Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon property of Takeuchi Naoko, Kodansha,
Toei. 

	-Suiseiki-

	Chapter One

	Students milled through the gates of Namanai-gakuen, the steady hum
of multiple conversations filling the crisp, clean afternoon air.
Well, as clean as air got in the Minato ward of Tokyo, at any rate. 
	An almost nondescript girl, save for her unusual auburn hair, walked
through the gates, and to the curb of the avenue. At almost the
precise second her toes touched the edge of the sidewalk, a dark blue
Dodge Neon coupe pulled smoothly up to her. The driver, a
chestnut-haired boy with deep, dark eyes, barely visible behind
sepia-tinted sunglasses, leaned out and smiled at her. "Konnichiwa,
Naru-chan," he said.
	Osaka Naru smiled, ruffling the boy's hair affectionately.
"Guri-chan," she said. "Right on time, as always." She handed him her
bookbag before stepping around to the passenger side of the remodeled
import car. "How was your day?" she asked.
	Umino Gurio grinned. "Aced six pre-final exams. Got my scores back
on the last batch of entrance exams, too."
	"Perfect as usual?" Naru said, giggling.
	Umino smirked. "Not quite...not enough to beat Mizuno-san's
percentage, I'm sure." At Naru's sudden wistful expression, Umino
sighed. "Gomen, Naru-chan..."
	Naru shook her head. "No, it's alright." She smiled. "So, are we
going out for a parfait? Or," she added, giving him a coy look, "do
we just head straight home?" She leaned against him, batting her
eyelashes.
	Umino turned red. "Naru-chan, people are watching," he hissed,
eliciting a giggle from the girl. "Actually, we need to at least stop
in first. Mom said she was going to call sometime today..."
	Naru nodded. "Yeah, and my mom's probably gonna call to yell at me
again about not finding a female roommate." She smirked. "It's just
her way of trying to encourage us to pick a date," she groused. Umino
chuckled, and drove away from the school.

	*****

	"It was sure nice of Osaka-san to...oops!" 
	An interesting scene unfolded in the living room of the Tsukino
household. The door had just opened, admitting a beautiful young
woman with long, elaborate golden pigtailed and a lithe, graceful
figure, as well as a tall, thin man with short, dark hair. The girl
was blushing a light pink, and giggling softly, due to the other half
of the spectacle.
	On the couch...on opposite ends of the couch, to be precise, and
possibly attempting to be partially *behind* the couch, sat two
blushing young teens. One was a slight, messy-haired boy. The other
was a delicate-looking girl with shoulder-length dark hair and deep
violet eyes. Her too-long legs were folder under her haphazardly, and
her face was approximately the color of a ripe tomato from her blush.
The boy had all but jumped behind the couch, and was divided between
trying to hide and glaring at the people in the doorway. 
	"Jeez, Usagi, give us some warning, willya?" the boy said. 
	"Gomen, Shingo-kun," Tsukino Usagi said, slipping off her shoes and
procuring a set of slippers. A mischevious twinkle entered her eyes
as she said, "You two weren't doing anything Mom would yell at you
for, would you?"
	"No, of course not!" Shingo protested. The girl on the opposite end
of the couch continued to blush meekly. 
	"Aww, too bad," Usagi said. "Why weren't you?" At the shocked stares
that comment received, she lost it completely and broke down
laughing. The man standing behind her just groaned and made a great
show of placing his palm to his forehead.
	Shingo, for his part, glared at his older sister. "You're a real
comedian, Usagi," he growled. "Mamoru, you *sure* you want to marry
this odango-brain?" 
	Mamoru sighed dramatically. "I suppose," he said airily. "We all
have to make sacrifices..." This earned him a stomped foot and a
glare from his fiancee. He grimaced, then chuckled. "I'm just
kidding, Usako."
	"Hmph," Usagi said. "Just for that, don't expect me to come over to
your place for a few days," she huffed. The two teens on the couch
giggled, overcoming their embarrassment at being walked in on.
Finally, Shingo stood, offering a hand to his girlfriend. "Let's go
upstairs where we can get some privacy," he suggested.
	"Oh no you don't," Usagi said. "If you're gonna do *that*, at least
have the decency to go to a motel or something."
	"U-SA-GI!!" Shingo growled, blushing almost as fiercely as his lady
friend. "Don't be so vulgar! C'mon, Hotaru-chan, let's get out of
this nuthouse and find something better to do." With no further ado,
Shingo and Hotaru slipped on their shoes and left. 
	As the door closed, Mamoru chuckled. "Hotaru and Shingo...I'd have
never seen that coming in a thousand years."
	Usagi giggled. "It surprised me, too. I always assumed Shingo and
Mika would still be together. They are awfully cute together,
though," she added. 
	Mamoru nodded. "Well, you'd better hurry and change if we're going
to make it there anytime soon," he said.
	Usagi gasped. "Ack! I'll be right back," she said, zooming upstairs.


