Tell me, did you sail across the sun? Did you make it to the Milky Way to see the lights all faded, And that heaven is overrated? Tell me, did you fall for a shooting star? One without a permanent scar? And did you miss me while you were looking at yourself out there? Tell me, did the wind sweep you off your feet? Did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day And head back to the Milky Way? And tell me, did Venus blow your mind? Was it everything you wanted to find? And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there? Train, "Drops of Jupiter" _______________________________________________________________________ Kinmokusei Story Chapter Five: First Kiss by Kotetsu _______________________________________________________________________ Melinda had hijacked a conference room behind the Assembly chambers; she gathered the Senshi around her, and proceeded to throw down several binders full of documents onto the table in front of the Senshi. Seiya reached hesitantly for one of the binders. "What is this?" "Strategy analysis and recommendations from the Knights," Melinda said crisply. "We worked all week on compiling it." "Beauracracy strikes," Yaten muttered under her breath. Seiya was already flipping through the pages of the binder; there were hundreds of pages, all filled to the margins with miniscule print. She was beginning to look very pale. "Um, thank you," she said weakly. "We'll, uh, look over this." Melinda favored the three of them with a stern glare. "You've been doing a good job so far," she said, although she didn't sound as if she really meant it. "Keep up the good work." Then, mercifully, she turned and left the room. Taiki watched the door closing behind Melinda. "No lecture?" she inquired toward the door. "I'd bet money that Kakyuu had a word with her beforehand," Yaten asserted, reaching for another binder and opening it carefully. "Oh, wonderful. It's fifteen thousand pages telling us over and over again to do exactly what we've been doing all along - just defeat and exorcise the stupid youma, and don't hurt any civilians in the process." "I don't think it's *really* fifteen thousand pages," Taiki said, eyeing the bulky binders suspiciously. "What's all this stuff?" Seiya asked, running her finger down an open page. "Notes on pre-Colonial mysticism and occult religions--" "Oh, those would be my notes." Taiki glanced over Seiya's shoulder. "I think that most of this paperwork is the combined results of all the research that Adella and I have submitted over the past week; if that's the case, then we're looking at fifteen thousand pages of unrelated historical anecdotes and mythological dead ends." Seiya suddenly slammed the binder closed and pushed it back toward the center of the table, her mouth turned downward in a grimace of distaste. "I don't want to look at it anymore." "Me neither." Yaten followed suit, sliding the second binder away from her. "We should probably at least skim over the contents," Taiki suggested quietly. "Knowing Melinda, there's going to be a pop quiz tomorrow morning about whatever 'strategy' she and the other Knights managed to write up." "You know, I think that our current 'strategy' for fighting the enemy is working out just fine." Yaten crossed her arms grumpily across her chest. "At least, it's all that we can do at the moment. That seems to be what the Knights are saying, too." "An enemy," Seiya sighed morosely. "And here I was, foolishly hoping for at least a little time to enjoy peace and quiet." "We're going to have to train harder and more often from now on," Taiki reminded her. "And we have to always be on our guard. Ready to fight at a moment's notice. That's our job as Sailor Senshi, remember?" "I know," Yaten said flatly. "I think I finally understand what Minako was complaining about in her letters. It's like we're always fighting, and whenever we defeat one enemy, a new enemy shows up." "Which means no more time for goofing off," Seiya said softly, sadly. "No more time for sneaking into the palace kitchens and stealing snacks, no more time to practice my guitar, no more time to do anything fun. It's all going to be training sessions, strategy meetings with the Knights, and fights with youma from now on, isn't it?" "No more time to photograph the seashore," Yaten lamented. "No more time to work in the library," Taiki added. "No more time to watch movies with you guys . . . " "No more time to go shopping together . . . " "No more time for idle dreams or romance . . . " "R-R-Romance?!" Yaten stared at Taiki in a moment of sudden shock. Then she burst out into raucous laughter. "What's so funny?!" Taiki snapped angrily, ashamed that her voice sounded so obviously defensive. Yaten's hand flew to her mouth, and she tried vainly to stifle her laughter. After a moment of struggling, her shoulders stopped shuddering with mirth, and her breathing was somewhat under her control. "It's just that," she gasped between giggles, "you're the last person I'd ever expect to be seeking a romance!" "What do you mean?!" Taiki whirled to face Seiya. "You don't agree with her, do you?!" "Well . . . " Seiya scratched her head. "I kind of never imagined you as . . . you know, in love with someone . . . " "I bet she doesn't even know how!" Yaten blurted out. "WHAT?!" Taiki stood up, towering over the gleefully giggling Yaten and suddenly very uncomfortable Seiya, glaring at them with violet eyes that flashed with anger. "I don't know how to do what?" "How to fall in love! How to court a man! How to--" "That's ENOUGH!" Taiki roared, which at least caused Yaten to momentarily shut up, clasping both her hands over her mouth as she fought to hold back a fresh burst of laughter. "So, you think that I can't handle a romantic relationship, do you?" Taiki growled, stepping away from her seat and starting toward the door. "Well, fine, be that way! Immature little twerps." "But Taiki, we just--" Seiya never had the chance to finish her protest, because at that moment, Taiki angrily slammed the door behind her. She was already gone from the room. Stomp, stomp, stomp, Taiki stalked her way angrily down the palace hallways, a proverbial thundercloud brooding over her head. She was angry, all right, but not just at Yaten and Seiya. She was angry at herself, too, for completely loosing her cool over what should have been just harmless teasing . . . But still, that only caused her to stomp harder and glare at everyone that she passed as she made her way through the palace. Fortunately, she found who she was looking for before very long. Hideaki was walking up the hallway toward her, his guitar slung over his shoulder, a sheaf of rolled-up music stuck under his arm, as usual. "Hey, Taiki!" he waved when he saw her. "I was just looking for you! I finished up a score that I want you to take a look at . . . " His voice trailed off and his cheerful smile faded when he saw the look on her face. "Um, is there something wrong?" In response, Taiki shot out her hand and grasped the musician firmly around his left wrist, yanking him forcefully toward her. "Follow me," she commanded harshly. "Hey, it doesn't look like I have much of a choice, do I?" Hideaki joked nervously as Taiki began dragging him along the hallway, pulling roughly on his arm. "May I ask where we're going?" "Right here," Taiki replied as she suddenly halted her stomping march in front of the doors to her private apartment. She then pulled a key out of the pockets of her skirts with her free hand, and twisted it savagely into the keyhole. She threw open the door, swung Hideaki around her hip, and pushed him rudely in front of her. As Hideaki stumbled into her foyer, she pulled the door shut behind her - slamming it loudly, just for good measure - and locked it quickly. The tumblers of the lock fell into place with a soft click. Hideaki stood uncertainly in front of her, eyeing her apprehensively. "Is