Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Runaway Heartstrings ❯ Wounded ( Chapter 4 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Kihin Ranno 
Anime/Manga: Sailor Moon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Suspense / Romance / Psychological / Drama | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 09.29.2002 | Pages: 7 | Words: 4.4K | Visits: 253 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Sailor Moon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Suspense / Romance / Psychological / Drama | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 09.29.2002 | Pages: 7 | Words: 4.4K | Visits: 253 | Status: Work In Progress
Runaway Heartstrings
Chapter Four: Wounded
5/14
goddess_branwen@hotmail.com
http://www.geocities.c om/kihin_ranno/starlithorizon.html
R
~~Date Started: December 30, 2001~~
~~Date Completed: December 31, 2001~~
~~Revision Begun: September 17, 2002~~
~~Revision Completed: September 18, 2002~~
This story is an alternate reality taking the characters from Sailor
Moon and inserting them into a different situation while remaining in
their own universe. In essence, I am screwing around with the story of
Sailor Moon because I can. This in no way reflects Naoko Takeuchi's
version of Sailor Moon or the anime version. However, I hold no claim
onto Sailor Moon as that is owned by Naoko, Bandai, Kodansha, Toei
Animation, Mixx, DiC, Cloverway, and I'm sure about 100,000 others. I
am merely doing this for my own sick amusement and once again, because
I can.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~*
The rest of the drive was in complete silence. Usagi had quickly
realized that she did not have to speak to him unless she was spoken
to. Besides she didn't much feel like conversation at this point.
Mamoru had picked up on that quickly enough, so he kept his mouth shut.
The silence was by no means uncomfortable... It just existed.
A few hours later, Mamoru pulled up in front of the hospital he knew
all too well, a little girl asleep in the seat next to him. He was
relieved she had actually begun to trust him if even just a little bit
in that short amount of time. The thing that worried him was that he
wasn't sure how he was going to get her checked into the hospital. He
needed a parent or guardian to sign her in. Without one, he knew he
might be suspected as the one who did this to her.
Mamoru sighed, very unsure of what to do. There was no way that he
was going to get the girl admitted without being accused of something.
And if the girl had been sexually abused, that would certainly be no
help.
Mamoru rested his head on the steering wheel, ignoring his brain as it
practically screamed for sleep. He had to think. There had to be
somewhere he could go...
Mamoru looked back up to the hospital and then down at the sleeping
and child beside him. He sighed in defeat and decided that there was
nothing he'd be able to do here, 'I'll just take her to Rei's and have
Ami's mom look at her in the morning... She should be home by
tomorrow,'. Then he turned the key in the ignition and finally put his
seatbelt on...
It was then that Usagi, who was still nameless to him, awoke with a
start. She noticed they were driving away from the hospital and
began to panic, "Where are you taking me?" Usagi asked, the fear of
the situation in her voice.
Mamoru mentally smacked himself upside the head and berated himself
before saying, "Don't worry, I'm taking you to a friend of mine's...
There's no way the hospital will take you without a parent or
legal guardian to sign you in..."
Usagi cringed slightly and she looked up at Mamoru fearfully, "This
friend--"
"Is female," Mamoru said, knowing what the girl was thinking about,
"She's around your age and the only other person around is her
grandfather. He's senile but otherwise harmless,"
Usagi relaxed a little bit, deciding that even if the grandfather
wasn't as harmless as her savior made him out to be, perhaps his
friend would keep anything bad from happening to her, "Where is it?"
"Its the Shinto shrine a few blocks from here... Hikawa Jinja. I don't
think your father would ever find you there..." Mamoru added, "I'm also
having another friend of mine come over in the morning with her mother,
whose one of the best doctors in Tokyo... That way we can be sure that
you're all right..."
Usagi smiled slightly and said, "It sounds like you have a lot of
friends... at any rate you have more than I do..."
Mamoru flinched at that and sighed, "Well perhaps I'm using incorrect
terms... We aren't exactly friends... More like... business
associates..."
Usagi for some reason wanted to delve further into what this man was
talking about, but decided against it. Something about the was he
worded it was not exactly making her feel very secure... Especially
since she didn't see what business a man of his age would have with
fourteen year olds... At least nothing she wanted to be involved in.
Usagi shuddered and once again moved as far away from the older man
as she possibly could. The moment she was, she began her practice of
looking out the window, searching every car for the face of her
devil.
Mamoru sighed again when he realized the impression the girl must
have gotten from his last statement. Once again, he kicked himself
but this time did nothing to correct it. It was doubtful he would ever
see her again. After Ami's mother got her cleaned up, she'd most
likely be taken to a government facility put up for adoption. Then
she'd stay there until she was eighteen because people only wanted to
adopt cute little babies, not half grown girls.
But at least there no one would hit her... He hoped, "I'll just call
Dr. Mizuno in the morning," Mamoru said quietly. Suddenly a thought
occurred to him and he furrowed his brow. He had left his phone in
his apartment when he left.
Mamoru cursed silently and gripped the steering wheel tightly, 'Unless
I see the others tonight. I certainly hope I didn't miss anything.
Minako would never forgive me.
