+++++ Reliqui, Roppongi, Japan. (Thursday + 5)

There was the sensation of wind moving through his core. Somehow, despite the physical permanence his skin provided him, he felt the very air shift and sway as it passed from before him to behind him without impedance. She…she was…. There was noise around him, that much he was certain of. A thin, tinny buzzing that had no rhyme or reason to its presence. All this time? Cold, rigid, anxiety held his heart tight. The bright flash of light that was his earliest true memory, the screams and howls of the adults around him. The…the comforting….

He slowly turned his head, looking at the woman to his left. Chestnut hair pulled back into a short ponytail to keep it out of her face, swaying as she grew increasingly disturbed by whatever it was she was hearing. Shinji finally placed the similarities, as the scene from fourteen years prior replayed again for the next in an unending series only now with more clarity. A woman, with short brown hair, bending down and scooping him up. Hurrying away from the noise and the lights. Putting thick, metal, doors between him and…and….

She was there, he mused in the silence of his mind. The Ritsuko Akagi of my reality was there the day that…that my mother was killed by….

Something was brought to Ritsuko's attention, and she turned to look at Shinji. Worry, then pain, and finally a grim determination flashed across her classically beautiful features. Her lips moved, not that he could hear the words, and whatever it was that she said was accompanied by soothing motions of her hands on his shoulders. She, in a manner that Shinji could not possibly understand would be known as 'friendly', attempted to share the pain of what had been done to him throughout his life. Even the abridged version, leaving out many of the particulars of his suffering, was enough for her to understand why he came across as taciturn and skittish.

…What would she have done? The woman before him was still a mystery. The same brilliance, the same wit, the same beauty, the same gravitas…only younger. Would she have picked up a toddler that had just seen his world collapse into nothingness? She couldn't have protected me. Nobody could have protected me from my own father. Or…or from….

Danger lurks above murky comradery. A vaguely familiar voice whispered into his mind, though he couldn't place it. Unending torment their reward for curiosity.

I need to leave. Standing, not a terribly difficult task for him despite suddenly having two women attempting to prevent him from doing so, he frowned with some confusion. They're in danger, it doesn't matter that my mother…it's not putting my life in danger right now. I can't let them be harmed because I'm a whiner.

"There are many words I would use to describe you, Silent One," Toyouke kept her tone calm, "that would not be one of them. It is not unfair to be powerless and look around, lamenting your inability to change your lot. Indeed, once you were given your first taste of true power you only used it for the benefit of others! Not once did you attempt to impress your classmates, nor did you ever seek a private audience with a female admirer. Too many would have done either, and therefore been worthy of neither."

Ritsuko kept how impressed she was by how strong Shinji was hidden. Deciding that since she couldn't pull him back down, she couldn't even really budge him at all, that she'd utilize the same method that got him into her apartment. Jumping up on her chair and bouncing off to latch onto him from behind, she wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck just shy of choking him. "I really need to figure out a way to hear your thoughts. It seems like that would be the first step to me helping you begin to process things." With her head laying on her elbow, she locked eyes with him. "From everything the Denmother has said, you're going to cause worse problems out there if you leave without them checking you over. Why don't you, instead of rushing off to do whatever it was you were planning, ask the nice lady if you could have someone go check for you?"

"A more than adequate compromise," their hostess agreed eagerly. "If you wish, I will send several of my most trusted agents to each of the locations we believe your allies to be at. Their power gives off a signal we can feel readily, and tracking them down won't prove terribly challenging. My agents will report back, and you can make a more informed decision."

Shinji couldn't remember anything being said about his mother causing him troubles, and that confusion showed clearly on his face. His head shifted from facing Ritsuko to facing Toyouke, his lips drooping towards a deeper frown.

"It's all right," with her nine tails swaying in gentle time to the musical nature of her intonation, she kept urging his anxiety to fade, "I do not mind repeating myself for someone who has had their world upended so violently. The Instrument of Entropy has a keen interest in your presence here, and they are seeking very actively to persuade you to join your cause to their own." When the doors opened behind her, an athletic young man racing in and dropping to one knee with his head bowed, she shifted her attention to him momentarily. "I want four chalks, two each, to go and reinforce the mahou shoujou. Urge them to pull back from further conflict if possible. If not, I give you permission to summon whatever reinforcements are necessary to put down the threat. Do not fail me, and I will approve your petition personally."

The man's voice was thick with determination as he responded, "As you will it, Denmother, so shall it be." As he stood, he met Shinji's eyes and found something he approved of in them. "You carry it well, Silent One." Bowing quickly to both him and Toyouke, he turned and took back off at a run.

I carry what well? Despite the urge to leave causing his skeleton to crawl within his skin, he allowed himself to be placed back onto the ornate seat. What did he mean?

"You carry the burden of destiny well, despite your relative youth." Giving Ritsuko a slight nod of encouragement as the brunette dropped herself into Shinji's lap, the Denmother expounded on her previous statement, "At seventeen years of age, you stand ready to face death itself to save those you fight alongside. Your maturation was rapid, and painful, and it is not yet complete…but he is not wrong to say that you carry both dignity and destiny well for one so young."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa…seventeen?" Ritsuko looked first to Toyouke, then back to Shinji. Sizing him up, she looked with great incredulity to their hostess. "I don't mean to say you're lying, but I really think you're mistaken if you think he's anything younger than twenty-seven. There's no way he's only gone through one growth spurt."

Covering for Shinji's blush, the Denmother drew Ritsuko's attention towards her instead. "Oh? Having second thoughts about seeking a 'deeper connection' already, are we?"

The repeat of her words from the Market caused her to show signs of the woman he knew from his own time. "I don't think that it's untoward for me to be cautious about sitting on the lap of an abuse victim that isn't yet eligible to vote, even if he is charmingly handsome." By the time that she looked to Shinji, the blush had mostly faded. "If I make you uncomfortable, at any time, I want you to promise to tell me, ok? I swear I won't be offended, or hurt, and I won't shun you or belittle you. I…probably wouldn't have been quite so forward earlier, if I had known you were four years younger than me. Few teenagers want an old hag draped off of them."

