It's about time, huh? :)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
SAILOR MOON 4200: What has gone before
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Crystal Tokyo was destroyed in the year 3478. Civilisation fell; a dark
age began. Now, the year 4200 is a time of renaissance, and the city of
Third Tokyo is defended by a new generation of Senshi. Some of them are
old faces, reborn yet again. Others are newcomers. But all of them are
in trouble -- because the enemy that annihilated Crystal Tokyo was never
defeated. And it is waiting for them ...
------------------------------------------------------------------------
In recent chapters:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* The five Senshi are together at last, under the mentorship of Artemis,
his great-granddaughter Bendis, and Itsuko (once Hino Rei). * Mistakenly
thinking that their friends are in danger, Venus, Mars and Uranus return
to the warehouse where they last fought Lady Blue. There they encounter
an 'M' Division team on a secret mission, but are tricked into believing
that the team are actually from the criminal Sankaku Clans. In a battle
between the groups, Sailor Mars' powers develop an unexpected new facet.
* Itsuko is startled to discover that Suzue is a member of the Church of
Serenity; later, she is further taken aback when Suzue refuses to accept
that her beliefs are wrong, insisting that it is Itsuko who is mistaken.
* Beth learns that her fantasy boyfriend, Eitoku, has really been dating
Nanako all along. During a combined group training session, as the five
Senshi begin to come together as a team, she realises that she will have
to reevaluate her friends. * The 'S' Division team who are investigating
the Olympus discover Itsuko's true identity, and learn that the cat they
have been searching for, Bendis, is staying with her.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
S A I L O R M O O N 4 2 0 0
------------------------------------------------------------------------
by Angus MacSpon
macspon@ihug.co.nz
http://shell.ihug.co.nz/~macspon/fanfic/sm4200/index.html
Comments and criticism welcome!
Based on "Sailor Moon" created by Naoko Takeuchi
------------------------------------------------------------------------
C H A P T E R E L E V E N
Spies (II):
Watchers, Hunters and Fugitives
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bendis flew up the stairs of the Olympus as if pursued by wild dogs. It
was as good as true.
On the second floor she raced past the vacant eyes of a night
receptionist nearing the end of her shift, and into the gymnasium
offices. Then out through a half-open window; up the fire escape with
frantic, erratic bounds; and in another window on the top floor. She
found Artemis snoozing on the couch and woke him with a hasty claw.
"What!" he shouted, jumping up and looking around blearily. "I didn't
do it! It was --" His eyes finally focussed on her. "Bendis?" he
said, seeing her frantic state. "What's wrong?"
"Help! They're after me!" she gabbled. "We have to get away!"
He froze. "After you? Who?"
She started to explain. Artemis listened for almost twenty seconds
before he ran to wake Itsuko up.
--**--
In the street below, 'S' Division were on the move.
All those weeks of patient investigation had at last borne unexpected
fruit. The team responded smoothly and efficiently. Hiiro was
gratified; he had feared that so much inactivity might have blunted
them. But his team worked together like a well-oiled machine, moving
into position with only a word or two of orders. Even Kitada, the
Irregular newcomer, fitted in without trouble.
The command van, for so long parked in a back street behind the Olympus,
had withdrawn a block or two. Its transformation from a dilapidated
wreck to a functional, if nondescript, vehicle had taken less than
thirty seconds: the rear wheels, apparently stolen long ago, slid down
out of their concealed wells, and the missing side panels clipped back
on in a moment. In the rear, Lieutenant Mitsukai simultaneously
coordinated the team's movements, monitored the swarm of cameras that
surrounded the Olympus building, and acted as communications liaison
with headquarters, reporting their findings and requesting immediate
backup. In the front, Kitada acted as driver, while remaining ready to
move in to back up any of the others if required.
Captain Hiiro stood guard at the main doors to the Olympus. The net gun
he held in the crook of his arm was casually hidden by a jacket slung
over his shoulder. Kuroi and Aoiro, similarly armed, watched two of the
side doors. It was not enough, not nearly, but Hiiro was working on
that.
He nodded politely to a middle-aged woman as she walked past him into
the building. However, most of his attention was on the voice in his
ear. "Captain Murasaki reports he'll be with you in four minutes,"
Mitsukai reported over the commlink. "Lieutenant Giniro should be there
two minutes later."
"How many people have they got?" Hiiro asked in a low voice. Belying
his calm posture, his eyes never stopped moving, constantly checking the
door and the street around him. "Do they have nets?"
"Giniro's team do. They stopped to pick them up; that's why they're
late. She has five in her team; Murasaki has seven."
He swore under his breath. "Nineteen people to surround a building this
size," he muttered. "And half of us without nets."
He was exaggerating, though, and he knew it. They wouldn't need to
surround the building; he was pretty sure he knew exactly where they'd
find their target. His eyes strayed to a window on the top floor.
"Headquarters say the next team that can get here will take another ten
minutes," Mitsukai told him. "Unless you want them to come by Opal --"
"Hell, no," Hiiro snapped. "Not unless they want the whole city to know
we're up to something. Bring in Opals and we'll have newsies popping
out of the woodwork, asking what's going on." He broke off as a passing
man in a suit gave him an odd look.
"Yes, sir," answered Mitsukai patiently. "Another four minutes until
Murasaki arrives."
"All right. We have to cover what we can. Tell Kitada to move in. If
the cat went upstairs, I want him covering the fire escapes at the back.
And listen, warn everyone: don't expect it to act like a cat. It's as
smart as a human, maybe smarter ..."
Over the next five minutes a tight cordon wove itself around the
building. But there was nobody to cover the entrance to the underground
car park until too late; and the private car with the white-haired woman
at the wheel drove away from the Olympus entirely unnoticed.
--**--
Itsuko pulled over to the side of the road, a few minutes later and
three kilometres away. "All right," she said. "What now?"
"I want to go home," muttered Bendis from the rear seat.
"Oh, very good," said Artemis acidly. "Any _constructive_ suggestions?"
Bendis have him a stubborn look. "I want to go home," she repeated.
"To Beth-chan's house. It'll be safe there."
"That's not what I ..." Artemis sighed, and gave in. "Okay. Fine.
Let's not even _consider_ the implications of what just happened --"
"Oh, don't take on," said Itsuko quietly. "Nobody's suggesting that we
just ignore it. -- Bendis, who were they? Did you see anything that
would identify them?"
"I didn't have time," the younger cat protested. "I just looked inside
the van, and then they tried to grab me. One of them threw something at
me -- like a jacket, or something -- and I ran back to your place."
"Right," said Artemis grimly. "You ran inside, with him chasing you.
You could have led him _away_ from the Olympus, but --" He broke off
with a sigh. "No. Never mind that. What did you _see_?"
"It was all full of computers and vidscreens," Bendis said, remembering.
"And nine or ten people, I think. But outside, it was really old and
beaten-up, like somebody just dumped it there."
Itsuko raised her eyebrows. "Hmm. I may have seen that van, come to
think of it. But who could they be? What are they watching the Olympus
for?"
"To find us," said Artemis impatiently.
"Yes, but _why_? Are they working for Lady Blue? Or the Sankaku, for
heaven's sake? Who?"
"Whoever they are," the white cat mused, "they have to be the same ones
who bugged your office. It ... doesn't seem Lady Blue's style, somehow.
She's the direct type."
"The Sankaku, maybe?" Itsuko thought about it. "After what they tried
last week ... you know, it could make a kind of sense. Capturing
Senshi, or Moon Cats -- if they couldn't use you directly, you can bet
they'd at least be able to hold you for ransom. The Serenity Council
would have to pay; the public outcry if they didn't would be enormous."
"And they just happened to stumble onto us at the Olympus by accident?"
Artemis scoffed. "That's pretty thin."
"Back when we saw them putting up those cameras ... Venus had just made
her first appearance back, remember," Itsuko pointed out. "And not all
that far from here. Yes, I know, it's thin. But Artemis, what else
makes sense?"
