikaru's fear subsided, replaced by her original certainty - something was
very wrong with Kyosuke.

She looked at the twins.  They were both staring at Kyosuke, various
degrees of incredulity on their faces.  Then they looked at each for a
moment, and Hikaru could almost feel a silent communication taking place.

Hikaru felt a preternatural need to say something verbal.  "That isn't
Sempai.  At least, not the Sempai I knew five years ago."

Manami broke her gaze away from Kurumi.  "No.  It's not.  There *is*
something wrong."

"Madoka-san, too."  Hikaru waved in her general direction without looking.
"She shouldn't be acting that way."

Manami seemed to consider that.  "Hmm.  What do you think, Kurumi?"

Kurumi appeared to be getting angry.  "I say that *isn't* Kyosuke.  And
whoever it is..."  She scowled.  "He won't get away with it."  She began
to stalk towards the couple.

"Kurumi!" Hikaru hissed.  She began to move after Kurumi.

And couldn't.

She looked down at herself.  Something was pushing against her torso,
keeping her from going forward.  A pillow covering a steel plate.  But
nothing was there.

Hikaru gaped after Manami.  She was striding directly towards Kyosuke.
Kyosuke saw her coming, and his face grew wary.

"Kurumi, what are you doing?"  Manami seemed utterly shocked.  She, too,
appeared to be trying to move forward but not succeeding.

Just as it seemed Manami would run into Kyosuke, she swerved and greeted
Madoka.  Madoka responded gaily, and they were soon chatting.

Kyosuke watched her for a minute, his face slowly relaxing.  He began to
sweep the room again, and Hikaru quickly averted her eyes.  She looked
over at Manami.  She had a thousand questions to ask but she was
frightened out of her mind.

Suddenly the force holding her in place vanished.  She took an involuntary
step forward and quickly regained her balance.  She looked back at Kurumi,
who was rocking back and forth on her heels while talking to Madoka.  Her
hands were clasped behind her back; one was gesturing urgently.

Hikaru spoke in a small, quiet voice.  "What's she trying to say?"

"She needs a distraction."  Manami grimaced, then stepped forward herself.

"Wait!"  But it was too late, and Hikaru was alone.  She could only watch
with a kind of horrified fascination as Manami walked up to Kyosuke and
began a conversation.

The wary expression returned to Kyosuke's face.  He appeared to try and
brush Manami off but she was cheerfully insistent.  She laughed once and
kept touching him, punching him playfully on the shoulder or grabbing his
hand to examine his wedding ring.

It took a while for Hikaru to figure it out.  Manami was slowly turning
Kyosuke away from Madoka.  To what purpose, Hikaru couldn't guess.

Kurumi had stopped rocking and was now leaning forward slightly, still
chatting brightly.  Madoka was giggling at something.  Then Kurumi reached
up one of her hands and poked Madoka in the middle of her forehead.

Madoka's face went slack.  Kurumi said something into her ear.  After a
few seconds, Kurumi whirled and walked off, leaving Madoka staring blankly
into space.

Manami left Kyosuke a few seconds later.  Kyosuke frowned after her, then
turned to Madoka.  He squeezed her shoulder.  She looked up at him, and
her smile returned in full force.  He asked her a question and she nodded
energetically.  They began to move towards the stairs.

Manami came, trailing Kurumi behind her.  She whisked Hikaru in her wake,
and they all made their way to the front door.

When they were outside and a reasonable distance from the door, Manami
whirled on Kurumi.  "All right, what were you doing?"

Kurumi smiled mischievously.  "Protecting Madoka-san."

"Please."  Hikaru felt like something was choking her.  "What did you do
to me?  How did you paralyze me?  What did you do to Madoka?  What's
happened to Kyosuke?"  Fear bubbled up inside her.  "Please tell me...
what's going on?"

Kurumi and Manami looked at each other once again.  Kurumi nodded.  Manami
grimaced, turned, and took Hikaru's hands.  "Hikaru... I think it's time
you knew about our family."

---

His whole world was pain.  His hands were on fire.  Every beat of his
heart caused the pain to flare up.  Agony was his companion.

Something, however, was better.  This was good, and he couldn't exactly
say why.  He tried to concentrate, to bring some coherency to his
thoughts.  All he could come up with was that the pain was no longer
increasing.  It was lessening, in fact.  His right hand felt better than
his left hand.  He tried to open his eyes so he could look at his hands,
but the pain was too much.

"Are you awake?"  A harsh voice, and the harshness made him flinch.  But
it was also a familiar voice, one that immediately calmed him down.  He
managed a nod.

"All right.  Now, for this last finger I'm going to need to set the bone.
This is going to hurt.  A lot.  You're going to have to lie at still as
possible.  Do you understand?"

"Y-yes."  He tried to brace himself as well as he could.

