World Shaking: Chapter 9

     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.
     
***

                             World Shaking

               - A Sailor Moon Fan-Fiction by Nutzoide -


    Chapter 9: Darkness Falls
               The Many Colours of Life's Rich Tapestry 
    
    Grandpa Hino passed away on the 12th of February, and within days the 
entire Azabu-Juuban district had descended on the Hikawa shrine to pay their 
respects. 
    
    Or that's how it felt to Rei, at least. She had skipped her classes and 
closed the shrine on Saturday the 13th in order to see him, and came away 
hours later with bleary eyes and all sorts of petty worries in her head that 
she needed to drown in hot, bitter tea. Not until after she'd had another 
cry on the bus home and a sniffled phone call to Makoto at work, but when 
she did finally get it, that tea had helped to no end. 
    
    Makoto had also disobeyed and told everyone else the news, so in no time 
at all she was besieged with phone calls and trespassers all far too eager 
to share in what should have been a sensible, straight faced bit of mourning. 
Instead Haruka, Michiru, Ami and Setsuna came bearing flowers and sake, 
Minako brought the most infectiously out of place disposition ever, and once 
Usagi had turned up there was nothing left to do but spend the afternoon 
giggling, crying and indulging in the most impromptu Irish wake ever 
displayed in a Japanese shrine. Several of the more meddlesome locals weren't 
put off by the closed sign either, not after seeing her friends going up to 
visit her, and by midday over a dozen more had arrived, and then gone to spread 
the sad word to dozens more.
    
    The afternoon saw the string of neighbourhood friends and well wishers 
becoming constant. For all his foibles, mad-cap schemes and lecherous 
inclinations, they all had far more happy stories to tell of their brief time 
with her grandfather than she would ever have imagined. Makoto was even let 
off work early to go and join them, because her worrying was causing more 
trouble among the customers at the noodle shop than her absence would.
    
    After they had eaten the dinner Michiru and Makoto prepared Rei had 
ushered them all out, despite some of their offers to stay. She wanted the 
shrine to herself - well, herself and Makoto - though for the life of her 
she didn't know why. The show of support was heart-warming, but she was 
entitled to her sentimentality and if there was anything of her Grandfather 
left it was there in that silent shrine. He had lived his entire life there, 
just about, and if such things as spirits existed - after everything Sailor 
Mars had seen she really wasn't sure - then his would return there. Of that 
much she was certain. 
    
    His spirit didn't come visiting, but then she hadn't really expected it 
to. Instead she just spent the night listening to the sounds of the shrine, 
and appreciating Makoto's comforting arms. It kept striking her at odd 
moments like that, but Makoto really was very tall, and even while she slept 
those strong arms seemed protective. Rei really did feel like a sap, but right 
then she had all the justification in the world. She'd known it was a 
possibility, but somehow she'd just assumed her grandfather would recover. 
He always had. It just didn't seem fair. 
    
    "Mako? What am I going to do with this place?"
    
    Makoto simply breathed, her sleeping head nestled between their two 
pillows.
    
    "Yeah, I want to keep it. Maybe I can hold on until I graduate? It's only 
three weeks until the exams. Except I haven't worked on my dissertation for 
a month."
    
    Makoto muttered something into the pillow, untidying her hair a little 
more.
    
    "Well, I hope those nuns back at middle school were wrong. I think angels 
might have a bit much dealing with him."

***
    
    If Saturday had been hard work then Sunday was a trial unlike any other. 
Living with Desir was probably the exception, but that had been a different 
matter entirely. In retrospect, she should have left the shrine closed, and 
ignored the rest of the world for a day. Instead she rose shortly after Makoto 
did (that girl had an absurdly strict internal clock!) and removed the sign 
from the bottom of the hill. 
    
    It would be better if she just got on with the day, she had decided. The 
shrine was too quiet, just being herself and Makoto, and her girlfriend did 
have her own apartment to return to eventually. Not that she wanted her to 
go in the least. Hell, as Rei climbed her way back to the shrine the impulse 
took her to ask Makoto to move in. Rei wasn't built for living alone, and 
she knew it. That's why she had experimented a bit while trying to live in 
dorms for the first few years of her course - living alone made her irritable 
(a little Usagi voice piped in with '*more* irritable' just there) and not 
a little depressed.
    
    She had squashed that thought though. At least wait until they were both 
done with their educations and knew where they were going, which probably 
wouldn't take very long. Rei doubted she would be going anywhere now. She 
wasn't nearly as spiritual as she had once been, but the fire still showed 
her what she needed to know, and someone had to look after it properly. Makoto 
though? She still had her year to re-take, and after that who knew?
    
    In the end her morning routine and normal day failed to materialise when 
the first wave of families and couples descended on them both. A steady flow 
of loving pairs came to buy their fortune slips for Valentine's Day, and 
everyone who had caught word of Grandpa Hino's passing came to pay their 
respects, say a prayer, and offer donations far more generous than Rei had 
ever seen. 
    
