~*~*~*~
When Makoto ran off that day after rescuing her parents from the blazing plane, she never bothered coming back. Sure she felt horrible about her mother, there was even an aching call to go back to the scene of the near- crash and see how the woman was doing, but Makoto knew it would be better to stay away from "him" for a while. She was easily prone to going off on him again at any remark. She hadn't actually meant to fly off the handle like that, but she just couldn't stand that idiot's incompetence any longer. Whenever that man opened his mouth, and insult was usually the first thing that flew out, and quite frankly, Makoto couldn't handle it any more, and would therefore no longer allow herself to be subject to it. Why he decided to be so assholish, she didn't know, but she did know that he was in the wrong. There was nothing that she could have done to deserve that treatment. He always had to act like she was the scum of the Universe; that everyone else was better than she was. And he always seemed to make it a point to tell her that every time they saw each other.
Makoto knew she had blown it when she hadn't met them at the airport like she was supposed to. And she knew her father was probably a little angry, well, a lot angry with her after missing the appointment, but she would have thought that he'd be a bit more concerned with his wife than something so trivial. Well, obviously she was wrong. Apparently, making his daughter look like an idiot was much more important to him than the safety of his wife, someone whom Makoto held very close to her heart. She hadn't blown up at the man because of his attitude toward her, she knew better than that. In fact she had blown up at him for his disrespect to her mother.
Mrs. Kino, along with the rest of the passengers on the plane, was rushed directly to the hospital for medical treatment. Mr. Kino, although angry with Makoto's actions, went with them to be at his wife's side. Ami and Rei insisted that they go with them to make sure Mrs. Kino was all right since they figured Mr. Kino had no intention of doing so. They knew that Makoto would want that.
On the ambulance, Rei and Ami finally got a good look at the woman. She was in pretty bad shape, with blood gushing out of severe gash that looked to have been created by a serious blow to the head. Her face and upper body were burned from the intense heat that had been caused by the explosion, which was caused by unknown reasons.
Mr. Kino sat near the door next to the two girls. The paramedics didn't want anything to disrupt their patients, and made any extra passenger sit as far away from the wounded as possible, which was fine with everyone.
Gritting his teeth, Mr. Kino looked down to the girls next to him. Even though he was worried about his wife, something still played on his mind. "How did Makoto get on the plane?" Shaking his head, and grabbed the bridge of his nose. "No, wait, how the hell did she get us off so quickly?"
Not knowing quite how to take the question, Rei looked over to Ami. She thought all of their parents knew about what kind of power they held. Of course, this WAS Makoto's father they were talking to. Like every other time, he probably didn't care to know anything about his daughter's training past the fact that she was doing it. He never really cared about training her anyway. He just didn't want a girl, and pushing her into a life of fighting was the closest possible way to getting a boy.
Ami nodded with a slight nudging motion of her head, telling her friend to go ahead and tell him. Rei nodded as she bit her lower lip and turned to her friend's father. Frowning at him as he was the cause of a lot of Makoto's hardships in life, she put her hands on her hips. "If you must know, that was one of our exercises in our earlier years of training. We had to learn to transport our energy from one place to another. We call it teleportation."
Mr. Kino curled his nose up at the girl. There was no way a person could do something like that, especially since Mr. Satan couldn't. "You lying little brat!"
Rei frowned as she tensed her muscles. "Excuse me! How would you know!?"
The paramedics looked up from monitoring their patients. "Hey shut up. You're gonna wake these guys up."
Rei nodded with a slight blush. She hadn't meant to let her voice rise, but she couldn't help it. She could barely stand to look at this guy, let alone talk to him. Mr. Kino, on the other hand, scoffed at the man like he didn't know what he was talking about. "Look, little girl, there is no way in the world that a person can transport their 'energy' from one place to another."
Ami butted in. "Actually, it is possible. We do it all the time when we're training. In fact, we do a lot of other things with our energy."
Mr. Kino glared at the girls. "You're just like Makoto."
Rei rolled her eyes. Who did this guy think he was? And what exactly did he mean by saying they're just like Makoto? "You know what your problem is? You're just too close-minded for your own good. You were close-minded to the idea of having a girl child, and you're close-minded to things you don't understand." Narrowing her eyes, she glared at the man. "You make me sick."
Appalled, Mr. Kino gasped at the accusations. "What the hell are you talking about? Maybe if Makoto hadn't been such a baby all her life I wouldn't have to treat her like one."
Rei was about to open her mouth, but Ami stopped her. "Let me." Rei nodded, allowing the girl to speak her mind. "If that were the case you would have made more of an effort to train her otherwise, and not just goad her into acting like a boy. The reason why you thought she was acting like a baby in the first place was because she was a girl. Girls tend to act differently than boys, which was something you obviously weren't prepared for when she was born. You wanted a boy, which is only natural for a first-time-father. But, unlike other fathers, you acted upon these desires and forced her to toughen up at an early age."
Becoming even angrier at the 'smart one', Mr. Kino clenched his fists. "And tell me, brain, how would you know?"
Ami grinned, completely ignoring the would-be insult. "You're a very easy person to read."
Mr. Kino turned his head away from the girls. "How absurd. You're not a psychologist; you're just a child." He couldn't believe how bold these kids were being in the way they spoke to him.
Rei grinned, seeing that the man was actually falling apart in reasoning as they spoke. "At least she has a reason for acting like one."
~*~*~
Mamoru snuck around behind Michiru as quietly as he could. He knew something was up with her. She didn't just blow people off like that without a reason. She was up to something. What, he didn't know, but he was sure to find out before the day ended.
~*~*~
Michiru had absolutely no idea what she was searching for other than the mysterious woman who had gotten away for the second time in a row. She knew that this woman was the reason why all the other students had died, and not some stupid disease. She had seen it happen with Taro.
Running into the main hall, she anxiously looked from side to side hoping to see anything suspicious. Maybe if she was lucky the culprit would be stupid enough to try another attack. "Come on, where are you?" She whispered.
