RPG: And then there was Light
Started By: Riona
Players: Riona, Neffy, Kunzite, Zoisite, Michiru, Dunican, Guardian

Riona Sener sat in her window booth in the Basin Robins. She picked away at her chocolate sundae with the plastic spoon, not really paying attention to the people who walked by. It was just after 12:00 and she'd have to be heading back to school soon if she didn't want to be late.

A roar of a tortured engine filled the air as Zoisite slid the Ferrari into a parking place. A faint scratch marred the candy apple red paint alongside the driver's side door. Leaping over the door, he stared disheartenedly at it. That was going to cost him when Nephrite saw it. The star king probably wouldn't believe him that it wasn't his fault, but he'd try. Gathering up his chemistry and literature book, he thrust them into his backpack and ran for the school. This was one day that he refused to be late. Running blindly, he slung the pack over one shoulder, tendrils of crimson blonde hair streaking over his back.

The warm salty sweat stung Jeremy's eyes as he pulled his chin above the bar, pausing there, hanging, resting. After a few seconds he started into his next set, his gloved hand clenching the bar tightly as he finished the set and dropped to the ground. The bell would be ringing soon and he had to change still after his typical lunch time work out.

Riona sighed and looked up at the school, then down at her new schedule. "History? Did I sign up for that?" She hated moving, that meant going to a new school, and that meant leaving the few friends she had back in Canada. She sighed and walked into the school. Her first class was gym. Riona headed down to the gym and decided to check out the weight room first.

Up ahead was a door with a sign that read, "Weight Room". Over top of the bright red block letters was graffiti, stating that a girl named Kristen loved a guy named Rick, and "No guts, No Glory". Among the two statements, were profanities about teachers, parents and other students mixed in with little poorly drawn pictures.

Riona pushed opened the door and looked around, despite the graffiti on the sign and door, the weight room was reasonably clean. The weights even looked fairly new. Using one of the weights was a very well muscled man who was sweating. She was about to leave, but decided to take a shot a making a new friend. "Maybe my schedule is wrong, but it says that lunch break is over in about 5 minutes. You don't want to be late for class."

Jeremy glanced up from the bar at the new girl, his voice even, unemotional, "You're correct, but considering I'll be back up here after my next class it would be pointless to change."

*'You are correct?' Do people really talk like that?* She nodded and stepped into the weight room. "Oh…" She walked over and stood beside the guy. "Could you show me where gym B is? I can find A, C, and D, but B seems to be missing."

Dropping into his chair, Zoisite glanced about. He'd actually made it on time to class for once. Then again, it was Kitsune's class. That seemed to be the sole one out of his entire schedule that didn't have a list of tardies or absences that stretched a mile or three long. Dragging out his homework... done for once... he slid it to one side and attempted to look interested as the bell rang.

Jeremy listened as the bell clattered and nodded, "Not a problem." He led the way down the hall, shocked for once to see none of the upper class men picking on the lower class men after lunch break, *Finally they're learning I actually stand up for anyone who's at a disadvantage.* He gestured towards the gym Riona's schedule said, "Gym C."

Coach Sanjoun smiled as the new girl walked into the gym. "You must be Riona. I've been expecting you. here's a uniform for your gym class, better hurry, class starts in a few minutes." he said. He then glared at Jeremy. "You'll be late for your own class." He said coldly.

Jeremy kept his voice steady, "So be it." He turned and started down the hall, keeping his pace steady as the tardy bell clanged throughout the halls, *Tardiness is tardiness. Not much one can learn in history class when they lived through it though.*

Riona watched Jeremy walk away. "Thanks!" She called after him. Riona followed Coach Sanjoun into the Gym.

"The girls change room is just over there." He said pointing to a large green door. "Your uniform is on the bench in side."

Riona nodded and entered the change room. All talking stopped. Everyone turned and looked at Riona, obviously sizing her up. She was clearly the tallest girl in the class, no one came much past her nose. Riona stood a little straighter and walked over to the bench where her clothes were. One by one, the girls left the change room for the gym.

