***Konbanwa minna! O-genki desu ka? I´m back with another chapter, yaaay! I have to give you all special thanks, I recieved loooots of reviews for last chapter that made me really happy and gave me extra energy to continue the story! Hope you like this next part and how the story is going!***
***Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or any of its original characters. I do own other characters created by me for this story! ;-) ***
CHAPTER 28 - PETITION
When Usagi woke up and her body started responding again, she sat up and looked to her right, where Seiya had been lying before they started their trip.
There he was, still unconscious.
She let her air out in relief and smiled… she had lived so much with him on their past life that she now felt she knew him much better, and she loved him even more, if that was even possible. She moved her hand towards him and combed his bangs softly to one side. If he was not awake yet… did that mean that his soul was still in the past? And for how long? Why hadn´t they returned together? Will he also come back only after his past life dies, as it happened to her? And… when did he die? Galaxia told them about that moment, but she did not know when did Chaos' attack to the Star warriors took place in relation to Metallia's attack to the Moon. Several hours later? A day? A month? A year?! She had to ask her… it was not safe for him to be away too much time…
She looked around, to try to guess the time. She could barely see anything, even though the window blinds were open. It was late at night, the same as when she had left the past. She remained still and listened around. Nothing was heard at the shrine… they were probably all sleeping. She then thought that was actually a good idea. She was exhausted from all the emotions she had lived these past days and also from the lack of sleep her former self was having. She curled up beside Seiya, feeling the warmth of his body and his fascinating scent, and she fell asleep.
A few hours later, while Usagi was placidly sleeping, she was woken up brusquely by a sudden yell.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"
"AAAAAHHHH!" Usagi yelled in response to that previous yell that had both completely woken her up and almost caused her a heart attack. "Seiya!" she exclaimed when she turned to see where the yell was coming from. He was awake!
"O… Odango!"
He looked at her with watery eyes, and without saying anything else, he suddenly sprang towards her, wrapping her up with his strong arms in a hug full of love.
"…Seiya…!" she said, surprised and almost breathless with his embrace
He slowly undid it and placed his hand on her face in a very tender gesture. He looked at her intensely in the eyes with a timid half smile, and suddenly started giving her small kisses all over her face.
"Ahahahaaaa!" giggled Usagi cheerfully, while he never stopped kissing her all over "Se… Seiiyaaaa! Stooop it! It tickles!" she protested playfully.
"Oh Odango… how lucky I feel to be alive and with you…"
Usagi smiled sincerely, understanding his feelings perfectly.
"Yes, me too…"
"Odango… I… died back then… I just did, in fact, during the battle with Chaos, and suddenly I woke up here…" he said, his eyes turning sad "I… couldn´t keep the promise we made to each other. I never came for you at midnight. I wasn´t there to help you."
Usagi smiled sadly.
"Seiya…" she said, rising his face by pushing his chin upwards with her delicate hand, so she could look at him in the eyes "There was no way anyone could have guessed that Earth would actually turn against us and attack us by surprise so soon, or that they were so powerful… I died too, trying to defend our Kingdom, and did also not keep the promise…"
"I know… or more precisely, Prince Starlight knew…"
"He did?"
"Yes… somehow he felt inside that you had died. I suppose their love was so strong that they were connected in some way. He sensed it and felt that nothing mattered anymore for him, that is why he recklessly attacked Chaos directly, not caring for his own life… and he died."
"How unfortunate for them… for us… They almost made their dream true" Usagi commented sadly
"Well… we have now been given the chance to finish what our past lives started… and this time we are going to achieve for sure!"
"Yes!.." she said, touched
"I love you Odango, I want to be forever with you"
"Me too, Seiya"
They both closed their eyes and kissed. It was a soft, tender kiss full of love and hope for their new life together.
Suddenly, the door of the room slammed open.
"Usagi-chan!"
Seiya and Usagi instantly separated from each other, turning crimson red.
