AT THE EDGE OF THINGS

After returning from their excursion, Madoka and Hikaru went to their respective rooms to shower and change for dinner. At Andrei's belated request ("Call it a stupid old man's whim," he had said to them), Madoka was to follow in her mother's footsteps and play a few pieces on the piano that night.

She emerged from her room in a slinky floor-length evening gown, dark purple in color and adorned with silver glitter. Kyousuke admired the way it clung in all the right places, yet flowed with elegant grace to the floor. It was sleeveless, with only a pair of wisp-like spaghetti straps to hang it over her shoulders.

She caught him staring at her again. "Kyousuke," she softly called. "Remember where the dining room is?"

"Oh, sorry." He helped her into her gown's matching jacket and led her downstairs.

As he was seating her at their table, he happened to look towards the dining room's main entrance. As if on cue, Hikaru appeared, her white summer dress only a little less dazzling than the sparkle in her eyes. She waved and flashed him a smile.

"Hey, sempai, you look good tonight," she said as she came up to the table. Kyousuke had covered himself with a burgundy smoking jacket lent him by the Adriano staff.

"Thanks. You too," he complimented her. "I'm already aware of several jealous stares." He sat down between the two girls.

Madoka was quiet throughout the meal. Noticing this, Kyousuke asked her, "What's wrong? Nervous about playing?"

"Who doesn't?" she answered. "Get nervous, I mean. But it's not that. I feel uneasy, as if something unpleasant is lurking just around the corner."

Kyousuke listened to her seriously. Despite her not being an ESPer, he had found Madoka's intuition almost a match for his own power of precognition—often more accurate, in fact. And it didn't get her into trouble the way his power got him into one mess after another.

"Don't worry. I'm sure it's nothing. You just have a good time there, okay?" Kyousuke reassured her, nodding towards the piano.

"'Kay." For a moment Madoka looked as if she was going to argue with him, but chose to keep quiet.

After half an hour a member of the Adriano staff, a perky brunette who usually hosted the evening performances, introduced Madoka. There was a scattering of polite applause as she made her way to the stage and sat down at the piano. A spotlight shone on her as she started to play. The silver on her gown came to life, glittering in the light.

She had gone through two pieces, "Emotion," and "With You," when Kyousuke looked at his watch and noted that it was time. Cursing the unfortunate coincidence, he stood up and cast a penitent glance at her. I'm sorry, Madoka. He excused himself and hurried out the front door.

She covertly watched as he went away, trying hard not to let the disappointment appear on her face. Where is he going now, of all times? She turned her attention back to her music. The third piece she had selected, "Omoi no Yukue," now seemed incredibly ironic as she began to play it. It was hard for her not to feel despondent. He must have had a good reason.

She wasn't the only one who took notice of Kyousuke's exit. Mr. and Mrs. Ayukawa exchanged glances. Hikaru's worried gaze followed her sempai out the door. To run out on his soon-to-be-wife's recital…

She turned to look at Madoka, noting the older girl's tightened lips and the way she stared at the keyboard, unseeing. The moment their eyes met, she jerked a thumb at the door and mimed taking a picture.

So he's gone for his camera. The thought made her feel a bit better. She gave Hikaru a brief nod. With his Power, he'd probably be gone for a couple of minutes or so.

But at the foot of the stairs leading to the second floor rooms, Kyousuke's vacillation caught up with him. I can't do this to Madoka, he thought angrily. But I promised Mr. Pagott. Lives are at stake. He racked his brain for a solution. Images flashed back and forth in his mind. Grim, black-suited men flanking a blind old man in a wheelchair, waiting for a signal to attack. A woman with long black tresses playing a brown baby grand, her gown shimmering under the stage lights, also waiting…

An idea slowly dawned in his mind, a way to kill two birds with one stone. He vanished from the foot of the stairs in a burst of Power.

------oOo------

Madoka had just finished "Omoi no Yukue," but Kyousuke still hadn't returned. Where are you? Without really thinking about it, her fingers began playing the opening bars of "Kyousuke No.1 – I Want You Here." It was the song she had played back in 1994 when she tried to help a younger version of him, time-traveled from three years before—the one who had experienced the car accident—bring back his present identity from a self-imposed exile in a nameless oblivion.

