Once again, I'm terribly sorry about the delay. I do have a good reason this time – I went to France for two weeks and then spent another two weeks on trying to work through everything I'd missed in school during that time. And then when you add the fact that I'm not the world's fastest author either... Well, let's just say it's not a winning combination.

I've barely started writing chapter six – I've been writing two chapters ahead this whole time – so I'm definitely behind. But, since I don't want to keep you guys waiting, I'm posting this anyway.

Now, read this chapter slowly, because even though it may not seem like it, a lot of things happen in this chapter. That's all I'm going to say. ;)

So, enjoy. I'll try to give out the next chapter a bit faster, but I can't promise anything. School is dragging me down...

-Cherry

A huge special thank-you to Luna a.k.a Temptation Angel for helping me with the Haruna scene. It wouldn't have been half as good without you!

Angels and Demons

Chapter four – Darkness is Closing In

Usagi was basically flying down the street. She was panting heavily but she didn't slow down. She didn't have the time to. "I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!" she wailed. She was hideously late, and she knew it. In fact, she'd never been this late before – she had never before woken up after school had started. "Haruna-sensei's going to kill me. I'm so late!"

She rushed through the entrance to school, not stopping until she'd reached her homeroom. She took a brief moment to regain her breath before raising her hand to knock. It was too late for an attempt to sneak in.

Haruna opened the door a brief moment later. "Tsukino-san, you're later than usual, I see."

Usagi flushed. "Anou, I…eto…"

Haruna shook her head, crossing her arms. "Detention, Tsukino-san."

Her shoulder slumped and her head dropped to her chest. "Hai."

Haruna pointed towards Usagi's vacant seat. "Take your seat; we're about to start the math-test."

A terrified squeak escaped her lips. "T-test?" she stammered, slumping into her seat, feeling defeated. This was definitely not turning out to be her day…

She sighed, sinking further down in her seat as Haruna dropped the test paper on her bench. Usagi gripped her pen, mentally preparing herself for another failed test. She scribbled her name hastily on the top of the paper before skimming through its contents.

She gasped, her eyes widening. "I know that one…" she hastily scribbled the answer to the first equation. "And that one… And that one…" Her eyes widened even more, her pencil basically flying over the sheet of paper. It actually made sense. She had actually understood what the test was about.

Usagi gaped at her already completed test. Silently she wondered if the world was coming to an end. She straightened, throwing the window beside her a quick glance, expecting to see asteroids on crash-course with earth, death-rays aimed at them or at least an enormous youma looming about, but there was nothing.

"Usagi-chan!"

Usagi jerked back into reality at the sound of her name. She glanced around quizzically. "Huh?"

"Usagi-chan…" A small note dropped into her lap.

She glanced around again, her eyes locking with Naru.

Naru nodded her head softly. "Ami-chan asked me to give it to you before class started," she whispered before returning her attention to her test.

Usagi glanced around the room once more, making sure that Haruna wasn't looking, before unfolding the note in her hands. The note had been written hastily, she could tell by the slight slant in Ami's usually tidy handwriting, but it was still fully readable.

Her eyes traveled over the note as she skimmed through its content. She slumped back into her chair. They wanted to have a meeting directly after school? And she who had detention! She resisted the urge to bang her head against the bench. This was definitely not turning out to be her day at all! All she wanted was to go home…

The rest of they school day passed by in a slow haze. Usagi couldn't concentrate hard enough to either do or remember anything that she had been told. Instead, she altered between staring out the window longingly and glancing at the clock. The minutes seemed to drag by. If it wasn't for the occasional ticking, she could have sworn the clock had stopped.

Usagi sighed, dropping her head against her bench. Moments later, she was asleep, snoring softly.

"Class dismissed!"

Usagi squeaked as Haruna's voice jerked her back to consciousness. She leaped up violently, her chair toppling over behind her. She picked up her books, about to rush through the door when a voice interrupted her.

"Tsukino-san!"

