Her shrill scream echoed throughout the quiet Tsukino home, and perhaps even reached the houses of their slumbering neighbors. They fortunately didn't rouse to the high-pitched noise but Kenji Tsukino jumped from his bed, where he was just starting to doze off, and sprinted towards his daughter's bedroom down the hall. He didn't hesitate to throw open the door.
Searching the room with his eyes, expecting some intruder, he only spotted his hysterical offspring standing in the center of the room. Ikuko appeared in the doorway behind him as he approached Usagi, and the blonde's scream died down into sobs as the paper in her hands slipped from her fingertips. Kenji pulled her into his embrace, mumbling words of comfort as he held her.
Ikuko slipped quietly to them, bending to pick up the discarded photograph without either of them really noticing her. As her brown eyes fell on the image, a small gasp escaped her lips, and her normally pale complexion went absolutely pallid. She pushed her blue hair from her eyes as she retreated from the room, leaving Kenji to calm their distraught daughter. As she approached the stairs, Shingo's bedroom door opened to her left.
The teenage boy appeared in the doorway, nearly making her jump out of her skin. His expression read puzzled as he looked at her, running his hand through his messy, sandy blonde hair. "Okaasan, what's going on? I thought I heard Odango."
"Nothing, Shingo. Go back to bed, you have school tomorrow," Ikuko instructed, in a firm, motherly tone. Shingo frowned, but it quickly disappeared with his yawn. He shrugged, disappearing behind his door as it closed. Descending the stairs, Ikuko located the switch and illuminated the previously dark kitchen. Though she had to squint against the sudden brightness, it took here mere seconds to locate the phone hanging on the wall to her left.
She quickly dialed the operator, and after working her way through the recordings, finally heard the voice of the live person through the receiver, "Operator, how may I help you?"
Holding the picture up closer to her face, she hesitated only a second before saying, "I need the Juuban Police Department."
xXx
He couldn't believe how simple that actually was; they fell for it hook, line, and sinker. Melding farther into the branches of the tree, he watched the flashing red and blue sirens illuminate the block from across the street. His prey truly was naïve, he thought, to call the police.
The front door opened, and two uniformed officers stepped onto the porch, quickly followed by Kenji Tsukino. The porch light glinted off their badges as they turned back to face the stressed man, in the middle of a sentence he could only catch the last of, "-patrols around this block and the surrounding area. The culprit can't have gotten too far away considering the time frame."
"Keep all your doors and windows locked, for now, and make sure there's a phone nearby just in case," the other officer began, as Kenji nodded profusely. That part was just common sense. Before the two officers turned to go, the second added, "Don't worry, Mr. Tsukino, guys like this always screw up. We'll catch him."
Somewhat narrowed, his golden eye followed their every movement back to their patrol car. One officer slipped into the driver's seat, turning of the flashing lights on top of the vehicle, while the other opened the passenger side door. He paused, his head turning towards the large tree outside the girl's window for a moment, before he looked across the street to the tree that he was sitting in.
The cop got in the car, and the patrol drove away, disappearing around the corner once it reached the end of the street. He glared at the tree branch below him, thinking on what the officer had said. So, they though he would screw up, like every other two-bit criminal out there?
He could walk across the street and slaughter the whole family, silently, right now. Then they'd still be nowhere close to finding out who he was or where to find him. But that wasn't part of his plan, and the fact that the girl took his bait was enough to satisfy him. For now.
Kenji Tsukino entered his house once more, no doubt locking the door, and then the porch light went out. Dropping from the tree, he appeared as nothing more than a shadow before he disappeared from the street completely.
xXx
The next morning, to Usagi Tsukino, felt nothing short of waking up with a hangover. Though she'd only done that once, at Minako's last birthday party, the morning after pain was unforgettable. Groaning, she sat up straight and tried feebly to rub at her temples, wondering what she'd done to feel so crappy.
Then she saw the blue blanket, decorated with moons and stars, which occupied her childhood room, and remembered the previous night; the man, Mamoru, the picture, and crying herself to sleep. Yawning, she rubbed at her eyes and stepped into her slippers. One thought echoed in her mind, over all others, and that happened to be 'get some aspirin, fast.' She ambled across the hall, into the bathroom, and opened the medicine cabinet.
