Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon Labyrinth ❯ A Helpless Target, the Brief Return of Sailorpluto ( Chapter 6 )

A note on ages in Crystal Tokyo: Obviously, they're living for a lot longer in the time of Crystal Tokyo. For example: in the manga, by SailormoonSS, Chibiusa was around 900 years old but she still looked like she was nine. (Although she was a special case, you get the idea.)

"Are you nervous?" Rei whispered to Usa as the two walked down the hallway of the T*A Academy.

"Petrified!" The former princess whispered, "I haven't had very good experiences with schools."

"Hello Hino-san!" A couple of girls yelled enthusiastically from across the hall. Rei smiled slightly and gave them a small wave before turning back to Usa.

"Friends of yours?" Usa asked curiously.

Rei shook her head and replied, "No. I don't even know who they are." She looked slightly smug and added, "Almost everyone here knows who I am. After all, I do enough work around here. I have to do everything, or nothing gets done! Kind of like of the senshi team."

Usa glanced at her sideways and said, "Aren't you exaggerating just a little bit, Rei-chan?"

Rei shrugged and didn't answer.

"Here's your room. I'll come back and get you after class, okay?" She smiled gently and added, "Don't worry so much Usa-chan. Everything will be fine. If you can manage being princess of Crystal Tokyo and survive its fall, a silly little math class should be no problem."

She shoved the hesitant girl gently through the doorway and marched off down the hallway.

Usa reeled as though she had been punched and nearly tripped on her way through the doorway. Several students were already in the room, and they all turned to look as Usa-chan staggered in. She skidded to a halt and her mind froze. There were so many unfamiliar faces. She longed for the comfort of Rei's shrine, and helplessly wondered why it was so important she start school in the past. She stood in front of the class, her blue eyes wide with agitation, staring blankly.

"Hi! You must be Hino-san's cousin, right? She told us you were coming today."

Usa looked down at the girl standing before her with surprise. Her brown hair was held back in a short ponytail with a barrette shaped like a cat. Although Usa was only medium height and by no exaggeration tall, the other girl's head just barely topped her waist. Her brown eyes were laughing merrily, and she exclaimed, "My name's Inymi Kisa. What's yours?"

Usa finally shook herself out of her stupor long enough to stammer, "Umm, it's Usa. Hino Usa." Thankfully, before she was forced to come up with further conversation topics, the bell ran and offered momentary protection. Kisa grabbed her arm and dragged her over to a desk towards the back of the room.

"This one's right next to mine; the girl that used to sit there transferred to a different school, so it's just been waiting for a new person to sit there!" Kisa giggled and jumped into her own seat.

Privately, Usa wondered how old the other girl was. She didn't look like she could be over ten, and yet she was obviously quite at home in the high school classroom. Maybe going to a private school like T*A Academy meant that some people moved up more quickly?

Kisa, apparently oblivious to Usa's scrutiny, swung her legs back and forth, humming happily to herself as the teacher surveyed the room.

Her eyes finally rested on Usa and she murmured, "That's right, we have a new student with us today. I should have a memo about her somewhere here." She trailed off and stared at the stack of papers on her desk.

"Now what did I do with that memo?"

The teacher poked around at a few of the papers, still mumbling to herself. Finally, after a search through her entire desk, one of the girls sitting in the front row tentatively raised her hand. The teacher immediately stopped what she was doing and said, "Yes. What is it? Do you have a question?"

"Actually, Ikari-sensei, I was just going to ask you if this was the memo you were looking for?"

The girl held up a white sheet that had been sitting on the overhead projector next to her desk.

"Oh, yes! That's the one!"

Ikari-sensei took several deep breaths and rushed over to retrieve her memo.

"Thank you so very much! I'm so glad you found it! I couldn't introduce..." She trailed off as she scanned the paper for a name, pushing her glasses more firmly on her nose. "Hino-san. Hino Usa-san." She looked up and quickly scanned the room, searching for a new face. Finally spotting Usa, she said, "Well, Hino-san, why don't you find an empty seat and we'll get started."

