Maemi Mizuno Vs. Megumi Meioh- One Shot
Maemi Mizuno and Sakura Aino were out in the Palace Garden's picking flowers. They loved being away from the other's from time to time. Things could get very loud when the other children were around. They were just waiting for Megumi Meioh to come outside, but she had to do her chores first. Sora had gotten grounded, so she was unable to be outside.
"Hey, Mae-mae watch this!" Sakura arched her back till her hands were firmly planted on the ground, creating a bridge with her body. The girl went to kick her feet up, but got scared. She shut her eyes, mentally coaxing herself. And then shot her legs up into the air, doing a handstand, she fell back over and sprouted to her feet. "What'd ya think about that?"
"I can do better." Maemi smirked. She got down like Sakura had, and quickly kicked off. She was back on her feet in no time, brushing her hands off. "Yup. I got it down."
A green haired girl shot across the gardens. She did a handstand and then a backflip. She smiled broadly at herself, and looked at the girls; whom were both looking at her opened mouth. "I think I just outshine both of you."
"Unfair, Megumi." Sakura frowned. "I'm practically the weakest when it comes to flips and stuff."
"Nah, you'll get there." Megumi said, patting her pink-haired friend on the back. "I've never used that trick in training or in real life combat though."
"You'd probably die if you did that trick in battle." Maemi said.
Megumi looked at her skeptical, "And why's that?"
"Because you'd freak out, lose your balance, crack your skull open and then the enemy will attack you and you'll be dead." Maemi said matter-of-factly. The tension rising between the girls.
Sakura gasped, and quickly added, "We'd be heartbroken though if that happened. So just don't do it."
Megumi and Maemi glared at each other for a moment, before the tension was broken. They both smiled knowingly at one another. Sakura sighed, they were in for a very competitive week. She was just glad Sora wasn't here to get in the middle of it.
"Uhm, guys..." Sakura sighed. "We have a meeting to go to."
"Oh yeah," Maemi said smacking her forehead. "I forgot."
"Race ya there." Megumi tempted Maemi.
"You're on." Maemi said, and before Sakura could object the two of them were off leaving Sakura behind.
"Yeah, great. Don't worry about, Sakura. She'll just walk by herself." She checked her watch, there was still plenty of time to walk there. She wished she had brought Purity or Artemis with her. Purity was a white feminine cat head, much like Chibiusa's Luna-P. She dragged her feet along and to the meeting room. Some of the others were already present, but since the meeting didn't start for another fifteen minutes.
"Whatcha so down for?" Inari Hino asked. She was no longer allowed to bring her 'Luna-P' to meetings or to formal dinners. She somehow always got in trouble with hers.
"Nothing. Have you seen Maemi and Megumi?" Sakura was standing on her tiptoes looking for them. "They should be here already."
"I think I just saw them guzzle down all the water." Inari answered. Sora walked up behind them, with her family. Sakura was relieved that Sora was finally here.
"Hi Sakura," Kiya greeted and curtseyed. Her blue fish was floating inches away from her.
"Hi." Sakura waved back, gawking at the blue fish.
Anri had her arms crossed and was looking rather angry. Masaaki on the other hand looked relaxed, and Sakura, thought, he looked quite adorable in his blue jean shorts and his panda hat. His blowfish, Puff, was with him as well. Sakura thought he sometimes brought the thing to school. Sakura and Masaaki's eyes met for a just a moment, before Masaaki looked down at the ground embarrassed. There small little crush on one another seemed to go unnoticed. Sakura never talked about Masaaki to Sora or any of the older girls.
"I'll take the other's to Mori." Haruka explained. Mori was Ami's husband, and often watched the kids when it was needed.
"Haruka-Papa!" wailed Anri. "Can't we go to Ceres place? She can watch us!"
"The answer is no." Haruka said. "She watches you guys way too often. She needs a break." Haruka had to bit her tongue to not say anything further that would upset her young daughter's feelings. CereCere was not exactly a good role model for Anri. She allowed her to get away with things that the other children were not allowed to do, and spoiled Anri rotten. When Anri was around Cere, how could Haruka put it lightly? Anri was a total brat for a couple of days. They tried to make sure that Anri was not in the care of Cere's too often, but they couldn't banned the two of them.
Haruka was just about to leave when she noticed she was missing a kid. She turned back around to find her son. Masaaki was hiding behind Megumi Meioh, and listening to what the other girls were saying about their hand stands, flips, and bridges. "Come on, Saki." Haruka said to the panda-headed boy.
