Scouting Out Life Chapter 5

by Haruka

Setsuna waved as she saw Malachite approach, and felt a funny flutter in her stomach. He was so good-looking and charming. She didn't want to think he was anything other than as nice as he seemed.
"Good morning, my lady," Malachite said, giving her a bow. "A pleasure to see you again."
"Thank you, I'm glad to see you, too." Setsuna smiled. Malachite took her books from her and they headed for their first class.
"There's something I should tell you," Setsuna said. "Lita is going to be canceling her date with Zoisite."
"Oh?" Malachite looked at her in surprise. "Why is that?"
"Because Lita told Zoisite she could drive, and it isn't true. She went so far as to take Haruka's car out for a midnight spin to try and teach herself." Setsuna sighed. "It's a miracle she wasn't killed."
"So you told her she couldn't go on the date? Wise move."
"No, I only said she had to tell Zoisite the truth," Setsuna explained. "I couldn't tell her to cancel it, but I think she knows she'll have to."
Malachite looked puzzled. "Why couldn't you tell her to cancel it? She doesn't deserve to go on a date after such a risk."
"I know," Setsuna said uneasily. "It's just that--"
"You _are_ her guardian, am I right?"
"Well, yes. Technically."
"Then you're responsible for teaching her to be the best person she can be. Discipline is part of that."
"I wish it were that easy, but I don't know if I can be any kind of authority figure. It's just as likely that none of the girls will listen to me."
"You have to make them listen," Malachite told her. "Believe me, I know it isn't easy. Zoisite is as difficult as they come, but she knows when I mean business. For instance, Lita may not have to worry about canceling her date if Zoisite gets to her first. I've already told her to cancel the date as punishment for something she did last night."
"Was walking to school part of that, too?" Setsuna asked carefully.
"Excuse me?"
"We saw Zoisite walking to school," she said. "You live pretty far away, Malachite. It's a tough walk for a girl who still has to face a day of school that includes gym class."
Malachite looked startled. "And you think I left her to walk when I was driving?"
"I don't know what to think," Setsuna admitted.
"Then try this." Malachite stopped to face her. "Zoisite is a spoiled brat, and she's very fond of playing the martyr. She chose to walk rather than endure my company in the confines of a car."
"Oh," Setsuna said quietly. "I'm sorry if it sounded like I was accusing you of something."
He smiled. "That's all right."
"I guess Zoisite must have been very upset about canceling the date."
"She should have thought of that before disobeying me last night. Hopefully in the future, she'll know better."
They continued walking to their classroom. "You seem to have learned quickly how to be a guardian to a teenage girl," Setsuna remarked.
"The key is to be consistent. If they suspect they can get around you, they'll attempt to do so at every opportunity." Malachite set her books down on the desk and smiled reassuringly. "You'll get the hang of it, Setsuna. Just don't show any uncertainty to the girls, even if you're feeling it."
"Do you ever feel uncertain when dealing with Zoisite?" she asked.
He shook his blonde head firmly. "Never."

