AN(Warning:Long!): Hiya minna! I'm glad you stuck around for Day 2 ^_^ I didn't mention this earlier, but you may have already noticed that I resurrected one of the generals from the depths of a manga/anime existence in limbo...(insert maniacal mad-scientist laugh here) ::coughs:: Ignore that last comment, it didn't make any sense. Don't mind me, I've just had *chocolate* ::giggles:: *Anyways*, since my thoughts are still a big, jumbled mess (You just gotta love school and all the nuts and bolts that go with it ^^;;;) this chapter will probably be just as ambiguous. Again, bear with me. And I know that I go off on a tangent sometimes, and I'm not altogether focused (I never am, really) these tangents will end up contributing to both the case and the plot eventually. Yes, there is a method to my madness. *And assume that Rei, Makoto, and Ami have known each other for a long time (I don't explain this much in the story) Finally, a *big* arigatou to the wonderful Sakura, my pre-reader!^_^ She helps me to keep my sanity (or what's left of it)in check when I'm writing this crazy thing. ^^; Arigatou! Hope you like this next installment! Disclaimer: I'm just borrowing Naoko-sama's characters for my story. And if I **borrowed** them, that means I never had them in the *first place*. So there. =Þ ::Takes out an old-fashioned scale, and puts her beloved Mamo-chan on one side and her idea of feedback on the other. The scale falls on Mamo-chan's side ^^;:: Okay, so Mamo-chan isn't the best thing to compare feedback to, but I love it just as much as I do him! Feedback? Please??? And I promise, next time I'll put all my crazy AN at the END! ****************************** The Game is the Mystery Chapter 2 Day 2- Monkeys In A Barrel (AN: A twist from the game Barrel of Monkeys) By April Rayne Startear42@aol.com ****************************** **** BEEP BEEP BEEP! Usagi waved her hand around, until it came across the little black contraption that was drawing her out of dreamland. Smacking it to shut it off, her heavy eyelids opened to look at the red digital numbers. 6:00 A.M. "Too early…" she mumbled. "Sleep…" She lay on her back and closed her eyes… She shifted onto her side… She again lay down on her back, and began to count jumping sheep…which later turned into 'Tuxedo Masks' jumping over the moon… Groaning, she put a pillow over her head… …Mumbling to herself about how alarm clocks were pure evil, she trudged out of bed. When Rei called her at eight to tell her that she was coming to pick her up, she was already dressed in a white silk dress shirt with embroidered flowers and a navy blue skirt. *And* she was halfway through her breakfast. Her apartment was now *spotless*. Since she was done so early, she decided go outside earlier than usual. Making sure that she had everything, she walked out of her apartment and locked the door behind her. Usagi just missed the buzz of the fax machine and the printed paper that came out onto the tray with the subject line, 'Usagi-chan, this is IMPORTANT'. It was another bright spring day, with only the slight hint of a cloud traveling past the bright sun. When Usagi walked out of her apartment building, Rei was already parked at the front, sunglasses on, with a trite look on her face. "Hurry up, or you're gonna be late." "But I'm out early!" "Something's gonna happen with you to make you late, it always does," she joked. "Now c'mon." With a feigned look of agitation, she got in. Most of the ride was spent listening to their favorite radio station, until Rei spoke up. "So, what do you think about Mamoru-kun?" "Eh? Didn't we go over this last night? Is there something you're trying to say, hmm?" The impish smile on her face revealed all that she didn't vocally say. "No. I just want to make sure everything's going all right, that's all." They pulled up into the small parking lot next to HQ and got out. "Hey, I'm just gonna pick up some papers and then go meet my client. Is there anything that I can do for you?" "Nope, everything's fine." They walked past the door and into the corridor. Thoughts flying from out of nowhere, Usagi noted, "You seem to spend a lot of time with this client, ne?" Rei blushed as she put a key into her office lock. "Umm…yeah…" That blush gave away her motives more than her previous grin. "That's sugoi!" She sent her friend an understanding smile. Purple eyes feigning indifference, she finally put up her hands and waved them fervently, her blush rising. "No, that isn't it! It's a totally professional relationship!" "Now when did I say that I was talking about you having a *relationship* with the guy?" Usagi continued to jest. Rei put a finger to her lips, a sure sign to keep the volume down. She noticed Mamoru's silhouette approaching the door, and she quickly darted into her office, hissing, "We'll talk later!" before completely closing it. As one door closed, another opened, and Usagi jumped as the prickly chill ran down her spine at the sound of his smooth voice behind her. "Ohayo, Tsukino." She turned around to face him, noting that he was wearing a white dress shirt and dark pants that made him look really ho…erm, nice. "O-Ohayo, Chiba." No other words were muttered, and Usagi simply stood, and then coughed slightly. "I'm gonna go back to my office now…I'll just meet you in yours and we'll discuss everything then?" He nodded, and she swiftly moved past him and into her office, which was luckily unlocked because she had forgotten to lock it the night before. She closed the door behind her, quickly moved to the door that was adjacent to Rei's and opened it to find Rei near the other door, attempting to listen in on Usagi's already ended conversation. "Rei-chan!" she whispered. "What are you doing?" She sweatdropped. "Gomen, I couldn't help it." Taking a glance at her watch, she frowned. "Oh, no, I'm gonna be late if I don't move it. Bye Usagi." Rei turned the knob and ran out of the door, her image fading down the corridor. With a sigh, Usagi walked back into her office and closed the door behind her. She wasn't sure what a private investigator was supposed to do in the morning, so she just walked to her desk and sat down. A new newspaper lay on her desk, unlike the previous day when it had been lying at the floor outside the office. Taking a look at the front cover, she groaned, rolled her eyes and shoved it under her desk, but not before pulling out one of her favorite sections. She simply sat there, taking her sweet time reading the funnies just to make Mamoru think that she had been doing something. Then, dragging herself out of the comfort of the chair, she walked to the door adjoined to his room, and after a light knock and a "come in", she turned the knob. Mamoru sat at the desk, scribbling something on a piece of paper. As she walked in, he stopped, put his pen down, and sat up. She tentatively took the seat across from him, folded her hands in her lap, and then her eyes met his. "Any new developments?" "None that I know of. If I find out anything, I'd call you and tell you, you know that." She nodded. "So I'm guessing that we're going to visit with Katarugi-san?" It was his turn to nod. "Yes. Kino-san dropped the charges against him, and he was released last night, after I drove you home. I called him and he's agreed to meeting with us at noon at the coffee shop down the street." The ends of her lips curled downward in a slight frown. "Why didn't you tell me last night?" "Do you realize how tired you looked? I was sure you were asleep by then, and I didn't want to disturb you." An indignant look crept upon her face. "You still should've called me! I have a right to know!" He put his hand to his head. "Let's not argue right now, I've had a long night." Her expression became more sympathetic. "Couldn't sleep?" "...Had a lot to think about," he grumbled. She didn't want to say much after that. Taking a glance back at the door, she faced him. "We still have four hours to kill until he meets with us. What do we do until then?" "Prepare. That, and we have to continue with research." Usagi's eyes widened. They had tried looking for just about everything the day before that, and they had to continue with the digging, and searching, and..."I don't think that's a good idea." Taking his pen and beginning to again write on his paper, he said, "Is that so?" She sighed inwardly. He wasn't going to fold. "Hai. Gomen, but I don't think that sitting down and looking at things that we *know* aren't going to get us anywhere is going to help us at all. We should be out there, in the open, looking for the answers. Not stuck up there wasting precious time." His pen came to a standstill, and he looked up at her. Inside, he smiled. For a rookie, she knew *exactly* what she was doing. It's just too bad this wasn't just some 'normal' case. Sending her a stern look, he responded, "You do realize that, even if we do go outside for a field investigation, that can be just as fruitless as being 'stuck up there wasting precious time'." She wanted to groan at his stubbornness. He may have had more experience than her at these matters, but had he just closed up to anything new after working for so long? "Look, Chiba, I really don't think that-" "Doesn't matter. As far as I'm concerned, I know enough from working on this case for *two months* that it's nearly impossible to find outside info. And this new case incorporates the same needed information." "But there's no harm in trying! I mean-" Mamoru raised his hand, and she stopped in mid sentence. "Tell you what. If we work on the research this morning, we'll try the field investigations this afternoon." Compromise. Not too much of one thing, not too much of another thing. "All right," she commented, getting up and putting her hands on her hips. "That'll be *just fine*." With that, she turned around and moved out of the room, this time leaving him behind in the dust, quizzical look on his face. It was back to square one again. <8:20 A.M.