Chapter Six: Unsuspecting Soda Deities and Suspicious Shrine Maidens

Shinomori Aoshi is a man of few words and rarely acted without thought of the resulting consequences, three generations later. His sense of duty and responsibility always determined his course of action. Rising to the rank of Okashira, a position of leadership, at age 15 was unprecedented. Logic dictated that he honored this position and still received many courtesies from old contacts. Logic was his ally and he needed this to examine his situation. His after school activity (since Usagi won't be serving detention) resulted in his wandering that eventually took him to the Crown Arcade.

Finding himself in front of the automatic double doors, Aoshi was suspicious of the seeming intelligence of the entryway. So he stood in front of it, leery of its motions, causing more than one patron to watch the girl curiously. Finally, Furuhata Motoki, Crown Arcade's crowned soda diety, couldn't stand it no longer and approached the girl. "Usagi-chan, ne?" he called out softly, not wanting to scare the girl but wishing she would stop acting strangely. "Usagi-chan, daijoubu?"

Aoshi lifted his chin up slightly and studied the young man in front of him. He could not have been more than eighteen from Aoshi's initial appraisal. He wore an apron which indicated that he must work in this facility and spoke to him as if he knew the girl well. He doesn't look like a threat, Aoshi assessed. But appearances can be deceiving. His frown deepened imperceptibly. Maybe it was one of the girl's strange friends. At least, he was male and Aoshi felt a bit relieved that he would not have to endure any more high-pitched squealing. "Konnichiwa," Aoshi nodded in greeting and bowed.

Motoki laughed as he placed a hand behind his head in surprise. "Konnichiwa, Usagi-chan. What are you doing standing in front of the doors? Aren't you going to come in and order your milkshake before going home?"

Aoshi thought about it briefly. It would be unwise to divert from the girl's usual routine. It might raise more suspicions and that was the last thing he wanted. So he nodded and cautiously stepped through the open doors, following the teenager slowly into the arcade. Aoshi spun around quickly as he heard the click of the double doors closing behind him. A trap? He whipped around to find another set of doors open up in front of him with that Motoki character walking away from him. Hmm, perhaps not. Aoshi hurried after the young man.

As Motoki stepped behind the counter, he gestured for Usagi to take one of the bar stools for a seat. Aoshi carefully set his bookbag on the floor and perched on the unfamiliar piece of furniture, mimicking the young man in the green jacket seated next to him. Aoshi briefly noted the young man's appearance and noticed the look of concentration on his face. He had already made a survey of his surroundings and knew instinctively where everyone was and what possible exits were available should it be necessary for him to leave quickly.

A tall glass with a spoon appeared in front of Aoshi and startled him out of his reverie. Looking up, he noticed the young man smiling down at him again. "Here's the Motoki special soda. Just for you, Usagi-chan!"

"Hai, domo arigato." Aoshi bowed as he gingerly picked up the spoon and scooped out bits of the ice cream on top of the glass. He tentatively let the flavor swim around his mouth before swallowing carefully. It wasn't actually too bad, Aoshi mused as he took another spoonful. Motoki watched her carefully and turned his head toward the man sitting next to Aoshi. "Mamoru-kun, you're awfully quiet today. Something on your mind?"

The man in question, lifted his head up and looked at the Crown Arcade deity and shook his head. Motoki looked closely at his friend and noticed that his eyes seemed to be glistening.

Is he going to cry? I hope he doesn't lose it in front of all my customers. No, the iceman of Tokyo cannot break down in the Crown Arcade! Something must really be wrong.

Aoshi glanced at the young man again and spoke. "Maybe he just needs to be left alone for a little while. Some people deal better with their problems when there aren't a lot of people around." He spooned another mouthful of ice cream in his mouth. "We don't need to involve ourselves in his troubles if he chooses not to share them." Silence followed his declaration and another spoonful of ice cream followed another. He glanced up to find the two young men staring at him: the young man with the apron, his mouth slightly open and an incredulous expression on his face. The other young man with the green jacket, bit his lower lip as if on the verge of tears and spun out of his stool to run out of the arcade.

Aoshi watched the young man with the green jacket flee from the establishment and he resumed his attention to his ice cream. Several minutes had passed and he could still feel the young man with the apron's stare at him. "What? Did I say something wrong?"

"Usagi," Motoki stared at her. "Since when did you become so heartless and cruel towards Mamoru? I thought that you guys were going out together. Just yesterday, you were gushing about how much you cared about Mamo-chan and I had to stop you because it was too sickening to watch." Motoki stared at Aoshi for a few more minutes before leaning forward and looking at him straight in the eye. "What happened?"

