Tsukino Usagi
When she comes downstairs on the last day of classes before summer break, there's an innocent pink letter lying on the dining table with her name addressed on the front. She picks it up, confused about who could be writing to her, but when she flips it over that question is easily solved. 'From Tuxedo Mask,' the letter reads, and Usagi's eyes widen in surprise. She quickly rushes back upstairs to her room to read if before Miharu-san can notice her presence and ask her about it.
Luna seems surprised to see her back so soon, and when she enters the cat perks her head up curiously. "Usagi-chan, what're you doing here? What's that you've got there?"
Usagi sits heavily on the bed beside her as she tears open the envelope. "A letter from Tuxedo Mask," she replies absently, quickly scanning its contents. "I love you more than anything else. Please come meet me at MS mall at Shinjuku tomorrow night," she reads aloud for Luna's benefit. "What the hell is this?"
"Suspicious, at the very least," Luna replies. "How does Tuxedo Mask know you're Sailor Moon? He could've followed you back, Usagi-chan! You need to be more careful!" the cat starts to scold her, batting her lightly with her paws. Usagi's only grateful she doesn't use claws.
"Hey, Luna, watch it!" she snaps back. "I don't know how he figured it out!" She shoots a confused glance at the letter. She has so many questions, the most important of them being whether if this is this real or not? And while she doesn't quite want to acknowledge it, the slight stutter in her chest tells her that perhaps she wants it to be true.
"We need to tell the others and come up with a plan for tomorrow," Luna says. Usagi absently nods her agreement.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
It gets worse when she gets to school.
"Usagi-san!" Naru crows as soon as Usagi walks into the classroom. Her first reaction is to flinch at the noise, but then she pulls out her earbud and realizes it's only Naru and she relaxes. It's taken some adjusting, but she's no longer surprised that Naru talks so freely to her. They're almost friends, maybe good acquaintances, if Usagi had to label it.
"What?" she asks as she takes her seat. The other girl follows her to her desk and lays down a familiar looking letter that has Usagi freezing in her seat. "What's this?" she asks, feigning unrecognition.
"You mean you didn't receive one? All the girls in class got these love letters from someone named Tuxedo Mask, isn't that neat?" she explains brightly, her expression dimming momentarily when Usagi hints she never received one.
"But does anyone actually know who Tuxedo Mask is?" another girl that had been listening to their conversation asks. A couple of them are standing around Usagi's desk and it makes her oddly uncomfortable. They never usually talk to her, and she honestly prefers it that way.
"No idea. Never heard of him," she replies tersely. The girls don't seem pleased, either from her answer or her tone, but it does get them talking amongst themselves. Usagi lets out a subtle sigh in relief, though Naru takes that moment to lean closer to her.
"You know what I think," she whispers to Usagi.
"What?" Usagi says just as quietly, curious about what she has to say. Naru has come into quite a bit of contact with their enemies compared to most other people in Juuban – which is actually quite a feat, now that Usagi thinks about it; her and Sakurada-sensei have had it rough – so maybe during one of those numerous occasions she noticed something Usagi hadn't?
"What if it's Sanjoin Masato?" she giggles, a light flush dusting her cheeks.
Usagi tries not to let her instinctive reaction show. Ami still has yet to confirm anything suspicious about the man, but that doesn't give Usagi any comfort. She still has a bad feeling about him, but the fact that Naru seems pretty attached to the guy only worries her further. "They don't really look the same, though, do they? Sanjoin has such long hair…" she says instead, subtly trying to dissuade her of the idea. She doubts any of the other girls are going to treat this love letter as a real thing – because while Sailor Moon may be starting to make a name for herself among civilians, Tuxedo Mask has not and so remains virtually unknown – of all of them to seriously consider it Usagi would pick Naru.
Naru lets out a dreamy sigh. "I guess you're right," she says wistfully, and Usagi prays that'll be the extent of her imaginings.
Sakurada-sensei arrives not long after, and soon the matter of Tuxedo Mask's love letter is settled. She seems particularly against it when she warns the girls against love letter pranks. Usagi can only hope they take her advice and stay away from the MS mall. This whole scenario is reminding her an awful lot of Jadeite's attack at the airport, but to come to a head with the man in charge so soon? Yeah, this is definitely going to be a conversation for the Sailor Guardians.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ami and Usagi head to the Hikawa Shrine after school, only to find out that Rei's stuck in bed with a minor cold. But she has received a love letter as well. "Unfortunately this isn't something I could heal with my Mercury Power," Ami says when she checks Rei over.
