Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon or Gundam Wing.
Chapter 6
This truly had to be the bane of his existence.
It wasn't that Wufei had anything better to do than go through lists and lists of endless names and submit them to memory, but that he'd rather be out exhibiting his physical competency by actually protecting the Vice Foreign Minister.
But no, some too-arrogant and overbearing woman had placed him in charge of background checks of anyone who had within a twenty-five degree association with Relena Darlian. Nevermind that she was head bodyguard to possibly the current most powerful woman in the world.
Wufei shuffled through another packet of personal files, frowning at the echo of crinkling pages in the eerily silent research room. It was all very meaningless. Most of the lesser and more superfluous personnel had been dismissed. Those closest to Relena consisted strangely of four women. Her bodyguard was a statuesque brunette, forest green hair styled short surrounding a pale face with a permanent expression of such intimidation that it became worthy of Wufei's hard-to-earn respect.
The three other women were Relena's Chief Advisor, lawyer, and personal aide. He had found it strange that they had not been in the least affected by the 'plague,' dubbed by Relena herself. He had found it even stranger that they began working for the woman only a year ago and were all employed around the same time.
Very suspicious indeed, but they were very efficient in doing their jobs. The bodyguard shadowed Relena all day, and wasn't half bad at fighting off those entrenched with the hypnotic seizures. Her Chief Advisor had never once led Relena astray, and her lawyer had managed to keep the press off her back. He didn't have as many kind words for the attendent, however. The woman was vain and catty, though very friendly with who he had been ordered to protect. She was also tagging along on Relena's diplomatic trip to L2 tomorrow, much to his chagrin.
Footsteps echoed down the hallway. Wufei glanced up at the doorway.
"How is it coming along?" Trowa inquired with a brief nod in greeting.
"It's fantastic," Wufei sneered sarcastically, throwing down the stacks of neatly arranged papers in a huff. "I did not accept this assignment to look through papers."
Trowa folded his arms over his chest, bowing his head in thought. "What have you come across so far?"
"Nothing. Absolutely nothing."
"I don't trust them."
Wufei looked up sharply. "That's two of us."
Trowa allowed him an understanding nod and puzzled over their situation again, because that was what this catastrophe was—a maddening puzzle. Those four women hadn't displayed any danger or ill-intent toward Relena, he didn't know where they fit in. Their background checks had been too clean and too perfect to be real—not even a speeding ticket lay craftily in their records. He had reason to believe their histories were fraudulent, and he was sure Wufei felt the exact same.
And at the same time, he and Wufei did not necessarily agree with everything the women had to suggest, they managed to be civil with each other. It was Relena's desire for them to get along, although she herself was slightly wary of them.
They caught the scent of light and airy perfume before they heard the sharp, no-nonsense clack of high heels. Trowa let his fine line of thought culminate as Wufei stared at the Chief Advisor with a bored expression.
"Miss Relena requests your attendance." The woman gave them an aloof smile, amber eyes landing on the packet of papers stacked messily on the desk. "Not going too well, is it?"
Wufei snorted, rising to his feet. "There is absolutely no point in doing this. There are no motives," he stated disdainfully. "We were given orders to serve as bodyguards, not to do this menial work."
She frowned delicately. "Forgive Petz. She's a very cautious woman and she doesn't like outsiders."
"Outsiders?" Trowa curiously raised an eyebrow.
"You're from the colonies. She doesn't like people who were born outside of the Earth."
Wufei's eyes narrowed into two scornful fragments of flint. "Why?"
"A long story," she said at length, smoothing back a few strands of auburn hair that had managed to come undone from her simple bun, "and I don't think she would appreciate me telling you." She smiled again, face slipping back into a well-practiced mask of indifference. "We should get going."
Trowa raised his head abruptly as she turned away. Her answer bothered him. Relena's head bodyguard did not seem as irrational to be prejudiced against those born outside of the Earth. "Calaveras—"
She looked over her shoulder. "Yes?"
"You were born in Japan, am I correct?"
"Yes. I was born in Tokyo."
"Petz, Beruche, and Cooan, also?"
"Yes."
"Your English is impeccable."
"We went to academically challenging schools," she answered without so much of a bat of an eyelash.
Trowa, undaunted, continued, "How did you meet them?"
