Chapter 19-Koigokoro, the Awakening of Love

Seishou Kouseinou sighed heavily while his legs decided that now would be a good time to sit down after a long, hard, strenuous day. Glaring at his reflection in the mirror when he was able to get up, the silver-haired gen brushed his teeth, washed his face, and jumped into bed. There was one minor problem...he was having trouble falling asleep. Kouseinou was getting scared of himself. For one thing, he didn't know anything about his life anymore except that he had led a horrible childhood where the only people he had trusted were his fellow generals. Love was a myth, a story, a fantasy made up for children, and he lived to serve his prince.

But something else was nagging at him that he couldn't put his finger on; something was not right. The workplace was getting weird, and things were supposed to stay at work and not follow him home–like the young man Mamoru had sent. Wincing, he remembered how he'd grabbed the young student by the collar and darkly threatened to break a few bones if he ever tailed him again. What was even worse was how Kunzite's superhuman strength had passed to his civilian form, and the enjoyment, the eerie enjoyment that came from the power and control he had. He shivered once more and drew the covers close. It wasn't right. He was feeling less–less human now. Kouseinou huddled under the warm comforter, wondering when the light had left him.

It was dark...so very dark...and a girl was haunting him, taunting him. He couldn't even remember most of her features now, but he was sure that he hadn't seen her--at least not from his poor and scraped memory, so you couldn't exactly say he was sure. The features he _could_ make out were the long, shimmering strands of golden hair and piercing, crystal blue eyes. They were clear, although her face was foggy and misted over, as if something was blocking his view. There was nothing. In the Dreamscape once more, he shifted, first to the left, then to the right. The glazed image followed him so he was unable to catch a more specific glimpse of her. He was Kouseinou, or perhaps he was Kunzite at the moment; it didn't really matter. and he wasn't sure. She was so familiar...he frowned for a minute, something catching his attention that he hadn't seen before. Was–was she an angel? He could see now that there were gauzy wings near her, although he wasn't sure if the were even attached to her at all. Were there–were they others? Breathlessly, he leaned forward, although his feet were suddenly stuck to the ground. But that was funny, he thought, looking down. The solid mass of clouds was suddenly not so solid anymore...and he was falling...falling...falling...what was most important to him, however, was the fact that someone was keeping him from his angel. And he didn't like that, not one bit.
~ * ~ * ~
"Shopping!! I absolutely _love_ shopping!" gushed Usagi, running ahead of the rest of the senshi excitedly. Hotaru wasn't with them; she was trying to patch things up with the three Outers, and the guardians had stayed behind to nap–or to discuss courses of action and investigation, as they had called it. Ami's first week had relatively light hours, so she had been able to go with them.

Makoto sweatdropped and called, "Usagi-chan, try to remember that we're here to try and find Rei something to wear to her date."

"You make it sound like I'm destitute or something...and it's not a date! Just an apology!" Rei protested.

The other blonde, who was walking at a normal pace, raised an eyebrow skeptically and said, "Uh huh. Which was why Mako-chan spilled to us about how many times you guys called each other back? And he's a college sophomore, no less!"

"There's no need to get so excited...and Mako-chan?"

Warily, the brunette turned to look at her friend, also eyeing a showcase of books on greenhouses and gardening in a bookshop window. "Nani?"

Rei smiled. A big smile. "Next time we have training, maybe your gloves and bows will need a little scorching."

"Gee, thanks, Rei. What would I do without you?" Quickly, she added, "Don't answer that. Hey...look at that dress!"

Usagi, Rei, and Makoto all ran off to the department store, while Minako turned to the last one still remaining and so far silent. "Ami-chan?"

She blinked. "Nani?"

Biting her lip pensively, she stopped walking and pretended to be absorbed in the store windows. She liked beating around the bush at times, which had made her one of the best yet most aggravating diplomats in the Moon Kingdom's court, thousands of years ago. And it had been nearly impossible to deter her once she got started. She hadn't lost the touch, but perhaps now would have been a good time to be blunt. "Will you–could you find out something for me?"

"Mm hm."

"Good. Thanks."

"Um...Mina-chan, I would have to know what you want."

She blushed. "Oh, right. There should be someone working close to your new boss, a Seishou Kouseinou."

Softly, Ami murmured, "Then it would be General Kunzite?"

"Hai." She sighed. "That's him."
~ * ~ * ~
Mizuno Ami was a girl with a mission and determined to complete it, because something in Minako's cornflower blue eyes had unsettled her.

