A/N: Wow, it's been a while. Anyway. Recap. Signature explanation, random people yapping, and something get fixed, while others are contemplated, and ever more are ripped further than before. This time, what do we got? Talking about people, a lot of Hikaru stuff, touching the plot, the highly anticipated scene (if you don't know what this is, you haven't been talking amongst yourselves), some separation, and some pulling together. Lots of unhappy and happy stuff. I expect this to be somewhat difficult for me, but we can do it! Oh yeah! Let's get to it!

~*~

"MINATO!!!" That afternoon, Yukina came running up to her would-be sister-in-law, amused and excited by her new finding. Minato turned and found Yukina breathing heavily behind her. "What happened, Yukina?"

Yukina grinned at her. "You never told me that Ariko-chan likes me!" Minato smiled. "I thought you would have figured it out. I mean, it IS obvious." Yukina sat down on a nearby bench in the hall they stood in. "Yeah, now that I think of it, it really was. But, Minato, do you think I should do something about it?"

Minato sat down beside her and shrugged. "I don't know. Do you like him, too?" Yukina looked at the metallic floor. "I don't know. I know he's my best friend on here… Because I just can't connect with Ruri, and Omoikane is kinda annoying. And I now officially KNOW he was avoiding me! I think Uribatake-san has helped keep him busy so he wouldn't have to talk to me."

Minato smiled, but it was sad. "You know, Yukina, when we get to Earth again, everyone's going to split up. Ariko, Ruri, and Omoikane will probably go to Peaceland, unless they can get a place to sleep with someone else. Everyone will go back to whatever they did before the war, and we'll eventually forget."

Yukina nodded, her mood dropping with the tone of Minato's voice. "I'll be going with you to Earth, right?" The helmswoman's jaw dropped. "Of course you are! You're part of my family now, Yukina! You'll get to meet my little brother and everything!"

Yukina smiled. "How little is little?" Minato shrugged. "He would only be about 21 around now. Not very much younger than me, but still." Yukina nodded, still smiling. "I can't wait to live on Earth, Minato. Even though some of the people there really suck, I could tell when we stayed at that restaurant that it was a nice place, not cold like the colony citadels and moon villages we lived on." Minato squeezed the teenager's shoulders. "And we'll have lots of fun there too." Yukina hugged Minato back. "You betcha!"

~*~

Itsuki crossed her ankles as she sat in Akito and Jun's seat at the table; Jun sat in hers next to Ryoko. "So, what'll we do once we get back to Earth?" Gai blew on his coffee before taking a sip. "Well, are we going to all live together, or what?"

"That sounds like a good idea," replied Izumi. Jun glanced at the blue-haired pilot. "You're just too lazy to actually look for an apartment, aren't you?" She nodded and smiled. Gai's eyebrows furrowed. "Well, we're going to have to look for an apartment anyway, maybe spreading ourselves into several of them-" Itsuki kicked him under the table. "Don't be a bitch, Jiro. We're going to stay at your house."

Rubbing the bruise and raising an eyebrow, he scoffed. "What makes you think you can make a decision like that?" She shrugged. "Why shouldn't I? That house is just as much mine as it is yours."

"Is not."

"Is too. I've been in your family ties longer than you."

"That house has my name on it, you stupid ho."

"Whoa whoa whoa," interrupted Ryoko, "What house is this?" Itsuki answered without blinking, "Yamada Manor in Kawasaki."

Hikaru, next to Gai, dropped her jaw. "Yamada 'MANOR'? Is it like a goddamn MANSION?" He smirked. "You better fucking believe it." Izumi blinked, not as vocal about her surprise as Hikaru. "Since when were you so rich?"

"Since before we were both born." Itsuki answered for him. Gai nodded. "Remember when Itsuki introduced herself to Shiratori-san, errrr, Aer rest his soul? As the CEO of Mugendai?"

"Not really. I expected something like that after Akatsuki came out of the closet to us. What, do you work under her or something?" Hikaru asked. Jun choked on his own air. "HIKARU!!!" She giggled.

Gai smiled, but shook his head. "Nope. I work on the same level. Our parents started the company, and it's ours. We just hate sitting around in huge empty offices all day. So we just let our minions take care of everything for us."

