Chapter 2

	"This is the media center of Clamp Campus University. Here you take classes in computer programming, a little engineering is done here, and also for computer animation-CG graphics, of course." 
	Shirushi looked at the building. It looked awesome, with all the advanced equipment. She had never seen so much gadgets in one place. 
	"Wow," said Yoshi. 
	"Yeah, it's pretty cool, isn't it?" said Michiru. "I can't believe I don't get to work with this stuff."
	"Oh yeah, you're in the ballet dancing classes."
	"So," said Satoru, "it looks like that Shirushi-imoto-chan is the only one working here in these classes!!" 
	"Oh, I'm so proud," said Shirushi sarcastically. Now I can get away from these lunatics. I wonder if they'll do the Naked Run at the end of the year, or if the guys'll run through campus in their boxers at night, she thought. Oh yeah, there's also the one with the shaving cream. _Couldn't_ forget that.
	"So," said the guide, "that ends our orientation. Before we go back to the dorms, are there any questions?"
	"Um, do we have to do any term papers at the end of the year?" asked Yoshi. "And how many credits do you have to get?"
	"There he goes, always asking stupid questions," grumbled Michiru. 
	Rei brushed back a strand of chin-length hair. "Anyone wanna go somewhere for lunch? There's a nearby café with soba noodles that looks pretty good." 
	"This place isn't high school. We'll probably have lots of tests, though," said Satoru.
	"I can't go," said Shirushi. "I have to go somewhere right after this. See ya." So saying, she walked out. 

	Kamui was a bit anxious, not to mention a bit in disbelief. Shirushi was actually coming here, to Tokyo. It had been five years since she left Japan. 
	He remembered her all right. Small, with black hair up in two ponytails. She always had bandages on her knees or her elbows from climbing trees or skateboarding. 
	They had so much in common. Both weren't liked too well by classmates for stupid reasons, as Shirushi had liked to call it. 
	He still remembered how they had met. It was during school, at lunch. Everyone earlier had been talking about her. 
	"Did you see the new girl?" 
	"Yeah! I saw her. She's really smart, but she's really weird." 
	"What do you mean?"
	"Didn't you hear? She's in the sixth grade!"
	"So?"
	"She's nine years old!! And she comes from America too. Look, there she is-she's reading a book by herself."
	"Looks kinda creepy with those glasses on." 
	"Oh no! She heard us!" 
	He had seen her sitting there alone with a book. She had looked so sad. 
	Just like he was. 
	He walked up to her. Those two girls were right-she did look a little strange with her glasses on, since he couldn't see her face clearly. 
	"Are you the new girl?" he had asked. 
	She had looked up angrily from her book, as if she didn't want to be bothered. "Yeah, I'm the new girl from America. What, you wanted to see the freak who's smarter than everyone else? Go ahead, say something mean!" she had said in perfect Japanese. 
	"But I didn't want to say mean things to you. Why would I want to do that?" 
	"Y-you don't? I mean, I come from America, I'm smarter so I get beat up a lot."
	"No, I don't want to be mean," he had said. She's not weird at all, he thought. In fact, she's a lot like me.
	"So then, why did you come over? Everyone's coming over here to look at me. I feel more like a zoo animal than a movie star. Let me read my book!" she said, since Kamui had taken it. 
	"Wow, you're reading books in English?" 
	"Yeah. . . my parents don't want me to forget it while I'm here. It's my favorite." 
	"It's interesting. By the way, what's your name?" 
	"Shirushi. Yours?"
	"Kamui. Hey, Shirushi, want to be friends?" 
	She had looked up in disbelief. "Friends? Really?"
	"Yeah, why not?" 
	"Okay!"

