Hello all! I'm sorry it took so long to get this next part out, but there's this little thing
called college that decided to rear its ugly head this semester. Sorry to keep you
waiting. But it was so much fun to write this chapter! *evil laughter* Just think of all the
late nights I spent writing this, and the weirdness will all make sense. ^_~
Rushing In
by Star Bunny (bunny28@hehe.com)
rated: PG-13 (I think I kinda used a bad word _ )
Chapter 5
* * * * * * * * *
The Crown Video Arcade was buzzing with activity the day after the attack on Usagi.
Things seemed to be proceeding per usual, but you wouldn't have guessed it had you
been in the back booth that day. Squeezed into that tiny booth were five super-heroes,
all bent over a diagram in the center of the table. Operation CTBWHUC (Catch The
Baka Who Hurt Usagi-Chan) was underway.
Mamoru looked down at the sheet in disgust. "I still think we're letting him off *way* too
easily. Shouldn't we torture him longer before we kill him?"
"Mamoru-san," Ami sighed. "We've been over this a dozen times already. I know you're
upset about this and all, but we can't overdo it. People would start to get suspicious,
and we can't have that."
"Besides," Rei smirked, "I think that after you're done with him, he'll have been tortured
enough."
Mamoru's mouth remained in a grim line as he rubbed his hands over his eyes in
frustration. "So now that we know what we're going to do to him, any ideas on how we're
going to *find* him?"
"I think I know why the Mercury computer didn't find the perpetrator the first time," Ami
said, tapping away at the computer. "I was looking for a *rapist*, not an attacker. If he
didn't actually get around to rape--" Mamoru growled, and Makoto cracked her knuckles,
eyes narrowed, "Then I wouldn't be able to find him that way. All I need to do is change
the parameters and rescan Usagi-chan."
"Then let's go!" Minako cried, jumping out of the booth. "We're wasting time, here."
"Right," Rei said, putting her hand in the center of the table. "Ready, minna?"
The rest of the group piled their hands on top of Rei's and they all nodded.
"BREAK!" they said, all at the same time, grabbing the plans and leaving the arcade.
As soon as they were out of the arcade and into the nearby ally, they transformed in a
burst of light.
Mercury pulled down her visor and tapped her communicator. "Synchronize watches."
"Check."
"Mercury, you come with me," Tuxedo Kamen snapped out the orders like he was
completely used to being in charge of operations like this. "The rest of you meet up at
the rendezvous point at 1400."
Venus, Mars, and Jupiter turned and ran off to prepare for the rest of their plan. Mercury
and Tuxedo Kamen headed for the hospital. As they jumped across the rooftops of
Tokyo, Tuxedo Kamen promised himself that he wouldn't stop until he found the man
and made him pay.
"This is it," Mercury stopped suddenly on the top of the hospital. "Do you want to go in
first?" He nodded and dropped into the window of the room.
He stopped right in his tracks at the sight that greeted him inside the room. Reporters
lined every corner of the room, their cameras flashing as soon as he entered the room.
He lifted a hand to protect his eyes from the flashes before taking a glance at the bed.
Usagi was there, eyes wide and sheets pulled up to her chin. One of the braver
reporters approached him and stuck a microphone in his face.
"Tuxedo Kamen-sama, can you tell me why the sailor senshi have taken such an interest
in the case of Tsukino Usagi?"
"...."
And then they all attacked him, firing questions at him like bullets.
"Have you given up on Sailor Moon in favor of Tsukino-san?"
"Why hasn't Sailor Moon shown up here?"
"Do you know who attacked Tsukino-san?"
Mercury had just dropped inside the room and stared at the scene in shock. Tuxedo
Kamen glanced in her direction briefly.
"Diversion," was all he said as he headed for the bed. Mercury immediately knew what
he wanted.
"Shabon Spray!" she cried, filling the room up with a thick fog. She looked through her
visor at the room and, seeing that Tuxedo Kamen had grabbed Usagi, jumped out the
window. They met up on top of the roof, Tuxedo Kamen cradling Usagi in his arms.
"It's only a matter of time before they figure it out," Mercury mumbled idly.
"Am -- Mercury?" Usagi asked, frightened. She cast a glance at Tuxedo Kamen. Why
was he working with Sailor Mercury? How had this happened?
