Things seemed to settle down for a few days; something Usagi was grateful for, since she didn't want her grades getting any worse than they already were. But, just as she was starting to think she'd have the chance to settle back into her routine and not have to worry about being a heroine of justice, something happened to pull her back into that life. But, even when that happened, it seemed like just the start of another ordinary day.
"Usa-ko? Usa-ko!" she felt Trevor shaking her, gently at first, and then more urgently. "Come on, Usa-ko. You weren't going to try to sleep in all morning on a school day, were you?"
Trevor sounded like he was trying not to laugh, and as Usagi sat up in bed, she stuck her tongue out at him.
"I'm glad to see you're getting up on time, Usagi-chan."
Looking down over the side of her bed, Usagi saw a very familiar cat sitting by Trevor's feet. "Luna-sensei! What are you doing back?"
"Your mission isn't finished, Usagi-chan. The Dark Kingdom isn't going to just give up after the loss of one of its monsters. There are going to be many more monsters, each of them aiming to carry on the Dark Kingdom's work in this world! Your mission has only just begun!"
"So, it is just like Sailor V," she muttered.
Really, Usagi didn't know what to think about that. She'd found out just what it was really like to be a heroine of justice during that first fight with that monster, and while Usagi didn't know if she was quite cut out for things like this, she knew that if she didn't fight against these monsters, there was no one else who could. She wouldn't let anyone else suffer when she had the power to help them, but all the same, she didn't want to get killed.
She knew all too well, now, that that was more than possible.
Going through her morning routine, Usagi sighed as she heard the alarm start going off. It was nice that she probably wasn't going to end up being late again, but she couldn't quite help wishing that it was still the weekend. Or else, that school started later.
Maybe in the afternoon, she mused, smiling dreamily up until she felt someone familiar shaking her by the shoulders.
"Usa-ko, we really should get going now," Trevor said, smiling gently.
"Right!" she nodded sharply.
The two of them went quickly down the stairs, collecting their respective lunches – stopping just long enough to thank Mom for preparing it for them – and jogged out the door. Trevor leaned forward as she climbed up onto his back, and Usagi kissed him on the back of the head to thank him for that. Trevor was such a kind person; even after everything that had happened to him, he still tried to help everyone that he could.
When the two of them reached the school, Usagi winced. While they weren't quite as late as they could have been, they still hadn't gotten to class on time.
"Sorry," Trevor muttered softly, as he crouched slightly to let her climb down off of his back.
"It's not your fault, Trevor-nii," she said, turning to look back at him as he looked up at the school's big clock.
"Maybe I could have been faster," he muttered, pressing his right hand against his heart for just a moment.
"Don't worry about it, Trevor-nii," she said, reaching out to take the both of his hands as the two of them made their way to Haruna-sensei's classroom.
All of the other students were already inside, and Usagi could only hope that Haruna-sensei hadn't settled down to call role yet. When Usagi came into the classroom, Haruna-sensei glared at her.
"Go stand in the hall, you two," Haruna-sensei snapped, pointing out the door.
"Yes, Haruna-sensei," Trevor sighed. "Sorry."
The two of them went to stand in the hall, Usagi leaning gently against Trevor's left shoulder as she gently hugged his arm. Even though the two of them had gotten in trouble again, she was at least happy to have Trevor around.
"Umino-san? What are you doing out here?" she asked; he hadn't been late to class at all.
"Well, that's kind of… hard to explain," Umino said, ducking his head and blushing. "Uh, Trevor-kun? Could I talk to you a bit later?"
"All right," Trevor said, though he still sounded a bit confused.
"Thank you, Trevor-kun!" Umino said, almost jumping in front of her brother in his hurry to bow. "Thank you so much!"
"He's kind of weird," she said, looking at where Umino had gone. "You know?"
"Yeah," Trevor said, and Usagi looked back to see the thoughtful expression that he was wearing.
~SM~
Later, when lunch came around, Trevor found Umino standing under a tree looking very serious.
"What did you want to talk to me about, Umino-san?" he asked, as he came up to the tree that the shorter boy was leaning against.
"I was wondering… well…" Umino looked down, grinning and blushing. "Would you mind if I took Usagi-chan out on a date?"
