Author's Note: This, like much of my fic, comes from an idea that popped into my head and wouldn't let go. It's been mulling around in my head for a while now, so I finally started writing it down. It's still a bit rough and is in need of a good beta read, but I thought I'd put it up anyway while it's in progress. I hope you enjoy
A few other notes – I use Japanese name order, family name then given name.
This story also contains OC senshi. If you have a problem with that, I'm not forcing you to read.
Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or any of it's associated characters. Though it would be cool if I did.
Minako woke up suddenly to the sensation of sharp cat claws digging into her shoulder.
"Artemis!" she yelled, practically throwing the white cat off her.
The white cat looked up from where he was carefully grooming his paw. "You slept through your alarm. You don't want to be late for school." He returned to licking his fur before adding "Again"
Minako twisted to look at the clock, which, sure enough was showing a far later time than it should. She threw the covers off the bed and began her normal morning whirlwind of getting ready. Artemis wisely hid under the bed until Minako rushed out the bedroom door in a flurry of clothing and hair. Then he trotted after her into the kitchen at a safe distance.
In the kitchen, Minako shoved a couple of pieces of bread in the toaster, muttering a good morning to her father who was reading the paper as he ate his breakfast. The toast popped, and she carried it to her place at the table, snagging the front section of the newspaper as she passed by. Even waking up late, she should just have enough time to skim the headlines before rushing out to school. It was so nice to be able to look at the paper and not worry if there was something she'd have to deal with as Sailor Venus. It had been months since Galaxia had been defeated, and it was great to just be a normal high school student. If she didn't have to henshin again until the 30th century, Minako would be a very happy girl.
Which is why she nearly choked on her toast when she flipped the paper open. There, in the large bold letters of the main headline read "Sailor Senshi Gone Bad?" with a large photo of someone in silhouette who was dressed in something way too close to sailor fuku for Minako's comfort. The silhouetted figure was standing on the top of a building, and there was the crumpled figure at her feet. Breakfast forgotten, Minako turned her attention to the article. Apparently, this mysterious figure had attacked several people over the last few days. None had died, but the media had picked up on the costume similarities between this stranger's and those of the senshi. According to the report, the stranger had also used 'strange, almost magical' powers to attack people, seemingly at random. Minako grimaced. Another sailor senshi was the last thing she wanted to have to deal with. Hadn't they all done enough? Didn't they deserve a break?
"Minako, dear, shouldn't you be going?" her mother asked, cutting through Minako's frustration. She looked up at the clock and gasped at the time.
"Mom! I'm gonna be late!" she said, jumping up and grabbing the bento her mother was handing her. She shoved the newspaper under her arm as she ran out the door, slowing only enough to grab up her school bag by the door. Artemis ran alongside her as she tore out the door and down the street. Minako filled him in on what the article had said as they ran, and a few blocks from the school he peeled off and raced away to research while she was tied up at school.
She must have been extra motivated, because she dashed into the classroom several minutes before the bell rang instead of right before. While her teacher would be proud, it meant that she had to fidget nervously for several minutes, waiting for Usagi to rush in. It didn't help that some of the other students were discussing the article as well which added to Minako's distress. The moment Usagi crossed the doorway, mere moments before the final bell rang, Minako grabbed her and practically dragged the other girl to her desk.
"Look at this!" she said, shoving the paper in front of Usagi who still looked half-asleep.
"Mhmm?" Usagi mumbled, as she tried to focus on the words in front of her. Minako shifted impatiently, waiting for Usagi's to finish skimming the article.
"This todays?" Usagi hissed, trying not to draw the notice of their teacher who'd just walked in. Minako nodded.
"This morning. Everyone's talking about it."
Usagi let out a frustrated sigh and dropped her head onto her desk. Minako did the same, paying even less attention than normal to the lecture the teacher had launched into. Did it really matter if they knew the geography of western Europe? They'd saved the world how many times now? And now there was some crazy person masquerading as a senshi, and of course it would fall to them to unmask who it was and deal with the fallout.