Hands gripped his finger in a way that called to mind all sorts of
horrible memories he was trying desperately to suppress.  He cried out in
fear, then clenched his jaw.

Something pulled his finger, and the pain climbed to new levels.  He
screamed but did his best to freeze his arm in place.  Tears streamed from
his eyes.  He managed to choke off the scream and bite his tongue instead.

"Okay, just a minute longer."  Something was being applied to his finger -
a splint? - and then his hand was gently put on the table.  "That's the
best I can do."

Kyosuke took ragged breaths, trying desperately to adjust to the pain.
After several long minutes, he felt sufficiently fortified to open his
eyes.  His vision was a little blurred, possibly the result of how tightly
clenched he'd kept his eyes shut.  He was going to lift one of his hands
so he could look at it, but his muscles gave him a warning twitch of pain
as he began to move his hand.  He wanted to sit up, but couldn't think of
a way to accomplish that without using his arms.  He turned his head from
side to side, trying to figure out where he was.

The room was cramped and dingy.  There were no windows, and the only light
source was a lantern hung on the ceiling.  He was lying on a futon in the
middle of the room.  Several crates evidently substituted for furniture;
they were being used not only to store clothes and other items, but the
tops were used to put other objects like a mirror or a vase of artificial
flowers.  One wall of the room was practically covered by stacks of tin
cans.  Food, he realized.

Somebody was kneeling at his feet, where he had difficulty seeing without
raising his head.  "Hello?"  No response.  "Um... where am I?"

Whoever had tended to his broken fingers was not being responsive.
Kyosuke sighed.  "Whoever you are... thank you.  Can you take me to a
hospital now?"

After another moment of silence, he was favored with a response.  "They'd
never let us inside.  We'd be shot down before we could even get close."

Now, at last, he figured out who the voice belonged to.  In a convulsive
effort, he used his elbows to prop himself up awkwardly.  "Madoka!"

She was kneeling with her hands on her thighs, staring at him impassively.
She appeared to be wearing her old high school uniform for some reason.
And that wasn't the only thing odd about her.  A thousand little things
were wrong.  Her hair wasn't the right length and was cut a little
unevenly.  Her nails were cut to the quick, her face was a little rougher,
she was wearing no jewelry or makeup... it was all out of sorts.  Most of
all, her eyes were... cold.  Hard emerald rocks that contained none of the
life Kyosuke expected in them.

One of his elbows slipped and he fell back against the futon.  The impact
traveled up his arm and triggered a new wave of pain from his hands.
Kyosuke closed his eyes and groaned, riding out the pain again.

He heard her get up and shuffle through her things.  She then knelt by his
head and put a pill on his lips.  Surprised, he took it into his mouth,
recognizing the bitter taste of aspirin.  She reached her arm underneath
his shoulders, lifted him up a little, and put a cup to his lips.  He took
a sip of the water, swallowing the pill.  The water made him realize how
dry his throat was, and he eagerly drank down the rest of the water as she
slowly tilted the cup.

Kyosuke gasped as the cup was lifted away.  He managed to smile at the
still-impassive face very close to his.  "Thank you."

She inclined her head, then lay him back down.  He turned his head so he
could see her face as it gazed down on him.  They stared at each other for
a while.

Finally, he couldn't stand it any longer.  "What's happened, Madoka?
Where are we?"

She held up two fingers of her hand.  "That's twice you've called me
that."

"Called you what?"  He frowned.  "Madoka?"

A third finger joined the other two.  "How is it that you can address me
in such a familiar fashion?"

"But... Madoka!"

Now all four fingers were raised.  "You don't want to know what happens on
the fifth occurrence."

Oh God, something was horribly wrong.  He swallowed.  "I'm sorry."

She lowered her hand again.  "Who are you?"

Kyosuke closed his eyes in dismay.  "You don't know me?"

No answer.  Kyosuke felt the throbbing of pain in his hands coursing
through his body.  His mind, still a little groggy, was utterly confused
by what was happening.  A full-scale depression was settling over him.
This was supposed to have been the happiest day of his life.  Instead it
was an utter nightmare.

"You saved my life once, I think."

Kyosuke's eyes flew open.  "What?"

Still no expression on her face, but her voice was a little softer.
"Years ago.  Of course, it was your fault I was in that situation in the
first place."

"I... I don't understand."

Ayukawa cocked her head.  "Maybe it wasn't you.  But you look like him.
And you can teleport like he did."

"Uh... who is 'he'?"

Her gaze turned inward.  "Eight years ago.  When Akane's gang attacked.
They saw me as a threat to their control of the school, so they captured
me and planned to make an example of me.  Then he came.  He had ESP.  He
spoke to me telepathically.  Along with Hikaru and the Kasuga twins, he
came and rescued me."

