"I don't know what--" "Oh _shut-up_!" Suteki snarled. "You're a dyke and in love with that psycho, you can't deny it. You were there several minutes ago, we saw you coming from her house using Kanzen's telescope. We want to know why the hell you're doing something like this." Michiru paled and looked away. "I don't have to tell you anything. You have no idea--" "What we know," Kirei interrupted, "is that you have a lot of explaining to do, and we better get some good answers." Michiru buried herself under the covers, and they were quickly snatched away by her oldest sister. "Leave me alone!" she snapped. "You have no right to butt into my life!" "Well what have you been doing with it, huh? Look at you, you've got blood stains on your clothes and skin, where did that come from?!" Suteki demanded. "We have a right to know, you're our _sister_, or have you forgotten that you have a family?!" "Why don't you--" "Damnit, give us some answers!" "Leave me ALONE!!!" Michiru shouted at her, grabbing for her alarm clock to throw at Suteki, when Kirei gripped her wrists and held her back. "Michiru, stop it! Calm down! Look, we're just mad because you've been going behind our backs for months... some of us," she glared at her other sister, "are overreacting. But we deserve to know. Please, let's all just be rational, okay? Michiru-chan, please just tell us what's going on." Michiru sat crying for a few minutes while they just stood there. "Fine... fine... you want to know? You really want to know? I love her; I admit that much. I love her dearly, completely, and she means everything to me. I follow her and watch her because there's nothing I'd rather do than be in her presence. I don't care if you don't approve of that, because quite frankly, your opinions won't affect me a bit." She let that sink in a moment, before Kirei quietly whispered, "Do you want us to let the rest of the family know?" "Not okaa-san and otou-san... I could care less whether you know..." "...The blood, Michiru? Where did that come from?" Suteki asked. "None of your concern." "Michiru-chan..." Suteki started. "Leave me alone," Michiru said, getting out of bed. She stood there with a determined look on her face. "Get out of here, _now_." They turned and left, and she shut the door quietly behind them and locked it, before sliding down along it to the floor. She lay there, crying herself into exhaustion, whispering, "Why... why... why..." She apparently had fallen asleep for a little while; she woke up hearing someone lightly knocking on her door. She groaned and opened it slowly, and saw Kanzen there. He politely asked to come in, and she grumbled a bit but consented. He closed it, and said quietly, "I just wanted to say... Suteki told me what happened, her version at least, and... Well, you're my sister, and I love you. You'll always be my sister, and this doesn't change anything. I support you in this, so if they give you a hard time, don't worry, I'll be here for you." Michiru hugged her oldest brother, crying a bit against his shoulder. "Thank you, Kanzen... I love you too." He smiled at her when he pulled away. "Well, I have more studying to do, as always." He laughed a bit, then said, "I think Genki and Kanpeki want to talk to you too... you _are_ triplets, after all." "As if I could forget... Bye..." Sure enough, Genki came in when Kanzen left, and he shyly shut the door. "Michiru-chan?" "Hmmm?" "I, uh..." He blushed a bit and coughed, then started again. "Well, I heard about, y'know, and... You're not alone, you know. There's other people in the family that are... y'know..." Michiru's eyes widened a bit. "Are you saying..." He smiled sheepishly. "I only told Kanzen... trust him more than the others... we've always gotten along." Michiru smiled at him and hugged him. She winked as she commented, "I always wondered about all those male movie star posters in your room..." He blushed again and laughed. "Well, I'm going now... Heh heh, you're piling up the guests; Kanpeki's here with Murasaki-chan, and I think you'll find this very... interesting. It's quite a neat phenomenon we triplets have... Bye." "Bye." Michiru had to wait several minutes for her little sister to appear. When she finally peeked in through the cracked door, Michiru had started sketching a picture of Haruka. She didn't notice Kanpeki and Murasaki at first. "Is that Haruka?" Michiru jumped and dropped her sketchbook. Kanpeki giggled and picked it up, flipping through it and showing some of the drawings to Murasaki, who had asked the question. "The drawings of Haruka-chan seem pretty accurate... I've only seen photos of her but they look like those..." "Um... thank you... I enjoy drawing her very much." Kanpeki looked up abruptly with a grin. It always surprised Michiru when she did that; she had gotten used to Kanpeki's happy-to-sad phases and she'd been pretty steadily happy once she'd met Murasaki. After