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Chapter Four
{Part 1}
"Arg!" Usagi growled as she stared into the face of her nemesis. "Why are you such a pig-headed jerk?"
"It's better than being a pig!" He responded to her question.
"At least I'm not a narcissist pig like you!" She slammed her hands onto her hips.
"Ooh, big word, do you even know what it means?"
Her blue eyes suddenly glittered and she had a pleased smile on her face. "I do, when I looked it up in the dictionary there was a big, fat picture of you!"
"Oh, zinger." Motoki chortled from his position whipping down the counter from where Usagi's ice cream was melting. At his words, Usagi's attention returned to the melting fate of her ice cream and had a vision of what was to become of it if she didn't rectify the situation immediately. Brushing past Mamoru, she sat down and gobbled it up.
Annoyed at their argument ending so quickly, Mamoru returned to his vinyl blue stool and stared into his cooling black liquid in a bright yellow cup. This place was too cheery, the clicking noises of both the adult and child games in the background, adult meaning they won prizes they would later turn in for yen. The sound of Usagi's incessant humming as she scarfed down her almost liquid snack.
"If you're not careful, you'll get a brain freeze again." Mamoru muttered doily from his position next to her. She gave him a rotten look and he shrugged, he only did it to warn her.
She paused for a moment, her hand snaking out to grab his cup and Mamoru instantly tried to protect himself from her attack, he hadn't provoked it this time. Instead she took a sip and made a weird face. "Oh!" She exclaimed. "I was expecting this to be coffee, who would have suspected though that the great Chiba Mamoru, would have had hot chocolate in his cup this entire time? Albeit, bitter chocolate."
"It's called coco-powder you hair-brained idiot." He took the cup away from her and removed the slight outline caused by her lips and steam and ice cream. He took a sip and grimaced. "Great, you've ruined it."
Usagi sent him a 'very funny' look and then returned to her ice cream when a beeping sound came from the pack at her feet. She looked down at it, her half way gone ice cream then back at the noise. She bowed her head a moment, digging out the money in her pocket, paid for the ice cream even though 'toki-onii-chan' had told her long ago to forget it, but Usagi hadn't paid attention and then she was gone in a flash.
Mamoru finished off his hot chocolate with a smile, that girl was so easily fooled by his commentary, his hot chocolate actually tasted better now that it was mixed with vanilla ice cream. He didn't have long to enjoy his steaming cup as Moon's transformation called to him and he was pulled out of his chair to try and follow her to her destination.
Once at arrival, he found himself at a shrine. No senshi in sight.
Moon was looking up at the temple grounds with some hesitancy before looking back to the buses that had just arrived. She was remembering why she had been avoiding this place, people had been calling the owners demons using witchcraft to send their families to the unknown. Usagi hadn't quite believed it, but the priestess in training was quite scary and had chased Usagi away with a broom when she had come to inquire if everything was all right. She hadn't even gotten one word out before she had a piece of paper stuck to her forehead and she was laying on the ground in supine position.
"Why are we here?" She asked the blue haired senshi who only shrugged.
"Luna called us here. Ask her."
"There's been a lot of negative activity going on around here." Luna explained when she arrived. "It has to do with the buses. Moon pretend to be someone else, meant to get on that bus, transform Mercury too."
"Oh good, I thought for a minute there, you were going to send me in alone." Moon stated dryly as she waved the pen around and transformed them both into normal looking people. "Let's go on the bus and get this over with." She sighed and together they got onto the bus.
The miko barged her way on as it was just taking off down the road. "This is the last time I'm telling all of you. This is not our fault, this is something else at play, so stop threatening us and our poor temple. It's a sacred site with which you owe a lot of our history to." The miko insisted, though as she spoke people started nodding off and falling asleep. "Can't even stay awake?"
Mercury and Moon however knew exactly what this meant. They slouched down in their spots and fought the tendrils of energy wrapping themselves around the bus, hoping to take away theirs. The girl from earlier remained standing, and Moon couldn't help but wonder if her speech was a means to infect them and allow them to be more pliable to the affects she wanted.
