AN: Thank you very much for taking the time to read, and please know any comments or ideas are appreciated.
On a different note, I have written some explanations into the story towards the end of this chapter, regarding the place and time the events in this story will be taking place, and what has been happening to everyone after the events in the S-Season. I hope you enjoy this new chapter!
Chapter II-Excitemen upcoming
As Haruka had put it, everyone was bound to sleep in, one day or another. It was nothing out of the ordinary.
Nor was it extraordinary for Michiru's talisman mirror to sometimes show flashes of danger…after all, there was enough evil in the world without any supernatural or extraterrestrial enemies. But such petty threats were not usually their concern.
Furthermore, it was not unusual for the blue-haired girl to get indistinct feelings of uneasiness. Or for the news to report random attacks around the city—again, there was evil in the hearts of humans, too. It was only normal.
Then again, when all those things came together…
Michiru frowned. She was not a big believer in coincidences.
"What a coincidence!"
Haruka lowered the paper she'd been reading, with a delighted smile.
"Ryou Tsumbono is in town this whole week! Remember him, Michiru?" She looked at her partner across the breakfast table, while pouring herself another cup of coffee.
The young woman let out a small groan. She passed a hand through her aquamarine hair, and idly wondered if the whole universe conspired against her.
"Yes, I do. Not quite as fondly as you, though."
"Oh?" The—usually genial—girl's expressed displeasure piqued Setsuna's interest. She had been quiet for most of the meal, still reflecting about her nightmare. Now she considered it was time to take part in the conversation, as she did not wish to raise the others' suspicions. "Do I detect a story behind this Ryou Tsumbono…?" she inquired, feigning a cheerful interest she was far from feeling.
"No".
"Oooh, yes."
The two replies had come simultaneously, and were shortly followed by a warning glare, respectively a wide grin.
"He is a young botanist Haruka and I have met some time ago" Michiru provided, and her sharp glare was an obvious warning that that was an issue better left alone.
The name triggered some bells in Setsuna's memory.
"Wait…you mean…the Ryou Tsumbono?" Her interest went up a notch. "The developer on the Tsumbono hybrid plants? The one who came up with the theory of a new type of interaction between the mem…"
"…the members of the same biotope, yes, yes. He's the one." Michiru said dismissively.
"But he's one of the most famous researchers in the country in his field! I'd say he's even known worldwide for the hybrids he grew in his laboratory…"
"He wasn't quite that famous when we met him…", Haruka provided.
"…not that you could tell that from the way he acted…" Michiru interjected, drawing a smile from an amused Setsuna.
"I don't think he'd made his discovery public at that time", the blonde continued. "He'd probably thought of it…but wasn't sure what to do with it. He was like that when we met…had a wide array of interests…"
"…or so he claimed to every woman on a ten-mile radius…"
"…not only in the field of science—zoology and botany. He also tried gardening and garden designing…I think gardens with his signature were quite popular for a while…"
"…no account for taste, of course…"
"…but above all, he was one hell of a racer!" Haruka finished with a broad smile. "We raced a couple of times and he gave me a run for my money."
"Though he thought the stakes ran higher than just that…" Michiru commented, the beginning of a smile pushing the corners of her lips upward.
"Jealous?" the blonde quipped.
The chitchat distracted Setsuna from her gloomy thoughts. By the light of day, the memory of her disturbing dream seemed hazy and distant, although a trace of the sheer panic she had felt still lingered. She forced her mind away from it, and focused on her friends' discussion once more.
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Focusing in a class was not usually an issue for her. But today…today was different, somehow. She had successfully gone through three lessons without actually paying any attention, and she was well on the way to adding a fourth one to the list. First it had been the sun in her eyes…then the memory of that interesting article on the upcoming solar eclipse…then that cute guy, who looked so much like her last boyfriend…then…
Makoto sighed and shook her head. At the front of the class, the physics teacher explained the mechanisms of an eclipse, and its effects in terms of magnetism and gravity fields. The girl tried to pay attention, but her thoughts wandered away again…
…when suddenly, the sound of the loudspeaker was heard in the classroom.
