Chapter 2-A Shield of Fire and Chocolate Chip Cookies
	Hino Rei, now aged seven, was staring intently into the Great Fire. Usually
Grandpa told her just to be careful around it, but none of the other priests and
priestesses allowed her near it. They thought she would get burned. Hmph. What
did they know? Sometimes the friendly flame showed her pictures, and now it told
her what "sister" Makoto was cooking. She was confused, wasn't Mako-chan only
nine, a year older? She vaguely remember her mother cooking, but her father had
always overturned the table and the dishes were ruined, uneaten. Confused, she
tried to understand. Vibrant tendrils of blazing red and brilliant orange
reached towards her, and unconsciously, her own small hands met them. Suddenly,
pictures flashed in her mind, over and over. She shrieked and fell into
blackness, a comforting, clear black.
~		*		~		*		~
	One brunette nine year old crept sneakily around the shrine until she reached
the kitchen. Making sure that no one was there, she began rattling things around
in the cupboards. Cookies, that was what she had decided to make. Without any
cookbooks open, her green eyes stared intently at the items she had assembled:
flour, sugar, eggs, chocolate chips. Frowning thoughtfully, she wondered if she
was forgetting something. A few long strands of chestnut hair fell into her
face, Makoto sighed, annoyed, and reached up to undo her ponytail.
	Then she froze, hearing a scream from the room next door. She had always
thought it blasphemy to build a kitchen next to the Great Fire, but it always
kept her warm, and nothing had caught fire yet. Sharp senses alert, she jumped
off the high stool and ran into the next room, heart hammering. That cry had
been so familiar...it sounded like Rei! She stopped in the doorway, green eyes
wide with shock. Rei's hands were intertwined with fire, and Makoto, mind hazy
and numb from fright, reached over and tried to pull her wrists. The fire roared
at her, angry and demanding, and suddenly Rei's eyes flew open.
	Cowering but still attached to her friend's slim but strong arms, green stared
into what should have been purple. Now, her eyes were a strange, sparkling shade
of red. The Great Fire proceeded on, Makoto could feel her skin drying. Her lips
chapped, and she was horribly afraid she would catch on fire. But she couldn't
move, her feet seemed  glued in place. It came closer, quick and deadly. She
closed her eyes, standing in front of Rei, hoping that if she died it would be
painless. Her jaw muscles wouldn't work, she couldn't scream. The only thing
whirling was her brain, and it was unable to do anything. Right before the
blazing firestorm crisped her friend, Rei's hair turned to a color matching her
eyes, and a shimmering shield, transparent and sparkling, held off the inferno.
Makoto was then able to move, and she dragged Rei to the doorway. Before the now
redheaded eight year old fainted into unconsciousness, she heard the fire
whisper, "You passed the test, child. Only one of many more."
	Rei's grandfather raced into the room, panting. His panicking eyes fell on the
little girl in the robes of a priestess, and he scooped her up. "Mako-chan, what
happened?"
	She pointed to the fire, shaking. "It...it....she was holding it....and when I
tried to pull her away, it got angry. But then before I got roasted, her eyes
and hair turned red. A strange thing went up, it was red and glowing. The fire
stopped, and Rei fainted." The green eyed child's voice sounded distant, still
shocked over the strangest display she had ever seen.
	The old priest's eyes lit with understanding, and he hugged Rei tightly. "It
was a test. But she passed, thank kami-sama for both of you. Makoto-chan, I
think Rei-chan needs to sleep. Can you find something to do?" ‘Kami-sama help
me, I'm not supposed to explain anything to them.'
	Nodding, the brunette trotted off to the kitchen again. Methodically, as if
she'd done it thousands of times, she set the oven time, mixed the dough for
cookies, added chocolate chips, scooped little circles onto sheets she had
gotten out earlier, shoved them in the oven, and sat down. Talking to thin air
for a moment, she said, "Masaka...this has been a very strange day. Most
confusing. I wonder what happened to Rei-chan? I feel she's going to be okay.
