Tsukino Usagi

When she overhears her classmates talking about a new gym that opened up in town, Usagi thinks it's the perfect way to start preparing for fights to come. Of course, with her ankle sprained she can't get started immediately, so she files the thought away for when she's healed.

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It's nearly a week before her ankle starts feeling better and she can walk without any pain from it. Luckily enough for her no monsters appear around town in the meantime. Luna keeps a diligent eye on…something, Usagi assumes. She honestly has no idea how Luna does whatever it is she does, or what it is she does in the first place, but she isn't going to ask the cat. She has enough on her plate just fighting these monsters.

And speaking of fighting, Usagi remembers that she needs to start training. The day Luna finally lets her take off the wrap on her ankle she heads to the gym she remembered her classmates talking about after school. It's a large, imposing building but Usagi hesitates for only a second before going in. She needs this training, after all; she doesn't want to die.

She registers for a – free! – membership and tells the nice reception lady that she wants self-defense training, which gets her assigned to a specific trainer. She's instructed to head to the changing rooms before making her way to the main gym to meet him, which she happily does. 'If only Luna could see me now,' she thinks. 'She'd be proud I'm taking such an initiative towards my training.'

Usagi changes into her leggings and t-shirt and heads to what is hopefully the main gym. When she arrives, she's surprised to recognize some of her classmates. She pauses in the doorway, but it's enough to catch Osaka's attention and she stops pedaling the bike she's on in surprise. "Oh, Tsukino-san! I didn't know you went here," she says brightly. Her tone starkly contrasts her appearance. She looks pale, with the bones of her face standing out a little sharper than Usagi remembers.

"Umm, well, I just started," she finally replies. "But I could say the same for you guys."

Osaka chuckles. "Yeah, we've been coming for a couple of days. It's pretty intense, but the results are –"

"Hey!" a sharp voice cuts her off. "Get back to pedaling if you want to lose weight!"

"Yes sir!" Osaka replies, immediately disregarding Usagi to start pedaling furiously. Usagi is almost taken aback by the girl's intense expression.

Then a heavy hand lands on her shoulder, startling her so she lets out a small squeak. She looks over and up to see a very buff guy standing next to her. "You must be my new client," he says, and Usagi nods. She doesn't remember the name the lady gave her but she's too intimidated to tell him no. He gives her a once-over that makes her feel mildly self-conscious. "We'll start with strength building," he finally says. Then he puts her to work.

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Two hours later she's finally free from the most intense workout of her life. Usagi can't even count the number of machines he put her on, but damn is she sore. He sends her off with instructions to head to the "relaxation pods," whatever those are, but Usagi is dead set on that spa she noticed on the way to the gym. When she finally gets to sink into the hot bath she feels like she could sleep it's so relaxing. She doesn't, because that would be dangerous, but she could.

Oddly enough, she doesn't see any of the other girls. They all finished not long before she did, but the spa is empty save for herself. 'Perhaps they went to those relaxation pods,' she muses. She could ask Osaka-san what they're like, maybe.

She leaves before she gets pruny, and by then evening is fast approaching. She spares a regretful glance for the closed Game Center when she passes by on her walk home. When she arrives Miharu-san calls out a greeting, and Usagi heads over to the woman. A healthier diet would be a great supplement to her workout, she thinks, prepared to ask.

"Oh, Usagi-chan!" Miharu gasps when she sees her. "You look exhausted!" she says, rushing over to her. She fusses for a second, clearly concerned, before Usagi can reassure her.

"A little, but I'm fine," she admits. "I started going to the gym today, is all."

"The gym?" she asks, surprised. "What for? You're such a skinny little thing."

Usagi nods. "I know, but I want to be able to defend myself. My trainer just has me lifting weights because I'm so weak." Well, compared to him and most people. But for her age range and weight she's apparently above average. Who knew?

"Ah," Miharu-san says, looking appeased. She heads back to the stove to continue her cooking. "That's good then. It's dangerous out there for pretty young ladies like yourself."

"Right," Usagi agrees. 'If only you knew the truth,' she adds mentally. "Actually, I was wondering if you could do me a favor?" she asks.

"Of course, what is it?" Miharu-san readily agrees.