…Old hag? The pejorative, even if it was her own self-impression, caused him to glower at her. You are a beautiful woman, and twenty-one is not nearly 'old'. If anything, you're even better looking than the Ritsuko Akagi from back home! I think her dying her hair is ridiculous, especially if the natural color is the chestnut mahogany you have here. Anyone that manages to draw your attention had best treat you well, or they'll have me to answer to.

"He disagrees with your self-assessment, and grants you permission to 'drape away'," Toyouke provided as a terse translation. "Your…counterpart from his homeland, as you would understand it, dyes their hair blonde. He much prefers this natural coloration to any false attempts to be what you aren't." Clapping her hands gently, she shifted the topic away from petty banalities, "I too would ask that you remain where you are. You are calming his anxieties by stopping his legs from bouncing constantly, and I will need him to remain calm as I delve into his mind."

Kicking her feet playfully, Ritsuko grinned up at her impromptu chair. "Well then, if you like how I look…could you maybe hold me while I'm on here so that I don't slide off? It'd be awkward, and likely break her concentration." The reason she gave was transparently false, and both women in the room knew it. The male, inexperienced and naïve, missed the subterfuge and complied by cupping one hand around her side and the other over her knees. Her grin became a pleased smile as she nestled into his chest. "You're too good for this world, Shinji. Too good for it."

+++++ Jinnan, Shibuya, Japan. (Thursday + 5)

"Ok…ok, if I'm only controlling this side," Minako gestured to the half of the interferometer that wouldn't make contact with the purple dome far below, "then that shouldn't count as touching it. Because I'm touching this laser, not controlling it." Thinking through the various spells she had at her disposal, she dismissed them all one by one. "I think I'm going to have to re-create the circle here."

"The wheel," Makoto muttered from her position several meters away. The statuesque stunner hadn't taken her eyes off of the dome beneath them for more than an hour. With Minako and Usagi 'playing nice', she had no place to expend her increasingly dark mood. I failed. I failed him, I failed Senpai, I failed myself. She had started in the lead. Her, Shinji, and nobody else in the apartment. She'd gone shopping with him, she'd gone on a date with him…and they kept interfering. Her 'Royal Perfection' keeps talking like he belongs to her. Minako keeps slutting it up around him. Even Ami is trying to steal him away. The day her Senpai introduced her to the woman that had taken her…that he had asked to 'go steady', she'd sworn she would never let another man toy with her heart and then choose someone else. I should claim him. Get him home tonight, push him into my room, and show him who he belongs to. I'll figure out my feelings later. Senpai's not going to walk back into my life…but I can still be happy.

Everyone's thoughts were interrupted by a voice that only one of them actually recognized. "Ladies, I would hope you all understand the concept of 'Trespassing'." When the three warriors turned to face him, they saw the plainclothes police officer Satou flanked by several men in police uniforms. "Now, I understand that you're in the habit of trying to protect the city. We appreciate it. Honest, we do. But I'm going to have to ask you to come with us now. For your own protection."

Minako moved so that she was between Usagi and the new potential threat. She was more than a little frustrated when Makoto didn't mirror her motion on the other side, and it showed in her voice as she snapped, "I'm afraid my mother always taught me to never go anywhere with strangers, sir. We'll have to decline."

"Ok." Satou took in a deep breath and blew it out in frustration. "I tried asking." His right hand came up, a glowing orb of red plasma burning in his grasp menacingly. "Now I'm going to have to insist."

Before any of the Sailors could act, twelve men appeared from nothingness amongst the group of police officers with Satou. A very short and brutal fight followed, leaving only the detective himself standing amongst his team. One of the new men, clearly a capable warrior, had simply stood between police and Sailors staring impassively into Satou's eyes. Once his team was victorious, he chose to speak. "The ladies have declined, Mage. I'll be generous and offer my men's assistance in returning your men to their vehicles. Whether that's via the stairs or gravity alone depends on what you do with your little light show there."

Desperate anger colored his retort, "Reliqui can't-"

"Reliqui isn't," the warrior cut off his prey, "we are. The Denmother asked me to ensure that the ladies remained unmolested. If you have an issue with that, you can take it up with her. The Silent One has been assured that they will come to no harm, and so that is what will happen. Now, are we being polite…or not?"

Usagi shifted past Minako, hurrying over to stand near the unknown warrior. "Shin-Shin knows we're here?"

"Gen, make certain that our good friend here arrives…safely." Dismissing the detective from his mind as his men muscled him away from the area, the others picking up the remnants of Satou's team and carrying them along as well, the warrior bowed politely to Usagi. "It is an honor to meet you, Mother Moon. To answer your question, yes. He was eager to make his own way here himself, but my honored Matron urged him to stay and receive her aid. He sits within Reliqui, being tended to for the ills he has suffered. He is safe, and as any good man ought to be, he was concerned for the safety of his allies."

"Wait, so he's not here?" Makoto gestured down to the swirling maelstrom.

"He is not." The Warrior had a short frown of concern, before returning his attention to Usagi. "I am afraid I cannot convey you to him. A part of my instructions were that until he has received aid, he was not to be exposed to you. The Denmother holds you in high regard, and her words held no slight behind them. If you wish, I am more than willing to task one of my men to carry a message for you." His eyes moved to Minako and Makoto briefly. "Any of you."

Minako could see that Usagi was beginning to plot something, and that Makoto was growing even angrier. She decided to take a shot at calming the situation down some, understanding that if the man who'd just saved them from the police had wanted to hurt them he could have just done that before the cops showed up. "Could you tell him to meet us at the Arcade if he's done with…well, whatever it is. Before it's too late in the evening, I mean."

"He'll be meeting me at our apartment," Makoto growled. "After today, he'll need some actual rest. You can talk to him after we come home from school tomorrow."