    By midday Makoto had donned her let-out shrine maiden robes to man the 
gift stand, and Rei had called in Minako and Hotaru to help out. She wasn't 
about to disrupt the other girls' Valentines plans, whatever they might have 
been, but Minako was still single, and would need no encouragement if she 
got to wear the robes. Rei had also learned that Hotaru made for a very 
knowledgeable and approachable shrine maiden in a pinch, even if she was too 
reserved for her own good.
    
    Between them they could help field the customers while Rei kept up her 
role to meet everyone who had come to give their condolences, and Makoto could 
whip up something for them to eat in what few lulls there were. 
    
    Of course, behind her smiles and pleasantries Rei was soon ready to scream. 
The thought was nice, but she still hadn't really got to grips with the reality 
that she didn't have her grandfather there, and how on earth had so many people 
found out already? Of course, quite a few had read his obituary in the local 
newspaper - and Rei had a good idea who had written it too - but still, it 
seemed a little ridiculous! Given that she'd just had her last remaining 
relative die, or the last that meant anything to her, keeping up her 
respectable and calm image was unbearable. 
    
    When the sun began to sink and the last milling visitors did leave she 
waited for a good few minutes until they were out of earshot and then screamed 
into her sleeves, just to let out her frustration.
    
    "Hey, Rei-chan? Are you okay?"
    
    Rei wanted to glare at Hotaru and her quiet, sympathetic voice, but of 
course the girl was just concerned. As many of those visitors had been. 
Instead she just let out a big sigh.
    
    "Yes, I'm fine. Thanks. Just tired."
    
    Minako streamed over, her sleeves billowing out behind her, clearly 
having loved every minute of it. "Yeaah! I've never seen this place so busy! 
Mako-chan and me sold so many charms and fortunes I couldn't even count!" 
Then she shook herself and calmed down a little. "I mean, most of them came 
because of Grandpa, so... That's good, right?"
    
    Rei nodded, but reserved the right to look miffed. It was either that 
or have a good cry, and now wasn't the time for that. "Yeah, but I wouldn't 
have minded not dealing with all that for another day. Still, it's to be 
expected I guess."
    
    Makoto came over more sedately than Minako, dusting off her hands. "And 
he would have loved to play for a crowd like that. Clearly they liked being 
played to."
    
    That was true. Rei felt the tears forming, and blinked them away. "Yeah, 
he would. Come on, help me bring the donation box in and we can count it up. 
I owe you something for your trouble if nothing else."
    
    Hotaru shook her head. "Oh, no, it was fun. Besides, I... sort of like 
these outfits."
    
    Minako grinned, "Me too! I'm the most glamorous shrine maiden ever!" 
    
    She struck a pose, and Hotaru giggled. In response Rei decided to have 
that glare after all. "The most starry-eyed maybe. Come on. We have a box 
to move, and it's *extra* heavy today."

***
    
    It wasn't long after the money was counted that Michiru came to collect 
her daughter, with Minako following them out.
    
    "I hope Hotaru behaved herself," Michiru mentioned with an amused glance, 
seeing how tired Rei had ended up, but Minako fielded the question ably.
    
    "When had she ever *not*. We couldn't have got her to misbehave if we 
tried. Not that I did. But I could have, and she wouldn't have had any of 
it."
    
    Hotaru just coloured and walked off in what passed for a huff from her, 
but not until after wishing Rei and Makoto a polite good evening, leaving 
Michiru and Minako to follow after her.
    
    Still sat around the table, and nursing a cup of tea, Rei waved them off 
knowing that they could see themselves out. Getting back up off the floor 
and away from the heated table seemed like far too much effort right now. 
    
    Next to her Makoto smiled. Rei was holding up very well as far as she 
was concerned. "You want me to make curry tonight?"
    
    That got the expected response, and Rei slumped over the table, nodding. 
"That would be nice. Would you mind staying again tonight?"
    
    "I packed for it." Makoto stroked her back once before getting to her 
feet. She has also packed something else, but hadn't yet found the opportunity 
to retrieve it. And considering recent events she wasn't even sure now was 
really appropriate, but maybe it would help keep her girlfriend's spirits 
up.
    
    She pulled the flat, bow-wrapped box from her bag, still where she had 
left it in the hall the previous evening, and padded back to Rei at the table. 
    
    "Here." She knelt down and slid the box across. "This wasn't really how 
I expected to spend Valentines Day, but I made this."
    
    Rei's eyes widened a little, just staring at it. "Oh yeah. I was going 
to take you out and embarrass you in public too, but then all this happened."
    
    She took the package and with careful fingers undid the ribbon and opened 
it. Inside was the large chocolate medallion Makoto had made during the week, 
illustrated with a white tree and their two names piped underneath it.
    
    Makoto shifted over and put and arm around Rei as the girl giggled, wiping 
her tired eyes. "Heh, that's cute. You know, I don't think I've carved us 
into a tree yet. We should get onto that."
    
