Chapter Six: Blasts from the Future
In this chapter, I touch on the characters I've left out so far: Chibiusa, Hotaru, and Setsuna, as well as the Sailor Quartet.
Natsumi's house, the largest house of anyone in her group of friends, was the source of a party the weekend after the four victims returned to class. It was a sort of reunion, as three special guests were coming for a short time to see the group again. The girls agonized over trying to guess who the three special guests could possibly be and tried asking their mothers both directly and indirectly, to no avail. The event was shrouded in mystery. Everyone showed up to Natsumi's that day: Usagi, Ami, Rei, Makoto, Minako (of course), Haruka, and Michiru were all there, as well as their children. Makoto and Sayaka were buzzing around the Aino house, setting out a lavish spread of food fit for royalty while the others sat around chatting amicably. Then, the doorbell rang, causing all the mothers to get excited and the children to get confused. Usagi literally danced over to answer the door.
"Hiiiii!" she chirped at the three visitors who were standing on the doorstep. On the left was a tall, elegant woman with long green hair, dressed in a black, form-fitting dress with a garnet-colored belt and matching shoes. On the right was a woman with cropped purple, almost black, hair, dressed in a purple cocktail dress. In the middle was a woman with pink hair done up in two ball-shaped buns with lots of excess hair dangling down on either side. She was dressed in a pink gown.
"Hello!" said the green-haired woman.
"She's pretty," Aiko whispered to Natsumi, who nodded fervently.
"Come in, come in," Usagi insisted to the three guests, who slipped out of their shoes and stepped inside. "Kids, listen up!" The children were already at rapt attention because of how beautiful the three visitors looked. "These are our good friends Setsuna Meiou, Hotaru Tomoe, and Usagi Tsukino!" She pointed to each visitor as she said their names and they would bow.
"Tsukino was Mom's maiden name!" Sakura told Suzumi, who immediately looked confused.
"It's great to see all of you again," Setsuna said cheerfully. "I haven't seen any of you kids since you were very, very young."
"I don't think I've ever seen them," Hotaru added helpfully.
"We've been busy," said the pink-haired Usagi.
"I have a quick question," Sakura said. "Why do you have the same name as my mom?"
"It's complicated," Hotaru said. "It involves us being from the 30th century and everything."
"I won't get into it, that'll ruin the fun. For today, why don't you all call me Chibiusa?" Chibiusa suggested. The kids nodded. "Great. Now, I'm hungry. Traveling back in time about 10 centuries can really get to you." Setsuna and Hotaru smiled.
"Have some of my famous cakes," Makoto offered, showing off the spread of food.
"Ah, that looks great," Hotaru remarked.
"Mm, I agree," Setsuna said. As soon as Hotaru, Setsuna, and Chibiusa were served, everyone else went to get their servings of food and sat down around the large table provided for this event by an overzealous Minako.
"So, Setsuna! How's your job?" Usagi asked.
"It's just a way to spend time," Setsuna joked, grinning.
"What is your job?" Suzumi queried.
"I guard the gates of time," Setsuna said with a smile.
"Cool," Reiko and Keiko said in unison.
"Who's guarding the gates now?" Sayaka asked.
"I can answer this one," Chibiusa cut in. "That would be Sailors Pallas, Ceres, Vesta, and Juno." She was met with blank stares from the kids. "They're like my Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus."
"Hotaru-san, are you from the 30th century, too?" Sakura asked.
"No, I'm just living in America now and haven't had a chance to come over until now," Hotaru explained. "I work for a big medical research place, studying diseases and their effects."
"Wow! That's really cool," Natsumi squealed. "Do you look at them under microscopes and stuff?"
"All the time," Hotaru replied casually.
The three visitors then took time to fawn over each and every child, praising their looks and abilities. It wasn't until after Aiko had been fawned over that anyone even mentioned the fact that the children were able to transform, and that was just a mention made in passing by Rei. This passing mention, though, led to every child transforming and showing off their abilities. Setsuna and Chibiusa transformed as well, just to show that they still could, while Hotaru reminisced about the good old days with the other mothers. Suzumi decided to ask Setsuna and Chibiusa for advice on what to do about the mysterious spirit at the school.
