Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Full Moon Wo Sagashite Fan Fiction ❯ Matter of Time ❯ Prologue: Crybaby Usagi's Splendid Transformations ( Prologue )
Author Notes: I managed to get Tenshi no Nozomi's help with this! She's such a great author and came up with some really sugoi scenes! Be sure to give her praise if you enjoy this ^_^ Give her praise if you don't enjoy this -.- she deserves to be praised *_*
***
There was a certain house on a certain street. If you happened to pass by it at a certain time you'd hear a melodious tune. In this house lived a thirteen year old girl whose birthday was fast approaching. The girl had a very serious form of cancer in her throat, and yet she refused to get surgery because she didn't want to lose her voice.
It was on the girl's birthday that her life started to take a turn she would have never expected. A story of bittersweet memories and unbreakable love… This is Usagi's Tsukino's story.
**
Prologue: Crybaby Usagi's Splendid Transformations
The pretty blonde bowed with a bright smile to her cheering audience. "Thank you very much for coming," she chimed as they cheered for an encore.
"Usagi-chan!"
The girl glanced over her shoulder and her eyes widened as a teenager only a few years older than herself vaulted over a balcony to land beside her. "Motoki-kun…"
"You've finally become a singer, haven't you? I'm so proud of you, Usagi-chan." His eyes grew misty as he stared at the stunned girl. "I love you… I've always loved you. I came back for you to tell you this. I'll never leave you again, Usagi-chan…"
"Motoki-kun…."
"Usagi! Get up this instant! I'm not going to ask you again!" Snapped the irritated voice of Usagi's aunt.
Usagi bolted out of bed and stared around for a moment. "A dream?" She sighed and let her head bow. Why had she been woken up? "I'm up…" She yawned and glanced at her clock as her eyes began to widen. "Ah! I'm late again! Obaa-san, why didn't you wake…." She trailed off as she dissolved into a coughing fit and held her throat. "Itai…"
"Usagi! You know you shouldn't be yelling! It's bad for your health." Ikuko knelt beside her ailing niece until the attack passed. "I know going to a new school is hard on you, but this area has one of the best hospitals and we'll be closer to Wakaouji-sensei. Try to be careful, alright?"
"Hai…" Usagi managed a wane smile and finished getting ready. If her aunt knew the truth she'd be upset with her. She would never ever let Usagi do what she really wanted to. "Stupid throat…" Usagi felt tears of frustration welling in her eyes and wiped them away. She wasn't going to cry.
"I'm going," she softly called out to her aunt as she hurried out the door. Ikuko sighed softly to herself; the girl tried hard, she'd give that to her, but… Ikuko's mouth slowly arched into a disapproving frown. That girl was exactly like her father…
**
Now on top of everything else she was going to be late! As she rushed to school she noticed a group of kids in a parking lot surrounding something. "Hey, what are you guys doing?" She demanded as she took a step forward to get a better look. "Leave that cat alone!" She glared fiercely at the brats as they ran away and called her names.
The black cat who was being picked on eyed the girl warily. "Meow?" She scratched at the Band-Aid on her head with her claws and stared piteously at the girl. "Meow?"
"Poor kitty… Those boys were being mean to you, weren't they?" She leaned down and gently plucked the blockage away. "There, good as new. Ah, you have a bald spot." She started to giggle but was quickly stopped as the cat hissed and took a swipe at her before running away.
**
Usagi winced as the weight of the buckets she was forced to hold cut into her hands. "Saving that cat made me even more late…" Her stomach growled audibly and Usagi cautiously put one of the buckets down to grab her lunch. She had forgotten to eat breakfast after all.
"Hey, is she the one?" Hissed a voice not too far from where Usagi was. "Tsukino Usagi, age 14."
The blonde girl stared speechless as two oddly dressed people appeared out of a wall and studied her. "Are… are you ghosts?" she whimpered, obviously terrified of them. She glared at the guy for a long moment. "How do you know my name?"
"She can see us?" The male dressed somewhat like a cat turned to his pink-haired companion. "Oi, Meroko, she's not supposed to see us, right?"
