"After all the clouds go by, the simple things remain."
--------------
A Simple Thing
Chapter IX - "The Simple Things"
Written by Kate "SuperKate" Butler
--------------
I woke up the next morning - and every morning thereafter - with a
sense of belonging I had never thought I would find anywhere. I suppose my fears
and dread had been realized by my discovery, but so had my dreams and hopes. I
finally found a woman I loved, and I could be happy like that.
Michiru and I began to see a lot more of each other. It surprised no one.
A few of my co-workers at the paper, catching me on the subway or seeing me in the
supermarket, kidded that I was on my way to being an old married man. I assured
them that I was a terminal bachelor; I wouldn't let her have her way with me. The
truth, of course, was that Michiru and I were closer than any normal couple. We
had fought together. We had died together. What we had transcended anything the
boys from the paper could even imagine.
I liked it like that.
Even Megumi seemed comfortable - more than that, relieved - when she
saw the two of us spending so much of our free hours together. "I figured you
two were close, somehow," chuckled the redheaded teacher with a grin. "You just
needed to find one another."
Michiru and I shared a secret smile. How right she was.
Unfortunately, however, my six weeks of teaching was drawing to a close.
What could I do, other than leave Giakiin High School and go back to the paper?
Okuno assured me that there would be a desk and a beat waiting for me, but did
I want to leave? There was something about teaching that made me smile every
time. I wasn't sure I wanted to lose that.
My last day of school was fast upon me, and I found myself eating lunch
not only with Michiru and Megumi, but with Meiou Setsuna as well. The green-haired
nurse had said she "wanted a private word" with me before sitting down at the
table, and... Who was I to say no?
"Back to the paper after tomorrow?" questioned Megumi merrily, chomping
down on a slice of cheese pizza. I didn't look up from the grade sheets I was
filling out, but I did nod in response, and the redhead frowned. "Then I guess
they didn't phone you about the job, did they?"
My ears perked up, and my left eyebrow arched as I glanced up from the
bubble-form sheets. "Job?" I repeated, confused.
Michiru sighed and shook her head. "The principal caught both Megumi and
I last week and told us that Yahii-sensei had a baby girl...and has chosen to
quit her job and remain at home with the baby." She pursed her pink lips. "The
way he was talking, I would have assumed that he would give you her position."
"That's how he made it sound," agreed the chipper one with a quick nod.
"But, if the Department of Schools hasn't contacted you yet, I guess that means
that you WILL be leaving us and going back to the 'Daily.'" She grinned at the
school nurse. "Ne, Setsuna-san?"
Setsuna smiled knowingly and shrugged her slender shoulders. In my
memories, she was the soldier known as Sailor Pluto, but she had never indicated
such a thing to me. I wondered if she, too, had lost her memories... Or if she
had them all along. "You never know what tomorrow will bring, Megumi," she told
the younger woman, sipping her tea as she spoke. "You can't count your chickens
before they hatch, now can you?"
"Ara?" blinked the redhead, and the three of us laughed. For an English
teacher, she sure was clueless about American idioms.
Then, the nurse stood and looked pointedly in my direction. "Now,
Ten'ou-san, may I speak to you in my office?" she asked, her red eyes staring
at me intently.
I gulped. Something about her gave me the distinct impression that I
shouldn't dare argue. "Certainly," I agreed, forcing a smile. "I'd be glad to."
But I didn't add the fact that I was also afraid of what our little
"talk" would bring.
---
"I know that you're wholly unaware of what happened that night, Uranus,"
the green-haired one addressed me point-blank, "but I think you deserve to know.
I've watched you from the first, and no one needed to tell me that you were...
apprehensive."
We sat alone in the nurse's small office, door closed and locked behind
us. Much as we were during the first meeting, I sat atop the small cot with her,
legs crossed at the ankles, in her official seat as school nurse. Her manner was
surprisingly calm and familiar, something I wasn't really prepared for, and I
wondered just how much she knew...about everything.
"My name, of course, is Meiou Setsuna, but I am also known as Sailor
Pluto." She smiled at me, her red eyes sparkling brightly. "Of course, you know
this. You found it out the night you and Kaioh Michiru - Sailor Neptune - found
each other for the second time. You unlocked everyone's memories, that night,
including your own."
A lump rose in my throat, once again, and I found myself gaping at the
woman. "So it wasn't all just a crazy hallucination or something of the sort?" I
asked, almost afraid of the answer. "I really did have memories that were lost,
and it was Michiru that recovered them?"
The other woman chuckled at me, as though I was a confused toddler rather
than a full-grown adult. "I would like to think of it as 'unlocking' them," she
explained, knitting her fingers together as she spoke. "It's hard to explain,
but Neo-Queen Serenity decided that our lives would be more peaceful if she
locked away our memories until her younger self took the throne." She turned
around for a moment, fishing through the papers on her desk. Then, she pulled
out a copy of the "Tokyo Daily." The headline was, as all the headlines had been
for weeks, praising Chiba Usagi on her campaign to the top. "This woman," she
said, pointing to the picture, "will someday rule the world, and with her - "
"I know, I know, we'll be her private guards as the Sailor Senshi," I cut
in, not really caring about the reign of that particular blonde-haired woman.
