Panting. She was losing her breath. And… some blood.
But, she couldn't worry about that. She had to get Usagi away. The youma was surely right behind them.
"Mars?" Usagi gripped the front of her friend's fuku, staring up at her in immense concern. "Are you okay?"
"Of course, I'm okay!" Sailor Mars lied, looking ahead. She was beginning to ache from so much running. The throbbing wound in her arm wasn't making things easier. It needed to be treated, but she didn't want to focus on that right now.
The Rabbit knew better. Sailor Mars had been running non-stop for at least half an hour now. She painstakingly looked away, stared at the curvature in Mars' right forearm. "No, you're not. You're bleeding." She stated bitterly. Oh, how she wanted so bad to heal it. To help her. Why wouldn't Mars let her help? Why did she always insist on doing everything on her own?
Well, Usagi had had enough of it. "Put me down."
"What?" Sailor Mars said, taken aback. "No way!"
"Mars. We're far enough from the youma now." Usagi told her reassuringly. "You don't have to keep running."
The click-clack, click-clack of red heels could be heard against the clean concrete. It was times like these she was thankful that all of the snow had almost melted away now. They were almost there. Just a little more….
"Mars!" Usagi yelled, kicking and thrashing to catch her attention.
"Alright, alright!" Sailor Mars came to a halt, and set Usagi on her feet, finally giving in. "There. Happy now?" She placed a hand on her hip in irritation.
Usagi eyed her stab wound and reached for her arm tenderly. "Here… let me see that."
"Why? It's not like you can do anything for it…" Mars gazed at the ground. Usagi could only heal youma. Not regular people.
The Rabbit knew she couldn't do much, but she could do something. She untangled the scarf she had been wearing and held it out to measure how much needed to go around the arm. Then, she gently wrapped the article of white clothing around the wound tightly, as if it were a bandage, and tied it into a neat bow. She smiled warmly, feeling pleased with herself and truly happy to have been of some use. "There."
"Wow…" The Fire Senshi found herself staring at Usagi in surprise and grinning in gratitude. "Thanks, Usagi… but isn't it going to stain?" White wasn't exactly fond of bright colours, and especially not the crimson of blood.
"It's no problem, Rei-chan!" Usagi chirped. "I hope it gets better."
"Yeah…" Mars glanced up at the night sky, at the shimmering stars and sighed. "Me, too."
A moment passed.
That's when the communicator beeped, then vibrated to notify of an incoming message. Usagi jumped, gasping an "Oh!" out of surprise. She'd forgotten she'd had the senshi gadget earlier, and took the pink device out of her back pocket now to see who was calling and turned it on.
"Usagi!" Mina's face could be seen in the small circular screen. Relief flashed through her features. "Thank goodness you're okay!"
"Mina?... Why wouldn't I be okay?"
"Let me see that!" Mars looked over at Usagi and snatched the communicator out of her hand before she could make any more stupid remarks.
"Hey!" Usagi pouted. "That's my communicator, Mars!"
"Yeah. She's fine. We're both fine." The Fire Senshi reported, rolling her eyes at Usagi's stinginess. "What's up?"
Usagi, noticing that she was being ignored, stuck her tongue out at the Fire Senshi and crossed her arms childishly. Oh, the nerve of that girl sometimes! Why did she even bother helping her if she was going to treat her like this?
"Ami got a bad reading on her mini-computer and so we came to check it out." Makoto said, appearing beside Mina.
Ami was the next to show up, shoving Mako so that she could be shown beside Mina on the communicator. "My supercomputer indicated that Hikawa Shrine was visited by a youma not too long ago."
Usagi pressed against Rei so that she would be seen and heard on the other end. "Don't go! There's a scary Youma that wants to eat people and stab them with spoons!"
Mars irritably pushed her away. "Shut up, Odango-Atama!"
Usagi clumped to the ground and began to wail and cry, as usual. "You're sooo meeeaaann, Reeii-chaaan!"
It only took Mars a moment to resume her previous calm composure so she could get the information she needed to know. "We just left from there. Are you there now?"
"Yeah," answered Mina. "You're house is ruined… but there's no sign of the youma."
"Dammit." Mars swore crudely. That meant it was still out there somewhere. That it would come back for them sooner or later. And, she had been the one to let it get away.
