One Little Wish...
The Weaving of Threads has Begun!
Usagi and Ami drew stares as they walked through the
neighbourhood. They were actually used to it now, after all that
media attention over their extra-dimensional escapades, but this time
it was for a very different reason. One that Usagi didn't enjoy quite
so much, and Ami tried very hard to ignore.
But the passers by stared from a distance. Nobody asked questions
or pressed them for information. Thanks to the little magazine
article and all the news it had spawned, full of supposition and
gossip over Ami's potential indiscretions, many people had all the
information they thought they needed. Ami was not someone to be seen
associating with.
Needless to say that infuriated Usagi no end. She took Ami's
hand, defying their disapproving and condescending eyes. "Hmmph, what
do they know anyway?!" she said, far too loudly so that everyone
could hear, even those who had crossed the street to pass them at a
respectable distance. "They can believe in whatever stupid rag-
magazines they want."
Ami sighed. She knew Usagi meant well, but right then she was
actually relieved to be left alone, rather than being asked to
comment on the 'affair'. That was a double edged word that one
supposed journalist had used upon cornering her as she had returned
to her apartment that morning, with questions over where she had
been. She had stayed quiet, as Minako had suggested when they first
returned to Tokyo, but she had at least admitted that she *hadn't*
been with 'Tenoh-san'. The last thing either of them needed was more
speculation on those matters, she thought.
"Usagi-chan, that's enough now," she said in her quiet voice. "I
don't have anything to prove." She smiled, to assuage the girl's
protective concern. "I know who my friends are, and that is enough."
"Ami-chan..."
That mollified Usagi a great deal, and they walked the rest of
the way with a quiet, companionable air, no longer paying attention
to the world around them until they got to Usagi's house. Or rather,
her parents' house.
With a cheeky grin Usagi reached out and pressed the doorbell.
And kept it pressed, until the door was flung over by an irate
looking Ikuko. "Will you PLEASE cut that... USAGI!!"
In only point three of a second, as best as Ami could guess,
Usagi was wrapped in a bone crushing hug which the girl returned in
kind. "Hi Mum!"
"I should have known it would be you!" her mother replied, mixing
a good amount of annoyance with her happy smile as they tortured each
other. Ami even thought she saw Usagi beginning to turn blue before
the pair let each other go.
"Why don't you ever call us? I have such an inconsiderate
daughter," Ikuko said, still keeping both her air of annoyance and
her smile.
"Mum, I visit you almost every week!"
Ikuko gave her daughter a deadpan stare. "You come and visit your
*cat* almost every week. Honestly, I don't know why I even bother,
young lady."
Then, in the blink of an eye, her attitude turned on its head as
she greeted Ami, polite and hospitable. "Ami-chan, it is so lovely to
see you again. Thank you for putting up with my good-for-nothing
daughter for all this time. I dread to think what would have become
of her without your help."
"Muuuum!" Usagi whined, sounding extra pitiful for a girl who had
turned twenty only two months before.
Ami just smiled, holding back her giggles, and bowed. "Tsukino-
san, Usagi-chan is the best friend anyone could hope to have," she
said with sincerity.
Ikuko was glowing, and her voice settled into a far more normal
tone. "Well... at least she has that. Please, come in, both of you.
I'll bring some cake up to your room Usagi."
Ami looked at her friend as she was led inside. "Your room?"
Usagi nodded, no longer in the least affected by that playful
little display with her mother. "They say it's in case I ever want to
move back."
Then, strangely for her, that sentence hung until the pair of
them had reached Usagi's room. Ami's eyebrows furrowed a little in
confusion over the unexpected lapse into silence until Usagi twirled
around and sat heavily on her old bed.
"I did want to come back, once," Usagi said. "It was a little
after you all got banished. I suddenly found that I didn't have any
friends left, and I guess I went a bit weird!"
"Usagi-chan..." Ami said, shocked at what she was being told as
she sat down next to her friend. "You have friends. At college, at
your clubs..."
Usagi shook her head simply. "You guys are my friends. There are
lots of people I like at school, but we don't go out and do things
like friends do. They have dates to go on, or studying to do if
they're bright like you, and I have Mamoru to come home to. Without
all of you there to talk to on the phone, or make time for, it just
didn't seem fun like it did.
"When I tried to talk to Mamoru about it I just sounded childish
and selfish, and he started getting annoyed, even though I didn't
know why. It turned into a really big fight. I told him I wanted to
come back home, and he said 'fine'."
"Usagi-chan..."
Usagi gave her a smile. "We were both being stupid. I called
Michiru-san, because I didn't have anyone else left to call, and I
think Mamo-chan did something like that too with his work friends.
After that it all seemed better again. I just needed something to do
besides school work and trying to be a wife, because it's not as easy
as it looks in the manga!"
"So you asked Michiru-san to teach you to cook," Ami finished for
her.
"Actually she offered to teach me," Usagi said. "She wanted
someone there too."
Even if it wasn't meant that way, that last sentence made Ami
feel guilty. Michiru did deserve better than she was willing to give.
"Usagi-chan..."
Usagi waited, looking curious but with a lot more depth in her
big, blue eyes. "Yes?"
"... I'm sorry for letting you down."
Usagi's mask of curiosity turned genuine there. "Why? You haven't
let anyone down."
Ami smiled at her friend's apparent naivete. "I didn't want to be
selfish," she explained, that smile fading as she confessed. "I
didn't want to hurt Michiru-san or Hotaru-chan. But I knew what I was
doing. I knew I might fall in love, because I'm not good at it." She
blushed a little. "I should have stuck with romantic novels."
She sighed. "But I wanted to be loved, just for one night, by
someone I respected and trusted. Even if it was just pretend. I hoped
I could leave it at that, but I couldn't. I can't. And if it all goes
wrong, I've realised that I might do something selfish again."
She looked over to Usagi, waiting to receive judgement from the
most pure and idealistic heart among them all.
Usagi just looked thoughtful, and flopped back to rest her head
on her old pillow, staring at the ceiling. "Love is difficult
sometimes, isn't it?"
That confused Ami no end. Was Usagi implying something? How was
she supposed to respond?
In the end she just said what she felt. "Yes, it is."
Usagi smiled, but it seemed a little wistful to Ami. "Everything
has got so complicated," Usagi said, "but that doesn't mean you've
let us down, Ami-chan. I fell in love with someone I shouldn't have
too, you know."
Ami blinked. "W-what?"
She didn't know how else to respond. It had always been Usagi and
Mamoru, even at the beginning when they had been on less than happy
terms outside their battles.
"But I think," Usagi continued, "that it's never wrong to love
someone, as long as you do what's right when it comes down to it.
When Mamoru was away, in all our fights against Galaxia, I wanted to
stay faithful to him, even though I never got any letters. I didn't
know something had happened. I just tried to have faith."
She shook her head. "Then that stupid Seiya came along, and made
everything even harder."
Ami listened wide eyed. She remembered the Starlights all too
clearly. They had certainly cost her enough credibility among her
friends over her cripplingly faux resistance to pop culture.
"So, if you let us down, then I let us down first. I didn't want
to fall in love with him... her... whatever, but it wasn't my choice.
I just did." She sat back up and gave Ami an awkward smile. "I mean,
I never slept with him or anything, I was saving myself for Mamo-
chan, but if I had been given the chance at just the wrong time..."
