Chapter 15
Usagi's Panic: Rei's First Date
Juban Park was considered a wonderful place for people to visit at any time of day, especially for Sora, Usagi and their friends.
"Oh, It's nice and quiet here," said Rei.
"Yeah, this is a perfect place for a date," replied Usagi.
"I'm glad you like it," said Ami.
"Heh… same here, Ami," agreed Sora.
"I'm kind of surprised that you knew of a place like this guys," Rei said to them.
"Really? Well, sometimes I come here to read before I go to Cram School," replied Ami.
They could see an elderly individual nearby tending to some plants, and decided to see who it was.
"Hi, Mr. Kokuritsu," Ami said to him.
"Hey there," added Sora.
Mr. Kokuritsu stopped what he was doing and turned around to greet Ami and her friends. He explained to them that he was the park owner.
"Wow, you're in charge of taking care of this whole park all by yourself?" asked Usagi.
"Yes, but, I won't be for much longer," Mr. Kokuritsu said sadly.
"What?" Ami and Sora asked in shock.
"The person who owns this land has sold this park to a developer. They plan to build a large business complex here," he said sadly.
"That's such a shame," Ami said sadly.
"Especially for all the wildlife. Where will they go when this place is destroyed? It's a big problem," said Mr. Kokuritsu.
"That's too bad, this is such a nice park" replied Usagi, who was distraught at what she heard
But Sora's expression began to darken at what he heard. He liked nature, especially when he helped Tarzan, Jane, her father, and the gorillas stop Clayton and his band of poachers, as he watched the park worker going back to working on the flowers.
"Well, nothing we can do about it now," he said sadly.
This made Rei determined to find someone to take her on a date to this park. Later that night, at the shopping district, Luna was now on her way to find Usagi and her friends. She was about to cross a busy street, when she stopped and looked down.
"Where did everyone go? I can't find anybody today," she said.
But before she could think further, she soon heard the sound of a large motor vehicle approaching her. She looked up to see a truck was coming towards her, and yowled loudly. Luckily the young man whom Usagi, Rei, Sora, and their friends met, made a daring leap of faith, scooped Luna in his arms, and managed to get her to safety, as the truck continued down the street.
"Are you all right?" he asked the cat.
Luna looked up at him, meowing at him as if she was thanking him.
"It doesn't look like you're injured," he said observantly.
"HEY!" shouted Usagi, when she saw him in front of the arcade.
But Sora had seen how he saved Luna's life, and was relieved that she wasn't run over by the truck.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO LUNA!?" she demanded angrily.
"You need to take better care of your cat! She almost got hit by a truck, bunhead!" the guy barked back at her.
But Rei was now starstruck by the guy, and knew that she had found a guy to hang out with, as Usagi grabbed Luna out of the guy's arms.
"She is none of your business! Luna isn't just some ordinary cat you know, she's someone special!" Usagi said angrily at him.
"Usagi, STOP IT!" shouted Sora, brandishing his keyblade.
Usagi whirled around and saw Sora holding his keyblade at his side, but also saw an angry glare on his face that made her tremble in fear.
"Wait Sora, there's no need to threaten her," Ami said fearfully.
"That's right, now put your Keyblade down and nobody gets hurt," Rei said calmly, but firmly.
Luna nodded in agreement, and Sora allowed his Keyblade to disappear in a flash of light.
"Well anyway, thanks for saving Luna dude," Sora said to him.
"No problem, uh, Sora was it?" replied the guy.
"Yep, that's me," Sora said with a friendly grin.
"I'm Mamoru Chiba," he said, shaking Sora's hand.
"Why are you being-?" Usagi was about to ask, when Riku stepped up next to her, and placed his hand upon her shoulder.
"That's enough, Usagi. He not only saved Luna's life, but we also owe him a debt of gratitude," Riku said to her.
"Oh, hey. What's up, guys?" Motoki said to them, as he walked out of the arcade.
"Oh, hey Motoki," Mamoru and Sora said to him.
"Motoki, y-you know this guy?" Usagi asked him.
"Sure, we go to the same college," replied Motoki.
"Hmm… makes sense, seeing as you guys kinda look alike," said Sora.
In Nephrite's manner, the dark-haired warlord was now gazing into the stars, where many worlds orbited Kingdom Hearts as it hung over Scala Ad Caelum. As he concentrated, he soon received information about his newest target, and thus set off on his important mission. At the same time, Usagi was unable to get a high score on the Sailor V video game, and was furious about it.
