Title: Lost in the Sea of Serenity: An Altered Destiny
Author: S Dot Serenity
A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry that it took me so long to update! But with school and personal issues, things began to be a bit much. Well, I'm back now, and will be updating on more often. I just hope that there are people out there who enjoy this story as much as I enjoy writing it! Send me your thoughts!! Oh, and a big thank you goes out to Sol Y Sombra and Serandi82 for your reviews! Now, on to the story!
Disclaimer: Don't own Sailor Moon. Never have, never will...
Chapter Four
Hatsugoori couldn't believe her luck. Here she was, stuck on this goddess-forsaken planet called 'Earth' which was way too green for her tastes, and worst of all, she had to share an apartment with her of all people! She hung her head and sighed. She knew that she had made the Queen mad, but if she'd known that her punishment was to be paired with Kousen, she would have gladly taken the fire blasts.
Kousen, for her part, had already taken an active role in the whole 'Earthling' guise. She'd been roving around their arranged living quarters for the better part of the hour that they had been there. It was very elaborately decorated in all Earthen finery, and Kousen took it upon herself to explore all of it.
The fire assassin had even shed her Daughters' fuku and donned an Earthen outfit. Clad in blue jean shorts, black midriff with a red fox on the front, and black tennis shoes, Kousen went from room to room, intently ignoring her silently fuming comrade. At the moment, Kousen was fiddling with what the Earthlings called a 'television' to ease some of the tension in the room.
Deciding that she couldn't take the silence anymore, Hatsugoori spoke.
"Of all the Daughters that her majesty could have sent, she had to stick me with you."
Hey, no one ever said that Hatsugoori got points for positivity.
Kousen sniffed haughtily and sank into their huge, plush white couch. "As if I wanted to be stuck here babysitting a spoiled rotten, self-centered, iced-out drama queen like you!"
Hatsugoori's jaw hit the floor. How dare Kousen say such things about her! She was NOT spoiled in the least!
Stalking towards the red haired warrior, Hatsugoori stood directly in front of her and raged, "You rotten little heat rash! How dare you speak to me that way! I'll have you know that—" Hatsugoori stopped her rant as she saw that Kousen was once again ignoring her, and peering to her left to see what was on the television.
The self-proclaimed princess stamped her foot in annoyance. She would not be ignored! "Pay attention to me dammit!" she yelled. Forgetting her rage for a split second, Hatsugoori stopped and pulled at the neck of her fuku and winched as small bursts of steam emerged.
"And why is it so freakin' hot in here?!"
Casually, Kousen pushed Hatsugoori to the side and changed the channel. "Unlike you," she drawled. "I'd prefer not to freeze to death before I reach my full potential."
Before Hatsugoori could fire off a retort, Kousen continued. "Why don't you change out of your fuku if you're so hot? You can't very well be seen walking around Tokyo like that anyway."
Blinking in confusion, Hatsugoori looked down at her cerulean and black assassin fuku and realized, regrettably, that Kousen was right. Glancing at her 'roommate', she took in her apparel and knew that she could outdo her.
Snapping her fingers, a blizzard erupted around Hatsugoori, surrounding her for a full five seconds. When she emerged, she was dressed in a blue jean mini skirt, a baby blue tube top, and baby blue platform sandals adorned her feet. Her hair was pulled into a Jeannie tail, and small diamond snowflake earrings were in her ears.
Whirling around in a circle, Hatsugoori bounced over to Kousen and leaned into her face. Beaming brightly, she sang, "Aren't I cute?"
Becoming increasingly annoyed with her partner, Kousen pushed Hatsugoori aside, scoffing. "Hardly."
Sitting on the floor and glaring up at Kousen, Hatsugoori figured that she'd had enough. Mission or no, somebody had to go, and it wouldn't be Hatsugoori.
Just as the blue clad assassin was powering up for an ice blast, she was startled by a loud ring coming from her hip. Looking down in surprise, she pulled her cell phone from the clasp that she didn't know was there. Staring at it quizzically, she held it between her thumb and index finger.
"What is it doing?"
Rolling her eyes, Kousen grabbed the phone and pressed a button. "You have a message, dingus." Pressing the button on her own phone, she continued. "It must be the names that we're to use while we're here."
"Names?" Hatsugoori asked, still looking at the phone. "Why do we need new names? What's wrong with my name?"
Kousen slapped her hand to her forehead. Counting back from ten, she tried to calmly explain to Hatsugoori.
"We have to be given normal Earthen names so we can fit in with the normal Earth people. Names like 'Kousen' and 'Hatsugoori' will rouse suspicion."
Hatsugoori frowned. "But I'm not normal," she said with a slightly haughty air.
Kousen snorted. "No arguments there."
The ice assassin stuck her nose in the air. "I meant that as royalty, I should not be seen as a commoner anyway." Kousen just rolled her eyes.
Sending a glare towards her increasingly hated roomate, Hatsugoori read her message. "I still don't see the poi…" Hatsugoori stopped suddenly as what she read sank in.
"What?" Kousen said, trying to peer at her phone. "What's wrong?"
"My name," Hatsugoori whispered, thousands of emotions threatening to spill over.
Oblivious, Kousen proceeded to read her own assigned name. "Well of course it's your name. I just told you that central control was sending over our…oh."
Yeah, 'oh'. Hatsugoori thought to herself. Eyes tracing longingly across the words on the screen, Hatsugoori whispered them aloud. "Aisuno Himeko." Soon as the words left her mouth, Hatsugoori was hit hard by a long dormant memory.
She and another blue haired young girl were laughing happily, ice skating through Mercury's ice canals. Though the other girls' face was a blur, Hatsugoori knew that they were close. As quick as the memory had come, it was gone, but the emotions that they had caused, Hatsugoori knew, would always be there. Closing her eyes, Hatsugoori took a deep breath as she tried to push those memories and emotions back down to where she kept them sealed away, hopefully never to awaken again. She was an assassin. She had no use for emotions like love, friendship, acceptance. She was perfectly fine being an ice-cold shell of a person that she once was.
