Chapter 2

The Youma shrieked loudly as it bit down upon itself, and sent another pair wrapping around Sailor Venus' wrists before she could react, forcing her arms apart. The Senshi gritted her teeth, continuing to force-feed the Youma, but her efforts only seemed to spurn it on, and as she began feeling a cold tingling creep through the armor that held the Youma's tentacles half an inch away from actual skin contact.

"I can't keep this up forever!" Venus grumbled through gritted teeth as she was pulled in four different directions at once, "I guess this just calls for desperate measures!"

With that, Sailor Venus sat up, and bit down hard on the nearest tentacle. Once again the Youma shrieked in pain, immediately sending reinforcements. One quickly wrapped around its victim's throat, pulling Sailor Venus back down, as several others backed up the ones binding her arms and legs.

The Youma then began pulling the desperately struggling Senshi across the floor towards itself, with only her armor protecting her from really bad rug burn. Once she was within arm's reach, the tentacles that bound her legs squeezed tighter, almost penetrating the force field that protected her legs.

"I won't make this easy for you!" Sailor Venus shouted defiantly as her lower body was pulled off the floor until she was resting only on her shoulders.

The Senshi gritted her teeth as multiple new tentacles slithered about body, desperately trying to find a weak point, but having no luck. Several even tried tearing away at her skirt, but it might as well have been made of wrought iron for all the luck they had, as one boldly ventured underneath of it trying desperately to get a grip on her under garments with even less success. Venus could just imagine the frustration it was going through, as she was only vaguely causing her to be aware of the way it gnawed at the frictionless surface that her armor provided.

"Having problems?" laughed Sailor Venus, unable to suppress her amusement at the Youma's utter failure to take advantage of her. Infact, it soon found her squirming arms and legs almost too slippery to maintain a proper grip on, and had to continually shift and shuffle around its tentacles to maintain its hold.

"Well, that's just too bad!" she taunted as it tried to unsuccessfully wrap tentacles around her breasts, failing miserably at it, as the tendrils simply slid off the armor's frictionless surface, "Because all you're going is tickling me! And I HATE being tickled!!!"

With that, Sailor Venus somehow found the strength to stagger to a standing position. She forced her arms forward, grabbing as many squirming black tentacles as she could into a large bundle by the time her hands met. The Youma's eyes went wide with disbelief at the feat the Senshi had just performed, and howled in frustration.

"Nothing personal!" Sailor Venus commented, shifting her weight, and beginning to turn in a slow arc, "But I already have someone that I'm interested in... And she's the only one that I want touching ME!!!"

She then began picking up speed, spinning both herself and the frustrated Youma in faster and faster circles. The creature made a few dizzied sounds of protest as the room blurred around it as it spun, it's free tentacles flailing, and knocking over various household items in an attempt to anchor itself.

Finally, it began to almost cry, as the only sound that it heard was the sound of Sailor Venus laughing maniacally at its expense until she shouted as loudly as he could, "Crescent! Beam!!!"

They Youma let out one last shrieking cry of terror as bright golden light flowed along its tentacles, following them up to its body, where the solar radiation began filling it with unimaginable pain. Its eyes literally burned out of their sockets as all the hydrogen in its body was converted into helium in a small, well-contained nuclear fusion reaction. The Youma wasn't conscious by the time thousands of small black bits flew in all directions, heralded by a glowing brilliant radiance...

Sailor Venus sighed heavily as the tentacles that had once held her disintegrated into dust. She then looked over at the two small children who were still cowering in the corner. "I guess I'll have to call 911 or something," she muttered quietly, "But I have NO idea as what to report having actually happened here..."

Sailor Venus picked up the phone and dialed the number before simply putting the receiver down on the end table. "Don't worry," she reassured the two motionless, frightened children, "they'll send somebody along just to make sure. Just stay put, the police will be here soon enough..."

"Are, are you Sailor Moon?" inquired the boy nervously.

Venus ground her teeth, composing herself before turning back towards the two. "No," she said with a forced smile, "I'm Sailor Venus! And don't either of you forget it!"

"Oh! I see!" exclaimed the little girl, "I knew you couldn't be HER! Because you're much too cool! You don't need some guy to come in and save you at the last moment! You're a real heroine, Sailor Venus!"

The Senshi sighed contentedly, smiling happily. "Well, in that case," she replied, picking a note pad and pen up off the floor, "Here's a little souvenir!"

