Chapter 7
DISCLAIMER
This particualr chapter gets fairly dark, so if you're really just some kid who likes to look at R-rated stuff, you have been warned. This episode is fairly important for the whole story, so if you want to be left in the dark, don't read it. You have been warned. =) Bwahahahaha...
...
Just read it already -.- lol
Chapter 7
"You haven't been taking very good care of Hotaru, Haruka-san."
Haruka went a bit red in the face as Hotaru told Setsuna and Michiru about the recent happenings having to do with Cerberus.
She shuddered at the thought of that freak.
She had no idea as to why Cerberus had suddenly decided to murder Fukuda. True, he wasn't dead, but he would have been if Cerberus could have had her way.
The only reason Haruka could think of was that Fukuda was a tough competitor, and Cerberus had taken it upon herself to get rid of him. She flinched inwardly as she recalled how she had managed to persuade Hotaru that the dog was safe, that she would protect her, that she wouldn't hurt anyone…
All this had just happened in the space of a few hours. Haruka could hardly believe her own naiveté. Usually she was much more sensible than that.
She shuddered again at the thought of how much Cerberus would have hurt Hotaru if she hadn't stopped her that morning.
Damned animals. I'll never trust another dog again, as long as I live…
She cleared her throat and decided to change the subject.
"Anyway, what took you so long, Michiru?" she asked. For Michiru had clearly said that she was leaving for ONE concert in another city.
Michiru massaged her temples in an attempt to reduce the sheer magnitude of the migraine she had had for several days.
"Because some drunken frat boys trashed the concert hall and the concert was delayed for five days. It's a good thing I could get a hotel on such short notice, or else I would have been flat on my butt for the past week." Michiru cast her gaze in Haruka's direction. "But when I tried to use my credit card, it had hardly any credit left on it. There was something on it about an emergency operation on a pet dog. Haruka, do you know anything about this?"
Haruka went beet red and muttered a very unconvincing "No."
Setsuna, Michiru, and Hotaru all raised their eyebrows dubiously, but said nothing.
"Anyway, Setsuna-san," Haruka finally said, "what are you doing here? I thought you said you had business at the time gate."
"I did," Setsuna replied. "But that was until I received notice that some stupid errors of your already poor judgement nearly got Hotaru killed. Again."
Haruka shifted uncomfortably on the spot.
"Well, to be honest, both of you tried to kill her at least once, so I honestly don't see why you keep on picking on me…"
Hotaru huffed indignantly and muttered under her breath. "I hardly think that my near killing is a laughing matter."
"…And besides, you were the one who kidnapped her from her amnesiac father, Setsuna-san."
Hotaru angrily rose from her position on the couch and headed for the door. "I'm going to see Chibiusa-chan. At least her parents don't argue about who tried to kill her, or KIDNAP her, or torment her in every possible fashion imaginable..."
She slammed the door on her way out before she was even finished speaking.
"Shouldn't someone go with her?" Setsuna asked.
Haruka and Michiru both gave her a blank stare.
"Oh, fine! I'll go by myself!"
Setsuna stormed out the door in an uncharacteristically grumpy stride.
She slammed the door with so much force that one of the little glass plates in the window fell out and broke on the floor inside. She was dimly aware of Haruka cursing and Michiru pressing her further about her credit card bill.
The coppery scent of her own blood dominated this God-forsaken alleyway.
Cerberus lay facedown in the alley. Blood was slowly flowing out of her wounds, her body temperature was falling rapidly, and she was gradually drifting into a half-dead stupor. Painful dreams plagued her sub-conscious, filled with agonizing memories and chaotic emptiness. She shuddered convulsively. That old, dirty, black rag started sliding down her face, revealing a dead-grey crescent insignia on her forehead.
Slowly, it began to pulse with a faint, yellow light in time with her heartbeat. The light gradually dimmed and the pulses slowed as time passed.
"Hotaru! Hotaru!"
Setsuna felt rather stupid leaving the house after Hotaru, not even knowing which direction she was headed or what she actually intended to be doing at this time of night. She doubted that she really was headed to Chibiusa's house. It was rather insulting to one's dignity, to be shouting down an abandoned street in the middle of the night when innocent people were probably trying to relax. And, damnit, Setsuna was all about dignity.
A cold wind blew along the street, carrying dead leaves and several pieces of garbage with it. Snowflakes began falling, an extremely unusual occurrence for this time of year.
This was getting ridiculous. Not only was it extremely dangerous for a small child such as Hotaru to be wandering the streets of Tokyo alone at midnight, it was also unseasonably freezing outside.
