Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon. Surprise, surprise.
The Scythe Reaps What Is Sown
No thing of beauty is this,
a diamond by anguish wrought.
"Bunny!" Tsukino Bunny's blue eyes popped open at the sound of her mother's voice, accompanied by the heavenly aroma of freshly-cooked pancakes. "Breakfast time!"
"Coming, Mama!" Bunny yelled, rocketing out of bed and into her school uniform. She pounded down the stairs, pinning her golden hair up into its infamous twin buns with ponytails, and sat down in front of a foot-tall stack of steaming pancakes. She veritably inhaled the plateful, then bounced to her feet again.
"GottagolateforschoolloveyouMamaDaddybye!" she babbled out all in one breath, dropping a kiss of each of her parents' cheeks before snatching up her lunch bag and briefcase and shooting out the door. "LOVE YOU!"
"That girl," laughed Tsukino Ikuko, her eyes dancing with laughter. "She'll never grow up."
"Over my dead body she will," agreed Kenji, her husband, refolding his newspaper and setting it down on the table. "Well, it's off to work. Love you, sweetheart."
"Aisheteru," responded Ikuko, pecking his lips. "Have a good day!"
"Oh, man, late again!" Bunny exclaimed breathlessly as she sped down the sidewalk, dodging hapless pedestrians. Despite the plaintive note in Bunny's voice, her eyes sparkled and danced with the same light as her mother's, and a smile curved her lips. Late or not, she really couldn't find it in her blithe heart to be anything but absolutely happy on a beautiful cloudless spring morning like this one.
Ding-dong…
"Oh, man!" Usagi cried out, picking up the pace so that she was only a mere blur to mortal eyes. "The tardy beeeeeeeeeeeelllll – oof!" She slammed into something, hard, and bounced backwards onto the sidewalk, landing in her rump.
"Ohmygoshareyouokay?" she gasped, jumping to her feet and bending down to help to his feet the dark-haired young man she'd just collided with. "I'm really sorry!"
He pushed away her hand, and her bashful smile faltered, then vanished completely as she felt his eyes – despite the fact that they were hidden behind inscrutable black sunglasses – meet hers. His scorn was palpable despite the fact that he didn't say a word.
Backing away from him, still unable to tear her gaze away from the sunglasses, she picked up her briefcase and lunchbox from the sidewalk and fled.
"I'm telling you, Naru, he was way creepy!" Usagi waved her arms around in the air to illustrate her point as she related that morning's events to her best friend at lunch. "He didn't say ANYTHING!"
"Maybe he bit down on his tongue when you bumped into him and he was afraid that if he opened his mouth to talk he'd get blood all over," suggested Naru sensibly, taking a bite of her sandwich.
Usagi's pert nose crinkled at the thought of someone having that much blood in their mouth. Talk about gross. "Yeah, but he was wearing those sunglasses, and his hair was really dark – like a vampire! Vampires can't stand the sunlight – oh my Gosh! Naru, he was a vampire! And now he's gonna come and drink all my blood because I – "
"Usa-chan, I think the rule is that vampires can't come out in the daylight, period. They shrivel up and die if sunlight touches them."
"Oh." Usagi's hands fell out of the air into her lap, and she popped a grape in her mouth, chewing thoughtfully. "Well, maybe he was only half-vampire."
Naru burst out laughing, spraying prune juice – Umino had gotten her addicted to it – all over Bunny, who (enthusiasm severely dampened) shrieked.
When Naru had calmed down and Bunny had wiped most of the prune juice off her face and hair and uniform – though a huge purple stain still remained on her shirt – Naru spoke again. "Usa-chan, you are obsessing way too much over this guy. We need to get your mind off him. Let's go shopping after school today."
A smile lit up Bunny's face, then vanished as abruptly as it had appeared. "Oh – I can't," she said dejectedly. "Haruna-sensei gave me detention for being late again."
"Again?" Naru patted Usagi's back consolingly. "Well – cheer up, Usa. We'll go tomorrow, ne? After all, Haruna-sensei's got a hot date already lined up for tomorrow, so even if you're late she won't give you detention."
"Honto ne?" Usagi perked up
"Honto!" Naru replied, elbowing her friend in the ribs. "Hey, I'll be right back, I've gotta go talk to Umino…"
"Usagi's late again," sighed Ikuko, leaning over to peer out the window at the empty sidewalk before returning to stirring the steaming pot on the stove. "I guess she didn't get to school on time again…"
"Honey, I'm home!"
