Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon.
Betrayals
The figure scowled as he silently slipped into Mimet's bedroom through a window. His eyes scanned the shadowy room carefully. Cheery, pink curtains hung loosely over another set of windows on the far wall of the room. The soft glow of the morning light slowly crept past the windows, illuminating the creamy white carpet. In the center of the room was a bed covered with silky blue blankets that reminded Yaten of the star-shaped flowers found in the fields at home during the summer time. Beside the bed was a simple night table with brushes and various other accessories scattered across the top.
Yaten stepped forward to examine the contents on the table. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Leaning down, the young man opened a drawer to find that it was empty. That was to be expected, they did not plan to stay on Pluto for long and it wouldn't make sense to settle in. In addition, he and Mimet never owned much to begin with.
The young man looked under the bed to discover a grubby brown bag. Yaten's eyes lit up as he recalled that this was Mimet's luggage bag. Fingering the lock on the bag, Yaten smirked and drew out a small pick. After a little fiddling, the silver haired man managed to release the lock.
Opening the zipper, Yaten carefully rummaged through the small luggage bag. Sweaters, skirts, breeches, a couple of pocketknives, crumbled bits of cookies, underwear... Yaten made a face and tried to avoid touching any more of Mimet's undergarments. Either than the underwear, there was not a lot that was worth commenting about.
The pocketknives looked interesting though, Yaten thought as he flipped one open and examined the edge of the blade. I wonder where she got these. They look a lot better than mine.
Yaten frowned as he returned the pocketknives. There had to be more. Years of experience of sneaking into various homes on planet Uranus had taught Yaten many things. First was that things were not always as they appeared to be. Mimet was intelligent. If she was hiding something, she would hide it well. After locking up the bag and leaving it the way he had found it, Yaten straightened up and surveyed the room once again.
"Perhaps I was wrong," Yaten said aloud as he crossed the room once again.
Michiru glanced coldly out the window as the sun slowly rose higher into the sky. The bright, warm rays of the distant sun were not able to warm Michiru's heart as she continued to stay in her position, her head rested on the sill of the window.
Mimet. Michiru knew that this had something to do with her. The name seemed to echo in her mind. She was the one who had taunted Michiru about liking Haruka and pretended to fall into the canal. And if Michiru's guess was correct, Mimet had poisoned herself to put the blame on her.
Michiru's nails dug into soft carpet. Yaten... he was probably with Mimet as well. After all, he had suggested that she ask Mimet to join her for lunch to apologize. She hated the two of them with all her heart.
And Haruka. Haruka was a stupid idiot. How could Haruka not realize that the two of them were up to something? How could Haruka not know how she felt towards her? How could Haruka not know why she was avoiding her over the last few days? How could Haruka not sense that she wanted her to spend less time with Yaten and more time with her?
Michiru quickly wiped away a tear. It didn't matter anymore. She would not fall for Haruka again.
The princess stiffly rose to her feet. She was going to find out what Mimet was up too, not for Haruka but for herself. Who cared if Haruka died because of those people she called friends?
Michiru trembled slightly as she held back her tears. She wouldn't care, would she?
Muttering angrily to himself, Yaten exited Mimet's room. It seemed that he had wasted two hours searching for something that was not there. Mimet probably wasn't even hiding anything from him.
The young man grasped the handle of the doorknob and closed the door. What a complete waste of time.
Yaten paused, his hand still on the doorknob as he saw a single strand of hair fall from the doorknob and flutter onto the floor. Crouching down, Yaten picked up the single piece of orange hair. The green-eyed man eyed the piece of hair and glanced up at the doorknob. There might be something after all...
"Princess Neptune!" Yaten called as he pounded on the princess' door, a letter tightly clutched in his hands. How could he have let Mimet trick him so easily? The young man hoped against all hope that Michiru was in the room. "Please, I need to talk to you."
The young man stepped back in surprise, as the door was swung open. Michiru stood in the doorway staring coldly at the figure that stood before her. Her voice was steely but shook slightly as she faced Yaten. "I do not want to see your face or hear your voice, I want you to leave now."
