(continued from part 1)
****************
Dhiti got home at half past eight. Her first evening class in ikebana
had run a lot longer than she had expected. The class had been pretty
interesting -- she had never expected that there was so much to flower
arranging -- but she was fairly sure that she was going to drop the
subject after another couple of weeks anyway. Still, you never knew.
Her father looked up as she came in, shuffling into a pair of rather
elderly house slippers. "Good evening, Father," she said warily. She
and her father had a rather prickly relationship. Which was odd,
because she was fairly sure that she got her sense of humour from his
side of the family.
To her relief, he said only, "Welcome home," and returned to his
newspaper. She walked past him and started up the stairs to her room.
Just as her foot touched the first step, he said, "I see that we now
have a cat."
Dhiti froze, looking around sharply. He had not even lifted his head
from the newspaper. How did he always manage to do this to her?
"Umm, yeah," she said. "Just temporarily, though. Probably."
"You are minding it for a friend?" he said, in his clipped, precise way.
"'Him,' not 'it,'" she answered, nettled. "And, yeah."
"Just so." Her father turned another page, still not lifting his eyes.
"That is kind of you, then."
Dhiti waited, but he seemed to have finished. She turned once more and
started upstairs -- and again, as her foot touched the first step, he
spoke, making her freeze in place.
"This needy, cat-loving friend," he said. "This would be the Hayashi
Miyo of whom we have been hearing such interesting things?"
She turned back yet again, eyeing her father. "What sort of interesting
things?" she asked cautiously.
"Hmm. The grapevine has been quite active. Disowned by her parents, it
appears, and possibly guilty of a remarkable variety of offences, from
drugs and violent assault to theft and prostitution." He turned another
page. "An impressive record, at her age."
With difficulty, Dhiti kept her temper. Shouting at her father never
helped. Besides, he --
Wait a minute. Her father had _met_ Miyo, several times. They had
taken an instant disliking to each other and remained coldly formal ever
since, but he had to know Miyo better than this! Didn't he?
"Yes," she said coolly. "He's Hayashi's cat."
Did her father nod, just slightly? It was hard to tell. "You are loyal
to your friend," he said. "That is good."
"Damn right," Dhiti said. She waited a moment for him to make another
sarcastic remark, but he still did not budge from his newspaper. She
snorted, and started up the stairs.
-- And just as her foot touched the first step, he said, "I trust you
have eaten?" Dhiti gave an yelp of frustration and sprinted up to her
room.
Her father smiled into his newspaper.
--**--
Artemis let out a silent groan as he heard Dhiti elephanting up the
stairs. "So, you finally made it home," he said as she came in.
"Don't you start," Dhiti warned him.
"Oh, don't mind me," he said testily. "I'm just a cat. I get traded
from house to house whenever I become inconvenient, and then once I've
been stuck somewhere nice and out of the way, I get to wait around for
hours, wondering if something's happened to my latest ... latest
care-taker!"
Dhiti stared at him. "You could have called me," she said. "I had my
communicator."
He sighed. "I know. I'm sorry. I just ... hate this pass-the-pussy
game. It makes me feel like ... oh, I don't know. A child's toy.
Having to stop people noticing who I am all the time. And being cooped
up without knowing what's going on!"
"I can leave the window open," Dhiti suggested.
"Yeah. Thanks." He made an effort to relax. "Well. So how was _your_
day, then?"
"Oh, the usual." Dhiti dropped her satchel in the corner and sat down
on her bed. She suddenly looked tired. "A little fun; a little
flower-arranging; a little abuse; piss your friends off; you know how it
goes."
He blinked. "I thought I did."
"Never mind. It's nothing to do with you." She lay back, staring up
at the ceiling. "Why do people have to be so complicated?"
Artemis started to answer, then saw her face and realised she was
serious. He paid her the compliment of taking her question seriously.
"If they weren't, they wouldn't be people at all," he said at last.
"They'd be robots."
"Mnn." Dhiti considered this. "That doesn't really help."
"The truth often doesn't." He eyed her curiously. "You yourself," he
went on reflectively, "are a bundle of complications. I don't think
I've ever seen you this serious before."
Dhiti gave a short laugh. "I couldn't talk to Hayashi this way."
"No? But she's supposed to be your friend. Why am I easier to talk to
than she is?"
"Because you're a cat." But Dhiti frowned. "No. That's the
cheap-laugh version. It's too ... facile." After a moment she said,
"Maybe it's because you're _not_ my friend."
"Thank you," the cat said dryly. Itsuko, he remembered, had had almost
this same conversation with Beth, just yesterday. "Perhaps you need to
re-evaluate what being a friend means. If you can't talk to her about
things that are important to you, then how much of a friend is she? And
how much are you?"
"Yeah. I've thought about that," Dhiti admitted. "But it's still too
simple an answer. Everyone has things they don't talk about, even to
friends."
"Certainly. Not everyone hides what they're really feeling behind quite
as solid a mask as you do, though."
Dhiti cracked a smile. "Iku-chan does."
"Yes, and I'm more than a little concerned about that. But we were
talking about you. You said you'd pissed off your friends. I assume
you meant Miyo?"
"... Yeah. Kin-chan too, actually. But Hayashi the worst."
Artemis let the silence grow for a few seconds, wondering who Kin was.
"What happened?" he asked at last.
She turned her head to look directly at him. "Who was Naru?" she asked.
"Na--? What brought _that_ up?"
"Kin-chan. She's starting to notice that we're leaving her out of
things. Hayashi got ... kind of upset about it. She said she wouldn't
let Kin-chan be another Naru."
He debated with himself for a moment, then decided to tell the truth.
"Osaka Naru was a friend of Tsukino Usagi," he said quietly. "Probably
her best friend. But not even a footnote in the history books, it
seems." He shook his head. "Anyway. Usagi became Sailor Moon, and
naturally she started spending most of her time with the other Senshi.
She and Naru grew ... more distant."
Dhiti grimaced. "Yeah. That does sound like the situation with Kin."
She fell silent, and for an instant Artemis hoped that she would let it
lie. But then she said, "What happened?"
He bit back a sigh. "The Senshi revealed their identities to the
world. You may have heard what happened then ..."
"Mass hysteria. Media frenzy. Mobs invading the Hikawa Shrine."
"Hmm. I suppose that's about right, as far as it goes. Well, after
things settled down a little, Usagi went to see Naru to talk about it.
She hadn't had a chance beforehand; the announcement was pretty rushed
... no, never mind that. The point is, Naru wasn't there any more."
"Why?"
He shrugged. "Everyone at their school knew that she was Usagi's best
friend. She got hit by the media too, before she'd even heard the news.
They were pretty ruthless. Suddenly she had a dozen hacks asking her
about her 'relationship' with Sailor Moon ... and she didn't know Sailor
Moon was Usagi until they told her."
"Ouch." Dhiti made a face. "What did she do?"
"By the time Usagi came, her mother had sent her to stay with relatives
in Kyoto. She never came back. Usagi went down to visit her a few
times, but ... the damage was done. Later, when Crystal Tokyo was
founded, Naru didn't come."
Dhiti did not say anything for a long time. Downstairs, they heard a
creak of floorboards and an almost inaudible rumble of speech as her
parents moved about.
"Would it have been so bad?" she asked finally. "If Tsukino-sama had
told Naru what she was. If ... if Hayashi and I told Kin. Would that
really be so bad?"
"You saw what happened when Miyo's family found out," he said, his voice
full of regret.
"Yeah, but --" She shook her head. "The situations aren't the same.
They aren't even close to the same!"
"Perhaps." Artemis shook his head with a sigh. "I can't answer for
you," he told her. "I can't tell you what to do. I've never even met
this Kin. Just ... ask yourself. How well can you trust her? What
would she do, if you did tell her? Would she, _could_ she keep it to
herself? Or would she want to try and get involved somehow? And if she
did ... could you keep her safe?"
