Chapter 6: They're Magical Girls Too
Sunday morning: 20 days until the arrival of Walpurgisnacht
When Sayaka awoke the next morning, her hands shot to her stomach, feeling for a wound, a scar, anything to prove last night hadn't been some insane dream. Nothing. Then she looked over to her dresser, where a silver ring with a shiny blue gem set in the center lay on the polished wood. Not a dream after all, huh? Her head, however, was pounding where the older girl had hit it last night.
Grumbling about the stranger and calling her several names that would have gotten her grounded had her mother heard them, Sayaka dressed quickly in a music note t-shirt and denim shorts, slipped on her new ring, slung her backpack over one shoulder, left a note on the fridge for her parents in case one of them got off work early, and walked out of her family's apartment. "Hey, Kyubey, you there?"
The white cat appeared next to her, walking at her side down the street. "What is it, Sayaka?"
"Could you tell Mami-san to meet me in the business district, and we can start the witch hunt from there? I have something I need to do at the hospital first."
"No need to have Kyubey relay the message," Mami said. "I only live two blocks away from you, so we can still communicate from that range. No worries, Miki-san, we can get lunch at that new café and go from there. Or, if you like, I can just meet you at the hospital."
"Yeah, that works too," Sayaka responded. "I'll be in the long-term ward. Just tell a nurse you're with me and follow the signs from there."
With that settled, Sayaka boarded a bus and found herself at the hospital a few minutes later. Walking into the lobby, she was relieved to see her mother (a resident nurse) at the front desk. That would make checking in much easier. "Mom!" she called, waving from the doors.
"Oh, Sayaka-chan!" Yuka Miki handed some paperwork to the receptionist and greeted her daughter. "I take it you're here to see Kamijo-kun?" Sayaka nodded. "Well, you're in for a nice surprise!" Sayaka did her best to look curious, which wasn't hard since she was dying to know if her wish had actually worked. "Well, go on! You know where he is by now!" The tall woman shooed her away and began to talk with another nurse.
Sayaka took the elevator up to the long-term ward, the doors opening to reveal a long, brightly-lit hallway. The floor was usually rather quiet (which was to be expected, given that most of its patients were either comatose or rarely had visitors), but today was a bit more active. A pair of hushed voices came from a room that hadn't been occupied three days before on Sayaka's last visit, and in a room farther down, she could hear the sound of a child crying. Sayaka wondered if she should peek into either room, but then thought, No, best not to intrude. Who knows what the occupants are going through?
After pausing to take a breath at the door to Kyosuke's room, she pushed it open, only to be greeted by the sound of a violin - one of the CDs she had given him months ago. No, the tempo was slower, as though being played by someone who knew the violin, but hadn't touched one in a long time. Could it really be? "Kyosuke?" she called.
"Sayaka!" he responded, the music stopping immediately. "It's incredible! I don't know how it happened, but look!" Pushing aside the curtain that sectioned his bed off from the rest of the room, he held out his violin, once-useless fingers gingerly plucking the strings. "I just woke up this morning, and it was like the accident never happened! The doctors have no clue what to make of it."
Should I tell him what I did? Sayaka wondered. An alarm went off in her head almost instantly. No, I don't want to put him in danger after this. I won't get another free miracle. Feigning shock, she declared, "Wow, that's amazing! And you're already able to play again with it, too?"
"Yeah," Kyosuke said, smiling. "I've been out of practice for a while, but I could play you something if you'd like."
Sayaka grinned, genuine this time. "That would be great!"
A half hour later, Sayaka was ushered out by a nurse. As it turned out, her wish had only fixed Kyosuke's arm. He would stay in the hospital a few weeks longer to finish the physical therapy for his legs, but after that, he could return to normal life.
As she passed by the newly-occupied room, she couldn't resist and peered in through the small crack in the door. There were three people inside. One girl was lying in the bed, a coma patient by the look of her. Sitting next to her was a man and woman. Her parents? No, too young. Maybe her older siblings. Then the "man" shifted briefly in his seat, revealing a small silver earring with a sapphire set in the center. Older sisters, then.
Intending to leave them in peace, Sayaka turned to leave, only to freeze upon hearing one of them whisper, "But what about those other magical girls?"
More magical girls? Ducking behind the door, Sayaka prayed Mami or Kyubey was close enough to hear her. "Mami, I'm at the hospital! I think there are two more magical girls here!"