Usa was so relieved that she didn't have to stand up in front of the class and introduce herself that she didn't bother to point out that she had already found a desk. She was much too busy basking in the vast amount of tension that was draining from her body. However, Ikari-sensei suddenly exclaimed, "Oh! Silly me! I'm so sorry! Hino-san, why don't you stand up and tell us a few things about yourself!"

Oh great! Usa thought sullenly, Now I get to lie to a group of people that might end up being my friends!

Her intial nervousness had been replaced by a general resentment and it didn't occur to her that she might not be in the past long enough to make friends. Rather, with a pained smiled on her face, Usa got to her feet and said, "Well, Hino Rei is my cousin. My father died before I was born, so my mother raised me. She just recently died-"

Usa's voice caught slightly in her throat; admitting that her mother really was dead left a painful emptiness in her heart. She cleared her throat and said, "Now I'm living with Rei-chan at her shrine. Umm...that's it I guess."

She quickly sat down and folded her hands in her lap, studiously examining them and refusing to lift eyes that were suddenly damp.

"Very nice, Hino-san. Thank you very much for sharing with us." To the class, the teacher said, "Let's all try to make Hino-san feel welcome here, okay?"

"Yes, sensei." The class chorused.

Ikari-sensei began bustling around the front of the room muttering to herself again, and after Kisa nudged her to draw her attention to it, Usa's unhappiness melted. She stifled a laugh with one hand as Kisa made a face. Even her grandmother wasn't this unorganized!

Maybe this won't so bad after all. Maybe this is a chance for me to start over...

"Soooo..." Rei asked cheerfully, "How are you liking your first day so far?"

Usa smiled happily while opening her lunch and exclaimed, "It was great! I've already met a girl I really like! Her name's Inymi Kisa. She said you told her I was coming today."

Rei thought about it for a moment and then said, "Maybe she was standing with one of the groups I told you were coming. I don't think I know anyone named Inymi Kisa."

"Oh."

Usa-chan was mildly disappointed, and it took her a minute to realize why.

I'm trying to gain Rei-chan's approval. If she doesn't know who Kisa is, then I can't get her opinion.

"Hey!" Rei exclaimed cheerfully, "Don't look so gloomy! What were you thinking about?" Usa-chan shook her head slightly and smiled at Rei.

"Nothing. I was just thinking. Maybe I'll bring her to meet all of the senshi sometime. She's really nice."

"Okay."

Rei shrugged and popped a carrot into her mouth. The two girls ate in silence for a few moments before Usa suddenly jumped to her feet and said, "There's Kisa-san! I'm going to go and say hi, okay?"

"Sure, just don't go too far away," Rei's voice quieted and she added, "All of the others are over at Juuban. If something happens, I'll be the only one here to help you, so stay where I can find you, okay?"

"Ara.(Oh)" Usa-chan's smiled faded slightly, but she soon brightened back up and said, "Okay, Rei-chan, no problem!"

Rei sighed as she watched Usa run off and thought, Sorry, Usa-chan. I don't want to keep reminding you of everything that has happened, but we've got to keep you safe.

"Usa! Over here!" Kisa waved wildly and jumped up and down.

"Hi, Kisa!" Usa skidded to stop and added, "What's up?"

Kisa's eyes shone with excitement and she exclaimed, "You'll never guess what I've found! It's incredible!"

Usa, caught up in her friend's excitement, found herself getting just as worked up.

"What is it? Where is it?"

"Over here! It's just around the corner, against the school. Come on! I'll show you!"

Kisa danced around the corner and Usa hesitated momentarily. Following Kisa would mean that they would be separated from the rest of the student body, and that Rei wouldn't be able to see them.

"Usa! What are you doing?! Come on!"

She hesitated for another second, biting her lip with indecision. When Kisa ran back around the corner and grabbed her wrist, Usa didn't resist.