Yosouya had said nothing the whole day to her; in fact, he had been rather dreamlike. She thought she'd heard him talking to himself. She had caught a number of words that startled her: Kunz, Endy, Jade, Neph, Moon Kingdom, and Mercury. Funny that he should mention her planet, but she didn't have time now. The generals were at another training session, three floors above.

Ami left the filing cabinets alone, figuring there was nothing in there but papers. He hadn't bothered to hire any other personal assistants, so no one else was on the floor except in the crowded lab, but they rarely came to disturb Yosouya. Besides, they had worked long enough now to know not to question and also when the gens trained. More filing cabinets adorned the walls, his desk had a stack of papers that were also for business, and she didn't feel like invading the computer. She probably wouldn't have enough time to guess any password-locked items anyway, which were probably most important or completely irrelevant. So what was left? A quick scan of his briefcase from her supercomputer just showed a few very well sealed jars and more papers. Was that the only thing he had? Papers?

Ah...she spied a three legged table and a locked drawer. Ami looked around for the key, since he was obviously not stupid or absentminded enough to leave it in the keyhole. There was absolutely nothing in the room. If only she'd learned lock picking...which was completely improbable. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, the blue-haired girl removed a clip from her hair, a paper clip from her pocket, and a flashlight. After working for five panicked minutes, the lock clicked smoothly, like butter, and she was able to slid open the drawer, grinning. Throughout the whole thing, Ami had never felt the presence of the spells that had withdrawn at her first touch.

Inside were books intermixed with some very strange jars. At the very bottom of the heap was a green book that resembled a journal. Lifting it out, Ami examined the binding and wondered why it didn't have a lock. Flipping through, she saw detailed accounts and knew there wasn't going to be enough time to read them. What was she going to do? She wasn't about to risk stealing it and attracting his attention. Tearing out some of the middle pages was out of the question; the binding looked too good. It also wouldn't make sense to do that, since the thing was maybe three to four years old, according to the dates she had glimpsed. Use the computer to scan the material, she thought. But that would take a long, long time, and according to her watch, she had maybe ten minutes. Before time ran out, Ami was able to copy around four entries. Hastily shutting the book and carefully shoving it under the pile once more, she closed the drawer, which locked by itself, grabbed everything, or so she thought, and scrambled to her chair. A few minutes later, she was told over the loudspeakers in the building that all workers could leave unless otherwise told so by their supervisors.

Kouseki Yosouya entered once more to shut off his computer and start on some more work until he felt something under his shoes and stepped back, kneeling down. He frowned for a moment, examining it. It was a hair clip–a fairly simple one, with clear blue stones running along its length. A second later, he smiled slightly. So she was here to snoop, was she? For some reason, he wasn't at all surprised. He might as well find out what she wanted soon...hopefully, the gigantic Venus Flytrap on his shelf, grown into a more vicious and slightly-lethal plant due to his nurturing and chemicals, had left her alone. It didn't look extremely pleased with itself, though, just contentedly devouring a fly. Which was why he had left the windows open...and why it was freezing. But he never felt the cold anymore.
~ * ~ * ~
Late that night, Minako sat, observing the printouts from her computer. Ami had sent over whatever she'd gotten from Yosouya's diary, and it made almost no sense to her. The date was three years ago, and he was talking about nonsense. Minako furrowed her brow, because to her, the words were gibberish. What was General Zoicite talking about, anyway? Okay, so first he seemed like a normal person that went to high school. Yadda yadda yadda yadda. Great, so he was actually sane at first. Then he began babbling on and on about how Kousei Kyosei and his brother, Tabiki Kasen, were changing. This was important, but she didn't get what he was talking about. At least, not the way he worded it. So she wrote down the page number and went on, but there was nothing relevant left, after all, Ami must have gotten a minuscule chunk of a really long diary, if it covered three years. Disappointed that there was nothing else, she sighed and drew her knees to her chest, wondering where Artemis was. He always had an open ear, if not an open mind. He didn't seem to like Kunzite or Kouseinou, from the beginning, but now Minako was wondering if, perhaps, he'd been right. She had known who he was, the similarity to his past self (although he had been younger when she'd first met him) was unmistakable. Why hadn't the other senshi noticed? Putting aside that issue, she bit her lip meditatively. Had she been a fool to give him another chance? People were expected to give second chances, even if it hurt. Everyone said it was "the right thing," but nowadays, almost everyone was hypocritical. She had allowed herself to fall in love with him–again. The word pounded through her mind, over and over again. Again. She smiled slightly then, but it wasn't a mirthful smile; it was sad one. Was it better for the reincarnation of the goddess of love to just play matchmaker for other people and always remain alone?
~ * ~ * ~
Speaking of which, the green-eyed, brown-haired girl was currently lying on her bed drowsily, contemplating. She had talked to Shinozaki and everything, and nothing would ever be the same again with her old friend, but at least they were on speaking terms. Sleepily, she held out a finger, and a lime green bird landed on it with a gentle flap of her wings. "Makoto?"