there something that you want to talk to me about?" Taiki stood with her back to the door for a moment, staring at him coldly, yet thoughtfully at the same time . . . Then she began stomping toward him. She grabbed his shoulder, twisted him around, placed her hand at the small of his back, and pushed him forward roughly. "Go," she ordered him. "Aye, aye, captain!" Hideaki saluted her jovially as he hurriedly scrambled forward through her apartment, struggling to keep a hold of his guitar and his music. When they crossed the threshold into her bedroom, Taiki suddenly shoved Hideaki onto the bed. He bounced into a sitting position with a surprised "oomph!" and then sat, holding his guitar and his music in his arms, watching as Taiki closed the bedroom door behind her, and then stalked over to the dresser, where she finally stopped, staring at herself in the mirror mounted on the wall, and strumming her fingers nervously across the top of the dresser. Hideaki watched her quietly from his position sitting on the bed. She had her back turned to him, now. She was standing stiffly, jaw clenched, brow furrowed, fingers tapping forcefully but rhythmically across the top of the dresser, regarding her reflection in the mirror with a sour expression on her face. For the moment, she seemed to have forgotten that he was even there. "Um," Hideaki coughed and cleared his throat loudly, "Um, if there's something that you have to say to me, well . . . you should say it. It's rude to leave your guests waiting, you know." "Wait a minute, will you?" Taiki snapped. "I'm trying to figure something out." Hideaki fell silent, and Taiki continued to stare into the mirror, her eyes clouded with deep thought, her fingers strumming along the top of the dresser. It was sort of creepy, the way that she was just *standing* there with her back to him. Taiki's fingers stopped their tapping. She then brought her hand to forehead and rubbed her temples, as if she were trying to stave off a painful headache. She turned around and stared at him for a moment, regarding him thoughtfully. Then she lowered her eyes, and began pacing across the room, back and forth, back and forth, furrowing her brow with thought and muttering something incomprehensible under her breath. Back and forth, back and forth she paced. She stopped in the middle of the room. She turned her head and stared at him again, silently. Her brow wrinkled even further. And she began pacing again. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth . . . She stopped again. She opened her mouth, as if she were about to say something-- Then she shook her head, muttered, "no, no" under her breath, and began pacing again. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth . . . Hideaki sat watching quietly, nervously. He unslung his guitar from his shoulder and rested it on the floor, gently. Then he shifted his weight as he sat on the bed, still clutching the sheaf of music in his hand, his eyes following Taiki as she stalked across the room. Finally, Taiki stopped, for a third and final time. She turned her head toward Hideaki and regarded him coldly. "Did you have something that you wanted to show me?" "Well . . . " Hideaki twisted the music nervously in his hands. "I don't think that now would be a very good time." "Why not?" Hideaki's cheeks blushed a deep crimson. "It's kind of sappy. I don't think that you would appreciate it right now." He chewed his lower lip. "And . . . And . . . And I was kind of planning on taking you out to the gardens with me, so that we could be alone together when I showed it to you, and we could be underneath the starry night sky and the blossoming trees and surrounded by fireflies and singing crickets--" "We're alone now," Taiki pointed out bluntly. "Let me see it." Hideaki sat still for a moment, clutching the music tightly in his white- knuckled grip. Then, slowly, he raised his eyes to meet hers. Violet irises met muddy brown, and it was as if for a moment, the whole world stood still, watching, waiting, holdings its breath. Silence spun between them . . . Hideaki sighed, a long, slow release of breath that broke the tense moment. "This isn't at all what I imagined this moment would be like," he grinned ruefully as he held the rolled-up music out toward her. Taiki snatched the papers away from his hand and unrolled them slowly, scanning over them quickly with her sharp eyes. Hideaki watched her silently, feeling as if he were balanced on a razor- thin precipice. Taiki's eyes reached the bottom of the page, and when they did, she promptly brought them back up to the top, and then read over the music again, this time slowly, carefully, her eyebrows knit together in an expression of stern concentration. As she slowly lowered the papers away from her face, Hideaki noticed that her hands were trembling. But her face was suddenly expressionless. "When did you write this?" she asked evenly. Hideaki shrugged nonchalantly. "I started it a while ago. I finished it this morning. Although, as I said, I had planned to show it to you under slightly different circumstances." "Oh," Taiki said softly. She lowered her eyes and read over the title written in Hideaki's neat handwriting across the top of the page. 'For Indigo Rose,' it said. Taiki folded up the papers carefully, and reached over toward the dresser, setting them down gently on top of it. Then she walked over toward the bed - walking now, no longer stomping or stalking along - and sat down calmly next to Hideaki, managing all the while to keep herself composed and dignified. She folded her hands in her lap. The two sat in silence for a moment. Hideaki raised an eyebrow. "Well, what did you think?" Taiki stared straight ahead, breathing quietly, but definitely faster than she had been a moment ago. "You . . . You wrote that song for me?" "Yes." Hideaki smiled warmly at her, even though he knew that she wasn't even looking at him. "I choose to express myself through my music," he reminded her softly, hoping fervently that she would get the hint . . . Taiki closed her eyes and bit her lower lip. Hideaki's heart sank in his chest. "Are you angry with me?" Taiki's hands balled into fists, which she pressed painfully against her thighs, until her knuckles were white and her nails were cutting bleeding gashes into her palms. "No," she sighed, "No, I'm not angry with you." She opened her eyes and turned toward him, her stern demeanor melting, her shoulders slumping with defeat and her eyes becoming fearful and nervous, her entire body trembling. "I'm just . . . so bloody angry . . . when I have to admit that Yaten's right about something." "Huh?" "Hideaki, I have something terribly important that I need to say to you . . . but the problem is that I don't have the first clue how to say it." Hideaki stared at her with widening, startled, and inexplicably hopeful eyes. She was admitting defeat, he finally realized. That's why she had been so angry with herself. She was finally admitting defeat, to her own stubbornness, to her own shortcomings, to her own heart. And this last, the most important of all, made Hideaki feel suddenly giddy and excited. But then he saw the look on her face, and the emotions shimmering in her eyes . . . She was scared, frightened, and lost, taking the first trembling steps into a no-man's-land through which she had never even imagined journeying before . . . And he needed to do something, fast, to comfort her and build up her courage, before he scared her away forever. So, feeling rather like the foppish hero in a cheap romance novel, he gently placed one finger across her lips and hushed her with his soothing, calm voice. "Sometimes you don't need words at all," he whispered as he leaned toward her. She was staring at him with the widest eyes he had ever seen on her face, still trembling slightly, her skin and her lips warm and soft underneath the sensitive skin on his