Here's the second chapter. Thanks to all those who reviewed (I'll specifically thank those at the end and show you the votes so far)
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or Sailor Moon.
This chapter was hard to write (belive you me) at my house. I went through hell to post it, so appreciate!
Hidden Strength
Chapter 2
Ami sighed as she leaned against the wall of her apartment building. Her whole body ached, she was so tired. Tonight..... she could only pray she would sleep.
Rei had been alright, in the end. On her way to school, she had been attacked. Afraid and outnumbered, she had called the other scouts. It was only after they had arrived and stopped the youma from finishing her off did they realize it was an ambush, planned from the start.
Haruna must have called her mother at work, since she probably wasn't home. And she would have to face the music tomorrow, probably 2 weeks detention, like the others.
She opened the door and began to trudge up the 4 flights of stairs towards her apartment, gripping her school bag firmly in her hand. As she came to her apartment door, she noticed a For Rent sign on the apartment door next to hers, the only two on the 4th level.
The neighbors had moved out? When? She hadn't even noticed. Then again, she'd been so out of it lately...
The door opened up just as Ami reached for the handle of her apartment door. She turned at the sound, only to see a teenage boy about her age standing there removing the sign.
He turned to look at her, a large grin on his face. He had long brown hair, in a braid, and violet coloured eyes so much like Hotaru's.
"Hey babe! Didn't think there was anyone my age in this old place, especially someone so beautiful," he said smoothly, causing Ami to blush and turn away slightly. Duo smiled. She was shy, but he certainly couldn't understand it. Short, blue/black hair, blue eyes, a small nose, a cute smile, and a nice figure. To him, the girl was all around beautiful. But she looked so tired.
"Um... I'm Ami Mizuno," she said, holding out her hand. He shook it.
"Names Duo Maxwell and- hey! You're wearing a Juuban uniform," he pointed out. She frowned and looked down at herself.
"Hold on a sec," he said, running into his apartment and coming back out with a booklet.
"Me and my four friends just transfered here as foreign exchange students from America. We'll be attending Juuban High starting tomorrow," he said, showing her the booklet which had the school seal on it and several pictures on the inside of students in the uniforms doing school activities.
"Did you get your schedules," she asked. He nodded.
"Alright, well I'm really tired, so if you'll excuse me..."
"Um...yeah, sure. Hey, can I ask a favor? We were told that the school is only a few blocks away, but it's more than that, and this street is so crazy and busy, that we couldn't find the school earlier today. Can you maybe walk us tomorrow morning?" Duo asked it with sincerity, and although Ami didn't mind showing them the way to school, she had to wonder how much of a bother would come out of this.
"Alright, I'll walk you. School starts at 8:25, so I want you to be ready to leave at 7:30. Even my shortcut might be extremely busy, and I'm sure you'de want to be there early on the first day to check in at the office and look around."
"Sounds good, thanks."
"Good, goodnight," Ami said, turning away to unlock the door.
"Night Ami," he said, the sign still in his hand as he entered his apartment door and locked it.
He was certainly friendly, perhaps he spoke what he was thinking too much, but other than that, fine. She had to wonder how his other four roomates were.
Upon entering the house, she found 6 messages on the machine. The first one was from Usagi.
"Hey Ames. Hope you're feeling alright. Mom and Dad spazzed. I'm totally grounded. Anyways, see ya tomorrow."
A beeping sound followed, and the next message played.
"Whats up Ami? It's Minako. I'm punished till the end of the century, hope you're fairing better. I just got off the phone with this girl in my Math class, which my doesn't know, she's out, and she said we're getting some new guys to the school! How cool! Anyways, i'll see ya tomorrow!"
The following message was much less upbeat than Minako's.
"Hey Ames, it's Rei. I called to tell you that the er...study buddies can't be at the temple tomorrow. We'll have to postpone our after school meetings from now on. um... I'll call you about a change in how we're meeting. Anyways, I hope you sleep well, well, all of us I mean, bye."
Following Rei came Makoto.
"Hey hey, it's Makoto. I'm dead. My mom was mad. She said that is Juuban kicked me out like os many other schools had, then I'de be shipped off to military school..." a nervous chuckle followed," um, well, see ya tomorrow."
The next message played.
