Disclaimer: I am just a lowly fan; I don't own Gundam Wing or Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon.
(review replies; b e n e a t h s n o w . l i v e j o u r n a l . c o m / 6 6 1 7 . h t m l)
After taking another shower, Usagi slipped into a pair of navy shorts and a white t-shirt and yanked on a gray pullover sweatshirt before twirling her hair up in it's customary buns. She slipped on a pair of white flats and stepped out onto the balcony, where Heero was waiting.
"Kay. We can go now."
Heero barely suppressed a growl at the time Usagi had managed to eat up with her 'shower'. He grunted and leaped down to the ground, followed by Usagi who swung down from the tree, thanking that her regular bouts of clumsiness from her pre-teen years failed to follow her as she matured into a young lady.
Looking up at the sky, Heero determined that they were going to be late if he didn't get Usagi to hurry up, as she dawdled and walked down the street, following him. Ducking into an alley, he waited until Usagi approached.
"Heero-san?"
Heero grunted and focused his energy, wispy black wings of shadow curling from his back. "We need to go faster. I'll carry you."
Usagi took a tentative step forward and Heero swooped her up into his arms, uncaring of her sudden shyness, and jerked the both of them into the sky. Climbing high above the clouds to avoid being seen, Heero swiftly made his way towards one of the common meeting areas.
"Um, Heero-san?" Usagi asked tentatively.
Heero grunted to let her know he was listening.
"Why can't you just, um, pull a...shadow? ...Pull a shadow over us, like you did in the morning?"
"Most humans do not react well to having shadows over them," Heero replied, although the innocent question sparked a few more in his own mind. Although he should have realized it earlier, they were up high in the atmosphere, to the point where breathing would need to become short and shallow to get enough oxygen. Heero himself did not need it, not having to breathe, but the girl in his arms was enjoying it - as if it was just a stroll down the street. Her breathing was controlled and even, and there wasn't a scent of fear on her. Something niggled at the back of his senses again; something isn't quite right about her...
He pulled the two of them down from the sky, landing neatly in front of a rather secluded house, the surrounding trees doing their best to hide the building from view. Usagi slid from Heero's arms, dropping to the ground as she breathed deeply, taking in the luscious scent of pine as she looked over the house.
It was a small thing, one story, probably a couple of extra bedrooms in addition to the necessities, dark, muted colors, blending in well with the surroundings. Usagi briefly wondered where exactly they were; she couldn't hear the telltale signs of civilization, only the soft chirping of nightingales and cicadas.
Heero grunted and made his way towards the door, Usagi trailing after him. Just as they made their way onto the threshold, the door swung open, startling Usagi as she made a step backwards, and a blond young man stepped out, dressed in a khaki pair of lounge pants and a white shirt.
"Heero," he spoke softly in English, "We were getting worried."
"There was nothing to worry about," Heero replied, "I just had to pick someone up."
The blond shifted from his relaxed position into a more alert one, "Someone?"
Heero jerked his head backwards and the blond suddenly became aware of the young girl behind him. She was smiling sheepishly, realizing she had just been pointed out.
"How...interesting." The blond suddenly shook himself and stepped forward, extending a hand, "It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Quatre Reberba Winner."
Usagi took the hand with a tentative grip before shaking it firmly. "Watashi wa Tsukino Usagi. Douzoyoroshiku." She took a step back and bowed at the waist.
Quatre blinked, and then turned back to Heero, "She's Japanese?"
Heero smirked, "Well, seeing as how she just spoke to you in Japanese, I would say that's a fairly reasonable deduction."
"Ano, Quat-, iie, Winner-san," Usagi began in Japanese and then continued in stilted English, "I know only little bits of English. I'm not that good in school. I'm... sorry?"
Quatre smiled gently, and then replied in Japanese, "There is nothing to be sorry for Tsukino-san. I was just surprised that you came with Heero by your own free will. Most are not very accommodating to our species."
Usagi blinked, and then brightened, "Oh, you mean because you're akuji? It's not really your fault that you're a different species, I would think. It's not fair for me to judge you like that, just like it's not fair for me to judge other people by the color of their skin. I'll admit that it was a little strange at first, but Heero-san is so nice - I don't think it would have been much different if I had just met him on the street and said hello and we became friends. Granted, that's not how we met, but–" Usagi paused and then rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Ah, sorry. I tend to babble, or so I'm told."
