Hatoko: I'm back with the second chapter of the fic! Youko Kurama fans,
prepare yourselves because that sexy fox is going to appear!
Fuyu: Oh, that sexy guy...I wish we have enough money to buy him...
Hatoko: That would be soo cool! Youko Kurama would be ours!
Fuyu: And Kurama, too! I mean, they are two in one!
Hatoko: Yeah! Now, I want to thanks everyone who reviewed, especially Shadowkitsune, who gave me a Kurama plushie and two dozen cookies! Now, on with the fic!
Disclaimer: Not yet. However, if you read my ramblings up there you noticed that I have plans to buy Youko Kurama and Kurama. The only things I own are the original characters.
New Moon Cycle
By Hatoko
Chapter 2: Shadows Second Strike! Wake up, Sailors!
Yuri lazily opened her eyes and turned off the alarm clock. Throwing her covers away, she got up and headed for the bathroom, wondering why she always had the weirdest dreams. On the last one, she dreamt she was a super- heroine that had to fight on behalf of the Moon to protect this world of evil!
'Wait a second...' Yuri thought. Her eyes widened and she ran back to her room. Rummaging through her school bag, she found the locket. Holding it far away from her face, like it was a poisonous thing, Yuri remembered last night's facts.
= Yuri's Flashback =
"Yuri, I would like you to come with me." Said Suuichi, walking towards her. He offered her his hands, which she took, and helped her stand.
"What is that...?" She was looking at the whip in his hand. Yuri had never seen a whip like that! Not even in movies! It had thorns all over it and looked strangely like a plant.
He looked to his whip and back to her "This is my rose whip. It can slice through almost anything." He started concentrating energy to open a portal to Reikai. Looking at Yuri's puzzled face, he added "Don't worry, all will be explained to you at Reikai."
"What is a Reikai?" She asked, tilting her head in question.
He sweat-dropped. Koenma would have to explain a lot of things "You'll see." He opened the portal and Yuri gasped. He turned to tell her to get in, but didn't found her. Looking to the far corner of the street, he saw a freaked out Yuri running away.
Sighing, he ordered some plants to bring the girl back. He watched as Yuri kicked and screamed at the plants to let her go, until she was by his side. The plants let go of Yuri, who fell on the floor mumbling.
"Stupid things...I won't affiliate to Greenpeace anymore..." Looking up, she saw an amused Suuichi looking at her. Paling, she looked at the portal and back at him "I just want to go home...I promise I won't tell anyone about the grass whip..."
"Rose whip." He corrected, "I'm sorry, but I can't let you go home right now. I just want you to come with me and meet a friend of mine. Then you can go back. Now, please go inside the portal."
Looking at his face, she saw she had no other choice. Standing up, she entered the portal, Suuichi right behind her. Everything twirled around her, and Yuri thought she was going to be sick. Closing her eyes, she started praying to the world to stop. Then, she felt her butt connecting with something solid.
'Really, I have to learn how to fall...' Opening her eyes, she saw the most amazing thing in her life.
Ogres. Lots of them just like the ones in a famous anime series she couldn't recall the name, but she knew it have to do something about a bad boy who died saving a little boy and got resurrected as a spirit police officer, or was it another job?
'That's not the time to be thinking about the anime series! You're on the middle of place filled with ogres, wearing a strange outfit with the most popular guy of your school!' She scolded herself.
"Let's go then. The sooner he explains everything to you, the sooner you go back home." Suuichi said, walking.
"Wait, Suuichi-senpai!" Yuri followed him, avoiding the ogres who were running around the place "Who is he?"
"He is Koenma, son of Enma-Daiou." He explained, "By the way, my real name is not Suuichi. Call me Kurama."
"Kurama?"
"Yes, although I would prefer if you called me Suuichi when we're at school." He added. He knocked on a double door, and a muffled voice answered.
"Who is it?"
"It's me, Kurama. I'm here with the new Sailor Moon."
"Come in."
The door opened, and Yuri felt a little apprehensive. She would finally understand everything. There was a blue ogre at the door. He greeted Kurama, who nodded at him. Looking at her, the redhead mentioned Yuri to go ahead.
Taking a deep breath, Yuri walked over to the end of the room, where was a large table, filled with so many papers Yuri couldn't see who was sitting on it.
"So, you're Yuri Haruno...I saw your fight against those shadows. I believe we have to work on your battle skills."
"Who are you?" Yuri asked, a little angry. She had eliminated most of them, hadn't she?
"I'm Koenma, Prince of Reikai." Whoever was at the other side of the table started moving the papers so she could look at him. Yuri's mind filled with images of a gallant young man when he said the word 'prince', but as soon as she saw Koenma's appearance, her eyes doubled with size.
"You're a prince?!" She said, bewildered "Mou, I was expecting something taller!"
Koenma puffed his cheeks in anger "Well, I'm sorry if I'm still growing up!"
"He's not. He's just too childish to stay in his teen form." The blue ogre said while Kurama tried to hide his chuckle.
"Shut up, ugly thing! Do you want me to fire you?!" Koenma shouted. The blue ogre paled and looked to the floor.
"Good. Now watch this video." A big screen appeared in the middle of the room and images started to play. Yuri watched as an ogre with glasses explained about the Moon Kingdom and how it was mysteriously destroyed. Then, the ogre explained about the sailor scouts and their missions, going through all that the Reikai knew about the strange shadows beings. Last, it explained about the Reikai Tantei, a group of spirit detectives, which Kurama was part of and how them and the sailors would have to unite forces to win this strange evil.
Yuri watched all of it. Even though she understood all the video's content, she still couldn't believe it. It seemed like an anime story! Things like that didn't happened on real life! Things like that didn't happen to HER! How many times she wished she could be a heroine like those that appeared on mangas! But now that her wish was coming true, she realized she didn't want to have this much responsibility.
"Excuse, but how do I take my normal clothes back?" She asked Koenma.
He looked at her and answered "Just concentrate."
Yuri concentrated in her school uniform, and to her amazement when she opened her eyes she was wearing her normal clothes.
"Amazing..." She murmured. Looking at Koenma, she noticed he was drooling over his table. Puzzled, she turned to ask the ogre and Kurama what happened. She was surprised to see the ogre trying to hide a nosebleed and Kurama with a light blush over his features.
"What happened?" She asked.
"You mean you don't know how the Sailor Moon outfit appears or how your normal clothes comes back after you concentrate on them?" The ogre asked.
"No." Yuri answered "But now that you mentioned, how do my clothes transform into the sailor fuku?"
"I'll show you." Koenma said "It can be a bit embarrassing for you, though." The screen started showing the battle scene again. Yuri saw as she dropped her school bag and shouted the transformation command. What came next almost made her die in mortification.
Her whole body glowed in light, and even though nothing was completely revealed, she was naked. Ribbons covered parts of her body and then transformed into the sailor outfit. Yuri was shocked with all the things she did before her transformation was complete. It was a miracle the shadows hadn't attacked her while she was transforming.
Then, the screen showed when she concentrated in getting her uniform back. Her body glowed again and the sailor outfit became ribbons that disappeared and her school uniform appeared again. Yuri never felt so embarrassed in all her life. Looking around the room, she saw that both the ogre and Koenma were having nosebleeds and Kurama's face had gotten redder.
'Why me?!' Yuri thought.
= End of Flashback =
"No...No! It can't be truth!" Yuri said. Looking at the locket, she decided to transform. If it were all a dream, then it wouldn't work.
"Moon Prism Power, Make-Up!"
To her horror, she transformed into Sailor Moon. At the exact moment, she heard her mom's knocks on her door.
"Yuri-chan, are you awake?" The doorknob turned. Yuri hurriedly concentrated in her pajamas. To her relief, it ended right when her mother looked inside her room "I though I saw a strange light. Did you see it?"
"No, mom. It was probably your imagination!" Yuri said, trying to sound convincing. Her mother looked suspiciously around her bedroom and after seeing that nothing was drastically out of place, sighed "Well then, hurry up or you'll be late to school."
"Okay." Running out of her bedroom, Yuri got ready for school.
~*~*~ Meiou High ~*~*~
"Minamino-sama!" A group of girl sighed when Kurama passed them. Ignoring them, he walked straight to his classroom. Sitting on the same spot as yesterday, he grabbed his textbook from his bag and started reading it.
'So, one of your girls already found her...powers.' Hiei's voice rang through his mind.
'Yes. Yuri Haruno. She's the new Sailor Moon. How is your girl doing?' Kurama said.
'I haven't found her yet.'
'She's hard to track down or are you just losing your ability to use the jagan?' Kurama teased.
'Stupid fox. The jagan can't find her. I already tried.' Hiei replied.
'That's odd. Maybe it's out of it's reach.'
'It isn't. The file Koenma gave me told she lived close to Mukuro's territory, on a village inside a forest. I found the village, but only women live there and I can't feel any strong auras coming from any of them.'
'So, what are you going to do?' Asked Kurama.
'Hn.' Was Hiei's reply just before he cut the connection between his and Kurama's mind. Smiling, Kurama continued his reading. After a few minutes, he felt Sumomo's aura just before she entered the classroom. She sat at the same spot as yesterday and rested her chin on her hand.