"What is it?"

Usa crouched down and peered at the strange object embedded in the wall of the school. The object was shaped like a small black cat, and it had its legs stretched out in front of it, like it was trying to climb the wall. Kisa giggled.

"Isn't it cute? I think it might be some kind of toy."

"It is cute," Usa agreed, "but what's it doing over here? Do you think someone lost it?"

Kisa shrugged, "I don't know. I just found it a couple of minutes ago. I was afraid to pick it up. I didn't want to break it."

"It should be okay," Usa replied, "As long as we're careful with it. It might have a name on it somewhere."

Kisa bounced over to the cat and gently tried to pick it up. However, the second her finger touched it, the cat's eyes snapped open. Kisa shrieked, startled, and then started to laugh.

"I guess touching it turns it on," the girl tittered.

"I guess so," Usa murmured, not amused. There was something about this 'toy' that bothered her, she just couldn't put her finger on it.

The cat began to make a soft whirring noise, lifted one paw, extended its leg up, and hooked them into the wall.

"Look!" Kisa exclaimed with fascination, "It really does climb the walls!"

"Uh-huh." Usa answered, keeping her gaze locked on the tiny mechanical cat.

"Kisa?" She said slowly, but with alarm, "Why is the area around that cat dark?"

Her enthused observation interrupted, it took the other girl a second to respond. When she did, her voice was different, deeper somehow, and lacking her earlier enthuasiasm.

"I don't see anything. You better grab it before it gets away though."

Usa mounting alarm distracted her from the sudden change in her friend and she shuffled slightly closer, pointing towards the softly humming object.

"Look at the area around the cat. It's all dark. It doesn't look like the sun is even reaching it."

Kisa leaned forward for a closer look and said, "Maybe it's broken. That's probably why someone left it here. That's probably smoke or oil or something from the gears."

Usa smiled sickly and nodded, wishing she could believe that's all it was, and poked an experimental finger at the black stain. A flood of relief rushed through her when the stain seemed to be nothing but a shadow but shrieked when she tried to pull it away again.

"It's biting me, it's biting me! Kisa, help me!"

Usa's voice climbed another octave and twisted to see what the other girl was doing.

"Help me!"

Kisa took a step back, her face expressionless and shrugged slightly. There was very little sign of the cheer she had exhibited earlier.

Usa's newest shriek died in her throat.

"Kisa?"

"You killed them all, Princess. You killed everyone."

"What?"

Usa could feel herself growing faint and even the throbbing pain in her finger was growing distant.

Kisa laughed and her laugh was that of an adult woman, one that echoed and re-echoed through Usa's swiftly receeding mind.

The cat suddenly shot up the wall and after climbing climbing nearly thirty feet, it leapt away, twisting in mid-air, and grew huge as it fell. A giant mechanical panther landed and blinked glowing yellow eyes.

Usa gasped weakly, struggled to raise her power, failed, and closed her eyes again.

Minna...I'm sorry, so sorry, but I can't.

The panther roared, the glow in its eyes brightening, and Usa felt her energy being drained. It hurt, far worse that the injury to her finger, and she screamed, the golden crescent moon flaring to life on her forehead.

NO!

The silvery beam of energy deflected the panther, and Usa fell to the ground with exhaustion, her hand finally free.

The panther staggered, one of the lights in its eyes growing dim, but it reared over her again and the other was stronger than before.

Usa cried out softly but couldn't even raise herself off of the ground long enough to stare her own death in the face.

Mama...Grandma...I'm so sorry.

Usa-chan shut her eyes.

Usa's orginal screams of pain had been enough to get the attention of nearly everyone who had been eating outside, but Hino Rei had no longer been outside when the screaming began. Instead, even as Usa had been running to meet her friend, a teacher had come up to her and requested her assistence with something inside. Because Rei was on several social committees, it never occured to her that something was amiss, even though she didn't recognize the teacher that had fetched her. It was only after she had been shoved into a classroom and the door locked behind her that she realized something was wrong, and by then it was too late.

