Song of the Shadows- chapter 8
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Disclaimer: derp do we even need this
Sailor Song found herself dodging another bookshelf, right after she transformed. The lighting fixtures were dangling dangerously and the shelves were making a lot of noise! Geez! Song placed a finger to her lip, and magically (yes- as magical as a few magical girls in sailor fukus could get) they stopped vibrating so badly. Song stared, amazed. That had to mean that there was a disturbance in the sound waves…
Still, there was no time to hesitate. Song rushed to the source of the scream, and found-
"Wh-what?" Song gasped- there were other senshis?
"Sailor Saturn and Sailor Jupiter have arrived. In the name of the moon, we'll punish you!" The two other soldiers ignored her and made a very childish pose.
Haruka and Michiru never told me-
wait.
They're 'Uranus' and 'Neptune'.
So if they're named after planets…
Oh.
There are nine planets-
THERE ARE NINE PLANETS IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM?
Why didn't I figure this out…
Sighing, Song shook her head. Perhaps she should wait on the sidelines? It would be quite interesting to observe her fellow… sailor soldiers… Song hid behind a bookshelf. The two soldiers seemed to be quite coordinated, and they dodged the attacks from the coffeemaker machine quite easily, though the one decked out in green- Jupiter?- was always hollering and being really shocked about how tough this monster was.
But Saturn held herself really well- she looked so petite and frail, yet so dangerous. Her glaive looked rather threatening. Song made a mental note to never ever find herself on the receiving end of that glaive. Saturn looked so familiar- so, so familiar. She had the air of someone who had lived for more than a few centuries.
The monster continued making weird and distracting noises. It was hurting everyone's ears, Song realised. Definitely of a different frequency. Like the one that shook the bookshelves and light fixtures… The two soldiers were running out of energy, Song noted, it had to be the effects of the hypnotizing and irritating drone. And thus, without any introductions, she dashed right in front of the monster (ignoring the soldiers' gasps), and placed her finger to her lip.
The monster froze.
"Silent tempo!" She yelled.
It fell, and turned back into a normal-sized coffee maker. There was a brief silence as she observed the coffee maker. A soft buzz could be heard before something cackled and faded away- the monster's last hymn.
"Who are you?" Jupiter demanded.
"Sailor Song, pleased to meet you." Song did a mock bow to both Saturn and Jupiter.
"Sailor… Song…?"
"Jupiter," a husky voice muttered.
"W- Uranus! Neptune!" Song looked to the voice, and saw a very amused Uranus and a nonchalant Neptune.
0*0*0*0
"So… Hotaru-san is Sailor Saturn, and Kino-san is Sailor Jupiter… And you know them. And Hotaru-san is my manager…?" Takako repeated the information softly.
Wait.
Doesn't that mean that.
SHE'S SEVENTEEN AND OUT OF UNIVERSITY AND SAVING THE WORLD.
I don't-
How do you even-
Haruka nodded stiffly. Michiru managed to chuckle a little. Makoto just sat there, awkwardly- trying to avert her gaze from Takako's. Takako nodded and folded her arms. Why was everyone linked? Or maybe Haruka and Michiru deliberately arranged for Hotaru to be her manager? Well- she did need someone who could understand all that Senshi Classified! Business.
"So that means that there are more soldiers out there?" Takako inquired.
Now that she thought about it, there was this new Sailor V! game… Wasn't that directly blowing their cover? Or perhaps it was luring people into a false sense of security, making a joke out of it… Ooh, very sneaky.
"The universe is infinite, dear," Michiru reminded gently. "Of course there are more… especially since we've got so many elements like yourself."
"Well, then who's-" Takako began to say, but Hotaru interrupted.
"You did something very," Hotaru murmured softly (but her mysterious tone managed to grab everyone's attention almost immediately), "-very interesting. You made a shushing gesture at it. And it just- froze."
Takako nodded again. "I-I felt… I heard something different. Something sharper. Like some evil was in the sound waves- and the coffee machine was churning out some sick lullaby to drain you of your energy. When I shushed the bookshelves, they stopped vibrating."
Makoto sat up straighter.
"What are we facing this time, Haruka-papa, Michiru-mama?" Hotaru asked.
"We don't know, not as of now. But a lot of those attacks have been occurring near this region, so we're investigating. We think that there's something about Ouran Academy-" Michiru sighed.
Wait.
"Haruka-papa and Michiru-mama?" Takako muttered in disbelief.
The couple in mention shared a look, and burst out laughing. Makoto raised an eyebrow, but otherwise, stayed silent. Now that Takako noticed, she looked rather uncomfortable.
"How old are you two…" Takako asked, almost wishing that she hadn't done so.
"Nineteen."
"You're supposed to be seventeen?!" Takako blurted out, and this time, Hotaru joined in with the laughter.
"Child, we had to find a suitable cover in order to get into Ouran Academy!"
"You know…" Makoto finally spoke up. "Why don't we discuss this with the rest of the team at Rei's temple on Wednesday?"
Haruka considered it for a moment, snuck a peek at Michiru, and agreed. Hotaru requested to stay behind and go through some administrative details while Makoto hastily stood to leave. While sending Makoto out, Takako couldn't help but note that Makoto was always shooting apprehensive(?) looks at her when she thought Takako wasn't looking. Makoto paused at the door, and turned to face Takako.
"Takako-san… may I call you that? I meant to say that… you aren't from out of this solar system?"
"As far as my birth certificates say… no."
A sigh of relief. "You're… not a planetary senshi. The last time we had guests- I mean-" Makoto shook her head, and bid Takako farewell.
What?
What happened "the last time we had guests"?
An explosion?
End of the world?
Watching the brown-haired girl leave, Takako shrugged. She let her hand linger on the lock, and started to muse about everything that had happened today. It was true- she was different. She didn't share the past with the rest of the senshi, and she couldn't really remember anything about her life before she came to be with Haruka, Michiru and Pluto… Only Shadow was a constant in her life.
And today's incidents about the strange sound waves… Did she awake as a soldier (as herself) only to combat this new enemy…?
"The universe is infinite, dear."
"But Shadow…" Takako murmured. No- she awoke to save Shadow.
There was only one question- how?