Chapter Ten: Phoenix Rising, Part II

	A couple of days later, everyone gathered at the small cemetery near Hikawa 
to say their final goodbyes to Saburo. It was a sunny day, but nevertheless, a 
darkness had come over them all as the group of mourners, lead by a stoic Rei, who 
was carrying the urn, made their way to the sakura tree in back, where Saburo’s ashes 
would be buried next to his daughter’s.

	Once they reached the gravesite, Rei handed the urn to the Buddhist priest 
who would be performing the final ceremony, then took her place off to the side, away 
from the other mourners. She was not in the mood for their comforting words and hoped 
the ceremony wouldn’t take too long, wanting nothing more than to go back home to 
Hikawa, away from the sympathetic eyes and kind words that had followed her ever 
since she came home from the hospital.

	Minoru, Miyuki, Minako, Usagi… They had all tried their best to comfort her 
over the last few days, but to no avail. Rei knew she should have been grateful to 
have people in her life who cared about her that much, but she honestly wished they 
would leave her alone. All she wanted was to be left alone -- was that too much to 
ask?

	Fortunately, it seemed that after repeated orders to let her be, they had 
finally gotten the message. Rei glanced around at the other mourners and was glad to 
see nobody had stepped forward in her direction as she had expected, though she did 
notice Minako staring at her with concern from where Usagi and the other senshi, 
including Haruka, Michiru, Setsuna, and Hotaru, stood. Ignoring the look, Rei turned 
away and forced her attention on everybody but the pretty blonde, feeling guilty 
about the way she had treated her. She still hadn’t apologized to Minako for her 
behavior that day at the hospital, although she knew she couldn’t keep putting if off 
forever.

	The rest of the mourners were mostly Saburo’s friends. Other than Miyuki and 
her family and Minoru, who had brought along a rather statuesque blonde and her 
daughter, Rei recognized a couple of the shrine’s most generous patrons in 
attendance, as well as Hideki, the kind man who owned the pawnshop. Also there was 
Miyazaki, Saburo’s roommate from the hospital who had also become a close friend 
during his battle. Rei almost didn’t recognize him at first without his infamous 
toupee and had to look twice before she could place him. 

	Noticeably absent, however, was her father. Rei knew she shouldn’t have 
expected him to come, but a part of her was angry he hadn’t. Saburo had been his 
father-in-law, and it was only proper that Keitaro should pay his final respects, no 
matter what their differences were. 

	But as usual, family always came last for Hino Keitaro, Rei thought bitterly, 
clenching her hands at her side. He was such a selfish bastard. Did he not even care 
that she was now practically an orphan? Not that she actually *needed* him… She had 
gotten along quite well without him in her life and would continue to do so, in spite 
of everything that had happened. She was certain of that much.

	But…

	Rei shook her head before the thought had a chance to form and turned her 
attention back to the ceremony, wrapping her arms around her waist in the only 
acceptable form of comfort.

	As it turned out, the priest managed to keep the ceremony mercifully short, 
and after the burial was finished, Rei was only too happy to leave. Passing right by 
her friends without even a goodbye, she exited the cemetery and began heading back to 
Hikawa, her legs pumping as hard as they could without breaking into a run. Stinging 
tears had begun to form in her eyes, but Rei was determined not to cry.

	She had to be strong.

	“Rei-chan!”

	Glancing back over her shoulder at the familiar voice, Rei purposely sped up 
when she saw Minako was following her, the blonde coming out of the cemetery only 
seconds later. Unfortunately for her, she had forgotten Minako was a star volleyball 
player, and thus in terrific shape. The blonde had no trouble catching up to her and 
roughly grabbed Rei’s arm, holding her back.

	“Rei-chan, stop.”

	Angry and frustrated, Rei glared down at the usually gentle fingertips 
digging into her skin. “Let go of me, Minako-chan,” she ordered. “I don’t want to 
talk to you or anybody else. Just leave me alone.”

	“Is this how it is going to be from now on?” Minako demanded to know, still 
holding her arm. “Are you going to continue to push us away when all we are trying to 
do is help?”

	“I don’t need your help.”

	“Then why did you leave the cemetery like a bat out of Africa?”

	“It’s ’a bat out of’… Oh, never mind!” Rei said, managing to yank her arm 
away. Minako’s fingernails had left five distinct crescent-shaped imprints on her 
pale skin where she had dug. “Mind your own business for once, Minako-chan. Is that 
so hard to do? It‘s no wonder you can‘t get a boyfriend. You‘d drive him crazy, 
always butting into his private life.”

	“I only do it because I care about you, Rei-chan,” the blonde said softly. 
“Is it wrong to be concerned about the people you love?”

	“No, but…”

	“No buts. I know you’re hurting, Rei-chan, and that hurts me as well. I hate 
seeing you like this. I want to help. Please, if there is anything I can do…”

	“I told you there isn’t,” Rei declared, walking off again. “Now leave me 
alone. I‘m fine.”

	Never one to leave well enough alone, Minako ignored her order and again 
chased up to Rei, falling in step with her as they approached the steps of Hikawa. 
“You know you can’t hide your true feelings forever,” Minako said. “You might think 
you’re okay now, but you’re really just fooling yourself, and the longer you keep up 
this charade, the harder you are going to fall when it finally hits you.”

	“When what finally hits me, Minako-chan?” Rei asked, faintly annoyed when she 
noticed her friend was following her up the steps. “I know ojii-san is dead. I’m not 
in denial about that.”

	“Then why won’t you allow yourself to grieve? I was watching you today and 
you didn’t shed a single tear through the entire burial. You just stood there like a 
statue.”

	“There isn’t time to grieve,” Rei replied. “I have a shrine to run now. 
Ojii-san wouldn’t want Hikawa to go out of business because I’m too grief-stricken to 
work.”

	“He also wouldn’t want you using work as a reason not to grieve,” Minako 
pointed out, running up a couple of steps and blocking Rei’s way. “Hikawa’s not going 
to fall apart if you keep it closed a couple more days. People will understand.”

	“Get out of the way, Minako.”

	“Not until you promise me you won’t open the shrine today. That’s all I’m 
asking -- one day. If you feel up to it tomorrow, fine, go ahead and reopen, but at 
least give yourself one day to rest. You’ve been under so much stress lately with the 
transplant and the funeral preparations, I’m afraid you’re going to make yourself 
sick. If you don’t want to do it for yourself, then do it for me, okay? I’ll feel a 
lot better if you do. Please?”

	Sighing, Rei hung her head in defeat. She was tired of arguing with Minako. 
If keeping the shrine closed for the day somehow helped Minako feel like she had 
helped, then Rei supposed it couldn’t hurt. It wasn’t as if she expected many 
visitors would come by Hikawa anyway, except for those who wanted to offer their 
condolences. Saburo’s death had been well-publicized.

	“Fine, I promise I won’t open the shrine today.”

	“Good.” Moving out of the way, Minako stepped back down the stairs and gave 
Rei a hug. “And if you do need anything else, you know who to call, right? Sayonara, 
Rei-chan.”

	“Sayonara.”

	Rei waved goodbye to Minako, and once the blonde was gone, she trudged up the 
final remaining steps, sighing deeply once she made it to the top. So, this is it, 
she thought to herself as she looked upon the shrine grounds. He really is gone, 
isn’t he?

	It was funny how outwardly, everything still seemed the same, as if nothing 
had changed. The crows were still cawing, the ever-present leaves were still 
littering the ground, and the sacred fire still burned, a thin trail of smoke rising 
from the prayer room’s window vent. Rei almost expected to see Saburo coming out of 
their small house to welcome her home, dressed in his usual blue-and-white robes and 
a straw broom in his hand. But, of course, he didn’t.

	And he never would again.

	“It’s not fair,” Rei suddenly said aloud, giving herself a hug. “It’s just 
not fair…”

	Saburo should have been coming home today, alive and well, not buried in an 
urn, his body nothing more than ashes. What kind of homecoming was that? He had 
fought so hard to fight the cancer, and *that* was his reward? Death? It hardly 
seemed right. What had been the point in fighting if ultimately he was going to lose 
anyway? Sure, he had managed to add an extra year to his life, which was more than a 
lot of leukemia patients could say, but the price had been too high. Saburo had 
barely lived the last few months, always in and out of the hospital for various 
illnesses and treatments. As horrible as it sounded, he probably would have been 
happier letting the disease take its natural course after the first round of 
chemotherapy failed. At least then he could have died at the place he loved best 
instead of a cold, impersonal hospital room surrounded by those awful, beeping 
machines. He deserved so much better than that.

	But instead, Saburo had chose to keep fighting, refusing to give up hope that 
he could somehow beat the disease that had taken over his body. The doctors warned 
him the bone marrow transplant was risky, especially considering that her own marrow 
had not been a perfect match, yet he had been willing to take that risk in exchange 
for the small chance he might be cured. Why? 

	Why had he put himself though all that pain and suffering for something that 
in the end didn’t even work?

	Rei hugged herself even tighter, walking over to the living quarters and 
taking a seat on the edge of the porch. The silence of the shrine, usually so 
soothing, now made her feel even worse. She realized that she was listening for a 
sound, any kind of sound, to tell her that this was all a nightmare and that Saburo 
was actually inside… 

	The worst part about the whole thing was that Rei couldn’t shake the feeling 
that Saburo’s death was her fault, as ridiculous as it seemed. She blamed herself for 
not being a perfect match for the transplant. If she had been, her grandfather would 
most likely be back at Hikawa instead of an urn. 

	She never should have agreed to donate her marrow, especially not after Ami 
had expressed some concern that her senshi powers might somehow affect the 
transplant. Although none of the preliminary tests had detected anything out of the 
ordinary, it still had been a risky move, not knowing how a normal person would react 
to a senshi’s body tissue. What if the reason he had died was because she was Sailor 
Mars? 

	Rei gasped, her face paling as she remembered something her grandfather had 
said during their last moments together. He had been dreaming, but she distinctly 
recalled Saburo mentioning something about her alter ego during his feverish 
delirium. She didn’t think much of it at the time, dismissing it as coincidental 
crazy talk, but… 

	Feeling the muscles in her stomach clench, Rei wrapped her arms around her 
abdomen and began rocking herself back and forth. What had she done? It was her 
fault, after all. How else would he have known who she really was? She’d never told 
him about her secret life as Sailor Mars, not wanting him to worry about her. The 
only way he could have found out was if he had somehow been able to sense her powers 
from the marrow.

	“I’m sorry, ojii-san,” she whispered. “I’m so, so sorry. It‘s all my fault, 
all my fault…”

	“Rei-chan?”

	Surprised by the gentle masculine voice calling her name, Rei abruptly 
glanced up, wiping away the tear that was rolling down her cheek. She expected to 
find that Minoru had somehow followed her back to the shrine, but instead, Rei gasped 
as she saw a handsome, brown-haired man looming over her, his eyes gazing down at her 
with sympathy from behind his gold wire-rimmed glasses. Years had passed since the 
last time they spoke, but time had not managed to distort her memory of him.

	“K-Kaidou-sama?” she stuttered, her eyes still not believing what they were 
seeing. “But…what…?”

	Chuckling softly, Kaidou Ace sat down beside her on the porch. “Come now, 
Rei-chan,” he said. “There’s no need to be so formal with me. I may now be the 
governor of Tokyo, but I was your friend first, right?”

	“But I don’t understand… Why are you here?” she asked, unsure of what to make 
of his completely unexpected visit.

	“I heard what happened to Kondo-sama,” he explained, reaching for her hand. 
“I’m sorry, Rei-chan. I know it must be difficult for you.” 

	“Oh.” Rei pulled her hand away and sucked in a ragged breath to steady her 
emotions. She should have known he would have heard about Saburo’s death. “Thank you 
for your condolences, Kaidou-sama,” she said, still using the most formal honorific. 
“It was very kind of you to stop by, especially considering how busy you must be with 
your job and your family.”

	“You know I was never too busy for you.”

	“Yes, but that was a different time. Things changed.”

	“That they did,” he admitted with a small smile. “I assume you know Yuri and 
I got married. We have a son now, almost two years old.”

	“Congratulations,” Rei replied in an emotionless monotone as she stood from 
her seat on the porch. “I’m glad for you.” 

	She had, of course, known about his marriage and the baby, but though she 
thought she had made peace with what happened between them, Rei still felt a twinge 
of jealousy upon hearing the news from Kaidou himself. He looked so happy talking 
about his perfect little family. She certainly didn’t begrudge his happiness, but she 
could be forgiven for not turning cartwheels. If only things had been different… 

	“Rei-chan, I’m sorry,” Kaidou apologized. “I shouldn’t have brought up Yuri 
and the baby, not now. It was insensitive of me. I didn‘t mean to make it seem as 
if…”

	Rei shook her head, interrupting him. “No, it’s okay,” she assured him, 
pushing the “what ifs” and “if onlys” out of her mind. “You moved on, just as I have. 
I‘m just being silly. Don‘t mind me.”

	 There was an uncomfortable pause. “Um…there was actually another reason I 
came by today,” Kaidou finally said. “A year ago, when ojii-sama died…you sent me a 
letter.”

	“Oh…the letter…” Rei repeated, blushing lightly. She had nearly forgotten 
about the short note she had written him after she had learned of Negishi’s death, 
offering her condolences. “Gomen nasai. I shouldn’t have sent it. I mean, I barely 
even knew your grandfather. It was presumptuous of me.”

	“Presumptuous?” Kaidou shook his head. “Rei-chan, I really appreciated your 
sympathy, even if you didn’t know ojii-san that well. In fact, if anybody should be 
apologizing, it should be me.”

	“You? Why?”

	“Because I never wrote you back to thank you. I meant to, honestly I did, 
but…”

	“But you were too busy,” Rei said, filling in the blank. It was story of her 
life. “It’s okay, Kaidou-sama. I understand.”

	“No, it wasn’t that at all,” he insisted. “In fact, I wrote several drafts of 
the thank you note, but nothing seemed quite right. I felt like I needed to thank you 
in person. I *wanted* to see you.”

	“Then why didn’t you?”

	“I don’t know,” he sighed. “I suppose I was afraid you wouldn’t want to see 
me. Writing a letter and talking to somebody face-to-face are two completely 
different things. Then when I heard about your grandfather‘s illness from 
Hino-sama…well, I figured you had more important things to do than see me. 
Eventually, I guess I put the letter out of my mind and forgot about it.”

	“Until you heard about ojii-san.”

	Kaidou nodded. “Hai,” he answered. “I thought about going to the funeral 
today, but I didn’t want to cause a scene. Meeting you here, alone, seemed like the 
best idea.”

	“Watanabe-san and her family will probably be back soon,” Rei commented. 
“They’ve been staying with us -- I mean, with me -- for the past few days.”

	“Oh.” The man stood as if to leave, dusting off the back of his pants. “I 
didn’t know you were having guests. I didn’t mean to intrude. Perhaps I should go…”

	A part of Rei wished he would, wanting to be alone with her grief, but 
another part wanted him to stay, to be the big brother to her that he had been when 
she was a little girl, before she had ruined things with her stupid declaration of 
love. She had missed their special friendship, even more than she realized. They 
couldn’t be lovers -- she knew that -- but perhaps they could still be friends like 
Miyuki and Minoru.

	“No, you don’t have to do that,” she said softly, causing him to stop in his 
tracks as he began walking toward the torii. “Please stay, Kaidou-san. I want you to 
stay.”

	Turning around, Kaidou gave her a small smile. “Are you sure, Rei-chan?” he 
asked. “Because if you are uncomfortable with me being here, I can go. All you have 
to do is say the word.”

	  Rei bit her lip, unsure if she made the right decision. “Well, you did come 
all this way,” she said. “The least I can do is offer you some tea.”

	“Tea? Tea would be nice.”

	“Good… Then, I’ll go boil some water.”

	Rei headed inside the living quarters, Kaidou following behind her, and went 
to the kitchen to prepare the refreshments. When she came back out, Kaidou was 
already sitting at the low table, his back turned away from her. Clearing her throat 
to announce her presence, she joined him and began serving their drinks.

	“I hope you don’t mind chamomile,” Rei said, handing him a tea bowl. “It’s 
all we have at the moment, since I haven’t had the chance to go to the store lately.”

	Taking a sip of the hot tea, Kaidou nodded. “Chamomile is fine,” he assured 
her. “This tastes great.”

	“It’s nothing special.”

	Another bout of silence fell over them as they drank, and Rei began to regret 
inviting Kaidou to stay. Trying to be friends with somebody she once loved was harder 
than Minoru made it seem. Perhaps now wasn’t the best time to resume a friendship, 
after all. Rei was close to asking him to leave when Kaidou finally broke through the 
quiet.

	“So, it’s been a long time since we had tea here together, hasn’t it?” he 
commented, glancing around the room. “Remember when we were younger and you would 
force me to play ’tea ceremony’ with you, using those old, cracked bowls you‘d 
found?”

	“Hai,” Rei answered, smiling a little at the fond memory. “I remember how you 
would always complain about your feet falling asleep halfway through the ceremony.”

	“Yet you never would allow me to sit cross-legged, even when I told you my 
legs were falling off,” he reminded her with a short laugh. “You really were cruel.”

	“I was not! If I could make it through the ceremony without complaining, then 
you should have been able to as well.”

	“Hey, girls have it easier than guys. Besides, you had plenty of practice 
sitting at this table night after night. You can’t blame me for having a 
Western-style dining table with chairs at my house.”

	“Maybe not, but you still were a wimp.”

