Chapter 3
Steam from the hot water filled the shower room of the temple. Being wary not to scald herself, Rei slowly lowered into the bath. She unwrapped the towel around her head and let her hair fall. With a moan of pleasure, she sunk deeper into the tub and breathed the warm air around her.
It was the first time, since the previous attack, that she allowed herself to relax. After Mamoru helped her carry Diro back to the temple, she stayed at his bedside until he awoke. Having lied motionless well into the night, her injured friend stirred. Understandably, his entire body throbbed with pain. Rei instructed him to lie still while she went to find some medicine for him. Upon her return, she saw him attempting to stand and grasping his head. She set down her tray and rushed over to him. After a brief scolding, she set him back down so that he could eat the small meal on the tray and drink the tea that accompanied it. When he finished and swallowed the pain medicine, she laid him down and cleaned the remaining dry blood from his face. Moving his bangs out of her way, she placed a warm rag on his forehead. He smiled at her; she smiled back and found herself helplessly drawn into his deep brown eyes.
Those eyes. She repeated that image in her mind. She couldn't stop thinking about it. His eyes, while mundane in color, hid behind them a perplexing soul. For all their beauty, they held a stern quality. For all their felicity, they seemed painful. For all their familiarity, they shone a light of wonderment.
She shuddered and wrapped her arms around her uncovered body. As she lowered her chin to the water, her hair floated to her front in the form of an inky black pool curiously prodding her bosom. She watched as it wrapped around her, as if to redress her, and thought of him further.
His hair, in contrast to her own, was coarse and wild in appearance. It wasn't until she began nursing his injuries that she felt how soft it actually was. When she ran her fingers through it, she felt as though she was holding strands of silk. She remembered when watching him from behind, his ponytail, tied at his waist by a black ribbon, danced against the twist of his torso. When he turned to smile at her, his long bangs fell over the left side of his face, hiding his right eye's gorgeous mate. Every time she saw that look, when he smiled slightly as a few strands teased his soft, pouting lips, her heart stalled.
The raven-haired girl sighed and brought her knees in close. Why could she not stop thinking about him? And while she was bathing of all times! What was it that was so special about him? Stupid question, she thought, everything about him was special. His eyes, his face, his muscles. Rei giggled. She couldn't help but get carried away.
"I guess I really do like him." She mused and hugged her legs closer, resting her cheek atop of them. "I'm just glad I get to be around him so often."
"Diro! Hi!" He paused in the midst of his training after hearing a familiar feminine voice.
"Minako?" He thought to himself as he tried to place a name to the voice and turned around. The girl bounded up to him and smiled. Taken aback by her energetic personality, he grinned and said, "What's up?"
"Oh, I just came by to say hello and see how you were doing. You were beat up pretty bad, y'know."
Diro winced at being reminded of his defeat. "So, you heard about that, huh?" She nodded. "Hey, just for the record, I was outnumbered twelve to one with no back-up!"
"Yeah, I know." Minako said sympathetically. "Rei said you fought really well until the sailor senshi showed up."
He lowered his gaze in modesty. "It was nothing, really. I just wish that my Grandpa could be here to see how his training paid off."
"Oh? Your Grandpa trained you? Did you leave him back in America, or something?"
He shook his head as his smile faded. "No. He, uh, he died a long time ago."
"Oh." She replied in a sympathetic tone. "Oh, Diro, I'm so sorry!"
"S'okay. I mean, I miss him a lot, but as long as I study our style I kinda feel like he's here with me." He looked at the blonde girl beside him and shot her a wan smile.
Minako thought frantically of a way to break the silent tension between them and looked down at the package she held in her hands. "Oh, yeah! I almost forgot! I was with Usagi earlier today and we thought we'd make you a little care package in case you were feeling better!"
"Huh? For me?" Diro asked as he accepted the gift. "What is it?"
"It's a bunch of cookies and goodies that we made especially for you! I hope you like it!"
"Wow! Thanks!" He said, somewhat bewildered. "I've never had a girl bake me cookies before! Thank you!"
"Your welcome! Go on, try one!" She insisted.
"Kay." Diro carefully unwrapped the little box and took a long look at its contents. From what he could tell, there were three different kinds of cookies, but they were all nearly black. Stealing a glance at Minako's smiling face, he gulped hard and said, "They all look so…tasty." With a trembling hand he reached in and grabbed the best one he could find. Attempting to hide the expression of wariness on his face he bit off a small piece and chewed it. It tasted like an odd mixture of sugar and ash and had a texture similar to if he was chewing charcoal.
"Well, how are they?"
Grinning through his disgust, he managed to say, "They're, uh, delicious. I think I should save the rest for later when I can, uh, 'savor' the taste. Thank you."
"Don' mention it!" Minako replied cheerfully. "Say, tomorrow's your first day at school, right?"
"That's right." He answered and led her under shade tree to sit. "What about it?"
"Nothing really. It's just that all us girls usually come here afterward to study and I was just wondering if you were gonna be here."
"Oh, yeah I've got nothing else to do so I guess I'll hang out with you guys, sure."
"Great!" She bubbled. "I'll be sure to bring some more goodies then!"
Diro's stomach knotted at the thought. "That sounds wonderful." He lied.
"You wanna tell me a little about your training now?" The girl asked, completely changing the subject.
"Um, okay." Diro answered, taken aback by the girl's bubbly nature. "It's a style of ninjitsu called Bushin. My grandpa, Kunio Kotaishi, learned it from Master Zeku a long time ago.
