Disclaimer: The characters of Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z are not mine, they belong to their respective owners.

A/N: I meant to have this chapter out last week, but had a ton of homework so this got postponed until now. Sorry about that! Thanks to everyone who reviewed the first chapter, I'll try to make these updates as regular as possible. Finals are around the corner, so no promises T_T.

Ripple Effect
Chapter II: The Masks We Wear

Hotaru had never felt more nervous in her entire life. When dealing and socializing with people that she personally did not know, Hotaru was at her most uncomfortable. She desperately wished that talking with strangers could come as naturally to her as it seemed to with Haruka and Michiru. Still, regardless of how much she wanted to be a warm and sociable person that was easy to like, Hotaru's own body would seem to work against her. Her muscles would seem to tense up and make her freeze in place, and her voice would seem to lose itself somewhere in-between of wanting to speak and actually forming the words to do so. When an unfortunate soul was trying to be kind in conversing with her, Hotaru's eyes would travel elsewhere—anywhere—from meeting the gaze of the person speaking with her, and her head would tilt downward until her ebony bangs further shielded her eyes from any possibility of eye contact.

Everything about her body language showed others that their attention was unwanted, and it was of no curiosity to her as to why she had so few friends.

Thankfully, the guidance counselor—a person whose name Hotaru had forgotten in the midst of her extreme anxiety—had long ago given up on attempting idle conversation. This served some relief to Hotaru, mostly because that she no longer had to answer any of the counselor's inquiries in regards to her personal life. Although she had spent the entire week prior rehearsing a nearly seamless and plausible story as to where the four Outer Soldiers came from, she felt herself fumbling over the words before she even opened her mouth to speak them. Hotaru just simply atrocious at socializing, and fortunately the guidance counselor picked up on that rather quickly, eventually dropping all pretense of desiring to get to know 'the new girl' and paying more mind to the paperwork that was lying on his desk.

Hotaru did not want to go to school on this Earth and had fought against the whole notion of it up until the night before she was to attend classes. Her family had given her a list of reasons why she should continue her education on this planet even though doing so seemed to be a grievous waste of time. Her family argued that attending West City Academy would add more plausibility to the cover story which Setsuna had contrived. Also, they said, that attending school would give the Outer Soldiers another medium of information gathering that the other three women no longer had access to. However, the reason which seemed to carry the most weight with her family was that Hotaru attending school would keep some measure of normalcy, considering that the three adult Soldiers had uprooted Hotaru from her final year of school to go chase down some Gate-jumping thing that no one knew a thing about.

Of course, Hotaru gave her own list of reasons why she shouldn't be going to school. First, Setsuna could have simply come up with another story for Hotaru that didn't involve her attending high school on some alien Earth in another universe. Second, teenagers had been notorious for taking whatever rumors they heard and putting their own spin on them, making this so-called 'medium of information gathering' rather unreliable. Lastly, Hotaru didn't need to have normalcy because she simply wasn't normal.

Unfortunately, Hotaru's family was unanimous in siding against her on the matter, leaving her with no choice but to do as she was told.

West City Academy was a short walk from the house where the Outer Soldiers had taken up occupancy. While there were many schools within the area that did not require uniforms, Hotaru specifically picked the one that did in order to attempt to blend in a bit more with the crowd once the inevitable intrigue of 'the new kid' eventually faded. Hotaru wore the uniform that was required of the girls at the Academy, which consisted of a black pleated skirt, a white undershirt that was tucked into the skirt, a long black tie that was tied neatly around the neck and a black blazer with the school emblem over the right front pocket. The boys of the school wore a similar uniform, except instead of the skirt they wore black pants.

Time dragged on while Hotaru sat in the silent office, her violet eyes glancing over to the clock which hung on the wall across the room. She was supposed to meet with her homeroom teacher here a little over twenty minutes ago, but with that time having long past and the time of homeroom quickly approaching, Hotaru wondered if her teacher would even make it in time. Of course she would rather not start classes today at all, but she was also becoming restless and wanted away from the presence of the guidance counselor and his uncomfortably quiet office.

Only moments later, a swift knock against the frosted glass window of the door was heard and, not even a second after the counselor bade the person on the other side of the door to enter, the door opened.

Immediately, Hotaru recognized that this boy was most certainly not her teacher. He was a student, likely around her age, who immediately struck her as a rebel who had no respect for the dress code. He wore no black blazer that was required of all of the students at the Academy, and the tie was absent as well. His white undershirt was not tucked into his pants as was mandatory, and instead it simply hung out around his hips loosely with the first few buttons at the top of his shirt undone, giving onlookers a glimpse of his collarbone. The only garment on him that obeyed the dress code at all was his black pants, but that was hardly any consolation considering the rest of his appearance.

Hotaru drew her attention from his state of dress to his face, and the moment when her eyes settled on his features, her heart skipped a beat.