Mamoru poked his head out from behind the corner and watched Michiru as she continued on into the main hall. She seemed to be searching for something, but what? Something must have happened while she was away getting a soda, and it was his job to find out what.
Seeing that there was no one to be seen or heard, she decided to take a moment and think of possible places the woman could have run to. If they were working out of the school they would need to be able to see their next victims, but they would also need advanced technology to create their monsters. "I've got it!" Grinning to herself, she darted off to the first place she thought of, the Security room. There had to be lots of cameras in there so they could find their next victims. Plus, it was a secluded are where not very many people entered. If she was going to run something like that out of a school that's the first place she would be.
Even more intrigued, Mamoru started out for the aqua-haired girl, but tripped over the corner of the wall, causing him to crash against the linoleum flooring.
Gasping, Michiru spun around. "Mamoru!" She nervously yelled out.
Mamoru quickly jumped back up to his feet and looked from side to side, trying to look at natural as possible. But it was kind of hard to act natural wandering around a school he wasn't enrolled in. "Oh, I was.. . uh, just wondering what was wrong." He said, trying to fake a huge smile.
Michiru rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms. She could see right through his lie. He knew something was up. She would have to do a better job of keeping herself concealed from now on, especially since Mamoru was the Prince. He was someone she definitely didn't want knowing. She had to come up with a cover up, and fast. "Right, well, I was just looking for a lab rat which seems to have gotten loose somewhere around here. That's why I had to leave so abruptly. It's imperative that we find it."
Mamoru wasn't sure if he believed her or not, but he would have to take her story. He didn't want to let on that he knew something was going on. "Want some help looking?"
Michiru was prompt with shaking her head 'no'. "That's ok. I have to get to class soon anyway. You go watch Haruka. I'm sure she's already upset with use leaving."
Mamoru scratched his head as he watched the girl turn around and walk away without saying anymore.
~*~*~
~~Two Hours Later~~
After cooling off a bit, Makoto decided that she had better make her way to the hospital. She wanted to be there for her mother. Who cares what her father would say to her? She would just ignore him like she always had, well, unless he was actually being nice. But what were the chances of that happening? Once a jerk, always a jerk.
Once arriving, she didn't bother asking what room her mother could be located in. She just followed the energy signatures of her friends. She found them sitting in the waiting room that was located just outside the recovery room, which only worried her more. She walked in there a wreck. After leaving her father, she flew off to calm herself down, but in the process, she started thinking about her poor mother. She was so helpless. It scared Makoto to think that her mother may not pull out of this if her condition was bad enough. She couldn't help but blame her father for this. If he hadn't been such an ass to her in the past, then his marriage never would have fallen apart. If he had just WAITED for her to arrive then they would have missed their plane, and never been on it. But could he do something so simple? No. He had to do things the complicated way. He just HAD to teach her that being late meant missing out on things. Well, look where it had gotten him this time.
Being in a tight emotional situation with no one to really turn to, Makoto did the only thing she could think of. She wanted to rid her body of her fear and anger. She needed something to calm her spirit. There was only one thing that would suffice her emotions at this point. She decided upon sparing with herself, and eventually found herself taking her anger out on nature itself.
Seeing her friends in the recovery room waiting room, Makoto's face turned a lighter shade of white than it was when she walked in. Her heart dropped to the pit of her stomach as she ran to them. "Girls!" She cried out, not caring whether or not she was disrupting anyone. The secretary at the desk nearby looked up, but did nothing more. There was a lot of shouting from excited or worried family and friends in this wing.
The once silent Rei and Ami looked up to see Makoto, who was covered in dirt from head to toe. "Makoto?!" Exchanging a glance of surprise, they jumped up from their seats and ran to meet the girl.
Makoto's heart raced as she grabbed a hold of Ami's hands. "Well?! What's the news? Is she all right?!" Her eyes quickly darted back and fourth between each of the girls'.
"She'll be fine." Came a familiar, yet unwanted voice from behind a semi- wall.
Gasping, Makoto looked up to lock eyes with her father. A firm frowned on her face as she released Ami's hands and backed away. That wasn't exactly the person she wanted to see at the moment.
Mr. Kino frowned back at the girl. "I've been waiting for you. You're late. Don't care about your mother!?"
Rei and Ami rolled their eyes with a sigh as the departed from the duo. They knew things were only going to get worse before they got any better, which was really a shame. While Mrs. Kino was at the hospital, Makoto would have no one to talk to, she would have no one she could count on. Her father sure as hell wasn't going to do anything but sit on his lazy butt like he always did.
Shocked that her father would even dream of saying something like that to her, Makoto crossed her arms, and stopped to stand her ground. She wasn't going to back down from him anymore. "You're the one that doesn't care about mom! You're always more worried about my mistakes than anything else! Mom could have been DEAD and you still would have made it your point to make me feel stupid. Well, now YOU'RE the one in the wrong, not me!"
Mr. Kino didn't respond with as much haste as he usually did. "Well."
Makoto sneered, seeing that her father's response was a little below normal time. " 'well' nothing. Why don't you and I just NOT talk and leave it at that. It's obvious that you don't want to talk to me outside of insults, and I sure as hell don't want to talk to you anytime. So let's just leave it as that."
Mr. Kino frowned as he straightened his back. "Now you listen here! I don't always insult you, and when I do, you deserve it. You don't use your head!"
Makoto growled as she threw her arms out to the side. "Well there you have it folks! A genuine insult coming from the king of insults, my supposed father!"
Mr. Kino closed his mouth as he let his words sink in. Turning his head to the side so he didn't have to look into his daughter's eyes, he closed his eyes. She was actually right. That was truly an insult, and he hadn't even realized it. Was he really always doing that to her? He knew things weren't all peachy-keen between them, but he didn't think that they were this bad.
Opening his eyes, he looked back up at his daughter. "I didn't mean it like that."
Makoto snorted as she brought her hands back down to her side. "Oh, I'm sorry, sir. Was that meant to be a compliment!?" Looking down at the ground, she clenched her firsts together. "I know what this is all about anyway. And you know what I say to it?" Looking up, she noticed that her father didn't seem to be the least bit phased by her assumptions. "If you didn't want a girl, you shouldn't have stuck around all these years! If I was such a pain in the ass all these years you could have taken the easy way and left. You fit every other aspect of the asshole father!"
