Apollo growled at him, stalking after him into the kitchen. She was HIS Sailor Sun. He was HER Apollo! They were a team, partners, companions! And this child- he couldn't even understand the world she lived in! "Nothing 'untoward'? Nothing UNTOWARD?! You kissed her while she was unconscious! And if case you don't know- your eyes are dark right now, so I'd say you're power isn't under check!"

Hajime whirled.

"What more do you want from me Apollo?! I love her! And I almost lost her today!" Hajime shouted. With extreme effort, he brought his anger under control. "You almost lost her. If I hadn't gotten worried and gone to the park to make sure everything was okay, she would have most likely died. Her and all of those girls." Looking at Apollo, it was evident that Hajime's eyes were slowly turning back to silver. "I kissed her forehead because I love her. I would do nothing else while she was unconscious." Hajime's eyes, while silver, were cold. "You have had her to yourself for eons Apollo. Why not give a mortal only his tiny little lifetime to love such an amazing woman?"

He had left Apollo very little room to argue. His points were all valid- which while it cooled his temper, he was made bitter by it. He was right but he didn't want to admit it. Seeing that Hajime's eyes were turning silver just TALKING about it, gave Apollo even less room to argue. He shifted back into his small form. "It will most likely not end well Hajime. For either of you..." He felt he had to get one last refute in.

Eliana came to to the sound of fighting. It was Hajime and- that was Apollo- when he wasn't confined to the body of a small cat. She sat up, wondering what they were shouting about and then went to the door of her room, planning to go out to the kitchen and try to put a stop to it. '-issed her forehead because I love her. I would do nothing else while she was unconscious. You have had her to yourself for eons Apollo. Why not give a mortal only his tiny little lifetime to love such an amazing woman?'

She heard Hajime say it. And if it hadn't been the context after she might have simply been able to think he meant someone else... but with what she'd heard she knew. He was saying that he loved her. She stood there, frozen, her mind reeling to try and find the appropriate response but kept coming back empty. She didn't have a clue had to respond to that feeling from him. It also made several things that had happened before take on an all new meaning for her. She felt her face heat and stumbled back to the bed, feeling even more lightheaded now than she had before.

It was about twenty minutes later she went out of her room- having decided it was best to pretend that she hadn't heard him. After all- she still didn't know how to answer- and it wasn't like he'd told her or anything. She'd just over heard.

"Was everyone okay?" she asked, stepping into the living room.

"I know," Hajime said quietly. "And that's exactly why I haven't told her yet..." He and Apollo had sort of made up by the time Eliana came out of her room, and were sitting on the couch watching a silly show, Apollo sitting in Hajime's lap. It had become a ritual for the two over the past month and a half, but it seemed to symbolize that there were no hard feelings between them. Hearing the door to Eliana's room open, both looked up, and both stood. When Eliana asked her question, Hajime nodded. "I think I frightened them a little bit, but I explained and they understood. The new girl, Sailor Asteroid Ice, is named Andromeda, and is from the asteroid belt on the other side of Jupiter," he added, helping Eliana to the couch. "Are you sure you should be up walking around? You lost a lot of blood and are looking paler than usual," he added. Apollo had jumped up into Eliana's lap and was purring, happy that she was at least feeling a bit better. Luna had gone home with Mikoto while Artemis had gone home with Mia.

She nodded, knowing where he talked about. "I see. I'm sorry if I worried anyone," she added, and smiled fondly at Apollo when he hopped into her lap purring. She kissed the Sun mark on his forehead. "And I'm sorry that I worried you. You know it will take more than that to kill me," she assured him, rubbing his ears. She looked to Hajime. "I'm surprised. It looks like your power if pretty well under control. I assumed I would have to do repairs since you'd used it," she told him, smiling as naturally as she could. But she broke eye contact fairly quickly, looking to the TV instead. She could feel how close he was sitting and she was overly aware of very single move he made.

Hajime frowned, a tad confused, but realizing she must have heard, somehow, he merely stayed silent. He would wait till Apollo was gone to say anything.

"Apollo held me down and kept it under control, though I expended a fair amount of effort on my part as well," he said with a smile. "And as for worrying anyone, they knew that everything was under control as far as you were concerned." He sighed. "They all said that they would work harder, and even Mia said that she would work with everyone. You'll have to meet Andromeda when you can. She's fairly interesting as far as I can tell. They spent only a little bit of time over here after we had brought you back."

