Warning: This will now be a Momiji x Hotaru x Megumi triangle. (Saki Hanajima's little brother's from Fruits Basket Episode 18 "Operation Destroy: Tohru Honda" He has the power of inflicting curses on people by calling their first names or supposedly?)

Hotaru's age on this fic will be the same as Kisa – 12 yrs old. A hint of Kisa x Hiro bondage and cliché idea for transferring a sailor scout/senshi to a new school. --

I'm assuming the name of the animé video that Kisa and Tohru were watching in Episode 22, called Moge – (a version of Pokémon?)

Yuki-of-the-Snow and Sailor Silver Ganymede – I hope you guys aren't mad…. I'm not purposely trying to copy your story regarding Kisa and Hotaru's close friendship. Most likely, Hotaru's story will solely focus on the triangle mentioned above. I hope there are no hard feelings. Of course, the credits belongs to you… Thank you for inspiring me.

Chapter dedication to you guys, from their fic: The Tiger and the Firefly

Chapter 5: We were once strangers... (Part 2)

Hotaru's morning ride to school was unusually quiet with her sitting at the back seat while her other two guardians, Michelle and Amara were chatting among themselves on the front seat of Amara's yellow convertible. Amara skillfully maneuvered her way through the rush hour traffic jam in downtown Tokyo with such ease and confidence after the years of practice and being as the number one race car driver in the country. Usually, traveling by car in the morning was at its worst with people anxiously in a hurry to get to work or be in school on time.

Hotaru sighed as she watched the scenery flashing by before her eyes. She wasn't particular excited or in a good mood to start off this early morning. Lately, she had been feeling very sad and lonely ever since Rini left out of her life for good…

No, that wasn't the case. Rini had a valid, good reason for leaving her. She wasn't from this present era. She was rightfully belonged in the 30th century Crystal Tokyo ruling as the future Moon Princess. It was her destiny.

She was going to see Rini again someday…. but under in different circumstances. They'll be both grown-up when the time came for them to reunite once more in their respective roles as the princess and her loyal guardian, Sailor Saturn. It wasn't going to be the same as it was before. Rini would probably have changed into more serious-minded person like her mother, Neo-Queen Serenity. Would time change people as well? Would Rini ever forget the special bond shared between as friends? Deep in her heart, Hotaru knew Rini would remember her as they both swore oath at each other. It had been a painful experience to say goodbye to her first, real friend.

But a brand new chapter in her life was about to begin if only other people would be open and accepting as Rini was to her…

The past had weakened her but the future was teaching her to be stronger…

oooooooooooooooo

Kisa was smiling to herself, softly singing a familiar tune from one of her favorite animé song, Moge. The early morning walk to school was her favorite part of the day. Not only, she seemed to be in high spirits but also a good company made it all more enjoyable.

She stole a brief glance at Hiro's handsome profile. Whenever she looked at him, her heart sometimes would do funny flip-flop inside. For as long as she had known him, she never oddly felt this self-conscious being around him. How could she be feeling shy all of a sudden? She cared for him deeply. It was even silly to think letting this strange emotions get in the way of their friendship. Though, it worried her sometimes…

She saw Hiro's eyes turning towards her; his usual frown on his face disappeared and replaced by a real, honest smile. It was still hard for him to express his feelings openly but for her sake, he was trying his best to make her happy. With a little encouragement and patience, he could learn to be truly happy and not let negative thoughts consumed this boy for such a young tender age.

He squeezed her hand as a sign of appreciation. She felt a warm glow spreading through her as her eyes traveled down at their joined hands. It felt so good and right to be with him. She wondered if she would ever have the courage to tell him how she felt about him?

"Morning you two, lovebirds!" A teasing male voice chimed, intruding upon their privacy.

Both Kisa and Hiro jolted in surprise, loosening their hands off each other as if they were caught guiltily of stealing. There was a pure look of astonishment written all over their faces. The culprit was none other than their mischievous cousin, Momiji Sohma.

