Disclaimer:
Let's just skip the giant disclaimer you can find in Chapter 1!
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FS
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x. ENCOUNTER in VENICE x.
(new version)
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Starry, starry night
Paint your palette blue and gray
Look out on a summer's day
With eyes that know the darkness in my soul
("Vincent (Starry, Starry Night)", by Don McLean)
x.
Usually, it was a tragedy…
(Saturday, November 3rd 20xx, from different points of view)
x.
Usually, it was a tragedy when lovers split up. Sometimes, it was a tragedy when lovers got together. It wasn't like Haruka hadn't tried to break them up. It was almost farcical how things backfired because Haruka had tried so hard. In retrospect—although the absurd situation had been such a strain on her nerves—Michiru couldn't help but laugh about Haruka's failure…
x.
Answering Haruka's indirect plea, Michiru had left Hotaru-chan with Setsuna-san in New York and jumped into the first flight to Japan without further ado despite knowing that she would lose days of practice before her next concert. It didn't bother Michiru—she could always practice mentally whenever she couldn't play the violin. Sketching the passengers on the plane, Michiru weighed up the pros and cons of Seiya-kun and Shiho-chan's budding romance. While she could see why Haruka objected to it, she failed to comprehend Haruka's dilemma.
Lying to Seiya-kun was the best solution for the time being—Michiru thought while sketching the stewardess—and since love should be free despite its social aspect, Shiho-chan should be allowed to make her own decision. Michiru had supported Haruka when Haruka prevented Usagi from straying because Usagi was engaged to Mamoru-san and because being Seiya-kun's girlfriend would have been a deadly peril, to say the least. But separating Seiya-kun and Shiho-chan, both unattached and old enough to know what they wanted, wouldn't be morally acceptable now that the Organization had been dismantled.
"I can't believe she has fallen in love with him so fast!" Haruka cried in resentment as they raced home in Haruka's favourite Ferrari at supersonic speed. Michiru, who prided herself to be the only woman who had ever sat in Haruka's passenger seat without suffering from palpitations, shot Haruka a bewildered look, as she was unable to comprehend her partner's anger. "I could have sworn that she was deeply, hopelessly in love with Kudo Shinichi only one week ago!"
The heady scent of roses gave Michiru headaches after the long flight. Irritated by Haruka's rotten mood and the welcome kisses she didn't get this time, Michiru leaned back into the leather seat with a sigh. Perhaps she should be grateful that Haruka had fetched her from the airport—even brought her a few bouquets of fragrant roses, which belonged to Seiya-kun. Itabashi Saki-san, Naked's star photographer, had been spamming him with roses for days, Haruka complained with a sidelong glance at the flowers on Michiru's lap. Seiya-kun's fans had sent them to Saki-san, who had asked Yaten-kun to give them to Taiki-san, who had ordered the hotel to send Haruka the roses whenever they arrived. Perhaps Michiru could put them to good use by sketching them.
"She can't wait for him forever." Michiru tossed the roses she was holding on the backseat to free her hands so that she could stroke Haruka's knee. By the time Kudo-kun finally came to his senses, Shiho-chan would be on her deathbed or pushing up daisies. "After being in unrequited love with Kudo-kun for over three years, she must have decided that it's time to move on."
"She could have waited until we're in Venice before she falls in love anew—with an eligible guy or girl! Why does it have to be Seiya, who will ruin her life?" In answer to Michiru's comment that Haruka should be accustomed to the sight of girls swooning over Seiya for now, Haruka retorted, "But Haibara-san doesn't care about looks! She has never fallen for a pretty face before."
"Since Kudo Shinichi is a rather handsome man, I'm sure she does have a weakness for beauty," Michiru pointed out, trying to sound as casual as possible so as not to trigger Haruka's jealousy, which she didn't want to arouse now. "But I don't think it's just about Seiya-kun's looks. If she had only wanted a pretty face to stare at, she might as well have fallen in love with Yaten-kun."
"It must be Seiya's voice," Haruka muses. "It can't be his character since she doesn't know him at all."
"A few traits are so obvious she must have noticed them by now. He is dangerously charming but so independent that he can never be conquered. Those qualities are troublesome in a husband but very appealing in a no-strings-attached lover."
