Another day of failing to find the princess or any other senshi worn Luna down to the bone as she used the last amounts of her energy to jump into Usagi's open window, ready to pass out from exhaustion. Luna sighed as she landed on Usagi's bed, where she was shocked to see said girl wide awake at 11:58 staring expectedly at her radio, clinging to her pillow.
"Usagi? Why are you still awake?" Luna asked the girl who should be fast asleep by now since it was a school night.
On her part, Usagi was shocked by the new voice but gave a big smile to her cat before yawning. "Oh hi, Luna," she said as she returned her gaze to her radio by her bed. "I'm waiting for Midnight Zero to come on," Usagi answered.
"Midnight Zero?" Luna asked. "What's that?"
"It's this new radio station that all the girls at my school are talking about," Usagi answered. "They said that at midnight they hold a contest where they read a love letter that one of their listeners sent in and win a special brooch that will attract the heart of the one you want, and isn't that just the most romantic thing you've heard Luna!"
"It sounds a bit strange to me Usagi," Luna said as she sat up on the bed and looked up at the teenager. "I mean why would they have this show in the middle of the night?"
"To add to the romance of course!" Usagi cried as a jingle began to play from the pink radio with the bunny sticker on its side. "Sh! It's starting!" Usagi cried as she grabbed Luna's mouth who just looked up at her in shock and disbelief. They were never going to find the princess were they? At this rate, Luna assumed not.
"Welcome back to Midnight Zero live from FM 10 Radio Station," the radio personality announced. "Tonight's lucky winner of the sakura brooch is a Haruna-chan with her letter, A Hidden Heart." The radio personality paused to take a breath before reading, "Whenever we pass by each other and you don't see me, I feel as small as an ant and as soundless as worm but these words I'll never say, so inside my hidden heart these feelings remain."
Usagi looked up before hiding her face into her pillow. "What a sad poem," she said out loud before realizing the name of the winner. "Haruna? Could it be-?" Usagi said before laughing off the thought. There's no way that's possible! Haruna-sensei wouldn't listen to something like this much less submit an entry to it. Yeah, ridiculous.
Sakurada Haruna was in a state of complete and utter bliss as she bounced around her bedroom. She honestly still could not believe that it had been her letter that had been chosen but that doesn't mean she was any less thrilled by the turn of events. Haruna flopped onto her bed, a smile wide on her face that turned into a smaller more genuine smile as she thought of the one she truly wanted to send the letter to. His name was Sato Toshiro, the science teacher whose class sat right across from hers. Every day, they passed each other in the halls to go to their classes but so far he's never made more than a second glance at her and a polite greeting once in a while and it broke Haruna's heart how she never seems to have the strength to ask him if he would like to join her for some tea or coffee. Well, maybe Sato-san will hear the letter and quite possibly come to the realization it's him. Maybe in her wildest dreams but in real life, he wouldn't ever notice her and in fact, probably find her strange for listening to a radio station intended for teenagers.
Haruna yawned before sighing. She really should get some sleep since it would be unbecoming of a teacher to fall asleep in the middle of her class and so with this thought in mind, Haruna cozied up to her warm blankets and pillow with her eyes already heavy with sleep and dreams of her with Sato-san, she began to drift off and just as she was about to finally close her eyes...she heard a loud knock at the door.
Haruna groaned in anger. Who possibly could be awake at this hour? And most importantly, why were they knocking on her door as she was about to go to sleep?! Begrudgingly, the young teacher pulled herself from the comfort of her bed to the chill of her studio apartment as she made her way to the front door with every intention to give whoever was on the other side a piece of her mind. Grabbing the cold metal handle, Haruna threw open the door, seconds from yelling only to find there was no one there. Was this a prank? Haruna took a deep breath so she doesn't end up overreacting and decided it was best to just head back to bed when out of the corner of her eye, she caught something sitting on her doorstep. It was a small, white, jewelry box sitting alone causing confusion to rise in Haruna as she picked it up and opened it before grinning with glee at its contents
"I'm gonna be late! I'm gonna be late!" Usagi cried rushing around her bedroom trying to gathering her textbooks and trying to wrestle herself into her uniform at the same time.
"Well, maybe you should've taken my advice and been sleeping instead of listening to the radio all night," Luna said without a hint of sympathy as she stretched out her body before jumping down from the bed.
"Hey, I wasn't awake all-" Usagi paused to take a deep, loud yawn, "night."
"I guess in that you're right," Luna said as Usagi ran for the vanity and began to redo her messy hair. "You technically went to sleep around 4 o'clock," Luna finished in a teasing voice.
"Luna!" Usagi whined as she finished her buns to which Luna just rolled her eyes.
"Usagi!" her mother called again from downstairs for the fourth, maybe fifth time already.
Usagi looked up and grabbed her bag, as she shoved on her black Mary Janes at the top of the stairs and then predictably tumbled down the stairs thanks to losing her balance. "Ow!" Usagi moaned as she began to pick herself off the floor.
"Good morning Usagi," Ikuko said from the dining room. "Would you like to come and get some breakfast before you go?"
This got Usagi to jump up at the scent of her mother's delicious home-cooked breakfast. "Okay, Mom!" with that Usagi took off for the dining room so fast it nearly made Ikuko drop the plate she was trying to clean and take a 360-degree twirl, barely managing to catch the plate that was about to turn into a collection of shattered glass.
Usagi dived to the kitchen table where her brother and father had already finished breakfast and began to shove as much food as possible onto a plate, especially the cinnamon rolls that were heavy in sugar and spices.
"Usagi-baka," Shingo said as Usagi began shoveling food into her mouth. "Do you always have to eat like a pig all the time?"
Usagi looked at her brother, her cheeks filled with food that she proceeded to swallow just to yell, "SHINGO!"
"Stop fighting you too," their father Kenji said as Usagi was about to grab Shingo for being such an annoying little brat all the time.
"Fine," Usagi whined before looking over at her brother who stuck his tongue at her. "Why you! I'll get you sooner or later!" Usagi cried but before she could grab him the little runt was already dashing out "Shingo! You coward! Come back and face me!"
"Usagi!" Ikuko said as she began to gather the rest of the empty dishes. "You don't need to disrupt the entire neighborhood."
"But mom!" Usagi whined again to which Ikuko just grabbed the bridge of her nose praying for someone to help her as she walked back into the kitchen to finish up her dishes. Usagi was now on the verge of crying? Why was her mother always taking Shingo's side? Sure he got better grades but that's all besides he's 12, so of course, his homework would be easier. Looking over to her father for help she finally saw the tagline written in rich, bold letters that read "New Sleeping Disease Spreads Throughout Tokyo!" which for some reason or another caught her eye.