Ami just looked at her. On one level she was so very relieved
that Usagi of all people knew what she was going through, but on the
other hand... "I don't know if I can make the right choice," she
said.
Usagi leaned over and gave her a hug. "You will. I know what
you're like. If you don't think you can make the right choice, you
won't choose at all, will you?"
Ami just nodded against Usagi's shoulder and Usagi sighed.
"And personally I think letting Haruka-san choose is the right
choice! So there, everything's fine! Well, it's not, but I'm not
disappointed. I'm proud of you Ami-chan."
Ami couldn't believe how happy it made her to hear those words.
"Usagi-chan, thank you!"
Usagi let her go, and the pair beamed at each other for the
moment before Ikuko's voice echoed up to the room.
"Usagi?! Come and help me carry the tea!"
Usagi sighed. "Eh. Duty calls. I'd better say 'hi' to Daddy and
Shingo too, or else they'll moan at me!"
She was smiling to herself all the way to the kitchen. She had
been meaning to tell Ami that story since Makoto had suggested it,
but it was such a difficult subject to bring up. Today it had just
come together on its own. She couldn't have planned it better!
Then she entered the kitchen, and found both her parents there,
her mother still pouring the tea. "Huh? Hi Daddy. What's up?
Actually, where's Shingo? Is he on another date?" She grinned at the
thought of her little brother doing so well after getting together
with his old playground sweetheart, even with so many other crushes
in between times, including Ami of all people! She would have to
tease him about it again later.
"Yes, you brother is out on a date," her mother said, but without
her previous levity. "And Luna in out prowling somewhere I would
guess. It is Ami-san we would like to ask you about though."
"Ami...-san?" Usagi's face slowly grew stony. "Don't you even
dare think about her like that Mum! How can you even believe those
rumours?!"
"This isn't about the rumours," her father replied, the newspaper
folded in his lap as he sat at the kitchen table. "This is about you,
Usagi. We like Mizuno-san, but you were not exactly low key about
your association with her, given recent events."
"I don't believe this!"
"It's very simple Usagi," Ikuko said, taking the tray of tea in
her hands. "Do you believe in her? No matter what?"
"Because for all your bad reports we know you are good at knowing
people. If you do believe in her," Kenji added, "then we can be
satisfied that this will all get worked out, and will just blow over
in time. And that's the only way you will come out of this with a
good reputation."
Usagi knew to take this seriously. It wasn't often that her
parents earnestly pointed out her skills, non-academic as they were,
unless it really mattered either to them of to her.
"I believe in her," Usagi replied, her face set. "And, for the
record, I don't care what people think. She's my friend."
Ikuko motioned for her to pick up the tray of beautifully cut
cakes. "And if you end up having to side with either her or Kaioh-
san?"
Usagi took the tray. "I believe in them both, and I'll help them
both whenever they need me to. It will all work out, because that's
what everyone wants!"
Ikuko nodded, both her and her husband feeling a rare surge of
pride for their contrary little girl. "Good. Let's not keep your
guest waiting then."
***
Makoto stood at the bottom of the Hikawa Shrine steps, looking up
the vast, ziggurat-like stonework. Just as Ami had forced herself to
return home that morning, to spend some of her copious free time with
Usagi, Makoto was forcing herself to use her own time outside working
at the noodle bar to make up with Rei. After all, it was Makoto that
knew she was pushing her own romantic interests onto her girlfriend.
She knew that she had - as usual when it came to her impatient heart
- been rather inconsiderate. If Rei didn't know why she was feeling
the way that she was, then why should Makoto expect to?
Except she wasn't going up those steps. She had come down them.
Grandpa Hino was as accommodating as ever, but in his wisdom he had
sent Rei on errands for the day, since she had said she had some of
her own to do. Their reconciliation would have to wait it seemed, and
just when Makoto was most eager to make up. It was frustrating,
knowing that Rei was within her reach, somewhere in Tokyo, but being
unable to even see her. Be it the awkwardly confrontational Rei, or
the flippant and playful one, Makoto wouldn't have minded. Just
saying that she was sorry for being stupid would have made her feel
better.
But there was nothing she could do about it, so she just sighed
and stuck her hands into the pockets of her heavy, hooded fleece. It
was far too hot to be wearing it really, but it was another of those
baggy comfort clothes she liked.
"Mako-chan! Hi."
Makoto turned to see Haruka, her own hands in her trouser
pockets, looking surprised to see her there. "Haruka-san! I'm glad
you're okay. Usagi phoned and said you'd gone home. You shouldn't
worry us like that!"
Haruka smiled and shrugged. "You have my apologies for worrying
you, Mako-chan." Haruka said with a rakish smile. "It won't happen
again."
Makoto blushed instinctively, her natural resistance overcome by
her happiness at seeing Haruka looking more like herself. "Haruka-
san! You're feeling better?"
The androgynous young woman nodded. "Somewhat."
"So, what brings you out here?" Makoto asked, making conversation
to take her mind off Rei's unexpected absence.
"I thought I might seek a little spiritual guidance from our
resident shrine maiden," she half-joked, before seeing Makoto's face
fall a little. "Ah, I suppose she isn't at home? Or did something
happen..."
"Both," Makoto admitted. "Actually I came to apologise, but I
guess it will have to wait until tomorrow. Grandpa Hino said that she
won't be home until late."
Haruka's own face fell a little there. "Ah, I see. I'm sorry to
hear it," she added for Makoto's benefit.
"Oh, it's okay," Makoto reassured her. "It leaves me with nothing
to do this morning though. I'd worked myself up for a good apology!
You know, I know I'm not as good at it as Rei-chan, but I'll try and
help, if you want?"
Haruka gave her a smile. "Just for something to do?"
"Well, it's not like I'm trained for it or anything," Makoto
said, this time the one with the humour, "but I think it's about time
I get to try and help you, right? You've done enough role-modelling
for me, so you've got the credit balance!"
Haruka let out a small chuckle. "Alright then. How about the
park?"
Makoto nodded, and it didn't take them long to get there. The
place was pretty crowded with everyone on school holiday, but they
managed to find a nice patch of grass to stretch out on, out of the
way of the general human traffic.
"So," Makoto finally prompted, "what was it about?"
"The baby, actually."
Makoto found herself growing a little unsteady in that warm,
motherly way as she heard that. "So Desir was telling the truth after
all?"
"Of course she was," Haruka nodded, noticing Makoto's eyes
straying to her stomach as she lay there on the grass. "But Luna was
right you know. I bought a test kit that evening, but I couldn't
actually bear to use it. That's why I didn't want to go home. I knew,
but I didn't want the confirmation."
Then Makoto put a worried two and two together in her head. "And
you wanted 'guidance' about it..." She sighed, and paused for a
moment as she thought. It went against all her instincts, but she had
to speak the truth of the situation if she was going to be of any
help. "You know, you could always..."
She didn't get a chance to finish as she hesitated.
"Ami wouldn't mind in the least if I did, would she?" Haruka
asked, rhetorically, and with more than a trace of wistfulness in her
voice.
"No," Makoto replied truthfully, "she wouldn't mind. As far as
she is concerned, this is all up to you. If you don't want the baby,
she won't hold it against you, even for a moment."
Haruka had known that, but it was something else entirely to have
her thoughts confirmed yet again. She found herself staring at the
sky.
"I want it."
The next thing she knew she was flat on the ground, her elbows
knocked from under her as Makoto hugged her. M-Mako-chan?"
