Prelude: And the Earth joined the Moon, and the heavens rejoiced...

Chapter One

---

Students milled through the gates of Namanai-gakuen, the steady hum of multiple conversations filling the crisp, clean afternoon air. Well, as clean as air got in Tokyo, at any rate.

A schoolgirl, nondescript save for her unusual auburn hair, walked through the gates and toward the street. At almost the precise second her toes touched the curb, a chestnut-haired boy with deep, dark eyes, barely visible behind sepia-tinted sunglasses, stepped out from behind the open gate and smiled at her. "Yo, Naru-chan," he said.

Osaka Naru smiled, ruffling the boy's hair affectionately. "Guri-chan," she said. "Right on time, as always." He fell into step beside her as she began to walk away from the school. "How was your day?" she asked.

Umino Gurio grinned. "Aced six pre-final exams. Got my scores back on the last batch of entrance exams, too."

"Perfect as usual?" Naru said, giggling.

Umino smirked. "Not quite...not enough to beat Mizuno-san's percentage, I'm sure." At Naru's sudden wistful expression, Umino sighed. "Gomen, Naru-chan..."

Naru shook her head. "No, it's alright." She smiled. "So, are we going out for a parfait? Or," she added, giving him a coy look, "do we just head straight home?" She leaned against him, batting her eyelashes.

Umino turned red. "Naru-chan, people are watching," he hissed, eliciting a giggle from the girl. "Actually, we need to at least stop in first. Mom said she was going to call sometime today..."

Naru nodded. "Yeah, and my mom's probably gonna call to yell at me again about not finding a female roommate." She smirked. "It's just her way of trying to encourage us to pick a date," she groused. Umino chuckled, and the two chattered about inconsequential things as they continued on the way home.

"It was sure nice of Osaka-san to...oops!"

An interesting scene unfolded in the living room of the Tsukino household. The door had just opened, admitting a beautiful young woman with long, elaborate golden pigtails and a lithe, graceful figure, as well as a tall, thin man with short, dark hair. The girl was blushing a light pink and giggling softly, due to the spectacle taking place inside.

On the couch...on opposite ends of the couch, to be precise, and possibly attempting to hide behind the couch, sat two blushing young teens. One was a slight, messy-haired boy. The other was a delicate-looking girl with shoulder-length dark hair and deep violet eyes. Her too-long legs were folded under her haphazardly, and her face was approximately the color of a ripe tomato from her blush. The boy had all but jumped behind the couch, and was divided between trying to hide and glaring at the people in the doorway.

"Jeez, Usagi, give us some warning, willya?" the boy said.

"Gomen, Shingo-kun," Tsukino Usagi said, removing her shoes and procuring a set of slippers. A mischevious twinkle entered her eyes as she said, "You two weren't doing anything Mom would yell at you for, were you?"

"No, of course not!" Shingo protested. The girl on the opposite end of the couch continued to blush meekly.

"Aww, too bad," Usagi said. "Why weren't you?" At the scandalized stares that comment received, she lost it completely and broke down laughing. The man standing behind her just groaned and made a great show of placing his palm to his forehead.

Shingo, for his part, glared at his older sister. "You're a real comedian, Usagi," he growled. "Mamoru, you sure you want to marry this odango-brain?"

Mamoru sighed dramatically. "I suppose," he said airily. "We all have to make sacrifices..." This earned him a stomped foot and a glare from his fiancee. He grimaced, then chuckled. "I'm just kidding, Usako."

"Hmph," Usagi said. "Just for that, don't expect me to come over to your place for a few days," she huffed. The two teens on the couch giggled, overcoming their embarrassment at being walked in on. Finally, Shingo stood, offering a hand to his girlfriend. "Let's go upstairs where we can get some privacy," he suggested.

"Oh no you don't," Usagi said. "If you're gonna do that, at least have the decency to go to a love hotel or something."

"U-SA-GI!!" Shingo growled, blushing almost as fiercely as his lady friend. "Don't be so vulgar! C'mon, Hotaru-chan, let's get out of this nuthouse and find something better to do." With no further ado, Shingo and Hotaru slipped on their shoes and left.

As the door closed, Mamoru chuckled. "Hotaru and Shingo...I'd never have seen that coming in a thousand years."

Usagi giggled. "It surprised me, too. I always assumed Shingo and Mika would still be together. They are an awfully cute couple, though," she added.

