Absolute Destiny Revolution
Chapter 1: The Smiling Rose
By David Farr
Characters and situations used in this work are the property of their respective owners and are used here without permission. This work is covered by international copyright laws. Permission is given to distribute this work only if unaltered and no fee is charged.
Warning: Contains spoilers for the Tenchi OAV series, the Utena series, the Ranma manga and anime series, and Sailor Moon anime series.
OoOoO
Proud and magnificent in her straight-cut yellow student council uniform, Nanami Kiryuu strode purposefully through the halls of Ohtori Academy. Students stepped out of her way as she and her three deputies hurried along. While Nanami was unique with her soulful blue eyes and blonde hair platted into a tiara around her head, the other three seemed so common that they could easily be mistaken for each other. In fact the easiest way to tell them apart was their hair styles: Keiko wore her hair tied and her bangs curled; Aiko had shoulder-length hair that curled prettily outwards; and Yuuko's hair curled in and around her cheeks.
"The chemistry club and the drama club are requesting permission to put on a show called 'A Festival of Light'," Yuuko read from her clipboard. "They intend to perform a dance routine against a back drop of fireworks. I've looked over their plans, and everything seems to be safe. Unfortunately they are experiencing some resistance from some of the faculty."
"Have you been to their rehearsals yet?" Nanami inquired.
"Yes," Yuuko replied. "I also had a chemistry major I know check over their recipe for the fireworks. He is sure they will react as required. I believe it is a good idea."
"Good," Nanami nodded. "Write a letter to the clubs indicating the Student Council's support of the plan. Word it appropriately--"
"The Student Council is pleased to see such ambitious and well planned work from the students of our school, and we are sure that the ingenuity displayed will help them in later life, etceteras."
"Exactly. Send copies to the clubs and accidentally leave one in the teachers' room."
"Right Nanami." Yuuko started scribbling furiously as she slowed her steps, letting Aiko swing out and speed up to take her place.
Meanwhile Nanami had turned to Keiko. "Next item?"
Keiko looked up from her notebook. "The Shadow Play Theatre group are complaining that someone has been drawing graffiti on their practice wall again. The Janitorial staff are getting tried of cleaning it up."
"Do we have any suspects?"
"A few, but nothing concrete." Keiko frowned slightly. "I've asked a few of the other clubs to set up a watch on the wall. At the moment I'm just bringing it to your attention."
Nanami nodded and started to turn to Aiko, but happened to glance out the window beyond her. "What the?" She stopped, forcing Yuuko to hurriedly side step to avoid a collision. The other two stopped a few steps onwards and turned back to see the student council president staring out the window and down at the sunlit courtyard below.
Yuuko looked out the window, confused. "It's just the rose garden. It's been there since Ohtori was built."
"It's also been untended for the past three years," Nanami shot, before spinning and running towards the nearby stairs, leaving her three deputies staring at her wake in confusion.
A dark dread rising within her, Nanami leapt down the stairs two at a time, leaping over the banister halfway down and sending students scrambling. She burst across the small courtyard and slammed into the glass door. Her heart pounding in her chest she peered through the ornate metal frame of the glass house at the figure happy watering the flowers inside.
She sighed in relief as the girl inside turned her rather plain, rounded, but definite Japanese, face towards Nanami. Her red hair made up for that, though, as it streamed down her back like two rivers of fire. She was wearing the normal white and aqua uniform of an Ohtori girl, including the terrible red tie with the single yellow stripe. As her deep brown eyes fixed on Nanami at the door, she smiled, simply, yet elegantly, and nodded her head.
Nanami reached down and hesitantly took hold of the small metal door handle, pulling it open.
"Good morning," the strange girl greeted her with a voice that left that no doubt that in her own little corner of the world, it was indeed a good morning.
Nanami took a deep breath to calm her runaway heart. "This garden is off limits to students. May I inquire as to who gave you permission to enter it?" 'And the key to the padlock I put on the door?' she added silently.