"That, and the fact that a Chulip landed on MY mansion when our parents were in it. I guess you could say we're here for revenge. Or for duty. Or just to keep us from going crazy. Whatever." Itsuki propped her hands under her chin.

Hikaru spun her Styrofoam plate absently. "The only relation left for me is Grandmother." Izumi and Ryoko winced. They knew about Hikaru's grandma. Jun's furrowed his eyebrows. "I'm guessing she isn't very nice?"

"Total bitch," answered Ryoko. Now everyone else winced. "Ouch, that has to hurt," grumbled Gai, wrapping and arm around Hikaru's shoulders. Hikaru shrugged him off. "I'm going to go to the bathroom, okay? I don't need to piss in a bush like the last time I had to go on the way to Rumiko-sensei's house." She got up, but found Izumi's cold crimson eyes on her. "Hurry your ass up. If you don't, we'll leave without you." Hikaru nodded and ran to the bathroom.

Hikaru wasn't quite surprised that, when she came out, they were gone. She was hurt, though. Her friends didn't care enough to be late for her? 'Not even Izumi waited… And she's supposed to be my best friend.' As she started towards Somenolenthe from the Nadesico, she felt the wind pick up. Knowing it was her doing, she closed her eyes, letting it calm her. It wouldn't take away the aching feeling in her stomach and heart, nor the throbbing headache, but it took her from tears. 'Oh, Aer. They left me. They left me. They don't care. Why would they care? No one gives a shit. No one but you… and the wind.'

~*~

For nearly two hours after her late arrival, the redhead was silent, watching Rumiko walk the others through their lessons. She sat, brewing over what had been going on, worried about Rumiko coming to her, not wanting to talk to anyone. 'I'm so stupid. I'm getting upset over nothing. But since we got here, no one has been treating me the same way. I'm either to good to talk to, or not worth the bother. Maybe they're jealous. Or maybe they hate me. But they're my friends! How could they hate me, Aer? What have I done?'

Rumiko made some notes in his book, then walked up to Hikaru, laying her head on his table. "Hikaru-san, get your head off of my eating surface. Now, let's start your exercises in making you more controllable-" Rumiko was cut off by a whimper from the artist before him. One of his yellow eyes twitched. "If you didn't want to work, Hikaru, you shouldn't have come. But remember that you can't always do what you want."

At the Copy's misinterpretation of her emotions, Hikaru's shoulders began to shake as she started to sob. And sob loudly. She lifted her head and covered her face with her hands, drawing her body close to itself by lifting her legs into the chair. "I'm not good enough for any of you anymore, am I? Nobody wants to be seen with me because I'm more of a freak than they are. I can never do anything right…" She sobbed harder, jerking herself to a standing position and running out the door.

Izumi jumped up and followed her out the door. "Hikaru-chan!" But as the door slammed shut behind her, she couldn't see Hikaru anywhere. She could sense her, but not see her. "Hikaru… is that what's been bothering you? You think that we hate you?" She felt Hikaru pulling at her hair, Hikaru pushing the dirt to fly. But Izumi knew that it wasn't Hikaru at all, but just her magical self, making the wind feel her helplessness.

~*~

When Hikaru reached the Nadesico, she continued to run through the halls. She passed her room that she shared with Ryoko and Izumi, Itsuki's room, Akito's room, Gai's room, Akatsuki's room, everyone else's rooms. She had no one to talk to. Uribatake had no time for someone like her. Someone stupid and ugly like her. Someone whose only talent was sneered at and frowned upon.

The redhead almost ran into several people who wouldn't care about someone like her. Many of the mechanics hated her. The bridge crew only gossiped about her. She was almost an enigma to those that didn't pay attention. The girl who was always smiling was very obviously crying now.