"But, if they were locked away, how come Michiru and I managed to unlock them,
or whatever? Why didn't someone else unlock them, like when you talked to Hotaru
at the beginning of the year?"
Setsuna blanched slightly, as though she was a bit embarrassed. "It's not
that simple," she specified, swallowing. "It wasn't just you knowing her that
unlocked them all. Sure, your day-to-day relationship with her helped to start
us all on the track toward complete comprehension, but it was... Uhm, that is to
say, when you and her... Ano..."
My face turned bright red, and I could feel my ears start to burn. "So,
then, THAT'S what did it?" I questioned shyly, as though I was back in the sixth
grade, introducing myself to all my classmates. "When we...spent that night
together...it...?"
The school nurse nodded. "Exactly. It opened the door to something none
of us could control." She smiled slightly and leaned back in her seat, eyes half-
closed. "Memory is something that no one can fully control. When the neo-queen
decided to lock everything away from us, she failed to consider the fact that so
much of memory is sub-conscious. Something happened when you two coupled, something
that not even I can explain. But, whatever it was, the sub-conscious bond between
all of us tore through the haze that laid over our memories, and suddenly..."
"...we could see everything." Despite the fact I was still blushing
terribly, I smiled. "So, then, everyone knows? Usagi, Rei, Ami, Makoto, and
Minako, too?"
The Senshi of Eternity nodded, a bemused smile replacing the wistful
one of earlier. "That they do," she responded. "They remember, and they will
reunite, joining Usagi in her campaign." Her smile faded suddenly. "And, as
illogical as it sounds in light of everything, it's almost as if..." She trailed
off, pensive.
"As if...what?" I prompted, confused.
She chuckled at herself. "It's almost as if Serenity intended for you two
to unlock your memories BEFORE Usagi made it all the way to the throne. Funny,
ne?"
I nodded and chuckled, too, but in my heart...I knew she was probably
right.
---
I was just about to skip out the door to pick up Michiru for a date when
the telephone rang. Normally, when I'm on my way out the door, I avoid answering
the phone, in case someone obnoxious (or worse, talkative!) is on the other line.
Still, the harsh shrill of my phone caused me to pause in the foyer, reflective.
Maybe it was the Department of Schools. As much as I hated to admit it,
a large part of me really wanted to continue teaching. Giakiin was a great
school, better than either of the high schools I had spent my teen years in, and
I really didn't want to leave my friends. Maybe Megumi was annoying, but she
really was a good friend, someone who I could count on to bring a smile to my
face. Or at least TRY to bring a smile to my face. Setsuna and I had a bond,
though it was one from thousands of years before we started teaching, but... It
was something we shared. Together. And Michiru...
Well, no one needed to quiz me to know that I would sell my soul to get
to spend every day of my adult life by that woman's side. It was a given.
The phone stopped ringing right then, and I sighed. Whoever it was had
given up on trying to reach me.
I shrugged and opened the door to the hallway, starting out of the
apartment. It had probably been Okuno, anyway.
---
"So, it's your last day as a schoolmarm, Ten'ou," chuckled my editor
across the phone lines, his voice warm and friendly in my ear. I had been nearly
ready to leave the apartment when the phone had rung, and this time - building on
the hope that maybe it HAD been the Department of Schools on the phone the night
before - I answered it, only to hear a VERY happy local editor on the other line.
"How does it feel, huh? You're rid of those snot-nosed brats, so now you can come
back to a real job!"
I snickered, amused at his words. "You make it sound like I'm teaching
preschool, Okuno," I retorted, tossing my sandy hair. I was leaning against the
doorframe between the kitchen and the foyer, watching the television idly. It
seemed as though Chiba Usagi had won the previous night's Prime Minister race
by a landslide. "But, seriously, I've enjoyed this. Having the responsibility
of mentoring tomorrow's leaders, why - "
"You mean you've liked being able to watch Michiru's chest bounce here
and there!" he cut in, and I flushed. "Come now, Haruka, I know you better than I
think YOU know yourself! Maybe you'll miss her, but you're a damned good writer.
You don't belong teach gym class any more than I belong selling shoes." He sighed,
and I could mentally see him shaking his head. "You need you around here, Haruka.
The hoopla with Chiba taking the Prime Minister seat is about to get worse.
Rumor has it that her personal staff is going to be a sorted bunch - that Nobel
prize chick from a few weeks ago, a cook on public television, a Shinto miko,
and some talk-show host who's trapped in syndication." There was a pause. He was
no doubt trying to word something that he didn't understand.
"Big things are going to happen, Haruka. And soon." I smiled as I heard
him say this; he, after all, had no idea what would happen in the next few years.
He didn't know that the king and queen would be assassinated without an heir and
that Usagi - the blonde prime minister, the hope of the nation - would step in
as their ruler... And, by stepping in, become Neo-Queen Serenity. They didn't
realize that she, alone, would unite the nation and the world in the name of
peace, love, and justice. Who could know? Who, besides the neo-queen's personal
body guards, could know all this?
I smiled. "Big things, yes, but I don't want to be in the center of it
all," I told him happily. "I'd rather be on the sidelines, doing less and taking
in more. I've been the 'go-get-'em' kid for way too long. It's time for me to
tone it down."