She quickly wrote "Sailor Venus" on two sheets of paper and handed them to the two children, before happily bounding out the window, back into the cold pouring rain...

After changing back, Minako immediately called a meeting. About fifteen minutes later, the group was assembled at Rei's. It was then that Minako explained to the others most of what happened on her way home.

"So you say that your powers just fizzled out for a short time?" inquired Luna as Ami scanned Minako for anomalies.

Minako nodded and sipped her tea. "I'm reading a 7.41% drop in your life force energy," commented Ami in a serious tone, "Are you certain that you weren't energy drained just before you tried using your Crescent Beam, Minako-chan? Or even before hand, perhaps? You weren't... 'With' anyone were you?"

"What?!" demanded Minako, missing Ami's joking tone completely, and turning slightly red, "Are you crazy?! But yeah. Maybe it did drain me a little. But it may have been able to generate some kind of dampening field as well."

"That's quite conceivable," responded Ami, "But I don't think that Youma DID get to you."

"Oh?" inquired Minako suspiciously.

"Yes..." explained Ami carefully, "You see, from what I've discerned from its residual aura signature, and the dust that didn't wash away in the rain. This Youma could only feed from frightened victims. But really, that's only a hypothesis. You don't show any signs of showing fear, though. Not in the last forty eight hour, anyway."

"It could be that it required an adrenaline rush as well," volunteered Luna, "But, unfortunately, we're no more closer to solving this-"

"Hm, that's strange," commented Ami, just before she put the computer away.

"What?" inquired Minako, feeling suddenly paranoid.

"You've experienced heightened endorphin levels in the last four hours," explained Ami, blushing a little, "Gee, I was only kidding about you doing 'things'..."

"Hey!" came Minako's exasperated reply, "I'd remember something like THAT!"

"You wouldn't necessarily have to go too far," explained Ami, "Unless I miss my guess, the victims of the Youma we're after might not need to be quite so... 'Brutalized' as Mirimoto-san was. Maybe it's like Jack the Ripper. He only went way out of his way with his killings when he had a lot of time on his hands. Maybe you were the victim of a light snack at an... 'Inopportune moment'?"

"And just what are you implying?!" demanded Minako, her face becoming horribly flushed.

"OR!" laughed Usagi, "Minako-chan really DOES have some new secret boyfriend she's hiding from us! And she was so involved that she didn't even notice-!"

"Would you just shut up, already!" yelled Artemis, glaring coldly at Usagi, "Can't you see that Minako-chan's been through a rather traumatic experience?! She could have killed! Or worse!"

The group stared at the cat, shocked by his out burst. A second later Usagi began to cry. "I think we should go..." Minako said quietly, as she got to her feet.

"I, I'm sorry, Usagi-chan," apologized Artemis as he watched Minako step outside.

"Well I guess this meeting's just fallen to pieces!" grumbled Makoto, collecting her things.

"Look," continued Artemis, "There's some things that I have to discuss with Minako- chan. There's more going on in her life right now than hunting some Youma with a hyperactive libido. Also... I may have a lead."

"Oh?" the group, minus the teary eyed Usagi, inquired as one.

The cat shook his head sullenly. "No. Not now, I... I'm sorry," he replied.

"Look, if you have something more for us to go on-" implored Rei.

"No," Artemis continued, closing his eyes tightly, "Not now... I have reason to think that it might be someone close to Minako-chan. But I need to break the news to her first, okay?"

"How does lunchtime tomorrow sound?" inquired Rei.

The cat nodded. "For now, fine," he responded, "But right just now, I have a friend to talk to..."

The cat then ran out and dashed after Minako, who had had a unfair head start. "Oh, man!" Artemis muttered, "I REALLY hate the rain... !"

Minako was leaning against a lamppost several blocks away when Artemis finally caught up to her. Her arms were folded across her chest, hugging herself against the cold as she forlornly stared at the ground.

"Hey," said the cat, shivering as the rain made him look more like a drowned rat.

Minako looked up and Artemis could tell that she'd been crying. "Oh dear," he replied mostly to himself, "Minako-chan, what's wrong?"

She just shook her head, continuing to stare at her feet. "Forget it!" Minako yelled over the sound of the pouring rain, shutting he eyes tightly to hold back the tears.