"Don't worry, Usagi-chan," Mercury smiled. "He knows who I am."
"How?" she wondered. Then, realizing what that implied, she looked through his mask
and into his deep blue eyes. "How much do you know?"
"Enough," he replied gruffly. "We'll talk later. Right now the most important thing is to
get you out of here. They're going to realize you're gone pretty soon, and then it'll only
be a matter of time before they realize that you're Sailor Moon."
"But that's impossible... How would they ever make that connection?" Usagi's eyes
widened, her expression frantic. If the media were to find out that she was Sailor
Moon...
"They're not stupid, Usagi-chan," Mercury replied grimly. "They know that the senshi
don't make this much of a fuss over just anyone." She sighed. "But we don't have time
to talk like this. We've got to get you away from here."
Tuxedo Kamen nodded, and he followed Mercury over the buildings to the rendezvous
point.
Usagi looked up sheepishly at Tuxedo Kamen. He must have known who she was when
he came to visit her that day... she wondered briefly how long he had known, and why he
hadn't told her that he knew.
"Tuxedo Kamen," she murmured nervously.
"Hai?" His arms tightened reflexively around her, pulling her closer into his embrace.
"You can call me Usa-ko if you like." She refused to meet his eyes, a bright blush
rushing up to fill her cheeks.
He smiled down at her with a tender look in his eyes. "Arigatou, Usagi-chan. Demo... I
can't now. We have some things to talk about first, ne?"
"Like what?" she asked, surprised.
"Later," he assured as he planted a soft kiss on her forehead.
With a slightly annoyed sigh, she settled herself back into his embrace and spent the
rest of the trip in silence.
When they finally stopped, Usagi looked up from Tuxedo Kamen's arms, wondering
where she was. They were inside an apartment of some sort, a very nice one by the
size and look of it, which Usagi didn't recognize. She saw the rest of the senshi seated
on the rather nice looking couch in the living room.
"Where are we?" she asked curiously as he placed her gently on the love seat before
joining her.
"My apartment," he smiled.
"Really?" she breathed. "You live here? You must be rich!"
They all laughed at that, relieving a bit of the tension in the room. The laughter died
down a bit when Mercury crossed the room, computer in hand and proceeded to scan
Usagi.
"Ami-chan? What are you doing?"
"I'm analyzing your bruises to determine who attacked you."
"Minna... You're not going to go after him, are you?"
"Hai," Mars looked surprised. "Why shouldn't we?"
"Demo..." she started, looking helpless.
"I've got it!" Mercury cried excitedly. She turned the computer toward Usagi.
"Usagi-chan, does he look familiar?"
Usagi's eyes widened, then shut tightly in pain. "That's him," she acknowledged.
"Right. So let's go find him," Tuxedo Kamen said quickly, voice dark and foreboding.
He stood up and paced around the room agitatedly. "Who's coming with me, and who's
staying here with Usagi?"
The senshi looked at each other, eyes narrowed. None of them wanted to miss out on
this little piece of action. Then, in a very immature and child-like fashion, they brought
out their hands to the center of the circle.
"Janken!" Venus cried. Then they all joined in. (AN: Janken is kind of like
rock-paper-scissors. Since I've never played it before, I'm just going to assume that it's
played the same way! ^_^)
"Janken-pon! Aiko-de-sho! Aiko-de-sho! Aiko-de-sho!..."
"Minna," Tuxedo Kamen rolled his eyes. "We don't have time for this."
"Aiko-de-sho! Aiko-de-sho!"
"Ahh! Mako-chan loses! Scissors cut paper!"
"That's not fair! Rei-chan's a psychic!"
"So you think I cheated?!"
"MINNA!" Tuxedo Kamen tried again, "If you don't *mind*... we have a criminal to catch."
The four girls looked up sheepishly and nodded their heads, Mercury, Venus, and Mars
joining him and Jupiter joining Usagi on the love seat.
"Let's go. Do you know where he lives, Mercury?"
"No, we're going to have to look it up in a phone book or something."
"So the Mercury computer can tell you definitively who this guy is, what he looks like,
how old he is, what his BLOOD TYPE is, but it can't tell you where he LIVES?"
"Hey!" Mercury cried defensively. After all, this was her pride and joy. "This computer is
over a thousand years old. You can't expect it to know *everything*."
Despite herself, Usagi found herself laughing as the group leapt off the balcony, arguing
the entire way.