"Don't worry about it, Mars!" Mina comforted, giving a waving gesture with her hand.
"Yeah, cheer up!" Mako appeared on-screen again, knocking Mina out of the picture momentarily. "We'll get him." She did a gesture with her hands – a fist colliding into her palm to show ultimate beat-down.
"But, the better victory here is that you're both safe and unharmed!" Chimed Ami.
Mars grinned a little. "Yeah. I guess you're right."
"Don't mention it!" said Mako with a wink.
Mina knocked Mako off-screen again to reclaim her spot. "Anyway," she cleared her throat, changing the topic and holding up a pointed index finger. "I think the real problem here is where you're sleeping tonight!"
Usagi hopped back in position beside Mars, tears obviously drying. "Oooh! I didn't think of that!" She poked at Rei with an impish grin. "Where are you sleeping tonight, Ree-ii-chan?~"
Although annoyed, the Fire Senshi didn't push the blonde away again. She simply looked away coolly, an idea in mind, though she not dare say it. "I don't know."
Usagi gave her best friend a sideways look and elbowed her ribs playfully. "Oh, come on! I know where you want to staaay!" She sang. Why, obviously, at Yuuichiru's, right?
"I have a suggestion," interjected Ami.
Mars and Usagi stared at the screen questioningly.
"Rei could stay at Usagi's." Ami smiled, like it was the best plan in the world.
"Meanie Rei stay at my house?" Usagi asked, surprised and offended, pointing at herself. She crossed her arms and turned her nose up. "Never, Ever, Ever, Ever, Ever!" Of course, this was mostly the childishness talking.
"You have got to be kidding." Mars commented flatly. Though, truth be told, that had been her original idea.
"It's only fair," Ami pointed out. "Afterall, Rei let you stay at her house for three days, Usagi."
"But!-" Usagi tried. However, it was no use. The bluenette was right.
"…The least you can do is pay her back."
"Yeah, Usagi!" Mina agreed, "I'm sure she's done a lot for you in the last few days."
Mako moved Ami out of the way to share her consent. "She's your friend! It won't be that bad. Promise!"
Usagi held her breath a moment, and then sighed. "Okay..." She gave in. Then, she pointed at Rei. "But, only until you're house is fixed!"
Rei shrugged nonchalantly. "Fine by me."
"Then, I guess it's settled." Mina concluded with a peace hand-sign. "Oh, and don't forget! Meeting at the shrine tomorrow! 4 o'clock."
"Okay. See you there." Usagi and Rei said concurrently.
Their friends on the other end laughed. "Over and Out." The pink communication device turned off upon the black-out of the other signal. Rei handed the communicator back to Usagi, who stashed it back into her pocket.
There was a moment of silence.
"Well, I guess we should be getting home…" Usagi spoke into the stillness with a sweat-drop of awkwardness. It was late. Past midnight, it seemed. The moon hung high in the dark sky. A white, shining, full moon, too.
"Good thing we're already there." Mars turned around to gaze at the housing complex behind them. The familiarity of the wooden gate. The pearly white of the two-story building.
Usagi turned to look, too, and when, she did, she gasped in astonishment. "We've… been here the whole time?" She asked, taking her eyes off her home for a moment to glance back at her friend.
Mars nodded.
"Oh." Usagi felt stupid now. Why hadn't she noticed before? She should have recognized the street, or… something. She thought about earlier, before the communicator went off. She wondered…
Had Rei-chan distracted her? Could it be because Rei-chan…
She felt her cheeks heat up a bit.
No. Her and Rei-chan had only been so close before… Rei-chan had only carried her before… because she hadn't been able to go anywhere on her own. Rei-chan hadn't had a choice. Rei-chan didn't… couldn't… have that affect on her.
…did she?
"Let's go inside," insisted Mars, interrupting The Rabbit's thoughts. "We have a big day ahead of us." She metamorphosed out of her senshi fuku as she walked over to the door. Her miko clothes returned to her when she rang the doorbell.
Usagi nodded. "Right." She walked over beside Rei, beside her best friend, surprisingly with less dizzy sensations than before in the day. She could only hope that her sickness would clear up soon.
And, her feelings for Rei-chan, too.