Mamoru nodded. "Well, you'd better hurry and change if we're going to make it there anytime soon," he said.

Usagi gasped. "Ack! I'll be right back," she said, zooming upstairs.

Two women sat in a coffee shop overlooking a bustling street in the heart of Tokyo. One of them was reading a newspaper. She frowned. "The sea is troubled...there's a storm on the horizon."

"It's not our problem," her companion said airily, sipping her coffee. "Our concerns don't involve politics."

"Mmm. Still, it's troublesome."

The doorbell rang. "Guri-chan! Could you get that?"

"Hai!" Umino walked across the main room of their modest two-bedroom apartment, and answered the door. "Konnichiwa!" he said, then gasped. "No way!"

The two people standing in the doorway blinked, and glanced from him, to each other, and back again. "Anou...I think we got the wrong place by mistake," the pigtailed blond began.

"Usagi-san? Mamoru-san?"

This caused the pair at the door to blink again. "Umino-kun?" Usagi asked. "Is that you?"

"Hai!" Umino said, grinning broadly.

"You've changed," Mamoru observed.

"Yeah, you look great. What happened to—?"

"My glasses?" Umino asked, chuckling. "I got corrective surgery last summer. But enough about me, look at you two! Usagi, you look fabulous."

Usagi blushed. "Thank you, Umino-kun. Anou...where's—?"

A door closed in the back of the apartment. "Who was out there, Guri-chan?"

"Naru-chan! We've got visitors!" Umino said. "You'll never guess who!"

Naru appeared, and immediately rushed to the door upon seeing Usagi and Mamoru standing there. "Usagi!" she said excitedly, throwing her arms around her old friend. "What a surprise...we sure weren't expecting to see you!"

Usagi returned her friend's hug fiercely. "It's been a long time, Naru-chan," she said. "How have you been?"

"Great!" Naru said. "How about you? Oh, please come in and get comfortable."

The group moved away from the door, taking a moment to catch up. "So what brings you by?" Naru asked. "I didn't even know you knew where to find us," she added with the barest hint of accusation.

Usagi flushed. "Gomen ne, Naru-chan...I'd have been by before now, but things have been so busy..."

Naru nodded. "I know, I can understand. School, life, romance..." she smiled gently, but there was a hint of strain behind it.

"Well, your mom gave us the address when we were at her store, picking out..." Usagi colored deeply, and choked on the words.

"Wedding rings," Mamoru supplied with a sheepish smile.

Naru's eyes widened. "You two are—?" They nodded. "When?"

"June 30," Usagi said, smiling. "That's why we came by, to drop off your invitations. That is, if you want to come..." she trailed off.

"Are you kidding? Of course we want to come!" Naru exclaimed, hugging her friend. "Oh, I'm so happy for you!"

Mamoru produced two invitations on wedding stationery and handed them to Naru and Umino. "We decided to drop by and give them to you in person instead of mailing them," Usagi said, in a somewhat embarrassed tone, "to make up for all the time I haven't kept in touch."

Naru smiled, sniffling and wiping away a tear. "That's just like you, Usagi," she said.

"So, are you going with a Shinto ceremony or a Western ceremony?" Umino asked.

"Actually, we decided to go with a combination of the two," Mamoru said. "It was Rei's idea."

"She barely talked her grandfather into it," Usagi added, giggling. "We're going to have the wedding at Hikawa Shrine."

"Should be interesting," Naru said.

Umino stood. "Why don't I get us all something to drink?" he offered. "We've got lots of catching up to do."

"It's going to be a lovely wedding."

"Yes. And they've chosen the perfect day for it."

"Yes, her birthday...and the same day her mother was married..."

Shingo and Hotaru sat in one of their favorite hangouts, a trendy little ice cream parlor. Shingo was slurping away at a milkshake, while Hotaru daintily ate the second biggest banana split her boyfriend had ever seen. "I thought only Usagi and Chibiusa could put that much ice cream away," he commented.

Hotaru giggled. "I guess I picked up some bad habits from Chibiusa-chan."

Across the room, the shop's television was tuned to a cable news channel. The reporter was droning on about the hostilities in the Middle East, ages-old conflicts which seemed to be coming to a head in recent months. One side had just discovered a hidden stockpile of nuclear armaments the other side wasn't supposed to have, and a major controversy had arisen from it.

