She raised an eyebrow and slipped her feet to the floor before standing up. She walked over to Haruka, smirking a bit as she stood nearly as tall as the blond. "Do you know who I am?" "I do not." "I'm the instructor, Bofu, and you better not forget that. What's your name?" "Ten'ou Haruka." "And what school do you attend?" "Goban Yobi-ko." Bofu took several moments to size her up, then chuckled and flipped her ponytail. "You have some guts," she said with a grin, "waltzing around in the male uniform like that." "... How could you tell?" The instructor shrugged and smiled. "I have a knack for picking out people." "Ah." "If you want to join, you better show your stuff. You'll find some fresh uniforms in the locker room. I'm want to see just how good you think you are before I even consider letting you join. I don't care if you need the credit, you better prove yourself." "Thank you, Bofu-sensei," Haruka said, and left. It wasn't hard to find the clothes. It was just a matter of finding a uniform that could fit her tall, thin frame. She could tell immediately nothing would hide the fact that she was a girl. She was quite glad when she found one that fit and she could get out of that horrible stuff she was wearing, then she went out to the track. Bofu stood on the side with a clipboard and stopwatch, sunglasses perched on her head. She nodded to some people that were trailing in to observe. Haruka remained off to the side, stretching on her own. A few of the regulars cast questioning glances at her, but she ignored them. It felt good to stretch out after being confined in that heavy suit all day. Bofu-sensei nodded over to her and waved her hand, and Haruka came over. "Well, quite a change from how you were in the uniform." "I would imagine so." "Ready to run?" "Yup." "Let's see how well you handle a hundred meter dash, all right? I'll wait at the end." Haruka nodded and walked down the track, then crouched down slightly. The regulars milled around to watch. She could hear them whispering, guessing it to be about her. Bofu blew the whistle, and Haruka took off running as fast as she could. It wasn't that much of a challenge; 100 meters was easy. She carefully slowed when she finished and finally stopped. She turned and saw Bofu with an unreadable expression on her face. "Nice." That one word had the other runners seething within moments. Haruka didn't see what the big deal was. "Ok... 500 meters." Bofu walked to the finish and blew the whistle. Haruka shot off again, and earned an "impressive" comment from Bofu. "Care to run the whole track, right back to here?" Haruka shrugged, then nodded. Bofu smirked a bit, then lowered her sunglasses. The whistle shrieked, and Haruka started running as quickly as she could manage. She could feel her breath quicken very slightly. She was happy to note a breeze as she ran, and started trying to go faster. She could see the finish, and all the students standing around, but it was all flying by to quick to make out. She actually felt sweat bead on her. She almost stumbled after crossing the line, and stopped a little too soon. Breathing a bit hard, she turned back to Bofu. The students were all lined up on either side of the instructor, looks of awe on their faces. Bofu's sunglasses once again rested on her head, as her eyes slowly shifted from clipboard to stopwatch readout several times. Her eyes stopped on the clipboard as she penciled in something, then she raised them with a wicked grin. "Damnit girl, we'd have to kill you if you didn't join the team. All those runs were faster than anyone of these kids ever managed!" Haruka's eyes widened in surprise, and the rest of the runners started clapping a bit. "Um... sure, yeah, I'd love to join." "Good!" Bofu slipped her sunglasses back on with a grin. "Ok, everyone, I want three laps right now for warm-up! Don't try to push top speed yet; I don't need everyone worn out. Ten'ou-san, hang back for now." "Yes, sensei." The others kids took off running without a glance back. Bofu waited till they were a bit farther along before turning to Haruka. "You're quite good at this. Had experience?" "Not really. I just run for fun." "Interesting." Bofu stretched her arms and adjusted her sunglasses. "And where did those scars come from, Ten'ou-san? You don't get those marks just anywhere." "What scars?" Haruka asked softly, blood chilling. Damnit, she'd noticed! "I can see several faint lines on your upper back. Suspicious looking." Bofu turned away a moment, then said, "You don't have to tell me. I know what those are. I don't know who did it, but I do recognize a child abuse