To Michiru's surprise, Haruka didn't rage about Michiru's alleged attraction towards the former idol as Haruka usually did but only murmured with a frown, "But she has never fallen in love with me although I'm independent as well."
Being with Haruka was like chasing the wind, Michiru thought, closing her eyes while the wind tore at her hair and ruined her perfect hairdo. Haruka openly flirted with their mutual friends and was even capable of staying away for the night to date other women or just to enjoy her freedom whenever Michiru was too busy preparing for a show or a concert to pay attention to her. Every time Michiru threw a jealous fit, Haruka would accuse Michiru of getting lost in her artistic world, leaving Haruka, who was starving for her love, alone. And yet, Haruka's charm and attentiveness (and especially Haruka's uncanny ability to touch Michiru on a deep, instinctive level) were more than enough to recompense Michiru for the regular heartache Haruka caused.
As much as Haruka loved her freedom, she also loved Michiru enough to sacrifice a great deal of it. In return, Michiru tried to suppress her jealousy every time Haruka found a new infatuation to pursue even though Michiru couldn't deny that it hurt.
There had been exceptions, however… Usagi—"Odango atama"—wasn't the usual crush that came and passed. It was blindingly obvious that Haruka cared about Usagi as much as she cared about Michiru, and Michiru had more than once wondered how things would have been if Haruka hadn't been convinced that Mamoru-san was Usagi's ideal prince. For all her love of adventure and her lust for life, Usagi was a sheltered princess who demanded and desperately needed lifelong commitment and security. While Haruka fitted the role of a girl's white knight perfectly, commitment and monogamy weren't in Haruka's repertory. After a fierce struggle, which almost led to the demise of Haruka and Michiru's relationship, Haruka realized that she could never be the one who rescued and marry the girl.
Sometimes Michiru wondered whether Mamoru-san was really as naive as he looked or whether he had known about his girlfriend's crush on Haruka as well. If he had been aware of it, he hadn't shown his worries and even left Usagi—his dependent, immature, passionate fiancée—alone to go abroad for a year.
Michiru had been mortified to hear about Mamoru-san's decision at first, fearing that, now that Mamoru-san was out of the way, Haruka would lose her inner battle and leave Michiru to pursue Usagi. To Michiru's relief, Haruka kept a safe distance. Michiru didn't flatter herself that Haruka did it for the sake of their relationship, as Haruka had been flirting with Usagi in Michiru's presence more than once. While fidelity in the conventional sense of the word wasn't Haruka's forte, hime-chan, whom they had adopted in the meantime, was the one person Haruka could never hurt, the link neither Haruka nor Michiru could ever sever. Knowing Haruka well, Michiru gave Haruka all the freedom she needed, as Haruka would always return to her.
Inevitably, the situation escalated when Seiya-kun entered the scene. After the initial shock at his family background and the fear that Haruka could kill him in revenge for her late mother, Michiru watched the palpable mounting tension between Seiya-kun and her life partner with morbid interest. It was only natural that Haruka, who had never had to face strong competition before, hated Seiya-kun the moment he burst into their circle of friends like a glittering meteor, taunted Haruka with his self-deprecating humour and his exasperating confidence, challenged Haruka's status as the fastest star athlete, and turned the heads of all the girls who had been orbiting around Haruka. To make matters worse, Seiya-kun dared to flirt outrageously with the two women Haruka loved. But while Michiru, mistrusting attractive men in general and popular male actors in particular, only used Seiya-kun to tease Haruka in revenge for her flirts, Usagi fell in love.
Haruka had always claimed that she had only protected Usagi for Mamoru-san, whose maturity and pragmatism was a better match for Usagi than Seiya-kun's reckless abandon and unmanageable temperament. Listening to Haruka's rant about how two happy-go-lucky airheads like Usagi and Seiya-kun would unavoidably wreck each other's lives, Michiru suppressed the remark that Haruka seemed oddly passionate about separating the pair. To all their friends, it might have looked like Haruka had created the scandal and forced Seiya-kun to retreat because she was convinced that Seiya-kun was the wrong choice; and sometimes, Michiru suspected that Haruka herself believed the lie. Having watched Haruka for so long, however, Michiru knew that Haruka couldn't bear to see Seiya-kun snatch away the woman she had to give up. After deciding that Mamoru-san—the safe choice who could never replace Haruka as the romantic, wild, unattainable bad boy in Usagi's heart—was the right man to take care of her "koneko-chan" for her, Haruka couldn't accept losing Usagi to a man who resembled Haruka so much.
x.