"What?" he blinked; Umino hadn't shown much of an interest in Usagi at all, as far as he'd seen. "You're really interested?"
"Yeah!" Umino said, nodding enthusiastically. "I wanted to talk to you about it, before I started trading diaries with her, and then went to talk to her… Well, both of your parents, about the future."
"I don't think Usagi would mind," he said, coming to stand under the shade of the tree so he could lean against it, too. "But, what brought this on? I don't remember you ever being interested in Usagi before, Umino-san."
"I just didn't want to be a bother," Umino said, reaching for something in his pocket. "But, then when I made this fortune teller game, I found out that Usagi-chan and I are supposed to get married!"
"Married?" he echoed.
"Oh, don't worry! Don't worry, Trevor-kun! I'll be a great husband to Usagi-chan! I'll take care of her, just like you do now!"
"You're moving too fast, Umino-san," he said, not wanting to be rude by shaking the younger boy's shoulders, but tempted to do so all the same. "Besides, that game of yours isn't anything like a real fortune teller."
"Ah, you're right!" Umino exclaimed, reaching out to grab both of his hands. "Trevor-kun, will you go to the fortune teller with me? I want to see just how happy we're all going to be together!"
"I guess I could go," he said, still feeling a bit uneasy about how fast Umino was trying to move things along, but also feeling like he was a bit more in control, under the circumstances.
"Great! I'll go ask Naru-chan about that new fortune teller she mentioned!" Umino bowed deeply. "See you after class, Trevor-niisan!"
Umino ran off, just as Trevor had been about to call him back. Sighing as he lowered his hand, Trevor turned back toward the school. Classes were going to begin again soon, and that meant that he was due back; though he wasn't sure if he should talk to Usagi about this or not.
~SM~
After class, he and Umino met up outside the school.
"I'll meet you at home, Trevor-nii!" Usagi called, waving to him as she jogged quickly away from the school building.
"See you soon, Usa-ko!" he called, waving to her as she left him behind in turn.
"Trevor-niisan, thank you for coming," Umino said, bowing deeply. "Naru-chan told me about this new fortune teller in Juuban! She said that they had just opened yesterday, and everyone's already talking about them!"
"All right, Umino-san," he said, nodding as he let the younger boy lead him on their way to this new fortune teller.
He hadn't heard of this new fortune teller that Naru, and now Umino, evidently knew about, but then Usagi was the one who had always been more interested in those kinds of things than he was. Keeping pace with Umino as the two of them made their way into Juuban, Trevor caught a glimpse of Usagi making her own way back home. He smiled softly, as the two of them caught each other's eyes and waved; he'd see her again once they both made it home.
As he followed Umino through the streets, he wondered what this new fortune teller would be like. He and Usagi sometimes passed an old man who told fortunes on their way to school, and though he'd never been particularly interested in going there himself, he'd often waited nearby while Usagi went up to have her palm read or other things.
"Come on, Trevor-niisan!" Umino said, waving him forward as the two of them made it to the building.
"It's a bit ostentatious, don't you think?" he asked, staring up at the lighted sign over the building; it reminded him a lot of OSA-P, but that was a jewelry store, so it fit that it would be that way.
This didn't make much sense at all.
"I'm sure it's all right, Trevor-niisan," Umino said, smiling back at him.
"Yeah," he said, following the younger boy into the softly-lit interior of the building.
A long-haired, good-looking woman came out to greet the two of them. She was dressed in long, pale lilac robes, with blue-black hair that hung neatly down her back, and straight-cut bangs.
"So, which one of you will be going in first?" the fortune teller asked, looking between the two of them.
"I will! I'll go first! Trevor-niisan, you don't mind, do you?"
"No," he said, with a soft chuckle; this was starting to remind him of being with Usagi, and he couldn't help but wonder just what the two of them would be like together. "I don't mind, Umino-kun."
"Wait out here, then, Trevor-san," the fortune teller said, smiling at him. "You'll be the next, after I'm finished with him."
"Yeah." He nodded as she left.
When the fortune teller had been gone for several long minutes, Trevor began to see other people – mostly students like him and Umino – slowly filtering into the Fortune House. They all formed into a semi-neat line, some of them looking at him curiously for a few moments before they dismissed him as just having gotten there before them. Continuing to wait, wondering for a moment what Umino and the fortune teller were talking about, Trevor almost thought about asking.