"Mi… Minako-chan!" Usagi yelled, surprised.
Minako sweatdropped.
"What the hell do you think you are doing?!" she spat at them "Us here all worried for you and with so many problems around and you two think it´s time to make out?!"
"Whaat?!" Seiya exclaimed, turning even redder "We were not…!"
"NO TIME!" The blonde whirlwind yelled "Follow me!"
The startled couple stood up, straightened their clothes with their hands, trying to look slightly decent after a sleep that had lasted several days, and obediently followed Minako.
Once in the main room and after a few minutes that Minako had used to yell around the house to gather everyone there, Usagi and Seiya were nervously sitting before an eager audience.
They were blushing and completely silent. They did not know what to say or where to start from.
"SO?" Yaten said finally
"Uhh… well… these days we have spent in the past have been really intense…" Seiya started, just to say something… He did not know what to say! Their story was so private…
"…aand?" Yaten insisted
"Listen" Minako interrupted "I do not recognize myself doing this, since I am really eager to know everything about the sweet couple´s past lives, but… we have really big problems here that we need to solve right away!"
Everyone got deeply silent and looked stunned at the Love senshi.
"Mi…Minako…chan…" Ami said "You are scaring me with this new mature responsible attitude of yours…! Are you feeling fine?"
She was serious about it, which made Minako sweatdrop.
"Hey… I can also be mature and responsible, you know?" she protested
"Minako-san is right" Galaxia intervened "We have other issues that need our immediate attention..." she then turned to look at her son and his lover and asked them "Did you find what you were looking for?"
Usagi blushed while she nodded.
"That´s fantastic, then." She said, smiling.
"So… what are those problems around here?" Seiya asked "Has the enemy appeared again?"
"No, he has not made any further moves, but…" Ami clarified "It is now us who urgently need to look for him…"
"WE need to find him? Why?"
"Mako-chan…" Ami started
"Yes, where is she?" Usagi asked "And where´s Setsuna?"
All the girls looked down sadly. Usagi noticed especially Hotaru´s cute face, now darkened with sadness. "What´s…going on? Where are they?" she repeated nervously, looking at them in turns.
"The enemy… stole Makoto-san´s soul" Haruka said
"Wha… what?!" Usagi said
"That sphere of light he took back then… during the battle… while I was protecting you with my shield…" Hotaru´s tiny voice was heard "Do you remember, Usagi-chan?"
Usagi´s mind started moving at the speed of light, remembering the long terrifying battle of the past few days… Suddenly, her eyes widened.
"That was… her soul?"
"It was, indeed" Galaxia was the one to answer her "Her romantic relationship with the human-form Rider caused him to have control over her soul and therefore allowed him to steal it. She will not come back from her sleep until we get it back"
"Oh… no…" Seiya said, truly touched
"…how is she now?" Usagi dared to ask
"She´s fine for the moment" Minako answered "Luna and Artemis never leave her side, but…"
"…but?"
"She needs to have her soul back as soon as possible" said Galaxia "We do not know what will happen if a body remains too much time without its soul… it may not let it in again after that…"
"WHAT?!" Seiya and Usagi said in unison
"We need to get ready to attack right away" Minako pointed out, and Usagi nodded firmly. She was starting to understand her blonde friend´s urgency to save Makoto, but she decided to ask her later in private.
"And…what… what about Setsuna?" she timidly asked, fearing the answer.
"She… she´s back to her duty at the Gate of Time" Haruka stated
"Hee? Why would she…? She now has a family and a duty as a senshi here with us!" Usagi started and then stopped suddenly, her face turning serious. She then answered her own question "ChibiUsa…"
Haruka looked down.
"She´s… gone for her?" Usagi asked with true hope in her eyes
No one dared to answer. It was going to be very tough to tell Usagi that Setsuna did no longer have the power to do that, and that most probably saving ChibiUsa was totally out of her possibilities.