The boy was handsome.

There had been plenty of boys at home that either looked decent or were simply good-looking, but Hotaru believed that none of them held a candle to the boy that was obstructing the doorway of the guidance counselor's office; his eyes were the color of the cloudless sky at midday, his hair was cut short and the shade of freshly bloomed lilacs in the spring with a few wisps of bangs hanging into his eyes, and his skin was slightly tanned from the sun's kiss. Although it was difficult to tell much from his loose-fitting shirt, Hotaru ventured to guess that the boy had a muscular build about him and more so than most of the other boys around his age.

When Hotaru realized moments later that the boy was staring directly at her, her face flushed and she immediately looked away from him. She had no idea how long she had been sitting there staring at him, and she hoped that he hadn't noticed that she was—as terrible as the word sounds—ogling him.

"Is this the transfer student?" the boy asked in voice which made no attempt to hide the annoyance he was feeling.

"Trunks Briefs," the guidance counselor greeted the boy before shooting him a disappointed look. "Would you like to tell me why you are not in your uniform again?"

"It was dirty," Trunks responded quickly and simply, making Hotaru wonder if the boy cared or realized that his lie was so obvious. "Anyway, is this the new transfer student or not? Something came up and Gohan's running a bit late, so he asked me to take her to homeroom since we apparently have it together."

"Mr. Son," the guidance counselor corrected Trunks in a firm tone, his eyes narrowing. "I understand that you are family friends, but while you are attending this Academy you will respect him as your teacher and refer to him as any other student in this establishment would. In any case, yes, this is the new transfer student, Hotaru Tomoe. Hotaru, the boy with the dreadful attitude is Trunks Briefs."

Hotaru met Trunks's blue eyes again, and only a moment later looked away as she felt her cheeks begin heating up again. "Hi," she mumbled in a voice that was barely audible.

"Let's go," Trunks ordered her in a hurried tone, and when Hotaru found herself hesitating in her seat for only a moment, Trunks's hand shot out quickly and wrapped around her small wrist, pulling her out of the chair and nearly dragged her out of the guidance counselor's office.

Due to Trunks being a good few inches taller than her and having much longer legs than she, Hotaru found a hard time keeping up with the lavender-haired boy. For each quick step that he took, it equaled two to three of Hotaru's and caused the smaller girl to stumble as she tried to meet his pace. Classes were to begin soon but not immediately, so Hotaru didn't understand why this boy was in such a hurry to get to their homeroom.

It was as if he couldn't wait to be rid of her, and from the sound of the displeasure in his voice earlier, Hotaru figured that her assumption was correct.

"I don't have time to play tour guide," Trunks informed her in cold tone, keeping his eyes focused in front of him. "All of the senior classes are on this floor, with the exception of gym which is on the first floor as well as the cafeteria. I heard you scored pretty high on the entrance exam, so navigating your way around the school by yourself shouldn't be any problem."

Hotaru bit her bottom lip, feeling uncertain as to whether Trunks had just given her a compliment or was simply mocking her high test scores. The only reason why she scored so high on the entrance exam was because Haruka had hacked into the school's computer system and got a hold of all versions of the exam which West City Academy gave to its students, giving Hotaru plenty of time to memorize most of the questions on the exam and the answers to them.

"It shouldn't be a problem," Hotaru admitted quietly.

For a short time, silence was the only exchange between the two of them. Their quick footsteps echoed against the hard floor of the senior corridor, which was mostly vacant of students as classes were starting soon. Of course, there were a handful of procrastinators that lingered in front of their lockers, casting Hotaru and Trunks inquisitive looks as they quickly passed by them. Hotaru could only look down at the floor that passed under her feet.

"This is homeroom," Trunks muttered, finally coming to a stop in front of one of the doors which lined the hallway and released Hotaru's wrist as quickly as if it had burned his hand. "The seating is open, so sit where ever you find an open seat. I'll warn you, though; Gohan is the most laid back teacher in the school, so expect most of your other teachers to assign you a seat. Good luck."

Trunks didn't hesitate a moment longer with her, grabbing on to the knob of the door and giving it a hard turn before pushing his way into the classroom, disappearing from her sight. Hotaru lingered in the corridor for several moments afterward, simply standing there and staring at the numbers which marked the classroom door. In all honesty, she wasn't exactly bothered by the fact that Trunks Briefs wanted to be rid of her so quickly. However, the feeling she was left with after Trunks left her alone and standing in the hallway was something less welcome.

Loneliness.

Even though Hotaru was a loner by nature, she hated feeling alone. She found her eyes stinging with the threat of tears and her heart twisting painfully within her chest. In her mind, she cursed her family for sending her to school on this Earth and she damned the being that had forced them to come here. More so, she blamed her long dead father for turning her into this person who was so very socially awkward.

