Cardinal King, Arc 2: _

Order of Events: Cardinal King, Chapters 1-20; Z is for Zenith; Cardinal King: _

They were being followed.

He had traveled a few blocks trying to shake him, but it seemed his pursuer was intent upon following them. At first Mamoru didn't mind too terribly; it annoyed him a bit that the red-headed little kid was interested enough in Pegasus (acting stuffed on his shoulder) to leave whomever he was with to stalk them from his apartment building for who knew what reason, but it annoyed him more that the kid's guardian hadn't caught up and found him yet. Mamoru let out an irritated sigh as he crossed a street, hoping to lose the tail by discouraging the kid to follow before he was forced to turn around and escort the kid back to his building. The others were waiting for him as it was, and the quicker he could shake the kid the quicker he could hop onto a bus and put his bags down for a few minutes.

The light turned red and he had to dash the last few feet to the curb – he disliked acting so reckless, but the kid looked old enough to know not to cross the street with so little time left, so Mamoru and Helios could disappear into the crowd of the shopping district and the kid would give up on following them –

"He crossed!" Helios shouted a mental warning just before a series of horns blasted behind him. He whirled around to see the child half-standing, half-crouching in the middle of the road, his hands on his ears and his eyes wide in fright. Mamoru dropped his bags and uniform and quickly strode in front of the impatient cars and offered the boy a hand. The boy looked up at him, his hands still covering his ears, and Mamoru sighed again and scooped up the kid, Helios working carefully to stay on his shoulder and still appear inanimate. As soon as they cleared a waiting car it took off, eager to get where it was going without delay, and when they reached the curb Mamoru put the kid down and knelt to be closer to his level.

"Always watch the crosswalk signals and countdowns!" he scolded, his brows furrowed in agitation, "You should know better than that! What would your guardian think if they saw what just happened?! You could have gotten hurt!"

The kid nodded, his red eyes still wide and frightened, and the angered irritation drained out of Mamoru like water through a sieve. Mamoru sighed and ruffled the kid's short hair comfortingly, "Don't worry people unnecessarily, okay?" He gathered his bags quickly, grabbing the head of his uniform hanger with his duffle in one hand, his school briefcase in the other and stood. "You know you way home, right?" he asked, looking across the way to see the time left to the traffic.

"Yes," the boy replied quietly.

"Good," Mamoru replied, glancing down to give him a quick smile before returning attention back to the clock, "Can you go there by yourself?"

"No," the boy said, just as quietly.

His answer threw Mamoru, who was expecting the opposite. If he knew the way home and had followed him by himself, why…? He looked down again, really looking at the kid. His red eyes and expression were still frightened, his glance darting around nervously as though looking out for something. He wore a blue, white, and red elementary school uniform, and while he was holding himself confidently, Mamoru could easily feel the trepidation coming off the kid. And then he spotted the bruises – several on his forearms, one really big ugly one on his upper right arm just under the short sleeve shirt; he had several scrapes on his legs, too, around his knees and shins, but the arms worried him the most. He knelt down again, gently, and asked quietly, "Is home safe?"

The boy shook his head, refusing to meet Mamoru's eyes, and Mamoru's heart sunk. He had met a lot of kids like him in the children's home – kids whose parents weren't the best of caregivers. The children were often removed from their parents' house for their own good, else sent to the home by their parents if they didn't want to take care of them anymore; in either case, it was heartbreaking to bear witness to, and oftentimes the kids took years to recover.

Hanada and the others would just have to wait. He pushed his shoulder towards the kid, offering him a smile and Helios, knowing that Helios was what drew the kid's attention in the first place. "Could you hold my pegasus for a minute?" he asked.

"Okay," the child reached out and gingerly took Helios off his shoulder, "but he's a unisus, not a pegasus."

Mamoru smiled, carefully swapping his book bag to his other hand, adjusting his grip to attempt to hold all three items comfortably. "Is that so?" he invited.

"Yeah," the boy replied, his tone bolder, almost accusing, "Don't you see his horn? Pegasi don't have horns – unicorns do. So when a horse has wings and a horn they're called a unisus, or sometimes a pegacorn, but that just sounds weird."

"Well he told you, didn't he?" Helios prodded mischievously.