"Mm?

"Um...I was...I happened to 'overhear'–"

"Eavesdropped, you mean."

Her guardian glowered. "Any term you like, your highness, but mine is more polite. So, once again, I happened to overhear a conversation between Minako and Ami."

Without interest, the brunette carefully set her guardian down on her desk and opened a book. She still had some homework left to complete for statistics class. "Anything you want to tell me?"

"Yes.. So Ami is actually working for General Zoicite, and Mina asked her if she could find out information about General Kunzite."

"What are their names in this life?"

"Yosouya Kouseki and Kouseinou Seishou."

Wrinkling her nose, Makoto said, "I think you mean Kouseki Yosouya and Seishou Kouseinou. See, yet another aspect you haven't been able to get used to."

"I haven't gotten used to a lot of things...princess," she added slyly.

Trying to control the desire to make something very unpleasant happen to the green bird, Makoto commented, "So, what's your point? We knew the generals were lurking around Juuban too. They haven't done anything, ne?"

Reluctantly, Aoao nodded in agreement. "Right. But I was wondering...um...did you ever happen to meet Nephrite?"

She blinked. "Oh....yeah, I did. At least I think so. Can you decipher what 'Kousei Kyosei' means?"

Glowering, she wished her mistress wouldn't be so difficult. Her translations weren't exactly as perfect as Luna or Artemis's yet, and Makoto knew it. "Um..well, Kousei means...er..."

She asked wryly, "Need some help?"

Scowling, the bird declined, "No! I mean, no, _thank you_."

The brunette decided to give her a break and grinned cheerfully. "It's not important. So anyway, I did meet him. You know, he's as handsome now as he was in the last life."

"WHAT?" Aoao couldn't continue, since she was teetering dangerously on the edge of the desk until Makoto picked her up and set her on the bureau.

She sweatdropped. "Did I say that out loud?"
~ * ~ * ~
Five girls were grouped in a small room of Hikawa Shrine, a tight fit that none of them liked, but once again, none of them wanted to miss out on the "fun," either. Checking herself in the mirror once more, the raven-haired miko smiled. Dressy but not to dressy, short but not too short, low but not too low. She'd left her long hair down, as usual, and was wearing high heels. She was about to clasp a pair of plain gold earrings in her ears when Usagi stopped her, grinning. "Rei, we got you a present. We thought you might the help, because you were so nervous." Light blue eyes sparkling excitedly, she motioned Makoto forth, who flourished a small box. Inside, resting on soft cotton, were a pair of finely-made silver earrings in the shape of very tiny Casablanca lilies, Rei's favorite type of flower. Crystal of a red hue, a pale red yet not pink, formed the petals, reaching towards the silver stigmas.

Trying to catch her breath, shining tears came to her eyes. She'd been doing too much crying recently, she thought ruefully. "Minna, thank you so much." When they had all swarmed her with hugs, Rei got herself under control and asked, "Did anyone else hear that?"

Ami turned from the window, smiling. "What, the car driving up? Hm...can anyone see the driver from here?" At once, they all crowded by the window, and she smirked uncharacteristically.

"What? Where? I can't see!"

"Usagi, you're so blind!"

"Shut up, Rei! So can _you_ see who it is?"

"Stop arguing, you guys. My ears can't take it anymore. We've spent two hours here, and I've only heard nonstop bickering from you too."

Makoto nodded and added, "Hey, I have to hear this more often than you do. Can't you guys give it a break?"

Just then, the meatball-headed blonde screeched, "It's him!!"

Rei sweatdropped and pulled her head back in. "Thank you, Usagi. ‘Bye everyone...wish me luck."

"Hey, you can't go yet, Rei."

"What??"