Hikaru was already about to go looking for her sempai when he appeared at the dining room entrance, flustered and panting. He carried one of his cameras with him.

As he returned to his seat, he made a slight bow in Madoka's direction, mouthing "Sorry" repeatedly. She spared him a brief glance. The look in her eyes told him he was in trouble with her. Again.

Groaning, he slid dejectedly into his seat. When he turned to Hikaru, he found much the same expression on her face. "Sempai," she whispered. "I don't think Madoka-san's happy with you running off like that."

Inwardly, however, she had already decided to forgive him. She was just letting him stew a bit, partly to teach him a lesson and partly for her own amusement. It was amazing how every time she played "I Want You Here"—which was rarely, since the song meant so much to her—Kyousuke would appear in the vicinity, just like magic.

The pounding beat reminded the aforementioned time-traveler of his scheme. It was risky, to be sure, but this way, no one was going to be left in the lurch. Trying to appear as if he was simply listening, he closed his eyes, stretched out his feelings to the music, and concentrated.

Bit by bit, too subtle to be noticed as out of the ordinary at first, tiny white sparkles flashed in the air around the piano player. As she played, the flashes became more and more distinct, until she seemed to be in another world from the audience, a world populated by little white lights which appeared, throbbed, whirled in time to the music, then vanished into thin air.

Murmurs of amazement sounded throughout the audience. Madoka herself was entranced by the little flashes of light. She smiled, closed her eyes, and allowed herself to fall deeper into the spell of her music.

Hikaru, however, was not paying any attention to the display onstage. She was watching Kyousuke.

------oOo------

In the command center, carved deep into the rock of the island, a man with a handlebar mustache pressed a headset to his ears. He pumped his arm once. "Yes," he hissed. Turning to his boss, who sat in his wheelchair like a statue made of granite, he reported, "Got them, sir. The boat will be history in a few minutes."

"Excellent. Mop up."

------oOo------

The ending flourish of "I Want You Here" brought Madoka a standing ovation from the audience. The little white sparkles had slowly died away as she neared the end of the song, leaving her and her music, powerful and compelling, to go on alone.

She stood up and bowed, then looked at Kyousuke. Flashing him a smile, she mouthed "Thank you" silently.

Kyousuke smiled back and shook his head. He raised a thumbs-up sign at her. Helping her off the stage, they said to each other "Darling, that was—beautiful!" at the same time. Laughing, Kyousuke escorted his lady love back to her seat. Madoka's parents beamed at her, immensely proud.

"Sempai, are you okay?" asked Hikaru as Kyousuke returned to his place.

"Don't I look okay, Hikaru-chan?" said Kyousuke.

"Well, you looked like you were ill or something a minute ago."

"Ah, that was nothing. I was just listening to the music."

Hikaru had noticed his strained expression, his clenched fists opening and closing, but decided not to mention it. She felt like she was on the verge of understanding something… but what?

------oOo------

After the mini-concert Andrei motioned for Kyousuke to join him.

"Bad news," he muttered. "We captured all of the bad guys, but it looks like they stole a march on us and already had a squad in place here."

Kyousuke's eyes flicked over the dining room crowd. "We should get Madoka out of here," he said, suddenly anxious again.

Andrei nodded. "Bring her underground," he instructed Cardiff. "That will be safest, until we catch the remaining agents."

"Yes, sir." Cardiff went to fetch her.

"Thank you for covering up for me like that," said Kyousuke. Andrei had taken the mike after Madoka stepped down, thanking her and, based on the reactions of the people he was hearing, noting how good the newly-installed laser effects system seemed to be working.

"Do you do stunts like that often?"

Kyousuke shook his head. "No."

"Good." Andrei shrugged. "Because I was wondering how you've lived this long."

------oOo------

They were on their way to the underground command center of Andrei's little army, which was accessed through a secret door located at the end of the path which went past his room. One of his guards, the same silent man who had met them at the airport, walked some distance ahead of the little group of Madoka, Kyousuke, and Cardiff, checking to see the coast was clear.