He laughed. "Ten'ou Haruka settling down?! Wait until I tell the men here!
They'll flip!"
"Sure they will." I allowed him the small victory, glancing warily at
the nearby wall clock. "Look, Okuno, I'm going to be late if you don't let me
go." I paused, remembering the phone from the night before. "And I'm sorry I
didn't pick up, yesterday. I was on my way out, and - "
"Yesterday?" he questioned, interrupting me. I could HEAR his brow furrow
in confusion. "I was busy all day yesterday with the election results. Didn't
even get to sit down at my desk, except when I phoned the Chiba Headquarters to
get a post-vote statement." I frowned, and I could hear in his voice that he was
frowning, too. "Why? Something wrong?"
I shrugged and shook my head, remembering too late that he couldn't see
any of the motions I was making, anyway. "Nah," I told him, mostly telling the
truth. "I was just too lazy to get the phone last night, and I figured it would
have been you."
"Wasn't me," he assured me with a grunt. "Probably just a solicitor.
They've taken over the phone lines."
I laughed and agreed, but I couldn't help but think that I had missed my
chance to become a teacher, after all.
---
My last day at Giakiin High School flew by, as though time had suddenly
sprouted wings, just for the sake of making me feel lousy. I tried my best to
be happy despite my leaving; after all, hadn't I had an absolutely wonderful time
at the school? Still, I couldn't help but feel as though sitting in a high school
gymnasium was where I wanted to be.
At lunch, the Student Council - a rather large group of crazy do-gooders
with an obscene sense of what is injustice - presented me with a small plaque
to thank me for all the work I had done for the school. The President, a braid-
headed girl who had been in one of my classes, gave a short speech that basically
said that I should stay forever, and that it wasn't fair that the Department
of Schools didn't let me. I thanked them humbly and accepted the gift, but I
couldn't help but wonder why I HADN'T been contacted about the job. I mean,
they needed a teacher. Why not me?
I let it go, and finished up my lunch with Michiru and Megumi in a
reflective silence.
At the end of the day, after the last bell had rung and the last brave
students hugged me goodbye, I went down to the locker room to pack up my things.
Michiru, the dear woman she was, had offered to come along with me and help, but
I insisted that she go home and let me be. I wanted the time to be alone with
my thoughts, a chance to sort out all the things I had felt.
I sat down on the splintered wooden bench in front of my faculty locker
and sighed. How many crazy things had happened since my first day in that very
room? I had discovered so much about myself and others, and now, I was leaving all
of it behind. Perhaps I would never forget Giakiin High School, but I would miss
it.
In only six short weeks, I had become a changed person. Maybe not
completely - I still dressed like a man when I left the house, and I certainly
wasn't going to give up my love of sports and women any time soon - but I had
been changed. I had rediscovered the woman I loved and one of my closest allies,
and I had made a new friend, besides. Finally, another soul knew about my
tumultuous life and my lost little sister. Finally, I felt like my life was
complete...
I didn't want to leave the paper, but if I could leave the paper and
keep the grand feeling that being a nameless PE teacher at a high school
brought, it was a price I was willing to pay.
Sighing, I pulled out my duffel bag and started shoving my things into
it. What did it matter? It was over now.
I was back to being a journalist.
---
"Ten'ou Haruka?"
I was nearly out of the building and on my way to the car when a woman -
young, pretty, shapely - called my name. She was standing only a few feet from
the entrance to the school, her hands on her slender hips, her green eyes staring
me down. Wavy blonde tresses rimmed her face and curled off at her chin and, for
a brief moment, I wondered if she wasn't some adoring fan of mine from long ago.
Nodding, I stopped in front of her and forced a smile. "That's me," I
responded, adjusting the strap of my bag as I spoke. "What, are you double-parked
in front of my car or something?"
She laughed and tossed her golden hair gaily. "Nonsense!" she chortled,
her voice sounding almost familiar in my ears. "My name is Karimi Kaoru, from
the Tokyo Department of Schools. We talked on the phone six weeks ago, about your
substitution for a teacher called Yahii Kae."
My jaw nearly dropped, but I managed to hold my surprise at bay. "Nice
to speak with you again, Karimi-san." I forced a smile. "Is there some sort of
follow-up work I need to do, a form I need to fill out?" I glanced at my watch
and frowned. Michiru and I were supposed to meet Setsuna for tea in twenty
minutes, and I still had to rush home and shower.
"Actually, no," she responded, pursing her pink lips as she spoke, "but
I do need to talk to you. I attempted to call last night, but no one picked up,
and I'm afraid that this is an urgent matter." Green eyes glanced up at me,
examining my every feature carefully. "Ten'ou-san, I know that you were originally
reluctant to take this position. But, in asking around, you seem to have become
quite popular with both the students and the staff of Giakiin High School."
She paused, and I tried to resist my urge to - mentally, at least - jump
for joy. Could she be offering me the job I so wanted? I really hoped that she
would. Okuno would be angry, but he would recover from the shock. Setsuna,
Michiru, and Megumi would all be delighted, as would my students. They hadn't
liked the idea of their beloved teacher leaving so soon, and it WAS the middle
of the school year...
