Disclaimer: Sailor Moon, Sailor Senshi, and all terms, names, etc. associated with the series are copyrighted by Naoko Takeuchi and Kodansha. We make no claim to them and this work of fanfiction should not be seen as making a claim. Those characters that are original and the story "Money's The Thing" is copyrighted (c) 1998 by Douglas Helm (dhelm@log.on.ca)

Rated - R.

Precursor

The manifestation of Metallia doomed millions of people on the worlds of the Silver Millennium, aside from Earth and Nemesis, as the artificial environments failed. As Queen Serenity used the substantial power of the Ginzuishou to banish Metallia and her armies, she also sealed the mana wells of Earth, lest humanity be tempted to summon Metallia once again.

As the true power of Ginzuishou was released, the Cycle of the Senshi in which a Younger Senshi arose to take the place of the Elder Senshi ceased as the Younger Senshi's souls were encased with their powers. It took over twelve thousand years for the magic to settle enough to allow the cycle to restart.

In the 27th century, the force that had guided Michiru and Haruka through their earlier adventures has now set them on a different mission. This mission wasn't to destroy anything but to find something. Specifically to find the Younger Senshi and resettle the planets... to start the Golden Millennium.

Prologue

She was home, not the home she had grown up in. Not the home that she had fled from. To her, for more then one hundred years, the Uranus Embassy that was hidden on the moon, had been home.

From somewhere deep within her, she had felt a call, a call to at least remember what her first home had been like; what her family had been like. A Journal, one of her old ones, lay open on her lap. It had been that way for some time. Her mind had drifted back to the past, back to a night when her father had given her some good piece of advice.

She lay in bed, listening but only silence and the occasion sounds of a passing car could be heard. Looking up into the gloom of her room she planned her moves carefully, not wanting to risk detection. The downstairs clock chimed three deep notes; the reverberations echoing through the otherwise still house. Slipping from her bed Sakuya softly padded across her bedroom, her companion a chocolate colored teddy bear, nestled against her small body.

Gently opening the door she peeked out into the hallway, listening. Deciding that her parents were asleep, Sakuya slid from her bedroom, careful not to close her door. Turning she started down the darkened hallway, counting each step. At exactly the twenty-fourth she stopped and listened again.

She could feel the anticipation running through her, sensed the danger that was just ahead. There were four squeaky floorboards she had to cross to get to the top of the stairs. Pressing herself flat against the wall she slowly slid towards the stairs. The process was tedious and if one of her parents came out into the hall for some reason, sheÆd have no chance of escape.

She was nearly to the top of the stairs when Sakuya mis-stepped. As the creaking of the floorboard echoed out into the night like a gunshot she froze. With her heart pounding against her chest, Sakuya jerked her head around to peer down the dark hallway. Trying to control her breathing, she prayed that she hadnÆt been heard.

After what seemed like an eternity, Sakuya lunged for the banister and gratefully started walking down the steps at a quicker pace, she might not have been caught but there wasnÆt any reason to take any more chances the necessary.

As she reached the bottom stairs, Sakuya glanced at the clock and frowned deeply. It had taken her longer then usual tonight, sheÆd have to work on improving her time. She took four quick steps and turned sharply to enter into the kitchen. She was met with a solid mass. Before she could figure out was occurring a hand took hold of her arm. Fear shot up through her, she opened her mouth to scream but much to her horror nothing emerged except for a nearly inaudible squeak.

"You took long enough," a low voice rumbled out. SakuyaÆs eyes enlarged as her heart started to race again, not only had she been caught, but she had been expected! She squinted as the lights suddenly came on. "Sakuya," he said with gentle exasperation, "ItÆs well past youÆre bed time." He chuckled as she reached out a brushed a few stray hairs out of her face, "So either youÆre hungry... or you were after something to trade."

Her heart sank to the pit of her stomach, she looked around for her mother and happily noted her absence. "Pa... Papa how did you know?!?" she whispered out.

"ItÆs early Thursday morning, you always sneak down here to get stuff." Despite being in trouble, Sakuya pouted slightly, she had thought her plan was perfect. He smiled, much to her surprise, and added, "DonÆt keep schedules."

"WhatÆs that?" Sakuya questioned while wrinkling her nose.

Turning her towards the stairs he gave Sakuya a gentle push and said, "Never mind, no go back to bed." Seeing she wasnÆt going to win this time, Sakuya started back up the stairs, grumbling the entire time.

"I get it now." Sakuya mumbled out. She was then interrupted by a sound coming from her right. Looking up she saw Hitomi standing there. Sakuya smiled, she always did like this girl. "I thought you were tired. The last time I saw you, you were headed for bed."

Hitomi just stood there. Sighing Sakuya moved over and patted the spot that she had occupied on the couch. Hitomi took the seat offered and looked down at the carpet for a moment before she spoke. Without raising her head, she said, "Sempai, how were you found?"

Sakuya blinked, she was surprised by Hitomi's directness. "Two steps forward, one step back," Sakuya muttered. She still hadn't been able to draw Hitomi out of her shell that she seemed to be in when not in Senshi form.

Realizing that Hitomi was waiting for an answer Sakuya said, "Why do you ask that?"

Another pause, more hesitant this time. Hitomi said, "I asked Elder Neptune about it. All I got was some vague muttering." This brought a slight smile to Sakuya's face, "You still didn't answer my question." The younger girl hesitated once again, "Well, you really don't talk much about your past."

Sakuya bit back what she had been going to say. Well, maybe if she told Hitomi then the others would finally stop pestering her with questions about her past. Most of it was dead for her anyway.

"Alright," Sakuya said, "I'll tell you and then you can tell the others. Alright?" Hitomi nodded.

"Well I was born in Fukui along time ago."

"How long ago?" the young girl interrupted, finally looking up. Sakuya frowned while saying, "Did you want me to tell you about my past or answer questions?"

"Tell, please."

"Well then as I was saying..."

*******

The Past - Date: December 7, 2870

In the city of Fukui, the street lamps were just starting to come on as the light once again struggled to beat back the black of night. A low rumbling thud signaled the passing of traffic heading home for the day. In the city's hospital, a mother was giving birth. After several minutes, she gave a rather loud sigh of relief. The baby was heavy. She could hear the doctor make an appreciative whistle as the baby was weighed. "At nine pounds I bet you're glad to have the child out into the world?"

"Yes, out into the world and into my arms," the mother replied as she took the newborn. The baby had a sheaf of reddish-brown hair and brown eyes. She was quiet for the most part. The doctor took a DNA sample, the name of the baby which was Rakurai Sakuya, and the time and date of birth.

After ensuring that the new mother was comfortable and that there was nothing wrong with the new arrival, he headed for his office. Logging into the computer, the doctor created a new entry to be added to the citizen registry. Looking at the time, he prepared to go home; it had been a very long day.

Just as he was leaving the speaking in the hallway blared an alarm, "Code blue. Delivery room two." That was he'd just come from. <What in the world is going on?> the doctor questioned as he ran down the hall.

