"Sailor Charon," Sailor Pluto had said gravely, "I'm afraid this is how it has to be."
The sound of an explosion echoed through the garden; wind blasted across the fields of flowers. Blood had clouded Tasia's eyes as she struggled to see what was happening.
An image of the past...
"Tasia," her mother began, tying together the elaborate braids in her hair. "Tomorrow you will begin your training as a senshi."
Finally, Tasia thought, she would become the heroine of her moon, loved and appreciated by everyone.
She passed her training with flying colors. The streets had been filled with cheering onlookers when she returned; a decadent banquet had been prepared.
"I'm so proud, Tasia," her father beamed. He hugged her so tightly that Tasia thought he was afraid she'd disappear. "But remember, battle is not always as glorious as stories of the senshi before you would have you believe. Always be careful when you're facing your opponents, and even more careful when you aren't."
"I'm sorry, Sailor Charon," Sailor Pluto had apologized amidst the fury of her dying moon.
Then her sister planet turned around and walked away.
Shinpi-teki na unmei motsu noni
Tsuki ni michibikarete doko
ni tadoritsuku to mada kangaete iru
Yasashige na lullaby kiite kako wo sukoshi dake omou
Machigai
mo hiai mo ippai dakedo anata ga iru kara
Koukai-shinai
Pink-iro no tsuki no shita ni iru kedo
Motto tsuyoi nagusame
ga iru no
Tatoe ayamachi dake shitemo
I love you tte
itte ne
Though I hold a mysterious destiny,
I'm still wondering to
where I will struggle on, being led by the moon
Listening to a gentle lullaby, I think just a little of the
past
It's full of mistakes and sorrow, but since
You are
here, I won't regret it
Though I'm under the pink moon,
I need an even stronger
comfort
Even if I make only mistakes,
Say, "I love
you," okay?
Moon Senshi: Unmei no Kodomo
Episode Two:
"The Sea and the Undertow"
Tokimo shivered; another dream, and this one was a lot more realistic. It was like looking at snapshots in a photo album; even if an experience seemed forgotten, a picture could summon up the memory as clearly as though it had happened yesterday. Was this dream--this 'photograph'--of her death as Sailor Charon?
This sailor senshi thing needed a few kinks worked out of it, she decided. How were heroes supposed to concentrate when they were having weird, freaky dreams all the time? Tokimo pulled herself out of bed; she was eagerly awaiting the excitement of a new day and a new battle. She was trying to figure out a way to convince Yamiko to be a Sailor Senshi. She looked expectantly Kouken; he was sleeping on the foot of her bed, nestled on top of her purple bunny bedspread. He stretched out and yawned.
"You can't be serious, getting up at an hour like this," he said, glancing over at her matching purple bunny wall clock. "It's only 7:15."
"Gotta," Tokimo told him, "School starts at eight. Most people have to get up earlier, but I get ready extra-quick."
Tokimo grabbed her blue and pink school uniform and walked into the bathroom. After she'd finished getting ready for school, she walked out and grabbed Kouken by the scruff of the neck. Then she unceremoniously shoved him inside her purple backpack, grabbed breakfast and made off for school.
"Do you mind?" Kouken replied vehemently, trying to smooth his disheveled fur. "How would you like it if I shoved you in a bag?"
Tokimo shrugged. "I don't know. I've never been shoved in a bag."
Kouken groaned in frustration. Sighing, he tried to compose himself as he straightened his whiskers. "Anyway, we have a job to do today."
Tokimo nodded in affirmation."Right! We've got to kill Sailor Pinkmoon. I was so close before, too--then that grumpy old man stopped me," Tokimo complained, thinking of the Crimson Eagle. "Jeez! How am I supposed to do the right thing when other people keep interfering?"
"How do you know he's an old man?" Kouken asked. "He could be 25, from the looks of him."
"No, no, he's an old man," Tokimo said stubbornly, "You can tell, because he's grumpy. And old men are grumpy. I should know, because my father's always grumpy. That happens when you work in an big building and wear a suit."
"Somehow I'm not sure I can envision the Crimson Eagle in a suit," Kouken remarked. "But regardless, the next time we attack, we need to be more discreet. It won't be a surprise if we attack during lunch again, and we should probably try not to have school called off, anyway."
"Aww...why not?" Tokimo asked, a hint of disappointment in her voice.
Kouken sighed. "It's too conspicuous. The fewer people that know about the Moon Senshi, the better."
"Oh, right," Tokimo whispered, "I get it. Well, just leave it up to Tokimo Joshi, Mastah Spy."
"Mastah?" Kouken asked. "What is a mastah?"