Calaveras smiled tightly. The forcefulness that went behind it did not go unnoticed by either Trowa or Wufei. "We were very close as children. If you're wondering also how we came to work here, it was because a woman notified us of four opening positions. I'm afraid I don't know her name or where I could find her again," she explained with a note of finality. "I think we've kept Miss Relena waiting long enough."
Wufei frowned as she turned again to leave. She held her head high, posing straight and rigid as if she had served in a high military position prior to her current office position. But of course, that was impossible, because she was a woman and women were not meant to lead.
"What was that about?"
"They're from Tokyo. Hiiro and Duo are there now."
"Searching for a bunch of miniskirt-suited girls who fight evil with magic. It's ridiculous."
"There's a connection, Wufei. I just can't figure it out yet."
Wufei grumbled under his breath, "When you figure it out, let me know. I'm sick of this paperwork." He gave the 2-D nuisances one final glare before they left the room to prepare for the trip to L2.
-----
"You're late."
She slowed as she approached him. Usagi grinned at him sheepishly and ducked her flushed face from his watchful stare. Hiiro looked very cool, standing there with his hands lodged comfortably in his jacket. He wore the same black jacket she had met him in, and she couldn't help but marvel at the way the dark brown hair at the nape of his neck seemed to melt into the jet collar. His eyes caught hers and she smiled weakly. "Sorry, it's a bad habit," she answered cheerily before pulling out a brown paper bag from insde her long winter coat. "Ta-da!"
He frowned suspiciously. "What's that?"
"Bread crumbs!" she chirped and bounced toward him, all smiles and very unlike the girl he had often seen her shift to. He trailed closely behind.
The day was still caught in the throes of a wet winter, but there were so many people, it was stifling. A toddler, no more than five-years old, bisected the path he was following. Hiiro tried to step around him but the little boy latched on to his right leg and started to bawl.
His fists clenched impatiently in his pockets as he gave his leg a little shake. "Get off."
The child turned big, bleary lilac eyes at him, opened his mouth, and wailed.
Hiiro was suddenly at a loss. "Get off," he said again, more sensitively than the first time. The kid didn't budge.
Usagi turned around, disconcerted to find that she had been talking to herself for a little more than half the way. Hiiro was still near the entrance with a child clinging to his leg. She blinked incredulously and retraced her steps.
"Hiiro-san?"
"He won't get off."
Usagi grinned—he acted as if he had never seen a child before. She leaned down to the boy's height. "What's wrong?"
He sniffled, wiping his nose on Hiiro's pants. "I got booboo." He pointed to his scraped elbow as his eyes watered again.
Usagi gave Hiiro a furtive glance and it took all her willpower to keep from exploding from laughter. He looked so uncomfortable in his rigid and demanding-looking posture, perplexed scowl on his face. Her lips spread into a restrained smile as she turned to the child. "If you keep crying, you won't be able to play," she said softly as she applied it carefully to his wound. She gave him a gentle pat on the soft mop of pale blonde hair once she was done. "Are you lost? I'll help you find your mommy if you want."
He dug the heels of his palms furiously into his eyes, rubbing dry his tears. "Thank you, 'nee-san,"* he answered shyly as he took her offered hand.
-----
Minako's head was about to implode. Or was it explode? She forgot which one was messier.
She stalked around, jerking up clothes with posture poor enough to make any admirer wince in shame. Chucking a full shopping bag across the room, she managed to trip over a wire which connected to an expensive-looking crystal table lamp. . .which was now an expensive-looking broken crystal table lamp. She bemoaned the disaster zone that had once been her four-star hotel room.
Apparently, her agent had screwed up a valuable appointment with one of the most acclaimed and thus incredibly anal photographers in the universe. She was supposed to be at the shoot about—she checked the fancy digital clock on the nightstand—half an hour ago.
Minako sank wearily into the plush leather footrest as she attempted to zip up her jeans. Unfortunately, the zipper didn't feel like cooperating with her and decided to get caught in her underwear.
She shot her favorite pair of pants a black look, and at the same time, mourned the loss of a dear friend in her beloved panties.
As she rummaged through her luggage for another set of clothes, she prayed that she would be able to win over the photographer with her expert pearly-white smile.
