Fourteen Days with my Family by Hotaru Tomoe.
Chapter III: Monday I.
Disclaimer: I still don't own any of the characters.
Well, to say that today was an interesting day would be an understatement. The day started innocently enough (don't they always?) and ended rather oddly.
It was raining a fair bit outside when we woke up, but the guy on the radio said, while we ate breakfast, that it was going to be sunny this afternoon. Right, this is the same guy who claims that he always gets his predictions right. I joked that maybe I should go look up plans to build an ark on the Internet. Mama, Papa, and Mama all chuckled a bit, while Hoshiko looked puzzled.
"What is the Internet?" She asked.
Setsuna-mama smiled a bit and told her that the Internet was a means of accessing virtually any information we wanted on our computer via a modem that is hooked up to our telephone line in our case, or through the cable TV lines. It's a bit more technical than that I know, but hey, I'm not Ami. Hoshiko nodded in understanding.
"I have seen similar things on other worlds." She said.
"C'mon then, I'll show you how the Internet works." I said to her after breakfast was over. Setsuna-mama offered to help as well. Hoshiko smiled gamely and followed the two of us into our study while Michiru-mama and Haruka-papa stayed in the living room to practice for their recording session tomorrow.
I turned on the computer while Setsuna-mama got each of us a glass of juice. Mama explained some of the basics of how computers and the Internet worked while we waited. Hoshiko thought it was all rather quaint and said so. Neither Mama nor I could think of anything to say about that.
Anyway, we logged into the net and proceeded to show Hoshiko some of the stuff on our homepage like the news, weather, local movie times, and whatnot. Then we showed her how a search engine works and how to send and receive E-mail by sending a simple greeting to Ami.
Finally we moved onto some of our favorite sites. Setsuna-mama showed her sites for online shopping like and E-Bay, while I showed her some sites dedicated to a few of my favorite Anime shows and musicians.
Papa poked her head in at that moment and announced that Minako was on the phone. Setsuna-mama excused herself to go and talk to her while Hoshiko and I kept on surfing.
"Don't show our guest anything too naughty Hime-chan." Papa called before ducking out and closing the door behind her.
"Papa!" I shouted as I threw a pillow at her which bounced off the door. I heard her laugh all the way down the hall. Hoshiko just giggled a bit.
Hoshiko felt that she could navigate on her own, so I let her look at a few other sites that we had bookmarked. A few were some sites about auto racing (Papa), fashion (both Setsuna-mama and Michiru-mama), physics (Setsuna-mama), Marine life (Michiru-mama), and a few Manga sites (mine). Hoshiko asked all sorts of questions that I tried to answer as best as I could. I could tell that she found it all incredibly fascinating and wanted to learn more, and I really wanted to teach her.
We then moved onto a few sites where we could watch movie trailers and music videos and the like. Hoshiko clicked on one name that made no sense to either of us and suddenly, the room was filled with a rhythmic thumping noise and a voice in English trying to rhyme to the beat.
"What is that awful noise?" Hoshiko cried as she covered her ears. I stifled a giggle as I reached over to turn off the awful noise.
"It's called 'Rap' music I believe. Some strange American phenomenon that has slowly been coming over here for awhile. I don't care much for it either." Setsuna-mama replied as she came back into the room and sat down. She looked a bit tired and confused, evidence that she had been speaking to Minako for several minutes.
"What other things can you find on the 'net' as you call it?" Hoshiko asked. I told her that you can find virtually anything you wanted, but you had to be fairly specific in your searches or you could be searching for a long time. There was also the danger, Setsuna-mama added, that you could find things that could harm your computer, like viruses for instance, and there was the problem of accessing stuff like pornography by accident.
"Are there not safeguards against that kind of thing?" Hoshiko asked.
We told her that there were safeguards, but unfortunately certain unscrupulous people tended to use the net for their own personal gain, regardless of the cost to others. Basically we told her that the net is a great tool for learning, but you have to be careful.
"I understand now. Thank you." Hoshiko said.
I changed the subject. "What did Minako want Mama?"
Setsuna-mama rolled her eyes. "Dear Lord, that girl can talk your ears off if she wanted to." She shook her head. "After going on about the, and I quote; 'hunky piece of meat redoing our kitchen', she said that she would be dropping by in a bit along with Usagi and Makoto. She mentioned something about fan clubs as well." She added with a shrug.
Fan clubs? Oh, right I remembered. The last few times that Minako was here, or when we were at Ami's together, we had a bit of fun looking up information about ourselves on the net, I explained. We had found, among other things, news articles, opinion pieces (both for and against), pictures, videos, a few (read several) X-rated sites (no I won't provide links. Hentai.), and several fan clubs.