Ami leaned over to Rei and put her hand up over her mouth. "She's swearing a lot more than usual."
Mr. Kino threw his hands up in the air. "If that's what you think, fine! But let it be known that you're completely wrong!"
Makoto sarcastically nodded. "Yes! That IS what I think, and what I will continue to think until you clean up your act and treat me like a real human being, because that's what I am. I'm not some dog that you can treat like this, and neither is mom! You're the only reason why she's here in the first place! If you hadn't treated me and her like this all the time you wouldn't have had to gone on the trip to 'revitalize' your marriage!" Giving a quick nodded of refreshment, she stepped away from her father without waiting for a reply and grabbed the arms of her friends. "Come on. Let's wait for the doctor in more desirable settings." Pulling the two forward in search of the next nearest waiting room, she turned her head back to say one more thing to her father. "I'll be at Rei's until mom gets back. Don't bother trying to make me come back."
Mr. Kino just stood there, saying nothing. He didn't have anything to say to her at the moment as he couldn't think of anything. Truthfully, he was perfectly happy that she would be staying with a friend for a while. It would give him time to re-think he priorities. He didn't know that his relationship with his only child had deteriorated so bad over the years, well, actually, in the back of his mind he had a feeling that things were like this, but he never really paid any attention to it. Maybe now was a good time to give that feeling a little wake-up call and think over his entire life, or rather, his life with Makoto.
~*~*~
Rei and Ami were silent as they made their way into the next waiting room down. They didn't want to upset their friend even more, but they couldn't help but wonder what finally made her blow. Sure her father was a jerk, but she had never let it get to her that much before. Maybe the whole near- crash was too much for her. After all, her parents did almost meet their death. If it weren't for them, Makoto's parents would have died, and Makoto would have had to have either lived on her own, or find a friend to live with. That would have absolutely devastated the girl. They saw how losing a mother affected Hotaru; they didn't want to go through that with yet another one of their friends.
Makoto's breathing had increased substantially since her outburst with her father, which was understandable. She hadn't gone in their prepared to give him a piece of her mind. Of course, she had expected to be able to talk to her friends a bit before having to see his ugly face again. Then he had to start in again with the bitching, which completely set her off. "I'm sorry you guys. I didn't mean to lose it."
In a comforting voice, Ami spoke first. "It's alright. We understand, that man is horrible." She and Rei led the girl to the couch in the waiting room at sat her down. Her skin color hadn't yet returned to its normal color. "You just need a chance to relax."
Rei nodded as she sat next to Makoto. "Totally. You've been really stressed today."
Makoto leaned her head back and rested it on the back of the chair. "God, you don't need to tell me twice." She closed her eyes with a sigh. She didn't know what she was doing anymore. She needed to talk to her mother and relieve some stress, but that was obviously impossible. There was always, of course, her friends. But they just weren't the same as a mother. "I don't know what I'm going to do, you guys." With a groan, she covered her face with her hands.
Rei reached up and grabbed onto Makoto's arm to guide it down. "Take it in as slowly as you need to. You can still stay with us while your mom's in the hospital like you told your dad you'd be."
Makoto cracked a slight smile. "I know. I'm just worried about my mom." She brought her head down and looked from side to side. "I don't know what I'd do without her, especially now."
Ami smiled softly. "Don't worry about that happening, Rei. My mom's looked at her and said she'd be healed in no time. We just have to give it some time."
Makoto nodded. She appreciated the reassurance of knowing that Ami's mother was her own mother's doctor. "Have you been able to go in and see her yet?"
Ami shook her head. "They said we could go in there soon, though."
Makoto nodded as she stared blankly down at her feet. "Why did this have to happen?"
Rei wrapped her arm around Makoto. "Hey, cheer up, at least we saved the plane."
Makoto widened her eyes. "Definitely a good thing. I'm actually glad we were where we were when it happened. If we got there in time to say goodbye, I don't think the outcome would have been so good."
Ami looked up at Rei, who stared back. "Your mom is in good hands."
Makoto smiled as she looked up at the ever-caring Ami. "I know. Your mom's a wonderful doctor."
~*~*~
~~Three Hours Later~~
Mr. Kino decided to stay at the hospital after Mrs. Mizuno had allowed them inside Mrs. Kino's room. He really had no reason to go home. Makoto had gone to Rei's without saying a word to him, which actually hurt him. Sitting there as he waited for the doctor to give him the go ahead to go on inside and see how his wife was doing, he was given plenty of time to think; not about his wife for he knew she was in good hands, but about his daughter. He got to thinking mostly of the words exchanged between himself and Makoto's friends. Something they had said on the ambulance ride to the hospital had really stuck with him. Ami had said that he was forcing her to do things that a boy would be interested, which she blamed on his dire desire to have a boy child. At first he thought the very idea of being sexist was absurd, but after his fallout with Makoto, who thought practically the same thing, he started to open his mind up to the idea that maybe, just maybe there might have been some truth behind their accusations.
Ami had been completely right when she said that he wanted a boy, and not a girl. But he didn't think that Makoto's being a girl had anything to do with his spitefulness toward her. But then again, he didn't exactly have another reason why he would have been so hateful toward her.
Trying to figure out the root of the problem, he thought back to when Makoto was born, a time he had blocked out of his mind some time ago. He only remembered bits and parts, and even then, he tried to forget them. It wasn't that he didn't want to remember such an important date, it were the events that took place moments after Makoto had been born that made the day miserable.
He remembered everyone being excited about the birth. Even he was excited. His first child was about to born. He would be taking a major leap forward in life with starting a new family. It wasn't until Makoto was born that the mood started to darken on his side of the family.
Before Makoto was born, all he could remember was his father talking big about how he was going to have all sorts of fun with his grandson when the boy got older. When Makoto was born, she turned out to be a girl, which her grandfather didn't take too lightly.
