GoldenRuleChapter2.html
The GoLden Rule

'An Eye For An Eye, A Tooth For A Tooth.'
-Draconian Law


Chapter 2: May Break Bones

The sound of laughter and shouts filled the empty schoolyard as students released streamed across it. A fresh scent hung in the air, damp evidence of the passing rain from the west. In the grey pavement, small, oblong puddles of water formed, reflective and mirrorlike in the sunlight from above. Occasionally, one of these puddles was shattered by a footstep running though it, off to another place, away from school. Voices carried up as someone broke out a ball, tossing it between friends.
A girl walked here, silently. She wore her disguise carefully, you see, so that no one would see her. Her hair clung just so around her face, allowing her to peer owlishly ahead, and glance to the sides, yet veil her as much as possible from others. Over her school uniform, a baggy black sweatshirt-jacket, hanging around her voluminously, letting her hide in the comforting folds. It was a safety blanket, large enough for her to retreat in, disappear in. Her body was bent slightly, as though she were protecting something. Herself, you see. Enemies could be anywhere. She wrapped her arms carefully around her books, and a deck of cards atop them. These were precious things to her. Carefully guarded. Suspicion was in her stance and carriage, and worried wariness. This was her gauntlet. Terror. Every day, she ran this gauntlet, the steps between the doors of the school and the road outside it. If she got to the street, she was only a few steps from being home free. Knotted worry, nearing panic, in her stomach. Senses alerted to danger. Heart rate high. This wasn't a safe place. Her fists were tight, nails pressed into the flesh of her palms. Almost there. Almost there. People streaming past her, ignoring her. Just a few more steps, a few more, almost there. Oh no....
A boy ran around her, stopping and grabbing her arm. She caught her breath fearfully as he used her to swing himself around, back, forth, like a basketball player trying to get around the owner of the ball. A human shield, blocking something else. Then a laugh as he released her with a shove, scurrying off as he shouted back to his friends. She staggered a step, feeling her socks get wet in a random puddle. A choking laugh, almost hysterical. False alarm. Keep going. Just a few more steps. Straightened herself out, took another step.
Then the pain connected, and blackness spun into her vision as she felt herself collapse into the ground. A sharp crack as bones too close to the skin hit pavement. Water splashed up over her face, muddying it. Getting into her mouth, making her spit to clean it out. She heard small dull thuds as her books and cards went flying, and she saw them in a fluttering flown arc around where she landed, cheek against cement. Pain scraped her face, and soreness up and down her right side.
Spitting again, she turned her head painfully, seeing a basketball lying an armslength away, in a pool of dirty rainwater. It rolled slightly, and was still. She made a choking sound, reaching up to her face to see if she had a nosebleed. Though there was a smear of blood, it was not streaming. Her shoulders heaved as she fought panic. Every day, something. Every day. Oh god, every fucking day....
Laughter.
She pulled herself up, seeing the array of paper and book and card around her, the images turned upward, dirtied and messy.
Laughter.
In pain and disbelief, she touched her face, wincing as she felt grains of rock from the cement buried there, mixed with dirt and blood from a scraping. She wiped her nose on the back of her hand, trying to clean herself up as much as she could in a moment. It was an involuntary response, the wiping. Who wouldn't? No tissue nearby.
"Oh, ew, look! She's wiping snot all over herself!"
"How disgusting!"
Her eyes, sky blue, distant blue, grew hard as she turned to look at the voices. A handful of people, staring at her. Oh, stop staring, please stop staring...don't look at me, just leave me alone. She wasn't completely impervious to fury. The look was enough to cause one of the tall girls to say, "Oh, I'm so sorry, Yume-chan. We were aiming for him," absently, she pointed at the boy behind her, who was laughing and looking slightly sheepish for the accident. To this, she swiveled between them, looking at the boy, then the girl.
She tried to gather herself up. Stop making fun...they had to stop making fun....
"You did that on purpose!" Yume accused, gathering herself inside her safe, warm jacket of black. "You hit me on purpose!" She felt a sickness rise up at the back of her throat, acidic and hot. It made her choke, and the words cut hoarsely, as though a curse.
"I just said," the girl declared loudly, "that I was sorry, okay? I was aiming for him. What do you want?" With that, she flipped a lock of thin, dark blonde hair over a shoulder. It swung, laying perfectly. To her mind, at least.
Yume perversely tried again, desperately. "It doesn't take that long to throw a ball, Kutsu! He wasn't even near me anymore!"
Her opponent's face drew tight, purpling. Anyone who didn't worship her would have noticed the little vein bulging in her neck. "So then what? Are you accusing me of lying? How dare you accuse me of lying! Stupid cow!" The girl grew tired of the argument and tried to put it to an end, curling her lip up in distaste, or disgust. "Why do I even try? You're not even worth the effort!" Kutsu sniffed, trying to look cute as she did so, trying not to sneer. Sneering was for the villain, and Kutsu could never do anything wrong, oh no, not Kutsu.
She flipped her hair, the other shoulder this time, and turned around in a huff, motioning to her friends. Let's get away from here, she says. This isn't fun anymore. Let's go.
Until she let out a shriek of absolute rage. Something flew past her arm. Something big and round and orange. A basketball, thrown from the fingers of the girl on the ground. Yume, a look of pure astonishment on her face. Disbelief, you see, that she could launch a ball that hard, from that distance, on the ground. Yume wasn't that strong. Oh no, not Yume, the stupid cow. She wasn't worth anything at all, how could she?
"You got my shirt dirty!" Batting wildly at her arm, she tried to slap off the mud and dirty water that clung there. Several girls huddled around the shrieking figure, helping her to slap at it, as though this would solve the problem, if they just beat at it long enough. Kutsu seemed to realize this, then broke free of the huddle of girls around her, pointing at Yume, a hand still hanging in the air, in the silence filled with muted stares. "You got my uniform dirty!"
It wasn't just a statement, it was a curse.
