Sincerity to the Cherry Blossom 8
Disclaimer: Nothing is mine except the story.
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Sakura and Tomoyo wouldn't let go of each other's arms as they crouched together worriedly in their classroom. Syaoran stood in front of them defensively to face the unusual occurrence in their school. It was yet another Youma no doubt. Only this one appeared more ferocious than the previous one. Tomoyo kept on asking, "What is that?" And Sakura repeatedly said she didn't have a clue. Syaoran didn't have any ideas either though it may have been connected to the last encounter they had yesterday after school.
Sakura stood on her feet confidently, called upon her Inner Star and joined Syaoran's side. From this view she had a clearer view of what she and her friends were up against. The monster appeared to have a fusion of a lion and the snarling teeth of an untrained dog. Its white fur looked tempting to stroke but one step towards the beast would make people have second thoughts on stroking it.
The beast turned its eyes from Syaoran to Sakura and jumped off the table to forward its attack. Syaoran called Sakura to get out of the way but instead she decided to stay and use her magic rather than retreat quickly. She released Watery and watched the Clow card wet the monster's fur heavily, pushing it further back from Sakura, Syaoran and Tomoyo. The beast's roars became louder than the screams coming from the other children who had just left the classroom after seeing the strange animal lurking about.
Most people thought the three leftover children standing in the classroom were absolutely crazy to even think of fighting some unknown specie. Sakura didn't care what anyone thought about what she was doing. At least no one would see her or Syaoran use magic directly. They'd be twice as freaked out with what the cherry blossom could really do. The monster wriggled its fur to dry itself, as any normal dog would do after having a bath.
"This isn't a tame pet, is it?" Syaoran commented, not even attempting to humour the crisis standing before them. "The owner must be a poor trainer."
"I bet," Sakura said anxiously. "We have to try something else. Watery did have an effect but it didn't make it go away." Syaoran used his Fire magic to strike the monster but it was too fast for his accuracy and dodged each fire strike coming at it. In an instant it then jumped high towards the ceiling, above Syaoran and Sakura. Where was it going to land? The two card captors watched the Youma fly across the room and it's four legs prepared to land on the other side.
"Tomoyo-chan!" Sakura saw her best friend was in a vulnerable position. Tomoyo gasped when she saw the red eyes of the half-lion half-dog beast staring into her face. Its paws ready to pounce on the victim in front of it.
"GO AWAY!!" Sakura tried to use the Sleep card on the beast, hoping to quieten it down so it would have a nice nap. Like it was possible. It seemed Sleep had no effect on the monster at all. To him, it was just like unwanted dust caught on its fur and the monster shook his fur again.
"Guess it isn't his bedtime yet," Syaoran moaned, raised his sword high to try a physical attack.
"Sakura, use the Sword card and help me out." Sakura wasn't sure if this was the right thing to do. After all this was a live monster she was facing today. It wasn't magical or elemental like her Clow cards. This was a real life animal that came from another world. She had never killed anything as real as this. Flies were different because they got in the way of your face and you squat them with rolled up paper.
But this was a monster. A real life monster that had the same heartbeat and same senses as we Omnivores had.
"Sakura, I don't care where it comes from or if I have blood on my sword. It's going to hurt Tomoyo-chan and we both don't want that to happen, do we?" Syaoran's voice repeatedly said to her. Sighing in reluctant agreement, Sakura released the Sword card and her wand turned into a metallic blade from top to bottom. With both swords in hand, Syaoran and Sakura aimed their weapons towards the Youma's body and instantaneously sliced down its back.
It roared painfully from the double strike to its back and arched itself as it screamed. Tomoyo pushed herself underneath the table to reach to the open doorway, panicking at the sight of the monster at such a close view.
"Tomoyo, find Yue!" Syaoran told her.
"I can't leave you both alone!" Tomoyo interlocked her fingers nervously.
"Go, we'll be fine!"