"It's like "master", only cooler," Tokimo explained.
"Uh...right. Getting back to my original intention, we have other things to attend to besides attacking Sailor Pinkmoon."
"Really? Like what?"
"Well, there're more Moon Senshi around here somewhere--definitely in Tokyo, and I would venture to say within the district. I can feel them vaguely, but I have trouble pin-pointing their location. "
"Why's that?" Tokimo raised an eyebrow. "Don't mascots always know where to find the heroine?"
"Well, I'm not a mascot out of some comic book," Kouken explained in frustration. "I'm really just here to find the Moon Senshi, give them their stuff, and tell them their general past. The assumption is that you'll start to remember your past life on your own and work towards your goals without me telling you what to do. You may have named me 'guardian', but I'm really just here to set things in motion. You're kind of expected to pick up the slack after that."
"Really? But I don't remember all the details of my past life yet. I definitely don't think I know enough about my past life to work towards our goals without any kind of guardian mascot."
"Well, that's not really that surprising, since you usually remember things gradually. Things will come in little pieces. For example, sometimes things when you're awake will jolt certain memories--like the sight of someone or something that was important in your past. Or sometimes you remember things through dreams."
"Dreams...?" Tokimo said vaguely, remembering her own dream last night. It was a dream from her past, then. But what about the dream from the night before...? Those strange castles didn't seem familiar like the memories of her parents or Sailor Pluto.
"Yes. Why, have you started having them?"
"Err...well, maybe a little." Tokimo replied. "But I'd really rather not talk about it. It was more of a nightmare."
"That's understandable. You didn't exactly leave the Rainbow Millennium with fond memories."
"Yeah..." Tokimo grunted. Kouken wasn't the most socially stimulating company, so Tokimo started looking at the people in front of her, hoping to find a prospective new friend or at least something interesting to look at. Usako was ahead of her, along with the rest of her gang, but now wasn't an opportune time to spy, she decided; there were too many people around in plain view, and besides, there wasn't anything to hide behind. She glanced behind her; Yamiko was hovering a few yards away from her, looking kind of confused. Tokimo smiled and waved as Yamiko approached her.
"What do you want?" Yamiko said with a sigh as she continued to walk.
"I already told you the other day, remember?" Tokimo replied. "But don't worry about my birthday, Yamiko; It's still a long way away. We have important senshi stuff to discuss right now."
Yamiko raised an eyebrow and looked at Tokimo. She wasn't really in the mood for Tokimo's banter right now; she had hardly slept at all last night. Her waking hours were filled with apprehension about what to do about her powers and her mission, and the few precious hours of sleep she got were contaminated with nightmares about her past as Sailor Phoebe. "Okay, whatever," she finally said. Agreeing to put up with Tokimo in the short term was easier than resisting and causing a scene near the school.
"Yamiko," Kouken said seriously, looking at the pale, apathetic girl, "have you decided to accept your mission?"
"I don't know," Yamiko replied, contorting her face in frustration. Last night, the image of her death as Princess Asteria had replayed once again, and the face of her murderer had become disturbingly real. Sailor Saturn had stood scornfully above her, her dark hair blowing in the wind. She had pressed the base of her glaive on Asteria's forehead to keep her head from surfacing above the dark, calm lake....
"Yamiko," Tokimo said, shaking Yamiko slightly, "Yamiko, you in there?"
"Don't touch me!" she said, jerking in surprise and pushing Tokimo's hand away. Tokimo just stood there in mute shock, her face blank.
Shaking her head and regaining her composure, Tokimo frowned in concern. "Calm down," she said to Yamiko. "Did something happen?"
At this point, Yamiko decided, telling Tokimo the truth would probably get the least questions asked. No one was going to believe her if she said that nothing was wrong now. "I had a bad dream last night," she explained, "And I just remembered it suddenly. It's nothing."
"Well, if you say so....Kouken, why don't you just get all this Senshi stuff over with now, and then we won't have to think about it for the rest of the day." Tokimo glanced at Yamiko. "Right?"
Yamiko nodded.
"First thing's first," Kouken began, shuffling around in Tokimo's backpack and pulling out a black and silver watch. He handed it to Tokimo, who offered it to Yamiko with visible excitement. Like a child at a birthday party, Yamiko half expected her to shout "open mine first!" as Tokimo held the watch toward her.
"That's your communicator, Yamiko," Kouken explained. "You can contact Tokimo with it. You just have to type her moon into the bar on the screen."
Yamiko gingerly took the watch from Tokimo's hands and began to investigate it, opening the locket-like covering over its face and experimentally pressing buttons. There was the faintest hint of a smile on her face. "It's nice," she replied.