Yume was already regretting it. She knew what this meant. If things had been bad before, they would be even worse now. Stupid, stupid...stupid cow, just like Kutsu said. If she was smart she wouldn't have to deal with this. No, if she were smart and pretty- like Kutsu- then she wouldn't have to run the gauntlet. Wouldn't have to fear this everyday. Wouldn't have been dumb enough to try to retaliate. No, if she were like Kutsu, then she'd have friends shrieking injustice with her, helping her up, offering a handkerchief to wipe the dirt away. That pointed finger was the way to a curse, a nightmare that Yume was going to have to experience. She didn't know how it could get worse, but it could. Kutsu was very good at discovering what humiliated Yume. Why? Whywhywhyohwhy?
"I'm going to have to buy a new shirt!"
"We'll help you pick something out," one of her friends said, shooting a dirty look at Yume. "Come on."
There were calls as the friend ushered the others away, taking charge as there were exclamations of protest against Yume, awful Yume, stupid bitch Yume, still sitting on the ground covered in mud and dirt and blood.
Yume sat and stared down at the spreading of books and cards at her feet. Pretty cards, from an antique shop downtown. Images of men and women in bright clothing, some smiling, some frowning, some pained. Wands and cups and swords and spears, up and down, straight and reversed. She wouldn't cry. No, that would be for home. Home where she could lock herself in her room, smother her sobs with a pillow. And eat. Eat the potato chips she smuggled into her room. And maybe the candy bar. Yeah, the carmel one. Those were comforting. Yes. Nice, safe home. Home with the bathroom, and the shattered mirror.
"Gomen nasai," came a voice softly. A pale hand appeared in her vision, the veil of hair not shutting it out. "I saw what they did...gomen...I wish I had come faster...I'm so slow at running. Gomen nasai," the voice apologized again, and Yume looked up to see a worried face. Her eyes widened at that face, so worried and angry, violet eyes sending dark looks at the backs of the retreating crowd around Kutsu. "I'm not so strong. My sister tells me she isn't either. Here," the strange young woman offered, fishing around in a small purse, drawing out kleenexes from the pocket. "Blow your nose. Not too hard, it will open it again.... It isn't good to let the blood flow like that. Pinch, at the bridge," the stranger urged, motioning to her own.
Yume obeyed, not sure what else to do. Someone helping her? This person wasn't a teacher. She was scooping up the books, a look of shock on her face. "Such disrespect to books!" was muttered darkly, as she delicately picked up the volumes of math and science. "And so well printed too. Such terrible people, ne? Gomen ne, gomen..." She stacked the books before Yume, then began to gather up the cards. After a moment, she selected a card of a woman on a chair, wearing a cloak of starlight. A crescent sat on her brow, and her eyes were distant and knowing. Those eyes blinked as she looked at the detailing, the once vibrant colors faded with age. "So beautiful. What are these?" she asked as she gathered up another, a peculiar image of a jester in motley, hanging upside down by a foot off a wooden cross.
"Tarot cards," Yume replied, puzzled, both at the question at the woman's behavior. Sensing that her nose was well enough stopped, she released it, and began to hurriedly collect the cards as well, hastily snatching them from the hands across from her. "Arigatou."
"You're welcome," was the reply, and Yume nearly leapt away in surprise as she felt a hand at her elbow, helping her up. Gathering herself into herself again, Yume tried to examine the stranger, her surroundings, and control her things again. The people had faded out, and the sounds of teenage life were retreating to football fields and clubs. Her deck was in disarray, but then, so was she. And the young woman across from her was composed, face serenely worried as she waited for Yume to give her some signal that she was okay. Oh, if she could be that pretty. With such a pretty small face, and long flowing hair and worried eyes such an unusual color. And such a look of simple elegance. Almost from another time. Embarrassed and afraid she was staring, Yume stuttered, "Arigatou...gomen nasai."
"Hai," came a nervous laugh. "Are you sure you're all right? You don't need to see a healer, do you? A..." there was a pause, and her face drew tight as though trying to think of something. After a moment, it lit, and she exclaimed, "doctor! Ne?"
"No...I'm okay...."
A look of relief passed like a ray of light over her face. "Ah. Okay is good. I am..." she paused, then beamed beatifically, "Tomoe Kami. It is a pleasure to meet you." She bowed, deeply and formally, sending Yume into complete confusion. A pleasure to meet her? Why a pleasure to meet her? But the kindness did not go unpassed on Yume, who shyly bowed back, saying,
"Fukushu Yume."
Kami's face clouded briefly, uncertainly as she heard the name. But after a moment, Kami dismissed it with a shake of her head. This Yume person was very frightened. Fear radiated from her clearly, and Kami could almost see it visibly, like an aura. She drew away and into herself, retreating.
"I've got to go," Yume said after a moment of growing discomfort. She was shifting from foot to foot, trying to steady herself.
"Are you sure you're all right? You-"
"I'm fine. I've got to go. It was nice to meet you, Kami-san." And Yume brushed around and by Kami, almost running for the street, head down and clutching her books desperately.
"Matte..." Kami began, nearly taking a step forward towards the girl's retreating back. Then she paused, hand falling down to her side. She was gone, sprinting away from the destination Kami had been searching for all day. Biting her lip, she was indecisive, wanting to speak to Yume further. Something was certainly not right about the girl.
So much pain surrounds her. Those girls. I wish I knew what they said. A second thought, maybe I do not. Cruelty on such a subtle level. Hatred for what? People fear what they do not understand. And it is easier to hate than to love, I suppose.
"Kami-chan?" A familiar voice.
"What are you doing here?" Another familiar voice.
Kami turned and saw Ami and Minako approaching, both with jaws down. "Ah! Kanashimi-chan! Minako-chan!" Kami turned with a smile, recovering from her reverie on Yume and her problems. "I came to visit you!"
There were blinks from Ami and Minako, staring at Kami. Finally, Ami asked, "Kami-chan, how did you get here? Did Setsuna-san bring you?"
