Pandora's Senshi

A Sailor Moon Spin-off Fanfiction

By mew-tsubaki

Note: Ha-HA! This time, I have copyright power over these characters because their MY OWN! (Woo-hoo!) Anyway, I want to give some credit to Naoko Takeuchi-sensei, though, because I used the original names she had planned for the Sailor Moon characters (Sorano Hikaru, Yoruno Miyabi, Chino Mamoru, and Artemis; only Amano is hers- I came up with Kako), and the original scouts (Moon through Saturn) are hers. By the way, I know that the senshi names (Phlegethon, Colytus, Styx, Acheron, and Lethe) come from rivers in Hades (I read it somewhere) and have nothing to do with Pandora's Box, but read on to discover what they're really about. - Don't forget: READ, REVIEW, AND ENJOY! P.S.- the Artemis in this fanfic isn't the same as the cat-turned-human Artemis from the original series. She's someone completely different. Also, the other senshi will not be making anymore appearances. It's original from here on out.

Chapter Six: Shiro Takeyuki and Sorano Genji

"Another uneventful day to let drag on has come," Mamoru whined.

Kako gripped her shoulder and leaned on her friend for support. "Not that I disagree with you, but do you have to say it so dismally?"

"There's no other way to say it, Kako-chan."

The two walked on in silence for the rest of the way to Azusa Yomi Municipal High, each thinking of how tired they were of having to deal with the shadow monsters. The past two days had brought stress along with two new senshi. To Mamoru and Kako, it felt like time was whizzing past them with no intention of stopping or even slowing down.

Kako separated from Mamoru at the door to Mamoru's junior class and Kako continued down to her classroom, in a daze. So much has happened in such little time. New friends…but their problems and troubles come with them. What if I crack? I can't complain to them. I'm the only one in the group who doesn't have any real problems…

During this small thinking period, Kako wasn't paying any attention to where she was going. She could have run into something. …and she did.

"Genji! Get this to the teacher, pronto!"

"I'm on it!" As Genji rounded the corner, he ran smack dab into Kako. He winced and brushed his bangs out of his eyes. "Sorry!" he said, not looking at Kako. Then he realized he was on top of her. "Whoa! I'm really sorry there! I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and I-" Then their eyes met. "So you're Amano Kako. …Why are you looking at me like that?"

The pink-haired shrimp's mouth was gaping. "S-S-S-Sorano-san…!" she said, pointing at him.

"I don't believe we've met, but it doesn't surprise me that you know my name. You've probably met my sister, Hikaru."

"Hikaru-chan?" Kako echoed. Then she realized he was on top of her. "Oh! I'm sorry! I-" Genji lifted her up as if she weighed less than a feather. "Th-thank you!" Kako finally stuttered.

"It was my fault. I was in a hurry."

"No, no. I wasn't looking where I was going." Kako halfheartedly smiled. "So, you're Hikaru's brother? Are you guys twins?"

"Yep. We're fraternal twins. Hikaru mentioned you and Chino-san a few days ago."

Kako's heart skipped a beat. She sure hoped Hikaru hadn't told him about the Lethe part! "Y-Yeah… Mamoru and I were going to ask her to help us study when we saw a huge group of girls bullying her. I couldn't believe it when they hurt her. That shouldn't happen to anyone, especially if other people are just jealous of them. Don't you agree?"

Genji chuckled to himself. "You sure are serious about it, but, yes, I agree. By the way, my name's Genji. Mind if I call you Kako-chan?"

She blushed. "Um, s-sure." The bell rang and both were startled. "Oh, I've got to get to class! This may be the first time I'm late!"

"It'll be the same old for me," Genji commented. "Sorry for making you late, Kako-chan," he said with a smile as he continued in the opposite direction from her down the hall. He suddenly stopped. "See you sixth period?" he asked her.

"I have class then," she replied.

A mischievous smile broke out on his face. "So?"

