Chapter 6

Kaede let out a soft sigh as teeth nipped gently at her earlobe, adding to the warmth she already felt from the fingers dancing slowly over her bare belly. She really did need to stop letting Akane do this. Though, she reasoned somewhat weakly, it's not like this was really sex. It was just… not sex. With a friend. And since Jiro wouldn't so much as feel her up until they were married, there was no reason she shouldn't enjoy not having sex just a little.

"Kaede," was whispered against her ear as those fingers moved up her ribcage and teased along the underside of her bra. "That thing."

"Mmmm," she muttered, not sure what thing and not really caring.

Akane's fingers kept going, pulling Kaede's bra strap down off her shoulder just enough to slip her hand inside the cup. Kaede sucked in a sharp breath.

"You did get rid of it, didn't you?"

The dissonance between the words and the breathy whisper they were delivered in, coupled with the way Akane was slowly massaging her breast, entirely crossed all the connections in Kaede's brain. One blue eye squinted in confusion at her half-naked friend. "Huh?"

Akane's hand stilled, and the playful grin she'd been wearing fell away. "Did you actually get rid of it?"

Kaede scowled up at her, annoyed that she would bring this up now. "I told you I did."

"You say a lot of things," returned Akane. "Doesn't mean they're all true." She gave Kaede's nipple a little pinch for emphasis before pulling back her hand and rolling to her uninjured side. "Well?"

Kaede didn't answer. She turned away from the hard stare Akane had fixed her with and grabbed for her blouse. Shoving her arms roughly into the sleeves, she threw back half-heartedly, "Why are you even bringing this up now?"

"Because," answered Akane as she began awkwardly hiking her jeans up one-handed, trying not to jerk her shoulder too much, "I ran into someone the other day, and the more she talked, the less spontaneous it felt. She wasn't obvious, and if I was any less a suspicious person I probably wouldn't think anything of it. But there was something in her questions. They weren't entirely random."

A nervous giggle escaped from Kaede as she fiddled with her shirt buttons. "You really are just a suspicious person."

Then Akane's hand landed on Kaede's arm and forced her to meet that unusually serious gaze. "Where is it?"

Blue eyes cut to the closet in an unconscious gesture, and Akane threw her arms up in exasperation, remembering her injured shoulder too late. She grabbed at it and grimaced before growling out, "I can't believe you really did keep it! This has gone beyond stupid fun! You have to take it back!"

Kaede bit the inside of her cheek, watching the red spread from the top of Akane's sports bra up to the curve of her ears. She wasn't used to seeing this kind of anger from her, and it made Kaede's voice pitifully weak as it scratched out of her throat. "I can't. Uchida-sensei changed the keycode, and I can't get back in." She finally looked Akane fully in the eye as her voice rose in pitch and decibel. "I swear I tried, Akane! I did! And then I was just going to throw it away somewhere, but no place felt good enough. So I hid it in my closet under the floorboards, because no one will look there and…" she trailed off, not really sure what was supposed to come next.

Akane scrubbed at her face. "And what, Kaede? Why the hell didn't you just tell me all this to begin with?"

"I was scared," squeaked out Kaede.

"You should be." Akane moved backward and sat on the bed, scooting back so she could lean against the wall while rubbing at her shoulder. "You have any ice?"

Kaede moved to put some ice in a dish towel as Akane went on, "Okay, we can handle this. First, don't say anything to the others, especially Hana. Second, figure out where we want to drop the thing. Are you absolutely sure you can't get back into storage?"

Handing her the ice pack before scooting around to her left side to sit beside her, Kaede nodded. "He locks his office when he's not there. So even if he had the code written somewhere, I can't get in to look for it."

"Alright," sighed Akane. She closed her eyes and let her head rest against the wall. "I think we took care of security well enough that they don't know it was us. They would just come arrest us if they did. So don't talk to anyone, especially a blue-haired woman if she comes around smiling pretty and asking questions. Understand?"