"So what did you want to tell us, huh?" Tokimo asked, pulling Kouken out of her backpack and holding him in front of her under his armpits. The arrangement looked uncomfortable, Yamiko thought, especially given that Kouken's legs were dangling awkwardly toward the ground without support. He didn't respond to Tokimo's question, although a look of ire was visibly sweeping across his face.
Tokimo waited about a minute; still, Kouken did not respond. Perhaps Tokimo felt that Kouken's lack of response was due to an absence in his mental faculties as opposed to a deliberate choice; Yamiko could think of little else to explain the fact that Tokimo began to vigorously shake Kouken up and down.
"What are you doing?" Kouken complained loudly, flailing his arms wildly as he tried to free himself from Tokimo's grip. Tokimo grimaced as she struggled to keep ahold of Kouken; eventually, he wiggled free and fell with a loud "thump" onto the pavement below.
"Maybe that wasn't so wise," Yamiko said.
"She has a tendency to do things like that, doesn't she?" Kouken winced.
"Actually," Yamiko responded, "I was talking to you."
"Anyway," Kouken said angrily, sitting upright on the pavement, "I need you two to keep an eye out for the Crimson Eagle. If we're not careful, he could seriously get in the way."
"He looked pretty powerful," Tokimo said, picking up Kouken and placing him back in her backpack before they continued walking along.
"What are you two talking about?" Yamiko inquired. "Who is the Crimson Eagle?"
"There was this knight who showed up yesterday, claiming this and that about how senshi were senshi and it was his duty to protect Sailor Moon. Fool...." Kouken sighed.
"Wait...what?" Yamiko replied. "You aren't making this any clearer. What do you mean a knight and 'this and that'?"
"The Crimson Eagle," Tokimo explained. "Really big, black mask, speaks real funny." Tokimo frowned. "And he got in my way! I could have had all this over and done with, but he had to come and spoil my master plans! And I don't even get to miss any more school!"
Kouken and Yamiko exchanged exasperated glances.
"But anyway… what was all that stuff he touted about the duty of knights and sailor senshi?" Tokimo asked, scratching her head.
Kouken sighed.
"Before the war, knights had a sort of code that they followed. There were a few special rules they were supposed to obey, but they basically boiled down to two things; don't tell anyone who you are and protect all senshi equally."
"Protect all senshi equally? What, do they run around in armor and block all the bad guys' attacks?" Tokimo asked in confusion.
"No," Kouken said with a sigh. "It's kind of hard to explain. Basically, it means that if a knight knows two senshi, and he has the choice between saving one or saving the other, he can't choose. It would be breaking the code. He has to protect both of them equally."
"You still haven't explained what a knight is, exactly," Yamiko reminded Kouken, looking irritably toward him.
"You don't even know that?" Kouken said, surprised.
"Why would I?" Yamiko replied.
He sighed. "I knew that Diana had censored and destroyed Rainbow Millennium knowledge from what you had told me earlier, but I didn't realize things were as abysmally bad as this." He shook his head. "But to answer your question, a knight is, to simplify things, a male sailor senshi."
"Ooh!" Tokimo exclaimed in comprehension. "Like Tuxedo Mask! But the Crimson Eagle wasn't wearing a tuxedo. Unless he had it under his armor--not that I would blame him if he did. I mean, a Tuxedo? Talk about a bad uniform."
Yamiko sighed. "I don't think he was wearing one, Tokimo. Maybe they don't always wear tuxedos."
"Oh. Okay," Tokimo replied. "Well, just leave it to me! Tokimo Joshi: Master Spy will find out the secret identity of the Crimson Eagle in no time at all! And then we can convince him how silly being a knight really is!"
"Well, have fun," Yamiko said with a sigh as they approached the school.
"Right. So let's go, Yamiko. We need to watch real careful for suspects." Tokimo said, grabbing Yamiko's arm and whispering in her ear.
Yamiko barely managed to wrench her arm from Tokimo's firm grip. "I'm not watching for anything!" Yamiko replied obstinately. Tokimo was really starting to irk her. "I haven't even decided I'm going to be Sailor Phoebe yet."
"Wow, that's great!" Tokimo replied enthusiastically, "You know who you are. You'll have to transform sometime so I can see your uniform!"
"Shut up!" Kouken hissed. "Some spies you two are, blurting that out!"
"Oops," Tokimo grinned, blushing slightly, "Sorry."
Yamiko just frowned and turned her face away.
