It was almost midnight at the Kazetenshi residence. Hikaru yawned and stretched in his seat. He leaned his elbows on his desk and sat still, staring at his desk. For a few moments, he stayed that way, listening for any sound from the next room. There was nothing. The only sound he heard was the ticking of his clock. After a full minute, he put his pen down slowly, and pushed his chair back as quiet as he could. Then, he walked slowly towards the door and opened it. Like a thief in the dark hallway, he tiptoed towards Aiko’s door. Opening it with ear-shattering silence, he peeked in. His sister was sound asleep on her bed.
Hikaru walked towards her, and looked down at her face. “Aiko…” he whispered.
“Gimme five minutes…” she mumbled, shifting her head slightly.
Hikaru smiled. Aiko was really asleep, so he turned to leave.
Then froze.
Turning around sharply, his eyes widened as he saw something glistening on her neck as the moonlight hit it. His eyebrows furrowed. It looked like their mother’s necklace. No, scratch that. It WAS their mother’s necklace. But it was supposed to be…
“Oniichan…Mom’s necklace… I was supposed to take good care of it when I turned seventeen…” a six-year-old Aiko sobbed, holding on to the seven-year-old Hikaru like a lifeline.
Hikaru just hugged her back. “Don’t worry, Ai-chan… I’m sure it’s somewhere safe.”
Hikaru wasn’t smiling anymore when he left Aiko’s room.
————–
It was almost 1 am in the Kazetenshi residence. Aiko was lying awake on her bed. She was very still, staring at her ceiling. She had been that way for almost five minutes, listening for any sound from the next room. There was nothing. The only sound she heard was the ticking of her clock and occasional dog barks from outside. Slowly, she pulled her blanket away and stood up. Then, she went towards the door and opened it. Biting her lip in the dark hallway, she tiptoed towards Hikaru’s door. Opening it quietly, she peeked in. Her brother was snoring quietly in his bed.
With a small smile on her lips, she closed the door again and went back to her room. She got dressed in the dark, pulled on her jacket, and opened the windows as quietly as she could. She turned unvisible, floated out the window, then closed it slightly. She slowly floated to Hikaru’s window and peeked, and made sure he was asleep. Finally, she pushed herself off the wall and flew fast.
————–
Kaji yawned as he made his way to the kitchen to get some water. That day found him and Yuki VERY tired. This was why he didn’t want to take Kamui in initially. It just made things way too complicated. He was about to go into the kitchen when he felt someone approaching the palace fast. His eyebrows furrowed.
Rookie?
Aiko landed on the marble floor lightly. Looking around the hall, you’d think it wasn’t dark out with all the magnificence and grandeur of the well lighted palace still displayed. Aiko sighed. Whenever she came here the past few days, the whole palace seemed to be surrounded by an eerie silence. Or maybe it was just her.
“Shouldn’t you be at home sleeping?”
Aiko jumped, but then relaxed when she saw Kaji leaning on one of the humongous pillars. His hair was a bit messy, and he had just a plain (and a bit crumpled) shirt and jogging pants on, and his feet were bare. It was obvious he had just gotten out of bed.
“Geez, Kaji, you scared me…”
Kaji just shrugged. “So what brings you here at this hour?”
“I was just… I was planning to talk to Ran.”
Kaji glanced at his watch. “At 1:30 in the morning?”
“It’s important.”
“What about?”
Aiko’s eyes narrowed. Kaji hasn’t moved from his position beside the pillar. She knew she shouldn’t be jumping to conclusions, but…
“Are you keeping me from going inside?”
Kaji didn’t answer. Aiko frowned.
“Kaji, what’s been going on? Why won’t you let me in?”
“I can’t tell you that.”
Aiko turned her eyes to the floor. This was all too much. Not knowing what was happening to her best friend and the Stars was one thing, but Kaji behaving like this towards her was something else entirely. Aiko sighed. Whatever happened to teamwork?
“There’s really no way I’m getting through, is there?”
“Not today.”
“Kaji…”
“I can’t.”
“Why can’t you?”
“Because.”
“Because what?!”