fingertip. Hideaki wasn't sure how much longer he could keep the Romantic Hero act going. Just the small amount of her that he was touching (actually touching! Hallelujah!) underneath his fingertip was beginning to excite him, to fog his brain with clouds of crimson and gold pleasure. "Tell me, then . . . Have you ever been kissed, Taiki?" "No," she admitted, suddenly blushing scarlet red. "Great! Neither have I." And with that, he dropped his finger away from her lips and quickly bent toward her, sealing his lips against hers before she could utter a startled protest. "No answer," Yaten muttered grumpily as she hung up the phone for the third time. "Where did she go off too, anyway? It's not like Taiki's one for sudden unpredictable changes in location." "She's not in the library, not with the Queen, not with the Knights, and there's no answer in her apartment," Seiya counted off on her fingers. "Geez, how are we supposed to apologize if we can't *find* her?!" "I still don't feel like apologizing, though. Every word of what I said was true," Yaten maintained stubbornly. "Oh, please, Yaten? Do it with me? If we don't apologize, I'll feel very badly about it." Seiya implored Yaten with her puppydog eyes. "Oh . . . " Yaten's resolve wavered. "All right. Just because I don't like seeing you depressed." She picked up the phone again and began to dial, this time deciding to check with the library again. "But I still don't think that Taiki's ever going to have a successful romantic relationship, unless she makes some major changes in her attitude." "How do you figure?" "If Taiki manages to score before either of us do," Yaten proclaimed as the phone on the other end of the line rang shrilly, "I'm going to cut off my ponytail." "Yeah," Seiya admitted grudgingly. "I have to agree. At the moment, that doesn't seem like much of a possibility, though." Taiki pressed back against Hideaki's lips with startling force, and sudden passion. Hideaki closed his eyes and let himself become lost in the enrapturement of her kiss. he thought euphorically. Taiki pulled away suddenly, gasping and short of breath. "Um, I think you're supposed to breath through your nose, or something, when you're kissing," Hideaki mumbled awkwardly. "Huh? Oh, yeah. Right. I understand." Taiki was blushing so deeply that her skin was darker than her hair. "It's just that . . . I'm sort of new at this." "That makes two of us." "How wonderful." Taiki leaned forward and kissed him this time, wrapping her strong arms around his slight frame and pulling herself closer toward him. Hideaki was surrounded by her warm, soft body. Hideaki wondered, idly, if he was actually experiencing the end result of years of pent-up and suppressed sexual desire on her part. Well, whatever it was, it was making his head spin dizzily and his blood tingle in his veins. It was so good, in fact, that it was causing him to lose his balance. So good, in fact, that she, too, was losing her ability to sit upright, and the two of them were falling, tumbling, backward onto the bed, limbs intertwined, bodies pressing against each other, lips never once leaving each other or parting even the slightest bit-- "No, she's not here," Arturo repeated. "I don't have a clue where she could be. Have you checked with the Knights yet?" "Yes," Yaten replied testily from the other end of the line. "Look, if she shows up, tell her to call us right away, okay? We're at Seiya's place." "Can do." Arturo hung up the phone. Tegan glanced up from where he was working on uploading data to the computerized catalog system. "Was that miss Yaten again?" "The ever so polite and courteous Kou Yaten, calling for her lady friend," Arturo laughed. Tegan blushed, slightly. "Yaten *is* nice. Sometimes," he muttered defensively. Then he lowered his head and began working again, this time at a furious pace. "You're sure you really want to--?" "Like you're one to protest," Taiki giggled merrily, pointing to the growing bulge in Hideaki's pants. "But isn't it more romantic if the man takes off his shirt first?" "I don't think it really matters," Hideaki commented, although his voice was muffled by his own shirt, which he was already pulling over the top of his head. He tossed his shirt aside quickly. "See? No third nipple. I'm normal as normal can be. Now it's your turn." Taiki was more than a little thrilled by the eagerness in his voice. It made her feel, for the first time in her life, like she was . . . well, like she was pretty damn sexy. And, for the first time in her life, she felt comfortable, and confident, within the strange mass of flesh and skin that was her own body. She was beautiful, she was driving him wild, she was about to unleash something between them that she could neither control nor contain, and yet, at the same time, she felt no particular desire to resist. She was flushed, she was breathing heavily, she was hot and hungry and aching all over. And she realized that she had never seen Hideaki so beautiful before, and she finally understood the sweet mind-numbing desire to touch and taste and kiss and caress, to surrender herself to something that made her feel reckless and crazy, irrational, illogical, madly powerful, archaic, barbaric, primitive, beautiful . . . beloved. Swept up in the moment, she realized that she was too far gone to pull back now . . . not that she had any desire to stop. No, none indeed. She unbuttoned the first three buttons of her shirt and bared the tops of her breasts to him. "Like what you see?" "I want to see more!" "Then kiss me again." He was happy to oblige. "Her problem," Yaten hypothesized aloud, "is that her standards are too high. That's why she'll never find love. She has unrealistic expectations." "Like someone else we know?" Seiya raised one eyebrow at Yaten. "Hey, a girl has to make careful choices." Yaten shrugged. "Not like *some* people, who fall in love too easily." "Like who?!" "Well . . . " Yaten smiled maliciously. "What exactly DID Tsukino Usagi do to make you fall in love with her? As far as I could tell, she just waved at you one morning and said 'hello,' and just like that," Yaten snapped her fingers, "you were head-over-heels for her." "I-I-It was more than just that!" Seiya sputtered. Then she suddenly blushed, and lowered her eyes. "Besides . . . um . . . That's all in the past, you know." "I'm sorry," Yaten apologized without really meaning it, "I know that sometimes you would rather forget about all that. But if you do, then . . . what in the world are Taiki and I going to tease you about?! We can only get so much mileage out of football, you know." Seiya looked at her watch. "It's been thirty minutes. Do you want to try calling Taiki's apartment again?" Their clothes were strewn haphazardly all over the bedroom, and they were lying side by side together, nude, thoroughly twisted together with the bedsheets, Hideaki gently kissing Taiki's soft, round breasts, when the phone rang for the fourth time. "Would but you could pull the cord out of the wall without leaving my embrace," Hideaki muttered melodramatically around a mouthful of nipple. "Let it go. It will stop after a few minutes. You, however, had better not stop." "I don't intend to." The phone finally stopped ringing. Hideaki began using his tongue more enthusiastically, and Taiki moaned with pleasure. She was beginning to feel slick, slippery, animalistic. He brought his right hand around the back of her head and began running his fingers through her mussed, sweaty hair. It felt like silk, just like he had always imagined. She shifted herself slightly and wrapped her arms tightly around him, pulling him even closer into her embrace, breathing quickly and shallowly, her skin flushed with the heat of arousal and her muscles tense and eager, nervous, anticipating. She ran her hands all over his body, groping at his flesh, eager to touch, anything, everything - growing mad with