Chapter 6: Masked Stranger

Ami was up early to dress for her second "outing" with Hugo. Once she naturally awoke at 6:30 she found herself too eager to go back to sleep for another half an hour, even though she knew Hugo wouldn't arrive until 8:30.

She showered, deciding to give her hair a quick wash too, and contemplated the other night as she lathered in the conditioner to leave in. She would hold off calling the girls until she had visited the shop and, hopefully, spoke to the owner. He was Christabel's uncle too... so maybe it would be worth asking her? It wasn't just the Phantom anymore either; there were those brainwashed teenagers and that shadowy figure she had caught staking out the shop. So many elements to consider.

Rinsing out her hair the last time, she just stood and basked in the soothing scents of her body wash and the calmly patter of the water against her skin.

As if I don't have enough to worry about, she thought bleakly. Her education should come first yet her duties as a Sailor Senshi were rearing their ugly head once again. Why did it have to be here and now while she was alone and with no one to help?

She turned off the water and stepped out of the stall. Clearing the condensation from the mirror, she trimmed up her fringe - having neglected it since coming to London - and made her way back to her room to dry off and get ready.

Once hair was dried and she was all dressed for the day ahead, she made her way towards the kitchen to grab breakfast. It was empty, still too early for most of her flat mates, and only the evidence of their beer and their cigarettes remained. Honestly, how could Hugo stand to inhale those toxins into his body?!

She decided for that reason to eat in her room as there was no way she was cleaning up that pig sty.

Time went unnervingly slow thereafter. Ami kept trying to study but she kept getting distracted, anxiously waiting for 8:30 to roll on for fear she might miss it. She found herself getting up, pacing around, staring in the mirror before sitting back down to try and read some more. None of it was going in, though.

Is this because of Hugo? she wondered to herself. Her chest felt tighter the moment she thought it and her cheeks felt warm to touch. She smiled to herself. My view of him changed so quickly, didn't it?

The moment the clock changed to 8:30, she braced herself. Then when it turned to 8:31 she scowled. He's already late... she thought dourly. At 8:32 the buzzer to the front of the building went off. She immediately reached for the phone to answer it.

"Hiya, is that you Ami?" Hugo's voice crackled through the receiver.

Her heart settled in relief. 'Good morning, Hugo. Just wait a moment and I'll be down in a sec.'

"Righto!"

He immediately let go of the button. Ami gathered up her bag and gave herself one last look in the mirror before she headed down to the main entrance. He was leaning up against the wall, rolling up another smoke.

She sighed so loud that his head snapped in her direction.

Ami shook her head, 'How many have you had today?'

'This is my first one,' he assured her with a smile, turning to continue rolling it up. 'Beaver's honour. I'd give you a higher honour but I got kicked out. I always thought I was more suited to the life of a Rainbow.'*

Ami blinked in confusion.

Hugo just laughed. 'Sorry, scout joke.'

To his credit, as she got closer, he still smelt of that morning's shower. The sharp smell of his body wash combined with the cool scent of whatever he cleaned his hair with, shamelessly making Ami's whole body skip a beat. No smoke on him at all.

'Any chance you could not smoke that one?' she asked in a hopeful voice.

Hugo tucked the finished article behind his ear like a pen. 'If it'll make you feel better, I won't smoke it in front of you,' he told her.

'I'd rather you quit,' she confessed.

'Maybe one day,' he sighed comically. 'The right person will come along and change me.'

Ami just smiled and nodded. 'But in the mean time?'

'In the meantime, I still need my oral fixation,' he declared, swinging his bag over his shoulder again as they walked to the door. He glanced over at Ami as the sun light finally hit them. 'You... look nice, by the way,' he said slowly, shyly. 'Did you do something... different?'

Ami could feel her cheeks lighting up again. 'Oh, I just trimmed up my hair a bit.'

'Oh well,' he continued on, rubbing the back of his head, 'you look nice. Well, you always do but I can tell something is different.'

She smiled, 'Thank you, Hugo.'

