"What about this one?" Haruka ran her fingers over the soft fabric, sighing as it shone in the light. "Perfect." The artists worked long into the night, both forgetting any other duty or obligation. Haruka woke from a sleep she never remembered falling into, Michiru nestled in one of her arms, sitting in front of her painting. This one had been a collaboration, a drawing of her with wings and the aqua-haired woman as a mermaid, Haruka kneeling on a half-submerged rock, the curious mermaid reaching up to touch her golden feathered wings. The newly risen sun glistened on bare skin and cool water, embracing the pair and blessing their union. The colorful picture was perfect, a duet so perfect that even Haruka was moved. "How did I do that?" "Hmm?" Michiru stirred, sapphire eyes greeting her new partner. "The painting?" "Yeah. I haven't picked up a brush since my parents . . . since I lost my family." Michiru sat up. "Haruka, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up any bad memories." "No, that's okay." Haruka touched her likeness, smiling at the texture of the slender feathers. "I needed this. I needed to paint again. And maybe now I can play again." "Play? What, Haruka-san?" "The piano," she smiled. "I used to be a fairly decent player. You play the violin, right? We could do a duet or something." Michiru grinned. *~*~*~*~*~*~* "But Rei!" "No, Usagi! Not this time! I've put up with too much from you already." Rei snatched the test out of the blonde's hands and threw it on the ground. "Another one, Usagi. Another failing grade. How could you do this? You promised me that you would try, that you cared." "I do care, Rei . . ." "No you don't! If you cared you would do as you promised. You would study, you would do your homework, you would PASS ONE BLOODY TEST!!! But you don't! You don't care, you don't try, you don't keep your promises!" Rei threw her broom on the ground and pointed at the stairs that led away from Hikawa Jinja, fury shaking her slender form. "Go away, Usagi-san. Until you can try, until our friendship means a damn to you, until I mean a damn to you, just go away." Usagi clutched her black cat closer, Luna's eyes as wide as hers. "No, Rei, please." "I said go away!!" With a sob, Usagi turned and ran, fleeing the shrine and her best friend, long hair flying behind her. Rei kept her back turned, knowing that she would give in if she watched, her heart breaking. It was for the best, it was all for the best. Usagi felt comfortable around her, and she would never amount to anything if she never tried. If Usagi cared about her half as much as she cared about the little blonde, she could pass just one test. That's all she wanted. Just one. "I'm so sorry," she whispered. "Please forgive me, Usagi. I love you too damn much for my own good. Gods, I hope you can forgive me." *~*~*~*~*~*~* Mamoru sighed as he walked through the park, even the beauty of the flowers doing nothing to alleviate his dark mood. There was something missing from his life, something terribly wrong, and he had no idea what it was. He shoved his hands deep into his pockets and turned away from the park, ready to head to his lonely apartment, when he thought he heard something. Turning, Mamoru identified the soft sound as brokenhearted weeping, something he did not usually hear in the park. Shrugging, he followed the sound to a bench beside the pond, shocked when he recognized the blonde girl sitting there. "Odango Atama?" Usagi looked up sharply, turning away when she recognized her visitor. "Go away, Mamoru-san. I don't need your teasing right now." "I didn't come to tease you, Odan—Usagi-san." Mamoru sat down on the bench and glanced down at the blonde. "Why are you crying, Usagi-san?" "It's because . . . Rei told me that she won't speak to me anymore until I get better grades." Mamoru looked out at the lake and considered his words carefully, for some reason unwilling to hurt the blonde. "Usagi-san, maybe she thinks that her relationship with you is making you have bad grades and that some time apart will help you." "But I've always made bad grades," Usagi sniffed, glancing at her companion. "You remember that test that hit you on the head." Mamoru grinned. "Yeah, I do. But didn't you tell her that you would try harder?" Usagi jumped up from the bench, whirling on Mamoru in fury, tiny fists clenched at her sides. "You don't understand! Neither of you can understand! Maybe school is easy for the two of you, but I will never be good at homework and grades. That's just not my destiny." "Then what is your destiny?" Usagi froze, blue eyes wide. "I remember . . . there was something long ago, but I can't seem to remember what it was." Mamoru stood up and took Usagi's hand. "Maybe in some other life grades did not matter, but here they do. Rei-san doesn't want you to throw away your future for a few lazy moments now. She knows that it's hard, but all she wants is a little effort. It can't be that hard to do your homework, can it?" "I don't understand it half the time and my teachers don't explain things very well. Then when the tests come I can't do them and I get bad grades and Rei yells at me." "Then maybe you need a tutor. Someone in your class who does understand and gets good grades and can explain things to you. All Rei-san asked was for better grades, not stellar ones. Just pass, that's all. Even I had a tutor when I was younger. Didn't you say there was a student in your class, a genius? Surely she