Bendis listened to them argue, and remained silent. She was thinking
about another time when she had spoken aloud without thinking, to a man
who had given her a fish. She thought about the Opals that had pursued
her and Artemis in the weeks which followed that moment of carelessness;
and she thought about the Opal in the warehouse yard, five days ago,
when Mars, Venus and Uranus had nearly been captured. She thought about
it all; and then she thought about what Artemis would say if he heard
that she had spoken in front of the people in the van. And she remained
silent.
--**--
Captain Hiiro glided silently up the final flight of stairs, web gun at
the ready. Kuroi and Aoiro were behind him, followed by three men from
Giniro's team. As they emerged at the top, Hiiro gestured and the
others began to spread out, their eyes watchful.
Down below, other agents were working their way through the building.
The lower floors and the basement levels were as secure as three -- now
five -- teams of 'S' Division Regulars could make them. A cat that
could get through the cordon they had set up would have to be invisible.
And most of the customers had never noticed a thing. Civilians!
Hiiro's eyes flicked left, right. He started toward the nearest door,
Kuroi moving to cover him, reached out a hand for the knob -- and then
froze as his commlink chirped.
"Orders from headquarters," said Mitsukai's voice. "Pull back."
"You have got to be kidding," he said.
At the sound of his voice, the other men in the corridor looked around.
One of Giniro's men rached up to touch the commset in his own ear.
"I'm sorry, Captain," Mitsukai replied. "This comes direct from Colonel
Shiro. Suspend all operations at the Olympus building. All teams to
pull back to headquarters, and us especially. He wants to see you."
"I bet he does," said Hiiro grimly. "'Suspend,' huh? Right. Damn
him! He's just seen your report on what we've found out, and he knows
how explosive this could get."
He thought for a moment longer, threw one more longing look at the door,
and then let out a long breath through his nose. "Okay," he said. "Get
Kitada back to the van. Tell the other team leaders thanks, and we're
pulling out now."
"Already done," she said.
"Yeah. I'll be with you in four minutes."
He turned to the agents behind him and saw that Giniro's people had
already received the word and left. "Come on," he told Kuroi and Aoiro,
not trying to keep the disgust from his voice. "We're going home."
Aoiro raised an eyebrow. "Somebody at HQ got cold feet?"
"Probably."
"Pity." Kuroi's tone was light, but the two of them had been friends
for years and Hiiro could see the hidden anger in his eyes. "I've never
gone up to a Senshi and told her we had to arrest her cat before."
"Yeah, well, you've never been fried in your boots before, either."
Hiiro was not, in fact, sorry to be leaving. Knowing that Pappadopoulos
was Hino Rei, and that their target was almost certainly a Moon Cat,
made for an uncomfortable feeling. He would have done it, obeyed his
orders, if he'd had to; even if the chances of a fireball up his ass
were dangerously high. But fireballs notwithstanding, he was relieved
that he didn't have to. Going against a Senshi would be too much like
... being the bad guy.
All the same ... "I just hate leaving a job half-finished," he grumbled
as they walked downstairs again. Fortunately, both Aoiro and Kuroi were
too intelligent to answer.
When he got back to the van, he found even more good news waiting for
him. Mitsukai had finally had a chance to start going through the
recordings from their surveillance cameras, which had been building up,
unobserved, for a couple of weeks now. Except that there were no
recordings. Somehow, they had been erased. Every last one of them.
--**--
Itsuko left Bendis at Beth's house, then -- after some argument -- took
Artemis to Dhiti's. It seemed the safest choice. Putting him in the
same house as Bendis would be asking for trouble, and she understood
that Iku's family ran to dogs rather than cats; while leaving him with
Suzue was flatly impossible, of course, though (to his great irritation)
she refused to say why.
Which did not mean, she thought as she drove away again, that putting
Artemis and Dhiti together was not going to cause a different brand of
trouble. The idea made her grin, but not for long. There were too many
other things to worry about.
They had been assuming that it was the cats who were being chased. But
she had to face the possibility that, if too much more attention were
drawn to the Olympus, somebody might start asking questions about Itsuko
herself. That could make things very awkward indeed.
Once she got back to the Olympus, and saw Miyo off to school, she went
into her secret room and meditated before the sacred fire for some time.
The flames cleared to show a number of fleeting images -- a girl with
glowing red eyes; a shadowy figure holding a fire-pot; a puppy -- but
nothing that she could make sense of.
She was about to give up when the flames cleared one last time. She saw
Sailor Moon -- unquestionably Sailor Moon, though the girl's back was
turned, her face invisible -- embracing a naked woman.
Troubled, she returned to her office and tried to get some work done.
She spent the rest of the day at it, but accomplished very little.
****************
Toyotomi Sese arrived at 'A' Division central headquarters to find a
mountain of work waiting for her. That was not surprising; there was
always a mountain of work waiting for her. She was Number Thirteen of
the Serenity Council, the director of 'A' Division, and the work flowed
onto her desk in a never-ending stream.
Her schedule showed that she had ninety minutes before her first meeting
of the day. There were another six lined up after that, and she would
be lucky if any of them finished on time. The last one was scheduled at
eight in the evening. In between, there was endless paperwork, reports
to read, decisions to make. If all went well, she would be able to
leave the office by eleven that night, to catch a few hours' sleep
before starting the whole cycle again tomorrow. And people thought
politicians had cushy jobs, she told herself, and snorted.
One of today's meetings was with a newsie, she noted with a sigh. She
tried to keep up a good public face, but lately there was only one topic
that every interviewer wanted to talk about: the Senshi. Inevitably,
her full name was bound to come up.
('Serabi' ... what kind of name was that to inflict on a child? She had
started to insist that everyone call her 'Sese' when she was only eight.
Even today, though, cartoonists sometimes drew her in a Sailor V mask
and miniskirt. It wasn't just embarrassing; it was -- for a
dumpy-looking woman of fifty-five -- ridiculous.)
Well, Sese would be polite to the newsie when he showed up. But the
first mention of Serabi, or Sailor V, and the interview would be
suddenly over. She wasn't in the mood to take any cheap shots today.
With a sigh, she lifted the top folder from her in-tray: the latest
draft of a new set of fishing quotas in the Osumi Strait. Simple
enough, but somehow it had ballooned to over three hundred pages. She
was just beginning to run through the summary when her commset rang.
She lifted the remote with a sense of relief. "Yes," she said
brusquely.
Her impatience faded suddenly as she listened to what the voice at the
other end told her. The fishing quotas on the Osumi Strait went
forgotten, which would please the fishermen. When the caller finished,
Sese said quietly, "All right. Let me know if you hear anything else."
She hung up the remote without saying good-bye.
For some minutes she sat at her desk, staring at the wall. Suddenly she
had a decision to make, one that she had been putting off for nearly a
week. Or, depending on how she looked at it, for six years.
She stood and walked over to a framed photograph that hung on the wall.
Her swearing-in as a Council member; had it really been that long ago?
A well-earned honour, she had thought then, even if the seat was a
low-ranking one. She had been working toward this point all her life,
and she was ready for the challenge.
But gradually, in the months that had followed, she'd come to realise
that a different, hidden kind of politics was going on all around her.
There were things that the other councillors kept from her. Meetings
she was never informed of; memoranda which never reached her desk;
planning sessions which somehow excluded her. Very subtly done, and
seldom anything she could put her finger on. She could easily have
missed it. For a long time, she tried to ignore it.
Last week, for the first time, she had challenged the rest of the
Council. It had seemed a trivial point -- 'S' Division agents being
assigned to hunt for a lost pet -- but when she raised the question, she
found that it was anything but trivial. 'S' Division were hunting moon
cats. Chairman Fukuda had explained the matter away, and he had been
plausible enough, but ...
But he had been keeping it secret from her. And the reactions from the
rest of the Council showed that _they_ had all known.
What else were they keeping secret?
And now this. A call from Tomiko in the 'S' Division dispatching
office, and some disturbing news. Tomiko was an old friend; she knew
that Sese was interested in the cat-hunt because the two of them had
spoken about it a couple of weeks ago, while Sese was trying to decide
whether to raise the subject with the Council. Now, Tomiko had some
more interesting gossip to share.