"Dead Scream."

A rushing ball of violet energy blasted the panther off of its feet and it slammed violently into a nearby tree.

Usa lay unconscious, her face slightly grey, and Sailorpluto frowned deeply, a look that was surprising on her normally serene face.

"Princess. I'm beginning to doubt the wisdom of sending you to this time alone."

The panther was struggling to it's feet and Pluto whirled, bringing the Time Staff in front of her chest.

The Garnet Orb flared brightly from it's place atop Pluto's weapon and the panther melted with a scream that shattered the nearby windows.

Behind her, Usa's eyes opened slowly, her energy returning quickly. Pluto knelt and helped her to stand.

"Daijoubu ka, Serenity-sama?"

The last remains of the crescent moon faded from the girl's forehead and she blinked slowly, her eyes filling with tears.

"Princess, what's wrong? Are you injured?" Sailorpluto's voice was edging on panic and Usa's eyes widened. Pluto panicked was like seeing her Grandmother panic in a moment when Crystal Tokyo needed her the most: it was unheard of.

"It's all my fault. Everything is my fault. Kisa was right."

Serenity-sama, you can't-"

"Usa-chan! Usa-chan, where are you?! Usa!!!"

Mars' arms encircled her, the momentum of her sudden arrival nearly sending both of them back onto the ground and it took only a moment for Usa to realize that Mars was crying violently.

"I'm so glad you're all right! Some stupid teacher tricked me, he locked me in a classroom. He must have been working for the enemy. I knew you must be in danger if they were trying to get me out of the way. I came as soon as I could. Usa-chan, I'm so glad that you're all right!"

Usa was beginning to feel lightheaded again from the tumultuous array of emotion that was battering her, especially from women she was used to seeing as unyieldingly strong in situations of crisis, and Pluto's hand on her shoulder steadied her.

"You must be strong, Neo-Princess Serenity-sama." Pluto's squeezed her shoulder slightly.

It took her a long moment to answer, but her words were unwavering when she did.

"I know. But that doesn't really make things any easier."

Pluto sighed, looking genuinely sorry, and replied, "I know it doesn't. I'm very sorry, Serenity-sama. For now, this is the way that things have to be."

Turning to Sailormars, Pluto said, "The senshi need to have a meeting. Take Serenity-sama and go to the shrine. I'll arrange to have the others meet you there."

Mars, already too drained emotionally from the day, didn't even consider disagreeing even on principal, simply nodded.

After that day there was no more talk of Usa returning to school again.

Setsuna stood at the foot of the stairs and stared at each of the senshi with frustration.

"Although I feel you've failed the princess today, I don't know what else you can do. These creatures are going to continue attacking Usa-sama, and she's helpless save that beam of energy, which drains her considerably."

"Failed the princess!" Rei jumped to her feet before any of the others could respond. "We all have lives too, Setsuna-san! We already devote tons of energy to protecting Usagi! How do you expect us to have the time and strength to protect Usa-chan as well?! In case you've forgotten, Sailormoon's weapon was destroyed, which leaves her almost as helpless as Usa-chan! And Sailormoon has to go into danger! She's been defending this planet for a long time, and now suddenly, she's failed the princess?!"

Rei's face flushed with anger and her fists clenched. Her failure from earlier that afternoon still weighed heavily on her heart, fueling her anger and guilt. The other senshi looked slightly amazed at her outburst, but they didn't disagree with what she said.

"And furthermore, where the hell are the other Outers? Huh? We've been doing all the work lately! This is the first we've seen of you in ages, and whereas I can understand how Hotaru isn't here, since she's only an infant, where are Haruka-san and Michiru-san? They have responsibilities as senshi too, and quite frankly, they're neglecting them!"

Setsuna's eyes were slightly glazed, and it didn't even pretend to listen to Rei. Instead, after a short moment of silence, she said, "I'll be back when I can," and vanished before any of them could respond.