"Who are you?" Usagi questioned. "Bunny ears!" Her lips twitched as the woman turned her way, "they're so cute!" She winced at the last word and held a hand to her burning throat. She couldn't even get excited or she'd be in pain. "Can I wear them?"
"W…Wh…Why can she see us!" Usagi couldn't help but laugh as the two ran around in a panic. "Humans who are alive shouldn't be able to see us! This has to be a joke!" He turned to the girl and smiled. "Ne, you can't really see us, right?"
"But I can…" Usagi blinked as she realized he had a tail. "Anno, are those popular? Is it glued to the pants or is it Velcro?" She let her buckets go and tried to grab it, not noticing the two enter a greater state of panic.
"This has never happened before… Humans aren't supposed to see us…" With a sigh the woman turned to the waiting Usagi. "You can really see us?" At Usagi's nod she sighed and glanced at her partner. "I guess we should introduce ourselves then, ne?"
"We have no choice, it's absurd to remain unknown when our cover's blown," Mumbled her partner; he wasn't pleased that the girl had grabbed his tail and jerked it out of her grasp.
The pink-haired woman grinned and started to pose. "We are the Shinigami, the ones who even lie to crying children."
"Takuto," introduced the male with a smirk.
"Meroko!" Chimed the other.
"Together we are… Negi Ramen!"
Usagi burst into laughter and collapsed to the floor. "Negi Ramen? It sounds so good!" As she noticed their faces starting to frown she got to her feet with a last giggle. "Ne, how can you keep that pose? Doesn't it hurt your backs?" She smiled at the two who were scowling from having their entrance laughed at. "I'm Tsukino Usagi, nice to meet you." Her eyes widened slightly as she came to a realization. "Wait… You're shinigami?" Her eyes lowered and her mirth vanished in an instant. "So you're here to pick me up, right?"
Takuto who was still protecting his ears nodded, "That's right, that's what we're here for." He was barely aware of Meroko's shocked and quickly angering expression.
"You're not supposed to tell them that!" She glared deeply at the shrugging cat-earred boy.
"It's too late for that," Takuto responded with a frown. Meroko picked on him too much for his liking.
"So I'm going to die today?" Usagi questioned the duo. The thought filled her with sudden pain. She'd never get a chance to make the dreams she and Motoki shared come true now. She'd never even get a chance to tell him of her feelings. "I see…"
"Just pretend you didn't hear that," Meroko pleaded as she finished taping up Takuto's mouth. "You're not supposed to die for another year." As soon as the words left her mouth she threw her hands over the offending part. She was as bad as Takuto!
"One year?" Hope flickered to life inside the girl. Just a moment before she had felt as if she would die without fulfilling her heart's dreams, but now she had a chance! "It's because my cancer gets worse, doesn't it?" She questioned softly touching her throat.
"That could be why," Takuto agreed as he stripped the sticky tape off his mouth and winced as the slight tingle. He glared at Meroko as she knelt before the girl.
"Ah, gomen, please don't cry…" The pink-haired shinigami blinked as she realized something.
"She's not crying," Takuto observed as Meroko called a pink book to her hand and started to flip through it. "Actually, there are people trying to prevent your death." As he saw the shock and than hope flicker through her eyes he shook his head, "It's forbidden, fate can't be changed."
As a furious Meroko attacked Takuto, Usagi came to her final decision. Her guardians would be upset, understandably so, but this was her chance to fulfill her goals. She slipped away from the two arguing shinigami and ran outside. Hopefully she wouldn't be too late.
Ms. Haruna opened the door, intent on giving the young lady a strong warning. Even though she was new to the school, that didn't excuse her tardy- so she'd had the new girl stand outside with buckets. Still, she felt bad estranging the girl on her first day, being new to the area and all…
She'd intended to give the young lady one last reprimand and let her in. It probably would have worked a lot better if Usagi had still been standing out there. Ms. Haruna could feel her eye start to twitch- she could tell this was the beginning to what would undoubtedly be a long year.