A slight frown touched the girl's lips. "Oh dear, Akio-san told me it would be alright."
Nanami felt the pain of an icy dagger sliding into her heart. "Akio-san," she repeated weakly. "Well, I suppose if the chairman allowed it, then it is okay." She smiled sickly.
"I'm glad. I like tending roses."
Looking around at the myriad of roses, so many different colours, all blooming in perfect health, Nanami felt the nostalgic pang for the last time she had been in the garden with someone who loved roses as much. "I can see that," she commented. "You have certainly breathed life back into the garden." She shook her head. "I'm Nanami Kiryuu, student council president."
"I am Hanako Asano, pleased to meet you."
Nanami nodded, stilling trying to put on a convincing smile. "Well, I will leave you to your roses. Please, take good care of them." She turned and strode out of the garden, not acknowledging the pleasant goodbye that followed her. Outside three fussing deputies joined her.
"Nanami, you look like you've seen a ghost!" Reiko exclaimed.
"Thankfully, I haven't," Nanami replied as she strode past them. "Find out all you can on that girl. Her name is Hanako Asano." 'And pray this isn't what I think it is.'
"Excuse me, Nanami." Aiko ran up next to her. "I stopped by your house to pick up some paperwork, and found this waiting on the hall table. It looked important, so I thought I would bring it to you."
Nanami glanced down at the girl's hand, and froze, again feeling the dagger's icy stab at her heart. Carefully she reached out and took the stiff white envelope with red trim from the other girl's hand. For a moment she wondered why the envelope was trembling, before she realised that her hand too was shaking. Slowly, carefully, fearing what she would find, she turned over the envelope.
Explosively, she let out the breath she didn't realise she was holding. It was not the red wax seal of a single rose. The letter did not come from him. Instead the seal was formed by the impression into purple wax of a signet ring bearing two roses with intertwined stalks.
"Nanami, are you okay?" Yuuko asked, watching her.
"Yes, I'm fine. This has just brought up some bad memories." As she spoke she unsealed the message and pulled out the page within. "I'm probably just being foolish."
"Do you still want us to investigate Miss Asano?" Reiko inquired.
"Yes," Nanami replied, as she unfolded the letter. "And check to see if the Acting Chairman is back in residence could you." She stated scanning through the letter.
"Akio?"
A deep scowl appeared on Nanami's face. Finally she crushed the letter into a ball and strode off once more. "I'll be in the Student Council chambers. Should anyone need me, they can get me on my celphone."
The three deputies slowed to a stop and watched the student council president vanish into the buildings of Ohtori once more.
Yuuko turned to the others. "No one's been up to the council chambers since we took over the job."
"Even before then," Reiko commented. "Not since Touga and his council left."
"Did they leave?" Aiko wondered aloud. "I'm sure I've seen Miki around."
"Miki would be the only one who hasn't graduated yet," Reiko pointed out. "The others would be in University now."
"So why isn't Miki on the council?"
"Maybe he decided he had something better to do," suggested Yuuko.
The three shared a glance and, knowing that no more could come of the conversation, headed off in separate directions to set about their separate tasks.
OoOoO
Nanami stood alone, arms crossed before her and silhouetted against the blue sky outside, as the elevator climbed the tower. Every so often a beam would roar past, but Nanami thought there was something missing. Other people for one, Juri and Miki had always joined her when she had made this trip before. The speech, that was it. Either she or her brother had always made the speech.
"If the chick cannot break free of the egg it will die without being born. We are the chick; the world is our egg. If we do not break the world's shell..." she trailed off with a sigh. It just didn't feel right any more, if everything was going to start again, she would need a new speech.
The elevator shuddered to a stop and the gates clattered open, revealing the darkened council chamber and the sunlit balcony beyond. Nanami was not surprised to see two figures already waiting near the table.
As she emerged from the darkness, her eyes adjusting to the light, she raised an eyebrow in surprise at the other two.
