Exploring What Might
By Rakusa
!-- page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --
Chapter Eleven
{Part 1}
Usagi was noticing weird things. For one, Mamoru still hung around her, and while she was flattered he wanted to be in her presence, and might have thought too much into it, like maybe he liked her- she was a little confused by why he was always around her, not necessarily talking to her either, but keeping her in his line of sight. She'd have to talk to him about that. Second was, if it wasn't Makoto, it was Ami, or Luna even, who was watching just as intently as Mamoru was.
Rei, thankfully, was the only person not concerned with her wellbeing in that way and was just being her friend, a normal, sane friend. Usagi clung to that. Yes, Rei, was being a friend, and she wanted to actually be around Rei. There she said it.
So when Rei suggested that they go together to check out the psychic that was taking Rei's place as resident weird in her district, Usagi agreed fully. Rei had done a stint as psychic too at one time, and Usagi had gone to her before she realized Rei was the one. She'd left instantly after that when Rei created some cockamamie story about how Usagi would kiss a frog, who would turn into a donkey and they would get married.
The other girls and Mamoru had no idea, and Usagi gave them the slip. Motoki had been distracting them for her, relaying some story he had told a hundred times before, but Usagi owed Motoki big for it. She and Rei slipped away unnoticed, Jade was blocking the others' view as they disappeared out the back door near the bathrooms.
Usagi laughed with Rei when they were a ways away. "I'm so glad you're coming with me." Rei told Usagi as they were nearing the building the psychic was at.
"I'm glad I came too." And Usagi was telling the truth, they had gotten to know each other so much better. They were getting alone so well, it was almost like they were sisters.
They went into the fortune teller's tent together, it was purple and yellow and green stripped and Rei snorted. "I think this is so bull."
Usagi agreed with her, but they sat in front of the fortune teller anyways. She was wearing a yellow turban with green stripes through it and a purple dress, the color of which, reminded Usagi of Koan's hair color and automatically, her back stiffened at the thought. Rei put a hand on her shoulder, concern radiating off of her dark haired friend and Usagi smiled back reassuringly, she forced herself to relax and not think that way.
"Ah, two this time?" The woman's voice purred out at them, her dark eyes taking them in as she poured over her crystal. "My name is Catzi, how may I serve two wonderful people such as yourselves?"
"We wanted to check this out." Rei answered for the two of them. "We were curious and thought it would be a fun thing to do."
"Ah, then let me tell you, your futures." Catzi's eyes flashed to Usagi's. "What are your first names? It will help me get started, able to find a fix."
"I'm Rei and this is Usagi." Rei answered again and the eyes never left Usagi's face, a grin crossed her features and Usagi swore the teeth looked sharp.
"Rei." Usagi put a hand on Rei's arm. "Let's just leave."
"No, stay." Catzi disagreed, frowning slightly as she looked into her ball. "I see a dark past, a troubled present and a hazy future. The path is unclear. You-" She turned her gaze to Rei. "You will need to make a decision, you should join the next offer you get, it will increase your abilities and you will be home. You'll fit in well with the new group."
"I've already got a group of friends."
"But they are not your real friends. They leave you out, when you only want in. You know this, so join the next offer you receive." Catzi's eyes flashed back to Usagi. "Ah, Usagi, it means Rabbit, does it not?"
Usagi started, she couldn't see that, could she? "I guess, it has several meanings." It really didn't, but Usagi didn't want to believe that Koan actually took her advice to research her prey.
"You have a very dark past, like your companion's but hers isn't by her own doing, you, you have much to suffer for. You tore the past apart, you broke the chain and sent everyone to this hellish place. You caused everything, it all rests on you. Your present, it's troubled, is it not? You don't know where to go, you know you don't belong here with what you've surrounded yourself with. If you stay on this path, your future ends. But if you accept the dark prince, all will be rightened. You will fall in love with him, and your future will be clear of further pain."
Usagi didn't want to hear any more. Catzi wasn't telling her she was going to die like Koan had told Moon, but the lines were blurring in her head. They had to get out of there, both Rei and she knew it, as Catzi looked back into her ball, and energy, unseeable by normal human eyes, but by senshi, it was clear, like a thread weaving its way towards them. Rei grabbed Usagi's hand and pulled her out and away.