*******

Speeding along, the new data sped its way to the Citizen Registry. After cataloguing the new entry for public reference, it was also flagged and sent to a secure database within Crystal Tokyo. This database contained all records that had any direct ties to the Senshi. Mainly used for security purposes, its existence was a well-guarded secret. It also had been one of Emperor EndymionÆs "orders".

Although Endymion wasnÆt really the emperor of Japan, he was the figurehead of that country. The problem was, anytime Endymion suggested something, the Diet fell over itself to implement it. In this case, Endymion had suggested sharing demographic data. Since he was Endymion, and being subtle about it, the Diet thought Endymion wanted everything about everyone, later comments on the "EmperorÆs behalf" indicated they were doing an excellent job and should keep it. In reality, Endymion had been hoping for them to stop what they were doing but couldn'r find the heart to tell them so.

He was at best a reluctant figurehead for Japan and tried as much as possible to let Japan rule itself. Sometimes he succeeded more then others. To play it safe Endymion hid himself in Crystal Tokyo as much as possible, much the extreme annoyance of the monarchists he thought he should preside over the Diet. The nationalists though were quiet content with him staying where he was, as long as he didnÆt go and disown Japan.

Outside Crystal Tokyo life pretty much remained the same. People went to work, talked, laughed, and died. Sure there was magic but nothing on the order of Crystal Tokyo. Some of the sleepier villages and cities that were further away from Crystal Tokyo seemed quite content to stay that way. There were always people that wanted their city or town to be like Crystal Tokyo. For the majority though, they were quite content that their cities didn't have the number of visitors taking up the streets, the security problems, and the like.

*******

Date: December 9, 2870

"Rakurai-kun, I'm sorry for your loss. Your new born daughter won't get to see her mother either."

Date: June 5, 2871

"See that guy over there."

"Yeah what about him?"

"I hear he's loaded. His wife kicked the bucket and left him strapped with the little kid he has."

"Really, I might have to make his acquaintance."

Date: April 5, 2872

"With this ring I thy wed..."

Date: December 17, 2879

"Sakuya Rakurai, just what do you think you're doing?" the rather angry voice of her mother called out. Sakuya turned slowly, her brown eyes filled with apprehension. Her mother was glaring angrily at her daughter.

She turned fully around and said in the best business voice she could muster, "I'm selling stuff to the local kids. I need money to buy what I want." Her mother just glared at her. She looked around again. Sakuya's toys, what appeared to be most of her clothes and the family album were spread out across her bed with price stickers on them. "And where did you get the idea that you could sell these things?" Sakuya smiled, she knew the answer to this question, "I saw a show on the video. He was talking about making money. I know Papa sold that old couch to get a new one. So if I need money to buy what I want then I need to sell my stuff." Her mother took a step forward.

Sakuya rapidly lost all sense of confidence. Her mother was definitely furious. This did not look good.

In a soft tone, but forcefully Sakuya's mother said, "Have this mess cleaned up by the time I get back from shopping. You will not be selling anything and if you try..." She let the rest of what she would have said trial off. Fixing HIS daughter with one more glare, she stalked out of the room.

Sakuya didn't breathe a sigh of relief. She had already sold some of her things and made in her thinking quite a sum. This particular incident would be the starting point in her career in business. She'd always try to find a way to stay ahead of everybody else, and that usually took money. Well she had just discovered a sure-fire way of getting it.

To bad she didn't know the havoc she'd caused. Then again, to gain an edge, she might have done it anyway.

Date: June 5, 2880

"Dear diary, Mama's gone. Not dead but she left. We don't know where she went. I heard Papa talking to somebody. I think it was the cops. On a happier note I got six hundred yen from selling shiny rocks to the kids at school."

Date: June 12, 2880

"Dear diary, Mama came back. She wouldn't tell me where she went. Papa was mad. He didn't yell but I could tell that he was mad, he was quite most of the day. I got thousand yen today, I was making bets to see when she'd come back."

Date: August 6, 2881

"Well diary lots of stuff to tell you today. I'm grounded, again. I can't believe that Mama's underestimating the condom market. They make great water balloons. I'm clearing a fifty- percent profit. Just yesterday I made a twelve hundred-yen profit. Even passing all of my recent tests with straight A's doesn't get me out of prison."

Date: October 6, 2882

"Diary, my parents are horrible. Actually just one of them is. I can't believe it. I defended myself against a bully, I mean it isn't like I broke all his ribs. I can't believe they suspended me when he was the one who attacked me! Well you can imagine how my parents took it. Papa was furious to say the least. But what got me was that when I left the room she blamed the whole thing on him. I can't believe her."

Date: December 9, 2883

"Diary, I had a great birthday yesterday. I got a nice present from Maia. I wonder how much arguing it took for my father to convince my mother to buy me that computer. Papa was just beaming when he surprised me with it. She just glared. Papa was nice enough to take her out and leave my uncle to watch over Maia and I for awhile."

*******

It had been a few days after Sakuya's thirteenth birthday. She was just leaving school when she saw the boy that had been ducking her all day. She calmly made her way over. His friend nudged him. He turned around to see what his friend was looking at.

Sakuya smiled, that's when his face dropped into one of terror. He started to look around to see if there was a graceful way to escape. There wasn't one. He started to say something and the thought better of it. Sakuya got to where he was and took from her pocket a sheet of paper that had been there.

"Now let me see. You owe me 2,500 yen in a loan agreement." She smiled sweetly, "You have defaulted on the last three payment dates, therefore I'm calling it." She had been reading this from the paper that she had in her hand. He started to stammer that he didn't know about the loan and that he couldn't afford that type of money.

"Either pay up, or I show this little agreement to your parents." Sakuya didn't have to glare, the boy knew she would do it too.

"Alright, I'll get you your money tomorrow. Alright?"

"See that you do or I'll charge you interest." With that, she walked away and headed for the soda shop that her friends hung out at. The shop was called `The King' exactly why no one knew; it had been here quite awhile. It was also the most expensive place for a kid to hang out. Mainly because the inside was decorated in antique (read 1950's) style furniture.

Sakuya rarely got anything here. She was that a miser and prices were very steep. She did, however, like the inside.

Sakuya was hoping that one of her friends was there; it was no fun in having a booth all to oneself. She decided that she would buy something special today, a belated birthday present to herself.

As she came in the door her ears were assaulted with what `The King' termed music. That had to be one of the biggest drawbacks. Sakuya liked the furniture, definitely not the music. Looking around produced results. Sitting in the far booth was Maia.

Maia was shorter than her by about four inches. Her hair was a somber red. Eyes of a slight blue were seated behind glasses that always seemed to threaten to fall off. After getting her special treat for the day, she headed over to the booth and greeted her friend. Maia seemed more excited than usual.

"So what's up? You seem to be in a good mood considering what you got on that math test."