The woman sat in one of the white metal garden chairs, stretched out with her feet resting against the table's central column. Her hands were hooked under her brown ponytail to cup her head as she stared up at the clouds floating in the sky above them. Her white boys uniform was cut lose and held a single tassel to indicate her position in the council.
The young man stood nearby, his sapphire eyes intently fixed on the stopwatch cradled in his hand. As Nanami approached, he struck the button and the stopwatch beeped, he noted the time and looked up, reaching up to brush a lock of his blonde hair out of the way. Nanami had to admit that he had grown up well, and even cut a rather dashing figure in his white uniform.
"Mitsuru Tsuwabuki, Wakaba Shinohara, it's been a while," Nanami said evenly.
Wakaba threw herself out of her chair, and turned to glare at Nanami. "Nanami Kiryuu. I should have guessed our student council president sent those letters." She indicated two envelopes resting on the table, both bearing the purple seal of two intertwined roses. "What do you want?"
In answer Nanami strode up to the table and threw her own envelope onto the table. "I didn't send them, but I have some idea who did."
"Then who is 'The World Beyond'?" Mitsuru inquired.
Nanami looked out beyond the balcony at the forest. "I would prefer not to say at the moment. Besides, I don't think the name would mean anything to you."
"In that case, what are the duels, and why must we stop them?" Wakaba demanded. Nanami had once hated the girl for her ability to cut straight to the heart of the matter, she could barely remember why, but now it made her smile.
"The duels are a game played within Ohtori by a person called 'Ends of the World'. This game uses people like you and me as pieces, and the player doesn't care what happens to us." She snorted. "In fact we three were pieces the last time this game was played, and we were cast away when our gambits failed. You two more so than me."
The other two shared a glance before turning to glare at Nanami. "What do you mean?" they chorused.
Nanami smiled. "Let me tell you a story. It all started with a girl, who was sad, because she had lost her parents..."
OoOoO
Akane Tendo trudged along the street towards her home. Life had become boring for the brown haired martial artist.
First there had been the surprising announcement that Ranma was being forcibly transferred from Furinkan, to a school in another part of Japan. He had resisted, even to the point of putting the principal on another vacation but hadn't come up with a very convincing reason, of course. Then his mother had commented how the other school was such an opportunity, and Ranma had caved, his father following shortly after. Not that his father had really followed, no that would be too much to ask. Instead the lazy lump of fur continued to live off his friend's generosity at the dojo.
Then Ukyo had closed down her restaurant and moved across Japan to follow him. Apparently the okonomiyaki chef's record of school hopping had served her well. Since she obviously adjusted to new schools so well, the new school accepted her without blinking an eye.
Then the amazons left, also heading for Ohtori. Kuno somehow found out that his pig-tailed goddess was with Ranma, and he pulled some strings to get a transfer. Ryoga and even P-chan had stopped turning up.
Leaving Akane, by default, as the best martial artist in town once more. It was a bittersweet victory at best.
Shoulders slumped forward, Akane pushed open the front gate to her house. She trudged up the path, not even twitching as a curtain of rain swept across her. Once rain had been important in her life, a matter of whether the people around her were male, or even human, but not any more, it was just annoying.
"I'm home!" Akane called, kicking off her shoes.
Kasumi, Akane's oldest sister, emerged from deeper in the house, wiping her hands on her apron. "Welcome home, Akane. I hope you had a good day."
Akane shrugged. "It was peaceful."
"A letter arrived for you," Kasumi announced, reaching into the front pocket of her apron.
"Ranma?" Akane asked, her face brightening.
"I don't think so." Kasumi pulled out the envelope and handed it to Akane.
Akane could easily see why her big sister didn't think Ranma had written the letter. The envelope was pure white and stiff with red trimmed edges. On the front was only her name, no address, the characters carefully formed with a care and grace that Ranma had never shown in anything other than martial arts. Carefully she turned over the envelope, noting the seal with the intertwined roses on the back.