Zoisite glanced briefly up at Jeremy as the boy sauntered in late. Something about the scarred one annoyed him and rang a bell of familiarity in him. An odd mix considering that in his own odd manner, he pitied him. Jeremy might have been one of the 'good guys', but he was much of an outcast as Zoisite was. Zoisite for his too pretty to be a male look as well as his self defensive manner... Jeremy for his face and his habit of merely beating the snot out of anyone he considered a bully... not to mention the self reserve he had that made most wary of him.

However, the school enforcer/regulator had picked the wrong class to be late for, regardless of what little pity or mercy Zoisite held for the other boy. Waiting for Kitsune to begin, Zoisite flicked a fingertip outwards as one of the desks nearest the door moved of its own violation, heading for Jeremy's legs at a good clip. One watching would have assumed that the rather large student sitting behind the now moving desk had kicked it at the other boy, one attuned to magic of the Dark Kingdom would have known... something the sakura didn't put together yet, not knowing that Jeremy was also IK.

Kitsune was shuffling through papers, pretending to organize his notes while waiting for all the tardy students to wander into class. He wasn't as strict a taskmaster as was other teachers, knowing that there are good reasons why a young person could have to be late. He normally gave his students an extra minute to reach the class, but if they weren't in by then, than let whatever-god-they-swear-to help them. He didn't teach history, he tore it apart and made the students stumble through trying to piece everything together again. He felt, though it may be an unsound theory, that people learn things better if they had to work at it. And his class was work, pure brain teasers and problem solving, with the class often struggling to keep up with him. But they were learning and even anticipating some of his puzzles. And that made the whole mess worth while.

Kitsune felt a sudden surge of energy, and without looking up, or even making a gesture, he brought the desk to a halt before it caused too much damage. Sighing silently, he made a mental note to talk to the young Dark Kingdom agent in the class before that person has the entire senshi body breathing down their collective necks. "Is everyone ready?" he asked standing up to a collective groan. "IF you ain't than you better catch up... Now we were discussing the feudal system of payment and punishments during the war of 1389..."

As the desk halted in its path, Zoisite blinked, restraining the surprise that threatened to overflow onto his face. *That* had never happened before. Shifting his gaze slyly over the others in the room, pausing only once it recentred on Jeremy. To him, it looked as if no one else had even seen it. Leaning back in his chair in thought, he mechanically flipped open his book to the right page. While he appeared to be paying attention, his thoughts spiraled downwards into how to rid himself of whatever other thing it was that dared to disrupt his game.

Jeremy simply pushed the desk back into his spot, had whoever actually put enough force into the push it would have been a simple matter to leap the desk or take the blow. He was use to some of the other students trying to make him look bad, but that was because of the way he was.

He was the blunt of their jokes and when they tried to lead him into a fight he simply walked away. When they hit him to provoke a fight he simply moved out of the way, blocked it, or more often, merely let it connect. No it wasn't until they attacked others that he got involved.

He leaned his head back and left his book closed, listening closely and comparing the teachers words with his own knowledge. Slowly his mind connected the puzzles and his memories returned of the time period.

Kitsune was given a run for his money when the bell signaled the end of the class period. With a mental sigh of relief, he watched the students leave, his eyes lingering on the one with some puzzlement. From the way the scared kid was able to answer things, he'd almost expected that the kid had lived back then. With a barely noticeable shrug, he looked away, his gaze unfortunately resting on Zachary.

Catlike green eyes collided with the arctic cold blues of Kitsune. For Zoisite, the world froze for that brief moment. Nose wrinkling softly, he seriously considered if it had been the teacher that broke up his attempt of sliding the desk into Jeremy earlier. A slim brow rose upwards in questioning, "Is there something you wanted, Kitsune-sama?"

"Huh?" Kitsune said, jumping slightly. He looked confused for a moment before covering it with a slightly bemused expression. "Sorry, I was just thinking there."

Riona quickly changed out of her gym clothes and hurried out of the school. *Never before have I met so many flakes in one class…* She looked up at the sun and frowned. "What the hell am I doing here?" She shook her head and walked over to the courtyard.

