It was a nice Sunday afternoon. Ryoku had just finished straightening his apartment. It still seemed a little empty to him, even with all his stuff unpacked. His neighbors asked why he wanted a two-bedroom apartment when it was just him living in it. “Guest room,” was his usual reply. Since that was the only answer they would get out of him, they never asked again.
He had some extra time on his hands, so he decided to go check out the shopping center, hoping that there was a good bookstore there. He had already read all of his books and manga at least three times already; he needed some new ones.
Finding the place was easy, but navigating it was another matter. After several minutes of aimless wandering, he finally found the bookstore. Upon entering the bookstore, he quickly headed for the manga section for any new arrivals. A quick check told him that there was nothing interesting.
“Well, as long as I’m here, I might as well just browse. Maybe there’s something around here worth my time. I’ve got nothing else to do,” he muttered to nobody in particular. As he looked around the comic book section, he overheard two girls talking to each other. Curious, he turned around to see who was talking. One girl was blond with twin ponytails and what looked like a pair of odango on her head. He found the hairstyle interesting since there weren’t very many girls who wore their hair like that. The other girl had short bluish hair. He couldn’t see their faces since their backs were to him.
“I got my stuff,” the blond girl said. “Find anything interesting?”
“Yes, quite a bit,” the blue-haired girl replied. “What kind of books do you read?”
“Why don’t we switch?” the blond girl asked. The girls exchanged books. Although he couldn’t see their faces, Ryoku could guess what their expressions might look like; especially after noticing that they both straightened abruptly after only a slight glance at the other’s book. Just the thought almost made him laugh.
“They’re nothing but words!”
“They’re nothing but manga!”
This time, he did laugh. Fortunately, he was far enough away so that the girls didn’t notice.
As Ryoku started to leave the bookstore without a purchase, he turned back to look at the two girls again. Their backs were still to him. Strange, there’s something familiar about those two.… Nah, couldn’t be. I’ve never met either one before in my life. I’m sure I’d remember those blond odango. He shrugged and left to find a music store. He wanted to find some sheet music for his guitar.
A short time later, he left the music store with his purchase. Over to his right he noticed a large crowd gathering near a clock shop. “Hmph. Must be some big sale or something,” he said to himself. He was about to pass by the shop when he saw the backs of two familiar heads entering the shop. The same girls from the bookstore. Amused at the coincidence, he half-smiled and continued on his way.
He returned home, put his new stuff away and gathered all of his papers from his old school and put them next to the lamp in his room. He would need them for tomorrow when he registered in his new school.
He was still feeling depressed. Leaving his sister and his friends was hard on him. He needed to do something that would temporarily distract him from his depression.
He needed to practice.
He walked over to where he placed his sword and picked it up. One good thing about leaving his old school was the fact that he didn’t have to worry about the ‘no weapons in your room’ rule anymore. As soon as he had left, he went to retrieve his sword from storage. The blade was something he cherished, as his father gave it to him; just as those rose earrings of Makoto’s were given to her by her mother. Each item was a memento of their parents. While she could keep hers at school, he had to leave his behind. Now that he had it back, he wanted to feel it in his hands again.
Since his apartment was a little too confining for swordplay, he went to the roof to practice. The sun was just beginning its descent and night was on its way. The setting sun’s red-gold rays glistened off the edge of the bare blade as he held if aloft. He looked over the sword, admiring its beauty. The insignia of a pair of crossed swords shined at him as the sunlight hit it.
He lowered the blade and went into a ready stance. Then, he began. He flowed from one strike to the next gracefully, almost like a dance. Slowly, he depression vanished as he concentrated on moving from one strike to the next. He continued until the sun had completely set and there was no more sunlight to see by. Winded, but not exhausted, he climbed off the roof and went inside.
He quickly fixed himself dinner, wishing that he’d remembered to ask Makoto to supply him with a few of her recipes – not that he didn’t know how to cook. After eating he showered and went to bed.
“Excuse me,” Ryoku said politely to the office secretary. “I’m here to register for school….”
