AN: I do not own Sailor Moon or its characters. I acknowledge Naoko Takeuchi as its creator and its owner.
This time 'round, thanks goes out to LoveInTheBattleField, Lychee-ran and Wishfull-star for your reviews! Thanks also to Galaxy Princess, witchhazelmoon, Nanarise, Princess Ess, RainonSaturn, Silver-Millennium and .1.
Guys, could you let me know what you are thinking of how is unfolding? Like how do you feel about the relationships, the plot and all of that jazz? Should I try to add in humour?
The Shadow Of Darkness
Chapter 8
A few days have passed since I received that call from Chiba-san; and despite the encouraging sentiments that were being presented to me by him at the time, my brother still has yet to awaken. It is not that I ignored what he said to me, I went and visited my brother and followed his instructions to a fault, but it has been apparently for naught. I have tried to find Chiba to discuss the situations and outline precisely how I feel about him giving misleading information about my brother, but for whatever reason I have been unable to find him. I had been determined to track him down and have a civil discussion with him; until I found out that he had actually brought the apparent fault of the doctor to the necessary authorities and the doctor was in fact being investigated and that it was turning out that he had been withholding information from patients over the years. Since Chiba had brought it forward, apparently the trail of evidence has been impossible to avoid.
Consequently, with the likely departure of the doctor that Chiba had been under the supervision under, he had returned to the university he was attending to find a new internship and all the doctor's on site were being investigated. Hardly encouraging that these are the people who are presently taking care of my brother. I snorted aloud in contempt, attracting dirty looks from the people around me.
I sit wondering about Chiba though. It seems that I am flying back and forth across the spectrum in regards to my feelings for him, for negative to positive and so on. Though, this even in light of the fact that he had actually not been lying about the doctor and my brother, as confirmed by the staff at the hospital after taking over the case from the Yoshinda, I cannot help but feel highly resentful of him for raising my hopes about Shingo waking up, as he is the most important person to me. To have my deepest desire right now dangled so haphazardly in front of me was affronting. Even though it is not his fault I need to hold someone accountable I feel, and he is taking the brunt of it. A little, nagging voice in my head keeps telling me that both my mother and the monster are the causes of this situation in the first place. I quell this voice though. I need a Scapegoat. And he is it.
As I sit looking at my brother desperation shoots up through me, flowing through my body in the very same manner as my blood. Thinking of him only raises memories I have of him, that seem as though they are from a lifetime ago. Somehow I feel as though the battlefield I thought my life had used to be had gone from a battle to screw M.A.D., we'll nuke each other anyways! Though I don't know anything about the people behind the attack on Shingo or even anything about this whole ordeal, I know that I need to be prepared to fight them.
To this end, Artemis has started to try to teach me to fight. When asked what kind of martial art he would be teaching me, he regarded me coolly and sarcastically responded, "It is called the do-anything-you-possibly-can-style. Or alternatively, I-don't-care-about-names-as-long-as-I-win. Martial arts are great for mental and physical stress, but not all of it is necessary practical in every situation. If you want to learn a martial I would suggest something like Muay thai, but I just want to give you one simple skill; survival. That is not something that stances can teach you, only experience. To that end I will be fighting you armed, unarmed and the like to help you learn. I know it is not pleasant but really right now living can be your only focus. That is why I must ask you to continue to do what you have done all along. Then, maybe, just maybe, we might be able to wade our way through this nightmare.''
It had not been fun, believe you me, it truly sucked. But I nonetheless continued to get up, even if only for another round of beatings. He told me I was lucky in my first encounter. That I would not always have so much luck on my side for things to work out so favourably for me. And I know that he is right. It is the fact that I hate the most; knowing that I am still very vulnerable. That even now I still cannot be safe even now that I have gotten away from the tormentors of my childhood.
Artemis has been surprisingly good to me. If the truth be told, it was his rude and gruff manner that made me comfortable around him because it assured me that he was not trying to be polite to me. People who try to be polite are always approaching me with hidden ulterior motives. Because he is not like that it makes me less guarded around him, if only slightly. While still suspicious of him, it is clear to me right now that I can offer him some trust. For now anyways. Neither of us is happy with the situation, that much is obvious. But we are both attempting to make due with it as much we can. Sometimes he gets all distant though, as though he was expecting a different response from me. And the weird part is that I got the sense it was because in sense of him knowing me and me acting weird. Knowing I will not figure out the conundrum that is Artemis, I try to find the doctors for a status update on my brother from today, before heading on back the Artemis; dreading what I will find there after these few days of "survival training."