Kurama flipped his textbook to the last page and read Sumomo's file that he had hidden there. If Yuri was a Cancer and was Sailor Moon, Kurama supposed Sumomo would be Sailor Venus, since she was a Virgo. Looking over to her, he saw that she had took her notebook out of her school bag and was reading something.
Kurama continued reading his textbook. He then felt Akane's aura. The girl got inside the classroom and looked around, as if she was looking for something. She put her things on her desk and asked something to Sumomo. Kurama heard the two girls talking.
"You mean Yuri-chan said she was going to call as soon as she got home and didn't?" Sumomo asked.
"Yes! And I'm worried, because it was sunset and it wouldn't take long until it got dark!" Akane said, worried.
"Do you think she was attacked by one of those shadows things?!"
"I don't know!"
Kurama was about to go over there and tell them Yuri was fine when he felt the girl's presence heading to the classroom. Kurama looked to the door just as Yuri opened it. Their eyes locked, and Kurama saw that she didn't know how to act around him. He smiled at her, as if saying that it was okay.
She was a little surprised at first, but smiled back at him. Just them, Akane noticed her friend.
"YURI HARUNO!"
Everyone on the class stopped talking to see Akane strangling Yuri, while Sumomo tried to pretend she didn't knew them and Kurama sweat- dropped.
"Forgive me, Akane-chan!" He heard Yuri gasping. Akane let go of her, but started lecturing Yuri.
"How could you? I thought I was going to die of preoccupation! I called your house many times, but no one answered!"
"Mom and dad went out to have dinner." Yuri mumbled, looking at the floor.
"And why didn't you called me when you got home? Especially after the news talked about the strange attacks all over the city!"
Kurama sharpened his ears. Koenma hadn't mentioned any strange attacks.
"Strange attacks?!" Yuri asked, looking at her friend.
"Yes! Many people were found suffering from intense blood-lost! A few of them even..." Akane stopped without finishing her sentence, but Kurama immediately knew what she was going to say.
"I just got scared that you were attacked." Akane hugged Yuri. Sumomo walked over to them and hugged them too. After apologizing again, Yuri put her things on another desk. She excused herself from her friends and walked over to him.
"Good-Morning, Suuichi-senpai." She said, remembering his request to call him that way when they were at school.
"Good-Morning, Yuri." He answered, putting away his textbook. Yuri glanced around to see if no one was looking and whispered to him.
"Are those strange attacks related to the strange shadows?"
"I believe so. Remember that girl from yesterday? She suffered from blood-lost, and she was attacked in a bathroom. After that, a shadow entered the bathroom you were in and tried to attack you. It was probably the same shadow."
"But then...We need to stop them! They killed innocent people!" Yuri said, looking at him with desperate eyes.
"Yes, but to do that we have to discover who is sending them and have all the sailors together." He said, trying to calm her down "Don't worry, we will stop them."
"Okay...By the way, what are those things?"
Kurama opened his mouth to answer, but Oyamada-sensei entered the classroom and told them to go to their places. Yuri sighed and went to sit on her desk. Oyamada started writing on the blackboard, and Kurama started copying it.
Time flew by, and soon was lunch break. Kurama had just sat under a tree to eat when he spotted Yuri coming towards him. He noticed that she was wearing her hair the same way as it stayed when she transformed into Sailor Moon. Yuri stopped in front of him and looked at the floor.
"S-Suuichi-senpai..." She said. Kurama wondered what could be wrong with the girl.
"Yes, Yuri?" Kurama looked ahead of her and saw two pair of eyes looking at them from behind a bush. He had a strange feeling those eyes belonged to Akane and Sumomo.
"Well, you see...My friends...They saw me talking to you this morning and they, well, they asked me to come here and ask you if you would like to..." Kurama watched as Yuri turned as red as a tomato. Taking a deep breath, the blonde girl spoke the last part so quickly Kurama didn't understand "eatlunchwithus."
"What? I'm sorry, Yuri. I didn't understand you." The girl had a desperate look on her face and was blushing "Could you repeat the last part?"
"Y-yes. Would you like to..." She gulped "...eat lunch with us?"
Kurama pondered the girl's request. This kind of thing happened a lot, actually. Many girls asked him to eat lunch with them or taste foods they have prepared specially for him. Usually, he declined politely, but this case was special. It was a chance for him to get close to the other girls.
"I would love to."
"Really?!" Yuri looked at him.
"Yes." Kurama smiled. Looking over at the bush, he saw as the two girls tried to make their way out unnoticed.
Yuri gave him a big smile and clasped her hands together in front of her "Great! Let's go then!"
Kurama was surprised when Yuri grabbed his hands and started running towards where Akane and Sumomo were. The girl was very spontaneous. Looking around, he saw many girls sending death glares on Yuri's way and then looking with a teary-eyed look at him. He sweat-dropped when some of them collapsed on the floor crying and wailing that theirs 'beloved Suuichi- sama' didn't loved them back.
Yuri stopped abruptly, making Kurama bump slightly on her.
"I'm sorry, Yuri." He said.
"That's okay." She said, smiling "Sumomo-chan and Akane-chan will be so happy! Thank you, Suuichi-senpai!" She started walking towards where her friends were.
"It's a pleasure, really." Kurama said. However, when he saw Akane and Sumomo with stars in their eyes, Kurama doubted if he had made the right decision.
"You guys, Suuichi-senpai will join us!" Yuri let go of Kurama's hand and sat by Akane's side. Kurama sat in front of the three girls, not wanting to sit by Sumomo's side. The girl looked like she was going to hug him at any minute.
"Hello, ladies." Kurama said. He wasn't sure of how to act around them.
"Hello, Suuichi-sama!" They answered in unison. Yuri and Kurama sweat- dropped.
"Please, don't call me like that. Only Suuichi will do." He said smiling. Akane and Sumomo almost melted at the sight of his smile, and Kurama started wondering if maybe he should do something drastic with his appearance. Then maybe he didn't have such a strong effect on girls.
They started eating and Kurama noticed they weren't that bad. Sumomo was very much alike Yuri on personality. Both of them were somewhat air- headed and a little clumsy. Akane was the most mature of them, and Kurama found out she lived at the Hikawa Shrine.
They finished eating at the same time the bell rang. Gathering their things, they went back to classroom. Oyamada-sensei was already there. After all class had entered, Oyamada called Akane and another girl and asked them to go get her some copies that she had forgotten at the Staff Room. Nodding, they went to get it.
~*~*~
The two girls were heading back to class when Akane suddenly felt a strange vibe close to them. Concentrating, she felt that the vibe came from the roof of the school. Turning to the other girl, Akane handed her the copies she was carrying.
"Listen, I'm not felling very well. Could you take these to Oyamada- sensei and tell her I went to the bathroom?" She asked.
"Sure. I'll explain it to her." Akane waited for the girl to be out of sight and ran upstairs. When she got there, a horrible scene greeted her.
On the middle of the roof was a boy surrounded by shadows. His school uniform was soaked with blood and his eyes were dull. Akane froze, that was more than she was expecting. The shadows felt her presence and looked over her.
They started to surround her, and the boy fell unconscious on the floor. Akane kept her eyes on the shadows, waiting for them to make the first move. Putting a hand inside her skirt pocket, she grabbed her ofudas.
(A/N: Those papers with symbols written over it. Rei uses it sometimes to banish evil spirits and in most animes that involves priestess you can see them.)
One shadow launched at her. She concentrated her aura on the ofuda and threw it at the shadow. It didn't destroy it, only petrified. Akane kept doing that with every shadow that attacked her. However, the number of shadows out-numbered the numbers of ofudas, and soon she found herself on a bad situation.
'What now...?'
~*~*~
The girl entered the classroom and handed Oyamada-sensei the copies, explaining the situation to the teacher. Oyamada looked a little annoyed, but let it drop.
She handed everyone a copy, but when she was going to explain it to the class, they heard a commotion coming from the hallway. Another teacher entered the class and whispered something to Oyamada.
"Class, you're dismissed from the rest of the day. Go back home."
"Why?" Asked Sumomo.
Oyamada took a deep breath "Another student was attacked. She was found on the school woods."
Panic seized the room. The students started to hurriedly put their things away and practically ran out of the classroom.
Yuri looked at Kurama, who mentioned her to follow him.
"Sumomo-chan, go straight back home! I'll go after Akane. Don't take empty streets!" She told Sumomo, running out of the classroom with Kurama.
"Yuri-chan, wait!" She called, letting her things drop on the process, but it was too late. Yuri had already left.
"Miss Fuyuno." Said Oyamada, knelling and picking up one of Sumomo's notebook that had fallen open "What is this?"
"Oh, that." Sumomo paled. She was in deep trouble.
Oyamada ripped the cover of the notebook and her suspicions were confirmed.
"Creative. You disguised your manga as a notebook so you could read it at school, even though it's against the rules. Let me see your notebook."
Sumomo gulped, but handed the teacher her true notebook. Oyamada opened it and discovered Sumomo had only yesterday lessons. Oyamada handed Sumomo her notebook.
"Detention."