"Oh, so that Mamoru guy is living all by himself, huh?" said Rei.
"Yeah, he has a very expensive condo. His family is rich," replied Motoki.
"And he goes to the same college as you, right? He must be smart. Isn't it a tough school to get into?" asked Rei.
"Yeah, I guess it is. But listen Rei, why do you want to know so much about him anyway?" Motoki asked hesitantly.
"Oh, no particular reason," she said quickly, but she was already making plans to try and win Mamoru over to her.
At last she decided to take Mamoru on a date to the park before it's closure, but she slipped off the stool and fell down hard against one of the arcade games, which made Sora and the others rush to her side. But Ami and Usagi were too distracted by the Sailor V Game the blonde-odango twin tail was playing.
"Rei, are you alright?" Sora asked her.
"No, not really," groaned Rei as she clutched at her head.
While Sora and his friends were at the arcade, while Mr. Kokuritsu was saddened by the construction work that was going on.
"There must be some way to save this natural habitat before it's gone," he said.
"Why can't you save it?" Nephrite asked as he approached in his disguise.
Mr. Kokuritsu whirled round to see him, and asked who he was.
"Humans have stopped respecting the environment almost entirely. You must show these arrogant people the fury that mother nature possesses," Nephrite told him.
"Why me?" Mr. Kokuritsu asked in confusion.
"Because, it's your duty," Nephrite replied darkly.
He raised his hand, and began transferring his dark power into the elderly man's hat. Unknown to Mr. Kokuritsu, Nephrite placed his crest onto his hat, so that his newest minion would take control and collect the necessary energy needed to revive their great ruler. Once he was gone, Mr. Kokuritsu slowly stood up, and began telling the animals of the park to do his bidding. Soon, dozens of butterflies swooped down amongst the construction workers and began to attack them, and their construction machines, sending them running around in a wild panic, as Nephrite slowly returned to his manor, to await the arrival of his new monster, so that all the energy would be delivered to Queen Beryl.
The next day, Rei was now waiting for her chance to ask Mamoru on a date to the park that was closing down. She imagined herself bumping into herself, so that Mamoru would buy her coffee, and smiled gleefully to herself about how it could work.
"I'll create my chance by bumping into him on purpose," she said, with a gleeful giggle.
"Usagi, you're going to gain weight again," warned Luna.
"Don't worry, it's organic," Usagi replied.
"Wait a second, isn't that Rei?" Sora asked them, as he ate some sea-salt ice cream.
Usagi turned and looked to see Rei, waiting on the street corner.
"You're right, I wonder what she's up to," Usagi said to him.
They could see the distinctive sign of Mamoru walking down the street as Rei was now ready to put her plan into action. She burst into a run, but suddenly tripped on a bump on the sidewalk and landed hard on her face, making Sora laugh at her little mishap, until Mamoru accidentally stepped on her.
"Are you alright!?" he gasped, as Usagi and Luna watched him from a distance.
"I have no idea what she's doing over there, but she's sure being clumsy," Usagi said, trying hard not to laugh.
"Clumsy, look who's talking," muttered Luna.
"Yeah, I think I'm okay," grunted Rei as she slowly stood back up.
"Oh, all right, great. Have a nice day," Mamoru said as he prepared to leave.
"Wait," Rei said, stopping him in his tracks.
"Hold on, aren't you friends with Bunhead and Spiky?" Mamoru asked her, making Sora growl at him.
"Yes, my name's Rei Hino. We met the other day at Dreamland," replied Rei.
Mamoru was confused. He didn't know that Rei was flirting with him.
"You didn't get hurt at all there, did you?" she asked sweetly.
"Uh, no, not a bit. But, uh…" replied Mamoru.
"I'm sorry about all this, let me make it up to you by buying you some coffee," she said.
"What are you sorry about?" Mamoru asked in confusion.
"Oh, for uh… for putting my head in the way of your foot," Rei said hesitantly.
"Huh? Well, I guess that I could join you," Mamoru said to her.
"Really, that's great!" she said excitedly.
"Yay," replied Mamoru.
Usagi was shocked to see Rei taking Mamoru with her to a coffee shop.
"What does he think he's doing with Rei? I'd say he needs to find someone his own age, don't you?" she said huffily to Sora.
"You know Usagi, I don't think Mamoru's as bad a person as you think he is," Luna said to her.