	He closed his eyes and remembered all the times they had together. . . and sometimes how her older brother Shinya would join in sometimes. Shinya had been thirteen, a bit too old, but he still helped out anyway. They had reminded him of Kotori and Fuuma. Maybe that was why he became good friends with them. Shinya, however was almost like a parent to Shirushi, he always made sure they didn't get into trouble.  It was a good thing he was there; if he hadn't, Shirushi would have died from numerous experiences. 
	Kamui sighed. 
	Shirushi _was_ always a bit reckless in what she did. She was always doing the bigger dares, climbing the bigger trees, and to sum it all up, just doing all the most dangerous things she could. 
	Shinya had said once she did it because she was delicate when she was small, and that it was to prove that she wasn't weak.  "It's actually my fault. I told her to think like that, but I'm actually proud of her now," he had said. 
	But there was the time she had tried to protect her brother. They were walking home and then she had seen Shinya and another boy arguing. In fact the boy looked like he was about to hurt him. 
	Shirushi had run up to the pair, not listening to Kamui saying how dangerous it was, and demanded that Shinya be let alone. But then the boy had just laughed and started to do it again. Then Shirushi had thrown her backpack at him. 
	Bad idea. 
	He had picked her up and slammed her against the wall. Then Shirushi said, "Leave Nii-chan alone!!" 	Then the boy had told her if she walked on the top of the fence, he'd do just that. 
	Shinya had told her not to do it. "Abunai desu yo. What if you get hurt?"
	"What's wrong, is she _scared_?" taunted the boy.  
	Shirushi had turned to glare at him. "Sonna koto wa arimasen!" She had scurried on to the top, not  noticing how thin the rail was. 
	Until she took a step, and nearly fell. But soon she regained her balance, and she seemed to shakily walk over all of the fence. She was almost done until she had taken her last step. 
	"BAKA!!" 
	She lost her balance, slipped and fell, grazing on the barbed wire. 
	It was a miracle that Shinya had caught her in time, and that she only was a bit scratched and shaken. 
	"Well, I did it. Will you leave him alone now?" she had still asked, with an expectant look on her face. The boy had only laughed. "You really aren't as smart as they say you are! It was only a _joke_!! You're so silly! 	Of course I'm still gonna bother him, it's fun!" he had said, walking away.
	Shirushi had been dazed. "Stupid. . . I'm so stupid. . ." And then she had turned and ran away. 
	It took a few hours to find out where she had gone. It took almost that long to convince her that she wasn't a disgrace to the family, that it was all right, and *no*, she didn't have to commit seppuku. 
	Even so, she didn't cry. That was another thing that Kamui had remembered about her-she never cried. There had been a lot of times that she had scraped her knee or fallen hard. 
	"But she always would be smiling," he said to himself. 
	Would she still be smiling the same way? Would she still be reckless, or would she have matured? 
	More importantly, did she even remember him? And the most important of all: 
	Would they still be friends?

