Ami spent the better part of the next morning talking with Luna and Artemis, trying to disseminate all the information she'd gathered while with "Chōjirō". Her report was interrupted by the girls, minus Minako, knocking on her door. She quickly changed into casual clothes and joined her friends as they headed to the trains which would take them to the park.
Elsewhere, Kenshin and Minako were walking side-by-side as they made their way through a different train station. "So her mom turned out to be okay?" Kenshin asked, referring to the story Minako had told his gikon.
"It was serious enough she had to be hospitalized but by the time Ami got there she was well on the road to recovery," Minako explained, glad that they'd all discussed this beforehand. "After all, she does work at one of the best hospitals in Tokyo." Kenshin commented that it was good that she'd be fine as they bought their train tickets and got on. Minako turned to ask Kenshin something but was interrupted by the train lurching forward, sending her face-first into Kenshin's torso.
"Easy there," he said, holding her close to him for a moment. When Minako made no move to change their position he let his arm linger around her shoulders. "You okay now?" She nodded as she stood up and held onto the handlebar, trying to hide her grin from him which only caused Kenshin to smirk to himself.
At the next station Usagi, Rei, Ami and Makoto got on a different car, oblivious to their friends less than a hundred feet away from them. A couple stops later they all got off and now Minako was on full lookout for the others, suggesting to Kenshin they take a different route to the park. She didn't tell him it was so that they could be alone together or that she didn't want her girlfriends eavesdropping on them either. They continued talking, most of it small talk, when Minako tripped on a stone and started to fall. At the same time Kenshin turned his upper body as a noise caught his attention, leaving Minako's arm flailing for his.
"Not good!" she thought as she held her arms out. Without warning the ground began to reverse directions as Kenshin caught her by her waist with a single arm and lifted her back onto her feet. "Wow, that was..."
"...the most predictable move on the planet, that and the stunt you pulled on the train," Kenshin finished for her, giving the blonde a knowing smile. Minako tried to feign ignorance but relented when she realized she couldn't bluff her way out. "Seriously. If you want to hold on to me, or whatever, you don't need to try and trick me." He took her hand in his and the two kept walking and after a while Minako leaned on him, a relaxed smile on her face.
It didn't take long to get to the park and Kenshin paid for both their tickets, briefly hearing Usagi yell for them but choosing to ignore the bun-headed teen. When the other girls got through the gate Kenshin and Minako had already vanished into the crowd. "Man he's good at that," Usagi muttered as she looked around for them. "How did they disappear that quickly?"
"You know we don't have to follow them around all day," Ami suggested, thinking that Minako would prefer to spend the day with Kenshin.
"But I'm curious and feel like being nosy," Usagi retorted frankly. "Besides, am I the only one that thinks it suspicious that as soon as this shinigami shows up so does Kenshin? Same with all these new teachers and shops. For all we know it's all connected."
"Maybe, but new shops open up all the time and schools get new teachers and students," Rei replied exasperated. "Kenshin might be weird in his own way but that doesn't mean we should jump to conclusions."
"You're just saying that 'cause you think he's hot," Makoto replied, noting her own hypocrisy which was also pointed out by Rei and Usagi. "No way! How could I like a guy that managed to take me down?"
"One, you kinda asked for it," Ami pointed out. "And two, something tells me that's the only kind of guy you would even respect." Makoto stared at her friend in shock while the other two giggled their agreement.
After a bit of mild arguing Usagi finally agreed with Ami and the girls set about to enjoy their day. Kenshin and Minako, meanwhile, were heading toward a large merry-go-round as the blonde pulled him along. As his hand touched one of the steeds Kenshin felt a slight pull on his reiryoku that faded after a second. "Okay, that was weird," he thought as he looked around, getting on the horse just before the ride started. "This thing is covered in some kind of twisted reishi that's trying to absorb my reiryoku. It's not much and if I wasn't tuned into it I probably wouldn't have even noticed."
"What's wrong?" Minako asked, hoping that the boy wasn't bored.
"Oh, it's nothing," Kenshin lied as he forced a smile. "Just feels a little weird riding this thing."