For a moment Usagi wishes it was her real mother supporting her, doing favors like this for her. But with Miharu-san looking expectantly at her she shakes away the thought to ask, "Could you maybe cook some healthier meals? Less fat, more protein, that kind of thing?"

Miharu blinks, a thoughtful expression forming on her face. "Well, I can certainly try. Is it for your exercise?" Usagi nods. "Okay then, sweetie. I'll do my best for you!" she says with a smile.

Usagi returns it with one of her own. "Thank you, Miharu-san." Then she leaves the woman to finish dinner and heads up to her room, though she runs into Luna in the hallway.

"What's this I heard about exercise?" she asks once they're in Usagi's room.

Usagi shrugs. "Nothing, I just joined a gym. I thought it would be good for me to learn to fight, after what happened with Jadeite last time," she says, watching Luna for her reaction.

The cat seems pleased, and Usagi feels accomplished. "Yes, I think that's a good idea. I can't really help you with this kind of thing, so it's for the best you went elsewhere."

"I thought so," Usagi says smugly, flopping back on her bed with a yawn. "Man am I exhausted though. Luna, wake me when dinner's ready."

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Usagi's plan is to go to the gym every day but Sunday, to give herself some time to rest. She's got a lot to make up for. Her trainer – whose name she still doesn't remember – wholeheartedly agrees with her plan and makes sure to maximize every minute they're together. Every other day she's in the gym on machines to increase her strength, and on the days in between they go to a studio where her trainer teaches her some basic karate.

It's exhausting work, training day after day, but Luna never lets her slack a bit. Though Usagi will admit, if it weren't for the cat watching her like a hawk at home Usagi would've started slacking on her homework, regardless of the perfectly average grades she's trying to achieve. As it is, she's pretty sure her grades are improving as she spends less time in the evening trying to figure out what to answer right and wrong and more time focusing on just trying to get it completed quickly so she can rest.. The nice spa makes up for some of her suffering, but not much. Still, Usagi does think it's doing her some good.

Osaka-san, on the other hand, isn't looking all that great, Usagi's noticed. Neither is Sakurada-sensei, who Usagi saw around the gym a couple of days ago. Both of them look like husks of their former selves. They're thin and pale, and their faces look far too gaunt to be healthy. Some of the other girls at the gym are looking a bit worse for wear as well, but not nearly to the extent of Osaka and Sakurada. She briefly wonders if it has anything to do with the gym, but that can't be right. After all, she goes there and isn't doing any worse – not counting her sore muscles.

She mentions this to Luna one day when the cat joins her for lunch and happens to notice her ghastly homeroom teacher in the hall. "This is definitely suspicious," Luna decides, "though I will say it's odd you aren't like that either."

"Maybe we have different workouts," Usagi suggests.

"Perhaps," Luna says amicably. "I don't want you going to the gym today. I'm going to investigate."

Usagi pouts. "But it's karate day, and I think I've got the hang of this new kick."

"No, Usagi-chan, take a break. I'd say after all this time you've earned one," Luna tells her with a smile. "I'm glad to see you're so dedicated to your training, so I'll allow it this one time. I honestly thought you would have given it up by now."

She gapes, taking minor offense to the cat's words, but she knows herself well enough to admit it's not a bad assumption to make. Still, somehow Usagi can't find it in her to argue any further. A break does sound really nice. "Okay," she agrees.

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'It's odd,' Usagi thinks, not heading straight for the gym once school lets out. Her feet automatically carry her to the shopping district, but she has to consciously tell herself to walk past the gym. So she heads for the arcade instead. It's been far too long since she last visited.

"Motoki-oniisan!" she calls out after entering, spotting the older boy behind the counter. He brightens when he sees her.

"Usagi-chan! Long time no see," he says, walking out to greet her. "Where have you been all this time? I was worried."

She flushes at his words. "Oh, no, I've been fine. I actually…started going to the gym after school," she admits.

Motoki falters. "The gym? But why? You're plenty beautiful as you are now, Usagi-chan; you don't need to get any thinner."