"Iie, she's up at the observatory, working. I walked."
There were stares. "You walked from home? To here? Kami, when did you leave?"
She thought about that for a second. "Ah, well, the little hand was on the ten, and the long one was between the six and the seven. So..." she frowned as she calculated, thinking though. These new hour systems were strange to her still. But she was getting used to it. "ten thirty-two," she concluded with a firm nod. "Hai. Ten thirty-two. Nan desu ka?"
"Kami-chan, that's several kilometers to walk through all of Juuban. How did you find our school?"
Kami's face fell a bit at their disbelieving behavior. "You are not happy to see me then? Was this a bad time? I went to Hotaru-chan's school yesterday, and I wanted to see where everyone else went...is Usagi-sama not with you? Or Mako-chan or Rei-chan?"
"Well," Minako managed, "Rei goes to TA Private Girls School, not here...Mako-chan's got cooking club, and Usagi-chan had to make up a test." Minako grinned, rummaging briefly though her bag and producing a test paper with a red 84% on it, proof that she had better than passed this one. "Ami-chan and I are stuck without clubs today...Coach is sick and volleyball practice got canceled."
"And they've been installing new computers in the lab all day today," Ami sighed wistfully. "They'll be nice when they're in, but I don't see why they had to close the lab all day. I couldn't study at lunchtime."
Minako gave Ami an odd look, shaking her head and leaning in and whispering to Kami, "She needs to get out more. Studying at lunch is bad for health." Minako put a hand to her heart dramatically, as though in pain.
"Truly?" Kami asked, a little surprised. You would think studying should help a person....Ah well. Then perhaps it is bad that I ask to see their school today. "That's too bad. I was hoping you could help me then."
"Sure," Minako offered, shoving her test paper back into the bag and falling into step with Kami, who had turned and begun to walk out. Ami hurried to keep up, the three walking in a line, Kami in the center. "With what?"
"Michiru-chan says that I have to get more clothes, because hers do not fit me as well as they should. Setsuna-san has made me some of my new clothes," she ran a hand meaningfully over her long denim skirt, which brushed the tops of low boots. Then she smiled and touched the necklace Mamoru had given her a couple days ago. The silver stood out cleanly against the black material of her shirt, gleaming white. "We went shoe shopping first, since my feet are smaller than theirs," she blushed slightly pink, "except for Hotaru-chan, who is still growing. And then there didn't seem to be time. I thought perhaps we could go to a store. Michiru-chan told me about a thing called a...mall? Hai, mall. And that they sell fabrics there already made into clothes."
"Shopping spree!" Minako shouted, linking an arm though Kami's, dragging her forward more rapidly than Kami could walk. "And we can get your ears pierced, too!" She lowered her voice conspiratorially, adding, "It's not right that a senshi not have distinctive earrings. It's part of the rules, I swear."
"Hai," Kami laughed, getting caught up in Minako's enthusiasm. "Kanashimi-chan, I also want to see a book-selling place. Do you know a good one?"
"Of course," Ami smiled, hurrying to keep up with Minako's fast pace. Anything that headed towards the mall or the arcade was a fast walk for the Pretty Soldier of Love. "Have you begun to read 'Alice In Wonderland,' then?"
"Hai," Kami nodded seriously. "She fell down the great rabbit hole, and met the maddened people. But it is very slow for me to read it sometimes. Hotaru-chan and Setsuna-san help me, but the motionless picture story of the Magical Knights is also helping. I can see what they're doing too, and that sometimes helps."
Ami stared, but Minako laughed, shaking a finger at Ami. "See? Manga can be educational, too!"
"But it's not classical literature, Minako-chan."
"Ah, but Kanashimi-chan, such stories use many elements in them. I have also been reading Setsuna's gift, and it says that long ago, people used pictures called," she carefully pronounced the words, "cu-ne-i-form and hi-ero-glyph-ics, to tell stories. It was their original language, and even Chinese and kanji are based on highly stylized images. A story told by pictures is an ancient form of art. I should very much like to see more of the story of the girl Knights in Cephiro."
"Hah! Another otaku is born!" Minako crowed cheerfully, and the three girls headed down the street, towards the Juuban shopping district.

Into a quiet house slipped Fukushu Yume. She peered around the doorframe, ears pricked up to hear any sounds. Mother would be home this time of day, back from the day in the busy office. Silently, Yume pushed the door to a close, then locked it behind her, letting out a quiet sigh of relief. Home. Home where she could find some peace and quiet. Let Mother be a bit late today. Get inside, have those chips and that candy bar. Oh yes, that would be good. And change clothes. Shed the hated school uniform.
She looked around the foyer, peering into the den. Empty...so far, so good. Just a few steps to the stairs, then her room. For a moment, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror of the hall tree, and felt herself pale. The blood from her cheek had dried to a crisp brown, and a bruise was swelling up underneath, turning her to a shade of sickly purple. She touched the rough spots with her fingertips, feeling the roughness of scraped skin.
"Yume!"
She whirled away from the mirror, seeing her mother standing in the shadowed archway to the kitchen. Perfect Mother, standing there in a tank top and shorts, her usual workout outfit. Blonde hair up in a ponytail, still not sweaty from aerobics. And her perfect face was drawn up in concern and surprise, mouth open as she gasped, "What in the world happened? Are you all right?"
Mother crossed the space between them, leaning down to touch her daughter's face. Yume pulled away, stepping backward and clutching her books and cards tightly to her chest. "Gomen ne, Mother."
"Yume, what on Earth...?"
Can't tell Mother, oh no, can't tell Mother. Not perfect Mother. Then she'd have to worry about Yume. Hurricane Mother, Perfect Model Mother, storming the school, demanding to know what terrible person or persons were harming her child. Her precious, darling little girl. Yume knew what that would result in. Mother, in her best Donna Karan Power Suit, briefcase in hand, and Father's lawyers in tow. Mother with her hair up, feet in high heels, blasting into the Principal's Office, screaming injustice, screaming can't teachers do anything? What kind of school was this? What has the educational system come to? And everyone would know, and Kutsu would know, pretty perfect Kutsu, who would still see Yume during the day.
