Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ The Brooch ❯ Chapter 19

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

The Brooch
By Jason C. Ulloa


Chapter 19


Silver Mist - Haruka's Room, Hikawa Jinja, Tokyo, Japan.
August 9, 1992. 8:47 A.M.


Haruka sighed as she left her bathroom, completely dressed and ready for the day. For the past two days,
she had spent as much time as possible with Michiru, making sure she wasn't alone as she came to terms
with her condition. The only exceptions to her day-long vigil were yesterday morning, afternoon, and
evening.

In the morning, she had gone to see Ryoku about acquiring new clothing and other necessities, only to
learn that he had already left word with Stores about their situation, since Minako was going to be busy
at the Hikawa Jinja. He added that since the Orphan's Quarters rarely had new occupants - and that he
apparently owed Shikishima a favor for something; for some reason, he was unwilling to divulge anything
on that topic - he had already left enough credits for whatever they needed out of the Orphan's Quarters'
coffers.

In the afternoon, she had learned about Kino Makoto, the first female Blade in Shishu history. Upon
learning this, she had made it a point to visit Ryoku again and find out more about his sister;
especially since she hadn't had any luck finding any medical personnel who weren't busy with the current
emergency at the jinja. What had surprised her was that even though he had politely declined to speak
with her and asked her to come back tomorrow, he had a look of complete misery in his eyes that came
close to what she had seen in Michiru's eyes. She had no idea what could've caused the sudden change in
him, but despite the questions burning in the back of her mind, she backed off, promising that she would
return the next day.

In the evening, Haruka received a visit from someone from Medical named Asahina Mai, whom she immediately
recognized. Asahina explained that she originally worked as a surgeon when the Meiji Jinja was still up
and functioning, but when the great jinja fell, she had been taken captive, among many others. As she was
still young looking and quite beautiful, Jadeite had taken a liking to her and brought her into his
harem, where she had met Haruka and Michiru. Asahina didn't stay long, as she and several other slaves
quickly escaped not one month after their capture. She was one of the handful of survivors who were
rescued by Shishu, back when they still had a decent number of Blades in their ranks.

Haruka was surprised to find out that not only was she one of surgeons here at the Hikawa Jinja, but she
also worked in mental health as well, specializing in hollow victims. Asahina explained that after being
diagnosed as hollow, she had made it a point to learn as much as she could about the subject so that she
could help others like herself deal with the pain of knowing that they could never bear a child again.

In their current culture, children were invaluable as a means of insuring the future of humanity, as well
as a way for the parents to hold onto the memory of their significant others should the worst happen.
Becoming hollow was a deep, crushing misfortune that some women just could not bear if they were alone.

For most women, it was expected for them to eventually get married and raise children. As more and more
Shishu bases and outposts fell to the Dark Kingdom, the practice of arranged marriages began to reemerge
as a way of making sure that many family lines did not die out. Haruka's parents had tried to make one
such arrangement for her before the Midoriyama Jinja was overrun, but she declined, saying that she was
already seeing another man and didn't want her parents to ruin her relationship by forcing her into an
arranged marriage. Of course, it was just a lie to keep her parents from forcing her into a marriage she
didn't want, but it was an excuse that would only last so long. She didn't want to tell them the truth;
that she had no interest at all in men, only other women.

Just as their culture encouraged large families, it heavily discouraged homosexuality. Sure, most of the
religious groups had something to say on the matter; however, the main reason behind the bias against
homosexuality was that such a union could not produce any offspring. In a world where the continuation of
the human race was such a high priority, the case for that particular lifestyle died a quick death. As
such, for some homosexual couples, one of the partners would try to find someone who would marry one and
accept the other as a mistress. Since Michiru was bisexual and she knew that Haruka didn't want to get
married to a man, she felt that this arrangement would be best for them. Besides, she was the one who
wanted children; Haruka didn't really care either way.

Another common solution for homosexual couples was for two male partners to marry two female partners and
live together as one big family. As long as the unions eventually produced offspring, the public at large
didn't really care. Some religious people might grumble under their breath, but other than that, such
familial arrangements were accepted as long as no one openly admitted their true sexual orientation.

Haruka left her room, went across the hall to Michiru's room and knocked on the door. After a few
moments, the door opened and Michiru stepped outside, dressed as well.

"Feeling all right today, Michiru?" she asked hopefully as she glanced at her friend's expression.

"A... little bit," she replied quietly.

Haruka smiled slightly. Even though Michiru's countenance was still as morose as before, at least she was
speaking now. It was a start.

"I know you said that you wanted to look for a job, but are you sure you're up to it?" she asked,
concerned.

"I've spent enough time feeling sorry for myself," Michiru replied. "I need to find something to take my
mind off this emptiness. Besides, we can't just live off of charity. We have to work like everyone else."
She raised an eyebrow slightly. "You didn't have to wait for me, you know. You could've found a job by
now."

"I have something... specific in mind," Haruka said as she gestured for her to precede her.

"Oh?" she asked, her interested tone a stark contrast to her brooding expression.

"Anyway, we should hurry and eat before we go," Haruka insisted. "I spoke with Shikishima and he told me
that something was opening up at Shishu Headquarters that you could handle easily."

"I thought you were going to work in the fields," Michiru said, giving her a blank look.

"I only did that because that's all I could do as a slave," she said with a frown. "Besides, I have
another job in mind."

Michiru gave her a considering look. "I see," she said after a moment. "Well, we'd better hurry then."
With that, she turned and started down the hall again, leaving Haruka to stare after with a concerned
look on her face.


_________________________________________________________________


Shishu Headquarters - Commanding Officer's Office, Hikawa Jinja, Tokyo, Japan.
August 9, 1992. 9:23 A.M.


Mamoru frowned as he went over the reports again. No matter how many times he reread the border watches'
reports from last night, they always said the same thing. Not only that, but they also agreed on the
same thing.

No one entered or left the Hikawa Jinja last night.

The implications of this fact chilled Mamoru to the bone. As far as he could figure, there were only two
reasons for this circumvention of the border watch. Either the Elite Youma was hiding within the jinja
grounds, or she had some ability that prevented the border guards from spotting her. The second option
seemed more likely as they hadn't heard anything from Titus since the attack. Besides, being an Elite
Youma, she might have had abilities that were beyond what they could expect from Mages, so being able to
avoid detection might not be beyond her abilities. Anyway, even if Titus was hiding in the jinja, the
border was going back up at 7:00 P.M., so she wouldn't be able to remain in the jinja for long.

Then again, if she was hiding somewhere in the Lower Grounds....

A knock on the door interrupted his ruminations. "Enter," he said, closing the folder containing the
reports and setting it aside for now.

"You wanted to see me, Mamoru-san?" Usagi asked as she entered the room dressed in her work clothes.

"Yes, come in, please, and have a seat," he said, gesturing toward the chair across the desk from him.
"Do you remember when I told you that we'd be looking at people for your cleaning crew?" he asked as soon
as Usagi sat down.

"So soon?" she said, blinking in surprise.

"Is there a problem?"

"No," she shook her head. "It's just that I didn't expect you to find someone so soon. I mean, you and
the other Blades are so busy and all."

"To be honest, I wasn't planning on looking for anyone for a few days," he admitted. "However, one of our
former Blades happened to have someone in his living quarters who was looking for a job and suggested her
to me. She'll be here in a few minutes."

"Maybe I should go wait for her at the entrance," Usagi said as she glanced behind her toward the door.
"We wouldn't want her to get lost wandering around the building, right?"

Mamoru nodded. "Good idea. And on your way here, you can talk with her and see if she would be all right
for the job. I'll make my decision based on your input."

Usagi blinked again. "You mean, it's mostly going to be me deciding on whether she works here?"

"Well, I'm really busy with something right now, so I'll need to leave some of it to you." He gave her a
small grin. "Besides, I trust you to make the right decision. She'll be working under you, after all."

"All right," she said as she stood up and headed for the door. "I'll be back in a little bit." She left
the room and closed the door behind her.