"Hey, Papa, what's that sleeping sickness thing about?" Usagi asked, pointing at the front page. This caught Kenji's attention who turned to his daughter and then to the front page. "Oh that. It's the strangest thing," Kenji said, as he lay the paper flat. "A few days ago numerous people across the city have been randomly falling asleep, unable to wake up and no one can figure out the reason."
"A disease that makes people fall asleep and unable to wake up?" Usagi asked tapping her finger against her chin before her eyes lit up. "I wish I had that then I wouldn't have to go to school or study, I can just lie around in bed all day," Usagi said with a bit too much joy in her voice.
Kenji gave a small chuckle as he walked over and messed with his daughter's blonde hair saying, "Well, if you want more ice cream, hope I don't get the sleeping sickness," as Ikuko walked out with his lunch and a kiss.
"Have a wonderful day," Ikuko said as Kenji kissed her on the cheek.
"Thanks, honey," he said as took the meal from his wife's hands before rubbing his daughter's head on his way out, "Have a great day, sweetie."
"Thanks, papa!" Usagi said as she began to take another bite with a big smile.
"And don't you have somewhere to be off to as well?" Ikuko asked.
Usagi paused midbite. Didn't she have somewhere to be? Usagi peeked down at her uniform and then behind her to see the clock was now ticking closer to the time she has to make it to school before she had another detention which made the fourteen-year-old's eyes go wide. "...AHH!" Usagi cried out as she began shoveling down as much food as she could before racing out of the house with her bag in tow, screaming all the way with her arms flapping like a bird.
Ikuko, who was a witnessed to all of this just sighed, before walking back into the kitchen. Sometimes she wondered what she was going to do with her.
"I'MSORRY!I'MSORRY!I'MSORRY!" Usagi cried out upon breaking into her classroom, out of breath from running the entire way from her house. She began to take deep, heavy breaths leaning on the doorframe for support as she waited for the lecture from her teacher about how 'tardiness is not permissible' and 'we've barely started the school year and already you have been tardy every single time' even though she was only seven minutes late (give or take).
However, it never came. This confused Usagi since usually, Haruna-sensei wouldn't take a second thought on demanding where she was and then sentencing to detention or staying after class. Usagi peeked up to see a very bored, impatient classroom tapping their pencils, writing in their journals, or having begun to talk to their friends and fellow classmates, which only aroused her confusion even more since Sakurada-sensei would never let the students fool around like this, especially after the bell had rung. She turned her head over to where the teacher's desk where she should've been sitting but wasn't. Okay now, this was getting weird. Sakurada-sensei had never been late to class in all the time she'd been working at the school and now she was just missing...Wait. Did this mean no lecture today?...Woohoo! Usagi was home free today. Maybe the universe was giving her a pass for once!
As Usagi felt like jumping for joy at the newest development she heard her friend Naru call "Usagi-chan! Come over here!"
Usagi did so where she found Naru sitting at her desk with the only topic that was on their minds was last night's radio show and the beginnings of a letter on her desk. "Hi Naru-chan!" Usagi said as she wrapped her arms around her best friend before taking a seat in the desk next to her to talk to her more. "Did you listen to Midnight Zero last night?"
"I did," Naru said with a dreamy expression on her face. "That letter was sweet, sad, but so romantic," she paused for a moment before looking down at the letter she was writing. "It actually inspired me to write my own love letter."
This made Usagi's eyes go wide as she grabbed her best friend's shoulders and held her so their faces, specifically their noses, were practically touching from being mere inches apart. "Who's it for!?"
Naru pushed Usagi away and shrugged, "No one. I just wanted to write one to get the flower brooches they give out to the winner." She paused for a moment before looking down at the unfinished love letter. "I suppose it would be nice if someone heard the letter and would fall in love with it."
Usagi looked at her expression and smiled before a thought came to her, "Maybe I should do that too!" she cried out. Naru had the right idea! Even if she doesn't have a crush right now, he might hear it and fall madly in love with her and her writing and if not she still gets one of those cute brooches out of it! She'll start right away then she can deliver it to the station before the show tonight. Good plan, Usagi! With this thought in mind, she was about to pull out her pen when Haruna-sensei came in. Well, came is a strong word as she more dragged herself in and in Usagi's opinion looked terrible.
Her eyes were drooping, her clothes were messy, her skin was much paler than usual, on her breast was a sakura brooch like the ones that were given out by Midnight Zero (how did she get one?), and she looked as though she was minutes from falling over and passing out on the school's floor. Usagi watched as Sakurada-sensei managed to put herself into her chair before laying her head in her arms before looking over at the other students who seemed to have similar thoughts as her as they stared without knowing why their usual prim and proper teacher was now acting like a college student after one two many parties but were forced to show up to their lecture.
With their teacher on the verge of falling asleep and having no idea what their lesson was the class, including Usagi just sat there staring at her before Naru finally gained the courage to ask, "Um...excuse me, Sakurada-sensei?"
Sakurada-sensei raised her head a bit to glare at Naru for interrupting her attempt to fall asleep at her desk before groaning out, "What?"
"Um...well...what's today's lesson?" Naru asked rubbing the back of her head.
"Oh...um...it's a free period today," Sakurada-sensei said waving off the teenager. "Just quietly study."
Usagi cheered (internally of course). No classwork or homework and a free period to do whatever she wanted as long as she was quiet! Sign her up and she can totally be quiet. Sure she's never done it for long periods of time but she can definitely do it.
With this in mind, she brings out her special bubblegum pink pen and piece of paper from her journal and holds it over the empty page...and totally is getting something. Yeah. This is easy. Just think of something romantic and it will come to her. She is the guardian of love and justice so this should be easy...GAH! WHY WAS THIS SO HARD!?
Her head fell on top of the paper as she tried to think of something. Love on your wings? My heart is yours? Love will come soon? Ugh. Why was writing so hard? Especially romance! Was it because she didn't know who to write for? Usagi sighed as she put her head in her hands.
As Usagi dealt with being unable to write her letter she heard a small "Usagi-chan?" from Naru so she turned in the direction of the redhead who stared with worry at their teacher. "Don't you think Sakurada-sensei looks a little strange?"
Usagi looked back at her as she now appeared to be sleeping. "I guess but she could just be tired," Usagi shrugged before going back to her letter.
"I suppose but..." Naru looked at the sleeping teacher before getting out of her seat and walked over to their teacher to observe her only to notice that her breathing was harsh and shallow. "Sakurada-sensei," Naru asked as she tried to arouse her from her sleep. "Sakurada-sensei!" she called again, this time louder and shook the teacher more harshly but she didn't wake up. "She's not waking up!" Naru cried out which caught everyone's attention who were now staring up at Naru and their teacher who was looking sicker every passing moment. "I'm going to go get help!" Naru said as Usagi watched her go and more people went up to try their hand at waking up Sakurada-sensei until Naru came back with the hot science teacher, Sato-sensei who observed the situation with worry in his eyes.