Kaede frowned at her. "I'm not a complete idiot. I'm also not the one who gets suckered by a pretty smile."

Akane opened her eyes and smirked at her friend. "Your smile isn't that pretty."

Returning the smirk, Kaede climbed over so she was straddling Akane's outstretched thighs, the denim rough and unwelcome against her own. She giggled before leaning forward to place a kiss against those self-important lips. When it broke, she went on, "I'll fix it. Find a way to take it back somehow. I'm team captain, and it's my job to fix this. This time I really will, no lie. Just give me a few days, Akane, and it will be like it never happened."

Her current priestesses had always been lacking, thought Alandra, but lately they'd been especially neglectful. The high priestess had wrapped her medallion carefully enough when returning it to its place, but it had been left in its dark vault for far too long. They hadn't offered so much as a leaf to her in weeks. And her gentle nudging wasn't working as the reminder she'd hoped it would.

And now here was her high priestess, finally remembering her but acting like a skittish acolyte in her handling.

Alandra 'eeped' as her world titled and shook, the result of her medallion being dropped to the rug covered floor. She glared into the viewing space she'd opened, then heaved a heavy sigh as she watched her priestess putter nervously about her living quarters. It was bad enough to be called upon in a way that was so rough even her starry space felt the shock. That her high priestess wasn't even prepared for whatever ceremony she was trying to put together…

"I really do need to be firmer with her," she muttered, getting an agreeing nod from her kirkri.

Then her world tilted a bit more, and she was forced to brace herself to keep her footing. A confused frown touched her lips as the medallion was tossed into a bag without anything to protect it. She watched her priestess pick up a pair of gloves and toss them into the bag along with a metal hand spade.

Alandra flicked a few shimmery tendrils of hair over her shoulder, then crossed her arms over her chest. "She should know it's far too late for the planting ceremony. And I'm certainly not going to bless anything when my fortunes are haphazardly requested like they're an afterthought." She looked down at her kirkri. "If they starve this season, it is entirely their own fault."

The kirkri trilled, but the sound was abruptly cut off as the space they occupied rumbled with unexpected thunder.

The little goddess gritted her teeth as the metal point of the spade scraped against the medallion, leaving a noticeable scar.

"What is she doing?" she yelled, a touch of panic in her voice. "She's going to break it!"

The little goddess watched Kaede practically run from her home, the bag clutched tightly but its contents unsecured and jostling wildly. Another hard clatter as metal met ceramic, and Alandra's fists balled up tightly. No, her priestess had never been adequate, but this had crossed a line. This was careless and dangerous and…

"Stop!" she screamed. Her small hands, now lit brightly and sparking orange, reached out and slammed against the viewspace into her priestess' world.

Setsuna sat on Kaya's bed in a tank top and underwear, surrounded by open books with a star map haphazardly draped across the foot. She chewed absently on the end of her pen as she worked out the last of her translation, the occasional drop of sweat trickling into her eye to disrupt her concentration. Reaching over to the nightstand for a tissue, she wished again the night sky would just let loose and rain. The humidity was oppressive, and while Kaya's fan was trying valiantly, at this point it was just moving around warm air.

The apartment door opening and closing made her pause. A second later, a pop of static came through her communicator.

"Testing, testing," followed the static, Kaya's voice quieter out in the hallway than it had been when she'd been experimenting with the altered walkie talkie in the apartment. "Hey, can you still hear me?"

Setsuna chuckled and answered into her wrist, "Yes, I can still hear you."

"Damn," whispered Kaya, amazement in her voice. "Okay, hold on. I want to try something else."

Over the comm, Setsuna heard the elevator ding. "Please tell me you put on pants before going out into the hall."

There was a pause that clearly answered, no, she hadn't. Setsuna imagined Kaya standing there with her brick of a walkie talkie in one hand while worrying the hem of her oversized t-shirt between the fingers of the other. Then a dismissive burst of air raspberried between Kaya's lips.