Kousen was having the same problem. "Kyoumaru Kasai." Only her memories were not as loving and fun filled as Hatsugoori's. Shaking her head firmly, she willed them away, not even wanting to take that disastrous plunge down memory lane. Closing her phone, she looked over at Hatsugoori who still had a distant look in her eyes.
"Hey, Hatsu…I mean Himeko," Kousen called. "Let's watch some television until we set out to find those 'Senshi'."
Languidly, Hatsugoori rose from the ground and walked over to the couch. "Why can't we just go out now?" she asked.
Grabbing the remote, Kousen began to flip until she found something interesting. "It's still early. Most civilians are at school or work. It'll be useless if we go out now."
Hatsugoori nodded. Their squabble momentarily forgotten in favor of errant memories, the pair sat together peaceful and tried not to let their minds stray to a path that only led to heartache.
"Luna! Can we go home now?" Usagi pleaded as she stopped to lean against a tree to rest. The next day, the pair had come to the park straight after school, and had been scouting the 'demonic graveyard' for a little over 30 minutes trying to find something that would give them some information on their new enemy. Unfortunately they had found nothing of use.
"I don't even really know what we're looking for," Usagi continued, brushing some errant dirt from her shoe.
Taking one last look, Luna walked over to her charge. "I suppose you're right," she said. "I guess it would be more helpful if we had Rei's seeing abilities, or Ami and her computer."
Usagi nodded. "Yeah, it would. But Rei had something to do after school and Ami's still a little down about her computer."
Luna sighed. "I wish there was something that we could do to help that poor girl." Usagi nodded. "Me too. I just don't know what."
Whatever Luna was about to saw was interrupted by the slight rumble coming from Usagi's stomach.
Rubbing her stomach and giggling embarrassedly, Usagi bent down to grab her school case. "Well, looks like it's snack time." Scooping down to pick up Luna, Usagi started walking towards Crown. "Whad'ya say Luna? How about lunch?"
Unfortunately, Usagi's food quest was rudely interrupted by the brick wall she ran into. Groaning, Usagi sat up rubbing her side. "I have got to stop doing that."
Looking around, she spotted Luna sprawled on the ground and could have sworn that she saw little balls of yarn spinning around her head. [Boy, is she going to be cranky when she wakes up.]
Finally looking up to see what she ran into, Usagi gasped. Standing before her was an incredibly pretty girl. She was brown skinned, with long raven hair, half up in a bun, half down, tinted with red. Her large brown eyes were filled with concern as she looked down at Usagi.
"Oh my gosh! Are you ok?"
The brown skinned stranger offered a hand, and Usagi gladly accepted it.
"Arigato Gozaimasu," Usagi said, bowing. Standing up straight, Usagi realized how tall the girl was. She practically the same height as Setsuna! She could see how she felt like a brick wall.
"No problem." The stranger said. Bending down to pick up Usagi's case, she saw Luna in the process.
"Oh! What a cute kitty!" She quickly scooped Luna up and cradled her in her arms. "Poor thing. That fall must have shaken you up pretty bad."
Shaking her head quickly to gather her senses, Luna looked up at her helper. Her eyes suddenly narrowed as she felt something strange coming from the girl. [What is this feeling? It seems so…familiar.] Deciding that she didn't like it, Luna quickly righted herself and leapt into Usagi's waiting arms.
Blinking in surprise, the stranger scratched her head nervously. "Sorry I grabbed her like that. It's just that I really like cats. I have one of my own at home." Suddenly, she smiled brightly. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't introduce myself." Bowing slightly out of respect, she said. "My name is Andrea."
Usagi just stared at her. "You're not from Japan, are you?"
Andrea laughed. "Nope. I'm from America."
[Makes sense.]
Usagi smiled brightly. "How cool! I really don't meet too many Americans! Probably because my English sucks. "I'm Tsukino Usagi by the way."
Andrea laughed and nodded. "Nice to meet you."
Suddenly, Usagi's stomach rumbled again, and she remembered where she was off to in such a hurry in the first place. "Oh, I can't believe I almost forgot!" Usagi said, slapping herself in the forehead. "I was just on my way to grab a bite to eat, wanna come?"
"Well," Andrea said, seeming a little held back. "I haven't really eaten anything yet, but…" But before she could say anything else, Usagi grabbed her hand and was pulling her down the street.
"Great! Let's go!"
"Hmmm," Kousen remarked to herself as she peered at the two girls speeding down the street. "I wonder if one of them could be our next target." Kousen and Hatsugoori had set out a little after four to try and find their next target. Central Control hadn't sent out a message yet, so they decided to take matters into their own hands. At the moment, they were standing near an open-air market, trying to blend in.
"What do you think, Hatsu?" Turning back to her partner, she saw her happily eating out of an ice cream cup. Kousen lifted a brow questioningly.
"What in the world are you eating?"
Happily, Hatsugoori gulped down another spoonful of vanilla ice cream. "Kousen! I mean, Kasai uh, chan! You have to try this!" Shoving the cup in Kousen's face, she continued. "I finally found something that I like about this disgraceful planet! It's called ice cream, and it's delectably cold and, hey!" Her rant was cut short as Kousen smacked it out of her hands.
"Will you stop eating and get focused!" Kousen seethed. Hatsugoori wasn't paying attention to her as she was staring forlornly at her fallen treat. Slowly looking up at Kousen, Hatsugoori felt a cold rage fill her. [Why does she always have to ruin my fun!]
Lashing out, Hatsugoori swiftly grabbed Kousen by her collar and pulled her close to her face. Shards of ice began to steadily inch their way toward Kousen's neck.
