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May 2009
Kinmoku Flag Ship, in orbit around the Moon of the third planet of the Sol System
More than a month after his dinner with the Wakagis, Seiya was still debating whether or not to contact Usagi. Now that he had a starting point, he had been able to find out quite a bit of information about the blonde. He knew that she had moved from her parent's house, how many kids she had, about the accident that had her bound to a wheelchair and he also knew about the recent deaths in the extended family. After talking it over with Kakyuu, they decided that the easiest way to make contact would be to send one person in first and let him see what the situation really was.
Seiya had been reluctant at first, but had soon agreed that it would be easier go alone. However, once he had reached California, he realized that finding them would be the least of his problems. The reporters kept him from getting too close to the house and since his English wasn't very good, he had very little luck contacting them directly. The woman who kept answering the phone had a very short fuse. "Every time I get close, there is something that pushes me away."
Kakyuu sighed, glancing out the window of the ship. After the last failed attempt, he had come back to the ship to try and plan what to do next. "Alright, we'll wait. We can get the girls transferred to an American school and set up a life for ourselves down there."
"Why don't we just teleport into their house and demand they come help? It would save a whole lot of time and headaches." Shi looked at her father and sighed. "We don't have time to waste building a life here. We have to turn around and go back to Kinmoku and beat the crap out of the Hrrrrunai."
"Easier said than done," Seiya replied. "These are not just average humans. You can't just teleport into their house without warning. They'd likely kill first and ask questions later. Besides, no matter what we do, it will take nearly three years to get back to Kinmoku. And that's only AFTER the ships are repaired and refueled. And I didn't see a convenient refueling colony anywhere close, did you?"
Kakyuu frowned slightly at the sarcastic comment. "He's right, Shi. We have to face the fact that we can't leave yet. And it will be easier for the crew to fix the ship if we're not roaming around, getting in their way."
Seiya nodded, turning to fully face the blonde and smiling slightly. "Besides, you'll like Earth. It's a lot like home."
Shi frowned, glancing out the window. "Too much like home, if you ask me." She left the room without explaining herself and went to find her sister.
Kakyuu rolled her eyes at her retreating back. "She's been acting weird ever since we got close to the planet's moon. Do you think she's feeling ok?"
"I think being in space so long has brought up a few things she'd rather not remember." Seiya turned back to the window. "Tomorrow you and I will go down to the planet and get things started. The two of us should be able to at least find out what it would take."
"It would be better if you took Yaten."
Seiya nodded again. "Maybe. I know we each had personal accounts, but most everything went into a main joint account. I should at least be able to see what's there."
Los Angeles, CA
Kakyuu looked up at the woman in the gray suit and smiled. "So, Asugawa-san, you see my problem. I have to find a place big enough for all of us, but none of us speak enough English to deal directly with the realtors."
Mrs. Asugawa, a middle-aged Japanese-American, smiled at the redhead. She worked for an organization designed to help people interested in moving to America. "I see. Well, I think I can help you. Finding a house shouldn't be a problem. There are several larger mansions in Kensington for sale. You mentioned that there were school-aged children? How many, exactly?"
"Well, four really, for now. Four girls in High-School. The others we want to stay where they are for now. At least until we're sure we won't have to move again." Kakyuu smiled at the older woman. "My son is 19. He'll be going to College soon, we hope. He's taking some time off from school to help with the move."
"Sounds like a good idea. Especially since you've been moving around so much. I'm sure they'll all love Los Angeles. As for Colleges, my son goes to UCLA, he seems to like it there. Then again, I'm slightly partial to it myself." Mrs. Asugawa typed some information in on her computer then looked back at Kakyuu. "There are two houses in the general area you're looking at. You said you had friends living there?"
"Yes, some old friends of ours from Tokyo. They moved here shortly after we left Japan," Kakyuu replied.
Asugawa nodded. "Well, if you want, we should be able to go take a look at both of the houses tomorrow. And I can start the paperwork for getting your girls into school this coming term. We can even sign them up for English classes at the local Japanese language school, if you think it will help. My husband and his sister teach there, they're both from Tokyo. I'm sure that your girls will get along great with them," she replied. She handed Kakyuu some information about the school and looked over what she had typed into the computer so far. "Be sure to tell your friends that the world has missed them. I was a big fan of the 'Three Lights'. It was quite a shock when they split and vanished."
