Earth Guardian Prince Endymion

By Senshi of Ruin and Mizu no Senshi

Act Fourteen Recap:

(Mamoru’s POV)

“You stupid kid! Watch where you are going! You could have been killed!”

Tsukino Usagi is clumsy, stupid and a crybaby, but wherever I go, she seems to be there.

Frowning, Mamoru sniped back, “You just appear every where don’t you? And always knocking into me, too.”

“You again!” Tsukino-san cried in disbelief.

For some reason, we seem fated to meet and argue. She really gets on my nerves so she was the last person I would ever spend an afternoon with under any other circumstances.

The girl smiled, “Are you Usagi-chan’s boyfriend?” she asked shyly.

“No. I just gave her a lift here.”

“And never again” Usagi pouted, “Mamoru-baka drives like an old man! I didn’t ever think we were going to get here.”

“How could I concentrate on driving when I had you clasped onto my waist so tightly? Were you scared?” Mamoru sniped back.

I was just being nice by giving her a lift and I ended up being stuck with her and a bunch of annoying three year olds!

“Whoa! Now hang on a minute!” Mamoru started as she stood up and waved it threateningly in his face. The tip of the paintbrush brushed his nose and Usagi’s giggles became louder, until Mamoru flicked some red paint down the front of her already paint-stained dress.

Okay, I admit it, I was having fun until a Youma showed up and I learnt something about Tsukino Usagi that I had never dreamt was possible.

“Moon prism power… make up!”

Tsukino Usagi is Sailor Moon and also seeks the Princess. Yet it is more than that. The Dark Senshi were brainwashed by Beryl to serve her and are really her friends and fellow guardians who protect the Princess as we are destined to protect Zoisite-sama. Masaki-kun said that the Princess would bring destruction down upon the world. If this is true then we might end up fighting against Sailor Moon. Even though she is really Tsukino Kobuta, how can I fight her? Not when I’m… I think I’m developing feelings for her…

******

Act Fifteen:

“You stupid bitch! Why can’t you ever do anything right?”

Masaki winced at the crash which followed and the sound of glass breaking as he turned the volume up on his walkman. The Moonlight Sonata was now at full volume and still Haru’s enraged screams managed to penetrate the peaceful and soothing melody. He supposed that he should go down there, but as always there would be nothing he could do. Haru was drunk, again, and in a rage as the bank had sent him home early after finding a bottle of brandy in his desk drawer. Masaki was terrified that they would fire him over it. If Haru was out of control now, who knew what he would be like if he were here all the time.

He rolled over onto his side so that his back was facing the door. Masaki was supposed to be at Crown. He hadn’t seen any of the others, except from Mamoru, in a week and their leader had decreed that they get together to discuss something ‘important’ that he had found out. Masaki was intrigued, but reluctant to go downstairs whilst the fighting was going on. He was still having trouble believing that the Prince, their Prince, did not want to take charge.

What did Masaki think of Zoisite-sama? He, in truth, was not sure. Kisho and Taro had made their feelings quite clear, as had Mamoru, but Masaki was not sure. He felt, deep down, that Zoisite-sama could be trusted, but he would not voice this opinion and was content to sit back and see how things turned out.

The fighting had stopped now. Masaki cautiously switched off his walkman and got off of his bed before opening his bedroom door. He heard the front door slam and the sounds of Tori weeping.

After waiting a few more minutes, Masaki ventured downstairs. As soon as he reached the front room, glass crunched under his feet. Masaki looked down and saw the broken vase and television. He had only just bought them a new one after last time. Tori, as usual, was curled up on the sofa.

“Mother?” Masaki asked hesitantly, “Did he hurt you?”

Tori looked up, her eyes were red from crying but apart from this she seemed to be okay. Masaki hurried into the kitchen and found a dustpan and brush and cleaned up the glass. Tori watched in silence, not speaking until he announced that he had to go out.

“Where?” she demanded, her brown eyes widening in fear.

“To Crown” Masaki answered as patiently and as gently as possible, though, in reality, he would much rather stay here with Tori in case Haru returned in a worse state than before. But to stay away from the meeting would give rise to some awkward questions and he was going to miss the one tomorrow as it was.

“Do you have too?” Tori whispered brokenly, “I know it was my fault that your father was angry, but if he comes back…”

Masaki sighed, “It is really important.”

Tori must have detected the exasperation and the fact that Masaki was torn as she shook her head and furiously wiped her eyes, “Silly me. Of course it is. You are meeting those friends of yours aren’t you? I’m being selfish. You don’t want to be bothered with me when you have your own friends and commitments, do you?”

“It’s not like that--” Masaki started to protest.

“I know” Tori forced a smile, “Why don’t you bring them back here next time? I would like to meet them.”