"Don't ever do that again." Hatsugoori seethed, low and dangerous. Rolling her eyes, Kousen just smacked her hand away. Looking down at her shirt, she blew a small cloud of steam to melt the ice. Glaring at Hatsugoori, she walked past her in the direction that Usagi and Andrea had gone.
"Stop being so dramatic and come on. I'm thirsty and I think a coffee shop is this way."
Crossing her arms across her chest to still her hands from shooting out ice shards at the infuriating red head, Hatsugoori reluctantly followed.
"Coffee shop? How'd you become so knowledgeable about Earth anyway?" Hatsugoori muttered to herself.
"I actually paid attention to my lessons," Kousen called back to her. "It's useful for an assassin to know all there is to know about her enemies."
Hatsugoori fought hard to hide her surprise. [How'd she hear me?]
"So what were you doing in the park anyway?"
Andrea started in surprise at Usagi's question. Noisily slurping up the last of her soda, she pushed away her cup and looked at the pigtailed blonde.
The blonde in question sat, French fry in mid air, anxiously waiting her answer.
"Well," she started. "I'm new to town and I just wanted to walk around, ya know, get familiar with the place. I was just walking by when I noticed how pretty the park was and decided to drop in. That's when I found that weird dead area and bumped into you. Hey," Andrea said, cocking a brow. "What were you doing in that dead area?"
"Just looking around. It's just so curious to see one area of the park that doesn't grow, you know? Just wondering why." Usagi lied smoothly. "So when did you move to Japan?"
Luna sat open mouthed, gaping at Usagi. How was she able to lie so smoothly? Her! The Queen of blab, the duchess of oblivious! How? How could she have ever come up with a lie so smoothly, and still change the subject! The little black cat couldn't decide whether she was proud of her evading an awkward situation, saddened at the fact that she had to learn to lie so well, or just be shocked that it happened. Luna just settled down into Usagi's bag and decided that it was time for a nap. Usagi's burst of brilliance was just too much for her, and she didn't have time for a migraine at the moment.
"Oh…um," Andrea looked sheepishly at the table. Usagi tilted her head curiously. Was it a hard question? Did Andrea not understand what she said? Usagi sure hoped she did, because she didn't know any way that she could communicate in English. [Too bad Ami isn't here.]
"I really didn't move here," The raven-haired beauty said. "Not permanently anyway. I just came over to handle some family business. My dad had a few business partners over here. Since he died, it's been up to me to handle the company. I came over to discuss some things with them. Afterwards, I'm headed back to the States."
"Oh. I'm sorry to hear about your dad." Usagi was instantly saddened to hear that the girl had lost her father. She didn't know what she would do without her own.
"Where's your mom?"
Again, Andrea looked uncomfortable. "I…uh…really haven't seen my mother since I was very young. I don't really like to talk about it."
Usagi nodded in understanding, but was steadily feeling worse and worse for the girl.
"So you're over here alone?"
Andrea shrugged her shoulders and laughed slightly, but it held no humor.
"Yeah."
Usagi's heart really ached for her. Here she was, in a strange country, all alone, with no one to really care for her. No friends, no family, no one. How could she stand to be alone? How could she stand going about the day, not having anyone to talk to? To laugh with?
Usagi thought back to the time when she thought that her friends had deserted her and left her to fend for herself. She was crushed. Luckily for her, it was just a ploy to distract the enemy, but for Andrea, this was real life. For Andrea, there was no, 'oh you know we weren't serious, stop being such a ditz'. She was alone. Usagi made her decision then and there.
"Well," she said, with all of the determination of a warrior, standing up. Andrea's head snapped up at her tone.
"Not anymore!"
Andrea just blinked in confusion. "What?"
Slamming her hand down on the table, Usagi announced, "You don't have to be alone anymore! I, Tsukino Usagi vow to be your friend for your entire stay in Japan! Nothing, and I mean nothing, shall tear us apart, and if it does, they'll have to answer to me!"
Andrea just stared at Usagi, as it became deathly quiet in the Crown. All of the arcade's clientele gaped at the blonde's loud declaration, and Andrea was very embarrassed by the sudden stares. Usagi for her part really didn't care, as she had one of these outbursts at least twice a day. Today's just came a little late.
Pushing her embarrassment aside, Andrea did the only thing that came to mind. She laughed.
And laughed.
And laughed.
Usagi slowly sat back down, all the while staring at Andrea quizzically. [Did I say something funny?]
Wiping a stray tear from her eye, Andrea finally stopped laughing. "I-I'm sorry." She said. "But you were just so cute!"
[Ooookay…not exactly the response I was expecting…]
Usagi's feelings were just a little hurt. To think, she had just stood up and made a totally selfless public declaration, telling her that she would be her friend so that she wouldn't be alone anymore, and she was laughing? Yeah, Usagi's pride was stung. She could have at least accepted.
"Usagi?"
The moon princess looked at the now composed American.
"Thank you. I am very glad that you will be my friend."
Then again, Usagi had always been quick to forgive. Usagi beamed and nodded happily. "Great! I'll have to introduce you to my other friends. I'm sure they'll love you!"
Kousen sipped her soda slowly, trying to drown out Hatsugoori's constant complaining. They had arrived at the Crown arcade not too long after the blonde and her friend, and found a booth near the door. Kousen instantly regretted allowing Hatsugoori to even sit with her, since she hadn't stopped babbling, loudly since they sat down.
She found that the ice assassin was very hard to ignore, as her left eye twitched every time she opened her mouth. The red head wished with all her might that she could just go one second without having to endure the torture that was Hatsugoori. She couldn't get rid of her! First she had to join the Daughter's ranks, then they had to live together, now, they were stuck on this stupid mission together! And the idiot wouldn't shut up!
