Shooting for the Moon: Chapter 5

     Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of Sailor Moon or anything 
that comprises it. This is a non-profit story written solely for my 
own enjoyment and that of anyone who wishes to read it. The story and 
original characters are mine. Please don't use them without 
permission.

***

                        Shooting for the Moon

              - A Sailor Moon Fan-Fiction by Nutzoide -


    Chapter 5: 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:

nutzoide@nutzoide.net

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.

(c) Nutzoide 2007

http://www.nutzoide.net