Early this morning, several teams of 'S' Division Regulars had been
dispatched to a downtown shopping centre. Most of the teams had been
equipped with net guns, of a size and type generally used for animal
control.
The moon-cat hunt was still under way. Number One had told her that it
was being called off, and Number Three had confirmed it.
They had lied to her.
There was a pain in her hands. She opened her fingers and saw with
distant surprise that her fingernails had left cuts in her palms. Only
then did she realise that she had been clenching her fists; and only
then did she realise how angry she was.
They had _lied_ to her!
She turned away from the picture. Had she thought that she had a
decision to make? No. They had made it for her. The only question now
was how to respond.
She sat down at her desk once more, and lifted the commset remote.
"Sven?" she said quietly. "Can you come in here for a moment?"
Her private aide walked in a few seconds later and closed the door
behind him. Ersson Sven was tall and lanky, with faded sandy hair;
his Japanese was only faintly accented. He had been working for Sese
for nearly fifteen years, and there were few people she trusted more.
"What kind of contacts do we have in 'S' Division?" she asked without
preamble.
He blinked once, then half-closed his eyes in concentration. "I assume
you mean people who're supposed to keep their mouths shut, but who'll
talk to us?" he said. "Tricky. They keep things very tight there."
"That's to be expected. Admin people, though? Filing clerks? Anyone
who owes you a few favours?"
"Just as tight," he answered. "You know that." When Sese did not
respond immediately, he added, "It would help if I knew what you're
looking for."
Sese hesitated for an instant longer. "Cats."
"Ah. That."
"You've heard about it, then."
"It's practically notorious," Sven said, raising an eyebrow. "What
_about_ the famous cat hunt?"
She told him, and watched his face grow suddenly still. "All right," he
said after a minute or two. "There are some avenues. We could start
through 'C' Division -- a working group on strays, maybe. There's quite
a population of feral cats and dogs in some parts of the country. That
gives us an excuse to ask some innocent questions --"
"Be careful," Sese cautioned. "They know I'm interested, so they'll be
on the watch. We've got to keep this tight, Sven. If Takeda finds out
we're getting nosy, things could get awkward." He nodded. "So. Draw
up some ideas and get back to me tomorrow morning. I'll be making
a few discreet enquiries of my own, as well."
"Right." He turned to go, then looked back for a moment. "Was that
all?"
"Yes ... wait. No." She looked away, back to the picture on the wall.
Six years in office, she thought. Six years.
"See if you can find a reliable hacker, would you?" she said.
--**--
Later, after showing a pair of newsies into Sese's office, Sven closed
the door and waited for the interview to get under way. He gave it a
few minutes, then pulled out a mobile commset and dialled a number from
memory.
"Altair reporting," he said when a voice answered. "She's realised that
something is wrong in the Council. She wants to investigate what
they're up to."
"Well then," said the voice at the other end, "perhaps we should help
her out a little."
****************
Beth walked to school slowly, and with some trepidation. There was a
confrontation waiting for her when she arrived, and she was not looking
forward to it.
Just above her head, Bendis trotted along the top of a fence. In a low
voice, the cat filled her in on what had happened that morning. Beth
giggled briefly at the thought of Artemis and Dhiti living together; but
it did not distract her for long. She was going to have to face Nanako
and Eitoku when she arrived, and she honestly had no idea what to say to
them.
Itsuko had told her that the two of them would probably be very
apologetic. That did sound likely. She wondered, though, just how
sincere the apologies would be. Her best friend had been lying to her
for months. Could she believe anything Nanako ever said again?
She put the question to Bendis, who said, "I think you're overreacting.
Nanako seems a bit too fond of secrets, but that doesn't mean she'll
lie to you again."
"Oh, fine," Beth grumbled. "So says the cat who's never even _met_
Nanako. A lot you'd know about her."
There was no answer, and she glanced up. Bendis was not there. She
looked back, surprised, and saw that the cat had stopped a few metres
back, and was staring at her with an expression that looked almost
guilty. "What's wrong?" she asked.
Bendis gave herself a shake, then moved slowly up to join Beth once
more. "Nothing," the cat said. "It's just ... nothing."
"It's obviously _something_," Beth said impatiently.
"Well," Bendis said reluctantly, "I was just thinking. Sometimes a
person might keep something secret with the best of intentions. You
know? Only, once you've started doing that, it ... can be awfully hard
to stop it again. Without it seeming like a --"
"Betrayal," Beth finished thoughtfully.
The cat looked away. "Yes."
"I think I see. You mean, Nanako might have --? But that's silly! She
never had any reason to keep it secret in the first place!"
"Oh ... I don't know." Bendis still seemed peculiarly subdued. "Look,
we're nearly there. I'd better go."
"I guess. See you later, Bendis-chan."
Odd, Beth thought as she walked on alone. Normally Bendis was quite
happy to visit the school; it gave her an excuse to spend hours begging
titbits from obliging students. What was wrong with her today?
Then she remembered that she had other worries. School was just ahead,
and she still didn't know what she was going to do when she met Nanako
and Eitoku. And that was unfortunate, she realised with a sinking
feeling, because Nanako was waiting for her at the gate.
--**--
Nanako let out a silent breath as she saw Beth come into view. The
other girl saw her at the same time and visibly hesitated. Nanako bit
her lip. Then Beth came on, stopping in front of her and waiting.
"Hi, Beth-chan," Nanako said.
Beth stared at her for a minute longer. "Nanako-san," she said.
Nanako looked away, wincing. "Okay," she said. "You have every reason
to be angry with me. I wouldn't blame you if you never wanted to talk
to me again. I wouldn't even -- but that's not important. Beth-chan,
you have to believe one thing. Eitoku-kun and I never meant to hurt you.
Never."
Beth's eyes narrowed. "You have an odd way of showing it," she said.
"It wasn't meant to be this way!" Nanako insisted. "If you'd just --"
"Oh, come on! You two've been together all along, and you deliberately
decided to hide it from me when I ... what was it? When I started
'hanging around' ... but you didn't mean it to _be_ this way?" Beth's
face was flushed and angry. "Just how blind, how stupid do you think I
am?"
For a moment, Nanako's temper got the better of her. "Blind enough,"
she heard herself say.
"What? _What_ did you say?"
She hadn't meant to bring this up. She really hadn't. But perhaps it
was for the best after all. "Beth-chan," she said, choosing her words
carefully, "how could you have spent all this time with Eitoku ...
watching him, drawing pictures of him, even writing those little poems
about him, and don't think we didn't notice ... how could you possibly
do all that, and still not know a thing about him?"
"Wha--?" Beth froze, visibly stunned. Then she burst out, "That's not
true!"
"Yeah? What's his birthday, Beth-chan?"
"His --"
"What's his favourite food? C'mon, you must know that, you've watched
him eat it a couple of dozen times at least. What's his best subject in
school? What sports does he like?"
"He -- he likes --"
"You don't really know anything at all, do you? You watch him, and all
you see are your own fantasies."
"Shut up! Shut _up_!"
Nanako sighed. It was no good after all. She should never have
expected any different. "Don't you see?" she said. "It was never meant
to come to this. I swear! We just thought -- no, _I_ just thought --
that if I pulled you in, made you actually _talk_ to the guy ... sooner
or later, you'd have to see the truth." She let out a short, humourless
bark of laughter. "Guess I got that one wrong."
"All right," said Beth wildly. "Then I can still --"
"Oh, for heaven's sake, open your _eyes_!" With some effort, Nanako got
herself back under control. "Beth-chan, it went too far. A lot too
far. I admit it. By the time I realised that you weren't going to give
up, it had gone too far already. But now ... it's past time, and you've
got to accept it. There is absolutely no chance that Eitoku-kun would
ever fall in love with you. None."
Something seemed to crumple in Beth's expression. "Why?" she asked
bitterly. "Am I so stupid that I'm not worth considering?"
"No, Beth-chan. It's got nothing to do with that." Nanako took a deep
breath. "Eitoku-kun would never consider you because you are a Claver."
Beth stared at her, incredulously, for what seemed like an age. Then
she said, "That is a dirty lie."