Mamoru's smile grew. "That's a great observation," he complimented, "My name is Chiba Mamoru, what's yours?"

"Mamoru," the boy repeated, looking Helios over carefully.

"Yes, you can call me that," Mamoru replied, raising a brow – it was a bold move, but then kids were bolder now more than ever. "What can I call you?"

"Mamoru," the boy repeated.

Well this wasn't frustrating at all.

"We can't both go by Mamoru," he patiently explained, "How about I keep going by my name since I'm older; what would you like to be called?"

"My name is Mamoru, I want to go by Mamoru," the boy repeated, furrowing his brows as he looked closely into Helios's eyes.

Swooping in for the rescue, Mamoru held his free hand out, "Alright, Mamoru it is, then. I can take him back now." The kid reluctantly handed Helios over, and Mamoru felt him relax in his hand as he put him back on his shoulder and stood. He looked around, trying to remember where the nearest police station was, offered the child his free hand and asked, "Where can I take you, Mamoru?"

As soon as the kid took his hand a flood of images forced themselves into his mind, his psychometry unhindered by adrenaline and his mind unable to block them out: A hazy woman, illuminated by a great evil light, stands alone on the precipice of a great crystalline tower as explosions shake the world around her; A bright, menacing force looms over a foreign city as buildings catch fire and melt. People are screaming; He's running, terrified, being chased. He calls for help, but no one is there to help him. The images faded and Mamoru stared at the kid, trying to process what he had seen, but a commotion parted the crowd before them and the child squeezed his hand in fright, and moved closer to hide behind him.

"Watch out," Helios warned apprehensively, "something's not right about that person."

He could say that again. The woman who strode purposefully towards them was drastically out of place – blue-tinged skin combined with an outfit straight out of the American eighties drew the eye like a train wreck, and the great show she put on, reaching out both hands with an overly upset face, only made it worse.

"Red!" she cried, striding forward on 5-inch stilettos, "Red, there you are! I've been worried sick! Why did you run away from me?" Her voice was high, and she drew out each word dramatically; something about her made Mamoru's skin crawl.

The kid yanked at his hand, trying to pull him away. "We have to go!"

He was inclined to agree, but he needed to be sure. "Do you know her?"

"Please!" the kid replied, pulling harder.

"Her eyes don't have pupils – she's not human!"

Perfect. He couldn't transform – not here, in front of the kid and the crowd – so he had only one option: run. He followed the kid's pull, turned, and quickly took the lead, practically dragging the kid forward as they ran, snaking their way through the late afternoon crowd. Helios kept track of the creature that pursued them; as soon as it started gaining on them, breaking out into a run, Mamoru tossed his bags and uniform aside, aiming for the brick wall between storefronts, and crouched. "Get on my back!" he instructed, but the kid was ahead of him, his arms quickly locking as best they could in front of his neck, Helios held carefully around the midsection in one small hand. Mamoru grimaced – Helios would be much more useful overhead right now, but there was no way to covertly release the unisus without people possibly noticing, especially the kid. He lurched up, rebalancing, and took off, one arm behind his back to support the kid's weight.

As they ran, he fumbled for his watch dial, his hands working awkwardly behind him. Finding it, he twisted the small knob, hoping that he was more lucky now than he had been and that the clock hands would wind up on twelve and call for backup; whether that actually happened or not, he skidded down a side street, running generally towards Hanada's building. He felt a tiny stutter in the dial and felt relief; behind the wind rushing past his ears, he heard voices.

"Mamoru?" Hanada.

"Hey, lover-boy~" Midori.

"What are we seeing here?" Moegi.

"Mamoru, why are you running?!" Kobai.

He skidded around another corner, heading down a less populated street, again towards Hanada's building; he hoped they were still there. He twisted his watchband as best he could – he wore it tightly, without give for jostling, so it burned his wrist a bit but he managed to show them something, for their voices changed immediately. He just hoped they understood someone was with him, so they wouldn't say something they'd regret later.

"What is that?!" Moegi.

"Where is he?" Kobai.

"I know where that is." Hanada.

"We'll be there!" Midori.

