"Watashi wa Yuukino Tatsumaki desu. Dozo yoroshiku…"
Makoto, Minako, Rei, Ami, and Yaten just stared in complete shock at the man standing in front of them. Tall, pale skinned, with blue-green eyes and silky black hair, he was a dead ringer, albeit male, raven-haired version, of Haruka. Right down to the facial expressions. He was scared. Very scared. The man, known before only as Hikyou no Knight, was now Yuukino Tatsumaki. Human, as much as one could call the senshi human, and completely open and vulnerable.
"G… Gomen Nasai!" Tatsumaki stuttered with uncertainty. "Onegai,
forgive me! I… I know what I've done, and I deserve to suffer the consequences…
I just… it was the chaos… I never…" He submitted to defeat suddenly, hanging
his head down, when the senshi just stared at him, expressionless. "I never…"
A fresh flow of tear fell from his eyes, burning hot over his cold checks.
Usagi started, realizing what was going on, and moved to embrace the
ex-knight of chaos.
"Daijoubu, Tatsumaki-san!" she whispered.
"Demo… my… Uranus-hime… what have I done?!" he cried. "What I've done… can't be forgiven! You know! You know… I swore a sacred oath…. And I broke it! I… I should take the seppuku rite…" Usagi took his tear-stained face in her hands. He tried not to look into her eyes. "I can't feel the connection I once did… the tie that bonded me to her… I've lost it…" He burst into bitter tears at the gaping feeling in his soul.
"Don't say that…" Usagi whispered, brushing away his tears.
"How can I be forgiven?! It was… unthinkable…" Usagi rubbed his back, comforting him.
"The senshi understand… they know what happened…" He clenched his eyes shut, but opened them when he felt another hand on his shoulder. He looked up into Rei's eyes, and saw the senshi all gathered around, smiling sadly.
"Daijoubu ka! You are forgiven…" She said quietly. The others nodded.
"Demo… why?"
"From the moment Usagi-chan put her arms around you, we knew…"
Minako told him. He nearly cried again, when he saw the genuine trust in
the senshi's eyes. They hugged him tightly, to tell him that they would
be his friends, no matter what had happened. He was a good person, since
the black mist had been purged from his body, and his light restored. And
to Usagi, he would stay that way even if she had to give her own life for
his.
"I feel warm…" he whispered, then looked back at Usagi. "Uranus-hime…
she's not so forgiving… I don't deserve to have her love again…" Usagi
and the others led him to the kitchen, wrapping him up in a robe on the
way downstairs.
"The bond you shared will always be there…I'm sure with time… and healing… it will be there again… if not fragile at first…" Usagi said, and Tatsumaki nodded.
"I hope so, Serenity-sama." He said.
"Ne… where are you from, uh… Tatsumaki-san?" Minako asked.
"From a distant system… probably more than half way across the universe." Tatsumaki replied distantly.
"Iie, I mean from where in time…" She replied. Tatsumaki gave her a strange look.
"Whatever do you mean? I was born seventeen years ago on my home planet… I come from this time."
"NANI?!" the senshi screeched. Tatsumaki flinched.
"What's wrong?" He looked at them all questioningly. "Were you not all reincarnated around the same time I was?"
"Masaka… we thought… you were from the future!" Makoto told him. He shook his head.
"I'm not…"
"Why call her Serenity-sama? She doesn't deserve that respect…" Rei snorted.
"Rei-chan! Why are you always so mean to me?!" Usagi started crying, and Tatsumaki face vaulted. The senshi sweat dropped.
"You should give her the same respect… she was, and always will be the greatest heart." Usagi blushed, and the others just sighed. They all looked up suddenly when they heard a low grumbling. Tatsumaki blushed as they looked at him.
"Ano… Tatsumaki-san… when was the last time you ate?" Usagi asked. Tatsumaki blushed again.
"I don't remember… I don't think I have…" Tatsumaki answered. The senshi face vaulted.
"How is that possible?!" Minako yelped, after being pinched by Makoto.
"Let's worry about that later… first, Tatsumaki-san, may I cook for you?" Makoto asked, blushing slightly.