-----
Usagi grinned and grabbed Hiiro's hand, not noticing how much he had stiffened at her impulsive touch.
He let her drag him through the park. He watched her the entire way, chattering about silly things to the little boy, about her favorite kind of cake and candy, giggling when the toddler rewarded her with laughter and smiles. Over her head, he caught the boy staring inquisitively at him.
"Are you lost, too?"
-----
It wasn't Relena's ideal position to be enclosed in a human fence, but this was what she had to deal with until they found the source of the 'plague.' Her personal arena didn't look too happy about the arrangement either. Twice already, she had seen the consequences of Wufei's frustration of the fruitless traces, utilizing the anger into intense sparring against Petz. Petz, however, was also a skilled fighter and was not one to take loss easily.
They made a frightening team, although she found Petz to be much more ruthless than Wufei. She was a cold and serious woman, but kind, and maybe even a little somber once she slipped out of her shell. From what Relena had gathered, her lover her died long ago fighting for what was right but wrong at the same time.
It was complicated, and Relena, knowing the feeling, had consoled Petz and left it at that.
They strode together in perfect unison into the elevator. Calaveras had requested an entire floor to be rented out. All other personnel were to be prohibited from entering that floor for Relena's protection.
The ride up was eerily quiet. Relena hadn't realized she had been holding her breath until the floor of their destination arrived with a clean ring. The air escaped her mouth almost desperately.
"This is the eighteenth floor. We're supposed to be on the nineteeth, Wufei."
"I pressed the nineteenth floor."
Relena frowned in alarm. "I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding—" She paused when down the hall, a door opened with the faintest clicks and then closed again. The air began to hum violently with unbridled tension. She felt Wufei's arm shift subtly towards his katana on her right. Trowa stretched his hand for his gun on her left. A man with a slightly unshaven jaw had stepped out of the room and glanced at them briefly before he turned the other way. The tension dissipated as soon as it had come.
"Thank God," Cooan breathed quietly from behind. "Let's get off this floor."
Wufei punched the button labeled '19' and waited for the doors to close. When they didn't, he pressed the close button repeatedly.
"Well?" Petz inquired scathingly from the front, not bothering to turn her head.
"The buttons aren't working," he replied through gritted teeth.
Petz glared at him, mouth thinning into a frown. "Let me see—"
Calaveras nudged her in the ribs. "He's back."
Relena watched forward quietly. The nondescript man wandered back from wherever he had gone to and stood across from his door, fumbling for the card key. His unsteady hand extended, slim white card gripped loosely. But just as he was about to slip it into the door, he turned his head and looked straight at them.
The air hazed and melted before Relena's blue-grey eyes. The hallway distorted as a busy street would on a sweltering hot day. The fair hair on her slender arms stood on end. Someone cursed; she didn't know who and she didn't care. Arms pulled her further back into the elevator—Cooan and Beruche. Petz and Calaveras stepped forward, Wufei and Trowa fanning out beside them.
Another door clicked softly across the hall. A maid, carrying a basket of dirty towels, walked obviously into the front line and into the quivering mist. The menacing current of air took ahold of the maid sooner than it did the man.
The wicker basket fell to the floor with a bleak thud.
-----
After the dust had cleared, he had managed to overcome the paralysis that had constricted him. Sore, as if watching the apartment complex explode and crumble from one miscalculated mistake had physically injured him, he stumbled across hot grey-white ash. The tiny yellow puppy lay curled in a fetal position on its side; it was the position in which all life began. His hands reached out reverently and the ash-snow melted at his touch.
The puppy was still warm.
-----
The troublesome racket outside Minako's room was more than exasperating. She swung the door open, ready to give the pests a piece of her mind when the steel blade of a sword embedded itself securely into the wood of the door next to her head. Her mouth dropped open as she stared at it in shock, eyes widening when a man rushed past her, dislodging the weapon. He gave her a disparaging look with narrowed onyx eyes before he flew down the hall.
Her attention was suddenly focused on the woman who ran past her ajar door to aid the man who was entrenched in a battle with a civilian. Minako gaped at the woman with hair the color of blue frost in disbelief. To the right of the hallway was Relena Darlian backed up against the elevator wall, two more familiar woman surrounding her in circle of protection.
