Chapter 8: A game of will they, won't they
Thank you all for the reviews! I'm so glad to know that there are still people out there who are enjoying this. I will admit that I have neglected writing this story in favor of drawing my girls instead. You can always check them out on my dA (username Koneko Tsukino) Enjoy!
Sakara was beginning to get rather tired of all the secrets, especially ones that she was not involved in. A week after the horror at the race they had all been out window shopping around the city when everyone's phones suddenly went off. Sakara stood there awkwardly while everyone checked them and exchanged awkward glances with each other. Sakara didn't miss the way Chikako and Moriko frowned at each other, clear displeasure written across their faces while everyone else just looked anxious.
"Oh! We, um, we have to go!" Usa-chan said too brightly. "Family meeting!"
"For all of you?" Sakara asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow. She could immediately guess at the topic, she just wished she was allowed to say something to the others.
"Sorry, Sakara-chan! We'll call you later?" Kumiko said.
"It's fine! My mom is probably done with her business today anyway. I'll just head back to the hotel," Sakara said, plastering a fake smile on her face and waving them off.
Not one to let things easily lie, Sakara waited until they had rounded the corner to follow them. She kept expecting them to head towards one of their houses and was surprised to find that they were headed to the Hikawa Shrine. Could something have happened with the Mars family? She wished she could just ask them.
So instead, she settled for asking Takeshi about it.
"It happened in the middle of the night at the shrine. Apparently, it was a small youma who was trying to eat all the birds. There was this light and Kohaku-chan and Isamu-kun transformed and kicked butt before their mom could even arrive on the scene," Takeshi explained later that evening as they sat together in his room. Too nervous to sit on his bed, they leaned against it on the floor, his TV aglow with a paused movie.
"Kohaku and Isamu? But I didn't know boys could be senshi!" Sakara gasped. She pictured Isamu in a senshi fuku and couldn't suppress her giggles.
"He's a kamen, a knight who protects and aids the senshi. Chiba-sama was referred to as Tuxedo Kamen back in the day," Takeshi said.
Sakara nodded, remembering what her mother had explained before. "So that just leaves your family and Chikako-chan's, huh?" Sakara asked.
"Yeah. Mori's been whining for a few weeks that Kazue is going to have the powers and that she'll be left out of the group," Takeshi revealed.
Sakara frowned. "She doesn't know that. Does anyone have any idea who is behind the attacks?"
Takeshi shook his head. "No. Mama and her friends have been trying figure it out but nothing is coming to mind. They're debating whether or not to allow the girls to fight."
"But we're the same age they were when they got their powers!" Sakara argued, shooting up.
"I guess that's the point. They thought it was too much stress for them to handle back then and they don't want to put the girls through it now. They know that they can handle anything so they don't see a reason for the girls to get involved," Takeshi explained, shrugging.
"There has to be a reason we're getting these powers, though! They can't just let us not use them! Besides, how do we even know if they still have powers? None of our mothers have sensed the attacks for themselves yet," Sakara argued, beginning to pace the room.
"They know what's best, Sakara. It might just be best to let them handle whatever's going on however they can."
Sakara huffed. "That's not fair. No one stopped them at their age."
Takeshi caught her wrist and pulled her back onto the floor, hugging her close to his side and leaned his head on hers. "No one was around to protect them. I'm sure everything they're doing is out of love."
Sakara sighed and leaned into his embrace. "I'm sorry, I'm ruining our date." She looked up at the movie that had been paused for what felt like forever now. "I know this is your favorite movie and that's really sweet that you want to share it with me, and here I am blabbing away about my problems. It's just so hard to know about all this stuff but not be in on it, you know? I feel like I'm stuck outside a super exclusive party that all my friends got into just because my dog ate my VIP pass and the bouncer doesn't believe me."
Takeshi chuckled. "You and your imagination."
Sakara clamped her mouth shut. "I'm sorry, I'll stop."
"No, it's alright. I understand. Honestly, I'm a bit jealous that Isamu was the one chosen to be as the kamen. I didn't even realize that a starseed could exist in more than one child from each line," Takeshi admitted. He shrugged. "But it's alright. Maybe we can change the stereotype up a bit: my girlfriend is the strong superhero fighting to protect the Earth with her dashing, powerless, but still super strong in his own way boyfriend."
Sakara giggled. "Now who has the imagination?" Feeling daring, she kissed him quickly.
Before anything else could happen, Kazue opened the door.
"Hey Tak—oh! Ooooh." Kazue smiled slyly, crossing her arms and leaning against the doorframe. "Seems I interrupted something, eh?"
"What do you want, Kazue?" Takeshi snapped, tightening his hold on the awkward-feeling Sakara at his side, both their faces alit with a vibrant blush.
"Mama wants to know if Sakara-chan wants to stay for dinner. Miyoko-chan, Chikako-chan, and Hotaru-chan are already here, so it's not going to be one of those awkward first family dinners where everyone is focused on the new girlfriend," Kazue assured Sakara with a friendly wink.