"She has" Michiru answered finally, and everyone looked at her in surprise.
"But… can she do something like that? Can she save ChibiUsa from disappearing?"
"She´s… the Guardian of Time, isn´t she? Let´s have faith in her…"
Usagi looked at Michiru´s eyes directly trying to read what she was thinking, since something felt wrong about what she was saying… but… her eyes were as deep as the ocean.
So she surrendered and nodded slightly. It´s the best she had for the moment. A ray of hope in saving ChibiUsa even if she stayed with Seiya…
"That´s fantastic…" Usagi said in a soft voice
"Well!" Shouted Minako suddenly, trying desperately to change topics before Usagi asked further about that… she could not lie to her friend as good as Michiru had just done… Most probably, no one in the World could. It had been an incredible flawless act with her sweet manners and her awesome poker face "Let´s plan our counterattack!"
"Yes." Ami took the lead "We need to return to the park and check if the entrance vortex we used last time is still open…"
"Correct, and once in, we should be able to find Apocalypse by the strong evil energy he emits with the help of Hotaru and Rei…" Taiki continued
When she heard her name, Usagi looked at her dark haired friend. She realized that Rei had not spoken a word in all their meeting, and that she was just sitting there completely absent minded and with a gloomy aura surrounding her. Decisions were being taken and important plans were being made and she was not participating or even leading it all as usual? That was totally not like her…
While Usagi thought all this, the rest of the senshi continued planning their counterattack, proposing plans and strategies, and asking Galaxia about Apocalypse´s weaknesses, if any. Usagi came back to the conversation and suddenly interrupted her friends.
"… wait… wait a minute" she said, making everyone quiet "There´s… something we have not thought about…"
"What is it, Usagi-chan?" Ami asked politely
"Well… how long do you think we´ll be away?"
"Hmmm that´s difficult to tell… it would depend on many different factors, like how much time it takes for us to pinpoint the enemy or how powerful he really is… It may be a day or it may be a month, we cannot know… Why were you asking?"
"If it is because of our parents, don´t worry, I have it all designed. Fortunately we´re on summer holidays, so we´ll tell them we´ve all decided to go together to a summer camp… I even have some leaflets to show them to make it more believable!"
"We did not expect less from you…" Yaten commented
"That is great, but I was not thinking of that…" Usagi continued "What about Mako-chan? Can we leave her alone so much time? I know Luna and Artemis have been doing a great job and will continue to do so, but… don´t you think we may need someone HUMAN to take care of her if something happens or her condition changes? I am really worried for her…"
"Oh…" Minako said "That´s a good point…"
"Yes, Usagi-san is right" Michiru said, while Ami nodded in agreement "If something happens to her, we need someone that can attend to her properly, or take her to hospital or whatever needed…"
"And who could that possibly be? I will gladly stay, but I assume we are all needed there, especially now that we are counting two less…" Yaten said
"I… suppose Mamoru-san is counted out… is he?" Haruka asked tentatively
Usagi nodded sadly. After what had happened between them, she could not call him for help.
"And Mako-chan doesn´t have any family or relatives or close friends here…" Ami said
"Even if she had, no one apart from the ones present knows who we really are, so…" Minako pointed out
Suddenly, Usagi´s eyes widened. She had an idea.
"Of course!" she yelled while standing up in one jump.
"Odango?" Seiya asked surprised
"I have a solution! I need to leave for a little while to arrange everything!" she said enthusiastically "Minako, you coming with me?!"
"Uhh… ok!" she said, standing up
"We´ll be back as soon as we can. Please prepare everything for the counterattack and be ready for when we return!"
She turned to leave when she felt a warm hand grabbing hers. She turned around surprised.
"Seiya…"
"I´m going too"
Usagi smiled sincerely. She understood how he felt. She was feeling the same, after all that they had gone through during their past lifes.