Catzi didn't follow, but instead attacked the line of people, Catzi revealed herself as Koan just before they rounded a corner. Usagi knew there was something off about Catzi, something too similar. Rei pushed Usagi towards the entrance, already pulling out her communicator, and Usagi winced as hers beeped in response. This wasn't how she was going to tell Rei, but it was now out there, and Rei could only stare at her in shock. Usagi shrugged innocently and pulled Rei into a dark spot in the hall. They both transformed and raced back to the innocents being drained of energy.
The other senshi joined them, and Moon knew they only let her go because they knew Rei would protect her as a senshi. Rei was the only one who didn't know the identities of the others, but it wasn't hard to guess. Koan's purple eyes were on fire as she looked through the purple cloud of hair, straight at Moon. "You've missed my fortune telling, Sailor Moon. But let me give you a special telling!"
Moon avoided tarot cards that were flung towards her, burning on the edges with dark fire. Mars sent a flaming arrow at Koan. Moon winced as the woman's eyes lightened upon Mars with surprise. "You control fire as well?" Koan had never met Sailor Mars. "You should join our cause, leave these weaklings and control more power than you can imagine!"
Mars snorted. "No thanks, I'd rather work alone."
Koan shrugged and sent her flaming ice towards Mars, who barely managed to avoid the huge wave sent at her. It pushed Mars away from Moon's side, and Moon was expecting some type of attack directed towards her today, and slipped under the sheet of ice that would have cut her in half. She spun fast enough to avoid the arms reaching out to grab her as well, but she could not avoid the rope of ice this time either. It wrapped around her several times, causing her to fall to the ground and be pulled towards Birdie, her body sliding along the ground as the others tried to save her.
Mars shot another one of her flame arrows and it broke the chain, Mercury pulled her out of the way and Jupiter attacked Koan. Koan danced back and taunted Moon. "Do you want to know a secret Moon?"
Moon shook her head as Mars melted her iced ropes, she was freezing. Mars' hand was warm as she helped her stand. There were red marks where the rope had been, but they weren't too deep. "Too bad, because I've seen the future, and all your friends are in it, unfortunately. However, you do not, you have been forgotten, your name is in no records. It's as if you never existed, maybe its because you shouldn't, or you've done something so horrible to be removed. Either way, you die in the very near future." Koan's purple eyes danced in happiness and Moon shot the tiara off her head with a flick of her hand and it sliced right towards Koan's stomach.
Koan easily brushed it off before it hit her, her strength, greater than even Moon's tiara. Moon's stomach flipped at the realization. Koan was stronger than her. Koan wanted her dead, enough to use her powers of seeing to know it would come true. Koan didn't have powers of seeing, Moon reminded herself, Mars did, slightly, and Koan was just a ruse. She was just trying to get to Moon and it wasn't going to work. Moon narrowed her eyes at Koan and attempted her tiara again, but Koan smiled at her before the two of them disappeared.
Kamen didn't even make it to this fight, but the rest of the senshi had something major to talk about. Usagi just didn't know it yet.
"Look, I'll be fine!" Usagi said as she powered down, and glared at the other three senshi. They went to Rei's temple to talk. They were the most isolated here, for the most part, and it was the closest to their last attack. "It's not like she knows I'm Moon!"
"No, she just knows the face of the 'Rabbit' now!" Makoto shouted into Usagi's face. "You are in the most danger you've ever been in!"
"I might not even be the Rabbit she's looking for! She would have grabbed me at the booth if I was!" Usagi denied the danger she was in, now, in both forms. She couldn't be the Rabbit that Koan was looking for, she just couldn't be. "Besides, she offered Rei a position with them, and Mars, why would she do that?"
"She sensed I had fire powers like her as Rei." Rei explained. "And then as Mars, it was obvious. I don't think she connected that I am Mars." Rei agreed, but she turned those violet eyes on Usagi with a large frown. "I should have sensed her evilness as soon as we got close it wasn't until she was trying to drain us of energy with that human tactic, that I realized she was danger. They can drain senshi, can't they?"