Tomoyo was in utter hesitation from leaving her friends behind but she knew it was the only solution. Marching on her feet, she ran speedily out of the classroom, leaving Sakura and Syaoran with the monster. The beast may have been cut on its back but it wouldn't give up so soon and growled at the two attackers. Why wouldn't this monster go home to its master and leave everybody alone? This place was full of innocent people. They didn't do anything wrong, did they?
"At least we made it angry," Syaoran stated. His brown eyes turned to the dazed female on his left; her sword raised high though in a shaky hold. "Sakura-chan, focus! Focus for me. I'm helping you here just like I said I would. We have to keep trying, ok?" Taking one hand off his sword, he placed it lightly on her knuckles. Sakura couldn't go on in this state. She wanted to go home and cry in her bed. She refused to destroy this beast with her sword and feel the blood touch her skin. That wasn't what she did as a Clow Card Mistress. Sure they were magical but killing a creature was what adults called murder.
Soft, emerald eyes opened up to him and along came an encouraging smile that lifted the sadness of her face.
"O-O-OK, Syaoran-kun," Sakura said softly. The Chinese boy nodded impressively to her then returned his battle stare to the beast – but in a late time. Because he and Sakura suffered a strong choke hold around their necks and were pushed down onto the floor. They could both feel the sharp claws dig into their skin. Syaoran tried to lift his sword up to cut the monster's hand though it seemed his strength wasn't enough to get close to the flesh. Sakura attempted to think of a card to use as an escape but there wasn't much time.
The furry monster began to lick its tongue and drool appeared below its lips. The sharpness from the claws was too painful to fight back. Plus the amount of air moving round the body was being cut off instantly. Syaoran and Sakura couldn't figure out how to escape when they were in suffering. Where was Yue? Surely he wasn't somewhere else. Was Tomoyo unable to find him? Kero-chan was at home and Sakura didn't have her PHS in her pocket so she could call him.
"Hey over here, Youma!" A voice yelled, moving the monster's eyes off its dinner. Syaoran and Sakura slowly tilted their heads to the doorway to see who had become a distraction to the beast. Their gazes had a hint of surprise; as well as relief that someone had come to help them. However it wasn't Yue or Cerberus. It was HER again. It was Sailor Jupiter. The girl who came yesterday and destroyed the blue-skinned monster.
The furry half-lion half-dog beast growled angrily at the intruder. Jupiter instantly recognised the appearance of this Youma as soon as it raised its monstrously ugly head. You again! She groaned. This was the same monster she encountered back in the past after it hurt Shinosaki Ken and the rest of the Inner Senshi. What the hell was it doing back alive? Jupiter remembered finishing it off with a Supreme Thunder. Who brought it back to life? Or even worse, how did it come back?
The monster's appearance hadn't changed since Jupiter last fought it.
"How dare you?" Jupiter said. "First Ken, then Sailor Moon and the other Sailor Senshi and now…" Her fists shook in rage underneath her white gloves. "Now you choose Sakura of all innocent people! Grr…I'll never forgive you. Not for a second time!!" Sakura had never seen anyone this angry before in her eyes. This was only the second moment for her to have met Sailor Jupiter in person. And in trouble.
Jupiter charged into the monster with a mighty clothesline, pushing it off Sakura and Syaoran so they could breathe again. The beast flew into the broken window, which was where it first came in to scare the pupils, and landed outside. Jupiter wouldn't leave it alone as she followed it through the broken glass. She found the Youma trying to get up on its feet but it was still dizzy from the strong throw the Sailor Senshi gave to it.
Jupiter threw the monster into a tree and watched it struggle again, "I'll finish you off just like before – only with something else!" The Youma looked up to see what she meant and knew it had a reason to be worried. One look in the Thunder Senshi's eyes showed she was not happy to see anyone causing trouble. "Take this…" Electricity flew into her hands as she prepared an attack. "SUPREME THUNDER DRAGON!!!!!!"
The electrical dragon formed from her hands and zoomed straight through the monster's body then curled around it to shock it even more. The Youma roared among the crackling of lightning surrounding its body. It crouched onto its knees and flopped easily onto the grass, becoming lifeless. Jupiter knew immediately that it had to be dead. Not many Youmas could take the pain of her Supreme Thunder Dragon. Let alone Oak Evolution.