Makoto just squeezed her. "I didn't think you'd actually say
that! I'm so happy for you!"
"Umm, it's a little hot for this," Haruka said, gently prying the
girl off her. "How can you wear that thick thing in this weather?"
"This?" Makoto pinched at her fleece. "I don't know. I like it.
And I don't have to worry about anyone staring at my boobs." Then she
realised what she was saying. "Huh, what are you talking about
Haruka-san! This is great! You're going to have a baby!"
"I know," Haruka replied. "And you have no idea how much trouble
it's going to cause."
Makoto quietened down and looked rather sheepish. "Sorry. I know.
I'm just glad. I didn't want you to hate what's happened, even if it
means Desir was right."
Haruka looked annoyed by that. "She knew what she was doing. It's
like she said. 'Wish granted'. She knew."
Makoto blinked at her. "You wanted to have a baby?"
Haruka didn't answer that for a long while. "Maybe not under
these circumstances. But I played with dolls when I was a kid too,
you know. I was raised like everyone else, to be the wife. I wanted a
family, and a child or two of my own. Hell, my parents were rich,
they lavished all that role-modelling crap on me."
Then her mood turned more sombre. "But I liked cars, and bikes.
My first bicycle was my prized possession, and I was bought it
because I was their precious daughter, who shouldn't want for
anything. Then I liked sports, and I wanted to wear clothes that let
me play them. Skirts and dresses just felt stupid. You can't run
properly in a skirt. I didn't know I was supposed to choose one side
or the other. I liked the best parts of each.
"Then I liked girls, and suddenly I was weird. I found out I
wasn't supposed to like cars the way the boys did, and being good at
sport made me look 'strange' because I had muscles you could see.
That was made even worse because I felt so awkward in 'proper
clothes', and I kept my hair so short. And if I liked girls I
couldn't have a family, or children, because people don't work that
way."
Makoto felt terrible for her. "Haruka-san..."
"I got used to it though. I stopped caring what people thought,
because I liked being strange. I embraced it, made the most of it,
and just had to accept that I needed to sacrifice my stupid, childish
dreams if I was going to be myself."
She smiled finally as she looked over to Makoto. "And now look at
us. I have a family, and a daughter of my own. Hell, I prefer being
the 'father'. It suits me. And Hotaru might not be mine by blood, but
she's mine in spirit."
"But," she added, "actually having a child of my own... with
someone I love... I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I turned
that down. Not a moment went by that I wished I could have taken
Master Daltass up on his offer, when he said it was possible to have
a child with Ami-chan. I hated myself for turning him down just
because I wanted it to be Michiru's instead."
"But you made the right choice then," Makoto encouraged. "Any of
us would have done the same."
"But that doesn't mean I liked it," Haruka replied. "Now that
it's come to this I can't deny myself. It's not fair to any of them,
but I want to have this child. Even if I really hate the whole
'pregnancy and birth' prospect!" she added, trying to lighten the
tone.
Makoto smiled. Whatever else it meant, she was truly glad for
Haruka. She had never known this side to her had existed. "You're
tough," she joked in kind. "You'll manage fine." And her smile became
that bit wider, and that touch more heartfelt. "I bet you'll be a
great Mum."
Haruka grinned, despite herself. "Well, I doubt that, but if you
say so. It's the rest of my family I'm worried about, because I've
decided what I want, but I still don't know what to do now."
That brought Makoto to a halt. She had no idea either, and she
doubted her usual 'whatever will be, will be' approach was even
remotely useful in these strange circumstances.
"Uh, Mako-chan," Haruka asked, breaking the silence, "can you
keep that little rant of mine to yourself please? I would rather keep
those things personal."
Makoto nodded. She already felt privileged that she had been told
it at all. "Cross my heart."
Haruka have her a small, honest smile. "Thanks. It's just one
less thing for me to worry about if my childhood is safely under lock
and key."
***
Across in the centre of Tokyo, Myoshiya looked up that the large
building as she parked her scooter. She shivered at the thought of
Kaizi being there, among so many humans, but she picked the box off
the back of her vehicle and headed inside, swallowing down her moral
revulsion. She walked up to the reception desk, and tried very hard
not to look at the cheerful human girl behind it.
"I have a delivery for Katahashi-san."
After checking Myoshiya's fake nametag the secretary actually
smiled at her. The ignorant girl. "Ah, you are expected. Please take
it straight up, floor four," she said, pointing towards the lifts.
"Thank you," Myoshiya forced out, keeping her composure. It was
hard enough, but her second and third rows of arms were beginning to
ache now, being kept hidden and magically ignored beneath her shirt.
She walked through the gym that made up the building's ground floor a
little too fast, and it was with a great sigh of relief that the
elevator doors closed behind her. She pulled those hidden arms out of
their magical bubble and stretched them down her sides. "Ahh, that's
so much better!"
And, as she had expected, Kaizi was there to greet her as the
doors opened on the fourth floor. Also as expected, but rather more
worryingly, Kaizi was still in her human disguise. She had the whole
office floor to herself and she still kept up the magic and the act.
That was scary.
The business suited youma smiled widely. "Myoshiya, I was
wondering when you would get here! You're looking good for a human,
even with those arms!"
Myoshiya resisted the urge to pout, but she did at least have a
playful poke in return. "So do you Kaizi, even with those muscles!"
Even disguised Kaizi could not have been mistaken for any normal
woman. Her suit was cut to accommodate her huge, muscular chest and
similarly impressive limbs. Her hair, normally so spiky and
luxuriously green, was now black and slicked back over her head, and
her kind but intense eyes still burned, even if they had lost their
natural glow. Among the humans, she was taken for an ex-fighter or
wrestler who had returned from the ring to turn her keen mind to
sports management.
"You've come a long way in such a short time," Myoshiya
complimented. Even with their touchy banter Myoshiya still looked up
to one of their best warriors, and the only true fighter of their
people left now. "Captain Tyranya is very proud of your
achievements."
Kaizi shook her head, smirking at Myoshiya's flattery. "No more
than any of you. Give yourself some credit girl. You had guts to
volunteer to hunt for the Sailor Senshi after they ambushed you like
that."
"N-not really," Myoshiya replied, embarrassed by the praise. "It
should be my responsibility for failing to even harm them."
Kaizi smirked again, clapping Myoshiya on the shoulder and nearly
bowling the multi-limbed girl over. "Ha! And that's the kind of
tenacity that'll win us this battle!"
Myoshiya sighed internally. Being around humans so much must have
been affecting her larger companion. Such overconfidence was too
much, even for Kaizi's competitive nature. "Sister, you should take
some time off and see us. You would wonder at Shivis' latest machine,
and I know Maxill needs the time too. We are doing well, and soon I
will start tracking the Sailor Senshi in earnest. We will need you
then."
Kaizi's eyes locked onto her younger 'sister', and her voice
briefly lost its flippant overtones. "Myoshiya, I cannot slack here.
The humans are more perceptive than that. It is not they who draw me
in, but I who have taken them to my side. We will have the power,
thanks to Shivis and Maxill, we will have our prey thanks to you and
little Aretsuki, but there is more to war than the wielding of power
and the uncovering of your enemies. When we kill the Sailor Senshi,
we must also take this world as our own, or else perish in the wake
of our greatest victory."
