Disclaimer: I am afraid that I do not own Sailor Moon. I do, however, own some of the hilarious situations that they get themselves into. Read and enjoy!
Before we begin this next chapter, I wanted to clarify something that occurred in the last chapter. I realized after I posted the last chapter that my line separating the text (which indicates a time jump) did not appear for whatever reason, and so the time jump from night to the next morning was not very clear. Just so you know, the story should have read like this:
"What did you say?" Makoto asked menacingly. Haruka pretended to give a great, grumbling snore. Makoto laughed, then instantly fell asleep, still a little woozy from all of the night's events.
"HI!" a surprisingly loud voice boomed.
There you have it. I know that Makoto later says that it's eight in the morning, but I just wanted to clarify that there was a time jump there, and that Usagi didn't just pop out of nowhere in the middle of the night (which I guess would be possible in a humor fic but… meh). Anyway, I hope that you enjoy!
Oh yeah, and don't worry: there's plenty more to come!
The Sailor Senshi Rise Again:
Chapter 10: Letters
"Hrn…" Usagi grumbled as her alarm clock began to buzz. She slowly reached out with her hand and hit the snooze alarm.
"Hey! Wake up, idiot!" Chibiusa's voice blared out of nowhere. Suddenly, Usagi felt a pillow hit her face.
Usagi slowly reached out for the pillow, snatched it out of Chibiusa's hands, and swung it as hard as she could with her eyes still shut. There was a crashing sound, and Usagi instantly opened her eyes, trying to figure out what had happened.
"Nice job, Usagi," Chibiusa said sarcastically. "You just knocked our alarm clock off the nightstand."
Indeed she had. Usagi looked down to see her bright pink alarm clock lying on the floor. When she reached over the side of her bed to pick it up, she saw that the glass front had broken, but that otherwise the clock remained intact. "Whatever," she grumbled, still half-asleep, as she dropped the clock back to the ground. "The clock still works. It just doesn't have a front anymore." And with that, she closed her eyes. Chibiusa picked up the pillow Usagi had dropped, and whacked her in the face again. "Will you stop hitting me?" Usagi shouted.
"You gotta get up for school, Usagi," Chibiusa explained slowly, as if explaining a difficult concept to a small child. "There's a reason your alarm clock went off."
Usagi gasped, remembering. Then, she grabbed any of her clothes in reach, and started to get dressed.
"It's so much harder getting dressed when you have a broken leg, thanks to Haru— oh!" she gasped, pausing.
"What? Why are you gaping like an idiot? More than usual I mean," Chibiusa asked.
"Haruka doesn't have to go to school today!" Usagi whined.
Chibiusa stared at Usagi in disbelief for a few seconds, and then said, "Usagi, I think you would rather go to school than have to sit in bed all day with an almost fatal head injury."
"No I wouldn't," Usagi continued to whine.
"Look, Usagi," Chibiusa started, "just get dressed and stop whining. It's," Chibiusa squinted at the clock which was harder to read with the jagged edges of broken glass jutting around the hands of the clock, "8:20. Homeroom starts in 10 minutes!"
"Ah!" Usagi screamed, continuing to dress at top speed. "Chibiusa, can you help me into my wheelchair?" she asked as she finished dressing.
"Yeah, yeah. Sure." Chibiusa rolled over Usagi's wheelchair and helped ease her down onto it. "Now let's go!"
Chibiusa raced out of the bedroom door. Both she and Usagi quickly said bye to Usagi's parents (still on the move), then quickly ran out the door, into the start of a brand new day.
The mother and daughter didn't encounter any of their friends on the way to school, but met up with all of them right outside the front entrance.
"See," Rei announced to everyone as they approached, "I told you guys that they would be late."
"Come now, Usagi," Setsuna said in a parenting tone, "can't you arrive to school on time at least ONCE?"
"Yeah, yeah. I'm not a baby," Usagi said as she and Chibiusa came to a stop.
"Then stop acting like one," Rei snapped back. She stuck her tongue out at Usagi.
"Just wait until I get out of this wheelchair," Usagi threatened. "Then you'll get it!" she stuck her tongue out at Rei.
"Uh huh," Rei agreed sarcastically. "Well, until then, just get to class, ya lazy bum." Rei raced through the glass doors leading into the school.
