Chapter 23-The Frienemies
I was invited one day to play a joint concert with a new boyband called Three Lights. I didn't know much about them, except that they became very popular in a very short amount of time. With their charming looks and catchy tunes, Seiya, Taiki and Yaten charmed the hearts of many young girls. Including the rest of the scouts, as I later found out.
The sponsor gave me a stack of tickets and wanted me to invite all my family and friends. I randomly mentioned to one of the girls that I had tickets to the Three Lights concert and within seconds, I had the five scouts ringing my doorbell. It was rare and kind of nice to see the girls behave their age. They jumped and cheered with joy when they realized the seats were front rows.
After a week of rehearsals with the New Orchestra Tokyo and a few run-throughs with the boyband, I was ready. It had been a while since I had a major performance. When I started playing with the orchestra, I opted for second chair violin instead of first chair. The conductor was perplexed, but I couldn't explain that the first chair might disappear from time to time if evil was here. It was also weird to see my face plastered on posters everywhere in Tokyo. "Joint Concert-Kaoih Michiru and Three Lights!" Haruka joked that she was getting tired of seeing my face. Needless to say, I did not touch her gently that night.
I got the usual buzz just before the concert. I tuned and retuned my violin in my dressing room, and then again with the orchestra. Something felt different, that one warm summer night. Excitements from the fans aside, I sensed some unusual energy.
"Let's give a warm welcome to our special guest of the night-Kaoih Michiru." On cue, I stepped out on stage. I scanned the crowd and quickly found my people. Haruka, Ami, Mako, Rei, Mina….Where was Usagi? I dismissed my worry when the music started. I closed my eyes and let the melody took over my body. Images of my mom playing flashed through my head. I smiled sadly, wishing that she was here to see me perform again. "Mom, I didn't give up. Music is still my life. Mom, can you hear me?" I wrapped that message in my music and sent it out.
Halfway through the song, I felt that strange energy radiating again. I concentrated on it and immediately found the source. It was radiating out of the three guys. "Who are they?" I thought. They were not ordinary guys. Just then, I caught Seiya, the lead singer, staring at me strangely.
I retreated to my dressing room after, troubled by what I picked up. It wasn't evil I sensed. It wasn't anything I've ever sensed before either. My thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.
It was Seiya. He came in and congratulated me on the good performance. I felt his intention right away. "To be honest, I am always a fan of yours," as he said it, he took an exaggerated bow.
"Oh. I didn't know you listen to classics." I decided to play along. If he wanted to flirt to get information, I could certainly do that too. "But let's keep that a secret from your fans. If they know you like me, I don't know what they will do to me."
"You are mysterious." Seiya blushed and laughed uncomfortably. He regained his coolness and leaned in closer. "I want to know more about you."
I could hear Haruka's footsteps outside the door. I decided to take things to the next level, just so I could see that adorable jealous face of hers. I stood up, lifted my hair slowly and said to Seiya, "Do you want to help me change?"
Right on cue, the door opened and Haruka stepped in. Startled, Seiya took a giant step back. "Ah, this is Haruka, my life long partner," I said with a straight face, even though I was laughing inside.
"Michiru, you are bad natured," Seiya smiled in defeat. "Hi, nice to meet you. I am Seiya Kou." He reached his hand out.
"I am Tenou Haruka. "Nice" to meet you." When their hands touched, Haruka's face changed. She sensed that weird energy too.
Seiya was quiet after that. He left without saying another word, but he turned and looked at us again. Something was very weird with this whole situation.
Just then, our communicators beeped. "Everyone, I need your help. Some old guy got his star seed taken out. I am heading there now. Come to the stage," said Usagi.
"Shit. The scouts just left. Come on, Michiru." Haruka raced out of the dressing room.
As we got closer, we could hear the battle sounds. Then, Sailor Moon's scream pierced through the quiet night. When we arrived, Sailor Moon was pinned to the wall and passed out. The Sailor Starfighters were standing on the stage, walking toward the unconscious princess.
"World shaking!" Sailor Star Healer and Sailor Star Maker were hit and knocked out. Sailor Star Fighter leapt out of range at the last second, shocked by the attack. Before I could stop the impulsive Uranus, she was throwing out two more attacks already. Star Fighter kept dodging but she did not attack.
"Stop! Stop! Please stop!" Sailor Moon woke and was screaming at the top of her lungs. I raced over to unpin her from the wall while doing a quick check over for injuries. As soon as she was free, she raced over and stood in front of the three strangers. "Please, Uranus. They tried to save me again. They didn't attack me. The phage did."
Zing! A sharp piano wire flew across the stage and grazed Sailor Moon's arm. The phage was still alive! Before we could react, ten more wires were heading straight toward the princess. Amazingly, Star Fighter dove and pushed Sailor Moon out of the way.
"Deep Submerge!" I slammed the phage away before it could do any damage. One wire went through Star Fighter's shin. Uranus and I stood, temporarily shocked. Sailor Moon knelt beside her, crying.
"Now, Sailor Moon." We had to heal the phage before it attacks again. Sailor Moon stood and did what she was told. Her face was wearing a different expression, one that we rarely see. Anger.
"I was attacked by that phage. It pinned me to the wall, not the Sailor Starlights! There wasn't enough time, so they chose to transform in front of me in order to save me. If that wasn't trust, I don't know what was." She lifted Star Fighter's hand gently and placed it on her heart. "Thank you, Seiya. Now that you revealed your true self, it is only fair I do so too. I am…."
"SAILOR MOON!" Uranus's angry voice interrupted the princess. I agreed with Haruka at this point. It was better that we knew more about them, but we didn't need to risk revealing Usagi's identity.
With tears in her eyes, Sailor Moon looked at us, angrily. Then her eyes soften. She let go of Seiya's hand and walked over to us. I put my arms around her and tried my best to comfort her. "Please take care of Seiya." She said to the other two sailors. Defeated, the princess allowed us to escort her back to safety.
I tried to explain to Usagi why we did what we did. Uranus did overreact a bit but from our viewpoint, it did look like they attacked Usagi and was about to finish the job. We did not see the phage that was knocked off the stage.
"She is Seiya! She is Seiya!" She kept muttering that over and over, incoherently.
I sighed and felt guilty at how sad we made our princess. Sometimes, we had to do what was necessary. Sometimes, we had to make the difficult decisions. They weren't always right but we weren't perfect.
"So the boyband was just a disguise. They were all Sailors." Haruka was thinking out loud. I signaled her to stop, as Usagi started to cry again. I didn't know how else to comfort her. I knew she knew Seiya, Taiki and Yaten personally. She told me they just transferred to her school two months ago and she had developed a close relationship with them, especially Seiya.
Usagi said a quiet "thank you" to us before heading into her house. Seeing how sad Usagi was, Haruka punched the steering wheel in frustration. "I am not wrong. I don't trust those guys!"
I nodded and agreed. At best, they were frienemies, as we were both fighting the same enemy. However, we had to deal with the fact that they were not from this solar system. Also, why did they and the enemies appeared at the same time? The enemies that had been turning innocent people into phages were calling themselves Sailors too. Usagi's pureness was her greatest strength, but it was also her greatest weakness that could be exploited easily.
That night, Setsuna, Haruka and I had our own private meeting. Once again, we decided to separate us from the inner scouts. They are loyal to Usagi, almost to a fault. If we had to be the bad guys and be the voice of reason, then so be it. We would do anything in order to keep our princess safe. Anything!