"We need a meeting after school" Minako whispered. "To deal with this"
Usagi nodded "At the shrine."
"I'll call Rei at lunch. She eats the same time we do"
"Aino-san, since you obviously know enough to waste time chatting, please come up to the board and label the map." Minako let out another sigh and trudged up to the frontof the classroom at the teacher's orders. This was not going to be a good day at all.
Hisoka stood at the front of the classroom, watching her new classmates as the teacher introduced her as 'Chisuu Hisoka, our new transfer student'. She laughed silently, wondering if anyone would even suspect that nearly everything in her background was a lie. Well, she was a transfer student, and Hisoka was her given name, but everything else the teacher was saying had been made up to give her a solid background on this world. It was too bad she still had to go back to school, something she thought she'd been done with years ago. But her best intelligence said that this world's senshi were still students at this school, and enrolling was the quickest way to find them. Hopefully she'd be able to find them quickly, get their permission to continue her hunt, and ditch the student cover as soon as possible.
"I hope you all will make Chisuu-san as welcome as possible" the teacher was saying, and Hisoka gave a polite bow to the class, still trying to figure out if any of these students might be the ones she was looking for. "Please, if you would take a seat?"
Hisoka carefully made her way up one of the aisles to an empty desk near the back of the room. She slipped into the seat, offering a polite smile to the students on either side of her. The brown haired girl on her left ignored her, but the blond young man on her right retuned the smile and gave her a wink. She pretended to be slightly embarrassed, and shuffled her notebooks and papers around, watching him out of the corner of her eye. There was something different about him. Something that sparked her interest, which wasn't easy. Maybe he held an interesting secret. She shook herself slightly. No. She needed to focus on the task at hand. She'd tracked Turog across three solar systems and countless uninhabited reaches of space. There was no way she was going to let her get away.
School was just as boring as she'd remembered. Teachers seemed to be the same everywhere, just drones, going on and on about whatever subject they were supposed to cover without ever mentioning any of the really interesting stuff. Granted, this planet's history and such were new to her, but when presented in such a dry, boring manner, even her inherent love of knowing things couldn't keep her interest. Instead she passed the morning skimming over the textbooks, which seemed to be just as dry as the teachers, and sketching in the margins of her notebook.
"That's really good" someone said, in the general hubbub of everyone leaving for lunch.
Hisoka looked up in surprise to see the blond looking over at the sketch she'd been working on. While she never considered herself a great artist, she enjoyed designing jewelry, and she was putting the finishing touches on a ring design she'd been thinking about.
"I just sketch," she said with a diffident shrug. "It's nothing special, I just like jewelry design" Internally she preened a little. Even she wasn't immune to compliments.
"Pretty jewelry for a pretty young woman" the blond said "Did you design your necklace too?"
Hisoka's hand flew up to the gray-jeweled pendant at her throat. "Ah, no" she said, running a finger over the stone, feeling the indentations of the engraving. "It's a… a traditional design. A family heirloom"
The blond shrugged and offered his hand. "I'm Ten'noh Haruka by the way."
Hisoka took the offered hand, intending to shake it, but as their hands met, she felt a brief flash of premonition. There was a sudden gust of wind out of nowhere that ruffled both of their hair. She narrowed her eyes slightly, and pulled her hand away. Instead she offered a more formal bow. "Chisuu Hisoka. Please forgive me, I… ah, I believe there is some paperwork I need to finish in the office" With that she grabbed her lunch and fled the room.
Normally gym class was one of the few things Haruka actually enjoyed at school. And if she was honest, she'd been intensely amused at the new girl's shock at seeing her in the girls' locker room. But today, they were playing tennis. There were very few sports that Haruka didn't at least appreciate, but tennis was one of them. There just didn't seem to be much point to it. Still, she was decent, if only because it wasn't in her nature to be anything less than competitive in everything she did.