The first class of the day started out pretty quietly. Most people were hurriedly trying to catch up on their reading assignment from the previous day; Yamiko was writing something absentmindedly on her notepad, and Tokimo was searching the classroom from what she felt was the most discreet corner. Tokimo brought her hand up above her eyes as she scanned the room for something important, shielding the sun that wasn't there. Then she took her other hand and cupped it behind her ear, even though there weren't many people talking, and those who were could be heard quite clearly.
"What are you doing?" Kouken asked skeptically.
"I'm looking for suspects," Tokimo replied matter of factly, "And I'm trying to see if I can find out where Usako is going after school today. We can attack her when no one else is around. If we're lucky, we might get her alone."
"She's always with her guardians," Kouken noted.
"Well then," Tokimo replied, "we'll get her in when she's in the bathroom, of course. Her guardians wouldn't dare follow her in there!" Tokimo grinned mischievously. Kouken sighed.
"Hey," he said, "Wait a second." Tokimo could hear sniffing sounds.
Tokimo glanced down at her backpack. "Hey!" She frowned. "I just cleaned my gym clothes last night!"
"No, you fool," Kouken snapped, "There's a senshi in the room. I can feel it. It's vague; I couldn’t feel it before because Erik was so close by."
"Why, does his aura have a special scrambling device for ferret-senshi-sensing sensors?" Tokimo asked.
"For what?" Kouken said, raising an eyebrow.
"You know, special scrambling for ferret senshi sensing sensors." Tokimo repeated, tripping over the end of her words.
"No," Kouken said after an awkward pause, "it's because his aura was so strong and peculiar."
Tokimo paused. There was definitely something suspicious about Erik; she'd have to investigate it later. But they needed to deal with this senshi first. "Well," Tokimo said, "Who is it? We have another five minutes before class starts."
"The girl with the short brownish hair, over in the front left hand corner," Kouken said, peaking ever so slightly above the rim of the backpack.
Tokimo looked where Kouken had indicated. Sure enough, a girl fitting Kouken's description was sitting there. Her uniform was in the most modest combination possible; long straight sleeves and an ankle-length skirt. She was writing something on a piece of paper and ignoring everyone and everything nearby.
"We should tell Yamiko," Tokimo whispered to Kouken. Without waiting for Kouken's response, she got up and walked over to Yamiko, who was sketching melancholy pictures of crying ghosts and Victorian ladies all over her notebook. Tokimo put her hands down on the notebook, and Yamiko looked up at her with an intensely annoyed expression.
"I was kind of in the middle of something," Yamiko informed her coldly.
"I know," Tokimo smiled. She inclined her head next to Yamiko's and whispered very quietly. "But there's a new sailor senshi... over there, in the corner," she said, pointing blatantly toward the girl. Yamiko pulled down Tokimo's arm quickly and forcefully.
"Not so conspicuous!" Yamiko hissed.
"Oh, right," Tokimo replied sheepishly.
The girl seemed to have noticed Tokimo pointing toward her; she blushed deeply as a scared expression crossed her face. Trying to ignore the attention, she continued working as though nothing was wrong.
"Maybe we should tell her about her 'destiny' a little more gradually than Kouken told us," Yamiko said, glancing over toward Tokimo's desk and her purple backpack. "It was kind of a nasty shock to us. We should get to know her a little first and then tell her."
Tokimo shrugged. "If you're sure. Personally, I'd want to know as soon as possible," she said with a smile. "Being a Sailor Senshi is too exciting to hold off on finding out!"
"Not everyone feels the same way you do, Tokimo," Yamiko replied.
"Well, not everyone's like you are, either. So let's talk to her and see whether she's cool like me or grumpy like you."
Yamiko frowned. "Excuse me...?"
"See what I mean?" Tokimo remarked, heading toward the girl. Yamiko followed, still annoyed. She felt sorry for that poor girl; she looked pretty shy, like her, and she probably wouldn't want to be bothered by strange people. Quite literally strange, in Tokimo's case.
The girl was still writing. She ignored them as they approached.
"Hello," Tokimo said cheerfully as she stood in front of the girl's desk, "My name's Tokimo. I'm 14, and I'm a freshman. But I suppose you'd guessed that, huh? Anyway, pleased to meet you."
The girl looked up from her writing, a suspicious expression on her face.
"Yamiko Hoshino," Yamiko said hurriedly, "Pleased to meet you. Are we interrupting you?"
"No..." she responded timidly, looking a bit fearful. "What do you want?"
"Why does everyone always ask me what I want?" Tokimo asked in confusion. "Is this some kind of Japanese custom I don't know about?"
Yamiko and Seisui both looked at Tokimo; Seisui smiled weakly.
"You'll have to excuse my friend's eccentric behavior," Yamiko explained, glancing at Tokimo in irritation. "Anyway, we just came over because we thought you looked a little lonely."