"I put on shoes," returned Kaya. "Besides, it's after midnight. None of my neighbors are going to care what I'm wearing as long as I don't wake them up." A whoosh of doors and a few more dings to indicate the elevator was moving, then, "Can you still hear me?"

"I can," answered Setsuna, her smirk coloring her voice.

"The range on this is incredible! I really didn't think it would work this well." There was a pop of static as Kaya released the speaker button, then another as she pressed it again a moment later. "Okay, I'm on my way back up."

"Do you have a calendar with the moon phases on it?" asked Setsuna as she tried to ignore those annoying little staticky sounds. This was apparently as clean as modern human communication technology was going to get. "Bring it into the bedroom with you if you do."

When Kaya returned with her planner and walkie talkie, Setsuna cleared a space for her on the bed.

"You got it worked out?" asked Kaya excitedly, ignoring the heat and scooting close to Setsuna's side.

"I think so." Setsuna took the planner and started flipping pages. "Give me just one more minute."

Kaya sated her impatience by playing with the walkie talkie. The two of them had decided they needed something better than payphones to communicate outside the apartment, and Setsuna had run with Kaya's half joking suggestion of walkie talkies. She'd disappeared one afternoon, and when she came back, Kaya's walkie talkie was perfectly synced to Setsuna's communicator. Because the watch aesthetic was better.

Kaya grinned. It was actually amusing her to repeatedly see just how far Setsuna would bend 'the rules' when they inconvenienced her.

Popping open the battery compartment, she ran a finger lightly over the clear crystal that had replaced the original battery. The gray veins running through it glowed faintly, matching the thin silver wire that attached it to the metal coils in the compartment.

"Try not to disturb that too much," warned Setsuna gently as she found the date she was looking for. "I'm not sure I can get it to work again if it comes undone."

"I still want to know how you got it to work in the first place," laughed Kaya.

Setsuna continued to playfully ignore the request for specific details as she passed the planner and notebook to Kaya. She tapped the date she had circled. "September 7th, the night of the next new moon. I wasn't expecting that requirement, but that's when we'll need to do this. The ceremony itself is a simple affair since we won't have to worry about the ritualistic festivities around it."

Kaya scanned the notes while listening to Setsuna: under a darkened sky while the moon sleeps, flowers of white and orange, red wine as a stand in for something Setsuna hadn't fully translated, gold (coins, jewelry, something of perceived value), an offertory flame.

Beginning to close the books, Setsuna went on, "Now we just need to have a civil conversation with Hidemura that's long enough for me to get a good recording of her voice. If we can do that, I should be able to recreate the prayer."

"You're still thinking the simulated voice trick will work?" asked Kaya absently as her mind tried to fully sort out the notes in front of her.

"We have a backup plan if it doesn't. And you get to toss her apartment either way," chuckled Setuna.

Kaya laughed at that and let her head rest on Setsuna's shoulder. "So… September 7th? We've got about three more weeks?"

Setsuna let out a sigh and rested her cheek against the top of Kaya's head. "Yes."

It wasn't information Kaya necessarily wanted, but she slipped the timeframe into her mental plan. Then one thing from Setsuna's notes hit her and she sat up straight, staring at Setsuna with her head tilted in confusion. "Wait a minute. 'When the moon sleeps?' But Venus doesn't have a moon."

A wide, enigmatic smile spread on Setsuna's lips. "Not anymore."

Before Kaya could begin peppering her with the million questions she knew that answer was going to bring, a burst of magical energy sent the hair on Setsuna's arms standing on end. Books fell to the floor as she stood and grabbed a pair of shorts. "Ready to try out the walkie talkie for real?" she asked quickly.

"What's going on?" Kaya followed her lead, searching for a pair of jeans.

