DISCLAIMER

The following is a fan-based

FICTION

Bishoujo Sailor Moon + Other series in this story are not owned by me.

Please support the official release.

Chapter 23: Sharing Traumas and Duties

P.S. I now have a discord server! Discord .gg/ceBMM2Zz6c

I barely caught any sleep that night.

I just couldn't close my eyes and ignore what had occurred. The Death Toll had been a dreadful reminder that the Game was far more real- that the series was far too real. Ramifications were expected, I just didn't expect this to translate in so many dead people.

The haunting news report we listened before the entire family went to sleep kept on repeating in my mind. I couldn't forget the images, the videos, the horror of part of Tokyo getting wrecked by what had been the 'classic side-villain attack'.

It got so bad that I ultimately opted to wake up quite early, get myself a cup of coffee (with everything cleaned up before I left the kitchen) and then I got back to my room to look by the window. It was still dark, but I could see several workers moving left and right in trucks, fixing houses, patching streets, removing debris and so on.

The sight was a reminder that this mess was going to hurt the city for a while. It wasn't a deadly injury, but the mere idea so many people died because of a 'rogue radio/tv accident' that 'mind-controlled civilians' was definitely going to damage the truth citizens had over all sort of media.

The pure extent of the damage beyond the loss of life was not something I was thinking of, not when I diverted the last hour of being 'asleep' in crafting some more bombs. The silence within the house only provided a sealed chamber lacking any noise to distract my mind and attention.

My patience was rewarded by the beginning of the day, and the coffee keeping my body up through the morning to not show I didn't sleep. Usagi was tired-looking herself, but she appeared in a better shape- she looked as if she had trouble sleeping herself, but actually got the chance to rest for a few hours.

The same didn't translate for Luna, the feline having a sluggish pace as she yawned and 'meowed' a good morning. I was relieved to hear that all schools were going to offer a two-day break for all Tokyo students to allow them to handle any affair relating the loss of relatives or any damage their current homes sustained.

A moderated choice, but I would have preferred for three days out of wanting extra free time to stomach what happened.

The Dark Kingdom had pushed for something quite extreme and, reasonably so, got exposed to the ultimate risk: a very murderous Moon Knight taking it all out against their main 'physical' leader. With Beryl's death, the Dark Kingdom was supposedly headless.

Metalia lived, but she was sealed away. And as I wasted hours thinking over what could be the ensuing steps for her to take, I realized that this Avatar of Chaos was not in the same position she was when she took control of Beryl. No, she was sealed away and devoid of servants to feed her.

Even the Generals would be unsure on how to handle this considering their 'connecting bond' was through Beryl. Wouldn't Beryl's death cause them to snap out of the mind-control? The show didn't exactly mention it as they broke out of it for another reason. Still, it was reasonable to expect them to no longer be affiliated with Metalia in the near future.

Maybe.

Nonetheless, the free days meant that I could actually go to the meeting with Minako without having to make some wild excuse to skip school today. I was tempted to have Luna join me for this meeting, but I had a feeling she was more focused on staying around Usagi for now.

In a way, she also wanted me to stay at home and catch a break but... Let's be honest.

What's the point of it if I can't even stop thinking about being active?

The entire concept of staying at home and rest meant I could do both, but I couldn't even consider catching some sleep now as the day started. My body was already geared up for a rather tiring day, so I wasn't anywhere near falling asleep.

Walking out of the house, I made my way to the Game Corner, taking notice of the various spots that had been repaired even in the street just outside home. It was the 'air of new' that truly stank the worst for me- but I didn't linger long enough to feel truly disgusted or feel out-of-place due to the few changes.

My stroll was, much to my relief, a short one. I reached the Game Corner in less than five minutes but... Grimaced when I realized that it was closed. I should have thought of it, but as I thought about the chances of Minako having already passed by and thought I had scammed her, I was surprised by someone sneaking behind me only to bring a hand holding a ice cream cup for me to reach over my shoulder.

"Good morning, Moony."