desire. Hideaki raised his head away from her chest and kissed her on the mouth again, tangling his fingers into her auburn locks of hair. He then pulled away from her kiss and paused for a moment, staring her in the eyes, breathing just as shallowly and as quickly as she was . . . He was hot and wet and red, too, but still struggling to hold himself back, still struggling to control himself. Taiki stared into his muddy brown eyes, and saw his fear, the terrible fear that he was moving too fast or was frightening her, and also the reverent awe and wonder, the naked worship of her beauty and her body. She felt a thrill shivering up her spine. But he was still staring at her, with those wide open eyes . . . She wondered if she should be afraid of scaring *him*. "What is it?" Taiki whispered, strangely hushed and quiet. "You are," Hideaki began, solemnly and seriously, "the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my entire life." "I'm also the only nude woman you've ever been in bed with," Taiki responded, equally as solemnly. Then a small, lovely smile danced across her lips. "But like I said, nobody that I cared about has ever called me beautiful before." "How wonderful. Then I have you all to myself, don't I?" "Always and forever." Strangely, numbly, Taiki realized at once the incredible weight behind her words and the fact that as soon as she had said them, she knew that they were true; and, even more frightening, this realization carried very little emotional impact when compared to her growing excitement about what was about to occur between them. They kissed, and then pulled apart again. And stared at each other, suddenly both very nervous. "Um . . . Want I should . . . " "I don't know . . . " She let her fingers travel lightly down his chest and his stomach, down even further below his abdomen, where she touched something strange and frightening (albeit familiar) and yet somehow terribly exciting at the same time. "I mean, do *you* want to--" "YES! I mean, uh, I love you, miss Kou Taiki . . . and I want to do the gentlemanly thing . . . and share my love with you." Taiki laughed, almost elatedly. "You're terrible, Hideaki! Perfectly terrible." She kissed him, quick and hard on his lips. "But that's one of the reasons why I love you in the first place." She brushed her hand back down *there* again, and thought, ecstatically, And then on top of that, something deep within her, deeper and lower than any rational conscious part of her mind, was screaming, crying out, demanding to be heard. Seiya yawned. "It's getting late, Yaten. Why don't you go home and go to bed?" Yaten paced back and forth nervously, chewing on her thumbnail. "I just can't figure out where she could have disappeared to! I mean, it's not like Taiki to escape my range--" "You're searching for her empathically?" "Yeah, and I can't find a trace. Normally, her mental presence is so loud that I have to make a conscious effort to tune it out." "Aren't you worried . . . ?" "No, I don't think she's in trouble. She's done this before. I think she can hide herself from me when she really wants to, if she wants her privacy . . . " Yaten flopped down onto the couch beside Seiya, hanging her head dejectedly. "I think she must be really angry at us, though." "So. You *do* want to apologize." Instantly, Yaten became grumpy again. "There's nothing to apologize for! I stand by what I said. As far as I'm concerned, Taiki deserves her reputation as the Ice Queen, and until she does something about it, she'll never be able to enjoy a healthy relationship." "Ah!" Taiki sucked in her breath sharply. "Does it hurt?" "Only a little," she lied. "I'm sorry," Hideaki apologized awkwardly. "It just . . . It feels kind of strange . . . So, what are we supposed to do now?" "Just keep doing what you're doing. Don't stop." Taiki closed her eyes and relaxed in her lover's embrace. She was beginning to feel the first tinglings of pleasure from the place where the two of them were now joined together. "Don't stop, my love, please don't stop . . . " They kissed passionately, and began to move together beneath the tangled bedsheets. Tegan finished typing the last of the manual entries, and smacked the "Save" key down with a triumphant flourish. "AHA! We're finished!" "Yes!" Arturo threw a stack of magazines into the air for celebration. "After months of hard work, the electronic card catalogue is finally back online!" "It's too bad that Taiki seems to have suddenly disappeared, so she had to miss this moment." Adella glanced up from the book she had been reading and scanned the library with her sharp, curious eyes. "I just realized this, but . . . that musician isn't here, either." "Who, Hideaki?" "Yes, that one. He's always here almost every evening, isn't he?" "Hey, yeah, you're right . . . " Arturo scratched his head. "But where on Kinmoku could he be?" Her breath was coming faster and faster, and she was almost gasping for air now, panting and gasping and squeezing and shuddering all over her body, riding a wave of mind-numbing sensual pleasure as it rose higher and higher and higher within her--- "Oh, my!" she suddenly gasped, shocked and startled by the sudden sensation that came slamming through her body. A moment later, she felt Hideaki shiver fiercely, and then he flopped down on top of her, spent and pleasantly exhausted. They laid still for a moment, silent, relishing the feel of warm skin and cool, salty sweat between them. Hideaki nuzzled his lips against Taiki's collarbone. "I'm terribly sorry," he murmured apologetically, "but I'm afraid that we're going to have to use some sort of protection next time." Taiki could feel something warm and sticky between her legs. But then again, some of that was probably blood. Still . . . "Oh dear," she sighed as she began to gently run her fingers through his hair. "Whatever am I going to do with you?" "Let me stay here tonight. I want to be with you." "And I don't want you to leave." His body felt warm, soft, and comforting as it pressed softly against hers. She gently massaged his scalp with the tips of her fingers. "But how am I ever supposed to get any sleep after something like that?!" Hideaki chuckled softly. "Aren't you tired?" "No, not at all." "The stamina of a Sailor Senshi. I should have known." He cuddled against her. "And here I am, already drifting away . . . " "Hey, Hideaki . . . " "Hmm? What?" "I love you." "I love you too." He grinned, sleepily. "There. That wasn't so hard to say, was it?" "No." She pressed her fingers against her own lips, pleasantly surprised. "No . . . I guess it wasn't." It didn't matter that she had already gasped and panted and cried out those words, so many times, over and over again, all during the red foggy heated time that had enveloped both of them only a few moments before. What did matter was that now that it was over, now that she felt cool and rational and in control again, she could still no more resist saying those words than she had been able to during the height of her passion. Because they were, simply, fundamentally . . . true. Hideaki shifted his body, relaxing and resting beside her. "You know . . . I always thought that the poetry that you wrote, the lyrics that you created, the music that you composed . . . was so beautiful, so full of warmth and emotion . . . And I always knew that it couldn't be that way unless you, too, carried that same beauty within you. Does that sound corny? I suppose it does, but it's the truth. There's so much raw emotion within you that the intensity of it almost scares me sometimes. You just have to learn to stop suppressing all of it, stop bottling it all up inside of you, stop hiding your true self from the rest of the world." "Words of wisdom from the minstrel himself?" "Be free. Be yourself." Hideaki yawned. "And I think I'm done spouting words of wisdom for tonight." "Good, because I think that we already had