"I… What type of food do you have on this planet?" Makoto beamed,
and grabbed Tatsumaki, pulling him into the kitchen. The others followed,
sweat dropping.
"Maa… why am I the one who has to run errands?" Yaten growled, on his way back from the nearest corner store. He had picked up more rice for the… gigantic meal Makoto was making. 'At this rate, she'll have enough to feed Haruka-tachi leftovers for a year!' Yaten thought, grumbling.
The day was nice, and it was the type of weather Yaten liked to be out in, but Yaten had wanted to stay with the others in case… Tatsumaki got into trouble. 'This is all fun and good, but it's a lot of trouble too… I do feel sorry for the guy, though.' Yaten closed his eyes for a moment, to let the uneasiness of the situation pass from his mind, and in doing so, collided head on with another person on the street.
"ITAI!" Yaten cried, as his rear sharply intercepted with the ground.
"Gomen nasai!" A familiar voice apologized. "Please forgive me! I'm so… please, let me help you up!" Strong hands pulled Yaten to his feet, when he realized his eyes were closed. He opened them, wincing at the pain in his backside, and looked up at the person who had his arms.
"Nani?" Yaten said, looking into a pair of identical green eyes. He started, and stepped back involuntarily. Four people stood in front of him, and the one that he bumped into had bright red hair. 'A woman? No…' Yaten looked at the feminine person, deciding it was a man. The other two were tall, one with orange hair, the other with black. He looked down, and saw a short man with spiky black hair and a white starburst on the front. 'Looks like a kid… but no way, with those red eyes…' Yaten shuddered at the coldness of them. "I… I…" Yaten muttered, then looked down at his fallen packages. He gathered them up quickly. "Aaa..." Yaten bowed quickly. "Arigato gozaimasu! Please forgive me, I wasn't looking!" He said hurriedly.
The red-haired one chuckled, and Yaten blushed, taking off in the direction he had been going before.
"Hn. Stupid ningin. Kurama! We have work." Yaten heard from the short one, before he rounded the corner.
"Maa… Hiei…"
Yaten stopped shortly, catching his breath. 'What's wrong with
me? Geeze… stupid people can't even watch where they're going!' Yaten fumed,
setting his face into a snarl. 'Kuso! Now I'm off track again!' Yaten continued
back to the Tomoe Mansion at the same pace, not looking back. 'What beautiful
eyes though…'
"Itai…" Haruka whispered quietly, as Doctor Mizuno applied the bandages. She clenched her eyes shut tightly, trying to focus on something calming, and failed miserably. Her thoughts kept returning to the fallen knight, Hikyou, and how he was alone with her princess and the others. And the thought of that knight brought back every painstaking memory of the beating he had given her.
"Ch'. Quite a piece of work, young lady…" The Dr. Mizuno sighed, shaking her head. Haruka would've given her quite look for the 'young lady' comment, but she was busy enough trying to stop any tears from flowing.
'Why do I feel so betrayed? I don't even know that… that… knight… Demo… I feel as if I lost my best friend…' Haruka groaned inwardly, as the doctor started taking gravel out of her arm. She refused to show pain, or weakness. Weakness had almost lost her teammate, Michiru. And she was determined to never let it happen again.
Michiru looked at her love pensively, glad that Taiki had gone to phone the others on Haruka's condition. She could tell that Haruka was hurt, not just on the outside, but on the inside. And Michiru couldn't tell why.
She grasped Haruka's hand gently, and pretended not to notice when Haruka squeezed it. She was already sensitive about showing pain or weakness. Now was not the time to patronize her. 'Maybe that's what's bothering her…' Haruka winced again, squeezing Michiru's hand tighter, as the doctor picked under her skin. 'Baka…' Michiru thought affectionately. 'Refusing anesthetics is not a good idea, even for you… Gravel doesn't come out without pain… neither do tree splinters.'
"Daijobu, Mizuno-Isha." Michiru said quietly. "Haruka will heal fast, so I don't think she will have to stay too long." The doctor clucked, finishing the bandaging on Haruka's battered arm.
"I'm not too sure, Kaioh-san. Tenoh-san is pretty bad. You might want to admit her for overnight, just in case."