'I just pray to God there's no attack at the shrine while she's
there... That damn place is like a magnet for it,'
A few minutes later they pulled up at Hikawa Jinja. Mamoru looked at
the clock in his car and realized that if there had been an attack, he
had more than likely missed it. Their enemy preferred to attack when
they were asleep and it was four in the morning. Rei would be up.
That was his one source of relief. Mamoru turned off the car and said,
"Good. She'll be up."
Usagi blinked and stared at him, very confused, "At four o'clock in
the morning?"
"She's a priestess. She has to get up this early..." Mamoru said as
he got out of the car. That was the closest thing to conversation the
two had had. He realized in passing. Too bad he knew it would be the
the first and the last.
Usagi followed him soon after, shaking all the while. She was not
looking forward to being passed around to another person tonight. She
still did not fully trust Mamoru and now she was going to another
person. She hoped she would be able to stay put for just a little
while...
Usagi folded her arms across her chest and looked down, hoping just to
walk in the door, be presented to whomever it was, and be taken in to
rest. But something compelled Usagi to look up... And when she did she
saw all of those stairs leading up to it. The blood fled from her face
and she actually feared she would not be able to make it up all those
stairs.
Mamoru looked puzzled at first, but then he quickly discerned that
there was no way the girl was strong enough to make it... He didn't
know how long she had run, but certainly more than she was capable of.
She hadn't eaten. She hadn't slept much. And besides she looked close
to collapsing just standing there anyway, "Listen, if you don't think
you can make it--" Mamoru began, not wanting to appear condescending.
"No its all right... I'll... I'll be fine..." Usagi said shakily, not
wanting to appear weak. She had been weak before her stepfather, but
she would not be helpless in front of him. She felt as though there
was something at stake if she did. She didn't quite know what, but she
didn't want to risk it. She took a deep breath and began ascending
the stairs... Dreading each step.
Mamoru sighed and shook his head. He knew that the runaway was just
being stubborn. He was often the same way, but her health was at
stake. He jogged up to her and said, "Trust me, you won't make it,"
Usagi stopped to look at him, and he took that opportunity to pick her
up and begin walking up the stairs, pacing himself, "I have seen
healthy people faint climbing these things," Mamoru said simply, not
bothering to elaborate much further than that.
He was too shocked at how incredibly light she was to do so. Mamoru
knew she was underweight, but she couldn't have been more than 70
pounds. Even at her height (which was not much to speak of), that was
way too thin.
Usagi tensed at him holding her like this. She was surprised that was
all she was doing. Usually when anyone so much as laid a hand on her
shoulder, she would scream and jump away. Now she was merely
uncomfortable at something that seemed so... Intimate?
Usagi blushed a little just at the thought of that word. There was
nothing intimate about this. He was just being helpful.
So she helped him out and begrudgingly put her arms around his neck so
he'd have a little less to carry and her arms wouldn't be getting in
the way. Usagi was by no means enjoying this, but then she wouldn't
have to walk. And she knew that she would not have made it had she
been healthy. And he was doing her a favor... So she looked down at
the stone steps, counting them as they ascended and mutter, "Thanks,"
Mamoru smiled a little. It had seemed insincere, but he knew she just
wanted to be in a bed somewhere, dreaming of how things were sure to be
better now. "Anytime."
About fifteen minutes later, he reached the top of the stairs. Mamoru
was exhausted from having to carry the girl in his arms all the way to
the top. He was panting, sweaty and slightly flushed. Normally the
walk up would have been easy, even with the girl. But it wasn't a
normal day...
Usagi looked up at him worriedly and said, "Are you all right?"
Mamoru was surprised at her concern and realized that she was surprised
at herself as well. He smiled weakly and said, "Yeah I just uh... I
need to get more sleep at nights..."
"Who's there?!"
********************************************************* **************
Rei awoke at four in the morning, just like every day. But today she
felt like she had been run over by a truck. Her every muscle and pore
radiated with pain and the fact that she had been plagued by that
strange nightmare was not helping matters.
She had rubbed her temples, showered, and then gone out to begin her
morning religious exercises. But her mind was not on anything she was
doing. It was on that nightmare.
None of it had made any sense. Usually the only dreams she had were
prophetic ones. A great deal of them were harrowing and made her wake
up screaming at the top of her lungs while tears and sweat traveled
down her stark white face. Her grandfather scarcely ever came to
comfort her for he was old and not hearing as well as he used to, and
he was a terribly heavy sleeper to begin with. So she'd be left to cry
herself back to sleep and dream again.
But this time even that had been different...
Normally when visions came to here they were unclear and fuzzy. They
were more like riddles than prophetic visions. It was as though it
were a test of her deductive reasoning and intuition. But sadly, it
seemed that she was condemned to figuring out her own prophesies when
they came to past. It was a pity really. She could save herself so
much trouble if she could figure things out...
But this one had been very clear. She had been able to see it as
though it were happening before her very eyes. And yet despite that
clarity she was still at a loss.
It had begun simple enough. Rei had been standing on a dark path in
some unfamiliar forest. She had noticed that it was the darkest night
she had ever seen without so much as one star to brighten the dark. At
first Rei had wondered just what was going on when something had run by
her.
It was a girl. Of that much she was sure. Rei could vividly recall
the fact that she was short. And that she had had the strangest
hairstyle that Rei had ever laid eyes on. It was kind of like
pigtails, but she also had to buns from which the hair hung down from.
