Chapter Eight: More Expectations
"I'm so far behind, I might drop below one hundred percent in my science class," Ami said with a worried tone, her voice echoing in the empty library as if part of the repository of inscribed thoughts and phrases. The dusty brown air was unresponsive to her plight but she was frantic anyhow, her hand passing over a dozen book titles as she tried to figure out where she would begin. Despite the cavernous building being nearly unpopulated, it was nevertheless a place of great movement, if only due to the inward disasters of Juuban's highest scoring student.
The librarian just smiled as she made her way to the door. The way Ami was finally digging into a book made the older woman laugh and open the doors to leave, but calling behind to the last patron of the library, "You worry too much, Ami-chan. Goodnight. Make sure you lock up when you leave." Upon her departure, Ami would be left alone in the gaping innards of the library, but there was little fear as it had happened time after time and the only reservation was that the young girl would stay up too late.
Ami just smiled softly and looked up from her book, nodding for the kindness and watching the librarian step out of the doors. As the library fell quiet once more, she fell back into reading, the only sounds coming from the pages as she turned them slowly and the periodic writing she scribbled into a notebook in her lap. Her silent servitude went on without incident, with her body feeling tired but her mind fiercely at work. There she sat, hunched back into the firm cushions of the seat with a pen hanging halfway out of her mouth, a habit that was only indulged in when no one was around to spot it. Solitude was the time of true self.
In due time, she found she was lacking in a certain book and would have to break her pose and wander into the blackened isles of stacked books that were as intimidating as they were welcoming. Setting her glasses on the table, she rose to her feet and headed towards the long, looming shelves housing the books. She was used the silence of the library and found refuge within the sounds of waiting text. Dressed in her school uniform, it seemed the only sound alive was her skirt taunting the books as she passed, though she was aware of her own breathing and the light padding of her indoor shoes.
Upon finding the shelf she needed, she began thumbing through the titles until she came across it; that sought book which had been laughing at her dropping averages at school. The title seemed to welcome her as she pulled on the book, but the welcome was only skin deep. The book seemed to stick on the shelf and it perturbed her, making her lips twist in strain as she pried the book from its place. The rack was stubborn and wouldn't let go, yet when she did jerk it from its place, she got more than the book.
Suddenly a hand reached out after the book and a voice broke her peace, quickening her still heart and shattering the stagnant air. "Hey!" it called to her dismay. All of it tapped into some deep fear of the dark in Ami and she shrieked loudly, pushing herself from the shelf with her hands as she dropped the book. The rocking tremor along the shelves knocked books out of their places to both sides and she heard a loud thud followed by a grunt. Then it was deathly quiet once more.
It was too much for her to bear. Her chest was heaving under her blouse and she desperately tried to hold it down, her eyes stressed widely as they attempted to locate an enemy in the dark. While trying to get her heart to slow down, she dared to peer through the shelf at the criminal who attacked her, crouching down but holding her hand tightly over pulsing breaths. There was only a shadow against the wall, yet fallen books seemed to cover it just like freshly fallen snow.
At first, she thought about calling the police and seeking safety outside, but soon she gathered her courage and focused her features in a determined huff. She was a soldier, after all! Granted, she wasn't as brave or strong as Makoto, but she could face whatever villain waited for her. While rounding the shelf, a small flashlight was dug from her pocket and she anxiously pointed it through the dark, her heart still racing and her footsteps slow but steady. Then she found the figure once more; still littered with random literature and barely moving. "W…who are you?" she squeaked out and shined the light at the figure, her opposite hand unconsciously thumbing across her transformation pen.
"I could a tale unfold whose lightest word would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood, make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their spheres," said a voice in soft response, striking her as being very odd but beautiful. Ami found the voice familiar, but also knew the words out of some buried memory in her mind, aluuding to some forgotten passage from a story or play.
To her further surprise, she watched as the boy pulled a rather large book from atop his head, revealing his familiar face and already bent glasses now dislocated across his face. With a hand held up to block the light, he squinted through reflecting lenses to see who it was that had attacked him, though he didn't seem great offended or even worried that he was in danger. "Forgive me for being rude but bright light in eyes out of darkness is a tad painful," he remarked as he tried to see past the brilliance before him.
It was Kurai. Ami recognized him even though she had hardly been introduced, yet it was undeniable that he was the same composed element of the four Scion that had always been in the background – always part of the scenery. But it was that fact that made her remember him. She blinked at first, not used to hearing someone speak so elegantly and very much not expected it to be him there. Soon enough she laughed sheepishly and pulled the beam away and bowed quickly, expressing apologies as the ambient light shower on him once more. "I'm very sorry. I thought I was alone in here and you startled me. Please excuse me," she said loudly and without mark.
