A/N

Really sorry for the short chapter, I had so much more to put in but I just moved to Florida a month ago and with Hurricane Irma about to kill us all I thought I'd better post this before it hit, just in case.

Let me tell you guys it is a dire situation out there. No water, no gas, no canned goods, and no decent human being giving us a mandatory evacuation so that I can bring my dog with me and not get turned away at the shelter doors.

Screw you Irma.

Anyway, have a chapter.

Disclaimer: I'm gonna die, and I can't even do it owning Sailor Moon. Pity.


Whoever said history is set in stone had clearly never found their self in the fictional world of an alternate dimension.

History was not set in stone, the ink wasn't dry, and I had some control over my destiny. This revelation was a teensy joy, but it still pleased me nonetheless; this small victory told me my actions mattered too, that this struggle of mine wasn't a pointless endeavor. The presence of Venus and Mercury here meant bad news for me, but it also went to show that I did have some miniscule amount of power here. I simply had to be careful as to how I used it.

I kept my eyes glued to my desk as the class welcomed the two girls into their new school and they were told to pick any empty seat. Now, our class was apparently one of the smaller ones, because usually we had about four empty desks scattered around the room to choose from; however, recently we had five empty seats. Naru's desk was on my right, two rows over andever since school had started back up no one had touched it. No one was going to either, because Naru had been well liked here, and even if that hadn't been the case people tended to show more compassion when someone else was hurt or dead.

A month later and Naru was still the talk of the school.

Students I suspected to have hardly ever spoken to her had openly wept for the girl; people had begun to stick get well cards and the like on her shoe locker, acting as though this was the greatest tragedy to ever strike Juuban Municipal Junior High. Hell, maybe it really was the worst thing the school had ever experienced; the point was that with Naru in the hospital, people had been surprisingly respectful of her. It was sort of an unspoken rule, that you did not use her desk and you did not mess with the stuff left in her locker; it was taboo and everyone knew it.

That is, everyone except Venus.

I honestly don't know what came over me as she began to sit down in Naru's desk. Naru hadn't been a special person to me; we hadn't been very close or even decent friends. I went to school, Serenity's crowd hung around me and I did nothing to actively push them away until it came to after school activities. Naru hadn't been one of my precious people, but her hospitalization was partially my fault; the coma she was in, the months escaping her, they were my fault so all I could do was hold out hope that she was going to wake up and find the strength to walk away from this.

And when she did, her desk would be waiting for her.

"That seat is taken." My voice was steel, loud enough to be heard by the entire class. They all turned to stare at me as I watched Venus; the words had sort of just slipped out, a little harsher than necessary but I supposed it got my point across. Our Sensei seemed embarrassed at my sudden outburst, and she hissed my name in a reprimanding manner. I turned to her, gaze cool, and slowly said, "That seat is taken, isn't it Sensei?"

She pressed her lips together, addressing Venus. "Aino-chan, I'm terribly sorry for such behavior," at this, her eyes flashed over to me. "but unfortunately, that desk is in fact taken. We have a student out sick at the moment, you see. Any other desk would be okay to take though, if you don't mind moving."

"No problem," Venus chirped, moving to a desk farther back. "Sorry about that."

I relaxed, turning my gaze away.

When class began, I sensed the stares of my peers drilling mercilessly into my back. Yumiko gave me an approving glance and a sympathetic half-smile before turning to focus on the lesson unfolding. My mind wouldn't allow me to keep up with them, too busy running around pulling a dozen different trains of thought. I shouldn't have done anything to stick out to Venus and Mercury, shouldn't have snapped the way I did. More importantly though, it was Venus and Mercury together.

This was huge, beyond my imagination.

Venus was here, and the fact that she had not come alone couldn't be a coincidence; did that mean that Mercury had been awakened? Surely she must have been, and if that was the case then somehow Venus had found her with only a name to go on. I paused, unease curling in my gut as I pondered on that thought. A name, I'd only given her a first name and somehow, someway Venus had managed to find her? I shifted in my seat, a hand pressed to my lips as I considered the possibilities; she would have maybe a month from the time the letter reached her, a month to get here and find one girl in a city this big?