"You don't understand," Yaten shouted. "Mimet—"
"I understand perfectly. Now I will repeat once more, I want you to leave or else."
Michiru turned away from Yaten but was jerked back when she felt him firmly grab her wrist. She turned to see Yaten's serious lime-green eyes staring intently at her.
"We have to leave."
"Don't touch me," Michiru warned as she tried to pull away from Yaten. Seeing that he wasn't going to comply, Michiru jerked back and punched Yaten.
Not expecting the usually gentle princess to attack, all Yaten could do was gape in surprise as her fist struck his face, sending him flying into the wall. Scolding himself for his stupidity, the young man shook his head angrily. I've really gotten too soft, Yaten mused as he pulled himself up from the floor. Though his cheek felt a little sore, Yaten noted that he wasn't too badly injured. His head jolted upwards as he heard a door slam shut and realized that Michiru had left the room. Yaten rushed out after her. Looking down both empty hallways he realized that he had lost her.
"Damn it."
"Haruka!" Yaten yelled hoarsely as he pounded on the bedroom door of the princess of Uranus. "Haruka, open the stupid door."
The young man fell forward onto the floor as the door was suddenly flung open. Wincing, Yaten lifted his throbbing head from the floor to stare at a very annoyed Haruka.
"What in the world do you want?" Haruka asked irritably with both hands crossed over her chest. Her eyes appeared bloodshot and her hair could of passed as a bird's nest. The blonde princess was not in the best mood."I'm here at the end of the day, trying to take a bath and you come here to trying to break my door down."
Grunting painfully, Yaten picked himself off the floor. "I need you to find Michiru and talk to her. I've been searching the castle for hours, and I couldn't find her anywhere."
Haruka looked painfully away as events from the evening before flashed in hermind."We- wearen't really talking anymore."
Yaten stepped forward and grabbed Haruka's shoulders."We have to find her."
"We got into a fight yesterday," Haruka whispered, still avoiding looking at Yaten's face. "She was the one who had put the poison in Mimet's tea. I saw the bottle of poison."
Yaten faltered for a moment but kept his grip on Haruka's shoulders. He knew that Michiru wasn't the one who did it. Mimet had admited to him herself that she had planed the entire thing. But then... Yaten's eyes widened and the young man groaned inwardly.Mimet had out smartened all of them. How could he have let this happen? When did things get so out of hand?
"Michiru didn't do it," Yaten said firmly. "Trust me on this Haruka."
Haruka shook his head. "I saw the bottle of poison myself. Michiru was upset and she threw the bottle at-"
"Mimet put the poison in her tea to blame Michiru," Yaten blurted out.
The woman smiled as she picked up a flower off the ground and twirled it slowly around in her fingers.As the woman twirled the stem in between her fingers, the small pink petals seemed to glow as the different shades of pink melted together in a whirl. It was a pity that such a beautiful and delicate flower had died so early. However, that was life. It was the strong and powerful that triumphed while the weak and delicate whithered away. Mimet glanced at the flower again and tossed it aside.
That was why she needed to succeed.
Mimet grinned as she heard soft footsteps approach her from behind. It looked liked she had come after all.
"Michiru."
The princess stopped a few feet behind Mimet and became rigid when she heard her name. Her eyes narrowed as she examined Mimet as if not quite believing that the woman was here, in front of her.
"Mimet," the princess replied with distaste. "I see you're out of bed."
Haruka looked uncertainly at Yaten. "But... she had pushed Mimet into the canal."
Yaten resisted the urge of hammering his head against the wall. Everything had gone so wrong. He had never expected everything to backfire like this. The plan was succeeding but the tables had turned and now it was working to his disadvantage.
"Michiru didn't push Mimet into the lake. Mimet had angered Michiru on purpose and fell into the lake herself!"