"It is not Ranma's style, is it?" Kasumi inquired. "Maybe it's another engagement." That earned a horrified look from Akane.
Carefully Akane broke the seal on the envelope and pulled out the letter.
She quickly read through the letter, then turned to grab an umbrella from the stand. "I've got to go out Kasumi. I'll be back this evening." She hurried out the door, popping open the umbrella before vanishing into the rain.
"I wonder what was in the letter," Kasumi mused. "I do wish she had left it behind." She turned and, quietly humming to herself, went back to the kitchen.
OoOoO
The house was empty, the man decided as he opened the door. Before, when he arrived home he would have been assaulted by the aromas of a succulent meal, fit for a king, unsurprising since a princess would have been cooking it. Then he would have caught the soft sound of snoring from the lounge, and perhaps sneak a peek to see if the blonde sleeping on the couch had managed to roll into the compromising position. Finally he would have dreaded finding out what damage had been done to his lovely home during the course of the day, and secretly delighted at the chance to perhaps add some more changes to the design.
He sighed as he slipped into his house shoes and started sorting through the mail he had picked up at the letterbox. Now that was all gone, and the house was empty. Even his son had left. Which meant there was no one to do the chores. Without the girls, the house had started collecting dust and--
He blinked as he stepped into the lounge. The floors were polished to the point of shining; the glass doors so clean you couldn't tell if they were open or closed; and all the magazines were neatly stacked on the coffee table.
Glancing up he found the house's only other occupant draped over a beam near the roof. Her arms and legs dangled limply over the edges and her head hung back. She wasn't asleep, he realised, but she might as well have been.
"Bored Ryoko?" he inquired, still sorting through the mail.
The ex-space pirate raised her head and gazed at him blearily. "Oh, it's you Nobuyuki." She let her head drop back, making a painful sounding crack as it hit the beam. Nobuyuki made a mental note to check it later for damages. "Yeah, there's only so many hours of sitting around doing nothing you can take."
Nobuyuki stopped looking at the mail to stare up at her. "So you cleaned the lounge?"
"No, I cleaned the house."
'I need to find something for her to do!' Nobuyuki thought, looking back down at the pile of mail. 'Huh, what's this!' He stared at the envelope in his hand. "Ryoko, there's a letter here for you."
"What?!" the space pirate was off the beam in an instant and at his side. "Is it from Tenchi?" she inquired eagerly
"Doesn't say." He passed the letter to her. "Here have a look."
The fine paper of the envelope, the careful lettering that formed her name and the purple seal on the back meant nothing to the demonic girl as she tore it open. She quickly read through the letter, her face growing stern.
"I need some money," she said suddenly.
"What for?!"
She waved the letter. "I have to go into Tokyo to find out what's happened to Tenchi."
OoOoO
Ami sat at the back of the bus alone, staring at the city buzzing past the window. She thought about the letter she had found sitting in her locker. At first she had mistaken it for a love letter, and started to go into her allergic reaction. But she had managed to get far enough into the letter to realise that wasn't true.
'I just wish I could have seen Rei before hand, but it's been almost a month since I last saw her.' She frowned slightly as another thought occurred to her. 'I haven't seen Minako and Makoto for about that long too.' She sighed. 'After Usagi was sent away to Ohtori everyone became uncomfortable. It became harder to stay friendly to each other. Rei was always so domineering, Makoto's anger regained it hair trigger, and Minako's nattering was no help.' She smiled wryly. 'But then, I wasn't either, retreating from the confrontations. I guess we never knew how much our friendship relied on Usagi.'
As the bus stopped to let a few passengers on, her thoughts turned once again to the letter and its worrying missive. 'Usagi's not missing, she's just in another part of Japan. Yes, she promised to write, and hasn't, but she waited longer for Mamoru when he was away.' She looked out the bus window, and realised her stop was coming up. 'She may not be missing, but it is better to be safe than sorry.'