Dhiti stared back at him.
"Whatever you decide," he urged her, "talk it over with Miyo first.
Talk it over with all the others. This affects them too."
"Hayashi's got her own problems to worry about," Dhiti said flatly.
His eyes narrowed. "What now?"
"Her brother wants to talk to her. Fujimaro."
"Oh, dear." Artemis looked away for a moment. "Well, that could be a
hopeful sign," he said cautiously.
"Yeah, or it could tear her up worse." She sighed. "I suppose I should
tell you that he, um, probably knows that I'm Mercury."
"Ah." He refrained from cursing. He refrained from saying that it
probably hadn't been very hard for Fujimaro to work it out. Instead he
said mildly, "Well, then, you've got an extra incentive to decide what
to do about Kin, haven't you?"
****************
Tuesday morning was bright and clear, and the day promised to be
blistering hot. Fortunately, the air-conditioning in the chairman's
office was first-rate. It had to be; without it, the heat on his gloved
hands would be completely unbearable.
The heat was the last thing on his mind, though. "I have had no further
word since the order to hold," he repeated to the two others in his
office.
"How long can it take to make a decision?" asked Number Three angrily.
"Do you wish to put the question to Twelve yourself?" the chairman
returned, his eyebrows raised slightly. "It can be arranged."
Three blanched, his bullet head turned suddenly away. "No. Of course
... no."
"Good." The chairman smiled faintly. "In any case, such a question
would be unavoidably delayed. Number Twelve is presently ... absent."
"Do you know where?" asked Number Two. He was a middle-aged man with
short, dark curly hair, a frank, open face and a smile that made him
seem instantly trustworthy. This stood him in good stead as the head of
'D' Division, the diplomatic corps. That 'D' Division was also Japan's
external-espionage agency was an added bonus.
"I would assume that she is Down Below," the chairman said. Down in the
Master's chamber, two kilometres underground. "I have not gone to check
personally, you understand."
"That's all very well. But my division is ready to move," Three
insisted, "and the longer you hold on the decision, the worse our
chances get. We've probably lost the cats again already. We run the
risk of losing Hino, too."
"I repeat that the decision is not mine to make," the chairman said.
"In any case I suspect that capturing the cats is now irrelevant, though
of course the Master may disagree, when he chooses to speak. He may
even elect to leave Hino free."
"She would be an ideal avenue to establishing the identities of the
other Senshi," Two pointed out.
"Obviously," Three said with a snort. "We're already looking into that,
of course. Hino actually has a teenage girl living with her! And
another one sleeping over every week. But Hiiro's team already
confirmed that the Aizawa girl isn't a Senshi. We're still looking into
Hayashi."
"Such a pity that all the surveillance records of the building should
have ... vanished so conveniently," purred Two.
Three gave him an angry look. "We're looking into that, too. Hiiro's
one of our best men, never fear."
"If you say so. Naturally, I would never dream of doubting your word."
Two smiled, and Three tensed visibly at the sight.
"Enough bickering," the chairman interrupted. "We may take no further
action against the Olympus without the Master's sanction. That may be
some time coming -- he is still only half-awake, remember. Number
Three, you will simply have to cope with the delay."
"Very well," said Three shortly. He made little effort to conceal his
frustration.
"Good. Until then, gentlemen, try to remember that we also have other
calls on our time." The chairman smiled. "We still have a country to
run, and I suggest that we get back to it."
****************
The commset buzzed, and Okuda Jiro picked it up. "Yes?" he said
brusquely.
"It's me," said the voice at the other end. "Ready to scramble."
Jiro raised his eyebrows. He threw a quick glance at the small grey box
on his cluttered desk. It looked like a music player -- there was even
a pair of headphones plugged into it -- but inside, it was anything but.
A small green light glowed innocently on one side of it. "Ready," Jiro
said.
Three short beeps came from the commset. On the third beep, he touched
a switch on the grey box. There was a momentary burst of static in his
ear, and then silence. "So what's up?" he asked.
"Stay on your toes," the voice told him. "We may have to move fast.
Shinpo's cyber division ran their crack on the Opal net."
Jiro raised his eyebrows. "No go?" he asked.
"Just the opposite. They got clear access for seventeen seconds,
stripped the key-shift protocols, and got out again before the system
could shut them down."
"Did they get away clean?"
"They think so."
"But you're scrambling anyway."
"Natch."
"Okay." Jiro considered for a few seconds. Maybe they were clear; but
if the Serries had detected the penetration of the Opal communications
network, they would be quick to react. Scrambling as a precaution made
sense.
"We'll be ready," he promised. "Anything else?"
"No."
"Hmm." He pondered for a moment, then said, "We may have a new
breakthrough at this end. A new contact."
"Oh?" The voice sounded mildly interested. "Promising?"
Jiro smiled. "Very."
--**--
Deep underground, in a laboratory that never saw the light of day, a
computer blipped. An alert icon began to swirl in the screen's status
bar.
Across the laboratory, a head lifted in surprise. A lean figure with
lank, greying hair walked across to the computer and touched the icon
curiously. Instantly, the screen filled with data.
"Well, well," the figure said.
Full records of the break-in, in every detail. The hackers had been
very clever, but this network had a whole extra layer of security
specifically designed to record intrusions without blocking them. There
was no way for a hacker to know it was there, and consequently no way to
evade it. The detection system was very reliable; M had written it
personally.
"How interesting," M said, and smiled. And erased all record of the
intrusion.
****************
"So what happened to Sailor Venus?"
Nanako jumped at the voice from her elbow. She looked down and saw an
unwelcome face beneath a shock of unruly blond hair.
"Nothing," she told Hideo firmly. "Mind your own business."
The twelve-year-old was not deterred in the slightest. "This is my
business," he said. "We're partners, remember?"
[And wasn't _that_ a mistake,] she thought privately. But she'd needed
him once. "Yes, we are," she agreed, "and nothing has happened to ...
her. She's just not here at the moment."
"I know," the boy said, with just a hint of infuriating smugness.
"She's eating her lunch over on the other side, by the pool."
"She is?" Nanako blinked. Then she glared at him. "Wait a minute.
You're still spying on her?"
"Of course I am. Why, aren't you?" He gave her a puzzled frown. "I
thought you were staying here to cover Sailor Mars. I mean, we're the
Senshi Watch, remember?"
"... Senshi Watch. Right."
"We ought to get someone who can follow Bendis, too, but that's hard.
So what _did_ happen to Sailor Venus? She usually eats with you."
Nanako took a deep breath. "Beth-chan has succumbed to a combination
of unrequited love, morbid self-pity and acute angst. She has therefore
decided to isolate herself for the foreseeable future."
Hideo hesitated. "What?"
"She's gotten herself into a royal snit and now she's giving the rest of
us the cold shoulder. That clear enough for you, kid?"
He bridled visibly at the 'kid,' but said, "What's she mad about?
Maybe we should talk to Bendis. I bet she could help."
Nanako tried to picture what Bendis would say if they approached her
again. She was pretty sure that it wouldn't be a warm welcome. "I
think that might be a bad idea," she said cautiously.
"Whose side are you on, anyway?" Hideo have her a mutinous look.
"You've been trying to get rid of me ever since I told you about
Bendis."
"Not true," she lied automatically. "Look, kid, trying to butt in isn't
going to do any good. What do you want, anyway? We already know who
these two are. It's the other three we want to find."
"So what have you found out about them?" He made a face at her. "Never
mind. You wouldn't tell me anyway."
He walked away quickly. Nanako thought about going after him -- or
going around to the pool to try and talk to Beth again -- but remained
where she was instead. After all, he was perfectly correct.
All the same, one of his questions kept running through her mind,
unexpectedly troubling.
