For a while Kitsune pondered about how to go about cornering Setsuna. Ideally, she would've liked to do it right there and then, but then she might be arousing suspicions about herself far too quickly. Although Orichalcum had said they had a plan to defeat the other senshi, even the ones who had found their knights, she was a little wary of jumping into battle so quickly. After all, countless others had come up against the senshi of the solar system prematurely and look how that turned out. Still, Setsuna was in a vulnerable position and it could mean leaving that Phil jerk behind early…
"So sad looking," she sighed, sneaking up behind Setsuna like a shadow. The green-haired woman almost jumped. Apparently she wasn't as alone in here as she thought. "Why the long face?" Kitsune inquired.
"Oh nothing," Setsuna said, gatherings her purse. "I'm just feeling a bit isolated." She was tempted to spill all her feelings, her wish to reach out to Hallen but her great hesitancy that her duty as time guardian would ultimately make a disaster of it. But judging by her conduct so far that evening, Kitsune was not exactly the type she wanted to have it with. Michiru and Haruka were a bit more sympathetic than see was.
"I see," said Kitsune, noting the silence. "Well I suppose isolation is a natural feeling for the Time Guardian. Isn't it, Sailor Pluto?"
Setsuna gasped. Her head jerked up as she started into Kitsune's icy blue eyes. Of course, how could she have been so foolish as to not notice it earlier? This feeling, this aura, it was not native to earth at all. Whoever this Kitsune person was, she had come a long way to get here. And most often in her experience, a long journey was made by a foe, not a friend.
"I don't know how you know that about me," she said, trying to keep her cool. "But if you are an enemy, I warn you now. The guardians of this planet show no mercy to invaders."
"Oh, you don't have to warn me, I know that," said Kitsune with a smile. "But really, Pluto, so judgmental; just assuming I'm an enemy." With that, the girl turned slyly, pulling on a piece of Setsuna's hair as she left. "Just remember this, if you want to protect your planet, you don't have time to get involved with love." And with that, she was gone.
After the game Setsuna got ready to leave, she thanked Hallen for the nice evening and then went back to the apartment. When she opened the door Haruka and Michiru greeted her. "So how was your date?" said Michiru.
"Did Hallen show you a good time?" said Haruka.
"We may have trouble." Setsuna said flatly. "Kitsune was there and I found out she's not from Earth."
"A new enemy?" asked Hotaru.
"I think so, but it's too soon to tell."
"How'd you find out?" said Haruka.
"She told me herself this is something we can't ignore. I'm afraid you two may have to postpone the wedding."
"I should have known from the moment I first laid my eyes on her, Ribbita's probably an alien too."
"I guess we'll have to inform the Inner Senshi first thing in the morning." said Michiru. "The knights as well."
Setsuna then went off to her room. "Are you ok?" Hotaru asked.
"I…Just need to be alone for a while, good night." said Setsuna. When she went into her room she started thinking to herself. I know she's probably an enemy but she does have a point, now's not the time for romance, not if there's an enemy around. Looking for something to do, she decided to get out her notebook. She turned through the pages that already had various dress designs in them until she stopped on the first blank page. This was always the first step in making a dress for her, she first drew on paper the idea for a design along with notes on what materials to use, and then she would use colored pencils for a specific color scheme and if then deemed that it good was enough she would make it herself. At first her mind was drawing a blank but then she had an unusual idea, she was going to make an outfit for a man. One idea after another came to her and soon she found herself looking a design that looked somewhat old fashioned and yet it was more beautiful than anything anyone wore now. But the strangest thing was that it seemed vaguely familiar. Did I see this before? Even though she was the time guardian and remembered the Silver Millennium as an era, her own memories of time were somewhat vague, as if shrouded in a mist. The first thing Setsuna could remember from her life was finding herself at the gates and then she started to stand guard there on instinct. Every time she decided to look back to find out more about her past the images she got were jumbled in such a way as to make no sense at all. And she couldn't go back and risk meeting herself, so many questions remained unanswered. But now this image was standing clear in her mind as if it was trying to point her to something important but she couldn't tell what it was.
As Setsuna sat quietly in her room musing over the missing pieces of her past, Haruka passed wildly about the house, nearly knocking over everything in her path, including Michiru.
"We should ask Setsuna for more information," she fumed. "Where'd these enemies come from? How do they know about us?"
"Leave her alone," Michiru said. "Can't you see she's upset?"
"I'm upset," Haruka snapped back. "Postponing our wedding because some stupid..." Haruka paused from her characteristic ranting to stare into Michiru's deep ocean blue eyes. "She is upset, isn't she?"
Michiru smiled at the thought that she had managed to bring her friend somewhere into the realm of sanity. "Come on now, don't you remember when you got irritated about not finding your knight?"
As her mind began to wander, Setsuna could not help but overhear her friends' conversation. It wasn't eavesdropping, at least not in the intentional sense. Even when she was trying to be quiet, Haruka's voice still projected across the room rather solidly. "Like you didn't do the same," Haruka was muttering in response to Michiru. Setsuna smiled to herself. In all fairness, they had some of equal amount of frustration in the matter. It was like they had decided on that one snowy evening when Luna was musing over her love for a human. When it came down to it, no one wanted to be alone. Not even the guardian of time. So were Setsuna's last thoughts before she finally drifted off to sleep.