"Don't worry, Chibiusa," Ami said as she walked over towards Usagi. "I'll help Usagi get to her class since we have the same one for homeroom." She gripped the handles of Usagi's wheelchair and pushed her through the glass doors.
"Come on, Hotaru," Chibiusa said playfully. "Let's go to class." She and Hotaru raced through the glass doors, playfully pushing each other as they went.
"Well, see you guys later," Makoto said as she ran through the glass doors.
"Hey!" Minako yelled, running after her. "Wait for me!"
"Come on, Michiru," Setsuna said. "We should get to our homeroom as well. We can't be late, seeing as we're setting an example for Usagi." Michiru laughed and followed Setsuna through the glass doors.
"And this is the frying pan, used to fry foods like bacon and eggs," said the Home Economics teacher, Ms. Park, holding up a frying pan for the whole class to see.
"This class is sooo boring," Setsuna said in a voice not difficult to be heard by the teacher, who surprisingly, did not hear. Setsuna was busy scanning over a page about what to do if someone is choking in her book. "Tell me," she asked Michiru who sat right next to her, "WHY did we take this class?"
Michiru rolled her eyes. "So we didn't have to do any work. Besides," Michiru added, raising her voice so she could be heard over the din of talking that everyone in the class was contributing to, "you want to be better at sewing. Which we learn in this class." She went back to drawing on her paper that was supposed to be for notes.
"Well we haven't learned anything YET." Setsuna sighed and looked at her book. "Look at this, for example." Setsuna cleared her throat as if she was about to make an important speech, "'Here's what to do if someone's choking,'" Setsuna read from the torn up book. "'First, ask the person if they are choking. If they are unable to breathe or respond, then they are choking.'" Setsuna shook her head. "Well what do you know? I thought choking people COULD breathe."
Michiru laughed. "We should have told Usagi to take this class."
Setsuna snorted. "She'd probably fail this one too." They both laughed.
Michiru then took out some fancy paper from her art scrapbook, and began to pen something in careful cursive.
"What are you writing, just out of curiosity?" Setsuna asked, peeking over Michiru's shoulder to read what she was writing.
Michiru blocked Setsuna's view with her free hand. "Just something I feel like doing."
"Which is?" Setsuna asked, grinning and curious.
"Nothing that concerns you," Michiru responded calmly without looking at her.
"Are these the infamous notes that you and Haruka pass back and forth to each other during class?" Setsuna asked, still grinning.
Michiru looked up, shocked. Her face began to turn a light shade of scarlet. "W-what do you mean?"
Setsuna laughed. "You know. Those cute little notes that you girls pass each other under the table all the time." Michiru continued to appear flustered. "Don't worry," Setsuna added, anticipating Michiru's next question, "I've never actually SEEN what's written on them." She patted Michiru on the shoulder.
"Well… good." Michiru turned away, shielding Setsuna's view with her shoulder, still writing the note.
"Are you going to give them to Haruka at the hospital?" Setsuna asked all the mocking in her voice gone.
Michiru nodded. "I thought that they might help her with her memory."
Setsuna continued to watch Michiru for a long while. Then she shook her head. "Don't worry, Michiru—" she began.
"I know," Michiru sighed. "'Don't worry about Haruka.'"
"Well that… and I was going to tell you that you don't have to worry about me looking at your notes." Setsuna crossed her heart. "I promise, no matter how tempting it is, I will never look."
Michiru smiled. "Thanks."
Setsuna smiled. "And don't even get me started on how to HELP someone who's choking…"
The rest of the class went on without any further incident, although no one ever paid attention to Ms. Park. "Don't forget," she reminded her class as they left, "never touch a hot stovetop with your bare hands! Well, I had a student that…"
Setsuna sighed. "The way that woman goes on and on."
Michiru laughed. "Well, that was last period. You ready to leave?"
Setsuna nodded. "Yes. I wouldn't want to keep you from your 'dear Haruka.'" Setsuna laughed as Michiru blushed. "Do you have the notes?"
Michiru, still blushing, nodded. "Do you think they'll work?"
Setsuna nodded. "I'm certain."
The two girls arrived at the entrance of the school and waited for everyone else to show up. When they finally did, Michiru announced, "Let's go visit Haruka!"
During the trip, Usagi muttered to Minako (who's turn it was to push Usagi), "Why didn't we get a RIDE to the hospital? It took forever to get ANYWHERE running last time."
Michiru turned around to face Usagi, walking backwards. "What are you complaining about? YOU don't even have to walk!" She turned back around.