She stood up tall and proud, and even constrained by her magical
disguise her great form gave her more authority and gravity than any
human could have projected. "That is where our Queen and our generals
failed. They, in their own ways, sought to either win the battle or
win the war, but perished from the one that they let slip through
their fingers. We cannot afford even one of their mistakes."
"Kaizi," Myoshiya said, shocked, "h-how can you speak of them
like that?!"
"Because it is true," Kaizi replied, laying a hand on Myoshiya's
shoulder. "They failed, and our world died because of it. If we
cannot surpass them, great and worthy as they were, then we are
doomed. If revenge is all we can manage, then so be it, but we must
strive to live beyond it. We do not deserve extinction."
Myoshiya could only stare in awe. This was why she had to face
her fears, and hunt those that could kill her in the blink of an eye.
That determination was not borne of ego, or pride, or any of those
vices Myoshiya despised. It was determination of the heart.
"Kaizi. I... I'll do my best!"
The muscular youma reached down beside her desk and handed
Myoshiya the return package, her smiling, flippant air returning to
her face. "Here. It is not as much as Maxill is providing I am sure,"
she said, "but it will see Shivis through for a little while longer!
Good luck to you."
And as Myoshiya turned to go Kaizi took one of the girl's free
hands, halting her in her tracks and giving her a wink. "Oh, and stop
off at the place next door before you go. Even if human food is
useless to us, their 'ice cream' is well worth the time!"
***
Sitting at her coffee table Michiru looked at her guest with
apologetic eyes. "I was a little surprised to get your call," she
admitted. "I don't have much to offer in the way of hospitality I'm
afraid."
Rei wondered about that, as she looked at the cup of lemonade in
her hands. Michiru always seemed to be prepared, even when she
wasn't. "Don't be," she replied. "I know things are pretty difficult
with you right now. Do you know if Haruka-san is okay?"
Michiru closed her eyes and nodded. "She is. She came home last
night."
Rei blinked at her host's melancholic attitude. "That is a good
thing, right?"
Michiru granted her a small smile. "Yes. Though she could have
let me know, rather than leaving a note."
That made Rei realise what Michiru was thinking. "I thought she
would be more sensitive than that."
Michiru shrugged. "That is Haruka for you. She is not always the
most empathic of women. Still, at least she did come home. But that's
not the reason you are here, is it Rei-chan?"
"No," the girl admitted. "I know it's not the best time, but I
kind of need some advice."
Michiru raised an eyebrow. Rei was on the more confident and
independent end of the scale, as far as their group of friends was
concerned. "Oh? How can I help?"
Not that it was a question she hadn't already guessed the answer
to. To her surprise though, Rei seemed uncomfortable about letting it
out.
"Actually, I don't know," Rei admitted after a pause. "It's about
Mako-chan and me, and..."
"And I was the most obvious person to come to about your more
Sapphic issues," Michiru finished for her.
"It's more that I don't know who else I can tell," Rei said. "I
mean, I respect your insight, but..."
"Again, you would rather talk to someone who knows a little about
it to begin with," Michiru pre-empted again. It was a little annoying
for her, being relegated to 'only potential lesbian confidant', but
this was hardly the first time it had happened. "You could also have
asked Haruka. You have grown quite close I'm sure, during your time
away."
"But I'd rather have more level headed advice," Rei justified. "I
like Haruka-san a lot, but I need help, not flirting tips. She'd just
embarrass me. And even if she could resist the urge she's probably
got her head full enough already."
And Michiru hadn't? Then again, Michiru could see her point. "I'm
sorry. I didn't mean to put you off. I suppose I'm glad that you want
to talk to me about such things."
Rei looked at her, wondering how she might have slighted the
older girl. "Of course I do. Why wouldn't I? I mean, I'd probably
trust you more than any of the others. With personal stuff I mean."
"Even Ami-san?" Michiru asked. "I know the two of you have been
friends for longer than either of you have known the rest of us. Even
Mako-chan."
Rei didn't follow that train of thought though. "You know, I
think Ami-chan feels hurt when you call her that. I know what she
did, but still. You were good friends, even when things were
awkward."
This time it was Michiru's turn not to answer the question. She
knew it was true, but then the issue was still too raw for her. "I'm
sorry, Rei-chan, I keep distracting us. What was it you wanted my
help with?"
Rei sighed, giving up and getting back to the reason she was
here. Regardless of their other problems and friendships, she did
still trust Michiru implicitly about this. "Yeah. I guess I just want
to know, is it possible to be in love with someone, even if it goes
against your sexuality?"
Michiru looked at Rei more closely. "You mean, is it possible for
a straight girl to fall in love with a woman, or a lesbian to fall
for a man?"
It sounded exceptionally stupid, being said back to her. "Uh,
yeah, something like that."
Michiru kept up her gaze for a few more moments before replying.
"Simply by virtue of being in love with another woman, then you can't
be heterosexual, Rei-chan. That is the nature of the definition. Does
it bother you that you might not have a preference for either
gender?"
"No, that's not it," Rei replied, sounding agitated as she tried
to explain herself. "Haven't you... before Haruka-san, didn't you
ever find a boy attractive, and wanted to be together, but couldn't
because you were gay?"
Michiru paused, taking that in. "No, that has never happened to
me, Rei-chan. I know which men I consider attractive, but I have no
desire to go beyond teasing them at times. Haruka is similar, but
does the same to those who are safely 'off limits'. She teases the
cute, younger girls, but it does not equate to romantic affection."
Rei looked down at her drink, her heart growing heavy. That was a
blow to her esteem. "I see."
"If I may ask it plainly," Michiru added, "you feel that you love
Mako-chan, but are not actually attracted to her, sexually?"
"Yes." The Rei hesitated. "No, that not it. I don't know! Of
course she's sexy, but when we make out..." She sighed. "Something
stops me. I feel so uncomfortable, and I panic. And I don't know
why."
Again, Michiru thought, that seemed very unusual for the
confident and outgoing Rei. "And you know you love her, for certain.
You have not just persuaded yourself that it is best for you to?"
"No! Absolutely not! I thought about that," Rei explained, "and I
know I'm not just playing around, and it's not guilt, or obligation,
or anything like that! She's done a lot for me, and maybe that's why
we ended up close, but I just want to be with her now. It's too
selfish to be anything else. I want her to be happy because of me,
but I also want her for myself, and I want her to make *me* happy!"
How very similar, Michiru thought, recognising her own current
emotions in what Rei said. "But you think her being female might be
what is putting you off going the distance."
Rei nodded. "I thought so. It's not like I'm looking at any other
girls and thinking how much I'd like them to hold me."
"Maybe you are just too pre-occupied with Mako-chan to notice,"
Michiru said with a slight smile, keeping her own emotions well in
check. "But I'm afraid I don't seem to be able to give much advice.
Romance and intimacy have always gone hand in hand for me, though it
had not always lasted long enough before I found Haruka."
Rei nodded, depressed over her own confusion. "But I want to be
intimate with her. It doesn't put me off when I think about it. And
we've even slept naked together, just not done anything, and that
was... that was wonderful."
It was quite the admission, and Rei seemed to have a flush of
embarrassment when she realised what she had said, but Michiru could
think of little in the way of answers. She just smiled encouragingly.
"Then maybe the intimacy in itself is not the problem, but the way
you are both going about it. That is something you will have to find
out for yourselves. You are both very different people after all.
Mako-chan's crushes have always been very adoring and eager, while
you have had much more self-possession and confidence. You make for
quite the couple."
