"You didn't happen to see ice cream anywhere?" she asked her twin, but Neko shook her head.
Mi-chan sighed. "Okay, here's the deal. Let's split up and see if we can't find it. I'll keep a connection going between us so if I find it, I'll just give you a quick note and you can come back to this spot. No matter what, we can be sure to meet here, okay?" She was pretty sure she could stay connected to Neko now that they were off the mountain. There had been so many psychic forces up there that she and Neko had lost their link many times, but here it just seemed to be a muted version of what they used to share. And that small connection had grown a little bit since Neko had regained her powers, so Mi-chan was sure that they'd be able to communicate through it.
*Okay? If you find it, just tell me where and I'll come find you. Can you get through to me?*
Neko closed her eyes and looked like she was thinking pretty hard before answering with a weak *I think so.*
Well, that'd have to do for now, Mi-chan decided. She sent Neko off one way and took the other direction.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Neko walked through the store, checking every aisle for ice cream or anything frozen. She stopped briefly at the florist section, admiring their selection of beautiful roses. Mi-chan had told her they didn't have enough money to buy some when they had passed by earlier, but Neko couldn't help but stop once again and gaze longingly at the soft rosebuds.
"Can I help you with anything?" asked the store clerk assigned specifically to the floral section of the grocery store.
Neko's eyes widened at being addressed, not to mention being caught eying something she knew she couldn't buy. "Uh, no, I was just looking," she replied, blushing heavily.
"She'll take a white rosebud," said a male voice behind her. Neko turned slowly. She knew that voice.
"Jasper-kun," she acknowledged him softly, happy to see him again. But she didn't have any money with her and was embarrassed to admit that she couldn't afford it. "I can't-"
"It's my treat," he told her simply.
*Did you find it?* Mi-chan asked, surprising her with the suddenness. Neko realized that her sudden swell of joy must have misled Mi-chan to think that she had found the ice cream.
"No," she said out loud, forgetting she didn't have to speak aloud to have Mi-chan hear her. Remembering that point, and seeing the look of hurt and confusion on Jasper's face, she quickly said, "Oops, I mean, yes, ano, I mean, thanks."
*Huh?*
*No. I gotta go now. I'll meet you where you said to meet.* She looked back at Jasper, hoping that Mi-chan had actually received her message, and at the same time, that Neko hadn't offended him with her mixed signals. "Gomen, I was, uh-"
"Talking to Michiru-san?"
She smiled, relieved that he understood. "I don't quite get how to do it? Ne," she asked curiously, "what are you doing here?"
"Well, uh," he lowered his eyes submissively, "you asked me to stay a while longer, but I didn't have any food because I wasn't planning on staying on Earth this long. So I thought I'd come and get some. Ano, where's your twin?"
"We were looking for some ice cream. Coffee flavored, I think. I think it's for me."
"Probably." He smiled knowingly, making her wonder how much he and the rest of the people of her planet knew about their princess.
The clerk finished wrapping the rose in cellophane and handed it to Jasper, waiting for him to pay her. He shelled out some money to her and handed the pretty bud to Neko. Neko stared at its pristine beauty and remembered how everyone kept describing her, as she was now, as being pure and innocent, just like this bud. Yet each new thing she found out about herself seemed to prove that there was this dichotomy between the Neko who was and this new, supposedly purely innocent, Neko. She was tired of being thought of that way. And she didn't think she could stand to not know the truth anymore.
"Jasper-kun? If I asked you stuff - stuff Mi-chan wouldn't answer - would you tell me?"
"It would depend on what you asked," he answered quietly. "I don't know everything about you, just what I found out researching the new Senshi and what I learned on Eryx. And there are some things that maybe you don't need to know about."
"Oh." Now it was her turn to lower her eyes. "Then there are things that bad? Things I wouldn't want to know about myself?"
Jasper was instantly repentant. "No, I didn't mean about you! It's just that some incidents in the past were not pleasant, and maybe you don't need to-"
"I want to know!" she interrupted him. "Please! Mi-chan's trying to protect me, and she won't tell me that sort of stuff. She keeps hiding things, and Tenshi-kun said I wasn't a bad person, but I don't trust her, and she's one of those things they were hiding, and as bad as that was, how can I live knowing that there are other things that could be like that, just waiting to jump out and make it worse when I find out?!"
"No, Neko-chan, it's okay," Jasper promised her. "Whatever you might think of Tenshi-san, she was right. You're a good person, don't worry about it."
"Then what are they hiding?" she asked in a small voice.
Jasper looked around the busy grocery store. "We shouldn't talk about this here. Do you want to go for a walk?"
Neko nodded. She had forgotten all about the ice cream, the clues to her identity were much more important. She took his hand with her free one and let him lead her out of the store.
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