"He has to come to the door to get you, like a gentleman."

"Oh, the doorbell!"

"I'll get it!!"

"NO, Usa!! Let Rei go!"

She looked crestfallen. "Oh, but...I kind of wanted to see him. He was nice."

Just before she was out of earshot, Rei added, "He's still nice."

"Ooh, Rei!" came the resounding chorus. She winced, straightened her shoulders, and pulled open the door. When she met his eyes, she almost slammed the door and ran back inside, but she didn't. She would have to face him sooner or later...

‘Good luck, Rei,' came four voices.

She smiled brilliantly and then said... "Sorry, what did you say?"
~ * ~ * ~
Meanwhile, Aino Minako, Tsukino Serena, and Mizuno Ami were walking home until they reached a very familiar intersection. "Ami, are you going to the Crown Arcade tomorrow morning?"

"Sorry guys, but I've got some work tomorrow," she replied apologetically.

Raising an eyebrow, Minako inquired, "Work on a Saturday? Is there something you aren't telling us about Kouseki Yosouya, a.k.a. General Zoicite?"

She blushed darkly. "No, no, nothing at all! I've got to go home now, though, mum's probably wondering where I am." 'A likely story, she won't even be home until eleven–at the earliest.' Ami set off walking quickly in another direction from the other two, splitting ways. "Ja ne!"

Looking after the smaller and quite petite blue-haired girl, the blondes grinned devilishly. Innocently, Usagi said, "I think she likes him. What about you, Mina-chan?"

She was about to reply with a witty affirmation when a memory crossed her mind, of silver air wafting in the breeze and dark, sad silver eyes. "I don't want to talk about it, Usagi."

"What happened, Minako?"

Meeting her eyes squarely, cornflower blue meeting blue of a lighter hue, the other girl said softly, more of a statement then a question, "That's the question now, isn't it? What happened. To four honorable generals that were as good-hearted as they could be. To a prince that swore his everlasting loyalty to his princess. And to those five that lost everything when they lost their loves and their souls."
~ * ~ * ~
As she got into the car, Rei cast him a surreptitious look from under her long eyelashes, feeling more nervous than ever. However, his first words calmed her down somewhat. "I can't tell you how much I appreciate this, Rei," he said seriously.

She blushed lightly and looked away, feeling embarrassed. "But–I mean–it was all just a little understanding, and you've apologized, and I've been nasty. Can't we put it behind us?"

He gave her a slow, considering look before starting the car. As they drove off, he replied flatly, "No."

"What? Why not?" she asked indignantly.

Kasen gave her an amused look. "I didn't mean it the way it sounded. Calm down, please. Here I am, thinking I may be safe for the night by the graciousness of your message and your person–have I told you yet how beautiful you look?"

This time her cheeks heated past pink, more into the scarlet region. "No. But thank you. And I'm sorry for snapping, but what did you mean?"

Leaning one hand down the side of the car door, he felt the wind tousle his hair playfully and smiled, enjoying it. There had been a change. The light in his soul was winning over the darkness, and they had noticed–Kouseinou, Yosouya, and Kyosei. He didn't really care at the moment if Mamoru, or whatever controlled him now, did. He should have, but he didn't. He just wanted this night to last forever. It was hard to keep his eyes on the road and not on her, but he knew that getting in a car accident or killed would definitely dampen his spirits. "I said, no, we can't leave it at that, because we need to talk about other things. And it was an abominable, evil thing for me to say, considering...certain things we have to discuss."

"And you'd know all about evil things, wouldn't you?" she could resist asking.

His neck cracked as his head swerved around to look at her, and he forced his attention back on the road with a curse. "_Please_ don't do that again. _I_ don't want to die, and I should think _you_ don't want to die, either. Yes, I've known evil. I serve evil. I look at it every single day, through Mamoru's black eyes."

"You had a choice." She refused to apologize. But she had finally seen the pain in him.

"I did," he acknowledged. He sighed deeply before continuing, "And I made the wrong one, Rei. I regret it every single day. But I can't go back in time and change it, and I need your help."

She hardly noticed that they had arrived at the restaurant, because she was busy scanning his face for traces of deceit or betrayal. She was so busy thinking about the strange turn of events that she let him help her out of the car and open the doors for her, something she would normally have preferred to do for herself. Finally, once they were seated, she asked from behind the cover of the black leather-covered menu, "I don't suppose you're going to tell me exactly what you need help with?"