Hotaru sighed. "Nuclear weapons...it's such a horrible thing..."

Shingo nodded. "Yeah...how dumb do you have to be to even think about using that kind of thing?"

Hotaru held her spoon in her mouth for a moment, furrowing her brow thoughtfully. "I hope they can put an end to this once and for all. Nobody with such little regard for human life should have control over the power to destroy everyone."

Shingo watched Hotaru, frowning inwardly. *She's really worked up over this,* he thought. He leaned forward. "Hotaru-chan?" he asked quietly. "What's wrong?"

Hotaru blinked, then pulled her spoon out of her mouth and giggled. "Nothing, just thinking. I guess I'm being a little silly."

*No, you're really worried about this. I gotta figure out how to get your mind off it.* Shingo smiled. "Well, what do you want to do after this?"

Hotaru shrugged. "There's a revival of End of Evangelion playing. I missed it the first time around."

"Even though you've seen it on DVD a couple hundred times?" Shingo teased. "Honestly, Hotaru-chan, I don't see how you can stand to watch something that depressing over and over again..."

"So you don't want to go?" Hotaru mock-pouted.

Shingo smiled. "Sounds like fun," he said.

"You're late."

"Only fashionably so."

"Mmm."

"So, is anything interesting going on?"

"Just discussing politics and the wedding."

"Ah yes, the wedding. Do you remember the prophecy?"

"Yes. The time is close at hand."

"Will it really happen?"

"We won't know until it does."

"And then what?"

"All hell breaks loose, probably."

"In the meantime...Hotaru-chan has been very happy lately."

"It's her new boyfriend. She doesn't worry about things as much lately, since she's started seeing him."

"That's good. She doesn't need to worry about the world's problems."

"Not yet, anyway," Meiou Setsuna said, gazing at nothing in particular. Her companions read the newspaper and drank their coffee in heavy silence.

As they chatted about the last few years, Usagi began to get the feeling that Naru was upset. Umino had apparently sensed it too. "Mamoru-san," he said, "Neither one of us has much time left as bachelors. We should go out and make the most of it." He smiled amicably, but Usagi noticed the worry in his eyes as he glanced briefly at his fiancee.

Mamoru nodded. "Alright by me, if the girls don't object."

Naru smiled. "Go on, have a good time. We have some girl talk to catch up on, anyway."

As the two men left, with much boisterous laughter and loud proclamations of plans to get falling-down drunk, Naru stopped smiling. By the time the door closed, she had fixed Usagi with a painful, tear-filled, and somewhat angry gaze. "Why?" she whispered hoarsely.

Usagi grimaced; she had been afraid this might happen. "Why haven't I kept in touch?" she asked gently.

"It's not just that," Naru said bitterly. "You shut me out of your life a long time ago, Usagi."

The odango-haired girl sighed. "Naru-chan...I'm sorry I hurt you. Believe me, I never intended to shut you out..." She swallowed a lump in her throat. "You have to understand how hectic things were in those days...and after you left, things got even crazier..."

"I know how it was, Usagi, with schoolwork and all, but you had time for your other friends..." she paused. "Don't misunderstand...I like the others, I really do. I always have. I just don't get it...why did you have time for them, and not for me?"

Usagi sighed, bowing her head. "It's complicated, Naru-chan..."

"I tried calling," Naru said, wiping her eyes. "For the last few years, I tried to call you dozens of times. At all hours. You were never there." She pierced Usagi with a cold, hard stare. "On Sundays, you weren't there. After school, you weren't there. During break, you weren't there. I even called late at night a couple times. You were never there. I know..." she sniffled. "I know you're busy with your friends, and Mamoru, but..." She recovered from her sniffles, and laughed bitterly. "I know about your parties at Rei's temple. How come nobody ever invited me? And have you been sleeping through school, keeping those kinds of hours?"

Usagi winced, Naru's accusations cutting her to the quick, piercing her heart like a burning stave. She struggled to find the words, even as tears began to spill from her expressive blue eyes.

"All I want to know, Usagi...is why. Please, tell me why. That's all I ask of you."

Usagi swallowed, trying to find her resolve. She didn't want things to be this way with Naru, and she knew that it was her fault, even if not her choice. Finally, she made her decision, and wiped the tears from her eyes, looking up into those of her long-time best friend. "Naru-chan," she said softly, "there is a reason, believe me. I never wanted to hurt you the way I did, but things...things got very complicated."

