Shingo's Girl
by amiwakawaiidesu
(Note: The following story takes place several years after the
fifth season of "Sailor Moon", and assumes that Usagi and the
girls are still in high school, and that Usagi hasn't married
Mamoru yet. It also assumes that the great disaster mentioned in
the second season--when the people of the world fall into a frozen
sleep--hasn't happened yet.
Also, of course, I don't own any of the characters in this story
from the original "Sailor Moon", which was created by Naoko
Takeuchi.)
My name is Tsukino Shingo, and my sister is Sailor Moon. Of
course, I didn't always know that--I used to be under the
impression that Usagi was a clueless idiot--but that obviously
changed once she saved a handful of us from the destruction of the
world and preserved us in the world of Crystal Tokyo. Now,
looking back on the days before the calamity, I still think it's
funny how I came to learn who she really was--funny and sad, since
it came after a tragedy for my classmates.
* * *
But let me back up for a moment; back when I was a little kid in
grade school, I often saw Usagi and her friends around our house
in Minato-ku, but the one I had the biggest crush on was Mizuno
Ami. Like the rest of the girls, she was about 5 years older than
me--pretty and smart, with a kind personality. Since I hadn't
quite hit puberty yet, I had only a vague notion why my heart
raced fast around her, and I felt tongue-tied and nervous when she
spoke to me--but she was always respectful to me and never treated
me like a kid. That was probably why--even as the girls got ready
to graduate from high school a few years later--I still had a
crush on her, and hid with panic whenever she came around.
Clearly, I needed help.
If I had had more respect for Usagi, I might have discussed it
with her, but she went off to some dreamy fairyland whenever the
topic of romance was discussed (on account of her finally being
old enough to marry her boyfriend Mamoru--though they had not yet
tied the knot); thus, I figured the next best bet was Hino Rei--
Usagi's friend and "love doctor" at the Hikawa Shrine.
"Hino-san," I said, "I need your advice. Everyone says you're an
expert on love and stuff, right?"
"Well..." Hino-san said, pausing in her sweeping of the shrine
steps, "yes. Girl trouble?"
"Well, you see, I've got this friend who's in love with a girl
who's a lot older than he is. Now, he'd like to tell her how he
feels, but he's...afraid of what might happen."
"Hm," she said, leaning on her broom. "Why not be direct,
and just tell her how he feels?"
"Because," I replied, "he really likes this girl, and he doesn't
want to hate her if it turns out she doesn't like him."
Suddenly, Hino-san gave me a curious look.
"You are talking about Ami, right?"
I started to reply, then stopped and sighed.
"Yes."
"Oh, that's so cute! You've got a crush on Ami!"
I blushed, embarrassed.
"Oh, forget it," I said, turning to leave.
"No, no, no," Hino-san said, regaining her composure and grabbing
me by the arm; "I'm sorry...let's go inside and talk."
Inside the shrine, Hino-san took me into a side room and closed
the door for privacy.
"Now tell me about your problem," she said, sitting across from me
and pouring me a cup of tea.
"I told you--I'm afraid of telling Mizuno-san how I feel...what if
she hates me?"
"Well," Hino-san said, "Ami may have her faults, but being nasty
and mean to people aren't among them. I'm sure she'd be
flattered."
"But, she's so much OLDER than I am..."
"Shingo," she said, patiently, "age is not a factor in love. If
the cord of destiny binds you to someone, it doesn't matter if you
were born before they were, or long afterward."
"Yes, but let's be practical here--Mizuno-san is a brilliant
super-genius, going off to college, and I'm just some dork."
"Well, let's keep it simple; make a simple gesture like a
graduation present, or some flowers. And I could drop some hints
of my own..."
Hino-san--a stunning beauty in her own right, with long black hair
and flashing eyes--looked downright mischievous...but inside I was
all gurgling nervousness. This just didn't feel right at all.
"I'm sorry, ma'am..."
"Oh, please, call me 'Rei'."
"...uh, Rei...but this feels weird. Maybe I should just try to
forget her."
"You're just nervous," Rei said, starting to sit up, "I've got
something for that..."
"Rei, please," I said, grabbing the sleeve of her kimono; "it's
all right. Is it possible, maybe--you could give me something to
help forget her?"
Rei looked at me for a long moment, sympathetically.
"You've got it bad, don't you?"
"I just thought, being a priestess and all..."
"All right," she said, "wait here a moment."
She left, and returned a few minutes later.
"This is a charm," she said, handing me a tied and twisted piece
of paper. "If you say Ami's name three times, and throw it into
the river, it will help you forget about her."
"That sounds more like voodoo," I said dubiously, starting to
unwrap the charm.
"Just trust me," she said, "oh--but don't unwrap it! That spoils
the magic."
I sat there a long moment before responding.
"You're not, like, just making this up, are you?"
"Please," Rei said, solemnly; "love is a very serious matter."
* * *
Well, I did like Rei said and I threw the charm in the Sumidagawa
River--just in front of a cop.
"Hey, you!" he said, "what did you throw in the river?"
"Oh, crap!" I thought, freezing for a moment. I should have
explained, but--on impulse--I started to run away.
"Stop! Hey, kid!"
Desperately, I dashed through the patio of a restaurant, past a
row of shops and back toward Juuban Junior High School. The
policeman, although a bit chubby, was still behind me, and I began
to have visions of Mom and Dad beating the living tar out of
me...and Usagi laughing it up for good measure.
Which was when I saw Hasegawa Shinobu--a girl from school--
standing on a corner in front of me in her sailor suit, with a
book bag and a tennis racket. Shinobu--a recent transfer student,
star of our tennis team, and a girl with a strange, inexplicable
crush on me--appeared to be confused for a moment, then suddenly
grabbed me and spun me into an alley just out of sight of the
charging cop.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"Protecting you," she said, sweetly--whereupon she reached up on
tip-toes to kiss me. I was stunned, but the policeman--losing
track of me in the crowd--was even more surprised that he lost me.
Walking right by the alley, he scratched his head, shrugged and
gave up.
"Mrmph...mrph..." I muttered.
"Pardon me?" Shinobu asked, breaking our kiss.
"Uh...thank you," I said.
"Shingo, why was a policeman chasing after you?"
"I...threw something in the river."
"Shingo!" she said, moving back a step; "it wasn't drugs, was it?"
"Shinobu," I said, firmly, "I'm not a criminal..."
Then, I added, in a low mumble, "It was a charm a priestess gave
me."
"What? Why?"
"I...had a crush on someone. I wanted to forget about her."
"Oh, Shingo," Shinobu said, sadly; "do you hate me that much?"
I was confused, for a moment.
"Oh, no, I didn't mean YOU..."
"It's probably because you don't like being chased by a girl,"
Shinobu said, turning away. "Boys don't like being chased, isn't
that right?"
"No," I said, "you're fine...please, Shinobu--you're not crying,
are you?"
Well, I don't know if she was crying for real, but I felt like a
real heel.
"Here," I said, fishing out a handkerchief. "I'm sorry. Let me
walk you home."
"But I thought you didn't like me..."
"Shinobu, please--I think you're swell. I am a little confused
about why a pretty girl like you--who's probably going to make
billions of yen--is interested in me..."
