"Do you think she's sincere?" Setsuna Meiou asked later that evening, the shop below closed and the staff sent away. She looked elegant in her green dress, her long black hair flowing in a glossy wave down her back as she sat across from Ami on a couch. "I don't know," Ami Mizuno conceded, the blue haired young woman frowning thoughtfully as she sat on the edge of her chair. "I find Ms. Tomoe is a very hard person to read, as you can imagine," she added. Setsuna raised a delicate eyebrow, "Because she's a Bio-boomer?" "No," Ami said honestly as she met her eyes, "I could never get a good read on Professor Tomoe, either." "I may be a bit more sensitive on the issue of she and I being Bio-boomers than I realized," Setsuna admitted. She shook herself, then concentrated on getting them back on topic, "If she is being honest, what do you plan to do?" "Another I don't know," Ami sighed. She rubbed at her eyes tiredly, "The fact that she killed Prof. Tomoe in cold blood bothers me, even though there were times that I could have done the same thing to him myself." "And how is the team reacting?" Setsuna asked, "Mixed," Ami smiled wryly, "Minako is cautiously optimistic, Makoto doesn;t trust them and Rei is on the fence." "The only one that surprises me is Rei," Setsuna noted. "She hates and loathes everything that Infinity stands for," Ami looked amused, "but for killing Prof. Tomoe Rei's willing to give Hotaru a chance." "Lovely," Setsuna blinked. She shook her head, "I knew Rei's ethics were a bit flexible, but this almost bothers me." Ami was faintly surprised to find herself defending Rei, "We recruited her knowing she was interested in revenge, not a cause or justice." "Fair enough," Setsuna said softly, closing her eyes a moment. She opened them to focus her eyes on Ami, "Have you decided what to do?" "For now I want to see if Tomoe goes through with the public disclosure of her father's crimes," Ami said, "it'd be a gesture of good faith on her part." "And the Senshi Sabers?" Setsuna asked. Ami smiled grimly, "I have no intention of disbanding them, especially since I still feel there is good work they can do." "Good," Setsuna flashed a smile, "I was worried." "You shouldn't be," Ami shrugged, "I'm still far too committed to my mother's work." Setsuna hesitated, unsure if this was the best time to bring this up. "I think your mother would have wanted you to be happy, too," she finally said. Ami studied Setsna a moment, "And does something make you think I'm unhappy?" "The Senshi Sabers and your mission are your life," Setsuna noted calmly, almost with a scientific detachment, "the shop and the few other things in your life are either part of your mission or carefully chosen window dressing." "And that makes me unhappy?" Ami asked softly. Her lips's teased up in a smile, "I'm content, thank you very much." "You don't have to settle for that," Setsuna said firmly. She softened her tone "I've seen people react to you, Ami, if you wanted to you could..." "You know, listening to you now I can believe your personality was based on my mother's," Ami mused, trying to derail her train of thought. Setsuna stopped, "Pesonally, I thought I was bering a concerned friend." She fixed Ami with a determined look, "And don't try to change the subject." "Relationships are just too complicated," Ami shrugged uncomfortably, "just thinking of all the lies and evasions I'd have to do gives me a headache." "Then consider someone who knows your secrets," Setsuna said. Ami blinked, then in a perfect deadpan said, "Setsuna, you've been my friend for years, but it'd never work between us." Setsuna looked at her in surprise then chuckled. "Nice try," she said laughingly, "but I think you know who I mean." Ami shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "We're coworkers," she finall said, "it would interfere in our ability to work together in the team." "Oh, I think you could separate work and play," Setsuna answered. She smoothly rose, "Just think about it, please?" "Of course," Ami sighed. She looked at Setsuna curiously, "So where are you off to?" "To check on Uranus and Neptune," Setsuna smiled wryly, "there's no telling what kind of trouble they might be getting into." Rei Hino walked away from Hot Legs, glad that another night's performace was over. Part of her wanted to go get her bike and take off, but the black haired beauty was still feeling too wired from the preformance. So instead she walked the seedy streets of the city, risking her life almost as much as when she was out as a Senshi Saber. 'Maybe more,' Rei mused as she walked down the trash strew street, her leather boots kicking used needles and beer cans aside, 'at least I'm wearing armor as a Senshi.' Behind her Rei could hear footsteps growing closer. She had felt them fall in behind her a whilke back, but for a time they seemed content to hang back. Now, however, whomever it was had decided to catch up. It might be a mugging or attempted rape, either way it didn't matter to Rei as long as there was a good fight. "Excuse me," a familiar voice as a hand was put on Rei's shoulder. Rei shrugged it off, wheeling to strike only to freeze, "You?" Usagi Tsukino smiled, the slightly taller blonde looking oddly undressed out of her typical AD Police uniform. Instead she wore a simple skirt and blouse combination, one that suited her own fair coloring. "I didn't mean to startle you," Usagi said a bit sheepishly. "You nearly got punched in the face," Rei shot back, feeling mildly disapointed that it really wasn't a mugger. Rei whirled around, stomping off but Usagi fell right into step beside her. "That was an incredible preformance tonight," Usagi said, "especially that love song." Rei scowled as she said, "It was a special request by my drummer to his girlfriend, not part of our usual number." Usagi actually smiled back, studying Rei shrewdly, "Oh, I'm pretty sure you were the one who wrote that song." Rei felt her cheeks color slightly under the other woman's gaze. "It's a fantasy, it has nothing to do with real life," she said gruffly. Usagi paused, looking at Rei with those oddly deep blue eyes, "Maybe so, but I'd like something like that to be real." Rei looked up at her in surprise, the silence stretching between them... "I really hate to disturb them," the gently amused female voice murmured. Looking up Rei saw a familiar looking green haired young lady, her sandy haired lover standing close beside her. "Michiru, Haruka," Rei felt a flash of relief at seeing them there. "Friend of yours?" Haruka asked, looking at Usagi with an oddly predatory look. "A acquaintence," Rei answered shortly. "Ouch," Usagi winced. "That's too harsh," Michiru chided Rei gently. Rei smiled faintly, "Oh, I don't think so."
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