"Ten'ou-san, Chisuu-san, you'll be on court four" the teacher said, indicating the court. Haruka sighed, as she noticed the new girl's eyes go wide at the teacher's words. Fool girl was probably still embarrassed that she'd flirted with another girl. She was strange. And when their hands had touched for that brief second, Haruka had gotten the strangest feeling, like when she'd first met the Three Lights, though instead of the feeling of stars, she'd smelled acacia flowers.
"Sorry about earlier" the girl said awkwardly as they headed toward the court.
Haruka shrugged, watching the shorter girl as they walked. There wasn't much to say. She'd never been good at small talk. Since the other girl seemed content to walk in silence, Haruka was happy to oblige.
They volleyed the ball back and forth several times once they reached the court. Haruka was happy to notice that while the other girl seemed to be at least decent, she seemed just as casual about the whole game as Haruka was. They played in silence for most of the period, which actually unnerved her slightly. Even the serious players in class tended to chat a little bit, if only when retrieving the ball or taking a break. This girl was just silent, letting out only the basic grunts and gasps of exertion. And she kept giving Haruka these looks that were far too calculating for the blonde's peace of mind. Was this girl some new enemy? She'd seen the front page of the paper this morning, and had been told about the meeting called at the shrine after school. The last thing Haruka wanted to do was take up the role of a warrior again. She would, of course, with no complaint, if there was need, but she hoped that wouldn't be the case.
Wrapped up in her own thoughts, it took Haruka longer than normal to notice that the other girl hadn't returned her last shot. Then she realized the girl was rigid, eyes wide. Then, she collapsed. Haruka dropped her racket and vaulted the net.
"Are you okay?" she asked. She crouched down and placed a hand carefully on the girl's shoulder. This time the scent of acacia was stronger.
"She's here!" the girl gasped. She clutched at her neck "My necklace, I need my necklace"
Haruka remembered how reluctant the girl had been to remove it when they changed. She glanced around sharply. The gym teacher was on his way over. "You've twisted your ankle" she hissed
"What? No!" the other girl said, giving Haruka a sharp look.
"Yes, you have" Haruka said, a bit more forcefully than she'd intended. The teacher was almost there. She willed the other girl to realize what she was suggesting, and was rewarded by a flash of understanding in the other girl's eyes. Haruka stood up to let the teacher tend to the girl.
"I… I think I've twisted my ankle" the girl said in a pitiful tone of voice that made Haruka smother a laugh. She was doing a perfect imitation of some of the weepier girls in class. The teacher seemed to buy it, since he sighed and stood.
"Ten'ou-san, can you help her get changed and to the nurse's office? Class is almost over anyway."
Haruka nodded and helped the other girl up. "Which leg?" she whispered.
"Right" the girl hissed back, so Haruka shifted so she could take the girl's weight off the right side. They made their way back to the locker room as quickly as possible without giving away the lie. The moment they were inside the girl pushed away and dashed over to her locker, fumbling with the combination lock. Finally she got it open, and began yanking her clothes out. "It's not here!" she said, going through the pile of clothing a second and third time.
"Looking for this?"
Both girls spun around at the new voice, and Haruka noticed that Hisoka had stiffened. In the doorway leaned a very odd looking young woman. Her dark red hair was pulled into uneven pigtails on either side of her face, and she wore a very strange outfit that bore no small resemblance to a sailor fuku of some sort. There was a dark red sailor collar over a white leotard, but instead of a short skirt she had twin dark gray belts crossing at her waist, and an open sort of translucent dark red skirt that came out from the belts. A large dark gray bow adorned the small of her back. She was dangling Hisoka's necklace from one hand, a smug expression on her face. While Haruka couldn't quite put her finger on it, there was something very wrong about this girl, something that made her wish her henshin wand wasn't tucked away in her locker.
"Drop it Turog" Hisoka said, her voice darker than Haruka had heard her use before. "Drop it and get out. I don't want to fight you here."
"Ah, why not secret-keeper? Perhaps because you know you can't without this?" she began twirling the necklace. Haruka backed away slowly, trying to reach her locker without either of the other girls noticing. She wasn't sure what was going on yet, but she had a feeling it was about to get worse.