	“A wimp, huh?” Kaidou repeated, chuckling. “Well, perhaps, but I always could 
beat you at archery.”

	“You couldn’t anymore,” Rei said smugly. “I’m the highest ranked archer at 
the Academy.”

	“Is that so?” he asked, his still beautiful green eyes widening behind his 
glasses. “That’s great, Rei-chan! Kondo-sama must have been so proud of you.” 

	“Yes, I suppose he was,” she said quietly, pushing her tea bowl away. She had 
suddenly lost her thirst. 

	“Oh, gomen nasai,” he offered when he realized he had brought up a painful 
subject. “I wasn’t thinking. I shouldn’t have said that.”

	“Said what? Ojii-san’s name?” Rei sadly asked. “No, it’s okay, Kaidou-san. I 
can’t expect people not to mention him again, as if he never existed. That‘s not what 
I want. It’s just hard, you know?”

	“I do.”

	Rei glanced up, regarding him through different eyes. “You really do, don’t 
you?” she asked. “You know how I must be feeling.”

	“Well, I wouldn’t go that far, Rei-chan. I wasn’t as close to my grandfather 
as you were to yours. He was always very busy with his career, and we didn’t spend as 
much time together as I would have liked…”

	“But you loved and admired Negishi-sama, didn’t you?”

	“Hai, very much,” Kaidou said. “Ironically, the sicker he became, the closer 
we got. He was no longer this…unreachable idol, but a man, my grandfather.”

	“If you don’t mind me asking, how did he die?”

	“Complications from diabetes. He’d suffered from it for many years, even 
before you were born. It wasn‘t a shock to us.”

	“And there was nothing that could be done?”

	“No, not really. He had a kidney transplant a couple of years ago when his 
old ones failed due to the disease, but eventually that one gave out on him as well.”

	“A kidney transplant?”

	“I was the donor,” he revealed, causing Rei to stare at him with a mixture of 
shock and admiration. It seemed as if they had more in common than she originally 
thought. 

	“You donated one of your kidneys to Negishi-sama? You really are a 
kind-hearted person, Kaidou-san.”

	Bashful, Kaidou rubbed the back of his neck. “I only did what was right, 
Rei-chan,” he said modestly. “After all, I was the closest match in my family besides 
my youngest sister, who my parents thought was too young to make that kind of 
decision. Anybody would have done the same if they were in my position, and I was 
happy to do so. Ojii-sama very much appreciated it.” 

	“But didn’t you feel guilty when your donated kidney failed, too?” Rei asked 
hesitantly, remembering what she had been thinking about before he arrived at Hikawa. 

	“Yes, I did, for a little while,” he confessed. “Ojii-sama was dying, and I 
thought for sure it was all my fault. I even begged him to go back on dialysis when 
it happened, hoping it would ease my own guilt, but he didn‘t want to go through that 
again.”  

	“So, what changed? When did you stop feeling guilty?”

	Kaidou thought it over for a few moments before answering. “I suppose it was 
during one of our last conversations, when he thanked me for the final time for the 
donation. I hadn’t wanted to hear it, but he told me he didn’t blame me or my kidney 
for failing him. He said there was no possible way we could have known for sure what 
would happen, so there was no point in feeling guilty about it. The only thing that 
mattered to him was that I loved him enough to try to help him, and for that, he 
would be forever grateful. After that, I realized it really wasn‘t my fault. How 
could it be, when I didn‘t know the kidney would fail? We knew it was always a risk, 
but isn‘t that the nature of a risk? That sometimes you fail and sometimes you 
succeed? Sometimes things happen that are beyond your control, but that doesn‘t mean 
it was your fault.” 

	“I suppose your right,” Rei said, though she received little comfort from his 
words. Even if his donated kidney had eventually failed, at least it had worked for a 
while, giving Negishi a couple of years of freedom from dialysis. She couldn’t say 
the same in her case. She hadn’t helped Saburo at all; he had no reason to be 
grateful for her help.

	Green eyes looked at her in concern. “Rei-chan, what is this about, really?” 
Kaidou asked, scooting closer toward her. “I get the feeling you aren’t just asking 
these questions about my late grandfather out of some kind of morbid curiosity. 
You‘re not that kind of person.”

	“It’s nothing, Kaidou-san. More tea?”

	Her hand moved toward his wooden tea bowl to refill it, but Rei gasped as 
Kaidou gently took her wrist, stopping her. 

	“No, thank you.  I’d rather talk about what is bothering you.”

	“Nothing is bothering me,” she insisted, her eyes narrowing as she looked up 
from his grasp on her wrist to his face. “Perhaps it is time you left. Watanabe-san 
and the others will be back soon.”     

	“I don’t think I should, not when something is apparently weighing heavily on 
your mind. Just talk to--”

	“What right do you think you have to pry in my private emotions?” she 
demanded to know, yanking her arm away and standing. “You’re not my lover, or even my 
brother.”

	“Well, you certainly didn’t seem to have a problem prying into mine, 
Rei-chan,” Kaidou shot back, standing as well. He didn’t seem quite as tall as she 
remembered him, but she still had to crane her neck to look up at him. “Do you think 
it was easy for me to talk to you about ojii-sama’s death? You know, I thought 
answering your questions might open the door if you wanted to talk about what happen 
to Kondo-sama, but since you claim everything is fine, maybe I *should* leave. You 
obviously don‘t want my, or anybody else‘s help. I‘ll show myself out.”

	“Kaidou-san, wait!” Rei reached out to stop him, not wanting him to leave. 
“I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t realize how insensitive I was being, asking about 
Negishi-sama’s death. I just thought… Well, I wasn’t thinking. Please don’t go.”

	His face softening, Kaidou turned back around and pulled Rei into a 
comforting hug, one she was powerless to fight. 

	“Let me be your big brother again, Rei-chan,” he whispered into her hair. 
“You don’t have to be brave in front of me. Remember, we‘re kindred spirits. We‘re 
the same.”

	"The same..."

					*****

	Back at the cemetery, Miyuki was franticly searching among the guests for a 
certain raven-haired teen. The last time she had seen her, Rei had been standing off 
to the side during the burial, away from everyone else, but as soon as the ceremony 
was over, it seemed as if she had disappeared into thin air. Speaking to one of Rei’s 
friends, an exotic dark-skinned woman with long hunter green hair, Miyuki learned 
that Rei had left the cemetery with her best friend Minako right on her heels, but 
other than that, nobody knew where she had gone.

	“Where in the world did she go without telling us?” Miyuki asked herself, 
falling back on her old habit of biting her thumbnail. 

	She was beginning to worry. Rei wasn’t exactly in her normal state of mind. 
There was no telling what she would do.

	“Did you find her?” Minoru inquired a few minutes later, lightly touching her 
shoulder as he came up behind her. He had also been looking for Rei.

	Miyuki shook her head, turning around to face the redhead. “No, Meioh-san 
said she saw Rei-chan leave with Aino-san, but neither said where they were going. Do 
you think we should go look for them?”

	“We can if you want, Miyuki, but I wouldn’t worry too much. Aino-san is with 
her, after all. Rei-chan probably just decided to go back to Hikawa. Let them have 
some time to themselves.”

	“I suppose you’re right,” she replied, still feeling a twinge of worry but 
knowing Minoru was probably correct. At least Minako was with Rei so she wasn‘t 
alone. “She’ll be fine.”  

	“What about you? How are you holding up?” Minoru asked.

	“I’ll be okay,” Miyuki lied, wiping away a few stray tears that had made 
their way down her cheek before crossing her arms across her chest. “It’s just hard 
to believe he’s really gone, you know? In some ways, Kondo-sama was like a second 
father to me. I‘ll miss him.”

	Minoru nodded, green eyes filled with sympathy. “I know. He was a good man.” 

	“I can’t believe this is happening,” Miyuki murmured, gazing at the new 
marker with Saburo’s name. “I always thought that Takara would be here when this 
happened…”

	“Well, she is here, in a way,” Minoru pointed out, but that only made 
Miyuki’s tears worse. Wincing at his clumsiness, Minoru gently hugged her. “Gomen 
nasai. Listen, they’re both in a better place now. They’re both healthy and happy, 
which is what we always wanted for Takara. And Saburo deserves his rest, don’t you 
think?”

	Miyuki nodded, sniffing slightly. “You’re right, Minoru…”

	“Minoru?” a soft voice said, interrupting the tender moment between the two 
friends. “I hope I’m not interrupting…”

	Hearing the voice, they finally broke apart, Miyuki blushing slightly when 
she saw it belonged to the tall, stunning blonde Minoru had brought with him to the 
funeral. Minoru, however, showed no trace of guilt at all, a smile crossing his lips 
as he turned around and took his place beside her.  

	“Oh, Jakakuerine, there you are,” he said, resting his hand intimately on the 
small of his date’s back. “There’s someone I’d like you to meet. This is Watanabe 
Miyuki, an old friend of mine. Miyuki, I‘d like to introduce you to 
Yanagazawa-Garnier Jakakuerine.” 

	The woman offered her hand in the Western manner. “Actually, it’s Jacqueline, 
but Minoru has the worst trouble trying to pronounce it correctly,” she corrected 
with a small smile as they shook hands. Miyuki noticed a faint trace of a foreign 
accent in her voice, most likely French, but she spoke Japanese very well. “I‘m so 
pleased to finally meet you, Watanabe-san, although I wish it were during happier 
circumstances. I’ve heard so much about you.”

	“H-Hai, it’s very nice to meet you, too,” Miyuki replied, relaxing a little 
once she realized Jacqueline wasn‘t angry or jealous to have seen her in Minoru‘s 
embrace. She already liked the woman better than some of Minoru’s previous 
girlfriends, who had a tendency to be clingy at times. It was about time he started 
seeing somebody with some maturity. “I’m sorry to say I haven’t heard much about you, 
though, Yanagazawa-san,” she admitted, curious. “Have you and Minoru-san seeing each 
other long?”

	At that, Minoru actually blushed, his skin turning into a ripe tomato 
rivaling the shade of his hair, and Jacqueline softly chuckled as she rested her head 
on his shoulder. “Well, I wouldn’t necessarily say we’re dating anymore, 
Watanabe-san,” she said, holding up her left hand to reveal a beautiful princess-cut 
diamond solitaire set in platinum on her ring finger.

	Miyuki’s eyes widened as the significance of the ring became apparent, and 
she looked over at Minoru. “You’re… you‘re…”

	Minoru nodded. “Yes, Jakakuerine and I are engaged to be married.”

	If little green men had landed on the Earth at that moment and proclaimed 
they were from Mars, Miyuki wouldn’t have been more shocked than she was at that 
moment, hearing the news that Uchizawa Minoru, one of Tokyo’s most notorious 
bachelors, was engaged. She, like most everyone else who knew the notorious playboy, 
hadn’t thought he had it in him to settle down with only one woman. Minoru liked 
playing the field, and he never expressed an interest in getting married before, not 
even when he declared his love for her all those years ago at her wedding to Kazuya. 
And now here he was with his arm around the waist of this beautiful exotic woman… 
She’d never thought to see the day.

	“You’re surprised, aren’t you, Miyuki?” Minoru asked with a wry grin when she 
had yet to respond.

	To say Miyuki was surprised by the announcement would be an understatement. 
Floored, astonished, stunned, and flabbergasted was more like it. However, she 
regained her composure and nodded. “It certainly is… unexpected,” she said.

	“It did happen rather quickly,” Jacqueline admitted. “You could say it was a 
whirlwind romance. We met about a year ago in Paris, when I was working as a 
corporate lawyer for Nintendo France. Since I am half-Japanese, I was volunteered to 
be Minoru’s unofficial translator, helping him with his atrocious French skills.”

	“Hey, jay parlay fransez too say,” the redhead protested, only proving 
exactly how bad his French was. “I was only pretending to need help to spend more 
time with you.”

	“You keep telling yourself that, chéri,” Jacqueline lightly teased before 
returning to her story. “Anyway, we had some fun together, but when Minoru left, I 
never imagined I would see him again. You see, we had agreed to keep things simple, 
no strings attached. I had just gotten through a bad divorce, so I was in no hurry to 
rush into another serious relationship, and Minoru… Well, you know Minoru.”

	Miyuki smirked, knowing exactly to what she was referring. “Yes, I do.”

	“As luck would have it, though, about five months later, I was offered a job 
working for the main company here in Japan. We managed to meet again on my first day, 
and before I knew it, my daughter and I had moved into his apartment. It was only 
supposed to be a temporary arrangement at first until I found my own place, but…”

	“But I couldn’t bear to see her leave,” Minoru said, his green eyes filled 
with adoration as he glanced over at his blushing fiancée.

	“And the rest is history,” Jacqueline finished.

	“Well, congratulations to both of you,” Miyuki said. “I’m really happy for 
both of you.“

	“Are you, Miyuki?” he asked.

	“Of course,” she replied. “Have you set a date yet for the wedding?”

	The partners-to-be shot each other quick glances before they both began to 
blush, and Minoru rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. “Um… Well, we were 
originally planning to have a beachside ceremony later in the summer, but due to, uh… 
an unexpected surprise, we’ve decided to marry next week.”

	“An unexpected surprise?” Miyuki repeated, not understanding until Jacqueline 
rested a hand on her flat stomach. Her lips then formed into a tiny, perfect “o” as 
the reason behind the motion became clear.

	Minoru was full of surprises today, wasn’t he?

	“Yes, it was quite a shock to us as well,” Jacqueline admitted with a smile. 
“We are very excited, though, and my Angelique can’t wait to be a big sister, can 
you, sweetheart?”

	Beside her, the angelic-looking girl, who had come over to her mother just in 
time to hear the announcement, shyly nodded her agreement. Angelique was about four 
or five years old, with golden blonde hair and blue-green eyes. 

	“Maman, Minoru-papa, can we go home now?” Angelique asked in rough, but still 
understandable Japanese, tugging on Jacqueline’s knee-length pencil skirt. “I’m 
sleepy.” 

	Minoru laughed, stooping down beside his future stepdaughter and 
affectionately tousling her curly hair. “Okay, Tenshi-chan, we’ll be going in a 
minute,” he told her.

	“Why don’t I take Angelique to the car, Minoru, and we’ll wait for you 
there?” Jacqueline suggested, hoisting the little angel in her arms. Angelique was 
already yawning, burying her face in her mother’s shoulder. “It’s her naptime, and 
she always gets a little cranky when she’s tired.”

	“Sure, that’s fine.”

	Digging into his pockets, Minoru handed his fiancée the keys to his car, and 
after the two of them said goodbye to the others, Jacqueline and Angelique headed to 
the cars with Kazuya, who had walked over and offered to round up the brood of 
rambunctious children playing hide-and-go-seek among the tombstones. Once they were 
gone, Miyuki and Minoru were the only people left in the cemetery.   

	Despite herself, Miyuki felt her cheeks burn once again when she realized 
that fact. It had been a long time since the two of them had been completely alone 
together, other than the few times at the hospital, which Miyuki didn’t really count 
considering they had both been preoccupied with Rei and Saburo. In fact, if her 
memory served her correctly, the last time had been right outside that very cemetery 
on the day of Takara’s funeral, and Minoru had tried to comfort her…

	“It’s been a while, hasn’t it, Miyuki?” Minoru asked, startling her from her 
thoughts. Much to her surprise, Miyuki saw he had moved away from her and was 
currently standing in front of the two tombstones underneath the sakura tree, one old 
and somewhat dirtied with age while the other gleamed with newness under the noonday 
sun.

	“H-Hai,” she stuttered, hesitantly coming up beside him. “A lot has changed 
over the years.

	“You can say that again.” Suddenly, he glanced over at Miyuki, giving her a 
small half-smile. “You really were surprised by our announcement, weren’t you?” he 
asked. “That Jakakuerine and I are getting married and having a baby?”

	“That would be an understatement, Minoru-san. To be honest, I never really 
pictured you as the type who would want to settle down and become a family man.”

	Minoru shrugged. “I guess, on some level, a family was something I always 
wanted. You wouldn’t believe how jealous I was of Keitaro at times, with a devoted 
wife and a beautiful daughter he never truly allowed himself to appreciate…” His 
words trailed off, and Miyuki could tell by the way his jaw was clenched and his 
green eyes narrowed that he was angered by his best friend’s absence that day at the 
funeral -- a feeling she shared, although not to the same extreme.

	“You’re going to make a wonderful father,” Miyuki said honestly, bringing the 
subject back to their original topic. “I saw you with Angelique-chan, and I can tell 
she absolutely adores you, *Minoru-papa*.”

	His face instantly brightened at the mention of the little girl, proving the 
affection between them was mutual. “Tenshi-chan is very special to me, as well as her 
mother,” Minoru admitted. “I love them both very much.

	“That much is obvious.”

	“To be honest, I was a little nervous about you meeting them, though.”

	Miyuki blinked, surprised by his confession. “Me? Why is that, Minoru-san? 
I’m nobody important.”

	“The woman I loved for practically my entire adult life isn’t somebody 
important? I think not.”

	Streaks of pink painted her cheeks yet again, which Miyuki tried to hide by 
turning her attention to a pair of handsome crows perched on a nearby memorial. 
“Minoru-san, that was a long time ago…”

	“Time may heal all wounds, but a man never forgets his first love.”