But no; that kind of thing was private, and he wasn't going to go sticking his nose in just because of his own curiosity.
The fortune teller lead Umino out just after he'd resolved himself to that, turning a pleasant smile on him as she caught his eye.
"It's your turn now, Trevor-san. Come with me."
"All right."
Umino slapped his left shoulder in passing, and Trevor turned a curious look on the younger boy as he passed. He's never been quite that forward before, he mused. Still, it was probably that whatever the fortune teller had said had given Umino some more confidence; or it could be that he was just happy about whatever it was that he'd heard.
"Here, Trevor-san; sit down facing me," the fortune teller said.
"Yes," he nodded, settling himself down into the only other chair in the room, opposite the fortune teller and facing her head-on.
She began to shuffle a deck of light blue cards; she seemed to have been at this for a long time, since she was so good at it.
"Now, Trevor-san: give me your hand."
"All right," he said; maybe this was what everyone who used these kinds of cards did.
He let her put his right hand on top of the deck of cards, feeling the fortune teller gently stroke the back of it from the base of his wrist to the tips of his fingers.
"That will do nicely, Trevor-kun," she said, smiling at him as he pulled his hand back and rested it in his lap again.
"Yeah."
This kind of thing was a bit theatrical for his taste, but he'd come here to support Umino, and it would have been rude to just walk out when he was called by name. Watching as the fortune teller began to carefully lay out her cards in a circular pattern, placing a single one at the center, Trevor wondered just what it was that she was going to tell him. He hadn't come here with any driving questions in mind, but now that he was here he was beginning to wonder if he should have tried to think up at least one.
The fortune teller blew across the tops of her cards, somehow causing them to all stand up on end.
"Wow," he couldn't help but say, even as the cards toppled over with their face-sides up.
"Look into my eyes, Trevor-kun."
"Eh?"
When he turned his attention to her, though, wondering for a moment if he'd heard right and wanting to ask about it, Trevor felt… like he was staring down from a high place, looking deep into… something that shone with a far-off light. He could feel it, deep inside him; the light was pulsing in time with his heartbeat, and he was beginning to hear… someone speaking.
"…research…our legacy… carry… into the future…"
Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Trevor blinked up at the fortune teller as she stared at him in what looked like surprise.
"Is something wrong, miss?"
"No," she said, tilting her head slightly as she smiled at him. "No; nothing's wrong, Trevor-kun. You have a very interesting aura." Her eyes locked with his, and for a moment Trevor shuddered as everything seemed to rush away from him.
He saw the far-off light again, and all he could say to it was… "Yes; I will."
"That's wonderful," the fortune teller said, smiling gently at him as she pulled something out from under the table. "Now, just look deeply into the flame; let all your thoughts fall away."
He shivered; after everything that had happened, even this small fire made him uncomfortable. Tilting his head slightly, as he continued staring into the flame of the candle as it flickered in his vision, Trevor felt like he was back inside that room the air that he had to force himself to breathe searing his lungs, but worse, so much worse was the horrible pain in his back.
He couldn't even feel the weight pinning him to the floor; all he could feel was his skin charring and burning, and all he could hear… Shuddering as he came back to his senses, Trevor tensed slightly as he felt the fortune teller's hand resting on his shoulder. When she pressed a gentle kiss against the crown of his skull, Trevor blinked in surprise.
He couldn't help wondering, again, just what had happened when Umino had had his fortune read by this woman; he was starting to think about asking, but that would have to wait till later.
"Trevor-kun."
Looking up at the sound of the fortune teller's voice, Trevor forced down a noise of surprise as she gently wrapped her left arm around his neck, pulling him close and whispering… something in his ear.
"Go on now, Trevor-kun," she said, smiling enigmatically at him.
Bowing, even though he still felt a bit off-balance from all of the strange things he'd seen today, Trevor made his way out of the room. Even thinking back on it, Trevor found that he still couldn't remember just what it was that the fortune teller had said to him. It was strange; maybe he should talk to Usagi about this, once the two of them met back up at home.
~SM~
When she heard her dad calling to her, Usagi turned back and cheerfully called out to him in return. "Are you out shopping?"
"Yeah," Dad said, laughing kindly as he smiled. "I got off early for a change, and your mom came to pick me up."