Kako stood staring at his figure as he disappeared down the hall. Her heart was still racing and her face was still bright red. He makes my heart pound a mile a minute, she thought. Sorano Genji… He looks like the masculine form of Hikaru. Exactly the same, but so different. Kako held her fist close to her heart. His touch is so warm…

"Kako! Kako! Earth to Kako! Calling Kako!"

"Sorry. That's a long distance call."

Kako's classmates made more jokes, but they couldn't break Kako out of her daydream. No matter how hard they tried, Kako involuntarily ignored them. But she didn't want to let the sweet, sweet dream go…

"Mamoru, Shiro-sensei says he needs to see you," a girl said behind Mamoru.

The taupe-haired girl who doubled as Sailor Phlegethon jolted a little. "O-Oh, okay. I'll go right now." Mamoru put down what she was reading and headed for Takeyuki's classroom. He won't pull anything while we're at school, Mamoru thought, so it must be something else. She opened the door and stuck her head in. "Shiro-sensei?"

"Come in, Mamoru-chan," he said in a soft voice.

A little annoyed that he was calling her Mamoru-chan again, she listened and closed the door behind her in case he was going to continue with his antics. "We're at school. You know you can't call me that," she started, but she stopped when she realized he was fitting his things from his desk into a rather small box. "What are you doing?"

"It's okay to call you Mamoru-chan now," he stated, not meeting her eyes. He paused and thought for a moment. "I got…fired."

"What! Why!"

Takeyuki shook his head. "It's okay. I was lucky that a bookstore wanted me. Actually, since I know so much about literature, they asked me to start out in the manager position. I'll actually be getting paid more than what I got here." He closed the box, pushed his chair in, and drew the curtains closed. "Isn't that nice?"

The sunlight filtered through the curtains and barely lit the room. With the lights off, the room seemed like it was already sunset and everything was illuminated with an ethereal glow. Silence echoed off the surrounding walls while both Mamoru and Takeyuki held their breaths, waiting for the other to say something to break the uncomfortable peace.

"So," Mamoru began, "do you still live in the dingy apartment your parents told me about?"

"Yes. I'll probably be there for the rest of my life," Takeyuki chuckled, his hand behind his head. He noticed Mamoru smiled just a tiny bit.

"I-I'll see you later," she mumbled. She turned around and opened the door and, when she was halfway over the threshold, she gave Takeyuki a quick smile and left.

Maybe, Takeyuki thought, maybe I can get it right this time. I want her back…

"You look happy. It couldn't have been your lunch. That looks terrible."

"Say whatever you like, Hikaru," Mamoru stated nonchalantly. "You can't ruin my mood today."

"Why are you so happy, Mamoru?" Kako asked, coming out of her own little world for the first time that day (and it was already lunchtime).

Mamoru's smile faded slightly. "Kako, you know when I told you I didn't want to talk about what's bothering me?"

Both Hikaru and Kako stopped eating their lunches. "Yeah… What are you getting at?"

The taupe-haired girl sighed. "It was a little over a year ago. Our parents were friends, so we grew up together."

"Wait! Who are you talking about?"

"Shiro Takeyuki." The befuddled looks she received from both of them didn't stop her from going on. "I know, I know, it's weird, but just hear me out." Mamoru brushed the hair out of her face as a breeze blew by. "You see, I'm only two and half years younger than him. We were childhood friends and I started to really like him when I was thirteen. It turned out he really liked me, too. He asked my father if he could date me a year later and, while both our fathers were opposed to it, our mothers laughed and mentioned how long all of us had known each other, that Takeyuki would be good to me. We had a whole year to ourselves, but then… Takeyuki was a good student. A really good student. His high school urged him to graduate early because of his grades. Soon, he was getting a lot of letters from universities from all over the country…and from other countries. He accepted one from a college in the states. We almost made it to the two-year anniversary, but he left before that happened. We kept in touch for while, but we wrote less and less to each other and, soon, we stopped all together. I assumed he had gotten sick of me."

"How could you have been so stupid?" Hikaru cut in.

"It's not the way I wanted things to go!" Mamoru shot back. She sighed again. "But the thing is, he came back. And I didn't know that it would be as my teacher."

