Chapter Five:
It was Ken's turn to deliver the flowers that day and he scowled as Yohji handed several baskets over to him.
"Oh, come on! Not me again!" he groaned.
Yohji just grinned at him unrepentantly while Omi kept chuckling softly behind him. "Cheer up, Kenken, it ain't so bad. This is a perfect opportunity for you to meet women. It's time you broke your cycle of celibacy! If you actually meet one, can you get her number for me though?"
"Is that all you can think about?" Ken asked the taller man with a scowl on his usually gentle face. "No, don't bother answering that. Where's Aya anyway? Isn't it his turn to deliver these today?"
Omi paused from watering some gardenias and thought for a moment before answering. "I think he went out early this morning. He hasn't come back yet and I don't think he'll be coming back anytime soon. He hasn't spoken much since... well, you know."
They definitely knew what that was all about, alright. The things that happened with that blond haired girl was something they won't easily be forgetting for some time.
Yohji shrugged, wanting to try and forget the disturbing effect the girl was still giving his senses. He didn't want it, he didn't care. In this job, caring was the last thing you've got the luxury to pay attention to unless you're made of stone. To hide his thoughts, he just said as negligently as possible, "Come on, you guys, cut the guy some slack. It's not everyday Aya-kun gets to have a beautiful face bothering him. Who knows? It just might loosen him up a bit."
"Aya-kun's not like that, Yohji-kun!" Omi protested. His wide blue eyes openly scolding Yohji.
Yohji brushed the scold aside with his usual carelessness. "Fine fine, Aya's a virtual saint with a ramrod stick stuck permanently up his ass. Now let's get to work before these flowers die away." Kami, did I just say that?! I must be more bothered by that girl than I originally thought.
Ken had little choice but grabbing his helmet and stacking the flowers on board the delivery scooter. Personally, he didn't want to handle flowers today. He just wanted to be left alone and think. Probably that was what Aya's doing right now. He wanted to walk around and look for that boy Shingo! He remembered Usagi's tortured expression that night before she left and felt a pinch on his heart. Why couldn't he forget that look on her face?
He wanted to help her, damn it! He wanted to reach out to her and do something to stop her from hurting. In his heart he could feel how innocent she was. Her eyes spoke of her need to be held and understood even if her actions didn't and, judging from what he heard about her boyfriend and friends' opinions, he suspected why.
Usagi... Usagi... Why can't he just forget the Tsukino girl ever existed?! It's not even his business even thinking about her! She could be another trap! Or a traitor! Or a spy! Life would be a whole lot easier if he could convince himself to think just that. She was just another inconvenience. Just another hurting soul like all of them...
But he remembered that first time he and Usagi met. How she looked at him with those blue, blue eyes with hope in them. Looking at him for help! Him! He just couldn't ignore or forget what he saw in those eyes or her loyalty in searching for Shingo. He just couldn't. Ken was someone who constantly believed in the inherent goodness in people despite the betrayals in his life and if anyone deserved the benefit of the doubt it would be Usagi. But how to help her...
How to help her...
Aya released a rare smile as he looked down at his sister's sleeping form on the hospital bed. He just arrived to visit her today and was glad he did. He didn't know what changed in his sister's sleeping expression but... it seemed as if she were happy. She was still sleeping so he may be wrong but... the paleness, the expression of numbness wasn't there anymore. He wondered what could have caused it.
"I promise you, I'll avenge you and Okaasan's and Otousan's deaths. I will kill Reiji Takatori no matter what it costs me." he vowed again in front of his sister who's name he took to remind him he was doing everything in this new life for her. To remind himself that he still had a reason for living and that he had to be strong.
"Did you really speak to me? That night on the harbor so I can spare that girl? Why did you stop me? What's the reason, Aya-chan?"
It had been a question that's been bothering him for quite some time. He didn't like what he was feeling but how can he get answers from a girl who's been in coma for almost two years now? Besides, Aya-chan has always been a good judge of character. If she said the blond haired girl must live, then she should. But he won't let that stand in his way when it involves Takatori. He'll get the bastard one way or another!
