It was twilight, the shop had been closed and locked up for the night. Four young men gathered below at the insistence of their youngest member, who faced them now with a solemn look in his normally cheerful blue eyes. Omi Tsukiyono, age 18, drew in a breath and then sighed, saying, "Guys, we have to do something."
None of the three answered, even as he looked between them. Omi changed his tactics. "I did some searching and managed to pull up the police report filed for the murder at Usagi's old apartment, of her fiancé. The official cause of death was strangulation but there were over thirty separate cut and stab wounds all over his body. He was tortured and then killed. And yet they recovered no relevant forensic evidence."
"Nothing at all?" Ken questioned skeptically from his spot on the couch. Omi shook his head.
"It isn't our place to interfere. It's the police's job to catch the killer." Aya's monotonic response drifted over them in the following silence. His expression, opposed to his usual stoicism, appeared somewhat troubled.
"Her friend is still in the hospital, in a coma. She told me they would be moving her from the ICU in a few days if she didn't wake up. I don't want that to happen to Usagi." Omi frowned, "She's our friend, isn't she?"
"Omi is right." Yohji finally spoke, moving his eyes from the wall to glance at them over his sunglasses. "We probably shouldn't go chasing after this killer ourselves, but we could at least help somehow. Besides, I have the feeling that whoever is doing this, they aren't your average killer." Before any of them could question this odd proclamation, the tall blonde stood, stretched, and began walking off, throwing a wave over his shoulder. "Let me know if you find anything, Omi."
"I'll do anything to help Usagi, as long as it's within reason." Ken said when Omi turned back to him, blue eyes imploring. Frowning, he added, "I agree with Yohji, though. There's something about these murders."
Aya stood next and left in silence.
xXx
Usagi tried her best to cling to her dark and dreamless sleep, but she knew that the hands on her arms, gently shaking her awake, were not going to comply with her wants. Peeling her eyelids apart, she glanced up at the woman standing over her in a still sleepy haze. For a moment she could only stare before details like her white lab coat and friendly, professional smile registered in her consciousness.
"Hello, dear. The nurse has been worried about you. She says you've been here all day and visiting hours are almost up." The doctor, Hikari by her nametag, walked over to the bed Rei occupied and picked up the chart she had left on the table. As she looked it over, Usagi sat up in the chair, feeling the cry of protest from her now very sore neck. Glancing at the clock, she realized it was almost six and winced.
"You must be Miss Tsukino, the patient's primary contact." Turning her attention back to the doctor, she nodded, trying to ignore the stab of pain between her shoulder blades and up her neck. Doctor Hikari replaced the chart and pulled some latex gloves from one of her coat pockets, sliding her slim hands into each one. Pulling the covers down, she reached for the dressings on Rei's stomach.
Usagi blanched and turned away. She couldn't watch. Her eyes stayed glued to the framed ocean scene on the wall until she heard the rustle of blankets and the snap of latex as the woman removed her gloves. "The physical wounds are healing nicely, no infections. We've been monitoring to make sure she has no fever or any other irregularities." The doctor walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder. "In my opinion, your friend will get better in no time. I can tell by how rapidly she's healing. She's a fighter."
That last sentence rung in her ears for a moment, but she managed to compose herself and smile. "Thank you, doctor. I'll just be a few more minutes and then I'll leave. I promise."
Doctor Hikari nodded and made to leave, chart in hands, letting the door click softly shut behind her. Usagi let out a strained sigh and walked around the bed, glancing at the flowers she had brought and another vase of tulips beside it. There was also a picture frame resting between them, and the blonde knew that Yuuichiro must have stopped by sometime while she was sleeping.
Reaching, she curled her fingers around the picture and picked it up. It was a copy of the one she had found in her pillow that night, of all of her friends, only the one in her hands still had Mamoru's face intact and smiling up at her. Fingers tracing the edge of the photo, she was about to return it to the bedside table when she paused. Bringing the image back to her line of vision, she studied it for a moment trying to decipher what had caused her hesitation.