Maia grimaced, taking a drink she replied, "Don't even mention math." After a couple of seconds of silence, Maia said, "We're taking a trip. I can hardly wait; we get to fly there."

"But what about school? I mean your parents are more obsessed with school than mine are."

"We are not leaving right away. Look, it will be during the next break. So did you get your money yet?" Sakuya just giggled at that, Maia grinned, "You know one of these days you're going to get into trouble for running a loan operation."

"Never mind about me. I want to hear about this trip that you're going on. So you're going to fly, where?"

"Well we're going to fly..."

Michiru walked up to the front desk, and waited there for the man behind it to turn around. As he did so he smiled, "Yes how may I help you?" "I'd like to get a room please." Michiru looked around the lobby of the hotel. Not really fancy, that was a good thing. What she and Haruka were doing required secrecy not fancy lodgings. <I have stayed in worse,> she thought.

"Certainly, and how long do you wish to stay?"

Michiru sighed slightly, "I'm not really sure, and I'd prefer to keep my stay discrete," she said. The clerk nodded while checking for available rooms. To make sure he kept his mouth shut, she quietly slipped him four ten-thousand yen bills. He considered a moment and then smiled after passing a key to her.

Pocketing the money he said, "Have a pleasant stay." Humming slightly he turned back to his job. <If she stays very long,> he thought, <I'll make a profit.>

Michiru opened the door. At least the room was clean and didn't smell. Her visions had brought her to the city of Fukui. She hoped she'd have an easy time of finding the person that she was seeking. Probably not though. Well time to log into the Central Datanet of Crystal Tokyo and see if she could get into the database.

After several hours of fruitless trying, she gave up. At least the secure database wouldn't even let outside transmissions read information without the proper access codes and she didn't have the time or the freedom to request it from Mars. It had been worth a shot. There were four possible schools. She'd start at the first one and observe it for two days. Her quarry wasn't going anywhere and neither was she.

Chapter 1

The low rumble of traffic wasn't the thing that had awaked Michiru. Instead it had been the small shaft of light that had crept into the darkened room. It had squeezed between the curtains and slowly slid across the floor and up the side of the bed. As Michiru turned over to her side, the sun had decided that she should not be sleeping so it shone brightly into the hooded lids. After trying to unsuccessfully shield her eyes and go back to sleep, Michiru decided that maybe she should get up.

Now that Michiru was up and dressed, she wondered where she would find a place to have breakfast. It was early in the morning still. Even if she left to stake out the first school, she'd probably have to wait there at least an hour.

Making sure that she had everything, Michiru headed downstairs. Upon reaching the lobby, the scent of food attracted her attention. A small restaurant that she had missed the other day was off to her left, and more importantly it was open.

Within five minutes, Michiru was munching on some breakfast. Reviewing her plan, she decided that just sitting there and watching the schools would not prove that beneficial. Although she highly doubted it, Michiru hadn't considered, until now, the possibility that her target might not be at school.

Sakuya headed down stairs to the kitchen. She had got up before her usual time. Sakuya wanting to make sure that her money appeared on time was the main driving force behind the early rising.

As she entered the kitchen, her father was just stepping out the door to go to work. "Have a good day," she called, that caused her father to jump slightly, turning around he waved a good-bye with a broad grin on his face.

"Have fun day at school." And with that he was out the door. Sakuya frowned slightly. The only way to have a good day at school was to make a profit. After eating breakfast, she was out the door and jogging along the streets towards her school. She noted that the sun was shining brightly. <Maybe this would be a good day.>

Sakuya made it to school in good time. Finding a comfortable position from which to observe the school yard, she waited for the people that owed her money to come.

The first of her customers showed up twenty minutes before the bell. Without too much fuss and bother, he handed over the ten-thousand yen that he owed her. Sakuya was not as happy as one might think; she had to turn sixty-percent over to her backers for that rather large loan. Still forty-percent wasn't anything to sneeze at either.

So the morning went as usual, students came to school and handed over their money. Students had learned awhile ago that you don't default on loans given by Sakuya and not live to regret it later.

The five-minute warning bell sounded. Sakuya took one look around and then frowned. He had said he'd pay first thing this morning. It didn't really matter now, if Sakuya couldn't get it by lunch he was going to regret it.

Michiru patted her stomach, that breakfast had been good. Deciding to walk instead of taking the car allowed her to beat the morning traffic and wear off the large breakfast. Heading into the next district, she noted that most of the area contained high rise apartments. She knew she was headed in the right direction because several kids sped past her on their way to school. After three more blocks, she came to the school proper. The courtyard was full, there was maybe ten minutes before the bell was due to ring. Michiru casually made her way toward the school doors keeping an eye out for her target.

Hers and Haruka's visions had provided most of the details, but some of the features were still vague. Not all her visions would be clear. She knew that the girl had brown hair, her rough height and weight, and some of her facial features. However, the girl's eyes and her personality were still vague.

Michiru was concentrating so hard on looking for the person pictured in her vision that she, at first, failed to hear the voice that was coming from her left and getting closer.

"Excuse me," said the voice. Finally hearing it, Michiru turned in the direction the voice was coming. Standing there was a short woman of slight build with graying hair and green eyes. At first the woman showed an air of authority.

Michiru, at first, considered telling the woman to get lost. Then she realized that if she didn't come up with a good excuse right away, she'd be ejected. That would make her task even harder.

Thinking quickly she came on the idea. It was a good thing that she wasn't recognized as Sailor Neptune or this idea might not have worked considering the rumors that were flying about Neptune and Uranus. Turning completely around she said, "I'm sorry. My name is Kaiou Michiru. I will be transferring to Fukui soon because of my work. My daughter will require a transfer in schools. I was hoping to get a tour."

The authoritative expression slowly slid from the woman's face and was replace with a smile. "Please excuse me. We've had some trouble recently with delinquents. My name is Sauyagouchi Mina." Michiru managed not to chuckle at that name. "Would you please follow me?" With that the woman led her into the school proper.

As they headed toward the office, Ms. Sauyagouchi said, "I am the principal of this school. I just need to stop off at the office and then I can take you on a tour. Would that be alright?"

"Yes, thank you." Michiru couldn't believe her luck. A guided tour. If she didn't find the person that she was looking for at this school, she could probably use this same routine at the others.

Within five minutes, Michiru and the Principal headed off for a guided tour. Michiru was, at first, so busy paying attention to the students in the rooms she past that she missed the Principal's question. "Pardon?"

"Kaiou-san is something wrong?"

"No, it is just that I am rather fussy when it comes to schools." Nodding slightly Ms. Sauyagouchi continue to tell about the school, its history, and the like. Michiru paid a little more attention, nodding when appropriate.

Sakuya was angry. It was now lunchtime. Ignoring her stomach's protests for food, she stalked through the school courtyard. He hadn't shown up and his deadline was well past. She had managed to spot him just briefly midmorning.

When she had asked him where her money was, he said that he was going to blow her scam and he'd be safe and she wouldn't.