“Perhaps” now Masaki hesitated, “I don’t want to leave you.”

“He won’t be back for hours, you know that. Now go and enjoy yourself. You are still going to that concert tomorrow aren’t you?”

Masaki shrugged, as though it was no big deal, “If Haru’s in a better mood.”

Tori’s demeanour changed, but she still managed a small smile and nodded towards the door, “Go and meet your friends. I’ll be fine until you get back.”

Masaki hesitated again, but it would cause him more complications if he stayed. Not feeling entirely comfortable with his decision, Masaki quickly hurried towards the front door. He could always leave the meeting early, he supposed. One thing was for sure. He had to be back home before Haru returned.

*****

When Masaki reached Crown, the others were waiting for him. Mamoru and Taro sat at the table whilst Kisho paced up and down obviously annoyed by Masaki’s tardiness.

“Where have you been?” the oldest of them demanded as soon as he walked through the door.

“I was delayed” Masaki replied before opting to sit on the sofa, away from the others and their questioning stares.

Fortunately, Kisho was not intent on following this line of conversation and was content to let the matter drop, though Taro did give Masaki a concerned glance. The youngest of them ignored this and instead asked Mamoru for the reason that they were gathered here.

Mamoru cleared his throat, suddenly becoming a little apprehensive. “I’ve found out the identity of Sailor Moon.”

“Sailor Moon?” Kisho stopped pacing, and, when Mamoru failed to elaborate he added impatiently, “Well, who is she then?”

Masaki could sense that his friend was uncomfortable about revealing Sailor Moon’s secret, but made no comment on this. He suspected that Sailor Moon had no idea whom Tuxedo Kamen was, though she knew Kunzite’s Earth identity.

“Tsukino Usagi” Mamoru replied at last, then lowering his head as though he was ashamed at telling them.

“Tsukino Usagi?” Kisho repeated, obviously not recognising the name. Masaki did and had to laugh at the memory of the clumsy and dim-witted schoolgirl.

As they opened the door, a girl swung her arm around and nearly smacked Mamoru on the nose. He jumped back just in time, wincing in pain as his shoulder struck the closed door behind him.

“I’m so sorry!” a girl with black pigtails cried out as Kisho grabbed a hold of her arm to stop her from flailing about further. She appeared to be about fourteen years old and wore a pink skirt and an orange jumper with ‘mezzo piano’ etched across the back in grey and white stitching.

“You again!” Mamoru complained as he stared at the girl. “You appear everywhere, don’t you?”

“Just my luck” the girl moaned to her friend, “Why do you always have to be in the way!”

“You’re the one who nearly hit me, Tsukino Kobuta”

The girl stamped a foot on the ground impatiently, tearing her arm from Kisho’s grasp and throwing the piece of paper at Mamoru before dragging her friend out of Crown as quickly as she could.

“What was that all about?” Masaki asked.

“She’s like a bad penny” Mamoru replied a little angrily. “Always following me around everywhere I go!”

“Perhaps you’re fated to fall madly in love with her” Masaki quipped.

Mamoru snorted, “I very much doubt it.”

Kisho smirked, too, as he obviously recalled the same memory.

“Tsukino Kobuta? She’s Sailor Moon?” he said incredulously.

Masaki had to laugh at this and the horrified look on Mamoru’s face, despite the fact that he had, had a week to come to terms with this knowledge.

“I know” he said, “I still can’t believe it.”

Kisho nodded, “The question is, what do we do with this knowledge? We could use it to our advantage.”

“There’s more” Mamoru replied, “The Dark Senshi are her friends. Sailor Moon said that they were brainwashed by Queen Beryl and she needs the Ginzuishou to heal them.”

“Queen Beryl?” Taro repeated blankly.

“She must be the Queen of the Dark Kingdom” Mamoru reasoned, “But like we were reborn to protect the Prince, Sailor Moon and the Dark Senshi were the Princess’s guardians.”

“The Princess” Mamoru’s words seemed to have a profound effect on Kisho as the man turned a deathly pale. Masaki, too, felt his heart leap to his throat at the thought of the young woman who had brought destruction down upon their planet.

“If Sailor Moon knows who the Princess is then we have an advantage in knowing her true identity” Mamoru continued.

“You want to find the Princess?” Kisho demanded, “Are you forgetting that it was her who destroyed the past life? If we find her then we should kill her.”

Mamoru did not agree and voiced his protests. Pretty soon the three of them were arguing. Masaki was content to stay out of it. He didn’t need the extra grief right now. His thoughts wandered back to Tori and what might be happening at home. It would seem, as usual, that they were not going to really decide upon anything and that it might be best if he just slipped away. Still, the disagreement seemed to be really heating up between them. Mamoru didn’t want anyone to kill anyone else, and Masaki could relate to that, but his past self agreed with Kisho. The Princess had to be eliminated, but what exactly she had done to destroy the Earth still remained a mystery.