Usagi frowns, the happiness from being called beautiful overshadowed by her annoyance. "I'm not doing it to get skinny," she snaps. "Why does everyone think that? There are plenty of other reasons for going to the gym, you know." She turns away in a huff, oddly disappointed with her friend. She nearly walks away, but a hand grabbing her wrist stops her.

"I'm sorry, Usagi-chan," Motoki says, and the genuine regret she hears makes her turn back. "I shouldn't have assumed, but I know a lot of girls your age are self-conscious about this kind of thing and I was worried."

In the face of his sincere apology Usagi can't stay upset with him. "Stupid Motoki-oniisan," she chides, though the smile growing on her face takes all the heat away. "You shouldn't ever assume I'm anything like the rest of the girls my age. I thought you knew better than that."

Motoki chuckles, rubbing a sheepish hand through his hair. "You're right. I don't know what I was thinking, Usagi-chan," he says. "But I'm glad you're back."

She smiles brightly. "Me too! Gotta make sure no one's topped my high score on the Sailor V game, after all."

"Yeah, yeah, well I'll let you get to it," he says. Usagi nods in agreement and then they split, Motoki heading back to the counter while she goes to sit at her favorite Sailor V console.

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She stays at the arcade for three or so hours, about the same amount of time she'd have spent at the gym, before leaving with a parting wave to Motoki-oniisan and heading home. On the way she spots a dumpling stand and decides to buy some as a snack. Luna had said to take a break, and she missed this kind of thing. Miharu-san had taken her request to heart and had been cooking a lot healthier – to her brother's consternation – but sometimes Usagi just wants to indulge.

She munches quite happily on her snack, not a care in the world, until she runs her shoulder into someone with a curse. "What gives?" she snaps, barely managing to keep from accidentally inhaling her food. Then she pauses and groans when she recognizes the person – in a tux, of all things, the weirdo – in front of her. "Ugh, why is it always you?" she growls.

"Maybe if you watched where you were going we wouldn't have this problem, Bun-Head," he retorts, though Usagi can't tell if he's amused or annoyed. "Hey, isn't it cannibalism for a bun-head to eat pork buns?" he asks when he notices what she's holding.

"Leave me alone!" she snaps in response.

He doesn't seem to hear her – or rather, deliberately ignores her – and continues his teasing. "You know you'll get fat if you eat too many. You'll turn into a pork bun," he chuckles.

Usagi's lips purse with barely restrained anger. "For your information, I work out. There will be no pork bun transformation in my future, thank you very much."

He raises an eyebrow behind those stupid sunglasses of his. "Yeah, I can see that," he says dubiously.

"You bet!" Usagi retorts, stomping off while taking an angry bite of her bun, only to find she's lost her appetite. She groans and throws the rest of them away in the nearest trash can, thoroughly annoyed for the rest of her walk home.

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She's doing homework in her room when Luna finally joins her an hour later. There's a serious expression on her face and Usagi immediately knows whatever she has to say isn't going to be good. "So?" she prompts.

"There is definitely something going on in that gym," she begins.

"Aww, damn. I really liked that place," Usagi pouts.

"Usagi-chan, be serious!" Luna scolds. "I think they're stealing energy."

"Jadeite?" Usagi asks, all humor drained of her.

Luna nods. "I can't be certain because I didn't get a good look at his face, but I think so. He's disguised as one of the trainers, and was talking about this relaxation pod. I saw him with your teacher and followed them to the basement where she got into this odd contraption, and when she got out she looked even worse!"

"That must be it, then. Why I haven't been affected. I've never been in those relaxation pods; I always go to the spa when I'm done," Usagi says.

"I suppose that's a good thing," Luna agrees. "We'll need Sailor Moon at her strongest. I didn't sense any monsters, but those trainers are under his possession and they'll be tough to beat."

Usagi grimaces, recalling her last karate session with her trainer. "Yeah…"

"There's no one there right now or I'd say we go tonight," Luna continues as if she'd never said anything. "We'll go first thing tomorrow, instead, right after it opens so there will be no civilians to get in the way."

"What?" Usagi gasps. "Do you know how early that is? I can't."

"You can and you will, Usagi-chan. Especially if you want to get to school on time." Her head thumps down on the table with a groan. "Best get to sleep early, I think," Luna says, clearly ignoring her. With one final glare at the cat, Usagi does as she suggests. There's no compromising with Luna when she gets like this.