There, on the bottom shelf in an industrial sized bottle, sat the answer to her prayers. Somewhere between happy and relieved, she quickly descended the stairs and entered the kitchen, where she was bombarded suddenly by the smell of freshly brewed coffee. The familiarity of it relaxed her, somewhat, as she retrieved a glass from one of the cupboards. Never fond of coffee due to its bitter taste, she did enjoy the smell and the way it reminded her of her Okaasan; of home.
Ikuko Tsukino sent her a neutral glance from over the kitchen sink, where she was watching the dishes that were dirtied at breakfast. Shingo would no doubt be out somewhere on his day off, and Kenji at work because he worked everyday. Usagi pretended not to notice the look, filling her glass with water and downing four of the little white pills that meant no more throbbing head. Taking the last piece of toast from the napkin by the toaster, she took a seat at the table and began to butter it with the supplies already sitting there.
As she munched, her mind drifted to the events of the previous evening, the cause of the unsavory tension between her shoulders. She went through the whole day, in a sort of play by play, pausing and pondering the strange guy she seen outside the flower shop and before she reached her apartment. He seemed familiar to her, somehow, like she'd seen him before yesterday.
Then she thought of the picture, the 'x' that covered her fiancé's-no, ex fiancé's face. Could it represent some sort of sign, or maybe some sort of sick hit list? Did this psychopath plan on going after her best friends, or even her family? Usagi sat her toast down, feeling nauseous at the very thought of it.
But if it were true, she had to warn her friends somehow to be a little more careful. After all, Minako and Makoto lived by themselves. Ami stayed with her mother, but she was a doctor and was gone a lot of the time, and sleeping the rest. Even Rei, who stayed at the shrine with her Grandpa, didn't seem very safe. She didn't even want to stay with her family if it meant they'd be in danger.
Standing, she walked to the telephone, dialing Minako's number first. The blonde goddess of love was out, probably doing a photo shoot or more likely, shopping. Usagi left a message saying to make sure to keep her doors and windows locked, no matter what, and to give her a call at her parent's house whenever she could. She dialed Makoto next, who was no doubt at work, and left the same message.
Even Ami was out, probably at college classes, so she left the message and prepared to dial Rei. As she expected, the phone rang three or four times before someone picked up, "Good Morning, Hikawa Shrine, how may I help you?"
"Rei, you sound so enthused," Usagi prodded, laughing a little. The raven haired miko on the other end let out a shout of surprise, which made her laugh a little more. But she found laughing a little harder than usual, as Mamoru drifted through her mind.
"Usagi-chan! I didn't expect to hear from you. How are you?" Rei questioned, laughing too at her own foolishness. The blonde girl paused, letting the question hang in the air for at least a full minute. Concerned, Rei asked, "Are you alright, Bunny?"
Hesitantly, Usagi began to tell Rei everything that happened yesterday. The miko stayed quiet through the story, giving her all the time she needed to detail everything, especially when she got to the portion of finding Mamoru. Finally, the rabbit got around to the reason she called in the first place: warning. "I can't be sure of anything right now, but you and the girls may be in danger. Just lock up at night, and try to be careful."
"Usagi-" The blonde's eyes fell over the clock, and they nearly bugged out of her head.
Before Rei could say anything further, she was freaking out, saying into the phone, "Sorry, Rei, we'll talk later. I'm late for work! Goodbye!"
She hung up the phone without waiting for response, and sprinted for the stairs, very reminiscent of her fourteen year old self. Anyone who knew her might think she was in junior high again, late for school like always. Ransacking her closet, she threw on the first thing that looked to fit decently and observed it in the mirror.
The black pants were stretchy, coming down over her kneecaps. Over these she wore her old favorite dress, in her favorite color no less, of pink. There was a nice bow along the neckline, and the sleeves of it stopped at her elbows. The skirt reached about mid-thigh, too short if it weren't for the pants underneath. Feeling like a schoolgirl in the outfit, she sighed and decided she didn't have time to worry about it.
