Fic: On Razor's Edge - Chapter Eight

[lovelylytton]

Title: On Razor’s Edge - Chapter 8
Summary: Crystal Tokyo has arrived. So has Ando Tanaka.
Warnings: Oh, lots and lots of swearing. But other than that, tame.
A/N:. Written for venusorbit1’s help_japan donation. Contains a line from GA. As always, written with the help and assistance of the fantastic charliechaplin2.

The previous chapter is here.



The sharp edge of a razor is difficult to pass over; thus the wise say the path to Salvation is hard.
~ verse in the Katha-Upanishad

It was the morning after, and for once, the breakfast fairy didn’t deliver. No coffee in bed, no sandwiches on bright pink plates, no orange juice delivered with a smile or a giggle. The palace was for all intents and purposes as silent as grave, even though all of its inhabitants were assembled under its crystalline roof.

So Ando trailed downstairs into the kitchen, where remnants of last night’s media palace tour were still scattered around the surfaces. The cookies Makoto had made so that Usagi could shine and pass them off as her own were still sitting on a plate, almost untouched. The camera crew had only filmed them, and once the tour wrapped, everyone had left for Makoto’s café before Usagi could devour them whole.

A few empty mugs in the sinks spoke of the unusual visitors, but other than that, everything was as it always was. Except of course for the fact that the breakfast fairy, too distraught over last night’s events, had forsaken her duty this morning, leaving the toaster untouched, and the coffeemaker asleep.

Mumbling something incoherent to himself, Ando switched the coffeemaker on. He was barely awake: he hadn’t slept much and all night long, had to battle the desire to go get Minako and drag her to the palace where he could feed her booze, cigarettes, and those God forsaken cookies. Of course, he didn’t even know where she went. Ami probably knew, but Ando hadn’t heard her come home. Ando himself had returned with Umino, Rei, Mamoru and Usagi and the walk home was yet another event that made his “Top 10 Most Fucked up Moments” list. Even though it had been Takeshi who had so spectacularly lost control, Mamoru had turned on Ando, blaming him for the whole mess. Usagi, unable to deal with dissonance among her loved ones, had walked ten feet ahead of them, Umino by her side, trying to keep up with the tiny blonde’s hurried steps while her husband and friend had it out. Rei had trailed behind them all, lost deep in thought. Despite putting herself between him and Takeshi, Ando was sure she hadn’t been too impressed with his behaviour last night, and it brought back bad memories of a time where she could barely stand the shitennou’s presence in Tokyo, let alone his presence in her rooms.

Ando groaned. What a fucked up situation. Even now, he wasn’t sure he could cope with Mamoru. Stupid, blind idiot. And Takeshi was right there with him. Fucking noble, loyal, stupid idiots. Why did they have to go and fuck a perfectly nice night up like that?

Ando opened a cabinet and pulled out the last clean mug, putting it in the coffeemaker instead of the glass coffee pot, which sat in the sink with the dirty dishes. He needed a cup of strong, hot, black coffee even more than his morning cigarette and damn, he needed it now.

Ando hated that his and Takeshi’s fight had made Usagi cry. He was absolutely convinced that he had done the right thing: someone needed to call Takeshi out on his bullshit, someone needed to stand up for Minako. And if it wasn’t Makoto, or Ami, or even Rei, then it would be him, for fuck’s sake.

A shuffling sound made him turn around. It was Umino, coppery blond curls a mess, eyes red-rimmed, face ashen. So Ando wasn’t the only one who had slept badly last night.

He lifted a hand in his old roommate’s general direction, which Umino acknowledged with a slow nod before slumping down at the kitchen table, eyes barely open, head propped up in his hands.

Since it was nine in the morning, it was a small wonder that he was already awake. But somehow, he and Ando had risen at the same time and trailed into the kitchen mere minutes from each other. Ami was still asleep upstairs, and Umino didn’t know where Rei was and if Ando had slept in her bed or his and---

“Mind your fucking own,” Ando murmured, and Umino sat up a little straighter.
“What?”
“None of your business where I sleep,” Ando replied.
Umino blinked. “I didn’t say anything.”
“Yes, you did. You said that you didn’t know where Rei was and if I slept in her bed or in mine.”
“I thought that, but I didn’t say it.”
Ando frowned. “Oh. Sorry.”

Rubbing a hand over his eyes, Umino groaned. “Not you too. It’s bad enough that Takeshi has no grip on his powers. Is the coffee ready?”
“I have a grip on my powers; I’m just tired. And he wasn’t tired, he was just...” Ando’s voice trailed off. Umino buried his head in his hands again. “Yes, I know.”
The two men fell silent.
Last night, they had seen a side of Takeshi that they didn’t know he had. Kunzite, yes, but not Takeshi. And it wasn’t the part where Takeshi’s hands had glown with electricity, where all the lights went out and flickered back to life only a minute later because he got angry. It was the part where he sent the woman he loved away, willing to give her up for the sake of protecting their master. Only that in this time and day, Mamoru was less master and more friend, less liege and more accidental saviour.

Well, and perhaps the part with the electricity too. Takeshi, Ando, their fight, and the currents of electricity spinning in the architect’s fingertips. It was this that had caused Umino to sleep so badly. He had come down to the kitchen, knowing he’d find Ando here. Ando was one of this best friends, and he had no idea how close he had come to being electrocuted last night. Umino had memories of Kunzite stored away in a part of his mind, dreadful memories he’d rather forget, but seeing Takehsi like that had popped the lid off this particular Pandora’s box right then and there.

Kunzite had been a weapon, it was a simple as that. Umino remembered one battle in which Kunzite had killed hundreds with a wave of electricity, send forth from his fingertips and the commander had not even broken a sweat. Their opponents (it seemed foolish to think of them as enemies from today’s vantage point) had dropped like flies, never realising what had hit them. And this was the man Ando had faced last night. For just a second, Kunzite had been back. And Umino knew that he was partly to blame for that.

He should have listened to Takeshi, respected his wish to be as normal as possible. Instead, he had driven him to being Kunzite once more and---

Ando put a mug of black coffee in front of him, setting it down with a thunk. It was the one he had made for himself, but Umino looked like he needed it more. “He wouldn’t have hurt me.”
Reaching for the coffee, Umino pressed his lips in a thin line.
“Umino, he wouldn’t have. He has a dog, and a girlfriend, and a house. He wouldn’t have electrocuted me. He wears a suit, damn it.”
“I’m not sure he still has a girlfriend,” Umino said slowly. “From what Ami said, Minako moved into the hotel for good.”
“Ami should have brought her back,” Ando said heatedly, earning himself a rare scowl from Umino.
“Ami went after her when no one else did. Ami brought her her coat. And Ami tried, so shut up.”