As Ami alighted from the bus she spotted the first part of the directions held within the letter. 'Go to the Prince of Roses Cafe...' she remembered. 'Outside will be a rose seller. Buy a single white rose from her.'
Sure enough, a girl stood outside the cafe, hold a basket full of roses over one arm. She was Indian, perhaps, any way her skin was dark, and struck an interesting complement with her dark purple hair. A white scarf was tied over her head to form a hood, and she wore a simple flowing dress made of red cloth. As Ami approached her she could see the girl happily humming and bobbing her head as she greeted passers-by with a nod.
"Excuse me," Ami greeted the girl, "may I have a white rose?"
The rose girl smile at her as she reached to the back of her basket. "My, those are popular today." She extracted a single white rose from the bouquet. "Here we go, a single white rose, complete with shirt clip." Ami noticed the golden clip that held the stem of the rose as the rose girl leant forward and attached it to the breast of Ami's uniform. "You are lucky, that was my last one. 600 yen please."
Ami looked surprised, the rose was surely worth more than that, but pulled out her purse and withdrew a few coins. "Ah, here we go."
"Thank you." The flower girl accepted the money with another happy little nod, and turned her attention away.
Ami turned away again, looking towards the cafe. The letter instructed her to go inside to meet with the others. What others it didn't say. Taking a deep breath she walked forward and pulled open the door. A number of heads were raised at the jingling of the bell above the door, only to look down again. Ami stood in the doorway, looking around, trying to see if she spotted any other white roses.
"HEY! OVER HERE!" A cyan-haired punk at one of the far booths started waving, earning glares from the rest of the patrons. Ami groaned when she saw the white rose held in the woman's hand.
At that point Ami briefly considered turning around and leaving. After all Usagi wasn't missing, she just had not contacted anyone. Really. That was all it was.
Another girl at the table, a brunette with an angry look on her face, shushed her companion, before waving Ami over. Giving another slight sigh, Ami made her way over to the table, weaving past the other diners as they returned to their discussions. Ami took a seat in the booth, and looked over her two companions, both of who were wearing white roses.
The punk wore a grey sleeveless vest over a light blue dress. The entire ensemble was designed to accentuate her obvious female attributes, without actually showing anything, or in fact, appearing immodest. Her hair spiked up and back off her head in what had to be one of the most natural appearing hairstyles Ami had ever seen. She leant back, regarding Ami with amused golden eyes that quickly made Ami turn her attention away.
The other girl also wore grey, although it was obvious that like Ami, she had come straight from school, not even bothering to change out of her uniform. Unlike the punk and Ami herself, this girl looked rather boyish, with a rather stocky - for a girl - frame, and a brown hair cut short. Ami vowed never to call Makoto a tomboy after meeting this girl.
Ryoko, on the other hand, wasn't impressed with what she saw. The new girl looked weak, and half-scared, certainly not worth anything in a fight. Blue hair was unusual amongst humans as far as she knew, but the tomboy didn't seem to be reacting to it, so not that unusual, she guessed. All up, the type of girl she expected to find in some hospital or store, "protected" by the local cops and avoiding the dingier parts of a city.
Deciding to break the silence, Ryoko leaned forward. "So, now that we've finished looking each other over, maybe we should talk about this?" She tossed her torn envelope onto the table.
Silently Ami pulled out her own letter. "Yes. I think that would be wise."
"Damn," the other girl cursed. "I was hoping one of you two had sent it."
Ami looked at the other two, trying to guess what they were thinking. Then she realised she had forgotten something and gave a quick bow with her head. "I am Ami Mizuno. I am pleased to meet you both."
"Akane Tendo. Pleased to meet you to." The tomboy had the decency to look a little embarrassed at the oversight.
"Ryoko, hiya." The punk didn't. "So you both know as much about this letter business as I do?" The other two nodded. "And you've both got no idea who 'The World Beyond' is?'" Again they nodded. "Great, just a collection of the clueless then."
"Not that you have any better ideas!" Akane snapped back. "What I want to know is how you two know Ranma!"