A small, pulsating, yellow light caught Setsuna's attention.
Cerberus' head dropped, forcing the black rag over her forehead again. Her skin turned deathly pale, and even if the rag hadn't been covering it up, the dim glow would have been nearly impossible to see.
The light stopped glowing soon after Setsuna first saw it.
Setsuna would have been quick to dismiss it as a figment of her imagination…if she actually had an imagination. Lights didn't just appear out of the corner of people's minds, they came from somewhere. Every time Setsuna had dismissed something this way, it had come back to haunt her in some way, shape or form.
As Setsuna drew closer to the source of the light, she nearly slipped in a puddle of some sort. That was rather strange, considering the weather hadn't been wet enough lately to make a puddle of any sort of size.
But soon enough, she realized why.
The metallic, coppery smell of fresh blood was all over this alley. She held a hand to her mouth to keep from vomiting.
Her gaze rested on a small body lying in the center of the pool. As her eyes adjusted better to the darkness, she could make out a heavily injured person lying, trembling, in the middle of a pool of her own blood.
Who's there? Who is this, disturbing my death?
Cerberus had been in the middle of a deep stupor, but the presence of footsteps in the alley had roused her to a kind of semi-consciousness. The smell of her own blood was everywhere. No doubt that would attract other creatures, or perhaps even the very same ones that she had fought off earlier.
I don't want to die like this.
To die the death she wished upon herself just hours ago whilst begging for her own life was more than she wanted to endure. As absurd as it seemed, she had always wanted to die a hero, not as a weak and helpless wretch.
The footsteps grew closer. Something splashed in the blood near her face.
Reflexively, Cerberus bared her teeth and uttered a guttural snarl. Although she was at death's door once again, she did not wish to be sent to Hell one second sooner than she would without the interference of another individual.
Just wait until I die, at least.
Setsuna jumped as the person's features tightened in a grimace of rage and aggression. Almost immediately afterwards her features relaxed. Setsuna watched in horror as the person stopped shivering, and her hands stopped twitching.
What was this?
It was at this moment that Hotaru chosen to walk past the otherwise deserted alley and nearly slip in the same puddle of blood that Setsuna had only a few minutes beforehand. She glanced around wildly before resting her terrified gaze on Setsuna.
"Setsuna-mama? What in the world…?"
DISCLAIMER
This particualr chapter gets fairly dark, so if you're really just some kid who likes to look at R-rated stuff, you have been warned. This episode is fairly important for the whole story, so if you want to be left in the dark, don't read it. You have been warned. =) Bwahahahaha...
...
Just read it already -.- lol
Chapter 7
"You haven't been taking very good care of Hotaru, Haruka-san."
Haruka went a bit red in the face as Hotaru told Setsuna and Michiru about the recent happenings having to do with Cerberus.
She shuddered at the thought of that freak.
She had no idea as to why Cerberus had suddenly decided to murder Fukuda. True, he wasn't dead, but he would have been if Cerberus could have had her way.
The only reason Haruka could think of was that Fukuda was a tough competitor, and Cerberus had taken it upon herself to get rid of him. She flinched inwardly as she recalled how she had managed to persuade Hotaru that the dog was safe, that she would protect her, that she wouldn't hurt anyone…
All this had just happened in the space of a few hours. Haruka could hardly believe her own naiveté. Usually she was much more sensible than that.
She shuddered again at the thought of how much Cerberus would have hurt Hotaru if she hadn't stopped her that morning.
Damned animals. I'll never trust another dog again, as long as I live…
She cleared her throat and decided to change the subject.
"Anyway, what took you so long, Michiru?" she asked. For Michiru had clearly said that she was leaving for ONE concert in another city.
Michiru massaged her temples in an attempt to reduce the sheer magnitude of the migraine she had had for several days.
"Because some drunken frat boys trashed the concert hall and the concert was delayed for five days. It's a good thing I could get a hotel on such short notice, or else I would have been flat on my butt for the past week." Michiru cast her gaze in Haruka's direction. "But when I tried to use my credit card, it had hardly any credit left on it. There was something on it about an emergency operation on a pet dog. Haruka, do you know anything about this?"
Haruka went beet red and muttered a very unconvincing "No."
Setsuna, Michiru, and Hotaru all raised their eyebrows dubiously, but said nothing.
"Anyway, Setsuna-san," Haruka finally said, "what are you doing here? I thought you said you had business at the time gate."
"I did," Setsuna replied. "But that was until I received notice that some stupid errors of your already poor judgement nearly got Hotaru killed. Again."