"Not with that attack." Ami agreed. "But there is an attack which they've tried and it does work." Ami remembered the pain of her energy draining before Moon stepped in and saved her. That had been the start to the downfall towards her leader, for she had harmed Koan then. "It still remains Usa-chan, that you are the only thing that they know as the Rabbit and they will be after you. You have to remain with one of us, at all times."
"Even while you are sleeping." Luna broke in, sliding through the window. "One of the senshi will be stationed outside your house or in it, depending on the night and your parents, another will be pacing the premise, searching for any danger."
"No." Usagi refused it, refused all of it. "Nobody will be doing any of that. I won't allow it. I'm not the Rabbit they're looking for." She knew it now, knew it couldn't be without any doubt and she wouldn't have her friends compromised like that. "If I find out any of you are doing that, I will strip powers, so help me, because you cannot protect me if you don't take care of yourselves. I'm just the leader of the senshi, I'm not that important."
"You are important!" All four of them shouted at her simultaneously and Usagi had to blink back her surprise at the power behind it. She felt oddly touched, deeply.
Luna continued with a smirk. "I don't think you are capable of stripping powers, you might be leader, but there is no silver crystal yet to do such a job. You will be able to channel some of it, but only the princess will be able to use its full power."
Rei looked down at the ground glumly. "Koan also said that Usagi should submit to the dark prince. I am so sorry everyone, I am the one that caused all of this. If I hadn't insisted in her coming with, I could have avoided all of this."
"It's not your fault Rei." But Usagi was the only one talking, the other two girls were strangely quiet, and she wondered if they blamed Rei for the danger Usagi was now in. Usagi rolled her eyes and threw her arms around Rei. "I've never blamed you, and I don't intend to start now. You are my friend, and one of my senshi, please don't be down on yourself."
Rei nodded reluctantly and Usagi looked to the other girls, and they under her scrutiny slumped and nodded as well. They would forgive Rei for her ignorance.
"Now." Usagi's eyes sparkled. "Let's go back to the crown and have some ice cream!"
Rei laughed and all four left for the arcade, they would be the normal friends they always were, for the most part, and not let anyone believe anything other than a group of girls having fun together.
As they entered the arcade though, the others stiffened as Mamoru pulled Usagi into his arms and looked down at her in concern. "Where did you go? Are you ok?"
Usagi had never been this close to Mamoru. She liked it. The realization left her breathless and thoughtless. She couldn't respond even if she knew how to. Rei untangled Mamoru's arms from around her and pulled her back into the safety of the girls, in the center of the triangle.
Rei now understood everyone's defense of the blond girl, even though she was a superhero, she still seemed like she needed protection. "She's fine, we just went for a detour for a little while, we're back now." Rei answered for her friend, and looked up into Mamoru's dark blue eyes. At one time they were memorizing, now he was just attractive. There was a very different pair of blue eyes she liked looking into.
"I'm sorry for over reacting, I just had a bad feeling-" Mamoru took a deep breath and then nodded towards the others before he smiled slightly at Usagi and left. Usagi raised her hand to wave at his retreating form.
"What was that?" Makoto asked the still dazed Usagi and Usagi looked to her pink haired friend and shrugged. Makoto laughed and clapped Usagi on the back. "Looks like the dark prince has arrived, and here I thought it would have been Kamen."
It was a joke, but for some reason, the words echoed in each of their heads with a sense of foreboding.
Chapter Eleven
{Part 2}
Usagi screamed. Several heads swiveled towards her in fear and surprise, but Usagi didn't pay them any attention. She was instead looking at her test that she had just opened up to see the results. Mamoru had taken to joining their table when it was a large group and reached across the table and plucked the test out of her hands when she could only stare, gapping at it.
A grin spread across his features as his eyes took in the results. "Well, 'dango brain, looks as if you need to start working harder in class to keep this kind of result up."
Usagi's slack mouth slammed shut and she pouted at the tease. "I have been."
