March 2002

 Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, I'm just borrowing them.  The
 story, however, is mine.

Chapter 4

	

	"Luna, are you sure about this?"

	"Positive, Usagi-chan.  I definitely feel something weird from your
 brother."

	Usagi sighed, flopping down on her bed, "I think you're just being
 paranoid.  I mean, you keep telling me something is coming but I've been
 training for two weeks now and I haven't seen a single thing yet!  I haven't
 had to fight any kind of monster, just the thief that tried to break into
 our house and I wouldn't call that hard!"

	"Believe me, Usagi-chan, there is something coming.  I never said I
 knew when!"

	Usagi rolled onto her back and placed Luna on her stomach, "Look.  I
 know you're supposed to be some kind of female advisor to me, though I
 haven't got a clue why I rate one since you refuse to tell me, but nothing
 is happening!  I'm growing restless, Luna, I just want to put what I've
 learned to good use."

	"Well this is quite a refreshing change, Usagi-chan."

	She blinked, "What's a refreshing change?  I've always wanted to
 help, I just want to be able to help in a better capacity than training."

	"It could be a while yet before you have to fight any kind of evil,
 Usagi, we have to find the four others still."

	Usagi rolled her eyes, "Why?  Am I incapable of doing this on my
 own?"

	"Oh heaven's no, Usagi-chan!"

	"Then why should I go off and try to convince some other girl she's a
 super hero?  I mean, if we don't have to take away her chance at a normal
 life, I'd rather not."

	Luna hopped off Usagi's stomach and onto the floor, "Well, you might
 need their help some day.  Don't say I didn't warn you."

	"Duly noted, Luna." She pushed herself up on her elbows and looked at
 her clock radio, "I've gotta go, I'm meeting Mamoru-kun for our study
 session."

	"You really should cut that out, Usagi-chan."

	Usagi looked blankly at her guardian.  "Did I just hear you
 correctly?  You're encouraging me to quit getting tutored and to bring my
 Math mark back down?"

	Luna sat back on her haunches, "I'm afraid you'll get to attached to
 this Mamoru, Usagi-chan, I don't want you getting hurt when it's all over."

	Usagi laughed as she rolled off her bed and scooped up her bag,
 "We're tutoring each other, Luna, not dating.  Besides, he'd never look at
 me like anything beyond a little sister."

	Luna sighed as Usagi disappeared out of the room, "But you wish he
 would," she said softly to herself.  With a shake of her head she leapt to
 the windowsill and curled up in the Saturday afternoon sun.

	*			*			*

	Usagi skipped down the street towards the park where she and Mamoru
 held their study sessions.  They'd been tutoring each other for just under
 two weeks, and though they weren't exactly friends, they were on well enough
 terms that she didn't mind being alone with him.  She smiled as she thought
 of their study grounds.  Mamoru had an affinity for flowers, roses in
 particular, and he enjoyed working near them.

	She sighed, her mind going back to the last couple of weeks at
 school.  Naru was angry with her.  She'd never shown up and forgotten to
 call to say she wouldn't be meeting her and Umino at the arcade.  To top it
 off she's also forgotten the opening of the jewellery store Naru's mother
 was managing.  She'd promised to go and then not shown up.

	The new girls at school had yet to show up.  If she didn't count
 Haruka and Michiru, then these four mysterious young women... not wait, 3
 mysterious young women.  The one who'd been spreading rumors about Michiru
 was new too.   Ok, so her life wasn't all that great right now, but
 hopefully Naru-chan would forgive her.  

	Naru had introduced her to the girl who knew Michiru from her old
 school.  Hino Rei.  Now there was a young woman who needed to relax, she
 found herself thinking, Rei was very high strung.  Or so she seemed.  Usagi
 had spoken with her twice and made a point of avoiding her at school.  Rei
 could be harsh, cruel even, and Usagi found her company trying on even her
 good senses.  She shook her head to try and clear it.  She didn't want to
 dwell on the unpleasant today, she just wanted to study a little math, speak
 a little English, and then go relax at the arcade with Motoki and Mamoru. 
 She stopped mid-step.  Since when had she started included Mamoru in her
 repertoire of people to relax with?