She did run smack into Mr. Prospector, falling to the ground. She wiped her face with a sleeve and tried to pull herself up. "I'm… I'm Sorr…"

He furrowed his purple eyebrows and helped her up. "Are you all right, Amano-san?" Hikaru's eyes welled up again at the prospect of someone giving a shit about her. She collapsed against the accountant's chest and sobbed even more uncontrollably into his yellow shirt. "They hate me, Mr. Prospector, I don't know why but they left me and they don't even care how I feel about anything… I'm just the teacher's pet girl to them now and everything doesn't matter to them…"

Surprised to find this girl spilling her heart out to him, Viktor wrapped his arms around the girl, petting her hair in sympathy as he tried to silence her. "Shhh, Amano-san. I'm sure they don't hate you. Would telling me what happened help?" She shook her head violently. "I'm so stupid, getting upset over nothing, but I can't believe that they just didn't care enough to wait five goddamn minutes for me…" He nodded. "If you want to talk, I'll listen, then. It's all right if you don't want to, though." Hikaru gripped his shoulders almost painfully, but he didn't do anything to stop her. "I don't think there's anyone for me to turn to anymore, Mr. Prospector… Uri-P is always too busy, and everyone else just hates me…"

"They don't hate you, Amano-san-"

"Hikaru." Somehow, her desire to always be on first name terms with everyone shone through her shattered soul.

"All right, then, Hikaru-san. They don't hate you. They love you. You bring happiness to their group, just like Kanchou does to the crew."

"But I never seem to be happy anymore, Mr. Prospector. I'm always worrying about their problems, I never have time for my own, it seems." Hikaru had stopped crying and had loosened her grip on him, but she still stayed leaning against his chest. "I'm starting to think that none of them understand me, nor do they care."

"But is understanding you such a big deal? They don't always have to understand you to guess what's going on. God knows no one on the ship understands you."

"Except Uri-P, but he just doesn't have the time."

"He must not understand you much if he doesn't know that you need to spend some time talking to him, or you will pop like this." This statement made Hikaru's eyes go wide and pull away from the comforting embrace. She looked over the older accountant, as if seeing him for the first time. "What made you think that?"

Viktor bit his lip. Her searching look made him feel uncomfortable, and the movement in the air must have just been his imagination. "It just doesn't seem right that the only person who you say truly understands you can't make time for you, no matter how busy they are."

Hikaru backed up a bit. Had he really been pushing her away, making his job number one? 'But of course he would make his job number one. I'm just a friend. Nothing special. Just a friend. Nothing more.' Hikaru nodded slowly. "Thank you, Mr. Prospector."

He comfortingly squeezed her arm. "Hikaru-san, please. Viktor." Hikaru nodded. "Thank you."

He smiled at her. "If you need anything else, will you come talk to me? If there isn't anyone else to talk to?" Hikaru smiled back. "Sure!" She grinned, but her attempts at a happy visage were set off by the tear tracks on her cheeks. "See ya later, Viktor!" She skipped past the accountant.

His violet eyes darkened as she watched her turn a corner. 'I never would have thought the drama on this ship was that bad. What kind of person is Uribatake-san, to ignore someone like her that way?'

~*~

Rumiko opened the door to find Inez standing there. "Oh, Lady Ai, please come in." Inez's hard expression did not change as she stepped into the dimly lit room, and sat in a dining chair. She gave no acknowledgement to Megumi, who was sleeping in the large chair near the fireplace. "I heard from Mr. Prospector and Izumi that Hikaru had an incident today?"

Rumiko stared at the floor and fiddled with the hem on his white robes. "Ye-yes, Lady Ai. She had a crying fit during lessons today, and ran off." Inez nodded. "I know that. Do you know why she did?" Rumiko shook his head. "I think it had something to do with the others, but-"

"Precisely. The others made her feel worthless and boring. Hikaru has always shown signs of stimulated depression, but this is the first time she let someone outside of her inner circle of friends know, specifically someone who would tell me." Rumiko was shocked at Inez's words. Aer's Messengers had always been characterized by their ability to hide their emotions behind a mask of happiness. But he never thought it was so strong in Hikaru. "That makes sense, though. As a strong wind mage, of course she would portray Aer's personality much more than those who don't have her talent. She was hand-picked by Her."

Inez nodded. "And because of her closeness with your other students, she wouldn't confront them about things about them that hurt her. Which is why I have come to request to place her in my class, to get her away from the others." Rumiko agreed whole-heartedly. "If that's what you think would help, Lady, then, by all means, feel free to take her."