Makoto was sitting down with her friends who were sitting talking with her, and to her disappointment, a little put off about Usagi after meeting her. It wasn't that they could not relate to her and Makoto, they all had stories that could at the very least rival their experiences. It was the fact that they COULD relate that bothered them she knew. They did not like the idea of someone being able to understand what was going on in their heads, when they were very unhappy with it themselves. To be honest, their response was to be expected. That didn't mean that they were off the hook; however, they would be hearing about this from Makoto. The end of that meeting was not the time; however, now she would pursue to speak to them all.
Not that her friends are in anyway bad people. They just have truly been victims of circumstance and have been trying to make due in life without luck being one their respective sides. Firstly you have Hino Rei, a hot-tempered priestess. Despite her natural disposition to anger, she also could be a sweet girl-provided you avoided the minefield of triggers to fire up her anger. What people really get scared off by, thinking it is always anger, are false. It is passion that drives her, passion beyond anyone Makoto had ever seen and it made her truly glad to have her as a friend rather than as someone to go against her. Truly the best analogy for the girl is fire; beautiful, passionate, consuming and only getting brighter and more powerful the more fuel you add.
Then you have a girl who is the complete opposite, and if anything is like ice. Cold, distant and something to be admired from afar. Slow-moving, but reshaping everything it touches. Mizuno Ami is a highly intelligent who was impossible to get close to, Makoto had to admit. When Makoto had asked her why it was that she spent time with them and doing things with them, she merely replied that it was because they would not be bothered by her personality, and that she found us interesting, unlike most people. As time passed she went on to tell us that she wanted to figure out what it was that made us tick, because we were such a different group of people, as opposed to the horde known as the general public. With time she has become one of us, and we have begun to appreciate her and see past the distant personality and understand her subtle cues.
Aino Minako. The pure bundle of energy. Always changing and shifting. She is the fuel in any given situation, always making things happen. She is the only one in our group that is accepted by people outside it. Likely because she is the best actor, the most convincing in our attempts to make people believe our grand deception, that we are just like them. That our lives have just been like ours. She is always the one who gets us together and doing things. In many ways you could say that she is our group leader. She seems to be the one that keeps as all bound together, because somehow she is like us all in a different way. Different people bring out a completely different person in her. But what drives her is love. Not that any of us truly believe in it either than her. But we all want it.
Then there is myself, Kino Makoto. I am the lightning of the group. The most spontaneous person of our group. I am always the first one to decide what to do, how to respond. While I am passionate like Rei, it is not in the same, consuming manner as her. It is more of a quiet and hidden passion, only visible in the moment I act. I am very direct and try to get to the heart of the matter, piercing through all veils that stand in my way.
We form a bizarre group at best, and I know that Usagi is meant to be a part of that group. I just need to crack through my friend's barriers and let them truly give her a chance. Because if she joins us, I have this feeling in my gut that our group will finally be complete. And if it is, maybe we will all finally be able to emerge from the shadows of our darkness, and into the light of a new life. The whole time when we had hungout it had felt awkward and forced, except for a few moments, where we go along great. While not much, it is enough to give me hope. That is enough to at least try to make it work. With that in mind, I try to think of ways to break the ice between Usagi and my friends.
As I watch Usagi get back up, I cannot help but admire her grit and continuing to keep getting back up despite the beatings she was taking from me. While she is taking to this training regiment well, I know full well that I cannot train her to properly fight in the short time we have before the enemy unleashes its full might upon us. With that in mind, I have decided to try to make her able to take a beating, learn to anticipate the different tactics that she will face from her enemies, and make her learn to use innovation to try to make up for her lack of experience by using tactics her opponents lack experience with. Hence today, I decided brawling was too simple. It was time to move to….a new way of fighting. Grinning in anticipation I provoke her, "Are you ready to continue? Or should we take a break to fix your chipped nail?"
Glaring at me, she responds, "Enough taunting me! The real question is are you ready to go old man! I know that you are fossilizing as we speak over there, but bear with me!"
My eyes narrow to slits as I inform her, "That's going to cost you. Big time. Playtime is over, so I hope that you enjoy your kinder surprise!"
I morph into to my cat form and lounge at her, nicking her on the ankle with my paw with my claws retracted. She looks at me in shock, struggling to form words until she finally is able to speak, "How….what….how is that fair? You caught me completely off-guard! How was I supposed to expect you to turn into a cat?"