"Yahii-san has chosen to stay home with her infant child," continued
the young woman, and I wondered if she was paying any attention to me at all; it
seemed like she just wanted to get the job done and go home. "And so, on behalf
of both the Tokyo Department of Schools and Giakiin High, I am prepared to offer
you the full-time position of Physical Education Instructor, provided you enroll
in a local community college of your choice and work at some sort of education
degree."
I didn't need to think. I didn't need to even bat an eyelash. "Yes," I
told her with an eager nod. "I'll take the job."
She arched an eyebrow. She had obviously been informed that she was
to battle me tooth-and-nail, because the surprise in her eyes could have been seen
in Hiroshima. "Are you SURE?" she blinked, confused.
I smiled and nodded my assent. "Totally and completely positive," I
replied, starting out the door. "But, if you'll excuse me, I'm late for a previous
appointment."
Karimi-san just stared, slack-jawed, after me.
---
Both fate and the Tokyo Transit Authority were against me, and - by time
I got home, parked my car, and rode the bus the twenty-nine blocks from my
building to Sato Tea - I was already a full hour late for my appointment with
Michiru and Setsuna. I walked into the crowded cafe to see the aqua-haired
musician sitting alone in a corner booth, reading that morning's paper.
I cringed. It was going to be ugly.
"Sorry I'm late," I told her, slinking into the booth while still dressed
in my pair of sweatpants and faded "Ah, Megami-sama!" t-shirt. "I got stuck in
traffic on the way home, and then the bus I got on had to go and stop on EVERY
block between my place and here."
Michiru laughed and tossed her wavy hair, putting down the paper. She
poked at the picture of a grinning Chiba Usagi with her young, pink-haired child.
"Her ascension to the throne begins soon," she informed me, moving to sip her
tea gently. "Soon, we'll be called to serve her."
"We have a year or two more of teaching before that happens," I chuckled,
attempting futilely to flag down a waitress. "After all, Chibi-Usa has to be
five or six before anything major starts happening."
Michiru nodded and sipped her drink. "So Setsuna told me," she responded,
oblivious to my comment about more teaching. "She had to leave, by the way. Said
that she had to - "
Then, just as I was about to order a triple latte with extra whipped
topping, the love of my life froze in her tracks and blinked at me, incredulous.
"WHAT did you say?" she roared, nearly causing the waitress to drop her tray.
"WE - as in BOTH OF US - have more teaching to do?"
"...and hold off on the cinnamon," I finished, waving off the confused
serving girl. Turning back to the aqua-haired woman in my presence, I smiled
charmingly. "I got offered Yahii's old job today, right as I left the building,"
I informed her calmly, as though nothing unusual had happened at all. "Seems that
the Department of Schools really wants me to stay at Giakiin. So, I accepted."
My angel pursed her lips and glanced dubiously in my direction, confused.
"Are you sure that's wise?" she asked softly, her voice nearly a whisper. "You're
a well-known journalist with one of the biggest papers in the world. "Isn't that
important to you, anymore?"
I considered this, and then shook my head. "Being a teacher at Giakiin
taught me more than I taught the students," I responded, reaching across the table
to grip her smaller hand in mine. "Before I started out there, I would have never
imagined that I had so many memories, locked away inside of me. All the little,
simple things that ended up mattering - the little memories that made my life
seem so strange all of a sudden - would have never mattered to the old, battle-
hardened journalist that I used to be."
I smiled and shrugged my shoulders. Was there much more to say? "Now,
I know what matters," I told her, squeezing her hand as I spoke. "You matter.
Megumi and Setsuna matter. Every student I have ever even spoken to matters. And
our love matters even more than that."
Michiru cocked her head to one side, as if considering my words. "All
the simple things matter the most, ne?"
"Exactly," I agreed with her, leaning forward to kiss her lightly on the
lips. "I love you forever, Michiru."
She smiled back at me. "I love you, too."
---
One thousand years from today, a blonde-haired queen will walk into a
darkened vault, say a few magic words, and forever change the lives of her
friends.
For Chiba Usagi, a thousand years of pain was too much to endure. And she
thought that maybe, just maybe, she could erase the pain of her guardian warriors,
the Sailor Senshi. But, unfortunately, Neo-Queen Serenity - Usagi's ultimate
form - forgot about one thing.
The simple things.
She had forgotten what could sit on the edge of consciousness, the things
that could be remembered when all else was forgotten. She had ignored the minor
little moments that touch everyone's lives. Never would she have thought that
a single violin song or a doomsday painting would be able to leave such an
imprint on our souls, and yet...
Glance into the sun, then close your eyes. Maybe you don't exactly
remember every detail of that orange ball of gas, but there's a spot in your
vision, a small part of your vision - of YOU - that's changed. Memory is like
that. You might not make a point to recall a moment, but it changes you. And then,
you remember it all the same.
Sometimes, you meet a friend. A person who changes your life. And you
don't think much of her, and then you lose her for some reason. Some reason
outside of your control. That's it. You let the memories slip away, you let all
the good things go, and it never once bothers you.
And then, one day, you see her again. Bending over to pick up sheet music.
And you KNOW. You know that she's more than just a random passer-by. She's the
person who changed your life. And everything opens up. You remember moments with
her that you had never tried to recall. Why?
Because she changed you. She changed who you were. Who you ARE.
And, as simple as that is, it can change the entire world.