**
In her headlong dash away from the two before they realized she was gone, Usagi tripped over something and went crashing to the ground. "Itai…" She glanced back at what she had tripped and gasped. "Kitty!" She knelt down to see if it was alright when it sprang up from the ground and advanced on her. "Nice kitty…"
"You… I've been searching for you, Sailormoon." The cat ignored the shocked and scared look on the girl's face and took another step forwards. "It's time to accept your destiny, Tsukino Usagi. You are the warrior known as Sailormoon." She did a graceful backflip in the air and a pink locked fell to the ground. "Take this and shout…" She trailed off as she realized the girl had run off. "WAIT!" she demanded as she raced after her.
As interesting as a talking cat was, Usagi figured that she'd probably just knocked her head on the ground just a bit too hard. That had happened once before- she'd gotten a long lecture from Wakaouji-sensei about being more careful afterwards, too. Besides, she didn't have time for it, anyhow.
Meroko and Takuto both paused as they realized just what was screaming. "Anno, Meroko are there any other shinigami besides us after her?"
Meroko shook her head. "I don't think there would be… She's only a pediatric case, why would they send more than us after her?"
So then just what did that make that cat…?
**
Usagi fumbled with the lock on the door and frowned in frustration. How was she supposed to make it for the audition if she didn't have a key to the door? She glanced around for one she when heard an audible scream coming from a building a few feet away. Her blood ran cold at the sound and she took a step backwards.
"Aren't you going to help them?" Demanded a voice at her feet; it clearly wasn't pleased.
"Kitty…" Usagi swallowed as she realized the animal was nudging something in her hand. "What's this?"
"My name is Luna, not Kitty… And take this and repeat after me… 'Moon Prism Power Make Up.'"
Usagi nodded slightly. She wasn't sure why she was obeying the cat, besides the fact that a cat was actually asking her to do something, but she couldn't just let someone suffer if she could do something about it! "Moon Prism Power Make Up!" She screamed, ignoring the sharp pain that lanced through her throat as she did so.
**
"Hey, Meroko, is that her?" Takuto pointed to the odango-haired girl and felt his face turn faintly red as he realized what she was now wearing. "What's with that getup?"
Meroko scowled as she noticed the reaction. "Mou, Takuto keep your mind on the job!" She flew downwards to get a closer look and realized the girl was bent over. "Hey, daijoubu?" she called, her eyes widening in worry.
Usagi blinked as she realized the shinigami were back and nodded slightly. "Hai, daijoubu…" She rubbed her aching throat and with a soft version of a war cry stormed into the building. "Hey…." Her eyes widened as she realized the girl being held prisoner looked a lot like one of her classmates. "Let her go," she demanded.
Slowly the youma's head turned until it was completely facing the girl and sending her into a wave of shivers. "And who are you?"
"What is she doing?" Meroko demanded. "This isn't in the book!" She shoved the book at Takuto and pointed at the pages. "See? What is this?"
Takuto pushed her hand away and watched. "How am I supposed to know?" He snapped. "She shouldn't be fighting in that condition…" His eyes widened slightly as a red word gradually appeared in the shinigami handbook. "What's that?"
Meroko flipped through the pages and gasped. "It's backwards! That means whatever it is, will shorten her life…" She scowled as the hazy image refused to clear into something she could read. "I can't read it…."
"Someone help me," Usagi pleaded as she was shoved into a pillar. She noticed Luna behind her whispering something in her ear and shook her head in despair. Why was she being forced to do this? "Moon Tiara Action," she threw the weapon as she whispered the phrase and her head slumped as it barely nicked the laughing woman. "Now what?"
"You're not experienced enough to just whisper your attack," Luna scolded from her safe position, not in the least bit aware she had sent the two shinigamis into another round of fits.
Usagi winced. "Demo…" She noticed the hands of the youma coming for her and she screeched as she sought refuge at the base of the pillar.
A rose zipped through the air and the youma howled in pain. "Who's there?"
"Do your best Sailormoon, find the warrior within," demanded the caped stranger as he merely watched the proceedings below him.
Usagi nodded and from the edge of her eye sight watched the man leap from the window and away from the scene. "I am Sailormoon, champion of justice and in place of the moon I'll punish you," she vowed as she plucked her tiara off her forehead. "Let's try this one more time…. Moon Tiara Action!" as soon as the tiara was safely on its way she slumped to the ground and gasped loudly as her body shuddered. It was painful, how could that cat expect her to help when it was hurting her? "Did I get it?" she whispered.