That smile widened. "And I certainly don't think your sexuality
is in question if you feel so strongly for her. Just be glad that you
have made the best of it at the right time."
Rei nodded, feeling better for the compliment and the
reassurance. "Thanks. I am. I hope you both work everything out too.
And you and Ami-chan as well. She thinks a lot of you, you know. Even
after what she did, she never wanted to hurt you."
Michiru nodded, sighing as her own problems were dragged back up
once again. "I know, but it is not that simple, Rei-chan."
Rei could understand that. "Then we'll both have to try our best,
right?"
Michiru shook her head, that small smile forcing its way back
onto her face. She would never understand these optimistic girls, but
at least it made her feel a little better. "Yes, we will, won't we."
***
Despite all the time that her daughter had spent there during her
younger years, Katsura had never before set foot in the Hikawa
Shrine. Religion, no matter how traditional or 'new age', had never
interested her. She had always been a scientist at heart.
She could see why Ami and her friends had so often congregated
there though. The wooded surroundings were beautiful, and the shrine
itself had a quaint, old fashioned charm about it. It was also
spacious, even for a woman like herself who could afford to live in a
large condo apartment.
As such there was plenty of room for everyone as the old, smiling
priest served them with their choices of drink.
"Are you sure it's okay to be here? What about Rei-chan?"
Katsura recognised the woman who spoke as Tsukino Ikuko, and the
man beside her must have been her husband Genji, though she had not
met him before. Ikuko she had met more than a few times though,
thanks to Usagi's befriending of her own daughter. She was a very
pleasant, if somewhat tempestuous woman, and privately Katsura could
see where Usagi got some of her wilfulness from.
The priest, Rei's grandfather by Katsura's guess, just smiled
winningly at Ikuko, as if the pair of them were old friends. "Not to
worry, Ikuko-san. The shrine is closed for the afternoon, and Rei
will be out running errands for me until sundown I'm sure."
Katsura watched as Minako's parents, Yokozuki and Kikon, made
their own voices heard. "Hino-san, we appreciate the invitation, but
would you mind making your point?" Yokozuki said, bristling to hide
his concern about the gathering.
Kikon didn't bother to hide her worry, not least because of her
differences of opinion to her husband, Katsura thought.
Grandpa Hino didn't reply however, leaving Tsukino Genji to
straighten his glasses and sip on the beer in his hands. "Yokozuki-
san, you were the one who called us, remember? We appreciated being
kept informed, as did Hino-san when we told him. Besides," he added
with a smile, "it is long since time Mizuno-sensei should have been
invited."
He turned to her. "Our children's antics have all worried us at
some point or another, hence this little 'club'!"
"I do wish you wouldn't call it that," said the final member,
closing her eyes over her tea. "I may be the youngest one here, but
even I would be grateful if you didn't belittle our meetings."
Genji's smile turned embarrassed. "I'm sorry, Setsuna-san. But
really, it is like being in high school again."
Setsuna just watched with a faintly long suffering expression as
Usagi's father made his point.
"Hino-san is our wise but cheeky mentor type, Yokozuki-san is the
conspiracy geek, Kikon-san our shy student, you are the over-serious
child prodigy, and we now have our bookish transfer student," he
finished, gesturing to Katsura, who sat slightly astonished.
"Conspiracy geek?!" Yokozuki exclaimed after a moment's
speechlessness. "What does that make you then Tsukino-san?!"
"Of course, I am the roguish joker of the class, with my
cheerleader girlfriend!"
Ikuko gave him a gentle slap on the back of his head, knocking
her husband's glasses down his nose. "You are the computer nerd Gen-
chan, and don't you forget it."
Setsuna cleared her throat, quieting the others with various
shades of embarrassment, except Grandpa Hino who just laughed to
himself at their displays.
"Now," she said, "if you have finished re-living your youth? I
believe we owe Mizuno-sensei better for her first meeting with us
all."
Katsura breathed an inward sigh of relief. Even if she was over a
decade younger, Setsuna seemed to be the most level headed of the
lot! "Ah, thank you Meioh-san."
"Just Setsuna here, Mizuno-sensei," the tanned young woman
replied. "I am here just as everyone else is, as a guardian for my
girls, even if that title is not a legal reality."
Grandpa Hino's smile turned more thoughtful as she said that. "Do
you really think of Haruka-kun and Michiru-chan as your children,
Setsuna-san?"
"To some degree," Setsuna replied, cryptically. "I am as worried
about the results of our girls' trip away you are, hence this
meeting, correct?"
Yokozuki nodded. "We should have talked about this sooner."
"It couldn't be helped," Ikuko put in. "You were glad at having
them return. I know we were," she gestured at Genji and herself,
"just because it made Usagi so much happier."
"I wish I could say the same," Katsura said, as much to herself
as to the others there.
Grandpa Hino prodded her with that understanding smile of his.
"Go on, Mizuno-sensei."
Katsura just looked down into her coffee. "I... I would rather
not say just now..."
Setsuna interrupted her however. "I understand the predicament
Mizuno-sensei," she explained, knowing the reason for Katsura's
reticence. "I will not be offended just because it involves Haruka
and Michiru as well."
Katsura sighed. She should have expected them to know already,
given the amount of celebrity gossip floating around. "It took weeks
for her to tell me," she said. "I tried to make as much time for her
as I could, and she didn't feel able to tell me any of her important
troubles. The armour she came home with, why she felt desperate
enough to become involved with a friend's partner..."
She paused, amazed that she was admitting all of this. Perhaps it
was because these were the few people she could ever hope to
understand what she was saying. "I think she was forced to do some
terrible things in that place. That's why she is afraid to tell me,
I'm sure."
Rei's grandfather nodded in understanding. "That I don't doubt,"
he said frankly. "Rei confessed a great many things to me on the
night that she came home. Strangely, she seemed to have the opposite
priorities to Ami-chan though, from what you have said Mizuno-sensei.
Rei cried herself into exhaustion to tell me that she had lost her
faith, and that she had... harmed others."
"Hino-san..." Ikuko whispered, shocked that the situation had
been so serious.
"And yet," he continued, "she has tried to keep her new 'romantic
interest' a secret. Perhaps she thinks I'm not ready for that kind of
news yet."
"Minako as well," Kikon suddenly blurted out. "She has these
moments, when she starts daydreaming... And the look on her face..."
The woman seemed to be tearing up as she spoke. "She seemed so proud
to call herself a warrior when she came back. I didn't expect it to
be true enough for her to worry about what she had done."
"I don't suppose Haruka-san has shown anything similar?" Yokozuki
asked.
Setsuna face didn't betray anything, but she was not tight
lipped. "Her problems seem largely romantic," she replied, "but no
doubt she has been through the same as the other girls. It has simply
not had a chance to show yet."
She and Katsura both looked at each other, and understood their
shared intent. This was not the time to divulge the unusual new
specifics of that matter. Not yet.
"Do you really think they had to kill anybody?" Katsura asked,
knowing the answer but wanting to hear it for herself anyway.
"They did," Grandpa Hino replied, knowing it for a fact. "Rei was
very adamant about confessing that. I don't think she thought that I
would be able to forgive her for it. She even offered to be disowned,
if it would prove how much she wanted to be forgiven."
Both Katsura and Kikon hung their heads. "Have you forgiven her?"
Genji asked, despite his wife's protests.
