AN: Hey its upload week! Hard to believe its already been two weeks at times.
Anyways not much else to say. Enjoy the chapter. Please leave a comment or review.
Thanks again to Tsukikageshi for betaing.
On with the chapter!
Chapter 29
River Styx
Usagi had been planning to finish up the Princess Seminar. They had finally found the sender of the videos. Haruka was planning to tag along to make sure nothing else happened but Usagi felt this was more peace of mind than being necessary. She didn't think Yuki would attempt anything else with the threat of being exposed for having the video in the first place hanging over her head.
That all changed when the final email had hit her account opening up a video as soon as she opened the email. All she could do was watch with growing horror as a girl with long golden blond hair done up in pigtails and blue eyes if only a slightly different shade to Usagi herself, was brought onto the screen bound and gagged and very clearly terrified. Whether the girl had started in pigtails or they had been added, along with the school uniform for Juuban Middle School, Usagi did not know but she had never seen this girl at Juuban and she did not seem to speak any language Usagi had ever heard. The girl had long stopped screaming when she finally breathed her last, her spirit broken long before her broken body finally let her rest in death. There was no mistake death was a release to the girl after the suffering she endured. Someone in the background complained about 'not being able to' get their hands on 'a girl from Juuban Middle school'. The message was bone-chilling in its clarity. Usagi had no doubt more innocent girls would be killed to make this same point if she didn't give in to the demands to drop out of the program. If not her loved ones or herself may befall a similar fate to this girl. Then there was the fact this girl was picked up for her likeness to Usagi... it was her fault this girl died. She couldn't help but feel it was her fault for sharing a likeness to the girl. Surely that is the only reason the girl was to suffer and die like this. At the bottom of the video, two words were written and only two.
"You're next."
Would this ever end? Would Yuki never stop?
Usagi vaguely recognized putting her hands in something warm and wet as she managed to push herself to her feet. The world felt far away, and the edges of her vision seemed to fade into a single tunnel down her line of site. She needed to get to the others and she needed to get to them now. Usagi didn't even realize when she'd moved before she was in front of Michiru. Michiru was the one that caught her before she hit the ground. She could hear Michiru asking questions at a rather frantic pace. Asking why she was covered in puke and why she didn't tell them she was sick. She faintly wondered if she should tell them she wasn't sick but then her mouth wouldn't listen to her. Her chest hurt, and she felt like she was falling. Everything became noise, blended together in a cacophony.
Usagi did not realize her grip on Michiru's shirt had tightened. She was lost, her mind was mentally replacing the girl with herself and then Haruka, Michiru, and her mother. Oh goodness, Hotaru and Setsuna as well. Everyone she cared about replaced them in her mind. Even her father and Motoki. Umino and Naru! Anyone could have been in that chair and to someone, that girl was a daughter or a sister. The pain in her chest intensified, burning, and then suddenly blackness took over and absolute silence.
The next thing Usagi knew she found herself floating around above her own body. It was unnerving to say the very least to be staring at one's body as it lay limp in Michiru's grasp. She didn't even understand how this was possible.
Had she died? She didn't remember anything like this happening during the earthquake. Usagi watched as Setsuna laid her on the kitchen floor giving some instructions to Michiru before pulling out her own cell phone. As Michiru got to work trying to revive her.
"Hang on." A voice seemed to whisper in her ear for a moment distracting her from the scene below for just a moment. Shingo's voice. Usagi searched for Shingo and was unable to find him despite this niggling feeling she had that he was here. All she could see was herself surrounded by Michiru and Setsuna. And then all she knew was pain before blacking out.
Haruka had stepped out to try and find what caused Usagi to stumble into the kitchen in such a state and Setsuna was trying to help Michiru go through the steps of getting Usagi to breathe with her to bring her out of the panic attack when it had happened. Usagi went from shaking like a leaf to completely limp in Michiru's arms in under a second. "Setsuna?" Trying to keep the panic out of her voice and failing. Usagi was too still. Michiru couldn't see Usagi's chest rising, couldn't feel it, why wasn't she breathing? Oh God, she wasn't breathing!
Setsuna was somewhere between green and pale despite her calm demeanor as she leaned forward taking Usagi's limp arm and holding her wrist in her hand, fingertips to her pulse point on her wrist. "Do you know CPR?" Setsuna said pulling out her phone with her other hand, directing the question at Michiru. At Michiru's nod, she continued. "Start CPR. I'm going to call an ambulance."
Michiru felt sick. She could faintly hear Setsuna talking over her cell phone. One, two, three, four, breath. Lips to Usagi's deathly still form to fill her lungs with air. One, two three, four, breath into her to fill her lungs with air. Oh God, why was this happening?! Again, and again. Repeat. One, two, three- Tears were flowing down her cheeks. She needed Usagi to live. 'Come back Usagi!'
"I'll take over." And just like that Michiru was sitting there useless to bringing Usagi back as Setsuna took over. One. Two. Three. Four. Breath. Michiru counted. Each felt like an eternity and so far away from reality. Michiru was numb and drowning all at once.
"You can sense her through the bond correct?" Setsuna said not even looking up. One, two, three, four, breath. One, two, three, four, and breath again. As she came up from another breath into Usagi's lips she spoke as she continued chest compressions. "I need you to share energy into the bond like you would with helping her heal." The hope was that the new energy might trigger a restart Usagi's system, not unlike a defibrillator. One, two, three, four, breath. There was no clue if it would work but they were running out of time. One, two, three, four, breath. They had to try something! Anything to bring her back!
Michiru did as instructed and gave everything she dared, which was quite a lot more than she should have, and she about cried in relief as Usagi took a breath.
Setsuna put her hand over Usagi's mouth, feeling her breath on the back of her hand before sighing with relief. Her weary hands found Usagi's pulse point on her wrist once more and as she could feel the thrum of Usagi's pulse under her fingers she realized she was trembling. Usagi was alive. "She's back."
Michiru collapsed to the floor in a relieved and teary mess, still a bundle of nerves. Setsuna remained with her eyes glued to Usagi and her hand holding her wrist, two fingers on her pulse point and a finger tapping in time as she counted under her breath the beats per minute.
"What happened?" Haruka's voice surprised at the both of them's state. She had felt a pull and responded to send her energy to Usagi and as she stepped into the room, she wanted an answer. Why was Usagi on the floor? Why did Michiru and Setsuna look like they had run a marathon ten times over? What happened here?
"Usagi went into shock and her heart stopped." Setsuna quietly answered, not taking her eyes off Usagi or her hand off her wrist. She really hoped nothing else happened after this. But…it was better to be safe then risk more problems.
