Lets Begin with a Requiem {open!}

[Shurajou Gekkani]

I hate this place. Kani thought to herself, rushing by the massive steps quickly. Hatehatehate. She closed her eyes tightly, her brow furrowed. What was it about these imposing statues that made her so antsy? Since she first laid eyes on the figure of the deceased Queen she had hated the homage to her memory.
Each time she looked upon it, she felt angry. A sort of rage she had been doing her damnedest to control. Somehow this monument made her want to relapse and start hurting people. Hurting them physically, to the point it made Kani feel incredibly uneasy.
In her spritely rush by the Memorial, Kani tripped and in an instant flash of snowy-haired fury, found herself on her knees staring up at the statues. Oh God. she thought, her knees throbbing beneath the now even more tattered denim blue jeans. Her delicate fingers standing on their tips against the ground. The sheer force of falling illicited a slight tear in her eyes.
Kani was frozen in this pose as she attempted to regain her composure. Slowly pushing her weight backwards to end up sitting on her rear, with her knees close to her chest - arms fanned out behind, with her fingers spread out against the pavement. Looking down she noticed several small scratches along her knees and calves from the impact. What haunted her most was the hideous scuff on her perfect white stilettos. Adjusting her light blue blouse and white blazer, Kani tried her best to talk herself off the metaphorical cliff she had perched on in her head. I am not going to scream. I am not going to look like a damn lunatic out here...
Her eyes met those of the Queen's homage, and suddenly the social implications of being a 'lunatic' were much less significant.

[Hayashi Kaede]

Turn right...left...right, and right again...watch your breathing... Kaede walked quickly down the roads, fighting the temptation to break into a run. But she couldn't do that, after what happened last time...her toes still hurt, and the canvas shoes she was wearing wouldn't forgive her if she ran at top speed. Not like I could anyway, she thought bitterly, making another turn. Kaede didn't know where she was going exactly, this time. She vaguely recognized the route, however; she'd walked this way on a school trip once, years ago.

If she remembered correctly, this actually led to the--Kaede turned the last corner, and stopped, staring. The memorial. A slight tremor seemed to go through her, but she ignored it. It wasn't too powerful, anyway...But she didn't make eye contact with the statues, keeping her gaze forward instead. Her eyebrows raised slightly as she saw someone on the ground. Instinctively, she took a few steps back, but something else stopped her before she got too far. You don't know this girl... the tanned girl told herself. She might...be alright. I suppose... Besides, she might be interesting.

Quietly moving forward until she stood directly behind the white-haired girl, Kaede cleared her throat. "Ah...do you need help getting up?"

[Shurajou Gekkani]

Kani snapped ack to reality in a flash. shaking her head quickly. Her twangy Japanese spewing forth quickly.

"Oh my, I just... " She looked up at the blue-haired teen. "It's just.. those statues... They're quite distracting," Kani paused, to carefully choose her words and not to look like a complete babbling fool. "You know, beautiful and all that."

She took another brief moment to stare at the Queen's Memorial, What are you...? Kani pondered briefly.

Kani nodded to assure herself. Having fully recovered, her true nature began to show. Moving to perch herself on her heels, she shot her hand up towards the girl, "Anyway, up up and away!" She offered a fake, but altogether pleasant smile.

[Hayashi Kaede]

"Beautiful?" Kaede glanced at the statues for a few moments before turning her attention back to the other girl. She didn't find them particularly beautiful at all. But then again, she thought to herself, I never had an eye for beauty.

Kaede's eyes met the other girl's, and in response to her smile, let herself smile a tiny bit herself. She grabbed the girl's hand and pulled, unfortunately applying a bit too much strength and so pulled her up too quickly. "Oh...sorry about that," she said in her usual monotone. She put her hands behind her back as she stared forward, debating on whether she should leave or stay here. This place was making her slightly uncomfortable, but still...I don't think I'd like to leave just yet.

"Why are you here?" she asked, finally, keeping her voice quiet. "Did you come...to pay respects or something?"