Ando made a face and walked back to the sink. He looked down at the mugs and picked the one that looked the cleanest and shoved it under the still dripping coffeemaker, ignoring that the mug was now sitting in the tiny puddle of coffee that had accumulated in the few seconds it had taken him to give Umino the beverage. Returning to the table, he plucked his pack of cigarettes from the pocket of his sweatpants and sat down opposite Umino.
Lighting the cigarette with a snap of his fingers, he inhaled deeply.
“Can you do more with fire than just that?”
Ando shook his head. “Nope. A little flicker, but that’s it.” He looked at Umino, sitting there in a faded blue hoodie and his blue and red checked pyjama bottoms, hair akimbo and face once more kind. Kind and tired. “Sorry about the Ami thing. I didn’t mean to be... you know.”
“An ass?”
“Yeah.”
“‘s okay,” Umino said and reached for his mug.
“When are you going to start pestering me to make up with Takeshi? Before or after I make you a sandwich?”
Umino twisted his mugs in his hands, careful not to spill any of the coffee. He shrugged.

Well, this was unusual, Ando thought. Normally Umino was the first person to stand up for Takeshi, make excuses for the architect, explain his behaviour, justify his overreactions. Actually, Mamoru was the first person, but Ando didn’t really listen to him much. He did however listen to Umino. Coming to think of it, everyone did, even Rei, even all those years ago.
Maybe it was because Umino was nice to everyone, maybe it was because he was ridiculously smart, or maybe it was because everyone liked to see the nice blond kid in the hand-knitted sweaters happy and thus accepted whatever advice he forked out.

Only that he was quiet now.
“I’m not speaking to him before he apologises to Minako.”
Still quiet.
“Fine, whatever, I’ll call him. But if he goes spirit fingers on me again, I blame you.”
Umino took a sip of his coffee.
“What, do you want me to go over to his place then, get this sorted now?” Ando groaned and made a move to get up. “Umino, you’ll be the death of me.”

“I don’t think you should seek him out right now,” Umino finally said, still toying with the mug.
Ando fell back into his chair. “Excuse me?”
Umino sighed. What a mess. What a horrible, horrible mess.
“Are you saying I should wait and let him and Mi sort it out first?”
“No.”
“For fuck’s sake, what are you saying then?”
“Just that you should not go to him right now. You’re annoying, and don’t think I didn’t notice that you started to pilfer my clothes again - I want those socks back -” Umino said, gesturing at Ando’s rainbow-socked feet, “but I quite like you alive. When Kunzite loses it, then I don’t want you anywhere near him.”
Ando swallowed. “You mean Takeshi. When Takeshi loses it.”
“I meant exactly what I said.”
For once lost for words, thinking of the uniform that still lay crumpled at the bottom of his closet, Ando got up. For fuck’s sake. What a morning this was turning out to be.

***

While nine o’clock might feel early to Ando and Umino, in a house with two small children, it was as if half the day was over already. Aiko had awoken at six sharp, and then climbed into bed with her parents, prodding her little finger into her father’s chest until he groaned and got up to entertain his daughter.

Now it was three hours later, baby Yoshi was busy building a tower of wooden toy bricks, Aiko was playing with her Barbie Dream House, and Makoto and Hiromasa were having some well-deserved coffee together.
“It was scary,” Makoto admitted. “He didn’t look like himself at all.”
Hiro, glad to have missed last night’s events, pulled his wife in for a quick hug and kiss on the head. His heart went out to Takeshi, who once again seemed to have been stuck with the label of the bad guy when nothing could be further from the truth. “Poor bugger.”
“Ando provoked him.”
“Ando provokes everyone. It’s what he does.”
“So you think it’s okay? What he said? Hiro, Takeshi got mad because Ando asked me what I would do if---”
“I know what Ando asked, you told me last night,” Hiro interjected. He wasn’t willing to discuss the few days they had spent apart, the brief period of time where he had wondered if his children’s life wouldn’t be safer without their mother in it. “I’m just saying that Takeshi is a poor bugger. And that he and Minako had trouble brewing for a while now. You all behave as if the humps of crystal and the wings and the past are of no consequence to how we live our lives today and that’s where you’re wrong. Takeshi knew that, and feared that, and now he has to pay for Ando’s and Minako’s blindness.”
Makoto bit down on her bottom lip. “What if he comes here? He has to stay somewhere, Hiro.”
Hiro snorted. “Mako, he would never come here until he has himself under control again. Never. He wouldn’t risk Aiko and Yoshi.”
“Him being here isn’t a risk,” Makoto exclaimed and extricated herself from the embrace. “I just said he was scary, not dangerous.”
Unconsciously, Hiromasa rubbed his chest, right under his heart. This lifetime, there was no scar. “If you say so.”

***

Ando and Umino ambled down a corridor.
“FYI, I slept in Mamoru’s study.”
Umino did a double-take. “What? Why?”
“You hid my tower last night.”
“I know.”
“I couldn’t find it when I got home.”
“I thought I made all doors reappear.” Umino sputtered, turning beet red.
“In one go? Bit ambitious, don’t you think?”
Well, this was humbling. And Umino thought he had done so well. Of course, by the time they had returned last night, his mind had been on the events in the café, on Takeshi and Kunzite, and on the nature of reincarnation and history. He wasn’t exactly at his personal best. “Maybe I need to practise a little more.”
“Yeah. Maybe you do,” Ando agreed, and bumped his hip against Umino’s.
“Well, so do you, with your measly little flame and your accidental disrespect for the privacy of other people’s thoughts.”
“Hey!” Ando protested.
“It’s true!”
“Fine, I’ll practise. Can I practise on you?”
“You want to read my mind?”
“Do you have any secrets you want to safeguard?”
Umino laughed. “I tell you everything anyway. Which brings me to this: I am going to ask Ami to marry me.”
Ando broke into a wide grin. “Finally! When?”
“As soon as I find the right moment.”
“Got a ring?”
“Of course I’ve got a ring.”
“Your nan’s?” Ando asked, knowing the answer already.
Umino smiled. It was one of his favourite things in the world, watching Ami and his grandmother get on like a house on fire. He’d have to take her to Kyoto again soon. “She loves Ami.”
“Everyone loves Ami. So will I be best man, or what?”
“You do get that me marrying her is not about you, right?”
Ando laughed and wrapped an arm around the smaller man. “Man, I am so proud of you!”
“I haven’t done anything yet,” Umino insisted, but reciprocated by slinging his arm around Ando’s shoulders too.
“Oh shut up. How about we celebrate by you giving me my Rapunzel tower back?”