He looked surprised for a moment, before gathering himself and smoothing his expression. "Sorry. Clearly, we need to find a way to heal the other generals and to defeat the thing that's possessed Mamoru."

Rei needed a steadying gulp of the icy-cold glass of water on the table before she could think again. Her head was spinning. "What?!"

"Stop beating around the bush, Rei. Either you help me or you don't. I'm not asking you to do this because of how we used to be. If you don't want to see me ever again after this, I'll understand. But you're a senshi, and it's your job to defeat evil."

"But we can't. I mean, we couldn't even stop him the night he showed up and decided to have some fun... The Outers think we're some silly little girls playing around, and they refuse to talk to us."

Kasen's eyes widened. "The Outers? Mamoru didn't mention them. That changes things. It gives us more of an advantage, if we can convince them that they have to help us...by the way," he smiled brightly, "does this mean that you're going to help?"

She sighed and ran a hand through her long, loose hair. "You didn't leave me much of a choice. But when this over, Jadeite, you have to promise you'll tell me why you left in the Silver Millennium." Her eyes were dark and serious as they gazed into his, and he nodded.

Then he added, "And until then, Rei, ask yourself why you couldn't agree to what I asked you before I left."

"What? What did you ask me?" she asked, puzzled. Her memories weren't quite filled in, but they were pretty much there. It would come up sooner or later, if she thought hard and long enough, but she wanted him to tell her. Now.

He merely shook his head, looking sad. "Never mind, for now. It doesn't matter anyway. Not anymore."

Rei glared at him fiercely and blocked out his words and their surroundings as she thought. Distractedly, she gave her order to the waiter, then continued thinking. Gradually, Kasen stopped his attempts at conversation and sat back, watching her with that sad expression on his face. And she remembered another time when he had looked so crushed... "Do you mean–when you proposed?"

He nodded, then brushed away the golden bangs that had fallen into his eyes. "Well?" he prodded.

"I don't–I don't know."

"You're lying," he said flatly.

Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears as she bit out angrily, "All right, then. What do you think I have to hide form you?"

Kasen dropped his gaze. "Maybe you never really loved me, and I was kidding myself. I don't know, okay? If I did, I wouldn't have asked."

She fought the urge to laugh. "You thought I didn't love you?" Rei asked incredulously. His head snapped up, and she said slowly, deliberately, "I loved you so much that when we heard the news about your disappearance, I nearly died. Do you really want to know why I wouldn't marry you, Jadeite? I already knew most of what was going to happen, and I had sworn to Pluto that I wouldn't tell anyone–not you, not even the other senshi. I couldn't bear the thought that I knew you were going to die, that I was going to die, and that I wasn't telling you about it. I would have wanted to make you happy before that, but I couldn't do it. So I told you I couldn't decide and that I would give you my answer when you came back to me. I knew that when we did meet again, it wouldn't matter anymore."

"I was wrong before," he said after a few minutes, "it does matter now."
~ * ~ * ~
"Shall we? Shall we, Kunzite?"

Kouseinou groaned in frustration, rolling over in sweat-soaked sheets. Curse his dreams...he kept hearing that wonderful voice asking him, "Shall we?" It was someone he was supposed to and did hate with passion and fury. Except they say love and hate are two sides of the exact same coin...Princess Mina of Venus, otherwise and currently known as Aino Minako. She had asked him to dance so many times in the past, and he had always refused. And now, he wished more than anything, that they could be back in the past. That she would forgive him for everything, and that he would say yes, giving in to those sparkling, crystal blue is. Until he woke up, that is.

Tousled silver hair, matted with sweat, fell to the shoulders of a silver-haired man as he sat up suddenly in his luxurious king-sized bed. Growling, Kouseinou walked over to the window, which was open, and smashed his fist against the hard stone. Why did that witch, that temptress, come and change his thoughts in his sleep? She was nothing, nothing at all to him, but she affected him so much. As did the Venus beacon shimmering through his mind, until he pulled on his jeans and a sweatshirt, breaking into a dead run for a very familiar park.

Sadly, Minako felt the soft grass caress her feet as she sat on the bench. A few shoots, taller then the others, pricked her bare feet slightly, but she didn't feel them. She was calling him, by a bond that was stronger then blood and formed much earlier. She didn't even know why, how, just that she wanted to see him. To talk to him. To ask him. But it was all subconsciously done, for Minako sat in silence, blue eyes closed. Suddenly, the chirping crickets and cicadas grew quieter, lulling into complete quiet, the fireflies' lights going out.