"I'm fine. I'm quite absorbed in my writing, actually; it keeps me plenty of company," she responded.
Tokimo picked up the piece of paper; Seisui tried to grab it out of her hands, panic on her face, but Tokimo pulled it out of the way and began to read it. Seisui looked unhappy but didn't resist any further. After a few moments, Tokimo put the blue lined paper back onto the table.
"It's kind of a one-sided conversation, isn't it?" Tokimo asked skeptically.
"What?" Seisui said, perplexed.
"You said it kept you company. But it certainly isn't saying anything to me," Tokimo explained. Seisui just looked at Yamiko quizzically, as though hoping for an explanation; Yamiko shrugged in response. "But anyway," Tokimo continued, "What's your name?"
"Oh! Oh yes, that's right. My name is Seisui Han'i. I'm 13 years old."
"Thirteen?" Yamiko exclaimed, "Isn't that a bit young to be in high school?" Yamiko was 16 and only a freshman; she'd missed a lot of her freshman year at that private school, and she had to repeat. It was a huge embarrassment to have someone three years younger than her in the same freshman English class.
"Well..." Seisui replied, blushing, "I suppose."
"Why're you in high school?" Tokimo asked.
"I, er... skipped a grade." Seisui winced, as if expecting chastisement.
"Wow, that's amazing! You can help me with my homework!" Tokimo smirked evilly. This brainy girl could get her through freshman English eeeasy.
"That's okay," Seisui replied, "I'm kind of busy after school." She looked suspiciously at Tokimo and Yamiko.
"Awww... well, that's okay. I have Yamiko to help me out. Right?" Tokimo said, grinning at Yamiko. Yamiko just sighed.
"You'll have to excuse my friend here. She makes a horrible first impression," Yamiko explained. And second impression, and third impression, and fourth impression...
"No, that's alright." Seisui said, waving her hands nervously in front of her. "It's okay."
"Anyway," Tokimo said matter-of-factly, "The bell's going to ring soon, so I need to get something squared away." Tokimo looked nervously from side to side, making sure that no one was paying attention. Thankfully, the other students seemed too absorbed in their homework to pay attention to anything Tokimo might be doing. She inclined her face toward Seisui's ear. "The truth is, Seisui, you're a Sailor Senshi," she whispered excitedly.
Seisui felt her heart skip a beat. "What did you say? I think I misheard you," Seisui said apologetically.
"I said, 'you're a Sailor Senshi'," she repeated, only very slightly louder. "You know, like Sailor Moon. I don't have time to go into detail now, but we'll explain it after lunch."
Then, as if on cue, the school bell rang. It was sole sound that penetrated Seisui's empty thoughts; the shock of Tokimo's statement had wiped all others away. Seisui was left starting blankly forward as Tokimo and Yamiko both hurried to their seats and pulled out their copies of 'Taming of the Shrew'.
Seisui looked down at the piece of paper she had been writing on. She read the title to herself, soaking in the irony of the situation.
'Essay Against the Ruling Policies of Neo Queen Serenity'.
Sweat dripped down the side of her face. The last thing Seisui wanted was to be a Sailor Senshi. The last thing in the world.
Usako glanced around the classroom as the bell rang. She, too, saw Seisui sitting dejectedly in the corner; noticing the unhappy look on the girl's face, she motioned toward Hiroshi with one hand.
"Hm?" he responded, looking back at her; Usako motioned toward the girl in the corner. Hiroshi nodded his head in comprehension; even the most socially obtuse of people could see that the girl that Usako had indicated was depressed. Why hadn't any of the students sitting next to the girl noticed? Usako had, and she was sitting all the way across the room.
Erik vonDarkmoor, late as usual, proceeded to walk into the classroom and begin his lecture. The class moved by slowly; Usako and Tokimo kept glancing back toward Seisui. It seemed like a long time before the gentle toll sounded once more and English class ended. When it did, Usako and Tokimo both left with the same promise in their minds: talk to Seisui the first chance they got.
Yamiko, however, was not interested in Tokimo's plans to recruit Seisui into their cause. In fact, she was not interested in being involved with Tokimo in any way at all.
When Yamiko looked up disinterestedly from the doodles on her notebook, she realized that everyone was gone; she hadn't heard the bell ring. Had she really been that absorbed in thinking about the Moon Senshi? Embarrassed, she gathered up her books and got up to leave; she flinched as she walked under the gaze of Erik, who was leaning on the door and looking down at her.
"You're going to be late for your next class," he informed her.
Yamiko frowned. "Oh well," she responded. At least she wouldn't have to walk to class with Tokimo.