"But, you can talk to me," implored Artemis, sitting down at her feet, "That's part of my job, right?"

Minako sighed, covering her eyes with her hand. "I'm not stupid, ya know," she muttered, "I know what Ami found. I know when I was energy drained. I felt it but I told myself it was something else..."

"Maybe it was," offered Artemis, looking away, uncertain of how to continue.

"But that's not all," Minako continued grimly, "It happened when I kissed Yuri-chan. Artemis-kun, so you know what it's like to always fall in love with the wrong people?! Every fragging time?!"

"Minako-chan!" Artemis interrupted, trying to sound sympathetic, "It might NOT be her! Maybe the Youma was just passing by and discreetly stole some of your energy to tie it over 'till dinner! We don't really know yet... But as a precaution, Rei-chan and Luna- chan are stopping by your school to scan Yuri-chan. And who knows, maybe Ami-chan's computer was way off the mark."

"Machines don't die..." sneered Minako, trying unsuccessfully to hold back her feelings.

"'Lie'," corrected Artemis quietly.

"Whatever!" Minako exclaimed, throwing her arms in the air.

"Look," continued the cat, "Maybe Yuri IS something else. But so what? She didn't exactly strike me as 'evil'. And I AM a fairly good judge of character! And besides, there ARE a lot of other 'things' out there besides just Youma. I mean, hey, you know two talkin' cats for cryin' out loud!"

Minako gave a small smiled. "Maybe," she half sobbed, half laughed, "Maybe she's another Sailor Senshi. I do seem to recall there being some possibility of a tenth planet out past Pluto."

Artemis looked thoughtful for a moment. "Um... No," he said nervously, looking around in an exaggerated paranoid manner, "As I recall, that's something else..."

"Oh?" inquired Minako, finally meeting the cat's gaze.

"Um... It's nothing! Really!" he replied in his least believable tone of voice, "And besides, it's one of those things that'll come back to you once more of your past life memories come back."

Minako stared down at the cat, trying to hold back a smile, all too soon giving in, and laughing out loud. "You're lying through your pointy little teeth!" she accused, bending over to pick up the wet cat, "You have absolutely NO idea what's actually out there, do you? You're just trying to make me laugh!"

"Ask me no questions, I sell you no flies!" replied Artemis with the utmost of sarcasm, "And, um, thanks..."

"For what?" she asked, hugging the cat closer.

"For making it easier to tell you that the person you're in love with is a suspect..." Artemis answered sheepishly.

"I suppose so," Minako replied with a shrug.

"Yeah well, we can do a little investigating of our own before the other's show up tomorrow," the cat suggested, "But I guess that our best bet is to catch her before your first class. But it would be easier if we could just visit her at home."

"She headed west today," replied Minako, "But I can't give you much more to go on than that."

"Well, I guess that's something," Artemis said thoughtfully, "Maybe Ami-chan can do some cross-referencing and find out who's moved into any vacant apartments in the districts west of your school. She'd probably need more to go on, though."

"Are you kidding!?" laughed Minako, "This is Ami we're talking about here!"

"Yeah!" agreed Artemis with a wide grin, "You're probably right, but we'd best be at school early tomorrow, that way we improve our chances of catching Yuri-chan before class. How's an hour sound to you?"

Minako nodded. "No problem," she answered, "So long as you don't mind me being the walking dead first thing."

"Well," replied Artemis with a wry grin, "I guess you'll just be 'Sailor Walking Dead' if any Youma show up!"

"Don't push it, kitty!" Minako said with a scowl.

"Just kidding!" laughed Artemis, "Now, if you don't mind, what do ya say we head home, okay? Pneumonia isn't on my shopping list today!"

"Sure," responded Minako, "I guess my energy levels are low enough without catching the flu..."

The next day, Minako and Artemis arrived at school an hour and a half early, and as promised, Minako was only half awake as the two sat upon a bench near the front gates waiting for Yuriko to arrive.

"So, what's the plan, Artemis-kun?" Minako inquired with a yawn.

The cat glanced around as various other early risers milled about. "I think we have a fairly good vantage point right here," the cat replied, "We can probably just stay put for now."

"Sounds like a clam," muttered Minako, her eyes half closing warily before suddenly leaping to her feet, half scaring Artemis to death. "Yuriko-chan," she whispered under her breath.

"What-?! Where-?!" the cat exclaimed trying to look in all directions at once.