***

Rei stretched under her sheets, feeling a thousand years old. A soft knock at her door alerted her to the fact that it was day. Opening her eyes, she cast a quick look out of the window. Everything was grey and rainy.

She sighed. She could have done with a blue sky today.
There was another knock. “Come in,” she called out softly, already knowing who it was before Ami peered in. “Did I wake you?”
“I was just about to wake up,” she said.
Ami nodded and slipped in, closing the door behind her.
“Mina is in a hotel.”
“She wouldn’t come here?”
“No.”
This was worrying. Minako was a sociable person, being alone in a strange environment wasn’t good for her, or at least not as good as being around her friends was. Rei wondered whether Minako would pick up the phone if she called or if she had dug herself too deep into a hole for that.

It knocked again, but before Rei could call out, Usagi burst in, slamming the door shut behind her.
“Morning,” the queen said, and - giving Ami a peck on the cheek - walked over to the bed and climbed in, joining Rei under the covers.
The priestess rolled her eyes.
“Ami, come in too,” Usagi called out and lifted a corner of the blanket. Knowing that not getting into bed would lead to a long discussion, Ami simply walked over and did as she was told.
“Where’s Mina?” Usagi asked Ami.
“We were just talking about that,” Rei replied instead of the doctor. “She’s in a hotel.”
“That’s stupid, we have so much space around here.”
Ami bit down on her lip. “She doesn’t want to come here because this is what Takeshi wants her to do.”
“Okay, then she can go home and he can stay here.”
“Usagi, Takeshi can’t be seen near the palace.”
“Duh, protective charms? Umino can hide him.”
Rei cleared her throat. “I don’t think him moving in here is a wise choice, Usa.”
“Either she moves in here or he does or they both do.” Usagi blinked at her. “I won’t have two friends of mine be miserable and alone. One is bad enough, two is impossible.”
“I tried to get her to come here, but she doesn’t want to, Usa, she really doesn’t.”
Usagi reached for Ami’s hand and pressed it. “That’s because you are too nice and respectful of her wishes. We’ll send Ando to pick her up, he doesn’t take no for an answer. So, which hotel?”

***

The hotel room was nice and lush and spacious. It also came with a big tub and a generous mini-bar. Minako had made ample use of the latter as soon as Ami had left last night. Now she was sitting - hungover, miserable and alone - in the tub, letting the hot water rain down on her. She had already washed her hair, shaved her legs, and brushed her teeth, but somehow didn’t want to leave the tub, even though she had promised Usagi to come over for breakfast.

Instead, she sat in the tub as if someone had glued her behind to the ceramic. She didn’t even know whether she was unable or unwilling to leave and had decided to just keep sitting until she knew at least that.

She had lined up all the complimentary cosmetics on the rim, from smallest to biggest, and then alphabetically, and then again according to size. The hotel had a perfectly equipped bathroom. There was even some conditioner. Most places only had soap and shampoo, but this place was trying to be different, trying to be a proper home away from home. It said so on the stationary. A home away from home. Exactly what she needed. Minako toyed with the small tube of conditioner before setting it back down on the rim only to send it flying to the ground with a flick of her finger.

He had asked her to move out. It didn’t matter why, he had asked her to move out. And he would take Attila. And move out too. And then their house would be empty. The house he had built for the two of them. Sniffing, Minako rubbed at her eyes. It was stupid to wipe away tears when you were getting wet anyway, but she couldn’t help it, it was instinctive. And she had been acting purely on instinct since last night. Instinctively, she had known that she needed to put as much physical distance between herself and Takeshi and instinctively, she had sent Ami away and instinctively, she had begun to empty the mini-bar and instinctively---

“It’s not instinct, it’s sadness,” Ando’s voice interrupted her from the door. “And you are getting the floors all wet. This is why shower curtains were invented, Mina, and this hotel has a very nice one. Use it.”
Mina shrieked. “Naked! I am naked in the shower!”
He stepped inside the mist-filled bathroom. “I can see that.” Folding himself together, he sat down on the wet tiles, making a face when his clothes began to soak up the water. He would look like he’d wet his pants. “Usagi says you should come home.”
“I am still naked.”
“Oh please, I have seen you naked plenty of times.” Nevertheless, he reached behind him for the towel rack and tossed a white fluffy towel at her head. Lifting her hands, she caught it with ease.
“Nice boobs.”
“Shut up. Tell Usagi I’m staying here.”
“No, you’re not. You’re coming to the palace with me. If I have to live in that glittery coffin, then so do you.”
“It’s what he would want.”
“Fuck him. Not literally though. No more goodies for him. Moronic asshole.”
Minako gave him a serious look. Well, as serious as a look can be when it’s given by someone trying to hide in a tub, covering her modesty with nothing but a wet white towel, while the shower head still rained down hot water and flattened her hair to her head. “It’s what he would want,” she repeated.

“It’s also what Usagi wants and what Ami wants and what Rei wants and what Umino wants and what I want.”
“What about Mamoru?”
“Fuck him too. Again, not lit--”
“I get it,” Minako said and got up, turning the water off as she did so. Ando reached for another towel, a bigger and drier one this time. He too got up and helped her out of the tub before wrapping the towel around her shoulders.
“I’m getting you that nice robe places like this always have hanging in the closet.”
“This is breaking and entering,” Minako called after him, feeling a bit more like herself again. “How did you even get in here?”
He laughed. “I told the receptionist I was your boyfriend and wanted to have crazy monkey sex with you.”
Drying herself off, Minako frowned. “I don’t think I will have crazy monkey sex again.”
“Are you going to have a nervous breakdown now?”
She thought about it for a moment. “No.”
“When are you going to have a nervous breakdown? Just so that I can put it in my day planner.” Ando asked, stepping back into the bathroom with the promised robe in hand. He was grinning, but she could see the worry in his eyes.
“How about when I go get my stuff?”
“I can go get your stuff,” he offered and leaned over to brush her hair behind her ears.
“I’m a big girl.”
“And I’m a bigger boy. Let me help you here, Mi.”
“You can carry boxes.”
“I can do more than that.” All mirth vanished from his features. “You did more than that.”
She knew he was talking about their summer in New York, all those years ago, and the time before and after. “It’s fine. Carry boxes. And try not to get in the middle of this.”
He wrinkled his nose.
“What?”
“Too late for that.”
“Ando, what did you do?”
He met her eyes head on. “Stood up for my best friend. Now let’s go get some coffee in you before I take you to Usagi.”

***

On the whole, Mamoru didn’t care much for living in the palace. He hated how his wife couldn’t paint the walls pink because the colour wouldn’t stick, how they had too many rooms to furnish and not enough people to inhabit them, how it ripped apart the city he called home, but one thing he didn’t hate was that you never got cold feet. Walking down the hallway barefoot, the heat from the encased fire warming his feet, he decided that this was one good thing about the palace.