"Bye, Masaaki." Megumi called out. Sora gave her brother a quick hug. Maemi and Sakura were too busy talking to amongst themselves to realize that Masaaki was leaving. The other Chibi Senshi finally arrived with their fellow Senshi's before them.
Neo-Queen Serenity stood before them, waiting for the children to be quiet. A couple of their parents had to silence them. "As you all know, my young warriors-"
There was a small giggle from Maemi Mizuno. Her mom looked at her with eyes that said you-better-not-act up. Maemi cupped her hand over her mouth, and tried to make herself not giggle. Sora, Sakura, and Megumi too had to bite their tongues in order not to laugh at Maemi.
Neo-Queen Serenity continued, "You girls have recently become Chibi Senshi's."
"Yeah, and we went to the past and fought off the bad guys!" Nariko Kino claimed excitedly.
"Nariko!" Makoto scolded lightly, but smiled to herself.
"Sorry, mom." Nariko looked down at her hands. The four older girls were finding it very hard to control their laughter. Chibiusa looked out at them with disapproving eyes.
"We have created something that was not available to us when we were Senshi's." Neo-Queen Serenity pressed on, keeping her patience "Which, Haruka and Minako will be able to explain more in depth." Neo-Queen Serenity took a seat.
Haruka and Minako took the floor. Sora and Sakura's desire to burst into laughter suddenly vanished. Megumi looked off to a wall and tried to focus on it. Maemi was still having difficulties with containing her laughter. She wanted to laugh so bad, but she couldn't figure out what was so funny.
"A simulation program has been created that will help you girls fight. A monster is projected, known as a Youma, and you must battle against it." Minako explained. "I will be the main one in charge of this type of training. Everyone will be given a group to battle with. One day Kiya could be paired up with Nariko. Another she could be paired up with Kiya, Sora, Inari, and Maemi. There will be a schedule of the daily simulation set up. If your name doesn't show up for that day, you more than likely have training with Haruka."
Sakura felt more dread than ever. Why was her mom put in charge of this simulation program? Why couldn't someone else do it? She needed her mom. What if something happened to her dad while they were out, or what if she didn't have practice that day and her dad got sick? Sakura didn't know if she could handle helping her dad. Couldn't Setsuna or Makoto or someone else do the simulation training? Sakura fell back in her seat, nothing else that was being said by Haruka made it to her ears. When Neo-Queen Serenity started talking again, Sakura looked up at her dumbfounded.
Maemi lost control of holding back her laughter. She fell to the floor in a hysteria, clutching onto her stomach and laughing hard. Sora and Megumi not feeling as stressed out, snickered at Maemi.
"Can't you girls be serious for two seconds?" Chibiusa asked.
"She was serious for most of the meeting," Inari Hino tried. "She can't help it if she laughs a lot."
Neo-Queen Serenity smiled at her daughter. Placing a hand on her shoulder she tried to calm her down, "It's okay dear. Give it time. You weren't exactly always interested in meetings either when you were younger."
It was true, Chibiusa had been coming to the meetings for quite some time now. And even when she was a younger girl, not quite yet a Chibi Senshi, she still attended. She sometimes got in the way of what the Older Scouts were trying to discuss, and at times was very giggly like Maemi seemed to be.
Maemi's laughs died down. When she got back up in her chair her mom's eyes met her. "Grounded." was all that she said. Maemi placed her bottom in the seat and looked down at her lap. She wasn't upset, she still had a smile on her face. Megumi and Sora had somehow slid out of being grounded, of course, Sora was already grounded.
"Alright, I'm sure my other nephew and nieces are hungry. Let's go eat." Neo-Queen Serenity said. "Meeting adjourned."
"Your parents have this weeks schedules!" Setsuna said before everyone left.
"Can you please explain to us what was so funny?" Sakura asked.
"Yeah, you almost got us in trouble." Megumi added.
"I'm already grounded. I don't think it would've mattered much." Sora was quick to say.
"I don't know." Maemi admitted. "Just every time Neo-Queen Serenity spoke I had the urge to laugh. And when she called us 'Young warriors'" Maemi lost it again. Sora, Sakura, and Megumi all shook their heads in disbelief.
