Moon: Tsukino Usagi
Venus: Aino Minako
Mars: Hino Rei
Jupiter: Kino Makoto
Mercury: Mizuno Ami
Endymion: Chiba Mamoru
Kunzite: Seishou Kouseinou
Jadeite: Tabiki Kasen
Nephrite: Kousei Kyosei
Zoicite: Kouseki Yosouya
Chapter 1-We'll Meet Again...
Aino Minako was finally on a plane back home, back to her beloved Juuban district in Tokyo, Japan. She pressed her fingers against the frosty glass of the airplane window. It was very dark outside, and most of the passengers were sleeping. Nevertheless, she could see stars outside in the night and admired their ethereal beauty. Her seat partner, who had introduced himself as Kousei Kyosei and after they had traded formalities and a little information about themselves, who she thought was sleeping, startled her by saying softly, "They're magnificent, ne?"
Looking at him, she nodded, surprised that he was awake. "Do you like the stars, Kyosei-san?"
"Hai. So, you're going to be a junior in high school when you get back, right?"
"Mm hm. What about you?"
Smiling, he winked one navy blue eye and teased, "You'll have to address me as senpai, Minako-san. I'll be starting my first year of college." Leaning back in his seat and chuckling at her indignant look, he suddenly sat upright when a strange picture came to mind; an image of four very beautiful, uniformed women. One was brunette, another blonde, and two were dark-haired. Pushing aside the odd prophecy that he was used to, he said, "So, do you have a boyfriend?"
Blinking at him, Minako stared into the distant darkness of the sky for a long moment before answering, "Iie...iie. But there's someone that I want to see again. A childhood friend."
"What's his name?"
"His name? His name is...Seishou Kouseinou."
*flashback*
Aino Minako ran gaily through the park, laughing and trying to elude "It," in the game of tag she and her friends were playing. Laughing harder than ever and clutching her little six-year-old stomach, she wasn't looking where she was going and crashed into someone. When she gazed up, clear crystal blue met annoyed silver eyes. An older boy around ten years old, she guessed, was glaring down at her.
"Hey, little girl," he said, with all the superiority of his ten years that he could muster, "why don't you watch where you're going?"
Blushing, she looked down at her muddy, sandy shoes and mumbled, "Gomen." After a moment, Minako looked up once more and asked, "How come you were playing all alone? Do you want to play tag with me and my friends?"
His shoulders slouched in embarrassment, the older boy muttered, "Iie, arigato. I was alone, because I don't have many friends. Actually, I don't have any friends at all."
Just then, one of Minako's many friends ran over and said, "Mina-chan, you're it!"
She grinned at the person she'd bumped into before and said, "Maybe it's ‘cause you're a little snobby. Now, come on and play! You can meet my friends!" The blue-eyed girl, hair caught in a high ponytail, asked him, "What's your name?"
"Seishou Kouseinou."
"I'm Minako. Hajimemashite!"
"Hajimemashite, Minako-san."
She regarded him imperiously for a moment, then proclaimed, "Call me Mina-chan. We'll be friends." Minako lightly tagged the silver-haired boy and ran away, calling back, "You're It, Kousei-kun! Come on!"
Shaking heavy silver bangs out of wide eyes of the same hue, the boy shrugged for a moment, forgot his older "authority", and ran after the little blonde and her friends.
*end flashback*
~ * ~ * ~
Hino Rei and Seishou Kouseinou walked along the street, both of them silent and occupied in their thoughts. While he was thinking about the future, she was recalling her past. A past she knew she should let go of, but it had traumatized her so much, emotionally, physically, mentally...
*flashback*
Rei looked up, frightened, when her father called her. She hoped she wasn't in for another beating, like the last time she tripped had down the stairs and broken a vase. Wincing, the tiny dark-haired one rubbed her old scars and bruises, proceeding fearfully down the stairs. Her mother was trying to hold back a furious, drunken husband. It was a familiar picture to her, one that haunted her nightmares and during every waking moment of her life.
"You filthy little brat, I've had enough of you in this house. Your mother and I have no more money to keep you, and you're going to your grandfather's temple to stay. Go pack your things." When the child just stared at her mother, who was sobbing, her father hit her hard across the face.