years of the other way, it was taking Michiru awhile to adjust. "I draw too, you know," Kanpeki commented. "I never show them off because... well, everyone ignores me anyways... and you probably notice I paint, but noooo, do obaa- san and otou-san ever notice mine, only yours... I'm just the younger of us three that most forget exists--" "Kanpeki!" Murasaki interjected. "Stop talking negatively about yourself." "Well, Murasaki, it's true... isn't it, Michiru-chan?" Michiru blushed a bit. She never had been close to her siblings... Wait a sec, they used just first names with each other? Huh? Murasaki whispered in her ear, and Michiru barely picked up the words, "How could they forget _you_?... Silly..." Kanpeki handed her the sketchbook, as well as a well-worn, blue bound volume. "Want to flip through mine? Michiru carefully turned the pages, surprised by how well her sister drew compared to other people she knew. Hmmm, guess the art talent is a family thing... There were an awful lot of pictures of Murasaki... Michiru looked up at her with wide eyes. Were her suspicions right?... "Kanpeki-chan... may I talk to you alone?" Kanpeki looked over at Murasaki, who smiled and gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze before leaving and shutting the door behind her. "What is it?" "You just happened to come talk to me when all this talk about me is going on... Do _you_ have something to say to me, too?" Kanpeki blushed and looked away quickly. "Well... yeah..." She coughed a bit and said quietly. "I'm a lesbian, too." Michiru was quick to hug her sister tightly, crying openly. "Oh my gosh... first Genki now... I suspected it for awhile... my gosh, all of us! All three of us!" They drew away, and after a pause, Michiru asked softly, "Kanpeki-chan, you... have feelings for Murasaki-san... don't you?" Kanpeki nodded and whispered, "She doesn't know." "Are you afraid to admit what you are to her?" Kanpeki laughed weakly and looked up at the ceiling. "Oh... no, she knows that I... have other interests, so to speak... and she does as well... she just doesn't know that she's the one I'm in love with." "Are you going to tell her, or are you waiting to see if she returns your feelings?" Michiru asked in a concerned voice. Kanpeki sat down and sighed. "I want to wait for some sign that she is interested in me, too... I'd feel stupid if I just told her and she didn't." "I take it you've given this a lot of thought?" "A _great_ deal of thought." Kanpeki curled up in a ball. "She's what makes my life worth living," she whispered. "She's the reason I've gotten over all those wacky emotional problems I used to have. I'm just so scared I'll lose her friendship if I tell her..." Michiru hugged her and said, "It's better to wait then... but somehow... I don't think you have to worry." Kanpeki looked up at her with wide eyes. "Y-you think so?" "Well, I always thought that you _were_ a couple! And she does seem to like you a lot... I think she's just as nervous as you are! If you two could just get up the nerve, you would make a great couple!" Kanpeki laughed and hugged her back. "Thanks, Michiru-chan! ... Funny how two Kaiou sisters both fall for two girls who are relatives, isn't it?" Michiru winked. "It is, isn't it?" "They've just got good selection amongst them, I suppose." "Very," Michiru said with a grin. "So gorrrrrgeous..." Kanpeki sighed deeply and clasped her hands tightly under her chin. "Mmm hmm!" They both giggled. "Well... you should probably go now... don't want to keep her waiting." Michiru smiled at her sister as she said this. "Yeah... sleep well, Michiru-chan." "You too, Kanpeki-chan." Michiru sat still for several moments after she left. "She forgot her art," she murmured, setting it aside as she lay down on her bed. She felt hot tears forming in her eyes. She was glad that her sister had found someone that made her happy, and that there was a good chance of a relationship developing, but she was incredibly jealous. Murasaki was right there, all Kanpeki had to do was work up the nerve to tell her. Michiru, however, couldn't even speak to the girl she loved or she could risk losing any chance with her. Michiru couldn't help it; she cried herself to sleep. She couldn't move much more than several inches, and that was only her arm. She was in great pain, confusion, and felt more tired than she ever had before. She couldn't sit up, couldn't speak, couldn't _anything_, it seemed. She was bruised and cut, swollen in places, her throat too pained from being choked to make a sound. Her vision was blurry, and she could feel a dull throb going through her body. But Haruka had her thoughts. All those thoughts, churning through her head. After all, at the moment, they were probably all she was capable of. She could vaguely remember the beating, thank God that it was only a vague recollection; Katai screamed at her for awhile