Lord Icis
Hotaru was helping Naosu get dressed. Naosu put on her shoes and then grabbed the hairbrush off the nightstand, bringing it over to her mother she handed it to her and turned around. Hotaru ran the brush through Naosu's black hair, which had purple highlights in it if the sun hit it just right. Naosu yawned, sleepily.
"Me and Akura are staying after school today to help out with the fair."
Hotaru's stomach turned slightly, she was still pretty young to be alone- Akura wasn't exactly the bravest person and it worried Hotaru what would happen if something bad ever happened to her little girl when she wasn't with the group.
"Is Natsuki or Kirio doing the fair this year?" Hotaru asked, trying to play it cool.
"No mama, and I'll be just fine. If anything bad happens we know what to do. We don't talk to strangers and if an enemy attacks we call for help and then get somewhere safe." Naosu replied. "And if an innocent is in trouble, we get somewhere and transform and help them until everyone shows up."
"Meiyo, she must be doing the fair." Hotaru tried again.
Naosu gave a small laughed, shaking her head, "You're silly mama. Aoi has to study and Natsuki and Meiyo are too busy freaking out about the new teacher. Kirio doesn't care one way or the other."
Hotaru nodded, finally giving in. "I want you to contact me and let me know when you are coming home. I'd pick you up today, but Kimiko has her doctors appointment around the time you're getting out of school and Ami can't reschedule it."
"Are they're a lot of sick kids?" Naosu asked, concerned.
"There's quite a bit, but she also has counseling sessions with victims of attacks. Just call me okay?" Hotaru pressed on, dropping the subject about the counseling.
Naosu nodded, "It's been two peaceful months."
"Yes, that it has." Hotaru said, a bit of tension in her body. She had a bad feeling, though she wasn't entirely sure why. Perhaps, it was just because her daughter wasn't going to be walking home with the group today. That's it, she was just over worrying herself.
Naosu slid away from her mother and grabbed her backpack off the floor and ran out of her bedroom. She went downstairs to where her father was serving breakfast, little Kimiko was already at the table eating. Unfortunately, between every bite she took, she coughed. Naosu took her waffle off her plate and went into the living room where she stared at the television, that Kimiko had left on.
Chika was lying on the couch, sleeping. Ever since Kimiko had come to live with Naosu and her family Chika had taken a strange liking to her. Whenever Kimiko was hyper; so was Chika. Whenever Kimiko was tired; so was Chika. Since Kimiko was sick, Chika just moped around the house, lazily. Whimpering anytime she heard her mistress cough or sneeze.
Hotaru came downstairs with Yumi in her arms. "Naosu? Sweetie? It's time to go."
Naosu broke away from the television and saw her mother with Yumi. She placed the waffle in her mouth and held out her arms to take Yumi. Hotaru handed the infant to her and Naosu placed her on her hip. "Ready mom." Naosu said with a mouthful of waffle stuck in her mouth.
Yumi took the waffle out of Naosu's mouth and started nibbling on it for herself. As they walked out the door Naosu asked, "Do you think Yumi will look exactly like me when she gets my age?"
"More than likely, sweetie. She was a carbon copy of you." Hotaru replied, as they walked toward the gate entrance.
"Are we going to tell her? And if we do, will she be able to handle it?" Naosu asked.
"You ask a bunch of questions for someone so young." Hotaru said as they walked up to the other children.
"I learned it all from Aoi. She says if you don't ask questions then you'll never learn anything in life." Naosu said, looking over at her best friend who was slowly turning pink.
"You brought yourself." Mikomi joked as she walked up toward Naosu and the infant. She patted her on the head, and Yumi spit some of her waffle out and on the ground. Mikomi cringed. "She always does something when I'm around her.'
Shinju laughed, coming up, she took Yumi out of her arms, "That's because you always refer to her as Naosu and not her. Her name is Yumi, she's not Naosu."
Mikomi begged to differ. They were exactly the same. They had the same DNA, looks, and even health. How could they not be the same? Mikomi had to admit, though, Yumi's personality was a bit different, but she was still too young. Mikomi would decide in a year or two if she would really be her own person or exactly like Naosu. Of course, the difference would be- Yumi had been created for evil and she had gotten a second chance at life.