"Well then you get to pick the next ride."
"You sure about that?" Minako nodded and Kenshin couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm. "Alright but don't say I didn't warn you."
After a bit the ride ended and everyone got off with the teens heading towards one of the larger rollercoasters. Minako wanted to protest but remembered what she had promised. After the ride was over it took all her willpower not to fall into the bushes and vomit. "Holy cow that was intense," she said as her stomach lurched again. "And don't you dare say 'I told you so'."
"If you insist," he replied with a smartass grin. It hadn't been hard to notice that the same twisted reishi had also been on the coaster and although he couldn't see any of it from a distance he was willing to bet that the entire park was covered in it. "Not a bad plan. Thousands of people visit the park every day and each attraction drains a little more energy from them. No one thinks twice about being tired after leaving an amusement park." Out loud he said, "What do you say we hit up some of the non-ride stuff? Should give your stomach a chance to catch up with you."
Once in the central square Kenshin looked at all the different games with Kenshin able to quickly pick out which ones were rigged in the operator's favor. "Oohh, look at the stuffed kitten!" Minako fawned, staring at a very large fluffy white stuffed cat. She looked at the game and smiled confidently at the ball toss. "Oh yeah. This one's in the bag." She paid and took her three shots but was unable to knock all of the bottles down.
"Let me try," Kenshin offered. He tossed the first ball up and down a few times as he measured his shot. There were three stacks of three each in a pyramid. Between the shape of the bottles and how they were stacked it was near impossible to knock each stack down with one shot. With a smirk Kenshin wound up and sent the ball rocketing towards the middle stack, hitting the bottles with enough force to send the bottom two in opposite directions and knock down the other stacks completely.
The operator and Minako stared in awe at his feat, completely dumbfounded. Kenshin pointed at the cat that Minako had been eyeing and, after some light teasing, relinquished the stuffed toy. He watched as she snuggled the giant cat and had to eventually look away so he didn't burst out laughing. "What? I like cats," Minako said, giving him a playful glare.
"Whatever you say, Kitten," was Kenshin's reply as he mussed her hair up a little. While only irritated for a second Minako stared at Kenshin. "What's that look for? No one's ever given you a cute nickname before?" When she shook her head Kenshin had to stop and think, rubbing his chin as he did so. "Then 'Kitten' won't work. Too generic." Minako stared at him, partly disbelieving that he was seriously doing this and also hoping for something unique. After a bit he snapped his fingers in a moment of brilliance. "Got it! From now on I'll call you Mr. Whiskers!"
Minako's face turned bright red almost instantly as she searched for something appropriate to say but found herself coming up short. The best she could manage was, "Mr...Whiskers?" to which Kenshin nodded and continued walking. Before she could say much else his attention had already been claimed by one of the many 'test of strength' games. She joined him, still blushing and partly fuming but overall very happy.
"Think you can take on the famed Hito Iryokuno?" the operator chanted as a man with enormous muscles posed next to him. "You there, sonny! Do you think your strength can match his?"
"I'd like to think so." His nonchalant answer seemed to stun him, the muscleman, and Minako. "So what's the game?"
"Kenshin, this is clearly rigged," Minako whispered in his ear. "I mean, you're tough but there's no freaking way you're stronger than him outright."
"O ye of little faith, Mr. Whiskers," he replied, causing her to blush again. Turning to the operator he reiterated his question and the man, still a bit shocked, explained that he simply had to get a 25% higher score, using one of the provided hammers, than Hito. There were a handful of other rules he went over before Hito stepped up and slammed his hammer down on the platform, generating a reading of 1000 on the scale.
Kenshin picked up the second hammer there, mentally noting that the hammer did not weigh what it said on the side. The difference was slight, maybe five pounds at best, but in this kind of contest every little bit mattered. He condensed some of the reishi in the air into the hammer to make up the difference and swung with one arm, scoring 1010 points. "Not bad, not bad," Hito commented, clearly impressed by Kenshin's strength. "But not good enough to win."