She headed to the broken windowed classroom to meet with Syaoran and Sakura who were both recovering from the nasty claw therapy the Youma had given them briefly.
"Are you two okay?" She bent down to observe them closely. Her voice wasn't as aggressive or harsh as she sounded towards the monster that was lying outside to die.
Sakura's face blanked out in a pale colour as she stared on at the monster lying among the thick grass. Since she wasn't able to respond, Syaoran spoke instead.
"You helped us again. Thank you Sailor Jupiter," He said then suddenly blushed when her jade irises zoomed into his square face. Preventing another shyness blooming in, he went on to say, "Sakura-chan is um…"
"She's not encountered something like this before, I know," Jupiter understood in less than a minute about why the cherry blossom was in a strange trance. "Not to sound harsh but she may have to get used to it from now on. I have a bad feeling more Youmas will be after her."
"What do you mean? Do you know who's sending these monsters here?" Syaoran asked curiously. That was a good question yet hard to answer. Jupiter remembered how Ail and Ann caused serious trouble when they wanted to gather energy for their Doom Tree and ended up hurting lots of young people who were the same age as her.
This Youma she had defeated for the second time was one of their creations. It couldn't be Ail and Ann again, could it? She remembered Usagi telling her that they knew their mistake and went to another place happily where they wouldn't be killing people for their energy.
Jupiter doubted it was those two aliens again. They were probably far, far away in another galaxy helping their tree to grow and blossom magically.
"I don't know who sent these monsters to Tomoeda but I'll find out what I can I promise," She assured.
"SAILOR JUPITER, LOOK OUT!!!!" Sakura suddenly screamed, pointing outside. Jupiter and Syaoran's eardrums nearly burst when she said that. The Youma was back on its feet by bad luck. The Thunder Senshi thought she finished it off so it would die automatically. Dammit she should have finished him off more with another strike to be positively sure it was dead. The claws poked out largely and aimed straight towards the three warriors directly.
Jupiter faced her back to the Youma and covered Syaoran and Sakura between her arms, her eyes closed shut and waiting for the claws to scratch her hard on either her neck or down her spine. But another ally came to the rescue. Jupiter could tell there was someone else from the sound of the familiar roaring of the Youma and turned her head round to see who it was. Yue had thrown millions of crystals at the monster, poking it in all parts of its body painfully. Eventually it vanished to its death for real this time.
Jupiter, Syaoran and Sakura saw Yue, Touya and Tomoyo standing by the bushes.
"Thanks," Jupiter said bluntly. Yue nodded silently then glanced to the cherry blossom, who was still a little worried and scared about what she had gone through today.
"Is she all right?" Touya's face looked down at his younger sister's.
"She's still a little dazed from the Youma encounter," Jupiter explained I should have taken it down quicker. Sakura apologised quietly then mentioned she was going to splash water on her face in the girls' toilets. Tomoyo and Syaoran followed her.
"I'll go just to be sure she's okay," The Chinese boy added in confirmation before running after the two friends.
"What is troubling YOU, Sailor Jupiter?" Yue questioned as he saw her gaze distantly across the field like Sakura appeared. Instead she knew what she was thinking about. She was angry because she didn't see the Youma vanish in front of her eyes to show it had been completely vanquished by her power. Heavy concern about Sakura and Syaoran was what took her mind over – as well as anger to see a familiar face she had defeated back in the early days.
"I didn't take this Youma seriously as I should have," Jupiter accounted. "I should have seen it die in front of my eyes before checking on Sakura. Dammit I'm clumsy!" She banged her fists against each other.
"You were never clumsy from what I remembered," Yue said in opposition. The Thunder Senshi's eyebrows raised curiously from what he said. What did he mean? Had they already met? If they did she didn't recall memories of them being friends. But maybe that was it. Because she and the others lost their memories upon arriving on Earth, the events they remembered in the Silver Millennium remained vague and unclear.
