by Haruka

Pulse stood in the dormroom doorway and surveyed the sleeping recruits. Here it was, seven o'clock in the morning, and not one of them was stirring. Obviously the eleven o'clock lights-out was too late for this bunch. Maybe he'd mention that fact to Setsuna.
He walked down the centre aisle, looking down at each bed as he passed. Kurama slept on his right side, one bare arm on top of the blankets. Kei had all but kicked her blankets off the bed entirely, and lay flat on her back, snoring noisily. Yuri lay on her left side, the covers pulled up to her chin. Yui was on her back, her head turned to one side and one hand dangling over the edge of the bed. Chihaya had turned to the left, one hand tucked under his cheek. Signal was on his stomach, a pillow hugged to his chest and his butt sticking up in the air. They all looked so peaceful and content, it seemed a shame to wake them.
"HEY!" Pulse yelled. "GET UP!"
Kurama and Chihaya fell out of bed, Yuri shrieked, Yui dove under the covers, and Kei hurtled out of bed, aiming her gun at Pulse from a crouch position. Signal groaned and threw the pillow he held at his brother.
"Do you _always_ have to be an obnoxious jerk, Pulse?"
"When you stop being a lazy good-for-nothing we'll talk about it," Pulse snapped back. "Now get your butts down for breakfast or go without."
"I hate this place already," Kei muttered, holstering her gun.

"At least the food is good here," Yuri remarked as she enjoyed another bite of chocolate waffle.
"Yeah, I could get used to this!" Signal happily crammed in a mouthful. The six recruits were gathered at the long table in Seigi's dining room. As there were never very many recruits at Seigi at one time, there was apparently no need for a cold, expansive cafeteria. The dining room had a homey feel to it, decorated in warm, rich colours and soft lighting.
"I didn't know robots could eat," Yui admitted, studying Signal.
"I'm not just any robot," Signal replied. "I have to look as human as possible, and humans eat. If I don't want to, I don't have to. But where chocolate's concerned, I always want to." He glanced down at his plate. "I'm kind of surprised Pulse is letting me have this."
"Why?" Kurama asked.
"Because my Chibi side goes sort of nuts if he overdoes on chocolate," Signal admitted, then shrugged. "But then, I'm not Chibi now."
"How come _you're_ not eating, Kurama?" Chihaya asked.
Kurama frowned slightly as he poked at his waffle. "I don't know. I usually like chocolate, too, but for some reason, the smell isn't appealing to me."
"I'll eat your share if you don't want it," Signal offered.
"Considering the Chibi problem, that may not be such a hot idea," Kei commented. "You may not be him now, but if Yui snorts some pepper or something--"
"Do you mind?" Yui snapped.
Hiei walked into the dining room. "You still eating?"
"We just got here, of course we're still eating!" Kei retorted.
"Please give our compliments to the chef, Hiei-sensei," Yuri remarked, ignoring Kei. "These waffles are wonderful."
"Hn," Hiei eyed Kurama's full plate. "Not hungry, Fox?"
"I was, but--" Kurama stopped suddenly and stared at Hiei. "_That's_ why my appetite turned off! There's something wrong with these waffles, isn't there?"
The others stopped eating and looked at Hiei, who was smirking.
"You people are really gullible. You'll never succeed as Seigi agents if you aren't more aware of potential danger."
"What are you talking about, you insect?!" Kei shouted.
"Kurama's animal senses warned him," Hiei replied calmly. "That's not chocolate in the waffles. It's a human-made product called Ex-Lax."
Yuri, Kei, Yui and Chihaya went white. Signal looked confused, while Kurama shook his head.
"What a dirty trick," the redhead remarked.
"It's a test," Hiei said. "You'll all be going into dangerous situations. You can't be so trusting."
The three girls and Chihaya bolted from the room. Signal shrugged and resumed eating his waffles. Hiei watched him, eyes narrowed.
"Of course, some tests are lost on some people ...."
Kurama giggled.

"Down...up! Down...up!" Nuriko sing-songed.
"When is this torture going to end?!" Yuri mumbled as she lowered herself down in her fortieth push-up.
"I wish I knew," Chihaya whined, struggling to push himself back up as sweat trickled into his eyes. "Angels weren't made for endurance training like this."
"Endurance training?" Kei said dryly. "We've only done fifty chin-ups, eighty deep-knee bends, a hundred toe-touches, fifty jumping jacks, and ...how many push-ups?"
"Forty...one," Yuri gasped at the height of her push-up.
"Seventy," Kurama said, going down again.
"Fifty-six," Yui replied.
"Twenty," Chihaya whimpered.
"Two hundred," Signal chirped as he sprang up and down in fluid, effortless motion. "These are too easy."
"Shut up!" the others cried in unison.
"Hey!" Nuriko scolded. "Less talking and more exercising! Down...up! Down...up!"
"Shoot me now," Chihaya said flatly.

