Going National

Virtual Reality/Actor AU- When she jumped into the Galaxy Cauldron, she expected to see all her friends again; not wake up in a hospital bed. Or realizing that her name isn't Tsukino Usagi.

So this isn't your traditional Sailor Moon fic. In fact, it doesn't really feature the characters at all- but don't let that throw you off! They're not total OCs, (I think...). Inspired by the ending of New Danganronpa V3 (so spoilers for that, beware, but you don't have to be in the DR series to tell where this is heading.) and being a long time Sailor Moon fan- it made me wonder how these characters would dwell with that situation, realizing everything around you is fake and your just playing another person.

All the usual Disclaimers apply.

...

When she jumps into the Galaxy Caudron, the only thought in her mind is all her friends and the love of her life waiting for her. She'd run into their arms and feel so happy that this nightmare is over. She wouldn't have to fight them anymore, or Galaxia or Chaos-

But for now she's falling.

She's falling into the place where all stars are born and she feels…

Beautiful…

She feels ethereal…

She feels anticipation…

Her feelings of loneliness fade away and reveal itself to make her feel…

To make her feel…?

She feels…?

She feels dea-

D-?

.

.

.

She feels alive.

Horrifyingly alive.

Hospital lights stare back at her and there's a moment of confusion before it all comes soaring back to her mentally and physically. Her body is roaring in agony and her mind is so jumbled with memories real and fake-she runs to school in a blue and white sailor uniform late and the next memory flashes with her in a dark blue and black uniform auditioning in front of a camera.

Who is she? She was Tsukino Usagi, wasn't she? The beautiful solider of love and justice and fought in the name of the moon-

No.

She feels her mouth sour with the thoughts of a dying girl that only wished to save her friends and her world.

This isn't the type of 'alive' she wants to feel. Not confined to a hospital bed all weak and useless because there's some instinct telling her that there's a world to be saved outside, a world that needs Sailor Moon.

Where's the magic? Why doesn't she feel it course through her body?

She notices her overly long and oily, thin hair has gone back to its natural dark brown from its dyed blonde and the real memories are able to sort itself out from the fake when the realization hits.

She rips the needle out her arm and for a split second feels the magic that encompassed her for the past two years, before her scream of pain alerts the nurses to the room.

One of the nurses walks up to her cautiously and she can only respond with a close-lipped mouth and sharpened eyes.

"Do you know what your name is, sweetie?"

The short-haired redheaded nurse asks her a bit too fearful for her liking because her appearance is only a callback to another short-haired redheaded girl that she only pushed to the side before for being too concerned.

She opens her mouth and the words are scrunched up in her throat. She wants to say two things at once, but only one of them is real.

"Tsukino Usagi,"

The nurse smiles sadly and shakes her head.

She chose fake.

It's been two weeks and she's still trapped in the hospital.

The good news is that she's finally able to walk around now and visit the others.

The bad news is that she's not going to be one of the first to leave. Apparently, the hospital wants to do more testing on her seeing as how she was the only one to answer with 'that' name.

She finds herself in the room of the man she was in love with for the past 2 years, and to say he looks the same is an understatement. His hair was a little longer than it was in the virtual reality, but he looks all the same regardless.

Unlike her, he didn't need to change his appearance for the role.

When she walked in with a ginormous stuffed rabbit in her arms, he looked at her momentarily confused- as if who she was- but it quickly clicked in his mind when she saw his expression soften at the rabbit.

Also unlike her, he hadn't regained his ability to walk and was confined to the bed still. Despite being the first to wake up, he was the only one who hadn't regained the ability to walk. That's what she heard from the nurses anyways.

"Ah, I just finished re-watching the series finale. I must say, congratulations!" His voice is sincere but she doesn't think she can think of it as a compliment.

She nods and quickly pulls up a chair to sit next to his bedside. "It's certainly an honor to hear that from the famous, Yamato-san." She speaks quietly and he looks at her with a tilted head.

"They were right, you really aren't like her at all,"

"Who was right?" She finds herself asking even though she already knows the answer very well.

"The other girls, of course. What? You don't think you're the first person to visit me, do you?" He asks accusingly but in a joking way.

She stays quiet as he continues, "Usagi would have never called someone by their last name. Everyone was a friend to her and therefore, they never needed formalities."

She keeps her head down and squeezes the stuffed rabbits arm hard.

"Satomi,"

Her head snaps up to look at him and for a split second she sees the image of Chiba Mamoru before it fades out to the famed actor, Yamato Yuuta and she looks back to the floor. She remembered that 2 years ago, the brief meeting between the two before they got in the virtual reality made her squeal in delight-it was a dream to meet your famous crush.

Now, she didn't think she could look him in the eyes without feeling sorry.

"I see you like my present," he gestured towards the stuffed rabbit. "I was waiting for you to wake up to see your reaction to it. I had it ordered the day I woke up and it arrived within the same day, isn't that crazy?"

"I suppose that's the perks of being a famous actor," Satomi pointed out.

"I suppose," he agrees smoothly.

She flinches when Yuuta grabs her free hand and intertwines them. She never expected him to be so…direct.

"Hey," he says softly but she still does not raise her head to meet his inching closer.

