Sailor Moon: Fellowship of the Moon

Chapter 10: Fighter for Hire; Bull by the Horns
Kyoto Slums

Day 1 Night

In the slums of Kyoto, in the black of night, the sound of fists connecting to faces, guts, and other fists was heard. In an abandoned storage facility, gangs of hooligans carrying blunt objects as weapons were duking it out with only one guy. The odds were against the loner, but in some odd and amazing turn of events, he was the one who was winning. He blocked off or broke any weapon that came in contact with him; he either caught them with his hand or snapped it in half, or smashed them in with his fists. He punched, kicked, and pummeled the opponents without ever so much as flinching or breaking a sweat.

When it was all over the gangs were lying around, hanging, or up against the wall all bruised or beaten. They were all moaning and groaning in pain due to the fact that some of them probably had broken bones. The lone fighter was standing in the shadows the whole time, looking down at everyone that he had beaten up. The leader, who was up against a wall, with a black eye and bloody lip, quivered thinking he was going to beat them up. He pleaded, "P-p-please! No more! You've won, so please…" "Ah forget it, I was already going to leave. You guys aren't even worth beating up.", the figure said as he stepped into the moonlit part of the factory.

It was Ian Hayner, or Thunder-Mountain fists to those who knew him in the fighter circle. He put his hands in his jacket pocket and walked out of there. As soon as he was outside, he looked up to the moon and shouted, "Isn't there anyone out there who can give me a decent fight?" Then suddenly a sharp pain shot into his head as he nearly fell to the ground; he grasped his head in pain as he grunted. Suddenly, images in his head came flashing through; images of a long lost era, of a battlefield, of a kingdom made of Earth and steel. A kingdom in the stars to where there were parties, but most importantly, a memory of a girl in a green, pink, and white dress, always by his side. Never leaving his sight and hers, and always being there to help one another.

He grits his teeth as he nearly sunk his nails into his skin from grasping his head too much. He then looked upward and shouted, "IS THERE NO WAY FOR THESE MEMORIES TO GO AWAY?"

Day 2 Morning

Arashi Mountain Hotel

In the lunch area, Serena and the gang were eating at their table, preparing for the day's events. They were going to check out the shopping district, which Lita heard that there was a game arcade at. The girls shook their heads at this obvious turn of events; Lita just loved to play video games and was pretty good at it. Lita looked at Ami and said, "We might even play one on one. I'm dying for a rematch!" This much was true, not only was Lita good at games, but so was Ami, including Chess.

She then noticed Ami since now and realized she had been very quiet now. "Hey, Ami. What's wrong? You seem a little down." Ami snapped out of it for the moment and responded, "Oh, uh, it's nothing, Lita." She didn't want to talk about what had happened last night when she and Aaron saw each other in nothing but just a towel. She felt that she needed to spend some time away from him now. Lita could tell that there was something wrong so she pushed on. "You sure? Cause it seems like something's bugging you."

"It's Nothing!", Ami snapped back, which caused everyone to flinch back as she did. Mina was the first to say it to Rei, "This is the first time she ever yelled at us like this." Rei asked, "You think she's mad about some test she flunked?" They both shook that thought away, realizing that Ami could never flunk a test. Lita and Serena looked at her and would eventually have to ask her what was bothering her.

Aaron, Frey, and surprisingly Jin were walking down a table that was near the girls. Aaron saw Ami and she saw him, and they both turned from each other, blushing. Lita caught this and saw that whatever was bugging her was also bugging him. She decided to try and patch things up between them both as she told Serena of an idea. Frey noticed that his friend was acting a little strange, so as they sat and ate breakfast, he asked, "So Aaron, how was the hot springs?" "IT WAS GOOD! GREAT! NEVER BEEN AT ONE OR IN ONE!", he said hysterically.

Frey and Jin sweatdropped at his reaction, "Did something happen at the…" "NOTHING HAPPENED!", Aaron nearly yelled at him, causing him to fringe away. Jin on the other hand seemed to have figured out one part of the problem; something happened last night that got him embarrassed beyond comprehension. Frey seemed to figure it out as well, but had an idea as to what, and especially who. Just then, Lita popped up and waved to them, "Hey guys!" They all said, "OH, hey, Lita." Jin just simply nodded and returned to eating his breakfast. Frey hugged him teasing, "C'mon Jin, don't be shy. She's your friend just as much as she's ours, so don't be such a quiet boy."