---
End Chapter 9.
---
--------------
A Simple Thing
Chapter IX - "The Simple Things"
Written by Kate "SuperKate" Butler
--------------
I woke up the next morning - and every morning thereafter - with a
sense of belonging I had never thought I would find anywhere. I suppose my fears
and dread had been realized by my discovery, but so had my dreams and hopes. I
finally found a woman I loved, and I could be happy like that.
Michiru and I began to see a lot more of each other. It surprised no one.
A few of my co-workers at the paper, catching me on the subway or seeing me in the
supermarket, kidded that I was on my way to being an old married man. I assured
them that I was a terminal bachelor; I wouldn't let her have her way with me. The
truth, of course, was that Michiru and I were closer than any normal couple. We
had fought together. We had died together. What we had transcended anything the
boys from the paper could even imagine.
I liked it like that.
Even Megumi seemed comfortable - more than that, relieved - when she
saw the two of us spending so much of our free hours together. "I figured you
two were close, somehow," chuckled the redheaded teacher with a grin. "You just
needed to find one another."
Michiru and I shared a secret smile. How right she was.
Unfortunately, however, my six weeks of teaching was drawing to a close.
What could I do, other than leave Giakiin High School and go back to the paper?
Okuno assured me that there would be a desk and a beat waiting for me, but did
I want to leave? There was something about teaching that made me smile every
time. I wasn't sure I wanted to lose that.
My last day of school was fast upon me, and I found myself eating lunch
not only with Michiru and Megumi, but with Meiou Setsuna as well. The green-haired
nurse had said she "wanted a private word" with me before sitting down at the
table, and... Who was I to say no?
"Back to the paper after tomorrow?" questioned Megumi merrily, chomping
down on a slice of cheese pizza. I didn't look up from the grade sheets I was
filling out, but I did nod in response, and the redhead frowned. "Then I guess
they didn't phone you about the job, did they?"
My ears perked up, and my left eyebrow arched as I glanced up from the
bubble-form sheets. "Job?" I repeated, confused.
Michiru sighed and shook her head. "The principal caught both Megumi and
I last week and told us that Yahii-sensei had a baby girl...and has chosen to
quit her job and remain at home with the baby." She pursed her pink lips. "The
way he was talking, I would have assumed that he would give you her position."
"That's how he made it sound," agreed the chipper one with a quick nod.
"But, if the Department of Schools hasn't contacted you yet, I guess that means
that you WILL be leaving us and going back to the 'Daily.'" She grinned at the
school nurse. "Ne, Setsuna-san?"
Setsuna smiled knowingly and shrugged her slender shoulders. In my
memories, she was the soldier known as Sailor Pluto, but she had never indicated
such a thing to me. I wondered if she, too, had lost her memories... Or if she
had them all along. "You never know what tomorrow will bring, Megumi," she told
the younger woman, sipping her tea as she spoke. "You can't count your chickens
before they hatch, now can you?"
"Ara?" blinked the redhead, and the three of us laughed. For an English
teacher, she sure was clueless about American idioms.
Then, the nurse stood and looked pointedly in my direction. "Now,
Ten'ou-san, may I speak to you in my office?" she asked, her red eyes staring
at me intently.
I gulped. Something about her gave me the distinct impression that I
shouldn't dare argue. "Certainly," I agreed, forcing a smile. "I'd be glad to."
But I didn't add the fact that I was also afraid of what our little
"talk" would bring.
---
"I know that you're wholly unaware of what happened that night, Uranus,"
the green-haired one addressed me point-blank, "but I think you deserve to know.
I've watched you from the first, and no one needed to tell me that you were...
apprehensive."
We sat alone in the nurse's small office, door closed and locked behind
us. Much as we were during the first meeting, I sat atop the small cot with her,
legs crossed at the ankles, in her official seat as school nurse. Her manner was
surprisingly calm and familiar, something I wasn't really prepared for, and I
wondered just how much she knew...about everything.
"My name, of course, is Meiou Setsuna, but I am also known as Sailor
Pluto." She smiled at me, her red eyes sparkling brightly. "Of course, you know
this. You found it out the night you and Kaioh Michiru - Sailor Neptune - found
each other for the second time. You unlocked everyone's memories, that night,
including your own."
A lump rose in my throat, once again, and I found myself gaping at the
woman. "So it wasn't all just a crazy hallucination or something of the sort?" I
asked, almost afraid of the answer. "I really did have memories that were lost,
and it was Michiru that recovered them?"
The other woman chuckled at me, as though I was a confused toddler rather
than a full-grown adult. "I would like to think of it as 'unlocking' them," she
explained, knitting her fingers together as she spoke. "It's hard to explain,
but Neo-Queen Serenity decided that our lives would be more peaceful if she
locked away our memories until her younger self took the throne." She turned
around for a moment, fishing through the papers on her desk. Then, she pulled
out a copy of the "Tokyo Daily." The headline was, as all the headlines had been
for weeks, praising Chiba Usagi on her campaign to the top. "This woman," she
said, pointing to the picture, "will someday rule the world, and with her - "
"I know, I know, we'll be her private guards as the Sailor Senshi," I cut
in, not really caring about the reign of that particular blonde-haired woman.