"But then..." Haruka's eyes widened as realization struck her. Mimet... the name echoed in Haruka's mind as it finally sunk in that she was the cause of all this. She did all this. Michiru was innocent. Haruka's entire body suddenly felt like liquid. She had lost Michiru for no reason at all. Then a second realization hit her. Abruptly, Haruka turned to face Yaten. "How do you know this?"
This information. How did Yaten know that Mimet had poisoned herself? How was he so sure of himself when Haruka had found the bottle of poison in Michiru's room? How did Yaten know that Michiru had not pushed Mimet into the canal when Michiru herself was not sure of what had happened. Haruka stared at Yaten, her dark green eyes hardening. Yaten couldn't have known all of this unless Mimet had told him. Which meant... Haruka closed her eyes.
"How do you know all this?" Haruka repeated numbly.
Yaten reached forward and put a hand on Haruka's arm. "Please, Haruka..."
Haruka pulled away and glared reproachfully at her friend. "You knew all this and you never told me? Do you know how much pain I went through, thinking that Michiru had done all those terrible things? Why did you hide these things from me Yaten?"
"Haruka, we don't have time," Yaten said weakly as he reached out towards Haruka.
The blonde stepped back and pain flashed across her eyes. "You were always with Mimet. From the very beginning. Both of you were in on this. I'm right, aren't I?"
Haruka watched with dread as Yaten fell silent and made no attempt to deny her accusation. The blonde shook her head with disbelief. This couldn't be true. Yaten was her friend. They were friends for what seemed like a lifetime. They had always been there for one another. "Well Yaten? Aren't you going to say anything?"
Yaten winced at Haruka's harsh tone. "I- Yes, you're correct. I- I came to Charon Castle with Mimet with plans to destroy your relationship with Michiru."
Haruka closed her eyes as another realization sunk in. "You've never loved me did you?"
"Ah, yes. I took the antidote before drinking the tea," Mimet simpered as she turned to face Michiru. Her apricot colored eyes glimmered maliciously as she looked Michiru in the eye. This was going to be over very soon.
"What do you want from me?"Michiru could see it in Mimet's eyes. Hunger andthirst for something that she could not gain by herself. Mimet wanted something and needed Michiru in order to obtain what she desired. The princess pushed away memories of how her friends had used her as well.
Mimet's grin widened. "Ah, so you haven't figured it out yet?"
The apricot-haired girl smirked as leaned against the tree outside in the garden. She had really thought that Michiru had realized what she was after by now. Perhaps she had over-estimated the princess.
"I know that you want to break the bond I have with Haruka," Michiru said coldly as she gazed intently at Mimet. "But you are also after something else. What do you and Yaten want?"
Mimet elegantly raised an eyebrow. "Well, I guess you're smarter than Yaten. I'll give you that. However, Yaten has no knowledge of this other plan of mine. I actually used him. Haruka had betrayed Yaten and I found him vulnerable and angry. I was able to manipulate him easily.
"He wanted revenge on Haruka, so I convinced him to gain Haruka's love and trust so that he could become the future king of Uranus once Haruka became Queen. However, I found that your bond with Haruka was too strong. Perhaps you even loved her. I couldn't allow this, so I did little things to make her distrust you."
Michiru shook with anger as she continued to listen to Mimet. It was sad how Mimet was so similar to her friends. Were all people like this? "You really are a horrible person."
"But you don't even know the other half of the story," Mimet laughed sweetly.
"Haruka..."
"Keep away from me," Haruka growled, her eyes flashing dangerously. Yaten flinched and stayed in his location.
"Please Haruka. I'll be honest with you, just don't be like this," Yaten begged.
"I don't want to hear it!"
Yaten ignored Haruka's words. He was going to tell her sooner or later. Perhaps it would have been better if he had told her the truth earlier but he was too afraid of losing Haruka. This was definitely not the best situation to confess to Haruka. Michiru was in danger and Haruka had just figured half of the story on her own.
