The Wild Wind And The Scarlet Sea
By: Jaqui K
Chapter 4: Visits Part 2
Ami had several things that she needed to discuss with her friend as they left the hospital. Naturally, she made sure to wait until they were alone and out of listening distance of anyone first, which partially involved hurrying out of the way of a duel between a Chinese girl wielding chui and a girl in classic food vendor garb who was fighting with an oversized baker's peel of all things. Being by themselves as they continued towards the train station was especially important for her initial question.
"Usagi, why did you transform at the hospital?"
She looked over as the blonde girl let out a sigh. "Yeah, I get it. The doctor disguise wasn't really needed. It's just…the hospital thing reminded me about when we first met, and I wanted to look really cool for you again."
Ami blinked at Usagi's admission. "I do appreciate your efforts to be more proactive, but that wasn't what I was referring to. Why did you turn into Sailor Moon in front of Akane Tendo? If Luna were here, she would be talking your ear off right now about revealing your identity to a stranger like that."
"Huh?" Usagi had a look of confusion on her face that might have been genuine. "But I didn't do that."
"Usagi, I was able to feel the power of your energy all the way from the cafeteria. In addition, I noted the way Akane was acting when we returned to the room, as well as the much improved condition of Nabiki Tendo." She couldn't help but give a small smile to her friend. "Well, at the very least, you managed to get your answer to that particular question.."
"Yeah, but I think it was just cause she got attacked by that monster," Usagi said with a dejected tone. "Turns out she did visit that Mugen place and just didn't tell anybody until after. Oh!" she quickly added. "I didn't transform though. I just used the Ginzuishou by itself."
"Usagi!"
"Hey, it's fine!" Usagi whined out. "Akane already promised that she wouldn't tell anyone. Plus, she's a really nice person and we're friends now and we're going to find time soon to hang out together and maybe Ranma will come along too? Oh, did you know that Ranma is both a girl and a boy? I think that's really cool!"
"Yes," Ami responded with a curt nod. "I did get to witness the change myself." It was indeed quite fascinating. Ami was certainly no stranger to magic at this point. In fact, she could consider herself to have been fully saturated in it over the past several months. Still, she couldn't help but find herself in wonder at Ranma Saotome's transformation. In addition, it was quite clear that it wasn't just a physical thing, especially with Ranma's statement of being 'actually a girl right now' well before the water was poured over her head.
"I wanted to ask her more about it," Ami noted while allowing a slight bit of frustration to leak through. "Unfortunately, my time ended up being spent needing to explain to my mother that you and I are not actually dating."
"What? But I have a boyfriend," Usagi pointed out.
"Yes, but you failed to mention him in the short time you were with my mother." Ami could feel a slight heat forming in her cheeks. "Even with how crowded the room was, I have my suspicions that the way I was standing so close to you may have given her the wrong impression." She allowed a tiny sigh to escape her lips. "I brought her hopes up, only to disappoint her once again."
"Hey now, Ami," Usagi responded with a reassuring smile. "You'll find someone, I just know it. Heck, if I never actually met my Mamo-chan, heaven forbid, I probably would be dating you right now!"
Ami could feel the heat on her face rising just a bit more. "I…I appreciate you trying to cheer me up, even though you have to lie to do it."
"I'm not lying," Usagi said, putting an arm around Ami's shoulder and pulling her close. At this point, Ami couldn't help but wonder if the heat from her face would be able to warm up water enough to cause Ranma to turn back to her male form. "You are an amazing genius on top of being an absolute cutie! Anyone out there would be super lucky to be with you. Trust me."
A face immediately flashed in Ami's mind, giving a beautiful, warm smile as her long brown ponytail fluttered in the wind behind her. A tightness started to build in her chest before she quickly shook all of that off. No, that would never be possible. She doesn't see me that way. Besides, she is still pining after her old senpai.
"I suppose," Ami muttered out before changing the subject to something more important. "Usagi, if you do meet with Ranma again, please be careful."
"Huh? Ami, you're not being weird about the girl and boy thing, are you?" Usagi asked with a note of hurt in her voice.
"No, of course not," Ami replied, almost flinching at the accusation from her friend. "There is something else, though. When you used the Ginzuishou at the hospital, I noticed that Ranma was also able to sense it."