"Chikako-chan is here?" Sakara asked, confused. She had known Hotaru was over as they had run into each other on the way up to the house.
"Sakara-chan! What a surprise! I don't think Mori-chan is home yet, whatever are you doing here?" Hotaru had playfully gasped with a sly smile.
Sakara had rolled her eyes but was unable to hide her blush. If there was one other person who she could be no-holds-barred with, it was Hotaru. Hotaru and Sakara had gotten together for little lunches privately from the rest of the group where Hotaru would tell Sakara all about her childhood and what it was like to be raised as a senshi kid, and if Sakara was lucky she would get a story from Hotaru's previous life and would tell her what it was like being possessed and being reborn. It was always surreal to hear about, but then again so was realizing that your mother had been a princess of a different planet.
"Yeah, Mori and Chikako got here shortly after you did. They're acting like punished children, it's ridiculous," Kazue muttered as she walked away, conspicuously leaving the door open.
"Did you tell your sister about me?" Sakara asked in a hushed whisper. Kazue sounded close to making a senshi comment.
Takeshi grimaced as he up to close to door. "No, she's just being as candid as usual. It's one of her great quirks as a big sister."
"Good! I wouldn't want to piss my mom off by revealing my identity to anyone el—"
Naturally, there was a scream from just outside the house to cut Sakara off. Sakara beat Takeshi out his bedroom and raced towards the front door, followed none too far behind by the rest of the family. And, as life tends to go, there was a youma outside the house terrorizing the poor innocent citizens. Sakara grabbed for her henshin compact and nearly shouted out her transformation, only to realize that doing so would reveal herself in front of everyone else. Panicked, she began to look for a place to transform in private.
"Get inside, all of you! Hotaru, you come with me!" Makoto instructed.
"Mama!" Moriko cried out, but Daichi had already caught her around her waist and was dragging her back into the house. "Dai, let me go!"
"Takeshi, we can't leave them out there! We don't even know if your mom can transform anymore," Sakara argued as she was similarly being tugged inside.
"Your mom doesn't want you to endanger you or the secret," Takeshi replied quietly.
"But Takeshi, I'm a senshi, I can help!" Sakara shot back in a harsh whisper.
"Shoot, no one grabbed Chikako!" Daichi cursed once the door was shut and he took survey of the crowd.
"She's not getting all the fun!" No one had a chance to stop Moriko as she charged past the group and threw the door open.
"Moriko!" Kazue shouted. Her father grabbed the teen by her wrist before she had a chance to dash after her little sister, whispering something into her ear.
"Moriko, wait! It's dangerous!" Sakara cried out, breaking free from her boyfriend and running after her friend.
They appeared outside just in time to witness Makoto, shockingly still in civilian clothing, ushering away the would-be victims to safety while Hotaru/Sailor Saturn launched an attack.
"Mama!" Moriko was shouting, running to her mother's side right at Chikako's heels.
"You guys, wait!" Sakara shouted after them.
Stunned, all eyes turned to Sakara.
"Sakara, no, go back inside! Girls, what are you all doing out here? Get inside before you get hurt!" Makoto gasped.
The youma saw its opportunity and struck Makoto in her distraction.
"Mama!" Moriko screamed, running to her mother's side.
The girls screamed as the youma made to strike Moriko. A bright light that was only too familiar to Sakara appeared and moments later where Moriko and Chikako stood now were senshi. Chikako's fuku was dark blue and silver while Moriko's was lime green and black. Deciding that it would be easier to show than tell, Sakara took advantage of the moment and transformed.
Chikako and Moriko gaped at Sakara but Hotaru was quick to intervene.
"Questions later, for now let's get that youma!" Sailor Saturn instructed.
"Couldn't have said it better myself."
The girls turned in shock to see yet another senshi. This one had bright green hair to her shoulders and was wearing a plum and purple fuku.
"C'mon!" The mysterious senshi ordered, running at the youma.
"This is way too overstimulating," Chikako groaned, running into action after the others.
"Lightning Storm!" Moriko shouted. She threw one hand up and one towards the ground, gathering up sparks before throwing them in the direction of the youma.
The youma screamed in offense, whipping around to charge at the younger group.
"Chronos Typhoon!" the mystery senshi sent next.
"Sakara, watch out! Ice Wall!" Chikako thrust a hand forward, a wall of ice blocking the youma headed for Sakara.
"Crap, where is that sword?" Sakara cursed. She then remembered her mother saying that the sword had once been her weapon and Sakara wondered if it had only protected her the one time and now she was on her own to discover her own powers. What was her power? How had the others figured it out faster than her, she had experience! 'Think Sakara, think!' Just as Sakara began to feel useless, she felt a strong brush of wind against her cheek and could feel her power coming to her.
"Northern Wind!" Sakara shouted out, throwing her hands forward and blasting the youma onto it's back.
"I've got this now! Death Ribbon!" Hotaru shouted.