	Miyuki involuntarily jumped as she felt his hands rest on her arms, but once 
she realized it was a friendly gesture, free of any ulterior motives, she relaxed and 
allowed Minoru to turn her back around so that they were face-to-face. “Minoru-san…”

	“Miyuki, you don’t need to say anything,” he said. “It isn’t your fault that 
you couldn’t feel the same for me. Like you said to me on your wedding day, we simply 
weren’t meant to be. Your heart belongs to Watanabe-san. You’ve moved on, and so have 
I. All I ask it that you feel the same happiness for me and Jakakuerine as I do for 
you and your husband.”

	“Of course. Of course I do,” she assured him, placing a friendly kiss on his 
cheek. “I wish you all the happiness in the world!”

	“Do you really mean that?”

	“Yes, I do. I mean it with all my heart. Yanagazawa-san seems like a 
delightful woman, and I have no doubt she has what it takes to become Mrs. Uchizawa 
Minoru.”

	Minoru scoffed. “Hey, is that such a horrible title?”

	“Well, you are an incurable flirt and you can be somewhat stubborn at times,” 
she teased, enjoying the mildly offended look on Minoru‘s handsome face, “but you do 
have a good heart, and your fiancée is lucky to have you.”

	“Thank you, Miyuki,” he said, turning serious once again after the brief 
moment of playfulness. “It really means a lot to me to have your approval.”

	Miyuki stared at him, surprised once more, but then smiled back at him. She 
was quite flattered that he valued her opinion that much. “You do,” she repeated, “I 
can see you two being very happy together.” 

	A cry of disappointment alerted her to the fact that Kazuya had managed to 
gather the children together and it was time to go. Saying goodbye to each other, the 
long-time friends headed to the cemetery’s entrance and gave each other a final hug 
before separating and heading to their respective vehicles.

	“Hey, Miyuki, there’s one more thing I wanted to ask you before you go,” 
Minoru said, causing her to stop on the way to her car and turn back around.

	“Yes? What‘s that?”

	“Aren’t you even the least bit jealous of Jakakuerine?”

	Miyuki laughed and rolled her eyes. “Maybe just a little,” she answered back, 
holding up her thumb and forefinger spaced about an inch apart. “But just a little!”

					*****

	“Minoru, you’re going too fast.”

	His foot pressed on the accelerator, ignoring the warnings of the beautiful 
blonde beside him.

	“Why are you speeding up? Look, the sign says the speed limit is only eighty. 
You‘re going to get a ticket.”

	The odometer currently read ninety kilometers per hour and was steadily 
rising.

	“Are you trying to get us killed? Slow down, now!”

	A little more pressure…

	“MINORU, ARRÊTE! I’m getting sick!”

	Finally, Minoru tapped lightly on the brakes and the car slowed to a somewhat 
more reasonable speed. He was still speeding by at least five kilometers per hour, 
but so was everybody else on the road, so it was hardly noticeable. He then glanced 
over at his fiancée, who was indeed holding her stomach as if she were about to 
vomit, and his eyes widened in alarm.

	“Morning sickness?”

	Jacqueline shook her head. “More like carsickness, you imbécile,” she 
replied, giving him a sharp look that quickly softened when Minoru slowed the car 
down even more. “But I’ll be fine as long as you stop driving like a maniac. Don‘t 
worry.”

	“Gomen nasai, Jakakuerine,” Minoru apologized. “I’m just so angry right now…”

	“It’s fine, chéri,” she assured him. “I know you are upset about your 
friend’s absence at the funeral, but getting into an accident is not the way to deal 
with your anger.”

	“I know, I know,” Minoru sighed, glancing up at his rearview mirror. 

	Behind him in the backseat, Angelique was still sleeping peacefully, 
seemingly unaware of everything around her. Golden curls surrounded her cherubic face 
like a halo, and her soft pink lips were slightly parted to allow entrance to the 
thumb she still insisted on sucking even at the age of four.

	“How could he not come?” Minoru asked himself in a soft whisper as he gazed 
upon the angel who would soon become his stepdaughter.

	Sometimes, Minoru wondered if he ever knew Keitaro at all. How could he have 
ignored his own daughter in her time of need? Had his heart truly become that hard, 
he couldn’t even at least attempt a show of support? Minoru hadn’t expected much. He 
wasn’t asking Keitaro to become the world’s best father, or even the second best. All 
he had asked was for Keitaro to come to the funeral and give a damn about Rei for 
once in his life, and the bastard didn’t have the courtesy to do even that.

	It was the last straw for Minoru. Ten years he had watched father and 
daughter drift further and further apart and had done nothing, but not anymore. He 
would not stand on the sidelines and watch two of the people he loved most in the 
world live their lives in so much pain. Somehow, he would make Keitaro understand 
what he was doing before it was truly too late.  

	“Minoru, where are we going?” Jacqueline asked suddenly as Minoru took a 
right turn at the intersection instead of the left turn that would have taken them in 
the direction of their apartment.

	It had been an involuntary reaction, and Minoru himself didn’t even realize 
he had made the wrong turn until he saw a sign up ahead, reading “Diet Building - 5 
Kilometers”. They were heading toward Keitaro’s office, where no doubt the politician 
had gone to work instead of coming to the cemetery.

	“There’s something I need to do,” he answered, gripping the steering wheel 
tightly as he sped up. “Don’t worry, this won’t take very long. I‘m just going to pay 
an old friend a surprise visit at his office.”

	“Hino-sama?” she guessed, frowning. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, 
Minoru. You’re still angry, and you might say or do something you’ll regret later. 
Perhaps it’s best you cool down first and think this over before you barge in on your 
friend.”

	“I don’t want to cool down, Jakakuerine! In fact, I want to be angry when I 
face Keitaro. Anger might be the only way I can get through to him. I’ve tried being 
understanding, and I’ve tried being impartial, but nothing seems to work!”

	“But--”

	Her protest was ignored as Minoru pulled into a parking spot in front of the 
main building and killed the engine. “I need to do this, Jakakuerine,” he declared, 
exhaling deeply as he took the key out of the ignition. “I’ve waited far too long. 
This is something I should have done ages ago, and if I don’t do it now, I might not 
find the nerve to do it again. Keitaro needs to understand what he is doing and face 
his demons, or else he might lose Rei-chan forever.”

	“Fine, do as you must,” his fiancée said, resting a comforting hand on his 
knee. “I know you will anyway, whether I think it is a good idea or not. But promise 
me one thing.”

	“What’s that?”

	“That you will never change,” she answered, leaning over to land a soft kiss 
on his cheek. “Now, go.”

	With that piece of encouragement, Minoru hopped out of the red convertible 
and sprinted up the flight of stairs leading to the entrance, nearly crashing into a 
poor office lady coming out of the building at the same time he was going in. He 
stopped only for a moment to offer a mumbled apology and a handful of small bills to 
pay for the coffee he had accidentally made her spill, then he headed to the 
elevators, waiting impatiently for one of the doors to slide open.

	Moments later, Minoru was on the fourth floor of the building, trying to 
remember which wing Keitaro’s office was located. Accustomed to the twentieth floor 
governor’s office in the former building, he had some difficulty in recalling 
Keitaro’s suite number, but luckily, there was a directory posted nearby. Minoru 
looked it over and turned down the west wing, eventually coming to a stop in front of 
the right door.

	“I need to see Keitaro,” Minoru said upon entering the secretary’s office.

	The dowdy brunette, who Minoru remembered as the same secretary Keitaro had 
as governor, glanced up from a stack of forms she was filling out and blushed. She 
had always had somewhat of a crush on him. “Oh, Uchizawa-san, konnichiwa,” she 
greeted him. “I’m afraid Hino-sama is busy at the moment, but if you will wait--”

	“Katsuki-san, I need to see him now,” he interrupted.

	“I’m sorry, that is impossible, sir. He’s on the phone with Secretary 
Matsuno-sama and must not be disturbed.”

	“I don’t care if he is on the phone with the Emperor himself, I need to talk 
to him right now.”

	“But--”

	Ignoring her protest, Minoru headed to the door.

					*****

	“Where the hell were you?”

	Minoru’s violent outburst as he entered the office came while Keitaro was in 
the middle of an important phone call. At the sight of his enraged friend, however, 
Keitaro paused in the middle of his sentence and pressed the receiver against his 
chest as he turned his attention to his new visitor, as well as his dowdy secretary, 
who had come in right after Minoru and was standing at the door behind him. At 
another time, Keitaro might have been angered by the rude interruption, but somehow, 
he suspected Minoru would pay him a visit today.

	“I’m terribly sorry, sir,” Miss Katsuki apologized. “I informed Uchizawa-san 
that you were busy, but I couldn’t stop him. He insisted on speaking to you right now 
and would not leave until he did. Would you like me to call security?”

	“It’s fine, Katsuki-kun,” Keitaro assured his secretary, never taking his 
eyes off Minoru, who in turn was staring at him with pure fury. “You may go.”

	The mousy brunette seemed surprised by his decision, but she did as she was 
told, noiselessly slipping out of the office and closing the door behind her. After 
she left, Keitaro informed the official he was speaking to on the phone that he would 
call back at a later time and hung up the receiver.

	“Minoru-kun, why are you here?” Keitaro finally asked his best friend, if the 
redhead could be called that anymore.

	Minoru’s voice was low and very unfamiliar as he answered, “You know 
*exactly* why I’m here, Hino Keitaro. Where were you today?”

	Keitaro did know the reason behind the redhead‘s visit, but he wasn‘t about 
to let Minoru know that. “If you are referring to Kondo-sama’s funeral, I regret 
being unable to attend, but I had work to do, and there was no way I could possibly 
get out of it,” he replied calmly, refusing to let Minoru get to him.

	“Bull!” Minoru spat, walking over to his desk and planting his hands on the 
shining surface. “You didn’t even try! If you had wanted to come, you would have. The 
Diet isn‘t even in session.”

	“That doesn’t mean I have unlimited free time. There’s plenty to be done 
before the next session and --”

	“Urusai! You know as well as I do that you are only using your job as an 
excuse, just as you have for the past ten years every time something comes up that 
you don‘t want to deal with. If you expect me to believe you, then you’ll have to 
come up with a helluva better excuse than that.”

	“Why do you even care whether or not I attended Kondo-sama’s funeral?” 
Keitaro asked as he walked over to the file cabinet to put some papers away, faintly 
annoyed by the grilling he was receiving from his best friend. “It is none of your 
business.”

	“It is my business because I care about my goddaughter,” Minoru shot back. 
“Rei-chan *needed* you today. It should have been *you* comforting her -- not me, not 
Miyuki, not her friends. You are her father!”

	“Would you really call me that, Minoru-kun?” Keitaro asked. He roughly closed 
the drawer after he put the files away and turned toward Minoru. “Would you still say 
I am Rei-san’s father after all that I’ve done? I’m certain she doesn‘t see me as 
such. She no more wanted me at the funeral than I wanted to go myself.”

	“And how do you know that? Do you have some mind-reading power of which 
you‘ve failed to inform me?”

	“No, don’t be ridiculous.”

	“Well, then explain it to me, Keitaro,” he demanded, pounding his fist on the 
desk. “Explain to me why you are so damn certain Rei-chan wouldn’t have been glad to 
see you at the cemetery today when all she has ever wanted from you ever since she 
was a little girl is just a morsel of your attention. A morsel!”

	“Did she tell you that?” he asked.

	Minoru shook his head. “No, she didn’t have to tell me anything,” he 
answered. “I can see it in the way she makes every attempt to pretend your absence 
doesn’t bother her in an effort to hide her true feelings. Kami-sama, you two are so 
similar at times, it’s scary!”

	“I’m afraid I have no idea what you are talking about, Minoru-kun,” Keitaro 
said, sitting back down in his chair. “Rei-san is her mother. She’s nothing like me.”

	“Well, you obviously don’t know her very well then. Rei-chan may be the 
spitting image of Takara-san on the outside, but on the inside, she is her father’s 
daughter, as lonely and distant as you are. Are you aware she‘s vowed never to marry 
because she thinks love only leads to heartache in the end?”

	“No, I wasn’t…” Keitaro was a little shocked, but then he sighed, musing, 
“…but perhaps it is for the best that she learned that now before it was too late.”

	“Are you even listening to yourself? Love is not something that should be 
feared because you are afraid of getting your heart broken. Love is the most powerful 
and beautiful emotion known to man. You, better than anyone, should know that.”

	“And why is that?”

	“Because you’ve known it, Keitaro,” Minoru answered, his voice losing some of 
its rough edge. “The love you and Takara-san shared was beautiful, the kind of love 
that people dream of finding. Now, would you deny Rei-chan, or anybody else, the 
chance to experience that kind of love, even if it were only for a day, a week, a 
year?”

	“You’re wrong,” Keitaro said hoarsely. “My love for my wife was never 
beautiful -- it was painful.”

	“No, it wasn’t. Your grief was painful, but never your love.”

	Keitaro swiveled around in his chair to face the large window behind him, his 
eyes blankly staring out at the city. The view wasn’t nearly as majestic as the one 
he had enjoyed in the governor’s office, but it was still pleasant to eyes, looking 
out onto the impeccably groomed gardens surrounding the building as skyscrapers 
dotted the horizon. “Minoru-kun, you shouldn’t talk of things you know nothing 
about,” he finally said after a few moments of silence.

	“And what makes you think I don’t?” Minoru asked. “Believe me, I know exactly 
what I’m saying. There are things about me that not even you know.” 

	“Like what?”

	“It doesn’t matter. We aren’t talking about me at the moment; we’re talking 
about you and your inability to let anybody into your heart, not even your own 
daughter.”

	“It is better this way, Minoru-kun,” Keitaro insisted. “Rei-san was better 
off with her grandfather and with me out of her life. I would have only hurt her if 
she’d stayed.”

	“You hurt her anyway, Keitaro,” Minoru declared. “And the pain is much deeper 
than that caused by an unkind word. When are you going to open your eyes and realize 
that? When are you going to realize that by pushing Rei-chan away, you‘ve become the 
one person you vowed never to become?”

	Stung deeply by his words, Keitaro abruptly turned back around. “I am 
*nothing* like otou-sama.”

	“You aren’t? Look in the mirror, Keitaro. You may not be a drunk, but the 
pain you both inflicted on your children is the same. Both Keitaro-kun and Rei-chan 
believed their fathers never loved them.”

	Keitaro’s face went pale at the accusation. He felt as if he had been slapped 
in the face, the sting of what Minoru said lingering long after the initial impact. 

	He could forgive Minoru for many things. Keitaro could forgive him for 
constantly interfering in his life, he could forgive him for being so stubborn, and 
he could even forgive Minoru for daring to lecture him about family relationships 
when he had absolutely no experience in being either a husband or a father.

	But he could not forgive Minoru for what he had just said. 

	“Get out, Uchizawa,” Keitaro said coolly. “You have said enough. Get out of 
my office and out of my life. I don‘t want to see you ever again.” 

	“No, I am not going to leave until I say one last thing.”

	“Then spit it out and go already. I don’t have time to deal with this.”

	“Fine,” Minoru said. “All I wanted to say is that you are a coward, Keitaro, 
and I swear I will never put my children through the hell you’ve put Rei-chan 
through.”

	“Is that all?”

	“Yes, that’s all.”

	“Sayonara, then, Uchizawa-san.”

	“Sayonara, Keitaro.”

	Minoru then moved to leave and opened the door, but before he exited the 
office, the redhead added one last thing.

	“By the way, I’m getting married next week at the Tokyo Hyatt. You probably 
don’t care anymore, but if you do, then you are free to come if you want.” 

	With that, the door slammed closed behind him.

				*****

	“Rei-chan, would you like me to go over the will right now, or would you 
prefer to wait until a later date?” Kazuya asked, walking into the room with a file 
folder in his hand. It was later that evening, and they had just finished eating 
supper. “I have the papers right here, but if you don’t want to deal with this right 
now, I completely understand.”

	“No, that’s fine, Watanabe-san,” Rei answered, looking over at the handsome 
lawyer. She wasn’t exactly in the mood for the reading of the will, but she might as 
well get if over with, otherwise she would just keep putting it off. “Please have a 
seat. Now is as good as time as any, I suppose.”

	Kazuya joined them at the low table, kneeling down beside his wife, and 
pulled out the papers. “Well, as to be expected, as Kondo-sama’s only living 
relative, you are the primary beneficiary,” he announced after loudly clearing his 
throat and slipping on a pair of reading glasses. “He left a small amount of money to 
various charities, but the rest of his estate, including Hikawa and a modest savings, 
was left to you upon reaching the age of twenty.”

	“Twenty?” Rei repeated, somewhat confused. “But I am only seventeen. Are you 
saying I won’t receive my inheritance for another three years? What will become of 
Hikawa until then?”

	Kazuya nodded. “According to the law, you cannot legally own the property 
until coming of age. However, until that time, the shrine will be kept in trust by 
the executors of the will -- in this case, Miyuki and myself.”

	“Don’t worry, Rei-chan,” Miyuki assured her. “Kazuya and I will take good 
care of Hikawa. We know how much it means to you.”

	“I know, Watanabe-san. Thank you,” Rei said softly, returning the small smile 
Miyuki gave her. She then turned her attention back to Kazuya. “But even though I 
won’t take possession of Hikawa until my twentieth birthday, will I still be able to 
live here?” she asked.

	Husband and wife exchanged glances. “Rei-chan, you are only seventeen,” 
Kazuya began. “Under the law, you are still a minor, and Miyuki and I were given 
legal guardianship of you by agreement with your father when the will was drawn.”

	“Legal guardianship? What does that mean? What are you trying to say?”