> "Did you see the paper this morning?" "How could I *not* see it? The cover practically screamed jewel heist!" "So you read it already?" "Ummm...well, not quite..." She looked down, trying to avoid the reprimanding look that she knew he was giving her. Actually, unbeknownst to her, he smiled a little. His lips again forming into a straight line, he said, "You know what I'm going to say." She nodded, got up and walked out of the research room door, shuffling to get to her room to find that special little something she had shoved under her desk. <9:17 A.M.> In the middle of looking at a picture of the Juno emerald, Usagi realized that she had forgotten to ask Mamoru about later that afternoon. "Ne, Chiba." "Hai?" "I know that I shouldn't be doing this on the second day on the job, but...Is there any way that I can take a break around dinner time? I'd be back in an hour, or an hour and a half, tops." 'She makes mystery phone calls and now she wants to disappear and come back...' "Sure," he agreed. "Just make sure you call my cell phone when you find out when you're going to return," he continued, pulling out a card with his cell phone number from out of his pocket. He cleared his throat. "Can I ask where you're going?" "I have to get something fixed." <10:54 A.M.> "Damn..." he muttered to himself. "I forgot one of the books in the car. I'll be right back." Mamoru was already out the door when she noticed the set of keys lying at his desk. She moved from her spot by the window and quickly moved to get the keys for him. She tentatively picked them up when she noticed that one of the smaller keys had a tiny deep blue crystal embedded in it's head. It looked like one of the keys to the file drawers...She fingered it lightly, then looked back at the cabinet, then back to the door. "Ne, Chiba!" she called out, getting out of the doorway. "You can't open the car if you don't have your keys, baka!" <11:30 A.M.> "Hey, are you ready yet?" "Hold on! I'll be out in a minute!" <11:35 A.M.> Usagi finally emerged from her room into his, her usual hairstyle tucked up into a single messy bun atop her head, held together by two clear plastic chopsticks. She wore sunglasses, and she wore uncharacteristically dark crimson lipstick. 'What's wrong with her?' "Why the costume change, Tsukino?" She pouted. "Very funny. I...uh...thought this was gonna be undercover." Usagi moved to the rack and put on her long coat. He sighed. "You don't do things like that in meetings where the person doesn't request it, or when it isn't necessary." "Oh...oops. Well, then, let's go, shall we?" <11:45 A.M.> "We're early, ya know." "Better early than *late*, Tsukino," he replied, a mocking tone lightening his voice. They walked into the restaurant parlor, which was rich with the smell of coffee, tea, and chocolate from serving breakfast beverages. (AN: Yeah, caffeine high!) The ceiling fans whirred slowly, and the lights were dimmed because of the sunlight coming in through the windows. Like most small restaurants, little booths were set up by each wall, and a few tables for couples were set up in the middle. The light flow of an instrumental piece came from the ceiling speakers. Their eyes scanned the room, looking for him. They finally came upon a figure with long brown hair sitting dejectedly at a booth, not facing them. He aimlessly took a spoon and mixed his warm drink, then sat back and didn't drink it, simply sitting there. "That's him," Mamoru whispered. Usagi nodded in agreement, and they began to walk to him from the far side of the room. Taking a sideways glance at Usagi, Mamoru found that she still had her sunglasses on, but the rest of her face still held that air of apprehension. "You can take those off, you know." "It's bright in here," she responded curtly. It wasn't, but who was he to tell her what to do? "Whatever floats your boat, Tsukino." Reaching the booth, the man turned to the two people that were at his side. "Chiba-san?" "Hai. Nice to meet you, Katarugi-san." Mamoru moved to take a seat across from him, and after a slight hesitation, Usagi did the same, sliding into the booth next to Mamoru. A curious look crossed Nephrite's blue eyes. "Who are you?" Usagi breathed an inward sigh of relief, but tried not to show it. He couldn't recognize her in that getup. "You didn't tell him that I was coming, did you?" For a second, Mamoru thought that she was actually happy at the thought. Dismissing his idea, he grinned sheepishly. "This is-" "Chiba-san's partner, Tsukino Usagi," she interrupted. "Nice to meet you." Mamoru didn't want to lag on the introductions. "So let's get down to business, Katarugi-san. What do you remember about the burglary?" "Like I said before, nothing. All I remember was being at home, back from having dinner with Mako-chan..." He froze, eyes downcast. "And then I woke up, back at the mansion, dressed strangely, handcuffed. All I can remember is the look on her face..." His fists clenched. "I don't care about any damned evidence, I just know that I would never do anything to harm her the way I did...I'd do anything to fix this..." He looked so upset, and the pain evident in his eyes was pulling at Usagi's heartstrings. You couldn't fake an expression as his. It wasn't something you'd find in some show, a soap opera, or a movie. It was genuine pain, something a lot of her friends had come across lately. She was positive, she just knew it, that he was innocent. Noting Mamoru intently listening to Nephrite's words, she took the chance to jot something on a napkin on her lap. "I'm sure that you would, Katarugi-san." Mamoru nodded, giving him a sympathetic look while still making everything seem professional. "But there's nothing, absolutely nothing you can tell us about the scene?" Neph was getting frustrated. "No. I'm telling you, if I could remember, I'd tell you." "Well, can you tell us anything about what else you were doing that day?" "I was at work at Suzaki Co., trying to work on the next outline for another computer ad campaign. It was a huge workload, so I was relieved to be having dinner with Mako-chan to unwind." "That's all?" "Yes." A waiter came up to the newcomers and asked politely, "May I take your order?" Mamoru asked him for a cup of coffee while Usagi took a *bit* more time naming everything on the menu that she wanted... Knowing that it would take longer than expected, Mamoru focused on Katarugi-san again, asking him various questions about conditions at the night of the burglary, where he had been earlier, if he remembered seeing anyone beforehand... Usagi, who had been quietly listening after taking her fairly *long* order, added with a gossipy tone, "Tell us about your relationship with Mako-chan." 'Is this necessary?' Mamoru's deep blue eyes asked her. Her eyes, in response, told him to trust her, and he sat back, allowing her a turn to question him. "Katarugi-san, when did you propose to her?" "Only a month ago. We had been dating since I met her overseas a year ago." "I know you love her... but were you a hundred percent positive that you wanted to marry her?" "Of course I was!" He retorted with anger evident in his voice. Realizing that he was getting stares from the other few people in the restaurant, he sat back, and sighed wearily. "I love her, more than I can say...But I was afraid..." "Afraid of what?" "That I wasn't supposed to be the one to make her happy." He had gotten the attention of both of the people across from him. "You weren't sure if you were going to marry her then?" "Yes." He gave in. "I even went to a type of therapy to overcome my fears, regain confidence in the fact that she really loved me." "Did it work?" "Very well. In fact, two days ago I was going to tell her that I wanted to move up the date of the wedding, with her permission, of course." "Was there anyone that didn't want you to marry Makoto-san?" He hesitated, looking down into his coffee cup, as if interested in it. "I...No, not really. Except..." "Except who?" He inhaled, and looked up, a sad look permeating through his eyes. "My cousin, Zoi Watanabe." Well, that was quite a shocker. Watanabe Zoicite, who had been acquitted of attempting to steal Herme's Tear. It was too much of a coincidence. But they had found their lead, and they had to go on it. "Arigatou, Katarugi-san." Usagi said. Mamoru looked at Usagi, his eyes full of a need to get working on the case. "So, we should get going, ne, Tsukino?" Usagi nodded, but not before slipping a folded paper to Neph when Mamoru wasn't looking. Giving her a curious look, he slowly took it and put it in his pocket. 