"Gomen ne, Mother," Yume kept her eyes down, away, hoping Mother would interpret this as embarrassment. "Gomen. I was playing catch with some friends, and I was clumsy. I missed, and...gomen ne, I'm afraid I'm not so coordinated."
The perfectly made up face of Mother relaxed from concern. Then it deepened into a mild anger, laced with annoyance. "Your Father has invited two very important clients over for dinner this evening. They're preparing the new Summer Catalog, and I'm having food catered in." Mother's stance grew formidable as she placed hands on hips, and her brows drew into a graceful frown. "I was supposed to present a young, elegant daughter. You know how important it is for us to keep up appearances, Yume-chan. Go upstairs and clean yourself up. And get ready for tonight. They'll be here at seven. Wear the dress I've laid out for you on your bed."
"Hai, Mother."
She felt her mother's eyes on her back as she ascended the stairs, as quickly and quietly as she could. Yume tried to be silent on the steps, but the house was aging, and the floorboards did not cooperate with her attempts at quiet. Slipping into her room, she heard a light pounding from below, music cranked up as her mother began her daily workout. Keep those small waists, firm thighs. Buns of steel! Destroy those flabby arms! Perfection is all in the eye of the public, and Mother and Father knew exactly what to show.
"Oh yes, must keep up appearances. It just wouldn't do to show them how ugly your dear daughter is, would it? No, not at all." Yume closed the door to her room, and looked at the dress on her bed. It was a shade of pale green, a perfect offset to her hair color. Loose and flowing from an Empire waistline. One of the new fashions, and Yume would be presenting it on the live mannequin of herself. Strappy golden sandals sat at the foot of her bed, and she looked at them, kicking them over with a toe.
Her room was dull with light, the yellows reflecting the browns of her furniture, not quite complimenting the falsely cheery pale pink of her bedspread. Fluffy white pillows declared it a welcome spot. Yume dumped her dirty books on the clean white pillows, looking at the dirty spots circle around the clean white. She took perverse pleasure in seeing the whiteness turn dingy. "I never liked those pillows anyway," she told herself with satisfaction, picking up the dress with a hand. She wrinkled her nose, tossing it back to the bed. She shrugged out of her comfortable jacket, pulled off her shirt, kicked off her shoes and wriggled out of her skirt. Bones poked dangerously close to the surface of her skin, and she picked up the green dress again, holding it up to her, standing before the mirror on her desk, strewn with papers and pencils and incomplete drawings. She pulled the dress down over her head, smoothing the folds out over her angular body. It covered her thinly, clinging to her hips and small breasts, showing the first bones of her ribcage. "Ah, I'm finally losing some weight," she smiled, then bent over and pulled open a drawer, fishing around for the candy bar at the back of it. She peeled back the wrapper, biting into it and staring at herself in the reflective glass. She sighed, and slipped on her yellow shoes, tottering slightly as she returned to the mirror. Blood and dirt still clotted her face, and now a slight smudge of chocolate smeared her chin. She grinned, candy still in her mouth.
You hate them, don't you?
She nodded at the mirror, polishing off her candy bar. She tossed the wrapper and foil into her wastepaper basket, wiping her hands off on her knees. "They hate me."
And look what they did to you. Look how much uglier you are now.
Yume nodded again, tilting her head at the reflection. The room there seemed so much darker than in hers, the muted lights that filtered though her curtains gone, as though it were night already.
She turned away, not wanting to think about parading as the Perfect Daughter again tonight. Screw Father's clients. She wanted to stay in her room and draw and sleep. On the bed, Yume picked up her deck of cards, running loving hands over the images on them, smiling at the familiar faces of the deck. The Jester, the Empress, the Hanged Man, the Queen of Swords, the Star, the Moon, the Devil. They were wrought so prettily, though faded with age.
Look how they ruined your cards.
Yume's dirty face drew up into a grimace as she ran across the card of the High Priestess, a dark smudge of filth across her face. The card was in reverse, and Yume turned it towards her, looking at how the folds fell around the woman's body. She wished she had the talent of this artist. How carefully rendered was the cloak of starlight, how delicate the crescent on her brow.
Flip, flip.
She turned the cards over in her hands, kneeling on the floor before her desk. Flip flip, went the cards, forming the familiar Celtic Cross of divination. Flip, flip.
One beside each other, one on top the other, reverse, straight, dirty, clean. Flip, flip. Flipflipflip.
Wouldn't you like to make them stop?
"Oh yes, I would," Yume replied to the voice in her mind. It wasn't her voice, and it never ordered her to do anything. She wasn't sure who it was, but sometimes she thought she could see the woman's shadow if she turned quickly enough. She shuffled the cards, then, flip, flip, flipflip. The voice was so kind to her, talking quietly about things Yume didn't know. A castle on the moon, and an evil Queen who had lived there. Flip, flipflip. Flip.
She stopped, looking at her spread of cards on the carpet. "Oh, look," she told the woman with her, the invisible shadow woman. "Did I tell you about how to read the Tarot spread?"
No. Tell me.
Yume smiled, encouraged that the woman would listen. "You see, the cards themselves are very important. But many people make fun of them, because they were made by other people. They say, 'Well, when do they put the magic in, Yume?' This is silly. The magic is in the person reading the cards, not the paper or the ink used the print them. It takes a very strong person to use the magic fully. And you can't just look at one card or another. You have to look at the whole spread to see the whole picture. Otherwise, all you have are fragments that don't make sense."
Ah, I see. So then the power is within you.
"Oh, I'm not that strong," Yume admitted, embarrassed.
Oh, but you are! Your dreams are very powerful.
"If my dreams were powerful, then I wouldn't..." her voice trailed off weakly as she touched the mess of her face. "Ah, baka me. I need to wash my face...I'm such a mess...this is so silly." Yume sighed.