Her eyes focused on him again.  "He never gave me his name.  When... when
I tried to be friendly to him, he... left."  Her brow lowered slightly and
her voice could freeze lava.  "He teleported away without saying a word
and left me behind.  I looked for him for a long time.  He obviously found
the idea of being with me repugnant, and fled."

Kyosuke shivered.  Now he remembered.  "Th-that *was* me."

"Really?"

"Y-yes.  I met you at the Abcb.  You hid me in your coat when Komatsu-
when the police were after me."

Ayukawa leaned forward so that her face was inches away from him.  "Where
do you come from?  Why did you leave?  Why did you come back?"  She barked
the questions at him.  "Answer me!"

Kyosuke swallowed hard.  "I... I come from... from an alternate world.  A
parallel universe.  I teleported here accidentally eight years ago.  I'm
not sure how I got here this time."

She leaned back, her face still angry but a trace of puzzlement in her
voice.  "Parallel universe?"

"Yes.  It's like yours, but different.  It's because I have the Power that
I'm able to move from one universe to another."

"Hmm."  Now she sounded thoughtful.  "The Kasuga twins said that you
claimed to be their older brother."

He nodded.  "In my universe, they're my sisters.  My name is Kasuga
Kyosuke."

"Kyosuke."  She said his name slowly and thoughtfully.  "I wondered."

"Can you tell me how you found me?"  Kyosuke looked down at his hands.
"I'm not sure if this happened to me before or after."

Ayukawa considered him for a moment, then shrugged.  "I was here reading.
Suddenly there was a 'whoosh' and you appeared next to me on the futon.  I
almost killed you."

Kyosuke looked into at her stony features and knew that this was no idle
comment.  "But you didn't.  You fixed me up.  Thanks."

"You're welcome."  She stood up abruptly.  "I'm going to collect some
water so we can have dinner."  Picking up a plastic pitcher, she moved
towards the door.  She hesitated, and looked at him over your shoulder.
"I don't know what it's like in your universe.  Here, it's very dangerous
outside.  If you value your life, don't leave.  This room is fairly
soundproof, but I wouldn't make a lot of noise either.  Just to be safe."

He remembered what a dark, grim place this world had been like last time.
"Uh... maybe you should contact my, er, sisters.  They could help me out."

Ayukawa shook her head.  "They're dead."  With that, she manipulated some
locks on the door, opened it, and walked through.  As the door closed
behind her, the locks clicked back into place.

Kyosuke was oblivious to it all.  Dead.  Kurumi and Manami.  For some
reason, it didn't make a lot of difference that they weren't the women
from his universe.  His sisters were dead.

Tears of a different nature streamed from his eyes.  He was more alone
than he could possibly have imagined, and an awful feeling hovered over
him.  A feeling that the worse was yet to come.

---

Hikaru stared at nothing at all for a long time after Manami finished
speaking.

Kurumi eventually poked Hikaru in the shoulder.  "Are you okay?"

Hikaru focused on her.  Slowly, a smile appeared on her face.  "I'm fine."

"Really?"  Kurumi tilted her head.  "How... What do you think?"

"It makes sense."  Hikaru waved her arms above her head.  "That explains
*everything*!"

Kurumi blinked.  "What?"

She laughed.  "I understand now.  All the strange things that kept
happening.  Kyosuke disappearing and reappearing.  My watch suddenly
ninety minutes fast.  All the little mysteries about Kyosuke."  She
brought her hands down and clasped them in front of her.  "You don't know
what a relief it is to... to *know*."

"Please, Hikaru."  Manami's voice was very serious.  "You mustn't tell
anyone.  *Anyone*.  Do you know what would happen if someone found out?"

The smile left Hikaru's face.  "Does Madoka-san know?"

Manami nodded.

"How long?  When did she know?"

"Um... Not until after she came back from America.  Kyosuke told her
then."

Hikaru digested that.  Madoka hadn't known during high school either.  For
some reason, that made Hikaru feel a little better.

She suddenly remembered what had prompted the revelation.  "So, can you
explain what's happened to Sempai?  And Madoka-san?"

"Madoka-san's been hypnotized."  Kurumi nodded firmly.  "I'm sure of it."

"But why?"  Manami put a finger alongside her nose in a portrait of deep
thought.  "Why make Madoka act like that?  For what purpose?"

"So she wouldn't call attention to Kasuga-sempai," Hikaru shot right back.
"Because he's acting weird, and someone doesn't want anyone to notice.
And Madoka, more than anyone else, *would* notice."

The twins looked at her in surprise.  She looked back at them.  "Don't you
think?"

"Okay," Kurumi said hesitantly.  "Then who's hypnotized Kyosuke, and why?"

Manami's eyes widened.  "Kazuya!"

Kurumi frowned.  "Why would Kazuya hypnotize him?"

"Not *hypnotize* him, Kurumi."

For a moment Kurumi looked at her sister blankly.  Then her eyes, too,
widened.

Hikaru was mostly drawing a blank, although the name sounded familiar.
"Who's Kazuya?"

