Disclaimer: I do not own SailorMoon, and I make no profit off this story. I do however own the Gem Senshi, so please don't steal. I worked hard on them.
The Gem senshi are indeed OC's, and are undoubtedly Mary Sue's. Please don't flame me about that subject, as I'm aware of it. This entire story is simply for fun. Everything that happens here was played out by my friends and I as kids, I'm just writing it down.
That said, all OC's are half-owned by Spotty Miss. I couldn't have been this crazy without her.
IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT TIMELINE!
In this story, we are going by a combination of the manga and anime timeline. In this story, the Starlights are men, not women dressed as men. However, the ending will probably go the manga route. Please keep this in mind while reading.
Chapter One Starlight, Starbright
A beautiful, flickering fire was burning, floating in mid-air. Watching it with no concern were two figures. They were girls, not quite children, yet not quite adults. One was thin and willowy, with jaw length dark brown hair. Her eyes were a shining ruby red, and she was staring intently at the fire. The girl next to her was smaller, but fuller. She had the curves of an adult and long wavy hair of a strawberry blonde coloring. Her eyes were a deep and endless sparkling blue. She too was peering at the flame with great concentration.
A haunting voice was speaking, but not coming from either of the two girls. It seemed to be coming from the fire itself. In fact, if you were looking at the fire closely, you might see the silhouetted face in the flame. This was the origin of the voice.
"So, we have determined that they are invaders. Each of you will be assigned to one of them. You are to tail them, record their movements, and reveal their reasons for coming unannounced. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT reveal your identities. If the need arises, kill them. Protecting the senshi and the civilians is our number one priority."
The girls nodded, grim faced.
"Sapphire, you are assigned to Sailor StarMaker, civilian identity Taiki Kou."
The redhead bowed.
"Ruby, your target is Sailor StarHealer, civilian identity Yaten Kou."
The brunette smiled confidently.
"And the final intruder?" Sapphire asked.
"The inner senshi are taking care of that one."
"How long do we have?" Ruby questioned.
"You have 3 months, to the day. Should the evidence point towards peaceful immigration, however, that deadline may be extended. Are you clear one your instructions?"
"Of course, Emerald. You always explain things well." Ruby said, giggling.
"I guess I can't expect you to be serious about this, can I sis?" the fire-girl sighed.
"Don't be silly, Emerald, I AM being serious." The brunette replied casually.
"That's enough Ruby. We've wasted enough of Emerald's time as it is." Sapphire scolded. "Thanks, Emerald."
"I'm only doing my duty..." Emerald chuckled.
"I meant for putting up with Ruby."
"Oh."
Sapphire chortled. "Well, bye Sis."
"Goodbye, Sapphire, Ruby. Good luck."
"See ya, Sis!" Ruby said cheerfully, waving to the fire.
And with a soft 'foof', it went out.
"Well, I guess the first step is transferring schools..." Sapphire said, as she pulled a laptop out of the bag beside her.
"Yaten and Taiki Kou. Where have I heard those names?" Ruby said, puzzled.
"Don't be silly, Ruby. They just got here, you can't possibly have heard of them." Sapphire chatted as she worked on her computer.
"I know, but still..."
Suddenly, the computer beeped.
"I got a hit!" Sapphire leaned closer to her screen. "They've just transferred to Juuban High."
"Hey, wait!" Ruby cried, snatching the laptop away from the other girl. She typed quickly, and squinted at the screen. The computer beeped again, and she let out a triumphant cry.
"I KNEW IT!"
"What?"
"I KNEW I'd heard of them, look. They're in that new pop band, the 'Three Lights'. Look, this guy must be the one the inners are tailing. 'Seiya, Yaten, and Taiki Kou.' Hey, they're cute." Sapphire smacked her sister upside the head.
"We are on a mission, not looking for a date." Ruby rubbed her head, defeated.
"I WASN'T looking for a date, I was just saying..."
"Shush."
Sapphire typed rapidly on the computer.
"What are you doing, Sapph?"
"I'm adding us to the school roster. From now on, I'm Hoseki Namiko, and you're Hoseki-"
"Honooko!" Ruby cut in.
"Yes, Honooko. I've also input our grades from last year, so we have a history. We're both 10th graders, you're in Photography club, and I'm in Computer and Gardening."
"But, you hate gardening. And you break computers."
