Tsukino Usagi
For once, Usagi is running late, and she fully blames Luna for this. Dreams filled with that monster she'd fought only two days before kept her up, and the lack of sleep has finally caught up to her. She just has Miharu-san to thank for providing some toast for her to eat while she runs to school. She barely makes it through the gates as the bell rings and curses when she realizes she probably isn't going to beat Sakurada-sensei to the classroom.
When she arrives at the back door she quietly slips it open to see what's going on. Sakurada-sensei is still writing their opening assignment on the board, with her back turned to the class. Good, so roll hasn't been called; she can still sneak in. Ever so quietly she slides the door open just wide enough for her to slip in, then slides it shut just as quietly. The kid right next to the door happens to notice, but she shoots him a dark look that has him quickly turning back around.
She thanks whatever force it was that gave her a seat in the back as she easily makes her way over, slipping into her seat without a sound. She breathes a sigh of relief – and then the silence is shattered.
"Oh! Good morning, Tsukino-san," Umino Gurio exclaims, breaking the peace of the class. "I didn't see you come in."
Usagi grits her teeth in annoyance as Sakurada-sensei rounds on her. "Tsukino, you're late! Out in the hall," she orders. Usagi scowls but does as she asks, standing with a clatter of her chair before heading out and taking great satisfaction in slamming the door this time.
Moments later, though, the door is opening again, but instead of Sakurada-sensei it's Umino , looking sheepish as he stands next to her. Usagi gives him a look. "What are you out here for?"
"Disrupting class," he replies with a nervous chuckle.
Usagi rolls her eyes. Serves him right for calling her out like that. She is well aware he has a crush on her, but she had hoped that her lack of response would have deterred him by now. Apparently not.
"Sorry about getting you in trouble," he says after a long pause.
"It's fine," she mutters, if only to keep him quiet. It wasn't, but complaining might invite him to talk and she really doesn't care.
Eventually Sakurada-sensei lets them back in the class after a light scolding. Usagi is just glad to get away from Gurio; he'd kept trying to talk to her, despite her curt answers. But now she's free. He doesn't even try to join her at lunch as he is wont to do sometimes. In fact, for the rest of the day he keeps to himself.
Usagi muses about it as she walks home when she mentions the incident to Luna and the cat asks about Umino . "I don't know why he's so obsessed with me," she tells her companion. "I might've said hello to him at the beginning of the year or something."
"And you don't like it?" she asks.
"I might not mind it if he weren't so annoying," Usagi admits. "But he always wants to talk about the latest big craze that's going around town, and he's so enthusiastic that it grates on my nerves."
"Usagi-chan," Luna gently chides, "you should try and take more interest in the things he likes. Isn't that what friends do?"
Usagi shrugs. "Sure, but we're not friends so why should I?"
"Does Umino-san know that?" Luna asks.
"Don't know, don't care," Usagi says, rolling her eyes. As they pass an alley she catches sight of an old man sitting behind a table, the sign draped over the front proclaiming him a palm reader. Distantly she recalls hearing about this man – he'd been all the rage among her classmates a couple of days ago, if their gossip was anything to go by. She never usually paid any attention to them; it was a miracle this managed to stick in her mind.
But now she's curious, and without bothering to tell Luna she ducks into the alley to talk to the old man. "What happened to all the people?" she asks him. After the words have left her mouth she realizes how rude that might have come across, but it's too late to take them back, and anyways the man seems amused by her frankness, if his chuckle is anything to go by.
"I'm afraid they've found something newer and flashier than me," he says sadly, nodding his head at something behind Usagi. She turns and immediately notices the shop across the street proclaiming itself the House of Fortune.
"Huh," she says. She doesn't recall hearing about it in her classmates' gossip, but she might not have been paying too close attention. Then she turns back to the old man. "Well, I think I'd prefer having my palm read," she proclaims, holding out her right palm.
The man pauses for a moment before smiling gently and reaching out to grab her hand to maneuver it to where he can look at her palm. "Hmm," he mutters as he examines her hand. Usagi really hopes it isn't too sweaty; that would be embarrassing. "I see you are well-liked, and it is by a boy you see quite often," he eventually says.