Ikuko spun with a smile. "Honey!" They exchanged a kiss, then Ken set down his briefcase and loosened his tie. "You're early!"
"Hai, the boss let everyone go early today. I thought you and I and Usagi-chan could go out for ice cream and a movie."
"I'm sure Usagi won't say no," laughed Ikuko. "You know her and ice cream!"
He smiled, then glanced around. "Speaking of which, where is our little Bunny? Let me guess – detention again?"
"So I'm assuming." Ikuko sighed.
Kenji's eyebrows knit together. "Ikuko…did you ever think that maybe Usagi's too irresponsible for her age. That maybe we should start disciplining her more?"
"Ken!" Shock was written across Ikuko's features. "Just this morning you said you never wanted her to grow up!"
Ken rubbed the back of his neck. "I know, I know…but…I'm worried about her, 'kuko. She's growing up to an age where she has to make decisions, but we've kept her so sheltered. She's so impressionable! What happens if suddenly we weren't here anymore and she was all alone!"
"Ken…" Ikuko's hand touched his arm. He looked down at her, face grim. "You aren't telling me the truth, are you? Something happened to make you come home early today."
Another sigh gusted from Kenji's lips. "There was…a youma attack," he admitted, lowering himself into a chair at the kitchen table and rubbing his jaw. Ikuko stood behind him, hands on his shoulders as she watched him in horror. "Two people died…and a couple are in the hospital right now. The doctors don't know if they're going to make it. That's why I came home early; half the offices upstairs are totaled."
"Oh my stars…" breathed Ikuko. "Oh my…" She stared at him, hand covering her mouth. He pulled her down to him, wrapping an arm around her. "Kenji…what if…what if…?" she choked off.
He rubbed her back soothingly. "I know. I know, 'kuko. That's why I think…" he trailed off, not needing to finish, for she knew what he meant.
They sat there for a long time, just sitting together and staring into space, not moving until a cheerful shout echoed through the house.
"Ikuko-mama! Kenji-papa! I'm home!"
"Bunny!" Ikuko jumped up and ran to her little girl, wrapping her arms around Bunny and squeezing her tight. "Oh, Bunny! Bunny, Bunny, Bunny…"
Bunny stared out from under her mother's arms with wide eyes at her father. "Dai…daijobou ka?" she asked of both of them, voice shaking a little. "What happened?"
"Nothing," Kenji said quickly before Ikuko could reveal anything. "Your mother was just worried about you, Usagi. Why were you out so late?"
"I…got detention," answered Bunny numbly, still frightened by her mother's behavior. "I was late again." She managed a smile for him. "As usual, ne?"
Kenji nodded without smiling. They stood awkwardly like that for a moment until Ikuko pulled away from Usagi, sniffling and wiping her nose, and moved to the stove.
"Let's have some dinner, shall we?" she said in a falsely bright voice.
"Let's," agreed Kenji. "Sit down, Bunny, so that you can eat and then go do your homework. You have a geometry test tomorrow, don't you?"
Bunny made a face. "Yes, but I don't understand rotations at all. I mean, there's the counterclockwise and inverting the x and y coordinates, and then there's the two hundred and seventy degree clockwise angles, but those are the same as the ninety degree counterclockwise angle – or was it the one hundred and eighty degree angle?" She clutched her head, swirly-eyed. "It's all so confusing…"
"Well, if you study, you'll ace it."
Bunny blinked at her father's tone. "Ano…I guess," she said, though she had never made above a C before in her life – not in math, anyway.
A/N: There it is, the first chapter of my first series. Believe it or not – the next chapters will definitely be more interesting. crosses fingers At least, I hope so.
Anyway, review and tell me what you want to see in this fic…I'm always open to ideas, and even though I have this basically planned out, I might "acquiesce to your requests." giggle Did anyone recognize that line? RR, I know you did.
Well, like I was saying – I really have a limited attention span, don't I? – I think I'd like five reviews before I post next chapter. Please?
P.S. In the story, I kind of switched between using Usagi and Bunny. Do you guys mind? Should I stick to just one? If so, which one? It's so hard to choose!
