Hiei faced Yukina, and saw that she was crying freely now. It tore
at his heart to see her like this.

        "Yukina," He began, swallowing convulsively. "I'm Hi--..."

        He didn't finish. He felt a presence nearby. He took out his sword,
its blade gleaming. Darkness was his forte. Whoever or whatever it was, was
gonna get it.

                              *    *    *

        The floor crumbled, and a monster made of marble, with a cross sign
on its forehead, appeared. It looked hungrily at Makoto, and lunged.
Unfortunately, Makoto's right leg had been hit. The cut was deep, caused by
a sharp marble fragment from the floor. She whimpered, and tried to limp
away from the evil force attacking her. She looked at her injured leg.
Blood. She winced. She wasn't fast enough. The monster, with its teeth and
claws bared, was heading for her! The center echoed with her scream. 

***********************************************************************

Chapter 5
                           "Body and Soul"

=======================================================================

        Haruka stared in horror at the mud-monster before her. She was stuck
in the mud, and couldn't move. The thing was swallowing her up! 

        `I--I'm sinking!` Haruka thought. The mud was already upto her chin!
`Can't move... Can't transform...` She took a deep breath, and held it as
the mud reached her upper lip.

        The mud-monster laughed. It sounded like a gurgle. Haruka caught a
glimpse of the cross sign on its forehead. She could'nt hold her breath any
longer! The mud was above her nostrils! She closed her eyes tight, and waited.
`Dame da...` She had run out of oxygen.

        The monster gurgled happily. "Your soul is Mei..."

        "DEAD SCREAM!!!"

        A ball of powerful light hit the monster. Stunned at the sudden
attack, the monster yowled, and threw mud balls at Haruka's savior:
Sailorpluto! Pluto blocked the childish attack with her destiny spinster.

        "It is nothing more than a child," Sailorsaturn stood beside Pluto,
and observed the creature made out of mud. More mud balls were aimed at
them. Sailorsaturn blocked the futile attack. Her attention turned to
Haruka, who was almost fully under the quicksand of mud. "Haruka-san!!"

        "Saturn," Pluto said. "Your Death Ribbon..."

        Saturn shook her head. "My Death Ribbon is not like Venus' chain. It
is a very dangerous and destructive attack."

        As if hearing them, a chain of golden hearts appeared. Like a lasoo,
it encircled Haruka. Sailorvenus winked at Pluto and Saturn. "Help me out
here, guys!"

        Pluto and Saturn helped Venus pull Haruka to safety. Haruka was
soaked with mud. Haruka lay unconscious, as a worried Saturn and an anxious
Venus knelt by her side. "Haruka-san..."

        The monster continued to throw mud balls at the senshi. Venus stood
up with her fists clenched. She had had enough!

        "If you think you're gonna get away by hurting Haruka-san, you think
wrong, mudface!" Venus said to the mud-monster, and positioned herself for
an  attack. "VENUS... LOVE AND BEAUTY SHOCK!!!" Venus blew a kiss, and it
turned into a series of powerful hearts that blasted the monster. The
monster exploded into tiny blotches of mud which flew in every direction.

        Haruka woke up, and joked, "Venus, now you've made a mess!"

        Haruka was about to be greeted by a few giggles from Venus, Pluto,
Saturn, when a dark cloaked figure appeared before them. They couldn't see
its face. It was just a shadow; a silhouette of some sort. It suddenly
spoke, its voice low, and menacing.

        "Very impressive. But how long will that last?" It said, then it
disappeared, followed by another being's laughter.

        "W-Who was that?" Venus asked. The being she saw chilled her, scared
her. It was different from all other enemies she's faced as Sailor-V.

        "It was definitely NOT the victory party!" Haruka replied, annoyed
with the fact that she didn't get to clobber that thing. She glanced at her
wrecked motorcycle, and cursed. Damn, she needed a shower!