	"I'm home!" Shirushi called out. "Yuzuriha? Sorata? Arashi? Where are you?" 
	"Oh, hi, Shirushi!" chimed Yuzuriha, walking in from the doorway. 
	"How was the orientation?" asked Sorata. 
	"I know my way around Clamp Campus. That's all I can say. Other than that, it was a waste of time."
	"Well, most orientations are boring anyway," said a voice. 
	Shirushi turned around. Standing there was a man in a suit and wearing glasses. 
	"Um, uh, ah. . ." 
	"Oh don't worry, Aoki-san's very nice, Shi-chan-can I call you that?" said Yuzuriha. 
	"You're Shirushi? Well, it's nice to meet you," he said. 
	"You are Aoki-san? One of the Dragons of Heaven?" 
	"Yes, I am." He smiled. 
Whoa, this thing isn't to be taken lightly, she thought. But the folks here seem nice.
	"So you're the guardian star Hinoto told us about."
	"Yes," said Arashi. "We are taking her to the princess soon."
	"Hinoto? Princess?" asked Shirushi. 
	"She's a Dreamgazer," said Arashi. "The one who gathers the Dragons of Heaven, and the one who told us about you. She knows more about you and your destiny. You have to make a decision whether to join us or the Dragons of Earth." 
	"Feh! Is that all I have to do!? Then why did you drag me into this anyway?" 
	"No," said Arashi. "Your choice is crucial to the fate of the earth. You do know that you're a guardian star?" 
	"Yes, I do! Look, I've had enough people going on and on about ooh, I'm a guardian star!!! I got attacked by this scary guy going 'join the Dragons of Earth ooh ooh' and trying to use Illusions to kill me!" 
	"Sakurazukamori!?" asked Sorata. 
	"You had an encounter with him?" asked Yuzuriha. 
	"Oh, I thought he was called Seishirou or something. What a bastard. Then I met another housemate who also tried to kill me! What's this, kill the newcomer day or something!?"
	"Subaru must have thought that you were associated with Sakurazukamori," explained Yuzuriha. "Don't take it personally."
	"Anyhow," said Arashi sternly, "your choice may affect the earth, being the true guardian."
	"True guardian?"
	"You are the true guardian-there is also a counterpart to you, for balancing things out. Two sides, two guardian stars." 
	"Okay, okay," said Shirushi. "_Who_ am I guarding? Is it a person? Is it a special object? Are you guys in a cult or something? Not that I have anything against them, just that Charles Manson is a very scary person and I don't want to get involved if that's the case."
	"I wish you would stop taking this so lightly," Arashi said icily. "Your role is very important, and treating it like such a simple matter will not help!"
	"Sorry," she mumbled. "Didn't mean to be so, shall I say, flippant."
	Yuzuriha patted her on the shoulder. "It's all right. Arashi's like that to everyone," she told Shirushi under her breath. 
	"Miss, perhaps Hinoto can explain the rest. After all, she's the power behind the scenes," said Sorata. "Besides, I hate seeing two beautiful girls fighting." He grinned at Shirushi. 
	Kinda cocky, isn't he? Oh well, things should get interesting around here soon enough, she thought. 
	As Arashi turned to leave, Shirushi said, "Kinda unfriendly, ain't she?"
	"I don't know," said Sorata. "I'm not involved romantically with her-yet."
	"Yet? You want to be her boyfriend?"
	"Well, he's certainly having a nice time trying," said Yuzuriha. 
	"No, it's not as easy as that," said Sorata. "You see, I come from Kouyasan."
	"Oh, the place with the stargazer?" 
	"You know that too, huh? That makes things a bit less difficult. Well, he was the one who told me that I would be one of the 'seven stars in the sky'."
	"Ah, the 'Shichiyou'," said Shirushi. "So, what does this have to do with your love life?"
	"He also said that when I died, it would be for a woman. So I decided on Miss over there."
	"Uh-huh. So you are going to die for her. Is that correct?"
	"Exactly. Because if I die for a woman, I want to die for a beautiful one at least." 
	"Mmm." Looks like that's all she has going for her though. What if she loosened up a bit?
	"I know what you're thinking," said Yuzuriha. 
	"Try me."
	"You're thinking that he's crazy for falling in love with her, right?"
	"No. He's not crazy. A bit misguided though. But for looks he might have pretty good taste."
	"Don't worry," Yuzuriha said. "Arashi's nicer than you think." 
	"Eh-heh-heh-heh.  Personally. . ."
	"What?"
	"I think he deserves someone better. But that's only my opinion, and not a very good one at that. I've only been here less than a day. Now while I'm not Dr. Ruth or some other relationship counselor, I would say that maybe our dear Sora-chan ISN'T going at it correctly?"
	"Ah, you think so too," agreed Yuzuriha. 
	"I mean, who goes around telling some girl that he's going to die for her?It's gonna scare the crap out of her to hear somethin' like that. I don't know. It's real sweet. But she keeps on ignoring him and everything, so maybe he needs to do something else," Shirushi said, eyeing Sorata behind dark lenses. 
	"So we should play Cupid?" 
	"Hmm. . . naah, they'd hate us for it. Unless," she continued, "we know what we're doing."
	"Maybe Karen-san knows how?"
	"Karen-san. . .the soapgirl?" 
	"Yeah. Maybe we can, um. . .ask her. . ."
	"Yuzuriha," said Shirushi, clapping a hand on her back. "you're a genius! Why didn't you tell me before? That's a perfect idea!! But where is she?"
	"She went to work after you left, at 'Flower'. So we'll have to ask later. But won't it be fun, Shi-chan? It'd be nice to see them together, ne?" 
	"I don't know. . ." said Shirushi. She twirled a strand of hair touching her collarbone. "It looks promising. And if it doesn't work out then at least we'll have something fun to do, especially with the End of The World. If the world's gonna be destroyed, why not have a little fun beforehand?" It'll get my mind off my parents, god knows I'm still thinking about them. . .I miss them so much, but I guess it's like they said to me, first fulfill your destiny, mourn later, she thought. 
	"Yeah," giggled Yuzuriha. "We'll have fun." Shi-chan's so cool. I like her already, even if she's not that serious about her destiny, she thought. 
	"Hey, you know what? I think I'll go up to my room. Wanna come along? We can watch a movie," Shirushi offered. 
	"But I won't be able to understand it," said Yuzuriha. 
	"No problem. I'll translate. You ever seen 'Men in Black?' Made a while ago."
	"Yeah!! I saw it. It's good." 
	"Fifth Element? Rocky Horror Picture Show?" 
	"No. . ."
	"Iku yo!!" They went upstairs talking excitedly. 

	"So you've bought all these movies from America. . ."
	"Yeah!! I have 'Titanic', 'Bean,' 'My Best Friend's Wedding'. And even more, too."
	"Do you have 'Spiceworld'? I heard it was popular."
	"Well, the Spice Girls were popular too. . .but not really too good. They're along with Hanson, New Kids on The Block. . .if you want good music look for Boyz II Men or maybe Backstreet Boys. . .if you want a good girl band get Total or TLC. Usher's pretty good.  Oh man, lots of bands I could say, Verve Pipe, Our Lady Peace, Fiona Apple's really good. Oasis, Blur, and oh yeah, you have to listen to Radiohead. They are the BEST. No, really. Three albums so far. . .and I think their best is 'OK Computer'."
	"Do you have it?"
	"Yeah! Wanna listen?"

