Chapter 3: The Appearance of the Enemy

Haruka's victory on the track was a cause for celebration. Setsuna had suggested that they all go out on the town for fun, for dinner or something, and Michiru had added in that she knew of a wonderful fancy restaurant that she and Haruka had visited once after one of her violin recitals. Setsuna booked a table for them for the very next night.

The evening of the occasion, Seiya lay on his bed, watching the ceiling fan spin slowly, dizzyingly in circles. He sighed as his thoughts drifted to his homeland and his "family" there. He was so worried about them that it was almost maddening. Recently he had begun to feel guilt-ridden since had hadn't so much as bothered to look for a cure. What was he supposed to look for though? He only knew that Sailor Moon's healing powers were his only hope at this time, and she was off someplace somewhere with that aggravating Mamoru, sipping exotic drinks and laying out in a bathing suit or something. Despite the thought of Usagi in a swimsuit, he was still distraught. What if she didn't get back in time? If only he knew where she was… Then he could go and get her…

His thoughts were interrupted by a coughing fit that forced him into the sitting position. He muffled the noise with his hand until he had managed to calm himself and sighed again. His eyes wandered to his alarm clock. "I suppose I should get ready…" He muttered, wiping the sweat from his brow with his wrist.

-

"Come now, Haruka, please wear a dress just this once?" Michiru begged.

"No."

"Please?"

"Why should I? This is supposed to be for me. Shouldn't I get to wear what I want to wear?"

"It'd just be nice if you wore one tonight. It'd be a good change of pace, you know?" Michiru tried.

"I don't want to, Michiru. Why do you still fail to understand that? Jeez, you used to let me do whatever I pleased without complaint or protesting."

"Oh, lighten up," Michiru replied, patting her shoulder.

"You're starting to sound like that oaf, Seiya…" Haruka said unpleasantly.

"Well, what's so wrong with that?" Michiru wondered, smiling radiantly.

"Um… he's an oaf and a jerk? Anyway, I'm wearing a suit. Skirts feel weird around my legs, and I always look bizarre with my shoulders showing. Just quit telling me what to do. You're not my mother, nor my babysitter."

"Fine," Michiru said in exasperation, pulling on her sleeveless pink dress with a rose on her left breast. She put her hair up with dazzling diamond pins and finished the look with pink high-heels and white opera gloves. After a touch of make-up, she was ready to go.

Haruka too was ready, dressed in a white suit. "I'm going to go tell Seiya to hurry up," She said, waltzing out of the room. "You wait downstairs with Setsuna and Hotaru."

"Of course, Haruka," Michiru said. She seemed depressed.

-

"Hey," Haruka called, knocking on the door. "Hey! Let's go, Seiya! Hurry up, would you?"

There was no response. She placed her ear to the door. There was a small amount of noise in there, one she couldn't quite identify, but it was proof that he was indeed there. "Hello!" She shouted, knocking more loudly. Silence. "Oh, that's it," She replied, growing angry. "I'm coming in, and you'd better be decent!"

She threw the door open with ferocity. Inside, she found him sitting with his back against his dresser, his head lolled forward toward his feet. His pants were on, and his shirt as well but it remained unbuttoned. His coat was laying over on the bed.

She started to approach him and could hear him panting and could see his hands twitching ever so slightly.

"What's your problem?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. He didn't answer. She walked over to him and knelt down next to him. "Hey, I asked you a question! Are you listening to me?"

Seiya couldn't hear anything besides the pounding in his head. His vision was so distorted that he thought for a moment he was about to go blind. Pain engulfed every inch of his body and a great nausea crept into his stomach. M…My body… is moving…He managed to think as his eyes glassed over.

"Hey! Seiya! Yo, snap out of it!" Haruka shouted, concern starting to edge into her voice as she shook him. "Hey! Are you ignoring me! Seiya!" Fear was quickly slipping into her as he didn't respond. She shook him faster and more violently. "SEIYA!" She screamed, panic now rising into her body as she pulled him up and shook him more fiercely. "SNAP OUT OF IT!"