"Our cousin."  Manami's eyes were still wide.  "He's been missing for
three days.  We've heard rumors that... that's he been mixed up with some
bad people."

Something still didn't add up.  "And how does this all relate to Sempai?"

Kurumi grimaced.  "Kazuya's got the Power, too."

A sudden cheering came from the front door.  People were pouring out of it
at a rate and volume that astounded Hikaru.  They turned back to face the
door, still shouting loudly.

Hikaru leaned in closely towards the twins, trying to get herself heard.
"And what does that mean?  What did he do to Sempai?"

Manami shouted, her eyes watching the door.  "He has the ability to swap
minds with other ESPers.  And... and he's not the nicest person I know."

Madoka and Kyosuke appeared at the front door.  They had changed clothes.
Kyosuke was wearing jeans and a short-sleeved shirt; Madoka a simple skirt
and blouse.  She grinned widely at the mass of people, who immediately
began showering the two with rice.  Kyosuke looked mildly annoyed at
first, but quickly forced a smile on his face.

Hikaru began to panic.  "If that's Kazuya, we have to stop him!"

Kurumi nodded.  "Yes!  We should talk to Grandma and Grandpa when things
calm down."

"No, no, no!"  Hikaru shook her head violently.  "We have to stop him
now!"

"We have time.  They don't leave for Hawaii until tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?!"  The panic grew.  "We can't wait that long!  He have to keep
him from... from..."

A strange smile covered Kurumi's face.  "Don't worry.  We're safe for
tonight."

Manami frowned.  "What did you do, Kurumi?"

"I was just protecting Madoka-san."

As Hikaru watched, Madoka and Kyosuke pushed their way through the
smiling, noisy crowd.  A white limousine waited for them on the other side
of the gate.  They ran towards the open car door the chauffeur had opened.
Madoka stopped, turned, and waved excitedly.  Kyosuke almost yanked her
into the limo with him.  Chorused goodbyes filled the yard as the
limousine pulled away.

Manami shook her head.  "I hope you know what you're doing, Kurumi."

"Trust me."  Kurumi's eyes twinkled mischievously.

Hikaru drew in a deep breath.  This had been an emotionally exhausting day
so far.  She'd received more shocks, dramatic revelations, and blows to
her psyche in the past few hours than she'd received in... in the past
seven years.  And the day wasn't over yet.  "What do we do now?"

Manami did the finger on the nose thing again.  "I'd say we need to bring
Akane in on this.  We don't *know* that Kazuya's taken over Kyosuke's
body.  We need to find Kazuya *now*."

Kurumi wiggled her nose.  "Grandma and Grandpa."

"Grandma and Grandpa," Manami said almost grudgingly.  "They might be our
best bet?"

"Might be?"  Something in Manami's voice confused Hikaru.

"Grandma and Grandpa have the strongest Power in the family."  Kurumi
grimaced.  "Or do have when they're... here."

"Here?"

"First things first," Manami said decisively.  "Let's find Akane."

---

Kyosuke's nostrils brought him slowly awake.  Something smelled good.  At
least, it smelled hot and edible, which to his rumbling stomach *had* to
be good.

Realization washed over him, of where he remembered being and what had
apparently happened to him.  His eyes shot open and he raised his left
hand.  Pain shot down his arm, although not as intense as before.  Crude
but effective splints had been applied to all four fingers and his thumb,
and his whole hand wrapped heavily in bandages.  His hand still hurt a
lot, but it was bearable.

He raised his right hand, which was in similar condition, although his
thumb was unbroken.  He flexed it experimentally, and found that moving it
sent sharp slivers of pain through his broken fingers.  Best to keep it
still for a while, he decided.

Something else was different, he realized as he carefully lowered his arms
back onto the futon.  His head was clearer.  He could think a lot better.
Enough to seriously wonder what the heck had happened to him.  While his
present thoughts were coherent, his memories of the past twenty-four hours
were a blur.  His last clear memory was moving out of his old apartment.
Then there were flashes: getting drunk with the guys, being strapped to a
table while men spoke to him, his fingers being broken - his mind
skittered around those memories - and waking up here with...

He turned his head.  Ayukawa was heating a pot over what looked like a
Bunsen burner.  The smell was emanating from the pot - some kind of stew,
Kyosuke guessed.  His mouth drooled involuntarily.  He was famished.

"Awake at last?"  Ayukawa spoke without turning.

"Yes."  He frowned.  His voice sounded strange.  He decided to experiment
a bit.  "I'm quite hungry, too."  Something definitely weird.  Perhaps it
had something to do with how much he'd been screaming before.  He vividly
remembered screaming.

Shuddering, he experimented with sitting up to distract himself.  By using
his elbows and wiggling in place, he managed to sit up against the wall.
The concrete was cool and rough even through his shirt.