"I... Haruka, I have been lying to you over the past few years," Yaten said, looking painfully up at his friend. Please Haruka, please, understand, Yaten repeated in his mind. He couldn't bear losing Haruka. "The day you left for Pluto, I had lied when I said that I had forgiven you. I wanted revenge. So I pretended that I was no longer angry. After you left, Mimet and I started planning on gaining your love and trust so that I could one day become the future king of Uranus."
Though Haruka had pretended not to listen to her friend, she had found thatthe words flowed into her ears. So that I could one day become the future king of Uranus... Haruka clenched her fists. Yaten had been using her all along. Their friendship had meant nothing to him at all. The blonde laughed bitterly. Her heart felt hollow and cold. Everything was just a twisted game.
"I had news that someone was willing to pay a high price for the head of Princess Neptune," Mimet said softly, recalling the information. "Of course, many have failed, but I'm different."
Michiru's eyes widened as she remembered the attack on her and Haruka a few years earlier at the festival. Setsuna had never been able to find out who had ordered the attack and had been through a lot of trouble trying to get information from the attackers. Michiru should have known that the situation was a lot more complicated than it appeared to be.
She glanced over at Mimet.The pieces of the puzzle were slowly beginning to fit togehter. Michiru gasped as she realized Mimet's intensions. The young woman turned around to bump into a large, muscular man.
The man easily pinned her against a nearby tree.
Michiru struggled against the firm grip of the man, hoping to find a way of escape but failed miserably.
"Yaten had promised me a prestigious position at court when he became king and anything I wanted as well if I helped him achieve his goal," Mimet said, continuing with her story. "But before that, I had heard about the price for your head. If I convinced Yaten to become Haruka's friend once again, I had the chance to approach you and make my move. Imagine my delight when I found an excuse to get rid of you for Yaten. Of course, Yaten wouldn't want you killed but he wouldn't know if it was an accident."
"But why-" Michiru gasped.
"Why would I still want you dead if Yaten offered me anything I wanted?" Mimet asked. "Well, there was always the chance that Yaten would fail. I always have a back up plan. Speaking of which... I think I've talked enough."
"Haruka..."
Yaten suddenly found himself pinned up against the wall, with Haruka's long elegant fingers wrapped tightly around his neck. Haruka's burningeyes were locked onto his.
"How could you lie to me?" Haruka nearly shouted as she held back the tears that threatened to fall. "I trusted you. I trusted you with all my heart, Yaten. You are truly twisted to have thought up such a thing for revenge."
Haruka tightened her grasp around Yaten's neck. So that I could one day become the future king of Uranus... The words echoed repeatedly in Haruka's mind. Yaten had used her. He didn't care for her at all.After everything that they had been through. It was all a lie.
"Haruka... Please, don't." Yaten gasped as he struggled for breath.
"All this time. I thought that we were friends. I thought that..."
Tears trickled down Haruka's face as she continued to hold Yaten against the wall. Haruka slowly felt her grip loosen. Everything was crumbling around her. Why? Shekept asking herself. Why did Yaten do this?
"Haruka..."
Trembling, Haruka let go of Yaten and furiously punched the flat surface of the wall beside Yaten's head. The blonde felt her skin crack open and blood begin to seep as she hit the wall again. Shie ignored the pain and made no sign of stopping her attack on the wall as her blood slowly stained the once white surface. Why? With each attack, she felt herself growing angrier. "Why!"
"Haruka," Yaten panted as he slid to the floor. Shaking his throbbing head, Yaten tried to organize his thoughts. He needed to tell Haruka. "Mimet... Mimet is after Michiru. She is going to kill her."
Upon hearing this, Haruka stopped striking the wall.
"Michiru," Haruka whispered. Breathing heavily, the blonde turned away from Yaten and ran to the door without once looking back. Her mind was on someone else. She had been wrong to doubt Michiru. She was not going to let Mimet harm her. She was not going to lose the one person that had truly loved her as a friend.
Yaten stared agonizingly after Haruka with tears streaking down his face.
"I really loved you Haruka...you may not know this, but I had fallen for you," Yaten whispered.