Moon Soldier Revolution
A/N: Thanks for the faves, reviews, and story alerts everyone. I'm sorry this chapter was a little late. I've been busy and to make up for it, I atleast made the chapter a thousand words longer. Teh. I'm a loser for using the word count, but oh well. Anyways, thanks again and please review more. That's where I get the motivation. To know that people are actually reading and having opinions. I'd like suggestions too. There's info about MSR on my bio/profile and please enjoy. ^^
X----------X
Chapter 4 - "First Surprise, Then Two"
A few hours later. Everything is unloaded from the car, the new house is already furnished, as provided from Tsukino-san's magazine company, and everyone is trying to settle in...
"That everything Kenji-otou?" Jadeite asked, standing in the homely living room, his eyes catching sight of everything new. The leather couches, the hardwood floor, the carpet on the stairs since it was a two-story house, the TV, the coffee table, the curtains on the crystal-clear windows, the modernly patterned rug on the floor, the specific lighting, the decorative fake flowers and vases, the matching interior, the setting corner set aside for a place of shoes, different from that of a western house, and almost everything to be mentioned.
Usagi's father, Kenji, smiled uncomfortably and nodded. "Yes, thank you boys. The help is appreciated."
"Sweet place they got you," Nephrite whistled. He swept his eyes over as much area he could see before him. "Good thing you didn't have to bring all your stuff."
He nodded again uneasily. "Where are you fellows staying by the way?"
Kunzite answered first. "We got ourselves apartments across town. We'll be leaving soon."
"Shortly, actually." Zoisite corrected as he came in, followed by Ikuko who was holding a tray of steaming,tea-filled cups. "I just called a rental car company a few minutes ago and they should be here with the car in about five more minutes."
Kenji seemed to look relieved this time. "Ah, well, isn't that good to hear? You'll be able to unload your stuff at your own place too."
All four guys looked at each other with inside comments, interuppted when Ikuko started handing out the cups.
"Oh I won't let you leave without refreshing hot tea." The humble house wife insisted. "You'll need just a bit more energy to carry up your own stuff."
"Thanks, but we've got enough energy preserved for another twenty-four hours, Tsukino-okaa." said Jadeite, waving his hand. "But since you made it for us, I'll drink up."
She nodded and passed two cups to Kunzite and Nephrite, Zoisite and Kenji getting their own.
"Arigatou, Tsukino-okaa." Zoisite said with a bow of his head before taking a careful sip to the hot liquid.
"My pleasure." She smiled, then a worried frown stretching over it. "Do you boys really have to go tonight? It's getting late and we wouldn't mind if you stayed over if you're too tired."
Kenji suddenly choked on his tea standing off behind her, tears coming to his eyes when the high temperature burned his throat.
"Kenji?" Ikuko instantly turned to him with alarm.
"Iku--ko," He coughed roughly. "They've already got a car... coming, they don't need us holding them back."
She frowned when he returned to normal state. "What are you saying? We won't be holding them back. They can rest here if they want to."
"Ikuko, I'm sure they don't want to be staying here when they have somewhere else to be--"
"That's fine, Tsukino-okaa." Zoisite cut in awkwardly. "We have to claim our apartments today."
Ikuko sent her husband a displeased look and then, with uncertainty, nodded. "Alright."
Jadeite cleared his throat, also awkwardly, and held his warming tea cup in his palm. "Erm, so, where's Usagi? Wasn't she just around a few minutes ago?"
"That baka's up in her room." Shingo answered, shuffling into the room with everyone, though seeming to be absorbed in his gameboy with his head bent over it at the screen.
His mother made a face and put her hands on her hips. "What did I say about calling your sister that Shingo?"
He shrugged, focusing on his game. His thumbs moved relentlessly, switching keys every split second.
She narrowed her eyes and with motherly speed, snatched away the game console from him.
"Hey!"
"I'll be holding this for a while young man."
"But mom--!"