"That was sweet; you and Mom are so good for each other," she said.
"Well, since I leave all of the household chores to your mom, this is really the least I can do to repay her," Dad said, holding up the shopping bags as he said that.
Thinking of Dad… well, it kind of reminded her of Motoki, in a way. She was sure that Motoki would be just like him; just as good a person, and just as good a husband when she finally worked up the nerve to ask him out. He'd even made friends with Trevor, so that made things even easier!
"Oh, Usagi, I meant to ask you this earlier, but what are you doing all the way out here? It's not a good habit, to be wandering all over the city after school like this."
She laughed, feeling a bit sheepish. "Well, Trevor-nii and Umino-kun went somewhere together, so I figured I'd meet him on his way back home."
"He was going with Umino?" Dad asked, looking curious. "Did either of them say where they were going?"
"Well, no," she admitted. "But, the two of us were far enough away that we would have had to yell to each other, and that would have been too loud."
"I guess that's all right," Dad said, looking more like he understood. "Usagi? Why is that cat following us?"
"Eh?" looking back, Usagi was surprised to see that Luna-sensei following closely behind them while they walked. "Oh, that's Luna," Usagi only just managed to keep herself from adding –sensei to that. Dad would have thought that it was weird; really, when she thought about it, Usagi thought it was weird. "She's a friend of mine, and Trevor-nii's, too."
"You two have some strange friends," Dad said.
All Usagi could do in response to that was chuckle. "Yeah; I guess we do."
Her and Dad went their separate ways, Usagi turning her attention to searching for Trevor so that the two of them could walk home together. Soon enough, she'd spotted him, and she smiled widely as she hurried over to meet with him.
"Is something wrong, Trevor-nii?" she asked, seeing the look on his face; like he was thinking about something, but hadn't figured anything out yet.
"Umino-kun and I went to the House of Fortune in Juuban," Trevor-nii said, as the two of them paced each other on the way back home. "I don't know what she said to him, but he was…" Trevor-nii paused for a moment, and Usagi wondered what he was going to say. "Well, he was more forward than he's been before."
"Oh," Usagi said, scratching her chin as she thought about what it might be like; Umino had always been weird and kind of shy. So, would he be weird and forward now? "Did the fortuneteller say anything to you, Trevor-nii?"
There was a strange sort of look on her brother's face; like he wasn't quite sure what to think again. "Nothing that I can really remember now," Trevor-nii said, though there was still that look on his face.
"Well, I guess it wasn't anything interesting, then," she said, wrapping her arms around Trevor's as the two of them continued on their way home.
~SM~
When he and Usagi had made it back home, Trevor was still turning over what the fortuneteller had said to him. It hadn't been important, at least not what he could remember of it, but it had just been so strange that he couldn't get it out of his head. It wasn't going to help him get to sleep, though, so Trevor knew that he would have to put it out of his mind if he was going to be up in time for school tomorrow.
So, when he and Usagi made it back to their room so that they could start working on their respective homework, Trevor put aside the strange things that the fortuneteller had said – and not said – to him back when he had been sitting in her workroom while she laid out that spread of cards; he didn't need to think about them anymore.
He was the one who pulled out the divider-screen that night, allowing the two of them to get changed into their sleepwear, and when he came out from behind the screen, he found that Usagi had rolled out his futon for him.
He smiled. "Thank you, Usa-ko."
The two of them hugged briefly, and Trevor settled down into his covers, pulled them up to his neck, and closed his eyes.
Sometime later, he didn't know how much time and at the moment he was far too frantic to look at Usagi's clock, Trevor snapped back into awareness; his heart pounding frantically and the remembered smell of flames and smoke burning his nostrils. Heaving himself out of his futon as quietly as he could manage in his state, Trevor made his way quickly out of his and Usagi's room, down the hall, and to the kitchen.
He hadn't had such a horrible dream, such a horrible memory, since two years ago. And, as he slumped down at the kitchen table, panting heavily from the fear that was still clawing at his mind and heart, Trevor could only think of one thing that could've been responsible for his nightmare tonight; he hadn't been entirely comfortable when the fortuneteller had asked him to stare into the flame of that candle. And, rude or not, he was beginning to wish that he had found a way to talk her out of it.