Haruka let out a sigh as she ran her hand through her hair both angry and frustrated. She felt so helpless. Silence ensued as the sirens drew closer. Setsuna, eyes still on Usagi asked the question she dreaded. "Did you ever find out what caused all of this?"
Haruka surprised both of them by fishing into one of her pockets and pulling out Usagi's cell phone. "I found this in the other room playing a video." Neither had expected Usagi's cell phone to have anything to do with this but Michiru took it gingerly holding it where Setsuna could see as well as Haruka continued. "I had to turn it off. Phone refused to respond to anything other than a hard shut down no matter what I tried to close the video." Haruka shook her head, there was probably a way out of the loop, but she hadn't been able to figure it out. She spoke up again when she saw Michiru moving to turn it on. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. Don't watch it until we're somewhere private." And away from Usagi. She may still be out cold, but she didn't want to risk the girl waking up and it being one of the first things she saw or heard after nearly dying on them.
Michiru frowned and glanced over at Haruka a bit concerned. "Haruka what was the video about?" Haruka wasn't yelling but she could pick up the anger in her tone and the tenseness in her posture. Whatever had been sent was enough to upset her.
Haruka closed her eyes for a moment before answering. "Someone sent Usagi a snuff film of a girl who looked like her and was dressed in Juuban uniform."
Both could almost swear they heard Sestuna utter the words 'I will not erase them from existence' as the lights flickered but neither said anything as a knock sounded on the door. Paramedics had arrived.
Hotaru knew before even her father came and got her that something had happened. You didn't become senshi of death and rebirth without becoming sensitive to certain things. Like when a close friend and teammate suddenly lingered in limbo between the two things for a few minutes.
The only reassurance Hotaru had at the moment was that the person she shared a senshi bond with was still alive and had pulled out of that limbo. What had happened? Was there a senshi battle they tried to protect her from because of her being the youngest again? Hotaru had been so caught up in what had just happened that at first, she hadn't heard her father arrive.
"Hotaru?" Her father asked eyeing her in concern. Her own reaction to it must have been visible then.
"I'm fine Papa. I just felt something." Hotaru assured him after a moment. Not entirely sure if she should mention that she had felt one of the senshi die for a moment. "Is something wrong?" She already knew the answer to that question, but she had to ask anyway.
"Usagi's in the hospital. She's okay but she's being checked out after giving your friends a scare." He answered after a moment. He had gotten a call from Setsuna informing him of what had happened. "I know where she's at if you want to go see her."
"Yes please." Hotaru agreed. She may know that Usagi was fine on a level. But she really did need to see her.
The three of them, Setsuna, Michiru, and Haruka, were currently waiting in the hospital waiting room for news on Usagi. Hotaru, her father, and Usagi's parents had yet to arrive. "I'll handle the Tsukinos when they arrive." Setsuna said breaking the silence. She was probably the best equipped to handle Usagi's parents on telling them the news of what had caused this.
"Hotaru's on her way." Michiru said after a moment scrolling through her phone messages. Most could be read later. The string of texts from Hotaru had sent over the course of the 'event' suggested she had been panicking also. She had managed to get her mostly calmed down.
The only other noteworthy one was from Mamiko, saying she was on the way to the hospital. How Mamiko knew Usagi was in the hospital before she had been alerted Michiru did not know. She had a couple of theories but nothing concrete for now. Another text was one from Misako asking why Usagi was absent. She would have to tell her what happened later. Usagi wouldn't be returning to the classes this weekend. If ever.
"Hotaru blew up my phone during those few minutes. She was panicking." Michiru pointed out quietly. "Due to her powers, she probably felt it." Setsuna said after thinking for a moment. Hotaru's domain was over death and rebirth. Much like Setsuna would pick up an anomaly in the space-time continuum she wouldn't be surprised if Hotaru could feel when someone she knew was close to death or had died, even if for a moment.
"Someone needs to tell everyone else about what happened." Haruka realized rubbing her forehead. None of them wanted to leave Usagi but among other people needing to know what had happened Luna was chief on the list. Along with Naru and the generals. Usagi would want Naru to know before Luna even and of course her parents had already been called. Someone needed to inform the princess seminar instructor as well.
"We'll have to tell Luna when we go home. The hospital won't let her in as a cat." Michiru said shaking her head. Luna's human form would draw more unwanted attention. Unfortunately, the guardian who probably should be the first to be told about this, after her parents, of course, was going to have to be the last one to find out. "I'll text the generals and Naru." The generals needed to know since pretty much anything senshi related was on hold for the moment. Naru needed to know sooner rather than later and could be a force of nature when she wanted to be. It didn't happen often but Michiru had seen hints of it. It was heartwarming to know she cared about Usagi as much as she clearly did.
Silence lapsed again between the three for a moment. The silence was not to last, however, broken shortly thereafter by the arrival of Usagi's parents. Kenji was the first to speak, clearly having run into the hospital. "What happened? Did some of those Dark Kingdom minions hurt her?"
"I wish this was senshi related. We could just go after the person who hurt her if it was." Haruka commented under her breath while imagining a well-placed Spiral Buster ripping Yuki apart. Youma and possessed people seemed like a walk in the park right now compared to dealing with someone who had threatened to kill Usagi by killing a look alike. Setsuna was the one that explained. "Someone sent a snuff film to Usagi whose 'centerpiece' looked a lot like Usagi."
Kenji paled at that. He had never seen a snuff film himself, but he knew what they were thanks to his line of work. The fact that his daughter had been sent one to scare her was disturbing. Kenji shook his head at Ikuko's questioning look mouthing 'Not here.' He would have to tell her later, but he didn't think explaining what a snuff film was a good idea in such a public setting. "Have you filed a police report?"
"We haven't had a chance. We came here straight from the apartment." Setsuna answered. This couldn't stand but they were unsure of how to proceed. Did they also file a report based on the videos Usagi had received before the snuff film?
"No need to file a report. I'll be handling that. You'll save me time and paperwork to let me handle it." A new voice announced that Mamiko had arrived.
"Mamiko." Michiru greeted.
"You don't want them to file a police report?" Kenji asked her raising an eyebrow.
"No, due to the girl's status within the government Mr. Tanaka wants it to be handled internally. All filing a police report would do now is complicate matters." Mamiko explained. "Whoever threatened your daughter will see justice, Mr. Tsukino. We have higher clearance than the police and this will not stand. Your daughter holds the fate of us all in her hands and this will be taken with utmost seriousness."