	“What Kazuya is trying to say is that… Well, you’ll be coming back with us to 
Nagano,” Miyuki explained.

	“Nagano?” Rei sat back. She couldn’t hide her shock, and her eyes moved from 
one face to the other. “I have to leave Tokyo? But what about my friends? I can’t 
leave them.”

	“I’m sorry, Rei-chan.”

	“Isn’t there some way out of this?” Rei asked desperately. Then realizing how 
rude she must have sounded, she blushed. “I’m sorry. It’s not that I don’t want to 
live with you. I really appreciate the offer, but I don’t want to be a burden. You 
have enough children underfoot without dealing with another.”

	As if right on cue, Reika and Fumie came running through the room, dressed in 
their pajamas, with Takara right on their tail, wearing one of the traditional masks 
Rei had given him to play with. The two girls screamed as their brother growled and 
leaped, pretending to be a horrible demon, then ran back to the other room.

	Miyuki chuckled. “We do have a full house, but you know we always have room 
for one more. We wouldn‘t have accepted if we didn‘t want you.”

	“I know, but I can’t leave,” Rei insisted. “I don’t want to leave Tokyo or my 
friends.”

	“I understand how you feel, Rei-chan. I know it’s hard to move to a new 
place, but…”

	“Please, Watanabe-san. There must be another way.”

	The blonde sighed. “Well, I suppose you could move in with Minoru-san. He 
adores you, and I know he would be happy to have you.”

	“But Uchizawa-san’s starting a family now. I couldn’t intrude,” Rei 
commented, remembering Miyuki’s announcement of Minoru’s engagement and his fiancée’s 
pregnancy over dinner.

	Miyuki glanced over at her husband, hesitating before she asked, “What about 
your father, then?”

	“No, otou-sama doesn’t want me,” Rei said bitterly. “If he had wanted custody 
of me in the event of ojii-san’s death, otou-sama wouldn’t have agreed to let him 
name you as guardians in his will.”

	“Rei-chan…”

	Upset, Rei rose from her seat at the table and went over to one of the 
panels, sliding it open to reveal a dark, cloudy sky. It was appropriate, considering 
her current mood.

	“I’m sorry, Rei-chan,” Miyuki apologized, coming up behind her.

	“It’s not your fault, Watanabe-san,” Rei said. “If only there was some way I 
could live by myself, like Mako-chan…” Her eyes lit up, and she turned back around, 
surprised she hadn‘t thought of it before. “That’s it! I can have myself emancipated 
and declared an adult.”

	“Emancipated? Rei-chan, that is a very serious step. Are you sure that’s 
something you want to consider?”

	“It’s the best solution. One of my friends was emancipated a couple of years 
ago when her parents died, and she has been living on her own for a while now. If she 
can do it, I know I can too. I can stay here at the shrine, and since I would be an 
adult in the eyes of the law, I would be able to accept my inheritance, right?”

	Over at the table, Kazuya nodded. “Yes, Rei-chan, if you were declared an 
adult, you would not have to wait until turning twenty to take ownership of Hikawa, 
but Miyuki is right. Emancipation is a drastic measure and should not be taken 
lightly. If emancipation was granted, Hino-sama would no longer be legally required 
to financially support you. You would have to support yourself, and while you do have 
some money from both your mother and grandfather‘s estates, it is only a modest 
amount. Even with emancipation, you would not be granted access to the small trust 
fund set up by your parents until the age of twenty-five.”

	“I don’t care. I know it will be difficult, but I can do this -- I know I 
can.”

	“Rei-chan…”

	“I can’t leave here. Hikawa is my home.”

	“If you are truly serious about going through with this, then I will draw up 
the papers for you, Rei-chan,” Kazuya offered. “However, Miyuki and I both urge you 
to consider all your options before making a final decision on the matter.”

	Rei had no such intention of doing so, already knowing she had made the right 
decision, but promised her would-be guardians that she would. “Fine, I’ll think about 
it,” she said, closing the panel she had opened before heading to her bedroom.  

					*****

 	Minako, sitting at her vanity later that night, sighed as she set down her 
trademark red bow on the table, her blue eyes falling on the nearby cat-shaped 
telephone. It had been hours since she arrived home from Saburo’s funeral and Hikawa, 
but she still couldn’t stop worrying.

	“If you want to call her, why don’t you just go ahead and do it, Mina-chan?” 
her guardian cat Artemis finally suggested, hopping on her bed and stretching as he 
went through his usual nighttime rituals. Both knew exactly which “her” he was 
referring to without naming names. “You keep on looking at that phone as if you were 
Usagi-chan eyeing the last of Mako-chan’s cookies.” 

	“No, I better not,” she said, reaching for her brush and pulling it through 
her long blonde hair. “It’s pretty late, and it has been a long day. Rei-chan is 
probably already asleep by now anyway.”

	Artemis looked over at the Sailor V alarm clock, his whiskers twitching as he 
saw it was only 9:30. “It’s not that late. You’ve called her house later than this 
plenty of times before.”

	He got her there, but Minako still hesitated. “I know, but 
tonight’s…different.”

	“You never know, Mina-chan. Maybe Rei-chan would like somebody to talk to 
through this difficult time.”

	Snorting, Minako motioned with her finger for the handsome white tomcat to 
turn around and began changing into her favorite pair of pink-and-white striped 
pajamas. “I doubt that, Artemis.”

	“Why is that?” he asked. “And why must you insist I not watch anymore while 
you change? It never used to bother you before.”

	“That was before I knew you were a shape shifter from the planet Mau,” she 
explained, purposely ignoring his first question as she buttoned her top. “To think 
all those years I gave you a free peep show, thinking you were just a ‘baka neko‘, 
and I find out you really are a human in your real form. You are such a hentai, 
Artemis!”

	“I am-- Hey, who are you calling a ’baka neko’?”

	“You.”

	Offended, Artemis stuck his chin high in the air and wrapped his tale regally 
around his body. “I’ll have you know, Princess Venus, my people were highly 
intelligent creatures, almost as smart as the Mercurians.”

	“I guess the genes must have skipped a generation then,” Minako teased, 
laughing at the way his fur bristled along his back. It was really too fun to get him 
riled up. “Baka neko! Baka neko!”

	“Well, at least I’m prettier than you in human form,” he shot back, causing 
Minako’s jaw to drop nearly to the floor. How dare he! “That’s right, Mina-chan. Why 
would I want to look at *you* in your naked glory when you’re nothing but a pathetic 
excuse for the goddess of love and beauty?”

	Stalking over to the bed, Minako grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and 
held him so they were eye-to-eye. “You wanna say that again, buster?” she said in 
what she hoped was her most threatening voice. “I have no qualms with kicking you out 
for the night, you know. It might do you some good to have to fend for yourself 
against the neighborhood alley cats. I heard they don‘t take to kindly to pampered 
house pets…”

	Faced with the threat of eviction for the night, the squirming cat changed 
his tune real fast. “Gomen nasai, Minako-sama,” he apologized. “I was wrong. You are, 
without a doubt, the most beautiful woman in all of Japan. No, in all the world! No, 
in all the galaxy! There are no words to describe your beauty. You truly are the 
goddess Venus incarnate. You--”

	“Okay, okay, you don’t have to go overboard,” she laughed, setting Artemis 
back down on her bed before crawling underneath the covers. “I guess you’re not such 
a dumb cat, after all.”

	“Gee, thanks. I guess I’ll take that as a compliment.”

	“Oh, don’t get your tail in a knot, Artemis. You know I was only kidding,” 
Minako said, reaching over and rubbing him behind his ears. “Now, go to sleep. 
Oyasumi.”

	“Oyasumi, Mina-chan. Pleasant dreams.”

	Rolling onto her side, Minako turned off the lamp on her nightstand and tried 
to fall asleep -- the operative word being “tried”. While Artemis had no problems 
getting to sleep, his loud, satisfied purrs on the other side of the bed indicating 
he was probably in the middle of one of his naughty little fantasies, Minako tossed 
and turned, unable to close her eyes for more than a couple of minutes without 
looking over at the phone. Quite frankly, she was surprised her white-haired guardian 
could sleep so peacefully while she was thrashing about.

	“Hentai!” she hissed, giving the cat a little nudge with her foot. In 
response, Artemis only whipped his tail around a couple of times before settling back 
down as if he had never been disturbed in the first place. Annoyed, Minako huffed, 
and knowing full well she wasn’t going to get to sleep any time soon, threw off her 
covers.

	Maybe I should call Rei-chan, Minako thought as she sat up. It was obvious 
the only way she was going to get any sleep at all was if she knew how her best 
friend was coping with what had happened earlier that day. But after what happened at 
the shrine after the funeral, Minako suspected she was probably the last person with 
whom Rei wanted to talk. Rei certainly hadn’t been too thrilled with her attempts at 
comfort that afternoon.

	Why was she being so stubborn about going through her grief alone? Minako 
simply didn’t understand. For as long as she had known the miko, Rei had always been 
a strong person, but wasn’t there a saying that said something along the lines that a 
strong person knew when to ask for help when they needed it? There was no good reason 
for Rei to have to deal with Saburo’s death by herself when she had plenty of friends 
who were perfectly willing to lend an ear or a shoulder to cry on, Minako’s name at 
the top of the list.

	“I’m going to do it,” Minako finally decided, throwing her legs over edge of 
the bed and sliding her feet into a pair of fuzzy, heart-printed slippers. “Rei-chan 
might not like it, but I wouldn’t be a good friend if I didn’t at least try. What’s 
the worse that can happen, anyway? She’ll hang up? I‘ve dealt with worse.”

	Determined, she made her way over to the phone sitting on the vanity and 
reached for the receiver. At the same time, however, the phone unexpectedly rang. 
Minako jumped in surprise, nearly dropping the wireless receiver she held in her 
hand, but quickly regained her wits enough to answer.

	“Moshi moshi? Aino residence.”

	“Minako-chan? It‘s me,” a familiar female voice said, causing Minako’s blue 
eyes to widen. “I hope I didn’t wake you. I know it is late.”

	“Rei-chan! No, not at all. In fact, I was just about to call you when the 
phone rang. That‘s so freaky!”

	“Only coincidence,” the miko said calmly as Minako sat down. “So, why were 
you going to call me?”

	“Oh…um…I just wanted to check on you, see how you were handling things.”

	“I’m fine, Minako-chan.”

	“Are you really, Rei-chan?” Minako asked, idly twirling a strand of her hair 
around her finger. “I know it must be tough, the first night after the burial…”

	“Really, I am. I feel much better now. I had a long talk with an old friend 
after you left, and he really helped me understand some things.”

	Minako’s eyebrow arched. “Him?” she asked. “Do you mean Uchizawa-san?”

	“No, actually, it was Kaidou Ace-san,” Rei answered.

	“Kaidou-sama? The governor of Tokyo? The guy you were totally in love with 
before he got engaged to that other girl?” Minako didn’t know if she was more 
surprised that Rei had sought comfort from a man other than Minoru, or that the man 
was none other the guy who had broken her heart all those years ago and caused her to 
swear off love.

	“He showed up at Hikawa a little after you left to offer his condolences,” 
Rei explained. “His visit was rather unexpected and very awkward at first, but we did 
manage to have a nice, long talk. It was wonderful to see him again.”

	“That’s great…I guess,” Minako said, unable to hide the small amount of 
jealousy she felt over the fact that Rei had chosen to confide in the man who had 
hurt her so badly instead of her best friend who loved her almost more than anything. 

	Rei didn’t fail to catch the tone of her voice, sighing. “Minako-chan, please 
don’t take it personally. Kaidou-san… Well, he lost his own grandfather last year, 
and I felt he could understood the guilt I felt better than anybody else.”

	“Guilt? Why did you feel guilty?” she asked, confused. “It wasn’t your fault 
Kondo-sama died, Rei-chan.”

	“I know that, now. I just needed to hear it from somebody who had gone 
through a similar experience and wasn’t trying to simply make me feel better. Can you 
understand that?”

	“Hai, I guess I understand,” Minako said. “So, why did you call?

	“Oh…I just wanted to…apologize for the way I’ve been treating you and the 
others lately. You were only trying to help, and I had no right to act the way I 
did.”

	“No, Rei-chan, you had every right in the world. You wanted to be left alone, 
and I didn’t respect that. I’m the one who should be apologizing, not you.”

	“Why don’t we call it a truce?” she suggested. “Friends?”

	Minako smiled, glad that the situation between them was over. “Friends 
forever.”

				*****

	Later that night, after undressing and pulling on the pair of worn flannel 
pajama bottoms he wore every night to sleep, Minoru sat on the edge of his bed, 
thinking about what had happened earlier that day.

	Things had not gone well at all. He should have known it was a bad idea to 
talk to Keitaro when he was so angry. Minoru couldn’t believe he had said such 
horrible things to somebody he once considered his best friend. Keitaro had done some 
hurtful things in regards to his daughter in the past, yes, but he hadn’t deserved 
what Minoru had said about his father. That had been plain cruel, especially when 
Minoru recalled Keitaro’s secret visit to the hospital the day Saburo died -- 
something that had conveniently slipped his mind in his anger over his friend’s 
absence at the funeral. Hino Takeo never would have done something like that. But why 
had Keitaro refused to attend the funeral? He just didn’t understand.  

	“I finished tucking Angelique in for the night,” a familiar voice said, 
breaking him from his thoughts. “Sorry it took so long, but she insisted on finishing 
the chapter… Minoru, is something wrong?”

	Minoru craned his neck around to see a gorgeous woman standing in the 
doorway, dressed in a black satin chemise and matching robe. “It’s nothing,” he 
insisted. “I was only thinking.”

	“About today?” The springs of the mattress lightly squeaked as Jacqueline 
joined him on the bed, coming up behind him and wrapping her slender arms around his 
bare torso. “You’ve been awfully quiet ever since we came home after your visit with 
Hino-sama. Did things go badly between you two?”

	That was the understatement of the year.

	“You could say that,” Minoru answered with a sigh. “I royally messed things 
up this time. Perhaps you were right, Jakakuerine. I shouldn’t have confronted 
Keitaro when I was still so angry with him for not coming to the funeral. It would 
have been better if I had let myself cool down first and planned what I wanted to say 
to him.”

	“What’s done is done, mon chéri, and you thought you were doing the right 
thing at the time,” she said. “Your heart was in the right place. So, what happened?” 

	“Oh, we got into a huge argument, and I said some things I probably shouldn’t 
have said,” Minoru told her, shaking his head regretfully. “I didn’t mean to hurt him 
like that. I only wanted to make him see what he was doing to Rei-chan.”

	“People say things they regret all the time, especially in the heat of the 
moment, Minoru. Hino-sama probably understands you were upset and that you really 
didn’t mean what you said. Apologize to him and--”

	“No, I don’t think an apology will work this time. I’ve said some pretty 
rotten things to him on occasion, and Keitaro has always forgiven me before, but he 
won’t forgive me for this. I went too far. Do you know what he said to me before I 
left?”

	Jacqueline shook her head. “No, what did he say?”

	“He said he wanted me out of his life, and that he never wanted to see me 
ever again.” Minoru shuddered, the memory of the coldness in his friend’s voice as he 
said those words chilling him. “Nearly forty years of friendship, and it ends like 
this. I invited him to the wedding right before I left, hoping even after all that I 
said, we might be able to talk things over, but he won’t come. It’s over. And worst 
of all, it was all for nothing. I wasn‘t able to make him see the truth. All I did 
was cause him pain and invoke his anger.”

	“Oh, Minoru…”

	Jacqueline tightened her embrace around his waist and rested her cheek on his 
shoulder, her body wonderfully warm against his. Normally, Minoru would have 
responded as he usually did to her touch, but for now, he only took comfort in her 
reassuring presence. Her lavender perfume soothed him, and he placed his hands on top 
of hers, letting her know that he appreciated her gesture.

	Finally, however, Jacqueline pulled away, but not before she landed a kiss on 
his shoulder where her cheek had laid. “Come, let’s go to bed,”  she said, the 
mattress shifting underneath him as she moved over to her side of the bed. “It’s 
late, and it has been a long day. We‘re both tired.”

	“Hai,” Minoru agreed. He hadn’t realized how tired he was until he caught 
himself stifling a yawn.

	Crawling underneath the blankets, he wrapped a protective arm around his 
fiancée’s waist and was reminded of the new life growing inside her, the life they 
had created. He smiled and gently rubbed Jaqueline’s still-flat stomach.

	“Oyasumi, chibi-chan,” he whispered before drifting off to sleep.

					*****

	Keitaro was dreaming.

	Or at least that was what he assumed. He could think of no other explanation 
for what he saw -- him sitting behind the desk in his darkened study, going over some 
paperwork with the Tiffany desk lamp providing the only illumination he needed. But 
the man in his chair wasn’t him, for he was looking at the scene from an outsider’s 
view, as if he was having an out of body experience.

	Was he dying? No, that wasn’t it. The vision he saw was very much alive. The 
blond man’s stone gray eyes were moving across the page, right to left, as he read 
the document, and every once in a while, he would stop to mark something with his pen 
or to flip to the next section. If he were having a true out of body experience, 
wouldn’t his body be comatose?

	No, he was most definitely dreaming, and what happened next only proved his 
theory.

	As the man -- his dream self -- continued working, the door to the office 
slowly creaked open, and the room was dimly brightened by the light that filtered in 
from the hallway through the crack. There was somebody there, but his dream self 
didn’t seem to notice the presence, and his real self could only make out the shadow 
of what appeared to be a young girl, her identity hidden from his view behind the 
door.