"I brought you some of your favorite flowers." He murmured and proceeded to replace the dried flowers he left on the head board with the new ones he had and was taken aback when he saw a fresh basket beside his dried ones. "Who brought this here?"
Someone else besides him was visiting his sister?! But who could it be?! He considered having the room locked but it could be fatal for Aya-chan. Anyway, she didn't seem to be in any harm. But he'll find out who's been leaving flowers here or his name isn't Fujimiya Ran!
His reason for living is his sister. His only family. And he'll protect her no matter what! No matter if it meant his end...
"Corin?"
The blue haired girl nodded for confirmation as she watched the cerulean blue eyes of her friend glow with interest. Her own soft, ocean blue ones held a sadness for the blond haired girl. A sadness which prompted her to help Usagi against her better judgment.
She hated it when Usagi was like this. The usual happy smile wasn't there and the happy light seemed to fade out of existence. She also noticed the dulling of the moon's light these past nights as though sharing Usagi's feelings. She truly was the princess of the moon. But for all her exquisite beauty and daunting power, she was still not immune to pain...
"Yes. It's a company, mainly a research lab managed by a man named Masafumi Takatori." Ami said as she made back up copies of all the information Usagi asked from her.
"Takatori..." Usagi repeated softly. An interested gleam lighting up a blaze in her already bright eyes.
It's been two days since she allowed Haruka to look for Shingo but, upon return, the senshi of the winds told her that she was now facing a dead end whereas only the name of the company named Corin seemed to be popping out of the case.
"Haruka told me she tried to trace where the kidnappers took their victims when the children weren't returned demo the only deliveries she seemed to have found are for those of the company named Corin. And children weren't the ones being delivered there but laboratory equipment and human organs, I think. She supposed it was some sort of front or night job for them to draw away suspicion." Usagi told Ami as she stared thoughtfully at her friend's laptop. "Other than that, there weren't any more leads."
"Gomen, Usagi. I wish I could be of more help." Ami apologized. "Demo maybe now, you can give up your search for Shingo and return to the matters at hand."
Usagi's eyes pleaded for understanding. "O-negai, Ami-chan, don't ask this of me!"
Ami sighed. Why she can never seem to refuse Usagi, she'll never know. "I'm as concerned for Shingo's welfare as you are, Usagi-chan, but you have to face reality. We're in the middle of a war."
"I know that! Don't you think I know that?!" Usagi stood up and paced around the room of her mother's hospital suite. She stopped and looked at her sedated mother sleeping peacefully on the bed. "But she doesn't." she continued. "And Otousan doesn't know that either. Would I could sacrifice these people who raised me and gave me everything in this world for my destiny demo I can't! I won't! It will hurt too much and then there won't be much worth living for, would it?"
Ami sighed. Usagi has always been stubborn and she was always there for all of them just as she's there for Shingo right this minute. It's one of the things she most admired about her. Usagi's tenacity and loyalty won her over a long, long time ago, enough for her to sacrifice her very life if need be. Demo this is the future they were talking about. And like everybody else, she was afraid of the changes it may hold for all of them.
"Alright, you win. I won't press the matter anymore." Ami gave up.
Usagi's face brightened and she rushed to her friend to give her a tight, big hug. "Oh arigato, Ami-chan!"
Ami smiled at her friend and went back to her computer. "Is there anything else you would like to know?"
A name popped out of Usagi's head after Ami finished her question. "Hai. I want to know more about Reiji Takatori."
Ami typed a series of commands on her laptop. As soon as she pressed the Enter button, a series of files and pictures began popping out of the computer. "Let's see... There's nothing much in here but a bunch of publicity and humanitarian reports. Nothing very useful, I'm afraid, Usagi-chan. It seems Reiji Takatori is a powerful man with a lot of ambitions. He plans to run for the prime ministership. He's a widower with three sons. The eldest is Hirofumi Takatori." A picture of a tall man with a pair of glasses and oily hair popped on the screen along with information about him. He looked relatively harmless but Usagi felt a nasty aura about him that seemed to make her wary.
"He's single and is working for his father as a spokesman and campaign secretary. Hmm, he seems to have a strange habit. He strengthens his father's circle of contacts and political supporters through a hunting club whose activities are held on his property.