Haruka shifted uncomfortably on the spot.
"Well, to be honest, both of you tried to kill her at least once, so I honestly don't see why you keep on picking on me…"
Hotaru huffed indignantly and muttered under her breath. "I hardly think that my near killing is a laughing matter."
"…And besides, you were the one who kidnapped her from her amnesiac father, Setsuna-san."
Hotaru angrily rose from her position on the couch and headed for the door. "I'm going to see Chibiusa-chan. At least her parents don't argue about who tried to kill her, or KIDNAP her, or torment her in every possible fashion imaginable..."
She slammed the door on her way out before she was even finished speaking.
"Shouldn't someone go with her?" Setsuna asked.
Haruka and Michiru both gave her a blank stare.
"Oh, fine! I'll go by myself!"
Setsuna stormed out the door in an uncharacteristically grumpy stride.
She slammed the door with so much force that one of the little glass plates in the window fell out and broke on the floor inside. She was dimly aware of Haruka cursing and Michiru pressing her further about her credit card bill.
The coppery scent of her own blood dominated this God-forsaken alleyway.
Cerberus lay facedown in the alley. Blood was slowly flowing out of her wounds, her body temperature was falling rapidly, and she was gradually drifting into a half-dead stupor. Painful dreams plagued her sub-conscious, filled with agonizing memories and chaotic emptiness. She shuddered convulsively. That old, dirty, black rag started sliding down her face, revealing a dead-grey crescent insignia on her forehead.
Slowly, it began to pulse with a faint, yellow light in time with her heartbeat. The light gradually dimmed and the pulses slowed as time passed.
"Hotaru! Hotaru!"
Setsuna felt rather stupid leaving the house after Hotaru, not even knowing which direction she was headed or what she actually intended to be doing at this time of night. She doubted that she really was headed to Chibiusa's house. It was rather insulting to one's dignity, to be shouting down an abandoned street in the middle of the night when innocent people were probably trying to relax. And, damnit, Setsuna was all about dignity.
A cold wind blew along the street, carrying dead leaves and several pieces of garbage with it. Snowflakes began falling, an extremely unusual occurrence for this time of year.
This was getting ridiculous. Not only was it extremely dangerous for a small child such as Hotaru to be wandering the streets of Tokyo alone at midnight, it was also unseasonably freezing outside.
A small, pulsating, yellow light caught Setsuna's attention.
Cerberus' head dropped, forcing the black rag over her forehead again. Her skin turned deathly pale, and even if the rag hadn't been covering it up, the dim glow would have been nearly impossible to see.
The light stopped glowing soon after Setsuna first saw it.
Setsuna would have been quick to dismiss it as a figment of her imagination…if she actually had an imagination. Lights didn't just appear out of the corner of people's minds, they came from somewhere. Every time Setsuna had dismissed something this way, it had come back to haunt her in some way, shape or form.
As Setsuna drew closer to the source of the light, she nearly slipped in a puddle of some sort. That was rather strange, considering the weather hadn't been wet enough lately to make a puddle of any sort of size.
But soon enough, she realized why.
The metallic, coppery smell of fresh blood was all over this alley. She held a hand to her mouth to keep from vomiting.
Her gaze rested on a small body lying in the center of the pool. As her eyes adjusted better to the darkness, she could make out a heavily injured person lying, trembling, in the middle of a pool of her own blood.
Who's there? Who is this, disturbing my death?
Cerberus had been in the middle of a deep stupor, but the presence of footsteps in the alley had roused her to a kind of semi-consciousness. The smell of her own blood was everywhere. No doubt that would attract other creatures, or perhaps even the very same ones that she had fought off earlier.
I don't want to die like this.
To die the death she wished upon herself just hours ago whilst begging for her own life was more than she wanted to endure. As absurd as it seemed, she had always wanted to die a hero, not as a weak and helpless wretch.
The footsteps grew closer. Something splashed in the blood near her face.
Reflexively, Cerberus bared her teeth and uttered a guttural snarl. Although she was at death's door once again, she did not wish to be sent to Hell one second sooner than she would without the interference of another individual.
Just wait until I die, at least.
Setsuna jumped as the person's features tightened in a grimace of rage and aggression. Almost immediately afterwards her features relaxed. Setsuna watched in horror as the person stopped shivering, and her hands stopped twitching.
What was this?
It was at this moment that Hotaru chosen to walk past the otherwise deserted alley and nearly slip in the same puddle of blood that Setsuna had only a few minutes beforehand. She glanced around wildly before resting her terrified gaze on Setsuna.
"Setsuna-mama? What in the world…?"