Before they made their way towards the shop, they stopped off for some takeaway coffee from Tile Cafe. A different barista was there from Helen today. Hugo asked after his sister who he was informed was in class. 'That's good,' he muttered, relieved that she wasn't being forced to miss them.

Clutching their cups of cinnamon latte delight, they carried on their way.

'I'm glad Helen is still able to continue her education,' Ami said after a short while.

Hugo threw his head back with an overdramatic sigh, 'You can say that again! I really need to visit her for a reason other than coffee…'

They carried on their way.

Ami pretended to follow Hugo back towards the familiar little square where the New Age shop was. The whole time she tried to act like she had never been there before all while remembering the previous night like she was living it over again. Perhaps the shop would still be closed? If it was, what would she and Hugo do? Disband for another time?

'Hm, you have a good sense of direction, it seems,' Hugo commented, breaking Ami's chain of thought. She looked up to that all too familiar cat-like smile. 'You seem to know all the turns before we even make them.'

She looked away, swiftly blurting out her already thought out excuse.

'I suppose I'm psychic.'

'Really?' Hugo chuckled teasingly. 'Makes me a little redundant then; you could probably have made this trip on your own.'

'N-No,' Ami said quickly, very aware of her pinking skin once again. 'I enjoy your company a lot, Hugo.' Her burning cheeks were a nicer feeling this time as she was speaking very much from the heart.

He looked down to try and stifle an almost audible snicker in his throat. She could see his smile, though. It quickened her heart so suddenly that Ami wanted to look away but she couldn't bring herself to.

Hugo's foot gently kicked a random pebble before he spoke up. 'Yes, well, the feeling is mutual.' He then looked over to her to add, 'You have an innately likeable personality.'

Ami bit down on her smile and looked forward. 'Not many people tell me that. Most people think I'm haughty and cold.'

'You are a bit quiet and take a while to trust people,' Hugo admitted. 'I think we can agree that was an issue between us when we started out, right?'

She genuinely felt ashamed about that now. The longer she spent with Hugo, the worse she felt about her presumption that he was the same boy she had met all those years ago, hellbent on destroying the Sailor Senshi. Never judge a book by its cover, she told herself, closing her eyes in shame:

'I feel really terrible for it,' she told him.

He shrugged, 'It's fine. I'm really not the sort to bear a grudge—'

Ami had to stifle a giggle.

Hugo lifted an eyebrow, smiling despite himself.

'W-what? What's so funny about that?'

'Nothing,' Ami said, chewing her lip. 'I... don't even know why I laughed then.'

It was weird, like a Freudian slip without any words. She felt innately that Hugo was the sort of person to hold a grudge, yet she had never seen any real evidence of it. Perhaps his issues with his father, or how sensitive he can get about his coma could be termed as "touchy", she pondered, reflecting for a nanosecond how easy it was becoming to work English words into her thought process. Still, that can hardly be termed as a grudge, though.

As if Hugo was reading her mind - as per usual - he spoke, 'You're thinking about my daddy issues, aren't you? Or perhaps how touchy I get about my… medical issue?'

She should have been used to this by now but if anything she was more in awe than ever before. He had even used the word "touchy".

'How do you do that?'

'I am psychic,' he simpered, a twinkle in his eyes.

'I'm starting to believe you about that.'

They walked down the narrow alley where Ami had seen the second masked man. She braced as they made their way towards the end, preparing to look surprised when she saw the shop's inevitable mess.

Hugo beat her to it, though not in the way she expected.

'Kris's scooter is here,' he stated the moment he set eyes on the shop.

Ami looked at the very nice magenta coated motor scooter parked in the "Keep Clear" alley beside the New Age shop. That rule probably didn't apply to the niece of the proprietor.

'Perhaps she's checking on her uncle?' she suggested, after a long silence where they just seemed to stare at the scooter.

'Hm,' Hugo murmured. 'No police about. Let's go see if she's there — it's open.'

They strode across the square towards the shop, the sounds of two voices bickering the closer they got. One was definitely Christabel, the other her uncle.

