Because it's training time for all the cool kids.

[myswordis]

Kunzite has stubbornness, but he lacks Zoisite's effortless resistence. Where emotions or worries are thrust away from the wall Kunzite erects around himself, they seem to simply melt away in the face of Zoisite's calm

Comments

/shows "cool kids club" membership card

[earth_crystal]

The sight is familiar. And yet it's obviously new for her.

The clothes, the hair, are all wrong, different. But the voice, the stern expression and the movements as he trains are just like the ones she knows. Kunzite, the one and only, doesn't seem to change much between worlds besides physically. It's different than with Zoisite, the man was similar and yet different from the one she knows, thought it could be due the age difference. It makes her wonder what appearance do her alternates have, are they blond girls or something?

It doesn't really matter, she's not extremely curious about other worlds and she only stays because the other man is training. She was going to the park to train herself as well, may at least ask if he wants a sparring partner. Though she doubts it would be different than when she trains with her Kunzite, maybe it still helps to improve.

"Are you interested in a partner for practice?" Masako asks calmly and with a polite smile on her lips, her sword sheathed and hold in front of her with both her hands in a way that shows that she's not here to fight or with ill intentions.

[myswordis]

He's not Zoisite (that comparison again) to sense the presence of their master's alternate so easily. If he knew who she was, he'd be more polite from the start. As it is, he isn't rude, precisely; but Kunzite eyes Masako appraisingly, judging the strength of her body and form from her posture.

"Can you use a sword?" he asks.

[earth_crystal]

Masako nods, trying to keep down her pride side from showing, she manages it except for a proud smirk that comes to her lips.

"I'm confident that I can, I was taught by the bests;" the pride doesn't show in her tone though it's obvious that she's more than just confident, she's definitively sure. And her voice does seem to inflate a bit at the mention of her mentors in sword fighting.

[myswordis]

"Oho?" His own pride rushes up to meet hers, because he is the best - and of course he has no way to know that's precisely what she means, yet.

"Let's test that." He won't mind giving an upstart, cocky girl a lesson. It bring back thoughts of the past, of Endymion's arrogant confidence - and just how often Endymion ended up bested in their practices despite it.

[earth_crystal]

Only four people deserve to be considered the bests in sword fighting and among them only Kunzite is the best of the best. In any and every world, Masako is quite sure that's a rule that remains true even in the nexus. Still, her rebellious side, full of arrogant confidence that Kunzite has often told her to get rid of and she has yet to bother in even trying to, whispers that to every rule there are exceptions.

He looks similar but different, but his voice and expressions are the same. So seemed his sword technique, but is this Kunzite really as good as the one she knows? Is he better? Is he worse? There's only one way to test it, and Masako can't suppress the confident and proud smile on her lips as she unsheathes her sword and presents it, ready for the practice. "With pleasure!" Is all she says, signal that she's ready.

Actions often say more that words, and some said that a sword will always reflect the true self of the person who wields it. It's the best way to know if one's opponent is a real knight or just scum with a sword, if there is any real will behind the sword or just a scared soldier following orders while praying to not die... Or the Earth's prince in another form and with slightly different speed due the difference of weight but with the same movements and technique... Or lack of it as Masako still has too much of the shitennou in her technique and too little of her own, signal of how young she is in the use of a sword.

[myswordis]

Oh, yes, there's much to read by crossing swords. This girl is eager to prove herself, eager for approval, and-

What he cannot sense as Zoisite can, he can certainly sense through their weapons. Her grip, her movements, they're all the same. Endymion.

"It can't be," he says quietly.

[earth_crystal]

He really is Kunzite, if she had had doubts about it (which would be a shame because what kind of Earth princess wouldn't recognize her shitennou even in another worlds?) crossing swords makes it clear. It's the familiar wall that Kunzite is in their practices, blocking any attack as if they were nothing, dodging when it's not even worth to block it and counterattacking with perfect timing and precision that forces her to be on absolute defense if she wants to avoid falling. And she wants to avoid it.

She wants to prove herself, to every Kunzite out there, not just her own. She's here, she's a good student, she practices every time she can and even if she may slack off a bit sometimes she's a good girl. A good master. The kind of master the shitennou would be proud of fighting together with, that's what she wants to be, what she wants to prove. So she keeps going, with passion and confidence but reckless at the same time. The same faults, the same grip, the same movements.

Masako barely stops a bit as she hears Kunzite, so focused on him and his movements that hearing him is possible even if he talks quietly; "What is it? Is there a problem?" She asks, concerned but trying to not get distracted. Still she can't help it, even if he's not her Kunzite, he's a shitennou, he's Kunzite. Masako worries and cares about them, it's logical that she would place their good being above fighting, right?

[myswordis]

How can he say it in words? How can he say everything he feels looking at any version of their master, the person he loved and revered and betrayed and despised? Only long-enforced habit keeps his focus on the fighting, makes it seem as if there's no break in his self-control and concentration.

When he next has an opening enough to speak, he asks the question. "Who are you?"