“Yes, yes. Down the hall, fifth door on the right,” she said in a rush, barely lifting her head up from the paper she was reading. “Well, go on! I don’t have time to waste just talking to you. I’ve got so much to do: calls to make, files to sort….”
He had already left the hyperactive secretary and went to see about getting registered. As he was passing an intersection, something caught his attention. To his left, at the end of the hallway, he thought he saw a girl with short blue hair turn the corner.
Seeing the same girl three times in two days had to be a coincidence. He didn’t believe in fate. He had a good reason not to. Still, he wondered why she had caught his attention. It wasn’t as if she was in a hurry. Shaking his head, he continued.
He opened the fifth door on the right and entered. The people in the office were working hard and working fast. Very fast. “Okay…,” Ryoku said, raising an eyebrow in confusion. Something just doesn’t seem right, here. Dismissing the feeling with a shrug, he went to do what he came for.
“Pardon me,” he said courteously to the person behind the desk nearest to him. She looked up.
“Yes?” she snapped. “Well, what is it?” she asked before he could answer the question. “Speak up! Out with it! Come on, I’m a busy person. I’ve got too much to do today, so I don’t need you just standing around here wasting my time.” She was giving him no chance to speak, so he just placed his transfer papers in front of her. “What’s this?”
“Transfer papers,” he informed her before she could continue. Now that he had a chance to speak, he wasn’t going to waste it. “I’m a new transfer student from Shikai boarding school. I’m to start tomorrow.”
The woman looked over his papers. “Transferred for fighting I see,” she said. He nodded silently. “Well, we’ll have none of that here, understand?” He nodded again with a tight-lipped grimace. “Your grades are impressive though,” she added thoughtfully. He had the suspicion that she thought that he might have gotten his high marks through cheating. Figures, he thought bitterly, though he kept an emotionless expression. Just because I’m branded a troublemaker from fighting, that automatically puts me under suspicion for cheating just because I have high grades. Wonderful. Just wonderful.
As the woman started typing in her computer, Ryoku gazed around the room. Everyone, not only the woman, seemed in a hurry. The feeling of wrongness returned, stronger this time. This time, he ignored it.
“Here,” the woman said suddenly, bringing his attention back to her. She was holding out a piece of paper, which he took before she could scold him again for wasting her time. “Your schedule and all other information are all there. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some work I need to finish in a hurry. Would you please show yourself out?”
He frowned at the abrupt, if not rude, dismissal and left. The feeling of wrongness was still gnawing at him, but something else just then crossed his mind. He now realized why that girl had caught his attention just a few minutes ago. Where everybody else – students and staff alike – seemed to be rushing here and there like they had guzzled a half-gallon of coffee after consuming at least twenty chocolate bars, she was the only person – besides himself – who wasn’t as hyper as the rest. He considered talking to her, to ask if she knew what was going on, but then decided against it. It really didn’t matter. Even if she knew, there was nothing he cared to do about it anyway.
From the roof of his apartment, Ryoku noticed that for some reason the people had suddenly stopped running around like crazy. Everything seemed normal; the feeling of wrongness he had felt since morning was gone. He still hadn’t figured out what had happened. Oh, well. They say ignorance is bliss.…
He sheathed his sword, deciding that he had enough practice for today. Earlier this afternoon, he had come across an arcade called the Crown Video Arcade. Inside, he had noticed that there was a poster for a martial arts competition to be held the day after tomorrow. Since today was the last day to sign up, he decided to give it a go.
He also made a friend at the arcade, a guy by the name of Furuhata Motoki. He was a friendly sort of person, the kind who would listen to your problems and try to help you with them if he could.
Picking up his towel, he wiped the sweat of his face, back and chest. Looking down at himself, he sighed regretfully at his average build. He had often wished he at least looked really strong. At least I’m not a skinny toothpick. Maybe if I were more strongly built, then I wouldn’t have had those fights back at my old school. Maybe if I looked a little more intimidating.… He sighed softly to himself. That’s all in the past. I really shouldn’t dwell on it any further. But still, this average frame has one advantage. My opponents almost always underestimate me. He picked up his shirt, pulled it over his head and pulled out his ponytail. He climbed down off the roof and went to go get ready for bed. He had school tomorrow.