But Shinobu didn't answer that. Instead, she remained silent as I
walked her home--keeping my eyes peeled for the policeman, and
vaguely wondering if maybe I should have discouraged her from
hanging onto my arm like she did.
* * *
Well, I never did really understand what Shinobu saw in me, but I
began to wonder if maybe...just maybe...this was part of the spell
Hino-san had cast. It was true, I had felt uncomfortable in the
past being chased and fussed-over by Shinobu, and it was hard to
see what a rich girl like her would see in me, but maybe this was
part of a higher plan. Maybe Shinobu was my destiny.
Well, anyway, the kids around school were stunned when I finally
gave up my resistance. While it was annoying to find her making
bento for me (every day!) and tying little ribbons around my
wrist, it was also nice to have a girlfriend who was actually my
age. As the spring began, I even took a shot at joining the
tennis team to humor her. As it happened, I wasn't very good, but
Coach Kuroi did take a liking to me, and offered to make me the
assistant team manager. That meant I got to go with the team on
matches, and generally act as a gofer. Since--like Usagi--I
wasn't a great student, I could dig that as a chance to get out of
class!
And, as time passed, I began to fall in love with Shinobu.
The strangest thing about Shinobu was that I never saw her
parents--they always seemed to be gone--but her house certainly
seemed nice enough, a virtual palace sitting behind a gated fence.
And I also noticed that nobody seemed to know much about her past,
although she was so charming I didn't really care. One day, for
instance, we walked in front of a poster for a new Sailor Moon
manga, and it was all I could do to conceal what a fan I was.
"Isn't she cool?" Shinobu exclaimed.
"Yeah," I said; "we haven't seen her around though, much, lately."
"Maybe she wiped out all the monsters on the Earth," Shinobu
speculated, "or maybe she went back to the Moon Kingdom. In the
last issue, it explained how she used to be a princess on the
moon."
"You seem to know all about Sailor Moon," I said.
"Oh, sure, she's subarashii!" Shinobu said, dreamily. "I wonder--
do you suppose she's a real person like us, or more like some
alien from another planet?"
"I'm sure she's a real person. She probably lives right here in
Tokyo, somewhere."
"Do you think? Wouldn't that be cool, if she was actually living
right next door to you?"
"Hmm. Some people say my sister looks a little like Sailor
Moon..."
I paused to contemplate Usagi stuffing her face with cake and pie,
bumbling her way through high school, and lighting the kitchen on
fire with her cooking disasters.
"...but I just don't see it."
We walked on a little ways, then Shinobu spoke up again.
"Shingo, do you suppose we really are reincarnated when we die?"
"What brought that on?"
"Well, in the manga, Sailor Moon was reincarnated."
"That's just a comic book," I answered; "besides, I wouldn't worry
about it--you'll probably live to be 110."
Suddenly, Shinobu stopped.
"What's the matter?"
"Shingo, will you freak if I tell you something?"
"I don't know--is it something I should freak about?"
"It's...something I don't like to talk about. I'm afraid people
would think I was crazy."
"What is it?"
"Well, I've always had a feeling I would die around water. It's
like a premonition, and it's why I've never learned how to swim."
I looked at her suspiciously. Despite myself, I thought of Ami,
who could swim like a fish.
"That's weird, Shinobu. You know, if you learn how to swim you
wouldn't have to be afraid of water."
Shinobu turned away, crying.
"Now you must think I'm some kind of nut!"
"I don't think you're a nut," I said, taking her hand. "Come on,
let's go to the courts."
* * *
As it happened, there was a match scheduled at a remote school up
in the mountains in a couple of days, so the team stayed late at
the courts to practice. When we finally left after dark, I was
walking Shinobu home through Minato-ku when we turned a corner and
ran into Ami!
By turns, I was shocked and embarrassed, and tried to hide my face
behind my racket. Ami, however--doubtless returning home from
cram school--spotted me and called out, "Shingo! Long time no
see!"
"Uh...yeah."
"Is this your friend?" Shinobu asked, appraising the older girl.
"Mizuno Ami, meet Hasegawa Shinobu."
"I'm his girlfriend," Shinobu said, grabbing me protectively.
"That's so kawaii!" Ami said, incongruously. Then, when she saw
how embarrassed I was, she added, "I'm sorry, I just wish I had a
cute boyfriend to walk me home after school."
"You'll have to get your own," Shinobu said.
"Oh, don't be mean," I said; "Ami is a good friend of my sister's,
and I've known her since I was a little kid."
Ami then bowed politely and moved on, blushing as she was wont to
do.
"I'm sorry," Shinobu apologized afterward; "it's just...I don't
want to lose you."
"I wouldn't worry about that," I said. "Mizuno-san doesn't have
any time for boys."
"What is she, some kind of hermit?"
"No, she wants to be a doctor, so she has to study all the time."
"A doctor? How icky!"
"I think it's kind of cool," I said, softly, "how she can work so
hard, and still be so nice to everybody."
Shinobu was silent for a long time afterward.
"Shingo?" she said, finally, when we reached her house; "I'm sorry
I'm not a better person."
"I think you're perfect," I replied, tapping her on the nose.
"Now rest up for the match tomorrow."
"Hai!" Shinobu said, making a cute little fist before turning
away.
It was the last time I ever saw her...alive.
* * *
Although I wanted to ride to the match in the van with the rest of
the team, Coach Kuroi insisted that I ride with him instead in his
personal car. However, as the van started off, we stayed stuck at
the school with a dead battery.
"Smooth, coach."
"Hey, you should show more respect for your elders."
"Sumimasen, senpai. We're still going to miss the match, though."
Eventually, Coach Kuroi tried jumping the battery but--by the time
he realized the battery was dead--that had blown another hour.
Then, suddenly, one of the parents came running up to the parking
lot.
"Coach, what are you doing here?"
"My battery's dead. What's the matter?"
"Haven't you heard?" she said. "The news said a van slid off a
road in the mountains!"
Things happened after that--people running around, commotion,
noise--but I can barely remember any of it. Down on the grass
next to the coach's car, where my knees had buckled--I distantly
heard a policeman confirm the story: on a patch of winding road,
the team van had swerved to pass a stalled truck and rolled down a
ravine into a mountain lake. There were no survivors.
* * *
What I didn't realize at first was how distraught my mother would
be; she had heard about the crash as well and naturally thought I
was dead. Thus, when I finally staggered home later in the
afternoon, I was met with startled hugs and effusive joy from
Mother and Usagi. Father was still at work.
"Oh, Shingo," Mother said. "Shingo, I'm so sorry."
"Shingo," Usagi said, "is there anything we can do for you?"
"Thank you," I said. "But I think I'd rather be alone now."
Outside my room, I heard more commotion--people coming and going,
asking how I was doing, if anyone had called the Hasegawa's--but I
stayed there by myself. I knew I should try to rest, but I
couldn't stop thinking about Shinobu and the last time I'd seen
her. Had I been too mean to her? Was I being punished?
It was about that time that my gaze fell upon a clay statue of
Sailor Moon that a friend had made for me a long time ago. I
knew Sailor Moon was real--I'd actually met her--but where was she
when the minivan slid off the mountain?
"Shingo?" Usagi said, later, cracking open my door; "there's
someone to see you."