Jin shrunk from shyness, but Serena popped up and just asked the big question, "So have you guys planned anything for today?" The three looked at each other and they each answered; Jin was first, "I was planning to go to the beach with Aoi, but she has family business to take care of so I can't do that today." Frey and Aaron shrugged indicating that they too didn't have anything planned. So Serena made the suggestion, "Well how's this. We're going to the arcade in town and we were kind of wondering if you'd like to come along."

Frey immediately hopped on to that train as he shouted, "Goin' out with the ladies, Yeah!" Serena just sweatdropped, 'I've got a bad feeling about this…' Jin merely bowed, "Thank you, Tsukino-kun and Kino-kun." Aaron just said, "Okay, then it's a date." He heard Rei and Mina squeal in joy that they both heard the word 'date'. He figured that the Heartless would try to go after Rini again, seeing that she was a Princess of Heart, and that she'd be an easy target for them to get to.

Ami however paled at the fact; sure Aaron was her friend, but she couldn't face him, not after what happened last night. Aaron did the same as he realized he'd also be going with Ami there too. 'This isn't what I had in mind when I needed some space away from him/her.' they both thought at the same time.

Kyoto

Spare Change Arcade

The whole gang, boys and girls had made it the arcade and surprisingly, restaurant at 11PM when they got there. The place looked like the girl's hangout, the Crown Arcade, but it was colored black, red, gray and white. When they got inside, they already were going after the games, which was every advanced system and game title in the world. Lita, Rei, and Rini were playing the fighter game 'Soul Calibur 3' with Jin, whom seemed to be winning constantly.

Serena and Mina immediately went for a race car game, and Frey went with Sarah and Hotaru for one of the virtual dating games, and it seemed that Frey and Hotaru were almost competing against each other almost. For Ami and Aaron, Frey insisted that they try the new House of the Dead 3 game. As they were playing the game, they found out they were pretty good at it. But while they were playing they still kept their distance from each other and didn't even talk to each other. Frey and Serena pulled from their game time and went to go check on their friends and noticed none of the other even tried to talk.

Frey was the one to say it, "Whatever it was last night, sure got them both from talking to each other." Serena nodded, "I've never seen Ami like this at all; I don't think it's good for her." It seemed that the one thing that Frey and Serena had in common was both the concern and devotion to their friendship with their friends. "I thought that maybe getting them together would help get them out of their depressed state.", Serena confessed. Frey thought for a moment, and then got an idea. He walked towards them and stopped near Ami.

"Hey, Ami. I want to show you something." Aaron and Ami stopped playing and Ami asked, "What is it?" "Knowing him, it has something to do with him.", Aaron shot. Frey grumbled but brightened up, "Oh it's nothing much, it's my prize possession." Aaron paled at what he just said; he now knew what Frey was talking about and it was worse than Ami seeing him in a towel. Ami asked, "Your prized possession?" He took out his wallet, "Here", he pulled out a picture that made Aaron shout, "STOP!" Ami and Serena got a good look at it and blushed. It was a picture of Aaron when he was five years old; he was dressed up nicely in a softball uniform, and in the picture he was smiling. He was just so cute that Ami couldn't stop blushing.

Frey asked in a cute tone, "Isn't he so cute?" However, Aaron went postal on him by grabbing him in a headlock and tried to choke him, "FREEEEEYYYY! I GAVE YOU THAT PICTURE BECAUSE YOU SAID YOU'D TREASURE IT AND NEVER SHOW ANYONE! EVER! I'M NEVER TRUSTING YOU AGAIN, FREY!" The boys were still in the little quarrel, but Ami was holding on to the picture and couldn't turn away from it. Serena was the one who got a sly look on her face and mused, "Hmmm, maybe you should keep it, Ami."

Ami was a little startled at that suggestion, but the boys turned around and were in a state of shock, "WHAT?" Aaron shouted back while trying to go for the picture, still embarrassed, "No! You can't have it!" Frey equally wanting the picture back, "You can't! You can't! You can't! You can't! That's my prized possession!" Ami didn't know what to do at the time, so Serena took the picture from her hand and shoved it in Ami's mouth before she had time to figure out what was happening.