In the end Masaki quietly suggested that they should wait and see what Zoisite-sama had to say about the Princess. This was designed to calm them down, but it didn’t work as Kisho immediately expressed, once again, his distrust for the Prince.

Then, as luck would have it, at that moment Motoki burst into the room carrying a ladder and a pair of gloves.

“Kimi-kun! I know you’re on your break, but I really need your help with something!” he called loudly to Taro. The man in question glared furiously at Motoki as Kisho barely suppressed a laugh at the nickname.

“Kimi-kun?” he repeated, smirking at Taro, “How kawaii.”

“It’s not kawaii!” Taro snarled, “It’s stupid and annoying!”

“As I said,” Kisho smirked, “Cute.”

Masaki glanced at Mamoru and saw that he, too, was trying not to laugh. Furiously, Taro got up and hissed out, “Fine. What is it?”

“There’s a pigeon stuck in the guttering” Motoki replied as they left the room. Masaki heard Taro reply that there was ‘no way in hell’ that he was going up the ladder again after what happened last time. Motoki sighed and agreed that Taro could just hold it steady for him.

Taro’s early exit seemed to dispel some of the tension in the air and Mamoru made the point of saying that they didn’t have to do anything about Sailor Moon or the Princess at present. Kisho, not wanting to really fall out with his friend over this, agreed.

Masaki sighed; he was beginning to get a headache and made an excuse to leave. He was anxious to check up on Tori anyway.

Mamoru nodded, obviously more than a little upset that the meeting had gone badly, “Perhaps we can continue this tomorrow?” he offered.

Masaki paused, “I told you tomorrow’s no good for me, remember?”

“Why not?” Kisho wanted to know and Masaki surprised himself by sniping back:

“I have things to do, okay.”

He immediately regretted this and tensed, waiting for a fight. Kisho shrugged “I’ll ask Taro-kun to give you a call and let you know if you miss anything, though I suspect it will go just as well as today’s meeting did.”

Mamoru nodded in agreement to this, “I really wish we could agree on something” he voiced out loud as Masaki reached for his jacket that he had left hanging on the back of the door when he had come in.

Kisho shot him a grin, “You never know. Miracles can happen.”

Mamoru snorted, “I doubt it.”

Masaki had to laugh at this, but the image of Tori’s tearstained face sprang to mind and he announced that he really had to go. Then, as he was pulling his jacket on, some papers fell loose from the pocket and onto the floor.

He reached down to retrieve them, but Kisho was quicker. His eyes widened in surprise when he read the words written on the ticket and a sly smile spread across his lips.

“Masaki-kun, I’m surprised at you.” He declared, and then passing the ticket to Mamoru and their leader also stared at Masaki in astonishment whilst reading out loud the words printed there.

“Komoro Seiichi’s fiftieth concert? I didn’t know you were a fan?”

“Nor did I” Kisho added, “I thought only women liked this sort of thing.”

Masaki scowled and snatched the ticket back, trying to disguise his embarrassment whilst doing so.

“What is wrong with it?”

“Well” Kisho teased, “We thought you had something important to do tomorrow and instead your going to see a concert, and a Komoro Seiichi one no less?”

“Leave him alone” Mamoru chided his friend when he saw that Masaki wasn’t really sure how to counter this mockery, all be it, friendly and meaningless. “I told you I met Komoro-san didn’t I?”

“No?” Kisho said curiously, “When did you meet him?”

“At the hospital. He rescued me from the Youma.”

“He did?” Kisho shook his head, when Mamoru added that they had been having a coffee in the cafeteria when it happened, “I pity you” he said, “Both of you.”

Mamoru went on to say something else and Kisho laughed at this. Masaki took the opportunity to slip out before they noticed that he was gone. As he left Crown he saw Taro holding a very rickety ladder for Motoki as the younger man struggled to reach the guttering with an outstretched gloved hand.

“Masaki-kun?” Taro called, letting go of the ladder and taking a step towards him, “Is the meeting over?”

“Ye--” Masaki was about to reply when Motoki’s surprised scream cut him off and the ladder clattered to the ground, leaving Crown’s manager clinging onto the guttering for dear life.

“Kimi-kun!” Motoki was shouting, “What the hell are you doing?”

Taro sighed and bent down to retrieve the ladder and Masaki made his leave, half smiling at the arguing that ensured between the two men.

*****

When Mamoru got back to his apartment, Hina was sitting on the sofa, watching a video of a Komoro Seiichi concert. She had been very grateful that he had gone back to the hospital to get her Komoro-san’s autograph and had framed it and it now hung on their bedroom wall. Mamoru was not sure that he liked it being there, but he refrained from saying anything that might upset her. Hina was still feeling a little weak, but had started attending college again. The hospital was insisting that she have another week to rest. She smiled as he entered and gestured to the space on the sofa beside her.

