"Such a tragedy for Ami-chan! She aims higher than anyone, but she's being dragged down by the lowest!"
"Are you perhaps talking about me, Imouto-san?!"
"Now now, Urawa-san. I don't think your sister meant…"
"Now that you mention it, when are you going to do your own laundry, instead of letting Ami-chan…"
"I can't help it if she does my laundry while I'm asleep, even if I ask her not to do it! You know better than anyone how little others respect my wishes!"
"Ah… I suppose relationships between siblings - and your psycho-neurological makeup - are just things you cannot redo. "
"The unrequited romance of a boy who wants to love himself! Ami-chan bathes the slothful!"
Haruto Ôta didn't have a lot of bright sides to his life.
He performed below average both academically and athletically.
Girls thought he was sweet, but certainly not boyfriend material.
He got along with most people at school, but few sought his company.
He had a good relationship with his older sister, but suffered from the fact that she overshadowed him in all aspects of life.
His parents loved him but didn't understand him.
On top of all that, he was currently on his way from the student cafeteria - where he had refreshed himself with a bottle of Calpis soda - to his classroom to work on a motivational assignment with the most intelligent girl in school on one of the last school days before summer break.
But he did have one major bright spot in his life.
His classmate, Hana Okabe, was sparkly, kind, good-looking, and sympathetic to Haruto's interests in anime and model-building.
These were all important requirements for the girlfriend Haruto dreamed Hana would one day become.
And Hana was currently joining Haruto in the hallway while carrying a high stack of reference books.
A chance for her would-be boyfriend to leave a good impression if he played his cards right.
Haruto upped his pace until he walked side by side with the blonde in the white blouse and blue skirt of the standard girl's uniform.
"Hello, Hana-chan," The slender boy with the messy dark-brown hairdo greeted his classmate. "You're hauling a heap of books. Do you want me to help?"
"Oh, Haruto!" Hana exclaimed while showering her friend in the light of her dazzling smile. "That's so kind of you. Yes, and thank you."
"I'll take these from you then," Haruto grinned while taking the stack of books Hana was carrying from her. "These are quite heavy. You're pretty strong, Hana-chan."
"Well, I have two older brothers after all," Hana laughed. "I have to be able to stand up for myself."
Haruto was all too happy to learn that Hana seemed as strong as he always fantasized she was. He thought athletic girls were sexy and loved staring at Hana during P.E.
"Cartier-sensei asked me to bring these to the teacher's lounge after homeroom. They're the math reference books for next trimester."
"What a pity they're not the answers to next trimester's final tests," Haruto joked. "We're already studying for university entrance exams. I wouldn't mind a chance to cheat on our finals."
"That would be nice," Hana chuckled. "But would Ami-chan allow you to cheat on your joint assignment?"
Haruto saw Sonoko Ijuin and Keiko Moriyama talking together at the entrance to their classroom.
The girl with the wavy green hair and her friend with the black ponytail noticed him and Hana as they approached.
"I'd be lucky if Ami-chan doesn't volunteer to make the assignment more difficult," Haruto sighed. "When Cartier-sensei explained the assignment to us, I asked if we could make the house we're supposed to design one with a flat roof. Ami-chan agreed with Sensei that it should have a gable roof."
"That would complicate the assignment," Hana whistled. "Poor you, Haruto-kun. But it can't be helped. Ami-chan is always so serious."
"How naughty of you, Hana Okabe," Sonoko complained.
"Isn't it more like you aren't serious enough, Hana-chan?" Keiko Moriyama asked while embracing Haruto's friend and locking the blonde's hands between hers.
"Let me go, Keiko-chan! Let go!"
Haruto watched Keiko and Hana struggle with growing annoyance as the unequal level of strength between the equally tall girls became obvious.
He wanted to intervene, but didn't know what to do with the stack of books he was carrying.
The boy glared at Keiko when the beautiful black-haired girl smiled at him.
"Were you complaining about Ami-chan, Hana-chan?" Keiko asked. "You shouldn't badmouth your classmates, you know?"
Haruto was subjected to mixed feelings when he saw the blonde and black-haired ponytails of the girls bump up against each other as Hana pulled to the right and Keiko pulled to the left.
Finally, Hana submitted to her captor, and Keiko, in turn, slackened her firm hold on the girl.
"There," Keiko chuckled as she released Hana, took the stack of books from Haruto, and handed them to the blonde again. "I hope that taught you not to distract Haruto-kun from his assignment."
"It's not just Hana-chan's fault though!" Sonoko sternly addressed her classmate while Hana quietly continued her path to the teacher's lounge by herself. "Why are you so lazy, Haruto-kun?"
Haruto, in turn, opened the door to their classroom in silence, ready to spend another two hours working on the assignment in question with Ami.
"Good luck on your assignment, Haruto-kun," Keiko sang as he closed the door behind him.
Now in a bad mood - because Hana wasn't able to hold her own against Keiko and because he couldn't intervene - Haruto saw his teacher eyeing him with suspicion as the boy walked along the rows of seats toward the one next to Ami Mizuno at the top of the class.
"Welcome, Ota-san," Christopher Wagner sternly spoke while leaning his hands against his back. "We have been waiting for you."
"Hello, Haru-kun," Ami smiled. "I'm glad to see you're ready to continue work on the project with me."
"What was that racket about before you entered the classroom?" Wagner asked.
"Nothing much, Cartier-sensei," Haruto moodily replied. "We were just fooling around."
As he spoke the last word, it dawned on the boy in the navy-blue uniform that he should have told on Keiko for basically assaulting Hana.
But he felt like that chance slipped away from him when his teacher sighed.
"You kids…" Christopher Wagner melodramatically rubbed his temples. "In my time…"
The handsome man with the caramel-blonde marquisetto beard involuntarily remembered the two Heidelberg University students who blackmailed him for the rest of their education after having found out about Christopher's gambling addiction.