Did she send up that strange shiny thing? Was it magic? And why does the fire
act strange?" A tiny green bird lighted on her shoulder, seemingly out of
nowhere. Makoto stared at it for a moment and prayed devoutly, "Kami-sama, I
think this dream should stop now. A lime-green birdie just came out of the air,
and it's very pretty (it preened, pleased), but I'm getting scared."
	"Makoto, don't be frightened. And this isn't a dream. Rei went through a test,
the fire, her grandfather, and the two crows outside said so. She has magic, and
that was only part of it. The fire likes Rei. It bonds with her. It doesn't bond
with you, though. You go better with something else." She stared at the green
eyed bird for a moment, its eyes the same hue as her own. "By the way, I think
your cookies are done." Makoto promptly fainted from hearing the bird talk, not
like parrots, but like humans did. "Oh dear, I wish they wouldn't do that. Now I
have to get the cookies out." Chirping angrily, the bird was replaced by a
little girl with light green hair and eyes. She carefully took the done cookies
out, set them on cooling racks, and became an animal again. Sighing, she flew
out the door and perched on a branch that looked into Makoto's room, intent on
continuing their conversation later.
~		*		~		*		~
	Minako, now becoming Mina Love in London, stared at her failed test and sighed.
Maybe it didn't matter to her mother, but it mattered to her. She had studied so
hard the whole week, and  it still seemed that she didn't have any brains at
all. Her mother had, at first, shrugged off the test and told Mina that looks
were more important than brains. When the blonde had started crying and telling
her how much she studied, she had gotten angry at time wasted. Mrs. Aino wanted
her daughter to become a model, or an actress. School didn't matter as long as
they had money and a little girl who would star everywhere. And that was why she
was working so hard, brushing Mina's hair out every day, making sure she was
just the right height and weight, putting cream all over her skin, and other
things like that. Mr. Aino was a business man, working away at his office in
London. He did nothing every day but scream over the phone at workers who failed
to send in shipments on time, and that was it. His pay was enough for them to
live very comfortably, strangely enough, but he and his wife were counting the
days until they could live in the lap of luxury, on the much-spoken of "easy
street." When their daughter reached age twelve, they would start making her a
child star.
	Meanwhile, Mina was in her room, crying. She didn't have any friends here, even
though she was starting to speak English fairly well. She hated her parents at
the moment yet loved them deep down. She also missed her friends in Tokyo, and
wondered how Kouseinou was doing. She hadn't seen him for two years but still
kept the image in her mind's eye of the lonely ten year old. The blonde with the
heart bigger than the sun hoped that he had made friends.
	Drying her tears, she started when a slightly scratchy male voice said, "Hello,
Mina."
	Blinking, she turned towards the window and saw a white cat sitting there,
looking very proud of itself. An ardent admirer of fantasy and anime, she was
not at all surprised at seeing a talking cat, or at least hearing it speak.
"Hello. Excuse me, how did you get in?"
	"I opened the window, of course. That was obvious," snorted the cat.
	"You're very proud of yourself, you know that? Somehow, you remind me of
Kousei-kun. At least, Kousei-kun when I saw him two years ago. Do you have a
name, cat?"
	"Artemis."
	"Interesting. Sounds like I've heard that weird name before."
	Coughing indignantly, he leaped down and perched on her shoulders. "I happen to
like my ‘weird name' very much, Mina. In fact, the Queen of Venus named me."
	Staring at him oddly now, she felt a strange emotion run through her. "Um,
yeah. The Queen of Venus. You ARE aware, Artemis, that there aren't any aliens
discovered on Venus?"
	Annoyed, the cat said, "Don't talk about things you don't know. It was a
thousand years ago."
	"And the next thing you're going to say is that I was there too, as a princess
and a warrior in a short skirt, right?"
	The cat and the girl blinked simultaneously and stared at each other. "MINA??
Do you remember.....anything?"
	Losing that train of thought for a moment, she glared at him and said, "Yeah, I
just failed another test. I'm Aino Minako, formerly of Japan, and I don't like
living in London or sarcastic cats. By the way, what's that strange mark on your
forehead?"