After making an assessment, he turned to the class and said, "Students, please remain seated while I contact an ambulance," with that he phoned the ambulance who came twenty minutes later and loaded Sakurada-sensei onto a gurney before taking her away to the hospital. Sato-sensei waited around awhile, worry clearly written on his face that Usagi just chocked up to being him scared for his fellow teacher, but why was he this worried? Did he...No, that's not possible.
However as the ambulance took off Usagi thought is was a bit excessive, especially since she was just sleeping. However...Sleeping...A thought came to Usagi. Could Sakurada-sensei have got that weird disease? Sato-sensei seemed to think it was serious enough for a hospital and he was a science teacher so he probably knew what he was talking about but...where did she get it from?
"Sir?" The young secretary said as she entered the head of the FM 10 radio station's. "We have more of those letters directed to Midnight Zero," she said holding out to him a large stack of love letters tied together by a string.
"Are you sure?" he said as he took the letters from her outstretched hand and saw that yes they were all addressed to FM 10, specifically Midnight Zero, two words that he was sick of hearing about. He leaned back into his chair and rubbed the bridge of his nose, "I thought our message that this Midnight Zero is not associated with us in any capacity and that these letters need to stop being sent to us?" he said as he threw the letters into the waste bin next to him.
"I thought so as well, sir," she said as she looked at the waste bin then back to him. "I'll tell them to send out another message later tonight."
"Thank you," he said as he got out of his seat. "And I'll come with you to make sure that people actually hear it this time." With that the two left the office, unbeknownst to them however, something, well specifically someone was still looming in the office. Someone who appeared in a cloud of dark smoke next to the bin where he took the letters out and began to read them with a wicked smirk.
"I can't believe you managed to finish that entire letter in one day," Usagi whined as they began their walk to their homes from school.
"Well, it wasn't easy given the...events of today," Naru said with a bit of a frown as she remembered what happened. "I really do hope Sakurada-sensei will be okay though," Naru said changing the subject back to their ailing teacher.
"Yeah, but I'm sure she'll be fine though," Usagi said with a sympathetic smile. "But I don't wanna talk Sakurada-sensei's sickness, let's talk about the letter because I need advice. I haven't made any progress on it and I wanna send it in tonight!"
Naru smiled at her friend's want before tapping her finger against her chin. "Have you tried imagining the guy you want to send it to?"
"Imagine the guy?" Usagi asked, tilting her head to the side a question mark seeming to come from her.
"Well, yeah. That's what I've been doing to write my letter. I just imagine my dream guy and then I put all my feelings and thoughts onto the paper," Naru said with a shrug.
"My dream guy?" Usagi says as she begins to imagine her perfect man. "Well, I want him to be protective, intelligent, kind, loving, loyal, romantic, and looks good in a tuxedo," Usagi said with hearts in her eyes as she backed up her perfect man already coming to her mind. Tuxedo and all (and yes the looking good in a tuxedo is absolutely vital).
However, as she thought about him she didn't watch where she was going and she fell into someone, knocking her to her butt with a little yelp. "I'm so sorry! I wasn't paying attention" Usagi cried, cheeks red from embarrassment as she pulled herself up to bow out of politeness, seeing the person she hit had also hit a nearby telephone pole and was strangely wearing a tuxedo during the middle of the day, though she had to admit he looked rather nice in it. The dark fabric framing the back of his broad shoulders, the coat seemingly fitted to his muscular body, and how the dark color made him look sophisticated and matched his short jet-black locks, it made her cheeks turn a different shade of red...that is until he turned around and with a bright red mark on his forehead was him. The sunglasses-wearing jerk who likes to make fun of her.
"Oh it's you. Between this, the shoe, and the paper are you trying to give me bumps on my head too, bump-head?" he asked as looked over at her, annoyance in his voice.
"They are not bumps!" Usagi yelled, attracting attention from around her but she was too focused on this jerk to care. "They are buns, odangos!"
"So you admit it then, Odango Atama?" he replied, putting extra emphasis on the 'odango atama' with a smirk on his face as she realized what she said, her face now red as a cherry from fury. Who does this guy think he is?
"You...you..." Usagi said pointing at him. "Don't call me that! Also, what are you doing wearing that in the middle of the day!" she said gesturing to the tuxedo he totally didn't look good in at all.
"Why? I like it and I don't remember it being any of your business what I wear," he said with a shrug. "Though, I guess I should thank you for at least apologizing for your klutzy behavior smacking my face into the pole."
"I wasn't apologizing to you!" Usagi said, not wanting to admit that she did feel bad for hurting him.
"Then who were you apologizing to then?" he said, crossing his arms.
"I apologized to...the pole!" Usagi said pointing at the telephone pole, he had been knocked into moments before, which caused both Naru and the jerk to look at her confused. Now with this in mind, she sauntered off to the pole and in the most confident voice she could muster said, "I'm so sorry, Mr. Telephone Pole that my clumsiness caused the worst guy on Earth to be knocked into you."
"Well, that's good. Apologizing to the telephone pole," he said with a laughing. "But it might be a problem since the warm weather might be affecting your head," he continued which made Usagi glare at him which barely seemed to affect him as he walked off.
"Who was that?" Naru asked watching him leave as Usagi was trying to fight off the ability to scream. What was with that guy?! "He was gorgeous!"
Usagi looked over at her pain and betrayal evident in her eyes as she looked into the eyes of her friends before yelling, "He is not! He's rude, a jerk, and every time we meet he ticks me off!"
"You know him?" Naru asked.
Usagi paused her ranting about the sunglasses-wearing jerk before looking over at Naru. "Well...er...not really. We've just met a couple of times...but every time he's a rude baka who gets on my very last nerve!"
"I see," Naru said, before pulling out her letter. "Anyways, I'm going to head over to FM 10 to drop off my love letter for the show tonight."
At the mention of FM 10 and Midnight Zero (and to get her mind off that stupid tuxedo-wearing baka), an idea struck her like lightning (figurative lightning, not literal lightning) and this idea was going to help her write her own love letter and get one of those cool flower brooches for herself because if she just so happened to come across the radio personality handing him a letter from a friend, he will see how kind and generous she is and surely will remember her and then the letter, she'll write will be read for sure! It was full-proof! Nothing could go wrong! Nothing! "How about I take it to FM 10 for you?"
"Really, Usagi-chan?" Naru asked.
"Yeah! It won't be any trouble at all and I might even be able to meet the DJ who runs it!" Usagi said with stars in her eyes.
"Well, if you're sure-" Naru began as Usagi snatched the letter.