Now she was looking for him; she wanted her money! There, standing with a couple of his friends, she saw him. Stalking that way (like a walking thunderstorm) she strode up to the boy.

One of his friends pointed, turning around the boy sneered, "Sakuya-kun give it up and leave me alo...." He never got to finish what he was saying. With a flying leap, she planted her fist right in the middle of his face. Reeling back and howling in fury with blood gushing from his nose, the boy tried in vain to ward off the enraged angel. It didn't work. Sakuya kept after him. His friends were torn between helping and fleeing. That's when they saw the teacher coming across the courtyard yelling for the two combatants to stop. Deciding that running would be construed as being part of this, they stayed.

"STOP THIS!!!" bellowed the teacher. She hauled Sakuya away from the boy. He was on the ground; he didn't look very good. There were two more teachers on the way. Deciding that her coworkers could take care of the victim and find out what the heck was going on, she took a look at Sakuya. All the girl had was skinned knuckles. Releasing her grip but putting herself between the boy and his attacker, she motioned for Sakuya to enter the school.

Sakuya was not happy, the only thing keeping her from going after her target again was the teacher, and her home room teacher at that. Gulping slightly she stalked towards the school. <Just great!> she thought, <There goes my money!>

After a couple of minutes, Sakuya found herself sitting in the Principal's office while her home room teacher explained what she had seen. The Principal for the most part was looking none too pleased about the matter.

"Do you have anything to say for yourself Rakurai-san?" Sakuya didn't hear the question. Instead she was thinking on how she would recover the money.

Michiru sat at an outdoor restaurant enjoying the sunny weather. Although she hadn't found the person that she was looking for, she had developed a good cover story. Considering her options, Michiru decided to go to the next closest school. She could walk there and that would leave most of the afternoon available to look through the school. Tomorrow she'd stop by City Hall and do a records search for the person in her vision. It might not produce anything but she figured it was worth a try. City Hall was on the way to the two other schools. Finishing her meal and paying the bill, Michiru got up and started for the other school. The walk was easy, as most people were at work, very few were on the sidewalks. The sun shone down from a cloudless sky. It was turning out to be a beautiful day.

After walking for about ten minutes, Michiru first spotted the school. It was larger than the school she had visited this morning. Groaning slightly at the prospect of maybe not even seeing the person she was looking for, she made her way to the front entrance and entered.

The late afternoon sun shone brightly through the office windows. However, the mood of one of the occupants was not so bright. Sakuya sighed, she was slumped in a chair looking at the floor. She couldn't hear anything inside the Principal's office where her parents were in conference. It didn't help that by the time that her skinned knuckles had been looked after, rumors had already been flying concerning the incident throughout the school.

<The boy had been lucky,> Sakuya mused. He had only got a broken nose, a black eye and some bruising. She felt a little guilty about doing that but still... What was concerning her even more was that she couldn't hear anything coming from the Principal's office. It was like a tomb, the only sound were the quiet clatter of the secretaries going about their work.

After another ten minutes, the door opened and the Principal motioned for Sakuya to enter. As she stepped into the office, she winced internally. Her father was sitting looking like a cross between a hurricane and a glacier. Her mother was looking scarier she was doing her active magma flow routine. If looks could kill, she be worse than dead.

After taking a seat, the Principal said, "I have reached a decision that your parents have agreed to." Sakuya gulped. "After consulting with the boy's parents, they will not press charges." Sakuya's stomach sank even further. "However, they were very specific on the condition for them not to press charges. I have told your parents those conditions and they have agreed." Setting his face into stone, the Principal said in a rather tight voice, "Since both parties are in agreement, I have no choice but to expel you." Sakuya didn't know whether to faint or cry.

Michiru was heading into the downtown district. She didn't mind the food at the hotel but she had a craving for something different. After a couple of minutes she came to an interesting looking place called `The King'. Deciding to look further, she entered the place.

Her ears were assaulted with some of the most ghastly music she'd ever heard. Antique furniture was providing places to sit and eat. Making her way over to the counter, she asked if the music could be turned down. The person behind the counter was very glad to oblige. "I'm glad you came in and asked. I can't stand the stuff myself."

Michiru sat down at the counter and took the menu offered. As she was glancing through the selections, someone came in. Taking a quick look, there were three girls talking and they seemed excited over something. Michiru hadn't intended to listen but the excited chatter floated her way. "Can you image, she broke his nose!" The voice was slightly high pitched and with a whine. "I can top that," this was from a mild voice, "I hear she got expelled for it."

Michiru perked up and was about to listen more closely. <It could be a lead.>

The waitress behind the counter said softly, "Vultures."

"Pardon?" Michiru said, turning to look at the woman.

"They're vultures. One of their own has gone down in flames and now the rumor mill is generating stuff. Unfortunately in this instance part of it is true. The girl broke the kid's nose because he wouldn't pay a loan back and to stop her from being charged the boy's parents demanded that she be expelled. Her parents agreed." Michiru blinked, this might be even more interesting.

"How do you know about this?" Michiru asked. She was trying to be cool about this but if something like this spread enough it might drive the girl away and that would be one more she miss checking out. "Well I have a friend that's like them," pointing to the girls over in the corner booth, "She works at the school and she can't keep what she calls `a good story' from the public."

Michiru thought this through, <The girl broke the kid's nose. Well the elder Jupiter was known for violent acts at pervious schools maybe this as a sign.> She'd have to do some hacking into the school records tonight to see if she could get the girl's name and address.

Chapter 2

Shortly after the sun set, a large bank of heavy December snow clouds moved in. With a thunder pealing in the fore snow began to fall a rapid pace. This sudden shift in the weather took everyone by surprise, the forecast hadn't been calling for snow. But given the accuracy of the local weather service foul weather popping up wasn't a big surprise either.

Wrapped up in a winter coat and scarf Michiru made her way to the next school on her list. Actually she had acquired the name of he school from the waitress at that strange soda shop early in the day. Muttering to herself Michiru looked for a good place to park the car. She wouldn't have taken it but the school was on the other side of town.

She hadn't been able to break into the school records from an outside line so now she was forced to do a little B and E work. Michiru had no qualms about hacking into the school records but she would have preferred not having to go to the school to do it.

Sakuya sat in the dark, looking at the snowfall. It was awfully quiet in the house. Her parents seemed to neither be speaking to her or each other. At first she had been worried about what her parents were going to say. However this quickly vanished when they ate dinner in silence and didn't say anything.

Her mind was wandering now drifting back to the boy who'd started this all. The more she thought about it the more her anger grew. "If he had paid the stupid loan I wouldn't be in this mess!" Sakuya shouted suddenly, with that she tossed a pillow at the wall.

Something clicked in her mind, a subtle nudge, it... It almost like revenge. A smile slowly crossed her face. That was it. She'd slip out of the house and make him pay.

Taking this newfound idea Sakuya slipped out of her room and headed down the stairs quietly. As she approached the living room she could her voices. Pausing for a minute she listened.