Nephrite nodded, again, akwardly. "We'll just go say bye to Usagi before we leave."
"Take your tea." Ikuko reminded before they could take to upstairs.
X----------X
Usagi let herself fall onto her new, soft bed in her apparently new room. All her stuff, which the guys carried up for her, had been thrown off to some empty corner. She had decided that she'd fix that up later, knowing it wouldn't make much of a difference if she unpacked it all. Everything would just be crammed into her closet or scattered under her bed, somewhere her mother wouldn't get on to her about. She was too tired to care about that anyway.
The comfortable mattress felt great as soon as she was lying on her stomach, head on a pillow with a nice laundry softener smell. She might as well have drifted right on to sleep, but she found that the fresh 'new-ness' of the house kept her eyes open and her conciousness stirring. There wasn't anything wrong but the fact that the place wasn't quite home. This new room wasn't quite her bedroom yet. Knowing that, she knew she wouldn't get that much comfortable as she thought she would.
She sighed and turned over to be on her back side, looking up at the plain white ceiling.
Ew, that's boring. She shifted her line of sight without moving her head and noticed that the whole room was just white. On each wall, it was full of the color 'boring'. Dull. No fun. With a single moment's thought, she knew she'd have to remind herself to paint them sometime soon. White alone was not a preferred color. Maybe pink or purple would do better... A smile spread on her face, congratulating her rush of creativeness. Thinking about the change started making the place a little bit more like a home, just bit by bit. But not the kind of home in California. Ever since she'd been living there, it was never quite the right kind of home. Not even for eight years.
After a while, Usagi shifted thoughts and turned her mind to tomorrow. What was in store for her? She had to wonder. Her mom had already told her that she sent in forms for transfer to some school there. Whatever it was called, Azabu-Juuban something, she hoped the teachers didn't give out the lame stuff like homework. In fact, at her last day at her school in California, she had prayed that her new school would be loads more fun and a hundred and ten percent better. At that thought, her strict former teacher, Ms. Andrews, suddenly popped into her mental images, spitting at her with accusations that she had stolen her grade book. The memory was bitter. She knew she hadn't stolen it and her good friend Molly had even witnessed that the class prankster, Seth Thomas, took it during lunch period when the teacher was out.
Scowling just thinking about it, she changed thoughts again and came to forgetting about teachers, wondering about what friends she'd make instead. Could she make friends at all? Would anyone like her? Well actually, who wouldn't like her? Besides Ms. Andrews and the rest of the teachers? There wasn't much about her to dislike, but it was making friends that she really worried about. It was one of the first things she'd started thinking about once she found out she was moving. People that she could feel safe and wanted around.
Usagi closed her eyes and silently prayed. Great friends, more than one this time. Not just the guys. Please... I really--
"Usagi!" The door to her room flew open all of a sudden, Jadeite making a sweeping entrance. After him, the other three Shittenou filed in with tea cups in their hands.
She took one look and forced herself to sit up, frowning at the blonde. "Hey! There's this thing called knocking if you haven't heard!"
He rolled his eyes. "Oh whatever. That only applies to strangers."
"And we're your friends." Nephrite added. "Not to mention your back up team when kicking up monster asses."
Zoisite looked apologetically at her. "Sorry Usagi. We'll be more polite next time."
"Jeez, you pansy suck-up." Jadeite said.
Usagi took a side pillow and chucked at him.
He dodged it, letting it hit the wall and slide down to the floor. "Hey! What's that for?"
"At least Zoi doesn't act like a jerk!" She defended.
Kunzite decided to step in then, crossing his arms and sending them both looks. "What kind of friendship is that? Arguing over trivial matters?"
Nephrite rolled his eyes. "And you? Shut it for once and have fun Kunz."
"Total buzz kill." Jadeite agreed, shifting subjects.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Kunzite frowned at them.
Zoisite extended his arm and used it as a separation bar between him and the other two. "This fight is going to be meaningless if you go on you know. Friends remember?"