"Yowch…" Kako and Hikaru mumbled in unison.

"But…I still like him. A lot. I…I love him…"

"But you can't do anything because he's a teacher and you're a student…," Kako stated. "How sad."

Mamoru halfheartedly smiled. "That's why I wanted to tell you. He…he was fired. Luckily, he got another job that pays better. So…I was thinking of seeing if I could get another chance with him, but…"

"But what?"

"I'm…I'm not sure if he still feels the same way about me."

Hikaru blinked. "Did you just say he was fired?"

"Yeah, that's what he told me."

"That's not the case, though. I was talking with one of the teachers earlier today. She said that Shiro-sensei suddenly quit. Supposedly when asked why, he said it was for personal reasons." All three girls were quiet as their hearts raced. "You are his personal reason, Mamoru. He quit so he can be with you!"

Mamoru covered her mouth and forced back happy tears. He quit…for me!

Hikaru took another bite of her bento. "You can be a real idiot sometimes."

"Hikaru-chan!" Kako scolded.

But Mamoru ignored it. All she could think of was what she and Takeyuki had had way back when. All of those memories came flooding back. I…I…

The bell rang and the girls cleaned up on the roof before heading back into the building. When Hikaru and Kako parted from Mamoru halfway down the hall, Hikaru asked Kako why her face was bright red. "Um, I-I have to be somewhere right now!"

"Wait. You have class, Kako! Are you gonna skip?"

The pink-haired shrimp ran off in the direction opposite her freshman classroom. Kako didn't say anything more to Hikaru. It's so strange what I'm doing! Kako scolded herself. I'm skipping sixth period just to go see Hikaru's twin brother… And I don't even know where he wanted to see me! Kako paused and caught her breath. But…there's something about him… I don't know why I'm even doing this…!

"Ah, you showed. How'd you know I'd be on the roof?"

"S-Stop messing around. We should both be in class right now." Kako, red-faced once again, brushed her bangs off the tops of her eyes. "You have no idea how much trouble I'm in…"

Genji stopped leaning on the railing and walked over to her. "Well, that's a new side of you. I've seen popular, rich, and nice, but not worried or annoyed. I think I may be the first to witness it."

Kako glared at him. "Is that all you have to say to me! I have a life to live, all right? I can't go breaking down like everyone else around me! I have to be the strong one!" When she caught her breath, she realized it was too late to take back her words.

"So you put up a face?" he asked. Genji looked her squarely in the eye. "You hide everything to yourself and won't let anyone cry for you or care for you."

She bit her lower lip as she realized what she was caught up in. "It's not like I have a choice…," she mumbled. Her eyes fell to the ground. "My mom died last year, but no one was ever there to really comfort me or help me through it. I guess I felt like… Well, my classmates made me feel like I had suffered something so minor compared to all the daily troubles that were thrown at them." Kako sighed. "That's why I have to put up a face. Don't you get it? I have to be there for everyone even when they're not there for me."

"That was more than I was hoping for from this little meeting," Genji commented. "But I think your problem isn't that you don't have anyone to lean on. You just won't lean on anyone. You're against it; you think it might show your weakness."

"I-I don't have any weakness!" Kako stuttered as he moved closer to her. "I d-don't have…"

"So your biggest trouble is off your chest. Do you really regret finally telling someone?"

"I barely know you!"

"And that's what you needed." When he saw her puzzled look, he elaborated. "Other people know the fake you and they would be horrified to learn that this is what you're really like-"

"HEY!"

"-but when you let someone you've just met know the true you, you're giving them the chance to really see you for who you truly are. Do you really regret that?"

Kako had to admit that he was right. But the look in his eye was so intense, and he was so close to her, it made her feel like she couldn't breathe. And so he knows all about me know…, she thought. There's no point in running away from it. She hung her head. "I guess not."

Suddenly, Genji took her face in his hands and made her look him in the eye. "Would you mind repeating that?" he asked with a smile.

She couldn't help but smile back. "I guess not!"

"There we go! Now you're free to be yourself in front of others!"