~*~*~
The rest of the shadows launched at her. Akane closed her eyes, expecting to feel great pain. When it started to take too long, she opened one eye to see what had happened. She was surprised to see that all the shadows had disappeared. In front of her, there was a strange object. It was red and it had a star on one end. On the middle of the star, she could see the Mars planet symbol.
"What is this?"
Suddenly, her mind was filled by images. She could see a woman with long raven hair and amethyst eyes wearing a strange outfit fighting. Then, the scene changed to a beautiful hall. There were nine women and one man standing on it. Suddenly, another woman appeared, but Akane couldn't see her face. She killed every one on the place.
"No! Stop!" Akane shouted. The images disappeared, but the woman with raven hair suddenly appeared.
'Wake up.' She said in Akane's mind.
'Wake up for what?' Akane asked. She wasn't understand anything.
'Wake up for your destiny.' The woman pointed at the strange talisman.
For a reason unknown to Akane, she touched it. Words formed on her lips and she shouted.
"Mars Power, Make-Up!"
~*~*~
Kurama and Yuri got on the roof in time to see Akane's transformation. They watched as fire surrounded the girl and the Sailor Mars attire replaced the Meiou High uniform.
'Well, Kurama' Koenma said 'You know what to do.'
"Akane-chan!" Yuri ran to her bewildered friend.
"Yuri-chan, what's happening?!" She said.
"Don't worry, Kurama will explain everything!" Yuri smiled.
"Who's Kurama?"
"I am." Kurama walked to the two girls "Now, if you could come with me."
"What about Sumomo-chan and him?" Asked Akane, pointing to the unconscious boy on the floor.
"Don't worry, Akane-chan. I told her to go home." Answered Yuri.
"He'll be alright. Koenma will send someone to take care of him." Kurama said, after checking the boy's pulse.
"Oh, okay."
~*~*~
Sumomo looked at her wristwatch. She was there for half an hour already. Oyamada-sensei had told her she would have to stay for one hour on school, cleaning the classroom all by herself and under her supervision.
'Stupid, stupid Sumomo! Why did I have to bring the manga here?!' Sumomo scolded herself while she aligned the tables 'If you were a little smarter you would have noticed that this wouldn't end in a good way!'
"Fuyuno, I'll take some copies for the next Japanese class. I'll be right back, so don't do anything stupid." Oyamada said, getting out of the classroom.
'Really, how rude!' Sumomo though, frowning 'What kind of teacher says something like that to her students?'
She had just aligned the last table when she felt something moving on the classroom. She turned and looked around the room. No one was there.
"Hello?" Sumomo asked, starting to get scared. She was alone and another attack had happened that day. Suddenly, Sumomo saw a shadow moving on the far corner of the classroom.
"Ahh!" Sumomo screamed and ran out of the classroom. The shadow followed her. Sumomo fled downstairs, but no matter how fast she ran, the shadow still followed her. Sumomo turned on a hallway, but to her horror, ended up on a dead end.
"Well, if it isn't one of the possible sailors..." A woman voice said. The shadow stopped, blocking Sumomo's way.
"Who are you?!" Shouted Sumomo.
A cold laugh answered her and tall woman, with indigo hair and silver eyes materialized by the shadow's side. Her skin was tanned and she was wearing a black, short dress with high heels. Sumomo noticed the woman had a dark purple gem on her forehead.
"I, little girl, am the one who is going to kill you. I'm sure your blood will be a great source of energy." She said, caressing the shadow "I'm Skat, fourth star under Queen Reiha's command."
"Who?" Sumomo asked, backing away. She didn't like the look the woman gave her, like she was some kind of food.
The woman ignored her and looked at the shadow "Phantom." Suddenly, the shadow started to take form. It rose from the floor and grew arms, legs and a head. Sumomo noticed in horror that the shadow didn't have a face, only a mouth without any teeth that looked like a sucker.
"What is that thing?!" Sumomo screamed, backing away until she hit the wall.
"This, me dear girl, is a apparition from my planet. It's called phantom, but it's very solid." She smiled "You'll feel it when he starts sucking your blood."
"Not so fast."
Skat and Sumomo looked to the other side of the hall. There were two girls standing there, wearing strange clothes.
"Who are you?" Asked Skat.
"We're soldiers who fight to protect this world. You attacked many people and even went as far as killing them. This we'll never forgive." The girl in the red fuku started "I'm Sailor Mars and I'll punish you in the name of Mars!"
"I'm the champion of love and justice and every time an evil threatens an innocent person, I'll be there to make them regret every wrong deeds they did." The other one said "I'm Sailor Moon, and on behalf of the Moon, I'll punish you!"
"Fools. Don't you know that is better to attack your enemies when they are not noticing?" Skat smiled.
"What?!" Phantoms surrounded the two girls. Skat smiled and turned to Sumomo again.
"Now, where were we? Oh yes. Phan-!"
"Mars Fire Soul!"
"Moon Tiara Action!"
Skat looked behind her and was shocked to see that all the phantoms had disappeared. The two girls were intact, and looking angry.
"Stay away from Sumomo-chan!" Shouted the blonde one. The other started to prepare another attack.
"Fools!" Skat conjured more phantoms. This time, there were too many for them to take up. Just when one was about to grab the blonde one, a whip sliced it in two.
Sumomo was more than surprised to see Suuichi Minamino coming in their direction, holding a strange whip in his hand. Skat frowned and clapped her fingers. Sumomo froze when she felt a phantom holding her from behind.
"Make any other move and I'll kill her. This includes you, Kurama."
The Sailors and Kurama stopped. Phantoms started to circle them. Sumomo got desperate. She knew those girls. They were Yuri and Akane, she was sure of it. And those things were going to kill them and it would be all her fault.
Another phantom appeared in front of her, and launched at her. Sumomo closed her eyes, hoping for a miracle.
'Miracles only happen when you fight for them.' A voice said inside her head. Sumomo opened her eyes, and to her astonishment and confusion, she found herself to be in a beautiful garden. There was a blonde woman in front of her.
"Who are you?" Sumomo asked.
"I am Sailor Venus." The woman said, "I'm here to help you with your miracle."
"How?" Asked Sumomo.
The woman handed her a strange orange talisman with a star on one end. It had the Venus symbol on it.
"Use this to transform into the new Sailor Venus. It will help you to defeat evil and save this world." The woman smiled.
Sumomo was about to ask how, but the garden disappeared and she found herself back to the hallway, the phantom almost hitting her. She saw as Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars shouted for her and Kurama narrowed his eyes slightly. Plants appeared and knocked out the phantom that was holding her.
Sumomo clutched the talisman in her hand and shouted "Venus Power, Make-Up!"
Light surrounded her, and she suddenly saw that she was wearing an orange version of the sailor fuku.
Concentrating her energy on the point of her finger, Sailor Venus shouted "Venus Crescent Beam!" destroying the phantom.
"Damn!" Skat cursed. Black light surrounded her, and she disappeared.
"Sumomo-chan!" Sailor Mars and Moon ran towards her.
"What just happened?!" She said, while the two girls hugged her.
Kurama sighed. The second time he would have to go to Reikai in one day.
~*~*~
"Skat, you failed. Again."
"Forgive me, your highness." Said Skat, bowing before Reiha "The sailors powers are too strong. The phantoms were no match for them."
"And after them destroyed your phantoms, you fled."
Skat started to shake. Reiha was angry with her. This couldn't be good.
"Milady, let me try again. I won't use my phantoms. They are too weak."
Reiha looked at Skat.
"Very well. You can have another chance."
"Thank you, thank you your highness!" Skat said in relief.
"Now go."
"Yes, yes milady." Skat disappeared. Reiha smiled evilly.
"Vertez!" She called. A man with long dark green hair and golden eyes appeared. He had a green gem on his right hand.
"Yes, Reiha-sama?"
"Get ready."
"But I though you had sent Skat after them."
"Oh, she'll be no match for them. It will be only an entertaining battle."
"Yes, milady." Vertez disappeared and Reiha looked at the mirror. How would the Sailors defeat Skat?
~*~*~ Two days later, Meiou High ~*~*~
"Pop quiz!"
"Noooo!" Sumomo and Yuri said. Kurama and Akane looked at them, sweat- dropping. After the incident with the strange woman, who Sumomo had told them was named Skat, nothing strange happened. Even the attacks stopped.
Since that day, they had started to sit close to Kurama, who didn't mind. After Sumomo and Akane stopped with the near-faints every time he talked to them, they had proved to be a very pleasurable company, alongside with Yuri. Sometimes, however, he could still hear Sumomo sighing in adoration.
Oyamada handed them the tests, and they turned their attentions to the questions.
Kurama was the first one of the group to hand his test, followed by Akane. Some time later, Yuri handed Oyamada-sensei her test. Sumomo was the last one to do so.
The lunch break bell rang, and they went to sit at the usual spot under the sakura tree.
"Mou, Oyamada-sensei is very mean!" Sumomo said. Since the day Oyamada had given her detention and confiscated her manga, the girl had developed a strong dislike for the teacher.
"Come on, Sumomo. The pop quiz was easy." Kurama said and sweat- dropped at the look Sumomo sent his way.
"Easy for you!" She said "I am not a mathematical genius like you!" Sumomo said.