    "I was going to leave the trees alone actually," Makoto replied, glad 
that Rei hadn't actually started crying or anything like that. "That way I 
can keep making you chocolate."
    
    "Okay. Thank you." Rei snapped a bit off the edge of the disk to taste. 
"It's good. Not that it's a surprise in the least."
    
    "Of course. I'm confident in my confectionary."
    
    "This means I have to learn to cook by White Day, doesn't it?"
    
    "Absolutely."
    
    "If I ask nicely will you help?"
    
    Makoto couldn't suppress a grin. "How nicely?"
    
    Rei pulled herself off the table and lay into Makoto's arm, sighing. "I 
can be nice. Or I might just take you out and embarrass you after all."
    
    Alright, agreed Makoto mentally, that's enough teasing. "Curry it is then. 
You can come and help if you want." 
    
    Mainly if she wanted something to do rather than sit and listen to the 
empty shrine. Even Makoto felt it, despite her attempts to lighten the 
atmosphere.
    
    "...Sure."

***
    
    Though she would have preferred otherwise, Luna couldn't delay the 
Senshi's next official meeting to let Rei grieve. Too much progress had been 
made in the last week, and Sailor Mercury had finished her first analysis 
of their combined data collections.
    
    However, there was also the problem that visitors still trickled up to 
the shrine whether it was open or not, in the hope of sneaking a look around 
to pay their respects, or to offer sympathies. Rei had amended her sign with 
a hand written note, but even so it was too risky to meet there as openly 
as they once had, but Rei needed to be there in case someone *did* arrive, 
and need gently evicting again.
    
    That was why Luna waited outside in the cold, while her charges and their 
many - far too many - new allies talked. She had outlined their situation, 
but it was up to Sailor Mercury to lead the actual meeting. Luna would simply 
listen from the doorway, and call for Rei should someone appear.
    
    "The Shadow's signature is highly diffuse," Ami explained from within, 
"but its concentration and dissipation over time can at least show us where 
he - they, now - have been, and when."
    
    The rustling of a large map of Greater Tokyo followed, and out came a 
thick black marker. "We know he started here, and the next trace of him was 
*here*, at the hospital. By that point however he must already have split 
himself into a second host, because the trail becomes bi-linear, separating 
here, here and here." More marks were drawn on the map.
    
    "This park was either their next stop, or the source of that second trace. 
But the general sequence of events unfolded something like this."
    
    Luna knew exactly were the pen was going now, back and forth and the map 
in clear, precise lines, with little care for major roadways, construction 
sites or funnels for traffic.
    
    "One of these is Ono Marya, of course, but the rest belong to our 
suspects."
    
    At this point Luna would have expected at least one of her Senshi to point 
out an obvious hole in Ami's pattern, and they did not disappoint. 
    
    "Ami-chan, there's no home base on here."
    
    "No, there isn't." Ami replied, gravely this time. "With the exception 
of the hospital, they haven't returned to any single location, at least as 
far as we have found. Either their base of operations is at one of these three 
intersections in the routes, or they are holding up in various different 
locations as they go. The latter is the most likely, since they had split 
three ways about four days ago."
    
    "Most troubling though," she added, "one trail has been following our 
own route on and off for almost that long."
    
    "Because of this," Artemis added, "no-one should be out alone from here 
on. None of you. Ever. If Rei-chan is right, and they will only prey on 
isolated targets, you must have someone with you at all times."
    
    "So," came the quiet voice of Koan as she, her sisters and the youma sat 
in on the meeting, "where does that leave you? And us?"
    
    "Up the creek without a paddle," Berthier replied darkly, but Sailor 
Pluto had more constructive input to give.
    
    "I leaves us with two important pieces of information. If we follow the 
trails closely enough, we will eventually catch up to them. Not ideal, given 
their skill at stealth, but it is an option. More importantly we have almost 
a dozen clear sites to inspect, and we can see who might be missing, or what 
might have been taken."
    
    "And as far as catching them, we have enough data on their movement 
patters to loosely predict where they might head to next," Ami explained, 
"and when they might cross paths with each other."
    
    "And we can lay traps," Mamoru added, "both at those points, and for the 
one stalking us on our nightly rounds. According to Rei-chan's visions, we 
have plenty of bait already."
    
    Of course, Usagi didn't like the idea of that. "You mean, ourselves? 
Mamo-chan!"
    
    Luna had to hand it to him, the man was courageous if nothing else. "It 
won't be the first time I've been bait, dumpling. I make a nice target, if 
experience is anything to go by. And you'll be ready to swoop in and close 
the trap nice and promptly, I would hope."
    
    "What about us?" Petz asked, speaking up at last. "We can check those 
addresses they seem to have visited, while you're working. Our shop doesn't 
need even half of us there most of the time."
    
    "Thank you Petz-san. That would be appreciated. As long as you go in pairs 
at the very least."
    
***
    
    "Haruka-san? It's Maki. Can I come in?"
    
