Chapter 9: An Appearance

Devin rushed around the Tsukino household, set in his destination. He quickly nudged open a door and jumped up onto the bed inside. "Bata-chan! Bata-chan! I found someone!"

The figure beneath the sheets rolled over, pulling the blankets tighter and closer to her face. "Not now, Devin…in a few hours…"

Angered, he started jumping up and down on her. "Batafurai, WAKE UP! I found someone that looks like one of your teammates! Drag your sorry adolescent behind out of this bed this instant!

Batafurai simply muttered something incoherently and burried her head deeper into her pillow and blankets.

Devin, now sick of playing the wake-up game, drew his claws. "Fine, we'll play the hard way!"

"…YYYEEEOOOWWW! DEVIN NO BAKA!"

Batafurai, now dressed and outside, yawned. "What is so important that you drag me outside at…" here she looked at her watch, "five thirty in the morning? On a SUNDAY? I was sleeping quite happily until SOMEONE decided he was going to pierce holes in my leg with his claws!"

From his perch on her shoulder, Devin replied, "I wouldn't have had to do that if you had just woken up on the first two warnings! AND you would have heard me say I think I found one of your teammates."

She froze. "…What did he or she look like?"

"Um…really light brown hair…or maybe blonde…about average height…freckles. She was bigger than you…"

Batafurai smiled. "Taiga…DEFINITELY Tai-chan. She's the only girl I know with dirty blonde hair and freckles. Also, she's the ONLY one I know that would even CONSIDER wandering at five thirty in the morning."

"…Big morning person, I take it…"

"She's the DEFINITION of a morning person. I swear she's obsessed with seeing a sunrise…"

"At least I know what one looks like!" a soft voice said from behind Batafurai.

"If the kami had meant for me to see one, it would be…" Batafurai stopped mid sentence, turning around. Looking up, she squealed. "TAI-CHAN!" Throwing her arms around the girl, she added, "I'm SSOO glad I found you!"

Taiga seemed a bit taken aback. "Let me GO, Bata-chan…Get OFF of me…"

Devin sighed. "For cryin' out loud, Bakafurai, let the girl GO!"

Taiga jumped back, horrified. "Who said that?"

Sighing, Batafurai motioned to the cat upon her shoulder. "Don't look at me like I've gone insane, he really does talk…and you're not dreaming."

"I HAVE to be dreaming, or you have to have gone insane. Batafurai, you KNOW cats don't talk…EVER!"

Devin glared at her before replying, "This one does."

Both Batafurai and Devin thought Taiga was going to faint on the spot. "…B…Bata-chan…Why does that cat talk?"

He saved her from the explanation. "You can call me Devin, and I'm not your ordinary house cat, as you see. I'm what people in OUR time call 'Guardian Moon Cats.' We originated on another planet, with the first two immigrating to the moon over a thousand years ago to guard and advise the queen of the Silver Millenium, Queen Serenity. The moon symbol on my forehead is proof of that. It is also the source of my powers. Once it's covered, I revert to having the abilities as any other feline on this planet.

"I, like you, am from the far future. We live in the future version of this city, called Crystal Tokyo. You, Taiga, belong there with Batafurai…I think."

Taiga, now interested in the feline's story, raised an eyebrow. "You THINK?"

Batafurai laughed, sweatdropping and looking nervous. "Well, he will only know…"

She was interupted by loud, high pitched barking noises. Looking down, Batafurai saw a chocolate colored puppy start gently pulling on Taiga's pant leg. It then sat down, wagging its tail and looking up at Taiga with a doggy-grin.

She smiled, picking up the puppy. "Bata-chan, Devin-san, this is Rachel. She started following me a few days ago and refuses to leave. I've decided to take her in."

Batafurai smiled while Devin looked angered and annoyed. "Tai-chan, that's so cute! Why'd you name her Rachel though? That's an American name!" she asked.

Taiga, petting the small puppy with her free hand, replied, "Well, there was this really nice elderly lady that lived by me who was named Rachel. She was always offering to babysit Keleika and me whenever our parents needed, and she was always offering to play with her and me. She was my favorite person when I was very small. She died a few years ago, though. This puppy here seems to be just as unjudgemental as that lady was about me. She doesn't care what I've done in my past or that I've got these stupid freckles or anything else. She's just glad I took her in and feed her."

Batafurai shook her head, crossing her arms across her chest. "You've got a huge heart, Taiga. You don't even have a place to stay right now and you've taken in a pet needing help!" She saw out of the corner of her eye a familiar person bearing blue hair. She waved and called out, "Hey Ami-san!"