No!
Yume turned sharply to the mirror, eyes wide to see the shadowy form almost solid. Darkness flowed around the edges of the mirror, absorbing the brightness within Yume's room.
You and I are alike. My power is your power. It is within you, Yume-chan. Use it.
She felt a brutal blow against her face. Spitting again, she turned her head painfully, seeing a basketball lying an armslength away, in a pool of dirty rainwater. It rolled slightly, and was still. She made a choking sound, reaching up to her face to see if she had a nosebleed. Though there was a smear of blood, it was not streaming. Her shoulders heaved as she fought panic. Every day, something. Every day. Oh god, every fucking day....
Laughter.
She pulled herself up, seeing the array of paper and book and card around her, the images turned upward, dirtied and messy.
Laughter.
"Stop it!" Yume pleaded, squeezing her eyes shut, hands over her ears, voice a shouted whisper, reliving the afternoon.
What do your cards say, Yume-chan?
"They have to stop making fun..." Yume protested weakly. In pain and disbelief, she touched her face, wincing as she felt grains of rock from the cement buried there, mixed with dirt and blood from a scraping. She wiped her nose on the back of her hand, trying to clean herself up as much as she could in a moment. It was an involuntary response, the wiping. Who wouldn't? No tissue nearby.
"Oh, ew, look! She's wiping snot all over herself!"
"How disgusting!"

What do your cards say, Yume-chan?

She looked down at the cards with eyes the color of the empty sky, the familiar faces turned up to hers. "Oh, that's easy. They say I am about to go though a change, and that I should be careful."
Pick up your cards, Yume-chan.
She picked up her cards, placing them in her hands gently, then shuffled them carefully, flip, flipflip.
The power is within the person using them, not the cards themselves. The ability to use them is my gift to you, Yume-chan. Use them, and seal this bargain, Yume-chan. Use them!
If things had been bad before, they would be even worse now. Stupid, stupid...stupid cow, just like Kutsu said. If she was smart she wouldn't have to deal with this. No, if she were smart and pretty- like Kutsu- then she wouldn't have to run the gauntlet. Wouldn't have to fear this everyday. Wouldn't have been dumb enough to try to retaliate. No, if she were like Kutsu, then she'd have friends shrieking injustice with her, helping her up, offering a handkerchief to wipe the dirt away. That pointed finger was the way to a curse, a nightmare that Yume was going to have to experience. She didn't know how it could get worse, but it could. Kutsu was very good at discovering what humiliated Yume. Why? Whywhywhyohwhy?
"Oh, it doesn't have to be that way anymore then, does it? Ah, well, in that case, I'll make them stop. I'll make all of them stop. All over, they'll stop. I'll make them all stop."
She flung the cards in a circle around her, and then was gone.

"Kami-chan!" Minako laughed, holding up a baby-tee to the furiously blushing girl. "You can't think this is the old days anymore. Everybody wears stuff like this now!" Minako stepped back a bit, holding the 'Nippon cha-cha-cha' tee away from her, examining the back, then the front. "It's even promoting the volleyball team! You have to try it on!"
I know that this is not like my original era. I know that people walk around in less clothes than then. I know that Kanashimi-chan and Minako-chan would not dress me in inappropriate clothing. I know this, and I understand this. But there is so little there! And it will be so tight!
"Minako-chan...." Kami tried to protest, and was very grateful when Ami interrupted, by saying,
"Minako-chan, maybe this would be better. Kami-chan is more used to wearing dresses than tee-shirts. Here, Kami-chan, try this one on," she offered a dress on a hanger, a sundress of dark pink, bits of black and yellow mixed into the plaid cloth. With a little trepidation, Kami accepted the dress, trying to admire it for what it was, not what she had hoped it would be.
There is no back to it! It's all little laces, tied up! But...well, at least it is a dress....
"Okay," Kami agreed, holding it to her a bit. "I'll try this one on, then."
Ami smiled, and Minako was nodding in agreement. "I like it too," Minako said, as though her opinion were the final word on the matter. The Soldier of Love had selected this store, an expensive one, mainly because they were having an early sale. Racks of clothing were marked ten, fifteen, twenty-five percent off, and there were discounts up to fifty on the tables of clothing that were stylishly positioned though the store. Music played over the radio, one of the programmed stations for trendy stores, modern music carefully selected so that it would be enjoyed by all. Other people drifted though the store, and the sounds of cashiers ringing up customers was heard over the words, mingling with the faint humming of people talking, others laughing, as Minako, Ami and Kami were.
"So I go into one of these little rooms, and put this on, to see if it fits?"
"Hai," Minako agreed, flopping herself down in a cushy armchair in the back area. "Ah, now this is first class, all the way," she snuggled in closer, and Ami sat herself down neatly on the second chair, pulling out a book. "And when you get it on, make sure you show us, first. We have to make sure it looks good on you," Minako finished with a wink.
"But I thought Kanashimi-chan said it would already-"
"Un! But you have to show it off!"
"Oh...okay...." Kami trailed uncertainly, then retreated to a room, locking the door behind her. There was a rustling of clothes a moment later, and Minako turned to Ami.
"She seems to be adapting pretty well, ne, Ami-chan?"
"Considering what happened, hai. I'd still like to know how she got to Michiru-san's house afterward." They spoke in whispered, so that the nearby Kami would not hear the too well. "Just appearing like that is odd."
Minako nodded thoughtfully, then they both turned and smiled as the door opened tentatively, and they saw Kami poke her head out, hair streaming down behind her. She blinked. "I can come out?"
"Un!" Minako waved her over and stood. "Here, in front of the mirror, so you can see yourself on all sides." She swept a critical eye over Kami, who came to stand in judgment. "It'll do," Minako decided with a tone of finality.
"I'm glad! I rather like the way the back laces up, even though there's not much there," she said, turning and examining her back. Kami used both hands to pull her hair over a shoulder, seeing the smooth curve of the dress. She laughed, "It will look better when I am not wearing socks!"
