Sailor Moon 1. Youma Guts

**A.N**.: Yeah, yeah. I know I'm not supposed to start another story until I finish at least one of the others, but I found this on an old floppy disk, and I figured that it would be better to just post it and see what happens rather than lose it as I inevitably would. It's a pretty old story, and I think it might be a little rushed, but let me know what you think anyway.

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Summary: Mina gets hurt once too often, and her suspicious parents hire Malachite to watch over her and learn her secrets…

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"Suspicions"

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CHAPTER ONE: Youma Guts

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The voices were all around her, screaming for her, calling her name.

...at least she_ thought_ it was her name. She'd been hit in the head so many times this evening that she couldn't be entirely certain of anything.

They were still calling her, panic clear in their voices, and she sighed, knowing she couldn't stay down forever. They needed her, these warriors of hers, and she had a duty to fulfill as their leader. That duty would not allow her to wallow on the ground while her soldiers finished this battle for her, and, in any case, she had a reputation to uphold. She lifted slender arms, groaning as she finally began the slow process of pulling herself from the pile of rubble that had fallen on her only seconds before. The rocks, of course, were far heavier than she'd expected, and her muscles immediately began to burn under the strain. The sounds of the battle teased her ears even as fire arched along the limbs now struggling to remove the boulders blocking her way, and she was almost embarrassingly grateful when help finally came.

"Need a hand?" queried a clipped, impatient voice, and Mina grinned up at the raven-haired senshi who'd come to aid her.

"Only if you're not busy," she replied flippantly, pushing the pain from her voice as she waited for her friend to come to her rescue.

Raye snorted, using her perfectly manicured hands to remove the largest piece of stone covering Mina's torso. She was still shaking her dark head as she helped the golden senshi pull herself free of the last bits of rubble, but her mulberry eyes glinted with a trace of dry humor. "Why is it always _you_ who gets thrown across rooms?" she asked, scowl still in place over her features as she helped Mina climb to her feet. "The rest of us are just as much in the thick of things as you, but you're always the one to go flying. Why is that?"

Mina shrugged, allowing Raye to help her steady herself. "Just lucky, I guess," she replied laconically, already focusing her attention on the fight rather than this irrelevant banter. Raye rolled her eyes at her friend's lack of true attention, but Mina chose to ignore the fire senshi's semi-permanent irritation as she turned back to the battle. "Okay," she said, jerking her head towards their two opponents, gaze narrowing as the remainder of her team continued to dodge the enemy strikes. "Which one do you want--the ugly one…or the _really_ ugly one?"

Raye cocked her head to one side. "Can you actually tell the difference? They're both pretty hideous." She shook her head suddenly, and the genuine curiosity that had been in her face abruptly vanished. "You know what? Never mind. I'd rather _not _know what goes on in that head of yours."

Mina chuckled dryly, blue eyes flashing as she watched a green-eyed teammate dart beneath the legs of a tall, horned monster with no fewer than four arms. "Afraid I'm going to rub off on you?" she teased, never turning her eyes from the battle. "Believe me, Raye—I share the sentiment." She sighed, reaching down with one tired hand to grasp the chain she wore at her belt. "Come on, Mars," she said, pulling the chain free and wrapping it loosely around her fingers. "Let's dust these things." She grinned suddenly, lips twisting in unadulterated mischief as her slender body assumed a battle stance so perfectly efficient that Raye could never hope to match it. "You can have the one with the tentacles," Mina laughed.

Raye winced, but Mina was already gone, sprinting almost furiously towards their mutual enemies. The chain was slack in her fingers, and she lifted one arm as she ran, spinning the metal over her head like a lasso. Then, with a shout half rage and half sheer mad joy, she let the coils fly, darting back into the fray with the enthusiasm only she was truly capable of summoning in a situation like this.

* * *

Mina pushed the door aside as quietly as she could, but the sound of the latch seemed to echo through the empty hallways of her home, and she found herself praying that she would not be discovered. She glanced at a nearby clock as she slipped across the threshold, praying that her parents would not still be awake. They were, she knew, the type of people who never stayed up late, even on weekends, but they were becoming so suspicious of her actions lately that she no longer knew what to expect from them. Had they known she was gone, and so stayed up to wait for her? She truly hoped not, for all their sakes; necessity had made a fairly prolific liar of Mina, but even she would not be capable of explaining away the dried youma entrails now matting her blonde hair.

Mina sighed. Even assuming her parents _had _gone to bed, she didn't quit trust herself to be as quiet as she needed to be to keep from waking them. Tired as she was, she couldn't even control the tread of her feet against the hardwood floor. She closed her eyes for a moment, fighting a dizziness that came from the sheer exhaustion she was experiencing. She'd been too tired, in fact, to sneak directly through her second-story bedroom window as she usually did, and even the stairs, at this point, might be too much for her. She groaned softly, lifting one hand to wipe the flaking youma blood from her cheek as she gently shut the door behind her. Then, almost shaking with weariness, she moved as silently as possible towards the stairs leading to her bedroom.

She hadn't gone more than two or three steps into the hallway before she froze, senses kicking into overdrive. Her well-honed instincts told her that she was not alone, and her body automatically tensed as she slowly lifted her head to gaze almost fearfully into the darkness at the top of the stairs. She stared into the gloom, cringing as her eyes adjusted to the lack of light and she could finally make out the two figures above her. Her parents were sitting on the top step, identical frowns marring their faces. Their hands were locked together in what might have been a gesture of mutual support, but their eyes were blank and emotionlessly cold. Mina stared up at them from the base of the steps, one hand lingering on the rail and her eyes frantically blinking back the weariness. _This_, she thought, _can't possibly be good. How long have they been sitting there? Are they going to ask me where I've been, and will I be able to lie well enough to convince them?_

They were still staring at her, but she could not detect any accusations in their faces, and she hated not knowing their thoughts. Her father's face was especially empty, and he coughed politely, capturing her attention with a gesture that seemed silly. She gazed almost sheepishly back at him, wondering how she could possibly get herself out of this…

* * *

Her mother hadn't stopped pacing for nearly an hour, and Mina was starting to get dizzy from the older woman's constant motion. "Something has to change, Mina," her mother said, the harshness of her voice not quite able to conceal the underlying worry as she stared down at the slender, golden-haired girl now perched behind the kitchen table. "We've tried not to interfere in your life, tried not to make your decisions for you, but we always thought you had enough common sense to care for yourself. You've done so well until now, and we can't understand why you would be so stupid. Tokyo isn't safe, and you should know better than to be running around alone at night."

Mina sighed. "I wasn't 'running around', Mom," she retorted. "I was at Raye's temple, perfectly safe. I'm sorry that I forgot to call—I was just so busy that I didn't think about it. It won't happen again," she muttered, knowing that it would and wondering if her mother would embrace the lie as easily as she had in the past.

Mina's mother was unappeased, and the look in her eyes caused her daughter's face to fall imperceptively. "You still should have called." She grimaced, hearing the curtness in her own voice. "Besides, I just don't understand, Mina. Why would Raye need help cleaning her temple this late at night? What was so important that she couldn't wait until morning?"