As she made her way to the entrance, Usagi mentally went over what she was going to say to the woman. She
felt nervous about the whole thing; a fifteen year-old was going to decide whether or not to hire someone
who potentially could be almost twice her age? She felt very happy about the fact that Mamoru trusted her
so much, but was this really the right thing? Then again, this was just a job cleaning Shishu
Headquarters. Not exactly a job that required great skill; after all, she managed to get the job even
after failing at everything else.

Usagi stopped as she came to the entrance. There were two girls there that seemed to be a couple of years
older than she was. One was a tall girl with short, sandy blonde hair while the other was a little
shorter with long, aquamarine-hair. The shorter girl seemed to be depressed about something, while the
other girl - probably her friend, Usagi figured - watcher her with a little bit of concern. Neither one
noticed that she was there.

"Can I help you?" she asked as she approached the pair.

Both girls turned toward her, the taller one nearly jumping in surprise as she did so. "Oh, hey," she
said as she noticed Usagi. "We're just looking for a Blade or someone who works here."

"I work here," she told them. "Are you here for the cleaning crew position?"

The tall girl blinked in surprise as she stared at her. If the other girl was surprised, she didn't give
any indication of it. "No, I am," the aquamarine-haired girl replied before the other girl could say
anything.

Usagi nodded. "I'm Tsukino Usagi," she said with a pleasant smile. "I'm in charge of the cleaning crew.
Well, actually, right now, I'm the only person on the cleaning crew, but maybe that will change soon, hm?"

"I'm Kaiou Michiru and my friend, here, is Ten'ou Haruka," the long haired girl said as she gestured
toward the taller girl.

"How old are you, anyway?" Haruka asked, confused.

"Haruka!" Michiru said admonishingly.

"Don't worry about it," Usagi said, shaking her head. "It's all right." She turned to Haruka. "I'm
fifteen."

"Fifteen?" Haruka repeated, astonished. "What is it with Shishu and putting really young people in charge
of stuff?"

Usagi couldn't help giving her a dry look. "I take it you've met Ryoku-san."

Michiru gave Haruka a look, and then turned back to Usagi. "Please excuse her. She sometimes speaks
without thinking."

"Hey!"

Usagi shook her head. "Don't worry about it," she said as she turned back toward the way she came. "If
you wouldn't mind following me, I can take you to Mamoru-san's office. He's the one who has the final say
on whether you're hired or not."

As the two girls followed Usagi to Mamoru's office, she glanced back toward Michiru again, noticing her
pensive disposition again. "If you don't mind me asking, Kaiou-san, is something wrong? You seem a little
depressed for some reason."

"It's... a long story," Michiru replied after a moment after giving Haruka another look telling her not
to answer for her. "Do you mind if I ask you a question, Tsukino-san?"

"Well, since I asked you one, I guess it's only fair," she replied with a grin. "What is it?"

"Have you ever been to the Midoriyama Jinja? For some reason, you seem familiar to me, like I've met you
before."

Usagi shook her head. "Never been there. Maybe you saw me at the Meiji Jinja?" she supposed. "I lived
there until it fell...." She trailed off before she could start recalling bad memories.

"No, we've never been there," Michiru answered.

The blonde girl shrugged. "Anyway, have you ever done any work like this before?"

"Not really," she said, shaking her head. "I was a slave until a couple of days ago, so I haven't really
done anything other than that."

"I know what you mean," Usagi said sympathetically. "Until two weeks ago, I was a slave, too.

"Anyway," she added as they reached the Commanding Officer's Office, "Mamoru-san will probably have a few
words to say before he decides if he will hire you or not." She lightly knocked on the door.

"Enter," Mamoru called from behind the door.

"After you," she said as she opened the door and gestured for Michiru to precede her.


_________________________________________________________________


Orphan's Quarters, Hikawa Jinja, Tokyo, Japan.
August 9, 1992. 9:46 A.M.


"So, here we are," Ryoku said as he helped Makoto enter the living quarters. "It's not as nice as our old
quarters at the Meiji Jinja, but I've come to like these here just as much. Maybe even a little bit more."

Makoto smiled. "I'm sure I'll love it here. I just wish you could've waited a little bit longer," she
added chidingly. "I'm sure that someone would've brought us those crutches in a few more minutes."

"That's what they said over an hour ago!" he snorted. "It's not like I have all day to wait for someone
to find a pair of crutches that aren't in use."

"Ryo-niichan!" Hotaru ran over from the common area and stopped in front of the pair, glancing from one
to the other.

"Good morning, Hotaru-chan," Ryoku said with a fond smile.

"You didn't come back home last night," she said, turning back to him. "I was worried that something had
happened to you."

"Nothing happened," he said placatingly. "I just stayed at Medical to keep my sister company. She just
woke up from a coma, after all."

Hotaru glanced over to Makoto. "You're Ryo-niichan's sister?" she asked with a cheerful grin. "Nice to
meet you," she said with a polite bow. "I'm Tomoe Hotaru."

"It's nice to meet you, too, Hotaru-chan," Makoto said, smiling back. "I'm Makoto, but you can call me
'Mako-chan' if you want."

"Sure, Mako-chan," Hotaru nodded.

"Hotaru-chan, is Setsuna-san around?" Ryoku asked.

The short-haired girl thought for a moment. "I think she's taking care of someone up on the third floor,"
she told him.

"Could you do me a favor, Hotaru-chan?" he asked. "If you see Setsuna-san, could you ask her to stop by
my room later? I want her to do a quick check-up on Mako-chan to make sure she's all right."

Makoto gave her brother a sour look. "I'm not THAT weak, Ryo-chan," she complained. "It wasn't that far
of a walk."

"But the stone steps from the Hikawa Jinja are long and a little steep," he countered. "Don't complain."
She retorted by sticking her tongue out at him.

Hotaru giggled. "I'll let her know, Ryo-niichan," she said with a nod.

"Thanks," he said as he guided Makoto to his room, while Hotaru went back to the common area.

"She's a cute kid," Makoto remarked as they reached his door. "And she keeps calling you '-niichan,'
too," she added teasingly. "So, how old is she, anyway?"

"Twelve."

Makoto blinked in surprise as he opened his door. "She's twelve? But...."

"She acts like a child four or five years younger?" Ryoku finished as she trailed off. "I suppose that's
partly my fault," he said with a sigh.

"What do you mean?" she asked as he helped her into the room.

"Back during the first few months after I became a Blade and the Meiji Jinja fell, I went on my first
slave rescue mission," he began after setting her down on his couch and taking a seat beside her. "I was
still a little unsure, even though both Mamoru and Sanzou said that I was ready.

"We went into Chiyoda ward where there was a small slave field that was guarded by mostly sentries with
only a handful of Hunters. Anyway, long story short, we went in and took out most of the sentries before
the Youma could call for reinforcements.

"During the fighting I came across a Sword Hunter who had just killed some guy who was using his body to
shield his daughter. Without thinking, I ran forward and fought the Hunter before it could kill the
little girl.

"After I killed the Hunter, I went to check on the girl," he continued as he leaned back against the back
of the couch. "She was crying, hugging her father's body to her, begging for him to get back up. Even
though she was unharmed, there was blood all over her; her father's blood. Most of the fighting was over
by now, so I tried to get her to come with me. At first, she refused to leave her father, but after I
convinced her that her father would want her to come with us in order to escape the Dark Kingdom, she
agreed, but only after taking her father's glasses with her."

"That was Hotaru-chan?" Makoto asked.

He nodded. "She still has those glasses," he told her. "I eventually got her a case for them from Stores.
She keeps them on her dresser in her room.

"Anyway, after we brought her and the other rescued slaves back, it was decided that I, as a full-fledged
Blade after having successfully completed my first rescue mission, should decide where I was going to
stay. You see, each Blade also acts as the head of the living quarters where they live. Of course,
normally we'd all be staying in Shishu barracks, but since there are so few of us, Mamoru decided to
convert all the barracks into living quarters and that we'd each get our own living quarters with
whomever wanted to move in with us. We were running out of living space at the time, which was the reason
behind Mamoru's decision.