"Chibiusa," Usagi breathed, blue eyes riveted on the cotton candy pink buns of her future daughter, her red eyes smiling from the comfort of the blonde's arms. "But how?" The little girl should have faded out of existence, out of the photograph, maybe even out of her memory. Mamoru was gone. The future was gone. Usagi was unbelievably dizzy as she put the picture back and grabbed the rail of Rei's bed to keep from collapsing. "Oh my god."
xXx
Usagi smiled toward Omi as she walked by, or at least she attempted to. He didn't really notice, his focus was entirely on the computer screen in front of him. Her feet carried her toward her temporary room, and the bathroom beyond, her fingers clenched on the handles of her plastic shopping bag.
Closing the bathroom door softly, she dumped the two boxes next to the sink and stuffed the empty bag in the trash. Two, just in case. Picking up the first box, she opened it and dumped the contents into her open palm. The test, wrapped neatly in the instruction packet that she quickly discarded. To her, this was pretty self explanatory. She closed her eyes.
Ken entered Omi's bedroom slowly, looking around for the disk the younger boy had asked him to fetch. The door had been wide open, but he still knew Usagi was home and didn't want to barge in on her. She was nowhere to be seen, but he spotted the disk and reached for it when he heard a noise. Pausing, he glanced around, perplexed, when the noise sounded again. His eyes settled on the closed bathroom door.
Forgetting the disk for a moment, he slowly walked over, trying to identify the sound as he approached. When he stopped in front of the door, it hit him, and he knocked softly. "Usagi? Are you alright?"
"Go away," Ken barely heard the muffled reply cut through the quiet persistence of her sobbing. He hesitated, not sure what to do, before he reached for the handle. He expected it to be locked, but it gave way to him instantly.
The blonde was curled against the side of the tub, her body shaking and tears sliding down her cheeks. But her blue eyes were wide and transfixed on an object near the toilet. Plastic, white, lying face up on the tile, it only took Ken the fraction of a second to realize what it was. Everything clicked into place inside his head rather quickly. He crouched down, placing his hand on her shoulder. "Usagi--"
"I'm pregnant."
xXx
An hour later the blonde curled into the corner of the couch hugging a pillow to her chest, blue eyes staring at the television and the news ticker on the bottom of the screen. A pretty news anchor put on a grim face as she recited the latest crimes from the scrolling words of a teleprompter. Omi still sat at the computer, but no longer immersed completely as he sent glances in her direction every few moments. She didn't know how to tell him she was fine, so she didn't try.
Somewhere behind her, Usagi could hear Ken pacing back and forth. She knew he had the phone to his ear. He was trying to get her a doctor's appointment.
She felt completely numb. Sure she was relieved and completely elated that Chibiusa would still be born. She loved her daughter, but it still made losing Mamoru that much harder. Now Chibiusa would grow up without her father, without Mamoru. Love wasn't enough to support a child, and what was Usagi going to do? She worked at a flower shop. Sure she had graduated high school but her grades had been mediocre and she never even considered college. When you were destined to be the Queen of Crystal Tokyo what good was a college degree?
How would she support them? Usagi felt nausea take hold. Then she realized Ken was arguing on the phone because they wouldn't let him set an appointment for her since she was an adult. An adult. Usagi extended her hand over the back of the couch and felt the phone in her hand a few moments later. She brought it to her ear and listened to the ruffled secretary for a moment before making herself known.
Are you Usagi Tsukino? Yes. Do you need an appointment? Yes. Okay then. You can come in tomorrow at ten o'clock. Thank you. See you then, Miss Tsukino. Goodbye. Bye.
Usagi hung up the phone and sighed. She looked at the phone in her hands and wondered who she should call. No one, not yet. Placing the receiver on the empty cushion beside her, she slipped her hand under the pillow and stretched her fingers over her still very flat stomach. Just when you think things can't get any more complicated.
