Chapter Four: Damage Control Critical
*After a rough ten minutes of climbing over building
remains, cars, fallen trees, and trash, the large group reached the school
gates.
"Well, we're half way there." Serena said as she
climbed over a giant tree trunk.
"Only half?"
"Yeah. Usually it doesn't take this long, but with all
this stuff in the way, it's taking a lot longer."
"Great. So where to now?"
"We go straight ahead."
"Sounds go..."
"Sammy!"
"Mika? Mika! Hey!" Hiiro looked at the little
boy's face. Obviously he knew the little girl.
"Sammy, Serena." Cried the woman with the little
girl.
"Hello Mrs. Kenner. Are you alright?" Called
Serena. It was obvious she knew the woman and little girl as well.
"Yes, dear, fine. Where are your parents?"
"They, they didn't make it out of our house in
time." Serena answered as best she could. What was she supposed to say,
'my parents were buried alive and died only a half and hour ago?' The pain was
still to fresh, the news to new for it to make any sense to her. It was like
being thrown into cold water and being so numb you forget you're in the water
in the first place.
"Oh, my dears. Are you ok? Who are your friends? Are
they alright? Where are their parents?" Hiiro narrowed his eyes. He didn't
need any strange woman poking into his life again. The last two times he had
let them in, Relena and that Chaos woman were the result. He was not going to
let that happen again.
"We're fine Mrs. Kenner. These are our newest friends,
Quatre, Trowa, Duo, Wufei, and Hiiro. They are fine, too, and as for their
parents, they're visiting Tokyo, so their parents aren't here." Even Hiiro
did a double take at the girl's answer. She helped them? What for?
"Oh, you poor dears. Your parents must be so worried.
Our house was demolished by the earthquake, and I thought we should come to the
school since that's where they usually set up cots and food for people like us
who lose everything."
"Oh. We were heading downtown to see how the Arcade and
Andrew and Nicky faired. The boys are with us until we get into the city."
While their newest friend began a conversation with the woman, and her little
brother began talking to the little girl, the Pilots took the time to
strategize.
"So, we're stuck in Japan. At least that much we're
familiar with. Anyone ever heard of Tokyo? Or Jubban?" Asked Wufei.
"Never." Answered Trowa. "We'd be better off
finding a map of the world or a library for an atlas. This looks like a nice
place, but it's not like the normal cities on Earth that we know of."
"A library would be a good idea. We should ask Miss.
Serena if she will take us to one."
"And take us to food too!" Duo's stomach grumbled.
"I'm hungry." Hiiro leaned back against the tree behind them. He
looked up. The sky was a darker gray, but through the clouds and dust he could
see pale colors of pale pink and purple. No matter where they were, it would
get much cooler when the sun went down.
"Wherever we go, we go tomorrow. The sun is setting,
and it'll get cold soon enough."
"Hiiro's right. We should stop here for the night. If
that's a school, they should have emergency blankets and food somewhere."
That's Quatre for you, always thinking through the situation and makes good
solid plans.
Hiiro looked back over at Serena, the woman Mrs. Kenner, and the two younger kids who were
now sitting on the ground looking at a few dolls from the girl's pack. He
looked back at the girls. Could they be trusted? Serena had practically lied
for them. The little brother was very protective of her, but over the last half
hour, he had made fast friends with both Quatre and Duo, Duo especially. As for
the new comers, he needed more time with them. It seemed like this Serena was a
good judge in character, but then
again, she was hanging around him, and that in itself was probably a bad choice
for her. 'To trust or not to trust, that is the question.' One more glance at
Serena's face as she smiled slightly, then laughed at something her companion
had said, and he had his answer.
"We leave Serena and Sammy and their friends here.
They'll only get in our way."
"What?" Cried Duo, earning him a glance from
everyone, the three girls, and the little boy, not to mention the rest of the
pilots. He cringed sheepishly and Wufei smacked him upside his head.
"Baka! Keep it down! Do you want the universe to know
who we are?" Wufei asked.
"Why do we leave them behind? Miss Serena said she
would show us to the..."
"They will be in our way. They'll be fine." Hiiro
cut Quatre off.
"Yui, you made a good decision." Wufei smirked.
"The woman was too weak anyway."
"Hiiro, do you think it's safe for them without
protection tonight?" Asked Trowa. Hiiro balanced out the question.
"Fine. We stay the night with them. We get up early
tomorrow and leave them behind."