"I don't know, Luna. But seeing as he saved your life from that truck, we kind of owe him a debt of gratitude," piped in Sora.
"What do you mean!? We don't owe him anything! He's nothing more than a heartless jerk! An anomaly! A blight! And my student hand book says it's unacceptable! Anyway, Rei could be in danger! Let's follow them! Come on!" Usagi said, unable to hold back her anger any longer.
She soon burst into a run, as Sora and Luna looked mildly disappointed at her.
"Oh, I really don't like where this is headed," she muttered.
But they still followed her to where Rei and Mamoru were going.
"Um, would you like some sugar?" Rei asked, drawing Mamoru's attention to her.
"Oh, I'll pass," replied Mamoru, as Usagi and Luna snuck to the window, while Sora just went inside the cafe to meet up with them.
"Of course, I should have known. Yeah, sugar's totally gross," she said.
"I want to go in to hear what they're talking about. Ohh, but Sora's beaten me to the punch," she groaned.
"It's your fault for wasting your ice-cream," said Luna.
"I know, I'll transform into a waitress!" Usagi said excitedly, only for Roxas to smack the pen out of her hand with his Keyblade.
"NO! You mustn't get involved in this!" he said pointing it towards her.
"Hey! Who's side are you on!?" snapped Usagi.
"The side of not butting in on other people's business!" replied Roxas.
"Aw, come on Roxas!" complained Usagi, only for Roxas to roar furiously at her.
She cowered in fear of his rage, unable to hold back the tears that were about to burst, when Umino arrived, forcing him to holster his Keyblade, and calm down.
"What are you guys doing here?" Umino asked them.
"That'd be none of your concern!" Roxas said angrily to the nerd.
"Wait a second, Roxas! Do you have any munny on you right now?" she asked him.
"Uh, why do you ask?" Roxas asked back.
"I was wondering if you could be my date, today," she whispered into his ear.
"Hmm… I guess it can't be helped," Roxas said sheepishly.
But Luna didn't feel like watching this situation.
"So Mamoru, do you have any freetime today? Cause there's this great place that I want to go to. Would you like to go see it with me?" Rei asked, as Sora sat next to her.
"Okay. Yeah, sure, why not?" replied Mamoru, who hung her head.
"Really!?" Rei asked excitedly, knowing that her plan was going quite well.
But none of them noticed Usagi and Roxas at another table behind them.
"Uh, we can't hear them from here, either," grumbled Usagi.
"Like I said, we can't interfere in their business," said Roxas.
"Yeah, I guess," sighed Usagi.
Outside on the city streets, Ami was walking when she heard Luna, Aqua, and the rest of her friends greet her.
"Hey guys," she said sweetly to them, but her expression changed from happy to somber.
"Is something wrong Ami? You seem upset," Riku said to her.
"Yeah," sighed Ami.
Inside the gardenhouse, Mr. Kokuritsu's manager told him that the construction company had quit on their job, and that the park would remain the way it did so that it would be in more capable hands. Meanwhile, Ami and her friends were walking down the park, when she told them what she heard from the park manager had said.
"What, the Park Manager said that?" gasped Luna.
"Yeah, he's never been so strict before," replied Ami, remembering that she had no right to accept any gifts from mother nature.
"I have a feeling, he's being controlled by the darkness," Riku said darkly.
"Why would he let darkness into his heart?" Ami asked nervously.
The park manager however, had enough of the construction company talking nonsense when he tossed his cigar to the ground and walked off in a huff. But then suddenly, Ami, Luna, and the Guardians of Kingdom Hearts heard a scream, and rushed to investigate. They could see that the manager was being attacked by squirrels, making them afraid.
"What's happening?" Ami asked, as the manager ran off in a panicked frenzy.
"Sounds like Sanjouin's handiwork in this," said Axel.
"Those squirrels are filled with evil energy!" cried Luna.
"Then the Dark Kingdom has made its move!" said Riku.
"Oh no, did they get to Mr. Kokuritsu too!?" gasped Ami.
Everyone nodded, and soon decided to contact both Roxas and Sora.
"Wow, I never knew this town had a park like this," Mamoru said as he and Rei sat in a rowboat they rented.
Thankfully, Sora wasn't with them, because he chose to be respectful to Rei about wanting to learn more about Mamoru the next time they'd meet.
"Yeah, but it's gonna be torn down soon, which is really unfortunate," said Rei.