"I insist! Thanks, Naru!" Usagi said bolting off in the direction of FM 10 as her friend awkwardly waved at her goodbye still unsure of what just happened.
After a series of falls, trips, and spills Usagi somehow managed to make it to the FM 10 radio station with the letter still in her hand and upon seeing the building Usagi took a sigh of relief as her journey was now at an end, and now she can finally meet the famous radio host who spread so much love and joy to girls everywhere! And deliver Naru's letter of course. As she thought of this however with a dreamy smile on her face...she faceplants into the ground right in front of the building.
"May I help you?" someone asked and Usagi turned from staring at the asphalt to a man dressed in a security guard's uniform staring down at her.
"Oh uh..." Usagi said as she quickly picked herself up and held out the lover letter. "I'm Tsukino Usagi and bringing a letter from my friend to Midnight Zero, so if I could just get by-" Usagi said as she tried to move past the stern-faced guard who put his arm out blocking the blonde teenager and took the letter from her, examining the address before shaking his head.
"I assume you didn't hear the broadcast this morning so I'll let you off with a warning, but you must know that Midnight Zero has no relation to FM 10 Radio Station and if that's all the business you have with us, then I must ask you to leave at once," the security guard ordered Usagi to go into a state of shock.
"B-but, that's not possible," Usagi managed to sputter out in her confusion. "The host said the show's live from this radio station!"
"Well, I don't know why he would say that, but the station is not associated with him in any capacity," the security guard shrugged before walking beginning to walk back over to his post but felt his sleeve being grabbed by the blonde.
"But I listened to him last night! Could you check again?" Usagi pleaded. It was simply impossible. Her mind couldn't have just made it up since she heard Naru talking about it and it was on last night when she was listening to it with Luna so what gives!?
"Young lady, I'm sure. Now I'm going to have to ask you to leave or I will have to throw you off the property for trespassing," the security guard said squeezing the bridge of his nose in annoyance as he ripped his arm away from her.
"But I know what I heard!" Usagi argued again, her face turning red from anger.
"Please leave," the security guard said quickly losing his patience with the middle schooler. He doesn't get paid enough to deal with all this especially since she was the ninth, maybe tenth, girl he'd already sent away because of that show.
"Not until I get answers and that letter back!" Usagi said and tried to run past the security guard and break into the radio station to find out what happened to Midnight Zero and why this stupid security guard thinks they don't exist? She will not be stopped in her quest!
She was stopped...The security guard grabbed her as she ran before turning her around sending her back the way she came and she continued running until she realized where she was going before yelling back at the station where the security guard was now a small dot with a loud and indignant "Hey!" which seemed to go unnoticed. "HEY!" she yelled and still nothing. "YOU ARE A MASSIVE JERK!" Usagi cried out even louder, which only managed to attract stares from nearby passersby. "Gr!" Usagi vocally growled before turning on her heel and stomped away muttering curses of anger at the situation. Not only did she lose out on her chance to meet the host, but that jerky security guard also stole Naru's letter! Now, she won't ever get the chance to hear it! She won't even get it back thanks to that security guard! Usagi growled as she continued stomping home.
"And that's when that baka took Naru's letters and told me Midnight Zero didn't exist!" Usagi ranted to Luna as she threw away another would be love letter after love letter into waste bin. She didn't care what that stupid security guard said, she knew what she heard, and she was going to get her prize! Though why was writing this stupid thing so hard!
"Well if he said, they aren't associated with Midnight Zero, he's probably right," Luna said, sitting up since sleeping seemed to be impossible at this moment.
Usagi looked over at Luna, a face of shock sketched on her features. "How could you take his side over mine, Luna!? Especially with the way he treated me!"
"Because he's an employee who works for the station," Luna said in a monotone. "Besides, I don't see the point of having a show like that anyway. A love letter is something that's supposed to be private, to be given to the person you love with care, not shouted out to the world for a prize because then it becomes empty and meaningless." Luna jumped off the bed. "I'm going to go check something out Usagi...Just think about what I said," she continued before heading out into the darkened hallway, leaving the blonde all alone in her bunny-themed bedroom.
Usagi paused before she allowed her pen to touch the paper. Was Luna right? She and Naru were only sending in their love letters on the possibility that someone might hear them but mainly to get the brooches they give to the winner. Was that why she couldn't write her letter without it being hard? As she thought about this, she heard the telltale jingle begin to play from her radio that she had tuned into FM 10 earlier.
"Welcome back to Midnight Zero live right now from FM 10," the announcer said. So that security guard did to lie to her! "Today, the winner of the rose brooch is an Osaka Naru-san," the host said which caused Usagi's eyes to widen. Osaka Naru? Naru! A smile now on her face, the anger she felt towards the lying security guard evaporated. Well, at least, the letter got to the host now she won't have to deal with Naru being angry with her and everything went perfectly! Well, except not meeting him but whatever. There's always next time! "My heart flies on Cupid's wings when you're with me, when you hold me close, and pull me near. Even when I awaken from my slumber and turn my eyes to the morning sun, you are still with me and one day I hope to see you here with me."
"Usagi!" Luna called back-breaking her out of her listening, joyful trance and then over at Luna who had the newspaper from earlier today her dad was reading with the article about the sleeping sickness.
"Come on Luna, that was Naru-chan's letter he was re-" Usagi began, shoving her pen into the pocket of her uniform skirt.
"There is no Midnight Zero," Luna said, coldly.
"I'm listening to it right n-" Usagi said pointing to the radio on her nightstand.
Luna wasn't convinced and began to flip the pages of the newspaper to the one with FM 10 radio schedule before turning it so Usagi can see that under the midnight schedule wasn't Midnight Zero.
It felt like the world came crashing down on Usagi in that moment. B-but how!? It was on right now! "Do you think they might have changed the schedule?" Usagi asked still in shock as she grabbed the newspaper, trying to make sense of it. Surely, this was a joke right. Maybe they had someone else and they cancelled at the last second? That had to be it. Right? Right! But the words the guard said kept rattling around Usagi's head
"I don't know, but-" Luna never got the chance to finish as there was a loud knock at the door. The front door. Usagi and Luna looked between each other with the same expression of wonder and confusion. It was the middle of the night so who in the world could be at that door? Was it a robber who came to break in the house? A night stalker who wanted to harm her family? One of those creepy monsters intent on destroying them? All these thoughts rattled around in her head. What can she do? Call the police? Call the army? What? What!? Wait. Oh yeah! Usagi was Sailor Moon. Whoever was at the door would face her wrath! With that she struck her Sailor Moon pose until another knock threw her confidence right out of the window.