[Whose side are you on?]
****************
Dhiti watched Miyo carefully. Something was wrong.
The tall girl had not mentioned her brother's message at all today, and
Dhiti was glad of that. The subject cut too deeply; it could bring
nothing but pain, and if Miyo didn't feel like talking about it, Dhiti
was happy to let it lie.
No, Miyo was certainly quiet and somewhat reserved today, but that was
to be expected. She did not appear too upset; simply ... thoughtful.
Whatever the problem was, it was not that. It looked to be much more
interesting.
Dhiti had to watch her for most of the morning to be sure. Then,
finally, she had it. Miyo wasn't just keeping quiet because she had
something on her mind. She was limping. The effect was faint, and she
was obviously trying to cover it up; but she was obviously in some
discomfort.
The possibilities were too delicious to ignore.
Dhiti waited patiently through most of the lunch break until she got her
chance. Finally, Miyo was alone, and in a convenient spot. Dhiti
walked silently up behind her and said in her ear, "Something wrong,
Hayashi?"
Miyo jumped, then yelped aloud at the sudden movement; and Dhiti felt a
moment of perfect inner satisfaction.
"Ow," Miyo said, clutching at her back ruefully. "Don't do that,
Dhiti-chan."
"What on earth have you been doing? If any other girl I know showed up
walking funny like you are, I'd think she --"
"Don't even go there." Miyo sat down with a groan. "If you really must
know, I started training again last night. I thought it'd help take my
mind off ... things." She rubbed her back ineffectually. "Ow, ow, ow.
I didn't think it'd hurt so much."
Dhiti raised her eyebrows, intrigued. "Training? In what?"
"Oh ... aikido. Tai chi. What does it matter?"
Dhiti smirked. "Let me guess. You used to do martial arts, um, before,
so you just tried to do everything you remember, right? It's a wonder
you didn't sprain something."
Miyo shot her an irritated look. "Itsuko said the same thing. 'You've
got to take the time to build up your muscles and reflexes.' I just
didn't think it'd be this bad."
"Serves you right. Now, when I was learning tai chi --"
"You? When did you take tai chi? No, wait. Of _course_ you've tried
tai chi. How long, three lessons? Four?"
"... Something like that." It was Dhiti's turn for an irritated look.
"Look, never mind that now. Have you decided what to do about Kin-chan
yet?"
"Interesting segue." Miyo cocked an eye at her and said, "No, I have
not decided what to do about Kin-chan."
"Um. I talked to Artemis about it last night."
"_Did_ you now. And what did he say?"
Dhiti shrugged. "He doesn't know."
"Oh, that's a big help," Miyo grumbled. "I suppose you noticed that
she's been avoiding us all day?"
"Yah. Actually, I think she may have had another fight with Liam.
Mark-chan was trying to ask me some funny questions about her before
school this morning."
"Wonderful. That's all I need. What kind of questions? What did you
tell him?"
"Weeeelll ... he started to get kind of nosy, so I told him Kin-chan was
probably having her period. And then he turned such an interesting
colour."
Miyo was turning an interesting colour, too. "Dhiti!" she said. Then
she started to laugh.
"That's better," Dhiti said with satisfaction. "Look, don't worry about
things so much, Hayashi. It'll all work out in the wash."
"Easy for you to say," Miyo muttered.
"Well, of course. It's not like _I_ have any problems. Just a cranky
cat to deal with."
"My heart bleeds for you." But she was still smiling. Miyo's dark mood
was broken, Dhiti decided with satisfaction.
"So-o-o," she said. "Tai chi, huh?"
"You still on about that?" said Miyo. "I wasn't what you'd call a
serious martial artist, last time around, but I studied a few things.
Used to get into fights all the time, so I picked up some moves."
"'Last time around.'" Dhiti snickered. "Whereas this time, of course,
you are a peaceful soul, dedicated to harmony and enlightenment."
"I'll enlighten you, in a moment," Miyo threatened. Then, more
thoughtfully, she said, "Actually, it's funny about training. Itsuko's
been saying that she wants to get Iku-chan coming to the Olympus."
"Yeah? I guess that makes sense. She seems like she could use the, er,
conditioning."
"Mm. Suzue-chan's going to be there this evening, too."
Dhiti blinked. "Damn, am I going to have to join up now?"
"As if I'd expect you to stick it out more than a week!" Miyo dodged a
mock blow. "No, that's the funny thing. She isn't going in for
training. She's set up some kind of appointment with Itsuko in her
office ... and Itsuko was kind of hinting that she'd appreciate it if I
was out at the time."
"She what?" said Dhiti, startled. "That's ... interesting."
"Yeah. I'm not sure what to do about it, though."
"The first thing that springs to mind is to leave a communicator in
Itsuko-san's office, locked on 'send,' and listen in."
Miyo swatted her. "Seriously."
"Yes, seriously! Okay, okay, don't get torked up, Hayashi. So why
would Suzue-chan want a private meeting with Itsuko-san?" Dhiti thought
for a moment. "Maybe she's thinking about becoming a miko."
"In a gymnasium?"
"Well, why not? Oh ... whatever. Look, you've got two choices. Either
you can just ask Itsuko-san -- or Suzue-chan, for that matter. Or you
can spy on them."
"Or I can just let it go." Miyo made a face. "I don't suppose I need
to guess which one you'd pick."
"Of course not! Spies have more fun, you know that."
"Maybe." They walked in silence for a minute. Finally Miyo said, "But
Itsuko wouldn't do this without a good reason. And if I can't trust
Itsuko, who can I trust?"
Dhiti cocked an eyebrow at her. "So you need to find something to do
this evening until it's okay to go home."
"I ... guess so."
"Wanna go to an ikebana class?"
****************
The living room was quiet as McCrea Helen came in. She stood at the
door for a little, watching her daughter. Beth was sitting quietly in
an armchair, reading a book. Her cat was perched on the chair-back,
looking down intently, for all the world as if it were reading over her
shoulder.
It looked peaceful enough. But there was something about Beth --
something stiff, uncomfortable, as if she were forcing herself to sit
there -- that rang alarm bells.
Beth looked up suddenly and saw her. "Hi, Mom," she said listlessly.
She shifted slightly as she spoke, and Helen caught sight of the book
cover. It appeared to be something about hydroelectric dams.
That could wait, though. Of more immediate concern was the depression
in her daughter's voice. Something had been bothering Beth for several
days now; and this was not the first time.
"Beth, dear, is there something wrong at school?" she asked.
She hoped it was at school. Not ... somewhere else.
The cat jumped down from the back of the armchair and walked slowly out
the door. Beth watched it go, a strange look in her eyes. Helen did
not. "Beth?" she said again.
Her daughter looked back up at her, and something shifted in her
expression. "It's Eitoku-kun," she said. "He -- he --"
It all came pouring out. The deception; the betrayal; and finally, the
basic racial prejudice of the boy she had set her heart on. Helen sat
on the arm of the chair, put an arm around her daughter's shoulders and
held her, listening quietly until she ran out of words.
At the end of it all, Beth looked up at her with dry, wounded eyes and
said, "What should I do, Mama?"
Helen did not answer for a long time. She sat, rocking Beth gently in
an unconscious memory of the days when she had been an infant, and
wondered how the years had gone by so quickly.
"What do you want to do?" she asked at last.
Beth leaned over, resting her head in her mother's lap. "I don't know,"
she said. "I don't know if I ... if I can face him again. Knowing he's
thinking of me ... that way."
Helen reached out a hand to brush a wisp of light brown hair from Beth's
face. "I know how hard it is, when you run into it for the first time,"
she said. "How it feels." Her voice was soft, almost meditative. "And
there's really nothing that can make it better. All you can do is tell
yourself that you have nothing to be ashamed of. That it's their
problem, not yours. That it's no bad thing to be a Claver. And to
remember that without us, Japan would still be in ruins, and the world
would be in the dark ages. That we were the ones who made everything
happen."