"That's fine, Ami-san," Rei says, coughing lightly. "I appreciate you visiting."
Ami grimaces. "Well, don't be offended when we don't stay. I don't want to catch whatever you've got," she says rather curtly.
An understanding smile graces Rei's face. "I'm not. I wish I could help you with this, but I'm feeling pretty bad right now."
"We'll discuss it and send you a report of what we decide," Usagi interjects as Ami starts gathering her things. They don't stay much longer, leaving the shrine mere minutes after arriving. They head down to the bus stop by some unspoken agreement, and while they wait Usagi strikes up a conversation. "I don't really think there's much to discuss," she begins. There's no one there with them, so she feels fine discussing Guardian things. "It's clearly a trap." It pains her to admit it, but that's the only thing she can think of.
"I agree. Normally this is about the time where someone's energy would start to peak, a sign of the enemy's new movement, but I haven't seen anything. This must be their latest ploy, but I wonder why they've decided to change their tactics," she muses, tapping idly at her computer. Usagi thinks she's running a scan over the city, but none of those graphs are labeled so really it could be anything.
"You think they could be trying to lure us out?" she suggests, thinking aloud. "I mean, if they've been watching us fight then they could've noticed how Tuxedo Mask sometimes comes to save us."
"That would make the most sense, but they're making a big assumption thinking we'll be enticed by Tuxedo Mask professing his love to us." Usagi winces, trying to play the movement off as looking around the area, but Ami is too smart and perceptive to miss it. She looks over incredulously at Usagi. "Don't tell me you were fooled by it?"
"What? No!" Usagi adamantly denies, though by the look in Ami's eyes the genius clearly doesn't believe her. "I wasn't," she insists. "But…maybe I wished it was true," she reluctantly admits, looking away, though her gaze flicks back to her companion a moment later. There's an odd expression on her face, almost like confusion and disapproval combined into one, and Usagi immediately gets defensive. "What?"
Ami shrugs, and the expression is gone in the next blink. "Nothing. I just…don't understand it, I guess."
"Oh?" Usagi asks, her tone rising in pitch as she starts to tease the other girl. "The genius doesn't understand?"
One of Ami's eyebrow twitches and Usagi starts to think that maybe she's hit a sensitive topic. "I'm good at science and math because it's logical. There are processes. One plus one always equals two, acceleration due to gravity is 9.8 meters per second squared – those things don't change. But emotions…you can't quantify them, and the qualifications are different depending on every person. It makes no sense. So no, I don't understand why you like Tuxedo Mask. We've barely interacted with him, let alone spoken to him. Have you ever actually spoken to him?"
"Yes…?" Usagi says, though the way she trails off uncertainly doesn't seem to impress Ami. It's been a while, but Usagi knows she's talked to him before. Maybe not since they joined her, but she has.
"So there's not even much of a basis for your crush in the first place," Ami observes.
"Shut up," Usagi retorts, crossing her arms indignantly. "It's not just some crush, it's…I don't know how to explain it. When I'm with Tuxedo Mask, something inside me just…instinctively reacts. When he touches me, this warmth fills me and it feels like I'm coming home, you know?"
"No," she deadpans.
Usagi shoots her an unamused look. "I'm trying to help you understand here, but you've got to work with me a little."
"I don't want to understand."
She throws her hands up in the air as she lets out a noise of frustration. Ami is unfazed. "We have a connection!" she insists. "I know it."
"Can you prove it?"
Usagi can't help the growl that escapes her as she glares at Ami. Judging from the little smirk at the corner of her mouth, the genius knows exactly what she's doing and she's clearly enjoying it. "I'm going to go meet Tuxedo Mask at the MS mall in Shinjuku tonight."
That finally gets a reaction out of the other girl. "What?" she asks, shooting Usagi a look. "I thought we agreed that it was a trap?"
"We did," Usagi agrees. "But in addition to possibly learning more about the enemy, this might also lure out the real Tuxedo Mask, and maybe I'll be able to get some actual information from him." She doesn't mention her worry about Naru and the girl's uncanny proclivity to find herself in danger. She's got her head stuck on Sanjoin Masato, and Usagi knows it's going to get her into trouble sooner or later.