	Kamui listened to the chattering from upstairs. Didn't know that she'd get here so fast. . . But it didn't sound like she had changed-much. The way she was, Yuzuriha was a good friend to her already. Suddenly he heard them coming upstairs. 
	Better go back to my room, he thought. Now, for some reason, he was feeling a bit shy. He didn't know _how_ to approach the two. After Kotori had talked to him. . . 
	No. This was different. He didn't have to avoid her this time. But not that attempting to avoid Kotori and Fuuma had worked. It certainly hadn't. Kotori had died anyway, and now Fuuma had been replaced with some other personality. . .and an evil one. 
	But Shirushi was different. She was his guardian star. So that may have loosened things up a bit. Right now, however, he wasn't in the condition to talk to anyone. Letting out a sigh, he turned and saw a glimpse of the two before he went into his room. 
	_That's_ Shirushi now?
	The other girl with Yuzuriha wasn't _anything_ like his friend from six years ago. Taller, and much skinnier. . .almost emaciated. Shirushi had been a bit chubby as a little girl. She looked like one of those punks now. . .the thick glasses had been replaced with a pair of shades. . .made her look like Seishirou-san. Overall, she looked like an eccentric. One ear was pierced twice with a chain connecting the two earrings. But that's all he could see. He'd have to take a closer look at her later. Right now, the two looked like they didn't want to be bothered. 
	Maybe a nap? No, not this early in the day. It wouldn't matter anyhow, with all the nightmares. How long had it been since he had a good night's sleep anyway? Lately with all of his injuries, it still was a bit painful to do ordinary things, even to lie down was a task. 
	In other words, all Kamui did at night was either sit looking out the window. Nothing else. What else was there to do? Everyone else was caught up in other things. It looked like Shirushi was headed that way too. 	He sat at the door listening to them laughing at the movie. It seemed to be all they had on their minds. Lucky you, Shirushi. You don't have anything to worry about, he thought. 
	"Hey, you know, it does kinda look cute," said Will Smith, holding a baby alien that looked like a squid. 
	Kamui heard the vomiting of the baby, along with the laughter shortly following. Finally he decided to go downstairs, because he couldn't stay a recluse forever without the rest of them getting worried. He laughed ruefully. It didn't look like that Shirushi was taking her role in the holy war very well either.

	Kanoe was pleased with how Satsuki was doing so far on the information. Finding out about the guardian in Hinoto's vision seemed to be easy. And with Beast's whirrs and hums, Satsuki seemed to have a fine time too. 
	But everyone knew that Satsuki was having a fine time whenever she was with Beast. The mammoth computer seemed to be her only joy in life. Then again, after there wasn't any humans to worry about, maybe Satsuki would open up a little. It was well known that Satsuki disdained all humans, thinking of them as boring and stupid, with their activities. Almost as if the human race was like an ant colony. 
	Beast whirred as Satsuki climbed out of it, wires popping out from her skin. 
	Kanoe stirred from her chair. 
	"So, my cute Satsuki, what do you have on our little guardian star here, hmm?" she asked. 
	Satsuki peered up at her through huge glasses. "Shirushi Kamimura. 158 cm. Left eye-1.5. Right eye-1.5. Currently a college freshman at Clamp Campus University. Family was in Midwest region of U.S. before coming here to Tokyo. There are two parents and a deceased older brother."
	"Is she the star?" 
	"The computers answered YES. However, there is also a twin star involved."
	"I suppose you have information on her?"
	"It's a male. Motomi Fujishima. 179 cm. Left eye-1.3. Right eye-1.5. Currently a college junior at Clamp Campus University. Lives in Tokyo. No information is found about the family."
	"Good job, Satsuki. Do you know where they may be?"
	"I tracked both of them. Kamimura-san is at the Imonoyama mansion. Fujishima-san. . .already knows. He is coming here as we speak." 
	"Thank you, cute Satsuki. My, this should be getting quite interesting, right, Yuuto-kun?" Kanoe smiled at the blond young man. 
	"Yes, quite interesting, Kanoe-sama," said Yuuto. 
	"The twin star should be quite strong," said Seishirou. 
	"What makes you say that?" asked Kanoe. 
	"I had an encounter with the true guardian. . . very skilled with her powers. She was able to dodge my illusion . It only took one attack from her side to break it."
	"Able to reverse your spells with just one counter?" asked Yuuto. 
	"She must have incredible powers," said Nataku tonelessly. 
	"Well, she is the guardian star. Naturally, they should have a great deal of power. Otherwise what is the use of them?" Kanoe laughed. 
	"Excuse me?" 
	Everyone turned around. Standing there was a young man with sandy hair. 
	"I am Motomi Fujishima," he said in a calm voice. "So sorry to be late."
	"Ah, Motomi-kun," said Kanoe. "Come, we are expecting you."
	Motomi snickered under his breath. I have no use for any of you. Soon I'll be reborn and you won't be here. I'll be alive but you won't. Silly fools you all are.
	"So I am in the right place after all."
	"I'll show you to your room, Motomi-san," said Yuuto. 