"All I needed to know was that she feels guilty about it,"
Grandpa Hino replied. "That is the only proof I have that she has
even taken a life, and also proof that she never wanted to."
"A soldier does what she has to do," Yokozuki added. "Regardless
of what you all think of my opinions, Minako did not bring back
swords from that world as trinkets. Nor do I think that Ami-chan
would have brought armour," he added, remembering what Katsura had
said, "if it did not mean something more to her than just an
attractive souvenir."
Katsura nodded. "I think so too. But if I tell her I know, then
it will just make her depression worse. I can forgive her, but that
won't make her feel any better. She doesn't want to admit to having
done it."
"Actually," Setsuna pointed out, "I think that Ami-chan is the
one dealing with it best. She just doesn't want to have let us down,
regardless of whether we forgive her or not. She is a very sensible
girl, but our trust in that sensible nature is very important to
her."
Grandpa Hino agreed with that. "Rei needed to hear me forgive
her, but she knows that I have lingering worries, just as she does,
especially over her faith. Such things cannot be so easily recovered
from, and it seems that Ami-chan knows that better than Rei."
"So what can we do about it?" Kikon asked simply.
They didn't have an answer to that.
"I know I don't have your problems here," Genji said, breaking
the silence, "but if it was Usagi who had gone through that, I would
just be there as her father. There's no point forcing the issue,
because Usagi would just think I was spying on her, and that she had
really done something wrong. Our girls are grown up now, and we're
not supposed to know everything about them any more. It's up to them
if they want our help, or guidance, or forgiveness, or whatever. I
meddled in Usagi's life for far too long, and now she and Mamoru-san
barely talk to me because they think I'll still bite his head off!"
"That is your own fault dear," Ikuko said gently, matching his
own afterthoughts.
"And speaking of their romances," Kikon said, fuelling the gossip
fire, "you said that Rei-chan had a new 'romantic interest' Hino-
san?"
The old priest sighed, smiling wistfully. "I don't know whether
Rei thinks I won't approve, or that I'll have far too much fun with
it. But whatever the case, Mako-chan is a good, stable girl."
"Oh dear Lord, not another one," Ikuko moaned, before Genji put a
hand on her arm.
"Now now, dear, we talked about this, remember?"
Ikuko looked suitable ashamed, even if the idea didn't sit too
well. "Yes, I'm sorry."
Grandpa Hino shrugged. It was a strange idea for him as well, now
that it was happening with his own granddaughter. "Well, if they were
alone for so long in that world, with so much happening to worry
them, it would only be natural to grow closer to each other."
Setsuna only nodded sagely, keeping her most important thoughts
to herself, just as she always did during these meets. She smiled to
herself. If only they knew. Usagi and Minako had been right, she had
decided after the first few times she had participated, over a year
ago now. The cloak and dagger routine was rather fun!
***
Artemis looked up from his feline bathing as the door to Minako's
room opened, and in slumped a very tired looking starlet, who was
completely failing to show off the best of her very attractive dress
at that moment. "Wow, Minako, you look... wiped, quite frankly."
Minako sighed, her hopeful little bubble popping as Artemis
proved totally incapable of making her feel better. "Why thank you
Artemis," she fawned, sarcasm dripping from her sweetened tongue.
"I'm so glad you think so after my thoroughly exhausting day, working
my butt off and not even getting more than thirty seconds for lunch
this afternoon!"
Artemis shook his head, his sympathy for Minako's plight more
subdued than normal. "That's show business for you. Cutthroat and
exploitative."
Minako groaned weakly and plopped down in the bed, bouncing
Artemis out of his comfortable position and leaving him to sit up on
his haunches. "Ohhh, being an adult sucks," she said with a huff. "I
want to play with Usagi-chan!"
"Luna says that she's giving Ami-chan some much needed support,"
Artemis informed her, "just as Michiru-san is for Rei-chan, and Mako-
chan was for Haruka-san."
Minako's only response to that was to stare at the ceiling.
"Luna's been busy then."
"Yep, she's feeling the busybody itch."
Minako pulled herself upright. "And what about you, my lazy old
cat?"
"I," Artemis replied, "was making the most of the summer sun
until you staggered in. I guess the shoot was more draining than
usual? It's not even five o'clock yet, you shouldn't be that tired."
"Eh, they want me to 'emote'," she explained, letting her hair
down before starting to re-tie it in her ribbon. "They don't say what
emotions, they don't give me a 'feel' to go for, they just say
they'll know it when they see it. At least it's a good juice they
want me to sell, since I've had to do thirty takes drinking the same
stuff!"
Artemis looked at her belly. "I did wonder..."
"Hey!" Minako said, giving him a sharp look. "None of that! Plus
I can't get hold of Mikiyo-san."
"Your agent?"
Minako nodded. "She said this morning that she wanted to discuss
doing another interview about what it was like 'getting to know the
Senshi'," she giggled, "and that would be so cool..."
"Not to mention profitable after the press release you gave,"
Artemis added.
"Exactly, but can I get hold of her now?" Minako sighed. "I guess
even she gets her flaky showbiz moments."
Artemis didn't seem so sure though. "I don't know. She's always
been pretty reliable. Do you want me to check her apartment tonight?"
Minako shrugged. "Maybe tomorrow. She might just be on a date or
something. But thanks for the offer Artemis! It's nice to have you on
my side!"
The white haired cat smiled as she scratched his head. "Anything
to oblige," he said with a satisfied smile. "What about you?"
"I think I'm going to treat myself after being messed around in
front of cameras all day," Minako said, wandering over to her
wardrobe. "A long bath, some computer games, and then over to Mako-
chan's shop for some Hyper-Mako-Noodles!"
***
In town the early dinner time line stretched out in front of
Maxill's little stall like a hungry necklace of beaded humans, but
she found it hard to keep her mind focused on her work as she
mechanically catered to yet another young girl. "That will be 320
please."
Next to her Aretsuki handled the cash box as the girl fumbled
with her purse, and Maxill had to repress a sigh and forced herself
to keep smiling. That was the Japanese way, it seemed, and she had to
keep her cover intact. She took the girl's money and handed it to her
younger 'sister'.
Aretsuki was sister in spirit only though, Maxill thought as she
went through the motions for the next girl in line. They were all
'sisters'. Banding together in that way had been what kept them alive
in the aftermath of Queen Beryl's death. But there was a difference.
The others might not have recognised it, but Maxill did.
Even with the young and cheerful fox-girl to keep her company,
Maxill still yearned for her sister's presence. Her blood sister. Her
twin. They had shared a birthing pool, shared the life energy they
had nursed from, and even the blood they had spilled together when
their kind had gone mad with starvation.
And now she was alone. Her blood sister - her other half - had
forced her through the portal, only to be trapped in what remained of
their Dark Kingdom, left with no alternative but to take her own
life. That memory burned inside her. They were both fools, one to
have sacrificed herself, the other for letting her do so.
But Maxill could not resent her sister, or the 'family' who had
kept her alive. They did what they did for her sake. She had to live
on and succeed in their plan, or else what would her twin have died
for? That was why she pushed herself to work through the days and
into the nights, harvesting the energy they needed.
"Excuse me Miss, are you alright?"
Maxill was jogged out of her reminiscences, to see the youngest
of those five girls, perhaps fifteen years old, looking at her with
concern.
"W-what?"
"I'm sorry," the girl said, bowing as she took her food. "You
just seem sad."