"Shingo?" Ami said.
I turned around, startled. As dark as my feelings were, she was a
ray of light.
"I'm so sorry," she said, kneeling down beside me. "You
probably don't want to talk about it, do you?"
That, however, was precisely what I wanted to do. Feelings poured
out me--incoherent, confused thoughts of guilt and fear--but Ami
just sat there and listened. And Usagi was there too, in the
doorway.
"This stupid doll," I said, holding the clay statue. "Where is
this Sailor Moon? Was Shinobu too trivial to help?"
"Oh, Shingo," Ami said, glancing back at Usagi; "I'm sure Sailor
Moon would be very sad for Shinobu and her family."
At which point, Usagi choked back a sob and ran away.
"Don't you need to be getting home?" I asked. "It must be late."
"Would you like me to go?"
"No."
"Well, I'll just stay here then," she said, gently.
Whereupon, as if to anticipate my question, she produced a book of
Chinese mythology she was studying at her school.
"I always come prepared," she said, turning on a light. "Now
close your eyes, and I'll read for you."
* * *
I wouldn't have thought I could, but I fell asleep listening to
Ami read the story of the half-dragon goddess Nu Wa and how she
rebuilt the world after the passage of Gong Gong, the demon god of
floods.
Later, during the night, I dreamt about a flood of water that
turned to ice and trapped all the people of the world. Then
Sailor Moon turned into a dragon and saved everyone.
Luckily, there was no school the next day, so I was free to mope
in seclusion. I tried to call Shinobu's parents, using the number
she gave me, but I was startled to hear that there was no such
number. But then again, it wasn't like I called her often; as I
came to think of it, she always called me.
Then the police showed up.
"Ma'am," a plainclothes detective said; "may we have a word with
your son?"
"Is he in some kind of trouble?" Mother asked.
"No, ma'am. We just want to speak to him."
Oh, crap! I thought; they're still after me!
"Please don't arrest me!" I said. "I didn't know it was illegal
to throw things in the river! It was just a love charm, honest!"
The two detectives looked at each other curiously.
"Son, I think there's been a misunderstanding. We're here to
investigate the crash of your school van."
"Investigate...? I thought it was an accident."
"It probably was," the second detective said, "but there's some
loose ends that need tying up. Were you present when Hasegawa
Shinobu boarded the van?"
"Yeah...so?"
"Well, here's our problem. We've recovered the van, and most of
the victims, but not Hasegawa-san. We just want to cover our
bases."
"Couldn't she have...fallen out?"
"It's possible," the first detective said, "but it is odd. All
the passengers were buckled into their seat belts, but the seat
where Hasegawa-san should have been was empty."
"And her seat belt was unbuckled," his partner added.
Still stunned by the tragedy, I didn't know what to say.
"Why don't you let him be?" Mom said. "You know what he's been
through."
"Perhaps you're right, Tsukino-san. However, we do have one more
question."
"What's that?" I asked.
"It's about the parents of Hasegawa-san. We've tried to reach
them, but the address in the school records is an empty lot. And
the phone number is fictitious."
"Uh..."
"Would you happen to know where they might be reached?"
All I could do was shrug, stupidly.
"You know, something else that might help," the first detective
said, "is a picture of the young lady. Do you have any pictures
of Hasegawa-san?"
"Actually, no," I had to admit. "I never really thought about
that."
"Well, go ahead and call us if you find one, or anything jogs your
memory. Good day, son, ma'am."
* * *
In keeping with her nature, Usagi was eavedropping, and thus I
found I had company when I sneaked out of the house and went to
the block where Shinobu's 'house' used to be. Usagi, Rei and Ami
all formed a less-than-subtle tail as I came upon the now empty
lot. For a while, I pretended to ignore them, but finally I had
enough and turned around to confront them.
"Usagi, why are you following me?"
Amazingly, Usagi still tried to hide herself behind a telephone
pole, but Rei and Ami were a little more sensible.
"This IS kind of silly," Rei admitted; "Usagi, why don't
we just ask Shingo what he's doing?"
"Oh, fine," Usagi said, finally coming out to confront me.
"Shingo, what are you doing?"
"Well, meatball-head, I'm looking for my girlfriend's house."
"But it looks like an empty lot."
"Albeit," Ami noted, "in a rather affluent neighborhood. Rei, do
you sense anything?"
"Yes," Rei said, closing her eyes and pressing her hands together.
"There is a presence here."
"Girls, please," I said, painfully, "do you mind? We're talking
about someone who's dead here--someone I care about."
"Unless," Rei said, "she's not dead."
"What are you saying? She's some kind of ghost?"
"Maybe."
"This is nonsense," I said, turning away. "Shinobu was a flesh-
and-blood girl! I touched her, I held her, I...kissed her!"
"And there were many people who saw her," Ami noted. "Including
me."
"That is odd," Rei admitted. "But still, it's not unheard-of for
ghosts to latch onto people, and affect their perceptions."
By then, however, I was quite upset.
"Rei, how can you be so callous? It was your love charm that
started all this!"
Rei appeared confused for a moment, then remembered the charm she
had given me to throw in the river.
"Oh, that. That was just a blank piece of paper I wrapped up for
you."
"But--why?"
"Well, I seem to recall that a certain someone," she said,
glancing from myself to Ami, "was incapable of expressing his
feelings for another someone."
"Oh my!" Ami said, putting her hands to her face and blushing.
"Damn you girls," I swore, backing away from them and the lot,
"just get away from me! And mind your own damn business!"
* * *
I felt bad about what I said almost as soon as I said it, but
pride prevented me from going back to apologize. Instead, I
wandered around the city--alone--for several hours before I
finally came home and got an earful from Mom.
"Where have you been, young man? We've been worried sick about
you!"
I shrugged.
"You get up to your room right this minute!"
"Mom," said Usagi--back home before me--"give him a break!"
"Don't you talk back to me, young lady!"
I sighed, but I was already headed for my room. Today, at least,
I was tired, and fell right asleep.
The dream I had that night, however, was different. I thought I
heard Shinobu calling to me from a mountain lake, but I couldn't
see her--just a snapshot of her cheery face and her tennis racket.
When I woke up the next day, then, I had a mission. Although I
made as if to go to school--packing my books and putting on my
uniform--I went to a bus depot instead and purchased a ticket for
the mountains. Then, several hours later, I was on my way up the
same winding highway where my teammates had met their end.
Since I had never been there before, I tried to find the stop
closest to the point of the accident, but I misread the route map
and didn't actually get there until the afternoon. By then--
whipped by the wind of passing cars as I struggled up the side of
the road--I was pretty worn out, and I was startled when I finally
came across the skid marks of braking tires, a broken guard rail
and a path of small trees and branches knocked aside by the
rolling van. Certainly, the accident was real.
Following some morbid urge, then, I made my way into the ravine,
following the path of broken branches right to the edge of the
water. It was not much of a lake, really--there were no boats,
buildings, or people around--but I could visualize the violence of
the crash, and finally stripped off my shoes and socks to walk out
into the water.
"Shinobu," I whispered. "Why did I have to fall in love with
you?"
