Chapter 24 -Duties

Michiru put down the knife and rolled her head from side to side. Hours and hours of being in that position had made her entire body ache. She looked down at the boxes of carrots and potatoes that she had to peel and sighed.

With such a mundane task, Michiru's mind was free to roam and the thoughts returned to Hotaru. She needed to find out where the "school" was and how to get her and Chibiusa out. They would gather up the whole gang and leave this prison...somehow.

She had tried to pry some information out of the kitchen workers yesterday. All she gathered was that the building was on the other side of the compound and that the school had about 15 students of various ages.

"Hey!" A cheery voice came from behind. Elsa Grey waved as Michiru turned and then she hopped up onto the kitchen counter.

"After what you did, you dare to approach me while I am holding a knife? You are not very smart, are you?" Michiru continued to chop her carrots, but with more force and vengeance.

"Yeesh. Chill. I am just here to chat." Elsa said as she slipped a piece of paper to Michiru.

She opened the page and her eyes brimmed with tears instantly. On it was a simple sentence. "Mama, Papa, I miss you and I love you." The writing was Hotaru's. Michiru stared at the sentence for a good minute, while trying hard to hold back her tears. No need to appear weak in front of the enemy.

"How did you get this?"

"I told you I am on your side, didn't I? I am also free to roam inside and outside. Part of the perks of being in charge of a civilian rescue team." Elsa picked up a piece of carrot and popped it into her mouth. "You might want to cut these smaller."

Michiru clenched her fists but held back her fury. A wheel started to turn in her head...

"Anyway, just want you to know I am Dr. Mizuno's friend." Elsa said with a wink. "I will try to get you an update on the kids any chance I got. I need to go find Usagi now and give her this." She waved another piece of paper, signed with Chibiusa's pink signature and dotted with pink hearts everywhere.

"Wait. Who is delivering food to the lab, do you know?" Michiru realized there was a way to communicate with them.

"Some random dude. I don't know his name. Why?" Elsa arched her eyebrows. "You know, I can be your pigeon, or mailman or whatever."

Michiru resumed her chopping. "I don't trust you."

"What?" Elsa put up her hands in disbelief. "I just told you I am on your side. You are not very smart, are you? Fine, I will prove it to you. Urgh, you and Tenou are so annoyingly suspicious and untrusting..."

With that, Elsa stormed out of the kitchen, pounding her fist on the door as she left.


Seiya raised her axe and brought it down, splintering the wood into multiple pieces. She wiped the sweat on her forehead and sighed deeply. What were they doing here? They should just take their chances, grab Usagi and storm out of here.

"Hey, I am winning." Haruka smirked and chopped another log.

Seiya snorted and resumed chopping. "Has anyone seen Usagi lately? Did Michiru say anything?"

"No news yet. Mako said Ami has a plan, and we should just sit tight and wait."

"Urgh." Seiya threw down the axe. "I should've protected her. That house made me feel safe and I dropped my guard. How the hell did they find us anyway?"

Haruka looked down and didn't say anything.

Seiya narrowed her eyes. She walked right up to Haruka and grabbed her collar. "You know something. Talk!"

Anger flashed through Haruka's face and she shoved Seiya off. "Michiru made a mistake. She screwed up, okay? Elsa was my friend and Michiru talked more than she should. There. Happy?"

"You fix it. You fix this whole damn mess." Seiya pointed her finger at Haruka. "I swear, if anything happens to Usagi..."

Before she finished that sentence, Haruka was already charging at her. Soon, the two fought and took out their frustrations on one another.

A whistle blew and Elsa appeared, along with two guards. "Stop it or I will force you to stop."

"Fine." Seiya could taste blood in her mouth. Haruka rubbed her own swollen face and glared at Seiya. Reluctantly, they let go of each other.

"I need to go to medical." Haruka said while she winked at Seiya.

Elsa rolled her eyes and waved the two guards away. "I will take care of them. Soldiers, please return to your posts."

"Could have given me a warning." Seiya whispered to Haruka.

The blonde smirked. "Wouldn't make a damn difference. Now you'll get to see your Usagi, hopefully."

Elsa grabbed Haruka's collar and yanked. "Come..."

"Hey, watch it." Haruka grumbled and tried to pry Elsa's hand off. "It's my last nice shirt."

"Stop being a princess." Seiya said as she strolled by.


Usagi hugged her hospital robe tightly and stood against the wall. Her heart was beating wildly and loudly. At that moment, she felt like a prey, about to be swallowed whole by the wolf that stood in front of her.