Mina shrugged, knowing she had already won the argument and grateful that her mother was so completely oblivious to reality. "Those storage rooms were trashed," she explained, miraculously patient for one who'd already gone over this lie at least ten other times. "Raye didn't want to drive off the tourists with the mess she knew we'd make cleaning them out. We had to do it while everyone was gone, and since she couldn't afford to close the temple, we had to wait until after dark." She grimaced, picturing the monster guts still in her hair and wondering why her mother hadn't thought to question the gunk covering her daughter. Was her mother really buying this, or was she only hiding her own suspicions in an attempt to catch Mina off guard?

Her mother was still pacing, and Mina cast a single, longing glance towards her bedroom, feeling the pounding in her head increase as she subtly lifted one finger to her temple. How long was this going to continue? She'd been hoping to catch a few hours' worth of sleep before school the next day, but she was beginning to think that would not be a possibility. Her mother was not showing any signs of ceasing, and she didn't think this ranting would be letting up any time soon. Mina sighed again, telling herself to be patient. This discussion was not the worst thing she'd endured this evening, and she should just be grateful that her mother was so far from the truth that Mina need not fear discovery.

Her father reached across the table, taking Mina's hands in his own. Mina allowed her eyes to meet his, glad that she could finally see some emotion in his face. He was still angry, she realized, but he had stopped hiding that anger, and, beneath everything, she could also see the true concern he felt. "We're worried for you, Mina," he confessed gently. "Tokyo hasn't been a safe place to live since those…_things_…arrived, and we can't understand why you'd be willing to risk yourself so often. Why would you want to stay out all night, knowing the dangers?"

Mina winced. "I didn't have a choice," she murmured, voice so soft that neither of her parents heard. She looked up at him, meeting his eyes with a frankness not truly characteristic of her. "I know the risks, Dad," she told him, "but I can't live my life always in fear of those creatures. We can't predict where or when they'll appear, and I won't hold myself back just on the off chance that I might get hurt one day. I won't live like that, and you can't expect me even to try."

Her mother finally stopped her incessant motion, bringing one slender hand to her lips as she chewed nervously on a fingernail. "We're not asking you to be a hermit, Mina," she retorted. "We just want to know that you're safe. Is it so much to ask? We don't want you to get hurt."

Mina's snort was both disbelieving and quiet enough that her parents couldn't hear. _Getting hurt comes with the job_, she thought, irritated. _If I didn't get pummeled every night, I'd probably get worried and think I wasn't accomplishing anything worthwhile._ She groaned silently and pulled her hands from her father's, mentally cursing as she realized that her parents would not accept her excuses much longer. She had won this time, but what about the next? Even her oblivious parents, she knew, could not have failed to notice how often she was hurt, how often she was found at the scene of a youma attack. She always had perfectly—or at least somewhat perfectly—plausible reasons for her involvement, but Mina wondered how long she would have before they began to understand the truth. She only had so much time, she knew, before her parents realized she was lying constantly, before they started demanding answers, and she knew she could not give them those answers. What would they say, she wondered, if they knew just what she was doing each time she left? How would they react to the knowledge that their only daughter snuck out every evening to battle the minions of evil? She really hadn't survived this much only to give her parents heart-attacks by confessing something they could never handle.

They let her go a few minutes and a few empty promises later, and she gratefully climbed the stairs to her room, pausing only long enough to shower. Artemis was waiting for her the moment she slipped back through her bedroom door, and she bent to scoop the tiny white cat into her arms. She buried her face in his fur, feeling her skull rattle with the strength of his purrs. "They're getting closer to the truth, Art," she murmured. "Maybe I should lay low for a while, wait for this to clear up. It's the only way to ease their suspicions." She sighed, climbing wearily onto her bed. The cat curled up against her side, offering her the comfort she so badly needed, and they stayed that way, both wide awake and unhappy, until nearly dawn.

* * *

He watched her leave her home, watched the panic grow on her face as she sprinted at breakneck speeds in the direction of her school. "Artemis!" she shouted angrily at the cat now desperately hanging to her shoulder, its claws threaded into her shirt as though the material was a lifeline, "Why did you let me sleep in again!? I'm never going to make it on time now, and I can't take any more detentions! You stupid guardian!"

_That was odd_, he thought, not attempting to follow the crazy girl now pelting down the street. _Does she always talk to her cat as though she expects it to understand_?

He sighed, waiting until the girl was completely out of sight before sliding out of his car. He shoved his hands in his pockets, walking briskly across the street to the small house the girl had just bolted from. She'd left the door slightly ajar when she'd left, too much in a rush even to close it properly behind her, and he reached out and knocked lightly on the wood.


	2. Decisions

"Suspicions"

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CHAPTER TWO: Decisions

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Mina's day had not started well, but as the morning wore on, her situation did not improve. She'd been late for school, naturally, and she'd ended up standing in the hallway for most of the morning, waiting for her teacher to forgive her tardiness and let her back inside. She knew she wouldn't have to wait too long—as often as she was late, this had become something of a ritual, and she knew what to expect. Still, as she leaned against the wall outside her classroom, she couldn't help sighing. She hadn't fallen asleep again until nearly dawn that morning, and she could barely keep her eyes open now. She just hoped nobody expected her to do or say anything intelligent today, because from the way she was feeling, it clearly wasn't going to happen.

She sighed again, tilting her head against the wall and closing her eyes. She'd woken up too late to spend any real time with her parents that morning, but she also hadn't failed to notice the suspicious glares they'd sent her way as she sprinted past them towards the front door. She'd been too worried about getting to school to think anything of it at the time, yet now she realized just how serious her situation was. She'd hoped her parents would have forgotten last night's discussion, but they'd obviously hadn't. _I really do have to lay low for a while, _she mused tiredly. _They're not going to let up until they think I'm safe, and it's not like the senshi can't handle a few youma without me. I just hope it's enough. _

She grimaced, but she didn't really have time to dwell on the thought. A loud, earth-shattering and eardrum-popping wail had startled her out of her reverie, and she smirked, her own mood instantly brightening as a short blonde girl was shoved from her own classroom and into Mina's hall. _Well, _she mused, not really trying to hide her laughter from the pouting Serena, _at least I wasn't the only one who didn't make it to class on time. _

* * *

Halfway across town, a tall, sharp-eyed man was being served tea by a woman so nervously energetic that a speed addict would have seemed calm in comparison. She was practically bouncing as she stood before him, her movements so erratic and dizzying that his silver eyes were beginning to cross. He sighed quietly, gritted his teeth and tried to keep his irritation from showing on his handsome, sculpted features. He thought he'd succeeded, though the woman was focusing so intently on her task that she probably wouldn't have noticed anyway. He sighed once more, asking himself yet again why he'd agreed to do this. _Money_, he reminded himself for the umpteenth time, hoping the mantra would be enough to ease his annoyance. _I'm doing this because I'm being offered a fortune to babysit some silly little girl. _

The woman flitted away, taking the tea things with her as she disappeared into what he presumed was the kitchen. Malachite breathed deeply as she left, some of the tension in his shoulders easing just from having her gone. He leaned back in his chair, vowed to avoid this woman as often as he could in the future, and cautiously sipped at his tea. It wasn't very hot, this tea, and it was clearly made from nothing more than a tasteless generic brand, but the liquid gave him back a small measure of the peace the woman's presence had stolen. He took another sip, hoping the daughter hadn't inherited her mother's obvious insanity. Then again, from both the little scene he'd witnessed that morning and from what he'd already been told about the girl, he suspected that she would probably be far worse.