Inez smiled, somewhat maliciously. "That's not the only reason I came in here, Rumiko-san. Surely, you've felt it. Perhaps more than I do, as you are directly connected with Him." Rumiko's pale face took a dark tone to it, as if ready to accept a death that was not coming soon. "Yes. I'm surprised that you too felt it, Lady." Inez smirked, and stood. Rumiko continued, folding his hands into his lap. "He is rising in power. After all these years, He will make an appearance among the people. I don't think He's chosen a host yet, but it will most likely be someone of extreme emotion."

"Which is another reason that Hikaru must be taken from her stress. Imagine if He took her as His host? We would be killed in a single blink of the combined power." Rumiko nodded. Lady Ai was right on track, and being away from Ninlandish religion for so long did not damage her magical instincts in the least bit.

"I will inform you of the emotional standings of my students regularly, Lady Ai. Maybe then we could possibly pinpoint who the host may be."

"Maybe. Maybe not. We're on nothing but prophecies and guesswork, Rumiko. We won't truly know who the host will be until they are beating us into the ground."

~*~

There was no Hikaru at breakfast the next day. There was someone else entirely, however. The other pilots were shocked to find Akito sitting in his place at breakfast that morning. Itsuki sat down in Hikaru's seat. "About time you fucking decide to show up, Tenkawa. We were starting to miss you."

"Wow, nice to know I'm loved. But where the fuck is Hikaru?"

"She was already out of the room when I woke up. So no one seems to know," answered Ryoko, sitting in her own seat despite the fact that it was right across from Itsuki. Akito shrugged. "Well, Miss How Mei is sick, and Sayuri can't make eggs right, so don't plan on eating eggs."

"Nice random info, there, Akito," grumbled Jun, obviously lacking sleep. Izumi raised her eyebrows. "How is she making them wrong?" Akito sighed. "Her eggs are always runny…"

Itsuki chose that moment to choke on her own air. Gai just rubbed his temples. "Don't say it Itsuki. Please. I beg of you." This caught Ryoko's attention. Things that related to the others' pasts were amusing to her. "Say what, Itsuki?"

Itsuki cleared her throat. "Have I ever told you the reason I became a lesbian? I mean, other than the fact that Jiro is stupid." Various negative responses stimulated her to explain. "Well, let's just say I have it on a very good source that semen tastes like runny eggs."

"I didn't need to know that!" cried both Akito and Jun. Jun covered his ears and started humming, while Akito just hid his face from view. "Itsuki, did you HAVE to say that? Just when I had proclaimed myself officially bi, I had to hear that. Thank you." Itsuki smiled.

Izumi was not shocked, for she was Hikaru's best friend, and Hikaru's extensive knowledge of sex disturbed Izumi sometimes. "Who's your very good source? Just curious."

"DON'T YOU FUCKING SAY IT, ITSUKI!" screamed Gai, hiding his own face from people. They couldn't help but notice how red the dark featured pilot was blushing. Itsuki just smirked. "Let's just say we were crazy kids with extensive hormones. And quite experimental."

Ryoko started to cough. "I am never fucking kissing you AGAIN, Itsuki." Itsuki glared at her. "It's not like you are now, anyway. Besides, we were twelve. Jesus."

"Somehow, I don't remember me giving oral sex when I was twelve," commented Jun. Ryoko smirked. "That's because you were drugged. When I was twelve, I didn't know what the fuck oral sex was."

"THERE WAS NO ORAL SEX!" Gai was practically dying in his seat from embarrassment. Itsuki nodded. "Nope. It's called masturbating into a cup and switching cups because we wanted to know what it tasted like."

Various disgusted responses rang around the table. No one else ate. Akito shuddered. "Fuck… When I was twelve, I was still the stupid little nerd bitch that got the shit beat out of him."

"Fuck, when you're twenty, you're still the stupid little nerd bitch that gets the shit beat out of him." Akito glared at Ryoko. "Bastard."