"That was the point, Usagi. You will face many enemies that will have a trump card that they will try to use to catch you off guard. A human and youma fight are 2 entirely different things. They will not just use sucker punch after sucker punch. They will use anything they have to accomplish one goal-to kill their intended target. This demonstration does not even consider their abilities that they have because they are youma. Just like you they will have power, which I cannot demonstrate. The craziest thing I can do it turn into a human form."
She shakes her head and says, "Still, you didn't have to scratch me…." She pauses as she slowly process what I said. "WAIT! WHAT?! You turn into a human?! But…don't you mean the other the around?"
Chuckling at her response I tell her, "I was born as I cat so I think that what I said is correct. It seems a little strange doesn't it? Anyways, I will attempt to attack you as a cat. You need to learn to deal with opponents that are much more agile than you." Grinning like a madman I add, "That's the official reason anyways. The real reason is just because I nick you over and over again!" And with that said, I pounce.
Mamoru was reflecting on the events of the past few days. Or rather on the call he had given that girl. For some strange reason he had been convinced that he needed to set the record straight- even at the cost of his position at the hospital, choosing to fight this battle before he was even in a position to influence that outcome of it and while the doctor was now going to be fired, he had lost his position at that hospital because it was decided it would be best for Mamoru to restart at another hospital because of everything that had happened at the previous hospital. Which meant he left behind the girl and the boy. At it bothered him.
He wanted the oppourtunity to talk to the girl again, and the boy was the only plausible way to do so. Not to mention the fact that the boy reminded Mamoru of himself. I have always had an ability where when I touch someone, I might occasionally glean access to one of their memories. When I went to checkup on the boy one final time before leaving, I had briefly brushed against his hand. I have never regretted accidental contact more in my life. And this time and saw the girl getting beat by someone, experiencing it from the boy's perspective, thoughts and feelings.
It spoke volumes of what they had experienced, and yet it had made sense. The girl's lack of caring over her mother's death and the fact that the attack had not put her in shock, as though she was used to such occurrences. It had put Mamoru off, but none of the other doctors had taken note of it, so he had left the subject unspoken off.
After that moment, Mamoru had decided to forgo all manners and try and … figure out the girl, for lack of better way of putting it. His interested had been piqued, and if he is anything, Chiba Mamoru was not a quitter. He wanted to figure out Usagi, because the girl had a certain amount of mystery surrounding her, unanswered questions. There was more to his interest in the girl, but he would never admit it to himself or anyone else.
As Kunzite walked along, he tried to block out the incessant whining of his companions, which to his everlasting regret, he was not able to fully do. He tried to be patient, he truly had. But even a man as stoic as Kunzite has the point where his tolerance is pushed beyond its limits. And Jadeite was just the man that lit the fuse whilst complaining, "Do we really have to wear these stuffy outfits? Why can't we just wear our general uniforms? I mean-"
Abruptly, Kunzite spun around and fixed his glare of Jadeite, grinding out, "Cut out that incessant whining of yours! Let's not forget that this whole idea was yours in the first bloody place! We have a mission, which is far more important than your fashion problems! I will not put up with this today!"
After hearing a murmur of dissent, Kunzite demanded, "What was that?!"
Jadeite not backing down said, "I said that you need to stop being so grumpy and tell us these things before you blow a gasket! Instead of sitting there all high, mighty and stoic, Mr. Absolutely-nothing-can-get-me-to-react!"
"If you would like I can make you feel so much pain that you will be expressive enough for the both of us !"
Nephrite took his chance to intervene saying scathingly, "Will you 2 idiots cut it out? We have much more important matters to deal with right now. It is about to get started, and we cannot draw unnecessary attention to ourselves. We cannot figure out what we need to do if we have people noticing every last thing we do!"
Zoicite nodded in agreement, "Exactly, Nephrite. Anyways let's quiet down so we will hear when we are summoned."
Kunzite paused and then said, "Best of luck to you, gentlemen. Let us all hopefully achieve what we wanted to. We will talk again later, for now let us part ways."
Kunzite sat, waiting to hear the call from the call to come in.
"Alrighty, class please welcome our new transfer student. Please come in and introduce yourself, Kunzite-san"
AN: There you people have it, my clichéd plot twist. But now most of the setting up of the story is set up, so next time anticipate getting into the juicy stuff people! As always, please leave your thoughts in a review.