	Who was she? And why was she spying on him?

	The first question was answered when, finally, the girl gathered enough 
courage to speak. “Otou-sama?” she said, her voice very timid as she pushed the door 
open a little more. “Otou-sama, it’s me.”

	Both he and his dream self glanced over at the door, and the identity of the 
visitor was revealed. As he had guessed, she was a young girl, no older than six or 
seven, with long, ebony hair pulled back with a red headband and dark purple eyes 
that some might have called amethyst, although they failed to sparkle with their 
usual vibrancy. She wore a plaid dress, one he faintly recalled as being one of her 
favorites, and white tights, and held a ragged teddy bear in her left arm.

	“Rei-san…” his dream self said hoarsely as if it pained him to say the name 
aloud. “Why are you here? You know I’m working. Go play with Yukana-san.”

	“But I want to play with you, otou-sama,” the young Rei said. “We never play 
together. You’re always too busy.”

	“I have a very important job, Rei-san. I don’t have time to play.”

	“That’s what you always say,” the girl pouted. “You never had time for 
anyone, not even for okaa-sama. She was always so sad when you pushed her away. Why 
do you keep running away from us?” 

	His dream self responded by returning to his reading, seemingly unaffected by 
the accusations his daughter threw at him. “I’m not running away,” he replied 
off-handedly, not taking her words seriously. “Now, go find someone else to play 
with. I’m busy.”

	But the little girl didn’t leave. She stayed exactly where she was, her eyes 
watery and her bottom lip trembling as she struggled to hold back her tears. His 
dream self paid her no attention, but he was surprised when he felt something stir 
inside him -- an empathic feeling he knew well, a feeling that was reflected in Rei’s 
eyes.

	The pain of rejection.

	“You hurt her, Keitaro,” a familiar voice echoed through the room as a man 
with red hair entered the room and took the child in his arms to comfort her. “When 
are you going to open your eyes and realize that? When are you going to realize that 
by pushing Rei-chan away, you‘ve become the one person you vowed never to become?”

	“But I didn’t mean to hurt her!” he found himself saying as his dream self 
continued to ignore his visitors. “I didn’t want to hurt her. That’s why I pushed her 
away, why I pushed everyone away.”

	“Is that true?” Minoru asked. Apparently, his friend was able to hear him, 
although to his knowledge, he had no physical form of which to speak. “Or were you 
simply afraid?”

	“Afraid? Afraid of what?” 

	“Afraid to love her because you feared you would lose her too? Afraid you 
would make the same mistakes your father made? Afraid of the pain her resemblance to 
Takara-san made you feel?”	

	Keitaro reeled from the questions. It was so close to the truth that he 
couldn’t reply. He was stunned, and as Minoru continued, he found himself unable to 
interrupt.

	“You are a coward, Keitaro, just like your father was. He might have lost 
himself to the bottle while you lost yourself in your work, but when it comes right 
down to it, you are the same. You both used your addictions as an excuse not to deal 
with your feelings of grief. Can‘t you see?”

	“No,” he whispered, although it was more a denial of what Minoru had said 
than a response to the question he had asked. “I am not otou-sama. I’m stronger than 
him. You’re wrong.”

	“No, I’m right, and you know it,” Minoru said, kissing the top of Rei’s head. 
The little girl had fallen asleep in his arms, her tear-streaked face buried in his 
shoulder. “You’ve known the truth for a long time, yet you allowed yourself to deny 
it by insisting everything you had done was for Rei-chan’s sake. Well, it’s time to 
face the truth, Keitaro, or you risk losing her as well. Then you will truly be 
alone.”

	“Maybe I want to be alone.”

	“Is that what you want?” Minoru asked. “I don’t think it is. You don’t want 
to be alone; nobody *wants* to be alone. Some people might think they do, but in 
their heart of hearts, all they really want is love. They‘re afraid of it, though, 
just like you are, Keitaro. You’re afraid of rejection, and you’re afraid of loss, 
but if you want to be happy again, you need to face your fears.”

	“You don’t know what you’re talking about, Minoru…” he said softly, although 
if he were being truly honest with himself, he knew what Minoru was saying was the 
truth.

	“No? Tell me something, then. What is your happiest memory?”

	Happiest memory? Happy? The word was a foreign term in his vocabulary. He 
hadn’t felt the emotion in so long, he’d forgotten what it felt like. Maybe he had 
never been happy at all… 

	But that wasn’t true.

	He remembered a marina at sunset. 

	He was walking along a pier with a beautiful girl, and she suddenly ran off, 
urging him to follow her. The two of them went down to the beach below and took off 
their shoes to play in the waves that crashed against the shore. She was like a 
sprite, laughing and screaming as she ran away from the lapping water, and he 
couldn’t help but join her in her frolicking, thinking she was the most beautiful 
thing he had ever seen in his life.

	But then she had a dizzy spell, and he had caught her in his arms before she 
fell. How light and delicate she had felt, like a fragile butterfly! His only thought 
had been to protect her, but how ironic it was. She hadn’t been the one who needed 
protecting. Not at all. It was he who had needed the protection, for when she kissed 
him, he let down his guard and allowed her into his heart…

	“Takara,” he whispered, the memory fading away. “My happiest memory is the 
moment I realized I loved her.”

	Minoru smiled, pleased with that answer. “Don’t you see now?” he pressed. 
“Don’t you see you will never be happy unless you are willing to take a chance? 
That’s what happened when you met Takara-san. She made you happy until you pushed her 
away in fear. Remember the happy times you had together?”

	“But when she died--”

	“Stop focusing on the pain, Keitaro,” Minoru ordered harshly, but not without 
a gleam of sympathy. “You have to let it go. Takara-san wouldn’t want you to be like 
this. Most of all, she wanted you and Rei-chan to be happy. Do you think this is what 
she wanted?”

	“But what if I can’t?” he asked. “What if I can’t let go?”

	“Then you will lose us.”

	Indeed, he could already see Minoru and Rei fading away, their bodies as 
transparent as ghosts. They were disappearing, and there was nothing he could do 
about it. He tried to reach out to them, but without a body, it was pointless. All he 
could do was watch while his dream self continued working at the desk, oblivious, as 
the two eventually vanished into thin air...

	And then Keitaro woke up, gasping for air.

	“Minoru! Rei! No!”

	It took Keitaro a few seconds after his sudden outburst before he realized he 
was back in reality, sitting at his desk in his study with a stack of completed 
paperwork in front of him. He must have fallen asleep after he finished with his 
work. 

	“What time is it?” he mumbled to himself as he glanced down at his watch and 
tried to make out the time in the dark.

	It was nearly two in the morning, long past the time he usually went up to 
bed. Keitaro frowned, wondering why his housekeeper hadn’t bothered to wake him up 
before she left for the day as she usually did when he worked late in his study. She, 
unlike Mrs. Yukana, rarely, if ever, let him sleep in there, and was quick to scold 
him for doing so, saying his office was not a bedroom and shouldn‘t be treated as 
one. He didn’t ponder on the mystery for long, though, remembering the dream he had 
just woken up from.

	The dream was different from the ones he normally had concerning his father, 
but in a way, very much the same, with only the roles of the key players being 
switched around. Young Rei could easily have been his younger self, and Minoru had 
played the role of Uncle Wataru almost to perfection, but it was the casting of 
himself as his father that disturbed Keitaro the most.

	He blamed it on Minoru and what his former best friend had said to him 
earlier that day at his Diet office. Those painful and hurtful words still were 
echoing in his head, and if it wasn’t for the fact that he would be proving Minoru 
right, Keitaro would have most likely given into his earlier temptation to break into 
the liquor cabinet and drink himself into a blissful oblivion. 

	As it was, he was currently eyeing the locked doors with longing, imagining 
how nice it would be to forget, at least for a little while…

	Keitaro shook his head and swiveled around in his chair so he was no longer 
looking at the cursed cabinet. Out of sight, out of mind. He was stronger than that. 

	Unfortunately, the old saying proved false, and in truth, only fueled his 
desire for the wicked potion. Keitaro soon found himself rising from his chair and 
digging in one of his desk drawers for the new key he had made when he had the locks 
fixed. It was easy to find, and when he found it, he held the key up to the sliver of 
moonlight that filtered into the room though the window, inspecting the small object 
as if it were a thing of beauty.

	Nothing could have been further from the truth. It was actually quite 
ordinary, a simple key made of silver which shone dimly in the light of the moon. It 
was surprisingly heavy in his hands, though, considering its size, and Keitaro held 
it in his palm, weighing the consequences of what he was about to do.

	What did it matter anymore? What was the point in fighting something that was 
obviously genetic? The truth was that Minoru had been right. He *was* his father, so 
why shouldn’t he complete the transformation? It would be so easy…

	Decided, Keitaro clasped his fingers around the silver key and started toward 
the cabinet.

					*****

	The next morning, Rei awoke with a start, surprised when she opened her eyes 
to the sight of the alarm clock beside her futon reading 8:12 AM. 

	“Oh, no, I overslept!” she gasped, silently cursing the contraption as she 
struggled to sit up and get out of bed to get dressed. 

	Why hadn’t the stupid alarm gone off? She could have sworn she set it the 
night before as she always did before going to bed. Oh, she was going to be *so* 
behind on her morning chores…

	“Rei-onee-san?” a drowsy voice said. “Why are you getting out of bed so 
early? It’s summer break. There‘s no school this week.”

	Startled by the presence of another person in her room, Rei stopped in the 
middle of undressing and twirled back around to see six-year-old Watanabe Fumie 
laying on her bed. The little girl had propped herself on her side and was rubbing 
the sleep out of her cocoa eyes.

	“Fumie-chan?” she asked, blinking at the sight of the girl and her sleeping 
sister on the futon. Rei, who had yet to completely wake up, was confused. “What are 
you doing here?”

	Fumie gave Rei a funny look. “Don’t you remember? You said me and onee-chan 
could sleep in here because your ojii-san’s room wasn’t big enough for all of us.”  

	“Ojii-san’s room…?”

	Repeating the words, Rei slowly began to remember what had happened, and she 
brought her hand to her mouth as she slid down on the bamboo-covered floors, overcome 
by her emotions.

	That was right. Saburo had died, and yesterday had been his funeral. How 
could she have possibly forgotten that horrible day?

	“Rei-onee-san, daijobu?” Fumie asked, crawling out of the futon to give her 
honorary big sister a hug.

	Rei nodded, forcing herself to give the caring girl a small smile even as she 
wiped away the tear that somehow managed to roll down her cheek without her 
permission. “I’m fine, Fumie-chan,” she lied. “I just forgot that my ojii-san isn’t 
here anymore, that’s all.”

	“Are you sad that he’s gone? Mama said it’s okay if you are. She says lots of 
people are sad when people they care about go away.” 

	“Yes, I’m a little sad, but I’ll be okay. Really,” Rei insisted, brushing 
back some of the hair that had fallen out of Fumie’s messy black braid behind her 
ear. She really was a cute little girl. “Now, why don’t you go back to bed since you 
and Reika-chan don’t have to get up for another hour? Okay? I have to get ready to do 
my chores.”

	Rei went over to her closet to pull out her usual red-and-white miko‘s robes, 
but instead of going back to bed as she had been told, Fumie followed her and tugged 
on Rei‘s pajama bottoms. “But Mama said you didn’t have to do your chores today,” 
Fumie announced. “She said you needed to rest and that she would take care of 
everything that needed to be done.”

	“When did Watanabe-san say that?” Rei asked, still going through her clothes.

	“When she snuck in here last night and turned off your alarm. I heard her 
come in, and when I asked her what she was doing, she told me that she wanted you to 
sleep in, although she made me promise to keep it a secret…” Gasping, Fumie clamped 
her hands over her mouth. “Oops, I wasn’t supposed to tell you that!”

	So, that was why her alarm hadn’t gone off that morning… Despite how she was 
feeling, Rei couldn’t help but giggle. “It’s okay, Fumie-chan,” she said, 
affectionately tousling the girl’s hair. “I won’t tell if you won’t. It’ll be *our* 
little secret.”

	“You’re not mad?”

	“No, of course not. Now, go back to bed before Watanabe-san suspects 
something is up.”

	Nodding, Fumie headed back to the futon to try to get a few more minutes of 
sleep, and Rei quickly finished dressing in her robes. She then headed to the kitchen 
where she found Miyuki already busy preparing breakfast while toddler Kado happily 
munched on a bowl of Cheerios in his nearby high chair.

	“Ohayo, Watanabe-san, Kado-chan,” Rei greeted them, attempting to put on a 
cheerful face and failing miserably.

	Hearing her enter the room, Miyuki briefly turned away from the eggs she was 
scrambling at the stove and frowned. “Oh, Rei-chan, what are you doing up so early?” 
she asked. “I thought you might like to sleep in today.”

	“There’s no such thing as ’sleeping in’ when you live at Hikawa, 
Watanabe-san,” Rei answered, pausing for a moment to make a funny face at Kado. 
“There are chores to be done, and I have really gotten behind over the last few 
days.”  

	“Well, you don’t have to worry about that. Kazuya and Takara-kun are taking 
care of your duties for today. In fact, they’ve already gotten most of the morning 
chores completed.”

	“Everything is already done?” Rei asked, going over to one of the panels and 
sliding it open so she could see outside. Sure enough, father and son were occupied 
with sweeping the courtyard, normally one of the last things to do on her list of 
morning duties. Sighing, Rei slumped her shoulders and closed the panel. “I guess 
there’s nothing for me to do, then, is there?”

	“You make that sound like a bad thing, Rei-chan,” Miyuki lightly teased as 
she returned to her cooking. “Most girls your age would love the chance to be excused 
from their chores. I thought you would be grateful for the day off. It‘ll give you 
the chance to… well, to deal with things.”

	Rei appreciated the gesture, but what Miyuki didn’t understand was that 
working at the shrine *was* her way to deal with things. Whenever things were rough 
at school or she was stressed after a battle, she could always depend on the comfort 
and familiarity of throwing herself into her miko duties to help her forget, at least 
for a little while. It helped her remain grounded when the rest of her world was in 
chaos.

	However, since Kazuya and Takara would be taking care of her chores for the 
day, that was not an option this time. Rei had no idea what she would do with her 
free time. She simply could not lounge around the shrine all day, doing nothing but 
thinking about the events of the last few days. It would drive her insane. She had to 
do something, anything, to get her mind focused on something other than the huge, 
gaping hole in her heart.

	“Are you sure there’s nothing I can do?” Rei inquired, almost pleading. “Even 
if Watanabe-san and Takara-kun are taking over my normal chores, there has to be 
something. What if I take the kids off your hands and take them to the zoo? You would 
love that, wouldn’t you, Kado-chan? Want to see some pretty animals?”

	The little boy in the high chair gleefully clapped his hands together and 
squealed, “Me like animables!”

	“I don’t know, Rei-chan…” Miyuki replied doubtfully. “That’s an awfully big 
job for only one person. Even one of them can be a handful, and you’re talking about 
taking all five. Why don’t you stay here and relax? Or maybe you can go see your 
friends. I‘m sure they are probably concerned about you.”

	“Concerned about me?” Resting her elbows on the counter, Rei sighed again as 
she watched the older woman begin on a batch of bacon. “Why would they be worried 
about me? I’m fine. Really, I am. I just wish everybody would stop walking on 
eggshells around me.”

	“Rei-chan, don’t do that.”

	“Do what?” she asked.

	“Pretend that nothing’s wrong,” Miyuki said, wiping her hands on a nearby 
towel after she finished putting the last slice of bacon into the pan. “You buried 
your grandfather’s ashes yesterday, sweetie, and I know that wasn’t easy for you. 
It’ll be a long time before you’ll ever be completely ’fine’ again. Even after all 
this time, I still haven’t really gotten over Takara’s death, so I know you certainly 
haven’t healed in one day.”

	“But when okaa-sama died, it was different,” Rei argued. “We didn’t know she 
was going to die. This time, we knew there was a chance that ojii-san wouldn’t beat 
the cancer, so I was prepared for his death.” That wasn’t the truth, but she was 
willing to say anything if it meant she wouldn’t have to talk about what happened.

	Fortunately, although Rei knew Miyuki didn’t believe her, the blonde’s face 
softened and she surrendered to her wishes. “Okay, I can take a hint,” Miyuki sighed. 
“You don’t want to talk about what happened. I still don’t like you keeping all your 
feelings bottled up inside like this, but I won’t force you to talk if you don’t want 
to.

	“Arigatou, Watanabe-san.”

	“However,” she continued, “I do think it would do you some good to take the 
next few days off. Visit your friends, read some manga, or even go off by yourself 
for a few hours. Things are kind of crazy around here with the kids and all, so if 
you want to disappear and get away from it all, I don’t mind as long as you’re back 
by dinner.”

	“Maybe I will,” Rei reluctantly agreed, thinking it might be a good idea to 
get away from the shrine and all of the memories it contained for a little while.

	Satisfied, Miyuki smiled and kissed her forehead with motherly affection 
before turning her attention back to the sizzling bacon. “Breakfast will be ready in 
about another fifteen minutes, so why don’t you wake up Fumie-chan, Reika-chan, and 
Shigure-kun and help them dress?”       

	Rei nodded and headed back to her bedroom to wake up the girls for breakfast.

	About an hour later, after she insisted on helping Miyuki with the breakfast 
dishes, Rei changed out of her robes and into a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. She 
decided a change of scenery would be nice after all, so she headed outside and began 
walking toward the bus stop, unsure of where she wanted to go, but knowing any place 
else would be better than Hikawa.