They were crossing the edge of the garden. Madoka, determined not to let the danger of the situation get her down, was asking Kyousuke how he got the idea for his miniature light show.

"Dust," he told her.

"What?"

"I saw the way your gown glittered under the lights. I figured it would be nice to imitate it. There's always dust in the air, and I used my Power on it."

"Just like the gravel on the beach."

They watched as the guard walking ahead of them as he turned the corner where the path went past Andrei's suite.

"I hope we never encounter this back in Japan," she said, her deep green eyes full of concern.

"We still have to ascertain whether this particular group is working alone or not," Cardiff interjected.

"Can I ask you something, sir?" Kyousuke hugged Madoka closer to him.

"Certainly, Mr. Kasuga."

"Mr. Pagott said he was familiar with magic before. Do you know what he meant by that?"

Cardiff shook his head. "I am privy to a lot of Mr. Pagott's private life, but the only thing I can tell you about that is this: legend has it that certain members of his family were reputed to have strange powers, quite like yours, from what I hear."

Kyousuke's eyes bugged out. "You know too? About my powers?"

"Yes sir. It would be impossible for me not too. I am, after all, Mr. Pagott's right-hand man, his eyes and ears and legs, if you will. But don't worry, young master, I shall keep your secret."

They turned round the corner. All hell broke loose.

------oOo------

Andrei was in his office above the dining room when the sound of gunfire reached his ears. "John!" he barked. "What's that?"

The large man dressed in olive slacks and windbreaker spoke into his walkie-talkie. A harassed voice answered him, shouting, overmodulating his radio badly.

"Seems like we're under attack," the man named John reported. "The docks."

Below, in the dining room, chaos ensued as hotel patrons rushed to find safety. Mr. and Mrs. Ayukawa were hustled out by one of Andrei's Praetorian Guard.

"Where are the kids?" Mr. Ayukawa shouted over the noise of the screaming crowd.

"They're somewhere safe," the guard reassured them. "Now we've got to get you to safety as well."

------oOo------

Madoka screamed in fright as the body of the guard toppled to the ground in front of them. There, in the middle of the corridor, stood a tall figure dressed in black, with a balaclava over his head, pointing a wicked-looking black automatic at her head.

The man's eyes shone a pale, watery blue. "That's far enough. Whoever moves dies."

Cardiff reflexively reached for the gun holstered at the small of his back. The black-suited man pivoted and fired twice. Andrei's butler crashed to the floor, propelled backwards by a pair of 9mm hollowpoints.

Kyousuke quickly moved himself in front of Madoka. The man pointed his gun at him.

"I want your lady friend," said the man, a sneer in his soft voice. "Move back and no one gets hurt."

"Wait," Kyousuke said, heart beating rapidly. "You're mistaken. I know what you're looking for." The man's eyes narrowed. "She isn't it. It's me you want."

"Oh really? Step aside, little boy."

"Please! She isn't an ESPer, I am!"

"Right. You don't fool me. You're just trying to protect her."

"No, really… you've got to believe me…"

"Sempai!"

Hikaru!

The man turned to fire past Kyousuke.

Suddenly time seemed to slow down. He could see every detail on the gun as it was aimed, including the bore, which seemed a darkest black, a hole stretching all the way into hell. Reaching out with his mind, he locked the gun's action just before the man pressed the trigger. There was a click, but the gun didn't fire.

The man stood still for a moment, startled. Madoka lashed out with a roundhouse kick that clipped the side of his head and left him stunned. Reeling, he tottered forwards. She quickly grabbed the back of his head with both hands and introduced the bridge of his nose to her knee. He fell onto the path, senseless.

"Shit," she said, breathing ragged, looking down at her gown. "I tore it. And it was such a nice dress too."

Kyousuke kicked the gun away from their senseless assailant's hand. He turned around to see Hikaru standing on the path, while Madoka knelt beside Cardiff.

"Hikaru…"

She was trembling visibly. Kyousuke crossed the distance to her and put his hands on her shoulders. "Are you alright, Hikaru-chan?"