Nanako shook her head mutely.
"It is! I know it is! I --" Beth broke off, then went on in a rush,
"I _know_ it is! A few weeks ago, when I was ... when I was having some
problems, he talked to me! He gave me advice! He helped me! He likes
me, I know he does!"
Sadly, Nanako shook her head again. "It's not the same," she said.
"Beth-chan, he doesn't dislike you. That's true. He'd be happy to be
your friend, if you'd just open your eyes and back off a little. But
that's all. I'm sorry; I really am sorry. But that's all."
"So you get him because you're Japanese," Beth whispered. "That's ...
not fair."
"I get him because I already had him," Nanako corrected her. "But
otherwise, you're right. It's not fair."
"I'm as Japanese as you are!"
"You were born in Japan, Beth-chan. Maybe your parents were, too. But
your ancestors came from Scotland."
"What?" For a moment, the hurt in Beth's eyes became confusion. "No,
my great-grandparents were from Dunedin."
"Umm ..." It was Nanako's turn to be confused. "Whatever. The point
is --"
"I know what your point is. You and Eitoku-kun and probably Iku-chan as
well get to laugh at the poor little Claver who's too dumb to realise
when she isn't wanted, that's what the point is."
"None of us is laughing at you, Beth-chan," Nanako said. "And you're
not unwanted. I swear. We're your friends. I --" She paused,
realising how that must sound. "I know you may not believe that right
now," she continued after a moment. "But I promise you --"
"Friends?" Beth's face twisted into a crooked, humourless smile.
"'With friends like these ...'" she quoted. "Good-bye, Nanako ... san.
I'll see you around."
She walked into school.
--**--
Eitoku arrived a few minutes later, and found Nanako still standing
there. "Has she --" he began, then broke off as she nodded. "How did
it go?" he asked.
"Not as well as I'd hoped," said Nanako morosely. "She wasn't happy."
"Did you really expect her to be?"
"If I could just make her see ... but she didn't want to see. She got
really upset when I told her you don't think much of Clavers."
"You what?" Eitoku stared at her. "What are you talking about? I'm
not prejudiced --"
Nanako poked an elbow into his ribs, not gently. "Dummy. Of course
you're prejudiced. And we can't have that in a would-be politician, can
we?" She poked out her tongue at him. "You do hide it fairly well
most of the time; I'll give you that."
"I do not --"
"Oh, stop. You could stand to open your eyes once in a while too, you
know."
He was silent for a little. "I was never really sure why you picked her
up in the first place," he said at last. "Or Iku-chan, for that
matter."
Nanako frowned. "You don't approve of my friends?" she asked
dangerously.
"It's not that. It's just ... everyone always kept well away from
Iku-chan. And Beth-kun was a loner too. But you ... you were one of
the most popular girls in the class, once, until you started letting
them hang around."
"That's _why_ I let them hang around," Nanako said icily. "_Because_
everyone always kept well away from them."
"I ..." He trailed off, his eyes widening. "Really?"
"Yes." Her voice was flat, emotionless. Inside, she felt so angry that
she wanted to hit him. "I might say the same thing about you, as well,
Shiomi Eitoku, though you were never quite as isolated as Iku-chan.
Now, are there any more personal confessions you want to hear, or is
this discussion at an end?"
He swallowed hard, still staring at her. "I ... I'm sorry."
"Good," she said, and turned her back on him and started to walk away.
"Wait!" he shouted. She heard him run after her, felt his hand on her
arm. "Is that why you -- is that all I am to you, then?" he demanded.
"You felt sorry for me? Is that all?"
There was real fear in his voice; and at the sound of it, her anger
began to ebb. She stopped, letting him catch up, while she tried to
puzzle out what answer to give him.
"No," she said at last. Her voice sounded oddly distant in her ears.
"That's not all. Maybe ... maybe at first, but not any more. Not for a
long time now."
"Oh," he said. There was relief in his tone, swiftly hidden. "Don't
go making me worried, Nana-chan."
"Yeah, yeah. Your fragile male ego can't take it, I know." Nanako
looked over to the school building, ignoring his outraged snort, then
shook her head to clear it. "Whatever. Look ... we need to get a move
on, or we'll be late."
She bent down to pick up her satchel. As she straightened again, she
noticed a patch of white on his left forearm: a dressing of some kind.
"What have you been doing to yourself now?" she asked wearily.
"Hmm?" He followed her gaze. "Oh. It's nothing; just a scratch. Got
it yesterday." Impatiently, he waved her on through the gate. "Come
on; if we're going, let's go!"
"Right. Okay." Lost in thought, she followed him in to class.
****************
McCrea Helen finished drying the last plate and put it away briskly. A
quick glance up at the clock; it was a little after nine, and the
morning was still cool. She had time to get in a bit of serious work in
the garden before she had to shower and leave for work at eleven.
She hung up her apron and changed quickly into a pair of old, sturdy
trousers. A pair of canvas shoes, just as old, were in the cupboard
with her tools. She stepped outside, closing the back door behind her,
and was just starting down the path when she heard it.
Voices?
She looked back, puzzled. There was only the distant noise of traffic,
and nearby, a pair of sparrows chirping to each other. Then it came
again: muffled voices; and a moment later, a snatch of music.
She returned to the back door and pressed her ear to it. The voices
became clearer. Someone was talking inside her house.
Silently, she eased the door open. The sound became clearer; and an
instant later, she recognised it. The viddy was on. It had definitely
not been going when she left the house.
Frowning thoughtfully, Helen stepped back inside. Soundlessly, she
slipped her shoes off and started toward the living room.
A few steps short of the living room door, a floor-board creaked beneath
her foot. She thought she heard a sudden scuffling sound from the
living room. Abandoning her effort to keep quiet, she burst in.
The viddy was playing to an almost empty room. On the floor in front of
it, in the middle of a patch of sunlight coming through the east window,
lay her daughter Beth's cat, sprawled out and apparently asleep. The
viddy control was on the floor a few centimetres away, right where it
could have been accidentally stepped on.
It _could_ have been an accident.
Helen picked up the control and turned the viddy off. "Silly cat," she
murmured aloud, shaking her head with a smile. She put the control on a
shelf, well out of reach, and went back outside to do the gardening.
Once she was outside, and the door safely closed, her smile widened.
"Silly cat," she repeated.
****************
Captain Hiiro opened the office door and walked in, uninvited. Two men
looked up sharply as he entered. One of them, seated behind a broad
wooden desk, was the owner of the office. The other, who was standing,
made as if to protest at the interruption. Hiiro ignored the protest,
took him by the arm, and propelled him gently out the door, closing it
behind him. Then he turned to face the man at the desk.
"All right," he said. "Talk."
Colonel Shiro raised a bushy, imperturbable eyebrow. "'Good morning,
Colonel,'" he said ironically. "'Nice to see you. How have you been?'"
Hiiro's expression did not change. "Talk," he repeated.
"Oh, get off your high horse," Shiro told him. "And sit down. I won't
have you towering over me." Hiiro glared at him, then obeyed. "That's
better. I expected a little more professionalism from you, Captain."
For a few seconds, Hiiro only stared at him. Then, unwillingly, his
lips twitched. "'Good morning, Colonel. Nice to see you. How have you
been?'"
"Why, thank you, Captain. It's nice to see you, too. And since you
asked ..." Shiro sat back and scowled. "I've been up to my neck in it,
that's how. This is a real hornets' nest you've knocked over this time,
Hiiro."
"Sorry."
"Yes, I'm sure. Well, now we know why we were hunting cats, eh? And if
you thought that secret was well-protected, I assure you it's nothing
compared to the security clamp that came down on your _latest_ little
revelation."
"Surprise, surprise." Hiiro scowled. "What have they decided, then?"
The colonel picked up a piece of paper from his desk and glanced at it
for a second. "Official word from Number Three," he explained sourly.
"Effective immediately, the cat-search is cancelled. Sorry, did you say
something?"
Snort. "No."
