Ami nodded. "Goodnight, my little one. Sweet dreams." She kissed him on the forehead and headed toward the doorway.
She met Ryo there. "Neko's says she's okay," he informed her quietly, though Chibi could hear them pretty well.
"Did she mention what happened?" Ami wanted to know.
He shook his head. "I think she's more likely to tell Michiru. Even if she just goes back to bed now, it's better than where she was a few minutes ago." He glanced over at Chibi, who he must have known was listening to their every word. "In this case, I think it might be better if we all just leave her and Michiru alone for tonight."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Mi-chan waited until their father was out the door. "Are you sure you're okay?" she asked. Unspoken was her alarmed tirade of "Oh my god, what happened?!" or "Never ever do that again, I don't care how overwhelmed you feel!"
Neko nodded her assurance that she would be fine.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Mi-chan asked. They both knew that what she really meant was, "Tell me about this nightmare you had that woke me up with terror, not to mention what it did to you!"
"That's okay," Neko said, still putting up her fa�ade of composure. "I really just want to forget about it. You should go to bed too," she suggested, indicating Mi-chan's empty bed across the room.
Mi-chan stared at her in shock. "You don't want me to stay?"
"I want you to get some sleep. You need to be well rested for your exhibition after school tomorrow."
Confused, Mi-chan went to her own bed. "Neko-chan?"
"Really. Don't worry about me." Neko-chan lay down and closed her eyes as if to convince Mi-chan that she really was planning to try to sleep.
"No. It's just that� you really should talk about it, you know?"
Neko sighed and flipped over in bed.
If Mi-chan could force her to tell her, she would. But she couldn't. That didn't mean she was willing to drop the subject. "You can't just-"
"Mi-chan," Neko's voice was full of quiet indignation. "You have no right to scold me for keeping a nightmare to myself."
"Neko-chan," Mi-chan whispered hurt. Neko had never put any blame on her for keeping her recurring nightmare a secret. Mi-chan had expected her to hold it against her when she had first told her, but Neko had been very understanding. At least she had been then. "Neko-chan?"
"Leave me alone." Neko covered her head with her arm. The matter was closed. But a few moments later Mi-chan could hear her crying into her pillow.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The events of the evening before seemed so far away while the sun was shining and they were at school. Yet Neko couldn't shake her last nightmare. What if they really were prophetic? What if she had to choose between Mi-chan and Tenshi some day? She couldn't face the guilt of having chosen Tenshi to die in her dream last night. But worse was this upsetting feeling that someday she might choose Tenshi over Mi-chan. How could she possibly condemn Mi-chan to die?! How could she condemn Tenshi?!
"Koneko?" Tenshi had been trying to get her attention for a while without any response. "Are you still with me?"
"Hai," Neko answered quickly. She made a point to look interested, but she wasn't really as into the exhibition as she had been a few days ago. She just wanted to be with Tenshi before she had to go home. Touch her. Verify she was real.
"Haruka-papa said that before different fencing club members do bouts, Mi-chan was going to demonstrate different moves. She told me last night that Mi-chan's her star pupil!"
Neko eyes shone with pride at Tenshi's praise for her sister. "Ne, why aren't you on the fencing team?" she asked curiously. With Haruka as her mother, she would expect Tenshi to be a good fencer.
Tenshi shrugged. "It didn't really hold any interest for me. Haruka-papa showed me some moves when I was younger, but I never really chose to pursue it. Mi-chan's much better than I ever was."
Neko watched as Mi-chan demonstrated the different positions. And then different moves.
"Next is the fleche. Or as we like to call it, the 'Superman move.' Here, I'll show you why. Your whole body goes with the sword as you strike your opponent. It looks like Superman when he's in his flying pose." Mi-chan fully extended her left arm, which held the sword, then shifted her weight to her front foot while she threw her entire body forward, following the sword. "The point is not to collide with the other fencer, but to land your sword on your opponent while you run past them. If a good fencer does this move, it is like an unexpected explosion, very fast and graceful, but very intimidating."
Neko's hand was suddenly squeezing Tenshi's exceptionally hard. The move Mi-chan had just made was the final one she had made in the nightmare last night. The one that had killed Tenshi.
"I- I can't�." She backed up a few steps. Tenshi looked at her, only to have Neko turn and break into a run, unwilling to watch Mi-chan or face Tenshi any longer.
Tenshi was immediately at her heels. "Koneko, stop," she called as she ran. Somewhere around the junior high lockers, Neko did. She couldn't outrun Tenshi, she realized. Sooner or later, the girl would get tired of chasing her, and just grab her, and hug her, and keep her from running any further. Foreseeing this inevitable outcome, Neko had no choice but to put an end to her foolish attempt to escape.
"What's wrong?" Tenshi asked as she also came to a stop. For her vantage point, there wasn't anything to be upset about. Mi-chan had been doing a wonderful job demonstrating her fencing skills. And as the club hadn't begun to do bouts, it wasn't like Neko could have thought that Mi-chan was in danger or anything.
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