Each time she thought of them, her mind fairly screamed 'odangos'.
But she put that down to influence from her visions and never once
thought that the two might be connected.
But the really odd thing was the fact that she kept changing... Rei had
run after her when she realized this. One moment she was in tattered
jeans and a ratty old pink shirt, and the next she was in a gorgeous
white dress that practically glowed. And she'd keep shifting from one
to the other.
The thing that really made her uneasy was that it wasn't just her
clothes that changed. The way she moved changed. The one wearing
jeans ran desperately, clumsily even. As though something were chasing
her. But the second ran swiftly and gracefully... As though she were
running to something.
Suddenly, the other senshi appeared. Minako quickly caught up to both
of them, waving at Serenity and smiling as Rei had never seen her do
before. On her shoulders had been two cats, the miko remembered with a
pang. But eventually they jumped down and began running along side the
girl with the curious hair. Then Minako had dropped back to Rei and
actually thrown her arms around her as though they were old friends.
Then came Makoto. She came up from behind Rei and Minako, and when
she noticed them, she had given them a thumbs up sign and _winked_.
Rei had never seen Makoto wink before in her life. She had begun to
think the taller girl was incapable of it. Then she had run up to the
one with the pigtails, mimicked what she had just done and then run off
ahead, yelling something about meeting her there.
Then Ami had appeared from out of nowhere and had run beside Rei and
Minako (who had now linked arms with the both of them, but that didn't
seem to deter them one bit). She and Minako began chatting quite
amiably and Ami no longer had that shy, almost scared look in her eyes.
Then suddenly she had heard the girl in the pigtails squeal (which then
shifted to a sigh of relief/ strangled sob of all things) and throw her
arms around a figure in black. Makoto was there and she was smiling
brightly, her face flushed from her run. The girl was still shifting
from one form to the other. The first clung to him desperately,
weeping in fear. The second embraced him with love and wept with tears
of joy.
Then a soft, maternal voice called out, "Let the goddess have her
shepherd..."
That was when Rei had realized that the man in black was Mamoru. She
had woken up in tears to her grandfather's comforting arms.
The meaning of that was certainly clear enough. Mamoru had a
girlfriend. That must be why he had not been at the fight last night
and why they had scarcely seen him as of late. And whoever that was
apparently had pigtails.
It only irked Rei a little bit. She and Mamoru had dated once before
this whole Senshi mess had begun... After that, all the arguing had
torn them apart. Rei had had no warning of the separation.
Rei sighed aloud, realizing she had been standing before the door of
the shrine for about ten minutes now. She sighed, and rubbed her
temples. She should really not think about things so much anymore.
There were some oddities about the dream, but the message was clear
enough. She shouldn't dwell on it.
Suddenly she heard a quiet, feminine voice say, "Are you all right?"
Then a deep male voice responded soon after to her inquiry, "Yeah I
just uh... I need to get more sleep at nights..."
The priestess had no earthly idea who it could possibly be at this hour
that most considered ungodly. She narrowed her eyes and called out,
"Who's there?!" Rei waited a moment for them to respond, but all she
heard was a frightened squeak from the girl, whoever she was. She
stepped forward, reaching for her henshin stick and calling out again,
"Who is it?!"
Mamoru sighed at the miko's temper. She was scaring the girl in his
arms, and that was no the thing to do at this point. "Ease up Rei.
It's me."
"Mamoru?" she questioned, her voice wavering only a little. Rei
cleared her throat and came out of the shadows she had been in...
And nearly fainted when she saw a little blonde girl wearing tattered
jeans, a faded pink shirt, and the oddest hairstyle ever created.
********************************************************* **************
Usagi was taken aback by the girl's very presence as well as her
reaction to her. Her slightly tanned pallor turned positively ashen
when she laid eyes on Usagi. Did she really look that terrible? But
what was that look on her face...
'Recognition?'
Rei stuttered and stared at the girl in Mamoru's arms in bewilderment.
It was her. It was the girl from her dream. Mamoru's new girlfriend?
It had to be her. No one else would style their hair in such a
ridiculous manner.
Then Rei began to notice a few things... Like the cigarette burn on her
cheek for one.
Rei finally got a hold of herself and forced out, "Mamoru... Who...?"
Mamoru quickly relayed a quick version of what had happened that
night, never setting the girl down. Usagi made no move to escape and
just stared down at her lap as the two dark haired rescuers spoke of
her as though she wasn't there. Rei was in utter shock at the tale and
just kept looking at the girl in utter confusion...
She didn't know whether she should hate her or help her.
"Anyway, can she stay with you Rei? I'll have Ami's mom come by when
its a decent hour," Mamoru finished.
Rei had known this was coming. Why else would he bring the girl here
unless she was supposed to stay here? But now the question was should
she take her... She was certainly in a position Rei almost envied. To
be rescued by Mamoru again... He hadn't done that in so long.
But why kind of person was she if she turned her away?
So Rei slowly nodded, "By all means, I'll do anything I can..." she
was only half lying anyway. Then she remembered something and her
expression hardened, "By the way, you missed something very important
tonight..." Rei's eyes were deadly serious and her tone was more than a
little angered, "But since you were obviously preoccupied with things
that I do not find frivolous... Well I'm sure the others will let it
go,"
Mamoru paled and set Usagi down hurriedly, nearly dropping her. His
sudden movements had obviously taken the girl by surprise, but he did
not seem to notice, "Rei are the others all right?"