"But, if they were locked away, how come Michiru and I managed to unlock them,
or whatever? Why didn't someone else unlock them, like when you talked to Hotaru
at the beginning of the year?"
Setsuna blanched slightly, as though she was a bit embarrassed. "It's not
that simple," she specified, swallowing. "It wasn't just you knowing her that
unlocked them all. Sure, your day-to-day relationship with her helped to start
us all on the track toward complete comprehension, but it was... Uhm, that is to
say, when you and her... Ano..."
My face turned bright red, and I could feel my ears start to burn. "So,
then, THAT'S what did it?" I questioned shyly, as though I was back in the sixth
grade, introducing myself to all my classmates. "When we...spent that night
together...it...?"
The school nurse nodded. "Exactly. It opened the door to something none
of us could control." She smiled slightly and leaned back in her seat, eyes half-
closed. "Memory is something that no one can fully control. When the neo-queen
decided to lock everything away from us, she failed to consider the fact that so
much of memory is sub-conscious. Something happened when you two coupled, something
that not even I can explain. But, whatever it was, the sub-conscious bond between
all of us tore through the haze that laid over our memories, and suddenly..."
"...we could see everything." Despite the fact I was still blushing
terribly, I smiled. "So, then, everyone knows? Usagi, Rei, Ami, Makoto, and
Minako, too?"
The Senshi of Eternity nodded, a bemused smile replacing the wistful
one of earlier. "That they do," she responded. "They remember, and they will
reunite, joining Usagi in her campaign." Her smile faded suddenly. "And, as
illogical as it sounds in light of everything, it's almost as if..." She trailed
off, pensive.
"As if...what?" I prompted, confused.
She chuckled at herself. "It's almost as if Serenity intended for you two
to unlock your memories BEFORE Usagi made it all the way to the throne. Funny,
ne?"
I nodded and chuckled, too, but in my heart...I knew she was probably
right.
---
I was just about to skip out the door to pick up Michiru for a date when
the telephone rang. Normally, when I'm on my way out the door, I avoid answering
the phone, in case someone obnoxious (or worse, talkative!) is on the other line.
Still, the harsh shrill of my phone caused me to pause in the foyer, reflective.
Maybe it was the Department of Schools. As much as I hated to admit it,
a large part of me really wanted to continue teaching. Giakiin was a great
school, better than either of the high schools I had spent my teen years in, and
I really didn't want to leave my friends. Maybe Megumi was annoying, but she
really was a good friend, someone who I could count on to bring a smile to my
face. Or at least TRY to bring a smile to my face. Setsuna and I had a bond,
though it was one from thousands of years before we started teaching, but... It
was something we shared. Together. And Michiru...
Well, no one needed to quiz me to know that I would sell my soul to get
to spend every day of my adult life by that woman's side. It was a given.
The phone stopped ringing right then, and I sighed. Whoever it was had
given up on trying to reach me.
I shrugged and opened the door to the hallway, starting out of the
apartment. It had probably been Okuno, anyway.
---
"So, it's your last day as a schoolmarm, Ten'ou," chuckled my editor
across the phone lines, his voice warm and friendly in my ear. I had been nearly
ready to leave the apartment when the phone had rung, and this time - building on
the hope that maybe it HAD been the Department of Schools on the phone the night
before - I answered it, only to hear a VERY happy local editor on the other line.
"How does it feel, huh? You're rid of those snot-nosed brats, so now you can come
back to a real job!"
I snickered, amused at his words. "You make it sound like I'm teaching
preschool, Okuno," I retorted, tossing my sandy hair. I was leaning against the
doorframe between the kitchen and the foyer, watching the television idly. It
seemed as though Chiba Usagi had won the previous night's Prime Minister race
by a landslide. "But, seriously, I've enjoyed this. Having the responsibility
of mentoring tomorrow's leaders, why - "
"You mean you've liked being able to watch Michiru's chest bounce here
and there!" he cut in, and I flushed. "Come now, Haruka, I know you better than I
think YOU know yourself! Maybe you'll miss her, but you're a damned good writer.
You don't belong teach gym class any more than I belong selling shoes." He sighed,
and I could mentally see him shaking his head. "You need you around here, Haruka.
The hoopla with Chiba taking the Prime Minister seat is about to get worse.
Rumor has it that her personal staff is going to be a sorted bunch - that Nobel
prize chick from a few weeks ago, a cook on public television, a Shinto miko,
and some talk-show host who's trapped in syndication." There was a pause. He was
no doubt trying to word something that he didn't understand.
"Big things are going to happen, Haruka. And soon." I smiled as I heard
him say this; he, after all, had no idea what would happen in the next few years.
He didn't know that the king and queen would be assassinated without an heir and
that Usagi - the blonde prime minister, the hope of the nation - would step in
as their ruler... And, by stepping in, become Neo-Queen Serenity. They didn't
realize that she, alone, would unite the nation and the world in the name of
peace, love, and justice. Who could know? Who, besides the neo-queen's personal
body guards, could know all this?
I smiled. "Big things, yes, but I don't want to be in the center of it
all," I told him happily. "I'd rather be on the sidelines, doing less and taking
in more. I've been the 'go-get-'em' kid for way too long. It's time for me to
tone it down."
He laughed. "Ten'ou Haruka settling down?! Wait until I tell the men here!