When we researched the fan clubs, we found that each of us now had a fan club of our own. Some of us had several in fact well almost all of us had several fan clubs.
"What do you mean there isn't a Sailor Pluto fan club?" Setsuna-mama demanded angrily, not to mention a bit hurt. Hoshiko and I moved aside and let her at the computer, which she began to type furiously at. At that moment Michiru-mama opened the door to allow Usagi, Minako, Makoto, Luna, and Artemis in.
"Hi Hotaru, Setsuna, and, uh, Galaxia, umm…" Minako stammered a bit. Sigh, I guess she didn't get the memo we'd sent last night.
"Guys, allow me to introduce our cousin Hoshiko, from Osaka." I said as Hoshiko stood up and bowed to our guests. Setsuna-mama was oblivious as she typed away at the computer.
"Wow! Galaxia is your cousin? Cool!" Both Usagi and Minako blurted. The rest of us just stood there and stared at them.
"It's her cover identity while she stays here on Earth, baka." Luna growled. Thank goodness someone checks their email.
"I knew that." Usagi shot back, pouting. I seriously began to fear for the future of the world at that point. Just then Setsuna-mama jumped into the conversation.
"What do you mean 'file not found'? You useless piece of junk! I'll…" She stood up and looked as though she was about to throw our computer out the window, which is when she finally noticed that we had company. "Oh, ah, hello." She laughed nervously as she set the monitor back down.
"Um, hi Setsuna." Makoto replied nervously. "What were you trying to find?"
"Nothing important, really." Setsuna-mama replied with a laugh and a small wave. "So Minako, you said something on the phone about fan clubs I believe?"
Minako stood there blinking for a few moments, then her brain kicked in again. "Oh yeah! We found out that the official Sailor Saturn fan club was having a general meeting today at the community center in my area, and I called the others. Usagi and Makoto here agreed to come along, but Rei is busy at the temple, and Ami was with her Mom picking up their cousin at the train station. We wondered if you guys wanted to come with us." She looked at us, and especially me, with a hopeful expression.
"I'm not sure…" I began to say. We had looked at some of the 'Official Sailor Saturn' fan clubs on the net before. Some of them seemed harmless enough, basically a bunch of people playing dress-up, but a few of them worried me.
A few of these groups took the 'Senshi of Death' part too seriously, not to mention forgetting the rebirth part, and were basically death cults for lack of a better term. A few of these groups were just outright nuts. One group went as far as predicting that I would, get this, 'arise from my crypt and lay waste to the world with my scythe.' They had even set a date! According to them I was supposed to have destroyed the world on January 18, 2004 at precisely 12:00 noon. I wonder if I should email them and tell them that I had been in bed with the sniffles that day and was unable to destroy the world that day? Nah, I think they were embarrassed enough.
Minako brought me back to the present. "C'mon Hotaru, it'll be fun. They can't all be total whack jobs."
"May I come as well?" Hoshiko asked.
"Sure! Why not? It'll give you a chance to learn more about Earth culture." Usagi replied.
"Or make her want to run away." Artemis muttered. Minako clamped his mouth shut.
I sighed and gave in. "Oh all right, I'll come."
Usagi grinned and patted me on the shoulder. "That's the spirit Hotaru!"
"What about you Setsuna?" Luna asked. Setsuna-mama gave our computer one last annoyed look before shutting it off.
"Okay, let's go." She replied with a smile. We cheered and headed for the door, telling Michiru-mama and Haruka-papa we would be going out for a bit. They told us to have fun and we all piled into Setsuna-mama's mini-van and headed out to the community center.
By the time we got there, the parking lot was only half full, and there didn't appear that many more were coming. We saw several women of various ages, shapes, and sizes heading into the hall, all dressed in replicas of my Sailor fuku. It was a bit unnerving to say the least.
"Hey, Hotaru, why don't you go in dressed in your uniform?" Usagi asked.
"Yeah, that could be fun. Besides, I doubt anyone would think that you're the real deal anyway." Minako added. I wasn't sure whether to agree with her or smack her.
"It could not do any harm, you would blend in perfectly." Hoshiko said. Oh great, now she's joining in.
"What about the rest of us?" Makoto asked.
"Usagi, do you still have your disguise pen?" Setsuna-mama asked.
"Yeah, I sure do. Let's see now…" She began rummaging through her purse. "Found it!" She announced triumphantly, holding up the disguise pen for all to see. Luna gave out a long sigh.