"Over there," Minako answered as Yuriko walked slowly towards them, her eyes downcast.

"Yuri-chan!" Minako called, as the girl got closer.

"Oh! Minako-san, greetings and salutations," she replied sadly, stopping a few feet away, barely meeting Minako's gaze, "I, I'm so sorry about yesterday..."

"It's okay," assured Minako, stepping over to Yuriko, and putting her hands on her friend's shoulders, "I'm glad it happened. It just makes it easier to tell you, Yuri-chan... That I'm falling in love with you."

As their eyes met, Minako could see tears starting to form in Yuriko's eyes, before spilling down her cheeks. "Minako-san, I-" she whispered, choosing her words carefully, "I've loved you since I first saw you in the newspaper in Kyoto. And as much as I had dreamed that you'd feel the same for me. I, I just don't want to wind up hurting you..."

"Oh!" replied Minako, feeling a little unnerved, "You fell in love with me due to the pictures I did when I was modeling for those Sailor V publicity shots? Wow, I guess I shouldn't have been quite so self-conscious about my appearance!"

"Um, no," continued Yuriko, shaking her head slowly, "That's not what I meant..." She reached into her carrying case and pulled out a scrapbook. Yuriko flipped through several pages as Minako reluctantly let go of her shoulders.

"This is what I meant," Yuriko replied, "Not publicity shots, Minako-san. I meant, the real thing."

Minako's eyes widened for a moment as she saw a newspaper article; cut out, and pasted to one page in the book. The picture was of the 'real' Sailor Venus, firing off a Crescent Beam, with an old headline mentioning something about her stopping a bank robbery. Minako thought quickly, knowing that her Sailor Senshi armor also altered her appearance in such a way as to give her a level of anonymity. But still feeling worried that perhaps her vanity had finally gotten her in trouble, and that Minako's 'impersonating' Sailor V had finally blown her cover.

"Minako-san, it's all right," came Yuriko's nervous tone, "I know... about you. It's a talent I have. But I've never told anyone! I promise, I'm the only one who knows. And when I found out that you went to school here, I couldn't help but ask my 'Mother' to transfer me here, seeing as we were going to move to Tokyo anyway. But now I'm afraid that I'm endangering you. I'm afraid of hurting you Minako-chan."

"Yuri-chan," Minako replied, taking the girl's face in her hands and tilting her head up, "How do you think you could hurt me? What don't I know?"

Yuriko took hold of both of Minako's hands, lowering them. "Seeing through your disguise is something that I've always been able to do. Along with my other talent..." Yuriko explained sadly.

"Other talent?" inquired Minako, her pulse racing as they spoke.

Yuriko nodded and continued. "Yes, I call it 'Hiding in Plain Sight'," she explained, "That's why I can disappear so easily. People just subconsciously ignore or forget me for a little while. Just like we did the other day."

"Oh!" laughed Minako, feeling relieved, "So that's all! You're and Esper!"

Yuriko glanced back up at Minako and put her arms around her friend. "Please," she implored, "just hold me for a little while, my dearest Minako-chan. We're shielded from view by my talent, but after you here what I have to tell you. You'll hate me forever."

Minako hugged Yuriko, and the girl squeezed her tightly in return. "What is it, my love?" Minako inquired softly, savoring the sensation of Yuriko's warmth against her own basking in the feeling of freedom of expression afforded by the girl's psi-power.

"I, I..." stammered Yuriko, beginning to cry on Minako's shoulder.

"It's okay," she soothed, "You don't have to tell me all of your secrets right away... Even though you seem to know most of mine..."

"Only some," admitted Yuriko guiltily, "but especially the one that I have no right to know."

"Shh, it's okay, Yuri-chan," Minako whispered, "It was bound to happen sooner or later someone was eventually going to see through my disguise when I'm out stomping Youma-"

"That's not it," interrupted Yuriko, shaking her head sadly, "Minako-chan, have you ever tasted honey?"

"Yes," she answered questioningly.

"Well, when I kissed you-" began Yuriko.

"How very poetic..." replied Minako, hugging her friend appreciatively, and blushing profusely.

"No, you misunderstand," Yuriko continued, "it was more than just your kiss..."