"Then why are you so surprised to have a positive result?" He was being genuine in his reprimand, she really did under-estimate herself. He turned to the other table mates to explain. "Usagi-chan has received high marks. She passed all of the sections with top percentage safe for maths, and that is only slightly less, still decent, because of her lack of finish. I'm very proud." Mamoru's eyes slid to Usagi for that last one, wanting to see her reaction to the words.
And she didn't disappoint him, her cheeks light up on fire as the burn crossed her features and it was a fitting color on her. She glanced slyly at him before taking the results back, flipping it to the last page, he had forgotten that they added now. It was the suggestion of schools to go to and what they suggested she should focus in. A chuckle escaped her and he wasn't sure if it was in true amusement or a dry humor at herself.
"What is it, Usa-chan?" Ami, the blue haired girl asked, all of her friends, he learned had a reason to be there, and he had respect for each one of them, as they were true friends to her, even though Yumi, Naru and Umino weren't around as much. There were also three Ite brothers and he knew there was a fourth from the conversation earlier. Each Ite brother seemed drawn to Usagi's newest friends. Rei hadn't surprised him with her desires towards Jade, Jade was what Mamoru thought would be perfect for her, and he was glad to be proven correct again.
"The results say I should do something in the arts. Their first suggestion is dancing." Mamoru's thoughts were confirmed, she was laughing at herself, downplaying her traits actually.
"What was the second one?"
"Painting or photography."
"That makes sense, doesn't it?" Mamoru hedged. "Didn't you say that your father was a photojournalist?"
"Yeah, but I don't really want to be one." Usagi explained. "As you can see, I always bring my camera around and snap photographs of everything."
She was being dry again and Mamoru smiled. "Maybe you're being too hard on yourself. You have knowledge and an affliction for arts, meaning you should perhaps check it out. Look at those schools they suggest, maybe you'll find something you'll just fall in love with."
Usagi nodded dumbly, she never thought about it like that, Mamoru knew, and then Ami piped it. "And if you don't, you can always go to any other school you want to follow whatever it is you do want to do, this test doesn't end your future there. These are just suggested schools, others would be stupid not to let you come to theirs with marks like those."
Ami pushed her test results underneath her books and Mamoru was thankful for the action, Usagi would no doubt ask to see them, knowing that Ami would have received near perfect if not perfect scores and her career path was no doubt medical. Mamoru knew that the schools would be top of the line prestigious too, in the medical field. Only a few of those had overlapping art programs, and for Ami to be in school with Usagi next year, she would have to take a step down most likely and find a well respected school if Usagi couldn't get into one of the other few. Mamoru knew Ami would do just that. Usagi's hold over the bluenette complete, but eventually the two would have to separate and go their own ways. Usagi would try to encourage Ami to take the most well known and best in the line-up and then they would both be devastated. It was best if Ami didn't let Usagi know.
He slid the paper out and into his bag. The results would be sent to each school on that list anyways, and he'd return it to Ami eventually, but first he wanted a look at it. He'd try to help all of them.
Mamoru watched as Usagi's blond head turned, allowing the blond locks to flare then settle back down around her delicate shoulders. She turned her gaze onto Makoto and Mamoru watched the tall girl flounder slightly under the intensity. "What did you get Makoto?"
The pink haired amazon hadn't thought far enough ahead to hide her test results and Mamoru watched with dismay as she produced her papers with a flare and a grin on her lips. Didn't she knew what this would do to the tender mood Usagi had found herself in? Mamoru wasn't one to be always conscious of Usagi's feelings, but he'd learned recently that sometimes she was very good at covering up her pain, and this test had caused great pain in her, one she couldn't quite cover from his eyes.
"Not nearly as good as you, Usa-chan." Makoto beamed. "But we have been set on similar career paths. Maybe you'll take up chef courses with me, at least as an elective?"
Naru was choking on her orange soda at Makoto's words and Umino looked a little green as well. Yumi was patting both their backs with concern, she knew too apparently what was wrong with Usagi's oldest friends, as she was one too. Mamoru looked at them in surprise, they never reacted that negatively to any suggestion before. "Um... Makoto-chan, you might not want to encourage that. Usa-chan took cooking classes last year, and..." Yumi couldn't go on, as her memories brought up her own flash of green to her face.