Akaru ran up from behind, she was running a little bit late. Rei and Stardust were a little bit behind. "Sorry guys," she panted. "I had to convince my mother that I would be okay after school."
"After school?" Mikomi asked, her eyebrow raised.
"Yeah, the fair. I'm staying after. You are too, Naosu, right?" Akaru turned her attention to the little girl. Naosu nodded.
Rei met up with Hotaru. "Looks like I wasn't the only one that needed convincing." Hotaru snickered at Rei.
Naosu and Akaru both ignored their mothers. Akaru glanced around looking for Meiyo, "Hey, where's Meiyo?"
Sachi rolled his eyes, "She's not coming to school today. She's boycotting it and mom wouldn't let me participate in it."
"I always thought you needed at least more than half or everyone to boycott?" Aoi said, with a state of confusion plastered over her face.
"Alright, everyone off to school." Ami commanded.
Chibiusa waited till everyone was out and then followed behind them. Koyo was in the lead with the younger children in the middle, chattering about. Kirio was playing hackie-sack, while Natsuki was just remaining silent.
"Everything alright, Natsuki?" Shinju asked.
"Yeah, you're being awfully quiet." Tama Kino piped in.
Kirio caught the hackie-sack in her hand and looked at her sister curiously. Natsuki shrugged, saying that it was nothing, but Kirio has a feeling that it was just nothing. Natsuki kept complaining about some uneasy feeling, but they hadn't gone to their parents about it because usually if an uneasy presence was about Akarua, Naosu, Shinju, and Kirio could pick up on it. Everyone else was acting just fine and Kirio hadn't felt any shift in the wind.
They finally arrived to school, both Kirio and Natsuki groaned as they waited outside Mrs. Honda's classroom. How did they end up with the strict teacher?, both girls were thinking bitterly to themselves. And to make matters even worse, Meiyo wasn't there today. At least with her in the classroom it would sometimes be fun-even if a little chaotic.
"Miss. Kaiou and Miss. Tenou," Mrs. Honda said from behind them. Feeling as though two huge sweat drops had appeared they both turned around to find Mrs. Honda, her purple hair, flowing from behind her and dark purple eyes beaming with something sinister, "I've always found it odd that two twins would have separate last names."
"So?" Kirio said, smartly.
"What's your point, Mrs. Honda?" Natsuki asked.
Mr. Fujiyama walked up toward Mrs. Honda with that knowing look. Mrs. Honda dropped her conversation with the children and opened the door, letting them in, "No Meiyo today?"
"No." Kirio groaned as she stepped into the classroom, that felt more like a cage, as Mrs. Honda stayed outside as the children filed into the classroom.
Kirio said goodbye to her sister and walked all the way to the other side of the classroom. Mrs. Honda had assigned them different seats, but that didn't stop her from picking on them throughout the day. Anytime a student (mostly the twins), would slouch or be dazed off, Mrs. Honda would snap, write their name on the board, and once they had three strikes she would write a note to their parents. Before recess time, Kirio already had two ticks by her name. One for picking her pencil up off the ground, after it fell, and the other for staring at the clock up above- also she had backed talked after each incident. Natsuki had one strike against her name, for paying attention to her sister when she was getting in trouble, instead of focusing on her school work.
Natsuki gave out a gusty sigh, as she and Kirio walked toward the playground for recess. Aoi and Akura were outside as well. Eizo stepped out onto the playground, as soon as he saw his two sisters he ran over to them.
"Hey." They grumbled in greeting.
Eizo backed up, "Well, never mind then." He said and ran off in the other direction, as seeing the twins weren't in a good mood.
"Mrs. Honda get onto you two again?" Aoi asked.
Natsuki nodded and sat down on the swings. "I'm not entirely sure what her problem is. It's any little thing and she yells at us. Now she's started putting our names up on the board."
"That's lame." Akura said. "Does she do it to other kids as well?"
Kirio nodded, "But not as often. She's always eyeing us and we thought we'd get off easy today because Meiyo's not here, but that just seems to put more on us. One more strike and my parents will get another note."
"What'd ya do?" Aoi asked.
"Dropped my pencil and picked it up, but she said it looked as though I was cheating. I didn't feel like arguing with her. She drains me." Kirio explained.