"I need to do this by myself or it may not work…"
"Is it safe for you to leave alone…? I don´t want to ever get separated from your side again…"
"I´ll be back soon, and it´s just around the corner… Don´t worry, nothing will turn wrong. And Minako-chan is with me…"
"Odango…" he was about to protest further when all of a sudden he saw the cute blonde he loved so much moving closer to him decisively with a fantastic smile on her face. Without hesitation, she kissed him in the lips a tender kiss full of love, making everyone´s jaws drop in the room.
"I´ll be back before you even notice. Back by your side, where I belong" she whispered close to his ear, only for him, when she ended the kiss. Seiya turned crimson red. He was so stunned by her act he couldn´t even close his mouth, let alone move from where he was.
"We´ll be back soon!" added Usagi taking the shocked Minako from the arm and out of the shrine.
When they were already at the long shrine´s staircase leading to the street, Minako reacted.
"WOOOOOOOOWW! That was so… Romantic! And Unexpected! And Fantastic!" she yelled effusively "I guess that means that you are now officially a couple! That is so great, I am really happy for you two! And I can tell how happy you are by just looking at your sparkling eyes, you lucky girl! You got the lead singer of the Starlights, and you didn´t even know who they were at the start…! Every girl in the World must be sooo jealous of you…! I am really proud of you following your heart! I sooo need to know EVERY DETAIL of what happened between you two in the past…!"
Usagi sweatdropped and giggled. She loved Minako´s effusive nature.
"I´ll tell you all about it, but please listen to me for a moment" Usagi said, turning slightly serious.
Minako nodded.
"Mako-chan being like that is absolutely not your fault"
Minako´s face showed that Usagi had just hit the nail on the head. The Love senshi´s face suddenly turned very sad and she looked down. Tears were starting to form in her beautiful blue eyes.
"But…" she protested, the knot in her throat barely letting her speak "but it was me who forced her into the relationship with that evil Rider! You were there, you know I arranged everything for their first meeting!"
"It was his duty to meet her and become her boyfriend"
"But if they had met later on they may not have developed their relationship so much and he will have not kissed her, like Ami-chan and me! It was because they kissed that he was able to steal her soul!" Minako was crying now.
Usagi´s eyes turned tender, and she wiped off the tears from her friend´s face.
"It would have happened anyways. It´s not your fault, we were all tricked. It´s that evil being´s fault, that has hurt us so much… so let´s get a hold of ourselves and make them disappear forever so they will never cause this much pain to anyone else!" she said, cheering up her friend.
Minako looked with astonished eyes at how much her childish friend had matured lately. She was right. It was not the time to cry and feel guilty, but to solve the problems and destroy the enemies. She nodded vigorously, agreeing with her leader.
"That´s my brave Minako" Usagi replied to her nod, smiling sincerely, to which she responded in the same way.
"Let´s get to it right away!" Minako said with renewed energies "So… where are we going?"
Usagi smirked and then looked at her eager friend.
"We´re going to the Fruit Parlor. We are going to tell Motoki-oniisan all about us!"
Darkness
"They are already making their move… I can sense it" the darkest voice said from his dark throne in his dark room.
A slim silhouette was kneeling obediently in front of him.
"It ended up being a good idea to keep this insignificant soul with me to lure them out towards us… it looks that those useless Riders did one thing good" He added "I expect much more from you…"
"Of course, my Lord" the silhouette answered with a very strange voice… soft as silk but sounding like it was double… like it was producing its own echo "I won´t make their mistakes… I know their weaknesses and know where to attack them"
Apocalypse sat back on his throne, a satisfied smirk crossing his face, which looked more frightening than anything else.
"Soon they will be here… get ready to finish off that couple once and for all"
"My pleasure, my Lord…"
Fruit Parlor
Usagi and Minako went into the parlor they used to visit so much, and took a look through the room in search of their well-known friend, which they still expected to be working there helping his younger sister. Minako still did not believe Usagi´s reckless idea that was sure to cause their cute and kind friend a heart attack, but she agreed that it was the best they had right now.