Looking down at his wife, Mr. Kino halted his thoughts. He didn't want to think back any further for his thoughts weren't very comforting. He pulled up a chair next to his wife's bed and proceeded to sit. Looking at her, his insides were turned upside down. He felt horrible knowing that this could have been avoided if he wasn't so stubborn all the time. Things were really going downhill for him and his family now. Hell, they weren't any kind of a family in the first place. From the moment Makoto was born it seemed like his family was ripping him apart.
Shortly after Makoto was born, she was revealed to the family as a female. Mr. Kino was slightly disappointed that his first child was a girl, but he didn't care. He was still overjoyed. His father, on the other hand, wasn't exactly a happy camper at that point. He pulled his son aside, and for no reason at all, let out on him.
Squinting at the memories, Mr. Kino became restless and stood up. He let out a loud groan as he walked to the window and looked down at all the people coming and going. He remembered doing almost the exact same thing after his fallout with his father. The only difference between then and now was the little episode with his brothers, who had come to make fun of him for having a girl for a first child.
That's pretty much how it went for the first few years. He would try to defend his pride every time his brothers and father would open their mouths, but they always seemed to find a way to beat him down every time.
Frowning, becoming even more fidgety, Mr. Kino turned away from the window and looked back down upon his sleeping wife. "Damn it!" He yelled out with no concern for his wife waking up at the noise.
Closing his eyes, he turned his head down. He was finally starting to realize where everything started to fall apart; why he had always seemed to resent his daughter.. This had all happened because of his selfishness; because of his stupid pride. If he couldn't beat his family back, he would join in on their laughter at the expense of his daughter's feelings. He hated being tormented by his father, and would have done anything to make him stop, which is precisely what he did. He didn't think of the effect it would have one Makoto. He would prove to his father that Makoto wasn't weak, and wasn't a baby, which was what they had always said about her. He forced her to start fighting at a very young age, and yelled at her when she had tears in her eyes as she begged him not to make her do it.
Wanting to ram his head into the wall for being such an idiot for the past thirteen years, he opened his eyes and looked back into the direction of his wife. She had been right all along. He had always been particularly spiteful toward their daughter, whom he had been proud of before his father and brother's opened their big mouths. He knew he couldn't blame this on them for he was the one that had let into them. But they did play a role in the entire ordeal. Even to this day, they treat Makoto with less respect than any of the other children in the family.
Frowning as he sat back next to his wife, he decided that he would make more of an effort to treat her like a human being, or more importantly, like his daughter and not just some wandering idiot off the street. But with everything that he had ever done to the girl in the past, he would have to work extra hard at trying to be a better father. He had already lost thirteen years, and he wouldn't lose anymore. He knew it wouldn't happen over night, both he AND Makoto were both stubborn people, but he knew it would eventually happen.
~*~*~
~~The Next Day: Mugen Lab~~
Professor Tomoe put the finishing touches up on his newest creation. "Don't get this one killed, Kaori." Turning to her, he handed her the little silver box.
Kaori had no reaction other than reaching out and grasping the handle. "I have no intention of letting that happen, Professor."
"And make sure you come back with a Pure Heart Crystal. I'm not sending you out to retrieve regular Heart Crystals, that's what Viluy is for."
Kaori rolled her eyes as she turned from the Professor. "Don't worry. I know for sure that my next target will have what we're looking for."
Tomoe frowned as he watched the woman proceed out the door. "Don't let me down."
~*~*~
"Are you sure you don't mind coming with me?" Haruka looked down at the girl who was comfortably latched upon her arm.
Michiru smiled with a giggle as they entered the track field area of the Mugen School. "Of course not. I love watching you in tight little shorts."
Haruka blushed as she looked forward once again. "Heh." She raised her hand behind her head in embarrassment.
Her laughter now uncontrollable, she detached herself from Haruka's arm. "You go get changed. I wouldn't want you to be late to your second day of tryouts."
Haruka grinned. "No, you just wanna see me in my shorts."
Michiru laughed even louder. "That too."
Haruka smiled as she parted from Michiru. "Don't forget to root for me." Waving to the girl, she turned and headed for the locker room with her bag trailing close behind over her shoulder. She made her way into the locker room, where she found a group of other girls changing. She noticed a small corner of the room where no one else was, which was exactly where she went. She tried to stay as far away from people who thought they were popular as possible.
She threw her bag on the concrete floor, and opened up the nearest locker. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed another girl coming to her corner, which she didn't mind. As long as the rest of the group didn't come to harass her then she didn't mind.
"Hi!" The girl chirped as she opened up her locker. "You're Haruka, right?"
Intrigued that this girl would know who she is, Haruka closed her locker enough to look into her eyes. "Yes."
The girl smiled as she pulled out a pair of sweats and a T-shirt. "You're an awesome athlete. I followed your career all through High School. I'm really happy to see that you're trying out here too."
Haruka smiled at the compliment, though she couldn't help but wonder exactly who this girl was. "Do I know you?" The girl paused before answering to turn around and watch the other group of girls leave the locker room in a rather loud fashion. "Excuse me?"
The girl snapped back to look at Haruka. "I'm sorry. No, you don't know me. I never went to your school, but I have raced you before. I actually went to Orange Start High School, but I liked to scout out my competition. The first time I saw you I was in awe. Your speed is unfathomable. You're the only person I've never been able to beat."
Haruka smirked. "You don't know the half of my speed."
The girl grinned back. "Don't get too cocky just yet. I've been training for the day I get to race you next. I'm looking forward to the occasion, but I don't think I'm ready just yet. I was watching you yesterday, and it seems that you've improved too."
"And you'll probably never be ready!" Kaori entered the scene with her little suitcase, as she always did.
Haruka frowned at the red-head. Where did she get off just butting into their conversation. "Look, lady. No one asked you, so scram."
Kaori laughed impishly as she set her box down. The fact that Haruka was there didn't pass her attention. "I can't do that until I have what I'm looking for."