Kenji seemed to hesitate for a second more before Ikuko spoke. "Maybe something will actually come of it this time Kenji. Ono Yuki has gotten away with hurting our daughter too often and we've dealt with the police. The police failed our daughter. Let them try."
"Who has the phone?" Mamiko asked as soon as Haruka explained where she had found the snuff film playing until she did a hard crash to the phone in order to turn it off.
Michiru fished out Usagi's phone from where she had stowed it earlier and handed it over as Haruka spoke up "It wouldn't stop. A hard restart got it to start playing the moment power was restored to the phone. I am not as well versed with this as I am with bikes, but I don't think that was by accident. Please don't turn it on here."
"That bad?" Mamiko asked turning her attention to the blonde for a moment. She seemed to be weighing the risks of turning it on and forcing the phone to turn off to stop it, just to see what it was.
"It's rather gruesome." Haruka affirmed rather seriously. Once she had seen it, Usagi's reaction had made a lot of sense. Not that it made the situation any better.
"I'll take it under advisement." Mamiko said.
"Mamiko I need to talk to you about something in private." Michiru said emphasizing the private part before Mamiko could ask here. There were a few things that with the chaos of the last couple of weeks they still hadn't told the government. Considering how this information might change things and how this particular case was handled it needed to be talked about. Turning to the others she said. "Come get us if there are any new updates."
"Tsukino's the Moon Princess." Mamiko said after they had found a quiet private spot to talk, not sounding at all surprised when she repeated the words her sister had just spoken to her mere seconds beforehand. "That feels very obvious when you stop to think about it." Mamiko mused out loud as if she wasn't quite sure how she had missed that. Sailor Moon was the Moon Princess. That felt like the worlds biggest duh. She let out a sigh. "Why are you telling me this now? You know anything like this I have to report to my higher-ups. I can't exactly keep that part of her identity secret."
"That's actually why I'm telling you." Michiru said after a moment. "Think about what kind of reaction your higher-ups will have knowing that she may or may not be Amaterasu reborn."
"Amaterasu is the goddess of the sun Michiru. Are you trying to say they are the same?" Mamiko seemed unsure of what to think of this suggestion. After a beat of silence, she thought that maybe it wasn't so wild as it would have been last year. "How did people on Earth even view the Moon Kingdom?" She wondered aloud without realizing.
Michiru answered regardless. "I did not have exposure to Earth in that life Mamiko. Usagi did." Michiru and Haruka had pretty much zero exposure to Earth in their past lives as far as she could remember. At the silence continuing Michiru decided to continue. "The senshi carry the life of our planets within us. Our senshi power comes from being the star seeds of our planets. Usagi, being the moon princess and Sailor Moon is, in essence, the moon herself and the light of this galaxy. You may call that the moon or you may call that the sun, however, the sun does not have a star from inside of it and it didn't. The moon did and Usagi is that senshi, the princess and essence of the moon in the form of a girl."
Mamiko rubbed her forehead, she could feel a headache coming on. Michiru was right it wasn't that much of a stretch to go from one to the other. Wait- did this mean her little sister Michiru and her partner Haruka were the hearts of entire planets in the form of girls as well?! This would have seemed absurd months ago, but then again so did the sheer idea of her younger sister running around in a sailor uniform. Aliens and girls with colorful transformations and magical powers! Now goddesses! Just when she didn't think it could get any more strange than it was, the crazy to this situation decided to turn things up a notch as if the universe just decided it wasn't allowed to stay where Mamiko knew what to expect, or at least thought she knew. She didn't know anymore. "What do you want to do with this?"
"Justice." Was Michiru's simple answer. "Every threat she has had against her has been swept under the rug with the exception of the Dark Kingdom." Michiru said. "This isn't the first time she's almost died Mamiko." Though this was the closest she had actually come to dying considering she had no pulse for a couple of minutes. She wasn't sure if the haunting image of Usagi going limp in her arms would ever leave her.
"Knowing her as the reincarnation of Amaterasu would change how anything involving her was handled. There would be no going back Michiru. Do you understand?" Mamiko agreed, she really did, but she needed Michiru to understand the implications and all this could bring with it. Anything involving the senshi would be handled with care even before this, but a reincarnation of a goddess would change things further. Then she paused, with everything she had to process she hadn't caught something before and now something made the frown reappear. "Just how many times has her life been in danger?"
"Three times as a civilian. The count gets higher if you include senshi incidents but considering that's our job..." Michiru trailed off there.
"That becomes a whole other ball game." Mamiko concluded. Ignoring those threats was best for the current moment. Not that they could do anything about that anyway. Backtracking for a moment. "All of the other incidents were swept under the rug?"
"All of them." Michiru confirmed.
"This one I can definitely press forward to make sure it is handled properly. I can't guarantee what will happen with the others but if they believe this, and they may, they may take those more seriously as well. No promises." Mamiko said after a moment. Not that she wasn't going to try, if nothing else she owed Tsukino for technically getting the two of them back on speaking terms. As hard as she had it sometimes dealing with parents and her husband's expectations and her sisters. She did still care for them. "Would either of them have some other public records that I could use?"
"They should. One of them resulted in Usagi having such a severe head injury she was in the hospital for almost a week. The other happened in a garage of a grocery store." Michiru confirmed.
"It's a place to start at least." Mamiko said. That was a bit more hopeful then she had originally been. Actually, the most recent case might end up being the most difficult. They were talking about people who likely knew how to cover their tracks. "Same hospital?"
"Don't know. She really hasn't talked a lot about the other incident." Michiru confessed after a moment. Admittedly from what she understood there wasn't much of a story to be told. "She was living in Juuban with her parents. I would look at the hospitals there first. It was an incident at a school in that area."
"So, unless they felt a specialist was needed, they would have taken her to one of the hospitals around there." Mamiko said seeing where Michiru was going. Maybe she could pull some of her own connections to try and find the appropriate files. "Is that all for now?"
"Only wondering if you have any updates with the case against the boys." Michiru said after a moment of thought. She had met with Mamiko the night before to try and figure out how to proceed with what was going on with Usagi. Particularly the threat to her safety that was being made about leaking her new school to the boys and what had been implied in the past.
"We're looking into it. Running into some blocking by their families though." Mamiko admitted after a moment. The blocking were things that had existed since the whole incident had gone down back when. The least she could do is make sure this didn't get 'lost'. "Them knowing what she possibly is should help move things forward. That being said you know it's too early to really have made much progress on that." It would take a while to get any of this cleared with all the bureaucratic red tape.
"I know." Michiru said after a moment shaking her head. She should have known 24 hours was too soon.
Mamiko waved off the concern. "It's to be expected with what has happened in the last three days. How are you actually dealing?"
