Fresh Start

It was him.

Kei would recognize that beautiful androgynous face anywhere. There were some slight differences, of course – this reincarnation wore glasses, and he was perhaps a few centimeters taller, though still lithe and slender – but those eyes… Those gorgeous green eyes that rivaled the brightest peridot, they always stayed the same. No matter the lifetime, they would remain forever burned in his memory.

He was walking across campus, accompanied by three pretty young co-eds. The girls were having a lively conversation about a group date they were trying to get him to join, but he showed little interest in the topic, his attention mostly focused on the smart phone in his hand. As the group passed Kei by, he stepped to the side to avoid a collision only for the other man to suddenly stop in his tracks, slowly pivoting back around.

"You..."

Even his voice sounded nearly the same, despite speaking in a different accent.

"Do I...know you?" he asked, eyes narrowing. "I don't believe you are in any of my classes, yet…"

"In a sense, yes," Kei said, "we know each other."

"Hey, who's the hot guy, Yuu-kun?" one of the girls, a tall brunette, asked. So Zoisite's name in this lifetime was Yuu. It suited him. "Do you think he would be interested in coming to our mixer?"

"He may be, but I am not," Yuu said, finally putting his phone away. "Sorry to disappoint, but I don't swing that way. I'm not attracted to women."

"Neither am I," Kei replied. At least not strongly enough for it to be worth pursuing them. There was only one person who would ever really interest him, and it was the man standing in front of him.

"Oh! Sorry, we didn't realize…" one of the other girls said, her friends giggling and whispering to each other. "We'll, um, let you two get acquainted?"

More giggles followed, the girls saying goodbye to Yuu before breaking off into a group on their own.

"It seems we already are acquainted," Yuu said once they had left, rubbing at his chin, "although I'm afraid I still can't quite place you. Were you the guy I hooked up with at the club last weekend?"

Kei arched an eyebrow. Club? Yuu, with his slouchy cardigan and skinny tie, his long hair half-pulled back into a bun, didn't exactly strike Kei as the club-going type. "No, that wasn't me," he replied, stepping closer and lowering his voice as he spoke directly into Yuu's ear, "but now I wish I was."

A faint blush colored Yuu's cheeks.

"Are you ever going to properly introduce yourself, or do you intend to keep playing Mr. Mysterious?"

Kei chuckled, stepping back and extending a hand. "Kei Miyahara. I'm a fourth-year law student. You might better know me by the name Kunzite, though."

Yuu, about to shake his hand, froze at the mention of his former name, his verdant green eyes widening behind his black-frame glasses. The sketchbook he had tucked underneath his arm dropped to the ground, flipping open to a drawing of a beautiful pegasus surrounded by some sort of mystical crystalline landscape. "Kunzite…? But how…?"

"It's a long story," Kei said, picking the sketchbook back up and handing it back to him. "Do you have class? We could grab some coffee or something?"

Yuu shook his head, bringing himself out of his stupor. "Uh, no," he said, checking the time on his vintage watch. "My next lecture isn't for another hour. Have you ever been to the cafe near the train station?"

"I don't believe I have. I usually just go to the place across from the public library."

"This place is better. They have the best cakes."

"Then lead the way."

The cafe was only a short walk away, a cozy and intimate establishment Kei had often passed by on his way home but never patronized. They took a seat at a booth in the far corner, Yuu ordering green tea and a slice of strawberry shortcake from the waitress. Kei had only intended to get a cup of coffee, not being one much for sweets, but Yuu insisted he try a slice of the Mont-Blanc.

"So… You never got around to properly introducing yourself either," Kei pointed out once the waitress had left their table.

"Oh, right, sorry. I'm Yuu Sakurazaki, a second year art student, specializing in the traditional arts."

That would explain why he had never seen Yuu around campus before. Art students and law students had little reason to interact, especially when they were in different years. "Is that your sketchbook?" Kei nodded to the book Yuu had placed beside him on the table. "May I have a look?"

Yuu hesitated a moment before sliding the book across the table. "If you'd like, go ahead."