"Still good enough for Round 2. Ready, big guy?" Kenshin replied cockily to which Hito laughed loudly. He stepped up once more and with a much heavier swing scored 2500 points. He turned the stand over to Kenshin who held the handle with both hands but on the swing only put force behind one. Even still he managed to score 3000 points, nearly sending Hito and the operator into shock. "Hmm, close but no cigar. You game for a third round?"
Hito gulped nervously. He knew there was no way anyone could match him at this level, especially with the hammer that Kenshin was using, but the boy was clearly something special. "Heh, looks like I finally get to let loose," he said with a grin. He positioned himself carefully and let loose a battlecry as he swung the hammer, scoring just under 6000. "There," he panted. "Let's see you top that. That might actually be a personal best for me."
"You don't say." Kenshin's calm attitude unnerved the bodybuilder even more since the spectacle had started to draw a large crowd. Kenshin started off holding the hammer in front of him like a sword, earning a curious stare from Minako.
"Could he really beat this musclehead using kendo?" she thought to herself as Kenshin took several breaths. He drew the hammer over his head and stepped forward, bringing the hammer down with enough force to rattle the otherwise-sturdy machine.
Hito and the operator's jaws dropped when they saw Kenshin's score. "It's...it's..." the operator stuttered.
"It's over nine thousand!" Hito finished for him.
"Y'know, I could've sworn I've heard... Nah, not really important I guess," Kenshin said while scratching his head. "Since that's more than 25% I win, right?" The operator reluctantly nodded and showed Kenshin the prize booth. They ranged from the mundane to the extravagant, many of them bracketed with scores the winner would have had to reach in order to get them. While Kenshin qualified for all of them he settled on a large black ribbon tied into a bow with a white cat fastened to the knot. Hito and his boss sighed with relief as the two teens left with their prized in hand.
"So you could've gotten some really nice things but settled on a bow?" Minako asked, not entirely sure what Kenshin was thinking.
"Well, it's a hair ribbon and I figured it might teach those swindlers a lesson," he admitted. "And is it just me or does this park have some obsession with cats?"
Minako stared at him curiously before he asked what was wrong. "I'm guessing you're not familiar with the zodiacs," she said and he shook his head. "This is the year of the Rabbit but some people also call it the year of the Cat. It's an old story that I don't really know too well but my guess is that whoever owns the park goes with the year of the Cat and not Rabbit."
"Must make merchandising a pain," Kenshin commented as he stared at the bow. "Can you hang on for a sec?" Minako glanced at him but nodded all the same as he stepped behind her. She felt her bow being untied and was about to protest until she felt it put back in place. "Looks good," Kenshin said, letting her know that he was finished.
She turned to see her red ribbon in his hand and the black one gone. She gave him the stuffed cat as she ran to find a mirror. The tails of the ribbon were longer than her red one but the black complemented her blonde hair nicely. "I like it," she finally said as Kenshin walked up behind her. "At this rate you're gonna end up spoiling me." She gave him a light kiss on the cheek before resting her head on his shoulder. "Thank you."
Elsewhere in the park Usagi stared at her funnel cake with childlike glee. "I don't know how you can eat like you do, Usagi," Rei said while working on her bowl of ice cream. "How are you not basically a blimp yet?"
"I get plenty of exercise," the bun-haired blonde replied matter-of-factly as she started eating, squealing with delight as she did so.
"C'mon, Rei. You oughta know better than anyone that some things will never change with Usagi," Makoto said, enjoying her own funnel cake. "Besides, she has a good point. We've been pretty active since classes started and it's okay to indulge every now and then." Usagi nodded happily at the brunette's suggestion. "Also, these things are freaking amazing."
"I guess I'm still a little jealous of Minako," the miko replied, recalling how they had almost run into her and Kenshin. "He won her that huge stuffed cat and then beat that Hito guy like it was nothing."
"I still can't believe we ran into them without even trying," Ami admitted as she ate her ice cream, "not to mention Mamoru and Motoki. Did you ever find out why they're here, Usagi?"