The chirpy tone sounded forced within her English greeting, and as I took a moment to glance at Minako after taking the cup off her fingers, I realized she had used make up to hide away her sleep bags. I could see those, but the overall effort put in appearing quite 'bubbly' today was a clever move to avoid any potential 'connection' with the appearance of Sailor V in town just yesterday.

[spoiler][/spoiler]

"Morning, Mina. How are you?"

Surprise flared as the girl definitely didn't expect me to reply with an accentless English.

"I didn't know English was one of your strengths, Tsuki-kun. Still, I am doing fine after a lengthy night of cleaning up. I got this for you because I suspected you wouldn't get any sleep."

I nodded in agreement. "Thanks."

"Oh, none of that. Still, it will be just the two of us. Artemis was tired of... well, walking around and giving me cheap jabs."

"Fine by me," I remarked. "So, it's either we walk around or we move this to a rooftop."

"Walking, I prefer to distract myself rather than behave shady with a kid."

I rolled my eyes at the lil' hit on my situation, but I nodded at her choice and we were soon moving.

"Let's start with something simple," The girl hummed giddily as we were looking around, trying to make this a rather 'normal hang out'. "What's your name?"

"Tsukino Shingo. My sister is your future boss."

That got a snort from Minako and... her smile didn't last long as she realized I wasn't joking.

"You mean to tell me your sister is the... princess."

"And Sailor Moon."

Minako's mouth opened to protest this detail, but then paused. "Hold up, that would actually- it actually makes sense. There was no 'Sailor Moon' in that life so- so it makes sense that I was in charge of the scouts-"

"And my sister, who is a fan of Sailor V, is your Princess."

Her mouth dropped at this, and then groaned on her hands. "T-That's unexpected."

"Truth be told, despite how 'experienced you are' you are not exactly aware of everything important."

"Like?" She challenged, perhaps expecting me to back down on stuff I myself didn't know but-

"Did you know that there's a group of powerful ninja that fights off demonic invasion on Earth?"

...

"Okay, now you are just saying random things."

...

"You are not," Minako looked shocked. "How?"

"About a few centuries ago a portal to a demonic dimension opened, they frolicked with humans, some of them have super powers and they fight off the bad ones," I summarized the Taimanin Corps in a nutshell, and even Minako appeared baffled by this.

"So, they are not connected to us, right? I mean, the Silver Millennium and the Dark Kingdom."

"Nope."

The blonde nodded, then looked away for a moment as we were crossing the road and she gave a look to see if there were any cars passing by.

"And how are you feeling?"

"Better than a few hours ago," I answered, slightly caught off-guard by the question as I had been in control of that talk up to that point. "You?"

"Would love to get some sleep," Minako made that point clear by stretching up a bit. "But I am more concerned over the idea that you, a rookie hero, just faced a rather intense day yesterday."

"I am fine-"

"You know that a lot of people died."

"...I still killed Beryl."

That concern briefly vanished to restore the previous surprise. "She's dead? Isn't that the one in charge of the Dark Kingdom?"

"She appeared to try and finish off my sister. Used this chance to kill her and I did it."

"...And how do you feel after that?"

My lips twitched in discomfort. The question itself would have been easier for me to answer without having to take into account various elements that had turned it into a troublesome one. First, it was the comparison. Beryl was a dangerous foe, one of the 'second to last boss' kind of deal and her death spared a lot more losses on civilians.

Still, it didn't feel like a fair exchange. The death of one quantified as needing the death of many felt like an insult on those people that died. It meant giving more worth to someone as scummy as Beryl and lessen the value of those that perished due to one of her minions' plans.

"Frustrated. Because this should have been good news, but- but it is not. Not only those that died will keep being dead, but this could also not be the end."

I knew it wasn't. First it would be the Dark Kingdom, then those pricks from the future, then those trying to bring some monster from another dimension and then some more! It wasn't just a single season and it wasn't just Sailor Moon.

The battle is going to be endless and I came to realize this when I dealt a huge hit on the Dark Kingdom, leaving just Metalia as the possible issue, and having to prepare for the next worry: Chibi Usa and the entire Future Trunks situation she brings back in the past.