Rei cast a glance to Usagi and said nothing. Mamoru quickly got the
message and walked away from Usagi. He spoke in a low voice and
hissed, "Rei what happened?"
Rei sighed and said, "Nephrite showed up along with a youma. After
we..." her voice trailed off and he knew why, "He attacked... Minako
got hurt. Not badly, but she'll be limping for a few days. She said
she'd tell her parents it happened at volleyball. Apparently, they
still think she's on the team,"
"Won't they find out she isn't on it at some point?" he asked, dodging
to another subject in order to go back to the main focus: he hadn't
been there to help.
Rei just shrugged.
Mamoru furrowed his brow and said, "Odd that Nephrite attacked. It's
not his style. He usually lets the minions do the dirty work and then
he leaves,"
Rei flushed and said, "Well umm... I sort of mouthed off and--"
"Oh Rei..."
She looked up angrily and said, "Don't lecture me! You don't know what
was happening! You weren't there," she turned up her nose haughtily
and said, "Besides, Makoto took care of him soon enough,"
Mamoru shook his head and said, "But why on earth did he attack Minako
and not you?"
Rei looked down a little and said, "He started to, but Minako
distracted him. Then he started carrying on about some kind of crystal
and demanded that Minako hand it over. She had no earthly idea what he
was talking about and he took offense. So he went after her," she
looked up at him somberly and said, "Minako can't keep the masquerade
up forever. They're starting to question if she really is the princess
because of this weird crystal thing... I wonder what that is anyway..."
Mamoru knew full well what crystal it was, but kept silent. He didn't
feel that she should know about that just yet. It would just give them
all even more to stress over, and they had enough problems going on
right now. Instead, he hung his head, "I'm so sorry... I hate always
having to miss out on these fights and then you guys get hurt..."
"I know you do... and Luna and Artemis--"
"Don't talk about them. I can't take thinking about that again."
Mamoru whispered sharply.
"That's why we have to find her... That's the only way we can help
them... And she can answer a few questions I have besides." Rei's voice
was grave but she kept right on, "Once she awakens, so will they. We
just... have to have faith..."
The last wasn't as convincing as it could be.
But Mamoru acted as though it had done him even a little bit of good,
"Of course..." then he looked back to Usagi, who was staring at her
feet, looking rather embarrassed at having to be excluded from their
exchange. He smiled softly and said, "Well I'll leave you two to get
acquainted..." and then he started back down the steps.
Usagi watched him go, a wistful look in her eyes. Rei noticed it and
watched the girl as her hair was blown by the wind in the direction
Mamoru had left.
Rei felt a pain in her heart. That dream would come true yet.
Usagi looked up and saw tears starting to form in Rei's eyes. She was
genuinely puzzled and even concerned, "Is something wrong?"
Rei shook her head and hastily blinked back her tears, "No its just..."
she began slowly. What was she going to tell her? She was going to
date her ex-boyfriend? She'd think she was insane at best, "Never
mind." she concluded hastily.
There was another moment of awkward silence when Rei suddenly recalled
something more. She sighed and said, "I'm sorry I haven't introduced
myself. I'm Hino Rei," Rei stuck out her hand, deciding the girl
needed to learn to trust her. Something told Rei they were going to be
together here for a very long time yet...
She was right.
*********************************************************** ************
Somewhere off in the darkness, in a remote area of the woods that no
one ever seemed to go near, a man cursed. And it was not just a simple
damnation. It was a string of swears, strung together to form an
oath that would have made sailors blush.
He stalked about his house, damning everything he could think of and
then damned the fact that he could not think of anything more to damn.
But the thing that remained first and foremost in his mind was finding
his keys.
He stumbled around the house, searching in the most ridiculous places
for them but they seemed perfectly logical at the time. He searched
each and every one of his socks, ripping them apart when he did not
find them. He searched the few flower pots in the house, throwing them
against walls when they were not there. After awhile, he found them
exactly where they were supposed to be, on the end table by the door.
He threw the table over in frustration, letting out a howl of
malevolence. Then he stumbled out the door, muttering loudly all the
while. He jogged a crooked path to his vehicle and headed towards his
battered old pick up truck...
He struggled to get the key into the lock to open the door, his voice
gradually increasing in volume because of that. Finally, he managed to
get into the car and key the ignition. He laughed aloud when that
happened. It was not a laugh of mirth.
He looked up at the dark sky and shouted, "Think you can escape me do
you? Stupid girl... I'm... I'm your father. You can't... run away
from me. You're mine..."
The Tsukino Yukio drove off to find his daughter.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
This is dedicated to victims of abuse along with their friends, and
families. And if you are suffering from abuse of any kind, it isn't
hopeless. There are people and organizations that can and will help.
Also, if you know or suspect that someone is being abused, don't keep
it to yourself. Don't be a coward and look away. Do the right thing
and confront the problem. Get help, for yourself or for them...
please... don't do it because I'm telling you to. Do it for yourself
and the ones that didn't make it.