Ami looks at her for a long while, long enough that Usagi's bus drives up. "Okay," she finally says as Usagi starts to leave. "I'll trust that you're serious about this, so I'll figure something out."
"Thanks Ami-chan!" Usagi calls out brightly right before the door cuts her off. She sees the genius roll her eyes, but she still waves goodbye so Usagi counts that as a win. 'Why can't all our Guardian meetings be like that?' she muses as she takes a seat. With her afternoon now free, she figures it'll be fine if she wastes a couple of hours at the arcade. As long as they have something for tonight Luna will be pleased.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Nephrite
In his Sanjoin Masato disguise, Nephrite heads to the MS mall a day early to scout out the area. All of the letters had arrived this morning, sent to every middle school girl in the Juuban district. One of them was bound to be Sailor Moon, and the temptation of meeting Tuxedo Mask would hopefully draw her out tomorrow night.
"Sanjoin-sama!" a girly voice calls out, drawing his surprised attention. He turns to find a young girl approaching him, a dark flush on her cheeks. "It's me, Osaka Naru, from the Juuban Middle School tennis team," she says, looking down in embarrassment.
Nephrite rakes his memories to place where he'd seen the girl before. She must've seen him when he stopped by the school to infect Saionji Rui's racket. "Ah, yes," he says, pretending to know her as he walks over. "Are you here shopping?" She couldn't possibly be here because of him, could she?
"Um…" she begins, trailing off, "do you mind if I ask you something?" Nephrite blinks. "Are you Tuxedo Mask?" she plows on.
"What?" Nephrite blurts, internally panicking. She couldn't possibly know that it was he who sent out those letters. She couldn't! "Why would you think that?"
She looks down, a wistful smile on her face. "N-no reason. I just thought it would be nice if you were…"
Nephrite's eyes narrow in suspicion. 'Why would she care?' he wonders, and then a thought occurs to him. 'Unless…she's Sailor Moon!'
"I'm sorry for asking such a weird question!" Osaka blurts out, flushing again. She looks ready to bolt and Nephrite knows he can't let her leave just yet. He has to know for sure.
"Naru-chan," he calls, catching her attention. "Did you know you're the cutest girl at Juuban Middle School?" he tells her, smirking. She flushes bright red but seems pleased by the compliment. "You know," he leans a little toward her, "I've been interested in you for a while now."
"Really?" she asks shyly.
Nephrite pulls out his most reassuring smile. "Yeah. I'll see you tonight," he says, turning to walk off, but not without one last wave goodbye. His smile drops as soon as his back is turned. 'Sailor Moon…how easily you've fallen into my trap.'
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Tsukino Usagi
Ami calls a half hour before midnight. "Hey," Usagi says when she answers, rifling through her closet as she talks. She's planning on heading for the mall soon, so the other timed it perfectly.
"How do you feel about going in yourself?" is the first thing she says. No greeting, nothing. Usagi quietly snorts as she sets some clothes out.
"Uh, not super confident. Why?"
"Rei and I can be there as backup, but I think it would be better for you to confront Tuxedo Mask alone since you have the better rapport with him."
"Is Rei-chan well enough to come out tonight?" she asks, surprised.
"To come out, yes, but probably not for a fight. Which is why we'll only intervene if this Tuxedo Mask turns out to be the enemy. If it's the real Tuxedo Mask, he'll likely be more willing to answer questions if you're the only one there."
Usagi sighs. "Fine, you're probably right."
"I'm almost always right," the genius retorts. "Are you going to go as Sailor Moon or approach as a civilian?"
"Civilian."
"Hmm, I wouldn't recommend that. If you have to transform suddenly there's a chance the enemy could learn your true identity."
"You think? I was just planning to observe for a bit."
"Observe what? I doubt Tuxedo Mask will appear until someone else does, so it would be smarter for you to just approach as Sailor Moon."
"Alright," Usagi agrees with a sigh, hanging her outfit back up. 'Damn, I wanted to dress up tonight,' she thinks with a pout. "I'll be there in 10."
"We'll set up somewhere nearby and keep watch. If I sense things start to get out of hand we'll be right there."