    Haruka looked up to the closed door of her ward room, over the top of 
the marginally interesting magazine she had been reading. "It's open."
    
    A moment later it did open, and Maki crept in looking for all the world 
like she wasn't supposed to be there. Once inside she leaned against the door 
and signed, before giving her a wave. At least it was a Sunday, and she hadn't 
skipped school to visit again.
    
    "Hello, little sister. Are you trying to hide from the hospital's long 
line of talent scouts, or worried that you'd be seen consorting with the likes 
of me?"
    
    "Oh, what? No, nothing like that. You said which room you were in, so 
I just sort of came up. Was I supposed to ask someone? Because the police 
out there were looking like I wasn't supposed to be here."
    
    Haruka shook her head. "No, they're like that. All so very worried for 
the protection of their charges, so having patients and visitors underfoot 
gets them cranky."
    
    "Hmff. As long as they do their jobs. But having a police guard? Scary. 
Kind of makes it real, and not just something you see on the news." She trotted 
over to the seat beside the bed and sat herself down, smoothing out her skirt 
as she did. While she may have been a rebel underneath, she had clearly taken 
their parents' teachings to heart, and was still as immaculately turned out 
as when they had first met. "So, how are you doing anyway? I nearly panicked 
when I found out you were involved in all that theme garden kidnapping 
business, and then again when you ended up here again. Mum and Dad too."
    
    Haruka ignored the mention of her parents and smiled. "Thanks. That was 
cute, the card. I'd been meaning to invite you over properly, to meet Michiru 
and Hotaru-chan."
    
    "Oh, that's okay. Here's plenty of time, right? And besides, I'm kind 
of scared of meeting them. I'm too young to be an aunt!"
    
    "Not much we can do about that now," Haruka said with a wry smile. "Besides, 
Hotaru-chan's far too old to be your niece either, I'm sure."
    
    "Heh, yeah. Besides, maybe I can make use of myself, when I do come over. 
And extra pair of hands for baby, right?"
    
    The idea amused Haruka. "Don't worry about that, we have more than enough 
pairs of hands on standby. But it won't be long now.  A month and a half we 
reckon."
    
    "Wow." Maki's inquisitive eyes went straight to her now enormous stomach. 
Again, Haruka wasn't really all that big for being so far along, but on her 
still relatively slim build it was very noticeable.
    
    "Yeah, and I might even get to spend some of that at home as well."
    
    Haruka hadn't really meant to whine there, but that was how it had 
evidently come out, because Maki looked back up with sympathy. "That bad, 
huh?"
    
    Haruka shrugged. There was no point putting a brave face on her 
frustration. "Between coming here after getting, well... abducted, and then 
this problem? I've spent over a month in this bed. My girlfriend is out there 
working her arse off for my sake, with visitors coming every other day, and 
all I can tell them is 'sorry, still laid up here.' Not that I mind the excuse 
not to be waddling around, but still."
    
    There was also the matter of the hunt for the shadows. It had been going 
on for weeks now, first building up Sailor Mercury's map of readings and then 
following up on the hottest trails and points that these linked entities had 
visited. It was so dispiriting to hear how little progress could be made each 
night, with even the Youma and Phantom Sisters helping out. Either the shadows 
were already gone, or the places they had visited had suffered little more 
than a break-in or minor theft. If anything had happened at all. It seemed 
the shadows were following some fanciful whims of their own, rather than 
actually working towards any kind of organised goal. The worst incident was 
the theft of the empty crystals that the police had collected from both the 
youmas' destroyed shell tank and Marya's laboratory, but no energy thefts 
had been located.
    
    Either the Senshi were just getting unlucky in their hunting, or the 
Shadows were doing little more than playing around. Stealing food, clothing 
or jewellery was hardly even Dark Kingdom level work, and several trails had 
turned up nothing at all but used makeshift beds, several days abandoned. 
At least if Haruka had been able to help out there would have been another 
pair of eyes out there, to try and help catch whatever was slipping through 
the cracks.
    
    "Yeah, I guess it must be hard. And the doctors just say you've got to 
stay put, because of the baby?"
    
    "Yup, that's about it. What about you? Did your folks give you any grief 
over that magazine interview?"
    
    "No," Maki replied with a smile. She'd flinched just a little when they'd 
been called 'your folks' rather than 'our folks', but then Haruka hadn't been 
subtle about how she felt when they'd first met. "I don't think they ever 
saw it. Of course, I didn't leave that issue out, so... Anyway, in case you 
didn't believe me about the Karate, here."
    
    She pulled out her phone, and pulled the chair around so that they would 
both be able to see it. "That was me winning the school championship last 
year. Only girls, so I guess it doesn't count for that much - there's only 
five of us - but still! They're sending us to the inter-school championships 
this year too."
    
    "Brown belt? Not bad." She had drive, at least. And to be fair the outfit 
did suit her.
    
    "Yep, first kyu. I'll be in black by next year, guaranteed."

