Act 42

Jadeite slowly walked down the stairs and stood still, looking at the black stone Queen Beryl had given to him.

"Embed this in Endymion's body. Endymion's heart must be separated from the Princess."

Still, he didn't feel really able to follow through with Beryl's command. Suddenly it somehow didn't feel right to him to obey any longer. It felt like… he was betraying his… true Master. Master Endymion.

"I belong to no one."

"I'm not willing to be a puppet of the past. I'm not Mars, I'm Rei Hino. I've decided to life in the present, and you don't awaken any feelings in me."

Mars… she didn't remember him, didn't remember their love. Instead, she had decided to become involved with a human.

That boy… Jadeite knew him. He had used him once - it seemed so long ago - to collect human energy. Why in the world was Mars associating with that ordinary, unremarkable human boy?

Because that's how she was in the past life… with you.

Jadeite sat down and stroked the smooth surface of the black stone.

"Endymion's heart must be separated from the Princess."

The Queen and he, they actually weren't really different. She, too, was longing for somebody who didn't reciprocate her feelings. Wasn't it more than likely that she was trying to do everything to make him change his mind?

"You don't awaken any feelings in me."

But, nevertheless, there was a difference. Endymion, his Master, had never had feelings for the Queen. Not even in the past. It had always been one sided. But Mars… she had been fond of him back then. Why hadn't his appearance and his revelation provoked any reaction from her?

Jadeite enclosed the black stone with his hand and stood up.

Despite that, he and the Queen had the same desire. The wish that the other one would return the feelings they had.

He sighed and put the stone back in the pocket of his jacket. He had made a decision. Now he knew exactly what to do.

xxxx

The entrance door opened. Nephrite looked up and saw a young man with a striped sweater, a turtle backpack and a little basket coming in.

"Takai, hi!" Motoki greeted him, "You've brought Maririn."

"Yes," the young man said, smiling, and took a little turtle out of the basket, placing it inside the tank with Motoki's turtle.

"They're lovers," Motoki explained Nephrite with a wide smile. "Ah, and this is Takai-kun."

The young man nodded in a friendly way, and Nephrite couldn't help but nod back.

"And you are…?" Takai said.

"He's a new friend and employee," Motoki introduced, "His name is…"

Nephrite clenched his fists. What would probably come now?

" …very difficult to pronounce. So, he'd better tell you himself."

Takai looked at Nephrite expectantly. He hesitated. Should he really…?

The door opened and two girls came in.

"Welcome," Nephrite greeted them. "How long?"

"Two hours," one of them said, "for the beginning."

Motoki nodded. "You can take room number one. It's just tidied up, so it's all fresh now."

"Thank you," the girls said. Then they disappeared. Motoki arranged the registration booklet, and suddenly looked at Takai in surprise.

"Takai?" he said slowly, "Say something."

"What?"

"Again. Say something else."

"Are you nuts? Why?"

"Your hiccup! You're not hiccupping!"

"Oh, that," Takai said and smiled. "Yeah, I've finally found a very… effective method."

"You have to know, Nephkichi-kun, that Takai always used to hiccup whenever a girl approached him," Motoki explained.

"Motoki!" Takai shouted.

"What? It's okay, he's a friend."

"Yes, but either way…"

"So, what did you do?" Motoki asked now, curiously.

Takai reddened. "That's a little bit… difficult to explain."

"Why?" Motoki prodded. "What's so difficult about it? Just tell us what you've done. It's not like we want you to tell us about your first kiss or something."

Nephrite didn't think that the young men's face could turn redder, but it did. Motoki obviously had noticed this, too, because he shouted out: "No way! Takai, you kissed a girl? That was your method? Holy cow, thank goodness! Finally! Takai's first kiss and at the same time the method to stop his hiccup!"

Motoki patted his friend's shoulder energetically. "Who is she? Do I know her? How long has that going on now? Why haven't you ever told me anything?"

If he goes on questioning him like this he'll really start to hiccup, Nephrite thought while he watched Takai patiently enduring Motoki's bombardment of questions.

"Man, this is worthy of celebration," Motoki finally resolved, taking off his work apron. "Let's party, Takai. You too, Nephkichi-kun."