Silently clutching the reddish-purple palm print inflicted upon her delicate, ivory skin, Rei fled upstairs to get a battered suitcase. She shoved her one stuffed animal inside, which was a grimy and battered old crow, clothes, toothpaste and toothbrush (her mother had watched ardently over her child, making sure she brushed every night), and her hair brush. A few moments later, the five-year old stuffed herself into a too-small coat and went downstairs, lugging her suitcase. Her father snatched it up, because it light for him but heavy for his small daughter. Rei's mother kissed her and said goodbye, trying not to look into her daughter's large purple eyes. She brushed away shiny, dark bangs and fled upstairs in tears. Shaking her head in wonderment, Rei still said nothing and followed her father out to the car. During the silent ride, she stared out the window, never saying a thing. The hand print, now purplish-blue, didn't seem to affect her. How her father managed to drive in his inebriated state, she would never know.
Once they reached the shrine, Mr. Hino hollered, "FATHER-IN-LAW!"
The head priest hurried out to see who called him with such importance in his tone, then glared in disgust at his son-in-law. He had taken his only daughter away and abused her everyday, but there was nothing he could do. "What is it?"
"Your daughter failed to produce any sons. This is the product of our miserable marriage, and I can't afford to feed her."
Coolly, the little, brown-skinned man stated, "You mean you drank your pay. Spent it on yourself, prostitutes, petty extravagances."
"Shut up. Have some respect. She's yours now. Take care of her or throw her to the wolves, your choice. Knowing you, she'll grow up to be some idiot priestess with no knowledge of anything but fire rituals."
"The young are supposed to show respect for their elders. At least my granddaughter isn't beyond saving. I lost my daughter to your appetite. You never deserved her. Get off my grounds."
When a red-faced, furious senator Hino was thrown unceremoniously off the grounds and had driven away, he knelt and turned to the petite child. "Konnichiwa, Rei-chan."
Seriously, her large purple eyes gazed into his. Then, Rei spoke the first words she had spoken for a month, besides answering to her abusive father. "Konnichiwa, ojii-san."
*end flashback*
Meanwhile, as Rei was lost in shadows of the past, Kouseinou guided her path safely to her home. They had met in an abrupt storm one day: the silver-haired boy had been on his way back from school, and she had been reading under a tree in the park he used to play at with one Aino Minako. Offering his rather dilapidated umbrella to the girl he had bumped into, they had become acquaintances and slowly friends. Never of them trusted others fast, but each had friendly influences that compelled them to become more open... Kouseinou's was Tabiki Kasen, and Rei's was Tsukino Usagi. Thank goodness Rei was happier now, seeing the brighter side of things–and life.
*flashback*
"Hey. Are you the one they call the ‘silent one?' The one who never says anything?"
Kouseinou thought for a minute of the replies he could make, then nodded. "Hai."
Sitting down next to him, the blonde smiled cheerily. "Well, I guess you aren't silent. You just said ‘hai.' I'm Kasen. What's your name?"
"I'm...Kouseinou. Seishou Kouseinou."
Grabbing the sleeve of another blond-haired boy, Kasen grinned at the silver-haired one. "This is my younger brother, Yosouya. Souya-kun! Wake up! This is Kouseinou-kun."
Shaken out of his daydreams, Yosouya looked down at the two and smiled. "Konnichiwa. Hajimemashite."
"Hajimemashite...to both of you."
*end flashback*
~ * ~ * ~
"And...first place for the Japanese Women's Junior Competition is....Miss Mizuno Ami!!!"
Ami looked up brightly as her coach draped a towel around her shoulders, ignoring the fact that she and her sopping hair dripped wetly. It had taken a while, but she had finally gotten her dream...a dream inspired by someone she had met so long ago but had to leave. The world fell away as she reminisced about the past...
*flashback*
"Hey. I'm Kouseki Yosouya."
"Mizuno Ami," she replied shyly, meeting the boy's intense green eyes. She guessed that he was one or two years older than her and admired his swimming form. "I was just watching you a few minutes ago...you're wonderful! I want to look just like you, the way you look so natural in the water."
Blushing, he bowed and thanked her. "Arigato gozaimisu, Ami-san. So, why aren't you swimming? Don't you like the water? It feels great."
Wistfully, she said, "I love water. But even though it's calm, peaceful, and flowing...I don't feel a connection to it."
"You have to. You should."
"Nani? Why?" she asked in surprise, looking at him.
Smiling warmly at her, he answered, "Because you're a friend of water, Ami-san. Something about you and your spirit reminds me of water, so fluid and gentle. Do you know how to swim?"
"Iie..."
"Then maybe that's the problem. Will you let me teach you?"
