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The sun was coming up. Sue could hardly believe his eyes; the goddamned sun was coming up, and it was a school day, and he'd been out the whole damn night -- accomplishing nothing.

"Dammit, Astraea." Rubbing the heel of his palm against one eye, Sue grunted. He kept hoping to just magically run into the Moon kingdom's fat cat (just a turn of phrase), but it never worked out like that. Wherever she was, she was working off of her schedule, not his. Never mind that the Zodiacs were in crisis, and the person to blame was claiming to be her princess. She obviously had more important things to be doing than giving him a clue what the hell was going on, of course!

They were pretty much out of time now, anyway. Sue had to get himself together, get to school; and later, he and the Zodiacs would be meeting to discuss the matter of the Opal Crystal. High on his list of concerns for that meeting was going to be whether they could afford to put their trust in the Moon senshi, when it was supposedly their princess who had stolen the crystal from Chronos. What a ******** mess....

For now, though, it was time to get back to his hotel room. Enough time for a shower, some breakfast, and a change into his uniform before he had to get the bus toward school. It would be faster, of course, if he changed into his cat form in order to get there, but Sue was a bit reluctant to transform if it wasn't necessary. Too many problems with changing back, recently, and he didn't think that the principal would accept "I was trapped in the body of a cat" as an excuse for absenteeism. Trudging his feet, Sue walked through the alleys he'd been combing, starting on his way back to larger, more populated streets.

Sue sure didn't need cat ears to hear that warning bell.

He turned, quickly - didn't trust these alleys, didn't even trust his Guardian senses to pick up on trouble if it was coming up behind him these days. No youma behind him, though; something smaller. And jinglier. And (for the most part), furrier.

"Following me, huh?" There wasn't a great deal of light filtering through the shadows yet, but Sue was pretty damned sure that it was a cat he was dealing with. A few moments of scrutiny left him sure that it wasn't an Astraea-cat, the realization arriving with all the disappointment thereof. A moment more, though, and he caught sight of the star on her forehead. Looked like he was staying for a chat, then. "You're one of the Moon cats? I don't think I met you at the last meeting."

If Sue hadn't introduced himself yet, that was surely just an oversight. He wasn't hedging any revelations of who he was on whether he felt this new cat was trustworthy or not, naturally.

Sue obviously found this argument reasonable enough, so he scooped up the manx and tucked her comfortably in his arms. "********* - good to meet you. I'm Sue. Also Zue of the Zodiacs." He didn't know how new she was - hopefully not so fresh that she hadn't heard of his court, let alone his position in it - but if that was the case, Sue could elucidate for her. It wasn't a short walk home, after all, and she seemed happy enough to tag along.

But he wasn't just taking her along for company - god forbid that he might, because that would be a surefire sign of a psychotic break. Sue had some information she wanted to try getting from her, as long as they were in the same place and she'd be wanting to get information from him, anyway.

"So - how goes the search for the Moon princess?"

"Yeah," he confirmed ********* assumption, "please. And if you don't mind, don't go spreading around that I've got a human life too, eh?" There were a couple people here and there, of course, that Sue had introduced himself to in his human form. That had been before he'd really gotten an idea of how things worked, though; now that he realized that it was unusual, if not unique to him, for Guardians to have a fully human form, the information had become suddenly more precious to him. The less people that knew he was a kid that went to school, hung with friends, had a family... you know how it was. The less chance someone would find a way to take advantage of it.

The chin shifted around a bit, suggesting (if one were adept in reading chin-language) that Sue might have smiled. "Your girls, eh? Who are you looking for?" Normally, this would be the point where he mentioned that the Zodiacs might be able to keep an eye out - in light of recent events, though, he was more cautious about offering assistance. "I've got a few to find myself, hiding around somewhere. The rest of the Season senshi."

Her shadow? What about her shadow, now? Sue wasn't quite sure what the manx was getting at, but if nothing else, it sounded like it was some form of promise not to go around blabbing about his extra form. "Thanks." A little curt, maybe not as soft and friendly as she'd expect in response to her friendly cheek-rubs, but that was just how Sue interacted, of course. It didn't stop him from reciprocating with a scratch behind her ear, anyway.

"Only three, actually. We found Sailor Flora just a bit ago. Now it's just...." What were their names? The Princess had known, but Sue didn't have the same depths of knowledge as she did. He frowned, then went for the cop-out: "Summer, Fall, Winter. Flora was already awakened with the Moon court, somehow, so keep an eye out when you're meeting new senshi and make sure they're yours, right?" Whether ********* needed the lecture or not, who could say - but Sue wasn't exactly thrilled to have found out that he should be double-checking the work of the Moon kitties, making sure that none of the Season senshi got conscripted into the Moon court because someone wasn't paying attention, so it was worth a few words. "I'll keep an eye out for your girls, though, if there's time. I'm a bit busy right now, you know. Speaking of which...."

Speaking of which. Geez - like it just happened to come to mind. Like it hadn't been the ******** ghost haunting his existence since he learned of it. Still, serious as he was, Sue managed not to sound too dire when he asked, "Have you heard about what happened to the Opal Crystal?"

Flora had made her brain itch? That was a new one, for sure. Since becoming awakened, Sue's brain had done lots of things, but itching wasn't one yet. Which was good, because that sounded unpleasant. He still remembered the itchy agony of growing that tail and those ears....

Somewhere in the midst of this consideration, Sue discovered a cat head poking into his face. Nearly nose-to-nose with his conversation partner now, he found himself surprisingly unnerved. It just wasn't natural, you know, for cats to make eye contact like that. It was supposed to be a sign of dominance; Sue had to keep reminding himself, this was just a method of conversation.

"Our Opal Crystal was stolen by someone called the Black Lady, who claims to be Serenity." There - the information was all wrapped up and presented to *********, nice and tidy. Sue wasn't the sort to dance around this topics, clearly. "There's been no mention of this around the Moonies, eh? Not even from Astraea? Wonder if she even knows...."

"She's... better." A loaded question got a loaded answer. They were starting to get out of the little alleyways now, though. No people in sight yet, but there was the sound of traffic not so far off. Sue was walking more slowly now, as though trying to stretch out the time for open conversation. "She took it pretty hard there, for a while," Sue admitted. "I'm not happy much about it, either. I... wasn't there, you know? And I should have been. She could have called me, but instead...."

Sue hadn't said that to anyone yet. The Zodiacs didn't need his self-pitying, after all. But ********* was a Guardian, like he was; she had to understand. To protect and serve was the rudimentary instinct that all Guardian Cats shared; even such a strange one as Sue, even such a new one as *********. To have failed was bad; to have never had the chance, that was undeniably worse. If the Moon Court's princess was found - dead in a ditch, killed by the Negaverse before anyone could so much as say hello - that was the feeling.

"She knows the rest, anyway, so you can talk with her about anything," Sue assured *********. "She's the one that woke me up, after all. And thanks - I'd owe you one." As though the Zodiacs didn't already owe the Moon court - assuming that the Black Lady really didn't have any affiliation with them. That Astraea wouldn't s**t her pants, hearing that there was Serenity around, and pledge allegiance without a second thought.

God, Sue hoped it didn't go to that.

But this was about as far as they would go; this next turn would put them in sight of the main road, and there was no easy way to carry on a conversation from there. Sue stopped altogether. "I think this's where you get off," he said gently, running his hand one last time over the fur of her head and back. Stooping down, he loosened his grip enough that ********* could take the final little leap to the ground. "Look, you know Meadowview High, right? Well, that's where I go. I'm usually outside around lunchtime, so you can look for me. If you need help with anything, you catch up with me, okay?"