"Here we go again." She groaned.
"Oh, hush Luna." Minako scolded. "The rest of us can sign up as new members and go in and watch I guess."
With that, both Usagi and I transformed. Afterwards we just sat there and stared at each other in amazement. Other than differences in our heights, ages, and builds, we looked nearly identical. I really want one of those pens for my next birthday. Even Usagi's eye color had changed to match mine. The only thing she didn't have was my Silence Glaive. We all went in together and signed up, explaining that we had heard about this from both the internet and a friend, Minako. We walked into the main hall and all of us stopped dead at the sight that awaited us.
"Wow." Was the only thing that I could say that did the sight before me any justice. Everywhere we looked dozens of people walked around dressed as me. Rather disturbingly, we saw a few men dressed as me as well. I started to have second thoughts about this whole venture.
"Wow, indeed." Setsuna-mama agreed. Beside her, Hoshiko's eyes widened as she nodded silently in agreement.
Please don't let me run into anyone from school. I prayed as we joined the crowd. As we looked around, I saw that a few of the costumes were cheap, store-bought copies, while others were hand-made, and very well done. There were a few that were even better looking than mine! I noticed Setsuna-mama taking notes while Hoshiko just looked around in wonder. Usagi and the others had wandered off in another direction, probably heading for the buffet table knowing Usagi.
"Oh wow! That is such a cool outfit! Where did you get it from?" A voice asked from behind me. I turned to see a pretty girl dressed as me coming towards us. She was a bit taller than me, about 5'5", and about 17. She had her hair covered with a dark wig.
"My Mama made it for me." I replied proudly as I indicated Setsuna-mama who smiled politely.
"That's great! I just bought mine at a costume shop. It's nowhere near as good as yours though. My name is Hattori by the way." She smiled and extended her hand.
I took her hand and shook it. "My name is Hotaru, and this is my Mama, Setsuna, and our cousin Hoshiko." Everyone shook hands, she didn't seem like a total whack job.
"So, what made you decide to join our little club?" Hattori asked as we sat down at a table. Setsuna-mama went to get us a few drinks while we talked.
"A friend of mine, who lives nearby, found out about this club on the net and she keeps telling me that I look a lot like the real Sailor Saturn. Luckily I had this costume left over from last Halloween, so Mama let it out a bit and here I am." I replied. It seemed plausible enough to me and Hattori seemed to buy it. We were soon chatting away over sodas like old friends. I hated deceiving her like this, but it was necessary. Besides, like Minako said, who would believe me if I said that I was the real Sailor Saturn anyway?
As we talked, Hattori looked up suddenly and her face darkened. "Oh no!" She exclaimed.
"What's wrong?" I asked, worried.
Hattori sighed in exasperation. "A girl I know from school named Megumi that I've had troubles with in the past is coming this way with her friends. Trust me, you don't want to know her." She explained. I nodded sympathetically, I hate bullies as much as the next person.
A shadow fell over the table as a group of 4 girls let by a girl whose outfit I'll get to in a moment. She was 5'6", dark haired, chunky, and, well, to be blunt, very big in the chest department.
"Oh look, it's Hattori. Sitting around with another one of your loser friends I see." Megumi sneered in a high-pitched whining voice that made my fillings ache. The other three girls giggled.
"What do you want Megumi?" Hattori growled back. I looked over at Setsuna-mama and Hoshiko. Setsuna-mama looked around until she saw Makoto, who saw the situation and nodded. Hoshiko just sat there, not saying anything, a frown creasing her face. It seemed she had no great love for bullies either.
"Now is that any way to speak to your future club president?" Megumi sneered.
"Future club president?" Hattori snorted. "Yeah right, like anyone would be dumb enough to vote for you."
Megumi got angry. She was obviously a spoiled rich girl who was used to getting her way. "How dare you speak to me that way you underclass little twerp!" Her friends nodded in agreement. Yep, I was right.
"Why don't you and your flunkies get lost while the rest of us try and enjoy ourselves?" I growled at her. I saw Makoto, Minako, and Usagi headed our way. Luna and Artemis poked their heads out of Minako's oversized handbag.
Megumi whirled on me. "Who are you to speak to me like that? You and your cheap outfit." Her entourage snickered again. She reminded me of a few other people I knew and loathed. Hang on? Cheap outfit? This from a girl who has a bigger chest than Makoto trying to squeeze into an outfit that Michiru-mama would find tight? Not to mention the fact that she had purple fishnet stockings on.