After the light had ceased to bore into his eyes, Kurai could clearly see who it was and was equally surprised, though he showed it by smiling. The books were sloughed off as he rose to his feet and he quickly adjusted his worn glasses on his nose, looking at her like the fox that found the pheasant. "Ah, Mizuno-san! What a pleasant surprise. I wasn't aware you moonlighted at the library. I wonder if you remember me," he said shyly.
"Of course! Kawano-san, am I right? " she replied and was happy the dim light hid the excited look on her face. It was very pleasant to see him as well, though they hadn't really been this close to each other since they had met.
Even in the dark, she thought he was unusually kind-looking. Unlike the others, who were wild or intimidating, Kurai was well-kept and had a very soft way about him. It was that part of him, though resigned to short exposure, that hinted that he would be the easiest to relate to, if only because he was the closest to the norm. She could only remember three times she had seen him, though each time she had caught herself looking to him as the bearer of sanity among the four displaced Scion. She liked the fact that he was quiet, reserved and tended to bring reality to the other three, though she also saw in him the same quiet uncertainty that she knew lived on in her. That was only more reason for her to feel so calm in his presence. "What are you doing here? How did you get in?" she inquired, looking around as if to stumble across some linger answer to her questions.
Kurai felt a bit sheepish at the question and laughed, rubbing his head slightly as if the action was also part of his answer. "I suppose that is some of Kage's influence on me," he replied, "Sadly, I had to sneak in. And I would be very happy if you would call me Kurai."
That made her smile in the dark, open to his quickening of their formality. She could feel deep inside that he wasn't a bad person that even though he was sneaking into the library, there was no harm in doing it. She was more than happy to keep his secret and smiled more as she took a different place in as an acquaintance. "Your secret is safe with me, Kurai-kun," she said quietly. Something in the way she spoke his name made him chuckle lightly, but only for the levity of it all, though sneaking in to read and running into his counterpart he found that, in the darkness, it was hard to keep one's mind clear.
Their affliction was left as he knelt down to pick the books up, of which she joined quickly. Happiness was something not felt for a while but being there at that moment fulfilled such a want. While helping, she couldn't help but eye him. The defeated glasses made him even cuter and she watched them slip down his nose a bit, despite the fact that he kept pushing them back up and seemed distraught they were being so bothersome. It was simply adorable.
To try and stem that train of thought, she looked to the books she was gathering and cleared her throat, not wanting to be caught up in the atmosphere of the cooing library around them. "Why do you have to come here at night, Kurai-kun? Can't you come here when the library is open?" she asked as she stacked books in her arms.
The small talk seemed to weigh on him as. Though she couldn't see it, his eyes were tired and old. He was tired and old. "Unfortunately, I have little time to pursue my studies. With those four coming here behind us, we spend much of the time looking for them. But tonight Yamito just left, without word or explanation. He seemed anxious to go somewhere and I believe he was headed to your friend's shrine," he explained candidly.
Ami was taken back. Even being the least social senshi, she knew the fire, so to speak, that existed between Rei and Yamito – the way the raven-haired miko burned whenever his name was brought up. Now she was going to be alone with him, with very unpredictable consequences. Somewhere deep inside, it worried her. To her knowledge, Rei disliked Yamito extremely and that usually spelled disaster for the mark. However, she had also heard Minako giving a very different account of Rei's affliction. That part popped into Ami's mind as well. If the meeting between those two was anything like the intense flittering her stomach was subscribing to at the moment, Rei was going to be in trouble.
"Should I worry?" she asked.
Kurai's smile was fleeting. "You don't understand Yamito, I'm afraid," he replied and started slipping books back into the shelf. He appeared very sad about this subject, as if he spent every moment of every day defending his ominous friend from misconception and blame. It was one thing that she had been confused about; his unwavering defense of their shady leader. He followed him blindly and was always by his side. A part of her admired him for that, but another part was scared of it. Yamito scared her and her expression revealed that. "I was good friends with him before the war for our world began. When Ryu was alive, Yamito was very different – lighter, even. He smiled a lot more and even laughed once and awhile. But he worries about so many things now, so many chains on his heart. It is the unnatural power in him which has catalyst in his eyes. I'm afraid that the Yamito that I once knew is lost within the darkness inside of him now," he continued and pushed the last book into its slot.