"So, after I chose this place, which was pretty much empty when I got it, the first person who came to
live here was Hotaru-chan, followed by our resident nurse, Setsuna-san. Apparently, Hotaru-chan had
fixated on me as a surrogate brother since she had just been orphaned in such a horrific manner and I had
been the one who rescued her. I think that she considers Setsuna-san her surrogate mother for much the
same reason, now that I think about it," he added thoughtfully. "If Setsuna-san hadn't been assigned
here, maybe she would've fixated on whichever nurse was assigned here... or, maybe not. What I do know is
that both Setsuna-san and I have had our fair share of misfortune and having a cheerful little girl like
Hotaru-chan think of us and act as though we were her family made us feel better. Setsuna-san really got
into it, practically adopting her as her own daughter in all but name."

"But what does all of that have to do with Hotaru-chan acting like a little kid?" Makoto asked.

"I asked about that once," he admitted somberly. "From what the personnel in Mental Health told me, the
extreme shock of watching her father sacrifice himself to save her and ending up almost completely
covered in her father's blood had pretty much stunted her emotional growth to the point where she might
end up with the mindset of a nine year-old girl for the rest of her life. It's not too noticeable now,
but when she grows older...."

Makoto stared down at the floor, left speechless by the revelation.

"I told Setsuna-san about this, but she said that we should just keep it to ourselves," he continued as
he stared down at the floor as well. "The only reason why I told you is because you're going to be living
here now. Hotaru-chan might even begin to see you as an older sister, since you're my sister." He smiled
faintly. "Personally, I don't mind it at all; in fact, I even think of her as my second younger sister.
It made things easier for me knowing that I had another sister who was still with me, even if she wasn't
my sister by blood."

"Ryo-chan...," Makoto said sympathetically as she reached over and took his hand in hers.

"Well, that's in the past," he said as he turned back to smile at Makoto. "You're back with us, so we
should concentrate on getting your strength back. After all, Shishu needs all the help it can get right
now, especially with the emergency that we're in." His smile faded as he noticed his sister's concerned
expression. "Something wrong, Mako-chan?" he asked, growing concerned as well.

"It's just that when you mentioned the part about the emergency, it reminded me of how miserable you were
yesterday," she said as she squeezed his hand gently. "If you still don't want to talk about it, I'll
understand, but when something has you feeling like that, I feel miserable, too."

Ryoku stared at Makoto for several moments, considering. He didn't want to burden his sister with his own
personal problems, but just talking with her like this made him feel better than he had felt in years. He
had missed her terribly.

"Like I said, it's a long story."

"I'll listen for as long as I have to, Ryo-chan," she said soberly.

He nodded and took a deep, settling breath. "I'll get right to the point. You know how Ami-chan and
Rei-chan feel about me, right?"

Makoto blinked, and then blinked again. "You knew?" she exclaimed in shock.

Ryoku rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Is it because I'm male that everyone expects me not to notice things
like that?" He sighed in exasperation. "All three of them said the same thing, you know, or pretty much
the same thing."

"Three?"

"Ah," he said, looking away for a moment. "I'm jumping ahead, aren't I? Anyway, just over a year ago, I
volunteered to go on another rescue team," he continued. "We were losing a lot of Blades, so slave
rescues were growing more and more dangerous. But still, these missions were way too important to stop
just because we were growing short on manpower. We remained in the Minato ward, but despite how close we
were, we didn't do too well. However, we did manage to rescue four families; one of them being the Aino
family.

"I was the one who rescued the Aino family's only daughter, Minako," he added. "You may recall that she
came to visit you when you first woke up from your coma."

Makoto thought back for a moment. "That short-haired, blonde girl with the bow in her hair?"

He smiled. "That's her. She works as a nurse-in-training, just like Ami."

"So, she fell in love with you after you rescued her?" she assumed.

"Not quite," he replied. "You see, during the rescue, as the slaves escaped, one of the Claw Hunters
managed to snag Minako's hair as she fled. It was easy because she had waist-length hair at the time. I
killed the Hunter easily, but as I went to remove the Hunter's claw, I saw that her blonde hair was
stained red where the Hunter had grabbed her hair. Not only that, but the stain was rapidly spreading as
her hair absorbed the Claw Hunter's poison."

Makoto gasped at the mention of Claw Hunter poison. "If that had reached her head...."

"A slow, painful death," he nodded grimly. "If removed quickly enough, Claw Hunter poison will only cause
temporary weakness that lasts about a week or so. In some cases, the poison will weaken limbs to the
point where they are rendered useless unless an antidote is administered quickly.

If the poison is left
in long enough to circulate through the bloodstream, like in your case, the body will shut down almost
completely and the victim slips into a coma. At this point, unless the antidote is administered within
two or three hours, the poison reaches the brain where it slowly dissolves. Needless to say, if the
victim was conscious, the pain would be excruciating.

"In Minako's case, the poison was absorbed into her hair," he continued. "Going that route, the poison
would immediately reach her brain without going through her entire bloodstream first. Once Claw Hunter
poison reaches the brain, death is inevitable. Only in this case, she would still be conscious as the
poison slowly burned away her mind."

"How horrible...," she whispered in horror.

He nodded quietly. "The only way I could stop the poison from reaching her head was to cut off the
contaminated parts of her hair. Unfortunately, poison had spread too fast to save much of her hair. I
tried to save as much as I could, but I ended up cutting almost all of it off at some places.

"After a few days, I went to see her to see how she was doing," he continued. "She was very depressed,
which I figured was due to the fact that she had lost almost all of her hair. She had her hair evened out
but, at the most, she had about a half-centimeter or so of hair left. I went to her and apologized about
having to cut most of it off, but she told me not to worry about it since I had to do it to save her
life. Still, I felt like I had to say something to make her feel better, so I told her that I was glad
that losing her hair didn't make her any less beautiful than she was before."

"It's a good thing you said that," Makoto said, nodding in approval. "A girl's hair is important to her,
you know."

"I figured as such," he agreed. "At the time, though, I said that because that was what I honestly felt.
I didn't want to say anything that sounded empty or forced just to make her feel better.

"Anyway, I also gave her back her hair bow which I had held onto after cutting her hair, which I think
she had forgotten about after the incident. Anyway, it was what I had told her then that made her fall in
love with me, or so she said when she confessed her love to me yesterday."

"I don't understand, Ryo-chan," she said, frowning. "Why would someone confessing their love to you make
you so miserable?"

"If it was just her, it wouldn't be so bad," he said bitterly.

"You mean...?"

He nodded again. "Ami confessed her love the same day," he told her. "And better still, Rei did the exact
same thing the night before."

Makoto was silent for a while. "And what did you tell them?" she asked quietly.

"The truth."

She frowned. "The truth?"

"That I had fallen in love with all three of them and that I couldn't choose between them."

She stared at her older brother, her eyes wide in surprise. "Are you serious, Ryo-chan?"

"Dead serious," he replied. "I love all of them, but it isn't fair for me to string all of them along
when I can't decide on one... so I decided that I would choose none of them. It was the only way to be
fair."

"...you dumbass."

Ryoku stared at his sister. "What?"

"So, you hurt all of them by denying what's in your heart?" she said angrily. "Do you think that's what
they'd want? I don't know Minako-san, but I do know Rei-chan and Ami-chan. And I know that they wouldn't
want you to do something as stupid as ignoring your feelings just because you're afraid of hurting
theirs."

"But this can't last forever," he countered.

She folded her arms. "Says who?"

"I'd have to choose one eventually!" he insisted. "It'd be impossible to marry them all!"

Makoto glanced away, smiling faintly to herself. "It'd be nice to call Rei-chan and Ami-chan my
sisters," she murmured under her breath. "And think of the huge family we'd have!"

Ryoku mentally sighed to himself. He'd almost forgotten that his younger sister had inherited her
grandmother's proclivity toward having a huge family. Kino Umi and Misaki had both been unable to bear
many children. Umi had almost died giving birth to her only child and could no longer carry a child for
the full nine months. Misaki managed two children, but slowly became so weak that giving birth to a third
child could possibly kill her. Although not a Kino by birth, apparently Misaki had inherited her
mother-in-law's child birthing problem.