Hatsugoori, for her part, was still a bit miffed at Kousen for smacking down her ice cream cup. It was the one thing that she had found so far, besides the men of course, that caught her interest on this stupid planet, and that whacked out psycho had to destroy it! Hatsugoori had always been one to hold a grudge, and this time was no different. So no, she was not going to sit idly by and let Kousen enjoy her drink in peace. Yes, she was going to bug her, and nag her, and make her want to crawl under a rock and die until she had her fill. At least it would make her think twice before knocking down another ice cream cup.
Did Kousen regret smacking away that stupid cup? Oh yes, yes she did. She regretted it with all her heart. She regretted not taking the cup calmly from Hatsugoori. She regretted not walking slowly up to Hatsugoori. And she regretted not shoving that damned ice cream cup down Hatsugoori's pretty little throat!
At this point, Kousen had all but smashed her soda can to bits, purple liquid fizzing out of the sides, and the jagged edges of the can biting into her skin. This was missed by Hatsugoori who was busy ranting about the blue-gray of the waiter's eyes reminding her of something about Mercury that Kousen didn't particularly care about. Though when she thought about it, she really should have, since her partner's rants about her home planet could blow their cover at any given second. Just as Kousen was about to throw the soda wreckage at her partners head, their cell phones rang, surprising them both.
Grateful for the distraction, Kousen pushed her ruined beverage to the side and swiftly pulled out her phone. Fortunately for her, Hatsugoori shut up long enough to watch her retrieve the message.
"Who's it from?" Hatsugoori asked innocently, while simultaneously batting her eyes at the waiter who had stopped by to clean up the mess. Seeming a little uncomfortable, the waiter hurried his task and was gone in an instant. Hatsugoori pouted, and snapped her fingers.
Kousen didn't even give the boy a second glance. She was too busy staring incredulously at Hatsugoori.
"What do you mean, who's it from?" Kousen all but yelled. "Who else?!"
Obviously not caring for the well being of Kousen's sanity, Hatsugoori just smirked slightly and brought her finger to her lips.
"Shhhh," she admonished. "You might want to lower your voice a little, Kousen dear. You don't want to bring any unwanted attention to yourself."
Gritting her teeth, she pushed the small phone towards Hatsugoori. She wanted nothing more than to bring some very much needed pain to the self-proclaimed princess, but that could wait until later.
"It's from Central Control," Kousen said lowly, fighting her temper. "They've found the first target."
"Really?" Hatsugoori asked, curiosity piqued. She snatched up the phone and looked at the picture on the screen. It was of a pretty young woman, sixteen or seventeen years old. She had orange hair, streaked with lines of white, and a piercing in her eyebrow and nose. Her alabaster skin was only slightly darker than Hatsugoori's and she appeared to be singing, eyes closed, apparently caught up in the moment. "Ugh, it's a girl," the Mercurian sneered, nose turned up in disgust. "Not even worth my time."
"You'd better make her worth your time," Kousen hissed, reaching out to grab her phone back. Out of habit, Hatsugoori held it out of her reach just in time, grinning mischievously. Letting her hand fall onto the table, Kousen highly considered killing Hatsugoori then and there, consequences be damned. Instead, she took a deep breath and tried again.
"She is worth your time, because she is vital to our mission in finding the crystals for our Queen. This girl just may hold a crystal." A sudden wicked thought crossed Kousen's mind, she pulled back her arm and rested her face in her palm. "And we both know how important it is to please our Queen, don't we? We wouldn't want to bring down her wrath again, hmmm Hatsu… I mean, Himeko-chan?"
That struck a nerve in Hatsugoori. Lost for words, she simply gaped at Kousen for a second until anger took over. Narrowing her eyes dangerously, she began to rise from her seat, all too prepared to wring Kousen's neck for even referring to a time when she had been vulnerable and helpless.
Kousen was all to ready for her attack. She wouldn't hesitate to fire off some of her own. She was easily capable of handling the mission on her own. Plus, she wouldn't have to worry about punishment because Hatsugoori started it. She didn't even care about exposing herself, she just needed one good punch!
Come on snowflake, Kousen thought to herself. Bring it on!
At that moment, Usagi yelled out her friendship declaration, effectively startling the two assassins…again.
Hatsugoori jumped in surprise, yelping slightly. The cell phone that she had been gripping slipped out of her fingers and flew into the air. Forgetting about the ice shards that began to form on her fingertips, Hatsugoori grappled for it, effectively freezing it solid. Shocked at the sudden cool touch of the phone, she let it slip through her fingers.
After her initial surprise at Usagi's outburst, Kousen could do nothing but watch in shock as her tracking device fell. The light way that the phone hit the ground did it no good, as it shattered instantly on contact.
Kousen couldn't move. Well, she could move, but she knew that if she did, Hatsugoori would be nothing more than dust in the wind.
Hatsugoori was no fool. She knew what kind of temper Kousen had, and she knew that her breaking the fire assassin's tool that was issued from their Queen herself was something that would provoke it.
Of all the Daughters, Kousen nearly matched Kokuten's determination when it came to completing a mission. All facts had to be together, all plans organized, and all aids in tact. If one single fragment was out of place, there'd be hell to pay, and Kousen would be glad to dish it out. She could be just as lethal as their leader if provoked.
At this moment, Hatsugoori feared that she might have provoked Kousen's wrath. If she advanced on her, she would fight ferociously, but she was no dummy to the fact that Kousen's fire would evaporate her attacks in an instant. Luckily, Hatsugoori knew that she was quicker than Kousen. Though they were partners, Hatsugoori made it a fact to know all of the Daughter's strengths and weaknesses. Though supposed sisters, she never knew when the time would come for her to have to defend herself against one of them. Kousen especially.