During dinner Maemi and Megumi raced to see who would finish first. Setsuna and Ami were slightly disappointed in their daughter's rushed behavior. Megumi had spaghetti sauce all over her face, and Maemi had managed to get it on her outfit. Sora watched with great interests wondering what the race was about. Sakura wasn't paying anymore attention to their squabble, she was thinking about how all this new training stuff was supposed to work out.
Kiya shared with her older brother's, Masaaki and Keitaro, what they were going to have to do now everyday. Masaaki looked over at Haruka with great big distressed eyes, "We weren't allowed to a meeting because of a training program?"
"Masaaki... The girls don't need a lot of distractions. With all of their brother's and sister's around they won't pay that much attention." Haruka looked over at Maemi.
"I think they do well with that by themselves." Michiru added. "I'm just thankful Kiya was good for a change, and I let her have her NeNe."
"The nights not over yet," Setsuna reminded them. "By the end of this, everyone could be grounded." She looked at her daughter who still had spaghetti sauce all over her, but her plate was cleared and Maemi still had a few spoonfuls.
"Ha!" Megumi said in triumph. Maemi glared at her friend, determined that she would win eventually.
"Wipe your mouth dear," Setsuna said handing Megumi over an extra napkin.
"Kazuki, we don't read at the table." Ami scolded to one of her twins.
Kazuki sighed and put the book down, "I was just getting to some of the good parts, too."
"I do believe I told you to leave the book at home, didn't I?" Mori asked.
Kazuki didn't argue anymore. When dinner was done the kids dispersed to go converse for a little while before it was time to go home. Sakura Aino stuck by herself. She was afraid that if she hung out with Maemi and Megumi that they would get her in trouble, she could already see that familiar look in their parents eyes that meant they were treading on water. Of course, Maemi was already grounded and so was Sora.
Kiyoshi Tomoe walked up to her usual spot, but was a bit alarmed that Sakura was invading her personal space. "What brings you to the corner of doom and gloom?"
Sakura gulped, she had to admit Kiyoshi intimated her a little bit. "Nothing, really."
"Your mom tell you you're not a good liar, right? I can pinpoint when someone is lying." her voice was low and icy.
"I just have a lot on my mind," Sakura finally replied.
"Ah." Kiyoshi said, as if this satisfied her. She leaned against the wall and watched the other kids play. She could tell that Setsuyo Meioh and Katsu Mizuno were discussing about her. Why they wasted their time with this little crush, Kiyoshi didn't know, but she loved the satisfaction of saying 'No' all the time.
When Sakura got home that night, she found that she, Chibiusa, Maemi, and Megumi were the first ones that would be trying out the training simulator. She found her dad in the living room, watching one of his favorite late night TV shows. He was chuckling at the TV.
"Hello daddy," Sakura said, getting his attention.
"My little bumblebee. How are you today?" he asked.
Minako came in with his dinner, "I'm afraid it's time for bed."
"Yes, mamma." Sakura said. She went over to her dad, who stretched out his arms toward her. She embraced him, part of her didn't want to let him go. After a few passing seconds Sakura finally released her grip on her dad. She gave her mom hugs and kisses, and then went up to bed without ever answering her dad's question.
"What's wrong with bumblebee?" he asked Minako.
Minako sighed, "She won't tell me."
"Is she upset that I didn't make it to dinner again?" he asked trying to dig a little deeper.
"No, she doesn't hold you accountable to that." Minako said. "She wishes you were able to come out more, but she's not upset at you. Ami wants to try out a new treatment plan."
Shiro grabbed his wife's hand and took it into his, "Eventually we're going to have to stop these treatment plans."
Minako looked at her husband fearfully, "What do you mean stop them?"
Shiro smiled, "You and Sakura are strong, intelligent woman, and you will make it through."
Minako's arms flew wildly around her husbands neck and she buried her head in his chest. She couldn't hold back her tears any longer. While she and Sakura were always trying to stay positive for Shiro, Minako couldn't always do that.
A tear fell down Sakura's face. She was standing up at the top of the staircase, but she could hear what her parents were saying. Artemis was standing right next to her, his face full of gloom too. "Please, just promise me after this last set of treatment that we end it. I would like to rest, and I don't like seeing my two beautiful woman of my life living in misery on the account to make me happy." Sakura heard her father saying.
"I know baby. And I will respect your wishes." Minako said, even though it was difficult for her to say. She knew this time would eventually come. She just hoped that she was as strong as Shiro said she was.
