Neko could only stand rooted where she was, staring helplessly on, unable to choose once again.
She turned to the guy by her side, her eyes pleading. "I can't," she whispered.
His eyes, once friendly, were cruel and hard. "If you don't, they will both die."
She turned back to where Mi-chan and Tenshi hung beyond the fiery pit that separated her from them. They hung against a wall by their hands, which were tied above them.
"Let me take their place." She whispered her suggestion to him.
"It doesn't work that way. You know that."
In her mind, she knew that saving one would be better than losing them both, and that Mi-chan was her twin sister who she had a bond with that nothing besides death could break. But her heart wouldn't let her choose Mi-chan over Tenshi. She loved both of them, unconditionally. "I can't," she whispered again.
"As you wish," he replied. With a snap of his fingers, their binds disappeared, and they plunged into the pit.
Her heart wrenched.
"No!" she screamed. She fell to her knees, and buried her tear-streaked face in her hands. "They can't die! You can't kill them!" The fury of the fire burned through her body as it consumed her twin, but that was negligible compared to the pain that welled up in her heart at their deaths.
He put his hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Koneko-chan. You'll be with them soon." She looked up at his merciless face. "It's like I told your sister�. You have to die too."
And with that, Jian-wa plunged the large knife he was holding into her chest.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Neko's heart pounded as her eyes flew open. But she didn't even wait to get used to the darkness before she squeezed them shut again.
*It was just a dream. Another stupid nightmare. You can handle this. Mi-chan does it all the time.*
Neko had been having these "choose between Mi-chan and Tenshi" dreams off-and-on for months now - ever since her friend Hoshi had come down and threatened to make Neko choose between Tenshi and her - but this was the first time that her indecision had caused them to die. And the addition of Jian-wa, her best friend and Mi-chan's boyfriend, as their captor and killer was all the more chilling, considering that once upon a time he really had tried to kill them.
*It's alright. You're awake now. And you can go back to sleep and have a nice dream, just like the other times. You're safe and warm in bed. Safe in the arms of-*
She forced her eyes open again. Where was she? The first thing she focused on was the clock across the room. 4:54 a.m. As her eyes got used to the dark, she finally recognized where she was. *Oh, Kami-sama. We are so dead!*
She looked over her shoulder at the person who was lying on the couch beside her. "Tenshi-kun," she whispered. "Tenshi-kun, wake up."
Tenshi's eyes fluttered open at the sound of Neko's voice. She smiled serenely. "Hey there, beautiful," she said, only half awake. Suddenly, it dawned on her that Neko should not have been there. She sat up. "Ohmigod. I fell asleep." She hadn't wakened Neko when she had fallen asleep on her shoulder while they were watching the movie last night, because she was so kawaii when she was asleep. But Tenshi had planned to wake her at the end of the movie so Neko could go home. She just hadn't counted on falling asleep herself.
"What time is it?"
"Almost 5:00."
"Oh, God." Tenshi put her hand to her head. This wasn't happening. "I'm so sorry, Koneko. I- I should get you home."
"Hai." Neko got up and headed towards the door of the living room with Tenshi right behind her. But she stopped dead in her tracks when she got to the doorway.
Coming down the stairs was Tenshi's "papa," Haruka.
Neko froze, like a deer caught in headlights. Haruka was going to kill her. Or Tenshi. Or both.
Mercifully, Tenshi was not quite as petrified as Neko. She wrapped her arms around Neko's waist and pulled her out of Haruka's line of sight before her mom turned in their direction. They both stood there, flattened against the wall, praying that Haruka didn't decide that she needed something from the living room or the kitchen beyond it. Neko waited with her eyes closed until she heard the door open and close. She opened her mouth to say something to Tenshi, but her girlfriend put her finger up to her lips. Tenshi cautiously peered around the doorway.
"It's ok, she's gone," she whispered.
"Arigatou, Tenshi-kun. Where'd she go?"
"Haruka-papa likes to get an early start and go driving before sunrise so that she has the rest of the day to do her duties as a Sailor Senshi, a papa, a fencing coach, and whatever else she has to do. It's really nice because she's always up when we wake up in the morning and has made us breakfast."
Neko smiled. "That is nice."
"Anyway, we should go now."
"Oh, right."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Tenshi dropped Neko off, giving her a quick kiss before saying goodbye, and drove back home.
Neko entered her house silently, trying to keep her thoughts quiet as well. She didn't want to risk waking up her dad. But as she reached the top of the stairs, she found someone in the hall there already.
She squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the barrage of questions and yelling that she expected. But none came. She carefully opened one eye.
It was only Chibi, who was standing there in his PJs looking at her questioningly.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
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