victim when I see one. I--" Bofu waited a moment as some more visitors walked by. "I... well, if you need anyone to talk to, just come to me, okay?" Haruka nodded slowly, wobbling a bit with dizziness. She sat down hard on the ground. "You all right?" Haruka held her head in her hands and mumbled, "I'll be okay... I'm just a bit ... overwhelmed." "Hey, relax," Bofu said with a smile. "Yeah, I'm a bit gruff and I'm very tough on this team sometimes, but I'm not all hard-hearted, you understand? I push them so they can be the best they can be, but it's not like I don't care for them. Don't worry, you can trust me." Haruka nodded and stood up. "Now, why don't you go run with the others? You'll probably catch up easily." Haruka grinned in agreement and started running again. "See, what did I tell you?" Murasaki said with a grin. Michiru squealed in delight as they entered the stadium. "Thank you, Murasaki- chan!" "No problem." Kanpeki pretended to roll her eyes, then laughed. "Michiru, you're so silly sometimes." Michiru shrugged. "I get to see Haruka run, I think I deserve to be happy about it." "What's the big deal?" "Well, would you enjoy watching Murasaki-chan run sometime?" Kanpeki blushed a bit. "Ok, ok, I see your point." She grabbed Murasaki's arm. "Let's leave her to watch her little sweetie, ok?" "Okay, bye Michiru... have fun!" "I will! ... Wait a sec, where are you two off to?" "We won't be far. Over in the woods on the far side of the track, if you should need us." Michiru raised an eyebrow. "Ohhh?" "Hush, Michiru!" Kanpeki hissed, then winking at Murasaki. "Well, off we go..." Michiru smiled as she sat down on the bleachers and leaned forward, elbow on her knee and chin on her hand. Haruka was much better than the other runners, and easily passed them. She looked so happy when she was running... Michiru remembered that Uranus's element was the wind. Haruka should probably feel a natural affinity for speed and flight due to that, which explained her love for racing and running. Michiru sighed softly. Wonder if she had the visions at all... Hmmm... Michiru had a good friend was a member of the team, but she wasn't at practice. Elza Grey was the best runner-- correction, now that Haruka was here, the second best. Then again, Elza did have a private trainer, and usually only participated in the races rather than the practices. She was fast becoming one of the top runners in Japan. Michiru smiled wistfully as she watched Haruka more. If only she could tell her how she felt... Her eyes snapped open. It was so simple! It had to work! Elza would undoubtedly be racing Haruka at some point. She could have Elza introduce her, after a race or something... She bit her lip. Elza didn't know about her feelings for Haruka. How in the world would she deal with that? She could tell the truth... and if Elza decided not to be friends with her... Haruka was growing closer to Murasaki, she could always ask her... Michiru pulled out her sketchbook and a pencil and drew a quick picture of Haruka as she ran. She wondered if Haruka could 'hear' the wind like she could sense the sea. Probably did without realizing it... "Hey, Michiru!" Michiru looked down and to the left, and saw Kirei waving to her. She was sitting with Suteki and some friends. Suteki was glaring in her direction, the girls with her also giving her vicious looks. She wavered a bit, then cheered up when Kirei got up, apologized to the others, and came over to where she was. "Hi, everything going ok?" Kirei asked. Michiru shrugged. "All right... why are they glaring at me?" "Jealousy, I'd imagine. Sure nothing is wrong?" "Onee-chan, why are you coming over here out of nowhere?" Kirei looked startled. "What do you mean?" "Well, after what happened the other night... and I overheard you and Suteki talking bad about me once..." Kirei looked down at the ground. "Look, Michiru... I'm really sorry... about everything. You kinda get stuck going along with things, y'know, when other people are around... damn image to maintain," she grumbled. "Michiru, you're my sister, nothing will change that. Suteki is acting like some sort of high-and-mighty queen just because she thinks she has something over you now... how did she put it, 'guess little Miss Perfect ain't so perfect if she's going after girls'... but I don't agree with that, I really don't. I... I have to admit, I always thought it was... well, kinda weird... but knowing that you, um, are... well, it really changes how I look at things." "Do you mean that?" Michiru asked softly. "Yes, I do," Kirei said with a smile. "I'm really sorry... I wish we'd grown up closer... all of us really kept apart, but if you ask me... well, okaa-san and otou-san really didn't encourage sibling interaction, y'know?" "Oh, I know," Michiru groaned, then mimicking their mother, "'Time for a violin rehearsal, when will you finish that painting, oh you look so pretty but don't forget your manners...'