"Fine." Trowa said. His agreement with Hiiro made
the decision final, both because Serena was heading towards them and because
none of the other pilots wanted to fight with both Hiiro and Trowa, especially
not tonight.
"Guys? I'm sorry, I just realized you have no idea who
these new people are, let alone trust them. Or me and Sammy for that matter.
Anyway, I thought I would just let you know that the woman is Mrs. Kenner, and
her daughter and my brother are boyfriend/ girlfriend. They are really nice
people."
"Miss Serena..."
"Quatre, just Serena, or even Sere would be fine. No
one but my Mom and Dad called me by my full name. You were saying?"
"Oh, right, well, it's getting dark, and we were
thinking of stopping here for the night."
"True. Guys, can I ask you a question."
"No." Hiiro gave her a strange glare, but Serena
ignored it and continued.
"Do you think it was really an earthquake?"
"Why do you ask us?" Asked Trowa.
"Well, I don't know. I didn't want to scare anyone by
asking them, but you all seem so, oh, I don't know, just, 'adjusted' to the
situation that thought you might be
able to have a normal conversation about it with me. So?"
"Onna, we are not adjusted to the situation."
"Well, I'm sorry Wufei. I thought you might be able to
talk about it without going ballistic over it, but I guess I was wrong."
"No."
"What Trowa?"
"No, I don't think it was an earthquake."
" So I'm not crazy..." it was more of a muttered comment
to herself that a comment to the guys, but they heard it.
"Why did you think you were crazy? I don't think you're
crazy."
"Thanks, Duo. I don't know. It looked like buildings
were just, appearing, out of thin air, people too. I was downtown when the
whole thing started, but I ran home as fast as I could. It was just weird. An
earthquake doesn't make buildings and people appear, it just makes them tip
over."
"What do you think it was then?" Asked Trowa.
"I don't know. You know how the youma were attacking
Tokyo? Well, maybe it was one of them or something." Serena was beginning
to get a bad feeling. Just talking about the events of the last hour made the
wheels in her head turn. She couldn't help but begin thinking that these new
events were brought on by a new enemy. Then she caught herself and realized 'I
can't tell them about the youma. What if it is one, though? The scouts aren't
here! I'm have to fight on my own. What
am I going to do! I'll need some help, but I don't know if I can trust them yet.
Oh, what am I going to do?'
"Youma? What youma?" Asked Wufei.
"Oh, well, you know, those silly monsters that kept
attacking people."
"Yeah! And Sailor Moon comes and saves everyone by
killing the monster!" Added Sammy
"Sailor Moon is the greatest ever!" Said Mika.
"And this Sailor Moon, he kills these monsters by
shooting them?" Asked Trowa.
"No! She uses her scepter and tiara. There's more too,
but no one knows for sure." Answered Sammy. Serena gulped. As long as
Sammy kept it relatively vague, she would be fine.
"Do you know who this Sailor Moon guy is? Or where we
can find him?" Asked Quatre.
"No way! First of all, Sailor Moon is a girl, not a
guy. Second, after the monster disappears, so does she. No one knows who she
is!" Answered Mika.
"What made you ask about Sailor Moon all of a
sudden?" Asked Mrs. Kenner. Serena shot a worried look at the guys, but
didn't think anyone saw it. Of course, she was wrong. Hiiro saw it and
answered.
"We were just talking about the youma. Serena was
worried about them."
"Meatball head! The youma are gone! Sailor Moon killed
them all two weeks ago, you know that!"
"Yeah. Hey! Don't call me that spore!"
"Whatever! You're such a ditz. I'm cold."
"Here spore." Serena handed her brother the jacket
she had been wearing and looked around the deserted school.
Hiiro watched the interlude between Serena and her brother.
It was obvious that she loved him and he her, but meatball head? Come to think
of it, her hair did have a funny style. Meatball head. For some reason, it
didn't suit her. And ditz? That one didn't suit her either. She was already
wise to the whole Chaos caused earthquake, she just didn't know it yet. As for
these new people, well, they would only be around for a short time, and then
they'd be gone, so it didn't matter much.
"Hiiro?" Serena grabbed his arm and began dragging
him forward. He came out of his reverie and allowed the small blonde to pull
him into the school courtyard. "The others already went in, but you were
so deep in thought that they decided to leave you. I thought it was mean, so,
come on, let's go catch up."
Serena had stood watching Hiiro for a good two minutes
before she brought him back to the and of the living. She saw that he was deep
in thought, and took the time to study him. Of all the boys, he was the one who
spoke the least. She noted how his messy chocolate hair almost hid his prussian
blue eyes, giving him a dark and mysterious look. He was cute, more than cute.