Yuri looked around warily as she and Kei walked down the silent corridor. "I can't believe no one jumped on us after that horrible session in the gym. Are we just allowed some free time now, or is there someplace we're supposed to be?"
"Everyone else just walked off, too, so _I'm_ not gonna feel guilty about it," Kei sniffed. "Besides, Nuriko was there and could have told us if we were supposed to go somewhere."
"I know where Nuriko would _like_ to tell us to go," Yuri said dryly. "Did you see the dirty look he gave you when you remarked on his non-existent grey hair?"
"He had it coming telling me I was exercising my mouth more than my body." Kei scowled. "Damned pretty boy wimp."
"I'd like to see you say _that_ to his face." Yuri smirked. "With his strength, he could drop-kick you to the moon."
"Aw, he's not so tough. I could HEY!" Kei spun around suddenly and dropped into a crouch, her gun drawn.
"Ew, Kei! There's paint all over your back!" Yuri cried.
"Is that what it is?" Kei snapped, her forest-green eyes scanning the empty corridor, gun at the ready. "Come on, show yourself, whoever you are!"
At the opposite end of the hallway, Duo stepped through a doorway, grinning wickedly. In his hand he held a strange-looking firearm.
"You shoot me with that?!" Kei demanded.
"You know I did," Duo told her, and blew on the end of his gun as if it smoked.
"Why?!"
"Because I could," he replied. "You weren't paying attention and you were hit. If that had been a real gun, you'd be dead."
Kei clicked off her safety. "But this _is_ a real gun."
Duo cocked his head. "Oh yeah? So shoot me."
"You asked for it!" Kei fired at Duo's chest. The fifteen-year- old dropped to the floor, and red paint splattered against the wall behind where he'd stood.
"Hey!" Kei yelled, examining her weapon. "This isn't my gun!"
"You don't seriously think you'd be allowed to keep that thing while you're still so trigger-happy, do you?" Duo asked pleasantly as he stood, brushing himself off. "They switched guns on you while you slept."
"I want my gun!" Kei bellowed.
"If you throw yourself on the floor and add kicking and screaming to that it might make a better show," Duo suggested. "But you still won't get your gun back."
Kei whipped her pellet gun back up and fired. Duo moved to avoid the hit, but part of it marked his arm. He glanced at it, then nodded at Kei.
"Not bad, you've got good aim and good reflexes. Now we just have to work on your inattention and overconfidence."
Before she could retort, he had turned and left.
"So that's the way it's to be, is it?" Yuri remarked. "Food tampering, surprise attacks they really want us to be on our toes."
"Don't forget weapon-stealing." Kei scowled at the pellet gun, then looked at Yuri thoughtfully. "Maybe you should check and see if your sword is still your own."
"It is," the purple-haired girl replied lightly. "They know I'm not likely to go stabbing people willy-nilly, the way you shoot them."
"Shut up!"

"What a great library!" Yui exclaimed as she walked alongside the wall of books, her blue eyes scanning the titles with growing excitement. "They have _everything_!"
"They certainly have a great section on botany." Kurama deposited an armful of books on the long reading table in the room's centre. He lifted one off the top and waved it. "They even have an encyclopedia of _Reikai_ plants!"
"I'll bet Hiei-sensei brought that in," Yui replied. "Who else would have access besides you?"
"Good point," Kurama agreed.
Michiru walked into the library. "Hello, Kurama, Yui."
"Kaiou-sensei." Kurama nodded.
"We were just remarking on how wonderful this library is," Yui said.
"Yes." Michiru smiled. "Haruka and I spent many hours here studying to finish high school."
"I'm not in a hurry. I like school," Yui said.
"Me too," Kurama said absently, half his attention absorbed by the turning pages of the Reikai plant encyclopedia. Michiru moved closer and glanced down at it.
"Ah, Reikai plants," she said.
"Plants in general are my specialty, but these in particular," Kurama replied, without looking up from the book.
"Then you're familiar with _all_ species of Reikai plants, I imagine."
"That's right," Kurama murmured, trailing a finger down a page.
Michiru raised an eyebrow. "Including the Black Cruelty Bush?"
"Um-hmm," Kurama answered, then frowned and raised his head. "The what?"
"Black Cruelty Bush," Michiru repeated. "Surely you've heard of it. You must make use of it in your arsenal of weapons?"
"Uh ...," Kurama stammered, 'I ...."
"We first learned about it in this library," Michiru said, looking closely at the encyclopedia in front of Kurama. "I _think_ this was the book, but then, there are other Reikai reference books here."
"There are?" Kurama glanced around. "In which section?"
"Different ones," Michiru said. "I'm afraid you'll have to seek them out."
"Black Cruelty Bush ...." Kurama stood up and began scanning the shelves as Haruka walked in and slipped an arm around Michiru.
"Hi babe." She smiled, then looked over at Yui. "_There_ you are! I'm supposed to take you outside to test your defenses."
Yui was instantly wary. "Defenses? Against what?"
"My attacks. Let's go."
"Uh ... okay ...." Yui reluctantly followed Haruka toward the door. "Bye, Kurama."
"Huh? Oh, see you, Yui." Kurama disappeared behind another row of books.
"I'm leaving, too, Kurama." Michiru turned to follow the others. "Good luck with your search."
"Black Cruelty Bush ...," Kurama muttered thoughtfully as Michiru left the room.