"Those are the clubs my target is in. Yours is in Photography."
"Gotcha."
'Namiko' happily hit enter as she exclaimed, "There! We are now official students of Juuban High! Our uniforms will be here tomorrow, and I've altered our class schedules so we are in every class with our respective targets."
"I guess you belong in computer club, Namiko." Honooko said nonchalantly.
"Shut up, Honooko." Namiko said disgustedly. Honooko giggled.
"Pipipipipipipipi..." the alarm chirped. Honooko groaned and pointed a finger at it. With a flash, a jet of flame shot from her fingertip, and the clock ignited. Unfortunately, so did her bed stand.
"Whoopsie... NAMIKO!" She hollered. Namiko walked in a few seconds later. She was dressed, and groomed, and it seemed she had been up for a while now.
"What is it, Honooko-chan?" she sighed. Honooko pointed again at her bed stand, now crackling merrily. Namiko marched over to the fire and held her open palm over it. Instantly, water gushed out of her hand, and put the fire out.
"You tried to fry you alarm again?" she frowned at the scruffy brunette. Honooko laughed nervously.
"Not a good way to start a mission, Ruby." Namiko scolded.
"I didn't mean to set the WHOLE THING on fire, just the clock!"
"Oh, and that's so much better. Just don't do it again, okay? Now come downstairs, breakfast is ready."
"Ooo!" Honooko perked up immediately. "What are we having? Pancakes? Cereal? A real Japanese breakfast?!!?" She was hopping up and down.
"No. Grapefruit and fiber shake." Namiko said enthusiastically.
"What?! That's not food, that's diet junk!" Honooko wailed.
"Which you and I could use." Namiko said, poking her sister in the stomach.
"Namiko, you weigh less that Usa-chan. And I've always been on the skinny side."
"Not skinny enough!" The fiery redhead declared. Honooko rolled her eyes, and decided to sneak out to a restaurant on the way to school.
A middle-aged man was leaning against a desk, at which a small prudish woman was sitting. The man had a piece of paper clutched in his hand, and he was furiously debating with the woman.
"Yorutoshi-san, I find it highly unlikely that two students mysteriously appeared on your roster overnight." The woman told him irritably.
"I'm telling you, they weren't there yesterday! I printed out EXACTLY the amount of worksheets I needed, and today I find I'm two short!" Yorutoshi snapped back at her.
"I'm sorry if you miscounted," the woman sneered, "But that is hardly my problem. Now, I suggest that you return to your classroom, as the first bell will ring in 5 minutes."
Yorutoshi looked as though he would have liked very much to shake the woman, but instead he turned and stormed out of the office. He quickly marched back to his classroom, fuming all the way. When he reached the door, he yanked it open so hard it nearly came off. He stomped over to his desk at the front of the room, and grabbed a piece of chalk. He quickly wrote on the blackboard:
Yorutoshi-sensei, Grade 1, Class 1-B
"Ah, Yorutoshi-sensei. That's a nice name, isn't it Nami-chan?" a female voice commented cheerfully. Yorutoshi whirled around and stared at the desk near the front row. A tall brunette was seated there, and she was turned backwards to face a girl three rows behind her. This girl had her nose buried in a book, and upon hearing her sister's voice, she had peeked over the top of the book to glare. The tall girl shrunk under her sisters' glance, and held up her hands defensively.
"Ah, sorry, I forgot you were reading." She quickly turned forwards again, and grinned at the teacher.
He blinked.
"Excuse me, Miss...?"
"Hoseki! Hoseki Honooko!" Honooko replied.
"Hoseki-san... class doesn't begin for another 10 minutes. Surely you would rather be chatting with your friends?" He asked cautiously. Honooko's smile faded slightly.
"Actually, Sensei, I can't move in the halls right now. Everyone is trying to talk to those pop star boys." She bounced in her seat. "And I'd rather get a good seat anyway!"
Yorutoshi felt a small flutter of joy. Finally, a student who would rather be prepared for lessons than flirting! But he suddenly remembered the other student, and he addressed her.
"What about you Miss? Surely you would like to see the stars..."
The redhead again glared over the top of her book.
"I assure you, the only stars I'm interested in are purely of the hydrogen based kind. And I'm also Hoseki, so perhaps you'd better find a different way of addressing us." She told him frankly.
"You're also Hoseki-san?" Yorutoshi said, frowning slightly.
