Sailor Moon X by Starling Sinclair
Chapter 7: The Price of Flowers
3/26/2019
Mamoru was never late. She glanced at the clock in the exam room. 9:48. Then again, there's a first time for everything, or so Ami thought as she pinched the bridge of her nose.
"No ma'am. This is not a teaching hospital. I am the surgeon for your son's procedure," Ami continued. Deep breaths. So what if living in such a deeply patriarchal society meant a penis automatically commanded more respect than youngest person to be staffed at Saiseikai Hospital?
"But, you're like what, twenty-one?" the woman continued.
"Twenty-four," Ami corrected.
The woman looked at her skeptically. Ami wasn't going to dignify her with an explanation.
"Do you have any further questions about your son's procedure?" Ami continued.
The mother held her toddler and narrowed her eyes. "Don't you usually work in teams?"
"Yes. My partner is unavailable this morning, but of course he'll be there for your son's procedure. Now, do you have any other pertinent questions to the procedure?" Ami continued.
"No. I don't think so," the woman said.
"Okay, to reiterate, no food after 9pm, and only clear liquids until after the surgery," Ami said. Then smiling, she walked around the woman to look at her two year old patient in the eyes. "Take care buddy. I'll see you next week and fix you all up. Okay?"
The little boy stared at her, eyes filling with tears, then started wailing.
"Check in with reception before you leave. They have stickers," Ami added before walking out of the exam room. Closing the door behind her, she took a deep breath. Mamoru was so much better at this part, this people part, than her. At least there was some down time before the next appointment. She hurried into their shared office.
Two desks were situated side by side. Both neatly organized with little in the way of personal effects. Ami had a small Ecosphere with four little red shrimp on her desk, and Mamoru had a orchid that was thriving far to well in her opinion. Neither had much in photographs.
There was a wallet sized farmed photo of Ami's mother beside her keyboard. She picked it up as she sat in front of computer. Being a doctor like her mother was something Ami knew she wanted to be since she was very young, and so her path in life had always been clear. Her thumb absently rubbed over the photo's ribbed frame.
She glanced over at the empty desk beside her, then at the clock. Ten am. She furrowed her brow. Mamoru was an excellent person to have as her partner. He was almost as good at medicine as she was. Her certainly was a dedicated. Plus, Mamoru had been only a year ahead of her in school, also having completed college early. It provided some comfort knowing they weren't so far apart in age.
Shaking her head, Ami logged on to her computer to type up her patient reports. She liked to be very prompt with them. This meant she almost missed the door to their office opening and Mamoru stumbling in.
He had a small smile on his lips and he sat down at his desk without saying hello. He was distracted, a bit disheveled, and… relaxed? Ami blinked. This was a side of her colleague she hadn't seen in their six months of work together. He almost looked like a teenager. Could he have… met someone?
Ami blushed at the thought. Even though she may have had a small crush on her coworker, she didn't really believe anything would come of it. It would be impossible not to be slightly attracted Mamoru Chiba. He was Hollywood gorgeous after all. But his history seemed to include a broken engagement with an actress, so plain Ami never really put any stock in her chances. Besides, she had someone. Sort of. When he was in the country.
Deciding that he simply must not have noticed her, Ami asked, "Are you alright Mamoru?"
"Huh?" he asked, breaking out of whatever trance he'd be in, "Ami. Sorry. Didn't see you there. I'm fine. Just, had a very interesting night." He paused. "And morning."
"Weren't you out with your friend?" Ami asked.
"Yeah, but, I ended up... bumping into a different old friend," he said with a goofy grin. And Ami understood that there was an innuendo under "bumping." She did her best not to blush. Was it the actress? Or someone else? She was not wise in the world of love and too shy to pry.
"But, I'm sorry, I'm late. I was… tied up," he added and blushed. Ami, figuring out that "tied up" was also an innuendo, decided to try something different.
"Well, I hope that it was at least a relaxing tied up," Ami teased.
Mamoru's eyebrows lifted, and for a second, Ami worried she'd overstepped a boundary. Spending so much time in academia and pushing herself forward definitely meant a shortage of friends. But then Mamoru laughed, a full deep, rich laugh.
"Oh, relaxing is one way to put it," he said. "And I hope there will be many more relaxing times."
Ami and Mamoru shared a smile. However, their friendly banter was interrupted by a knock and the door swinging open. The nurse looked panicked. "Um, Doctor Chiba? Doctor Mizuno? You're needed in the ER."
The humor left the two surgeons, and they headed to the pediatric ER.
It was a girl about fourteen years old, and she showed symptoms of a youma attack. Except, the teen had been found in her room, listening to Dark Pandora. No signs of struggle, no defensive wounds. She was drained in a way that hadn't been seen before, and it didn't seem like much that could be done.