After carrying Michiru's luggage into the house, Haruka didn't even waste a minute before rushing to the veranda, where Shiho-chan was sitting at the breakfast table, reading the news.
"You should put on a coat or at least button up your cardigan!" Haruka smiled, stroking Shiho-chan's shoulder-length black wig, which made the girl look almost like hime-chan.
"Here comes the coat!" declared Seiya-kun (who had descended the stairs just when Michiru had finished washing her hands at the kitchen sink), presenting a small red coat to no one in particular. Whenever they met, Michiru's heart raced and stopped in turn the moment she heard his lovely, exquisite, bewitching, iconic voice. It was a deadly weapon Seiya-kun used without being aware of it, and Michiru frowned at the discovery that Haruka might be right that Shiho-chan had become addicted to his voice when she was injured and vulnerable.
"We had to wash it this morning because I accidentally stained it with my blood." Seiya-kun indicated his injury, which Michiru would never have guessed after seeing his smooth gait. Draping the coat over the shoulders of the now black-haired girl, who raised her head to smile at him, he turned to give Michiru a knowing wink. "Did Haruka-san confuse the road with the track again? It's rare to see you so dishevelled although it suits you."
"You shouldn't have let koneko-chan go out in this weather without a jacket!" Haruka snapped, ignoring Seiya-kun's remark about her reckless driving. "Since koneko-chan is still so weak, she could catch pneumonia before we fly to Venice."
"We wanted to go for a walk before you came back. I didn't expect that she would go out before I've fetched her coat for her. Risking her health just to fetch the mail! But it must be impossible to keep a clear head when the motivation is so strong." Seiya-kun indicated the newspaper in Shiho-chan's hands with a wry smile. "Kudo Shinichi, the 'saviour of the police force, who has singlehandedly brought down the Black Organization' versus a simple coat. Apparently, Kudo Shinichi won."
"It doesn't change the fact that you're still crappy at taking care of others," Haruka coldly said, and Michiru could see anger flare in Seiya-kun's eyes before he contained himself (to spare Michiru or Shiho-chan the drama?) and shrugged.
"It takes a temperature gap to feel cold." He gave Shiho-chan a teasing smile. "Since Milady de Winter is just as cool as this weather, I think she'll be fine."
"Stop talking nonsense!" Shiho-san, who had been darting Seiya-kun and Michiru curious glances, rolled the newspaper together to strike Seiya-kun with unexpected force, who evaded her and caught the roll. Ignoring Haruka's outstretched hand, Shiho-chan pushed herself up from the chair and approached Michiru with a faint smile, eyeing Michiru's messy bun and elegant new dress beneath the long white coat. "I'm glad to see you're already back from New York." She shot Seiya-kun an inquisitive, almost mistrustful gaze. "Although I'm surprised because Tenoh-san said you'd be staying there for another week…"
Later, when Michiru and Shiho-chan took off their coats in the entry, Haruka hastened to Shiho-chan's side to help Shiho-chan hang her coat on the rack. Before Shiho-chan could join Seiya-kun, who was waiting for her at the door to the living room, Haruka had already put her hand on the girl's shoulder to usher her to the table, which Shiho-chan and Seiya-kun had set before Haruka and Michiru's arrival. Noticing that Michiru had been left alone, Seiya-kun flashed Michiru a conspiratorial smile and offered her his hand. "If Haruka-san neglects you just to play the chaperone for us," he whispered into Michiru's ear, "it's time for revenge!"
Smiling to herself as she caught a whiff of his alluring fragrance—a vague promise of freedom and eternal romance—Michiru could see in her peripheral vision that Haruka had just brushed her thumb against Shiho-chan's fine cheekbone in an unmistakably flirtatious gesture while Shiho-chan, who wore an expression which almost resembled despair, was staring at Seiya-kun and her.
x.