"Yes!" Honooko bounced again. "She's my-" Namiko cleared her throat loudly. Honooko paused, and then resumed her excited explanation. "She's my cousin! Hoseki Namiko! Right, Nami-chan?" Namiko didn't reply. She simply sighed, and turned the page.
Yorutoshi blinked. But before he could say anything else, the bell rang, and he the class flooded in, chattering away. They parted into three separate herds. One was surrounding a tall brown haired youth with glasses. He was carrying a large pile of books, and he seated himself in the third row. Namiko closed her book, adjusted herself until she was able to hear his conversation clearly.
The second group was flitting around a short teen with sliver hair. He had large green eyes, and was not looking very pleased with the people hovering around him. He sat down in the second row, and impatiently waved the others away. Honooko turned around again. Her smile turned slightly predatory, and her eyes glittered as they followed him.
The third crowd followed a black-haired fellow of average height. He was smiling and chatting with his group. All of the girls near him sighed wistfully every time he looked their way. Three girls sat as close to him as they could. He even reached out and tugged the pigtail on one girl, who promptly squealed and began to shriek at him.
Yorutoshi opened a large book on his desk. He then slammed it shut violently, with a loud bang. Everyone became quiet. He smiled; the book always worked.
He took role call, noting the name of each student. Once finished, he smiled, and announced that seats were assigned, so everyone had better be ready to move. Honooko looked crestfallen.
Yorutoshi began to read off the list.
"Aino Minako, you will be with Tsukino Usagi." The said girls grinned, and moved to their new seats. He continued reading off the list.
"Hoseki Honooko, your seated with Yaten Kou." Nearly half the class groaned in disappointment, as Honooko skipped to her new seat. Yaten looked less than pleased.
"Hoseki Namiko, please take a seat next Taiki Kou." Again, the class moaned. Namiko however didn't look surprised in the slightest, and moved next to Taiki. Finally, the entire class was seated properly, and Yorutoshi began scribbling on the blackboard.
Honooko dug through her bag, searching for something. Then she frowned and turned to Yaten, opening her mouth to speak.
"No, I will not give you an autograph, sing for you, go out with you, or give you free tickets to our concert." He hissed. Honooko blinked, but then shook her head, smiling.
"Actually, I was wondering if you had a pencil sharpener I could borrow. My cousin has mine." She whispered to him, seemingly not at all upset by his outburst.
Yaten paused. Then he supiciously handed over his sharpener. Honooko grinned and gave him a whispered thanks, then turned her attention back to the lesson.
Namiko had her laptop out, and was typing rapidly. She had been hearing the sounds of a pen on paper from Taiki, and suddenly realized the sound had stopped, She felt someone looking over her shoulder, and her eyebrow twitched.
"Do you MIND?" She whispered coldly.
"No, not at all. Continue." Taiki told her loftily. Namiko felt her fuse growing short, when suddenly a small warning appeared on her screen. She peered at it closely, biting her lip. Taiki too studied it closely, but with a small pang of confusion, he realized that none of the characters were familiar, nor were they even Japanese.
Namiko seemed to understand them though, because she quickly snatched a piece of paper from her bag and wrote hurriedly on it. She then folded it up into an airplane, and tossed it at Honooko's head. Honooko felt it bounce off her skull, and she leaned back to pick it up. But before she could, the girl behind her grabbed it. With a smirk, she waved the paper teasingly in Honooko's face, before tucking it in her pocket. Honooko glanced up at her sister.
Namiko was wearing an expression that suggested that she would very much like to strangle the girl. Honooko guessed that the note must have been important, so she addressed the girl.
"Excuse me, but that's mine. May I have it?" The girl grinned maliciously.
"Oh, I don't think so."
Honooko frowned, feeling slightly frustrated.
"Yes, it is mine, my cousin threw it to me. Please give it to me."
The girl smiled wider.
"Oh, you don't understand. I mean no, you can't have it. After all, passing notes is rude."
"My cousin says it's important. I don't care if I get in trouble. Hand it over." Honooko said, growing more irritated as the seconds passed.
"No floozy who sneaks a seat next to MY Yaten talks to me that way." The girl snapped, flicking her thumb and index finger on Honooko's forehead.
Honooko's patience ran out.
"Give it to me. Now."
"Or what? You'll tell on me?" The girl sneered.