"I don't think I was that good, either." Yuri said sighing "But now, we have more important things to do!"
"Which is?" Akane asked.
"Eat!" Yuri started wolfing down her lunch, while the others sweat- dropped.
Suddenly, Akane and Kurama stopped eating. Akane looked in the direction of the school woods and Kurama stood up.
"What happened?" Asked Yuri.
"Did you feel it, too?" Akane said, looking at Kurama.
"Yes. A strange aura on the school woods."
"You think it can be one of the enemies?" Sumomo asked, putting down her chopsticks and standing, too. Yuri followed her.
"Yes." Kurama answered "Let's go check."
"Okay. Show time, girls." Yuri said, pulling out her locket. They hid behind a bush to transform.
"Moon Prism Power, Make-Up!"
"Mars Power, Make-Up!"
"Venus Power, Make-Up!"
Kurama waited for the girls to get ready. After their transformations were finished, they started running towards the woods.
"What if is that strange woman again?" Asked Sailor Venus.
"Then we will stop her once and for all." Sailor Moon said, determined.
They finally found where the aura came from. On the middle of the school wood, was Skat. She smiled at them.
"Hello, Sailor scouts and Kurama. Nice to see you again."
"We can't say the same to you." Sailor Mars replied.
"Oh, I'm hurt." Skat said, feigning a hurt face that didn't convinced them.
"What do you want?" Sailor Moon asked.
"You." Skat smiled. Suddenly, the four of them were surrounded by black light.
~*~*~
Kurama slowly opened his eyes. The last thing he remembered was being surrounded by some kind of dark light and being thrown in another dimension with one of the girls. Looking around, he saw Sailor Moon unconscious a few feet away from him.
"Sailor Moon!" He went over to her and checked her pulse. She opened her eyes and looked at him.
"Kurama? Where are we?"
"I don't know." Looking around, Kurama saw that everything was black. There was no floor, no roof. Nothing. Only blackness.
"This place is strange." Sailor Moon said, sitting "Where are the others?"
"I have no idea." He helped her stand "Come on, let's go look for them."
"Okay."
~*~*~
"Ouch...My head." Sailor Venus opened her eyes and put a hand on her head. Looking around, she saw Sailor Mars wakening up too.
"Sailor Venus, where are we?" She asked, standing up.
"I dunno. All I remember is being surrounded by something black and being thrown over here with you."
"Do you think Sailor Moon and Kurama are all right?"
"I hope so."
"Let's go look for them."
~*~*~
Sailor Moon and Kurama were walking for almost half an hour now. She was getting tired, worried over her friends and hungry.
"Kurama, how much longer do you think it will take?"
"I sincerely don't know." Kurama looked around. They had been walking straight forward for a long time now, but still there was no sign of the blackness to end.
"Mou..." The girl sighed. Looking to her right side, she suddenly gave a little yelp and grabbed the back of Kurama's shirt.
"Look, Kurama! I saw something shining there!" She said, pointing in the direction she saw it.
"Come on." Kurama started walking towards it. When they got close enough, they saw Skat. She was sitting on the air with her legs crossed and was holding some kind of black shard.
"You two took a long time to find me." She said, playing with the shard between her fingers.
"Where are Sailor Venus and Sailor Mars?" Asked Kurama, pulling a rose out of his hair.
"Easy there, flower boy." Skat said, landing on whatever supported them "Let's play a little. I want to see something interesting."
"What do you mean?" Asked Sailor Moon.
"I want to see someone's real form." She smiled wickedly. She put the black shard on the middle of the purple gem in her forehead. The gem glowed in a purple light and Skat's hair grew longer and changed from indigo to a grayish blue. Her eyes changed and now were cat-like and her nails turned into claws.
Kurama pushed Sailor Moon out of the way when Skat attacked. Dodging her claws, Kurama transformed the rose into a whip and tried to slice Skat, but she managed to dodge without any scratch.
"Fast, but not fast enough." She smiled and licked her lips.
Looking down at his hand, Kurama saw what she meant. There was a little scratch and Kurama saw something black entering his body by it. He felt the youko inside of him start to gain control and looked at the woman, who was smiling in victory.
"Why are you smiling?" He asked coldly.
"Because now I'll be able to have a real fight." She smiled "I don't want to battle vessels."
Kurama smirked "You're a fool. You underestimated me. I can defeat you without any problems, and at least you would have more minutes of life. But now, I doubt you'll last more than one minute." His eyes changed to golden.
~*~*~
"Look, Sailor Mars! There's something glowing there!" Sailor Venus pointed from somewhere in front of them.
"Let's go!" They started running toward the strange glow, and they saw Kurama, Sailor Moon and that woman, Skat. Something strange was happening to Kurama, because his eyes were golden and his hair was changing to silver and growing, just like his body.
"Sailor Moon!" They shouted and went to Sailor Moon's side "What is happening?" Venus asked.
"I don't know!" She answered, watching Kurama's transformation. Two fox years were starting to appear at the top of his head and his skin was getting paler "They started to fight and she said she wanted to see his true form!"
"True form?!" Mars asked. His clothes were changing and she could see a fox's tail moving behind Kurama "What true form?!"
"This form." A deep voice answered. The three girls looked to Kurama. He sure was different, and he was radiating a lot of power.
He turned to Skat and smirked. A very wicked smirk.
"You were the one who wanted to fight me. What are you waiting for?"
Skat had noticed her mistake, but it was too late. She lunged at him, who easily dodged. Kicking her at the her back, he sent her flying to a great distance. Skat stood up and growled in fury.
The silver youko sneered "So, that's all you can do? Even a child could beat you. I'm not wasting my time with you." He turned to the Sailor scouts "Take care of her."
"Wha-?!" Sailor Moon looked at the fox guy. How did he expected them to beat the woman? They had moved so quickly that she couldn't even see what they were doing!
Sailor Mars glared at him "What do you mean, take care of her?! You were the one fighting with her first!"
"Yeah! Go end your own fights!" Sailor Venus said.
He smirked and walked over to them. The girls gulped, looking at the much taller man. He looked hard at them with his golden yes.
"It isn't my mission to protect this world from evil. I have no reason to kill that weakling. I can very well walk away right now."
"You're so mean! How can you say something like that?!" Sailor Moon said "If you don't want to help, then it's fine! We'll fight her!"
She walked past him, Sailor Mars and Venus following suit. He smirked and watched as Skat looked in despise at them.
"And how will you three little girls going to beat me?"
"We're not little!" Moon shouted "We'll show you what we can do! Moon Tiara Action!"
Skat dodged Sailor Moon's attack, but wasn't as lucky with Sailor Mars.
"Mars Fire Soul!"
The attack hit her directly, leaving her disoriented. Sailor Venus prepared herself and sent her Crescent Beam towards her, who didn't had time to dodge.
"We will punish you for all the people that you attacked and killed, Skat!" Shouted Sailor Moon "Now, Sailors!"
"Moon Tiara Action!"
"Mars Fire Soul!"
"Venus Crescent Beam!"
The three attacks combined themselves, hitting Skat directly. Her gem shattered in a million of pieces and the black shard disappeared. Skat dissolved into shadows and the blackness disappeared. Looking around they saw they were back to Meiou High.
"We...We did it!" Sailor Moon shouted in happiness. The three of them hugged each other and jumped in happiness.
"Yay! We're the best! No one can beat us!" Venus was shouting.
"Yeah! We defeated the evil woman!" Mars said, jumping with Venus.
Sailor Moon laughed, but was distracted by the fox guy. Leaving her two friends jumping and commenting about the fight, she walked over to him.
"What...What's your name?" She asked.
"Kurama."
"Oh, so it's the same." She mumbled "Why...Why did you acted like that back there?"
Kurama raised an eyebrow at the girl "Just because I share the same body with Suuichi Minamino doesn't mean we share the same personality."
"Oh." She looked at him "But does that mean you don't like us?"
If Kurama was surprised by her question, he didn't show it "I don't have a formed opinion about you and your friends."
She gave him a little smile "But then that mean that we have a chance to befriend you, right?"
Kurama studied the girl in front of him. Her dark brown eyes were filled with hope "Let's see what the future brings."
Then, he transformed back into Suuichi.
~*~*~ End Chapter 2 ~*~*~
Hatoko: Wohoo! 25 pages! 326 paragraphs! 1.072 lines and 6.795 words!
Fuyu: That was big!
Hatoko! Yeah! And the good thing is, I'm not tired! I could just keep typing on and on! I think it's because the Kurama plushy and the cookies Shadowkitsune gave me! Thanks!
Fuyu: Hey, they defeated the first villain!
Hatoko: Yep! And Youko Kurama made an appearance! I love him so much! *Pulls Youko Kurama out of fic and hugs him to death*
Y.K: Let go of me, crazy human girl!
Hatoko: Never! Anyway, don't forget to review and tell me what do you think of this chapter! If you do that, I'll make Youko or your favorite bishounen kiss you!
Y.K: *outraged* What?! I'm not kissing anyone!
Hatoko: Yes, you are.
Fuyu: Hey, I want a bishie for me too!
Hatoko: Take Hiei, he's going to be on next chapter anyway.