A knock at the door interrupted the conversation. Ryoku was grateful as the conversation was slowly going
down a very dangerous path. "Enter."

The door opened as Setsuna stepped into the room. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything," she said as she
closed the door behind her.

"Not really," he said as he stood up. "Setsuna-san, I believe you've met my sister, Makoto."

She smiled at Makoto. "Well, if visiting someone while they're in a coma counts as meeting someone, then
yes," she replied.

"Mako-chan, this is our resident nurse, Meiou Setsuna," he introduced, then turned back to Setsuna.
"Could you please check on Mako-chan for me? She was just released from Medical, but I want to make sure
that she's all right after coming all this way in her weakened state."

"Of course," Setsuna nodded as she turned to Makoto. "It's good to finally have you among the conscious,
Makoto-san. Do you think you can stand up for me?"

Makoto frowned. "I... don't think I can," she said as she mentally checked herself. "I'm still a little
exhausted from the walk."

Setsuna nodded. "I understand. Well, I think just a cursory examination will suffice."

"Would it be easier if Mako-chan were lying down, like on my bed?" Ryoku asked.

"Yes, that would help."

"Hold on," he said as he bent down and picked Makoto up.

She quickly threw her arms around her brother's neck. "My hero," she said, smiling coquettishly.

"Don't be stupid," he replied as he unceremoniously deposited her on his bed.

"Aw, you're no fun," she complained as she bounced. Behind them, Setsuna laughed softly at the pair.

"It's good to see a brother and sister as close as you two obviously are," Setsuna remarked as she bent
down to examine Makoto.

"Of course," she replied with a smile as Setsuna felt her legs for any stress injuries. "Ryo-chan's my
only older brother." Setsuna nodded her understanding as she moved up to examine her arms.

"So, what's the verdict?" Ryoku asked after Setsuna finished her examination.

"She's fine," the nurse said. "She just needs to rest for a while. I'd recommend that she sleep for a few
hours to accelerate her recovery."

He nodded. "Thank you, Setsuna-san."

"No thanks are necessary, Ryoku-san," she said with a quick shake of her head and a smile. "Like I said,
it's good to finally have your sister back with us.

"I have to return to my rounds now, so I'll see both of you later," she said as she turned to leave. "I
hope you recover quickly, Makoto-san," she added, then left.

"Anyway, I have to get back to Shishu soon or else, sister waking from a coma or not, Mamoru'll have my
head," Ryoku said as he helped his sister get underneath the blankets. "I'll try to come back as soon as
possible, all right?"

Makoto nodded. "I'll be waiting for you, then."

"Just get some sleep for now," he told her as he bent down and kissed her forehead. "Have a good rest."

"I'll see you later, Ryo-chan," she said as he opened the door. Ryoku glanced back, smiled, and nodded
before closing the door behind him.


_________________________________________________________________


Shishu Headquarters - Commanding Officer's Office, Hikawa Jinja, Tokyo, Japan.
August 9, 1992. 9:51 A.M.


Michiru sat quietly and waited as Mamoru and Usagi discussed something between each other at the other
side of the room.

After Mamoru had described the cleaning crew position, with Usagi adding a few things here and there, he
asked her a few simple questions concerning her availability, work experience, and such. Afterward, he
had asked her if she wanted to step outside for a moment or if she would prefer to remain where she was
as he discussed something with Usagi. Not caring either way, she opted to remain where she was.

In the corner near her, Haruka leaned against the wall, alternating her gaze between her and the pair
conversing at the other end of the room. As she stared at Mamoru and Usagi, Michiru had a feeling that
Haruka was contemplating doing something rash. She had that look in her eyes that she had learned was a
prelude to her doing something without thinking, or at least, without thinking it all the way through.

"You've got the job," Mamoru finally said as he sat back down at his desk.

"It'll be a pleasure working with you, Kaioh-san," Usagi added with a pleasant smile as she held out a
hand to her.

"You can call me Michiru, Tsukino-senpai," she said as she clasped hands with the younger blonde girl.

Usagi grimaced. "It sounds weird being called '-senpai' by someone older than me," she remarked. "Just
'-san' will be fine. And you can call me, Usagi, too."

"Now, you can start tomorrow, unless you don't mind starting today," Mamoru said as he reached over for a
folder out of a stack on the right side of his desk.

"I don't have anything to do today, so I suppose I should start learning what I'm supposed to be doing
here as soon as possible," Michiru said as she stood up.

"All right, then," he nodded. "I'll see that you get a set of keys like Usagi-san has. For now, that set
and Usagi-san's set are the only set of master keys that we have, so please be careful with them."

"I will," she promised as she bowed slightly. "And thank you for giving me this job."

Mamoru nodded again. "I'm hopeful that you'll do well."

"So, Usagi-san, would you mind showing me around the building?" she asked as she turned to leave.

"Sure!" Usagi said eagerly. "Just follow me." She glanced over at Mamoru and waved, then left after he
returned her wave.

Before leaving to follow the blonde-haired girl, Michiru glanced over at Haruka again. She had been
strangely quiet during the entire time they had been in Mamoru's office. Haruka gave her a small nod of
reassurance, but if she was going to do what Michiru thought she was going to do, that nod hardly gave
her any reassurance at all.

'Just make sure you don't regret it later, Haruka,' she thought to herself as she followed Usagi out of
the office.

"So," Mamoru said without looking up from the contents of the folder he was reading, "what do you want?
I'm very busy, so if it isn't important, I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to leave."

"I wanna join Shishu."

Mamoru closed the folder and set it down in front of him. "Are you serious?"

Haruka strode toward the desk and leaned forward on it. "Don't try telling me that women aren't allowed
to join Shishu," she said firmly. "I know about Ryoku-san's sister being a 6th class Blade. Unless you're
telling me that she's not a woman, then you can allow me to join as well."

The head of Shishu sighed. "Why does it always come back to Kino?" he muttered under his breath.
"Listen," he said seriously, "the only reason why Kino Makoto became a Blade was because she had fought
and killed Youma in battle before falling into a coma."

"So?" Haruka retorted. "I've fought and killed Youma, too. Why do you think I'm alive today?"

"Even so, it took two years before she was officially recognized as a Blade," Mamoru continued.

"But she's one now, right?" she countered. "And once she wakes from her coma, she'll start training as a
Blade as well, right?"

He gave what she said some thought. Makoto was awake now, and as such, she would officially have to start
training as a Blade....

"Still, Makoto had been training to become a Blade from an early age," he finally told her.

"Look," Haruka interrupted irritably. "I already know all about Kino Makoto and how she got special
treatment because of her father and grandfather. Furthermore, I know it was you that made her a Blade.

"I'm not asking for special treatment because I'm a girl," she continued. "I just want you to give me a
chance like you gave her a chance. If you want, forget I'm a girl. I'll enlist as a man if you want. Just
let me have a chance."

"You're that certain," he said, more a statement than a question.

"I am," Haruka said, standing up straight.

"Why?" he asked. "Is it because of vengeance? Do you want to join Shishu just to kill Youma?"

Haruka was quiet for a moment before speaking. "I'll be completely honest with you, Chiba-sama," she said
soberly. "That is one of the reasons why I want to join Shishu. However, there is someone I've promised
to watch over; to protect. Someone I care for that I don't want to let anything happen to."

She turned around and raised the back of her shirt to her neck, showing him her scars. "Some of these
scars I got because the Youma just felt like giving them out. However, most of them were gained because I
failed to prevent something terrible happening to her."

She lowered her shirt and turned back to him. "Now that we're no longer slaves, I need to be stronger
than I am now should something ever threaten her again. I believe that by becoming a Blade, I can protect
her."

Mamoru gave her a long, considering stare. Haruka stared back unflinchingly, as if to demonstrate her
resolve through her gaze.