'Have you called the insurance people yet about the window?' Kris asked, standing beside her uncle as she shuffled through papers. 'You'll need to chase the police up for that case number.'

'Yes, alright, Belle,' the older man grumbled. 'God, you're your mother's daughter. My old sis was never happy 'less she was having a moan.'

'You have to get on top of this sort of thing, Uncle Cole!' she chided him. 'Knowing you, you'd have a smashed up window right up until Christmas unless I don't "keep on" you—'

'Alright, alright,' the man sniped. 'I'll do it on lunch.'

'Sure you don't want me to do it?'

'No! I'll do it. You're never gonna be a doctor if you spend all your time looking after me, love—'

It was at this moment Hugo knocked on the door. This got the guy's attention immediately as he shouted: 'Come in! We're open as usual. Mind the mess.'

'Ami! You decided to check it out?' Kris beamed, before turning to Hugo and cocking an eyebrow, 'And... you're here too?'

'Just showing Ami the way,' he said bluntly, before looking around and adding. 'I'm guessing you guys had a break in?'

'Bunch of little buggers broke my windows and my display cases,' Cole blurted out from behind Kris. He was sitting at the counter, trying to make sense of the papers Kris had placed there. 'They whacked me over the head and turned this place inside out. If it hadn't been for that young lad, boy, I'd hate to think what would have happened.'

Ami perked up, 'Young lad?'

'Young fella in a long navy coat - or maybe it was a cape? - and a scarf covering his mouth came in and sorted those little bastards out. He fought them, tied them up and then saw to my wound,' he explained excitedly, almost like a little boy describing a day out.

'Lucky for you,' Hugo agreed.

'What did he look like?' Ami asked.

'Oh, no,' Kris groused. 'Don't get him started. I've heard the story about fifty ti—'

'It's hard to describe him,' Cole immediately began, ignoring his niece's bellyaching. 'He was a youngish lad, perhaps about youse lots age. Wearing some sort of coat like someone in the Navy or the RAF. Military, you know? Navy blue. Scarf, too. Oh, and he had a mask on.'

'He had a mask on?' Ami reprised.

'Like you'd wear at one of those parties, whatever they're called, y'know the ones that only cover your eyes?' the older man snickered. 'Hardly Batman standard but there you go.'

'But do you remember what he actually looked like?' Hugo instantly asked. Ami spun around to see him fingering some of the tumbled stones in a display box. He looked up, his speckled green eyes dark and fierce. 'Hair colour, eye colour, birthmarks... anything like that?'

Kris's eyebrow was up again.

'Why? Think you might know him?' Cole hooted.

'Do you remember anything outside of what he wore?' Hugo grilled, almost robotically, paying no mind to the older man's question. 'You must have seen his hair, right? What colour was it? Was it short or long?'

Cole made to answer... but then stopped, scowling in confusion.

'I... I can't remember. No, wait, it was... Hm, you know... I don't remember seeing it. But I did. I suppose it was... too dark…?'

As his voice tailed off, Kris's face softened and she walked to stand beside him, putting an arm around his shoulders. 'I brought him home from the hospital,' she explained. 'The nurse there said the guy who helped him did a decent job patching up the wound but he might suffer from some short-term memory loss.'

'Agh, don't fuss over me, Hell's Belles!' Cole grumbled, his head in one hand but the other patting hers affectionately. 'You always worry too much, lovey.'

Her smile broadened. 'If I don't, who will?'

'You really are like your mum,' he said, looking up at her with fatherly eyes.

Ami and Hugo watched the exchange silently before Hugo stepped meekly forward. 'I'm sorry if I upset you, Mr. Dunsten.'

Cole, seemingly back to his normal self, held out a hand for the young man to shake. 'You didn't upset me at all, lad. I'm just getting old. The name's Colbert Dunsten.'

'Hugo Zehren.'

Cole glanced behind Hugo at Ami, who was staring at the shards on display. A mischievous smirk crossed the older man's face, 'And what's your name, lovely?'

Ami's head snapped around. 'Oh, um, I'm Ami Mizuno. Please do call me Ami.'

