Pretty Guardian Sailor Lilith #7 – « Connecting »

 ‘Hurry up, Kasumi-chan!’ Usagi urged. ‘We’re going to be late!’

As the girl was carelessly running ahead of her, Kasumi refrained from retorting that if she hadn’t kept them at home for so long in the first place, they wouldn’t be late at all. But, though it annoyed her a bit, she couldn’t seem to blame her friend for this. Her spontaneoux cheerfulness had the power to throw her off balance.

After running for some time, they soon came in sight of a small group of girls. They were Usagi’s friends, the ones they were supposed to meet on that day. Kasumi immediately noticed that there were only three of them, whereas a fourth one was awaited.

‘Over there!’ Usagi shouted.

‘You’re late, Usagi-chan’, said one of the girls, with a short hair, and a sharp look.

‘I know... I’m sorry, girls! Hope I didn’t make you wait too long...’

‘Bet you!’ another girl, the tallest of them, chuckled.

‘A world with Usagi on time would definitely feel strange!’, the third girl, who was very beautiful, added.

All of the girls laughed heartily. Then Usagi introduced Kasumi to her friends. The short-haired girl was Ami. The tallest one was Makoto. And the last one, with her nice look, was Minako.

‘By the way, where’s Rei-chan?’, Usagi asked.

‘She hasn’t shown up yet. Guess she must be even later than you.’

‘Could that be?’, Usagi gloated. ‘I’m the one who’s going to pick on her for being late, this time!’

‘What should we do? Shall we go without her?’

‘Let’s just roam around for now. We can’t miss her if she shows up soon enough. We’ll go to the café later.’

Usagi approved this decision and the five of them started wandering around the park. Ami, Makoto and Minako were curious about Kasumi, so she did her best to answer their questions while avoiding the ominous ‘I don’t know’. It actually proved muche easier than what she had expected, since the girls were also chatting among themselves, discussing how this would remind them of something, and how that was very much unlike Usagi. Each time, Kasumi’s hostess would whine about how it was so mean and everything, triggering laughter among her friends. For once, Kasumi was feeling like a perfectly normal young woman, and as the conversation went on, she started to relax.

‘Hey, here comes Rei’, Makoto suddenly noticed.

All of the girls turned their face in the direction she was pointing at. There she was. A beautiful girl, with a elegant dark, long hair, and a seemingly furious look. Her eyes were burning with sparkles of anger, so much that they could be seen, even in the distance. At that very moment, all the confidence Kasumi had built through contact with the other girls immediately vanished. She instantly felt very uneasy, but somehow she felt it was not just the kind of apprehension you get when you meet someone new. Her heart began to race, her limbs went tense, her skin crawled, as if the mere presence of that Rei girl was a direct threat to her.

The newcomer, however, didn’t take a look at her, as she was welcomed by her friends.

‘What’s with that look?’, Minako asked lightly.

‘That look is the look of someone’s who’s just been dumped!’, Rei fired back.

‘What?’, Usagi exclaimed. ‘You cannot be serious!’

‘I’m sorry to hear that... What happened?’

‘Nothing! He called me out of the blue, saying he had something he wanted to tell me... And I went there, to hear this! That damned jerk!’

‘I understand better now, why you were late...’, Ami said.

Somehow, Usagi believed that the timing was right, and she stepped forward, pulling Kasumi along with her.

‘Rei-chan, this is Kasumi!’

‘Yeah, nice to meet you...’

Kasumi blushed as she bowed quickly. Rei didn’t seem pleased to meet her at all.

‘Shall we go to the café now?’, Minako offered, in an attempt to dispel the tense atmosphere.

All of them agreed, and the group walked down the street, led by Usagi and Rei, who had engaged in a fight about who had the better reason to be late. Kasumi stayed behind, trying to ponder over the situation. She was very confused. She didn’t know if she was just being hurt by Rei’s attitude, or if there was anything special to that girl. After all, it was just natural that she couldn’t get along with everyone. Ami noticed her and slowed down a bit to come by her side.

‘Are you okay?’

‘Yes, all’s right.’, Kasumi lied.

‘Good. Please don’t get upset by Rei’s behaviour. She just happens to be in an awful mood today. Things are going to be just fine next time.’

‘Alright...’

The two of them walked side by side without a word, for a bit. Then, Kasumi eventually spoke:

‘You’re... studying to be a doctor, right?’

‘Yes, that’s right.’

‘Do you know anything about... a way to cure amnesia?’

Ami looked surprised for a split-second, but her expression quickly eased.

‘Well, I didn’t want to bring that up yet, but if it’s okay with you... Actually, this is definitely not in my area of expertise, but I have made some personal research about amnesia... And it appears that the scientific knowledge is pretty limited about memory.’

‘I understand.’

So, Murasaki-sensei was right. There really wasn’t anything to do for her, as far as mankind knew. A small voice in a corner of her mind whispered that the person who had come up with the scenario of her life was really a lame guy.

‘I apologize for not being able to bring more optimistic news. However, I think that you shouldn’t rush things. You should take time to consider things that have something familiar to them... Even the slightest feeling might be a clue...’

Kasumi remained silent. She glanced at Rei, who was still unleashing her anger on her friend. Could this feeling of danger be some sort of reminiscence of her dormant memory? Could Rei be a clue regarding her accident? Or something she had feared in her past life?

‘Don’t worry’, Ami added. ‘I’m sure that your memories, wherever they may be, are better away.’

‘Sorry?’

‘You know, one forgets things because it is unpleasant for them to remember. Rather than a mistake to be repaired, your amnesia could simply be a defending mechanism. I don’t mean to speculate about your former life, but maybe it was terrible, after all... so terrible that your brain couldn’t help but reset anything relating to it.’

‘Well... I had never looked at it this way...’

‘This is no word from a specialist. I’m just saying that your brain isn’t your enemy. Your amnesia must have a purpose.’

‘I guess you’re right.’

Kasumi had a mixed feeling about Ami. On the one hand, she thought that her greater intelligence made her a privileged person, someone to whom she would be able to feel close; but, on the other, this very intelligence had something disturbing. Even though she seemed to be full of good intentions, she had the potential to see further, and think faster than herself. And somehow, this bothered her pretty much.

The discussion was severed, as the girls finally arrived in front of the café. They sat at a table, continuing to chat casually. Kasumi did her best to step in the conversation, carefully avoiding to provoke Rei, who had calmed down a bit, but was still frowning. The young man who had taken their order came back after a while with their drinks. He gave them out one after one.

Then he turned to Kasumi. Her eyes widened immediately. The waiter’s skin was suddenly very pale. No, rather than pale, it had turned white, pure white. His eyeballs had turned blank. His hair was gone. He looked like a marble statue.

The young girl froze, all her senses alert. The statue reached forward with a trembling arm, whispering those simple words:

‘Protect... I’m going to protect you...’

Kasumi yelled and threw the statue’s arm away. Next thing she knew, everyone was looking at her, startled. Rei, on whom her drink had been spilled, cried.

‘What’s wrong with you, moron!’ she eructed.

Still trembling, Kasumi glanced at the waiter, who was back to normal, and looking as startled as everyone else. She stood up, bowed deeply while muttering some quick excuse, and ran away.