"Really?" Usagi blinked a couple of times at this information. "What do you think that means?"
Ami shook her head slowly. "I don't know."
A few hours later, 5 girls found themselves in the center of the man made Triangle Isles located in the heart of Tokyo Bay, and they were staring up at the impressive skyscraper which housed Mugen Academy. However, what these girls were feeling at the moment was anything but wonder.
"The aura around this building is very strong," Rei noted. "There is most definitely a power here. A dangerous one."
"Hmmm…" Ami could also sense something wrong with this area, and she pulled out her pocket sized computer to help confirm her suspicions. "Yes, there is some type of anomaly here. I'm not certain what it is yet, but there is a noticeable distortion in the spatial density of this whole island."
"Minako? What's wrong?" Usagi asked with worry.
Ami looked up from her computer to see the girl was looking over at one of the surrounding skyscrapers with a concerned expression on her face.
"I keep getting this feeling that someone is watching us," Minako said.
"I bet it's the ones who hurt Akane's sister!" Usagi now had a serious look as she turned back to the steps that lead up to Mugen Academy. "We need to go and punish them in the name of The Moon!"
"First we need to get in there and find whoever is doing this," Makoto noted, looking at the numerous security cameras around the area and the guards at the entrance. "Not sure how we're going to get past all that though."
"Don't worry everyone," Usagi said with a dangerously confident grin. "I can take care of it." She then pulled out a particular looking pen.
Ami somehow managed to summon the strength to avoid facepalming completely. "Usagi, do you recall what happened at the hospital?"
"It's fine, Ami," Usagi said with a dismissive wave. "This time it will be a breeze. Plus, you said you like me being proactive." She gave a wink, then lifted the transformation pen into the air.
Moon Power! Change me into a student that goes to Mugen Academy!
After a quick flash of light, Usagi was now wearing the red and green Mugen Academy uniform, along with a couple of bows wrapped around her hair buns and a pair of admittedly nice looking round framed glasses.
"What did I tell you?" Usagi smiled as she adjusted her glasses. "Now wait here for a bit, I'll check out what's in there."
"Usagi!" the remaining four called out as the girl in question ran inside the building.
"Great, what are we supposed to do now?" Makoto crossed her arms in annoyance. "Just walk around until we find something?"
"What we should be doing is going after her," Rei said with a huff. "That idiot is going to get hurt in there."
"How, though?" Minako asked. "With all that security around, we might as well go to dental school. Hey wait, do you hear that?"
"Huh?" Ami looked up as the music hit her ears. The soothing melody of a violin, drifting from somewhere within Mugen Academy. The four stood in awe, allowing the enchanting song to fully envelop and saturate them. "Wait," Ami said, a sudden realization striking her, "that tune…"
"It's the same one from the hospital." Usagi had been wandering around the lobby area of the immense school building not entirely sure of where to go when the beautiful sounds suddenly struck her. Her feet almost seemed to move on their own as she went off in search of the source. A part of her mind half remembered some story about sailors following beautiful music, but she quickly shook it off as something unimportant. She went through a side door of the school that led into a garden area, the enchanting song seeming to be coming from the other side of a small hedge wall.
Peeking over the hedge, Usagi's eyes widened as she took in the sight of Michiru Kai'ou, standing in the middle of a flower garden, eyes closed and playing that gorgeous melody on her violin. Usagi stood there enraptured, letting the tune wash over her like a gentle wave.
Suddenly the music stopped as Michiru opened her eyes and looked straight at her. Usagi froze, trying to think of any words she could say. All she managed to get out was a very quiet, "That song…"
The aquamarine haired girl slowly lowered her violin as a warm but somewhat distant smile appeared on her face. "Whenever I was sad or upset, my mother used to sing it for me and it would alway make me feel better. But that was a long time ago." The smile then dropped and a sudden coldness appeared behind her deep blue eyes. "You shouldn't be here."
"Leave now if you know what's good for ya."