"N…Never mind!" Wagner almost shouted. "Why don't the two of you continue to work on your assignment while I grade your tests?"
"Yes," Ami curtly nodded before turning to Haruto. "We were taking measurements for the rooms on the ground floor. Remember, Haru-kun?
"Do I ever?" The boy with the messy dark-brown hair quipped. "That was hard work!"
"It sure was," Ami giggled. "We got all the questions right that permitted us to measure out each of the rooms.
We have the second floor to work on today, but we also need to work on our swimming pool."
"Right," Haruto nodded. "He looked at the questions they needed to answer in order to receive permission for taking the measurements of the swimming pool.
"We want a fair bit of garden between the swimming pool and our house, don't we? So I thought…" His partner for the assignment enthusiastically talked.
Ami was nice enough, Haruto reflected. She was no Hana, obviously, and Haruto was into blondes anyway. But he had expected Ami to be more strict and stern.
Haruto was pleasantly surprised to learn that the bluette had a fun side and liked his dumb jokes.
He considered that she might just laugh at his jokes to be polite, but he didn't mind that per se.
Haruto remembered how nice Ami looked in a swimsuit during P.E.
You might not expect it from seeing her bend over her books, but Ami is a strong swimmer. It took Haruto by surprise when he first saw the bluette outswim most of the girls in class.
If only Ami weren't so studious, they might become friends. As it was, Haruto didn't see himself understanding too much of what the girl would be talking about if they interacted on a daily basis.
"Haru-kun?"
Haruto blinked upon realizing Ami was staring at him.
Did she ask him a question? Did he space out for that long?
Cold sweat began to prickle the young man's palms and neck.
Looking stupid was one thing he couldn't afford to do in front of Ami Mizuno.
Haruto quickly searched for the question that would unlock permission to take the swimming pool measurements.
He hoped that was what Ami had asked him.
'Two large pumps and 1 small pump can fill a swimming pool in 4 hours.
One large pump and 3 small pumps can also fill the same swimming pool in 4 hours.
How many hours will it take 4 large pumps and 4 small pumps to fill the swimming pool?'
The young man in the navy-blue vest and trousers blinked at the mindboggling question.
He was aware that Ami and his homeroom teacher were both waiting to hear his answer.
He just couldn't think fast enough to understand what was being asked.
'Split the difference!' Haruto feverishly thought. 'Split the difference! It has to be close to the answer!'
"Erm… Two? … I think."
Christopher Wagner chuckled under his breath. There were no surprises to lazy students like Haruto. Of course, he'd try that. Further demotivating Ami Mizuno was going to be easy.
"Not quite that much, Haru-kun," Ami smiled.
Haruto smiled hopefully. His guess didn't seem to be a complete blunder. Crisis averted.
"You see," Ami gently said while scribbling on the notebook in between them. "If R and r are the rates of work of the large and small pumps respectively,
4(2R r) = 1 : 2 large and 1 small work for 4 hours to do 1 job
4(R 3r) = 1 : 1 large and 3 small work for 4 hours to do 1 job
T(4R 4r) = 1 : Find time T if 4 large and 4 small are to do one job."
'What?!' Haruto panicked. 'How can she just casually say that so fast? I couldn't understand any of it. Wait… Let's see what she wrote down.'
"Solve for R and r the system of the first two equations.
Then substitute in the third and solve for T to find the time. T = 5/3 hours = 1 hour 40 minutes. Understand?"
Haruto nodded and smiled.
"Then that leaves us to calculate the width, length, and depth of the pool we want for our dream house," A visibly excited Ami smiled.
Haruto nodded and glanced at the notes his classmate had written down.
Gradually he seemed to understand bits of it. He remembered having studied the matter in school and at home. But he just couldn't make his brain work fast enough to keep up with Ami's mind.
The problem wasn't that Haruto was lazy. The problem was that he was literally slow.
Haruto couldn't put it quite into words yet, but it was as if he had to work twice as hard as everyone else to keep up with them.
Becoming demotivated because he couldn't comprehend why he couldn't do just as easily what everyone else could, he naturally became less inclined to put effort into things he didn't need to do.
Haruto experienced the effects of this deficiency in him, but he wasn't yet able to recognize the cause.
Despite this, Haruto was actually quite intelligent. When he had time to come to a conclusion in his own time, he often performed slightly above average.
But this only fed into the accusations of laziness.
There were also the regular accusations of egotism, of course, especially from stronger, more popular boys with easier lives who didn't see a problem with occasionally enjoying themselves at the expense of Haruto.
According to them, Haruto "seemed like he was in love with himself" because he occasionally felt left out and had no other resource but to read a manga on his own during lunch break and because he sometimes tried to stand up for his rights but didn't know how to do so successfully in a way that didn't leave him open to reproach.
"Let's end it here," Wagner smiled as the two hours they had to work on the assignment eventually ended. "You didn't seem to get very far, but time's up for today. You can continue your work after summer break."
The man in the green shirt and black trousers made sure to look from Ami to Haruto when he mentioned they didn't get very far.
It was all about subtlety.
First, let her grow frustrated. Let her feel as if she's held back by the weaker link.
Then, make her doubt if the lives of those weaker links are worth saving.
Finally, shock her by confronting her with her vows and what she has become.
Christopher was intimately familiar with the treatment he himself had received from Mephistopheles over 300 years ago.
"Thank you, Sensei," Ami smiled.
"Thank you, Sensei," A tired Haruto nodded. With a look at Ami, the boy wondered what they should be grateful for.
'After all,' Haruto reflected as a few minutes later he tied his shoelaces and heard the rain pour down outside. 'It's not like he's doing us any favors with this assignment.
I'm missing out on valuable study time for my last exams tomorrow.'
The young man in the navy-blue uniform saw his classmate open her umbrella in front of the school exit, her briefcase in hand.
He figured she was off to her luxurious penthouse, which he heard she lived in with her mother.