The Sailor for Venus didn't rise to the bait, but also suddenly remembered something she hadn't had a chance to bring up. "You…oh geez." Frowning as she tried to think of how to say anything without everything blowing up, she missed her chance to deliver the news herself.

"That's fine," Usagi stated with cold dispassion, "I'll talk to the Principal. Makoto-chan had nothing to do with it, and she shouldn't be punished because things have gone strange with me. I can handle being expelled; she deserves a chance to show that she wasn't involved. Shin-Shin and I will-"

"Oh, sure, I'll just go back to school and let you two fuck in the apartment. Sounds great." Makoto turned her ire onto the unknown warrior, "Where is he? I need to reach him before anyone else tries to climb on his-"

"What is wrong with you?!" Minako had finally had enough, again. "Yeah, we're all attracted to him. Yeah, this is supposed to be a fair competition. But is that really what you think of Usagi-chan? You think she's just some skank that throws her legs open for a handsome face?"

There was a thin thread of shame that flowed through the Sailor for Jupiter, realizing that what she'd just accused Usagi of was what she herself had intended to do. Shame, of course, only egged her on towards worsening the whole situation. "Like she's the only one I need to worry about."

Usagi's eyes hadn't left the youkai warrior's. She could see mortification behind his impassive mien, coupled with growing worry. As her friends became increasingly louder behind her, she stepped forward and drew him close. "Tell him to think of me when he leaves your Matron's care. I'll come alone. Now, please…if you would leave us. My friends and I will head somewhere safe, now that we know he's somewhere safe."

"My men are guarding the Arcade as well, Your Majesty. He asked that all your companions be made safe. They will not enter uninvited, unless there is danger within." Embarrassment became pity. "I presume that's where you are moving towards?"

"It is. Whether they want it or not."

+++++ Shinji's Mind. (Thursday + 5)

Toyouke had little problem peering into Shinji's thoughts. That, among other things, surprised her greatly. Few people had their minds so unguarded, even fewer had been exposed to the sheer volume of traumas that he had and were left with their minds in the state she found his in.

She could see the flaws and faults of his home reality. Unceasing wars. Unparalleled environmental devastation. Perpetual starvation on a global scale. Child soldiers. More than a decade of mental, emotional, and physical abuse at the hands of the man who raised him. Every single one of the students in the first classroom he ever attended were without one or both parents. His 'friends', or so they self-proclaimed, either used him as a punching bag or a source of information on the monstrosity he was now bonded eternally with.

As the list of lived horrors stretched onwards, she began to piece together the information that he either hadn't or couldn't. She could see the touch of the Black Moon in everything he was dealt. The hand of the White Moon moving against humanity. She saw his construct, the biomechanical aberration he piloted, was made from the Black Moon, while those his so-called allies piloted were from the White. He wasn't abandoned by his patriarch, nor by his matriarch. He had instead been manipulated by both. Shifted from one tragedy to the next in a carefully constructed ballet of torture that was only ever intended to produce one outcome.

"They wished him to be a sacrificial lamb," she mused. Standing within Shinji's mind-space, between projections of his patriarch grinning victoriously and Shinji himself howling in agony as an enormous eyeball smashed into the shield of his soul with more force than would be required to core the planet itself, she could only shake her head in disgust. "He is no saint. The darkness with which he defends others indicates flaws…frailty. But to have survived all of this, and only come out with an unyielding desire to preserve life?" She let out a heavy sigh of frustration. "We ought to count ourselves lucky."

"What you ought to do is send him back." A feminine voice caused Toyouke to whirl about, revealing a cold-eyed woman with short brown hair wearing a lab coat. "If your…kind has the power to bring him here, you must have that ability."

The nine-tailed goddess was torn between disbelief and contempt. "You would have me send him back to that madness? Your own-" Her words were cut off as she was suddenly lifted off the metaphysical ground she stood upon by the throat.

"He belongs to me. I gave him life, and I will choose the manner in which that gift is spent." Fiery wrath swirled behind the gaze of Yui Ikari. "Send him back." Pulling her prisoner closer, her words were overlaid with a menacing growl, "Or I will have him destroy this planet in search of the means to do so myself."

Very few times in her life had Toyouke felt as powerless as she now did. She'd fought during the Academy Wars against supposed gods, against titans, and against the primaeval forces of the planet itself. Grasping at the fingers that were a hair's breadth from crushing her throat entirely, she was a toddler against a hurricane.

Salvation arrived in a very womanly shape and a mane of lustrous black hair. Maria slammed into the small of Yui's back, causing her to stumble forward and lose her grip on Toyouke. Without delay, the proprietress grabbed her hostess for the evening and yanked them both out of Shinji's mind-space.

+++++ Reliqui, Roppongi, Japan. (Thursday + 5)

A silent howl of agony was only capable of manifesting itself as a sharp intake of breath and a rounding out of Shinji's mouth as his arteries stood out in sharp relief against his rapidly mottling skin. Clutching at his temples, attempting through main force to rip the pain free of his body, he toppled to the ground after his companion tumbled from her perch onto the floor herself. Words would not form, thoughts could not aggregate, there existed only torture and the slow passage of time.

"Move, move, move!" Maria, now physically present in the room, urged everyone out of the way. "Stop, Pet. Stop! Look into my eyes. Come on, you can do it." Her heart ached as she saw tears of blood flowing freely from around his eyes. "Shh, shh," she stroked his hair and urged him up to his knees as she kept layering her presence over his thoughts, "it's ok, it's ok. You're not under attack, you don't need to fight anyone. Calm. Calm, steady, breaths."

The Vixen Triplets flooded into the room, looking around in confusion and worry at what they'd felt and what they now saw. Misa moved to help her Matriarch regain her balance as Mika and Miwa grabbed some cloth napkins and a pitcher of water. The now familiar song, a hauntingly beautiful and wordless melody that spoke of fondness and warm regard, came from all three as the two nearest him began cleaning off the blood from his face.