Finally managing to get control of his breathing, though he could still feel his heart pounding, Trevor levered himself up from the chair he'd been sitting in and quietly made his way back to his and Usagi's room. Opening the door more carefully than he'd ever had to do in the past, Trevor closed it just as carefully, and made his way back over to his futon so that he could actually get some sleep for the night.
~SM~
The next day, Usagi couldn't help but notice that Trevor seemed to be a bit tired. It was kind of strange, since she had always been the one to be tired in the mornings before school started. Sure, Trevor still got her up before the both of them would have been really late, but Usagi could see his hands shaking slightly as the two of them got ready to leave for school that day.
Making up her mind that she would help him out during school didn't take any time at all, and when she and Trevor made it to the school building itself, Usagi had taken Trevor's hand and was squeezing it gently to make sure that her big brother knew that she was going to do everything she could to help him with whatever was bothering him.
When the two of them made their way to their lockers, so they could both gather their supplies, Usagi turned to Trevor again. But, just before she could start to say something to her brother to try and make him feel better, or even just to let Trevor know that she was still there for him, Usagi saw Naru coming over to the two of them.
"Usagi-chan, Trevor-kun, have either of you noticed Umino?" she asked, and Usagi frowned slightly. "Has he said anything to either of you?"
"What would he say?" she asked, as Naru stood back up after getting into her locker.
"That he likes you," Naru said, smiling widely.
Usagi felt as if her entire body had seized up. "What?!"
"But, he's too shy to bring himself to tell you," Naru said, wrapping both of her arms around Usagi's left.
"Usagi, let's go on a date," said another voice; she would have sworn that it sounded like Umino, but the tone wasn't like him at all.
Turning to look behind her, as she felt Naru doing the same, Usagi found to her shock that it really was Umino who had said such a strange thing. Really, it was more forward than he'd ever been before.
"What happened to you?" she asked; not knowing what to make of how Umino was acting now, and not sure she liked it at all.
"You can't go to school dressed like that," Naru exclaimed.
"Good morning, Trevor-niisan," Umino said, making his way over to where the three of them were all standing together; it was like he hadn't even heard them at all! "I'm going to be dating your sister, Trevor-niisan. I'll take good care of her, just like you always did."
When Umino clapped Trevor on the right shoulder, Usagi turned her attention back to her brother. He didn't look very well, leaving Usagi to wonder just how she was going to be able to help him get through the day. He'd already done so much for her, that she wouldn't have felt right if she didn't do everything she could to help him when he wasn't feeling well.
"Oh, that's good to hear, Umino-kun," Trevor said, sounding like he wasn't quite hearing everything that Umino had just said. "I'm sorry, but I didn't sleep very well last night," Trevor said, looking like he was struggling to hold back a yawn.
Usagi patted Trevor's left arm, but before she could say anything to reassure her older brother, Haruna-sensei came into the room. "Umino, what are you doing, wearing that to school?!" All Umino did in response was pull out a small loaf of bread and take a bite out of it. "Umino, what do you think you're doing?!"
Umino walked right past Haruna-sensei without saying a word, but then he flipped her skirt right up! "This is what I'm doing!"
As Haruna-sensei started wailing, Usagi couldn't help but stare at Umino as he strode out of the room; he was almost strutting. It wasn't like Umino at all!
"Trevor-nii…" she trailed off, just as she was about to ask her older brother if anything strange had happened to the two of them yesterday.
Trevor didn't look very good: he was leaning back against the row of lockers that they had all been standing in front of, with his eyes half-closed like he still hadn't quite managed to wake up all the way. He was also breathing kind of heavily, like he'd just run the length of the hallways a few times.
"Trevor-nii… Would you like me to take you to the nurse's office?"
"No," Trevor shook his head, and Usagi could see him trying to catch his breath. "No, Usa-ko, but thank you. I'll be all right."
"Okay," she said, wanting to make sure that Trevor was really all right, but also not wanting to be any later to class than she could really help.
The two of them made their way to the classroom, and Usagi made sure to keep a close watch on how Trevor was doing. She didn't want him to get sick, so she would take him to the nurse's office if he didn't get better before their first class ended. Helping Trevor get settled into a seat next to hers, Usagi looked over at Umino as he started laughing loudly.