He grimaced, allowing his silver eyes to rove over the room as he waited for the girl's father to make an appearance. He knew the family was wealthy, and yet nothing in the house really indicated that. Their furniture was well made but not fancy, the walls covered with family portraits rather than priceless artworks. Nor did the house have the polished look that came with having a maid. He'd noticed, as the wife had let him inside, that several pairs of shoes littered the hallway by the front door, that a jacket had been carelessly slung over the back of the couch. The house was comfortable rather than spotless, and he wondered at that. His experience with the very wealthy had taught him to expect something different. If he hadn't known better, he would have assumed this home belonged to some middle-class couple rather than to the multi-millionaire CEO of the second largest electronics producer in all of Japan. Were they trying to hide their wealth, or did they honestly just not care that they were two of the richest people on the entire continent?

The kitchen door swung open once more, and he braced himself, fearing that he was about to be subjected to another visit from the psychopath Mr. Aino had taken as his wife. The woman, however, wasn't alone this time. A man, presumably Mr. Aino himself, had emerged from the other room with her, his hand in hers. It was a simple gesture, his taking her hand, and yet it seemed to have calmed the woman somewhat. She was no longer _bouncing_, though her steps were still a little too quick as the couple crossed the room, the man reaching out to shake Malachite's hand before perching on the edge of the couch. "Sorry to keep you waiting," he said, pulling his wife down next to him. "A client called just as you arrived, and as important as this is, I couldn't get away until now."

Malachite inclined his head in brief acceptance of the apology, not answering verbally but using the opportunity to examine the couple before him. They weren't what he'd expected, anymore than the house had been what he'd expected. The woman was short and slender and very blonde, her features delicate and beautiful in spite of her obvious need to switch to decaffeinated coffee. She was an older woman, but he noticed that the lines around her eyes and mouth were from laughter rather than from anything darker. She'd tucked herself against her husband's side, her fingers still entwined in his, and the gesture was far more loving than he'd have believed was possible. He'd heard that she was nothing more than a rich man's trophy wife, but so far it didn't seem to be true.

Her husband glanced briefly down at her, an equal affection twisting his lips into a brief smile. Malachite watched them interact, thinking that the husband, too, wasn't quite what he should have been. This man didn't look anything like the ruthless and clever businessman he was supposed to be. His clothes were simple and slightly old-fashioned, his face kind and open and a little too blank. He looked, quite frankly, more like a stereotypical university professor than anything else.

The man had stayed silent for a moment, obligingly letting Malachite assess him, but now he cleared his throat, capturing Mal's attention once more. Malachite met his gaze, and the alert intelligence that was suddenly in Mr. Aino's eyes had the younger man instantly revising his first impressions. "I assume you know why you're here?" The CEO regarded Malachite, and his own glance was just as appraising as Malachite's had been.

His voice was harsh and clipped, straight to the point, but Malachite only nodded. "Yes," he answered, "though I wasn't given the details." He glanced at the Mrs. Aino, then back to her husband, his own eyes suddenly hardening as he focused on the job at hand. "You want protection for your daughter," he continued softly, his voice completely free of any inflection at all. "Why? Is she in some sort of danger?"

The girl's father sighed heavily, some of the sharpness in his expression suddenly replaced with weariness. "Not that I know of," he admitted quietly, "but we don't really know what goes on in Mina's head or in her life. It's obvious that she's keeping something from us, so it's possible." He grunted, sounding more like a frustrated father than he had until now. "With Mina," he added rather sourly, "_anything _is possible."

Malachite arched an eyebrow at the pair, not really trying to keep the skepticism from his face. _What could a schoolgirl be in danger from? Then again, she _is _an heiress, even if nobody here seems to remember it. _"Has she been threatened in any way?"

The girl's mother finally chose this moment to step in. She shook her head, her fingers tightening on her husband's. "If she has been," she admitted softly, her words echoing her husband's, "she hasn't said anything." She sighed, bit her lip. "Mina tends to handle things on her own. If she has a problem, no matter what it is, I doubt she'd tell us."

Malachite frowned. _Handle things on her own? She's what—seventeen? What kind of seventeen-year-old girl wouldn't tell her parents when she's in trouble? And how would she 'handle' it on her own, if she was? Something about this situation isn't right. _He frowned at the girl's parents, wondering if they were just terrible caregivers or if this Mina was as strange as they made her sound. "Why am I here, then?" he demanded suddenly, his voice colder than he'd meant it to be. He didn't like people who wasted his time, and their unwillingness to get to the point was doing just that. "If her own parents don't know when she's in trouble, what am I expected to do for her?"

The girl's parents looked distressed, though he thought it was more from their daughter's situation that from the faint accusation in his voice. "We mostly want you to protect her…and we want you to follow her," the father eventually confessed. "We think Mina is involved in something she shouldn't be, and we need to learn what it is before she gets herself hurt." He nodded briskly at Malachite. "That's where you come in. We want to know who she talks to and where she goes, and we want to know what she gets up to when we're not around." He paused, then added, "We know what your background is, and we thought that if anybody could keep her safe and learn her secrets at the same time, it's you."

"Learn her secrets? I'm not a detective, Mr. Aino."

The man shook his head, his eyes suddenly becoming very intense. "I know that," he retorted easily, "but I also know how you've been trained. You're more than capable of being both a bodyguard and a spy." He sat back, a gleam of mischievous humor flashing through his dark eyes. He was once again the businessman. "And since we're offering three times your regular salary, I just didn't think you'd have a problem with it."

_True enough. _"And what would I have to do? Will the girl know you've hired me?" Having to slink around in the shadows would make protecting her all but impossible…

Mr. Aino gave a quick, almost eager shake of his head. "Yes, of course. We don't want Mina to know you're spying on her for us, but she'll know you're there to watch over her." He shrugged, his expression suddenly sheepish. "To tell you the truth," he said, "we couldn't hide you from Mina even if we wanted to. She's a lot more observant than she seems, and if she's going to find out about you anyway, we'd rather it was through us."

Malachite thought that over, filing the admission away with every other oddity. _This is getting interesting, _he thought, _but do I really want to spend my time trailing after some spoiled princess? And even if I was willing, why are they so certain she's in some kind of trouble? She sounds a little odd, granted, but that doesn't mean she's any different from every other teenager on the planet. _"Before I agree, I still need to know what will be involved. How often will I be accompanying your daughter?"

The girl's parents glanced at each other yet again, but Mr. Aino hesitated only for an instant. "All the time," he quietly answered. "Every minute of every day. Mina's a precocious girl, and she's not above sneaking around when she wants to. If you're not with her all the time, we can't know that she's safe. You have to stay with her as much as you can."

Malachite nodded. He'd been anticipating this ever since the conversation had begun. He didn't even have a problem with it, really, though he hadn't expected to become quite so invested in this girl's life when he'd agreed to this interview. _If I hate her, _he mused ruefully, _this is going to be the worst decision of my life._

* * *

Every afternoon, right after school, five of the most powerful warriors in the universe—and often two cats—met at a tiny shrine situated right in the middle of Tokyo. The purpose of these meetings was ostensibly to make strategies, discuss the latest attacks on their adopted world, and try to make sense of the senseless, evil-haunted universe they lived in. And sometimes, on very rare and very special occasions, they even got around to some of that.