Naru folded her arms. "What things, Usagi?"

"Things..." Usagi swallowed. "Things I can't tell you about. I'm sorry, Naru-chan. There are things I can't tell anyone about..."

The auburn-haired girl stood angrily. "So that's it, then." Tears burned their way down her cheeks. "I always thought you were my friend, Usagi. I'm beginning to see you never cared about our friendship at all, if you can't even tell me why you ended it."

Usagi moved to place her hands on the other girl's shoulders. "Gomen nasai, Naru-chan...I really do wish I could tell you...everything. I always wanted to tell you, but I couldn't. I just...I couldn't!" she cried, dropping to her knees and weeping.

Naru looked down at her one-time best friend frostily, eyes full of bitterness. "Why not, Usagi? We were best friends. We told each other everything. Everything. What kind of secret could you have kept from your best friend?"

Tears streamed down the blonde's face. "Naru, you have to understand. This...this is something I can't even tell my parents. It's the kind of secret..." Her breath caught in her throat. "It's just the kind of secret you don't want the people you love to get caught up in if you can help it."

Naru was silent for a long moment. Finally, she knelt down beside Usagi, and fixed her with a pleading, searching gaze. "Usagi...whatever it is, I'll understand. But..." She felt her throat tighten. "You hurt me, Usagi. By keeping this secret which drove us apart, you hurt me more than you can imagine. If I ever meant anything to you...tell me why you abandoned me."

Usagi grimaced, knowing what she was going to have to do. She reached into her handbag, withdrawing an ornate brooch. "Please...I hope you'll understand," she said, as she held the brooch before her. "And...you have to promise that you won't tell anyone about what I'm going to show you."

The auburn-haired girl nodded. "I owe you that, at least."

Usagi held the brooch tightly, and in a whisper that somehow filled the apartment like a sonic boom, intoned, "Moon Eternal Make-Up."

Naru's eyes widened as Usagi disappeared in a veritable hailstorm of feathers, only to be replaced an instant later by Eternal Sailor Moon. "U-Usagi?" she asked.

Sailor Moon nodded. "Hai, Naru-chan, it's me."

Naru blinked repeatedly, her face registering shock. "You...you're really...Sailor Moon?"

"That's right, Naru-chan."

"I...I..." Naru slowly regained her composure. "Who else knows? Does Mamoru know?"

Sailor Moon nodded. "Un...Mamoru knows."

"What about those other girls? Rei, Ami, Minako, Makoto?" Sailor Moon's silence was enough of an answer. Naru scowled. "You could tell them, and not me?"

Sailor Moon sighed. "Naru-chan...do you remember when I met the other girls? When you met them?"

Naru frowned. "Vaguely."

The Senshi turned to look out the window. "It wasn't very long after I became Sailor Moon."

After a moment, Naru's eyes widened in comprehension. "I see...they're the other Senshi, aren't they?" Sailor Moon nodded. "So...those parties at Rei's temple..."

"Sailor Senshi meetings." She paused. "Well, and some ordinary studying sessions, too, but we always ended up discussing Senshi stuff anyway, so we kept them to ourselves."

Naru was speechless for a moment, still in shock from the revelation. "That explains a lot of things," she said.

"Naru-chan...please understand," Sailor Moon said. "The reason...the reason I became distant..." She swallowed. "How many times were you attacked by one monster or another, back in Juuban? I...I was afraid," she said, her voice breaking slightly, "I thought that being around me was causing you to be targeted. I...I was afraid that, that one day...a day might come when you were attacked, and I wouldn't be able to stop the monster in time to save you. I couldn't...couldn't bear the thought of losing my oldest and dearest friend like that."

Naru stared at Sailor Moon for a long time, before breaking out in tears and flinging herself at the warrior, arms open wide. "Usagi-chan..." she said. "I...I wish I'd known...I'm so sorry for all the bad things I thought..."

Sailor Moon hugged her friend. "It's alright, Naru-chan...I'm sorry too, for a lot of things."

Naru backed out of the hug. "But...why couldn't you have just told me?"

The Sailor Senshi sighed. "It wasn't that easy. What do you think would happen if someone found out by accident who I really was?" Naru thought about that for a moment. "A lot of people I care about could get hurt if the wrong people knew about me," Sailor Moon continued.