The younger girl managed a weak smile. "I thought for sure I was going to die…"

All of a sudden she threw her arms around Kyousuke. "Sempai!" she bawled.

Kyousuke embraced her and tried to calm her down. "It's all right now," he cooed into her hair, stroking and patting her back. "You're safe. You're safe, Star."

"Kyousuke!"

He turned and watched as Madoka helped Cardiff into a sitting position. There was blood on his shirt, and he was groaning, definitely conscious.

"Good old twenty-eight plies," he was mumbling, patting his chest. "But bloody hell, does it hurt."

"Thank Heaven you're okay," said Madoka.

"Well, you know what they say. 'It's hard to kill an evil seed.' Ouch. I think I broke a rib."

"Hang on. We'll get help."

"No!" Cardiff choked. "There's no telling how many are still out there. Stay here. I'll be alright."

"What about the guard?" Kyousuke asked Madoka.

She stood up and walked over. Reaching down, she felt for a pulse. She shook her head. "I think his neck's broken." Her voice was even, but Kyousuke could see the horror in her eyes.

"Let's get you inside Mr. Pagott's room, at least," said Kyousuke to Cardiff.

With Madoka and Hikaru's help he was able to drag the wounded man into the relative safety of Andrei's room. They left him sitting propped against a wall while the two girls fetched medical supplies from Mr. Pagott's bathroom, where Cardiff said they were located.

There was a noise outside. Quickly Kyousuke picked up the butler's silver pistol and aimed it at the door. His hand was shaking. He had never fired a gun in his life. Now just didn't seem a good time to start doing so.

"Hello in there! Don't shoot! I'm coming in!" A figure in black appeared in the doorway. Kyousuke recognized him as one of Mr. Pagott's personal retinue and sighed with relief. Sporadic gunfire could still be heard outside.

The man took his helmet and macabre black steel mask off. He was a tall Caucasian with brown hair, black eyes and a luxurious moustache. "Is everyone alright?"

"Cardiff's been hit," reported Kyousuke. "And the guard escorting us is dead."

He quickly told the man what had happened.

"Damn," said he, watching as the girls dumped the medical kits onto the floor beside the wounded Englishman. "It's been rather hairy so far," he said. "But I think we're finally getting the upper hand. Two attacked the dining room, three held the docks, and your boy over here… makes six. Maybe that's all of them. Here, I'll do that." He crouched down by Cardiff's side and ripped open a gauze packet.

"Madoka-san?" It was Hikaru.

"Yeah?"

"How come we always seem to get into these types of situations? What's this all about anyway?" she asked, looking very confused.

"Oh, you can thank him for it," said the man, jerking a thumb casually in Kyousuke's direction. Cardiff flashed him a warning glance, but he apparently missed it.

"These people are after this friend of yours."

Hikaru looked long at Kyousuke. "Sempai, is this true? They're after you…but why?"

The man treating Cardiff opened his mouth to speak. The butler promptly shoved a wad of cotton into it, groaning with pain as he did so.

"I… I think it's a case of mistaken identity," Kyousuke stammered. "Anyway, Mr. Pagott has promised to take care of these goons for us."

"Someone please guard the door," said Cardiff. "We're still in a battlefield, may I remind you."

Kyousuke was moving towards the entrance when Madoka shouted, "Hey wait, Kyousuke, don't go, I haven't…"

The man she had knocked out suddenly appeared at the door, gun in hand. Kyousuke saw him pointing the weapon at Madoka.

"Madoka! Abunai!" He leapt at the man. There was no time to do anything else.

There was a flash, and lightning streaked along Kyousuke's skull. Darkness descended upon him and he knew no more.

------oOo------

The whole world seemed to collapse in on itself as Madoka Ayukawa watched him fall. The guy she had first met—for the second time in her life, as it turned out—on top of the magical 100-step stairs while chasing her red straw hat. The guy who had tried to lecture her on the evils of smoking, only to receive a resounding slap to the face. The guy who had asked her "Ayukawa – 'Like' or 'Love'?" The same person who, just last winter, emerged spluttering from a snowbank into which he had chased the small velvet box he had dropped, opening it and asking, "Madoka, will you marry me?"

