Cute Hyakka is not Just Cute. They Want Haruna-sensei!

"Ranshai!" the familiar and penetrating voice commanded.

"Yes Kai!" a deeper and silkier voice answered.

"That homeroom teacher of yours," the first young woman began, "She is a very talented and wise educator."

"Oh, I see what you're saying," the second girl replied.

"Yes, you must see if she is the host for a part of the Makyuutowa."

The second woman cackled. "As you command, Kai! With pleasure!"

Usagi sighed and folded her hands behind her head as she strolled idly down the sidewalk, gazing contently up at the beautiful array of autumn leaves. A gentle breeze toyed with her pigtails, sending them to twine around each other.

"It's wrong to have school on a nice day like this!" she complained as she walked, still staring up at the trees and the sky.

From behind her, Usagi could hear frantic footsteps clacking on the sidewalk drawing closer and closer. Half of a minute later, a girl with mid-back length strawberry pink hair wearing a Juuban Jr. High school uniform sprinted past her, book bag in hand.

The girl tore past with her deep pink eyes staring straight forward at her destination, Usagi could hear her muttering as she panted, "I'm going to be late! I'm going to be late!"

Usagi watched the girl go, releasing her hands from behind her head to let them swing by her side and picked up her own pace. She giggled, "Sujou Hyakka is so cute! She reminds me sort of of Chibiusa. She just has darker hair and is older. It's funny too because she's even shorter than me!" She giggled again. By this time Hyakka had already charged around the corner and far out of sight.

The blond girl happily enjoyed the peace and beauty of the morning for a minute longer, then a dreaded noise shattered the peace: the dry ringing of the school bell.

"Waaa!" she wailed and started sprinting for school, "I'm late! I hope Haruna-sensei doesn't give me detention!"

There was a quiet click as the door to the classroom closed and Usagi snuck quietly to her desk between Osaka Naru and Mizuno Ami.

Without even looking up from her work at her desk, Mrs. Haruna called dully, "Tsukino Usagi, you're late. That will be half an hour of detention after school today."

"What?" Usagi whined, "Can't you just be nice this once?"

Hyakka, who was sitting just two rows up turned and looked at Usagi and snickered. Usagi stuck her toung out of her mouth then returned to gazing pleadingly at her teacher, "It is such a nice day! I couldn't admiring the leaves and the weather."

"You've already gotten many warnings Usagi," Mrs. Haruna lectured, finally looking up from her work, "and plenty of detentions already. I would hope that would have learned by now. I will be seeing you after school. Now get to work," she concluded sternly then went back to her own work. Several girls in the class giggled.

Umino turned around and grinned at Usagi from where he was sitting just in front of her, "Haruna-sensei really isn't in a good mood today, is she?"

Naru responded thoughtfully, "I think it's all these new students. I'd be really stressed if I had to keep track of so many new people."

"I agree," Ami said, looking up from her math work, "I still don't know the names of lots of the new people in this class." Ami gestured to a pair of people chatting together. One was an unremarkable boy with brown hair and the other was a tall and beautiful girl with waist-length wavy orange hair with a thin braid twining around her forehead. She had tan skin and penetrating emerald green eyes. Her voice was deep and mesmerizing silky as she talked lightly to the boy. "Like those two for example," the genius girl suggested.

"You know," Usagi pondered, then grabbed Ami by the wrist and dragged her friend out of her desk and over to the pair they had just been referring to. She extended a hand to the girl, "Ohayougozaimasu! I'm Tsukino Usagi and this is Mizuno Ami, she's really smart. What's you're name?"

While Ami blushed, the girl took Usagi's hand and shook it delicately, "I am Nikui Kaen and this is my friend Kanna Yoshio. We were both Mugen Gauken students before the fire. It is nice to meet you Mizuno-san, Tsukino-san." Her emerald gaze seemed to be searching the depths of Usagi's soul, a feeling that was very unnerving.

"Yes," Ami said after getting over her blushing, "It is very nice to meet the both of you as well." She extended a hand to Yoshio who shook it warmly.