She paused at the door, her eyebrows raised. "Hai?"

"Detention."

Her shoulders slumped and her head dropped to her chest dejectedly. "Oh. Right. I had forgotten about that." She walked back to her bench, her long hair scraping against the floor, gathering dirt with every step. She looked, all in all, as if someone just had sentenced her to her death.

Haruna placed a single sheet of paper in front of her. "Answer all of these questions. You may leave when you're finished," she stated simply, returning to her desk in quick strides. "Might as well grade those tests…" She drew a wary hand through her wavy red hair, leaving her usually tidy hairstyle disheveled.

Usagi stared blankly at the paper before her. The words blurred together and the letters on it seemed to dance mockingly before her eyes. English. Why on earth did it have to be English?

She bit her lip in concentration, desperately trying to understand the foreign words before her. "I…eto…wa-nt-" the words rolled of her tongue clumsily as she staggered with the pronunciation. She tapped her pencil against her bench impatiently. "I wa-nt to…b-b-uy a…" She gave a soft growl of annoyance, throwing up her hands in defeat. It didn't matter how hard she tried, she still didn't understand the words anyway.

She moaned, letting her eyes flicker between the clock on the wall and Haruna.

Haruna flipped the paper she'd been grading, gripping another paper in the same process before pausing, returning to the already graded paper. She gave out a loud shriek. "Tsukino-san! What's the meaning of this?" she cried.

Usagi squeaked, toppling backwards together with her chair. "Haruna-sensei?" she moaned, stars dancing before her eyes.

Haruna shoved the paper into her face. "What's the meaning of this?"

She gripped the paper nervously, moving it from out of her face. "I-I don't understand…"

Haruna gave out an aggravated sigh, crossing her arms. "The grade, Tsukino-san."

She gulped, closing her eyes anxiously. Why was Haruna so angry? Had she scored even lower than normal? She opened her eyes slowly, peering at her grade. Her eyes bulged. "Six—sixty-three point five?" she stammered when she finally managed to pick her jaw from the floor. It was a passing grade. A very good passing grade, even – or, at least to her.

But why was Haruna so angry, then?

Haruna frowned. "You sit beside Osaka-san, do you not?"

Usagi nodded slowly. "Hai."

Her scowl seemed to deepen momentarily before giving away to disappointment. "And she scored just some few points more than you. Tsukino-san, I'm very disappointed in you."

"Nani?" she squeaked, her eyes widening quizzically. She paused for a moment, her eyes narrowing angrily as she realized what her teacher was accusing her of. "Haruna-sensei! I didn't cheat!" she cried, her crystal blue eyes darkening dangerously. "I had…" she paused for a short moment, "a friend tutoring me last night!"

There was a slight pause. "Oh, really?" Haruna muttered, her mouth curling into a disbelieving smile. "And who might this friend be?"

The anger seemed to dissipate in a matter of moments, giving away for a completely different emotion to take its place. Panic. "Anou…eto…it's a friend."

Haruna crossed her arms over her chest. "Indeed? And does this friend have a name?"

Usagi let out a shrill laugh, rubbing her neck tiredly. "Hai."

"And that would be...?" She tilted her head slightly to the side.

Usagi laughed again, her eyes flickering between Haruna and the door. Silently she wondered if she'd make it outside if she made a run for it. "Anou...I can't tell you that. He's...eto...very shy?"

Haruna clicked her tongue disapprovingly. "Tsukino-san…."

She rubbed her neck tiredly. What was she supposed to say? 'Oh, you've probably heard of him. You see, I was walking back home from after a battle the other day when I bumped into a mortally wounded Tuxedo Kamen-sama. I managed to drag him home and help him with his injuries and now we've become rather good friends. It's a bit hard not too when you're lying half-naked in someone else's attic. Anyway, he decided to tutor me yesterday and that's that…'? Oh, yes. She was sure that would go over well…

Haruna tapped her foot impatiently. "I'm waiting, Tsukino-san."