“Did you meet your friends?” she asked and when Mamoru nodded she added, “You should bring them back here sometime. I don’t think I’ve met them.”

Mamoru shrugged, “You’re still not yourself are you? I don’t want you overdoing things.”

Hina smiled and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips, “I’m fine, Mamoru-kun” she indicated the television, “I’ve been doing nothing but resting and going to college.”

Mamoru nodded towards the television, “One of my friend’s is going to see him tomorrow.”

This surprised Hina, “He managed to get a ticket? I was on the telephone all day and I couldn’t get through.”

“He must have bought it months ago. It was funny, I didn’t expect him to like that sort of music, its so…”

“Girly?”

“I was going to say boring.”

“It just depends on your taste” Hina did not take offence easily and, for this, Mamoru was glad.

“Perhaps we could go” he offered after a few minutes silence between them, “He’s bound to have other concerts, right?”

Hina turned and looked at Mamoru in surprise, “Really?”

He nodded. Mamoru hated the way he had treated Hina over the past few weeks and he still felt guilty over what happened in the hospital. This was one way that he could make it up to her, especially as he couldn’t explain to her what was going on.

Now the Youma reached out with a fine long nailed hand towards Usagi and Tuxedo Kamen prepared himself to race to her aid, when her next words stopped him dead.

“Moon prism power… make up!”

Mamoru sighed and massaged his temples as Hina went back to staring raptly at the television screen. He still couldn’t believe it. Tsukino Kobuta was Sailor Moon? This would take some getting used too.

The girl smiled, “Are you Usagi-chan’s boyfriend?” she asked shyly.

“No. I just gave her a lift here.”

“And never again” Usagi pouted, “Mamoru-baka drives like an old man! I didn’t ever think we were going to get here.”

“How could I concentrate on driving when I had you clasped onto my waist so tightly? Were you scared?” Mamoru sniped back.

How could she be? Sailor Moon was beautiful and graceful and Tsukino Kobuta was rude, childish and clumsy! Mamoru shook his head. Just thinking of Usagi brought a smile to his lips, despite knowing her true self. Mamoru did not like this as it filled his heart with confusion. Shaking his head, he slipped an arm around Hina’s shoulders and pulled her close to him. He loved Hina… didn’t he?

******

“So this is a concert hall?” Dark Mars mused to herself as her heels clicked loudly on the polished wooden flooring of the stage. The hall was deserted, which was a good thing, Mars thought darkly. Beryl had been furious at the latest failing so Mars had decided to set her sights higher than a kindergarten. Komoro Seiichi was a famous pianist, after all, and lots of humans would be coming to see him perform and wasting lots of energy. Dark Mars had intended on having her Youma possess the young star in order to gather this energy, but as yet he hadn’t showed up.

Mars scowled. She couldn’t believe that she was waiting on a dirty human! She walked up to the grand piano that was standing on the stage and a plan formed in her mind. Uncurling her hand, she stared down at the translucent purple stone resting in her palm. She could feel the aura of the Youma throbbing through her glove. Her strongest Youma… in her desperation Mars had created one using her own abilities, something that no Dark Senshi had ever done before. She didn’t even know how it would turn out.

It was no matter, she had decided over much debating the subject. Stepping up to the piano she placed the stone on one of the keys and smirked in satisfaction as it was absorbed into the instrument. She had engineered it so, if those meddlesome kings or their Prince also happened to be present, they would not be able to sense the stone or the Youma inside of it until it was too late.

Dark Mars flipped her black hair over a shoulder and left the concert hall. She needn’t stay. Her Youma would do the rest.

*****

“Seiichi-kun! Hurry up! We are already ten minutes behind schedule as it is!”

Seiichi sighed to himself as he fastened up the top button on his shirt and paused to briefly glance in the mirror and check his appearance before answering his manager.

“I can’t do anything until the piano tuner gets here anyway!” he called, trying to disguise the irritation in his voice. Tetsuya did this every time there was a concert. He would always make a long list of things that needed doing before hand and allocate certain time that they had to do it by. There was less than half an hour until the concert and already people were starting to arrive. Seiichi was supposed to be practicing before hand, but the piano needed tuning first so all he could do was sit and wait, whilst hoping that the tuner actually turned up.

“I’ve phoned ahead and I was told that he would be here shortly” with these words Tetsuya hurried into the dressing room. He glanced up and down at Seiichi and nodded as though to give his approval.

“At least you’re ready” he said more to himself than Seiichi, “I suppose if the worst comes to worst you can always go on stage and talk to the audience until he gets here.”