"Your favorite squirrel appears to be out and about tonight," answered Setsuna, a sharp crack of thunder underlining her words. A shirt was pulled over her head before her henshin wand appeared in her hand, her transformation phrase falling from her mouth without conscious thought. Familiar warmth surrounded her and ran through her as she allowed her power to come fully to the surface. It was such a familiar thing that she hadn't thought anything of it until she saw Kaya gaping in astonishment.

"Wow," muttered Kaya, her brain trying to catch up after seeing that for the first time. She rubbed at her eyes, trying to erase the blurry after images, then let out an astounded, shaky chuckle. "I want a better look at that sometime."

Pluto smiled, amused at the reaction even if she didn't have time to do anything with it. "Go to the park. I'll let you know where I am as soon as I can." She turned to head for the balcony, deciding to take this route to follow the trail, but hesitated and turned back. "Do not throw yourself into the middle of a fight if one breaks out. You got lucky once. You may not again."

Kaya frowned at both the warning and the tone in which it was delivered. It may have been given out of concern, but she didn't like being addressed as if she were a careless child. "I do have some sense," she returned, sounding more defensive than she wanted to. "I don't need to be coddled. Just let me know what's going on."

Pluto nodded, and with no time to second guess things, lept from the balcony and disappeared into the night.

There was never going to be a good time to do this. Kaede, however, realized fairly quickly that she'd picked the absolute worst night she could to finally rid herself of this damn charm. She hadn't even gone a block when a car screeched through the intersection, barely missing her as she hurried through the crosswalk. The wind had steadily picked up as she walked, blowing her hair wildly around her face. She'd tripped on the edge of a mailbox as she fussed with her hair, never really getting it into the ponytail she was aiming for. The sting in her scraped hands and knees made her eyes water, and blood was drying uncomfortably on her legs. And through it all she had felt the looming storming growing and rumbling overhead.

A hard boom of thunder made her freeze and shrink, and the way the warm night air was rustling through the trees in this sparse patch of woods she'd found sent a shiver through her. It was just plain creepy out here, and she wanted to go home.

"No," she said out loud, her voice a bit shaky. "You can't." She'd promised Akane she'd find a way to take it back, and if she turned around now, she knew she'd never do this again. And she wasn't going to lie to Akane this time. Well, not entirely, anyway. Maybe just stretch the details a bit. That wouldn't really be lying.

She stopped her inner dialogue and straightened her posture. After one good deep breath, she hefted her tweed bag more fully onto her shoulder and started forward once again.

Another thunderclap, this time followed by an unusually bright streak of lightning. Kaede whimpered, but moved forward. After just a few steps, a faint buzz started following her, starting on her right. She swatted at it, only managing to chase it to her left ear. She swatted again, not hitting or seeing anything but causing the buzz to double. An annoyed growl passed through her gritted teeth, and this time both hands started waving wildly trying to shoo away whatever insects were attacking her.

Her efforts had the opposite effect. The vibration of the buzz just kept getting louder until it felt like a swarm was after her. Kaede had started to walk faster without realizing, and with as wildly as she was flailing, she wasn't paying attention to where she was stepping. Which led her right into a bramble of low hanging branches. She let out a shriek, finally chasing off the buzz as the branches tangled in her hair, the leaves and tiny points scratching her.

The tweed bag fell to the ground, its contents rattling unceremoniously. Two more bolts shot through the sky, and Kaede fell to the ground, a few strands of blonde hair staying behind in the branches.

"I don't care anymore!" she yelled at the trees, practically hyperventilating. "I don't care what happens to the damn thing or who finds it or if I have to lie to Akane. I am going home!"

She shrieked again as thunder sounded overhead, an angry answer to her outburst. And then she saw it. A set of tiny glowing eyes staring at her in the darkness. She froze, her voice dying in her throat. The eyes widened, a fanged grin slowly forming beneath them. The creature's outline came into view, long and sinewy, the same color as the lightning beginning to sheet over the clouds. She tried to move her feet, to get up and run, but one of her shoes had lodged beneath an exposed tree root. She pulled, then reached for the shoelaces and started frantically trying to get her foot out of her sneaker to free herself as the thing - whatever unnatural evil creature this was - started moving in her direction.