"That was just so funny," Momiji kept on laughing. "You two should have seen the look on your faces!"

"Well, if isn't the annoying rabbit who kindly grace us his presence!" Hiro responded sarcastically, "To what do we owe you the pleasure? Can't you even find a more productive use of your time just to bother us!" Not even his cold eyes could tactically scare Momiji away.

"Hi Momiji. I didn't see even you there!" Kisa's greeting was much more friendlier than Hiro. Her face was flushed, embarrassed to be caught intimately with Hiro. Good nature as she was with other people, sometimes even with Momiji's antics tend to be a little overboard.

"Don't even think there for a second getting all chummy with us! Where's the rest of your entourage?" Hiro demanded.

"Well, I got bored walking to school by myself." Momiji explained, "As usual, Haru's missing and he's probably got sidetrack somewhere. Tohru is meeting with a friend, Raye Hino this morning. Yuki went to school earlier for student council business and well you know Kyo's gonna harassed me even more if I went along with him."

"I don't mind if you join us." Kisa said kindly. "It'd be like old times when you, Haru and all of us came to school together every morning."

Hiro gave her a dumfounded look. "Kisa, but his school is on the OTHER direction." He switched his attention back to his cousin, Momiji and glared at him instead. "Don't play stupid, rabbit. You know your way and we don't need another idiotic Sohma making us look bad just like that foolish cow."

Upon hearing Hiro's malicious comment, Kisa became agitated. "Hiro, it's not nice to talk behind people's back. Our cousin, Haru is just different that's all." She said defensively. Beside Tohru or "sissy" her favorite person as Kisa preferred to call her, Haru was another one of her closest people in her life and he was like a big brother to her.

Hiro sighed, folding his arms across his chest. "Whatever. Can't we just go now? We're not getting any younger here."

Momiji didn't comment but smiled at their little 'lover's' spat. It was fun seeing their interaction despite the difference in their personalities. They do indeed make quite a dynamic couple. Then suddenly, alerted by his animal instincts, his bunny ears picked up a sound of a heated argument nearby. It was a girl crying and two females talking at the same time. Out of his curiosity, he slowly moved his head sideways to investigate. A yellow convertible parked at the front of Kisa's school. He simply assumed that the two females on the car came to drop off the girl who was visibly crying. The violet-haired girl was around Kisa's age and she seemed to be upset for some reason…

"I'm tired of arguing. Just need to be alone right now." The girl excused herself; unlocking the passenger door opened and slamming it back. She quickly disappeared inside the school gate entrance.

The tall, blond girl in the driver's seat was about to leave the car but her friend spoke up, halting her. "Just leave her be, Amara." She forbade. "Hotaru's going through some difficult transition right now. She'll rebel even more if we oppose her. She just needs more time and peace all to herself."

"I can't seem to understand that girl, Michelle." Amara's voice sounded frustrated, pushing the fallen lock of hair away from her face. "Hotaru has been acting all moody during these past few weeks. If something was bothering her why can't she just opened up and talked to us?"

"Have patience with her, Amara." Michelle said softly. "I'm sure she'll come around when she feels the need to communicate with us. We still have to earn her trust. The only family member that she ever rely on was her father, Dr. Tomoe and Rini was her only true friend."

"I suppose you're right," Amara said reluctantly. "Whoever says raising teenagers was going to be this complicated. Come on, we better get to our class as well." She turned on the engine and drove straight into the road once more. Momiji stared sadly after them with such deep understanding and compassion in those child-like eyes.

oooooooooooooooo

Kisa's face was beaming even more as she entered her homeroom class. Her heart was feeling all giddy inside after receiving an innocent little kiss on the cheek from Hiro and of course, Momiji's constant teasing didn't stop her laughter. Despite her earlier misgivings on Momiji, he meant not to cause any trouble but wanted to make everyone happy around him.