Today was not one of those days. Both Mina and Serena had been held after school yet again, their tardies having accumulated to the point where even these two felt almost ashamed, and detention had made them even later for the daily meeting than they'd been for school. By the time they arrived, the other senshi had long since stopped even pretending to focus on their continual war with evil. The group had split up, Amy curled up on one of the courtyard benches, her blue eyes riveted on a textbook so large and thick that the others were getting headaches just looking at it, Raye standing off to one side, her slender fingers gently stroking the huge black crow perched on her shoulder. The dark-haired priestess was murmuring something to the bird, not seeming to notice the two blondes trudging wearily up the temple steps any more than Amy had. The cats had left altogether, and only Lita witnessed their arrival. She, too, had been sprawled on a bench, rifling through the small stack of Raye's manga that lay beside her. The brunette looked up and smiled at them as they approached, her easy grin only widening as Serena squealed and immediately bolted for the magazines. The petite blonde threw herself down at Lita's feet and grabbed one of the manga, and Mina sighed, knowing she'd just lost Serena, as well. _And that, _Mina thought with a sort of tired amusement, _is the future queen of the Earth. _She bit off a laugh. _The planet is doomed._

Mina's smile faded as she wound her own way over to where her princess and her strongest warrior were giggling together, wishing she could just forget her problems as easily as Serena usually did. She might be happier that way, if only in the short term, but she knew she couldn't. For once, she had a serious matter to bring up before the other senshi, and that issue wouldn't go away for wishing. The blonde grimaced, close enough now to reach out and gently pull the manga from Lita's hands. "We need to talk."

* * *

They'd moved back into Raye's bedroom, wanting the added privacy. Serena, Amy, and Lita were perched on Raye's bed, Mina leaning with crossed arms against the wall, Raye pacing back and forth like some mulberry-eyed jungle cat. "Why now?" the priestess all but snarled, pausing just long enough to glare at Mina as though this whole thing was her fault. "They've always been so…so…" She stopped, grimacing as she failed to find the right word to describe her blonde friend's parents.

Mina's lips lifted in a brief smile that was gone as quickly as it had come. "Oblivious?" she quietly supplied, and Raye nodded. "I don't know. Maybe they just got tired of believing all the awful excuses that I gave them. Maybe they got tired of seeing me come home bruised and dirty and not knowing why." She shrugged. "Maybe they finally realized that I've been lying to them for the past five years, and they've decided not to believe anything I say ever again." She grinned suddenly, and this time the grin stayed for just a little longer. "This is going to put a real damper on my social life," she quipped.

Raye's glare intensified. "You're taking this too well."

Mina snorted, at that, though she still seemed just as overly calm as Raye had accused her of being. "No," she retorted, the smile finally disappearing, "actually, I'm not taking it well at all. I'm as nervous about this as you are, Raye. It's just that I don't see the point in fighting it. It's taken my parents five years to realize I'm not normal," she explained quietly. "Now that it's finally sunk in, they're not going to believe me if I tell them everything is peachy-keen fine. They're going to be watching me all the time, now, trying to catch me doing something wrong, trying to find out what I'm up to." She sighed, bit her lip. "I know they love me," she admitted, "but this isn't going to go away, guys, and I don't know what else I can do about it, except step down and stop fighting so much."

The senshi paled, their eyes widening with surprise, but it was Serena, of all people, who voiced their unhappiness with that. "There has to be some other way, Mina! Your parents don't really know anything for certain. Are you sure you can't convince them that they're wrong about you?"

Mina shrugged again, all trace of humor gone from her beautiful face. "That's just it, Sere," she murmured. "They're not really wrong about me at all, are they? They may not know exactly what I am or what I do, but they know that I'm…different, and that I've been less than truthful with them. And if they think I've been lying to them, how am I supposed to convince them otherwise? Even if I could come up with a plausible reason for my behavior, they've already decided not to believe me." She sighed, shook her head. "All I can do now, Serena, is try to act normal for a little while—stop sneaking out at night, stop coming home bloodied and broken. Maybe it'll be enough to throw them off my trail."

Serena didn't look convinced or mollified, and neither did any of the others. Still, she didn't see a way out of this any more than Mina did. "Do you think that will work?"

Mina only grimaced in answer. "I don't see what choice we have, Serena. If I stay out of trouble for a little while, maybe this whole thing will blow over." Her expression abruptly eased, and although she still wasn't smiling, her eyes brightened in another mercurial shift of emotion. "And maybe it won't," she added, "but I turn eighteen in just a couple of months, and they won't be able to stop me from doing whatever I want, after that." She looked at her companions, spreading her hands in a wordless plea. "It's worth a shot, isn't it? With any luck, everything will be back to normal within just a few weeks, and besides, I'll still be able to help you out once in awhile. They can't watch me _all _of the time, after all."


	3. Introductions

"Suspicions"

CHAPTER THREE: Introductions

* * *

Malachite had spent the last thirteen years darting all over the world, working for one government agency or another, and even he could no longer remember everything he'd done in that time. He'd been so many things, over the years—he'd been a spy and a soldier and once or twice an assassin, sometimes a bureaucrat and occasionally even a smuggler, but no matter what capacity he served in, no matter what task had been set for him, certain aspects of his job never changed. There was, for one thing, always a carefully maintained…distance between himself and his employers. There had to be, since more often than not, the tasks he was given weren't the sort that could be publicly acknowledged. And even if they had been, there still wasn't any socializing between himself and those who paid him, not on any level. Malachite preferred it that way, because it was infinitely easier for him to complete his tasks if his emotions weren't clouding his judgment.

The Aino's obviously didn't feel the same way. Malachite was accustomed to being given what information he needed and then being dismissed, and now that he had the basics on the wayward heiress, he'd expected it to be the same. He was, then, rather unpleasantly surprised when the Aino's invited him to lunch and then to dinner, insisting that he spend the entire day with them. He'd considered refusing, of course, wondering why they were offering at all and not particularly wanting to spend that much time with these strange people, but he hadn't. He'd figured they were simply concerned for their daughter's safety, that they wanted to know more about the man who would be protecting her. It was not enough, for them, that Malachite was reputed to be the best of the best, that he'd spent over a decade doing little else but this. Mina was their only child, their precious little girl, and as suspicious as they had become of her lately, they were still questioning their decision to turn her over to a man they didn't know the first thing about.

At least he didn't have to say too much. None of the questions Mr. and Mrs. Aino threw at him were overly personal, and he was grateful for that. They mostly asked about his experiences in the past, about his qualifications—little things that he'd expected and had been prepared for. They didn't ask him where he'd grown up or why he'd gotten into this, and they didn't ask him why he put his life on the line for people he'd never even met. Of course, he probably wouldn't have answered, if they had, because his personal life was not something he enjoyed talking about even with the few people he trusted completely. He certainly wasn't about to go into it with two strangers, not even when they were trusting him with their beloved daughter.