If you need help, call:
The National Domestic Violence Hotline
1-800-799-SAFE
The Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network (RAINN)
1-800-656-HOPE
Childhelp USA National Child Abuse Hotline
1-800-4-A-CHILD
Or call your local authorities or any state/local agencies that can
help you or someone you know get out of your situation.
Coming Soon: Chapter Five: Hunted
Chapter Four: Wounded
5/14
goddess_branwen@hotmail.com
http://www.geocities.c om/kihin_ranno/starlithorizon.html
R
~~Date Started: December 30, 2001~~
~~Date Completed: December 31, 2001~~
~~Revision Begun: September 17, 2002~~
~~Revision Completed: September 18, 2002~~
This story is an alternate reality taking the characters from Sailor
Moon and inserting them into a different situation while remaining in
their own universe. In essence, I am screwing around with the story of
Sailor Moon because I can. This in no way reflects Naoko Takeuchi's
version of Sailor Moon or the anime version. However, I hold no claim
onto Sailor Moon as that is owned by Naoko, Bandai, Kodansha, Toei
Animation, Mixx, DiC, Cloverway, and I'm sure about 100,000 others. I
am merely doing this for my own sick amusement and once again, because
I can.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~*
The rest of the drive was in complete silence. Usagi had quickly
realized that she did not have to speak to him unless she was spoken
to. Besides she didn't much feel like conversation at this point.
Mamoru had picked up on that quickly enough, so he kept his mouth shut.
The silence was by no means uncomfortable... It just existed.
A few hours later, Mamoru pulled up in front of the hospital he knew
all too well, a little girl asleep in the seat next to him. He was
relieved she had actually begun to trust him if even just a little bit
in that short amount of time. The thing that worried him was that he
wasn't sure how he was going to get her checked into the hospital. He
needed a parent or guardian to sign her in. Without one, he knew he
might be suspected as the one who did this to her.
Mamoru sighed, very unsure of what to do. There was no way that he
was going to get the girl admitted without being accused of something.
And if the girl had been sexually abused, that would certainly be no
help.
Mamoru rested his head on the steering wheel, ignoring his brain as it
practically screamed for sleep. He had to think. There had to be
somewhere he could go...
Mamoru looked back up to the hospital and then down at the sleeping
and child beside him. He sighed in defeat and decided that there was
nothing he'd be able to do here, 'I'll just take her to Rei's and have
Ami's mom look at her in the morning... She should be home by
tomorrow,'. Then he turned the key in the ignition and finally put his
seatbelt on...
It was then that Usagi, who was still nameless to him, awoke with a
start. She noticed they were driving away from the hospital and
began to panic, "Where are you taking me?" Usagi asked, the fear of
the situation in her voice.
Mamoru mentally smacked himself upside the head and berated himself
before saying, "Don't worry, I'm taking you to a friend of mine's...
There's no way the hospital will take you without a parent or
legal guardian to sign you in..."
Usagi cringed slightly and she looked up at Mamoru fearfully, "This
friend--"
"Is female," Mamoru said, knowing what the girl was thinking about,
"She's around your age and the only other person around is her
grandfather. He's senile but otherwise harmless,"
Usagi relaxed a little bit, deciding that even if the grandfather
wasn't as harmless as her savior made him out to be, perhaps his
friend would keep anything bad from happening to her, "Where is it?"
"Its the Shinto shrine a few blocks from here... Hikawa Jinja. I don't
think your father would ever find you there..." Mamoru added, "I'm also
having another friend of mine come over in the morning with her mother,
whose one of the best doctors in Tokyo... That way we can be sure that
you're all right..."
Usagi smiled slightly and said, "It sounds like you have a lot of
friends... at any rate you have more than I do..."
Mamoru flinched at that and sighed, "Well perhaps I'm using incorrect
terms... We aren't exactly friends... More like... business
associates..."
Usagi for some reason wanted to delve further into what this man was
talking about, but decided against it. Something about the was he
worded it was not exactly making her feel very secure... Especially
since she didn't see what business a man of his age would have with
fourteen year olds... At least nothing she wanted to be involved in.
Usagi shuddered and once again moved as far away from the older man
as she possibly could. The moment she was, she began her practice of
looking out the window, searching every car for the face of her
devil.
Mamoru sighed again when he realized the impression the girl must
have gotten from his last statement. Once again, he kicked himself
but this time did nothing to correct it. It was doubtful he would ever
see her again. After Ami's mother got her cleaned up, she'd most
likely be taken to a government facility put up for adoption. Then
she'd stay there until she was eighteen because people only wanted to
adopt cute little babies, not half grown girls.
But at least there no one would hit her... He hoped, "I'll just call
Dr. Mizuno in the morning," Mamoru said quietly. Suddenly a thought
occurred to him and he furrowed his brow. He had left his phone in
his apartment when he left.
Mamoru cursed silently and gripped the steering wheel tightly, 'Unless
I see the others tonight. I certainly hope I didn't miss anything.
Minako would never forgive me.
'I just pray to God there's no attack at the shrine while she's
there... That damn place is like a magnet for it,'
A few minutes later they pulled up at Hikawa Jinja. Mamoru looked at
the clock in his car and realized that if there had been an attack, he
had more than likely missed it. Their enemy preferred to attack when
they were asleep and it was four in the morning. Rei would be up.
That was his one source of relief. Mamoru turned off the car and said,
"Good. She'll be up."