“Because I said so.”
Aiko and Kaji both turned to Ran, who had just entered the hall.
“Sensei…”
“He won’t let you in because I said so.”
“Why won’t you let me in, then?”
“Answered questions don’t necessarily bring peace of mind, Aiko.”
“Unanswered ones don’t, either,” she countered.
“If you put it that way…” Ran shook his head, then turned around. “Come into my office, both of you.”
“Sit down,” Ran offered once he had taken his seat in his office. Aiko obeyed, but Kaji remained standing.
“Well, then, ask away.”
“Why didn’t you let me see Kamui during his training?” was Aiko’s first question.
“I didn’t let him see you,” Ran corrected her, “because I wanted Kamui to focus.”
Silence.
“Excuse me?” Aiko asked unbelievingly. After a pause, her tone had a tinge of hurt, “What am I, a distraction?”
“A possible distraction, yes. I didn’t want to find out whether or not you were.”
Aiko groaned inwardly. In the past two months, she had been a Rookie, a pet, and now a distraction… What was next?
“You had finished your training even without having a visit from your friends, and you were all right,” Ran continued after a moment.
“I suppose. But still, I wanted to see a familiar face that wasn’t training me then. I thought I’d let him have that.”
“Aiko…That had been one year,” Ran started slowly, “Kamui’s training lasted for just one week.”
Aiko’s eyes widened. “A week,” she echoed weakly. “Here?”
Ran nodded.
“A week. Here. He trained for a week…here.”
“You said so yourself. He DID have enormous potential.”
Aiko fell silent, taking those facts into her system.
“How…how can anybody train for a week? I mean… controlling the elements…”
“He’s a very fast learner. He mastered his element and turned unvisible on day one. He flew faster than Yuki on day two. As for fighting skill, he hasn’t quite reached Kaji’s level, but he’s close.”
At this, Aiko glanced at Kaji. The maroon-haired boy shrugged silently.
“The boy just doesn’t get tired, so I had Kaji and Yuki train Kamui every spare time they’ve got.”
“Well, that explains why I haven’t seen them at all. I hoped they’d say ‘Hi’ at least once this week.”
Kaji looked like he was about to defend himself, but Ran beat him to it.
“If they did, would you have let them off easily? Or would you have asked them the questions you’re asking me now?”
Whatever question Aiko asked, the sensei always had an answer. Goodness, why did Ran always have to make sense?
“If he’s practically ready by day three, how come he’s still here, and you still won’t let me see him? “
Ran didn’t answer at once, but a moment later, he replied, “He already has his Star Mark. Or a faint one, that is.”
Aiko blinked innocently. “His wha?”
“Star Mark. Every Star eventually gets his.”
Aiko glanced Kaji. “They do?” Kaji nodded. “Where’s yours?”
At this, Kaji raised his right hand. Aiko’s eyes widened as the character for “flame” appeared.
“WHA?!” Aiko stood up and grabbed his hand, staring at the Mark. “How come I’ve never seen that before?”
“You never looked,” Kaji replied.
“I’m going to punch you,” Aiko told him with a glare. Kaji just smiled.
“The Mark rarely appears,” Ran answered. “It’s usually when the Star’s emotions are at their peak — like when he’s using all his strength — or when he wants to show it. That’s probably why you haven’t seen Kaji’s or Yuki’s. I don’t think they’ve been in any situation life-threatening or energy-draining enough for a Star Mark since you came.”
Kaji noticed Aiko’s face tighten.
“What’s Yuki’s Mark?” she asked.
“It’s ‘water’ on her left hand. Kamui’s hasn’t entirely shown yet, but there are already traces of it. His is ‘earth’, and it’s on his forehead.”
“So what does this have to do with Kamui being off limits?”
“Though he has already mastered controlling his element, Kamui’s ki tends to flare up a bit wildly. It wasn’t very safe to send him off yet. He’s improved greatly the past four days, but I’m planning to extend his training him for a few more.”
“I see…”
“So…” Ran started again after a few moments of silence. “You told Kaji that you had something important to talk with me about. Is this it?”