"Well, as I'm sure you can imagine, it was quite a shock to them when they suddenly found themselves guardians of little girls. Being little more than children themselves, they didn't know how to react." Kakyuu was relieved that so far their cover story about the guys' disappearance wasn't being questioned. "Since we've always been so close, I convinced them that the best thing to do would be to drop from sight. For the girl's sake. They didn't need the hassle that a public life would bring."
"Yeah, I just wish that everyone was that smart. There's a bunch of immigrants here in California that have practically lived most of the last couple of years IN the public view. I know it's been hard on that poor lady, Chiba-san. Ever since the accident, she seems to have had nothing but trouble." Mrs. Asugawa sighed and glanced at a picture on her desk. "Sorry, it's just that ... well, things haven't been very good around here lately. Most people are packing up and moving out of the area. Yet you seem bound and determined to move in. I just have to ask myself ... why?"
Kakyuu sighed and looked out the window. "This Chiba-san you spoke of. She is the friend we came from Tokyo to find. She means a lot to some people who mean a lot to me." She turned back to Mrs. Asugawa. "We came here to try and make things a little easier for her."
Mrs. Asugawa nodded, pulling something from her desk. It was an old paper from Tokyo and had a picture of Usagi and her friends standing next to the 'Three Lights' after the concert on the plane. She showed the picture to Kakyuu and smiled. "My cousin sent me that after the concert. He knew I was a fan." She walked over to the window and looked out at the city. "I know the press is going to have a field day once they find out. But, since we're all friends here, I'll do what I can to make sure they don't."
"I'm afraid that it will only be a matter of time, no matter what we do. But thank you for helping us." Kakyuu smiled at the other woman. She had come here on the advice of Seiya's former teacher, Mrs. Wakagi. Mrs. Asugawa was a distant cousin of her husband, he had been the one to send the newspaper article to her. "Be sure to thank your cousins for us. They have helped us more than they know."
Tokyo - July 2, 2009
Seiya looked at the newspaper and fought to keep from crying. "How could this happen? Chiba-san ... and the others ... dead."
Yaten shook his head, leaning back in the chair. "I don't know. All I could find out was that they were confirming several dead. There's more cover-up going on about this story than about anything else."
"It did happen at what was basically their palace." Kakyuu glanced at the two men sitting in front of her. Yaten's ship had just entered teleportation range the day before, when news of the incident at the White House reached the bed and breakfast where they were staying in Tokyo. The gray-haired man had immediately teleported to meet with the others. "It is understandable that they not want everyone to know what happened."
"But ... what was Mamoru-san even doing there? He wasn't a politician." Yaten placed his head on the table and sighed. Since they had found out this information, they had stopped all plans to contact the Senshi. It was agreed that the best option was to lay low and let things settle down before making themselves known to the others.
"They had been invited to a party, according to the papers. They were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time," Seiya sighed. "Of all the things we have faced over the years and that they have faced ... to be brought down by a mere human weapon."
"Seiya! Even though they are Senshi, they are still human." Yaten grabbed the other man's arm and stood, pulling him away from Kakyuu. "Do not forget that we are simply mortal. We could be killed on this planet just as easily. In fact, if I remember correctly, we were."
"We were killed as easily as we could have been and should have been on Kinmoku when Galaxia first invaded. It was only through some twist of fate that any of us came back." Seiya sighed, slumping against the wall. "We should have died."
"It wouldn't have changed anything, Seiya. If we had died, things would be a lot worse than they are. Usagi-chan would be alone." Yaten propped against the wall next to his long-time friend. "I thought it was my job to be the negative one in this group."
Seiya smiled vacantly. "I didn't know we had jobs anymore." He heard a chair scrape on the floor and looked up to see Kakyuu leaving the room. "Yaten, I just ... things have been hell lately ... I can't ... I can't believe that they're suddenly getting worse."
Yaten sank to his knees and stared at the floor. "I know how bad things have been, Seiya. I'm not saying that they're not getting worse, but I agree with Kakyuu. We should wait. Give them some time to mourn. Fumi and I are going to stay on the ship with the kids. We got a message from Taiki when he entered the portal, it was staticy and I didn't get it all, but ... apparently somebody really didn't want us to leave."