The last thing she saw before passing out was a shot of maroon flashing over the devil in the woods.

"Dead Scream."

This was not the scene Pluto had expected to come upon. Hidemura terrified and struggling with something on the ground, the kirkri playing stalker in the woods, the magic energy mixing with the storm threatening overhead. She knew, though, that she needed to de-escalate this somehow, because her new plan did not include an angry Alandra unleashing her displeasure so fully on this young woman. There was no way she could drag things out for the ceremony if that happened.

She watched Hidemura fall unconscious as the weakened Dead Scream drew the kirkri's attention. Glowing yellow eyes narrowed as its squirrlish grin became a snarl. As its lanky glowing form wound slowly through the trees in her direction, Pluto readied herself for whatever attack it might throw.

The kirkri growled low, the sound like quiet thunder echoing in the air around them. It moved more out into the open, staring Pluto down as it did. Coming to a stop between her and Hidemura, its front paws rested on the bag that had been dropped to the ground. Then it arched its elongated back like a halloween cat and hissed before disappearing in a burst of light.

Pluto flinched back from the brightness. When she was able to refocus, her brows knit together in confusion as she stared at the spot the kirkri had vanished from. None of this made any sense. And on top of it, she now had a prone Hidemura to deal with.

She let out a sigh and moved cautiously to the bag on the ground. She gave it a light tap with her staff, and when nothing immediately happened, she bent to pick it up. Inside, she found the medallion laying loose on top of a metal garden spade and a pair of light work gloves. She pinched the bridge of her nose, then shot an annoyed glance over at Hidemura.

"No wonder she's so upset with you." Pluto closed the bag, then tapped her communicator. "Kaya?"

"Hey!" Kaya answered quickly, sounding like she was out of breath. "Are you okay? Where are you?"

Looking around as if she would find some indicator to where exactly she was, Pluto answered, "I'm not sure precisely where I am, a patch of woods somewhere. I'm fine, though. This was easier to handle than I thought it was going to be."

Kaya let out a relieved sigh. "Good. Are you coming back?"

"No," answered Pluto. "We still have something we need to deal with. Hidemura seems to have decided she no longer wants possession of the medallion and tried to do something about that tonight. She's currently unconscious on the ground."

"You're kidding," returned Kaya, her annoyance plain in her voice. "I swear I really don't like her."

One corner of Pluto's mouth turned up. "I may be starting to agree with you." She paused for a moment as her mind worked. "Can you meet me at her apartment? And grab a few flowers from some of the landscaping at the park?"

About 30 minutes later, Kaya knocked lightly on the apartment door. Setsuna answered, looking more annoyed than Kaya had seen her so far. After a quick explanation with a softly snoring Hidemura on the bed in the background, Kaya shook her head and asked, "So now what?"

"First," Setsuna went on, laying the medallion carefully on a cleared section of the messy arts and crafts table, "we do this. The flowers?"

Kaya handed her a small spray of white blooms from her backpack.

Setsuna arranged them neatly so they made a small bed for the medallion, placed a few coins around the perimeter, then put her palms together and gave a small bow in the direction of the artifact. "We apologize for tonight's events."

When Setsuna's eyes cut over to her, Kaya reminded herself that she was adopting an open mind to these sorts of things and was just going to go with it. So she copied Setsuna's motions and said with as much sincerity as she could, "We apologize." For Hidemura's stupidity, she mentally added with a silent snarf.

"Okay," sighed Setsuna, "let's see if we can rouse her. Recorder?"

"Of course," returned Kaya. She reached into her bag and hit the record button, a timer starting in her head to keep track of tape length. Then she smirked. "I get to be the bad cop."

Setsuna grinned and moved closer to Kaede. "Of course."