'Read it when I leave,' she mouthed. Confused, he watched as the somewhat familiar blonde walked over to her partner, who was waiting for her at the door. When they were out of sight of the window, he cautiously unfolded it. Eyes glancing at the paper, a small expression of surprise registered across his face, followed by a slowly spreading grin. The waiter came up to him. "Um...Sir? What should I do with this?" he asked, balancing the tempura meal on his tray. Neph sweatdropped. It was time for the field investigations. Getting right to work with the lead on Zoicite, they traveled to Tokyo Central Medical Hospital, which was only a half an hour away. They walked through the stark white corridor, passing by the wooden doors of the patient's rooms. Passing through the glass bridge that connected the research laboratories to the main hospital building from over the streets, they maneuvered their way past the check-in desk and finally reached the pediatric research room. Looking through the glass window that gave visitors insight to the lab, they found Zoicite, concentrating on transferring what looked like a blood sample into another test tube. Unfortunately for the duo, the door was locked. After placing it in a centrifuge, Zoicite's eyes moved upwards to rest upon the two figures at the window. Recognizing the tall man, he quickly shifted his gaze back to his work, taking a step to the side to inspect another blood sample. Mamoru pressed the button to the intercom. "Watanabe-san, it's me, Chiba Mamoru." Rolling his eyes, Zoicite pressed one of the buttons on the wall. "I know that," he mumbled, going back to his work. With the button pressed, they could hear what was going on inside the room, and he could hear them talk in the hallway. "What is it that you want?" "We're here to talk to you about your cousin, Nephrite." Looking up from his sample at the mention of the name, he gazed at the blond girl that had spoken. She seemed familiar somehow... "Who are you?" "Chiba-san's partner." She took a breath, then added quietly, "Tsukino Usagi." Giving her one last lookover, he unscrewed the cap on the sample and took out a micro-pipette. "I'm busy. Come back some other time." he retorted. "But Watanabe-san-" "I said leave! Or do you want me to tell hospital security to take care of that?" he warned them, moving to a red button positioned underneath the intercom. Sharing a glance of annoyance, the investigators shook their heads in defeat. "No. I'll be contacting you privately then, Watanabe- san." "Do that," he challenged, sending them one last triumphant look before putting the second sample in the centrifuge. So, where to go from there... Finding out about Tux boy or about who was behind the jewelry heists? Now that they had both cases in tow, it was time for them to decide on what to work on first; prioritize. Even though the cases were so different, they encompassed the same idea, and if things were going the way Mamoru suspected, working on one case would most likely lead to the answer of the other (although he wasn't too sure about the Tuxedo Mask investigations^^;). Back on the way to Mamoru's car, Usagi absentmindedly brought up that she wanted to delve into the case on Tuxedo Mask. Mamoru, stopping in mid-step and giving her that trademark quirky grin, only had one response to that. "Not until I say so, Tsukino." Ah, the joys of having a partner that has to disagree with *everything* that you say... Obviously, Usagi wasn't too thrilled with his insistence that they do whatever *he* said, just as he didn't enjoy the fact that she tried to take control when she was supposed to be following his example. And there was no point in having them split up, no matter how many times they argued over it. More things could be uncovered if they worked together. Besides, the whole purpose of Rei bringing Usagi to work with Mamoru was so that Usagi could get more experience in the field of investigations with a seasoned professional. What Usagi got was more like a headache with a major baka. Not that this was all pleasant to Mamoru either. He certainly was surprised that this girl, small as she was, could so easily have the impact of a tornado. Usagi had again contested his methods, and insisted that they work on the older case first. Just as easily as it had been brought up, he again threw the suggestion out the window. Perturbed, she looked like she was about to snap back with another comment when she withdrew from the fight, obligingly sitting silently in the car. That is, until another thought came into her head. "Ne, Chiba..." "Hai?" "Where exactly do you plan on starting the field investigations for the jewelry heist case, anyways?" He hadn't really thought about that yet... looking straight ahead at the road,he mumbled,"Play it by ear." "Whatever happened to planning and being prepared?" she asked, not trying to hide the obvious overplayed innocence in her voice. 'That died when you showed up.' "Today's different." "Well, if you don't mind, I actually had something planned out...and I'm sure that, since I'm supposed to be following your example and all, it's better if we go along with something that *is* planned, right? Rei-chan said that I'd learn best from you, and if that's the way you do things…" Usagi laughed to herself. He had this awfully cute expression when he was wrong. Whether he liked it or not, Tuxie it was. Unsure of what would bring about the best results, they used the rest of the time available to them that afternoon by visiting the different tuxedo rental places that Usagi had gotten in touch with the night before. At her insistence, most of the owners refused to disclose the information on their customer's rental dates. However, Mamoru would draw them to the side, and after a short one sided conversation, the managers would nervously nod, and then nearly dash to the front desk and come back with the record books. "What did you say to him?" she whispered the first time he had waved his magic. "Not much. If they didn't cooperate, they could be blamed for not taking a part in helping solve one of the biggest attempted jewelry heists in Tokyo. Or worse, be accused of willingly withholding evidence. They look like the bad guys. And that wouldn't be too good for business, ne?" Usagi smiled, and he returned it as they got around to browsing through the records. For the next few hours, they focused on hitting all the shops and going through all the records, which didn't help. At each and every place, Usagi would close the books with a dejected look on her face. Not one of the places that they had visited had any decent evidence that suited the case. There were no patterns to suggest that any one person had rented tuxedos at the nights of the burglaries. Mamoru smiled smugly to himself. His tuxedos were custom made. They resorted to interviewing jewelry store owners again, who just gave them jaded looks and commented with 'yes' or 'no' only, not elaborating on more complicated questions. That is, when they weren't shamelessly self promoting themselves… "So can you tell us if you know anything about this case?" "Yes, ma'am, of course. But before we begin," the lady added, a sly smile apparent on her face, "Would you like to take a look at this diamond bracelet? It really would look gorgeous on you!" That was at least the fourth time that someone was trying a *little* to hard to earn their commission. Usagi had groaned, and added, with more than enough anger drippping from her voice, "I'm sure that you're not going to be worrying about that bracelet as much after I'm through-" "Tsukino…" Mamoru warned. Usagi coughed, pushing her sunglasses up the bridge of her nose. "I'm sorry, I'm not interested," she gritted through her teeth. "Can we *please* continue now?" Another exasperated sigh left her lips. "Is there anyone that has shown a greater interest in jewels lately?" 