“Actually…no.”
.
.
Kaji walked with Aiko to the main hall in silence. He just hated what the recent events were doing to her. But what concerned him more was that she looked more upset now than she had been when she arrived earlier. But he just couldn’t bring himself to ask her about it. He suppressed the urge to exhale heavily. Things were just getting worse and worse by the day. First, Kamui, now this.
“Rookie…”
“Yeah?” Aiko replied, not looking at him.
“This has got to be one of the lamest lines I’m going to say to you, but… It’s gonna be OK, you know…”
Aiko didn’t respond. She just kept staring in front of her. Kaji would do just about anything to cheer her up. Just about anything to make her smile again. The smile he hadn’t seen for more than a week. After a moment’s hesitation, Kaji reached out for Aiko’s right hand, but at the same time, she raised it to tuck her hair behind her ear. Before Kaji knew it, they were already at the main hall.
“Be careful,” he said quietly.
“I will.” was all Aiko said.
————–
Yuki looked at Kaji worriedly as he looked out the window. She had just gotten up for the morning when he came knocking at her door. Now, they were in Kamui’s room, and Kaji had just finished relaying Aiko’s report.
“That’s odd,” Yuki said. “If the Roses were going for Hikaru, they shouldn’t have attacked when Aiko was there.”
Kaji nodded. “And if they had been aiming for her, they wouldn’t have done it when she was with a civilian.”
“Maybe they were trying to hit two birds with one stone,” Kamui suggested. “That’s what they did the first time they targetted me, right?”
Yuki nodded slightly. “That’s possible.”
“But,” Kaji spoke again, “think about it, Haruna and Maya were attacked, too.”
Kamui’s eyebrows furrowed. “You’re right…That means the attacker isn’t a Rose…”
“Exactly. Unless they’re having internal problems, that seems to be the most logical answer.”
“Or a potential who had gathered power or something… Except he won’t be called a potential now, would he?”
“So, what’s our strategy?” Yuki asked. When Kaji was silent, Yuki’s eyebrows furrowed. Kaji always had a plan. She watched as his face remained serious, and he started to walk around the room. Yuki could bet he was making up a strategy right now.
“During class hours, I’m going to keep an eye on Hikaru…” he finally said, “the two of you should be on guard for Aiko. And whoever’s free is going to walk with them home. We can’t let them see too much activity on our part. It’s risky, but… at least it won’t drive them to move drastically. Toriyama.”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t let her out of sight unless you’re sure one of us is going to sub for you, got it?”
Kamui nodded firmly. “Got it.”
“Ayt. I’m off to train now, and I advise you guys to do the same. We don’t know who we’re dealing with here.” With a small nod to the two, Kaji walked out the door.
When they were alone, Yuki and Kamui turned to each other, the same thought in their minds.
Since when did Kaji call Aiko by her name?
————–
Remember that they were best friends. Also remember that they were rivals. And, most of all, remember that they had had their share of quarrels, misunderstandings and not-in-good-talking-condition phases. This, however, was way beyond Kamui. He had thought and thought and thought about it for days. But he still had made no progress.
Dr. Toriyama had Kamui stay in the hospital for one more day after he woke up, but Kamui didn’t really mind. He was glad he was able to catch up on his lessons — Midori and Rei had studied with him in his room — and he had voluntary service deluxe from Sara.
Aiko, though, was a mystery. If you don’t look well enough, you’d think everything was normal. She would smile at anyone who talked to her, and she did her usual routine at school. There were several minor attacks, but none close to the Kazetenshis. In fact, it was always so far from the siblings’ location, that Aiko never got to defend. She didn’t look bothered by it, but Kamui knew something was wrong. She always had this look in her eyes when he talked to her. Like she wanted to ask him something, and tell him something at the same time. But she never did. She never did say anything about any Blue Star issue. She rarely spoke at Star meetings, and she always seemed distant and preoccupied. She wouldn’t even give Kamui a straight answer when he asked. Was it because she was worried about Hikaru? Probably so. Normally, Kamui would pester her until he got an answer, but he just didn’t have the heart to poke around, this time.