"Very restrained of you. Let me see, now ... 'Since the cat we were
searching for has unexpectedly turned out to be a Moon Cat, we are of
course halting the search. 'S' Division would never dream of
interfering with the Senshi or their allies.'" Shiro laid the paper
back down with a scowl that matched Hiiro's. "In a pig's eye.
"Nevertheless, Captain, you and your team are to remain on duty. These
are my orders, not Number Three's. Keep an eye on the Olympus ... but
from a distance. No more inside work. Absolutely no contact with the
occupants. You understand me?"
"I ... think so."
"Something's not right here. The search would never have been ordered
in the first place if someone didn't have a pretty clear idea of what
they were after. And then there's this ..." Another piece of paper.
"Sailor Mars was seen in a battle at a music store last Thursday, but
the eye-witness descriptions don't match Hino Rei ... or Pappadopoulos
Itsuko. That may not mean anything, of course." He shrugged. "And
then there's your surveillance recordings. Have you found out yet how
they were erased?"
"No." Hiiro rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I've sent my EE specialist
home to get some rest; she'd been working for over fifty hours straight.
Captain Kuroi has taken a look at things, but he says it's pretty
clean; no obvious sign of how it was done."
"Mm. Probably better to keep him away until your specialist is back."
"That's what he said, too."
Shiro nodded slowly. "Speaking of EE ... that was pretty sharp work,
spotting Hino's cover. Lieutenant ... Mitsukai, is it? You might want
to put her in for a commendation."
"I've been thinking about that, yes."
"Good. Hiiro ..." The colonel looked at him for a few seconds. "This
is a real mess, I don't have to tell you that. Nobody knows how to
handle it. Everything's up in the air, and I don't know which way the
division's going to jump. It'll probably go up to the Council, if it
hasn't already. In the meantime, all we can do is stand ready. You
understand?" Hiiro nodded. "That Irregular of yours ... what's his
name ..."
"Kitada."
"Yes. Keep hold of him. It could be that we really will back down and
let the Senshi keep doing ... what it is they do. But I have my doubts.
And I want you and your team prepared ... just in case."
Hiiro nodded, his anger of a few minutes before forgotten. Like Shiro,
he had his own doubts. He trusted Shiro, though, all the way; the old
man was always square with his people, and in 'S' Division that was more
valuable than gold. He should not have forgotten that.
"Very well, then. You'd better get moving," the colonel said, adding,
"Oh ... on your way out, you can let my ADC back in, please."
"Right." Hiiro got up, repressing a grin, and headed for the door.
Half-way there, he paused. "Your ADC? But I thought Lieutenant Midori
is your --"
Colonel Shiro's face froze. "Lieutenant Midori," he said, "is on
medical leave. That will be all, Captain."
Hiiro took the hint and left, not forgetting to send the new ADC in as
he went. His mind was on other things, though. Only moments before, he
had been thinking that the colonel was always straight. But now ...
[Medical leave, right. In a pig's eye.]
--**--
Less than a kilometre away, Lieutenant Midori Koji sat in a small, dingy
hotel room. He wore only a pair of trousers. His body and his hair
were greasy; his face was unshaven. The blinds were drawn.
He was flipping rapidly through a women's magazine. He muttered to
himself under his breath as he did so. He had been doing this for some
time now: sometimes speaking out loud, or even singing. The sound was
soothing, like a blanket of white noise. It seemed to help him think;
or perhaps (it had occurred to him once, long ago) it helped him not to
think. He had never noticed when the words had degenerated into a
constant drone of meaningless, random gibberish.
Finishing the magazine, he tossed it aside and picked up another. The
pile of discarded magazines was quite large, but he no longer noticed
that, either. He began to flip through the new one, glancing at each
page as he went.
Half-way through, he froze as he came to a photograph of a woman. He
stared at it for several seconds. Then, his hands shaking a little, he
tore the picture out and held it up to the light. His breathing
quickened.
He picked up a marker pen and coloured her hair in green.
"Yes," he whispered. "Oh, yes."
There was a box of thumb-tacks on the desk, half-empty. He took a
couple and carefully pinned the picture to the wall. Then, stepping
back a pace, he surveyed the result.
The wall was lined with pictures, hundreds of them: a sea of women, all
of them tall and slender and dark-skinned. Every one of them had long
hair, raggedly coloured-in green.
"Soon," he promised them. "I'll find you."
He turned away from the pictures and went to the window. A telescope
was standing there, aimed at the street below through a gap in the
blinds. He set his eye to the lens, adjusted the focus, and began to
watch patiently.
He would find her yet. Maybe then he would be able to remember why he
was looking for her.
****************
Lunch-time arrived. Nanako, Eitoku and Iku sat in their usual spot for
the entire break, eating their lunches and talking quietly. Iku even
unbent so much as to join in a few times.
Nanako was jumpy. Every time anyone came near the group she started to
get up, a smile on her face and a welcome on the tip of her tongue --
only to sink down again, the greeting unsaid, when the face was that of
a stranger.
Beth never showed up.
****************
The afternoon passed as slowly as Monday afternoons at school always do.
When the final class let out at last, Dhiti hung back, staring at the
math test results on the desk in front of her.
She'd gotten a 'B', which was fine. The teacher's comment written below
the grade was not.
All right, so she hadn't studied. But she'd taken a couple of minutes
during lunch break to flip through the last couple of chapters of the
textbook, and her memory was good. She'd done okay, so what was the
problem?
It wasn't as if she needed to knock herself out studying. She'd still
have passed if she hadn't bothered. A 'B' was good enough. Most of her
classes were boring, so why make an effort? She always aced history,
but the rest just weren't worth the trouble.
But there was that note on her test paper. Most of the teachers didn't
bother any more. The note said, "Disappointing, as always." It annoyed
Dhiti.
It was obvious what Ihara-sensei was trying to do. She was trying to
goad Dhiti into applying herself. That was okay, too; better teachers
than her had tried it, to no avail. All the same ... it rankled. Dhiti
did not like to be called a failure. Especially when she had not
failed; she had done exactly as well as she'd intended to do.
Still ... it rankled.
Annoyed at herself for being annoyed, she stuffed the paper into her
satchel and trudged outside. She stomped around there for a while,
looking for something to take her mind off the test.
Eventually she ran into Miyo. That would do, she decided.
"Yo, Hayashi," she called. "You busy?"
Miyo had been watching some of the boys playing basketball out in the
fields. At the sound of Dhiti's voice she jumped, then relaxed. "No,"
she said firmly. "What's up, Dhiti?"
"Oh, nothing." Dhiti stepped closer and said in a low voice, "About
this morning. Did Itsuko-san find out anything more about ... you
know?"
"About --? Oh." Miyo shook her head, then glanced around quickly.
"Not before I had to leave for school. Come on, Dhiti, you think I
won't let you know as soon as we find out anything?"
"Huh. You're not the one who's going to have to deal with a cranky cat
tonight, Hayashi. You're not the one who's going to have to explain
this to my mother, either. Or my father."
Miyo suppressed a grin. "Now that, I don't envy you." She glanced
around at the field again.
"Yeah. Thanks." Dhiti eyed her, puzzled, and then realised that Miyo
was keeping an eye out for Mark. It was almost too much. Was she that
set on avoiding him? Damn it, he had apologised! Wouldn't she ever
forgive him?
And then another thought came to her. In a sudden, delicious moment,
she realised that Miyo was not trying to avoid Mark at all. She was
trying to find him, and make it seem like an accident.
Best of all, she was fairly sure that Miyo didn't realise what she was
doing.
"There has to be a way I can use this," she muttered.
"Use what?" asked Miyo suspiciously.
"Oh. Sorry, Hayashi. Talking to myself." Dhiti gave her a superior
smile. "Sometimes I feel the need for intelligent conversation."
"So did you just hunt me up to insult me, or was there something else?"
"Oh, Hayashi. Don't be silly. Insulting you is what makes my life
worth living. You know that." She did the smile again; then, before
Miyo could start to take offence, she added, "Actually, I was thinking
we could go downtown. You know, hang out. Eat junk food. Window-shop.
That kind of stuff."
Miyo stared at her. Then she reached out a hand to touch Dhiti's
forehead. "You don't have a temperature. Are you feeling well?"