	*****

	Three women sat in a coffee shop overlooking a bustling street in
the heart of Tokyo. One of them was reading a newspaper. She smirked.
"The Americans really did it."
	Another of the women snorted. "Took 'em long enough. What is it, two
years...?"
	"Right, something like that. I wonder if they'll get the job done
this time?"
	"All we can do is wait and see."
	"And hope that the nutcase down there doesn't have any nasty
surprises up his sleeve..."

	*****

	The doorbell rang. "Guri-chan! Could you get that?"
	"Hai!" Umino walked across the main room of their modest two-bedroom
apartment, and answered the door. "Konnichiwa!" he said, then gasped.
"No way!"
	The two people standing in the doorway blinked, and glanced from
him, to each other, and back again. "Anou...I think we got the wrong
place by mistake," the pigtailed blond began.
	"Usagi-san? Mamoru-san?"
	This caused the pair at the door to blink again. "Umino-kun?" Usagi
asked. "Is that you?"
	"Hai!" Umino said, grinning broadly. 
	"You've changed," Mamoru observed. 
	"Yeah, you look great. What happened to--?"
	"My glasses?" Umino asked, chuckling. "They make contacts that work
for me now. But enough about me, look at you two! Usagi, you look
fabulous." 
	Usagi blushed. "Thank you, Umino-kun. Anou...where's--?"
	A door closed in the back of the apartment. "Who was out there,
Guri-chan?" 
	"Naru-chan! We've got visitors!" Umino said. "You'll never guess
who!"
	Naru appeared, and immediately rushed to the door upon seeing Usagi
and Mamoru standing there. "Usagi!" she said excitedly, throwing her
arms around her old friend. "What a surprise...we sure weren't
expecting to see you!"
	Usagi hugged her friend back fiercely. "It's been a long time,
Naru-chan," she said. "How have you been?"
	"Great!" Naru said. "How about you? Oh, please come in and get
comfortable." 
	The group moved away from the door, catching up briefly. "So what
brings you by?" Naru asked. "I didn't even know you knew where to
find us," she added with the barest hint of accusation.
	Usagi flushed. "Gomen nasai, Naru-chan...I'd have been by before
now, but things have been so busy..."
	Naru nodded. "I know, I can understand. School, life, romance..."
she smiled gently, but there was a hint of strain behind it. 
	"Well, your mom gave us the address when we were at her store,
picking out..." Usagi colored deeply, and choked on the words.
	"Wedding rings," Mamoru supplied with a sheepish smile.
	Naru's eyes widened. "You two are--?" They nodded. "When?"
	"June 30," Usagi said, smiling. "That's why we came by, to drop off
your invitations. That is, if you want to come..." she trailed off.
	"Are you kidding? Of course we want to come!" Naru exclaimed,
hugging her friend. "Oh, I'm so happy for you!" 
	Mamoru produced two invitations on wedding stationery and handed
them to Naru and Umino. "We decided to drop by and give them to you
in person instead of mailing them," Usagi said, in a somewhat
embarrassed tone, "to make up for all the time I haven't kept in
touch."
	Naru smiled, sniffling and wiping away a tear. "That's just like
you, Usagi," she said. 
	"So, are you going with a Shinto ceremony or a Western ceremony?"
Umino asked.
	"Actually, we decided to go with a combination of the two," Mamoru
said. "It was Rei's idea." 
	"She barely talked her grandfather into it," Usagi added, giggling.
"We're going to have the wedding at Hikawa Shrine."
	"Should be interesting," Naru said. 
	Umino stood. "Why don't I get us all something to drink?" he
offered. "We've got lots of catching up to do."

	*****

	"It's going to be a lovely wedding."
	"Yes. And they've chosen the perfect day for it."
	"Yes, her birthday...and the same day her mother was married. Just
like the prophecy says..."