(Well, so it's not a full nine pages, but I'm hungry, and this, I think, is a nice place to stop. ^_^ )
When Makoto ran off that day after rescuing her parents from the blazing plane, she never bothered coming back. Sure she felt horrible about her mother, there was even an aching call to go back to the scene of the near- crash and see how the woman was doing, but Makoto knew it would be better to stay away from "him" for a while. She was easily prone to going off on him again at any remark. She hadn't actually meant to fly off the handle like that, but she just couldn't stand that idiot's incompetence any longer. Whenever that man opened his mouth, and insult was usually the first thing that flew out, and quite frankly, Makoto couldn't handle it any more, and would therefore no longer allow herself to be subject to it. Why he decided to be so assholish, she didn't know, but she did know that he was in the wrong. There was nothing that she could have done to deserve that treatment. He always had to act like she was the scum of the Universe; that everyone else was better than she was. And he always seemed to make it a point to tell her that every time they saw each other.
Makoto knew she had blown it when she hadn't met them at the airport like she was supposed to. And she knew her father was probably a little angry, well, a lot angry with her after missing the appointment, but she would have thought that he'd be a bit more concerned with his wife than something so trivial. Well, obviously she was wrong. Apparently, making his daughter look like an idiot was much more important to him than the safety of his wife, someone whom Makoto held very close to her heart. She hadn't blown up at the man because of his attitude toward her, she knew better than that. In fact she had blown up at him for his disrespect to her mother.
Mrs. Kino, along with the rest of the passengers on the plane, was rushed directly to the hospital for medical treatment. Mr. Kino, although angry with Makoto's actions, went with them to be at his wife's side. Ami and Rei insisted that they go with them to make sure Mrs. Kino was all right since they figured Mr. Kino had no intention of doing so. They knew that Makoto would want that.
On the ambulance, Rei and Ami finally got a good look at the woman. She was in pretty bad shape, with blood gushing out of severe gash that looked to have been created by a serious blow to the head. Her face and upper body were burned from the intense heat that had been caused by the explosion, which was caused by unknown reasons.
Mr. Kino sat near the door next to the two girls. The paramedics didn't want anything to disrupt their patients, and made any extra passenger sit as far away from the wounded as possible, which was fine with everyone.
Gritting his teeth, Mr. Kino looked down to the girls next to him. Even though he was worried about his wife, something still played on his mind. "How did Makoto get on the plane?" Shaking his head, and grabbed the bridge of his nose. "No, wait, how the hell did she get us off so quickly?"
Not knowing quite how to take the question, Rei looked over to Ami. She thought all of their parents knew about what kind of power they held. Of course, this WAS Makoto's father they were talking to. Like every other time, he probably didn't care to know anything about his daughter's training past the fact that she was doing it. He never really cared about training her anyway. He just didn't want a girl, and pushing her into a life of fighting was the closest possible way to getting a boy.
Ami nodded with a slight nudging motion of her head, telling her friend to go ahead and tell him. Rei nodded as she bit her lower lip and turned to her friend's father. Frowning at him as he was the cause of a lot of Makoto's hardships in life, she put her hands on her hips. "If you must know, that was one of our exercises in our earlier years of training. We had to learn to transport our energy from one place to another. We call it teleportation."
Mr. Kino curled his nose up at the girl. There was no way a person could do something like that, especially since Mr. Satan couldn't. "You lying little brat!"
Rei frowned as she tensed her muscles. "Excuse me! How would you know!?"
The paramedics looked up from monitoring their patients. "Hey shut up. You're gonna wake these guys up."
Rei nodded with a slight blush. She hadn't meant to let her voice rise, but she couldn't help it. She could barely stand to look at this guy, let alone talk to him. Mr. Kino, on the other hand, scoffed at the man like he didn't know what he was talking about. "Look, little girl, there is no way in the world that a person can transport their 'energy' from one place to another."
Ami butted in. "Actually, it is possible. We do it all the time when we're training. In fact, we do a lot of other things with our energy."
Mr. Kino glared at the girls. "You're just like Makoto."
Rei rolled her eyes. Who did this guy think he was? And what exactly did he mean by saying they're just like Makoto? "You know what your problem is? You're just too close-minded for your own good. You were close-minded to the idea of having a girl child, and you're close-minded to things you don't understand." Narrowing her eyes, she glared at the man. "You make me sick."
Appalled, Mr. Kino gasped at the accusations. "What the hell are you talking about? Maybe if Makoto hadn't been such a baby all her life I wouldn't have to treat her like one."
Rei was about to open her mouth, but Ami stopped her. "Let me." Rei nodded, allowing the girl to speak her mind. "If that were the case you would have made more of an effort to train her otherwise, and not just goad her into acting like a boy. The reason why you thought she was acting like a baby in the first place was because she was a girl. Girls tend to act differently than boys, which was something you obviously weren't prepared for when she was born. You wanted a boy, which is only natural for a first-time-father. But, unlike other fathers, you acted upon these desires and forced her to toughen up at an early age."
Becoming even angrier at the 'smart one', Mr. Kino clenched his fists. "And tell me, brain, how would you know?"
Ami grinned, completely ignoring the would-be insult. "You're a very easy person to read."
Mr. Kino turned his head away from the girls. "How absurd. You're not a psychologist; you're just a child." He couldn't believe how bold these kids were being in the way they spoke to him.
Rei grinned, seeing that the man was actually falling apart in reasoning as they spoke. "At least she has a reason for acting like one."
~*~*~
Mamoru snuck around behind Michiru as quietly as he could. He knew something was up with her. She didn't just blow people off like that without a reason. She was up to something. What, he didn't know, but he was sure to find out before the day ended.
~*~*~
Michiru had absolutely no idea what she was searching for other than the mysterious woman who had gotten away for the second time in a row. She knew that this woman was the reason why all the other students had died, and not some stupid disease. She had seen it happen with Taro.
Running into the main hall, she anxiously looked from side to side hoping to see anything suspicious. Maybe if she was lucky the culprit would be stupid enough to try another attack. "Come on, where are you?" She whispered.
