Chapter Three: Someone to Protect
Note: Usagi's reaction to seeing Rei for the first time is based more on the manga than the anime. Usagi immediately thinks Rei is beautiful and goes into some sort of daze. This is a bit of an exaggeration of that.
000
Usagi got off the bus and stared at the stone steps that ascended toward the shrine. She quailed inwardly. "It's so high up!"
"Not really," said Ami, who had come with her and Luna to inspect the area where all the girls were disappearing. The shrine seemed to be centered in many of the rumors. "We'll only be about half a mile above sea level."
Usagi followed her as Ami immediately began to climb up. "So that means we're climbing up how far?"
"Not too far, a few blocks maybe."
The blonde groaned. "You remember that I'm barely passing PE too right?"
Ami smiled confidently. "I'm sure you'll be fine, Usagi-chan."
Usagi flushed as she realized how she sounded. "Sorry. I'll stop complaining."
"I don't mind."
Luna, on Usagi's shoulder, smiled. "But you do complain a lot, Usagi-chan."
She sniffed irritably. "So says the cat who's riding on my shoulder."
Ami giggled at their exchange. Usagi thought she was so tolerant. "Didn't you tell me you did bad in PE because you were always sleepy?"
Usagi nodded sheepishly. "Yeah. It seems like I'm always tired. School was already so stressful, now there's all this senshi stuff to do."
"A new diet and exercise plan might help." Ami ate mostly health food, like Mamoru. Mamoru was addicted to chocolate, too, but he mostly kept dark chocolate around, Usagi knew.
But milk chocolate was so much sweeter!
Luna grinned, her fangs flashing. "That means no junk food, Usagi!"
"You eat it too."
"But I don't need to pass PE."
Her owner pouted. "Fine. Stay home and get fat, you lazy kitty."
"I'm a cat, I'm supposed to nap all day."
Usagi rolled her eyes, deciding not to mention that cats weren't supposed to talk, as she was already starting to pant from the climb.
Ami was worried, which made her feel worse. "I can help if you like, it really isn't that bad."
Usagi blushed. "It's okay. Just outta shape." She was very satisfied as she made it to the top, wiping her brow. "And it's hot today too."
"It is a bit. Early summer, I suppose."
Usagi looked around the Hikawa shrine curiously. It looked pretty much like every shrine she had been to throughout her life, having been taken to the usual yearly festivals by her parents. It was very clean, the trees looked healthy and green, and there were birds singing. "Pretty. It's hard to think this place has anything to do with those girls disappearing."
"All of them were coming from here when they disappeared though."
She nodded and pumped her fist in the air. "Okay! Let's see what we can find out about the people that run it."
Ami smiled. "Right!"
They stopped by the chozuya, the purification tank, to cleanse themselves briefly before moving onto the administration building. There, they found a shrine maiden speaking to an older woman. The Miko's back was facing Usagi and Ami.
"No, ma'am, I'm afraid I haven't seen your daughter since yesterday."
The woman let out a soft, heartfelt cry. "I don't understand! She wouldn't just disappear like this!"
"I know," assured the miko. "Mimi-chan is a good girl. I wish there was something more we could do."
The poor mother sniffed. "Thank you anyway."
She walked passed them without even a sideways glance, but by then Usagi's entire focus was on the miko as she turned around. She could barely breath, let along thinking about anything else.
Usagi had never seen anyone so beautiful. She had long, flowing black hair and blue eyes that seemed very accustomed to sadness. Her skin was pale like alabaster, which made her seem even more otherworldly.
For some reason, the sight of her made Usagi feel dizzy and her heart pound. She felt all sorts of new things that even her crush on Motoki had never caused her to feel. She was so happy, she thought she could transform into Sailor Moon and just float away.
Rei sighed and turned toward the two girls, prepared to tell them where the Ema was located, for she was not feeling up to idle chatter at the moment. But there was something about the blonde that gave her pause.
"Ah, excuse us…"
Rei blinked at her, wondering why she looked at her so strangely. "Yes?"