Usagi blinked and stared at him, very confused, "At four o'clock in
the morning?"
"She's a priestess. She has to get up this early..." Mamoru said as
he got out of the car. That was the closest thing to conversation the
two had had. He realized in passing. Too bad he knew it would be the
the first and the last.
Usagi followed him soon after, shaking all the while. She was not
looking forward to being passed around to another person tonight. She
still did not fully trust Mamoru and now she was going to another
person. She hoped she would be able to stay put for just a little
while...
Usagi folded her arms across her chest and looked down, hoping just to
walk in the door, be presented to whomever it was, and be taken in to
rest. But something compelled Usagi to look up... And when she did she
saw all of those stairs leading up to it. The blood fled from her face
and she actually feared she would not be able to make it up all those
stairs.
Mamoru looked puzzled at first, but then he quickly discerned that
there was no way the girl was strong enough to make it... He didn't
know how long she had run, but certainly more than she was capable of.
She hadn't eaten. She hadn't slept much. And besides she looked close
to collapsing just standing there anyway, "Listen, if you don't think
you can make it--" Mamoru began, not wanting to appear condescending.
"No its all right... I'll... I'll be fine..." Usagi said shakily, not
wanting to appear weak. She had been weak before her stepfather, but
she would not be helpless in front of him. She felt as though there
was something at stake if she did. She didn't quite know what, but she
didn't want to risk it. She took a deep breath and began ascending
the stairs... Dreading each step.
Mamoru sighed and shook his head. He knew that the runaway was just
being stubborn. He was often the same way, but her health was at
stake. He jogged up to her and said, "Trust me, you won't make it,"
Usagi stopped to look at him, and he took that opportunity to pick her
up and begin walking up the stairs, pacing himself, "I have seen
healthy people faint climbing these things," Mamoru said simply, not
bothering to elaborate much further than that.
He was too shocked at how incredibly light she was to do so. Mamoru
knew she was underweight, but she couldn't have been more than 70
pounds. Even at her height (which was not much to speak of), that was
way too thin.
Usagi tensed at him holding her like this. She was surprised that was
all she was doing. Usually when anyone so much as laid a hand on her
shoulder, she would scream and jump away. Now she was merely
uncomfortable at something that seemed so... Intimate?
Usagi blushed a little just at the thought of that word. There was
nothing intimate about this. He was just being helpful.
So she helped him out and begrudgingly put her arms around his neck so
he'd have a little less to carry and her arms wouldn't be getting in
the way. Usagi was by no means enjoying this, but then she wouldn't
have to walk. And she knew that she would not have made it had she
been healthy. And he was doing her a favor... So she looked down at
the stone steps, counting them as they ascended and mutter, "Thanks,"
Mamoru smiled a little. It had seemed insincere, but he knew she just
wanted to be in a bed somewhere, dreaming of how things were sure to be
better now. "Anytime."
About fifteen minutes later, he reached the top of the stairs. Mamoru
was exhausted from having to carry the girl in his arms all the way to
the top. He was panting, sweaty and slightly flushed. Normally the
walk up would have been easy, even with the girl. But it wasn't a
normal day...
Usagi looked up at him worriedly and said, "Are you all right?"
Mamoru was surprised at her concern and realized that she was surprised
at herself as well. He smiled weakly and said, "Yeah I just uh... I
need to get more sleep at nights..."
"Who's there?!"
********************************************************* **************
Rei awoke at four in the morning, just like every day. But today she
felt like she had been run over by a truck. Her every muscle and pore
radiated with pain and the fact that she had been plagued by that
strange nightmare was not helping matters.
She had rubbed her temples, showered, and then gone out to begin her
morning religious exercises. But her mind was not on anything she was
doing. It was on that nightmare.
None of it had made any sense. Usually the only dreams she had were
prophetic ones. A great deal of them were harrowing and made her wake
up screaming at the top of her lungs while tears and sweat traveled
down her stark white face. Her grandfather scarcely ever came to
comfort her for he was old and not hearing as well as he used to, and
he was a terribly heavy sleeper to begin with. So she'd be left to cry
herself back to sleep and dream again.
But this time even that had been different...
Normally when visions came to here they were unclear and fuzzy. They
were more like riddles than prophetic visions. It was as though it
were a test of her deductive reasoning and intuition. But sadly, it
seemed that she was condemned to figuring out her own prophesies when
they came to past. It was a pity really. She could save herself so
much trouble if she could figure things out...
But this one had been very clear. She had been able to see it as
though it were happening before her very eyes. And yet despite that
clarity she was still at a loss.
It had begun simple enough. Rei had been standing on a dark path in
some unfamiliar forest. She had noticed that it was the darkest night
she had ever seen without so much as one star to brighten the dark. At
first Rei had wondered just what was going on when something had run by
her.
It was a girl. Of that much she was sure. Rei could vividly recall
the fact that she was short. And that she had had the strangest
hairstyle that Rei had ever laid eyes on. It was kind of like
pigtails, but she also had to buns from which the hair hung down from.
Each time she thought of them, her mind fairly screamed 'odangos'.
But she put that down to influence from her visions and never once
thought that the two might be connected.