He didn't count the afternoon as a total waste, no matter how badly he wanted to get away from these two and back into the company of normalpeople. Malachite was able to spend a great deal of time wandering through the house, assessing everything that he found and pointing out any security risks to his new boss. The man didn't argue with anything Malachite said, though the former agent found it odd that Mina's father hadn't taken any real security measures, before this. The house didn't even have an alarm system, and Malachite was almost shocked that a man this smart hadn't realized the dangers he was putting his family in by not being more careful. Hadn't it occurred to him that Mina was a prime target for kidnappers and terrorists? She was worth a fortune, and that alone would be reason enough for some lowlife to go after her.

It wasn't going to be easy to protect her, and of course Mina herself was going to be a problem. From what he'd learned from both the girl's parents and from his own observations, he already knew something of what she would be like, and what he'd learned of her didn't leave much hope that she'd accept her captivity as easily as her father wished her to. Mina seemed to have something of a rebellious streak, for one thing. Until now, she'd always gone wherever she wanted whenever she wanted, wore what she wanted and dated who she wanted, and her parents had long since stopped trying to control her. They'd given up, because even when they could bring themselves to protest, she simply charmed them into submission, overrode their concerns. She could get away with anything, apparently, and just by smiling.

She irritated him already.

Of course, as little as he liked what he'd learned of her, he could almost understand the way she apparently acted. Her parents had clearly never made any real attempts to curb her actions, and it might not be entirely her fault. He didn't know her well enough to decide if her behavior was a cry for attention or simply the only way she knew how to act, but in the long run that wouldn't make their relationship any easier. After a lifetime of almost complete parental absence, she wouldn't take well to his guardianship, and Malachite wasn't looking forward to her reaction when he was finally introduced to her.

Then again, while even he could have dismissed her behavior as a simple case of sparing the rod and spoiling the child, he also suspected that there was more to it than simply a bad upbringing. Mina didn't entirely fit the profile of a spoiled teenager, and there were too many indications that something else was wrong. He knew she often snuck out in the middle of the night, knew that she sometimes didn't return until after dawn and that when she did she was often disheveled or even injured. Where she went was anybody's guess, but Malachite was finally beginning to understand why her parents thought she was in such danger. She was hurt far too often—bruises mostly, but also cuts and broken bones, once even a concussion. That obviously wasn't normal, and Malachite's curiosity had been piqued in spite of himself. What was this schoolgirl up to?

Even Mina's insane mother had picked up on it. She'd dragged him off to one side after lunch, apparently wanting to voice a few of her concerns, wanting to explain why she'd failed to protect her own daughter. "Mina grew up too fast," she'd told him, sounding almost as though she thought it was an explanation for the girl's behavior. "I never really understood her, and maybe that's why she's so out of control. We never tried to interfere in her life, mostly because she never acted as though she needed our guidance. She's never needed our help in anything." The woman had sighed, so much sorrow in her pretty face that he'd almost forgotten why she irritated him so much. "Do you know what it's like," she'd demanded, "to know that your own daughter doesn't need you, that she never did? Mina may act like a child sometimes, but even when she really was one, there was always something in her eyes that made us feel as though she was older than we were. We never knew how to relate to her."

Malachite hadn't known what to say to the woman. He couldn't tell her that she wasn't a bad mother, and he couldn't tell her that she was. He was hardly an expert in childcare, after all, and even if he had been, it wasn't his place to make that kind of judgment. As far as he could tell, Mina's parents at least loved her, and maybe that made up for the lack of discipline in her life. And maybe it didn't, but while he honestly felt sorry for the girl's mother, it really wasn't his problem.

Still, there was something…eerie, in the way this mother viewed her only daughter. Mrs. Aino seemed to look on Mina as though she was an adult deserving of more respect than the mother herself, and since the girl was only seventeen, that somehow didn't seem right. Mina should have been a typical schoolgirl, but she clearly wasn't, and he didn't know what to make of her. Everything he'd learned seemed to hint at a strangeness in her, and he hated not knowing what he might be dealing with. _Who was this girl?_

* * *

Mina left the shrine just before sunset, and if she wasn't any happier about her decision as she headed home than she'd been before she'd met with the other senshi, she still believed she'd made the right choice. This seemed the simplest way, to her, both to ease her parents' suspicions and to keep them from the truth, and it was probably the only thing she could do if she wanted to get back into the fight later. _You can handle this, Mina, _she told herself as she meandered home. _You can go to them, look them in the eye and pretend you're normal, pretend you've never snuck out or lied to them or put yourself in danger. It's only for a little while. _

She sighed, not quite believing her own lie, wondering why she wasn't more relieved. She'd never enjoyed the fighting, had never enjoyed constantly struggling for survival against creatures that belonged more in her nightmares than in her waking life. She ought to be looking at this as some sort of vacation, as a break from the dangerous, hated routine that caused so many problems in her life, but she couldn't. She felt as though she was walking away from her responsibilities, as though her senshi were in even more danger without her there to protect them and guide them and fight for them. She felt as though she was failing.

Artemis was waiting for her outside the front door of her home, and she stopped walking just long enough to gather him into her arms. He shifted in her hold, the look in his eyes telling her that he wanted to speak to her, and that it couldn't wait even long enough for her to get inside. Her brow arched in question, but she only nodded slightly and bent her head, pressing her cheek into the cat's sleek fur. They'd practiced this move often enough to make it natural, and if an outsider had seen them, it would have looked like a simple gesture of affection. It also, however, allowed Mina to hold a conversation with her cat without being overheard. "What is it?" she murmured into the cat's side, her full lips barely moving at all.

He shifted again, putting his mouth a little closer to her ear. "The silver car across the street—it's been there since this morning."

She blinked, nose scrunching slightly with confusion, not bothering to actually turn around and see for herself. "So?"

She could practically feel him rolling his eyes at her. "So the person who drove it here is inside your house, talking to your parents. He's been here the entire day." He grunted. "What does that tell you?"

Mina's eyes widened, the implication of his words finally sinking in. Her parents were somewhat—truth be told, _more _than somewhat—antisocial, and as far as she could remember, they'd never had a visitor stay for more than an hour or two at the most. That they'd let someone spend the entire day with them, especially after their argument with Mina the night before, did not bode well at all. "Oh, gods," Mina muttered. "This is worse than I thought." She grimaced, wondering how much longer she could stand around hugging her cat before the neighbors started thinking she was a little _too _fond of him. "Were you able to see who it was?"

The cat gave a little shake, which Mina took as a _no_. "I tried," he whispered. "Your mother saw me and kicked me out before I could get far enough. I only know that it's a man."

She nodded again, the movement so slight that only Artemis would have noticed it. "Did you hear anything, at least?"

Again, the negative shake. "They were too quiet, but I'm pretty sure I heard your name before your mother introduced me to her foot."

She could hear the outrage in his voice over that, but she said nothing further, only lifted her head and moved towards the front door and whatever her parents had waiting for her. _I'd rather be facing youma._

* * *

Long before the elusive Mina finally made an appearance, Malachite had lost any sympathy he might once have felt for the girl's parents. He'd spent nearly eleven uninterrupted hours with the Aino's, but he'd needed only a fraction of that to realize that both of them were completely certifiable. The girl's mother had spent the time moving from one corner of the house to another, cleaning rooms that didn't need cleaning, biting her lip and humming an incredibly irritating tune just under her breath. For the first time in his life, Malachite hadn't been grateful for the sharpness of his hearing. Listening to that song, hearing the woman humming it over and over and never showing any signs of stopping, was about as pleasurable as being stoned to death by popcorn. Even his almost legendary stoicism was wearing thin in her company.