Mamoru poked his head out from behind the corner and watched Michiru as she continued on into the main hall. She seemed to be searching for something, but what? Something must have happened while she was away getting a soda, and it was his job to find out what.
Seeing that there was no one to be seen or heard, she decided to take a moment and think of possible places the woman could have run to. If they were working out of the school they would need to be able to see their next victims, but they would also need advanced technology to create their monsters. "I've got it!" Grinning to herself, she darted off to the first place she thought of, the Security room. There had to be lots of cameras in there so they could find their next victims. Plus, it was a secluded are where not very many people entered. If she was going to run something like that out of a school that's the first place she would be.
Even more intrigued, Mamoru started out for the aqua-haired girl, but tripped over the corner of the wall, causing him to crash against the linoleum flooring.
Gasping, Michiru spun around. "Mamoru!" She nervously yelled out.
Mamoru quickly jumped back up to his feet and looked from side to side, trying to look at natural as possible. But it was kind of hard to act natural wandering around a school he wasn't enrolled in. "Oh, I was.. . uh, just wondering what was wrong." He said, trying to fake a huge smile.
Michiru rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms. She could see right through his lie. He knew something was up. She would have to do a better job of keeping herself concealed from now on, especially since Mamoru was the Prince. He was someone she definitely didn't want knowing. She had to come up with a cover up, and fast. "Right, well, I was just looking for a lab rat which seems to have gotten loose somewhere around here. That's why I had to leave so abruptly. It's imperative that we find it."
Mamoru wasn't sure if he believed her or not, but he would have to take her story. He didn't want to let on that he knew something was going on. "Want some help looking?"
Michiru was prompt with shaking her head 'no'. "That's ok. I have to get to class soon anyway. You go watch Haruka. I'm sure she's already upset with use leaving."
Mamoru scratched his head as he watched the girl turn around and walk away without saying anymore.
~*~*~
~~Two Hours Later~~
After cooling off a bit, Makoto decided that she had better make her way to the hospital. She wanted to be there for her mother. Who cares what her father would say to her? She would just ignore him like she always had, well, unless he was actually being nice. But what were the chances of that happening? Once a jerk, always a jerk.
Once arriving, she didn't bother asking what room her mother could be located in. She just followed the energy signatures of her friends. She found them sitting in the waiting room that was located just outside the recovery room, which only worried her more. She walked in there a wreck. After leaving her father, she flew off to calm herself down, but in the process, she started thinking about her poor mother. She was so helpless. It scared Makoto to think that her mother may not pull out of this if her condition was bad enough. She couldn't help but blame her father for this. If he hadn't been such an ass to her in the past, then his marriage never would have fallen apart. If he had just WAITED for her to arrive then they would have missed their plane, and never been on it. But could he do something so simple? No. He had to do things the complicated way. He just HAD to teach her that being late meant missing out on things. Well, look where it had gotten him this time.
Being in a tight emotional situation with no one to really turn to, Makoto did the only thing she could think of. She wanted to rid her body of her fear and anger. She needed something to calm her spirit. There was only one thing that would suffice her emotions at this point. She decided upon sparing with herself, and eventually found herself taking her anger out on nature itself.
Seeing her friends in the recovery room waiting room, Makoto's face turned a lighter shade of white than it was when she walked in. Her heart dropped to the pit of her stomach as she ran to them. "Girls!" She cried out, not caring whether or not she was disrupting anyone. The secretary at the desk nearby looked up, but did nothing more. There was a lot of shouting from excited or worried family and friends in this wing.
The once silent Rei and Ami looked up to see Makoto, who was covered in dirt from head to toe. "Makoto?!" Exchanging a glance of surprise, they jumped up from their seats and ran to meet the girl.
Makoto's heart raced as she grabbed a hold of Ami's hands. "Well?! What's the news? Is she all right?!" Her eyes quickly darted back and fourth between each of the girls'.
"She'll be fine." Came a familiar, yet unwanted voice from behind a semi- wall.
Gasping, Makoto looked up to lock eyes with her father. A firm frowned on her face as she released Ami's hands and backed away. That wasn't exactly the person she wanted to see at the moment.
Mr. Kino frowned back at the girl. "I've been waiting for you. You're late. Don't care about your mother!?"
Rei and Ami rolled their eyes with a sigh as the departed from the duo. They knew things were only going to get worse before they got any better, which was really a shame. While Mrs. Kino was at the hospital, Makoto would have no one to talk to, she would have no one she could count on. Her father sure as hell wasn't going to do anything but sit on his lazy butt like he always did.
Shocked that her father would even dream of saying something like that to her, Makoto crossed her arms, and stopped to stand her ground. She wasn't going to back down from him anymore. "You're the one that doesn't care about mom! You're always more worried about my mistakes than anything else! Mom could have been DEAD and you still would have made it your point to make me feel stupid. Well, now YOU'RE the one in the wrong, not me!"
Mr. Kino didn't respond with as much haste as he usually did. "Well."
Makoto sneered, seeing that her father's response was a little below normal time. " 'well' nothing. Why don't you and I just NOT talk and leave it at that. It's obvious that you don't want to talk to me outside of insults, and I sure as hell don't want to talk to you anytime. So let's just leave it as that."
Mr. Kino frowned as he straightened his back. "Now you listen here! I don't always insult you, and when I do, you deserve it. You don't use your head!"
Makoto growled as she threw her arms out to the side. "Well there you have it folks! A genuine insult coming from the king of insults, my supposed father!"
Mr. Kino closed his mouth as he let his words sink in. Turning his head to the side so he didn't have to look into his daughter's eyes, he closed his eyes. She was actually right. That was truly an insult, and he hadn't even realized it. Was he really always doing that to her? He knew things weren't all peachy-keen between them, but he didn't think that they were this bad.
Opening his eyes, he looked back up at his daughter. "I didn't mean it like that."
Makoto snorted as she brought her hands back down to her side. "Oh, I'm sorry, sir. Was that meant to be a compliment!?" Looking down at the ground, she clenched her firsts together. "I know what this is all about anyway. And you know what I say to it?" Looking up, she noticed that her father didn't seem to be the least bit phased by her assumptions. "If you didn't want a girl, you shouldn't have stuck around all these years! If I was such a pain in the ass all these years you could have taken the easy way and left. You fit every other aspect of the asshole father!"