Ayukawa tossed her head and looked over her shoulder at him.  "Feeling
better, I see."

"Yes, thanks."  He looked down at his hands.  "I really should see a
doctor, I think."

"Hmm."  She turned back to the pot, stirring its contents.  "Tell me about
your world, Kasuga-kun."

Kasuga-kun.  The words shook him.  Madoka - *his* Madoka - had called him
that at the very beginning of their relationship.  It had taken him a
while to figure out, but the slightly condescending form of address was
actually her way of showing a degree of affection.  Those that she truly
despised she ignored completely.

Kyosuke took a breath.  "Uh, I dunno.  It's... well, there's a lot more
order.  Not a lot of crime.  I mean, there's crime, but not so much
that... that..."

"That businesses are destroyed, schools shut down, and the elite barricade
themselves in the heart of the cities and the unwashed masses are left to
fend for themselves?"

Kyosuke blinked at the cool, detached tone of her voice.  Despite all the
pain he'd felt in the past few hours, this managed to make him feel a bit
of horror.  "Is that what your world is like, Ma- Ayukawa?"

She didn't answer, except to ladle some of the stew into a bowl.  She
turned to face him, the bowl held in her hands.  Kyosuke raised his hands,
stared at the bandages, and back to Ayukawa.  She calmly took a spoon,
scooped up some of the stew, and brought it to his mouth.  He carefully
ate from the spoon, all the time meeting Ayukawa's dispassionate gaze.

The stew felt good going down.  He was quite hungry, and couldn't help
looking back at the bowl.  Ayukawa continued to feed him, and he did
nothing but concentrate on the stew until the bowl was empty.

He sighed when it was gone.  "Thank you."

She nodded and ladled the rest of the stew into the same bowl.  She ate
mechanically, all the time staring at him with a kind of detached
intensity.

Kyosuke waited until she was done.  "Ayukawa... can you tell me what
happened to my... my sisters?"

She nodded towards the cases of food.  "They died in a raid we made on a
warehouse, just before the last of the barricades went up.  Twenty-five of
us went in.  Twelve came out, but with a whole trailer full of food."  She
set her bowl on the ground.  "Enough to last each surviving member for two
or three years, depending on how many mouths they had to feed."

Kyosuke had to blink back tears.  All too vividly his imagination called
up images of Kurumi and Manami fighting and dying just so they could have
food.  And yesterday - had it been only yesterday? - the talk had been of
ice cream.

He tried to wipe his tears away, but the mere movement of his hands
reminded him why that would be impossible.  Instead he blinked his eyes
rapidly and shook his head a little.

Ayukawa peered closely at him.  "You really did care for them."

"They were my *sisters*!"  He was a bit taken aback by the vehemence in
his own voice.

She cocked her head.  "Not really.  If what you say is true, they weren't
your sisters."

"Close enough."  His brow furrowed slightly.  "You have a sister, don't
you?"

"Yes."  The ice in her voice and on her face made it clear that this was a
subject not to be pursued.

Kyosuke let out a sigh of frustration.  Damn it all anyway.  What had
*happened*?  He pushed himself with his elbows so he was sitting upright,
then tried to stand.

Ayukawa raised an eyebrow.  "What do you think you're doing?"

He was getting more than a little fed up with this Madoka's attitude.  He
growled, preparing to give her back some of the same.  Then he
remembered - the bandages she had used, the aspirin she had given him.
Surely very rare commodities.  And the food.  "What will you do when you
run out of cans?"

Something like surprise flitted across her face.  "I don't know.  Maybe
try to move out to the country; surely they're still growing rice there.
Maybe try to organize another raid, with more people.  If I can find any
that I trust."  She shrugged.  "Maybe I'll just starve," she said
noncommittally.

"So...," he said softly,  "every can of food you give me could be a day of
your life?"

She shrugged again.  "I struggle enough these days to find a reason to
live.  What's a few days more or less?"

Her calm, even tone sent prickles along Kyosuke's skin.  This *was* an
evil world she lived in.  He tried to regain a measure of calm.  "I need
to go to the bathroom."

Ayukawa nodded, stood, and helped him to his feet.  "Through here."  She
pushed on one wall, which opened up to reveal a crude toilet, much like an
outhouse.  Where the hole lead, Kyosuke had no idea.  He nodded his thanks
and made his way there.

"Need any help?"

"No!"  Kyosuke growled.  "This I can do by myself."

"Are you sure?"  Somewhere, far beneath the cool delivery of her words,
some humor was beginning to show.  "You don't have any fingers."

He held up his right hand and carefully flexed his thumb.  "I'll manage."

"You're sure?  It won't bother me, I assure you."

"It would bother *me*."  He looked over his shoulder at her.  "What would
*you* do if the situation was reversed."