Haruto couldn't imagine his own parents divorcing.
Although there was that period when his frustration over having no friends and doing badly at school spiraled out of control at home and he feared his parents might somehow break up over their failure to manage him.
"Hey," Haruto said when he stood next to Ami.
"That seems quite the downpour, doesn't it, Haru-kun. But I'm sure it won't last too long."
'She's always so optimistic,' Haruto considered.
"Yes," He said. "Let's brave it together."
As he opened his shabby orange umbrella, Haruto thought he recognized something in the way Ami looked at him.
He couldn't say what it was, however. It certainly wasn't romantic interest.
Whatever, he preferred blondes anyway.
With the thoughtlessness of someone who feels like he hasn't got anything to live for but hopes for luck constantly, the boy with the messy dark-brown hair set foot into the torrent armed with his umbrella.
Ami watched the rain pour down on every side of the poor boy. For a moment, she watched the spectacle with unease.
Haruto being assailed by nature all on his own didn't let her reflect on his situation for long though. She quickly paced ahead and followed him.
They quietly walked out of the gate together, surprising each other when they both turned left.
As they passed the Juuban Municipal High Tennis Club lawns on their right, Ami watched how the rain showered the roofs of the covered tennis courts and the uncovered lawns alike.
Haruto followed her gaze and looked further ahead at the baseball field where he had occasion to showcase his lack of athleticism during P.E. back before finals began.
If only he was in a class where athleticism wasn't valued so highly!
Why should he have to give up on watching anime and sci-fi movies to be more valued as a person?
Sure, being strong was useful, but the semblance of happiness the boy got from watching adventures in imaginary worlds wasn't something he wanted to give up for the far-away promise of becoming more athletic after months upon months of boring and time-consuming training.
"Are you taking the bus nearby, Haru-kun?" Ami inquired, speaking up over the sounds of the rain and traffic.
Haruto frowned. He was simply walking the way home like he always did. It was she who didn't seem to take her usual route.
"I'm walking home," He simply said. "Are you taking the bus?"
"I'm heading to a friend's place," Ami smiled sadly. "He's been in a bit of a rough spot. Well… He hasn't had it easy for a while. I'm going to check up on him and then I'm going home to study."
"That's nice of you to check up on your friend," Haruto smiled encouragingly. "I hope things will look up for him."
"Thanks, Haru-kun. That's kind of you."
The two of them kept walking southward on the footpath of a long street in a residential area.
The rain was starting to let up as they continued. Slowly, the shower turned into a steady drip.
Haruto was still confused as to why Ami kept walking in the same direction as him. He realized her friend might live in his neighborhood.
"I wonder if Nee-san will be home for dinner," The young man said. "She often eats out with friends from school."
"Your older sister studies at K.O. University, doesn't she?" Ami asked. "What is she studying?"
"My sister is graduating as a Master of Finance this year," Haruto nodded. "She wants to find a job at an NGO or work for the government."
"That's an interesting field of interest," Ami smiled. "NGO's are always in need of good financial advisors. I hope she succeeds."
"Me too," Haruto said as they crossed the street. "I bet you didn't expect that seeing how much trouble I have with mathematics, huh?"
"There are a lot of late bloomers in the world of finance and mathematics," His companion shared.
"But just because your sister is a financial expert and you have trouble with math doesn't mean you won't discover talents in other areas.
Or maybe you won't. There are all kinds of professions, Haru-kun. Not all of them require highly developed skills."
"Only the ones that are paid well," Haruto sulked.
"Yes. I'm afraid you're right there. Many people are able to live well while working jobs that don't pay very well, however. But not everyone."
Again, Haruto saw that strange look in Ami's eyes as she watched him. He couldn't for the life of him understand what it meant. Nobody ever looked at him that way.
"My sister is very smart. Kind of like you. I'm sure the two of you will find a great job in no time."
Ami smiled and looked away.
Talk about getting a job made her wonder where she'd find that job.
In theory, she didn't mind moving to Hiroshima and working there if Ryo wanted to stay in the city.
Ideally, she would like to work in the United States, if only for a few years.
In the past, that would have been something she'd have second thoughts about since it'd feel like betraying her friends. But as a fighting force, they had become much more resilient and experienced than before.
If Mamoru had his year abroad, surely she should be allowed to be a little selfish too?
"So… Erm… Are there any shows you watch?" Ami heard Haruto ask.
"Huh?" The bluette reacted in surprise.
"On television," A slightly pale Haruto clarified.
"Oh?" Ami laughed. "Well, I like Bayside Shakedown."
"Ah. Yes. That's a fun show," Haruto said as they approached the apartment building where his family lived. "But I was thinking more of a…"
"A…?" Ami repeated while halting in front of the door.
"Your friend lives in our building?" Her companion inquired with a surprised look. "So that's why you were walking with me all the way."
"What a coincidence, Haru-kun! I didn't know you lived here. I've been visiting Urawa-san for so long and I never saw you here."
"It's a big building, I suppose. I don't even know who Urawa-san might be," Haruto frowned.
The boy in the navy-blue uniform saw a sly grin appear on Ami's face.
"Tomorrow is the last day of finals, Haru-kun," Ami said. "And then summer break starts."
"You seem excited by the prospect. Do you have plans?"
"Oh, I have lots of plans," Ami giggled while twirling about. "Because my boyfriend is staying over for the entire holiday.
I'm so happy. We don't get to see a lot of each other throughout the year. This is going to be a summer of romance for the two of us."
'Why is she suddenly talking about her boyfriend?' Haruto wondered. 'We were just having a nice conversation. It's not like I was trying to flirt with her or anything.
Why do girls always do that, dropping these little warnings whenever you get too close?'
But to Ami, he said: "Sounds nice. I heard you have a boyfriend in Hiroshima. Nice to hear he'll be spending the holidays with you."
"Hello Ami-chan," Haruto heard a male voice say behind him. "What a surprise to run into you here."