"I'm NOT staying, Mizuno-Isha. I have to go. I'm fine." Haruka made a move to get up, and Doctor Mizuno pushed her back down gently. Haruka winced.
"Gomen, Tenoh-san, but you are not 'fine'. You have five broken ribs and a broken arm. You may have had a concussion, we still need to take x-rays." Haruka growled.
"I'm fine!" Haruka argued, attempting a second time to get up. Mizuno stopped her again.
"You will stay here for some rest, if I have to put security on your door, Tenoh-san! Please listen to my advice…" Dr. Mizuno turned to leave the room, and a fuming Haruka. "It's not often my patients give me so much trouble." She said sternly, and left the room.
"Kuso!" Haruka growled, staring up at the ceiling.
"Daijoubu, Haruka. I'm sure Usagi-chan will be fine." Michiru said quietly. Haruka looked at her, anger filling her eyes.
"I know… demo… that man… I don't trust him…" She looked back at the ceiling and bit her lip.
"What is it?" Michiru asked, trying to figure out what was bothering Haruka so.
"Boku… Michiru?"
"Hai?"
"Why do I feel so… betrayed?" Haruka looked at her sadly, holding her hand loosely. "I feel as if somehow, a friend was lost… but according to Neko-chan, we gained one…" Michiru sighed, feeling sad as well as afraid.
"I don't know, Haruka… I don't know…"
"NANI?!" Fujitsu and Utaguri cried in unison. They were furious!
"Ikinie-san, we respect your judgement," Utaguri started.
"And yours too, Kiza-sama," Fujitsu began.
"Demo…"
"This is one of the most ridiculous plans you have come up with!"
"It's terrible!"
"How can we expect to pull it off?!"
"It'll never work…"
"They'll recognize us!"
"What's the point?!" Ikinie and Kiza just stood and listened to the two younger knights, their glares darkening with every word. Finally, Ikinie jot fed up.
"That's enough!" She snapped, and Utaguri and Fujitsu became quiet. "Malevolence-sama told us to do this. It's a good plan, and it will work if you two can co-operate with Keibetsu-chan."
"Keibetsu-chan's in on this too?" Fujitsu asked. He sighed. "Well, at least we won't be the only one's humiliating ourselves." Ikinie walked calmly up to the younger knight, and roughly grabbed him by the collar of his new black uniform.
"You will quit this insufferable sniveling right now, or I will be forced to punish you." Ikinie said coldly, and Fujitsu uttered an audible gulp. When Ikinie released him, he looked at his feet, and moved back beside Utaguri, who was frozen with fear. Neither of them wanted to cross the weaver of death. They all heard a soft snort from the doorway behind them, and turned to see a short blond-haired girl walk through the door, adjusting a Juuban Koutou Gakkou fuku with deep concentration.
She looked up, and her green eyes smiled as she did.
"Konnichi wa, fellow senshi." The young girl said sweetly, and walked over to them.
"We will have to call off our vision to do this? How will we see?" Utaguri asked the girl permissively.
"Hai, it must be done… our vision will not be 30/30, but it is mandatory. Make sure no one sees you when you chose to scan." She said as Utaguri and Fujitsu closed their eyes. Their lids, though closed, allowed a bright flash of light to emanate from them before stopping suddenly.
Fujitsu opened his eyes slowly. They were now a bright emerald green. Utaguri opened his more slowly, letting his telekinetic powers adjust to the new vision field. His eyes were still black, but with a noticeable pupil and purplish tint. Fujitsu saw the look Ikinie was giving them, and bit his lip when he was about to complain.
The blond girl giggled. "Utaguri's eyes haven't changed much! Wow, Fujitsu has pretty eyes!" her own pale green eyes sparkled with laughter. Fujitsu blushed deeply.
The girl walked over to Kiza, who until then had remained motionless. He opened his arms, and she buried her face into his shoulder. "Bai…" She said sweetly.
"Ganbatte ne, Kei-chan. Ai shite." Kiza whispered.
"Ai shiteru, koibito." Keibetsu said, then lightly kissed him.
Utaguri and Fujitsu looked away, disgusted that two knights as merciless
as Kiza and Keibetsu could share such affection. They looked back when
Keibetsu walked up to them, and took them each by their arms. She gave
one last look to Kiza, nodded to Ikinie, then dissapeared in a flash of
light.