The blonde nodded between bites of the deep-fried batter. "Motoki's sister is putting on a community play about the Sailor Guardians as a fundraiser. Motoki convinced Mamo to help while he's on break from Harvard." She giggled as she remembered what her boyfriend had told her. "Apparently Motoki has to play Tuxedo Mask because Mamo's too tall, at least that's what Unazuki says." The other girls laughed at the thought.
"Okay, remind me how I let you talk me into this," Kenshin asked as he and Minako got into a small boat. They were on a ride called 'The Tunnel of Love', a name which Kenshin pointed out made no sense. Still, Minako had dragged him into the line which was comprised of all couples.
"Because you've learned it's pointless to resist against me when I start being cute," she replied with a large smile. Kenshin started to reply but Minako cut him short with a light jab in the ribs. As the boat began to move she leaned up against him and he responded by wrapping his arm around her.
"What the hell am I doing?" Kenshin asked himself after a few moments. "I have a job I need to focus on and instead I'm here pretending to care about some human." Knowing Minako couldn't see his face his expression fell. "I say that I don't care but...whenever I see her this happy my heart starts racing. Is it because she's the Agent of Love and Beauty or because I..." In order to interrupt his thought he kissed the top of Minako's head and tightened his grip around her. It didn't do much to derail his train of thought but the pleasant murmur Minako let out was enough to distract him for a bit. Whether he was acting or actually falling for her didn't matter right now. She was happy and after everything she and her friends had been through (and likely would go through as well) she deserved to be.
The whirring of gears ahead of them drew his attention. There was a pair of glowing eyes in the darkness watching them and he couldn't help but smirk. "Look out! It's a monster!" Minako yelled, jumping to attention and pushing Kenshin out of the way. As she stared down the monster she was oblivious to the splash of water behind her. After a moment her stance relaxed. "It's just one of those animatronic things," she sighed, pushing the fake monster back. "That's just cheap, trying to scare girls into clinging to their boyfriends. Don't you think so, Kenshin?" She turned around, looking for her date. "Uh, Kenshin? Where'd you go?"
A splash and loud gasping from behind the boat caught Minako's attention as Kenshin stood on the riverbed. "Ugh, I think I swallowed some of the water," he said, hacking and coughing as he did. "You know, most normal people's reaction to seeing a monster isn't to go charging in headfirst and knocking their date out of the boat." Minako apologized and extended her arm to help him back in. Kenshin took her hand and, with a wicked grin, pulled her in with him.
As the ride ended both Kenshin and Minako were back in the boat sopping wet and Kenshin with a large lump on his head. "Are you two okay?" one of the park employees asked as they got out. "What happened?"
"Well, she knocked me out of the boat by accident and I decided to return the favor," Kenshin admitted while Minako still fumed. "I, ah, may have forgotten that she wore a white blouse today."
"Well, I'd be lying if I didn't think you deserved that," the female employee said as she pointed to the lump. "But why-"
"I saw that little goblin thing and jumped to protect him," Minako interrupted. "It was a knee-jerk reaction is all. So is there someplace where we can dry our clothes off?" The two employees nodded as they took them to a Visitor Center where they were able wash and dry their clothes separately.
As Minako went to tie the black ribbon in her hair she saw that the cat pin had broken in half. Her heart sank as she forgot about tying the bow and walked into the lobby with both in her hands. When Kenshin asked what was wrong she showed him and gave a sigh and a smile. "I'll talk to Urahara and see what we can do," he told her as he offered to tie the bow. When he was finished he put the pin in his pocket and the two of them thanked the park staff for their help.
"So what do you want to do next?" Minako asked, still holding on to the giant stuffed cat.
"Well I was thinking the log ride looked interesting." Minako glared at Kenshin playfully as he teased her. "The park will be closing before long. Why don't we head out and grab something to eat?" Minako nodded as they headed for the exit.
Back at the Tunnel of Love two engineers looked at the small animatronic goblin that had been set up. "I don't know whose idea this was but it was not their brightest one," one of them said as he unbolted it from the platform. He stopped as he felt the heat coming off of it. "You know, if I didn't know better I'd say this thing was real."
"That's not funny, man," the other said. "So why'd it stop working?" He shook his head as he looked it over.
