Chapter 9:

The Plan

Emochan woke up the next morning to the sweet smells of omelet-making. Mom must be cooking! Yay! The teen practically jumped out of her bed, pulled her robe around her skin, and rushed downstairs to see her mother's smiling face. "Good morning, Mom," she said.

"Good morning, Emo," her mother replied while placing some food on their plates. The television on the opposite side of the kitchen was humming with news. Emo heard the mention of the collapsing roof at the café from the night before, which made her cringe a little as she sat down at the table.

"It's so sad that the roof collapsed, though I still don't understand how it could've happened." Her mother sighed while she placed Emo's food in front of her.

"I know it was horrible! I'm just glad no one was hurt by it," Emo said.

"Hmm…that's true. If you were hurt from that, I don't know what I would do!" Emochan's mother replied as she joined her at the table. "What are your plans for the day?"

"Well, I'm meeting up with my friends for a little while. I'll be home for dinner, so don't worry," Emochan said with a smile. Her mother returned the smile. When Emochan was done, she rushed upstairs to get dressed. She put her hair up in a bun and put on a pair of black sweat pants with a blue T-shirt. Her fingers fumbled at her cell phone, texting everyone about meeting up. She noted the time, figuring that Toshira would not be awake yet, so she decided to drop in on him. With a wave, she said farewell to her mom and went on her way to Toshira's apartment.

The locket around her neck swished along its chain as she briskly walked along the streets to her beloved's home. The night before was weighing heavily over her head for some reason. Her finger pressed the doorbell button and she leaned against the side of the arched entrance. After a few moments of waiting, a sleepy Toshira opened his door. His hair was messy and his eyes looked as though he had barely slept.

"Are you alright?" Emochan asked with concern. He nodded slowly and yawned.

"Hai…just haven't had my morning coffee yet…come on in," he said and kissed her on the forehead. Emochan walked inside and sat down on his couch while he went into his kitchen to make some coffee. "So, what brings you here so early?"

"I made plans with everyone to go to an ice-skating rink so we can have some time together to have fun, and to also start planning out our strategies." Toshira walked into the room with two cups of fresh coffee, handing on to her. He sat next to her and frowned.

"Ice skating?! But I can't skate…" Toshira said nervously. Emochan giggled a little and placed her hand on his thigh reassuringly.

"It's not that hard, really! I can teach you."

Toshira sighed.

"I know I won't win this, so I'll go with you. Just don't laugh when I fall down, okay?" He smiled at her. After they finished their coffee, she rushed him in getting ready for the day ahead.

Emo's mind began to wonder as Toshira drove them to the ice rink. I sense a powerful battle about to begin between us and Morgana….I need to find those two other senshi…. A nudge from Toshira brought her out of her thoughts. He parked the car and smiled at Emochan.

"Hey, no daydreaming," He said. Emo giggled slightly and gave him a nod.

"Right."

The ice-skating rink was crowded this day, which seemed surprising to the couple. Toshira got his skates and the two sat down on a bench by the rink. Toshira began to grumble in frustration. Emo couldn't help herself in chuckling at her boyfriend's distraught demeanor over not being able to properly put on the ice skates. . "Gah…this is crazy…." He shrugged.

"We're only skating until the others arrive. So hush," Emochan said and put on her skates. Her slender hands grasped his, leading his nervous body towards the rink. "Just watch me for a minute," she assured him as she glided with grace onto the ice. Her body was almost floating on air as she skated around the rink once. When she approached Toshira, he seemed to be awe-struck. "See? It isn't that hard. Just find your balance on your feet and concentrate on the center of your body. It's really all about balance," she instructed. Toshira took a deep breath and pushed himself out onto the rink. His body swiveled almost immediately; his leg turning in the wrong direction, making him crash onto the cold ice.

"Toshira!" Emochan exclaimed as she rushed over to him. She grabbed his arm to pull him up. His face was red from embarrassment. He let out a grumble of frustration and shrugged.

"I told you that I can't do this," he said. Emochan only smiled and took his hands. "What are you doing?"