"Next is... Masafumi Takatori." A man with untidy hair and a frighteningly untidy looking face appeared on the screen. Usagi couldn't help but recoil at the sight of the not-so-sane look on his face. Where Hirofumi was overly neat, Masafumi was the exact opposite. If it weren't for the surnames, Usagi doubted they would ever be mistaken as brothers. "A brilliant scientist but was kicked out of university for unlicensed research and experimentation. He manages Corin for his father, Reiji, and his father funds his research now. Nothing much on the social area. He's some kind of a hermit, I think.
"Lastly is Mamoru Takatori." There wasn't a picture on the screen and even Usagi could see information on the boy was scarce. "The youngest of Takatori's sons. He's been missing for a good many years and is believed dead. It says here that he was kidnapped too but was never recovered."
"Oh the poor thing." Usagi sympathized feeling genuine woe for the poor mother the boy must have left behind.
The blue haired senshi thought for a minute before speaking again. "There's a kidnapping in the family's history but I can't make a connection between this company and Shingo's disappearance, Usa-chan. Sorry but I think Haruka is right. This is a dead end."
But Usagi's instincts were screaming. It could have been her desperation or even wishful thinking, but something inside her demanded that she find some kind of connection between the previous kidnappings and Corin.
"How about body guards or employees? Can you give me a list of the people who work for him, Ami-chan?" she asked immediately.
Ami watched her friend and released a little wry smile. If only Usagi could have been this focused on her studies then she wouldn't have to bawl over red marked report cards every after each semester. She typed the necessary commands and waited.
"Hmm. They have a guarded database for such an information, Usagi." Ami said, looking a bit worried as she waited for her friend's reply.
"Can you bypass it, Ami-chan?" Usagi asked her friend innocently.
Ami sighed. "Usagi-chan, you do know that sneaking into other people's databases is against the law, don't you?"
"Honto ni?!" Usagi asked, wide eyed. "Demo... demo I have to know, Ami-chan! Can't you hide yourself or something like that stuff they do in the movies?"
"Usagi!"
"O-negai, Ami-chan!?!"
The blue haired genius sighed deeply before giving in. she had no experience in hacking, but she'll do anything for Usagi. She typed a series of commands and dodged security programs that made the young intellectual sweat not knowing that there were a pair of solemn dark blue eyes watching from another computer monitor and surveying her progress. A hint of cold amusement and admiration tainting the quiet looking young face.
"Ami-chan?"
"Almost there, Usagi-chan." Ami muttered before pushing the final key and, almost immediately, a list of people appeared before them. "Whew! That was hard!"
"Honto ni, Ami-chan? I thought you were great!" Usagi chirped.
Ami smiled and blushed. "They have a very good security program. Whoever made that program was a genius."
"Demo you were better! What did you find?!" Usagi asked peering onto the monitor.
"Let's see... this is the list of Takatori Reiji's employees. Bodyguards are on top of the list. I'll show their profiles on the screen for you."
Their unknown, unnoticed observer smirked faintly and held his hand over the mouse pad beside his computer and his screen flickered. "Sorry. Can't have you taking a peek at us."
Four pictures flashed on the screen and Usagi caught a glimpse of faces before the laptop went up in smoke in front of their shocked faces!
"Oh my!"
"What happened, Ami-chan?!"
Ami pulled the laptop's plug and helped Usagi ward off the smoke to see what went wrong. "I- I don't know! It must have short circuited or something!"
Suddenly, she felt something vibrate from the depths of her pockets. She took out her communicator and flicked it open. "Ami here."
"Mercury! Is Usagi with you?!" Luna asked from the other end of the line. "And what's with that smoke?! Daijobou?"
"Hai, watashiwa daijobou, Luna. My laptop short circuited it seems. As for Usagi..." Ami saw Usagi making negative sign languages with her arms and face meaning she didn't want Luna to see her. She sweatdropped and tried to keep a straight face before answering the feisty black cat. "Iie, she's not with me right now. What is it, Luna?"