For a moment Usagi brightens, her thoughts immediately turning to Motoki-oniisan at the arcade. She'd had a crush on him for a while now – really, ever since she started going to the arcade her first year of middle school. The idea that he – a college student! – could have a crush on her makes her flush and her insides all nice and warm.
But then she recalls the conversation she'd just had with Luna about a certain someone and the warm feeling instantly vanishes. She sees Umino far more often than she does Motoki, and she knows for a fact that he has a crush on her. If that's who the fortune teller means…Usagi tries not to let her disappointment show.
"Thank you," she tells him instead. "I'll keep that in mind."
He gives her a polite nod. "Have a nice afternoon, then." She nods in goodbye and turns to leave the alley.
She finds Luna waiting for her a couple of paces away from the entrance to the alley, watching her intently as she approaches. "What did he say?" she asks.
"Nothing important," she tells her. She can't help but glance across the street at the House of Fortune and wonders if she'd get a different reading if she went in there.
"Don't tell me you want to check out that place as well," Luna asks, judgement clouding her tone clear enough for Usagi. She huffs and turns to keep walking back down the street, her nose upturned.
"Of course not," she claims. "There's someone I have to see."
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Twenty minutes later Usagi is seated at a console for the latest Sailor V game, and sitting beside her is an exasperated Luna. "If I'd known you had wanted to come to the arcade I would've put up more of a fight," she bemoans, though Usagi isn't listening to her. She's been trying to beat this level for a while now, and she'll be damned if she leaves before defeating it. Besides, there's still someone she wants to see.
"Oh, Usagi-chan!" she hears, and speak of the devil.
She turns from her game in favor of beaming a smile up at her favorite person. "Motoki-oniisan! Hi!"
"I feel like it's been a while since I last saw you around," he remarks, leaning against the game console next to her. Then his gaze catches on Luna on her other side. "Oh, it's that kitty who likes to hang around. She a friend of yours?"
Usagi struggles not to let her smile droop in any way. "Yeah, just a stray I picked up not long ago."
"Really?" he says, giving her a glance. "I've noticed it hanging around here some evenings."
She shrugs, not knowing what to say to that. "Who knows what goes through animals' heads sometimes."
Motoki chuckles. "You've got that right. Anyways, I'm glad you're back. It's been quieter without you around to shout at the machines," he says with a teasing grin.
Usagi tries to get mad, but she's pleased by his teasing and it comes off a lot less heated than she'd intended. "I do not!" she claims, the slight flush to her cheeks detracting from the anger in her statement. If anything, Motoki just looks fond at her outburst.
"Really?" he asks, sounding dubious as he pretends to contemplate something. "You mean it wasn't you who put a dent in one of our games when you got frustrated with the final boss?"
This time Usagi can't stop the flush that rises on her cheeks. "I would never," she swears, though she can vividly recall the incident in question, and she knows Motoki knows as well. But he's teasing her, and though it's at her expense she still kind of enjoys it.
Until she feels a tugging at her uniform sleeve and glances down to find Luna pulling roughly at her arm. "What? What do you want?" Luna makes some growling noises, but Usagi knows she'd never dare to speak in front of someone else, so she's glad for the opportunity to play dumb about the cat's intentions. "I don't want to go."
Motoki chuckles. "It is getting a little late. Are you sure you don't have to head home?"
Usagi glances outside to find the sky starting to turn orange with the fading sunlight and resists the urge to sigh, feeling Luna tug all the harder on her sleeve. "I guess…" she admits, unable to keep the dejection out of her voice. Motoki notices anyways and laughs.
"Don't worry, Usagi-chan, you can always come back tomorrow," he tells her, which she knows, but they were having a great conversation today and she doesn't want it to end just yet.
"I guess," she agrees.
"Then I look forward to it," Motoki says, and it brings some life back into Usagi when she hears it.
"Okay then!" she says, her voice much more cheerful. "I'll be back tomorrow! See you, Motoki-oniisan!"
As soon as they're outside Luna rounds on Usagi. "It's about time you left that stupid arcade. You should spend this time training instead of playing video games, Usagi-chan," she scolds. "You have to be ready for the next time evil comes to Tokyo."
Usagi rolls her eyes. "I think you worry too much, Luna."