“You all right, Usagi-chan?” Naru asked. “You sure look beat.”
Usagi yawned. “I’m okay, Naru-chan. Just a little tired from all that running around I did yesterday.” She yawned again. “I never wanna go through that again,” she muttered.
Naru laughed. “Yeah, I know what you mean. I’m still a little tired myself.”
Just then, Ami walked up to them. “Hi, Usagi-chan. Hi, Naru-chan.”
“Hi, Ami-chan,” both girls said. Usagi yawned again.
Ami made a small frown. “Are you still tired from yesterday?” she asked.
“Uh-huh,” Usagi replied. “Aren’t you?”
“No, I’m fine.”
“Hello there, ladies!” Umino said, coming up from behind them.
Usagi and Naru both jumped slightly. “Don’t do that, Umino!” they hollered.
Umino jumped back himself. “Sorry about that, girls,” he said apologetically.
“What is it, Umino-kun?” Ami asked.
“Oh, I just thought that you three might like to know a little something about our new transfer student,” he said conspiratorially.
“What? You mean we have another new transfer student?” Naru asked, interested.
“Yeah, his name’s Kino Ryoku. He’s from some boarding school called Shikai. Apparently, he was transferred for fighting.
“From what I’ve heard,” he continued, “he’s kinda dangerous. The last fight he was in, he sent three guys to their nurse’s office while he remained unhurt.”
Naru gasped in surprise, while Usagi looked a little scared. Only Ami took the news casually. I think I’ll reserve my opinions until after I see him, she thought. After all, I’ve been on the receiving end of rumor before, not to long ago. I hope Usagi-chan remembers that…, she looked at Usagi, who still looked just a little bit afraid, …but she probably won’t.
“Hey, I think that’s him over there,” he said pointing to a guy down the hall, wearing a light brown school uniform. Ami noticed that he had his long brown hair in a ponytail at the base of his neck. He turned to look out the window. From the look on his face, he seemed a little depressed. Maybe he missed his old school, or maybe he had already heard the rumors about himself. Maybe both. She understood how that could make someone a little depressed.
One thing was certain, though. He didn’t look dangerous to her.
“You know, Usagi-chan, he looks kinda cute,” Naru observed.
“Yeah,” Usagi replied dreamily.
Ryoku pulled out a piece of paper, unfolded it, stared at it, then refolded it and put it away. He left the window and headed away from them. Before leaving their sight, he suddenly stopped and stared at them from over his shoulder. His expression was neutral, but the meaning was clear. I know you were staring at me. He held his gaze for only a moment and then left.
“Do you think he heard us?” Usagi asked.
“I don’t know,” Naru replied, shrugging. “I don’t think he did, but he knew we were staring at him.” She looked up at the clock on the wall. They had only few minutes to get to class. “Well, we’d better get to class. See you later, Ami-chan.” Usagi, Naru and Umino were all in class 2-1 while Ami was in 2-5.
“Bye,” Ami said and left for her class.
Ryoku was lost again. This is so frustrating. I always knew where I was back at my old school. You’d think they’d at least provide a map. Well, at least I have an excuse.
He was amazed at the gossip network this school had. He had only been here a few hours and he had already heard rumors about himself. Some were true, some weren’t and some were only partially true. None of it really mattered. He had always let people think whatever they wanted about him. Only what his friends thought mattered to him. Unfortunately, they were all back at his old school.
Already people were staring at him in either awe or fear. Well, fighting three against one does seem amazing, considering that I came out virtually untouched. Those stares were becoming annoying, so he usually answered them with one of his own. Some immediately looked away or apologized. Others ran. That amazed him. Someone must’ve really embellished that rumor. The rest just looked confused, as if asking, “What?” Then he saw those two girls from the shopping center again.