"Ranma?" the other two chorused.
"Isn't he why you're here?" she looked at them bewildered. "Some martial arts challenge or engagement?"
Ami sat blinking for a few seconds, but Ryoko answered. "I'm here because someone sent me a letter telling they knew what had happened to Tenchi. I've never even heard of your Ranma."
"It's Usagi for me," Ami added, then noticed the other shift away from her slightly. "Not like that. She's just a good friend."
"And I'm guessing she's gone missing too," Ryoko commented.
"Approximately two months ago she was sent to Ohtori academy by her parents. No one's heard from her since. I imagine the same is true for Ranma and Tenchi."
Ryoko nodded, but Akane added more. "Actually I haven't heard from anyone who went to Ohtori. Mostly I'm not surprised, but I would expect something."
Ryoko looked up thoughtfully. "Come to think of it, I haven't either. Why didn't I think that before?"
"Excuse me." The three around the table looked up to find a waitress holding a tray full of cups standing over them. The oddest thing about the waitress was that, instead of the frilly dress the other waitresses in the cafe were wearing, she wore one of the men's uniforms, something more akin to a suit.
As the three pulled back she lifted a fine china teacup off the tray and placed it on the table in front of Ryoko. The scent of roses wafted across the table as she placed a second and third cup in front of Ami and Akane.
"Hey, we didn't order these!" Ryoko complained.
The pink haired waitress smiled. "These were paid for by the gentleman over there." She pointed to a distant table, where the trio could she man with pale purple hair wearing a white suit and cape, facing away from them.
Ryoko started to stand, but stopped when she felt Ami's hand on her arm.
"Let's drink the tea, and let him come to us."
"Okay, whatever." Ryoko flopped back down into her chair. She snatched up the delicate cup, and knocked back the entire brew. She immediately started coughing and spluttering.
"Ryoko!" Akane was out of her seat in an instant, and slapped Ryoko hard on the back. Ryoko gave one final violent cough before something small and round flew from her mouth and skittered across the table to strike Ami's cup with a chime.
"Sasami never put stuff like that in our tea at home," Ryoko commented as Akane returned to her seat, nursing her hand.
Ami gingerly retrieved the object, holding it up for the others to see. It was a white signet ring, with a carving of a red rose, an expensive piece of jewellery, apparently untouched by the tea. "Your's I believe."
Ryoko accepted the ring from Ami, and looked at it. "Never seen it before in my life."
"I wonder," Akane said suddenly, before shoving her hand into her tea. Quickly she pulled it out, revealing a second ring, a duplicate of the first. She turned expectantly to Ami, her hand still dripping tea.
Shrugging, Ami picked up the spoon from her cup's saucer and dipped it into the tea. She immediately felt the spoon strike something and carefully lifted a third ring from her cup. "Interesting. I can't help but feel I've seen this somewhere before."
"Excuse me." The trio looked up to find their waitress had returned. "Sorry about this, but the gentleman also asked me to give you these." She held out two envelopes, one a large A4 manila, the other the same ornate letter type they had originally received.
"Thank you." Ami nodded, taking the two envelopes. The larger one was fat and heavy.
"He's gone," Akane commented as the waitress left.
Ami glanced over to the table at the distant table, confirming it was empty.
"Damn!" Ryoko swore, having done the same. "Ryo-ohki!"
A small brown furry creature jumped up onto the table. It looked a little like a cat crossed with a rabbit. 'Maybe it is one of those long pawed breeds,' Ami thought, 'although I have never heard of a long eared bread of cat.' To further confuse the issue, the creature had a half eaten carrot in its mouth.
"Ryo-ohki, did you see where he went?" Ryoko demanded of the creature.
"Miya," the creature replied sadly, dropping the carrot onto the table.
The spiked-haired girl frowned. "Where did you get the carrot?"
"Miya miya." Ryo-ohki pointed across the room at where the waitress was talking with what looked like the manager.