this conversation last night." Hideaki didn't respond; he was already fast asleep. Taiki closed her eyes and lay still, quiet, relaxed. She willed sleep to come. But her heart was still thumping in her chest, and her soul was still singing with excitement. Sleep eluded her. She waited patiently for a few moments, then opened her eyes again. Hideaki was still resting his head against her collarbone, sleeping soundly, breathing deeply but quietly through his slightly open mouth. "Hey, Hideaki . . . " she whispered softly to him, even though she knew that he couldn't hear her. "Thank you for tonight, Hideaki. I think I finally understand, now. Love is freedom, right? And freedom is love. That's all that I was ever searching for, all along. And now that I've found you, I'm finally free." She closed her eyes again, and sighed contentedly. "It's a dirty rotten trick, that's what it is," Yaten pouted. "Do you remember when we were younger, and we used to play hide-and-seek in the palace gardens? That's when she taught it to herself." "Oh, yeah, I remember." Seiya squirmed uncomfortably. "I remember that I was always the first one found every time that you were It." "That's because I always cheated. I could sense your presence no matter where you were." "Yeah, I thought as much." Seiya didn't say that she had actually made many attempts to hide her mental presence from Yaten, but had not yet been able to succeed in doing so. Taiki, however, seemed to be able to manage it pretty darn well. Enough to make Yaten pout like an angry child, at least. Seiya was sure that she, too, would master the trick sometime in the future. But for the moment, she was more concerned with somehow getting Yaten out of her apartments so that she could get herself to bed. She had been up since before dawn that morning, when she had rolled out of bed to go jogging through the gardens. And now that it was late at night, her eyes were becoming itchy and painful, and difficult to keep open. "Yaten, why don't you let it go for tonight? If she doesn't want us to find her, then we won't find her. You know how that works. Give her tonight to cool off, and tomorrow morning, we can talk to her again." "Are you sure?" "Positive. Look, I'll tell you what. Meet me at Taiki's apartment tomorrow morning, before we have breakfast with the Queen, and we can apologize together. How does that sound?" Yaten sighed, finally slumping her shoulders in defeat. "Okay. If she's even there tomorrow morning." "She will be." "Fine. Fine. If you're so sure of yourself, then." Yaten started toward the door. "So, I'll see you tomorrow?" "At the crack of dawn, no less." Seiya yawned. "I'd better get to bed. So, too, should you." "Of course. I wouldn't want to cut short my beauty sleep." With that, Yaten left. And a few moments later, Seiya was turning off the last of the lights. ******************** The dark, quiet hours of night slowly faded into hazy dawn. Seiya reluctantly rolled out of bed when her alarm sounded, decided to forgo her morning jog in favor of a hot shower, and threw on some clothes before she ventured forth for her meeting with Yaten. She found the other girl pacing anxiously back and forth in front of the door to Taiki's apartment. "Did you sleep at all last night?" Seiya asked dryly. "Not a wink. Five credits says she's in there right now, but she's still cut off from me, so I can't sense a bloody thing." "Did you try knocking?" "I was waiting for you." "You're cute when you're angry." Yaten blushed furiously. "Oh, please." "You know," Seiya pondered aloud, "you and Taiki don't fight often, but when you do, it's pretty bad, isn't it?" Yaten bit her lip, and remained silent. "It's almost as if the two most bull-headed people on the planet disagreed over something, and both were too stubborn to give an inch of ground to the other one, and--" "That's enough! I don't need you to psychoanalyze me!" Yaten snapped. "And besides, I'm not the stubborn one here. Taiki is." With that, she resolutely knocked her fist against the door. Within moments, Taiki herself answered the door, blearily rubbing sleep out of her eyes as she squinted in the sudden bright light. "What are you two doing up already?" she asked, almost curiously. Her hair was sleep-mussed and fell in loose auburn waves down her shoulders; she wore nothing but her bathrobe, and hadn't even bothered to put slippers over her bare feet; inexplicably, her cheeks were tinted with a delicate blush and her lips seemed fuller and more colorful than the evening before as they slowly curved into a small, delicate smile. For a moment, she seemed to be emanating an aura of perfect peace and contentment as the mysterious smile danced across her lips. Yaten, of course, broke the moment. "We came to apologize. Now let us in." Taiki opened the door wider and stood aside, letting her friends enter. "Apologize? For what?" "Um, did we wake you up?" Seiya asked nervously. There was definitely something different about Taiki this morning; but for the life of her, Seiya couldn't articulate what. Yaten, for her part, stomped over to the kitchenette and began pouring herself a glass of juice, without saying anything to either of them. "Yeah, but I should have been out of bed by now anyway," Taiki admitted sheepishly. She gestured toward Yaten. "What's wrong with her?" "Oh, she's just worried about you. And dealing with it as per her usual methods." "I heard that!" Yaten slammed down her glass of juice and glared daggers at Seiya. Then she turned to Taiki. "Why are you still cutting me off?!" "Hey, I thought this was supposed to be an apology on your part." "I think that you need to explain a few things first." "Maybe if you apologize for last night, then I'll drop the shield." They both fell silent, glaring at each other furiously. Seiya stood aside nervously, watching the sparks fly between their eyes. She felt as if the temperature in the room had suddenly dropped ten degrees, and that if she exhaled, she would see her own breath. So instead, she held still, not daring to breathe or to speak, waiting for one or the other to give in . . . Cold violet eyes locked with angry emerald irises. The silence spun thick between them. And, suddenly, the two seemed to sigh and relax their shoulders at the same time. "I'm sorry," Yaten muttered sullenly, lowering her eyes. "I didn't mean what I said last night. About you not being able to handle a romantic relationship." "And I'm sorry for overreacting to what you said," Taiki replied calmly, the smile returning to her lips. Once again, she seemed to settle into an image of peaceful contentedness, with just the right bit of color on her lips and cheeks, sunkissed auburn locks framing her face prettily as they fell uninhibited down her shoulders. Seiya stared at her openly. Taiki brushed her long bangs away from her face, tucking them neatly behind her ears and smoothing them back with her fingers as she addressed Yaten. "Are you okay, now? I've dropped the shield. But don't pry or anything, or I shall have to beat you." And, despite herself, Yaten found that it was impossible not to return Taiki's infectious little smile. "I'd like to see you try," she challenged jokily, easily returning to her good spirits. Seiya closed her eyes and exhaled gratefully, feeling an iron fist of worry and fear that had been clutching her heart suddenly dissipate into thin air. Good, they were friends again. Everything was all good. "Geez, Seiya, what were you trying to do, asphyxiate yourself?" "I was . . . uh . . . practicing holding my breath, in case, you know . . . we ever have to fight underwater." "Yeah. Right." Yaten smirked. "So, Taiki, how about getting dressed or something? I want my breakfast. Let's get going, shall we?" "Oh, like Seiya doesn't normally show up at breakfast in her pajamas--" "I don't *always* do that!" "It's downright uncouth of you." "Hey, it could be worse." "How