_When is that thrice-bedamned girl going to get here? I can't take much more of this!_

It hadn't helped that Mr. Aino, for all that he'd first appeared so normal, was nearly as bad as his wife. The girl's father was sitting on the sofa opposite Malachite, and since they'd run out of small talk long ago, he was now simply staring at his daughter's new bodyguard. There was such blank peace on his face that the former spy was beginning to wonder if the man was sharing his wife's drugs, or if maybe he'd simply found a way to shut off his own brain. The calm in his eyes was so unnatural that it was actually creepy, and Malachite found himself once again longing for their probably-even-more-crazy daughter to show up and at least give him something to interrupt the monotony.

He sighed, his mind drifting in spite of himself. What, he wondered, would this girl look like? She'd been moving too quickly for him to really see her that morning, and her parents, for whatever reason, hadn't taken any pictures recently. They'd muttered something about Mina not being around long enough to take even a Polaroid, though of course Malachite didn't quite buy that. What kind of parent wouldn't do whatever they could to get recent pictures of their child?

He tried to picture her face anyway. He'd seen that she was blonde, of course, when she'd run by him earlier that day, and he thought she'd been a little short and slender. Other than that, though, she was still a complete mystery to him. He only knew what he'd been told by others, by acquaintances who'd had contact with this family in the past, by an old college friend who worked for Mr. Aino himself. He'd approached them all, in the days before coming here, though he admittedly hadn't put much stock in what his friends had told him.

"_How would you describe the girl, Jed? You've worked for her father long enough to have met her, right?"_

_Jed had slowly nodded his head, giving the low whistle he usually reserved for a beautiful woman. "Oh, I've met her all right." He'd smirked. "One word, man: jailbait."_

_Mal had arched an eyebrow in response to that, wondering if Jed realized he hadn't really been talking about the girl's looks. He'd wanted information on her personality, not her physical appearance. Still, not even Jed, obsessed with women as he was, would normally notice a girl this young. She must have been something special. "Pretty?"_

_Jed had rolled his eyes, his expression saying that 'pretty' didn't even come close. "Gorgeous," he'd retorted. "Body to die for, legs from here to there, big blue eyes and blonde hair…" He'd groaned. "Mal, I'd give my right arm to be in your place."_

Malachite almost grimaced at the memory, thinking that it didn't matter how pretty the girl was, not if he had to spend even five more minutes in the company of her parents. Would Mrs. Aino never shut up?

The question went unanswered. Malachite was suddenly on his feet, tall body swinging around to face the front entrance. The door opened a mere second later, a young woman slipping inside. She had her head bent, and he couldn't see her features with any more clarity than he'd had that morning, but he could already see that Jed had been correct. The girl _was_ beautiful, with a shapely, slender body that didn't at all fit her age. She moved with an unusual amount of grace, the schoolgirl's uniform clinging to her and emphasizing her curves. She was already stunning.

And then she looked up, and Malachite's breath caught in his throat. She truly was magnificent, this girl, with her pale skin and large blue eyes. Her features were perfect and even, delicate and aristocratic at the same time. She was a goddess masquerading as a schoolgirl, and for just a moment, he had to remind himself that she was only seventeen. _No wonder Jed was so enthusiastic about her. Jailbait, indeed. _

She'd been watching Malachite in return, and while she hadn't yet said anything, he could see the curiosity in her eyes. Did she realize why he was here? He didn't see how she could have, but there was a sort of angry calm in her gaze, along with the curiosity, so maybe she knew more than she should have. Malachite cocked an eyebrow at her, glancing almost absently down at the white cat in her arms, wondering why the feline looked as though it was glaring at him. _Can cats glare? _

Mr. Aino had been watching the entire scene with a great deal of barely concealed interest, but now he cleared his throat slightly, capturing the attentions of everyone else in the room. "Ah, Mina," he began, his voice perfectly calm and betraying not a hint of the nervousness he'd confessed to feeling. "I'd like you to meet a friend of mine." He tilted his head towards his employee. "This is Malachite. He'll be staying with us for a little while."

Mina also inclined her head, looking for all the world like a queen acknowledging her subjects. She smiled at Malachite, and while the twisting of her lips only made her even more gorgeous, her smile was so guarded that he was instantly suspicious. "You must be a very good friend of my father's," she said, her voice carrying a lyrical accent that her parents simply lacked. "He didn't even offer a last name when he introduced you."

Malachite was far too well trained to let his surprise show. _She's sharper than I would have given her credit for. Not many would have noticed that. _He glanced at her father, then back to her. His face remained expressionless. "Stone," he told her. "My last name is Stone."

She arched a golden brow of her own at him. "Ah," she said, her expression just as bland at his. "It suits you." She turned back to her father, not giving Malachite time to decide whether or not she'd just insulted him. "This is a little…unusual, father mine. We've never had houseguests before." She pursed her lips, glance still questioning. "Will he be staying with us long?"

Her father nodded, still looking too uneasy. "Yes," he admitted, catching the edge in her words, but, like Malachite, not knowing if she'd already guessed at Malachite's purpose.

Mina nodded, her face still far too calm. "Ah," she said again, the sound just as lacking in commitment as before. She paused, considering, and then quietly asked, "Is it safe to assume that he's here for me?"

It was her father's turn to look startled. "Why would you think that?"

Mina rolled her eyes, though she was still being far too calm. "I love you dearly, papa," she told him, voice careful yet also very matter-of-fact, "but you don't have _friends_. You only have employees, and since you couldn't even remember his last name when you introduced him, you've obviously just hired him." She shrugged, briefly pursing her lips. "And after the argument we had last night," she continued quietly, "I can think of at least two reasons why he'd be here." She glanced again at Malachite, her expression now thoughtful and, he thought, slightly calculating. "You're either here to interrogate me," she continued quietly, "or to protect me from myself. Which is it?"

Malachite cocked an eyebrow at her, feeling oddly…pleased by his first impression of this girl. If she was even half as observant as she seemed, she might not be quite so inclined to run into danger as he'd thought. Then again, would this only make her less willing to accept his control over her? "Protection," he told her, his voice just as frank as hers, if considerably more taciturn. "I'm here to watch over you."

She nodded. "I see." She cocked her head to one side, still looking more thoughtful than disturbed, as anyone else would have. She turned her stunning eyes to her cat, though the beast was apparently too busy glaring at Malachite to notice. Then, giving an almost inaudible sigh, the young woman moved gracefully towards the couch. She sat, fingers still buried in the white fur of her pet, and looked to her father. "I think," she said, "that we need to talk."


	4. Mixing Pleasure and Business

* * *

"Suspicions"

CHAPTER FOUR: Mixing Pleasure and Business

* * *

Tokyo was a city that never really slept—businessmen held meetings late into the night, college students partied until all hours, prowlers stalked through peaceful streets, and deep in the heart of the city, one man sat in his car, sipping at coffee that had long since gone cold. The man drank it anyway, wondering how in the _hell _Malachite had talked him into playing watchdog for a teenage girl who had probably gone to sleep hours ago. "This is pointless," the man muttered under his breath, knowing his friend would owe him big time for this. _Gods, _he thought, disgusted with the entire situation, _I'm so bloody bored, and I'm not even getting paid…_

His cell phone suddenly began to vibrate, snapping him out of his reverie, and he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled it out. He flipped it open, glad he'd put the thing on silent mode. He might have had a heart attack, otherwise, because after sitting silently in the dark for so long, even the muted ringing of his phone would have startled him. "Yeah?"