"Usagi! Ami!" Hyakka called from the other side of the classroom, "Over here!"

"Nice meeting you," Ami said politely and Kaen nodded in response, then she hurried over to Hyakka after Usagi.

"What are you doing making friends with that jerk?" Hyakka demanded in a hushed and angry voice.

"We just—" Usagi started protesting.

"Kaen is really mean and stuck up. She always wanted to make fun of everyone except her close friends. Yoshio used to be nice, but he got really weird and mean as soon as he started hanging out with her," the strawberry haired girl explained haughtily.

"You should let us judge them for ourselves," Ami argued mildly.

"I'm saving you that pain," Hyakka answered self-righteously.

"Hey!" Naru argued, rising from her seat and walking over to the three girls, "Ami-chan is right. Quit acting like you know everything."

"You quit acting like you know everything!" Hyakka retorted loudly.

"Ami, Naru, Usagi, sit down," Mrs. Haruna ordered from her desk at the front of the room, "Hyakka, quiet down."

Hyakka grumbled something while the other girls obediently returned to their seats.

"I don't know," Usagi commented quietly and shuddered, "That Kaen girl did give me the creeps..."

"Usagi!" Mrs. Haruna scolded, "Stop talking and get to work!"

Hyakka laughed loudly and stuck her toung out at Usagi.

Usagi glared silently back at the girl.

"Hyakka, I will be seeing you in detention after school today as well," Mrs. Haruna said sternly, "Be quiet and respect your peers."

With that, Hyakka proceeded to sulk for the remainder of the time in homeroom.

"It's all you're fault I'm in here, Usagi," Hyakka grumbled as she wiped off the black board with a wet rag, "I could be practicing with the others!"

"It's your own fault!" Usagi shot back at the shorter girl, "You're the one who was being really rude!"

"Was not!" Hyakka retorted.

"Were too!"

"Was not!"

"Would both of you stop arguing and keep working?" Mrs. Haruna asked tiresomely as she rubbed her temples, as if she had a headache, "You only have fifteen more minutes to work."

Usagi nodded and continued cleaning off the desks while Hyakka grumbled and returned grudgingly to her work.

Fifteen minutes later, the room was spotless and their teacher excused them to go. As Hyakka picked up her book bag, she glared at Usagi, "You better not get me in trouble with detention again!" With that she was out the door and hurrying out of school.

Usagi departed more slowly, taking her time. "I think there's study group at Rei's again today," she pondered quietly to herself, not paying attention to where she was going. The next the she knew, she collided with another girl and both of them were sprawled on the ground, papers flying through the air in all directions.

"Usagi-chan!" the girl exclaimed, straightening her ovular blue-rimmed glasses on her nose. It was Imahodo, finally wearing her Juuban uniform, now with some small reading glasses on, and her long orange hair done in a small, loose bun at the nape of her neck. "So sorry! I wasn't paying attention to where I was going!" she said, a grin breaking across her face, as one of the papers landed on the blond girl's head and slid into her lap. It was a beautiful sketch of the autumn trees, partially stripped of their leaves.

Usagi picked it up and turned it the right direction to look at it. "Oh wow!" she exclaimed, "This is beautiful! Are these all your drawings?"

Imahodo blushed and nodded, "Yea. I was just showing them to the art teacher and trying to convince him to let me in a higher level of the drawing class. The level I'm in is really boring and easy."

Usagi just stared at the picture in awe and gathered up a few more, admiring their beauty. Imahodo gathered them up hurriedly, hoping no one else would come around the corner and step on her work, and stuffed them in a violet folder. She took the pictures from Usagi and looked as if she was going to start in with some casual conversation when a strange determined look flashed across her face for a moment.

"Well anyway," she started and stood up, brushing herself off, "I better get going." With that, Ima hurried off.

Usagi stood up, slightly confused, and started for the school doors and the wonderful weather outside when a scream echoed through the hallways. Haruna-sensei! Seeing no one else around she yelled, "Moon Cosmic Power, Makeup!" In a few moments, she was tearing off down the halls back to her homeroom.