"Okay." As soon as she agrees she hears a click from her communicator and she draws it back with surprise. "She hung up on me!" Usagi exclaims incredulously, more than a little amused. "Her bedside manner is going to be abysmal when she's a doctor." She checks the clock on her nightstand. "Might as well get going. Moon Prism Power Make Up!"
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Nephrite
With his Tuxedo Mask disguise on, Nephrite waits at the top of the escalator for Sailor Moon to arrive. He knows she will, and he will finally get the chance to finish what Jadeite failed to do.
"Tuxedo Mask…" he hears a female voice call out, one he is starting to grow familiar with. "I mean, Sanjoin-sama, where are you?"
In the dark he can see Osaka start to approach the escalator, and when she stands in front of it he triggers the lights, drawing her attention with a dramatic flourish of his cape. "I'm over here," he calls out. She turns to him with a gasp, her face lighting up with pleasure when she spots him. 'She's so enamored with me; she has to be Sailor Moon!' "I'm glad you came," he tells her, flashing his brightest smile.
"That voice," she says, stepping forward. "You really are Sanjoin Masato."
He blinks, not having expected that response. "You can tell just by my voice?"
"Of course! That voice and that presence definitely belong to Sanjoin Masato." Her wondrous gaze never once leaves him.
"You like Sanjoin Masato that much?" he asks, a little confused. And here he was thinking she was in love with Tuxedo Mask.
She looks up at him descending on the escalator with amazement in her eyes, a flush high on her cheeks. "After hearing your words earlier today, I became a captive of love!" she proclaims.
Nephrite frowns and leaps the rest of the way down the escalator, landing just in front of her. "Sailor Moon! Show your true identity. Reveal yourself to me!" He pokes her roughly in the chest, intending to activate the power in her with the presence of his dark energy but…nothing happens.
Osaka rears back slightly with a gasp. "Sanjoin-sama…"
"What's wrong?" he sneers. "Go ahead and transform into Sailor Moon!"
"What are you talking about?" she asks, her brows furrowing in confusion as she loses some of the enchantment from her eyes.
"Aren't you Sailor Moon?" he asks, trying not to lose his temper. This is not how this was supposed to go!
"I love you, Sanjoin-sama," Osaka says, closing her eyes as she sways slightly towards him.
Nephrite grits his teeth and moves his finger to her forehead. 'Well, even if she's not Sailor Moon I won't let this night go to waste. She can make herself useful in other ways.' Without wasting another moment he starts to draw out her abundant energy fueled by her love.
.
Tsukino Usagi
Everything is dark when she arrives at the MS mall in Shinjuku, not that she's surprised. On her way over she'd spotted more than a couple patrol cars on the surrounding streets, no doubt keeping an eye out for young girls who'd like to meet Tuxedo Mask. At least they're keeping their distance, just in case this does turn into a fight. Usagi doesn't want actual civilians to get involved.
Breaking into the shop is absurdly easy, but that only puts her more on guard. Someone is here, but which Tuxedo Mask will it be? She makes her way deeper into the store where she can see light coming from, keeping a wary eye out. When Jadeite had drawn them out he'd had clay golems lying in wait for them, but there doesn't seem to be anything like that now.
Then she rounds the corner where the lights are concentrated and struggles to hold back her gasp. Tuxedo Mask, or rather, someone dressed like Tuxedo Mask stands at the bottom of the escalator, and in his arms is an unconscious Osaka Naru. "Let go of Naru-san!" Usagi shouts, forgetting any and all ideas of surprising the enemy.
"Who's there?" the man turns towards the sound of her voice.
"I won't let you toy with that innocent girl's heart any longer," she proclaims. "I am Sailor Moon, but then I guess you already knew that," she smirks. "You sent those letters to draw me out, and it worked. Now let her go!"
The man sneers. "How could you tell I wasn't Tuxedo Mask?"
"Please, what do you take me for? I can sense that dark aura of yours from a mile away," she boasts. "I'll say it one more time. Let her go!"
He tosses her roughly to the side and Usagi suppresses her sympathetic wince. Osaka isn't going to wake up feeling good in the morning. Then he jumps into the air, flinging his cape aside as his clothes change into a familiar uniform. Usagi's eyes narrow. "Sanjoin Masato," she growls. 'I fucking told you, Ami.'