To Hatsugoori, the silence in the Crown was deafening. It was as if everyone present was waiting on something. Most present were waiting to see the blonde haired girl's friend reaction to her statement, and were completely oblivious to the silent battle between the two assassins. Others didn't care one way or the other, but didn't want to be the first to break the silence and draw the attention upon their selves. Hatsugoori didn't care about any of them at the moment, except for Kousen. Her silence couldn't mean anything good.
Kousen never took her eyes off of the floor. Hatsugoori was right. It was taking all of the willpower in Kousen's body to keep her from torching the place out of anger. Kousen was smart not to look in Hatsugoori's direction. If the girl had so much as gazed her way, Kousen wouldn't think twice about incinerating her. She had broken her phone, a tool that the Queen would not be happy to replace.
She knew that she could not return to headquarters anytime soon, unless she had a crystal in hand, especially not for something as trivial as receiving a new phone. They had just been dispatched yesterday; her Queen would not be happy to see that things already seemed to be going downhill. Kousen would be the one to take the brunt of her fury because she was supposed to be the responsible one. She was supposed to clean up Hatsugoori's mess, not the other way around.
Kousen closed her eyes, and focused her breathing. As bad as she wanted to, she knew that it would not be wise to lose her cool. For one, she would expose the two of them, and the mission would be over before it even began. Secondly, she knew that once she lost control, there would be no turning back, and it would ultimately lead her to a place that she never wanted to go again; a place that lead her to her Queen in the first place.
Knowing that she had to keep the mission first, she slowly calmed herself. There was no point in getting too upset now. After all, they did have another phone.
Slowly raising her head, she gazed coolly at Hatsugoori. To her amusement (slight amusement), the cerulean assassin couldn't meet her gaze. She knew that Kousen would be angry, and she knew of the possible consequences. Kousen couldn't help but revel in the small sense of satisfaction Hatsugoori's wariness brought.
"Don't. Don't say a word," Kousen said evenly. Hatsugoori's head snapped toward her, confusion etched across her face. Everything was returning to normal in the arcade, so only the intended heard her words.
"Not one word," Kousen repeated, pointing at the broken shards. "We are not without. We know our assignment." Hatsugoori nodded in understanding. If Kousen didn't want to speak on the incident, then who was she to force her?
Without a word, Kousen turned and headed out of the Crown, Hatsugoori right behind her.
Ami walked slowly down the street, hardly paying attention to the conversation Makoto and Minako were having. They had met up with the blonde on their way to the Crown for their normal afternoon snack and gab session. Well, normal afternoon snack and half gab session for Ami since she always had her nose in a book. The two had opted to wait for Usagi, but Ami had informed them that she'd said that she had some business to take care of after school. Not needing anymore of an explanation, they'd set out.
For now, Ami was slightly glad that Usagi was not with them at the moment, though she felt slightly guilty about it. If the meatball headed princess were there, she would have instantly picked up on Ami's less than happy mood, and pestered her about it. Right now, she just wanted to have her mind clear so she could think. Her friends always teased her about that. How she'd retreat inside herself to figure out a very complex problem and shut out the rest of the world. They would say that not even a hurricane could rouse her from her thoughts. She supposed they were right. But that was just how she dealt with things. The others would just have to accept that.
On the outside, she was perfectly normal, going about the day and acting as she normally had, but there was a war raging inside of her. She was still silently brooding over the fact that her computer had failed her. Yes, she knew that her friends had told her not to worry about it, but she couldn't help it. She was Ami; she worried. She absolutely hated when there was a problem whose solution was just beyond her reach. She knew that with the right amount of time she could figure it out, but her feelings of failure were occupying much of her brainpower that wasn't reserved for school or not becoming a science and math-loving block of ice.
Ami couldn't help but feel that she had let her friends down. They had always depended on her for a somewhat immediate answer to their problems, and she had always complied. She had gotten the Senshi out of more situations with her mind than she could count. And that had always pleased her. She always felt good when she was able to help someone.
Even in the beginning, when she had first received her henshin wand, her computer had been her trusted ally. She relied on it even more then, because all she'd had to contribute in battle was her Shabon Spray. Sure, it had saved their butts countless times, but she couldn't help but feel slightly inferior to the other Senshi. When it came to offensive maneuvers, she was easily thwarted, and that hurt. She wanted to help, she wanted to defend, but with just her spray, she felt depressingly limited.
That's why she favored her computer so. It gave her an advantage that the enemy never had. She always seemed to be one step ahead, always ready with some pointer to give, to dust all opponents. Thought she thought it slightly selfish, she liked the fact that the others had to turn to her to know how to destroy a particularly difficult youma. She knew that they depended on her, that they couldn't win without her. She felt needed. She felt wanted. And she hadn't felt that way until she realized who she was, or rather who she was meant to be.
Now that her computer was failing her, she felt lost. That last battle had been luck, and she didn't know of any soldiers who survived long on sheer luck alone. When the next battle came, (and she was sure there'd be more), how was she going to get them out of sticky situations? Yes, she had her mind, but her brain could only process so much. She needed time to analyze, to pinpoint data, but her brainpower was nothing compared to the speed of the Mercury computer.
Ami sighed heavily as she realized that she depended on her computer. Sure now, she was a lot stronger and more experienced than she had been in her early days as a Senshi, and didn't really need the computer at times, but it was her security blanket. It was what she turned to in troubled times, when it seemed like there was no hope left. She had found Beryl's D-point with that computer. She had found Ail and Ann's tree with that computer. She had beat Nehelenia's copy with that computer. So what was she to do now, since it didn't seem to discern information about this new enemy?
If there was one thing she knew, it was that this enemy was strong. Very strong. What happened when they were backed into a corner and the enemy was unbeatable? They couldn't very well depend on that strange force that helped them last time. They would have to figure out a new way to deal, and the others would be turning to Ami to do it.