I…I can't breathe… I can't see…Oh, my God… am I dying! He thought.

"SEIYA! WAKE UP, YOU IDIOT! STOP IT!" She threw him onto the floor, her own body trembling so badly that she could no longer hang onto him.

All the pain vanished and with it returned his hearing and sight. He blinked his eyes as if coming out of a deep sleep and lifted his head up. Haruka stared at him, breathing heavily, with wet cheeks.

He got to his feet, still feeling somewhat dizzy.

"What is WRONG with you!" Haruka shouted, smacking him.

He involuntarily touched his aching cheek as he turned his head back to face her. "Ha… Haruka…" He stammered. Why is she here? He wondered.

She sniffed, still shuddering. "You… You…" It seemed she was having trouble forming a sentence of what she wanted to say.

"Why are you crying?" He asked in a calm, airy voice that was unlike his own.

"I'm not crying!" She shouted, using the ball of her hand to wipe her tears away. "You're such a jerk! I can't believe you'd do something like that to scare me so bad! Why didn't you respond!"

"I… I don't know…" He mumbled, searching his memory for what happened before the pain had struck him so suddenly.

"I HATE YOU!" Haruka screamed, turning away from him as more tears burned in her eyes. She had been terrified for his safety, and she hated herself for being so.

"I'm… sorry…" He said in a sigh.

Haruka glared at him from over her shoulder then turned away again. Seiya gnawed on his lower lip for a moment, unsure of what to say, then wandered around in front of her. "I am really sorry," He told her, wiping a tear from her eye with his thumb and resting his hand against her cheek.

"Leave me alone…" Haruka whimpered.

He stared deeply into her eyes, feeling her pain and hatred, not for him but for herself, seeping through. He was beginning to feel self-loathing as well for making her hate herself this way… His face inched closer to hers. "I am so… incredibly… sorry…" He whispered.

"Seiya… I… You…" She stammered, starting to blush.

They were mere inches from each other.

"Haruka!" Setsuna called from downstairs. "Is Seiya ready yet?"

Seiya snapped out of his daze and backed away, blushing heavily. He hadn't realized what he'd been doing. "Um… I'll be ready in a minute…" He squeaked.

"Uh… right…" Haruka replied with an already pink face. "Hurry up." She left the room at a brisk walk, not looking at him.

Seiya shook the thoughts from his head and began to button his shirt and then tucked it into his black pants.

-

"Wow!" Seiya marveled as they entered the restaurant. "This place is fancy! Now I understand why we had to dress up!"

"The food here is fantastic," Michiru assured. "This is one of the best places in town, I promise."

"Yeah, I hope so," Hotaru said. She had worn a lavender-colored dress with a white bow on the top. She was clutching to Setsuna's hand; Setsuna's dress was black with one sleeve.

Seiya glanced at Haruka. "By the way… Haruka…" He said, a smirk playing on his lips. Her cheeks burned. What was he up to? Was he going to try and pull another fast one like back in his room? Her heart pounded against her chest. She was nervous, scared even? Why would she be afraid of Seiya? Why was she nervous around Seiya? Why? WHY!

"What!" She asked, a little more loudly than she had intended.

He sniggered. "Nice suit. I thought women were supposed to wear dresses."

Her eyebrows knotted in anger, her fear vanishing. "YOU WOULD KNOW! I'll KILL YOU, YOU JERK!" She shouted.

He howled with laughter, hooking arms with Michiru and waltzing off.

"Oh, I hope you die…" She growled, running up and taking other arm.

"I'm being honest though," Seiya commented, looking at her. "No matter what gender you prefer, shouldn't you hold to the arm of a man?" He grinned devilishly.

"Of course, Seiya! I'll let you know when I find one, madam," She replied irately. "Michiru is my date for the evening."

"Well, excuse me, Haruka, but exactly how far have you gone with Kaioh-san here?" He asked, raising his eyebrows.

Haruka blushed and turned away. "It's not your authority to ask."

"So you haven't even kissed her, right?" Seiya's smirk grew on his face, his eyes dancing with deviousness. Michiru looked at him, surprised at his guile.

