Hideo sat up in bed slowly. He had been sleeping more comfortably than he normally did. He often suffered from insomnia, but tonight it hadn’t seemed to affect him until something mysteriously woke him. There wasn’t a sound in his room and the only movement was the gentle sway of curtains in front of his open window. He shifted his gaze to the curtains, hardly daring to breathe. Something agitated his entire being; almost frightened him and the sudden realization that he had not left the window open earlier only caused his silent panic to increase. He dared only to move his eyes around the room hoping that there was truly nothing there. The shadows were all still and betrayed nothing that might be hiding within their black depths. He so desperately wanted to turn on the light and after several agonizing minutes of fearing the unseen he slowly reached over to his night table, but stopped just inches from the light switch as a shadow moved.

“Please, do not turn on the light,” a slightly hard, but still gentle voice said from deep with in the darkness of the room.

“Who are you?” Hideo breathed frightened as a shadow darted around the room, never stopping long enough to reveal who moved within it. It stopped abruptly right at the foot of Hideo’s bed and the poor man shivered fearfully.

“Do not fear, I will not hurt you,” the voice spoke again. From the darkness at the end of the bed emerged a tall woman shrouded in mystery by the darkness of the night, but all the same, familiar to Hideo.

“You?” Hideo questioned incredulously his fear leaving him as quickly as it had come. “Sailor Jupiter?”

“Yes,” she replied as Hideo stood up. He was in a pair of black pants, but with no shirt on. “Here.” She handed the once bloodstained shirt out to him. Hideo looked at his shirt and swore he almost saw her hands tremble beneath it.

“Thank you,” he said as he accepted the shirt back. She turned away from him and moved towards the window from which she had entered. Hideo looked up to see her leaving. “Wait!” he cried quickly.

“What?” she asked, one hand on the windowsill.

“Umm…well,” Hideo tried desperately to think of something that would keep her in his company even for a little bit more, “I wanted to thank you for saving me and I didn’t mean for you to get hurt.” He clutched the shirt in front of him, imploring that she say more to him.

“You’re welcome and don’t worry I was hardly hurt,” she replied easing her grip on the windowsill slightly.

“…Why did you do it?” he asked sheepishly. Jupiter stepped back from the widow and stared at him.

“You think us so cold-hearted that we wouldn’t save innocent people? We are people too, Kimura-san,” the woman replied rather coldly. “We have feelings.”

“No, I didn’t mean it to sound that way…it’s just that it seemed like an annoyance for you to save me like you did,” Hideo explained quietly.

“I had a job to do. There is no room for any gentleness when your life could be taken in a split-second. Not to mention I don’t know anyone who’s just stumbled into a youma attack,” Jupiter said, a twisted grin on her face. Hideo blushed at this. He couldn’t imagine what he had been thinking to just walk into danger like that. Jupiter smiled at the blush.

“You’re strong…” Hideo said softly and looked up with beautiful gray eyes that shone clearly in the moonlight. Jupiter gave him a baffled look, but remained silent. “I’m sorry, I just have been thinking of you a lot. It really disappointed me when the Senshi in orange had said I would never see you again,” Hideo continued, trying to express what the meeting had meant to him. “You’re special and I’ve never met anyone like you before.”

“You’re prejudging, Kimura-san,” Jupiter shook her head. “I’m just a normal person with a difficult job to do. I’m no stronger than you are and definitely not special. You bring thousands of people happiness and for that I admire you.”

“But you protect the entire planet,” Hideo replied, slightly confused.

“I protect the innocent, but I am not known for it. The Senshi are shadows, legends hardly believed in. That is no image of greatness. I do what I must. I would have to say you had the unfortunate luck of discovering that the Senshi are real,” Jupiter said softly.

“Why unfortunate? You have a life that no mortal could dream of!” His eyes shone with happiness. Jupiter gave him a sad smile.

“You know of us, but no one will believe you,” Jupiter replied. “Being a Senshi is more than just an adventure, Kimura-san, it brings quite a bit of loss and sadness.” Hideo’s eyes dulled slightly as he saw her sad stare. She was so different from when he had met her on the street, so emotional and human. Hideo didn’t care what she said, she was special, Senshi or not. “I must go.” Jupiter turned back to the windowsill and paused a moment. “I’m sorry, Kimura-san, I didn’t mean to sound so down. I shouldn’t have said all that.” She smiled for him and prepared to jump from the window.

“Will I get to see you again?” Hideo asked quickly. Jupiter turned her head towards him watching him stand there watching her back.

“Probably not,” she replied and Hideo’s heart sank, however the large grin she gave him afterwards sparked hope in his heart and he smiled back. In an instant she was gone, jumping from the window and disappeared back into the night.

“Wait ‘till I tell He-chan about this one,” Hideo breathed and fell back on his bed.