They'll flip!"
"Sure they will." I allowed him the small victory, glancing warily at
the nearby wall clock. "Look, Okuno, I'm going to be late if you don't let me
go." I paused, remembering the phone from the night before. "And I'm sorry I
didn't pick up, yesterday. I was on my way out, and - "
"Yesterday?" he questioned, interrupting me. I could HEAR his brow furrow
in confusion. "I was busy all day yesterday with the election results. Didn't
even get to sit down at my desk, except when I phoned the Chiba Headquarters to
get a post-vote statement." I frowned, and I could hear in his voice that he was
frowning, too. "Why? Something wrong?"
I shrugged and shook my head, remembering too late that he couldn't see
any of the motions I was making, anyway. "Nah," I told him, mostly telling the
truth. "I was just too lazy to get the phone last night, and I figured it would
have been you."
"Wasn't me," he assured me with a grunt. "Probably just a solicitor.
They've taken over the phone lines."
I laughed and agreed, but I couldn't help but think that I had missed my
chance to become a teacher, after all.
---
My last day at Giakiin High School flew by, as though time had suddenly
sprouted wings, just for the sake of making me feel lousy. I tried my best to
be happy despite my leaving; after all, hadn't I had an absolutely wonderful time
at the school? Still, I couldn't help but feel as though sitting in a high school
gymnasium was where I wanted to be.
At lunch, the Student Council - a rather large group of crazy do-gooders
with an obscene sense of what is injustice - presented me with a small plaque
to thank me for all the work I had done for the school. The President, a braid-
headed girl who had been in one of my classes, gave a short speech that basically
said that I should stay forever, and that it wasn't fair that the Department
of Schools didn't let me. I thanked them humbly and accepted the gift, but I
couldn't help but wonder why I HADN'T been contacted about the job. I mean,
they needed a teacher. Why not me?
I let it go, and finished up my lunch with Michiru and Megumi in a
reflective silence.
At the end of the day, after the last bell had rung and the last brave
students hugged me goodbye, I went down to the locker room to pack up my things.
Michiru, the dear woman she was, had offered to come along with me and help, but
I insisted that she go home and let me be. I wanted the time to be alone with
my thoughts, a chance to sort out all the things I had felt.
I sat down on the splintered wooden bench in front of my faculty locker
and sighed. How many crazy things had happened since my first day in that very
room? I had discovered so much about myself and others, and now, I was leaving all
of it behind. Perhaps I would never forget Giakiin High School, but I would miss
it.
In only six short weeks, I had become a changed person. Maybe not
completely - I still dressed like a man when I left the house, and I certainly
wasn't going to give up my love of sports and women any time soon - but I had
been changed. I had rediscovered the woman I loved and one of my closest allies,
and I had made a new friend, besides. Finally, another soul knew about my
tumultuous life and my lost little sister. Finally, I felt like my life was
complete...
I didn't want to leave the paper, but if I could leave the paper and
keep the grand feeling that being a nameless PE teacher at a high school
brought, it was a price I was willing to pay.
Sighing, I pulled out my duffel bag and started shoving my things into
it. What did it matter? It was over now.
I was back to being a journalist.
---
"Ten'ou Haruka?"
I was nearly out of the building and on my way to the car when a woman -
young, pretty, shapely - called my name. She was standing only a few feet from
the entrance to the school, her hands on her slender hips, her green eyes staring
me down. Wavy blonde tresses rimmed her face and curled off at her chin and, for
a brief moment, I wondered if she wasn't some adoring fan of mine from long ago.
Nodding, I stopped in front of her and forced a smile. "That's me," I
responded, adjusting the strap of my bag as I spoke. "What, are you double-parked
in front of my car or something?"
She laughed and tossed her golden hair gaily. "Nonsense!" she chortled,
her voice sounding almost familiar in my ears. "My name is Karimi Kaoru, from
the Tokyo Department of Schools. We talked on the phone six weeks ago, about your
substitution for a teacher called Yahii Kae."
My jaw nearly dropped, but I managed to hold my surprise at bay. "Nice
to speak with you again, Karimi-san." I forced a smile. "Is there some sort of
follow-up work I need to do, a form I need to fill out?" I glanced at my watch
and frowned. Michiru and I were supposed to meet Setsuna for tea in twenty
minutes, and I still had to rush home and shower.
"Actually, no," she responded, pursing her pink lips as she spoke, "but
I do need to talk to you. I attempted to call last night, but no one picked up,
and I'm afraid that this is an urgent matter." Green eyes glanced up at me,
examining my every feature carefully. "Ten'ou-san, I know that you were originally
reluctant to take this position. But, in asking around, you seem to have become
quite popular with both the students and the staff of Giakiin High School."
She paused, and I tried to resist my urge to - mentally, at least - jump
for joy. Could she be offering me the job I so wanted? I really hoped that she
would. Okuno would be angry, but he would recover from the shock. Setsuna,
Michiru, and Megumi would all be delighted, as would my students. They hadn't
liked the idea of their beloved teacher leaving so soon, and it WAS the middle
of the school year...