"...you blaming me?" That sounded like her father.

"Yes! I mean no. Look you just told me you knew about this and didn't do anything?" Her mother sounded pissed. Strange she wasn't yelling though. Sakuya inched a little closer to hear better.

"I didn't say I knew about it I said I suspected something like it. The real question I like to know is how did you miss it?" There was a definite bite to that question.

A moment passed, then another. Finally Sakuya's mother said, "How did I miss it? Why should I look for it, she is after all your daughter."

<WHAT!?!?> Sakuya thought, involuntarily she sucked in a breathe as she strained to hear if any more was said.

"That was your choice. We spent sometime arguing about that before and you wouldn't see my point."

<What point?> Sakuya was becoming confused, that's when the nudge of revenge came back. Moving into the kitchen quietly she put on her winter clothes and slipped out of the house.

*****

Michiru had been looking for a way to get into the school when she happened to stumble upon a door in the rear that was slightly ajar. She approached it with caution. Listening carefully to see if anyone was around, it appeared that no one was around but then did someone else break in?

After a moment of hesitation Michiru pulled the door open a little further, it creaked ominously on its hinges. Tensing Michiru waited for someone to come and see what the noise was. No one did though.

Like a flash she was inside, after looking around Michiru determined that she was in the boiler room. It amazed her that some schools actually still used this stuff; exactly why she wasn't sure but at that moment she was glad of the bulky machines that were hiding her from the custodial person that had noisily started coming down the stairs singing.

Moving around the boiler Michiru made her way to stairs that led out of the boiler room and waited. After the custodian turned his back, still singing away, she darted up the stairs and started heading for the front office.

Walking down the hall Michiru noticed how class rooms changed over the years. Before it had been bulky over-head displays and movie projectors. Or TV/VCR setups. Now everything was holographic in nature that played Magneto-Optical Discs.

Five minutes later and six wrong turns Michiru was outside the main office of the school. The door was locked. Smiling slightly Michiru mumbled a quick retrieval spell that got a Lock-Pick gun, the type of gun that the police used. <What was that American saying?> Michiru wondered, <Was it 'Always prepared?'>. And within a couple of seconds the lock was picked.

Slipping into the office and was in the process of locking the door when she heard the slightly high, male voice.

"Hey there good looking, wanna go on a date with me?"

Michiru whipped around, getting ready to defend herself. She looked for the source of the voice but there was no one there.

"Who's there?" Michiru demanded while still looking around.

"Oh, com'on! Just give me a great big smooch and say you'll go out with me."

The voice had been coming from the direction of the computer terminal. Slowly Michiru made her way over and looked around, still no sign of the person who was trying to make and obvious pass at her.

"Okay jerk, where are you and who are you."

"An aggressive type. I find that very attractive in a woman."

Michiru blink, the voice had been coming from the computer terminal right in front of her. Incredulously Michiru said, "A computer is trying to pick me up?!?"

The terminal screen lit up and the voice said in a sad tone, "I might just be a computer but we can get lonely to you know."

Michiru couldn't believe it, a bloody computer was trying to pick her up!

Visibility was not good in the open areas. Snow drifted across the road, whiting everything out. The wind was strong making some of the weaker trees to lean over and touch the ground. It was not a night to be out in.

Sakuya didn't notice the weather. Her mind was chewing away at what her parents had said, revenge and... something else. It was faint, remorse, guilt. Sakuya shoved it back and concentrated on the two >stronger ones.

Suddenly Sakuya realized she was standing in front of the boy's home. <Okay genius, now what? You can't exactly barge into the house.> That's also when Sakuya realized what the weather was like. Sheltered as this area was from some of the large apartment complexes the few houses here helped to form a chasm that the wind literally raced down. Driving a flurry of snow with it.

*******

Michiru was searching the office looking for the passwords to the computer system. She was quickly running out of patients. "Com'on most people write passwords down." Michiru said in a fowl tone of voice.

"Some are actually smart enough to remember them." quipped the terminal.

"Look HAL..."

"I keep telling you", the terminal shouted at full volume, "the name is RH"

"I know I'm going to regret this but what does RH stand for?"

In a normal tone of voice RH said, "Raging Hentai"

Just as Michiru was about to respond to RH she heard two sets of voices out in the hall that were headed this way.

"Okay, okay I'll stop singing. Come on we only have to clean up the main office then we're done."

<Damn> Michiru thought, quickly looking around she didn't see any other way out and she hadn't found the passwords she needed to get into the computer system. Muttering again and trying to hurry it along she cast another spell. It was an "Ignore Me" type of spell one made other do exactly that ignore the caster. However there were problems to that. Mainly you couldn't speak or move suddenly because it would cancel the spell; that sometimes left the caster in strange situations.

There was a rattle the door opened and two people entered. Taking a chance Michiru slowly turned her head to get a look. It was the singing custodian and probably his buddy. They were carrying cleaning equipment, with obvious intent.

Michiru listened to there chatter as they cleaned the office. A moment of detection happened when one of the custodians started to vacuum. Michiru gritted her teeth when the vacuum hit her rather hard a couple of times.

"What was that?"

"What was what?"

"felt like I hit something. But nothings there."

"It isn't important. Come on just finish up and we can leave."

Shrugging the custodian went back to work and managed to step on Michiru's feet.

Michiru silently breathed a sigh of relief as the two men left the office, locking the door after them. Carefully looking around Michiru noticed that she had left the computer on. <They are trusting souls aren't they?> Michiru thought to herself as she started to look for the passwords again.

"Oh my sweet would you like me to sing?" Asked RH

"No. Start to sing and I'll rip you apart."

"Come on, I do a really go 'Daisy' song." Clearing his synthetic voice RH launched into a rendition of 'Daisy'.

"Daisy, Daisy, give me you answer true."

Michiru couldn't take anymore. Striding across the room she stormed out of the school not really caring if anyone saw her. Reaching the car she hoped in a raced off down the near invisible streets.

Sakuya had moved off to the side, standing in the shadows. She considered exactly what she was doing. That's when things started to go wrong.

"Well, well, if it isn't that kawaiikune Rakurai-kun" The sheer venom in the voice was enough to make Sakuya snap back to reality.

Standing there was the boy who's nose she had broken and four other friends. Taking a step back she looked around to make sure that there was no one behind her.

"We were just looking for you." The evil grin was made worse by he large bandage across his nose. "We," he said making a broad weeping gesture with his arms to the other four, "have decided o send the terror of our school off with a personalized going away present." He advanced a couple of steps and then in a lower voice that was almost blocked out by the howl of the wind, "You broke my nose. So I think it only fitting that I say good bye by breaking yours."

With that he lunged at her; Sakuya bolted and took off down a side street. She could her the shouts of the boys as they came pounding after her.

Rounding a corner she slipped on a newly formed piece of ice and hit her head on the street. Laying there dazedly for a few moments she caught her breath.