"You do realize that because Shishu Blades have been primarily male only, you may run into some prejudice
from other Blades," he finally told her as he leaned back into his chair. "Many of them have been raised
with the notion that women cannot and should not become Blades. Makoto was a special case due to her
circumstances and her lineage, but still many Blades balked after I made the decision. Even Kino had a
hard time of it afterward, with many Blades accusing him and myself of nepotism - in his case - and
favoritism - in my own. It took a long time dying down, mostly due to Kino constantly striving to prove
himself in the eyes of his fellow Blades, but it showed me that the underlying prejudice is there."

Haruka smirked. "If that kid can prove himself to them, then so can I," she said confidently. "I can
handle myself just fine."

"I hope so," he said seriously. "If you are absolutely certain of your decision, then raise your right
hand."

She did so as Mamoru stood up from his desk and picked up his sword from the stand in the nearby corner.
"Normally, we'd do this with the sword that we would issue to you, or your own sword, if you had one," he
said as he set the blade on his desk. "Now, repeat after me," he said, raising his right hand as well as
he turned to face her.

"I, state your name-"

"I, Ten'ou Haruka-"

"-do solemnly swear, by my word and by my honor-"

"-do solemnly swear, by my word and by my honor-"

"-that I will dedicate my heart, my mind, and my life-"

"-that I will dedicate my heart, my mind, and my life-"

"-toward the future of mankind."

"-toward the future of mankind."

"I will fight for those who cannot-"

"I will fight for those who cannot-"

"-and protect those who cannot fight."

"-and protect those who cannot fight."

"I will not run and I will not surrender."

"I will not run and I will not surrender."

"I will give my life-"

"I will give my life-"

"-so that others may live."

"-so that others may live."

"This, I so solemnly swear."

"This, I so solemnly swear."

Mamoru reached behind him and picked up his sword, then pointed the hilt toward Haruka. "Draw it and
raise it over your head."

Haruka lowered her hand toward the blade's hilt and drew the sword. As the blade left the scabbard, it
made a soft ringing sound as if announcing to the world the birth of a new Blade.

"Now, repeat after me," he said as Haruka raised the sword over her head. The tip of the blade just
barely missed the ceiling. "Defending to the last; fighting for those who cannot; striving for the future
of humanity."

"Defending to the last; fighting for those who cannot; striving for the future of humanity," Haruka
repeated reverently.

"I am, state your name, forever a Blade of Shishu."

"I am Ten'ou Haruka, forever a Blade of Shishu."

Mamoru pointed his scabbard back at Haruka, who prompty sheathed the sword. "Congratulations, Ten'ou. You
are now a Recruit Blade."

"That's all there is to it?" she asked as he moved to replace his sword back in its stand.

"Well, normally new recruits undergo an enlistment ceremony similar to what you went through, but with
more people in attendance, such as friends and family," Mamoru explained. "However, considering the
circumstances surrounding your enlistment, there would be some who would be against a woman enlisting in
Shishu. It would be best to wait until I talk to some of the Blades that I know would be against it
before having the public ceremony."

"Does that mean I'm not really an official Blade?" she asked, frowning.

"No, you are officially a Blade," he assured her. "Shishu regulations require that an officer conduct the
enlistment ceremony. Other than that, there are no requirements for witnesses or an audience. As I am
acting in the office of the Commanding Officer of the Hikawa Jinja Shishu installation, I am the only one
here who can officially enlist you as a Blade."

"Then, if I'm official, the others should just deal with it," she huffed. "I don't see the need to hide."

Mamoru frowned. "You do know that the barrier surrounding the jinja is gone, right?"

"Yeah."

"Considering the emergency, it would hardly do for Blades to start arguing amongst themselves," he
explained. "More than ever, we need to work together to make sure that the Dark Kingdom doesn't take
advantage of our current weakness.

"We are holding together by a thread, Ten'ou," he said grimly. "We can't afford to slip now."

"All right, I got it," she sighed. "So, what? Do I train in secret until the emergency is over?"

A knock on the door interrupted Mamoru's reply. "Who is it?"

"It's me, Mamoru."

A calculating grin slowly curved Mamoru's lips. "Enter."

The door opened and Ryoku stepped inside, closing the door behind him. "Sorry for not showing up at
turnover, but I have a reason for it." A pause. "So, why's Haruka-san here?" he asked, jerking a thumb
behind him toward her.

Haruka blinked. She was almost certain that she had been standing behind him and out of his line-of-sight
the entire time. Well, she had a surprise for him, too. "I just enlisted, Ryoku-san. I'm a Blade now,
just like you."

Ryoku turned around and stared at her. "You can't be serious."

"It's true, Kino," Mamoru told him. "I just enlisted her a few minutes ago."

He turned back to Mamoru with a thoughtful look on his face. "I suppose if she's convinced you of her
sincerity, then I can accept it. It's a good thing that Watanabe isn't around; otherwise, we'd have a
hell of a time convincing anyone else."

"I'm not too worried," he said. "I don't know about the Recruit Blades, but there is someone in
particular that I'm worried about."

"Who?" Haruka asked. "I'll talk with him myself."

"Hold it," Ryoku said, holding out a restraining hand. "Now's not the time for stuff like that; not with
the barrier down and all."

"So, I've heard," she muttered coarsely.

"What are you going to do about her training?" Ryoku asked curiously. "The other Recruit Blades are
already in the middle of their training; sticking her in the middle of that would cause problems."

"She won't be training with the other Recruit Blades," Mamoru stated. "You're going to do it, instead."

"What?" Haruka and Ryoku exclaimed at the same time.

"I take it you came here to ask me about taking over your sister's training during her rehabilitation,"
he continued knowingly.

"Wait," Haruka cut in as she turned to Ryoku. "Your sister woke from her coma?"

"Just last night," he told her before turning back to Mamoru. "I did plan on asking about that, but why
do I have to train Haruka-san?"

"Remember when I told you that I wanted you to start training Recruit Blades?" he asked. "Well, you can
start with her," he said, nodding toward Haruka. "As for your sister, I'll leave her training to you, as
well."

"What about my other duties, Chiba?" he asked.

"You'll have to work them in between your training," he replied. "Now you'd better get her what she needs
from Supply, as well as a sword and a rifle from the Armory."

"Understood," Ryoku said as he turned to leave. "Please come with me, Ten'ou."

"What's with the last name basis all of a sudden?" she asked as she started to follow him out.

"Traditionally, Blades address each other by last name with no honorific," he explained. "It's the same
as when non-Blades traditionally address Blades by last name with the '-sama' honorific."

"What about earlier?" she asked. "You addressed Chiba by his first name."

Ryoku grimaced as he continued on his way. "That's... a long story," he said as Haruka closed the door
before following him.

Mamoru smiled to himself as he reached for another folder. "Just like three years ago," he said to
himself as he opened the folder and started to read.


_________________________________________________________________


Farming Grounds - Lower Grounds, Hikawa Jinja, Tokyo, Japan.
August 9, 1992. 10:35 A.M.


Junko stifled another yawn as she walked over to the break area. It was less than an hour away from
lunch, but right then, she would rather get some sleep than eat.

At the break area, Rin noticed her friend approaching and waved her over. "You look like crap," she said
bluntly, as Junko sat down on the bench beside her and laid her arms and head on the wooden table.

"I feel like crap," she replied and yawned again before folding her arms and resting her head between
them. "I didn't get much sleep last night."

"Oh?" she asked as she sat with her back against the table as leaned against it. "How come?"

"I don't want to talk about it," she muttered, her voice muffled by the table.

"Jun-chan! Rin-chan!"

"Oh, no," Junko grumbled, her head still resting on her arms. "Not her. Not now."

"Now, now," Rin said with a silent chuckle as Minami ran up to them.

"Jun-chan! Rin-chan! Guess what I heard!" she said eagerly.

"I thought I told you not to call me that, you blonde ditz," she muttered, her voice still muffled by the
table.

"Did you say something?" Minami asked as she glanced at Junko.

"What did you hear, Minami?" Rin asked before the brunette could reach up and strangle the blonde gossip
monger.