"EEEK!" Usagi said backing away into her vanity nearly knocking it over and actually knocking her jewelry box to the ground, spilling its contents on the ground. Grabbing the empty box, Usagi and Luna cautiously made their way down the stairs with her holding the jewelry box over her head. "W-who goes there!?" Usagi shouted as she came near the door. "I got a," Usagi looked at the small box in her hand and then said, "heavy object and I'm not afraid to use it!"
"U-usagi-chan?" a small quiet voice said from behind the door that sounded a lot like Naru.
Usagi quickly put down the jewelry box and raced to the front door. Naru? What was she doing here? Was she okay? Usagi knew she lived close but why had she come in the middle of the night!
Throwing open the door, Usagi saw Naru standing their in her nightgown wearing one of the brooches that Midnight Zero sent out on the bow with a smile on her face. However, her smile wasn't normal. It was creepy. Her emerald green eyes were dulled and darkened looking through Usagi than at her, her skin was pale, and looked to be on the verge of fainting. She looked and acted more like a zombie than her friend Naru, just like Sakurada-sensei. "I...won," were he last words before she fell forward.
"Naru-chan!" Usagi cried as she raced over to catch her friend before she could fall onto the hardwood surface. "Naru-chan! Naru-chan!" Usagi yelled, trying to shake her friend awake but it was no use, she was out cold. "Luna, what's wrong with her?!" Usagi begged the cat who stared at the display in shock before turning to the blonde.
"Do you think she might've contracted that Sleeping Sickness that the newspaper mentioned?" Luna asked.
"That's not possible though!" Usagi said, feeling bile rise in her throat at the thought of her friend ending up in the hospital like their teacher. "She was perfectly fine this morning!" Usagi cried with a panic.
Luna looked up in sympathy at the blonde before sighing. "I'm going to go check the newspaper again. Just keep an eye on her in the meantime," Luna instructed before jumping up the stairs leaving Usagi alone with her unconscious best friend, tears threatening to flow from her eyes. Naru couldn't be sick! This couldn't be happening! She was one of the sweetest, kindest people Usagi knew! She didn't deserve to be in this state!
"Please, Naru-chan!" Usagi called again, trying fruitlessly to wake her from her unnatural slumber. "Naru-chan!" Usagi said, as tears were now free flowing down her eyes as she rested her head on her sleeping friend's chest, specifically on the brooch she was wearing.
A strange feeling began to overcome the secret heroine. She felt cold...dizzy...tired. Her eyelids were growing heavy from tears and sleep...It was getting harder and harder to keep them open until she couldn't anymore.
"And we will return soon, after these messages," the host said as he tore up the pathetic letter that 'Naru' sent earlier when he heard buzzing come from the top of the desk. Grabbing the communication orb, he snapped his fingers and on the glass came a dark image of Queen Beryl sitting upon her throne, starring at him with no emotion.
"Jadeite," the queen said in a neutral tone as Jadeite stood up and bowed for her. "Have things been progressing according to plan?"
"Yes, my queen," Jadeite answered bowing his head. "And there has been no sign of that miserable Sailor Moon."
Queen Beryl leaned back into her throne and said, "Well, Jadeite for once, your plan managed to impress me."
Jadeite nodded before saying, "You flatter me my queen, but it was truly a simple task. The humans, especially young females, are weak beings who see love as strength than the simple-minded, primal emotion it truly is so all I have to do is exploit this vulnerability using the dark brooches I created and the energy was ours for the taking."
"I see," Queen Beryl said. "Continue your work and soon our ambitions will be reality."
"I understand, My Lady," Jadeite said as the image of the queen faded away. With a smirk, he stood up and took his seat. Soon, the same girls who torture him with their pathetic, sappy love letters will have their energy fed to their Great Queen and with her in power, the Dark Kingdom will rule this planet and a thousand more.
He relaxed in his chair, thinking on his brilliant plan with a wicked chuckle at the thought of the lack of effort it took breaking down these humans' defenses. Just a miasmic version of the sleeping spell throughout the station and they fell into an endless dream all night with no memory of ever seeing him. Unfortunately, that version had been a prototype and could only be used in small areas and for a limited number of hours without draining much energy certainly nothing that would make any difference to the queen. Luckily though he learned his lesson and transferred the miasma into a solid shape, hence the brooches he was giving out like candy feeding the Dark Kingdom all of the girls' energy. He really was a genius.
After grabbing the paper in her mouth, Luna made her way downstairs, hoping that Usagi had managed to get the situation somewhat under control but even with the little time she knew her, Luna sort of doubted that. Sighing, the cat continued to make her way to the Tsukinos foyer when she dropped the paper at the sight waiting for her.
On top of Naru's sleeping body was Usagi out cold. "Usagi?" Luna asked. That girl was too lazy for own good in the cat's opinion. Falling asleep at a time like this? Really? Rushing over to the girl, Luna cried out "Usagi!" as she climbed on to the girl's head trying to wake her with her paws. "USAGI!" Luna tried once more. Nothing. Okay time for drastic measures. "I'm sorry Usagi," Luna muttered before extending her claws and scratching Usagi's cheek and to Luna's horror and shock, Usagi was still fast asleep. Now, Luna was scared. Scratching her had always worked whenever Usagi couldn't be bothered to get up for school and yet now...! "USAGI!" Luna called again, this time out of desperation and still nothing. Oh, no. Luna jumped off Usagi onto Naru before pushing the blonde off her friend in order to get a better look at the situation when she got a better look at the brooch Usagi had been lying on.
Luna leaned down to get a better look at it and was shocked back by the jewel, falling off Naru hitting her head! Shakily standing up, Luna looked back at the brooch and knowing something wasn't right with it, jumped to grab it again.
Snatching the jewel in her teeth, she began to try and pull off the brooch as it sent out wave after wave of electric shocks through her body, trying to force her to let go. However, she knew she couldn't despite the discomfort that flew through her and held fast, trying to rip the brooch off of Usagi's friend. It was pure pain and her fur was spiking up around her until she could barely see what was before her but she still held on, and eventually she felt the brooch give a little. Using this newfound opening, Luna continued to pull and pull until it gave enough to allow Luna to fling it at the door causing it to shatter and from its pieces rose a cloud of dark energy that soon dissipated from sight.
This made Luna sigh in relief as she shook herself free of the shocked fur, before horror struck her. Brooches don't usually give off dark energy once they shatter and they don't give off electric shocks to prevent someone from taking them off. Come to think of it, Usagi said Naru was fine this morning until she got that brooch. Wait a minute weren't those brooches rewards from Midnight Zero? What if...
"Ugh..." Luna heard from where Usagi lay and she turned to see said girl grabbing her head, as she sat upright. Luna rushed over to the girl who now stood up confused. "...My head," Usagi said rubbing her head and then her cheek. "...My cheek."
"There's no time for that Usagi! We have to get to FM 10 Radio Station now!" Luna cried which gained a confused look from the already confused girl. "Midnight Zero might be part of the enemy!"