"Well, no," Usagi admitted. "But I suppose stopping to call for a taxi would take away precious moments you could be spending with Haruka, wouldn't it?"
Michiru stopped walking. Everyone else did too, looking nervously back and forth between the back of Michiru's head and Usagi. When she finally did turn around, Usagi shielded her face with her arms and Minako backed away, wanting to be as far as possible from Michiru's target. Michiru slowly walked up until she was right in front of Usagi and then crouched down so that her face was an inch from the other girl's, who was still shielding her face. Michiru idly smacked her arms out of the way, and squinted at her. Usagi started to hyperventilate. This went on for several minutes, no one wanting to break the tension and risk receiving the wrath of Michiru. Then, Michiru patted Usagi on the cheek and straightened up. Turning towards the street, she called out, "Taxi!" and one immediately appeared in front of the group of girls. While the girls all carefully climbed into the cab, Michiru turned towards Usagi. "What's the matter, Usagi? What did you THINK I was going to do?"
"Uh…" Usagi stuttered, still trying to recover from the panic she had just experienced.
"It's fine, Usagi," Michiru said calmly. "Rei!" she shouted into the cab, "could you come help me with Usagi?"
"S-sure…" Rei muttered as she anxiously crawled out of the cab. Along with Michiru, Rei helped lift Usagi from her wheelchair, and then slowly lowered her into the front seat of the taxi. They then folded the wheelchair and stuffed it into the trunk.
When the two Senshi crawled into the cab, they were off. Seeing that there were nine of them (not including the taxi driver), everyone was fairly squished.
"So… what's new with everyone?" Minako asked the group at large.
"Well… I received an A on a test," Ami said.
"We already know you're a nerd, Ami," Usagi joked.
Rei laughed. "You're just jealous because you couldn't get an A to save your life."
"Shut up, Rei!" Usagi yelled indignantly. Everyone laughed.
"Say, Usagi?" Michiru inquired after everyone had stopped. Usagi turned in her seat to look at her, still feeling nervous. "Did that SCARE you?" She smirked.
"Uh… YES… I mean… NO… I mean… WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO SAY?" Usagi screamed.
Everyone looked at Michiru. "I think it DID," Hotaru said, slightly scared from everything that was happening between Usagi and Michiru.
Michiru leaned back against her seat and a satisfied look crept onto her face. "Good. I've taken enough of your stupidity."
Usagi started to cry. Everyone laughed except Ami, who was patting Usagi on the shoulder despite being the farthest from her.
After a 10 minute cab ride, Setsuna thanked the driver and paid her extra for, "Dealing with the children the whole way." The driver smiled, saying that it was no problem. Then she drove away, off to pick up her next customer.
"Let's go! Haruka's waiting." Michiru ran through the front doors.
"She says that like we forgot the whole reason we came here," Makoto muttered.
Michiru cleared her throat threateningly, which caused the girls to practically sprint through the doors, not wanting to be the next victim of Michiru's wrath.
After they signed in with the front desk, the group of girls walked into Haruka's room, anxious to see how their friend was doing.
Haruka was still lying in the same bed, reading a magazine about racing. She seemed to have recovered much of the color in her face. When everyone walked in, she glanced up, grinned slightly, and put her magazine down.
"How are you doing, Haruka?" Michiru asked, sitting beside her.
"Much better!" Haruka exclaimed. "It's been sooo boring around here without you guys." Haruka laughed. "The most exciting thing that happens around here is when the doctors come in to change my bandages." Haruka shook her head. "I never thought that I would actually trust you guys, let alone like you, but you guys are pretty…" She sighed, slightly embarrassed. "Pretty cool, I guess."
"Cool!" Hotaru shouted. Everyone looked at her. "So that means you remembered our names, right?"
There was a pause. Then Haruka began, "Michiru," she said, pointing to Michiru. Everyone applauded. "Yeah, yeah. I know, it's very impressive. Now let me finish. You're… Set-set-sauna?" She pointed at Setsuna with a questioning look.
"Well… close…" Setsuna said gently.
"And you're Hot-hot-taurus?" Haruka added, pointing to Hotaru.
"Well…" Hotaru began.
"That's enough for today," Michiru cut across. "We'll let you think about it until tomorrow. Anyway, here." Michiru handed Haruka the notes that she had written in class.