[Shurajou Gekkani]

”Holy hell! You’ve got one heck of an arm on you!” Kani chortled, rubbing her shoulders and adjusting her posture some.
She didn’t expect the girl to question her, she didn’t seem the social type with her soft monotone voice – but Kani was never one to shy away from attention. “Respects... maybe, I don’t know. They bug me a bit to be honest. I’ve never seen a memorial quite like it before.” She tried to recall every type of statuary she had seen in her travels but managed to come up blank when searching for a comparison.
This place is the creepiest place on Earth! She thought, but how could she be so open with this strange girl? Kani had already said too much to feel comfortable with. She immediately looked for an out – not to end the conversation but to steer it in a direction that couldn’t pigeon hole her.
”What about you? You look like… Lost, or bored. Did you just stumble into this place?” Kani had managed to pique her own curiosity. She tilted her head to the side and started dusting herself off, paying the closest mind to her hair and rear. Her left calf was beginning to feel sore, but she would ignore it for the time being.

[Hayashi Kaede]

Kaede nodded in understanding. So she wasn't the only one who was disturbed by this place...That was good. Meant she wasn't crazy or something. Because, honestly, who had ever heard of someone disturbed by this place? Unnatural.

"I look...lost to you?" she asked, frowning a little bit. After a moment's pause, Kaede shook her head. "N-No, the second one's right; I'm more bored, really. And..." She stopped again, trying to recall exactly why she was here in the first place. She hadn't even been aware she was heading towards the Memorial until it was too late, but she didn't exactly feel lost. It was more like..."Kind of like being pulled on a leash, I guess," she settled for, shrugging her shoulders a bit.

Suddenly a sharp pain invaded her head, and Kaede, unprepared for it, visibly flinched. Aside from that, however, she made no outward signs of discomfort, though her teeth clenched behind her closed mouth. Not again...Don't focus on it, she told herself.

[Kagamino Emiko]

Neo Queen Serenity had saved the world! At least, that's what everyone said. They called her a beautiful and elegant queen who was loving and kind to her people. Was she though? Was she really so fantastic? Was there really no other option for a ruler after she and the senshi "saved the world"? And hell, for all I know it was their fault in the first place that Earth was in danger. Those thoughts continued as a very disgruntled young woman stared up at the Memorial. She had decided to take a walk, thinking and mulling over some of her recent ideas for the annihilation of those adored senshi.

"How the hell I came to be here is beyond me." Mumbled Emiko, not yet climbing the hill that would bring her to that blasted monument. Anger began to fill her as she slowly climbed that hill, calm green eyes growing narrow and furious. The henshin pen she had tucked away in a pocket felt warm, the hand clasped around it tingling. How she wanted to transform into Kali and utterly destroy these stupid statues. That's not part of the plan, Emiko. Calm down. Breathing slowly, Emiko relaxed a bit and stepped over the rise. Those huge statues made her hand clasp the henshin pen, nails denting the flesh of her palm in the shape of little crescents.

Green eyes flickered around the scene, hatred for the senshi growing deeper. But those angered green eyes fell upon two long figures near the Memorial. Tilting her head, her curious mind lead Emiko towards the Memorial. Casually, the young woman forced her mask into place. That hatred seemed to fade from her eyes, but stayed deep within her as she cursed the senshi mentally. Having heard part of the small conversation, Emiko stopped before one of the statues. "It appears I'm not the only one who stumbled upon this grim reminder of the past."

Every time she'd come her on a school trip, as a history lesson, Emiko always felt a bit uncomfortable. When talking about the memorial, she'd always called it a grim reminder of the past. Her real issue with the Memorial was that it made her feel like she was being watched, like the spirits of the senshi had taken up residence in the statues and were telling her they knew of her plans. A unsettling feeling like that only seem to breed more hatred and give the jealous senshi more of a reason to want to destroy the damn site entirely.