Seiichi gulped at this. He really hoped not. Despite his stardom he was, in truth, quite shy and the idea of talking to a room full of people terrified him. When he was younger it used to take a lot for him to just get up on stage. Now playing the piano in public was almost a second nature, but this was simply because he allowed himself to become lost in his music and Seiichi quite often forgot that he was being watched by hundreds of people.

Tetsuya must have seen the apprehensive look on his face as he laughed and shook his head, “I was only joking, Seiichi-kun. If the piano tuner doesn’t arrive then we can always postpone. Why don’t you go and get yourself a drink or something and I’ll get on the phone and see where the incompetent moron is.”

Seiichi shrugged and turned to the piano in question. It would also need taking down onto the stage as it had been moved from there to start with so that he could practice privately before the concert started. They had people to move it back, but it was usually before the concert began and definitely before the public arrived. Things were just going from bad to worse.

“Don’t worry” Tetsuya smiled and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, “If we do have to postpone I will make sure that everyone knows it wasn’t your fault.”

Seiichi shrugged him off, “I don’t mind postponing if we have too.”

“Eh? Are you feeling alright?” Tetsuya frowned in surprise and placed a hand on his forehead, “You used to hate it if we cancelled a single concert!”

Annoyed Seiichi again pushed him away, “There are more important things than my music. Just go and see if the tuner has arrived yet. I’ll wait here.”

Tetsuya gave an exasperated sigh, “If you are sure.”

“I am”

Seiichi waited until he had left the room, feeling a little bad about snapping at his manager, but he’d been up all night and had a pounding headache.

“It is your own fault” Artemis said coldly from where he was sitting on top of the piano. “If you’d just rested like I told you to instead of chasing it about all over the city… again.”

“You know I have no choice in the matter” Seiichi replied quietly, ignoring the scorn in the cat’s voice.

Artemis shook his head, “If you hadn’t acted so foolishly in the first place--”

“So you keep saying,” Seiichi murmured disinterestedly as he sat down on the piano bench and leafed through the sheet music.

“I thought you had to wait for the tuner?”

“I do,” he said, realising that in the heat of the conversation he had completely forgotten about this. “But it can’t hurt just to try a few notes.”

“Seiichi, I really think you ought too--”

Artemis was cut off just as Seiichi placed his hands on the piano keys and the door swung open.

“Jadeite!” the plushie hissed before ducking behind a music book.

Seiichi stood, unsure of what to do when Ueda Masaki stepped into the room.

*****

Masaki was bored. He had been standing outside the concert hall for a good half an hour and was waiting to get inside. To make things worse, the girls waiting in front and behind him kept giving him weird looks as if to say ‘why are you here?’ and Masaki was sick of it. Didn’t Komoro Seiichi have any other male fans? Sighing he knew that he should have expected this and leaned back against the wall, thinking about Tori and what was going on at home.

Before leaving, Masaki had managed to persuade her to take up the neighbour’s offer of having tea at her house so Haru would have to be on his best behaviour. This calmed Masaki somewhat and he was able to go to the concert with a clear conscience.

Not that he had got anywhere, he thought gloomily. The queue hadn’t moved forward and word was that there was going to be a delay starting anyway.

Masaki looked at his watch, it was nearly 3.00pm now. The concert was due to start in fifteen minutes. He couldn’t help but wonder if they weren’t going to cancel. Komoro Seiichi had been injured during Mamoru’s fight with the Youma in the hospital. According to his friend, Hina was still feeling a little weak. Perhaps Komoro Seiichi was also still unwell?

He sighed again as the doors opened and a girl pushed her way through the crowd, the door once more slamming shut behind her. As she struggled to make her way through the queue, she bumped into Masaki.

“Excuse me” she said, sounding not in the least apologetic, but that was not what caused Masaki to stare after her. She wore a brown trench coat, which had been slightly undone as she brushed passed and Masaki caught a glimpse of the red and white fuku beneath it. Looking up, he caught sight of her long black hair.

“Dark Mars?” he whispered to himself, what was she doing here? Glancing around, Masaki saw a side entrance to the concert hall, and, even better, it appeared to be unguarded. Quickly he started to walk away, making it seem as though he was giving up waiting and, no sooner had he moved from his space, someone else moved in there.

Masaki ducked round the corner and tried the door, it swung open and, on looking inside, he found it deserted. Not believing his luck, Masaki hurried inside before anyone could spot him.

The halls were just as deserted and he walked along them without being challenged and Masaki had to frown at the lack of security. Granted Japan had one of the lowest crime rates in the world, but it didn’t mean that he should not have adequate security! Shaking his head, Masaki continued down one corridor until it branched out into several smaller ones. Choosing the corridor to his left, Masaki found that it ended by a closed door. Not thinking, and trying to concentrate on any potential Youma aura and finding none, Masaki pushed open the door.

