~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Their Kempo coach was very confused when one very angry twin replaced the depressed one that had just left. As if it wasn't confusing enough that Jian-wa, who hadn't missed a Kempo class in forever, still wasn't here. This was also the first time the twins had been absent since they had gotten their brown belts a couple of months ago - that is if he could consider this as an absence. Tenshi also seemed to be missing, although he had noticed that she tended to follow Neko's lead, at least in this class.
Reading the look on Mi-chan's face, he quickly decided that since there was an odd number present, he would offer to be her partner. Judging by her expression, anyone else might end up experiencing some unnecessary pain by the end of the class.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Jian-wa finally ended up ducking into one of the open lab classrooms on the way back to the locker room. He figured nobody would find him here, which was made it a good place to sit and think for a second.
Unfortunately, he hadn't seen that there was somebody in the room. But there certainly was. In fact, it was one of the people he least wanted to see right now.
"Hey, Chang-san. Did you come to visit me while I did make-up work too?" Gyoku asked from the corner of the room. Whatever chemistry experiment he was doing must have just finished a reaction, since that corner of the room was filled with quickly dissipating blue smoke.
Jian-wa didn't believe for a moment that this just happened to be coincidence. "How'd you know about my past?! Don't tell me any of this stuff about Mi-chan either, because I know it's a lie," Jian-wa reproached him. She might have ticked him off, but he was certain she hadn't told anyone about his history.
Gyoku didn't see any reason to keep his intentions secret anymore. "Well, the truth is that we've been investigating the Sailor Senshi and their past enemies, and your name came up."
"Researching? Why?"
He smiled at Jian-wa. "Well, we don't like them. They killed mine and my girlfriend's family, and since, from what I found out, you fought them for the same reason, I thought maybe you wanted to help us."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Neko saw from afar as Jian-wa ran into the classroom. When she reached the room, she ran in, but was horrified to find Jasper in there facing Jian-wa.
"Iya!" she yelled as she ran towards them, but she hit a forcefield of some kind just before she could reach Jian-wa. "Jian-kun!" she screamed, but although she could hear and see him, he didn't seem to notice her. Just then she was struck by someone to her side.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Help you?! You mean become evil again?"
Gyoku shook his head. "I'm not evil! I just want revenge for our families! And I want this planet for Ame. She's been through a lot and she deserves everything!" He studied Jian-wa questioningly. "How can you call us evil, when you wanted the same thing?"
"I believed for years that they killed my family, but I was mistaken. I fought for the wrong side, but they finally got through to me."
"So they tell you that it's evil, and you trust them," Gyoku scoffed at him. "What if they're wrong?"
"They're not!" Jian-wa started to back up, but hit some kind of wall before he even reached the door. "Nani?!" he cried as he tried to figured out where this dark barrier came from.
"Chill out! I just want to talk to you for a second. Don't you think that it's possible that you were right before, and that now you're wrong? How can you really know? Why should you choose their side over ours, when they've offered you nothing and we're willing to offer you powers you've never dreamed of; more than you had before, even? What makes you think they're right and we're not? Why, when all they've ever given you is the title of 'evil'?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Amethyst grabbed Neko by the throat and held her up against the chalkboard.
"I don't remember inviting you to this party," she told her, all softness having departed from her voice.
"Iya," Neko gasped. She kicked Amethyst in the gut, and fell to the ground as Amethyst released her.
"Freak!" Amethyst whined, as Neko started to get up. "Earthly Might!"
Neko was thrown by the attack into one of the lab tables.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
After debating with herself so long that it didn't matter anymore, Tenshi finally decided that she was not going to go to Kempo. She was against giving in to Mi-chan, but she really only joined Kempo because Neko was there and it might help her in battle. But today it didn't appeal to her at all, so she decided to go home.
She started towards her locker to get her car keys, but as she passed one of the classrooms, she heard a lot of commotion coming from it. She peeked inside to see Amethyst, Jasper, Neko, and Jian-wa inside.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Jian-wa faced him. "If you think you're in the right, you've obviously never talked to them in person. Mi-chan and Neko-chan are the nicest, sweetest girls around. And Neo-Queen Serenity is the most caring ruler anyone could ever hope for. They never called me evil - that was my own distinction!"
"But if you were 'evil' for thirteen years, how could you now be good. Who are you now, if your personality has changed so much? Were you suddenly reborn eight months ago?"
Jian-wa flinched. That was a very good question, he had to admit.
