Chapter 12: The Little Pink Haired Devil

Fortunately, it appeared to be a toy gun. All of the girls and Mamoru stared at the absurd scene.

"What do you mean, where is the Silver Crystal? Just who do you think who are?" demanded Rei. "Usagi, you shouldn't bring your little sister with you when you're trying to spy on me. And how does she know about the Crystal?"

"I wasn't spying on you. And if I was, it was Makoto's idea," Usagi stated.

"Hey!" exclaimed Makoto.

"Anyways," Usagi continued, "I don't know who this little girl is. I've never seen her before in my life. We're not even related!"

Rei gave her a strange look. "But she looks like you." Turning to the little girl, she asked, "What is your name, little girl?"

"I'm Serenity. And I'm not a little girl!" insisted the pink-haired girl.

"My name is Serenity too. Isn't that funny? You look more like a Chibiusa, though…" Rei commented, pointing at the girl's hairstyle, buns that were shaped into cones on either side of her head.

Usagi widened her eyes. "A little me? No way I was ever this annoying when I was little."

"Chibiusa" stomped her foot in impatience. "Serenity, can you tell me where the Silver Crystal is?"

"Why do you want to know?" asked Rei.

"It's none of your business." The little girl folded her arms and stomped her foot. It was sort of cute, even if her entrance was rather rude.

"Well, I'm afraid I can't tell you—not that I even know anyway, to be honest," she admitted.

The girl stared at Rei carefully for a moment, as if to ascertain whether she was telling the truth or not. Then, as quick as a flash, the girl ran off, leaving four bewildered people behind her.

"That was strange," Makoto observed.

"Now, Usagi, why in the world were you following me?" Rei spun back around to the blonde.

"It wasn't just me, it was Makoto too. And since you and Mamoru are our future king and queen, we needed to be around you to protect you," Usagi replied.

Nice going, thought Makoto. She made a mental note to thank Usagi for her quick thinking.

"Really?" Rei seemed flattered, then upset. "But Mamoru will protect me if anything happens, won't you, Mamoru-chan?"

"Hai, I will," he said.

"Okay then," Usagi replied, "then Makoto and I will be on our way home. Call if you need anything!" She grabbed Makoto by the arm, waved goodbye, and practically ran out of the park.

Mamoru stared after her, wondering if her little story was actually true.

"Way to go, Usagi-chan," Makoto remarked to her friend as they hustled out of the park. "You are pretty good at lying."

Usagi pointed out, "That's not supposed to be a good thing."

"Yeah, well, it got us out of that situation. And what was with that little girl? Funny she has the same name as our princess…you don't think…"

"Think what?" asked Usagi, staring at her friend.

"Maybe she's her daughter?"

"Don't you think Rei's a little young for that? And Luna and Artemis never mentioned a daughter. Plus, they look nothing alike."

Makoto laughed. "Then what if she's your daughter?"

"Aieeee! Are you kidding me?" Usagi slapped her friend on the arm. "That little brat? I'd have to kill myself if she was. I'm still a virgin, Makoto-chan. There's no way she is my girl. You know, in my opinion, she looks like a little devil…those cones on her head are like little pink horns…."

Makoto chuckled. "Well, we'll probably never see her again, at least. Her parents will find her and take her home."

"Speaking of home, I had better go. My parents said they were expecting a special visitor for dinner."

"Who?"

"No clue. Some relative." Usagi shrugged. "It'll be interesting to meet more of my family, though."

"Yeah, family is important to have," said Makoto. "I'll see you later, Usagi-chan."

"Bye, Makoto-chan!" The two girls waved at each other and went their separate ways.

….

"Ah, home sweet home." Usagi smiled. It was nice to know that even after such a weird and rough day, she could still come home to something real. She went inside and saw her family all sitting on the couch.

"Oh, Usagi! You are home!" Her mother walked over and hugged her. "Today is such a wonderful day for the family to be together!"

"So who's the new relative?" asked Usagi.

"New! Aha, Usagi, you are surely joking. Your sister has come home."

"Sister?" Usagi was stunned.

Her father replied, "Yes, she was off at a special private school for a few years. Don't tell me you forgot all about our Chibiusa!"

"Chibiusa?" Usagi's jaw dropped as she saw the pink-haired little devil on the other side of her father on the couch, grinning. Next to her was a round little ball with an antenna. "No way, Mom and Dad, she's not related to us! She's just this little girl that fell on my head today!"

"Oh, Chibiusa, did mean Usagi hurt you?" Her mother ran over and check Chibiusa for scratches or anything amiss.

"Hey, she fell on me. And you're checking her?" Something was not right here.

"You must have gotten in her way," Shingo, Usagi's little brother, noted.

"I can't believe this…" Usagi blinked several times and pinched herself to make sure this wasn't an awful dream. It hurt, so it must have real. This is so weird, she thought. Something fishy is going on here…."I need to go upstairs to finish some studying…" lied Usagi. It was the only lame excuse she could come up with to get away from this scene.

Her mother nodded. "Okay, just be back down for dinner."

Usagi ran as fast as she could up the stairs and closed the door to her room behind her. "Artemis? I need to talk to you."

"Mrrrow?" the white cat stretched lazily from his position in her window.

"There's something very strange going on…."