"Oh! Hello Mamoru-kun. Hello Yuine-chan," A pleasantly surprised Ami greeted the pair. "Nice to meet you both. This is my classmate: Ôta Haruto-san. This is Usagi-chan's boyfriend; Chiba Mamoru-san, and our friend from overseas; Iwaso Yuine-san."
"Nice to meet you," Haruto smiled while bowing to the pair.
"Nice to meet you, Ôta-san," Yuine greeted her junior with a handshake. "Where you having a romantic walk after school together?"
"Haha," Mamoru laughed. "Nice to meet you, Ôta-san. Don't mind Yuine-chan. She has a peculiar sense of humor."
"It sometimes blows up in my face though," Yuine laughed.
The violette grinned and turned to Ami.
"Seiya… kun and I were having a drink at the Fruits Parlor Crown with Mamoru-kun and Usagi-chan yesterday when Mamoru-kun said it was a pity he already had his last exam while Usagi-chan still had two days of work ahead of her. So as a joke, I proposed he'd show me around town," Yuine laughed.
"Usagi-chan took it seriously, however," Mamoru chuckled. "She said it was a great idea."
"Your girlfriend trusts you a lot, Mamoru-kun," Yuine smiled while patting the younger man on the shoulder. "Good for you."
With all the talk of romance and boyfriends and girlfriends, Haruto was starting to feel awkward. The young man racked his brain trying to think of a casual excuse to slip into the apartment building where he lived.
"Hey, it was nice to meet you two," He eventually said. "But I have to go and help my mother with dinner. I'll see you around. You too, Ami-chan. See you tomorrow."
"Okay, enjoy your dinner, Haru-kun," Ami waved as her friend entered the building through the familiar arched doorway.
"You seem to think highly of Usako for trusting me, Yuine-chan?" Mamoru continued the conversation.
"Oh? Yes. I do." The girl in the pink T-shirt and white trousers smiled while looking from Mamoru to Ami.
"Not that I'm different," She said as she slid her hands into her pockets.
"I know Seiyno will always be faithful to me and I trust him to be honest with me if he ever falls for another woman.
But in the Hisui Oka Kingdom, where I was born, they have a saying: Those smiling eyes you fell in love with smile at other women too.
Our women tend to keep a pretty short leash on their men. It's a cultural thing.
My father thought it was ordinary to let my mother visit stores with women behind the counter."
"Wow!" Ami laughed. "So strict. Imagine what Ryo-kun would say if I forbade him to enter a store with a female clerk."
"Isn't it rather difficult to keep your eyes on your boyfriend if anyone can become female?"
"Hahaha! I know what you're getting at," Yuine chuckled. "But the process does take a few weeks. Any Hisui Oka woman will know what's going on before a man their husband got along with becomes a woman, you can take my word for it."
"And if the husband falls in love with a man while both want to stay male?" Ami smiled.
"Well, it might surprise you to hear, but that doesn't happen often on Kinmoku. I heard about your gay friends and while I'm not bothered by it, I was a little surprised to hear that there seems to be a sizeable amount of gay people on Earth."
"You don't have many gay people?" Mamoru frowned. "I would have thought…"
"I suppose it's because we can switch gender so easily (although only for a limited number of times) that falling in love with a person of the same gender just doesn't happen very often," Yuine shrugged.
"That's an intriguing idea," Mamoru said. "Hey Ami-chan. How are you doing on your exams? Usako told me you have less time to study because you have an ongoing assignment for math?"
"I do," Ami smiled. "But I'm doing great. I simply stay up a little later for extra study.
I can take it. I even aced a few exams.
I'm more worried about Haru-kun. He's the one I'm having the assignment with and his academic performance isn't great as it is. I hope he'll do okay on his finals."
"He should also stay up later to study extra then," Yuine bluntly spoke.
Ami frowned and looked at the entrance to the apartment building.
"I don't know if he can," She said. "Haru-kun is always exhausted at school. He might not get enough sleep as it is. Studying late might end up being counterproductive in his case."
"He might already stay up late to watch his favorite anime," Mamoru incorrectly concluded with a shrug.
"How about you, Mamo-kun?" Ami smiled. "Are you happy with your performances?"
"I'm doing fine on most subjects. Statistics is always a gamble though."
"Oh, is it?" Ami laughed along at the joke. "And how is your dissertation for engineering mathematics coming along?"
"That's erm… less of a laughing matter," Mamoru sweatdropped to Yuine's amusement. "I'm getting there. I just have to double-check some sources right now, which is keeping me from progressing. But I'm getting there."
"Oh right!" Ami suddenly exclaimed. "You never told me how things went on the double-B?"
"The double-B?" Yuine repeated. "I suppose that's a cultural matter you will now inform me about?"
"No cultural matter," Mamoru said. "It's just that before their final exams started, my girlfriend and future daughter both celebrated their birthdays."
"Double-B," Ami grinned at Yuine. "I thought it was clever."
"There was a party in the evening, so I couldn't do anything special on the day itself," Mamoru said. "But we visited Jindai Botanical Garden the day after, and I had a few presents and a reservation at a restaurant in Chōfu prepared in the evening."
"Jindai Botanical Garden," Ami repeated. "Sounds like a great idea to visit on a birthday."
"It's where Yoshi-kun works," Mamoru said. "I took Yuine-chan there today rather than touring the city, thinking she might find it more interesting than her own suggestion."
"It was so beautiful," Yuine gushed with her eyes wide. "And so interesting. I learned a lot about Earth's flora. I'm afraid I left Mamoru-kun to his fate while talking to his friend, Kurebayashi-san. Such a knowledgeable man he is.
I made a new friend on Earth. Even though I can't tell him I'm from another planet."
"That's alright. I had fun reading my book while the two of you talked."
"Well… It was fun talking to you guys," Ami finally said. "But I need to go and say hi to Urawa-san and go home to study afterward. I'll be seeing lots of you two during summer break."