I looked at her up and down than waved at her dismissively. "You know, I'd tell you to go out and play in traffic, but I think the Police would arrest you if you went outside dressed like that. So why don't you just go away before we hurt you." Makoto, Usagi, and Minako had arrived and they glared at Megumi and her friends along with Hattori, Mama, Hoshiko, and me. Makoto cracked her knuckles in a meaningful way, and Megumi finally took the hint. With her eyes full of tears she turned on her heel and stormed off, her flunkies running to catch up. Good riddance.
Hattori was nearly on the floor from laughing so hard at this point. "Oh, man that was priceless! Thank you Hotaru, all of you." Usagi and the others sat down and joined us, and I introduced them to Hattori. We were soon talking away again. Hattori told us a bit about the club. Other than the dressing up part, the club was actively involved in the local community and charity works. It made me feel good that my name and image could be used to promote something positive after all.
We were in the midst of exchanging phone numbers and asking about upcoming events when a high-pitched whine interrupted us. "Which one of you called my daughter a whore?"
We turned to see an older version of Megumi standing there glaring at us, her Mom presumably. She was the same height and slightly chunkier, and had the same dark hair as her daughter. I could tell where Megumi had gotten her fashion sense from as well. Her Mom had a red blouse on that revealed her ample bosom, a short black skirt, and black mesh stockings.
Megumi leaned close to her Mom, whispering in her ear as she pointed at me. Her Mom's face darkened and she was soon leaning into my face, not incidentally showing me more of her than I cared to see. "I demand that you apologize to my daughter this instant!" She bellowed. I heard the room get quiet as they watched the exchange.
Setsuna-mama stood up, pulled her away, and got into her face. The others stood up as well. "Your daughter and her friends were harassing my daughter and her friend. She is the one who needs to apologize."
Megumi's Mom glared at Setsuna-mama. "That's your daughter?" She screeched pointing at me. "Didn't you teach her any manners?"
"Yes I did actually." Setsuna-mama replied. "Just as you taught your daughter how to act and dress apparently." Megumi's Mom sputtered a bit, then she called Setsuna-mama a bitch before trying to take a swing at her. Setsuna-mama blocked the swing and reversed it into a circle throw which flipped Megumi's Mom onto the table which promptly collapsed under her weight. Whoa! I didn't know that Setsuna-mama had it in her! We just stared at her in awe as Setsuna-mama leaned down close to Megumi's Mom who had an expression of total shock on her face.
"I would suggest that you take your daughter and get out before my daughter and I show you what we're really capable of doing." Setsuna-mama said calmly. Megumi's mom nodded vigorously and she scrambled to her feet, grabbed her daughter, and fled the building with their entourage in tow.
There were several seconds of stunned silence in the room, then someone started clapping, and soon the entire room was filled with people clapping and cheering and shouts of 'way to go!' and 'she had it coming!' Setsuna-mama looked totally embarrassed by all the attention she was getting.
A few hours later after a new club president, Hattori, was elected, we said our goodbyes and retired to our favorite hang-out, the Crown, before heading home.
"That was great!" Minako exclaimed after we had settled into a booth.
"Yeah, the expression on her face was priceless! I didn't think you had it in you Setsuna!" Makoto stated. Setsuna-mama just shrugged modestly and sipped her tea.
"What did you think Hoshiko?" Usagi asked Hoshiko who was sipping away at a chocolate milkshake.
"About this wonderful confection, or what happened earlier?" Hoshiko replied with a happy expression. We smiled a bit as she suddenly winced, an ice-cream headache coming on.
"It helps a bit if you don't drink it quite so quickly." Setsuna-mama remarked.
"Thank you, I will remember that in the future." Hoshiko replied, rubbing her temples a bit. "But to answer to your question though, today was a most interesting day. Are all of these 'fan clubs' like this?"
"You should see a Star Trek convention sometime." Minako replied suggestively. Hoshiko just stared at her, completely baffled.
"But we still can't find a Sailor Pluto fan club." Setsuna-mama sniffed sadly.
"Aw Mama, don't worry, we'll be your fan club." I assured her as I leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. She smiled and hugged me.
"Can we join?" Usagi, Minako, Makoto, Luna, and Artemis asked.
"And myself as well?" Hoshiko asked.
"Of course you guys can, everyone's welcome." I replied.
"Thank you Hime-chan, all of you." Setsuna-mama smiled warmly at all of us.
"You're welcome Mama." I replied and kissed her again.
"Now let's talk about club dues." Setsuna-mama said in a serious tone. We all stared at her in shock. "Just kidding!" She laughed and we all joined her.