He fumbled with the dial again, ending the call, wondering if the kid would piece things together when the Kings came to their rescue, and hoping not. He turned his head away from the mass of red hair on his left shoulder and saw her advancing form; a large pale yellow boomerang-shaped head decoration was plastered to her forehead now, and her hair was loose and golden-blonde; she was losing her disguise. And with a small smile of dark blue lipstick, she teleported yards closer, continuing to run in her high heels.

She was playing with him. "Oh Red~" she lilted, as though specifically reinforcing his thoughts.

The boy tightened his grip, holding on to Mamoru as best he could. "You'll be okay," Mamoru promised between breaths, and the red head nodded into his shoulder.

The woman teleported directly in front of them, now completely different – her fluffy outfit now a sleek, collared one-piece leotard. Or most of one, anyway, with a large cut-out from neck to navel. "Boo!" she cried, her mouth opening to reveal sharp, pointed teeth in her feral smile. The woman's appearance was startling – not a day before, he had fought through hordes of monsters and battled two or even three powerful women for the fate of the planet, but so far everything he had faced had been clearly human or clearly monster – this enemy was like a mixture of both, and the stark contrast between her human appearance and monstrous characteristics threw him, probably more than it should.

Mamoru glanced left, saw an alleyway, and skidded to turn sharply towards it. He barely managed, but he was able to complete the turn and keep the kid on his back, just in time to see the alley was a dead end. If he transformed he could jump to the rooftop, but then the kid would know about his identity, and with what he saw through his psychometry, he wasn't sure he wanted that. His sneakers skidded again as he turned to face the woman, who now floated above the ground with a smug expression on her face.

She was about to say something when a flaming dagger lodged itself in her right arm. She snarled and whirled to face her attacker, and then West King was between them and her in the alleyway, his scimitar drawn. Though his cape hid much of them from her view, Mamoru spotted North King coming at her from across the street, and a yell from above drew his attention to East King, launching himself off the roof towards the enemy, his stone-covered knuckles brought to bear; before he could execute his attack, the woman glowered back towards Mamoru and the kid on his back, and promptly disappeared into thin air.

East adjusted his descent to land feet-first, a relief to Mamoru, who had seen firsthand the crater he would have made otherwise. He shook his long brown hair and started looking around; North was visually scanning the area above the alleyway; when South joined them, shrugging his shoulders, he stated, "I don't see her," and the others seemed to agree.

West turned to face them, his concerned expression changing to curiosity as his silver eyes glanced at the kid riding on Mamoru's back, but he clearly understood the want of secrecy, as he voiced a quick command, "Kings!" and jumped up to the nearest roof. North and South followed him immediately, though he saw their curious eyes through their green and red masks.

East was the last to leave, offering them a bow. With playful bravado, he said, "Never fear, citizens! You're safe so long as the Guardian Kings are around!" and launched himself skyward after the others. Mamoru rolled his eyes and knelt down, allowing the kid to dismount as he continued to catch his breath from the 5 block sprint.

"Do you know those guys?" the child asked hesitantly.

"Sure," Mamoru replied, thinking quickly, "They're the Guardian Kings." Though he wasn't quite sure when 'guardian' had been added on, it had a ring to it so he just kept it in. "I think they were in the newspapers once or twice; they're good guys." He let that sink in for a moment before catching the kid's eyes and asked, putting as much gravity into his words as possible, "Who was that, and why was she chasing you?"

The other-Mamoru quickly looked away, staring down at Helios in his hands, and mumbled, "I don't know."

"You can tell me," Mamoru insisted quietly, "I might be able to help you if I know what's going on."

He wouldn't meet his gaze, instead starting to pet Helios gently.

"Is she why you can't go home alone?"

He hesitated, then nodded.

Footsteps sounded on the sidewalk just beyond the alley, and before he could ask anything else, Moegi's voice rang through the short passageway. "Chiba?" he asked, almost honestly sounding surprised.

"Mamoru!" Midori called, his acting a little over the top. "What are you doing in an alley? And who's your friend?"

Other-Mamoru, looking confused, turned away from him to see who was calling his – or their – name; Mamoru rose to both feet, wondering if he would've gotten a straight answer out of the kid even if they hadn't been interrupted. He strode forward, the kid at his heels. The pair made way for them on the sidewalk – Kobai and Hanada were nowhere to be seen, probably observing from a distance, keeping an eye out for the enemy to return – and looked at him expectantly.