"Anou...I don't know his name," she replied truthfully after a moment of silence

"So you want me to believe that you've been tutored by a man who's so incredibly shy he hasn't told you his name?"

"Eh-hehehe…hai?"

Haruna shook her head. "I'm going to call your parents. I'm deeply disappointed in you, Tsukino-san."

"But…but…" she stammered, her mind running miles a minute. "But I can prove it," she whispered suddenly, her voice nearly cracking.

Haruna paused in mid-step, abruptly twirling around. "How?"

She fidgeted for a moment under her intense gaze. "He wrote some notes in my math book. He said he'd written comments on the things I needed to improve on." She quickly flipped through the pages of her book before stopping at the one she had gone through with Tuxedo Kamen. "Here. See?" She held out the book slowly, almost nervously, for Haruna to see.

Haruna quirked an eyebrow, quickly scanning through the opened page, her eyes widening at the sight of the small notes in the margin.

Don't forget the negative numbers.

Haruna gave a sharp intake of breath. The man – whoever it was – had commented on the very same problems Usagi had during the test – she kept forgetting about negative numbers. Haruna breathed out slowly, desperately trying to tell herself that the world really hadn't begun to revolve in reverse. It just felt that way. "You…you may leave."

"Nani? Really?"

Haruna nodded as she staggered to her desk, quickly digging through her many drawers. "Where is it? I know I left it somewhere around… Aha. There it is." She gripped a pencil hastily, almost desperately, from her desk.

And as Usagi closed the door behind her, she could have sworn she heard Haruna mutter to herself.

"Dear diary. I swear, the world will collapse and we're all going to die. Usagi passed a test…"

Her footsteps thundered against the pavement as she sped towards the address Ami had given her earlier. She was panting heavily, her lungs burning, and sweat dripped from her forehead, and yet she refused to stop running. She was already an hour late for their meeting thanks to Haruna and her detention.

"I'm late again!" she wailed breathlessly, dodging people to the left and right, desperately trying to avoid running into them. She stopped suddenly, staring at one of the road signs before taking off again, running into a nearby park. "Rei-chan's going to kill me when I –Oof!" she cried as she ran headfirst into something – or rather someone.

She tumbled helplessly to the ground with a groan, landing painfully on her backside. Of course, a lousy day just wasn't complete without running into him. "Listen, Mamoru-baka, I've had a really –Oh!" she squeaked as she looked up, catching the first glimpse of the man's face. Instead of the sneering face of the baka, as she'd expected, it was a confused – and completely unfamiliar – face of a rather young man with long, wavy brown, hair.

She leaped onto her feet, bowing hastily. "Gomen nasai!" she stammered. "I thought it was someone else… I –Oh, Ami-chan!" she called, spotting the blue haired genius over the man's shoulder. She took off, throwing a last "Gomen nasai" over her shoulder.

Ami smiled. "Oh, there you are Usagi-chan."

Rei tapped her foot impatiently against the ground. "You're late," she said, jerking her head upwards sharply, making her dark hair flutter around her like a silky drapery.

Usagi sniffed indignantly before sticking out her tongue. She opened her mouth to make a snappy reply, but was interrupted when Ami stepped between them, shaking her head wearily. She motioned towards the bench behind them. "We need to talk," she said simply before slipping down onto the bench.

Usagi nodded, slumping down beside her. She looked around, slowly taking in the beauty of her surroundings. The park truly was beautiful. The trees rustled softly in the wind, the quiet twittering of birds wafting like the breeze among them, the lake sparkled merrily under the sunlight. She smiled contently, leaning back against the bench. "It's so nice and quiet here…"

Ami smiled. "Do you really think so? I always come here to read when I don't have cram school." She nodded towards an elderly man sitting hunched down by one of the many flowerbeds. "That's Kunitachi-san, the park keeper. He handles the whole park himself."

"Really? Sugoi!"

