Sitting behind his office desk, Kazu stared at a wiry man with unkempt hair and a beard sitting on the other side of him while Lucinda stood in the back of the room by the door. He cleared his throat and wrote on some papers. He signed the last one and put it to the side.

"Run me through your last encounter with Kunzite," Kazu told him.

"There wasn't much to it," the other man said casually. "He and I ran into each other in a tavern. I offered up a bit of information to loosen his tongue, shared with him that awful business about Max, and asked if he had anything interesting for me. After realizing he had nothing, we parted ways. I haven't seen him or the other Shitennou since."

"Mm-hmm," replied Kazu. "And you didn't say anything else to Kunzite, Duke? Nothing that didn't pertain to your attempt at swapping stories?"

"That was it, sir," Duke said. "He had ordered a pair of drinks, but I didn't see who he was with. Probably Princess Venus," he added with a chuckle.

"I get the feeling you're not telling me everything, Duke," Kazu said, putting his elbows up on the desk and folding his hands.

"No, no, that was all that was said."

"You didn't insult Endymion or Princess Serenity?"

"What!?" Duke exclaimed, raising an eyebrow. "Who's telling you that sir?"

"The bartender's one of us, Duke," Kazu said. "But she felt ill that day, so I had Lucinda take her place," he continued, pointing to the woman behind Duke. "She informs me you referred to Serenity as 'that brat' of Endymion's."

"How could you possibly have heard that?" Duke asked, turning in his seat to face Lucinda. "It was so noisy in there and I made sure no one around could hear the two of us." He faced Kazu again. "She's mistaken, she didn't hear me say that."

"Lucinda has very good hearing," Kazu said, leaning back in his chair. "She heard you tell him that you were glad he could find time to enjoy himself 'while not minding the prince. Or that brat of his.' I love the way she tells Kunzite's response especially the tongue part."

"What do you remember, everything word for word?" he asked, again turning around to look at Lucinda.

"I lied."

"Damn that hearing and that mem… what, sir?" Duke asked, turning back to Kazu.

"I said I lied," Kazu repeated. "But thanks for letting me know I can't trust you to be honest either."

Duke started stammering unintelligibly before Kazu cut him off and made a motion to Lucinda who locked the door.

"Insulting your princess and future queen to the face of a bodyguard to the princess' betrothed," Kazu said, again leaning forward and putting his elbows on the desk to clasp his hands together. "Tell me, why shouldn't I drop you in front of Kunzite so he actually can carve out your tongue? Give me one good reason I shouldn't lock you in the furthest asteroid prison after that."

Duke leaned in, closer to Kazu.

"I know things that could end your tenure," he said. "Queen Serenity would never want you around her, or the princess, ever again. Make me mute, lock me away, it all comes out."

"One usually tells a person what they're being blackmailed with, Duke," Kazu said coldly.

"What if I told you I have instructions to some friends of mine to… take care of anyone who does anything to me?"

"And here come the threats," Kazu said, standing. He started sauntering to the other side of the desk. "Want to make it a trifecta? Go ahead, try bribery," he continued, making it to the chair Duke sat in and leaning into the man. "Offer a prince money to look the other way."

Duke stammered unintelligibly again, seemingly trying to untangle his thoughts. Seconds later, Kazu started laughing and leaned away from Duke into his desk. Duke looked confused but joined Kazu in nervous laughter.

"My goodness, Duke," Kazu said, sobering up. "You're nothing if not entertaining. But you know what?"

"What sir?"

"I think I'll take my chances."

"Wha–" Duke started to ask but couldn't get the question out before Kazu summoned flames from his hands that swiftly enveloped him. He screamed as the fire torched his body. But the cries eventually ceased. And after a few minutes, Kazu extinguished the blaze, leaving only Duke's charred remains.

"And he was so highly recommended," he said, walking over to the door. He unlocked it and looked at Lucinda who was donning a pair of gloves. The two exchanged nods and he left.

# # #

The door to the Inner Council Chamber opened and Queen Serenity walked in to see Kazu sitting by himself at the table with one palm down and a small knife in the other quickly stabbing the spaces between his fingers.

"Having fun?" she asked, walking further in.

"Didn't want to be late again," Kazu said, not looking up.