She couldn't believe he was doing something so disruptive as reading humor manga in class, and right in front of Haruna-sensei, too! Haruna-sensei seemed really mad about that, and was just starting to come toward the desk where Umino was sitting, when Usagi saw her gaze shift to look over at Trevor.
"Tsukino-san, do you need to go to the nurse's office?"
Usagi turned to look over at Trevor as he sat back up suddenly, his eyes snapping back open, but only staying that way for a few seconds before they started falling closed again. "I… I'm sorry, Haruna-sensei, but I think I should."
"I think you should, too, Tsukino-san," Haruna-sensei said, with a sharp nod. "Usagi-san, can you make sure your brother gets there without collapsing in the hallway?"
"Yes, Haruna-sensei," she said, nodding as she stood up and wrapped her arms around Trevor's right.
Helping him to stand up, Usagi bit her lower lip as she felt him swaying almost dangerously as the two of them began making their way out of the classroom. Looking over at her brother once the two of them were safely in the hall, Usagi saw that Trevor's eyes were only a bit less than half-open as the two of them walked. He didn't look good at all!
Then and there, Usagi decided that she would do everything she could to take care of him; the same way that he'd done to protect her.
Talking briefly to the nurse, Usagi helped Trevor to get settled in the bed, taking off his shoes and settling them neatly at the foot of it so that he'd be able to get the sleep he needed.
"Usa-ko," her brother's voice, weaker and more tired than she'd ever heard it before, made Usagi turn her head to look back at him.
"What is it, Trevor-nii?"
"Thank you." He looked away briefly, seeming embarrassed. "And, I'm sorry."
"You don't have to be sorry for anything, Trevor-nii," she said, nodding firmly at him. "Just, make sure you get better, all right?"
"I'll do my best," he said, his eyes already starting to slip closed again.
Nodding to herself as she left, Usagi made her way back to the classroom where Haruna-sensei and the other students were all waiting for her; she would have to collect Trevor's homework, but it would be a small price to pay to see her older brother get better. She hoped he would be all right after some sleep, at least.
~SM~
Smoke; he could smell smoke, and the scent of fire all around him. Panting, trying to pull in air that was almost too hot to breathe, Trevor struggled also to pull himself out from under the weight that pinned him to the floor. He could smell the flesh of his back charring, though the feel of it was far worse than any smell could ever be…
The feel of someone grabbing his hand prompted Trevor to look up, but with the fires all around him he couldn't see anything. As more and more hands grabbed onto him, Trevor let himself relax a bit as they all pulled him up and away from the hungry fires all around him…
~SM~
As they made their way down the street, back to the House of Fortune where Balm-sama had called them, Umino looked back at Trevor-kun as he continued to stumble along behind them. He looked like he was still asleep, but that was all right: Balm-sama had said that Trevor-kun was one touched by Death, so that meant that he would be different no matter where he was. It was all right; Balm-sama would know what to do with him.
As their group continued on their way back to the House of Fortune, Umino and Trevor-kun in the lead, and his four other friends trailing along not far behind them, Umino smiled as he let them all in. Balm-sama was there waiting for them, just like she said she was going to be, and as he pulled Trevor-kun into the room behind him, he looked back only once. Trevor-kun still had his eyes closed, just like he'd had when Umino and the others had found him.
Taking him over to Balm-sama, Umino smiled when she took Trevor-kun's hand.
"You've all done well to bring me this one," Balm-sama said, smiling as she pulled Trevor-kun to stand next to her. "Now, go out and do as much damage as you can!"
He laughed. "Sounds fun."
All of the others were just starting to turn around, when someone burst in through the doors.
"You know what's worse than people who wantonly destroy things that don't belong to them? People who have no considerations for the feelings of others!"
~SM~
She might have been a bit scared by the monster that she was facing now, but seeing all of those people who had been trapped by this monster – seeing Trevor-nii as a prisoner of whatever monster this was – made her as angry as she'd ever been at one of these Dark Kingdom creatures. "I am the Pretty Guardian who fights for love and justice! Sailor Moon! In the name of the moon, I will punish you!"
Just after she was finished speaking, the monster that had been running the House of Fortune threw a handful of cards at her. All of them were sharp enough to stick in the wall, and one of them nearly went though her head!