"But why can't he see that?" Beth whispered.
"Perhaps because he already had a girlfriend," her mother pointed out.
"And even then --"
Helen broke off, debating with herself. Finally she said, "You know,
when I was young -- your age, or a little older -- I was considered
quite the beauty. Quite a few boys used to be ... interested in me."
For the first time in years, she felt herself blushing.
She looked down and saw that Beth was blushing, too. "Mama --!" the
girl said.
Helen smiled. "We never like to think about our parents that way, do
we? But listen to me, Beth. This is important." Her smile faded.
"There came a time, when I was twenty or so, when I became ... quite
strongly attached to three different young men. After a while, I
realised that I had to make a decision."
She could feel her daughter's eyes on her. She said, "All three of them
were fine people, Beth, and I think I could have been happy with any of
them. But the fact remains ... that I picked your father because of the
colour of his skin."
After a while she dared to look down. Beth was staring up at her, mouth
slightly open. At last the girl said, almost soundlessly, "Oh."
"Yes. That's the dreadful thing: that it's so easy. I loved your
father then, Beth, and I love him now, and I have never regretted
choosing him. But I --" She stopped, for a moment lost for words. "I
don't know what I'm trying to say. The heart isn't logical, Beth.
Perhaps I could have loved Hikaru or Toshio. But I chose the way I did,
and sometimes I feel ... lessened by that."
"I'm sorry," Beth whispered.
"What for? You haven't done anything wrong." Helen took a deep breath
and stood up, pushing her daughter's head aside gently. "I need to
start work on dinner. Dear, if you want a suggestion ...?"
"What?"
"This boy, Eitoku. I'm sorry, dear, but I think you know that he will
probably never love you." She saw Beth wince, and then nod slowly.
"All the same," she said, "I think he may need you ... as a friend."
Beth looked confused. "I don't understand."
"As a reminder," Helen told her.
She went into the kitchen to start dinner. As she worked, she hoped
that Edward would get home soon. She needed to talk to her husband.
She needed to feel his arms around her. And she hoped that Beth would
not be too scandalised by any noises that she might hear coming from
their bedroom that night.
--**--
Beth sat in her room a little later, talking to Bendis. "Why do people
have to be so complicated?" she asked mournfully.
Bendis thought about it for a few moments. "If they weren't, they
wouldn't be people at all," she said at last. "They'd be cats."
Beth gave her a look. "That doesn't make any sense at all," she said
accusingly.
"No? When was the last time you saw a cat judge another cat by the
colour of her fur?"
"Well, I -- I -- that's not fair!" Beth protested. "Anyway, Artemis
judges you because of your -- you know."
"Oh, fine. Bring _that_ up again. Rub my nose in it, why don't you?"
"Well, you started it!"
"I did not!" Bendis paused. "Did I?"
"I --" Beth had to stop and think herself. "I'm not sure any more.
Look, never mind that! What am I going to do tomorrow?"
The cat gave a very human shrug. "I like what your mother said. Smart
woman, that."
"What, stay his friend anyway? I don't know if I can do that."
Bendis bared her teeth in what might, possibly, have been a smile.
"Show him what he's missing," she suggested.
****************
Suzue stood at the office window, looking down at the city. It was
evening, and the lights were beginning to come on. The dome of the
Royal Archives, in the distance, was already glowing a pearly white.
"I like your view," she said.
"Thank you," said Itsuko.
There was a clink of cups, and Suzue turned from the window. They were
not using the desk in Itsuko's office; instead, Itsuko had produced a
low chabudai table from somewhere. She knelt at it now, pouring tea.
Suzue knelt down opposite her and picked up her cup, holding it in both
hands for a moment before sipping.
After a little she said, "What can I say that would convince you?"
"Nothing," said Itsuko. "What can I say that would convince _you_?"
Suzue sipped her tea again. She said, "Tell me about her."
"Tell you?" Itsuko laughed softly. "Where do I start?"
"How did you first meet her?"
"Oh, now. That was a long time ago." Itsuko paused to think. "She and
Ami-chan came to my shrine one day. They thought I might be a youma."
She laughed again. "There _was_ something funny going on at the time.
Something about ... people disappearing? I forget the details."
"You forget?" said Suzue, surprised.
Itsuko gave her an amused look. "It was more than two thousand years
ago. How well do you remember the day you met your best friend? That
was probably, what, in the last ten years?" Suzue shook her head,
chastened, and Itsuko sighed. "The days back then ... they all run
together. It's hard to keep them separate now. I wonder how Setsuna
manages ..."
Suzue ignored the distraction. She said, "It was just her and Lady
Mizuno, though? Not any of the others?"
"Oh, we didn't meet the others until later. There were only the three
of us, then; and of course Usagi didn't even realise who she was, at the
time. She thought she was just another Senshi."
"She didn't realise who she was," repeated Suzue.
Itsuko gave her a sharp look. "That doesn't mean anything, Suzue-chan."
"Mm." Suzue sipped her tea. "Keep going. Tell me about her. What was
she like?"
"Well --" With little more encouragement, Itsuko began to talk.
Despite her protests, her memory was quite good; as she went on, her
words came more and more smoothly, with fewer pauses to recall details.
She spoke of the malevolent queen, pawn of a still greater darkness, who
had destroyed the Silver Millennium; she spoke of a strange pair of
plant-aliens, and of an attack from the future by the lords of Nemesis.
She spoke of a possessed scientist who sought to draw an
extradimensional intelligence to Earth; of a shadow from the dark moon,
and a light from Elysium; and of an invasion by Senshi from other
worlds. Of other adventures; of the coming of the Great Ice, and its
ultimate reduction. Of Crystal Tokyo. She spoke of the Senshi; the
princesses of the inner planets who had been her comrades, the ladies of
the outer worlds who had ultimately become her friends, and the prince
of the Earth whom she had once thought might be more than that (Suzue's
eyes widened). Of the three visitors from the distant planet Kinmoku,
and their own princess; of Galaxia, consumed by chaos but ultimately
redeemed; and of the strange impostor who, at the ending of the Great
Ice, claimed to be the Senshi of the Sun, and of what became of her.
Most of all, she spoke of a girl named Tsukino Usagi. An enigma of a
girl; an awkward teenager with a braying laugh and a bottomless
appetite, whose schoolwork was appalling and who could burst into tears
if she dropped a cookie; and yet at the same time, a girl who burned
with passion, and who -- when, now and then, the veil was lifted for a
moment -- shone with the light of her own pure soul. A girl who could
see straight into the hearts of her friends with breathtaking insight;
who would willingly sacrifice herself rather than let those she loved be
hurt. A girl who would risk the world rather than sacrifice a child. A
girl for whom feeling would always outweigh thinking. A girl to whom
life was love ... and love was life.
Outside the office, the sky became dark as Itsuko spoke on. Suzue
listened with unflagging interest, her eyes seldom leaving Itsuko's
face. The tea grew cold, unnoticed.
At last, the white-haired woman fell silent. The room became very
still. There was only the distant sound of traffic from outside.
Suzue stirred, tasted her tea, made a face and put it down again. She
said, "I don't know if we have anything to argue about any more."
"Oh?" said Itsuko. Her voice was hoarse from speaking.
"I think," said Suzue carefully, "that you've already been worshipping
her ... for more than two thousand years now."
There was no answer for a moment, and Suzue glanced up. Itsuko looked
as if she had thrown a bucket of cold water in her face. "That," the
older woman said clearly, "is a contemptible thing to say."
"I'm sorry," said Suzue at once. "I shouldn't have said that. Please,
forget I spoke." She made a wry face. "I just ... wish that I could
have been there. To see her too."