“So do we have any idea who our Light Switcher is?”
Kamui snapped out of his reverie when Kaji spoke. They were sitting in one of the gazebos on the school grounds after school. All in all, it was a pretty good day. The skies were blue, the air was cool, the wind was perfect, and there was no sign of activity from Deathrose. The only damper on the day was the fact that they still didn’t know who the new attacker was.
Kamui sighed. “No leads whatsoever. Yuki has a theory, though.”
Yuki nodded. “Kamui and I were talking about it this morning. Don’t you think that it’s possible that the Light Switcher is connected to the black-cloaked person?”
“The black-cloaked person at the race?”
“You did say that he wasn’t a minor, nor was he a Rose, right? What do you think, Aiko?”
Aiko’s head snapped up. She had brought her homework along, and she was seemingly very engrossed in it. Kaji’s eyebrows furrowed. Bringing schoolwork was fine, but…working on it now? Since when was Aiko too busy that she couldn’t do her homework before or after Star meetings? She never mixed academics and Star business before…
“Uhh… W-Well,” Aiko stammered. Kaji began to wonder whether she was listening at all. “I can’t say. I mean, I tried to focus and feel for his ki, but there was none. It’s like he was a normal human.”
“Maybe he was hiding his ki too well to notice,” Kamui suggested.
“That’s possible,” Kaji agreed. “Although…he didn’t hide his ki at the race. What makes him hide it now?”
“Guys, here come Hikaru-kun and Sara-chan…” Yuki warned them. A few minutes later, the group parted ways, with the Toriyamas and the Kazetenshis walking home together, and the two other Stars going to Ran’s (though, of course, they said they were going to their apartment).
The walk home was pretty normal. Kamui, Sara and Hikaru were chatting away, and Aiko occassionally pitched in. They went inside a convenience store to buy groceries: some chips for Sara, ice cream for Kamui, chocolates for Aiko, and noodles for Hikaru (of course). They were already outside the store when Kamui suddenly remembered he had to buy batteries for his alarm clock.
“You don’t want me to be eternally late like Hikaru, do you?” he teased, earning a “HEY!” from the mentioned Kazetenshi.
He was about to go inside the store when it suddenly rained. Heavily. When you’re a Star, sudden rain on a perfect day was not to be trusted. He glanced at Aiko, who glanced at him, as well. Aiko mouthed “hurry up” to him. Kamui nodded and hurried inside. He grabbed the batteries from the display and went straight for the cashier.
“Ummm, please make it fast, I’m sort of in a hurry,” he said. Looking outside, he saw Aiko looking up, a worried look on her face. He turned to the cashier again. So he didn’t see what happened outside.
Aiko was jerked out of her concentration when Sara suddenly exclaimed, “Wha?!” She was about to look at the other girl when she herself exclaimed the same thing as a hand pulled at her wrist. The next second, they were running away from the store and into the rain.
Kamui looked up from his bag, and almost dropped the batteries he was holding. They were gone! He rushed out of the store to go after the three, not minding as his clothes got wet. But then, he stopped. Where’d they go, anyway?
Oh, man, Hino is gonna KILL me!
“Oniichan!!!” Aiko yelled for the fourth time. But Hikaru just ignored her. He was also pulling on her hand a bit too roughly for her liking.
“Just shut up and run!” Hikaru yelled in the rain, turning on a corner.
“But we left Oniichan!” Sara yelled back.
At this, Hikaru abruptly stopped, then looked the way they came from. By this time, they were already a several blocks away from the store. “Look,” Hikaru started. “I need you to go straight to our house, OK? Don’t split up and—”
He was suddenly cut short as Aiko gasped, her hand on her heart. Hikaru instantly held on her shoulders, holding her up.
“Aiko, what is it?”
But she gave no response. She was breathing heavily, her hand now clutching her shirt.
“AIKO!”
With another gasp, Aiko “woke up” with a start.
“O-Oniisan…”
“Are you OK? What happened?”
Aiko swallowed, blinking. How was she supposed to explain what exactly happened when she herself didn’t know?