Depressingly, their "revenge" only made a superficial impression on Haruka, who was usually possessive about Michiru but had become so immersed in the task of keeping her "koneko-chan" away from the source of danger that she only shot Michiru and Seiya-kun indulgent smiles when they flirted with each other during lunch. Misreading the situation, Haruka believed that Michiru was trying to distract Seiya-kun for her; and Michiru wondered why she couldn't tell what role she played in this farce, in which she—despite Seiya-kun's flattering attention—had begun to feel like the fifth wheel.
Casting furtive glances into the silver mirror behind Haruka, Michiru once again assured herself that, if she asked the mirror on the wall who the fairest of all was, it would tell her without hesitation that the fairest was Kaioh Michiru, the most talented, most elegant, and most graceful woman who had ever graced earth with the touch of her dainty feet. And yet Michiru was forced to watch her charming life partner showering the shrunk scientist with caring, almost loving gestures while studiously ignoring Michiru's flirt with an exceedingly attractive man, who only pretended to be romantically interested in Michiru.
After lunch, Michiru and Seiya-kun retreated to the bookshelves to banter about musical notations and exchange further flatteries, leaving Haruka and Shiho-chan locked in a tête-à-tête at the coffee table. Although Seiya-kun was trying to give Michiru his undivided attention, it was almost insulting how he grinned to himself when he felt Shiho-chan's burning gaze. Instead of irritating Haruka, they had made Shiho-chan jealous. And from the look of Seiya-kun's twinkling eyes, he enjoyed the situation too much for Michiru's liking.
Haruka was exhilarated that Michiru and Seiya-kun had left her koneko-chan and her alone; and Michiru uneasily recalled that Haruka had already pursued Shiho-chan at Infinity, which Michiru always attributed to Shiho-chan's nonchalance. Once again, Haruka couldn't tolerate losing a girl she couldn't conquer to her old rival, Michiru realized. That must be why Haruka's objection to their blossoming romance felt so excessive and personal.
x.
Yaten-kun and Taiki-san, who had gone to Tokyo to visit Usagi and her friends, would return in time for dinner—Seiya-kun informed Michiru; and it startled Michiru that Seiya-kun hadn't gone to Tokyo as well. He must be avoiding Usagi or grown so attached to Shiho-chan that he didn't want to leave even when it was only for two days, Michiru thought, although neither explanation made sense in view of Seiya-kun's character.
"A former mediator of my parents has heard that my name has been mentioned in connection with Pandora's Box," Seiya-kun admitted when Michiru confronted him. They were now leaning against the window at the giant speakers, from which Schubert's Unfinished was streaming into the vast room, drowning their hushed whispers in its haunting, mournful tune.
"I'm still waiting for another informant to verify the news." Touching his finger to his lips, he sneaked a glance at Shiho-chan and Haruka, who were playing cards at the table, before he led Michiru to the winter garden, which looked out to the beach. Skipping the redundant explanation that it would be a death sentence he was unlikely to escape in the long run, he lightly added, "Since I don't want to cause trouble, I'm going to leave the country on Friday at the latest. I've left the birthday presents for Hotaru-chan in the drawer of her bedside table although we still have to wrap them."
Her horror must have looked like a grotesque mask on her face, for he gave a genuine laugh and smiled into the afternoon sun. With a shrug as if his mind were as clear as the sky, which was devoid of clouds, he indicated Shiho-chan with a movement of his head. "If I'm still alive when she arrives in Venice, I'm going to give her a call."
"You're going to leave her behind just like that? With a phone call?" Michiru asked with a sorrowful glance at Shiho-chan, who was watching them with utter confusion in her eyes.
"I won't drag anyone into this in the name of love," he nonchalantly said, retreating into his shell. "And I don't think you should tell her that there must be a traitor among us."
x.
In the late afternoon, when the sun began to set and to dye the sky gold, orange, and red, Seiya-kun sat down at Haruka's old Steinway to accompany himself since Haruka refused to aid and abet him during his quest to sight-read the greatest hits of the last decades when her classically trained ears could barely stand the best musicals like My Fair Lady. Seiya-kun's singing had always been enchanting in the truest sense of the word, but Michiru was amazed to learn that his piano skills were much better than expected. Even though he was too inexperienced to be called a virtuoso, his touch was just as sensitive as Haruka's. Mesmerized by the music, Michiru needed a while to grasp that Shiho-chan, who had turned her back to the piano and was pretending to read, looked devastated because she assumed that he was singing for Michiru.