Michiru was surprised for a moment by the question. "I was holding her." She answered dodging the question about how she was coping, a question she herself didn't know how to answer. Remembering the sheer terror that had started to form when she realized Usagi had stopped breathing and then Setsuna telling Haruka what had precisely happened. For a few terrifying minutes there she thought they were going to lose her again.
"Anything I can do to maybe help?" Mamiko asked. She felt she owed Tsukino for bringing her sister Michiru back to her, for bringing them back together and getting them talking again.
"Actually, yes possibly. I have a favor to ask while Usagi's still in the hospital." Michiru said.
"What took you so long?" Haruka asked as Michiru took a seat next to her.
"There were a few things I had to tell her." Michiru said. "Any updates?"
"They came out and got her parents." Haruka asked after a moment. She hoped that if something life-threatening had happened again, they would already know by this point. They just had to wait until they were told they could go back there. But in the meantime, it felt like an eternity. "What were you asking Mamiko?"
"Among other things I wanted to see if one of us could get permission to stay with Usagi after visiting hours are over." Michiru answered after a moment. "To protect her in case any kind of threat that might show up." Natural or supernatural.
"You think they'll target her in the hospital?" Haruka asked concern leaking into her voice, she hadn't really thought about the possibility up until then. In some ways, she would have thought that the hospital would be one of the safer places for Usagi to be at the moment. Now that the thought had been installed in her head it was going to bother her. The reality of what the snuff film had done was starting to really sink in. Usagi was in danger and not just from the Dark Kingdom.
"I fear that the storm brewing is more than we can see Haruka." Michiru said simply raising an eyebrow at Haruka. Sure, the entire reason Usagi had nearly died was because of the shock from the video. But the threats raised in the video still stood. As long as whoever it was had threatened Usagi was out there Usagi was in danger. Then factor in the fact the Dark Kingdom was running around and the danger level was further amplified.
Haruka agreed with a defeated sigh. "I just wish there was some place where we could feel she was actually safe." Every place seemed like it was a threat to Usagi now. Their apartment included after the events of the last two days.
Usagi was finally coming to again back in her hospital room. What felt like an eternity for everyone else involved maybe only lasting an hour or two actually. The first thing she saw was her Mom. "Mom?" She blinked a couple of times confused. The last thing she remembered was seeing that god awful video and then stumbling her way into the kitchen. And nothing else after that. Something must have happened if she was here of all places, she knew the sterile smell of a hospital a little too well for her liking not to recognize the situation. "What happened?"
"You're in a hospital, Ms. Tsukino. You went into shock. Your friends called an ambulance after you went into cardiac arrest." An unfamiliar female voice cut in. "How are you feeling?" Now that she could actually see the doctor, she saw she was a petite blue-haired woman with the name tag reading Dr. Mizuno on it.
"Tired. I hate hospitals." Usagi muttered to herself. She understood why they had taken her here. It didn't make her any happier about being here. She had seen so much of an inside of a hospital after the Tohoku Quake. Probably more than most people ever did in their entire lives.
"I know you do sweetheart. It's just for a couple of nights." Her Mom said giving her hand a reassuring squeeze.
"Feeling exhaustion after a cardiac event is perfectly normal. It should pass in a few days. The stay is more to make sure there isn't a repeat episode or lasting damage." Dr. Mizuno added kindly.
Usagi frowned backtracking for a moment as she finally caught what the doctor had said. "Wait, my heart stopped?"
"For only a brief moment, however, this is why we need to make sure there is no lasting damage. We need to run a few tests." Dr. Mizuno explained. Usagi froze at that, more tests. She hated tests, she had seen more needles then she would care to recount. The doctor frowned noticing the expression on her face. "Is there a problem Ms. Tsukino?"
"I just had a lot of needless tests run in the past." Usagi admitted after a moment shifting uncomfortably, really not wanting to talk about the previous stays or what they had entailed. The doctors had said they were necessary but sometimes she had wondered. "What kind of test are we talking here?"
"Just an echo-cardiogram. Keeping you is more to make sure there isn't some complication. Unless something dramatic comes up on the ECG you'll be released Sunday morning." Dr. Mizuno said after a moment. "Anything would have to be rather drastic for your stay to be extended." Honestly, she didn't expect anything to come up. The girl was young and other than this episode appeared healthy. There was no reason to suggest a need to keep her for longer than normal.
"It will be fine Usagi." Her Mom said giving her hand a squeeze.
Usagi was cleared to finally see her friends shortly thereafter. Problems arose quickly as they would only allow two visitors in the room at the same time. All of her senshi and friends wanted to make sure she was okay. Eventually, Hotaru was allowed to go first since it was starting to get late. Loathe she admit it Hotaru was going to have to go home sooner than the rest of them. Naru had won out being able to go with her.
Hotaru wrapped Usagi in a hug at first chance before saying anything. Finding some strange relief in the heart monitoring machine Usagi was hooked up to. The beeping noise would have been annoying and grating normally. After this afternoon it was an additional assurance that Usagi was, for the most part, okay. "Are you all right Hotaru?" Usagi asked after she didn't move for a moment.
"Don't scare us like that ever again." Hotaru managed pulling back slightly after a moment with a touch of reluctance. Rather than answering Usagi's question.
"I'm sorry Hotaru. I'll be alright." Usagi reassured her running her free hand through Hotaru's hair. Honestly, the whole event scared her. She had actually died there for a couple of minutes.
"Hotaru could you give us a minute?" Naru asked after some silence had elapsed between the two. She wanted to talk to Usagi for a moment but by themselves.
"I should probably get going anyway." Hotaru said with some reluctance. By the time the others had finished seeing Usagi, it would be time for visiting hours to be over. "I'll see you tomorrow Usagi."
"See you tomorrow." Usagi said giving the girl a wave as she left. "I'm surprised you wanted her to leave." Usagi said after the door had clicked shut knowing Naru wanted to probably talk about the ever-evolving Yuki situation. Having a feeling she knew what Naru was about to bring up. She trusted Hotaru to keep the others busy for a few moments at least.
"I still don't know how much you've told her." Naru pointed out plopping down in the chair after Hotaru had left. "Or how much she knows about the situation that led to this." She knew Hotaru knew some of it just because she had been present when the others had first informed Naru of the snuff film. So, it was impossible for Hotaru not to know. She just wasn't sure how much she knew and didn't feel it was her place to accidentally or otherwise out Usagi's secrets to tell before Usagi was ready to share them with whomever she so decided to share them with whenever she decided to do so.