* * * * * * * * *
Luckily, the perpetrator was listed in the phone book and they were able to find his place
fairly easily. Mercury scanned the apartment and announced that he was the only one
inside.
"Perfect," Tuxedo Kamen murmured. He pulled out a rose and began to work the lock
open. He heard a faint click, and the door slid open. The foursome crept into the foyer,
a heavy silence hanging over them. Mars ducked into the living room, then motioned for
everyone else to follow her. They silently moved through all of the rooms until they
came into the bedroom. There, asleep on the bed, was the man they were looking for.
Tuxedo Kamen snarled and leapt at the sleeping form. He grabbed him by the neck and
shoved him up against the wall, effectively waking him. The man's eyes flew open, and
he would have screamed had it not been for Tuxedo Kamen's hand constricting his
throat.
"What do you want?" the man rasped as he struggled against the wall. Tuxedo Kamen's
face turned deadly white and his grip on the man's throat tightened.
"Why YOU *Bunny plugs her ears against the onslaught of... erm... *naughty*
language coming from TK*..... *peaks out hesitantly* PIECE OF *hastily covers
ears again.* ^_^; Sugoi, Tuxie. Didn't know you had such an extensive vocabulary!
WILL KILL YOU!"
"All right, Cape Boy," Mars grimaced as she forcibly pulled him off the man. "That's
enough for now."
"What do you mean, 'that's enough'?" he snapped. "I was just getting started!" He fixed
the man with an icy glare, daring him to make just one false move.
"Oh I get it," the man smirked in a pitiful last attempt at bravery. "You're mad at me for
that stunt I pulled on that little slut yesterday." He smiled sinisterly. "She was a cute little
thing, wasn't she?"
Mercury could swear that she saw steam coming from Tuxedo Kamen's ears as yanked
himself out of Sailor Mars's restraining hold and launched his fist at the man. He hit him
with such force that not only was the man instantly out cold, but he flew back into the wall
and left a dent in the paneling.
Venus rolled her eyes. "See what you did now? He's unconscious, so we can forget
about torturing him!"
"Feel better?" Mercury asked dryly. Tuxedo Kamen was standing over the fallen body
of the attempted rapist, chest heaving and fists still balled.
"Much," he replied darkly.
"Come on. Let's get out of here," Mars sighed. "There's nothing else to do. We've
made our point."
"Not yet," he stated firmly. He drew out a rose and let it fly, hitting the man's shirt and
pinning him to the floor. Attached to the rose was a small note written in clearly legible
script. It simply read, "Next time the rose will not miss."
* * * * * * * * *
The breeze blew in through the open doorway, causing Usagi's bangs to tickle her
forehead. She sighed in frustration and sank further into the couch. Jupiter was pacing
around the room, muttering something about "baka-janken" under her breath.
"You know, I'm just as upset as you are, Jupiter."
"Huh?" She stopped her pacing long enough to cast Usagi a curious glance.
"I wanted to beat up on that baka just as much as you do. Probably more."
Jupiter blinked and nodded her head. "I'm sorry, Usagi-chan. I was being insensitive."
Usagi smiled weakly. "It's okay; I understand how you feel. I just wish that minna would
hurry up and get back here. Otherwise, I'm going to go after them myself!"
"We're back, Odangos-for-Brains, so you can quit your yakking!" Mars climbed
effortlessly onto the balcony, then helped Mercury and Venus over the railing as well.
"About time you showed up," Usagi snapped. "Did you get lost or something?"
Venus laughed easily. "No, but it took us ages to drag Tuxie here away from the body."
"Body?" Usagi stood up from her seat and looked at the senshi with worried eyes. "You
didn't kill him, did you?"
"Unfortunately not," Tuxedo Kamen huffed. "No thanks to your senshi."
Usagi shot him an exasperated look. "You are a barbarian."
He flashed her a roguish smile and winked blatantly. "You married this barbarian,
sweetheart."
She opened her mouth to retort, but snapped it shut as she realized that it probably
wouldn't be wise to have a fight with Tuxedo Kamen in front of the senshi. She glanced
over her shoulder at them. The four girls were seated on the couch, all leaning forward
on the edges of their seats, and all wearing much too curious looks for Usagi's tastes.