"Please save me!" Haruka murmured, dragging Michiru by her arm into the corridor. "Now that Seiya has gone through all the musicals and operas he could find in the library, he is tackling the cheesy oldies. I should have prevented Setsuna-san from giving hime-chan the compilation of the greatest hits from the sixties to the present! We'll have to endure this brutal torture for the rest of the week if you don't come up with a new strategy."
"It's simple." Michiru smiled, omitting to mention that Haruka's fears were unfounded because Seiya-kun didn't plan to elope with Shiho-chan at all. "Just ask Shiho-chan to take the antidote now and give them a room. I bet both of them will be mute for days."
"Very funny!" Haruka glared at her. "It's our future adopted daughter you're talking about. I'm not going to give her to him out of all people!"
Contrary to her words, Haruka didn't treat Shiho-chan like a daughter, Michiru thought in bitterness. Haruka didn't even try to keep a physical distance like Seiya-kun, who barely brushed against the girl, but always found an excuse to touch her. To Michiru, jealousy was an old acquaintance she had to face at least once a week. But one of the perks of its regularity was that Michiru had hardened and grown accustomed to dealing with it.
x.
Since Haruka, who was still playing cards with Shiho-chan, had forgotten the roses on the backseat, Michiru and Seiya-kun went to the garage to fetch them before dinner. Their timing was excellent, as Taiki-san and Yaten-kun had arrived via boat by the time they returned to the house. True to their personalities, Taiki-san greeted Michiru with a polite albeit cool nod and a slight bow while Yaten-kun flipped his silver ponytail, shot her a contemptuous smirk, and shuddered. "I see you still have a weakness for ugly pale lipsticks that make you look like a doll." He drawled the last word, letting his voice shift from pleasantly husky to crystal clear within the same sentence. "It's incomprehensible to me how an artist like you could be such a crashing bore!"
Whenever she met the shrimp, Michiru (the ladylike, well-behaved, mild-mannered Kaioh Michiru!) was in danger of morphing into one of the Furies or Erynyes—or any other vengeful deities of Greco-Roman Mythology. It didn't help that Yaten-kun was one of the most glamorous people (and certainly the most vain person) alive, whose catlike charm and unerring sense of style challenged Michiru's ethereal beauty. Oddly enough, he reminded Michiru of Shiho-chan although the scientist was fairly pleasant. The same languid gestures and celebrity attitude, the same deceiving vulnerable prettiness, the same verbal aggression and bluntness whenever they were in one of their moods, the same rotten temper and sarcasm combined with the same unswerving loyalty…
"Yaten, please!" Taiki-san half-heartedly chided his brother.
Suppressing the urge to slam her high heel on Yaten-kun's professionally manicured toes, Michiru silently watched the oldest and coldest of the three brothers as he turned his tea-green gaze to Seiya-kun. When Seiya-kun, who was carrying the bouquets of flowers in one arm and checking messages on his phone with his free hand, turned to meet his oldest brother's gaze, Yaten-kun's gloomy eyes instantly lit up.
As aloof the two older Kou brothers were to the rest of the world, they were abnormally caring towards the people in their family. Now that Kakyuu-san was in a coma and their foster parents were dead, Seiya-kun was the sole receiver of their love and affection.
"Looks like you've recovered," Yaten-kun gently, tenderly, observed. And the sun, which had set and was illuminating the horizon in the afterglow of twilight, seemed to rise once more in this wintry afternoon as his rosy lips stretched into a rare, sweet smile.
Taiki-san, losing the motivation to put on a gallant facade, ignored Michiru to rush to Seiya-kun's side. Sandwiched between his taller and his shorter brother, Seiya-kun read the messages and the love letters attached to the bouquets aloud, darting Michiru quick, sharp glances from his vivid blue eyes, whose colour and expression had taken on the quality of glacial ice.