"AMI MIZUNO! I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS! I JUST RECIEVED A CALL FROM HARUNA! I AM ASHAMED! FROM NOW ON, BESIDES CARING FOR HOTARU AND GOING TO SCHOOL, YOU"RE GROUNDED!" Her mother sounded angry. Wow. She could hear her mother clear her throat, and continue. "Now, I am leaving for a medical conference in France in one hour, at 6:00. I will call you tomorrow at 5:00. Someone better be there to pick up the phone. I figure, since you'll be 18 in a few days, you can handle Hotaru alonem right? I'll be back in a month. Bye."
Hotaru. Oh no. Ami did something she had not done in a while. She swore. How could she have forgotten?
Haruka was finally racing professionally, and Michiru was doing some shows with her violen. They were both growing in fame, and were offered a month long tour, together, for Haruka to race and Michiru to do shows in the same town she was in. They didn't know where to put Hotaru, since Setsuna was at the gates of time, and Usagi already had a big enough responsibility caring for Rini, since her parents thought the house was full enough. So, with her mother's permission, Ami had taken the responsibiliy of watching Hotaru for the month. Her mother was never home, so Ami had just decided to care for her herself that month. Now, as soon as the outers trusted her with caring for Hotaru, Ami had forgotten to pick her up from her school, the second day watching her!
She heard the thunder rumble outside. The little droplets of rain that had been there as she walked home were now pouring rain, thundering against the window.
The final message began to play.
"Ami, Ami pick up, it's Hotaru. Where are you? I don't know the way to your house from your school. I've been here hours. Are you alright? Ami?" The message ended just as Ami grabbed her jacket, not even out of her uniform, and her umbrella. The message had been left two hours ago, and Hotaru had been forgotten much longer than that.
She tore out of the apartment, barely closing the door in her hurry.
"Woah, Ami, what's the rush? Thought you were tired," a voice said, causing Ami to stop just as she was heading down the stairs. Duo stood in his doorway, while one of his friends, a blonde boy with blue eyes and a kind smile, placed a mat in front of the door. His friend looked up at Ami with curiousity. They'de been here a few hours, and already Duo knew someone. A very beautiful someone.
"I am, but I forgot to pick up someone from school. A young girl."
"Your sister?"
"No, her guardians are out of town for the month and there was no one to watch her, so I vollunteered. Now if you'll excuse me Duo and..."
"Quatre Winner."
"Quatre, yes, nice to meet you. I have to go."
"Wait, it's pouring outside and it's dark," Duo said.
"I know, and she's out there alone. I have to get going, bye." And with that statement, Ami tore down the steps and out the door.
"I don't really have the best feeling about her going out now, although I just met her," Quatre said. Before Duo said anything, another person spoke in a monotone.
"I agree." Duo and Quatre spun around to see Heero standing in the doorway, Wufei and Trowa behind him.
"Heero, were you watching the whole time," asked Quatre.
"Why do you care Heero, she's just a weak onna," Wufei said. Trowa remained silent, watching everyone's reactions.
"Maybe we'll get to see some of those strange occurences that Meioh woman mentioned. Besides, I have a strange feeling about that girl I can't explain," he said emotionlessly.
"Good, or bad," asked Duo.
"I don't know, just....odd."
"Well it's decided then. Let's go," Duo said excitedly, running inside to grab all of their jackets and some umbrella's.
Ami rushed down the street, making a lot of noise as she ran and splashed in the water. She finally arrived at Hotaru's school. The lights were all out, and she couldn't see anyone at the entrance.
She pushed open the gate and stepped inside. No one. Deserted. Hotaru must have either attempted to walk to Ami's apartment, or walked to her own home, the only one semi-near the school. All of the other senshi's homes were on the other side of Tokyo.
"Oh great," she said to herself, "I've lost a twelve year old in Tokyo."
She turned away from the school to the road. She could either go left, right, or strait forwards. Ami had walked hotaru to school that morning, and they had come from the left, which Hotaru must have noticed. So she must have gone left. With renewed hope, Ami ran in that direction, wondering why the hell Hotaru didn't have a communicater. That she would make sure they got for both Rini and Hotaru from now on.
She walked for about another 20 minutes, tired and worried.
The sound of some voices up in the other direction caught her ers. She pursued, but found it to be only a quarelling husband and wife, standing by a street corner arguing over directions. She took in a deep breath, and turned.
She moved on, arriving at Haruka and Michiru's house. The lights were all off, and it looked deserted. No, Hotaru hadn't been there. She sighed and checked her watch. 10:30. She had been searching for about 45 minutes.