'Not the customers you *annoy*…' Things could have been worse… They had walked into the sixth boutique when the lady behind the display case, Osaka Naru of Osa-P Jewelry, greeted them with a warm and genuine smile. Usagi, like she always did before asking, went to take a look at some of the pieces in stock, just for fun, of course. Naru had approached the two investigators, a knowing smile and gleaming blue eyes making the duo a little more suspicious themselves. "Looking for an engagement ring?" Usagi, with the slight hint of a blush on her face, fervently shook her head. She was glad that her sunglasses hid her eyes. "No! No, that's not it…" Mamoru, as coolly and levelheaded as ever, continued without so much as an objection, "We're private investigators- we called yesterday about the Kino heist." Needless to say, Osaka-san was a little shocked. However, of all the jewelers, she was the kindest and most cooperative, noting that they return to her if they had any more questions. After visiting Osa-P around mid-afternoon, they decided to take a break for a late lunch, going back to the restaurant in which they had met Katarugi-san earlier. There, they talked about how pointless the results of all their work had been. "You know, I can't help but think that we're forgetting something," Usagi mumbled, as the waiter put the tempura meal on the table. She was halfway through the meal, going for the shrimp tempura, when she looked up to find Mamoru giving her a strange look. "What?" He nodded towards her lunch. "Think about it." Eyes widening, she nearly choked. Both of them made a mental note to send Katarugi-san a check in the mail…^^; Both of them done eating, they sat back in the booth and decided to take a short break. For the late afternoon, the busboys had set up a single red rose in a glass vase at each table and booth. Since she loved roses, she took it out of its container and took an inhaled its perfumed scent. She never noticed the glazed look that Mamoru sent her. It had been a wonderful, quiet silence, and no words were needed to keep themselves interested in each other’s company. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Usagi sighed. "I wonder…" "Hmm?" "Tuxedo Mask…and his roses…" It was time to go. Usagi moved ahead of Mamoru, but he called after her when she began to move away from the table. "Tsukino, you forgot something." "Eh?" He tossed the red rose to her, and she caught it, flustered at his actions. "To keep you focused," he added. The tedious work continued with Usagi's curiousity about the mystery roses. So, at Usagi's insistence, the detectives got to work on trying to convince the Tokyo florist owners to cooperate with them, which took the same amount of conniving...umm, erm....convincing as the Tuxedo rental owners. However, the results were just as fruitless. Convinced that going anywhere else was not going to add to their delightful little defeated looks, they returned to HQ. They were halfway down the corridor when Mamoru took a glance at this watch. "It's six, Tsukino." "Eh?" Taking a glance at her watch, she found out that he was right. Always the punctual one, huh? Or did he want her out of there that badly? "I guess I'll see you later then," she mumbled as she walked towards the exit to wait outside for Rei. "Ja ne!" "Sayonara." He made sure that she was out of the building before moving up the stairs to the research room. He sat down at one of the desks by the window, taking out a yellow legal pad and a pen to plan out the next couple of hours. Mamoru's eyes subconsciously wandered from the pad on his desk to the window beside him. He couldn't help himself. Getting up from his seat, he stood by the window and looked down at the street below him. There she was, still waiting for her ride, her hands holding the locket of the necklace she wore around her neck. Because of the approaching darkness, she had finally taken those damn sunglasses off and once again exposed her azure blue eyes to the rest of the world, to Mamoru's hidden relief. As if sensing his thoughts, she turned around and gazed up at the light permeating from the second floor windows. Startled at his image, she took a step back, but then a smile slowly spread as their eyes met and she realized who it was. Tentatively taking her hands from their secure grasp, she slowly, then confidently, waved to him. Mamoru, bringing his hands to his face, pretended to take imaginary glasses off, and his trademark quirky grin appeared. Understanding what he was talking about, Usagi looked down for a second, blushed, and looked up at him again. They shared one more look before he moved back to his desk, out of her line of vision. Right on time, Rei's car came around the corner. Mamoru heard the car pause in front of HQ, and then heard the engine sound die as it moved away. He didn't know what possessed him, but he again got up to move to the windows. She was gone. He continued to gaze at the spot in front of the doors, as if she would just appear from the twilight shadows if he thought about it hard enough. It didn't work. "Hi Usagi-chan..." Rei-said as Usagi had moved into the car. She glanced at Usagi and her eyes widened. "Your odangos! What did you do with them?" "We went to interview Neph today...I didn't think it would be really smart of me to have these telltale things up, ne?" Rei nodded. "True...Maybe you shouldn't put them up anymore, they could give a little too much away." "No way! I like my hair, and I don't care if it gives anything away," she argued, blotting out the darker lipstick with a tissue. Pulling out the clear chopsticks, her hair tumbled over her shoulders, and she quickly and efficiently began to put her hair back into its normal style. "Suit yourself," Rei muttered. She pulled out of her position on the side of the street and drove off. After having a hot bowl of soup at HQ, Mamoru decided that it was due time for him to take a break as well. He'd been up for a considerable portion of last night, dreaming up what would happen with the rest of both the cases. He chose to go where he could think the best. The rose garden of Azabu park, by the lake, was a quick walk away from HQ. Sitting on one of the benches as twilight made it's way upon the park, he sighed. He hated to admit it, but it was awfully...quiet without Tsukino. With a small smile playing on his lips, he shook his head. The lake began to reflect the fading sunlight, and the stars in the sky became easier to see. He took in another deep breath when the wind passed by, rustling the leaves of the rose bushes. Taking a long look at Polaris, Mamoru decided to focus again. There was obviously no way that Kino-san, Mizuno-san and Hino-san would get the answer to the identity of Tuxedo Mask. It just couldn't be possible. And with Tsukino around to remind him that he was still obligated to their case, pretending not to know anything was going to become more of a daily event. The ladies wouldn't be charged, of course. He had more than enough money so that financing wouldn't be a problem. But as for the other case...He had been working on that case for two months as well, but privately, and to no one else's knowledge. 'If whoever is in charge of this has gone after three of the four guardian crystals... the next assumable target must be the Heart of Aphrodite...But who has it?' The guardian crystals...four priceless gems that belonged to the four main houses to the Tsukidai dynasty. The elements- Fire, Water, Lightning and Love. The possessors of these stones, which were also rumored to have the powers of their element, had a lifelong duty to the heir of the Tsukidai throne. And accordingly, as Mamoru had asked the three women whom they were affiliated with, if they still kept up with legend, they denied the legend's existence and said that they were just jewels passed down the generations that had no emotional value. He knew that they were lying...trying to protect their princess. Oh, he knew about the princess too. She was the one who held responsibility for the Imperium Silver Crystal, and was the true heiress of the Tsukidai dynasty. But he knew it wasn't Aino Minako. She wasn't the one he was looking for. Call it a hunch. During their entire meeting, she never once confessed to being the true owner of the crystal, only asking to find out who was behind the heists to protect the crystal. And her last name...Aino...fit the pattern too perfectly. She was the holder of the Heart of Aphrodite. He thought everything over for a second. But if that was the pattern, then Tsukino...He shook his head. According to the vague legend, which seemed to be lacking in information, the daughter was named a strange name...that he couldn't remember, and her last name was unidentified, never put in the records in order to protect her. And the ladies who were meant to protect her...they weren't stupid enough as to bring the princess out into the open if the legend foretelling about this time period was true...It was too risky, too dangerous... Besides, klutzy, little, Odango headed Tsukino? A princess? They wouldn't know how much he knew...They didn't know his past... Not wanting to dwell on that thought, he tried to think back to his original, real thoughts before his mind had wandered. If the Heart of Aphrodite was most likely the next target of whatever mastermind was behind all this, and Tuxedo Mask was most likely to show up to save the day, he had to work on his hunch quickly, and before anything happened. It was time to pay Minako-san a visit. *** Usagi walked into the mansion she had been in only the previous night before to find Makoto and Minako on the couch in the sitting room on the second floor, sharing a cup of tea. Minako looked up at the newcomers. "Hi!" she called out. "C'mon, take a seat. Luna and Artemis wanted some time out alone tonight," she winked, "So it's just us girls." They sat down across from the other two on a