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Luna roughly wakes her at 04:45 and Usagi nearly cries when she sees the sky is still dark. The cat gives her no chance to go back to sleep and has her out of bed and transformed in record time. It's chilly outside as they run to the gym, which helps wake Usagi up but doesn't stop her from grumbling the whole way.

It's just after 5 when they get to the gym, and the front doors are unlocked. They easily sneak in with no one at the front desk to stop them. "Come on, Sailor Moon," Luna instructs. "We'll head straight for the basement." Usagi nods and follows dutifully behind her companion.

They don't encounter anyone until they get to the basement and there's a figure that Usagi has dreaded seeing again standing before the relaxation pods. "Jadeite," she growls, 100% awake and focused now.

He turns around and doesn't seem surprised to see her. "Sailor Moon," he greets. "I was wondering when you'd show up. Awfully slow this time, weren't you?"

She grits her teeth. "It doesn't matter because I'm here now. In the name of the Moon, I'll punish you for stealing these girls' energy!"

"Will you now?" he grins, raising a hand to gesture. From the shadows step the three trainers, their gazes intent on her. "You'll have to go through them first. Careful though, they're only human."

They rush towards her and Usagi is forced to dodge, thanking her lucky stars she's lighter and smaller than them. She'll be screwed if they catch her, so she can only hope to keep evading them.

"Sailor Moon!" Luna shouts, half drawing her attention from the trio. "Use your tiara to knock off their circlets. It's what keeps them under his control."

"'Kay!" she shouts back before dodging another blow. She quickly grabs for her tiara, throwing it at the one closest to her. It slices just past his head, knocking the circlet off with only a minor scratch. The trainer falls hard to the ground. Usagi is pleased for a moment, and then realizes her tiara never came back.

She quickly scans the room, but in her distraction takes a kick to the side that she swears breaks her ribs. She struggles for air behind the relaxation pods where she was thrown, but a glint to the side catches her attention and she lunges for her tiara. She'll have to be more careful with her throws this time if she doesn't want to lose it again, and she can't risk Moon Tiara Action hurting them.

The two gang up on her, blocking off all paths of escape. She has no choice now. She throws it at the first, hearing it clang on the tank behind him before ricocheting off to hit the other. They fall and Usagi barely manages to roll away though her ribs scream in protest.

She picks up her tiara and stands as quickly as she can manage, facing Jadeite. He doesn't look pleased that she's defeated his goons. "Going to challenge me again, Sailor Moon? We both know how that went last time," he taunts.

Usagi's eyes narrow. "Maybe," she retorts. "Moon Tiara Action!" She throws her tiara again and Jadeite raises an arm to intercept it, only her tiara goes swerving to the side as it misses him completely.

"Ha!" he gloats. "You missed me –" He cuts off as the tiara comes back around and strikes at the orb connecting all the relaxation pods. Usagi had noticed it earlier and gambled on it being something integral to the system. Apparently she was right.

"I don't think so," she says with a smirk.

"You –" Jadeite starts, but then halts as something else seems to draw his attention. He growls one more time before disappearing.

Usagi blinks, stunned by his abrupt departure. "Sailor Moon, are you okay?" Luna says, running up to her.

"I'm tired and I hurt, Luna, what do you think?" she retorts.

The cat shakes her head in exasperation. "Come on, let's get back. There's still some time before classes start. We can take a look at your chest."

"Ugh," Usagi groans. "I just want to sleep."

"Usagi-chan," Luna chides. "We need to go before they wake." As she speaks, Usagi can hear groans and knows it won't be long now.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming." They quickly head out, keeping to the back alleys as the city starts to wake and people fill the sidewalks. Usagi hurts too much to get to the roofs, leaving this their only option. They sneak back inside, and the quiet of the house reassures Usagi no one noticed her sneaking out.

She drops the transformation and flops back on her bed with a pained groan. "One of your ribs might be broken. We need to wrap it," Luna says.

"In a bit," Usagi waves her off. "I'm going to take a small nap. That was exhausting."

"Usagi-chan!" Luna scolds, but it falls on deaf ears as Usagi falls asleep immediately.