"Yahii-san has chosen to stay home with her infant child," continued
the young woman, and I wondered if she was paying any attention to me at all; it
seemed like she just wanted to get the job done and go home. "And so, on behalf
of both the Tokyo Department of Schools and Giakiin High, I am prepared to offer
you the full-time position of Physical Education Instructor, provided you enroll
in a local community college of your choice and work at some sort of education
degree."
I didn't need to think. I didn't need to even bat an eyelash. "Yes," I
told her with an eager nod. "I'll take the job."
She arched an eyebrow. She had obviously been informed that she was
to battle me tooth-and-nail, because the surprise in her eyes could have been seen
in Hiroshima. "Are you SURE?" she blinked, confused.
I smiled and nodded my assent. "Totally and completely positive," I
replied, starting out the door. "But, if you'll excuse me, I'm late for a previous
appointment."
Karimi-san just stared, slack-jawed, after me.
---
Both fate and the Tokyo Transit Authority were against me, and - by time
I got home, parked my car, and rode the bus the twenty-nine blocks from my
building to Sato Tea - I was already a full hour late for my appointment with
Michiru and Setsuna. I walked into the crowded cafe to see the aqua-haired
musician sitting alone in a corner booth, reading that morning's paper.
I cringed. It was going to be ugly.
"Sorry I'm late," I told her, slinking into the booth while still dressed
in my pair of sweatpants and faded "Ah, Megami-sama!" t-shirt. "I got stuck in
traffic on the way home, and then the bus I got on had to go and stop on EVERY
block between my place and here."
Michiru laughed and tossed her wavy hair, putting down the paper. She
poked at the picture of a grinning Chiba Usagi with her young, pink-haired child.
"Her ascension to the throne begins soon," she informed me, moving to sip her
tea gently. "Soon, we'll be called to serve her."
"We have a year or two more of teaching before that happens," I chuckled,
attempting futilely to flag down a waitress. "After all, Chibi-Usa has to be
five or six before anything major starts happening."
Michiru nodded and sipped her drink. "So Setsuna told me," she responded,
oblivious to my comment about more teaching. "She had to leave, by the way. Said
that she had to - "
Then, just as I was about to order a triple latte with extra whipped
topping, the love of my life froze in her tracks and blinked at me, incredulous.
"WHAT did you say?" she roared, nearly causing the waitress to drop her tray.
"WE - as in BOTH OF US - have more teaching to do?"
"...and hold off on the cinnamon," I finished, waving off the confused
serving girl. Turning back to the aqua-haired woman in my presence, I smiled
charmingly. "I got offered Yahii's old job today, right as I left the building,"
I informed her calmly, as though nothing unusual had happened at all. "Seems that
the Department of Schools really wants me to stay at Giakiin. So, I accepted."
My angel pursed her lips and glanced dubiously in my direction, confused.
"Are you sure that's wise?" she asked softly, her voice nearly a whisper. "You're
a well-known journalist with one of the biggest papers in the world. "Isn't that
important to you, anymore?"
I considered this, and then shook my head. "Being a teacher at Giakiin
taught me more than I taught the students," I responded, reaching across the table
to grip her smaller hand in mine. "Before I started out there, I would have never
imagined that I had so many memories, locked away inside of me. All the little,
simple things that ended up mattering - the little memories that made my life
seem so strange all of a sudden - would have never mattered to the old, battle-
hardened journalist that I used to be."
I smiled and shrugged my shoulders. Was there much more to say? "Now,
I know what matters," I told her, squeezing her hand as I spoke. "You matter.
Megumi and Setsuna matter. Every student I have ever even spoken to matters. And
our love matters even more than that."
Michiru cocked her head to one side, as if considering my words. "All
the simple things matter the most, ne?"
"Exactly," I agreed with her, leaning forward to kiss her lightly on the
lips. "I love you forever, Michiru."
She smiled back at me. "I love you, too."
---
One thousand years from today, a blonde-haired queen will walk into a
darkened vault, say a few magic words, and forever change the lives of her
friends.
For Chiba Usagi, a thousand years of pain was too much to endure. And she
thought that maybe, just maybe, she could erase the pain of her guardian warriors,
the Sailor Senshi. But, unfortunately, Neo-Queen Serenity - Usagi's ultimate
form - forgot about one thing.
The simple things.
She had forgotten what could sit on the edge of consciousness, the things
that could be remembered when all else was forgotten. She had ignored the minor
little moments that touch everyone's lives. Never would she have thought that
a single violin song or a doomsday painting would be able to leave such an
imprint on our souls, and yet...
Glance into the sun, then close your eyes. Maybe you don't exactly
remember every detail of that orange ball of gas, but there's a spot in your
vision, a small part of your vision - of YOU - that's changed. Memory is like
that. You might not make a point to recall a moment, but it changes you. And then,
you remember it all the same.
Sometimes, you meet a friend. A person who changes your life. And you
don't think much of her, and then you lose her for some reason. Some reason
outside of your control. That's it. You let the memories slip away, you let all
the good things go, and it never once bothers you.
And then, one day, you see her again. Bending over to pick up sheet music.
And you KNOW. You know that she's more than just a random passer-by. She's the
person who changed your life. And everything opens up. You remember moments with
her that you had never tried to recall. Why?
Because she changed you. She changed who you were. Who you ARE.
And, as simple as that is, it can change the entire world.
---
End Chapter 9.
---