For some reason that she could not explain, that human concern
struck a chord within her. "I'm fine, but thank you. Here," she said,
only taking half of the money the girl had handed her. "A little
service."
A murmuring rippled through the queue and Aretsuki looked at her
in surprise, but Maxill paid it no mind. "We are already taking
everything we need," she whispered to the young girl beside her,
motioning up to the large parasol above them, and the ring of slowly
filling crystals hidden inside it.
The five girls moved to the side and giggled amongst themselves,
and the queue continued forwards. Maxill brushed the hair she was so
unused to out of her eyes. She knew that she should not feel anything
towards the humans, but every now and then, like that small show of
concern, she hoped that they would not put up resistance. While
Myoshiya detested the creatures and many others would be happy to
sate their desire for revenge upon them, Maxill saw some hope in
them. She could allow herself to loath specific individuals, those
unconcerned and antagonistic types that crawled about the city, but
with the right sort of purging many humans might make for fine youma
when the time came.
She was wondering whether Aretsuki, with her childish, optimistic
outlook, might understand those kind of thoughts, but a worried
scream dragged her attention back to her stall. The girls who had
loitered beside the grill were crouching on the floor, and in the
centre one of them lay prone on the pavement. Aretsuki just stared at
them, but both she and Maxill knew well enough that the paleness in
the girl's face was not normal for humans.
"I-it's okay, I think," one of the older girls said. "She's just
anaemic. She'll be okay in a bit."
'Anaemic?' Maxill thought. 'The girl has a weak body?'
She swallowed hard as the band of girls rushed to find water, and
get their friend into the shade of the parasol. This human was
certainly not going to be alright, especially after loitering so long
within the reach of their energy draining crystals. The effect should
have been barely noticeable, reaching out to everyone that waited to
be served, but to wait there so long as her friends were served, then
to stand and gossip there with an already weakened constitution...
But what could she do? Surely it would look suspicious to move
her out into the baking sun and away from the draining area of the
parasol. Even worse, should she even be contemplating helping a
human? One of the creatures who had destroyed her world, and cost her
her beloved twin. She had every right to watch with satisfaction as
this being died, didn't she? Aretsuki wasn't going to move to help a
human, even if she knew how. Maxill wouldn't even have to lift a
finger.
***
"Mmmm! This is so good!"
Makoto smiled at the compliment as Minako wolfed her way through
the huge bowl of fried noodles. "You know, it might taste better if
it actually touched your tongue on the way down."
Minako just grinned around her mouthful. "I'm too hungry to chew!
I barely ate lunch!"
In front of the till the aging Matsubashi shook his head. "I
should start getting your friends to put on an eating contest," he
said around the beer that hung from his fingers. "It might bring in a
few more people given the way they eat."
Minako flushed red while Makoto laughed. "I'm not that bad," she
pouted, her mouth full.
"Yes, you are," Makoto countered, "but we still love you."
"Hmmph, just as well, because you're never getting rid of me!"
Makoto rolled her eyes and leaned back on her stool behind the
counter. "It's not you we want to get rid of," she said, glancing out
into the street. Then she stopped. "Hey, what's that?"
Both Minako and Matsubashi followed her gaze. "Huh? It looks like
your competition just tripped over their customers' feet," Minako
noted nonsensically.
Matsubashi just sighed. "Someone collapsed. Kino-san, keep an eye
on the bar for me. I'd better go and see if they need help.
Honestly," he muttered as he went, taking off his apron, "that greasy
food is no good for young girls like them."
He strode across the road and put on his best authoritative
voice. "Stand back girls, give her some room. You there," he said,
looking straight at Maxill, "what happened?"
Maxill found herself stammering. "S-she just passed out! Maybe it
was the heat? I keep telling them she can't stay near the stand, the
heat from our grill will only make her worse!"
Matsubashi nodded. "She's right," he told the worried gaggle
around them, "bring her over to my bar, we have a few chairs inside."
He took the unconscious girl's arm over one shoulder, while Maxill
took the other arm, and together they carried her across the road.
"Have you called a medic or an ambulance?" he asked.
Maxill shook her head. "N-no, but I think one of the girls did,
right?"
The youngest girl behind them nodded. "I called her parents, they
know what to do."
"Right, just let her rest here then," Mastubashi said, easing
their patient into a chair. "You know, if you're going to give them
that kind of food you could at least be a little more pro-active when
this happens," he lectured Maxill. "People have heart attacks because
of it."
To their collected surprise Maxill seemed a little shaken by that
fact. "You can't be serious... Everyone eats it."
"Well, yeah," Makoto spoke up from behind the bar, "but it's
still bad for you."
Minako sighed, getting off her stool and going over to the girls
who hovered around their friend. "But they taste good. She is going
to be okay, isn't she?"
One of the girl's friends nodded. "She just fainted. It happens,
because she's anemic."
Minako peered at the unconscious girl as her friends tried to
wake her. The poor things didn't just look fatigued, but outright
drained. Her skin was pasty and drawn, and beneath their lids her
eyes looked grayed over and glazed. Almost as if...
She looked up at Maxill, but the burger flipper looked genuinely
concerned. She couldn't be a youma. Could she?
"Hey, we'll take care of her," Matsubashi said, catching Maxill's
attention. "Shouldn't you get back to your little girl? Not that I
agree with getting a child to help you at work."
The final cog in Minako's thoughts slotted into place, and as
Maxill left Minako put her hand into her purse, traced her finger
along her pager until she reached the last button, and pushed it.
Makoto's phone went off. She took a moment to read the message
before giving Minako an incredulous look.
Minako just nodded in confirmation.
"Matsubashi-san, I'm sorry, but I kind of have to run," Makoto
said, looking apologetic as she grabbed her things from the pegs at
the end of the wall. "I'll make it up to you tomorrow, I promise!"
"What, now?" Matsubashi asked. "Eh, it's not like we're busy. Go
on, I'll look after the girl."
"Mako-chan, I'll come with you!" Minako left the dregs of her
meal on the bar, pausing only to give Matsubashi a quick bow. "Thanks
for the meal!"
The old noodle man shook his head. Youths today were always in
such a hurry. Even the conscientious ones like Makoto.
Thirty seconds later however that conscientious girl and her
friend had hidden themselves in the alley behind the shop, and she
was furiously digging in her bag for a very special pen. "Minako-
chan, seriously, you're sure it wasn't just heat-stoke or anemia?"
"I wouldn't have sent everyone the call if I wasn't sure!" Minako
countered, her transformation pen already in her hand. "Remember when
Setsuna said that jeweller youma didn't know what she was doing? That
woman didn't know that burgers aren't good for you, *and* that girl
looked like she had been drained of energy, *and* that burger woman
has a kid working with her, just like the jewellery one did!"
"Fine," Makoto said, the idea finally sold on her, "but if you're
wrong we are going to look so stupid."
"And if I'm right I've given you a real reason to beat up on the
woman who stole all your customers! Venus Crystal Power, Make Up!"
Another thirty seconds later...
"Fast food may be cheap, but eat too much and it will make you
fat! Exploiting poor holidaying students and burger junkies is
prehensile..."
"Umm, Venus?" Sailor Jupiter said, already feeling somewhat
embarrassed as they posed together in the middle of the street, "I
think you mean 'reprehensible', and we're kind of holding up the
traffic here."
"Whatever..." Sailor Venus exclaimed, to the sound of the bus
horn that sounded a few cars from her. "Because of all that, in the
name of love, I will punish you."