"You did well, Sailormoon," Luna started before realizing her new charge was on all fours, "are you alright? Hey, what's wrong?"
Usagi ignored the cat and let the transformation fade as she struggled to her feet. "There's still time…" She weakly stumbled out of the building and back towards the audition hall. "I'm going to make it…"
"Hey, what are you doing?" Takuto demanded as he and Meroko each grabbed one of her arms. "You're going to get hurt if you keep that up."
Usagi desperately fought with them but their grip was too strong. "Let me go, I'm going to miss the audition, I want to become a singer!" She winced in pain and held a hand to her throat.
"Can you really audition like that? You can't even talk loudly…" Meroko shook her head. "It'd be better if you were just a good girl and came home with us."
"Please, at least let me audition," Usagi begged. "If I fail I'll be good and listen to you…so please?"
Takuto sighed as he saw the tears welling up. "You're serious about this, aren't you?" At her nod he closed his eyes for a moment. "I understand." He pushed his palms together as he gathered his energy and began to glow. As he separated one palm from another, a handle of a dagger could be seen, he plucked it out with the free hand and opened his eyes. "I'll turn you into a sixteen year old, as long as you're sixteen your body will be healthy too."
Usagi blinked as he pressed his finger against the blade. What was he doing? A tiny drop of blood floated in the air in front of her before it crystallized into a red star. "What's this?"
"Take that, at my command it will spread through your body… It will feel weird at first, but you'll have to endure it." As she obediently swallowed he nodded slightly, "Good girl," he praised as he snapped his fingers.
Luna gasped as her charge turned into a new age. "What's going on?" She demanded of the now older girl.
Usagi was too busy staring at her self to answer. Her hair had come undone from her childish odangos and it flowed freely down her back, all the way down to her thighs. "Wow…" She whispered as she studied herself.
"Go check yourself out over there," Takuto instructed as he pointed at a nearby mirror.
"Sugoi!" Usagi gasped. "I'm really sixteen!" She launched herself at Takuto and hugged him tightly. "Arigato, Shinigami-san!"
"Shinigami?" Luna's fur rose and she hissed. "Usagi, get away from them," she demanded as she looked around for the bringers of death. As if her charge didn't have enough problems. But if there where shinigami around why couldn't s he sense them?
"It was nothing," Takuto chuckled as he nervously ran a hand across the back of his hair. "Are you satisfied?"
"Get away from Takuto!" Meroko demanded as she glared darkly at the two.
"Hai!" Usagi agreed to his question. "But I would like to change my eye color…"
**
"Takuto! What do you think you're doing? If the chief finds out about this you'll get in trouble! We're not supposed to tell humans the truth, let alone help them like this! What are you thinking? You haven't… with that girl… No! Takuto is mine!"
"When did I become your possession?" Takuto demanded with a scowl. "Besides, it's not like that. If she dies with regrets it will create problems for us later. Now that she's sixteen she can audition, she won't make it… It's not enough to simply be turned the proper age. Don't worry, everything is under control…"
Meroko frowned. "I still can't understand this word either… And what are we going to do about that cat? She's pushing her into something dangerous."
Takuto's easygoing smile vanished in an instant. "You're right… That's not an ordinary cat; besides that with her having to use her voice so much, it could irritate her cancer and affect its spread. We can't let her die before her time is up."
"I know that," Meroko snapped, "I've been a shinigami longer than you have. I don't need an apprentice telling me that… But what are we going to do? That cat can't even see us."
Takuto sighed. "I guess we'll have to wait for now… If that word in the book becomes clear we can act, but until it does we're hopeless…"
**
Usagi was nervous- no, she was beyond nervous at this point. She had attempted to put her hair back in her traditional hairstyle, but she had too much of it! She could only manage to make two small odangos and still had a lot of hair left over. She hoped she didn't look too plain…
Cautiously she opened the door to the audition and swallowed nervously as all chatter seemed to stop and she felt as if she was being scrutinized by every person there. Everyone was so cute! There was no way she could win this… She managed to find an empty seat and felt her face flush in embarrassment.
"Can I sit here?" A pretty girl with purple hair didn't wait for a response and sat beside her. "You… What agency are you from?" she questioned with a pleasant smile.