For all that she'd been dead weight and fully unconscious as Setsuna settled her in the apartment, the barest touch on Kaede's shoulder had her jumping up like a startled cat. Blue eyes wide and a little wild, Kaede flailed as she jumped from the bed. Not at all oriented, the sight of two strangers only making her confusion worse, she did the most instinctual thing she could and started to scream.

Kaya moved towards her the fastest, her intention to quiet the scream so none of the neighbors would be woken in the dead of night and call the police. The movement only served to scare Kaede more, though. She grabbed the first thing she could reach and threw it as hard as she could before scrambling to the door.

After dodging the ceramic bowl that had been aimed at her head, Setsuna managed to place herself between Kaede and the door. She held up both of her hands in a placating gesture as the other woman whimpered out a "no, no, no."

"It's okay," said Setsuna quickly and in as calming a voice as she could. "We aren't going to hurt you. I found you unconscious outside…"

"Get out!" yelled Kaede as she backed up. "I don't care who you…"

Her words cut off as she backed into Kaya. She turned swiftly and let out another startled yelp as she tripped over her own feet and fell on her backside. She turned onto her knees and scampered across the floor until she hit the far wall and sat, knees pulled up to her chest and held there tightly, tears in her eyes.

And now Kaya actually found herself feeling bad for this woman, because she was very obviously scared. She couldn't blame her after the night Kaede had apparently had, and Kaya knew well enough that if she'd woken up in her apartment with two strangers standing over her, she'd be freaked out, too. So as much as she wanted to be annoyed, she knew she couldn't.

After taking a deep breath to steady herself, she knelt down slowly, keeping the distance between them. A soft smile touched her lips, and her voice was gentle when she spoke. "Hey, it's okay. We promise we aren't going to do anything to you. It seems like you've had a bit of a rough night, and we just wanted to make sure you got home. Okay?"

Kaede sniffled without answering. Those blue eyes narrowed suspiciously as Kaya went on.

"My name is Kaya." Her smile widened a bit, and she held out a hand. "My friend is Setsuna. While this will sound odd, I'm glad we found you while we were out tonight. We were going to come find you anyway, because there is something we need to talk with you about. And if you have some bandages, maybe I can patch up those scrapes for you while we do."

A tight frown joined Kaede's narrowed eyes, and her fear began to melt away. She shook her head 'no,' ignoring Kaya's solicitous tone as she pushed herself up off the floor, her back staying tight against the wall. "Blue hair and a smile. I know who you are. Akane told me not to talk to you, so don't think I will no matter how nice you pretend to be."

At Akane's name, Kaya startled. So she had given herself away, after all.

Setsuna took that moment to step in. "Then you have an idea of what we want to talk about? That's good. It will make beginning the conversation easier."

Kaede licked her lips nervously. "I… there isn't… there's nothing for us to have a conversation about." She pointed a finger in as vicious a manner as she could in Kaya's direction. "And I am not talking to her."

"You don't have to talk to her," went on Setsuna slowly as Kaya stood. She took two careful steps toward Kaede. "She's just going to go sit over there on the other side of the room. You and I will talk. Here, come sit," she said as she motioned to the edge of the disheveled bed.

Kaya, for her part, stepped away quietly and took the seat at the craft table. She could see Kaede contemplating, her eyes darting back and forth between them as the wheels in her head turned, debating if she should cooperate or start screaming again. On one of those side-eye cuts, Kaede's eyes lingered just a bit. Kaya took the opportunity for a small smile while giving the medallion a quick tap.

That must have been the first time Kaede noticed it sitting out, because her eyes went wide as saucers, then began filling with more tears. Her bottom lip quivered and she hitched in a sob before throwing herself at Setsuna, wrapping her arms around the taller woman's neck and absolutely balling.