Naru nodded. "I...I understand now," she said. Then she smirked. "You're still not off the hook for not calling me, though," she admonished.

Sailor Moon giggled, and reversed her transformation. By the time Mamoru and Umino came back, almost totally plastered, the two girls had made up for most of the lost time and hard feelings between them.

Shingo decided to walk Hotaru home from the movie. They held hands, making idle conversation, laughing, and enjoying each others' company.

"I really like being with you, Hotaru-chan," Shingo said. "You're a really special girl."

Hotaru blushed, and leaned against Shingo. "You're very sweet, Shingo-kun. Arigatou." She gave him a peck on the cheek, causing him to blush cherry red.

"Well, looky what we have here, boys," a voice said from behind them.

"Lookit the little lovebirds," another voice mocked. The young couple looked around, to find themselves surrounded on three sides by tough-looking hoodlums, all probably around sixteen or seventeen. The fourth side held no escape from the gang...only a dead-end alleyway.

"Hey little boy," a third sneered. "Beat it and leave the girl, and we won't hurtcha."

Shingo scowled. "Get lost, jerk!"

The punks howled with laughter. "Oooh, the little fucker's tough! C'mon, little fucker," the first boy said. "We like to fight before we have our fun. Maybe we'll letcha live, if you're lucky."

"You leave us alone!" Hotaru said. This only elicited more laughter from the street toughs. Their apparent leader stepped closer, and took Hotaru by the chin.

"I wouldn't talk so smart, koneko-chan," he said condescendingly. "Just be a good little girl, and we won't hurt you too much. We just want to have a little fun."

Hotaru spat at the punk. He wiped the spittle off his face and scowled, slapping her. "Bitch!" he roared.

Shingo growled, and leapt for the older boy's throat. "Leave her alone, you asshole!" he yelled. The leader smirked, and punched Shingo in the gut, knocking the wind out of him. For good measure, he kicked him, sending him sprawling backwards into the mouth of the alley.

"Shingo!" Hotaru cried, rushing to him. She dragged him partway into the alley, looking at him with concern. "Are you alright?"

"Leave...Hotaru-chan...alone...bastard," Shingo coughed. The punks closed in, roaring with laughter.

"Okay little girlie, it's your turn," the leader said.

"Ho...ta...ru..." Shingo gasped, still trying to regain his breath. "...run...don't let...them...hurt you."

"I won't leave you!" Hotaru cried.

The punks were close now. "Then your boyfriend can watch while we enjoy ourselves, can't he?" one of them taunted.

*They're going to rape me,* Hotaru realized, terror filling her. She looked down at Shingo, who was completely defenseless and badly hurt. *Shingo-kun...I can't let them hurt you...but...* Indecisiveness tortured her for what seemed like eons, as the gang drew slowly closer. Finally, she made up her mind. *I know I shouldn't...but I have to protect Shingo-kun. And myself!* A determined scowl fell upon Hotaru's face as she summoned her henshin wand from pocketspace.

"Oooh, look," the leader taunted. "She's already gettin' out a toy to play with," The other boys laughed.

Hotaru raised the wand above her head.

"Saturn Planet Power...Make-Up!"

The punks stopped laughing.

Shingo, his breath recovered, lay on the pavement, staring in wide-eyed shock at the spot where his girlfriend had stood only an instant before.

That space was now occupied by an extremely pissed-off Sailor Saturn. The Silence Glaive appeared in her hand, and she pointed it menacingly at the gang of street toughs. "If I were you, I'd leave now," she said.

"Fuck! The bitch is a fuckin' Sailor Senshi!" One of the boys shouted before turning tail and running.

"Fuck this, man. I don't wanna die!" called the second, taking off. That left only the leader.

"You should follow their example," Saturn said. "The Soldier of Silence, Sailor Saturn, does not show mercy to those who would do harm to the innocent. Leave in peace, or surrender your life to the Silence!" *Good grief, how does Usagi keep a straight face when she says stuff like that?*

"I ain't afraid of no chick in a skirt with a toy spear," the leader said, advancing into the alleyway.

Saturn narrowed her eyes. "Only oblivion holds a place for a fool with a tainted heart. Death Ribbon Revolution." Wispy strands of shadow ripped away from the Silence Glaive. The would-be rapist stood transfixed, like a deer in the headlights. The punk was dimly aware that he had just performed his last act on Earth; or rather, his bowels had done so for him. The boy screamed as the dark ribbons of energy tore through his body. It was over in seconds. All that remained of the punk was a few bits of scrap from his jacket and a wisp of smoke.