Mamoru couldn't help the chuckle, he had a feeling where this was going. He turned to see Usagi's face turn red again, but this time there was a kick of anger in her embarrassment. "It wasn't that bad, you didn't even try it Yumi!"
"Is that why Shingo just pelted them at the stray dog, and it ran away after just sniffing them? Because they were so yummy?" Naru teased with a smile towards her best friend once she got her breathing back to normal.
Usagi glowered at the redhead. "I've gotten better."
"I've seen those confections." Umino jibbed. "They're so burnt, I'm surprised you could taste anything."
Usagi slumped into her seat, pouting at the three of them ganging up on her, and Mamoru's heart went out to her, but before he could say anything, Jade took his lime-light and hero worshiping from him. "I'll try them Usagi-chan, if you would make me any."
Rei's violet eyes snapped up to her boyfriend and Mamoru could see the shades of green jealousy clouding the orbs, no doubt reflecting Mamoru's own eyes as Usagi perked up and agreed. Jade slid a hand under the table to rest on Rei's knee, calming her anger slightly and leaned in to whisper to her. She settled under the words and Mamoru wished Usagi would do that for him, but she was instead munching cheerily on her meal. She must already know the others' results, Mamoru told himself, knowing Usagi wouldn't purposely or accidentally not include anyone.
The other three didn't seem concerned either, knowing they'd follow Usagi anywhere if she'd ask. Usagi's eyes flickered occasionally to the paper beside her, and Mamoru caught the action. He'd have to do something more about that, he'd offer to go with her, to check the places out, but he'd do it later, when the other started to leave the arcade.
The others did, but the pink haired, bluenette and red tinted- black haired beauty stayed, their boyfriends, and in Makoto's case, flirting partner, soon to be more, lingered with them. "Come on Rei- let's go." Jade pulled her out of the seat and Rei looked back at Usagi with concern, but Usagi didn't look up from her plate once.
Eventually Jade managed to get Rei out of the arcade and down the street. Ami only glanced once at Usagi before her eyes turned to Mamoru with a calculating gaze, before agreeing and together they too left the Crown. Makoto took some more urging. Usagi stepped in for that one. "It's the arcade."
She'd whispered to Makoto and pushed her out of the booth with surprising strength. Makoto stood looking at Usagi, worry evident and a slicing glance at Mamoru, before she leaned down and encapsulated Usagi in a hug. Mamoru feared the amazon wouldn't know her own strength and crush the poor girl, but when Makoto left, Usagi looked unharmed. Mamoru had the feeling that all were entrusting her care in his arms alone. None of them realized though, that he had superpowers in which he could do that exact thing, nor did it seem anyone knew the true danger she was in.
He figured the senshi would figure it out eventually, but he hadn't felt any of their presence, not even Moon's nor had he seen them stationed outside of her house, he knew because that's where he was since that first night after that party, when he found out Usagi was in danger. He knew he looked tired in the mirror, after a month or so of near sleepless nights, it was going to catch up on him. He was not expecting Usagi, who had barely glanced up at him, to mention it. She was pushing around the vegetables on her plate and she said it quietly. "You look tired Mamoru-chan." No longer Mamoru-kun, but a nicer name, he was moving up.
He was torn between the pride at his new name and answering her question the most truthful without telling too much. He wanted to blurt out the truth, as he never wanted to lie to her, but she couldn't know, not now at least, maybe if they-
No, for if she knew, she would only be in more danger. That meant nothing else could happen between them either. "I've had a lot of studying to do." It was the truth, he just didn't tell her what he was studying.
"You work too hard." She still didn't look up, and Mamoru missed the sight of her blue eyes, looking at him with so much knowledge and understanding, that at first it had daunted him to be read so clearly, to be known. He had to use the test to make fun of her, to take that intensity off of him, but now he missed it. He liked the feeling that someone understood him, even if she didn't know everything.
He acknowledged her words as truth, but he would willingly work harder, if he could, anything to protect her, but there wasn't anything more he could do at this time to help her. "I know." He whispered and that wasn't what she was expecting, no doubt thinking he was going to brush off her concern. Her head came up and she locked eyes with him. "I'll take a break, but I would like to spend it with you."