The blond girl and the blue-haired girl he had seen at the shopping center the day before yesterday went to the same school he did. They were with another girl and a boy with glasses. And they were all staring at him, curiously. As soon as he noticed their staring he turned to leave. Before turning the corner, he looked back at the two girls. This has gotta be one heck of a coincidence.…
The bell for class rang before he could find his class. “Oh, great! I’m gonna be late!” he growled and started to run.
He almost ran past the classroom he wanted. After checking the room number to make sure, he entered. He was in luck. The teacher was taking roll and wasn’t finished yet. The teacher looked up at him as he entered.
“Ah, you must be our new transfer student…,” the teacher paused as he looked down at his roll sheet, “…Kino-san?” Ryoku silently nodded and handed him his schedule. “Okay, just take the empty seat next to Mizuno-san over there in the third row,” he said and handed him back his schedule.
Ryoku retrieved it and went to sit in the indicated seat. When he saw who he was sitting next to, he blinked in surprise. Mizuno-san turned out to be the blue-haired girl he remembered from the shopping center. He almost expected to see the blond girl somewhere else in the room.
As the blue-haired girl turned to him, he went wide-eyed in shock. Except for the hair and eyes, she looked exactly like someone he knew. Someone he hadn’t seen in four years. Amazing, she looks almost like Keiko.…
“Is something wrong?” she asked, puzzled by his behavior.
He blinked again. The similarities between this girl and Keiko were astonishing. “Um… no,” he said quietly. “Nothing’s wrong. You just look like someone I… used to know. Sorry.” He looked away.
“Oh,” she said understandingly. “You’re Kino-san, right? I heard you were transferred for fighting.”
“So,” he said, staring at his desk, his tone as bitter as his expression, “you’ve heard the rumors about me.” He sighed. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to snap.”
“It’s all right. I’m kind of new myself. I’ve only been here a little more than a week myself. The rumors about you will probably die out by tomorrow or the next day,” she said. “My name’s Mizuno Ami.”
He just moved his head a fraction and looked at her out of the corner of one eye, giving her a small half-smile. “Nice to meet you, Mizuno-san.”
She grinned back. “Ami is fine.”
“And you can call me Ryoku, Ami-san.”
“So, Jadeite, you have a new plan to gather energy?” Beryl asked as he appeared before her. “This had better be good. Your last few plans haven’t exactly worked as you planned.”
“This time, I will succeed, my Queen,” he said, bowing.
“Well then, let’s hear your plan.”
“Humans are competitive. They spend enormous amounts of energy competing against each other in various ways. I plan to harness this energy for the Dark Kingdom.
“Tomorrow, a martial arts competition will be taking place. I have already made preparations to use this to our advantage.”
“Very well, Jadeite,” Beryl said. “The plan sounds promising. You may proceed. Do not fail this time.”
“Yes, my Queen.” He bowed again and disappeared.
“So, you just talked with him?” Usagi asked Ami as they walked home from school. Luna had joined them earlier and was now sitting on Usagi’s shoulder. “That’s it?”
“Yes, Usagi-chan,” Ami answered patiently. “That’s it. What else were you expecting?”
“Well…,” she began. She cut off as she heard a shout for help. Luna leaped off her shoulder and ran towards the direction of the shout.
“It came from over here,” she said and ran around the corner. Usagi and Ami followed quickly.
“Is it a youma?” Ami asked, her hand going for her transformation pen as they turned the corner, just in case it was.
“More like five monsters,” Usagi said in disgust. “Look.” She pointed towards five guys surrounding three little boys. The older boys were demanding the younger boys’ money. “Someone’s gotta stop them.”
“Well, why don’t you?” Luna asked.
“M-me?” Usagi exclaimed. “Why me? What can I do? There’s five of them and one of me?”
“Aren’t you forgetting about the Disguise Pen?” she asked patiently. “You could try disguising yourself as… oh, a police officer, or something.”
“I thought the Disguise Pen was for official Scout business only,” Usagi pointed out.
“Well, you said someone’s got to stop those bullies,” the black cat continued. “We’re the only one’s here.”
Usagi sighed reluctantly. “You’re right, Luna,” she said and raised the Disguise Pen in the air. “Okay, here it goes. Moon power, turn me into….”