'Ah-mee, eh?' Cole repeated. 'Lovely to meet you. You two on Kris's course too, then?'

'Indeed we are,' Hugo announced brightly. 'It's nice to finally meet you, sir.'

'No formalities,' the older man insisted. 'Just call me Cole. Zehren, eh? Not related to Helen, are you?'

'My older sister,' Hugo said, a little surprised. 'She comes into your shop?'

'Oh, all the time!' Cole joked, before winking and shaking his head. 'Nah, she does sometimes to buy tumbled stones but usually I'm the one going to her caf. Always knows what I want.'

'Because you always get the same thing,' Kris teased, giving her uncle a light tap. He just chuckled and nodded the affirmative.

The mention of stones reminded Ami of why she had come in the first place. She went to dig the white stone out from her pocket. The moment she did, Hugo seemed to sense now was his time to go to that health food shop he had mentioned the other day.

He turned to leave.

'Ami, I'll be back in ten.'

'See you in a moment,' she smiled, watching him go before she turned to Cole and Kris; the smirk on the latter's face made her heart skip a beat. It seemed to be doing that a lot lately, especially when it came to Hugo. She cleared her throat, holding out the stone. 'Mr. Dunsten, I was wondering if you could help me with this?'

'Ah, what do you have there, sweetheart?'

'It's a stone she found,' Kris explained, her arm still patting her uncle's shoulder. 'I told her you were an expert and that she should come along to the shop to show you.'

'Ah, acting as my PR company again?'

'Just look at the gem.'

Ami nervously let him take hold of the stone, half afraid something bad might happen the moment he touched it. Thankfully, he took it as if it was any old hunk of rock. Holding it up to the light to observe it, he hummed and clicked.

'Hm, there are many stones this could be,' he began slowly. 'It's a clear stone, though it is a little cloudy. I think I would have to test this little fella further to be certain.'

She bit her lip. 'Test?'

Noting the worry in her eyes, Cole immediately reassured her. 'Don't worry, none of it involves devaluing the stone.'

She was hesitant. After all this thing had been used to produce a dark aura that kept activating outside of her control. Although there was nothing inherently dangerous about the crystal itself, who knows what tampering with it would do.

Seeing her worry again, he came to a conclusion. 'If you want to be certain what type of crystal it is, you will need to submit it to certain tests that may involve scratching or submerging the stone in water. It's just the way it is.'

Ami took a deep breath and relented, 'I understand — do what you have to.'

The older man gave her a kind smile and got up to move behind a work desk. She eyed the small, bright focus lamp and the array of tools. 'If you're anxious, you can watch,' he said with a wink.

Kris crossed her arm and tilted her body slightly to whisper in Ami's ear, 'It's not as exciting as you'd think.'

She watched intently as Cole carried out the first test: taking another, larger clear stone that looked a lot like her stone and her rubbed the two gently together. Then he held up Ami's stone, humming.

Next he dropped the stone into a peculiar water tank — and Ami braced for something terrible to happen, which thankfully it didn't and she was left feeling oddly underwhelmed —- and observed it through a telescope with filters over the lens.

'Interesting...' he mumbled, before taking it out again and pulling out a couple of similarly coloured yet smaller stones from a draw beside him. He seemed to be comparing the edges. 'The fractures on your stone are too sharp to be Quartz,' he said aloud.

As he was preparing for what would be the final test, Hugo came back. He looked at Cole confused and seemingly a little unnerved how quiet everything was. He tapped Ami's shoulder, making her jump.

'Sorry,' he whispered in abashment. 'How's it going?'

'Well, it's not Quartz,' Ami whispered.

He pulled a confused look. 'What's Quartz?'

'It's the world's most common species of gemstone,' Kris answered, rolling her eyes as if he had asked a stupid question.

Hugo snorted, 'Well, excuse me Ms. Gemologist!'

Suddenly, Cole swirled his chair around and looked directly at Ami. 'I would have to calculate the specific gravity of this stone to be absolutely certain. However it seems to me that you have a nice piece of Goshenite here,' he concluded.