"What!?" Usagi asked jumping up in surprise. "There's no way!"
"Think about it Usagi! Naru only got sick because of the brooch and no one outside the listeners ever heard of Midnight Zero and if it was a real show wouldn't it have been on the listings? You passed out when he laid on it," Luna told Usagi.
Usagi thought for a moment. Luna did have a point but... "Well, there could be another explanation," Usagi tried.
"What?" Luna asked questioning the girl.
"Well, um, maybe Naru just was really tired and when I cried on her I got really tired too, so..." Usagi tried but if she was being honest, even she didn't believe what she was saying and neither was Luna. "Or maybe it's perfectly innocent but was highjacked by the enemy!"
"Right, then we should still investigate it," Luna said turning to the door.
"But it's late," Usagi whined.
"Didn't seemed to bother you while you were mulling over your love letter," Luna replied.
"Well..." Usagi looked down at Naru and fell next to her. "I have to help Naru!" Usagi said pulling her up and walking her over to the Tsukinos sofa.
"We'll be helping her, and many more innocent girls, by defeating the enemy," Luna pointed out.
Usagi didn't have a response and just pouted before turning to Luna begrudgingly nodded at the cat and with that the two left.
Eventually, the two made it to FM 10 Radio Station that glowed from the lights inside implying that many of the employees were still there, creating a problem for the two. "How are we going to get in Luna?" Usagi asked as they paused next to the wall
"For you, I'm not sure," Luna asked pondering their situation.
"Maybe I can transform and then waltz in!" Usagi said.
"They will accept Sailor Moon just popping in?" Luna asked.
"Well...um...they might?" Usagi said. "Or maybe I can rush in before they catch me?"
"No offense, Usagi but you're not exactly the best runner so you'll probably be caught in a few minutes," Luna said. "Maybe, you can distract the guards using something and hide."
"No I'm too clumsy for that," Usagi said before looking down. "They'll catch me in two minutes." She then looked down at her clothes and realized that if she had a costume, she could just waltz right in there and see what nefarious plot Midnight Zero was forced to engage in. "I wish I had something disguise myself in," she said without really thinking and her brooch began to glow. Usagi looked down and saw the white light now left her brooch and traveled to her pocket where light began to shine. She followed it and pulled out the object, her pink pen she had all but forgotten about, began to transform before her eyes and when the light finally settled, Usagi saw what became of her perfectly average pen which was now lined with a gold ring around the middle and on the top was more gold in the shape of a crown embedded with red gems and a larger gem standing in the middle.
"What just happened?" Usagi asked, holding her pen close to her face trying to figure out how her brooch transformed her pen into a fancy pen.
"I'm not sure but you wished for the ability to disguise yourself and your brooch must've granted you that wish," Luna reasoned.
"I guess that makes sense," Usagi said, and unsure of what else clicked the top of the pen and said unsure if it would do anything, "Moon Power, turn me into a gorgeous newscaster!" At that request, Usagi saw a pink light leave the pen that surrounded her, transforming her.
When the light finally settled Usagi looked much older and more mature with a bob instead of her normal buns with a pink cardigan tunic over a dark pink skirt and white pumps with matching accessories of sunglasses, a necklace, and earrings.
"Wow, I look amazing!" Usagi cried out in joy, giggling out loud.
"Keep your voice down! We don't want them to know you're not really a newscaster," Luna said.
Usagi flicked her now short blonde hair and corrected with a smirk, "A gorgeous newscaster," which just made Luna roll her eyes at her arrogance. "Don't worry Luna, now that I look like this, there's no way I can't get in!" Usagi finished, putting on her sunglasses and then not even three seconds later, faceplanted into the concrete sidewalk. She quickly picked herself up and made her way into the building with astonishingly little security to block her way and falling into the ground only twice (not counting her first fall)!
The first thing the two noticed was that the building was extremely quiet and bare. There was no one at the front desk doing last-minute paperwork. No security to ask Usagi who she was. There was no janitor doing some late-night cleaning duty. Lucky break since it looked like she wouldn't need the costume anyway (which she will not be taking off since she looks great in it), but still, shouldn't there have been someone here?
The two continued down the silent halls of the radio station where the lights above quite a few doors were lit up in red for recording, however, when Usagi tried to listen to hear anyone from the studios, even just murmur there was none. Strange the sign says they're recording and yet she couldn't hear a sound. She knew it was late so not many people would be here, she knew it would be but shouldn't there be someone here?
They continued down the halls and still no one. Not an intern, a guard, anyone!
She could feel nerves crawl down her spine as they walked through station. Shivering, she grabbed her cardigan and pulled it closer to her. Where was this chill coming from? Why now? She tried to listen again, this time for anything. The shuffling of feet, the movement of paper, the squeaking of shoes to just confirm that she and Luna aren't alone here. There was nothing. She felt goosebumps rise on her skin as they traveled on. Seriously, where was everyone!?
"Don't you think this is a bit strange?" Usagi whispered to the cat as they continued to try and find the studio where Midnight Zero was recording.
"It is, so keep on your guard," Luna stoically said to which Usagi nodded and grabbed her sunglasses to be used like a weapon if it was needed.
A noise, no a voice, came to their ears and it nearly shocked them out of their skins from the fright and nerves. Usagi, for her part, gave out a small yelp before Luna glared at her to be quiet which she immediately did.
Clumsily, Usagi snuck her way to the door and cautiously peeked inside and saw sitting at a desk talking into a microphone, a really good looking guy! His bright golden hair and cold silver eyes, the smooth voice he talked in, it was all very nice and Usagi could feel her cheeks blush slightly. "Wow, he's so hot!" Usagi quietly cried.
"Usagi!" Luna angrily whispered at her.
"Oh right," Usagi whispered back as she stood up straight and push the door fully opened which she saw shocked the man to look at her with a glare.
"Who are you?" he asks in annoyance.
"Oh, um...is this Midnight Zero?" Usagi asked trying to sound confident.
"Yes, but that still doesn't answer my question," he asks anger now adding to his irritation.
"I'm...your new co-host!" she says before quickly taking a seat next to him and grabbing the microphone away from him. "Hello there, I'm new to Midnight Zero!"
"I don't have a co-host," the man said with his arms crossed. "Get out, now."
"That's weird because the manager just hired me tonight," Usagi bluffed, trying to hide her worry behind a smile.
"That's not possible," he said frustration growing in his voice.
"Really? Because I just saw him earlier and that's when he hired me to work with you!" Usagi said, rubbing the back of her head as Luna jumped onto her lap who glowered at the DJ.
"Get out! There's no way the manager could've hired you!" he said, now yelling at Usagi who was shocked by his outburst. When she listened to his voice it was always so husky and low but seeing him now, was that all lie?