***
    
    Though Haruka had silently bemoaned the lack of progress in their hunt, 
the last few days had seen the most notable forward movement of the last month 
as far as discovering the Shadows' motives was concerned. Their movements 
*had* been with a purpose - if only their own amusement, Sailor Jupiter had 
noted - but that was clearly not the whole truth of the matter. While the 
Senshi patrolled at night and the Black Moon's Phantom Sisters trekked across 
Tokyo to find their past haunts and petty crimes, the youma had taken it upon 
themselves to investigate the main remaining source of data; Tokyo city's 
lists of missing persons.
    
    The list was long, and getting longer every week, with police trying to 
track both the shadows and Tokyo's latest rise of unrelated gang crime, never 
mind all the runaways on top of that. 
    
    It was a task Sailor Pluto had set them, as the near future was still 
too blurred for her to have a clear window into the situation, which had now 
gone on too long for even her patience. Her time was better spent helping 
pre-empt the crisis that would trigger Ono Ryu's reappearance, and the longer 
it took the more anxious Pluto had become.
    
    After days of going through news reports and papers, the youma had been 
ready to take a visit to the police station itself - accompanied by sailor 
Pluto herself in necessary - to make sure that there were no holes in their 
research. But before that they had given Pluto the list of names and addresses 
that they had already found.
    
    Their plans had been cancelled from that point onward. While the youma 
knew the true identities of most of the Sailor Senshi, that knowledge did 
not extend to their family names. Usagi had insisted that, as friends now, 
they were on first name terms. As such, the name Tomoe Souichi hadn't meant 
anything to them, but it meant the world to Sailor Pluto.

***
    
    Half an hour after receiving Setsuna's call, Petz and Calveras reached 
the apartment block that their sisters had been guiding them to. It was one 
of the sites on their list, but the one they had been saving until last for 
the sake of expediency. It was awkward to get to, being both away from the 
main public transport routes and far enough from the centre of the built up 
residential district to make roof-hopping more a chore than merely taking 
the longer pedestrian route.
    
    Had they known who had lived there, and her connection to another possible 
victim they had never known, they would have made it more of a priority. 
    
    "Well, we weren't to know," Calveras justified to herself down the phone 
to her younger sister. "Now, which apartment did you say this Ooyama-san lived 
at?"
    
    Berthier gave her the specifics from the computer in her room, including 
the name of the duty manager for the building. "And if it turns out she is 
gone remember to give Pluto the first call. I've never heard her so flustered, 
and I don't want to deal with the result."
    
    "Of course I will. Now get back down to Koan and be good until we get 
back."
    
    Calveras hung up and jogged to catch Petz at the door to the huge grey 
block of the building. "Well," she chirped, eager to make conversation and 
keep the mood light, "even if she has ended up in trouble it will be the first 
good lead we've had so far!"
    
    "She could be *dead* for all we know, sister," Petz growled back, quietly 
to make sure they weren't overheard by anyone inside. "Not that I want to 
check all these apartments after all, if we are wrong, but let's not condemn 
the girl just yet."
    
    That was true enough, and Calveras didn't bait her sister further. It 
had not been pleasant investigating break-ins and thefts, and she didn't want 
to think that this time they might be walking up to a murder. Not that they 
did walk; it was six floors up and the lift worked just fine, but it was the 
most ominously quiet elevator journey she had ever been on. Hopefully the 
first and last of its kind.
    
    The sixth floor was desolate, and it didn't take them long to find the 
apartment they were looking for. The door was sealed with police tape and 
posted with an appeal for anyone to give information as to any events two 
weeks before that might had left the occupant missing.
    
    "Two weeks?" Petz sounded disgusted with herself. "We should have done 
this place first."
    
    "Petz, how were we to know? There are almost a hundred flats here, and 
all the houses across the estate. Without a name to go by we'd have been 
hunting blind." She sighed. Her sister was taking this all so seriously. She'd 
found a new niche in life, Calveras guessed. No more turns as the shop perfume 
expert? One less sister to fill in for her when she had a date? Why did Petz 
have to have depth after all? 
    
    And why did Calveras find herself feeling the same way? Hopefully just 
their usual competitiveness given new life by Petz's sudden vigour.
    
    "So, what now? We ask around?"
    
    Petz pointed to the phone she knew was in Calveras' purse. "First we let 
Setsuna know she was right, after all. Then we ask around."
    
***
    
    Real life hadn't stopped for any of them either. With April now upon them 
all the girls still at school had their end of year exams or course deadlines 
hurtling towards them, meaning their time was split between their studies 
and being the Senshi almost exclusively. Makoto took her notes to work again, 
Rei only opened the shrine four hours a day to catch up on her dissertations, 
and while Ami wasn't helping either her or Usagi she was taking her slew of 
readings from Haruka and her test group and writing up the results as a 
coherent paper. Hers wouldn't be ready until after Miranda and the other 
children were born was born, and her tutors were making allowances for that, 
but it was still a lot of work to do while also making sure the Senshi's ever 
growing and changing Shadow map was up to date.
    