"Do you know me?" Jupiter asked, stepping closer to him and looking into his clear grey eyes. She could see how his eyes blended with his long, white hair perfectly. It was quite beautiful as a matter of fact Jupiter noticed. "I…I can't seem to remember you anywhere in the Silver Millennium. You have to understand that my friends and I lost our memories as soon as we came here. It's a slow process to regain every single memory."
"I remember Princess Serenity," Yue went on, not noticing Jupiter gasp at the mention of recognizable names. "You must remember Clow Reed. Cerberus and I were his creations. He was like our father. He came to Serenity's castle to entertain her every year when it was her birthday."
Why does that name ring a bell? Jupiter closed her eyes thoughtfully to try to tap into her brain somehow. That name sounded familiar all right. Clow Reed…who was he? Maybe she could ask her friends. Then again it would take her a while to get back home and call someone up on her communicator. Tiny glimpses of the Silver Millennium came into her visions. There she was with the other Inner Senshi and Queen Serenity.
Everyone was eating happily eating by a table. Prince Endymion called someone's name to enter the dining room. A tall man with glasses and a plaited ponytail came to the far end of the long table where Endymion sat. Two other figures came into the spotlight. One definitely had to be this sweet-faced angel from looking at the long hair and huge wings. The other must be the one known as Cerberus. The guardian beast Jupiter saw yesterday.
So it was totally true then. Yue did know who she and the Inner Senshi were. Some bits started to come back. Yue and Cerberus applauded their master as he created fireworks in the dining room, impressing the Inner Senshi and making them smile for hours. She and the others did see Clow Reed and his guardians yet didn't know their names. What were their names anyway?
"Wow we did know each other. This is unbelievable!" Jupiter shrieked then calmed down quickly in front of the staring faces. "But that doesn't explain how you think I *wasn't* clumsy in the past. Why don't you fill me in on what you know about me or the other Senshi?"
"Clow Reed heard many stories about you from Princess Serenity. She said you were the bravest among the Inner Senshi and named you Senshi of Protection." Jupiter couldn't wash off the proud blush forming on her cheeks when he said this. Serenity did care for her deeply. In fact she showed equality towards the Inners and Outer Senshi. But this name she gave to Jupiter made the Thunder Senshi feel extra special. "This is how I was lead to believe you weren't what you stated as clumsy…I've seen you in battle enough times, you've proven yourself to be a brave warrior. Even now."
"T-thanks um…oh god is your name Yue?" She held back an excited screech when she got his name correct, much to her own surprise. "It looks like everything is coming back faster than before," Jupiter realised, becoming happier than she was a minute ago. "Oh man this is getting weirder." Her amazement was cut off when Yue took her hand and bowed to her on one knee. She could feel his front strands tickling her upper arm as his head bent downward. "What are you doing?"
"It is an honour to meet you after all these years, Lady Jupiter," Yue stated wisely. Lady Jupiter? That's a first The Senshi of Thunder thought embarrassingly, guessing he would kiss her hand as an act of royalty.
"Sorry to interrupt but I think I see some teachers coming by," Touya butted in, hearing startled teachers complaining about the broken window in the classroom. Jupiter and Yue knew what that meant of course. They had to exit from the school premises to avoid staring eyes from anyone else. Yue rose from his bow to release his fingers off Jupiter's hand. Before retreating, the Thunder Senshi waved goodbye to the two young men she had considered as Bishounen and rapidly ran off further down the field till her figure vanished into a dot.
Yue instantly returned into Yukito – just in time as the teachers came to shockingly visualize the shattered glass all over the grass. Touya was unfortunate to not get the chance to ask Yue some questions of his own before he turned back into Yukito. There was something he wanted to know from him.
Did Yue or even Cerberus know Sailor Jupiter's identity? True Touya had a few ideas though it wouldn't be nice to accuse someone of something that sounded pointless to them. Jupiter wasn't an ordinary girl most certainly and Touya wanted to know more about her. Then again, neither was the other girl he occasionally encountered each morning. Being suspicious and curious was becoming a new friend to Touya now.
TBC.