The hallway wasn't narrow, but it wasn't fit for a battle, either. Minako stared at the frenzied fighting almost blankly before training she hadn't used for the better of two years jolted her back into her room.
She fumbled for the communicator she had left on the nightstand, suddenly very relieved that they had agreed to keep it at hand just in case. She pressed the first button.
Rei's provoked countenance buzzed onto the screen. "Minako, what did I tell you about—"
"We have a situation."
Violet eyes narrowed into sharp glints. "What do you mean?"
Minako spared a glance at the battle only a few meters to her left. The Asian one was holding back a man with the butt of his katana, Beruche at his side. The other brunette was fending off a maid. Cooan and Calaveras were leading Relena away from the scene.
Two doors across from hers opened almost simultaneously, two inquisitive and equally concerned heads peered out. Minako opened her mouth to urge them back into their rooms, but the atmosphere wavered; the image before her looked as it would reflected in a melting mirror. The change in the older of the two men was immediate. His expression fizzled into a cold and hateful temperament, one that she was too comfortable with. He reached across the wall that divided his room from the one he lived next to and touched that confused resident. The second man fell to the ground.
Minako took a breath. "Relena Darlian is being attacked by a bunch of civilians," she whispered, squeezing her transformation pen as a comfort device. The muted light that had passed from the unconscious gentleman on the floor to the one who was now fighting against Beruche was life energy, she was sure of it. She slid into a crouch, muscles tense and taut with anticipation.
"The Queen of the World?"
She nodded affirmative. "They look possessed."
"I haven't felt any dark energy," Rei responded pensively.
Her lucid blue eyes flickered with worry. "I have to do something."
The priestess' face suddenly zoomed in extra close so that all Minako could see were two threatening violet orbs. She smiled grimly.
"Don't you dare get involved with this. Not now and not in this form!"
"Don't worry about me, Rei-chan. We were trained for this."
"Minako!"
"Let the others know. Over and out." She snapped the communicator shut, cutting off the rest of Rei's burgeoning protests, and selflessly jumped head first into the mess.
-----
"I've been lost all my life."
-----
The wall rattled precariously as Beruche slammed brutally against it. She winced, holding one hand to her bruised chest. Her lower ribs screamed in bloody protest. The middle-aged male she had been battling came at her again, forcing her to roll into a duck. It was times like these that she wished she had her old powers back, she thought with a nostalgic smirk.
Beruche held herself up, though her movements were slowing. She doubted she would be able to evade the next blow. She braced herself as the raised his arm, ice blue eyes open.
There was a sudden flash of yellow hair, and the greying brunette stumbled backwards.
She stared incredulously at her savior. "Minako-chan?"
The blonde grinned toothily and raised her slim fingers in a victory sign. "I never expected to see you here, Beruche-san!"
"Long story—behind you!"
Minako ducked in perfect time, allowing Beruche to deliver a disabling blow. The victim dropped to the floor like an old, discarded doll.
He hadn't lasted long in the fight—ten minutes at the most. She had figured out a pattern among the victims of the plague. The older ones were easily struck down once past a certain amount of time whereas the younger victims were able to continue in their frenzy for a little over half an hour.
It was useful data, although it wasn't the strangest. After restraining the victims are interrogating them thoroughly, they had found incredible evidence of psychological or sociological discomfort. Most had relationship troubles and deepseated insecurities that were not to be so easily dissuaded. Some had experienced nervous breakdowns at least once in their lives, a handful had been chronically depressed, and one had even been antisocial. The results had troubled all those involved, but it had troubled her and her sisters the most.
Beruche caught the probing gaze of her former enemy and smiled wearily. "I'll explain it once we get Miss Relena to safety."
-----
He smiled sweetly in all his childish innocence. "Usagi-nee-san will take you home."
Hiiro didn't answer, opting to test Usagi's expression. She looked almost puzzled between the two of them.
He soon found himself relaxing as she trudged them deeper into the park.
-----
They were finally on the nineteenth floor, deserted of anyone else except Relena's personal security and herself. Cooan and company were checking up on Relena's welfare, leaving her alone with the two men. But to her vexation, the one Beruche had introduced as Wufei continued to glare suspiciously at her, even after all the help she had magnanimously pitched in. Missing her photoshoot had already put a damper on her mood. Minako schooled her face and pretended not to be offended.