Erik raised an eyebrow.
"Why don't I write you a note?" he suggested, walking toward his desk. Yamiko just stood in front of the doorway and looked down at the floor. A few seconds later, he returned, holding a slip of paper in front of her down turned eyes.
"Here," he said as he handed it to her. "Consider this a favor. Try not to come in like this every day, will you? My life's tough enough as it is."
Yamiko gave a fake smile and took the piece of paper gratefully.
For the first time in her life, Yamiko was dreading the lunch bell. So when she walked outside, she chose the most inconspicuous spot possible in the whole lunch yard and prayed that Tokimo wouldn't notice her.
Seisui was a few yards away, hiding underneath the shade of a huge oak tree.
She was eating her lunch and she looked pretty out of it. She didn't pay any attention to Yamiko or anyone else around her. Before Yamiko could say anything to her, Usako came running up and stood next to Seisui; Usako's other friends, who were following right behind her, situated themselves beside Usako and formed a circle around Seisui.
"Hey," Usako said happily, turning toward Seisui.
Seisui just continued eating, as if she hadn't even heard. Usako frowned, trying to assess a polite way to get her attention; Hiroshi walked up to Seisui and knelt down, putting his face only a few inches away from hers.
"Hello," he said kindly, "Mind if we sit next to you?"
Seisui widened her eyes in abject fear; the proximity of Hiroshi's face seemed to alarm her. Seisui crunched her face in between her knees and knelt over, as if preparing, in all seriousness, to beaten or hurt.
The group widened their eyes in surprise.
"Hiroshi," Usako said gently, "That's a little close."
"I'm sorry," He apologized. "I'm not really from around here. We don't really have the same, um, customs where I'm from, and I'm still learning."
"It's okay," Seisui said timidly, lifting her head cautiously and looking around. "I overreacted. It was a gut response...."
"Well, I apologize all the same," Hiroshi repeated. "I should know by now to be more sensitive."
"Anyway," Usako said, bringing Hiroshi to his feet, "We thought you might like some company. You looked pretty upset during English."
"English?" Seisui responded, a bit confused. She had to stifle a gasp as the horrid memory of Tokimo and Yamiko flooded back into her brain. "Oh, right. English. They put my cat down this morning. He meant a lot to me."
"That's so sad!" Fuyuko said with a sniffle. "If my cat died, I'd be upset for weeks!"
Natsuko jabbed Fuyuko in the ribs; she hiccuped and ceased talking.
"Are you waiting here for some friends of yours?" Usako asked.
"No," She replied, "I'm alone." Maybe eating with Usako would keep away Tokimo, Seisui reasoned.
"Well, my name is Usako. And these are my friends, Haruko, Natsuko, Fuyuko and Akiko," she said, indicating them. "And this is Hiroshi."
"I'm Seisui Han'i."
"Well, Seisui, It's nice to meet you. Tell me if you need anything, okay?" Usako said, pulling out her lunch box. Seisui widened her eyes in astonishment as she looked down at Usako's lunch box; it was nothing short of amazing. The food inside looked almost gourmet. Either Usako's mom was an incredible cook, or she had a lot of money.
Usako looked up at Seisui, who she noticed was gawking at her food. Usako glanced down at Seisui's lunch; it was nothing but white rice.
"Oh," Usako said cheerfully, "You can have it." She put her lunch box in front of Seisui, offering it with a smile. Then Usako started eating Hiroshi's equally extravagant lunch. Who were these people? Why did they have this much food?
Seisui looked guiltily down at Usako's now-abandoned lunch. It did look good; but having nothing but white rice was embarrassing enough. Taking someone else's lunch made her look pathetic.
"No," Seisui replied, "That's okay. I don't want to take your lunch. This is more than enough for me."
"Please, go ahead. One of my mother's friends made this lunch, and she always makes far too much. One of her lunch boxes is easily enough to feed two people."
"Except for Fuyuko," Haruko noted. The blue haired girl was eating her meal with great relish; her fingers were covered in crumbs and egg salad.
"I can't help it," Fuyuko said, licking her fingers between between mouthfuls of food. "It's so good!"
Seisui paused for a moment and looked hesitantly at Usako, who smiled as she motioned for Seisui to go ahead. Seisui reluctantly nibbled on a piece of fried shrimp. She still felt embarrassed, but Usako's easy going attitude about her poverty was reassuring.
By the time fifteen minutes had passed, Usako was inviting Seisui to a movie after school. Seisui enthusiastically agreed to go; even if being accepted by a complete stranger so quickly was suspicious, Seisui couldn't help but feel like her life was finally, finally turning up.
