It was the dream again. Makoto Kino knew she was going to have a bad day any time she had the dream. It always started out in one of two ways, either in the kitchen or in the back yard. If it started in the kitchen, then she would be gazing up at a figure that towered over her yet caused no fear. The figure, vaguely female, would speak in a soft, lilting voice and though she could not understand the words, Makoto knew that they contained an incredible wisdom. If the dream started in the back yard, then the figure was vaguely male and possessed a powerful strength that was somehow never intimidating. Her heartbeat would increase at the words it spoke and she would feel a strange sense of joy, but she could no more understand them than she could those of the other figure. But the pleasantness of the dream would always decay after that and end with the two figures leaving the house together, leaving her behind no matter what she tried to say or do. And when the door slammed close, all of the heat would vanish and the house would become a cold, desolate cave. Makoto always woke from the dream crying and in a depressed mood that would last all day.
As she dragged herself out of bed, she glanced around the empty house where she lived and realized that today would be no different. She pulled on her school uniform with mechanical motions, her heart just not into bothering to try to look nice. She was extremely surprised when she opened the door and found all of her friends outside dressed in casual clothes.
She blinked wearily for a moment. “Uhm, why aren’t you dressed for school? Rei, what are you doing here?”
Her friends looked at each other for a moment before looking back at her. “It’s Sunday,” Rei Hino answered.
“Yeah, even Ami isn’t going to school today!” Rei turned to glare at Usagi Tsukino.
“Sunday?” Makoto rubbed her head as she leaned against the doorframe. “Hold on, let me go change.” She disappeared back inside the house.
Her friends all looked at each other. Ami Mizuno’s face showed some concern, but was mostly neutral. Rei and Usagi were too busy making faces at each other to actually show the worry that they felt. Minako Aino just scratched her head. While not stupid, she was rather slow on the uptake when it came to things other than boys and battle.
Usagi stopped taunting Rei long enough to realize that Makoto had left her door open. Before Rei could stop her, she stepped inside and looked around. She hadn’t been able to check out Makoto’s home before and she took a good long look around. There were a lot of plants around, all of them in excellent conditions. There were also some lovely paintings and other decorations. All in all, it was a homey house. ‘So why does it seem so lifeless?’ Usagi wondered. It was then that she noticed an umbrella standing on a small pedestal in a corner of the living room. The way it was positioned made it seem to be more of a decoration than a tool. Though she couldn’t pin it down, there was something odd about it.
Her hand was almost touching it when Makoto’s voice rang out from behind her. “DON’T!”
Usagi tried to jerk her hand back, but she went off balance and collided with the pedestal, jarring the umbrella from its resting place. It slowly slipped off of its stand and landed against an end table. Everyone’s eyes went wide as the table cracked in half from the impact and the umbrella thudded against the floor.
“Imsorryimsorryididntmeantobreakitimsososorry!” Usagi broke down crying.
Makoto had seen it happen a number of times before, but it was a little different this time. It wasn’t a ‘pity me’ wail or an ‘it’s too hard’ whine, but honest remorseful crying. She sighed and moved to comfort Usagi. “It’s all right. Don’t worry about it.” When Usagi nodded her head and quit crying, Makoto knelt down and moved to put the umbrella back in its place.
Her friends all blinked in surprise as Makoto showed obvious signs of strain from lifting the object. Makoto grunted as she set it on the pedestal. “Man, I forgot just how heavy that thing is.”
“What’s it made out of, lead?” Ami asked curiously.
“Steel?” Rei offered.
“Gold?!” Minako hoped.
“Actually, I have no idea what it’s made of. All I know is… it was dad’s.” Makoto let her hand brush carefully against the umbrella’s length as she sighed.