Mamoru, got a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. It was too coincidental that she was listening to Dark Pandora the morning after a concert. Especially since she was brought in with a familiar purple flower in her hand. He might have missed something really important last night, and he hadn't heard from Motoki.
XXX
Usagi and Rei were hustling to Motoki's house while Usagi did her best to reach Umeno. She didn't bother with text, and just went straight to calling. He wasn't answering, and she lost reception as they waited at the JR platform. All she could do now was watch the tracks, and wait the seven minutes until she was back in cell phone reception.
Rei sat on a bench with Luna in her lap, patiently waiting for the next train. Usagi paced the platform.
"I'm sure Motoki's fine," Luna said.
"Though he appears to have really bad luck," Rei added. "I mean, losing his business and then his energy in the same week? Damn, poor guy."
In a strange moment of cellular clarity, Usagi's phone pinged. She quickly looked at it, hoping it was Motoki or Umeno. It was Mamoru.
Have you heard from Motoki, by the way?
Her message back failed to send, and Usagi clutched her phone all through the short train ride. She only put the phone in her pocket when she reached Motoki's house.
He owned a moderate home that was a seven minute walk from the train station. She hurried to the front door, hand raised to know. Her heart dropped when she heard the muffled sound of music through the door.
Usagi raised her foot and kicked the door.
"Owww!" she screamed holding her toe and hoping.
"Yeah, doors aren't easy to kick in, even with superhero powers," Rei said. She brushed past the injured Usagi and knelt to work on the lock. After just a second, she twisted the knob and opened the door.
"That was fast," Usagi commented.
"It was unlocked. Maybe check the door before you kick it next time," Rei said, holding the door open for Usagi.
Usagi rolled her eyes then cautiously entered Motoki's.
The music blaring inside felt like a force hitting the women. The lights were off, and the place was lit only by the bits of daylight that streamed through the uneven curtains. She felt like a burglar, not like a rescuer. Usagi thought about calling out to Motoki, but it would be useless over the din.
In the entryway, she removed her shoes. There was a table with some dusty silk flowers on it - a relic from Motoki's engagement. Her heart ached for him. It must be lonely coming home every evening to a place that never became the home it was meant to be. She continued down the hallway, passing the bathroom and a closet. The house opened up into a western style open kitchen/living room kitchen with stairs leading to upstairs bedrooms in the corner.
"Motoki!" Usagi screamed. "Motoki can you hear me?"
She walked slowly into the room. The living area contained a cream colored sofa set with only the sofa showing signs of wear. A small crease here, a chip in the leather there. A mostly empty curio cabinet sat against the wall with a Geode and a handful of netsukes inside. Beneath the marble topped coffee table were a few outdated textbooks on entomology below a few current issues of gaming magazines. Beneath the large screen TV were a series of dusty photographs telling a incomplete story: the whole Furuhata clan; Motoki's graduation day; a beautiful woman with long, wavy hair and smiling green eyes - Reika; the smiling couple on the day of their engagement; and a picture of Usagi, his sister, and Motoki whose eyes sparkled less, from the previous summer. The last photo had been Usagi's Christmas present to him.
Rei walked slowly behind Usagi. She didn't need her physic abilities to tell her all was not well. As Usagi pressed forward, Rei glanced around. She was the one who found him. The blond man was laying on his sofa, looking almost peaceful. His clothes were disheveled - a wrinkled button down that had clearly been slept in. His shoes were still on. The large purple flower was pinned to his shirt pocket, resting over his heart, and pulsating purple.
"Usagi!" Rei called above the noise.
"We have to stop the music," Luna said into Rei's ear. Rei nodded in agreement.
While Rei looked for a remote to turn the music off, Usagi rushed over to her friend and boss.
"No, no, no," she cried over him.
She shook his shoulders.
"Motoki, wake up!"
Nothing.
She pressed her fingers to his neck to feel for a pulse. Still there, but faint.
She pinched his arm. No response.
Groaning in frustration, she slapped him. No response.
Rei, however, turned sharply towards Usagi. She bit her lip. She needed to turn the music off now.
"We have to do something!" Usagi screamed.
"I'm trying!" Rei shouted back.
She swiped at the broach, but it held tight to his shirt. Stupid Motoki for actually pinning the damn thing to him.
Her fingers fumbled with the clasp. She could feel the flower start leeching off herself. It was like a blanket of sleepiness draping over her. The music pounding in her ears like her heart. It would be so easy to just get lost.
But she couldn't. She thought briefly of a time as a middle schooler when she would have given anything to just sleep in. If she were younger, she was positive she would have succumbed to the siren call.
Finally loosened, she tossed the broach across the room. The music died as well. Rei, having given up on finding any sort of remote, was behind the entertainment center, holding out a plug.
Usagi breathed deeply. The fatigue was still there. She turned to look at Motoki. He was also still unconscious.