	As it turned out, she found herself getting off at a familiar apartment 
building and heading up to the fifth floor, apartment 515. Rei knocked and waited for 
someone to answer.

	“Rei-chan?” 

	Emerald green eyes widened in surprise as Kino Makoto opened the door and saw 
Rei standing outside. The tall Amazon was dressed in rather grungy clothes, wearing a 
pair of worn jean overalls over a green-and-white striped T-shirt, and she had tied a 
yellow bandana over her naturally curly auburn hair. In her left hand was a raggedy 
washcloth covered with dust.

	“Oh, Mako-chan, I didn’t mean to come over unannounced,” Rei apologized, 
taking in her friend’s apparel. “I can see you’re busy. I’ll come back some other 
time…”  

	Rei turned to leave but was stopped by a gentle hand on her arm. “Don’t be 
ridiculous, Rei-chan,” Makoto said, leading her inside. “You know you and the other 
girls are always welcome here. I was just in the middle of some light summer 
cleaning.”

	“Light” was a subjective term. Taking in the sight of Makoto’s usually 
immaculate living room overrun by boxes and clothes, Rei arched an eyebrow. “This is 
what you call ‘light’ cleaning? I’d hate to see what happens around here before New 
Year’s…”

	Shrugging, Makoto moved some of the clutter off her couch so they would have 
a place to sit down. “Well, I’ve been meaning to get rid of some of this stuff for a 
while,” she explained. “I figured this would be a good time, since school is out and 
I don’t have much homework this vacation…”

	“Would you like some help?” Rei asked, folding a red sweater she found on the 
floor.

	“Rei-chan, I can’t possibly ask you to do that! You’re my guest. It wouldn‘t 
be right.”

	“You’re not asking. I’m offering.”

	“But--”

	“Please, Mako-chan, I want to help,” Rei insisted, placing the folded sweater 
on top of the stack Makoto had already started on top of the coffee table. “I *need* 
to help.”

	Makoto still looked hesitant, but perhaps understanding what Rei was trying 
to do, she finally agreed. “Okay, Rei-chan,” she said softly as she rolled up her 
sleeves. “If you really want to help, let’s get to work on these boxes.”

	“Hai. What do you want me to do?” Rei asked, kneeling down beside a large box 
of shoes. 

	“Anything that is broken, doesn’t fit, or you don’t think I need anymore 
should be set aside, and I’ll go through them later to make the final decisions. 
Everything else should be placed into the appropriate new box.” Makoto motioned 
toward the neat line of half-filled cardboard boxes in the middle of the room, most 
of them clearly marked with words like Books, Clothes (separate boxes for winter and 
summer), and Sports. “I have most of them labeled already, but if you don’t know 
which one to use for something, just put it in one of the blank miscellaneous boxes 
and we’ll deal with those later. Oh, and if it is something breakable, be sure to 
wrap it in the bubble wrap I have near the ‘Glass’ box. I think that’s about it. 
Sound simple enough?”

	Rei nodded her understanding and immediately got to work on the box of shoes, 
grateful for the chance to focus on something other than what had happened.

	The two girls worked long and hard through the afternoon, going through all 
of Makoto’s things and packing everything that would be put back in storage. Very 
little was actually thrown away or set aside for charity other than the occasional 
article of clothing which Makoto had obviously outgrown or things that were broken 
beyond repair. Rei wondered why Makoto was even bothering going through the old boxes 
if she had little intention of loosening her packrat tendencies, but she wasn’t 
complaining. It felt nice to be able to lose herself in her work, and best of all, 
Makoto didn’t push her to talk about Saburo, although Rei caught her friend staring 
at her every once in a while, sympathy in her dark green eyes.

	A few hours later, after most of the old boxes had been emptied, Makoto stood 
up and stretched. “I think it is about time for a break, don’t you?” she asked. 
“We’ve been working non-stop for almost four hours. Why don’t I brew us some tea, and 
then we can have a little snack. Do cookies sound okay to you, Rei-chan?”

	“Sure, that sounds fine,” Rei agreed, also standing from her spot on the 
floor and patting the dust off her hands before she grabbed the final small box and 
sat down on the more comfortable, floral-printed couch. “Let me just finish going 
through this one while you make the tea. Then I’ll help you clean up this place after 
the break.”

	“Hai.”

	Makoto headed toward the kitchen, which was separated from the living room 
only by a long bar counter complete with stools, to start the tea, while Rei pulled 
open the box, barely holding back a gasp when she saw what was inside.

	Unlike the other boxes, which had for the most part been filled with the 
usual things like dishes, knickknacks, and clothes, the box Rei held contained 
pictures, diaries, and other small, seemingly insignificant items that must have had 
some meaning to whoever they belonged for the person to have kept them. Rei blushed, 
embarrassed to have come across something so personal, but something kept her from 
turning away. She instead continued looking through the things, reaching for a framed 
portrait laying on top.

	The photograph was of a young, thirty-something couple standing side-by-side. 
The man towered over the woman beside him by practically a foot and had dark hair and 
light blue eyes. His partner, dressed in a frilly pink dress, wore her long auburn 
hair off to the side in a braid and had somehow familiar green eyes. They were both 
smiling and seemed very much in love.

	“Are these your parents, Mako-chan?” Rei asked, curious, realizing too late 
that she probably should have put the picture away and not have said a word. She 
didn’t want Makoto to think she was a snoop.

	Fortunately, Makoto didn‘t appear too upset about Rei going through her 
personal things. Looking over the counter at the picture Rei held up, she nodded, a 
small, yet melancholic, smile on her face. “Hai, before they died,” she answered. 
“Where did you find it?”

	“In this box. I’m sorry I went through your private things without 
permission, Mako-chan. I didn’t know…” 

	The teapot on the stove began to whistle, interrupting Rei’s apology. “It’s 
okay, Rei-chan,” Makoto assured her as she turned her attention to the tea. “I don’t 
mind. If there was something in there I didn’t want you to see, I would have told you 
to leave it for me when you offered to go through it.”

	Confused, Rei set the box aside and took a seat at the counter, still holding 
the picture in her hand. “You mean, you wanted me to look in there?” she asked. “But 
why?”

	“I didn’t plan for you to find it, Rei-chan, but I thought if you did happen 
to come across that box, it might help.”

	“Help? Help what?”

	Makoto shook her head. “Oh, never mind. It was a silly idea,” she said, 
bringing her beautiful porcelain tea set over to the counter and preparing to serve. 
“Cookies?”

	“Yes, please.” Rei placed the picture frame on the counter and accepted the 
delicately painted teacup Makoto handed to her, along with two large cookies. “Mmm, 
these look delicious, Mako-chan. What kind are they?”

	“Double chocolate chip with macadamia nuts. It was Mama‘s recipe.”

	“Your mother’s?”

	“Hai, she loved baking almost as much as I do, maybe even more. Mama was the 
best cook,” Makoto said proudly. “I remember when I was little, every Sunday was set 
aside for us to bake cookies. Oh, how wonderful the kitchen smelled on those days… It 
was like living inside a gingerbread house. And sometimes she would tell me stories 
about the 3 O’Clock Fairies who supposedly told mothers to make sweets for their 
children everyday at three. I remember always thinking the fairy that visited us was 
the bird that popped out of the cuckoo clock we had in our kitchen. Silly, huh?”

	“No, not at all,” Rei murmured softly, her violet eyes falling once again on 
the photograph of Makoto’s parents. “I think it is wonderful.” 

	She didn’t know why, but suddenly she felt jealous of the memories Makoto had 
of her mother. Rei could barely remember her own mother any more. Takara had died so 
long ago, and as the years passed by, it had become harder and harder to keep her 
memory alive. Hearing the stories her grandfather used to tell about her mother had 
helped, but now that he was gone as well, Rei feared she would one day forget them 
both completely.

	Perhaps it was better that way, though. There was no point in living in the 
past, as she always liked to say, and the motto had served her well over the years. 
Why would someone want to put themselves through the pain of remembering something 
they would never have again? It didn’t make sense. 

	So why did the idea of forgetting Takara and Saburo hurt so much?

	“Rei-chan, are you feeling okay?” Makoto asked, breaking her thoughts.

	Setting down her uneaten cookie back on the plate, Rei sighed. “I’m fine, 
Mako-chan. I was just thinking of…something.”

	“You were thinking about your mother and grandfather, weren’t you?” 

	Rei glanced over at her friend, eyes widening slightly. “How did you guess?”

	“People always tell me I must have empathic powers since I’m good at guessing 
what other people are feeling,” Makoto admitted, rubbing the back of her neck in 
slight embarrassment. “I don’t know if that’s true, but I do think I understand what 
you must be going through right now.”

	“You do?” Rei asked. 

	The auburn-haired girl nodded. “It’s tough when you lose someone you love, 
especially when you always thought that someone would always be there to take care of 
you,” Makoto said, her voice filled with the wisdom of experience. “That makes it 
doubly hard, because not only do you have to deal with the loss, you need to learn 
how to be self-reliant. It’s a hard lesson to learn when you’re still so young. 
Believe me, I know. All you want to do is forget and pretend it never happened, that 
the person you loved so dearly is still with you, but you can’t, Rei-chan. You have 
to face what happened and accept it. It’s the only way you’ll be able to move on with 
your life. Living in denial is not the way to live.”

	“I’m not in denial,” Rei insisted. “I know ojii-san died and there’s nothing 
I can do to bring him back.”

	“Yes, you might know that in your head, but do you know that in your heart?”	

	Instead of answering her, Rei wrapped her hands around the warm cup of tea 
and stared at her reflection in the calm surface of the liquid. She supposed Makoto 
was right. She had been avoiding dealing with her grief. As much as she wanted to 
believe everything would be fine, it was hard to imagine a future without her 
grandfather in her life. 

	“Mako-chan, may I ask you a question?” Rei asked, finally looking back up at 
her friend. “A personal question?”

	“Of course, Rei-chan.”

	“When your parents died, what did you do? I mean, did you have some place to 
go? A relative or a friend’s place.”

	“Hai, I moved in with my best friend Tomoko’s family. They were kind enough 
to take me in for a while.” Makoto sighed, her eyes sad. “I didn’t stay there very 
long, though.”

	“Why not?”

	“Things happened between me and Tomoko.”

	Remembering a conversation they had had shortly after Makoto joined the team, 
Rei asked, “Oh, was she the one…?”

	“The one my sempai chose over me?” Makoto smiled sadly. “Yeah, she’s the one. 
I remember I was so devastated when she told me they were together. First I had lost 
my parents, and then I had lost my first love to my best friend. I know now that 
Tomoko didn’t mean to hurt me, but at the time, it was difficult to accept, so I 
decided to have myself emancipated and move here to Juuban.”

	“But how do you manage living by yourself? You don’t have a job or anything 
like that, do you?”

	“The insurance money I received after my parents’ death is enough that I 
don’t need to worry as long as I’m careful about how I spend it,” Makoto explained. 
“It’s enough to at least get me through high school, maybe college, if I decide to 
go. And whenever I want some extra money for something I don’t really need, I clean 
my neighbors’ apartments.”

	“I see.”

	Makoto looked at her quizzically. “Rei-chan, is there a reason why you are 
asking me about this?”

	“I’m thinking about filing for emancipation myself,” Rei admitted.

	“You are? But what about your father? I thought you would be moving back in 
with him.”

	“Otou-sama doesn’t want me back. My legal guardians at the moment are 
okaa-sama’s best friend and her husband.”

	“Well, what’s the problem? You don’t like them?”

	“No, that’s not it at all,” Rei said. “They’re wonderful, kind, loving 
people, but I don’t want to impose on their family. They already have five children 
of their own. Besides, if I don’t become emancipated, it’ll mean I’ll have to move to 
Nagano.”

	“Nagano? Oh, Rei-chan…”

	“I can’t leave Tokyo, Mako-chan. I’m needed here to protect the princess. 
Yes, it’s been a year since our last battle, but that doesn’t mean something won’t 
happen again. All my friends are here, too.”

	“But Rei-chan, emancipation is a huge step,” Makoto said. “I know it was the 
right path for me, but that doesn’t mean you should do it too.”

	“Are you telling me you don’t think I can handle it?” Rei asked defensively, 
surprised Makoto wasn’t being more supportive of her decision. Out of all her 
friends, Rei thought *she* would be the one who would understand why she needed to do 
this.

	“N-no, of course not! All I’m saying is that I don’t think you should take 
this kind of decision so lightly, especially when there are still so many options 
available to you.”

	“Options? What options, Mako-chan? It seems to me I only have two choices -- 
either I move to Nagano with the Watanabes or I go through with the emancipation and 
stay here in Tokyo.”

	“You could ask your father if you could move back in with him,” she 
suggested.

	Rei emphatically shook her head “no“. That was the one option she would 
*never* consider. There was absolutely no way she was going to crawl back to *him* 
unless he offered to take her back. She would not be his unwanted responsibility 
anymore.

	“I can’t do that,” Rei declared. “I won’t!”

	“Not even when it is the most logical choice? Listen, Rei-chan, I won’t 
pretend to understand your reasons for disliking Hino-sama, but I do know if you move 
in with your father, you won’t have to leave the Tokyo area. Sure, you would be 
living a little farther away and you might even have to change schools, but isn’t 
that better than forcing yourself to grow up before you’re ready? Being an adult 
isn’t nearly as much fun as it seemed when you were a kid.”

	“I know that. I know it won’t be easy. In fact, I might even have to drop out 
of school in order to take care of the shrine full-time.”

	“Then why? Why are you doing this?”

	“Because this is what I need to do, Mako-chan. You understand, don’t you?”

	Makoto sighed. “Yes, a little, I suppose, but that doesn‘t mean I think it is 
the right decision for you, not when you still have family left.”

	Ha, family! Rei felt like laughing. She didn’t have a family anymore. All she 
had left was a man who simply claimed he was her father and had given her his name. 
They were never “family”, at least not a real one. Not like her mother or her 
grandfather.

	“Hino Keitaro-san has never been and will never be a part of my family,” Rei 
spat, setting down her tea cup and standing up to head back to the living room. “Now, 
if you will excuse me, I’ll go throw away some of these empty boxes for you.”

	“Rei-chan…” 

					*****

	When he finally woke up later that morning, still in his private study, 
Keitaro groaned, his head throbbing with a pounding headache. He didn’t have to ask 
himself what had happened the night before, knowing even before he saw the empty 
bottle of some unknown intoxicant on his desk that he had gotten drunk. It was 
without a doubt the worst hangover he had ever experienced.

	“Ugh, why do I do this to myself?” he asked aloud, carefully sitting up on 
the couch that had served as his make-shift bed and running a hand through his messy 
blond hair. Then he remembered the horrible dream and groaned again, cursing the fact 
that the alcohol had done nothing to make him forget his guilt. If anything, it made 
Keitaro feel worse than he had before.

	He should have known getting drunk was not the answer to his problems. 

	Hearing the sound of a vacuum cleaner outside his office, Keitaro managed to 
make his way over to the door and stuck out his head. “Kato-kun, will you get me some 
coffee?” he asked of the middle-aged woman who had worked as his part-time 
housekeeper ever since Mrs. Yukana retired. “And some aspirin?”

	The housekeeper turned off the vacuum and regarded him with one of her 
familiar looks. “Hino-sama, how many times must I tell you your office is not a 
bedroom?”

	“I know, I know,” he mumbled, more than a little surprised that of all the 
things she could have chosen to berate him about -- being hung-over at the top of the 
list -- Mrs. Kato decided to scold him over something so minor. “I was working last 
night and I guess I must have lost track of time…”

	“Mm-mmm.” He could tell she didn’t believe him, but she wisely kept her mouth 
shut, only clicking her tongue in disapproval before heading to the kitchen. “I’ll 
have your coffee and aspirin ready in a few minutes,” she said, passing him by.

	“Arigatou, Kato-kun.”

	He headed back inside the office to wait, and a few minutes later, true to 
her word, Mrs. Kato returned not only with the promised coffee and medicine, but also 
some cereal. “Since you missed breakfast,” she explained, answering his unasked 
question, as she set the tray down on the desk in front of him and poured some milk 
into the bowl.

	“Kato-kun, I appreciate the thought, but I’m not really hun--”

	“Eat,” she ordered, handing him a spoon. “I’ve never let you skip a meal 
before, and I’m not about to start now just because you decided to do something 
stupid. And I better not come back to a mess in here, either. I really ought to make 
you eat at the dining room table, but since I’ve already cleaned in there, I guess 
this will have to do for today.” 

	Having no choice but to accept, Keitaro took a few bites of the cold bran 
flakes, ignoring the urge to hurl them back up, and thanked the maid for her 
thoughtfulness before she left to continue her cleaning. Once she was gone, however, 
he pushed the bowl out of the way and reached for the aspirin, washing it down with 
the rather strong cup of coffee. He then rested his head down on the desk, glad that 
it was a Saturday and he didn’t have to go to the office, and sighed.

	Right then and there, he decided last night was the absolute final time he 
would drown his sorrows in liquor. He may have been his father’s son, but Keitaro 
evidently had not inherited Hino Takeo’s strong stomach when it came to alcohol. He 
simply was not cut out to be an alcoholic. The realization brought a small, if 
bitter, smile to his face. It was good to know they had at least one difference.

	But the similarities… 

	Closing his eyes, Keitaro fought with little success to push back the painful 
memories of his childhood that were threatening to find their way out of the dark 
corner of his mind where they had remained hidden for so many years. Though old, the 
feelings those memories evoked were still as fresh as a bleeding wound.

