Chapter 2

"R-Rika…?" The young boy's eyes fluttered open with the light of the sun shining in through a window, luminating his fiery red hair. It was roughly around noon now, he had been bandaged up and placed in a bed. Wait, a bed?! The boy shot up, his eyes now wide opened and alert. "Where am I?" He quickly scanned his surroundings, then looked outside the window seeing a shrine like setting.

"Th-The shrine? I'm back at the shrine? What happened?" He questioned to himself as he pulled the covers back, seeing his wounds had been tended to and he was bandaged up. "Did we…win?" He, quickly felt over his body with his hands to make sure he wasn't, well dead.

Wait, if we lost…then that would mean I wouldn't be back here and taken care of. I guess the others are probably off celebrating without me. Assholes…

He slowly moved himself to the side of the bed with his feet touching the floor. His hand brushed through his long hair as he cracked his neck to both sides. "Damn…what a fight though. Definitely was an epic way to end things. One final heroic push from our brave heroes!" He put his fist in the air then laughed to himself. He then took a deep breath, letting out a sigh of relief.

Finally…we can be normal again. We can live our lives the way we want. No more destinies no more fated battles. And Rika…we can finally just be happy. Speaking of which, I just get my kiss as a reward for a job well done.

He stood up slowly and shakily, his body still not yet healed. His legs trembled slightly as he struggled to gather his strength to stand and walk. "Man…that really did drain me…" He looked over to a nightstand where his jewel sat. "It's cracked? Fuck…" He gently picked it up to study it. There was a flash of orange light that emanated from it. He placed it into his pocket, it was a problem for a little later at least.

Katsuro slowly walked to the door, opening it and stepping into the hallway. Things looked…different? "I guess she's redecorated some in here." He looked back and forth then heard some voices down the hall.

"I wonder if he'll wake up anytime soon…" Rei spoke softly, looking to the other two in front of her.

"His injuries seemed fairly serious. I did the best I could, but he's going to need to get plenty of rest to heal from all of that." Ami's soft voice stated.

"Yeah, just how the hell did he get messed up so badly? He must have been in some huge fight or something. Are we sure that it's safe to have him in here?" Makoto questioned.

"He's not a monster, and I didn't feel any evil off him. We'll have to just ask him what happened when he finally is conscious. Thank you again for coming to help me you two." Rei looked down the hallway from the room they were in. "I thought I heard something."
"You think he's up?" Makoto asked, but then there was silence.

"I guess it was nothing…" Rei turned back to the two girls.

However, she felt arms wrap around her from behind, pulling her close. It wasn't in a violent way though however, more so like a loving embrace. "Rika…thank you for taking care of me again. You're amazing as always." A male voice spoke softly from behind her, then warm lips kissed her cheek.

With a blush, she frantically jumped up out of the red haired boys arms. "Hey! What are you doing?!" She then realized he called her someone else. "My name is Rei, not Rika." She sternly corrected him as she saw his confused gaze.

"R…Rei? Wait…where am I?" He started to almost panic. Her eyes were violet…not emerald. He wasn't at Rika's family shrine.

Oh no…

He jumped back up, running out the door to outside, stopping in the middle of the shrine grounds to look up at the sign that read 'Hikawa Shrine'. That name…it sounded familiar. Where had he heard it?

"Wait! Come back! Makoto, Ami, lets go!" Rei motioned as the three followed.

"Excuse me, your injuries are bad, you musn't be moving like that. You're likely to open some of your wounds back. Please come back and sit or lay down so we can talk." Ami tried to calmly deescalate the situation.

"Yeah, were you involved in some fight or something? Rei found you here pretty banged up." Makoto added, getting ready to approach, or even fight and restrain him if she had to. She wasn't sure what this person was capable of.

"Fight?" He asked, looking back with wide eyes. His friends…where were they?! What happened? How the hell did he end up here alone with these strangers. He recognized them somehow, but from what? From where? "Did you three hear or see anything? Like a giant battle. You couldn't POSSIBLY miss it. Five armored knights? One evil in black armor floating in the sky with a giant black energy death ball?" He asked. He knew what he was saying sounded insane, but all of Tokyo would have been able to see this. There's no way it could be missed.

"Five knights and a black energy death ball? No…nothing like that has happened. The only thing like that that's ever taken place since…"

"My friends…!" He held his right arm up with his watch to his lips. "Kenji! Takeshi! Ryoto! Come in!" He exclaimed as the three watched him almost dumbfounded. They just didn't know what to make of this.