The bus driver though, chose that time to come out of its seat and made its way towards the long black haired girl. It raised a hand in an attempt to personally obtain it's energy. The girl shook her head and in a second she had pushed one of those pieces of papers onto it's forehead. "Forget that idea you evil spirit, you will not suck away my energy!"
Once the demon was on the ground, the girl turned to try and awaken the others around her. She missed the demon standing back up and morphing into it's own creature. Moon and Mercury let their disguises go and rose to their feet. "Stop you villainous thing!" Moon shouted. "Leave the girl alone, she bested you fair and square."
"Be prepared to be Moon dusted." Mercury finished off.
Moon sent her tiara at the driver who rolled and ducked out the door. Mercury and Moon followed shortly after it. The other girl remained on the bus to help the humans. The two by now were good at working together so well, that they didn't even need to talk to coordinate their attacks. Mercury rose a hazy wall around them and fog filled it in. Moon took her tiara and sent it in the direction of where she'd last seen the youma. The youma screamed in pain before it too was destroyed. A hand sneaked out behind them and wrapped itself around Mercury's neck.
With the girl distracted, the fog cleared instantly and Moon turned to look at her blue senshi friend in trouble. She sent the tiara at the cat-woman without a thought but it missed the enemy. Who chortled. "I knew you were just a little girl playing in a costume party. Now you will see this end!"
Moon moved her finger and the tiara slammed into the woman's back, who screamed and dropped Mercury.
Kamen had found the senshi and swept in and scooped Mercury out of the way and deposited her behind Moon. "Be careful." He whispered in the odango haired girl's ear. She nodded in agreement and the purple woman's red eyes turned to Moon in hatred.
"I had meant to grab you, and next time, I won't make the same mistake twice!" She disappeared, tiara still firmly lodged in her back.
"She's gunning for you now." Mercury mentioned from Moon's side, Kamen well aware of all of this and now fearing for the slight girl's wellbeing, but he disappeared into the day. Knowing he was going to have to step up his protection of her in the next few battles.
At least until Koan was out of the picture.
Moon turned to Kamen but he was gone. "I know Mercury, I do."
Luna ran up to them and jumped up onto Moon's shoulder. "We have a new senshi." She whispered into Moon's ear. Moon looked to where Luna's gaze rested and the black haired girl was just walking out of the bus that had been invisible before.
Moon shook her head. "No."
"Yes." Luna replied.
"NO!" Moon took the cat off of her shoulder. "I don't care if she's a senshi or not, you are not initiating her into being one until I say so." She looked between both cat and fellow senshi. "Do you both understand me? You are to have no contact with her by any means that is your doing, and neither of you can tell her she's a senshi." Moon ordered, her eyes flashing at the other girl.
This is where the third senshi didn't become the third senshi as both Luna and Ami didn't necessarily understand or agree, but agreed enough with Usagi's decision and did not break her order.
Chapter Four
{Part 2}
There would have been a major issue as the enemy slowly got stronger and their team powers remained the same, but the fourth senshi was discovered not too long later that the original two were able to manage long enough for their backup's arrival.
However, in the mean time, Usagi dropped by the temple occasionally and spoke with the darker haired girl, trying to break through the girl's weird hatred of her and to see if there was a way the two of them could work together even in the slightest that would give Usagi hope that she would be able to join their team. The process was long, and taxing on Usagi's nerves, because beyond just the girl, she still had to contend with Mamoru's harsh words and break through the new girl's shell later on.
The black haired beauty's name was Hino Rei.
Usagi was walking up to the temple steps, facing her fear, hoping she wouldn't be run off yet again. If Rei found out and had a choice, and she choice against it, Usagi would accept it, would almost relish it and would fully support her decision. She would not allow Luna pressure the girl into something she didn't want to do, because Usagi didn't want a single person on her team that she had to coerce or someone who would put her in harms way. She did that enough herself.
