Chapter Five: Reliving the Past                           



"What are you cooking again?" Kage pondered outloud as he walked around in Makoto's apartment, looking at pictures and other things to help with his memory. Most of the time he had spent with her was doing this, trying to regain his memories.

Makoto's voice floated out from the kitchen as she leaned her head out and smiled widely, "Meatloaf and seasoned vegetables. Your favorite, ai." Nodding lightly, he walked around looking at everything, soon finding a picture of him and Makoto on an outing on a beautiful summer's day in the park. They both were smiling in the photo and, in the background, Suteki and Minako were sneaking up on them with a bucket full of water which caused him to smile a bit. Still peeking out of the kitchen, she smiled at his expression and looked at the picture he held in his hands as well, "We really had fun that day."

After a moment, he set the picture down lightly and turn to her, "It looks like I'm having a good time."

Thinking back on that day made her laugh lightly and nod to him, "Well, you were, until Suteki and Minako soaked us. After they did, you and Suteki yelled at each other for at least twenty minutes. I thought you were going to kick his butt."

"Heh, really?" She nodded to him and he ran his hand through his hair, then walked to her couch and sat down, leaning back with a sigh. Stepping out of the kitchen, she walked over and sat next to him. Not saying anything, she just looked at him with a weak smile and it caused him to blink and look at her, "What is it?"

Her face dimmed a bit and she lowered her eyes, but never lost her smile, "You finally come back, but you don't remember anything about us." He just looked forward and didn't say anything, just blinked slowly while she watched. She looked away slightly and tried not to sound so whiny about it, "I waited for the day when you would return. When you came in my dream, I didn't want to leave you but you told me you would return and we would be together again, Sailor Jupiter and Shadow Jupiter."

"You really love him? Well, me."

"Yeah, I do."

"I'll remember who I was, Makoto. To me, nothing else matters."

Looking up slowly, she found him smiling at her and could only smile back, nodding to him happily. To break the tender moment, a beeping sound came from her kitchen and she looked over her shoulder slightly, "My meatloaf is done."

"Maybe some gourmet cooking will help the ol' brain to work."


"And you say we have never been caught?" Yamito's voice called out from the darkness and was answered from below by Rei's quiet whisper.

"Shhhh! Will you trust me? You're the one who took me here in the first place, anyway." The bushes around them started to rustle in the dark until Yamito's silhouette popped out from on top of a building, looking around for anybody. He didn't move for a moment and her voice called up at him from the darkness below, teeming with annoyance, "Well? Are you going to just stand there or are you going to help me up?" He looked back down into the darkness and shrugged, then knelt down and reached down for her. A light yelp was heard, which was followed by her seething up at him, "That wasn't my arm!"

"I suppose that was a bit soft to be your arm."

"Don't be a pervert and help me!" Rolling his eyes slightly, he reached down again and then stood up, pulling her silhouette out from the darkness. Rising to her feet next to him, she huffed at him and straightened her shirt, then pointed to the side, "Now, jump over to that roof."

Casting a glance over to the roof, he quirked a brow and looked back to her, "You're joking. That roof is at least ten feet away."

"You're beginning to sound like Usagi. Just do it, Yamito." She taunted and poked him in the chest lightly. He just smirked at her a bit and she suddenly winked, then with one fluid motion, turned and jumped over to the roof. As she landed, she looked back and found him gone from her sight. Standing straight, she turned back to look on the empty roof, "Huh? Don't tell me he chickened out."

"I didn't."

The voice startled her as she whipped around to find him standing casually against a power line pole set on the roof. Blinking wildly, she looked at him suspiciously, "How did you........"

As she trailed off, he looked over at her with a light smile and answered in a cool tone, "I just wanted to see you do it first." Seeing the look in her eyes, he lost his smile and looked around slowly, leaning off the pole, "Now where?"