Knocking the hand away in irritation, Dhiti said, "Believe it or not,
I do do normal things sometimes."
"No, you don't. What is this, a setup for some kind of practical joke?"
Miyo blinked suddenly. "Wait a minute. You're looking for an excuse so
you don't have to go home and deal with Artemis!"
"I --" That was actually a terrific idea, and Dhiti was sorry that she
hadn't thought of it herself. "I am not," she denied automatically.
"I was thinking that we could pick up some of the others. It might be
fun."
"The others?" Miyo looked blank.
Dhiti gave a long-suffering sigh. "McCrea. Suzue. Iku. Remember
them?"
"Oh!" The other girl had the grace to look abashed for a moment.
"Actually, that _is_ a good idea. Sure, why not? It'd be nice to
have some ... you know. Just regular girl time."
"You don't say?" said a voice. Dhiti looked around, startled, to see
Kin standing behind them, smiling innocently. She had just enough time
to think, [Uh-oh.]
"All right, I'm game," the golden-haired girl said brightly. "So where
are we going?"
"Um --" Miyo began.
Dhiti thought fast. "Downtown," she said firmly. "There are ice-cream
parlours in this city that I do not feel we have sufficiently
terrorised. This needs to change, and you are just the girl to help us
do it, Kin-chan."
"Well, I wouldn't want an ice-cream parlour to feel left out," Kin
mused. "Lead on, kemo sabe! You're paying, right?"
"Absolutely." Dhiti could feel Miyo's eyes on her. She ignored them.
A more immediate concern was the state of her purse. "Um, we may have
to rob a few small banks on the way, if you don't mind."
"Umm. How about some _larger_ banks? There's a pair of shoes I've been
looking at -- sober, dignified ones, with 'Okamura Kin' spelled out in
flashing lights on the toes -- and I thought --"
"A mere trifle. Say no more. Actually, you couldn't have picked a
better time for it. For we have with us none other than 'Iron Teeth'
Hayashi, the world-renowned master criminal and safecracker! With her
on our side, how can we fail?"
"I'm sure we can find a way, if we try hard enough," muttered Miyo.
"Pish to this defeatist attitude! We have the strength of ten, for our
hearts are black."
"You know, that isn't how that saying actually goes," pointed out Kin.
"It isn't? Well, I'm sure my way is better."
"Of course it is!" Kin fell to her knees before Dhiti, and raised
shining eyes in adoration. "Teach us, Master Dhiti! Pour out your
great wisdom upon us!"
"Wisdom?" Dhiti blinked. "Hrm. All right." She spread her arms wide,
lifting her hands in a benedictory pose, and intoned, "Eat your greens.
Brush your teeth before bed. And ... be excellent to one another."
Miyo and Kin looked at each other.
"Words to live by," mused Kin.
"Hey, don't knock it," Dhiti protested. "These are deep philosophical
truths. Tell her, Hayashi."
"Don't mind me," said Miyo. "I'm only a master criminal and
safecracker."
"Aha! A touch, a touch, I do confess." Dhiti raised an imaginary foil
in salute. "So, would the evil genius care to accompany us to the
vanquishing of sundry sordid ice-cream parlours?"
Miyo considered. "It could be arranged," she admitted.
"Let's go!" Kin cheered. She tucked her hands behind her back and began
an almost elfin saunter toward the school gates. As she went, she
paused to say over her shoulder, "I assume we're picking up our friends
on the way?"
"Friends?" asked Miyo.
Dhiti stifled a curse.
"Mm," said Kin. "These other girls you were talking about before.
McCrea, Suzue and ... I forget. Funny thing; I didn't quite recognise
the names." She cocked an eyebrow. "Not," she added lightly, "that I
am for a moment implying that you were avoiding me, or planning to leave
me out of things, or anything like that. I was just wondering. That's
all."
"Actually," said Dhiti after a pause, "there's no reason --"
"Kin! Kin-chan!" came a voice from off to one side. They looked about
to see Liam, waving a hand in the air. He started toward them at an
easy lope.
Kin watched him for a moment, then snorted and glanced back at Dhiti and
Miyo. "Saved by the bell, huh?" she said.
"Kin-chan --" began Miyo.
"I'd better see what he wants," Kin said. "Another time on the ice
cream, Dhiti-chan. Seeya, Miyo-chan. Try and think of a good story,
will you?"
She jogged over to meet Liam, not looking back. Dhiti and Miyo saw the
two of them talk for a minute or two. Then Kin slipped an arm through
Liam's, and they walked away in the opposite direction.
"Weren't they fighting about something?" asked Miyo absently.
"I guess they made up." Dhiti bit her lip, then said, "I think we're
going to have a problem with her."
"Yeah. Damn it!" Miyo swore suddenly. "Damn it all! Why didn't I see
this coming? I must be going round with my eyes closed! I ought to
have --"
Dhiti touched her arm, cutting her off. "Look, don't get so upset," she
said. "All right, so Kin-chan's noticed we're not telling her things.
But she isn't mad about it. We've just got to think of ... a good
story."
"She's not mad about it _yet_," Miyo corrected her. "You really think
she won't be watching us now, though? Damn it, this ... no. I won't
allow this. I won't let it happen. She is not going to become another
Naru."
"Another ..." Dhiti frowned. "Who's Naru?"
Miyo gave her a bleak look. "Someone I used to know. A long time ago."
"... Right." Dhiti hummed tunelessly under her breath for a second.
"Okay, then, we're not going to let that happen. Whatever it is. So
what _are_ you planning to tell Kin-chan? The truth?"
"Don't be ridiculous."
"Well, why not, anyway? Okay, okay, you don't have to glare like that.
Sheesh, Hayashi. So we'll think of a story to tell her, and she'll
probably pretend to believe it, and then everything'll be fine, except
that Kin-chan won't trust us any more. _That_ certainly sounds good."
"What," said Miyo icily, "would you suggest, then?"
"Introduce her to the others, of course."
"What?!"
"Oh, come on. We don't have to tell her the truth, if you're so set
against it. Say you met them at the Olympus, or something. That's
almost true anyway. Take everyone out for ice-cream or a movie. The
chances are, Kin-chan won't think twice when she hears their names after
that."
Unbidden, a sudden mental image of Kin meeting Iku came to Dhiti's mind.
The idea made her grin. There was something about the shy girl, and the
shell she had built around herself, that fascinated Dhiti. She wanted
to crack that shell and see what was inside; and Kin might just be a
perfect nut-cracker.
Miyo considered the suggestion. "That might work," she admitted
reluctantly. "Why didn't you suggest it before, while she was still
here?"
"I was busy getting my nails done. Come on, Hayashi, why do you think?
I had other things on my mind."
"Okay, okay. Sorry." Miyo had the grace to look slightly abashed.
After a minute she said, more quietly, "Do you really think this is a
good idea?"
"Dunno." Dhiti winked at her. "I expect we'll find out soon enough.
Why don't you talk it over with Itsuko-san? See what the wisdom of the
ages has to offer."
"Say that to her face. I dare you."
"Ummm. Maybe not."
"Ha! Dhiti backs down! This is a day to live in history!"
"Yeah, yeah. Yock it up, Hayashi, enjoy it while it lasts. All the
same --" Dhiti became serious for a moment. "You will talk to
Itsuko-san, right?"
"Of course I will --" Miyo stared at her, and began to smile. "You're
actually concerned, aren't you? You don't want Kin-chan to get hurt."
"Oh ... don't get mushy on me. You always read too much into this
stuff, you know?"
"Uh-huh. After all, we can't have people thinking you're nice."
"Nice?" said Dhiti indignantly. "What are you talking about? Babies
for breakfast, that's me. Sometimes twice a day!"
"Right. Silly me. You'd never do something like ... say, breaking into
someone's house to steal her stuff and bring it to her."
"Never! I mean -- well ... that's not fair, Hayashi."
"Mm. I guess I'm not being very nice, am I?"
