As always, Sailor Moon belongs to Naoko Takeuchi and all affiliated companies. I make no claims to anything except this particular piece of homage.
I hope you enjoy!
The Perpetual Lurker 01/14/05
"Oh, no! Don't go in there, idiot!" Usagi clutched the manga to her chest and rolled back and forth on Rei's bed. "Oh, no!" She squealed again. "He's gonna get attacked by monsters!" She brought the book back up and licked her finger to turn the page. She caught barely a glimpse of the picture there before Rei snatched it away.
"Who's the idiot, Usagi? You're going to ruin my book!" Rei carefully smoothed the manga's cover and set it back on the bookshelf. "I just can't believe you sometimes. Why are you so worked up about it, anyway? It's not like there's anything unusual. We fight youma all the time."
"A little spit never hurt anything." Usagi pouted as she settled back into the pillows. "Besides, if it's so boring, why'd you buy it in the first place?"
Unable to come up with a good retort, Rei stared at Usagi, sputtering wordlessly.
"So her best friend could slobber on it," Makoto said casually from her seat on the floor. She turned another page of the magazine she'd brought with her.
"You shouldn't be reading manga now anyway, Usagi." Luna jumped onto the bed to lecture her protégé. "We're supposed to be having a meeting, as soon as Ami-chan shows up."
"Oh, come on. It's not like we've got much to do until she gets here, anyway. So, Rei, how about it? Why not let me have the manga back?" Usagi asked reasonably. She twisted onto her knees and clasped her hands in front of her. "Please, please, Rei? Please?"
"Quiet, you!" Rei shoved Usagi lightly, causing her to topple backwards onto the bed.
"Hey, look at this!" Makoto said to no one in particular. She held the magazine up to display a full-page picture of a masked girl to the room at large. "Looks like Sailor V strikes again. Luna, do you think she might be one of us? Another Senshi?"
She was interrupted by the arrival of Ami, who appeared in the doorway to Rei's bedroom looking disheveled and generally out of breath.
"Sorry – I'm late-" she managed before slumping onto the bed.
"Ami-chan, are you okay?" Usagi scooted next to her and put an arm around her. "Here, have a drink of my cola."
"I just had to run to get here, that's all…." Ami leaned gratefully on her friend and accepted the can of soda. "I'm a little tired out."
"You aren't usually late for anything," Makoto said. "What happened?"
"My mother got worried because I missed cram school yesterday. She was pretty upset, and she wanted to know if having all of you as my friends was affecting my studies. Of course it is, indirectly I suppose, but how was I to tell her that?"
The other girls nodded in sympathy. They'd battled another youma the afternoon before, and the battle had lasted well over an hour. When everything was wrapped up, Usagi cried that she was late for a meeting, and the four friends had scattered to the wind without a chance to talk. Ami wasn't the only one who'd missed an appointment.
"My mother wanted me to study with her at the library last night," Usagi began. "She got pretty angry after I missed that test last week, and now that I've missed her study session for my retake…. Of course, I was fighting youma, but she doesn't know that." Usagi's voice trailed off, and she bit her lip pensively. "I wonder," she said. "Would it be that terrible if we just told them?"
The outburst of sound from everyone around her nearly knocked Usagi over as they all tried to talk at once. Finally, Luna's voice asserted itself over the others. "You know you can't, Usagi-chan. If you were to tell your family that you are Sailor Moon, you could put them in danger from Beryl's attacks. It's for their own safety that we keep this a secret."
"Is that really true?" Makoto said slowly. "It seems to me that your parents knowing about our alter egos doesn't put them at any more of a risk than they already are…. All that's necessary is for an enemy to discover the true identities of the Sailor Senshi, and they could attack, say, Shingo, without him ever knowing why. It seems to me that knowing we were fighting this battle might make your families more likely to be aware of danger, and more able to respond, rather than less…."
A moment of silence enveloped the room as each of the others pondered this concept and, for the first time, really considered what the effect would be of telling their families about their identities.
"First of all, I don't want you fighting at night unless you wake me up and tell me where you're going and when you're getting back."
"Mama…." Usagi tried to interrupt.
"Second, I need you to make arrangements with your teachers for any classes you miss. I don't want you falling behind in your studies any more than you already have." Ikuko fixed her daughter with a firm gaze. "And I certainly don't want you missing another test like last week."
"Mama!" Usagi tried again.
"And third, I want you to take your father with you whenever you have to fight."
"What?" Usagi exclaimed as Kenji popped through the kitchen doorway with a tire iron in his hand.