"WHAT!"

"Come on, Kako-chan. It's not like it's going to hurt you."

But Kako faltered. "But…I'm-I'm scared of what they'll think. This is the first time I've told someone this. I haven't even opened up to my father about this!" Kako was really shaken up by the suggestion.

Genji sighed and put an arm around her. "All right, all right, my little con artist. How about this? You don't have to be real in front of anyone but me-on one condition: try to be yourself bit by bit in front of Hikaru and Chino-san. They're your friends, and they deserve better than what they're getting."

Kako looked at him incredulously. "So you're going to hog me all to yourself? Boy, you move fast. You're smart like Hikaru, but that's about it. You've done this before, haven't you? Hit on girls like this?"

Genji smiled mischievously as he lifted her chin with his index finger and moved his lips towards hers. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"I-"

Well, the bell rang again, spoiling Genji's plans for the afternoon. Kako actually went back to class this time and, while she urged him not to cut seventh, he shrugged and smiled as she went back into the building. Kako had never been so red-faced before in her entire life! He has a cute face, but smarts that come along with it. Who'd have thought? She smiled to herself on the inside just a little. Maybe I'll take him up on his offer.

Should I really do this? Mamoru asked herself, blushing. Hikaru and Kako were all for it when I was trying to decide what to do, but… Mamoru's hand trembled as she lifted her finger to ring the doorbell buzzer. Before she even rang it, Takeyuki appeared.

"Oh! Mamoru-chan! I wasn't expecting to see you here!" he said, his heart beating against his rib cage.

"I-I know. I wanted to talk to you though. I- What's with the box?"

Takeyuki reluctantly smiled. "This? It's some of my stuff from my apartment. The landlady sold the building and told everyone we have until the end of the week to move out. It really stinks. Being fired and then kicked out of my home."

"About you being fired… I know you weren't, Takeyuki." Mamoru stared him in the eye and he dropped the box. "Why did you quit?"

"Because I wanted to be with you." His straightforward answer startled Mamoru; she had not expected it out of him! "Look, I'm sorry about everything that's happened, but I didn't really want it to happen. I wanted to stay here and be with you. I know you've given up on me, but- I guess I just wanted you to know I haven't given up on us." He looked at Mamoru, who was silent.

Finally, she said something. "Do you want to come live with me?" The whole time, she had her eyes closed. Takeyuki nearly fell over from her question. "I-I mean- you don't have a place to live and-"

"And?" he echoed.

"And I want you to know I haven't given up on us either." Mamoru opened her eyes and stared into his. "I thought you had gotten tired of me. I thought you had maybe even forgotten about me. But all this time…I still loved you. I love you and I can't change it."

There was an odd pause as the flabbergasted couple stared into each other's eyes. Snow lightly drifted to the ground and fell all around them. It touched their clothes and skin. Takeyuki saw Mamoru's breath in the air. Nothing touches Mamoru's lips, Takeyuki thought, nothing but mine! He ran to her and caught her in his strong arms. Her hat fell to the ground as he pulled her in for the most amazing kiss either of them had ever had. Mamoru pulled away for a split-second to breathe, but both went back for more. This time, though, they shared in a French kiss. After another minute, both stopped. "Will you live with me?" she asked.

"Of course," he said, smiling at her. He bent down and picked up her hat to place it on her head. "I only have one other box of things. I can take everything with me now, if you want." As Takeyuki turned on his heel, Mamoru stopped him.

"There's just one thing: you still cook, right?"

"Why do you ask?" He paused for a second. "You never learned to cook, did you?"

"Sorry!"

He sighed exasperatedly, but smiled nonetheless. "I'll get my things and then we can head home."

"Home…" The word tingled on Mamoru's lips. "It's been such a long time since I've used that term."

"You won't be lonely anymore, Mamoru-chan," he commented quietly to himself. Takeyuki ran up to his apartment and grabbed the other box, not bothering to look over the place one last time. It didn't bother him, though; it was never really home to him. He joined Mamoru downstairs and they headed to her- well, their apartment.