DISCLAIMERS:
All canon characters are (C) 1992 - whatever year it is Naoko Takeuchi and all other related parties. The Shadow senshi are (C) Wild Nature 2006. This is a fanfic based upon the anime version and all written work that this consists of is (C) 2006 Wild Nature.
The three Shadows are becoming closer and Pom-Pom's learning some new fun tricks! Friendship proves vital in a team and that's what makes allies.
But with another faceless monster and another poor victim, they need to begin to search for the three Triad Moon pieces before Void does.
Episode Nine: Learning Together; Even Pom-Pom Gets Some Fun
The room was spinning. Of course, after spending two hours straight chasing the other girls, she was bound to feel so exhausted. The other two Shadows sat in Eizou's room, trying to get their breath back. Apple was downstairs with Kakushi.
"Rule number one," Kaki said finally. "We do our OWN training. They're just way TOO much."
"Shuu.. You're talking too loud," Kakure held her hands to her head. "Haruka kept screaming in my ears!"
"You kept falling!" Kaki pointed out.
"I'm sorry if I'm not PERFECT!"
"Both of you, knock it off!" Eizou sat up, wincing. "We'll just try to limit the time... say a half hour?"
"Can't it be like five minutes?" Kaki groaned. "I had my sister laughing at me forever!"
"We just need to get more stamina," Kakure sat up carefully. "But I think I pulled my shoulder. Aye, that hurts!"
Eventually, they trekked downstairs. "Hi Mom!"
Chuukou and Boya were with their mother in the kitchen, watching her make cookies.
"Do you want me to get rid of the pests?" Eizou asked brightly.
Hanshou chuckled. "No, that won't be necessary. I promised they could lick the bowl."
"Oh well." They went outside as Kakushi waltzed in. He smiled and nodded to them.
"Hello ladies. How you all doing?"
"Fine, fine," Eizou tried to walk around him but he moved to block her easily.
"So, Kaki, Kakure, you guys seeing anyone? Cause, you know, I'm Mr. Single!"
"You're going to be Mr. Missing Balls if you don't move!" Eizou hissed.
He glared before tugging on her hair.
"OUCH!" She kicked him in the shin.
They were still for just a moment before they jumped each other, scrambling to get the better of the other.
Eizou was fast losing though, her body still feeling like lead as he pinned her to the ground. "Say uncle!"
"NO!"
"SAY UNCLE!"
"KAKUSHI! GET OFF YOUR SISTER!" Kokei ran over to his two children, wielding his trusty broom. "What kind of behavior is this!"
Whack! Whack! Went the broom on Kakushi's head. "Ow! Ow! Ow! I'm sorry!"
Eizou stayed down on the floor, breathing deeply. "I'm so freaking sore."
"You need to catch up to the Sol senshi," Apple stated. He pressed his snout against Eizou's fallen head. "Well, not too fast, though. You're pale. Drink some water!" He offered his bowl.
"Ew..."
"What? It's water!"
"It's got dog drool in it!" Eizou stood up, slowly stretching. "I feel so... strange."
"You train in soccer, you know," Apple said pointedly.
"For DEFENSE! Not anything offensive! And besides, since when is soccer fighting?"
"My ears!" Kaki flinched. "You certainly can reach some decibels!"
"Blah blah.."
"I don't mean to be rude but I should get home," Kakure waved goodbye.
"Me too. See you in school," Kaki nodded. "Bye Apple!"
And that left Eizou and Apple. "Hey, Apple. Do you ever want to go the moon?" She asked, looking up at the slowly strengthening moon. Nightfall was coming fast as well as the cold air.
"Why would I? This is home for me."
"Huh.. Well, I was just thinking, how lonely it must be for them, to be stuck there, don't you think?"
"You want to have people come and go? The Earth is not ready to see others that are not themselves."
"But you didn't see them!"
"You only met a few of them!"
"But.. It's just.. not fair. They're trapped, using the reflection of sunlight and they're trapped on that side of the moon, away from life."
"And what if there were life outside the moon?"
"Well, they would've communicated with the Dead Moon realm!"
"Can't always assume that. Sometimes we must watch before we move."
"Whatever," She bit her lip. "Duchess Nerthus didn't like it when I talked about my family. She must be a only child."
"Huh, well, nothing to worry about. You need to focus on Void."
"We don't know who he is, or what he is. All we know is that he seems to make clones of things that have no faces and these things can stick their hands inside people to pull out, err, one of those Triad Moon pieces?"
"Right. It doesn't seem to hurt the person but whenever you come up, they always aim at you."
