This takes place right after the first episode, "Crybaby Usagi's Magnificent Transformation".
-For those of you who are virgins to the original anime lemme lay down a couple of things. First, aliases: Serena Tsukino is Usagi Tsukino, Ms. Patricia Haruna is Sakurada Haruna-sensei, and Molly Baker is Naru Osaka. Second, the suffixes: -chan is for someone familiar and usually used for friendship, -san is Mr., Ms., or Mrs. and usually used for acquaintance, and –sensei indicates teacher or master. Lastly, Japanese word lesson: Kanji is the Japanese written language and youma is a monster or demon.-
Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
by
Windsting
September 9th, 1991 - Juban Municipal Junior High School
Usagi sighed in despair as she stared at the enormous chalk board in Haruna-sensei's classroom. Chalk in hand; she grimaced as she put it to the board to write the kanji for 'I will not be late to class.'
"This cannot continue Tsukino-san! One way or another I'm going to drill it into your brain that tardiness is unacceptable." Haruna-sensei's threat echoed in her mind.
Okay so she'd been late nearly every day since school started but it wasn't her fault that she slept straight through her alarm clock…or hit the snooze button when it managed to wake her just enough to be in a zombie like state of mind. Last night had been her first night out on the job so she hadn't gotten anywhere near her twelve hours of sleep that she felt she needed in order to function.
"This so isn't fair." She grumbled. "I bet Sailor V doesn't have this kind of trouble in her life."
Still it'd been worth it to be able to help her best friend who had been in serious trouble.
"Usagi-chan? Why are you still here?" asked the familiar voice of that very best friend, Naru Osaka.
Usagi paused in mid-symbol to look over at Naru who was standing in the doorway of the classroom. Usagi's eyes glassed over, her lower lip quivered, and she burst into tears.
"Oh Naru-chan! Haruna-sensei is making me fill this whole board with 'I will not be late to class' and it's going to take forever!" She wailed in utter hopelessness.
Naru frowned at the board which only had the beginnings of the first sentence and then smiled at her dramatic friend sympathetically.
"Hand me that piece of chalk at the end there." Naru said as she joined Usagi at the board.
Usagi's frown transformed into an ear to ear grin and she grabbed onto Naru, pulling her into a fierce hug, as she happily sobbed her thanks into Naru's shoulder.
An hour later they were nearly done and had covered every topic under the sun from boys and clothes to music and the newest arcade game at the Crown Game Center. Their fingers, faces, and clothes were covered with chalk and due to their inability to stay completely focused on the task at hand, Usagi's face was chalk painted to the resemblance of a rabbit and Naru's a fox.
"Usagi-chan?" Naru asked as she finished the last sentence on her half of the board.
"Yes?"
When Usagi didn't hear more she looked over at Naru to find her flushed and opening and closing her mouth like a fish as Naru searched for the best way to word whatever it was that she wanted to say.
"What is it Naru-chan?"
"Have you ever had a weird experience?" Naru paused for a moment before continuing. "Something that's just so bizarre that you're not quite sure if it even really happened but it was so real it had to have happened?"
Usagi thought back to the previous day when she'd been awoken from her nap by a talking black cat who told her she had to become a super hero and save the world. She kept this to herself and simply nodded in answer. It was silent for a couple more minutes save for the sound of Usagi's piece of chalk clicking on the chalk board as she finished up her last sentence on her half of the board.
"Why do you ask?" Usagi asked as they both dusted off their hands.
"Well I had something like that happen to me last night" Naru said as she wandered over to her desk and sat down.
Usagi gulped out of nervousness and held her breath, waiting for her to continue.
"You probably wouldn't believe me. I wouldn't believe me if it hadn't happened to me."
"Try me." Usagi said as she forced a look of naïve curiosity on her face.
Naru took a deep breath and said "Last night mom attacked me…I mean it wasn't really her. She was tied up in the basement by the thing that looked like her."
Usagi sank down into her own desk and bit at her thumbnail to keep her mouth occupied so she wouldn't say anything that could incriminate herself of being there.
"The mom-look alike started strangling me and when she did she transformed into a youma. She had twisted ugly hair and old skin. Her eyes…" Naru paused to shudder at the memory. "…Her eyes were black."
"Oh my gosh, Naru-chan!" Usagi exclaimed in horror for her friend who'd obviously been pretty shaken up by this.
"Then a girl in a sailor suit, proclaiming herself the soldier of love and justice, Sailor Moon, rescued me with the help of a gorgeous man in a tuxedo, proclaiming himself Tuxedo Mask."
"Who rescued your mom?"
"I did. I'm not sure if it was real or just a dream. Maybe I'm just crazy."
"No! You're not crazy. I believe you." Usagi said as she lost interest in her thumb and clutched Naru's hands in a gesture of friendship and support.
"Really?"
"Yeah, and I know you wouldn't make something like that up either. It's either a very realistic dream or it really happened." Usagi said as she pulled her hands back and leaned back in her chair so that only two legs of it remained on the ground.
"Well if it was a dream, mom dreamed it too, from her perspective though. We talked about it this morning and she thinks we should see a counselor."
"Really? She's taking this pretty seriously then, huh?"
"Well yeah, we were attacked by a youma. She's really worried about the psychological damage the experience may have done to me because, well, I got it worse than she did and she says stuff like that can have a huge impact on a younger person."
"Makes sense. How do you feel about seeing a counselor?"
"Nervous but looking forward to it. Whenever mom and I get separated, like even in separate rooms, when I see her again I wonder if she's really my mom or if she's going to turn on me. Mom senses it and it hurts her but I can't help it so I'm hoping Osaka-sensei will be able to help me with that." Naru said as her eyes misted up.
"Osaka-sensei?"
"Mom's brother, Ayumu Osaka. He's got a master's degree in counseling so he's going to do it."
"Well I hope everything works out and that he's able to help you guys."
"Thanks."
--
Sakurada Haruna had just come back from an after school luncheon with the other teachers in the teachers' room and had been in good spirits until she'd heard Usagi and Naru chatting. She was about to charge in and yell at them as Usagi was supposed to be in trouble but she sensed whatever they were talking about was serious so she held back at the door and listened in at about the part where Naru had said that her mom had attacked her. Now she could hear the tremble in Naru's voice and the hopeful encouragement in Usagi's and gained a bit of respect back for the troublesome blond. Silently agreeing with Usagi's last statement she slipped into the room, startling the two girls.
"Haruna-sensei!" Naru exclaimed as she hurriedly dried her eyes.
"You're dismissed Tsukino-san. Don't be late." Haruna-sensei said.
"Yes Haruna-sensei." Usagi said as she gathered up her things.
Haruna-sensei perched on the edge of her desk, crossing one leg neatly over the other, and glanced at the completed board…completed by two different people…and then stopped the girls at the door.
"Why do you girls have chalk all over your faces?"
"I'm a rabbit." Usagi exclaimed with a wiggle of her nose.
"And I'm a fox." Naru said, tossing a smile over her shoulder to Haruna-sensei as she continued out the door.
Haruna-sensei watched them leave and laughed to herself over their antics before picking up the eraser and walking over to the chalk board.