Tama came up to them and sat down in the swings next to them, "I hear that Mrs. Honda is always chastising you two."
"I don't feel like getting into it," Natsuki groaned. "It's too much of a headache and what will make this headache worse is if an enemy were to attack us."
"Hey! Don't jinks us!" Tama said. "I like the peace and quiet."
"What do you mean, Natsuki? Are you getting any unsettling waves?" Akura asked, slightly concerned that there was more to what Natsuki was saying.
Natsuki shook her head no, "I'm just stressed out and therefore it leads to me saying senseless things."
Akura nodded slowly, unsure if Natsuki was telling the truth or not. She could tell in her eyes that Natsuki was deeply stressed out. Did Mrs. Honda really put that much on them? Then again, Natsuki had never gotten in more trouble than what she had this year.
Kirio tried to ignore her sisters comment, but she felt as though it had been slightly directed at her. Kirio had been the one to tell her not to worry about it too much, but Natsuki wasn't sure. She had kept her mouth shut though, fear that she might be overreacting about school.
Natsuki sat back in the swing, "I'd help set up for the fair today, but I'm just too drained."
"I understand." Aoi said, reluctantly. She, too, would have helped with the fair setup, but not with the amounts of work that her teacher was giving out, of course, Akura didn't seem to have any problems with getting her work done.
The bell rung, indicating that the children return to recess. Kirio and Natsuki grunted as the headed back inside, rather quickly. Meanwhile, back at the Venus quarters, Minako was discussing it over with her daughter about switching out of Mrs. Honda's class.
"But that wouldn't be fair for Natsuki and Kirio," Meiyo sighed, thinking about how they would be targeted more if she left the class. She already had a feeling that they were already being tortured. "I swear, that woman's evil."
Minako sighed, "She's just strict, but she's almost too strict. This isn't a military classroom she's running, it's a regular class, with regular students."
Meiyo shrugged, "Talk to the principal then?"
"I'll do that first thing tomorrow morning, right now, I have to go to my office and get everything situated for today's practice. Meiyo sparked an interest in the word practice. She looked at her mother with curious eyes, "I heard you were talking to Makoto and Haruka about doubling our training?"
Minkao chuckled, "Makoto is going to start teaching defense, for everyone. And Haruka is just going to work you girls out."
Meiyo frowned, "Defense I can take, Haruka's workouts…I'm not so sure."
Makoto laughed, "Well, you better get used to the idea. It all starts next week. We're having a meeting today discussing the new training methods."
"Can we vote?"
"I already let you skip school." Minako raised her eyebrow, indicating that Meiyo was not going to win this fight. Meiyo quickly gave up and decided to retreat to her bedroom.
---
The Elementary bell rung and the students darted out of their classrooms in all sorts of different directions. Some were heading toward the recreational fields to help set up for the fair while others were just heading home- not in much of a festive mood.
"Akura!" Naosu shouted as she ran up toward her, smiling in relief. She placed her hands on her knees, panting. "I thought you might've chickened out."
Akura giggled, "No. Not this time, anyway."
Naosu perked up when she saw a man walking in their direction, "Is that your teacher?"
Akura looked, "Yes, that's Mr. Fujiyama."
"Hello Akura and-"
"Naosu, sir."
"Don't worry about calling me sir. How're you two doing today?" Mr. Fujiyama asked.
"Good." Naosu replied for the both of them as Akura nodded in agreement. Mr. Fujiyama showed them to what needed to be done before they left today. After he left, Naosu and Akura got straight to work.
Akura giggled, "Just think if some of the other ones had decided to come we'd be in more trouble than anything else. I know Meiyo wouldn't work."
Naosu smiled, "Yeah, neither would Kirio. Natsuki probably would, but she looked bummed out."
"She's been like that for a little while now. Maybe it's the whole puberty thing?" Akura pointed out.
Naosu shrugged. The two girls shared many laughs while they helped set up for the fair. When the bouncer things had been set up, Akura asked if they were able to test them out and Mr. Fujiyama agreed. "I'm so glad it's only us today." Akura said as she bounced Naosu.
"Me too!" Naosu giggled, as she went up in the air. "I can't wait till the fair this weekend. I'm gonna ask mama to bring me."
