Taiki was awoken by a faint click above her head, signaling that the doors to the school had been unlocked. Alert at once, she was greeted by the sight of sunlight pouring onto a damp vista of grass and trees. Stretching her limbs, she got up and pushed the door open cautiously as if worried she might trigger an alarm. Once outside, she found a group of rescue workers gathered at the base of the hill that led into the forest. Taiki joined them and drew the attention of the leader.

"I'm going with you," she insisted, drawing an assortment of looks from the rescuers. The leader had a bald crown and bushy gray eye brows with a mustache to match. He frowned at the girl, unsure how to respond.

"'Fraid that's not possible, young lady," he said, but Taiki wasn't taking no for an answer.

"Corin Kou has granted me permission to join the operation," she lied smoothly. The old man threw a side glance to one of his men who shrugged.

"I haven't received word of this."

"The UCL had transmission problems because of the storm."

The man wasn't buying it. "Listen kid, unless I receive direct orders there's nothing I can do. So why don't you just go on inside and let us do our job."

Taiki stepped up to the man, shadowing him by several inches. "My friend is out there and I'll be damned if I'm gonna let her die—" She broke off as a dark head of hair appeared above the foot of the hill, the rest of her soon coming into view. "Seiya!" Taiki cried out. She ran to the girl as fast as her long legs would carry her and embraced her tightly. Seiya returned the hug and laughed cheerfully at the sight of her best friend.

All the joy drained from the brunette's face as she looked over Seiya's shoulder to see Yaten coming up the trail behind her. She released her friend and walked toward the other girl, antipathy written over her normally placid features. Yaten was flushed and breathless when they met and Taiki caught her off guard, striking her face with the palm of her hand. The smaller girl fell backwards and suddenly Seiya was between them, screaming Taiki's name. She pushed her so that the taller girl nearly lost her balance herself, then ran to Yaten who was holding her cheek and looking stunned.

"What the hell did you do that for?!" Seiya demanded of her friend.

Taiki lost it. "To protect you!!" she raged. "Do you have any idea how worried I've been? I stayed up half the night just praying that you were still alive and this is what you do? Side with that—bitch." She spat the last word.

"Whoa, slow down Taiki. Why are you so angry at her?"

"Why don't you let your girlfriend tell you?" Addressing the object of her contempt, "Go ahead, tell her the reason why you came to Kinmoku. Tell her what Kakyuu was protecting you from when she secured your transfer." Yaten remained silent, eyes downcast which only seemed to provoke Taiki further. "What? Afraid she won't like you any more if she finds out what you really are…murderer," she finished loathingly.

Yaten looked up at last, her jade eyes displaying pure shock. Taiki's speech had garnered the attention of the whole rescue crew, along with some early students who had come out to enjoy the new day. Worst of all, Seiya was staring at her with a horrified look on her face. Yaten didn't need to ask if Seiya believed Taiki; her expression was answer enough.

Yaten climbed to her feet and ran up the slope to the school, ignoring the multitude of stares that followed her. Finding her voice at last, Seiya turned her gaze on Taiki.

"How could you say that?" Seiya asked in a hurt voice.

"Because it's the truth," Taiki asserted. "Yaten murdered someone on her own planet and was going to be sentenced to death. That's when our headmistress stepped in and brought her here."

Seiya suddenly felt faint. She held her head in her hand and Taiki reached out to her, gently touching her shoulder. Seiya pulled away from her.

"Just leave me alone. I need some time to think about this."

Seiya walked the same path Yaten had taken moments before, leaving Taiki to stare after her and wonder how things had gotten so messed up. She wished Yaten had never come to their planet, but that was something she couldn't change. What she could do was make sure the alien girl suffered as much as Taiki was now. Silently she vowed to do just that.