Seiya stared down both his oldest friend and his princess with his midnight blue eyes – his expression unreadable. His hand clenched around the rose within his grasp, ignoring the dig of the thorns that spiked right into his skin. His eyes seemed to glow as he spoke his next few words in a tone that nearly made his princess shiver at being on the receiving end of it:
"What have you two been keeping from us?"
Kakyuu folded her hands in front of herself, being her ever elegant self in spite of how much she felt like she could stand to be hit by Galaxia's beams again in place of being stared down in the way Seiya was looking at her that moment – like some … intruder that couldn't be trusted.
He must listen to reason! He should know that Maker and I had our reasons for not telling them! He shall be able to understand why we didn't tell them till now, so …
Taking in a small breath, she started, "Fighter …"
"Yes, princess?" was the automatic response she received from her most trusted guardian.
Her gaze drifted down to his hand that was gripping the red rose as if it were his lifeline. Her heart fell a little at the sight of the crimson blood trickling down in multiple streams before falling off his knuckles in the form of droplets to land on the carpet.
"You must understand that Maker and I only had suspicions of such a thing occurring before our meeting with the Inners today. We didn't want to cause any unnecessary panic over nothing if it weren't true that Sailor Moon was being haunted by Mamoru-san, " she continued, her eyes finally moving away from Seiya's blood-drenched hand to look into his eyes – pleading. "Maker and I meant no harm to any of you. We were doing our best by -."
"Lying to us? Keeping secrets? How is that 'doing your best' when Odango's life is possibly on the line because of your silence?" Seiya hissed at them, his hand tightening on the rose even further.
Taiki glared at his friend. "You mustn't take such a tone with her, Seiya. She's still your princess in spite of our long stay here."
The midnight-haired male turned his attention onto his longtime friend, teeth clenched. "That doesn't excuse how you both decided upon yourselves to allow all of this to go on for so long to the point that Odango might have to suffer the consequences of your decisions, " he snapped at them, his rage radiating off of him in waves.
"You're allowing your anger to cloud your judgment, Seiya. Be logical, we did not want to keep it from any of you for as long as we did. We only had suspected that Mamoru-san would haunt Tsukino-san in some way up till now. Don't blame us for something outside of our control, " Taiki retorted, arms folded in front of him.
"But you two knew – you knew for basically a year that something like this could've been happening to her, and now that she's showing signs of being haunted by him – you're trying to backtrack!"
Yaten sighed. "They had their reasons, Seiya …"
Seiya turned his attention onto Yaten, his glare piercing enough to kill if possible. "How could you sit up there and say that? They're playing with someone's life – Odango's life!"
"I know, Seiya. But you're being stupid and letting your emotions cloud your judgment, " the silver-haired man spat at Seiya without batting an eyelash. His eyes burrowed into his friend as he glared back at him.
I thought he'd learned something by now, but obviously not.
"I am not allowing my emotions cloud my judgment. I'm thinking of Odango's wellbeing because all of this involves her life!"
"Oh, but what about the wellbeing of those we've killed? Hmm, Seiya … if you're so worried about people's wellbeing, what about them?" Yaten sneered at his 'brother', ignoring both Kakyuu and Taiki when their voices chimed in simultaneously.
"Healer/Yaten!"
Seiya's lips pressed together into a thin line as his eyes seem to zone out, his mind going blank at hearing Yaten's words. He paused for a moment, mind filling with images and noises he had long forgotten … or so he hoped.
"You knew that we had no other choice at the time, Yaten …"
"Doesn't mean we were right for making the decision to take their lives, yet we still did, " Yaten continued, eyes narrowed. "So why are you sitting here, fussing at Taiki and our princess for doing what they thought was in everyone's best interest."
Midnight blue eyes shot up to glare at his friend. "So in everyone's best interest includes deceiving Odango and putting her life on the line?"
"Princess and Taiki did not intend to put Usagi-san's life on the line. Chiba-san's haunting of her was just a feeling – a theory that even I was sort of entertaining the idea that that was what wrong with her. So get off your high horse!"
"I'm not on a high horse!" Seiya, realizing that he had raised his voice potentially waking Usagi, lowered his voice. "I'm not on a high horse. I'm just looking out for Odango's wellbeing as I've promised. "
"Which, once again, you're allowing your emotions cloud your best judgment, Seiya, " the bassist reiterated flatly as if he were talking to a young child instead of his friend.
"I am not!"
"Yes you are and you know it."
Seiya made a sound of disgust. "No I'm not. I am genuinely concerned for Odango's wellbeing, especially with the behavior I saw earlier. I want her to be able to live her life, to move on, to live her dream of being a normal girl -."
"With you?" Yaten mused, eyebrow raised. A certain cloud of annoyance resonated off of him in spite of his casual stance at that moment.