"Great!" She threw her hands up in the air. "I'm a distraction tool! Perfect!" She was heading back inside. "Coming?"
"Your dad's not complaining that I'm sleeping in your room, is he?"
"I haven't heard him say anything," Eizou shrugged.
It was a very quiet week. Every day after school, the three girls met and trained under one of the Sol senshi, well, except Usagi. She ended training with them half of the time.
"God, I thought I did fine," Usagi mumbled, her face plastered in the grass.
"Can we stop?" Kakure whispered to Usagi.
"On the count of three, we run," Kaki jabbed her finger to the steps. "Run like the wind and never come back!"
"Get you lazy butts up! USAGI! Set the ideal up! You're SUPPOSED to be the best, remember?" Rei smirked.
"I am the best!" Usagi shot up. "How dare you..!"
Pellets of water balloons crashed on the poor girl and Kaki, Kakure, and Eizou took off running down the stairs.
"HEY!"
"SEE YOU TOMORROW!" They shouted as one, turning a corner.
They started to follow Kaki, she up front the most. "So I take it we're going to my place?" She said finally.
"Yea!" The two other cheered. Kaki shrugged.
It was a small home with a even smaller yard. It was well kept though and there were several child toys scatter haphazardly over the place. "Kashu-chan?"
"Kaki-chan! Kaki-chan!" Kashu-chan came prancing out, her hair flouncing. "Hi, Eizou-san! Kakure-san!"
"Mom home?"
"Yep!" She started to prance away. "Where you off to?" Kaki asked, gently catching her sister's arm.
"Next door to see Kana!" Kashu-chan pulled away and smiled brightly. "I told Mom! Don't worry!"
But Kaki stayed still until she saw her sister enter her friend's home.
"Protective much?" Eizou commented.
"Phsaw! I'm not.. okay, a little..." Kaki flushed. "She's so young!"
"Yea, yea. Let's go on in! I need a good soak of water!"
"Mom!" Kaki gently clacked her shoes to the rug, debris falling off gently. It had rained the other day and she didn't want to track any remainders of mud and such. The other two copied her, though Kakure almost lost her balance.
"Sheesh!" Eizou pushed Kakure off of her side. "You have the worst balance."
"I've seen Usagi with worse!" Kakure flushed.
"Honey?" Kaki's mother came out slowly, her body swishing in. She was a tall, round woman. She was beautiful though. With her crystal blue eyes and long magenta locks, she looked nearly like her daughter. "You have company. That's wonderful," she smiled, her teeth brightly white against her skin.
"Mom, this is Ginbano Eizou and this is Morino Kakure. We've formed a clique," Kaki grinned.
"Oh wow! Your smile's just as bright like your mom!" Kakure gasped, poking Kaki kidding-like in the other's cheek.
"Stop that!" Kaki grabbed the offending finger with a snort.
"Welcome! I'm Seino Shinkon, her mother, obviously," She beamed. "Please, feel free to have fun! Kaki, I sent Kashuryoku over next door. She was a bit underfoot," Shinkon laughed softly. "Such energy."
Kaki nodded. "Don't I know it! We'll be in my room."
"I'll send up some cookies and milk!"
"Thanks!" Kaki began to move down a hall to a moderate room. It was covered in papers and books.
Eizou thought it was study papers but she pulled them up and realized they were drawn pictures. Some of them were fantasy-based but most seemed to be realistic and good.
"Wow," Kakure grinned. "This looks so cool!" She was holding a partially completed landscape picture. "Where'd you do this?"
"I took a trip during last summer. This is actually a photo I took. I kind of cheat and draw the pictures I take," Kaki said sheepishly.
"But you do this by eye, right?"
"Uh huh!"
Eizou pushed her bag off her shoulder. "Who wants to do homework?"
The other two glanced at each other.
"Hey! Television!" Kakure cheered extra loudly. Eizou snorted.
"I thought we came to study! You know, Usagi and her friends meet once a week!"
"Yea, well, this is our first time together as a team! Let's enjoy the company and blah blah blah!" Kakure waggled her eyebrows.
"I thought you liked school work!"
"Yea, SCHOOL work, not HOME work!" Kakure rolled her eyes. "Come on! Let's have some fun!"
Morning rose as Eizou yawned. Apple was resting lightly next to her but stirred easily as she got up with a stretch. He seemed to copy her moves as her body elongated in a long, good pull. His buttocks hit the air as he spread his front paws forward.
"Stop that," Eizou frowned.
Apple's tongue came out as his tail wagged. "Another date tonight?"
"Yes, another date," Eizou stuck her tongue out as she pulled out some loose clothing. "But it's just a picnic today."