Shiro took his wife's chin and lifted it up. His blue eyes stared into hers, and he smiled, "You never know, Ami's treatment could let me live for another year or so."
Minako nodded. Sakura and Artemis finally went to bed. Artemis tried to snuggle up with Sakura to try and comfort her, but hearing the news that this would be her dad's last form of treatment had upset the girl. Sakura tossed and turned the entire night. The next morning when she went downstairs she found her mom and dad making breakfast. Her dad, weak in his current state, made it look almost as if he wasn't hurting, but Sakura could tell her was lying. He grimaced from the pain of being up on his feet for too long.
"I thought we were going to the breakfast hall with the others?" Sakura asked. Artemis was behind her, wondering the same thing.
"We decided to stay here for breakfast." Shiro said. "I made your favorite pancakes."
Sakura smiled. She sat down and ate a divine breakfast with her family. Artemis was fed bacon by Minako. Sakura had to admit, compared to her mother's previous cooking skills, she had gotten a lot better with making a few items. Sadly, she failed at making anything from scratch.
They still met everyone up for the walk to school. Maemi and Megumi were still busy trying to find ways to compete against each other. The school day dragged. Sakura was a bit nervous about training in the simulator. On their way back home the topic was brought up.
"Don't you think it's a bit ironic that we fought real bad guys first and now were going to fight pretend bad guys." Maemi asked Sora, Megumi, and Sakura.
"A bit." Sakura admitted.
"I'm just glad I'm not going first." Sora said.
"You scared?" Megumi teased, poking Sora's side.
"No." Sora replied.
"I'm nervous." Sakura spoke up. "I don't really know what to expect."
"I'm sure they've tested it out and that it's 100 percent safe." Megumi replied. Megumi looked over at her best friend, Sora. "Did you want to play a game of chess before I have to go?"
Sora's shoulder's wilted. "I wish, but I'm grounded. So I have to go straight home. Besides," Sora looked back at Anri and Masaaki who were a little bit behind. "Anri will tattle."
"Kiya doesn't even tattle." Megumi pointed out. "And she's younger. Usually the younger one's are always tattling. At least that's how it is in my case." She shot her seven-year-old brother an unknowingly death glare.
"Oh man, you should spend a week in my shoes at my house. I'm sure my brother's are wayyyy worse than yours." Maemi said to Megumi. "They may not tattle, but they sure do love to play pranks on me... And mom. Dad finds it hilarious, and they always manage to get out of trouble!"
"That's quite alright." Megumi said. She'd seen what the Mizuno twins were capable of and would take her brothers any day over Maemi's. There was a scream from behind them. The four older girls turned around to see that Anri was soaking wet, and Kiya was looking very angry, her blue fish was just inches away from her. NeNe looked as angry as Kiya did.
"Oh brother..." Sora said loud enough for Megumi, Maemi, and Sakura to hear.
"You had that one coming to you, Anri." Kiyoshi Tomoe spoke eerily.
"Kiya's not supposed to have her stupid NeNe anyway!" Anri shouted. NeNe turned into a bucket of water again and chased after a screaming Anri.
Keitaro grumbled, "I'll be glad when I'm in seventh grade."
The bucket of water poured down on Anri, and then turned back into NeNe. NeNe went by her respectful owner. Anri walked haughtily away from the group. No one seemed to fully understand what had happened between the two sisters just now, but Sora had a feeling that more Kaioh-Tenoh were about to be grounded and Kiya wouldn't see NeNe for a week. They walked the rest of the way home.
The girls' had to wait an hour for Chibiusa to get home from school. Once she had arrived they went to the trainer room and waited for instructions. "Alright girls, go ahead and transform before you go in. Eventually, the training will progress and you will be in a real life scenario where you will have to hide in order to transform to keep your identity protected."
The four girls transformed into the respected Senshi forms. They entered inside the simulator, each girl a little bit nervous. Chibi Moon, who had the most practice in real combat, was a bit apprehensive as to how this would all turn out. She knew the simulators were also built for teamwork.
"Okay, I'm going to change the setting." Minako announced through the intercom. The area changed into a park. Chibi Venus looked around very impressed. It didn't look fake at all. She bent down and picked up some sand.
"It's real." she said alarmed, which scared her a bit more. How real would the enemy be?
"Get ready for combat girls." Minako's voice boomed inside the room.
The four girls took their fighting stances. A youma appeared behind them, but they were quick to detect it. Turning around, Chibi Moon was the first to power up.