"Somebody has to attend the clients," Nephrite answered emotionlessly.

"Darn," Motoki said in disappointment, "you're right."

"It's okay, I'll stay."

Motoki looked at Nephrite in deep surprise. "Really? Well… thanks, man." Then he disappeared quickly in the changing room.

"That's really nice of you, thank you," Takai said now.

Nephrite shrugged and started to clean the desk, so his hands had something to do.

"You're not exactly the… talkative type, are you?" Takai asked now.

"No."

The young man smiled. "That must make it hard for you to work with Motoki. He's a good guy, but sometimes he forgets that not everybody wants to shout out his thoughts and feelings. But he means no harm. It's best to ignore him."

"That's easier said than done," Nephrite answered to his own surprise.

Takai laughed. "Yeah, I know. Just try not to kill him, okay?"

"I'll do my best," Nephrite said and couldn't avoid a little smirk. Man, what the hell was going on with him? Was he starting to get along with humans?

Motoki appeared again. "Takai, let's go. See you later, Nephkichi-kun. If you're having any trouble you can call me on my mobile."

"Go and get the car," Takai said, "I'll be right there."

Motoki nodded and left the center.

"Nephkichi? That's not your real name, am I right?"

Nephrite looked at Takai in surprise. How…?

"You wince every time Motoki calls you that," Takai explained. "He has a bad habit of calling his friends by nicknames. It took me ages to get him to stop calling me Taki-kun."

Nephrite shrugged again. What else could he have answered, anyway?

"So… what's your name?" Takai asked carefully.

Nephrite hesitated. Ah, what the heck. It really couldn't be worse. "Nephrite."

"Nephrite?" Takai repeated. He looked as if he was evaluating it in his mind. "Nephrite. That's cool."

A horn was heard. Takai reached for a sheet of paper and wrote down something quickly.

"Here," he said and shoved it over the desk towards Nephrite. "Unfortunately, I can't afford a mobile, but this is my number at the dorm. If you ever want to talk to somebody, even if it's just to gripe about Motoki…" The horn sounded again. "I'd better go. So, see you Nephrite-kun. It was nice to meet you."

With this, he turned and left the Crown center. Nephrite slowly picked up the piece of paper Takai had left. These humans were indeed really strange. They could barely know you and still quickly offer their friendship.

Ami, Motoki and now Takai. But what was really confusing for Nephrite was that they just had taken him the way he was, without asking for anything in return.

"If you ever want to talk to somebody, even if it's just to gripe about Motoki…"

Nephrite crumpled up the card and threw it into the garbage basket. I won't stay here much longer, he thought.

xxxx

Rei closed her mobile and put it back into her pocket.

"Who's calling you all the time?" Makoto asked curiously.

"It's probably a wrong number," Rei answered and tried to go on reading her book. From the corner of her eyes she noticed how Makoto and Ami exchanged a very meaningful gaze. What luck that Usagi had gone to visit Naru at the hospital. Otherwise, she would have been bombarded already with annoying questions.

As for Luna, after she had painted her nails and eaten up all the popcorn again, she had fallen asleep on the table, transforming into a plushie cat again.

"You know," Makoto said slowly, "considering how many times your phone rang just now, it doesn't seem to me that somebody has got the wrong number."

Rei shrugged and pretended to be very concentrated on her studies. Again her mobile vibrated in her pocket, and she wished that her heart wouldn't leap so much at the sound.

"Another wrong number, I guess," Makoto said suspiciously.

"Yes," Rei said curtly, making it clear that she didn't want to go on about the matter. Finally the two girls went back to working on their homework, and while Rei pretended to go on reading, her thoughts were completely elsewhere.

Of course nobody was misdialing, and she knew very well that neither Makoto nor Ami believed that, either. They just didn't know who it was: Takai.

Rei tightened her grip on her book. He'd been calling the whole afternoon. She knew that it had been him because, at first, he'd been calling her from the dorm. Afterwards he obviously had been calling her from every phone booth he'd passed by, because there were several different numbers appearing as missed calls on her mobile. The last ones had been made from the same mobile number. Certainly a friend's.

Rei sighed softly. She wouldn't be able to avoid him forever, but at the moment… she just didn't had the strength to face him. Not after…

Her mobile vibrated again and made her wince.