	*****

	Shingo and Hotaru sat in one of their favorite hangouts, a trendy
little indoor sweet shop. Shingo was slurping away at a milkshake,
while Hotaru daintily ate the second biggest banana split her
boyfriend had ever seen. "I thought only Usagi and Chibi-Usa could
put that much away," he commented.
	Hotaru giggled. "I guess I picked up some bad habits from
Chibi-Usa-chan," she said. 
	Across the room, the proprietor kept a television. It was currently
tuned in to a cable news channel. /In international news, the
hostilities between Iraq and the United States of America have
escalated into a full-scale military conflict. US troops continue to
battle inland into Iraq, while a corps of Iraqi military engineers in
Baghdad are apparently attempting to erect a barricade around the
city. As yet, no other UN countries have entered the conflict, but
the UN Security Council remains on alert. We will have more coverage
of the conflict in the Middle East after this./
	Hotaru sighed. "I suppose it had to happen sooner or later."
	Shingo nodded. "Yeah. Let's just be thankful that they found those
weapons when they did."
	Hotaru held her spoon in her mouth for a moment, furrowing her brow
thoughtfully. "I hope they can put an end to this once and for all.
Nobody with such little regard for human life should have control
over the power to destroy everyone."
	Shingo watched Hotaru, frowning inwardly. *She's really worked up
over this,* he thought. *Like there's a heavy weight she's carrying
around.* He leaned forward. "Hotaru-chan?" he asked quietly. "What's
wrong?"
	Hotaru blinked, then pulled her spoon out of her mouth and giggled.
"Nothing, just thinking. I guess I'm being a little silly." 
	*No, you're really worried about this. I gotta figure out how to get
your mind off it.* Shingo smiled. "Well, what do you want to do after
this?"
	Hotaru shrugged. "There's a revival of 'Air/My Pure Heart for Yours'
at the OmniPlex. I missed it the first time around."
	"Even though you've seen it on DVD a couple hundred times?" Shingo
teased. "Honestly, Hotaru-chan, I don't see how you can stand to
watch something that depressing over and over again..."
	"So you don't want to go?" Hotaru mock-pouted.
	Shingo smiled. "Sounds like fun," he said. 

	*****

	"Do you remember the prophecy?"
	"Yes. The time is close at hand." 
	"Will it really happen?"
	"We won't know until it does."
	"And then what?"
	"All hell breaks loose, probably."
	"In the meantime...Hotaru-chan has been very happy lately."
	"It's her new boyfriend. She doesn't worry about things as much
lately, since she's started seeing him."
	"That's good. She doesn't need to worry about the world's problems."
	"Not yet, anyway," Meiou Setsuna said, gazing at nothing in
particular. Her companions read the newspaper and drank their coffee
in heavy silence.