"Ah... You're really pretty." The girl blushed and giggled almost hysterically. "I mean, you're shrine is really pretty!"
"Thank... you?" Rei couldn't believe it. Was she being hit on? That just put the cherry on top of her crappy day.
The other one, a bookish girl wearing the same school uniform as the blonde, did not seem as strange. "It seems you're having some trouble though."
"Yes," Rei confirmed, wondering what her angle was, "girls keep disappearing."
The blonde continued to stare. "That's terrible..."
"I just wish people would realize that it isn't our fault!" Rei exclaimed at them both, frustrated.
"Of course not! They can't just blame you without proof."
The bookish one cut in. "People are just afraid. I'm sure they don't blame anyone."
Rei lifted up the basket she discarded when Mimi's mother had confronted her and began throwing the seeds it carried onto the ground. The crows came flying over. "No, they're blatantly pointing the finger at me and grandpa, mostly me. The police have spoken to us more than once."
"I believe you!" the blonde said fervently. "I know you wouldn't do it."
Rei blinked, surprised. "Thank you…"
She beamed, and Rei wondered if she should really encourage her. The thought of making someone so happy over something so small made her feel odd, though in a surprisingly nice way.
Maybe this was a sign that she just needed to make more friends.
She studied the blonde, noticing her strange power belatedly, so caught up in her own frustration. Despite obviously not being a normal person, Rei didn't think she meant any harm and couldn't bring herself to truly be irritated at her. Perhaps later she would feel like teasing her a bit though; the blonde seemed like she would be easy to tease.
"Sorry, my manners. I'm Hino Rei."
The blonde smiled brightly. "Hi! Rei's a pretty name..."
"Ah, I guess so." Definitely not normal. She didn't even offer her name!
The bookish friend spoke up again. "I'm Mizuno Ami and this is Tsukino Usagi." She gave a small, polite bow.
Rei bowed in return, still eyeing the blonde. Tsukino Usagi, huh? Rabbit of the moon. She thought that it fit the girl all too perfectly. There was a dreaminess about her, along with that strange, quiet glow of power. "Is your friend feeling alright, Mizuno-san?"
Ami was flushed. "Honestly, I'm not sure, Hino-san. She was a bit winded by the climb..."
Rei frowned, not irritated now, only worried. "Let's take her inside. I hope it isn't heatstroke."
She helped Ami get the still-dazed Usagi into her bedroom in the administration building, the small black cat following them inside. The cat hardly seemed worried; in fact she seemed amused, but that was probably normal for a cat.
Rei didn't really know – she liked birds and, occasionally, dogs. She didn't get cats.
The Miko served lemonade to her guests and wiped the blissful looking Usagi's brow with a cool cloth. She was concerned despite herself. For most of her life, it had taken much longer to form attachments to anyone, if at all.
What was it about this strange girl that made her care?
"Pretty," Usagi whispered dreamily, her cheeks flushing even though her forehead was starting to cool.
Rei blushed from the compliment again. "She's starting to get some color back. Here, Tsukino-san, drink."
"Okay." The girl took the glass obediently and sipped while her cat twined around her ankle comfortingly, which was the only reason Rei didn't throw it out of her room.
There was going to be hair everywhere, she just knew it.
She continued to dab at Usagi's face and neck while the blonde went on smiling that dreamy smile that made her feel so strange.
"How are you feeling?" she asked eventually.
"I feel amazing."
Rei blinked. "Oh. I guess that means you won't need an ambulance then."
"Ambulance?"
"Because you're acting strange." Then again, she didn't know Usagi. Maybe she was like this all the time. Except Ami's worried expression seemed to disprove that notion.
"Strange?"
"Yes. We thought you might be getting sick."
Usagi smiled blissfully. "I'm just happy."
Rei was naturally confused. "What could make you this happy?"
"You!"
The miko flushed. "Wha-? Me? But... Why?"
"I love you."
Before she had time to fully react to that, Rei suddenly had a face-full of blonde as Usagi leaned in to kiss her.
Not on the cheek, either. On the mouth!