"Great! Can I come?"
"What?" Eizou was nearly out the door. "I don't think so!"
"Aww..." He tried a whimper but sighed noisily as Eizou had just left.
Eizou soon traversed downstairs. It was a good Sunday. She hummed as she looked around. "Hey, Kakushi, where is everyone?" She asked her brother, who lounged on the living room couch, sipping some pop.
"Mom and Dad took the boys to Grandma's."
"Why didn't you go?"
"Please, the twins are enough for Grandma. Besides, my cheeks still hurt from the last visit," He sucked noisily.
"Baby."
"Aw, like you'd go! She's just as bad with her pwecious little girlie wirlie!" He clasped his hands, pressing to his cheek as he blinked several times before rolling his eyes.
"I'm going to be gone for most of the day," Eizou began.
"Uh huh," Kakushi was busying himself with the newspaper, losing interest in his sister.
"I'm going on a picnic with Henshou."
"Uh huh."
"And remember all of those single friends I've made?"
"Uh huh."
"They all want to go out with you."
"Uh huh."
She sat there for a moment, wondering when he'd get it.
"What?" He frowned, finally having the words begin to sink in. "What'd you say?"
"Oh nothing."
"No, wait..." He reached out as she giggled and pranced off, sticking her tongue out at him.
"Nyah, nyah!" She laughed as she ran back upstairs.
It was around noon as she waited on the sidewalk. Henshou would be driving up any moment and she felt the excitement well up in her chest.
"Hi!" She shouted, seeing his car lumber up. It wheezed and her smiled faded slightly. "Err.. are you sure you don't want to walk?" She asked as he ran around to open her door.
"What?" He grinned. "It's a good car! It can still drive!"
The car gave a sputter. "See!" He said. "It agrees with me!"
"Cars can't talk."
"Neither can dogs," Henshou arched an eyebrow, grinning again.
"Well, got me there," She sighed as she got in and buckled herself. "Just promise to be careful," She told him.
"Absolutely!" He spun the wheel and the car shot off.
"HENSHOU!"
And he just laughed, resuming a careful driving. In moments, the park was reached and he parked, Eizou glad to get out.
"Hey! Wait!" He called out. "Come help me carry!"
"Please! You're a big, strong man!" But she went over anyways, grasping the blanket. He grabbed the basket with a huff.
"What, too heavy for you?"
"No! I just think I overstuffed it."
It certainly did. "And why?" Eizou asked finally as he started to lay out the blanket.
"Well, I wasn't sure how much you ate," He said. He regretted it almost instantly, seeing the raised eyebrows and deepening frown. "I mean... I know I'd probably eat like, what, twice as much as you?"
"Much better," She flopped down.
They hadn't sat for long when there was a loud cry. Pom-Pom ran to the two with big grins. "Hi Ei..zou.." She came to a standstill, staring at Henshou, unsure of something for a moment.
But she saw Eizou's face and she seemed to reach a inward decision. "Hello! My name is Pomona but everyone calls me Pom-Pom."
"Injuuno Henshou," He offered his hand of which she enthusiastically shook with a big bright smile. She sat down with a giggle.
"Uh, what are you doing?" Eizou asked with a quirked eyebrow.
"Oh," She had reached over and plucked a half sandwich from the basket and now stilled, the sandwich halfway to her mouth with it gapping open.
"It's okay if she stays," Henshou began.
To that, Eizou made a snort in her throat, glaring at him. Pom-Pom remained oblivious to it all as she stuffed her face.
"So," She munched loudly. "He knows who you are right? As Shadow Moon?"
"SHHUU!" Both of them went.
"What?"
"Remember! It's not something to be said out loud!" Eizou sighed.
"Why?"
"Aye, you're a bright one," Henshou patted her head.
"Oh, yea, the whole secret identity thing. But Henshou knows!"
"He... is a special circumstance."
"How'd he find out?" Pom-Pom asked innocently.
Eizou thought fast. "Uh! He caught me transforming!"
"Yea!" Henshou grinned too widely.
"Oh, I thought Henshou might be something more.. important. But hey, what do I know?" She dug into the basket, pulling out another sandwich and a soda can. "I'll be on my way now!"
But there was a loud ruckus just down by the basketball court and Eizou swore.
"You know, that's not very ladylike," Henshou smiled as Eizou stood up, turning to hide behind some trees.
"Stay there!" She shouted. Pom-Pom had also hid behind, coming out faster in her circus uniform.
"Leaves plenty for the imagination," Henshou said, complimenting Pom-Pom. Shadow Moon appeared at his side and whacked him. "OW! What was that for!"