Kunzite furrowed his eyebrows. "That is what I said in the first place."
"You know you're just a--"
"Stop! You guys!" Usagi cut Jadeite across, annoyed with their male-related bickering. This is why she needed to make more female friends. Girl-friends. In fact, it was more like they were her brothers most of the time. For the time being, she could only sigh in exasperation and hope for the best soon.
"Sorry again." Zoisite apologized again unnecessarily, taking to the door and closing it shut. "Actually, I really wanted to come up here to talk about... the monster business, Usagi."
She looked up immediately, her ears open for it. "We don't have to worry about that, right? We're not in California anymore."
The four exchanged stealthy glances, like they knew something and she, apparently, didn't.
"What?" She frowned, looking at each one of their faces.
After a few confusing seconds, it seemed that Nephrite had the courage to speak up next. "That's... not really the case Usagi."
"... What do you... mean?"
"Just because we're not in California doesn't mean there aren't anymore monsters." Kunzite stated sternly.
A crack punctured her reality then, but before she could find what to say next, they went on to explain like she had been left in the dark.
"Do you remember how we told you about us coming here?" asked Zoisite gently, trying not to confuse her right away.
"To Japan?" She made a face.
He shook his head. "No. To Earth in the first place."
For a moment, she had to go to the back of her mind. Then she slowly nodded. "You were actually frozen... in some weird crystal boxes. And you said a guardian had freed you and sent you here."
"Right." He nodded.
"But I thought you were aliens at first."
Jadeite's mouth curled to a smile, seeming to remember the memory. "That was pretty funny."
"Hey! No one would believe that story at first chance!" She crossed her arms and blushed in embarrassment. It was that much of a silly flashback.
But Kunzite shifted the topic back to originality and said, "The thing is, we recently got a message from her. The only reason monsters were in California is because our different energy sources attracted them there. In reality, those things are even more attracted to Japan. Because Japan is the central source of energy."
"What?!" Usagi widened her eyes.
They all nodded.
"This place might be infested with those things." Nephrite added.
"But how worse could it be?" She frowned. "They showed up twice every month already!"
"They could show up more." said Jadeite. But he didn't look unhappy to say it at all. He seemed more excited in his own little world. The thought of more monsters only fueled his anticipation for action.
Her shoulders slumped. "No way... And here I was thinking I could start fresh with this new life in Japan..."
Zoisite looked at her sympathetically. "You can. Just because we have to fight more, doesn't mean--"
"Normally." She looked at him. It was impossible for anything to be normal for her anymore. "Face it. I'm gonna be branded a freak with these weird powers and everything."
"Didn't you idolize Sailor V?" Nephrite tried to help. "You finally filled your fantasies. You're committing to acts of justice and getting rid of the bad guys... even if we don't know who they really are and why they're attacking us all the time."
She sighed. "It's not the same anymore. That was a year ago, Nephrite. I didn't know what I was getting myself into then. Fighting is really dangerous and something is actually trying to kill you. I can't go for a month without getting hurt once!"
"... But you're still helping people." said Kunzite, actually softening up for once. "You have fans, even if they barely know you."
Usagi considered that one bright side, admitting to herself that it was something good.
Jadeite was the only one that disagreed. He made a face and said, "Why the hell would you want to be normal? That's bor-ing! Kicking monster ass is totally on the line! I never want to give it up!"
Zoisite rolled his eyes at him. "Of course. The dare-devil never gets enough action."
He shook his head in agreement. "The hell I don't. Would it kill those demons to work out once in a while? I think they're losing their touch."
Kunzite smacked him in the head. "Shut up baka."
"Hey!" He scowled and rubbed his scalp. "What if I--"
"Boys?" Ikuko interruppted, a soft knock on the door. "Sorry to bother you all, but your rental car's here."
Nephrite replied first. "We'll be there, Tsukino-okaa."
The four of them looked to Usagi then and bade their 'goodbyes' and 'see-you-laters', leaving her in state of disappointment.