Squeaking from the assault, Rei fell back onto the floor, surprised, her butt landing hard on the floor.
Seemingly getting her strength back, Usagi slid off the bed and knelt beside her. She didn't try to kiss again but she did continue smiling.
Rei stared up at her, more surprised than freaked out, starting to feel a bit overcome by something herself. The power she sensed from Usagi might have been starting to affect her. "Usagi-san…"
Usagi smiled. "Rei-san."
Sitting up, the miko couldn't help but smile in return, a little bemused.
It wasn't that she was put off by lesbians—Rei had some leaning in that direction herself, regardless of her religious upbringing. She'd never liked or trusted men all that much. But thanks to her attitude she had few friends, and even fewer love interests, so to have the blonde's interest so suddenly made her suspicious and uncomfortable.
The more she was around Usagi, however, the more Rei realized she was starting to bask in the girl's mysterious power. So troubled by Mimi's disappearance, and then even before that with her father dragging her to that party, she couldn't fully appreciate it. Until Usagi's kiss.
There was no duplicity hidden in that radiant smile, only innocence and happiness, and she felt herself beginning to fall.
"You really are strange," Rei teased.
Usagi pouted. "Rei-chan."
"Not in a bad way," the miko assured, squeezing one of Usagi's slender, soft hands. She didn't paint her nails, but she was letting them grow to a sensible length. Usagi's palms were a little sweaty, likely from the heat and whatever it was the blonde was feeling.
Rei suddenly began to doubt that this was an illness. Usagi could actually be reacting to her, and that was more than a little flattering.
Usagi giggled. "So mean." She leaned forward to kiss her again.
Rei stopped her gently with a finger on the girl's lips, blushing. "Silly. At least let me take you on a date first."
The pout returned, bottom lip puckering against her finger. "Tired of waiting."
"Waiting?" They had just met.
Usagi frowned, looking as confused by the statement as Rei felt. "I don't know. It just feels like I've been waiting to meet you my whole life."
It should have sounded silly, like a bad pick-up line, but instead Rei was touched because Usagi as so honest. "Usagi…" Not sure what to say, she kissed the girl's cheek chastely.
The blonde emitted a happy sigh.
Until then, Rei had forgotten almost entirely about Usagi's polite friend, until she chose to speak up again at that moment. Ami, looking embarrassed, alerted them that they would miss the bus back into Azabu if they didn't leave immediately.
Usagi whined softly in the back of her throat. "Do we have to go?"
Rei wanted to tell her no, irrationally. She wanted her little blonde rabbit to stay right where she was, so that Rei could protect and take care of her. But for the same reason that she had stopped Usagi's second kiss, the miko knew she should make her go. Whatever this was, she knew instinctively that it wasn't right to rush it, but to let it grow at its own pace.
"You mustn't miss your bus. But you can come back and see me anytime you want."
Quickly, she fetched her cellphone and handed it to Usagi. "Here, put your number on my in my phone."
Usagi beamed and they exchanged numbers that way.
The miko followed them down to the bus stop, unwilling to take her eyes off of Usagi, and Usagi was similarly fixated on her. So it was that neither of them noticed anything unusual until Ami's shout of warning.
"Usagi-chan, wait!"
The still dazed Usagi was tugged into the buss roughly by the bus driver, who cackled, "Too late!"
The door slammed shut and Rei did something stupid and instinctive. She grabbed onto the side of the bus and held on as it sped away, down the street and out of the world she had always known. Her shoes kept slipping until she balanced herself on the back bumper, getting a better handhold on the emergency door handle, which she could not yank open.
She looked back, hair getting in her face. She saw Ami and the cat running after them, but neither could make it in time. As she turned back to try to squint inside, all she could see were shadows—she could not see Usagi at all, but sensed she was okay for the moment.
Rei held on and promised the blonde silently that she would rescue her, somehow.
The bus passed through some sort of doorway and it closed behind them, plunging Rei, who continued to cling to the the bus, into near darkness. She didn't know much about these things, but Rei guessed they had somehow gone to another dimension.