The blue haired genius started as Minako's loud laughter filled the air. Obviously, she had missed one of Makoto's jokes. She wasn't too sure that she was all that disappointed. Ami smiled to herself and chuckled mirthlessly.
She wished that she could express her feelings with her friends, but she knew they'd never understand. They'd just tell her to stop dwelling, and that everything would work out. They'd say she was a valuable part of their team without the computer, and she had more to offer than her brains, blah blah blah. All lines she'd heard before. Of course, it was true, but it didn't do anything to placate Ami's tortured pride. She was Mizuno Ami, future M.D. Dwelling was what she was good at. She was too old to break that habit now.
Ami started again as she realized that Makoto was talking to her.
"Hello? Jupiter to Ami?"
A slight blush stained her cheeks as she realized that they had stopped walking. Looking up, she saw the sliding glass doors of the Crown Arcade staring back at her.
Laying a friendly hand on her shoulder, Makoto looked into her eyes cheerfully. "Hey, where'd you go Ames?" she asked smiling.
"Yeah, we thought you'd left your body for a minute, you were so quiet," Minako added. She put her hand on her hip, and pointed a finger at Ami's nose. "Were you dwelling again?"
Ami blinked. Surprisingly, Minako had figured her out. The girl had more brains that they gave her credit for.
"I…that is…um…"
Makoto groaned. "You were dwelling." She said. "Let me guess, about your computer again, right?" She took Ami's silence as a yes.
Minako slapped her palm to her forehead.
"Ami!" she drawled. "You've got to stop worrying. We told you everything'd turn out all right in the end. They always do."
"She's right," Makoto chirped. "And they will. Even if we have to fly to Mercury to get you a doohickey that'll upgrade it ourselves."
Ami couldn't resist cracking a small smile. No, her friends may not understand exactly how she felt, but they tried their best to make her feel better. That was all she could really ask for…she guessed.
"Ah! A smile!" Minako pronounced. "Mako-chan! She's alive!"
"Great," Makoto said, grabbing Ami's wrist. "And now that's Nurse Mina's diagnosis is complete, how about we treat the future good doctor to a milkshake?"
"Sounds good to me!"
Ami couldn't help but giggle as they led her into the arcade, narrowly missing a red haired woman and a pretty blue haired woman at her heels. Ami silently wondered where they were off to in such a rush, but immediately forgot about it when the trio spotted Usagi at their regular booth.
"Hey Usagi!" Makoto called, but stopped short when she reached the booth. "Oh," she said when she saw Andrea sitting there, remnants of a smile on her face. "Hello. Usagi, who's your friend?"
Usagi smiled when she saw the same curious faces on Minako and Ami. "Minna, this is my new friend Andrea. She just moved here from America." She introduced. "Andrea, these are my best friends, Minako, Makoto, and Ami." Usagi said, pointing at each one in turn.
The trio bowed. "Nice to meet you."
Andrea smiled. "Likewise."
"Come on guys," Usagi said, scooting over, "Grab a seat." The girls hurriedly slid into the booth. Makoto immediately started scooping out Motoki. Turning to Usagi, she asked. "Ne, Usagi, have you seen Motoki-kun since you've been here?"
Looking thoughtful for a moment, Usagi began to look around. "Hmm. I really haven't been paying much attention Mako-chan." She confessed. "We haven't really been here that long."
"Oh," Makoto actually looked disappointed for a moment. Suddenly, she brightened. "Well, I'll just go look for him. Be right back!" With a small wave, she scooted back out of the booth and sped off, leaving a slightly stunned group of girls in her wake. Andrea snorted a laugh, not bothering to hide her mirth.
"Is she always like this?" Andrea asked, still smiling. Recovering, Usagi giggled. "Yep, that's our boy crazy Mako-chan," Andrea nodded. "So, who's Motoki? Her boyfriend?"
"Absolutely not!" Minako yelled, standing in defiance. "There is no possible way that Mako-chan could've gotten her hands on him first!"
Covering her hand with her eyes, Ami let out a long suffering sigh. "Sit down Mina-chan," she said, tugging her friend back to her seat.
"Umm, I think Reika-chan got her hand on him first, Mina-chan," Usagi offered to a put out Minako.
"So," the golden Senshi said with a pout. "A girl can dream can't she?"
"When it comes to Nii-chan, that better be all you do," came a voice from behind the girls. Minako started as she realized who it was.
"Unazuki!" Mina exclaimed, scratching her head and laughing nervously. "What brings you here?"
Laughing, Motoki's little sister smoothed out her apron. "Um, I kind of work here, Minako?"
"Oh, yeah."
Minako reared back suddenly as Unazuki playfully poked her in the nose. "You'd better not be trying to seduce my brother," the she said with a wink. "If you don't you'll have one very steamed archaeologist on your tail. And Reika is mean when she's angry."
Gulping audibly, Minako pushed Unazuki's finger away. "Oh come on, Unazuki-chan," she said, waving her hand and smiling. "You know I was just kidding." Leaning closer to the redhead, Minako stage whispered, "It's Mako-chan that you really have to worry about!"
"Worry about what?"
Minako blinked, and slowly peered around Unazuki to see a confused Makoto with an amused Motoki in tow. Smiling sweetly, Minako tried to play it off. "Oh nothing, Makoto dear. Hi Motoki!"
Sliding back into the booth, Makoto kept a wary eye on Minako. She may not have known what the blonde had said, but by the way she turned the sap on full blast, she knew that it couldn't have been too nice. She decided to ignore it…for now.
Wiping his hands on his ever-present blue cloth, Motoki stepped closer to the table, bid hello to the girls, and looked upon his sister in surprise. "Unazuki!" he exclaimed. "It's about time you got here. I've been waiting. You're here to take over, right?"