Ami found herself more afraid than before, but also sorry for Yamito. In a more shallow sense, she was thankful Kurai didn't have the same problem. Rei had a far greater task than she did, but unlike the others, Yamito frightened her too much to arouse her feelings. The boy standing at her side was another story and she felt easily swayed by the finesse in his voice. It allowed a smile to dominate her features whenever he was near. "I hope everything turns out well for all of us. I hope…" she started but her voice fell away a moment as she put the last book from her arms on the shelf. Words came harder when he was near, but only the ones that pertained to her desires. Ami was too timid for this, but the words somehow found a way, "I hope you and your friends will stay when it's over. You have friends here now, right?"
He looked to her, somewhat questioning her. Trust never came this quick to him, but that just meant they differed. This senshi of Mercury was like a reflection of him, though seen through a pair of new eyes. They were different, despite all of the similarities.
That fact did not bother him one bit.
With a warm smile, he pushed his glasses back onto the bridge of his nose and let the past go for a moment, only to look forward. He then crouched and picked up another book, then held it out for her to place back on the shelf, a warm smile glowing in the darkness and his eyes showing through his damaged frames. "If we work together, we can finish putting everything back in its place," he said.
"I can't believe they're all gone. Maybe Usagi is home," Minako miffed to herself and paced in her room a few times. With a sideward glance to her phone, she thought about putting on some clothes and going out, but the humid day was just starting to break and the night air felt good along her bare legs. Lately she had been in the habit of putting on a long T-shirt after coming home for the day and letting her skin relax from the hold of tight jeans or fabric. Venturing out into the night meant that she would have to put on some kind of pants to cover her underwear, not to mention that she would be doomed if she was seen wearing just a grungy shirt. Thus she was torn between comfort and desire.
Then, her doorbell rang. It wasn't proper to answer the door in such an embarrassing state, yet she had the distinct feeling that someone important was at the door and that maybe her boredom would be cured at the flip of a latch. Carefully walking to the door, she peeked through the hole in order to judge her future, knowing that if it was a stranger, she'd simply not answer and continue her deliberations. A locked door was the steward of a girl's reputation.
Quietly, as she peeked through, her heart reared up and was taken back at what she saw; so much so that she disregarded her attire and flung the door open. It was Suteki standing there, but he had a very serious expression playing across her blue eyes and his lips were pressed tight. No one but him could have prompted such a response and a fluttery feeling built up in the bottom of Minako's stomach, forcing her to disregard logic and act solely based on her heart.
The wildly eccentric and charmingly funny quarter of the four that had invaded their lives had incessantly been wooing her memory, causing her to regard him as the one out of the four that she would most likely fall in love with and have a passionate affair with. She had fantasized about it often, fueled by the way all of the others spoke of him fondly and the way he made them laugh. It was just something a girl did when she was bored and confronted with a wildly unknown variable to life.
All of them had their charms. Yamito was the mysterious one that drove the heart mad with his silence and long gazes. Kage was the bad boy that forced a girl swoon, taken by his bad attitude and defiant smirk. Kurai was the intellectual, the one that recited poetry and shared a warm blanket on a cold night.
But Suteki was the one that attracted her the most. He was funny, charming and blatantly ditzy, not to mention impishly cute behind his moppy blonde hair and crystal blue eyes. He had the effect of making everyone around him smile and, above all else, it was his honesty that held her. A thousand reasons lay behind her beating heart, all of which forced her to open the door to him and speak, "It's you! W-what are you doing here?"
But for the first time since they had met, his face was tightened in genuine thought. His eyes were narrowed in search as he peered into her home, as if trying to determine the level of safety for her and there was no semblance to the prior that had captured her heart so. Her outfit was forgotten as she watched him, her own blue eyes scouring his face for some clue for his mood and she was starting to get worried. She feared something dangerous was at hand.
Suteki rubbed his chin carefully and then looked back to her, his posture still showing that he was on alert but that he seemed satisfied with the situation thus far. "Are you alone? Have you seen anything suspicious?" he asked in a voice that was almost scripted, like he was reading from a play that she was unconsciously a part of.
"Suspicious?" she asked. By this time sincerity had taken her. Her face had hardened lightly and she felt the distinct urge she was in danger, stemming from her experiences not only as Sailor Venus, but also Sailor V. As if his actions were contagious, she began to peer about for some kind of villain hiding in a tree or behind a couch. She also became tense and expected an attack at any moment, though it quickly became apparent that her visitor had become distracted and seemed less interested in the dire matter in the air.