The bus drove into a ruined castle that appeared in the darkness, coming to an abrupt stop. Rei fell off, grunting as she hit the ground hard. Her knees hurt from her landing but she forced herself to her feet.
The man that had kidnapped them carried Usagi off the bus in his arms. He was blond also, and mumbled to himself. "This girl is stronger than the others. She will feed our queen well. Nephrite will be jealous..."
"Let go of her!" Rei yelled.
The man blinked at her, surprised, then smirked. "Ah, good. Two strong ones this time."
Rei growled, anger surging. "Let. Go. Of. Her," she growled slowly, as menacingly as she could. She was going to make this psycho pay.
"Ah, no can do, miss. Come along now, don't be difficult." He turned his back on Rei uncaringly and took Usagi further into the castle.
Rei chased after him, watching as the man set her blonde down with the other girls that had disappeared. She was horrified to see them, but also relieved to realize they were all alive – sleeping, like Usagi was.
As the man walked away, Rei knelt beside Usagi and tried to wake her, but the girl was deeply asleep. "Usagi!"
"It's no use," said the vile man. "Now quiet, I'm concentrating." He turned back to frown at the miko. "Why haven't you fallen asleep yet...?"
She glared, not answering. She had no idea what was going on, but she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of knowing that.
"You have fire in your soul."
"And you're a jerk," she returned coldly.
He shrugged. "I live to serve my queen. There is no other reason for my existence. Once, there was, but this body no longer remembers it." A strange look crossed his face, but it quickly disappeared, returning once more to that evil smirk.
He pulled out a long sword. "You'll feed my beloved queen and I will become her favorite."
Rei moved between him and Usagi. "I won't let you hurt her."
"What can you do? Use your shinto witchcraft on me?"
Familiar mocking filled her ears, years of surviving at a Catholic school and facing other children who teased her for being a Miko, for bullying her because of her own strangeness, welled up inside. "It's not witchcraft!"
"Little witch. Show me what you can do!"
Her fists clenched as he laughed mockingly, her rage building. How dare he make fun of her? How dare he hurt Usagi? "You... you... JERK!"
She stomped her foot, more out of frustration than anything, and flames rose up around them.
The man seemed startled. "What is this...?"
Rei was just as confused as she was surrounded. She felt the flames but they didn't burn; they embraced her. It was bright, but something even brighter appeared just in front of her, almost blinding her at first.
It looked like a stick. A colorful, shiny one, but it was definitely a stick.
For some reason, the stick made her afraid. She knew if she took it, her life would never be the same, and she would have to give up her dream of becoming the head miko of the shrine.
Rei instinctively recoiled.
But another feeling began to bloom in her chest. As scary as it was to give up her dream, her normal life, she also knew if she took the stick, she would have the power to protect Usagi.
The miko bit her lip, not knowing what to do. How could she choose between her dream and the girl of her dreams? What if the feeling was wrong and it was just a stupid stick? Why didn't the flames burn her? Who was the jackass that had kidnapped them? Everything was too confusing!
Then, she heard a voice. "Moon Crystal Power, Make Up!"
Rei whirled around in time to see Usagi, holding a similar stick, surrounded by a warm pink glow. Her school uniform fell away, leaving her completely naked as tendrils of magic curled around her slight frame. In a flash, Usagi was wearing a sailor fuku that Rei remembered seeing on TV and in newspapers, one that left little to the imagination.
(Though imagination, in this case, was no longer needed. Memory sufficed.)
Rei stared, flushed and surprised. Usagi was Sailor Moon!
Usagi approached the flames, worriedly. "Rei-chan, are you alright?"
Both having only eyes for each other, neither noticed the man sneaking up on Usagi until he'd already knocked the senshi down.
Mamoru, drawn to a sense of urgency that he was starting to tie to Usagi, arrived in the other dimension just in time to stop Usagi from being stabbed by one of the guys attacking the city. He threw a rose at Jadeite's hand, wounding him cleanly with the stem hardened by his will.
Jadeite. Mamoru didn't know how he knew his name. He just did.