"Oh, you'll never believe it!" Minami said as she sat down next to Junko, who quietly grumbled several
unpleasant things about the blonde girl sitting next to her. "Do you know Kawashima Shizuna?"

"Doesn't she live in your living quarters, Minami?" Rin asked. "The girl with the light hazel eyes and
silver-blue hair? The one who always tells us about her brave Recruit Blade boyfriend, Oda-sama? That
one?"

Minami nodded rapidly. "Yeah, yeah! That's her!"

"Who cares?" Junko grumbled crossly.

"Well," she continued, pausing long enough to glance around and lean in closer to her friends. "Last
night, I saw Shizuna-chan leave her room at just an hour or so before midnight." She leaned a little
closer. "And just this morning, I heard from from Mei-chan that last night, Shizuna-chan and Oda-sama
snuck into his old room at his old living quarters and did you-know-what! It was right next to her room,
too! Isn't that scandalous?"

Suddenly, the blonde was almost knocked off the bench as Junko whipped her head up violently and rounded
on the startled gossip monger. "And the name of Oda-sama's old living quarters wouldn't happen to be
'Twilight Dawn,' would it?" she asked with a menacingly intent look in her eyes.

Rin's eyes widened as Minami nodded timidly under Junko's piercing glare. "Isn't that your living
quarters, Junko?"

"Now I know who it was making all that noise next door," she seethed to herself. "I couldn't sleep for a
long time afterward; not until-" She quickly shut her mouth.

"Until?" Minami and Rin asked, growing very interested.

Junko's hands quickly balled into fists. "I'll kill her!" she screamed as she stormed off.

"What was that all about?" Minami asked as Junko shoved several people aside in her search for her target.

Rin smirked knowingly. "I'll tell you when you're older."

Minami frowned. "Are you insinuating something?"

"Not at all."

"Hmph," she retorted, unconvinced of her friend's sincerity. 'Ah, well. At least she didn't ask what I
was doing up that late....'


_________________________________________________________________


Hikawa Jinja Proper, Hikawa Jinja, Tokyo, Japan.
August 9, 1992. 11:51 A.M.


Rei sat quietly by her Grandpa's side, watching him as his chest rose and fell slowly, yet rhythmically.
So far, he hadn't shown any signs of growing worse. In fact, Tsuda-sensei had stopped by an hour ago and
told her that Grandpa looked like his health was improving. The news lifted part of the heavy weight that
was pressing against her heart, but until she found out for herself how well her Grandpa would be upon
waking, that heaviness would not go away.

Behind her, Minako sat quietly as well, watching both of them. Ever since Rei's outburst last night, she
had become worried about her friend's emotional well-being. Rei had always been an outgoing person and
not one for keeping her thoughts and feelings to herself. When Grandpa fell victim to the backlash of the
barrier collapsing, Rei had slowly begun to close up. On the surface, she seemed the same as before, but
during times like now, when she was on duty watching Grandpa while Rei was with him, she could see how
she was holding in her anger and grief, not knowing who she could unleash it upon. Combined with what Rei
she had said last night, she knew that it was only a matter of time before her fiery-tempered friend
would explode.

Something had to be done, especially now when Rei was so close to just transforming into Sailor Mars and
marching on the Imperial Palace to mete out her own brand of incendiary justice.

The door quietly slid open as Minako's relief came into the room. "Any changes, Aino-san?" the nurse
inquired.

"According to Tsuda-sensei, Hino-sama is improving slightly," Minako reported. "His skin color has lost
some of its paleness and his breathing has become steadier since last night."

The nurse nodded. "Then, you're relieved," she said as Minako stood up and she sat down in her place. "Go
get something to eat. You're probably hungry by now."

She nodded, then turned to Rei. "You're probably hungry, too, Rei-chan," she said as she placed a hand on
her shoulder. "Come on; we can eat lunch together."

"I'm not that hungry," she replied without taking her eyes of Grandpa. "Besides, I want to be here when
Grandpa wakes up."

"That might not be for a few more days, Rei-chan," she told her.

"Tsuda-sensei said he was getting better," she insisted. "I don't want to come back and find out he was
awake for just a few moments and looking for me before falling back asleep for who knows who long."

Minako sighed quietly as she dropped her hand from Rei's shoulder. "All right, Rei-chan. But, if you
change your mind, just let me know." She slid open the door and left when Rei didn't give her a reply.

Outside of the jinja, Minako blinked at the brightness of the noontime sun. She had been inside since
early morning, and since Grandpa's room was in the middle of the jinja proper, his room didn't have any
windows. As such, there was really no way of telling how much time had passed unless you had a clock or
a watch. She had neither, so she relied on her relief to let her know when her shift was over. She had
been fortunate so far that none of the nurses that had relieved her had taken advantage of that.

Even though it was lunchtime, she wasn't really that hungry. The problem with Rei was a bigger concern
that took up most of her thoughts. There had to be some way to defuse that problem before it could get
any worse.

As far as she could see, the majority of the problem was due to Grandpa's condition. If he was awake, Rei
would feel relieved and she could begin to let go of whatever she was holding in. All they needed was for
Grandpa to be healed.

'She should be rested by now,' she thought to herself as she started down the stone steps to the Lower
Grounds. 'I'll just ask Setsuna-sensei or Ryoku-sama if I can borrow her for a little while.'

As she passed by her living quarters, she spotted Ryoku heading her way with Haruka. Both of them were
carrying a large box while discussing something between each other. She suddenly remembered her promise
to act as a mentor for both Haruka and Michiru and grimaced to herself. What a terrible mentor she had
been so far! She would have to apologize to Haruka, and then to Michiru later on.

Neither Ryoku nor Haruka had noticed her, so she was about to call out to them, but she paused as she
heard Ryoku tell Haruka something strange.

"It's going to be a little while before I can bring Mako-chan to speed, but she's stronger than people
give her credit for. If she believes that she can get strong enough to train alongside you, then she'll
do it. She definitely won't slow you down in the slightest."

"Are you sure you're not just saying that because she's your sister?" Haruka countered, raising an
eyebrow.

"I'd be lying if I said that that had nothing to do with it," he replied honestly. "However, I'm also
giving you my honest, professional opinion as a Third class Blade. Just remember that in Shishu, age
doesn't count nearly as much as the stripes on your sleeve do. And right now, you don't have any."

"You don't have to rub it in, you know," Haruka grimaced and paused as she noticed Minako coming toward
them. "Well, if it isn't our missing mentor!" she greeted with a grin. "I thought you were stuck at the
jinja."

"I still am," Minako replied. "I'm kinda on a break right now. Anyway, I'm sorry for not being around
when you two needed me."

"Don't worry about it," she replied dismissively. "It's your job. I understand. We'll probably need to
talk to you about other things; especially Michiru. I know she wants to ask you a few things."

Minako nodded. "I'll try to make some time to talk to you both later tonight. Would around 8:00 or so be
all right?"

"It'd be fine," she nodded. "Thanks."

"No problem," she replied, then stopped as she realized something. "Hey, Haruka-san, are you wearing a
Shishu uniform?"

"Yeah, I am," she said proudly. "I just joined Shishu a little while ago."

Minako's jaw dropped. "You what? But, I thought-"

"Whatever it is you thought, you'd best forget it," she cut her off sharply. "I'm a Shishu Blade now, no
matter what anyone thinks or says."

"Ryoku-sama?" she said, turning to him out of confusion.

"She is a Blade now," he said seriously. "I'm going to be training her."

"You are?" she said, surprised. "But, what about...." She gave him a pointed look. "...your other duties?"

"I'll have to juggle them," he said with a shrug. "That's the word from Mamoru. Besides, I wouldn't worry
about that until the barrier goes back up.

"Anyway," he continued as he turned to Haruka, "now that we've got all your stuff, I want you take it
easy for the rest of the day. Tomorrow, we'll begin your first day of training. And don't worry; I won't
hold back because you're a girl. I've seen how well you've handled yourself against Youma. If it means
anything to you, I believe you've got the potential to be an excellent Blade; woman or not."