With a wave of their hands, Yuine and Mamoru watched Ami enter the large apartment building through its arched entrance.
"It's a kind thing she keeps doing for Urawa-san," The latter muttered beyond Yuine's hearing.
"That last bit I couldn't understand," The Kinmokuan shrugged.
"Oh. Sorry," Mamoru apologized. "I was talking about the man Ami-chan is visiting. But I've been thinking several times today: Your Japanese is exceptionally good, Yuine-chan. I'm afraid to insult you by asking, but is it perhaps thanks to Kakyuu-chan's magic?"
"That's not insulting," Yuine laughed with a wave of her hand. "But no. There's no magic involved. The truth is that Japanese became a highly popular language on Kinmoku after you and your friends saved the galaxy. Seiyno and his brothers taught several of the most highly rated teachers in the capital, who, in turn, started giving private lessons in Japanese."
"Wow! That's amazing. To think that we had such an impact."
Yuine made a face at her companion's remark.
"Seems like you underestimate what saving the galaxy means," She grinned as they continued their walk. "I started to follow one of those classes because Three Lights - although they have yet to appear on stage on Kinmoku - released their first singles and eventually their album in the Federation of the Fourteen Kingdoms and I wanted to understand what they were singing about."
"Wait a minute," Mamoru frowned. "They didn't release versions of the songs in your own language?"
"Again: Saving the galaxy is a pretty big deal. People want to hear the songs in your language.
Anyway, I could tell you a funny and romantic anecdote about how my teacher was instrumental in having Seiyno literally stumble into the park where I work and me getting starstruck (don't tell him that), but I'll save it for another occasion."
"Hahaha!" Mamoru laughed as they climbed a hilly footpath. "I look forward to it.
In any case, I'm happy for you and the people in the Federation of Fourteen Kingdoms that the war with the jinsè Yumi is almost over so that you can begin to rebuild your lives and your nation."
The young man in the mint-green polo shirt and grey trousers noticed an uncharacteristic dark look coming over his usually so playful companion.
"I fear the war with the Jinsè Yumi is far from over, Mamoru-kun," Yuine said.
"What? But Taiki-kun said…"
"Seiyno and his brothers are always highly biased when it comes to our Queen," Yuine sighed. "The Jinsè Yumi may have mistreated several groups and eventually lost their position through mismanagement of the nation, but they stayed in power for so long because they also managed to make a lot of people happy.
Our Queen is gradually winning a lot of those people over. But there are a lot of them who fled the nation because their side lost the war."
Yuine heaved a sigh as they walked through a somewhat shady neighborhood.
"Right now…" The young woman with the three long violet braids continued. "The remainders of the Jinsè Yumi have found refuge in the Dairiseki Empire, with whom they cultivated a highly amicable relationship over the past decades.
The Dairiseki Empire would love nothing more than to destabilize the Federation Of The Fourteen Kingdoms.
I heard that the Empire is sponsoring the Jinsè Yumi and that the remnants of the 14th army have taken refuge in Take Shãnlín Province.
Take Shãnlín is a large province with a huge wilderness at its heart, from where the Jinsè Yumi could keep up a guerrilla war for decades with enough foreign funds.
I fear our Queen's reign might be marred by much bloodshed still."
"That's saddening to hear," Mamoru started while his eyes fixed on a woman who had just walked out of a building ahead of them.
"Oh? You're still here," A familiar male voice called out to Mamoru's right. "I hoped we wouldn't bump into each other. I forgot my briefcase in the hotel room."
"This is why I told you never to bring any valuables when we meet. It's asking for…"
Setsuna's startled red eyes met Mamoru's shocked blue ones.
Yuine didn't understand what made her companion halt his steps, but she followed suit without saying anything.
Assistant Professor Jirou Higashi turned pale upon recognizing one of his students at the scene of his shady sexual exploits. He half-raised his hand to greet Mamoru but changed his mind and turned his head while running straight into the love hotel his date had just left.
For a second, Mamoru wavered. Then he resolutely walked on.
"Sorry. I was thinking of something I have to do for school this evening," The handsome young man with the neat black haircut smiled at Yuine. "It's very sad to your people that your enemy might still bring trouble."
Setsuna turned pale when Mamoru walked past her. Then she turned crimson as she realized he was trying to help her save face.
Yuine threw a passing glance at the woman. She may not have interacted with every one of Earth's Senshi as much as the other in their civilian forms, but she sure as hell recognized the young woman who had been keenly interested in Kinmoku's plant life and how it inspired fashion on her home planet.
"Is Queen Kakyuu aware of all that you just told me?" Mamoru continued as they left Setsuna behind them. "Her brothers might see things in a more rosy light than they should, but she probably knows her challenges for what they are."
"Our Queen is aware of the dangers she faces," Yuine said without looking back. "She has excellent and trustworthy advisors.
As I said: Her efforts at diplomacy are slowly winning the favor of the people who benefited under the reign of the Jinsè Yumi.
But we may never be completely certain of their true allegiance."
Yuine saw Mamoru looking behind him to check if Setsuna was beyond hearing distance.
The violette did the same and noticed that their friend had left the place where they spotted her and was walking southward.
"I cannot stress this enough, Yuine-chan," Mamoru solemnly spoke. "Please don't ever tell anyone that we saw Setsuna-chan here.
If you could forget about us seeing her here, that would be even better."
"I… I don't quite understand," His companion said. "But I understand this is important to you and her, so I will keep the past few minutes a secret even from Seiyno.
You have my word."
"Thank you," Mamoru smiled. "I realize that is asking a lot."
"No," Yuine said with a shake of her head. "Seiyno and I trust each other. But that also means we trust each other's judgment.
Keeping this a secret is important to people we care about, so I will do so without reserve."
After that, the two of them walked on and talked about the new communication devices that were taking the Federation Of The Fourteen Kingdoms by storm.