Quatre laughed softly, his eyes bright. "Please don't apologize to me, Tsukino-san. It's been a long time since I've had such interesting company." He glanced back at Heero who was watching the interaction with veiled amusement. "Won't you please come inside?"
"Oh, yes." Usagi flushed faintly. "Sorry."
"Not a problem," Quatre smiled.
"Quatre?" Trowa questioned, pausing in his trek to the kitchen. "Was there someone at the door?"
Quatre moved to the left, allowing Trowa to catch a glimpse of Usagi. "Heero showed up. And this is Tsukino-san."
Usagi looked up at the mention of her name and smiled brightly. "Pleased to meet you. I'm assuming you are a friend of Heero-san, as well?"
Trowa blinked away his momentary shock before replying, "Barton, Trowa. Any friend of Heero's is welcome here."
"Thank you," Usagi replied hesitantly, taking in the appearance of the akuji before her; Brown hair swept to the side of his face leaving only one vibrant green eye visible and a body that just screamed athletic. "Ah, how rude of me. I'm Tsukino Usagi. It's a pleasure to meet you, Barton-san."
"Has Yuy showed up yet?" a loud voice called down the hall.
"In here, Wufei!" Quatre shouted back.
Usagi turned, puzzled at this new voice, and was graced with a view of a fourth young man with stern looking features. He certainly wasn't Japanese - Chinese, maybe? - but had black hair pulled back tightly, and wore what looked to be a pair of white silk pants and shirt.
He frowned as he caught sight of Usagi, "Who is this woman, Winner?"
Usagi's eyes narrowed, "The name is Tsukino Usagi. I would appreciate it if you used it, Wufei-san."
Wufei snorted as he looked her up and down. "Chang Wufei, then, Tsukino. What are you doing here?"
"I'm not quite sure myself," Usagi replied loftily, "As I would much prefer to be sleeping right now, Heero-san insisted."
Wufei's eyes narrowed at the mention of Heero, "Then where is he?"
"Behind you, Chang."
Wufei turned his head to see Heero leaning against the wall.
"Yuy," Wufei greeted with a nod of his head.
"Well, if you're done now with the typical male posturing," Usagi interrupted, "I would very much appreciate it if we could get on with this impromptu meeting."
Trowa rose an eyebrow at Usagi's tone of voice, while Quatre tried to stifle a smile. While Usagi seemed to be a generally happy person, apparently Wufei had rubbed her in the wrong way, and she immediately turned no-nonsense and professional.
"A wise idea, Tsukino-san," Quatre spoke, hoping to head off any more arguments. "Shall we head to the living room?" He offered her his arm, which Usagi took with the grace of royalty.
"So," Quatre broke the silence as they had all seated within the living room. "Heero, would you care to explain what you know about Kyra's staking?"
Surprisingly enough, Quatre noticed that Usagi flushed at that statement, while Heero looked like he was about to groan. Trowa, seated in one of the large arm chairs rose an eyebrow, while Wufei, sitting on the ground cross-legged, furrowed his eyebrows at their expressions.
"Where is the idiot?" Heero asked, hoping to stall for time.
"He said he wasn't coming in tonight," Trowa answered. "Needs to feed. Quatre promised to fill him in later."
"So, Heero, what happened with Kyra?" Quatre asked.
"That's actually a very interesting story, Quatre," Heero replied evenly. "Why don't you tell it, Usagi." It was an order, not a request.
Usagi frowned, "I think you would have a better recollection of that night than I would, Heero-san. I was half-asleep when it happened."
Heero snorted. "Of course. I forgot." Heero turned to the rest of them, who had been following the conversation rather confusedly. "Usagi is the one who staked Kyra."
The room burst into motion.
"What the hell?!"
"This woman–?"
"Tsukino-san?"
Usagi flinched slightly, she hadn't known that was going to be the reaction towards her small mistake. Heero smirked at Usagi's discomfort. Hopefully said discomfort would prevent her from revealing certain details of the night.
"I thought a little boy was in trouble!" Usagi blurted. "I couldn't just leave someone there! I thought Kyra was a youma!" She immediately regretted what she had said, watching as all four of them turned to her with raised eyebrows. Yes Usagi, let's just blurt out that you're Sailor Moon while you're at it.
Shit. Heero groaned mentally. He had hoped that Usagi would refrain from mentioning his little trouble. "Perhaps we should start from the beginning."
"That would be most appreciated," Quatre replied, with steel laced in his tone.