"Ah! There he is!" Usagi said finally "MOTOKI-ONIIIISAAAN!" she yelled cheerfully, waving her hand up
"Usagi! We could have just sat down and waited for him to come, you know?!" she said, in an angry whisper. All the bar had turned to look at them.
"No time!" Usagi just said while walking towards the blushing waiter coming to greet them.
"Y…Yo! Long time no see!" He said "How are you, girls?"
"Ah, we´re doing fine… Hey, do you have a minute? We wanted to talk to you about something…"
"Oh, really?" Motoki was surprised. The two cheerful blondes were not acting like themselves… "I can sit with you for a moment while I take your orders if you like…"
"That´s not very private, Usagi-chan…" Minako whispered to her friend, looking at the free table surrounded by people sitting so close on the other tables…
"P… Private?" Motoki stammered nervously
"Hmmm… You are right, Minako!" Usagi said and then faced Motoki again "Could we talk… outside? It´s kind of important…"
"Uh… ok" surrendered Motoki, as nervous as he could get "Just let me tell my sister I am taking my break now…"
"Sure, we´ll be waiting outside" Usagi said, and they both turned to leave.
A few minutes later, they saw Motoki coming down the stairs of the parlor, still wearing his usual green apron. He was scratching his hair nervously, his cheeks rosy.
"So… what is it you wanted to talk to me about?"
Usagi and Minako looked at each other. It was a complicated topic. Usagi took the lead.
"Motoki-oniisan… do you remember about… Sailor V game on Crown? That one we used to play all the time?"
"Of course… why?"
"And… have you perhaps read on the newspapers about… Sailor Moon and the other senshi that fight against crime?"
"Uh… yes, I have. What´s the point?"
"Well…" Usagi swallowed hard before continuing "It happens to be that… I… Well! I… actually… am Sailor Moon and… Minako-chan here is Sailor V" she said, while Minako blushed and waved her hand before him as saying 'hi' when Usagi explained about her.
Motoki´s eyes widened in shock. He then turned completely white and stared into infinity for several very long seconds.
"Mo…Motoki…san?" Minako said, moving her hand towards his shoulder. When she touched him, he moved backwards as if going to fall to the floor.
"AAAHH!" Both girls yelled in unison and reached to grab him, but he fell backwards, tripped and ended up with his butt on the first steps of the stair towards the Parlor.
"Motoki-oniisan!" Usagi yelled "Are you feeling fine?!"
"A… A… Are… you… serious about that?" He was finally able to say
Usagi and Minako both looked at him with puppy eyes while nodding softly.
"Si…since when?"
"Almost for all the time we have known you…"
"And… all of you girls… are… senshi?" he asked further "Makoto-san and Rei-san and Ami-san too?"
"Yes, all of us"
"And… those strange cats that you always carry around and who you seem to talk to…?"
The girls sweatdropped. Of course, it was THAT obvious.
"Well… they… they are kind of our guides… they actually DO talk" Minako explained.
Motoki´s eyes were starting to roll up with all the stunning information.
"I… I think I am not feeling… fine…"
"Motoki-san!" Minako yelled while taking out a handkerchief and fanning it in front of his face to give him some fresh air.
"Who… who else knows about this…?"
"Very few people… just us and… well and Mamo… Mamoru… san…" Usagi explained. It was still so painful to say his name… Motoki was so shocked that he didn´t notice how she had not called him Mamo-chan anymore as she usually did.
"And… why…why are you telling me all this… all of a sudden? After all these years? Shouldn´t your identities be kept secret like up to now?"
"Motoki-san… we need your help" Minako said
"My…help?" he said, skeptical "Hoy can I possibly help you who fight against crime? I´m just a part-time waiter!"
"It´s… about… Mako-chan…"
"Makoto-san? What´s wrong with her?" Motoki´s face changed when he heard her name.