Haruka took them and looked through them. After a minute she asked, "What are these for?"
Michiru blushed and cleared her throat. "Well… They're to help you remember. Does it help?"
Haruka squinted at the notes. "Uh… kind of… Are they written about how you feel about something I should remember?"
Everyone except Setsuna (who already knew what the notes were about) grinned. Then, Usagi asked, "What ARE those notes about, Michiru?"
"Yeah," Hotaru added. "I wanna know what they're about too."
Setsuna patted Michiru on the shoulder. "It's nothing, really," she said.
"Are they written about how you feel about… Haruka?" Ami asked quietly, as if this could take away some of the drama that these words were destined to have on the group.
The effect was immediate. Michiru began to turn a fiery shade of crimson, and Usagi started to shout, "Love letters from Michiru!" She laughed. Then she began to sing, "Michiru and Haruka sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N—"
WHAM! Michiru smacked Usagi across the face so hard, she flew out of her wheelchair and skidded along the ground, coming to a halt against the opposite wall. She lay there, unconscious and bleeding from her nose, which had received the worst of the blow.
Everyone looked back and forth between Michiru and Usagi, too shocked and scared to say anything. After a while, Haruka spoke up, "Uh… is THAT what you meant by a 'special friend', Makoto?"
All eyes turned on Makoto. She gulped.
Michiru looked at her, her eyes blazing. "What," she began slowly as she advanced on Makoto, who was steadily backing up as everyone edged away from both girls nervously, "did you tell her?"
"Uh… heh heh… well…" Makoto had her back up against the wall that Usagi was lying next to.
"Answer the question, Kino!" Michiru shouted, grabbing onto Makoto by the collar.
"It was nothing, I swear!" Makoto squirmed in her grip. She turned toward Haruka. "Remember, I said to forget it! It wasn't a big deal. I just meant that you two were good friends, that's all."
Haruka considered this. "But you seemed embarrassed when you brought it up—"
"Just because I didn't want to explain the bond you two share as friends!" Makoto shouted anxiously. "I knew that Michiru would want to explain it, in her own way! Right, Michiru?" she added, looking nervously at Michiru, who looked ready to throttle her.
Michiru looked at Makoto for a long moment, and then let her go. "Yes, that's right, Makoto," she said, the name like poison.
Usagi began to stir. "Uh… what happened?" She looked at her friends, all staring down at her. "Why am I on the floor?"
"Just get back into your chair, Usagi," Rei snapped good-naturedly. She rolled her wheelchair over, and then helped Usagi climb back into it. Rei turned towards Ami. "Hey, Ami? Do you know where you keep gauze like the one Makoto used for her nose?"
Ami nodded. "Right here in this drawer. Hang on a sec." She rifled through it and produced thick, white gauze which she tore up into pieces and handed to Usagi. "First," she instructed, "you should wipe off your nose. Then you can put the gauze in."
Makoto, still shook up from her traumatic experience, walked over to a janitor's mop and bucket that had been left in the room. "I'll clean up the blood, okay?"
Ami nodded, busy watching Usagi to make sure that she put the gauze in correctly.
The girls had just barely finished getting rid of the evidence when Ami's mother came walking briskly in. "Hello girls," she said in a kind yet strict tone. "How are you doing?"
Everyone responded that they were doing well. "I'm glad to hear it." She turned towards Haruka. "How are you doing?"
"Fine," she said truthfully.
"No lightheadedness? No difficulty processing?"
"No."
"Can you remember anything?"
"Well… I remember Michiru's name," Haruka said, nodding her head towards Michiru.
"Good, good." Ami's mother nodded her head. She produced a flashlight and held it in front of Haruka. "How many flashlights am I holding in front of you?"
Haruka looked at Ami's mother strangely, expecting a trick question. "Uh… one?"
Ami's mother smiled and nodded. "Good. Now hold still, I'm going to make sure your eyes are functioning properly." She turned on the flashlight and aimed it into Haruka's left eye, twitched it some, then did the same with the right. "Very good," Ami's mother said, clicking the flashlight off. She walked over to the clipboard beside Haruka's bed and wrote some things down. Then, she walked to the end of Haruka's bed, and addressed the group at large. "Well, assuming that there will be no accidents today, I believe that Haruka will be ready to leave by tomorrow." Everyone cheered. Ami's mother turned towards Haruka. "You're very lucky. You seem to recover very quickly. Just don't overdo it for a week or two, get plenty of bed rest, and you should be fine." Ami's mother departed with a final goodbye, saying to call if they needed her.