She walked up the stairs, and found Rei in her miko working clothes discussing something with a blond man with short hair and sweeping at the same time. The blond man looked like he now worked there as well. "Excuse me?" Usagi asked after clearing her throat.
Rei swung around, broom still in her hands and almost took Usagi out. Usagi stumbled and slipped off the stairs she had just climbed. She tumbled for a little while before a pair of arms caught her as she was just about to go over the edge to the next row of stairs.
She looked up with confused blue eyes to see who had been behind her to catch her. "Still can't stay on your feet Odango?" A masculine voice asked and she almost believed it was Kamen before she realized what he said.
Her vision cleared from its dizziness and focused on the arrogant face of one Chiba Mamoru. She narrowed her eyes at his statement, but he did have a hint of concern in his gaze as she didn't protest to the position and instantly scramble out of his arms. "Are you all right?" Rei's voice came from the top of the stairs, and when Usagi turned to look at her, she could see the priestess in training's concerned gaze turn to confusion at the duo. "Chiba-sampai." She nodded to him. "I'm so glad you caught her, I would have never lived with myself if I killed her on my property."
Usagi caught the qualification, and she didn't understand why the dark haired strangers didn't like her so much, and now that she knew they knew each other, it just irritated her to no end. Mamoru lifted her up from the kneeling position he was in and walked her up the stairs so she was at a level ground before he put her back on her feet.
"Did you hurt anything from your fall Odango?" He asked returning her feet to the ground, she still hadn't said anything and that concerned him.
Usagi shook her head. "I don't think so." She tested out her body and winced when she stretched her back.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
"I think I just bruised my back." She admitted. "Nothing major."
"Please, sit down." Rei pulled her to the room she used to entertain guests off to the side. "Rest a while, I'm sorry for swiping at you with my broom, it won't happen again, I hadn't realized you were so close to the edge, and such a klutz."
"Get her some ice while your at it." Mamoru suggested, kneeling in front of Usagi, and Rei did as she was told. The blond man, Usagi could still see from her seated position, stood outside their door for a moment before he headed down the stairs.
"What are you still doing here?" She asked the black haired man who was taking one hand, examining it, the arm and shoulder, then moving on to the other one. Then he was checking out her legs and running his hands down them.
"You've been unnaturally quiet since you fell. I just wanted to make sure you weren't seriously injured." He let go of one calf and turned to the other, she jolted from his touch, she could feel each he was so kind to her sometimes that it confused her when the rest of the time he was so vicious and cruel with his words. It was moments like these that she wondered if he was really all that bad.
Rei returned with the ice, and she looked around for a moment, for the blond man no doubt, before she thrust the ice into Usagi's hands. Mamoru shook his head and took the ice from Usagi's hands and helped her lean forward slightly.
"Do you mind if I look at your back before I put the ice on it?" He asked.
"No, it's fine." Usagi answered. "Where did you learn all of this anyways?"
"I have a lot of experience in injuries." He replied vaguely as he lifted up her shirt and saw an ugly red bruise ran along the length of her spine. His hand was warm as it ran down to feel for any breaks, she had to hold herself back from jerking a few times, as it tingled but oh, it felt good, felt natural. But aware she had a watcher, she didn't make any physical reaction in her face. "I don't think it's broken, and as long as you ice it and take it easy for awhile, it won't be an issue."
Usagi nodded, pleased to have her own thoughts confirmed. "Thank you Mamoru."
He stopped the smile that wanted to form and answered with a gruff "Of course Odango, you're a human being aren't you? Or are you actually an alien in disguise? That's the only thing that I can think of to keep those odangos up."
Usagi gave him an annoyed face as he returned her shirt to normal and put the ice on her back. "Well, if anyone here is an alien, it has to be you. Nobody can be as rude or as socially dysfunctive as you are."
"Excuse me, where do you get the right to talk to Chiba-san like that?" Rei cut in angered at the hurt blond girl that she had caused and not only that, she hadn't seemed worried about Usagi's wellbeing all that much.