... Lessee, then Kanzen is her little genius, and where does that leave the rest of you? Trailing along... in her mind... ugh." "Okaa-san drives us all nuts," Kirei agreed. "We each have our own talents, but she just encourages the ones she thinks she can profit from... Hell, not even that, she ignored Kanpeki's art talent, she ignored my singing, she ignored Genki's computer skills, and she ignored Suteki's natural beauty..." "She's a strange one, our mother." "Yes, indeed..." Kirei dropped her voice a bit as she said, "You aren't going to let her find out about your interest in Ten'ou-san, are you?" "And get kicked out of the house? I think not." Michiru sighed bitterly. "Y'know, everyone I know think it's a choice--" "Like hell it is!" Michiru spat. "Who would willingly decide to be part of a minority group that is ridiculed, attacked, and even killed for it?" "Well, when you put it that way..." Kirei looked out at the track. "So, which one is Ten'ou-san? I forget what she looks like." "The tall blond that is _way_ ahead of everyone else." Kirei whistled. "_Damn,_ she's fast... God, I wish I had her figure! I'm so _flat_!" she whined. Michiru couldn't help but laugh. "Some of us are... more endowed than others... and Haruka's one of them." "And I'm one of the lesser..." Kirei looked around a bit. "Say, where's Kanpeki-chan? I thought I saw her a little while ago, with that friend of hers ... Murasaki, right? What are they up to?" Michiru almost choked. "Um, well... maybe you should have a talk with her... they're, uh, in the woods... make noise when you approach so they know you're coming." Kirei stared at her, looked away to think a moment, then her eyes widened and she laughed loudly. "Oh my! Oh my! Don't tell me... Both of you?! Oh wow... Don't tell me Genki is, too?!" "Fine, I won't tell you." "That is so freaky! Geez, I can't believe I didn't notice! All three of you!... Ah well... I'm going to go check up on our lovebirds, then. Hope they aren't too busy making out," she said with a wink. "Er..." "Heh heh, just kidding. Bye, Michiru." "Bye, Kirei." Michiru turned to watch Haruka again, sighing softly. She could go for hours just watching her. Practice ended before she could watch too long, though, and Haruka left for the locker room. Michiru decided it was wise to leave before she accidentally bumped into her. Kirei, Kanpeki, and Murasaki were coming out of the woods at that moment, so she joined them to walk home. "So, did you talk?" she asked them. "Yeah," Kanpeki said, taking Murasaki's hand. She smiled at her sisters. "It's good that we don't have to hide it from each other." "Yup," Kirei agreed. "I call the phone when we get back," Michiru said. "I need to talk to Elza- chan." "That's the red-head, right?" "Yes. I'm surprised you remembered her." Kirei shrugged. "I remember random people and forget others. Ah well." They walked in silence awhile. "Hey, Michiru-chan, when's the CD coming out?" Murasaki asked. "This week, actually... I'm going to perform a couple nights to help promote it." "You excited?" "A bit. I used to hate doing all this silly stuff, but I enjoy it now. I love playing the violin. I don't do it for okaa-san, oh no... It's for me. I want to perform, to share my music with everyone." "That's great," Murasaki said with a smile. "Maybe one day you could play a duet with Haruka on piano?" Michiru chuckled a bit. "I hope so!" She sat down on her bed once they got home, a bit nervous as she picked up the phone. She dialed Elza's number and waited for her to pick up. "Hello, this is Elza. Speaking?" "Hi, Elza-chan, it's Michiru." "Oh, hello! How're you?" "Fine, you?" "I'm great. Just got back from my training. I can't wait till next week's race!" "Yeah, um... say, Elza? I need to talk to you about something..." "You want me to come over or do it over the phone?" "Uh, why don't you come here?" "Be right over! I'll run, give me some practice!" Elza said with a laugh, then said bye and hung up. Michiru was a bit nervous as she waited for Elza to arrive. She wasn't sure how to explain it, or how Elza would react. Elza didn't live very far away, and being a fast runner helped her get there quickly. She waved to Michiru, slowing up as she approached her. Michiru smiled. Elza was so determined in