She felt the couch sag beside her, glanced to see that Ken had moved the phone and now occupied the cushion instead. Snatching her hand back, she entwined both around the pillow and pretended to be interested in the news again.
"Usagi, I know that you're adamant about getting back to your apartment, but," Ken wavered and Usagi tensed, but nodded to show she was listening, encouraging him to go on. "But maybe you should consider staying here longer now, especially if your life isn't the only one in danger."
That hit home; her blue eyes closed as she took it in, trying to hide her flinch. It's true. Being reckless and putting myself in danger to protect my friends is one thing, but Chibiusa...
"Okay," she said softly, hugging the pillow closer to her. For now, it was the best option.
xXx
"Miss Tsukino, you are pregnant. Two months along in fact. Well, nine weeks to be specific." Usagi slumped back in her chair as the doctor made her announcement. She closed her eyes and imagined her perfect world, where Mamoru would be sitting beside her and they would be happy. Yohji was in the waiting room, he'd been nice enough to accompany her that far.
The span of time between this appointment and her first, where they'd taken blood and urine samples, had been almost surreally quiet. She worked, ate, slept, and occasionally visited Rei. When none of these things occupied her she thought about Chibiusa, about the little girl she knew. She wondered how this new Chibiusa, denied her father and a magical kingdom, might be different.
"Do you know who the father is?" The question brought her from her thoughts, back to the small room with the high window and the locked cabinets, with posters of medicines and diseases alike.
"Yes. He died." The words came out slowly, spoken almost in monotone. She didn't want to think about it too much and have a breakdown right here. "About a month ago he was murdered in our apartment."
A month ago, she realized with a start. That's why she hadn't noticed her missed menstrual cycle. Mamoru's death kept her mind far away from anything like that. The doctor moved forward in her wheeled chair and placed a hand over hers, smiling gently. Then she pulled something from the stack of things she had carried in the room with her and showed it to Usagi.
"This is a fetal development chart," her doctor explained. She paused, and then moved her finger to the section under Week Nine. Speaking softly, she told the blonde, "Right now your baby is only about one inch long. The fetus isn't big enough for you to feel it yet, but is has joints and fingers and is probably wriggling around everywhere."
Usagi stared at the image on the chart, the small curled up thing looking more like an alien in a pod than a human baby. But that was a vague representation of Chibiusa, right now, growing inside of her stomach. The doctor wheeled away again and described the vitamins she was going to prescribe her, gave her pamphlets on eating properly, told her of situations where she might need to seek medical help.
When she returned to the lobby, she figured she had enough material cradled in her arms to write a novel. Yohji stood to greet her, and eyed the burden in her hands before meeting her gaze. "So I guess that's an affirmative?"
Usagi could only nod. She was still a bit overwhelmed with everything. They left the doctor's office in silence, until they passed an ice cream shop and Yohji offered to buy her a cone. "Pepperoni and mushroom?" She raised an eyebrow and he shrugged, "I always heard pregnant women had weird cravings."
This had the desired effect. Usagi started laughing, and replied, "I think I'll stick with chocolate."
xXx
He watched as the girl let herself in to her apartment. He ground his teeth in frustration. The target he had wanted became too troublesome. It had been too long since his last attack. But the other girl was hardly ever alone. So he decided to go ahead and do this one.
He did a mental checklist of everything he needed to make sure he had everything. He moved quickly from shadow to shadow, approaching the apartment door. Testing the door knob, he found it locked. That wouldn't provide much of a challenge.
A sinister smile covered his lips, and he proceeded to let himself in.
xXx
Uh oh, trouble for our next victim. I want to think my reviewer, Sakura Lisel; I had planned all along to have Usagi pregnant, but their review inspired the events that led to that discovery in the story. Also, thank you to everyone else who reviewed.