Zoisite nodded slowly, not bothering to voice his thoughts at this point. Turning his back to Kitsune, he slipped out the door with the rest of the class, heading towards the door. He'd had enough of this torturous school thing for the day. At present, all he wanted was some chocolate and to pick up a good book to read. Hoping that Shakespeare's "Othello" had finally came in as ordered, a brief smirk came to his face, seeing too many consistencies between himself and the machavellian, Iago.

Coach Sanjouin walked out into the courtyard. *Lunch duty! Why do I get stuck with it!* he thought and watched the students. Nobody made too much noise as he passed, which was good on their part, he's head was ready to explode.

Zoisite slapped a hand against Nephrite's back, calling out in a rather loud and cheery voice, "How are you?" Of course the sakura knew all too well that the other man had been out carousing all night, most likely getting drunk on top of it all. Hangovers were an excellent opportunity to taunt the handsome star king. Offering Nephrite one of his angelic smiles, Zoisite fluttered his crimson gold lashes up at the him. Oh yes, he was all sugar sweet... a topping to cover the corruption underneath.

Coach Sanjouin snarled at the student. "If you don't watch it you'll do doing detention and youma duty for a week." he said in a harsh voice.

Kitsune shook the cobwebs from his head and packed up his stuff. Glancing out the window, he smirked at Zarchery's and Sanjouin's foolery. The two should start a comedy routine or something instead of pretending to be humans.

Zoisite grinned up at the other man, jaden eyes sparkling with good cheer. "Oh now... you know you love me. Just save yourself the trouble and admit it. Your life would be ever so much more boring without me. To show me your everlasting adoration, you could... ohh... buy me food since my allowance for the week is gone, and I need to pick up a book for Kitsune's class, or we could go see what chaos we can cause. How does the mall sound? Can I drive the Ferrari? I'm getting much better at it. I only put one dent into this week!" The sad part was that Zoisite actually sounded proud of that last fact.

Riona tiredly rubbed the back of her neck with one hand, while trying to balance her book bag on her shoulder with the other. Her first day had been way too long. Even with the spare just after lunch. She carefully made her way home.

Sanjouin turned with a twistingly evil look on his face. "If you don't stop, I'll tell Beryl-hime about you skipping out on your last assignment to go play kissy face with the new professor!" he said.

Zoisite blinked up at Nephrite. Holding in his steps, he scowled up at the other man, "If you do, I'll tell Beryl-hime where all of her vintage wine went to. I am *not* playing kissy face. You're just jealous because neither a man nor a woman would kiss you... just your silly stars." With that, he tugged down his lower eyelid and stuck out his tongue.

~Cute, Zoisite, real cute, but what would you say if I sent a youma to break up your comedy act?~ Kunzite's cold mental voice pierced both minds of the two kings. ~We are suppose to be trying to get a fix on the senshi, not kill each other off. Maybe we should have a little war council right now to discuss a place to test the latest Beryl theory, hmmmm?~

~Beryl couldn't rule her way across a kindergarten classroom.~ was the snappish reply to Kunzite. Once Zoisite's ire was up, it was difficult to dragnet back down to moderate levels. ~Where do you want to meet anyways?~ Besides, he was still upset about Nephrite teasing him about Kitsune. Folding his thin arms across his chest, he glared at Nephrite. "Apologize. I was being nice, and you were cruel."

"Nice?" Nephrite asked. "You were being annoying as always. I would love to see what the school board would do to you and your little fling, but that’s another story. We do have to get to work so I apologize for hurting the poor little kitten's feelings and beg for your forgiveness." he said in a sarcastic tone.

Zoisite's eyes narrowed darkly at Nephrite. All he had was a harmless habit of imagining Kitsune, and the other was making it out to be that it was a torrid affair. Biting his lip hard enough to draw a bead of blood, he refrained from asking Nephrite about the stories he'd heard from the cheerleaders. Shaking his head, he sighed, "I can't believe I thought you were handsome. Must have been out of my mind."