        "That being was very strange," Saturn remarked, her glaive
glistening in the sunlight. The mud, that used to be that ugly monster, was
drying up at last.
"Is he the one you were sensing, Pluto?"

        Pluto nodded. "A very vague feeling, but it's there." She leaned on
her Time staff, and said to Haruka and Sailorvenus, "The time has come again..."

======================================================================

        Walking was never this tiring. Keiko sighed. With a heavy heart, she
treaded on, passing several couples necking on the park benches. At last it
had stopped raining. It didn't matter anyway. What on earth was Yusuke
trying to say??

        Keiko stifled a sob, and looked up. Blue skies. Why couldn't it be
nighttime? She wanted to see the stars, to make a wish. She recalled what
Yusuke had said to her a few years ago in her ramen shop.

        "Keiko, after college, let's get married."

        He had promised her that. Keiko had been so happy then.  But now...
was that promise made to be broken? No, she didn't want to believe that it
could break. It wasn't like Yusuke to do such a thing. She straightened. `I
have to trust Yusuke on this...` Keiko thought. She took a deep breath, and
tried to smile. She felt much better now.

        A commotion was heard nearby. Screams, and cries of panic coming
from several people. Keiko rushed to the scene. The couples! Every one of
them had collapsed on the ground after going crazy! Keiko tried to scream,
but nothing came out. She took one step back, then another. She was too
frightened to run. The couples... dead? How...?

        After taking a few steps back, she felt someone. Relief swept over
her. "Yusuke..." She turned. It wasn't Yusuke! Keiko finally found her
voice. She screamed, and screamed...

======================================================================

        Yusuke couldn't find it in his heart to say it to Keiko. He ran, and
had left a bewildered Keiko on the park bench. He didn't want to do that.
But what else could he do? He didn't want to hurt Keiko... physically. He
knew something ... or someone... was eating at his soul, trying to possess
him. It was a feeling that... that... that the end was nearing! However,
Yusuke was able to fight the evil force penetrating his body and his soul
because his rei ki was strong. But how long could he keep it up? Could
youkai be entering Ningenkai again? It couldn't be... unless...

        Yusuke stopped walking. He sensed something. Rei ki! Weak rei ki,
but powerful enough when regained. He turned, and saw a dark deserted alley.
It was coming from in there. Yusuke moved closer, then stood his guard as he
saw a sharp, gleaming object... like a sword! The person was about to attack
him!

        Yusuke stood ready to fight. His opponent was cloaked in black.
Yusuke knew that he was accustomed to the dark. Damn alley! He couldn't see
his opponent's face. Without warning, his opponent leaped into the air,
sword at hand. Yusuke took a step back, and positioned his hands. As he was
preparing to fire the rei gun, he heard a female voice behind his opponent.
"Yame te..." Yukina!

        The opponent cloaked in black turned his sword away. "Yusuke, it's you!"

        "Hiei!" Yusuke was surprised, but happy, to see Hiei instead of a
real enemy. "What the hell are you doing here?"

        "Hn," Hiei replied, keeping his sword. "That's really none of your
business." 

        Yukina stepped forward, and greeted Yusuke with a polite bow. Yusuke
put his arm around Hiei's neck, and grinned at him. "Oi~! Have you told her
yet?"

        Hiei broke free from Yusuke's hold, and pulled out his sword again.
"Nandato~?!" 

        Yusuke stilled. He sensed... Keiko! She was in trouble! Yusuke took
flight, barely feeling the ground beneath him. He headed back to the park
where he had left Keiko. `If anything happens to her...` Yusuke gritted his
teeth. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself if something did happen to
her. `Keiko, hold on!`

=======================================================================
***********************************************************************

Hugs & smileys galore!
Animatedly,
KC a.k.a. Cheval-chan ;D 
======================================================================  
http://www.skyinet.net/users/kcmisa/UForest.htm
http://members.theglobe.com/tourmaline/tourmaline2.html
ICQ #: 703221
Oh... and, uh, another home page is on its way... eh-heh... ^_^
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