Opening her eyes, Minako looked in the direction of pounding footsteps and a to-die-for handsome man, although his stern features were carved into a furious expression. Her heart skipped a beat. He'd come, to the park where they'd re-meet so recently. "Kousei-kun."

Snarling angrily, he hissed, "Don't call me that! I came for one thing only, and that's an explanation."

Blue regarded silver curiously. "I'd like some explanations, too, and I'll call you anything I like. By the way, what did I do? Cause you to turn to the side of evil?"

"You did in the past." The words shot out of Kouseinou's mouth before he could stop himself.

Large, cornflower blue eyes widened in hurt and pain, shock filling their depths. Minako whispered shakily, "What was that supposed to mean? You and the other three generals deserted to Metallia of your own free will."

Smoothly, heart panting faster for reasons unknown to him, he replied, "Of course we didn't. Everything we did back then was for you. And now we've finally gained minds of our own, instead of giving everything to protect you. We were mindless zombies, and we're on the side of good now. To rid the world of your evil, your presence. Your brainwashingly sweet, fake appearances caused that. But the Golden Crystal fixed that, as did Mamoru-kun, before he was eaten."

"Nani? Eaten?? I don't fight for evil. I fight for love, for justice." And then the golden-haired girl closed her mouth quickly. She was already wanted by him as a sailor senshi, and she had totally blown whatever pretenses they had left.

"You fight for your princess, and you bewitched four unwilling men with your fellow senshi. I want explanations, the past is dead and gone." The words seemed to echo for an eternity as tears formed in Minako's eyes, but she quickly brushed them away. "I want explanations!! I want to know why you haunt my dreams, why you call out. I don't want you to. I'm not honor bound to respond anymore. You certainly aren't a damsel in distress."

An ironic smile twisted her face as more tears fell, but she didn't bother to brush them away this time. "I don't haunt your dreams. I wouldn't touch them, even if I wanted to. I call out tonight to find what changed you, in the present. You can say it whatever way you want, insisting the past is dead, but the present certainly isn't. What happened?"

Cluelessly, Kouseinou asked, "What do you mean? I was reborn, led a life I can't remember, was discovered, luckily, by my prince. Now I train my generals, keep them in order. Keep secrets and protect the crystal. Fear it."

Shying away from him, she said flatly, "You sound crazy. Just listen to yourself; they've wiped your memories clean!"

"Clean of lies, of secrets."

"And now you just said you keep theirs! You're just a pawn, being used. You just said Mamoru–Endymion–was eaten. If you were truly yourself, you would be searching for him. As a general, you owe him complete–"

Incensed, he gripped her wrist in a painful grasp and teleported before thinking about his destination, which brought them to his office in the corporation, which was empty. And dark. "Don't you dare say that to me! We warned him, and he didn't heed our warnings; there was nothing we could do that the time!"

This didn't exactly suit Minako either, as she wrenched her wrist free. "Let go of me, you bastard. I've given you all the second chance everyone thought you deserved. What happened? I was willing to forgive everything in the Silver Millennium–you said it yourself, 'the past is dead.' I let myself fall in love with you all over again, and you ruined it. You broke my trust." Her voice wavered as tears slid down her pale cheeks, illuminated by the half Moon shining through the window. Defiantly, throat getting slightly hoarse because of her crying, Minako continued, "Third chances don't come again. Good bye, Kunzite–forever. For all eternity. And you know we're both capable of living that long, at least until I kill you." With her last words, she twirled her index finger gracefully until a chain of hearts surrounded her and teleported her back to the Tsukino home.

And he watched her go emotionlessly before smashing his fist, unthinking, into the glass pane of his window. There was no screen, and shards of glass shattered to the concrete below. Due to his superhuman strength and power, Kouseinou had been able to break it. Staring at his hand for a moment, he uncurled the injured hand, and looked at the bits and pieces of glass, clear, sharp glass, embedded in his palm. In movies, it was always at the end, when the person and grown callous and couldn't feel it. Shaking, he turned to empty air and smiled. Grinned. Beamed. Laughed. "It hurts, Mina. Are you happy now? It hurts. It hurts!" And he began to cry. And his soul started to be cleansed by the tears in the way Kasen's was.....
~ * ~ * ~

Paths of Thorns