As she got closer to Kazu, she stopped and started sniffing. "Do you… smell something… burnt?"

Kazu stopped stabbing, leaving the knife between two of his fingers and without moving his head, looked up at the queen.

"Who?" she asked exasperatedly.

"One of mine," he said, sheathing the knife. "Started getting too comfortable with his sources, insulted your daughter to Kunzite's face, and then had the audacity to lie to about it before blackmailing and threatening me. Man's lucky I didn't throw him out the window."

Serenity stood dumbfounded for a few seconds before throwing up her hands. "All right," she said. "But since it's just you and me right now, do you know where your brother is? He's due for an update with Uranus and Neptune and no one can seem to find him."

"I haven't seen him for a while either," Kazu responded. "He wanted my permission to look in on a hunch, but I don't know where he is."

"Would you mind?"

"Sure, I'll head out after the meeting."

# # #

A fishing trawler glid along the water of a calm sea, a net picking up its fair share of fish as it dragged behind the boat. The sailors manned their stations cracking jokes and insulting each other as they worked.

"Man overboard!" one voice rang out. "Starboard side!"

The men moved to the right side of the boat to see a body floating in the water and the helmsman steered the craft closer. As they neared, one crewman threw a hook. He missed. He drew it in and tried again and the hook connected with one of the legs. The man pulled the body in and several other sailors were able to heave it onto the deck of the boat. A sack had been tied around the head.

"Cut it off!"

One sailor produced a knife and sliced the sack open, revealing a colorless face.

"Any luck boys?" the captain asked, charging over to the huddled mass of sailors.

"No, Cap," one of them responded.

"Pity," the captain said. "The sea claims ano–"

"Sir?"

"I recognize him," the captain said, a tinge of fear and sorrow in his voice. "Mark this day boys. If there's a future, they'll remember this as the moment the fire started burning."

# # #

Kazu paced in one of the smaller asteroid outposts as he waited for the princess of Uranus and Neptune, his thoughts bouncing wildly.

Where are you, Hayate? he thought. You tell me you want to look in to a hunch and then you disappear? Why couldn't Endymion have waited to talk to me?

"Kazu."

Damn you, Duke. Thoughts and feelings, thoughts and feelings. What's causing them? Why aren't there reasons?

"Kazu."

Where are you, Hayate? Maybe it's some sort of magic? Who's powerful enough for that kind of bewitchment? Is there something Endymion's not telling me?

"Hey, Kazu!"

Maybe someone's out to get him. Maybe someone's out to bring down the kingdom and the earth at the same time. Who's that strong though? How do we fight the abstract? Where…

"KAZU!"

Kazu stopped pacing and looked toward the outpost door to see Princess Uranus and Princess Neptune standing there, watching him.

"How long have you two been there?"

"Long enough," Uranus said. "Something on your mind?"

"It might be easier to list the things that aren't," Kazu said, leaning forward and using the back of a chair for support. "Please tell me the two of you have nothing for me."

"We actually have something," Neptune said as the two sat down at the table in front of them. "Saturn is still sleeping but it's becoming an uneasy sleep."

"She's started stirring," Uranus added.

"As if I didn't have enough to worry about," Kazu replied, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Weird feelings from Earth, spies who're starting to get bad at their jobs, no one knows where Hayate is, and now this."

"Wait," Uranus said, leaning forward. "Hayate's missing?"

"Why do you think I'm here!?" he shouted. "He came to me and asked me for permission to step on my toes and check on a hunch he had. No one's seen him since."

"You let him do it alone?" Neptune asked.

"I wasn't going to," Kazu said, hunching over the chair again. "We were going to look into it together, but one of my Mice decided to run his mouth and I got dragged to Earth for a chat with Endymion."

"Sounds bad," Uranus said.

"I feel like it's only going to get worse," Kazu said.

"Kazu," came a new, breathless voice from the door of the outpost.

Kazu looked up and the princesses looked behind them to see Misaki standing in the doorway. Her eyes were red, and she was breathing heavily.

"Misaki!" Kazu said, speeding toward his sister. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

"Oh no," Uranus said, looking at her then at Neptune who caught her glance.

"It's… It's Hayate," she said, faltering. "He's… he's… he's been killed."