"You better believe it." Akito smirked, then turned to Gai, who was still practically writhing on the ground in embarrassment. "So, other than this whole High School Sequel thing going on, anything new?" Gai full-blown ignored him.

"Um, excuse me? I AM addressing the living, yes?" No response. Gai seemed to be staring off into space. The other pilots got up and left, waving goodbye to the two of them, very obviously leaving them alone. Akito just smiled and waved goodbye back. Gai continued to keep his view out of focus.

Akito crossed his arms and sighed. There just was no dealing with this guy. He got up and sat in Itsuki's normal seat, which had been occupied by Jun's butt just a few moments ago. He sat on his feet so Gai's vision was now blocked by the Martian's face.

It took Gai a minute to realize that he had been staring at the face of his former boyfriend. He narrowed his dark eyes and growled under his breath, "What the hell do you want?"

Akito shrugged. "Just wanted to know what you were thinking about so intently." Gai looked away, supporting his head in a hand. "What business is it of yours?"

"None, really. But I'm making it my business. Spill."

"Fuck you, Akito."

Akito rolled his eyes. "Oh, real mature, Gai. You're really showing that you're the youngest. Is it so hard for you to just talk to me? I'm mean, Jes- uh, I mean, Aqua… your letter proved that-"

"Does everything have to come back to that stupid note?" Gai now glared at him again, as if facing his fears for this first time in quite a long time.

"Yes."

"Why?" This question was near silent. Akito had to strain to make sure he knew what he heard.

"Why, you ask? Because." The cook pulled the note out of his pocket and laid it on the table. "I read this jolly little piece of paper, then kissed you again. What do I get in response? 'I'm no fucking rebound.' What do I hear from everyone else since then? 'It's only a rebound, isn't it?' Well, I'm reinforcing the fact, Gai. It is not a goddamn rebound."

Gai's confusion made him angry. "Well, if that's not it, what is it then, Tenkawa? What else could it be? You're as fickle as Itsuki, only with a lot more dating options. Only, the second Yurika decides to dump you, you come running back. What am I supposed to think, huh? How can you tell me that's it's not a fucking rebound you're trying to get here?"

"I can tell you that, because it isn't."

"Then what the fuck is it? Hurry up because you're wasting both of our time."

Akito frowned as he felt hot anger build up in his chest and cold tears fill his eyes. The effect of both comforting and hurting pain disturbed him. "I FUCKING LOVE YOU, GAI! Is that good enough for you?! You'd only wanted me to say for the longest goddamn time! Well, here I am! I fucking love you, goddammit. Are you happy now?" Akito's over-reactive nose started to run, as usual. He sat back down in Itsuki's seat and sniffed, wrapping his arms around his somewhat thin frame. "There, I said it… Are you happy now? Because I thought I would be… Happy, I mean… But…"

"You're not, because I'm an ass." Akito shook his head. "No, because I fucked up big time. I fucked it all up, and it's all my fault."

"Oh no, you ain't gonna pull the pity party shit on me today, 'Kito. Nuh-uh. I can live without it, and you certainly can too." Gai sighed. "No, I've just been a big ass lately. Blame it on PMS and be done with it. And I really should have told you about-"

"No, I overreacted. I'm sorry. Very sorry. Really." Gai's head fell to the table. "Okay, so we both feel bad and forgive each other. Are we friends, or do I have to pretend to hate your guts some more, or what?"

Akito bit his lip, for the first time during their conversation looking unconfident. "I suppose it's up to you… After all, I kind of approached you-"

"Hell, if we go on that, we're SERIOUSLY fucked." Gai dug out a quarter, surprised that he actually had one in this godforsaken place called Ninlan. But of course this was his lucky quarter… "Hey, I'll flip my lucky quarter on this, okay? How about, heads, we try again on the whole together-ness thing, and tails, we just become friends again."

"As long as I get to move out of my new room, it's fine. It gets hot in there." Gai rolled his eyes. "You get some benefit other than me, right?"

"You better believe it."

"Don't worry, I do. Any bets?"

"Just flip the damn thing, asshole."

Gai smiled, that devilish smile that scared the fuck out of Akito when it was on Itsuki's face, but looked DAMN sexy on Gai. "Fair enough." Without much thought, he flipped the coin, caught it in midair, and flipped it onto his arm.