everything she did. She was quite the star athlete. She had pale red hair, slightly wavy and cropped to her chin, hazel eyes, and a rich tan, and was always cheerful. "Hey, Michiru-chan!" "Hey, Elza-chan." They went inside and up to her room. They sat on the floor of her room, as usual. "So, what's up?" "I... I need some help, Elza. There's..." Michiru sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "I really don't know how to explain this..." "C'mon, you can tell me." "There's... there's someone I'm... I'm interested in... and I'd like you to introduce me sometime, after the next race perhaps?" "Oh? Sure... someone on the team?" "...Y-yeah..." "It's Iki-kun, isn't it? He's quite the looker..." Michiru lowered her eyes. "No, a recent addition, just today... first day at school." "Oh? Well, give me a name so I know who to look for." "... Ten'ou Haruka." "Hmm, all right... So, what's he look like?" "I... I'll show you a picture... A painting I did, actually, but... it's accurate." She went into her closet and pulled it out, then turned it around for Elza to see. Elza sat there a moment, looking at the painting with an unreadable expression. She then leaned back on her hands and looked up at the ceiling a moment. "Nice painting." "Th-thanks." "For Christ's sake, Michiru-chan, stop acting so nervous!" Michiru looked at her with surprise. "What?!" Elza stood up and bent over her, pointing her finger at her. "You're getting worked up over the fact that she's a girl, aren't you? You're worried about what I think, aren't you?" Elza chuckled, then said, "Well, you don't have to worry at all! "Eh?!" Elza laughed loudly. "Michiru, Michiru, Michiru, you never met my parents, did you?" "No, I don't recall..." Elza's eyes crinkled with amusement. "I don't even know my father. My mother has been with my new mom for... well, before I was born. I grew up around it, so you have nothing to worry about!" Michiru stared at her in shock. "You're serious?!" "Yeah, they raised my sister and I together. Never thought much of it, till some kids gave me a hard time about it... but they're just idiots. I love my mama and my okaa-san, and I know they're happier together than mama could've been with my real father. They really took care of us, too. I was really sick when I was little, but they always watched over me. Okaa-san always stayed behind with me, only time she didn't was when I was visiting my grandparents. They spoiled us, actually... We moved just because we didn't have a big enough backyard to play in!" Michiru smiled, feeling tears in her eyes. "Th-thank you, Elza-chan..." "Hey, don't cry... It's all right." "I'm... I'm just so happy..." Michiru squeezed her hands together. "I mean, I'm really glad for you and all but... oh God, I'm finally going to meet her!" "What do you mean by that?" "Well, I saw her one day and... something just clicked. I was attracted right away. I've been following her since... I've never talked to her, she doesn't even know I exist... I've been so scared to approach her, she... she's gone through some rough times, but..." Elza smiled. "Well, I'll be here to help you, don't worry." She gave her a quick hug. "Thanks, Elza-chan! You're the best!" "I am, aren't I?" she joked. "Say, I just realized, that name seems vaguely familiar... old neighbor of mine, perhaps... I dunno, maybe she played with my sister when they were little." "What's your sister's name? I've never met your family." "Cindy." Michiru thought a moment. "Hmmm... that seems familiar, too... Her aunt mentioned a Cindy once." "Well, maybe we'll re-introduce them, hmmm?" "Yeah, she'd like that..." Elza smiled at her and turned to leave her room. "C'mon, we have homework to do. I have a report to write, ugh! I'll see you later, ok?" "Yeah, bye, Elza-chan." Elza waved and said bye, then left. Michiru sighed and sat down on her bed. Thank God for Elza... The phone rang and she picked it up, wondering who'd be calling her. "Michiru-chan?" "Yes... who is this?" "Oh, this is Sunao. I thought you might be interested to know Haruka will be entering her first car race in a few days... want the details?" "Of course!" Michiru grabbed a paper and pen, frantically writing down the address and date. "Thank you, Sunao-san!" "You're very welcome, Michiru-chan." Michiru clapped her hands with excitement. Everything was working out, finally! She'd probably wait a few more weeks to meet Haruka, but it would be worth it! ********** Dark red sky... shards of glass from the building cutting into my skin... can't breathe, too weak... pushed to the ground by the wind hitting me... blood running down