Ami blinked in shock at the figure now standing in front of them. As soon as the music stopped, he jumped in from seemingly out of nowhere. Haruka Ten'oh. Minako of course had a lovestruck reaction at seeing the boy (and Makoto as well, Ami couldn't help but note dejectedly). However, that immediately changed once he gave his warning with a harsh expression on his face.
"Please listen," Ami said, taking a step forward. "There's something dangerous going on in this school. People are being hurt and-"
"Whatever's going on here has nothing to do with you," Haruka interrupted, his glare softening just a bit as he shifted it directly to her. "I'll show you mercy if you leave now, but if you keep sticking your necks out, you're gonna be the ones hurting. Trust me on that."
Before Ami could give a retort, an arm suddenly appeared in her field of vision. Surprised, she looked to find that Makoto had stepped in front of her and was taking a defensive position. "Don't even think of putting a finger on her! You want to throw down, you'll have to go through me first. That is, if your pretty boy self actually has the guts for it."
The challenge only caused Haruka to narrow his eyes further. "Oh, I definitely know all about you, though I guess you can't say the same about me. Yeah, I heard all those rumors going round saying that I never fight girls." He gave a quite malicious smirk as he started to crack his knuckles. "If you don't get out of here right now, you'll find out just how wrong those rumors are."
Ami saw that Makoto was about to charge in, so she put a hand on the girl's shoulder. As Makoto turned back to look at her, several possible arguments flowed through her mind. Elegant speeches tailor-made to deter her friend from recklessly leaping into a conflict they didn't need at this moment. However, when Makoto's eyes met hers, all of those words suddenly evaporated, and all she could do was simply shake her head in the negative.
Makoto had an expression of shock and it looked like she was ready to protest, but after a moment, she lowered her arms and gave a slow, resigned nod. She turned and gave one more look to Haruka before she started to walk away. Rei and Minako blinked in surprise at what happened, but then quickly followed after her.
Before she left, Ami also gave a quick look back at the boy whose expression softened once more. As she went to catch up to the other girls, she couldn't shake a sudden feeling of familiarity.
Once the four stopped at a nice little enclave area that was out of sight of the main entrance of the school, Makoto allowed her frustrations to show. "Darn it, Ami, why did you stop me from clobbering that jerk? He might be a new enemy."
"Perhaps," Ami admitted, although that thought ended up bothering her for reasons she couldn't quite yet ascertain. "That's precisely why we should be avoiding any conflicts at the moment, especially as Usagi is still in disguise somewhere inside there."
"That idiot," Rei grumbled out. "What the hell was she thinking going off on her own like that. We need to go and find another way in. Who knows what kind of trouble she's getting into right now."
"I…" Usagi's breath caught in her throat as Michiru's cold gaze continued to bore straight through her. She was ready to turn and run as soon as her trembling legs would listen to her, but then an image of a poor girl in a hospital bed flashed in her mind. Slowly steadying herself, she tried to look back with a matching gaze. "I need to be here. Something…bad's going on, and I have to stop it."
Michiru continued her harsh look as she spoke again. "Yes, there is great danger here, and I admire your bravery for coming to this place alone. However, bravery is not enough. Please understand, if you continue down this path, you will be destroyed."
Once more, the urge to flee shot through Usagi. However, an equally strong feeling caused her to be drawn to this woman. She didn't know what it was. Something about her eyes that seemed so…familiar. "I don't care. I have…I have to make sure what happened to Akane…to her sister doesn't happen to anyone else."
The aquamarine haired girl actually looked taken aback at those words. She looked away and muttered something that Usagi couldn't quite make out. Something about timelines? After a few moments, Michiru looked back at her, her cold expression now replaced by one of serene determination. As she stepped up to Usagi on the other side of the low hedge, the blonde haired girl remained frozen in place, unmoving even as a hand went up to cup her cheek. "Tell me, my little rabbit, do you have any regrets?"
"Regrets?" Usagi responded, her voice barely a whisper. "Like what?"
A smile appeared on Michiru's face. Small, yet warm and inviting, like ocean waves against the beach on a summer's day. "Like something I wasn't brave enough to do the first time."
"Hey! What are you doing over there?"
Surprised by the new voice, Usagi quickly pulled back, vaguely aware of just how close to touching their lips almost were. She turned to see a Mugen Academy girl with blonde hair and a red hairband running up. On one sleeve was the armband of a school monitor.
