Trunks-kun had been watching as Tenchi-san walked back and forth, up and down what passed for a street around here, for the last ten minutes. What they were waiting on, she wasn't quite sure. She was almost certain that it was to make sure Tenchi-san wasn't in line of sight when they emerged from the building.
If that was the case, then she could completely understand. She wasn't too keen on people knowing where they were staying just yet either.
At last Tenchi-san moved well out of sight. With a silent nod, Trunks-kun slid through the half opening to their doorway, with her right behind him. So they had been waiting for Tenchi-san to move far enough away that he wouldn't see exactly where at they were staying.
Ha! Maybe I am getting smarter! It was a pleasing thought, even if it was likely to be an utter fairy tale.
They had been inside most of the last two days, between training and rearranging the lobby level of their building, but something in the air felt... different. She thought maybe the word she was searching for was 'charged', like it was filled with static electricity.
Also, Trunks-kun's time machine didn't look so good anymore. Apparently at some point, someone had started picking pieces off of it. It wasn't quite cannibalized, not yet, but it was definitely missing some pieces that had been there before. Apparently, some people who lived here were amazingly quiet.
Trunks-kun looked even more unnerved by this than she felt. Of course, from what she could gather, he had taken more than one trip back and forth between the past and his own time in this thing. Maybe he had even been planning on trying to fix it and use it as a way out of here--to which all she had to say was, as long as he took her with him when he left, she had no issue with it. But with the time machine in this condition, she didn't think it was too likely to be used as a way out. She placed a gentle hand on his arm and offered a tight apologetic smile when he turned to meet her eyes.
"Ah, Trunks-san, Usagi-san!" Tenchi-san called out from behind them. At least it was very hard to sneak up on people here; there was enough rubble and gravel on the pathways to announce anyone's approach. "I wasn't sure where you two would be at."
"We've been around," Trunks-kun offered diplomatically. Neither of them was going to say a word about trying to make sure their sanctuary stayed hidden. Right now, Tenchi-san was their only link to the rest of the people who were trapped here like they were. "Did you need us for something?"
Tenchi-san shook his head, coming to a stop a few steps away from the two of them, before his attention was drawn away to the remains of the time machine. "Was this one of yours?"
On the spot like that, it was immediately obvious than neither of them had prepared to lie in a situation like this. Finally she answered, "Yeah." Let Tenchi-san think it was hers. He didn't need to know anything about either of them.
And that was an unusually vicious thought for her. Maybe she was trading in some of her innate niceness for these new brains. Or maybe she was just doing whatever it took for them to stay alive.
"People scavenge fast around here. If it looks useful, it'll be gone in a few hours or at the longest a few days." He frowned, a rueful expression on his face. "I guess we've all gotten too used to doing whatever it takes to stay alive around here."
"Did you need for anything, Tenchi-san?" she repeated Trunks-kun's question, carefully keeping her voice upbeat.
"Oh, yes, pardon my absentmindedness." She smiled, and at the same time, Trunks-kun shook his head. Clearly they both had some experience with absentminded people. "I wanted to tell you both that someone else came through earlier today."
She blinked, hard, in surprise. "What?"
"I thought you said people hardly ever come through anymore." Trunks-kun sounded suspicious--and she couldn't say that she blamed him. Only a few days ago, after all, Tenchi-san had certainly made it sound as though they were the latest--and probably last, at least for several years--arrivals here. And now there was someone else here already? It was a bit bizarre, to say the least.
Tenchi-san shrugged. "I know: it's weird. No one in two years and then three in under a week. It's right up there with the Thunder Emperor."
Trunks-kun's eyes narrowed. "What about the Thunder Emperor?"
Tenchi-san shrugged. "Apparently he only started getting his power back about a month ago, maybe even less than that."
"So he starts getting his powers back, and suddenly the Reapers need new people?" Trunks-kun mused aloud. Before she even had time to follow that thought through, he swore and paced a few steps away. "Of course! The Thunder Emperor started getting his powers back, so the Reapers needed new powers to control him."
Tenchi-san smacked himself in the forehead. "I can't believe I didn't notice that. It seems so obvious now. Still..." He eyed them both speculatively. "Still, the two of you must have been very powerful to contain even some of the Thunder Emperor's power."
Neither of them said a word to that. While she felt relieved to have finally let Trunks-kun in on her secret regarding Sailor Moon and while she felt privileged to know some about Trunks-kun's past, she wasn't sure she wanted to air all that quite yet, especially not in the open like this.
"So what about this new person?" she finally prompted as the silence stretched out long and awkward.
Tenchi-san shook his head. "I can't tell you much. Tall, thin guy. Spiky dark hair and funky sunglasses. Sylphiel-san caught a glimpse of him very briefly when he landed. She went down to help him, but by the time she got there, he was gone."
"That's... not good, right?" she whispered. "Is anyone going to try to find him?"
Tenchi-san shook his head slowly. "Not a chance. Sylphiel-san is the only person that the Thunder Emperor allows that close to his territory. Chances are good that he collected the newcomer for whatever reason."
"Why would he do something like that?"
"No one knows why the Thunder Emperor does anything, Usagi-san. No one wants to know. He's mad. That's good enough for us," Tenchi-san pronounced.
She felt herself bristling. Why she didn't know, but something about those offhand words rankled her as few things ever did. Before she could say or do anything, though, Trunks-kun cut back into the conversation. "Thank you for passing along the message, Tenchi-san. Be careful heading back to your place."
Thankfully Tenchi-san seemed to catch the very pointed hint that Trunks-kun was dropping, offered the pair of them a half bow, and took his leave. Trunks-kun waited until the older man was out of sight before turning to her, a curious expression on his face. "What was that, Usagi-san?"
"Something about that made me angry." Before Trunks-kun could ask the question that was completely obvious on his face, she continued, "I don't know why. Just a gut feeling I suppose."
"And here I thought I was going to be the first one to lose my temper with the man." She grinned back at his joke, bad temper forgotten for the moment. "Can you give me a hand? I want to see if there's anything we can salvage from the time machine before there's nothing left."
07 September 2012
And here is a chapter that is on time. Sorry about the last one! Personally, I'm on Chapter Forty-Six.
I'm still marathoning my way through Dragonball Kai, and I've finally made it to Trunks. (Please forgive my happy fangirl dance of joy.) I've always had obscene amounts of love for Trunks. It's even better to see that they kept his same seiyuu in the Japanese.
The next chapter will be out on Sunday, September 9th. See you then!
Apollymi