She rolled her eyes as Venus reached her hand into the popcorn bowl that they had
somehow managed to get a hold of.
"Minna!" she hissed.
"No way we're missing this, Usagi-chan!" Mars grinned. "Right, girls?"
They all nodded enthusiastically. Usagi groaned as she realized that even Mercury
seemed to be enthralled with the scene.
"Okay," Tuxedo Kamen pointed to the door. "That's enough. Usagi and I need to have
a talk."
"We know," Jupiter winked, reaching for some Junior Mints that Mars was offering her.
AN: Have you ever eaten Junior Mints except at the movie theater? Do they even sell
them in stores? *shrug* She paused with her fingers halfway to her mouth at the look
in Tuxedo Kamen's face and slowly began to move toward the door. "We'll just leave
now," she smiled weakly. The three others also made a hasty retreat, closing the door
quietly behind them.
"You know they're probably trying to listen through the door," Usagi remarked dryly.
"I figured as much."
They stared at each other wordlessly. With the senshi gone, the tension level in the
room instantly increased ten-fold. The air was thick with it; Usagi could hardly draw a
breath. What was she supposed to say? Just a short while ago, he was telling her that
he didn't want to see her... and now she was in his apartment.
"Usagi-chan," he began hesitantly, reaching up to remove his hat and mask.
"Don't!" she cried frantically, squeezing her eyes shut and half turning away from him.
He reached out to turn her back to him and realized that she was trembling. He cupped
her face tenderly and stroked her bangs back from her forehead.
"You can't live in your illusions forever, Usagi-chan."
"I know," she replied, voice shaking. "But not now. I can't handle this now."
"Okay," he nodded in understanding. He dropped his hands from her face and instead
took her hand. "How would you like the grand tour of my apartment?"
The look she gave him melted his heart, as did her softly whispered "hai".
"Well!" he stated enthusiastically, breaking the tension between them, "We are now
standing in my living room. Here we have my book collection, the all-important
entertainment system, and of course the couch and love seat."
"Mmm... love seat. That sounds nice," Usagi all but purred. But he steered her away
with a patient smile.
"Not until we talk," he stated firmly. At her annoyed huff, he brought her into the next
room. "I have a feeling you'll like this room. This is my--"
"Kitchen!" she exclaimed eagerly. "I haven't had anything to eat since I left the
hospital... I'm *SOOOO* hungry!"
"I thought you might be," he grinned. "I just went to the store, so you can have whatever
you want." He opened the freezer and peered in. "Strawberry ice cream, right?"
She stared at him, a strange expression on her face.
"Nani?"
"How did you know that I like strawberry ice cream?"
He stared at her wordlessly, looking absolutely ridiculous standing next to the open
freezer in his tuxedo and cape. But Usagi didn't notice any of this.
"You know me, don't you."
"Know you?"
"Yes," she nodded slowly. "You know me in real life! That means I know who you are!"
"Usagi-chan--"
"I don't believe it... I've known you the whole time!" Suddenly she was filled with an
intense desire to *know* who he was behind the mask.
"Please let me explain."
Usagi's eyes suddenly grew wide. "You're not Motoki-onii-san, are you?"
Tuxedo Kamen's face suddenly grew hard and distant. "What makes you think that?" he
asked tightly.
She shrank back slightly at the venom in his voice. "Mo -- Motoki-onii-san always fixes
me a strawberry sundae when I'm feeling down. I just thought that he would--"
"Motoki-kun has a girlfriend, or didn't you know that?"
"How... how did you know that?" she asked nervously. "You're not Umino-kun, are you?"
Please God, no... fate cannot be that cruel.
"Do I *look* like I'm Umino-kun?" he asked dryly.
"No... but Umino always knows everything about everybody. I figured that he would
know about Motoki-onii-san's girlfriend." She sighed. "Why do you have to be someone
I know? Can't you just be some random stranger that I don't have to create a whole
different relationship with?"
"I'm sorry to disappoint you, Odango Atama," he said sarcastically, too overwrought to
realize what he was saying.
"How *dare* you call me Odango... Atama?" Her breath caught in her throat.
"Mamoru-san?"