"Why aren't you looking at me?" he asks. "Are you afraid of me? Is that it? Satomi, listen, if it's about what happened in the virtual simulation then I completely understand-"

She mumbles something out that he can't understand.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I still see Mamoru when I look at you…"

For once, he remains quiet and stares at her hard.

"I-I just can't un-see everyone from who they were in the simulation, I want to see them normally and hell, I can't even see myself different from Tsukino Usagi and-"

"That's to be expected after all," He cuts her off abruptly and pulls her a little closer so that she's pressed against the side of the bed.

"Huh?"

Yuuta shakes his head. "It's to be expected of a new actor, this is your first role, correct? Especially since you were put into a virtual reality program, hell, you were given fake memories of a life that wasn't yours. You were Tsukino Usagi for two years uninterrupted. You lived her life, with her memories, her friends, her powers and her story."

Satomi listens to him clearly, but in the end the words weren't going through. What he was saying was true, but she didn't want to be herself anymore. He didn't understand the want, the feel, the need to be Usagi Tsukino and how badly she wanted to throw her old life away to do so.

She nods her head weakly and thinks maybe one day, if she can truly love him as Yamato Yuuta and not as Chiba Mamoru, then she'll tell him. It could be soon, or years from now but she'll open up to him as he's opening up to her right now.

"And," the confidence from his voice drops suddenly to shaky and low. "I still I want to continue being with you," he says it softly as if he knows it's going to break her.

And Satomi freezes.

"…continue?" She whispers it, uncertain if she heard it correctly.

"I want to be with you, just like how we were in the virtual world. I know we were technically living as characters with fake memories, and things were scripted but…I know what I feel. I know what I felt for you was real and if it wasn't, I wouldn't be feeling it the minute I woke up." Yuuta adjusts himself so that's he sitting up straight from bed and grips her hand tighter.

Satomi could only wonder if this guy knew what he was talking about. He still liked her? Even though she was nothing like Usagi? Even though he just met the real her a few moments ago?

But then again, Yuuta was an actor. He's acted in virtual realities multiple times, though for lengths far shorter than for what the Sailor Moon series ran for. If he's able to still hold feelings for her even after leaving the fake world, then they must hold some truth, right? At least that's what she's telling herself.

"How can you still like me? Even though I'm nothing like Usagi?" Satomi questions, unable to face him and her free hand gripping the stuffed rabbit around its neck harshly.

Yuuta merely shakes his head. "It's not that. It has nothing to do with being Tsukino Usagi, just like how it should have nothing to do with being Chiba Mamoru. It's the chemistry, it's the vibe, the mood, the relief…" He says it as if it's obvious and she can only lift her head to stare at him blankly.

"Listen, I've been in a lot of virtual realities in my time," He speaks as if he's old and in a way he is, he's lived so many different lives and experiences, he might have been considered an old man mentally despite being only 22. "I know what feelings are real and fake. I've been in virtual realities that ended up terribly because no matter how much fake memories they installed in us, and no matter how much the world was scripted so that we would like each other-the chemistry between us naturally was just so bad." Yuuta brings Satomi's hand up to his face and smiles softly and warmly-so unlike Mamo-chan-

"You can never truly change a person's original personality. We have a natural chemistry and no matter how unlike Tsukino Usagi you are, I still like you. That's why I want to be with you and learn more about you, okay?" Yuuta kisses the back of her hand and Satomi becomes a blushing mess.

"But only if you allow it, okay?"

Satomi nods. "I'll allow it," She presses forehead against Yuuta's and thinks, maybe, just maybe, she can get used to him. Him being so forward and direct, helped a lot too.

"Yuuta," She breathes his name huskily and she can see his face light up into a bright smile as he lets her hand go and cups her face. "Satomi…!" He pulls her closer and she moves to grip his shirt when-

"Ms. Sawai?"

They both break apart instantly and turn towards the doorway to see the redhead nurse standing awkwardly outside the room.

"Um…visiting hours are over…" She mumbles and rushes down the hallway out of view quickly, covering her blushing face.

Satomi and Yuuta look at each other briefly before breaking into laughter.

"Oh man, did you see her face?"

"I know, I know, what was that? It wasn't that intense for her, was it?"

After a few moments to calm down and recollect themselves, Satomi gets up with stuffed rabbit in hand and says her goodbyes. She begins to walk toward the door when she suddenly stops.

"Oh Yuuta,"

"Hmm?"

She turns back to look at him, and looks him directly in his dark blue eyes.

"I think you're more like Usagi than me,"

He laughs. "You think so?"

Satomi nods, "You're so open and free with your words and-"

He stops her with his hand.

"Stop, you're overthinking it. I'm just saying what needed to be said. I've had to weeks to think about it, since I woke up."

"I suppose," She says quietly.

"And besides, if they made me Usagi, it definitely wouldn't be faithful to the manga."

She can't hold back her laughter as she continued making her way to leave the room.

"You're definitely right,"

...

Authors Notes:

This is a risky fic. I don't even know if this qualifies as a crossover, but I think it avoids that narrowly by being solely focused on the SM universe as a whole.

But how do like Satomi and Yuuta? Different? Similar? Just broken from the experience?

Also, I'm really excited to start writing about the other characters, but choosing names if gonna be a little hard. Satomi and Yuuta's names are inspired from the PGSM and Sera Myu's actors and I want the same theme for the other characters also.

But anyways, thanks for reading!

-Sailor Rayquaza