Aaron and Frey couldn't believe that Serena did that and Ami was a little shocked at this. "That is nasty, Serena. How could you do something that low? And to Ami for that matter?", Aaron asked angrily. Frey, on the other hand, was on his knees, whimpering, "My treasure…My precious…" Ami was able to get the picture out of her mouth, and was about to scowl Serena, "Oh come on boys…" Serena then took the picture from Ami's hand…and stuffed it in Ami's shirt, in her bra.

Ami was shocked and mortified, but Aaron and Frey were even more shocked. Aaron then gave up as he said, "Alright, she can keep it. It's not like I'm perverted enough to even put my hands there." Frey blushed at it though, "I, on the other hand, have no problem with it at all." He got a good solid punch from Serena, "But I do!" Ami took the picture out and pulled something from her pockets. She walked up to Aaron and handed whatever she was holding in his hands. "Wha…", Aaron almost asked but Ami cut it to him, "I have a picture of you in your childhood, I thought I'd give you one of mine."

Aaron took a look at the photo she had handed to him, and blushed until his face resembled that of a cherry. The picture was that of her when she was five years old too; she was baking with a little mini stove on, and was wearing an apron while she wore a blue dress. In the picture, she was so cute and pretty, and her smile was just too much. The two just stood there, blushing from embarrassment but smiling at each other. Serena and Frey's plan seemed to work, as the two finally seemed to stop ignoring one another. But Frey pushed things as he got behind Aaron, "OH come on, that' nothing. I've got one too ya know." They all got a good look at his childhood photo and saw that it was him, five years old, but was surrounded by teenaged girls. He smiled smugly and triumphantly, "tada!" All Serena, Aaron, and Ami did was stare at it shockingly and thought only one thing, 'Nasty'

They were all sitting together at a booth table waiting for their drinks. Ami and Aaron talked back to each other like nothing last night had happened, but deep within themselves they were thinking of apologizing for what had happened. But they decided to wait on it, when no one else was around. Frey on the other hand decided to rub in on it, "So, Aaron, I'm guessing that the reason you and Ami weren't talking to each other was that you saw each other almost naked in the hot springs. Eh?" The two of them nearly fell over as they both shouted, "WE DIDN'T MEAN TO!"

They then realized that they had said it out loud and that everyone, including Sarah, Jin, and Hotaru, were staring at them in disbelief. Rei and Mina, however, were all over Ami on her and begging her, "Please you've got to tell us the details." "Details?", Ami didn't like where this was going. "Yeah, like 'How ripped was he?' or something like that.", Rei told her. Ami blushed at that at the same time, but Aaron spat out his drink in Frey's face as she said that. "WE WERE IN TOWELS, REI!", the two of them shouted. Aaron groaned at this and couldn't believe they were having this conversation at all.

Then suddenly, Aaron felt something coming towards them, and suddenly a glass struck him in the back of his head. Ami grabbed on to him as he leaned forward, "Aaron!" "Big Bro!", Sarah nearly shouted as she saw her brother hit in the back of the head. He was slightly in pain, but wasn't bleeding. They all turned around and saw three teens that looked like they were beach bum bullies. One of them was blonde and had his hair in dreadlocks, another had black short hair and wearing a ball cap, and the last one was shaved bald, and pretty built to boot.

Dreadlocks laughed, "Bullseye! I can't believe he was that easy to hit!" "Yeah, man! What a loser!", the guy with the cap said. The girls were about to go over there and tell him a thing or two, but Sarah jumped out of her seat and ran over there. She jumped on the beach boy's table, and from behind her, she took out one of the plates she had taken from the table they were sitting at. "Hey! What the…?" The dreadlock boy asked, but instead of an answer, Sarah slammed it hard across his face, breaking it.

Serena and the gang all had their jaws down at this, as did Aaron. Suddenly the dreadlock's forehead started to gush out a little blood comically while the guy was just whimpering and panicking about it, "Aah, I'M BLEEDING!" "That's what you get for messing with my big Brother, you jerk!" The big bald one picked her up by the back of her collar, and she struggled to get free. "Nobody makes me bleed! Dolt! Toss her!" And with all the big guy's strength, he threw her across the room, passed the gang as they screamed out in panic.

