Chapter 10-Whoever Designed Senshi Fukus...

One youth looked around Juuban University's gigantic cafeteria nervously until he spotted another brown-haired student. His slouched position straightened slightly as he walked over to the one he recognized, shaking long bangs out of his eyes. Tapping the boy's back with a strong second finger, he muttered a terse greeting.

Discontinuing his conversation with Seishou Kouseinou abruptly, the other turned around to see who had dropped by, as he was popular with quite a few people. Brown eyes widened as they met eyes a shade darker than his light brown ones. "Konnichiwa, Yuuichirou. I wasn't expecting to see you so soon."

Smirking, he replied, "I thought your fortune-teller powers told you everything? You'll have to tell me your Japanese name; I'm afraid I don't know it–but I'm sure they don't call you ‘Greg' in this life."

"Keep your voice down. It's Urawa Ryo. And this is Seishou Kouseinou. I don't suppose you've met him before?"

Peering at him through the brown bangs that had fallen back into his eyes, Yuuichirou grinned. "Konnichiwa, Seishou-san." ‘Once our merry little group meets up with Ace, or whatever name he's going under, I'm sure he'll be glad to see him. What do you think, Ryo?'

‘Shut up,' came the swift response. ‘You forget how skilled General Kunzite was in the past.'

Raising his eyebrows, the confused general, having partially noted the exchange between the two, felt a headache coming on. "Kouseinou-san is fine." ‘Ace? I'm positive I've heard that name before, in connection with Venus? But who is he?' Frowning slightly, sighing as an onslaught of memories came on again, his silver eyes lit up with recognition. ‘You were Princess Mars's friend, the one in the army, weren't you? And now we all meet again...' He made his excuses politely, sensing that the two brunets had some old times to catch up on, older than anyone might have suspected... As he exited quickly, Kouseinou neglected to pay the crunching paper under his feet much attention, for there was always a fairly large amount of garbage on the cafeteria floor. But perhaps he should have...for smiling up at the world from the front page (the wrinkles distorting his much-coveted looks) was Torit Sukareru. The words scrawled beneath announced his return from London returning to Japan.
~ * ~ * ~
Savagely, Minako pressed "Delete" about five times more than needful, grinding her teeth.

Usagi looked up from her manga and said dryly, "I think all the messages are gone now. Care to stop before you break the poor thing?"

Blushing, the blonde replied, "Hai."

"I don't get why you're so angry, anyway. It must be so romantic to have a secret admirer that leaves you so many phone messages."

She explained, wincing all the while, "It's not exactly secret if I know who he is, is it? Anyway, I don't like the guy; he gives me the creeps. Hey, have you seen Artemis? I haven't spotted the old fleabag around here in a while."

"I'm sure he'll turn up, maybe okaa-san let him out to go to the bathroom or something." Usagi shrugged, unconcerned. In _her_ opinion, the cat was the one who gave her the creeps, sending chills up her spine. Something about him just seemed odd, a mystery waiting to be unraveled, and she felt as if she should know the message he was trying to send her.

Unconvinced, as the worry in her crystal blue eyes gave her away, Mina agreed, "Sure..hey, Usa-chan, I'm going to go out for a while, okay?"

"Where to, the Crown Arcade, where Motoki-kun is? If you are, I wanna go, too!" squealed the meatball headed one, her eyes going starry.

Refraining from laughing, her friend shook her head. "Nope, sorry, but you can always go by yourself."

"It's no fun alone. So where _are_ you going?"

"Um...." Evasively, Minako thought of the perfect excuse, as the place's name just came to her mind, almost tugging at her. "There's a shrine around here, ne? I'm....interested in that stuff, you know, think you could give me the name so I don't show up looking and sounding like a baka?"

Raising her eyebrows, she supplied, "Hikawa Shrine. You're not a baka, Minako-chan. But ooh, watch out! Naru-chan said her boyfriend–you know, Gurio Umino, the geeky kid that always knows everything about everyone–told her the head priestess there is scary, cursed by demons, and that everyone's afraid of her."

"For kami-sama's sake, Usagi, you don't really believe all that trash, do you? I bet even he doesn't know everything about Sukareru." Grabbing a light jacket, she winked cheerily at the girl who had become a foster sister to her and chirped, "Ja!"