Great, racking sobs issued forth from Kaede as a startled and unprepared Setsuna froze. She glanced over to Kaya, who was suddenly trying very hard not to laugh. Then Kaya gestured her arms in a gripping motion and mouthed hug her. Setsuna blanched, but that really did seem like the thing to do in this situation.

"It'll be okay," soothed Setsuna as she gave Kaede a loose hug and patted her back in as consoling a manner as she could muster. "Why don't you just…"

"I didn't want to do it!" sobbed Kaede into Setsuna's neck. "It was all a terrible misunderstanding. And we were high, and maybe a little drunk, and it was supposed to be a fun joke for good luck because our luck was absolutely sucking. All I really wanted was to play ball and win one big tournament before I have to get married. None of this awful college stuff and my awful professors always wanting me to give more to awful things I hate and don't understand and then they go off and abandon me. I just wanted one thing for me!"

Kaede allowed herself to be maneuvered over to the bed so she and Setsuna could sit. Both Kaya and Setsuna lost track of the number of times 'me' and 'I' were sobbed out as Kaede hitched and hiccuped her way through her story. To her credit, though she'd implicated every one of them in the theft, she never did try to throw any of her friends entirely under the bus in her jumbled, watery confession.

Finally, she looked up at Setsuna with wide, shiny doe eyes. Fists balled loosely in Setsuna's shirt, her voice went up an octave. "I tried everything I could think of. I told the others I put it back and I… I just… I don't want to go to jail!"

Setsuna patted her on the top of the head. "We don't want you to go to jail, either. In fact, we want to help you make this whole situation go away."

Kaede sat up straight and frowned, her tears suddenly gone. "Wait, what? Why?"

"It's probably best you don't ask," returned Kaya. She was leaning back in the chair now, arms over her chest and knees loosely crossed. "It's enough to know we just want the situation to go away. And," she gave Kaede what she hoped passed for a conspiratorial grin, "you won't have to tell Akane the truth."

"I don't lie to Akane… most of the time," shot back Kaede. She mimicked Kaya's crossed arms and tried to look stern behind puffy eyes and a red nose. "You're trying to cover this up. Why? To save the university embarrassment or to save Ando-sensei's reputation? I know the history department rides off his published works even if he did run off on sabbatical." She looked wide-eyed at Setsuna. "Or are you sneaking it back in so the new guy doesn't find out and get Ando-sensei black-listed? He's a pompous bastard, and I know he'd definitely do that. Ando-sensei isn't great, and honestly I think he's a bit senile, but he's the better of the two if you have to pick. But that's it, isn't it? That's why you're being as sneaky as I am. Because the university needs Ando-sensei's reputation to stay spotless?"

Setsuna found herself nodding in agreement even though she didn't understand most of what Kaede was rambling on about. But she wasn't going to argue when an excuse was handed to her. "That's… very astute of you. Yes, it's actually exactly that."

Kaede smiled widely, proud of her brilliant reasoning skills.

"And that's why we need your help," continued Setsuna. She leaned in a bit, as if they were fellow conspirators in this matter. "You understand the seriousness of things and why it's important no one finds out."

"About any of it, including our involvement," added Kaya quickly. "That includes Akane. She just needs to keep thinking we've never met."

"In addition," picked up Setsuna before Kaede could offer another protest about lying to her friend, "we need to time its return very carefully."

Kaede frowned at her. "You're not just going to take it tonight?"

"No," answered Setsuna. "It's going to be several weeks before our window of opportunity presents itself. Prying eyes and such. You understand."

"I suppose," answered Kaede slowly, not liking this part at all.

"Just a few weeks," said Kaya, grabbing a piece of scrap paper and writing a date on it. She stood and walked over to them, then handed the paper to Kaede. "Just put it back where you had it hidden and go on like tonight never happened."

Setsuna placed a hand gently on Kaede's shoulder. "Tell me where you keep it hidden, and on that date, take the night for yourself and go out. We'll handle the rest, and that will be that."