"Is he alright?" Luna asked, slowly creeping up.
"I don't know," Usagi said. She shook his shoulder, then gently called, "Motoki?"
His head lolled to the side.
"I'm calling an ambulance," Rei said, pulling out her cell phone and pacing.
Usagi felt tears rush her eyes. She'd been so stupid. If only she hadn't had quite so many shots. If only she had stayed the night before instead of running off with Mamoru. Now she had these super powers and there was nothing she could do.
The purple flower taunted her from the floor. Rei was talking with the dispatcher on the phone, but Usagi could barely make it out. All she could feel was anger. She took all the pent up rage, at losing Crown, for harming her friends, and stamped down on the flower.
As she crushed it under her heel, she heard a cracking noise. At first, she worried that she'd somehow broken Motoki. That somehow crushing the flower had crushed him. Yet, the pink energy spilled out from beneath her foot and flowed into the air, fluttering like glitter in the wind. It settled on Motoki, glowing brightly as he absorbed it.
The glow faded and the two girls and one cat watched with bated breath. The silence was louder than the music had been. The stillness stretched into an eternity as they waited for the sounds of sirens.
Suddenly, Motoki took a deep breath and his eyes blinked open.
"Motoki!" Usagi cried. She wrapped her arms around him. "You're okay!"
Motoki blinked. He felt so tired, drained. What was Usagi doing there? He rubbed his eyes.
"What happened? How did I get home?" he mumbled.
"Oh, well, I guess I wasn't the only one who'd had too much to drink last night," Usagi laughed.
"What time is it?" he asked, looking around for his phone.
"Like, noon," she answered.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
"Um," she stuttered. She rubbed the back of her head, then looked to Rei and Luna for help. Rei shook her head no, then walked out of sight. For her part, Rei didn't want to upset the man with her presence. She and Luna went to wait by the door for the ambulance to arrive.
Usagi silently cursed them. She took in a deep breath. She needed to think quickly...
"Mamoru hadn't heard from you, and I happened to be in the area, so I dropped in to check on you!" she improvised.
"Mamoru… Where did you two go last night?" Motoki began. "I went back to get you, but you were gone."
"Um!" Usagi flushed bright red. "Well, he took me home?"
"Took you home?" Motoki said, slowing regaining his wits. "Like, back to his place or to the train station?"
Luckily for Usagi, fate intervened. Rei had let the EMS into Motoki's house.
The two EMS workers were kneeling by Motoki, bombarding him with questions. For his part, he was even more confused. He wasn't sure if that was because of Usagi's blaise comment about Mamoru taking her home or because there was an emergency medical team taking his vitals.
"So you think it was a youma attack?" the EMS worker questioned Usagi.
She nodded. "It seemed that way. I only came by to check on him when he didn't answer his phone," she said. "I didn't see any youma. It may have been gone by the time I got here."
Motoki remembered thinking it strange that he wouldn't remember the youma attack, but maybe Usagi was just projecting onto him. It would make sense with everything going on.
"His vitals are acceptable, though a bit low. Let's take him in for observation anyway," the second EMS guy told the first. They nodded to each other. "Do you think you can walk sir?"
Motoki nodded, and with help, stood to his feet. As he was walking away, he looked over his shoulder at Usagi. "Don't think you've gotten out of answering my question!" he called back to her.
Usagi followed behind at a great distance. She met Rei outside.
"Is he going to be okay?" she asked.
Usagi nodded. In her pocket, her phone buzzed. A welcome name flashed across her screen: Umeno.
"Umeno!" Usagi answered eagerly. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be? I wasn't the one who did six shots of whiskey with her high school nemesis in under fifteen minutes," he answered. "I was in a business meeting when you called. Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, everything's fine," she answered. "You don't happen to remember what you did with that flower they gave us from last night?"
"Oh, I gave mine to some other Uberfan, though, she looked a little young for a club," he said. "Honestly, I don't get the big deal, but Motoki and Naru were like entranced or something. They just wanted to go home after the concert and listen to more music. It was weird. Maybe it's just not my cup of tea."
Usagi laughed. "No, I guess not."
"Speaking of, where did you disappear off to?" Umeno asked.
"What's that Umeno? I can't hear you you're breaking up! I'll talk to you later," she said and then hung up on him.
"Your other friend?" Rei asked.
Usagi nodded. "At least he's okay, but what about all the people I didn't know? What will happen to them?"
"I don't know," Luna said. "But let's get this flower to MInako. Perhaps we can uncover something."
XXX
Mamoru texted to ask if he could bring a colleague from work with him to meet up with her at the izakaya tonight. He'd had a rough day at work, and he and his friend could really use a drink.