"'Please say yes'… 'I love you so much. I'd say yes to you immediately if you asked me'… 'If you don't say yes, I'll die immediately'…" He stressed all the yesses by lingering on them longer than necessary, raising his eyes to exchange a meaningful gaze with Taiki-san, who grimly nodded in response.
"You have three very passionate fans," Michiru couldn't resist saying as she took off her coat to hang it on the coat rack.
"I suppose you can call them 'fans'," Seiya-kun quietly said. "This morning, all the others I asked have sent me similar messages as well."
It took Michiru a beat to grasp that the letters sounded rather awkward and another beat to deduce what Seiya-kun's words implied. Haruka, leaning against the door to the living room with folded arms, put it into words before Michiru could ask Seiya-kun whether the letters were messages from his allies and the mediators who once worked for his family. "So your informants have verified that your name has been sent to the blackmailed big names in Pandora's Box?" In response to Seiya-kun's almost imperceptible nod, Haruka sighed. "I'll let you stay here for another week to prepare for the aftermath and write your will, if you wish. But since you're doomed, I can't let you bring your war to us." Flashing him a forced smile, she attempted a joke: "I can also give you a painless, quick death now before they can get you."
"Haruka!" Michiru winced at her life partner's black humour. "Of course he can stay here until Christmas—until hime-chan comes back." Giving all the three brothers an apologetic smile, she hesitantly elaborates, "We'll help you leave the country and change your identities, and money won't ever be an issue—but we can't let you endanger her or sacrifice our group for a lost cause."
"Congratulations!" exploded Yaten-kun, taking a fighting stance as Seiya-kun went into the kitchen to place the roses into the sink. "Your schemes have worked out well—but I swear you won't live long enough to enjoy your files!" Turning to Michiru with narrowed eyes, the oldest Light hissed, "You can drop your goodie two-shoes act now! Don't pretend to be so innocent and kind when you two have plotted this all along!"
Usually, Taiki-san would intervene and prevent his older brother from offending all their friends and acquaintances. Hence it staggered Michiru that he didn't say anything this time. Towering over the coatrack at the entrance with his hands hidden in the deep pockets of his long beige trench coat, where he is holding something Michiru can only guess, he intently gazes at Haruka and Michiru with mysteriously shimmering eyes as a deathly silence hung over the spacious, cozy entry.
"One more insult to Michiru, cutie, and I'll put you to sleep," Haruka said in a low voice. On her life partner's face, Michiru could see the same surprise and indignation, which must mirror her own. "I've treated you as my welcome, honoured guests for days although none of you deserve it. But if you want to be reunited with your parents so badly, I'll fulfil your wish now!"
To Michiru's horror, Haruka wasn't making empty threats, as her position had already shifted from languidly relaxed to watchfully neutral. Seiya-kun, meanwhile, had raised his palm, preventing his two brothers from reacting rashly to Haruka's movement, and was now scrutinizing Haruka and Michiru with observant eyes. The flippant, cheery actor, who had sung and danced his way from the streets to the wide screen had disappeared—replaced by his serious, quick-witted, implacably decisive alter ego.
"My parents' 'suicides' seemed so swift and so perfectly timed: just when the secret services brought down the Organization. You must admit it would have been a very shrewd move," Seiya-kun calmly noted. "Backing up the files, eliminating the crows and the detective, impersonating me to ensure the safety of your group at the same time." Giving Haruka a serene smile, which induced Taiki-san and Yaten-kun to relax, Seiya-kun stepped forward and extended his hand. "I'm glad that you didn't stoop to it!"
Unnerved by the realization that Taiki-san and Yaten-kun had been blocking the way to the front door and the stairs and that Seiya-kun had moved out of the line when he put down the roses—leaving Haruka, who was standing at the living room, exposed in case Taiki-san had to throw the knives or whatever he was hiding, Michiru turned to her lover, on whose face the same realization dawned. Haruka, who had been under close constant surveillance during the last days, was entirely unaware of the fact that Three Lights had used Seiya-kun's injury to spy on her until they were sure that she wasn't the traitor. After all the efforts Usagi and Seiya-kun had made to bridge the differences and to put aside the grudges of the past, one little traitor was enough to expose how frail the peace between them was.
x.