He’d have to tell Usagi later. She’d be pleased that he found something about their new home he could like. A small win among a long list of losses.

His phone rang, the standard Nokia ring tone echoing off the crystalline walls. He kept the phone with him at all times. It used to be because of work: he was the surgical resident who got offered all the extra shifts, his efficient and polite attitude winning him many friends in the hospital. Since the volcano, the only people calling him were his friends.

Even so, Mamoru fished the phone from his back pocket immediately, heart beating just a little bit faster. Today of all days he could do with some OR time: he needed a day away from the madness.

But it wasn’t the hospital, it was Makoto.
“Hello Makoto,” Mamoru said. “Usagi is with Rei and Ami in Rei’s room. Do you want me to get her for you?”
“Hi Mamoru, no, I’m actually calling to speak to you. Do you know where Takeshi went last night? He’s not at his house and his office building is closed over the weekend, so he can’t be there either.”
Mamoru swallowed. Not for one moment had he thought about where his friend would go to. “No, no idea. Have you tried his mobile phone?”
He could almost hear Makoto roll her eyes. “Of course I have. So he’s not at the palace then?”
“No.”
“Is Minako?”
“Not that I’m aware.”
“Will she come over later? Move in?”
Mamoru snorted. Just a second ago he’d been mentally complaining about not enough people actually living in the palace, and now that another one was about to move in, he wished she wouldn’t. Minako wasn’t high on his favourite people list (not that this list was very long anyway). “Your guess is as good as mine. Usagi and Takeshi want her to.”
Makoto’s voice took on a warning note. “You don’t?”
“I want my wife to be happy. If it makes Usagi happy to have Minako around, then that’s fine with me. Do you think he might have gone to a hotel?”
Accepting the change of topic, Makoto went along. “If he did, we can’t find him. Tokyo has too many hotels to ring every single one.”
Plus, Mamoru thought, if Takeshi didn’t want to be found, he wouldn’t be. It was a simple as that. The easiest (and most impossible) thing to do would be to catch him just as he went into the next CTCT meeting, which was tomorrow morning at nine. But as the embodiment of all crystalline evil, Mamoru Chiba of course couldn’t go there, and neither could Usagi.
“I’ll leave him a message, ask him to call either you or me back,” Mamoru offered, while knowing that it was a futile endeavour. Takeshi would stay away and silent until he had come to terms with last night’s incident.

“Okay, thanks,” Makoto said, and hung up. Stowing his phone away, Mamoru resumed his walk.
Last night’s incident... it was a rather euphemistic way of putting it. In all the years they had known each other, Mamoru had never seen Takeshi lose it like that. His friend was always so controlled, even in his rage, but something Ando had said had just pushed his buttons. It was foolish of Ando to get involved, he’d been once more overstepping his boundaries. It was so easy to see that Takeshi wanted nothing less than to stay away from Minako. Just a few weeks ago, he’d given her a holiday to Egypt as a present! Of course, given the prophecy, there was no way now that Takeshi would leave the country for any period of time. He would do everything he could to assure that the prophecy would not become reality. He wasn’t leaving Minako, he was trying his best to assure they could all have a future. It was a sacrifice and the fact that Minako and Ando didn’t see that raised Mamoru’s shackles. They were being unfair to a very fair man and that just didn’t sit right with him.

And now Usagi wanted Minako to move in. Great. He’d rather have Takeshi move in, but that would unfortunately defeat the whole purpose of Takeshi’s decision.

***

She was unusually silent. His bubbly, loud, vicacous friend, she of the tiny skirts and the big smiles, was quiet. They had walked into the palace through the big front entrance, safely guarded by Umino’s magic. Minako was moving into her new home in yesterday’s clothes and with only her mobile phone in her hands. All her other possessions were still in her house, but Minako refused to go there.

For now, all she wanted was to talk to Usagi and Rei about Kunzite. Not about Takeshi: about Kunzite. When Ando had admitted what had happened last night after she’d left, not leaving out how he had fuelled Takeshi’s rage, Minako had clutched his hands, asking him over and over again whether he was alright, whether Ami had checked his heartbeat for any irregularities, whether he’d slept, eaten. Patiently, Ando had explained that he was okay, that the electricity from Takeshi’s hands had never even touched him, that his heartbeat felt more or less normal, his appetite was moderate, and would she please take a chill pill now?

But Minako was worried and nothing could change that. Ando had almost kept the fight between him and Mamoru a secret, not wanting to add to his friend’s many worries, but that was not and never had been how their friendship worked. The two of them had always told each other everything. In the Silver Millennium, when the relationship between Kunzite and Venus had been one of the best kept secrets of the universe, Venus had told Jadeite on her own accord. She had confided in him, as he had confided in her. It was one of his greatest regrets that he hadn’t allowed her to convince him to marry Mars. It might have kept him from falling for Beryl’s lies.

However, there was no Beryl this time around and yet all of them were falling apart. Their little group was struggling with its fate, and it seemed that once more the world was intent on not letting two of them be together. Rationally, Ando knew, Takeshi had a point, but he would have thought that if anything, his past would have taught him to hold onto the woman he loved. Minako deserved that.

She stopped. “Which room is mine?”
Ando swallowed. She was trying so hard to sound collected and efficient, it was fucking breaking his heart. “I don’t know.” He didn’t think anyone had thought this far ahead.
“Is there furniture in it?”
“In the room that I don’t know about?”
She gave a small nod.
“Shit, I don’t think so.”
“And it’s Sunday. IKEA is closed.”
“You can crash with Rei for now, and I’ll get you furniture. You want one of those round beds? One of those fancy hooker beds? And a big wardrobe? Or all the pink stuff Takeshi wouldn’t let you get?”
She looked down at her feet, still clad in the high heels she’d worn to yesterday’s interview. “Takeshi never minded. I could get whatever I wanted; he just cared about me feeling at home.”

For once, Ando didn’t know what to say.

***

Armed with his credit card, Ando knocked on Hiromasa and Makoto Obuchi’s front door. He didn’t want to ring the bell in case the kids were napping - parents got so ridiculously riled up over every little sound as if children were dynamite and bells a box of matches.

The door opened and Ando looked up to meet Hiromasa’s eyes.
“You need to sell me some girly furniture,” the journalist said and waved his credit card. “Today. Now. So you get out of your grandpa slippers and get cracking.”