"There, see? Everything's fine." Maria silently thanked them for aiding her in staving off a destructive maelstrom. "Ritsuko, dear, if you would be so kind as to set his chair back on its feet?" Further gratitude for both the prompt movement the doctor displayed, and the lack of complaint registered at the abrupt order was extended to the woman she'd owe several explanations to now. "Thank you. Up you go, Pet. Up, up, up." With Ritsuko, and now all three Triplets, aiding her she managed to get Shinji back into his seat before she took a step back and allowed the young kitsune to have more room to work their calming magics. After slumping into her own chair herself, she finally looked to Toyouke and found her hostess in a similar state of anxiety and fatigue. "So…. We have a problem."

"Hadn't noticed," Toyouke breathed out, stretching her neck to try and rid herself of the sensation of being throttled.

Ritsuko, realizing that there was now little room for her to try and comfort Shinji, left the Trio of Fox Spirits to the task. Keeping her voice down low enough to not draw Shinji's attention, she leaned in and asked two beings that were capable of erasing her with a sneeze, "I'm going to assume that there's an explanation for why you lied to him?"

Maria's mouth tightened, fear of the diplomatic cluster-molest that was speeding towards them, "Child-"

"No. She has the right of it." Toyouke waved off the proprietress. "I told him that this would not cause him pain. I owe him an explanation, and a payment for my overconfidence and lie of ignorance." Her joints cracked and popped as she straightened her spine in her chair. "My presumption, made through my standing as a mother myself, was that his mother would be appalled at what had been done to him. That she would welcome the chance to cross to the far side of the river and allow her soul to peacefully separate."

"Ok, the unspoken 'but' there is becoming more than a little ominous." Ritsuko crossed her arms under her chest, hugging herself as she wondered how bad things had apparently become.

"Beginning to understand why I said you were in deeper than you knew?" Maria caught the young woman about to snap off a retort, until Ritsuko saw that she was looking at her with sympathy and not smug superiority. "You are exceptional, by any standard. But no one is 'ready' to discover the true nature of those things that walk between the two worlds of spirit and flesh."

Youthful pride called for her to declare herself ready for anything if it advanced her understanding of the world. Prudent clarity instead slapped it away from the microphone and replied with a much more genial, "I think he needs a lot of support. It doesn't sound like anyone's tried to give it to him. My thought, at least…I'd like to move him in with me. Wherever he's living now, from what little I've gathered it's just exacerbating existing conditions. He's going to be taken advantage of, and manipulated just like he was where he came from. I've got plenty of room in my flat, and I make more than enough to offset feeding a growing young man. Between working for you, and spending time at the University with me, we can work together to build him back up from whatever muck others have thrown him into. We both benefit, but more importantly he benefits."

"Denmother, I…." A young girl, clearly not prepared for the sight the room contained, trailed off as she looked at the devastation, the blood, and the suffering.

Fortunately for the child, Toyouke had been expecting news. Beckoning her into the room, she urged her to spit it out, "What is it you need, child?"

"Unca has sent back a note. The messenger said that only you were supposa read it." Scurrying forward, she handed over the folded parchment. "I sorry for interrupting, Mistress of Arts," she directed her first bow of apology to Maria, "Ikarifriend," the second towards Ritsuko.

While the Denmother scanned the note, Ritsuko tilted her head slightly in confusion. "Who's Ikari?" The brunette Doctor looked to Maria for answers, "The only Ikari I know is, well was-"

"Someone we do not speak to Shinji of," Maria cut in sharply. "In the world he comes from, he would have been the man's grandson. He has no living relatives, no matter how distant, on this Earth. When the time comes, or should he discover on his own the truth of the matter, I give you full and complete permission to blame me."

"I will pass along the message, child." Toyouke handed the note back to the young messenger. "Please go toss that into the incinerator, and while you are near there ask the Kiko if they would kindly stop tormenting our guest from Elysium and go do what I have asked them to do." Turning back to Ritsuko and Maria, she folded her hands in her lap in a clear effort to stop massaging her neck. "I would agree that living with you would be better than living with the mahou shoujou at this time. It appears that they are having extreme difficulty controlling their emotions at the moment, which I believe is directly related to the Silent One himself. The two that are currently recuperating may or may not be suffering through the same, and so our choices are limited to either yourself, or here in Reliqui."

"I do have room for him myself, Denmother," Maria's tone was slightly chiding.

"You also are his employer." Toyouke wasn't cowed in the slightest. "If you wish to fraternize, you should fire him. Otherwise, you are inviting disaster onto your business, and by extension, his head."

"And if I join him to me forevermore, he'll be my business partner," the raven-haired proprietress rolled her eyes. Conceding the unspoken point, the one only the two of them would truly understand, she turned to face Ritsuko as well. "We will work out a reasonable schedule. My offer of employment was meant to make him feel as if he was earning his way in the world. Inspire confidence, develop social habits, things of that nature. I had hoped that it would enable him to develop a reputation around himself, one that would eventually allow him to seek his own destiny where he will." A short sigh of irritation dismissed the notion as impossible now. "I, and I believe Reliqui will assist me, can help with any expenses he incurs. It is part of the Pact we've signed to, as he is now more than he once was. He falls beneath our remit, not Elysium's."

"On this we agree. The paperwork is already being drawn up for him to be a full member of your society, with all of the rights and responsibilities of any other. He will have graduated from our most prestigious Lower and Upper Secondary Schools. Reliqui, as you will learn, maintains them so that we can better integrate our own children into society. He will be listed as an orphan, recently returned to his place of birth from an extended stay in Nagano. A bank account will be set up at one of our institutions, with both a tax manager and an asset manager. There are more than enough fallow accounts left about from deceased Elders that we can draw from."