"You speak English."
Minako bestowed Trowa a bemused smile. It seemed like a lot of people had been commenting on her language abilities recently. "Yes. I was born in England and lived there for the first thirteen years of my life."
Trowa stared at Wufei with his evocative jade eyes. Wufei begrudgingly acknowledged the silent undertone.
"And you're from Japan," the unnecessarily peeved male with the coal-black hair stated.
"Yes. . ."
"And you know those women."
"Yes. . ."
"How do you know them?"
Minako blinked, a slow conspiratorial smile pulling at her mouth. She leaned forward and whispered, "So which one of them do you like?"
Wufei jerked back and glared in utter confusion. "What?"
"You like one of them, that's why you're asking me all these questions about them, right? If you're too scared to ask, I could set you up."
It took a while for her words to sink in, and when they did: "I am NOT scared!"
Trowa gave him the strangest look.
"Okay, okay." Minako grinned innocently, spreading her hands in defense. "We met through some friends." There wasn't even an uncertain or guilty flicker to her eyes as the lie rolled off her tongue.
The door to Relena's suite opened. Cooan appeared, looking unusually serious. "Miss Relena would like to speak to Minako alone."
Wufei stalked forward. "Why?"
Cooan tossed her deep violet hair over her shoulder, sneering haughtily at the brutish male. She despised men with no manners. "She wants to know where Minako got her shoes."
"What kind of a—" spluttered Wufei.
"Come on, Minako," Cooan interjected smoothly, leading the blonde into Relena's suite. She cast a dirty look at the Preventer and slammed the door insolently in his fuming face.
-----
"Bye 'nee-san, bye 'nii-san!"**
Usagi waved to the toddler, now in the safety of the arms of his mother. "Ne, Hiiro-san," she suddenly said quietly, "you don't mind feeding ducks, do you?" She rocked on her heels a little uncertainly.
"No. I've never done it before."
She looked positively shocked, mouth even dropping open a little. "You've never fed ducks before?"
He glared at the ground. "No."
Her smile was sympathetic; Mamoru had never fed the ducks before he had met her, either. "Don't worry. It's really easy." She squatted by the pond's edge and beckoned with a gentle wave of her hand for him to do the same. He followed reluctantly. The crowd of ducks nearest to him flitted off into further waters.
"They always do that, Hiiro-san." Usagi scooped her hand inside the sack. "Here, hold out your hand."
He did as she told and received a generous amount of bread crumbs.
"Now, just scatter some at them," she instructed. The paper bag crinkled as she reached her hand in.
He threw the entire handful.
Usagi smiled tolerantly and handed Hiiro some more. He was a little rough around the edges, but he had the idea down, she mused. "Once they get more familiar with you, they'll actually eat from your hand."
Hiiro extended his hand and decided this really wasn't too bad. There were other more efficient things he would rather be doing, but feeding ducks was kind of—dare he think it—fun. And the funny looking animals seemed to really like him. Not that he actually cared.
"They must really like you, Hiiro-san!" she giggled unabashedly as the ducks swarmed towards him in an effervescent green-brown tide. They were really beginning to crowd him. She took a step to the side to let a baby mallard take her place.
His hand was empty already, but he was still unconditionally surrounded by them. Hiiro grabbed the forgotten bag and tried to throw the bread crumbs further and further away. It worked for a second before they all came waddling back towards him, quacking expectantly. He glared at them; their quacking only grew more and more insistent. People were beginning to stare. He looked up at Usagi for help.
Her fair face was turned upwards to the grey sky, slack and sweet as if she were drinking in the very light the clouds were so adamant in hiding. Her eyes were closed, dark lashes curled against her rosy cheeks.
But her hair was what caught his attention the most. No one had a hairstyle quite like hers, though he was confident he had seen it one other time. Again, the more he tried to remember, the less he remembered. He shook his head once, willing the oncoming headache to retreat, and in that quick movement, he was given a wide view of the entire park.
His messy thoughts became a lingering shadow as the most unusual sight distracted him—a disheveled woman in a torn sundress was running towards them, but that was no less stranger than what was occurring around her. Everyone she touched along the way collapsed as if they had the very vigor sucked out from them, and with each person, she gained greater speed.