Rei walked through the palace enjoying the dark solitude of the early morning. The times when she got to walk by herself at night became fewer as the years passed. She couldn’t remember when her life had turned from being enjoyable and carefree to constant work without a moment’s rest. She was happy though with her husband and family and her friends, but sometimes she just needed to be alone. It was now that she could think about all that she had done in her extremely long life. When she had been back in high school she’d never thought that her life would continue for several thousand years after her seventeenth birthday. Birthdays were obsolete now, since she’d lost count around two thousand five hundred or so. Life then had seemed to be a normal thing and she was just like everyone else. However now she knew that she was different from everyone else. She’d known that the moment Crystal Tokyo had risen, but it was only at times like this that her actually age occurred to her. She hadn’t grown tired of living and it wasn’t like she couldn’t end her life if she wanted too, but sometimes she felt frozen watching generations pass, powers rise and fall, wars be won and lost, people live and die and it all happened in an eye blink to her. Five years seemed like a week in her mind. Rei wondered if Neo-Queen Serenity ever thought about her life like this, whether she ever got tired of living. Or even the other Senshi that while dealing with their difficult jobs, did they ever believe it was not longer worth it. Rei shook her and smiled at her thoughts. It was as a Senshi that she felt the most alive, moving and changing as power surged through her. Unfortunately there was little need for the Senshi in the thirtieth century, which should’ve been a happy thing after all the Senshi had suffered, but still Rei missed being Sailor Mars.

She sighed and started down the hall again. A sound caught her fine tuned ears and she stopped, concealing herself in silence and darkness. Someone was coming down the hall around the corner. She peered around the wall, wondering who else was up so late. She almost called Makoto’s name, but decided against it when catching the expression of her friend’s face. She slid back behind the wall and watched Makoto pass without being seen. She nearly gasped in surprise when she saw tears falling from the woman’s eyes. As quickly as she had come Makoto disappeared back down the other end of the hall, but Rei had seen the tears in her eyes and heard her angry murmurs.

“What is wrong with her?” Rei thought to herself. “I haven’t seen Makoto actually shed a tear in a hundred years at least. What was she doing?” Rei wasn’t completely sure what to do. Whatever Makoto had been up to must’ve been secret if she’d done it so late at night. Somehow Rei knew just asking her friend wouldn’t get her anywhere. “I’ll have to keep my eye on her,” she thought firmly.

Makoto thought she felt someone else present in the hall as she passed, but she was too distressed to think about it.

“Stupid!” she cried softly to herself, trying to hold back the tears burning in her eyes. She wasn’t sure what had her so upset; something about the conversation with the man had made her sad and confused. She felt a mixture of hate, sadness, happiness, and newness and she wasn’t sure which feelings were for her and which were for the man. “What the hell are you doing?!” She clenched her fists and walked faster down the hall he tears running painfully down her cheeks.

“Where are you going, Mako-chan?” Minako asked, as Makoto got dressed. “And what are you planning on wearing?” She eyed the clothes her friend was putting on suspiciously. “These are hardly normal going to town clothes especially for you.”

“I know that, but where I am going there’s as good chance I could be recognized. I don’t want to stir up any trouble at this event. It doesn’t matter these clothes will work perfectly,” Makoto replied as she buttoned up the green shirt and tucked it into the shiny black pants buckling the buckle of the narrow belt. Then she pulled on the second loose, but this time white shirt. It much resembled the one that the man she had saved had used as a bandage. Lastly she placed a shallow white cap on her head.

“Now where the heck are you going where that could possibly be considered normal?” Minako asked looking over Makoto’s attire. The outfit was nice, in fact extremely nice, just extremely surreal as well. It just didn’t seem to fit Makoto’s serious attitude.

“I’m going to a concert,” Makoto answered while tying the laces on a pair of army boots.

“What kind of concert?” Minako asked, getting frustrated at her friend’s evasion.

“The one at the Tokyo Dome,” Makoto replied. “I promised a friend I would see him perform.”

“Mako-chan, if I’m not mistaken that is a rock concert and it was sold out several months ago,” Minako speculated incredulously. This was unlike Makoto, but as Minako thought about it this sort of behavior wouldn’t be abnormal for the Makoto she had first met so long ago. Makoto had changed a lot since then, of course they all had, but Makoto most drastically. That determinedness and inexhaustible curiosity seemed to have been dulled by the years.

“Yes, that’s right, but my friend gave me a ticket. How do you know about it?” Makoto asked while lacing up the other boot.

“Oh come now Mako-chan, my youngest daughter is Kuranai fanatic, she’s talked of nothing else since they announced the concert. But unfortunately she is grounded and will not be attending,” Minako replied with a shrug. “Doesn’t matter I couldn’t get a hold of any tickets anyway.” She then looked at Makoto suspiciously. “Who exactly is this friend?”