    And Minako? She was out of work, and had been since she and the other 
Shadow hosts had been hospitalised. The Midnight Garden was closed 
indefinitely, with Le FEI currently going though legal proceedings to keep 
themselves clean and afloat until Ono Marya was caught again, and could be 
given a proper hearing. Assuming that was still possible after the Sailor 
Senshi had apprehended her. Everyone knew the Senshi were on the job, after 
all, and this was their territory. The police did what they could, but they 
were out of their depth, unequipped to deal with these supernatural beings.
    
    And Minako did wonder what they would do when they caught Marya again. 
She was dead, after all. While Usagi still held out hope, she had seen the 
Shadow in Ono Ryu's body taking what little energy the woman had still 
possessed, and replacing it once again with a part of himself. The question 
now was, was she under his spell, or still in control of herself? Minako dearly 
hoped it was the latter. Her Marya-sempai might have been tricked before, 
but she had meant well.
    
    Minako sighed and turned her mind to more immediate matters. She needed 
to be firm and tell her agent just how difficult it would be for her to be 
employed right now. "Mikiyo-san, it's not that I don't want to work. Believe 
me, a pay cheque would be really good right about now. But with these Shadows 
still on the loose I'm not supposed to be taking risks like running around 
the country. I mean, I even had a bodyguard to bring me here."
    
    That was also true. With each of them having appeared in Rei's vision 
Luna had been cracking down on their movements to keep them all safe. Since 
Minako was already known to be friendly with at least some of the Senshi Sailor 
Neptune had come along as her second pair of eyes, standing out in the hall 
while they spoke. She also, as it happened, made for a good example.
    
    The main issue was this; with so much going on right at this moment, having 
Senshi like herself and Sailor Neptune not tied down by studies or fixed 
employment was a massive boon.
    
    Sitting behind her desk, Hakano Mikiyo sighed. She had been putting 
herself back to work with a passion after her convalescence, and it frustrated 
her that Minako seemed to have been scared away from doing the same. That 
said, she *did* have one of the Sailor Senshi waiting in the hallway for her 
in person, and if that wasn't a good excuse then nothing was.
    
    "Very well, I can understand that. But you need to be capitalising on 
your success *now*, Minako-chan. With your play now guaranteed not to get 
a second run you need to remind people that you are still out there and *not* 
cowed by recent events. If nothing else, just a television appearance or two. 
If you could convince one of them," she nodded to the door, "to join you again 
then even better. Have something that you *will* be doing even if you have 
to wait until this 'Shadow' business, whatever it is, blows over."
    
    It was a compelling argument. And having a next job lined up ready would 
certainly help, especially if she could publicise it beforehand. The question 
was, "Is there anything that would fit the bill? I mean, no offence, but the 
people we work for aren't that flexile."
    
    "I have one or two things that might do." Mikiyo took out a couple of 
folders and look through. "But you'd need to choose soon. While we still have 
a chance of getting you on television while its relevant. And..."
    
    She looked towards the door again, nervously this time. "Do you think 
one of the Sailor Senshi would appear with you? If you have one with you 
anyway... No broadcaster alive would turn that down. I could get us the pick 
of the programmes."
    
    Minako shook her head though. That was going a bit far. "Sorry, Mikiyo-san. 
I don't think so. Sailor Neptune-san is only here because it wasn't 
inconvenient for her work." She leaned forward conspiratorially, "Between 
you and me, I think they've got enough to do as it is. I just got lucky today. 
Better they're getting this mess sorted out than giving interviews, right?"
    
    Seeing Mikiyo's imploring look Minako's act wilted, and she let out an 
all too real sigh. "But, I'll ask. I don't think it's possible, but I'll ask."
    
    "That's all I'm asking," Mikiyo replied, now looking content. "I'll send 
you the details of those jobs. If you could let me know by tomorrow evening 
at the latest, along with the answer, and I'll have it set up for you."
    
    Then, before wrapping up, Mikiyo leaned forward over the desk, causing 
Minako to follow suit. "One thing, Minako-chan. People have been talking for 
a while now, but Sailor Uranus? She's one of the ones you know, right? That 
you can get in contact with?" 
    
    "Y-yes?"
    
    "At least one of the Sailor Senshi has been seen every night for months 
now, but not her. And the last time anyone saw her was with you, when you 
gave that last interview after you got back. Is she okay? She didn't get in 
trouble because of that, did she? I just wondered, if that was why they won't 
give another interview?"
    
    Minako gave a sigh of relief. "No, that's not it. I haven't seen much 
of her either, recently. They all have their own things to do right now, so 
I'll bet she's just busy with that."
    
    "Good, as long as that's all it is. Now, get home safe and let Sailor 
Neptune-san get back to whatever she's doing to stop these kidnappers."
    
    "Will do, Hakano-san!"