Tatsumaki eyed all the new foods in front of him suspiciously. Don't get him wrong, he trusted his Serenity-sama with his life, but the foods here were… weird. Well, except for the leafy stuff, that Makoto-sama called lettuce. He popped some more into his mouth, and chewed it while determining to make of the other foods.
"This is good…" he said quietly, and Makoto beamed. She scooped him a large helping of salad out of a bowl. "What are those?" he said, pointing to the carrots.
"Ooo! You'll like those!" Makoto laughed, and she fed one to him.
"Would you like dressing, Tatsumaki-san?" Minako asked, hunched over at the refrigerator. "Mako-chan, I found the dressings… there is cucumber and Greek." Minako handed them to Makoto, who presented them Tatsumaki.
"Dressings? What are they for? Certainly I wouldn't wear them…" Tatsumaki wondered aloud. All the girls present giggled. Even Usagi, who couldn't get over the fact that he preferred salad, of all things, to chocolate cake. On the other hand, she was glad she had it all to herself.
"Iie," Makoto started, "You put it on that… here, try some!" She poured the cucumber dressing on to his salad, and he tried it. Makoto's face lit up when he broke into a smile.
"Wow! This is wonderful! Arigato, Makoto-sama!" Everyone laughed again then turned suddenly as the door slammed. Yaten came storming in, startling Tatsumaki to fall right off the chair.
"Itai!" Yaten yelped, and helped Tatsumaki up.
"Gomen!" Yaten apologized.
"N.. no trouble…" Tatsumaki answered, a little dazed.
"Che, twice in one day!" Yaten muttered, as he handed Makoto the slightly mangled bag of rice.
"Nani?" Makoto asked.
"Nothing!" Yaten growled, coloring slightly. Makoto shrugged, and turned to her cooking. Yaten sat down at the table, across from Tatsumaki. Tatsumaki stopped eating, and looked at Yaten, and stared for a moment. After a while, Yaten got frustrated.
"What? What?!" He yelled. Tatsumaki looked stricken.
"I… I'm sorry… I just… it's…" Yaten growled.
"Just what?!" he felt irritated.
"I… never mind." Tatsumaki looked away from Yaten, and quietly ate the rest of his food in quiet. Tension was thick in the room, and nobody spoke for a few minutes.
"What's going on?" Everyone jumped as Hotaru walked into the kitchen, sleepily rubbing her eyes.
"Hotaru-chan!" Usagi cried.
"You're awake!" Rei said.
"Hai! I'm sorry... I heard a loud bang …" She said quietly, looking a little sheepish. Yaten let his head drop.
"Gomen nasai, Hotaru-chan…" Yaten mumbled. She smiled brightly.
"That's okay, Yaten-san! I'm glad I woke up…" She turned to Tatsumaki. "What was it that Haruka-poppa taught me?" She said quietly, and Tatsumaki flinched at the mention of Haruka. "Oh yeah!" She curtsied politely, and looked up at Tatsumaki. "Hajimemashite, Dokyou-san! Anata wa, Tomoe Hotaru desu!"
Tatsumaki looked taken aback at the totally kawaii expression of hello, but took her hand and kissed it, causing her to giggle.
"Please, little one, call me Tatsumaki." She smiled, and his eyes brightened. She hugged him tightly around the waist, then went to take a place beside Yaten, as if Tatsumaki was an ordinary guest. No one spoke for a few minutes.
"Haruka-san taught you that?!" Minako exclaimed suddenly. Everyone
started laughing, except Tatsumaki, who had a hurt look to his eyes.
Tatsumaki wondered the halls of the very large Tomoe mansion. Makoto had made a gigantic feast, and while everyone was chatting, he slipped away. He wanted to be alone for a while, to process everything that happened to him. When he thought of what he had done, a bitter taste came into his mouth, and he felt that the evil and hatred that he could remember would make him wretch. He tried quickly to forget his old master, and turned his thoughts to the one he had sworn himself too.