“I…I saw…”
“You saw…?”
“I…I have to…” Aiko looked at Hikaru, then at Sara, then turned to go. But Hikaru held fast to her wrist.
“Aiko, what the heck is going on?”
“You take Sara home, Oniichan, and Kamui and I will catch up with you,” Aiko quickly told him, not meeting his eyes.
“Aiko, listen—” Hikaru stopped again when Aiko’s determined eyes looked at him.
“Let me go.” she said firmly, and a bit desperately.
Hikaru didn’t know why he let her go, but he did. Watching his sister’s receding figure, he somehow knew that the next few days won’t bring good news…
Aiko ran as fast as her legs could take her.
Please… her mind begged the heavens, Please let that be just my imagination.
She praying with all her might that, when she reached the convenience store, Kamui would be there, under the dry sanctuary of the roof. She prayed he would have an annoyed look on his face, and he would be yelling at her for leaving him there. She prayed with all her might that what she saw earlier wasn’t a premonition. And that Kamui wasn’t fighting with three Roses.
Aiko froze in her tracks and nearly tripped, taking in the scene before her with wide eyes.
There were icicles and cracks on the road and the walls. Maya was already down and was apparently unconscious. Fuu was standing, but was painfully holding her arm. And Kamui…
Kamui wasn’t even scratched.
The Rose of Lightning jumped backwards, effectively dodging the Kamui’s bamboo sword, but fell to her knees almost instantly. Before she could blink, Kamui’s foot already made contact with her chest, just below her collarbone. She hit the wall in an instant.
“C’mon!”
Kamui ran for Aiko, grabbed her wrist, and ran for it.
————–
“Hikaru! Put me DOWN!”
He was tired, he was literally out of breath, his legs felt like lead…
But Hikaru was running.
“HIKARU!!!”
Hikaru ignored the protests of the girl in his arms and turned on another corner.
Just a few more meters…
Relief washed over him when they finally reached the Toriyama residence. He set Sara down on her feet, then leaned his hands on his knees. He swallowed before continuing to breathe heavily. Beside him, Sara stood, very concerned.
“Are you OK?” she asked.
“Yeah…”
Not a second later, Sara hit his head with her fist.
“OWWW!”
“Hikaru, what on earth was that all about?!”
“You didn’t have to hit me before asking, y’know!”
“Well, you didn’t have to carry me all the way home, y’know! I can RUN if you’ve forgotten! Can you PLEASE tell me what’s going on?”
“Not now, Sara.”
The girl threw her hands in the air. “ARGH! Why does everyone ALWAYS tell me that, and then they end up NOT telling me anything anyways?! Just because I’m younger than you guys doesn’t— HEY!!!”
Hikaru grabbed her bag, rummaged for her keys, and unlocked the door.
“IN.”
Hikaru’s voice was firm and demanding as he shoved Sara inside the house. She hadn’t regained balance yet when Hikaru carelessly tossed her the bag and keys. As expected, she caught them, but nearly dropped them, as well, giving him enough time to go for the door and say, “Stay here until Kamui arrives.”
Sara wanted to protest, but the look on his face told her better.
“Why?”
Hikaru sighed. “Just…trust me, all right?”
With that, he went out the door and ran off. Sara herself ran for the window and watched Hikaru worriedly. He’s going to get sick if he keeps doing that.
————–
The rain had stopped.
Kamui racked his brains as they ran. If they went home where Sara and Hikaru were, it might put their siblings in danger. But, at the same time, at least they could be there to defend them if they were targetted. He wasn’t able to reach a conclusion when Aiko suddenly wrenched her hand free, jumped up, then kicked him. Taken totally by surprise, Kamui stumbled to his knees on the ground, then turned around just in time to see a huge boulder miss Aiko by a hair. Haruna had finally made her move.
A split-second later, thick vines broke through the wall behind Aiko. Gritting her teeth, Aiko jumped away as Kamui flicked his hands, making a bamboo sword with each. He threw one like a boomerang towards the vines, and another one to Haruna’s possible location. But that had been a very wrong move. His legs gave away as new vines pulled on his feet, making him fall to the ground. In an instant, Haruna was literally sitting on him, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. Kamui grunted, trying to break free, and breathe at the same time.