"Usagi-chan…" the cat growls.
"Look, I'll predict my own future, watch," Usagi says, wiggling her shoe until it dangles off her foot. "Heads I'll get to go home, tails I'll go train with you." Without waiting to hear a response from the cat she swings her foot, flinging the shoe up into the air in a wide arc. It travels behind her and Usagi loses track of it, until she hears a small, "Ow," and flinches.
She tenses when she realizes she's hit someone and hesitantly turns around to see who it is. Of course, when she recognizes the boy all traces of guilt vanish as her eyes narrow on the stranger she'd encountered just two days ago – coincidentally the same day she became Sailor Moon. He's holding her shoe, looking at it in confusion while his other hand rubs at the top of his head where he was likely hit. Then his gaze travels from the shoe to her, immediately spotting the missing shoe on her right foot and piecing together what happened. "You hit me again, Bun-head," he snaps.
"Is that all you can say?" she retorts angrily, never mind the fact she hit him with her shoe, so of the two of them he has an actual reason to be a little annoyed. There's just something about him that irks her.
"What are you going around flinging your shoe for?" he asks instead of replying.
Usagi storms over to grab it from him, snapping, "None of your business," as she stuffs her foot back into the shoe.
He snorts as he watches her. "You know you'll never find a boyfriend if you can't act lady-like."
She bristles, thinking of her fortune earlier today. "Sure, thanks," she grits out. "Come on, Luna," she calls to the cat as she storms away from the guy. Regardless of however her shoe had landed, she plans on going home, and damn whatever Luna says about it.
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Something is different at school the next day, though Usagi can't quite put her finger on what exactly it is until Umino arrives at school, wearing a suit of all things. She's at her shoe locker when he walks up to her, brimming with confidence as he leans against the lockers next to her and turns an intense gaze on her. "Hey there, Usagi-chan," he begins. "Go out on a date with me."
For a moment Usagi is stunned by the question. She'd never thought Umino would work up the courage to ask her out, and silently prayed he never would. And yet here he stands. She grimaces and turns away from the boy. "No."
"Now hold on," he quickly says, reaching out to grab her arm. She stops out of sheer surprise of his boldness. Umino had never once tried to lay a hand on her, and she immediately knows she doesn't like this new attitude of his. She rips her arm out of his grip and spins, ready to verbally take him down a peg or two when she hears Sakurada-sensei exclaim from behind her.
"Umino-kun, what in the world are you wearing?" she asks, aghast. It is a pretty hideous suit, in Usagi's opinion.
Umino seems entirely unconcerned as he pulls out a sandwich from a pocket in his jacket. "Whatever I want," he says, taking a bite as he walks off. As he passes Sakurada-sensei, Usagi watches, astonished, as he flips her skirt in the air, showing off her underwear.
Sakurada seems pretty astonished too, if the way she flushes bright red and sinks to the floor is anything. "What-what happened?" she mutters, stunned.
'You're asking me?' Usagi thinks to herself as she gathers her bag and enters the school.
The behavior doesn't stop. In class Umino blatantly reads manga while Sakurada-sensei lectures, not even bothering to stifle his chuckles. It drives Sakurada insane – and she's still angered over the skirt-flipping incident from earlier – but nothing she does or threatens seems to have any effect on him and she is eventually forced to concede defeat. None of their other teachers seem to know how to deal with it either and eventually give up on stopping him as well.
The insanity seems to peak after school ends. Usagi is a little late in leaving the school, having stayed back for a detention in English after failing an assignment to even out her last grade a little, when she hears a ruckus from the school grounds below her. She peeks out the window and sees Umino and a couple other boys with baseball bats and rocks destroying the windows of the building's first floor.
"What is going on?" she remarks aloud, utterly stunned by the day's events. It's like a switch has been flipped in the students below, who she knows have never behaved like this before.
"Nothing good," a voice speaks up from beside her and Usagi jumps. When she looks down beside her she spots Luna making her way down the hallway to jump up onto the ledge right beside her. "I've been doing some research, and I think there's something we should look into." She gives Usagi a pointed glance. Usagi sighs before nodding in agreement. Luna hops down from the ledge and starts trotting off. Usagi wordlessly follows behind.