She nodded, a fond smile gracing her lips for a brief moment before she turned serious. "Usagi-chan, we both heard from Luna that you found Tux—him wounded the other day, ne?"

Usagi nodded. "Hai," she said, lowering her voice to a mere whisper, forcing the two other senshi to lean closer. "I was on my way home from after our meeting – you know, the one after the battle – when I found him. Something had pierced right through his shoulder and he'd lost a lot of blood. He was barely conscious when I found him…"

Ami gripped Usagi's hand tightly, sending her a comforting smile. "I know you mean well, Usagi-chan, but even if he's saved you…we still don't know on whose side he's on. He could be dangerous…"

"I know that, Ami-chan. But what should I have done? Left him on the street to die?"

Rei shook her head, straightening slightly. "Why didn't you call us?" she hissed, her purple eyes gazing at her golden haired friend intently.

"I didn't have the time to! And afterwards…well, I suppose it just…slipped my mind," she mumbled, rubbing her neck sheepishly.

"Slipped your mind?" Rei cried, leaping onto her feet. "You have Tuxedo Kamen lying in your attic, and it slipped your mind?"

She shot her a glare. "Keep your voice down," she whispered, her eyes flickering nervously over their surroundings.

Rei's cheeks turned pink. "Look who's talking, Miss I-have-a-voice-louder-than-a-signal-horn!"

Ami sighed. "What I want to know," she started, raising her voice wearily, "is how he got wounded."

Usagi stopped her wailing immediately. "I-I don't know," she replied slowly, a small blush gracing her cheeks. "I didn't ask."

Rei shook her head, rolling her eyes sarcastically.

Ami frowned, seemingly deep in thought. Her eyebrows furrowed together and she kept chewing on her bottom lip. "After you brought him home," she said after a moment of silence, "who took care of him?"

Usagi peered at her curiously. "Mama and I," she paused for a second. "And Motoki-onii-san. Tuxedo Kamen-sama had a fever and we didn't know what to do, so I asked Motoki-onii-san to help, he is studying to become a doctor, after all and I know we can trust him. Oh, and papa, I suppose…"

Ami nodded. "I want to make some few scans of Tuxedo Kamen with my computer later, Usagi-chan. But I think I better talk to Motoki-san first…"

Usagi nodded. "Can I go home now? I promised mama that I'd be home as soon as possible."

Rei snorted. "You just want to go back to Tuxedo Kamen."

Her cheeks flushed red. "I do not!" she shrieked, unconsciously bringing her hand to the spot where he'd kissed her cheek earlier that day.

"Sure you don't."

Usagi huffed. "Don't you have anywhere else to be?"

Rei smiled, knowing it would annoy her blonde friend. "Nope," she replied cheerily.

"No wonder. Let me guess; the psycho convention was cancelled because of unforeseen circumstances?" Usagi retorted, sticking out her tongue.

Rei huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "It's 'psychic' not 'psycho', you baka," she muttered before returning the grimace.

"Same difference!"

"No, it's not!"

"Yes it is!"

Ami sighed, shaking her head at them both. She gripped the hem of their school-shirts, yanking them back down to the bench. "We'll come over around eight for a visit, all right, Usagi-chan?"

Usagi nodded, smiling brilliantly. "Hai! Well, I better run now. Ja ne, Ami-chan, Rei-chan!" She waved enthusiastically before running of, her long hair streaming behind her.

Ami smiled, waving hastily before turning to her dark-haired friend. "You really should have kept your voice down, Rei-chan."

Rei shrugged. "I know, I know… I just…" She sighed. "But still, no one listens in on people in a park!"

Little did they know that just some few steps behind them stood a man with long, wavy brown hair, who'd done just that.

To be continued...
Japanese translations:


Tenshi – Angel
Nani – What
Baka – Idiot/Jerk
Ja ne – See you later
Hai – Yes
Onii – Big brother
Sensei – Teacher
Arigatou – Thank you
Anou/Eto – Um/Err