"Agency?" Usagi puzzled over the word for a moment.
"You're not part of a theatrical group or a recording agency?" The other girl asked her eyes widening slightly. At Usagi's negative answer a small smile stole across her lips. "It's rather unfortunate, but its probably impossible for you," she admitted wit ha small sorrowful smile.
"Really?" Usagi questioned as she felt her dreams beginning to crumble. No, she wouldn't give up. She'd come too far.
"This is just between us," The other girl commented as she leaned closer. "They're already decided on who they're selecting."
"What? Then why are we auditioning?" Usagi demanded as she turned to the girl. "Why is that?" she softly demanded. This couldn't be right… Why would they do such a thing to all these girls?
"Well, you see…This audition gets lots of coverage on the morning news and on talk shows. With all the attention she'll receive from those watching her on television, she'll become famous…She'll be picked from 'thousands of people,' and become famous just for that… it's a huge chance to start selling their new artists," she explained.
Usagi couldn't fight off the strong feeling of disappointment that plagued her at these girls words. How cruel of them to set up such a thing… how cruel to let all of these girls' hopes up for nothing.
"So then… you've been accepted?" Usagi asked, unable to keep the building sadness out of her voice.
The other girl offered her an apologetic smile. "Sorry," she told her, before going off.
A moment later, the door to the judges' room opened, and man with a microphone came out. "We'll be starting the judging now. Please come in when we call the number you got on the badge when you registered," he announced, before beginning to call in the girls.
Usagi sat alone, trying not to feel sad. 'I thought this world was based purely on skill,' she thought to herself
**
Luna had gone to great measures to get inside the building. Twice she'd been kicked out, handled rather roughly by the janitor- most likely- who'd threatened to call the pound if she turned up again. So she'd been forced to take drastic measures- i.e., hitching a ride in a woman's tote bag.
Climbing out, Luna fell to the floor with little grace and skittered around a corner, hiding. The woman picked up the few objects that had fallen out with Luna, looked around with an expression of bewilderment, and then had carried on.
Just where, though, had her charge gone off to? She assumed the girl was her charge, being Sailormoon and all. However, she was beginning to have her doubts in the girl- she seemed much too spacey in Luna's opinion to be a good leader.
Not only that, but the girl might be a compulsive liar. Seeing shinigami, honestly! Surely as the girl's guardian, she would have felt the presence of something evil. If the girl had been telling the truth, though…?
'It must have been a ploy to distract me,' Luna decided. Yes, that had to have been it, right? Because after that, the girl had run off.
Luna shook her small body before slowly walking around, looking for where her charge might have gone. She reached a door where a good deal of noise was originating from- a lot of female voices. Perhaps she'd gone in there…?
Luna waited patiently for someone to open the door before promptly slipping in. Indeed, the room was jam packed with young women, all emitting the same nervous energy. Above that, they seemed to be practicing for something…
Ah, well. It wasn't as though it was any of her business- all she wanted was to find Sailormoon and get out of here.
Carefully, Luna began to mill around the room, avoiding shoes that looked as though they could do wicked damage to her if they stepped on her. Why women had to wear high heels Luna had never been able to process- all they seemed to do were give them hammer toe and break ankles. It must have been a human thing.
Finally, a glimpse of the girl she'd met earlier in the day! Luna began to make her way quickly to where the girl was sitting, just barely noting the depressed look on her face. She'd worry about that when she got there.
Just when she'd finally thought she'd made it, a fiery pain raced up her tail. Luna yowled, and instantly regretted it. A dozen eyes were turned to her, and instantly she was picked up.
Luna meowed desperately as she was picked up and carried out to the same grumpy-looking janitor as before. Just how did he get up there so fast, anyhow? But it was no use- Usagi seemed to be too deep into her state of thought to notice.
And so Luna's plans were foiled, and the cat with an odd bald spot was sent off the pound, presumably.
"Number twenty-one," the man with the microphone called. Usagi stared listlessly ahead of her, paying no attention at all to her surroundings. Had she really gone through all that trouble, skipped school, and made the shinigami help her for nothing? Moreover, how would she explain this exploit to her aunt…?