***

“You could move into the empty tower in the South wing,” Usagi suggested, her head resting on Minako’s shoulder. Ando had deposited Minako at Rei’s, where the other girls were still resting in bed. With Usagi cuddling up her right, Rei pressed to her left and Ami compiling a long list of all the empty rooms and their relative advantages and disadvantages, Minako already felt lots better than she had in the shower a few hours ago. It had been good that Ando had brought her here.

“I don’t need a whole tower,” Minako disagreed. A whole tower would feel too permanent, too much like a real apartment. It would make living away from Takeshi too much of a reality. Attila couldn’t climb too many steps. She couldn’t move somewhere where her dog couldn’t get.
“There are two free rooms in Ando’s tower, underneath his room,” Rei suggested. “I just don’t know whether they have bathrooms. Ami?”
Ami thought about it. “I think they do.”
“Wouldn’t you mind me living closer to him than you do?” Minako asked, not wanting to step on Rei’s toes.
“You are my friend. Of course not,” Rei huffed, sounding genuinely offended.

The door popped open, and Umino appeared, carrying a tray. “Breakfast, ladies.” He put the tray onto the bed, gave Ami a kiss, and disappeared again. Even Rei had to smile.
“He is a very nice man,” the priestess praised, and Ami blushed a little. “He is.”
“My sandwiches are better, but it’s the thought that counts,” Usagi giggled before snagging the first sandwich, promptly dropping strawberry jam on Rei’s white sheets.

***

Hiromasa Obuchi walked into the palace on his own accord later that day, carrying the headboard of a bed under one arm, and the matching nightstand under the other. Ando walked ahead, carrying the toolbox, proud as a peacock.

***

“Mi, get your sweet ass in here,” Ando hollered, and Hiro frowned.
“I don’t think Rei would like you saying stuff like that.”
“Fuck off,” Ando replied good-naturedly, grin on his face. “MINAKO AINO, GET THE FUCK IN HERE!” His friend now had a room. She had a nice white bed with a nice white nightstand, a matching wardrobe to boot and all of that nice white furniture had been carried and assembled by Hiro, who, while being this busy, didn’t even have time to remember that he didn’t particularly care for Ando and Minako. Ando counted that as a win-win situation.

Hiro looked around the room. It didn’t look like a home. “She needs some plants.”
Ando, who had never owned a single plant in his life, shrugged. “Or pink stuff. Mina is one for pink stuff. Hey, can you take her to IKEA tomorrow so that she can go get some? She can hardly take Takeshi’s car.”
Hiro’s big face turned sour and he tossed the screwdriver back into the toolbox with a little more force than necessary. “I don’t go to IKEA on principle.”
“Hiro,” Ando said warningly, “she is without her dog. If you were without your dogs, you’d be happy to have a friend driving you some place you like.”
Ando plucked the nasty thought Hiro had right from his mind. He blanched. What was it with all men over six foot three in his circle of friends wanting to get a good punch in the face these days? First Takeshi, then Mamoru, and now Hiro. He just couldn’t believe it.
“She’s not your friend?” Ando asked and got up, his good mood gone. “You asshole. She had weekly dinners at your house for years. She plays with your kid. She is basically your wife’s sister. Not your friend? Fuck you.”
“I didn’t say anything!” Hiro exclaimed and rose too, easily towering over Ando.
“You thought it!”
“Stay the fuck out of my head!”

Just then the door opened and the girls spilled in. “Oooh, this is so pretty!” Usagi cooed and ran a hand over the carvings in the wardrobe’s double door. “Hiro, I wish I could afford your furniture, I really love it.”
That shut the designer up for good. He’d never even thought of offering Usagi and Mamoru furniture when they had to move into the big palace. His eyes met Minako’s. “I’ll pay, of course,” the lithe blonde said, and before Hiro could say something, feeling more ashamed than he already did, Ando waved his hand and walked over to the girls, taking Mina in one arm and Rei in the other. “My treat.”

“Usa, why don’t you come to the shop tomorrow, pick something out,” Hiro muttered gruffly. “And bring Minako, I’ll drive you to IKEA after.”
“Really?” Minako asked incredulously.
Hiro shrugged and reached for his toolbox. “This room needs plants.”
“This room,” Rei corrected, “needs linens, candles and a toothbrush holder.”

***

Umino looked up. “Hiro is here,” he said, and Mamoru shook his head.
“Can’t be. Hiro doesn’t come to the palace.”
“Hiro is here,” Umino insisted and walked over to the door. Sure enough, the big man was stalking down the hall, looking extremely out of place in his lumberjack shirt, old jeans, and heavy motorcycle boots.

“Hey,” Umino called to him, and Hiro looked up.
“Hi,” he said cautiously, the grip on his toolbox hardening. Mamoru moved into the doorframe too. “Hi,” he added, feeling a little stupid. He was a doctor for crying out loud, he was used to cutting people open, he shouldn’t feel insecure just because a friend of his was walking down a corridor.
“Want to have some breakfast?” Umino asked, his green eyes full of a hope Hiro just couldn’t dash.
“Umm, yeah, sure,” he answered and followed Umino and Mamoru in the messy kitchen.

***

Minako, Ami, Rei and Usagi were staring at the new white bed.
“I don’t know, something is missing,” Usagi said, tilting her head.
Ami chuckled. “How about a mattress?”
“I don’t want to sleep on the slatted frame,” Minako said. “I think Takeshi and I broke up for good, so I really don’t want to sleep on the slatted frame.”
“You didn’t break up,” Usagi insisted. “He wants to sneak in here to see you.”
Always pragmatic, Ami turned to Rei. “If Ando sleeps in your room tonight, Minako can sleep in his and we can buy a mattress, a blanket, and a pillow tomorrow.”
Rei blinked. “Excuse me?”
“Oh, and towels. Minako also needs towels,” Ami continued. “Minako, I will make you a list.” And with that, the doctor left, happy to have a purpose.
Usagi grinned. “Can I please tell Ando that he gets lucky tonight?”
“Usagi!” Rei exclaimed, all indignation.
Minako laughed. “Please tape his reaction. It’ll cheer me up on a rainy day.”
“I’ll give you a rainy day,” Rei muttered and glared at Minako. “I will tell Ando he can sleep on my couch.”

***

Hiro was sitting at the kitchen table amidst two days of dirty dishes. This room seemed like a normal room. The cabinets mounted to the walls covered most of the crystal, the kitchen table and chairs were from Usagi’s and Mamoru’s old flat, there was a small pot of dried basil near an actual window, and if he closed his eyes, the humming of the fridge sounded just like the one in his own house.

Here, in this very room, the palace didn’t seem like a palace. It seemed like the weird place his old friend Mamoru had moved into. Mamoru, who obviously didn’t own enough furniture to fill one-hundred-and-fifty rooms. “You did well, during the interview,” Hiro finally said and took a sip of his black coffee. Turned out, even kings ran out of milk sometimes.