"Ja ne....." Softly, after the golden-haired girl had disappeared, her footsteps heard on the stairs, Usagi added, "I don't really believe in that trash, but I don't believe in what you told me, either. Mina-chan, what are you hiding from me?"
~ * ~ * ~
"You...you...you!" spluttered Aoao, flying after a hapless Tansei furiously. "What did you call me?"

Looking back over his shoulder, he winked at her with bright black eyes and teased, "You catch me first, then I'll tell you. 'Bright green,' my-OUCH!"

Sighing, one raven-haired miko winced at the impact of having the small bird smash into her. After catching him in her outstretched hands, she managed to miss the lime-green one by about an inch or two. "What are you two _doing_? Dajibou, Tansei-kun?"

"I will be...." he muttered groggily, trying to stretch his wings again. After Rei had opened her hands, hiding her giggles, he managed to right himself and hover in the air.

Grumpily, Aoao came back and settled on Makoto, who had just been dismissed from her extracurricular training activities. "Rei-chan, I feel bad for you. You've seriously spent an hour supervising our guardians?" asked the brunette, eyebrows raised. She gestured at Koori and Shippou, comparing notes and watching each other warily; Phobos and Deimos perched on something or another nearby, keeping an eye on the larger Hokushin; and Tokage with Luna and Artemis, the cats's fur standing up, the lizard camouflaging wildly. "They don't look too happy, do they?"

"You bet," she sighed tiredly. "Did Ami-chan stay after with you? She was supposed to pick up Koori-chan a while back."

Aoao, hurt at being ignored, flew the short distance to land on her charge's head. "She's outside, talking to some blond girl that wandered here by mistake or something, and yes, she did stay after. I'll get the fussy crustacean."

"Arigato," thanked Makoto, petting her gently. The green bird flew off, satisfied, while she asked her friend, "Are you going to go see that visitor or what?"

"Yeah, yeah," muttered Rei, her mind still preoccupied with a fire reading that had displayed a girl so beautiful that her loveliness was almost unearthly, with shimmering gold hair and large blue eyes....speaking of which, that girl was standing at the top of the great stone steps, chatting with Ami. "Konnichiwa?" Both turned, smiling. That certainly was an uncommon occurrence; the sad, blue-haired girl didn't really smile or laugh that much, to her knowledge.

"Konnichiwa. Minako-chan, this is Hino Rei. She lives at the temple with her grandfather, who is the head priest, and my other friend, Kino Makoto. Rei-chan, this is Aino Minako."

"Pleased to meet you."

"Me, too," the girl smiled warmly, and Rei and Ami felt as if a bright light had suddenly been switched on, illuminating everything in the dying sunset. "I just dropped by to...see if my cat, Artemis, had wandered here. He's white, with a crescent moon-shaped mark on his forehead?"

Exchanging looks with each other, they simultaneously nodded and pulled up to the temple, and she didn't protest, despite her surprise. "Artemis no baka, who is she?"

The white cat came up, eyes growing wide as he spotted his mistress. "Ah....konnichiwa, Mina-chan."

"Nani? Artemis-kun, you talk in front of......three humans, one eagle, two birds, two crows, another cat, a crab, and a snake-EEEE!!!!"

"I never thought you were the one for hysterics, Minako-chan. Girls, transform. Or whatever you call it now–heinshin yo?"

Obeying blindly, knowing there was some good reason for this, they called:

"Jupiter Power!"

"Mars Power!"

"Mercury Power!"

While the blonde stood there, staring, Artemis smiled innocently. "Mina-chan, these are the senshi of Tokyo: Ms. Jupiter, Kino Makoto. Mars, Hino Rei. And last, senshi Mercury is Mizuno Ami. Remember Sailor V?"

"Uh huh," she commented skeptically, backing away from the midnight-black cat, who was glowering threateningly at the misfortunate white one.

"That was a minor code name for fighting crime in London. He ignored three "Nani?"s from the other girls. You are the fourth and last senshi-"

"Of the Inner senshi, that is."

All too patiently, he said, "I _knew_ that, Luna. We can cover that later. As I was saying, you are the senshi and defender of Venus, the planet of love and beauty."

Sweetly, she asked, "Did you know that, if I wasn't already Sailor V, I would have fainted?"