"Kyra had found me before I had fed last night, thus leaving me at a disadvantage when he decided that he would attempt to stake me. After a minor scuffle, my best shot was to gain some distance and hopefully find someone to drink from. Kyra attempted to catch up with me, but eventually lost my trail as I ducked into an alley. He came blustering through it, of course, but he likely wouldn't have found me. Until I saw Usagi at the mouth of the alley, and knew that had he seen her she would die. We engaged in a fight, and he had the upper hand." Heero ran a hand over his face, "To be honest, he was about a second away from staking me, when Usagi jumped up, stole his wooden stake and plunged it back into him."
"So it was her fault that you were nearly killed," Wufei said with a smug sort of disposition.
"It was not!" Usagi declared. "Heero-san," she stressed the suffix in her irritation, "Forgot to mention that he had tried to take cover underneath a bus stop, which was where I first saw him. I only followed when the glass window exploded as Kyra tried to punch Heero-san through it. I thought that he was in trouble. If Heero-san was so well off as he said, then there would have been no reason for him to stop underneath a bloody bus stop."
"So really it was a mixture of both your faults," Trowa interjected smoothly, "Heero for presenting himself as if he was in danger, and Usagi for becoming a target."
"She shouldn't have chased after me in the first place," Heero grumbled, "In danger or not."
"Heero-san!" Usagi intoned, aghast. "I wouldn't just leave someone who was in trouble!"
"Forgive him, Tsukino-san," Quatre spoke softly, "It's just that not many people would try to help a stranger. Akuji, or human, don't expect help from outside sources."
Usagi folded her arms over her chest. "What a stupid way to li–, er, exist."
Quatre smiled slightly at her almost slip. "Stupid or not, it is how the majority work. 'Look out for yourself, and don't worry about someone else.'"
Usagi frowned darkly but refrained from commenting.
"So, Kyra was staked by a human," Wufei stated.
"Thank you Captain Obvious," Usagi muttered under her breath.
"So then Usagi's energy will be with Kyra's ashes," Quatre interjected hastily. "The reason you brought her with you, yes?"
Heero nodded sharply while Usagi frowned.
"It would be impossible for me to stay with her at all times, but I would appreciate it if you would make sure she was not killed. In fact, this will actually work to our advantage, seeing as how they would not send an army after a mere human girl. We could take down their forces one by one."
Quatre nodded thoughtfully, "Yes, while perhaps your meeting was a mistake, this will work to our advantage. Most of Kyra's followers will attempt to take his place, but none can until Tsukino-san has died. They would not team up to save their skins - we can eventually eliminate all of Kyra's forces, and hopefully some from the other factions as well."
"Great, Usagi, now you're going to be used as live bait," she mumbled to herself. "Just perfect. Wait until you tell Rei-chan. You think she might give me some ofuda scrolls?"
Heero frowned as he heard that last bit, as did Quatre.
"Ofuda scrolls, Tsukino-san?"
Usagi jumped slightly, before smiling sweetly, "My friend is a Shinto priestess. She's used her ofuda scrolls to stop youma before, I was wishfully hoping that they would work on akuji just as well as they work on youma."
"I wouldn't know," Quatre replied slowly, "I don't think it's ever been tried."
"Well, something for me to experiment with," Usagi said brightly. "Thank you for your hospitality, Winner-san, but I will excuse myself. You and your friends really don't need to protect me, I'll be fine on my own. Goodbye."
Usagi bowed shortly and made a b-line for the front door.
Everyone in the room blinked before Heero shook his head and took after her, commenting as he left that he had flown her here and she would be hopelessly lost if he just left her to find her way back to the Minato ward by herself.
"Interesting girl," Trowa spoke, amusement dancing in his eyes.
Wufei scoffed, but Quatre looked thoughtful, rubbing his heart slowly, "Yes. A very interesting girl."
どうぞ宜しく - douzo yoroshi ku - pleased to meet you (katakana - douzoyoroshiku)
For those who think Usagi is OOC in this chapter, I'm going with the notion that after being insulted, her 'Princess Serenity/Neo-Queen Serenity' side kinda popped up to defend herself from further verbal attack. She's matured a bit by this time, after all, and while she would prefer to be the happy-go-lucky girl, she can get pissed off and retaliate. Also, Usagi doesn't want to be protected; while we haven't had much interaction with the senshi yet, she acts the same way with them. While she is royalty, she doesn't want protection. She wants to be able to take care of herself.