Yui had to take two steps to match each one of Haruka's as they made their way outside. She kept hoping that at some time during the walk, the older girl would stop, turn, and say, "Just kidding!"
But she didn't.
"Uh, Tenou-sensei," Yui ventured, "you weren't really serious about, you know, attacking me or anything, right?"
Haruka held up a brightly-coloured stick. "Uranus Planet Power, make up!"
Yui stood back and watched the transformation of Haruka into Sailor Uranus.
"You _were_ really serious," Yui said flatly.
"World ...." A glowing yellow energy ball formed in Sailor Uranus' upraised hand. "Shaking!"
"AAAAHHHH!" Yui screamed and leapt out of the way. The energy ball narrowly missed her. "Hey!" she yelled.
"Defend yourself!" Sailor Uranus commanded.
"How?!" Yui cried. "I already told you people that I have no powers of my own!"
"Better find some fast!" Sailor Uranus fired again. Yui dodged once more and wound up sprawled on the grass.
"You could hurt somebody with that!" she exclaimed.
"Especially somebody who doesn't do more than try to get away." Sailor Uranus extended her hand. "Talisman!" she said. A sword with a bejeweled sheath formed in her grasp.
"Do more?!" Yui gulped. "What more _can_ I do?"
"Say your prayers," Sailor Uranus advanced on Yui, unsheathing her sword to reveal a glowing gold blade. "Space Sword ...Blaster!" she yelled.
Yui saw the attack coming and knew she couldn't dodge this one. I'm going to die! she screamed internally. Seiryuu, help me!"
Uranus' attack dissipated before Yui's eyes as a blue energy field surrounded her.
"Not bad." Sailor Uranus nodded. "My Space Sword is a holy talisman. It can cut through anything except a holy defense."
The blue glow enveloping Yui faded. She felt the tickle of her bangs falling across her forehead and raised a hand to smooth them down.
"A blue character was glowing on your forehead," Uranus detransformed and walked over to Yui. "That's a powerful ally you have in Seiryuu."
"I suppose," Yui replied. "But he's not one I'd like to rely on for my survival. I don't know how much advantage he's willing to let me take."
Haruka grinned. "Don't worry. We'll find out."
Yui sighed. "I was afraid you'd say that."