"I am Nephrite, one of the Four Commanders of the Dark Kingdom," he proclaims. "Indeed, I did pretend to be Tuxedo Mask to lure you out, in order to finish you off as my fellow Commander could not! Regulus, hear me now and lend me your strength." He throws his hand out and a bright light condenses before him into the form of a massive mint green lion.
"Shit," she blurts, turning on her heels in an instant. It follows, and she's only grateful it doesn't seem to be interested at all in Naru. But now she has to content with it herself, since neither Mercury nor Mars appear to assist her. 'But what kind of martial arts works on a damn lion?' she angrily thinks. 'When in doubt…' She reaches for her tiara as she runs, turning the corner where she'd come from. "Moon Tiara Action!" She throws it straight behind her and hears the lion roar in anger. She pauses and turns back to look. The lion is rubbing at its head where she struck, and Nephrite stands right behind it looking pissed. 'Why didn't that work?'
"Sailor Moon, over here, quick!" a voice she recognizes shouts, and she turns with a budding grin on her face to find Tuxedo Mask leaning in the doors of an elevator.
"Tuxedo Mask," Nephrite sneers.
"I don't appreciate my name being attached to fake love letter meant to lure out girls," he shouts back.
"Then fight me yourself!" Nephrite flings his arm out and the lion roars and charges again.
"Sailor Moon!" Tuxedo Mask shouts again, but he doesn't need to tell her twice. She's already sprinting forward and he steps aside to let her in the elevator, quickly pressing the buttons to close the doors before the lion can get to them. Usagi watches, tense, as it gets closer and closer until the doors are finally shutting. But then Nephrite's words turn her blood cold.
"You completely fell for it."
"A trap," Usagi mutters, horror dawning on her as Tuxedo Mask struggles to get the doors open again.
"This elevator is going to go up, and it will continue to do so until it reaches the top floor," Nephrite explains, finishing with a dark chuckle. "I'm sure you can figure out what'll happen then." The elevator starts moving with a slight jump, startling Usagi.
'Ami,' Usagi thinks, trying to keep the panic from clouding her voice as she desperately projects her thoughts to her comrades. 'Ami, we're trapped in the elevator and it's going to drop us from the 15th floor!'
'We're on our way!' is the quick response she receives and it's almost enough to calm her, but not quite.
"We're going to get out of here," Tuxedo Mask proclaims, drawing her attention. He's looking intently at the top of the elevator and Usagi immediately knows what he's planning. He pushes open the latch with his cane, pulling himself up and out of the small opening and then reaching down to help her.
"Um…" Usagi starts nervously, but she doesn't hesitate to take his hand. She feels warm where they touch, and the sensation only serves to draw a flush to her cheeks. But now they stand on top of the elevator and she can see the floor numbers flashing by. Eleven just passed them, so she knows they'll be reaching the top soon and it kicks her heart back into a nervous flutter. "Now what?" she asks. She has no idea what Ami plans to do and she hopes to whatever god is out there that Tuxedo Mask at least has an idea.
"Get ready to jump," he instructs her.
"What?!" she blurts out incredulously as he lines up at the edge of the elevator. The elevator pauses when they reach the 13th floor, and in the moment before it drops her hear nearly falls from her chest from the anticipation. There's the twinge of a wire snapping and the sound gets Usagi moving. She lunges for the edge of the elevator just as Tuxedo Mask jumps as well, both of them reaching out for the ledge of the door.
Usagi hits the side of the elevator shaft roughly, having jumped too far in her hurry and panic, but her fingers scratch the edge of the door and she grips it desperately. Beside her, Tuxedo Mask hangs as well. "Now what?" she gasps, her tone strained. She's never had the strongest arms, and even with her enhanced Guardian form she isn't sure how long she can hang. Already she can feel the smooth cloth of her glove starting to slip and she tightens her grip.
"Just a moment."
"We don't have a lot of moments here!" she snaps back, angry in the face of his calm. They're dangling 15 floors up from a painful death!
"Talk about something then to distract yourself," is his terse response. Out of the corner of her eye she can see him struggling to do something, but she can't make out what and she isn't going to turn her head to check. She's balanced precariously enough as is.
She blurts out the first thing that comes to mind. "Why do you always come to save me?"