The black cat sighed in exasperation before speaking again. "We have a meeting at Rei's place in about an hour, you better come here now, Ami- chan. That baka Usagi has been skipping meetings again. Doesn't she recognize how serious our situation is right now?!"
Ami nodded nervously, trying very hard not to glance at Usagi. "Don't worry, Luna, I'm sure she'll come to her senses when it's time."
"I sure hope so. The enemy is getting more and more aggressive these past few fights and I'm getting worried. Even Rei is sensing a deep evil nearby. Oh well. See you later, Ami-chan."
"Ja, Luna." Ami answered before closing her communicator. She saw Usagi take a deep breath of relief with her. "I hate lying like that."
"Gomen, Ami-chan, it's just that... I don't want to argue with Luna right now. I have a lot on my mind and I prefer not to be bothered by her scolding." Usagi apologized.
Ami smiled at her friend. "Don't worry. I'll try to cover for you for as long as I can demo..." her soft, ocean blue eyes turned grave. "O-negai, consider the people we have to protect, Usagi-chan. Shingo-kun is not the only person in this world who needs help."
Usagi watched Ami as she left with the blackened portable computer and released a sigh. Everything was getting all jumbled up and she had to think fast. Her duties and loyalties were colliding with each other and she was lost. Completely, irrevocably, lost.
She stared at the diskette she held. The disk where Ami saved all copies of Corin and the Takatoris she asked for. It wasn't enough and she was running out of time. But how? And where should she start? With very little clues and no one to help her, her situation was close to hopeless! Even the fates seemed to be against her if that laptop was any judge.
Usagi looked down on the floor and held back the tears. She couldn't cry now. Not now. It wasn't the time for her to do so not when Shingo's life hung in the balance. Funny how simple battling youmas looked compared to her present situation. It didn't seem fair.
She let out a huge sigh and stood beside her mother's sleeping figure. Maybe she needed some rest. She hadn't had a decent night's sleep since she went out on her own to find those kidnappers. It was time she went home. Just for a nap and a bath. She can let the nurses take care of her mother for a little while.
That decided, she pecked on her mother's forehead and quietly left. She passed Aya-chan's room and decided to visit for a while. She'd been personally tending to the young girl lately. Quietly talking to her as though she can hear her. She tiptoed to the girl's side and smiled gently.
"Hello there, Aya-chan! How are you feeling today?" the faint bleep of the life support answered Usagi and made her smile a bit more. She noticed a fresh bouquet of flowers on the bed's head board along with hers and grinned. "Oh how pretty! Was someone else here? Oh you're so lucky, Aya- chan!"
Usagi came closer to the flowers and inhaled the fresh scent. "Hmm... They even smell beautiful. Who were they from? A boyfriend, perhaps? I hope I'd get to meet him someday. Won't you introduce me?
"Anyway, I'm going to be gone for a while, Aya-chan. Please don't worry about me. I hope you'll be okay while I'm gone. What was that?" Usagi made a motion of leaning over the girl's face as though the sleeping girl was whispering something to her. After a few moments, she nodded. "Of course I'll come back for you! Just to prove it... here."
Usagi pulled the star locket off her neck and started to open one of the girl's hands so it can be held. "I'll let you keep this for a while so you can be sure I'll be back. This pendant is very important to me so keep it safe, okay? My fiancé gave it to me a long long time ago. I open it whenever I feel scared and alone and if you open it, you'll hear music. Huh?" Usagi stopped her progress when she saw a long dangling earring held in the palm of Aya-chan's right hand. "I guess someone beat me to that hand, ne? Is this a memento too? I'll just put my locket here in the other one, then. I wonder who gave you that? It's really pretty."
After placing the star locket on Aya-chan's other palm and closing both palms gently, Usagi stood up and dropped a kiss on the slumbering beauty's forehead. "Be safe. And pleasant dreams, Aya chan..."
With those gentle words, Usagi left. Although reluctant to leave her new friend behind, she had to try and relax herself. Try to erase her worries even for a little while. Willing herself not to think of the problems that plagued her even for just a moment if not a lifetime.
Unknowing of the danger that awaited her...
Unknowing of the darkness that lingered just out of reach...