[earth_crystal]

If anyone asked Masako and she could talk freely she would offer theories about how Kunzite must be some kind of superior being or an alien that comes from far away from the Solar System. It's just that hard to believe that any normal person would be so focused in everything they do and never lose an inch of self-control or concentration. She has seen Kunzite in many difficult moments, both in this life and the past one, and never ever has she seen him become even slightly nervous or worried.

Even in the past, when Sailor Moon battled them all and she made her way towards Elysea, crying and begging them to not make it harder, to let it all end quickly. As she passed through the shitennou one after another, not killing them but leaving them wounded and giving herself enough time to get to Elysea, not even once Kunzite cracked. Masako remembers her last moments, the pain of Serenity's sword in her body, the feeling of Serenity taking her hand and stabbing herself as well with Elysea's sword... And the look in the face of her shitennou, unable to believe it, to understand and in pain... All but Kunzite. He never cracked, not even as his master and her best friend died in front of him in an attempt to stop the war.

So she doesn't notice this Kunzite's inner turmoil at all, maybe she wouldn't notice it even if he showed it openly. She blinks at the question, reminding herself that it's not her Kunzite and that her alternate's appearance must be really different from hers. He doesn't have to know who she is and they didn't exchange names at all; "Chiba Masako." She replies and it only takes a heartbeat for the introduction to continue; "Also known as the Earth princess, Elysea." She didn't say so to the Zoisite she met, but it was Zoisite. Kunzite on the other hand has always frowned at her only using her present name, specially at times like those.

[myswordis]

His frown and scowl deepen. "Explain."

The master has no sister who might have similar training, or perhaps he does in this world. A fake couldn't be as good as this, but something is still out of place.

[earth_crystal]

She arches an eyebrow at that, what is there to explain? Wait, maybe he isn't familiar with the nexus yet, then it would certainly be something worth a frown to have a girl that looks different to his own Elysea claim to be her. At least he's not accusing her of being a fake right away, he doesn't ask for an explanation nicely either, totally Kunzite-like.

"it may be a bit hard to explain, but I'll beg for your patience. There has been a break in time and space going on for some time already, dimensions are coming together and mixing at times. We call it the nexus. It's the cause why I'm here, I'm not a fake neither an enemy, rather I'm an alternate of your master;" she talks calmly, trying to be as clear as possible and be straight to the point at the same time. Kunzite isn't a man who likes long explanations until he specifically asks for them. "Even if I look different from her, I'm sure you have noticed already some similarities, am I right? I have noticed them with you and the Kunzite I know back in my world, though your appearance is different."

[myswordis]

"My master is Prince Endymion," Kunzite says, with notable emphasis on prince, "And he has no sister."

[earth_crystal]

"I have a little brother but he's not called Endymion..." She can't help but counter at the 'he has no sister' part even before the first part really enters her brain.

When it does she stops. And blinks. "Prince?" She repeats, her face frowning in confusion before her brain explodes. "My alternate here is male?!"

Why didn't anyone tell her that before? That Zoisite didn't mention a world and that other Usagi... Wait. "Endymion... Uh, his new life's name, does it start with 'Mamo'?" To create Mamo-chan. Wouldn't that explain it? "What about the Moon princess? Is... Is she a he as well?" She can't really wrap her mind about it. Her alternate is a man? She? A man? And Usagi? Is she a man too? It will be a ridiculous man with that hairdo, that's for sure.

Congratulations Kunzite, you have broke the brain of one of your master's alternates.

[myswordis]

The master's alternate? It makes some sense.

And then she reacts like that, reminding him for all the world of everything he dislikes about the moon princess, even down to her face screwed up ready to bawl.

He barely gives her credit for not doing so.

"You would do better to stay away from the moon princess," he remarks, both from the necessity of his world and the dislike of seeing her influence on the master's attitudes.

[earth_crystal]

She doesn't bawl, of course not, not when Kunzite is right there, even if it's an alternate. But she can't help but have her brain exploding and her face express frustration over it.

It's all gone, thought, when he talks again. Masako looks at him with mild confusion, the rest of her thoughts and feelings hidden behind a mask. "Why do you say that? If my alternate here was a male indeed then there should be no problem between Earth and Moon..." That's something they often thought. If only one of them hadn't been born or if it had been born as a male. There would have been no Sailor Earth or Sailor Moon. There would have been no conflict and they would have been able to live peacefully and happy with all their friends.

"The Moon princess and me have been best friends since we were children in the past life. It was the Earth's duty to take care of the Moon kingdom for being weaker after all..." Masako can't help but explain a bit more about her world. There is also the fact that as Sailor Earth, Sailor Moon served her, together with the other senshi, but she chooses to not say so yet until she hears why she should stay away from her friend. She's obviously missing the point of the chances that her relationship with Serenity as 'best friends' would change and become a romantic relationship.

[myswordis]

"No," Kunzite says simply. "The relationship between the prince and princess led to war, and thus the planet was destroyed."

He will not hide that from an alternate, because if there is some chance of those tragedies repeating, perhaps knowing it will lead them to take the steps to stop it.