'Ah, the seer stone,' Kris said, rolling on her heels lightly.

'What exactly is Goshenite, though?' Ami asked.

'It's a nice, strong and reasonably rare form of beryl. You can tell by how my quartz failed to leave a noticeable scratch - you have to look closely to see them. Additionally, when I put it through the Aqua filter, it had a noticeable blue hue to it - indicative of beryl. They tend to invoke—- um, are you alright?'

Ami had gone noticeably pale. The moment Cole had same the word "beryl", she had felt a chill run down her spine. It carried such intense fear and hate even now and was made all the worse that she was currently being flanked by a look alike of one of her minions.

Guilt set in immediately as negative thoughts about Hugo rushed through her head again. She tried to glance at him without turning her head but just moving her eyes made her feel dizzy. However, she did catch eye of Hugo's face. It was filled with genuine concern.

'Ami?' he said, placing a hand on her shoulder. 'Are you alright?'

The second he touched her, she felt a cool calm flow over her. It flowed through her chest and straight to her brow, washing through her mind like a low tide. She opened her eyes to look into his sparkling green ones. Seeing them looking so kind and human, settled her heart once again.

Kris stepped to the other side of her, pulled over a chair and directed her into it. 'Here, take a moment,' she told her, before turning to go into the back room. 'I'll grab you some water.'

Finally, Ami looked up to meet the gaze of a puzzled Cole. She smiled apologetically, her face full of embarrassment. 'I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me.'

There was no point in telling them the full story. It would take too long and she would likely end up being committed, they'd never believe her. Even the short version would have them questioning her sanity.

'Feeling a bit better now?' Hugo asked.

'A bit,' Ami said breathless in wonderment, still unsure what he had done to her, if he had done anything at all. 'I feel silly now.'

Kris returned with the water, freezing cold to touch in Ami's hand. 'Here, get this down you.'

'It's water, Kris, not whiskey,' Hugo said.

'No, really,' Ami assured him, bringing it to her lips. 'This will help a lot.'

Anything water based always gave her boost. True, all living things needed water to survive but for the Sailor Mercury inside her it was as affective as a shot of adrenaline. Snow storms, freezing temperatures, rain and even a glass of water always gave her the "courage" most people only got from a shot if a very different kind. Together with Hugo's peculiar healing touch - which still coursed through her, soothing her mind and heart — Ami was starting to feel even stronger than when she started.

She smiled to them all, each one still watching her carefully, 'I'm fine, really. Just had a funny turn.'

Kris gave Ami's head a stroke. 'Perhaps you're a little anaemic? I get it a lot.'

She knew that wasn't it but she nodded along nonetheless. As Cole also offered up a few suggestions — all of which went in one ear and out the other — Ami glanced down at the stone again. It looked so unremarkable and harmless... surely it had nothing to do with its namesake? Still, it was the fact that it was a polished clear-white stone that unnerved her as she was forced to recall similar stones that had hung from the dreaded queen's ears, necklace and waist. The question was, and it was a pretty big one, if this really did have something to do with Queen Beryl then how was the Phantom involved? And this "Masked Stranger" that Cole claimed had helped him? Were the two even connected?

'Maybe we should call Dan and ask if we could do this another time?' Hugo suddenly said, breaking Ami's train if thought.

She shook her head, 'No, no! That'd be silly. I'm fine, really.'

He raised a sceptical eyebrow. The whole time he had been looking at her like he knew what was bothering her was no physical ailment but a concern of the mind. Just from the look in his eyes she could tell he wanted to ask what it was but he was too cautious of Kris and her uncle to ask straight.

Mind reader, Ami thought again as a small smile crossed her lips.

'Well,' Cole cleared his throat, breaking the weird slow silence that had fallen over the shop. He scratched the back of his head sheepishly as he said, 'I hope I was of some help to you.'

'Oh, believe me,' Ami said assuredly. 'You have been a very big help.'

Shortly after they made their way over to Dan's place.