Mamoru was intrigued to learn Kinmoku was experiencing a similar telecommunications revolution as was taking place on Earth.
Meanwhile, what he had witnessed left a lasting impression on the handsome young man.
The thought of Setsuna having a relationship with their teacher bothered him more than he was able to admit to himself.
Did she love him? Mamoru couldn't accept such an idea. But he couldn't fathom why else Setsuna would be visiting a love hotel with Assistant Professor Jirou Higashi.
The K.O. University student was now certain of one thing: While previously Setsuna had invaded his mind on occasion while spending time with Usagi, the greenette could now become a serious obsession.
Meanwhile, Ami was sitting through the First Congo War. Or a reenactment by Touki Urawa and his sister Natsuko at least.
The blue-haired genius found the latter sitting in front of the television with her brother when she entered the apartment.
She decided to weather the storm she knew was brewing by sitting in between the pair.
When the news reported on the genocidal conflict in Africa, all hell broke loose..
"At least with all this misery and bloodshed behind them, their country might finally get a chance at a decent democratic rule after decades of Mobutu dictatorship," Touki muttered while watching a speech by new Congolese President Kabila.
"Yes, Oniisan," Natsuko said in a hauty voice. "What those people experienced is real misery.
You'd thank your lucky stars for the life of luxury you now lead if Japan ever experienced a civil war."
"Oh? But I guarantee you would miss your life of luxury a lot more than I do if it ever came to that!"
"I would? I can't say I have a personal maid coming in to do my dishes on a regular basis!"
"Ami-chan does precious little of my dishes since I own a perfectly adequate dishwasher!"
"I'll have you warned not to bother Mizuno-san with your nonsense when Ryo visits her during their summer break!"
"And what nonsense would that be, pray tell?!"
"How is Ryo-kun doing on his finals so far?" Ami strategically asked her future mother-in-law.
"Ryo has been doing great, Ami-chan." The brown-bobbed woman in the white shirt and green dress smiled at her. "He says he hopes to finally outdo you, so you'll look forward to comparing results when he leaves Hiroshima to move in with you for the summer."
"Good plan, letting two teenagers in love to live together with minimal supervision," Touki snapped, seething because his sister had first; come by unannounced while he was exhausted from work and kept ringing the bell until he woke up, and second; called the problems he had to struggle with nonsense. "Not that Ami-chan and Ryo-kun aren't wise and dependable enough."
"That's right. They are," Natsuki glared. "And I trust Ami's mother to provide adequate parental supervision."
"Mother will have to work though," Ami carefully commented. "So we will be left to ourselves most of the time. But rest assured, we have only wholesome plans."
As to the nature of those "wholesome" plans, the blue-haired genius did not elaborate.
"So that asshole had you waste your study time on his "motivational assignment" during final exams?" Kaede Ôta asked her brother while sitting on his bed with her long legs crossed. "Is that guy trying to turn you into a ronin? I can't believe this nonsense!"
The brunette in the scarlet shirtdress watched the back of her younger brother as he sat bowed over his physics textbook.
"Hmhm… It's not so bad for Ami-chan, although her friends took offense to her having to do the assignment with me. But I need my study time."
"Don't take it too hard, Haru-kun. I know if you put your mind to it, you'll get through this. Stay strong. Your Onee-san is confident you can do it."
Haruto turned to look behind him and forced a smile.
"Thank you, Onee-san," He said. "But I need to be alone now to continue my study."
"You're absolutely right!" A startled Kaede nodded as she jumped from her brother's bed and proceeded to walk toward the door. "I'll leave you to it. Fight on, Haru-kun!"
Haruto watched her close the door behind her with a wink.
Left to his own devices, the boy with the messy dark-brown hair once more bowed over his textbook and crammed his ass off.
Or at least, as much as the fatigue that plagued him allowed him to do.
What really caused Haruto's near-constant lethargic state was not that he was lazy.
Haruto was perfectly happy working on an assignment with clear-cut goals and a straightforward enough way to get there. In fact, he could get positively wrapped up in a challenging assignment that he could handle.
It wasn't that he stayed up late watching anime either. Haruto set the video recorder if there was a late-night show he didn't want to miss and watched it in his room over the weekend.
The second bane of Haruto's existence - although just like the fact that his brain worked slower than that of the average person wasn't something he was yet aware of at this age - was the fact that he could never really get rested.
Haruto was a boy who went through life with a near-constant haze hanging over his brain that impeded his every function.
What worked against the young man in figuring out what ailed him was that there was no name for his condition. Although if his condition had been documented, chances are nobody would be interested in studying it or in helping people like him find solutions on how to deal with the problem.
This sleep deprivation was caused by the fact that Haruto was never able to achieve a deep sleep for long, and the slightest noises pulled him out of his R.E.M. phase or sometimes woke him up completely.
Haruto wasn't aware yet of his condition, but considering the situation he was in, he was well aware that he needed help to get more study time without becoming a zombie when it was time to bring forth the results of that study time.
The young man's mind had slipped off and he was staring at the EVA units he had proudly displayed inside a cabinet to the left of his room when his mother knocked on the door and entered with a portable phone in hand.
"Haru-kun! You have a telephone call from Ritsu-kun!"
"Alright, I'll come and get it," Haruto said while getting up and walking to the door.
"Don't talk too long, right?" Himari Ôta told her son. "You still have to bring the garbage downstairs and study."
"Alright, I'll keep it short," Her son nodded as he took the portable device from her.
"Why that boy can't walk over and come in if he wants to talk to you is beyond me," The woman with the white bob sighed as she closed the door.
"Hey," Haruto nervously greeted his next-door neighbor on the phone.
"I got it," Came the equally short answer. "Where do you want to pick it up? Not at my place of course."
"I know where we can meet casually," Haruto said.
As he walked through the hallway with the garbage bag in his hand, Haruto hoped his nervousness wasn't visible to others.
What he was going to do was illegal and was going to cost him a lot of money.