To her relief, Mami responded almost instantly. "Don't panic, Miki-san. We don't know whether or not they're enemies. What do they look like?"
Sayaka risked another glance. "One of them has really short blonde hair. I thought she was a man for a second until I saw she was wearing earrings. The other girl with her has longer turquoise hair." At this, Sayaka felt a jolt of panic from Mami.
"Miki-san, I think those are some of the enemy magical girls we talked about last night. Get out of there now, we'll meet in the lobby." Sayaka jumped up, but stumbled, hitting her elbow against the door. A cry of pain escaped her mouth before she snapped it shut in horror.
"Who's there?" the deeper-voiced girl called out. Sayaka was trapped. If she approached them, she wouldn't be able to ask Mami for help. If she ran, of course that would look suspicious. The blonde-haired girl stepped out of the room, looking at Sayaka with accusatory eyes. "Care to tell us why you're eavesdropping on us?"
"Haruka, there's no need to scare her," the other girl said. "I'm sure it was just an accident."
"Sorry, Michiru," the girl called Haruka said. "I guess I'm still a bit shaken up." At this name, a memory stirred in Sayaka.
"Michiru... Kaiou? The violinist who played at the concert last night?" The one who got called in to replace Kyosuke?
The turquoise-haired woman sighed. "Well, I was signed in as Kasumi Kawaguchi, Haruka's cousin. I guess the charade is up, though." She directed a glare towards Haruka, who gave a sheepish smile.
Sayaka gave a weak laugh. "Yeah, I guess I can see why you would do that. Well, sorry for intruding! I'll just be on my way."
Michiru looked up from her phone, which had sounded a violin ringtone. "It's alright, we'll just head down with you. The hospital only allows up to two visitors at a time, so a couple of our other friends are here to... well..." She cast a look at the small blonde girl in the bed, eyes misting over.
Haruka rested her hand on Michiru's shoulder, a clearly-pained smile pasted on her face. "I'm sure the doctors will figure something out. After all, this hospital is known for its cutting-edge technology."
Whether or not they were supposed to be enemies, Sayaka couldn't help but feel for both of them. After all, she had been in their exact same situation until today. What harm could just walking to the lobby with them be? Oh no, the lobby! Mami-san is probably already there!
"Mami-san? There's been a change of plans. I managed to win them over, and they want to walk to the lobby with me. Maybe you could just wait outside?" Sayaka didn't like the idea of deceiving anyone more than necessary, but Mami was right. Whoever these two were as normal humans, they were dangerous as magical girls.
A pause. Then, "Alright. Just make sure you don't stay with them for any longer than necessary."
Michiru requested an elevator, and the three of them stood in silence as they waited for a free one. "So, if you don't mind me asking, what happened to your friend?" Sayaka said, expecting no response. To her surprise, Haruka spoke up.
"She was alone in her hotel room when she must have collapsed. Luckily, her boyfriend called her and got worried when she didn't answer. He went up to her room and found her passed out on the floor a few minutes later. He called for help, and here we are."
Sayaka was skeptical. Haruka's voice seemed too flat, like she had already rehearsed it dozens of times. And her voice had stumbled at the beginning, causing Sayaka to doubt, if anything else, that the girl in the bed had been alone in her hotel room. They've clearly got something they want to hide. Should I keep pressing? Although she would never have gotten the chance, because right then, an elevator door opened with a pleasant ding, and two teenage girls walked out. One had long, raven-black hair, and carried herself with an air of elegance. The other was...
"You!" Sayaka shouted.
The blonde girl blinked, and horror filled her eyes as she recognized Sayaka. "Oh. You," she managed to squeak out as her face drained of color.
"Minako-san? Do you know this girl?" Haruka asked.
"I know her!" Sayaka cried. "I woke up with a killer headache this morning because of her! We were in the bathroom at the concert hall together when the alarms started going off, and next thing I know she's knocked me on the side of my head and I'm lying on the floor!"
"Hey, I had my reasons!" the blonde girl protested. Her companion just let out a sigh and rubbed her forehead with two fingers. Clearly she was used to Minako doing things like this.
"Honestly, Minako, we can't let you go anywhere alone!" she groaned. "You're no better than Usagi-" She froze, her mouth snapping shut. Walking over to Sayaka, she bowed stiffly and said, "I'm sorry about my friend's behavior. We'll leave you three be now."