matching couch, while Makoto stood up to pour them a cup of tea. They had decided to have an informal dinner in the sitting room, and do what they usually did when they were together- talk nonstop. It was too quiet. When Minako had had enough of just listening to the clatter of the silverware and everyone sipping their tea, she got up and turned on the radio. "-attempted robbery by her fiancée, Neph-" "La dee da dee da!" Minako called out a little too loudly, pushing the button to get to the next station. All of them tried to smile, albeit forced. However, Usagi had a true smile playing on her lips as she looked at the clock. It was almost time. She cleared her throat. "Ne, Mako-chan..." Blue eyes met green. "Hai?" "I think we should talk...about Neph." "There's nothing to talk about." The other three ladies shared pained looks. Rei started again. "It's not good to keep everything in, Mako-" "I know..." she mumbled, "But it's just..." "Just what?" "I believed that he actually cared for me..." "He does!" Usagi interrupted. "Mako-chan...I saw him today, and I talked to him..." All three of the girls looked over to her in shock. Makoto sat back, and thinking about what Usagi just said, her eyes narrowed in concentration, and then in anger. "Usagi-chan, you just can't do that." "No! It wasn't my idea, honest! Mamoru-baka had already set it up last night without telling me! Besides..." she added, making sure she kept eye contact with all the girls, "Someone had to do it." Their eyes traveled away from hers, feeling guilty. Usagi continued. "Minna, he didn't have anything to do with this. He was somehow forced into doing this. We're thinking that whoever is in charge did it by hypnosis. Just like with the other cases..." Rei nodded, unsmiling, but with a considerate look on her face. "Phobos-chan and Deimos-chan didn't do it either. I know that..." "And even though Zoicite gives me the creeps with his attitude sometimes, he wasn't conscious of the crime as well." Minako added. "I want to believe you, I really do, but what if Neph's just lying to protect himself?" "That's where you come in, Mako-chan. You have to trust him." When Makoto didn't answer, Usagi kept on talking. "I saw the pain in his eyes, Mako-chan...It was real pain. Believe me, please." "I would like to believe you, but I need to hear it from him, not you." "If that's what you need, Mako-chan..." A male voice interrupted. Makoto gasped, and all eyes swerved to the door. Neph stood there for a second, as his eyes connected with Makoto's. Taking her lack of talking as an offer to come in, he slowly approached the girls, the intent on his face only on Makoto. Tears, something she had never connected with him, brimmed in his eyes. "Mako- chan…" She stood up from her seat and took a step back, scared. "Neph...How did you-?" "A little rabbit told me," he whispered gently, now only a foot in front of her. Her eyes darted to Usagi, who also had tears welling in her eyes. Focusing back on Neph, Makoto began to shake. Without so much as a word, she ran past him and out the door, heading for the one place that always made her feel comfortable in this home. Usagi, Rei, Minako and Neph all exchanged looks. Finally all attention was placed on the blond with the pigtails, whose thoughts appeared to be as much in shambles as the rest of them. Her blue eyes were two pools of confusion, and she had to blink before any of what had just happened registered and she could speak. "That wasn't supposed to happen…" Getting up from out of their seats, they all knew where to find Makoto- the one place where she could do what she loved to do most. In the kitchen, Makoto quickly opened the refrigerator and grabbed anything that she could get her hands on, grabbing a cutting board from one of the cupboards and nearly slamming it on the counter. A pile began to grow on top of the counter. Tears, on the verge of spilling over, clouded her vision. This was just some nasty dream. Nothing bad was supposed to happen… Taking a pot from another cupboard, Makoto grabbed a large measuring cup and filled it with water and poured it into the pot, which was now over the stove, several times. The brunette took an onion, and grasping a knife from a drawer, began to slice and dice furiously with quick and sharp strokes. Hearing the boiling water, Usagi slowly walked in through the kitchen door, with Rei and Minako closely behind. There, she came face to face with Makoto's back. "Mako-chan…" The furious girl did not respond, and continued with what Usagi guessed was cutting, because of the way her hand moved up and down rapidly. "Look, just-" "Go away. And make sure that *he* doesn't come in here." The three girls tried to negotiate among themselves to figure out who would be the middle-man, or in this case, middle-woman. However, they didn't need to decide on their own, because Nephrite had come into the room himself, making sure not to make a noise as he opened the door. "Mako-chan," Rei continued, "Just think everything over, okay?" Silently, the three of them left, leaving only the broken couple to sweat it out. Makoto, not realizing that they had left, slowly brought her cutting to a stop. Without turning around, she mumbled, "I *have* been thinking everything over, and that's the problem." Neph held his breath. Her voice seemed choked. "Minna, this isn't easy. I'm not just going to go all starry eyed like I used to. He's not just some old boyfriend…" "I don't know if I should be flattered or not." She swerved around, blinking in confusion, knife in hand. Even with the amount of love he had for Makoto, he had to admit, she didn't look too happy…And the way that knife glinted in the kitchen light… Suddenly remembering when Minako mentioned that Makoto was particularly skilled in darts, he gulped nervously. Slowly approaching her apprehensive figure, he held both of his hands up. "You wouldn't hurt an unarmed man, would you?" "Yes, I would, if he got me upset," Makoto quipped. Sighing, she placed the knife on the counter. "Does this mean that I didn't upset you?" "No, it means that I don't want to be charged with murder right now." His eyes attempted to reach hers, and tell her the truth. "Mako- chan... I know that nothing I do can make up for what happened...And I can't forgive myself for doing what I did, even though I didn't know about it...But this hasn't changed the way I feel about you. I still love you, and always will... Is there any way you can find it in your heart, to forgive this miser of a man and give him a second chance?" "No." Ouch. "Mako-chan-" "No!" Turning back to the counter, she picked up the knife, and began to tensely chop the onions again. He came up behind her, and he could feel her tension in the way she stood. "Our love…It's written in the stars…" he whispered. She shook her head. It was the line that he had used on her when he had first met her overseas. And she had fallen for it with schoolgirl glee. But soon that schoolgirl glee had matured into true love. Hearing that line again brought back happy memories, including of the dinner they had had only days before, when everything was going perfectly. Again, she stopped cutting, a teardrop making its way onto the plastic board. When she moved to face him, he visibly started when he observed how tears flowed in rivulets down her flushed face, making her emerald eyes shimmer. Tracing the path of a tear with his shaking finger, he whispered, "I'll do anything, Mako-chan...just please, say yes..." Rejecting his touch, she turned around. "Damn tears…Damn onions…" He stepped back. "If you had any trust in me during our relationship, remember it. I can't force you to love me, to forgive me, but I can't say that I'm going to give up on you." He began to walk away. She didn't respond. "I love you. Maybe one day we'll both understand that." He was already at the door. "Wait." He froze, and turned around, the hope in his eyes wavering, and unsure. "Do you…" This time, it was she that approached him, eyes downcast. "That depends..." she mumbled, taking her hand and holding his to her cheek. "Can you forgive me for being stubborn, and not trusting you the way I did?" His response was a sweet brush of his lips to hers. "That's a yes!" Minako yelled in triumph, holding out her fingers in her famous V for victory formation from outside of the door, peeking in. The couple looked to the entrance, where the three happy eavesdroppers moved in. Everyone in the room laughed, while Makoto and Neph held each other close, and kissed again. "Get a room," Rei mumbled jokingly. Nephrite looked back to thank the person who had given him the hint to come, who was now more recognizable to him than before. "Arigatou…" Makoto had shut off the boiling water and cleared up the mess she had created in her anxiety. Soon they had moved back up to the sitting room again. "So does this mean that the wedding is on then?" Usagi asked when they had settled. The couple looked each other in the eyes, and not a second passed before Neph asked cautiously, "Are you sure?" She nodded without constraint. "Yes! Then