my face... I look up... the girl... speaking, sad... "The Silence is approaching. We have to find the Messiah quickly. Only you and I can do this!" I try to cry out, what is the Silence, who is the Messiah? Why me?! Haruka's eyes snapped open and she sat up tall in bed. She was trembling hard, sweating, unable to find her voice. The light came on and Sunao rushed in. "Haruka, what's wrong?! I heard you scream..." "S-sorry... I... I had a nightmare, that's all... I'll be fine..." "You sure?" "Yeah, it's all right, okaa-san... sorry I woke you up." "It's ok... well, if you're sure you're fine... try to get back to sleep." She shut off the light and left, gently shutting the door. Haruka let out the breath she'd been holding and curled up into a ball. Damnit, why was she seeing these visions?! Same thing, over and over, only slight variations... She closed her eyes tight, trying to keep from remembering the images, the voice. It was so horrible, what could it possibly mean? She stood shakily and turned on the television in her room, careful to keep the volume low. Maybe it would wear her out enough to sleep. "--But I love you! Why did you fall for my twi--" Click. "C'mon down to Tomu's Cars--" Click. "We return to the late night movie--" Click, what was all this crap? "In other news, citizens have reported seeing a mysterious group of girls calling themselves 'Sailor Senshi' in the area recently, following a wave of 'energy drains' to local residents, which may be linked to the strange meteor that fell last week. Witnesses to a recent attack say..." Sailor Senshi... that name... strange, it seemed familiar... But she'd never heard of them before... "The five, reportedly called 'Sailormoon', 'Sailormercury', 'Sailorvenus', 'Sailormars', and 'Sailorjupiter', respectively, have rescued a number of people recently. It is unknown who they are or where they come from, or even why they're here... but Tokyo thanks these lovely heroines for the lives of many." Haruka shut the television off and crawled into bed again. Something familiar about their clothing... The girl in the vision had a suit on like theirs. Perhaps... another Senshi? But what did any of this have to do with Haruka? Haruka yawned loudly and shut her eyes. Oh well... maybe now she wouldn't have the vision. ********** Haruka woke up groggily, vainly reaching for the alarm clock that was out of her reach. She hadn't gotten used to the time school started, even though this was the fifth day of it. Goban Yobi-ko started earlier than her previous school had, and it annoyed her to no end. They seemed convinced that an early start somehow made them more alert. She went into the kitchen and found a pot of coffee waiting, and her breakfast on the table. Sunao had to go to work just before Haruka woke up, but took time before leaving to make breakfast and coffee for her daughter. Haruka sipped her coffee, and smiled to herself. Her first race was today ... oh, it was going to be so much fun! She'd be racing against Hayasa as well as some other men from the normal group, plus others she hadn't had the chance to race against. Some big names in racing would be there, and she couldn't wait. She smirked a bit. If only they knew they were racing a girl... she could imagine the looks on their faces when she beat them. She walked to school, as always. She was never in a hurry; she left early so she'd have plenty of time. She smiled to some kids she recognized from class and track, and tried to avoid her "screaming fans," as she referred to them, trying to push gifts and bento on her. She tried to be nice to the poor, delusional girls, but no matter how many times she told them otherwise, they remained under the impression that "he" was interested in dating them, if they could only prove themselves better than the others. Haruka sighed; she wasn't interested in these crazy girls that only saw her as a handsome guy, she wanted someone that knew who she really was and wasn't ashamed of it. She uttered a loud "ooof!" as someone accidentally bumped into her (she hoped it was accidental and not one of those girls trying to get her attention...) "Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" the girl said. "That's fine," Haruka said. "You hurt at all?" "No, no, I'm ok... tripped over this stupid uneven pavement. I'm quite the klutz," she added, laughing a bit. Hmmm, she seems familiar... "No harm done..." "Do I know you?" the girl asked, looking at her quizzically. "You look vaguely like someone I knew when I was little... No no, you can't be..." she laughed loudly. "Oh, I'm so silly..." "I was just