“Leave them alone,” a loud, firm voice shouted. Usagi, Ami and Luna turned to see who spoke. The newcomer was walking calmly up to the two groups of boys.
“That’s Ryoku-san!” Ami said.
“What was that?” one boy sneered as they all turned to face Ryoku.
“I said leave them alone,” he said in a calm, cold tone. He looked to the younger boys and motioned them to leave. They complied quickly. When one of the older boys moved to block them, he blocked him, allowing the little boys to escape.
“Is he crazy?” Usagi exclaimed. “He can’t take on all five of them at once!” She raised the Disguise Pen in the air again. “Moon….”
“Wait, Usagi-chan!” Luna shouted.
“What?” Usagi asked.
“I think we should stay here,” she said while staring at Ryoku.
“You can’t be serious, Luna! He’ll get creamed if we don’t help him!” Usagi shouted insistently.
Ami looked from Luna to Ryoku, and back to Luna again. “Why do you want us to wait?” she asked, curiosity filling her.
“Because,” Luna answered without taking her gaze from him, “I’m beginning to sense strange energy coming from him. And it’s not dark energy.”
“What?” both girls exclaimed.
“I think we should watch him and see what he does,” Luna said. Usagi and Ami just looked at each other in confusion and turned to watch Ryoku take on his five opponents.
“Do you realize that now we are going to have to make you pay for interfering?” the same boy who spoke before said. Ryoku took him to be the leader of this group of bullies.
He was still completely calm. “It would be best if all of you just turn around and leave. Now. I don’t want to have to hurt you.” All five boys broke into laughter. He just stood there, waiting.
“Thanks for the laugh,” the leader said, “but that doesn’t get you of the hook.”
“This is your last chance to leave in peace,” he said coldly. “I suggest you take it.”
“I have a better idea,” the leader said with a malicious smile. He turned to his friends. “Shall we?” he said, gesturing to him. The other boys nodded and smiled just as maliciously.
He sighed tiredly. “I warned you. Have it your way,” he said, taking a defensive stance.
The first boy rushed him. Ryoku sidestepped to the right, tripped him and smashed his right fist to the back of his head, knocking him to the ground. The second tried to punch him, but overreached as he dodged the punch. Ryoku grabbed the back of his head and pulled him forward, while kneeing him in the stomach. He went down immediately, clutching his stomach. The other three began to eye him warily.
“Giving up?” he asked.
As a reply, all three rushed him. He sighed and shook his head in resignation. They’re only making this hard on themselves. I’ve had enough. It’s time to end this now.
“Too bad,” he said regretfully and leaped at them. A fierce jump kick to the face took out the first. As he was landing, he spun and took out the second with a kick to the side of his head. He used the force of his spin to add to the strength of his punch and knocked the third on his back. All five were down and he’d hardly broken a sweat. Bullies are like that. All talk and muscle. No skill or brains, whatsoever.
They were all beginning to come to their feet. Ryoku grabbed the shirt collar of the leader and backed him against the wall. He lifted him by his collar and slammed him against the wall hard. His feet weren’t touching the ground.
“Now,” Ryoku said in a quietly dangerous tone, “if I even hear that you or your friends are bullying little kids again, I will find each one of you and what I will do then will make what I have done now seem like a slap on the wrist in comparison. Do I make myself perfectly clear?” The boy nodded, his expression fearful. “Good.” He flung the boy among his friends, who were just getting to their feet. “Now, get lost! The sight of you sickens me.” They left as quickly as they could.
He was just about to leave when one of the little boys that he rescued tugged on his school uniform. He looked at him. “Yeah? What do you want?”
“Thanks,” the little boy said gratefully.
He half-smiled at the boy and his friends, who were standing behind him. “You’re all welcome. Now lost. You’re starting to bother me.” The three boys grinned and left. He laughed softly to himself as the little boys left. Maybe this wasn’t such a waste of time after all, he thought and started to leave.
Usagi, Ami and Luna watched as Ryoku continued on his way. “That was amazing!” Usagi said, astonished at his feat.