It was Ken's turn to deliver the flowers that day and he scowled as Yohji handed several baskets over to him.
"Oh, come on! Not me again!" he groaned.
Yohji just grinned at him unrepentantly while Omi kept chuckling softly behind him. "Cheer up, Kenken, it ain't so bad. This is a perfect opportunity for you to meet women. It's time you broke your cycle of celibacy! If you actually meet one, can you get her number for me though?"
"Is that all you can think about?" Ken asked the taller man with a scowl on his usually gentle face. "No, don't bother answering that. Where's Aya anyway? Isn't it his turn to deliver these today?"
Omi paused from watering some gardenias and thought for a moment before answering. "I think he went out early this morning. He hasn't come back yet and I don't think he'll be coming back anytime soon. He hasn't spoken much since... well, you know."
They definitely knew what that was all about, alright. The things that happened with that blond haired girl was something they won't easily be forgetting for some time.
Yohji shrugged, wanting to try and forget the disturbing effect the girl was still giving his senses. He didn't want it, he didn't care. In this job, caring was the last thing you've got the luxury to pay attention to unless you're made of stone. To hide his thoughts, he just said as negligently as possible, "Come on, you guys, cut the guy some slack. It's not everyday Aya-kun gets to have a beautiful face bothering him. Who knows? It just might loosen him up a bit."
"Aya-kun's not like that, Yohji-kun!" Omi protested. His wide blue eyes openly scolding Yohji.
Yohji brushed the scold aside with his usual carelessness. "Fine fine, Aya's a virtual saint with a ramrod stick stuck permanently up his ass. Now let's get to work before these flowers die away." Kami, did I just say that?! I must be more bothered by that girl than I originally thought.
Ken had little choice but grabbing his helmet and stacking the flowers on board the delivery scooter. Personally, he didn't want to handle flowers today. He just wanted to be left alone and think. Probably that was what Aya's doing right now. He wanted to walk around and look for that boy Shingo! He remembered Usagi's tortured expression that night before she left and felt a pinch on his heart. Why couldn't he forget that look on her face?
He wanted to help her, damn it! He wanted to reach out to her and do something to stop her from hurting. In his heart he could feel how innocent she was. Her eyes spoke of her need to be held and understood even if her actions didn't and, judging from what he heard about her boyfriend and friends' opinions, he suspected why.
Usagi... Usagi... Why can't he just forget the Tsukino girl ever existed?! It's not even his business even thinking about her! She could be another trap! Or a traitor! Or a spy! Life would be a whole lot easier if he could convince himself to think just that. She was just another inconvenience. Just another hurting soul like all of them...
But he remembered that first time he and Usagi met. How she looked at him with those blue, blue eyes with hope in them. Looking at him for help! Him! He just couldn't ignore or forget what he saw in those eyes or her loyalty in searching for Shingo. He just couldn't. Ken was someone who constantly believed in the inherent goodness in people despite the betrayals in his life and if anyone deserved the benefit of the doubt it would be Usagi. But how to help her...
How to help her...
Aya released a rare smile as he looked down at his sister's sleeping form on the hospital bed. He just arrived to visit her today and was glad he did. He didn't know what changed in his sister's sleeping expression but... it seemed as if she were happy. She was still sleeping so he may be wrong but... the paleness, the expression of numbness wasn't there anymore. He wondered what could have caused it.
"I promise you, I'll avenge you and Okaasan's and Otousan's deaths. I will kill Reiji Takatori no matter what it costs me." he vowed again in front of his sister who's name he took to remind him he was doing everything in this new life for her. To remind himself that he still had a reason for living and that he had to be strong.
"Did you really speak to me? That night on the harbor so I can spare that girl? Why did you stop me? What's the reason, Aya-chan?"
It had been a question that's been bothering him for quite some time. He didn't like what he was feeling but how can he get answers from a girl who's been in coma for almost two years now? Besides, Aya-chan has always been a good judge of character. If she said the blond haired girl must live, then she should. But he won't let that stand in his way when it involves Takatori. He'll get the bastard one way or another!