"Oh, for god's sake, Rei!" Makoto shouted. "If you don't want to pick up your phone, turn it off at least. I have a test tomorrow, so please. That constant vibrating is driving me crazy."

"Okay!" Rei shouted back, taking out her mobile to turn it off. It had been the same mobile number again. She suppressed the desire to call back. That wouldn't end well.

Suddenly she remembered how Takai had put his jacket over her shoulder.

"You're shivering."

At that moment, for some reason, she actually had wished… that he would have taken her into his arms.

Rei clenched her fists. Why? Why was she suddenly feeling like that? All this time since… then, she had been perfectly able to control her feelings towards boys. And it had felt good to have that control. It had made her feel strong, untouchable, not a victim anymore.

Why did… he have to show up and ruin everything she had worked so hard to build?

He's not him, a very soft and weak voice in her head said.

He's a man! Rei thought, pushing that voice back into its cage. A man can't be trusted, not even Takai. Yes, he might be caring and lovely now, but sooner or later he would show his true face, and she wasn't stupid enough to wait for that moment to come.

It's better to end this now, she thought, ignoring her heart that started to beat faster to plead for its rights.

xxxx

Shingo pressed the buttons of his controller, making Mario jump from one isle to another.

"I'll punish you!"

He paused. Usagi's plushie had transformed into a girl! A lilac-haired girl… with a tail!

Don't be stupid, be chided himself and kept on playing his game. But he wasn't able to concentrate on it anymore, and eventually his Mario character died.

The plushie had transformed into a girl! Was he going crazy? It would be more like his sister to have such strange ideas. But maybe he had been playing too many video games lately. Hadn't he seen a report recently where they were talking about the stultification of kids who spent too much time playing video games or watching TV?

Shingo quickly stood up and put away the console. Just at that moment his mother came in.

"You've finished already?" she asked in surprise. "I thought you wanted to challenge me."

"Yeah," Shingo answered, "I'm going to… read a book."

"Read a book?" his mother cried out and put her palm on his forehead. "Hm, your temperature is normal. What's going on, boy?"

"Nothing," he said, "I just felt like… reading a book."

"Really? What's going on with you kids tonight? First there's your sister, staying in the bathroom for three hours trying to cook herself, and now you decide to read a book!"

Shingo shrugged and left the living room. But, climbing up the stairs, he suddenly hesitated.

"I'll punish you."

No, he suddenly thought, that's really too weird.

He returned to the living room.

"Mama, how about a challenge?" he asked.

She smiled at him. "Anytime, honey, anytime."

xxxx

Ami was standing on the top of the stairs that led down to the Crown center. Slowly, she lifted one hand and smoothed her blouse. It was her favorite, white fabric with short sleeves. A thin, dark blue ribbon criss-crossed over the chest.

Still she didn't really understand what had possessed to put on exactly that blouse, but as she walked down the stairs now, feeling her heart beating faster with every step she took, she started to realize why. And that thought scared her.

You want him to like you.

No, that's not why, she thought. I like the blouse, that's all.

And why is your heart beating in the throat?

Ami sighed and took out her karaoke year-round passport; then she took a deep breath and walked down the last steps and finally entered Crown.

Motoki was standing over him. He was cleaning up the floor again.

"Hello!" she greeted them cheerily, flashing her year passport.

"Welcome," Motoki greeted her as sociably as ever.

He stood there with his back to her and then, slowly, he turned around. An image flashed before Ami's eyes: Nephrite turning around to face her, after he'd saved her from Kunzite's sword; looking at her with his incredible blue eyes.

What... had that just been? Ami thought in shock. No, that's absurd…

"Hi," she said and smiled shyly.

"Hi," he greeted back shortly, turning his back on her again to put the mop and the bucket away.

"I'll do this for you," Motoki said, and before he could say anything Motoki had disappeared with the things.

Ami tugged nervously at the hem of her blouse while he finally walked behind the desk, obviously feeling very uncomfortable in her presence.

Go, she thought, what are you waiting for?

"I'm sorry," he suddenly said and looked at her now. Ami looked back in confusion.

"About what I said last time," he explained, "You know… I had no right… You just wanted to help."