Mamoru snorted. “Did you watch the same interview?”
“He was a bit morose,” Umino tried to mediate, but Mamoru shook his head at the younger man. “It was more than that.”
“You didn’t want to be there,” Hiro noted, and Mamoru, twisting his mug in his hands, nodded.
“But you did it anyway,” Hiro continued, his voice trailing off. His own words echoed in his mind, and he knew that this was a thought he would have to return to later.

“Aiko liked seeing you and Usagi on TV.”
Mamoru smiled. Everyone liked Hiro’s and Mako’s little girl, which was why the prospect of her dying on a battlefield that wasn’t even her own had hit them all so hard. A part of Mamoru wondered whether Takeshi would have snapped into action so quickly and intensely if it wasn’t Aiko’s future that was on the cards. She was his godchild, a duty the architect took very seriously. In all the years the two men had gone on their monthly dinners, Takeshi had only cancelled a handful of times, and Mamoru distinctly remembered that one had been because of Aiko’s kindergarten play last year and another when the girl was sick and wanted her uncle to come read her a story. They’d already been in the restaurant when Takeshi had received the call, and he had made his apologies immediately. Mamoru had always hoped that Takeshi would feel the same about Chibi-Usa when she was finally born, but this was a thought he didn’t dare indulge in any longer. His own little girl might never be. Hiro was lucky: he had two beautiful children and a good life. Who could blame him for wanting to hold onto it as long as he could? Still, it was good to have Hiro around again, even if it was only for a breakfast.

“I’m glad the interview was fun for someone,” Mamoru said and Hiro reached over to pat him on the back. “I’m taking your wife to IKEA tomorrow,” he said by way of distraction, “anything you want me to keep her from buying?”
Mamoru smiled. “No, I don’t mind.”
“What furniture do you need?” Hiro asked, and gestured around him, clearly referring to more than just the kitchen.

So far silent, Umino piped up. “Sideboards. Coffee tables. A few extra chairs for when we’re all together here in the kitchen. And bookshelves.”
“You always need more bookshelves,” Hiro replied, grinning. “You’ve needed more bookshelves since the day I met you because you’ve never seen a book you didn’t want to buy. And Ami’s just as bad.”
“Bookshelves are a good idea though,” Mamoru agreed. Minako and Usagi had bought some Billy shelves a while ago, but the snob in Mamoru dreamt of proper shelves, made from real wood, perfectly lighted and safely mounted to the walls. When they’d first moved into the palace and needed to assemble the kitchen, he’d had to call Makoto and Takeshi to come and help drill the holes. Mamoru could use a surgical drill, but not a real one, and he hadn’t had a father who taught him how to put together furniture and drill holes into crystalline walls. Luckily, both Makoto and Takeshi were keen to help, but a lot had changed since then. Takeshi had become very busy and Makoto hadn’t come to the palace because it upset Hiro so much.

“Then bookshelves you will get,” Hiro replied, his guilty conscience booming. Mamoru smiled and it had nothing whatsoever to do to with the new furniture coming his way and everything to do with the man sitting in his kitchen. Over the past years, he had grown accustomed to having Hiro, Umino and Takeshi around, not as a personal guard, but as brothers. With Hiro keeping his distance after the creation of the palace, Mamoru had felt as if his parents had died all over again. But them he could never get back, whereas Hiro had returned to him today.

Now if only Takeshi were here too...

***

By the time it got dark again, the palace’s newest resident was safely tucked away in Ando’s bed, reading one of Ami’s romance novels. Usagi had come to say good night first (bearing a pair of pyjamas), then Ami with the book, and when Ando had left, Minako was on the phone with Makoto, who had called to make sure that Minako was doing okay.

Ando, happily banished from his room, made his way to Rei’s. He hadn’t spent the night yet, not that he was complaining. He’d returned barely two months ago and they had the rest of their lives ahead of them, together. Unlike Takeshi, he would never ever give up on the woman he’d lost once already. Rei was worth whatever price he had to pay. He enjoyed their dates, their casual morning meetings, giving her a kiss goodnight, running into her in the hallway, watching her talk to Usagi and Ami. As long as he was allowed to be around her, he was good. But tonight, he’d be better than good. He would get to fall asleep next to her and wake up next to her and he wasn’t going to discount how much he looked forward to all the nice stuff in the middle.

When he knocked and entered, he found himself looking at the made-up sofa. There was a blanket and a pillow and Rei was just setting a bottle of water and a glass on the coffee table beside the couch.

“I am sleeping on the couch?” Ando asked, disbelieving. “Have I been that bad?”
Rei frowned. “If I let you in my bed, then it certainly won’t be because Minako needs a place to sleep. It will be because the time is right.”
Stepping into the room and closing the door behind him, he made his way to Rei, who accepted a kiss from him. Instead of moving away, he remained close. She had showered, and her long wet hair was pulled back in a tight pony-tail, her fringe brushed to the side. There was not a scrap of make-up on her face, and she was already in her pyjamas, long black sleep-pants and a grey long-sleeve.

His hand travelled to the small of her back and slipped underneath her shirt. Her skin was so soft, it drove him nuts. And then that smell of lavender.
“What do you mean, ‘if’? I think you meant ‘when’. Say you meant ‘when’,” Ando murmured against Rei’s mouth and she smiled despite herself.
“It doesn’t matter. You’ll sleep on the couch tonight. Even if it’s only to prove a point to Usagi.”
Stroking little circles on her back, he rolled his eyes. “Women.”

An idea crossed his mind and he grinned. “How about you sleep on the couch with me?”
Rei eyed the couch with doubt.
“Bit small, isn’t it?”
This time, Ando laughed. “I don’t think I should respond to that. All my suggestions for the space saving problem are dirty ones.”
“Oh you, shush,” Rei replied immediately and stepped away from him, a blush creeping on her cheeks.
“You are adorable,” Ando said, and reached for Rei’s hand, pulling her close to him again. “If you had a TV, I’d ask you to watch something with me and then make my move.”
“I don’t,” she said, and smiled again. “I wasn’t too happy with you last night, Ando,” she continued, her voice growing suddenly serious, the smile slipping off her face.
“Because I meddled?” he asked with a frown, entwining his fingers in hers. He was trying very hard to reign his powers in. Unlike Umino, Rei would be mad if he delved into her mind accidentally, Ando was sure of it.
“No, because you were reckless and endangered yourself instead of stepping away from a potentially hazardous situation.”
Ando looked down at their joined hands. “Umino said something similar earlier. Mina did too.”
“Take it seriously then,” Rei said and rose onto tiptoes to lightly kiss his lips.
“I always take you seriously,” Ando replied.
“That’s not what I was asking you to do. I want you to---”
“I know,” he interrupted. “Got it. Promise. But I still think all of you are wrong. Takeshi wouldn’t hurt me. He walked away before anything happened, and this is the first time since we remembered who we are that something like this happened. The first time. I can’t even begin to count how many times I lost control over my powers and learned all sorts of things I had no business knowing.” He moved over to the couch, and Rei followed him. They sat down side by side, but he reached down and pulled her legs up and over his lap, stroking her ankles.

