AN: I do not own Sailor Moon or its characters. I acknowledge Naoko Takeuchi as its creator and its owner.
Once again, Kudos to LuckyandSamTrueLove, LaNaHwAnNa, Jenbooca, RaisingHeartSetUp, Skafloc, ily07 and all other who have put my story in their favourites category, on alert or reviewed. I truly appreciate all of the support of you guys, it compels me to keep writing and continue to try entertain you with my work. I apologize for the delay on this chapter, I have had a lot to do as of late. However, I do not imagine that my chapter updates will be as frequent as I managed prior to this chapter.
By the way, please continue to send reviews my way. After all, criticism is one of the only ways that I am actually going to get better, especially as this is the first story I ever attempted. To be honest I am going out on a whim here, and I hope that you all can enjoy it. I am aware that the start of this story has been awfully angsty, but Usagi is still very much alone with no one there for her. Until she has that presence in her life again she will remain desperate and hopeless.
The Shadow Of Darkness
Chapter 3
Since that day, the promise has in fact been kept. He has left me to my own devices, but has watched my every move ever since. After this went on for a number a weeks, Naru finally caught on.
"Have you seen the way he looks at you? I think that he is totally into you!" She exclaimed.
I wince at this and just mumble back, "Can you please not screech? It's morning…it should be illegal to be that loud."
"What's that supposed to mean?! He is a total hunk, how can you not be interested?!"
"Because it is morning. What more explaining is there to do?"
"Fine, be a little grump!" she said as she blew a raspberry at me.
As this exchange went on, in my head I was wondering what it was that he had planned for me. The reality was that I knew that getting involved with him would not well in any way. If life has taught me anything, it is that you can never count on anyone nor their apparently good motives. I must make sure he stays away from Shingo and I. The reality is I can't approach the police because they would think that the story is absurd. Even now, I can barely believe it myself.
Despite this feeling, in the back of my head I have this feeling which I do not get with other people. It is a feeling of camadarie and a need to approach him. I feel that I know him even though I consciously am aware of the fact that I have never met him prior to him arriving at our school. It frightened me because people are not able to ever actually get me to truly like them. I have simply been hurt too many times; growing up the way I did automatically seperates me from everyone else. But I can act good enough to seem normal to my peers.
I am aware though that things are recently getting out of hand. This morning what I woke up to was my brother's shouts of pain from being beat by our mother, and when I tried to stop her she moved on to me instead. As I remember this, Artemis' words reverberate through my head, 'You don't have to believe me or trust me. Just realize that I have offered you an oppourtunity to leave the hellhole you find yourself in. If you still doubt me, use this to compel your decision: can you really just sit there and leave your brother to suffer when you know that you finally have a chance to escape?'. Though it is a longshot, I know that I must take this chance. 'I must protect Shingo at any cost. And I know that I simply cannot let this go on anymore'.
With my resolve set, I decide to approach him as soon as I can.
"Himeragi-san!" I call out, as I chase after him off the school yard.
"Tsukino-san, what is it?"
"Artemis, I have thought about what you said. Frankly I don't believe you… but…as you know about my situation, I have decided to take you up on your offer of refuge. Unless you have changed your mind…" I hear myself say. My body is in autopilot, and my heart is pounding as I realize what a life altering decision I am making.
"Of course it stands, I have wanted you to accept since I offered. But I miscommunicated something." As I hear this, my heart plummets suspecting something really awful. Instead I hear, "I don't really think you noticed in your state of panic, but my house is very large. It actually has an entirely separate living space that could be lived on by other people. I was offering that to you and your brother."
"What is it that you want in return? People don't do things for free."
"I wish for nothing in return for what I offer to you. At least not in the sense you are thinking. I just need your cooperation. I understand that you do not believe what I said to you, and understandably so. But in due time you will get it, and until then I need you to work with me. Please let me help you, I beg of you." He replies.
I simply stand there in shock as my mind is racing and unable to process all the implications of what has been said to me. I am actually being offered freedom at last, and there is no strings attached other than to go along with his lunacy. 'I can't be true, I mean it never has been before this point. So why would someone suddenly offer me freedom.' Even as I think this though, I realize that life with him cannot be possibly worse than what we deal with now. I know I must at least try.
"Okay, I will do it. But I will need to speak to my brother about it and sort it out with him first."
He shoots me the brightest smile as he sounds relieved, "Thank you! I assure you that you will not regret it. You have faced many hardships in your life, but you now at least have a fighting chance against it."
With that we part ways, and I go to seek out Shingo to have a conversation that will alter our entire lives.
As I watch the sunset, I can't help but wistfully wish that life was as beautiful as the sunset. I am aware that the world has its light and dark, but to me Shingo is the only redeeming feature in this world. He is the moon in my eternal night. I watch the sky change to the familiar night setting, as I wait for Shingo. I asked him to meet me in my room once our mother had passed out from drinking. As a here a light rapping on the door, I shake myself from my thoughts and announce, "Come in, Shingo."
As he closes the door he asks: "Why is it you wanted to talk to me in private so much?"
"You know how I asked you a little while ago about whether or not you would leave if you had the chance?"
"Yes, I do remember. Why would you ask-"
"I will explain it all to you, but I must know; was you answer a seriously considered one?"
"I think about it all the time. I want to leave so much! So why are you asking this?"
"We have been given a chance to leave here and start our lives away from-"
"YOU MEAN WE WILL BE ABLE TO LEAVE?!" He exclaimed.
Wincing, I warn him, "Keep your voice down, or you will wake her up. Yes, we have been given a chance to leave. Remember how I was gone late and said I was talking to someone? He offered to help us. Are you absolutely sure you want to do this?"
"Yes I do! I want this to happen so much! I can't wait to leave. He must be a great guy!"
Though Shingo is going through a lot and has matured, he still is very young and probably can't fully understand what this will mean. But it is what he wants, and that is what matters to me.
"Mom is going out drinking in a few days. We have until then to get ready. Anything that you want to keep I want you to have read by that point."
"Okay, I will." He replied. With that said, he left me to my thoughts.
"Beryl, the preparations are done. So how about instead of sulking around here, we actually move to accomplish our goals. Not one senshi has appeared, and we must move quickly to ensure that we do not lose that advantage." The man said.
"It is more forces you are speaking of here, so it is up to me to decide what it is that I wish to do with them. If I want them to loaf around, that is precisely what will happen!" She angrily replied.
"You seem to forget your position. Without me, you would still be trapped within that seal. Also, when I broke the seal I did slightly more than that. I also made it so that you must do precisely as I say…while retaining your own identity. I do find your struggles against it rather amusing. But this game of cat of mouse ends here. The time is now. We must move to capture the silver crystal, which was with the Lunar Royal Family. Following the destruction of the moon, I witnessed the Queen use it one last time. She reincarnated all of the people she could, other than herself. So it should be the Moon Princess who has the crystal. But the Queen would not be reckless enough to haphazardly just make it easy to access. Meaning that it is sealed, until a specific precursor is met. For now, the top priority is locating her."
"You give the moon scum too much credit-"
"Silence Beryl. I, unlike you, am not foolish enough to ignore the strength of my enemy. We face of formidable opponent. This is precisely why I took over this operation from you. Now get out of my sight."
'Just you wait, Sailor Senshi. This time I will accomplish my goals without hinderance.'
Alright people, that is the end of this one! I hope that you enjoyed it!
By the way, about Usagi's and Shingo's relationship, no they are not romantically involved. Speaking from experience, when you are that alone, whatever you good relationship is, you obsess about it. Take care, and please review!