Poisoned From Within

By Bashfulglowfly

Chapter Six

Mamoru escorted Usagi to her job at the convenience store then went to his apartment and told the Shitennou the story that she told him.

After he finished, Soichiro stood up and walked to his bedroom and shut the door. They heard things shatter.

Nobuyuki simply sat with his head in his hands not looking at anyone.

Jun stood up walked to the wall and punched it as hard as he could. Then he repaired the hole that he'd made and had Mamoru heal his broken hand.

Kazuya looked at his prince and laid a hand on his arm. "I'm sorry about your child."

Mamoru could only nod. He didn't trust himself to speak.

"I know who that man was." Said Kazuya. "His name was Adonis. He was Venusian. Venus and I talked about him a couple of times. She had told me that before we had even met Serenity and the Senshi, she told him that she could only care for him as a friend. Never as a lover." He sighed. "Of course, the fact that she flirted and flitted from man to man didn't help his beliefs."

"No, it probably didn't."

Nobuyuki looked up. "So who the hell was Beryl? She knew you. Apparently had seen you. But you didn't notice her. Where was she able to see you?"

Jun snorted. "She could have been anyone. From a nobleman's daughter to a tavern wench. We went everywhere in those days." He looked at Mamoru. "But what I'd like to know is where the other four Senshi are."

Mamoru leaned back in his chair and looked thoughtfully at his brothers. "I think that they are around Usagi's neck."

"What?"

"I think that they are around Usagi's neck. Sailors Pluto, Neptune, Uranus and Saturn. Serenity told me about them even though we never met them. Sailor Pluto had an item called the Garnet rod. She would be the garnet. Sailor Neptune's colors were a shade of aqua…therefore the aquamarine. Sailor Uranus' were blue and yellow, so she could be the yellow topaz. Sailor Saturn's colors were purple and black, that would make her the amethyst."

"That's stretching logic a bit." Protested Jun.

"Not really." Said Nobuyuki. "Not if you believe that Usagi is Serenity. And not if you believe that the Senshi were cursed by Queen Serenity."

Mamoru looked at him. "Have you asked the stars about Usagi?" Nobuyuki wouldn't look at him. "Did you ask the stars?" The question came out as a demand.

Nobuyuki sighed. "No. I have not asked the stars about her. I didn't want to. Because if she was not Serenity, then I might have let something slip letting you know that." He looked at his prince, eyes begging him to understand. "Usagi has made you happy. We…I…want you to be happy. You deserve to be happy."

Mamoru looked at Kazuya. "Did you know that he hadn't asked?"

Kazuya looked back at him, gray eyes steady. "No. But then I never bothered to ask him if he'd spoken to the stars or not."

Mamoru wanted to yell angrily at his two brothers but two lifetimes of Kazuya telling him to use his brains and think overruled him. He knew that the Shitennou loved him and the habit of protecting him even from himself was hard to break. "Please ask the stars if Usagi is Serenity, if the story she told me was true, and if the stones of Usagi's necklace are Pluto, Neptune, Uranus and Saturn."

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Nephrite came down from the roof. He looked at his brothers who were staring back at him. "The stars said yes to all three questions."

Mamoru smiled despite the tears on his face.

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It had been seven months since he'd first seen her at Café Crown and they'd been dating for five of those. And he had finally gotten her to agree to make love with him. It had taken some doing to make sure that they would have an entire weekend together so he could make sure that he made her first experience a good one.

Shingo just looked at him when he came to pick up Usagi and quietly told him to be good to her.

The Shitennou were kind and cleared out of the apartment. Mamoru appreciated their gesture when Usagi nervously asked where they were and he was able to say that they were away for the weekend.

Mamoru gazed down at the sleeping face of his new lover. The moonlight showed her face clearly, her lips curved in a contented smile. He ran a hand through her long hair that gleamed silver in the moon's white light.

She was so perfect. His beautiful Usagi. She had been hesitant and uncertain in the beginning but slowly she relaxed as he showed her the pleasures of the flesh. She was even able to tell him when he did something that she especially liked. Her blushes as she did so charmed him.

Her necklace was twisted around her neck so he straightened it until the stones were laying across the top of her breasts. Cautiously he touched the stones. They were warm. But that could have been from the heat of her body. But he knew he had to take the chance.

With a gentle finger, he touched each stone and whispered. "Sailor Pluto, I forgive you. Sailor Neptune, I forgive you. Sailor Uranus, I forgive you. Sailor Saturn, I forgive you."

Nothing happened.