And with that, the youma burst into a pile of dust.
"Kami-san, when I tell you girls to stay inside, I mean it!" Makoto instantly snapped at the girls, whirling around immediately after the youma fell. "And you!" Makoto said, pointing at Sakara. "You—you're—"
"Haruka Ten'ou is my mother," Sakara admitted, wiping sweat from her brow and frowning as her glove got momentarily stuck on her tiara. Functioning in this would take some time to get used to.
"Okay, you're not the one I was going to point out, but wow, there's that to deal with. I meant you!" Everyone looked at the mysterious senshi. "Your powers are connected to Chronos, which means Pluto, which means…"
The girl smirked and gave a playful wave before jumping out of sight.
Makoto heavy sighed. "Damn I'm getting too old for this." She looked around to assess the damage. "Okay, the civilians all seem alright, and there's no major damage to the property, so let's all quietly go into the house before anyone notices us."
The group ran quickly down the block and into the Taji house, where a group of very annoyed people waited for them.
"Okay, wow, first, congratulations to you girls for getting your powers, that's really exciting. But second, seriously I'm going to kill you all for running out there like that! That was so stupid, you could have been killed! And not only did you put yourself in danger, but you put Mama and Hotaru in danger! You need to use your heads and think!" Kazue ranted as she helped shove everyone back into the house.
"Oh stop it," Moriko grumbled.
"You're an idiot!" Daichi snapped at his little sister. "And you! Your mom will never let you come over here again when she finds out!" Daichi snapped at Chikako. Hotaru, already back in her civilian form, quickly walked into her boyfriend's arms, where he lovingly embraced her.
"And what about her?" Kazue said, pointing at Sakara.
Sakara tried her best to shrink into Takeshi's welcoming embrace.
"Care to explain yourself?" Makoto asked, raising her eyebrow and staring her down like only a mother can.
"Um, can you teach us how to get back into normal clothes before we have this weird conversation?" Moriko asked, plucking at her skirt. "Although I will say, I love the improvements our fuku's have over yours!"
"All fuku's are different," Makoto said with a smirk. "And you just think about being back in your other clothes, it will happen," Makoto explained. "All men, please look away."
After a moment, everyone had returned to their normal clothes.
"Okay, everyone with crazy powers please come with me. Gentlemen, please make sure that dinner will be ready soon." Makoto led the group of girls into the family room, instructing everyone to have a seat on the couches. Kazue remained standing by her mother's side.
"Hey wait, why is Kazue with the group?" Moriko asked.
Kazue fished a henshin locket from her pocket. "Surprise, kiddo. But see, unlike you, I listen when Mama tells me what to do. I'm in charge of keeping you all in check while she and Hotaru-chan, the actual experienced senshi, take care of business."
Moriko looked shocked and hurt by this information.
"How long has this been going on for?" Chikako asked.
Makoto frowned. "There's been little attacks here and there since you girls were born. Kazue transformed when she was barely thirteen when she and I were out shopping one day. It was a fluke, so I never told the other girls."
"But what about you?" Moriko asked quietly.
Makoto looked away, sadness coloring her face. "I haven't been able to transform since then."
"Is that why we're getting our own powers? Because you no longer have yours?" Chikako asked. "I know that starseeds can be fickle things. The births of your own children could have transferred your powers to our own."
"Regardless, we're not letting you girls fight," Makoto said. "Whoever is coming to fight us, we can handle. I've met with my team and, despite our inabilities to transform, Usagi is still able to command her crystal and when she focuses enough, we gain access to our own as well. This is a terrible burden my friends and I have shouldered for years and you're just children. Our children. We all brought you into this world, a world that we have fought time and time again to save, and we'd be damned if we're going to let you risk your own lives to save it. Not while we still breathe."
"Oh Mama," Kazue said quietly, hugging her mother.
"Well, now that the cat's officially out of the bag with Sakara over here, what should we do?" Hotaru asked, nudging her would-be sister.
"Oh! Oh, please, don't even give me another thought. I'm just going to home now." Sakara tried her best, but she was quickly caught by Makoto.
Makoto held the teen at arm's length, carefully scrutinizing her. A slow smile spread onto her face. "I'm almost ashamed I didn't notice it before. You look so much like her, plus you can give my kid a run for his money, literally. Is your mom here with you?" She glanced over to Hotaru. "Does Michiru know?"
Sakara nodded. "She didn't want me telling anyone anything until Kaioh-san and I could meet first. So I guess this sort of ruined it."
"Well then, sounds like that is yet another secret I'll be adding to my usual list. I'll keep my mouth shut as far as the others are concerned until Tenou-san is ready to confront us all," Makoto promised.
Takeshi popped his head into the room. "So, who is ready for dinner?"
-End of chapter.
We're finally rounding an ending here, folks! There's only about a chapter or two left and I'm so grateful for everyone who has stuck out this forever-long journey with me! I love my Young Senshi so much and I'm glad that other's like them, too! I will see you all in the next chapter!