"She… she resulted injured in our last battle, and is now unconscious in bed" Usagi explained
"Oh, no!" Motoki´s voice expressed true worry "Is she fine?"
"Well… she´s in a kind of comma… The thing is that we need to return and fight back the enemy to get… something needed to heal her…" said Usagi, not wanting to scare him more with tales about evil soul-stealers "And we don´t want to leave her alone and unattended…"
"We don´t know anyone else we could trust" Minako continued "And that is why we are asking you this very big favor…"
"We want to ask you to please take care of Mako-chan until we return with her… cure" Usagi said "We know you will do it perfectly"
"M… Me?" Motoki gasped
"Please… we´re begging you… I know we´re asking for too much, you have your life and so, but… she does not have anyone else… she needs you…"
"But… what about… that boyfriend of hers?"
Usagi and Minako looked at each other, surprised. Of course, the last Motoki had known about Makoto is that she was dating a boy and she was head over heels in love with him. They had completely forgotten about that detail.
"Emmm… that´s a really long story…." Minako started "But to make it short, that guy was an asshole that tricked Mako-chan into thinking he loved her and then treated her really bad… They are no longer together, of course"
"What a jerk! She does not deserve that… she´s so kind…" Motoki said, feeling furious.
"So? Can you do it?" Minako insisted with pleading eyes
"Yes… of course… I´ll do it for her… Let me arrange everything here with my sister, I´ll take some days off they still owe me from my holidays… the boss is not going to be happy but I´ll manage to convince him, don´t worry"
"Kyaaaaaaaaaa!" both girls yelled and jumped happily "Thanks so much!" they said, while leaping over him to hug him.
"Heeey! Ok ok, girls, stop iiiiiiiiit!"
Both girls backed up while giggling.
"So… I can meet you this afternoon. I´ll finish my shift today and go home to get some clothes for several days… Is she at her house?"
"No, she´s at Rei´s temple, Hikawa Shrine. We´re all there." Usagi clarified
"Ok, see you there this evening?"
"Thanks so much, Motoki-oniisan. This means very much for all of us" Usagi said, smiling, and both girls left, leaving the still shocked Motoki sitting on the stairs.
Hikawa Shrine
A little while later, both girls returned to the shrine to find everyone around talking and arranging everything for confronting the enemy.
"Odango!" was the first thing Usagi heard.
"Seiya…" she responded happily, while he came towards her and hugged her sweetly, not letting go. He did not care anymore who was around, and neither did her. They loved each other and they wanted to show it to the entire Universe. They won´t hide this time.
"Ok ok… we all know you love each other very much, now… can we continue with what we were doing? So many cheesy love displays are making me sick…" Yaten grumbled.
The couple sweatdropped.
"Oi Yaten, why don´t you just shut up and don´t be such a pain in the ass?" Seiya protested. He hated anyone ruining his moments with her.
Usagi giggled.
"He´s right… let´s finish arranging everything" she said
"How was your quest?" Haruka asked "Have you found someone to stay with Makoto-san?"
"We actually have!" Minako announced happily
"And who may that be?" Michiru asked
"Motoki-san!"
"E…excuse me?!" Ami was shocked by the news "Have you asked Motoki-san to take care of Mako-chan you say?"
"That´s right! Isn´t it a great idea?" Usagi confirmed
"Motoki-san…" said Haruka, her finger over her lip in a thinking attitude, trying to remember where she had heard that name before "AH!" she said finally "Wait… Motoki-san… the arcade guy?!"
"Well, he´s no longer 'the arcade guy', you know?" Minako protested "He´s now working part time at the Fruit Parlor upstairs"
"Aaahh, that really makes a difference, then!" said Haruka sarcastically.
"Wait a second…" Ami interrupted again "But… how did you ask him? … What did you tell him to… Oh… you actually TOLD him about US?!"
"Well we had to!" Usagi admitted "How were we going to explain it otherwise?"