"Hai."
Holding out his hand to her, he said, "Never be afraid to express yourself, Ami-san. Don't close the world off. You need to let the world see that beautiful soul of yours."
*end flashback*
And she had done exactly what she had told her to, even though she had had to move from Hokkaido to Juuban when her mother's hospital transferred her. Still, she had never forgotten Yosouya, his perceptiveness, and the way he had motivated her. If she ever saw him again, she would tell him how much his kind words and actions had meant to her.
~ * ~ * ~
"Matte! Souya-kun!"
The blond-haired boy turned around and waved casually, waiting for his friend to catch up. "Hey, Mamoru-kun. Thanks again for all your help in my college applications and everything. I couldn't have done it without you."
"It's no problem," Mamoru smiled. "Besides, what are friends for?"
‘What are friends for...' He remembered another time he had heard those words from the same person, in just that tone of voice.
*flashback*
Yosouya glared balefully at the older and bigger boys that formed a circle around him, wiping away the blood streaming from his nose. "Leave me alone."
"I don't think so," their leader sneered, showing his fists again. "You stay away from my girlfriend, Kouseki Yosouya."
"It's not my fault that Naisu-chan's boyfriend is such a loser. Besides, aren't you supposedly so full of yourself? Do you think a runt like me could steal your girlfriend? You must think you're weak or something."
As he leapt for the slim boy with a raging yell, he was suddenly slammed back hard onto the ground. One of his cronies saw the newcomer and gasped. "It's Chiba Mamoru! Run for it, minna!"
When the leader attempted to get up and follow his friends, Mamoru shoved him back down with one foot, picking Yosouya up off the ground. "I don't think so. Let's go see Omonaru-san. It's time you stopped beating on Yosouya-kun here."
The blond-haired, green-eyed boy had stared in shock at the scene before him. He knew Mamoru vaguely, because he was in the grade above him. Even though they were pleasant towards each other, they had never been very good friends. "Matte, Mamoru-kun."
The ebony-haired one paused in mid-step, still dragging the offender behind him. "Hai?"
"Arigato–arigato gozaimisu."
A grin crossed Mamoru's face, lighting up his dark features. "Douitashimashite, Souya-kun. I like you and your brother. Kasen-kun. He's quite a character. There's no need to thank me–what are friends for?"
*end flashback*
Yosouya smiled at his friend who was keeping step beside him. "Mamoru-kun...we've been through a lot together."
He turned his head fractionally to glance at him with one sapphire eye. "Hai, we have."
~ * ~ * ~
"Hey, odango atama!" One blond-haired boy and a brunette girl ran after their friend.
The blond-haired girl looked down as the older boy slung an arm around her shoulders. Half-heartedly, she replied, "Don't call me odango atama, Kasen-chan."
Letting go of her, Tabiki Kasen placed his fingers gently under her chin and looked into her crystal blue eyes. "Hey, now, hime-chan. Tell me what's wrong."
Sniffling, Usagi buried her face in his shoulder. They were two of a kind, with blond hair, blue eyes, and a sunny nature. But recently, her personality had been quenched, and he wanted to know why. "Gomen...gomen nasai. I don't know what's wrong."
"Sure you do. Come on, Usagi-chan," Makoto persuaded, green eyes filled with concern.
"I... How come Mamoru-kun never talks to me anymore? Whenever he sees me with your or Souya-kun, he always leaves."
Wincing, Makoto looked away from her, unable to bear the heartbreaking pain in her eyes. "Are you sure? Maybe it's just a coincidence."
"Iie, it isn't. I've tried to talk to him before, when he visits Motoki-kun in the Crown Arcade...but he always brushes me off or says he has to go. He used to have time to talk to me before...."
"Listen to me, hime-chan The way Mamoru-kun is acting...it has nothing to do with you. Do you understand? Don't feel bad. It's just the way he is."
The tears falling heavily down her face, Usagi whispered, "He's looking for a princess...and that princess isn't me, no matter how many times you call me hime-chan, Kasen-kun. Am I really that ugly and unwanted?"
Touching her cheek, the brown-haired girl shook her head. "Iie. You're beautiful, Usa-chan. Don't do this to yourself just because of Mamoru-kun. He's not worth your time if he makes you feel this away about yourself."
"But..."
"Promise me."
"I..."
"Onegai, promise me."
"I...I promise."
~ * ~ * ~
Jikai: The Next Meeting
The Present
Infinite Ice