"Hey! Watch it!"
The monster who had been running the House of Fortune transformed back into her real form – something that looked a lot more like a Mountain Hag than the pretty woman she'd looked like before – and then she… did something to almost all of the other students that made them all start looking a lot like the same kind of things that the monster-woman had transformed back into. It was scary, especially the way that all of the ones who'd been changed like that started to attack her at once.
But she wasn't going to give up! All of these people were depending on her to help them, even though they all looked about as scary as the monster woman who had been running the House of Fortune. She wasn't going to give up here just because things were a little scary. That wasn't something that Trevor-nii would do.
Gathering herself as best as she could manage, Usagi backed slightly away from the crowds of brainwashed students, searching for some way that she might be able to get past them without having to hurt any of them. These were still innocent people, and a heroine of justice couldn't go and hurt innocent people unless there was no other choice. There didn't seem to be any choice for her, though: that monster was hiding behind all of the students she had brainwashed, leaving no chance for Usagi to get past them to fight her without having to at least shove some of them aside, and she didn't know what the monster would do to the ones who couldn't fight.
It was as bad as that other monster she had had to fight against when Naru-chan and her mother had been in danger; Trevor-nii had been there then, too.
Just as she was gathering herself for a jump, since she could probably make it over the crowd that was between her and the monster without any of them getting hurt, two things happened almost at once: the monster pushed its right hand against Trevor-nii's chest and her brother crumpled to the ground without even making a sound, and something fast slashed across the monster's eyes and knocked the thing to the ground.
"Sailor Moon, you can't let yourself be distracted!"
"Thank you, Tuxedo Kamen!" she called, feeling her cheeks getting warm even as she tried not to blush; he was just so cool!
"Farewell, Sailor Moon! Until we meet again."
"Thank you, Tuxedo Kamen!" she called back, even as Tuxedo Kamen ran out of the room.
"Sailor Moon, use your tiara!" Luna-sensei shouted up at her.
"Right!" she called back, gathering herself and her power as she reached up to touch the crystal set in the center of her tiara. "Moon Tiara Action!"
The tiara, spinning and glowing so brightly that it looked like one of the Frisbees that Shingo liked to play with, slammed into the monster and it screamed before dissolving into ash. Usagi was relieved to know that she wouldn't have to fight her way past any of the innocent people who the monster had been controlling, but there was one last thing that she had to do: turning around, she saw even more cards floating above the heads of the students that that evil monster had taken control of with those evil Dark Kingdom powers that it had.
Snapping her fingers, Usagi watched them disappear with a certain pleasure; all of the students were safe now!
"Take care, everyone!" she called to them, as she ran out of the room, herself.
She almost wanted to go back for Trevor-nii, but Luna-sensei had said that no one was supposed to know about her being Sailor Moon, so she couldn't have gone back for Trevor-nii no matter how much she was worried about him. She would just have to remember to check up on him when the two of them met again.
~SM~
Blinking in surprise as he watched the strange girl in the sailor fuku run out of the room, Umino watched as the other students began to shuffle around.
"Trevor-kun?" he called, as the others in the room began to confusedly mill out the door. "Trevor-kun, where are you?"
The sound of someone's soft breathing drew his attention to a figure that had been lying crumpled on the floor, a familiar figure-
"Trevor-kun!"
Rushing over to the now fitfully-moving figure on the thickly-carpeted floor of the House of Fortune, Umino crouched down beside him. "Trevor-kun, what happened to you?"
Trevor's eyes fluttered, opening slightly. "Umino-san?"
"Don't worry, Trevor-kun," he said, pulling the older boy back to his feet so that the two of them could make their way out of the House of Fortune before anything else could happen to them. "I'll get you out of here."
Letting Trevor lean against him so that the two of them would be able to make their way out – since there was no way that he'd ever be able to pick up Trevor and carry him, though that was probably something that would have really impressed Usagi – Umino lead the two of them out of the building. He didn't know what had been going on with everyone who'd been at the House of Fortune right now, but he was at least going to get Trevor out of here.
He almost started discussing what had gone on with Trevor, but then he saw that Usagi's older brother was nearly asleep on his feet, Umino thought better of it. When he saw that Usagi herself was just starting to make her way down the sidewalk over to him, he smiled in passing, though he was still worried about Trevor.