"Drop it Turog" Hisoka said again, this time with a sharp sideways glance at Haruka.
The newcomer just laughed, an unsettling sound that chilled Haruka to the bone. "Worried about the civvies? How sweet. Rage Talons!" She drew her hand across her chest, fingers fanned out, with dully glowing red energy gathering around them. Her arm snapped out towards Haruka, and before the blonde could leap out of the way she was hit by a barrage of burning hot bolts that threw her up and into the wall. She slipped down the wall, and onto the floor, gasping for breath. The bolts had torn several large rents in her gym uniform, and she could feel blood running down one leg.
"Don't move" her attacker said, with a sneer. "I pulled my power that time." She said before turning her attention back to Hisoka. "Your move Ruatma."
Haruka groaned in pain, and tried to figure out if it was worth trying to make a break for her locker. This was the last time she was going anywhere without her henshin wand. She'd shove it in her bra if she had to. She shifted slightly and gasped as a new wave of pain ripped through her. The blast had taken more out of her than she'd thought. And that was holding back? Haruka moved slowly, hoping to avoid notice, just enough to shift her leg so she could see the injury. Fortunately neither of the other girls seemed to notice, and the injury seemed to be minor, even if it was bleeding far more profusely than Haruka would like.
"Why are you doing this" Hisoka said. From her position against the wall, Haruka could just see Hisoka between two rows of lockers. She didn't know what relation Hisoka had to this strange enemy, but it didn't seem friendly. Not with how they had been talking, not with how Hisoka's hands were clenched into fists at her side.
"Because I can" the stranger replied, with a nasty smile. "Because I enjoy watching you squirm. Without this" she swung the necklace again "You can't hope to fight me. I can take my time destroying you"
A not entirely human sounding snarl came from Hisoka, and Haruka flinched reflexively. Again she tried to shift closer to her locker, but didn't make it far.
"Ruatma Shard Power, Make Up!"
Haruka looked at Hisoka in shock as, without any recognizable henshin object, the girl was enveloped in twin ribbons of soft gray fog. When the fog cleared she was dressed in an outfit similar to the other girls, but in blue and gray instead of red and gray. Haruka choked back an exclamation. She could rationalize one strange outfit as just poor taste, but having seen the henshin, she couldn't deny that these were indeed new sailor senshi. Turog looked as surprised as Haruka felt, but her expression quickly morphed into a mocking smile.
"Well this makes it interesting. How long do you think you can hold that, Sailor Ruatma?"
"As long as I have to"
Haruka had to admire Sailor Ruatma's obvious strength of will, but she could see the strain in the other girl's body. Every muscle was rigid with effort, and her face was a mask of iron concentration.
Sailor Ruatma crossed her arms over her chest, fists closed. The she snapped them out to her sides as subtle sparks began gather over her forearms. "Ruatma Shadow Lash!" she said, bringing her arms up and together straight out in front of her. A whip-like tendril of fog colored energy lanced out to strike Turog across the chest.
The attack sent her to her knees. "This isn't fun any more" she said, her face a mask of pain and rage. "I will destroy you!" she spat before disappearing in a cloud of rotting flower petals. The sticky-sweet smell of decaying wisteria filled the locker room, making Haruka's gorge rise. Who was that? Before she had a chance to wonder anymore, Sailor Ruatma collapsed, her transformation dissolving, leaving Hisoka crumpled on the floor in her gym uniform. Haruka rose slowly, favoring her injured leg. Other than the leg cut she seemed to just have mostly bumps and bruises. She was still going to ache for days, but she'd heal. It didn't take long to limp over to her locker and retrieve her clothing. Keeping a careful eye on the unconscious Hisoka, Haruka changed back into her school uniform, checking that her henshin wand was still in her pants pocket. Then she grabbed Hisoka's clothes and shoved them in the other girl's bag. She couldn't just leave her passed out in the locker room, not when she'd supposed to be taking her to the nurse. Which was were they both should go now anyway. With a muffled grunt, Haruka lifted the smaller girl, and headed out of the locker room.