* * * * * * * * *
THE END
Well, not really... but it gave you a shock, right? Actually, there's only going to be an
epilogue, and then... it will be FINISHED! Hallelujah! *does a victory dance* But I need
your feedback... come on! You know you want to!
bunny28@hehe.com
called college that decided to rear its ugly head this semester. Sorry to keep you
waiting. But it was so much fun to write this chapter! *evil laughter* Just think of all the
late nights I spent writing this, and the weirdness will all make sense. ^_~
Rushing In
by Star Bunny (bunny28@hehe.com)
rated: PG-13 (I think I kinda used a bad word _ )
Chapter 5
* * * * * * * * *
The Crown Video Arcade was buzzing with activity the day after the attack on Usagi.
Things seemed to be proceeding per usual, but you wouldn't have guessed it had you
been in the back booth that day. Squeezed into that tiny booth were five super-heroes,
all bent over a diagram in the center of the table. Operation CTBWHUC (Catch The
Baka Who Hurt Usagi-Chan) was underway.
Mamoru looked down at the sheet in disgust. "I still think we're letting him off *way* too
easily. Shouldn't we torture him longer before we kill him?"
"Mamoru-san," Ami sighed. "We've been over this a dozen times already. I know you're
upset about this and all, but we can't overdo it. People would start to get suspicious,
and we can't have that."
"Besides," Rei smirked, "I think that after you're done with him, he'll have been tortured
enough."
Mamoru's mouth remained in a grim line as he rubbed his hands over his eyes in
frustration. "So now that we know what we're going to do to him, any ideas on how we're
going to *find* him?"
"I think I know why the Mercury computer didn't find the perpetrator the first time," Ami
said, tapping away at the computer. "I was looking for a *rapist*, not an attacker. If he
didn't actually get around to rape--" Mamoru growled, and Makoto cracked her knuckles,
eyes narrowed, "Then I wouldn't be able to find him that way. All I need to do is change
the parameters and rescan Usagi-chan."
"Then let's go!" Minako cried, jumping out of the booth. "We're wasting time, here."
"Right," Rei said, putting her hand in the center of the table. "Ready, minna?"
The rest of the group piled their hands on top of Rei's and they all nodded.
"BREAK!" they said, all at the same time, grabbing the plans and leaving the arcade.
As soon as they were out of the arcade and into the nearby ally, they transformed in a
burst of light.
Mercury pulled down her visor and tapped her communicator. "Synchronize watches."
"Check."
"Mercury, you come with me," Tuxedo Kamen snapped out the orders like he was
completely used to being in charge of operations like this. "The rest of you meet up at
the rendezvous point at 1400."
Venus, Mars, and Jupiter turned and ran off to prepare for the rest of their plan. Mercury
and Tuxedo Kamen headed for the hospital. As they jumped across the rooftops of
Tokyo, Tuxedo Kamen promised himself that he wouldn't stop until he found the man
and made him pay.
"This is it," Mercury stopped suddenly on the top of the hospital. "Do you want to go in
first?" He nodded and dropped into the window of the room.
He stopped right in his tracks at the sight that greeted him inside the room. Reporters
lined every corner of the room, their cameras flashing as soon as he entered the room.
He lifted a hand to protect his eyes from the flashes before taking a glance at the bed.
Usagi was there, eyes wide and sheets pulled up to her chin. One of the braver
reporters approached him and stuck a microphone in his face.
"Tuxedo Kamen-sama, can you tell me why the sailor senshi have taken such an interest
in the case of Tsukino Usagi?"
"...."
And then they all attacked him, firing questions at him like bullets.
"Have you given up on Sailor Moon in favor of Tsukino-san?"
"Why hasn't Sailor Moon shown up here?"
"Do you know who attacked Tsukino-san?"
Mercury had just dropped inside the room and stared at the scene in shock. Tuxedo
Kamen glanced in her direction briefly.
"Diversion," was all he said as he headed for the bed. Mercury immediately knew what
he wanted.
"Shabon Spray!" she cried, filling the room up with a thick fog. She looked through her
visor at the room and, seeing that Tuxedo Kamen had grabbed Usagi, jumped out the
window. They met up on top of the roof, Tuxedo Kamen cradling Usagi in his arms.
"It's only a matter of time before they figure it out," Mercury mumbled idly.
"Am -- Mercury?" Usagi asked, frightened. She cast a glance at Tuxedo Kamen. Why
was he working with Sailor Mercury? How had this happened?
"Don't worry, Usagi-chan," Mercury smiled. "He knows who I am."