"Oh yeah," he muttered.

"And lastly, to surprise me, am I supposed to say 'Venus Power?'"

Weakly, trying to ignore death glares from all the clueless people around him, he replied, "That would be nice. Transformation pen's in your Lunar space pocket."

"What in the name of kami-sama is THAT?"

*sweatdrop*
~ * ~ * ~
Beaming affably at the three assembled gens, Chiba Mamoru settled into a large chair that eerie resembled a throne, while the generals uneasily stood behind the three chairs, two on his left, one on his right. Habit and memories of the Silver Millennium caused them to act this way. "Be seated. If you haven't noticed, Souya-kun, that empty chair is for Seishou Kouseinou. But that's another matter," his black eyes went even darker, if that was possible. "We are here to discuss my buying of our now unnamed corporation and what happens now."

"Eh........Mamoru-kun? Exactly what are you planning to do? And what part do we play, as 'uneducated' college students?"

"I'm glad you asked that question, Kyosei-kun. I will be, of course, attending graduate school–for appearance's sake, of course. We already have our nice cover, so I just have to visit them occasionally and check that they are working and not suspecting a thing. I want you all to pick some special people that will have some knowledge of our private workings; they should and must be the best. But they must also be expendable. Yosouya, you're in charge of research, the knowledge department. Kyosei, stargazer, you might work closely with him sometimes. You can continue those interesting astronomy habits with any and all astronomers you can find, see if we can draw power from those balls of gases as well."

Since he hadn't gone on to further address the blond-haired, blue-eyed gen, Kasen asked, "And me, Mamoru-kun?"

"You? Why... I have a very interesting job for you."

He gulped nervously and tried to smile.

"For the most part, you will work with me-for example, finding a trustworthy secretary. And don't look at her face," he added sharply. "We want mind over matter; your own underlings can be beautiful, brainless women. Onwards. I'll need you also to work with you brother, the poor guy. You're going to be quite busy, Yosouya. Come up with a quick and efficient brainwashing method with Kasen; since his powers tie in with auras, that should be helpful. Any more questions?"

Kyosei asked, "When can we start interviews? As soon as we finish college or whatever? Also, procedures should be outlined. Should we consult you to approve selections and such, how many people, for example."

"Good question, very good," nodded Mamoru approvingly. "I'm glad to see my generals's minds haven't gone to pieces during the last thousand years or so. Interviews? Anytime you want, even tonight, although I would recommend sleeping in. You can 'cut through the red tape', as they say, for anyone except those that work the most with you–not necessarily secretaries, but those that will catch glimpses of unsettling occurrences and closer peeks at your work. Not the ones that obey orders blindly, like creating a hundred crystal reflectors. Speaking of which, have our intelligence department run a quick background check for your people, though. Another building besides this one is being built in downtown Juuban, where most of the 'action' happens. Consult the architect I've hired for details in your offices; you'll each have one if not several. Dismissed, or are there any more questions?"

"Eh....who exactly _is_ the architect?"

"Oh, that was quite stupid of me not to mention her." Three photographs and slips of paper landed in front of the three before Mamoru disappeared. They gawked at the empty chair left behind while a chuckle was heard, accompanied by, "Meiou Setsuna. The senshi of Pluto in this life."

Still staring, Yosouya asked almost inaudibly, "The one they called 'the Timekeeper?'"

"The one and only."
~ * ~ * ~
Close to tears, senshi Venus examined herself in the customary fuku: a sailor-type uniform with orange skirt, collar, and sandals, white body part, dark blue bow fastened with a gold heart, a strip of orange fabric that fit like a choker but was quite comfortable, and shoulder length white gloves ending in rolls of the same color topped by orange. The small gold dot earrings she had been wearing were replaced by slightly larger orange circles, and she was beginning to feel as if she was surrounded by that interesting-hued fruit. Like her Sailor V uniform, her hair was caught back in a large band of red silk.

The other's uniforms were the same, while Mars had red where there was orange and a purple bow, with dangling crimson star earrings. She was also blessed with high heels of the same color.

Jupiter's colors were green and pink, and the rose earrings that had been fastened in her ears in civilian form were still there, as was her high ponytail–although green (Rei's hair was also still down and flowing, now a vibrant red, causing Minako to wonder how their hair was going to keep from getting tangled). She also had ankle-length green boots.