"Definitely! We'll have to go shopping for sandals next!" Minako agreed with a laugh. "Kami, you'll have every man in Juuban after you. Fresh blood."
Every man? Me? Oh dear. Doesn't she remember my age...? Who'd want me, other than old widowers? That doesn't sound like what she means....
"Minako-chan, that's very kind," Kami flushed, bunching up the hem of the skirt in her fists. "But I'm quite the old maid now...I doubt any men will be chasing after...." Kami trailed off, looking wide-eyed between them as Minako and Ami stared at her with an unbelievable amount of incredulity. "Nani?"
"Kami-chan," Ami managed, "You're only twenty."
And that's old....right...? Only twenty? Oh no, am I off again? "And that's old," Kami asked uncertainly, "isn't it...Kanashimi-chan?"
"This isn't the 11th century, Kami-chan," Minako informed her with a smile. "You just got about ten more years before you have to go into panic mode. Nowadays, twenty is the prime of your life. Lots of people don't even get married until they're in their mid-twenties, or even late twenties."
Honto? They're kidding! "You're sure?"
Nods.
"Oh." Kami thought about that for a second. Then her face lit up. "Then I can still get married! I thought I'd have to cut my hair and become a nun!"
They stared a moment, then burst out into laughter, as Kami giggled quietly a bit at her own joke. I hope they don't think I was serious about that last part. Well, sort of. If I hadn't fallen ill, I would have been eventually, after Papa died. And almost was, even after. How odd that would seem now, me in the ash colored robes. So bright the colors of this era! So...pink. Oh my. But it is pretty. I think I will like this place.

A shrill laugh from the store interrupted their own laughter in the dressing room in back, the sounds of some other shopping girls on their day out as well. The laugh was calculated, just loud enough to grab attention, but not high pitched enough to grate on the nerves.
I know that laugh.... Cruel, in a nice, sweet way.
Kami paused, turning, and Minako and Ami a moment later, seeing that the eldest of the three of them had suddenly gotten a foul look on her face, lips tight and thin.
That's that awful girl from their school. I should say something to her.
"Kami-chan, what is it?" Ami asked as she saw Kami's face harden, violet-grey eyes locked on the three figures in the center of the store.
"Those girls. They are from your school, and they are very cruel to their classmates. Such rudeness and disrespect should not be forgiven!" Kami began to walk forward, her intent quite clear. Minako, however, intervened before Kami could go over and make a scene.
"Kami-chan, no, wait...don't, that's really not a good idea," she pulled Kami back into the relative safety of the dressing room area. The three way mirror reflected the outside, and there was another peal of laughing, this time with encouragement from one of the other friends. Ami ushered Kami in before her, and there was bewilderment on the eldest's face.
"What is it? Why shouldn't I? What we fight for is love and justice, ne? I do not see how their treatment of that girl was either loving or just." Kami watched the mirror, the reflection of the girls beyond the clothes racks. "It isn't right, what they did."
"Kami-san," Minako explained, a hint of warning in her voice, "those girls are seniors at our school." Minako sent her own look of distaste at them though the mirror, lips drawn thinly as she watched them leave a mess at one of the tables. "That's Utsukushia Kutsu, Chiisaino Yujin and Nikumu Kioku. You don't want to mess with them. They'll walk all over you, Kami-chan."
"Walk on me?" Kami asked, face blank. "Ah, another idiom," she waved a hand, ushering it away. "Minako-chan-"
"Kami-chan," Ami asked, positioning herself physically between Kami and the exit to the dressing rooms. The movement was as much psychological as physical, and Ami knew it. She looked her friend in the face, trying to get her to understand. "What did you see?"
"They threw a large ball into a girl's face, then laughed at her as she tried to get up. And screamed at her when she fought back." Such subtle cruelty!
"It will make it worse, Kami-chan, if you say anything to them," Ami advised firmly, and noticed that Minako had copied her stance, just before the door, preventing any rash action on Kami's part. "If you want to help the girl you saw, the best thing is not to act here and now. It will only upset them further, and make them retaliate against her. Onegai, Kami-chan?"
Kanashimi-chan, how can you stand to see such things? Is this also what dragged you down? Pain from the world around you? If so, then what of the girl...Yume, hai, Yume...what of her? What will happen if she is unable to pull herself out of her nightmare? I have been lazy. I have a duty, even as they do, and I have been too caught up in this new life to pursue that duty. I have not even entered the World of Dreams since Usagi-sama's battle with her Fury. I must find this Fukushu Yume, and speak with her there. Kanashimi-chan and Minako-chan know how people behave in these times better than I. It is nonsensical to me. I will do what I can, from where I can. Tonight.
"Very well," Kami allowed, fingers tightening on the fabric of the dress. "I will not defend her here." Kami turned and headed back into the dressing room, shutting the door behind her.

Kutsu was laughing again.
She'd gotten her new dress for a wonderful price, and, according to Yujin and Kioku, it looked great on her. Yujin was getting herself a scarf and earrings from the jewelry section, the expensive (but not quite real) gemstones glittering in prismatic slices of rainbow. Kioku was quiet, as usual, but idly looking around the store, absently examining her nails as the other two babbled about how hard it was to clean dirt stains out of school uniforms. The brunette sighed as the other two chattered pointlessly, and she began to inspect her surroundings with a bit more interest. There had to be a guy or two hanging around...maybe. Some unlucky male dragged to a sale with his sister. Yeah, right. It was Kioku who felt a faint stirring of air over her face, just enough to send a strand of hair into her eyes. So she turned and looked, and was startled. Not so much by the appearance of Yume, but of the appearance of Yume. Standing just within the glass doors of the shop. Kioku was not entirely heartless. Seeing her classmate standing there, in a dirty pale green dress, blood and dirt still clinging to her face, Kioku's mouth fell open in surprise, and she made a small gasping noise. "Yume!"