"You shouldn't have run, you know." The voice was close, they were standing around her now. Scrambling to her feet wasn't easy but she managed. Deciding on a course of action to at least give her some breathing room she hoofed the closest of her attackers. He went down without a sound.

The rest of them looked stunned, they hadn't expected to get that type of resistance. In a flash she was gone again, a moment later they were running after her with one trailing behind.

Michiru thumped the steering wheel of the car. This day was not turning out as expected. First the snow, then she almost gets caught and no passwords anywhere, and now the tire of the car was flat. "Prefect!" Michiru growled, "what else could possibly go wrong."

Michiru got out of the car and opened the trunk. She groaned in disbelief, there was no spare tire. Closing the trunk and locking the car she headed in the same direction by foot. Maybe she could find a phone and call a tow-truck.

Walking down a street, while distractedly thinking to yourself isn't a good way to be. Especially when you don't notice a young girl pelting your way or the five boys that are chasing her.

Michiru was suddenly brought back to earth, literally, by someone tackling her. Instinctively she heaved the person off her and scrambled to her feet. Looking around she noticed the five boys who had stopped a short distance away from her. Lying to the left, face first in a snow bank was the person she'd tossed off her.

"What is going on her?" Michiru demanded. She wasn't in a good mood. The boys stared for a moment then bolted. Taking off down the street. The one with the bandaged nose shouting something about revenge.

Deciding that was the wrong thing to do Michiru started to give chase but soon lost the boys in the still drifting snow. Michiru decided that the one that got dumped in the snow could explain to her what was going on.

In a guttural voice Michiru said, "We are going to talk. I'm going to listen while you explain to me what is going on. If you don't want to talk I think I can arrange a trip to the cops."

After a moment of silence Michiru move a little closer and growled, "Well?"

"Al-alright." Said a very scared girlÆs voice.

Chapter 3

Michiru looked down at this girl. Most of the facial features were hidden by shadows but it looked familiar. Where had she seen it? "I'm waiting for the explanation," Michiru prompted. Her mood hadn't improved any since the girl agreed to explain and now she seemed frightened to speak.

Before anything else was said an engine was heard. Turning around Michiru spotted a police officer. He stopped his motorcycle and headed towards her.

"Is there a problem?" he asked.

"I have a flat tire. And this girl..."

"What girl?"

At his question Michiru turned around. She was gone. She started to look around for any trace but nothing was to be seen except snow and shadows.

Turning back around to the officer she said, "Well looks like she took off. She was being chased by five boys. I was about to find out why when you came along." Michiru tried to hide her displeasure at being interrupted. "It looks like she took off."

"Well I'll get a patch kit off the bike; that should get you going to where you were headed. I'd recommend getting a new tire as soon as possible. After I fix the tire I'll have a look around to see if I can spot that girl." With that he turned and headed back to his bike.

<Where did you go?> Michiru thought. <YouÆre quick and intelligent for a person so young. I also know that I've seen you before.>

The officer shook his head as he got out the tire repair kit. The gadget was a flat case about 2 feet square and about six inches deep. It used a durable rubber sealant to seal the puncture of the tire. Once sealed the repair kit would re-inflate the tire. It couldn't handle big punctures but for the small holes it was fine.

As he headed back to the car the officer though to himself, <How can some people be crazy enough to drive in this weather?>

The Future....

"Did that really happen?" Hitomi asked wide-eyed.

Sakuya didn't respond. Hitomi waited for a few moments and then said, "Sempai, is something wrong?"

"It's late Hitomi-chan. Why don't you head off to bed?" Sakuya said in a distant voice.

"But you didn't finish the story."

"There's not much left to tell. Neptune-sensei found me the next day. After a little bit, she convinced me that I had a duty being Younger Jupiter."

"Are you sure? I think there would be a little more than that," Hitomi said uncharacteristically.

"That is all!" Sakuya snapped. This reaction startled Hitomi.

"I'm sorry, Sempai. Goodnight." With a worried expression Hitomi left the room. Before the door closed she cast a quick glance at the older girl.

Sakuya didn't hear Hitomi bid her goodnight. The telling of her story had awakened feeling she'd dealt with along time ago. Now she was replaying those few remaining days before she agreed to become Younger Jupiter.

The Past....

Sakuya's father opened the back door. "I'm back! Did she come back?" No reply. Taking off his snow covered clothes he headed for the living room. The first thing he noticed was that the wall lamps were smashed in and pieces of the clear paneling were lying on the floor. "Is everything okay?" he called out.

Still no response. Looking further into the living room he noted that it looked like a bomb went off. Becoming worried he bounded up the stairs to see if his wife was in the bathroom.

It was empty. He also noted that her belongings that had been in the bathroom were now gone. The worry grew but also a feeling of dread. Next he checked the bedrooms.

Sakuya wasn't back yet. In his own bedroom he found the dressers and closets in a shambles. Clothes were strewn everywhere and two of the suitcases were missing. The small projector TV that used to on the dresser was now smashed beyond all recognition sitting in a heap on the floor He decided that he'd call the police and report both his wife and daughter missing.

As he started heading back downstairs, he noticed the reminder pad stuck to the door. Taking it he slowly went over to the bed and sat down. He could never find the on button of these things.

Turning it over he stared at it. It was small about 3 inches cubed. The one side had an adhesive coating so you could stick it on stuff. It had a speaker/microphone on the top a set of touch mini-touch controls were on the sides. His figure found the play button and it began to play. As he listened to his wifeÆs raging voice his heart was chilled.

"I'm leaving." his wifeÆs voiced hissed from the small cube. "Don't worry I'm not taking your daughter with me. She'd probably be more trouble then she's worth. This is your fault you know. You wouldn't listen to me! No you wanted your daughter around to remind you of your wife. Ha! She disgraces us and then takes off. Hopefully she won't come back. I'm certainly not coming back and I don't want anything to do with either of you." Sitting there dazedly he listened to his wife rant until the machine ran out of room. That's when he heard the back door open. Maybe it was her; no, at best, it would be Sakuya.

Sakuya started running as soon as the cop had the woman distracted. She pelted down the sidewalk full tilt and around a corner. She continued running through the driving snow for a short time more.

Stopping beside an empty intersection she climbed a recently erected snowbank to determine where she was. After getting her bearings and sliding down the snowbank, she headed for home while keeping a wary eye out for either more cops, the woman, or those five boys.

Approaching the house quietly she snuck up to the back door and listened.

"Hello Sakuya-san" said the back door. It was programmed to recognize those staying inside the house and great them.

Sakuya jumped at the unexpected voice. "Would you shut up!" She hissed. Realizing that it would only say it once she went back to take a peak in the kitchen.

Nothing in the kitchen. <Okay, do you go in there like this and take the chance of being caught? Or do you risk your neck and try shining up the vine trellis?> After considering her options she went around the side of the house and started to climb up the vine trellis.