"I want to... to say that it's not as bad, but I would be lying to you, Shingo-kun," Minako argued quietly, the two stopping by an alley. "Life as a hero, may it be as 'Sailor V' or part of the group I will have to now join, is never easy and the duty is lifebound. You made a choice and you are mature enough to know the consequences of it, you just need to digest what happened. And be alone for now."

I frowned. "Do I? I thought you would have coaxed me to be around you and-"

"Nah," She interjected, reaching out and pinching my nose. "Adorable as that may sound, for me to be like another big sister for you to be coddled by, this entire thing should be addressed gradually. Starting with some lonesome thinking as you need to build a foundation to 'make it back up'. Got it?"

I nodded and she yawned again.

"With that being said, I need to go and catch some hours of sleep. So... see you soon and-"

"Mina, don't tell my sister I am Moon Knight."

The girl paused, then frowned. "Really?"

"She has a lot of burdens, I don't want her to worry too much."

"...Fine. But you will eventually tell her so... I guess that's acceptable."

The confidence was what really annoyed me, it was as if she already knew I would slip up despite all the efforts I was taking in keeping that secret from Usagi first and foremost. I couldn't ask her about it as she left before I could, and I was soon making my way to my base to see to have it checked out for any damage and maybe expand it some more.

Everything that can keep me distracted from yesterday works at this point.

But as I turned the corner for the path I had to take, I frowned and paused at the sight of a familiar girl with brown hair giving me a smug grin.

"Hello, Knighto-san and- W-Wait!"

I ignored Ikari Yui. The girl's jaw hitting the floor as any plans to just stop me, perhaps blackmail me in doing some oddjobs for her which may or may not involve whatever Evangelion connection existed in this world, and put me in a position of grave danger where I could have screwed the world as a whole, were yeeted out of the window when I just continued to march through.

"I just wanted to-"

"No."

"You didn't even-"

"I said no," I argued flatly, once more ignoring the girl, but she just kept on nagging me.

"At least, hear me out!"

"Whatever you have to say, I can tell it's bad enough since you are trying to corner me. Trying and failing."

"W-Well, it's about-."

"Not interested-"

"Please!"

I stopped, feeling truly angry now. "What do you want from me!?"

My outburst made Yui hesitant. Eyes wide open as we were far from public eyes, near an alley and away from any chance she could use to say or do something that could mess with my temper some more.

"I-I wanted to- to ask if you wanted me to be... be your assistant!"

...

...

"What?"

"Y-Yesterday. I saw yesterday," She mumbled, trembling a little now. "W-While I did try to get you because you were so amazing as a hero, I am not trying to- to trick you or anything."

"What about yesterday?"

She lowered her gaze. "Dad almost died yesterday. I couldn't do anything since something the house's generator got messed up and dad was hypnotized by the TV broadcast to behave crazy. Then he tripped down the stairs and hurt himself- he was bleeding a lot and if it wasn't for some of the maids I said was rude, he would have-"

"Stop."

Tense, with a pale face and shivering frame, it was clear to me that Yui was hyperventilating. One can lie a lot those days, and I expected her to be already a master at it- but this? This was too real.

"Breathe in and out," I relayed slowly, the girl's wide eyes focusing on my face, and she nodded as she complied by mimicking my actions.

It took her a few minutes to be fully out of that panic attack, but the girl looked genuine even after that.

"I-I know that I may have appeared rude but- but then I also learned that there were others that died and... and it was bad. I don't want that to happen to anyone. I already lost mom and- and- sorry, it's just."

"It's... alright. Take your time."

There was a lot of silence, then more talking. Ultimately, the situation remained the same. I had here an opportunity, one that I wasn't too tired to ignore as I could tell that, due to the most recent event, Ikari Yui, someone that could be said responsible for most of NGE's plot, was not threading the path of 'empathy' over the chance of losing people and dying.

That was not something to scoff at and... I guess that also solved the issue over the need of having someone smart to help me develop new tools.

For me to also handle the weird science quirks of my newest assistant, that was something else alright...

AN

Next time... things get 'weird' as this is a POV of a villain!