“I’ll say,” Luna agreed. “All though the fight, that guy was emitting a strange, yet familiar power. What did you say his name was again?”
“Kino Ryoku,” Ami said.
“Hey, I just thought of something!” Usagi declared.
“That is news,” Luna remarked.
“Ha, ha. Very funny, Luna,” Usagi said sarcastically. “Listen. You said that that power you sensed from Ryoku-san is familiar, right?”
“Yes,” Luna agreed.
“What are you getting at, Usagi?” Ami asked.
“I think that this means that he might be Tuxedo Kamen!” Usagi said. “First, he’s a great fighter. Then, there’s that power Luna sensed.”
“You know, for once she may be on the right track,” Luna said, impressed.
“And last, he’s cute.”
Luna groaned. “Spoke too soon,” she muttered dryly.
“Well, she did make two good points,” Ami said.
“I suppose you’re right,” Luna admitted.
“You see,” Usagi smugly. “I do get good ideas, Luna.”
“Too bad you don’t get them more often,” Luna said. “I think we should keep an eye on him.”
“You mean, follow him?” she asked.
“Right,” Luna said as she started in the direction that Ryoku had just left. “Let’s go.”
Ryoku knew he was being followed. He could feel it. Perhaps those bullies haven’t learned their lesson and wanted to get revenge. Maybe it was something else. He decided that it would be best to see who was following him before he decided what to do about it.
He rounded the corner of a nearby wall and quickly jumped over the other side. On the other side of the wall behind him, he could hear footsteps pass by. There was more than one person following him. He silently leaped to the top of the wall behind his pursuers and saw who was following him. It was Ami and her blond-haired friend.
“Hey, he’s gone!” the blond girl said, confused.
“He couldn’t have just disappeared,” Ami said, equally confused. “Where did he go?”
He quietly landed behind them. Why are they following me? Maybe I should ask them.… “Right behind you,” he said quietly.
The girls leaped in surprise and quickly whirled to face him. His expression was neutral, as usual. “Hello, girls. Looking for me?” he asked.
“Oh… uh…. Hi, Ryoku-san,” the blond girl said nervously.
He softened his expression slightly. “Why were you and Ami-san following me?” he asked gently.
“Um…,” Usagi began, trying to come up with an excuse.
“Actually,” Ami said quickly, “we were trying to catch up with you. We saw you walk past. I told Usagi-chan about you and she wanted to meet you.”
“Uh… yeah!” Usagi said, catching on to Ami’s story. “Nice to meet you, Ryoku-san. My name’s Tsukino Usagi.”
Something doesn’t sound right with their story. Why were they sneaking up on me? Ryoku dismissed his suspicion as ridiculous. “Nice to meet you, Usagi-san. I’m Kino Ryoku, but you probably already knew that, right?” he said, half-smiling a little. “By the way, are you enjoying those manga you bought at the mall on Sunday?”
“Yeah, I…,” she began, when realization hit her. “How did you know about that? You just transferred here today!”
“Yes, but I’ve been here before that. As to how I knew, I was in the same bookstore you two were in when you bought those books. I wish I could’ve seen the looks on your faces when you saw each other’s books,” he said, smirking.
Usagi and Ami looked at each other. Usagi had a grin on her face. Ami knew that she was thinking that she knew that he was Tuxedo Kamen. I suppose that she may be right. I remember that during the fight with that Dark Kingdom youma yesterday, it suddenly lost the power to hold us motionless. I can only assume that Tuxedo Kamen came to our aid. Now that we know that Ryoku-san was there the day before… Perhaps Usagi-chan is right about Ryoku-san being Tuxedo Kamen.
“Who’s this?” he asked, noticing Luna.
“That’s my cat, Luna,” Usagi said. Luna meowed.
“She’s such a pretty black cat,” he said, kneeling to pet Luna. She accepted the caresses and purred. “She has a beautiful crescent moon on her forehead, too.” He stopped petting Luna and stood up. “Well, I’d like to stay and talk a little more, but I gotta get home.”