Sakuya managed to get halfway up before the trellis started to creek ominously. Waiting for a moment she started to climb the rest of the way up.

After reaching the roof she started to make her way over to her window. Careful where she was stepping, she inched her way over. A sudden gust of wind made Sakuya lose her balance and start to slide off the roof.

With a cry of fear she tried to grab a handhold. All her hands felt were snow and ice. Her frantic motions caused her to slide even faster. Just at the last second she managed to catch hold of the rain gutter.

Swinging she hit the house with a thud that shook some of the snow off the roof onto her head.

This caused another startled cry and she released her hold on the gutters. When Sakuya made contact with the ground she sent up a cloud of snow that was picked up by the wind. The breath knocked out of her she lay there trying to recover.

After a few moments Sakuya wondered why no one was coming out to see what all the racket was about. Scrambling up she made her way to the back door again.

As she reached it the door greeted her again. Slowly opening it Sakuya went into the kitchen, ignoring the door's bidding of good night. The kitchen was deserted; there was no sound coming from the living room.

Coming in quietly she shut the door and locked it. Taking off her jacket she shivered as the cold snow on her clothes began to melt. Creeping carefully toward the stairs she took the chance to peek into the living room.

What she saw looked like a disaster area. Someone had been terribly upset. The projector TV was smashed in, the pillows of the couch, amazingly, were torn apart, and not even the living room curtains were ripped out of the wall sockets. "What on earth happened here?" she asked. That's when she heard the noise from something coming down the stairs.

Upon reaching the hotel Michiru thanked the police officer as he drove off. She would have stayed and tried to find the girl who had run off but the police officer had escorted her back to the hotel to make sure she got there safely.

They certainly different than the CTPD. In Crystal Tokyo most police were more trusting. This city's police hadn't developed the "Utopia Method" of handling people. Mainly because outside of Crystal Tokyo there was still no Utopia. Things were a lot rougher.

After reaching her room Michiru first changed out of her damp clothing and then looked around for the phone book. She was silently cursing herself for missing the obvious way to find the address she'd gone to the school to get.

"How many families could have a family name of 'Thunderbolt'?" Michiru asked herself out loud.

"One" the phone book replied.

"Shut up and give me a hard copy of the address." The phone book complied.

As Michiru read the address she muttered to herself, <'Thunderbolt' some things are just TOO obvious.>

After tucking the address safely way Michiru got comfortable on the bed. She'd be making an early house call in the morning, the scamp wouldn't be giving her the slip again.

Taking two quick steps backward Sakuya stumbled over her own feet and promptly landed on her backside. "Ow..." she said, then looked up to see who was coming down the stairs. It was her father and he looked haggard.

That haggard look changed to a mixture of relief and anger. He just stood there for a minute then the angry looked slipped away to be replace totally with one of relief.

"There you are," his voice sounded small, almost distant.

"What happened here?" Sakuya asked as she got up off the floor and surveyed the damage once again.

"I don't know," he said. His voice was filled with confusion. "I had gone out looking for you. When I got back this was what I found. This and a note." Something caught in his throat.

Turning around Sakuya caught a tear running down her father's face. "Wh-what did it say?" she asked quietly, walking over to her father.

"It rambled mainly. The short of it is she has left again and isn't coming back." He suddenly sat on the closest step and leaned against the wall. "Two are gone now." He mumbled.

Sakuya for her part didn't quite know what to say. She had overheard her mother's comments about how she was `his daughter'. She was only thirteen. She wasn't supposed to handle this type of situation. Without speaking she simply went over to her father and sat beside him.

After a little while he started to straighten up the living room. She started to help but he stopped her. "Sako, why don't you head up to bed?"

"But I want to help," Sakuya protested. She really didn't want to be alone with her thoughts.

"Please," her father said, a quiet plea in his eyes.

"Goodnight," she said giving her father a hug.

"Goodnight," he replied distractedly.

Turning she made her way up the stairs. After getting into bed Sakuya lay there, thinking over what had happened. <Why?> she thought to herself, <Why does it have to be this way?>

The words of her mother, she couldn't think of her any other way, worked their way to the fore of her mind. <She's your daughter.> Had being expelled from school been the final act? Sakuya kept questioning herself and replaying the events that had led up to her mother's disappearance.

After eating breakfast Michiru made her way to the girl's home. Pulling up to the front of the house, Michiru noted that there was no car in the driveway. Hoping that someone was home she approached the front door and knocked. After several seconds it was opened by a short haggard looking man.

"Yes, can I help you?" his voice was slightly sullen.

"Rakurai-kun?" Michiru questioned.

"Yes, what can I do for you?"

"I'd like to talk about your daughter."

Grimacing as he said, "What she done now?"

His sudden mood swing took Michiru by surprise. "Nothing really. Five boys were chasing her down a street last night and she ran into me, the boys took off. I was going to ask her what was going on but she disappeared on me."

He gave a small smile, "You're possibly the best thing to happen to her lately. Please come in. I hope you don't mind sitting in the kitchen the living room at the moment is not suitable for guests."

"No I don't mind. I just wanted to know what was going on."

As he led her into the kitchen, Michiru took a look around. The living room entryway was covered over with a blanket. The rest of the downstairs seemed to be spotless.

"How did you know where she lived?" he asked after indicating a chair at the kitchen table.

"I was in a soda shop yesterday afternoon. I over heard some girls talking. They mentioned her name. One of them asked what she looked like and another one told her. Last night when I saw her she seemed to be the same girl so I just looked in the phone book."

Nodding slightly as if it was all perfectly natural he said, "That's usually how angry parents find her."

"It is?!?" Michiru couldn't believe he was taking that type of explanation so calmly. She also couldn't believe that this girl was that much of a hand full.

"Yes. Well let me see if she's awake."

As he started to get up Michiru said, "Rakurai-kun, I'd like to talk to you first before I talk to your daughter if you wouldn't mind."

Sitting back down he blinked, "Really? What about?"

"What do you think of Senshi?" Michiru asked. She wanted to get a feel about this person. The father could be a problem.

"Why?" Rakurai-kun asked, narrowing his eye.

"It has something to do with what I want to speak to you about."

Grunting slightly he stopped squinting at her suspiciously and then said in a hesitant tone. "Well if you'll be honest with m I'll be honest with you."

Michiru nodded, it was fair enough.

"I don't trust them. Crystal Tokyo sits there a utopia that hasn't spread out to the rest of Japan. I go by a saying, a very old one. 'Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.' As far as I can see the Senshi have absolute power."

Michiru was rather taken a back by this. Hotly she demanded, "You are saying that Neo-Queen Serenity is corrupt? That's ridiculous."

"It's ridiculous is it?" He said quietly, "then why is this supposed good queen of ours is keeping Crystal Tokyo a utopia while the rest of Japan just sits? EndymionÆs a figurehead that was certainly donÆt need!" He thumped the table to accent his point, "He holds up in that place and hardly pokes his head out unless itÆs needed. WeÆve allies, but if something happens, would Serenity rush to help us? I doubt it."