Once they've walked off the school campus Luna starts talking to Usagi, telling her what she's found. "I've discovered there's been an increase of dark energy in the shopping district and so I did some research last night and today while you were in school. The only thing that seemed remotely suspicious was that House of Fortune shop that popped up not too long ago, so I've been staking them out." She pauses dramatically, and Usagi realizes she's meant to respond.
"What did you find?" she asks, hoping it's the right question. She's been half-paying attention to Luna while they walked, internally bemoaning the loss of her afternoon.
It seems to be right since Luna carries on with her explanation. "Every one of those boys who was acting out in the yard today has visited the House of Fortune recently. There must be something evil going on there. We have to check it out and put a stop to it, Usagi-chan."
"What?" she says as she halts on the sidewalk. They're in the Juuban Shopping District now, but oddly enough the streets are pretty empty. As a result, there's no one around to witness their conversation, for which Usagi is thankful. "What do you mean stop it, Luna? Are you saying I'm going to have to fight some monster again?"
Luna looks confused, a couple steps ahead of Usagi where she'd walked before she realized Usagi had stopped. "Of course you will. There's no one else but you."
"But I just started this thing! I'm not ready to fight more monsters," Usagi argues, fear creeping down her spine as she recalls the monster from two nights ago. Its sallow gray skin with a red mark in the center of its forehead – it still haunts her dreams, and she isn't prepared to take down something like that again. "I'm not ready."
Luna tuts in displeasure. "Well, if you had committed to your training instead of spending your afternoons in the arcade then maybe you would be ready."
"I'm 14, Luna," she reminds the cat. "I'm not supposed to be training to fight monsters, let alone fighting them in the first place."
"Yes, but you are Sailor Moon," Luna says imperiously. "If you don't fight this evil, then who will?" At that Usagi pauses, her gaze caught in Luna's intense stare. "If you don't fight these monsters, evil will run amok and you'll have more problems than a couple of unruly classmates at school." Usagi swallows nervously. "Now come on, Usagi-chan. You can do this; I'll be by your side the whole time."
"Right," she mutters. When Luna starts walking again she follows, though at a more sedate pace.
"The House of Fortune is just up ahead," Luna says some moments later, and Usagi apprehensively looks across the street at the apparently evil lair. "Transform and then we'll go investigate."
"Right," she repeats, though her lingering fear keeps her from saying the words that will activate her transformation brooch.
After a moment where nothing happens, Luna sighs and looks up at her. "Usagi-chan, think of Umino-kun and your classmates, of your teacher. Are you really going to let them carry on like that?"
It's a difficult internal struggle for her. On one hand, she really couldn't care about Umino and the others. She doesn't have much interaction with her classmates, nor they with her, save Umino. But therein lies her problem. With his new personality, it's likely that Umino will continue making advances at her, which Usagi really doesn't want. Defeating this monster will probably turn him back to normal, but to do that she has to fight it.
She really, really, really doesn't want to do that. But, she supposes, it would be in the best interest of her future sanity to do so. To save her classmates.
She sighs again. "Okay. Moon Prism Power Make Up!" The warmth of the transformation flows through her body, and when it vanishes she's back in the same uniform from two nights ago. It's still odd to see herself in it, knowing that she has these powers.
"Come on, Usagi-chan," Luna says, breaking through her reverie. "There's no time to waste."
"Right."
The duo head right into the House of Fortune. It's eerily quiet, and there isn't a soul around. As they make their way deeper into the building Usagi's nerves start to return, growing from the anticipation of facing down another monster. Luna trudges on fearlessly, and Usagi has no idea how she does it. She's a cat, after all; she's virtually useless in a fight unless she's giving instructions.
Eventually the hall they're in has a doorway that opens up into a larger room, and the pair cautiously peek around the corner. A mystical looking woman with long hair in a long purple dress stands before a gathered crowd – and Usagi can recognize many of her classmates in it, including Umino – speaking and encouraging them to go forth and spread their chaos.
"Usagi-chan!" Luna hisses to her. "We have to stop them now!"