“Mindreading and electrocution are wildly different phenomenons, Ando.”
“I wonder if I haven’t been doing it a lot longer than I realised. Perhaps my success at work is not because I’m a solid writer, but because I plucked information from the minds of my sources, never knowing I did it.”
“Your point being?”
“My point being that Takeshi has a very firm handle on himself and I think last night showed that more than disproved it.”
She shook her head. “Interesting perspective, but I cannot say that I agree with it. He is a very dangerous man. He’s self-destructive, and it extends itself to Minako. I cannot tolerate that.”
Ando gave her a shrewd look. “Neither can I. I’m saying that he’s not a danger to any of us. I’m not saying he’s not an ass. I want Minako to be happy, Rei. If she can be happy with him, then I’m good, but if they are not happy together, then I’d rather have them apart.”
Rei gave him a long, levelled look. Then she got up, her movements quick and decisive. Before Ando had really caught on to what had happened, she’d already pulled her feet back and hoisted herself up and was now standing in front of him, looking down at his confused face. “Fine, you can sleep in my bed. But you better behave.”
Ando blinked. “Just like that?”
“Want me to change my mind?”
“Not even a little bit,” he immediately said, his face eager.
“Then come,” she said and extended her hand to him.

***

The next day found Usagi, Minako, and Hiromasa on their pre-planned trip to his large workspace and to IKEA. Only Hiro looked like himself: Usagi had donned a brown wig to make sure nobody recognised her from her TV interview, and Minako was wearing some of Ami’s clothes, therefore looking far more demure and respectable than she normally did.

To Hiro’s surprise, it wasn’t as bad as he’d expected. The wig did its trick and nobody recognised Usagi as the woman from the TV. Her old jeans and sneakers made her look like any pretty woman in her twenties. In fact, he found that with the brown hair, she looked like Makoto’s younger sister.

Minako too was on her best behaviour, shopping quickly and efficiently and never shying away from any heavy lifting. The necessary articles were soon selected, paid for, and hauled into Hiro’s transporter and before it was even lunchtime, Hiro had dropped the girls and the furniture off at the palace again, where Ando and Umino were waiting to carry everything inside.

Watching them in the rear view mirror as he drove away, Hiro decided to not only give Usagi the two kitchen chairs she’d chosen in his shop, but to build something for her. Something pretty, something she wouldn’t find anywhere else. Perhaps a nightstand with bunny ears or something equally cutesy. Somehow, this seemed important.

His mobile phone began to ring. He glanced on the passenger seat, where he’d tossed it earlier. The small display was aglow, the caller’s ID flashing up at him.

Takeshi Mobile.
Not hesitating, Hiro indicated right, pulled over, and answered the phone.

***

Minako, Umino, and Ando were just heaving the mattress onto the bed when Hiro entered.
“Forgot something?” Umino asked, looking around the room to see if any of Hiro’s tools was left on the floor from yesterday.
Hiro shoved his hands into his pockets, his shoulder slumping a little bit. “Listen, Minako, this is a bit awkward.” Minako slowly put her corner of the mattress down, and Ando and Umino followed suit, leaving the mattress half on the floor and half on the bed.
“Go on,” Minako said, her blue eyes on Hiro, who looked even more uncomfortable than he usually did around her. And here she was thinking that because she’d bought him a hotdog and a soft drink, their relationship had gotten better. Of course their morning camaraderie couldn’t have lasted.

“Takeshi called me, he said that he has already been to the house and that you don’t have to worry about Attila. He’ll call you in a few days.”
Minako snorted. “You mean he told you it was okay for me to go the house because he isn’t going to be there and to not call him until he’s ready.”
Hiro fidgeted. “I told you what he said, nothing more, nothing less.”
Straightening her spine, Minako exhaled. “Thanks for passing the message along.”
“You want the delivery van to get your stuff?”
“I can’t drive a van,” Minako replied, suddenly looking a little sad. She could drive Takeshi’s big BMW X5 and that had always been enough to get furniture and other cumbersome things from A to B, but of course, she could hardly fetch her stuff in the car of the man who wouldn’t even call her.
“I can drive it,” Umino offered, and Hiro tossed him the keys, clearly glad to have found a way to wrap the conversation.
“You can take Ami’s car, she went to work with Mamoru anyway. The keys are in our living-room, I’ll go get them for you,” Umino said, and made for the door.

Hiro offered Mina and Ando a half-hearted wave and followed Umino out of the room.

***

Her house was silent. No dog padding to greet her, no Takeshi peeking out of his study to welcome her with a little smile. No radio, no television.

It was cold too. She walked over to the heater: it too had been turned off. When she’d left for the interview just two days ago, it had been switched to full power because Minako so hated being cold and with November nearing its end, the temperatures were dropping with each day. With a sinking feeling, she walked into the kitchen. The dishwasher was empty. She opened the fridge: neither light nor food greeted her. Feeling numb, she stepped onto the foot-handle of the trash can. Its lid flipped open. There was nothing inside, not even a new bag.

Takeshi must have turned all appliances off when he left. He hated wasting energy; knowing neither he nor Minako were going to be here for a while, he had shut the house down, even thinking of taking out the trash and emptying the fridge of everything edible.

He’d probably watered the plants too. Sticking her fingers into the soil of the pot of herbs by the window, she knew she’d been right.

Takeshi had packed up for good.

Just as Minako felt the tears spring up in her eyes, Ando put a hand on her shoulder, steadying her.
“It’ll be fine,” he murmured. “One way or the other, it’ll be fine.”

***

Minako left the house with five boxes of clothes, all of her books (which Umino volunteered to box and carry) and with her computer bag. She eyed the TV mounted to the wall in the living-room, but couldn’t bring herself to actually take something off the walls.