"This is the principal speaking. Will all the ninth grade students please gather in the grand auditorium by twelve o'clock? We will be receiving the visit of an honored guest. Classes are suspended for the rest of the day. Thank you."
The brown-haired girl rose from her seat together with the rest of her classmates. They were all excited at the prospect of classes ending early that day. As she arrived in the hallway, Makoto noticed many other freshmen chatting animatedly, happy for the unexpected break. Using the advantage her height gave her, the girl looked for her friends in the crowd. Spotting a certain blonde with an imaginative hairstyle was no hard task.
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Later that afternoon…
"So, he told us all about his flower exhibition…and the presentation of the hybrid-plant he developed. And invited us to come see it anytime this week!"
Mako-chan's voice boasted with enthusiasm, as she related the day's most remarkable event to an eager Rhei. Comfortably seated on the perch of the young priestess's temple, the two girls enjoyed the sun-drenched afternoon, waiting for their other friends to show up.
"I've heard about Dr. Tsumbono's project in the news", Rhei remembered. "They set up the whole east wing of the park to host his show. He arranged the flower exhibition himself, to demonstrate his latest ideas in exterior design!"
Just as Makoto was about to reply, another voice reached them:
"I've also read about his hybrid during a laboratory class in Sciences. I would love to take a closer look at it."
Ami was climbing the stone steps to the temple entrance, commenting excitedly. Obviously, Dr. Tsumbono's visit at Juuban School was the main topic of discussion.
Usagi and Minako followed; the latter's voice had acquired the dreamy quality that so represented her:
"Not to mention how beautiful this must be…! Just imagine, a floral exhibition hosted by one of the most popular designers in this field…and in the middle of the park…"
The girls continued their conversation, while Rhei went inside to bring five glasses of ice tea.
"What an incredible luck that he would come announce it precisely at our school!"
"I wonder what this surprise he designed might be…"
"I say we go check it out!"
Minako's suggestion was met with animated nods.
"It could make for a great day out, and combine schoolwork with fun!" Ami opined, as usual trying to point out how they could gain knowledge from a pleasant experience. "What do you think, Usagi…?"
The blonde had been conspicuously silent for the duration of her friends' enthusiastic exchange. Certainly, Ryou Tsumbono's flower exhibition seemed like a great place to visit…
…but she still remembered the last time she'd been to a floral exposition. She had ended up battling a plant-daimohn, and it had been a pretty close call. In fact, if it hadn't been for Hotaru…and then, there was that other time, in the flower-shop…or the flower-gazing festival months before that…
"Usagi?"
Four pairs of questioning eyes were fixed upon her, and the girl felt her cheeks blush slightly. After all, things had been so quiet lately, there was really no reason to refuse.
"Great idea, guys, let's go to the park tomorrow!" she said brightly.
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The afternoon light slowly ebbed away as evening set in over the city. A feeble wind strewed the fallen leaves and broken blades of withered grass. Some of them landed on the surface of a newly-formed pool, causing small ripples across the water surface.
There was a history behind this small, irregularly-shaped pond. Its muddy water covered the ground where the famous Muugen Academy had stood just weeks before, before its violent destruction. The authorities had blamed the incident on a fissured gas pipe, whose explosion had obliterated the building and its surroundings. Luckily, very few people had been in the vicinity at the time the blast had occurred; however, the construction had been devastated. Ruins now stood where modern laboratories and classrooms had been so shortly before, and small scavenger rodents chased each other among the wrecks of what had been state-of-the-art equipment. City authorities lamented the loss of such technology, and of such a promising institution, and concerned themselves with preventing similar tragedies from occurring in the future.
Little did they know that behind the Muugen destruction stood forces beyond their imagination. No one, save for ten people in the whole city, knew the truth. But if you asked one of those people—the sailor senshi, or their appointed protector, Tuxedo Mask—they would have provided a different—and arguably more interesting—version of the facts. The academy had served for headquarters to a group of villains from another dimension: the Death Busters, whose purpose had been to garner the powers of the legendary Holy Grail and open the path for their master to come and take over the universe.
