R&R- otherwise I'm not going to bother with this anymore...Sailor Karos:Guardian to the Gate of Dreams.Evil has taken over the Gate, and can control people when they fall asleep.It's up to the senshi to stop them, but Karos has been taken!
It was raining. Again. The only thing that happened in this city was rain. And then it would get humid, and rain again. Daydreams were rampant in the classroom as the water dripped down the outside of the glass windows.
Tayna finished her doodle on her notes and stared out the window. Bored, bored, bored. She glanced at her watch. One hour left? You've got to be kidding me. She sighed. And when are they going to drag me to the office for my pink hair? You'd think they'd notice my head standing out amidst all the boring neutral hair colors here. Someone knocked on the classroom door. Finally- my ticket out of here! She rested her head on her arms, trying to hide her relief that would come in the form of a note to the office.
Alas, it was not to be.
A skinny, petite girl with short brown hair entered. The teacher smiled reassuringly at her. "Class," she said, "I'd like to introduce a new student…"
Tayna glanced up. Oh, god- why can't they just leave the poor new kids alone? They always drag them up to the front for public humiliation. She ignored the introduction and resumed her gaze out the window, not noticing the new girl's cold eyes on her.
"Yet another new student thrown to the wolves. How tragic." Tayna announced her arrival to the lunch table. Her friends rolled their eyes.
"I still don't understand why they do that." Tayna's best friend and fellow prankster Kyra muttered. She glanced over to the empty table where the new girl had put her stuff down. "She looks kind of lonely."
Tayna followed her friend's gaze. "Yeah, well, she just moved here. Of course she's lonely."
Kyra turned back around. "Actually, I heard she's staying with some friends. I wonder where they are…you'd think they'd introduce her to some people."
The pink-haired girl shrugged. "They're probably not really her friends- just distant relatives the chick got dumped on. You never know what a new, unknown girl can do to your popularity.
"I agree. Still. She looks depressed- do you think we should invite her over?" The bell rang; Kyra sighed. "Never mind. Maybe we'll see her Monday."
Tayna pumped up her music to full volume, thoroughly relieved to be out of the school and on the road home...well, almost on the road home. She waved to a couple of her friends as they pulled their cars into the line waiting to get out of the parking lot.
Damn hujungous schools. Can't ever get out of the traffic.
Tayna had been half-asleep all day, so it wasn't too surprising to see a person appear in the seat next to her. At least…a sort-of person. More like a fairy sort of…thing.
The girl didn't take her eyes of the road. "I've been expecting you."
The fairy blinked.
"And I'll bet you weren't expecting me to expect you, neh?"
"No, not exactly." The fairy muttered. "But I suppose that's all right. Makes things easier."
It was Tayna's turn to blink. "Wha-? Usually daydreams don't talk. They always go away when I acknowledge them."
"Well they won't from now on." The fairy disappeared.
She shrugged. " I need caffeine." She pulled in to the nearest Starbucks, and five minutes and five bucks later, she was happily on her way home.
Unfortunately, her home wasn't too happy with her. As Tayna walked in the door, tossing her book bag on the fireplace, her mom threw a mug at her.
"Holy crap, mom!" Tayna ducked, wincing as the ceramic hit the wall with a crash. "I made you that mug in the fourth grade! It was cool!"
"As cool as you were today when you blew off your cousin?" Her mom snapped.
Tayna's hand flew to her forehead. "Shoot! I can't believe I forgot that! Is she still here?"
"No! She's still at the school, waiting for her ride home. I believe that was your job that you volunteered for last week?"
"I'm sorry! I didn't realize she was coming today! I thought she was going to show up next Friday. Sheesh." Tayna grabbed her purse and keys and ran out the door, shutting it just as another mug came flying.
Tayna glared at the road. "Shut up." She said as the fairy appeared again.
"Dude, I didn't say anything."
"Dude, I didn't know fairies used slang." The girl raised an eyebrow.
"Oh- the females don't. They think it's tacky."
Tayna pulled up to a stoplight just as it turned red, sighed, and then turned to get a good look at the fairy occupying her vehicle. It had short, dark green hair, pale blue eyes, and was wearing only a suede loincloth. His wings were not visible at the moment. "My god. You're a guy."
"Obviously."
"I didn't know fairies could be guys."
"Well, now you know."
"You realize what this means?"
"Eh?"
"You're a fairy! HA!" Tayna grinned, and stepped on the gas a few seconds after the light changed green.
"I fail to see the humor."
"Just spend a few more days in the real world. You'll get it."
The fairy shrugged. "Whatever. To business- do you know why I'm here?"
"Judging by my daydreams? I'm a superhero."
"You're good."
"I know. Just clarify what kind I am."
"A daydreamer."
"I'm already that." The girl narrowed her eyes. "Hey, you're not just something Kyra or Warner slipped into my drink during lunch, are you? 'Cause if you are, I'm going to kill them."
"I thought you didn't do drugs."
"I don't. That's why I'm going to kill my best friends."
"Don't- I'm not a hallucination." He poked her side. The car swerved, and Tayna reached out with her right hand to grip the fairy by his neck.
"Listen, Oberon, or whatever the hell your name is- you don't mess with the driver. You have wings- all I have is a seatbelt."
"Sorry. Now, if your driving lesson is over…" Tayna rolled her eyes, the fairy continued. "My name is Janus." Tayna snorted.
"What the hell kind of name is that?!"
The fairy began to glow green. "It's a damn good name! It's Latin for 'gatekeeper,' which is actually quite fitting for my line of work."
"Oh, god. I've offended a gatekeeper. So what gate do you keep, Oberon?"
"Janus. I actually don't guard my own, right now. There are only so many gates. However, I've been gate-sitting yours."
"Goody. So what's my gate?"
"The gate of dreams."
"Holy shit."
"I know. Surprising, neh?" Janus said smugly.
"No, not really-" they had just pulled in to the school parking lot. "It's my cousin. The new girl."
"So?"
"This is probably number 20 on my list of personal hypocrisies."
"Next to…"
"Laughing at other people's misfortunes and making fun of punks. Crap! I knew there was something familiar about her!" She parked the car and got out, but leaned through the window. "Hey, Janus, you'd better disappear or something for a while." The fairy crossed his arms over his chest, obviously disappointed that he hadn't been able to shock the girl.
"Um…Sen, I presume?" Tayna jogged towards her cousin. "I am so sorry I didn't recognize you. I feel horrible!"
The skinny girl shrugged. "It's not like we've seen each other recently. When was the last time- when we were four?" She smiled.
"Yeah- I guess you're right. Phew- that takes away at least some of the guilt." The two began to walk back to the car. "Of course, it's still my fault for forgetting I needed to pick up my cousin, no matter how unrecognizable."
Sen opened the car door. "Janus, you're going to have to move to the back seat- I called shotgun hours ago."
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