24 Hours to Life
by Moon Momma

9:00 pm, Tokyo
Nephrite, Jadeite, Zoisite, Kunzite

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When Nephrite, Jadeite, Zoisite, and Kunzite left the tuxedo rental shop, the three prospective conquerors of the casinos were dressed in the height of formal wear, appropriate for rubbing elbows with the high-stakes gamblers of the jet-set world. Black tuxes, black tie, ruffled shirts but no cummerbunds; those were a little too formal, Nephrite told them. Zoisite had taken a liking to a bright turquoise tux, but Nephrite had managed to convince him that an outfit in that color would get him mistaken for a bellboy at a hotel.

Setting up the teleport was a little harder. In order to do an accurate teleport - that is, not end up stuck in a wall or in the middle of the ocean or somewhere else inconvenient - it was necessary to have a clear picture of your destination in mind. It was best to teleport to a place where you had been before; next best was to view accurate images of the place and then hold those images in mind. While Kunzite, Zoisite, and Jadeite were being fitted in their tuxes, Nephrite had gone into a book store in the same shopping galleria and purchased a travel guide to the world's finest casinos, complete with small but clear color photos of each casino.

Outside the tux shop, they found a well-lighted place to study the travel guide. Nephrite flipped open the guide to a page featuring a photo of a huge, glittering, well-lit building with elegant landscaping and a long line of expensive cars pulled up in front. "How does that look?" he asked. "And it isn't too far off our time zone here, so the night's still young."

"Looks like as good a place as any to start," Jadeite said.

"All right." Nephrite took off his watch. It was an expensive watch, but he was giving it up in a good cause. He could get another cheap one right away. "Remember, we only have till six o'clock tomorrow evening to finish all this. So you probably need to be back here by nine in the morning with your winnings so we can arrange to meet with everyone we owe apologies and refunds to. So keep an eye on the time."

"I'll watch the time," Jadeite said, so Nephrite handed the watch to him.

"Take this, too." Nephrite handed Kunzite the travel guide. "In case you win too much and wear out your welcome at the first place. Or in case the games aren't working in your favor and you need to try someplace else." He thought back to everything else he had learned in his social life as Sanjouin Masato. "And don't put all your money on the same games at one time. Start small, and try different games to see if there are any you're better at than others. And no cheating." He gave Zoisite a pointed look.

"Me? Cheat?" Zoisite said in an affronted voice.

Jadeite rolled his eyes.

"I know it's tempting to see what you can get away with, Zoisite," Kunzite said, "but there's too much at stake here. So behave yourself. If we win this second chance at life, I promise we'll go back and you can cheat to your heart's desire."

"Oh, all right," Zoisite said in a sulky voice.

"Is there anything else we need to talk about?" Nephrite asked.

"I think we've got it," Jadeite said.

"All right, then. Meet me at the bench where we were sitting before, by nine in the morning. In the meantime, I'll see what I can learn from the Sailor Senshi and try to find a way to undo whatever it is that made everyone forget what happened. And then we'll go from there."

The others nodded their understanding. Nephrite made sure they all had their money, then they found a place out of the way and gathered around the open travel guide. When the three travelers felt certain they could keep the location accurately in mind, they disappeared in their signature teleports. Nephrite watched the colored lights and Zoisite's cherry-blossom petals fade away, then headed back to his car to try to find the Sailor Senshi.

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The Nephrite and Naru Treasury