so?" "I vote that we all show up for breakfast naked one of these days," Seiya suggested casually. "Anybody second the motion?" The three of them burst into peals of helpless laughter. Seiya clutched her sides and doubled over, her body shaking with unrestrained mirth, as she leaned against Taiki, who was suffering from the same malady, giggling her high-pitched giggle, as Yaten collapsed into a nearby chair and tried vainly to stifle her chuckles behind her hand. After a moment, the laughter faded, and when Yaten could control her own hands again, she stood up and poured herself another glass of juice. "I'm so thirsty this morning. I think I'm dehydrating." "You know, you could offer some of that to us. Seeing as how it's not even yours to begin with." "Oh. Sure." Yaten reached into a cupboard, closed her hand around a second glass, and began to pull it out-- only to drop it a moment later as Hideaki stumbled out of the bedroom and into the kitchenette, naked as the day he was born, yawning sleepily and rubbing his eyes, still half-asleep and oblivious to his surroundings, finally passing through the kitchenette, then fumbling through the bathroom door down the hallway, and closing it behind him. The glass shattered all over the kitchen floor. Yaten stood frozen, her jaw hanging open, her eyes almost popping right out of her head. Seiya would have thought Yaten's reaction absurdly comic, if her own face hadn't been frozen in an identical expression of shocked disbelief. Taiki quickly turned away from them, her shoulders shaking, a series of choked gasps rumbling in her throat as she desperately, desperately tried to stifle a fresh burst of hopeless giggles. Slowly, painfully, Seiya managed to turn her head toward Yaten. "Hey, Yaten . . . remember what you said last night, about your . . . ponytail?" " . . . " "I'm sure . . . there are scissors . . . somewhere . . . in this kitchen . . . " "I didn't mean it." Yaten reached for another glass, not bothering to clean up the broken shards at her feet. "Holy shit, Taiki. I mean, holy SHIT." Taiki apparently lost her battle to control herself; she doubled over into another fit of high-pitched giggles. "You guys," she gasped between bursts of laughter, "you should have s-s-s-s-seen the l-l-l-looks on y-your f-f-f- faces--!" She collapsed into a chair, clutching her stomach and giggling helplessly. "IT'S NOT FUNNY! IT'S SCARY, THAT'S WHAT IT IS!" Yaten yelled, struggling to be heard over Taiki's raucous giggles. But Taiki, absorbed in her one brief moment of smug fun-at-the-expense-of-her-friends, ignored her, and kept giggling. Seiya, watching the scene unfold before her and once again thrust herself back into the role of the confused and nervous spectator, unsure exactly what to think. She closed her eyes, concentrating on creating a mental image of the naked musician exactly as he was during the brief moment that she had glimpsed him. This thought instantly made her feel better; in fact, it brought the entire morning back into a perspective that she could easily comprehend and cope with. She opened her eyes again, and despite herself, grinned stupidly at Taiki, momentarily caught up in her friend's mindless mirth. "Omedetou gozaimasu, Taiki-san," she said. It was the only thing that she could think of to say. If anything, this made Taiki laugh even harder. Yaten slammed her second glass onto the kitchen counter, almost breaking it again. "I DON'T SEE HOW THIS IS FUNNY!" she fumed. Seiya had seen enough for the time being. She knew that she had no more part to play, this bizarre morning in Taiki's kitchen; she was finished. And, realizing this, she felt more than slightly relieved. "I'll see you two later," she said as she suddenly turned to leave. Taiki waved cheerfully at Seiya's back, still giggling too uncontrollably to choke out a coherent goodbye. Thus, Seiya left Taiki and Yaten alone in the kitchen, Taiki still laughing helplessly and Yaten still stomping and shouting angrily at her. No doubt, Seiya mused, the two had a whole new set of issues to work out between them. ******************** Seiya returned to her apartment only to find Belinda already lounging across her couch, tossing the football that she had brought back from Earth lazily up into the air, grinning at her mischievously. "You left the door unlocked again," she explained. "That's a dangerous habit. You shouldn't do that." "Maybe I will start locking it again," Seiya mused thoughtfully, sliding down next to Belinda, "but then what would you do to get in?" She elbowed Seiya playfully. "You could give me a key. Or I could just kick the door down every time that I want in." "I think I'll give you a key." "Good thinking." Belinda tossed the football up into the air, and then caught it with both hands, somewhat awkwardly, apparently not accustomed to its unusual shape. "You brought back a lot of stuff from Earth, didn't you?" "Yeah, I guess so." "But what about all the other planets you visited? Didn't you want any souvenirs from those places?" " 'Visited' isn't exactly the right word for it," Seiya said darkly. "I'm sorry." Belinda held the football still in her lap and gazed at Seiya with her sorrowful eyes. "It must have been really hard for you, huh?" "Yeah." Seiya leaned back, folding her hands behind her head. "You never really appreciate your home until you lose it." "What was it like?" "Huh?" "What was it like, when Galaxia was chasing you? Was it scary?" "It was horrible." Seiya almost trembled at the memory. "Are you sure you really want to hear about it?" "Are you sure that *you* really want to talk about it?" Seiya paused for a moment, carefully thinking through her answer. "Yes," she said finally, "I suppose it's about time that one of us talked about it." "Well, then." Belinda crossed her legs, daintily, femininely. "I'm listening." Seiya took a deep breath, searching for a suitable place to begin. "In the beginning, everything was happening very quickly. There were still some Galactic Union planets left, and we fled to those first. Back then, language wasn't a problem - everybody still spoke Galactic Standard. But we never stayed long, on any single planet. I suppose there were a few reasons for that . . . one of them being that Galaxia's campaign was picking up its pace, and we just barely escaped quite a few planets before they were destroyed entirely. We were always one step ahead of the wave of destruction, but only one step, and a small step, at that. So, we couldn't stay long on any one planet. It would have been painful to stay, anyway. Do you know what it feels like? To walk down the streets of a foreign city on a foreign planet, and then to realize . . . You realize that every person you meet, every stranger that you wave hello to, every person that you talk to, every single person in that city - in that country - on that planet - is doomed. It reached a point when we were afraid to even look anybody in the eye. We were isolating ourselves from human contact, which turned out to be a very foolish thing to do, but it was the only way that we could protect ourselves . . . It was bad enough, having Kinmoku and the Colonies destroyed. But to relive that pain and that heartache, over and over again on dozens of different planets . . . It would have been too much. Every instant of human contact on those doomed planets was just an opening for more pain, more heartache, more loss. "So, like I said, we isolated ourselves. We kept a low profile. We only spoke to others when it was absolutely necessary, and even then, it was only to ask about our Princess. We were numbing ourselves to the plight of every planet that we visited, because it was our only way to survive, to stay strong enough to keep running. "In the beginning, one of the reasons that we never stayed long on one planet was that there were still other planets to run to. "But it wasn't long before