"So, as I was saying, once we have the vaccine, we can rebuild the world together. As the person to save the world, I will become famous and worshipped. Wiseman once told me to be patient, and he was right." Demande took Usagi's hand forcibly and pulled her into his embrace.

"Wiseman? Who is that?" Usagi pushed out her arms, putting some distance between them. She hoped the question would distract him enough to stop his advance...

"My advisor. Anyway, I was saying as king of the new world, I would need a queen by my side. My gosh, we might even be worshipped like gods." He spread his lips grotesquely.

Usagi swallowed hard and could feel tears running down her cheek. When he demanded to see her, she knew something was wrong. He told everyone to leave and she caught Dr. Mizuno's gaze as she turned away shamefully.

"Mm mm...you smell nice." He leaned in closer. "So, what do you say? Be my queen? I will spare you your life..."

Usagi's face paled. "What?"

Demande's face changed all of a sudden and he took a giant step back. He appeared courteous now and all formal. He cleared his throat and then raised his walkie talkie, calling the lab personnel so to come back.

"I had a few drinks during lunch. I didn't mean that. Anyway, carry on. Tell Dr. Mizuno to come see me tonight for status report." He nodded at Usagi and then left the lab.

Once he was out of sight, Usagi sank down to the floor and tried to stop shaking. The tears came after but once it started, she couldn't stop. Never had she felt so helpless...


"USAGI!" Seiya pushed open the door and ran towards her distraught girlfriend. Seeing her curled up in a fetal position against the wall and wailing like that, Seiya could feel her blood boil. What the hell happened?

"Seiya? Seiya!" Usagi looked up with her red puffy eyes and hurled herself into Seiya's embrace.

"I am here now. What happened?" Seiya planted kisses on Usagi's head as she held her tightly.

Usagi wiped away her tears but they still kept on falling. She forced a smile on her face and just shook her head. "Nothing. I...I was just feeling lonely."

Seiya could tell she was lying, but decided not to push. They won't have much time before Elsa had to escort her back out. She wished she could be here in the lab at all times, so she could protect her.

"Hey, little kitten. You okay?" Haruka came in, followed by Ami, Setsuna, Dr. Mizuno and Elsa.

Usagi nodded emphatically. "I am so happy to see you guys. I am okay now."

Seiya scanned everyone's face and immediately her heart sank. "Dr. Mizuno, what the hell happened?"

"I am afraid we have to move our plans along, sooner than expected. Colonel Demande is acting stranger and stranger, and his obsession with Usagi is getting dangerous. Elsa, how is the process with Saphir?" Dr. Mizuno was distraught.

"He is on our side and I trust him. Despite everything that happened, he was the only one that was still somewhat sane. He has agreed to put surveillance on Demande." Elsa bent down and wrapped her arms around Usagi. "I am sorry. Hang in there, we will get you out."

Seiya tried to control her rage but couldn't. She lashed out the only way she knew how. "It was all because of you." Her fist flew out towards Elsa.

The punch echoed through the room and Elsa looked up from where she fell, stunned. Elsa stood back up and stared back at her assailant. The two of them stood, facing each other, chests heaving with anger. Elsa clenched and unclenched her fists and then dropped her shoulders. "Fine, I guess that was fair. I followed orders. That was my fault." She rubbed her jaw and winced. "Next time, I will fight back if you dare to attack."

"Save the fight for the right person." Dr. Mizuno said as she walked up to Seiya. "Right now, we still need to make the vaccine, so Usagi will be safe until then. He wouldn't do anything to jeopardize his ticket to be the king of Earth. Now, please help me talk to your friends. Trust Saphir and Elsa."

Seiya snorted. "There is more than one way to hurt someone. Look, just make up some excuses and have me work in the lab. I can mop the floor or clean the toilet. I want to be close so I can protect her."

Ami came up and put her hand on Seiya's shoulder. "We will keep an eye on her. It's just that he requested an alone meeting.. and we couldn't disobey without raising his suspicion. It won't happen again. Please trust us."

"Seiya, everything will be okay. I promise." Usagi looked up at Seiya, pleading silently for her to drop the subject. At a time like this, she was still putting everyone else before her own safety. "Once we have the vaccine, we will leave. Okay?"

Seiya couldn't say no to that face. Her heart only beats for Usagi now. So she nodded and followed Elsa out of the lab. She prayed that the plan they cooked up would be enough to protect everyone, especially Usagi.