Fuyu: Okay!
Hatoko: Until next chapter!
Fuyu: Oh, that sexy guy...I wish we have enough money to buy him...
Hatoko: That would be soo cool! Youko Kurama would be ours!
Fuyu: And Kurama, too! I mean, they are two in one!
Hatoko: Yeah! Now, I want to thanks everyone who reviewed, especially Shadowkitsune, who gave me a Kurama plushie and two dozen cookies! Now, on with the fic!
Disclaimer: Not yet. However, if you read my ramblings up there you noticed that I have plans to buy Youko Kurama and Kurama. The only things I own are the original characters.
New Moon Cycle
By Hatoko
Chapter 2: Shadows Second Strike! Wake up, Sailors!
Yuri lazily opened her eyes and turned off the alarm clock. Throwing her covers away, she got up and headed for the bathroom, wondering why she always had the weirdest dreams. On the last one, she dreamt she was a super- heroine that had to fight on behalf of the Moon to protect this world of evil!
'Wait a second...' Yuri thought. Her eyes widened and she ran back to her room. Rummaging through her school bag, she found the locket. Holding it far away from her face, like it was a poisonous thing, Yuri remembered last night's facts.
= Yuri's Flashback =
"Yuri, I would like you to come with me." Said Suuichi, walking towards her. He offered her his hands, which she took, and helped her stand.
"What is that...?" She was looking at the whip in his hand. Yuri had never seen a whip like that! Not even in movies! It had thorns all over it and looked strangely like a plant.
He looked to his whip and back to her "This is my rose whip. It can slice through almost anything." He started concentrating energy to open a portal to Reikai. Looking at Yuri's puzzled face, he added "Don't worry, all will be explained to you at Reikai."
"What is a Reikai?" She asked, tilting her head in question.
He sweat-dropped. Koenma would have to explain a lot of things "You'll see." He opened the portal and Yuri gasped. He turned to tell her to get in, but didn't found her. Looking to the far corner of the street, he saw a freaked out Yuri running away.
Sighing, he ordered some plants to bring the girl back. He watched as Yuri kicked and screamed at the plants to let her go, until she was by his side. The plants let go of Yuri, who fell on the floor mumbling.
"Stupid things...I won't affiliate to Greenpeace anymore..." Looking up, she saw an amused Suuichi looking at her. Paling, she looked at the portal and back at him "I just want to go home...I promise I won't tell anyone about the grass whip..."
"Rose whip." He corrected, "I'm sorry, but I can't let you go home right now. I just want you to come with me and meet a friend of mine. Then you can go back. Now, please go inside the portal."
Looking at his face, she saw she had no other choice. Standing up, she entered the portal, Suuichi right behind her. Everything twirled around her, and Yuri thought she was going to be sick. Closing her eyes, she started praying to the world to stop. Then, she felt her butt connecting with something solid.
'Really, I have to learn how to fall...' Opening her eyes, she saw the most amazing thing in her life.
Ogres. Lots of them just like the ones in a famous anime series she couldn't recall the name, but she knew it have to do something about a bad boy who died saving a little boy and got resurrected as a spirit police officer, or was it another job?
'That's not the time to be thinking about the anime series! You're on the middle of place filled with ogres, wearing a strange outfit with the most popular guy of your school!' She scolded herself.
"Let's go then. The sooner he explains everything to you, the sooner you go back home." Suuichi said, walking.
"Wait, Suuichi-senpai!" Yuri followed him, avoiding the ogres who were running around the place "Who is he?"
"He is Koenma, son of Enma-Daiou." He explained, "By the way, my real name is not Suuichi. Call me Kurama."
"Kurama?"
"Yes, although I would prefer if you called me Suuichi when we're at school." He added. He knocked on a double door, and a muffled voice answered.
"Who is it?"
"It's me, Kurama. I'm here with the new Sailor Moon."
"Come in."
The door opened, and Yuri felt a little apprehensive. She would finally understand everything. There was a blue ogre at the door. He greeted Kurama, who nodded at him. Looking at her, the redhead mentioned Yuri to go ahead.
Taking a deep breath, Yuri walked over to the end of the room, where was a large table, filled with so many papers Yuri couldn't see who was sitting on it.
"So, you're Yuri Haruno...I saw your fight against those shadows. I believe we have to work on your battle skills."
"Who are you?" Yuri asked, a little angry. She had eliminated most of them, hadn't she?
"I'm Koenma, Prince of Reikai." Whoever was at the other side of the table started moving the papers so she could look at him. Yuri's mind filled with images of a gallant young man when he said the word 'prince', but as soon as she saw Koenma's appearance, her eyes doubled with size.
"You're a prince?!" She said, bewildered "Mou, I was expecting something taller!"
Koenma puffed his cheeks in anger "Well, I'm sorry if I'm still growing up!"
"He's not. He's just too childish to stay in his teen form." The blue ogre said while Kurama tried to hide his chuckle.
"Shut up, ugly thing! Do you want me to fire you?!" Koenma shouted. The blue ogre paled and looked to the floor.
"Good. Now watch this video." A big screen appeared in the middle of the room and images started to play. Yuri watched as an ogre with glasses explained about the Moon Kingdom and how it was mysteriously destroyed. Then, the ogre explained about the sailor scouts and their missions, going through all that the Reikai knew about the strange shadows beings. Last, it explained about the Reikai Tantei, a group of spirit detectives, which Kurama was part of and how them and the sailors would have to unite forces to win this strange evil.
Yuri watched all of it. Even though she understood all the video's content, she still couldn't believe it. It seemed like an anime story! Things like that didn't happened on real life! Things like that didn't happen to HER! How many times she wished she could be a heroine like those that appeared on mangas! But now that her wish was coming true, she realized she didn't want to have this much responsibility.
"Excuse, but how do I take my normal clothes back?" She asked Koenma.
He looked at her and answered "Just concentrate."
Yuri concentrated in her school uniform, and to her amazement when she opened her eyes she was wearing her normal clothes.
"Amazing..." She murmured. Looking at Koenma, she noticed he was drooling over his table. Puzzled, she turned to ask the ogre and Kurama what happened. She was surprised to see the ogre trying to hide a nosebleed and Kurama with a light blush over his features.
"What happened?" She asked.
"You mean you don't know how the Sailor Moon outfit appears or how your normal clothes comes back after you concentrate on them?" The ogre asked.
"No." Yuri answered "But now that you mentioned, how do my clothes transform into the sailor fuku?"
"I'll show you." Koenma said "It can be a bit embarrassing for you, though." The screen started showing the battle scene again. Yuri saw as she dropped her school bag and shouted the transformation command. What came next almost made her die in mortification.
Her whole body glowed in light, and even though nothing was completely revealed, she was naked. Ribbons covered parts of her body and then transformed into the sailor outfit. Yuri was shocked with all the things she did before her transformation was complete. It was a miracle the shadows hadn't attacked her while she was transforming.
Then, the screen showed when she concentrated in getting her uniform back. Her body glowed again and the sailor outfit became ribbons that disappeared and her school uniform appeared again. Yuri never felt so embarrassed in all her life. Looking around the room, she saw that both the ogre and Koenma were having nosebleeds and Kurama's face had gotten redder.
'Why me?!' Yuri thought.
= End of Flashback =
"No...No! It can't be truth!" Yuri said. Looking at the locket, she decided to transform. If it were all a dream, then it wouldn't work.
"Moon Prism Power, Make-Up!"
To her horror, she transformed into Sailor Moon. At the exact moment, she heard her mom's knocks on her door.
"Yuri-chan, are you awake?" The doorknob turned. Yuri hurriedly concentrated in her pajamas. To her relief, it ended right when her mother looked inside her room "I though I saw a strange light. Did you see it?"
"No, mom. It was probably your imagination!" Yuri said, trying to sound convincing. Her mother looked suspiciously around her bedroom and after seeing that nothing was drastically out of place, sighed "Well then, hurry up or you'll be late to school."
"Okay." Running out of her bedroom, Yuri got ready for school.
~*~*~ Meiou High ~*~*~
"Minamino-sama!" A group of girl sighed when Kurama passed them. Ignoring them, he walked straight to his classroom. Sitting on the same spot as yesterday, he grabbed his textbook from his bag and started reading it.
'So, one of your girls already found her...powers.' Hiei's voice rang through his mind.
'Yes. Yuri Haruno. She's the new Sailor Moon. How is your girl doing?' Kurama said.
'I haven't found her yet.'
'She's hard to track down or are you just losing your ability to use the jagan?' Kurama teased.
'Stupid fox. The jagan can't find her. I already tried.' Hiei replied.
'That's odd. Maybe it's out of it's reach.'
'It isn't. The file Koenma gave me told she lived close to Mukuro's territory, on a village inside a forest. I found the village, but only women live there and I can't feel any strong auras coming from any of them.'
'So, what are you going to do?' Asked Kurama.
'Hn.' Was Hiei's reply just before he cut the connection between his and Kurama's mind. Smiling, Kurama continued his reading. After a few minutes, he felt Sumomo's aura just before she entered the classroom. She sat at the same spot as yesterday and rested her chin on her hand.