[/color]

[Shurajou Gekkani]

Kani instantly noticed the blue-hair girl’s painful expression. She put her hand on her shoulder – making sure to make solid eye contact with her, ”Are you okay?” Kani gave that consideration – then immediately back to the task at hand;
”A leash, eh? Kinky!” She chuckled, her hand still on the teen’s shoulder, ”That’s quite unique, you know. We’re probably… crazy or some other strange thing. We must be the only people offended by the presence of th--- “ there was a new voice! Kani was in heaven. She whipped around quickly to see the new visitor, finally moving her hand from the other teen. ”Grim… That’s a keen way to describe it.” She attempted to keep her voice sounding apathetic but her natural inclination of cheerfulness betrayed her – making her sound almost mocking in her reply. Kani noticed it immediately and quickly shook her head. ”No, like, honestly, you know? It is grim! Why would people want this?”
Kani marched over towards the base of the steps, the rage as she neared them fueling her motivations further. She jumped, waving her arms over her head screaming ”You’re dead! You all DIED! Who the hell CARES anymore?!” Kani immediately felt anxious, as if she broke some ancient code of Thou shalt not yell at ancient statuary! Her chest felt light and Kani even felt a little dizzy, but she wasn’t to let herself be so easily extinguished,” … and if I could, I’d bust you all apart right now!” This outburst was sure to get a few eyes on her. Restraint was becoming harder as Kani realized her small hands were angled at her sides aggressively, giving her an even more wicked appearance. Oh my God… she thought in a panic, What am I doing?

[Hayashi Kaede]

She had to unclench her teeth in order to speak. Damn. There goes my coping method. But Kaede simply nodded, saying, "I'm fine."

The new arrival made her feel a tad uncomfortable, but only because she hadn't expected another person to arrive. Granted, unexpected equaled different and that equaled interesting, but Kaede...Well, even she would admit, she wasn't used to handling people. One on one was fine for the time being, but with several...Get a hold of yourself. "Grim reminder?" she echoed. "So then there's three people who don't like it?"

She turned to watch as the girl from earlier moved closer to the steps, shouting up at the statues, in a manner that she was certain some might consider disrespectful, or at the very worst, blasphemous. But she had a point...Why should anyone care about them, if they died? As she stared, Kaede noted her pose--Like a dark queen in a takusatsu--and came forward again. The girl might have thought it awkward to be the only one expressing something like this, Kaede noted, so when she stopped a little ways behind her...

"You're right about that," she murmured quietly. For a brief moment, she looked at the statues again, this time holding eye contact for about five seconds or so. "They all did die...Which means they lost, right? So...so why is everyone honoring the losers?" If the Senshi had lived, then it would have meant they'd truly won. Then there would be a reason for the honor. But no. They'd died, lost, they'd been beaten. "It's...rather stupid."

[Kagamino Emiko]

Now that was an interesting reaction to the statues of the dead. One of the two young ladies she had approached had actually screamed at them. It kind of felt...like she should be doing so as well. Emiko tilted her head to the side a bit and couldn't help but chuckle a bit. Turning to the blue-haired youth, Emiko listened. What a strange way to define winning and losing. "Really? That's how you interpret it? Just because they lost their lives they are the losers? If I remember correctly they gave their lives, literally, and stopped the Shadow Army. Even though they did such a great deed...I still find it creepy and unsettling to have thirty foot statues of them watching me." Of course, she may have been exaggerating on the height (or underestimating) she wasn't sure. Still, it was the truth.

Emiko, to relieve some of her pent up anger strolled up to the statue that represent Sailor Pluto. The long-haired lonely senshi stared out at the world, and Emiko felt a tug on her heart. "Why do we need such a large reminder that life had to be last in order for the world to continue. It makes everything seem so...contradictory. These might Sailor Senshi died to keep the world from dying, killed evil that slaughtered innocence." Emiko turned to the two, sitting herself promptly on the foot of Sailor Pluto's likeness. It was clearly meant to be her way of acting out against the horrid statues. However there was a strange...burning in her backside when she sat. It was as if her body refused to stay where Emiko had plopped it.

Standing suddenly, she glared openly at the statue. She'd definitely have to get rid of this eye sore once the senshi were gone. If this kept up, Emiko had the feeling she would be encountering more and more people who thought that the monument was horribly morbid. It kind of made you wonder: was the shadow army doing such 'terrible deeds' for a reason? The senshi technically murdered and killed hundreds, hadn't they? Emiko's mind was filled with similar questions as she shoved her hand back into the pocket for the comfort of her henshin pen's smooth surface.