"Hold on and get the feel of it," she said and slowly started to skate. It was a very slow start, but Toshira started to get the hang of it. He was even able to skate on his own! Emochan clapped her hands and cheered him on.

"Emochan!!!!!" cried out a pair of voices. Emochan turned around to see Sakura and Reiko joining her on the ice.

"Hey, guys!" Emochan said. Reiko and Sakura both seemed a little tired, worrying Emo. "Did you get a good night of sleep?" Emo asked as they all skated around.

"I kept dreaming about our past…" Reiko said. Sakura nodded.

"Yeah, me too. I guess our memories are coming back in our dreams as well," she said.

"I can't do this! NO WAY! You are not making me, Toma-chan!!" Daichi's voice cried from a short distance. Emo and the girls glanced over, noticing Daichi trying to struggle out of Tomaru's hold of him as they two approached the ice rink.

"Aw come on, Daichi. It's not that hard!" Toma retorted with a soft chuckle. Emochan smiled and skated over to them.

"Hey you two," she said with a warm smile. Daichi glared at her and groaned.

"I can't skate worth my life…" He muttered as he reluctantly put on his skates. Toma laughed and glanced at the others on the rink.

"Everyone here?" he asked.

"Everyone but Homoto. He's late…" Emochan said and patted Daichi on the back. Toma grabbed his hands and eased him onto the ice. "Don't worry, Daichi. Toshira couldn't ice skate either but has the hang of it now, see?" she pointed to Toshira, who was being spun by the twins.

"EMOCHAAAAN!! HELP ME!!" he said frantically, making other people stare at him. He blushed in embarrassment and was flung to a side of the rink, where he hung on for dear life. The twins laughed and grinned mischievously. Emochan shook her head and looked at Daichi, who was panicking.

"No way…I ain't cut out for skating…" he said and tried to break free once again. Toma smirked and let him go. Daichi yelped at first, but then started skating perfectly along the ice. His feet were like a pro's.

"Whoa! I thought you said you couldn't skate!" Emochan said as the others watched on in astonishment. Daichi looked at himself and smiled.

"I guess I was good at it when I was a prince!" he said happily. The others joined him, skating around and past each other. Emochan stood at the edge to watch her friends.

I really do have some great friends, don't I? Memories of being teased by other students when she first moved to Japan made her frown. I don't need to worry about that anymore…A poke against her back made her turn around and see Homoto.

"You're late!" she said, pretending to be angry.

"I sometimes enjoy being fashionably late, you know," he replied with a smirk as he got on the ice to join in on the fun.

Emochan only smiled as she skated along with her friends. Once everyone grew tired, they went to a lodge nearby and gathered by the fireplace. After sipping some hot chocolate, Reiko looked over at Emo with a serious look.

"So what should we do?" She asked. Emochan thought a moment and sighed.

"To tell you the truth, I really don't know. I have no clue on how to find the other senshi and I can feel that a big battle is gonna happen soon."

"We need to get Toshiro on our side….if we can…" Toshira frowned. Emochan grabbed his arm and leaned on his shoulder. Homoto glanced at the fire.

"Why don't we attract Toshiro? Have him come to us," he said. Toshira smiled.

"That's a great plan…but how?"

"Well…" Toma said. "We could pretend like we have a huge plan. That would attract his attention. Make him think that we have a complex and developed plan to take down Morgana…."

"Yeah, and we could get the girls to go attract a youma! And in the meantime, we can try and sniff out the other senshi," Daichi chirped in. Emochan heard this and scratched her head a little in thought.

"It could work. I already have an idea of who could be one.." she said.

"Really?" Toshira asked.

"Who?" Toma asked.

"Mai," Emochan replied.

"Mai?? How?" Reiko exclaimed.

"I get a strange vibe from her and I sense a strange power in her voice. It's like she has the power to sway listeners when she sings," Emochan said. Toma smiled.

"That would be pretty cool…but how could we find out?"