Saturn sighed, shook her head sadly, and knelt over Shingo, leaning against the Glaive.

Shingo was still staring at her in shock. "H...Hotaru...?"

Saturn smiled down at him. "Are you alright?" she asked.

"Y—you're...you're a...Sailor...S-Senshi..." Shingo gasped.

"Hai," Saturn said, "but let's just keep that a secret, okay?"

"H—hai," Shingo said, before fainting dead away.

Stowing the Glaive, Saturn picked him up, grunting from the strain, and took to the rooftops.

Hino Rei calmly meditated before her fire. She enjoyed the activity when things were calm and relatively peaceful, as they were now...for her and her fellow Senshi, at any rate. When there was no urgency to the task of reading the visions in the fire, Rei simply let the all-seeing flame fill her mind and soul for sometimes hours on end.

On a whim, Rei decided to ask the fire to show a vision of Usagi's wedding. The difficulty of clarifying the vision troubled her for a moment. When the vision did come, finally, Rei snapped out of her trance, shock and panic consuming her.

"So you have seen what is to come," a chillingly calm voice said from behind her.

Rei spun to see Sailor Pluto standing a meter away, Time Staff in hand. "Pluto...what does this vision mean...?"

"You will understand when the time comes," the enigmatic guardian of time said. She narrowed her eyes. "You must, in no way, attempt to intervene or otherwise prevent what you have seen from occuring. It must occur, Sailor Mars." With that, Pluto vanished.

Rei's mind whirled.

Sailor Saturn dropped to ground level about a half kilometer away from the Tsukino residence, using some bushes for cover. She laid Shingo upon the ground, and he groaned. His eyes opened, and he gasped. "Sailor..."

"Shhh," Saturn said, placing a finger over the stunned boy's lips. "You're hurt, Shingo-kun. Hold on while I heal you." With that, Saturn reversed her transformation, and sat down beside the injured boy.

"Hotaru...it-it wasn't a dream..."

Hotaru shook her head. "No, it wasn't a dream. Now hold still." She placed her hands upon Shingo, directing her healing energies through his body. After a few moments, Shingo sat up groggily. As he did so, he gave Hotaru a sharp glance which caused her to wilt slightly.

"You killed that punk," Shingo accused.

Hotaru bowed her head. "Hai," she answered. "I-it couldn't be avoided," she whispered. Her eyes glistened with fresh tears. "There...there was no other way," she said. "He would've have hurt both of us...maybe killed us. I had to do it."

"But...did you have to kill him? Couldn't you...y'know, stun him or something?" Shingo asked.

Hotaru shook her head. "My powers...the powers of Saturn...they're different from the other Senshi. They don't leave room for mercy once they're used." Tears spilled down her cheeks. "That's why they...that's why I'm called the Soldier of Silence...the...the Senshi of Death..." she began weeping. Shingo pulled her into a hug.

"Shhh...it's alright, Hotaru-chan...you did what you could..." He helped her to stand, and smiled softly. "It's not your fault...people like that don't deserve any mercy, anyway." His eyes betrayed his words; Hotaru could tell that he was deeply disturbed by what had happened.

She smiled, however, and hugged Shingo. "Remember," she said, "you mustn't tell anyone about me."

Shingo nodded. "I promise," he said. Then he gave her an odd smile. "You know something, though?"

"What?" she asked.

"You look really great in that fuku."

Hotaru blushed. "Shingo-kun!" Both teens giggled. "Come on, we need to get home before somebody worries about us."

Shingo smacked his forehead. "Argh! We're nowhere near your place! I meant to walk you home!"

Hotaru giggled. "Don't worry about it, Shingo-kun. I'll just call home, and they'll come pick me up."

Shingo contemplated that, then groaned. "You mean, we could have avoided all this mess in the first place?"

Hotaru grew a sweatdrop. "Uhhh...I guess so."

Shingo grimaced. "Wonderful."

"Ano...gomen?" Hotaru offered. Shingo mock-growled and tackled her, tickling her mercilessly. Hotaru giggled in helpless delight.

"Come on, you," Shingo said after finally letting her up. "Let's go home."

---

POWERED BY DREAMHOST