"Monsters want to mess with my daughter? Let me at them!"
Usagi sighed as the prospect of any stolen moments with Tuxedo Kamen after a battle went straight out the window.
"Oh, no. It's my grandfather again." Sailor Mars nodded almost imperceptibly toward the ground. A short, balding man stood below the tree where the Sailor Senshi had perched after their battle, eagerly staring upward.
"Let me handle this," Sailor Jupiter offered. She leapt from the branch and landed easily on the ground in front of Rei's grandfather. She spoke in a sweet voice. "I suppose you know who I am, right?"
"Of course! You're Rei-chan's friends." He grinned.
"And you've been peeping up our skirts. It needs to stop." Sailor Jupiter allowed a little lightning to crackle around her tiara as she grabbed him by the collar. Her voice grew steely. "Otherwise, I'll be forced to take drastic measures."
"I – ah-hah. I see," he said in a mild voice. "I'll just be going now, shall I?" He wriggled loose from her grip and ran off as the other Senshi joined Sailor Jupiter on the ground.
"Thanks, Makoto. I thought he'd never quit," Sailor Mars said in relief. She turned at the sound of Yuuichiro's voice behind her.
"Rei-san!" He ran up to them with guitar in hand. "Please, I know this is last minute, but my band is opening at a concert tomorrow night. This is our big chance! Please, won't you and the other Senshi come on stage with us?"
"What? No!" Sailor Mars shook her head. "There's no reason for us to appear with you. We're fighters, not musicians."
"But it'd be wonderful publicity for us! Just think, the real Sailor Senshi on stage with my music! It'd be great, Rei. Please?"
"I said no, no, NO!"
"Miss Mizuno, the doctor will see you now."
Wordlessly, Ami placed her science text back in her book bag and stood. As the receptionist held the office door open for her, she nodded in thanks and entered.
Dr. Shinazuki sat in a comfortable armchair, doing his best to look friendly and trustworthy. He motioned toward the couch nearby and Ami took a seat there.
"Now, Miss Mizuno," the psychiatrist began. "Do you know why you're here?"
"Yes, of course," Ami answered. "My mother has you convinced that I'm crazy." The response was a little ruder than Ami usually allowed herself to express, but then the situation had been trying her patience all day. A little rudeness was the least of her worries.
"Well," he laughed, "'crazy' is a term we try not to use these days. Your mother is concerned that you're experiencing some minor delusions or hallucinations, and she's asked that I try to work with you, to help you overcome them. Would you like to tell me what you told your mother?"
Knowing full well that Dr. Mizuno had tearfully described the "delusions" over the phone, and that Dr. Shinazuki more than likely had an entire case study on the notepad in his lap, Ami nevertheless complied.
"Very well. I told my mother that I am the warrior Sailor Mercury, that I was reincarnated from the past to defend against evil, and that I have been fighting youma with magic powers for months. I also told her that many of the recent disasters in this city have been caused by the Queen of the Dark Kingdom, who hopes to drain all humans of their energy and resurrect an ancient evil. Is that enough for you to declare me as insane, or should I continue?"
Unsure how to proceed, the doctor nervously adjusted his eyeglasses with a finger. "Miss Mizuno, please. I've seen your school reports, and by all accounts you are an extremely intelligent girl. Is there something wrong in your home life? Perhaps you are acting out frustrations over your father's absence?"
Ami screamed silently as the questions droned on.
"Guys? Guys!"
Usagi came out of her daydream to see Makoto standing over her with hands on hips and a worried look on her face. "Mako-chan? What's wrong?"
"What's wrong is that all three of you have been zoned out for five minutes! Now, I thought we were discussing Senshi business. Do you want to tell your parents about the Dark Kingdom and our battles or not?"
As Makoto watched each of their faces in turn, awaiting an answer, the other girls exchanged glances. Usagi could read in each of her friends' expressions the same answer she knew her own face showed. They all began to speak at the same moment.
"I don't think Mama really needs to know…." Usagi said.
"And Grandpa would just – um – worry…." Rei continued.
"So we're thinking the answer is no," Ami added. "Maybe we should just leave things as they are?"
Makoto and Luna exchanged glances and shrugged. "Well, if that's how you feel about it," Makoto began, "it's really up to you!"
Usagi nodded eagerly. "Now, how about it, Rei? Can I borrow that manga for the weekend?"
"Can you – what? Why would I let you borrow anything?"
As the squabble continued, and Luna tried ineffectively to bring everyone's attention back to business, Makoto leaned back on her hands and smiled at the ceiling. It was true – things were fine just the way they were.