Haruka leaned against the wall outside the art classroom, waiting for Michiru to appear among the departing students. She wasn't looking forward to Modern Japanese. Even with Michi to help her, she couldn't seem to get the hang of it. Having Zoisite the Japanese Genius there sure wasn't going to help; if anything, she'd only make her feel more stupid. Not that Haruka was a poor student. Staying on the track team meant keeping her average high and she'd never had to worry about losing her spot before. Japanese was the only class she had trouble with, and while she wasn't too proud to accept Michi's help, she would never put up with Zoisite's smugness.
"Hi love!" Michi greeted her, giving Haruka a start. She'd been so deep in thought she hadn't seen Michi come out of the room. She also hadn't seen Zoisite standing beside her. Haruka gave Michi a quick hug and the three of them headed down the corridor.
"So, Zoisite, has Lita spoken to you yet?" Haruka asked. Michi nudged her, but she ignored the warning.
Zoisite eyed Haruka knowingly. "And what if she hasn't, Haruka? You're just dying for me to know something, correct?"
"Call it a preventative measure. The health and welfare of my car is at stake."
"Haruka!" Michiru scolded. "You know you were worried about Lita's safety, too!"
"Her safety depends on whether or not she leaves my car alone!"
"You can relax, Haruka," Zoisite said calmly. "Lita did speak to me, and we've decided to postpone our date. We'll try again some other time when neither of us is forced to commit a felony to do so."
"That's a mature attitude to take," Michiru remarked. "Lita wasn't sure if you'd understand."
"For heaven's sake, why not?" Zoisite smiled. "It's actually rather flattering that she would go to such lengths to date me. The least I can do is give her another chance."
"You're too kind, Zoisite," Haruka said wryly.
"Well, it's not as if I don't want to see Lita myself," Zoisite remarked. "She's a nice girl. And anyone who would risk your wrath by taking your car is definitely worth a second look!"
Michiru giggled while Haruka managed to keep from making a face at Zoisite. They entered the Modern Japanese class together and took their seats.
"Good morning, class," their teacher said as she closed the door after the bell. "I'm going to read five sentences aloud while you write them down using a combination of Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji. Then I'll check your work to get an idea of your style and skill."
"Or lack thereof," Haruka muttered. Michi reached over and squeezed her hand, giving her an encouraging smile.
For all Michi's reassurance, Haruka knew she was in trouble from the start. The sentences weren't simple ones, although they obviously seemed so to Michiru and Zoisite, who translated them without hesitation. Haruka was still labouring through the first one by the time the teacher was reading the third. She finally gave up trying to be precise and began speeding through the work, figuring that getting something down on her paper was better than leaving blank spaces.
"You finished in time?" Michiru said to her while the teacher made her way around the room checking papers.
"In time, yeah. Accurately? Not likely."
"Don't tell me you had trouble with the first assignment?" Zoisite said in surprise.
"Aren't there any subjects you don't do well in?" Haruka asked, sounding annoyed.
"Math is my worst, but I can still do it when I try." Zoisite shrugged. "The problem is that it bores me."
"I think that's Haruka's problem with this class," Michiru said thoughtfully. "She usually excels at whatever she tries, so she must not be applying herself."
"Excuse me?" Haruka waved at them. "I _am_ here, you know!"
"Yes, Haruka, we all know," the teacher said from directly behind her seat. "Now let's see how well you followed my instructions." She studied Haruka's paper, a frown growing on her face. "You need to take more care with your strokes. Half of these characters could be mistaken for others, and the rest are just plain wrong. Not one of your Kanji characters is correct." She looked over Michiru's paper. "Very nice work. You have an artist's touch."
"That's because she's an artist." Zoisite smiled at Michi. Haruka slumped in her chair. She was proud of Michi's talent, but it was hard not to be upset when her own work was criticized in front of everyone. Especially certain stuck-up, ponytailed someones.
"Excellent, Zoisite," the teacher declared. "I can see why your past marks have been so high."
"Thank you, ma'am," Zoisite said, giving Haruka a smirk.
The tomboy's eyes flashed. "We'll see how smug you are at our next track practice, Miss Second-Runner-Up!"
The general reaction in the room was stunned silence. Michiru pressed a hand to her own forehead in dismay. Zoisite's green eyes were wide with surprise.
Their teacher was more vocal in her response. "Haruka, you will report back here after school for detention. I do not put up with disruptions in my class." She turned away from Haruka and continued checking papers.
"I'm sorry, Michi," Haruka murmured, tight-lipped. "Now I can't watch you try out for the swim team."
"That's okay, I'll go with her," Zoisite said cheerfully.
"I should be done by the time your detention is over," Michiru said gently.
"But I wanted to see you make it." Haruka pouted. "You were there for me when I made track."
Zoisite shrugged. "Then you shouldn't have gotten detention."
"Mind your own business!" Haruka yelled.
The teacher spun around angrily. "Young lady, this is your second warning. One more and you'll be sent to the office!"
Michiru sent Haruka a pleading look, and the other girl pressed her lips together. She wasn't any more anxious to visit the office than Michi was to see her go. Besides, she refused to give Zoisite more reason to gloat.
Satisfied that she'd gotten her message across, the teacher moved on. Michiru squeezed Haruka's knee and smiled sympathetically. "It'll be all right. At least we can still ride home together."
"That's true." Haruka smiled back, then couldn't resist giving Zoisite a smirk of her own. "Hope the long walk home won't be too tough for you."
"At least I'm getting exercise, which can only benefit me at track practice," Zoisite retorted.
Michiru rolled her blue eyes as the girls on either side of her glared at each other.