Rolling her eyes comically at the girls, Unazuki turned to her brother. "Yes, yes, nii-chan." She drawled. "I'm here to take over your shift. Wouldn't want for you to miss your precious concert."
"Concert?" Usagi asked, snapping to attention. "What concert?"
"Well," Motoki began. "It's not really a concert, per say. It's an opera."
"An opera?" Usagi echoed, with a small amount of disdain. Motoki laughed. "Not the kind of opera you're thinking about," he said. "It's more upbeat. It's like a musical slash rock concert. They're calling it a rock-pra."
"Hey, I've heard of that!" Makoto exclaimed. "It was really big in England. I heard a kid in my Kendo class talking about it. She said it was nothing like she'd ever seen before. I never thought that they would show in Japan, though."
"That sounds interesting," Ami said. "I didn't see any advertisements for it though. I wonder why?" She sent a questioning glance Motoki's way.
"Well," Motoki said. "Tonight isn't really an official opening night. It's like a preview. They only sent out about 1,000 or so tickets to certain people. If they got a good review, then they'd open officially to the public."
"Well how'd you get tickets, Motoki-kun?" Minako asked. With a glint in her eye, she leaned forward expectantly. "And how many did you get?"
"Well, I got mine from one of my classmates," the arcade manager explained. "He works for the theater that's hosting the event, and he managed to get three extra tickets."
"Well who're you going to take?" Usagi asked. "Besides Reika of course."
A somewhat distraught expression crossed Motoki's face. "Well, I don't really know. I would give it to Mamoru, but I don't know where he'd get an extra ticket. I know he wouldn't go without you, Usagi-chan."
"Darn straight!" Usagi exclaimed. The girls all rolled their eyes. Kami-sama knows how much they hoped that Usagi wouldn't go into any of her 'Mamo-chan' rants. The girl had enough stories, quips, and fantasies to last three lifetimes.
Luckily for them, she was intercepted by Andrea.
"Wow. That really sounds like fun. I wish I could go," the raven-haired beauty commented, chin in palm. Motoki blinked in confusion, realizing for the first time that someone was there that he didn't know.
"Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't realize you girls had a new friend. How rude of me," Motoki said, throwing his hand behind his head.
"It's ok. You were in a hurry to go to your concert," Andrea said. Standing, she offered her hand to Motoki. "Hi. I'm Andrea."
Motoki stared at the hand for a minute, then smiled and shook it vigorously. Andrea was visibly taken aback.
"Oh, you're American!" Motoki said in English. "It's very nice to meet you," Andrea's eyes lit up and a bright smile almost broke her face. "You speak English!" She replied in the same grabbing his other hand and squeezing tight. "That's great! That means that you can help me out when I don't know how to say something, or if I just want to talk about something and just don't want to speak Japanese!"
"Whoa, whoa!" Motoki said, pulling his hands away and holding them up in defense. Switching back to Japanese, he said, "I didn't say I was fluent. I just know a good amount."
"Oh," Andrea said, obviously deflated. She perked back up instantly. "Well, that's okay," she replied in Japanese. "It's still good to know someone who speaks English."
"Ami-chan speaks English too, Andrea-chan," Usagi offered. Andrea hid a smile at the new honorific after her name. Turning excitedly towards the blue-haired genius, she asked, "Really?"
Ami nodded. "I've been studying it for awhile now. I believe I'm near fluent."
"Yeah in English, and about fifty other languages." Makoto quipped. Ami blushed slightly, and waved Makoto off. "Oh, stop Mako-chan."
The smile returned to Andrea's face. "I don't care how many languages you can speak. I'm just glad that I have someone else that I can talk to."
"See!" Usagi squealed, hugging Andrea's shoulders. "I told you you'd get along with my friends!"
"Yeah, you were right, Usagi," Andrea chuckled. "They're cool. Hey, do you speak English too?"
Usagi's eyes got wide, and she quickly withdrew her arms, scooting as far away from Andrea as she could, sweating profusely.
"Uhhhhhh…"
Everyone else hid their smiles behind their hands. Patting the distraught Usagi's hand, Minako answered for her. "Let's just say that Usagi's talents lie…elsewhere."
"And leave it at that," Makoto finished.
Everyone laughed. Turning toward Motoki, Ami asked, "When does the concert start?"
"Oh, around seven," he replied. "Oh," Ami said. "Well, that's only two hours from now."
"Ah! It is?!" the blonde arcade owner exclaimed in surprise. "I've gotta go! I told Reika that I would meet her early for a quick dinner!"
With that, Motoki sped off with a final "Bye nee-chan!" and left six bewildered girls staring after him.
"Hmph," Unazuki muttered, her hands on her hips. "Never knew that he could run that fast."
"Me neither," Minako said, distractedly. "He almost beat your record Usagi-chan."
Usagi waved her hand and exaggeratedly rolled her eyes. "Ha. Not even. It'll take a lot more speed than that to beat my record." The pigtailed blonde turned and glared at Minako. "How very Rei-like, Mina-chan."
Minako scratched her head. "Well, I guess someone had to fill in while she's not here, odango."
"Don't you start!"
Andrea burst out laughing. "Odango?!" She gasped out. Pointing at Usagi's hair, she started laughing even harder. "They do look like meatballs!"
Usagi shrank even lower in her seat. "Thanks Mina-chan," she mumbled. "I really didn't want her to know about that."
"Sorry," Mina chirped. "She would have found out eventually anyway."
"N-no, I'm sorry," Andrea said, catching her breath. "It was just so funny…and very descriptive." She patted Usagi's shoulder. "But don't worry, I won't call you that."
Usagi nodded and smiled at her new friend. "Thanks, Andrea-chan."
"…I'll just wait until I know you a little better first."
Usagi facefaulted as the others laughed.
"Well girls, I have to get to work," Unazuki announced, turning to leave. "Give my regards to Rei-chan when you see her!"