Ritsuko had about three times as many questions as she entered Reliqui with, but a quick look at the man she wished to make her flatmate gently pushed those off for now. "I'm going to go ask him, then." When she looked back at the other two women, she noted their equal looks of frank disbelief. "I am not going to do exactly what I'm attempting to liberate him from. Period. If he won't move in with me willingly, after I've talked it over with him, then that's that. He's not a child, and I refuse to treat him like one!"

Maria's finger tapped a thoughtful tattoo on her knee as she chose her words carefully. "He is no child, you are correct. However, he does not have the experience necessary to make sound judgement calls. He'll see leaving the apartment as an indictment of those living there, as if he were 'running away', abandoning them. If you wish to risk failure, you at least must be prepared to fight for success."

"We can make the transition easier, to assist in this." Toyouke gestured to the Vixen Trio. "We will leave the wards up on the apartment he was living in, and they will acquire new wards for your home. The wards will do a much better job of ensuring that the youma do not invade either, and hopefully coax him into accepting. I'll also task them with gathering whatever he may own from the apartment, to avoid a fight or…other unseemly behavior."

"Speaking of unseemly behavior…I had anticipated that the paperwork was already being processed. Satou told me as much." Maria's eyebrow quirked slightly as she anticipated something terrible. "Have I been lied to by someone I had believed my friend?"

There was more than a moment of uncomfortable silence as The Denmother considered her words once again. "He made an attempt at restraining three of the Mahou Shoujou. The Silent One was right to be nervous."

Maria was unsparing in her pronouncement of guilt, "Fucking idiot."

"His actions have managed to reveal truths that we benefit from. As…unseemly as they were, we would not have had a full accounting of the status of at least three of five extraordinarily powerful beings." Toyouke made it clear she was not offering excuses. "I will ask for a trial. If he cannot explain his behavior, then Reliqui will do what we always have. We will police our own."

"Why is he just now coming loose at the seams? For three decades he has managed to balance everything, and now, when we need a steady hand assisting the human realm, he suddenly decides to sacrifice everything?" She couldn't believe that it was that simple. "Is he being influenced somehow?"

"It might have to do with the severity of the incidents." Ritsuko reasserted her place in the conversation. "We humans have been a little nervous over what is being declared a 'bio-terrorist attack'. Three in a week? That's enough to rattle anyone." Waving off the topic, she gestured back to Shinji. "I'm going to go make my offer. Whatever you're discussing can be discussed when he and I are back in my apartment eating ice cream and watching late night television. I'll take him to the University tomorrow, so that you have some time to get things in order elsewise."

+++++ Lunar Command Center. (Thursday + 5)

Only partly true to her word, Usagi arrived with Minako to the Lunar Command Center. The debate, as it would later be declared, between Usagi and Makoto was, in Minako's words, 'Memorable'. Both blondes looked much worse for the wear, and went in different directions to handle what needed doing. While still as emotionally distant as the last time she'd approached Luna, the first words Usagi spoke were far different, "How is he doing?"

The tiny black feline noted that Minako picked up the landline to call someone, then responded with a sedate, "Stable. The machines say it's going to be several days before he can be taken out of sedation. Where's Makoto-chan?"

"At her apartment." She allowed the statement to stand on its own. "Do I need to call Ami-chan's mother and Rei-chan's grandfather?"

"No. You arrived just as I was going to be rousing them." She pressed a few buttons before walking several tired steps to where she could see the results. Starting as Usagi picked her up, she relaxed a second later and slumped into her younger sister's embrace. "It hasn't been a good week."

"I'm sorry for being so distant, Luna. I really can't seem to get my feet under me right now." It wasn't the heartfelt apology that she wanted to give, or that she knew her elder sister deserved, but it was a start. "We need to move him out of Makoto's apartment. Whatever this…darkness, this terrible gravity he emits…I can see her thoughts. She wants to…she wants to do things to him that can never be undone."

Rei gasping herself awake cut off the conversation, the lid popping open and barely avoiding her head. Looking around in confusion, she finally fixed her eyes on Usagi. "I…uh…." The sedatives hadn't yet worn completely out of her system, causing her to slump forward and clutch her head. "Did we lose anyone?"

"What?!" Minako's shout kept the mayhem flowing. "Mom, I didn't-" A pause. "No, I'm not-" Another pause. "Well they're lying!"

"No," Usagi answered Rei's question. "Somehow, Shin-Shin showed up and managed to kill one youma and drive off the other. You and Ami-chan were hurt bad enough that Luna put you in the recovery beds. Makoto is back at her apartment. When you're able, we are going to need you to perform cleansing rituals on all of us. He's receiving help from others that can actually assist him at the moment, but all of us…I'm just glad you hate men and machines. I think it's somewhat spared you from this."

Ami weakly coughed several times. "I would like to put it on record that I am opposed to praising Rei-chan for hating men and machines. Both are lovely, given a chance to prove their worth." Sitting upright, the wan bluenette looked at the other stricken Sailor. "We gave it our best, and we got beat hard. Next time we fight them, we can't split our force up. It's going to have to be a rolling brawl."

The raven-haired Sailor for Mars nodded, surprising both of her friends. "If we didn't lose anyone, and he managed to beat even one without you and me helping, then he's a combat asset. I'm not an idiot, Ami-chan. I appreciate you couching your comment as you did, instead of just yelling at me."

"Friends, right?" Ami's smile took in both women. It was the type of smile that someone gave when they knew the reaper was at the door and it was only a matter of time before they had to step outside. "Is he ok?"

"He's being tended to by…competent healers." Usagi hadn't been there for the fight, and now she wasn't there when Shinji was going through another ordeal. Neither sat well with her. "You should go. I'll walk Minako-chan home, since you two live in the same direction. Your family will be worried, with the news having broken."

Shaking her head, both to negate the statement and clear more of the fog from her head, Rei tried to argue, "We need to be ready for another attack. If we split everyone up-"

"We stumbled into what they were doing," Ami could see the logic behind Usagi's plan, "they didn't seek us out. These 'Angels' only ever go for Shinji-kun, and the youma don't know where we live. We'll regroup tomorrow, the four of us will come to the shrine after school to-"

Usagi's voice was a cold whisper as she announced, "I've been expelled."

