Author's Note: Standard disclaimers apply. This is a work of fan fiction, etc etc.

Mizuno Ami knew she was the smartest of the Senshi. She didn't gloat about it, but it was a source of quiet pride for her. Without her, they would be little more than a pack of unorganized thugs and bruisers. Well, maybe not quite that bad. But she provided all the strategy and tactics.

Not that any of that experience was helping her now. She made her move.

"Check."

Kintaro moved his knight. "Checkmate."

She stared at the board in astonishment. Chess was a favorite of hers and she had never lost so many games in a row. She looked up to see Kintaro smiling at her.

"You're still too attached to the pieces. You see them as friends and companions. When you learn to loose your attachment to the pieces, you'll learn the next stage of the game."

Ami was confused. "But you said…"

Kintaro nodded. "I said to imagine yourself as one of the pieces, but you're taking me too literally. In the game there is no chance or skill in the battle between the pieces. My knight moves and takes your queen. Strategy at its purest. But when you imagine yourself among them, suddenly you become attached to them. My Magic Knight takes your Sailor Moon. But if you had sacrificed your Sailor Jupiter earlier to take my Knight, Sailor Moon would have been safe now."

Ami flinched. "I can't just go around sacrificing my friends."

"Of course not," Kintaro agreed. "But these are just pieces in a game. Each one has special abilities that none of the others have. Sacrificing one only means that you have one less plastic piece on the board."

Ami cocked her head, trying to understand what he meant. He was trying to help her learn it on her own rather than just coming out and telling her what he wanted to teach her. It was frustrating, and exhilarating. And somewhere deep down inside, Ami was feeling a little giddy that such a handsome young man was spending so much time with her. He had reset the board and turned it around so that she was playing black now.

He made his first move. Ami had a sudden inspiration and tried to think like Queen Beryl might have thought. They were all just minions to her. Winning the game was the goal and the only acceptable outcome was victory.

"Checkmate."

Ami sighed. She had come closer. "I was too quick to sacrifice pieces that time."

Kintaro nodded. "Closer, but you went too far into the callous thinking. Remember, once a piece is sacrificed, it is difficult to bring it back."

She nodded. "One more time."

Kintaro chuckled and reset the pieces. She chose one of the hands he held out and drew white. Kintaro rotated the board and she started.

"Checkmate!" she crowed in victory some time later. Without thinking she jumped up and leaned across the board to kiss the very surprised Kintaro. She had been aiming for his cheek, but he moved at the wrong moment and their lips met. She suddenly blushed and sat down, staring at her hands. To her surprise, Kintaro took hold of her chin and tilted her head up. His eyes were full of amusement, and something she didn't recognize.

"If you're going to claim the spoils of victory," he whispered, his breath warm on her lips, "you should do it properly."

Ami had never been kissed in her life. At least she had never been kissed like this before. His mouth was hot and cold and tingly. Shivers ran up her spine and down her arms. And a very warm spot seemed to grow from somewhere just under her heart until it filled her whole body. And suddenly the kiss ended. A clinical portion of her brain noted that he hadn't tried to slip his tongue in her mouth, darn it. She ignored that part and gazed into Kintaro's eyes.

She suddenly realized what that other emotion in his eyes was. Loneliness. And she knew it was something she couldn't drive away; that mentioning it would only make it worse. She brought her hand to her lips as Kintaro sat back down.

"Thank you, Kintaro-kun," she said softly.

"You're welcome, Ami-chan," he replied. "Now what did you do differently? What changed? And how does it apply to your life?"

She straightened and looked down at the board. "I managed to think of them as pieces, useful for their abilities. I determined which abilities were particularly important at each point in the game and acted accordingly. If a piece was of no further use, I was willing to sacrifice it." She fell silent, remembering a time when there had been sacrifices made. "But I can't apply that in real life. People aren't just pieces."

Kintaro laid his hand on hers. "They are, and they aren't. This board is only a small portion of the field. If you imagine the pieces that are removed from this portion going to another, like say a hospital…" He trailed off suggestively.

Ami reeled as the epiphany struck. "So the pieces aren't dead. They may just be recuperating for the next game. Or in the hospital. So you're saying that I can 'sacrifice' my 'team mates' because they won't necessarily be dead, just out of the game." She blinked. "That didn't sound very nice."

Kintaro chuckled. "Actually, I'm saying that you need to remember that reality isn't a chess game. Use the strategy you learn from playing chess, but remember that just because it's your move doesn't guarantee a win for your pieces. And vice versa."

He set up a pattern of pieces on the board, all of them the same color. "Which piece would win this set up?"

She glanced over it. "The last one to move."

"Now what if they all could move at once?"

"Uhm…"

"And let's give them each a number from one to five, where the higher number will defeat a lower number."

"The queen will win."

Kintaro made a series of moves, which left the knight as the winner. He smiled. "You didn't have all the information, but that just emphasizes my point further. Think about what you and your friends have done so far. Would you have given Usagi-chan a chance against Metallia and Beryl?"

Ami had to shake her head.

"But she won. In spite of having to sacrifice her friends, the pawn won through to become a Queen and save the King. That is, of course, a dramatic example. There are less extreme sacrifices we make every day. But mostly we don't apply them in the tactical sense that is necessary in combat."