Malachite walked down the patio steps, sipping his iced tea as he gazed toward the enormous tree at the back of the orchard. It had been a good day at college, especially as he had spent most of it with Setsuna. He closed his eyes and pictured her ultra-long, dark green hair and expressive magenta eyes. She was easily the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen, and intelligent and classy to boot. Best of all, despite her talk of friendship, he knew she was interested in him, too. He would cultivate that slowly, so as not to scare her off, but not so slow as to keep her guessing. He wanted her to know his interest was there, and that it was her choice whether or not to remain just friends.
He really only saw one potential problem, and that was Zoisite. He'd had to think fast to explain why his stepsister was walking to school, and it was just lucky for Zoisite that Setsuna believed him. Not that it had been an outright lie; Zoisite likely would not have wanted to ride with him even if he'd asked her. Besides, it wasn't as if she had no transportation to school at all. The limo was free for her use, but she was too paranoid to ride in it. Then there was the school bus, for which she was apparently too good. No doubt about it, she needed to come down a few pegs. Even now, he had been home for almost two hours, but Zoisite was late. It should have taken her forty-five minutes to walk home, so what accounted for the extra hour? He had a suspicion, and if he was right, that girl would be in major trouble.
Through the open glass door at the top of the patio, he heard the front door. "Is that you, Zoisite?" he called.
"Yes," she replied.
"Come out back, please." Malachite settled himself into a chair by the pool and waited. Zoisite came through the glass doors and down the patio steps. She stopped in front of him and folded her arms.
"What do you want?" she asked, annoyed. "I'd like to get off my feet."
"Why are you late?" he asked.
"Michiru was trying out for the swim team. I wanted to watch."
"You sure you didn't go off somewhere with Lita?"
Zoisite rolled her eyes. "No, I didn't even see Lita this afternoon!"
"Regardless, you know you're supposed to call if you're going to be late."
"Why?!" Zoisite exclaimed. "It's not as if you worry about me!"
His cool blue eyes met her green ones. "The reasons aren't important. The point is that you have to learn to do as you're told." He sipped his drink. "Go to your room and stay there. I'll have dinner sent up to you."
"No way!" Zoisite declared. "I'm changing into my suit and then I'm going for a swim!" She tossed her head and stalked back toward the house. Malachite leaped to his feet, upsetting his drink.
"Zoisite!" he thundered.
His stepsister was already half-way up the patio stairs and kept going as if she hadn't heard him. Malachite strode over to stand at the foot. "I'm warning you, if I see you outside of your room tonight you'll be sorry!"
"That's nothing new!" Zoisite retorted, continuing to walk. "I'm sorry _every_ time I see you!"
Malachite turned red with anger. "You want new and different? Try this. If you leave your room tonight, you'll feel the flat of my hand on your backside!"
Now Zoisite stopped. She spun around, eyes narrowed. "You wouldn't dare."
"Try me," he said icily.
She held his gaze for several moments before turning to run the rest of the way inside. The glass door slammed shut behind her.

In the big tree across the orchard, up amongst the thick cover of leaves and bowers, the scene had been witnessed. Two pairs of eyes, one pink and one blue, took it in solemnly. Not until after Zoisite went inside did the pink eyes close, brimming tears.
"Why did the tree bring us here, Alan? There's no love in that house."
The blue eyes turned from watching Malachite mop iced tea off his pants. "I don't know, Ann. I can't understand how anyone could be so completely without feeling as that guy."
"I feel sorry for that poor girl. She's so pretty, how could anyone not love her?"
"She needs help, that's for sure." The blue eyes met the pink with resolve. "And we're just the ones to give it."