She was headed straight towards Usagi, he dimly realized. He grabbed her hand, flinging breadcrumbs everywhere and startling the tranquil blanket of ducks. They flew upwards and outwards, iridescent browns and greens shielding them as they ran.
"Hiiro-san?" Usagi yelped breathlessly as she fought to keep up with his pace. She stood in a blank stupor as they stopped abruptly behind a copse of trees.
"Over there," he growled, pulling her down into a squat with him.
Usagi frowned and peeked out from behind the trunk. A woman, brunette and as pale as a ghost less than ten yards away, was headed towards them at an almost inhuman speed. "What. . ." The words died on her lips as she watched Hiiro reach into his coat and retrieve a gun. The length of his arm extended and she could only scream in panic, "Don't shoot her!" as she knocked his arm down. The magazine fell to the grass. She grabbed it, ran out into the open, and tossed it into the brush.
"Usagi!" he barked as he made a swipe for her and missed, barely able to comprehend what had just happened. A girl who scarcely reached his shoulders had disarmed him with one movement. He was suddenly tempted to either congratulate her or leave her out there to die.
The deranged woman paused about three meters away from the blonde with a smile cruel enough to concern him. She turned to him as if sensing his thoughts, murderous interest shifting from Usagi, and all he could see was the growing insanity in her pale blue eyes.
They were Quatre's eyes, he remembered, as the Zero system had taken over his mind and body. They were power-hungry and fatal.
It was bloodlust.
-----
Chapter 1 (?_?) of the "preview."
"Ah, so our sleeping beauty awakes."
The voice was deep and grainy. The speaker was old, laryx worn. His vision focused and unfocused on the immaculate tile ceiling above him. A grey-white haze entered his periphery—hair, then a face from which he could only assume were two eyes peered at him through the pair of glaring thick goggles. He blinked his sensitive eyes and twisted his head to the side.
It hurt.
"How strange," another voice mused, quieter, gentler, and younger than the first. A woman's voice. "There were no changes in any of his physiological functions as he woke up."
"Oh ho! So he can control his pulse and brain waves. How long have you been awake, boy?"
His mouth opened and the sound was gravel on his thick tongue. "Where am I?"
The old man in the white labcoat smiled. It was nothing but a curved crevasse in his heavily sagging face. "The proper question is when, and it is now After Colony 275. You were put to sleep, so to speak, by cryogenic technology. How does it feel to live through an entire century?"
He wasn't sure if he was surprised, or if he was happy. He couldn't remember how it was to feel. He couldn't remember anything.
"My name," he whispered. The old man gave him a puzzled look and exchanged a glance with the woman over his head.
"You don't know it?"
"What is it?"
"Do you remember anything?"
"What is my name?"
There was a buzzing silence, the sound of voracious flies, before the old man spoke again.
"Hiiro Yui. Your name is Hiiro Yui."
"Hiiro Yui," he repeated to himself, engraving it desperately to his blank and thirsty mind. "What else?"
"You're twenty-four years old." He paused. "You don't remember anything?"
"No," Hiiro answered coldly and mechanically repeated, "What else?"
"Sally, would you mind refreshing Mr. Yui's memory?"
The woman entered his view, an indulgent and curious smile in her china blue eyes. She was mixed, Asian, unquestionably, and somehow he knew he was also Asian.
"You're lucky you're alive, Mr. Yui. There was an assassination attempt on your life in AC 175. You sustained critical injuries as the bullet did go through your stomach. Technology was not as advanced back then as it is now, so you were frozen in hopes of reviving and repairing your wounds when the field of medicine has progressed to where it is now."
"Why?"
Sally raised an eyebrow. "Why what?"
"Why did someone try to kill me?"
"You were a revolutionary pacifist leader of the colonies. People were bound to disagree with you," she responded with a fascinated expression, then turned to her mentor. "I'm thinking this retrograde amnesia has affected his personality as well, wouldn't you say, Doctor J?"
"Yes, I do believe so," he answered thoughtfully, touching his chin with a cybernetic hand that Hiiro had only just noticed. "The charisma, I still see, but something is missing. Psychological stress or brain damage; which do you speculate on, Sally?"