"Thanks," she said with an appreciative nod. "And same to you," she added as she headed to her living
quarters.

"Ryoku-sama, can I talk to you for a moment when you're done?" Minako asked as he started to follow her.

"I can handle the other box, Kino," Haruka offered. "It's no problem."

He glanced over at Minako for a moment, considering. "If you think you can handle it, then go ahead," he
said as he set his box on top of hers. Haruka grunted a little, but other than that, she showed little
sign of strain.

"Let me get that," Minako said as she opened the door for her, and then darted forward to open the door
to the stairwell leading up to Haruka's room. "Are you sure you can handle all that yourself?" she asked.

"It's not that bad, Minako-san," she assured her. "I'll be fine from here, so I'll see you after 8:00."

"All right," she said with some hesitation. "I'll see you then." She watched Haruka until she reached her
floor and pushed open the door with her knee. Once Haruka was out of sight, Minako went back outside
where Ryoku was waiting for her.

"Did something happen?" he asked as she walked up to him.

"I'm worried about Rei-chan, Ryoku-sama," she told him, concern evident on her face.

Ryoku frowned. "Why, Minako?"

"I think she's getting close to losing control of herself," she confided. "I know she's upset about
Grandpa, but with him in that condition, she has all that rage with nothing to unleash it on. You've
already told her not to use her powers out of vengeance, but it seems like that's all she's thinking
about now. She's got Setsuna-sensei and Hotaru-chan concerned about her, as well; especially after what
she said last night."

"What did she say?"

"She told Setsuna-sensei that our job is to kill Youma. Otherwise, they would either kill us first, or
enslave us instead."

Ryoku turned his gaze from Minako to the Hikawa Jinja and stared concernedly. "It's getting worse than I
thought...."

"I thought that we could get Hotaru-chan to use her healing powers on Grandpa," she said as Ryoku turned
back to her. "I came to find you or Setsuna-san so that I could bring her to the jinja. Maybe after
Grandpa got better, Rei-chan would slowly start to calm down as well."

She sighed sadly. "However, I just realized that it might not be the best idea right now. I'm worried
about that Elite Youma. She managed to sneak in without being detected by the border watch, and they
didn't see her leave. What if she's still here, hiding? If Hotaru-chan were to transform and use her
powers...."

Ryoku thought for a moment. "What if Hotaru-chan didn't transform?" he mused. "Her powers aren't
dependent upon her transformation. However, there's still a chance that Titus could detect them if she
were still hiding somewhere in the Outer Grounds. It doesn't seem likely that she's still here, but we
can't know that for certain."

"What should we do, Ryoku-sama?" Minako asked, her expression distraught. "I want to help Grandpa and
Rei-chan, but...."

He said nothing as he turned to leave. "Let's go, Minako."

She stared at him questioningly. "What?" she said as she started after him.

"We can't let possibilities and uncertainties stop us from what we need to do," he said as headed toward
the Orphan's Quarters. "If she shows up, we deal with her. Either way, right now, Grandpa and Rei-chan
need her help."

"You're right," Minako agreed. "If Grandpa doesn't get well soon, Rei-chan will get worse. We can't
afford to have a Sailor Senshi consumed with the need for vengeance. Especially since we haven't found
all of the Senshi yet."


_________________________________________________________________


Orphan's Quarters, Hikawa Jinja, Tokyo, Japan.
August 9, 1992. 12:41 P.M.


Makoto woke up feeling very rested despite the length of the nap she took. It was about lunchtime and she
was feeling very hungry, so she sat up, slid the blanket aside, and stood up.

She was about to head for the door when she realized just how easily she had gotten out of bed and stood
up. Of course, once that realization hit, she felt her knees start to give way. Quickly, she sat back
down on the bed, still astonished as to how easily she had managed to stand up.

"When Setsuna-sensei said that sleep would accelerate my healing, she wasn't kidding, was she?" she said
to the white cat who was sitting on the foot of the bed, watching her. "So, I'm guessing you're
Ryo-chan's cat, hm?" she remarked as she reached out to scratch the cat on the head. "I guess you've been
through a lot, judging from all the bandages. I hope you don't mind keeping me company until Ryo-chan
comes back."

"Meow," Artemis said as he leaned into the caress.

"What do you think?" she asked. "I'll bet I can walk by myself by the end of the week. Care to take me up
on it?"

There was a soft knock at the door just a moment before it opened and Setsuna stepped into the room
carrying a pair of crutches. "Ah, I see you've met Artemis," she noticed and smiled.

"When did Ryo-chan get a cat?" Makoto asked curiously. "I don't remember there being any cats in Japan."

"Actually, we have two here," Setsuna told her as she set the pair of crutches down next to the couch.
"Usagi-san has a black cat named Luna who we found with Artemis. You'll usually find her either in here
or in Usagi-san's room. That is, unless the children are playing with them.

"At any rate, I'm glad I caught you while you're awake," she continued. "I wanted to let you know that
someone came by and dropped off these crutches for you."

"What time is it?" Makoto asked.

"Almost one."

"Was it that hard to find a pair of crutches?" she said in disbelief.

"It might have been," Setsuna remarked. "There had been two Youma invasion attempts very recently. I
would imagine that most of them have been put into use by the wounded from those two battles."

"...right," she said, her tone slightly subdued.

"Don't worry too much about it," Setsuna said, quickly changing the subject. "Just be glad that it'll be
easier to get around now. How are you feeling?"

"Much better, thanks. However, I'm really starving. Where's the dining area?"

"Do you know where the common area is?" Setsuna asked.

Makoto nodded. "I saw Hotaru-chan come from there when I first got here."

"The dining area is straight through there," Setsuna informed her. "You can't miss it."

"Thanks," she nodded gratefully. "Could you please hand me those crutches? I'd like to try getting to the
dining area on my own."

"Are you sure you're up to it?" the dark-haired nurse asked. "You've only been awake for a short time.
You don't want to overexert yourself."

"I'm sure," Makoto confirmed. "Besides, if I don't push myself, I won't get any stronger."

Setsuna shook her head. "You're definitely your brother's sister," she remarked wearily. "Stubborn, both
of you. Well, I won't stop you as long as you don't push yourself too hard. I don't want to explain to
Ryoku-san why his sister has injured herself trying to get herself something to eat."

"I promise I won't overdo it, Setsuna-sensei," she said seriously.

The nurse gave her a long, scrutinizing stare before giving her an acquiescent nod and handing her the
crutches. "Well, I have to finish my rounds before I can go to lunch, myself. Maybe I'll see you there,
Makoto-san."

"Sure," she agreed. "And thanks again, Setsuna-sensei." The nurse nodded in reply and left, leaving her
by herself with Artemis.

"So, what do you say?" she asked of the white cat as she stood up with the help of her new crutches.
"Want to get something to eat with me?"

"Meow," Artemis replied, shaking his head as he stretched and settled down on the pillow.

"Well, that's fine," she said as she slowly headed for the door. "Your loss."

It wasn't too difficult to handle walking around with crutches. It took some getting used to at first,
but as she walked down the hall past Setsuna's room and the Nurse's office, she quickly got the hang of
walking with them. It certainly helped to take a great deal of stress off her legs.

As she turned into the main entrance, she happened to catch sight of her brother leaving the living
quarters with Hotaru-chan and that girl with the bow she had seen last night; Minako, she remembered her
brother telling her. She was about to call out a greeting when Minako quickly closed the door behind them.

'Didn't they see me?' she wondered as she altered her course and headed for the door. Hungry or not, her
curiosity was piqued. The food would still be there. It took a little bit of time, but she eventually
reached the door and started to open it.

"-want me to transform into Sailor Saturn first?"

Makoto froze with the door only open a couple of centimeters. That had been Hotaru's voice.

"Not yet. Medical already knows about your healing powers, or rather, Saturn's healing powers. Right now,
we're only concerned about Grandpa."

That must have been Minako's voice. Makoto frowned in confusion. She had heard about the Sailor Senshi
from Ami and Rei. So, Hotaru was Sailor Saturn? How did Minako and Ryoku know about it?