"Nope. I'll do this." She said, and turned to Yaten.
"Yaten-san, this girl says she's your girlfriend, and she has a note for you." Honooko told Yaten sweetly. Yaten turned and glared at the girl.
"Buzz off. You're not my type." He told her flatly. The girl whimpered, and had frozen in her seat. Honooko took the chance to snatch the note out of the girl's hand. She immediately snapped out of her statue-esque state, and glared at Honooko.
"You made an enemy today, Hoseki."
"I'm terrified. Really." Honooko told her, smiling happily. She then turned back to face the teacher. As soon as he looked away, she scanned the note.
Honooko-
We have a problem. Apparently, our friends here weren't the only ones to arrive the other night. A similar aura has been detected near the playground in the Juuban residential district. The trouble is, it disappeared. Emerald is trying to trace it; so are Luna and Artemis. So far no luck. After our clubs today, meet me on the front steps. We're going to check it out.
-Namiko
Honooko frowned. A fourth aura? This was not looking good. Three invaders they could handle, but four? At least the other three had the decency to show themselves in the open. This last one made her nervous, and if she was nervous, Namiko definitely was.
Honooko tore a sheet of paper out of her binder and wrote.
Namiko-
Maybe we should get the other girls in on this. After all, if this aura is moving around, who better to follow it? I'll talk to Sorako and Yukiko at lunch, you handle Moriko and Hoshiko.
-Honooko
Finished, she folded the note, and threw it back at her sister. Namiko caught it without even looking up, unfolded it, read it, then looked back at Honooko, nodding.
'That's a good plan. Maybe Honooko's finally growing a brain...' Namiko wondered to herself. Then she remembered that Hoshiko went to a college four miles away.
'Never mind...'
Honooko stood up when the bell rang, stretched, and reached for her bag. Suddenly, she felt hands on her back push her, and she fell over her desk and onto the floor.
"Ooowww..." She groaned, sitting up. She looked up at her desk to see who had pushed her, and saw the girl from earlier waving with a mock smile plastered on her face. Honooko scowled. Then she saw Namiko, who sighed, and extended her hand to her sister. Honooko took it, and pulled herself up.
"Made a friend already Honooko-chan?" Namiko said, amused.
"Shut up. We just had a friendly disagreement." Honooko informed Namiko seriously.
"Are you gonna be okay?" Namiko asked, slightly worried. Honooko smiled, and brushed herself off.
"I'll be fine, Namiko. I can handle her." Honooko assured her. To prove her point, she picked up her bag and strolled past said bully. The girl stuck out her foot to trip Honooko again, but Honooko stepped right over, and walked out of the classroom, humming.
"Yeah... if anyone can deal, I guess you can." Namiko said softly to herself.
"Sorako-san? Yukiko-san?" Honooko said as she approached a table of seniors. "Can I talk to you guys for a second?"
Two girls looked up. They were the only ones at the table, and had been in the middle of a heated discussion. One of the girls smiled at Honooko, and she pushed her white curly hair behind her ears.
"Sure, Honooko-chan. What is it?"
"Well..." Honooko started nervously. The other girl sighed softly, shaking her head. Her long, straight, lavender hair was hanging perfectly down her back, and it rippled slightly at the movement.
"Honooko-san, why don't you sit down? I think I know what this is about." The violet-haired girl said, patting the seat beside her.
"Thanks Sorako-san." Honooko said, relived. She plopped down, and leaned in to the middle of the table.
"Did you get the latest report from Emerald?" she questioned gravely. Sorako nodded.
"About the fourth aura? Yes, she contacted us about an hour ago. Yukiko thinks she recognizes their auras." The other girl smiled softly again.
"Yes, I do. The auras remind me of a more central planetary system, closer to the middle of our galaxy. Sorako is going to do some research on that area today after school." She frowned. "Unless this is urgent."
Honooko shook her head.
"Well, not urgent. It's worrisome, definitely, but let's not risk the entire mission on it." She told them confidently. "Anyway, Namiko and I were thinking maybe you guys could help us find the missing aura. We're going after it today, but we really need to keep track of our own targets, and Luna says the Solars have their hands full with their guy."
Yukiko grinned.
"Well, we assumed this one was ours. Of course we'll need any information on it you can find." Sorako opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, the bell rang. Honooko stood, but Sorako grabbed her wrist.