***
    
    Like most of the others Hotaru still had school to attend. The more she 
studied the further she outstripped the curriculum, but there was always more 
to learn if she just opened the next level of text book. She was not the 
voracious student that Ami was, but the faint, blurry memories of the life 
she'd lived before Mistress 9 and Pharaoh 90 had rendered a great deal of 
her last four years of school somewhat moot. Having turned sixteen only a 
month before (and hadn't she been showered with gifts by her parents - all 
four of them!) graduation to High School was her next imminent academic road 
bump. While she would study dutifully there was little worry from her parents 
that she might have trouble with the end of year exams.
    
    More of a concern was that she was moving classes *again*, to a whole 
new school this time. At least she seemed to be ageing more properly now, 
and that would hopefully not be an issue any more. But still, it was one more 
lot of friends that she would likely leave, only to have to make new ones 
all over again. And find herself another club there to belong to, and try 
not to draw too much attention with her psychic healing, her Senshi work, 
or her excess of mothers. 
    
    The last of which she didn't have a hope of succeeding at, given their 
high profile lives, but as long as she didn't boast there might not be a 
problem. Hopefully.
    
    Such were the worries that rolled around in her mind in the bathroom 
between classes. The thought never crossed her mind that she might have had 
more immediate concerns right then, specifically the fact that, for those 
few minutes, there was no-one else in the bathrooms with her, and she was 
very much alone.
    
    The school was a very visible and public place, difficult even for people 
with the powers of absolute stealth to permeate without alerting *someone* 
to their presence. Much in the same was Makoto's workplace was, or the 
University Ami was driven to every few days.
    
    She had also left her school bag in her desk, not thinking that it might 
be needed for that one moment. The fact that her communicator now rung from 
within it was a situation she had never expected to encounter with quite the 
urgency that Sailor Pluto called her.
    
    "Ah, my dear daughter, how you have grown!"
    
    Hotaru spun on her heels at the very male voice coming from within the 
stall that had just been opened, and she backed up against the sink. "What? 
Who's in here, you pervert!?"
    
    His hands in his lab coat pockets, Berserk - once Tomoe Souichi - stepped 
out. The Shadow now shrouded him completely, except for the blinding 
reflection of his glasses, and crept down beneath his coat in an intricate 
weave of black upon black.
    
    "Dear Daughter, that's no way to speak to your father. No, clearly my 
parental expertise are needed if that's how you talk to your elders."
    
    Hotaru's eyes became saucers of confusion and inner conflict. She knew 
exactly what this man must be, his face covered in blackness even in that 
well lit room, but, "P-papa?"
    
    "That's right, Hotaru my sweet." Berserk's hands rose from his coat, and 
though cuffed with the same blackness they were still pale skin. "I've come 
to take you back, my Hotaru-chan. Back where you belong, at MY side."
    
    That sudden outburst of anger came and went in an instant. "All is 
forgiven, and I have much to teach you now."
    
    Knowing what she had to do, whether this was her father or not, Hotaru's 
hand went do to her side only to find no bag there. Her transformation pen 
was in her desk.
    
    Seeing her hesitation Berserk stepped forwards, reaching out with a long, 
powerful arm, and from it rose ropes of the same blackness that covered him 
from head to foot. "No time for fancies, Daughter! We have much to 
accomplish!"
    
    As the blackness reached out to her Hotaru did the one thing she could 
to ensure that someone somewhere would help her, even just by witnessing what 
was to follow.
    
    She screamed.

***
    
    To her horror, after having been spared the worst result of Souichi's 
abduction for over two ignorant weeks, Meiou Setsuna arrived at the school 
a mere three minutes too late.

***
    
    Sailor Pluto had followed the ever more convoluted trail of Shadow 
essence for over an hour before she finally admitted defeat. For all her 
precognitive power - for her absolute control over time, if she dared to use 
it - she couldn't prevent Hotaru's abduction. Nor had anyone within the school, 
not that those hysterical students would have had even the slightest chance.
    
    But this disaster had not altered the destiny that was to come. It had 
just been one of the innumerable possibilities out there, along with the 
unlikely capture of any other member of the Sailor Senshi. Their victory was 
still all but ensured, and the rise of Crystal Tokyo still dominated their 
distant future. Whatever her personal feelings on the matter, this was no 
time to abuse her powers.
    
    So, Setsuna stood silent with the women under her care, her co-parents 
she had sometimes called them, letting the news sink in. Haruka and Michiru's 
outrage had abated, and in its place the air was thick with hostile grief. 
Hotaru was *their* daughter, damn it, and no matter who he was the Shadow 
who had taken her would pay for it.
    
    Ami was the sole source of optimism in that hospital room. "Please, let's 
not lose hope so soon. We will find her. It is just a mater of time. Our map 
is growing larger and more accurate by the day, and if nothing else 
Hotaru-chan will give us another trail to follow."
    
    While it helped to lift Haruka and Michiru's heavy hearts, Setsuna's 
concern was greater than just for the girl's safety. "That may be, but we 
all know who she is. If she retains that power, even if I cannot see her using 
it now, reclaiming her might be the most difficult task we face against them."
    