we're getting married!" he cried out, picking her up and bringing her into the air, swinging her around. "Just what's going on here?" A familiar voice brought the merriment to a screeching halt. For the second time, every eye in the room was drawn to the door. This time, there stood another blond man, the expression on his face driving a crazy fear into everyone's hearts. "Zoi-kun!" "I'd like to know the same thing." A chill ran down Usagi's spine as the familiar voice reached her. Her eyes became wide saucers as adamant midnight blue eyes met hers. "Mamoru-baka!" Just then, a blue eyed, blue haired beauty walked into the room, the sunny voice brimming with excitement. "Hi, minna! I wanted to surprise..." she trailed off as she looked at the zoo that had arranged itself in the mansion sitting room. Her eyes coming to a standstill at the blond man in front of her, her hand flew to her mouth. "It's a bit too late for that..." the raven haired lady said, rolling her eyes. **** (AN: What probably would've been a chapter break if I hadn't decided to split this into days) "What's going on?" Ami asked, wide eyed. "So much for trying to plan a welcome home bash..." Makoto sighed. Everyone sweatdropped. It was a total staredown. Makoto and Neph stood to one side of the room, holding on to each other. Zoicite's gaze shifted back and forth between Ami and the reunited couple. Ami stood, eyes alert and attentive, but shyly looked down as Zoicite's gaze reached her. Rei held a hand to her forehead and groaned. Minako, as gracefully as ever, nearly tripped over the table leg as she tried to sneak out of the room, and then stood up, laughing slightly. Usagi, meanwhile, was dutifully trying to wrench herself out of the predator-like gaze that Mamoru had on her. Ever so slowly, she moved behind Rei and used her as a shield, occasionally peeking out to still find him looking in her direction. Everything was going way too well before, so there just had to be a catch *somewhere*. Minako, looking around at the crazy scene, cleared her throat. She nearly jumped when all eyes focused on her. Giving Ami a 'get me outta here' expression, she said timidly, "Eh...Ami-chan...When did you get here?" "Just an hour ago...Some surprise, huh? …Now can *somebody* answer my question?" "If I could tell you what was going on, believe me, I'd be too confused to try," Rei quipped, realizing that Ami was looking at the one person in the room that didn't look either angry, or guilt stricken. "Usagi, stop that." Rei moved, and Usagi winced as she made eye contact with Mamoru again. "Nephrite-kun, you have to tell me what's going on..." "Tsukino, we need to talk..." "This is quite the predicament..." Soon, all the voices in the room melded together to form one, big, jumbled mess. Each and every conversation was caught up in the mix, and the room echoed with the murmur of voices. Usagi, who was only across the room from Mamoru, could only see his mouth form words, and with as much practice as she had gotten from trying to talk to Minako across the room in high school, she didn't get the hang of lip reading very well. At least she could tell from the look on his face exactly how...erm...happy he was about everything. Ouch. "Quiet!" Mamoru and Usagi yelled simultaneously, eyes clamped shut. Silence. They sighed with relief. "I know this is going to get a little tedious, but if we could all talk one at a time..." Not another word was uttered, and he took his chance. "Zoicite-san, you go first, considering that you came in first..." "One question before you start though," Usagi interrupted. "How did everyone get in here? Why is everyone here?" "The door was open," the three newcomers said at the same time. Everyone glanced at Nephrite. "Don't look at me, it was Tsukino-san's idea." Usagi flushed and gestured to Zoicite before any other incriminating looks could be shot her way. "And why did everyone come?" "I had to talk to my cousin, and I assumed he was here." "I needed to talk to Aino-san." "Good enough," she said. "Now we'll get to the real part…Zoicite- san, please go first." Nodding, Zoicite looked at Ami. Reconsidering what he was thinking, he turned back toward Nephrite and Makoto. "Are you two really getting married?" he asked solemnly. "Yes. And Zoi-kun, there's nothing you can-" "Before you get caught up in the defensive, hear me out. I just wanted to be the first to congratulate you... " "Eh?" "Let's just say that I've learned a lot lately..." he murmured, his eyes meeting Ami's. "And I know not to let anything get in between something that you two have...it's a very special relationship, and I'm happy for you." There was a silent rendezvous conspiring between Zoicite and Ami as he spoke, and she stood, eyes blinking in confused stupor. "Thank you," Nephrite said quietly, drawing Zoicite's attention back, which made Makoto give him a playful light smack on the back. "Chiba-san, it's your turn," Rei interrupted, eyes glinting. Usagi grimaced. A sly smile grew on Mamoru's face. "I'll wait." 'Hey Chiba, is that your plan? Slowly kill me with suspense?' "Mizuno-san, I think it's your turn now." "I think I've determined just what was going on, from everything that I've heard." She sent a joyous smile to the couple before her, but like the light in her eyes when she first came in, it dimmed. "I just don't understand why..." she looked at Zoicite. "Care to explain?" she whispered, her words meant for him alone. "We need to talk." Momentarily forgetting that they had an audience, Zoicite moved past Mamoru, his hand moving forward to take her hand. Just as quickly as the gesture had been made did his hand drop to his side. Usagi, noting the need for privacy, coughed. "Umm...This is a little strange to suggest, but why don't we split up and then get back together in here when everyone's ready?" Nodding, Minako all but rocketed out of her seat. "Rei-chan and I will get the dishes!" Grabbing Rei's hand, she balanced all the trays in her free hand and high-tailed it out of the room. Makoto and Nephrite followed soon afterwards. Ami and Zoicite decided to leave the two investigators in the sitting room. Usagi sat down on the chair and sighed. "Well, that sure was something else," she joked. "You're not in the clear, Tsukino," he mused, taking a seat across from her. Making a left, Ami and Zoi headed towards the vast mansion library. Closing the door behind him, Zoicite turned around to find Ami already sitting down in one of the recliners in the large room, with a book in her lap. Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. "Ami-chan, of all the times to be reading books..." "You never had a problem with me reading before," she said quietly, without the least bit of sarcasm in her voice, as hard as she tried for it to come out. She turned the page. "That's at work, Ami-chan. Not here," he replied softly, gently taking the book out of her hands and placing it on the desk beside her. "This...is different." He stood in front of her, and paced around subconsciously. Finally making a stop to face her, he sighed. "This was a big surprise…I...I've missed you, Ami-chan." She didn't reply. They hadn't spoken to each other for almost two months. After he tried to take Herme's Tear, she didn't know what to think about him...about them. Their working relationship had taken a different turn since the beginning, and it was something they avoided talking about. They were stuck in that...perpetual shady gray area, where you weren't friends, but you weren't enemies, but something more... But to the eyes of the rest of the world, they were just co-workers. Fate had arranged everything so that Ami's trip to Germany was scheduled for practically directly after the attempted robbery, and instead of staying in Tokyo to work things out, she decided to leave early, and without notice to her friends, which was totally unlike her. Ami had told herself that she needed to think, and at that moment, her thinking would be the most efficient if she was away from him. And now that she was back, she couldn't think straight at all. She didn't know how to act, what to say...and all this was stemming from the fact that she knew that he was truly innocent. "Ami-chan, you have to say something! This isn't easy for me..." He muttered something unintelligible under his breath, and raked a hand through his hair. They had talked only once, when he was leaving the precinct after she dropped the charges against him. That conversation had a duration of less than a minute. She had smiled at him, her eyes visibly red and glistening with tears from the crying she had endured that night. "Everything's okay..." she had whispered, before walking out of the door and into the cold early morning frost. And he, unsure of what to say, let her go. He wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. "I know this isn't something that I should be bringing up, and please don't hate me for doing so, but this has to be said. Concerning Herme's Tear-" "You're innocent," she said emotionlessly. "Eh?" "I know for a fact that you are." "But what I'm