The word exclaimed from her mouth was enough to turn her two friends' heads, making faces frown at the interruption. Kutsu's eyes narrowed slightly as she saw the other girl, standing in front of them, eyes lowered, head bowed, hands full of those ridiculous cards. Flip, flip, went the cards in Yume's hands. Flip, flipflipflip, as she turned the top one over and over again. "I can't believe this," Kutsu muttered. "She followed us! What does she think she's doing?" Leaving the table of brightly colored cloth, Kutsu picked up her bags and went to stand before Yume, who was clearly blocking her path.
Flip, flip, flip.
"Yume, what are you doing?" Kutsu sighed, as though having great patience with the girl. There were, after all, people around. It just wouldn't do for a nice, polite girl like Kutsu to be anything but kindly with the obviously disturbed Yume. "You're filthy."
"Oh yes. Filthy on the outside," Yume agreed after a moment, still with her eyes on her cards. Flip, flip, flip. "Doesn't mean anything about inside." Flipflip. "Devil card," Yume said, holding up the one she was turning. She did not look at the confused faces of the three girls before her. "means ignorance. Foolishness. And you don't even know it. Struggles between Light and Dark, Good and Evil. You know, if you change...if you wake up, it can be banished. All the darkness will just float away." She set the card back into the pile, then shuffled the deck carefully, blending the elements, the powers, again. "I'd forgive you, you know."
Kustu was confused. And when she was confused, she lashed out, uncertainly. She didn't like to not be in control. Control was everything to Kutsu. Yume was babbling, in her mind. Nonsensical nonsense. Tarot cards, what garbage. Yume, stupid Yume. What was wrong with her, stalking her like that, following them like that? Not even cleaning herself up! Idiot. "Get out of my way, Yume." Kutsu tried to move past the inflappable, eerie girl, but found that she could not move.
"Why do you hate me so, Kutsu?"
The words were so soft, the three girls barely heard them, and their eyes widened. Most of the store was oblivious to this little drama, too concerned with their own shopping. Those who did pay attention were avidly watching, trying, though, not to stare at the four who faced off. Two of the faces softened with pity, dull eyes shifting guiltily away from Yume's bloodied form. They were just following orders. What else were they to do? They were just...following orders.
But one face grew hard and distant. Then, just as swiftly, careless. "I don't hate you, Yume. You're not worth the effort."
Yume smiled, from where her head was lowered. Flip, went the cards. Flip, flip...flip. "They say; 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.' It is a saying noted the world over for kindness and fairness. To be kind to a person, and receive kindness in return. Yet, at the same time, it is also an older law. 'An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.'" Yume looked up, and the distant blue of her eyes was that of a winter sky. "I believe, in accordance with these laws, I have this right." She flipped the new top card over. The winter in her eyes became a blizzard of ice, and her scream a howling wind. "Major Arcana! Justice!"



It was a familiar sound, to two of the girls in the dressing room. The sound of screams, accompanied by the pitched crystalline shimmering of glass, breaking into pieces, shattering in slivered waterfalls to the brushed carpet floor. The screams were frightened ones, panicked. Kami was holding her new dress up to herself, receiving further reassurances to its rightness for her. Her head turned, along with that of the others, in silent wide-eyed horror. It was only a step to the doorway, Ami and Minako pausing cautiously around the frame, Kami leaning over their backs to see what they saw.
Women, shoppers, were running away from the epicenter of the panic. The glass in the storefront was blasted out from within, racks scattered, some overturned as a shockwave burst out across the store from its source. A girl stood, in a stylish dress of pale green, one hand lifted tensely in the air before her, her fingers tightly together, hands and body shaking. Before her floated three girls, dangling lightly off the floor, nebulously rotating in senseless spirals. A ring of cards spun in a circle around them, a golden light emanating from them, encasing each of their victims within a golden pillar.
Within the safety of the dressing room, the three senshi drew back in revulsion, Ami with her hands over her lips in horror, Minako paling. Kami merely stepping away. Pain was no stranger to her. "Henshin yo, minna," Minako managed, and they backed away, back into the confines of the dressing room, with the discarded clothing on the ground. Moments later, had anyone been nearby, they would have heard the words, "Venus Crystal Power! Make-up!"
Then, "Mercury Crystal Power! Make-up!"
A long pause as lights filled the room, and the echoes of the phrases died away. Then, at last, "Dreamweaver Crystal Power! Make-up!"

"Not worth the effort? Not worth the effort? Do you know how much pain you've caused me?!" The trembling of her body grew more pronounced as fury built up within her, rage against her insignificance, face screwed up in fury. The same light that enveloped the three girls before her intensified with her emotions, and they flinched as though struck. "I'll show you my pain! Feel what you made me feel! Feel it!"
Her arm moved back, then struck the air before her. Though it passed through nothing, into nothing, the three she held captive jerked as though slapped.
"Feel it!"
Again.
"Feel it!"
Again.
"Feel it!"
Her voice intensified to the breaking point. Again.
"Feel it! Feel it! Feel it!"
Silent screams pulled open their mouths, though only faint choking noises were issued. The one who floated in the lead gurgled, and there was the noise of crunching as her nose broke into blood, flowing freely down her face, her dress, her shopping bags, down to the floor in a bleak crimson river.
"Stop right there!"
Yume didn't care to stop. For the first time, she was fighting back, and god it felt good. Nobody was picking on her now. Nono, no one would pick on her ever again. No, never again. But the call was from two voices, in harmony of calm command. And so Yume paused to look up. Perhaps her eyes widened fractionally at the sight that met them. Two girls, in layered short skirts and long bows and high boots...in her mind, she recognized them, thought processes bringing the words, "Sailor Senshi," to her mind, as well as a mild feeling of surprise that they were there. Luck, she supposed. Dumb luck. There was no way they could have known what she planned. She also recognized what this would appear like to them. They wouldn't know she was only serving justice. No, of course not. They would attack her, and even as she thought this, they began to speak again.