Guess there wouldn't be much change in Japan after all, she thought.
X----------X
"You think we shouldn't have let her know about the monster thing?" Zoisite asked, trapped in regret. They were in the little, green minivan that was their rental car for two weeks, heading off to the other side of town with their own things packed in the back.
"Yeah. That was pretty much a shitty mistake." Nephrite sighed, sitting at the front passenger seat.
Kunzite, the one driving, agreed. He merged lanes on the road and said, "We shouldn't have let the princess worry."
"Well if someone hadn't opened their smart little mouth." Jadeite glanced at Zoisite, who frowned at him.
"Are you saying it's my fault?"
"Duh I'm saying it's your fault. You brought it up."
He crossed his arms and opened his mouth to defend himself. But then he hung his head and sighed. "I'm baka..."
Nephrite glanced back at him. "Nah. We already told her. There's no use feeling regret if we can't change anything. The point is that we came here to protect Usagi. As long as we're keeping her safe, then we're good."
"Not necessarily." said Jadeite, looking out the half-open window. "I mean, we literally let her kick butt with us. How is that protecting her?"
Kunzite said, "That doesn't really account for anything. She is also a hero for some reason. In this generation of time, she possesses the ability to destroy those demons of Beryls's. It is quite different here, than it was a millennium ago."
"Sure is." He agreed. "Everything is basically different. Almost half of everything we should know is a mystery."
"Yeah. I still don't get why that chick couldn't just tell us everything." Nephrite said. "It'd make it all easier and we wouldn't have to make so many wrong turns if she just did."
"The Guardian of Time is supposed to keep everything to herself." said Zoisite. "She's only the guardian. She doesn't have the right to reveal the future or any relating information."
"But not everything has to deal with the future." Jadeite flicked a piece of flint off his shirt.
Several moments later, they arrived at Daiyamondo Flats. They all unloaded their things, each carrying their own since it would only take one trip, and filed inside the expensive apartment housing to the front desk where the landlord was.
"You must be the new guys." the man grinned at first sight of them, straightening up his posture. It was almost like he'd been waiting for hours. "Welcome to Diamond Flats."
Zoisite nodded. "Our apartment numbers?"
"Of course. Up on the eighth floor. One is the third door to the left when you get off the elevator and the other is two doors away on the same side." He said, reaching in the pocket of his pants and handing them a pair of keys. "There'll be someone to help you up there."
"Thanks." Nephrite took them in his hand as they headed off to the lift.
"Hey, you must be the guy that I talked to on the phone."
He looked back and nodded. "Yeah. I think I remember your voice."
The man smiled and seemed to look him up and down. "I knew you'd be handsome. Guess Chiba-san won't be the only hot stuff around here."
Nephrite raised a confused eyebrow at him, but Kunzite called his name back to reality and he joined the others on the elevator before it closed.
"Flirting with the landlord guy?" Jadeite taunted.
He made a face. "No way."
"This place is pretty classy, guys." commented Zoisite, examining the design in the moving lift. The real fact was that they were still fascinated at modern technology after being frozen for so long.
"A less high-grade place would've done good." Kunzite muttered. "We're using up too much of the money the time guardian granted to us."
A few seconds later, the doors opened for them again and they stepped out. Together, they found the first apartment they'd rented, also noticing that there was a guy by the door. The 'help' just as the landlord had mentioned.
"This it?" asked Jadeite, first glancing at the door.
"Yeah. Welcome to Diamond Flats." The guy noticed them and lifted his head from staring at the floor, looking groggy like he'd been sleeping.
"Oh, tha--" Zoisite froze in place when he turned. The same for Kunzite and Nephrite when they looked.
Being last, Jadiete frowned. "What's going on?" He looked at their faces first, and then at the stranger. But when he did, it seemed that he too couldn't find his voice. His blood cells clotted up when the flow paused inside him and his mind came to a jam. He dropped his bags on the floor, ignoring the pain when they landed on his foot.