He had been saving up all month, because he knew he was going to need the pills Ritsu Ueda proposed to sell him.
To his fright, the young man with the messy dark-brown haircut saw Nobu Ueda walking up the stairs. With all the stealth he could muster, Haruto tried to hide the bag behind his back and hoped the dark hallway and the school uniform he was still wearing would obscure it from view.
"What are you doing out this late?" Nobu roughly asked.
"I'm just going for a walk," Haruto said, internally infuriated that his neighbor would demand to know what he was doing.
"Why don't you wash your father's car, you lazy kid?" The bearded and bespectacled man haughtily said as he passed the boy by.
Forgetting about the need for stealth, Haruto fumed internally about the affront.
'Why don't you just die, you gossiping trash!' The boy angrily thought to himself. 'Trash like you that always looks down on other people should really die!
Haha. If you knew the kinds of things your beloved son is doing, you'd have the sense not to talk ill of others.'
Daydreaming up a suitable fate for the neighbor who was always gossiping about him to other people in the apartment building while the burning venom of psychological terror and humiliation was pumping through his veins, Haruto pressed the button on the elevator and stepped inside when it arrived.
Within minutes, the boy found himself at the subterranean waste separation hall next to the parking space.
Trying to look casual, he walked on until he arrived at the organic waste container for his floor and dropped the bag in it.
A tough-looking bespectacled young man with curly black hair was standing next to him in his school uniform.
"Hello, Haru-kun," Ritsu curtly nodded.
"Hello."
In an attempt to make the proceeding run smoothly, Ristu handed his neighbor a little plastic bag by way of a quick handshake.
Haruto attempted the same and tried to slip the money he promised Ritsu into his side pocket.
This failed, however, and the paper money fell on the floor.
"Idiot," Ritsu cursed as he knelt to pick up the money.
This was the moment when, for the first time since regularly visiting Touki Urawa, Ami spotted Haruto in the building while bringing down Touki's garbage after having had dinner with him and his sister.
The bluette walked up to the two young men with a smile on her face, intending to share her thoughts with Haruto.
She had become rather fond of Haruto because in her eyes the boy had taught her an important lesson: Powerful people may move mountains, but weak people struggle through life every day with the limited abilities they possess.
That is how Haruto inspired the Senshi of water and wisdom to stop worrying about her lack of magical power and do what she can with the power she has.
Before she closed the distance of about five meters, however, another young woman had something to share with Ami's classmate.
"Maybe those pills will also help you find that girlfriend you've been dreaming of," An incorporeal Gretchen nastily whispered into Haruto's ear while Ritsu got up after picking up his classmate's money and walked away.
"Huh," Haruto frowned while Gretchen Meijer dropped a ball of clay near his feet. "Did you say something, Ritsu-kun?"
"Now, Struwwelpeter!" The blonde exclaimed as she revealed herself in her 17th-century clothing. "Catch your prey for the Soul Merchants!"
Ami hid behind a wall as the golem encapsulated a frantically screaming Haruto.
Ritsu ran from the scene upon seeing what was happening behind him.
"This is Mercury to all on patrol! I am at the scene of an attack! Come quickly!"
Knowing that her friends would find her location via the geolocation tracking system built into the new Sailor Communicators, there was nothing left to the bluette but to transform.
The Mercury symbol activated on the fluid blue Mercury Orb as Ami exclaimed her transformation command: "Mercury Crystal Power, Make Up!"
Ami raised her Crystal Change Rod in her right hand, the Mercury Orb attaching itself to the rod.
The blue Mercury symbol then launched itself from the orb of the Crystal Change Rod and five swelling currents of water flowed from the tips of the star on top.
The young woman twirled around her axis while the swelling currents of water washed around her body until it was submerged in the cool liquid.
Standing with her feet close together, Ami joined her hands while firmly holding onto the Crystal Change Rod.
Large ripples expanded from the water's surface around Ami's body while it was momentarily illuminated in a shimmer of bright light.
Bubbles burst from around Ami's body and the light flashed itself out, revealing Super Sailor Mercury as she turned around, dressed in her deep blue boots, her blue skirt with the large light-blue bow on her lower back, her long white gloves, her white leotard and the deep blue heart at the center of the light-blue bow over her breasts, her segmented white shoulder pads, her blue neckerchief, and the golden tiara with the deep blue crystal on her forehead.
Super Sailor Mercury raised her arms while the two long light-blue ribbons attached to the back of her skirt trailed around her.
A shiny bright harp appeared behind her as she struck a pose, standing in an A-stance with her arms lowered to the sides.
A foul stench pervaded the basement, stronger than the stench that hung over the waste separation area before the attack.
Sailor Mercury was still hiding from her opponents, but she could hear something big crawling towards her.
Slither. Slither. Slither. Slither.
Struwwelpeter slowly made its way towards her.
"I know you are here!" Mercury heard Gretchen crow. "You are all alone, so I won't miss this chance to take you out, Sailor Mercury!"
Slither. Slither. Slither. Slither.
A jumbled mess of pale wiry things came into view to Mercury's left as the stench became so strong it was almost overpowering.
"While Struwwelpeter suffocates you, I will freeze off every entrance to keep your friends from saving you! I'm sorry to be so cruel, but you entrapped yourself here! May God have mercy on your soul!"
Slither. Slither. Slither.
As the mass of pale wires grew, Mercury finally realized she was looking at human hair and horribly long fingernails.
She saw a young woman with long blonde hair done up and covered by a beige silken bonnet who was dressed in a long salmon-red dress with a broad beige band along the hem of the skirt and a light-green bodice pass her by as she stood waiting for Struwwelpeter to reveal himself.
"Who are you?" The bluette called out.
"Never mind my name," Gretchen responded without stopping on her way to the elevator. "You'd better worry about my golem."
Mercury decided to run to the young woman, but as she moved forward, her ankle was caught in the mass of fingernails of Struwwelpeter's right hand.