	"I gotcha where I want ya!!! FEEL THE BURN!!!!!!!"  With that, Shirushi ended the life of an unsightly monster, resulting in blood all over the computer screen. 
	"How do you _enjoy_that stuff? It's gross," said Yuzuriha. "There's blood everywhere and heads coming off everywhere. That's so disgusting!!"
	"Duke Nukem? Naaaaaahh. It's one of the coolest games. Especially _this_ latest one. Oooh, yeah. Now the graphics are more realistic."
	"Hey, mind if I join you?"
	Shirushi looked up from her game. "Oh, Sora-chan! Sure. Come on in! There's this game I wanna show you."
	"Don't look at it," said Yuzuriha. But Sorata didn't listen. 
	"Huh, didn't think that a smart girl like you would be interested in stuff like this," said Sorata in mixed interest and disgust. 
	"Me, smart? Oh come on. Wanna learn? It's not that sick once you know how to play. Good way to let out your anger."
	"I'll say," said Sorata. "Hey!! No fair." 
	"Oh, wait," Shirushi said. She pressed in a few keys. "Okay, now it should work."
	"Oh, this is good," said Sorata. "Bang-bang-bang!! Dieeeee!!!!! How did you do that?"
	"God Mode," was the simple response. 
	"I assume you have a Playstation with you," said Sorata. 
	"Great, more blood and gore," said Yuzuriha. 
	Shirushi handed her a box. "All my games. Go ahead and look."
	"Cool." 
	"How come you're not playing it, Yuzu-chan?" 
	"I don't like bloody games."
	"Ah, she's just mad 'cause she died on the first level," said Shirushi. "Shoot that guy!! Watch it!!"
	"I'm not mad, I just don't like those games. . ."
	"So, do you want to take a look around Tokyo later on? We have to take you to the princess anyhow," Sorata said absentmindedly, since his concentration was focused on blowing away anything with his gun. 
	"Sounds fun. . .but why do you have to take me to Hinoto-hime?"
	"Hinoto was the one who told us about you. Therefore, she knows more about your destiny. Come on, dammit. Why won't you die?"
	"Shouldn't you call your parents? They might want to know you're here,"said Yuzuriha. 
	"My parents won't be able to be contacted, " Shirushi said, as if trying to evade the question. 
	"What do you mean?"
	"They moved house after I left, and it'll take a while for them to give me the number," came the terse answer. 
	"Oh, when will they be able to give it to you? "
	"I don't know." Obviously Shirushi didn't want to talk about it. 
	"Do you have any grandparents, or aunts, uncles, or cousins?"
	"I don't have any aunts or uncles. My grandparents died a few years before I was born."
	"All right. So your friends are in the dorms here?"
	"Yeah, but I think they'll be picking up jobs at a record store or someplace. They want to get an apartment and live there instead, somewhat like a co-op I guess. I might want to go find a job too." 
	"Why?"
	"Oh, the experience, the money, stuff like that looks good on your resume. I had a job this summer too."
	"You may have to be careful around here," mused Yuzuriha. "People will be coming after you for fights and stuff."
	"Great, human land mines," Shirushi mumbled back. "Just what a college kid needs."
	"Oh, great," said Sorata from the computer. 
	"What?" 
	"I died again!"
	"I know. . .how about this game? You ever heard of Doom?"
	"Not that stuff!" 
	"Hmm. . .how about Tomb Raider II? Good one," offered Shirushi. 
	"Woo!! This woman's almost as pretty as Arashi!"
	"A lot less blood this time around too," agreed Yuzuriha. 
	"Naah, this game is too hard."
	"I'll teach it to you sometime! Hey wait, want to see this?" Shirushi opened up a file of "South Park: The Spirit of Christmas". 
	To her relief, they liked it a lot. In fact, she had never heard two people laugh so hard. 
	"You're such a big fat fuck Cartman, that when people go down the street, they go godDAMMIT that's a big fat FUCK!!!" screamed a little boy on the screen. 
	"Ohhhhhhh!!!!!!"
	"Hahahahahahaha!!!!!!! Look, I have no idea what they said, but it sounded funny."
	"See that guy-he's saying that other guy's so fat that people notice it when they see him."
	"That's not funny," said Yuzuriha. 
	"It is when it's like this." Shirushi interpreted the saying in Japanese. 
	"That _is_ funny!"
	Suddenly there was a soft knock on the door. 
	"Come in!"
	"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" went the computer screen a little while after. 
	"Oops, looks like I better turn that off. You don't mind, do you? Okay, whoever's out there-that was just my computer. Nobody's dead!!"
	That was followed by a few snickers. 
	The door opened, and Kamui stepped in. 
	"Hey, nice to see you," said Sorata. "Have you met Shi-chan-I mean, Shirushi?"
	"Shi-chan's fine!" said Shirushi from behind the computer. "Screwy computer!! Maybe something happened to it. . . now I have to turn it off and take another look. The document won't close for some reason, and now I have to probably. . .oh, SHIT!!!! HEY, YOU STUPID THING!! DON'T YOU FREEZE UP ON ME, GODDAMMIT!!!!!! Oh, man, now I have to hit the power switch!! Stupid, stupid _shitty_ thing!!" She grabbed 	at the monitor. 
	"Won't it just reboot?" asked Yuzuriha. Sorata was on the floor laughing, as usual. 
	"The drive has to scan for viruses every time it's not shut down properly. It's really annoying 'cause it takes a long time." She hit the switch.  
	"Hee hee hee. . . Shi-chan's being mean to her computer. . . .hee hee hee. . ."gasped Sorata. 
	"Every time you swear at a computer, the operation gets better!"
	"Sure didn't work this time!! Hee hee hee. . ."
	"Do you know how funny you look when you're mad?" asked Yuzuriha. " 'Don't freeze up on me!!!!' Rrrrrrgh!!!" She shook an imaginary monitor. 
	"Come on, it isn't funny!! Ah, what's the use?" Shirushi smacked her forehead, then looked up and started saying, "Look, sorry for all that screaming. It's just that the computer's. . ." She stopped when she realized who it was that had come in. 
	"Kamui?" 
	For a moment all she could do was stand there in a mixture of awe and disbelief. He was here, in Tokyo, in the same room, looking back at her. But he had changed so much. . .
	Then she realized she had better break the silence before she ended up looking like an idiot. 
	"Hi! Hisashiburi desu ne."
	"Ah, so you two DO know each other! You'll have no problem settling in here," said Sorata as he clapped a friendly arm around Shirushi. Unfortunately, he was also depriving her of much needed oxygen too. 
	Shirushi wrestled herself out of his grasp. "Oww. . .no I won't, I guess. So, how's it been?"
	Kamui just nodded toward her. 
	"Did you need anything? We were just messing around, you know. Nothing too special," Shirushi said casually. 
	"They need you downstairs. We're going to the Diet Building," he said. 
	"What? Isn't the Diet Building that government place? How are we gonna get in?"
	"No problem. It's where Hinoto is, remember?"
	"Oh. . .geez." To tell the truth, Shirushi didn't exactly want to know about her destiny. She didn't want to see what would happen to her. The dreams about Motomi were bad enough, not to mention the mental stillframe of her parents surrounded by blood flowing from their wrists, staining the place bright red. What if she saw these people dying? Or even Kamui dying? She didn't want to see that. Kamui was one of her only close friends. She remembered what her mother had said.