"Fight it," Chibiusa said. "Find it and fight it."
After the reunion was over and the three visitors left, the children retreated to Natsumi's room to plan out their method of finding this spirit. Natsumi drew a rough map of the school from memory and labeled all the buildings, even the asbestos one (which was labeled as such to distinguish it from the others).
"So, we know that the victims were all taken from near the asbestos building," Suzumi declared, pointing to the building. Natsumi drew a red X there. "If we know this, then why aren't we over there now, looking for the spirit?"
"Um, probably because we shouldn't be trespassing," Sayaka said.
"What about the victims? Do any of you know them personally?" Sakura asked.
"I just know Chisato from class. Let me tell you, she's usually a chatterbox. She and Ayaka are usually always talking away, even when they shouldn't," Natsumi began. "But now Chisato doesn't talk at all. She won't even answer questions! All she does is sit in the back and look dead."
"Look dead?" the others asked.
"Sure. Her eyes get all wide and she just sits in the same position for hours on end." Natsumi attempted to recreate this, but failed. "It's really creepy."
"Why would someone who's usually lively and talkative suddenly become a living cadaver?" Suzumi muttered, rubbing her chin.
"Maybe her soul's gone," Aiko suggested.
"Maybe you're right, Aiko! But where did it go?" Keiko asked.
"Ladies, I don't think we have much of a choice here. I think we'll need to go into the school sometime after hours, when the spirit least expects people to come. But how can we get in? I know the gates are locked at 5 o'clock and I'm talking going over there in the dark of night," Suzumi said.
"I can fly," Sakura offered.
"That won't help. You need a key to unlock the gate from the inside, anyway," Suzumi replied.
"I know that there's an extra set of keys in the principal's office," Aiko offered. "I've spent a lot of time in there. I could take the keys, get a copy of them made at the key place down the street, and have them back in their rightful place within an hour."
"Aiko, that's really dangerous," Reiko said.
"I've never seen anyone talk about, think about, or look at that extra set, though. I really don't think they'd notice it if they weren't there for an hour or so," Aiko replied. "Come on, guys. I'm really good at sneaking around. I know I can do this if you'll just let me."
"Aiko," Sakura said in an annoyed tone of voice, but nothing followed. "I guess if you really want to do it, you can. But what kind of punishments do you face if you get caught?"
"Ah, out-of-school suspension, probably." Aiko shrugged. "It'd be bad, but this situation needs investigation by powerful people like us."
"I'll lend you the money to get the keys made," Natsumi said, getting out her wallet. "Here." She gave Aiko a 500-yen bill.
"I know for a fact it costs less than 500 yen to get a key made," Aiko replied.
"Yes, but you might want to get two copies made. I'm with you." Natsumi smiled.
"I'm with you, too," Sakura said.
"Same here," Suzumi added.
"I'm on your side," Sayaka said.
"We're with you, too," Reiko and Keiko said.
"But you guys don't even go to our school," Aiko pointed out.
"I have a feeling that we'll be instrumental in this investigation anyway," Keiko said.
"Besides, I can detect when evil spirits are around," Reiko said, pointing to herself. "That'll give us an advantage right there."
"Where should we meet up? We can't all be loitering around the front of the school at night, it'll look weird," Natsumi said, though the truth was that she feared being assaulted by a wave of paparazzi.
"How about…we meet up at the coffeehouse nearby?" Suzumi asked.
"The Sweet Bean?" Reiko asked. "I love that place!"
"Yeah! We'll meet up there and have some coffee. That'll keep us pumped up for our mission. Great idea, Suzumi!" Sayaka said, cheerful at the prospect of coffee.
"So, what day and what time, everyone?" Sakura asked.
"How about tomorrow night at 9 PM?" Keiko suggested. "At The Sweet Bean, of course."
"It's a deal. Everyone, please remember to be there!" Sakura said cheerfully.