* * *
Much later, after I had walked all the way around the lake and the
sun had gone down, I found a cliff overlooking the water, where a
crescent moon was soon reflected. There I sat for a long while,
numb with confusion, as a strong wind began to blow up around me.
"Shingo..."
"What?" I asked, looking up, "who's there?"
"Shingo, it's me. Don't you know me?"
Feeling the hair rise on my neck, I turned around and saw
Shinobu--still dressed in her tennis whites and carrying her
racket.
"Shinobu...? But you're dead!"
Shinobu looked sad as she stepped up onto the cliff beside me.
Then, as I followed her with my eyes, she stepped right off the
cliff and into the air above the lake. Although she seemed real
enough, with her hair and her clothing tossed by the wind, she
also seemed to be alive with light, as if she were glowing from
within.
"Now I guess you don't love me anymore," she said.
"Shinobu...what the hell are you?"
"Well, like you said, I'm dead. I was a little girl, once, but I
was killed when I fell off a boat and drowned."
"What do you want from me?" I asked, stumbling back a step.
"I want you to be with me," she said, looking up with her big, sad
eyes. "I love you, Shingo."
"But, why me?"
"Oh, Shingo," she said, "I live in the water, and places where the
water flows. I saw you walk by my river, day after day, pining
for that girl Ami, and my heart went out to you. I love you, and
I want you to be with me."
"You mean...die?"
"Oh, Shingo, it's not so bad. There's something I wanted to tell
you...something I couldn't tell you before...but now you should
know. Your world, and all the people in it, are doomed. Soon, a
frozen sleep will fall upon all the world, and all those alive now
will linger in a hell between life and death. But if you come
with me, I will love you, and we will be together forever!"
I must admit, she was hauntingly seductive and beautiful. All I
had to do was take a single step...
"Shinobu," I said, "did you kill those people in the van?"
"No, that was their destiny. Just as it is the fate of the world
to suffer an icy death."
"But, how do I know that you're telling the truth?" I asked. "You
lied to me before."
"Oh, I'm telling you the truth," Shinobu said. "But if you doubt
me, why don't you ask your friend, Sailor Mercury?"
I was confused for a moment, but then I followed her gaze past
myself and turned to see Mizuno Ami there at the base of the
cliff.
"Ami?" I said, "what the hell are you doing here?"
"I had a hunch where you'd be," Ami said gently, holding out her
hand. "Now why don't we just go home, Shingo? I'm sure your
mother is worried about you."
"His mother is one of the doomed," Shinobu said, suddenly
alighting on the cliff and putting her arms around me. "Or don't
you know that, sailor girl?"
Ami gave Shinobu a wary glance, and I noticed that she had
something in her hand, something like a large pen.
"Of course," Shinobu went on, "you've seen a glimpse of the
future, when you travelled through the Door of Time, but I can
travel places you have never been. Would you like to know how you
die, Sailor Mercury?"
Embraced, now, by Shinobu, and chilled by the sudden ice in her
tone, I saw Ami only as a vague form in the distance. Yet, I
heard what she said quite clearly.
"I have nothing to say to you, spirit. Release my friend
immediately, or I will punish you!"
Say, I thought, that sounds familiar...
Then, as the howling of the wind grew stronger, and my eyelids
grew heavy, Ami raised her pen above her head and spoke some
phrase I did not recognize.
"MERCURY CRYSTAL POWER! MAKEUP!"
Then, the trees were lit with a blaze of blue-white light, and
there was Sailor Mercury--resplendent in her blue-white sailor
seifuku, with ribbons fluttering.
"You don't frighten me," Shinobu said. "If you hurt me, you kill
Shingo."
Ami--or Sailor Mercury--did not seem impressed. She simply
touched one of her earrings, producing a visor from her golden
headband, then spoke another foreign phrase.
"SHINE AQUA RHAPSODY!"
Suddenly, a wall of water poured from her hands, and I flinched as
the mass hurled toward me. At the last second, however, the ball
of water arced overhead, then fell back to explode around Shinobu
from behind. Needles of ice stabbed into my skin--that stuff was
cold!--but Shinobu caught the brunt of the blast and released me.
Falling forward onto my knees, I looked back to see her encased in
solid ice, then covered my eyes as the ice exploded.
For a long moment, afterward, I just lay there, afraid and
shivering. But then I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up to
see the pretty soldier.
"It's all right, Shingo," Sailor Mercury said. "That monster is
gone."
"Ami...? You're Sailor Mercury...?"
"I'm sorry," she said, "that ice is cold. But if you died, it
would break the heart of her majesty."
"Oh, you don't have to call me that," Usagi said, and I turned my
head with shock to see my sister--dressed as Sailor Moon. "The
world isn't destroyed quite yet."
Still further away--out of earshot--was another pretty soldier in
red and white: Sailor Mars. Although I couldn't be sure, she
looked a lot like Rei!
"Usagi?" I said, feeling the blood drain from my face with the
shock; "you're Sailor Moon...!?"
Then I passed out.
* * *
When I woke up later, I was in the back of a car with my sister.
As it was still quite dark, apart from the dome light of the car,
I only slowly came to realize that Ami and Rei were also there,
looking back from the front driver and passenger seats. I vaguely
remembered that Ami did have a license, and this was probably her
mother's car.
"Are you all right?" Usagi asked.
"Oh, man," I said, groggily, "I just had the weirdest dream. You
were Sailor Moon, Ami was Sailor Mercury, and Rei was Sailor
Mars!"
The girls glanced at each other, but said nothing.
"It's just the shock," Rei offered. "You've been in close contact
with the spirit world."
"You mean Shinobu really was a ghost?"
"Oh yes. She's gone now, but she'll be back if you aren't
purified."
"What do you mean by 'purified'?" I asked.
"Well," Rei explained, "demons and spirits look for people who
have weaknesses they can exploit--in your case, a kind heart
searching for love. What we need to do is perform a simple ritual
that will fortify your heart against evil influences."
"Can you do that, Rei?" Usagi asked.
"I should be able to," Rei said, "but we'll have to go right to
the shrine."
"Oh, no," I moaned, "Mom will kill me."
"No, it's all right," Ami said, producing a cell phone. "I called
to let her know we found you. We told her we'd bring you back in
the morning."
"Then she'll kill you," Usagi said.
I started to sit up in the seat, but my head began to spin.
"Unnh..." I groaned. "So, Shinobu's a ghost, but you're not the
pretty soldiers?"
"That about covers it," Rei said. "Let's go, Ami."
Ami started the engine and gunned the gas, and soon darkened trees
began to move past the windows. Slowly, I pushed myself upright
as Rei and Ami made small talk in the front. Usagi, for her part,
was quiet until a mischievous thought occurred to me.
"Your majesty?" I said.
"Yes?"
"Usagi!" Rei said, turning around.
"What!"
"Idiot."
After that, we drove on a long time in silence before I finally
spoke.
"Well, whoever you are," I said, "thanks for saving me."
"Don't mention it," Usagi said, patiently. "You are my little
brother."
"And Ami? Rei? I'm sorry I yelled at you."
"Oh, that's all right," Ami said. "Maybe a certain someone is
flattered by what you did."
"Oh, now he's blushing!" Usagi said.
"Yep, two of a kind," Rei said. "Hey, keep your eyes on the road,
Ami!"