"Has anything happened yet?"

Nephrite rolled his eyes. There could be no mistaking Malachite's cold, imperious voice, and while he knew it wasn't personal, he still wondered why he didn't at least deserve a simple _hello._ "No," he snapped back. "She hasn't made a peep all night." He grunted. "Are you sure this is even necessary? She's just a schoolgirl, Mal, not a criminal."

It was Malachite's turn to grunt, then. "Don't let her appearance fool you, Neph. Her parents aren't quite all there, but that doesn't mean they're wrong about her."

"You think she's in trouble?"

"Unless she's giving herself concussions, it's impossible not to." The other man sighed. "I can't imagine what it is she's gotten involved in, but you shouldn't underestimate her, Nephrite. She's more than just a schoolgirl."

Nephrite arched an eyebrow, though of course not even Malachite could have seen it. "Are you just saying that because you don't want her to be? You can't tell me that her being absolutely gorgeous didn't play a factor in your decision to take the job, Mal." He snickered, not even trying to keep the laughter from his voice. "After all, it's not every day that a beautiful, rich, and impressionable young girl gets thrown your way. I know you're more than human, my friend, but even you can't pass up an opportunity like this."

Even over the phone, Malachite's disgust was palpable. "Get your mind out of the gutter, Nephrite. She's seventeen."

Nephrite shrugged. "Almost eighteen, though, right? She's hardly a child, Mal. Besides, the gods only know how often we've told you to get yourself a girl. You could use the distraction."

Mal snorted, though Nephrite could tell he was still irritated. "You forget who you're talking to," he snapped. "I don't mix pleasure with business."

Nephrite simply couldn't pass that up. "So you admit that she's…pleasurable?"

"Grow up, Nephrite."

* * *

"Is he still there?"

Artemis turned from his position at Mina's bedroom window, glancing at the slender, golden figure lying on the bed, and only he knew how much his cat's eyes could see in the dark. "Yes."

Mina sighed, shifting around until she was lying on her back. The bed squeaked slightly beneath her, but she didn't seem to care. "This sucks."

The cat didn't bother to answer that, though his tail swished once in quiet sympathy. He knew how much Mina hated the position she was in, knew how much she chafed with her own helplessness. Her place was with the other senshi, fighting to save the world rather than lying around, a prisoner in her own home. After all she had done for this planet, didn't she deserve better than to be trapped like this, her every move scrutinized as though she was no better than a bug in a jar? He grimaced, wishing he could do more than simply sit with her, hoping Malachite's friend or partner or whatever he was would leave so they could get back to more important things.

Mina sighed again, staring up at her darkened ceiling with unhappy eyes. "What am I going to tell the senshi?" she muttered to herself. "They think I'll still be able to help them now and again, but I obviously can't, not when Malachite will be following me around like some rabid dog." She bit her lip, groaning faintly. "This is so much worse than I'd thought it could be."

Artemis sighed, lifting himself with the peculiar, impossible grace only a feline can possess, slipping down from his window and over to Mina's bed. He climbed up next to her, settling himself against her side and offering what comfort he could. "We'll think of something," he told her softly, pasting a wan smile on his face for her sake alone. "You've spent the last five years battling the minions of evil, Mina. Compared to that, how hard can it be to ditch one man?"

She nodded and made a quick sound of agreement, but as she curled her body around Artemis', as she closed her eyes and pretended to sleep, the unhappiness reflected in her perfect features didn't ease in the slightest.

* * *

After a lifetime of fighting, Mina had gotten rather used to adapting herself to her surroundings and to new situations. Still, as she trailed through the hallways of her school the next morning, she was hardly at ease. Her fellows students kept sending some rather odd looks her way, and she didn't know if the astonishment on their faces came from the fact that she had a tall and rather imposing man following at her heels everywhere she went, or from the fact that, for perhaps the first time in her life, she'd actually gotten to school on time. As impressive as Malachite was, though, she thought it was probably the latter. She had something of a reputation at this school…

Mina sighed as she stomped over to her locker, wondering if she should be grateful to Malachite for breaking her run of tardies. Her new guardian had arrived at her home a full hour before school—and thus a full hour before she usually woke up at all—and then waited with a little too much patience for her mother to drag her from her bed. He'd ignored her sleepy, half-incoherent protests, simply watching emotionlessly as she readied herself for class. Then, just as she was finally realizing that for once she didn't have to _run _to school and maybe this wasn't such a bad thing, he'd insisted on driving her over in his silver sports car. The result, of course, was that she'd arrived at school at least twenty minutes before she actually needed to be there, and she didn't quite know what to do with herself. She didn't want to simply lounge around in the hallways, but she also didn't feel up to dealing with her classmates, with their questions or with their curiosity.

And there _would _be questions. Mina wasn't the sort to concern herself with appearances, but she was hardly blind to the strangeness of this. What would her friends think when they saw Malachite? He was obviously too old to be a student, and most of her classmates had no idea that she was an heiress and might need safeguarding. She couldn't imagine the rumors that would be flying around by the end of the day, though with the exception of his presence, Malachite wasn't being as…blatant in his protective role as she'd expected. He wasn't checking every room before she entered, wasn't insisting that he tag along when she used the restroom. He wasn't even talking to her, really, and she hoped that would at least keep people from thinking their relationship was a romantic one. She doubted that it would be enough to curb the rumors, but she knew it would be far worse if they believed he was a lover rather than…well, rather than whatever they thought he was.

The blonde senshi eventually turned her feet towards her first class, waving briefly to the friends she passed and trying not to look as annoyed as she felt. She tried to ignore the silver eyes unerringly trained on the back of her head, tried to ignore the intense presence of her watchdog. She tried pretending he wasn't there, though it wasn't easy. Mina hadn't spent much time with him, but he'd already made so much of an impression that forgetting he was with her wasn't quite possible. The man radiated strength and power, and even she wasn't immune to that. He was also beautiful, though it wasn't a word she would normally apply to a man. He was beautiful in the way that statues of Greek gods were beautiful—his body flawlessly muscled even through his clothing, his features sculpted and perfect, masculine but also refined, his silver eyes intense and his face so lacking in emotion that she wondered if he was even human. Even his hair was stunning, if only because she'd never seen anyone so young with hair that color. He was every girl's fantasy, and as little as she liked herself for it, she was perfectly aware that if the situation had been even slightly different—and if he'd had a personality or at least more than one expression—she might even have been attracted to him.

Mina grimaced as she entered her first class. The room was still mostly empty, and she slipped quietly to her seat in the back, watching almost glumly as Malachite took an empty chair behind her. She sighed once more, putting her head down on her desk and closing her eyes, trying to block out her awareness of his presence.

_It's going to be a looong day…_

* * *

Malachite settled back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest, never taking his eyes from the golden girl sitting just a foot or so away. She was slouching in her chair, chin now propped in her hand, eyes fastened on the glimpse of sky visible through the nearest window. She wasn't paying even the slightest bit of attention to the world around her, and he wondered, absently, what she might be thinking about.