"Oh God…" Michiru said, closing her eyes, while Hotaru giggled amused.
"But it´s not a problem!" Usagi said "I trust him completely, he won´t tell anyone about us, and he has agreed to help!"
"You sure about that?" Haruka asked
"Completely!"
Haruka and Michiru looked at each other and then at Ami, who sighed as only response.
"Well then… if you trust him… I guess it is our only choice" She conceded finally
"Yay!" said Usagi cheerfully "You will see how nice he is and how good he will take care of Mako-chan!"
"He will be coming this afternoon" Minako added
"Ok, that´s fine… we can finish preparing our strategy and leave first thing in the morning, then" Taiki said, while Ami nodded in approval.
"Is everything more or less ready? That´s great… so now we are all around… would you update Minako-chan and me with your plan?" Usagi asked
"Of course" Taiki answered "Come and sit"
"By the way… where´s Rei-chan?" she asked, not seeing her around
"She said she was not feeling good and left… she probably is in her bedroom" Ami said
Hikawa Shrine gardens
Rei was truly not feeling good… she felt she just wanted to be alone and cry, and that was exactly what she had been doing for the past day. She couldn´t stop thinking about Oodachi, about the great times they had spent together, and about the feelings she still had for him. Ever since Taiki told her about Oodachi escaping the battlefield, her mind had been elsewhere…
This warm afternoon, she had gone out of her room and into the shrine´s gardens, in search of some fresh air that would distract her from her torment. She had been wandering around the dense trees for a while when she realized she had stopped by one specific tree… Her eyes turned watery again, while she caressed its rough bark with her hand. It was the tree towards where she had crashed after Oodachi´s attack when he had been discovered. Rei squatted beside it and cried silently.
Then, she heard the very familiar sound made by a twig breaking when being stepped over. She instantly turned around, scared.
"Who´s there?!" she yelled
No answer came, but she could clearly hear more footsteps coming towards her. She stood up, wiped off the tears and stared at the source of the sound with menacing eyes, ready to attack.
All of a sudden, someone appeared.
Her expression changed from angry, to utterly shocked, to a sad relief.
It was Oodachi.
At first she thought she was daydreaming, and her mind was creating this illusion of him appearing right before her… but looking closer at him, she noticed he was as real as everything around him.
His intensely maroon hair was all messy and covered with sweat, the same as his face. He walked hunched and with difficulty, and soon stopped to lean against a tree with his right arm, visibly exhausted. His left arm surrounded his torso to hold as tightly as he could the right side of his chest, which was bleeding unstoppably and had soaked the camel shirt he was wearing, staining it in a disturbing crimson red. Upon noticing this, Rei couldn´t help moving her hand to cover her mouth, trying to silence a distress gasp. It looked like a very severe wound.
Oodachi raised his head and looked at the stunned Rei with his agonizing face. His dark eyes glowed slightly… like when he was a Rider. That detail of his non-human nature made Rei react and she backed up one step, until her back was pressed towards the tree´s wide trunk. She moved her hand slowly and took out her transforming staff, ready to transform and attack if necessary. But then he spoke.
"I… am so glad… I was ab… able… to see you once more…. Night-hair…" said Oodachi almost breathless, making one last huge effort. Then his eyes rolled up and he fainted.
"OODACHI!" yelled Rei while leaping forward to grab him before his head hit the ground. His muscled body was too heavy for Rei, who ended up with her knees on the floor and holding his head in her lap. When she realized what she had just done, she started crying again.
She was trying to convince herself that he was the enemy, but she definitely couldn´t. Listening to his sweet voice calling her night-hair again, seeing him like that, weak and wounded… she had to help him! Her heart was yelling so loud for her to do so that she did not hear reason…
She moved her fingers softly through his hair, wild as fire.
"Don´t worry Oodachi. You are safe now. I will take care of you, no matter what" she stated.