Then again, Venus was leader of the Sailor Scouts for a reason.

It was beginning to dawn on me that maybe I had underestimated her, and that was undoubtedly a dangerous thing to do. I would have to be far, far more cautious of her and Mercury, from now on. These girls were far from stupid, there was a reason they were a force to be reckoned with and now things had gotten quite a bit trickier; I needed them to awaken the other girls and get on with their crime fighting lives all while staying as far from them as humanly possible. If the other two hadn't been awakened by the time I had enough funds to flee the city, I would leave Venus another note and try to be a bit more specific.

And then they were on their own.

Without the Silver Crystal, the dark empire or whatever couldn't be that much of a threat. They were powerful, yes, but without it they should be relatively on par with the Sailor Scouts. Hopefully taking a few losses and getting an ass kicking would strengthen the Sailors a bit. It was really all I could hope for at this point, I couldn't stick around and pull strings to help them along the way or they'd always rely on it.

When the bell rang for lunch, I was trying to reel myself in from my daze. Yumiko turned her desk around to face mine and began pulling out her own lunch. The other two girls in Serenity's group joined us, and they began chatting about one of our assignments. I was half listening, picking at my own food and thinking about the rest of the day; It was a Monday, and I didn't have aikido practice today so after school it would be off to work for me. This month's theme at The Fabler was Creatures of the Woodland Realm, and because god hated me I had drawn the short stick and ended up being a rabbit.

As if the universe wasn't cruel enough.

The outfit itself was fine, comfy and covered me well enough; I just didn't have a taste for the abject twist of irony here, as though my life was one big cosmic joke. The urge to throw something plagued me every time I thought too deeply on it, so I tried to keep my mind on other things. Between allowance and work, I had a decent growing pile of funds; not exactly a small fortune by any means, but probably enough to buy a plane ticket overseas. I couldn't leave the country of course, but still it was nice to know that my hard work was beginning to pay off.

"Excuse me." A light voice said, pulling me from my thoughts. I looked up, accidentally catching Venus's gaze. I flinched slightly, startled, and switched my line of sight to her forehead. "You're Tsukino Usagi, right?"

"Uh, yeah…" There was movement behind her, and a spot of blue told me exactly who it was.

"I'm Aino Minako." Venus said. "I just wanted to say sorry, for earlier. I wouldn't have sat there if I'd known."

I glanced at the other girls, taking note of the appeasement in their expressions, and shrugged. "It's okay, you didn't know…" That hadn't stopped me from snapping at her earlier, but whatever; if she wasn't going to hold a grudge I wouldn't either. There was an awkward moment of silence between the two of us, where I waited for her to go away and she kept on standing there.

Then, one of the girls by the name of Kuri did the unthinkable.

"Do you want to sit with us?" She asked, scooting over to make room for them. I gritted my teeth, looking straight ahead at a wall with a blank expression as the Sailor Scouts accepted, dragging chairs over and making themselves comfortable. The five of them continued to chat and gossip for a while, and this time I listened closely, on high alert. Mercury was quieter than Venus, giving her opinions sparingly and letting the others lead the conversation like I usually would. I waited, picking apart every detail I could about the two of them, and towards the end of lunch Venus finally showed her true colors.

"I don't mean to intrude," She murmured. "but I was curious. Could any of you tell me about your sick friend? Osaka Naru?"

The girls quieted, and I narrowed my gaze at her.

Our sensei had never mentioned Naru's full name out loud; neither of them would know that unless they'd specifically asked someone earlier. If they really had though, why ask any of us? Kuri, like the traitor she clearly was, began to explain. "Naru-chan has been in the hospital for a while now; her family store was robbed, and there… She's in a coma, fatigue they say. It's okay though, she's been getting healthier; the doctors think she could wake up any time now."

Kuri was stretching the truth here; Naru did look a bit better, but she was by no means on the mend. The doctors were stupidly optimistic; they didn't understand that her coma was supernaturally inflicted. Yes, it was possible she could wake up soon but it was also possible she wouldn't wake up for a very long time. Nobody knew for certain, these attacks were entirely new to the doctors of Tokyo and they didn't know nearly as much as they'd like. The only reason anyone thought she could wake soon was because compared to her mother (who was neither better nor worse), Naru looked like a fresh spring flower.