    "Minako-chan didn't fight us," Haruka noted, gripping Michiru's hand 
both to comfort her and draw strength. "We can still hope that Hotaru won't 
either. She knows how much she means to us."
    
    "So does Souichi," but for all her dark words, that had lit a fire back 
under Setsuna's furnace. "Ami-chan, shell we go tonight? I would like to 
follow the trail from school again, with you this time."
    
    "Of course." Ami only smiled. "She's my daughter too, now."

***
    
    The war between Tomoe Hotaru and the fragment of Shadow within her had 
lasted until nightfall, driving the girl back and forth from unconsciousness 
for what had remained of the day.
    
    Unlike her father and his student carer, the Shadow had no purchase in 
her psyche; no dark corners to anchor to and draw up to subsume her mind. 
It had tried, her mind - like all others - was not without its hidden flecks 
of darkness and despair, but unlike all others there was the blade of a glaive 
and a guardian's spirit protecting them. The shadow was cunning, manipulative 
and keen, but it lacked the strength to beat back the pure heart of a Sailor 
Senshi.
    
    It needed help, and so it brought Berserk, another part of itself, to 
end his mad evasive flight across the city and return to his daughter for 
the night ahead. There, in the empty Ginza department store, amid the linen 
and pillows, he could work his craft as only he could.
    
    He, once a master of demons, of life energy, and of Chaos itself. 
    
    Fitting.
    
    Still shrouded in blackness, Berserk pulled a ten yen coin from the pocket 
of his still-white coat, and plucked a thread from the bedding that he lay 
Hotaru on. Together they made a quaint pendulum, bringing his smile back to 
his face, and a lilting tune to his lips. 
    
    "Rock a-by Senshi, deep in the night, 
    "Time now to wake, relinquish the fight,
    "Listen, my voice shall guide you to fall,
    "And up then shall rise my daughter once more."

***

    Little more than a half hour later, and Dracul and the Shadow that had 
once been Rika Ooyama found them still there. Hotaru sat with vacant eyes 
on the edge of the bed, now wearing a lavender night dress that she had picked 
herself. Opposite her, sitting forward on his simple wooden chair, Berserk's 
soft, dulcet tones and gently swaying pendulum had done their work.
    
    "You are still at play, Berserk?"
    
    "Not at all! Not at all. My Hotaru-chan has joined us now, Sailor Senshi 
or no! All it required was a little sleep, and the correct application of 
subconscious suggestion."
    
    The Rika shadow, slow, gaunt and sallow faced, approached them and turned 
her gaze to the girl. A weight of resentment and unending exertion had hunched 
Rika's shoulders, and the Shadow's blackness did not clothe her, but drip 
from her limp arms and pool hazily around her mouth, eyes and feet. Apathy 
and thanklessness after so many years of dutiful and kind-hearted work had 
been the dark crutch she had given the Shadow, and it had twisted her in kind.
    
    Hotaru did not even turn her eyes in response.
    
    "Hypnosis? Is she even awake? How useful can she be?"
    
    Berserk tutted. "Now now, Juon, she is quite awake. And quite capable, 
I assure you. She is my blood, after all! Come now, this is Dracul, and Juon, 
Father's colleagues. Won't you introduce yourself?"
    
    In response Hotaru finally rose, toppling slightly before righting 
herself, as if playing while half asleep. Her mouth rose into a soft, slight 
smile, her eyes still somewhere else entirely.
    
    "Nice to meet you. I am Miss Dream."
    
    "Yes, that's right." Berserk clapped, giggling. "A lovely dream."

***
    
    Haruka had thought that waiting was the worst part. Waiting for updates 
from her fellow warriors about her missing daughter; Waiting for the doctors' 
next visit and the postponement of her return home; Waiting for Ami or Michiru 
to visit and give her words of love and encouragement, allowing her to do 
the same.
    
    But no, worse was the anticipation, knowing the inevitable answer but 
being unable to do anything but sit back and let it happen. That was not Tenoh 
Haruka. She was proactive, and faced the world head on, like a locomotive 
meeting a wall of styrofoam bricks.

    "Okay, are we sure now?" she asked the doctor, now that she had got her 
breath back again.
    
    Said doctor nodded. "Yes, she's coming, whether she's ready or not."
    
    Haruka sighed. The butterflies in her stomach, which had replaced her 
latest contraction, intensified as that dreadful anticipation grew worse. 
"Damn it, Miranda-chan, impatient even before you're born? She'll be okay, 
though, right?"
    
    The doctor nodded. "She'll have to go into an incubator in ICU for several 
weeks, and I wouldn't try to suppress labour after your abruption. But she 
should be fine."
    
    Haruka nodded, waiting nervously for the next pain to hit. But it was 
still early, and she had time to make the phone call herself.
    
    "Hi, Ami? Remember those Braxton-Hickses I was complaining about 
yesterday? They decided to go big-time as of three hours ago. Miranda is just 
really damned early."
    
***

To Be Concluded...

***
    
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