Kaede looked at the date almost three weeks out. She started to shake her head, but it turned into a reluctant agreement. She knew this would be her best way out of it. She'd put the charm back in the closet, tell Akane it was taken care of without giving any details, and in a few weeks she really could just pretend it had never happened.

The little goddess nodded in approval at Pluto's apology, then closed the window into her priestess' world. She held out her arms and let herself fall backward in a dramatic display of relief, her body landing as if she'd fallen into a fluffy mattress, a puff of stardust billowing out around her. When her kirkri ran up to her, she rolled over onto her side and rested her head on her arm.

"That was a close one," she muttered unhappily. With a flick of her wrist, one of the white flowers Pluto had laid at her medallion appeared in her hand. Gold was always nice, but she really did favor flowers. "I must reluctantly admit that the Time Guardian made herself of value this time. So, because she showed up on time and kept my incompetent priestess from breaking the medallion in her haste to perform a ceremony she was far too late with…"

Alandra sat up and crossed her legs. She held out her hands, and with a bit of sparkled flair, a quill and parchment appeared. "Now let's see. I'm not granting her any fortune. However, I will remove her debt to me for putting the muddled Mercurian in her path."

The kirkri tilted its head and twitched its whiskers in question.

"What?" asked the little goddess as she put a checkmark next to the entry on her parchment. "Granted, she didn't directly make the request. It does seem to have filled a want, though, and the credit for it is mine. I really am so much better at this than my brother."

The kirkri shrugged, accepting Alandra's logic. Then it trilled happily, agreeing whole heartedly that its mistress was definitely superior.

Rain was falling at a steady pace when they left Kaede's. Thunder grumbled, now more like a sleeping ogre than an angry god, and lightning lit the sky without mischievous magic pricking like static at Setsuna's skin. Her arm snaked around Kaya's waist, pulling her in closer so she was better sheltered under their shared umbrella.

"We're going to have to keep a subtle eye on her," said Setsuna. She aimed them for the bus shelter, her Keds squishing with every step. It was too late for a bus on this route, but maybe they could wait out the rain.

Kaya nodded and yawned, the hour starting to catch up with her. She dropped down onto the sheltered bench and stretched her arms up over her head. "Yeah. I'm not convinced she isn't going to get jittery and try to bury it again." She smiled at Setsuna as the umbrella was closed, and Setsuna took the seat beside her. Kaya hugged Setsuna's arm to her. "You handled her really well, by the way. I don't have the patience for her personality. An area for improvement," she finished with a sigh.

"You did okay," answered Setsuna softly. She placed a kiss on top of Kaya's head.

They sat in silence for a while, just listening to the thrumming of the rain against the shelter roof. When Kaya reached over and absently threaded their fingers, Setsuna added in, "I don't think you lack sense, by the way." Though I am seeing an impulsive streak.

"Thank you," returned Kaya, one corner of her mouth quirking up. "I promise I do think things through and have a solid basis for the decisions I make."

Setsuna placed her fingers under Kaya's chin and tilted her head so their eyes met. "Even so, I'm still going to ask you not to put yourself in harm's way. Any more than I already have, at least."

"My choice," said Kaya before she closed the distance between them to lay a kiss on Setsuna's rain cooled lips. "I will be careful though."

Setsuna smiled back, then looked out into the rainy night. "I don't think it's going to let up much more than this."

Kaya nodded. "Just a few more minutes, then we can start heading back. Maybe that damn squirrel is placated enough for tonight that we won't get struck by lightning."

"Watch out," chuckled Setsuna. "Sometimes casual words are like a challenge to mischievous gods."

Kaya groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose as a streak of lightning danced across the clouds. "Okay, fine," she called up to the sky. "I am sincerely sorry for every off hand comment I have made so far. However, you and I need to have a discussion about my plumbing."

Setsuna didn't say anything else. Instead, she stood, opened the umbrella, and held out a hand for Kaya to take. It was going to be a slog getting back to the apartment.

.