"It might have done you good," Itsuko said with a sniff. But her glare
faded. "I wish you could, too," she said, a little wistfully.
"And Miyo-chan and Artemis can remember all the way back to the first
paradise -- to the Silver Millennium," Suzue mused. "What that must
have been like! Do -- do you remember it at all?"
"Hardly anything," Itsuko answered. Her eyes grew distant. "I think I
could once -- a little. For a while after I became Sailor Mars. But
now all I can see are the ruins on the Moon. It's all faded away. All
lost ..."
"The ruins ..." Suzue shivered suddenly. "Didn't you tell us that the
Bles-- I mean, that the queen had been thinking about having her
birthday celebrations there, just before the Fall?"
"Eh? Oh -- that. No, that was just a joke of hers." But Itsuko shook
her head, distracted. "She _was_ cooking up something for her birthday,
though, her and Endymion, just before the attack. Some kind of
proclamation. I never found out what."
"A public holiday, maybe?"
"Mm ... I doubt it. But Serenity played it very close to her chest;
wanted it to be a surprise. She got this silly smile whenever I tried
to get it out of her."
Itsuko stared down at the table, lost in introspection, for some time.
Then, suddenly, she jerked upright.
"It's getting dark. What time is it --? We've been talking for hours!"
Suzue looked down at her communicator-watch, startled. "Oh, my. So we
have. My parents are going to be angry."
"You can call them from here," Itsuko offered. "Then you'd better get
moving. No, better yet --" She looked at the clock on her desk and
made a quick mental calculation. "We've both missed dinner, and
Miyo-chan is off with Dhiti-chan somewhere. What say you call home, and
then we go out and get something to eat? My treat."
Suzue did not have to think twice. "Sure."
As they stood to leave, she glanced over at Itsuko and smiled. "This
still isn't over, though," she said.
Itsuko grinned back. "Certainly not."
--**--
"Pappa-san's leaving," said Aoiro over the commlink. "Want me to follow
her car?"
"You'd better," said Hiiro. "See if you can get an ID on the man she's
with. Chances are it's nothing, but --"
"Man?" came Aoiro's voice, puzzled. "She isn't with a man; it's a girl.
Teenager. Not one in our records."
"What?" Hiiro froze. "Hold one." He whirled to Mitsukai, seated at her
terminal in the back of the van. "Confirm that," he ordered.
Mitsukai slipped a headset back on. "The voice-print from the
transmitter in her office is male," she said after a moment.
"Damnation. What the hell --?"
"Run a pattern analysis on the signal," said Kuroi over his shoulder.
"If we've been compromised ..."
This took Mitsukai longer. "Confirmed," she said after a couple of
minutes. "I have a third-level synthesis match. We're being fed a
false signal." Her fingers flew over the keyboard. "The patterns
correspond to Sankaku simulators."
"Shit," said Kuroi. "She's been onto us all along."
"Aoiro," said Hiiro urgently into the commset. "Did you get that? Stay
on her at all costs. We need an ID on the girl."
The commset was silent for a minute. Then, "Negative," said Aoiro.
"Traffic's heavy. I lost her at the lights."
Hiiro put a hand over the commset microphone. "Goddam--"
Aoiro's voice went on. "I tried for a picture of the girl, but it was
too dark. It's just a silhouette. Sorry."
Hiiro and Kuroi exchanged looks. "Another Sankaku link," said Kuroi.
Hiiro nodded. "Call it in."
****************
Sese inspected the man with some skepticism. "Sven tells me you can be
trusted," she said coolly. "The real question is, how good are you?"
Asking Sven to find her a hacker had been impulsive, and she was already
regretting it. The man he had found her, Honda Kunio -- though he
preferred to be called "Trio," for some inane reason -- was doing little
to allay her doubts. Small and rat-faced, he had, like Cassius, a lean
and hungry look. He reminded her of the kind of street vendor who,
having picked your pocket one day, would try to sell you your own empty
wallet the next.
Trio gave her a toothy smile that was almost a sneer. "That depends on
what you want me to do," he said.
It was nearly midnight, and Sese -- as on far too many days -- was still
in her office. Outside her window, in the middle distance, was the huge
glowing hemisphere of the Archives. A fine setting for conspiracy, she
thought sourly.
"How much has Sven told you?" she asked.
"Nothing," said Sven quietly. He was standing to one side, so quietly
that she had almost forgotten he was there. At her sharp look, he
added, "He is reliable, Sese. I'm certain."
"That's good to know," she shot back, "considering how much I'm risking
just by talking to him."
There was still time to back out, she knew. She had done nothing
irrevocable ... yet. She could send the man away and return to her
duties with a clear conscience.
But she was not sure that she could go back to lying to herself.
"I want you to investigate the Serenity Council," she said crisply.
"I'll give you my own 'I' Division access code; that should make a good
starting point. In return, I want you to find out what the Council are
doing ... that they're not telling me."
The look on his face almost made knowing that she had just broken her
oath of office worth it.
****************
Wednesday morning was grey and dreary, though the rain was expected to
hold off until tomorrow. An hour after sunrise, the day was already hot
and sticky.
Sharma Dhiti kept up a running stream of chatter with Artemis as she got
dressed -- not at all bothered by changing in front of the cat -- and
departed for school, immensely satisfied with herself for having been
able to make him lose his temper three times in five minutes.
Itagaki Suzue thoughtfully added another title to the list of religious
texts she wanted to look up in the library after school, as reference
material for her next meeting with Itsuko. She doodled an airplane in
the margin.
Kodama Iku ate breakfast in silence, before returning to her room to
dress. The room was clean and meticulously tidy, and she was careful to
keep it that way. Finally she picked up her satchel and walked out the
front door on her way to school. In silence.
Hayashi Miyo walked to school as usual. On the way, she stopped and
stared fixedly at a flower-bed for nearly five minutes, before clucking
to herself in exasperation and walking on.
McCrea Beth arrived at school and severely puzzled her friends by
greeting Nanako and Eitoku warmly.
Pappadopoulos Itsuko reviewed the list of aerobics sessions she would be
leading during the day, and gave a loud groan.
The 'S' Division mobile outpost near the Olympus building continued its
round-the-clock vigil.
****************
Dhiti visited the school library at lunch time. She spent fifteen
minutes going through the meagre collection of late twentieth-century
history, before giving up. Reluctantly, she turned to the library's
computer system.
She had never liked computers much. It was, perhaps, ironic that of all
the Senshi, she was the one who was expected to be good with them. (If
she ever found out who was responsible for that particular irony, there
was going to be trouble.) Still, practice with the Mercury computer,
however unwilling, had taught her a little.
Access to the library system was keyed to her student ID. She entered
it, glanced through the query screen that came up, and typed in a simple
search key.
OSAKA NARU.
The computer paused for perhaps half a second. Then the response came
back: NO MATCHES.
Dhiti looked at it, feeling obscurely saddened. [Not even a footnote in
the history books,] she thought, remembering Artemis' words. She
wondered if, two thousand years from now, anyone would remember Kin.
She thought about looking Naru up in the Mercury computer, but in the
end it didn't matter. She knew enough already.
Signing off the computer, she went out looking for Miyo.
The air outside was thick and muggy, without a breath of wind. It was
like walking around in a sauna. Any sensible person would have stayed
inside, in the air-conditioned buildings. That did not seem to apply to
the sport enthusiasts, though. The playing fields were filled with
pupils, all of them apparently competing to see who could get heatstroke
the fastest. Shouts and laughter from the tennis courts, not far away,
showed that the madness was not local.
Rather as Dhiti had expected, she found Miyo sitting on a grassy bank
near the fields. "'Lo, Hayashi," she said as she strolled up. "Listen,
have you had a chance to think about --"
Too late, she saw the smaller figure sitting at Miyo's side. "Oh, hi,
Kin-chan," she ended rather lamely.