"Uranus-hime…" He muttered, under his breath, then quickly corrected himself. 'Iie, I mustn't call her by that name anymore… Haruka… her name is Haruka now…' The thought of her brought him to tears, but he quickly wiped them away, should anyone find him. They had already seen him cry, but he had no intention of letting them see him cry for a lost cause, a hurt that was over a millennia old.
He tried to find his room, or rather, the one he had been in. He wanted to lie down, and just forget for a while. Staying near his princess wouldn't let him have that escape. She reminded him of the past as well.
He came across another room, which looked like his. He slowly opened the door; he didn't want any sounds, afraid that even a little one would break his peaceful silence.
"Hello?" Tatsumaki froze. Someone was in the room. Whoever it was was lying on the bed, moaning. "Who's there? I can't move... someone help me out a little…" Tatsumaki cautiously moved over to the bed, and looked at its occupant.
Seiya looked up into Tatsumaki's frightened eyes. He smiled. After he had woken up, he had managed to revert to male form.
"Konnichi wa." Seiya said quietly, testing to see if the knight would leave.
"K… konnichi wa." Tatsumaki stuttered. "Ano… gomen, but I seem to have lost my way, and stumbled into your room…" Tatsumaki turned to leave. "Forgive me." Seiya grabbed his arm. He looked back, and saw the pain in Seiya's face from moving. He moved back, and safely tucked Seiya's arm under the covers.
"Don't go." Seiya managed to mutter.
"I… I won't." Tatsumaki assured, and Seiya smiled.
"I'm glad that you're okay Hik-"
"Iie… onegai… don't call me that!" Tatsumaki nearly cried as he interrupted Seiya.
"Nani? Doushite…" Seiya wondered.
"That name is gone, like the evil that has been purged from my soul… demo…" Tatsumaki looked down.
"Demo?" Seiya asked.
"I still feel so unclean…" Tatsumaki whispered. Seiya pulled his face to meet eyes.
"Don't think like that! If Odango decided that you were worth saving, then she was right!"
"Odango?" Tatsumaki was confused, and Seiya laughed a little.
"Pardon, Usagi-chan… In any case, she's always right when it comes to matters of the heart." Seiya smiled sadly, and Tatsumaki wondered why. "By the way, what am I to call you now?" Tatsumaki blushed at his rudeness.
"My name is Yuukino Tatsumaki." Seiya nodded.
"Well, I'm glad you're okay then. I was worried at first… you were all… so cold…" Tatsumaki saddened, but Seiya quickly remedied it. "But when we saw your eyes… and I did, before I was out… we knew you were okay. Your eyes are clean, and forgiving." Tatsumaki smiled.
"Arigato… I just hope I don't change again… I… could never face her if… and I don't think I can now…" Tatsumaki trailed off. Even in the darkness, Seiya could tell the knight was holding back tears. Seiya rubbed his arm lightly for comfort.
"Who can't you face?" Seiya questioned.
"Uranu- ara… I mean Haruka-sama…" Tatsumaki answered quietly, shuddering slightly. "I don't see why any one of you forgives me… I mean, after what I did to you… and Neptune-hime…" Tatsumaki surrendered to the tears, and let them fall down his cheeks. Seiya managed to get into a sitting position, and held Tatsumaki tightly as he cried.
"Daijobu… I forgive you… bones can be broken, but they heal too. That goes the same with hearts and friendship… if you asked Usagi-chan, she'd tell you the same thing…" Seiya soothed.
"I don't think I'll ever get back that tie… I feel so helpless…" Tatsumaki hiccuped, hugging Seiya back. Seiya chuckled a little.
"Listen to me, if Haruka-kun were to forgive anyone, I'm sure it would be you… I mean, Haruka-kun used to hate me, and well…" Seiya blushed, glad it was dark in the room. "She forgave me, and we got to know each other… We're friends now, and I'm sure she'll understand what you did."
"I violated my bonded… my bonded! How could I… even under the influence of Malevolence…" Tatsumaki sobbed.
"Nani? Your bonded?" Seiya wondered.
"H… hai." Tatsumaki sniffed. " We were bonded many years ago…
I didn't remember it before, because of the darkness in my soul, but now…
now that I've been bathed in the light… my soul feels raw and unstable…
I remember the pain of the breaking in our bond and… and the love that
used to be there… and I feel empty… empty…"