The rustling of fabric beside her stops for a second. "I…don't know," he replies haltingly. "Something in my blood tells me to."
'What?' Usagi thinks incredulously. "So you don't know why you want to save me, you just do?" She huffs out a laugh, though she tenses and her grip tightens when she feels herself slide just a bit. "You have to admit that's a little fucked. Who are you?"
Tuxedo Mask doesn't answer, though she hears him grunt as he heaves himself up onto the tiny ledge, having used a sign on the wall to help push himself up. He shuffles around a bit to find a stable position, breathing a little heavily, and then he looks down at Usagi. "I don't know that either; I can't remember my past. But I do think there's a connection between the two of us that draws me to you."
'Does this mean he feels it too?' Usagi wonders, blinking incredulously. That warm sensation she always feels when she touches him…if he feels it as well then there must be something between them. In her musings Usagi almost lets her grip slack, but quickly regains her senses. "As much as I'd love to discuss what you think of this connection between us, can you get a move on with the getting us out of here? I'm about an inch from falling to my death and I don't think I can hold on much longer."
He snorts. "Hold on a minute." He wedges himself in the small doorway so he can start to pry at the opening between the doors, though from the strained noises he's making it doesn't seem to be working. "I can't get the right leverage," he mutters to himself, though Usagi hears it and she isn't very comforted. All of her concentration is focused on her grip, though it's quickly getting harder to keep her fingers clenched tight enough to stop her sliding.
"Well can you pull me up too, then? Maybe I can get it from this side," Usagi suggests, desperate to get out of this situation. She still hasn't heard anything from Ami, which is worrying, but not as worrying as the decreasing distance between her fingertips and the ledge.
.
Mizuno Ami
As soon as she heard Usagi's panicked voice in her head she was urging Rei into moving. They leapt off the building across the street from the mall, heedless of whoever may have been watching. She activated her goggles as she ran, trying to get a quick layout of things. She saw Usagi and a figure that was probably Tuxedo Mask going up in the elevator, and they were moving a lot faster than she'd have expected. She picked up her pace just a bit, not that Mars complained despite her illness. She must've understood the unspoken urgency.
They rounded the corner onto the first floor, Ami heading straight for the elevator, but she paused when she saw there was a figure standing in front of it. He didn't look familiar, but she could see the similarities between his uniform and Jadeite's and she knew without a doubt that this was their new opponent. He turned when he heard their heels clacking on the tile, a curious look on his face.
"Ah, so the rest of you have finally decided to show yourselves," he says. "You're too late; nothing will stop that elevator from plummeting and Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask are going to die." She sees Rei tense out of her peripheral vision and grits her teeth. This is just a minor setback in her plan. "I suppose since you're here," the man continues, "I can finish you off as well!"
He raises his hand but Ami is quicker. "Mercury Bubble Spray!" As soon as the fog covers the area Ami grabs Rei's arm and starts dragging her back the way they'd come. The stairwell was just around the corner. It would suck, but their best bet was to try and catch their comrades at the top floor. Ami just hoped the two of them were smart enough to try and escape the elevator. They didn't have much time left.
.
Tsukino Usagi
It takes Tuxedo Mask some shuffling to find a position where he can reach down to carefully help her up to the ledge as well. Usagi only feels marginally safer once she's no longer dangling, but it's a close thing. Literally. There's maybe three or four inches of a ledge in total for them to balance on, and Usagi has plastered herself to the door.
Tuxedo Mask is lenient and lets her come to terms with the new spot before drawing her attention back to the matter at hand. "If we pull at the same time we should be able to get the doors open.
"Right," Usagi nervously agrees. Ever so slowly she shifts her position so she's facing the door, her right hand outstretched to grip at the crack between the doors.
"On three," Tuxedo Mask says. "One, two, three!"
She pulls as hard as she can, straining her shoulder to pull the heavy door towards her. It's a difficult thing, made all the harder by the awkward position she's in. They're barely moving the thing at all, at least not enough for either of them to fit through. And Usagi had thought elevators were supposed to be easy to open.
They give up after several moments partially because Usagi's grip slips and she nearly jolts back, almost losing her balance. The minimal distance they'd managed to open it sips shut with a soft hit. "Shit," she curses, breathing a little heavily from the scare. In a pique of frustration she rips her glove off with her teeth, fed up with the damn thing. She drops it down the elevator shaft before it occurs to her that she'll probably need that back, but oh well, she figures.