"Bye, Unazuki-chan!" the girls chorused. "Hey," Ami spoke up. "Where is Rei-chan, anyway?"
As if summoned by name alone, the raven-haired miko in question burst through the doors of Crown, tiny slips of paper in hand.
"Hey guys!" she called out as she spotted her group of friends. "Sorry I'm la-!" Screeching to a halt, Rei stared, slightly wide eyed at Andrea.
The miko was supremely puzzled. As soon as she laid eyes on the Andrea, she felt a presence struggling to make itself known in her mind.
[What…what is this I'm feeling?] She thought to herself. Narrowing her eyes, Rei discreetly scrutinized the newcomer. [Why am I getting this strange feeling about her? It's not evil, but it's…something. Almost…familiar]
"Rei-chan? Are you alright?" Usagi asked, puzzled. Snapping out of it, Rei smiled slightly. "Yeah…sorry I'm late." She apologized distractedly.
Usagi looked unconvinced but said nothing. She had seen that look in Rei's eyes, and she knew that there was something that her friend was not telling her.
"Man, what is going on today?" Minako asked, a bright smile on her face. "Everyone seems to be switching personalities! First, Motoki-kun tries to break Usagi's track record, now Rei's late and Usagi's on time!" she laughed. "It's like Revenge of the Body Snatchers or something!"
"Ha ha, funny Mina-chan," Rei said sarcastically, unconsciously straightening her clothes.
"What's up Rei?" Makoto asked, nodding in thanks to the waitress who brought over three plates of fries and a milkshake for Ami. "Why'd you burst in like that?"
"Yeah," Usagi said, stealing one of Makoto's fries, ignoring the glare that she received. "And what's that in your hand?"
"Hmm?" Rei looked down at her right hand where the papers were, completely forgetting the purpose for her trip. "Oh, right!"
Slapping the papers down on the table, and smirking at how her friends jumped, Rei exclaimed. "I, the great Hino Rei, have done it again! I set my sights on something and it was obtained. Nothing can keep me from my goal!" She began to laugh triumphantly.
The rest of the girls present all sweatdropped. "Umm, Rei-chan?" Ami started cautiously. "What are you talking about?"
Sliding into the booth next to Ami, Rei pushed the tickets to the middle of the table for everyone to see.
"Well," she began excitedly, "We were having this raffle at school to help raise money to build a new gym after it randomly exploded last year and I've been entering tickets for like a week and out of everyone who entered I won! And luckily for me, the prize was five tickets to that hot new 'rock-pra' that's like all the rage in England and you all get to go! Except her, who's this?" Rei asked after her ramble, pointing at Andrea at the end.
Startled, Usagi, Ami, Minako, and Makoto, followed Rei's finger, while Andrea went almost cross-eyed looking down the appendage. It took them a minute to process all that Rei had said, and realized that she had asked a question. Being that she was Usagi's friend, she was the one to answer. "Oh yeah. I keep forgetting you guys haven't met. Hino Rei, this is Andrea…" Usagi stopped her introduction and turned to her new friend. "Say Andrea-chan. What's your last name?"
"Cross," the foreigner answered, digging into her fries. Usagi nodded and turned to Rei. "Well, there you go."
Andrea looked back up and nodded at Rei. "Nice to meet you," she said. "Charmed," Rei responded flatly, not fully looking at the girl. Andrea noticed and narrowed her eyes slightly, but kept her mouth shut.
"Wait a minute," Makoto spoke up suddenly, making sure her fry basket was out of a certain someone's reach. "Rei-chan, did you say that you had tickets to that new 'rock-pra'?"
Spinning around to face her friend, Rei grabbed the tickets from the table. "Yeah!" she beamed. "Wanna go?"
"You bet!" Minako exclaimed, snatching a ticket from Rei. "We were just talking about it with Motoki-kun. He's going, and we all realized we wanted to go. Now we can!"
The girls all cheered and began to talk excitedly about going and what they were going to wear. Out of the corner of her eye, Usagi could see that Andrea looked a little put out. She gasped as she realized what was wrong.
"Wait a minute!" she exclaimed, effectively stopping the girls' chatter. "What is it?" Rei asked, taking a couple of Makoto's fries. Makoto was about to protest about everyone taking her fries, but remembered that Rei didn't have any of her own.
"We forgot about Andrea-chan!" the blonde said. "We don't have an extra ticket for her."
Andrea's head snapped up and she waved her hands in a noncommittal motion. "No, don't worry about me." She said, sweatdropping slightly. "You guys go. Have fun. I've got other things to do anyway."
"Nonsense," Usagi said. "You were just saying not twenty minutes ago how much you'd like to go. You couldn't have possibly found something to do between then and now." She turned calculating eyes onto the girl. "Right?"
Andrea's sweatdrop grew. "Uhhh…"
"Hey," Ami spoke up. "What about that extra ticket that Motoki has? He probably wouldn't mind giving it to Cross-san."
"That's right," Usagi said, snapping her fingers. "I almost forgot." She proceeded to reach into her purse, looking for her cell phone. Finding it with a triumphant, 'ah hah!' she flipped it open and started to dial Motoki's number. "I'll just call him right now and ask."
"But what about Mamoru-kun, Usagi-chan?" Minako asked. "I thought you would want to go with him?"
Stopping, Usagi looked up at Minako for a second, consternation crossing her features as she had not thought of that. With a final nod, Usagi resumed dialing the number. Holding it up to her ear, she said. "It's ok. Mamo-chan can buy his own ticket if he wants to go. I made a promise to Andrea–chan that I wouldn't leave her by herself and I'd hate to break it now."
Andrea weakly tried to protest, but Usagi was too determined. Sitting back in her seat, Andrea sighed deeply, but couldn't help the smile that was creeping across her lips.
Thanks, Usagi.