Skidding back down the stairs, she snatched her purse from the kitchen counter and noticed her mother's confused expression. "Okaasan, I'm going to work. See you tonight!"
"Usagi, you shouldn't go to work! The detectives said-" What they said she wouldn't know, for the door slamming cut of Ikuko's sentence. The woman huffed in anger, her blue hair falling into her face as she frowned at the spot where Usagi had disappeared.
xXx
"Guys, I'm so sorry for being late! I don't know what came over me, but I promise it won't happen again." Usagi sounded completely humiliated as she bowed in front of Aya. The redhead was the closest to her, and he raised an eyebrow at her antics. Really though, she said to herself, how dumb could you be to let work slip your mind?
"It's not a big deal. Get to work," Aya said, turning back to the flowers he was watering. The blue eyed girl stood straight, looking at him with blatant confusion. The only other time she'd been late, she recalled, Aya had yelled at her and then refused to talk to her for almost a week. Needless to say, she doubled her efforts in arriving on time, part of the reason she'd ditched her school days habit of being late.
So considering all that, Aya not being the least bit upset at her rung a little suspicious in her book. Shrugging, she walked to the counter and stashed her purse in its usual spot. While grabbing her apron from its hook she shot a sideways glance at Omi, who was looking over shipment papers. He hadn't said hello.
As she tied the back of her apron, she turned her attentions to Yohji, who was busying himself with trimming the leaves of some flowers. Though she continued to stare, he didn't look at her once, or offer any greeting. They were avoiding her.
"I guess Ken-kun told you guys already. Look, I'm okay, there's no reason to act...so uptight about it," when they still didn't look, Usagi fetched the arrangement orders that had been set out for her and moseyed over to the table that she usually worked at. She spread the papers out over the table, and chose the first one she would work on. Today being Sunday, the shop was at its slowest, and even the crowds of fan girls didn't come by this particular morning.
Usagi gathered the flowers she would need and a pair of gloves. Unable to stand to silence for very long, she began to hum to herself like she usually did while she clipped the thorns from the roses. Once she adjusted the length of the stems, she began arranging the red roses and the Peruvian white lilies, creating a beautiful palette of red and white.
While she was attaching the card, the shop door opened with the jingling of the bell, startling the four of them. As it turned out, the person that entered was Ken, clad in his soccer uniform with a ball under one arm. Usagi toted her vase over to place behind the counter, sending a smile in his direction. "Hello Ken-kun, back from soccer practice already?"
"Hey Usagi. Yeah, we got rained out." The brunette replied, flashing a grin and gesturing to the gray clouds rolling across the sky. Walking to the large window, her blue eyes observed the darkening sky before she returned to her work table. Ken disappeared to the back, while she studied her next order. It involved tulips, Usagi noted, so she would need to trim the stems.
About halfway through her pruning, Ken came back out in his casual clothes as opposed to his soccer ensemble. He walked over to her table, observing the order on paper before asking, "Need some help?"
"Sure, why not? You trim, I'll arrange, deal?" Her eyes lit up in a smile as she handed over the gloves and garden tool, which he accepted. A few moments later, Yohji walked over to them, delivering another handful of colorful tulips to the pile that Ken was trimming.
"I hope you know you're not getting paid for your flirting, Ken." Yohji said, grinning over his sunglasses. Usagi laughed at him, hitting his shoulder lightly.
"Yohji, don't pick on Ken. He's kind enough to help, unlike you." She giggled at the indignant look that Yohji sent her. Though she knew he was trying to make up for not speaking to her earlier, she wasn't really that mad over it.
His antics were working either way, as he put his hand over his heart. "Why Usagi, you shatter my fragile heart with your cruel words. All the flowers that I've brought for you, all the compliments I give, they all go unappreciated."
"I'm sure. You poor, mistreated person," her blonde locks of hair fell into her eyes as she bent in her chair with laughter, all but abandoning the vase of flowers in front of her.
"Usagi, did they get any leads on, well, the murderer," Ken asked, his face going mildly red. Usagi looked over at him, and she could tell he tried to phrase the question as delicately as possible. Not wanting to make him feel too uneasy, she smiled a little.