She thought about their brief conversation before they parted their ways and Momiji casually mentioned a violet-haired girl crying entering the school. He seemed concern about her well-being. She was even more surprised to find that her cousin, Momiji never taken any interest in a girl before. The tone of his voice changed when he spoke about her. Yet, Momiji had always been a caring and kind-hearted person whom she deeply respected and admired from afar.

She was definitely intrigued and she hoped that she might accidentally bump into this mysterious girl somewhere in the school. Whoever she may be.

"I think Momiji said that her name was Hotaru…" She wondered, speaking out loud without noticing.

"Good morning, Ms. Sohma!"

"Oh…Huh?" At first, Kisa appeared to look dazed. Then, she shook her head to clear her thoughts. She doesn't usually daydream, standing in the middle of the classroom!

"Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you for asking." She responded politely, completely touched for her welfare. Overcame by shyness, her eyes peeked and she stammered at her greeting. "Oh…. Hi Megumi!" She stood facing the most enigmatic person that she ever encountered, Megumi Hanajima.

Kisa first heard of him from Sissy's oldest friends, Saki Hanajima whenever she came by to visit Grandpa Shigure's house. His eldest sister was very peculiar and complex character just as he was. Although, rumors claimed both Hanajima siblings possessed 'psychic powers' and punished those who dare stood in their way. So far, none of Kisa's classmates ever approach or befriended him. And yet, it seemed to work on his favor since he wasn't targeted for bullying unlike her. It had only been a few months since he was officially transferred from his previous school to Kisa's class.

Hence, their own classmates treated them both as social outcast.

"Um… Did you…ah…had trouble with English lit answering the passage on Page 35?" Kisa asked him timidly, breaking the awkward silence between them.

His stoic face remained the same when he replied. "No, it was pretty straight forward." There was a slight pause. "Do you need help translating the assignment?"

Kisa nodded her head eagerly, stunned by his kind offer. Just then, Hotaru Tomoe came inside the room looking rather anxious and nervous. Her eyes were still puffy from crying. Both Kisa and Megumi saw her enter hesitatingly.

"Hotaru?" Kisa detected a slight change in Megumi's voice. His eyes flashed a brief recognition.

The violet-haired girl named Hotaru completely froze on her spot. "Uh Hi there… I'm sorry…. Do I know you?" She blinked her eyes at Megumi questioningly.

Kisa's jaw dropped. It's HER! Wait. How did Megumi know her name!

Megumi cleared his throat. "I can't believe you're alive. The media said you and your father completely vanished."

Kisa became increasingly confused. Huh? She disappeared? What's going on? Her eyes grew big watching his expressionless face transformed into a smile.

"It must be fate," Megumi murmured. "It's been awhile, Ms. Hotaru Tomoe. My name is Megumi Hanajima…" He slowly introduced himself. At last, she came home…

I waited for you all this time.

But you have no memory of me…

Throughout the remainder of the day, Hotaru was overwhelmed with all these pent-up emotions raging like a storm inside her. Listlessly, she sat there stiffly as a statue pretending to listen to her teachers droning on and on today's lesson while her thoughts drifted elsewhere. Just as predicted, her new classmates chose to ignore her existence and probably already been stereotyped as the class loser. Her voice stuttered as usual feeling the self-confidence slipped away when she was forced to go through that mortifying introduction in front of the classroom!

Right now, all she wanted was to hide somewhere possibly dig herself underground or crawl inside a rock.

A finger suddenly jabbed at her right elbow. Snapping her attention back to reality, Hotaru straightened in her seat and cast a guilty look on her face. It was bad enough that she had to present herself in front of her classmates and could only worsened if she was caught daydreaming in class by the teacher berating at her.

"Psst… Hotaru!" Upon hearing her name called, Hotaru's eyes discreetly scanned the room around her. To her completely surprise, she saw Kisa Sohma – the quiet, shy girl whom she met earlier, smiling timidly at her. She sat across from Hotaru's desk with a pencil on her right hand, scribbling answers on the book of her English Lit.