"I've told her some bits and pieces. She knows some of the worst. Haruka and Michiru are still the ones who know the most about it after you." Usagi said after going over her own memories for a moment. They had only really ever talked about Yuki a couple of times when Hotaru had been over. She had recently invited Makoto over for when they were kitten-sitting. Figuring the brunette would appreciate some company when she didn't have work. So, they didn't always get to talk about certain stuff.
They sat in silence for a little bit before Usagi seemed to decide to ask something.
Usagi felt she had had so little control over anything and everything that had happened in her life to this point. "When I'm ready you'll be there to help right?"
"Usagi, you couldn't get rid of me if you tried." Naru assured her. With everything that had happened this week it had reached the point where it felt like the girl was out of control. Well more out of control. She wasn't sure if there was ever a point Yuki had ever really been in control at Juuban. After a moment of silence Naru decided to bring up the elephant in the room. "Someone needs to take care of Yuki."
"We don't even know if it was her this time." Usagi pointed out. At this point, they had no clue who it came from. It could be someone else entirely for all the information they had at this point. Sure, they knew where the first two videos had come from. But this past video…there was no way to say for certain it had come from her. And they couldn't exactly go around throwing accusations like that without proof.
Naru's eyebrow shot up in that as she started skeptically saying. "Really? Do you have any other people that might be interested in sending you death threats?" Usagi opened her mouth to answer that question. "Besides the Dark Kingdom. They don't count." If they factored the Dark Kingdom in that list got a lot larger.
"No." Usagi finally admitted. "She's the only one I can think of. Problem is like so many other times…"
"We have no proof." Naru realized what she was saying. She remembered what the others had told her. The video had bricked Usagi's phone. Getting proof of who it came from would be difficult. "Usagi. I'm afraid this could take you. Forget the Dark Kingdom. Yuki could kill you and I'm scared." Naru said after a moment. After now three death threats against her best friend that seemed to be getting worse with each incident. She was worried what might happen if it continued. That she might lose Usagi if this kept up.
"I know you are worried Naru. Setsuna's already on it. She has been collecting stuff on the school and Yuki." Usagi admitted after a moment. As of the moment the only people that knew about the case file were her and the senshi. But with the way Naru was it was best that she be told that it existed and could be an option. "It will be alright." Usagi comforted her friend as she held her in gently to herself sitting up in the hospital bed.
"You going to be all right in here?" Naru asked after a moment of quiet wiping her eyes.
"I'll have to be. Can't really sign myself out of here." Usagi said giving a tight smile. Well, she could but that would probably not make the others happy. "It's just for two days I can live with it." If it got to be more, she might go ahead and sign herself out regardless of what the others might say.
"Do you really think she's in such danger here?" Kenji asked glancing between the two after they had finished informing them of the plan. That one of them would be staying the night with Usagi to make sure no new dangers presented themselves during the stay. The idea that she might be in some form of danger during her stay didn't sit well with him.
"We hope not Mr. Tsukino." Haruka answered the question. It was going to be a while before any of them relaxed and felt Usagi was really safe without one of them around.
"We'll all sleep better knowing she's protected." Michiru added. Yes, this should be done. If they had to henshin to deal with a Dark Kingdom threat, things could get complicated fast, but they would do it in an instant to protect Usagi.
"I'm not in protest of it. It's just the idea that she might be in danger even here..." Kenji finally explained after a moment. Glancing back at the door to Usagi's room. This should be one of the few places he felt his daughter was safe... and yet somehow it wasn't.
"Even the apartment doesn't feel safe." Haruka said lashing out at a nearby wall in frustration. If nothing else that should be the one place Usagi should be safe. After the past two days, what felt safe had been turned on its head.
"Haruka." Michiru said taking on a scolding tone at the wall punch. She was just as frustrated at the recent turn of events, but they really couldn't be taking it out on inanimate objects while in public. At this rate perhaps they should obtain a punching bag...?
"I wonder what brought this on in the first place." Kenji pondered to himself for a moment. Sending something like this to anyone seemed almost out of nowhere.
"Usagi was emailed twice before in the last two days with other videos of a certain incident with the boys." Michiru said making sure to keep the comment vague. For Usagi's sake, she didn't want what happened to get out to the public. "We had traced the origin of the video and were in the middle of trying to figure out how to get the original sender to back off." A pained look crossed her face. "Usagi did not want to involve more people and we were respecting her wishes. If we had known..."
"You two wouldn't have had any way to know that the next step would have been this." Kenji said shaking his head. No one could have possibly known. What sick person had someone picked up and killed just so they could threaten his innocent moon bunny with video of her death?! Though this brought up a new realization. Ikuko beat him to it, apparently having realized the same. "So, you know what happened then?"
"You knew she didn't tell us about what actually happened that day?" Michiru said raising an eyebrow in surprise.
Misses Tsukino shook her head. "No but a mother knows when something is wrong. My baby has never been the same and it was different than the quake. She went rigid when her own father hugged her, and she has always been her daddy's little girl. Usagi used to tell him things she wouldn't tell me. They were very close. There was no reason for the change and it wasn't just her father. It was everyone, just I could think of no other experience that would make a fear so deep it made it so even her own father could not hold her without her looking like that." She put a hand to her face to hide her mouth as if it could cover the fact she was desperately trying not to cry for her daughter and her failure not to do so. Her husbands' arms came around him and she hid her face in her husband's chest. Why did this have to happen to Usagi?!
Remembering the horrifying first couple of weeks after they had gotten the phone call from the school informing them of what had happened Kenji picked up for his now silent wife. "Usagi smiles bigger than her heart feels to try and make us happy. I used to carry Usagi on my shoulders. When did she start thinking she needed to carry the world alone?"
"We've learned not to take it personally." Haruka responded with a grim smile. They had come to terms with the fact that Usagi probably would always have some secrets, which, for one reason or another she wouldn't divulge unless absolutely necessary.
"I'm sorry you're having to sacrifice sleep to make sure I'm okay." Usagi apologized to Michiru. It was a few hours later and everyone else had left leaving just the two of them for the moment. Michiru had taken up her vigil for the night. Haruka would take over in the morning after the start of visiting hours. Setsuna would take evening between Haruka and Michiru. Hopefully, Usagi would be released early Sunday morning. She felt terrible like she was being a burden.
"I would rather not take the chance of not being here." Michiru said after a moment. That was the truth. Knowing Usagi was okay and knowing were two different things. Even briefly thinking about the earlier day's events brought back some of the terror she had felt when Usagi had gone limp in her arms, a phantom of the feeling she had experienced earlier that afternoon but a strong phantom none the less. Her intuition was going off and she was such an emotional mess she didn't know what it was telling her. Michiru's fear was clouding everything for her and it wasn't pleasant.