"Oh. Well that's good. I'm looking forward to getting to meet her officially. I only really got to see her before," she told him, glancing and him and then looking away again. 'Act natural, act natural,' she told herself. "Well hopefully your display of power will keep Metallia at bay for a while."

Apollo stayed put on Eliana's lap, purring quietly as he watched the TV. He had no intention of leaving Eliana any time soon.

They weren't actually alone together for another two days. Either the girls were there, and or Apollo was there. And the whole time Eliana was... jumpy around Hajime. If he touched her, she'd twitch, like she'd been about to do something- copy the action or perhaps pull away. She didn't meet his eyes as often or for as long. And when he complimented her she got very quiet.

They were on their way back from the store- Apollo trotting beside them when Luna approached, asking for Apollo's assistance on something. Almost grudgingly Apollo left with her, leaving the two alone at last- or at least mostly alone. There were a few people on the street passing them.

Hajime lead the way into the apartment, then took the grocery bags from her, setting them on the counter. Stopping her from starting to put them away, he watched her fidget.

"You're avoiding me," he said softly after a few seconds. "And I think it's because you heard Apollo and I fighting the other day." When he saw her barely visible flinch, he nodded. "Listen, Eliana..." Her name came out like a sigh, but it was loving. "I do love you. I wasn't lying." He closed his eyes before opening them and looking at her again. "Apollo said that it would turn out bad for both of us. I know that... I'm mortal Eliana. I'm not going to live as long as you. It'll only hurt, even if you don't love me, when I die. When I finally succumb..."

Eliana looked at him now, her eyes becoming stern as she placed her fingertips against his lips. "You won't Succumb, don't think like that. I'll be here with you and I won't let it happen. And neither will you. You're a good man Hajime. I know you have it in you to overcome this- even if you have to have help to do so," she assured him, and then blushed letting her fingers fall.

Hajime smiled a little, his eyes meeting hers. He did notice that she hadn't really answered him, and that made him a little bit sad, but he hadn't really expected anything either. As far as he could tell, she hadn't really had experience in these matters.

"If I can have your help, Eliana, I think I would be able to overcome anything," he said. Her blush grew and she looked away, even taking a step back. She felt horrible shy at the moment... and her heart was pounding as if she'd just had a serious scare. Only she hadn't had one- she felt heat and something else that was warm washing over her. "Y-yeah.. I'll be happy to help however I can..." she told him softly. She didn't understand this feeling- or his. And she didn't know how to express what she DID feel or even if she should try to.

Hajime knew he wasn't going to get an answer. Rather angry with himself for putting her on the spot, he turned and started to put away the groceries. It was almost dinner time, and so he left some things out to cook dinner.

"What do you want for dinner?" he asked as he took out some pots. "I'm thinking rice and something else, but I don't know what."

It was a few days later, Eliana was still struggling to treat Hajime as she usually did, but it was difficult. She was becoming increasingly more aware of her reactions to everything that he did- and it was rather distracting.

The group had met up again for more teamwork time, Hajime and Eliana watching the others and either could or should use their powers. Eliana suddenly turned, looking towards the path they had been on. She could feel someone coming... a Senshi. "What's this?" she wondered aloud, moving so she could see who it was that approached.

The girl that appeared was an awakened Senshi. Her hair was long and black, making her pale skin seem even paler. She had a pair of buns attop her head, curly strands coming down from the sides. Her outfit was a dark blue with black ribbon, black gloves, a black skirt with dark blue trim. She wore sheer black thigh high tights and tall black boots with dark blue rings along the length. Her skin was pale, make even paler by her dark hair and outfit, while her eyes were a silver so pale they looked almost white.

"Ah... so this is where you've all been. It was actually hard to find you," she said, her face expressionless. "I'm Sailor Black Hole."

A chill went down Eliana's spine. Sailor Black hole... yes- they universe was hell bent on self-destruction it seemed.

Hajime noticed Eliana turn, and saw her looking at this new Senshi. She seemed... Different somehow.

"Hello. I am Hajime," he said, motioning her closer. "Where exactly are you from in the universe?" He'd been watching the girls closely, trying to figure out new tactics for them, as Eliana had asked for his help on that matter.

She didn't answer right away, instead just stared at him, still no emotion crossing her face. "I am not entirely sure... I suppose you could say I was born the way my namesake would be."

Eliana shook herself from her state of worry. "I see. And you've come to join us?"