"Kill myself for being stupid enough to get my fingers broken," she shot
back promptly.  A corner of her mouth lifted slightly.  "Very well.  Let
me know when you're done."  She turned back and began to clean up after
dinner.

Kyosuke studied her for a few seconds, lost in thought.  There was
something... familiar in her bearing.  Beneath the ice and granite loomed
the women *he* knew as Madoka.  She was just beginning to come out of her
shell - a process he had witnessed once before.  There was something...
tantalizing in seeing it happen again.  Because of him.

Cutting off that train of thought, he turned back towards what passed for
the bathroom.

---

Akane looked around the table.  "No."

"Yes," Kurumi answered right back.

"No!"  To Hikaru's eyes, Akane was looking more and more frantic.  "It's
not possible!"

Hikaru leaned forward.  "You saw Sempai at the wedding.  Was that him?"

"It wasn't my brother!"  Akane slapped the table.  "He wouldn't do
anything like that!  Why would he?"

"We don't know, Akane."  Manami's voice was soft and calm.  "We need to
find out."

"SHUT UP!"  Akane shot to her feet.  "YOU'RE WRONG, YOU'RE ALL WRONG!"
She stalked towards the door.

Hikaru jumped up and stepped in front of Akane.  "Please... we want you to
be right, for your brother to be whole and safe.  But no matter what, the
answer to what happened to him lies in Kyosuke.  Help us help your
brother."

Akane's eyes were a little glazed over, her voice strident.  "You're
saying... my brother is a horrible person.  That he took over Kyosuke just
so he could marry Madoka instead.  That's horrible!  He'd never do that!"

"We're not saying he did.  We don't *know*, Akane.  There may be a lot of
things that can explain what's happened.  We just have to find them.
That's all."

Akane shook her head.  "No.  No."  She closed her eyes as tears began to
come flow from them.  "No no no no..."

Hikaru reached out and hugged her gently.  Akane began sobbing on her
shoulder as Hikaru stroked her hair and spoke soothingly to her.

Manami stepped up to speak into Akane's ear.  "We'll get your brother
back, Akane.  Trust us."

Akane lifted her head to look with mascara-streaked cheeks at Manami.  "Oh
God, I hope so.  He really... wouldn't..."

Kurumi bounded over to them.  "Okay!  Let's go see Grandma and Grandpa!"

Everyone blinked at Kurumi.  She smiled cheerfully back at them.  Manami
spoke with a hint of irritation.  "Subtlety has never been one of your
strong points, sister."

"And talking too much has always been one of yours."  Kurumi pulled on
Akane's arm and dragged her over to the sink.  "Let's get you cleaned up
first."

Hikaru sighed as Kurumi wiped Akane's face with a washcloth.  Manami
heard, and their eyes met.  Hikaru grimaced.  "Do you have the feeling
that we've just begun to scratch the surface here?  That there's going to
be a lot more pain before it's all over?"

Manami seemed to think it over for a while.  "I can't say for sure.  But I
do know that there would be more pain if we did nothing."

Hikaru couldn't help laughing once.  "Yes.  I'm well aware of that."

"Okay!"  Kurumi, almost dragging Akane behind her, appeared in their
midst.  "Let's go!"

They all moved en masse down the hall.  The house had mostly emptied of
people, leaving family members behind.  Manami went up to an older couple.
Hikaru recognized them as Kyosuke's grandparents.  They looked a little
more frail than the last time she'd seen them.  She frowned slightly,
hoping the twins knew what they were doing.

Manami lifted Grandpa to his feet as the rest of the family began to
exclaim.  Manami seemed to be trying to reassure them at the same time she
was talking softly to Grandpa.  Finally, Grandma rose shakily to her feet,
said something that apparently ended all debate, and walked with Grandpa
and Manami back towards Hikaru and company.

Grandpa's eyes were shining.  "My, you all look so pretty!   Akane-chan,
heavens, you've grown so beautiful since the last time I saw you!"

Akane smiled wanly.  "That was an hour ago, Grandpa."

"Was it?"  Grandpa frowned for a moment in puzzlement, then turned towards
Hikaru.  "And don't you look lovely, um, dear!  You should show more of
that attractive bosom of yours, get all the men's attention!"

Hikaru blushed scarlet.  Grandma reached over to pat Grandpa's shoulder.
"Dear, you're embarrassing her."

"Nonsense!"  Grandpa seemed offended.  "She's an attractive lady who
should-"

"Grandpa!"  Kurumi growled and pushed him down the hallway back towards
the kitchen.  "Quiet!"

"Have you found a boyfriend yet, Kurumi-chan?"  Grandpa seemed undeterred.
"I know this young man in our village who-"

"GrandPA!"  Kurumi almost shoved him into a chair.  "For the last time, I
am *not* moving back to the village!  No one is!"