Ami nodded. "I see what you mean. I can't really describe it well, but I know what needs to be done. And I guess it is a matter of having faith in the abilities of my friends."

"Exactly. But you need to know their limits and abilities as well as they do. Or at least give them the impression that you do. And they'll go and do what you tell them to do, because they think you believe they can do it. It's better if you actually do believe they can, but what they don't know might actually help them."

"Thank you Kintaro-kun. I do not know if I will ever be quite as much the general as you, but I will try to use your instruction to the best of our abilities."

Kintaro gazed at her for a moment. "Do you realize that you get formal when you're nervous?"

Ami blushed. He chuckled and patted her hand.

"Go ahead and ask. At worst I'll say no."

"Wouldyouliketotakemetothescienceexhibit?" Ami squeaked nervously.

Kintaro stared at her for a moment and burst out laughing. Before she could get angry he waved a hand at her.

"I'm not laughing at you Ami-chan," he chuckled. "You are a real gem. That's what I get for assuming."

"What are you talking about, Kintaro-kun?"

Kintaro was still grinning. "I made an assumption about the way you would act. Let me explain what that was and why I assumed it, and then you can hit me for it."

Ami blinked.

"Through out junior high and high school I've had a strange attraction for women. Your friend Makoto is an example. Any girl I associate with for long periods will eventually start to initiate intimacies. They try everything from stealing kisses to asking me for help with 'homework.' I was half expecting you to ask me for another kiss."

Ami blushed slightly. She had been thinking of that, but had been to shy to ask. A sudden idea occurred and she acted impulsively. She stood and pointed her finger at him.

"Assuming such things can harm a girl's self image. Such hubris can not be forgiven. In the name of love and the Moon, I will punish you."

She strutted around the table to him, intentionally exaggerating the swing of her hips. She leaned forward until her nose was almost touching his. She brought her hand up to his cheek and caressed him, tilting his chin up slightly as she pulled her hand away. She leaned forward, and turned her head slightly, evading the kiss.

"You have a lot to learn about women," she whispered in his ear, and returned to her seat.

Kintaro stared at her for a long moment, then reached out and tipped over the king on the chessboard between them. Ami grinned triumphantly.

"Well, well," a new voice interrupted, "aren't we intimate."

Kintaro rose smoothly to his feet and bowed as Ami turned.

"Yuri-sempai. You're back," Ami exclaimed.

Kintaro blinked. "You two know each other?"

Yuri smirked. "I do have other friends, Kintaro-kun. That's ok with you, isn't it?"

Yuri was slightly taller than Rei. She had shoulder length blonde hair and glasses. She was wearing a thick down coat and jeans. She had opened the coat on entering the library and Ami could see the tight half-tee she was wearing underneath.

Kintaro sighed. "Please don't start."

Yuri snorted. "It has already started, Kintaro. We still need to finish."

"This is hardly the time or place to do so." Kintaro tilted his head at Ami.

"Afraid she'll dump you if…"

"Enough," Kintaro snapped. Ami and Yuri both flinched at his tone. "I didn't agree to meet you here to listen to you air our problems publicly. If you have nothing better to say, then I am leaving." He bowed to Ami. "I'm sorry Ami-san. Houhojii-san and I aren't getting along well. I need to leave before one of us says or does something that would bring embarrassment to all of us." He turned to leave.

"That didn't stop you from embarrassing yourself with her back at the church," Yuri said snidely.

Kintaro spun to face Yuri, and for a moment Ami thought he was going to hit her. Yuri tensed slightly as if expecting a blow, but Kintaro didn't even raise his hand.

"You have lived in America too long, Houhojii-san. You talk like an American, you act like an American, and you think like an American. You have forgotten giri. I owe her a debt of giri. Just like I owe you giri. And regardless of what you have become, I will honor that debt to the best of my abilities." He bowed again and walked away.

Yuri slumped into the seat he had just vacated and stared blindly at Ami. Ami was silent, unsure of what to say.

"They say, that if you love some one, you should set them free," Yuri said softly. "But what do I do if he doesn't want to be free? He clings to some old fashioned notion of honor and duty, and he won't let go."

"Do you want him to let go, sempai?"

"No, Kami help me. I want to keep him for myself. I want him to love me, and only me. But he loves her. And I can't seem to stop hurting him, because it always hurts me." There were tears on Yuri's cheeks.

Ami shrugged nervously. "I'm not the best person to ask about such things, sempai."

Yuri smiled and brushed the tears away. "I'm sorry, Ami-chan. I had hoped that your presence would help, but I guess not. I'll tell you what. In re-payment I'll buy you something." She grabbed the younger girl's hand and dragged her away to go shopping.

End Note: Thanks for the reviews. The story is nearly complete and so I should have it all up by the new year. If you haven't figured it out already, I'll give you a couple of hints as to where to look for the cross over references. Haruka mentions two characters from other anime in chapter three. Pluto mentions another in the same chapter. A third anime is referred to with the use of a name (same chapter). The name of Kintaro's Mecha (in chapter 2) is also a give away.

Just so you don't think that I'm making Kintaro out as some sort of 'God' character, this chapter and several future ones will indicate his flaws. He's not perfect. But this is only from the viewpoint of the Senshi and their interactions with him. The larger story in an original piece that I may someday publish without all the anime references. ;-)

Enjoy the rest of the story.

Mordae