"Look, let's just change the subject, okay?" Dhiti had a nasty feeling
that she was somehow on the losing end of the exchange; and that was
clearly impossible. She cast about furiously for a way out. Stealing
things, house-breaking --
Then she did think of something, and immediately wished she hadn't.
She had done her best to forget about it, days since; and in the end she
had very nearly succeeded. Now, a chance comment brought it back. The
timing could hardly have been worse.
She schooled her expression, but Miyo could be pretty quick at these
things sometimes, considering. "What is it?" the tall girl asked.
"Oh ... nothing. Just a wild thought."
"Dhiti --"
"Look, it's --" Dhiti made the mistake of looking up, and found herself
staring straight into Miyo's eyes. She saw the concern there; and
something else. The trust. The trust made it all the harder.
It had been just a few days before. The night she broke into Miyo's
house; she had been asked to deliver a message. She had promised to do
it -- promised the girl's own brother.
And she had lied.
She had thought about it, the following day; about her friend, and all
the pain in her life; and the source of that pain. She thought about it
all ... and decided that Miyo was better off not knowing this. Quite
coldly and deliberately, she kept it to herself.
It was all for the best, it really was. But looking into her friend's
eyes, Dhiti thought again about promises. And about trust.
She wanted to curse out loud. This was going to kill Miyo.
"I ... have a message for you," she said uncomfortably. "I meant to
pass it on, but I kept forgetting until now. It's from --"
She took a deep breath. Best to just spit it out, perhaps.
"It's from your brother, Fujimaro." She saw Miyo flinch, and carried on
in a rush. "He said ... he said a lot of things. He said he doesn't
care what your father says. He said he just wants his sister back. He
wants to meet you."
Miyo's face was frozen, but nothing could hide the shock and sudden pain
in her eyes. "When was this?" she asked.
"Last Wednesday. Um. Sorry about the delay."
Miyo did not reply for some time. Her eyes were closed, her expression
taut. Dhiti tried to imagine what she must be thinking, and found
herself mentally shying away from the idea. At last, when she had begun
to wonder if her friend would ever speak again, Miyo said quietly, "All
right."
"Uh -- 'All right'? That's all?"
"Isn't that enough?" Miyo gave her a bleak look. "Unless there are any
more little messages you'd like to give me."
"... Right." She had gone too far, Dhiti realised. She tried to think
of a way to apologise, but all that came to mind was, "Sorry." And even
Dhiti could see how hopelessly inadequate that was.
"Go home, Dhiti-chan."
"I -- yeah." She hesitated for one moment more. Then, defeated, she
turned to leave. At the last moment something made her look back and
ask, "Will you meet him?"
Miyo looked up at her words, but her eyes were fixed on something far
away. "How should I know?" she said.
Dhiti nodded shortly and headed for home. Her math results no longer
bothered her at all.
****************
"So," said Minoru. "How did your lesson go on Saturday?"
"Pretty well, thanks," said Suzue.
Hama Minoru was tall, dark-haired and lanky. He had an easy, cheerful
grin and a face that people trusted. He was popular in class. He was
intelligent. And none of these seemed to matter very much, when he was
with her.
He had known Suzue for three years now, at least as well as anyone knew
her. They had started out as simple acquaintances, and slowly drifted
into something more. Finally, a few months ago, he'd worked up the
nerve to ask her out, and she had given one of her rare smiles and said
yes.
The two of them had been going out regularly since then. They were
playing it very casual; they did not call it 'dating,' they did not talk
about love, and they had not kissed yet. But she did not object when,
from time to time, he took her hand.
School was out and the two of them were wandering aimlessly down a
narrow, tree-lined lane. Nobody else was in sight, and Minoru was
thinking that before they reached the end of the street, he might dare
putting an arm around her shoulder. Not just yet, though. For now,
walking with her was enough.
"I had Ashida-san this time, and she's a lot better than my last
instructor," Suzue went on.
One thing was certain: he could never find her boring. In some ways, he
occasionally thought, she was like an onion. However much he learned
about her, there was always another layer below, some deeper level that
she kept hidden. Her religion was one of the outer layers, or the way
she made her own clothes. But who would have guessed that, beneath
that, she was a passionate bridge player? And that was nothing to his
surprise when he'd learned how she spent her Saturday afternoons.
"How long until you solo, now?" he asked.
Suzue shrugged. "It varies. Probably another four or five hours flying
time. After I solo ... another thirty hours or so, until I can get my
private pilot's license."
He shook his head, chuckling. "Suzue-chan, the airline pilot. Hard to
believe."
"Well, the airline transport license is a little further down the road,"
she said dryly. Then: "Why is it hard to believe?"
"Uh --" There was no anger in her voice. Nonetheless, he realised he
had better pick his words carefully. "You don't even like the outdoors
much," he said. "It just ... seems odd that you'd like ..." Running
out of inspiration, he waved a hand upward.
"It's not the same thing at all," Suzue protested.
"I suppose," he said, not sure that he agreed. "Anyway, you have to
admit it is kind of ... unusual. I always thought you'd be, you know, a
fashion designer or something."
"I've thought about it," she acknowledged. "I do like making my own
clothes. But Minoru-kun, you like playing baseball. Does that mean you
want to be a professional athlete?"
"I guess not," he admitted. "But --"
"So." She shifted her school satchel from one hand to the other, her
expression softening. "I like to fly, too. I may make a career of it,
or I may not. Either way ..." Her eyes almost seemed to glow for an
instant. "It's worth it. When I have my license, I'll take you up one
day, Minoru-kun. Then you'll see. There's nothing like it."
He grinned in reply. "Sounds like fun," he said. "It's a date."
He realised, a moment too late, what he had said, and nearly bit his
tongue; but she merely raised an eyebrow, then nodded.
They walked on in silence for a minute. After a little he said, "You're
more cheerful today, at least. Did you manage to work things out with
your friend?"
Suzue did not answer at once, and he wondered if he had made another
mistake. She had seemed a little distant lately; last week, especially,
she had been upset about something. When he'd asked, she had grudgingly
admitted to an argument with a friend; but it did not take a genius to
see that there was more to it than she was saying.
After a little she said slowly, "We ... reached an understanding, I
think."
"Oh." Minoru considered this. "Not the sort of understanding that
involves pistols at dawn, I hope?"
"What?" Suzue looked at him, confused, before realising he was joking
and looking away again. "Don't be silly." He suppressed a grin. Suzue
was one of those unfortunate people who simply had no sense of humour.
"I might have to do some research," she went on thoughtfully.
"Research?" he repeated, startled. "Why?"
"For the argument." Suzue cocked her head to one side. "Although I
suppose you could say it's become more of a debate, really."
"Good grief." He had a mental image of Suzue in a debate and had to
shake his head. Whoever this friend was, he or she was in for trouble.
Minoru had never known Suzue to give up at anything. "What's this ...
debate about, then?"
"Mm. Kind of a philosophical point, actually." She pursed her lips
for a moment, then said, "So how was _your_ weekend?"
She didn't want to discuss it, and she wouldn't give up at that, either;
he knew from experience. He decided to give in gracefully. "Not bad.
We won our game yesterday." It hadn't exactly been one of high school
baseball's finest moments; but a win was a win. "I tried to call you,
but you weren't home."
She stiffened: almost imperceptibly, but he happened to catch it. Her
pace did not quite falter, but there was a momentary pause before she
went on. And something swam across her face: an expression that he
could not identify. Not guilt, but perhaps something close to it.
"I was out with some people I met recently," she said steadily. Her
tone was so natural that he wondered if he had imagined it. "Sorry; I
should have let you know."
"It's okay," he said. The only answer he could give, of course.
Inwardly, he started to wonder. Suzue did not make friends easily.
"Where did you go?" he asked curiously.
"Oh, nowhere in particular. I'm sorry I missed your game." She started
to ask him questions about how it had gone, and before long he found
himself describing the game in detail. It wasn't a bad way of spending
time with a girl.
Later that afternoon, he did finally work up the nerve to put his arm
around her. She didn't seem to mind. She even snuggled closer and
rested her head on his shoulder for a few moments. So ended a perfect
day.