THE END
by amiwakawaiidesu
(Note: The following story takes place several years after the
fifth season of "Sailor Moon", and assumes that Usagi and the
girls are still in high school, and that Usagi hasn't married
Mamoru yet. It also assumes that the great disaster mentioned in
the second season--when the people of the world fall into a frozen
sleep--hasn't happened yet.
Also, of course, I don't own any of the characters in this story
from the original "Sailor Moon", which was created by Naoko
Takeuchi.)
My name is Tsukino Shingo, and my sister is Sailor Moon. Of
course, I didn't always know that--I used to be under the
impression that Usagi was a clueless idiot--but that obviously
changed once she saved a handful of us from the destruction of the
world and preserved us in the world of Crystal Tokyo. Now,
looking back on the days before the calamity, I still think it's
funny how I came to learn who she really was--funny and sad, since
it came after a tragedy for my classmates.
* * *
But let me back up for a moment; back when I was a little kid in
grade school, I often saw Usagi and her friends around our house
in Minato-ku, but the one I had the biggest crush on was Mizuno
Ami. Like the rest of the girls, she was about 5 years older than
me--pretty and smart, with a kind personality. Since I hadn't
quite hit puberty yet, I had only a vague notion why my heart
raced fast around her, and I felt tongue-tied and nervous when she
spoke to me--but she was always respectful to me and never treated
me like a kid. That was probably why--even as the girls got ready
to graduate from high school a few years later--I still had a
crush on her, and hid with panic whenever she came around.
Clearly, I needed help.
If I had had more respect for Usagi, I might have discussed it
with her, but she went off to some dreamy fairyland whenever the
topic of romance was discussed (on account of her finally being
old enough to marry her boyfriend Mamoru--though they had not yet
tied the knot); thus, I figured the next best bet was Hino Rei--
Usagi's friend and "love doctor" at the Hikawa Shrine.
"Hino-san," I said, "I need your advice. Everyone says you're an
expert on love and stuff, right?"
"Well..." Hino-san said, pausing in her sweeping of the shrine
steps, "yes. Girl trouble?"
"Well, you see, I've got this friend who's in love with a girl
who's a lot older than he is. Now, he'd like to tell her how he
feels, but he's...afraid of what might happen."
"Hm," she said, leaning on her broom. "Why not be direct,
and just tell her how he feels?"
"Because," I replied, "he really likes this girl, and he doesn't
want to hate her if it turns out she doesn't like him."
Suddenly, Hino-san gave me a curious look.
"You are talking about Ami, right?"
I started to reply, then stopped and sighed.
"Yes."
"Oh, that's so cute! You've got a crush on Ami!"
I blushed, embarrassed.
"Oh, forget it," I said, turning to leave.
"No, no, no," Hino-san said, regaining her composure and grabbing
me by the arm; "I'm sorry...let's go inside and talk."
Inside the shrine, Hino-san took me into a side room and closed
the door for privacy.
"Now tell me about your problem," she said, sitting across from me
and pouring me a cup of tea.
"I told you--I'm afraid of telling Mizuno-san how I feel...what if
she hates me?"
"Well," Hino-san said, "Ami may have her faults, but being nasty
and mean to people aren't among them. I'm sure she'd be
flattered."
"But, she's so much OLDER than I am..."
"Shingo," she said, patiently, "age is not a factor in love. If
the cord of destiny binds you to someone, it doesn't matter if you
were born before they were, or long afterward."
"Yes, but let's be practical here--Mizuno-san is a brilliant
super-genius, going off to college, and I'm just some dork."
"Well, let's keep it simple; make a simple gesture like a
graduation present, or some flowers. And I could drop some hints
of my own..."
Hino-san--a stunning beauty in her own right, with long black hair
and flashing eyes--looked downright mischievous...but inside I was
all gurgling nervousness. This just didn't feel right at all.
"I'm sorry, ma'am..."
"Oh, please, call me 'Rei'."
"...uh, Rei...but this feels weird. Maybe I should just try to
forget her."
"You're just nervous," Rei said, starting to sit up, "I've got
something for that..."
"Rei, please," I said, grabbing the sleeve of her kimono; "it's
all right. Is it possible, maybe--you could give me something to
help forget her?"
Rei looked at me for a long moment, sympathetically.
"You've got it bad, don't you?"
"I just thought, being a priestess and all..."
"All right," she said, "wait here a moment."
She left, and returned a few minutes later.
"This is a charm," she said, handing me a tied and twisted piece
of paper. "If you say Ami's name three times, and throw it into
the river, it will help you forget about her."
"That sounds more like voodoo," I said dubiously, starting to
unwrap the charm.
"Just trust me," she said, "oh--but don't unwrap it! That spoils
the magic."
I sat there a long moment before responding.
"You're not, like, just making this up, are you?"
"Please," Rei said, solemnly; "love is a very serious matter."
* * *
Well, I did like Rei said and I threw the charm in the Sumidagawa
River--just in front of a cop.
"Hey, you!" he said, "what did you throw in the river?"
"Oh, crap!" I thought, freezing for a moment. I should have
explained, but--on impulse--I started to run away.
"Stop! Hey, kid!"
Desperately, I dashed through the patio of a restaurant, past a
row of shops and back toward Juuban Junior High School. The
policeman, although a bit chubby, was still behind me, and I began
to have visions of Mom and Dad beating the living tar out of
me...and Usagi laughing it up for good measure.
Which was when I saw Hasegawa Shinobu--a girl from school--
standing on a corner in front of me in her sailor suit, with a
book bag and a tennis racket. Shinobu--a recent transfer student,
star of our tennis team, and a girl with a strange, inexplicable
crush on me--appeared to be confused for a moment, then suddenly
grabbed me and spun me into an alley just out of sight of the
charging cop.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"Protecting you," she said, sweetly--whereupon she reached up on
tip-toes to kiss me. I was stunned, but the policeman--losing
track of me in the crowd--was even more surprised that he lost me.
Walking right by the alley, he scratched his head, shrugged and
gave up.
"Mrmph...mrph..." I muttered.
"Pardon me?" Shinobu asked, breaking our kiss.
"Uh...thank you," I said.
"Shingo, why was a policeman chasing after you?"
"I...threw something in the river."
"Shingo!" she said, moving back a step; "it wasn't drugs, was it?"
"Shinobu," I said, firmly, "I'm not a criminal..."
Then, I added, in a low mumble, "It was a charm a priestess gave
me."
"What? Why?"
"I...had a crush on someone. I wanted to forget about her."
"Oh, Shingo," Shinobu said, sadly; "do you hate me that much?"
I was confused, for a moment.
"Oh, no, I didn't mean YOU..."
"It's probably because you don't like being chased by a girl,"
Shinobu said, turning away. "Boys don't like being chased, isn't
that right?"
"No," I said, "you're fine...please, Shinobu--you're not crying,
are you?"
Well, I don't know if she was crying for real, but I felt like a
real heel.
"Here," I said, fishing out a handkerchief. "I'm sorry. Let me
walk you home."
"But I thought you didn't like me..."
"Shinobu, please--I think you're swell. I am a little confused
about why a pretty girl like you--who's probably going to make
billions of yen--is interested in me..."