"If they see Sailor Saturn there, they'll try to get you to heal as many people as possible. Since you
don't have the strength for that, you'll have to come in as yourself in order to heal Grandpa as much as
possible with as much strength as you can call forth. You saw how bad Rei was last night; we don't have
much time left."

That was definitely Ryoku. What was going on? What was happening with Rei?

"I understand, Ryo-niichan. I'll do what I can to help. I just want-"

"Wait."

Makoto stumbled forward as Ryoku yanked the door open all the way. He quickly caught her before she fell
and steadied her back on her feet.

"Were you the only one listening?" he asked as he glanced through the doorway behind her.

"I... I didn't mean to overhear anything!" she said apologetically to the three of them. Hotaru and
Minako exchanged worried glances while Ryoku groaned to himself as he smacked his palm into his face and
combed it back through his hair.

"Listen," he said quickly, "I'm going to need you to swear to keep what you heard to yourself." He
glanced back toward Minako, asking a silent question with his gaze. Minako smiled and nodded back. "We
can't say anything right now, but we promise to explain what's going on later. All right?"

Makoto nodded her agreement. "I don't know what's going on, but if it's to help Rei-chan and Grandpa,
then I promise that I won't say a thing to anyone."

"Thanks," Minako said gratefully. She paused for a moment, hesitant to say anything else to her.

"You'd better hurry if you're going to help Rei-chan and Grandpa," she said, smiling at Minako. "We can
talk later."

"Right," Minako agreed as she turned to the others. "Let's go." With that, the three hurried toward the
jinji leaving Makoto to wave after them.

"Well, I guess there's nothing left but to get something to eat," she sighed as she turned back to the
Orphan's Quarters.

'I hope you haven't gotten yourself into something way over your head, Ryo-chan....'


_________________________________________________________________


Outside Sydney Opera House Ruins, Sydney, Australia.
August 9, 1992. 12:53 P.M. (Tokyo local time)


Zoisite stood at the water's edge, watching and waiting. She should be back any minute now....

The sound of wings rustling alerted Zoisite to her arrival. He stepped back as a winged Youma alighted
itself where he had previously stood.

The pony-tailed General smirked to himself. Jadeite might be a genius at creating new breeds of Youma,
but he wasn't without his own resources, either. He had gleaned enough from the spy missions that he sent
his Youma on that he had a fair idea about how Jadeite created his Mage Youma. Not content with just the
sentries and Hunters that Jadeite had created when Queen Beryl was still around, he sought to learn how
the master Youma artisan made his greatest weapons. The Scout Youma was also of some interest, as he was
a gatherer of information, rather than a great warrior like Kunzite, but that could be left for another
time.

This hybrid Youma that he had learned to create had once been a human woman a few weeks back. Now, she
had no idea that she had once been human. In his opinion, she was much better off this way. At least, now
the human had a useful purpose.

Another useful side effect of the transformation was the fact that his hybrid Youma more often than not
retained some of their human intelligence. While most humans lost some of their intelligence once they
underwent the conversion process, what was left was quite often better than the intelligence level of the
sentries and Hunters. Better still, hybrid Youma were not limited to one form like Jadeite's Youma, which
were nothing more than clones. The forms his hybrid Youma could take were limited only to his
imagination.

However, there was one glaring downside to his hybrid Youma. They weren't very strong. Their strength
ranged anywhere from twice as strong as a sentry to twice as strong as a Hunter. They couldn't hope to
compete with Jadeite's Mages. That fact irked him greatly. However, he knew that Mages tended to be
costly to make, while converting humans into hybrid Youma cost less to make than a sentry did. As such,
he had quite a few hybrid Youma in his army. So many, in fact, that he almost felt certain that he could
take Jadeite's army on in battle.

Almost.

"Report," he commanded quickly.

"I located Jadeite at his St. Petersburg slave cell, Master," the Youma reported. "As Master Kunzite
suspected, Nephrite met him there and warned him of your plans."

"Shit!" he snarled with a scowl. "So, Jadeite already knows I'm coming. Were you detected?"

"No, Master."

"Good," he said, his smirk returning. "Do you know where he went after that?"

"I followed him to a slave cell in Tehran before turning back," she continued. "If I followed him any
further, he would have spotted me."

"So, he doesn't think I'll attack any time soon, hmm?" he mused to himself. "Now would probably be the
best time to strike, since he's away and not expecting it.

"I want you to fly to Giza and tell Kunzite-sama that I'm going ahead with my part of the plan," he
ordered the Youma. "Hurry!"

"Yes, Master," the winged Youma bowed and leapt into the air while spreading her wings. Once she was
airborne, she turned to the west and started flying away.

Zoisite watched her fly away until she was out of sight, and then turned back toward the Opera House,
which he had converted into his own palace and headquarters. He had no interest in the singing activities
that the humans had previously used this place for, but the design of the building had intrigued him
greatly. After taking the opera house for himself, he inquired of the humans the purpose for the design.

After learning that the main purpose of the design was to improve the acoustics for opera singers,
Zoisite almost abandoned the place, but not before completely leveling it in the process. However, the
humans had also pointed out that the exterior of the building was immediately recognizable by anyone on
the planet because of its unique appearance and sophisticated design. Zoisite knew that they were trying
to play to his ego and considered blasting them to ash where they stood for even presuming to speak to
him in such a manner. Still, what they said had some merit. If he wanted a palace grand enough for his
status as one of Beryl's four Generals, then the opera house was definitely a good start. Besides, he
could do worse.

Zoisite teleported outside the Sydney city limits to where his hybrid Youma were garrisoned. There was no
way he was going to keep any of these former humans in the same city as he lived in, so the only place he
would allow them was this little shanty town out here. He wrinkled his nose at the thought of having to
step within the living area of these lowly creatures. However useful they were, being around too many of
them made him sick to his stomach. With a deep breath, he steeled his stomach and marched into the
stomping grounds of the hybrid Youma.

"Listen, all of you," he commanded, projecting his voice so he didn't have to get too close. "I have a
mission for you.

"Right now, Jadeite is away from Japan on an inspection tour of his holdings," he announced to the
gathered mob. "In order to take advantage of this, I want half of you to start raiding his slave camps.
Take as many slaves of his as you can. If you can overwhelm his Youma, kill them all. If not, just escape
with the captured slaves.

"As for the rest of you, I will be organizing a couple of battalions of sentries and Hunters to take
Tokyo. I want you all to direct and assist them. I will remain here and await the news of your success.

"Remember that Jadeite has never completely conquered Tokyo, so once we hold that city, I can not only
rub that in his face, Kunzite-sama and I can finally begin our joint invasion campaign.

"Now, go!" he commanded as he flung a hand out dramatically. "And don't you dare come back if you fail!"
At once, the Youma began to scurry about in preparation to move out.

'It's just as you said, Kunzite-sama,' he thought to himself as he began to fade from sight in a teleport
back to the opera house. 'If Queen Beryl won't give us the realm we want, we'll just have to take it.'


=================================================================


Author's Note: As of this writing, Chapter 19 has now become the longest chapter to date of The Brooch!
The story is getting closer to finally having all of the Sailor Senshi recognized. But how long will it
be until all nine Senshi are awakened? Makoto definitely suspects something at the very least. How will
Haruka's new status as a Recruit Blade and Ryoku's status as her trainer conflict with his job to assist
the Sailor Senshi? Or, will it affect it at all? And the beginning of the Dark Kingdom Civil War is on
its way. With the reestablishment of the barrier hours away, will the severly diminished barrier be
enough? And what of Titus, who is still lurking somewhere among the denizens of the Hikawa Jinja
disguised as one of them? The answer to some of these questions and more in the next chapter of The
Brooch!


Disclaimer: All original materials belong to their respective owners. Sailor Moon belongs to Naoko
Takeuchi and a bunch of big companies. No copyright infringement is intended.

Questions? Comments? Anything?
Email: jasonulloa (at) hotmail (dot) com

Copyright© 2004, 2007 Jason C. Ulloa
All Rights Reserved.