"Hold it right there!" She yelled as she entered the classroom to see a girl with long wavy orange hair and a red crystal in her hand who stood over a fallen Mrs. Haruna, "Attacking such valuable givers of knowledge as Haruna-sensei is something I cannot forgive! I'm Sailor Moon, and in the name of the moon, I'll punish you!"

The woman turned around, "And I'm Ranshai. It's a pleasure to meet you." She grinned and a pulse of red light emitted from her jewel and shot at Sailor Moon. It hit her full force and she screamed as it blasted her across the room.

Ranshai cackled.

"Stop toying with this girl," Another girl commanded as she vaulted in the window, "As the soldier of fall, I am Sailor Autumn! May the brilliance of autumn overthrow your tainting darkness!"

"Sailor Autumn?" Sailor Moon moaned. So this mysterious helper was another Sailor Senshi. But where did she come from?

"Ranshai, you know that the power of your crystal could destroy any of these Sailor Senshi because they haven't found the secret to their power yet," Sailor Autumn commended casually and approached the red and orange-clad woman. "I'll have no more of this! Autumn Crystalline Leaf Rain!"

This time, Ranshai shrieked angrily and growled at Sailor Autumn while Sailor Moon watched, shocked and hurt. The evil woman raised her crystal and a shadow monster appeared. "Now you two can play with this lovely little thing," she chuckled and then added, "But to add to the fun—" she snapped her fingers and the orange and violet clad senshi collapsed to the ground instantly. She laughed maliciously, "Now Autumn-chan, don't try to stop me or that wonderful pet of mine. Understood?" She laughed again then raised her hands upward and yelled, "Suisei Pawaa Terepo-to!" In a flash of red light, Ranshai was gone.

The monster growled and advanced on Sailor Moon while Sailor Autumn groaned and attempted to rise to no avail.

Still dazed and confused, Sailor Moon only gasped and scrambled to stand up.

"Sailor Moon," the fallen senshi moaned, "Defend yourself or something. I can't... I can't hurt that thing this time..."

Sailor Moon nodded, still frightened. She raised her wand and yelled, "Moon Spiral Heart Attack!" The shadow being was hit by the attack but only staggered slightly backwards, red eyes glowing angrily. It yowled and let out a blast of red energy from its mouth. Sailor Moon yelped, cringed, and closed her eyes, waiting for it to hit her.

But it never did. She heard the creature scream in agony and opened her eyes curiously to see a familiar blue bubble of energy surrounding her. Sailor Autumn had managed to get herself in a sitting position and held her sapphire broach in one hand. The creature was gone. The other senshi just smiled and placed her broach slowly back on her bow, as if she was very stiff, and the bubble disappeared.

"You did that?" Sailor Moon asked, confused, "I thought you said you couldn't hurt that thing."

"That I did," she said, then gasped in stiffness and pain as she tried to rise, "But somehow, Ranshai's curse let me protect you, and, in doing so, destroy that thing. My shields reflect almost all energies back to their owners." Just then, she gasped again and stumbled backwards, catching herself on a desk.

"Sailor Autumn!" Sailor Moon exclaimed, "Are you okay?"

"Don't worry," she said, hissing slightly through her stiffness and pain, and stood straight up again, "I'm doing pretty well considering what Ranshai just did. I'm paying for my way around her curse."

"Curse?" Sailor Moon asked, then continued to press the girl with more questions, "You're on our side, right? What do you know about our enemies? Who are you?"

"I am—" she started but was stopped short with a gasp as her eyes widened and it appeared that she had taken a blow to the back of the head. She promptly collapsed again. This time she was able to pull herself up more quickly, but very laboriously, with the help of the desk and a chair. "Sailor Autumn," she finished with a pained look on her face, "I'm afraid that's all I am able to tell you. Farewell Sailor Moon!" With that she bounded for the window, despite her stiffness, and vaulted out of it and out of sight.

"'Ranshai's curse...'" Sailor Moon thought to herself, "'Secret to their power...' I wish she would say more!"