Parting, Sayaka boarded the elevator with Haruka and Michiru in awkward silence. At least Sayaka would no longer have to ask who the girl in the bed was. She remembered Minako grumbling something about an Usagi the night before. I thought it was a little weird she was talking about a rabbit picking out shoes.*
Michiru broke the silence, turning to Sayaka and smiling, "Oh, silly me. I never asked you your name."
Sayaka was unsure, but then thought, What harm could a name do? It's not like there would be anything on me if they looked it up. "Sayaka Miki."
Michiru turned to Sayaka as they walked out of the elevator, no longer smiling. "Goodbye then, Miki-san. If we see each other again, I hope the circumstances will be better."
Sayaka waited in the lobby for a few extra minutes after they left, just in case. She figured it was probably silly, but Mami had made it clear she didn't want to be associated with either of them. Finally, Sayaka decided it was safe and joined her new mentor by the garden in front of the hospital.
"Are you alright?" Mami asked as they began to walk.
"I don't think they would have suspected anything of me," Sayaka said. "They were visiting a girl, you know. She was in a coma. I think she might have been one of them, too."
Mami sighed, her eyes sympathetic. "I know it's difficult. Here's your first lesson: it's much easier to see another magical girl as an enemy than to see them as a person. I'm just as guilty of that as anyone. But if we do run into them again, and I suspect we will, you can't let what happened today get in the way of fighting them."
Kyubey appeared then, catching Sayaka off guard. She was still getting used to the way the white cat could pop up so randomly. "If you two are hunting for witches, I've found a Grief Seed on the verge of hatching not very far from here."
"That's good," Mami said. Turning to Sayaka, she explained, "Remember when I told you last night that witches are born from Grief Seeds? Well, based on the strength of the curse that created it, a Grief Seed needs a certain amount of time to actually hatch into a witch. Sometimes we stumble across these newborn witches, and we can destroy their Grief Seed with our magic before their labyrinth forms. Unfortunately though, that does mean we can't use it to purify our own Soul Gems. But in this case, the Grief Seed Sakura-san gave us last night will probably stay good for a few more purifications."
"So we have no excuse to not get rid of this one," Sayaka affirmed.
"That's right! You're catching on quickly." Mami turned to address the Kyubey again. "Where is it?"
"At the hospital. In fact, it's close to the area Sayaka was just visiting." At this, Sayaka remembered the room she hadn't looked into.
"In the long-term ward, I heard a little girl crying in a room. I figured it would be insensitive to intrude, but maybe she created a curse that gave birth to a witch!"
Mami and Sayaka began to run back to the hospital. "Don't blame yourself, Miki-san. You couldn't have known," Mami said.
"But what if Kyosuke, or that girl in the bed and her friends are hurt because of that?" Sayaka kept that concern to herself.
"Don't forget, they're magical girls too," Mami muttered grimly. "They're magical girls too."
Sitting by Usagi's bed, Rei found it was much easier to direct her frustrations at Minako than to look at Usagi's sleeping form. Knowing it would do no good to bring it up, Rei still couldn't help but groan, "Minako, there were so many better things you could have done! There was no need to act like a lead character in one of your dumb karate movies!"
"Kickboy and Punchgirl Save The World VI is not stupid! And what was I supposed to say?" Minako shot back. "'Oh, sorry, I need to go transform into the Soldier of Love and Beauty, Sailor Venus, now! Please don't tell anyone!' She would have thought I was crazy!"
"I don't think you need to worry about anyone thinking that," Rei replied. After a moment, the remark set in and Minako made gave an offended squeal, smacking Rei playfully on the arm.
"One of these days, that mouth of yours is going to get you in trouble, Rei-chan!" Rei laughed, uncomfortably settling back into her chair. The tension between the two girls may have been diffused, but the overall atmosphere of the hospital room was too cold and sterile for her tastes.
"You know, I really hate hospitals," Rei said quietly.
"You ever met someone glad to be hooked up to fifteen different machines while a doctor hovers over them listing off everything that could be wrong with them?" Minako laughed.
"Not as a patient. Just having to sit here, knowing there's nothing you can do. When I was five, I-" She broke off, not wanting the memories to come back.
Minako's smile faded. "Yeah, your mother. I know you don't like talking about it."
They sat in somber silence for a minute. Then, Rei let out a gasp. A sharp pain she knew well - both from fortune tellings gone wrong and from being Sailor Mars - erupted in her head. A warning of danger. "Something's nearby!" she gasped. "An enemy!" Could it be? she thought, the girl in the red coat from the night before flashing through her mind.