The class had quickly filled with students, most of them casting curious glances towards Malachite and then to Mina, but she still hadn't seemed to notice. She'd simply continued staring out the window, beautiful face pensive. He sighed, tearing his eyes away and forcing himself to examine her fellow students. They were still watching her, though he couldn't see anything but speculation in their faces. Were any of them responsible for the injuries Mina had sustained over the past few months? He didn't think so, though he wasn't about to take any chances with her safety by letting his guard down.

He found himself staring at the girl again, still not knowing what to make of her. Mina's parents had told him to watch for anything unusual, but so far there hadn't been the slightest indication that she wasn't a typical teenager. He'd watched her all morning, had noted that while she was keeping to herself, she seemed quite popular. Their obvious curiosity aside, her classmates seemed genuinely glad to see her, many of them braving Malachite's presence long enough to call out greetings. He'd watched as she dredged up brief smiles for them in return, but each time she'd returned to her silent contemplation of the sky. _Is she always like this, or is it just because I'm here?_

An elderly man shuffled slowly into the room, and while he didn't seem any more aware of the world than was Mina herself, the students instantly quieted. The man smiled briefly at them, the smile fading only slightly as he glanced at Malachite. The silver-eyed man took that in stride, only inclined his head in an overly polite greeting. Mina's father had already made the proper arrangements with the school authorities, and while Malachite knew they hadn't exactly been happy with this kind of intrusion, the silver-eyed man hadn't expected any real objections to his presence. Nor did this particular teacher seemed inclined to give one. The man only sighed, reached into his desk for a sheet of paper, began calling names for the roll.

Malachite tuned out by the end of the second name, unconsciously turning his attention back to Mina. He couldn't seem to stop looking at her, though his sudden need to stare had nothing to do with physical attraction. He simply couldn't help himself, though he also didn't know what it was that drew him. She was beautiful, certainly, was possibly the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen, in fact, but that wasn't it. He hadn't been turned by a pretty face since he was a teenager, and he wasn't about to let himself be swayed by his charge. Still, what could it be, if it wasn't her looks? Perhaps, he slowly decided, he was only fascinated by the emotions constantly dancing over her features, there and gone before he could make sense of them. Jaded as his colleagues and employers usually were, it was rare to find someone capable of expressing any emotion at all. Was he only staring at Mina because she was so different from that?

Then again, just because she wasn't completely emotionless didn't mean she was particularly open, either. She was still too much in control of herself—if she hadn't been, he'd have been able to read the emotions flitting over her face. She was also doing her best to ignore him, but on the few occasions when their eyes did meet, her gaze was always shuttered, careful. He knew he hadn't yet given her reason to trust him, but she was too wary for someone who didn't have anything to hide. What was she keeping from him?

* * *

The hours dragged on for what seemed like days, and Mina had long since stopped even pretending to pay attention to the lectures. She could never bring herself to pay a great deal of attention to her schooling even on her best days, but the knowledge that she was being watched completely killed her ability to focus. Malachite's eyes were boring a hole into the back of her head, and she wondered, yet again, what he could possibly find so interesting. He was hardly going to pry her secrets out of her simply by staring at her face, though maybe this was just a passive-aggressive way of breaking her spirit? _Yes, _Mina thought tiredly, amused by the idea in spite of herself, _this is definitely his version of the Chinese water torture—only he's trying to _stare _me into confessing instead. And the sad thing is, it's almost working. He's going to make me paranoid, with all that staring._

Mina's sarcastic sense of humor aside, Malachite's constant attention was…unnerving. She didn't think he'd so much as blinked in the last hour, though she wasn't so convinced of her own charms as to believe he was attracted to her or anything like that. Her father had all but sung Malachite's praises the night before, saying he was the best there was—though the best at _what_, she didn't quite know—and Mina didn't think he could have earned such accolades if he could be so easily distracted as all that. Besides, what kind of man would he have been if he'd shown that kind of interest in a girl at least ten years his junior? True, she wasn't exactly innocent, but he couldn't have known that she was young only on the outside. To him, she could only be another teenager, never an object of desire even if she'd wanted to be.

Mina sighed, slumping further into her chair, head dropping onto her desk and eyelids drooping in spite of her determination to stay alert as long as this man was around her. _Gods, _she thought, mind already becoming clouded with sleep though she could still feel her bodyguard's eyes glued to her face, _if this lasts more than a few days, I'm going to go insane…_

* * *

She didn't even make it through a single day, before the next crisis came. Mina had slept through most of her morning classes, stubbornly tried to ignore Malachite while she was awake. It still wasn't really possible, but as she led him out to the courtyard for her lunch hour, she'd almost stopped chastising herself for getting stuck in this position in the first place.

Almost.

Malachite was still walking two steps behind her as Mina led the way to the shady tree where she and the other senshi usually ate their lunches, and once again, Mina was painfully aware of the eyes following the two of them. Any fear her classmates had experienced when they'd first seen Malachite was wearing thin under their own curiosity, and Mina knew her reprieve from their questions was almost over. _Maybe, if I hustle Malachite out of here the moment school is over, I can avoid everyone, put off the inquisition until tomorrow. I don't think I'm up to it just yet. _

Lunch was a stilted, uneasy affair. Normally the five girls spent their lunch hour laughing and eating and teasing each other, not trying to keep their voices down in any way. Malachite's presence, unsurprisingly, changed that. The senshi were even more awkward around him than Mina was, though of course she'd sent Artemis earlier that morning to warn her team, and they'd known that Malachite would be glued to her side for an indefinite amount of time. Still, whatever Art had told the others, she knew the description of Malachite would fall far short of the reality. The man was so much more intimidating in person…

Lunch had barely begun when the call came. Five communicators began beeping insistently, the other four senshi jumping slightly though the sound was hardly unfamiliar. They'd tensed, hands flying into their pockets for the tiny devices, then freezing as they realized how close they'd come to betraying themselves. They turned, almost as one, to face Mina, belatedly realizing that the slender blonde hadn't reacted at all. She'd only continued picking moodily at her food, knowing her warriors were being called to fight, knowing she wouldn't be going with them. _I hadn't thought it would hurt this much. _

Raye was the first to move, stepping just out of hearing range, subtly consulting the calculator-like object the senshi used to speak to each other. She frowned into the screen, and Mina, watching her, wondered what Malachite was thinking about all of this. He hadn't really been looking their way when the call had gone off, but he was now, and he couldn't have missed the almost stricken look the other four were giving his charge. Mina's lips thinned as she wondered if he would now start investigating her friends, as well. Had they been compromised?

Raye returned, mulberry-eyes carrying a poorly hidden urgency. She nodded once to Mina, sympathy briefly overshadowing the urgency, and then excused herself. Serena and Amy followed suit, each muttering some sort of apology under their breathes, and then they, too, stood and walked away. Only Lita hesitated, torn between her duty to their cause and her duty to her friend.

Mina finally sighed, knowing the other senshi would need Lita's help. "They're waiting for you," she said softly, her voice so flat that not even the ever-observant Malachite would have guessed at the turmoil she was feeling. "Go on, Leets. I'll catch up with you later."

Lita nodded, green eyes heavy with an apology she knew better than to voice, and then she was also gone, leaving Mina alone with her tall, intense guardian.


End file.