She's well aware they have to do something, but she has no idea what to do. Unfortunately, though, she has no time to come up with a plan. Despite her attempt to be quiet, it seems the monster still heard Luna's hushed words and her attention quickly snaps to the doorway where Usagi is still peeking around the corner. She freezes as her eyes immediately lock with the woman, and she knows without a doubt that she is the source of the evil.
Usagi stumbles out from the doorway; after all, there's no point in hiding any longer when she's already been caught. "Stop!" she says, trying to project a confidence she barely feels. "In the name of the Moon, I'll punish you!"
"Very well then," the woman says, pulling a deck of cards out from somewhere and shuffling them briefly before flinging them at Usagi. She yelps and flinches as one of them lands close enough to leave a scratch on her cheek.
"Hey!' she snaps.
"Sailor Moon, focus!" Luna shouts at her. She nods and stands straighter.
Then the woman transforms, her skin turning a sickly green while her eyes turn yellow and her black hair lengthens, curling high above her head while the ends form crude hand shapes. Once her transformation is complete she shouts, "Get her!" Then the boys gathered change as well, their faces and eyes turning green and yellow, before they advance on her.
Usagi backs up until she hits the wall, reluctant to fight them; they are her classmates after all, not like the strangers the last monster had summoned. But soon she won't have that option. Umino is the closest and he reaches out for her, grabbing onto her raised arm. She yanks it out of his grip and shoves him away, but then two of the others grab for her and Usagi can no longer hold back. She punches one of them in the face and then knees another in the gut. They fall away, but there are still others to take their place and she's soon overwhelmed. She falls to her knees after one of the boys kicks the back of her leg, another knock to her head disorienting her enough for them to push her down onto her stomach.
She shuts her eyes against the barrage of blows, whimpering from the pain. There are definitely going to be bruises all over her body come tomorrow. But then Usagi hears the monster shout out in pain and the blows suddenly stop. When she opens her eyes the boys gathered around her are frozen, and she haltingly starts to get up. They make no moves to stop her and once she's standing she takes several steps away from them. Then she notices the rose at the monster's feet, a long scratch cutting its face in half.
"Who is it now?" the monster screeches.
"Don't give up, Sailor Moon!" she hears from the doorway, and when she looks over there's a guy in a full tuxedo, complete with a red-lined cape, top hat, and white mask covering his eyes. Recognition strikes her and she realizes he was the figure that vanished from the shop that first night.
"Who are you?" she asks, stunned.
"I am Tuxedo Mask," he proclaims. "Now focus, Sailor Moon."
Usagi turns back to the monster in time to see it charging her, her hands and the hands in its hair both reaching for her. She quickly jumps out of the way, and watches as the hair hands leave gouges in the marble floor. 'Oh shit,' Usagi thinks. Acting quickly, she pulls off her tiara and prepares to throw it. "Moon Tiara Action!"
It strikes the monster in the stomach as it turns to charge Usagi again, halting in its steps. The monster is stopped in its tracks before disintegrating into a pile of dust like the last one did. The boys in the corner all drop to the floor, but their complexion returns to what it'd been before so Usagi figures they'll be fine once they wake up.
"Good work, Sailor Moon, but we should probably go before they start to wake," Luna says, trotting over to Usagi from wherever she'd been hiding.
"Right."
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Usagi had hoped that, with the end of the House of Fortune, Umino would give her some space for a little while out of the sheer embarrassment of asking her out. However, he either didn't remember what he did or felt apologetic enough to say something to her because the very next day Umino approaches her before homeroom.
"Hey Tsukino-san," he says, wringing his hands as he walks up to her desk. She glances sideways at him from where her head is propped on her hands, trying to keep the annoyance off her face. "I just wanted to apologize for my actions yesterday. I-I'm absolutely appalled by how I behaved. Please can you forgive me!?"
Usagi blinks in surprise, her arms dropping. "Um, sure, I guess," she says. Not that there was really anything to forgive; he hadn't messed with her personally, save asking her out, and even then he'd been rather tame. She wasn't entirely sure why he felt the need to apologize to her specifically, but whatever. It seemed to please him either way.
"You're too kind, Tsukino-san!" he crows, a beaming smile on his face as all traces of nervousness disappear. He looks like he wants to say more, but right then Sakurada-sensei walks in to begin class and Usagi breathes a sigh of relief as she's saved.