Amused, she smirked. "I doubt brain damage, Doctor, but psychological stress is not unlikely. He has been in a deep sleep for a very long time. It's not uncommon to be disoriented and hostile when initially regaining consciousness." She turned one of the many monitors her way and checked the sinusoidal patterns on the screen. "Vital statistics are good, and you might not want to do that just yet, Mr. Yui. Your muscles are still cold and tender."
Hiiro dropped back into the crib, stinging pain arching up and down his back and shoulders without mercy. There was little he could do except lie and listen and think on empty facts and faces that had no real meaning. "What else?" he finally said at length, staring icily at ceiling.
Sally fell quiet and cast a tentative glance towards Doctor J. He nodded curtly in response. Her reluctance strummed through the air. "You had a wife and two children."
He didn't seem to hear at first, she noticed, resting still and calm, until the sensitive machinery began to beep twice as fast as before and the rises in the pixel graphs began to spike substantially up and down on the monitors. Sally rushed to the main controls to steady the system, keeping one eye on Hiiro.
Doctor J watched on as recognition—frenetic and chaotic—invaded Hiiro's detached appearance. Nostalgia sharpened and widened the black-blue of his eyes, shallowed his breathing to rapid squanderings of air. His mouth opened, and a name tumbled out.
"Usagi."
*'nee-san (onee-san): older sister **'nii-san (onii-san): older brother
AN: Sorry x_x! This chapter sucks. I actually had this chapter written out, then I decided to change it, and now it's even suckier than the original. O_o It's long, I think, to make up for the two weeks I haven't really been around. ^^;;
[BTW] FF.net won't let me put up links -.- so I can't show you guys the picture of the G-boys photoshopped into the Sailor Senshi. Rofl, it's in my page link in my bio. Click that and on the top journal entry, the link is listed there.
I have a question about Quatre's business O.o;; Winner Corporation or whatever it's called. . . so like, he handles satellites?_? Resource satellites?_! Natural resource satellites?!_? Lol, what exactly are natural resource satellites? _ What do they do exactly? O.o Are they just like storage places for resources or are they something else? X.x I feel like such a dumbnut on GW. O_o A fake dumbnut. XD My info on GW is limited to like the first 30 episodes and EW. x_x I'm afraid I'm going to have to do some altering to the GW world if I'm not too sure about stuff. . Any help is appreciated, though! ^^;;
For those of you who don't know who Petz (Prizma), Beruche (Birdie), Calaveras (Avery), and Cooan (Catsy) are, they are the Ayakashi sisters from the Black Moon Arc. ;D They never died, so I thought it would be fun to bring them in. *kekeke's* ^^; Um, I dunno what exactly they have to do with. . .stuff. . .but I'll figure something out, lol. X.xCJ-Chan: I know what you mean. ^^;; I don't really get why some (many o.O) people don't like Relena, either. I admired her at some points, but overall she isn't a favorite character of mine, although I don't dislike her. I've bashed her once XD but it was nothing personal. It was just more humor in a humor fic for me. Thanks for reviewing ;D I never have much to say either ^^;;
Kolinshar Benito: FINDING NEMO! I love that movie!! . . .Except for the part where this old guy next to me kept touching my bare leg (I was wearing shorts -.-). *vomits* Lol, anyways, SUGAR DOES INSPIRE! That should be a motto or something!! The least sane stuff are the coolest. . .like FuriKuri!! It makes no sense to me whatsoever, but it's so funny and cool and WEIRD. O.o; Hairy thumbs? *shaves them* . ^^
Delphine Pryde: Lol, thanks XD
the Desert Fox: English/Hnnese dictionary, rofl! Maybe I'll make a new story involving that. . .ohhh ideas, ideas. :D OH, I see! I saw EW, but dubbed, and honestly, I don't remember much that happened. I remember Hiiro socking Duo into unconsciousness. Poor Duo. T_T What's Battlefield of the Pacifists? o.o Sounds like an oxymoron. ^_^
Sailor Grape: Hehe! I love Duo so much. XD I couldn't just let him stand around ignorantly and do nothing. *.* I'm not quite sure how I'm going to work around the language barrier, yet. x_X It seemed like a good idea at the time(). *smiles weakly* Quatre will show up, I promise! I don't know when, though. XD As you can see, I put up a question out of desperation for Quatre's occupation. x_x I just need to know more about him, then I'll know what to do. Mwahahaha!