"Hello, Dhiti-chan." Kin's tone was noncommittal.
Dhiti kept her face under what she hoped was firm control, and sat down
beside the pair. "So," she said in a cheerful voice. "What brings you
two here? No, wait -- let me guess." She waved out at the field.
"Mark-chan and Liam-kun are out there. Right?"
When there was no reply, she looked around. Both Miyo and Kin were
glaring at her. "What?" she said, genuinely surprised. "Did I say
something wrong?"
Miyo put a hand to her forehead. "Sweet timing, Dhiti-chan," she said
wearily.
"Wrong? Of course not," said Kin, her teeth clenched. "What could Miss
Tact possibly say wrong?"
"Oh, come on, you don't mean you and Liam-kun have broken up _again_?
Kin-chan, the two of you are perfect together. Everyone knows it.
What's he said that's got you so bothered this time?"
"He told me I --" Kin broke off suddenly, and her face took on a
calculating look. "Tell you what, Dhiti-chan, I'll trade you. I'll
tell you what Liam said ... if you tell me what you were going to ask
Miyo-chan about just now."
Worse and worse. Dhiti waved the question away with desperate
casualness. "Oh, that was nothing," she said airily. "Just something
about tai chi. Did Hayashi tell you she's started learning martial
arts? She --"
"Forget it." Kin gave her a long, flat stare. "It's too easy for you,
isn't it? You can weasel your way out of anything."
"Kin-chan --"
The small blonde girl stood up, still looking at Dhiti. "You know what
the really sad thing is?" she said. "I can still talk to you, when
Miyo-chan isn't around. And I can still talk to Miyo-chan, when you
aren't there. But put the two of you together, and this ... secret of
yours gets in the way." She grimaced. "I thought you were supposed to
be thinking up a good story, Dhiti-chan."
Dhiti could not think of an answer.
"Yeah. Well, see you around. Later, Miyo-chan."
She walked away without looking back. Dhiti watched her go, still
wordless. At last she sat down beside Miyo. "Um," she said.
"Yeah," said Miyo. "'Um' is right."
"Oh?" Dhiti's temper flared for a moment. "I didn't exactly notice you
helping me out there!"
Oddly, Miyo refused to take the bait. "We were just talking about you,
actually," she said, "and lo and behold, there you were. What was so
important that you wanted to ask me about, anyway?"
Dhiti let out a short bark of laughter. "I wanted to talk to you about
Kin-chan. And lo and behold, there she was." After a moment she added,
"I've been looking up Osaka Naru in the library."
"Ah." Miyo's face went blank. "And did you find anything?" she asked
after a moment.
"You know I didn't."
"No." Her lip curled. "There's a lesson there, if you want."
"Not a very comforting one." Dhiti hesitated, then said, "Hayashi, I
think we ought to talk about --" Before she could finish, the school
bell rang behind them. All around, students began to head back in to
class. "Damn! Look --" she said quickly as Miyo began to get up, "can
we go somewhere after school, and talk about this?"
Miyo paused for an instant. "I'll call you later," she said. "There's
something else I have to ... take care of after school."
Dhiti frowned. That sounded ominous. "Trouble?" she asked.
"Family business," Miyo said curtly.
"Oh." And that, Dhiti realised, told her all she needed to know. More
than enough, in fact.
It also left Dhiti on her own after school, at a loose end. Now who was
being shut out?
****************
To all appearances, they were just an ordinary bunch of kids, two boys
and a girl. Three boys, counting Hideo. Ordinary was good, though.
Ordinary could be an advantage.
Hideo had chosen them all carefully. Children around his own age,
eleven or twelve; but not the rowdy, hyperactive sort. The quiet ones;
the ones who nobody noticed much. The kind who knew how to use their
eyes, and how to disappear into the background. The natural spies.
"All right," he told the others. They fell silent with gratifying
speed. "I declare the first meeting of the Senshi Watch open."
There was a lot for them to do. They had to expand their numbers,
covering more schools, building a network of members. They had to build
communications links, so that new information could be passed along as
quickly as possible. They had to maintain strictest secrecy. And above
all, they had to watch for Senshi activity.
He kept three names to himself: McCrea Beth, Kodama Iku and Bendis. He
had promised, after all. Fortunately, that still left him a lot of
leeway. The initial guidelines were easy: Watch for cats with moon
markings. If there's a battle nearby, keep your eyes open. Stay out of
sight. Try to follow any Senshi you see. Look for crystalline
monsters, or women with jewels in their foreheads, but don't get in
their way.
Hideo had a lot of ideas, and his first three recruits had plenty of
their own. They spoke for some time.
****************
"Don't do it," said Liam. "It'll only be trouble."
"Easy for you to say," said Mark, as he watched Miyo head back in to
class.
Liam laughed; but there was an edge to it. "I'm already in trouble," he
said.
"Dammit, look at her!" Mark said, ignoring him. "You can see she's
down. She never smiles any more. And you're saying I can't even try to
help her?"
"You wouldn't be helping, though, now, would you?"
"I could try!"
"No, you couldn't. She wouldn't let you. She'd just have to push you
away again, and that would only make things worse." Liam touched his
shoulder gently. "Mark, boy, the best thing you can do is stay away
until she's ready for you to come back."
"And when's that going to be?" Mark asked bitterly.
"Now if I knew that, I'd be the rarest man on Earth!" But then Liam
grew thoughtful. "All the same, if I had to guess ... I'd say sooner
than she thinks."
"Oh, that helps."
"What did you expect? I've found the girl of my dreams, and I can't
hold onto her either." The two boys started toward the school building,
joining the other stragglers from the playing fields. As they walked,
Liam sighed, and said, "Sometimes I think we'd be better off opting out
of the game altogether."
"Yeah?"
"Oh, yes. If it weren't the most important thing in the world."
****************
The air rippled in the chairman's office, and a slender figure appeared,
floating a few centimetres off the floor. She was clad in midnight
blue, with silver bands at her wrists and waist. There was a jewel
embedded in her forehead, the size of a walnut. It was a dull grey
colour, but now and then it flickered for a moment with a cold, pale
light.
"I am here," she said.
The chairman did his best to look at her with equanimity; but as always,
he found it hard to meet her eyes. It was not just that he knew how
dangerous she could be. She could reduce him to ashes with a glance, if
she chose. No, far worse was knowing that what had been done to her,
could just as easily be done to him. If he failed.
She had been an ordinary woman, not so many days before: Araki Mamiko,
Number Twelve of the Serenity Council. Now, whatever had made her human
was gone. She was a shell; a soulless puppet, dancing on the strings of
the Master. The eyes that looked at him now were as devoid of warmth and
feeling as a computer screen.
Sometimes he wondered if, deep inside, Araki was still there. Buried,
hopelessly lost, but aware. And screaming.
"Welcome back," he replied. "Has the Master reached a decision about
Hino, then?"
Twelve shook her head. "Not quite. There is a final test to be made,
first. We must confirm her true position."
He frowned. "I don't understand."
"That is of no consequence. There will be another attack today; one
that will ... stretch the Senshi a little." Twelve gave him a
condescending smile. "No doubt you will want to make sure that your
emergency services are prepared."
He did not bother to wonder if she actually cared about emergency
services. Of course she did not. Instead he said, "Very well. When
will the attack be?"
"After school." She smiled again. "After all, we wouldn't want to make
it difficult for them to respond, would we?"
****************
The day ground its way onward. When school let out, Hayashi Fujimaro
walked out of the gates alone. Most of his friends had been avoiding
him lately. The rumours about Miyo had spread pretty fast.
He headed for home automatically, his mind almost blank. He had no idea
what he would do when he arrived. Spend the rest of the day not talking
to his family, probably. None of them seemed to talk any more. Miliko
was still approachable, but even she was starting to give up.