A gasp caught in his throat when he walked into the room and his gaze locked upon the young man seated at the piano. Startled, the pianist also looked up, a shy smile on his lips as Masaki entered.

“Can I help you?” he asked, his voice wavering in places and he was forced to repeat himself when all Masaki could do was stare dumbly at him whilst cursing his impulsiveness.

“I…” he trailed off.

Komoro-san smiled slightly, “I take it you’re not the piano tuner, then?”

*****

Seiichi could only stare at Ueda-san; trying to conceal his surprise that one of them had found him so easily. He could feel Artemis’s dagger like gaze on him, despite the fact that the plushie remained hidden behind a music book.

“Can I help you?” Seiichi decided it would be best to pretend that he didn’t know who Ueda-san was, though from the stunned look on his face it was becoming clear that Ueda-san knew very well who Komoro Seiichi really was.

“I--” Ueda-san seemed to be at a loss for words so Seiichi added:

“I take it you’re not the piano tuner, then?”

Ueda-san frowned at this, “No.”

“Then who are you? Don’t tell me you’re another obsessed fan who managed to sneak in the back door.”

Ueda-san managed a small smile, “I did sneak in through the backdoor” he admitted, “But I don’t know about being an obsessed fan. It seems to me that you have a too high opinion of yourself, Komoro-san.”

Seiichi laughed, “Then why did you sneak in?”

Ueda-san shrugged, “I was bored of waiting. What is the delay anyway?”

Seiichi relaxed slightly as it began to dawn on him that Ueda-san had no idea whom he was talking too. He allowed a small sigh of relief to escape him before answering, “The piano tuner is late. I had thought you were him, what did you say your name was again?”

“I didn’t. It’s Ueda Masaki.”

Seiichi nodded somewhat shakily. He still got nervous before a concert and this waiting around didn’t help. He stood up just as the door opened again and Tetsuya ushered a rather disgruntled looking man into the room.

“Where have you been? This is a disgrace!” Tetsuya was yelling, “Do you know who he is?” he gestured to Seiichi, “How dare you keep us waiting this long?”

Seiichi sighed, getting over his initial shock at seeing Ueda-san and suggested that they might want to make themselves scarce.

Ueda-san seemed surprised at this, but was happy to do as he suggested. Seiichi led them back down the corridor and Ueda-san commented on his lack of security.

“Anyone could come wandering in” he said, “Why don’t you have guards?”

“I can take care of myself” was Seiichi’s rather off-hand reply.

“I’m sure you can” Ueda-san smirked a little at this, “Like you could at the hospital.”

Seiichi shrugged, “I was caught off guard, that was all.”

“It was my friend. The one whom you saved.”

“Chiba-san?” Seiichi tried to keep his voice neutral at the mention of Mamoru.

“You remember him?” Ueda-san seemed surprised at this.

“I saved his life, didn’t I? Of course I would remember his name.”

“I suppose so.”

“Here” Seiichi paused beside a pair of double doors, “You go through there to get to the concert main hall. Now that the tuner has arrived we should be due to start soon.”

“Thank you.”

“That’s okay, just don’t sneak in next time.”

“Why? You said yourself there is no security.”

Seiichi smiled, but did not reply to this, “Enjoy the concert.” He turned and hurried back down the corridor before Ueda-san could stop him.

****

Artemis remained hidden behind the music book as Seiichi and Ueda-san made their leave. Tetsuya stayed for a few more minutes, raving at the stunned piano tuner before also leaving. The poor man was terrified and Artemis could only suppose that he had been unaware of exactly whose piano he was going to be tuning.

“I know what I’m doing, Artemis.”

“Do you? I admit you’ve come a long way since we first met, but you’re not going to be able to complete the mission if you continue to take stupid risks.”

“I had to do something. The Youma would have killed them if I didn’t.”

The plushie shook his head at the memory of their heated conversation. Seiichi did not know what he was doing. He had no idea… Artemis’s heart caught in his throat at the thought of this and the memory of his friend… Venus… they had forged a partnership since the past life itself and Beryl had taken that away. Artemis would do anything to rescue her, even if it meant siding with the enemy and this was just what he was doing now. Seiichi-kun was the enemy as much as the Dark Kingdom was. They only worked together now because it suited them. Seiichi had vowed to rescue Venus and in return Artemis would…

His line of thought was cut off by a scream. He whirled round and his heart skipped a beat when he saw the piano tuner bent over the instrument in agony. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he cried out, his hands locked to the keys by a churning mass of purple and silver magics. As Artemis watched the magics spread, lancing up his arms, even as the man struggled to get away. Then it was over. The magic surged up both his arms and into his chest. He let loose a cry of agony and collapsed to the floor.