Minako stormed into the discussion breathing fire, cutting off the shocked responses from Ami and Rei, "The police showed up to my house, asking to see me." With her arms crossed, and her eyes fixed on Artemis' unconscious form, she was a feather's weight away from blowing up completely. "They told my parents that I'm 'unknowingly in with some bad people'. Now I have to go home and try to explain to them that the school is wrong, the police are harassing me, and that they need to be careful without them somehow deciding to home school me!"

"I'll help you explain to them what's going on." Usagi set Luna down on the seat next to Artemis. "Let's go." She nodded a brief farewell to the other two, making it clear that the discussion was over for now. "Be careful heading home. I'll…probably end up returning here later."

+++++ Reliqui, Roppongi, Japan. (Thursday + 5)

Shinji's pain had abated, slowly. The Trio of young kitsune took turns speaking with him and singing for him. Always two in song and one with speech. All had the same goal of distracting him from his suffering, and each one took genuine delight from causing him to blush or demure at their not-at-all-subtle flirtation. He knew they were 'playing'; it was one of the few things he knew about the particular type of youkai before him, and he berated himself from time to time for falling into the 'trap' of believing they might be serious.

When Ritsuko approached, the song drifted to an end and all three triplets stood and hugged him as one. "Trust your friend, Silent One. She has your best interests at heart, we can tell." As they passed by the brunette doctor, intending to leave them alone for the conversation, all three whispered as one, "Careful, his mind still aches."

"Thank you." Ritsuko couldn't really say much more, as the Trio passed by headed for other business of their own. She was, however, genuine with her gratitude. Typically bleeding from the eyes is a sign of much worse medical ailments, and the young man sitting before her with paler than normal skin and clear signs of light sensitivity was more likely to be diagnosed with a migraine than with some form of hemorrhagic fever. Giving him a small smile of commiseration before sitting down next to him and rubbing his knee, she poured on the charm. "So, you look like someone slapped a kitten to death in front of you. On a scale from one to dead kitten how are you feeling?" The pained wince he suffered as he silently laughed gave her some hope.

The sensation that Shinji felt at her touch and the way that she joked with him both informed his answer of an 'ok' symbol. It wasn't the soiled euphoria that he felt when he held any of the Sailors, but instead just a more basic warmth that filled his heart. His smile showed sorrow and pleasure, both needing to be expressed in equal measure.

"That's good." One of her hands reached over and took his closest arm, tugging it over so that she could hold his hand and inconspicuously feel his pulse as he answered. "Now, first thing's first. I want you to understand that everything I'm about to talk over with you is coming from that friendship we just started. Ok?" She waited for him to nod, his smile fading to a worried frown. "I'm not mad at you, I promise." Biting her lower lip, she tried to gauge whether he would take blunt directness better or tactful diplomacy. "I think that you need to move out of the apartment you're staying in." His face going flat didn't help tip her in either direction. "From everything they've told me here today, I honestly believe that staying with your fellow warriors is going to end with…someone," she didn't say it would most likely be him, "being hurt. People who are keyed to combat tend to lean towards violence as a solution. Emotions get high, two people come into conflict, and nothing good can come out of that." She caught the subtle nod, and felt it buoy her plan. "So, what I want to offer, and I do mean offer, not order or command or insist. Ok?" Confusion with a hint of worry melded with his nod of comprehension. "I want to offer you a room in my flat." His eyes shot wide, and so she kicked the conversation into overdrive. "The people here are going to help protect it. They intend to place talismans, which I have to assume work well because everything they've shown me today hasn't all been just smoke and mirrors, which will keep the youma out. They'll leave the talismans where you are staying now, so that your fellow warriors will also have added safety. This will give you some distance from them, which will help you figure out where they fit in your life. It doesn't have to be permanent, but," she gave him her winningest smile, "maybe you'll like living with someone who'll challenge you to broaden your horizons. I promise, I can be loads of fun. Give me a few days, see if it feels like a home and not just a place to exist."

Shinji suddenly remembered Maria's warning that he could be carrying something harmful to the Sailors. That Ritsuko was protected, but they were not. Timidly, he held up a finger asking for a moment. Maria…were you being honest about this thing that I have that could harm the Sailors?

The raven-haired store owner stopped her conversation with Toyouke to respond aloud, "Yes. I think that our fears have just become well-founded, and that concern is multiplying. Doctor Akagi is protected against it by virtue of not being magical in nature. I am protected against it because I'm powerful enough to defend my own mind. The Triplets are protected against it because their bonds with each other are far deeper than those your friends have. I did not, and will not, lie to you about this. If your future is bound to theirs, forewarned is forearmed."

I…I have to make a decision, don't I…. He saw, though Ritsuko did not, Maria nod twice. He was terrible at decisions. This seemed however, despite everything he could throw at it, like a rather simple decision. You don't put someone with a flu bug in a room with healthy people. He knew what he had to do. How am I going to explain it to them?

+++++ Kino Apartment, Azabu-Juban, Japan. (Thursday + 5)

Makoto stormed into her apartment, slamming the door behind her and beginning to scream invectives at the top of her lungs. Everything was working against her. Everything. She had fought for Usagi. She had died for Usagi. Now? Now she was relegated to be the only one who can't join in on hearing Shinji's supposedly wonderful thoughts. Nobody was fighting for her. No, they were all fighting for themselves.

Rei just wanted to send him home. Usagi wanted to dictate who could and could not even touch him. Minako was eye-humping him every chance she got! Somehow Ami managed to summon him! "It's not fair!" Stamping her foot once with each word, she rapidly lost any sense of composure. "He didn't come back here. He doesn't give me a chance to explain. It's almost nine in the evening, and now I have absolutely no idea where to begin to look for him! Stupid Usagi and her stupid agreement with that stupid man!"