"Pink Sugar Heart attack!" Chibi Moon shouted. A very forceful beam shot out at the enemy. The other three stood their, unsure what to do. There were no longer anymore commands from Minako. The youma managed to grip the pain, and used its own force to send Chibi Moon flying backwards. She managed to make her body flip backwards and landed on her feet safely.
Chibi Pluto and Chibi Mercury looked at one another. Chibi Venus was going for the attack. A smirk formed on Chibi Mercury's face, "I bet you can't do what you did the other day."
Chibi Venus rolled her eyes, "Chibi Venus Love me Chain!" the chain of hearts circled around the youma.
Chibi Mercury fired up, "Chibi Mercury Bubble blast!" The bubbles caused the enemies vision to become blurred. The girls looked at Chibi Pluto as if saying it was her turn. Chibi Pluto nodded, she took off with a running start going into a cartwheel.
Chibi Moon stepped forward alarmed, "What the heck is she doing?"
Chibi Pluto was about to make her grand finale flip, when Maemi's words came crashing into her mind. Chibi Venus's eyes widened in horror. She let go of the youma and pointed her attention toward Chibi Pluto. "Chibi Venus love me chain!" she shouted. The chain shot out and wrapped around Chibi Pluto's waist saving her from a terrible fall.
At that very moment the youma took it's chance and fired up at Chibi Venus. Sending her flying backwards. The simulator came back into, the youma disappeared, and a huge soft cushion caught Chibi Venus. The door opened and a very angry Minako came in.
"Power down. All four of you and come here."
The girls gulped, each powering down. Minako looked from Maemi to Megumi, "What has been going on recently between the two of you. Is everything a competition? Do you realize that your misbehavior could have gotten Sakura hurt?"
"It was just a simple flip," Megumi tried. "And Chibiusa does them all the time."
"Chibiusa has mastered flips. She had been in way more battles then all of you Chibi Senshi's put together. That does not make it right for you to try. You are an unexperienced fighter." Minako lectured harshly. "I do not want to see anymore bets being passed out during a training session. Do I make myself clear?" she was looking directly at Maemi.
"Yes ma'am." Maemi said. Maemi and Megumi's mother's were called down to the simulator. Ami and Setsuna watched their girls' on the video that had been taken during the training session. Both were very disappointed in their girls.
"Maemi, I'm sorry, but you a grounded for an extra week and will be picking up household chores. I hope your betting was well worth it." Ami said. Maemi sighed. She was going to get teased immensely by her brother's for getting another weeks worth of groundation.
Setsuna turned to her daughter, "You are the older one, and I expect you to be able to not be tempted by bets. Your actions could have gotten Sakura seriously injured if this were a real battle. She had to take her focus off the enemy in order to save you from a careless mistake."
Tears rose in Megumi's eyes instantaneously. "Yes ma'am." she said and walked toward the exit. She already knew she was grounded. Sakura stayed quiet through all this, but was starting to feel like she was grounded as well. With all her friends being grounded she didn't really have anyone to hang out. She knew Chibiusa would, but Helios was supposed to be stopping by soon.
Later on that evening in the Meioh residence, Setsuyo was poking fun at Megumi. "I can't believe you got grounded during practice!" he laughed.
"Put a sock in it!" Megumi scolded. She was attempting to do her homework.
"Who gets grounded while trying to protect the world though!" Setsuyo asked greatly amused.
"Shut up!" Megumi was on the verge of yelling. "I almost got my friend hurt because of my stupid actions and you're not making it any better."
"Geez, I'm sorry. It's not really that bad, is it?" Setsuyo asked, calming down a bit. "I mean, sure you messed up, but you're also way younger than mom was when she became a Senshi. The others were fourteen, weren't they?"
"Yeah, what's your point?" Megumi asked.
Setsuyo got up and put his hand on his sister's shoulder, "My point is, don't be so hard on yourself. You're only nine."
Megumi smiled at her brother. "Thanks."
Setsuna smiled to herself. The two older ones could be so sweet to one another. She loved the fact that her son would try and cheer up his younger sister. Setsuna was happy that the blizzard happened when it had all those years ago. Though, they had not seen another one like it since then, Setsuna knew without the blizzard Setsuyo would never of been here.
Izumi came up to his mother and wrapped his arms around her waist. "What's for dinner, mommy?" he asked.
Setsuna kissed her son, "It's a surprise."
END!