A memory from his past? He could only wonder, before his thoughts were drawn once more to the present.
He winced as Jadeite pried the bloodied rose from his hand, feeling a strange sympathy for the general as well. The wound bled heavily but the man just ignored it.
Jadeite glared at him and attacked with lightning swiftness. "Die!"
Mamoru dodged rather than attack. Despite taking martial arts classes for years, he did not enjoy fighting, and fighting this man in particular seemed very wrong. It was something he absolutely did not want to do. But if he could distract him from the girls, then maybe they could escape…
Then Jadeite's hand brushed his bare wrist for the briefest moment.
The power surged, despite his strong mental barriers. Memories that weren't his—or were they?—bled together in his mind.
Jadeite shivered against him, seeming as fragile as a leaf, and Endymion tightened his arms. The general clung to him, moaning sweetly into their first kiss, and they—
"Kunzite was furious," Jadeite murmured, eyes flashing with merriment as they walked through the courtyard. "I don't think a girl has ever told him off before. That Sailor Venus is something else, isn't—?"
Those same eyes he so loved were filled with tears and a sorrow beyond words. It was breaking Endymion's heart, but he had no answer to his demand. "Do you expect us to just stand around while you and Heli die? The witch has a plan, and if you weren't so stubborn, you—!"
Endymion, holding onto the Princess protectively, watched as Jadeite fell, blood spilling on the moon's surface. He wanted to die too. He had failed and now everything was—
Mamoru almost buckled, the weight of the visions nearly overwhelming him.
So much pain, so much impossible, terrible pain! He had only felt the likes of such a thing when his mother died. It was a struggle to breathe, let alone stand.
Luckily, Jadeite faltered as well, and he stared at him in shock. "Wha… What was that?"
Mamoru didn't answer. How could he? The man before him shouldn't even be alive, Mamoru had seen him die. He wasn't, in point of fact. "Zombie," he murmured.
Jadeite glared. "You're connected to the soul that vacated this body?"
"Something like that." He was horrified by another sudden impulse. "Don't tell me that witch has my body as well!"
He had no idea why he said that. All he knew was that the witch in that flash of memory might have his body. Or Endymion's body. It was a weird feeling, like everything else that was happening.
The general shook his head in answer before the glare hardened. "Do not call my queen a witch!"
"I speak only the truth," he murmured absently.
He tried to sense what the blond man was feeling, but as he could get nothing from him, it became very obvious that his first diagnosis was correct. This Jadeite was not the true Jadeite.
"Stop distracting me," Jadeite hissed. "I'm going to kill you for my queen Beryl!"
"So same old, same old then," Mamoru muttered bitterly, again wondering where the words came from only afterwards.
Why would he think that?
Jadeite betrayed Endymion.
Who the hell was Endymion?
Jadeite raised his sword. "Die!"
He dodged on instinct, pulling the sword free of his cane. It was a slender, flame-bladed sword. He had never drawn it before, but knew now that as much as he abhorred violence, he was going to need the blade.
He ignored Jadeite's yells and familiar movements, dodging more. He wasn't angry, just confused. It felt more like they were dancing than fighting.
Finally he realized that the general looked like Motoki. Is that why he felt so odd? Why he felt so attached to the memories of Jadeite's body?
Usagi and Rei were still watching from nearby.
"Go," he told them sternly.
"Tuxedo Kamen-sama?" Usagi was confused.
He could heartily sympathize, but there were the girls still unconscious to think about. "Get them out of here."
Sailor Moon obeyed, getting the miko and the other kidnapped girls out. He absently noted them heading toward the bus before he turned his full attention back on Jadeite.
The look in the blond's eyes was clearly deteriorating, telling of his mental state, which was failing. The artificial soul inside couldn't stand the thought of not being able to kill Mamoru, of failing his mistress.
His heart sank as he realized that he was going to have to kill this man.
Jadeite laughed. "You look afraid, boy."
"Not."
"Really? Then what's the look for?" Mamoru didn't answer and Jadeite didn't seem to care. "I can kill you. This body's hesitation means nothing! I'll definitely kill you!"
