Chapter 15:

Broken Links

When school ended, everyone met up and walked into the city to the restaurant. Emochan looked up and read the name of the place out loud, "Chouri Fantasy. Interesting name." she said and smiled faintly. Homoto looked at the others and pointed into the entrance.

"I think she may be behind the counter."

"Hai." Reiko said and they walked in. They were greeted by a waitress and were seated at a table. She glanced at their menus and Toshira grinned hungrily.

"My lunch didn't do me justice today…" he said with a smirk. Sakura laughed and talked with Reiko and Toshiro about what to order. As the others ordered, Emochan glanced out the tall windows and saw people pass by her. She heard fainted laughed and she gasped slightly, but was nudged by Toshira. She smiled at him and ordered. As the waitress left they looked over at the counter and saw a young woman. Her dyed light blue hair was up in a partial bun, chop sticks holding it up. Blue bangs were over her green eyes and she wore a uniform. She smiled as she glanced at Homoto, recognizing him. She left the counter and walked over to the table. Her nametag read "Sarah".

"Hello there. I remember you." she said to Homoto. He nodded. "You were here the other day."

"Hai. Thought this place was great, so I brought some friends." He said. Sarah looked at everyone and smiled.

"Hello, everyone. I'm Sarah and I'm the owner of this place."

"Really? Wow. This place is awesome!" Sakura said. Reiko nodded. Mai looked at her and her eyes widened slightly and then she looked at Emochan. Emochan looked at Sarah.

"Are you from America?" She asked. Sarah nodded.

"Yeah I was born there and I moved here about 8 years ago." She replied. "Are you?"

"Yeah. My friends and I just moved here some months ago." Emochan said and pointed to Sakura and Reiko. Toshiro shrugged and watched them with a grunt. Toshira chuckled and looked at Sarah with a smile. The waitress returned with their orders and Sarah looked at them.

"I hope you enjoy your meals. Goodbye." she said and left them. Emochan looked at them.

"She is the one…I know it…" she said. Mai nodded.

"I sensed something very familiar about her." Reiko said and Sakura yawned.

"All this talking is making our food cold!" she said and started eating. Emochan sighed and started to eat her small amount of chicken and rice. Toshira gobbled up his curry and the others ate as well.

I hope we can change you back, Daichi… She thought to herself as she ate. I can't stand this feeling… After they were finished eating, they made plans to come back and speak to Sarah about being a senshi.

Emochan and Toshira walked back to her house and they sat down in her bedroom. Toshira rubbed her back gently as she held her face. "I don't know if I can handle this, Toshira." she said sadly. She lifted her face and looked at him. "I can't handle this incredible feeling that Daichi and Toma are lost to us…maybe I can't do this…" she said. Toshira held her and shook his head.

"I know you, Emochan. We have survived this long, haven't we? You are very strong. I know you will pull through from this. Everything will be alright." He said. She sniffled and looked up at him. He leaned in and kissed her gently. She wrapped her arms around his side and savored his warmth around her.

"I love you, Toshira more than life itself." She whispered upon breaking the kiss. Their eyes locked and he gave her a warm smile.

"I will always love you, my brown-eyed princess." He said and kissed her again. Emochan snuggled against Toshira after the kiss and they watched the sun set through her windows. "I should get going," Toshira said and stood up. Emochan frowned and nodded.

"Thank you for everything." she said as he walked out into the hallway. Emochan smiled and followed him downstairs and to the front door. With a last kiss, Toshira left and vanished into the snowy wonderland outside. Emochan sighed and closed the door and walked back upstairs.

As she looked out her windows to watch the gentle snowfall, she felt a strange warmth from her pendent. She took it off and looked at it. She opened it and her eyes widened at the sight inside. The small picture of her and Daichi as children began to burn in small flames. She gasped and threw the pendent onto her bedroom floor and watched as flames engulfed the necklace. The flames turned from its natural colors into a crimson red and then into a deep black. An intense laughter filled her bedroom and Emochan covered her ears. She looked at the flames and they evaporated away. She approached the pendent cautiously and picked it up. It changed from a golden color into a black and purple color. It felt unnaturally cold in her hands and she placed it inside a dresser drawer. She looked into her mirror and her eyes became stricken with anger and determination. "I will get you back. No matter what the cost. I have lost you once, and I will not lose you again." she said. The laughter ceased and she sat on her bed. She took a deep breath and took out her homework from school and worked on it until her mother came home from work. Her mother asked how her day went, and Emo forced herself to not speak about what really happened. It was late so her mother retired to her bedroom. Emochan silently went back to her schoolwork and then retreated to the world of sleep herself, hoping that the next day would be a better one.

The rest of the week passed by slowly for everyone. There were no more signs from Daichi to Emochan, and things were almost like normal. Emochan tried to devise a plan about her brother and dear friend while the others worked on ways to get Sarah to regain her memory as a senshi. Homoto has stopped by the restaurant a couple more times that week and tried to drop clues, but she had not gotten them. Emochan found out from Sakura that Toshiro had asked Reiko on a dinner date and she felt happy for them. But to the others she really wasn't herself. They began to worry about Emochan as the days passed into the next week.