trying to get at is...Ami-chan, I made a mistake, and I don't want to go through what I have for the past two months...I can barely sleep, barely think...Do you know why, Ami-chan?" She looked blankly at him, and was afraid to take the words for the meaning that was obvious in his voice. "I want to start over. I want to forget everything that I've done lately...not just with the jewel...but with the way things have been between us at work. I didn't want to hurt you... You said that everything was okay, but it wasn't." Going down on his knees, he knelt down in front of her, and hesitatingly put his hand over hers, which were bunched in her lap. "Please," he continued, looking up so that he could see the fear in his eyes. "I don't know how to say this, I've never been any good at this..." "It's okay..." she whispered, one of her hands moving over his. Her eyes began to shine not only with brimming tears, but with a new light. Nodding, he pushed a stray tendril of hair away from her face, and she blushed. "Everything's going to be okay...But I have something I need to tell you, in addition to explaining about this crazy menagerie..." In the guest bedroom, Makoto and Neph had moved to get out of the way of the crazy scene that had unfolded. Inside, they sat down on the bed, and hugged, happy to have private time without being interrupted. "Mako-chan..." he mumbled, his hands playing in her hair while he whispered in her ear, "Why is everyone pretending not to know Serenity- sama?" She moved out of his embrace, a quizzical look in her green eyes. Makoto, for the moment, had forgotten all about the plan. The idea finally registering in her head, a sheepish grin appeared on her face. "Well, ya see..." "Minako-chan, really!" Rei rolled her eyes as Minako stood by the door to the sitting room, dishes forgotten on the floor next to her. Minako put her finger to her lips, shushing her. "I want to know what's going on!" she whispered. "It can wait! And if Mamoru-kun finds you here first, he'll be extremely suspicious of you, and it's bad enough that he's showing more than just simple interest in the crystal case...We don't want him to find out-" Minako sighed, cutting her short. "Yeah, I know." She inched closer to the entrance, and looked back at Rei. "But this could be getting interesting!" she whispered even louder, ignoring the way Rei's face paled. "Just let me listen in once, you do it all the time, doing that fancy-shmancy private eye stuff. He won't know a thing, trust me." "Aino-san, I suggest that you don't go into the business, if you plan on speaking that loudly when you're spying on people." Minako slowly turned to find Mamoru outside of the doorway, standing tall in front of her. She gulped, eyes widening. "Rei-chan, what's wrong with you, thinking about doing that when we have dishes to do! Come on!" Once again grabbing Rei's hand, she flew down the corridor and down the main stairwell, dishes forgotten and left next to the door. Usagi looked outside the window, her finger tracing invisible patterns in the glass overlooking the gardens. 'Sneaking around comes quick to this group,' she thought, an embarrassed grin forming on her lips. She visibly started when she heard the click of the door and his agitated sigh. Well, that would be her last true thought before she was executed. Moving back to the seat she had recently occupied, she looked up with scared eyes to find him standing in front of her. Didn't he ever sit down? He was too damn intimidating when he was that tall, whether or not she was sitting or standing. He went straight to the point, looking down at her. "What are you doing here?" Eyes cast downward, she responded, "I should be asking *you* the same question." "Don't get off topic." he quipped. "It's kinda complicated..." "We have all night. Take your time. And in the meantime, you can explain why you spoke to Kino-san last night without telling me." Her head snapped back up as her widened eyes met his. 'Oh, geez! How does he know that?' "Caller ID," he answered her thoughts, matter of factly. She inhaled slowly. It was tell all or face Chiba's wrath. "Okay, about that phone call..." He nodded, urging her to continue. "We talked about the case," she finished. "I didn't learn anything new. And I guess you can say that I wanted to know more about what was going on between Makoto and Nephrite, as a couple." It wasn't a lie. Not a *complete* lie, anyways. "Why did you hide that from me?" "I...I don't know. I really don't." She was being too ambiguous. "Tsukino..." She looked him squarely in the eye, never wavering. "I'm being honest." Usagi was a good actress, but she couldn't fool him. Those eyes of hers gave away too much. But...if he was going to work with her, he couldn't be paranoid and question everything she did. And maybe his lack of sleep was getting to him. "Fine," he conceded. "And what about just now?" She sat back, apparently satisfied that he didn't interrogate her. "Okay...We met with Nephrite-san this morning, and I couldn't help it...He looked so sad...So I decided that they needed to talk." "It's none of our business." Her hands clenched. "I know, but..." Mamoru wasn't sure of what to think. He'd never let anyone come in and change around his way of thinking, or operating. Until now. Tsukino Usagi was certainly unique. She drove everything away from the focus of the case, she delved into the deeper, more emotional sides of the people involved. It wasn't his style. He preferred to shy away from that- it brought along too many ties, a responsibility to a person that he just couldn't keep. Relationships concerning private investigation were kept merely to business. Her tactics may have proven useful at one point or another, with another person, another case. Maybe. The only problem was, her tactics weren't his tactics, and there was just no way that he could allow that, now could he? "Tsukino, your job is to work on our cases, not play matchmaker." She all but jumped out of her seat, forcing herself to continue to look up at him. The expression in her eyes more than made up for her lack of height in the fight for intimidation. "Well, it's nice to know that at least *one* of us has a heart!" He groaned, running a hand through his hair in a gesture of annoyance. "You can't just come in and change the whole system." "Sometimes I think that you don't *want* to have the Tuxedo Mask case solved!" He froze, but she didn't notice his reaction because she was too busy trying to get all her qualms about the subject out in the open. Frustrated, she moved behind him and folded her arms across her chest. "Well, if you'd just open up with your clients a little more, broken that 'barrier', then maybe we wouldn't be stuck working on a case that you, *super genius PI*, have been working on for two months! You just move in and out, and work on your own! You won't get anything done that way!" Load, aim, shoot. She'd hit a nerve. It was one thing for her to try something on her own, but something completely different for her to attack him personally. The worst part about it was- he was beginning to see her point, and she affected him more than she had ever wanted him to. Usagi, seeing the sudden change in his eyes when he turned around to face her, dropped her hands to her sides. She frowned, and her blue eyes expressed the sound emotion of worry. Why did he look so...? Did she...? "Chiba..." "Chiba-san? Tsukino-san? It's me, Ami..." In their anger, they had not noticed the small sound of the door clicking open, and the light footsteps heard when Ami moved into the room. Noticing the fretful demeanors of both investigators, she quickly shuffled back to the door. "Oh dear...I'm sorry, we'll just-" Mamoru shook his head. "No, it's okay. Come in." The doctor stood wordlessly, but then motioned outside the door for the others to join her. One by one, the people that had occupied the room returned. Usagi sat down in the chair she sat on before she got caught up in the argument, while Mamoru took care to take a seat that wasn't next to her. Each of them took a seat on the available chairs and couches. Each calmly exchanged glances across the room. Each inwardly worried about what was to come ahead. When everyone was settled, the lead investigator spoke first. "It seems like we all have something in common, and it's something that we should all address now, while the opportunity is open for us." Ami interjected, her lightly accented voice pushing aside the thick silence that had ensued. "I'd like to speak first, if you don't mind." She looked towards Zoicite, waiting for his approval. He gestured for her to start. "While I was in Germany, I traveled from one different hospital to another, in a matter of days or even a few hours. That made it nearly impossible to have any messages sent to me, unless someone knew exactly the area in which I was in, which was very hard to pinpoint. The other day, while I was staying at a hotel in Frankfurt, I received a package that had been forwarded through all the cities I had been to. The idea that this had been traveling