“I met him in America, he’s the drummer and pianist for the band,” Makoto explained and stood up straightening her outfit.

“You met a member of the band?” Minako sounded doubtful.

“Yes, his name is Isamu Hayashi or Henge I guess is what you would know him by,” Makoto replied and headed for the door.

“What exactly did you do while in America?” Minako gave her a devilishly curious look.

“Absolutely nothing!” Makoto replied quickly and stepped out the door. “So don’t even think about what I know you are thinking about.”

“Sure! But I know the truth!” Minako yelled and went after her friend.

It was almost unbearably noisy at the Tokyo Dome, but Makoto found herself enjoying the crazed atmosphere and gleeful chatter of people much younger than herself. She felt rather out of place amongst the numerous young girls and boys. It reminded her of the times she had gone to the Starlights’ concerts so many yeas ago. It was a shame that they had not been reincarnated, they could’ve appealed to hundreds of generations. She was able to get into the concert hall rather quickly and shuffled through the hordes of people to get closer to the stage. The Dome was huge, Makoto didn’t think she’d ever been in it before and its shear size was amazing. After securing a spot she found herself packed in around thousands of other fans with barely any room in which to move. It seemed like forever before the entire place was filled and concert began. When it did begin the crowd went into an uproar.

“They sure are popular,” she murmured to herself. The roar grew as the band members appeared on stage. It had been dark at first, but a laser light shot around stage and a woman’s voice announced names.

“Kanta…” A green light clicked on and illuminated a space for just one man and in the center stood the guitarist, his long hair put up in a crazy style. His clothes were orange, a tight shirt and bell-bottom pants. Makoto smirked at his attire, and Minako had said hers was weird.

“Henge…” A smile formed on Makoto’s lips as her newly met friend was introduced. A blue light shone and illuminated him standing by a silver and black drum set. He wore no shirt, just a black pair of leather pants. His hair hung stringy and unkempt around his face as he looked at the ground.

“Yoshikazu…” An orange light illuminated a man much shorter than the other two. He stood behind a microphone and was wearing a baggy thin white shirt unbuttoned in the front. His hair was more blonde than Henge’s and styled into several spikes sticking straight up from his head. Makoto laughed slightly.

“Hideo…” Makoto inhaled slightly as the name was said. An incredible cheer rose as a red light illuminated the final member and leader of the band. Makoto recognized him all to well. He wore another one of the strange shirts that were long in back, but this one was a dark red and so was the pair of wavy pants that covered his lower half. His pale chest was exposed and the familiar sunglasses graced his nose, concealing his eyes. He held a dark red guitar and a microphone was standing in front of him. He looked exquisite in the red, but Makoto wasn’t quite so pleased to see him.

“Kuranai…” The announcer finished the introductions and the stage exploded into a maze of color and sound.

Makoto didn’t get into the festivities of the concert nearly as much as the crowd around her did. In fact some things she couldn’t even see herself having done at that age. But still she enjoyed the concert and the confusing, and somewhat bad, memory of the previous night began to fade. The difference in both Henge’s and Kimura’s personalities surprised her. On stage they became so involved, not quite as much as the main vocalist and the other guitar player, who were extremely good at crowd pleasing, but the drummer and guitarist were no longer so timid and polite as they were in person. Their songs often were angry and Henge was an extremely violent drummer. On several occasions Makoto was sure he was going to bust the entire set, like he was mad at it for being less than perfect. Kimura on the other hand ran around stage while playing his guitar, and often shed articles of clothing and threw them into the crowd. The vocalist destroyed the stand on which his microphone was kept about half way through the performance and often talked to the crowd or more shouted at the crowd to get them to sing as well. Lastly the bass guitarist while joining Kimura in running around stage often shouted profanity, though it was usually part of a song. He would get down on his knees and reach out at the crowd or throw souvenirs to increase the excitement. Makoto could tell that he had to be one of the favorites. Though shocked at first by the display, she quickly found herself enjoying it and realized that this sort of thing was something she had once done as well. Not much about rock had changed since she was a teenager.

The end of the concert brought about a sadness with the crowd. They cried for encores and kept the ending song going for several minutes after the vocalist had finished. The four members of the band came together and stood in a row. Hideo took off the sunglasses that had been on his face for the entire performance and threw them onto the stage. The band took each other’s hands and raised their arms up and then bowed out as the lights shut off. The crowd screamed and voice spoke.

“Domo arigato, sayonara!” A single white light lit up Hideo and after he was finished speaking he stepped on the sunglasses crushing them beneath his foot. Makoto wondered why he did this, but a girl next to her informed her that this was how, “Hideo-chan” as she called him, always ended his concerts.