He lived a little out of the way near the end of the same tube line Kris lived on. Thankfully though once they got off the metro it was easy to find their way to the house where he lived alone. It was a large house that had been separated into flats, his currently being the only one that was occupied.

As Ami, Hugo and Kris stepped into the main hall way, the smell of new paint hit them like a prid-stick pushed up their nose.

'Must still be being renovated,' Kris commented, taking a brief look around. 'Eerily quiet. I wouldn't want to live out here.'

'Too far away from campus,' Ami muttered in agreement. She personally hoped she would be able to stay in student halls for at least the first two years of her studies. As a foreign student she was, at least, entitled to do so.

Suddenly, they heard the thumping of footsteps above their heads.

'Dan?' Hugo yelled out.

He seemed a little lethargic all of a sudden, his voice cracking up.

The banging got louder as they came to the landing above. A few more skips and Daniel was standing at the top of the stairs, smirking down at them.

'You all made it,' he said cheerfully. 'Excellent. Come on up!'

He immediately spun around, shouting for them to hurry up as he excitedly ran back to his room.

Kris giggled under her breath, 'He's like a little boy.'

She began to ascend the stairs, leaving Hugo and Ami alone for a moment. He leaned over to speak quietly in her ear, 'Are you feeling okay now?'

Looking up at him, she wanted to ask him the same question. Ami had noted how naturally pale Hugo was many times but today he had grey bags under his eyes, which seemed to have got darker and heavier since they left the shop. He seemed almost like a cold was coming on or he hadn't slept well.

'I'm fine,' she finally replied. 'What about you?'

He just tittered briefly under his breath. 'Me? Heh, yeah I'm… fine…'

He started up the stairs, obliging Ami to follow.

Finally, they were inside the small flat. The moment Ami stepped in his was surprised at how spacious it was - very little in the way of furniture or decoration but it seemed to suit Dan somehow. The objects that stood out in the whole place were the dining table, a small sofa barely large enough to fit them all on and a television hooked up to what looked like a home game console.

It was not one she recognised though.

'You promised there would be furniture, Danny!' Kris grumbled, hiking her bag further up her shoulder and glancing around.

'I promised a table and a sofa,' Dan reminded her, and he point to the said table. 'It even has four chairs! Like I said, we can't all be made of money.'

'But this place barely looks lived in,' Kris went on.

Dan pouted. 'I haven't had time to personalise. Geez… and there I was, going to ask how your uncle was too after his break in. No respect!'

'How did you hear about that?'

'This thing called the grapevine,' Dan said tartly. 'People talk. Heard he got rescued by some twonk Batman wannabe and such – a stranger in a mask or whatever. Seriously though, is he okay?'

Her face settled slightly. 'Not too bad. Thank you.'

'Don't mention it,' Dan nodded, smiling warmly. 'Now stop taking the piss out of my stuff!'

Hugo glanced about the place as well before noting, 'You already have the game machine on?'

'I was playing while waiting for all of you to turn up,' he informed him.

'And you have a second controller too?' noted Hugo, his eyebrow up. 'I told you that this was supposed to be a study session, Dan! We can't procrastinate by playing video games.

After an awkward silence, Dan just laughed nervously.

'I will study. It's just it'll be nice to break it up with a little chatter, snacks and…' his voice cut off, eyeing the game machine.

Ami had tilted her head, '…and video games?'

He scratched the back of his head sheepishly, his boyish face looking more childish than ever. 'It's… just so rare that I have a chance to play multiplayer.'

Kris huffed a sigh. 'God, you really are like a little boy. What are we going to do with you?'

Hugo dropped his bag on the table.

'Fine,' he relented. 'We'll do about three hours of study, then we'll eat and then play some games.'

Dan's face immediately perked up and grinned, 'Glad you're finally seeing things from my point of view, Hughie-boy.'

As the girls sat down next to each other, Kris leaned over and whispered. 'Trust Hughie to keep us all on the straight and narrow, eh?' and she leaned back, smirking.

'Well, he is right,' Ami said quietly. 'Gaming time should be a reward for hard work.'