"SARAH!"

And just when everyone thought she was going to hit the wall or ground hard from the strength of the toss, she was caught in by two strong looking arms. Sarah opened her eyes to see the one person she never thought she'd see. "You know…I always thought that people who end up with inhuman strength were always supposed to watch out for the little guy." Aaron, Frey, and Jin were also surprised to see Sarah's rescuer, including the girls as well. "But watchin' a couple of big oafs like you pickin' on kids…" everyone got up to see Thunder-Mountain Fists, AKA, Ian Hayner. "…now that just really gets me to where it makes me angry."

The three bums didn't care about what this new guy was saying so Dreadlocks shouted, "What do we care about picking on kids?" But to their surprise, Hayner just ignored them while putting down Sarah, "you okay, kid." She sheepishly nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine." This just made the three angry as the ball cap guy shouted, "Hey don't ignore us punk! You want to fight us?" That caught Ian's attention as he looked at them with a smile on his face, "Well, I could use something to blow off my aggression."

Everyone in Serena's and Aaron's group paled at this as everyone left to follow them outside.

Outside

Ian stood on one side of the sidewalk, while the bald beach bum stood on the other side, with his buds behind him. Serena and everyone else just stood beyond the sidelines while Sarah shouted to break every bone in their bodies. Rei asked, "Shouldn't we try to stop this?" Jin replied, "If they wish to face each other in pointless combat, it is not our place to tell them what and what not to do." Jin then looked on at the fight before it began, "besides, the beach bums don't stand a chance against him." Rei looked in confusion.

Ian smirked a little, and simply replied, "Since you guys like to take the first shot, take the first shot. My treat." He pointed to his forehead as he suggested, "If you want to, hit right here. And don't try holding back or anything." The bald guy smirked and ran forward with his right fist balled up. But Ami was the first to realize that in his hand, was a concealed dagger that was designed to be hidden as a ring. She shouted, "Watch out!" Everyone looked at her confused until it was too late; the bald guy's right fist to where the dagger was kept had made contact with Ian's forehead. It was then that everyone had understood what Ami had shouted about and Frey was the one to point out, "Hey! This was a fist fight; it's not fair to use a dagger!" "Don't' worry; it would seem their little attempt at cheating did not meet its mark."

Everyone looked confused as they saw that Ian just stood there, completely unfazed at what happened. Then suddenly the bald guy backed away a bit, shouting out in pain as everyone saw that his hand which held the dagger, was broken as was his arm. His buddies couldn't believe it as well; Ian just sighed and looked a little disappointed, "I can't believe this; I was hoping for a good fight and now I get this." He walked over to the bald guy and just said, "Well, I guess I should take it easy on you then." And with that, he raised his right hand to Baldy's forehead, and with one flick, the Beach Boy was flew back and landed on his back a few feet away from Ian.

Everyone couldn't believe this at what they saw. Even Ami couldn't believe the laws of physics that were broken today as she saw this sight. Frey was amazed as he said it out loud, "He just flicked that guy, and he flew ten feet away from him." Mina asked, "Really? It seemed farther than that." The two guys looked pretty miffed as they were about to go after Ian, but they were suddenly stopped as they felt what seemed to be a wooden sword behind their backs. "It would be wise if you would just leave here and now. You lost fair and square, so take your defeat with a little honor."

Feeling a little terrified, the two helped their fallen buddy and the Beach Boys were out of there, screaming. Ian was about to walk away, until Sarah hug attacked him, "Hey! What the?" Aaron then just walked up and bowed, "Sorry about that, my sister's always like this when she's really fond of someone." Aaron had noticed that Ian wasn't affected of getting near girls who were younger than him, so that was a little odd. Ian was able to pry off Sarah and simply replied, "Don't worry; I've got a little sister of my own back at where I'm from."