	*****

	As they chatted about the last few years, Usagi began to get the
feeling that Naru was upset. Umino had apparently sensed it too.
"Mamoru-san," he said, "Neither one of us has much time left as
bachelors. We should go out and make the most of it." He smiled
amicably, but Usagi noticed the worry in his eyes as he glanced
briefly at his fiancee. 
	Mamoru nodded. "Alright by me, if the girls don't object."
	Naru smiled. "Go on, have a good time. We have some girl talk to
catch up on, anyway."
	As the two men left, with much boisterous laughter and boasts of
loud proclamations of plans to get shitfaced, Naru stopped smiling.
By the time the door closed, she had fixed Usagi with a painful,
tear-filled, and somewhat angry gaze. "Why?" she whispered hoarsely.
	Usagi grimaced; she had been afraid this might happen. "Why haven't
I kept in touch?" she asked gently.
	"It's not just that," Naru said bitterly. "You shut me out of your
life a long time ago, Usagi." 
	Usagi sighed. "Naru-chan...I'm sorry I hurt you. Believe me, I never
intended to shut you out..." She swallowed a lump in her throat. "You
have to understand how hectic things were in those days...and after
you left, things got even more hectic..."
	Naru frowned. "I know how it was, Usagi, with schoolwork and all,
but you had time for your other friends..." she paused. "Don't
misunderstand...I like the others, I really do. I always have. I just
don't get it...why did you have time for them, and not for me?"
	Usagi sighed, bowing her head. "It's complicated, Naru-chan..."
	"I tried calling," Naru said, wiping her eyes. "For the last few
years, I tried to call you several times. At all hours. You were
never there." She favored Usagi with a cold, hard stare. "On Sundays,
you weren't there. Afterschool, you weren't there. I even called late
at night a couple times. You were never there. I know..." she
sniffled. "I know you're busy with your friends, and Mamoru, but..."
She recovered from her sniffles, and laughed bitterly. "I know about
your parties at Rei's temple. How come nobody ever invited me? And
have you been sleeping through school, keeping those kinds of hours?"
	Usagi winced, Naru's accusations cutting her to the quick, piercing
her heart like a burning stave. She struggled to find the words, even
as tears began to spill from her expressive blue eyes. 
	"All I want to know, Usagi...is why. Please, tell me why. That's all
I ask of you." 
	Usagi swallowed, trying to find her resolve. She didn't want things
to be this way with Naru, and she knew that it was her fault, even if
not her choice. Finally, she made her decision, and wiped the tears
from her eyes, looking up into those of her long-time best friend.
"Naru-chan," she said softly, "there is a reason, believe me. I never
wanted to hurt you the way I did, but things...things got very
complicated." 
	Naru folded her arms. "What things, Usagi?" 
	Usagi grimaced, knowing what she was going to have to do. She
reached into her handbag, withdrawing an ornate brooch. "Please
understand," she said, as she held the brooch before her. "And...you
have to promise that you can't tell anyone about what I'm going to
show you."
	Naru's eyes widened. "That...I recognize that..."
	Usagi held the brooch tightly, and in a whisper that somehow filled
the apartment like a sonic boom, intoned, "Moon Eternal Make-Up." 
	Naru's eyes widened as Usagi disappeared in a veritable hailstorm of
feathers, only to be replaced an instant later by Eternal Sailor
Moon. "U-Usagi?" she asked.
	Sailor Moon nodded. "Hai, Naru-chan, it's me." 
	Naru blinked repeatedly, her face registering shock. "You...you're
really...Sailor Moon?"
	"That's right, Naru-chan."
	"I--I had suspected, but..." Naru slowly regained her composure.
"Who else knows? Does Mamoru know?"
	Sailor Moon nodded. "Hai...Mamoru knows."
	"What about your friends? Rei, Ami, Minako, Makoto?"
	"They know," the sailor-fuku clad Senshi said.
	Naru scowled. "You could tell them, and not me?"
	Sailor Moon grimaced. "Naru-chan...do you remember when I met the
other girls? When you met them? I was already Sailor Moon..."
	Naru frowned, and after a moment her eyes widened in comprehension.
"I see...they're the other Senshi, aren't they?" Sailor Moon nodded.
"So...those parties at Rei's temple..."
	"Sailor Senshi meetings." 
	Naru was speechless for a moment, still in shock from the
revelation. "That explains a lot of things," she said. 
	"Naru-chan...please understand," Sailor Moon said. "The reason...the
reason I became distant..." She swallowed. "How many times were you
attacked by one monster or another, back in Juuban? I...I was
afraid," she said, her voice breaking slightly, "I thought that being
around me was causing you to be targeted. I...I was afraid that, that
one day...a day might come when you were attacked, and I wouldn't be
able to stop the monster in time to save you. I couldn't...couldn't
bear the thought of losing my oldest and best friend like that."
	Naru stared at Sailor Moon for a long time, before breaking out in
tears and flinging herself at the warrior, arms open wide.
"Usagi-chan..." she said. "I...I wish I'd known...I'm so sorry for
all the bad things I thought..."
	Sailor Moon hugged her friend. "It's alright, Naru-chan...I'm sorry
too, for a lot of things."
	Naru backed out of the hug. "But...why couldn't you have just told
me?"
	The Sailor Senshi sighed. "It wasn't that easy. What do you think
would happen if someone found out by accident who I really was?" Naru
thought about that for a moment. "A lot of people I care about could
get hurt if the wrong people knew about me," Sailor Moon continued. 
	Naru nodded. "I...I understand now," she said. Then she smirked.
"You're still not off the hook for not calling me, though," she
admonished.
	Sailor Moon giggled, and reversed her transformation. By the time
Mamoru and Umino came back, almost totally plastered, the two girls
had made up for all the lost time and hard feelings between them.