"That sounds terrible, I hope she recovers soon." Mercury paused, and leaned forward. "It's a bit strange though, don't you think? So many people attacked and then hospitalized for fatigue?"

"Yeah, that is odd…" Yumiko's brow furrowed. "Come to think of it, didn't the nurses say that Mrs. Osaka's coma was caused by fatigue too?"

The other girls voiced their agreements, but I was too busy watching the loaded glance Venus and Mercury gave each other to voice my own thought on the matter. They were probing for information about Naru, but why? What did it matter to them?

"Do…Do you think there might be some kind of serial attacker on the loose?" Kuri pondered worriedly.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about it." Venus reassured her. "I mean, if there was the police would totally be on it."

Yeah, Tokyo's finest was on the job alright.

Too bad this was way above their pay grade, those guys wouldn't be much help in the long run; still, better not to point that out. The girls already seemed pretty spooked at the thought, and Yumiko made it worse by adding, "Maybe it's a virus or something. I mean, the day Naru went into that coma we'd all been together at her shop, and afterwards didn't we all get sick?"

"That's right!" Kuri nodded. "I had nausea the next day, and we had all stayed home."

"But you got better, right?" Venus prodded. She was watching all of us, and even though I hadn't actually been there at the time I nodded along with the rest of the girls. No one had mentioned my absence, and I would be the last to say otherwise, especially if it gave me a possible advantage in the future.

"Yeah," Yumiko shifted, and hesitantly she said, "but I definitely felt awful for a long time afterward. I couldn't even stand to look at the ring I got from Naru-chan's shop; I sent it back in the mail, I don't even care whether I get my money back. For some reason it just felt wrong to keep it."

"We did, too." Kuri commented. "The shop's closed right now though, so there might not be anyone there to take them back for a while."

Venus appeared extremely interested in this. I kept my ears out for the rest of lunch, trying to get a better idea for what she and Mercury might have been thinking. Topics switched to other less important things though, and when class began again nothing significant had stood out to me. After the last bell I was quick to slip out, grabbing my things from my locker and ignoring the overly decorated one to my right. I was anxious to get going, work was all the way across town and the sooner I arrived the more hours I would be able to get in. Something about lunch still bothered me though; it was an itch that wouldn't go away no matter how hard I tried.

I was leaving the school when I saw them walking out of the gate ahead of myself; Mercury and Venus. They moved quickly, as though they were in a hurry and didn't want to raise suspicion, but I'd already seen them. Instinct had me following, whispering that this was something I needed to see. Heart pounding, I tailed them, staying far away and moving at a slightly slower pace; it would be better to risk losing them than risk being caught. It went without saying that this was incredibly stupid of me, but it was more than mere curiosity driving me at this point. I didn't like that conversation at lunch, and I had a feeling I wouldn't like whatever it was the two of them were up to.

They walked for about fifteen minutes, and during that time a white cat joined them, allowing himself to be held in Venus' arms as they continued on. Thankfully, they walked on busy roads and it wasn't difficult to blend in with the other students having gotten out of school. A sense of dread began to creep on me as we drew closer to a familiar building in the middle of town. They stopped across the street from it and waited another five minutes, a time during which I grew twitchier and twitchier. Finally, the three of them were joined by a black cat, and behind her… another girl. Long raven hair, arms crossed, and sporting a serious expression. My heart skipped a beat as together they crossed the street and entered the Azabu-Juuban Hospital where Naru was staying.

I stared blankly at the closing automatic doors, assessing what I'd just witnessed.

Sailor Mars had entered the game.


"Two diet cokes, and an order of crepes." I recited cheerfully to the table of two before me, handing them the check. "Please take your time."

I pranced away from the table to give them time to pay and leave, smile dropping as I entered into the back area. The cooks had turned off the stoves and were cleaning up for the night. Harumi was there as well, leaning against a wall and going over something on the clipboard in front of him. He looked up as I rolled my wrists, eliciting a couple of cracks from them and making him shiver.

"That," He began dramatically, pointing the pen he held in my direction. "Was horrific. You'll give yourself carpal tunnel if you don't properly stretch those muscles before and after work."