thinking you looked familiar, too. I'm Ten'ou Haruka, you?" The girl squealed and hugged her tight. Haruka pushed her off immediately, scared this girl, whoever she was, would notice her... extra assets. "Haruka-chan! Just what do you think you're doing?" The girl frowned. "You don't know who I am, do you? It's me, Cindy Grey!" "CINDY?!" Haruka stared at her, then laughed and hugged her. "My gosh, it really is you! I knew you looked familiar! You've certainly changed though... grew up cute," she teased with a wink. Cindy chuckled. "Well, you certainly... didn't turn out like I expected." She looked around to make sure they were alone. "No offense or anything, but I swear, I thought you were a guy." Haruka gave an embarrassed laugh. "Well, that's the whole point of the disguise..." "Why are you... well, why do you want to look like a guy? Geez, I mean, you make a good-looking guy," she said, winking a bit, "but... why would you want to look like one?" "Well... I... I'm trying to hide, actually... from my life, from some people... I don't want anyone to know who I really am, not yet." "Well, they certainly won't know with you dressed like that! My opinion of you just dropped a notch." Haruka flinched a bit. "Ouch! That was a cheap shot." "Yeah, I know, I know... but geez, have you really thought this through? I mean, c'mon... you look like a cute guy, so all the girls are gonna flock to you, all the guys will think you're one of them... how will you ever get a date? Do you really want that?" "Er..." Haruka blushed a bit, unsure of how to break it to her childhood friend... but then she remembered Cindy's interesting parents. "Cindy, actually I... well, let's just say, your mothers and I have something in common, hmmm?... You know what I mean?" Cindy raised an eyebrow, then giggled. "Well! I guess the disguise _does_ work to your advantage then!" Haruka laughed with her and they started walking again. "Well, I suppose... but not really. Those girls like me because they think I'm a guy. I want a girl who'll like me as a girl." "That makes perfect sense... but how are you going to manage that?" "I have no idea, I didn't really think about that when I made this decision," she admitted. "But maybe one day I'll get lucky..." "I hope you didn't mean 'get lucky' as in--" "I didn't mean it like THAT!" Cindy giggled and asked, "So, what have you been up to... besides the cross- dressing?" "Oh hush!... Well, I've gotten into motor-sports now, and my first race is today!" "Oh cool! I'll be sure to come, if there's still seats left." "Heh heh, you do that... I joined the track team, but... eh, no real challenge. I need the P.E. credit though, and it gives me something to do." "Track, huh? My sister races... She's heading towards the top, y'know... she's considered one of the best junior racers. Maybe you'll race her sometime." "If she's part of our little group, I will. No offense or anything," she said, smiling a bit, "but no one can out-run me, _no one_." "We'll see," Cindy said with a grin. They exchanged phone numbers before they had to get off on different floors for their homerooms. Ah, it was a beautiful day... Haruka smiled and sat back to wait for the bell to ring. Michiru was running a bit late for school, so she left the house without breakfast. She'd never been tardy before, and she didn't want to start. Her siblings had all left ahead of her, leaving her with no one to hurry off with. Her parents had gone to luck, so there was no one to drive her. She groaned a bit and picked up her pace. The day had started out bad... But she was going to watch Haruka's first race today, so it couldn't be all bad... A cold shiver went down her spine. The sea was restless... No, no, she was just paranoid, there wasn't going to be a-- She heard a sound she'd never forgotten, and dreaded to hear. The scream of a daimon... Damnit! Not now! She was going to be late!... But she couldn't just turn her back and ignore it. She had a duty... And she'd be damned if she turned her back on it. There was no one around to see her. She transformed in record time, and just in the nick of time as well, for the daimon soon ripped its way through the hedges. It trained its eyes on her, and leapt to attack. Neptune didn't have time to use her powers, so she dodged it, then brought back her arm and slammed her elbow hard into the top of its head. The daimon howled with rage and whirled around to face her again. "Deep Submerge!" Energy collided with flesh, and a ripple went through the daimon, before the form of a boy in a red and green school uniform appeared and collapsed on the ground.