If Lita and Mina had been here, he probably would have been labeled a hottie
straight off the bat. Shaking her head at the memories of her friend's antics,
she decided he needed some fun in his life, and she would be the one to deliver
it. He didn't seem to mind her tugging him into the school, and even helped her
climb over the broken door stuck in the entrance.
Hiiro climbed over the smashed-in door and reached up to
help Serena over it as well. She was nice to be with. She didn't speak when he
didn't say anything, but from their short time together, he knew that when she
got started, she could talk on a subject for hours on end. As soon as he lifted
her down into the dark hallway, she grasped his hand tightly. Obviously, she
was terrified of something.
"Scared of the dark?" He asked her, almost
smirking to himself.
"No, just creepy memories. Last time I walked down this
hallway, I was picking my poison." She smiled remembering her math test on
Friday morning.
"Picking our poison? You mean they made you drink
poison here at school?"
"No!" She broke into a fit giggles. "I had to
take a math test, and I'm not exactly the best math student. You've never heard
that expression?"
"No. Shh." He quieted her. She stopped laughing
instantly and listened intently. They could here a funny noise coming from the
next hall over. She grasped onto Hiiro's hand tighter, and he pulled her over
to the corner of the hall.
"Stay here. I'm going to go see what that was."
She pulled out his gun and loaded it was a brand new cartridge of bullets. He
heard her gasp at the sight of the gun.
"Hiiro, a gun?"
"Hnn. Stay." He slipped around the corner, leaving
her alone in the dark corner. As he went farther down the hall, he began seeing
everything in red. He shook his head, thinking his eyes were playing tricks on
him, and kept going. Soon, he reached a bend in the hall, and he was sure that
it was not just his eyes, but there was a true red gleam to everything. As he
rounded the corner, he saw the only thing he had hoped it would not be. A
shriek cut the air; and Hiiro didn't eve bother shooting his gun, knowing it
would do no good.
"I am Chaos!"
"I'm Hiiro Yui." He said in a monotone voice.
"Chaos!" Another voice cried from behind him.
Hiiro turned to see Serena out of the corner of his eye. Slightly peeved she
hadn't stayed behind, he roughly pushed her aside and shot at Chaos, hoping it
would distract her from possibly hurting Serena and himself. Once again, the
bullets did no good.
"Serenity!" Cried Chaos.
"No!" Serena said quietly, as if in denial of
something. She shrugged back in fear, then stood straight and looked at Hiiro.
"Chaos!" Screamed Chaos again. This time, she let
loose a red blast at the two, and then disappeared afterwards.
After getting up from dodging the blast and dusting off,
Hiiro knelt next to Serena, who was still standing, with fire in her eyes.
Checking her over for injuries, he found none, not even a scratch. Then, Serena
broke from her standstill and smiled.
"She caused the earthquake, didn't she?"
"Hnn."
"She knew you, or she would have just killed you. How
did she know you?"
"How do you know her? And she you?"
"My turn to grunt. Hnn." She answered. Now she
suddenly felt good. It was as if a weight had been lifted form her shoulders.
She knew who had caused such destruction, such death, and such, such, chaos in
her world. How Chaos knew Hiiro would have to wait, however. She was sure she
could trust Hiiro now, because he had tried to protect her from Chaos. She just
wondered whether Hiiro thought he could trust her now or not.
"Hiiro! Serena! There you are! We've been looking for you
all over!" The two turned to see Duo and Trowa standing in the hall.
"Hey Hiiro, if you were going to take Serena and make out in the dark
corner, you could have told us first!"
"Her boyfriend probably won't appreciate you very much
Hiiro." Trowa said, and then smirked seeing Serena... and Hiiro...
blushing.
"Duo! Trowa! Number one, we weren't making out! And
number two, I don't have a boyfriend. The last one I had passed away two weeks
ago."
"Huh?" Asked Duo.
"My last boyfriend, Darien, was killed two weeks ago.
He died in a motorcycle accident. So, did you find any food?" Serena
asked, trying to smile.
"Yeah! Come on!" Duo lead Serena out of the hall
as Trowa and Hiiro exchanged glances.
"She knows something."
"That's obvious. But what and how much?"
"More than we do."
"We need to find out what Serena knows..."
"Chaos called her Serenity."
"Do we still leave them in the morning?"
"No."*