"Oh no," I monotoned. "Not carpal tunnel, anything but that."

"You think it's all fun and laughs now, but just you wait; ten years down the road you'll be wearing braces at night, using cream to sooth the pain and you'll think if only I had listened to Haru-chan."

If my only problem ten years down the road appeared in the form of carpal tunnel, then I would get on my knees and kiss Harumi's feet. Considering the state of things, that future was looking to be highly unlikely. "I'll be sure to call you the day that happens so you can tell me how you were right."

Harumi's smile was angelic. "That's all I ask. Now, are your tables all clear yet?"

"I have the last customers paying now." I replied. "The table is cleared though, and I just have to wipe it down once they leave and I'll be good to go."

He tilted his head, eyes narrowing slightly. "Did you roll the silverware?"

"One hundred and twelve sets, yes."

"Sweep the back hall?"

"The back hall, the locker room, and I took out the garbage as well." I stood tall, proud but trying not to sound like I was bragging. I had told him he wouldn't regret hiring me, and I intended to stick by my word. Duties for the waitresses rotated every day, sometimes it was sweeping the backroom, or mopping out on the floor; someone did garbage, or restocked the dressings and bakery display, or cleaned the bathroom. We all had our duties, and we were required to roll sixty sets of silverware before leaving for the night.

I was an overachiever, and since this job was beginning to be one of the few things I didn't suck at here, I was going more than the extra mile for it. Harumi didn't like when I did the other girls chores for them, so it had taken me a while to figure out what things I could do to show my worth. This café wasn't a forever place, but it had possibly grown on me, a little bit, and I wanted to be Harumi's most valuable employee. As he looked at me now, that challenge in his gaze turned to something soft and he sighed, putting a palm to his cheek. "How on earth did I get such an outstanding girl like you on my team?"

I beamed. "It's a strange world."

"Indeed it is." Harumi hummed. "You can go for the night, I'll finish cleaning up. It is a Monday, after all; you have school tomorrow. Now shoo."

The protest on the tip of my tongue was swallowed. There really was no fighting a man like Harumi, he always got his way. I thanked him, changed out of my rabbit outfit and started the walk home. It was a little past eight, and dinner had long been served by the time I arrived back at the Tsukino residence. This had become a common occurrence, and as of late Ikuko appeared to have little concern over my comings and goings so long as I did okay in school and actually made an appearance; I usually told her if I was going to be out late, so that she didn't worry too much, and Ikuko would wink at me as though we were both in on a secret.

I was beginning to suspect she might have thought this had something to do with a boy, and honestly I couldn't bring myself to correct her.

I needed all the help I could get at this point, and if thinking I had a boyfriend gave Ikuko some peace of mind, then so be it. The only person that gave me any real trouble was Shingo, Serenity's little brother. He was becoming more and more nosy these days, and the feeling was vaguely reminiscent of my own kid sister, so from time to time I indulged him. When I entered the house, he was waiting in the hall, arms crossed like a disappointed parent.

"You were out late." He stated, a bit of accusation dripping into his tone. I had a head on him heightwise, so it was amusing to watch him look up at me while trying to intimidate.

"I'm a busy girl." I told him, slipping off my shoes. "Can't be helped. My fans just can't get enough of me."

Shingo scoffed. "Who'd ever be a fan of you?"

"Hey, I'm likable." I said, intending to walk past him when he stepped into my path as though to trip me. I grinned, all teeth, and set my hand on his head. I rubbed it, hard, and Shingo batted at me in an attempt to make me stop. His hair was static ridden and all over the place when he managed to get out of my grasp. He glared at me and I laughed. "Later, brat."

His muttering tapered off as I climbed the stairs to Serenity's room and shut the door behind me. Too tired to shower, I simply plopped on the bed, still in my school uniform, and let my thoughts wander for a bit. Serenity's family always left a hollow ache in me, and I shied away from thinking further on that. I kept going back to the moment the Sailor Scouts entered the hospital, and their strange questions at lunch. Naru was just another victim, drained like dozens of other people around Tokyo, so why were they so interested in her?

I hated that I didn't know.