"This is Mamoru," he introduced, motioning towards the short redhead. A teasing smile came over both of his friends' faces, but he ignored them and continued, "Mamoru, this is Moegi Yuu and Midori Nero, friends of mine. I was taking Mamoru home when we ran into some bad company."

"Well that's unfortunate," Moegi commented, "But it's nice to meet you, Mamoru, despite the circumstances."

Midori shrugged, "We're not up to anything – want some company on your way home?"

"I think that's a good idea," Mamoru seconded, appreciating their tact, "What do you think?" he asked, directing the question downwards.

The kid was watching them closely, and nodded at the offer.

"Great!" Midori replied, "Where are we headed?"

"Do you know Tsukino Usagi?" the kid asked quietly, and a chill ran up Mamoru's spine. How did he know Usako? The question paused Moegi and Midori, but the former recovered better, if slower, than the latter.

"What do you want with –" Midori began, but Moegi held up a hand covertly to interrupt.

"We know Usagi-chan," Moegi said, "She's a friend of ours; is she a friend of yours?"

"She's family," the kid replied, his finger gently tapping Helios's horn. "I thought I could maybe stay with her."

With everything that had happened since meeting this kid, that idea was the last thing Mamoru would agree to. Visions of an apocalyptic event coupled with an enemy and a kid who, as of yet, would not answer questions completely? No way would he let him stay with Usako. Not after everything she went through. His distaste for the suggestion must have shown, for Moegi glanced at him and replied easily, "Usagi-chan's sick at the moment, I'm afraid; she should be better in a few days, but, until then, why don't you stay with Midori at his place?"

Midori shot Moegi a look, but replied regardless of his personal feelings, "Yeah, how about it? I live in a mansion – it's pretty cool," he enticed. Midori's mansion was a good option – he'd be under Kobai and Midori's watch; they could figure out his motives, and if Midori had wanted to get away from school for a week, this could give him a responsible reason.

Red eyes glanced up at Mamoru and back down at Helios, "Is he coming, too?"

Midori shrugged, "Yeah, probably; I've got the space." Blue eyes quirked brown brows his way, and Mamoru shrugged in return. He'd rather stay at Hanada's since it was closer to the hospital and school, but he could transform and run there quick enough if he wanted to. He didn't answer for certain yet, though; he wanted to tell them what he had seen first.

"And Helios?" the kid asked, holding the unisus carefully.

"Sure, why not?" Midori returned, "The more the merrier. You ready to go, then?" he asked, "Do you have any bags or anything?"

The kid shook his head, but the question reminded Mamoru of the bags he had left back in the shopping district. He looked back that way, "You guys go ahead, I left my stuff back there; I'll meet you at Midori's place –" as he turned to leave, however, a small hand grabbed his. He paused and turned back, and the kid let go nervously, his hand returning to Helios.

"Don't go," the kid mumbled.

"Hey, you'll be fine," Midori commented, "You're in safe hands with us – don't worry."

"Mamoru!" Hanada called, and Mamoru turned to see him having just turned the corner with Kobai, Mamoru's stuff split between them. "Are these yours?" he asked, lifting his duffel and school bag.

"Yeah," Mamoru called back.

As they pair approached, Hanada asked with a mixture of curiosity and accusation for the kid's sake, "Why were they piled between 'Top City Top-Hats' and the 'Tuxedo Emporium'?" Midori snorted behind him. "Really, you shouldn't be leaving your stuff around Tokyo like that – if Khalid and I hadn't been passing when we did, who knows who might have run off with them." Hanada neutralized his expression as the gap closed between them, and looked to the kid. "Who's this?"

"Hanada Kaito, Kobai Khalid, this is Mamoru." Kobai's eyes narrowed slightly as Mamoru introduced them, looking the kid over carefully. "Mamoru, these are more friends of mine."

"The kid's going to be staying at the mansion with us, Khalid," Midori stated heavily, then lightly added, "Isn't that great? Someone else to school you at Tekken!" he laughed loudly, "Man, is anyone else hungry? I'm starving! Where's the nearest payphone? My driver can't be too far away." He sauntered across the street, finding a payphone across the way, and, glancing back once, started to dial.