"Hmm…maybe if we confront her…you know, as her about her about certain things and bring up memories of the past life, she may awaken from it," Emochan replied thoughtfully. Reiko and Sakura nodded.

"Okay! We can look into it tomorrow!" Reiko said.

"Alright. Then we will only have to find one more senshi!" Daichi said.

"Yay!" yelped Sakura. Emochan let out a cheerful laugh and stood up.

"Let's do it!" she said and everyone stood up. She threw her hand up and everyone else did the same.

"HAI!" they all yelled and left the cabin. Toshira dropped Emochan off at home. She put on some music on her stereo and she sat on her bed in deep thought. I hope this works…we need to find those senshi… she thought as she stared at herself in her mirror. You can do this. After all, you were royalty in the past life. You owe your people.

As she stared at her reflection, the glass started to move. It began to ripple as if it were a pond. Emo gasped in fear, jumping out of her chair and taking a few steps back. "Nani!?" The music around her went silent.

The rippling went away as the face of Toshiro appeared a wide grin on his face.

"You will not win, Princess," he said as she pulled out her broach with caution.

"Wh…what do you want?" Emochan asked.

"Only your demise. It isn't a hard request to fill, you know," he said, adjusting his hair and cape. His eyes rested on her hand as it clasped around her broach. "Your henshin won't save you. I could kill you in an instant right now if I wanted to…" he said slyly. Emochan narrowed her eyes and watched him cautiously.

"Then why don't you?"

"My queen gave me specific orders on how to kill you. I just wanted to let you know that it will be coming very soon, so enjoy what little time you have left. Besides, you are much to fun to watch."

"Just wait. You've seen nothing yet," Emochan said with a smirk.

"Hmph." Toshiro glared at her as he disappeared from her mirror.

Everything was back to normal. Her stereo still played music. Little time had passed. Emochan sighed as she walked out onto her balcony. Snow fell silently, making her smile.

"Don't you worry, Toshiro. You still have quite a show to watch yet…and then we will bring you back to us…for Toshira…" she whispered into the wind. "Tomorrow…the search will begin…" She walked back into her room with a yawn. Changing into her bunny pajamas, she let her kitten into her bedroom and got into bed. Angel curled up by her face; a loud purring stirring from her. Emochan rubbed the kitten's head a little and closed her eyes. Please let this work…

Emochan's alarm woke her up from a restless sleep that Sunday morning. Her red robe felt nice against her skin and she sleepily walked downstairs to feed Angel. Angel meowed happily and began to eat as Emochan walked into the living room. There sat a note from her mother. "I'm out shopping. Won't be gone long. Daichi-san called you really early this morning. Better call him back. See ya, Mama," she read out loud and shook her head. "Why did Daichi call? I hope nothing's wrong." She dialed his number.

"Moshi moshi?" He answered. He sounded very drowsy.

"Daichi, it's Emo. Mom said that you called me earlier…something wrong?"

"Homoto called me this morning and told me about a dream he had. He said that he saw a girl fighting during the war against Morgana. Her name was mentioned but he can't remember what it was. He just remembers a spatula."

"Spatula?"

"Yes, I know it sounds weird…but I believe him. It sounds familiar to me."

"Hmm…maybe she is the last senshi?"

"That's what I was guessing. So are we going along with our plan today?"

"Yeah. Since I'll be in school tomorrow we have to make everything sound convincing today." Emochan said.

"Don't worry! We'll do a good job."

"I have faith in ya. Would you know where Mai is?"

"Hm…she's probably at the Beikoku club right now. I'm pretty sure Toma said yesterday that they were going to rehearse a bit to make sure their equipment still works."

"Thanks, Daichi. I'll contact the twins and we'll go chill out there and see if we can figure out anything. Maybe a youma will show up."

"Okay. If you need any help, you know my number," Daichi yawned and hung up. Emochan stretched her arms out a little.

Emochan texted her friends on her cell phone and ran upstairs to get a shower. We have to make this look real. Time to use your acting skills, Emo, she thought to herself with confidence.