"Agent of Love and Beauty, I am the pretty sailor suited soldier, Sailor Venus!"
"And the pretty sailor suited soldier of Wisdom and Knowledge, Sailor Mercury!"
They stood on top of one of the clearance tables, disarrayed piles of sale clothing around their feet. But they had much practice with this, and they stood back to back, looking over their shoulders, arms hanging parallel to each other's in perfect unity. They paused for a moment before saying their final phrase of introduction, in wait for a third.
But then, the silence hung too long.
And they turned their heads to see where Dreamweaver was. And to their surprise, they found only Kami, standing at the side of one of the upright clothing racks, her face holding all the graceful composure of one who did not know what to do. It took Venus and Mercury a moment to assimilate this; Kami was not in her senshi form. Therefore, it was reasonable to believe that she could not henshin. So, they recovered as quickly as possible. "And on behalf of the planets Venus,"
"And Mercury...."
"We will punish you!" They finished together, then broke apart.
"Venus," golden glitters formed around Venus's outstretched hand, gathering around her fingertips. Yume watched the motion with calm, though she motioned again to her floating cards. The three girls collapsed on the ground as the deck abandoned them, heaps of uniform and girl.
As the soldier of Love lightly kissed her fingertips with a wink, the deck was back in Yume's hands, and with a rapid swirl of cards, they fluttered wildly around her. "...Love and Beauty Shock!"
"Tower!" The cards gathered in a globe around Yume, and funneled around her hands, shooting out in a blossom around her. The golden heart of Venus's attack struck the shield, and spun as it struggled against it. But as it spun and resisted, the energy rebounded, bouncing back at the source. They saw it coming, within a fraction of a second, and still too close together, they attempted to leap apart. The light of the attack struck between them, at their feet, and the table erupted in a shower of golden glitter. Venus and Mercury tumbled in the air, slamming backward, hard. There was a scream as Venus hit an overturned clothing rack, the poles of it twisting upward as it was it was tossed over again. Mercury had no better luck, flung into a trendy mannequin in sportswear.
"Kanashimi-chan!" The sight of seeing Mercury hit so hard was enough to force Kami to bolt from her sideline position, falling down next to Mercury. "Kanashimi...?" There was a groan from the water senshi, who began to pull herself upward, slowly.
This girl...she is the one from the school. She...she hurt Venus-chan, and Kanashimi-chan! Kami's face faded from worry to anger, and she stood, stepping off to the side. I cannot fight her in this state. I do not know from where she draws her power. If she uses it so publicly now, how is it that she did not use it then, at the school? Why wait? I will buy them time, if I can...I cannot henshin...gods, why can I not henshin? Later. Worry later. I am not so strong...gods protect me.... Protect Kanashimi-chan!
"Would you fight me, as well, Fukushu Yume?" Kami asked, stepping away from Mercury, who was pulling herself back to her feet. Kami did not break her gaze with Yume. Must keep her mind off the others.... They will be able to fight again in just a moment...I must buy them just a moment!
Yume was staring at the young woman across from her, through the flitting images on the flying cards around her. This was the pretty woman at school who was angry on her behalf, with the pale violet eyes and tissue for her bloody nose. "I have no argument with you," Yume replied cautiously, then, at her final words, glanced at the broken figures at her feet. The look was pointed, clearly stating, 'My argument was with them.'
"You are better than that," replied Kami bluntly, also referring to the three girls.
"You know them," Yume responded, but this time her eyes flickered to Mercury, then Venus. Faintly, she smiled. "You know them."
Shimatta. Ah, I sound like Haruka-chan. Baka.
Kami had nothing to say, and so said nothing. Yume took this as the affirmative it was, and the cards coalesced around her. Kami saw movement on the peripherals of her vision, and saw Mercury stagger to her feet. A quick glance to the side revealed that Venus was also standing, and taking breath for another attack.
Yume, though, was ready. "Major Arcana!" A card slipped itself out of the deck, the image of a hunched old man, and spun in a vertical spiral around itself, the leader in a new flurry of cards. "Hermit!"
The deck folded in on itself, and in on Yume, the wind stirring her hair in a red halo, as she folded her arms over her chest and looked up at them though quiet, distant eyes. The cards circled slowly for a half breath, then seemed to whisk her away in a movement so swift, there was no time to blink.



*******************

Another chapter complete. Well, the plot thickens, ne? Yume has powers, and Kami can't henshin!
Yume uses her Tarot cards as attacks...way back when I was thinking about further Kami stories, I had the idea for a villian who used Tarot cards as a weapon. I was originally considering combining ideas for 'Golden Rule' and 'Weaver of Dreams'....but using the Tarot concept just didn't fit in 'Weaver' the way it fits here. I found the information on the Tarot online, at www.learntarot.com. I've tried to make her use of the cards fit the 'attacks' they correspond to. Since the Tarot isn't exactly supposed to be a weapon in the first place, they can't be identical...and I'm no Tarot expert. So if there's a mistake...gomen nasai! I've tried to keep things accuate to what I've read about the cards.
Also, if you didn't notice, Mercury and Venus are in Eternal level fukus. In the manga, the senshi all get the layered skirts with the bubble sleeves, not just Sailor Moon, though her skirt is triple layered, and the others only double. Personally, I like the Crystal Power level outfits best, but still...this takes place after SS, so they should be in Eternal fukus, like Sailor Moon, with the white boots. More standardized, I suppose. However, they still say 'Crystal Power! Make-up!' to henshin. Usagi uses, 'Silver Moon Crystal Power!' and Chibiusa 'Pink Moon Crystal Power!' to henshin at the beginning of the Stars arc of manga, and not the anime-form, 'Moon Eternal! Make-up!' (and we never get to know what Chibiusa would say....) Some small differences I thought I'd bring up. At the time of writing this, only one more volume of Stars manga is left to be printed. I can't wait to read it....^_^
So, til next chapter.
Ja ne!
-Queen