"Well," Ami said, sounding hurt, "She doesn't think very highly of us, now does she?"

Rei shook her head with disgust and Mako-chan exclaimed, "If she was around more, maybe it wouldn't be so hard to keep up with our lives and be sailor senshi at the same time!"

"She does see to be placing a lot of blame on us, doesn't she?" Minako also looked hurt and she looked to Luna and Artemis for help.

"How dare she say such things about you!" Artemis was furiously flexing his claws and yowled his disapproval, "Who does she think she is? You're doing your best; I should know! It isn't our fault that Usa-chan is a target, and it would help things considerably if Pluto had more information for us! She sends that poor girl back in time with almost no instructions, and obviously severely traumatized from whatever it was she saw in the future. And furthermore-"

Artemis' raving was cut short by the calm voice of Usagi.

"We have to try harder. We can't let Usa-chan get hurt. Pluto's doing to the best she can, and we have to try even more than we already are. I'll learn to fight hand-to-hand."

The senshi looked at her with shock and Mako murmured, "Usagi-chan wants to do more work than necessary? Unbelievable!"

Luna looked at her charge with adoration and pride and exclaimed, "That's wonderful, Usagi! And a very sensible suggestion."

She faced all of the senshi and said, "I know Sailorpluto came down hard on you, minna, but it's just because she's worried about Usa-chan. The best way to keep her from yelling at you would be to eliminate the reasons for a scolding. We're going to have to keep extra close eye on Usa from now on, and make sure that we can keep those creatures away from her!"

Before she could say more, Sailorpluto appeared where Setsuna had stood only moments before. Several small lacerations and cuts oozed sluggishly from numerous injuries.

Everyone was momentarily stunned into silence, but Usa's face grew so pale that it seemed nearly transparent.

"Did you go back to the future?" The girl whispered with horror. Even the briefest of thoughts about what had once been her home filled her with an unspeakable terror.

"Hai. I had to in order to retrieve this."

She held out a silver brooch with a golden crescent moon engraved on it and eight different colored stones around the moon. (Like the one the original Sailormoon had, but with more stones, and no pink circle in the middle)

"What is it?" Usa looked at the brooch with fascination, and felt inexplicably drawn to it.

"It's your henshin (transformation) brooch. With it, you'll be able to transform into SailorMoon."

"There's already a Sailormoon. They don't need me."

Usa was suddenly terrified at the thought of being able to transform. What if something happened to Usagi-chan, and she was forced to lead the senshi?

"You must be able to protect yourself in some way. The senshi may not always be able to get to you quickly when you are being attacked. Look at what happened today. Sailormars and I were very fortunate that the creature who attacked today was very weak. If it hadn't been, the damage could have been severely higher, both to ourselves and to the students there."

Usa took the brooch from Pluto's hand, both with dread and longing. She looked doubtfully at Pluto and said, "I'll probably end up losing this if I try to wear it all the time."

"Just wish for it to be with you."

"Nani?"

Usa looked at Pluto doubtfully. Pluto gave her a slightly playful smile and replied, "Where do you think the senshi keep things in these outfits? It can be stored using your own power, and you'll be able to summon it to you whenever you need it."

Usa closed her eyes with concentration, and when she opened them, the brooch was gone.

Pluto added, "If you open you hand and wish for your brooch, it will come to you." She swayed suddenly as though in an earthquake that no one else could sense.

"I must leave again. Gomen nasai(sorry), princess. The Gate isn't yet completely out of danger. It cost me a great deal to bring that brooch to you. Use it well."

She turned, and to the others said, "Do your best and keep your faith in the royal family. There is a great deal more than you realize riding in the fate of this girl."

Sailorpluto disappeared silently, leaving Usa standing alone in front of the others.

An indentical question ran through all of their minds simultaneously. If things went too drastically wrong at the Gate, would even the senshi of time be able to hold the fabric of time's existence together?