Until today, I hadn't known that Mercury and Mars had been awakened already. This changed pretty much everything; Venus was working faster than I would have thought, clearly she didn't need any help and I wasn't sure whether that worried me or not. Jupiter was the only one left, and once she too was found, what could I expect from them? Venus had been adamant about protecting the Moon Princess if I recalled correctly, so what lengths would she go to in order to find me?

At some point, they'd realize that whoever sent the letter definitely wasn't among them.

I had only given Venus three names; Mars, Jupiter, and Mercury. Luna would know there was one more Sailor to be found, and it wouldn't be much of a stretch to think that perhaps Sailor Moon, the only one missing from the list, had been the one to send it. I was still holding out hope that one of them would suspect Mamoru instead, but that would only hold for so long. The Sailor Scouts wouldn't be searching for just the Moon Princess; they'd be seeking Sailor Moon eventually as well.

Maybe they thought Naru could be Sailor Moon, or the Moon Princess.

It would explain the unhealthy interest in her, but they'd figure it out sooner or later; Naru wasn't the girl they were looking for.

Sleep was restless for me that night, I felt as though I was missing something and by morning I was no closer to an answer. I didn't want to go to school today, was far too tired to deal with it, but in the end I persevered. Right now, with the Sailor Scouts in town it was crucial to keep to a routine; I wanted to appear in their minds as little as possible, and to do so I needed to be boringly normal. So I went to school, did everything I'd been doing since the end of summer break, and acted no different.

My interactions with Mercury and Venus were minimal, and always included at least one of the other girls. Everything was business as usual, right up until I was leaving the school gate. I yelped in surprise as hands went around my waist from behind and I was lifted off the ground and spun once. Familiar laughter reached my ears as the person put me down, and I turned with a reluctant grin to see Matsuo. He wiggled his brows comically, easily dodging as I kicked out at him.

"Easy there, tiger." He chuckled, hands up in surrender. Then that glimmer of mischief entered his expression, and with a widening grin Matsuo added, "Or should I say, little rabbit?"

"Shut up." I went for a punch, which he also avoided. "What are you doing here, anyway? Someone might mistake you for a pervert, standing outside a school like this."

He shrugged. "Curiosity is a powerful thing."

I waited, expecting him to explain or say more but Matsuo didn't seem to feel the need to add anything on. A sigh escaped me as we stood there, and it was then that I noticed other students giving us looks. A small group of girls passed by us slowly, whispering and checking Matsuo out; he smiled at them, sweet as ever, and they giggled before moving on. I watched him in amusement, and after a moment he caught my gaze and said. "What?"

"We should get going, before someone calls the police about a weirdo lingering around schoolgirls." I nudged him, and together we started walking towards the dojo. I gave him a considering glance as we went, thoughts wander back to the giggling girls. It wasn't something I had thought on before, but looking at him now, it wasn't hard to see why those girls had stared. Matsuo was handsome, maybe not as pretty as Mamoru, but definitely good looking enough to give the guy a run for his money.

Mamoru was slender; strong, but ironically rather princely in appearance. His features were aristocratic, with those high cheekbones, a straight nose, and long lashes. Mamoru had intense, soul searching eyes and hair the fell just right without any effort, he also held that aura of responsibility and leadership. He was a pretty boy, yeah, but oddly enough there was a quiet strength in him; more kindness than I would have anticipated, and…hm.

Anyway, Matsuo was athletic; his shoulders were wide, and his muscles were more defined. He was chiseled, tan with brown eyes and messy brown hair and it was a good thing he had such a winning smile and was so outstandingly friendly because otherwise he made for an intimidating appearance; the kind that no father wanted to see anywhere near his daughter. It was his personality that made everything about him feel warm and inviting rather than tough and edgy. Maybe that was why I enjoyed his company so much, because in such an uncertain world Matsuo was a stable presence; steady and reassuring.

If things went to hell, I knew he had my back.

Every time I acknowledged this, my feet grew heavy with despair. I often tried not to think about it around him, my eventual departure from the city; for some reason, each time I did my throat tightened and I had a brief moment of breathlessness. Even now, I could feel the beginnings of it, and desperation to take my mind off of it had me blurting out the first thing that came to mind. "I have a lot of homework today."