around for months petrified me. But…back to the point…one of the reasons why I came back here…the contents of this package were for a blood test that I had requested be taken when Zoicite-kun was arrested." A tension filled silence lay thick in the air, and each person seemed to shift to try to get into a more comfortable position. "What I'm trying to get at, minna-san, is that the results tested positive for an unknown chemical that could have been held responsible for his behavior at the time..." The collective gasp and intake of breath permeated throughout the room. "It wasn't that he was on drugs, considering that I had been with him most of the time during previous days. The lab said that the rest of his blood, after a few days, when run through a machine similar to that of an excretory device, was completely normal. This chemical wasn't found in any legal or illegal drugs that have been in circulation here in Tokyo." "Was it said how this was put into the bloodstream?" "All of this is new to them." Zoicite added. "They have no idea. They did say that the chemical bonds were small enough for diffusion through all the systems of the body, possibly including the skin." "Finally, a lead..." Mamoru whispered. Excited, he continued. "If we can find out just how it was diffused, or where it came from, then we'll find our suspect. Nephrite-san, will you take a blood test tomorrow?" He nodded, his hand reaching for Makoto's. "And Rei? Is there any way that Phobos-chan and Deimos-chan...?" "I'll call them tonight." "It's decided then. Tomorrow, meet at the hospital lab at eleven o'clock. Agreed?" Everyone nodded. It wasn't over yet. "Tsukino-san, Chiba-san," Ami asked quietly, "How is the investigation going on the Good Samaritan?" Without first conversing with Mamoru, Usagi responded, "We're basically where we were to begin with. We tried going to at least fifteen places in the city, like tuxedo rental shops and jewelers, but nothing we found helped." Mamoru nodded. "It's a rough process, since we know so little about this figure in the first place. But if we can trace this chemical to anyone, there's a very good chance that he or she is connected to this…Tuxedo Mask," he ended, looking at Usagi, who still would not face him. "They're most likely enemies of some sort." They all nodded. After their discussion on the case, plans were decided, meeting places were arranged, and it was finally agreed upon that everyone would go home and wait things out. The two cousins made their way out of the room first, and the ladies followed. "Aino-san, please wait for a moment." Looking back at Usagi and then at Mamoru, Minako approached the two of them. Was Mamoru going to lecture her on the ethics of eavesdropping? "Aino-san, we need to talk about the case. There's one part you seem to be keeping out. The Heart of Aphrodite." Both blondes paled at his words. Minako fell into the chair behind her. Neither Usagi nor Minako were aware of his thoughts. "I can't work on a case in which there's information willingly held from me that serves to benefit the desired outcome. You do realize that both this Tuxedo Mask character and the mastermind of these heists could be attempting to find it right now." "Chiba-san..." Makoto, Rei, and Ami had made their way back to the room when they realized that Minako was not with them. They saw the trio in the room, and the empty stare of the slumped Minako telling them all that they needed to know. "It's okay, Minako-chan. Just tell him." With an exasperated look at the three girls, Minako sighed. "I should've known that you'd catch on as quickly as you did." She smiled wanly. "Yes, Chiba-san, I am also the owner of that crystal, in addition to the Illusion Silver Crystal. Very good sleuthing, on your part. And if you would kindly wait until tomorrow morning, I'll gladly explain everything to you. Now is not the best time to explain everything, since it's so late. Please, Chiba-san." She brought a hand to her forehead, to emphasize the fact that this news was too much of a shock for her. Mamoru was not one to make a stern comment to a client, and he wasn't going to start now, with Minako, whom he was sure didn't mean to lead him on as she did. After nodding accordingly to Minako, he looked to Usagi, with whom he had not made eye contact since her little snap about his barriers. She maintained contact only with the other ladies, not once acknowledging him. He sighed, a shimmer of annoyance evident in its tone. "It'll be an early night tonight, Tsukino. Go home." Surprised, Usagi looked up at him, and found an unusually tired, almost defeated aura taint his handsome features. There was still that inner fire in his eyes that told her that something was wrong...Turning to Minako and the other three ladies, Mamoru added, "Minna-san, I think there are still a lot of unanswered questions, but I'll leave them for tomorrow as well. Aino-san, expect a call tonight, so we can work out the details." "Hai..." She had barely the chance to respond when Mamoru maneuvered his way through the large mansion, with quick steps out the door of the sitting room. Traveling down the large spiraling staircase and out the main doors, nearly bumping into the couple that made their way up the large marble steps. With a muttered 'Gomen,' he continued. Soon he was at the bottom of the long steps, at his car. Usagi, sharing a look of pure confusion and fear in her eyes with the other ladies in the room, ran out after him. She froze at the top of the stairway when she spotted a surprised Luna and Artemis at the entrance, looking outside. Sensing her presence, they turned around, curiosity and concern written all over their protective faces. A cold breeze coming in through the open door made her shiver and wrap her arms around herself. Usagi heard the sound of a car drive off, and slumped down on one of the steps, resting her weary head on her bent knees, refusing to let the others see her face. This was not turning out the way she had planned it. Rei drove her home, and she was quiet the whole way there, not even turning on the radio so that they could listen to their favorite station. Upon entering the apartment, she decided to take a quick shower to get her mind off things, and help her relax. She heard the ring of the phone but decided not to pick it up, seeing as she didn't want to discuss what had happened, even with her friends. A quick shower soon turned into twenty minutes, and when she was finished, she didn't feel any difference in her attitude. When she got out, she approached the answering machine cautiously, waiting for the inevitable voices of her friends asking her what was wrong, or to try to make her feel better. "Tsukino, be ready tomorrow by ten. Rei knows." Click. Short, simple and succinct. It drove her nuts. "Ugh!" she cried out to no one and anyone. They had finally danced upon one lead that could help them with *both* cases, and she was having partner problems. She should have been thrilled about the new information. But even the idea of finding out the truth about this case was scaring her. Every new thing that Mamoru had been able to shine his light upon was something she had not suspected. Things were getting far too deep, and at the rate that things were moving, their goal may be too much for all of them to take... Landing on the bed, Usagi went through the same sleepless routine of the morning, listlessly trying to find some way to reach dreamland. She read her favorite book once through, even got to that article on the Eternal Senshi (which, she had to admit, got her attention). Glancing at her bedside nightstand, she noticed the rose that Mamoru had given…well, tossed…to her at the restaurant. It was still in full bloom and haunted her with its presence, with its reminder of the warmer side of Mamoru that would slip in and out of her reach. Moving to pick the rose up, she inhaled its scent again, and surprisingly, it helped her to calm down. Fingering one of the velvet petals, she sighed and put it aside again. Why had so much happened in only a few hours? Finally, Usagi took her precious locket in her hand, a gentle reminder of everything peaceful in her life, despite its part in the crazy case. With that little added comfort, she was able to find sleep, albeit late and disturbed. * The visitor watched her from her bedroom balcony, the stern look on his face the only emotion expressed because of his mask, and the way the shadow of the hat over his head kept his face in the shadows. Watching the woman fret had worried him. He had not been able to sleep either. *****End Day 2****** If you read through all of this, Arigatou! MORE AN: (and you thought that the first was enough, huh? hee hee…) Yes, I know, this was not all Usa-Mamo, but I do like to give the deserving senshi their time in the love spotlight. ^^; I got myself really confused when I got to writing this, and I hope I didn't confuse you. Gomen if I did. What did you think? And PLEASE, be brutally honest! Flames accepted too (desperate for feedback^^;)! Just e-mail me! Startear42@aol.com