The departure of Miyo had left a hole in the family. If they had tried,
they might have been able to close ranks, to draw together and fill the
gap. But none of them, not his parents or his older brother or Fujimaro
himself, had had the will. Instead, the void had spread. Now it was
threatening to swallow them all.
Perhaps that was fitting. After all, they had brought it on themselves.
Pause at the corner. Wait for traffic to clear. Cross. He went
through the motions, hardly aware of what he was doing.
[You knew that it was wrong], she had told him. [You _knew_, and you
watched it all happen ... and you didn't do anything.] He turned the
corner and walked on, his eyes cast down, unseeing, at the pavement in
front of him. In his head, the litany continued. It was all true.
[You never spoke up. You never said a word. And that makes you just as
guilty.] He heard her in his dreams, most nights. Guilty. He could
not deny it.
[Burn the house down?] he remembered saying to Dhiti. [Maybe you'd be
doing us a favour.]
Past the corner bakery. Right turn, into a narrow, tree-lined street.
He had tried to bury himself in schoolwork, but found that empty study
only emphasized the emptiness within himself. His friends stayed away
from him. His family no longer spoke. At school or at home, he was
alone.
There was a pair of legs just ahead. School-uniform trousers. He
glanced up, puzzled. A figure, leaning against a tree.
And then a flood of recognition; and the emptiness fled away from him
and the world vanished and there was only her, standing in from of him,
arms folded, staring at him coolly.
"I hear you wanted to talk," she said.
Fujimaro whispered, "Oneesan."
****************
Beth and Iku wandered through the mall at a leisurely pace, stopping
here and there to look in shop windows before moving on. Beth had not
been here for a while, and meant to enjoy it. She had half-expected Iku
to be spooked at the idea of coming here, but the other girl seemed
content enough ... though she kept a wary eye open whenever anyone else
came near them.
Beth kept her own eyes open. They were supposed to be meeting Suzue and
Dhiti, but so far there was no sign of them.
The call to come here had been a surprise, but a welcome one. Things
had been rather strained between her and Nanako and Eitoku today; so
when Dhiti had called, saying something about "needing to get away from
it all" and suggesting that they all go to the mall, Beth had been glad
of the excuse.
Spending the afternoon with the other Senshi sounded like fun, in any
case. Iku had been loosening up a bit lately; Suzue seemed nice enough,
if a little stiff; and Dhiti was mad, but interesting. Apparently Miyo
couldn't make it for some reason; that, in Beth's opinion, was Miyo's
loss.
Zarigani Mall was not especially large, but it was convenient to the
girls' three respective schools. Its cheerful logo, a cartoon crayfish
with a big, slightly stupid grin, was everywhere. The interior was
clean and well-lit; the air-conditioning was doing its job; the ambient
music was catchy and fairly recent; and the air was filled with the
chatter of a thousand young people. Not bad at all, in fact.
There was an ice-cream stall ahead that looked better than not bad.
She tapped Iku on the shoulder and pointed. "You want to get something
while we wait?" she asked.
Iku looked surprised, then pleased. "Okay," she said.
A minute later, licking their ice creams, they wandered on. Beth
decided that this was much better than sitting at home, trying to read a
dry stack of text-books. She eyed a music store just ahead, and
mentally compared it to the shoe shop next door. She didn't need
anything from either, but that was hardly the point. Sneaking a look at
Iku, she tried to decide if the other girl looked interested in either.
"So," she said. "Music, or shoes?"
Iku considered for a moment. "Craftwork?" she said hesitantly.
"Huh?" Actually, there _was_ a craftwork supply shop a little further
on. "I didn't know you were into that," Beth said, surprised.
"I knit," said Iku, almost shame-faced. "It's ... relaxing."
"Really? Maybe you could show me how sometime." Iku's eyes widened,
but Beth did not notice. A sudden idea came to her, and she giggled.
"Maybe I should get a ball of wool for Bendis," she said.
Iku thought about this. Her lips twitched.
"A-ha," said a voice from behind them. "Making evil plot without us,
are you?"
"Hello, Dhiti-chan," said Beth without looking around.
"We were talking about knitting," added Iku.
"Oh!" said Dhiti. "Well ... if that doesn't sound evil, I don't know
what does."
Beth turned, to see the dark-skinned girl standing with Suzue not far
off. "Do you even know how to knit?" she asked suspiciously.
Dhiti looked disconcerted. "Um, well, not ... as such. I did try
crocheting for a while, but it was kind of dull."
"Oh?" Beth glanced over at Iku. "I've heard it can be very relaxing."
She winked at the other girl.
"Traitor! How can you doubt my word?" Dhiti declaimed. "I detect a
challenge to my obvious supremacy --"
"Excuse me, but ... why are we talking about knitting, again?" said
Suzue. "I thought we were here to --" She paused. "Why _did_ you
call us here, anyway?"
"Just to hang out, really," said Dhiti, relaxing from her declamatory
pose. "I mean, training sessions are all very well, but ... we ought to
be getting to know each other, right?"
Suzue shrugged. "Mm. I'm not sure that's really necessary. But I ...
suppose it's not a bad idea."
"Good to know you're so enthusiastic," said Dhiti dryly.
"Well, it makes things a little more awkward," Suzue replied. She wore
a slight frown. "I think my boyfriend has already noticed that I'm not
telling him things."
"Boyfriend?" said Beth, interested. "That's right, you did say you've
got a --"
"Let's not get side-tracked," cut in Dhiti, though she looked equally
intrigued. "Actually, Hayashi and I have a, well, a similar problem."
"You mean, your boyfriends are --?" began Beth.
"Try to stay on the subject, Beth-chan. Hayashi's problem with her
boyfriend is that she doesn't realise he's her boyfriend yet. Um ... I
meant a different friend. She's getting kind of suspicious." Quickly
she laid out the situation to the others.
Beth thought it over. Fortunately, she had no such problem; Nanako
suspected nothing. She could see the others' difficulty, though. "What
we need," she said slowly, "is an excuse to be meeting. Some kind of
perfectly innocent reason to be getting together after school, or on
weekends, or whenever."
"Some kind of club?" said Suzue. "Or a sports team?"
"The All-Senshi Planetary Defence Knitting League," said Dhiti.
"Seriously," said Beth, giving her a pained look. "A sports team could
work pretty well, actually. It gives us an excuse to go to the Olympus
all the time."
"Some kind of sport that takes five people?" Dhiti said dubiously.
"Well ... we can pretend to have more. Or --"
"Softball," suggested Suzue. "Nine players for nine planets."
Dhiti grinned. "It could be a while before we can field a team."
"That's not the point," Beth said impatiently. "As long as it gives us
an excuse to meet, that's all we need."
"But what if Dhiti-san's friend wants to watch a game?" asked Iku.
That brought the discussion to a halt. They threw ideas back and forth
for a while, but all of them seemed to fall down in one way or another.
After a while things started to get heated, and Beth suggested they
break for a little.
"Let's get something to drink," she told the others. "We're in a mall;
we ought to buy something, at least."
They retired to a nearby juice stand and stood looking at the price
board for a little.
"I can't decide which sounds worse," said Dhiti; "the Natural Algae or
the Prune'n'Pineapple."
"Try both, mixed," suggested Beth with a smirk.
"I will if you will!"
They were staring at each other in open challenge when Iku said, very
quietly, "I still don't understand why you can't just tell your friends
who you are. If they're your friends, can't you trust them?"
Beth, Dhiti and Suzue eyed each other. "As a matter of fact," said
Dhiti slowly, "I was talking to Artemis about --"
Beth never found out what Dhiti had been talking to Artemis about,
though; because at that moment, there was a sudden, ear-splitting
crashing sound, followed by a chorus of screams. They looked around and
saw something moving at the far end of the mall, pulling itself out of a
mound of wreckage and broken glass. Something huge and unmistakably
crystalline.