[Shurajou Gekkani]

Kani’s blood was at an absolute boil. She unconsciously ground her teeth. The voices of the two anonymous girls near her hushed themselves to a mumble from the force of an oncoming migraine. Lucky for Kani, the only difference between her and a pit bull at this point was fashion sense. She watched the girl with the unique long braids take up a perch at the foot of the Plutonian Senshi and chuckled. Mmm, the glory of a common bond… , she thought with a smirk finally gracing her lips.
I will have to savor this. Kani for the most part disliked Tokyo, all that made the Memorial different was her absolute hatred for it. In frustration, she pulled a few layers of dove-white hair over her right shoulder and began to braid it – her hands needed to be occupied or she was quite liable to snap. She shouted at the blue haired girl behind her, not bothering to turn to full attention. “A true Queen would not seek pity beyond death. Had I been her? I would have burned out in glory. Remembered for my phoenix-like demise! That’s the way to go I say. Epically! ” This affirmation made her heart swell. Was that hope? Was it... inspiration?
Casting a sideways glance to the other girl, then back over her shoulder to the blue-haired teen, Kani realized with embarrassment she had let her emotions overrule a fantastic networking opportunity. Flinging her hair back behind her she then grabbed two of business cards from her blazer’s inside pocket tucking them between her pointer and middle fingers, holding them near her chest. Kani stepped back a few paces from the Queen’s homage, still finding herself incredibly irritated by its presence, but slowly regaining her civilities, “I… apologize My name is Shurajou Gekkani. You might have heard of me, yes? I own Infinite Heart Designs, it’s uh... in Shibuya!” She was doing her best to lure in more customers constantly, and she was aware enough that even the slightest contact was still contact.

[Hayashi Kaede]

Kaede merely nodded in response to the brunette's words, but didn't indicate whether she agreed or disagreed. It was alright; she was used to people not understanding her view of things. But if they were so mighty, then why did they die in the first place? she wanted to say, but she held her tongue. Best not to start an argument right now...Maybe some other time. She did, however, have to admire her guts for sitting at the foot of the Pluto statue. "I almost want to try..." she mumbled.

She nodded again, a little more enthusiastically this time, to the other girl. "An epic demise?" Kaede tilted her head a little bit. "I think one would prefer not to go down at all, though. To be so strong that nothing could topple you, nothing could kill you." She let a small smirk appear on her lips. If this girl wanted to talk about how the queen should have gone down...maybe she should have been her. Go down in a grand manner, with a bang, so to speak.

Unfortunately, the show seemed to be over, and Kaede found herself back in the middle of more civilized conversation. Oh well... "Shurajou Gekkani..." she repeated. Kaede had heard of this girl, but only in overheard conversations. She never particularly cared to get involved herself, but maybe she ought to change that. "I don't think I've been to your business...I must go see it soon." Realizing it was a bit rude to be given a name and not give your own in return, and that she needed to be more social anyway, Kaede cleared her throat again, toying with the ring around her finger. "My name is Hayashi Kaede...I don't think either of you have ever heard of me." Another tiny smile appeared, to show she was joking.

[Midori Sakura]

Sakura shot down the sidewalk on a skateboard and swirved around people as she headed to her destination. She was moving mostly on autopilot as she thought about the events of yesterday.

Kensuke was adopted after just a few months in the home, which normally would be a great thing, but Sakura had her doubts. Something about the family seemed off, but they were employees at the palace, so it could just be their behavior in general. Nonetheless, Sakura wanted to check up on the kid. Being 6 and going through the loss of one set of parents and joining another could be quite jarring.

Nonetheless, she couldn't easily do so. The paperwork was quickly filed and sent off before Sakura could get a look for the new address. Hopefully Kensuke would write and she could check on him, but the waiting and hoping was driving her nuts.

That, and she didn't win any races last night, nearly got caught by police, and failed her homework assignment in class (though having done the assignment would have probably helped).

Rounding a corner, Sakura realized she was at the Memorial. She had been meaning to come by and stop by the statue to the late Jupiter, and as she has nothing else to do, jumps off her board and heads towards the statues.

There were various people around, but Sakura ignored them as she looked for the Jupiter statue. Scanning, she saw a group of girls who stood out. One of them really felt odd to Sakura.

'What the hell. Do I know her?' Sakura though, staying as best out of view as she could. Working her way around to the Jupiter statue, she kept her distance from the girl. Sakura had been in enough fights to know when someone was going to attack. This girl gave no visible signs as they haven't spoke, but Sakura still got the feeling something was up.