"You won't," Mamoru said, with sudden, absolute certainty, and stood still.
Jadeite slashed at him, his sword catching the sleeve of his tux, but he did not break the skin. He could not. If a person forgot something mentally, their body would contain separate, physical memories. Jadeite's body…
Mamoru sighed sadly as the general's frustration grew. "You won't kill me, but you won't stop either."
With a scream of frustration, Jadeite tried again and again, and each time, the sword only managed to damage his clothing.
"You can't kill me," Mamoru told him again.
"Why?" Jadeite demanded, frustration.
"I don't know." But he could guess. It was the body. Jadeite's body didn't want to hurt him, even though his true soul was gone. The body remembered.
"If I can't obey Queen Beryl," the general whispered, "I must be punished. I must die."
"Even if I kill you?"
He looked at Mamoru, his eyes getting clearer, like in the memory. "I will be killed anyway."
He nodded grimly. "Close your eyes." He could do it if he didn't see Jadeite's eyes.
Jadeite did so obediently. "Do not hesitate. I'm only a youma. This body, this name Jadeite, this sword... was never mine."
Mamoru shook his head. "That doesn't mean it doesn't hurt."
"Somehow... I think I'm sorry to have hurt you."
He didn't hesitate a moment longer. Mamoru plunged his sword through Jadeite's heart, wincing at the feel and sound of it. It was too sickeningly real, against everything Mamoru believed in, and he couldn't believe he had actually done it.
Jadeite choked and, bizarrely, smiled, blood dribbling out of his mouth. He fell to the ground, falling free of Mamoru's sword. He looked strangely peaceful, laying in the pool of his own blood.
Mamoru knew he would have nightmares.
As he watched—he couldn't look away—the body began to disintegrate. Jadeite's body grew older in seconds, then turned to bones, then to dust, until all that was left were the very old sword and a small green stone.
A jade.
Reluctantly, Mamoru picked both up, unable to leave them—damn psychometry—and left the dimension.
The bus screeched to a hard stop as soon as they exited the other dimension, back on the street where Rei lived. She sighed in relief and looked over her shoulder to see that the other girls were beginning to rouse, the power over them fading.
Usagi rushed out of the bus to be reunited with Ami—who was also scantily clad in a fuku. The two friends hugged, smiling and talking excitedly. Rei made sure the bus was parked before joining them.
"We tried to join you," Ami was saying, "but it was too strong. Tuxedo Kamen-san came through, though, we saw him. Didn't he come back with you?"
Usagi shook her head, still worried. "No. I think he… I think he had to take care of Jadeite." She forced a smile, but it was sad. "I think he'll be able to get back on his own."
"That stands to reason, since he didn't need any help coming to our rescue," Rei commented, a little disgruntled. She could have saved Usagi herself. And wasn't Tuxedo Mask just some jewelry thief? Suspected, of course. There was no proof.
Ami's eyes widened. "Hino-san, you have a transformation pen!"
Rei glanced down. She had grabbed hold of the stick instinctively when she and Usagi ran. The weight felt right in her hand, and had since been able to shake her fears over claiming it. She was sure that she could still fulfill her dream while protecting Usagi, it would just be harder. If she believed it, she could do it. "Is that what it is? Geez, it feels like it's made out of plastic."
"That's because she's Sailor Mars!" said a new voice, and Rei glanced down to see that it was Usagi's cat, and it was talking. "I thought so earlier at the shrine, but I wasn't sure. That's three Senshi already!"
"Huh." Rei decided, after everything else that had gone on today, a talking cat really wasn't all that peculiar.
Luna began explaining about their mission as they waited for the police—to hand over the missing girls to the authorities—which was apparently to find some sort of silver crystal, a princess, and two more senshi. All while fighting an enemy called the Dark Kingdom.
Rei only listened with half an ear, most of her attention on Sailor Moon. It was all fine and good for Luna to say that was her mission, but Rei knew differently. She had her own mission, and it stood right beside her, smiling happily.
She would protect Usagi.
TBC.