Mamoru laughed to himself. He didn't know what he was expecting. A bright flash of light and four Senshi standing by his bedside? He grinned.

"What are you smiling about?" Usagi's voice was husky from sleep.

"I'm smiling because I am the luckiest man in the world tonight."

Usagi smiled back with innocent wickedness. "Would you like to get luckier?"

Mamoru murmured against her lips. "Yes!"

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It had taken another four months after they first made love to convince her to move in with him. He had, without remorse, used Shingo to achieve that goal. Usagi had turned him down the first time that he asked, so he made arrangements to have lunch with Shingo.

Mamoru was honest with Shingo. He spoke of how much he loved Usagi and that he wanted to marry her. Shingo already knew all of that, so that wasn't enough to convince him so Mamoru used Shingo's love for Usagi against him. "If the two of you move in with me, Usagi won't have to work three jobs."

Shingo was on his side from that moment on. Shingo hated seeing his sister getting old before her time. She was always worn out from working. And, privately, Shingo thought, Mamoru wasn't letting her get much sleep either, the horny bastard!

It had taken some doing but between Mamoru and Shingo, they got her to agree. Usagi at first insisted that she pay 2/3rds of the rent and expenses but Mamoru managed to talk her down to paying half. He had told her that he was independently wealthy because of his parents, even if he didn't really bother to dip into his trust fund all that much. His money didn't seem to cross her mind. It was obvious that she tended to think that he didn't have a lot, like herself, so needed to be careful. He would just smile when she would get on the subject of saving money.

The three of them sat down and figured out their monthly budget. Mamoru and Shingo quietly pointed out that Usagi would be able to quit one job and pay for her and Shingo's share of the expenses and still have money to set aside for Shingo's University years.

When she saw everything broke down month by month, she was pleased with the results but she muttered about her previous landlady's ridiculously high rent for such a lousy building. "This building is much nicer and in a nicer neighborhood and our half of the rent is still less than what we were paying before!" She frowned mightily, eyebrows drawn together. Mamoru thought that she looked terribly cute. "Okay, I'll quit working at the convenience store." That in and of itself pleased both Mamoru and Shingo because she had been robbed twice and somehow managed to escape unhurt…they didn't want to chance a third time.

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Mamoru was glad that they were able to find an apartment in a building not far from where he had been living previously. It was close to the University and to everything that they would need in every day life. The apartment had three bedrooms: one bedroom for Usagi and himself, one for Shingo and the third for him to study in.

The Shitennou were pleased because there was a four-bedroom apartment right next to his, so that they'd still be able to be close and protect him if needed. The one thing that Kazuya insisted on was a door be placed on the wall that separated the two apartments. Soichiro magically created it and then hid it, also using magic, from prying eyes.

Usagi didn't mind that Mamoru's friends followed them. She grew to like all of them very much. They treated Shingo like a younger brother. And even though Shingo had only the one leg, they didn't act like he was handicapped. They took him to the gym and lifted weights together. Kazuya found a dojo that specialized in working with people who were missing limbs. She knew that Shingo thought she didn't know about the problems he was having at school. But she knew. She had quietly gone to his school and spoke with the principal who assured her that the bullying would stop.

It didn't. But after Shingo used his new skills on the ones picking on him…he was left alone. Which made Usagi happy because Shingo was happy. She was hoping that he'd find a girlfriend next.

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Mamoru hung up the phone. "Jun says the pizza should be here in about 30 minutes." He called.

"Great!" called Usagi from the bedroom. "I'm almost finished here!"

Shingo looked at him from the kitchen where he was putting the dishes away.

Mamoru looked back at him and smiled. "What? It has all four food groups!"

Shingo just snorted in disgust. He had been the one in charge of cooking for Usagi and himself. Usagi could burn water. And because Usagi's work schedule was all over the place, Shingo made nutritious meals that could be frozen then heated for quick eating.

Mamoru suspected that Shingo would still be in charge of food now that the three of them were living together. Between his school schedule and Usagi's jobs, many meals would still be grab and run.

Shingo came out of the kitchen and looked at Mamoru. "When was that door put in?"

Mamoru looked at Shingo and frowned. "What door."

Shingo pointed at the door Soichiro had created and should have magically hidden. "That door."

Just then the doorbell rang. "Hold that thought." Said Mamoru. He was surprised that one of the guys would ring instead of coming in. He opened the door and looked out and then down. Standing there was the smallest women he had ever known. She had been his caseworker from when he woke up in the hospital to the news that his parents were dead to when he left the orphanage to live out on his own. "Wadayoshi-san!"