“What? So soon?” Usagi asked. “What’s the rush?”
“There’s a martial arts competition being held tomorrow. I’ve already entered. I gotta get home and practice,” he said.
“Oh, yeah,” she said, “I saw that poster at the arcade. Do you mind if we come and cheer you on?”
He blinked at the question. “Um, okay, if you want to,” he said, shrugging. “Anyway, I’ve got to go. See you tomorrow at school.” He waved and ran off.
She turned to Ami and Luna and smiled. “See! I told you Ryoku-san is Tuxedo Kamen!”
“Now, Usagi-chan,” Ami said quickly, “we don’t have actual proof that he is.”
“Come on, Ami-chan,” Usagi insisted. “He told us he was at the mall yesterday. That was at the same time that Dark Kingdom youma was selling those weird clocks that made everyone super-hyper.”
“That doesn’t mean that he knew about the clocks,” Ami said. “It doesn’t mean that he was there yesterday, either.”
“It also doesn’t mean that he didn’t, or that we wasn’t,” Usagi pointed out.
“Well, that’s true, too,” she conceded.
“All we can do is watch him and find out,” Luna said.
It was around midnight at the public gymnasium where the martial arts competition was going to take place. The platform was a seventy-five feet by seventy-five feet square. A white circle was painted on the floor with two three-foot lines drawn side-by-side in the center. Jadeite appeared in the darkness above it. “Harkon, come forth,” he commanded.
A creature enfolded in a dark cape appeared, a dark cowl almost covering its pale green skin and short white hair. A small breeze ruffled the cape, revealing light body armor colored a light reddish-brown. A short sword hung at his side. He slid down his cowl and turned his solid yellow eyes to Jadeite. “Yes, Master,” he asked in a gravelly voice.
“The martial arts competition begins tomorrow. You remember the plan?” Jadeite asked.
“Of course,” he replied.
“Good. Don’t forget to watch for Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury. We can’t let them interfere.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of them.”
The Crown Video Arcade was all closed for the night. It was empty of people, but not empty. Luna approached the Sailor V video arcade machine she used to communicate to Central Control with. As soon as she leaped onto the seat, the screen flickered and came to life.
“Welcome,” a voice greeted in its usual monotone. “Please give your new password for voice analysis.”
“The crafty kitty craves her cream and catnip,” she intoned.
There was a pause as the machine analyzed her voice patterns. “Voice analysis complete. Hello, Luna. What have you to report?”
“Today, the girls and I met the new student at Usagi-chan’s school, Kino Ryoku. Earlier today, I sensed a strange, yet familiar power coming from him.”
“Do you suppose he’s from the Dark Kingdom?”
That was the same conclusion that Central Control leaped to about Ami. That was before she’d found out that Ami was really Sailor Mercury. Jumping to the same conclusion about Ryoku wasn’t such a good idea.
“No, I didn’t sense any dark energy in him. Usagi-chan seems positive that he is Tuxedo Kamen, but Ami-chan and I aren’t sure yet. The power I sensed could be something else.”
“We have new information for you. Enter password to continue.” Luna pressed a series of buttons. After the last button was pressed, a picture of a sword appeared on the screen.
“We have sensed the presence of one of the Knight swords in your area,” the voice continued. “This one.”
Luna studied the picture of the sword, especially the crossed swords insignia on the hilt. “Can you detect the other one?” she asked.
“Negative. This is the only one we can sense at the moment.”
“That means only that sword is in his possession. He doesn’t have the other one. He needs both swords to transform into Sailor Knight.
“You must find him first, Luna, then help him find his missing sword. Otherwise, he will never be able to transform.”
“What about Ryoku-san?”
“Continue to watch him, but finding the one with the sword is your top priority.”
“Right. Luna, out,” she said and hopped down from the seat. The screen flickered again and shut off.
She exited the arcade and started for home. Not only do I have to watch Ryoku-san, but I also have to look for the boy who has one of the Knight swords and the second Knight sword as well. The first task should be easy enough, but I wish I had an idea of where to start with the other two.