The service door opened behind them and with a glance they saw the silhouette of their manager. "Is something the matter?" he asked.
"No, boss. Just had part of the ride break on us."
"I see. Why don't you two head out and I'll take care of it." The two engineers shrugged, accepted the offer, and headed out. The manager walked in and placed his hand on the goblin's chest. "I see. A single thread of energy pierced the temple, killing this youma almost instantly." The manager's eyes glowed bright yellow as the flesh in the smaller youma's chest rippled, opening up to reveal a small glowing blue gem. "It's fortunate that it had already gathered all the necessary energy before it died. Still, Master Jadeite will not be pleased at this development." It removed the gem and the goblin youma disappeared into dust. With a mental command a hulking creature appeared behind him. "Find the one that did this and bring them back to Master Jadeite alive," the manager commanded. "I assume you can track down their energy." The creature gave a grunt of approval as it absorbed some of the surrounding reishi, catching onto Kenshin and Minako's scents. It disappeared with the sound of static and the manager pocketed the gem.
As they left the restaurant Kenshin could feel the reiatsu of the creature sent after them long before it arrived. While the texture of it felt off at first there was no doubt in his mind that it was an Arrancar and a fairly strong one at that.
"What on earth is that?" Minako asked as the hulking beast stood in front of them. "How did it just appear like that?"
The Arrancar stood well over nine feet tall with three mohawks on his head: one on each side and one down the top. His mask fragment rested over his left eye and extended below his jaw while his uncovered eye stared at the two teens. "It's you," the Arrancar said, sniffing the air and looking directly at Kenshin. "But that can't be right. You don't have any energy." It turned to Minako and sniffed the air again. "Maybe it was you?"
"He might be big but it seems like he's missing something in the brains department," Kenshin quietly noted. In his head he could hear the other Sailor Guardians asking for his help in chasing down a monster and instinctively knew they were coming towards him.
"It's not nice to say that about people," the Arrancar said, his speech slow and measured. "It's not my fault this is the way I was made. You should apologize or better yet..." He smiled as he pulled a large claymore – easily as tall as Kenshin and Minako – off his back and let the edge hit the pavement, shaking and cracking the ground. "I'll just carve your apology out of you and the girlie."
"We might be out of our league," Kenshin told Minako, knowing that while in his gigai he wouldn't stand a chance. "They do say the better part of valor is running like hell."
"I don't think that's how it goes but I like how you think," Minako agreed just as the Arrancar vanished. "Whoa, hang on! Where did he-"
"Look out!" Kenshin shouted, shoving her out of the way and catching the Arrancar's blade between his palms, stopping it only inches from his head. "Damn, he's fast. When did he get behind us?"
"You're pretty strong for someone with no energy," the Arrancar noted, a sliver of yellow in his left eye socket. "Or maybe you're just hiding it. That'd be a neat trick for a human. Master will definitely be interested in that." His expression fell. "Oh, that's right. I'm supposed to bring you back alive so I guess killing you is bad." His mouth twisted into a sadistic smile as his eye lit up with sick joy. "Guess that means you get to watch the pretty blonde girl die."
"Over my dead body," Kenshin snarled back, letting some of his reiatsu loose. The Arrancar faltered under its sudden weight before being smacked in the head by a solid pipe with enough force to throw it across the ground. "Thanks. I owe you for that," he said to Minako.
"Do you have any idea what he's talking about?" she asked, part of her suspicious.
"If by 'energy' he means chi then that makes sense. When I'm not in a match I keep it to an absolute minimum," he explained. "This wouldn't be the first time that someone said I didn't have a chi flow. As for that last bit..." His eyes narrowed at the recovering Arrancar who shook the cobwebs out of his head. "There's not a chance in hell I'll let him hurt you."
"And I'm not letting him take you," Minako stated, setting aside her suspicions for the time being. She looked at the misshapen pipe in her hands. "This can't be a good sign. How did the pipe bend from just hitting him?"