"Well, not that I know of, but..." and she told him about the picture that she found in her bedroom after the brunette had left the previous night. In the silence that followed, she realized that Omi and Aya had been listening to the conversation as well, by the looks they were giving her. For the second time, the bell on the door jingled, announcing the arrival of a customer.
Startled back to reality, Usagi continued her arrangement in silence while the man consulted Omi at the counter. She listened halfheartedly to his story of wanting to surprise his girlfriend on her birthday, while positioning the different color blooms around the vase in front of her. Without really thinking about it, her eyes drifted towards the display window of the shop.
The rabbit froze, her eyes widening, and dropped a tulip she was about to add to the bunch in her arrangement. As it landed softly against the wooden table, the person she thought she saw vanished; whether into thin air or between the people crowded along the sidewalk, she couldn't tell. She didn't say anything, but turned her attentions back to her work, and continued with trembling hands.
Ken suggested she go home after he noticed her edginess, and Omi agreed with him. Usagi ignored both of them, and made it through the rest of the day without any more incidents.
xXx
He paused, perhaps startled for the first time in quite a while. Of all the things, he hadn't expected her to be at work, or at work laughing. Normal people usually didn't hop out of bed the day after their fiancé is murdered bright eyed and bushy tailed. In fact, most people would be bedridden with misery at this point.
Then again, he didn't know too much about being normal. Plus, he'd chosen this girl for a reason, and it's possible he underestimated her character. He'd have to shorten the time planned on laying low, at this rate. The detectives weren't a concern; he was about as worried over them as he was the population of starving children.
Slowly, she turned her head towards him, as if she knew he was there. And maybe she did. The look, when she saw him; he could literally see the fear cloud her senses. Those bright, sparkling blue seemed to almost...darken a few shades. A devilish smirk possessed his own eyes, before he turned and disappeared into the crowd.
Everything was going perfectly.
xXx
In the manga, or at least in the StarS that I have, everyone calls Usagi 'Bunny.' Therefore, I used that nickname here.
Even I get chills, isn't that odd? -sweatdrop- Hey, as far as I'm concerned, Farfie-chan is downright scary. That's why he's appealing, ne? Anyway, I'll bring in a couple more Schwarz members next chapter. :O That's how you spell it, right? Schwarz? Microsoft Word tells me it should be 'shears.' xD The other members will probably play a small role, but you never know, I change my mind a lot. Sometimes things just come to me.
Some questions...Is Farfie-chan going to kill the Tsukinos? Good question! Well, actually, I suppose not because I can't give it away, ne? This is supposed to be suspense. So will it be a member of the Tsukino family, or possibly one of the senshi? One thing is certain, I won't have any group killings, I plan on picking people of one at a time...please don't commit me, I promise I'm not insane. -sweatdrop-
When is Weiss Kreuz coming into the picture? Assuming you mean the series plotline, well this is sort of AU-ish on that side, which I haven't really mentioned. I definitely need to go back and watch the series again, because I can't remember how it ends. -sweatdrop- But there isn't going to be any Reiji Takatori action and stuff like that. Forgive me for plot holes, or beat me up, either way.
Could it be a Schuldich/Usagi/Farfarello triangle? Wow, now wouldn't that be something. o.o Unfortunately, though I realize Schuldich is very popular, I don't really like him much. Besides, I doubt he and Usagi will even meet, and I severely suck at love triangles. As for Usagi/Farfarello, well, I don't know if even Usagi could fall in love with someone who killed Mamoru. Forgive him, perhaps, but not love. Then again, you never know...
Are you going to have Farfie-chan kill off all her friends and family? Well, I'd certainly be cruel to do so, wouldn't I? I'm not going to kill off everyone, I promise.
Well, review replies are officially taboo. I still have no clue why it's such an issue to reply to reviews inside the chapter. I'll answer any questions you have about the story as above; I just can't address you personally.
I really, really appreciate every review I receive, and I thank each and every one of you who read my story! If you want to contact me personally, you can private message or e-mail me any time. I warn you, I sparsely have time to check my e-mail, so I may not reply right away. I will get back to you, though!
SachiNyoko