"I get to talk to him like that because he started it!" Usagi retaliated, rising in her chair a little in her anger.
"Well no wonder, you are as much as an Odango brain as he says you are." Rei poked one blond ball on her head and Usagi ducked to quit it from happening.
"I don't know why he bothers talking about me so much if he doesn't like me at all." Usagi responded and stood up. "Why do you care so much? You tried to kill me!"
"I did not mean any such thing!" Rei got into Usagi's face. "I'm only angry that it almost happened!"
Mamoru chuckled, it was like one of those cellphone commercials where they were yelling about how much they loved each other and respected one another. They both turned burning eyes to him and he held up his hands in defense. "Sorry, it's just interesting to see it from this side. Would the two of you calm down? It's almost like you're sisters. You'll aggravate your back Odango, relax, remember?"
"How can I relax when the both of you are merciless?" Usagi whirled around and headed for the door, she turned and ran into the blond man from earlier.
"Hey, steady now. That was quite a tumble you took, do you need help getting down the steps?" He asked gently.
"No, I'll be fine." Usagi huffed and at his slightly hurt look she calmed and forced a friendly smile on her face. "At least someone here is nice to me!" She yelled into the room. "Thank you for the offer."
As she made her way down the steps, he stayed at her side, pace for pace. "I'm Ite Jade."
"Tsukino Usagi, it's a pleasure to meet your friendly acquaintance when everyone else here as been so mean."
"Ah, she's not that bad, she convinced her grandfather to give me a job here." Jade responded.
"If only she passed on that courtesy to curious visitors, I think maybe she's scared away some true want to be attenders." Usagi returned, and Jade nodded with a laugh.
"I'll give you that, but she seems deeper than just plain angry."
"Everyone who is angry seems deeper, that's the nature of it, you want to know what makes them so mad, while on the other hand, if someone is friendly and nice, and a ray of sunshine, you think they're empty and you want to bring them down a peg or two."
"I hope you never are brought down a peg or two. There should be more people in the world who are happy but still have a smart head on their shoulders. I think they're the smartest among us." Jade hesitated at the gate and Usagi waited for him to make up his mind and spit out what he wanted to say. "I've been watching you interact with other people around here and I've noticed what a kind spirit you are, would you be interested in joining me at a restaurant sometime? I don't really know of any around here, so you could choose."
"Are you trying to ask me out on a date?" Usagi asked with a raised blond brow.
"Not so much a date, but I would like to get to know you better." Jade replied.
"Then yes, I would like that very much. But it's not a date?" Usagi confirmed, and Jade agreed. "Because I wouldn't agree to a date. My father would kill you and then I couldn't get to know you."
"Of course." Jade leaned over and whispered into her ear. "Tomorrow night work for our non-date?"
"At eight?" She questioned back, a blush rising to her features.
"Of course." He put a tentative hand on her arm before letting her go and she headed back down the street from whence she came. She could feel Rei's violet eyes burning holes into her back, what she had set out to do today had failed miserably. But tomorrow was always another day.
The next day, Usagi faced the she-devil herself one more time for a while.
"What do you want?" Rei demanded once she saw Usagi's face and screamed in irritation.
"What do you mean? Can I not visit a temple?" She asked innocently.
"No, that is not illegal." Rei conceded. "But why do you have to keep visiting mine?" She wanted to know.
"Because I enjoy it here?" Usagi asked with a shrug.
"You enjoy continuous negativity in your direction? You enjoy being run around the grounds with a broom? You enjoy the abuse you suffer here because you enjoy it? What sick and deranged lunatic are you?"
"I don't enjoy all of that." Usagi replied bitterly. "In fact, I think you could use an attitude wind up but I can not fix you, I can only get to know you and figure out if you have a good side that I have not been privileged to see."
"Why do you want to get to know me? I don't swing that way."
"Neither do I." Usagi responded quickly. "I just wanted to know if there was a possibility for a friendship to develop here. If not, even if there was a glimmer of hope that we could tolerate each others presence."