... Well, nearly perfect. After they parted, he stood for a while,
watching her walk away. She was worth watching; but there was more than
the movement of her hips on his mind. More even than the memory of her
head on his shoulder.
She had distracted him very well, and he had to admit that he had been
willing to be distracted. But Suzue had never shown so much interest in
baseball before. And she'd been oddly reluctant to talk about what she
had been doing on Sunday.
Could it have been something to do with her church, perhaps? He knew
about her beliefs, of course -- with the amount of teasing and general
bullying she took from the other students, it would have been impossible
to miss. He did not share those beliefs, but he wasn't about to mock
her for them either. That had been one of the reasons they'd first
gotten together, actually.
No, he decided; it couldn't be a church matter. If it had been, she
wouldn't hesitate to say so. She wouldn't try to pass the matter off as
unimportant, and then spend the rest of the afternoon distracting him
from asking further. Whatever was bothering her, it was something he
wasn't supposed to know about.
Tantalising, that.
He thought about talking to Shoda Keiko about it. She and Suzue were
best friends, and Keiko would know what was going on if anybody did.
If not, he could always try keeping a surreptitious eye on Suzue next
weekend, to see if she --
At that point, he realised what he was planning.
He shook his head in disgust. What was the _matter_ with him? Had he
actually been planning to spy on his girlfriend?
He started for home, shaking his head in disgust. If Suzue didn't want
to talk about something, well, she had the right. The least he would do
was trust her!
After all, it would be a hell of a world if people couldn't trust each
other.
****************
"So," said Liam hopefully, "does this mean you've forgiven me?"
Kin sniffed. "Don't get your hopes up," she said.
He looked down at her arm, which was linked through his, and decided not
to push the matter. "So what was that with Miyo-kun and Dhiti-kun?" he
asked instead. "You looked like you were having some kind of fight
there."
"Nothing," she said. "And we were not having a fight. We were just ...
discussing things."
"Okay, okay," he replied, waving his free hand placatingly. "No fights.
Heaven forfend. Why, I remember some of the discussions I used to have
with the lads back in Kilkenny. We were grand ones for discussions, me
and the lads."
"Will you quit it?" she snapped. "We were planning a bank robbery, if
you must know."
"Oh!" He considered this. "Well, and that's a bigger discussion than I
was thinking."
"I bet," she said grumpily.
They walked in silence for a minute, passing behind the main school
building and heading for the rear gate. At last Kin sighed and said,
"I'm sorry. I just ... don't know what to do."
"About what?" His voice was gentle.
"Miyo-chan and Dhiti-chan," she admitted. "I think they're avoiding me
for some reason. And they've got some kind of secret they don't want to
tell me."
Liam thought about this as they walked. "Secrets," he said slowly.
"That's a hard thing, sure enough. Do you trust them?"
"Of course I --!" Kin broke off. "I think so," she went on, more
subdued.
"But?" he prompted her.
"Well ... they were planning something. And talking about a whole bunch
of girls I've never heard of. And the last two weekends in a row, I
haven't been able to get hold of them, but Dhiti-chan's mother thought
they were with _me_ ..."
"You know how Dhiti-kun is, though," Liam pointed out. "She and her
schemes and make-believes."
Kin grimaced. "I suppose so," she said. "But today ... I saw
Miyo-chan's face. It wasn't just playing today."
"So, follow them. Find out what they're up to."
"I can't do that!"
"Why not?" he insisted.
"Because ..." Kin had to stop to think. "Because they're my friends,"
she said at last. "And if I do that ... then maybe _I'm_ not _their_
friend."
"So." Liam nodded. "As I said: do you trust them?"
Kin did not answer.
"You do realise that there's probably some perfectly obvious explanation
for it all, don't you?"
"Like what?" she demanded.
"Hmm. Is your birthday coming up?"
"No, that's not until --" Kin broke off and glared at him. "Nice try,
buster. I'm _still_ not telling you when it is."
Liam grinned back at her. "Wasn't even thinking of that," he said.
"Honestly. They could have been planning some kind of surprise."
"Well, it's not that," she grumbled. "Anyway, Miyo-chan looked so ...
so guilty."
"I could ask Mark for you, if you want," he offered. "He might have
some idea."
"No!" she said, looking horrified. "I don't want everyone in the school
to know about this!"
For the first time, Liam frowned at her. "Believe it or not," he said,
"Mark is not, in fact, a gossip."
"I'm sorry," she admitted, instantly contrite. "It's just, after what
happened with Miyo-chan ... well, you know. Look, forget it, okay?
It'll probably turn out to be nothing. I'll pin Dhiti-chan down
tomorrow and get the story out of her."
"The idea of _anyone_ managing to pin Dhiti-kun down --"
"Will you knock it off?"
"All right, all right." Liam lifted his hands in mock surrender,
grinning. "Let's change the subject. Do you want to go for an ice
cream, or something?"
Kin blinked. "Everyone tries to bribe me with ice cream," she said
plaintively. "You're all trying to make me fat." After a moment,
though, she gave him a twisted grin. "All right, buster, let's go.
You'd just better have a full wallet, though."
"Why does this always happen?" he asked the world philosophically as she
dragged him away.
So there was ice cream, and laughter. They made jokes; they discussed
their respective days at school. They compared dreams, and daydreams.
They took a leisurely stroll through the nearby mall, pretending to
window-shop but actually paying far more attention to each other than
the window displays. For a time, secrets were forgotten.
Later, on their way home, they walked through Tomoe Park, arms wrapped
about each other, talking idly about anything and nothing. The park was
ruddy with the setting sun. And as they meandered down the narrow path
through the trees in the centre of the park, they realised suddenly that
they were alone. There were distant voices from the playing field, some
way off, but here among the trees there was only the two of them.
Slowly, hardly daring to move but unable to help himself, hardly daring
even to breathe, Liam looked down at Kin. She was staring back up at
him. Her eyes in the fading light were enormous.
Then, somehow, they were together; and their first kiss was everything
that a first kiss should be.
They stood together for a while longer, as the evening deepened around
them. Suddenly shy, they drew apart a little, and walked on, sneaking
glances at each other and smiling. After a little, Kin reached out
silently and took Liam's hand.
There was a park bench nearby. They sat down, and kissed again.
Later still, they sat together, Kin leaning back against Liam, his arms
wrapped securely around her. It was nearly eight o'clock. Now and then
people would pass them, smile, and walk on.
After the fervour of a little earlier, Liam felt relaxed and peaceful.
The trust and the warmth of the body in his arms; the gentle movement of
her chest as she breathed; the scent of her hair in his nostrils ... so
ended a perfect day. He could have sat there, murmuring affectionate
nothings in her ear, forever.
And then she stiffened in his arms, and pulled away from him. "There
you go again," she said.
At first, still sunk in a pleasant daze, he did not quite realise what
had happened. He automatically reached for her to draw her in again.
She slapped his hands away. He stared at her.
"Why don't you just go join the Loonies?" she demanded. "They've
probably got a place for people like you."
"What?" he said, stupefied. "What?"
"I'm not some puppet for you to play with, you know." She stood up
sharply, staring down at him for a second. There was a curious mixture
of anger and regret in her eyes. "Isn't it time you grew up a little?"
she said softly. Then she turned and walked away.
"Grew --? Kin-chan, what are you -- Wait! Wait!" Liam scrambled up
and dashed after her. But when he caught up and put a hand on her
shoulder to stop her, she only shrugged it off.
"Go home, Keenan-san," she said coolly. She did not look up at him
again. "Good night." And she walked on.
"What are you talking about?" he shouted after her. "I didn't _do_
anything! This is crazy!" He started after her once more; he saw
her stiffen at the sound of his footsteps. Abruptly he realised that
there were other people in the park staring at him.
He turned sharply and went home.
Later that evening he called Mark, and the two of them spoke for some
time. Something was obviously bothering Kin; and the most obvious
explanation was that it was something to do with Miyo and Dhiti, and the
secret Kin claimed they had. It took little encouragement for Mark to
agree to talk to Dhiti the next day. Whatever was going on, they would
get to the bottom of it.
****************
(continued in part 2)