	"It's a crescent moon, Mina. I KNOW you came from Japan and that you don't like
London. Now come on, we've got to talk your parents into keeping me."
	Following him, feeling slightly dazed, she said, "But my parents never let me
have a cat before. Or any pet."
	"Leave that to the experts...like me, for example."
	"I'm getting tired of your arrogance. Wait....where did that word come from?
Anyway, who said I wanted YOU for a pet?" asked Minako indignantly.
	"I did. Now come on!"
~		*		~		*		~
	One seven year old Mizuno Ami was angry. Very, very angry. Number one, her
mother had enrolled her a year ahead than she should have been (second grade,
instead, she was in third). Number two, Mrs. Mizuno wasn't home, she was at yet
another hospital emergency. Her bus route had changed, and she didn't know where
to go. Shrugging off tears that were coming to her eyes, Ami sighed, grabbed her
backpack, a piece of toast, and her lunch-made by yours truly. Glancing at her
watch, she began to run in the general direction of her school, praying she
wouldn't get lost. It wasn't actually that far away, but she lived in a
neighborhood of spoiled, rich children. The school for all of the Juuban kids
from grades one to five was located there. Thus, a bus was sent needlessly and
wastefully for the occupants of Ami's neighborhood. Panting, she was nearly to
the school when her bus passed by her.
	One of the unruly boys in the back seat pulled down one of the dusty, dirty,
and extremely unhygienic windows down and yelled, "HEY!" Turning to his friends,
he asked, "Who's that little twerp on the sidewalk?"
	Answering and trembling under the eyes of the fifth grader, one of Ami's
previous peers replied, "That's Mizuno Ami. Her parents are divorced, and she
lives with her mom, Dr. Mizuno. She's got blue hair and blue eyes. And she's a
nerd, everyone says so. She's always reading and never talks to anyone."
	Taking a deep breath and hoping he wasn't going to get a beating, the younger
kid was relieved when the fifth grader smirked and said, "Well, then, we're
going to have some fun with the little bookworm. See if we can get her out of
her shell."
	Later that day, Ami sadly took her obento outside and sat alone. No one invited
her to sit with them, and she preferred reading peacefully under a tree than on
hard benches in the cafeteria, which smelled nauseating. This time around, she
rubbed her shins and tried not to cry again. She was becoming such a crybaby,
she thought to herself. In the morning, all the third graders that were a year
or two older than her had stared at her and isolated her. They thought she was a
goody-goody and a brain to skip a grade, so they didn't want to have anything to
do with her. In the halls, she had mysteriously tripped and fell many times. And
she was sure they weren't accidents, catching sight of snickering students and
black shoes, right before she threw out her arms and hit hard walls or fell on
the tiles. No one helped her up, they just hurried on. No one got in the way of
that infamous fifth grader, they knew he had a new target-everyone was relieved
it wasn't them. As long as they didn't come between him and his prey, nothing
would ever happen to them. Just the little genius who was too smart for her own
good. Ami rode the bus home, reading again, even though it made her slightly
dizzy sometimes. Once she let herself in to the empty, expensive, large
apartment, she set down her backpack, did what little homework fourth grade
required of her, did next week's assignments (that had become a habit two years
ago, even though it was only learning numbers then), then went to her room. Ami
stared at the blue walls, empty except for one framed sketch. She didn't like
looking at it, it reminded her painfully of her father. Her bed was blue, blue
sheets, blue covers, pillowcases, everything. Sitting at her desk, she stared at
the wall and thought about everything and absolutely nothing.
~		*		~		*		~
	The first day of school, one hot September day, Kasen dragged his brother
Yosouya through the halls. He had managed, for once, to get up at the right
time. Yosouya, although two years younger, was going to be in the same class as
his brother-sixth grade. It was really too early for him to start sixth grade,
and he should have been in fourth grade. But there were the unfortunate,
mandatory exams every student took at the end of a year. It embarrassed Kasen to
no end, but he was good-natured enough to shrug it off and not get too resentful
towards his brother. Hey, the kid was a genius, and it wasn't his fault he was
born that way. So what if he skipped two grades? "Souya-kun, hurry up! I want to
see Kyo-kun! And also Kousei-kun, even though he just nods and talks rarely.