Usagi's eyes swam with confusion, and he didn't want to lead her the wrong way. He sticked as close to the truth as he could. "Would you like company on checking out those prospective schools?"
Usagi worried the lower lip of her full mouth between her white teeth as she thought it through. He could practically see the wheels and cogs turning, fixing things in her mind, and going through as many possibilities as she could think of. Most of them were positive, and he almost caught a blush as one popped into her head but was quickly pushed away. Her shining blue eyes turned to him again and she nodded with a slight smile. "I'd like that, you could help me take off the burden of trying to figure out the correct questions."
"The correct questions for me might not be the same as yours." He warned and Usagi only shrugged. Her head turned and her body stiffened before she looked back at him. "What is it?" There was worry and concern deep in her eyes as she patted her pockets but frustration grew as she couldn't find what she was looking for. "Usagi-chan?" He asked but she only shot to her feet and gave him some lame answer and disappeared out the back door.
He was going to follow her, but he was being dragged in a different direction. He fought with this feeling last week, and he knew Moon paid for it then. He had been searching for Usagi when the call pulled at his senses, but he wanted to find Usagi, had to, and fought with all his might not to go to Moon, though she was hurting. He beat himself about it every time. He followed Usagi's footsteps today, but not to follow her, but to use the alleyway to turn into his alter ego.
Kamen was pulled down the street to the local church. A youma was masquerading as a priest and was standing in the center of his parishioners, who had all collapsed from energy drainage. They never did stop or return the energy to the ones drained. It went to the source of the attacks, and used how they wanted it. Kamen wished one day, they could foil the entire plan of their enemy and watched instead as Moon faced off the Priest on her own.
His anger overcame him, where were her senshi? Why was she alone in this battle? He wasn't there for the last one, but they couldn't have abandoned her then and left her defenseless when she was the main target? Unless they were hoping with her gone, things would lessen up. He knew that the enemy would just start picking the rest off as soon as the leader was gone. They would have the best hope of winning as a full team.
He slid as close as he dared to her side, without giving away his position, and he still felt like he was too far away from the brave black haired girl. With that hair color and those brown eyes, she looked just like the whole of Japan, nothing special or standout, especially her height. If anything she was still short for a Japanese person.
He just forgot that this was the standard in Japan, he spent all of his time with people with mainly blue eyes and a range of hair color. The only one in their whole group that looked like they belonged in Japan fully, was Yumi with her brown eyes and dark black hair. He looked at this girl now, and wondered if they were one and the same.
The coloring was there, but the face was a different structure, but it was still oddly familiar, even if it was slightly changed- he just couldn't put his finger on it... Where did he recognize her from in his normal life?
Moon dealt with the Priest fairly quickly and Kamen was relieved when only Birdie showed up to fight with Moon, but realizing that Moon was alone, she grinned wickedly. "All alone, reconciled with your fate?"
"It's just unfortunate that I am here alone now, what Koan has said will never come to pass." Moon's voice rang clear, and her stance lowered, prepared for any attack Birdie could send her way.
Birdie shook her white head and her blue eyes sparked with ice. "Poor Moon senshi, still denying your future." Birdie tisked and Moon started to sway the longer they faced off. Kamen's stance tensed and he dropped into a crouch, ready to pull Moon out of the way if something should happen, this wasn't normal.
Birdie's mouth opened into a wicked grin and he could see the same sharp teeth her sister had, if Birdie was a real bird, she would be a predator or scavenger bird with those teeth and that dark humor. A wave of water shot out from the front where the church had gathered for a baptism and came at Moon in a rush. Kamen shot forward and caught the falling senshi, her eyes clouded, almost white in the brown gaze, turning it a dark murky color. He whipped his cloak up over the both of them but not quick enough to stop the stinging pain as the water was ice cold and slapped across his face in the moments before he blocked it and curled around Moon, trying to protect her even more.
The attack eventually lessened and then died off as Birdie realized with the cloak, it wasn't having any effect on either person. Kamen just knew it was cold, and he straightened out and pushed Moon behind him as he looked at Birdie to see her confusion.