"Congratulations, Michiru," Artemis said as he hopped onto the kitchen table. "Not that any of us had the least doubt that you'd make the team."
Michi smiled over her shoulder at him while continuing to break apart lettuce. Setsuna had insisted that Lita take a break from cooking that night and instead recruited all the others. She herself was stirring a big pot of spaghetti sauce, sniffing it thoughtfully.
"It's missing something," she mumbled.
"Yeah. Lita." Haruka muttered, slathering butter on a tenth piece of bread.
Setsuna looked up from the pot. "You've been in a bad mood ever since you got home. What's wrong with you?"
"Oh, I missed watching Michi try out because I got detention." Haruka frowned and flexed her fingers. "I had to write 'I will not speak out of turn in class' five hundred times. In Kanji!"
"Poor thing," Serena sympathized.
"At least you got some practice in Kanji," Michiru pointed out, trying to find some good in the situation.
"Even more than I expected." Haruka snorted. "She checked on me after my first seventy-two lines and told me I'd made the same three mistakes in each one. Then she made me start over!"
Michi abandoned the lettuce and went to wrap her arms around Haruka's waist. "It's all right that you weren't at the try-out. I know you were there in spirit."
Setsuna put down her spoon. "It may be all right with you, Michi, but the fact that she had detention isn't all right with me."
"Me either," Haruka agreed. "That teacher was totally unreasonable."
"Haruka!" Setsuna exclaimed. "What I meant is that you shouldn't be getting in trouble on only your second day in school!"
"Why do you care?" Haruka asked, giving her an amused look. "It's not your trouble, it's mine."
"Your trouble _is_ mine!" Setsuna looked around the room at the staring girls. "That goes for all of you. For all intents and purposes, I'm your guardian by law now, and it's a responsibility I take seriously."
"It thought Luna and Artemis were our guardians," Serena remarked.
"If the Principal calls here for a conference, it isn't the mooncats he'll ask for," Setsuna retorted. "And if he or anyone else starts to think you're all unsupervised, we could end up with Child Welfare on our doorstep!"
Lita wandered into the room. "What's going on?"
"Setsuna's losing her mind," Mina remarked.
"I am not!"
"Then cut to the chase, Setsuna," Raye told her. "What exactly are you saying?"
"That this isn't a sorority house. It's a home and we're a family. Part of family life is discipline, rules, and consistency. It's the only way of making sure things run smoothly and no one person disrupts it for everyone."
"Okay, okay." Haruka put the butter knife down and walked over to Setsuna. She extended an arm in front of her, letting her hand dangle limply. Setsuna frowned in confusion.
"What's this for?"
"I thought you'd want to slap my wrist and get it over with so we can move on." Haruka grinned mischievously.
Setsuna pushed her arm away angrily. "I'm not kidding around, Haruka!"
The tomboy was taken aback by her vehemence. "I didn't mean to make fun of you, Set. You just seem to be making a big deal over nothing."
"A big deal is exactly what I mean to avoid by speaking up now," Setsuna said. "If we'd had rules and consequences set down before we moved in, Lita may have thought twice before taking your car."
"Don't drag _me_ into this!" Lita protested. "I'm already suffering! I could be out with Zoisite right now."
"No, you couldn't because she is being punished," Setsuna told her. "Malachite said he told her to cancel your date for something she did last night."
"Wish I'd known that earlier," Haruka remarked. "Maybe she wouldn't have been so snotty if I'd had that to hold over her."
"Leave her alone, Haruka!" Lita warned.
"Hey, tell her to leave me alone! It's her fault I got detention in the first place!"
"What does any of that matter now?" Amy interrupted. "Both the detention and what Lita did are in the past. But Setsuna has a point about there being some sort of order needed. If we all do anything we want with no regard for anyone else, we'll make each other miserable."
"Easy for you to say, Amy," Mina said wryly. "What kind of trouble would you ever get into? Studying too loudly?"
"For what it's worth," Luna broke in, joining Artemis on the table, "we support Setsuna becoming your guardian in more than name only. We feel you should respect her decisions as you've respected ours."
"Maybe even better," Artemis joked.
"Look, we love Setsuna and we do respect her as a friend and a sailor scout. But as a guardian?" Haruka shook her head doubtfully. "No offense, Setsuna, but Michi and I have been babysitting ourselves for a long time now. I don't see why that should change."
"You can't be exempt from this, Haruka, not if you're part of this family," Setsuna said gently. Michiru placed her hand on Haruka's arm and they exchanged a meaningful look. Haruka sighed in defeat.
"Okay, I'll try."
Setsuna looked around at the others and received a series of nods ranging from the accepting to the reluctant. But at least they _were_ nods. She smiled at Artemis and Luna, who added their own nods of approval.