Sounds like you."
	Yosouya smirked and said, "That's because he's smart. Anything sets off your
mouth, but nothing will stop it!"
	"Why, you little...nevermind, there's Kyo-kun!" Kasen was left with no time to
get irritated as he ran over to his brown-haired friend.
	The green-eyed one smiled and trotted up to them, looking for Kouseinou. For
some strange reason, although he was three years older, they got along very
well. The silver-haired boy took a liking to small, delicately built boy when
he'd first met him, and they had become fast friends. "Konnichiwa, Kyosei-kun,"
said Yosouya.
	"Konnichiwa, Souya-kun. Hey, if you want to talk to the silent block of stone,
he's at his locker. Hey, Kasen-kun, did you hear about......"
	Rolling exasperated emerald-green eyes, the blonde went over to his friend's
locker and said, "Konnichiwa, Kouseinou-kun."
	"Konnichiwa, Souya-kun. You're looking awfully small this morning."
	Glaring at the silver-haired one, who was actually smiling for once, he
protested, "Your name is SUCH a mouthful. Ever try to shorten it? And it's not
my fault I'm three years younger than you. You're too tall for your own good."
	Silver eyes darkened sadly when he remembered the little blond-haired girl that
had called him Kousei-kun. Ever since, he had allowed no one to call him that,
hoping he would one day see her again. Silly, he scolded himself, ‘you were ten,
she was four years younger.' "Nope, no shortening. I know it's not your fault,
and I like being tall. C'mon, squirt. I've got class and so do you, find that
*ugh* cheerful and talkative brother of yours and get him and Kyosei-kun to
class."
	Blinking, Yosouya asked, "Aren't THEY supposed to take ME to class?" Scanning
the chattering crowd, he shook his head and said, "Souya-kun, I told you many,
many times-ah, see? They already went off! Now come, I'll get you there. Hurry
up, excuse me, pardon me, iie, hai, okay, here we go. I've got to go now. Have
fun, and tell anyone who beats on you to see Seishou Kouseinou after class."
	"Arigato gozaimisu."
	Shrugging, he said, "Ah well. Someone's got to watch out for you." ‘We've got a
strange bond, I swear. Cute kid, studies too much. Me? No comment. We won't
discuss Kasen-kun and Kyosei-kun, either. Off to the seventh grade hall...dum,
dum, dum, dum, dum! I swear, those video games you keep playing with Kasen-ken
and Kyosei-kun are rotting your brains.'
~		*		~		*		~
	Rei yawned sleepily and opened her eyes to find herself in her own room. After
her slightly-blurry vision cleared, she saw a worried old man sitting by the
edge of her bed. "Ojii-san? What happened?"
	Her grandfather, so relieved that she was all right, hugged her tightly and
wiped away tears on his cheeks. "Rei-chan, I'm so glad you're awake. Do you
recall what happened?"
	Frowning and furrowing her brow, she concentrated for a moment. Then she said,
"Um...I was looking in the fire again. It showed me a strange picture, then it
was all black. But then I don't remember anything else except holding some
fire." Blinking up at him, she asked, "Isn't that strange? I thought people got
burned when they held fire."
	"Most people do. That's good, Rei-chan. You probably just felt a little dizzy.
Now I want to tell you something. You have the power to hold fire, but almost no
one else does. You have to be careful that no one tries to copy you, or they
will get hurt. Do you hear me?"
	She nodded and said nervously, "Hai. Do I have to stop seeing pictures in it
now?"
	He laughed and reassured her, "I don't think it'll let you. Now come on,
Mako-chan managed to bake cookies, but she seems to have fainted from the shock
of seeing you hold fire. She'll be fine, she's just lying in bed now and
grumbling about it." Rei got up shakily, clutched her grandfather's strong hand,
and made her way to the kitchen. Together, they went into Makoto's room with
glasses of milk and chocolate chip cookies, talking and laughing. The brunette
was now totally convinced that the second part of seeing a fire shield form was
a dream, and since Rei didn't remember that, she thought the bird that had
talked to her must be nonexistent too. So, the three were back to living like
normal people-except for the times the raven-haired one saw visions in the Great
Fire. And the fact that Makoto was able to cook without any previous instruction
and without cookbooks. Altogether, a typical "family" was living at the shrine,
ne?