"I don't mind if you move beside me and look over the homework together." Kisa suggested, quietly whispering trying not to draw attention and disturbing the rest of the class.

Hotaru was touched by Kisa's thoughtfulness, eyeing her curiously. There was no hate or malice in those pretty orange eyes but just radiating with so much kindness and warmth. It reminded her of Rini…

"Thank you," Hotaru replied gratefully, moving her seat an inch closer to Kisa. Eagerly, Kisa placed the book right in front between them. They soon took a liking to each other, bringing a new start to a beautiful friendship.

oooooooooooooooo

Afterwards, their English class went so fast like a flash of lightning. The two girls found themselves sitting outside, enjoying their meal. It was lunchtime, a nice long break after the rigorous morning class. They took their lunch rather late because Kisa was kind enough to accommodate Hotaru with all the necessary notes and books that Hotaru missed halfway through the semester. And of course, Hotaru was not too keen on the heavy workload of assignments.

"Argh… Do I really have to go through with this?" Hotaru complained. "Too much homework assigned. Now, I know why Serena hates school so much. School is evil and the teachers are such freaks trying to make your life more miserable. Maybe, this is some kind of a bad dream and it'll just go away." She grumbled, closing her eyes slowly. Her entire body resting peacefully on the patch of grass, away from the sun's glare protected underneath by the shades of trees.

"You're too funny, Hotaru!" Kisa giggled beside her. "Who's Serena?"

"Oh, She's a friend of mine and she goes to a Junior High school not far from here actually." Hotaru answered, slightly opening her eyes. "She's on her last year and she's having trouble keeping up with school. She's working really hard to get into a high school next year. I hope she does. She's such a nice and sweet person."

"High school huh?" Kisa said, looking almost wistfully. "I bet it'll be a lot more fun to be in a high school than being stuck in middle school. I want to go to Sissy's school someday."

"Sissy?" Hotaru couldn't help but feel curious. The name sounded rather odd to her, having not heard of it before. It must be a girl's name somewhat.

"It's nickname for Tohru." Kisa explained. "It's a funny name… She doesn't mind it. We're very close and she treats me as if I'm her youngest sister."

"Hmm… That's really nice." Hotaru murmured, tearing her gaze away for a second. "I…I missed having my dad and my best friend, Rini around. They were the only ones that I really feel close too except now, I can't see them anymore." Kisa was a bit startled to hear the bitterness in Hotaru's voice. Not wanting to pry into her friend's private affairs, Kisa quietly listened to Hotaru's woeful admission.

Hotaru continued speaking, mindlessly staring into the far-off distance. "I'm….I'm not making any things easier for the people that I'm currently lived with right now. I feel like I'm just a burden to them. I'm too confused and scared what's going to happen in my life."

"Oh, Hotaru…" Kisa whispered sadly, her gaze softened. "I'm sorry…" Maybe, that's why she's been crying this morning. Poor Hotaru! Kisa's heart deepened with sadness and sympathy for Hotaru's pain.

Hotaru glanced up at Kisa's face and gave her an embarrassing look. She waved off Kisa's apology dismissively. "Oh, it's okay… I ah… should be the one apologizing. I got carried away didn't I?" She grinned sheepishly at her.

Shyly, Kisa stared down at her lap. "I…I don't mind. I'm glad we had a chance to talk… You see, I don't have too many friends in this school. I've been teased and made fun of a lot…" She admitted truthfully.

Hotaru's eyes narrowed in anger. It was all too familiar with her when it came to school bullying. She'd been through the same experiences as Kisa did. It was hard to believe that someone as kind, sweet and pretty like Kisa Sohma at the mercy of her cruel classmates.

She'd vowed never again to let her friends down… This was the promise that she intended to keep even if she would never had the chance to see her dad or Rini again.