"No, she doesn't have to involve me in her plans. Her life doesn't have to be intertwined with mine if she doesn't wish it to be, " he said and crossed his arms over his chest. "But what exactly is your point?"
"His point is that you're much too close to this, Seiya, " Taiki answered evenly, his face solemn.
"And it doesn't help that you two have gotten way too close to each other than you're supposed to. What exactly are we supposed to do when it comes time for us to go home? Huh? 'Cause last I've checked earth isn't our home, " Yaten hissed, taking a moment to brush a few strands from his face as he glared at his friend. "It's bad enough that you almost forsaken our mission before because of her, so are you going to turn your back on your home as well? On us?On your princess? We're practically the only family you have."
"You can't have it both ways, Seiya. You know that when it comes time to leave, you can't stay with her forever. Kinmoku is your home, remember?" Taiki eyed him evenly, eyes piercing his longtime friend in hopes that he would see reason instead of continuing on with this charade of his.
"Healer, Maker, please. It's much too late for this, plus we've all agreed to talk more about everything tomorrow, " Kakyuu said, giving the two males a look that communicated the underlying message her words were meant to signal to them.
The keyboardist's lips pressed together in a thin line as he took in his princess' words. "Yes, we shall continue this conversation tomorrow, " Taiki agreed with a nod. "Good night, princess. May your dreams be sweet."
He made his way out of the room, but not before he shot Seiya a sharp look and said:
"First thing tomorrow morning, we continue this discussion. All of it."
Then he was gone, the sound of his door closing with a faint click being the last sound from him that night.
Yaten stared his friend down coolly, his feline-like eyes gleaming with an unreadable emotion.
"Healer?" the red-haired princess called to her intuitive guardian, eyebrows furrowed in concern. A hint of dread filled her from how she could already predict the silver-haired teen's next few words.
Eyes flicking over to his princess, Yaten hummed, "I'll save it for tomorrow, but I won't be nice about it then either. I refuse to have him throw away everything we've worked for his stupid hormones from having that body."
Kakyuu gave him a disappointed look. "Healer, this is not the time to think such a thing. Fighter has a right to her feelings as you do."
A flicker of undetectable emotions passed through through lime green depths for a second from his princess' words.
"I understand, but he already knows that this conversation, " he flicked a glance over to Seiya, glare for glare, "isn't over, not in the least bit."
Turning his attention back onto his princess for one last time, the bassist said, "Good night to you, princess. Rest well." Then he took his exit from the room.
"Why are those two so bullheaded?" Seiya snarled, chest heaving.
"That's how all of you are. It's part of your nature. But …" Kakyuu trailed off to place a hand on Seiya's shoulder, "don't be too angry at them, or even myself – we're just looking out for everyone's best interests. We mean no harm. I hope that you can see that when we talk tomorrow."
"But, princess, I -."
"Shhh … Everything will come to light tomorrow, but for now – Sailor Moon needs you, Fighter, " Kakyuu cooed to him, finger planted against his lips to silence him. "Get some rest and relax. Today has been a long day for all of us. Now it's time for Helenia to work her magic and cover us with her dust to rest peacefully till morning."
Moving away from her guardian, she smiled. "Take it easy and don't forget your promise, Fighter. Good night …"
Seiya stood there for a few seconds. His mind a whirlwind filled with words of his friends and princess as he made his way back to bedroom.
Taiki and Yaten don't know anything. They're just being unreasonable … right?
His eyes landed on the angel that laid upon his bed, covered in only his Egyptian sheets. His expression softened as he moved to his side of his bed.
"What am I going to do about you?" he whispered, reaching to undress himself again when something prickly in his right hand caught his attention. Bringing his hand up to peer at it, his eyes narrowed at the sight of the red rose that he'd been clenching all this time since its discovery.
"You're not going to hurt her. You hear me?" Seiya hissed at the rose as if it were Mamoru himself. His blood boiled with fury as he made his way to his bathroom to dispose of the cursed plant.
She'll never find it! He thought to himself, tearing the rose apart while waddling it up inside pieces of toilet paper. Then the guitarist tossed the pieces inside the trash basket with a sigh.
"Today has been a long day …"
Taking a moment to clean and wrap his hand up before shimmying out of his clothes on his way back to Usagi.
Crawling into bed, Seiya was instantly wrapped up inside Usagi's arms in a tight embrace as she muttered sleepily.
"Everything shall be fixed soon enough, even if it means me selling my soul. I won't let anything happen to you. Anything, " he whispered into her ear, trying to ignore the sinking feeling inside his chest as he pulled her closer to him. His hand came up to brush away strands of her hair from her face. A new thought soon followed that left him unable to sleep for the rest of the night with the feeling of dread it left him.
But why does it feel like I've already failed?