Kurama flipped his textbook to the last page and read Sumomo's file that he had hidden there. If Yuri was a Cancer and was Sailor Moon, Kurama supposed Sumomo would be Sailor Venus, since she was a Virgo. Looking over to her, he saw that she had took her notebook out of her school bag and was reading something.
Kurama continued reading his textbook. He then felt Akane's aura. The girl got inside the classroom and looked around, as if she was looking for something. She put her things on her desk and asked something to Sumomo. Kurama heard the two girls talking.
"You mean Yuri-chan said she was going to call as soon as she got home and didn't?" Sumomo asked.
"Yes! And I'm worried, because it was sunset and it wouldn't take long until it got dark!" Akane said, worried.
"Do you think she was attacked by one of those shadows things?!"
"I don't know!"
Kurama was about to go over there and tell them Yuri was fine when he felt the girl's presence heading to the classroom. Kurama looked to the door just as Yuri opened it. Their eyes locked, and Kurama saw that she didn't know how to act around him. He smiled at her, as if saying that it was okay.
She was a little surprised at first, but smiled back at him. Just them, Akane noticed her friend.
"YURI HARUNO!"
Everyone on the class stopped talking to see Akane strangling Yuri, while Sumomo tried to pretend she didn't knew them and Kurama sweat- dropped.
"Forgive me, Akane-chan!" He heard Yuri gasping. Akane let go of her, but started lecturing Yuri.
"How could you? I thought I was going to die of preoccupation! I called your house many times, but no one answered!"
"Mom and dad went out to have dinner." Yuri mumbled, looking at the floor.
"And why didn't you called me when you got home? Especially after the news talked about the strange attacks all over the city!"
Kurama sharpened his ears. Koenma hadn't mentioned any strange attacks.
"Strange attacks?!" Yuri asked, looking at her friend.
"Yes! Many people were found suffering from intense blood-lost! A few of them even..." Akane stopped without finishing her sentence, but Kurama immediately knew what she was going to say.
"I just got scared that you were attacked." Akane hugged Yuri. Sumomo walked over to them and hugged them too. After apologizing again, Yuri put her things on another desk. She excused herself from her friends and walked over to him.
"Good-Morning, Suuichi-senpai." She said, remembering his request to call him that way when they were at school.
"Good-Morning, Yuri." He answered, putting away his textbook. Yuri glanced around to see if no one was looking and whispered to him.
"Are those strange attacks related to the strange shadows?"
"I believe so. Remember that girl from yesterday? She suffered from blood-lost, and she was attacked in a bathroom. After that, a shadow entered the bathroom you were in and tried to attack you. It was probably the same shadow."
"But then...We need to stop them! They killed innocent people!" Yuri said, looking at him with desperate eyes.
"Yes, but to do that we have to discover who is sending them and have all the sailors together." He said, trying to calm her down "Don't worry, we will stop them."
"Okay...By the way, what are those things?"
Kurama opened his mouth to answer, but Oyamada-sensei entered the classroom and told them to go to their places. Yuri sighed and went to sit on her desk. Oyamada started writing on the blackboard, and Kurama started copying it.
Time flew by, and soon was lunch break. Kurama had just sat under a tree to eat when he spotted Yuri coming towards him. He noticed that she was wearing her hair the same way as it stayed when she transformed into Sailor Moon. Yuri stopped in front of him and looked at the floor.
"S-Suuichi-senpai..." She said. Kurama wondered what could be wrong with the girl.
"Yes, Yuri?" Kurama looked ahead of her and saw two pair of eyes looking at them from behind a bush. He had a strange feeling those eyes belonged to Akane and Sumomo.
"Well, you see...My friends...They saw me talking to you this morning and they, well, they asked me to come here and ask you if you would like to..." Kurama watched as Yuri turned as red as a tomato. Taking a deep breath, the blonde girl spoke the last part so quickly Kurama didn't understand "eatlunchwithus."
"What? I'm sorry, Yuri. I didn't understand you." The girl had a desperate look on her face and was blushing "Could you repeat the last part?"
"Y-yes. Would you like to..." She gulped "...eat lunch with us?"
Kurama pondered the girl's request. This kind of thing happened a lot, actually. Many girls asked him to eat lunch with them or taste foods they have prepared specially for him. Usually, he declined politely, but this case was special. It was a chance for him to get close to the other girls.
"I would love to."
"Really?!" Yuri looked at him.
"Yes." Kurama smiled. Looking over at the bush, he saw as the two girls tried to make their way out unnoticed.
Yuri gave him a big smile and clasped her hands together in front of her "Great! Let's go then!"
Kurama was surprised when Yuri grabbed his hands and started running towards where Akane and Sumomo were. The girl was very spontaneous. Looking around, he saw many girls sending death glares on Yuri's way and then looking with a teary-eyed look at him. He sweat-dropped when some of them collapsed on the floor crying and wailing that theirs 'beloved Suuichi- sama' didn't loved them back.
Yuri stopped abruptly, making Kurama bump slightly on her.
"I'm sorry, Yuri." He said.
"That's okay." She said, smiling "Sumomo-chan and Akane-chan will be so happy! Thank you, Suuichi-senpai!" She started walking towards where her friends were.
"It's a pleasure, really." Kurama said. However, when he saw Akane and Sumomo with stars in their eyes, Kurama doubted if he had made the right decision.
"You guys, Suuichi-senpai will join us!" Yuri let go of Kurama's hand and sat by Akane's side. Kurama sat in front of the three girls, not wanting to sit by Sumomo's side. The girl looked like she was going to hug him at any minute.
"Hello, ladies." Kurama said. He wasn't sure of how to act around them.
"Hello, Suuichi-sama!" They answered in unison. Yuri and Kurama sweat- dropped.
"Please, don't call me like that. Only Suuichi will do." He said smiling. Akane and Sumomo almost melted at the sight of his smile, and Kurama started wondering if maybe he should do something drastic with his appearance. Then maybe he didn't have such a strong effect on girls.
They started eating and Kurama noticed they weren't that bad. Sumomo was very much alike Yuri on personality. Both of them were somewhat air- headed and a little clumsy. Akane was the most mature of them, and Kurama found out she lived at the Hikawa Shrine.
They finished eating at the same time the bell rang. Gathering their things, they went back to classroom. Oyamada-sensei was already there. After all class had entered, Oyamada called Akane and another girl and asked them to go get her some copies that she had forgotten at the Staff Room. Nodding, they went to get it.
~*~*~
The two girls were heading back to class when Akane suddenly felt a strange vibe close to them. Concentrating, she felt that the vibe came from the roof of the school. Turning to the other girl, Akane handed her the copies she was carrying.
"Listen, I'm not felling very well. Could you take these to Oyamada- sensei and tell her I went to the bathroom?" She asked.
"Sure. I'll explain it to her." Akane waited for the girl to be out of sight and ran upstairs. When she got there, a horrible scene greeted her.
On the middle of the roof was a boy surrounded by shadows. His school uniform was soaked with blood and his eyes were dull. Akane froze, that was more than she was expecting. The shadows felt her presence and looked over her.
They started to surround her, and the boy fell unconscious on the floor. Akane kept her eyes on the shadows, waiting for them to make the first move. Putting a hand inside her skirt pocket, she grabbed her ofudas.
(A/N: Those papers with symbols written over it. Rei uses it sometimes to banish evil spirits and in most animes that involves priestess you can see them.)
One shadow launched at her. She concentrated her aura on the ofuda and threw it at the shadow. It didn't destroy it, only petrified. Akane kept doing that with every shadow that attacked her. However, the number of shadows out-numbered the numbers of ofudas, and soon she found herself on a bad situation.
'What now...?'
~*~*~
The girl entered the classroom and handed Oyamada-sensei the copies, explaining the situation to the teacher. Oyamada looked a little annoyed, but let it drop.
She handed everyone a copy, but when she was going to explain it to the class, they heard a commotion coming from the hallway. Another teacher entered the class and whispered something to Oyamada.
"Class, you're dismissed from the rest of the day. Go back home."
"Why?" Asked Sumomo.
Oyamada took a deep breath "Another student was attacked. She was found on the school woods."
Panic seized the room. The students started to hurriedly put their things away and practically ran out of the classroom.
Yuri looked at Kurama, who mentioned her to follow him.
"Sumomo-chan, go straight back home! I'll go after Akane. Don't take empty streets!" She told Sumomo, running out of the classroom with Kurama.
"Yuri-chan, wait!" She called, letting her things drop on the process, but it was too late. Yuri had already left.
"Miss Fuyuno." Said Oyamada, knelling and picking up one of Sumomo's notebook that had fallen open "What is this?"
"Oh, that." Sumomo paled. She was in deep trouble.
Oyamada ripped the cover of the notebook and her suspicions were confirmed.
"Creative. You disguised your manga as a notebook so you could read it at school, even though it's against the rules. Let me see your notebook."
Sumomo gulped, but handed the teacher her true notebook. Oyamada opened it and discovered Sumomo had only yesterday lessons. Oyamada handed Sumomo her notebook.
"Detention."