"That should have worked."
"Should have, but didn't." Kamen agreed, and Birdie looked at Kamen with a smirk.
"That's the first time you've spoken to me." Birdie tilted her head, looking even more bird-like in the action to see Moon. "Ah, too bad Moonie, he's such a nice catch, you just won't be around to enjoy him." Birdie's eyes sparked again with that ice as she turned the look on Kamen and he closed his in response, knowing he would be put into the drowsy stage Moon had been in earlier. Moon shook herself from behind him, trying to wake herself up fully and then she stepped away from him.
He looked at her to stop her but she already had her tiara in her hand, looking straight at Birdie, but Birdie was concentrating on Kamen solely. Moon whispered something and the tiara floated in her hand almost looking like a pet listening to its master, it was all so gentle. The tiara then shot out faster than he'd ever seen it, aimed right for Birdie.
She seemed to snap out of her own trance at that moment, but not in time to avoid the tiara completely. She put up an arm to protect her, and the tiara embedded itself into the forearm. Birdie screamed and disappeared, with the glowing disk falling with a clank on the tiled hallowed floor. Moon threw her arms around Kamen in thanks before she disappeared out of the church.
Kamen wondered at the response, it was the warmest reaction he'd received from her recently and he was still determined to ask her about her lack of senshi. She'd either tell him at their next meeting, or he'd take it up with the other girls themselves.
He was going to go look for Usagi, but knew he wouldn't be able to find her with this much time between them, and so he went home to sleep, knowing his dreams would still be plagued with the same thing he'd seen every night, save for the last month as he didn't sleep much. He passed out on his couch.
When he woke up, it was four in the morning and he whipped out of the apartment like it was on fire. He'd left her alone for too long, his Usagi- he was supposed to keep her safe from danger, even if she would never be able to be his. He'd had no dreams, instead he'd fallen so far into sleep, he just regained the sleep he'd lost, that his body needed. When he got to the trusty tree that no one had ever suspected he'd be in, he looked into the room, and the curtains weren't drawn, like they hadn't been for the last month. She didn't think anyone could look in from the street level, and while that was true, he was glad mostly for the fact that she didn't, so he could watch her.
Except tonight she wasn't there, neither was her cat. He'd seen her toss almost every night in her sleep as if what she wanted was just out of her grasp. She'd commented that he looked tired this afternoon, but she too was starting to look worn from her sleep-tossed nights. They were a pair, the two of them. He worried only lightly about Usagi, there had been no attacks against Usagi herself, so they must not know, and if they did, they didn't want to kill her. If they did, they'd had plenty of opportunities to do so.
Wherever she was, she was with her cat, and most likely a friend as it was the weekend. Her family were all asleep in their beds. Her younger brother, Shingo was half out of his as he was stretched out and peacefully content. He wondered if she even knew her parents slept so peaceful together, wrapped within each other's arms, holding and protecting each other even in sleep, a true loving couple. Some nights it made Kamen jealous, others, he was happy for them, and wondered if he'd ever know something like that. Or if his parents had, and was glad for Usagi, to come from such a stable background. She would always have someone to turn to if things ever did blow up in her face. He knew all of that just from watching them all sleep, only Usagi seemed to be missing something from her life to keep her as content as the rest.
Kamen laughed at himself as he made his way home, Usagi wasn't missing anything, she was the happiest, most stable and perfect person he'd ever met. What could she be missing? She had all the love she could possibly want.
Though, if he was honest, he'd seen the looks Usagi had cast towards the couples at their table, even Makoto and her shy crushing on Neph. Yumi was the only other girl who didn't have someone in their group, but Yumi didn't seem bothered by it in the slightest.
Mamoru settled into his bed, ready and prepared for the dreams now, almost welcoming the old routine, meaning something was finally getting set back in its normal path, something he knew, and could expect to happen. With these thoughts, Mamoru drifted off into the mist, glad that it was only this dream beckoning his actions tonight.
EAN: So, I lied, I did Mamoru's view again, once I started, I just couldn't help it... He's just so entertaining!