ACT 4 - FIRST MEETINGS

Coffee for Mamoru, cheesecake and tea for Usagi, ice-cream for Minako, hot chocolate for Makoto, tea for Rei and orange juice for Ami: Motoki gently rested the plates, cups and glasses on the table of the Fruits Parlor Crown and smiled at his friends, noticing their thoughtful looks, "Is everything OK?"

Mamoru nodded and had a faint smile, "Everything's OK. Thanks, Motoki."

Motoki didn't surrender and had a new try to cheer them up, "Hey, a friend of mine works in a pub near Tokyo University. There'll be a show, there, within some weeks. The band that is going to play is a great band with an amazing singer, female singer; I saw them playing some months ago and they impressed me. Thanks the owner of the pub I met them; their guitarist and I have become friends, and from time to time he comes here for a cup of tea. He usually comes on Friday," he placed his forefinger on his lips and looked up at the ceiling, thoughtfully, "thinking about it, he wasn't there, last Friday." He shook his head and kept on smiling, "Anyway, I hope you'll come with me to the pub for the show; you'll like it."

Minako clapped, "A female singer? Front woman of a cool band? GREAT! I want to see them; it could be a good lesson for my future as pop-idol!"

Rei rested her right hand on her face and sighed.

Motoki laughed, "I am glad you like the idea. See you." He waved goodbye and walked away.

Makoto rested her back against the small couch of the parlor and folded her arms, "We have no time to go to the pub. We are too busy with the Shitennou's search."

Usagi plunged the fork into her cheesecake and grinned, "I'd like to go to the pub with Motoki and see that band. It looks interesting." She turned to Mamoru, "What do you think, Mamo-chan?"

Mamoru smiled and nodded.

Makoto had a deep sigh, "I can't stand this wait!"

Rei sipped her tea; she finally rested the cup on the table and winked at Makoto, "Be patient, Mako-chan. We have started the search only one week ago."

Mamoru giggled, "You know, Rei, Jadeite would say the same thing: be patient." He had a soft laugh at Rei's gentle blushing and kept on talking, "And Nephrite would rant against Jadeite for his passivity; Zoisite would tease Nephrite for his impatience and Nephrite would start arguing with Zoisite, while Jadeite would observe them with no reaction, as he isn't part of the talk; and Kunzite would finally shut Zoisite and Nephrite up with a look and grunt of his."

The girls laughed.

Minako wiped her tears away as she kept on laughing, "Perfect description of any of them, especially Kunzite's look and grunt."

Kazuo grunted, "Damn computer." He gave his colleague an angry look, "I hope that friend of yours is going to fix this shit."

His colleague scratched his nape and had a nervous laugh, "He is a friend of a friend, not a friend of mine. He is a genius about computers." He relaxed when the 'genius', a young guy with long blond hair in a loose ponytail entered the teachers' room and walked to the computer, "Welcome, Minami-kun."

The guy sat in front of the computer and put thin glasses on, "This is the computer I have to fix, isn't this?"

Kazuo nodded, "Yes." He carefully observed the young guy who had presumably the same age of his younger brother: was it the reason why he felt a strange sense of affection and protection? He stared at the codes on the screen of the computer reflecting on the thin glasses of the guy as his tapered fingers quickly moved on the keyboards.

The guy grinned, "Done."

Kazuo blinked, "Already fixed?"

The young guy nodded and stood up.

Kazuo stared at the guy walking away and felt the urgency of stopping him because of a strange sense of déjà-vu, "Mina– " but a student shyly entered the room, interrupting him.

"Teacher Kitamura."

Kazuo glanced at the guy leaving and had a deep sigh. He focused on the student, "Asanuma. You are here for your grades, I suppose. Come on, sit down."

Walking away Moto-Azabu High School, Satoru wondered why that teacher – Kitamura - was staring at him that way, and realized he wasn't annoyed but somehow pleased, a strange warmth overwhelming him; he smirked: no, he wasn't interested in men, but that teacher gave him a strange sense of protection, like the older brother he had lost years before.

"No sign of them among missing people?"

Ami shook her head at Makoto's question, "Not among missing people in Tokyo. I am starting looking for missing people around Japan, but it'll take some time."

Makoto had a deep breath and crossed her arms behind her head, "I hate waiting like that." She looked at Mamoru, "And what about the Hospital?" then at Rei, "And the Shrine?"

Both Rei and Mamoru shook their head with resignation and disappointment.

Usagi finished the cheesecake and had a sigh of satisfaction "Don't worry. We are going to find them. Or they are going to find us, someway."

Rei smiled sweetly, "You are really optimist, Usagi-chan."

"Hey you!" Nobuo watched the guy on the ground, his voice an annoyed and angry grumble, "Be more careful! You should look where you are going if you don't want to bump into people this way."

The guy grabbed a big book on the ground and put it back in his bag – probably a University student, Nobuo thought – he slowly stood up and bowed, "I am sorry," apologizing with a soft and husky voice, just a bit more than a whisper.

Nobuo rested his hands on his hips and observed the guy with arrogance, from his feet up to his face: sneakers, blue jeans and black hooded top. When his eyes reached the face of the guy, Nobuo had a brief vertigo: short and curly blond hair (pale shade of blond), gray-blue wide eyes gently slanting, fine features. It wasn't the perfect and classical beauty of the guy that impressed him, anyway, but a strange sense of déjà-vu, like if the image of that guy was doubling and overlapping something hidden into his mind.

That sense of confusion lasted just few seconds and faded when Nobuo noticed a small rivulet of blood from a cut on the guy's lower lip. His previous arrogance and anger melted into a caring tone, "You're bleeding."

The guy wiped the blood away with the back of his hand and had a gentle smile, "Just a small cut, don't worry. It's my fault." He bowed, "Sorry, again" and ran away.

Running away, Jun wondered why he felt like if he had met that guy before, but he had no time (and nerve) to ask him about it: he was late for his part-time job at the kindergarten and he didn't want to start any talk that could lead to his memory's problems.

Ittou Asanuma flopped on the couch near Makoto and had a desperate sigh.

Mamoru blinked, "What's the problem?"

Ittou lowered his head and closed his eyes, "The new teacher of History. He's is … " he glanced at Mamoru as Makoto gently tapped his head " … really strict." He handed Mamoru a paper, "Look at my grades."

Mamoru opened his eyes wide in surprise.

Minako and Usagi glanced at the paper and folded their arms, their voices in unison, "Your grades are better than mine!"

Rei frowned, "Everybody's grades are better than yours."

Minako and Usagi gave a desperate sigh, mimicking Ittou's previous one.

Mamoru scratched his nape, "I don't remember Mr Yamashiro being so strict."

Ittou shook his head, "My teacher isn't Mr Yamashiro, but he is a new teacher: Mr Kitamura." He had a sudden shiver, "He is SCARING, really! Those gray eyes, the way he stares at you, the way he grunts when you say something he disagrees with… and that long silver hair that makes him looking like a vandal!"

Minako's eyes opened wide and a whisper escaped from her lips, "It can't be!" She stared into Mamoru's eyes, "Mamoru, do you think he can be - ?"

Mamoru nodded, "It could be. The description is fitting."

Ittou Asanuma observed Mamoru and the girls, wondering why the description of Teacher Kitamura was shocking them so much and what it was fitting with; he shivered with fear, in his head a jumble of theories: was Teacher Kitamura an alien? A monster? A wizard?

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