"How?" she wondered. Then, realizing what that implied, she looked through his mask
and into his deep blue eyes. "How much do you know?"
"Enough," he replied gruffly. "We'll talk later. Right now the most important thing is to
get you out of here. They're going to realize you're gone pretty soon, and then it'll only
be a matter of time before they realize that you're Sailor Moon."
"But that's impossible... How would they ever make that connection?" Usagi's eyes
widened, her expression frantic. If the media were to find out that she was Sailor
Moon...
"They're not stupid, Usagi-chan," Mercury replied grimly. "They know that the senshi
don't make this much of a fuss over just anyone." She sighed. "But we don't have time
to talk like this. We've got to get you away from here."
Tuxedo Kamen nodded, and he followed Mercury over the buildings to the rendezvous
point.
Usagi looked up sheepishly at Tuxedo Kamen. He must have known who she was when
he came to visit her that day... she wondered briefly how long he had known, and why he
hadn't told her that he knew.
"Tuxedo Kamen," she murmured nervously.
"Hai?" His arms tightened reflexively around her, pulling her closer into his embrace.
"You can call me Usa-ko if you like." She refused to meet his eyes, a bright blush
rushing up to fill her cheeks.
He smiled down at her with a tender look in his eyes. "Arigatou, Usagi-chan. Demo... I
can't now. We have some things to talk about first, ne?"
"Like what?" she asked, surprised.
"Later," he assured as he planted a soft kiss on her forehead.
With a slightly annoyed sigh, she settled herself back into his embrace and spent the
rest of the trip in silence.
When they finally stopped, Usagi looked up from Tuxedo Kamen's arms, wondering
where she was. They were inside an apartment of some sort, a very nice one by the
size and look of it, which Usagi didn't recognize. She saw the rest of the senshi seated
on the rather nice looking couch in the living room.
"Where are we?" she asked curiously as he placed her gently on the love seat before
joining her.
"My apartment," he smiled.
"Really?" she breathed. "You live here? You must be rich!"
They all laughed at that, relieving a bit of the tension in the room. The laughter died
down a bit when Mercury crossed the room, computer in hand and proceeded to scan
Usagi.
"Ami-chan? What are you doing?"
"I'm analyzing your bruises to determine who attacked you."
"Minna... You're not going to go after him, are you?"
"Hai," Mars looked surprised. "Why shouldn't we?"
"Demo..." she started, looking helpless.
"I've got it!" Mercury cried excitedly. She turned the computer toward Usagi.
"Usagi-chan, does he look familiar?"
Usagi's eyes widened, then shut tightly in pain. "That's him," she acknowledged.
"Right. So let's go find him," Tuxedo Kamen said quickly, voice dark and foreboding.
He stood up and paced around the room agitatedly. "Who's coming with me, and who's
staying here with Usagi?"
The senshi looked at each other, eyes narrowed. None of them wanted to miss out on
this little piece of action. Then, in a very immature and child-like fashion, they brought
out their hands to the center of the circle.
"Janken!" Venus cried. Then they all joined in. (AN: Janken is kind of like
rock-paper-scissors. Since I've never played it before, I'm just going to assume that it's
played the same way! ^_^)
"Janken-pon! Aiko-de-sho! Aiko-de-sho! Aiko-de-sho!..."
"Minna," Tuxedo Kamen rolled his eyes. "We don't have time for this."
"Aiko-de-sho! Aiko-de-sho!"
"Ahh! Mako-chan loses! Scissors cut paper!"
"That's not fair! Rei-chan's a psychic!"
"So you think I cheated?!"
"MINNA!" Tuxedo Kamen tried again, "If you don't *mind*... we have a criminal to catch."
The four girls looked up sheepishly and nodded their heads, Mercury, Venus, and Mars
joining him and Jupiter joining Usagi on the love seat.
"Let's go. Do you know where he lives, Mercury?"
"No, we're going to have to look it up in a phone book or something."
"So the Mercury computer can tell you definitively who this guy is, what he looks like,
how old he is, what his BLOOD TYPE is, but it can't tell you where he LIVES?"
"Hey!" Mercury cried defensively. After all, this was her pride and joy. "This computer is
over a thousand years old. You can't expect it to know *everything*."
Despite herself, Usagi found herself laughing as the group leapt off the balcony, arguing
the entire way.