	"To live alone is possible, but can you live that way forever?"

	She could tell that Rei and the others weren't really friends-they cared to an extent. They'd probably leave her soon enough. And with no family left either, what was she going to do? She couldn't return anywhere. Where did she belong?
	Maybe I'll just live here and make some new friends. Looks like all I can do. But about my destiny, what do I do about that? Why am I involved? Why do I have to be alone?
	"Shirushi, it's time to go now. Shirushi?"
	"Mother. . . Father. . ."
	"Shirushi!" Kamui tapped her on the arm. 
	"Ah? Oh, sorry, we'll just go now. Okay?" She walked out of the room. 
	Kamui just stared after her. "There's something wrong. . ." What could have happened to her to make her look sad all of a sudden? Did her parents. . .no, that wasn't possible. . .or was it? There was too many people who had already died. He ran out after Shirushi. 
	". . .I'm so tired.  I hope classes don't start tomorrow. I can't adjust that quickly," Shirushi mumbled in English. "I can't believe that it'll take two weeks for me to get over the jet lag." Suddenly her pager beeped again. 
	"No, I don't wanna answer my pager now!" But it kept on beeping again. "All right, all right, you win." 
	The message was just something from Rei. Again. Asking about whether she should call her parents. 
	"Mind your own fucking business, Rei! It's my problem whether I wanna call my parents or not! Damn, does she think I don't know how to take care of myself?"