Michiru gave the tiniest of annoyed huffs as she also turned towards the approaching new girl. "Everything is fine, Reina," she said, her smooth voice tinged with a drop of irritation. "This girl is with me."
Before Usagi could visually respond to that, the school monitor Reina girl spoke up. "A new student? I don't recognize you from the registry. Please state your full name and homeroom class!"
Darn it, why is everyone asking my name today? Isn't the disguise enough?
Mind trying and horribly failing at coming up with any reasonable excuse, Usagi did the only thing she could at this point. She ran. That Reina girl chased after her, but it seemed that years of rushing to try and not be late for school actually did count for something. As she left the garden area, she spared one quick look back, catching the brief bit of sadness behind Michiru's eyes.
Usagi was pretty certain that she was able to evade her pursuer, but she quickly realized she managed to end up in the back area of the school on the opposite side of where her friends were waiting. Looking around to see how she could get out of there, a flash of pink odangos caught over by some laboratory building caught her eye. Rushing over, she confirmed that those hair buns did indeed belong to the girl who looked and acted like she was 10 but in actuality was her 900 year old daughter from the future.
"Chibiusa! What are you doing out here by yourself? Don't you realize how dangerous this place is?" Michiru's words briefly flashed in her mind, but she immediately shook them off.
Chibiusa looked surprised at first, but that quickly dropped. "Usagi, my hat that Mama Ikuko gave me blew away and I had to go here to get it. Then I found this girl that looks really hurt, so I went to check on her."
Usagi looked over to see a girl in the Mugen Academy uniform who was around middle school age with dark shoulder length hair. She was kneeling on the ground with a hand up to her chest, clearly in pain. She took a step towards her when there was a sudden flash of light.
"What's going on?" Chibiusa cried out as her heart shaped broach started to glow. Usagi looked down to see her own broach was glowing as well. The Ginzuishou was reacting exactly like it did yesterday right before…
Usagi's eyes widened. "Chibiusa! Get away from her, right now!"
"But Usagi, I-"
"I said do it!" Usagi yelled out, putting a hand up to her broach. She needed to act fast, before the monster took over this girl. She could already see the darkness begin to encroach over her.
Wait…is that a shadow?
She turned to see the massive, misshapen blob of a creature looming over and staring right at them.
"Oh."
Before she could do anything else, the monster lunged forward. However, its target was not herself, but the Mugen Academy girl.
"Look out!" Chibiusa dived towards the girl, managing to grab onto the girl. As they rolled away, the monster slammed into the ground where they just were, debris flying everywhere.
Usagi's breath caught for a moment, then her eyes narrowed. "Hey you…whatever you are, pick on someone your own size!" Apparently that somehow worked as the creature turned to face her. She could feel her legs begin to tremble, but she made sure to stand her ground. She would be brave.
Moon Cosmic
"...if you continue down this path, you will be destroyed."
The attack from yesterday flashed in her mind and she froze up, just as the monster began to charge right at her. "I…I…"
Deep Submerge!
A huge orb of blue suddenly shot in from behind straight at the monster, engulfing it completely and causing it to disintegrate, leaving behind…
"A cat?" Usagi collapsed to her knees. That monster possessed a cat? Why? Why did it try to attack- A gasp escaped her lips. "Chibiusa!" She shakily got to her feet and scrambled over to find both girls on the ground resting against the side of the building. "Are you okay?"
"I…I think so," Chibiusa answered, although she was cradling one of her arms which had a noticeable gash in it.
"You're hurt," the Mugen Academy girl said in a soft voice as she pulled out a large handkerchief. "Here, let me help you."
Usagi couldn't help but feel a not insignificant amount of guilt as the girl she was ready to attack not moments before was carefully tending to her future daughter. Before she could give an apology for her rash actions, she noticed a sudden movement in the corner of her eye. She quickly turned, finding two figures that were retreating into the distance. Even in the darkness, she could make out that they were both wearing Senshi uniforms. One of them took a moment to look back, her long dark hair flowing around her as her cold eyes shined in the moonlight.
Are they the ones who attacked the monster? Who are they? Who…who is she?