She still fought to urge that her gut was giving her to suspect him, and shook it off by smiling seductively. Clasping her hands behind her back, she walked up him slowly and leaned in close, whispering quietly to him, "Why, right below you." Her movements made him blink a bit and open his mouth to speak, but she suddenly pushed him backwards off the roof, much to his dismay. A look of shock washed over his face as he watched her smiling wickedly at him, until he hit the water and sent a column of water up into the air. As he came up to the surface and wiped the water off his face, he looked up to see her roaring in laughter at his expense.

"What was that all about?"

With a quick jump, she landed by the side of the pool and stood near the edge, still snickering a bit, "Getting back at you. When we came here the first time, you threw me in the pool with all of my clothes still on."

Smirking at her heavily, he shook his head and looked down at his soaked clothing, "How amusing." Pulling his shirt off, he tossed it in the side of the pool, and then started to kick his feet a bit on the bottom, "Whose pool is this again?"

"It's the city's, the nicest pool in town, but they close it at eight. We always came here on a nice night like this to swim. Like I said, we've never been caught."

Hearing her voice, he blinked and looked around, but couldn't find her anywhere, "Where did you go?" Not getting an answer, he tilted his head a bit as both of his sandals floated up to the surface, "And Yamito has no dry clothes now." Walking into the deeper water, he turned backwards a bit and suddenly pulled his pants from the water, and tossed them to the side as well. He floated in the warm, dark water and relaxed a bit, feeling a bit at peace for a moment. Coming to the edge, he put his hands on the side and found a pair of bare feet waiting for him. Slowly looking up, he found Rei standing with her hand on her hip, her feet not the only thing bare about her her. His pupils shrank a bit at the site of her and spoke in a very quiet voice, "Did we always go skinny dipping when we did this?"

"Most of the time on warm nights like this. Problems?" She grinned at him and all he could do was shake his head and look at her, even as she dove over him and into the water. Coming up to the surface, she faced him and smiled, a tint of red coming across her cheeks, "You're staring at me, Yamito."

Looking out through soaked strands of his hair, he blinked once and smiled lightly, "Am I?" She smiled a bit more and started to move through the water towards him, trying not to let her blush grow anymore.

Moving right up to him, she put her hands on his bare shoulders and looked into her dark eyes, speaking in a very weak voice, "Are you remembering anything yet?"

It was then she felt his hands trace across her stomach lightly and she could feel her face burning in a blush. He simply tilted his head a bit, leaning in close to her and putting his mouth near her ear as their bodies drew closer together, "Only how beautiful you are."


At the malt shop in the mall, Minako and Suteki were seated at a table and laughing very loudly, making everyone at the shop look at them a bit. They both were just having a great time and Suteki looked at her, almost crying from laughing so much "So, you say I told your mom I was a plumber and," He stuttered a bit between laughs and she watched him dreamily as he finished, "When she let me in the house, I snuck up to your room to find you?"

"Uh huh, but I was out with Usagi that day." As she remembered, she erupted into even more laughter and put her hand on the table hard, "And when you went to leave, my mom asked if you were going to look at the pipes. So, you crawled under the sink and started to fiddle with the pipes. When I got home, there was water everywhere. I went into the kitchen and found my mom yelling at you for breaking a pipe. I was confused and asked why you were there. You told me a pipe in your heart had broken and only I could fix it."

Her laughter died a bit and she smiled at him sweetly as he smiled pushed back his hair from his face. Their laughing subsided a moment and he leaned back in his chair, "That's how your mom found out about us?"

She nodded and sniffled a bit from laughing so hard, "You spent the whole afternoon clearing water out of our home. She wasn't mad about us not telling her about you and me, but she was ticked at you for breaking the plumbing."

"We had some wild times, huh?"

"Yeah, we did. And now that you're back, we can have even more fun."

He didn't answer for a moment, then his smile faded as he sighed, "What if I can't remember anything?"

"I guess we will have to start over again!" She winked at him and suddenly laughed loudly, then held her hand out, smiling sweetly still "Hi, I'm Aino Minako. What's your name?"