"Doesn't she always take you?" Akura asked. Naosu nodded, as the two girls slid out of the bounce house. "I'm going to ask as well. I hope some of the other girls come."
"I'm sure they will. Well, maybe not Kirio. She's kind of grounded." Naosu pointed out. They walked over to the table and grabbed their belongings. Bowing to the teachers and staff they bade their goodbyes and started walking toward the palace. They noticed a flock of people surrounding someone, who by the sounds of it, was doing something fascinating- or was famous.
"Should we check it out?" Akura asked, her curiosity reaching its peak.
"Yeah." Naosu said with a small giggle. As they grew closer, the flock of people faded out and all they could see was a monster sucking the life out of a poor defenseless animal. Naosu felt her lunch coming back up as she hurled over throwing up. The monster looked up at them distracted. His eyes screamed with bitterness for them disrupting his dinner. He straightened himself up and Akura hid behind Naosu; frightened by his ugly appearance. He had the face of a demon, and when he opened his mouth to speak his tongue was spilt in two, and two small little snakes slithered around. His hair seemed to be moving on it's own, and it reeked of sour seaweed.
"What brings you hear to disrupt my feeding?" he asked angrily.
A tear fell down Akura's face and rolled off her chin, "N-nothing." she choked out.
"Lord Isis." he hissed, the two snakes slithering as he introduced himself. His hair creped out and slithered around Naosu's small waistline. He picked her up and slung her away from him. Akura stood there fearful, as Isis glared into her eyes. Akura found herself in some sort of trance, she tried to break free, but she couldn't. Without moving, Akura was slung across the field and toward Naosu. Both girls barely had enough time to look up when they saw wings rip from the monsters back, he grabbed the animal and flew up toward the sky.
Naosu collapsed, "I don't want to see another monster like that."
"Me either." Akura replied, lying her head down.
"Akura! Naosu!" someone screamed. They both opened their eyes slowly to see Mikomi, Chibiusa, Koyo, and Shinju.
"Koyo." Akura said, her cheeks turning slightly pink from embarrassment that her older brother was seeing her like this.
Koyo helped her up, while Shinju helped Naosu sit up.
"What happened?" Chibiusa asked.
It took Naosu and Akura a few seconds before they recalled what had happened. They both started talking at once and Mikomi had to ask them to speak one at a time. After Naosu finished explaining what had happened; Akura just nodded her head in agreement. Shinju contacted their parents immoderately and told them they were on their way home and to call for a meeting.
As soon as they reached the gates, Gary, Setsuna, and Ami were all standing there waiting for them. Ami quickly looked over them and contacted Hotaru and Rei to let them know their daughter's were okay. As everyone began walking toward the meeting, Shinju stood there lost in a momentary thought.
This is when everything changes-again.
A hand touched her shoulder startling her, she turned around to see Koyo standing there. She felt her stomach rise with butterflies. Koyo smiled warmly, which only seemed to make Shinju's insides flutter more.
"You're such a great friend." Koyo said.
Akura glanced behind her for a second to see Koyo and Shinju standing very close to each other. She smiled to herself and turned back away. "Shinju, Koyo. Come on, we have a meeting to go to." Setsuna yelled to them, but she did not turn around to look at them.
Shinju blushed and the two of them hurried on. After the meeting, which led them no where, it was finally adjourned. Neo-Queen Serenity promised that everyone would have dinner brought up to their quarters.
"Chibiusa," Helios said, discontent as he walked up to her. "I have to go back to Elysian. I have a bad feeling about this Lord Isis that Naosu and Akura were talking about."
"Okay." Chibiusa said and leaned in to kiss Helios. They both pressed their lips against each others, Chibiusa didn't want it to stop, but as Helios stepped back she knew the kiss was over.
"I'll see you soon." he replied and walked out of the meeting hall.
"Does this mean I'm not grounded anymore?" Chibiusa heard Kirio asking her parents.
"You're still grounded." Haruka replied.
"Aw man! Even in the middle of chaos I'm still grounded." Kirio grunted.
Akura and Meiyo chuckled behind them. Meiyo wasn't grounded any longer, but she had this nagging feeling that the principal and her mother's conversation wasn't going to go well tomorrow morning.
Authors Note:
Sorry for the long delay. It wasn't intended. I'll try and keep my updates frequent as they should be.