"What is it what is it what is it?" Akito stood on the chair to see better, but Gai covered it with his hand.

"Hold your horses there, buddy. Jeez, don't make me flip it over." Akito's jaw dropped. "You mean-"

"Yep. Heads." Gai's tan hand moved away and showed the face side, lo and behold. Akito almost fell off the chair in delight. "YES! Oh my god, that is now my lucky quarter too!" Akito fell on the table and hugged Gai's waist, which is all he could reach with all of his body draped on the table. "I love you, I love you, I love you, I love-"

"Shit, 'Kito, let go. I'm gonna fall on you and squish you." Akito giggled and got up. Gai fumbled with the quarter for a second before it fell on the table. Akito grasped it up and looked at it. Heads again. "LUH-UCKY heads!" He kissed the head side in thanks, extremely hyper now that everything between him and Gai had been fixed. Akito couldn't help but look though. He flipped the coin over and his jaw dropped again. Then he started beating the crap out of Gai's arm. "You bastard! A two-headed coin?"

Gai didn't even try to dodge the punches. "Let's just say I wanted it again, just as much as you did. Now let's go to Rumiko-sensei's before he gets any more pissed at us being late."

~*~

When Akito and Gai arrived at their magic teacher's house, they were greeted with a glare from him. "Where were you?" asked Rumiko.

"They were kissing and making up, Rumiko-san. I told you that already," answered Itsuki for them. Gai smiled slyly at her, but something bothered him. "How did you know?"

"Akito staged the whole damn thing. When he asked you what was new, that was our cue to leave," explained Ryoko. Gai smacked Akito in the back of the head. "You stupid bastard!"

"Ahem. If you're all done chit-chatting, we'll get started on the lesson today, now that everyone is here," grumble Rumiko, disgruntled with the lack of dedication from his students.

Izumi's eyebrows snapped together. "Rumiko-san, Hikaru's not here yet. Aren't we waiting for her?" Rumiko sighed in response. "I'm sorry, Izumi-san, but Hikaru won't be in our class any longer."

"Eh???" cried his students, shocked that Hikaru wouldn't be coming any more. Rumiko nodded. "She has problems to deal with, mostly about her feelings toward you all. Her extreme emotion is dangerous for a mage as strong as she, therefore she has been put under therapeutic surveillance and is now in Lady Ai's class."

The other still seemed upset, but Izumi just sighed. "Maybe this is best for her. If she has problems to work out, then she has problems to work out. We can't do anything to help her if she doesn't want us to help."

Ryoko looked at the floor. "Why wouldn't she come to us, then? If we couldn't help, we could at least listen." Izumi shook her head. "No. She has many close friends, but she can only connect with a number of them. A small number. I used to think I was among that number… but now I'm not so sure."

~*~

Hikaru sat in Inez's lab, completely silent, which was strange for the seemingly-hyper girl. But the others in Inez's class had been told that Hikaru was transferred in because of her depression, so they weren't quite so surprised.

But it wasn't because she was sad that Hikaru was quiet. She was usually loud and obnoxious because she was always around those that loved her. But these other people, she just wasn't close to them at all. She just hated Akatsuki, plain and simple. He was an asshole, and he just didn't connect with her in anyway. She knew that was a really bad reason to hate someone, but she just couldn't help it.

The other three, Ruri, Yukina, and Yurika, Hikaru just wasn't comfortable with. Sure, she had called Yurika a bitch or a whore in the past, but that was just an anger thing. She knew her mouth was enough to get her shot, but she never tried to fix it. Ruri and Yukina, Hikaru just didn't know well. She didn't look down on them for being younger; hell, they were Nadesico crew too. But they were just part of another club.

Inez came out of one of the side rooms of her lab and smiled at seeing her class, including the new addition, there, all of them. "I'm sure some of you are wondering why Amano-san is joining us. Well, because of her fragile emotional state, we moved her into this class, away from those whose worries plague her." Her statement dropped; it seemed that no one was really paying attention. One of Inez's blonde eyebrows twitched; this is not what she wanted from her class.