	*****

	Shingo decided to walk Hotaru home from the OmniPlex. They held
hands, making idle conversation, laughing, and enjoying each others'
company. 
	"I really like being with you, Hotaru-chan," Shingo said. "You're a
really special girl."
	Hotaru blushed, and leaned against Shingo. "You're very sweet,
Shingo-kun. Arigatou." She gave him a peck on the cheek, causing him
to blush cherry red. 
	"Well, looky what we have here, boys," a voice said from behind
them. 
	"Lookit the little lovebirds," another voice mocked. The young
couple looked around, to find themselves surrounded on three sides by
tough-looking hoodlums, all probably around sixteen or seventeen. The
fourth side held no escape from the gang...only a dead-end alleyway.
	"Hey little boy," a third sneered. "Beat it and leave the girl, and
we won't hurtcha." 
	Shingo scowled. "Get lost, jerk!" 
	The punks howled with laughter. "Oooh, the little fucker's tough!
C'mon, little fucker," the first boy said. "We like to fight before
we have our fun. Maybe we'll letcha live, if you're lucky."
	"You leave us alone!" Hotaru said. This only elicited more laughter
from the street toughs. Their apparent leader stepped closer, and
took Hotaru by the chin.
	"I wouldn't talk so smart, koneko-chan," he said condescendingly.
"Just be a good little girl, and we won't hurt you too much. We just
want to have a little fun."
	Hotaru spat at the punk. He wiped the spittle off his face and
scowled, slapping her. "Bitch!" he roared. 
	Shingo growled, and leaped for the older boy's throat. "Leave her
alone, you asshole!" he yelled. The leader smirked, and punched
Shingo in the gut, knocking the wind out of him. For good measure, he
kicked him, sending him sprawling backwards into the mouth of the
alley. 
	"Shingo!" Hotaru cried, rushing to him. She dragged him partway into
the alley, looking at him with concern. "Are you alright?"
	"Leave...Hotaru-chan...alone...bastard," Shingo coughed. The punks
closed in, roaring with laughter. 
	"Okay little girlie, it's your turn," the leader said.
	"Ho...ta...ru..." Shingo gasped, still trying to regain his breath.
"...run...don't let...them...hurt you."
	"I won't leave you!" Hotaru cried. 
	The punks were close now. "Then your boyfriend can watch while we
enjoy ourselves, can't he?" one of them taunted. 
	*They want to rape me,* Hotaru realized, terror filling her. She
looked down at Shingo, who was completely defenseless and badly hurt.
*Shingo-kun...I can't let them hurt you...but...* Indecisiveness
tortured her for what seemed like eons, as the gang drew slowly
closer. Finally, she made up her mind. *I know I shouldn't...but I
have to protect Shingo-kun. And myself!* A determined scowl fell upon
Hotaru's face as she summoned her henshin wand from pocketspace.
	"Oooh, look at the pretty pen," the leader taunted. "Whatcha gonna
do, ink us to death?" The other boys laughed.
	Hotaru raised the pen above her head. "Saturn Planet
Power...Make-Up!" 
	The punks stopped laughing. 
	Shingo, his breath recovered, lay on the pavement, staring in
wide-eyed shock at the spot where his girlfriend had stood only an
instant before.
	That space was now occupied by an extremely pissed-off Sailor
Saturn. The Silence Glaive appeared in her hand, and she pointed it
menacingly at the gang of street toughs. "If I were you, I'd leave
now," she said. 
	"Fuck! A Sailor Senshi!" One of the boys shouted before turning tail
and running. 	
	"Fuck this, man. I don't wanna die!" called a second, taking off.
That left only the leader. 
	"You should follow their example," Saturn said. "The sailor-suited
Soldier of Silence, Sailor Saturn, does not show mercy to those who
would do harm to the innocent." *Good grief, how does Usagi keep a
straight face when she says stuff like that?* 
	"I ain't afraid of no chick in a skirt with a toy spear," the leader
said, advancing into the alleyway.
	Saturn shrugged. "Death Ribbon Revolution!" The ribbons of shadow
ripped away from the Silence Glaive. The would-be rapist stood
transfixed, like a deer in the headlights. The lead punk was dimly
aware that he had just performed his last act on Earth; or rather,
his bowels had done so for him. The boy screamed as the dark strands
of energy tore through his body. It was over in seconds. All that
remained of the punk was a few bits of scrap from his jacket and a
wisp of smoke. 
	Saturn sighed, shook her head sadly, and knelt over Shingo, leaning
against the Glaive. 
	Shingo was still staring at her in shock. "H...Hotaru...?" 
	Saturn smiled down at him. "Are you alright?" she asked.
	"Y--you're...you're a...Sailor...S-Senshi..." Shingo gasped.
	"Hai," Saturn said, "but let's just keep that a secret, okay?" 
	"H--hai," Shingo said, before fainting dead away. 
	Saturn giggled. Banishing the Glaive, she picked him up, grunting
from the strain, and took to the rooftops. 