Minako waited for the girl to finish, but Yuriko only shook her head. "Maybe later," offered Minako reassuringly, "We have our whole lives ahead of us. But I should tell you. I have some friends stopping by here for lunch today, and-"

"F-friends?" stammered Yuriko, looking imploringly into Minako's eyes, "Um, can we meet them right here, by any chance?"

Minako nodded giving her a questioning look. "Sure, but why?" she inquired.

Yuriko turned away and shrugged. "I, I'd just feel better about meeting new people in an as public place as possible. That's all," she answered nervously.

"I understand," replied Minako with a smile, ands leaned forward to kiss Yuriko.

She turned back and tilted her head slightly before meeting Minako's lips with unbridled enthusiasm. The two stood silently for several moments; simply holding one another, enjoying the comfort provided the touch of each other's kiss. But suddenly Minako felt a warm drop of moisture touch her lips.

She opened her eyes, and saw that Yuriko was crying. "I, I'm sorry, Minako-chan," Yuriko said sadly as she pulled away, causing Minako' heart to sink, "But I don't want to hurt you..." Yuriko then broke away completely, and tore off into the crowd of passing students, once again, disappearing.

"OH!" there you are!" exclaimed Artemis, running over to Minako as she stood staring off into space, the feeling of euphoria leaving her a little dazed, "Where did you two go? It's like you just vanished!"

"Paradise..." muttered Minako softly, unconsciously licking her lips, and stilling feeling Yuriko's touch upon them, as she tasted her tears, "I never thought that it would be such a sad place."

"Yuriko-chan," chuckled Artemis rhetorically before noticing the look in Minako's eyes. "Hey, what's wrong, kid?"

"Um... They're not salty," Minako said wonderingly.

"What aren't?" the cat inquired.

"Yuri-chan's tears..." Minako answered, and a chill ran down Artemis' spine...

Minako spent the morning feeling terribly alone, as for some reason, Yuriko failed to attend any of their mutual classes. So, when lunchtime finally came around, Minako immediately rushed outside to where Artemis was waiting for her.

The cat looked up at her with a grim smile and motioned towards the street. "They'll be here soon," he said quietly, "But are you gonna be okay? You look pale."

Minako shrugged. "Maybe," she responded, sitting down on the bench, "I have NO idea where Yuriko is, though. She wasn't in school this morning."

Artemis looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well, there goes that plan I guess..." he muttered.

Minako looked over at him with tears in her eyes. "Then I guess that's it then," she commented sadly, "She's guilty by reason of omission. The others will assume that Yuti- chan ran when she found out that they were on to her. Now they'll hunt her down... and end it..."

"Minako-chan," Artemis said guiltily, "That's not what's going to happen. I'm sure she'll turn up. And then we can go from there. We'll just wait for her-"

"And what if Yuri-chan IS the Youma?!" demanded Minako, "What then... ?"

"We'll deal with that possibility, when, and if it comes to that," Artemis answered, hating the way this was hurting Minako, "Don't worry, I'm sure it's all just a coincidence. I mean, any evidence that there is against her is purely circumstantial. I'm sure that neither of you has anything to worry about."

Minako just shook her head, thinking over Yuriko's words earlier that day, wondering what Yuriko had so desperately wanted to tell her but just couldn't. "I just wish that Yuriko was here to defend herself," Minako muttered, "so that we could prove her innocence."

Artemis turned away, and noticed the approaching figures of Rei, Ami. In Ami's arms was nestled Luna, and all three wore grim expressions upon their faces. They noticed Minako and Artemis almost immediately, and rushed over.

"I think that we should tell you this right off, Minako-chan," replied Luna.

"Oh?" inquired Minako, without looking up from her contemplation of the ground at her feet.

"Well, it's just that we found a very old news paper article from Kyoto," explained Ami, pulling out a photocopied newspaper article, and handing it to Minako, "We thought that it was only fair that we told you."

Minako looked up, and took the paper without a word. She stared blankly at it for several long seconds, before her eyes went wide, and began tearing up. The headline read, "Family of Honor's Student Slain. Daughter Presumed Kidnapped". The picture associated with the article was of Yuriko. Minako shuddered slightly, but continued reading. It went on to say that Yuriko's parents were slain in their beds, and that all that was found of Yuriko were some torn bedclothes and signs of a struggle.

Minako dropped the paper and stared blankly forward in silence. "I'm sorry, Minako- chan," Ami said quietly, putting her hand on Minako's shoulder for emotional support, "If you need to talk..."