Chihaya tilted his head back as soft, warm lips caressed his throat. "Is this part of my seduction training?" he murmured.
"Hmm ... we could call it that." Kagetsuya drew back and stroked Chihaya's black hair. "As beautiful as ever. I've missed you, Chihaya."
"You're the one who left, Kagetsuya." Chihaya pouted at him.
Kagetsuya ran a hand through his own blonde hair. "I had no choice. When Seigi summons you, it's necessary to go. You know that now, too."
"But you didn't _tell_ me you were leaving!"
"Chihaya!" Kagetsuya nearly laughed. "When you received your summons from Seigi, what did it say?"
"Um ... it said something like my presence was needed at the above address immediately and it was a matter of critical importance that could affect the entire world."
Kagetsuya raised an eyebrow, "And?"
"And not to tell anyone where I was going," Chihaya admitted sheepishly.
"Secrecy is very important for the safety of Seigi agents," Kagetsuya told him. "It's one thing to be known, for example, as a Sailor Senshi, but quite another to be known as a Sailor Senshi who is a Seigi agent. Once that is discovered, it takes away an advantage."
"I understand all that now," Chihaya admitted. "I can even understand why _you_ were recruited by Seigi. You're brave, strong, and a good fighter, and now you're a spiritual advisor, too." He sighed. "But I'm not any of those things. I could barely keep up with the others in the physical training."
"Seigi needs all kinds of agents," Kagetsuya nuzzled Chihaya's neck. "Physical strength isn't everything. You have special qualities that they noticed and know they can make use of."
"I hope you're right. I don't want to disappoint them." Chihaya looked into Kagetsuya's green eyes. "Or you."
The older angel smiled. "You could never do that." A sad look touched his features. "However, I fear that I may disappoint you."
"What do you mean?" Chihaya asked, a sudden chill running through him at seeing Kagetsuya's expression.
"I may not be going back to Eden for a long time, " Kagetsuya explained. "After you complete your service to Seigi, I'll probably remain here. I can't say how long it will be before I leave, if I ever do. I'm not going to hold you to an impossible promise."
Chihaya's eyes filled. "You can't be saying what I think you are."
Kagetsuya kissed him gently. "I love you, Chihaya, but I'm releasing you."
"NO!" Chihaya protested. "I won't _be_ released! If I have to wait for you, I'll wait!"
"This is a dangerous business," Kagetsuya said. "As you pointed out, I have field skills. Despite being a spiritual advisor now, I may have to go out and fight. I could die. So could you. It's a risk any Seigi agent takes."
"So what?!" Chihaya demanded. "Don't tell me other Seigi agents break up with their lovers! I saw Haruka and Michiru together, they're obviously in love!"
"But I'm talking about you and I now, Chihaya," Kagetsuya said. "I won't be able to do what needs to be done if I'm constantly thinking that you're depending on me."
Chihaya sat back as if he'd been slapped. "Oh ... I see." He started to get up, but Kagetsuya grabbed his arm.
"Wait a minute, I want to be sure you understand "
"I understand, don't worry," Chihaya said flatly. "I won't depend on you at all in the future. From now on, I'll just depend on myself."
Kagetsuya watched Chihaya leave and shook his head. "Some spiritual advisor I am," he muttered. "Spiritual destroyer is more like it."

Pulse slashed, Signal ducked. Signal kicked, Pulse dodged. It was a beautiful, intricate dance of death in which neither combatant could land a blow.
Pulse finally decided the practice had gone on long enough and ended it by yanking Signal back by his hair as he leapt past him. Signal landed hard on his backside.
"OW! Hey, Pulse, that hurt!" Signal glared as he got to his feet.
"I've seen enough," Pulse replied. "Your skills have gone unchallenged since we last sparred. It's as I feared. You're in serious need of work."
"What are you talking about?! You didn't even touch me until you grabbed my hair!"
"I wasn't really trying."
"You liar!"
"Nevertheless, I'm in charge of your training. I'm going to make sure you're in top form before you're sent out there."
Signal was about to yell at his brother again when he paused. "Pulse, is it possible you're worried about my safety?"
Pulse snorted. "Don't be foolish. I just don't want you to disgrace me."
Signal grinned. "Yeah, right. So let's get back to work already."

"Hey, Kenshin! Wait up!"
"Oro?" The redheaded samurai paused and waited for Haruka and Michiru to join him.
"How'd your first training session with Yuri go?" Haruka asked.
Kenshin shook his head sadly. "She didn't hear or sense my presence or approach, so she was easily disarmed. Even after she retrieved her sword, a gentle blow to a nerve on her wrist made her drop it again. Then she complained that I'd probably given her a bruise."
"Yui complained a lot, too, but she wasn't touched by my attacks, not even once," Haruka said. "It seems Seiryuu is very protective of his host."
Michiru was about to reply when a frantic voice down the hall called out, "Kaiou-sensei!"
They turned to see Kurama running down the hall toward them. He stopped in front of Michiru, his green eyes wide with desperation.
"Kaiou-sensei, I must have gone through every book in the library that even remotely mentions plants or bushes, and I can't find anything on the Black Cruelty Bush! Could you _please_ try to remember where you read about it?"
"Black Cruelty Bush?" Kenshin frowned slightly. "What is that?"
"A fictional Reikai plant," Michiru replied.
"Yes, and " Kurama stopped. "Fictional?" he repeated.
"I'm sorry you believed me, Kurama," Michiru said gently. "If you'd shown any suspicion at all, I would have told you the truth."
"I don't understand!" Kurama said in frustration.
"It's part of your training," Haruka told him. "You have to remember not to take everything at face value. People are going to lie to you sometimes, and as a Seigi agent, recognizing a lie can save your life." She slipped an arm around Michiru. "Come on, beautiful. Let's go get something to eat."
"Don't mind if I do." Michiru smiled, then nodded to Kenshin. "See you at the staff meeting."
Kurama watched in silence as the couple strolled away down the hall.
"Um, Kurama-dono, your hair is turning silver ...." Kenshin nervously pointed out.

End of Chapter 3

Story contents (C) 1997 Tenou Haruka

Character copyrights are too numerous to mention. Just know that none of them are mine.