"So, Mamoru –" Hanada started, getting both of their attentions. "Uh," he pointed at the kid, "Chibi-Mamoru?"

The kid's eyes turned into a glare as he stared boldly up at Hanada, "Please don't call me that."

"Is there anything else we can call you?" Hanada asked, eyebrow twitching, not knowing he was mirroring an earlier conversation. "It'll be awkward if we call both of you 'Mamoru'," he said through his teeth.

"My name is Mamoru," the kid replied, barely holding a temper, "And I want to be called Mamoru." He stared down at Helios determinedly; Mamoru wondered if Helios needed an extraction, but figured he'd say so if he were overly uncomfortable.

Hanada's green eyes narrowed into a glare, "Okay, Mamoru," he stressed the name, and Mamoru had a feeling that would continue for a while, "Where are you from?"

"Around here," the kid replied. They paused, waiting for elaboration.

None came.

Hanada's brows were twitching, "Yeah?"

"Hey!" Midori called from across the street, covering the transmitter end of the telephone, "How many should they expect for dinner?"

Decisively, Hanada snapped back, "Six!" and returned directly to the conversation, "So where do you go to school?"

Without looking up, the kid replied, "You probably haven't heard of it," a touch of annoyance in his voice.

Hanada's face was starting to turn red and Mamoru was starting to think he should step in before Kaito could do anything rash – if there were anything you shouldn't accuse him of, it was ignorance about the city and the happenings in it, but the kid didn't know that. Hanada took particular pride in that pocket of knowledge, and worked with it nearly every day with the investigative reporting he did in the school newspaper and the ambitions he had for his future. Hanada slowly folded his arms across his chest and leaned on one leg, glaring down at the kid, who was pointedly ignoring him. "Try me." His green eyes were practically sparking with tension.

Yeah, this needed an intervention. Mamoru's mind raced for another topic – any other topic – when Moegi piped in, "It's Juuban Elementary, isn't it?" he asked, a smile twitching at his lips as Hanada's turned incredulous eyes on him.

Other-Mamoru hesitated a second, then replied a bit haltingly, though his voice was still strong as ever, "Yep," he paused, "that's the one." It almost sounded to Mamoru like he was lying…

"My little sister goes there – do you know Moegi Kimiko? Fourth year?" Moegi was practically crowing to a passionately-under-impressed Hanada.

"Don't think so," the kid replied hastily, still staring at Helios, though now it was obvious that he had nothing else to investigate about the 'stuffed toy' and was simply using it as an object to avoid having to look at them. Mamoru couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him; he'd been through a lot, and throwing more strangers at him was not the best thing to do, especially if those visions had been about his past, or directly into their future… but that was the exact reason they had no other option at this point. The kid must be of some importance, and they couldn't abandon him – they'd be directly responsible for anything that happened.

Luckily for him, Midori's limo turned the corner, apparently having been close to their position. Midori hung up the phone and sauntered over just in time for the limo to come to a complete stop. They all waved familiarly at the driver – at this point, Mitsuri-san knew them all by name and address, and they knew a little bit about him – and Moegi motioned for him to keep his seat as Moegi grabbed the back door and opened it for all of them. Hanada, still miffed, slid in and around, followed by Midori, who asked after his mood – "What bit you?". Mamoru motioned for Kobai, who shook his head, eyeing the kid, so Mamoru motioned for the kid, who just looked back at him, then at the opened door. With a quiet sigh, Mamoru slid in and sat on one of the side-facing seats, and was immediately joined by the kid, who sat half a seat away and proceeded to stare intently out the window beside him. Kobai and Moegi joined them, closed the door, and they were off.

It had been a long day for them – just earlier that morning they had landed in Tokyo, transformed, and dropped the civilian girls and Usako off at the hospital. Before that, they had fought monsters in a dimensional pocket a quarter-way around the world, faced off against a power-hungry past-life warmonger, endured the wrath of the old Moon Queen, and lived to tell the tale. He could sleep for weeks – he heard that the plane staff had a hard time waking them up when they landed, and as the sun sunk beneath the horizon, he had a hard time keeping himself awake.