~*~*~
The rest of the shadows launched at her. Akane closed her eyes, expecting to feel great pain. When it started to take too long, she opened one eye to see what had happened. She was surprised to see that all the shadows had disappeared. In front of her, there was a strange object. It was red and it had a star on one end. On the middle of the star, she could see the Mars planet symbol.
"What is this?"
Suddenly, her mind was filled by images. She could see a woman with long raven hair and amethyst eyes wearing a strange outfit fighting. Then, the scene changed to a beautiful hall. There were nine women and one man standing on it. Suddenly, another woman appeared, but Akane couldn't see her face. She killed every one on the place.
"No! Stop!" Akane shouted. The images disappeared, but the woman with raven hair suddenly appeared.
'Wake up.' She said in Akane's mind.
'Wake up for what?' Akane asked. She wasn't understand anything.
'Wake up for your destiny.' The woman pointed at the strange talisman.
For a reason unknown to Akane, she touched it. Words formed on her lips and she shouted.
"Mars Power, Make-Up!"
~*~*~
Kurama and Yuri got on the roof in time to see Akane's transformation. They watched as fire surrounded the girl and the Sailor Mars attire replaced the Meiou High uniform.
'Well, Kurama' Koenma said 'You know what to do.'
"Akane-chan!" Yuri ran to her bewildered friend.
"Yuri-chan, what's happening?!" She said.
"Don't worry, Kurama will explain everything!" Yuri smiled.
"Who's Kurama?"
"I am." Kurama walked to the two girls "Now, if you could come with me."
"What about Sumomo-chan and him?" Asked Akane, pointing to the unconscious boy on the floor.
"Don't worry, Akane-chan. I told her to go home." Answered Yuri.
"He'll be alright. Koenma will send someone to take care of him." Kurama said, after checking the boy's pulse.
"Oh, okay."
~*~*~
Sumomo looked at her wristwatch. She was there for half an hour already. Oyamada-sensei had told her she would have to stay for one hour on school, cleaning the classroom all by herself and under her supervision.
'Stupid, stupid Sumomo! Why did I have to bring the manga here?!' Sumomo scolded herself while she aligned the tables 'If you were a little smarter you would have noticed that this wouldn't end in a good way!'
"Fuyuno, I'll take some copies for the next Japanese class. I'll be right back, so don't do anything stupid." Oyamada said, getting out of the classroom.
'Really, how rude!' Sumomo though, frowning 'What kind of teacher says something like that to her students?'
She had just aligned the last table when she felt something moving on the classroom. She turned and looked around the room. No one was there.
"Hello?" Sumomo asked, starting to get scared. She was alone and another attack had happened that day. Suddenly, Sumomo saw a shadow moving on the far corner of the classroom.
"Ahh!" Sumomo screamed and ran out of the classroom. The shadow followed her. Sumomo fled downstairs, but no matter how fast she ran, the shadow still followed her. Sumomo turned on a hallway, but to her horror, ended up on a dead end.
"Well, if it isn't one of the possible sailors..." A woman voice said. The shadow stopped, blocking Sumomo's way.
"Who are you?!" Shouted Sumomo.
A cold laugh answered her and tall woman, with indigo hair and silver eyes materialized by the shadow's side. Her skin was tanned and she was wearing a black, short dress with high heels. Sumomo noticed the woman had a dark purple gem on her forehead.
"I, little girl, am the one who is going to kill you. I'm sure your blood will be a great source of energy." She said, caressing the shadow "I'm Skat, fourth star under Queen Reiha's command."
"Who?" Sumomo asked, backing away. She didn't like the look the woman gave her, like she was some kind of food.
The woman ignored her and looked at the shadow "Phantom." Suddenly, the shadow started to take form. It rose from the floor and grew arms, legs and a head. Sumomo noticed in horror that the shadow didn't have a face, only a mouth without any teeth that looked like a sucker.
"What is that thing?!" Sumomo screamed, backing away until she hit the wall.
"This, me dear girl, is a apparition from my planet. It's called phantom, but it's very solid." She smiled "You'll feel it when he starts sucking your blood."
"Not so fast."
Skat and Sumomo looked to the other side of the hall. There were two girls standing there, wearing strange clothes.
"Who are you?" Asked Skat.
"We're soldiers who fight to protect this world. You attacked many people and even went as far as killing them. This we'll never forgive." The girl in the red fuku started "I'm Sailor Mars and I'll punish you in the name of Mars!"
"I'm the champion of love and justice and every time an evil threatens an innocent person, I'll be there to make them regret every wrong deeds they did." The other one said "I'm Sailor Moon, and on behalf of the Moon, I'll punish you!"
"Fools. Don't you know that is better to attack your enemies when they are not noticing?" Skat smiled.
"What?!" Phantoms surrounded the two girls. Skat smiled and turned to Sumomo again.
"Now, where were we? Oh yes. Phan-!"
"Mars Fire Soul!"
"Moon Tiara Action!"
Skat looked behind her and was shocked to see that all the phantoms had disappeared. The two girls were intact, and looking angry.
"Stay away from Sumomo-chan!" Shouted the blonde one. The other started to prepare another attack.
"Fools!" Skat conjured more phantoms. This time, there were too many for them to take up. Just when one was about to grab the blonde one, a whip sliced it in two.
Sumomo was more than surprised to see Suuichi Minamino coming in their direction, holding a strange whip in his hand. Skat frowned and clapped her fingers. Sumomo froze when she felt a phantom holding her from behind.
"Make any other move and I'll kill her. This includes you, Kurama."
The Sailors and Kurama stopped. Phantoms started to circle them. Sumomo got desperate. She knew those girls. They were Yuri and Akane, she was sure of it. And those things were going to kill them and it would be all her fault.
Another phantom appeared in front of her, and launched at her. Sumomo closed her eyes, hoping for a miracle.
'Miracles only happen when you fight for them.' A voice said inside her head. Sumomo opened her eyes, and to her astonishment and confusion, she found herself to be in a beautiful garden. There was a blonde woman in front of her.
"Who are you?" Sumomo asked.
"I am Sailor Venus." The woman said, "I'm here to help you with your miracle."
"How?" Asked Sumomo.
The woman handed her a strange orange talisman with a star on one end. It had the Venus symbol on it.
"Use this to transform into the new Sailor Venus. It will help you to defeat evil and save this world." The woman smiled.
Sumomo was about to ask how, but the garden disappeared and she found herself back to the hallway, the phantom almost hitting her. She saw as Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars shouted for her and Kurama narrowed his eyes slightly. Plants appeared and knocked out the phantom that was holding her.
Sumomo clutched the talisman in her hand and shouted "Venus Power, Make-Up!"
Light surrounded her, and she suddenly saw that she was wearing an orange version of the sailor fuku.
Concentrating her energy on the point of her finger, Sailor Venus shouted "Venus Crescent Beam!" destroying the phantom.
"Damn!" Skat cursed. Black light surrounded her, and she disappeared.
"Sumomo-chan!" Sailor Mars and Moon ran towards her.
"What just happened?!" She said, while the two girls hugged her.
Kurama sighed. The second time he would have to go to Reikai in one day.
~*~*~
"Skat, you failed. Again."
"Forgive me, your highness." Said Skat, bowing before Reiha "The sailors powers are too strong. The phantoms were no match for them."
"And after them destroyed your phantoms, you fled."
Skat started to shake. Reiha was angry with her. This couldn't be good.
"Milady, let me try again. I won't use my phantoms. They are too weak."
Reiha looked at Skat.
"Very well. You can have another chance."
"Thank you, thank you your highness!" Skat said in relief.
"Now go."
"Yes, yes milady." Skat disappeared. Reiha smiled evilly.
"Vertez!" She called. A man with long dark green hair and golden eyes appeared. He had a green gem on his right hand.
"Yes, Reiha-sama?"
"Get ready."
"But I though you had sent Skat after them."
"Oh, she'll be no match for them. It will be only an entertaining battle."
"Yes, milady." Vertez disappeared and Reiha looked at the mirror. How would the Sailors defeat Skat?
~*~*~ Two days later, Meiou High ~*~*~
"Pop quiz!"
"Noooo!" Sumomo and Yuri said. Kurama and Akane looked at them, sweat- dropping. After the incident with the strange woman, who Sumomo had told them was named Skat, nothing strange happened. Even the attacks stopped.
Since that day, they had started to sit close to Kurama, who didn't mind. After Sumomo and Akane stopped with the near-faints every time he talked to them, they had proved to be a very pleasurable company, alongside with Yuri. Sometimes, however, he could still hear Sumomo sighing in adoration.
Oyamada handed them the tests, and they turned their attentions to the questions.
Kurama was the first one of the group to hand his test, followed by Akane. Some time later, Yuri handed Oyamada-sensei her test. Sumomo was the last one to do so.
The lunch break bell rang, and they went to sit at the usual spot under the sakura tree.
"Mou, Oyamada-sensei is very mean!" Sumomo said. Since the day Oyamada had given her detention and confiscated her manga, the girl had developed a strong dislike for the teacher.
"Come on, Sumomo. The pop quiz was easy." Kurama said and sweat- dropped at the look Sumomo sent his way.
"Easy for you!" She said "I am not a mathematical genius like you!" Sumomo said.
"I don't think I was that good, either." Yuri said sighing "But now, we have more important things to do!"