* * * * * * * * *
Luckily, the perpetrator was listed in the phone book and they were able to find his place
fairly easily. Mercury scanned the apartment and announced that he was the only one
inside.
"Perfect," Tuxedo Kamen murmured. He pulled out a rose and began to work the lock
open. He heard a faint click, and the door slid open. The foursome crept into the foyer,
a heavy silence hanging over them. Mars ducked into the living room, then motioned for
everyone else to follow her. They silently moved through all of the rooms until they
came into the bedroom. There, asleep on the bed, was the man they were looking for.
Tuxedo Kamen snarled and leapt at the sleeping form. He grabbed him by the neck and
shoved him up against the wall, effectively waking him. The man's eyes flew open, and
he would have screamed had it not been for Tuxedo Kamen's hand constricting his
throat.
"What do you want?" the man rasped as he struggled against the wall. Tuxedo Kamen's
face turned deadly white and his grip on the man's throat tightened.
"Why YOU *Bunny plugs her ears against the onslaught of... erm... *naughty*
language coming from TK*..... *peaks out hesitantly* PIECE OF *hastily covers
ears again.* ^_^; Sugoi, Tuxie. Didn't know you had such an extensive vocabulary!
WILL KILL YOU!"
"All right, Cape Boy," Mars grimaced as she forcibly pulled him off the man. "That's
enough for now."
"What do you mean, 'that's enough'?" he snapped. "I was just getting started!" He fixed
the man with an icy glare, daring him to make just one false move.
"Oh I get it," the man smirked in a pitiful last attempt at bravery. "You're mad at me for
that stunt I pulled on that little slut yesterday." He smiled sinisterly. "She was a cute little
thing, wasn't she?"
Mercury could swear that she saw steam coming from Tuxedo Kamen's ears as yanked
himself out of Sailor Mars's restraining hold and launched his fist at the man. He hit him
with such force that not only was the man instantly out cold, but he flew back into the wall
and left a dent in the paneling.
Venus rolled her eyes. "See what you did now? He's unconscious, so we can forget
about torturing him!"
"Feel better?" Mercury asked dryly. Tuxedo Kamen was standing over the fallen body
of the attempted rapist, chest heaving and fists still balled.
"Much," he replied darkly.
"Come on. Let's get out of here," Mars sighed. "There's nothing else to do. We've
made our point."
"Not yet," he stated firmly. He drew out a rose and let it fly, hitting the man's shirt and
pinning him to the floor. Attached to the rose was a small note written in clearly legible
script. It simply read, "Next time the rose will not miss."
* * * * * * * * *
The breeze blew in through the open doorway, causing Usagi's bangs to tickle her
forehead. She sighed in frustration and sank further into the couch. Jupiter was pacing
around the room, muttering something about "baka-janken" under her breath.
"You know, I'm just as upset as you are, Jupiter."
"Huh?" She stopped her pacing long enough to cast Usagi a curious glance.
"I wanted to beat up on that baka just as much as you do. Probably more."
Jupiter blinked and nodded her head. "I'm sorry, Usagi-chan. I was being insensitive."
Usagi smiled weakly. "It's okay; I understand how you feel. I just wish that minna would
hurry up and get back here. Otherwise, I'm going to go after them myself!"
"We're back, Odangos-for-Brains, so you can quit your yakking!" Mars climbed
effortlessly onto the balcony, then helped Mercury and Venus over the railing as well.
"About time you showed up," Usagi snapped. "Did you get lost or something?"
Venus laughed easily. "No, but it took us ages to drag Tuxie here away from the body."
"Body?" Usagi stood up from her seat and looked at the senshi with worried eyes. "You
didn't kill him, did you?"
"Unfortunately not," Tuxedo Kamen huffed. "No thanks to your senshi."
Usagi shot him an exasperated look. "You are a barbarian."
He flashed her a roguish smile and winked blatantly. "You married this barbarian,
sweetheart."
She opened her mouth to retort, but snapped it shut as she realized that it probably
wouldn't be wise to have a fight with Tuxedo Kamen in front of the senshi. She glanced
over her shoulder at them. The four girls were seated on the couch, all leaning forward
on the edges of their seats, and all wearing much too curious looks for Usagi's tastes.
She rolled her eyes as Venus reached her hand into the popcorn bowl that they had
somehow managed to get a hold of.