“Just watch as your best friend dies slowly, Ground Master.” Haruna whispered in his ear.
What the—?! Kamui suddenly stopped struggling, and looked up. Aiko was suspended in the air, the vines enveloping her as she struggled. The vines were completely enveloping her.
Kamui tried to break free again, but kept his eyes on his best friend, whose movements, he noticed, were slowly decreasing in power.
C’mon, Aiko, FIGHT IT!
But his eyes widened in horror almost instantly.
Haruna smirked. “Well, bye-bye Wind Angel.”
Aiko wasn’t moving anymore.
No way. Nowaynowaynoway…
Kamui didn’t know how he did it. But his jumbled, whirring mind suddenly had an idea. An idea that made him say to himself, Why didn’t you come up with that earlier, STUPID?!
His hands clenched on the ground, he made two bamboo swords again, and, with all his might, thrust them backwards towards Haruna. The girl leapt off of him in surprise, and avoided getting wounded. Taking the opportunity, Kamui threw one sword boomerang-style again, this time towards the vines holding Aiko up, and used the other to slice the ones holding his feet. Not missing a beat, he threw the sword at Haruna, whose location he was sure of now. The Autumn Rose made a futile attempt to jump away, but she suppressed a scream as the sword grazed on her leg. As she fell to her knees, Kamui took the risk and looked behind him. Aiko was still wrapped in vines, unmoving.
No way…
Kamui slowly walked to Aiko, and collapsed to his knees beside her, momentarily forgetting about his opponent. He removed the vines from her face. She was very still. Way too still. He barely noticed Haruna fly off as he continued to gaze at his best friend.
The wind blew through his hair. His jaw clenched as he closed his eyes, hating himself for being so careless. If he didn’t go to buy those darned batteries…
Forgive me…Aiko…
He let her down. He let Aiko down.
His best friend.
“I’m sorry…”
I’m so sorry…
“Why on earth are you wearing that mourning face?”
Kamui’s eyes flew open.
And found familiar dark grey eyes staring at him.
“GAH!!!!”
The dark grey eyes narrowed…
“Geez, you scared—”
…and narrowed even more.
“So my face is scary now, is it?” the girl in front of him asked.
Kamui rolled his eyes. “That’s not—” He suddenly stopped as realization hit him.
His jaw dropped.
“Aiko?” he whispered almost inaudibly.
The girl’s eyebrows furrowed. “Like, duh.”
Kamui’s face broke into a smile of pure joy as he lunged towards her, hugging her tight.
“You’re all right…” he breathed. “You’re alive…”
In his head, Kamui hit himself. Well, that was a pretty delayed reaction, wasn’t it, Toriyama? When he felt her stiffen in his arms, he let go of her slightly, and found her glaring at him. The smile on his face fell.
“What do you mean, I’m alive?” Kamui just blinked. “Of course I’m alive, Kamui!”
“But…But you were… You stopped moving and you…”
“It’s called playing dead, if you haven’t heard of it yet.”
“Playing… DAMMIT, AIKO! Do you have any idea how worried I was?! Why didn’t you move when you were released?”
“Because Haruna was still there!”
“But…”
“Y’know…” Aiko interrupted. “You could’ve checked my ki…or my pulse, at least, if you were so worried. Besides, I’m a Star, remember? I’m not supposed to die.”
Kamui blinked. “Oh, yeah…”
Aiko stood up with a huff. “I can’t believe you forgot about THAT. And to think you already…” Aiko trailed off.
“I already what?” Kamui asked her, standing up, too.
Aiko sighed as she turned away. “I just expected more from you…seeing you already have your Star Mark and all…”
“My St— AIKO!”
But she had already ran off.
————-
Next on Blue Star
After the quick but intense battle during Kamui’s defense, more than one person ends up bedridden… From both camps. Much as they tried to avoid it, family members had to get involved sooner or later…
“You think you’re her savior, don’t you?”
Episode 14: Fever
————–