~Enough, you two! With this constant arguing WE are our own worst enemies! Come meet me in the Observatory, there should be no one there at this time of day.~ Kunzite sent, his mind-voice sounding impatient.

Swiping the back of his hand across his pale lips to flick away the drop of vitae that stained their surface, Zoisite stalked away from Nephrite. He had at least remembered this time not to teleport in full view of everyone else. Things like that tended to disrupt mortals, or so Nephrite had tried to drive into his skull. Trying not to snarl to himself, Zoisite stalked down the corridor, as mad as a wet cat at present. Throwing open the Observatory door, he slump into a seat, fixing his vicious jade eyes on Kunzite. "You rang, Master?"

Kunzite sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, eyes closed to mere slits. "I am not your master. If anyone is in the Dark Kingdom, that will be Beryl-hine first, then Nephrite second. Don't throw your anger at me, instead concentrate it on the real enemies, the Sailor Senshi. Any ideas on how to scare them up?"

Nephrite arrived a few minutes later. "Learning their identities would be a start. We all know that a few of them attend the school we teach at, unfortunately finding out which ones they are in the student population won't be an easy task."

Looking into his mirror the Benefactor looked at Riona. *It's time.* he thought and opened his gloved hand. Teleporting Riona into his relm. "Welcome Riona," he said with a faint smile.

Scowling, Zoisite slumped in a chair next to Kunzite, resting his chin one small palm. He could refute logic like that, and the ice king was right. Sulking for a bit, he muttered out an apology. Raising his gaze to Nephrite, he became even more depressed at the thought of at least in his world, Nephrite was his master. Utterly depressing thought since Nephrite generally seemed to hate him. Trying to get in the star king's bed and good graces hadn't worked... being nice generally didn't work since he and the star king were too dominants fighting for control... so what now? "Arrange a disaster and see who vanishes from what classes? You two are teachers... that's part of it covered right there?" he offered hesitantly.

Nephrite smiled. "Excellent, just what I was thinking. And since you came up with the brilliant idea, little Sauka, you can carry it out." he said. *Gottcha!* he thought with a triumphant smile.

"It would probably work," Kunzite muttered after thinking it through for a few moments then shot Nephrite a look. "But it would have to be the kind of attack that won't set of the alarms. It's harder to keep track of the students when hundreds of students are running around at the same time."

Zoisite scowled at Nephrite. He had walked into his own trap. Fate just was not smiling on him today. Resting his chin on one small palm in thought, Zoisite grumbled softly. "Beryl-hime better be grateful to me for this one. All right... what about this? The Senshi always seem proud of what they do. Always giving their silly little speeches and all. What if I started a debate through the debate club about the pros of getting rid of them? They cause damage to public property with their little battles, always putting the civilian population in danger, and the mortals don't even know who they are. They're trusting their lives to a bunch of little girls who won't even reveal who they are. Create mistrust and turn the public on them if possible. Well?"

Nephrite nodded. "Turn the masses against the king, and a revolution will occur. Alright. Sounds good, but I don't see how I can help. I'm a gym teacher, so I wouldn't be even remotely considered to sponsor this new club. Kunzite?" he asked with his head tilted. "Think you can wing it? With your...wonderful and insightful President of this club." he asked putting a loose hand on Zoisite's shoulder. *Get those two OUT of my hair for a while.* he thought.

Zoisite's eyes lowered to the hand on his shoulder and back up to Nephrite. A brow slowly arched in questioning about this. Keeping his communication between him and Nephrite this time, his mental voice bore the slow tones of calm patience, the wariness of a cat kicked too many times underlying it all. *Neffy-okami. Unless you have a reason for touching me, I'd prefer you not to do so. Last thing that I need is Kunzite getting the wrong idea... as if he would about you anyways... and I simply don't like someone's hands on me*

Kunzite frowned slightly. "I guess it would be okay, but we've already got a good debate club in this school which is not exactly open to the teachers except as coaches. Zoisite will have to join first before we can start that plan. Any ideas for the meantime? I was thinking that we could start a fight and put tracers on the senshi that show up, that way we can tracked their movements even when they're normal."