'Don't let his stoicism fool you,' Dan told her, overhearing them. 'He wants to play the new Silver Knight game as much as I do.'

Hugo raised an eyebrow, 'I… didn't even know you had it.'

'Silver Knight?' Kris questioned, looking down at her notebook as she spoke. 'What's that about then?'

'Oh, it's an RPG platformer game that just came out,' Dan explained. 'You go through dungeons and collect power ups to take on monsters.'

'Sounds like every other game on the market,' Kris muttered, already losing interest.

'Sounds like a game we have back home,' Ami pipped up.

Dan shot her an entertained look, leaning forward keenly. 'Ooo, really?' he said in a tone that, had it not been him speaking, she would have thought he was mocking her. 'What game is that then?'

'Can we please get on?' Hugo said peevishly.

He was looking all the more tired and irritable, like something was bothering him. Ami felt a jolt through her heart as she immediately worried what it could be. Still, she answered Dan's question but all while looking at Hugo.

'Um, it's called Sailor V…'

'Sailor… V?' Kris said under her breath. 'I don't even want to ask what the "V" stands for.'

'Hahaha!' Dan chuckled, and then went on brightly. 'Yeah, yeah, I definitely know that one. It got a release here too, you know…' and he looked over to Hugo, simpering. 'Do you know which game Ami is talking about?'

The whole time this conversation had been going, Ami had been watching Hugo. As the subject of Sailor V came up, she had noticed that his face had changed from tetchy to deep in thought.

'Sailor V…?' he said quietly, speaking as if this subject had more gravitas than it really did. Ami knew well that the game had more to it than met the eye but Hugo seemed to be getting a headache just saying the name. Artemis first had Sailor V designed to help train Minako as a senshi, and then Luna used it to help Ami and the others train too. All of this happened while Hugo was still in a coma so the game's existence had likely past him by. Finally, he shook his head and rubbed his eyes. He was so tired!

'I… can't picture it.'

Ami tilted her head, 'Are you feeling okay, Hugo?'

'Good God!' Kris proclaimed, trying to inject some vivacity into the situation. It had not escaped her either how fragile Hugo was looking all of a sudden. 'We're dropping like flies today. Dan and I better watch out.'

Dan pursed his lips, 'Hm? Why, what happened?'

'Oh,' Kris looked away, shaking her hand dismissively. 'Ami was just feeling a little sick earlier but she's fine now. Right, loveydovey?'

Ami nodded, keeping her eyes on Hugo.

Hugo choked a chuckle, making levity of it all. 'I'm fine, guys. Really. Honest. Just didn't sleep well last night.'

A small silence swept by.

'But as I say saying,' Dan continued. 'I think Silver Knight comes from the same company that made the Sailor V games.'

That piqued Ami's interest.

'R-really?!'

'Y-yeah,' he snickered, seemingly nonplussed by her reaction. 'Um, I guess they did it to appeal to the male demographic or something.'

Hugo lifted his head from his hand.

'I don't know,' he muttered. 'I think a blonde girl in a short-skirt has plenty male appeal…'

Dan gave him a coy look, seeming almost please with himself. 'I thought you said you couldn't picture it.'

Ami watched the clogs in Hugo's mind turn. Instead of looking like someone who had been caught in a lie, he seemed surprised at himself, like his mouth had gone into autopilot and spoken before he could even register what hewas saying. Unable to do anything else, though, he shook it off as nothing.

'I… guess I just did remember. Weird.'

It made the atmosphere strangely tense.

Thankfully, Kris had the resolve to break it up. 'Okay, okay, now,' she said firmly. 'Now that Dan has tortured us all with his geeky knowledge of Japanese video games, can we please get to our revision on the nervous system, please?!'

'Yes!' Hugo said breathily.

'Absolutely!' Ami said affirmatively.

'If we must,' Dan said, defeated.

*Hugo is making a bit of a Scout joke with the Beaver reference. When he says he'd be better suited to being a Rainbow, he means that he'd have made a better Girl Guide.