But the sailor senshi preferred to leave the fierce battle that had ensued in the realm of memory. After all, the enemy had been defeated, and everything restored to the way it should have been, and there was little point in dwelling over past hardships. All the warriors had tried to slip into relatively normal lives, and succeeded: Sailor Moon—no, Tsukino Usagi—had resumed her daily activities, from sleeping in to eating her lunch early, from her long walks at her beloved Mamo-chan's side, to the happy chats with her friends—Rhei, Ami, Makoto and Minako, who had, for their part, returned to their lives as carefree, airy high-school students.
They were in no danger from forgetting about their identities as the Sailor Senshi, of course, since Luna and Artemis were always there to drop in a word or two on that subject—but even the two talking cats had allowed themselves to relax a bit, and indulge in leisure activities such as basking lazily in the sun, or chasing the occasional pigeon around the temple court.
On the other hand, the three mysterious warriors known as the outer senshi had not been able to return to the normal lives they had led before. Instead, they had adapted to a new lifestyle, together. Haruka returned to her hobby as a racer, while Michiru once more started accepting invitations to concerts and art exhibitions. The two of them had already grown accustomed to living with each other, and making room in their lives for two more persons was hardly a difficult undertaking.
Setsuna, driven by own reasons she only partially shared, had decided to take baby Hotaru into her care, and had happily accepted Haruka and Michiru's offer to participate in raising the child. The four of them now contended to build a normal life and enjoy it. Yet, unlike Usagi's group, who thrived in relaxation and relied on future peace, they were fuelled by a distant feeling of anticipation. Thanks to Setsuna's discrete hints, Michiru's keen perceptions and Haruka's innate alertness, they felt the danger—albeit not imminent—was not gone. Still, they had come to a silent agreement: without letting the guard down, the outer senshi would enjoy their respite for as long as it lasted.
Consequently, there was no one left to dwell on the strange incident of Muugen Academy. The ruins had been abandoned, as is the fate of many such places in all large cities. No one but the occasional scavenger paid attention to the wreckage.
So it was only natural that no one would notice the small ripple that formed on the water surface that evening. Or the way it grew larger, and larger…until the waters of the small pond spilled over the edges of the pool. A golden shimmer lit up the atmosphere around the deserted ruins, and the air seemed to fracture along an imaginary crack. . If anyone had seen it, they would have imagined themselves in a dark room, looking through a crevice in the wall in the intensely lit adjourning room. The margins of the fissure grew further apart, like something ripped at them from inside. They glowed brightly for an instant. Another ripple disturbed the murky waters.
Then the brightness died down, and the pool grew still again.
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"A flower show in Juuban Park…?" Michiru's interest was piqued, as it tended to be whenever such exhibitions took place.
"So the newspaper says. Should we go see it?"
Standing with her back against the iron railing right above the sea, Haruka watched her partner with just a hint of mischief behind her teal-colored eyes.
"I can think of worse ways of spending a Friday afternoon…" the other replied, in a falsely indifferent tone, as she slightly leaned over the railing. She enjoyed the mild sea-breeze on her face, and the afferent sensation of tranquility and inner balance…her worries seemed so distant in such moments. Everything around her somehow fell into place, and there was no more turbulence, no more trouble…
"Not to mention Ryou-san would just love to meet us again!"
Michiru squeezed her eyes with a long-suffering sigh, though the corners of her lips drew upwards in a small grin.
"I am only going in the hope that the park will be wide enough so he and I don't cross paths."
Haruka shook her head at the aqua-haired girl's dry comment.
"It would really break his heart to hear you say that."
"I somehow doubt that."
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AN: So, what just happened at the pond? What's the story behind this Ryou Tsumbono? What do you think of the story this far? You answer the last question and I'll take care of the other two, deal? ;) Thank you for staying with the story!
Myosotis