"I brought you some of your favorite flowers." He murmured and proceeded to replace the dried flowers he left on the head board with the new ones he had and was taken aback when he saw a fresh basket beside his dried ones. "Who brought this here?"
Someone else besides him was visiting his sister?! But who could it be?! He considered having the room locked but it could be fatal for Aya-chan. Anyway, she didn't seem to be in any harm. But he'll find out who's been leaving flowers here or his name isn't Fujimiya Ran!
His reason for living is his sister. His only family. And he'll protect her no matter what! No matter if it meant his end...
"Corin?"
The blue haired girl nodded for confirmation as she watched the cerulean blue eyes of her friend glow with interest. Her own soft, ocean blue ones held a sadness for the blond haired girl. A sadness which prompted her to help Usagi against her better judgment.
She hated it when Usagi was like this. The usual happy smile wasn't there and the happy light seemed to fade out of existence. She also noticed the dulling of the moon's light these past nights as though sharing Usagi's feelings. She truly was the princess of the moon. But for all her exquisite beauty and daunting power, she was still not immune to pain...
"Yes. It's a company, mainly a research lab managed by a man named Masafumi Takatori." Ami said as she made back up copies of all the information Usagi asked from her.
"Takatori..." Usagi repeated softly. An interested gleam lighting up a blaze in her already bright eyes.
It's been two days since she allowed Haruka to look for Shingo but, upon return, the senshi of the winds told her that she was now facing a dead end whereas only the name of the company named Corin seemed to be popping out of the case.
"Haruka told me she tried to trace where the kidnappers took their victims when the children weren't returned demo the only deliveries she seemed to have found are for those of the company named Corin. And children weren't the ones being delivered there but laboratory equipment and human organs, I think. She supposed it was some sort of front or night job for them to draw away suspicion." Usagi told Ami as she stared thoughtfully at her friend's laptop. "Other than that, there weren't any more leads."
"Gomen, Usagi. I wish I could be of more help." Ami apologized. "Demo maybe now, you can give up your search for Shingo and return to the matters at hand."
Usagi's eyes pleaded for understanding. "O-negai, Ami-chan, don't ask this of me!"
Ami sighed. Why she can never seem to refuse Usagi, she'll never know. "I'm as concerned for Shingo's welfare as you are, Usagi-chan, but you have to face reality. We're in the middle of a war."
"I know that! Don't you think I know that?!" Usagi stood up and paced around the room of her mother's hospital suite. She stopped and looked at her sedated mother sleeping peacefully on the bed. "But she doesn't." she continued. "And Otousan doesn't know that either. Would I could sacrifice these people who raised me and gave me everything in this world for my destiny demo I can't! I won't! It will hurt too much and then there won't be much worth living for, would it?"
Ami sighed. Usagi has always been stubborn and she was always there for all of them just as she's there for Shingo right this minute. It's one of the things she most admired about her. Usagi's tenacity and loyalty won her over a long, long time ago, enough for her to sacrifice her very life if need be. Demo this is the future they were talking about. And like everybody else, she was afraid of the changes it may hold for all of them.
"Alright, you win. I won't press the matter anymore." Ami gave up.
Usagi's face brightened and she rushed to her friend to give her a tight, big hug. "Oh arigato, Ami-chan!"
Ami smiled at her friend and went back to her computer. "Is there anything else you would like to know?"
A name popped out of Usagi's head after Ami finished her question. "Hai. I want to know more about Reiji Takatori."
Ami typed a series of commands on her laptop. As soon as she pressed the Enter button, a series of files and pictures began popping out of the computer. "Let's see... There's nothing much in here but a bunch of publicity and humanitarian reports. Nothing very useful, I'm afraid, Usagi-chan. It seems Reiji Takatori is a powerful man with a lot of ambitions. He plans to run for the prime ministership. He's a widower with three sons. The eldest is Hirofumi Takatori." A picture of a tall man with a pair of glasses and oily hair popped on the screen along with information about him. He looked relatively harmless but Usagi felt a nasty aura about him that seemed to make her wary.
"He's single and is working for his father as a spokesman and campaign secretary. Hmm, he seems to have a strange habit. He strengthens his father's circle of contacts and political supporters through a hunting club whose activities are held on his property.