He looked at her strangely but decided to play along, reaching over and shaking her hand, "I'm Yomo Suteki." Glad he was going along with her, she giggled and slowly let go of his hand. Setting his hand back on the table, he thought a moment and then tilted his head, "So, Minako, what is it you do?"

"Well, I live with my mom, I go to Juuban High, play volleyball and....." Leaning over the table, she winked at him and whispered in a quiet tone, "I fight evil as Sailor Venus."

He smiled an estranged smile and nodded, leaning closer to her as well, "Very intriguing. I have no idea where I live, I don't know who I am, but people tell me I fight evil as Shadow Venus. Small world, huh?" He winked back at her and she laughed a little, then looked at her watch for a moment. Noticing her glance, he blinked and sat back a bit, "Waiting for something?"

"We, you and I, would walk through the park at this time of night."

With a grin, he stood up and held his arm out for her, "Well, how about a walk through the park? Minako, isn't it?" Grinning back, she rose to her feet also and took his arm, and they both left the malt shop, heading towards the park.


"I brought you a stack of books. They were the ones you were reading before."

Kurai slowly looked up at Ami as she set down the few book she held onto the table in front of him. His icy blue eyes then scanned the books for something familiar and he ran his finger along the spines of them, "Before I left this world after fighting......" He trailed off a bit and looked at her with a blink, "What was his name again? Byoku?"

Moving across from him, Ami sat down slowly and set her hands on her lap, smiling lightly, "Byoki."

"Yes, that's it. What a clever name. He must have sat up all night to think up that name."

His face twisted into a light smirk and she laughed lightly at him, tilting her head a bit, "I think it was more of a group thing. You know, Senso, Kiga, Shibo and Byoki."

Nodding slowly, he began to dig through the books in front of him, but came across one that caught his attentions. Sliding out of the others, he looked at the title and read it out loud, "'Forget Not the Past' by Robert G. Wellsburg." Looking up at her slowly, he blinked and set the book down, "Hidden message?"

Acting as if she were innocent, she simply opened her own book and shrugged lightly, "I found it to be a good book and thought you might like it."

"Is there something bothering you?"

Letting out a light sigh, she set her book down and looked at him with a hurt expression, "Is something bothering me? Of course there is. When we used to read in here, we would laugh and talk, and now this place sounds like....."

Seeing she was obviously hurt, he finished her sentence and tilted his head a bit, "Like a library?" Seeing the irony, she laughed and pushed her hair out of her face lightly. Drawing in a slow breath, he looked at her a moment before speaking, "If you want to talk, we can talk. I can even pretend I still remember what it is we're talking about."

"I'm sorry, Kurai. I know you're trying, but I miss those days."

His face dimmed a bit and he suddenly rose to his feet, turning from her slightly and starting to walk off into the library. She blinked in surprise as he did and watched as he stopped long enough to call over his shoulder, "I'm sorry that I'm not the person I used to be." Walking into the darker isles of the library, he left her in shock and wondering what came over him.

"Kurie! Wait!" She quickly got up and followed after him, looking down the aisle he just walked down, but finding just empty silence. Feeling a bit uneasy, she looked around and spoke in a quiet voice, "Kurai?" Suddenly, she heard the front door open and shut, and a long sigh escaped her lips, "I must have really hurt him." Turning back to go get her things, the lights suddenly shut off and left her in the dark, and not very happy about it, "Is that you, Kurai?" She started to try to find her way back to the lounge when she heard a noise a couple aisles away, and put a hand over her bracing heart, "Kurai? Come on, this isn't funny." Only silence filled the air and she peeked around a corner to where the sound came from, "Hello?" Feeling a bit shaky and unnerved, she decided to just leave the library and get their things later, but turned around to find a figure standing in front of her.

"Boo!"