Ami turned and returned the wave, walking up to the two younger girls. "Hello, Batafurai-san. Who is this?"

Taiga bowed. "I am Taiga, Batafurai's friend. This here is a furry friend of mine, Rachel."

Ami returned the bow. "I am Mizuno Ami." Then, turning to Batafurai, she asked, "Is this one of the friends you have told Usagi and me about?"

Batafurai nodded. "Taiga's in the same predicament as I was when I came here. She's also…found a puppy since the last time I saw her. Are you still willing to offer her shelter, Ami-san?"

"I'll pay for what Rachel needs myself, Mizuno-san," Taiga quickly added.

Ami laughed. "I am still willing, Batafurai. As for paying for Rachel…I really don't think that's necessary, Taiga."

Taiga smiled and bowed again. "Thank you so much, Mizuno-san!"

"It's no trouble, Taiga-san. My mother will enroll you in Juuban Junior High in the morning…Do you have a family name?"

Taiga paled immediately at that comment. "…Mizuno-san…I…"

Batafurai intervened. "Taiga-chan is, like me, an orphan of sorts. We DO have family names, but it's hard to explain us living with people with different family names…"

Ami nodded. "We'll enroll you as Mizuno Taiga, then. Follow me. I'll show you where I live."

Taiga's color slowly returned as she followed Ami. "I was called Ouitsu Taiga back home…just so you know. Batafurai was Hishou Batafurai, Mizuno-san."

Batafurai smiled as she heard Ami correct, "You can call me Ami, Ouitsu-san."

Smirking, Devin gently slapped Batafurai's shoulder. "Well, that just might be one down, ne?"

"Right, Devin…right."

Later the next day, Batafurai stood by a tree on the grounds of Juuban Junior High after school left out. Seeing a familiar face, she raised her hand and yelled, "Kasai-san!"

The black-haired girl smiled and rushed over to her. "Hey, Batafurai-san!" Batafurai mentally winced at the honorific, but knew it was not worth the argument. "Did you meet the new girl? She's…"

"She has dirty blonde hair and light blue eyes. Her skin is very pale and dusted with pale brown freckles. She's around 1.65 meters tall and very pretty despite the freckles. Her name's Mizuno Taiga, ne?"

Kasai lowered her eyebrows. "You heard already, didn't you?"

"No, Kasai-san. She's one of the friends I refered to."

"Hey Bata-chan," Taiga said, walking up. As she noticed Kasai, she added, "I'm sorry for my rudeness. I didn't see you there, Shuensha-san."

"It's fine, Mizuno-san. I was just talking to Batafurai about…"

Before Kasai could finish her sentence, a very loud scream was heard past the school. Batafurai grabbed Taiga's wrist and yelled to Kasai, "I'm going to find out what that noise was. Tai-chan, come with me!" She took off running, dragging the taller girl behind her.

Kasai blinked, then crossed her arms and smirked. 'Batafurai-san sure is weird. But…she's pretty awesome in the same sense. Can't help but think she's hiding something from me…'

Taiga yanked her wrist back, nearly pulling Batafurai off her feet. "What was THAT for? And why do you have that brooch on your bow?"

Batafurai glanced over her shoulder and bit her lower lip. "Could we please at LEAST duck into an alley before I explain that? If I know right, there's a youma around here attacking someone…judging by how loud that scream sounded, it has to be close by."

"YOUMA? Batafurai, what aren't you telling me?"

Devin, who had apparently been close by, jumped up onto Batafurai's shoulder. "Action time, Batafurai. Get Taiga out of here and transform!"

Taiga opened her mouth to argue, but was cut off by a whip-like object flying just over her head. She, Batafurai, and Devin looked up to see a humanoid creature grasping its wrist and glaring angrly at four Senshi in varying colors.

"The Inners…" Devin muttered.

"Tai-chan! What's up with your forehead?" Batafurai asked, pointing to a spot just above the space between Taiga's eyebrows. A strange symbol was glowing there in blue. It looked like a heart on a stem, with a cross through the stem and a point coming off each lobe of the heart.

Devin's eye widened. "The Symbol of Mercury…"

Yes, evil spot to end, I know. The next two chapters should come out quickly, however.

I'd like to thank Mason for reviewing…even though you're my co-author at least 80 of the time, I'm still going to thank you for leaving me a review.

Also, a SPOILER CHARACTER to this story has been entered into the Tuxedo Wars. The link is on my profile. Please vote for the one YOU think is the best. It won't bother me either way who wins, as I'm very honored to get to have Protector battle such a well-developed character as Guardian Fenris (who also has a very nice creator!).

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