Hotaru sat up and faced Kisa directly. She held out her hand to her. "I'd be happy to be your friend, Kisa." The solemn expression on Kisa's face disappeared and she was smiling radiantly. "Thank you, Hotaru." Kisa shook Hotaru's hand in return.

Friends for life.

For the first time in Kisa's life, she was feeling happier than she could ever remember.

oooooooooooooooo

The school bell rang, signaling the classes were over for today. Hotaru's eyes glued towards the ceiling, happily grunting at the prospect of going home. Feeling tired and grumpy, all she wanted was a warm bed to crawl inside and sleep away her troubles. She had no strength left to tackle the pile of homework and notes that she was assigned to.

She was beginning to hate school as much as Serena did.

Sighing away, she carefully stuffed her things inside her school bag and getting ready to walk home with Kisa. She was planning to stop by Raye's Cherry Hill Temple attending the Sailor Scout's meeting and afterwards, the outers would come by to pick her up. It would probably be Trista since she was available. Michelle and Amara were in their first year of College. Of course, the famous duet would be busy with their extra curricular activities. They both practice piano and violin. Michelle was in the arts and Amara was into her racecar driving.

Yet, it'd be more awkward if she were to face those two, reminding of their argument that occurred this morning. She never meant to lose her temper but it seemed lately, the overwhelming emotions threatened to consume her. No father or best friend beside her, it was hard for a 12 years old girl like her to endure.

Maybe in time, she would learn to trust and have more faith in her comrades, the outers.

Suddenly, Megumi Hanajima approached her table to say goodbye before leaving the classroom. Once again, Hotaru was speechless. She could barely even say a word to him when he introduced himself. His face looked strangely familiar to her. Why was she having trouble remembering him?

Mutely, she gave him a timid smile instead. He held her gaze.

"I hope your first day here went well, Ms. Tomoe. If you need any help, please don't hesitate to ask me." He said politely.

Nodding her head, Hotaru stammered as she answered. "I…I will… Thank you." At the same time, they both briefly said their goodbyes. With one final look, Megumi headed towards the exit along with the rest of the class spilling outside the hallway.

"Megumi seems to like you, Hotaru." Kisa remarked, moving closely beside her.

"He seems really nice," Hotaru agreed. "I don't really know him that well. Ready to go?" Kisa nodded and the two girls left the empty room together.

oooooooooooooooo

Momiji was waiting patiently for his cousin, Kisa outside of her school gate. He sometimes walked home with her back to the main Sohma House. He would have preferred a large company with his cousins and Tohru. Being the center of the attention, he loved to joke around with everyone.

Today, it felt different somehow. Possibly, it had something more to do with this girl – Hotaru occupying his thoughts the entire day. He can't seem to concentrate on his schoolwork. His mind wandered, worrying over a complete stranger that he hasn't even met.

No such luck. He hasn't seen her since all students came flocking out of Kisa's school, going home for the day.

In the distance, he saw Kisa talking animatedly to the violet-haired girl, Hotaru… Momiji was stunned.

"Hi Momiji. Sorry, we were late." Kisa said apologetically. Hotaru stood quietly on her spot, glancing at him unexpectedly.

"Oh uh… Hotaru. This is my cousin, Momiji Sohma. We came from a very big family." Kisa explained. Turning to face Momiji, she quickly introduced Hotaru to him. "Momiji, this is my new friend and classmate. Hotaru Tomoe."

"Hotaru Tomoe, that has a nice ring to it." Momiji murmured. "Nice name for a pretty girl." Hotaru's face blushed intensely.

Kisa quietly observed with her tiger-like, orange eyes curiously gleaming. Wow, I think Momiji likes her too and she's blushing! They kinda look cute together.

"Ah…. Tha-Thanks." Hotaru's voice stuttered, shyly averting her eyes away from him. She fiddled her fingers rather nervously.

Momiji smiled at Hotaru kindly. "Don't be shy. I promise I don't bite people." Out of the corner of Hotaru's eyes, she spotted him extending his right hand to hers…

Chapter 5 ends… to be continued…