Get a hold of yourself, she ordered herself. Nothing good was to come from her breaking down here, and surely nothing better would manifest from blaming every little thing in her life that caused her to be in this less than desirable situation. After a brief time spent composing herself, Hotaru soon took a deep breath as a final attempt to calm her jittery nerves before she reached forward to grab on to the door knob, giving it a hesitant twist before pushing the door open. She took one step into the classroom, and then another, before she allowed the door to fall shut behind her.

The students within the room, her new classmates, immediately stopped socializing with each other and turned their heads to look at the newest addition to the school. There were at least two dozen sets of eyes that were centered upon her, and after Hotaru had done her best to beat her anxiety away, she could feel it all return to her. Her heart began to thunder in her chest, as if it was slamming against her ribcage in an attempt to break free, and she could feel her knees weaken with the threat of buckling beneath her.

Hotaru sought out one of the few vacant chairs within the classroom and hurried to it, taking a seat and opening up her backpack, attempting to refocus her attention on the items inside than the eyes which she felt were boring into her skull. It was until minutes later that the classroom gradually returned to the way it had been before she entered it, with the students turning their attentions to each other and resuming whatever conversations that Hotaru had interrupted with her presence. Yet, their tones were hushed, which made Hotaru wonder if now she was the preferred topic of discussion.

More than anything else at that moment, Hotaru wanted to disappear.

x

For Trunks Briefs, the day continued on and eventually ended as any other. The presence of a new student at the school didn't appeal to him as it did the rest of his peers, and over the course of the day he had nearly forgotten the girl altogether. Once the hands on the clock were drawn ever closer to three in the afternoon, the only thing Trunks was concerned over was getting home and relaxing the rest of the day. He was mentally drained from a day having spent as another normal student, having had to once again put up with the mindless babble of his peers and pretending to pay attention to the collection of boring teachers the Academy had amassed.

Unfortunately, Gohan decided to throw a large wrench into Trunks's afternoon plans. He and Goten were to meet Gohan in his classroom at the end of the school day for a "very important conversation". So, once the final bell had rung for the day and Trunks rid himself of a group of followers that he cared little of, he made his way to Gohan's classroom to have some conversation that couldn't have waited for a later time.

"I didn't get a chance to say it earlier, but thank you for escorting Hotaru to class for me, Trunks."

Like I had a choice, Trunks thought bitterly as he resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Perhaps Trunks would have felt less sour about the whole ordeal if Gohan had called him up himself and asked Trunks to do the task personally. Instead, Gohan had gone over his head to his mother, who had never been someone to deny Gohan of anything that he asked of her. Gohan had long ago won over the love and respect of everyone that Trunks knew, so when there was something that the oldest half-Saiyan needed to be done, it was done; no asking questions, no making excuses.

Trunks was no errand boy, and he absolutely hated when he was dragged into situations where he was expected to be such a thing. He supposed his feeling such a way had to do with the entitlement of being born a Briefs, with a silver spoon in his mouth and the very world at his fingertips. However, it was more likely that is superior attitude had more to do with the Saiyan Prince's blood rushing through his veins. As far as Trunks was concerned, Goten would have been a better candidate for escorting around the new transfer student this morning. Even though Goten was a junior and a notorious skirt chaser, he was Gohan's brother. Such a responsibility should have fallen into Goten's lap and not Trunks's.

Trunks thought it better to keep his thoughts to himself, simply replying to Gohan with, "It was nothing."

"What was so important that you needed to talk to us about it right after school, Gohan?" Goten inquired with the likeness of a child, blinking his ebony eyes in curiosity at his older brother. It was likely that the youngest Son child had been biting at the bit all day to find out what Gohan had to say to them, and he wasn't going to be at all patient when the revealing moment was but a short time away. By simply looking at Goten, Trunks could swear that it looked as if the boy was about to burst in anticipation from having waited so long.

The look on Gohan's face immediately transformed from indifferent to troubled. The teacher leaned back against his desk and folded his arms over his chest, waited a few seconds to collect his thoughts, and finally said, "Another girl was kidnapped last night, and this morning her body was discovered in a park near the city limits. It seemed to be a ritual killing, just like the others."

"How many does that make now?" Trunks questioned, but he otherwise looked uninterested in Gohan's words.

"Seven over the past two weeks," Gohan informed him with a dejected sigh. "The police department asked Videl and me for help—well, the Great Saiyamen, anyway—and we were allowed to examine the bodies. This one was the same as the last six were; her heart was torn from her chest, her throat was cut, and there were bruises on her arms like she was physically restrained. Theories have gone from just a single serial killer to some radical religious group that has some sick beliefs. However, they're no closer to solving the crime as they were when the sixth victim showed up."