"But dear," Grandma smoothly picked up the attack as she sat at the table,
"you know that the outside world isn't ready for us.  Better that we stay
close to home before-"

"Grandma.  Grandpa."  Manami's soft voice was nevertheless effective at
cutting off debate.  "We have a greater problem right now.  We need to
find Kazuya."

"Kazuya?"  Grandpa frowned.  "Kazuya?"

"You know, dear."  Grandma smiled.  "Our grandson."

"Oh!"  Grandpa rubbed his mostly-bald head in apparent embarrassment.
"Yes, Kazuya, of course!  How could I forget?"

Akane leaned in.  "Remember that we asked for your help finding him
before?  Could you try again?  We..."  She paused and swallowed.  "We need
to find him."

"Kazuya?"  Grandpa blinked at her.  "But he was just here, wasn't he?"

"Really?"  Akane's eyes lit up.  "Where?"

Grandpa rolled his eyes thoughtfully.  "He... he was... I... Mother, where
is he?"

"I don't know, dear."  Grandma smiled apologetically.

Hikaru bit down hard on her frustration.  This wasn't getting them
anywhere.  She turned towards Kurumi.  "Maybe we should-"

Grandma continued unheeding.  "But he left with Madoka-chan.  She's going
to be a wonderful granddaughter, don't you think, dear?"

The young women in the kitchen all stared at the smiling visage of the
Kasuga family matriarch.  Hikaru felt a cold, hard lump form in the pit of
her stomach.  "Sempai..."  She sat down heavily on a chair, the last of
her strength leaving her in a surge of fear.

---

Kyosuke sat against the wall, trying to be as still as possible.  His
hands had begun to throb again, and he didn't want to ask for another
aspirin.

Ayukawa was sitting opposite, reading a book.  She didn't seem to be doing
a good job of it; she hadn't turned the page in ten minutes.

He ventured a question.  "What do you do during the day?"

She looked up at him, her gaze hard.  "Live."

Kyosuke suppressed a grimace.  "Anything else?"

"No."  She looked down at the book again.

"Ayukawa."  He waited until she looked up again.  "I... is there anything
I can do?  To... repay you for what you've done to help me?"

She stared at him expressionlessly and said nothing.

He shifted slightly.  "I've got the Power, after all.  I can use it to
help you... I dunno... get more food or something."

Her gaze remained steady for another minute.  Then she looked down at her
book.

Kyosuke swore silently.  She was so cold and closed.  He was certain there
was something he could do for her.  If only he could tell what she was
thinking.  He focused on what he could see of her face, half-hidden by the
hair falling around it.

      i'vereadthisparagraphthreetimesstartover
      wheninthecourseofhumaneventsitbecomesnecessary
      itdoesn'tmakesensenoneofitmakessense
      he'ssoyoungjustlikethefirsttimedoesheageatall?

Kyosuke jerked his head back so sharply it hit the wall.  He cried out and
squeezed his eyes shut.  After the initial dizziness passed, he opened
them again to see Ayukawa looking at him in concern.

He grinned weakly at her.  "Sorry."

She half-closed the book in her lap while staring at him curiously.  "Why
did you do that?"

He blinked once.  He'd been surprised because...

_he had read her mind_.

Kyosuke trembled once in reaction.  He'd completely forgotten that in this
universe he could read minds and project thoughts.  He'd only had a couple
of opportunities to try it out the last time.  One time he had been able
to communicate with Ayukawa from outside the school building when she'd
been held captive inside.

He could do it again.  He could read her thoughts.  He'd done it just now.

He gathered himself and tried to answer her.  "Uh, I was, uh, just
surprised by, er, the book you're reading."

She raised an eyebrow and looked at the cover.  "You can read English?"

Oops.  "Er, no.  That's why I was surprised, because I didn't know you
could."

"Hmm."  She looked at him evenly for a few seconds - flat stares seemed to
be her favorite means of communication - then shrugged and opened the book
again.

Kyosuke sat still for a few minutes.  During that time Ayukawa managed to
flip a page.  Then he focused himself again and tried to enter her mind.
Her thoughts were less than words and more than images.  They flitted by
so fast, and the best his mind could do was to record them and play them
back with whatever meaning he could deduce.

      soweirdsostupidsovulnerable
      hedesertedmeleftmebehindlikemomlikedadlikeeveryone
      thatamongthesearelifelibertyandthepursuitof
      thelookonhisfaceashewenttothebathroomsofunnysocute

This last thought was accompanied by a memory of just an hour ago, of a
young man with a slightly affronted look on his face.  A teenager,
definitely the worse for the wear, with bandages on his hands...

Kyosuke's whole being froze.  His mind fixed on the image, studying it
carefully.

He looked down at himself.  For some reason, the fact that he was wearing
a school uniform hadn't fully registered on him.  It had been the least of
weirdnesses around him, and he hadn't considered the implications.  He
hadn't worn a school uniform in years.

"Ayukawa."  His voice was soft, very soft, and tense.  She looked up at
him in surprise.  "Do you have a mirror?"