Usagi agreed, though, she was a little sad that it wouldn't just be the two of them. She was hoping for a date after all. The place was near the hospital and on the basement floor. The stairway down was a touch claustrophobic. There wasn't much to the actual establishment. It was low lit, but well stocked. There were four booths and plenty of stools along the bar. A few others in scrubs occupied the booth farthest from the door, so Usagi decided to grab them a booth before it became too crowded.
She was waiting for them when Mamoru walked in with a pretty woman in tow. She was just a few inches taller than Usagi, with short dark hair and a doe-eyed expression.
Both Mamoru and the woman looked like death warmed over, and Usagi worried what had happened that day. She briefly worried that he was bringing her in a snide gesture to show he was taken and the night before was just a mistake.
However, his face brightened when he saw Usagi.
"Usagi, this is my partner, Ami. Ami, Usagi," he introduced. Usagi's eyes widened.
"Hi," Ami said with a wave. Her voice was soft and sweet. "Nice to meet you."
"Partner?" Usagi asked.
"Surgical partner," Ami filled it. "In pediatric surgery."
Relief rushed over Usagi. Different kind of partner.
Ami slid into the booth across from Usagi. She brushed her hair behind her ear then found a coaster to play with.
"What will you two have?" Mamoru asked.
"Um, I don't know," Ami said. "What are you getting, Usagi?"
"Highball," Usagi said.
"I'll have one of those," Ami said, and Mamoru nodded then headed off to the bar.
When Mamoru was out of earshot, Usagi stage whispered, "Do you know what a highball is?"
Ami flushed pink, and Usagi found it highly endearing. She giggled. "I take it you don't drink much," Usagi added.
"No," Ami conceded. "I don't get out much. I prefer to stay in with a good book."
"I can respect that," Usagi said, "Even if I don't understand it."
Ami smiled.
"You're a doctor?" Usagi asked amazed. Ami had to be her age, Mamoru was smart and several years older so of course he would be a doctor, but for this girl to be a surgeon… she had to leave him in the dust in terms of smarts.
Ami blushed. "Yes."
"But you're so young!" Usagi continued
"Youngest surgeon hired at the hospital," Ami said, trying not to look as proud as she felt.
"Well, you go girl," Usagi said. "When Mamoru gets back with the drinks we'll have to toast."
Ami looked away sadly.
"Or not," Usagi added. "He said you had a bad day at work. Can I ask what happened?"
"There was a teenager that came in today. And we did everything we could, but," Ami looked off. "It was like she was in a youma battle, but, there wasn't any sign of struggle. But, we couldn't do anything…"
Usagi felt her stomach drop out. She hoped that maybe the girl wasn't related to the flowers and the concert. That somehow it was unrelated, but she knew in her gut that it wasn't. She let her mind wander for just a bit. If she and Mamoru hadn't been fighting, and drinking, and well, generally ignoring the world, would she have been able to help them? Or would she be a victim right now, losing energy in her apartment, alone, with no one to rescue her? And no one to rescue Naru or Motoki, or possibly even Mamoru?
Mamoru came back and set two drinks in front of her, a highball and a shot of whiskey. He'd purchased the same for himself, and just a highball for Ami. He knew Ami enough to know that she wasn't going to handle the shot well.
"Did you really just get us shots?" Usagi asked as he slid into the booth next to her.
He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and winked. "I do have such fond memories," he said.
"It was literally yesterday," she said. His grin just kept getting wider, then he took his shot. Usagi rolled her eyes and followed suit.
"I would also like to point out, that you Mamoru Chiba, have shit taste in whiskey. What the hell was that?"
Mamoru bust out laughing, and even Ami giggled at it.
"I need a palate cleanser," she said picking up her Highball. "So, here's to you two, and doing the hard job you have to do."
Ami clinked her glass with Usagi, who winked at her, and the three shared the toast. The evening continued smoothly, with small talk about work and Ami prying embarrassing stories of Mamoru's young adulthood out of Usagi. Mamoru continued buying several rounds, then made sure Ami got back to her home before calling a cab for him and Usagi. And when Usagi suggested that she should probably get back to her place, he followed her. Usagi didn't complain. Both of them could use the companionship.
XXX
AN: It's Ami! Dun dun dun! I had some very specific ideas for how the characters still became connected in this alternate future. There's still a couple of surprises in store with that though.
Anyway! Thank you everyone who is reading! Reviews are always welcome.
A very special thanks to Xhibit B and Runic for beta-reading. Without Xhibit's help there would still be a note to myself in this chapter. And a much weaker description of Motoki's apartment. Also, thanks so much my prince Matt and Bee for reading through all the rough drafts to help me assemble a story bible. It has been invaluable. And as always, thank you my loving husband, who has no real clue about Sailor Moon and saw a Codename Sailor V manga in the kitchen and went "Wait. That's a real thing? You didn't make it up?" in reference to Minako's backstory. I love you.