His friends all yawned throughout their casual conversations, keeping things light for the kid's benefit, though through their expressions they were dying to know more about what was going on. Honestly, so did he. For his part, the kid didn't seem to be paying attention to any of them, his eyes intent on the window and the passing world beyond. Helios, still in his lap, was quiet in their minds. They were in the countryside, minutes before reaching Midori's house, when Helios finally spoke.

In a thoughtful voice, edged with a serious weight, he stated, "He shouldn't have known my name."

Brows furrowed all over, and the sleepiness left Mamoru's mind in an instant as he tried to mentally replay all of their conversations – he remembered that the kid had corrected his classification of Helios, but had he, Mamoru, ever mentioned Helios's name? … No. He was pretty sure he hadn't. Glancing at the others, who looked now to him, he shook his head negatively, agreeing with Helios.

The car pulled into the drive and stopped directly beside the expansive front doors to the mansion; immediately the double doors opened and a uniformed man stepped out, but Kobai had already opened the door and stepped out before the man could reach them. They exited, their casual conversation sounding much more forced this time around as they entered through the mansion doors, handing their things over into waiting arms; Mamoru didn't particularly like to be waited on, but he appreciated not having to carry his bags around with him all night. He thanked the man and, the kid hot on his heels, followed Midori to the dining room.

Like all rooms in the Midori family mansion, the dining room was huge and elegant; six spots had been set up for them on one end of a long dining table; other-Mamoru grabbed the seat beside him, though the kid couldn't see much above the table's edge once seated; the butler came in with towels to elevate him to within easy reach of the food. Once settled, the kid put Helios on the table beside him, paused, and dug in to the soup with gusto.

Dinner was relatively quiet, and afterwards, as Kobai, Hanada and Moegi headed for one of the studies on the second floor, Midori and Mamoru showed Other-Mamoru to his room – it was on the same floor as theirs, but a few doors down to provide a buffer from potentially prying ears. Midori showed him around the room, pointing out the bathroom and the television remote. "Uh… I think that's it?" Midori shrugged.

"I don't have any pajamas," the kid replied, standing in the middle of the large room, looking smaller than Mamoru had perceived. He couldn't be older than six; his confidence and attitude had made him seem older, but now…

Midori pointed to one of the lower dressers, "Check the third drawer; they're hand-me-downs, but I think they should work?"

The kid nodded, and tentatively asked, "Could Helios sleep in here with me?"

Mamoru hesitated; if Helios had been a stuffed animal, he would have definitely let the kid keep him for the night – he seemed to have made an attachment to Helios, and he felt like the kid could use more comfort – but the fact was that Helios was very much alive and probably needed to take care of some being-alive things, and join in on the conversation they'd be having in the study in a few minutes. He looked to Helios, and in his mind came Helios's response.

"I'll stay with him; when he falls asleep I'll teleport out," Helios offered, adding "who knows, maybe he'll talk to me and we can get some answers."

Mamoru nodded, the gesture meant for Helios but could work for the kid, too. "Sure, that'd be fine."

The little redhead nodded appreciatively. "Good night, then."

"G'night!" Midori returned cheerfully. Mamoru nodded his second, and they closed the door behind them.

"Think he'll really talk to Helios?" Midori asked as they walked the carpeted hall towards the study.

Mamoru shrugged, "He might, who knows. I mean I hope he does – we have a lot of unanswered questions."

Midori put his hands behind his head casually as he strode forward. They were approaching the study when he asked thoughtfully, "Think that monster escaped from Elysion?"

"I don't think so," Mamoru replied, having given it a lot of thought on the way back, "It didn't fit with the others – it looked mostly human, whereas the Phases Diana worked up looked like anthromorphic animals."

Midori nodded once, then reached for the study door. "So something new, then?"

"Could be," Mamoru answered with a small sigh.

Midori looked back at him and chuckled, "No rest for the weary, eh?" He opened the door and the others stood from their chairs, questions coming from everyone at once, until Kobai cleared his throat, quieting them. "Tell us what happened," he invited, sitting back down.

Mamoru took a seat in a plush armchair that had been dragged into a circle in the middle of the room, rested his elbows on his knees, and began.