Zoisite breathed deeply as she stood in her room, one hand on the doorknob, trying to gather her courage. Malachite had taken her by surprise with his earlier threat, but when she'd finally had a chance to cool down and think it over, she knew she couldn't let him get away with it. Controlling her life was one thing, but threatening her with physical violence was another. Not even when their parents were alive had she ever been struck; they'd even instructed the school that she must be exempt from corporal punishment. If Malachite thought she would now, after all this time, endure such treatment, he had another think coming. If she was going to have any self-respect, she had to show him that she didn't take his ridiculous warning seriously. It was possible that he even regretted his hasty words, and would be just as glad to put the ugly conversation behind them. However, if the impossible happened and she found he was actually serious, she would deal with it. But no way, no way would she ever let him touch her.
With that thought in mind, she opened her bedroom door and walked down the hall, her head held high. She'd said she was going swimming and that's exactly what she planned to do. Never mind that her heart was pounding and her breathing was a bit shallow. It didn't mean she was scared of how Malachite would react to her blatant disregard of his orders. Well, maybe just a little. But didn't every soldier get nervous going into battle?
As she reached the foot of the stairs without seeing Malachite, she began to wonder hopefully if she could take her swim, retain her dignity, and go back upstairs without having to face him. She shook her head in disgust at her own cowardly thoughts. Wasn't the whole point of this exercise to show her stepbrother she wasn't afraid of him? She could hardly do that if she sneaked around behind his back.
But it didn't mean she had to purposely seek him out, either.
She wasn't sure whether to be relieved or disappointed when she stepped out on the patio to find he was gone. Deciding to accept it as fate chosen by a higher power, she removed her cover-up and climbed onto the diving board. She had just walked to the end of it when she sensed motion behind her and turned.
Malachite stood at the other end of the board, cutting off her exit.
"You never learn, do you?" he said in what might have been a pitying tone coming from someone else. "How many times must I prove to you that I mean what I say?"
"I don't think you did mean that," she answered, grateful her voice wasn't reflecting her anxiety. "You've never been the nicest person, but I still can't believe you'd hurt me."
"In any permanent sense, no, I wouldn't," Malachite said, taking slow steps toward her. "But I think a sore backside might just make you think twice about disobeying me again. You must admit, I've tried everything else."
"How about thumb screws or the rack?" Zoisite moved as far back as she dared, but already she could feel empty air under her heels. Malachite kept advancing, the board springing slightly under both of them.
"I'm not in favour of torture, Zoisite. All I ever wanted was for you to respect me as head of this household. If I'm forced to resort to extreme measures, it's your own fault." He beckoned her with a finger and took another step. "Now come down off the board and stop this nonsense."
Desperation inspired Zoisite's response. She used the spring of the diving board to leap high into the air, somersaulting over Malachite's head and landing squarely on the board behind him. Malachite attempted to grab her, but instead lost his balance and fell into the pool. Stunned at her success, Zoisite nevertheless hesitated only a split second before starting to run. She could hear Malachite shouting as he floundered his way out of the pool and knew if there'd been any hope for leniency, it was gone now. Without knowing why, she headed for the enormous tree. With any luck, she could hide amongst its thick cover of leaves and branches until Malachite's temper cooled.
"Zoisite!"
She gasped and shot a quick look over her shoulder to see that he was already catching up. It seemed impossible--Zoisite knew he couldn't match her speed, and yet he was only six yards behind her. She took two more strides and then leaped up to grab the nearest branch. Before she could pull herself fully onto its surface, Malachite's strong hand wrapped around her ankle and yanked her free. She fell with a cry and landed squarely on top of him. Scrambling to her feet, Zoisite attempted another run, but Malachite recovered and tackled her to the ground. Keeping a firm grip on her arm, he hauled her up and dragged her toward a large, low root of the tree.
"Don't you dare try to spank me, Malachite, or I'll spend the rest of my life making yours miserable!"
"Since you're already doing that, I'll take my chances." He sat down on the root and threw her over his lap, knocking the wind out of her. Raising his hand over her backside, he smirked. "By the way, Zoisite, this will hurt you more than it does me."
Zoisite squeezed her eyes shut and tensed for the painful blow. When it didn't come, she opened one eye, then the other, both widening in shock. A pair of pink-clad legs stood directly in front of her.
"That's no way to treat a lady," chided a warm male voice from behind her. She twisted around to see Malachite's upraised wrist being held by another's hand--one with a blue sleeve that came to a point below his knuckles. Before she had time to look up at who was there, she felt herself being lifted and cradled in a pair of comforting arms, this time with pink sleeves that came to a point below the knuckles. Zoisite looked back at Malachite and drew in her breath sharply.
Her stepbrother jerked his wrist from the grasp of a tall blue-clad boy with pale green skin and pointy ears. His blue hair fell into his eyes and down his back past his rear end. Two streaks of pink hair framed his bangs. His diamond-shaped eyes were sparkling blue, with even the iris being a darker shade of blue that matched his outfit. The bodysuit he wore featuring a short vest and a vine pattern that wrapped around his narrow waist and continued down his right leg. A single gold hoop dangled from his right ear and a diamond-shaped medallion hung at the base of his throat.
"Who the hell are you two?!" Malachite demanded, his voice shaking slightly. "Get off my property!"
"Can't do it," replied a pert female voice from just above Zoisite's ear. "And even if we could, we wouldn't do that and leave this girl to _your_ tender mercies!"
Zoisite twisted around and gasped at seeing who held her so protectively. She and the boy were obviously a matched set--their skin tone, pointy ears, hair length, and eye shapes were the same. Her colour scheme was pink in the same way his was blue, including her hair, eyes, and outfit. Their look even mirrored one another in the blue streaks alongside her bangs to the vine pattern that wound down her left leg to his right. The only major differences she could see were that she had one earring in her right lobe and three on the left, and her throat medallion was heart-shaped.
Malachite had jumped to his feet. "I demand to know who--or what--you are, and how you got in here!"
"My name is Alan," the boy replied, then indicated the girl. "This is Ann. We came with the tree."

End of Chapter 5

Story contents (C) 1997 Tenou Haruka

Sailor Moon characters (C) Naoko Takeuchi