It was then that the three realized the girls were there too, and that made Ian pale right there. Aaron noticed this and asked, "Uh, I'm sorry to ask guys, but could you step away from him? Don't forget, this guy gets nervous around teenaged girls." The girls understood that and backed away a little and Ian was back to his old self, "Anyway, thanks for the save back there.", Aaron stated. "Hey it's no problem, I was looking for a fight anyway.", Ian said, "but I was actually impressed by the way you knew that glass was coming." Aaron looked a little confused, as did Ami as she asked, "What do you mean?" Ian explained as he pointed to Aaron, "you were sitting across from this guy, if he had ducked, your face would have been covered in blood."

Aaron shook his hands in defense, "ah, not really, you're taking way too much credit for that." Ian just smirked, "I think you belittle yourself, man. How about you and me, one on one?" Aaron just paled at the thought of fighting this guy. He shook his head, "Ah, no thanks. I want to live and die of old age." Ian jus shrugged as he just said, "Okay, but if you ever change your mind, I'll be staying in Ruffian Row." With that he left the others, walking away and leaving everyone confused. Jus then, one of the arcade's waiters came out and asked, "Hey! Do you know that guy?" Everyone just shook their heads in response, "He forgot to pay his tab."

With that everyone nearly vaulted over as Lita implied, "So not only is he strong, he's cheap too."

Later On

Evening Time

In Ruffian Row

It was a rundown section of Kyoto to where the scum of society was in. The huts were almost about to fall over, while some were still standing; in them were homeless people and bums. Ian was staying in one of the other huts, still good and in one piece, eating a bowl of rice. And sitting across him was a figure around in his early twenties. He was well built, tall, and good looking; he had short black spiky hair, a black vest with white fur trim for the collar, black leather pants with black cowboy boots, and wristband combat gloves, and a chain pendant around his neck. He also wore black sunglasses to hide his eyes, but his teeth were another story as he spoke, "Rumor has it you're pretty tough for a kid your age." the guy said in a voice that would not only creep out Mina, but send a pleasurable tingle down her spine. "Yeah, I'm pretty tough, what's it to ya?", Ian simply replied. After he had come back from the arcade, this guy was looking around Ruffian just to talk this guy. He couldn't tell but this guy was giving off some pretty bad vibes.

But then something he said next was what got him interested, "You interested in a good fight?" Ian smirked as he heard that, "Yeah? You know of anyone tough enough?" The guy just smirked as he simply said, "the Fellowship of the Moon" Ian heard about those guys; it was said that those weirdoes in armor were pretty strong, either that or their opponents were really weak. He was now interested, "You saying you can get me to fight those guys?" The stranger nodded, "Yeah, and I might even tell you who they are."

Ian leaned in to listen to the whole thing while the stranger told him everything.

Back At the Hotel

Near Dusk

Aaron, Frey, and Jin were in their room with Sarah sleeping on her bed, and Ceros was out stretching himself. "So when do you think the Heartless will start going after Rini again?" Ceros flew up with his face looking in deep thought mode, "well, it's hard to say. Now that they know that three knights have made the scene, I guess it'll be difficult for them to even try anything now." Aaron then replied, "But it won't stop them from trying now won't it?" Ceros nodded.

Then Frey shot up and pointed his finger in the air, "then it's settled; we keep Rini in eye contact. We never let her out of our sights." He then walked around the room, "We'll keep a look out for her everywhere: School, Lunch, even in her room or in the hot springs." It was then that after the hot spring remark, Aaron and Jin launched a double attack at him, as they both shouted, "Can't you ever be normal for once, Frey?" Frey recovered from the attack and shouted, "NEVER BE NORMAL!"

Aaron just sighed in defeat as he walked for the door, "Hey! Where ya going?", Frey asked. Aaron simply said, "I'm just going to get something to drink. I've got a feeling the Heartless will be coming in so I might as well get some caffeine in my system." And with that, he was out the door and gone from everyone's sight.

Meanwhile

Ami was sitting in the lounge of the Hotel; it was currently empty due to the fact that not many people stay in the lounge. She was doing what she loved to do best; read. She wanted to get some of her reading done before they headed out for the beach tomorrow; she was kind of wondering if the guys would like to follow suit. It was then that Aaron had popped into her head again; they had both felt better after Frey and Serena had popped up and helped to patch up the rift between them.