"What?" Mamoru asked her.
"They're going to turn it into an office complex instead," she said sadly.
"Sorry to hear that. It's such a nice park, so full of natural beauty" replied Mamoru.
"Yeah, exactly. You think so too?" Rei asked happily.
"Yes, I believe that people have a duty to take much better care of Mother Nature," answered Mamoru.
"That's right, this park is a special place for people to hang out at, but if it's turned into a place of business, what's gonna become of all the animals that live there?" Sora asked himself, looking up into the sky as he remembered most of the fun times he had with the two different incarnations of Fluttershy from Equestria.
He left them quietly, when he saw Usagi and Roxas nearby.
"Oh, what could they be talking about out there?" she asked furiously.
"You don't need to get closer if you want to hear what they have to say, Usagi. I heard every word Mamoru said about mother nature," said Sora as he approached her.
"Huh? What do you mean, Sora?" Usagi asked.
"Mother Nature is a powerful force that exists within both light and darkness. However, those words Mamoru said about we should take great care of all the plants and animals, made me think of a friend of mine called Fluttershy, A pegasus pony from a world called Equestria. But also, Simba told me how his father, Mufasa, once taught him about how everything is connected to something that's called, the Circle of Life. You see, when we pass away, our bodies become the grass, and the other animals consume the grass. But at the same time, everything we see exists together in a delicate balance, and we must respect all the creatures, from the crawling ant, to the leaping antelope," explained Sora.
Usagi was surprised, she'd never heard Sora teaching her something about the Circle of Life before. But she nodded her understanding when Riku approached them.
"Sora, Usagi, Roxas, We have a problem," he said.
"Right, lead the way Riku," replied Sora.
They carefully made their way back to Ami who was walking with Luna in her arms. When their friends heard a soft rustling in the bushes, they saw them standing behind them.
"Ami, guys, I didn't know you were here," Usagi said to them, as they approached.
"Nor did we," admitted Sora.
"But Riku told us about what's happening here in this park. Apparently Mr. Kokuritsu has gone mad, and is being controlled by the darkness," Roxas said to his friends.
"Well done, Riku. I think you'd make our missing princess proud," Luna said to him.
The others nodded in agreement.
"You again!?" Mr. Kokuritsu said furiously, interrupting them.
They all turned and saw the gardner glaring at them.
"All you ungrateful mortals! You've abused the gifts mother nature has given you! The only way to make up for it is turning you into Heartless!" he snarled furiously.
"This energy has reached its peak! Now, Petases, do it!" Nephrite said in Mr. Kokuritsu's head.
Just like before, Mr. Kokuritsu collapsed to the ground, as Petases burst from his hat and stood before them, making Ami and Usagi shocked, but the Guardians of Kingdom Hearts readied their weapons and prepared for battle.
"A monster!" cried Ami.
"Here me all you animals in this park! Attack these blights!" Petases said.
"We're not gonna lose to you!" Sora said firmly to the demon.
Ami nodded in agreement and became Sailor Mercury. Despite her hesitation, Usagi transformed into Sailor Moon after hearing Sora's words. But the instant she did, Mamoru suddenly felt something within him that made him clutch at his head in pain. Rei tried to comfort him, but didn't get the chance to as a swarm of birds flew towards them. But when Mamoru tried to hold onto Rei, their boat tipped over and sent them crashing into the lake. Meanwhile, Petases had a swarm of butterflies attacking the two Sailor Guardians, while Sora and his friends fought off the Heartless that tried to strike down their distracted allies.
"What's happening!?" Usagi asked as she swatted this way and that to keep the butterflies off her.
Even Luna was crying out for help, as she was being attacked by a swarm of squirrels. Finally Mercury had enough, she unleashed a Bubble Spray against the animals which managed to stop them, amazing Sora and his friends.
"We've stopped your animal attack and now we're gonna stop you!" Ami said firmly.
"That's right!" agreed Sora.
"Wow, Sailor Mercury is incredible," Sailor Moon said excitedly.
"In that case, Hand Flower!" Roared Petesas.
She sent what looked like a large version of a plant seed right at Usagi..
"Look out!" cried Sora and Sailor Mercury.
But it was too late, Sailor Moon was soon tangled up in what looked like vines from a tall tree you'd find in Africa. Then Petesas struck at Sailor Mercury sending her flying back!
"THAT'S IT!" screamed Sora, and he charged at his foe.