Her wrath expended for the moment, she looked around the room for inspiration. Everywhere she looked, however, reminded her that for a few precious days she had been given unlimited access to an exceedingly good man. The pair of futons, ever so close to touching one another. The couch, moved by him at her behest. A bag full of the wrappings and boxes from his toiletries, waiting for their trash day. This had been her second chance. A second chance she'd squandered, just like the first chance.

In the back of her mind, there was a small trickle of worry forming. For a brief moment everything seemed to shift sideways in her head, causing her to become slightly dizzy. "What…what was I…?" The room itself felt different. Safer. Calmer. The timid young man who was missing no longer a bourgeoning disaster in her life, but instead the same calming force that drove away the nightmares. "He…he doesn't…."

The sight of the briefcase Shinji had been given cut the moment of clarity short. Makoto's memory of Maria, of how perfect she looked, stoking her fires nicely. That woman was a threat. She acted so haughtily, so unerringly confident that all she had to do was crook her finger and Shinji would be hers.

The more she thought on it, the angrier she became. If he'd never gone to find work, none of this would have happened. It was all Maria's fault. She needed to show him that everything in this apartment was all he needed. He didn't need a job. He didn't need to spend hours a day in close proximity to that homewrecker. All he needed was her. Jupiter was the largest of all the planets in the solar system. It was more than large enough to…contain Shinji's love.

As she moved to take a quick shower, so that she was fresh and clean when he came home, she remained unaware of a floating eight-sided polyhedron the size of a game die now adorning a simple chain dangling from her right earlobe. "I'll welcome him home, help him get clean…and then we'll both get dirty again."

+++++ Minako Aino's House, Azabu-Juban, Japan. (Thursday + 5)

"Oh…oh dear." Minako Aino's mother held both of her hands before her mouth. She had listened attentively to the darling young woman who looked so much like her beloved daughter, and every bit of her being was screaming to go and give Usagi a hug. "I had heard from Minako-chan that…."

Minako's father, a man that worked hard to earn his great fortune in marrying Minako's mother, worried at one palm with the thumb of his opposing hand. "That explains the call, at least." His jaw worked slowly in thought. "We have that spare bedroom, dear. What do you think about hosting Miss Tsukino for the evening? I'll go into the school tomorrow and have a chat with the administration. It sounds as if things have a perfectly logical explanation, and too many people have been involved in trying to sort it all out."

Minako herself couldn't believe how fluently Usagi was lying. She had held her face still by willpower alone as her leader spun a tale of a police officer trying to take the man who saved her, Shinji, to jail for starting the fire. Expounding that he had actually gone to her house to make sure she was going to make it to school, and not for anything dubious or nefarious, she gushed with gratitude that Shinji had been concerned enough about a simple lazy morning that he showed up and pulled her away from the fire. Breaking into tears that only someone who knew her well enough would know were false, she said that she had spent the day trying to make sense of the tragedy while the local government officials argued over her legal standing as the lone inheritor of her parents wealth and their insurance policy's payment. Gently patting Usagi's hand, the Sailor for Venus wasn't surprised by the next statement.

"Oh, no, no. I couldn't impose." Her sad smile was as touching as it was faked. "Shin-Shin worked with his employer to find me a suitable hotel room somewhere safe. He promised to check up on me after he was off shift tonight. He's working extra late for a very important client; his employer has tried to convince him to not overwork but she's not had any success."

"Very respectable." Minako's father nodded approvingly. "Work hard when you're young, so that way when you're older you have the means to support yourself. Still," he patted his knee firmly, "I will not let you just walk anywhere alone. There have been too many crimes committed in the local area recently, and young women are far too attractive of a target."

Usagi inclined her head politely, deflecting once more from placing anyone in danger. "I already have a ride, sir. An associate of Shin-Shin and his fiancée gave us a ride here and went to go pick up a late dinner. They promised to pick me up again in just a few moments. I agree with you wholeheartedly, and that's why I asked him if he could help me get Minako-chan home safely. I also wanted to make sure I was here to share the truth of the matter, because I couldn't let my friend be punished because someone we should trust ended up lying to you." The sound of a knock at the door cut into her tale. "I think that's them now. Would you mind if I said my goodbyes to Minako-chan outside?"

"Oh please do, dear." Minako's mother urged her daughter to stand and move with Usagi. "You just let us know if we can do anything to help. Anything at all." Her attention turned to her spouse as the two teens moved to the door. "I want you to make absolutely certain that he understands Usagi-chan was not to blame for any of it. I know you like to slough off tasks because you think you're too old to do them, but this is our daughter's best friend!"

Her parent's voice drifted away as they approached the door. Minako tried to slow Usagi down, but was having no luck. "You really shouldn't walk anywhere alone," she whispered. "I don't know how you faked the knocking sound-" The door opened to show the man who'd pulled them off the roof and an attractive young adult standing next to him.

"Hey Usagi-san," the youkai gave them both a calm smile. "Thanks for letting us take care of that." During his statements, he shoved an envelope towards Minako, who had no choice but to take it or have him heave it into her mouth. "Let's get you back to where you can have some calm. He won't go easy on me if I let anyone get hurt."

"I won't go easy on you if anyone gets hurt with you around!" His 'girlfriend' clubbed him on the shoulder with a frown. "Let's go. Your engine's going to wake up the neighborhood."

"I'll talk to you tomorrow, Minako-chan." Usagi glanced meaningfully at the envelope, then turned and walked towards the waiting car. The 'girlfriend' wrapped one arm around Usagi's shoulders in a display of compassion, and the man nodded in farewell and pointed to the envelope once more before leaving himself.

With no choice but to stand there and watch her friend leave, Minako opened up the envelope and noticed what appeared to be the kind of talisman that Rei Hino often made use of. Pulling it out to see what was written on it, she gasped and jumped back as it burst into flame, turned to ash, and then reformed on the front door whole and intact. "…What in the world?"