But the really odd thing was the fact that she kept changing... Rei had
run after her when she realized this. One moment she was in tattered
jeans and a ratty old pink shirt, and the next she was in a gorgeous
white dress that practically glowed. And she'd keep shifting from one
to the other.
The thing that really made her uneasy was that it wasn't just her
clothes that changed. The way she moved changed. The one wearing
jeans ran desperately, clumsily even. As though something were chasing
her. But the second ran swiftly and gracefully... As though she were
running to something.
Suddenly, the other senshi appeared. Minako quickly caught up to both
of them, waving at Serenity and smiling as Rei had never seen her do
before. On her shoulders had been two cats, the miko remembered with a
pang. But eventually they jumped down and began running along side the
girl with the curious hair. Then Minako had dropped back to Rei and
actually thrown her arms around her as though they were old friends.
Then came Makoto. She came up from behind Rei and Minako, and when
she noticed them, she had given them a thumbs up sign and _winked_.
Rei had never seen Makoto wink before in her life. She had begun to
think the taller girl was incapable of it. Then she had run up to the
one with the pigtails, mimicked what she had just done and then run off
ahead, yelling something about meeting her there.
Then Ami had appeared from out of nowhere and had run beside Rei and
Minako (who had now linked arms with the both of them, but that didn't
seem to deter them one bit). She and Minako began chatting quite
amiably and Ami no longer had that shy, almost scared look in her eyes.
Then suddenly she had heard the girl in the pigtails squeal (which then
shifted to a sigh of relief/ strangled sob of all things) and throw her
arms around a figure in black. Makoto was there and she was smiling
brightly, her face flushed from her run. The girl was still shifting
from one form to the other. The first clung to him desperately,
weeping in fear. The second embraced him with love and wept with tears
of joy.
Then a soft, maternal voice called out, "Let the goddess have her
shepherd..."
That was when Rei had realized that the man in black was Mamoru. She
had woken up in tears to her grandfather's comforting arms.
The meaning of that was certainly clear enough. Mamoru had a
girlfriend. That must be why he had not been at the fight last night
and why they had scarcely seen him as of late. And whoever that was
apparently had pigtails.
It only irked Rei a little bit. She and Mamoru had dated once before
this whole Senshi mess had begun... After that, all the arguing had
torn them apart. Rei had had no warning of the separation.
Rei sighed aloud, realizing she had been standing before the door of
the shrine for about ten minutes now. She sighed, and rubbed her
temples. She should really not think about things so much anymore.
There were some oddities about the dream, but the message was clear
enough. She shouldn't dwell on it.
Suddenly she heard a quiet, feminine voice say, "Are you all right?"
Then a deep male voice responded soon after to her inquiry, "Yeah I
just uh... I need to get more sleep at nights..."
The priestess had no earthly idea who it could possibly be at this hour
that most considered ungodly. She narrowed her eyes and called out,
"Who's there?!" Rei waited a moment for them to respond, but all she
heard was a frightened squeak from the girl, whoever she was. She
stepped forward, reaching for her henshin stick and calling out again,
"Who is it?!"
Mamoru sighed at the miko's temper. She was scaring the girl in his
arms, and that was no the thing to do at this point. "Ease up Rei.
It's me."
"Mamoru?" she questioned, her voice wavering only a little. Rei
cleared her throat and came out of the shadows she had been in...
And nearly fainted when she saw a little blonde girl wearing tattered
jeans, a faded pink shirt, and the oddest hairstyle ever created.
********************************************************* **************
Usagi was taken aback by the girl's very presence as well as her
reaction to her. Her slightly tanned pallor turned positively ashen
when she laid eyes on Usagi. Did she really look that terrible? But
what was that look on her face...
'Recognition?'
Rei stuttered and stared at the girl in Mamoru's arms in bewilderment.
It was her. It was the girl from her dream. Mamoru's new girlfriend?
It had to be her. No one else would style their hair in such a
ridiculous manner.
Then Rei began to notice a few things... Like the cigarette burn on her
cheek for one.
Rei finally got a hold of herself and forced out, "Mamoru... Who...?"
Mamoru quickly relayed a quick version of what had happened that
night, never setting the girl down. Usagi made no move to escape and
just stared down at her lap as the two dark haired rescuers spoke of
her as though she wasn't there. Rei was in utter shock at the tale and
just kept looking at the girl in utter confusion...
She didn't know whether she should hate her or help her.
"Anyway, can she stay with you Rei? I'll have Ami's mom come by when
its a decent hour," Mamoru finished.
Rei had known this was coming. Why else would he bring the girl here
unless she was supposed to stay here? But now the question was should
she take her... She was certainly in a position Rei almost envied. To
be rescued by Mamoru again... He hadn't done that in so long.
But why kind of person was she if she turned her away?
So Rei slowly nodded, "By all means, I'll do anything I can..." she
was only half lying anyway. Then she remembered something and her
expression hardened, "By the way, you missed something very important
tonight..." Rei's eyes were deadly serious and her tone was more than a
little angered, "But since you were obviously preoccupied with things
that I do not find frivolous... Well I'm sure the others will let it
go,"
Mamoru paled and set Usagi down hurriedly, nearly dropping her. His
sudden movements had obviously taken the girl by surprise, but he did
not seem to notice, "Rei are the others all right?"
