;; Of Sunlight

The truth was all that waited for Saito at his tiny apartment was an overfed cat and a stack of customer surveys he wasn’t the slightest eager to dive into.

More to the point, he had the distinct feeling if he were to desert Mamoru’s little sister and anything happened, neither of them would be able to forgive themselves.

“Well,” he began with an easy smile. “I did have some work to finish up, but it’s nothing that can’t wait. Do you mind a little company?”

Natsumi gave him a bright smile, “I would love some company.” Truly, she enjoyed the time that she got to spend with Saito. She put her jacket up and put her bookbag to the side so that she could deal with what she had to do later. 

Scoping out sources of human energy for Queen Metallia was entirely beneath Kunzite. He was the King of Beryl’s Heavenly Kings, their leader, and such work was better delegated to the petulant Nephrite or the even lower Jadeite. His time was better spent on searching for the legendary Silver Crystal, but with the two aforementioned soldiers tragically indisposed, Kunzite had delegated Zoisite to finding the crystal while he scoured the city for pockets of human energy.

That particular day had brought him to a bustling public park, full of young people exercising, students congregating after school, families and vendors selling drinks and ice cream. Despite the lack of cover from a tactical point of view, the sprawling park was a veritable goldmine. All that Kunzite needed was a way to lure in the bullion.

Sitting beneath the cool shade of an ancient maple, he had set up an easel and large pad of card stock. With a simple sign proclaiming that his portraits would be free that day, Kunzite, clad in a black turtleneck and matching slacks soon had a line snaking out into the park’s paths.

Each unfortunate customer walked away with their portrait, and with Kunzite’s plan in place, each portrait would slowly drain their owner’s energy in Metallia’s name. He smiled as he handed a picture in charcoal to a blushing schoolgirl, who giggled in reply as she trotted back to her friends, all clutching their own pictures.

“Next….”

Natsumi had wandered around the park for most of the day, taking pictures here and there with the intent of sketching or painting them when she returned home. She hadn’t brought any of her art supplies with her, not wanting to lug them around when she had been in such an off mood that morning when she awoke. She had seen an artist sketching people for free, and each time the line had been longer and longer. 

She had toyed with the idea of getting into the line once or twice, each time deciding to continue her simple trek throughout the park rather than opt to stand still. However, eventually the allure of wanting to see the other’s technique got the better of her and she stood in line for a time. 

When it was her turn, she walked up to the gentleman, a confused look coming over her features for a moment. He looked familiar, but she couldn’t place exactly from where. Natsumi tucked a lock of hair behind her ear as she looked at him for a moment longer in the hopes of figuring it out, but eventually she gave up. 

He was in the middle of pulling his jacket to leave on when the door opened, expecting to see Mamoru walk back into the apartment. His surprise melted into a warm smile at the sight of Mamoru’s darling little sister.

“Hello, Natsumi,” he replied, shrugging his impossibly broad shoulders.

“You just missed Mamoru. There was an emergency at the hospital. Duty calls. I was just about to leave…”

she wasn’t overly surprised to find out that mamoru had needed to run out of the apartment. it was something that was happening fairly often nowadays, and natsumi had come to almost expect it some nights. she had actually heard sirens on her way home.