"Idiot!" She took off, Pom-Pom at her side.
They found another faceless monster, its hands inside a small child. But it pulled back, angry because of the lack of item.
"Hey! Ugly!" Shadow Moon shouted. "Time to be stopped! Moonlight Casting!" She pressed her finger and watched the beam hit multiple times at the forehead and eyes. The monster shook his head, trying to clear the stings. It opened its mouth then, it's gums dripping in vile liquid.
"Ew..." Shadow Moon flinched. "That's just sick."
"Hey!" Pom-Pom pulled out her two blades. "Let me have some fun!"
"Where'd you hide those?"
"They're magical, remember?" Pom-Pom grinned.
The beast lunged at the two, causing them to dash apart. "Moonlight Casting!" Shadow Moon attacked again, causing the monster to halt. "Hurry! Try to barricade him or something!"
Pom-Pom's fingers danced on the hilts of her blades, spinning them before she threw them in a cross. It struck the ground, shining as it transformed into thick metal bars, locking around the monster. "It won't last long!" She told Shadow Moon hurriedly.
Shadow Moon felt herself summon the Triad Moon Staff. "Now! To finish you off!"
Words formed in her head. "Shadowed Illumination!" She shouted, holding up the staff up high above her head. Light shone into the violet gem and shot out at the three crescent moons, each beam of light hitting and disintegrating the monster into dust.
"Those are nifty," Shadow Moon told Pom-Pom as the other retrieved her blades. "Let's go!"
They disappeared before people arrived. Both ducked and reverted back to their civilian form.
"How do you transform?" Eizou frowned, scratching her head idly.
"Oh, it's like removing a layer of clothes."
"And changing back?"
"It's like removing a layer of clothes."
"Okay..." She eyed her. "Well, you're magically enhanced, I guess."
"I'll say!" Henshou had appeared. He had run over to them the moment he saw them.
"What did you say?" Eizou frowned. "Now, listen! STOP FLIRTING WITH HER!"
"But who could resist me?" Pom-Pom fluttered her eyelids, smiling at Henshou who blushed.
"He can!" She stomped Henshou's foot, causing him to double. "Down boy!"
He sighed noisily. "I was just trying to tease you, Eizou!"
"Do it another way!" Eizou stared at him. "I'm not used to boyfriends, okay! And having mine go around ogling other girls isn't fair to me!"
"I wasn't ogling and besides, Pom-Pom's way too young!"
"HEY!" Pom-Pom frowned. "I'm not THAT young!"
"Humph!" Eizou walked over to the blanket.
"I'll be off. I'll find Eizou later to hang out!" Pom-Pom waved him off, turning to run off.
He walked over slowly before stopping, facing her hunched back. "Come on, I'm sorry."
"You better be!" Eizou stared forward.
"How long are you going to mad at me?" He sat down next to her. His hand gently went up, trailing over her arm in tiny fingerprint steps. He traced the side of her chin lovingly. She merely turned her head away with another snort.
He was still for a moment. "Say, Eizou? Are you, by any chance, ticklish?"
"No!" She answered too quickly, a blush belying what she said.
"Oh?" He grinned, spying the already smile trying to burst free. "Then you won't mind.. if I do.. THIS!" He lunged, fingers splayed out as he began to tickle.
"A hahahhahaha!" She began to laugh, almost hysterical in moments as she tried to stop him but her laughter bubbled out until she was gasping for air. "ENOUGH! OHAAHAHAHAHHAHA! STOP PLEASE!" She howled.
"Feel better?" Henshou grinned openly, fully knowing the answer.
Eizou lay on her side, a spare giggle running out every so often. "Yes, thanks to you and your tickle fetish!"
"It's not a..." He saw her sticking her tongue out at him and he suddenly smiled. "Now that you mention that..."
"Now wait!"
"TICKLE TICKLE TICKLE!"
And she burst out laughing again, his fingers dancing over her belly and side, setting her into a gasping fit once more.
Henshou had dropped off Eizou after spending the day with her. He waved goodbye as she ran up the stairs. She heard Apple barking in the backyard and ran through the hallway to the kitchen.
"Hey!" Kokei smiled. "How was your date?"
Eizou stalled, unsure of how to discuss this topic with her father, not wanting to set off the paternal instinct for something stupid. "Fine."
"Really? What'd you do?"
"Play basketball," Eizou smiled at her own joke.
"That's nice. You know, you should invite him to dinner..." He turned toward her but she was out of the backdoor heading toward Apple. "Well, I'll discuss it with her later."