She obviously was startled by him and blinked wildly as Kurai stepped out of the shadows, which made her a little steamed, "Kurai, you scared the life out of me!"

"Come on, Ami-chan. You looked like you needed some excitement." Smiling triumphantly, he hoped she would have taken the joke but the look on her face told him otherwise. Shrugging lightly, he ran a hand through his hair and smiled at her softly, "Alright, you may scare me really bad to pay me back."

Giving him a serious look, she turned her head a way and crossed her arms over her chest, "I never want to see you again." Leaving him with an open mouth, she walked away and disappeared around the isle quickly. With a distressed look on his face, he let out a slow breath and was in shock, until she leaned back around the corner and winked at him, "Gotcha!"

A breath of relief escaped his mouth and winced a bit playfully, though still smiling lightly, "I guess I deserved that."

Giggling lightly, she walked back to him and clasps her hands behind her back, shaking her head and smiling sweetly, "I would never tell you that seriously."

"Well, I did tell you to scare me and believe me, that did it." She laughed a bit more and he tilted his head a bit, looking at her affectionately, "I know it's hard being with me while I have lost my memory. I know we probably won't do everything we used to, but I don't care what we do, as long as we do it together."

His words made a light blush wash over her face and she looked back up to him, nodding dreamily, "Well, they are having a carnival in a few weeks and maybe...."

"A carnival? Of course! Lets do it, we can go on the Ferris wheel, the side shows and," He was cut off by something blinking on her wrist and he blinked, then pointed at her communicator, "What is that?"

She looked down and saw the flashing light on her communicator, her face losing its relaxed look, "One of the senshi are trying to call me." Turning her wrist over she activated it and Rei's battered face appeared on it speaking desperately in a broken transmission.

"Sail.....ercury.......eed help......everywhe...the Priests......their old porta...."

The transmission suddenly cut out and Kurai winced a bit, then looked at her with an oddly casual look on his face, "What was that?"

"It was Rei and she sounded like she was in trouble."

"I'm coming as well. Maybe this will help me remember."


"I can see why we would come here." Yamito said in a quiet voice as he stood immersed deeply in the water, his arms wrapped around Rei lightly as she leaned against him. Holding to his arms lightly, she nodded and relaxed her body into his, her back pressed lightly against his chest. As he looked at her affectionately, she let out a content sigh and closed her eyes, wishing that the night would never end. Unfortunately, her communicator would not let that happen. Hearing a light beeping sound, her eyes opened and looked to her clothing, an annoyed look crossing her face. Without a word, she pulled out of his arms and moved through the water towards her clothing. He watched her figure slowly coming up out of the water and quirked a brow a bit, speaking in a cool voice, "Are we finished?"

"Huh? No, my communicator is beeping. Usagi probably got her head stuck in a jar or something."

As she got to the edge, she started to dig through her clothing and he simply watched her with an expressionless look on his face. Pulling out her watch, she activated the small display and blinked at the broken message on it. As he could hear the yelling and static, his eyes slowly closed and an oddly estranged smile crossed his face, followed by his words that only he could hear, "And it begins."

Suddenly, she started gathering all of her stuff and looked to him with a worried look, "Makoto's in trouble. She called on the communicator and said the Priests attacked and........I need to go."

"Probably a good idea." He calmly said and opened his eyes, looking to the side near the main building.

She blinked and followed his gaze to see a flashlight bouncing towards them, accompanied by a whistle and yelling from a security guard. A wave of panic washed over her and she quickly put on a long shirt, then looked to him as she started towards the building they used to enter, "Oh no! We really have to go!"

By now he was out of the water and back into his soaked pants, though he didn't look at all worried. As she tried to figure out the way back up the building, he walked over to her with a distant look in his eyes and watched the guard approaching with no great interest. Giving her his attention once more, he locked his fingers together and held them out for her, "Need a lift?" She quickly stepped on his hands and he lifted her onto the roof effortlessly, "Hurry, jump over. I'm right behind you." Nodding lightly at him, she winked and jumped to the next roof, leaving him still down with the guard.