But Shinobu didn't answer that. Instead, she remained silent as I
walked her home--keeping my eyes peeled for the policeman, and
vaguely wondering if maybe I should have discouraged her from
hanging onto my arm like she did.
* * *
Well, I never did really understand what Shinobu saw in me, but I
began to wonder if maybe...just maybe...this was part of the spell
Hino-san had cast. It was true, I had felt uncomfortable in the
past being chased and fussed-over by Shinobu, and it was hard to
see what a rich girl like her would see in me, but maybe this was
part of a higher plan. Maybe Shinobu was my destiny.
Well, anyway, the kids around school were stunned when I finally
gave up my resistance. While it was annoying to find her making
bento for me (every day!) and tying little ribbons around my
wrist, it was also nice to have a girlfriend who was actually my
age. As the spring began, I even took a shot at joining the
tennis team to humor her. As it happened, I wasn't very good, but
Coach Kuroi did take a liking to me, and offered to make me the
assistant team manager. That meant I got to go with the team on
matches, and generally act as a gofer. Since--like Usagi--I
wasn't a great student, I could dig that as a chance to get out of
class!
And, as time passed, I began to fall in love with Shinobu.
The strangest thing about Shinobu was that I never saw her
parents--they always seemed to be gone--but her house certainly
seemed nice enough, a virtual palace sitting behind a gated fence.
And I also noticed that nobody seemed to know much about her past,
although she was so charming I didn't really care. One day, for
instance, we walked in front of a poster for a new Sailor Moon
manga, and it was all I could do to conceal what a fan I was.
"Isn't she cool?" Shinobu exclaimed.
"Yeah," I said; "we haven't seen her around though, much, lately."
"Maybe she wiped out all the monsters on the Earth," Shinobu
speculated, "or maybe she went back to the Moon Kingdom. In the
last issue, it explained how she used to be a princess on the
moon."
"You seem to know all about Sailor Moon," I said.
"Oh, sure, she's subarashii!" Shinobu said, dreamily. "I wonder--
do you suppose she's a real person like us, or more like some
alien from another planet?"
"I'm sure she's a real person. She probably lives right here in
Tokyo, somewhere."
"Do you think? Wouldn't that be cool, if she was actually living
right next door to you?"
"Hmm. Some people say my sister looks a little like Sailor
Moon..."
I paused to contemplate Usagi stuffing her face with cake and pie,
bumbling her way through high school, and lighting the kitchen on
fire with her cooking disasters.
"...but I just don't see it."
We walked on a little ways, then Shinobu spoke up again.
"Shingo, do you suppose we really are reincarnated when we die?"
"What brought that on?"
"Well, in the manga, Sailor Moon was reincarnated."
"That's just a comic book," I answered; "besides, I wouldn't worry
about it--you'll probably live to be 110."
Suddenly, Shinobu stopped.
"What's the matter?"
"Shingo, will you freak if I tell you something?"
"I don't know--is it something I should freak about?"
"It's...something I don't like to talk about. I'm afraid people
would think I was crazy."
"What is it?"
"Well, I've always had a feeling I would die around water. It's
like a premonition, and it's why I've never learned how to swim."
I looked at her suspiciously. Despite myself, I thought of Ami,
who could swim like a fish.
"That's weird, Shinobu. You know, if you learn how to swim you
wouldn't have to be afraid of water."
Shinobu turned away, crying.
"Now you must think I'm some kind of nut!"
"I don't think you're a nut," I said, taking her hand. "Come on,
let's go to the courts."
* * *
As it happened, there was a match scheduled at a remote school up
in the mountains in a couple of days, so the team stayed late at
the courts to practice. When we finally left after dark, I was
walking Shinobu home through Minato-ku when we turned a corner and
ran into Ami!
By turns, I was shocked and embarrassed, and tried to hide my face
behind my racket. Ami, however--doubtless returning home from
cram school--spotted me and called out, "Shingo! Long time no
see!"
"Uh...yeah."
"Is this your friend?" Shinobu asked, appraising the older girl.
"Mizuno Ami, meet Hasegawa Shinobu."
"I'm his girlfriend," Shinobu said, grabbing me protectively.
"That's so kawaii!" Ami said, incongruously. Then, when she saw
how embarrassed I was, she added, "I'm sorry, I just wish I had a
cute boyfriend to walk me home after school."
"You'll have to get your own," Shinobu said.
"Oh, don't be mean," I said; "Ami is a good friend of my sister's,
and I've known her since I was a little kid."
Ami then bowed politely and moved on, blushing as she was wont to
do.
"I'm sorry," Shinobu apologized afterward; "it's just...I don't
want to lose you."
"I wouldn't worry about that," I said. "Mizuno-san doesn't have
any time for boys."
"What is she, some kind of hermit?"
"No, she wants to be a doctor, so she has to study all the time."
"A doctor? How icky!"
"I think it's kind of cool," I said, softly, "how she can work so
hard, and still be so nice to everybody."
Shinobu was silent for a long time afterward.
"Shingo?" she said, finally, when we reached her house; "I'm sorry
I'm not a better person."
"I think you're perfect," I replied, tapping her on the nose.
"Now rest up for the match tomorrow."
"Hai!" Shinobu said, making a cute little fist before turning
away.
It was the last time I ever saw her...alive.
* * *
Although I wanted to ride to the match in the van with the rest of
the team, Coach Kuroi insisted that I ride with him instead in his
personal car. However, as the van started off, we stayed stuck at
the school with a dead battery.
"Smooth, coach."
"Hey, you should show more respect for your elders."
"Sumimasen, senpai. We're still going to miss the match, though."
Eventually, Coach Kuroi tried jumping the battery but--by the time
he realized the battery was dead--that had blown another hour.
Then, suddenly, one of the parents came running up to the parking
lot.
"Coach, what are you doing here?"
"My battery's dead. What's the matter?"
"Haven't you heard?" she said. "The news said a van slid off a
road in the mountains!"
Things happened after that--people running around, commotion,
noise--but I can barely remember any of it. Down on the grass
next to the coach's car, where my knees had buckled--I distantly
heard a policeman confirm the story: on a patch of winding road,
the team van had swerved to pass a stalled truck and rolled down a
ravine into a mountain lake. There were no survivors.
* * *
What I didn't realize at first was how distraught my mother would
be; she had heard about the crash as well and naturally thought I
was dead. Thus, when I finally staggered home later in the
afternoon, I was met with startled hugs and effusive joy from
Mother and Usagi. Father was still at work.
"Oh, Shingo," Mother said. "Shingo, I'm so sorry."
"Shingo," Usagi said, "is there anything we can do for you?"
"Thank you," I said. "But I think I'd rather be alone now."
Outside my room, I heard more commotion--people coming and going,
asking how I was doing, if anyone had called the Hasegawa's--but I
stayed there by myself. I knew I should try to rest, but I
couldn't stop thinking about Shinobu and the last time I'd seen
her. Had I been too mean to her? Was I being punished?
It was about that time that my gaze fell upon a clay statue of
Sailor Moon that a friend had made for me a long time ago. I
knew Sailor Moon was real--I'd actually met her--but where was she
when the minivan slid off the mountain?
"Shingo?" Usagi said, later, cracking open my door; "there's
someone to see you."