"And what exactly does this have to do with us?" Trunks asked with irritation dripping in his voice, casting his angry gaze out of the window as he watched groups of students depart from the building and headed off campus. "We're fighters, not crime-solvers. This is the police's job."

"We're not just fighters Trunks, we uphold the peace," Gohan told him in a firm voice, giving the lavender-haired boy a hardened stare. "As people born with exceptional powers and strength, it's our responsibility to keep this world safe for everyone. If we have the power to bring some human criminals that have been killing young girls to justice, why shouldn't we do it?"

"Why shouldn't we?" Trunks repeated, venom in his voice as he turned to look at Gohan, meeting his stare. "Reliance, Gohan; that's why we shouldn't. If we go around saving the world from every little problem, the public is going to depend on us to save them from every little thing. Afterward, in the moments that we don't save them—say, some kid tragically dies in a car accident or some bastard breaks into a bank and shoots a few people—they're going to blame us for not being there. They're going to say we had the power to stop it yet we didn't."

"I'm not asking you two to become super heroes who bail the general public out every day, Trunks," Gohan sighed in exasperation, shaking his head at the boy's words. "All I'm asking is that you take the time to help me out here and bring some sick, twisted individuals to justice. After that, you can go back to your moody and miserable self without worrying about me asking you to do another damn thing for me."

"Sorry, Gohan, but I'm not interested in doing this at all," Trunks told him in an unsympathetic tone, starting towards the door. "If the serial killers start shooting lasers out of their hands and contemplate world domination, I'll help you in a heartbeat. But this is a human problem, and it should be solved by humans—not by us."

"Are you going to let what happened with Elsa affect you forever?"

At Gohan's mere mention of her name, Trunks immediately halted with his hand lingering just above the door knob, his breathing ceasing. Initially, Trunks felt nothing but the shock of hearing that name again, but it wasn't long before other emotions began bubbling to the surface. First it was despair, a type of despair which caused his entire chest to constrict and burn with pain. Next it was regret, an emotion which washed over him so suddenly that it caused his blue eyes to shut tightly as he tried to force them away.

And then, fury completely consumed him.

"Don't you ever mention her name again," Trunks growled with his voice dangerous and threatening. In the next moment, Trunks threw the door open and disappeared out into the hallway.

x

"You should definitely try out for some of the academic clubs once you settle into school. Oh, and maybe try out for the volleyball team? Oops, maybe not, I forgot that you said that you really don't like sports…"

Regardless of the numerous attempts Hotaru had made to keep every student at the Academy at more than arm's length, there was one person who completely ignored all of her dissuading behavior. The girl's name was Mara Caverly, a student that shared several classes with Hotaru and had been determined to befriend the new transfer student. No matter how often Hotaru tried to retreat into her shell, Mara seemed to know how to say just the right things to ease her right back out of it. Over the course of the day, Hotaru found Mara to be a welcome sight.

There were times that Hotaru thought that Mara was too chatty, but she kept her thoughts to herself. She had to remind herself that the curly-haired brunette was just being nice, and it was very possible that Mara was as nervous as Hotaru felt. It wasn't as if Hotaru was making it easy on Mara, with her frequent bouts of silence and Mara trying to fill in the gaps with whatever came to mind. Hotaru had to give the girl credit for her unwavering determination.

After figuring out where Hotaru lived, Mara offered to accompany her home from school. Apparently, Mara lived not too far away from Hotaru and wanted to use the time to get to know her new classmate better. Hotaru would have rather been by herself on the trek home, but again, she had rather not be rude to the very first person on this planet that was making attempts to befriend her. So, she accepted Mara's presence as they made their way home, listening with the girl's rambling words with only half a mind.

"Hey, Hotaru," Mara called out suddenly, her hand motioning over to an alleyway the two of them were about to pass by, "if we take this way it'll take us to your neighborhood faster."

Hotaru eyed the alley with skepticism, her eyes narrowing in disbelief that heading down this alleyway—going a direction which would seem at first glance to take much longer than taking the city sidewalks—would be at all faster. "Through here?"

"Yeah, I take this shortcut every day to avoid the crowded streets," Mara explained.

Still, Hotaru was uncertain. "I don't know, it just doesn't seem faster…"

However, Mara was hearing none of her excuses. The brunette girl reached forward and grabbed on to Hotaru's wrist, yanking the reluctant girl down into the alleyway. Hotaru found her feet stumbling at first, mostly surprised that Mara refused to accept any other means of getting to their homes, before she found her balance to keep up with the other girl. However, the moment Hotaru finally was able to walk in step with Mara, the curly haired girl abruptly stopped.

Hotaru halted as well, staring at Mara with a confused look. "Mara…?"

In the next moment, Hotaru found herself pinned against a nearby building, a hand clasped over her mouth to keep her from making any sound.

A/N: Again please review, it keeps me motivated! Until next time!

Kusari