Fortunately, or unfortunately, Aoshi was rescued from answering Motoki's questions when the door to the Crown Arcade opened once again and Usagi's friends walked in. Ami spotted her sitting by the counter and she walked towards Motoki and Usagi. "Usagi-chan, come on! We have to meet Rei and the girls at the shrine in ten minutes. We have to hurry!" Makoto grabbed her bookbag and slung it over her shoulder. "Ja ne, Motoki-kun!" Makoto called over her shoulder as she, Usagi and Ami hurried out the door.

"Now what was that all about?" Motoki wondered to himself.

6.2 Shrine Maiden Fire Reading Extraordinaire

Navigating its steps, sometimes two or three at a time, they had reached the top without almost any effort. The shrine grounds were spotless and deserted. Breathing in deeply, Aoshi closed his eyes and, for once, felt right at home, but soon he felt a presence coming towards him.

"Irrashai!" an old man's voice chimed, interrupting his thoughts. "Such beautiful girls, devoting their time after school to pray at a shrine! Wonderful! Wonderful." The old man, Aoshi noted, was wearing the shrine priest robes and seemed to be waddling towards him in a hurry. The shrine priest's look of carefully studying his body, made Aoshi bristle slightly before being reminded that he inhabited a young girl's body. The thought, made him grimace slightly before another thought popped into his head. Maybe this is what all the young girls feel when Okina leers at them a little too enthusiastically.

The old man reached out to take his hand before another voice broke the stillness. "Grandpa!" the young voice cried out sharply. "Stop harassing my friends!" Aoshi saw a flood of black hair, combined with the red and white uniform of the shrine maidens come to a stop just in front of him. Without pause, the girl turned to him and scowled. "What are you doing here anyway, Odango Atama?" At the sight of his granddaughter, the man moved away, muttering to himself about missed opportunities and how she always takes the fun out of everything.

"Mina and Artemis are already inside. You guys certainly took your time." Rei noted with a hint of teasing in her voice. "What's the matter, did the arcade run out of milkshakes? Or did you lose all your allowance at the arcade game, Odango Atama?" Aoshi resented the insinuation and was tempted to smack the sass out of the young priestess' mouth. But he refrained from any action and just ignored her comments as he was led inside one of the rooms.

At the lack of response, a hand shot out to feel his forehead. "Are you okay, Usagi? Is something wrong? Did your parents kick you out of the house or something?"

Aoshi glared at the other girl as he bristled at the insinuation. Without thought, Aoshi blocked the hand that hovered over his forehead. "Does something have to be wrong for me to ignore your childish comments?" His eyes flashed dangerously and the other girl backed away, both hands raised as if to calm him down.

"Woa! Easy there, Odango." She backed off a few steps. "Didn't know you were going to get your dumplings all in an uproar! Just go right in … " Rei muttered as she held onto the broom she had been using to sweep across the grounds. Without another word, Aoshi went off to join the others leaving a puzzled Rei behind.

"Rei," a voice broke through her musings. Looking around, she finally spotted Luna concealing herself behind the bushes.

"Luna?" Rei hurried over to meet the guardian cat and bent down on her knee as if picking up a few leaves from the ground. "What's wrong with Usagi? She doesn't seem like herself."

"I was hoping you could tell me," Luna replied as she glanced around her surroundings. "She woke me up and started acting very strangely." Rei pursed her lips and frowned. "Do you think something happened to her while she was in that portal?"

"Possibly but we can't know for sure," Luna agreed quietly. "We need Ami to scan her or something. Are the scouts all here?"

"No," Rei replied as she straightened up to sweep a few stray leaves. "I didn't contact the Outer Senshi yet. But I will and when they arrive we can start."

"Yes, we need them to be at the meeting too." Luna murmured, her voice dropping close to a whisper. Thinking for a moment, Luna turned away from Rei and started for the stairs. "I'll consult with Artemis first. Remember to alert the others. Meanwhile, don't let Usagi out of your sight! If something has happened to her, then maybe the others are also affected. We can't be entirely sure."

"Right," Rei agreed. "But who will contact Mamoru?"

Author's Note: Yay, another chapter. A real one, this time. So R&R please and let's celebrate the writer's block seems to be gone. I do not own Rurouni Kenshin nor Sailor Moon but just having fun with it.