	She shook her head again, her hair sliding across her shoulders.  Her
 life was getting complicated it would seem.  Her stride slowly a little as
 she continued towards the gardens.  She stopped suddenly, feeling a chill
 slide down her spine and wrapped her arms around her middle as she looked
 around.  Something wasn't right.  She knew it, she couldn't see why yet, but
 she had this sudden... impulse to turn into Sailor Moon.  She glanced around
 and, with a lack of a better place, raced back towards the houses.  She
 ducked behind a set of large shrubs and threw her hand into the air, her
 broach in hand.  

	"Moon Prism Power!"

	Light flared around her as her school uniform melted away. Ribbons
 wrapped around her from all angles, solidifying into her sailor fuku until
 her spinning stopped and she stood in her final pose.  She jumped the bush
 with one bound and stood atop the house, running to the highest point and
 looking around.  Something was wrong and in her heightened state, she felt
 it even more acutely.  She jumped from the house top and ran towards the
 source, away from the park and towards the main area of downtown Tokyo.

	*			*			*
	
	Sailor Moon perched atop one of the city skyscrapers and surveyed the
 scene below.  People lay groaning on the sidewalks as if his by some kind of
 large creature.  Limbs were bent at odd angles; cries of pain assailed her
 ears as she dropped down to the streets.  She followed in the wake of the
 destructive force and stopped before rounding a corner.  Taking a deep
 breath, she silently prayed for strength and then rounded the corner.  She
 recoiled as the full impact of the thing in front of her registered.

	It looked human.  Sort of.  It had one head, two arms, two legs and a
 body shaped like a man.  A very well built, strong kind of man.  Sailor
 Moon's heels clicked on the pavement as she rounded the corner and the
 man-thing slowly turned.  She gulped.  It had no face, just a large hole in
 the middle of its face and something that looked like steam rising slowly
 from it.  She planted her feet as the thing rasped out in a gravely voice,
 "And just who do you think you are, sailor girl?"

	"For love and justice, the sailor suit beautiful girl fighter! Sailor
 Moon!" she smiled as she pointed at the monster, "You're terrorizing my city
 and I won't let you do it anymore.  Go back to whence you came, evil!"

	The thing laughed at her, "Sailor Moon?  Never heard of you, girl. 
 Go back to the closet and try another costume, something that might scare
 me."

	Sailor Moon's lips thinned in a firm line, "Sailor Moon Kick!" she
 cried, jumping at the man-thing and landing a solid kick in its center.  She
 felt something crack under her boot and flipped away.  She landed in a
 crouch, "I'm your worst nightmare." She told it softly.

	The thing fell back, a crack down its front, "No one hits Iou and
 lives!"

	"Iou?  As in Sulpher?" Sailor Moon laughed and rose to her feet, one
 hand coming up to her tiara.

	Iou growled and lunged at her.  She dodged to the side, cracking the
 thing across the back of the head with her hand.  Another crack appeared.

	"Wow, you're certainly brittle," she rolled away from him, "Time to
 see what this does.  Moon Tiara Action!"

	The thing dodged the spinning disk of light but didn't watch its back
 as she made a motion with her hand.  Her tiara exploded into its back,
 sending millions of cracks through its frame.  "NO!" it lunged at her,
 landing a blow to her face.

	Sailor Moon was sent sprawling as it disintegrated, the dust settling
 over her like a blanket.  She groaned, gingerly testing her jaw.  "Ouch."
 She pushed herself to her feet and dusted herself off, looking about her. 
 There were vials where the monster had been standing.  She frowned puzzled.
  Monsters didn't normally carry vials, did they?  She picked them up and
 examined them, reading the labels.  

	Salt?  What did a thing like this need salt for?  She checked the
 second bottle's contents and recoiled, almost dropping it.  The interior had
 bone fragments.  She looked around.  The ambulances could be heard heading
 this way.  She nodded once, seeing the injured people would be in good
 hands, and then leapt to the roof of the smallest building, four storeys up.  

	She took off quickly back towards the gardens.  She had to hide these
 until she had a chance to talk to Luna about them.  Finally, on the
 outskirts of the park, she found a secluded alley.  Carefully she reverted
 back to her jeans, t-shirt and jacket. She removed her jacket and wrapped
 both vials carefully in them before stuffing them into her school bag with
 her books.

	She entered the gardens and made her way towards the rose gardens. 
 She was late, a rare occurrence when it came to her tutoring, and she wasn't
 exactly sure what she was going to tell Mamoru yet.  She couldn't exactly
 tell him the truth.

	"Odango Atama!  You're late!"