"Oh?" Matsuo replied. "Okay, do you want to work on it before or after aikido?"

"Before, it's not too much and I'd rather get it out of the way." Plus, I could use the distraction. When we got to the dojo it was empty save for Hajime-sensei, who barely glanced our way before entering into his office in the back. Matsuo had been coming here for a few years already, and now in his final year of high school he split his time between here and The Fabler. Once, I had asked him how much he made working here, curious as to why he needed another job, and Matsuo had explained that the dojo was more of an internship. He didn't make any money here, and had just sort of started helping around the place without Hajime-sensei even having asked.

It surprised me, but then that was just the kind of person Matsuo was.

"Alright," He murmured, sitting down beside me as I took out the assigned homework. "what all do we have today?"

"History." I muttered distastefully. "A bit of math too, and Japanese."

I had English homework as well, but it wasn't a subject I wanted him to see me working on for obvious reasons. Matsuo nodded, looking through the separate subjects laid out in front of us before snatching up history and reading over the instructions. I got a notebook and pen out of my bag, and he flipped to the right page in my textbook before clearing his throat and reading the text aloud. I listened carefully as he spoke, writing down important things like dates and he'd pause every time my pen hit the notebook, waiting for me to finish before continuing.

This had become something of a tradition for us, starting back a couple weeks ago when I'd mentioned my summer homework. Matsuo knew that reading for long periods of time gave me killer migraines and that it took up a lot of time, and he had offered to help me with it. Having him read everything out loud helped me understand easier, and it cut the amount of time I spent struggling in half. Over time it must have become obvious to him that I wasn't stupid, I just needed the questions spelled out for me. Answering was the easiest part, and between the two of us I finished my homework within the hour.

We had about twenty minutes before class would begin, so after changing I cleaned up my mess while Matsuo watched. I could tell he was thinking deeply about something, so I kept quiet, and after a couple of minutes he finally spoke. "Usagi, have you told anyone else about your… migraines? Have you talked to anyone about it?"

"No," I ran my hands through my hair, pulling it up into a pony tail. "I mean, there isn't much of a point; anyone you ask could tell you that school isn't exactly my forte."

"Well… maybe you should." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Don't take this the wrong way, but have you considered that perhaps there's something, er, more to your reading issues?"

My brows furrowed at his behavior, as though he was trying to be delicate with his words. Why would I take that the wrong way? It was common knowledge that I struggled, Tsukino Usagi did not do well in school, so I didn't see why it would offend me. He must have seen the incomprehension in my stare, because suddenly Matsuo's expression twisted in what looked to be frustration, and he huffed. "Usagi-chan, do you know what dyslexia is?"

Oh.

I nodded, and he continued. "So you know that people with it often have trouble reading words correctly or reading things for an extended length of time?"

Yikes, he really thought my problem was an undiagnosed case of dyslexia and not the language barrier and flood of half-learned Japanese that it was. I sat there for a moment, unsure of how to remedy the situation; how did I explain the real cause of my migraines to him without sounding like a lunatic? Then again… was dyslexia all that far off the mark from my own inability? I couldn't just pretend to have it, there was something horribly disrespectful about the idea, but maybe it would save me some trouble to let him have his own conclusions on the matter.

So long as he didn't mention it to anyone.

"Matsuo, this reading issue is… relatively new to me. I'm fine with how things are right now, and I don't want to discuss it with a bunch of strangers just yet. If I really can't handle it then I'll speak with someone, okay?"

He held my gaze, pondering over it, and nodded.

Then the cheerfulness was back, and the subject was dropped. I got up and stretched as he told me what was on the agenda for today's lesson. As people began to arrive, I found myself appreciating the friend I'd gained in Matsuo; he hadn't fought me on it, and wasn't going to go against my wishes. I was thankful that there was someone in this world lifting me up instead of dragging me down.

He really was the best friend I could have asked for.


A/N

Progress is slow going, and again sorry for the short chapter but between work and hurricane preparations I didn't know when I'd have the chance to actually write anything more and I kind of just want to get this chapter out before the hurricane gets too close and we lose power or whatever.

Anyway,

Thoughts? Questions?

Please Review!