*Oh Zoi-chan, I thought you enjoyed the presence of other males. You've never swoon me like this before. Is it because you don't want your precious play mate to get jealous.* He sent back. The conversation with Kunzite was totally forgotten, he had another target now. Teasing Zoisite had to be the best past time ever.

Zoisite frowned, trying to figure out how to get out from under Nephrite's hand without attracting Kunzite's attention from his spiel. The Gods of Darkness only knew what the ice king would think about he and Nephrite living together if the latter managed to put that idea into his head. A rose shaded blush formed on his cheeks, contrasting to the frown on his lips. *Neffy-okami... I'm trying to be nice about this. You've made it clear you don't like me, so please don't touch me. It's a simple request that even you can follow.*

Kunzite found that only audience he had at the moment was the telescope. Looking at Nephrite and Zoisite, his eyes narrowed slightly, then widened in sudden thought. Unbidden, he started to chuckle, muffling the noise in his hands, but the thought wouldn't go away. It would be just like them... From simple chuckles, Kunzite was suddenly laughing deeply and loudly.

Nephrite was about to come back with a sappy reply when Kunzite's chuckling got his attention. He quirked a smile at Kunzite. "And what's so funny?" He asked. He finally removed his hand from Zoisite's shoulder, he figured the little rat had enough torture for one day.

"Nothing," Kunzite said, voice muffled. He started chuckling again and the next words slipped unbidden from his lips. "You two are so cute together!"

Zoisite stared up at Kunzite in a horrified manner, just barely refraining from seeing if he could get off a lucky strike on Nephrite. Snarling in upset, he turned and stalked out.

Nephrite broke into laughter at that point, his day made by getting one over on the koneko. Dropping down into a chair, he shook his head, sapphire eyes glittering with delight. It couldn't have been more perfect if he'd planned it.

Taking a deep breath, Kunzite wrestled back control over himself and gave Nephrite a nasty look. "You really had to push it," he muttered, turning and stalking out of the room. He hurried to catch up after morphing back into his human guise. It wouldn't do to have a senshi see ing the ice king walking the hallways. Spotting the slender form ahead of him, he sent a hesitant call to him. *Zoi, can we.. talk about this?*

Zoisite stopped and turned to Kunzite, eyes furious over the whole Nephrite thing. Setting his hands on his hips, he restrained himself from simply lashing out at the ice king on general principal. People that did that didn't have very long life expectancies afterwards. Remembering that he was in school was the hardest part. "What can I do for you?" he asked in a tense voice.

*Are you going to let Nephrite win by acting this way from a tease?* "We need to talk about your paper. There some spots that really need to be worked on that I can probably help you with," Kitsune replied out loud. *I didn't know that you would have responded this way, but you have to admit that he is good looking too.*

Zoisite stared steadily at Kunzite, the temperature of that gaze reaching roughly Arctic levels. Crossing his arms over his chest, he replied in the same deadened tones, "Really? Such as?" His mental whisper wasn't much better, still containing an edge of frost. *Kunzite-sama, I have done what I could to work with Nephrite. Yes, I do find him attractive. Yes, I would have gone to his bed if he'd asked me before I met you. However, I hate being teased by him when there's nothing I can do back to him.*

*Are you sure there's nothing you can do to him? Maybe instead of reacting angrily towards him when he teases you, you should go long with them. Don't give him anything to use against you. If he flirts with you, flirt back. If he touches you, touch him back. But don't give in to your temper for that is exactly what he wants. He wants to see you uncomfortable and angry, it gives him satisfaction to see you weaker than him. You have to be strong...* "When you go into the details, you miss backing up your ideas with some concrete facts. I've got some books that you can use to make them a bigger impact," Kitsune said, not exactly paying attention to his words. We all have our weaknesses, but we don't show them except to those we really care about.*

Zoisite fell into silence, both telepathically and speech wise as he considered over those words. It would be interesting to see who would give first if he did react to Nephrite with a flirt. The touching would be the worst part. He wasn't sure if he could trust the star king to touch him by now without injuring him. For Kunzite, he would give it a try. Coming out of his thoughts, he offered Kunzite... now Kitsune... one of his angelic smiles. "When can I pick those books up from you?" he asked outloud in a sugary sweet voice of corruption. *And what is your weakness, Kunzite-sama?*