"That bad?" Usagi asked, her voice sounding as small as she felt. She felt terrible for worrying them. She had been technically dead for a couple of minutes and Usagi knew she wouldn't have taken it very well if the situation had been reversed. She didn't even want to imagine it. The very thought itself made her feel ill.
Michiru closed her eyes for a moment before answering. "One moment I was holding you and breathing with you and the next Setsuna is telling me you need CPR. It's the closest I've ever seen Setsuna come to panic in either life."
"I'm sorry. I'm alright now and if I could I would be out of this hospital right now." Usagi said hoping that was reassuring but not quite sure if it was.
"How much do you remember?" Michiru asked after a moment.
Usagi thought for a moment before answering. "I remember the video. I remember moving and looking for someone and finding you. I remember thinking about what would happen if it was you, Haruka, Setsuna, Naru, Mom or even Dad or Mr. Tomoe instead of that girl. Wasn't she important to someone too? I felt like I couldn't breathe and I remember my chest hurt and then nothing." Usagi confessed after a moment. She remembered the building panic as she had let her mind go wild for a moment imagining her or the others in that poor girl's place. Usagi refocused herself using all she had learned since the quake to try to not slip down that train of thought again. She couldn't handle the mental picture of her loved ones in the girl's place right now and it made her feel tired inside. Too tired. Why did evil like that exist? How did evil like that exist? In humans? In anyone? She didn't understand how anyone could do something so unspeakable to anyone else. Yet that is what had happened.
"You should sleep." Michiru said after a moment. She wouldn't sleep while she was on guard duty but that didn't mean Usagi should stay up. She needed her rest after the day's events.
"I don't know if I can." Usagi said shaking her head after a moment. Hospitals and doctors' offices were a difficult place for her and the girls screams etched into her skull certainly didn't help matters either. Setsuna's office was maybe the only one she felt remotely comfortable in and that was partly due to her own relationship with Setsuna outside of their appointments. Her comfort level at dealing with the program's office was slowly growing but it was hard to say if she felt she would ever be completely comfortable.
Memories of pokes and prods and the questions that never seemed to end no matter how she answered them after the quake came to the forefront in this place. Finally, being released for home care had been a welcome relief and at the time one of the few bright spots in that first year after the quake. No more questions, no more stares, no more being treated like some strange anomaly for surviving where no one else had. "Felt like the six longest months of my life." Usagi confessed quietly. Well, technically five. She had been out in a coma for the first month of it so while she had some almost weird almost disconnected memories from the first couple of weeks after the quake it wasn't as clear. She heard things through and she could recall some of it. A shiver ran up her spine. She felt like a science experiment more than a patient back then, like she wasn't even human to them anymore.
"Six months seems like a long time." Michiru noted. Especially long if Usagi had only been in a coma for a month. Something wasn't quite adding up. That didn't sound normal for what happened.
"They seemed to want to know how I survived." Usagi admitted after a moment. Adding quietly almost to the point Michiru missed it. "Never understood what was so special about me that they had to keep me there for testing." Seeing a concerned look on Michiru's face for a moment. "It wasn't anything more than the usual poking or prodding. Don't worry."
Michiru frowned at that. That was starting to sound less like standard recovery and like something else had been going on. Knowing Usagi if she asked, she would deny it one way or the other. The only way to maybe find out would be to go around her, possibly to Setsuna who may have the access needed to find out one way or the other.
"Your back late." Luna noted when Haruka finally went home as the visiting hours ended. "Where are the others?"
"Usagi's been hospitalized." Haruka said seeing the panic on the cat's face at that she quickly added. "She's going to be okay. Michiru's staying overnight with her to make sure no one threatens her."
"What happened?" Luna finally managed. She was almost afraid to know what could have happened. At the same time, she needed to know what had happened to land Usagi there.
"Are you familiar with snuff films?" Haruka asked after a moment. At Luna's negative she elaborated. "Someone made a video where the victim of one looked like her. They even managed to doll the poor girl's hair up in the same style of hair as Usagi's and the Juuban Middle School uniform as well. The girl was killed, and they sent the video to Usagi. They are quite clear they wanted 'a girl from Juuban' and we assume they meant Usagi. Someone sent this video to Usagi with two words. 'You're next.' Usagi didn't handle it well but then I don't know if I would either. She went into shock and her heart stopped."
"Oh Gods." Luna said quietly after a moment. She couldn't decide what part of that she found more horrifying. The fact that the films existed, to begin with, the idea that someone had wanted to use Usagi as a centerpiece, or that Usagi had been sent one. Each was horrifying in their own way. "Usagi-?"
"They're keeping her at the hospital to make sure her heart isn't damaged." Haruka explained, mind going back to the moment Setsuna had told her she had called an ambulance and why. She faintly registered Luna's sharp intake. More preoccupied with her own thoughts for the moment. Haruka thanked every deity out there that Usagi had enough presence of mind to seek them out after she saw the video. God, what would have happened if Usagi hadn't come to them? Would she have been lying dead in her bedroom for hours and they wouldn't have known? She shook her head trying to mentally clear it of the image of a lifeless Usagi. Reminding herself that Usagi was alive if a bit shaken by the incident back at the hospital.
"Do we know whose behind it?" Luna asked finally regaining her voice again. Someone was going to pay for this even if Luna had to do it herself. She was still waiting to hear back from the others on continuing going after Yuki. With this event, she had a feeling some still deciding would take this with fervor. After all, this had gone to the murder of one innocent girl to threaten another and many of them had human families they cared for. Luna thought that perhaps Hercules and Megara especially would care about this happening to Usagi. Especially if Yuki was behind it. Let it never be said there wasn't something to be said for a cat who felt there warnings or displeasure were being ignored.
"No. Considering the last few days I would be more surprised if Yuki isn't behind it though." Haruka confessed. Especially since Yuki had not been above making threats of bodily harm against Usagi in the past. Her mind slipping back to the horrifying moment when Usagi had been pushed over the garage ledge. Fists balling slightly at the reminder. They had come close to losing Usagi twice now.
The entire area around Sankakusu was awoken a few hours later by the sound of loud banging noise followed quickly by a loud crash in the middle of the night. Michiru frowned getting up and going to the window peeking out behind the curtain to see if there was anything visible that could be responsible for the commotion but from the hospital window, there was nothing easily visible. Michiru frowned down at her phone as it gave off a buzz. A text from Haruka if either of them knew what had caused that. "Michiru?" Usagi's voice drew her away from the text conversation and to the fact that the crash had woken up Usagi. And just after it felt like she had gotten her to sleep. "Sorry if I woke you up." Michiru said going back away from the window to Usagi.