At the same time, Mamoru had managed to carry Rei to safety and pulled her out of the water. He wanted to know if she was okay.
"Yeah, I'm okay," she assured him.
She glanced worriedly at him.
"How about you?" Rei asked him.
"Just a little wet, that's all," chuckled Mamoru.
"That was crazy," replied Rei.
But she sensed that her friends were in grave peril.
"What an intense darkness," she said to herself.
She then glanced at Mamoru, furrowing her brow with determination.
"Mamoru, You stay here, I have to go do something!" Rei said bravely.
And she was right, her friends were having a hard time with Petesas. At the same time, Sora had to contend with more Heartless. But deep down he had to help Usagi and Ami.
"Hmph, I'll get rid of you first, then the Keyblade Wielders will share your demise," Petesas said wickedly.
Despite being held in place, Ami had to save Mr. Kokuritsu. Then they heard someone using a Fire Soul attack, breaking them free from their bonds. Sora saw that Sailor Mars had come to the rescue, and cut down all the Heartless that stood in his way.
"Are you okay?" she asked Usagi.
"Never been better, Sailor Mars," grinned Sora, as he waved at her.
"I'd be better if you didn't try to-" Sailor Moon tried to say.
"I'd worry less about your infighting, and more about this freakshow. Save your screaming for later," Roxas said in a tone of voice that made Usagi bow her head.
"You're right, she's the one who interrupted my date!" Rei said in agreement with Roxas.
"Looks like it," replied Riku, as Petesas returned her hair to normal.
"You'll pay for exploiting Mr. Kokuritsu's kindness!" snapped Ami.
"Yeah, and for turning a park into a beautiful place for evil!" agreed Rei.
"Because all that you've become is your demise," Sora said darkly as he walked towards Petesas.
"Aw, come on Sora! That's not how I'd say it!" whined Sailor Moon.
"Enough of you impudent mortals! I'll destroy you all!" snapped Petesas.
But as Sora prepared himself, all three Sailor Guardians called out his name, until a rose struck Petesas, distracting her. Sailor Moon knew that it came from Tuxedo Mask.
'Thanks, Tuxedo Mask," she said happily.
"It's up to you now, Sailor Moon," replied the caped crusader.
"Got it!" she replied, and unleashed her Moon Tiara Action upon the demon.
"And now, Diamond Dust!" cried Sora.
Both attacks collided against Petesas eliminating her and restoring Mr. Kokuritsu back to his old self.
"'Till we meet again, everybody," Tuxedo Mask said, and disappeared with a flourish of his cape.
"See ya," replied Sora as he watched him go.
"My hero," said a lovestruck Sailor Moon.
A short while later, they made sure that Mr. Kokuritsu was okay.
"I don't remember what happened to me," he said to them.
"It's all right, don't worry now. You were just having a bad dream," Ami assured him, as Rei noticed Mamoru approaching her.
"Good grief, what a horrible experience," he complained.
"Mamoru, are you sure you should be up and about?" Rei asked.
"Yeah dude, are you okay?" Sora asked as well, with a light chuckle.
"Yeah, pretty sure I'm doing okay," replied Mamoru.
"Good to hear," said Sora.
"Hey, you know what I think? I bet Mamoru is secretly Tuxedo Mask," Rei whispered in Usagi's ear.
"There's no way an annoying guy like him is Tuxedo Mask!" Usagi shouted in Rei's face.
"Huh, what's that? Who's this Tuxedo Mask?" Mamoru asked them.
"Well… we'll find out at a later time," replied Sora, as he casually placed his hands behind his head.
"Uh, yeah, what Sora said. I'm sure he'll be back," agreed Rei, but she secretly believed Mamoru and Tuxedo Mask were one and the same.
"Oh, Usagi!" Umino said when he found her once again.
"Ugh, Umino," groaned Usagi.
"Hey there," Sora said to him.
"Hello to you too, Sora. Since I found her, I want to go on a date with Usagi," replied Umino.
"Sorry, but she's not interested," Sora said, shaking his head slowly.
But Usagi smiled at Sora, and began to cuddle with him, just as Luna jumped off her arms.
"Oh, Okay, I guess I understand. So I should probably deal with it," Umino said sadly.
"Huh, I didn't know you liked Sora, Usagi," Mamoru said.
"Give her a break, earning love takes time," replied Sora.
"Maybe, but I still think you're cool to be with, Sora," Usagi said as she led Sora out of the park.