"That wasn't very nice, ambushing me like that," the Arrancar said as he pointed his sword at Minako. "Now you get to die, girlie." He bolted at her sword-first just to have Kenshin knock the blade to the side and Minako hit him in the face with an overhead strike. The pipe did nothing but bounce off and vibrate out of her hands. "You can't break through my hierro with weak attacks like that!" the Arrancar roared as he swung at them again. Once again Kenshin knocked the blade off-course, sending the Arrancar crashing into a wall.
"That blade is nothing more than an extension of your arm," Kenshin explained. "So long as I avoid the sharp edges it's no different than parrying a punch or jab."
"Is that so?" the Arrancar asked with sick glee as he appeared behind Kenshin. With a sweep of his leg Kenshin threw the brute off-balance before tossing him down the street like it was nothing.
"Yeah, that's so," was the shinigami's response as the Arrancar tried to decipher which way was up. "Minako, I get the feeling we're not gonna be able to run from this guy." Surprised, she asked why not. "You've seen how fast he moves. Even if we run like mad he'll catch us in a heartbeat."
"So you think we can beat him in a fist fight?" Kenshin made several noises but settled on saying no. "Okay, any other bright ideas?"
Kenshin responded with a nervous chuckle. "Oh I've got plenty of ideas, just no bright ones."
"I'm tired of playing with you now," the Arrancar said, pointing the tip of his claymore at them. "Master said I shouldn't use this but he won't complain as long as I get results." His body began to emit a twisted yellow aura as his reiatsu forced Kenshin and Minako onto their knees.
"Not good! If he releases his resurrección there's no way the two of us can stop him like this!" Kenshin thought, his hand instinctively reaching for the gikongan inside his shirt.
"Bend," the Arrancar started just as a disc of light sliced through his sword arm. Both arm and sword fell to the ground in a spray of blood and he let out an animalistic roar. "No! Who did that?! Come out here so I can tear you apart!"
"You might look human but there's no doubt that you're a monster," a female voice stated from somewhere behind Kenshin and Minako. Once they could stand Sailor Moon walked past them along with Sailors Jupiter, Mars and Mercury with Tuxedo Mask seeing to the two 'civilians'. "We are the Sailor Guardians and it's our duty to protect the innocent and punish the wicked. And that means you."
The Arrancar's head dropped as his body shook with rage. Gradually, however, that anger was replaced by laughter. "Master will be so pleased when I tell him that not only captured the strange boy but I was able to kill the Sailor Guardians and Tuxedo Mask." He bared his teeth in a feral grin as tendrils of flesh reached out from the stump of his arm, regenerating it almost instantly.
"High speed regeneration," Kenshin thought, cursing their luck. "This guy is a lot stronger than he's letting on but there's no way for these girls to know that." With that information in hand Kenshin walked towards the Arrancar without hesitation.
Tuxedo Mask gripped Kenshin's shoulder though the shinigami didn't turn to him. "It's best to let the Sailor Guardians handle guys like this," he suggested.
"Sorry but I can't let them do that," Kenshin replied as he walked past the Guardians. "He came after me and my friend and I won't let that stand." He turned to Sailor Moon who just stared at him in surprise. "Besides, he's already said he doesn't want to kill me. I figure that gives me a bit of an advantage."
"You're nuts, you know that?" Usagi told him but Kenshin just smiled. "We can't just let you put your life on the line because you think you can win."
Kenshin's smile widened. "That's where we disagree. I know for a fact I can't win against this guy." The Sailor Guardian's eyes widened in surprise. "But I can make him leave an opening for you girls to hit. Keep in mind we'll only get one shot at that since I'm assuming he's at least smart enough to figure out when someone's trying to kill him."
"Hey, boy, can you speak up?" the Arrancar said as he scratched his head. "If someone doesn't fight me soon I'll just kill all of you."
Kenshin grit his teeth as he walked forward. For the first time since he'd been with the girls he'd been completely honest: There was no way in his current form that he could beat an Arrancar of any level. "Since I'm the one you came for I say the two of us settle this here and now," Kenshin said, dropping into an attack stance. "You were complaining about my lack of energy before. Well, hold onto your pants because from here out I'm not gonna hold back."