	"Shirushi!! Wait." Kamui ran up to her. "Is there anything wrong?"  Shirushi had been mumbling angrily in English to her pager. 
	"My pager-just someone checking up on me, making sure I'm fine, that I'm not wrecking everything in the house. . . grr. . . I'm sixteen already! I'm old enough to be independent. What business is it of hers!?" 
	"Isn't it your mother?" Shirushi gave him a blank look. 
	"No. It's not my mother. It's an old classmate from high school," she responded. Kamui realized that her voice had gone flat, into a monotone. 
	"Doesn't your mother call you to see how you're doing?"
	"Why would she do that? She knows I can take care of myself already."  she thought. There was an edge of tension to her voice. 
	"Hey, Shi-chan!! Let's go!"
	"Coming, Sora-chan!" Shirushi ran to catch up with the rest of the group. 
	"Her mother doesn't call. . .how come? Miya-obasan would always check on her. . .but what about Shinya?" Kamui said quietly to himself. 

	Underneath the Diet Building, Hinoto stirred again. 
	"Princess!" Hien was worried. "You don't look so well. What was your vision?"
	"Shirushi. . .won't be able to make a decision. . ."
	"What!?"
	"Her twin star has chosen the Dragons of Earth."
	"But isn't that good, princess?"
	Hinoto shuddered. "The guardian for the Dragons of Earth. . .he only fights for himself. It's not  clear what his motives are yet. But they have nothing to do with the End of the World. I fear for everyone's lives, for he may do the battle on his own terms. . ."
	"Hinoto-hime, we have brought her here." The door slid open, and a small girl stepped in. 

	" Kowai. . ." Shirushi muttered. 
	"Don't be scared," said Arashi. 
	". . . ." Shirushi was incredibly unsure of this whole matter. But anyhow, she slid open the door and stepped in. 
	The room had only candlelight and was very large. There were twin sisters hovering protectively over a small albino girl in a kimono. Her white hair was done up in the traditional style. 
	This is the princess? Shirushi thought. For a moment all she could do was stand there gaping. 
	Suddenly one of the twins spoke. 
	"Show some respect! The princess is doing you a favor, and you are. . ."
	"Souhi. It is all right. This is only the child's first time here. She must be tired from all that traveling." 
	How is that? I only heard the words in my head. . .is she a telepath? Her lips weren't moving. . .
	Shirushi bowed. "Konnichiwa, Hinoto-hime. H-hajimemashita."
	Hinoto lifted her head, and Shirushi could see that her eyes were a bright red, staring blindly at her. 	"There is nothing to be afraid of, Shirushi-dono. I can see you're a little nervous. . ." she said, a smile on her lips. Shirushi noticed that her hands were twisting about. 
	"Ah! Ano. . ."
	"That's all right. There is something I must tell you about your destiny. . .I trust that you know a little about it?" 
	"I'm Kamui's guardian star. That's all I know," Shirushi responded. 
	Hinoto held out her hand. "Then I will have to show you more. It's important that you know fully about your future."
	Tentatively, Shirushi took it. The world seemed to shatter around them, and fall away. 

	"Nice room here," said Motomi out loud. 
	"It is to your liking?" Kanoe asked, wrapping her arms around him. "My, things have taken on an unexpected turn here. . .I do believe you have made a decision instead of that girl?"
	He smiled. "Yes, I certainly have. To join the Dragons of Earth. . ."
	"And to fight for the planet's rebirth," finished Kanoe. "You have made an excellent choice, Motomi."
	Ha! I've already turned the tables on Shirushi making the decision, Motomi thought. Now to sabotage this holy war. . .life is good. How wonderful it is!
	"Hello, Motomi." 
	They turned around to face a tall dark-haired boy. "Ah, yes," said Motomi "It's nice to meet you, 'Kamui.'" 
	"You are my replacement, the one with the true power. You will serve me well," he responded. 
	"Yes, I certainly will, as one of the Seraphim."