The only way she had found to get Usagi to sleep, even here, had been laying on the edge of the bed to let Usagi lay against her and holding her like that and so naturally her startling had woken Usagi as well. Michiru had gotten into more than one glaring war with a nurse but, as long as she stayed out of their way, they couldn't do much about it.
"The crash woke me up first," Usagi said sleepily rubbing some of her sleep out of her eyes. "What was that?"
"Don't know. Whatever it is we can't see it from here." Michiru said frowning slightly settling back in with Usagi. Whatever it had been was rather large if they went about the amount of noise it admitted. "Haruka and Luna are going out to see if they can find out what happened." Michiru noted after reading the most recent text she had received.
"I hope it's not a Dark Kingdom plot." Usagi said more to herself than to Michiru. 'Or anything supernatural for that matter.' Added silently in Usagi's thoughts. If it was then going by just how loud the volume whatever it was would be pretty dangerous.
"You need to rest. You can worry about these things after." Michiru said trying to get off the topic for now. It could be a Dark Kingdom plot, but it was just as likely it was some random meteorite crashing to Earth. Until they picked up something unusual it might be best to treat it like it was an actual natural event. If it wasn't, going by the size of that crash, then whatever was being implemented could be extremely dangerous.
The next morning dawned quietly. Haruka arrived earlier than she was supposed to switch out with Michiru by about an hour. She raised an eyebrow in surprise when she saw Michiru had moved from one of the room's chairs and was currently sharing the bed with Usagi who was in what was starting to become a familiar position of her head against Michiru's chest.
"Only way I could get her to sleep." Michiru explained.
"She must really hate hospitals." Haruka noted with a frown. She would have thought the previous day's events would have been more than enough to put Usagi to sleep.
"She spent six months in one after Tohoku." Michiru pointed out. Then there were the comments that Usagi had made about her being treated like some anomaly. Usagi had claimed that nothing other than normal testing had been done but knowing Usagi and her need to even mention that without anything suggested, she doubted that. She needed to talk to Setsuna about this. If anyone would be able to find out what had happened, if anything had happened, it would be Setsuna.
"What are you thinking?" Haruka asked raising an eyebrow. Michiru had gotten awfully quiet for a moment there.
"Just about something Usagi mentioned last night. It may be nothing." Michiru said shaking her head. Deciding not to bring it up with the others for now. If Usagi brought it up, then so be it. But right now, it was best to limit to just Setsuna until they knew if there was something here. Haruka looked at her suspiciously. "Michiru. In all my time of knowing you, I have never known you to worry about nothing." Michiru didn't answer Haruka's question and instead opted for changing the subject. "Did you find out anything to do with that crash last night?"
Haruka shook her head. "Just found a good size meteor crater indent on the pavement a few blocks from here. Reports say no one was hurt. It's possible it was a meteorite someone picked up before I got there." Dark Kingdom plots always revealed themselves for what they were sooner or later so if it was anything to do with one, she doubted it would remain hidden for long.
"I'll check it out later and see if I pick up anything." Michiru decided. She was more sensitive to the type of dark energy that the Dark Kingdom gave off than the others. If there was something to be found she was most likely going to be the one to find it. "I'm going to go home and get some sleep." Michiru said finally moving to disentangle herself from Usagi. "I'll be back in a few hours. Keep an eye on her when they take her for testing." If there was something more then Usagi may accidentally give a tell when she was taken for testing. She would stay herself to see but as tired as she was now, she would probably miss it. She desperately needed to sleep, and she wasn't at all sure if she could or if there would even be time to try.
It made a twisted sort of sense that if she was going to dream about anything from her past life right now it would be about an attempt made on Serenity's life during her stay on Neptune.
It had been a bit surprising at first. Michiru hadn't even been aware that there had been such an event during Serenity's stay on the Moon. She had no memory even referencing any attempt on Serenity's life outside of the possible start of the rebellion. Even then that wasn't completely clear since those events were still shrouded in mystery. Why did any of this happen when all her memories were of a happy kingdom whose people were well cared for? There had to be something she was missing.
It shouldn't have been that much of a shock in hindsight. While the Outer Rim was safer for Serenity it wasn't perfect and unfortunately no matter how much she and the others tried to minimize the threats, they did exist, even here. Serenity's benevolence mattered little when she was the princess and daughter of the queen they were rebelling against.
"Really, this isn't the first time something like this has happened." Serenity grumbled to herself trying to wave off one of the doctor's that was attending her. Michiru could feel her past self's surprise at the comment. Apparently, it was the first time this had happened on Neptune since Serenity's arrival even if it wasn't the first experience Serenity had with an attempt on her life. "It's not like I have more than some scrapes and bruises this time."
"You had threats to your life back on the Moon?" Rhode's own shock being reflected in Theia's horrified question. They had always thought that the Moon was a safe place for the royal family, up until the beginning of the rebellion at least. It seemed they kept being shown things on the Moon weren't quite as they thought they were. Serenity's own relationship with her mother was a prime example of that.
"Only a few times. Mother and her advisers might like to pretend like they never happen, but they do happen." Serenity said with a slight shrug. "The Inners are good at their jobs. They protected me well growing up, but they aren't perfect. Something did slip by on occasion. It was just rare that it did. This wasn't even the worse attempt."
"Reni-" Rhode began before deciding to cut herself off. Even if she did want to know what had happened before she still may not get the full details. Her best bet was trying to see if she could find a short moment with Venus to find out what Serenity was referring to if that was even possible with the current state of affairs. Rhode was hoping the worst attempt was in reference to the events that had started out the rebellion. Sighing after a moment. "At least we know to be more on alert for a possible next time."
"There won't be a next time." Theia nearly growled. Not if she had any say in it.
Serenity just shook her head at that with a resigned look before saying. "There's always a next time."
Probably the biggest surprise visitor of the night came a little while after Usagi would have normally been out of the princess seminar. Misako had decided to swing by before going home after hearing from Michiru that Usagi was in the hospital. She both wanted to see her sister and hoped to find out what happened to her new, hopefully, friend.
"Shouldn't you be headed home?" Michiru asked frowning slightly after pulling back from the hug. She was happy to see her youngest sister, but she didn't want her getting in trouble with their parents, something that could have larger consequences since Misako was the only remaining sibling that still lived with them at this point and time.