'No need to play with fire right now. Just pay respects and off to the arcade.' Sakura thought as she turned most of her attention to the statue of the late Sailor Jupiter.

'Hopefully I last a bit longer than you. I don't know why I have this power, but I'll use it as best as I can.' She though, speaking to the 'spirit' of Jupiter.

[Kagamino Emiko]

Emiko watched with careful eyes and listened just as carefully. These girls seemed like some of the only people who ever shared her thoughts on this monument. This alone was what was saving them from her hateful plots and ideas. She had assumed that they were goodie-goodies and had accepted everything they had been told by the government. However they seemed to all agree that this monument was a bit much. The idea of dying in a blaze of glory, as the girl with hair like snow had described was a good one, however the one with short blue hair had the best thus far. "I'd have to agree with both of you. If I had been some kind of might being, I would've preferred never to die and to remain eternal. However, with that being unlikely, dying in a blaze of glory would certainly be the best." Emiko nodded firmly at the end of her statement, smiling a light as she lifted herself from the foot of Pluto's statue.

When small introductions were made, Emiko perked up a little bit. Infinite Heart Designs was where a few of her blouses and dresses came from, she'd never gone personally but did at least recognize the name of the brand. " I know Infinite Heart Designs. My grandfather buys me shirts and dresses from there on my birthday. Usually two or three at a time. You might know him: Kagamino Ryu? He's been buying me things there for sometime now." Emiko smiled lightly, hoping that perhaps Gekkani did know her grandfather.

"Well, I don't personally know either of you and none of your names sound familiar. However if you attend Crystal Tokyo High School, you may know me. Currently ranked number 7 in the school, I'm Kagamino Emiko. You may call me Emi-Chan." Another one of those smiles covered the urge to wince in annoyance at still being in the pressence of this horrible reminder. Emiko's attention shifted however to someone near the base of one of the statues. It was a young girl, probably around her age, and she was silently looking upon the statue of the original Sailor Jupiter. Taking note of the hair and her build, Emiko figured whoever this girl was she looked up to Jupiter due to her strength and tenacity. Or it was just because she thought the power over lightening and thunder was cool. either way, Emiko shrugged it off and returned her eyes to Kaede and Gekkani.

[Shurajou Gekkani]

Ha! She knows of me! A huge smile busted over Kani’s lips. Although, the other name did have a slight ring to it, Had her parents known of this Ryu? The more she thought, the more she began to recollect the image of this man. An older gentleman was a rare sight in her shop so if and when they did come around a subconscious bookmark was somehow placed in Gekkani’s mind.

“I think I may! Hehe, a true gentleman is a rare sight for me at IHD.” She had taken to abbreviating her shop’s somewhat elaborate name. Although, for once Kani’s mind actually wandered from her own ideas and she turned herself to face the Queen’s memorial again.

Why in the Hell am I still chatting here? She had absolutely no idea why she hadn’t brushed these girls away and whisked off to her apartment. Before she had stopped Kani had been in a rush to reply to her brother’s most recent postcard – an image of Sydney’s magnificent opera house. On the back of the card was a small doodle her brother had drawn of himself as his show ego, Momoko. The pink ink simply said, “Honey, Sydney misses you!” Even without his name, Kani knew her brother’s feminine cursive strokes by heart.

“I may have seen him a few times, I did not catch his name though. Kagamino Ryu. I’ll remember it!” Her smile was still prevalent. Well, it had been until her eyes shifted to the admirer of Jupiter. She chuckled softly, leaning into Kaede slightly, her hand half covering her lips when she spoke. Her jovial tone still present even in being snide; “ What a tool, eh? ” She looked like a typical gossiping schoolgirl, although she did feel a true contempt with anyone who cherished these statues. Kani felt a sort of attachment to these girls, a more meaningful one than to the adoring fans of her work. She disregarded the feeling as a simple connection brought about by the common bond they shared in terms of the Memorial.

Shifting her weight on her hips a bit, she folded her arms and turned to face Emiko. “ So! You’re Emiko then. I’ll keep track.” She nodded affirmatively, then faced Kaede, “ And Kaede!I think I’ve got it.” Kani was not often bothered to recall names, but this time it seemed only right.