"Guys! Do you read me?!" Nothing, there was static and silence coming through. "Kenji, come on man, this isn't funny. Did you put these girls up to this? Takeshi! I know you're an asshole and all, and you always found the communicators to be bothersome, but this is no time to ignore me. Ryoto! Man, if something is wrong with these, you're the brains. You gotta be already trying to fix it right?" The deafening sound of silence came back, the wind gently flowed around him, his crimson hair flowing. His sapphire eyes began to water up, his lips quivering, his toned strong arms trembling with fear.

This scene began to look oddly familiar to the three. They had surely gone through similar situations themselves. "Rei…" Makoto whispered over.

"Yeah, something's not right here. Ami…what do you make of this?" She asked as the blue haired girl looked away, studying the scene unfolding before her.

"I'm not sure, there hasn't been any trace of this battle he's talking about. Insanity shouldn't be ruled out I suppose, but at the same time he seems to have a grasp of reality to a degree." Her blue eyes looked over his body, his demeanor.

There was an icy grip of despair slowly taking hold of his heart as he stood there. No reply, no one was answering. "Rika? Please tell me you've got that communicator on you I gave you before we headed out? Please…please answer." Tears began falling. Why wasn't anyone answering him? The city was here, nothing had been destroyed.

"This is Tokyo right?!" He asked the three, almost in a demanding tone.

"Y-Yeah, that's right. This is the Hikawa Shrine. I heard a loud crash and found you just over there in that rubble." Rei pointed.

So I got blown back a good distance, maybe something is interfering with the communicators. Or maybe mine might be damaged. Alright Katsuro, keep your mind calm. Don't panic, nothing good will come of that. Hikawa Shrine…where have I heard that? Why do they look so familiar to me? Fuck my head hurts. Everything feels hazy. There's only one thing I can do. I need to transform. But they're watching…

"Hey, we need to get you back inside for now. Please just calm down and we can figure everything out. I don't want to have to use force ok?" Makoto tried to reason with him, slowly approaching.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the cracked jewel. "So, you said you didn't see any sort of fight? No knights?" He asked as they shook their heads. "Well, surely you know about the awesome…and dashingly handsome might I add, knights that protect this city, right?" He asked with a smirk. If the city was here, they won. Hell, secret identities didn't fucking matter anymore to him. He needed to find his comrades.

"Knights that protect this city…? Do you mean the Sai-"

"Yeah! I guess I'll just have to show you then instead of explaining!" He cut Ami off mid-sentence as he held his jewel up. "Power of the Phoenix! Suzaku!" He called out as the jewel flashed, but nothing.

"Uh…what's he doing…?" Makoto leaned in close to Rei and whispered.
"I think he may have been hit on the head too hard or something…" Rei whispered back.

"Maybe his injuries have caused…some sort of psychosis?" Ami chimed in as the three grouped together trying to figure out what he was doing.

"That's…weird. I said…Ahem. Power of the Phoenix! Suzaku!" He thrusted his fist with the jewel into the air once more, but nothing.

"Huh?" He lowered it down and stared in confusion. "Alright…let's try…HENSHIN!" He then moved it across his chest facing outward. Nothing.

"Uh…GO GO PHOENIX POWER!" The gentle wind howled, blowing leaves across the ground.

"PHOENIX ARMOR! POWER UP! HA!" He crossed it over his chest again, then pulled it backward, then thrusted it forward.

"ITS MORPHIN TIME! BLAZING PHOENIX!" Ok…now he was just grasping at damn straws.

"Ok…Suzaku…The vermillion bird…is represented by Mars. I got it!" He snapped. "Mars! Phoenix Power! MAAAAAAAKE UP!"

"What did he just say?!" Rei's eyes shot open, alert now and in shock. She wasn't hearing things was she? He had the word Mars and then the words 'Make Up' As she would say transforming. Did this person know about the Sailor Senshi?!

"He said exactly what you think…" Makoto spoke, her eyes however narrowed as if becoming more defensive.

"You don't think he's…similar to us do you? Somehow I don't believe someone who's 'crazy' would know about that." Ami and the other three stepped back a little.

"Damnit. Come on you hunk of junk! Work! Transform!" He began shaking it wildly.

No powers…could I have burned everything up in that last attack? We gave it everything. I don't know, but this situation is getting worse and worse.

Ok, at this point, Rei had just about had enough of this. With that last thing he exclaimed she was now on high alert with her suspicions at their peak. "Start talking right now! That last phrase you yelled to do your 'transformation' or whatever. How do you know that?! Where have you heard it before?!" Has this guy stalked her and watched her transform before?! Is THAT how he ended up here?