"Be careful. Disappearing auras make me nervous."
Honooko smiled at her. She nodded once, and then went back towards her classroom.
"Moriko-san!" Namiko called out. She had just entered the gym, knowing that her friend would be there. A young woman with short forest green hair looked up. She spotted Namiko, and waved jovially.
"Namiko! Over here!"
Namiko grinned, and trotted over to Moriko. When she reached her friend, Namiko grabbed the soccer ball Moriko was holding.
"You and your soccer. You're such a nut." She teased. Moriko grinned sheepishly.
"What can I say? I'm obsessed." She turned her back to Namiko, and began gathering up soccer balls that were spread out on the floor. She spoke over her shoulder to Namiko.
"Something wrong? You don't usually brave the gym." Namiko huffed and replied shrewdly.
"I don't usually have a vanishing invader on my hands." She scowled. Moriko dropped the ball she was holding.
"A vanishing invader? Don't tell me you lost yours already?!" she grabbed Namiko's shoulders.
"Of course I haven't." Namiko swatted her companion's hands away. "Emerald contacted me in class this morning. She said that she examined her records more closely, and found that there were more than three invaders. She said there was a very faint fourth aura, and so she tried to find it here. She found it pretty quick. The trouble is, it completely disappeared about ten minutes after she found it."
Moriko frowned.
"If Emerald can't find it, then it really is gone. What do you need me to do?"
"Honooko and I are going to check out the place were it vanished today after school. But we also have our own targets, so after today, we're passing the job on to you guys. Honooko's talking to Pearl and Diamond now."
"What about Opal?" Moriko asked. Namiko shook her head.
"Her college is to far from the school for me to sneak out. I'm leaving it up to you."
Moriko grinned.
"No problem! She fixed us up with these communicator things last month. She said 'If the Solars can have communicator wristwatches, so can we.' I wish she'd picked a different color though. Black is so boring." She wrinkled her nose, and pointed to the watch on her wrist. Just then the bell rang.
Namiko jumped, and squeaked out a 'goodbye' before scurrying back to class. Moriko sighed.
"That girl will never change." She said shaking her head.
Namiko sat at her desk in the computer lab, typing on her laptop rapidly. The computer made a grinding sound, and smoke started pouring out of the CD drive.
"AHHHH!" Namiko shrieked, flinging the computer off her lap. She held her palm over it, but caught herself just in time.
"Stop it! No! Bad computer!" she stated yelling at the machine. It made the grating sound again, and the screen went completely blank. Namiko paled.
"Oh wonderful. Now it's dead." she muttered furiously. Fuming, she smacked the computer's screen.
Predictably, nothing happened.
"I. Hate. Computers."
"Then why on Earth did you join the computer club?" A smooth voice behind her asked. She whirled around.
"Because it would be nice to be able to work on one without killing it." She snapped at the tall teen behind her. He smiled.
"Maybe I can be of assistance." He said, reaching towards the still smoking laptop. Namiko darted in front of him, and clutched the machine to her chest.
"What are you going to do?" she asked suspiciously. The boy blinked at her.
"Don't you trust me?" he questioned, surprised.
"I try not to rely on strangers." Namiko replied coolly. The boy blinked again, then grinned.
"You're joking, right? You know who I am!" he said, still smiling. Namiko gave him a deadly glare.
"You're the guy I sit next to on all of my classes." She told him, her face blank. The boy looked slightly put off.
"I'm Taiki Kou." He said, as if this would explain everything. Namiko continued to give him a blank look. Taiki stared at her.
"Taiki Kou. Of the band 'The Three Lights'. Taiki Kou, the famous teen idol, Taiki Kou!" he informed her, expecting a look of recognition. He got none.
"I'm Hoseki Namiko." She told him flatly. Taiki resisted the urge to scream.
"You honestly don't know who I am?!" He asked, completely bewildered. Seiya had sworn that every Japanese teen knew their names! Namiko smirked.
"You sure think a lot of yourself, you know that?" she turned away from him and called back over her shoulder. "And I only listen to Classical music. I couldn't care less about some teen idol."
Taiki went right after her, and sat down in the seat next to hers.
"Classical? Do you like Kaioh Michiru?" He asked, seeming genuinely interested.
"Of course. In fact, I met her once. She's very intelligent. And her partner Tenou Haruka is a lovely piano player." She told him half-heartedly.