Perhaps it was her fault that she took him seriously, but she became quite the dream come true, standing with short hems over thighs, her bare legs nearly reaching out and ripping his eyes down. But her ignorance was his delight and he was frozen in her doorway. Suteki was hormonal as it was but this had the effect of driving him into a void of happiness that was apparent in the perverse smile growing over his wetted lips. By the time she looked back, he nearly had a nosebleed and was oblivious to all but her milky white skin and the way it seemed to reach all the way to heaven.
She was puzzled by his sudden departure and asked, "Suteki-kun?"
His name broke the stare and he wrenched himself from that awesome sight. The mood suddenly wrenched back to the spectrum of wildness and Suteki's cowl broke, demoting him back to his usual, wacky self. Suddenly, he was the epitome of courage and he cried out to her in a powerful voice, "I have come to make sure you are safe, Mina-chan! Fear not because your mighty knight has arrived in his blistering armor!" Posing as the dashing knight, he quickly took her hand and pledged his services to her, though it did little more than confuse the girl even further.
Minako blinked and took one more look around, hoping to find the source of his grand drama and still ignorant to his true intentions. Then slipping a slender finger upon her chin, she gazed upwards in a moment of thought, completely forgetting how odd it was or how casual her outfit was. "I thought knights wore shining armor," she remarked.
That shattered his greatest moment and he fell from his paramount in true style. Hanging low in his lyrical defeat, his hand perched on his mop of hair and he sighed to himself. He was defeated by his own princess. "Feh, I bet Lancelot never had this problem," he snorted.
By now the ruckus had woken up Artimus and the white cat strolled out with a yawn, curious as to what would leave Minako at the front door in her current clothing. The cat was oblivious to all that was going on but he soon straightened himself out, walking the sleep off as he approached the two. "Hey, what's all the noise about?" he said past the waning yawn.
By the time he saw Suteki, he had been seen as well. The moment froze, with Minako looking between the two as Suteki and Artimus were both just trying to register the other's presence. The white cat was trying to figure out if he was still asleep, for the young man that stood before him had been, just as it was for Luna, a source for concern. He didn't particularly trust the four Scion, though Suteki did have the benefit of being more accepted than the likes of Yamito or Kage. Still, he was the last person that he expected to see at the door.
The silence was horrendous. The, at once and together, they both jumped and howled out a harmonious 'you' at the other.
"Foul beast! Demon-cat from beyond!" Suteki was yelling, posing dashingly as he continued his jaunt," How can you hold this beautiful princess captive? How can you hide such long, slender legs from the world and such beautiful…blue eyes…" Suteki's speech ground to halt as he started to eye Minako once again.
For her part, Minako was taken by the heroics, though she was obviously lost in the details of the matter, like she wasn't exactly wearing a flowing gown and that the supposed beast that she needed saving from was none other than Artimus. But she stood there, her hands clasped together as he made his proclamations and sliced his hand around like a valiant sword. Her eyes were alight and she was blushing, if only because she was put exactly where her princess heart wanted to be.
However the would-be knight broke out again. Grabbing the nearest weed growing in a flowerbed near the house, he stabbed it towards Artimus and laughed triumphantly as if he had beaten the largest hydra. He didn't even wait to see if Artimus reacted. "Hah! You are beaten, hellcat! And now I will rescue this fair beauty from your evil clutches!" he cried. Before anyone and everyone could gather their thoughts, Suteki grabbed Minako's arm and started running, yanking the girl from her doorway. More shocked than anything, she yelped loudly and barely kept on her feet, yelling at him the entire way in a voice frantically trying to keep up with his wacky brand of romance.
"Kya! What's going on? Where are we going?" she called out though managed to stay up with him.
Artimus nearly died from shock. He stood a moment with a gaping jaw, completely colored with disbelief that he had just witnessed such idiocy. He never suspected that he would meet someone even more prone to wackiness than Usagi or Minako, though he had just learned that he was greatly underestimating Hoshi Suteki. It was hard to register. But when it did, his feet spread irately and his fur ruffled along his back, showing the explosive anger flowing in though his body. "Where do you think you're going with her, you mophead!" he screamed after them and followed in stride.
It made for an interesting scene. The four were headed towards the nearest park; Suteki, Minako, Artimus in close pace, their screams and antics lighting up the dreary night in Tokyo – the knight, his would-be princess, the terrible hellcat and Suteki's sanity trailing far behind.