****************
"Cat got your tongue?" asked Miyo sardonically.
Fujimaro stared at her, lost for words. "Oneesan," he said again.
Her face twisted into a scowl. "I knew this was a waste of time," she
said. She turned her back and started to walk away from him.
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
Miyo froze. "What?" she said, her back still toward him.
"I-- I'm sorry. Miyo-oneesan, please ... I'm sorry. I was wrong. It
was all wrong. It ..." He trailed off, unable to go on for a moment.
Then, in a low, determined voice, he said, "It's _still_ all wrong.
Nothing ... nothing has been right since you went away."
"Then why?" she said. Her voice had changed; when he glanced up he saw
that she was facing him again. "Why, Fuji-kun?"
"I don't _know_!" he cried out, startling her into taking a step back.
"I don't know," he repeated in a lower voice. "When you said ... when
you showed us you were a ... you know ..." He glanced around guiltily,
but there was nobody in sight. "That was scary," he went on, speaking
more freely now. "Scary, but exciting. But ... then you said ..."
"I know," she murmured.
"You said you were _her_. You were there ... back there ... with Queen
Serenity. And even before ... on the moon ..."
"The Silver Millennium."
He nodded. "And I was scared. You were so much ... _more_ ... and
where was my sister in all that?"
Miyo did not answer for some time. At last she said, "I was born on
Callisto. One of the moons of Jupiter. My parents were the rulers of
the Jupiter realm. I visited all the planets of the Solar System,
except Saturn and Pluto, before I was ten. I've walked in the forests
of the Moon, and bathed in the golden wells of Venus, and seen the
courts of Atlantis before it fell. I have fought at the command of
Serenity, the last queen of the Silver Millennium ... and in the service
of her daughter. And I've walked the streets of First Tokyo, and fought
beside the Senshi of nine worlds there. I saw the descent of the Great
Ice, and the way it ended. I helped to build Crystal Tokyo, and I was
one of its guardians." She took a deep breath. "I've died four times
now, and I'm here talking to you. Fuji-kun, that scares you?"
He nodded again. He could no longer meet her eye.
Her voice was unexpectedly gentle. "Then why did you tell Dhiti-chan
you wanted to see me?"
Fujimaro said something inaudible. "Pardon?" she inquired.
"I said, because it doesn't matter." His words were soft, but firm.
"Oneesan, what did you give me for my tenth birthday?"
Miyo blinked. "Your --? How am I supposed to remember that?" Then she
thought again ... and a hole opened in her mind. "Wait a minute. Oh, I
know. It was that ratty old scarf, wasn't it? You used to wear it all
the time, even after it got so torn up Mom said it should be burned. I
even caught you tying it to your bicycle once, like some stupid kind of
flag --"
She broke off suddenly, realising what she was saying. "Oh," she said.
"Wow. You really like that thing, didn't you? I never ... realised
before."
"But you patched it up for me, three times."
Miyo frowned. "Four times," she said. "You always forget the time when
you --"
He was smiling. "Big sister," he said.
And in another moment, his arms were around her.
She froze, startled. Looked down at the head on her shoulder. He was
shaking, she realised. And he was still smiling, but there were tears
in his eyes.
She thought about it. Then, slowly, she brought her own arms up to
embrace him in return.
"Yeah," she said. "I guess I am."
--**--
They stood for what seemed like a long time, but could not really have
been more than a minute. At last Miyo let her arms fall from around
him. He released her at the same moment and stepped back.
"Hell of a reunion," she said.
Fujimaro nodded.
"Reminds me of another one I had, just a few weeks ago." Her lips
quirked at the memory.
"Oneesan ..." Fujimaro seemed to take courage from the smile. "You'll
come home now. Won't you?"
Her smile froze. "Fuji-chan ..."
"You'll come home, and everything will be all right again. You will,
won't you?" He stared at her, his face desperately earnest. Then, as
she remained silent, his expression crumpled. "You ... won't."
"What would Father say?" she asked softly.
"He --" The realisation in his eyes was awful to see. "He. He
b-burned all your pictures, oneesan."
That, she had not expected, and she felt the blood drain from her face.
Oh, how deeply a loved one could wound.
"It's not my home any more, Fuji-chan," she said faintly.
"Then ... can I come where you're staying? Please?"
Miyo took a deep breath. "No," she said. "That's ... not really
possible."
Even as she said it, she knew that it might not be true -- that it
might, somehow, be possible for him to come. Itsuko knew how things
were. She might say yes.
At the same time, she knew that it would be a mistake. She was sundered
from her family, probably forever. Allowing her brother to join her
could only further the damage. Too, it would put him squarely in the
centre of the Senshi -- potentially, directly in harm's way.
Looking at him, she saw that he had been expecting her to say no. "Then
can I visit you, at least?" he begged. "Oneesan, don't ... just go away
again."
"Oh, Fuji." She shook her head, but now she could smile, at least a
little. "Of course you can."
"Miliko, too?"
"Mili-chan, too." Miyo hesitated, then said, "And what about Ichiyo?
And ... and Mother?"
He did not answer for some time. At last he said, "I don't think they'd
come, oneesan." Reading the shocked dismay on her face, he went on,
"Ichiyo-niisan -- he cares; I know he does, really. But I think ..."
He bit his lip. "I think he's started to hate you, as well."
"Hate." Miyo said it flatly. Then: "He blames me. For all of this."
Fujimaro nodded. "I don't think he realises it. But ..."
She gave a short, bitter laugh. "And you wanted me to come home!
Fuji-chan, maybe I should take you with me after all." Then she shook
her head. "No, forget I said that. It ... just wouldn't work. But
what about --" She started to ask him about their mother, then stopped
herself. She knew that without hearing the answer. Hayashi Aki would
not act against her husband's will.
"At least Mili-chan still cares," she said bitterly.
"I'll bring her," Fujimaro promised. "I will. Oneesan, where are you
living? Where do we go?"
"I'm at --" Miyo broke off in sudden dismay. "Oh, Fuji-chan, I can't
say. I'm so sorry! I ... have to talk to someone first. The person
I'm staying with. She --" She shook her head helplessly. "Wait;
please. Just a day or two, I promise. I'm sure she'll say yes. But I
can't ... can't just tell you. There are reasons --"
He barely flinched. "Is she another ... one of you?" he said.
"She -- no, she's ... Fuji-chan, I can't say. I truly am sorry. But
I --"
Before she could say more, she was interrupted by a sudden beeping
sound, making them both jump. With a sinking feeling, Miyo looked
down and saw that the noise came from her communicator.
She stared at Fujimaro for a moment. Then, deliberately, she touched
the communicator, activating it, and brought it up so she could see the
screen. "I'm here," she said.
Dhiti's voice came from the tiny device. "Oh, hi, Hayashi. Hate to
disturb you, but we've got a bit of a situation here ..."
"Where?"
"Zari-- whoa! That came a bit close." There was a hasty scuffling
noise from the communicator, and what sounded like something breaking.
"Zarigani Mall. You know it?"
"On my way," Miyo said.
In one swift, practised motion, she produced her henshin stick and
raised it up, the words already on her lips. Then she glanced at her
brother.
His lips shaped the word, "Go."
"Jupiter power, make-up!" she said fiercely. Light and energy filled
the lane, bearing her away and returning her transformed. The Senshi of
Thunder gazed down at Fujimaro.
"Call me," Sailor Jupiter told her brother. "I can't tell you where I
live yet ... but you can call me." She recited the private comm number
for Itsuko's suite. "Don't spread it around, okay?"
She turned and sprinted away, without looking back.
****************
(continued in part 3)