Artemis shook his head, “If you hadn’t acted so foolishly in the first place--”

“So you keep saying,” Seiichi murmured disinterestedly as he sat down on the piano bench and leafed through the sheet music.

“I thought you had to wait for the tuner?”

“I do,” he said, realising that in the heat of the conversation he had completely forgotten about this. “But it can’t hurt just to try a few notes.”

“Seiichi, I really think you ought too--”

Artemis was cut off just as Seiichi placed his hands on the piano keys and the door swung open.

The plushie couldn’t explain the sense of relief he felt when the piano tuner fell to the floor.

“That could have been Seiichi-kun,” he whispered to himself and then, shaking his head to rid himself of such thoughts Artemis added, “And it would have served him right, too. He should have sensed the Youma” but deep down the plushie was concerned that Seiichi did not.

The piano tuner had stood now, carefully brushing some dirt from his jacket, his eyes narrowing as they locked upon the piano. Then, very deliberately he slammed the lid down, just as the men came into the room to take it out onto the stage. Artemis could only watch as they did this.

Seconds after they had gone, Seiichi came back into the room.

“It’s all okay then is it?” he asked the tuner.

The man nodded, a sly smile playing across his lips and he said: “It’s fine, Komoro-san. I must apologise for my tardiness. Had I known it was you I would have done my utmost to make sure that I was on time.”

“Don’t worry about it” Seiichi seemed preoccupied. Jadeite’s appearance had startled him; Artemis realised and with this came the realisation that Seiichi still couldn’t sense the Youma’s presence.

“Komoro-san” he gestured to the door, “Do you want to try the piano before the curtain goes up?”

Seiichi sighed, “I suppose it would be a good idea, though I assume that you know how to do your job.”

The piano tuner nodded, “I do, Komoro-san, I do.”

“Good.”

Seiichi turned to follow him from the room when Artemis couldn’t bear it any longer. He rushed out from his hiding place, “Seiichi-kun!”

Luckily the tuner was more concerned with getting to the audience and didn’t bother to see if the pianist was behind him or not.

“What now? I know it was stupid speaking to Ueda-san, but he didn’t suspect anything!”

“Seiichi--”

“Artemis. I have to be on stage in two minutes. Can’t it wait?”

“No! The piano tuner is a Youma!”

“That’s impossible? I would have sensed something!”

“Jadeite didn’t either! The Youma must be shielding from you!”

“If he’s going out on stage…”

“Don’t! You can’t get involved! Jadeite is here. Let him handle things!” Artemis called but Seiichi had already run from the room after the piano tuner.

******

Seiichi caught up with the piano tuner right by the stage and quickly stepped between him and the steps that would lead up onto the stage itself. Thankfully the curtain had not been pulled up yet, but Seiichi was loath to transform here.

“I’ve changed my mind” he said, “I don’t want to try the piano after all. So there’s no need for you to come on stage, is there?”

The piano tuner’s answer was to lunge at him, wrapping a hand around his throat. Seiichi gagged as his feet left the floor as he dragged him up the steps and onto the stage. Then the tuner released him, hurling Seiichi back against the piano in question. He slammed into the keys and slumped onto the floor in pain, just as the curtain went up.

“Kuso” Seiichi whispered as the piano tuner turned to the stunned audience. The man slumped to the ground as the Youma form was revealed. Dazed, Seiichi could only watch as the audience started to scream as the Youma took a step towards them.

*****

Masaki sighed as he watched the people filing in through the double doors and taking their seats. He couldn’t believe how much of a fool he had seemed in front of Komoro Seiichi and that he hadn’t even bothered to get an autograph or found out what Dark Mars was planning! Masaki shook his head. There was something about Komoro-san… something that had bothered him enough to lose all his confidence and become tongue tied around him. The young pianist had a certain sadness about him. Masaki wondered was his home life as bad as his own? There had to be something…

Movement on the stage caught his attention. The curtain was pulled up, just as there was a crash from onstage.

“Komoro-san” Masaki whispered as the young pianist hit the floor and didn’t get up. The man standing over him shone a brilliant white light and then collapsed.

“Youma” Masaki breathed, briefly wondering why he hadn’t sensed it before. The Youma resembled a Senshi. It wore a red fuku but the bows were black and lined in silver. Its face was vaguely humanoid, but its eyes were set too wide apart and resembled a cat’s. Its mouth was nothing but a row of sharp pointed teeth and in place of a nose were simply two vertical slits. Its skin was green and mottled and it carried a scythe in one clawed hand. The other was extended towards the audience and a green light shot from its palm. Masaki ducked, rolling beneath the stage whilst thinking himself lucky that he had managed to get a front row seat. Wherever the green mist touched a human, that human collapsed, their energy drained from them. Pretty soon the entire audience were unconscious, which was a good thing as Masaki was able to transform without anyone seeing him in order to fight the Youma.