"I didn't realize they were partners. Isn't Tenou Haruka a racecar driver?"
Namiko smirked again.
"Oh, yes, she is." Taiki seemed slightly taken aback.
"She? I was lead to believe Tenou-san was male." Namiko grinned.
"Oh, no. She's female. And I didn't mean business partners." Taiki looked slightly confused.
"I'm sorry, I don't follow you."
"Kaioh-san enjoys having her girlfriend play with her. They're a very sweet couple." Namiko said wickedly. Taiki merely stared at her for a moment before replying with a blush.
"Oh. I see." He then snatched Namiko's laptop off the desk where she'd set it. He opened it, hit a few keys and paled.
"What on Earth did you do to this?" He said. Namiko shrugged.
"I don't think it likes working directly in binary code." She answered. Taiki refrained from commenting. He worked on the machine for nearly the entire club, and finally, it was fixed. He handed the laptop back to her gingerly.
"Please, be careful with it. I don't know if it will stand being fixed again."
Namiko smirked. She then uttered a sentence that strikes fear into the heart of every computer geek.
"Well, if it breaks, I'll just pitch it and buy a new one." She grinned evilly. "Maybe... a PC. And I think I'll install Linux on it."
Several members of the club keeled over. Namiko merely closed the laptop, and strode out of the room.
"Oooo, what a cute cat! Is she yours?" Honooko squealed at Yaten during photography. Yaten glared at her, and rubbed his ear.
"No. Now stop squealing." He told her harshly. Honooko however refused to let this ruin her mood.
"I know a cat who looks just like that. Her name is Luna. She's not allowed in my house anymore because she tried to eat my birds." She chattered. Yaten rolled his eyes and tried to block her out so he could focus on developing his photos. However, tuning out Honooko's voice proved to be harder than he expected.
"Hey, what's that? It looks like a microphone." She pointed to the photo he was working on. There was a small hands-free microphone in the corner of the picture. It had a small gold star on it, and it appeared to be shining slightly. Yaten quickly grabbed the photo and crumpled it up.
"Why did you do that? That was a great picture." Honooko asked him curiously. Yaten didn't answer. Honooko, sensing that she wouldn't be able to get another word out of him for a while if she continued with aimless chatter, decided it was time to start prying. Sometimes reactions told more than words anyway.
"So... have you seen that Sailor Moon?" she asked him off-handedly. He dropped the tweezers he was holding.
"No."
Honooko smiled slightly.
"Oh, that's too bad. She's really cool. All of the Solar Senshi are." Honooko pulled a sketchbook out of her bag. She then dug around for a pencil. Once she found one, she promptly began to draw.
Yaten swallowed nervously.
"Really? That's... interesting." He said as casually as he could.
"Mmm. I've always wondered what it would be like to be a senshi. What about you?" She said as she continued to draw.
"Oh, well... I guess it would be hard at times. To always have to be two different people..." he mused. Honooko raised an eyebrow.
"I was expecting you to mention the whole gender thing." She told him. Yaten blushed.
"Well, yeah. That's obvious." He said quickly. Honooko smiled, but said nothing.
'This is going to be easy.' She thought happily.
Sorako was seated at her librarians' desk, flipping through a large dusty book. Every once in while, she would quickly type something into the computer in front of her. She frowned, and chewed on the end of the pencil she was holding.
"Any luck?" asked Yukiko softly, leaning across the desk. She too had a large book in her lap, but she appeared to be much further along in hers than Sorako. Sorako shook her head.
"It's strange. None of the records show anything from that region. It seems that about a month ago, all communications from there just stopped. The last planet we heard from was Kinmoku. The Princess said that Planet Mau wasn't responding to any signals." Sorako explained. Yukiko nodded.
"Emerald mentioned that. That area has been strangely quiet. She said that Cronos, Mermaid, and Chuu have stopped answering."
Suddenly, the door to the library flew open. Moriko jogged in, sweating and grinning.
"We won the scrimmage!" She hollered to her friends. Sorako frowned, and held her finger to her lips.
"Sshhhhhh! This is a LIBRARY." She hissed under her breath. Moriko sighed dramatically.
"Oh don't be such a party pooper. My girls beat the boys!" She grinned, and flashed the 'v' sign. Yukiko giggled.
"Moriko-san, you're the coach. You didn't win, they did."
Moriko looked aghast.