She continued down the road, weariness setting in more, but determined to find Hotaru. Even if Hotaru was Sailor Saturn, Senshi of destruction, Ami didn't like that she was in this part of Tokyo alone late at night. She also kept in mind that Hotaru grew tired quite easily, and going without food, along with walking in the freezing rain without an umbrella since school let out, could have left her collapsed on a road somewhere. The thought made Ami move faster. She could have called the other senshi for help, but they were all in deep trouble, and pretty far away right now. She'd have to rely on herself, and pray that Hotaru was alright.
The wind began to pick up, and it got so powerful that Ami's umbrella turned inside out, and as she gripped it, rain now soaking her, she was almost being dragged in the direction that the wind was going.
"Stupid thing," she said, angrilly throwing the broken umbrella into a garbage can on a street corner.
"Hotaru," she called loudly, placing her hands around her mouth to intensify the call. "Hotaru!"
Nothing. She wiped water off of her face and away from her eyes iwth her sleeve, and reached for her hood. None. She sighed, and continued her run down the street, and turned a corner sharply, looking there. She would have thought Tokyo would be a bit more crowded at night time.
She ran down that street, her pace slowing as she began to lose hope after a few minutes. Suddenly, the sound of some laughter reached her ears. She turned to a building off to the far right. A group of three guys stood surrounding someone against a wall. They all looked to be about 16 or 17, around her age, and swayed slightly as they stood, either high on something or drunk.
One of the guys stumbled to the side, and she caught sight of who sat on the ground against the wall, staring up at the three wearilly,
"Hotaru!"
"Nice Maxwell and Yuy, now we're lost in a strange part of Tokyo we know nothing about, all over some girl who's probably back at her apartment with the stupid child, sipping HOT COCOA!" Wufei raved about their situation loudly, voice filled with anger and a hint of danger. Duo chuckled nervously.
"Maybe."
"How are we supposed to get home. I'm seen no sign of Miss Ami or any familiar streets. This was most unexpected, not that I was unconcerned," Quatre rambled as Heero and Trowa looked around for any signs they could read.
A cry in the distance had them all look up, and the five shot off in that direction.
Ami ran past the guys to Hotaru, who looked up, relieved. She was soaking wet and seemingly feverish. She looked extremely weak, like she was going to pass out any second.
"Ami, there you are," she all but whispered.
"Are you alright? Did they hurt you?"
Hotaru hook her head. "They just walked over and acted stupid," she said in the same quiet tone.
"Dude, what's wrong with her," one of the taller guys asked, a beer bottle gripped in his hand as he swayed.
"She's just found her mommy is all," a really short one said as he fell on the ground and attempted to get back up.
"Not that you idiot, he was asking about the girl," the last one answered sharply, a mean glint in his eye. He had on a leather jacket with a wierd symbol. Ami understood now. They were drunk. Now, after getting drunk, two of them got really stupid and the last one got dangerous. She tried her best to ignore their gazes as they stared at her dumbfoundedly. She reached down and picked up the shivering girl from the ground, who tried to steady herself and stand.
"Dude, where are you going, the party has started yet," the tallest said, reaching to grab her arm.
"Get away from me, now," Ami said icily, not in the mood to deal with them.
"Oooh, she's a tooouuuuuggggh girl. That's okay," the really short one said, grabbing Ami's right arm as the tallest grabbed her left. The one with the leather jacket stared monotoniously. Despite their drunken state, they were quite strong. Ami looked around. this wasn't good. Could she transform? Hotaru let out a cry and backed up against the wall at the scene. What should she do? She was far too weak to help Ami, she could barely stand. Ami struggled to free her hands, and the the one who hadn't grabbed her yet grabbed Ami's face ruffly.
"What's wrong with you? Why you struggle, heh?" Yep. Drunk.
Ami struggled more furiously now, but was unable to free herself. He let go of her face and turned to Hotaru. Ami panicked.
"Hotaru, run!"
Hotaru wouldn't run, partly because she wouldn't leave Ami, and partly because she could barely walk let alone run.
"Hey, leave them alone," a voice shouted. The three looked up.
Five guys stood there. Ami frowned. She could just barely make out there outlines in the rain, but the voice was familiar. Duo? His friends? What were they all doing there?
Duo was the first to step forwards, his body outlined by the ran.