Ami couldn't help but smile. "It's okay."

"So… you like singing?" he asked.

"Eh?" was all Ami was able to ask, too surprised by his sudden interest.

"As far as I know, people come here to sing. And you and your com… friends come here a lot. So, I suppose that means that you like singing."

Ami inwardly shouted at her heart, which was beating stronger and stronger with every word he said to her.

"Yes," she finally managed to mumble, "but we also just come together to… talk, and that kind of thing."

He nodded, and the expression on his face looked like he was considering something very important.

"What about you? Do you like… singing?" Ami asked now, feeling kind of stupid asking that question.

"I don't sing," he answered.

"You mean you don't like it," Ami concluded.

"I didn't say that."

"You said that you don't sing, so, I figured you don't like it. Otherwise you would sing, right?"

"I don't know," he answered, and Ami frowned at the strange answer. "What do you mean, 'you don't know'? Haven't you ever… sung?"

"No."

Ami was too surprised by that statement to answer.

"So, what was he like?" he suddenly changed the subject.

"He?" Ami asked, truly confused.

"Yes… you know. That person… who…"

Ami clenched her fists when she finally understood whom he meant, but what surprised her the most was the fact that it didn't hurt. She saw Nephrite's image before her, the way he smiled at her, the way he embraced her, and she still felt sadness, but somehow it didn't provoke that deep grief anymore.

What is going on with me? she thought.

"I'm sorry," he said now, "I have no right to ask you that."

"It's okay," Ami answered quickly. "Actually he… he was… rude…"

"Rude?" he interrupted her, shocked, and Ami looked at him in surprise, wondering why this should upset him so.

"Yes," she continued slowly, "I think it was because he couldn't really believe that I… cared so much about him. So, in the beginning he hid his… insecurity behind his rudeness. But I always knew how truly caring and… tender he was."

She noticed how he relaxed a little and how his mouth twitched.

Is he trying not to smile? she asked herself.

"Do you want something to drink?"

Surprised by his next sudden change of subject, Ami was only able to nod. He opened the little refrigerator under the desk and handed her a bottle of water.

"Thank you," she said, smiling, "but won't that get you in trouble?"

"I've broken so many things; I don't think giving you this will make a big difference on my pay."

Suddenly Ami had to giggle. She was completely unable to suppress it. "You know, you somehow… remind me of him."

"Do I?"

"Yes. He was also very moody."

"But… how could you stand him, then?"

Ami leaned on the desk and started to play with the water bottle he had given to her.

"It wasn't a question of 'standing' him. I knew that he wasn't bad. Even if he disagreed with me about that."

Suddenly he smiled. It was an almost unrecognizable smile, but it was there; and Ami wished that, at least once, she would be able to stop the strong beating of her heart.

"Do you… miss him?" he finally asked.

"Yes," Ami answered frankly, "and sometimes I feel like that feeling will pull me into a bottomless hole."

The expression on his face was very strange now. It seemed like if he was having an inner battle, and at some moments it even looked like if he was about to step around the desk and…

And what? Ami thought.

"Have you ever thought about if you'll find… someone new?"

His question interrupted her thoughts. "No," she said honestly.

"Why not?"

She smiled sadly. "Have you ever… lost somebody who was very important to you?"

He didn't answer immediately. Again he seemed to think about something for a long time. "In a way… yes," he finally answered hesitantly.

"And at that time, were you able to imagine being with somebody new?"

His answer was quick and clear. "No."

"See?" Ami said and tightened her grab around the bottle in her hands. "And it's the same for me."

He nodded, and the expression on his face looked like he finally had understood something. "I see."

There was a long moment of silence now as they looked at each other, and suddenly a strange feeling rose up in Ami. A very familiar feeling, a feeling as if all this…

"Your friends must be waiting," he suddenly remarked, interrupting the moment.

Ami blinked. "Oh… yes…yes, they certainly must." She straightened up and looked at the water bottle. Finally she put it into her bag. "I'll drink that later. So… see you soon."

"See you soon," he replied.

She turned around and started to walk towards the hallway that led to the senshi's room.

"Ami."

She paused. The way he had just said her name… She looked back at him; he was still standing behind the desk, looking at her very intensely.

"Thank you," he said.