"Why would you want even that? Do you get off being turned away and shot down?" Rei's eyes were scanning Usagi's body, as if she was reading something she didn't understand but knew was there.
"No. It's hard to explain and I can't even begin to try, but maybe it was a mistake to come here, I just wanted to offer to you a hand of friendship, if you want it, but the next time we see each other it will because of chance or your seeking me out. I'm sorry I've even wasted your time." Usagi turned to walk away when she recalled something that bothered her the day before and she looked back at Rei. "How do you and Chiba-san know each other? He has no reason to be on this side of town."
Rei smiled tightly. "He and I know each other from a long time ago. He stops in every once in awhile to pray. But perhaps you shouldn't have learned that just now."
"Are the two of you close?"
"Does it matter?"
"Actually yes."
"So you can play two men off of each other?" Rei asked shrewdly.
"No. So if I can understand if you two are close, then I might be able to understand both personalities better. I do not enjoy his harsh comments as I do not enjoy yours." Usagi responded almost a little too formally as it didn't fit with her image.
"No, we're not. We... tolerate each other." Rei looked away.
"Though you wish it were more?" Usagi surmised easily.
"I am no longer sure." Rei's eyes went past Usagi to rest on something behind her. Usagi looked ahead and saw Jade raking up fallen leaves. Usagi's lips formed an 'oh' and she finally understood where some of Rei's animosity towards her stemmed from. Her earlier comment about two men playing off of each other also made more sense. Rei had feelings towards both men and Usagi had part of their interest as well, even though Mamoru's was more antagonistic.
"There's nothing going on between us." Usagi reassured, but which man, she suddenly didn't know. She didn't wait for Rei's response and headed back down the stairs, she would be seeing Jade later that night, and Usagi would inquire more into their relationship then.
That night was not exactly how Usagi had imagined it going though, as half way through the conversation, Usagi had finally broached the topic of Rei again. "So, do you, have any feelings at all for Rei other than neutral?"
"I-" Usagi's beeping communicator cut him off in mid-sentence and Usagi gulped. "Aren't you going to answer that?" He wondered softly, his eyes evaluating her decision.
"Sorry, this pager is only for emergencies, can I take it and get back to you?" He nodded his reply, Usagi had actually been enjoying his company, he was sweet and funny at the same time and she slid out of her seat to take the call. "What?" She snapped, and winced as she saw Ami's face.
"I'm sorry to interrupt your plans, but we have a problem, it's another one of those crystal people, it's attacking down at the Zoo. Hurry up!"
Usagi apologized and went back to the table to apologize again. "I'm sorry, it's my friend, she's in trouble and I need to go help her out."
"Well let me come along." Jade tried standing up as he finished his sentence. "Maybe I can help."
"No!" Usagi laughed nervously. "It's kind of a gender sensitive issue." Usagi explained as delicately as she could, hoping Ami would forgive her for her words.
"Oh." Jade sank back down in his seat. "I understand. Don't worry, I'll pay for the meal, since I dragged you all the way out here, and you have to hurry."
"Oh, Jade-" Usagi sighed. "I had a really nice time with you tonight, I really did, maybe we could finish this some other time?" She apologized.
"Sure." Jade agreed. "I'd like that."
Usagi kissed his cheek and then she was off, she had no normal social boundaries, as she didn't agree with most. But as she was leaving the restaurant, she practically bowled Mamoru over. "Sorry, gotta run, I'll apologize later!" She called out to the baka brain, having no intention of carrying through with it, just wanting to get away from his no doubt delaying tactics of argument.
Usagi as Sailor Moon skidded into the zoo shortly after receiving her call. The youma was easy to beat, wondering if there was another reason for the attack, but no, it just happened to be that was where the crystal carrier had been during this attack and had nothing to do with its surroundings.
Usagi and Ami split up and went home for the night. When Usagi got in, she saw that she had a missed call from Jade, wanting to know if she'd like to see a movie in a fortnight, she text him back saying she'd enjoy that.