"Deja!" cried Rei. "What happened to you?" Her daughter's hose were ripped, her skirt and shirt heavily soiled, and she had scratches and a bloody knee.

"I slipped," said Deja. "I was taking the path to the back, and I slipped down the hill. It happened so fast, I couldn't transform."

Rei hugged her daughter tightly. Then she said, "You did it to avoid them, didn't you? I'm calling the police!"

"I don't think it will do any good, okasan," said Deja, as they went to the bathroom. "If the police arrest them, more will come, like before. They think Kami-sama is on their side. Some of the boys and girls at my school are always trying to save me now . . . Give me the rag, I will do it," said Deja, seeing her mother begin to bend down to clean off her bloody knee. "I shouldn't have tried to go around them. They are not that bad."

"They do not have the right to do this!" fumed Rei. "Do they ask you about Tami and Firipu?"

"Yes," said Deja. She could have said more, about the students that had hounded her, but she did not. Deja was very worried about her mother. Her injuries from the incident at the White House in June were healing slowly, a disturbing surprise to a senshi. Maybe it was because she was pregnant; maybe not. Whatever the cause, now Deja felt she had to be strong for her mother, with her father gone, and this unexpected wrangle for Auntie Makoto.

Deja boosted herself up onto the counter where the sinks were set so her mother would not have to bend far down or kneel to bandage her knee. As Rei applied the gauze and adhesive, Deja said, "Maybe we should stay with Auntie Usagi for awhile."

Hearing the people outside starting up another of their hymns, Rei said, "Maybe we will."