that, too, changed. I remember the three of us listening to the news reports every night, silent, not even speaking to each other, too exhausted and terrified for words. Sixty percent of the galaxy gone. Sixty five percent of the galaxy gone. Seventy percent of the galaxy gone. Taiki was in charge of planning our interplanetary teleports, and one night, she just pulled out this star chart and said, 'Look, all of the Subspace civilizations are gone. We're almost out of places to go.' "By that time, we had literally been backed into a corner - the galactic fringe of the Alpha sector, about as far away from Kinmoku as you can get. There was nothing left out there but pre-Subspace societies, backwater planets, oblivious sitting ducks for Galaxia's soldiers. But at the same time . . . around Alpha Centauri, around Vega, around Altair . . . we began to hear rumors. It's extraordinarily rare for a pre-Subspace planet to have Sailor Senshi, but apparently one of the fringe planets *did*. We heard all sorts of outlandish stories about these mystery Senshi - that they had driven back invaders from Tau, that they had defeated Pharaoh 90 himself, that they had destroyed the Kisenian Flower . . . At first, we didn't believe any of it. But then, we were finally running out of options. And I guess we sort of thought that where there were Senshi, we might stand a chance of finding our Princess . . . So that was why we decided to try our luck on Earth. "Earth was far different than any planet we had ever traveled to before. Everything - culture, language, currency, technology, food, clothing - everything was bafflingly and utterly foreign. We hid, for several months, in the city of Tokyo, learning the language and the customs of those strange people. Without translator chips, it really was horrible. Japanese was really hard to learn. But we picked it up quickly enough, and we learned to blend in. To pass ourselves off, as humans. And then, we heard the last of the news on our Subspace radio. Eighty percent of the galaxy gone. No more Subspace civilizations, not at all. The Subspace radio produced nothing but static, after that . . . The galaxy had become a cold, dark, dead place. "And we were more desperate than ever to find the Princess. I guess, then, that our backs were literally against the wall. We had no choice, but to take drastic measures. "It was time to stop keeping a low profile, to stop sneaking around and hunting silently for the Princess. We decided that it would be best to draw attention to ourselves, to call the Princess to US. Otherwise, we might never have any hope of seeing her again. "That was how the Three Lights were born. It didn't take us long, to break into the music industry. Of course, there were some minor complications - by the time that the record companies wanted to make a deal with us, we were scrambling to forge birth certificates, medical records, and all the other crazy stuff that 'proved' we were red-blooded Japanese citizens who had lived in Tokyo all our lives. Then our agent thought that it would be a good idea to send us back to high school - although we lied, we told him that we had dropped out to form the band. He was shocked, and he wanted us back in. I don't think that our educational development was his foremost concern, in all honesty - to him, it was probably just a big publicity stunt. But nevertheless, he enrolled us in Juuban High School. I had never seen Yaten so angry before. But poor Taiki, he - uh, I mean she - was genuinely excited for the first time in over a year. "By that time, things were already following a different pattern on Earth than they had before. We were talking to other people again, making friends, experiencing life a little bit more. We HAD to, it was all part and partial to gathering publicity for ourselves. Taiki had never taken more than an academic interest in the cultures that we had visited before, but this time, on Earth . . . I dunno what happened, but she just walked home one day with a gigantic stack of poetry books in her arms, and she devoured them in a single night. And Yaten, who had always been fond of rare artwork and antiques . . . She fell absolutely in *love* with the architecture, the sculpture, the artwork, the gourmet food and drink . . . It was a nice place, Earth. We all just assumed that it was doomed, but it was nice enough, just the same. Of course, Taiki and Yaten still didn't care about any of the *people* on Earth. In fact, they considered most of the people on Earth to be just downright annoying at best, utterly worthless at worst. But please don't think badly of them, because of that - it was again, that distancing, that objectifying, that process of reducing the Earthling populace to a trivial background distraction. I mean, that's the only way to emotionally prepare yourself for the coming mass death of six billion people . . . " Seiya trailed off for a moment, lost in thought, a distant, wistful expression dancing across her eyes. The she began speaking again, slowly, a bit more quietly than before. "At school I met this girl. Tsukino-san. She was amazing. She had this brilliant shine about her . . . When I was with her, I could feel my spirits start to lift again. I started hoping that maybe, just maybe, we would be able to stop Galaxia, someday, somehow. I cared about her . . . That was the really dangerous thing. I cared about her; she was my friend. Taiki and Yaten tried to warn me against her - they said that she was going to die, that I was just setting myself up to be hurt, that I was distracted from our mission, that I wasn't focusing on searching for the Princess anymore . . . And they were right. But I couldn't stop myself from seeing her. Maybe I was just sick and tired of being lonely. I don't know." Belinda leaned back into the couch. "But the Sol Report said that Tsukino was Sailor Moon." "Yup." Seiya winked at her, suddenly lively and animated again. "And you know how the rest of the story goes, right?" "Right!" Belinda's hands stroked the football in her lap. "Hey, Seiya . . . what exactly ARE you supposed to do with this thingy?" "It's not a 'thingy', it's a football." "I prefer 'thingy.' It doesn't look like any sort of ball I've ever seen. What are you supposed to do with it, anyway?" "Play football with it, of course." "Yes, but how do you--?" "Meet me in the gym tomorrow morning, and I'll show you." Seiya hopped off the couch and grasped Belinda's hand, pulling her up into a standing position. "If the weather's nice, we can even go out on the fields and practice--" "What, football? An Earthling sport?!" "Yes, football!" Seiya was almost hopping with enthusiasm now, swinging Belinda around in a joyous twirl of spontaneous excitement. "If there's one thing that I miss about Earth, it's football! And it's about time that I had a partner to practice with--" "But I don't know the first thing about--" "Don't worry, I'll show you!" Belinda threw back her head and laughed, unrestrained and rowdy, infected by Seiya's contagious good cheer. "It sounds like fun! When and where, again?" "We'll meet in the locker rooms. Tomorrow, morning." "It's a date!" Belinda pulled her hands away from Seiya's, and saluted cheerfully. "See ya, soldier!" "Where are you going?" "To make my patrols, before Melinda finds out I've been slacking!" Belinda was already halfway to the door. She turned, once, and waved goodbye. "I'll be waiting for you tomorrow! Don't forget to bring the thingy!" Without waiting for a reply, she closed the door behind her. Seiya could hear her pounding footsteps as she dashed away down the hall. Slowly, Seiya let out a deep sigh of relief. Well, her tactics had worked. She had managed to distract Belinda from the fact that she abruptly cut off the end of her story, that she refused to finish it. Some things, in the end, were just to painful to confess. Seiya gripped the football in her hands, idly passing it from one hand to the next. Heck, maybe her off-the-top-of-her-head suggestion hadn't been such a bad idea, after all. In fact, she was already looking forward to tomorrow morning. It would be a lot of fun, playing football again. Especially with Belinda, who generally seemed (at least to Seiya) to be a fun person to be around. Seiya's day was already looking brighter than it had before. ******************** Reynard, too, was suddenly finding cause to be cheerful again. Malathos, his Master, had just summoned both him and Delilah to appear before his loose, liquid corporeal body. That could only mean one thing - that the Master was ready to issue new orders, to move forward to a different (and quite possibly more fun and exciting) stage of the plan. The Master's liquid body writhed with excitement. ----The Plan is nearing completion! Unfortunately, we have arrived at the most difficult phase of implementation.