"It's not your fault," whispered Minako, feeling cold all over.

"So what now?" Artemis asked Luna quietly.

The cat shrugged. "I guess we should find out where she lives," replied Luna, "It's still possible that there's more to this than we're seeing. Some Youma do keep humans as slaves for extended periods. Sometimes using them like livestock, feeding from them when hunting is too dangerous to be worth the bother. Yuriko-san may still just be an innocent victim in all of this."

Minako shuddered at Luna's words. The thought of some vile Youma using Yuriko as a food supply filling her with contempt. But still, there was the possibly that Yuriko had been brought across by the Youma instead. She could have been lying about being an Esper, her abilities could very well have been Youma powers. But Minako tried not to think about that.

"I, I think I need to be alone, guys..." she commented, feeling a little sick, "If you think that it's for the best go and check out the school's records for her address. But, promise me this. If she IS a Youma, I don't want to be there when you guys... End it..."

"We understand," replied Luna solemnly.

"I'm sorry, Minako-chan," Ami said again, as her friend turned and walked away.

"I know," Minako said forlornly leaving them standing by the gates...

Minako found the tree she would often meet Artemis, and leaned against it. She let out a long sigh, and looked up into the ginkgo's foliage. "You can come out now," she said evenly to the empty air.

"How-? How did you know?" came Yuriko's startled voice from behind her.

"Lucky guess," responded Minako, turning to see Yuriko leaning against the opposite side of the tree, her arms folded across her chest.

"Minako-chan, I-I'm so sorry that I couldn't tell you-" began Yuriko.

"But I guess I'm just getting used to you hiding things from me," interrupted Minako, "So, what's the whole story? Just tell me. At this point I can take anything."

Yuriko took a deep breath before pushing herself away form the ginkgo tree and moved to face Minako. "A long while ago she came looking for a daughter. Someone to carry on Her legacy. It was because of my being an Esper that She chose me," Yuriko explained, her deep green eyes seeming distant as she spoke, "But I wasn't quite what she'd bargained for. I'm not like her. I refuse to be... Anyway, a while ago, I heard about Sailor V. I became quite a fan of hers... So I tried to find out everything I could about her. Until eventually, I found myself quite in love with you, Minako-chan. Then, when I found out that you lived in Tokyo, I begged and pleaded with Her to relocate us. I made up all kinds of excuses. And made a few scarifies... But we moved here. And now I've finally met you in person, I think I know what I really want. But first I just want you to know, that I never told her anything about you, my love. You're safe from her, but I'm not. And that's why- That's why I want you to end this. Soon..."

Minako met her gaze and took Yuriko's hand. "I promise," she said, "That I'll take care of this creature that's been using you. And then no one will hurt you. Not ever again, my dearest Yuriko."

Yuriko shook her head. "No, Minako-chan," she replied sadly, "There's more to this than you think..."

Minako's heart sank as the painful realization sunk in completely. "Then you're a- A-" she stammered, unable to get the words out.

"Minako," sobbed Yuriko, taking Minako in her arms and crying onto her shoulder, "Please, if you truly love me, don't say it. Please just don't say those awful words."

Minako closed her eyes tightly, fighting back the tears, clenching her fists as she felt her anger build. She felt angry with herself for not accepting the truth sooner, and felt mad at the universe for never allowing her a "normal" relationship, she was consumed with hatred for the inhuman, twisted creature that had ruined Yuriko's life forever.

"So, what happens now?" she asked, through gritted teeth, putting her arms carefully around her friend, no longer caring about the consequences of close contact with Yuriko.

I want you to end this," Yuriko whispered almost inaudibly in Minako's ear, "I can't keep going on this way. Being something less than human, sustaining myself by drinking Her corrupted energy..."

"So, she did 'bring you across' then... ?" commented Minako, suddenly experiencing a terrible calm.

"Yes," admitted Yuriko, sobbing and releasing new tears, "and that's why- why I was so afraid to spend too much time with you. Just in case I- hurt you. But please, Minako- chan, believe me when I say that I've never hurt anyone. I could never. Infact, the strange thing is, is that I require a victim who's willing. That's one reason why I've had to stay with Her. So that I could have someone to feed from and not have to worry. But now, now I just want it all to end. And I... Really do want you to know, that I DO love you, Minako. Honestly, I do. And that's why I want it to be you. I want you... To kill me."