	She winced.  She wasn't sure yet what to think of that name. 
 Sometimes she found that it was insulting.  Other times... well let's just
 say she found it almost exciting that an older man had a pet name for her. 
 No matter how degrading.  She lifted on hand in greeting to him,
 "Konnichiha, Mamoru-kun.  Gomen nasai, I had a couple of things to do at
 home before I could come."  The lie slid easily off her tongue, but she
 found herself feeling like the lowest life form on the planet.  It felt
 wrong, painful even, to lie to him.  She could feel her cheeks heating and
 prayed he wouldn't notice.

	"Goshinpainaku Usagi-chan, it's not a big deal.  So would you like to
 work on your math first or perhaps my English?"

	She smiled.  At least he wasn't mad at her.  "It doesn't matter to
 me.  I still say we should go over my math in English and then we'd get them
 done at the same time."

	He watched her as she approached and then motioned her to take a seat
 on the blanket spread beside a mass of red and white roses.  The silver
 roses were directly in front of their study spot.  She sank down to the
 blanket, crossing her legs and placing her bag next to her.

	Mamoru sat next to her, mimicking her pose.  She pulled her books out
 of her bag and placed them in front of her.  He shook his head, "You know,
 if I taught you your math in English, you'd have an even harder time with
 the Japanese terminology."

	She made a face as she picked up her math book and notebook.  "Let's
 get the hard one done with first.  Then we can relax and enjoy ourselves!"

	Mamoru nodded and bent his head next to hers as she opened her book
 and went over the next week's worth of math.


	Mamoru sat up, pushing himself to his feet and stretched almost two
 hours later, "Aie, time for a break Usagi-chan.  You're well ahead of your
 class, I doubt you'll be covering all of this in the next week."

	She snapped her books closed and put them aside with a nod.  She
 followed his lead and stood, stretching out her sore muscles.  Her back
 cracked in four places, "Oh that feels good."

	Mamoru's eyes widened as she bent over backwards into an arch,
 "Gymnastics?"

	She looked up at him, her hair pools of molten sunshine that
 glittered around her face, "Hai, Gymnastics.  I've got a competition coming
 up next month.  It's just between two schools, but it should be fun."

	She pulled herself back to her feet and then proceeded to stretch out
 every muscle she could.  Mamoru crossed his arms and watched her as she slid
 down into side splits and stretched.  "You are way too flexible Usagi-chan."

	She glanced up at him, smiling as she switched to English, "You're
 the first person I've heard complain about it.  Relax, would you, I'm not
 hurting myself."

	He shook his head, following her lead and speaking English, "You're
 full of surprises, Usagi."

	She stretched her arms out behind her, feeling them tighten and then
 relax before pushing herself to her feet, "Surely this one isn't that
 shocking.  I mean, two weeks ago you found out I was part of the gymnastics'
 team.  You didn't think I was just there to watch, did you?"

	He sank back down to the blanket and stretched out on his back,
 looking at the clouds in the sky, his hands behind his head, "With you, I
 wasn't sure.  I sometimes don't know what to think."

	She sat next to him, watching him as he watched the clouds, her hands
 loosely encircling her knees, "I'm a teenager, I don't think anyone, even
 me, is supposed to know what to think."

	He pushed himself to his side, resting his head on his hand as he
 looked back at her, "You don't know who you are?"

	She grimaced, "For someone my age I'm surprised I can answer that. 
 Yes, I know who I am, I also know that I have responsibilities."

	His eyebrows rose, "You're probably the most responsible teenager I
 know."

	She smiled a half smile that didn't reach her eyes, "I have to be."

	"Why is that?"

	She looked away from him, not responding.

	"Bad topic?  Alright, we won't talk about responsibility.  Other than
 Math, how are your courses coming?"

	She looked back at him, grateful he'd changed the subject, "They're
 doing well, for the most part, I'm not exactly a straight A student like my
 tutor but hey, at least I'm not at the bottom of my class."

	"That's a bonus." He pushed himself to his feet, "Come on, let's talk
 and walk at the same time."

	She smiled, "What a wonderful idea!" she accepted his hand as she
 grabbed her bag and slung it over her shoulder.  He folded the blanket and
 placed it in a small bag he'd brought with him before turning to her and
 motioning for her to lead the way out of the area.  Usagi dropped a hand to
 her bag where the two vials were safely snuggled away.  She'd have to find
 some way to cut the afternoon shorter than normal.  Luna had to be told
 about those.