"Excuse me?! I taught them everything they know! Of course I won too!" she informed Yukiko with a lofty air. Sorako lost her patience.
"Oh, hush, both of you. You're being far too loud. Moriko, sit down. Yukiko, make room for her. Honestly, you two have no respect for the rules." She whispered to them. Moriko rolled her eyes and muttered something that sounded like 'stuffy librarians', but sat down. Yukiko smiled, and turned to Moriko.
"Did you get in touch with Opal?"
Moriko nodded.
"Yeah, she's going to college a few miles away. Oh, and she's Operu Hoshiko now. You'll never guess what job she picked for her civilian identity." Moriko grinned. "She's a planetarium manager."
Yukiko giggled again, and Sorako sighed.
"Why am I not surprised?" she muttered. "Look, we have to get back to work. Moriko, this one is yours." She handed Moriko a huge book. Moriko grimaced. Yukiko however pulled it out of her hands.
"Oh, no Sorako-san. I read that one already." Sorako picked up another book.
"Ok, Moriko, read this one." But again Yukiko pulled it away.
"Actually, Sorako-san, I read that one too." She giggled. Sorako picked up another book.
"Ah, that one too." Yukiko told her friends sheepishly. Sorako scowled.
"Which one didn't you read, Miss Bookworm?" Yukiko however seemed not to mind the nickname. She just picked up a smaller book, and placed it in Moriko's lap. Moriko looked disgusted with it, but wisely chose not to speak.
"Ok, so the playground should be around here somewhere..." Namiko told her sister.
They were walking down a street in the middle of a residential district of Juuban. Honooko was smiling and humming to herself. Suddenly, she jogged over to a sign on the gate of a house.
"Look, Nami-chan, it's Tsukino-san's house!" She pointed. Namiko frowned.
"Nami-chan?" Namiko said, wrinkling her nose.
"What? Don't you like it? I think it's cute." Honooko pouted. Namiko sighed.
"Fine. And yes, that is Usagi-san's house. Now let's go."
Honooko whimpered.
"Ohhhh, but I wanted to visit Luna!" she tugged on her sister's sleeve.
"Honooko, no. We're on a mission, now come on." Namiko scolded. Honooko frowned, but obeyed. A few blocks later, they found what they were looking for. Namiko's frown deepened.
"The computer isn't picking up anything." Honooko looked around.
"I'm not picking anything strange up. Wait, what's that?" She pointed to a piece of playground equipment shaped like a large pirate ship.
"That's a boat, Honooko. People sail in it." Namiko snapped.
"I know THAT, I meant, what's all over it?" Honooko informed her sister. The two girls moved closer to the ship. Honooko shimmied up the rope net, and kneeled on the deck of the ship.
"Well?" Namiko called. "What is it?" Honooko picked something up.
"It's covered with... flowers." She answered, puzzled.
"Flowers?" Namiko asked incredulously.
"Yeah. I think they're olive blossoms."
"Let me see." Namiko called. Honooko carefully put a handful of the tiny blossoms in her pocket, and climbed down. When she got to the bottom, she handed the flowers to Namiko, who examined them closely.
"I think the ARE olive blossoms. But how can that be? There aren't any olive trees near here." Honooko fingered a flower.
"These are old. I think they've been here for at least 6 hours. They're all brown around the edges."
Namiko nodded.
"Which corresponds perfectly with the time of the auras' disappearance."
"I think we need to talk to Emerald." Honooko said quietly.
"Actually, I think Opal would be a better choice for this. Let's go."
A tall woman was seated at a telescope, peering through to the heavens above. She had her black hair pulled back tightly in a French roll, but three strands had escaped, framing her face. Her blue eyes were working overtime to see through the telescope. Suddenly, she gasped, grinned, and scribbled on the clipboard in her lap.
"There you are! I've been looking for you little one." She said, in a motherly voice. She jerked up when she heard a buzzer sound.
"That's odd... the intern doesn't start until next week..." She stood up and walked to a small speaker on the wall. She pushed a button and said clearly into it, "Yes?"
"Operu-san?" a young female voice asked hesitantly.
"Yes?" The woman said again.
"Um... May we come in?" the voice asked even more timidly.
"Who are you, and what do you want?" The woman snapped into the speaker. She heard a thump, and a squeak through the box.