She took out the photo that Frey had 'accidentally' given to her, and she thought, 'He really is cute.' She smiled at the picture, but frowned as another thought came into her head. She closed the book but bookmarked it with Aaron's childhood picture and just sat down in thought; she had gone back into her depressed state. It may have been patched up, but she still felt a little uneasy around Aaron and tried to avoid him when they got back at the hotel. She was also wondering if Aaron didn't want to see her again, after all, she had sort of walked in on him. She was just glad that he wasn't naked or she might literally died of embarrassment, although she had been close enough with what had happened.

'What have I done?', she thought. 'Did I mess things up permanently with him?' She hoped not, it was hard finding a few male friends that she could talk to about things she felt talking to others comfortably. Sure Serena, Lita, and Luna were good friends, but Aaron was somewhat different. She felt so comfortable around him; he had this sort of way of him that made her feel like she could entrust him so much in everything. Just the thought of losing him and that feeling was depressing to say the least. She didn't realize it, but the thought of not being with Aaron or away from him completely almost made her eyes swell with tears.

Her thoughts were interrupted as a sudden cold feeling was placed on her cheeks. She whelped in surprise and found Aaron behind her holding two sodas. He chuckled as he saw her reaction from what he did; she was just surprised and shocked to see him like this. He walked around the couch she was sitting on and plopped down right next to her. He had spotted her from the vending machine and he also wanted to try and patch things up from the night before. It was just driving him crazy, the two of them not talking to each other or avoiding one another over something as silly as seeing each other almost naked.

"So…whatcha' reading?" He asked to try and lighten the mood between them. She just gave a slight smile, "Oh…well, I'm reading a medical book on the functional areas of the Cerebrum in Relation to the Skull." Aaron kind of smiled at her; here they were having Spring Break and she was still doing schoolwork. He had to admire that about Ami, how she always wanted to learn, even on vacation. "So…what are you doing here?", she asked a little shy at seeing him, even after the arcade.

"Well I was getting something to drink, but then I saw you over here and…well…Look we need to talk. About the whole hot springs thing…", Aaron said in a nervous tone as he tried to talk to her.

"I'm sorry." Both teens said as the same time and for a second nothing. Then both just ended up laughing, from both the tension and at what just happened. "You shouldn't be the one apologizing, I'm the one that walked in on you.", Ami pointed out still sitting next to him. Aaron then mentioned as he scratched the back of his head, "Actually, in a way, I don't think it was either our fault, considering I learned that it's a unisex Hot Springs."

After a moment of awkward silence between the two, Ami spoke again, "Aaron…we didn't ruin what we have did we? I mean you're one of my closest and best friends and…I missed you." She said the last words quietly feeling the truth of that.

"To be honest, Ami…so did I.", he said to her placing his hand on hers that was resting between them, almost surprising her. "When I first got here in Tokyo and met you, I felt like it was kind of a destined meeting between friends. You've helped me out through school and so much. Heck, you've even taught me how to read Kanji and that turned out to be a big help in and out of school.", he chuckled at the last part and so did Ami. He then started to talk seriously again, "I don't want to lose you as a friend, Ami. I didn't have many in my life growing up. And I don't…I don't think I can take losing friends…especially you."

Ami was shocked and very touched by his words, she felt a lump in her throat. No one had ever said anything like that to her in her life and she didn't know how to respond to it. So for the first time in her life, she did what Serena would do in a situation like this, she went with her feelings and hugged Aaron. "Aaron…you will never lose me, no matter what happens." After in an awkward situation, he returned the hug and she pulled back after a minute. "Aaron, let's promise each other that no matter what we stay friends, okay?"

Aaron smiled at her, "Sure thing Ami, I'd like that." She smiled warmly at him and he felt warmth inside at seeing it.

Outside

Near the bridge, Ian Hayner was walking all the way over to the hotel, as the sun was near to set. His brow showed a strong determination of fighting the opponents the stranger had told him about, including their names. Through the whole story that the stranger had told him, he was even more determined to face these guys in a fight. As walked across the bridge, all he could think about was what the stranger had told him, and of the opportunity he had to fight these guys.

As he reached the other end of the bridge and stopped to look at the hotel, he whispered to himself, "This could be the one fight I need…to forget the nightmares."

Next Chapter: Swords vs. Axe-Hammer; Rise of Thunder and Earth