Of course, that was when Tokimo walked up.
"Seisui!" she shouted, waving her hands, "there you are. I've been looking all over for you!" Tokimo turned her head toward Yamiko, who was still sitting nearby; she was innocently eating her lunch, trying to pretend she hadn't seen Seisui's interactions with Usako or Tokimo's sudden glance.
"Sheesh! Yamiko, why didn't you tell me where she was?" Tokimo scolded her.
"I didn't notice her," Yamiko lied.
"Excuse me," Akiko said caustically, "Do you know Seisui?"
"Yes. Actually, I was just becoming her friend. We were planning on going shopping after school today," Tokimo said cheerfully. "We were going to eat lunch together, too. But Seisui is quiet, you know…I think she was afraid of bothering me. So I've been looking for her all this time."
"You're welcome to join us," Usako said, motioning to her circle of friends. Akiko and Natsuko, who were sitting next to each other, politely moved apart to make room.
"Thanks, but no thanks," Tokimo said politely. First priority for Seisui was getting her as far away from Sailor Pinkmoon as possible. "We need to get going," she added, turning toward Seisui expectantly. Seisui's face flushed; she looked visibly nervous and upset.
Usako looked suspiciously at Tokimo. "Why not just eat with us?" she asked. "Is something the matter?"
Tokimo frowned. Seisui looked nervous; maybe Usako thought something was up. "We were planning on eating off school grounds today," Tokimo lied. "We arranged it this morning."
"This morning…?" Hiroshi asked suspiciously, glancing meaningfully at Usako. This morning, Seisui had looked very upset. Maybe she had lied about her cat--maybe Tokimo been harassing her, and that was the real reason Seisui was unhappy. "Do you mean just before English class...?"
"Yeah," Tokimo said cheerfully, nodding her head.
"She looked awfully upset this morning," Usako said. "I don't want to be confrontational, but it looks a little weird if Seisui is upset right after you talk to her--and then, when you come back to see her later in the afternoon, she looks like she'd rather be shot than go to lunch with you."
Tokimo glared at Usako with a look that could kill. She would take on that little pink Senshi later, that was for sure.
"No," Seisui quietly interjected, "She didn't do anything. My cat really did die." She had put down her chopsticks and was clutching her hands nervously together. Whatever happened, she was not going to be the center of any conflict she could possibly avoid--and if there had to be a fight, Seisui wanted to fight face to face. She didn't want to get rid of this Sailor Senshi using a bunch of kids that would beat up Tokimo for her.
"Anyway, we better get going. Lunch will be over in 45 minutes, and the fast food restaurants tend to be crowded this time of day." Tokimo grabbed Seisui by her long sleeve and gently pulled her up; she motioned for Yamiko to follow. Yamiko paused for a moment, looking sourly at Tokimo before packing up her food into her metal lunch box. Then she stood up and unenthusiastically followed Tokimo.
"I can't help but worry about a weird situation like that." Haruko shook her head as she watched the three leave. Usako looked unhappy but didn't say anything.
"We should keep on eye on Seisui," Hiroshi added, "in case she was lying. If they are harassing her, who knows what they'd do to her if she told the truth?"
Tokimo led Seisui and Yamiko down the street, an annoyed frown on her face as she milled over Usako's accusatory words. Tokimo, Seisui noted, still hadn't let go of her sleeve; the wheat-haired girl glanced over at Yamiko, seeming to inquire 'Is she always like this?' Yamiko nodded, a look of disbelief on her face. When they had reached the closest park, Tokimo finally let go of Seisui and angrily slammed her backpack down on a nearby bench.
An indignant screech resounded through the park. "MUST you throw me around like a stuffed animal?" the backpack, seemingly, shouted in anger and frustration. "Just because I'm your guardian does not mean I'm a plush toy!"
Kouken stuck his head out of the backpack and looked at Tokimo with his most offended glare.
"What in the world…!" Seisui exclaimed, staring at Kouken in shock. "How did you come across a talking ferret?"
"Bad luck," Yamiko replied wearily, kicking the ground with her polished black shoe.
"Don't be silly, Yamiko," Tokimo replied, sitting down on the bench. "The only bad luck is his choice of a certain black-haired team mate."
Yamiko frowned and said nothing; Seisui, beginning to recover from the shock of the talking animal, turned and looked gravely at Tokimo.
"Before this goes any further, I have to tell you: I'm not becoming a Sailor Senshi. I simply can't accept that duty."
"Not another one!" Tokimo looked angrily at Kouken. "Don't ANY of them want to be Sailor Senshi?" Kouken just looked at her icily.