Sailor Black Hole nodded. "I could feel all of you, and I could feel the universe was in disturbance. So I came to see if I could be of assistance," she explained. "But you were harder to find than I had thought you would be once I arrived. I see now that was because of you," she looked directly at Eliana.

She tried to smile at her. "It is within my ability to hide auras within my own. And it doesn't hurt that Sailor Earth can mask auras with the Earth's to an extent," she explained. "Why don't you come join us, meet everyone?" she suggested, gesturing towards the other girls that had gathered.

A chill went down Hajime's spine, and he held Eliana back as Black Hole went to greet the others. Megan and Mia seemed happy to have another new friend, while Andromeda was wary.

"I'm not sure that I trust her," Hajime said quietly to Eliana.

Eliana glanced at him, not sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Since her mind was on work she was actually able to hold his gaze longer than she had as of late. "It is a bit odd I'll admit... she might be similar to Saturn in a way... and you're a prime example that one is not a reflection of the power they have... still how she has appeared worries me slightly, as it did with Sailor Asteroid Ice... I'll keep an eye on her," she promised quietly.

Mikoto raised her eyebrow. "Damn. Black Hole? That's a pretty wicked dark sounding power if ya ask me..."

Black Hole didn't even bat an eyelash. "I am able to create vortexes of nothingness, similar to my name sake."

That got a prolonged silence out of everyone.

"W-well glad to know you're on our side then- um... what's your name? I'm Rosemary. Calling you 'Black Hole' all the time seems a bit tedious. You can call me Rosie too if you want. We're all friends here after all," she gave the girl a warm smile.

Black Hole just stared at her for a moment, completely blank as always. "I have no name. I am Merely Sailor Black Hole."

That got an even longer pause out of everyone.

"Then- why don't we come up with one for you?" Eliana suggested smiling as warmly as she could. "Let's see..."

"How about 'Abyss'?" Mikoto suggested, watching her.

Black Hole just looked at her. "If that is what you'd like to call me."

"Seriously- do you HAVE facial expressions?" Mikoto demanded.

"Not that I'm aware of."

Rosemary actually started to giggle. "It's sort of cute in an odd way though." she clapped her hands. "OH! How about Abby? That's a cute name don't you think?" she asked the others.

"It should be sufficient for when we are to address her outside of Senshi practice," Andromeda said seriously. When Mia gave her a look, she seemed confused. "What?" she asked. Mia shook her head.

"You're very stiff and formal Andromeda. Who were you on that asteroid?" she asked. Andromeda drew herself up to her full height.

"I was first adviser to the Queen, the one who ruled our small nation upon that asteroid," she said stiffly.

Hajime nodded.

"Both of them worry me." He sighed. "But Asteroid Ice didn't make a chill go up my spine..."

Eliana nodded, but for the most part kept quiet in her own thoughts as she watched the girls try to come up with a name for their new... friend. In the end Abby was the name that stuck and they were preparing to get on with more practice when Eliana felt a chill rip through her as she felt a horde of shadow monsters appear all around them.

Everyone was preparing to get into position to start fighting when Sailor Black hole stepped forward, a dark glow surrounding her body. "I recommend that none of you move from where you stand now," she told them, as emotionless as ever. She looked up to the sky, her pale eyes fixing on a spot almost directly overhead and then she raised her fist into the air before opening her hand, palm up. A dark spot pulsed, appearing, shrinking into almost nothing and then suddenly exploded out into a wide vastness of nothing.

It was as if everything around them was being sucked into the dark void above them. Monsters shrieked as they tried to claw at the ground to no avail, being swept up into it.

Sailor Sun had moved to stand with the girls and Hajime, and she could feel their clothes and hair being rushing upwards in the vacuum created by the black hole in the sky. It seemed that Sailor Black Hole was able to at least keep them from being sucked in as well, but she was ready to act if she had to to keep them on the ground.

Black Hole glanced over her shoulder at them, checking to make sure they were still there or seeing if they were gone who knew with her stoic expression. Once all the monsters were gone she closed her hand back into a fist and the black hole shank and then vanished with a wave that nearly knocked them off their feet.

Hajime helped up Mia, who actually had been knocked off her feet. He looked over to Eliana. After making sure that the other girls were okay, he pulled her slightly to the side, observing them. Andromeda had been very impressed by the display of power.

"HE doesn't like her..." he said quietly, referring to his darker self. He looked over at Black Hole, or Abby. "I'm not sure that I myself should interact with her all that much..." he added apologetically.