"Next is... Masafumi Takatori." A man with untidy hair and a frighteningly untidy looking face appeared on the screen. Usagi couldn't help but recoil at the sight of the not-so-sane look on his face. Where Hirofumi was overly neat, Masafumi was the exact opposite. If it weren't for the surnames, Usagi doubted they would ever be mistaken as brothers. "A brilliant scientist but was kicked out of university for unlicensed research and experimentation. He manages Corin for his father, Reiji, and his father funds his research now. Nothing much on the social area. He's some kind of a hermit, I think.
"Lastly is Mamoru Takatori." There wasn't a picture on the screen and even Usagi could see information on the boy was scarce. "The youngest of Takatori's sons. He's been missing for a good many years and is believed dead. It says here that he was kidnapped too but was never recovered."
"Oh the poor thing." Usagi sympathized feeling genuine woe for the poor mother the boy must have left behind.
The blue haired senshi thought for a minute before speaking again. "There's a kidnapping in the family's history but I can't make a connection between this company and Shingo's disappearance, Usa-chan. Sorry but I think Haruka is right. This is a dead end."
But Usagi's instincts were screaming. It could have been her desperation or even wishful thinking, but something inside her demanded that she find some kind of connection between the previous kidnappings and Corin.
"How about body guards or employees? Can you give me a list of the people who work for him, Ami-chan?" she asked immediately.
Ami watched her friend and released a little wry smile. If only Usagi could have been this focused on her studies then she wouldn't have to bawl over red marked report cards every after each semester. She typed the necessary commands and waited.
"Hmm. They have a guarded database for such an information, Usagi." Ami said, looking a bit worried as she waited for her friend's reply.
"Can you bypass it, Ami-chan?" Usagi asked her friend innocently.
Ami sighed. "Usagi-chan, you do know that sneaking into other people's databases is against the law, don't you?"
"Honto ni?!" Usagi asked, wide eyed. "Demo... demo I have to know, Ami-chan! Can't you hide yourself or something like that stuff they do in the movies?"
"Usagi!"
"O-negai, Ami-chan!?!"
The blue haired genius sighed deeply before giving in. she had no experience in hacking, but she'll do anything for Usagi. She typed a series of commands and dodged security programs that made the young intellectual sweat not knowing that there were a pair of solemn dark blue eyes watching from another computer monitor and surveying her progress. A hint of cold amusement and admiration tainting the quiet looking young face.
"Ami-chan?"
"Almost there, Usagi-chan." Ami muttered before pushing the final key and, almost immediately, a list of people appeared before them. "Whew! That was hard!"
"Honto ni, Ami-chan? I thought you were great!" Usagi chirped.
Ami smiled and blushed. "They have a very good security program. Whoever made that program was a genius."
"Demo you were better! What did you find?!" Usagi asked peering onto the monitor.
"Let's see... this is the list of Takatori Reiji's employees. Bodyguards are on top of the list. I'll show their profiles on the screen for you."
Their unknown, unnoticed observer smirked faintly and held his hand over the mouse pad beside his computer and his screen flickered. "Sorry. Can't have you taking a peek at us."
Four pictures flashed on the screen and Usagi caught a glimpse of faces before the laptop went up in smoke in front of their shocked faces!
"Oh my!"
"What happened, Ami-chan?!"
Ami pulled the laptop's plug and helped Usagi ward off the smoke to see what went wrong. "I- I don't know! It must have short circuited or something!"
Suddenly, she felt something vibrate from the depths of her pockets. She took out her communicator and flicked it open. "Ami here."
"Mercury! Is Usagi with you?!" Luna asked from the other end of the line. "And what's with that smoke?! Daijobou?"
"Hai, watashiwa daijobou, Luna. My laptop short circuited it seems. As for Usagi..." Ami saw Usagi making negative sign languages with her arms and face meaning she didn't want Luna to see her. She sweatdropped and tried to keep a straight face before answering the feisty black cat. "Iie, she's not with me right now. What is it, Luna?"