---- "What is that, Master?" ----We must acquire the three guardian Sailor Crystals in order to achieve control of the planet.---- That, of course, was NOT what Reynard had been expecting to hear. "W-W- What?!" Delilah stood silently, her eyes wide with shock. Nobody had *ever* said anything about stealing Sailor Crystals before--! Sensing his servant's hesitation, Malathos repeated the command, sternly. ----I want the three Sailor Crystals that guard this planet.---- Reynard shook his head. "But there are four--" ----The fourth, the Queen's, is too dangerous for our purposes. You must obtain the other three for me. Dispose of, destroy the fourth.---- Delilah cocked her head at the dark liquid mass. "And that will be my job, to kill the Queen and destroy her Crystal?" ----Yes.---- Reynard was already thinking of golden bracelets, deadly twin flashes of molten liquid light . . . "It will be easy to replicate Galaxia's technology," he said, dryly, hiding his despondency. What a quick, painless, and utterly boring death that would be. And here he was, having foolishly hoped to engage in a bit of Wrong Fun with his three Senshi friends . . . ----You misunderstand. You have jumped to a foolish conclusion.---- Although Reynard winced outwardly at his Master's reprimand, a small flickering flame of hope suddenly flared within his heart. "What do you mean, Master?" ----Galaxia's methods were useless. The end result was always one dead body, and one useless Sailor Crystal. The energy of the Sailor Crystals cannot be summoned, controlled, or channeled without the host body of the Sailor Senshi to contain and form its magic. Galaxia only succeeded in creating a beautiful collection of twinkling stars. I, on the other hand, require the *use* of three Sailor Crystals in order to accomplish the final stage of the Plan.---- Reynard knew better than to ask what exactly the final stage of the Plan was. But he had absolutely no idea how or why the Master planned to involve Sailor Crystals . . . Reynard wasn't sure whether to be suspicious, frightened, or merely intrigued. For safety's sake, he decided to settle for being merely intrigued. "My Master, how should I deliver the Sailor Crystals too you, then?" ----Intact within a living, breathing body. The will and soul of the host body should be intact as well, although weakened enough to allow me to shape and control it. You are free to use whatever method you wish. I don't care if you have to turn those girls into mindless puppets, just deliver them to me in a living body with enough of a soul left for me to control, and you will be richly rewarded when all stages of the Plan finally come to fruition.---- "My Master . . . " Delilah's eyes sparkled with childish delight. "Master, are you saying that my three Sailor Senshi must come to this dimension to serve me?!" ----To serve ME, child.---- Then the Master added, more gently, ----They will serve you after you are installed in your rightful place as the Queen of Kinmoku.---- "And how are we to accomplish this sort of . . . persuasion?" Reynard asked, careful to keep his voice level. But inside, his mind was seething. ----Reynard, you will attempt first to infect them with type B youma eggs. If you can influence or direct them in any way, then they are yours to do with as you please. But you *must* deliver them to me eventually, and I want them ALIVE but subdued. Is this understood?---- Reynard bowed his head. "Yes, Master." The name of his Master came unbidden to the tip of his tongue, and he suppressed an insane urge to repeat the bow again, whispering the Master's name. It was forbidden. To say a Name was to have power over another, power that Reynard was *not* allowed to have. However, urges like these only rose to the surface of his mind when he was terribly angry about something; this was one of those times. But Reynard, who was proud of calling himself One Sick Bastard, was also proud to call himself restrained and controlled. He could not bring himself to even whisper the name "Malathos," not while still in the presence of the writhing mass of dark liquid itself. He and Delilah turned and left, sensing the silent mental dismissal from their Master. Delilah fell into step beside Reynard, conjuring up his mirror with a wave of her hand, watching it thoughtfully as it weaved and bobbed through the air in front of her. "Look at those two," she said, watching two of the Senshi - the tall one and the short one, Reynard noted - having a heated argument in the middle of a kitchen. "They're fighting again. I wonder what about?" "Who cares?" "When *I* am finally installed as the rightful Queen," Delilah bragged, "I'll make sure that MY Senshi are more well-behaved than that." "Good luck," Reynard said drolly. "I mean, good luck, my Queen." Delilah's chest puffed with pride. Apparently, she still didn't recognize false flattery when she heard it. Delilah admired the Sailor Senshi, that much Reynard could see for himself. She fantasized, not only about ruling the planet itself, but about gaining the loyalty and devotion of all of its inhabitants, especially the most powerful. She yearned to call the Sailor Crystals her own, not just to confirm her true status as the real Queen of Kinmoku, but for her own self-gratification, as well. The Master's first orders had been to try infecting them with type B youma eggs. Reynard thought that it was a good enough plan. The type B eggs were so small and weak that the Senshi would *never* detect their presence, not even within their own bodies Even if he could only subtly influence the behavior of the Senshi, it would be enough for Reynard. Enough to defeat them, or coerce them into defeating themselves, or perhaps walking right into a trap he could lay for them, or . . . the possibilities were nearly limitless. Defeat the Senshi, imprison them, and then break their wills, and oh did he have some wonderful methods for doing that, a ghastly repertoire of thousand-year-old techniques, and then he would have his Senshi, his willing servants, and the Sailor Crystals on his side. He would finally get a chance to have some Wrong Fun with the lovely young ladies. "May I please have my mirror back, my Queen?" Reynard implored Delilah. "Of course," Delilah demurred graciously, sending the mirror floating over toward Reynard with a graceful flick of her wrist. "Shall we start planting the type B eggs?" "Right away." Reynard was already flipping through images caught in the mirror, searching for the perfect carrier - a janitor? An Assembly member? One of the Knights? A family of tourists in the palace? Oh, heck, they would all work just fine. Reynard felt a type B egg materializing in his hand. "Here we go, girls," he said, as he sent the first egg floating through the mirror and watched it burrow into an oblivious janitor's hand. Delilah watched the mirror with shining, joyful eyes. Reynard felt himself grinning. Today was going to be a fun day, after all. - end part five -