Shiho-chan, who had been in the shower when it happened, hadn't witnessed the scene, much to Michiru's relief. Dinner came and passed without Michiru being aware of what she had eaten. Downing a glass of water and two capsules of the painkillers Shiho-chan had given her against her headaches in one unladylike gulp (while Haruka, suffering from migraines as well, stayed away from any sort of drug which could interfere with her quick reflexes), Michiru darkly contemplated the idea that one of the friends she had trusted with her life could be a traitor.
"What are you going to do now?" Shiho-chan had asked Seiya-kun during dinner—after Michiru had informed her that Seiya-kun's name had been mentioned in the same sentence as Pandora's Box and after Haruka had conceded that Seiya-kun, no matter how tough he was, was unlikely to survive very long. Haruka, softer than Michiru beneath her hard facade, would have liked to hide the news while Michiru stood firmly on the principle that knowledge was better than ignorance. After all, the girl had to know the truth so that she could brace herself for his assassination, which was unavoidable in the not-too-distant future.
"I'm going to bluff my way out of this," Seiya-kun had responded, looking the picture of insouciance although his appetite seemed more hearty than usual. "Since only my name has been attached to Pandora's Box, there's no sense in dragging Taiki and Yaten down with me." He was going to enjoy a nice long holiday abroad and pretend to live off the blackmailed people—he buoyantly added—mimicking the excessively hedonistic playboy the public expected him to be.
When Yaten-kun and Taiki-san protested, citing the musketeer motto they had lived by since they were seven, Seiya-kun claimed that it was easier for him if they didn't put the crippling burden of protecting two neurotic siblings on his shoulders and made themselves useful instead by resuming their careers to finance his lifestyle. It would create the impression that they weren't involved in the Pandora's Box affair at all or were so fed up with his grand plans that they had distanced themselves from him to live their own lives. Apart from that, they all had to resume living and doing whatever they enjoyed doing since giving up their identities and hiding for decades would be a waste of time.
"You plan won't work in the long run," Michiru told Seiya-kun on the way to her bedroom on the third floor, before they parted at the stairs.
"Probably not," he admitted. "But it might work for a few years… long enough to find the traitor in your group."
Her fists had clenched in anger but her mind had to admit that he was right. Taiki-san and Yaten-kun loved Seiya-kun more than their own lives, which they had proven to him in life-or-death situations—and it was ridiculous to assume that any of Usagi's friends would harm Seiya-kun. Usagi, who would never sacrifice a human life, still loved him dearly; Minako-chan had a long-time crush on all the three brothers; Rei-chan, who could never take her eyes off Seiya-kun, was so fiercely loyal that she would shoot anyone who tried to harm a hair on his head; Ami-chan still nurtured a secret infatuation on Taiki-san; and Makoto-chan was so frank that she wasn't even able to fake a smile…
No intermediary or informant had known that Seiya-kun was near the ship when it exploded. If none of Usagi's girls had accidentally disclosed the information to their informants and allies, that left only Michiru and Haruka's group or—when it came down to the hard facts—only Setsuna-san, Michiru, and Haruka. Haruka looked genuinely surprised when Three Lights confronted her; and Setsuna-san, no matter how protective she was when it came to their little "family", certainly couldn't have hated Seiya-kun enough to provoke this situation if she had known that he would be hunted down, perhaps even tortured, and eventually murdered by the people his parents had blackmailed.
Letting herself sink into Haruka's warm, familiar arms, which enveloped her from behind, Michiru wept bitter tears for the death of trust, which had been a safety net she could always rely on whenever she was in danger. "All for one and one for all" had been tainted by one little traitor, who must have spied on her family when they didn't pay attention and who had used the tension between Haruka and Seiya-kun to steal the files, make Seiya-kun the scapegoat, and erode their friends' trust in Haruka in the same move. Trembling with rage, Michiru swore on everything she believed in that she would make the rat pay with interest for this.
It was out of the question that she let him deal alone with a problem for which Haruka, Setsuna-san, and she should take responsibility, Michiru had told Seiya-kun before climbing the stairs to her bedroom, where Haruka was waiting for her. "So, in other words: If you can really find a traitor in our group, I expect you to inform me!"
x.