"They're the ones that told us to get off the planet. Sorry, but it takes a while to get enough ships and crew to move a million people." Seiya sank to the floor beside the other man, pulling his knees up to his chest. "I think Kakyuu is going to tell some of the ships to try and land on Mars. See if some of the other races can survive there."
"Probably a good idea. I know that the Vesh wouldn't exactly fit in on Earth. The dog ears would give them away easily." Yaten smiled slightly, elbowing the other man. He slung his arm around his friend's shoulders and hugged him. "I know we still have the building and all the junk inside it, unless thieves got to it. It's going to take at least a couple of weeks to go through all of it and get it ready to move to the house in the US. Why don't you work on that, I'll get all of the stuff on the ships sorted and on it's way. When Taiki gets here, we'll make him deal with the storage unit in Kyoto."
Seiya chuckled slightly. "He'll hate that. That storage unit hasn't been touched in 15 years. Kakyuu and I went and checked on it the other day, there's dust everywhere." He returned the hug, pulling on the other man's ponytail. "When he gets done, his hair will look like yours."
"Hey!" Yaten poked him in the ribs and stood. "I'm glad you're feeling better. I'm going to crash for a while then head back. As tired as I am, I'd likely 'port myself into the wall of the ship." He said goodbye to the other man and left the room. He saw Kakyuu out in the hallway and moved to stand beside her. "You okay?"
Kakyuu nodded. "Yeah. Sometimes I feel like I failed you all," she replied. She smiled when he laid his head on her shoulder. "Suck up."
Yaten chuckled, giving her a quick hug. "You've been listening to the kids too much. I told you that was dangerous."
December 31, 2008
As soon as the rescuers arrived, they knew this was no ordinary mission. All they had been told was to retrieve the survivors from the water and bring them back to the carrier. They found that there was enough room to land the helicopters one at a time and load the people. However, no one seemed willing to approach them. The rescuers tried every language they could think of, but no one seemed to understand them, until Captain Knight tried Japanese. A young girl with long blonde hair looked at her curiously for a moment before replying. "How do you know that language?"
Capt. Knight smiled slightly at the girl. "I know several languages. I'm just glad you know it. Come on, you have to get onto the helicopter," she replied.
The blonde shook her head and grabbed the Captain's arm. "No one will leave before Lady StarMaker. Don't even bothering telling them to go, they don't speak the language," she replied. She led her over to a large group of people who had gathered around one figure, including four, rather small children.
The Captain thought she was seeing things at first. All of the others were dressed in simple clothes, but the figure they were trying to protect was clad in a very immodest black outfit. Someone next to her said something in a language she had never heard before and she looked at the blonde. "What did he say?"
The blonde said something to the man and motioned the Captain over. "It is not your concern," she replied. "You have to help her. She is our Commander and we will not leave her." 'Especially since she's the only one who knows anything about humans,' the blonde thought to herself.
Captain Knight motioned to her crew and knelt beside StarMaker. After her crew had loaded the unconscious Senshi and four small children onto the helicopter, she looked back to the blonde. "Now will the rest of you leave?"
The blonde nodded and called out to the others. "Just tell me what they need to know and I will tell them," she replied. She kicked something and glanced at her feet. She knelt down to pick up the energy weapon and saw the Captain draw her own. She stood, kicking the weapon toward the other woman. "Don't worry. It doesn't work anymore. It shorted out when the main cell got wet."
Captain Knight picked up the energy weapon and replaced her own sidearm. "Sorry. Habit," she replied. She tucked the weapon into her belt and motioned the first helicopter to leave once it was loaded. It would take several hours to transport the 742 survivors back to the carriers. When the initial call for assistance had gone out, two ships had responded. There were another three waiting at the edge of the 'quarantine area', if they needed them. As she watched the now loaded helicopter take off she asked the blonde what was keeping the ship from sinking completely.
"The secondary storage area, I would imagine. That's where we put all of the bodies. It was sealed before we entered your atmosphere," the blonde replied. She noticed the Captain tense at the word, 'bodies', but continued to tell her their situation, leaving out as many details as she could. "When we exited the portal, we were much closer to your planet than anticipated. Since our ship was damaged, we were unable to control our descent."
The Captain nodded slightly, even as she sent a message to the ship that there were bodies still on the ship. She kept the blonde in her line of sight, almost as if she was afraid that this was all a very bad dream.