"Again," Tuxedo Mask urges her.
"Yeah, yeah," she grumbles as she finds a new grip on the door. Her lack of glove makes it marginally easier. Tuxedo Mask counts to three again and Usagi tries to put more effort into it, leaning more of her weight to the side – at least as much as she dares. It steadily opens a little farther…
…and then all of a sudden the door seems to give, flooding the dark shaft with light. Usagi jumps in surprise, losing her balance almost immediately, but in the moment where her weight starts to shift backwards she recognizes Sailor Mercury and Sailor Mars and realizes they must have helped, only to end up being the end of her. It's almost ironic, she thinks, as she falls backwards without any way to stop herself. Still, she reaches for her comrades even though she knows they're too far away.
Tuxedo Mask lunges forward carelessly, his arm outstretched for her own. His eyes are locked on her own and Usagi can easily read the panic in them. She stretches, their fingertips brushing, but with his momentum he quickly starts to catch up to her and grips her hand. The moment that had seemed to stretch now catches up with her as they swing down, roughly hitting the side of the shaft while her arm is yanked from the abrupt stop. She looks up, but all she can see is Tuxedo Mask looking down at her.
"Sailor Moon!" she hears Sailor Mercury shout, though it sounds tense. "We'll pull you up, just give us a second."
"Can you climb onto my back?" Tuxedo Mask asks, and he sounds strained as well. They're almost back to where they started, but at least Ami and Rei are on solid ground and there to help. Usagi doesn't feel as scared this time.
She nods, using what little arm strength she has to reach for his leg. She doesn't let go of his hand until she has a firm grip, but as soon as she does Tuxedo Mask is reaching up and Sailor Mars quickly grabs for it, leaning over Ami like she is to keep the other girl in place. Usagi can see nearly half of Ami's chest hanging over the elevator shaft. It must've been a close thing when Tuxedo Mask grabbed her.
Climbing up his back is a little awkward, but it must help him somewhat as he starts to lift himself with the two girls' help. Usagi can't really do much to help so she just watches. She has to hide her smirk in his cape when she realizes how much of a workout Ami is getting from all of this, which she's sure the genius won't appreciate, especially if she saw Usagi's expression.
They slowly work their way back up, and when they're all solidly on the floor in the mall all of them are breathing heavily – and coughing, in Rei's case – but they're all alive. "Thanks for saving my ass," Usagi says into the silence, though she's not entirely sure who she's talking to, her comrades or Tuxedo Mask.
"Someone has to," Ami grumbles, rubbing at her stomach with a wince.
She frowns. "Now I know I was talking to Tuxedo Mask," she retorts, shooting a glance at the man. He's already starting to stand, so she quickly does as well. "Wait!' she calls out, and though he pauses, she has no idea what to say next. "I had some questions for you." Ami perks up when she hears this, all of them suddenly interested in talking.
Except Tuxedo Mask just shakes his head. "Unfortunately, I can't give you the answers you want. But we'll meet again, Sailor Moon." He vanishes around the corner then, but something in Usagi tells her not to bother pursuing. Ami makes an aborted movement forward, but Usagi sticks out her arm to stop her.
"We should go after him!" she snaps in annoyance, rounding on Usagi. "This was our chance to learn something."
She merely shakes her head. "It's like he said; we'll see him again. Besides, I learned other more important things, but we can debrief tomorrow. Sailor Mars should probably be getting some rest right now," she says, turning to their final comrade. She's just barely made it to standing, strong coughing fits leaving her exceptionally weak especially after their recent struggle.
"I'm fine," she says, waving a hand dismissively. "I can get myself home. But we should go back for that girl downstairs."
Usagi's eyes widen as she suddenly remembers having left Naru down with Nephrite. "Shit," she curses, "I'll go get her." She immediately starts to run for the stairs, Ami surprisingly at her heels.
"I'll help you. We'll probably have to leave her at the hospital or something for her to sleep this off," she says as they practically jump down the stairs.
"Yeah," Usagi agrees. 'I wonder how much of tonight she'll remember,' she can't help thinking, a little concerned. Naru is already too entangled in this given her obsession with Sanjoin Masato. Usagi can't let her get any closer than that.