The Youma was a little startled at Jadeite’s presence and this gave him the chance to send an attack straight at it, knocking it off of the stage. Snarling, it scrambled to his feet and slashed at him with its scythe. Jadeite jumped backwards, to avoid the deadly downward arch and countered it with his own weapon. As the blades clashed, he realised that it was the first time that he had really used the sword in combat.

The Youma snarled in fury and struck at him again and again, forcing him back into the seats. Jadeite tried to dodge passed it so that he could get back out into an aisle, but the Youma had guessed his plan and kept on taking swipes at him, not intentionally trying to hit him, but to force him back further.

Jadeite stumbled over several unconscious fans; a stab of fear slicing at his heart at the realisation that here no one would come to his aid. Mamoru and the others thought he was just at a concert and would not sense this Youma as it was somehow shielding itself from them. He had to defeat this one alone.

Spurred on by this thought, Jadeite lunged forwards, his blade cutting into the Youma’s left hand. Green blood sprayed from the wound, causing it to emit a strangled cry. It dropped the blade and fell back in pain. Jadeite, assuming he had the upper hand, paused for breath as it continued to howl and clutch at its hand.

Lowering his sword, Jadeite held out a hand with the intention of blasting it to pieces whilst it was helpless, when movement on the stage distracted them both.

Komoro-san was getting to his feet, one hand pressed against his forehead in pain and he was using the piano for support as he gained his footing. He frowned when his gaze settled on the Youma and then on Jadeite.

“What? What is--” he trailed off as the Youma whirled round, and before Jadeite could react, it conjured a ball of fire in its hand, just like the Senshi who’s powers it was formed from, and hurled it at the astounded pianist.

The stage and the piano exploded in a mass of flames and wood, mournful notes of the instrument echoing around the room.

“Komoro-san!” Jadeite cried out as the young star was lost in the pillar of flames. Then there was silence. Both Youma and king were staring at the fire that was licking its way up the ceiling of the concert hall.

“Komoro-san” Jadeite whispered and then uttered a curse under his breath. In truth, he had forgotten all about the man and now…

He stared into the fire, unable to look away and furious with himself for not making sure that the young man was safe before attacking the Youma.

Jadeite was about to turn back to the battle, whilst trying to assuage his own feelings of guilt until the Youma was defeated at least, when he thought he saw something move on stage.

The smoke seared at his eyes and caused his vision to blur over, but Jadeite could see a shape walking out from behind the wall of smoke.

“Komoro-san?” Jadeite whispered as the man lowered his silver cape that had been acting as a shield.

“Komoro-san?” Jadeite repeated and then, in a louder voice, “Zoisite-sama?”

*****

Act Sixteen Preview:

“You must keep this quiet” Komoro-san said softly, “You can’t tell anyone who I really am.”

~~~~~

Masaki nodded, “At least I know now why you said you had little need for security, Zoisite-sama.”

Komoro-san frowned, “Don’t call me that here and I meant what I said. You can’t tell anyone that you know who I am.”

“By anyone I assume you mean Mamoru-kun and the others.”

“It is safer if they didn’t know. They think you know as little as they do. It would be safer for you all if they keep on believing this.”

“I take it you mean the Dark Kingdom?”

Komoro-san nodded, “Their Queen, Queen Beryl, resents and loathes the past life. The Prince is a cause of her bitterness and hatred. She will tear apart the planet and all who get in her way. As long as my identity remains a secret the Earth is safe.”

“And you want me to help keep that secret?”

~~~~

“Usagi-chan” Luna started with the intention of suggesting that they called it a night. The Youma was nowhere to be seen and as it wasn’t stealing energy, Luna reasoned that they could leave it be… for now.

This line of thought was snapped off when her charge uttered another squeak of surprise when the Youma leapt out in front of her, taking a swipe at her chest and tearing the pink bow from the bodice of her fuku.

~~~~

Ayame nodded, “You told me there was a part of you missing. At the time I thought it was because our mom was gone, but you still felt like that even afterwards.”

“What you saw…” Kisho was cut off when Ayame spoke again.

“You don’t have to explain. I think I understand.”

~~~~~

“I told you I would help to rescue her” he assured the cat in the end, “And despite what you may think of me I always keep my promises.”

“Still” Artemis retorted, “I don’t think it was very wise to reveal your true identity to Jadeite. You might have been awakened for a year, but you have a lot to learn, Seiichi-kun.”

“I know!” Seiichi snapped, turning round to face Artemis, “The mission is all that matters. Anything that I do in this life is irrelevant, but I don’t see what possible--”

“Seiichi-kun?”