+++++ Reliqui, Roppongi, Japan. (Thursday + 5)

If she committed crimes against me, then it's only fair that I have a say in her punishment. Shinji had dug his heels in on the matter of Hygieia. He'd take all sorts of unfair and unfounded pain, suffering, and punishments himself. He'd be damned if he allowed someone else to suffer for what had to be a misunderstanding. Let me hear her out. I very well might have done or said something that caused her to do what she did.

While Toyouke provided a transcription to Ritsuko of Shinji's thoughts, Maria held her own ground on the matter of the woman from Elysium. "Pet, you don't know anything about this conflict. They were part of the aggressor faction during the Academy Wars. They wanted to purge the good youkai from the world along with those youma who've sided against peace. They kept saying it was the only way to ensure peace and tranquility!"

I'm not saying I understand it all, but even I know that just because someone was once an enemy doesn't prevent them from becoming an ally. The United States has worked hard to repair relations with us over the past several decades! Where I'm from, they even argued in favor of Japan gaining a seat on the United Nations Security Council. With his hands shoved in his pockets, he frowned at his employer. I am not going to be able to relax if I don't hear from her why she did what she did. If I don't feel she was wrong, then it's idiotic that I pretend nothing's happening.

"He's not wrong," Ritsuko added, wanting to be about getting home herself. "Essentially, you're pressing charges when the victim isn't even sure he's been victimized."

"He doesn't know he's been victimized because he was conditioned to accept abuses without complaint." Maria rolled her eyes towards Ritsuko condescendingly. "Would you take the word of a child regarding what an adult had done to them at face value? Would you trust that they understood everything that had been in play?"

Am I just a child to you? Shinji's question was presented with bone-chilling quiet.

"I have existed far longer than this world has." The raven-haired store owner understood her error, and tried to explain her intent in addition to recovering ground she'd just lost. "There are precious few beings upon it that are not younger than I am by a great margin."

I'm speaking to her. He knew that he was treading on thin ice himself, but the sudden sense that he'd been slandered by someone who'd done so much for him tacked itself onto his already cascading temper. Toyouke-san, would you please allow Mika-san to show me to where Hygieia is?

"-Chan, not -san," Mika approached and took Shinji's arm in both of her own. "We're friends too, right?" Her brilliant, vulpine, grin soothed the situation over as she thumped him on the upper part of the rear of his leg with all three of her tails. "Friends use -chan and -kun, silly." When he blushed and looked down, she cast a quick glance to her Matriarch for instructions.

"Misa-chan, Miwa-chan, I would like you to stand outside the room while Mika-chan ensures the Silent One's safety." Toyouke urged the quartet off towards their destination, holding Ritsuko back so they could speak on other issues. "I will accept your judgement of her guilt this once, Silent One. You suffered injury under my roof, this shall be my recompense for that. Your employer and I will make certain the good Doctor has everything she requires before you leave."

"Great," the Trio announced, hurrying Shinji out of the room without seeming to hurry him at all.

As he walked down the hallways, Shinji was impressed and amazed at how they all managed to make it seem as if he was the one leading them somewhere when he knew for a fact that he was being guided towards their destination. The cross-chatter between the triplets involved him only peripherally as well, the three women discussing possible destinations to take him on outings. He, as was his wont, believed them only interested in calming him down. Nobody wanted to make a man angry that could tear apart their home, after all.

"What do you think?" Miwa, seated on his shoulders, looked down at him with honest curiosity. "It's secluded, and all three of us can make sure that nobody stumbles across us!"

Attempting to replay the tail end of the conversation, having missed it while growing irritated at how everyone was becoming afraid of him and also irritated that they weren't necessarily wrong to be, he found he couldn't come up with the first part of the question. I…uhm, I think that you three would know better than I would. I-I usually make bad choices anyway.

The act of self-effacing didn't play well with his audience, and suddenly all three were before him speaking and moving in unison. Pointing at his nose, their other hand planted firmly on their hip, they let him know with no doubts possible that he would stop that nonsense right now. "We do not know who put it in your head that you're just 'dead weight', sir, but you will point them out to us if we ever come across them so we can give them a piece of our mind. You may not know everything, but nobody does! You may not be able to do everything, but nobody can! You fight to protect people, even people who don't deserve it. You give everything you own to others who you feel need it more. So when we say that we want to take you on a picnic, it's not because we pity you. It's not because we're playing with you. It's because we think you will be fun to be around! The only way to get over being awkward is to spend time around people, and that's what you're going to do."

Faced with what he believed to be far superior firepower, Shinji engaged the other tried and true chestnut: submission. Y-yes. Of course. I-I'll…uhm, I'll make some food for a picnic. J-just…uhm…. W-what do you eat?

Their nature switching back to giggly playfulness as if they'd never been mad, all three responded as one, "The souls of the damned, of course."

+++++ Author's Notes:

RE: TI(N)H and YA(N)C:

This has been a common comment/question. TI(N)H does take place in a controlled multiverse post-YA(N)C. More details and what happened will be revealed later in the story by a few of the characters. Also, 'Ten-chan' is shortened from 'Tenshi-chan'. Yes, Maya insisted that Shinji allow her to name their daughter 'Angel'. Her war against puns, as described throughout YA(N)C all led up to that one whopper of a pun.

RE: Angry Shinji:

You're not wrong. This Shinji is angrier. The loving support of the Horaki family could not be replicated by Makoto Kino alone, and with tragedies piling up behind them all, the rest of the Sailors can't focus all of the attention needed to stop him from spiraling out of control. He has no control over his life, no idea what is happening, no way to know if the people he left behind are dead or alive, and several powerful entities have conscripted him into a new war without his consent. It's only going to get worse.

RE: Spin-offs:

As an Eagle-Eyed viewer (JaceSterne) noted in the reviews, there is indeed at least two more stories that will comprise the YA(N)C multiverse. Note, *at least*.