Chapter 8: Senshi Soup
Minako sighed as she remembered Akane yelling at her that morning for being cruel to her friend Makoto. She just didn't think Makoto even wanted charity, she never even told the Queen she sometimes had money problems. On the other hand, Makoto had been one of her best friends. When she thought about all the time they spent together as Sailor Venus and Sailor Jupiter, she felt guilty that she had grown apart from Makoto as an adult, her social life now filled with attending fancy parties, as she was eager to earn the favor of the wealthy socialites. Maybe I should apologize to Akane, or at least call a truce. Because she's going to be a...
"Look where you're going, you moron!" Minako screamed as she swerved out of the way from a silver car that was tearing down the road like it was an airplane instead of a land vehicle. Oh right, I was thinking about driving home and returning from the palace, Minako thought as the danger passed; Akane is finally due to be a Sailor Senshi.
"Come on, Bridget! I'm sure she'll want to come too if I convince her, and then all of us can go together!" Akane asserted. She and Bridget were waiting for Minako to return from the palace with a mission that they both could guess the reason for.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that, though. Your mother seemed quite upset when you told her to give money to Miss Kino; why would she want to help you give soup to people she doesn't know?" Bridget worried.
"Because I want to call a truce, at least for a little while. Maybe I'll try this charity thing; I mean, we don't have to pay for the soup at a soup kitchen, right?" Minako said as she entered the house, hearing the last part of the conversation.
"No, of course not, Mom! The people who run it might have to, but we don't, we would just be volunteers," Akane explained happily. Bridget didn't speak, she just watched, enjoying the scene of a mother and daughter reunion.
"Then you won't have any objections to using this and taking on the responsibilities that go with it," Minako chirped as she produced a deep indigo-colored bracelet from her purse.
"I know what that is! I'm going to be a Sailor Senshi! I'd be glad to do that; Sailor Senshi are there to help people!" Akane agreed, "And now let's go!"
"Okay, I'll start up the car again," laughed Minako.
"No, Mom, not the car. We should take public transportation. It doesn't do any good to help the poor but not ride with them," Akane argued.
"All right, I'll try that," Minako agreed. She really did want to make up with Akane, and she was curious about the charity work that her daughter did after school. It sounded like it might be fun since Akane did sometimes tell stories about talking to people and some of the friends she had made there.
They arrived at the soup kitchen soon enough, though Minako did complain that they would've gotten there faster in the car instead of by taking the bullet train. This was partially because it hadn't clicked in her mind that the time spent at the stops would be long enough to extend the traveling time so that the bullet train's speed didn't have the effect. Minako and Bridget got acquainted with the job, which was surprisingly easy, especially for an extrovert like Minako. It wasn't until a pair of two girls entered that there was a problem. Akane went to greet them as she usually did, and while Kimiko, who had short, pale blue hair, gave her an equally happy greeting, the other girl just glared at Akane and went back to reading her manga. Akane must have been in one of her "I'll reform everyone" moods that day, because she decided that it was her duty to teach that sullen girl with the lime green pigtails to be more friendly.
"Come on, you don't have to sit there reading like a bump on a log. We're all one big family here," Akane admonished her playfully.
"Go away. My real family would let me read," grumped the girl.
"Miaka, be nice to the poor crippled girl. Don't you think it's so brave of her to come here and help people?" Kimiko gushed.
"Wait, you think I'm brave for doing this? I guess you could call me brave for coming here, since some people would be too scared to rebel against their parents. I'm surprised Mom came here for once," Akane said proudly.
"Yes, so brave and inspirational! I mean, at least I can walk! I'd probably DIE if I lost that, but here you are, still living your life and even helping people!" Kimiko continued to gush.
"Wait, why would you die if you lost the ability to walk?" Akane asked, confused, and then she gasped in realization, her heart filling with sympathy for this poor little girl who she assumed had nothing but her own body and the clothes on her back. "You poor thing, is it because that's all you have? I think you're the brave one to be able to not be bitter like your friend and angry at me for having money when you probably don't have anything at all in the world!"