Ami's short hairstyle hadn't changed, although the tint seemed slightly different; she had also gained a number of small earrings that resembled Venus's. Her colors were blue and a lighter shade, and she was lucky enough to have knee-length boots.

"Please tell me we're not running around in short skirts, gloves, and high heels, boots or no boots!"

"Darling, you've got sandals," said Rei dryly.

"And you've got high-heeled slippers!" she shot back.

Annoyed, Luna snapped, "There's no point in complaining to us! We weren't the idiots who designed these uniforms, and be glad they're bullet-proof, not that you'll be up against them–that is, I _hope_ you won't be facing bullets. Don't bother asking me who did design them; I have absolutely no idea. It wasn't recorded, and senshi have been around since my earliest ancestors. What? Why are you all bowing?"

Her last question had been directed to the guardians of the generals: eagle, bird, snake, and lizard. Shippou spoke for them all, still bowed. "Luna, they are the princesses, the lost princesses."

"What?"

Phobos and Deimos glared darkly at them. "You weren't supposed to let them know about that yet...."

"We were princesses?"

Artemis wished he had never been appointed guardian of the Princess Mina of Venus, more than a thousand years ago. "I thought you knew when you got your memories back. Yes, since you all seem to have forgotten, it was the first time that anyone could remember that all eight senshi were the planetary princesses and sole heirs to the throne."

"Girl power!" grinned Jupiter. "Now I see. Wait, there are four others?"

"Outers."

"Nani?!"

The four guardians not part of the jolly group backed out the door, still bent at the waist, or whatever they had in substitute. "Our apologies, we'll have to take some rain checks for the verbal battling. See you!"

Koori mumbled, "Wimps," while Aoao chirped in dissatisfied agreement.
~ * ~ * ~
Walking home through the darkening sky, an unnatural shade of purple, Chiba Mamoru shivered. He still remembered, quite clearly, the end of the Silver Millennium and the senshi of Saturn's last words to him.

*flashback*

"Endymion!"

"Hotaru? Hotaru, are you all right–?"

"I'm fine. And you?"

"As well as one can be in times like these," he replied grimly. "Please, Hotaru...do you know where Serenity is?"

Regarding him with curious amethyst eyes, a bit like Rei's, she nodded. "The throne room, with her mother and Venus. Be careful, Beryl has new tricks up her sleeve, and the outcome doesn't look positive."

"I will."

As he turned to leave, she stopped him one more time, hair matching her eyes (usually it was black) blowing about her wildly. "Take care of her, Endymion."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not going to survive this fight," she said softly, hoisting her glaive, shiny metal reflecting throughout the battle field.

An icy chill stole over his heart: she was so young, yet so old and unfamiliar at the same time. "What do you mean? Of course you will. You have to!"

Smiling faintly, eerily, she shook her head. "You can't tell the future, Prince of the Earth. Only Pluto has, and she has seen these events unfold. Listen to me now, for what I say will be important in the events to come. Don't ever break your vow to protect the princess."

"I wouldn't ever do that, and I'll swear it again. I will always, for all eternity, protect Princess Serenity, the Princess and heir to the Moon Kingdom."

Her voice drifted away as she ran towards Michiru. The Neptunian senshi beckoned, aqua hair and eyes shining sadly. However, Hotaru's voice still carried on the wind. "Remember, Endymion, you promised me, and you promised her...you promised me...you promised me..."
*end flashback*

Suddenly covered in a shimmery sheen of sweat, he gasped and tried to draw a breath. He HAD promised her, before the total destruction of the Moon Kingdom and the annihilation of his soul. But now, he had a different mission. At all costs, she was to be captured and drained of all energy she possessed, as well as any artifacts she retained. His eyes, slowly turning from blue to black again, glowed darkly. The voice always present hissed, 'Remember....I want the Silver Crystal!'

'And you shall have it!' he snapped, still breathing hard.

Despite his tone and pledge to the voice, his eyes filled and wavered between the two pigments, Hotaru's childlike voice, even as the Destroyer, carried on the wind in his mind. She cried, tears flowing freely from luminous purple eyes, "You promised me, Endymion! You promised her! You promised me.......you promised me........"
~ * ~ * ~

Paths of Thorns