Ami leaned over to Rei and put her hand up over her mouth. "She's swearing a lot more than usual."
Mr. Kino threw his hands up in the air. "If that's what you think, fine! But let it be known that you're completely wrong!"
Makoto sarcastically nodded. "Yes! That IS what I think, and what I will continue to think until you clean up your act and treat me like a real human being, because that's what I am. I'm not some dog that you can treat like this, and neither is mom! You're the only reason why she's here in the first place! If you hadn't treated me and her like this all the time you wouldn't have had to gone on the trip to 'revitalize' your marriage!" Giving a quick nodded of refreshment, she stepped away from her father without waiting for a reply and grabbed the arms of her friends. "Come on. Let's wait for the doctor in more desirable settings." Pulling the two forward in search of the next nearest waiting room, she turned her head back to say one more thing to her father. "I'll be at Rei's until mom gets back. Don't bother trying to make me come back."
Mr. Kino just stood there, saying nothing. He didn't have anything to say to her at the moment as he couldn't think of anything. Truthfully, he was perfectly happy that she would be staying with a friend for a while. It would give him time to re-think he priorities. He didn't know that his relationship with his only child had deteriorated so bad over the years, well, actually, in the back of his mind he had a feeling that things were like this, but he never really paid any attention to it. Maybe now was a good time to give that feeling a little wake-up call and think over his entire life, or rather, his life with Makoto.
~*~*~
Rei and Ami were silent as they made their way into the next waiting room down. They didn't want to upset their friend even more, but they couldn't help but wonder what finally made her blow. Sure her father was a jerk, but she had never let it get to her that much before. Maybe the whole near- crash was too much for her. After all, her parents did almost meet their death. If it weren't for them, Makoto's parents would have died, and Makoto would have had to have either lived on her own, or find a friend to live with. That would have absolutely devastated the girl. They saw how losing a mother affected Hotaru; they didn't want to go through that with yet another one of their friends.
Makoto's breathing had increased substantially since her outburst with her father, which was understandable. She hadn't gone in their prepared to give him a piece of her mind. Of course, she had expected to be able to talk to her friends a bit before having to see his ugly face again. Then he had to start in again with the bitching, which completely set her off. "I'm sorry you guys. I didn't mean to lose it."
In a comforting voice, Ami spoke first. "It's alright. We understand, that man is horrible." She and Rei led the girl to the couch in the waiting room at sat her down. Her skin color hadn't yet returned to its normal color. "You just need a chance to relax."
Rei nodded as she sat next to Makoto. "Totally. You've been really stressed today."
Makoto leaned her head back and rested it on the back of the chair. "God, you don't need to tell me twice." She closed her eyes with a sigh. She didn't know what she was doing anymore. She needed to talk to her mother and relieve some stress, but that was obviously impossible. There was always, of course, her friends. But they just weren't the same as a mother. "I don't know what I'm going to do, you guys." With a groan, she covered her face with her hands.
Rei reached up and grabbed onto Makoto's arm to guide it down. "Take it in as slowly as you need to. You can still stay with us while your mom's in the hospital like you told your dad you'd be."
Makoto cracked a slight smile. "I know. I'm just worried about my mom." She brought her head down and looked from side to side. "I don't know what I'd do without her, especially now."
Ami smiled softly. "Don't worry about that happening, Rei. My mom's looked at her and said she'd be healed in no time. We just have to give it some time."
Makoto nodded. She appreciated the reassurance of knowing that Ami's mother was her own mother's doctor. "Have you been able to go in and see her yet?"
Ami shook her head. "They said we could go in there soon, though."
Makoto nodded as she stared blankly down at her feet. "Why did this have to happen?"
Rei wrapped her arm around Makoto. "Hey, cheer up, at least we saved the plane."
Makoto widened her eyes. "Definitely a good thing. I'm actually glad we were where we were when it happened. If we got there in time to say goodbye, I don't think the outcome would have been so good."
Ami looked up at Rei, who stared back. "Your mom is in good hands."
Makoto smiled as she looked up at the ever-caring Ami. "I know. Your mom's a wonderful doctor."
~*~*~
~~Three Hours Later~~
Mr. Kino decided to stay at the hospital after Mrs. Mizuno had allowed them inside Mrs. Kino's room. He really had no reason to go home. Makoto had gone to Rei's without saying a word to him, which actually hurt him. Sitting there as he waited for the doctor to give him the go ahead to go on inside and see how his wife was doing, he was given plenty of time to think; not about his wife for he knew she was in good hands, but about his daughter. He got to thinking mostly of the words exchanged between himself and Makoto's friends. Something they had said on the ambulance ride to the hospital had really stuck with him. Ami had said that he was forcing her to do things that a boy would be interested, which she blamed on his dire desire to have a boy child. At first he thought the very idea of being sexist was absurd, but after his fallout with Makoto, who thought practically the same thing, he started to open his mind up to the idea that maybe, just maybe there might have been some truth behind their accusations.
Ami had been completely right when she said that he wanted a boy, and not a girl. But he didn't think that Makoto's being a girl had anything to do with his spitefulness toward her. But then again, he didn't exactly have another reason why he would have been so hateful toward her.
Trying to figure out the root of the problem, he thought back to when Makoto was born, a time he had blocked out of his mind some time ago. He only remembered bits and parts, and even then, he tried to forget them. It wasn't that he didn't want to remember such an important date, it were the events that took place moments after Makoto had been born that made the day miserable.
He remembered everyone being excited about the birth. Even he was excited. His first child was about to born. He would be taking a major leap forward in life with starting a new family. It wasn't until Makoto was born that the mood started to darken on his side of the family.
Before Makoto was born, all he could remember was his father talking big about how he was going to have all sorts of fun with his grandson when the boy got older. When Makoto was born, she turned out to be a girl, which her grandfather didn't take too lightly.