A sudden, dreadful silence fell across the new battlefield,
before a lone voice called from the sidelines.
"Hey, get out of the bloody road already!"
"Hey, we're being heroic here!" Sailor Venus yelled, an irate
vein popping up on her furrowed brow. She shook her hand at the truck
driving lout for extra effect. "Don't be so blase when there's a
demon serving your children burgers!"
As one, the line in front of Maxill's stand retreated to safe
distance, and soon the wide pavement was deserted, excepting the two
disguised youma in question.
Maxill swallowed hard, wondering what to do. Myoshiya had been
right, these people were idiots, but the tall one in green was
advancing already, and looked very determined.
"H-how did you find us again!?!" Aretsuki yelled, not even
waiting for her older sister and ripping off her disguise to reveal
her orange fur and writhing fox-tails.
"The power of Justice!" Sailor Venus intoned as she finally let
the traffic disperse, each driver wanting their cars to be as far
away as possible when the energy bolts starting flying.
Well she wasn't exactly going to say it was blind luck, now was
she?
"Run!" Maxill screamed, but both Jupiter and Venus were ready for
that after last time.
"Venus Honey Flash!"
In an instant Sailor Venus winked out of existence, the sudden
light blinding everyone there as her new power shifted her behind her
enemies. "Gotcha!" she yelled triumphantly as she grabbed Aretsuki in
a bear hug.
"Hey!" Sailor Jupiter exclaimed, suddenly dumbstruck. "You kept
your magic from Seiji?! Ah, watch out for her teeth!"
The warning came too late however, and Venus suffered the same
fate as Jupiter had last time as the fox-youma sank her fangs into
Venus' shoulder. With a yelp of pain she let the young monster go,
but Sailor Jupiter couldn't do anything without frying Venus as well.
She therefore set her sights on Maxill and extended her tiara's
antenna. "Supreme Thunder!"
It was her weakest attack, but also her most accurate, and the
bolt of lightning struck Maxill dead centre, shredding her disguise
and knocking her to the ground.
The youma that arose was perhaps one of the most unnerving that
either of the Senshi had ever seen. It was feminine as always, but
jet black from head to toe, hairless and glistening as though it was
made of slick rubber. Her face was all but featureless, a smooth oval
of the same shining black skin, but two vast yellow eyes peered out
from that blackness like the eyes of an insect.
"I don't even know what I'm looking at there, but she's mine!"
Sailor Venus growled, an idea forming in her head as she clutched at
her bleeding shoulder. "Venus Love-Me Chain!"
Jupiter took the hint and sprinted off after the fox girl, only
just able to keep pace. However, the smaller youma proved just agile
enough to out manoeuvre the most athletic of the Senshi and scampered
up a fire escape, bouncing from rails to window ledges and up to the
roof before Jupiter could climb halfway up.
As much as it galled her, Sailor Jupiter knew when she was
beaten, and instead raced back to make sure that the black youma
didn't do the same. What she saw when she got there looked more than
a little disturbing. Venus had the creature caught in her Love-Me
Chain, but the linked whip was pulled so tight around the youma's
waist that it almost looked like she was trying to slice a soft block
of butter. The harder either of them pulled the more the chain
tightened, forcing the youma's ooze-like flesh up and down into the
rest of her body, making her hips and bust bulge like a comedy
balloon. A human-shaped comedy water balloon!
"Stop struggling already!" Venus exclaimed. "You're gonna burst!"
In response the mouth-less youma screamed in frustration and
changed tactics, charging Venus instead, even though it did nothing
to the chain that had tightened obscenely around her waist.
"What?! Jupiter!"
"I can't, if I shock her..."
"Just do it!"
Sailor Jupiter did as she was told, trying to put in just enough
power without actually killing the thing, since Sailor Venus was
obviously trying to take it alive. "Sparkling Wide Pressure!"
That was more than enough to put the youma down and out of the
fight, leaving Sailor Venus to glower at her friend as she sizzled
gently, electricity having run through her via her Love-Me Chain,
which left both her hair and her dignity rather the worse for wear.
"J-Jupiter-chan..."
Jupiter just smiled apologetically. "Well, I did try to warn
you."
Around them the cheers went up from the spectators as they came
out of hiding, and it was just then that one of their comrades
finally appeared on the scene.
"Well," Sailor Pluto said, not clear as to which proportions of
chastisement and impressed approval she was trying to put across, "it
looks like the rest of us won't be needed for this fight."
"Heh heh, sorry," Jupiter said, "it was a kind of spur-of-the-
moment thing."
Venus on the other hand just smiled as she tried to flatten her
hair, making as little fuss about her shoulder as she could. "That
little fox-demon got away again, but it all worked out. Look!" She
pointed to the fallen youma. "You said we needed information? Here's
all the information we need!" She grinned. "Hee hee, and I've always
wanted a prisoner!"
***
Myoshiya looked out through the tenth storey windows at the
rising moon. The silver glare from that infernal crescent was more
than enough to tip her from 'bored' into 'properly fed up'. "You
really are becoming a pest you know," she said to her newest human
'friend'. "The sooner you tell me what I want to know, the sooner you
can go back to your inane little existence as kingmaker to your over-
pampered starlets."
Hakano Mikiyo, agent to some of the greatest teen idols in Japan,
continued to glare down through her teary eyes, staring at nothing
but the floor that she sat trussed up on. The ropes bit into her
wrists, ankles, elbows and knees, and she was sure that the blood had
been completely cut off to her left leg, but she held her tongue.
"While I would rather not," Myoshiya continued, "I can wait for
as long as need be. Either you can give me the Aino girl, or you can
starve to death in here, and I *will* drink your life energy once you
expire."
"What could you want with her?" Mikiyo asked with a halting sob.
"She's only just turned twenty. She's an airhead! She's pretty, she
can dance, and she looks good in front of the camera, but why could
you need her?!"
"The same way I need you," Myoshiya replied with a smile, now
that the woman was finally talking. "You will give me the Aino girl,
and she will give me the Sailor Senshi! She knows them. You made sure
that everyone knows that. They are her friends. She must know their
secrets, just as you know Aino Minako's secrets. Those are secrets I
need."
Myoshiya's blue lipped smiled grew more feral. "And if need be,
they will come to rescue her. Maybe she will tell the Sailor Senshi
to come and rescue you too, if I keep you here long enough to make
her suspicious. It would be a shame if she did. It would be such a
waste of energy turning you into a monster to fend them off. And even
if I did, you would be nothing more than a messy little speed bump to
the Sailor Senshi. Just one more youma corpse, buying me just enough
time to make my escape. Your brave little stand would come to
nothing."
Mikiyo's eyes rose, filled with loathing. "I won't let you touch
Minako-chan!"
Myoshiya's eyes narrowed. So much for talking her into
submission. It had been going so well too. Maybe it was too early for
that. "I see. Well, if your heroines don't turn up to kill you, I do
hope you won't take too long to starve. I have other things to be
getting on with."
***
To Be Continued...
***
Author's Note: As of posting this Chapter 4 has also been updated
with a new penultimate scene to help the flow of the narrative. Many
thanks to PinaPoe for the C&C, and allowing the cats another scene in
the process!
Please send any comments and constructive criticism to me.
They are always greatly appreciated, and there is no better reward
for a writer than to hear back from the readers.
Many thanks to Richard King for his proofreading assistance.
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