"No…" She mumbled, releasing Michiru's arm and briskly marching off toward their table, not turning back to look at any of them.

"Please…" She tugged on his sleeve as he watched Haruka disappear around the corner. "Please, talk to her."

"Huh? Me?" Seiya questioned, "but she's your-"

"Haruka and I… haven't really gotten along since I allowed you to stay with us… I thought that maybe… if you called a truce or something things would be much easier… on all of us."

Seiya stared at her solemn features and sighed. "All right… I'll do it for you, Michiru, but I can't promise she'll be willing to take the other side of the offer. She most likely won't open up to you much more either."

"It's… all right…" She muttered.

"Well, okay then," He said, smiling somewhat unevenly. "I'll talk to her tonight."

Seiya walked her to the table and pulled out the chairs for her, Setsuna, and Hotaru. Haruka was already sitting, and he took his spot as well.

-

Haruka had been silent all throughout dinner. Seiya too had said little, trying to decide on what exactly he should say to the angry girl, how he should come across the subject. After dwelling on it for a few minutes, he came to realize that it was nearly impossible to find a subject to discuss with her that wouldn't make her smack him like earlier… Wait! He seriously needed to discuss with her about earlier that day!

"Ahem… Haruka?" He asked rather promptly as he set down his silverware.

"What?" She snapped, glaring daggers at him from across the table. It had been difficult to think under that gaze.

"Um… I was wondering if I could talk to you in private for a few moments…" He said casually.

"Fine…" She replied in exasperation, as if it was the most aggravating thing.

The two stood and walked to the back where the bathrooms were. Leaning against opposite walls outside of the bathroom, they both stared at each other in silence for a moment.

"So…" Seiya said, unable to bare the silence any longer.

"What do you want, Seiya?" Haruka asked, crossing her arms. She spoke in the same tone as she had when they had left the table.

"I uh… I wanted, first of all, to try and explain myself for earlier… It's kind of vague in my mind… but I'll give it a shot…" He wondered if his cheeks were warm from embarrassment or something else.

"Go on…" Haruka coaxed, sounding interested.

"All right…" He took in a deep breath and let it out. "Lately, I've been having weird dreams… I've therefore gotten less sleep, and I suppose I went into a state of sub-consciousness whilst I was changing clothes. I'm all right, really… I guess I was just a bit delirious… I guess…" He rubbed the back of his neck. His fingers felt icy cold against his warm neckline, making the tiny hairs stand on end with surprise.

"Dream? Tell me about the dream. What's so freaky about it?"

"Uh… don't worry about it!" He laughed, waving his free hand at her. "It's nothing! It's really not important! Now, I wanted to talk with you about a-"

"Seiya, if it's keeping you awake at night, it can't be nothing," Haruka interrupted, trying to cover her concern with a glare.

"Well-" His sentence was cut off as hands emerged from Haruka's shadow on the wall and snatched her. Quickly, a body emerged with long locks of purple hair, dressed in black, and a snake like face with gleaming eyes. One clawed hand was over Haruka's mouth while the other arm was wrapped around her waist.

"Haruka!" Seiya shouted, horrified. Why hadn't he sensed her?

"Give it to me! Give me your most precious possession!" The woman hissed into Haruka's ear as her victim struggled to break free.

Seiya took a step forward, preparing to transform, but pain all too suddenly surged through his body, and he crumpled to the floor. "No… Not now…" He moaned as his hearing faded.

"Seiya!" Haruka shouted in concern after pulling her mouth free from the woman's grasp. She swung her head back and nailed the lady right in the forehead.

The woman scowled and let go of her by impulse. Haruka leapt forward and flung around on the woman, sneering at her. "You're going to pay for that."

The woman was starting to recover.

"Uranus Planet Power, Make-up!" Haruka shouted, holding her transformation stick into the air.

"Ha… Haruka…" Seiya whispered hoarsely. His vision was starting to fade. He fell unconscious.

From the light appeared Sailor Uranus, ready for battle.