Looking down at his wife, Mr. Kino halted his thoughts. He didn't want to think back any further for his thoughts weren't very comforting. He pulled up a chair next to his wife's bed and proceeded to sit. Looking at her, his insides were turned upside down. He felt horrible knowing that this could have been avoided if he wasn't so stubborn all the time. Things were really going downhill for him and his family now. Hell, they weren't any kind of a family in the first place. From the moment Makoto was born it seemed like his family was ripping him apart.
Shortly after Makoto was born, she was revealed to the family as a female. Mr. Kino was slightly disappointed that his first child was a girl, but he didn't care. He was still overjoyed. His father, on the other hand, wasn't exactly a happy camper at that point. He pulled his son aside, and for no reason at all, let out on him.
Squinting at the memories, Mr. Kino became restless and stood up. He let out a loud groan as he walked to the window and looked down at all the people coming and going. He remembered doing almost the exact same thing after his fallout with his father. The only difference between then and now was the little episode with his brothers, who had come to make fun of him for having a girl for a first child.
That's pretty much how it went for the first few years. He would try to defend his pride every time his brothers and father would open their mouths, but they always seemed to find a way to beat him down every time.
Frowning, becoming even more fidgety, Mr. Kino turned away from the window and looked back down upon his sleeping wife. "Damn it!" He yelled out with no concern for his wife waking up at the noise.
Closing his eyes, he turned his head down. He was finally starting to realize where everything started to fall apart; why he had always seemed to resent his daughter.. This had all happened because of his selfishness; because of his stupid pride. If he couldn't beat his family back, he would join in on their laughter at the expense of his daughter's feelings. He hated being tormented by his father, and would have done anything to make him stop, which is precisely what he did. He didn't think of the effect it would have one Makoto. He would prove to his father that Makoto wasn't weak, and wasn't a baby, which was what they had always said about her. He forced her to start fighting at a very young age, and yelled at her when she had tears in her eyes as she begged him not to make her do it.
Wanting to ram his head into the wall for being such an idiot for the past thirteen years, he opened his eyes and looked back into the direction of his wife. She had been right all along. He had always been particularly spiteful toward their daughter, whom he had been proud of before his father and brother's opened their big mouths. He knew he couldn't blame this on them for he was the one that had let into them. But they did play a role in the entire ordeal. Even to this day, they treat Makoto with less respect than any of the other children in the family.
Frowning as he sat back next to his wife, he decided that he would make more of an effort to treat her like a human being, or more importantly, like his daughter and not just some wandering idiot off the street. But with everything that he had ever done to the girl in the past, he would have to work extra hard at trying to be a better father. He had already lost thirteen years, and he wouldn't lose anymore. He knew it wouldn't happen over night, both he AND Makoto were both stubborn people, but he knew it would eventually happen.
~*~*~
~~The Next Day: Mugen Lab~~
Professor Tomoe put the finishing touches up on his newest creation. "Don't get this one killed, Kaori." Turning to her, he handed her the little silver box.
Kaori had no reaction other than reaching out and grasping the handle. "I have no intention of letting that happen, Professor."
"And make sure you come back with a Pure Heart Crystal. I'm not sending you out to retrieve regular Heart Crystals, that's what Viluy is for."
Kaori rolled her eyes as she turned from the Professor. "Don't worry. I know for sure that my next target will have what we're looking for."
Tomoe frowned as he watched the woman proceed out the door. "Don't let me down."
~*~*~
"Are you sure you don't mind coming with me?" Haruka looked down at the girl who was comfortably latched upon her arm.
Michiru smiled with a giggle as they entered the track field area of the Mugen School. "Of course not. I love watching you in tight little shorts."
Haruka blushed as she looked forward once again. "Heh." She raised her hand behind her head in embarrassment.
Her laughter now uncontrollable, she detached herself from Haruka's arm. "You go get changed. I wouldn't want you to be late to your second day of tryouts."
Haruka grinned. "No, you just wanna see me in my shorts."
Michiru laughed even louder. "That too."
Haruka smiled as she parted from Michiru. "Don't forget to root for me." Waving to the girl, she turned and headed for the locker room with her bag trailing close behind over her shoulder. She made her way into the locker room, where she found a group of other girls changing. She noticed a small corner of the room where no one else was, which was exactly where she went. She tried to stay as far away from people who thought they were popular as possible.
She threw her bag on the concrete floor, and opened up the nearest locker. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed another girl coming to her corner, which she didn't mind. As long as the rest of the group didn't come to harass her then she didn't mind.
"Hi!" The girl chirped as she opened up her locker. "You're Haruka, right?"
Intrigued that this girl would know who she is, Haruka closed her locker enough to look into her eyes. "Yes."
The girl smiled as she pulled out a pair of sweats and a T-shirt. "You're an awesome athlete. I followed your career all through High School. I'm really happy to see that you're trying out here too."
Haruka smiled at the compliment, though she couldn't help but wonder exactly who this girl was. "Do I know you?" The girl paused before answering to turn around and watch the other group of girls leave the locker room in a rather loud fashion. "Excuse me?"
The girl snapped back to look at Haruka. "I'm sorry. No, you don't know me. I never went to your school, but I have raced you before. I actually went to Orange Start High School, but I liked to scout out my competition. The first time I saw you I was in awe. Your speed is unfathomable. You're the only person I've never been able to beat."
Haruka smirked. "You don't know the half of my speed."
The girl grinned back. "Don't get too cocky just yet. I've been training for the day I get to race you next. I'm looking forward to the occasion, but I don't think I'm ready just yet. I was watching you yesterday, and it seems that you've improved too."
"And you'll probably never be ready!" Kaori entered the scene with her little suitcase, as she always did.
Haruka frowned at the red-head. Where did she get off just butting into their conversation. "Look, lady. No one asked you, so scram."
Kaori laughed impishly as she set her box down. The fact that Haruka was there didn't pass her attention. "I can't do that until I have what I'm looking for."
(Well, so it's not a full nine pages, but I'm hungry, and this, I think, is a nice place to stop. ^_^ )