"You see, grandpa was something of a vagabond when he was young. He traveled all over Japan to learn about all forms of martial arts. He found his favorite to be Bushin. In fact, he first met Master Zeku in a street fight. The Master beat him pretty badly and later agreed to teach him the style. He always used to boast about how he was possibly the best student Zeku could have asked for, and that if he hadn't met and fallen in love with my grandma, Mitsuko, he would've been the next heir to his style."
"Hey, wait!" Minako interrupted. "They were both Japanese?"
"Yeah, why?"
Minako moved closer to him and looked him in the eye. "It's just that you don't look like you have any Japanese blood in you at all!"
He leaned back to accommodate the girl's space. "Oh that, well, uh, I'm adopted."
"Really?" She insisted.
"That's right. I was abandoned on their doorstep as an infant so they raised me like their own grandson, teaching me everything the both of them knew about the martial arts."
"Wow, that's so neat! Why didn't you tell me about that sooner?"
"You didn't ask." He answered bluntly.
Minako groaned. "Fair enough. Well, I'm going to meet some of the girls downtown to do some shopping, wanna come?"
Diro smiled at her. "Thanks, but no. I have to finish my training and get things in order for school." He spat the last word.
Giggling, Minako and waved as she left. "Well then, have fun Diro! See you tomorrow!"
He shook his head and smiled at the girl. She seemed to be a person who could enjoy herself despite the situation. As he watched her walk away, he absentmindedly grabbed a cookie from her package and bit off a large piece. His eyes widened and he groaned when he realized what he had just done. He mumbled with a full mouth, "I think I'm gonna be sick!"
"You allowed them to escape?!" The Bishop demanded. His normally pale, wrinkled face now shone an exuberant crimson from yelling at the Knights. "Out of all of the traitorous deeds you three have committed this is by far the worst!"
"It was our call to make, Bishop." Melchior responded. "The young Diro was much stronger during that battle than the previous one."
"All the more reason you should have captured him when you had the chance!"
"The chance never arose, sir." Balthazar pleaded. "His allies, the Sailor Senshi, were stronger than he by far."
"Yes, yes. You told me of the senshi." The Bishop dismissed the excuse with a wave of his hand. "It doesn't matter. They may have been strong, but they are still merely girls!"
"And of Tuxedo Mask, Bishop?" Gaspar persisted.
The Bishop picked up a glass of wine that had been sitting upon the arm of his throne. He swirled it, watching the few lights in the abysmal room dance upon the dark red liquid. Bringing the glass to his wrinkled lips, he drank deeply, savoring the bittersweet taste and allowing it to soothe his nerves. "So, the three of you fear five little girls and two human men?"
"We do not fear them, Bishop." Melchior answered. "We believe it would be best to study them further, perhaps even to befriend them. We may be able to accomplish our mission with little loss of man power."
"You are pathetic!" The Bishop fumed. He threw his wine at them, shattering the glass at their feet. "Do you realize what you are suggesting?! To think that the King's own Knights of the Divine would even consider having peaceful negotiations with mere humans! This is inconceivable! With your powers you should have already conquered that wretched realm!"
"That is not our goal, Bishop. You know this." Balthazar interjected in an emotionless, monotone voice. He and the other two Knights were completely unaffected by his tantrum. The old man could, and usually did, scream at them until his pale face turned blue, but they always stood firm.
"What I mean is you should have no reason for being cautious. You are among the few remaining pureblooded Alundarians. No living creature may stand against you!"
"Such blind faith is foolish, old man." Melchior scoffed and turned his back to him. "We know not from whence greater powers may emerge." Ignoring the Bishop's barking orders, he walked into the darkness before him and disappeared.
"So, you want to know why I sent you and the others on this mission, do you?"
"It is a humble request for information, sire." Melchior knelt before his king and, as was expected of him, kept his gaze lowered. "I have reason to believe that it will be vital to our success."
"Oh?" King Valcrist raised an eyebrow. "Tell me."
"Well, my lord, the young one we found is quite strong and he gives off the most unique energy pattern that I have ever sensed." He raised his eyes to the king and said, "It is almost as if he were Alundarian."
Valcrist chuckled to himself. "You are correct, my knight. The young 'Diro,' as he is known on Earth, is, in fact, almost Alundarian."
"Sire?" Melchior questioned.
"As you know, the population of Alundar is waning. It has been so ever since the end of the Silver Millennium. When that lunatic Queen Beryl destroyed the kingdoms of the Milky Way Galaxy, she cut off our lifeblood. Now myself, the Bishop, you and the other Knights are among the few remaining purebloods. All others have been mixed with other races. 'Diro' is one of them."
"But, majesty, I have sensed the energy patterns of several half-bloods and Diro is not like them at all!"
"Precisely. Those of royal blood are much different than average Alundarians."
Melchior rose to his feet and took a step back. "Sire, are you saying…"
"Yes, my knight. Diro is the lost Prince Millian." Valcrist stood prideful before his throne and glared at him. "He is my son!"
Author's Notes:
Again my thanks to JadesRose for yet another kind review. Unfortunately it may take a while longer than expected to finish chapter 11. You see, when I ripped down this story from the Sailor Moon section, the next day my disk failed and I nearly lost all ten complete chapters! Thankfully, I was able to recover them long enough to print them out. So now I have the arduous task of transferring like thirty-five pages of work onto my computer's hard drive. Big bummer. But don't worry guys, I'll have that fixed before too long.
Now, for the rest of you who've read this story. Start reviewing! C'mon, I need the support! The story will really start to pick up in the following chapters. Look forward to it, kay?
The Rockstar Prince of Crossovers