~		*		~		*		~
	"Mm.....yummy..." murmured Aino Minako as she gobbled her sweet snack in
obvious delight.
	Artemis shook his head, seeing his young mistress stuff herself. "Mina, your
parents are going to be angry if they find out you finished all of the
cookies....and I want one, too. Besides, it isn't ladylike to gorge yourself."
	Glaring at him, the blonde retorted, "You're so mean, Artemis! You should be
glad I actually agreed to keep you. And they won't find out. Here......uh oh."
Panicking, Mina held up the empty cookie jar and stared. She clutched her
stomach and moaned, "Artemis, I don't feel so good anymore.....and there aren't
any cookies left." For an agonizing minute, the world spun as her stomach
rebelled. The yellow walls of her room whirled spitefully, and she clutched her
head.
	Mrs. Aino, hearing her daughter groan in pain, ran in. "AINO MINAKO! What in
the world did you think you were doing?" She grabbed the empty cookie jar and
smacked her daughter painfully on her behind many times. The white cat winced
and hid under the bed. "How are you ever going to a model or an actress if you
stuff yourself like this? Just look, you've probably gained ten pounds just from
this junk!" Without giving another thought to how much Mina's stomach hurt, she
dragged her daughter into the bathroom and weighed her on the scale. Minutes
later, she came out mumbling and went to her room, leaving her daughter in the
bathroom. Artemis crept out of Minako's room, trying to cover up the glowing
crescent moon. He was furious, his emotions affecting the golden mark, but there
was nothing he could do about it. Jumping onto a stool, then the counter, and to
the top of the toilet, he licked the blond girl's cheek sympathetically as she
threw up from stress, overeating, and shame. When she was done and flushed the
toilet, she propped herself up on Artemis and crawled back to her room and into
her bed, tears trailing down flawless cheeks. Any girl would have loved to be
her, because of her looks. But no one knew the truth about her life.
~		*		~		*		~
	Mizuno Ami sniffled angrily and thought rebellious thoughts, wishing that
school could be more pleasant. Sure, the learning was fun...sometimes...still
boring, most of the time, but she hated her classmates. She was still being
tripped everyday, or at least there were attempts, but she was getting careful
and watched the floor perpetually for sneakers that stuck out of the crowd of
large and small shoes. At an early age, Ami had realized that people didn't like
her, they were, in fact, jealous, and hated her. So she sat by herself every day
and was on her way to becoming one of the loneliest, saddest children in the
world.
	"Mizuno Ami! What is 3*9?" asked the teacher sharply, and there was another
thing. All the teachers tested her continuously, looking for a crack or missing
part of intelligence.
	Stiffly, she stood, with her head bowed, and answered, "27, sensei." The class
and teacher just murmured angrily, knowing she was always correct. She sat down
again, wondering if it would be better just to give the wrong answer.
Multiplication tables were the easiest thing in the world to her, and she spent
most of class sneaking peeks at books that she kept in her desk. So far, she
hadn't gotten caught, but it taught her to be always on her guard. After school,
her mother wasn't ever home, just for dinner. And that wasn't all the time
anyway.
	Once she was home after another dull, torturous day, Ami grabbed a bag with her
swimsuit, goggles, and a few other things. Remembering to take her house key
from the hall table, she slipped her feet into shoes and closed the door to an
empty apartment, her footsteps echoing. The pool used by everyone in the
neighborhood was currently deserted, because all the children were too lazy.
Most of them were over friends' houses, playing video games, eating,
fighting...and other time-wasting activities. As she slipped into the chilly
water, for September wasn't as hot as everyone expected, she grinned. Ami had
always felt comfortable in the water, especially cold water, but she didn't know
why. Ice skating was also fun, but rinks were far away, her mother never had
time to take her.