Crystalstorm21: Thanks! ^_^ I'm glad people will still be sticking around!
Liquid Ice: Yah, yah! I had the hots for him, too, lol. It was fun for a while XD and once in a while, I still do like to read those kinds of fics. . . No one heard me say that. HAHA, I understand. . .sorta. *blinks and rereads it* She's actually not quite over Mamoru yet XD and she doesn't realize that Hiiro is better than Mamoru (HOW COULD SHE NOT?! o_O! He's sooo hot :DDD). I don't want to give too much away, but Usagi is definitely seeing, or -wanting- to see Mamoru in Hiiro. o_O *zips her lips* Waahh~ You give such deep reviews, I'm not sure how to respond to them!! Hiiro reminds Usagi of Mamoru, but who does Usagi remind Hiiro of? Two people, actually. :D One, Sailor Moon, but because of some mystical barrier-type thingies, he gets a headache. Mwahahaha ;D And two. . .you'll have to find out when I develop their relationship more, which includes what exactly happened to Mamoru. *cackles* Oh wait, you got the second guess! Ack, I was just too slow to read it. XD Lol, again, really good guesses!! Wai, I'm jealous. ^^ KILL BILL WAS SO AWESOME! Haha, reminded me somewhat of this Japanese movie called "Battle Royale." It was very gory. ^^ Ahh, gomen, I'm pretty drained right now so I don't have as much to say. x_x But keep those lovely reviews coming! ^^
¤°°º°º°°¤|çé ß|úé Éy駤°°º°º°°¤: Heheh()!! I know, I know, it was a little weird for Usagi to ask Hiiro, but Usagi is daring once in a while! Like. . .under extreme or stressful circumstances, she goes a little crazy, I think. XD Their date got cut kindda short, ne x_x and the rest of their "date" will come with the next chapter. . .but who knows when I'll be able to get that out. I didn't think school would take so much out of me, but it really is. *sighs* Hehe, Wu-chan and Tro-chan are gonna meet Rei later. ^^ $67 dollars . . . *drools* I wish I had money! I barely have enough to buy food every week. X_X Have fun at the fair! I went to one once. . . it was awesome, except for the overpriced churros. They're good, but expensive-o!
themoonmaiden: X_X!! I hate it when that happens. Especially when I write nice long reviews ;_; But it's okay! I understand about the work thing. . .though it's more like school for me. x_x I feel like going pfft myself sometimes. I had three midterms last week. . .it was not pretty. But enough about lil egotistical me xD I remember that episode!! It was hilarious; Minako wa cho kakkoi! ^__^ Omg, Mulder!! I loved Mulder. I used to watch X-Files religiously. . .okay getting off track XD Aww, I didn't think about Duo and Minako coming together to conspire against Hiiro and Usagi!! Why didn't I think of that?! I must be getting old. . .^^;; HAHA, I'm not sure if I portrayed him correctly in feeding ducks. I felt like a moron writing that, rofl, though I did have fun writing about that segment with him and puppy. o_O OHH, I remember that episode, too!! :D!!! I'm so happy to be able to share episodes with people!! ^__^ Yah, yah, she was smiling as she wrote it, even though she was so sad and she didn't anyone to worry about her. *nods nods* Anou, tmm-chan, when are you going to update your stories, btw? ^^()
kimeno-pebols: Oh, don't worry about it! I understand about the finals thing. I had midterms last week and I had like 9 hours of asleep across three days. Only coffee, lots and lots of coffee, had the power to keep me awake. O_O
Midnight of Shadows: A PUPPY!! We have a puppy, but I doubt our puppy is as cute as your puppy. What kind of puppy is it? Aww, it sounds so cute even though I don't know what it looks like! YAYYY, now you can finally update and I won't be all desperate and needy-ish for new chapters of good stories! :D Lol, I love that line. :D I honestly don't know how I came up with it, because I learned that last year and last year's information should no longer reside in my head, but it did. Now, now, *coughs* when exactly are you going to update? ^_^;;
Krista Hopes: Wowow, thank you! ^^;; *embarrassed laugh*