"I have a personal reason for disliking the Senshi," Seisui explained. "Even putting my personal hatred aside, my lack of enthusiasm would make me a poor team member."
"Wait…what did you just say?" Kouken exclaimed, dropping his angered expression and looking toward Seisui in surprise.
"I don't like the Queen," Seisui said, walking backwards a bit and looking extremely nervous, "so I don't want to protect her."
Kouken grinned; Tokimo soon mirrored his expression whilst Yamiko just sighed. Seisui looked very, very afraid; were they going to attack her? She began to back up, prepared to run away at a moment's notice.
"No, no, don't go," Kouken said, "Because this is the side you want to be on. We're against Sailor Moon." Seisui looked dumbfounded; she stood next to the crystalline bench, shocked as Kouken explained the Moon Senshi's story. The odd thing was that once Kouken had really started going into detail about Queen Diana and the Rainbow Millennium, Seisui didn't seem surprised to hear any of it. When Kouken finally finished, Seisui sat down on the bench next to Tokimo and looked thoughtfully into the park.
"When I think about it, this comes as little surprise," Seisui said reflectively, "even if it seems shocking at first."
"But Seisui," Tokimo asked, "Why do you hate the Senshi, exactly?"
"I don't really want to talk about it," Seisui said quietly. "It's very personal." Tokimo frowned in disappointment.
"Well," Yamiko said, walking toward Seisui, "You might want to know that Usako is Sailor Pinkmoon."
Seisui looked shocked; she frowned in disappointment. "I should have known better than to trust someone that blindly accepting," Seisui sighed, shaking her head.
"I'm sorry I didn't keep you from getting to know her sooner," Tokimo apologized, "Now it'll probably be a lot harder for you to kill her."
Seisui shook her head and paused for a moment; her angular eyebrows stood out harshly against her pale skin as they pointed downwards in a look of anger. Tears began to form in her eyes and threatened to fall down her flushed cheeks.
"Huh?" Yamiko noticed the change in Seisui's behavior immediately. Apparently, so did everyone else; not only was Tokimo looking at Seisui with an expression of concern, but even a few people passing by had noticed and momentarily stared before moving on. Something about the way Seisui held herself screamed self-pity.
"It's okay," Yamiko said to Seisui, "I'm not going to fight, either. We can get out of this idiocy."
"No," Seisui said darkly. "You can count me in on this. I'll gladly kill Sailor Pinkmoon."
Kouken nodded and produced a locket and communicator that he seemed to have gotten from nowhere. They were red and blue; ironically close to Sailor Moon's blue and fuchsia Seisui took them gratefully.
"As Sailor Titan, I will aid your in whatever way possible," she said quietly, nodding her head and wiping away her tears. Tokimo looked surprised. How did Seisui know she was Sailor Titan so quickly?
Seisui looked coldly at Yamiko; Yamiko unhappily shook her head.
"Still don't want to join us, Yamiko?" Kouken sighed.
"I haven't got a reason to hate Sailor Pinkmoon," Yamiko said firmly, "and as long as I don't, I'm not going to fight her."
"There may be reasons you aren't aware of, Yamiko," Seisui suggested quietly, "because you never hear about them."
"Such as…?" Yamiko raised an eyebrow.
Seisui hesitated. "The King and Queen…punish those who oppose them," Seisui explained, "because they think dissenting opinions are... 'slander.'"
"I'm not sure I believe you," Yamiko said skeptically, "that doesn't sound like the Queen. She's always been portrayed as very accepting and kind."
"I suppose 'kind' depends on how you look at it," Seisui responded, "But I don't really see any case for accepting."
Yamiko just sighed. Tokimo shrugged and got up, glancing at her communicator's watch. Lunch was going to end in 15 minutes.
"Well, we have to go back to class now, " Tokimo said with a sigh. Turning toward Kouken, she began to smirk. "Unless, of course, we decide to go on the attack again."
"No, Tokimo," Kouken said firmly, "I'm not letting you skip out again using senshi business as an excuse."
"… Please?" Tokimo pleaded, smiling charmingly.
"No, Tokimo," Kouken sighed, "no."
Tokimo pouted but didn't press the issue any further. If he wanted to be a grumpy-dumpy little fuzzy hot dog thing, then he could. But he wasn't getting any cucumbers tonight, that was for sure.
Seisui started to walk back to the school; Tokimo soon ran after her. Yamiko just walked dejectedly nearby the two of them. She was trying her best to get out of this mess, and so far her attempts were working less than perfectly. She just knew Kouken was going to try and find some horrible way to drag her into the fighting. But nothing, Yamiko thought, was going to make her stupid enough to try and kill the princess. Nothing.