	Satsuki looked at the group below her. 
	"Hmph. . .boring humans. I'm so glad I have you with me, Beast. If you weren't here, I'd be dead from boredom. . ."
	Beast whirred, a sound somewhat like purring. 
	"You said that 'Kamui' would stop me from being bored, didn't you? Is that really true?"
	The mammoth computer seemed to grumble. 
	"Well, of course it's true, my lovely little Beast. . .maybe I should be a bit more patient. After all, after Kanoe freed me from the Freemasons, life has been better for both of us, hasn't it?"
	Another "purring" sound. Suddenly Satsuki looked up. Motomi was now alone, and staring after 'Kamui' and Kanoe with a cold glitter in his eyes. . . 
	Satsuki got the feeling that maybe Motomi wasn't all he seemed. He looked like he wanted something more than to fight on the side of the Seven Angels. But what was it? 
	She sighed, and turned back to Beast. Motomi couldn't possibly have any other motives. What else could he want other than to get rid of humanity? 
	This time, Beast made a sound like a dog whining. 
	"No, Beast, Motomi-sama can't have any other motives! And if he did, they're probably just some stupid little human things that have absolutely nothing to do with us."
	A sound of hesistance. 
	"Oh, really? Well. It would be horrible if Motomi-sama did try to sabotage the battle. After all, he is the replacement for our 'Kamui' now, isn't he?" With a laugh, Satsuki turned to Beast to go onto the Internet. She was bored of trying to mess with the cables and electrical systems. After all, car accidents and citywide blackouts were boring now. 
	Besides, as boring as humans were, how could she resist the web pages a few interesting exceptions had turned up? The follies of these web pages were extremely interesting, if not at first amusing.
	Too bad we have to kill you guys too, ne? Wish we could be a little selective in who would be spared. At least we keep the web pages. To destroy those *would* be such a sad waste.

	"Tadaima! Anyone miss me?" Kusanagi walked inside. 
	"Oh, hey, Kusanagi," Yuuto looked up from his newspaper. "Did you hear about the newcomer?"
	"What newcomer?"
	"The guardian star Kakyou over there told us about, no less. He's in his room. Go say hello to him."
	"Sure. . ." He's here? That's interesting. . .pretty quick, he thought. 
	"Hi!"
	Kusanagi turned around. "Oh, so you're the new guy?" 
	"Motomi Fujishima. Hajimemashite." He bowed. "Whoo, you're a big guy aren't ya?"
	"Hey," Kusanagi smiled. "I think you're a nice guy."
	"Yep," said Yuuto. "With him on our side, we're unbeatable."
	"But what about the true guardian?" Kusanagi was slightly confused. "Kakyou told us about two guardians."
	"Well," said Yuuto, "I suppose she's on the other side now isn't she?"
	"Yes, but we don't have to worry about that," Motomi said reassuringly. "She's only a child. What harm can she do?"
	"Satsuki told us she was in college."
	"Doesn't seem much like a kid to me," mumbled Kusanagi. 
	"Didn't Satsuki mention that she's ahead of her own level? She's just a kid genius with powers. She can't be as strong as I am. She doesn't have enough experience." 
	"You're extremely self-confident," Seishirou said, coming into the conversation. 
	"Whaddya mean? She's not as experienced as I am."
	"I just happened to have a battle with the aforementioned young lady. She has a level of incredible power."
	"Naah."
	"She does-she stopped my illusion with one attack," Seishirou said quietly. "It wouldn't be wise to underestimate her, Motomi-san."
	Motomi glared at him. 

	Kakyou was in the Dreamscape as always. The guardians or "Seraphim", had come as predicted. 
	One guardian for each side, to replace both "Kamuis" to fight for humanity or the earth. Both with equal power and strength. They would fight, and one would emerge the victor. Kakyou sighed. He had seen everything already. There was only one Future. 
	Suddenly, both warring sides appeared. Everything was in place, ready to fight for the fate of the world. But as they fought, something went different this time. Horribly different. One of the guardians, it seemed, had gone berserk and killed everyone except the "Kamuis" and it's opponent. The foursome transformed into stars and disappeared.  
	After a while, there was a flash of light, and the stars reappeared. . .but one was missing. 
	Kakyou shuddered. *This* wasn't the one future that had been predicted. 
	Suddenly he remembered Kotori's last words before she ascended to Heaven. 
	"The future. . . is not yet. . . .decided. . ."
	Was that girl right?


Author's Ramblings: 
	For the Japanese, "Abunai desu yo" means, "It's dangerous", "Sonna koto wa arimasen" means. "that's not true", and "tadaima" just means something like "I'm back." "Kowai" just means "scary."
	I thought it would be neat to see what would happen if I put in Doom and Duke Nukem. My cousin loves them. . .^_^
	South Park is a HILARIOUS show. Watch it if you haven't yet. 
	Seraphim is the highest order of angels, before cherubim, thrones, dominations, virtues, powers, principalities, archangels, and ordinary angels.
	All characters except Shirushi, Rei, Yoshi, Michiru, Satoru, Motomi, Miya, and Shinya are copyright of CLAMP, 1992-1998(or whenever the series ends-hopefully not too soon!! ^_^)

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