"I have things! Like my toys and my parents and our apartment! Just because we don't have enough money for food right now doesn't mean we're completely broke!" Kimiko snapped, annoyed at Akane's presumptuous statements.
"Yes, yes, I'm sure you have SOME things. But that's not really living, is it?" Akane said in a condescending tone as she reached up in an attempt to pat Kimiko on the arm.
"Who are you to tell me what life is?! You're the one confined to a wheelchair. Is this the first time your mom let you out of your room to be with real people or something?" Kimiko shot back, jerking her arm away from Akane's reach.
"Real people?! What is THAT supposed to mean?! I come here regularly!" Akane snapped. Minako came up behind her and glared down at Kimiko.
"What kind of foolish talk are you saying to my daughter?! Are you calling her imaginary just because she's a Sailor Senshi?" Minako scolded, and then she shrieked in surprise as she saw something appear out of thin air behind Kimiko. It looked like a blue fox with a fish tail, and it was baring its teeth and getting ready to strike. Was that another of those monsters the Magic Knights were sending to attack the Senshi?
"Look behind her, I can see one of those monsters!" called Sailor Cupcake, who had transformed so she could help if needed. Kimiko turned around quickly, but it wasn't enough, and the strange blue fox-like creature smacked her down with its long, fish-like tail. Miaka grabbed Kimiko and dragged her out of the soup kitchen as the blue fox monster shot a blast of water at them, this time missing.
"Vines Entanglement!" called Sailor Cupcake, tying down the fox creature. Akane grasped her new magic bracelet, eager to join the battle.
"Lollipop Prism Power, Make Up!" she called, and a Sailor Senshi outfit appeared on her body in a swirl of indigo ribbons. Her collar and skirt were a dark indigo color, and she also had a light blue bow on her chest and another one decorating the back of her wheelchair. The blue fox shot another jet of water, this time hitting Sailor Lollipop and sending her rolling backwards until she bumped roughly into the wall behind her.
"Vines Entanglement!" Sailor Cupcake tried again, this time tying up the fox's mouth so that it couldn't use its water jets attacks. Sailor Lollipop quickly recovered and wheeled forward as quickly as she could, and got into striking position.
"Now I get to use this. Lollipop Tiara Action!" Sailor Lollipop touched her tiara, which glowed, came off of her head and turned into a glowing indigo disk that she threw at the monster. She then ran it over with her wheelchair to make sure it was dead and disintegrated.
"Good job, Akane. You did great for your first Sailor Senshi battle," Minako said with a smile.
"Thanks, Mom! Hey, where'd that girl go? You know, the weird one who thinks I'm not a real person? Didn't she need food? Maybe she was delusional with hunger and that's why she said those things," Akane said, detransforming along with Bridget.
"She was probably just being smart and avoiding that fox monster. A lot of other people left when it started attacking," Bridget said, "They might come back now that we beat it."
"Yeah, that makes sense, since she's not a Sailor Senshi like me," Akane said, "Poor delusional girl, she didn't even let me touch her to reassure her that I'm real."
"I don't think she was delusional," Minako said with a sigh, rolling her eyes. "More like she thinks that your life is incomplete just because you can't walk."
"But I'm the one with more money than she probably ever has had! How can she think that MY life is the incomplete one?!" Akane protested. Bridget watched them, wondering how both Akane and Kimiko could judge another person's life as being incomplete or worth living. She wanted to tell them that every life has value, but stayed quiet, as she didn't want to get in an argument with Akane.
"I don't know either," Minako said, "Look, are we going to go back to being in the serving line or do you want to go back home?"
"No, let's go back to the serving line! Getting soup and good food will cheer people up after that monster attack," Akane said cheerfully, forgetting about her argument with Kimiko for the moment.
"Okay, okay. Maybe it will be good practice if I get cast as a beautiful waitress in a movie," Minako agreed.