Chapter 5-Hurt
I held the phone as I paced in the living room. My heart pounded and I was so nervous. Finally, I dialed the number. It was better to just get over with this.
Ring. Ring. No answer. I checked the clock, it was already 11am. She should be up by now. I slammed the phone down, frustrated. The chance slipped away and I didn't feel like calling again.
"Try again." A small voice said, startling me. Hotaru came over and took the phone and the number. She dialed it and handed it back to me, all the while beaming. "Papa, can you ask Grandma if she wants to take me to the park. I already finished all the homework Setsuna-mama gave me."
Ring. Ring. "Hello?"
I opened my mouth and nothing came out. Sighed, Hotaru climbed onto me and took the phone.
"Hi, Grandma. It's Hotaru. What are you doing today? Uh-huh. Uh-huh. I was wondering if you want to go to the park today. It's so nice out. Mama can make sandwiches and we can all go out for a picnic. Oh….okay, I will ask papa. I will call you later? Okay…" Hotaru placed the phone down and turned to look at me with her puppy eyes.
"Papa, grandma said I have to ask for your permission. Is it okay? If you don't want to go, then I don't want to go. But I really really really want to go…."
Reluctantly, I nodded. I could never say no to my little firefly. Hotaru let out a happy squeal and picked up the phone again. For some reason, the two of them bonded instantly. Seeing mom braiding Hotaru's hair yesterday was strange and unsettling. I guess she had never gotten the chance to dress up her daughter.
Michiru was already pulling the ingredients out of the fridge, getting ready to make sandwiches. A groggy Setsuna woke and made her way into the kitchen. "Oi, family fun day with Haruka's mom? I think I am going to stay home today. Haruka, I think your mom thinks you are married to two women instead of one. Might want to explain that to her eh?" Michiru was laughing while I silently groaned inside. Was I the only one nervous about today?
Two hours later, the three of us piled into the car. I turned on the engine and I felt the same panic as before. Could we really do this? Could we have a regular picnic and pretend nothing was wrong?
"Come on, Papa. We are going to be late." Hotaru nudged me and looked at me annoyingly.
Putting my doubts aside, I pushed down on the accelerator. The sound of the engine soothed me slightly and I could breathe again. Michiru gently patted my hand, reminding me that it wasn't the end of the world.
Mom was already waiting at the park when we arrived. She smiled and waved to us. She sat on a huge picnic blanket and she had boxes of food spread out in front of her.
"Hi, Mrs. Tenou. I made sandwiches, you didn't have to buy more food." Michiru placed her basket down and sat down next to my mom. Hotaru promptly took the last vacant seat next to mom.
"Hi, Mom." I waved awkwardly and then sat next to Michiru. Mom reached over and took my hand, looking uncomfortable and grateful at the same time.
"Grandma, why did you buy so many different salads?" Hotaru opened each box, disappointed. She was going through her phase of "I hate all vegetables".
"Because papa likes her salads." Michiru jumped in with the explanation. Mom smiled and said she didn't know if I had changed my preference, so she brought all the different kinds.
"It's fine, mom. Thank you." I randomly picked one box and opened it. Mom's smile widened. She passed me a fork and a napkin, and then she stared at me as I ate.
The picnic was strangely peaceful. Mom and Hotaru chatted away happily; Michiru joined in and the conversation turned into "swapping embarrassing Haruka stories" time. Weirdly enough, I felt myself relax and I lied down on the blanket.
"Kaioh Michiru. I have found you." A small figure appeared behind the bushes, shrouded by shadows. Menacingly, she slowly advanced.
I sat up, my hand clutched the transformation wand in my pocket. It was Sailor Iron Mouse.
Michiru told Hotaru to run and to protect Grandma. Without another word, she stood up and dragged Grandma into the forest.
"Kaioh Michiru, the famous violinist. I think your star seed will be beautiful." Two bright shots came out of Sailor Iron Mouse's bracelets, firing straight at Michiru.
"Neptune Planet Power Make Up!" "Uranus Planet Power Make Up!" We both transformed and leapt out of the way. The shots hit the tree and it exploded.
Not your lucky day, Sailor Iron Mouse. Acting in unison, we sent out our attacks at the evil Sailor. Not expecting Michiru to get away, she was struck.
"You are a Sailor Scout? Oh, Galaxia-sama would be happy to hear that. Hm, two against one, that seemed hardly fair…let's see if we could balance the scale a bit." She started leaping from tree to tree while scanning the ground underneath.
Neptune and I followed.
"Uranus, there." Michiru pointed to a clearing up ahead. Something was wrong. Sailor Iron Mouse was standing in the middle of the field and grinning. Beside her, Hotaru lay unconscious and someone was wrapped in black vines.
"SAILOR MOM!" A phage emerged from the vine cocoon.
I stood there, dumbfounded. Anger flared inside me and I allowed it to collect, fueling my powers. "WORLD SHAKING!" I aimed my attack at Mouse. Despicably, she leapt up and then hid behind the phage.
"Neptune. Call the others." We need the princess to heal mom.
"Sailor Mom, don't just stand there. It's time to punish these two very bad girls." Sailor Mouse commanded.
"Hehehe…." Mom's mouth twisted up in a grotesque smile. Phage mom raised her hand and razor sharp hair pins materialized in her hand. "Your hair is too plain…" she hurled the pins straight at me and Neptune.
We started leaping and running, trying to dodge all of them. Neptune rolled under the phage and grabbed Hotaru. I started running, drawing the phage's attention to me. "Hey, Sailor Mom. You missed."
Swish. A few more pins flew toward me. They were useless against the wind. No one could catch the wind. I was so focused on the phage that I nearly ran into Sailor Mouse's trap. I dodged her attack and leapt out of the way at the last minute, but the pins drove deep into my legs.
"Uranus!" Neptune shrieked. "Deep submerge." Her attack hit the phage directly, momentarily stunned the monster.
"World Shaking!" I threw my attack at Sailor Mouse and it made a direct hit. The enemy screamed and one of the bracelets broke. Cowardly, she summoned her phone booth and hid inside.
"You will regret this, Sailor Uranus. Have fun killing each other. I would love to stay and watch, but I need Galaxia-sama to fix this bracelet." With that, she vanished with the phone booth.
Just in time, Sailor Moon and the scouts showed up. The princess raised her rod and sent forth her healing powers. Mom was restored. I ran to catch her as she fell.
"Haruka?" Her eyes fluttered open, stared at me with wonder. With her energy spent, her head flopped to one side as she lost her consciousness.