	*			*			*

	Usagi shut the bedroom door and slipped the little locking hook into
 place.  It wouldn't keep someone determined to get to her out, but it would
 give her a measure of privacy.  "Luna?"

	The black ball at the open window uncurled and the crescent moon
 adorned face turned towards her, "Usagi-chan, you're home early."

	Usagi gently placed her bag on her bed before opening it, "I fought
 my first monster today."

	"A youma?"

	Usagi shook her head, "This was no ghost, Luna.  Ghosts don't tend to
 leave behind these." she opened her bag and pulled out both vials.

	Luna jumped down from the sill and walked over to both of them,
 looking critically at the contents of both.  "What kind of creature was it?"

	"It called itself Iou.  Sulphur I believe.  The thing was very
 brittle and cracked every time I hit it."

	"And it left these for you to find?"

	She nodded, "What would a monster need bone for?"

	Luna sighed, "I don't know Usagi-chan.  Perhaps it was gathering
 pieces for its master."

	"You mean there could be more of these things?"

	Luna nodded, sitting back on her haunches, "Where there is one,
 another is normally not far behind.  Do you know where it got both of
 these... components?"

	"The bone is from a bunch of different people if the injuries I saw
 were any indication.  The Salt I haven't got a clue, it could be from
 anywhere."

	Luna sighed.  "You just got yourself a new mission, Usagi-chan."

	Usagi blinked, "Another one?"

	The feline nodded again, "We have to find Sailor Mercury as soon as
 possible."

	"Why Sailor Mercury?  What's so special about the senshi of Mercury?"

	"She, Usagi-chan, is the one who can analyze this stuff and tell us
 exactly where it came from and what, if anything unusual, its made of.  Did
 this monster attack everyone?"

	Usagi sat crossed legged on her bed and thought back to the fight. 
 Her words were slow, "No, I don't think so.  There were only a few people
 who appeared to have been harmed intentionally.  Other just seemed to be in
 its path."

	"So, as a hypothetical situation, it could be looking for specifics
 in people's DNA."

	"I guess.  I'm really not good with this biological talk, Luna."

	Luna nodded to her pendant, "Press the blue button on your pendant."

	Usagi pulled it out from under her shirt and undid the chain. 
 Looking at it hesitantly she reached for the little blue circle.  Her finger
 hovered over it, "What will this do?"

	Luna rolled her eyes, "Trust me, Usagi-chan.  By pressing that button
 you will heighten your senses and allow you to look for the specific senshi.
  Unfortunately if you were to run across any of the others there will be a
 very slim chance of recognizing her.  When Sailor Mercury is found the
 effects will fade and we can continue the search for the others."

	"And you're sure this is wise?"

	Luna nodded, "I don't have the resources to analyze these things, and
 I can find no connection between a piece of bone, specific bone, and salt. 
 Sailor Mercury has access to tools I can give to no one but her."

	Usagi grumbled, "Alright, alright." She pressed the blue button and a
 brilliant blue light shot out of the pendant, running through her hands and
 into her body.  Her eyes flew open as a sudden sense of pain engulfed her
 head, making everything spin.  With a strangled cry she fell to the floor as
 the blue light traveled through her body, making her convulse.

	"Usagi-chan!" Luna watched alarmed.  Was it supposed to do that,
 she'd never thought looking for a specific senshi would have an ill effect
 on her charge.  

	Finally the blue lights fizzled and died, leaving Usagi curled into a
 ball and breathing heavily.

	Luna jumped down and gently nuzzled her face, "Usagi-chan?  Are you
 alright?"

	"I think so.  Oooo my head hurts," she sat up slowly and crawled onto
 her bed.  "Put those vials away, would you Luna," she asked with a groan,
 closing her eyes as she collapsed, "and wake me up in the morning."

	Without a word, Luna gently moved the vials from her bed and settled
 down to watch her charge sleep.  Hopefully, come morning, Usagi would be in
 better shape than now.  Concerned, she didn't move from her vigilant pose
 and stayed as still as a statue through the night.


 Author's Note: Now, I'm sure I'm not the only one who's wondered what those
 little things on her first broach are for so I invented one.  Hopefully I'm 
 not stepping on anyone's toes.  Comments, questions and so on to 

Jademax@hotmail.com

Thanks for reading!

Jade_Max