Usagi felt tears coming to her eyes but managed to shake her head. She couldn't lose her cover now. "Well, I just met him outside earlier and he did so I'm sorry if he didn't tell you but here I am and I'm here to stay," Usagi said again, a forced smile coming back to her face.
"There's no way the manager could've hired someone like you because I took care of him myself!" he yelled before realizing what he did, paused out of shock
"Took care of him?" Usagi repeated. "What do you mean took care of him?"
The man broke out of his trance before grabbing something from under his desk, it was a brooch, and in his hands it was a radiating with a wicked red light. "The same way I'll deal be dealing with you!" he then proceeded to fling the evil brooch at Usagi who was still in her chair due to how fast the turn of events happened. Luckily, Luna has the best reflexes between them smacked the evil piece of jewelry away, causing it to break like Naru's brooch emitting that same dark energy.
"You were right, Luna!" Usagi said, looking up at the man before her as he reached for another brooch. "Midnight Zero is the enemy!" she cried as she grabbed the sunglasses that came with her disguise and flung them at the fake DJ piercing him in the middle of of the forehead knocking him back for a moment, giving Usagi just enough time to grab the microphone and say, "LISTEN TO ME! The brooches aren't a prize! They're a curse! Besides, someone really wise," Usagi looked over at Luna, "told me that letters that are not supposed to be used to win prizes! They're supposed to be used to confess your deepest most personal feelings towards someone so if you want to give your love letter to someone, give it to your crush!"
"That's enough!" The man said as he ripped the microphone from Usagi's hands. "Clearly, putting you to sleep won't be enough to take care of you, I'll just have to get rid of you permanently!" he said as he summoned in icicle to fling at Usagi who managed to duck out of the way and used all her remaining energy to sprint towards the open door into the halls.
Running down the halls, she heard the man following her so in a quick action, Usagi ducked into a recording room with Luna on her heels. The moment she was inside she blocked the door with a nearby chair which allowed her to fall to the floor and take a deep breath.
"Usagi! Look at this!" Luna cried standing by a pair of people who were lying face down on the equipment.
"Are they okay?" Usagi asked as she tried to shake them awake to see they were in a similar state as Naru and Sakurada-sensei were. "Do you think they have the sleeping sickness?"
"Probably. What I do know is that right now we need Sailor Moon," Luna said.
Usagi nodded and cried, "Moon Prism Power Make Up!" With that, the disguise melted away in a flash of pure light and with twirl and swirl, her clothes transformed into her fuku and accessories.
Sailor Moon burst out the door where the man was still trying to find her.
"How dare you take advantage of girls' innocent love letters for their crushes and use them for your evil schemes!? I am the Pretty Guardian who fights for love and for justice, I am Sailor Moon and in the name of the Moon, I will punish you!"
"So you finally showed up. I was beginning to wonder when you'd finally catch onto my scheme," he said. "Well, Sailor Moon, since you'll be destroyed in a few moments allow me to introduce myself as well," he continued. "I am Jadeite, a proud general of the Dark Kingdom and when I finish you off there will be nothing in our way to stop our inevitable conquest!" He summoned another icicle and threw it at Sailor Moon who managed to just barely dodge it as it headed straight into a wall.
"Sailor V Kick!" Sailor Moon cried as she kicked a nearby janitor's cart into Jadeite sending him backward into a door.
"Quick! He might be knocked out, Sailor Moon! Let's take this chance!" Luna cried.
"Oh, yeah! Let's go," Sailor Moon agreed and the two ran in to see the door led to an emergency staircase where the janitor's cart was sitting alone without any sign of their enemy Jadeite to be seen. "Where did he go?!" Sailor Moon said looking between the staircases that he might've escaped too.
"Look Sailor Moon!" Luna said, looking at a small, ornate vial on one of the steps that led to the rooftop. "This must be his."
"Perfume?" Sailor Moon asked picking up the vial and sniffed it only to start growing a little dizzy.
Luna seeing this knocked the cursed bottle from her hands until it fell with a clatter. "You don't sniff things that come from bad guys Sailor Moon," Luna scolded.
"Sorry," Sailor Moon said with a pout as her sense came back to her. "Do you think he might've used that to enchant the brooches into making people really tired?"
"It's possible, or it could've just been the prototype but either way, we need to quickly follow him upstairs," Luna shouted as she began to run with Sailor Moon following close behind.
The first thing Sailor Moon encountered when she finally came to the rooftop was that she was starting to slip and slide around like when she was 5 years old and her parents first took her to ice rink.
"Having trouble there?" came that voice, from Jadeite's, as he watched with glee as Sailor Moon flailed around on his makeshift rooftop ice rink, as he held his stomach.
"I-I'll get you!" Sailor Moon cried trying to regain her footing before her face ate the ice. Oh too late. Wicked laughter began to fill the chilly night sky as Sailor Moon looked up at Jadeite who had summoned another icicle to throw at Sailor Moon while she was helpless who just barely managed to crawl out of the line of fire (well, ice) and somehow knock into Jadeite who went crashing to his own ice floor and a bit dazed.
"Use the tiara!" Luna yelled. "This might be your only chance!"
Finally, managing to regain her footing Sailor Moon grabbed her tiara and shouted, "Moon Tiara Boomerang!" and flung it as hard as she could towards the dark general in a flash of swirling gold with the speed growing until it glowed white. It went closer and closer and just as it was about to hit him...he grabbed it!
It stopped the moon tiara and was sitting lifelessly in his grasp. Sailor Moon and Luna stood there and gasped as the main began to sit up with a cruel smirk on his face. "Is that all you can do?" Jadeite said as he dropped the golden tiara that clattered on impact with the ice. "I'm not impressed."
"Well, you're not impressive yourself!" Sailor Moon said, trying to be confident when on the inside she was terrified. The moon tiara had to work! It was the only real move she had what was she going to do now!
"I'll show you impressive!" Jadeite cried, summoning a blade of ice that was coming straight for Sailor Moon who couldn't run due to the ice!
"Sailor Moon!" Luna cried trying to rush to her defense as she tried to protect her ward from the incoming blade but before she could...
A red rose rose knocked collided with Jadeite's hand knocking the ice sword from his grasp.
"Wh-" Jadeite began but he didn't even get the chance to finish his sentence before his head collided with a the back of a gentleman's cane which sent him crashing to the ground before he could even begin to register his attacker's black cape.
Sailor Moon looked to up to see her savior was none other than, "Tuxedo Mask?" Usagi asked seeing the tall, dark clothed figure before her holding his cane protectively in front of them, his eyes focused on the enemy before them. "Tuxedo Mask!"