"Which is?" Akane asked.
"Eat!" Yuri started wolfing down her lunch, while the others sweat- dropped.
Suddenly, Akane and Kurama stopped eating. Akane looked in the direction of the school woods and Kurama stood up.
"What happened?" Asked Yuri.
"Did you feel it, too?" Akane said, looking at Kurama.
"Yes. A strange aura on the school woods."
"You think it can be one of the enemies?" Sumomo asked, putting down her chopsticks and standing, too. Yuri followed her.
"Yes." Kurama answered "Let's go check."
"Okay. Show time, girls." Yuri said, pulling out her locket. They hid behind a bush to transform.
"Moon Prism Power, Make-Up!"
"Mars Power, Make-Up!"
"Venus Power, Make-Up!"
Kurama waited for the girls to get ready. After their transformations were finished, they started running towards the woods.
"What if is that strange woman again?" Asked Sailor Venus.
"Then we will stop her once and for all." Sailor Moon said, determined.
They finally found where the aura came from. On the middle of the school wood, was Skat. She smiled at them.
"Hello, Sailor scouts and Kurama. Nice to see you again."
"We can't say the same to you." Sailor Mars replied.
"Oh, I'm hurt." Skat said, feigning a hurt face that didn't convinced them.
"What do you want?" Sailor Moon asked.
"You." Skat smiled. Suddenly, the four of them were surrounded by black light.
~*~*~
Kurama slowly opened his eyes. The last thing he remembered was being surrounded by some kind of dark light and being thrown in another dimension with one of the girls. Looking around, he saw Sailor Moon unconscious a few feet away from him.
"Sailor Moon!" He went over to her and checked her pulse. She opened her eyes and looked at him.
"Kurama? Where are we?"
"I don't know." Looking around, Kurama saw that everything was black. There was no floor, no roof. Nothing. Only blackness.
"This place is strange." Sailor Moon said, sitting "Where are the others?"
"I have no idea." He helped her stand "Come on, let's go look for them."
"Okay."
~*~*~
"Ouch...My head." Sailor Venus opened her eyes and put a hand on her head. Looking around, she saw Sailor Mars wakening up too.
"Sailor Venus, where are we?" She asked, standing up.
"I dunno. All I remember is being surrounded by something black and being thrown over here with you."
"Do you think Sailor Moon and Kurama are all right?"
"I hope so."
"Let's go look for them."
~*~*~
Sailor Moon and Kurama were walking for almost half an hour now. She was getting tired, worried over her friends and hungry.
"Kurama, how much longer do you think it will take?"
"I sincerely don't know." Kurama looked around. They had been walking straight forward for a long time now, but still there was no sign of the blackness to end.
"Mou..." The girl sighed. Looking to her right side, she suddenly gave a little yelp and grabbed the back of Kurama's shirt.
"Look, Kurama! I saw something shining there!" She said, pointing in the direction she saw it.
"Come on." Kurama started walking towards it. When they got close enough, they saw Skat. She was sitting on the air with her legs crossed and was holding some kind of black shard.
"You two took a long time to find me." She said, playing with the shard between her fingers.
"Where are Sailor Venus and Sailor Mars?" Asked Kurama, pulling a rose out of his hair.
"Easy there, flower boy." Skat said, landing on whatever supported them "Let's play a little. I want to see something interesting."
"What do you mean?" Asked Sailor Moon.
"I want to see someone's real form." She smiled wickedly. She put the black shard on the middle of the purple gem in her forehead. The gem glowed in a purple light and Skat's hair grew longer and changed from indigo to a grayish blue. Her eyes changed and now were cat-like and her nails turned into claws.
Kurama pushed Sailor Moon out of the way when Skat attacked. Dodging her claws, Kurama transformed the rose into a whip and tried to slice Skat, but she managed to dodge without any scratch.
"Fast, but not fast enough." She smiled and licked her lips.
Looking down at his hand, Kurama saw what she meant. There was a little scratch and Kurama saw something black entering his body by it. He felt the youko inside of him start to gain control and looked at the woman, who was smiling in victory.
"Why are you smiling?" He asked coldly.
"Because now I'll be able to have a real fight." She smiled "I don't want to battle vessels."
Kurama smirked "You're a fool. You underestimated me. I can defeat you without any problems, and at least you would have more minutes of life. But now, I doubt you'll last more than one minute." His eyes changed to golden.
~*~*~
"Look, Sailor Mars! There's something glowing there!" Sailor Venus pointed from somewhere in front of them.
"Let's go!" They started running toward the strange glow, and they saw Kurama, Sailor Moon and that woman, Skat. Something strange was happening to Kurama, because his eyes were golden and his hair was changing to silver and growing, just like his body.
"Sailor Moon!" They shouted and went to Sailor Moon's side "What is happening?" Venus asked.
"I don't know!" She answered, watching Kurama's transformation. Two fox years were starting to appear at the top of his head and his skin was getting paler "They started to fight and she said she wanted to see his true form!"
"True form?!" Mars asked. His clothes were changing and she could see a fox's tail moving behind Kurama "What true form?!"
"This form." A deep voice answered. The three girls looked to Kurama. He sure was different, and he was radiating a lot of power.
He turned to Skat and smirked. A very wicked smirk.
"You were the one who wanted to fight me. What are you waiting for?"
Skat had noticed her mistake, but it was too late. She lunged at him, who easily dodged. Kicking her at the her back, he sent her flying to a great distance. Skat stood up and growled in fury.
The silver youko sneered "So, that's all you can do? Even a child could beat you. I'm not wasting my time with you." He turned to the Sailor scouts "Take care of her."
"Wha-?!" Sailor Moon looked at the fox guy. How did he expected them to beat the woman? They had moved so quickly that she couldn't even see what they were doing!
Sailor Mars glared at him "What do you mean, take care of her?! You were the one fighting with her first!"
"Yeah! Go end your own fights!" Sailor Venus said.
He smirked and walked over to them. The girls gulped, looking at the much taller man. He looked hard at them with his golden yes.
"It isn't my mission to protect this world from evil. I have no reason to kill that weakling. I can very well walk away right now."
"You're so mean! How can you say something like that?!" Sailor Moon said "If you don't want to help, then it's fine! We'll fight her!"
She walked past him, Sailor Mars and Venus following suit. He smirked and watched as Skat looked in despise at them.
"And how will you three little girls going to beat me?"
"We're not little!" Moon shouted "We'll show you what we can do! Moon Tiara Action!"
Skat dodged Sailor Moon's attack, but wasn't as lucky with Sailor Mars.
"Mars Fire Soul!"
The attack hit her directly, leaving her disoriented. Sailor Venus prepared herself and sent her Crescent Beam towards her, who didn't had time to dodge.
"We will punish you for all the people that you attacked and killed, Skat!" Shouted Sailor Moon "Now, Sailors!"
"Moon Tiara Action!"
"Mars Fire Soul!"
"Venus Crescent Beam!"
The three attacks combined themselves, hitting Skat directly. Her gem shattered in a million of pieces and the black shard disappeared. Skat dissolved into shadows and the blackness disappeared. Looking around they saw they were back to Meiou High.
"We...We did it!" Sailor Moon shouted in happiness. The three of them hugged each other and jumped in happiness.
"Yay! We're the best! No one can beat us!" Venus was shouting.
"Yeah! We defeated the evil woman!" Mars said, jumping with Venus.
Sailor Moon laughed, but was distracted by the fox guy. Leaving her two friends jumping and commenting about the fight, she walked over to him.
"What...What's your name?" She asked.
"Kurama."
"Oh, so it's the same." She mumbled "Why...Why did you acted like that back there?"
Kurama raised an eyebrow at the girl "Just because I share the same body with Suuichi Minamino doesn't mean we share the same personality."
"Oh." She looked at him "But does that mean you don't like us?"
If Kurama was surprised by her question, he didn't show it "I don't have a formed opinion about you and your friends."
She gave him a little smile "But then that mean that we have a chance to befriend you, right?"
Kurama studied the girl in front of him. Her dark brown eyes were filled with hope "Let's see what the future brings."
Then, he transformed back into Suuichi.
~*~*~ End Chapter 2 ~*~*~
Hatoko: Wohoo! 25 pages! 326 paragraphs! 1.072 lines and 6.795 words!
Fuyu: That was big!
Hatoko! Yeah! And the good thing is, I'm not tired! I could just keep typing on and on! I think it's because the Kurama plushy and the cookies Shadowkitsune gave me! Thanks!
Fuyu: Hey, they defeated the first villain!
Hatoko: Yep! And Youko Kurama made an appearance! I love him so much! *Pulls Youko Kurama out of fic and hugs him to death*
Y.K: Let go of me, crazy human girl!
Hatoko: Never! Anyway, don't forget to review and tell me what do you think of this chapter! If you do that, I'll make Youko or your favorite bishounen kiss you!
Y.K: *outraged* What?! I'm not kissing anyone!
Hatoko: Yes, you are.
Fuyu: Hey, I want a bishie for me too!
Hatoko: Take Hiei, he's going to be on next chapter anyway.
Fuyu: Okay!
Hatoko: Until next chapter!