Kei picked up the book and began flipping through the pages. He didn't know much about art, admittedly, but even he could recognize Yuu was a talented artist. His subjects ranged from still lifes to landscapes to figures, all drawn with a skillful hand. Kei raised an eyebrow when he came across several pages of nudes, admiring how Yuu seemed to be able to draw out the beauty even in those bodies that society would not deem conventionally attractive.

Most of Yuu's work tended toward a more realistic style, but every once in a while, he came across a drawing that was more fantastical in nature – and strangely familiar. Kei was unable to hold back a gasp when he came across one such drawing, feeling as if he was looking into a mirror.

It was him, yet not him. The hair was longer, his facial features less Japanese, and the man in the drawing had his ears pierced, sporting a pair of dangling earrings, but it was unmistakably him.

Kunzite. The real one.

"I see him, sometimes, in my dreams." Yuu wrapped his hands around the glass of tea the waitress had set in front of him, sighing as he stared down at the pale green liquid. "In them, we are – were –"

"Lovers."

"Villains."

Sighing, Kei's shoulders dropped as he closed the sketchbook and slid it back over to Yuu. "Yes, that, too," he admitted.

"So you've had the same dreams?"

"Since I was in middle school, yeah." He reached for a fork and took a small bite of the Mont-Blanc. "Mmm, you're right, this is good," Kei said, taking another bite.

"You're stalling. I thought you wanted to talk."

Kei shrugged, washing down the cake with a sip of coffee – also quite excellent. He would have to stop by this cafe more often. "If you've seen the dreams, there's not much to add, is there? We're the reincarnations of Kunzite and Zoisite, two of the Shitennou who served Prince Endymion of the Golden Kingdom, but we betrayed him twice, falling under the control of Queen Beryl and Metallia of the Dark Kingdom. We were in love, and this is our third lifetime. That about covers it, right?"

"Yes, but… You don't actually believe it, do you?" Yuu had lowered his voice, eyes darting around the vicinity. "All this...mumbo-jumbo about past lives and loves and...well, everything!"

"I thought you were an artist."

"That doesn't mean I have my head in the clouds."

"If our king, queen, and the Sailor Guardians have undergone reincarnation, why is it so hard to believe the same could be true for us?" Kei asked. "King Endymion is our liege! If we have been brought back, then there must be a reason."

"What? So we can betray him again?" Yuu grabbed his sketchbook, scooting out of the booth. "No way. I refuse. I'm Yuu Sakurazaki, not this...Zoisite, or whoever you think I am. You do whatever the hell you want, but leave me out of it!"

"Yuu!"

Kei quickly fished a 2,000 yen note out of his wallet and threw it on the table to cover their tab, then rushed after Yuu.

It had begun to rain while they were inside the cafe, a light springtime drizzle. As soon as he stepped through the door, Kei looked both ways to see which direction Yuu had gone only to find him huddled underneath the striped red-and-white awning covering the entrance to the cafe.

"Yuu..."

"I, uh, didn't want to risk my sketches getting wet," Yuu said in reply to his unasked question.

"I'm glad." Kei sighed in relief, running his hand through his hair. "I mean… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."

Yuu hugged his sketchbook to his chest. "Yeah, I know you didn't. It's just...a lot to take in."

"I know. It upset me at first, too."

A mother with her young son in tow needed to get by, so Kei politely opened the door for them, the woman bowing her head and shooting him a grateful smile. Once the door had closed behind him, he moved to stand on the other side of Yuu, out of the way of the cafe's main entrance, and continued with his story.

"For as long as I can remember, I wanted to be a lawyer – a prosecutor like my father. I wanted to put the bad guys behind bars, to get justice for the people they had harmed, but when I started having the dreams and realized I had been one of those so-called 'bad guys' in my past life… Well, to say I didn't handle it well is putting it mildly."

Kei frowned, thinking back to his teenage days of delinquency. He never did anything too bad, thank goodness – his worst crimes amounted to cutting class, smoking cigarettes, and shoplifting the occasional manga or piece of candy – but the way his father reacted when he had finally been caught red-handed stealing a box of Pocky from the neighborhood conbini, he might as well have robbed a bank at gunpoint. Luckily, the owner of the conbini happened to be an old high school friend of his father's, so he was able to convince him not to press charges after forcing Kei to apologize.