"I'll be fine. Mom and Dad are out at a party at one of their friends' houses tonight. I just have to make sure I'm home before they are." Misako said assuring her. That wouldn't be too difficult. Her parents tended to be gone for several hours when they went to these things. Visiting hours would be done before they would be back home. "I just wanted to say hi since we barely get to see each other anymore and now I won't get to see you at the Graduation Ball." She had been looking forward to seeing Michiru then even if it had maybe turned out a bit awkward with the family there.
"I wish things were different." Michiru agreed after a moment. She wished their conversations weren't limited text at times. Misako was still living with their parents and would continue to be unless something drastic came up seeing and getting actual conversations was still going to be a rare opportunity.
"If only our parents weren't so stupid." Misako grumbled under her breath to herself. She didn't understand why her parents were so dead set against letting Michiru be happy with Haruka. Guess that's what happened when you had a family like theirs. 'Snobs' she thought silently, knowing she could never speak such words or risk being unforgivably disrespectful in their eyes herself. Seeing Michiru about to make a comment she added. "Don't worry, I know better than to say something like that to their faces." There was being honest and then there was being stupid. This would have been stupid to say to them directly. "What happened anyway?" Misako asked changing subjects. Michiru had refused to tell her much over the texts, just saying Usagi was in the hospital and would not be finishing out the program.
"Just a small medical scare that's all." Usagi tried to reassure her downplaying the situation knowing that the situation had been far from 'small' yesterday. Not wanting to tell the full truth on what had happened and why it had happened. The fewer people who knew about what had happened and why she was here at the end of the day. The better. Misako might be Michiru's younger sister, but she still barely knew the girl when compared to the others. She didn't think she would do anything hurtful, but she wanted to keep what had happened the previous day as contained possible. "Nothing to be really worried about."
"Find that hard to believe." Misako said frowning slightly. You didn't usually land in the hospital for a couple of days over a little medical scare last she checked.
"Misako." Michiru said tone slightly scolding. The implied 'don't push this' left unsaid but still heard. Her sister was right but that didn't mean the topic should be pushed. Usagi was clearly a bit uncomfortable with her knowing at this point and Michiru couldn't say she wanted her little sister getting any ideas that might get her into trouble with there parents either.
"Sorry." Misako said looking properly apologetic.
Usagi smiled. "It's okay. Please don't worry and have fun at the graduation ball." Misako seemed very nice, like a very kind person, and she genuinely hoped she outshone everyone at the ball and had the time of her life doing it. She shook her head and continued. "They're just keeping me at this point to make sure nothing else comes of it."
When Michiru saw Setsuna coming in to take over for Haruka for the evening she pulled her aside. Wanting to get the concern out there as soon as possible. "Medical testing?" Setsuna said frowning slightly. "Are you sure?" She couldn't think of anything off the top of her head that would support this theory, but it was possible she had missed it. She had paid closer attention to things related to Yuki and the quake when working with Usagi, but it never crossed her mind the hospital would be a place something could have happened. Maybe it was time to dig up the older files. Just to make sure.
"Not entirely but I get the feeling we should look into it Setsuna." Michiru stated looking Setsuna dead in the eyes. This would just be adding to a list of things that Usagi had down played if it did happen. "Plus, there's the timing. Six months seems like a long time to keep someone in a hospital especially if Usagi was well enough to be attending school by at least September." The timing of when Usagi had started Juuban was more of a guess, but Usagi had mentioned the downward spiral of the things with Yuki had started in November, and they knew she had to deal with Yuki for a year. That left a short time window in which Usagi had to have started school.
Setsuna rubbed her forehead feeling the start of a headache. Tonight was going to be even longer then she had anticipated. "I'll look into it." Setsuna finally agreed. She agreed with Michiru it might be nothing, but the fact remained it needed to be checked and made sure there wasn't something more there that Usagi was hiding from them again. Chronos knew Usagi wouldn't tell them if something happened because that's just who she was. "I don't know if I'll find anything. Even if something did happen these people had absolute control over what went into her medical files and could have covered it up. We may never know. Can you handle that Michiru?" Her only answer was Michiru's grim nod.
She really hoped this didn't add to what felt like an ever-growing list of wrongs done to her princess.
Usagi's return home on Sunday was marked by a surprise visit by the kittens. Just Hercules' and Megara's brood this time. It was a bit too impromptu to gather the usual group but had been worth getting as many as they had just to see the way Usagi's face lit up when they had come into the living room.
Usagi tended to avoid using her wheelchair unless necessary but this had been one thing they had refused to budge on while she was still recovering, even at home. So instead of them playing around and on her on the floor like normal, they were a couple of them around her in the chair. One had taken up the usual perch between her odangos while another was curled up between her legs. Another one of the kittens whose color was the closest to Hercules of the lot, just a slightly darker blue, had tried to nestle into Michiru's hair much to the amusement of the other two. He had then proceeded to start grooming Michiru, which naturally sent Usagi into a fit of giggles.
"She's really going to be fine?" Megara asked Luna turning her attention away from Usagi and the kits for a moment. The girl looked fine at least but Luna had told them what had happened after the last get together.
"Yes, although that won't change how much this shook all of us." Luna admitted. Usagi would be made to take it easy the next few days and would be back to normal fairly soon but they had closed ranks around her and even in moments like now, were unconsciously positioned to defend or comfort Usagi. It might be a while before things fully calmed down around the apartment. None of them relaxing quite like they once did. For one there was still the concern that Yuki might leak where Usagi was going to school even after formally dropping out of the Princess Seminar. They had no clue who had made the snuff film but that didn't change the danger it presented. It was going to be a tense next few weeks at the very least. "Thanks for bringing them over on such short notice. The last few days have been tough on all of us. Usagi especially."
"The kits enjoy her company as much as she enjoys theirs." Hercules pointed out.
"How have you been handling it?" Megara asked tilting her head slightly.
"Better now that she's home." Luna admitted watching Usagi for a minute. She had to go on second-hand reports from the other two until tonight. She had wanted to sneak in herself and check on Usagi, but she wasn't sure if she would have made it all the way. She could have shifted to human form but that would have drawn unwanted attention from those who may recognize it in association with the Sailor Senshi. Maybe she should try practicing one of her other forms but then again anything other than a human might still cause problems. "I just hope that Yuki stays away." Not that she had a lot of hope on that. Yuki seemed to pop up no matter what they did. At least when they did go back to finish up the case of questionable classes Yuki wouldn't be there to haunt them.
End Chapter 29
AN: And that's a wrap for this week!
Not much to really say. As always please remember to leave a review or a comment. I always appreciate them!
Chapter 30 goes up on the 21st. See you then!