understands." "Yes, but why would she want to help me? And she's so smart; she'd probably just laugh." "Then just offer to be her friend. You would be surprised how many smart people are very lonely and just want someone to talk to." "Like you, Mamoru-san?" The black-haired man smiled and nodded. "Yes, like me. Why don't you go home now and in the morning you can go say hello to that genius, okay?" "Okay. Thanks, Mamoru-san!" Usagi smiled as she ran away, and Mamoru sighed. "Why do I feel so strange?" *~*~*~*~*~*~* The next evening, Ami and Usagi were sitting in the Crown Arcade, the blue-haired genius patiently explaining the parts that the blonde did not understand. The newest student of Juuban Junior High also sat at their table, chestnut hair hiding her emerald eyes. The new girl was too tall for a Juuban uniform, so she wore hers from her old school, but the different uniforms did not detract from the cohesion of the small group. Motoki watched them, and he could tell that they belonged together. There were people missing, but those three belonged. Usagi's little black cat, Luna, slept on the table, her bowl of milk empty. Motoki didn't mind her, though he was normally against pets in the arcade. Motoki finished cleaning the counter and reached over to start a new pot of coffee. Startled, he realized that Mamoru had not come in today. He always came to the Arcade after school. What happened to chase him away? *~*~*~*~*~*~* "Rei-san?" Rei's grandfather opened the door and glanced at the tall, raven-haired man standing on the stairs of Hikawa Jinja. "Rei is in the back. Do you need to speak to her?" "Yes, please. If you don't mind, I'll just walk around myself." "Very well." Grandpa watched the man walk to the backyard, every fiber of his being vibrating. There was something very wrong. It was almost like someone had rearranged the red strings of fate, breaking some bindings and creating others. Someone was linked to that man, but she wasn't there. An eternal bond that time could not break had been shredded by senseless power. Who could be that heartless? *~*~*~*~*~*~* "Rei-san?" Rei looked up from her meditations and sighed, wiping the tears from her purple eyes as she turned back to the fire. "Go away, Mamoru-san." "I don't think so. Not until you tell me what you did to Usagi-san." Rei whirled on Mamoru, standing and stepping forward in one fluid motion, fury in her eyes as the fire flared in response. "What Usagi and I do and say is absolutely none of your business!" "It is when she ends up sobbing by the pond!" Mamoru was overcome with a strange surge of protective instinct, and he clenched his fists. "You had no right to upset her like that! She's fragile, can't you see that?" "Who are you to speak?! All you ever did was tease her! She thinks she and you were linked in some previous life and all she wants is for you to smile and be nice and you throw more and more insults! You have no right to chastise me!" Mamoru threw his hands up. "Okay, I admit that I was cruel, but it was only because I felt the same thing about her. I feel this link and it scares me because I have never relied on anybody in my entire life. And there's this power pulling me to her and I can't give in. That's why I push her away." "What about your family?" Rei's voice was softer, some of the steel gone, fire calming, as she realized that she felt some sort of link to this man. "My parents died when I was six," he whispered, hanging his head. Why did he say that? Nobody knew except Motoki. But it just seemed right that Rei should know. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "My mother's dead and I decided to live here with my grandfather rather than travel with my father. He's a successful politician, and that's just not who I am." "I don't know who I am," Mamoru admitted, sitting on the steps. Rei joined him, a new sense of belonging warming her. She got that same feeling when she was around Usagi. "I want to know—I need to know who I am, and the only people I feel any sort of connection to are you and Usagi-san." Rei nodded. "I know. Me, too. I think we must have known each other." She sighed and pulled her knees to her chest, propping her head on her crossed arms. "I had to, Mamoru-kun. I had to push her away. She'll waste her entire life being content if I let her. All I want her to do is pass one test—that's not so hard, right? She needs to do her homework, she needs to study, and she needs to try. Entrance exams are coming up in a couple of years for her, and she won't get into a good High School if she doesn't try now. If she was your girl, you'd do the same thing." "Yeah, I would. I just don't like seeing her hurt." "Gods, do you think it's easy for me? I love her so much sometimes that I scare myself. But it's for her own good." She bit her lip and looked up at the tall man. "What did you say to her when you saw her?" "I told her that you only had her best interest in mind and I suggested that she speak to that genius in her school. I've met Mizuno Ami; she's a very nice girl and very lonely. She promised that she'd try. When I passed by the Arcade today, I saw them, studying together." Rei smiled. "That's wonderful. I hope she makes it. She's smart, she just doesn't try very hard." "I think you finally gave her a reason." Rei looked up at Mamoru and felt a shiver work its way down her spine. Something was terribly, terribly wrong. Gods, what was it?
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