Chapter 9

Ami shifted her bag. It was cutting painfully into her shoulder. She looked around the terminal, but saw no familiar faces. It was good to be home, but she was expecting the girls would be there! Still, she had been looking for almost an hour. She hoped that Senshi business hadn't called them away unexpectedly.

It felt good to be home. It meant she could get back to her normal activities. She had missed a lot of study time to watch her opponents play. She had to get caught up. She had done a fair amount of studying on the plane ride home, but she was still three hours behind schedule. She hoped to never interrupt her studying for that long again. It had been fun, but it was time to get back to regular life.

A small voice caught her attention.

"Ami!" She looked around, and saw Rini. The little pink-haired girl ran toward her. She threw her arms around Ami. "How was your trip?"

"Wonderful. But I missed you girls."

"More then you missed studying?" Rini asked with a smile. Ami laughed.

"Yes, even more then I missed studying."

"Come on," Rini urged, pulling Ami's arm. "The others are waiting." She grinned back at Ami. "We have a surprise for you, Ames!"

"For me?" Ami repeated. "You guys didn't have to do that." Rini just grinned, and pulled her though the mess of people.

"Serena didn't bake it, did she?" Ami asked. Rini giggled.

"We don't want to kill you, Ami," she replied, pulling her sharply to the right. Ami stumbled after her.

Ami followed Rini's insistent tugging to a small drink bar and arcade. She could hear Serena's loud voice before she could see the neon green sign. Serena was playing a game, and it looked like a Sailor V game. Darien was crouched next to her. He was laughing. Serena was scowling, and screaming. She was obviously losing to the girl in the other chair. Ami could hardly see the girl. Her long purple-black braid was draped over the back of her seat. The girl let out a whoop for joy.

"Beat you Serena!"

Ami's heart skipped a beat. She couldn't believe her eyes. The girl stood up and flashed at grin at Darien. The girl was Ky.

"Ky?"

"Ami! Ami what are you doing here?" Ky ran forward, and hugged Ami tightly. "I thought I'd never see you again."

"Surprised?" asked Rini.

"You knew?" asked Serena.

"Of course I did," Rini shot back. "If you hadn't of been so busy with Darien you might have heard her say that she was just at the chess tournament in Canada."

"Calm down, Serena," Ami said, touching her friend's shoulder lightly. She stepped in front of Serena. "How do you know Ky?"

"She's was supposed to stay with my dad's sister, but she came down with something, so now Ky's going to stay with us for a while."

"Won't that be a bit cramped?" Ami asked.

"I'll survive," Ky replied with a grin. "This is great. You guys can show me all around Tokyo."

"It will be my pleasure," Ami replied sincerely.

"Come on girls," Darien called, taking Ami's suitcase. "Let's get to the car." Ami smiled at Ky. Ky was chatting with Serena and Rini as if they were old friends. Ami looked over Ky.

"This could be interesting," Ami thought. "Why do I have the feeling that there's more then coincidence to Ky's appearance here?" She shrugged the thought off, determined to spend some quality time with her friends.