"You use women's dreams of romance for you own nefarious purposes and schemes and that is something that I, Tuxedo Mask, can never forgive," he gallantly said in a commanding tone that made Sailor Moon weak around the knees with her cheeks red as one of the roses he threw.
"Where did you come from!?" Jadeite demanded of the male who merely glowered.
"It doesn't matter where I come from because you tried to harm Sailor Moon!" Tuxedo Mask continued. "So, leave now or I promise you, should you stay, I will not be so kind," Tuxedo Mask said with anger and protectiveness in his voice.
Jadeite paused for a moment then another glaring dagger at Tuxedo Mask who gave just as much back without flinching. Sailor Moon was frightened for her part unsure if Jadeite would heed Tuxedo Mask's demands or would it lead to the three of them getting into another, much larger fight.
After what felt like a hour Jadeite finally relented and summoned a purple and black portal behind him before crying, "This won't be the last you see of me!" before disappearing with the portal.
Sailor Moon took a deep breath of pure unbridled relief as the ice began to melt and the ground once more felt sturdy under her feet.
"Are you alright, Sailor Moon? He didn't hurt you too badly, did he?" Tuxedo Mask asked examining her for injuries. This made her look up towards him and felt her heart race as her words from this morning came back to her. Protective, intelligent, kind, loving, loyal, romantic, and looks good in a tuxedo? Why hadn't she realized it before! Tuxedo Mask wasn't just gorgeous (which he was)! Tuxedo Mask was her perfect man! Sailor Moon smiled, a goofy, love-filled smile at him as her cheeks continued to burn red from how close he stood to her as he staring directly into her cornflower blue eyes. "Um, Sailor Moon? Are you feeling okay?" he asked again.
"Huh!" Sailor Moon cried being shocked out of her daze. The sailor guardian quickly began scratching the back of her head quickly so Tuxedo Mask didn't know what she was thinking about him. "Oh, um...Fine!" Sailor Moon said, quickly before giving another loving smile at him, "Really fine."
"That's good," Tuxedo Mask said.
"How did you get here?" Luna demanded with suspicion evident in her tone of voice.
"Your cat talks?" Tuxedo Mask asked Sailor Moon.
"Who?" Sailor Moon asked, almost lost in her daydream before reality snapped her back to the present. "Oh right, my cat. She talks."
"Well, I was nearby and heard Sailor Moon's cries," Tuxedo Mask said to Luna, "and I rushed over as soon as I could but now I must bid you adieu," he said as he pulled a small egg-shaped object from her pocket and threw it at the ground, creating a cloud smoke that caused Luna and Sailor Moon to violently cough.
When the smoke finally cleared, Sailor Moon saw Tuxedo Mask disappeared from the rooftop and running over to see where he went she saw his figure was now jumping from a lamppost to the ground before disappearing into the night. "Thank you, Tuxedo Mask," Sailor Moon said as she watched his figure leave, her eyes filled with deep longing. A longing that didn't go unnoticed by Luna.
"Are you sure you're feeling okay, Naru-chan?" Usagi asked as they headed for Sakurada-sensei's hospital room.
"A little dizzy but I'm fine," Naru said as she adjusted the flowers to perfection. "I still can't believe Midnight Zero's brooches were behind the Sleeping Sickness."
"Yeah, who could've thought right?" Usagi said, shrugging. "Well, at least they've been destroyed and can't hurt anyone else."
"That's true, I just wonder who it was," Naru said.
"Um, well, does it really matter?" Usagi nervously said. "I mean they're gone and the city's safe again."
"If I didn't know better, I would think you were the one who destroyed those brooches," Naru said with a teasing smile.
Usagi's face turn red, before acting fast saw the room number of the front desk nurse said their teacher was in and cried, "Look there's her room! Let's go!" and finished by grabbing Naru's arm and darted straight towards the room to throw the door open where they saw, Sakurada-sensei lying in a hospital bed looking much better and livelier without the brooch on.
"Sakurada-sensei!" Usagi said, as she and Naru bowed in respect to their teacher.
"Tsukino-san, Osaka-san?" Sakurada-sensei said to them, in a small voice from slight weakness. "What are you doing here?"
"We brought you these flowers, Sakurada-sensei," Naru said handing her the bouquet when Sakurada-sensei held to her nose and then turned to girls.
"Thank you," Sakurada-sensei.
"You're welcome," the girls said simultaneously until Usagi looked at her teacher's face a little longer to see it held a look of sadness in her eyes.
"Is everything alright, Sakurada-sensei?" Usagi asked which caused Naru to look over and see the sad expression.
"Oh, um...Yes..I was just hoping someone else would come soon," Sakurada-sensei said with a little smile.
"Wh-?" Usagi began when the jiggle of the metal handle was heard, followed by entering of someone none of them expected to see.
"Sato-sensei!" Naru and Usagi cried out in unision.
"SATO-SAN!" cried Sakurada-sensei who was mere moments from falling off her bed from the surprise of seeing her colleague holding a teddy bear with "Get Well Soon" written on his stomach in her hospital room before quickly recollecting herself and standing up straighter in bed.
"Sakurada-san," Sato-sensei said. "I came because I wanted to see how you've been feeling today."
"Oh, um...much better, Sato-san. Thank you," Sakurada-sensei said. "Is that for me?" she continued pointing at the teddy bear in his hands.
"Oh, yes. I thought you could use a friend while you were in here," Sato-sensei replied, handing her the toy.
"Thank you," Sakurada-sensei said as she held the bear close to her chest looking into Sato-sensei's eyes who gazed back with his own. Sakurada-sensei then looked down into her lap before taking a deep breath and said in a small voice, "Would you maybe like to visit a tea shop I know near my house?"
"You know I would love to," Sato-sensei said as he pulled up a chair next to Sakurada-sensei's bed, his eyes never leaving hers.
Usagi blinked her blue eyes, once then twice, before a large, joyful grin curved onto her before grabbing Naru's arm to drag her outside to give the two teachers some privacy.
"What was that for?" Naru asked once they were back in the hallway.
"Just being helpful," Usagi said with a wink. "Besides, if Sakurada-sensei can get a date...maybe," Usagi paused for a moment as she brought out the pink-tinted envelope decorated with a white domino mask that held the love letter she wrote for Tuxedo Mask out of her bookbag, "the person I wrote this for will accept it."
"Wait, you wrote a love letter!" Naru cried out as she tried to grab it from her friend. "Who is it for? Show me!"
"No way!" Usagi cried, holding the love letter out of her friend's reach. "You'll just make fun of me!"
"Come on!" Naru continued to cry as Usagi took off running with the love letter in tow. "Just one peek!"
"Not gonna happen, Naru-chan!" Usagi said, laughing as she ran through the halls of the hospital.
Up Next: The Wicked Treats of the New Bakery: The Jerk's New Job