"Shingo?" Ami said.
I turned around, startled. As dark as my feelings were, she was a
ray of light.
"I'm so sorry," she said, kneeling down beside me. "You
probably don't want to talk about it, do you?"
That, however, was precisely what I wanted to do. Feelings poured
out me--incoherent, confused thoughts of guilt and fear--but Ami
just sat there and listened. And Usagi was there too, in the
doorway.
"This stupid doll," I said, holding the clay statue. "Where is
this Sailor Moon? Was Shinobu too trivial to help?"
"Oh, Shingo," Ami said, glancing back at Usagi; "I'm sure Sailor
Moon would be very sad for Shinobu and her family."
At which point, Usagi choked back a sob and ran away.
"Don't you need to be getting home?" I asked. "It must be late."
"Would you like me to go?"
"No."
"Well, I'll just stay here then," she said, gently.
Whereupon, as if to anticipate my question, she produced a book of
Chinese mythology she was studying at her school.
"I always come prepared," she said, turning on a light. "Now
close your eyes, and I'll read for you."
* * *
I wouldn't have thought I could, but I fell asleep listening to
Ami read the story of the half-dragon goddess Nu Wa and how she
rebuilt the world after the passage of Gong Gong, the demon god of
floods.
Later, during the night, I dreamt about a flood of water that
turned to ice and trapped all the people of the world. Then
Sailor Moon turned into a dragon and saved everyone.
Luckily, there was no school the next day, so I was free to mope
in seclusion. I tried to call Shinobu's parents, using the number
she gave me, but I was startled to hear that there was no such
number. But then again, it wasn't like I called her often; as I
came to think of it, she always called me.
Then the police showed up.
"Ma'am," a plainclothes detective said; "may we have a word with
your son?"
"Is he in some kind of trouble?" Mother asked.
"No, ma'am. We just want to speak to him."
Oh, crap! I thought; they're still after me!
"Please don't arrest me!" I said. "I didn't know it was illegal
to throw things in the river! It was just a love charm, honest!"
The two detectives looked at each other curiously.
"Son, I think there's been a misunderstanding. We're here to
investigate the crash of your school van."
"Investigate...? I thought it was an accident."
"It probably was," the second detective said, "but there's some
loose ends that need tying up. Were you present when Hasegawa
Shinobu boarded the van?"
"Yeah...so?"
"Well, here's our problem. We've recovered the van, and most of
the victims, but not Hasegawa-san. We just want to cover our
bases."
"Couldn't she have...fallen out?"
"It's possible," the first detective said, "but it is odd. All
the passengers were buckled into their seat belts, but the seat
where Hasegawa-san should have been was empty."
"And her seat belt was unbuckled," his partner added.
Still stunned by the tragedy, I didn't know what to say.
"Why don't you let him be?" Mom said. "You know what he's been
through."
"Perhaps you're right, Tsukino-san. However, we do have one more
question."
"What's that?" I asked.
"It's about the parents of Hasegawa-san. We've tried to reach
them, but the address in the school records is an empty lot. And
the phone number is fictitious."
"Uh..."
"Would you happen to know where they might be reached?"
All I could do was shrug, stupidly.
"You know, something else that might help," the first detective
said, "is a picture of the young lady. Do you have any pictures
of Hasegawa-san?"
"Actually, no," I had to admit. "I never really thought about
that."
"Well, go ahead and call us if you find one, or anything jogs your
memory. Good day, son, ma'am."
* * *
In keeping with her nature, Usagi was eavedropping, and thus I
found I had company when I sneaked out of the house and went to
the block where Shinobu's 'house' used to be. Usagi, Rei and Ami
all formed a less-than-subtle tail as I came upon the now empty
lot. For a while, I pretended to ignore them, but finally I had
enough and turned around to confront them.
"Usagi, why are you following me?"
Amazingly, Usagi still tried to hide herself behind a telephone
pole, but Rei and Ami were a little more sensible.
"This IS kind of silly," Rei admitted; "Usagi, why don't
we just ask Shingo what he's doing?"
"Oh, fine," Usagi said, finally coming out to confront me.
"Shingo, what are you doing?"
"Well, meatball-head, I'm looking for my girlfriend's house."
"But it looks like an empty lot."
"Albeit," Ami noted, "in a rather affluent neighborhood. Rei, do
you sense anything?"
"Yes," Rei said, closing her eyes and pressing her hands together.
"There is a presence here."
"Girls, please," I said, painfully, "do you mind? We're talking
about someone who's dead here--someone I care about."
"Unless," Rei said, "she's not dead."
"What are you saying? She's some kind of ghost?"
"Maybe."
"This is nonsense," I said, turning away. "Shinobu was a flesh-
and-blood girl! I touched her, I held her, I...kissed her!"
"And there were many people who saw her," Ami noted. "Including
me."
"That is odd," Rei admitted. "But still, it's not unheard-of for
ghosts to latch onto people, and affect their perceptions."
By then, however, I was quite upset.
"Rei, how can you be so callous? It was your love charm that
started all this!"
Rei appeared confused for a moment, then remembered the charm she
had given me to throw in the river.
"Oh, that. That was just a blank piece of paper I wrapped up for
you."
"But--why?"
"Well, I seem to recall that a certain someone," she said,
glancing from myself to Ami, "was incapable of expressing his
feelings for another someone."
"Oh my!" Ami said, putting her hands to her face and blushing.
"Damn you girls," I swore, backing away from them and the lot,
"just get away from me! And mind your own damn business!"
* * *
I felt bad about what I said almost as soon as I said it, but
pride prevented me from going back to apologize. Instead, I
wandered around the city--alone--for several hours before I
finally came home and got an earful from Mom.
"Where have you been, young man? We've been worried sick about
you!"
I shrugged.
"You get up to your room right this minute!"
"Mom," said Usagi--back home before me--"give him a break!"
"Don't you talk back to me, young lady!"
I sighed, but I was already headed for my room. Today, at least,
I was tired, and fell right asleep.
The dream I had that night, however, was different. I thought I
heard Shinobu calling to me from a mountain lake, but I couldn't
see her--just a snapshot of her cheery face and her tennis racket.
When I woke up the next day, then, I had a mission. Although I
made as if to go to school--packing my books and putting on my
uniform--I went to a bus depot instead and purchased a ticket for
the mountains. Then, several hours later, I was on my way up the
same winding highway where my teammates had met their end.
Since I had never been there before, I tried to find the stop
closest to the point of the accident, but I misread the route map
and didn't actually get there until the afternoon. By then--
whipped by the wind of passing cars as I struggled up the side of
the road--I was pretty worn out, and I was startled when I finally
came across the skid marks of braking tires, a broken guard rail
and a path of small trees and branches knocked aside by the
rolling van. Certainly, the accident was real.
Following some morbid urge, then, I made my way into the ravine,
following the path of broken branches right to the edge of the
water. It was not much of a lake, really--there were no boats,
buildings, or people around--but I could visualize the violence of
the crash, and finally stripped off my shoes and socks to walk out
into the water.
"Shinobu," I whispered. "Why did I have to fall in love with
you?"