"Let go of her," he said. The guys loked ta him skeptically.
"What are you gonna do about it, wimp," the one with the jacket asked.
"This," Duo responded cassually.
He drew his hand bag, and slugged the guy so hard in the face that he hit the ground. The two holding Ami looked at each other.
Heero approached on of the guys, and in the blink of an eye the guy was on the ground, having been knocked out by Heero. Ami took this opportunity to use her other free hand to grab the wrist of the guy holding her, and flip him over her head onto the ground with a thud. He cried out.
Ami turned right to Hotaru, now back on the ground. Rushing next to her in a kneeling position, she tried to shake the girl, who was drifting in and out of consiousness. Before anyone could even react, the first guy Duo had punched with a leather jacket stood. He shouted in rage, and his eyes glowed bright yellow for a moment.
Ami, holding onto Hotaru, simply backed up, now realizing this was no teenage boy.
"No one makes a fool out of me," he hissed an unearthly tone.
"Is this what you meant Heero," Quatre said nervously, as the five guys backed up near Ami.
"I believe this is what Ms. Meioh meant," he said qietly enough so that Ami didn't hear.
He changed, from a teenage boy to a young man, looking about 23 in a general's ouitfit, so much like the one's she could remember Jedeite, Zoisite, Nephlyte, or Malichite wearing. He had piercing green eyes and black hair.
"You know, I don't appreciate it when a nothing human hits me," he said in a dark tone, glaring at Duo. He held his palm up, and a sphere of energy formed in it.
"Now you die-" As the general spoke, he let out a small cry of pain as something hit him in the head. They looked up to see a transformed Tuxedo Mask standing on the roof above them. On the floor next to the general was his black cane. It had been thrown at his head.
"Ah yes, King Endymion. I knew you defended this area, but I thought you'de look different. You used to fight me with a sword, now this? Well, you're no longer a prince, and you're not king yet, so it only makes sense. Now you've cause me the rouble of reporting this, so I'm afraid we will have to settle this later," he said non-chalently as he dissapeared with a snap of his fingers.
"Miss...are you guys alright," Mamoru called down from the roof, pretending he didn't know Ami and Hotaru.
Quick as always, Ami responded. "Yes sir, that man didn't hurt us. The girl is just tired. Thankyou for your help."
"No problem," he responded, dissapearing before any of the guys could say anything. Ami looked down to where the general had stood. Rather than see Mamoru's usual fighting cane on the ground, it was a wrapped up black umbrella. She smiled. Mamoru was indeed helpful.
Carrying Hotaru piggy back style, Ami picked up the umbrella and opened it.
"If you hold on to my neck good, I can carry the umbrella, and hold one of your legs with my other arm," she told her. Hitaru nodded. Ami turned to the boys.
"Thankyou so much guys, we really appreciate this. How did you know to follow?"
"Well, Quatre and I didn't like that you went out in the rain and dark alone, so we told our friends and they agreed. Ami, this is Heero, Trowa, and Wufei."
"Nice to meet you," she responded.
"Who was that man," Heero asked.
"The one that tried to attack us? I don't know. Wierd stuff like that happens all the time around here. There's ussually a year of attacks, then a few months peace, and then they start up again. It's wierd."
"How long has this been going on," Wufei asked.
"Since I was 14. About 4 years, since I'll be 18 very soon. The other guy who helped us is one of the fighters who protect our city. He, and some other fighters who's identities are unknown," Ami said as they began to walk.
"Oh, I get it. Who are the other fighters?"Duo asked this, now interested.
"They're the Sailor Senshi, protecters of the innocent, fighting for justice."
"Oh," Quatre said, slightly surprised. "So all those guys fight to protect tokyo?"
"No, they're not guys. They're woman. You'll see them all over Tokyo, by the media."
They reached the apartment. Ami said goodnight to the boys and took Hotaru inside. She took care of her for a couple of hours before she fell asleep. She wondered about those new boys. Something was strange about them.
Thanx to these people for reviewing. 9 REVIEWS! I was excited.
Steph
Devil Wench
Lilmercurianangel
Sorrowofthe meadows
Lonely Wind Fairy
varyluvs321
Trickster's- Lulaby
Sonar de Mercury
Nyneve
AND THE VOTES ARE IN. You can vote on just this chapter, then I'll give the final result. Sofar, it's:
Wufei: 3
Duo: 3
Quatre: 1
Heero: 2
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