Turning around, the Senshi of water and wisdom saw the huge filthy humanoid creature with overgrown finger-and-toe nails and meter-long hair crawling toward her.
"Bubbleee!" She exclaimed.
A tiny light appeared between her hands as the bluette focused her power.
Spinning around once, Mercury crossed her arms before her face with the tiny light gathering power in front of the cross.
"Spray!"
Sailor Mercury spread her arms wide, and - from the tiny light - a multitude of water bubbles burst forth all around her, which formed an impenetrable wall between her and Struwwelpeter.
Gretchen just had enough time to blast a shower of freezing water into the elevator shaft before she heard Mercury's footsteps coming to a halt behind her.
"You didn't think our discussion would end there, I hope," The Senshi of water and wisdom glared at her foe. "You took two souls that are very important to a friend of a friend of mine, and I'm going to make you return them."
"I'm sorry," Gretchen firmly stated. "But those souls have already been purchased."
"By whom?" Mercury demanded while standing ready to attack.
"By someone who put me through a lot worse than you can ever hope to do," Gretchen snarled before she thrust her right hand forward and blasted Mercury with freezing water.
"Mercury!"
The symbol of Mercury appeared in the palm of Mercury's hand, a roaring maelström washing out of it.
"Aqua Rhapsody!"
The maelström shaped itself into a silver harp which Mercury played with virtuosity.
Unbound streams of water burst forth from the instrument and merged into an unstoppable vortex that launched straight at its target.
The two young women stood blasting each other with their attacks. Gretchen's attack created a wall of ice between them, which Mercury's attack broke into pieces, only for it to be frozen solid again as the two attacks kept colliding.
"If someone has hurt you, my friends and I can protect you against them!" Mercury exclaimed. "We overcome threats much greater than you can possibly imagine!"
With a glance at Struwwelpeter - who was ineffectually trying to crawl through the impregnable wall of bubbles that separated him from his prey - the bluette redoubled her efforts and hoped her saviors might quickly arrive.
They did.
"Ugh!" Sailor Uranus exclaimed as she and her lover made their way to the scene via the underground parking lot next to the waste separation area. "What is this horrible smell?"
"Lazy people stink, don't they? Hahaha," Struwwelpeter chuckled as he moved his right arm in Uranus's direction and caught her feet in the coils of his fingernails.
"Don't you dare call Haru-kun lazy, you disgusting monster!" Mercury angrily exclaimed before turning to Gretchen. "Both of you need to surrender! You are the one who entrapped herself now and your golem is outnumbered!"
Gretchen gritted her teeth as the truth of her adversary's words became apparent to her.
"Time to disengage, Struwwelpeter!" Someone called out from behind Sailor Neptune. "This buffoon forgot a little something called STRATEGY and lost her advantage! Let's get out of here and save the day another time!"
"What?!" Neptune exclaimed while seeking cover from the hail of pebbles that were being thrown at her and Uranus.
Mercury observed with wonder how a boy with dark-brown hair and a comical yet manly face and a bespectacled girl with long wavy black hair and a cute butterfly clip over her right ear stood at the entrance to the subterranean parking lot, attacking her friends.
To her relief and dismay, Struwwelpeter came undone from Haruto, leaving the unconscious young man to drop to the floor like a sack of rice while the golem turned into a child-sized homunculus with long hair but normal-sized finger-and-toe nails.
"So this is what happened to the unnacounted golems," Gretchen muttered while Uranus chased after the three homunculi into the parking lot. "They formed a little group of their own."
Upon hearing a loud crash, the blonde turned to the elevator and saw that the door was open and the shaft was freed from the ice she had injected into it.
"Faust," The young woman said under her breath with a mixture of gratitude and displeasure in her voice.
"Faust?" Mercury repeated in shock as her opponent ran and entered the elevator to safety.
Behind her, Uranus came back from her chase to shake her head at Neptune.
"I'm sorry for being useless," The blonde tomboy addressed Mercury. "I'm afraid they got away."
"No person is ever useless, Sailor Uranus," Mercury smiled as she dissolved the wall of bubbles and joined her friends.
"Huh," Uranus chuckled. "I wouldn't say that."
"But I would," Mercury stated. "We managed to save the person the Sould Merchants were targeting today and received valuable information, so I count today as a good day.
Even though tomorrow may not turn out to be such a good day for Haru-kun."
When Haruto came too, his initially blurred vision saw two clear blue eyes smile at him.
Good morning, sleeping beauty," Ami giggled. "I'm sorry for laughing, Haru-kun, but you're not exactly fighting the gossip about you being lazy by falling asleep amidst the dumpsters."
"Huh? I'm still in the waste separation area?" The boy with the messy dark-brown hair quietly said. "I fell asleep? I had the worst nightmare. There was a monster that took over my body. Sailor Mercury was there and…"
"Sailor Mercury?" Ami laughed. "In any case, there are no monsters here, Haru-kun. Though with how late it has become, we'll have a beast of a time studying for Physics tomorrow."
"That's right!" Haruto exclaimed as he sat up in an instant. I need to hurry back to my room and study."
"That's right, but Haru-kun…?" Ami said.
Haruto observed that bluette. Once more, she looked at him in that strange way.
"Do your best, Haru-kun," She said. "But don't beat yourself up over it if you fail tomorrow's test. It is important, but there are more instances in which you can make up for it in the future. And even if you fail those… Even if you fail at life… Don't blame yourself. The most important thing is that you keep trying to survive and grab those few instances where you do succeed with both hands."
Haruto only half understood what Ami was trying to tell him, but one thing he did understand now. He finally knew what the strange look meant.
As he got up and dusted himself off, this newfound knowledge gave him a boost of courage for the hours ahead. But this knowledge wasn't the only thing that gave Haruto courage. There was something else. Something neither the golem nor Sailor Mercury had found in the pocket of his navy-blue trousers.