The black cat sighed in exasperation before speaking again. "We have a meeting at Rei's place in about an hour, you better come here now, Ami- chan. That baka Usagi has been skipping meetings again. Doesn't she recognize how serious our situation is right now?!"
Ami nodded nervously, trying very hard not to glance at Usagi. "Don't worry, Luna, I'm sure she'll come to her senses when it's time."
"I sure hope so. The enemy is getting more and more aggressive these past few fights and I'm getting worried. Even Rei is sensing a deep evil nearby. Oh well. See you later, Ami-chan."
"Ja, Luna." Ami answered before closing her communicator. She saw Usagi take a deep breath of relief with her. "I hate lying like that."
"Gomen, Ami-chan, it's just that... I don't want to argue with Luna right now. I have a lot on my mind and I prefer not to be bothered by her scolding." Usagi apologized.
Ami smiled at her friend. "Don't worry. I'll try to cover for you for as long as I can demo..." her soft, ocean blue eyes turned grave. "O-negai, consider the people we have to protect, Usagi-chan. Shingo-kun is not the only person in this world who needs help."
Usagi watched Ami as she left with the blackened portable computer and released a sigh. Everything was getting all jumbled up and she had to think fast. Her duties and loyalties were colliding with each other and she was lost. Completely, irrevocably, lost.
She stared at the diskette she held. The disk where Ami saved all copies of Corin and the Takatoris she asked for. It wasn't enough and she was running out of time. But how? And where should she start? With very little clues and no one to help her, her situation was close to hopeless! Even the fates seemed to be against her if that laptop was any judge.
Usagi looked down on the floor and held back the tears. She couldn't cry now. Not now. It wasn't the time for her to do so not when Shingo's life hung in the balance. Funny how simple battling youmas looked compared to her present situation. It didn't seem fair.
She let out a huge sigh and stood beside her mother's sleeping figure. Maybe she needed some rest. She hadn't had a decent night's sleep since she went out on her own to find those kidnappers. It was time she went home. Just for a nap and a bath. She can let the nurses take care of her mother for a little while.
That decided, she pecked on her mother's forehead and quietly left. She passed Aya-chan's room and decided to visit for a while. She'd been personally tending to the young girl lately. Quietly talking to her as though she can hear her. She tiptoed to the girl's side and smiled gently.
"Hello there, Aya-chan! How are you feeling today?" the faint bleep of the life support answered Usagi and made her smile a bit more. She noticed a fresh bouquet of flowers on the bed's head board along with hers and grinned. "Oh how pretty! Was someone else here? Oh you're so lucky, Aya- chan!"
Usagi came closer to the flowers and inhaled the fresh scent. "Hmm... They even smell beautiful. Who were they from? A boyfriend, perhaps? I hope I'd get to meet him someday. Won't you introduce me?
"Anyway, I'm going to be gone for a while, Aya-chan. Please don't worry about me. I hope you'll be okay while I'm gone. What was that?" Usagi made a motion of leaning over the girl's face as though the sleeping girl was whispering something to her. After a few moments, she nodded. "Of course I'll come back for you! Just to prove it... here."
Usagi pulled the star locket off her neck and started to open one of the girl's hands so it can be held. "I'll let you keep this for a while so you can be sure I'll be back. This pendant is very important to me so keep it safe, okay? My fiancé gave it to me a long long time ago. I open it whenever I feel scared and alone and if you open it, you'll hear music. Huh?" Usagi stopped her progress when she saw a long dangling earring held in the palm of Aya-chan's right hand. "I guess someone beat me to that hand, ne? Is this a memento too? I'll just put my locket here in the other one, then. I wonder who gave you that? It's really pretty."
After placing the star locket on Aya-chan's other palm and closing both palms gently, Usagi stood up and dropped a kiss on the slumbering beauty's forehead. "Be safe. And pleasant dreams, Aya chan..."
With those gentle words, Usagi left. Although reluctant to leave her new friend behind, she had to try and relax herself. Try to erase her worries even for a little while. Willing herself not to think of the problems that plagued her even for just a moment if not a lifetime.
Unknowing of the danger that awaited her...
Unknowing of the darkness that lingered just out of reach...