Despite her regular students attitude, Hikaru was listening intently. Inez suddenly got an idea to get the others' attention. While she was full aware of Hikaru's capabilities, the others were not. Inez gathered a handful of flour from a jar and placed it in front of Hikaru. Two handfuls. Three handfuls. Hikaru smiled slowly. "Strength test?"

"Not necessarily. I know how well you work as it is. I'm making an example of you." Inez turned to the others. "Hikaru is nearly done with her training. She's merely in these classes to amuse herself now. She's gone through training faster than I have ever seen, mostly because of her dedication, but also because of her sheer talent. Now, Hikaru, if you will."

Hikaru calmly made three somewhat small tornados in the flour, playing around and making sure to not make a mess. Inez sighed. "Rumiko-san has a stick up his ass if he preached to you about control. Control is for when you need precision. Just show off, Hikaru. My other students need to know what kind of competition they have to work with now."

Hikaru grinned, happy to let go and just let her magic flow. The familiar feeling of her bright yellow power surged through her hands, a texture of happiness, coarse sadness, fine printed smiles. She closed her eyes, opening her hands to let the wind blow from them, as if she was a high-powered fan. She opened them again and smiled to see a large whirlwind in the center of the room, scattering papers and flour everywhere, and blowing everyone's hair and clothes every which way. She gave the spiral no more power, but just let it run its course until it slowly died.

Inez smirked at the shock faces of her other students, hiding her surprise. She knew Hikaru was good, but not quite THAT good. "And THAT, kids, is why she's almost done. I don't believe any of you are that far along, are you?" There was fidgeting all around, not to mention glares in Hikaru's direction. Inez continued. "Hikaru is the strongest mage of any kind that I've seen since Juveus-sama." Akatsuki's black eyebrows snapped together as he ran a hand through his hair. "Juveus-sama? Care to explain, Doctor?"

Inez bit her lip. "Empress Juveus was the ruler of the Martian Empire of the past. She was also a very strong fire mage, and the First Priestess of Flamma at the time. She took me in when I Jumped from Utopia Colony in 2195 to Mount Olympus in 4196 BC. But that's a story for another time. Let's get started shall we?"

~*~

Omoikane didn't bother to knock on the laboratory door when magic lessons were over. He never did. He always checked the security cameras, to make sure Inez wasn't doing something that required silence or privacy. And to make sure that Ruri hadn't gone to bed already. But Inez was just typing away on her laptop, and Ruri was napping on a cot. Everyone else had already left, but Ruri often had to take a nap before Omoikane came to walk her to bed.

He walked right in and started to walk over and shake Ruri awake, but he was stopped by a few choice words from Inez. "She spent a lot of her energy proving herself today. Let her sleep here for a while, I'll take her to bed when she gets up."

Omoikane pouted a bit. "I can take her back without tiring her more, Miss Fressange. Trust me." With that, he connected himself immediately to the Y-Unit's PT Engines, gathering up some of the dormant energy that just lay there. He grasped Ruri's hand and awaken the nanomachines in her blood, feeding them the energy he gathered from the Nadesico's own power source.

Ruri's amber eyes opened quickly and she sat up. "Oh, Omoikane. All right, let's go to my room now." She got up quickly and left the room, almost leaving Omoikane behind. Her silver eyebrows narrowed as she near power walked to the dorm hallways. She stopped and let Omoikane catch up with her. "Omoikane, why am I so energized?"

Omoikane cocked his head. "I wanted to walk you to bed, so I wired some energy from the PT Engines in the Y-Unit to you so you could get up and go to bed in your own room."

Ruri's amber eyes darkened to light brown. "I thought the PT Engines were no longer functioning." Omoikane shook his head. "The Engines were never dead, or broken, Ruri-sama. They're just sleeping."

Ruri continued to walk, but much slower so Omoikane could keep up. "Sleeping? Why?"

"I don't know. They said a mean man told them to go to sleep and not wake up until the blanket was pulled off."