"What are you talking about…? Haven't you ever heard of Sailor…oh fuck…" Bingo my dude. He now knew how and why all of this seemed familiar.

"Nooooo. No fucking way, it's not possible. It CANT'T be possible…" His eyes wide, he went from despair and worry to complete shock and awe as his body trembled. He began to take steps backwards. He was either DEAD or in a coma. That's the only way this would be possible right?! He continued to walk backwards till he felt nothing. Slowly, he began to fall backwards having taken a step off the top stair leading to the shrine. "Ah-haaaaa" The breath left him as he began his fall.

"Hey! Stop! Watch out!" Makoto leaped forward, grabbing his arm and yanking him back up and to his feet. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?!" Makoto was a bit annoyed now at this guy. But was intrigued by his sudden change in demeanor and mood. Had he realized something?

"And you really should come inside and take things easy…you've already opened one wound back up." She pointed to a bandage on the side of his torso, the crimson slowly seeping through.

Pain, he could feel it so strongly. The stinging from the wound. That meant he was alive, right? That he was conscious and alive? There were flashes in his mind of all the attacks colliding, the explosion, the impact. He could see a strange light, if only for a second even a prism of light. Then there was darkness. And him waking up in that bed.

He pulled his communicator to his lips once more. "Guys…if you can here me…we have a problem…" He said once more before lowering his arm.

Ok…this is weird. WAAAAAAY WEIRD, even by Guardian standards. There's one thing to do, I have to test to see if I'm right about this.

"I'm not sure if I'm right, but I have to ask you three something. And your answers will let me know, 100% what's happened to me. And please, bear with me and be patient…"

"That's…a weird thing to state." Rei crossed her arms. Weird was an understatement, is this guy insane? Something didn't seem right about this situation.

"Alright, please feel free to ask away, but afterwards. You need to come back inside and let me treat that wound again." And maybe get him to a hospital. She was starting to become skeptical about even having him around here. Ami glanced to Makoto who gave her a nod, knowing exactly what she was thinking.

"Alright…here goes…" He took in a deep breath, his eyes closing. He looked at the three with determination. "First of all. My name is Katsuro. Katsuro Takahashi. If I'm not mistaken…You're Rei Hino, you're Makoto Kino, and you are Ami Mizuno right? Or should I say, Sailor Mars, Jupiter, and Mercury?" He asked as their eyes shot open with shock. Makoto was more defensive though.

This triggered a survival instinct almost in Makoto, she rushed him instantly making a punch as he dodged to the side, catching her arm. He could feel the intense rush of pain from multiple wounds but pushed through it to let go of her and move out of the way.

"How do you know that? Where did you come from?! What are you after?!" Makoto's eyes narrowed as she prepared a stance in case there was about to be a fight.

"Have you been stalking us? How long? It's not mere coincidence you landed in my shrine, right?" Rei was even angered by now, furious.

Ami, however, remained silent, continuing to study what was happening. He didn't show signs of violence or ill intent. He seemed as confused as they were as if trying to figure out his footing, to find answers to what happened to him. "Girls…I think we should calm down. Let's let him explain. I don't think he means to harm us, or he would have showed his intent to do so already." She spoke with a calm and precise tone as the two looked to her.

"Ami…" Rei glanced back to the boy. "Fine…let's hear him out…"
"Are you sure?" Makoto glanced back as the blue hair girl nodded. Makoto's emerald eyes gazed at her for a while before taking a deep breath and turning her attention back to the red-haired boy. "Fine. I trust Ami's instincts…explain yourself." She demanded.

Katsuro gave a sigh of relief as he lowered his guard. He grunted a little from the pain but tried to focus on the matter at hand. "Alright. What I'm about to tell you may seem unbelievable and just downright impossible. I'm still trying to wrap my mind around it. As I said. My name is Katsuro Takahashi. I'm also known as the Phoenix Knight where I come from…from the universe I come from." He began to explain.

Universe? Why would he explain it like that? Rei turned her gaze to Makoto as the brunette shrugged and shook her head as an 'I don't know'. She then turned to Ami who's eyes were fixated on him. She turned her look back as well. "What do you mean by…universe?"

"Well, I'm sure you've all faced and done the impossible before. In fact I know. I'll explain. But to keep it short. I think…I've been thrown into a parallel universe. The best way I can think of putting is is…I think got isekai'd." He scratched the back of his head, still really confused himself.