	*****

	Hino Rei calmly meditated before her fire. She enjoyed the activity
when things were calm and relatively peaceful, as they were now...for
her and her fellow Senshi, at any rate. When there was no urgency to
the task of reading the visions in the fire, Rei simply let the
all-seeing flame fill her mind and soul for sometimes hours on end.
	On a whim, Rei decided to ask the fire to show a vision of Usagi's
wedding. The difficulty of clarifying the vision troubled her for a
moment. When the vision did come, finally, Rei snapped out of her
trance, shock and panic consuming her.
	"So you have seen what is to come," a chillingly calm voice said
from behind her.
	Rei spun to see Sailor Pluto standing a meter away, Time Staff in
hand. "Pluto...what does this vision mean...?"
	"You will understand when the time comes," the enigmatic guardian of
time said. She narrowed her eyes. "You must, in no way, attempt to
interfere or otherwise prevent what you have seen from occuring. It
*must* occur, Sailor Mars." With that, Pluto vanished.
	Rei's mind whirled.

	*****

	Sailor Saturn dropped to ground level about a half kilometer away
from the Tsukino residence, using some bushes for cover. She laid
Shingo upon the ground, and he groaned. His eyes opened, and he
gasped. "Sailor..."
	"Shhh," Saturn said, placing a finger over the stunned boy's lips.
"You're hurt, Shingo-kun. Hold on while I heal you." With that,
Saturn reversed her transformation, and sat down beside the injured
boy.
	"Hotaru...it-it wasn't a dream..."
	Hotaru shook her head. "No, it wasn't a dream. Now hold still." She
placed her hands upon Shingo, directing her healing energies through
his body. After a few moments, Shingo sat up groggily. As he did so,
he gave Hotaru a sharp glance which caused her to wilt slightly.
	"You killed that punk," Shingo accused.
	Hotaru bowed her head. "Hai," she answered. "I-it couldn't be
avoided," she whispered. Her eyes glistened with fresh tears.
"There...there was no other way," she said. "He would've have hurt
both of us...maybe killed us. I had to do it."
	"But...did you have to kill him? Couldn't you...y'know, stun him or
something?" Shingo asked.
	Hotaru shook her head. "My powers...the powers of Saturn...they're
different from the other Senshi. They don't leave room for mercy once
they're used." Tears spilled down her cheeks. "That's why
they...that's why I'm called the Soldier of Silence...the...the
senshi of death..." she began weeping. Shingo pulled her into a hug.
	"Shhh...it's alright, Hotaru-chan...you did the only thing you
could..." He helped her to stand, and smiled softly. "It's not your
fault...people like that don't deserve any mercy, anyway." His eyes
betrayed his words; Hotaru could tell that he was deeply disturbed by
what had happened.
	She smiled, however, and hugged Shingo. "Remember," she said, "you
mustn't tell anyone about me." 
	Shingo nodded. "I promise," he said. Then he gave her an odd smile.
"You know something, though?"
	"What?" she asked.
	"You look really great in that fuku." 
	Hotaru blushed. "Shingo-kun!" Both teens giggled. "Come on, we need
to get home before somebody worries about us."
	Shingo smacked his forehead. "Argh! We're nowhere near your place! I
meant to walk you home!" 
	Hotaru giggled. "Don't worry about it, Shingo-kun. I'll just call
home, and they'll come pick me up." 
	Shingo contemplated that, then groaned. "You mean, we could have
avoided all this mess in the first place?"
	Hotaru grew a sweatdrop. "Uhhh...hai, I guess so."
	Shingo grimaced. "Wonderful." 
	"Ummm, gomen?" Hotaru offered. Shingo mock-growled and tackled her,
tickling her mercilessly. Hotaru giggled in helpless delight.
	"Come on, you," Shingo said after finally letting her up. "Let's go
home." 
	
	*****

--------------------------------------------------------------------
"Try to control yourself..."
"Hey, I'm 20. I'm male. I'm single. I'm not 
getting any. What do you expect?"
"...I stand corrected. And you...just...stand."
-Conversation between Lurker and an 
anonymous AOL user
---
The Eternal Lost Lurker
...gettin' ficcy wit' it...
EternalLostLurker@worldnet.att.net
http://www.geocities.com/~etlostlurker

"Heeere leezard, leezard, leezard..."
-------------------------------------------------------------------