"A mean man…" Omoikane opened Ruri's door for her and pulled the energy from her, sending it back to the Engines to be recycled. Ruri yawned immediately, she was much more tired than she thought. Ruri changed her clothes and climbed into bed, half-asleep already as her head touched the pillow. "Thank you for helping me, Omoikane. And Thank you for telling me… about the… PT…" She was sound asleep, mid-sentence.

It didn't matter that Ruri wasn't able to finish her sentence. At least it didn't matter to Omoikane. Full of pride, he headed for the bridge, ready to face yet another night of practicing Fighting Kanji.

~*~

Viktor was sitting at his desk when Uribatake arrived into his office. He put everything to the side just so he could speak to the mechanic on a subject they were both somewhat knowledgeable. "Please, sit down Uribatake-san." Looking a bit uncomfortable, Uribatake sat down as suggested. Viktor couldn't help but smirk. 'He should feel uncomfortable. I'm not heartless like the other Nergal executives, but I certainly can be cruel.' "Tell me, Uribatake-san, what have you been working on?"

Uribatake rolled his eyes. "Look, Prospector, we're in the middle of fucking nowhere. I'm not going to be spending any money anywhere to get more materials. It's just not physically possible. If you called me here to talk about my accounts discrepancies, wait til we get to Earth, if you don't mind."

Viktor pushed his glasses up. "That clearly is not the case, Uribatake-san. What have you been working on that has kept Hikaru-san from speaking with you?" Uribatake narrowed his eyes. "Hikaru could always talk to me, whenever she wants."

"Do you ever actually talk to her? Or does she have to come talk to you first?" Getting defensive, Uribatake crossed his arms to make him look more imposing, in a way. "What is this about, Prospector?"

"I don't believe you are aware of this, Uribatake-san, but as one of her good friends, I am shocked that you don't. Hikaru-san is going through a very bad point in her life right now. She's very depressed, feeling worthless and like a bother. Her friends haven't been caring for her very well, and every time she tries to talk to YOU, you're too busy for her."

"I'm never too busy for her!"

"Fine then, she's feels that you're too busy, and thinks you don't have to deal with her problems. Which brings her people to talk to on this subject down to zero."

"What business is it of yours?"

"She came to me because she had nowhere else to go."

"But why couldn't she just talk to her friends?"

Viktor leaned over his desk a bit and lowered his voice. "Uribatake-san, my question is, Why couldn't she talk to you?"

Uribatake bit his lip, realizing that the accountant before him was right; he kind of had been ignoring Hikaru. But they were both busy, weren't they? "I'll let myself out, Prospector."

Viktor nodded, not moving from his position. Sure, it seemed that he was harsh, but Uribatake had done Hikaru wrong. Something happened that made her not able to talk to him. And Hikaru seemed like the kind of girl to talk to her problems with those she cared about very easily, no matter what.

'Of course, I could be wrong, but why would she have told me everything and Uribatake-san nothing? It's common knowledge that they both having crushes on each other. So he must have done something to deter her from approaching him about her issues.'

~*~

TBC…

~*~

A/N: OOOOOOOOOOHMAGAWD!!!! That took SO fucking long I don't even want to talk about it. Two whole weeks? Shit, man. Anyway, I think I made it very clear who my favorite character is, haven't I? ^^ Well, I love Hikaru-chan, so I just HAVE to angst it up some! Besides, we're starting to attack the plot, and Hikaru's actually a somewhat main character this time. So there. Nya. Okay, I also did something else. The ONE scene people have been wanting since Chapter 14 of To Die or Not to Die. I was very scared for my mental health during that scene, you know. And physical, because I knew if I screwed it up, I'd have like five people trying to rip my head off. Anyway, NO. THE MAN OMOIKANE WAS TALKING ABOUT WAS NOT MAGUS. That's another plot-toucher, but one that will not end soon. Relates to the second crash of the Nadesico, ne? And why Mr. Prospector? I don't know. I just really like him. Power to the nerds! Anyway, that was chapter twelve. Next time… Another couple hits it off, more Prospector stuff, plot-touching mechanical stuff, and the other pilots feel stupid for not loving Hikaru as much as they do. Yeah. I wouldn't expect it for a while, though. My wrist is in pain from writing this chapter! Alrighty, til next time, R/R as usual! Bye~!