"Kyousuke!"

A cold rage ignited in her veins. All other concerns dissolved away save her need to kill the man who had hurt him. He was aiming again at her beloved, grinning a savage smile, when he was distracted by Hikaru, who screamed and threw the nearest object she could get her hands on—a vase—at him as hard as she could. As he avoided it and switched targets, Madoka quickly snatched the gun from the hands of Andrei's frozen guard, aimed, and pulled the trigger twice. He jerked backward with a surprised expression, tumbling into a flower box full of yellow blossoms. Vision blinded by rage, she proceeded to pump bullets into the prone form, her teeth bared, her throat emitting keening sounds. She slowly walked towards the man, whose body jerked as bullet after bullet hit it. The first three bullets went into his chest. Then she emptied the rest of the magazine into his face, his blood and gore spattering the yellow flowers.

The pistol slide locked open as the last round was expended. Madoka still stood over the fallen, aiming the gun at him, still mechanically pulling the trigger until the guard pried the weapon loose from her hand.

Without a word she dropped to her knees and vomited into the flowerbox. When her stomach had finished heaving, she wiped her mouth with the torn hem of her dress and went to where Kyousuke had fallen. Hikaru had reached him and was cradling him in her arms, a helpless expression on her face, her dress stained with his blood. "Oh, sempai… sempai, no…"

Trembling, she knelt down beside them and took Kyousuke from her, resting his head on her chest.

"Hikaru." The younger girl watched as her friend's eyes glistened with unborn tears. Her face was pale and composed—but just barely. "Please get help."

"Hai!" Hikaru stood up and, accompanied by the guard, left in search of assistance.

Madoka looked down at him, gently straightening his tousled, blood-wet hair. Wetting her hands with alcohol from the first-aid kit, she took a gauze packet, ripped it open and, shuddering, pressed it onto his wound. She could barely see; her unshed tears were blinding her.

"Anata," she whispered. "Please be alright. Don't leave me." Kyousuke made no response.

Bit by bit the tears started to fall. When she couldn't take it anymore, Madoka collapsed onto his inert body and wept.

------oOo------

"No. I have to be with him."

Hikaru watched as her friend stubbornly refused her parents' offer of spelling her and going with Kyousuke to the hospital while she rested.

"As you wish, daughter. We'll be along later."

A helicopter equipped for casevac was coming along in a few minutes to pick Kyousuke and one other seriously wounded person up for transport to the mainland. Two medics from Andrei's security force had stabilized him. So far, he seemed out of danger.

"I'll look after her," Hikaru told Mrs. Ayukawa. "Please don't worry."

Madoka's mother took Hikaru's hand and squeezed it. "Thank you, dear. You're a godsend." She cast a worried glance at her daughter, still hovering by Kyousuke's stretcher in her ruined, stained gown, as still as a statue.

After the elder couple had left, Hikaru made her way to stand beside Madoka.

"Big sister?"

The other girl made no response.

"I'm coming with you, okay?"

Madoka looked at her, flashed a strained smile. "Thanks, Hikaru. I think if I rest even a moment now… I'll fall to pieces."

Hikaru looked at her, then down at Kyousuke, head wrapped in thick bandages and with an oxygen mask on his face. Although she believed the medics when they had told them he was incredibly lucky for one who had been shot in the head, her heart felt a twinge of concern as the sight sank in. She still loved him. And she feared for Madoka.

"They say he's going to be all right," she said.

There was a pause. "It's my fault."

"What is?"

"I should have reminded him about the man sooner."

"No it's not. You couldn't have known he'd wake up so soon." Hikaru gripped her hand. "He must've been one tough SOB."

"Yeah, and this idiot was unlucky enough to get shot by him."

"Well, you certainly took care of that," Hikaru remarked.

"Yes, I did," agreed Madoka in a flat voice. She couldn't begin to tell her about the horror that had descended upon her when she realized that she had taken a man's life. She felt like going somewhere and trembling until she had shaken herself to pieces, but her concern for Kyousuke overrode all other considerations. As far as she was concerned, the bastard who had shot him deserved it.