"She dropped it?" The little creature nodded emphatically to Ryoko's question, then went back to chewing on the carrot. "Well she's a lot of help," Ryoko grumbled. Ami looked at Akane, who simply shrugged in return.
Ami put the large envelope on the table, then opened the letter.
"'To the three who seek one who is lost,'" she began reading.
"'It is to my deepest regret to bring you the news that those you hold dear have become trapped in the secret of Ohtori. In a moment of weakness each sought escape from their problems, and through no fault of there own, have lost their way. Now they have become the pawn of another who seeks to regain a lost destiny.
"'But fear not, for you three can rescue them. You must go to Ohtori, and take part in the duels that occur there amongst the shadows. Only then will they return. But be warned, it will take all of you three to gain them back. Separately you can hope for the return of only one.
"'I have supplied you with that you lacked to gain you entrance to the academy. Be wary, many of your allies and enemies have already preceded you there, and they are unaware of all that transpires.' It's signed, "The World Beyond.'" Ami finished.
"What's this lot?" Ryoko demanded, tossing the contents of the manila envelope on the table.
Picking it up, Ami starting leafing through the pages. "Acceptance letters and forms for transfer to Ohtori. Timetables. A passport and birth certificate for Ryoko Hakubi." Ami raised an eyebrow at the other girl, then opened the passport and flicked through it. "Complete with a valid student visa. I must say, you speak Japanese very well for an American."
"Where's America?" Ryoko asked immediately, grinning.
Ami rolled her eyes, and continued through the stack. "There's even dorm assignments on campus. Looks like we have a pair of doubles between us. Akane and I in one room, and Ryoko in the other. Unsurprisingly they are right next to one another."
"I believe..." Akane said before pausing in thought. "I believe there is something I should tell you both, if we're going to be working together on this."
"What makes you think we will?" Ryoko inquired.
Akane looked thoughtfully at the letter Ami had been reading. "There's no reason to believe that we can do this alone, there's a better chance if we follow The World Beyond's advice, at least for a little while. Plus, the letter didn't promise us that we would get back the one we wanted should we succeed alone." She looked at Ryoko. "What if the one you rescued was Ranma or Usagi, instead of Tenchi."
Ryoko was about to make a snappy retort, when the memory of the battle against Kagato surfaced in her mind. Especially the pain she felt when she believed Tenchi dead. "You've got a point there." She shrugged. "Oh well, what say we meet again at Ohtori, and plan some more there?"
Ami nodded in agreement. "It would be best to hold any more discussions until we had more information." She started sorting through the pile of papers on the table.
Akane looked from one to the other. "Shouldn't we get to know each other? We are going to be working together."
"Later." Ryoko waved her off. "I just wanna get to Ohtori at the moment."
"This will help," Ami told her, handing Ryoko the lion's share of the documents. She then stood, taking another, smaller, pile of documents. "I will see you at Ohtori."
Akane watched as the blue-haired girl left. "So what about you Ryoko?" she asked, turning back, only to find herself alone at the table.
OoOoO
In the apartment above the caf? a pink-haired girl watched as first one, and then a second girl wandered away from the establishment below. Both headed in different directions to get to different parts of Tokyo.
"Do you think they can do it?" a feminine voice asked from behind her.
The pink-haired girl turned, to find a white-clad Indian prince standing in the door-way. As he walked across the room towards her, his purple hair darkened and lengthened to curl up into a bun on his head. The white uniform he wore darkened to a scarlet, and flowed out into long dress. At the same time his body shrank and filled out, until he was a woman.
"I think they have a chance," the pink-haired girl replied. "I just don't think its fair."
"If they knew the truth, it would be harder for them to prevail against him." The other girl replied stepping up. She raised her hand to rest against her friend's cheek. "You saved me and our friends. Now they must save their friends. This is the way it must be."
The pink-haired girl smiled wanly. "So, is there a part for us in your plan?"
The Indian girl returned her smile with a warmer one. "That is something you'll have to wait to find out."