	Confusion.

	Guilt.

	Worthlessness.

 	Loneliness.

	“Stop it!” he yelled, covering his ears as if doing so would drown out the 
tiny, child-like voice inside his mind that sounded suspiciously like his own. “Stop 
it!”

	But the voice didn’t stop. Instead, it grew even louder, more persistent, 
causing Keitaro to start breathing heavily through his mouth. He felt as if he were 
drowning in a sea of emotions, negative cold emotions that froze his body.

	“I can’t take this anymore,” he said hoarsely, shaking with anger. “He can’t 
hurt me anymore. He can’t!”

	Suddenly standing from his chair, Keitaro turned toward his father’s liquor 
cabinet, knowing exactly what he needed to do. He walked over to the cabinet, and 
with a strength he never knew he possessed, Keitaro toppled it over. The glass inside 
shattered upon impact, and soon after, the expensive Oriental rug that laid on the 
floor was ruined as liquor began to seep from the broken cabinet body in a blood-dark 
stain.

	“Hino-sama! Are you alright?”

	Hearing his housekeeper’s voice, Keitaro glanced over at the door to see Mrs. 
Kato had entered the room upon hearing the crash. She stood horrified as she surveyed 
the damage, a hand covering her mouth.

	“It’s okay, Kato-kun,” he said, surprising himself with the calmness of his 
voice. “I’m fine. Everything is fine now.”

	“B-But the cabinet, the rug…”

	Keitaro shook his head and held up his hand, signaling the woman not to come 
any closer. “It doesn’t matter,” he assured her. “Don’t bother to clean up the mess. 
I’ll call somebody to pick it up.”

	“Are you sure?” she asked doubtfully.

	“Yes, go ahead with the rest of your work. I’ll take care of this.”

	“Yes, sir.”

					*****

	Returning home from Makoto’s apartment later that afternoon, Rei immediately 
started searching for Kazuya, finding him and the two oldest children, Takara and 
Reika, in the charm booth attending to some customers. She waited until the young 
couple had finished making their donations before going over, taking a deep breath as 
not to lose her nerve.

	“Oh, Rei-chan, you’re back,” Kazuya said, noticing her presence as she began 
walking toward them. “Did you enjoy your day off?”

	“It was okay,” she answered, waving hello to the children who were busy 
organizing the charms. “Um…Watanabe-san, can I talk to you? In private?”

	“Private? Well, sure, I suppose so,” he replied, looking rather confused as 
he moved toward the booth’s exit. “Takara-kun, Reika-chan, I’m going to talk to 
Rei-chan for a few moments, so you two behave while I‘m gone, okay?”

	“We will, otou-san,” the boy assured him.

	“Good. I’ll be back in a couple of minutes.”

	Leaving the booth, Rei led Kazuya toward the living quarters, where they each 
took a seat on the stairs leading to the porch. “So, what did you want to talk to me 
about?” he asked once they were situated. “Is something wrong? You sounded so serious 
before.”

	“No, everything is fine,” she assured him. “In fact, things are better than 
fine.”

	“Really?”

	Nodding, Rei took a deep breath before she announced her big news. “I’ve made 
my decision,” she declared.

	“Decision? About what?” he asked.

	“About what we were talking about last night.”

	“Oh, the emancipation.” Kazuya’s eyes darkened, but he was too professional 
to let emotion otherwise show in his face. “Well, what did you decide?”

	“I’ve decided to go through with it, and I want you to draw up the papers as 
soon as possible.”

	“I see.” Kazuya paused, closed his eyes for a moment and then asked, “Does 
Miyuki know about this yet?”

	“No, I haven’t had the chance to tell her,” Rei admitted, dreading having to 
do so. Miyuki was not going to like her decision at all. 

	Kazuya frowned. “You know how she feels about the idea, Rei-chan. She -- no, 
we -- really would like for you to stay with us.”

	“I know, and I appreciate the offer, really I do, but I can’t leave behind my 
friends and the shrine.”

	“I understand, but are you absolutely positive you want to go through with an 
emancipation? You came to this decision rather quickly, almost overnight.”

	“You told me to think about it, and I did, Watanabe-san,” she pointed out. “I 
don’t want to intrude on Uchizawa-san and his new family, and I can’t stay at the 
manor. The best place for me is here, at Hikawa.”

	“Okay, if that is what you really want, then I’ll begin drawing up the 
necessary paperwork,” he agreed with a heavy sigh. “But first, you need to talk to 
Miyuki and make sure she will agree to this. We are still your legal guardians and 
therefore also have a say in this. I will go with whatever decision she decides, but 
I can’t move forward until we also agree to the emancipation.”

	“But can’t you talk her into it?” Rei asked hopefully.

	“I’m sorry, Rei-chan. I could, but being an adult means taking responsibility 
for your own actions and decisions. If you believe you are adult enough to seek 
emancipation, then you are also adult enough not to rely on somebody else to do 
something that you don’t want to do. You need to talk to Miyuki yourself.”

	As much as Rei hated to admit it, Kazuya did have a point. If she was going 
to strike out on her own, then she really did need to learn how to take care of her 
own business and not rely on others. After all, that was the whole point behind the 
emancipation, wasn’t it? To take control of her life? 

	“Fine, I’ll go talk to her,” Rei said, standing back up. “Do you happen to 
know where I could find Watanabe-san?”

	“I think she’s probably inside the house with the other kids.”

	“Thanks.”

	Heading up the stairs, Rei began thinking over what she was going to say to 
Miyuki when she found her. It was not going to be an easy conversation to have. 
Though she had been diplomatic enough last night when they discussed the possibility 
of emancipation, Rei knew her guardian had not been thrilled with the idea. Miyuki 
wanted her to come with them back to Nagano or at least to stay with somebody who 
could take care of her, and while Rei understood her concern, Miyuki needed to see 
that there really wasn’t any other viable option available to Rei.

	Rei finally found her mother’s best friend in the living area, busy picking 
up the many toys that ever since they arrived seemed to permanently litter the floor. 
None of the other kids were in sight, so she assumed Fumie, Shigure, and Kado were 
taking a nap in one of the bedrooms. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, Rei 
walked into the room.

  	“Watanabe-san?”

	The blonde woman, hearing her enter, straightened back up and turned around, 
a handful of Lincoln Logs in her hands.  “Oh, Rei-chan, you’re home earlier than I 
expected,” she commented with a small smile, tossing the logs in their appropriate 
container. “Did you have a nice time with your friends?”

	“It was fine. I went over to Kino Mako-chan’s apartment for a while and 
helped her clean, then we spent the rest of the day talking.”

	“About your grandfather? I’m glad. It‘s good that you have somebody to talk 
to about what happened.”

	Rei shook her head and began helping Miyuki pick up Shigure’s Legos. 
“Actually, we talked mostly about emancipation,” she confessed.

	The blonde paused and slowly fitted the lid on the container before turning 
around. “Emancipation?” Miyuki repeated. 

	“Mako-chan is the friend I told you about last night,” she explained. “Her 
parents died in a plane crash a few years ago, leaving her without a family. She 
stayed with a friend for a little while, but eventually decided to have herself 
declared an adult.”

	“Well, it sounds like Kino-san is a very brave young woman, to have gone 
through so much.”

	“She is,” Rei agreed. “She’s one of the strongest people I know, both 
emotionally and physically.”

	“Then I’m sure she also must have told you how tough it was to live on her 
own at such a young age.”

	Rei, who didn’t fail to catch the subtle tone of suggestion in Miyuki’s 
voice, shrugged. “She might have mentioned it in passing, but Mako-chan seems to have 
done well enough. I mean, she has a small apartment, but it’s big enough for her, and 
she has enough money so that she can afford to attend high school without getting a 
job…”

	“Rei-chan, you’ve decided to go through with the emancipation, haven’t you?” 
Miyuki asked, cutting straight to the point.

	Taken back by her guardian‘s guess, but a little relieved to have it out in 
the open, Rei nodded. “Yes, I have,” she admitted, unable to meet the blonde’s 
chocolate brown gaze. “I know you would rather me go live with you or Uchizawa-san, 
but this is something I have to do. I’m not a little girl anymore, and I can take 
care of myself.”

	“I know you can, sweetie, but that doesn’t mean you have to, not when you 
have people who care about you and want to help.”

	“I appreciate it, but I don’t need anybody’s help, Watanabe-san. Everybody is 
treating me like this fragile glass figurine, ready to shatter at any moment, but the 
truth is, I’m fine. You don’t have to be so concerned about me.”

	“You know, you remind me so much of your mother right now,” Miyuki said, 
staring at Rei with a wistful look in her eyes.

	“I do?”

	“Takara always complained Kondo-sama and I worried far too much about her. It 
drove her absolutely insane. Honestly, I think that girl actually enjoyed putting 
herself in the path of danger just to make me mad.”

	“Really?” Rei asked, surprised. She never knew about that side of her 
mother’s personality.

	“If I had a yen for every time I thought your mother was going to get herself 
hurt or killed with one of her impulsive actions, I would be a millionaire,” Miyuki 
declared, pausing for a moment before smiling. “Of course, not all of her risks went 
unrewarded.”

	“What do you mean?”

	“Well, if she hadn’t gone against her doctor’s wishes and gotten pregnant, 
you wouldn’t be here.”

	“You mean okaa-sama put her life in danger by having me?

	“You didn’t know?”

	“No, nobody ever told me,” Rei said softly, her appreciation for her mother 
growing as she realized just how much Takara must have loved her to take such a risk. 
“I always knew she had a weak heart, but I never realized…”

	“Takara wanted you more than anything, Rei-chan,” Miyuki said. “She was 
willing to risk everything to become a mother. It was her most precious dream.” The 
blonde sighed. “I guess that‘s one of the reasons why I‘m so concerned about you. If 
anything were to happen to you, Takara and Kondo-sama would never forgive me. They 
loved you so much…”

	“But nothing is going to happen to me, Watanabe-san. I’ll be fine here, 
really, and if I need any help, you and Uchizawa-san are only a phone call away.”

	“But you’re still so young…”

	“I am seventeen,” Rei reminded her. “I’m not exactly a child anymore. 
Mako-chan was a lot younger when she lost her parents. Besides, I’d be leaving in a
little over a year anyway to begin my priestess training.”

	“I know, but--”

	“Please, Watanabe-san. Let me do this.”

	After a long moment, Miyuki finally sighed in defeat. “Okay, if that is what 
you think is best, then Kazuya and I will agree to the emancipation,” she said. 

	“You will?” Rei almost leaped at her and hugged her, but contented herself 
with a grateful and sincere smile. “Thank you, Watanabe-san.”
	
*****

	“Katsuki-kun, who is my next appointment?” Keitaro asked around noon the 
following Monday, pushing the button on his intercom after setting aside some papers 
from his last meeting.

	The sound of papers flipping crackled over the speaker as Miss Katsuki 
checked her ever-present appointment book. “A Watanabe Kazuya-san is here to see you, 
sir,” she replied in her usual dull voice. “He says he has some important legal 
documents for you to sign.”

	“Watanabe-san?” he repeated, unsure of what to make of the prominent lawyer’s 
visit to his office. What business could Miyuki’s husband possibly have with him?

	“Hai, sir. May I send him in? Watanabe-san is only requesting a few moments 
of your time.”

	“Yes, of course. Send him in.”

	Still confused, Keitaro rose from his chair as the door to his office opened 
and an elegant, distinguished-looking gentleman stepped inside. “Konnichiwa, 
Hino-sama,” Kazuya said, politely bowing in greeting. “I hope this isn’t a bad time. 
I assure you this should not take long at all.”

	“No, now is fine. Please, have a seat.” Keitaro indicated the chair in front 
of his desk before returning to his own. “If you don’t mind me asking, Watanabe-san, 
why are you here?” he asked once they were both seated, cutting straight to the 
point. “I was not aware you had made an appointment to see me. Am I in some sort of 
legal trouble?”

	Before answering, Kazuya placed his leather attaché case on his lap and began 
digging through his papers. “I have come to you on your daughter’s behalf,” the 
lawyer said, finally pulling out the proper documents and placing the papers on the 
desk. “You are free to go through these if you would like, of course, but I believe 
everything should be in order. All I need is your signature.”

	“Signature?” Reaching for the papers, Keitaro slid them closer and glanced 
over the first page, his eyes widening behind his glasses as he realized what they 
were. “These are emancipation papers. I-I don‘t understand…”

	“Would you like me to go over these with you before you sign? It should be 
quite straight-forward…”

	“No, I understand the contract just fine,” Keitaro said, leaning back in his 
chair as he continued going through the stack of papers. “What I don’t understand is 
why Rei-san is seeking emancipation. I thought Kondo-sama’s will had named you and 
Miyuki-san as her legal guardians.”

	“Rei-san feels it is in her best interest to remain here in Tokyo instead of 
moving to Nagano with us,” Kazuya explained. “Miyuki and I tried to talk her out of 
going through with this, but she is quite determined to stay and take over her 
grandfather’s shrine.”

	“What? She’s only seventeen. How does she expect to run Hikawa when she 
hasn’t even finished high school?” Keitaro asked, looking up from the papers in shock 
of what Kazuya had said.

	“As an emancipated adult, Rei-san will be given access to certain funds that 
were previously denied to her because of her age, mostly the money left to her by her 
grandfather. I won’t lie, it isn’t much, but she insists it is enough for her to live 
on until she graduates next year.”

	Letting the news sink in, Keitaro set the papers aside, took off his glasses, 
and hid his face in his hands. What was his daughter thinking? Rei had no idea how 
difficult it would be to juggle school and her duties at the shrine by herself. He 
understood why she might not like the idea of moving to Nagano, but surely there were 
less severe alternatives than emancipation.

	“Why?” Keitaro murmured to himself. “Why is she doing this to herself?”

	Kazuya, who for the most part had remained calm and business-like throughout 
their entire meeting, seemed to sag slightly, a look of worry passing across his 
face. “I don’t know, Hino-sama,” he said, answering Keitaro’s question even though it 
had not been addressed to him. “The only thing I do know is that this is what 
Rei-chan wants. Miyuki and I are disappointed she will not be coming back to Nagano 
with us, but after a lengthy conversation concerning the matter, we feel she will be 
happier if she remains here in Tokyo. This is her home, the place where she grew up, 
the place where she met her wonderful friends. We couldn‘t demand she give all that 
up for what would essentially be only a year. It was tough enough for Rei-chan when 
she first moved to Hikawa and changed schools. We don‘t want her to have to go 
through that again.”

	“So, you and Miyuki have also agreed to the emancipation?” he asked.

	“It was not an easy decision, Hino-sama. We hold the same concerns as I’m 
sure you do about Rei-chan’s ability to support herself, but your daughter is a smart 
girl. I looked over the books for Hikawa, and Rei-chan has done a fantastic job 
handling the shrine’s budget over the last few years. If she applies those same 
skills to her personal budget, there is no doubt in my mind she will be able to 
handle this. And if she can’t, then we will be more than happy to step in. In the 
end, what really matters is Rei-chan’s happiness, and we both believe Tokyo is where 
she belongs.”

	“She really wants this, doesn’t she?” Keitaro asked, again reaching for the 
papers.

	Kazuya nodded. “You may, of course, protest the emancipation and sue to 
regain custody, but I think it will be best for everybody if you go ahead and sign 
the papers now. I‘m saying this not as a father, but as a lawyer. As a politician, I 
know the last thing you‘d want is to engage in a court battle with your daughter. It 
will spare both of you a lot of grief to handle this matter as quickly and as quietly 
as possible.”

	“And as a father? What do you think I should do?” 

	The question was out of Keitaro’s mouth before he even realized what he was 
saying, but strangely enough, he found himself wanting to hear what Miyuki’s husband 
had to say. Kazuya was no stranger to fatherhood with five children of his own, and 
though he didn’t know Kazuya that well, the one thing Keitaro did know was that he 
loved his kids dearly. It was one of the reasons why he had agreed to give legal 
guardianship of Rei to Miyuki and Kazuya in the event of Saburo’s death.

	Kazuya appeared taken back by the question at first, as surprised by its 
personal nature as Keitaro was. He took a moment to gather his thoughts before 
replying, “Hino-sama, I am here as Rei-san’s lawyer. My personal feelings about what 
action you should take regarding the emancipation are irrelevant. My duty is to my 
client and what she wants.”

	“I understand, Watanabe-san, but for a moment, I want you to forget that,” 
Keitaro said. “All I’m asking is for your opinion as a father. Do you think I should 
sign these papers and give up all my parental rights and responsibilities to Rei-san? 
If I do this, will I be doing the right thing for her?”

	“I’m afraid I can’t answer those questions for you. The only person who knows 
the answer is yourself.”

	“Then pretend the shoe is on the other foot. If one of your children were to 
seek emancipation from you, would you sign the papers without a fight?”

	Kazuya didn’t spare a moment to think about his answer. He promptly shook his 
head and said a quiet “no”.

	Keitaro sighed. He had expected that answer. Of course, it didn’t make his 
decision any easier. He and Kazuya were two different people. Just because Kazuya 
admitted he would never sign the papers didn’t mean he should make the same decision. 
There was a reason why Rei had the papers drawn -- to cut him permanently out of her 
life. Emancipation was obviously what she wanted, so who was he to deny her that 
wish?