* * *
Much later, after I had walked all the way around the lake and the
sun had gone down, I found a cliff overlooking the water, where a
crescent moon was soon reflected. There I sat for a long while,
numb with confusion, as a strong wind began to blow up around me.
"Shingo..."
"What?" I asked, looking up, "who's there?"
"Shingo, it's me. Don't you know me?"
Feeling the hair rise on my neck, I turned around and saw
Shinobu--still dressed in her tennis whites and carrying her
racket.
"Shinobu...? But you're dead!"
Shinobu looked sad as she stepped up onto the cliff beside me.
Then, as I followed her with my eyes, she stepped right off the
cliff and into the air above the lake. Although she seemed real
enough, with her hair and her clothing tossed by the wind, she
also seemed to be alive with light, as if she were glowing from
within.
"Now I guess you don't love me anymore," she said.
"Shinobu...what the hell are you?"
"Well, like you said, I'm dead. I was a little girl, once, but I
was killed when I fell off a boat and drowned."
"What do you want from me?" I asked, stumbling back a step.
"I want you to be with me," she said, looking up with her big, sad
eyes. "I love you, Shingo."
"But, why me?"
"Oh, Shingo," she said, "I live in the water, and places where the
water flows. I saw you walk by my river, day after day, pining
for that girl Ami, and my heart went out to you. I love you, and
I want you to be with me."
"You mean...die?"
"Oh, Shingo, it's not so bad. There's something I wanted to tell
you...something I couldn't tell you before...but now you should
know. Your world, and all the people in it, are doomed. Soon, a
frozen sleep will fall upon all the world, and all those alive now
will linger in a hell between life and death. But if you come
with me, I will love you, and we will be together forever!"
I must admit, she was hauntingly seductive and beautiful. All I
had to do was take a single step...
"Shinobu," I said, "did you kill those people in the van?"
"No, that was their destiny. Just as it is the fate of the world
to suffer an icy death."
"But, how do I know that you're telling the truth?" I asked. "You
lied to me before."
"Oh, I'm telling you the truth," Shinobu said. "But if you doubt
me, why don't you ask your friend, Sailor Mercury?"
I was confused for a moment, but then I followed her gaze past
myself and turned to see Mizuno Ami there at the base of the
cliff.
"Ami?" I said, "what the hell are you doing here?"
"I had a hunch where you'd be," Ami said gently, holding out her
hand. "Now why don't we just go home, Shingo? I'm sure your
mother is worried about you."
"His mother is one of the doomed," Shinobu said, suddenly
alighting on the cliff and putting her arms around me. "Or don't
you know that, sailor girl?"
Ami gave Shinobu a wary glance, and I noticed that she had
something in her hand, something like a large pen.
"Of course," Shinobu went on, "you've seen a glimpse of the
future, when you travelled through the Door of Time, but I can
travel places you have never been. Would you like to know how you
die, Sailor Mercury?"
Embraced, now, by Shinobu, and chilled by the sudden ice in her
tone, I saw Ami only as a vague form in the distance. Yet, I
heard what she said quite clearly.
"I have nothing to say to you, spirit. Release my friend
immediately, or I will punish you!"
Say, I thought, that sounds familiar...
Then, as the howling of the wind grew stronger, and my eyelids
grew heavy, Ami raised her pen above her head and spoke some
phrase I did not recognize.
"MERCURY CRYSTAL POWER! MAKEUP!"
Then, the trees were lit with a blaze of blue-white light, and
there was Sailor Mercury--resplendent in her blue-white sailor
seifuku, with ribbons fluttering.
"You don't frighten me," Shinobu said. "If you hurt me, you kill
Shingo."
Ami--or Sailor Mercury--did not seem impressed. She simply
touched one of her earrings, producing a visor from her golden
headband, then spoke another foreign phrase.
"SHINE AQUA RHAPSODY!"
Suddenly, a wall of water poured from her hands, and I flinched as
the mass hurled toward me. At the last second, however, the ball
of water arced overhead, then fell back to explode around Shinobu
from behind. Needles of ice stabbed into my skin--that stuff was
cold!--but Shinobu caught the brunt of the blast and released me.
Falling forward onto my knees, I looked back to see her encased in
solid ice, then covered my eyes as the ice exploded.
For a long moment, afterward, I just lay there, afraid and
shivering. But then I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up to
see the pretty soldier.
"It's all right, Shingo," Sailor Mercury said. "That monster is
gone."
"Ami...? You're Sailor Mercury...?"
"I'm sorry," she said, "that ice is cold. But if you died, it
would break the heart of her majesty."
"Oh, you don't have to call me that," Usagi said, and I turned my
head with shock to see my sister--dressed as Sailor Moon. "The
world isn't destroyed quite yet."
Still further away--out of earshot--was another pretty soldier in
red and white: Sailor Mars. Although I couldn't be sure, she
looked a lot like Rei!
"Usagi?" I said, feeling the blood drain from my face with the
shock; "you're Sailor Moon...!?"
Then I passed out.
* * *
When I woke up later, I was in the back of a car with my sister.
As it was still quite dark, apart from the dome light of the car,
I only slowly came to realize that Ami and Rei were also there,
looking back from the front driver and passenger seats. I vaguely
remembered that Ami did have a license, and this was probably her
mother's car.
"Are you all right?" Usagi asked.
"Oh, man," I said, groggily, "I just had the weirdest dream. You
were Sailor Moon, Ami was Sailor Mercury, and Rei was Sailor
Mars!"
The girls glanced at each other, but said nothing.
"It's just the shock," Rei offered. "You've been in close contact
with the spirit world."
"You mean Shinobu really was a ghost?"
"Oh yes. She's gone now, but she'll be back if you aren't
purified."
"What do you mean by 'purified'?" I asked.
"Well," Rei explained, "demons and spirits look for people who
have weaknesses they can exploit--in your case, a kind heart
searching for love. What we need to do is perform a simple ritual
that will fortify your heart against evil influences."
"Can you do that, Rei?" Usagi asked.
"I should be able to," Rei said, "but we'll have to go right to
the shrine."
"Oh, no," I moaned, "Mom will kill me."
"No, it's all right," Ami said, producing a cell phone. "I called
to let her know we found you. We told her we'd bring you back in
the morning."
"Then she'll kill you," Usagi said.
I started to sit up in the seat, but my head began to spin.
"Unnh..." I groaned. "So, Shinobu's a ghost, but you're not the
pretty soldiers?"
"That about covers it," Rei said. "Let's go, Ami."
Ami started the engine and gunned the gas, and soon darkened trees
began to move past the windows. Slowly, I pushed myself upright
as Rei and Ami made small talk in the front. Usagi, for her part,
was quiet until a mischievous thought occurred to me.
"Your majesty?" I said.
"Yes?"
"Usagi!" Rei said, turning around.
"What!"
"Idiot."
After that, we drove on a long time in silence before I finally
spoke.
"Well, whoever you are," I said, "thanks for saving me."
"Don't mention it," Usagi said, patiently. "You are my little
brother."
"And Ami? Rei? I'm sorry I yelled at you."
"Oh, that's all right," Ami said. "Maybe a certain someone is
flattered by what you did."
"Oh, now he's blushing!" Usagi said.
"Yep, two of a kind," Rei said. "Hey, keep your eyes on the road,
Ami!"
THE END