"As for me, I tried my best to forget. Probably not in the healthiest ways," Yuu confessed. Chuckling bitterly, he pushed a loose strand of his curly hair behind his ear. "Nothing I did ever worked, though. Even subconsciously, I would start sketching images of the things I saw in my dreams."

"Do you have any more sketches of me? I mean, of Kunzite?"

"Perhaps…" Yuu's cheeks flushed pink, and once again, Kei was struck by how beautiful he was. "You...and the others."

He opened his sketchbook to one of the later pages and showed Kei a beautiful sketch of the four of them, dressed in their Golden Kingdom military garb. They were standing in front of a set of ornate doors that Kei somehow simply knew led to Prince Endymion's bedchambers.

"Have you ever met them in this life? Jadeite or Nephrite?"

"I doubt Nephrite would ever want to meet me again after what Zoisite did to him the last time," Yuu said with a shake of his head, scoffing.

"No, probably not," Kei agreed softly, recalling that Zoisite had been the one to order Nephrite's assassination. Out of the four of them, Zoisite had been the most cunning and cutthroat, qualities that Kunzite had found very attractive.

Kei, on the other hand… Not so much, he had to admit.

"What about you? Have you come across them in this lifetime?" Yuu asked.

Lightly, Kei brushed a fingertip over the figure with the shortest hairstyle. "Once, maybe. I thought I might have caught a glimpse of someone who could have been Jadeite during a baseball game, but that was back in high school, when I still couldn't accept it as real."

"But now you do," Yuu said, frowning and taking the sketchbook back into his possession. "What do you intend to do about it? Search for the other two, then go to the king and queen and tell them who we are – were?"

"I've considered it."

That was why they had been reborn, right? To resume their destined roles as Endymion's sworn protectors and try their best not to be brainwashed by evil once again, perhaps finally achieving the redemption that had thus far alluded them?

But were they really needed anymore? The Sailor Guardians were more than worthy protectors of the planet and its royal family, and Crystal Tokyo had been at peace for centuries. If they did reveal their past identities to King Endymion and Neo-Queen Serenity, would they even be welcome? The queen, in particular, was known for her loving and forgiving nature, but a part of Kei feared their sins were far too heavy, their betrayals far too great, for even the most compassionate person to forgive. It was more than that they had betrayed their prince. They had betrayed their kingdom, their planet, their very humanity – twice! The blood on their past lives' hands was probably too much to ever hope to fully wash away...

"Kei?"

Yuu lightly touched his arm, a pleasant shock running through his body at the unexpected contact. By the surprised look in Yuu's eyes, he had felt the same, though he was quick to look away, avoiding Kei's gaze.

"Sorry, I was lost in thought," Kei said. "Maybe you have the right idea, though."

He furrowed his brow. "I do?"

"Yeah."

Hesitantly, Kei brought his hand to cup Yuu's cheek, brushing his thumb over his smooth skin. Yuu inhaled a sharp breath, but he didn't back away.

"Kei?" His voice was softer, breathier.

"Yeah, I'm Kei," Kei declared, more for his sake than Yuu's. "I'm Kei Miyahara – an aspiring attorney, a fantastic cook, and a devoted dog-lover. I may have been Kunzite in the past...but my past life doesn't have to define who I am. I don't give a damn about the past; the only life I care about is this one. And you…"

"I'm not Zoisite," Yuu said defiantly, looking Kei straight in the eye.

"No, you're not, and I don't care." Yuu might have shared some superficial similarities with his past-life lover, but the more time Kei spent with him, the more he was able to see Yuu as his own separate person – one Kei very much wanted to get to know better. Dropping his hand, Kei brought his fist to his mouth and cleared his throat. "So, um, do you have any plans for tomorrow night?"

"I don't know. Do I?" Yuu asked, a flirtatious lilt to his voice.

"Dinner and a movie?"

"Hmm...as long as I can choose which movie we see."

Kei grinned. "Deal."

DISCLAIMER: Sailor Moon belongs to Naoko Takeuchi

AUTHOR'S NOTES: The story was written for Yagi for the Moonlight Legends Discord Secret Santa event. I hope you enjoyed it!

Merry Christmas and happy holidays!

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