"Anytime after school," Kitsune replied with a slight smile. "Now, in fact, if you wish." *I'm not sure. Want to 'test' me?*

"Lead the way," Zoisite replied, mind still raking over the idea of Nephrite and just what to do about the Senshi. The smear campaign was a long term idea, something he could carry out in time. What he needed right now was something that would pull them all out of hiding and make them look bad. Mind working over that, he grinned faintly. *Kunzite-sama? We have to discredit the Senshi somehow, turn the public against them. What if a terrible accident happened where Coach Sanjouin's darling little brother was terribly injured thanks to the Senshi starting a large scale battle with someone? Just how would they handle that? Think about all the bad publicity the police get when they make a mistake. Could it work? You and maybe Nephrite set up a clear trap, wait for them, spring it and when they think they've won... they've lost by injuring an innocent?*

"Sure thing," Kitsune replied, starting off towards the school's parking lot. ~

*Better make it the mini-mart. Do you *really* want to explain how I came to be in your apartment, love? I doubt that the school board would look well on a teacher sleeping with a student. Not to mention Beryl. Can you imagine her reaction?* A cold chill raced down Zoisite's spine at that. Love was frowned darkly upon in the Dark Kingdom, a weakness and nothing more. It was a wonder Nephrite didn't blackmail them. Then again, they would both probably claim it was for the sex and nothing more. From what he'd heard, Kunzite had been quite the bedjumper before they had met. *You tell Nephrite, and I'll meet your youma there. Just make sure it isn't one of Nephrite's? I'd rather not be splattered. It would just ruin my hair.* Casting a wicked grin up at Kitsune, Zoisite snared the book from his fingertips and set off for the mini-mall. Finding himself a nice place by the fountain there, he opened the book, waiting for the attack to begin.

Nephrite turned at the words "Zoisite getting hurt." he smiled evilly. "Can I have the honor?" he asked with a laugh.

"I've already sent a creature to take care of it," Kunzite said, his manner turning even more icy. "But I think we should monitor this from your place. That way no one can walk in on us."

The mini-mart' doors opened and several students from neighboring schools came in and wandered through it. The clerks stop their conversation and prepared for the sudden mob. Everything was going peaceful enough when the ceiling fell in and a large half-plant, half-human came down with it. "Your energy is mine!" it yelled and grabbed the nearest person with a vine covered arm.

Zoisite fell aside as plaster and timbers cascaded down on the crowd. The air was filled shrieks and people running in every direction, trying to get away from the vine creature as it seized someone in a vine, others lashing out to ensnare other mortals. A yelp of surprise escaped him as one of the creeping tendrils closed about his waist, picking him up off of his feet. Eyeing the youma, he doubted seriously if it even connived him in what little disguise he wore... and hoped even more that this was one of Kunzite's that had him in its grip instead of Nephrite's. *All right... now where are the senshi?* he thought as he began to feel the first tuggings of his energy being taken.

Nephrite wanted good seats for this one. But Kunzite was his superior so he would have to go along with it. "Very well." he said with a sigh and teleported to the Cathedral. The entire scene started playing before the two Generals. Nephrite summoned a bag of popcorn, thoroughly enjoying himself. "Want some?" he asked Kunzite with a sly smile.

Michiru stopped n half step. *There's something wrong.* she thought. She turned to her companion. "Oh, so sorry, I forgot I was meeting someone. Gotta go..bye!" she said and ran off. *I'm really starting to get annoyed with these attacks.* she thought as she sprinted down the street.

Riona saw Michiru sprinting down the street. She watched her until she turned the corner. Sighing she got up and threw her empty coffee cup into the nearest trashcan and sprinted to catch up.

Nephrite smiled to Kunzite. "Oh, don't look so worried...he won't die. If we killed him then Beryl-hime would pitch a fit." he said reassuringly taking another handful of popcorn.

On to Part Two