"Minna!" she hissed.
"No way we're missing this, Usagi-chan!" Mars grinned. "Right, girls?"
They all nodded enthusiastically. Usagi groaned as she realized that even Mercury
seemed to be enthralled with the scene.
"Okay," Tuxedo Kamen pointed to the door. "That's enough. Usagi and I need to have
a talk."
"We know," Jupiter winked, reaching for some Junior Mints that Mars was offering her.
AN: Have you ever eaten Junior Mints except at the movie theater? Do they even sell
them in stores? *shrug* She paused with her fingers halfway to her mouth at the look
in Tuxedo Kamen's face and slowly began to move toward the door. "We'll just leave
now," she smiled weakly. The three others also made a hasty retreat, closing the door
quietly behind them.
"You know they're probably trying to listen through the door," Usagi remarked dryly.
"I figured as much."
They stared at each other wordlessly. With the senshi gone, the tension level in the
room instantly increased ten-fold. The air was thick with it; Usagi could hardly draw a
breath. What was she supposed to say? Just a short while ago, he was telling her that
he didn't want to see her... and now she was in his apartment.
"Usagi-chan," he began hesitantly, reaching up to remove his hat and mask.
"Don't!" she cried frantically, squeezing her eyes shut and half turning away from him.
He reached out to turn her back to him and realized that she was trembling. He cupped
her face tenderly and stroked her bangs back from her forehead.
"You can't live in your illusions forever, Usagi-chan."
"I know," she replied, voice shaking. "But not now. I can't handle this now."
"Okay," he nodded in understanding. He dropped his hands from her face and instead
took her hand. "How would you like the grand tour of my apartment?"
The look she gave him melted his heart, as did her softly whispered "hai".
"Well!" he stated enthusiastically, breaking the tension between them, "We are now
standing in my living room. Here we have my book collection, the all-important
entertainment system, and of course the couch and love seat."
"Mmm... love seat. That sounds nice," Usagi all but purred. But he steered her away
with a patient smile.
"Not until we talk," he stated firmly. At her annoyed huff, he brought her into the next
room. "I have a feeling you'll like this room. This is my--"
"Kitchen!" she exclaimed eagerly. "I haven't had anything to eat since I left the
hospital... I'm *SOOOO* hungry!"
"I thought you might be," he grinned. "I just went to the store, so you can have whatever
you want." He opened the freezer and peered in. "Strawberry ice cream, right?"
She stared at him, a strange expression on her face.
"Nani?"
"How did you know that I like strawberry ice cream?"
He stared at her wordlessly, looking absolutely ridiculous standing next to the open
freezer in his tuxedo and cape. But Usagi didn't notice any of this.
"You know me, don't you."
"Know you?"
"Yes," she nodded slowly. "You know me in real life! That means I know who you are!"
"Usagi-chan--"
"I don't believe it... I've known you the whole time!" Suddenly she was filled with an
intense desire to *know* who he was behind the mask.
"Please let me explain."
Usagi's eyes suddenly grew wide. "You're not Motoki-onii-san, are you?"
Tuxedo Kamen's face suddenly grew hard and distant. "What makes you think that?" he
asked tightly.
She shrank back slightly at the venom in his voice. "Mo -- Motoki-onii-san always fixes
me a strawberry sundae when I'm feeling down. I just thought that he would--"
"Motoki-kun has a girlfriend, or didn't you know that?"
"How... how did you know that?" she asked nervously. "You're not Umino-kun, are you?"
Please God, no... fate cannot be that cruel.
"Do I *look* like I'm Umino-kun?" he asked dryly.
"No... but Umino always knows everything about everybody. I figured that he would
know about Motoki-onii-san's girlfriend." She sighed. "Why do you have to be someone
I know? Can't you just be some random stranger that I don't have to create a whole
different relationship with?"
"I'm sorry to disappoint you, Odango Atama," he said sarcastically, too overwrought to
realize what he was saying.
"How *dare* you call me Odango... Atama?" Her breath caught in her throat.
"Mamoru-san?"
* * * * * * * * *
THE END
Well, not really... but it gave you a shock, right? Actually, there's only going to be an
epilogue, and then... it will be FINISHED! Hallelujah! *does a victory dance* But I need
your feedback... come on! You know you want to!
bunny28@hehe.com