Michiru couldn't explain everything. He seemed to think that the Senshi were corrupt. What would he reaction be if he found out his daughter was Senshi.

"Now that I've been honest about what I think of these Senshi what do you want?" He was looking at her now.

"Have you ever met a Senshi?" Michiru said, she was trying to keep the anger out of her voice and it wasn't easy. This man had just insulted her queen. She might always agree with Serenity but Serenity wasn't as corrupt as this man said.

"No." He said slowly, "I've never had a chance to meet one."

<Gotcha.> Michiru thought, "Well another old saying is 'don't judge a book by it's cover.' Just because you perceive Crystal Tokyo as making Japan suffer it really is helping economically and in some cases magically."

He sat there for a moment. He seemed to be chewing the thought over after a few moments he said, "Well, I will admit that I might be jumping to conclusions." He visibly relaxed.

"Now what if I told you I was a Senshi?"

He nearly fell off the chair at that revelation. His eyes were wide as he stared at Michiru. He was obviously trying to speak but was having trouble forming words.

"You're, you're a Senshi?!?" Rakurai-kun finally got out.

"Yes, but I will insist that what I say next remain between you and me." After a moments pause Michiru added, "And your daughter of course."

He nodded affirmative but managed to get out, "Please don't be offended but do you have any proof?"

<Good,> Michiru though, <he's still think about the safety of is daughter.> "I can offer you proof Rakurai-kun but I must have your word of absolute silence on our conversations."

"I can give you my word. I don't think anyone would believe me though."

Michiru just smiled

Sakuya had heard someone come in. She didn't really feel like seeing who it was. She had spent most of last night running the event through her mind. Whoever had come in had obviously not been her mother.

Getting up from the bed she went over to the computer sitting on the desk. As she pushed the on button it whirred to life and greeted her.

"Good morning Sakuya." Its voice was that of a young woman. Soft, mild and rich.

"Open journal entry." Sakuya said although she wasn't really up to putting a journal entry in for the previous day. She had made it a practice to keep a daily journal. Just as she was about to start entering the previous day's events to see if she could work out where she had done in forcing her mother to leave she heard a knock at the door.

"Who is it?" she called.

"Sako," called her father, "get dressed and come down stairs. There is someone here who would like to meet you."

"Do I have to?" Sakuya asked in a small voice. She really didn't want to see anyone.

"I think you should."

"Alright." She said. Sighing she proceeded to get dressed.

"She's coming." Rakurai-kun said to Michiru.

"Thank you. Would you mind if I talked to her alone?"

"No." Shaking his head, probably still in bewilderment Rakurai- kun stepped into the living room.

As he pulled the blanket aside to enter Michiru got a look at the living room. It looked like something had crashed through there. Given what he had told her Michiru was surprised that the living room didn't look in worse shape.

Michiru heard a gasp from the stairs and turned back. Standing on the steps looking confused was the girl that Michiru had run into last night.

"You must be Sakuya. I'm am Kaiou Michiru."

"YouÆre the one that has all those financial holdings." Sakuya stated after coming the rest of the way down.

<How'd she know that? I'll find out later.> Michiru motioned for them to go into the kitchen. Getting into the light Michiru noticed that Sakuya looked like Makoto. Sakuya had reddish-brown hair and brown eyes but the face was similar to Makoto's She seemed tall for her age too.

They sat at the kitchen table looking at each other for a moment then Sakuya said, "You wanted to see me Kaiou-san/"

"Yes I did." Taking out the transformation wand for Jupiter she placed it on the table. "Do you know what that is?"

"No." Sakuya said in a slightly bored tone.

"Do you know who I am?"

"As far as my information goes you are independently wealthy and have invested in large corporate ventures, recently archeological digs on the moon. You have a unique ability to skirt taxation laws by using different holding companies." Sakuya said calmly.

Michiru couldn't believe it. This young girl had put that together. "And how did you know this?"

"I like business. Investor information is easy to acquire if you know what to look for."

Michiru decided that she needed to get back to her point. Taking a deep breath Michiru said, "I am Sailor Neptune."

"Prove it." Sakuya demanded flatly. She was tired of playing games; she didn't want to talk to this woman.

For the second time that day Michiru found herself proving she was Sailor Neptune. It was highly disconcerting to say the least. <It isn't like Senshi carry around I.D. cards> Michiru thought as she changed back to civilian form. She was satisfied though by the look of awe in the young girlÆs face.

"Now," Michiru said, "I've been looking for you."

"Me?" Sakuya said confused.

"Yes you. What do you know about the Silver Millennium?"

"Only what's taught in history." Sakuya was desperately trying to figure out where this was headed. She didn't like being in the dark. There was a strange object in front of Kaiou-san but she seemed to be ignoring it.

<Oh so your interested in your transformation pen are you?> Aloud Michiru said, "Well they left some parts out. During the Silver Millennium there were Senshi but there was more then just one for each planet. There was an Elder and a Younger Senshi."

Michiru seemed to have all of Sakuya's attention. <Now to drop the bomb.> Michiru thought.

"The Younger Senshi are related to the Elder Senshi."

Sakuya blinked, "But what does this have to do with me?"

"You are the Younger Jupiter."

"No way! I can't be a younger Senshi."

"You are. I've been sent here to find you. Can't you feel the transformation wand calling to you?"

"No!" Sakuya said. It was a lie though, something was gently nudging her.

"Why don't you take it." Michiru said. <Why is she resisting it?>

"Look I'm just a kid. I'm not even finished school. I wanted to do more education. I can't be Younger Jupiter." Sakuya was torn. She really wanted to hope that something good was coming of her fighting. <But I can't leave him.> She though, <Not after she did.>

Michiru blinked. <What on earth happened?> She thought as Sakuya shed a tear.

"I can't leave him." Sakuya said softly. Michiru was stunned. Getting up she walked toward the living room.

"Rakurai-kun, can I ask you something?"

Half an hour later Michiru's mind was still whirling as she had found out certain events. She had been pushing so hard, she had been close to finding the first. Now she was sitting across from Sakuya and her father wonder just exactly she should do. The initiative.

"Sako, this would be good for you. I'll be fine."

Sakuya looked miserable. Michiru decided to give it another try, Sakuya-san, you are very intelligent. You can help a lot of people by becoming a Senshi."

Sakuya just looked at Michiru for a moment and then a tiny voice aid, "What about school?"

Michiru burst out laughing, she couldn't help it. Something in he way Sakuya said that just struck her funny. "Yes you'll complete school. You'll be able to go as far in your education as you'd like. Although that will have to be fitted in with training as a Senshi."

Sakuya looked at Michiru and then at her father who was beaming. "I need to think about this." Michiru nodded.

Sakuya got up from her seat and headed for the stairs.

Date: December 12, 2883.

"Dear diary. I love my father. Signed Rakurai Sakuya, Younger Jupiter ^_^!"

The End.