Minako peered out the door, checking to make sure the hallway was empty. "All clear!" she whispered.
"Mars Crystal Power, Make Up!"
"Venus Crystal Power, Make Up!"
Together, they sprinted down the hallway towards the source of the massive energy surge. Rei slammed open the door of the room where the energy was strongest. The room was silent except for -
"Oh, please, no," Rei whispered as the sight sunk in. Lying in the bed was a bald woman with a sunken face. Her eyes were closed, and a blissful smile was on her face. She looked so serene, one could almost ignore the monitors hooked up to her that had gone silent, signaling her death. And next to her, face drenched in tears, was a little girl with long, wavy white hair who couldn't be much older than ten.
"I... I could have saved her..." she was muttering over and over between sobs. At this point, Rei noticed that for some odd reason, an empty plate and two forks were lying on the ground next to the little girl. Then the girl began to scream. "I COULD HAVE SAVED HER, AND YOU GAVE ME A STUPID CAKE?" Rei and Minako darted forward, only to be thrown back by a black-and-orange shockwave. The girl was screaming even louder, though now seemingly from pain instead of grief. "I HATE YOU! BRING HER BACK!"
The room was filled with crackling black energy for a moment. Then... nothing. Rei could see her own fear reflected in Minako's eyes.
From down the hall, the sound of doctors running to the scene could be heard. Detransforming, the two girls hurriedly left the room before anyone could begin to ask them questions. Once they were outside, Minako asked the question Rei was thinking. "What just happened?"
Rei was unable to respond, still hearing the girl's screams inside her head, feeling like a child who has just seen something they weren't supposed to see.
Usagi was wandering in an endless fog, dimly sensing others around her. First there was Mamoru, holding her hand. Then faint murmurs that sounded like Haruka and Michiru. Shouting that could only be coming from Rei and Minako. She wanted to reach out to them, tell them she was alright, but when she looked down, her hands were tied, and no matter what she said, they couldn't seem to hear her.
All there was to do was keep walking. Her brooch was gone, so transforming wasn't an option. It was awfully lonely. If this was a dream, it wasn't a very good one. And she didn't even remember falling asleep in the first place. Just that burning sensation in Michiru's hotel room, and then this. And the white cat. It had been following her for a while now, vanishing from her sight whenever she tried to get a good look at it. Now, for the first time, it finally faced her.
"Usagi Tsukino."
Her name echoed through the air like the ring of a church bell. "Your name carries power. You interest me."
"Why have you been following me?" Usagi asked. (After all, this was a dream. Besides, she knew other talking cats, who was she to question one more?)
"Do you know where you are?"
"Well - " Usagi started. "Uh - no. Did you put me here?"
"No. But I can get you out. As we speak, your physical body lies in a coma at the Mitakihara Hospital. The doctors will not be able to create an explanation, nor diagnose you with any condition. You are in perfect health, except for the aforementioned coma. But no matter what the doctors try, they will not be able to revive you."
"Can we skip to the part about you getting me out?"
"I was just getting to that. You see, you can make a contract with me. In exchange for one wish, I can make you a magical girl. In your case, your wish would be obvious enough. Except, it seems you already are a magical girl. What would happen if you made the contract, I wonder?"
"So I would be an experiment?" Usagi was having trouble warming up to this "solution".
"I suppose that's one word you could use."
Usagi thought it over for a moment. "I'm sorry, but I'm just not comfortable with that idea right now."
The white cat nodded. "I thought so. Well, if you change your mind, I'll always be here. And I suspect you will. In fact, I think I'll be seeing you again very soon, Usagi Tsukino. After all, you certainly aren't going anywhere."
After the creature left, Usagi sat down, goosebumps up and down her body. But if what it had said was true, was this even her body, or was it her soul? She didn't know, and she wasn't in the mood for those kind of questions. She couldn't help it - she began to cry. And all the while two words wormed their way through her mind. One wish.
*For those unfamiliar with Japanese, the word "usagi" translates to "rabbit". It's a rather uncommon name for girls, hence why Sayaka didn't realize at first that Minako was talking about a person. Had Sayaka heard Usagi's full name (which reads as "rabbit of the moon" - each Senshi's civilian name is a pun referencing her powers), Sayaka probably would have been a little less confused.