~SM~
"Umino-san! Trevor-nii!" she called out, having changed back once she was out of sight of anyone who might have come into view of the House of Fortune. "Are you both all right?"
"Well, I am; but I don't really know about Trevor-kun," Umino said, a worried expression on his face.
She could see why: Trevor-nii's eyes were hardly open, and it looked like he was struggling even to keep them that way. "Come on," she said, going over to Trevor-nii's left side so that she could take the arm that Umino wasn't holding. "I'll help you get him back home."
"Thanks, Usagi-san," Umino said, and usagi thought she could hear him smile.
As the three of them continued on their way back to the house that her family all shared, Usagi found herself worrying about Trevor. Sure, he had some kind of energy inside him that would help him to recover from things like this just like he'd managed to before, but she couldn't help feeling that he wouldn't have gotten in trouble like this in the first place if she'd just managed to defeat that Dark Kingdom monster sooner.
Sighing as she held Trevor-nii's arm a bit more tightly as the three of them continued on their way back to her family's home, Usagi could feel that Trevor-nii was starting to wake up a bit. That was good; since while Luna-sensei had told her that it was important for her not to let anyone else know that she was Sailor Moon, she would always worry about Trevor-nii when he was hurt. After such an awful thing had happened to Trevor-nii in the past, Usagi had made up her mind to protect him as best she could.
It was only fair, after all that he tried to do for her.
When the three of them finally made it back to her and Trevor-nii's house, Umino bowed more deeply to her than he ever had before.
"Usagi-san, forgive me. I'm sorry for not looking after your brother the way I should have."
"It's all right, Umino-san," she said, helping Trevor-nii to stand back on his feet since he seemed to be recovering even as she and Umino talked. "I'm just glad that you were there to help."
She nodded deeply to him, since she couldn't very well bow with Trevor-nii holding onto her while he was still trying to wake up, and Umino bowed again as he left. Just as she was turning around so that she could open the front door and let them both in, the door was opened right in front of her.
"Usagi, is Trevor all right?" mom asked, though Usagi thought for a moment that she was going to ask something else.
"I don't think Trevor-nii managed to get much sleep last night," she said, looking over at Trevor-nii's face; it looked like he'd actually managed to start waking up.
"I know; I didn't…" Trevor-nii shook his head, and Usagi patted his left shoulder; she hoped he'd be feeling better soon. "I'm sorry, mother."
"You'd both better come inside," mom said, stepping aside so that she and Trevor-nii could come back in.
"Thank you," Trevor-nii said softly, smiling for the first time that day. "Both of you."
"It's all right, Trevor-nii," she said, hugging him a bit closer as the two of them made their way back to her room.
She was glad that Shingo at least hadn't shown up to make a pest of himself the way he did sometimes. She wondered briefly if he'd just come out later to bother them. She hoped he wouldn't, but even after so many years together she couldn't really say what Shingo was going to do. Still, since she was helping Trevor-nii, Shingo might just let the two of them go. She hoped so, at least.
Once the two of them had made it back to the room that she and Trevor-nii both shared, she pulled him over to her bed so that the two of them could sit down.
"Usa-ko, I'm sorry I caused you so much trouble today," Trevor-nii said, raising his head slightly, though his eyes were still falling closed slightly. "Please, forgive me."
"Trevor-nii, you shouldn't say things like that," she said. "Why don't you lay down? I'm sure you'll feel better after you do."
She helped him lay down, tucking Trevor-nii into her bed so that he could take a nap to make up for the sleep that he clearly hadn't gotten last night, and finally pulled up her blanket so that it came to just below his neck. Kissing him on his left cheek, Usagi patted his head.
"Get some sleep, Trevor-nii," she said, smiling down at him. "I promise I'll take care of you."
Making her way over to the place where Trevor-nii stored his futon, Usagi pulled it out and began to set it up for herself. She knew that it would be better for Trevor-nii if he got as much sleep as he could, so that he would feel better when tomorrow came. Looking up as she gathered up the futon and set it up, Usagi smiled as she saw the peaceful expression on Trevor-nii's face.
Whatever else happened, she would do everything she could to protect him; that was the promise that he had made to her, so it was only fair that she made the same one to him.