"Number twenty-one?" He repeated. Usagi snapped to awareness, and looked down at the badge she held in her hands. She was number twenty-one… but if what that girl had said was true, wasn't this just a waste of her time…?
'I came this far, I might as well go through with it. What do I have to lose? Usagi stepped forward and entered the judges' room, and the door closed behind her with a note of finality.
'Even if they've already chosen... No. If I'm willing to give up so readily, then I'd never make it. I'll give it my all,' she decided, giving herself a swift nod to try to encourage herself.
**
Takuto smirked to himself, pleased with his work. He honestly hadn't expected that cat to show up again, but apparently it was persistent. Seeing as the cat seemed to trying to hinder their work, he'd taken great pride in getting rid of it.
'Shinigami, one; strange cat, zero,' he told himself with a smirk, counting the score.
"Ne, Takuto, wasn't it a bit mean to make that lady step on her like that? High heels probably hurt a lot." Meroko pointed out in speculation.
"Just doing my job," the small white cat pointed out. Meroko wondered if maybe Takuto was having just a bit too much fun…?
More importantly, though… just why had Takuto been lending this girl his power? It wasn't as though they were at her beck and call! Meroko frowned and tapped her plush-bunny foot. They really shouldn't have been helping the girl in the first place- okay, so it was Takuto who was doing the helping, but that was besides the point.
Despite Takuto's reassurances, Meroko had a bad feeling. What if she somehow managed to pass? Surely a girl without any talent wouldn't have signed up for it in the first place…
"Ah! It looks like it's her turn," Takuto announced. Meroko snapped out of her worries, and watched Usagi walk to the next room over. Promptly both shinigami waddled over on the windowsill to watch.
**
Meroko chuckled at the nervous answers the girl gave. "If she's this nervous now, there's no way she'll make it." She smiled in relief and didn't notice Takuto vanish from her side.
Inside the audition Usagi was starting to sing in a whisper. At the reprimand from the judges she winced and touched a hand to her throat. "Maybe it's impossible after all," she mused before bowing to excuse herself.
"Are you going to run away?" Takuto blocked her exit and frowned at her, clearly disappointed with what she had almost done. "Your throat is fine, sing." As she stared past him he frowned more. "You like to sing, ne?"
Usagi's eyes fluttered close. She remembered Motoki telling her the same thing. Yes, she loved to sing, it was what she wanted to do with her life. Motoki had told her he loved her singing… She wasn't going to quit now. "Arigato," she whispered before turning back to the faintly irritated judges. "Gomen ne… May I start again?"
'It's fine if it's painful. No matter how much it hurts inside, whether its pain, or love, they're all part of my dream!' With a smile blossoming onto her lips she lifted the microphone and began to sing, unaware that her song had a strange shocking effect on Takuto whose eyes widened as she sung her heart out.
There's still one more thing that will surely never change.. the dream that I am always sketching.
The me that I am right now, could I possibly reflect…all of those days in these small eyes of mine?
Ne… won't you look up, the sky tonight is so wide and spacious after all…
Right… very soon… so I can understand…
With all I've got, I'm going to hurry up and shine…I'm searching for a full moon.
Let's sing a song!
So that we can be together forever, I'm doing everything that I can do.
Day by day…
I will embrace yesterday's fate and tomorrow's hopes inside of me.
Let's sing a song!
If I am always together with you…I'll make it through any pain.
More and more…
I want to be even closer to you, I stand here right now and give…
Many thanks for you…
As the last notes faded into the air there was a bustle as the judges all seemed to stand up at once. Before Usagi could question what was wrong they were on the phones and announcing that the competition was over. They had gone with #21. Disappointment started to set in when Usagi realized with a start, that she was #21!
Takuto and Meroko stared at her stunned than glanced at each other. They hadn't expected her to actually make it! What were they going to do now?
Usagi stared stunned as all of the people seemed to surround her and talk to her at once as they instructed her on what would happen next. She really won? 'Motoki-kun… I won!' she inwardly gasped as she smiled gratefully at the two shocked shinigami
It didn't matter if she only had a year left to live, or merely a month. She was going to do her best! She was going to make all of her dreams come true. 'Just watch, Motoki-kun.'
***
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