"It's Sapphire and Ruby. We need to talk to you." A new voice said. She sounded impatient. The woman seemed to recognize the names, because she quickly replied.
"Oh, yes. Hold on, I'll buzz you in." She pushed a second button.
"Thanks." There was a buzz, and a click. A few moments later, she heard footsteps coming up the stairwell. The door opened, and in walked Honooko and Namiko. The older woman strode over to them.
"Opal!" Cried the taller girl, and she flung herself at the woman. Namiko sighed loudly. She grabbed her sisters' collar and yanked her off the woman, who looked relived.
"Honooko, let her breathe." Namiko chided her. Honooko smiled sheepishly, and put a hand behind her head.
"Oops, sorry."
Opal held up her hands, but didn't smile.
"It's fine. And I'm Operu Hoshiko now." Hoshiko said stiffly. Namiko held out her hand.
"Good to see you again, Hoshiko." Hoshiko shook it, grateful that there were no more hugs.
"So, what did you need to speak to me about?" She asked, frowning. "It must be serious, or you would have had Jade contact me again."
Honooko nodded.
"It's more odd than serious. Remember the missing aura?" she asked. Hoshiko looked puzzled.
"Of course. It was only this morning."
Namiko continued where Honooko had left off.
"We went to the site of the disappearance. In fact, we just came from there. All over the place were these olive blossoms." She held out some of the small flowers. "They've only just been separated from the tree. The trouble is, there aren't any olive trees anywhere near the site. And the time of the flowers' separation coincides perfectly with the time of the disappearance. What do you make of it?"
Hoshiko thought for a moment, studying the flowers in her palm. Finally, she looked up at Namiko.
"Well, this might actually help us figure out where the invaders came from." She said, as she headed for a small, ancient looking computer in the corner.
"How?" Asked Honooko curiously.
"Well..." Hoshiko began. "Only certain planets share plant species with Earth. And according to the Intergalactic Law #4897, all planets must thoroughly document plant and animal life on their respective planets."
Honooko giggled.
"Intergalactic Law? Who thought up that?! Captain Kirk?" she said laughing. At a harsh look from Namiko and Hoshiko, she fell silent. Hoshiko continued.
"If we look through the registers, we can find which planets also have this type of Olive tree. We can work from there." She sat down at the tiny computer, and switched it on.
"Namiko-san, would you mind stepping back a bit?" Hoshiko asked. Namiko frowned.
"Why?"
"Because I know what you do to computers." Hoshiko said simply. Namiko blushed, and backed up. Honooko giggled again.
"I missed you Op- I mean, Hoshiko." Honooko said, and she threw her arms around Hoshiko's neck. Hoshiko blushed, and stood stiff as a board.
"I don't miss your hugs though." Honooko commented dryly as she let go. Hoshiko cleared her throat, and quickly returned to the task at hand.
"Let's see...Intergalactic Law... records. I need Law #4897, all files containing 'Olive Tree'. Ah, here we go. Abrath, Butika, Santiago..."
"Santiago?" Honooko interrupted. "Isn't that a place here on Earth?"
Hoshiko nodded.
"The settlers that found the place came from the Planet. They named it after their homeland. Let's see, Kinmoku, Lakumatu- Wait. Kinmoku and Butika are from the same region that has recently stopped sending communiqués." Hoshiko said, frowning.
"So, are these guys refugees from Kinmoku or Butika?" Namiko asked.
Hoshiko shook her head.
"That's just it. As far as we know, nothing odd has happened in that sector for years. The fact that these invaders may come from here makes me wonder if maybe there's a war or something. Let me ask Diamond, hang on." She slid up her sleeve, and spoke into a black, sleek wristwatch.
"Sorako? Are you there?"
"Hoshiko-san? What's going on?"
"I need you to tell me something. Does Yukiko recognize these auras?" Hoshiko asked.
"Yes, she says they remind her of the auras from the 'silent sector'. Why?" Sorako said, worriedly.
"I think we have a lead. Namiko and Honooko found some clues pointing straight to that area. I'm going to talk to Emerald, I let you know if anything else comes up." Hoshiko explained.
"Okay. Talk to you later."
Hoshiko sighed. She rubbed her temples.
"This just gets more and more confusing."
A/N: Up next, the mysterious Sailor Emerald! If you enjoyed, please review and/or keep reading!
Flames are discouraged, but critiques are welcome. Thank you!