Turning a bit to look at the guard, he dropped his hands to his sides and watched the guard approaching. The water was still dripping down his hair and shoulders, and a look of amusement came over him. The guard was still blowing his whistle and yelling out after him, running near the edge of the pool now, "Stop right there!"

"No running by the pool." Yamito said with a sadistic tone, and a sudden burst of red light in front of the guard knocked him into the pool with a splash. Yamito merely smiled at the guard and looked over the scene for a moment, as if amused by it. The guard was making his way back to the side of the pool as Yamito walked back to his clothing, picking them up all while watching the guard. As he stood straight from picking up his things, a silver energy flashed through his eyes and he pushed back some of his hair with his thumb, "It's good to be back." After walking back to the roof, he jumped up to the shingles effortlessly and looked as Rei was disappearing over the other roof. The lights around him cast a shadow over his face and he smiled a bit, "Right behind you, Rei."


"My compliments to the chef. That's the best meal I've ever had, that I remember." Kage yawned widely and leaned back in his seat, patting his stomach lightly. Makoto only smile and started to clear the table, but he stood up and took the plates from her hands, "Let me help." A bit surprised by him, she blinked at first, then smiled and nodded her head. As he started gathering the dishes, she heard something coming from her bedroom and walked into the other room while Kage carried all of the dirty tableware into the kitchen. He filled the sink and set everything in it, looking at his reflection in the water for a moment. He could hear Makoto yelling for Minako to speak up and tell her where she was, and he got a wicked smile on his face. In a blur of motion, he washed all of the dishes and put them away to dry next to the sink, in a mere amount of seconds. As he finished, Makoto came speeding into the kitchen with a worried look on her face, "Minako is in some kind of trouble. I gotta go help her."

"I'm coming."

Looking at him in concern, she shook her head and started to leave, "It's too dangerous. Without your transformation ring, you would get hurt."

"Like that has ever stopped me before?"

That stopped her on her tracks and she turned to look at him with a blink, "What did you say?"

He suddenly looked like he said something he shouldn't have and blinked, then rubbed his head and laughed a bit nervously, "What I meant was, from what you've told me, I would have gone anyway, right?" Cocking a brow at him a bit, she looked at him for a moment in confusion, then shook it off and submitted to let him go. She would have to question him later.


Suteki and Minako were walking arm in arm through the park together on the moonless night, enjoying the cool night air. Minako sighed a bit and smiled up at him, hugging his arm a bit tighter, "It's pretty dark out here when there isn't a moon out."

"No moon tonight? How fitting."

He was looking off into the sky with a deranged look on his face and she blinked at him, leaning away and furrowing her brows a bit, "What do you mean by that?"

Blinking a few times, he looked down at her and suddenly grinned sheepishly, acting as if he was just caught with his hand in the cookie jar, "Eh, I just meant that it's very romantic tonight because the moon isn't out."

Confused by him, she quirked her brow a bit, but then shrugged it off and hugged his arm once more, "Baka blonde. So what are we going to do tomorrow?"

"I don't know. Maybe we can call one of the others and do something with them."

"Okay, I could call them right now if you want."

He stops, pulling her to a stop and blinks at her, "How could you call now?"

"With my communicator." Stepping out a bit from him, she held out her wrist and showed off her communicator to him. He inspected it and rubbed his finger over the symbol of Venus lightly.

Suddenly, it started beeping and he pulled his hand back quickly, "What'd I touch?" She giggled a bit t him and flipped it on, making an image of Ami's face appear in the air above it, though a little static-filled and choppy.

"Mina.......quic....Priests.....need he....mountain portal....."

His blue eyes slowly moved on her and he spoke in a casual tone, "That doesn't sound good."

After shutting off the device, she looked at him and nodded, "Come on, let's go."

"We're gone."


Next Chapter: Evil Duplicates? Again?