She frowned. "For what?"

"For talking… to me."

She had to smile. "It's been a pleasure. Thank you for listening to me."

"It's been a pleasure." The timid smile he gave her made Ami's heart pound in her chest again. Finally she went on her way. In front of the door to the hidden room she paused, trying to recover herself again.

Why? Why had it felt so good to talk to him? Why had it been so easy to tell him about Nephrite? And why hadn't she felt any grief and pain when she was talking with him? It was as if he had brushed all those feelings away. It had been so easy to talk to him.

What does it all mean? Ami thought. Finally, she opened the door to enter the hidden room.

xxxx

Nephrite watched Ami stepping into one of the karaoke rooms and saw then how the door… disappeared!

His eyes widened in surprise and shock when he realized what he just had seen. So this was the reason why he hadn't been able to find Ami here that night. This place… it must be the Sailor Senshi's headquarters. And of course there certainly was a shield around that special room. A shield of protection.

But why had he just been able to see this? Could it be that, somehow, his powers were still inside him?

"You know, Nephkichi-kun, you really should change the water in the bucket from time to time," Motoki said now, coming back from the other hallway, "I've never seen such dark black water in my life. And didn't I tell you to tidy up room eleven? Don't worry, I did it for you, but it was a complete mess…"

Motoki went on babbling, but Nephrite didn't pay much attention to what he was saying.

Ami. What the hell had possessed him to ask her all… those questions? It hadn't been very fair. And she had been so honest. And when she told him how much she missed… him… It had almost broken his heart. It had taken all his willpower to stay where he was and not to hurry around the desk to take her into his arms. Though there was nothing he wanted more, still, than to tell her who he really was.

No, he scolded himself, you have no right to do this. You're not worthy.

"Have you ever… lost somebody who was very important to you?"

It hadn't been easy to answer that question. He actually hadn't lost her. While she was convinced that he was dead, he was able to see and talk to her. But, nevertheless… she was unattainable to him. He would never be able to tell her who he really was, he would never be able to take her into his arms again, and he would never be able… to feel her sweet, soft lips on his again. So, in a way, hadn't he lost her, too?

"Are you listening at all?" Nephrite suddenly heard Motoki say.

"No," he answered shortly.

"Well, at least you're honest," Motoki remarked and sighed, "You know, Nephkichi-kun, you're really weird. One day you're best friend ever, like when you stayed here while I went out to have drinks with Takai; and then, suddenly, you're all moody again. Why are you so…?"

"I don't know," Nephrite answered, crotchety.

"Oh, man," Motoki sighed. "All right, as you wish. I'm going to go to buy some things for the store. Will you be all right alone?"

"It's not the first time, isn't it?"

"No, it isn't, but if you look at our clients with that grumpy face, I'm afraid we'll soon run out of customers. At least the male ones."

With this Motoki reached for his jacket and left the center.

xxxx

Rei sat on the temple's stairs, looking at her mobile, for a few minutes. Finally she unclasped it and dialed the dorm's number. She knew very well that Takai wasn't there. The last three times he'd called her, it had been a number from a public phone again. Maybe from his college?

"Yes?" a male voice answered.

"Um… hi," Rei said, "I wanted to talk to Takai-kun."

"He's not here. He has class right now. Can I take a message?"

Rei clenched her fingers around her mobile. "That would be nice. He's called me several times today. Please tell him that I'm very busy at the moment and that I'll call him back as soon as possible, all right? And as far for his jacket; I've left it with his friend at the Crown Center. He can pick it up there."

She heard the scratching of a pen at the other side of the line.

"Got it," the young man finally said.

"Thank you, bye."

"Wait! And you are…?"

Rei quickly hung up and sighed. If that person would tell Takai that a girl had called, also mentioning the jacket, he would know that it had been her.

She put her mobile back into her pocket. That wouldn't keep Takai away forever, but it would give her at least some more time until she knew how to explain to him that… this wouldn't work.

She clenched her fists as the laughter started to resound in her head again. She'd been able to suppress it for so long, but now it had started to awake in her mind again. All because she'd been careless once.

One time too many, Rei thought, again.

And that was why she had to stop all… this. She had to stop it before it could cause her the same pain again. Before it could… break her heart again.