Rei cast a glance to Usagi and said nothing. Mamoru quickly got the
message and walked away from Usagi. He spoke in a low voice and
hissed, "Rei what happened?"
Rei sighed and said, "Nephrite showed up along with a youma. After
we..." her voice trailed off and he knew why, "He attacked... Minako
got hurt. Not badly, but she'll be limping for a few days. She said
she'd tell her parents it happened at volleyball. Apparently, they
still think she's on the team,"
"Won't they find out she isn't on it at some point?" he asked, dodging
to another subject in order to go back to the main focus: he hadn't
been there to help.
Rei just shrugged.
Mamoru furrowed his brow and said, "Odd that Nephrite attacked. It's
not his style. He usually lets the minions do the dirty work and then
he leaves,"
Rei flushed and said, "Well umm... I sort of mouthed off and--"
"Oh Rei..."
She looked up angrily and said, "Don't lecture me! You don't know what
was happening! You weren't there," she turned up her nose haughtily
and said, "Besides, Makoto took care of him soon enough,"
Mamoru shook his head and said, "But why on earth did he attack Minako
and not you?"
Rei looked down a little and said, "He started to, but Minako
distracted him. Then he started carrying on about some kind of crystal
and demanded that Minako hand it over. She had no earthly idea what he
was talking about and he took offense. So he went after her," she
looked up at him somberly and said, "Minako can't keep the masquerade
up forever. They're starting to question if she really is the princess
because of this weird crystal thing... I wonder what that is anyway..."
Mamoru knew full well what crystal it was, but kept silent. He didn't
feel that she should know about that just yet. It would just give them
all even more to stress over, and they had enough problems going on
right now. Instead, he hung his head, "I'm so sorry... I hate always
having to miss out on these fights and then you guys get hurt..."
"I know you do... and Luna and Artemis--"
"Don't talk about them. I can't take thinking about that again."
Mamoru whispered sharply.
"That's why we have to find her... That's the only way we can help
them... And she can answer a few questions I have besides." Rei's voice
was grave but she kept right on, "Once she awakens, so will they. We
just... have to have faith..."
The last wasn't as convincing as it could be.
But Mamoru acted as though it had done him even a little bit of good,
"Of course..." then he looked back to Usagi, who was staring at her
feet, looking rather embarrassed at having to be excluded from their
exchange. He smiled softly and said, "Well I'll leave you two to get
acquainted..." and then he started back down the steps.
Usagi watched him go, a wistful look in her eyes. Rei noticed it and
watched the girl as her hair was blown by the wind in the direction
Mamoru had left.
Rei felt a pain in her heart. That dream would come true yet.
Usagi looked up and saw tears starting to form in Rei's eyes. She was
genuinely puzzled and even concerned, "Is something wrong?"
Rei shook her head and hastily blinked back her tears, "No its just..."
she began slowly. What was she going to tell her? She was going to
date her ex-boyfriend? She'd think she was insane at best, "Never
mind." she concluded hastily.
There was another moment of awkward silence when Rei suddenly recalled
something more. She sighed and said, "I'm sorry I haven't introduced
myself. I'm Hino Rei," Rei stuck out her hand, deciding the girl
needed to learn to trust her. Something told Rei they were going to be
together here for a very long time yet...
She was right.
*********************************************************** ************
Somewhere off in the darkness, in a remote area of the woods that no
one ever seemed to go near, a man cursed. And it was not just a simple
damnation. It was a string of swears, strung together to form an
oath that would have made sailors blush.
He stalked about his house, damning everything he could think of and
then damned the fact that he could not think of anything more to damn.
But the thing that remained first and foremost in his mind was finding
his keys.
He stumbled around the house, searching in the most ridiculous places
for them but they seemed perfectly logical at the time. He searched
each and every one of his socks, ripping them apart when he did not
find them. He searched the few flower pots in the house, throwing them
against walls when they were not there. After awhile, he found them
exactly where they were supposed to be, on the end table by the door.
He threw the table over in frustration, letting out a howl of
malevolence. Then he stumbled out the door, muttering loudly all the
while. He jogged a crooked path to his vehicle and headed towards his
battered old pick up truck...
He struggled to get the key into the lock to open the door, his voice
gradually increasing in volume because of that. Finally, he managed to
get into the car and key the ignition. He laughed aloud when that
happened. It was not a laugh of mirth.
He looked up at the dark sky and shouted, "Think you can escape me do
you? Stupid girl... I'm... I'm your father. You can't... run away
from me. You're mine..."
The Tsukino Yukio drove off to find his daughter.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
This is dedicated to victims of abuse along with their friends, and
families. And if you are suffering from abuse of any kind, it isn't
hopeless. There are people and organizations that can and will help.
Also, if you know or suspect that someone is being abused, don't keep
it to yourself. Don't be a coward and look away. Do the right thing
and confront the problem. Get help, for yourself or for them...
please... don't do it because I'm telling you to. Do it for yourself
and the ones that didn't make it.
If you need help, call:
The National Domestic Violence Hotline
1-800-799-SAFE
The Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network (RAINN)
1-800-656-HOPE
Childhelp USA National Child Abuse Hotline
1-800-4-A-CHILD
Or call your local authorities or any state/local agencies that can
help you or someone you know get out of your situation.
Coming Soon: Chapter Five: Hunted