She lifted her eyebrows slightly.  She seemed to be on the verge of a
question, then reconsidered.  She stood up, placing the book carefully on
the floor, and walked to one side of the room.  She reached into a box and
pulled out a shiny piece of metal.  She turned and knelt beside him,
holding it out in front of him.  One side was highly polished, and he
could see a fairly good image of himself.

Except it *wasn't* himself.

Anger began to build in him.  In leaps and bounds it grew, causing his
heart to pound and his vision to turn red.  He jumped to his feet, banging
one of his hands against the wall and sending spasms of pain through his
arm.  He shouted in pain, turning it into a name.

"KAZUYA!"

---

Amano stopped pacing as the tall man entered.  "Well?"

The tall man looked very grim.  "We have been unable to locate him."

"Damn!"  Amano pounded his desk in frustration.  He stopped himself and
soothed his mind.  The situation was getting to him.  The longer the boy
was free, the more Amano began peering into shadows and suddenly whirling
around at the smallest sound.  The thought of what an angry ESPer that
could appear and disappear at will could do to him made Amano very
nervous.

The tall man raised an eyebrow.  "However, the name he gave us..."

Amano looked up at him.  "Madoka?"

The tall man nodded.  "I believe it may refer to Ayukawa Madoka.  She
married a cousin of the boy's just today."

"Hmm."  Amano considered that.  "Is it possible that she and Kasuga have
had a... relationship?"

"She is very beautiful," the tall man said calmly.

Amano nodded.  "Very well.  Take her.  I very much have the feeling that
if we threaten her, the boy will quickly show himself."

The tall man nodded.  "Yes.  And this time..."  The tall man gave Amano a
hard look.  "He will die.  I will shoot him in the head and it will be
over."

Amano grimaced, considered, and nodded.  "Very well.  Just don't miss."

"I never do."  The tall man turned and left.

Amano sighed.  He had to admit to the wisdom of the tall man's decision.
The sooner the ESPer was dead, the better they all could sleep.

---

Kazuya lay in bed, eagerly anticipating the moments to come.  Madoka was
in the bathroom, "preparing herself" as she put it.

Kazuya couldn't wait.

The hotel room was quite luxurious.  Kazuya let his gaze wander around the
room, taking in the soft elegance.  After tonight, it would be off to
Hawaii for the extended honeymoon.  But here in Tokyo... tonight would be
the beginning.

A leer spread his lips, and he didn't feel like stopping it.  After all
the pain and terror he'd gone through in the past few days, he *deserved*
a night like tonight.

He suddenly sat bolt upright, startled.  "What?"

"What?"  The voice of Madoka called out to him from behind the bathroom
door.

"Did you call me?"

"No!  Did you need something?"

"No."  He lay back, puzzled.  He was sure he'd heard something.

The light from underneath the bathroom door went out.  The door open, and
the shape of Madoka moved towards the bed.  In the darkness Kazuya
couldn't make out what she was wearing, but he felt certain it was going
to be very... interesting.  The leer began again.

Madoka lifted the covers and crawled into bed.  She lay on her side with
her back away from him, covering herself up to her shoulders with the
sheets.  "Good night, Kyosuke."

Kazuya blinked.  Well, this was different.  He smiled again and reached
his hand underneath the covers to touch her back, trying to guess her
outfit by the feel of it.  His hand touched part of the sheets, and he
tried to move them aside so that he could get to Madoka's body.  After a
few seconds, he realized it wasn't the sheets.  It was Madoka.  She was
wearing pajamas.  Flannel pajamas.

"What the...?"  He moved over so that he was right next to her.  "Madoka,
aren't we... going to...?"

"Love you, Kyo-chan."  She sounded half-asleep.  "Nighty-night."  Her
breathing immediately became deep and regular.

Kazuya frowned.  He reached out with his mind to discover that she *was*
asleep.  The more he probed, the deeper her sleep became.  He shook her
slightly once, then harder, but she didn't stir, instead settling into
even a deeper slumber.  He tried to dart in with his mind, but he knew
from experience that the subconscious mind was much stronger than the
conscious.  Asleep, Madoka could resist him as she never could while
awake.  He could still force her, but he might damage her brain too much
while doing it.

Kazuya moved violently away from her in disgust.  What kind of perverted
arrangement did these two have?  He'd known Kyosuke was a wimp, but he'd
never imagined that his relationship with Madoka was quite so... tame.
Hell, Kyosuke was probably *still* a virgin.  What a jerk.

Kazuya stared at the ceiling, quite frustrated.  He'd try again tomorrow.
If she resisted, he'd tweak her mind and make her... receptive.

He smiled in anticipation, and began to drift off to sleep himself,
comforting himself with wonderful fantasies of what he and Madoka would do
tomorrow.

~*~

TO BE CONTINUED....