	Yet, he found himself hesitant to sign, his fingers refusing to reach for the 
nearby pen set beside the papers. His eyes were glued instead to the line above the 
one meant for his signature where his daughter had already signed. She might as well 
have written “I hate you” in place of “Hino Rei” -- in his mind, they were one in the 
same.

	Did Rei really hate him that much that she was willing to go so far to keep 
him out of her life?

	Kazuya cleared his throat after a few moments, breaking Keitaro from his 
thoughts. “Hino-sama, I realize this is a difficult decision to make. Why don’t I 
leave the papers with you and let you think everything over for a few days?” the 
lawyer suggested as he closed his attaché case and stood. “I do have other 
appointments to attend, as I know you do as well. We can finish this at a later 
date.”

	“Oh, yes, of course. Thank you,” Keitaro replied, standing to show Kazuya to 
the door. 

	“Hino-sama…” Kazuya paused at the doorway. “I would like to stress that you 
must make this decision according to what is best for Rei-san. Sometimes it’s 
difficult to keep personal feelings out of such things, but as a politician, I’m sure 
I can rely on you to be objective?”

	“Of course, Watanabe-san,” Keitaro assured him, for a moment returning to his 
usual professional self. 

	But after Kazuya had left, he sunk against the door slightly and rested his 
forehead on the cool wood, unable to believe what was happening.

	What was he going to do?

					*****

	On the porch surrounding the living quarters of the shrine, Rei stood looking 
out onto the newly raked courtyard, a broomstick grasped idly in her hand. Phobos and 
Deimos, her two pet crows, were nearby, cawing and dancing on the ground, but even 
their playful antics failed to bring the usual smile to her face. Her thoughts were 
somewhere else, more specifically on the meeting she knew had ended a couple of hours 
ago.

	Kazuya would be home soon with the news of whether or not her father agreed 
to the emancipation, and though Rei regretted not asking him to call her as soon as 
the meeting was over, she pretty much knew what had happened anyway. Keitaro had 
signed the papers; she couldn’t imagine him doing anything else. They both knew it 
was time to officially cut all ties with each other. It had been inevitable.

	So why did she feel so empty all of the sudden? Rei thought she would be 
happy to finally be rid of the father who never loved her. The emancipation was her 
decision, after all. She should be jumping up and down in celebration, or in the very 
least, smiling, but the best she could muster was a tiny half-grin that was more 
forced than genuine. 

	This is ridiculous, she thought to herself. I’ve got everything I wanted. 
Hikawa is mine, I don’t have to leave Tokyo and my friends, and I never have to see 
otou-sama ever again. So, why do I feel as if I’ve lost something very important in 
the process? Why am I doubting my decision to go through with the emancipation?

	Nerves, that was probably it. It was a little scary to think she was really 
on her own from that day forward, making her own decisions and not dependant on 
anybody. Makoto had probably felt the same way when her friend’s parents had signed 
the papers. It was only natural to be afraid of the unknown, but Rei knew she would 
be able to handle it.

	“I’ll make you proud, ojii-san,” she promised, her voice carrying in the 
summer breeze. “I’ll take the best care of the shrine, you’ll see.” She then began to 
sweep the yard again, only looking up when she heard somebody call her name a few 
minutes later.

	Seeing Miyuki’s husband finish the last of the stairs leading up to Hikawa, 
Rei dropped her broom and ran over to greet him. “Watanabe-san!”

	“Konnichiwa, Rei-chan,” the lawyer said. “Are you the only one home?”

	“Hai, your wife decided to take the kids on a tour of Tokyo,” she informed 
him. “They should be home around dinner time.”

	“Oh, I see. You didn’t want to go with them?”

	“No, I needed to stay and finish my chores.”

	“You know, Hikawa won’t suddenly disappear if you decide to take a break 
every once in a while, Rei-chan. You’re going to run yourself ragged if you keep up 
this pace.”

	“I can handle it,” she insisted, following Kazuya inside the living quarters. 
“So, did you get a chance to meet with otou-sama?”

	“Yes, I did.”

	“And? Did he sign the papers?”

	“No, Rei-chan, he didn’t.”

	“What?” she asked, stopping abruptly in her tracks. Had she heard him 
correctly?

	“Hino-sama wasn’t sure what he wanted to do, so I told him he could take a 
few days before making a final decision,” Kazuya explained. “We did spring this on 
him rather unexpectedly.”

	Shocked, Rei took a seat on one of the pillows around the lowered table. Her 
mind refused to comprehend what Kazuya had said. How could Keitaro not sign the 
papers? It was supposed to be so simple.

	“He didn’t sign?” she asked. 

	“Rei-chan, are you okay? You look a little pale.”

	“No, I’m fine. I just never expected he wouldn’t sign the emancipation 
papers. I‘m surprised, that‘s all.”

	“It’s not the kind of decision a parent can make lightly.”

	“Yes, but otou-sama… I thought otou-sama would be glad to finally be rid of 
me.”

	“Glad to be rid of you? I don’t imagine it is easy for any parent, regardless 
of how active they were in their child’s life, to give up their parental rights,” 
Kazuya said. “And Hino-sama is concerned about you, Rei-chan.”

	“Yeah, right,” Rei muttered bitterly, rolling her eyes. “Where was his 
concern for me when ojii-san died? He didn’t even bother coming to the funeral. A 
real father would have come.”

	“Well, I won’t pretend to understand the reasons why Hino-sama didn’t come to 
Kondo-sama’s funeral, but that doesn’t make him any less your father. Nothing will 
ever change that, not even this emancipation.”

	Rei stared at him. She could understand what Kazuya was saying, but the 
lawyer didn’t know her father like she did. Her father had never really been a 
“father” to her, even when they lived in the same house, let alone after she came to 
live here. Minoru and Saburo had been her real father figures.

	“If you say so, Watanabe-san…” she replied in a disbelieving voice. “Would 
you like some tea?”

					*****

	Later that night, after he had finished dinner and told Mrs. Kato she could 
take the rest of the evening off, Keitaro retired to his private office, intending to 
get some work done but knowing perfectly well he wouldn’t. How could he possibly 
concentrate on his work when his mind was debating whether or not he should sign the 
emancipation papers? Ever since the meeting with Kazuya, it was all he could think 
about and he still wasn’t any closer to making a final decision.

	“Maybe I should call Min--” he said as he plopped down in his chair, stopping 
himself just in time.

	No, calling Minoru was out of the question. Keitaro had forgotten they were 
no longer friends after what Minoru had said to him the day of Saburo’s funeral. The 
reminder of their broken friendship was almost as painful as the thought of losing 
his daughter.

	He really had lost everyone, hadn’t he? It was like Minoru had predicted in 
his dream. Uncle Wataru, Takara, Negishi, Minoru, now Rei… Why was it that he never 
realized how much he cared about somebody until it was too late?

	Sighing, he pulled the infamous papers out of his briefcase and began going 
over the terms of the contract one more time. As Kazuya had said, it was pretty much 
straightforward. If Keitaro chose to sign, he would give up all his parental rights 
and Rei would be declared a legal adult, free of his responsibility. If he didn’t, he 
would have to counter sue for custody and most likely have to engage in a fierce 
court battle against his own daughter. Either way, he lost. Even if he fought for her 
and won, Rei would resent him even more than she already did, if that was humanly 
possible. It was a no-win situation.

	Maybe I should just sign the papers, Keitaro thought, setting the papers 
aside and burying his face in his hands. It was what Rei wanted, after all. Now was 
not the time to be selfish, especially when it was his own selfishness that had 
provoked her to seek emancipation in the first place.

	But then he thought about the dream and how Rei and Minoru had vanished right 
in front of him. Rei was now the *only* person left in his life. If he let her go, 
Keitaro truly would be alone, and that scared him more than he ever thought possible. 
It was ironic, in a way. He had spent so much of his life pushing people away, 
Keitaro never thought he would be so desperate to keep somebody close to him.

	“Oh, what should I do?” he moaned.

	Realizing he was not going to be able to make a decision any time soon, 
Keitaro gathered the papers back up and placed them in the briefcase, then started 
aimlessly walking around the room. He was looking for something but wasn’t sure 
exactly what it was until his fingers ran across the book binds lined neatly on a 
nearby bookshelf and came to a stop on an old photo album that had not been touched 
in years. Pulling the album out, he blew off the thin layer of dust that had gathered 
on the cover and took a seat on the couch to look through it.

	Keitaro smiled as he turned to the first page, greeted by an old black and 
white photograph. It had been taken on what must have been his fifth birthday, 
judging by the number of candles on the cake sitting in front of the puffy-cheeked, 
blond-haired boy. Behind him was Uncle Wataru, bending forward and similarly 
puffy-cheeked as they both prepared to blow out the candles while Mrs. Yukana, 
looking much younger than the last time he had seen her, stood off to the side, 
singing and clapping her hands. Noticeably missing, however, was his father Takeo, 
who had spent the festivities locked in the library, mourning the anniversary of his 
wife’s untimely death and no doubt downing an entire bottle of scotch. 

	His birthday had never been a happy occasion.

	Pushing the memory away, Keitaro quickly turned the page and frowned at the 
next photo, a professional portrait taken about a year later of him and his father, 
very different from the candidness of the first picture. Takeo, for once looking 
half-way decent after a fresh shave, was sitting in a chair, dressed in a somber 
black suit, while Keitaro stood stiffly beside him, not a smile in sight. Afterwards, 
he remembered telling his uncle that he hadn’t felt like smiling after being forced 
by Mrs. Yukana to wear a ridiculous boy’s sailor suit (complete with a silly hat and 
shorts so short that it had taken years before Minoru could look at the portrait and 
not laugh) that she insisted looked absolutely “kawaii” on him, but they had both 
known it was a lie.

	The next picture, on the page across from the portrait, brought back 
bittersweet memories as Keitaro stared at the smiling, flushed faces of two boys at 
the end of their school‘s annual sports day. The blond, slightly smaller boy on the 
left wearing a tiny, embarrassed grin appeared almost timid compared to his friend, 
but there was no mistaking the pure exhilaration of the redhead, who had just 
finished winning the notoriously difficult obstacle course. Minoru’s smile was bright 
enough to light the entire Tokyo Tower as he made a V-for-victory sign with one hand 
and threw his other arm around Keitaro‘s shoulders, almost pulling him into a 
headlock. 

	“He always was a show-off,” Keitaro remarked to himself wryly.

	Continuing on, Keitaro flipped through the next few pages with disinterest, 
as they were mostly just school pictures and random snapshots, but paused when he 
came to another picture of him and Wataru, this time joined by Negishi Shinji. The 
banner hanging in the background proclaimed “Re-elect Negishi for Governor”, so 
Keitaro deducted it must have been taken the day Negishi had won his second term as 
the governor of Tokyo. The three of them certainly looked triumphant as they smiled 
for the camera, and Keitaro could almost still hear an open-mouthed Negishi saying 
“This will someday be you, Keitaro-kun, my boy.” Even then, as a young teenage boy, 
he had aspirations to follow in Negishi’s and his uncle’s footsteps and run for 
public office.  

	After that, there came another round of school pictures and snapshots, mostly 
of Keitaro and Minoru in various stages of adolescence. There was Keitaro holding the 
huge trophy he had won in the debate club, Minoru holding up an Atari game he won a 
video game competition, the both of them going to their first dance party, which 
Minoru had dragged him to in spite of numerous protests that he needed to study…  
Keitaro allowed himself to laugh at that picture, still wondering how he managed to 
let Minoru talk him into wearing one of those ugly polyester leisure suits that were 
so popular during that time. He must have been certifiably insane that night, or else 
incredibly blind. How else could one explain such tacky clothes?

	The laughter died, however, as he came to the next picture, another one of 
him and his uncle joined by Minoru as they stood outside the exclusive high school he 
and Minoru had both attended. Graduation day, 1970 -- a day he would remember not for 
the joy of graduating first in his class, but for the sorrow he felt when Uncle 
Wataru informed he had been diagnosed with cancer. Looking at the photograph, Keitaro 
cursed himself for not realizing something was wrong sooner. How could he have not 
noticed how pale Wataru had become, or how worn his face looked, even when he was 
smiling with the pride of a father? It seemed so obvious now, although Keitaro knew 
his uncle had tried his best to keep his illness a secret from him, not wanting him 
to worry about anything but his studies. He might not have even known if Wataru 
hadn’t fainted from anemia shortly after the picture was taken.

	Closing his eyes, Keitaro reached for the crucifix he still wore faithfully 
around his neck. It had been a graduation gift from Wataru, given right after he had 
learned the truth of his uncle’s sickness. He remembered Wataru, still feeling weak 
from his fainting spell, placing the cross in his palm and telling him in a raspy 
voice not to worry “for God would give us strength.” How reassuring those words had 
seemed then, but now…

	Ignoring the urge to put the photo album away, he continued to the next page, 
dedicated to his years at Tokyo University. Again, it was mostly him and Minoru, 
occasionally sprinkled with an article from the school paper about some insignificant 
success he had achieved. Keitaro skipped over Wataru’s obituary, which Mrs. Yukana 
had clipped from the newspaper, and flipped over a couple more pages until he was 
well into his last year of college, the year he met Takara.

	Much to his surprise, Keitaro discovered somebody had clipped and saved the 
article written about the rally for the Liberal Democratic Party, the one Takara and 
Miyuki had first attended. If he studied the accompanying picture hard enough, he 
could almost make out the figures of the girls and Minoru standing off to the side 
underneath the tree while he was giving his speech on stage. Keitaro’s smile returned 
as he remembered that wonderful day and his eyes lingered on the photograph for a 
moment longer before he turned the page once again.

	There was a noticeable change in the focus of the photographs after that. 
Instead of just him and his best friend, it was the four of them -- him, Minoru, 
Takara, and Miyuki. Keitaro smiled again as he looked over the photographs, 
remembering those first few months after the rally. They had had some good times 
together. The best, actually. He could honestly say he had never been happier then he 
had been then. Heck, his smile in the old photographs could almost give Minoru a run 
for his money, though Takara’s was the brightest of them all.

	She had been so beautiful…

	He could have stayed staring at those pictures forever, but after a few 
minutes, Keitaro forced himself to go on, scanning over the newspaper clippings that 
dominated the next few pages. There were hardly any photographs in that part of the 
album, unless they accompanied the articles, but the ones he did find showed a 
noticeable change. They were still happy and brought back fond memories, yet Keitaro 
could see the distance between him and Takara, subtle but still there even in the 
early years of their marriage, which surprised him. Keitaro had always assumed their 
troubles had started around the time she became pregnant with Rei and he was running 
for governor. In reality, though, he realized he had begun unconsciously pushing her 
away far before that. Maybe even the night of their wedding, when he had asked her if 
she wanted to annul their marriage after her attack.

	“Oh, Takara…” he whispered, his finger caressing one of the photographs taken 
at a political fundraiser. Her smile was bright as ever, but Keitaro inwardly cringed 
as he noticed how far apart he stood from her, not even touching her as if he was 
afraid she would break.

	How long had she silently suffered under his apparent callousness?

	Not wanting to know the answer to that question, he turned to the last few 
pages of the photo album, drawing in a sharp breath as he glanced over the last 
couple of photographs, all of baby Rei. They had been what he had been searching for, 
he realized with some degree of shock, or more specifically, it. Peeling the plastic 
covering off the last page, Keitaro reached for one of the photographs and set it 
aside. He then closed the album and put it back on the shelf where it belonged before 
finally allowing himself to look at the picture he had saved.

	The photograph had been taken a couple of days after Rei’s birth in Takara’s 
hospital room -- to the objective eye, nothing very special. The quality of the 
picture itself was horrendous, as Minoru had just bought himself a fancy Nikon camera 
and had yet to learn how to use it correctly, though he had had a lot of fun 
practicing on the new little “model”. In the lower right-hand corner, the top of 
Miyuki’s blonde head could be seen, blurry and unnaturally white, while the rest of 
the picture was almost too dim to make out the people in the photograph. However, 
Keitaro knew it was him, awkwardly holding his newborn daughter for the first time.

	Keitaro stared at the photograph, the memory of that moment slowly coming 
back to him. He had wanted so badly to love her, really he had… He had thought once 
he got the chance to hold his daughter in his arms, everything would be perfect, that 
he would finally feel like a father. 

	But when it had finally happened…nothing. Not even a flicker of affection. In 
fact, he had been relieved when Miyuki took the screaming baby away, Rei’s cries 
softening almost instantly as she was placed back in her mother’s arms for a feeding. 
Both Takara and Miyuki told him not to take it personally, insisting she had just 
been hungry, but Keitaro always suspected she had sensed his hesitancy. Even from 
that early age, she must have known he hadn’t wanted her.

	But why? Why was it that he had been unable to open his heart to her, that 
precious baby, his only daughter? Was it true what he had feared the first time he 
saw her in the nursery, that being an uncaring father ran in his genes?

	It didn’t matter anymore, for Keitaro realized that no matter what reason he 
could think of to justify his feelings, the truth still remained. He didn’t deserve 
to be Rei’s father, not now, not ever. It was too late.

	He could only make one choice.

	Setting the photograph aside, he walked over to the phone sitting on his desk 
and dialed the number of Watanabe Kazuya’s cell phone.

	“Hello, Watanabe-san? I’m ready to sign the papers.”


AUTHOR'S NOTES: Only one more part and the epilogue to go. Stay tuned for the 
conclusion of "Spirit of Fire".

Comments can be sent to me at ElysionDream@aol.com.

DISCLAIMER: sailor Moon is the property of Takeuchi Naoko.