"Wow! One more day, Haruka!" Michiru exclaimed warmly, squeezing her shoulder.
"Yeah! Good news." Haruka patted Michiru's hand somewhat awkwardly.
"Good thing she didn't see the gauze," Minako sighed, glancing over at Usagi. Turning to Ami, she asked, "By the way, Ami, what did you tell your mother about the whole incident with Haruka and Michiru?"
Ami laughed. "Oh yes, I forget to tell you all." Everyone looked expectantly at Ami. "You see, she was so worn out from work that day, she completely forgot about the whole incident, including questioning me. That's one advantage to having a mother who works too hard to really even bother to remember things." Ami's voice lowered. "Like coming home on time. Or saying hi to me when I get home…"
Makoto walked over to Ami and put an arm around her shoulders. "Believe me, Ami. I know what it's like to have parents that don't pay as much attention to you as they should."
Ami backed away, alarmed. "Oh! I'm so sorry, Makoto! I shouldn't be complaining about that when your parents are…"
Makoto sighed. "No, no. It's okay. I just meant that I know it's hard. Just know that you have a mother who loves you, even if she doesn't always mention it."
There was an awkward pause, finally broken by Ami, "Thank you, Makoto. That really did help."
Makoto smiled sadly. "You're welcome."
After another long pause, Hotaru turned to Haruka. "So, Haruka, do you remember anything else besides Michiru's name?"
Haruka thought for a while. Finally, she shook her head. "Nothing. Sorry. I wish I could, but it's just like there's this big wall preventing me from getting to it."
Hotaru sighed and looked down. Setsuna patted her on the shoulder. "Don't worry," she said. "I feel certain that Haruka will remember everything by tomorrow." Hotaru smiled.
"You guys have been saying that forev— ow!" Usagi shouted as Rei smacked her on the back of the head.
"Yeah, kid. I'll try my best to remember, okay?" Haruka smiled at Hotaru, who nodded and smiled again.
After a few moments, Ami's mother came in to tell the group that visiting hours were over. Everyone groaned yet again. "I know. But remember, Haruka will be out of the hospital by tomorrow. You won't have to have visiting hours to see her then!"
"Hey hey hey," Haruka exclaimed, holding up her hands. "That doesn't mean you freaks can visit all hours! I don't want one of you to give me a heart attack at three in the morning while I'm sleeping!" Everyone laughed, including Haruka.
"Well, see you tomorrow then, Haruka," Minako said as everyone went for the door. Everyone else said similar goodbyes.
"Goodbye, Haruka," Michiru said, patting Haruka's hand. "I'll come extra early to see you off."
Haruka smiled. "Okay."
As everyone made their way through the door (Ami's mother having already departed), Haruka's voice stopped them. "Let's see here… ahem…" She began to recite the notes. "'My passion for you burns with the heat of 1,000 suns.'"
Everyone laughed and stopped. Michiru began to blush (yet again), and attempted to get everyone to keep moving.
But Haruka wasn't done yet. "'The depth of my devotion to you is far greater than the depth of any ocean.'" She looked up at Michiru with a look of complete innocence on her face. "These notes are very well written!" she exclaimed earnestly. "So… are they about me?"
Everyone was now laughing harder than ever. Some of the Senshi (every person except Setsuna and Hotaru, who understood their relationship far better than the Inner Senshi, and Usagi, who could not because of her wheelchair, and obviously not Michiru) even fell to the ground, shaking with laughter. Both from the meaning of the notes, and from Haruka's complete ignorance as to what they really meant.
Michiru started to kick the Senshi who were on the floor to get them to leave. Setsuna rolled Usagi out of the room, and Hotaru (reluctantly) followed suit. "Hey! I wanna know if they're about her too!" Usagi shouted with a snicker.
"Ah! Ow! Okay, Michiru, okay!" The rest of the Senshi slowly got to their feet and departed
Michiru looked over at Haruka, who still had a questioning look on her face. "So… are they?" She grinned.
Michiru looked at her for a long moment. Then, finally, she said, "When you remember everything, you'll know." She left.
"Hey! That didn't answer my question!" Haruka called out after her. "What strange people these supposed friends are," she muttered to herself. "Especially that Michiru." She grinned.