	For a minute, Ami just sat on the bottom of the pool and let her mind wander.
For some reason, although she liked water cold, whenever her bath water got
cold, it would just suddenly warm up when she thought about it hard. She shot
out of the water five minutes later, trembling. No one had ever been able to
breathe under water, but she was pretty sure that her mind had registered
bubbles. That made her turn cold, very cold. Humans weren't adapted to breathe
under water, only fish. Hands shaking, she touched boiling hot water and winced,
forgetting that she'd wanted warmer water.
	Ami began swimming laps, she had done so ever since Yosouya had taught her to
swim to years ago. Now she was able to do many more laps, almost ten per day,
and if she really pushed herself, eleven or twelve were possible. Floating on
her back for a minute, the blue-haired girl wondered how her friend was doing.
She had always regretted leaving her old neighborhood; she had had one friend
there. Yosouya's face remained in her mind, slightly fuzzy, for Ami had always
had an excellent memory for information. Wet blond curls appeared in her mind's
eye, accompanied by smiling, kind green eyes. A sharply cut face, slim body, and
he had been taller than her even then, maybe two to four inches. Sadly, Ami
thought about the people here. How come her blonde friend had been eager to make
friends and teach her how to swim when everyone here alienated her? Maybe it was
something in the water....she then giggled and dove under again.
~		*		~		*		~
	Kouseki Yosouya found school perfect for him now, not too challenging yet not
too easy. Now that he had almost all of his classes with his brother, he could
force him to do his homework correctly, and Kasen's grades improved. Kousei
Kyosei came over often to play with the siblings, and he was also pushed into
doing his assignments. Seishou Kouseinou didn't come over the two blond boys's
house often, but when he did, they had just as much fun and just as many laughs.
Thoughtfully, the silver-haired one clambered into the car next to a reading
Yosouya, Kasen was sitting in the front seat next to his stepfather, and Kyosei
got in the car after Kouseinou. Souya and Kasen's parents had allowed them to
finally get pets, provided they would take care of them.
	In the pet store, both avoided fish for some odd reason. Green eyes searched
the Lizard House excitedly, a silver-haired friend close behind. Suddenly,
Yosouya stopped and bent down to a small cage near the ground. Its resident was
a green iguana, halfway through camouflaging to a granite gray. He watched
curiously as the lizard stopped its job and turned an emerald green again,
matching his own eyes.
	Kouseinou's eyes widened as he witnessed the exchange. He put a large hand onto
the slight boy's shoulder and asked, "Souya-kun, d o you like him?" He nodded
eagerly, and they both went to the front of the store to wait for Mr. Kouseki.
	Meanwhile, Kasen and Kyosei wandered along the birds. One fellow, although they
weren't sure of its sex, they just generalized it as a male bird, screeched away
at the top of its lungs until they approached it cautiously. Kasen looked
through the golden bars of the cage at a medium-sized bird, bright blue except
for red markings on its face. "Konnichiwa. I think you're going to be my pet.
Hey, Kyo-kun, what do you think of him?"
	"IF it's a him. Kawaii bird, nice red. You know, Kasen-kun, his fur is the same
color as your eyes. And it screeches at the top of its lungs just like you."
	"Funny....I like him. Any ideas what to name him?"
	The brown-haired boy, two inches taller and slightly less impetuous, laughed
and advised, "Why don't you ask your dad if you can get it first?"
	He shrugged and said, "Otou-san agrees to anything I want, almost, unless it's
way out of the question. Let's go meet him and see what Souya-kun wants."
Animatedly, he dragged his stepfather off, two other boys in tow, to see the
merrily chirping bird.
	Yosouya laughed and said, agreeing with Kyosei, "That bird is just like you,
Kasen-kun. Never shuts up." The bird and Kasen squawked indignantly while
everyone else howled with mirth. In the end, his brother made fun of the little
lizard, saying it was just as puny as his new owner. However, both were
satisfied with their purchases, and everyone went home. The two blonde boys
climbed into their bunk beds, trying not to kill each other before the day was
over, and discussed names the whole night long.