Ando, who had been loading up the van with Umino, came back inside.
“I think we got everything but your bag. You okay?”
“No.” Takeshi had told her that he would come to the palace, sneak in to see her, but as she packed up her possessions, she realised that a part of her didn’t believe it. Their stance towards Crystal Tokyo was so different and she knew that they were on the path to becoming the people Mamoru had seen in Michiru’s mirror. If Takeshi believed that the best course of action for all of them was a negotiation with Wiseman, then this was what he would do, and he wouldn’t give a damn that she found it impossible to live with. Just as he didn’t give a damn that she was standing in their house, its emptiness ripping a hole in her heart. Just as in the past, Kunzite hadn’t given a damn about----

Bypassing her, Ando walked up to the living room wall and plucked one of the framed pictures of her and Takeshi off the wall. “Here, pack this. Just in case.”
Minako took the picture from his hands. It had taken her weeks to convince him to sit for a photographer with her, and even then he had been grumpy until she had tickled him out of it. Literally. It was one of her favourite pictures of him, the one where he laughed.
“Are you ready to go?”
She swallowed. “I am sleeping between you and Rei tonight and you can both hold my hand and pat my head.”
“Kinky, but yeah, sure. And we’ll get Usagi to join us too. No being sad around Usagi, it just doesn’t work. Also, more hands. Always good. Do you want me invite Mamoru?” Ando kissed the top of Minako’s head, the gesture betraying the levity of his words. She’d be fine. He knew she’d be fine because Minako had a backbone made from steel. “You’re tougher than a box of rusty old nails,” he said and rubbed her arm as if to warm her.
Minako turned to meet his eyes, a question mark on her face. “Thanks, I guess?”
“You’ll be fine, Mi. Now come on, Umino is itching to get back to the palace.”

Ando opened the door, letting Minako slide onto the middle spot of the seat bench before sliding in himself.
“Thanks for helping me,” Minako said, and Umino started the car, trying very hard not to look at the picture Minako was clutching in her white hands. “No worries.”

***

Ami’s day had been long even though it was only early afternoon. She’d begun work at 4.30 this morning and it had been one of those days where she’d barely had the time to catch a breath.

There had been three emergency operations, plus two regularly scheduled ones, lots of post-ops to follow up on, and of course, the whispers during lunchtime. She didn’t know how Mamoru did it. Everyone was always looking at him, patients, nurses, fellow doctors. And then there were the journalists that had taken to hanging out in the parking lot, hoping to score an interesting soundbite of the mysterious Dr. Chiba. Nobody had realised that Ami was part of the packaged deal. The colleagues simply thought she and Mamoru had been friends before the volcano and now she felt obligated to sticking with him. They didn’t suspect that Ami was anything more or less than the skilled medical professional they knew her as and Ami was glad for it. If they whispered about her the way they did about Mamoru, if all eyes were on her all the time, she couldn’t cope with it. It would make her flustered, leave her a less capable doctor.

Where she and Mamoru often used to go for a coffee at Makoto’s after work, he had now adopted the habit of hurrying home and once inside the palace, made a beeline for his and Usagi’s rooms.

After fetching herself some yoghurt and a banana from the kitchen - which was a lot messier than she’d left it this morning, without a doubt due to Minako moving in - Ami too retreated to her rooms.

Entering through the study, she hung up her jacket on one of the hooks in the wall, deposited her purse on her small cramped desk, and opened the bedroom door. Perhaps she and Umino could watch a film tonight, do something normal. After her shift, she simply didn’t feel like doing any more research on the crystals. It was tedious at best and utterly demotivating at worst because so far, all her work had yielded nothing. What she needed now was to relax, to spend time with Umino.

But it seemed as if a nice relaxing evening wasn’t on the cards. Inside the bedroom, she found Umino, pacing back and forth, his chin-length cinnamon curls sticking out in all directions. He’d been fretting, she could tell by how the sleeves of his jumpers were becoming all stretched out, dangling loose around his wrists. Something had made him nervous.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, hurrying towards him.
He stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes wide. “Ami.” He gulped.
“Did something happen? Usagi? Minako?” Ami’s mind went into overdrive. If Usagi was in any way harmed, Mamoru would have been called, so that couldn’t be it. Minako however --- had Takeshi appeared, had they fought again? Had Ando gotten hurt? What about Makoto and the kids? But surely, if something was the matter with Aiko or Yoshi, Hiro and Makoto would have called her!
“No no no, everything is okay!” Umino assured her, but somehow didn’t seem any less nervous. Ami exhaled. If he said everything was okay, then it was. “Then what’s going on?”
“Nothing, Ami, nothing. Except...” he paused, and ran a hand through his hair, shifting the curls in yet another direction. “I helped Minako to fetch some clothes and some of her things today.”
“Did she find the clothes I laid out for her?” Ami asked. She’d put a pair of jeans, a jumper and some sneakers out for her friend. Minako couldn’t go shopping in her black skirt and blazer outfit from the interview. While Minako’s and her figure weren’t quite the same (Minako was curvier and taller), Ami had carefully chosen articles of clothing where it didn’t matter.

“She did,” Umino said, thinking of how odd it had been to see Minako in his girlfriend’s favourite green jumper. “She got her own things now.”
“Did you run into Takeshi at the house?”
Umino shook his head. “He called Hiro to let us know he wouldn’t be there. The house was empty.”
He reached for Ami’s hand. “I don’t ever want you to walk into our home, wherever it is, with a face like Minako’s today.”
Ami’s heart got heavy. “So bad?”
“Yes,” Umino confirmed simply. “Ami, I can’t help but feel that Minako and Takeshi have missed their moment. I don’t want that to happen to us. You are everything to me.”
“As you are to me,” Ami replied, taking a step towards him, going in for a hug, but Umino shook his head. “No, wait, you don’t understand. This wasn’t quite how I’d planned it, but...” he shoved a hand in his pocket and fumbled for something, his face turning red.
When he finally found what he’d been searching for, he cleared his throat. “Okay,” he murmured, “right, here we go,” and then went down on one knee, extending his hand to Ami. Opening his fist, he revealed a simple silver ring in his palm, with a tiny stone embedded into it.
“It’s my grandmother’s,” Umino said, trying very hard to hold still.

Ami looked down at him, at his sincere face, at the small, hopeful smile on his lips. She’d always been a top student, had known the right answer to every question. This time, she knew the answer before she’d even heard the question.

“Yes.”

***

The appointment at the courthouse was last minute. Umino had called from Hiro’s van while waiting for Ando to retrieve Minako from the house earlier, and had snagged the last free slot before the courthouse closed for the day.

The bride wore a simple blue dress under her warm wool coat, the groom a pair of black slacks and a nice green v-neck jumper with a checkered shirt underneath. He couldn’t find his tie in the nick of time, so he’d gone without. It didn’t matter to the bride anyway. They made it in at ten to four, with not a minute to spare.

At five past four, doctors phil. and med. Kiichi left the courthouse as husband and wife.

*** End of Chapter Eight***

Onto the next chapter.