before he started hitting her, then the rest was a blur of pain. What had happened to her? She could remember stumbling upstairs, then a swirl of colors and black, and a jolt of pain, but that was about it. Her eyes moved downward to look at herself. She was wearing a large, clean shirt. Her wounds had been wrapped with gauze, cleaned, done with obvious care. But who did it? No one was home-- White. Pure, blinding white. Like a light from heaven, perhaps. A faint blur of colors, a peachy tone framed by wavy aquamarine, the features hard to make out in the light, only the sad smile and the warmth of the blue eyes could clearly be seen. Beauty... she knew the figure to be beautiful, but she couldn't see... And then the wonderful being was gone. Was that an angel perhaps? A guardian angel... She let her head sink further into her pillows. She could have died tonight, she knew it. But she'd been saved from that by someone, who was it though? She could faintly recall-- A wonderfully pleasing smell, of vanilla, maybe a bit of rose mixed in, the warm and tender caress of a hand on her cheek, and a soft voice... What were the words? She couldn't make out the jumble too well... plesgtbterplselivhrukailovyu... Huh? That didn't make sense... Pleasegetbetterpleaseliveharukailoveyou... She thought she could make out words in there but-- i love you Her heart started pounding fast. No... that couldn't have been what she heard... she couldn't have heard that... I love you. A tear started making its way down her cheek. She could remember the voice though, and she could hear the beautiful voice saying it, in her mind. "...I love you..." She let out a tiny cry and let her tears flow freely. She _had_ heard that... she had heard... oh God... someone... someone had saved her life, someone had cared, a beautiful angel, and she loved her! _Her_! Ten'ou Haruka, of all people... She really _did_ have a guardian angel... "Haruka-chan! Are you up there?" Haruka froze, her breath catching in her throat. That voice... okaa-san... Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no. Her door was open she couldn't move to shut it footsteps echoed up the stairs her mother was coming up here she'd see-- "Oh my God..." Haruka shut her eyes, letting the liquid spill from the corners, as Sunao ran over to her with a sob. "Haruka! Oh my God, oh my God, what happened to you, you're--" Sunao pulled back quickly. "Haruka... you were home alone once you got back from Teinei's... I know you were here and didn't leave but..." She froze in place. "Katai was with you for awhile though... oh my God..." Her hands flew to her mouth as she started trembling. "Oh no... Oh no... Haruka... if you can talk... please, tell me the truth..." Haruka's eyes opened, a pleading look in them. "Did he-- Is he the one-- ?" Haruka's tears were overflowing from her eyes, and she let them flutter shut again as she tilted her head the best she could. But it was enough. Sunao swayed on her feet, resting her hand against the wall to steady herself. Katai... her husband... he'd beat his own daughter... he'd nearly killed their only living child... "Oh lord, how could he have done this, how could this have happened?" Sunao cried, coming over to Haruka. She carefully took her daughter's hand, wiping away both their tears. "I'm so sorry, Haruka-chan, I should have seen it sooner... Oh God, what are we going to do? If I try to tell someone, he could find out and hurt you more... What do we do... oh God..." She sniffled and turned away, curled up tightly. "What in the name of heaven can we do?" ~~~~~~~~~~ CHAPTER 6 ~~~~~~~~~~ running running running i'm trying to escape what's going on where am i it's too dark can't see someone help me something's chasing me i can't run more what can i do i'm so scared it's too cold silent frightening i can't stop must keep going where do i go where do i find help what can i do what can i do they're chasing me they'll kill me HELP! looking behind i see a demon it's horrible what can i do? it's chasing me i'm all alone the sky's turning red where's that wind going from? can't move, too cold what's that dark shadow? a girl standing holding a glaive watching me raising it oh lord i'm going to die why is it so quiet? why isn't anyone else here? statues... standing there... breaking apart girls in sailor suits? someone's here now, WAIT! long dark green hair black trimmed uniform red eyes strange staff what is that in her hand a strange rod with a sphere on top why is she holding it out to me am i supposed to take it what will happen if i do wHAt wiLl HaPpeN iF i DoN'T? "Take the henshin pen transform you must it's your destiny" Destiny? _My_ destiny? Why mine? What should I do? Take the pen, or... reaching grabbing shouting what's happening? aqua light swirling all around what is this suit? what am i? who am i? what have i become? Michiru woke up and groggily looked around. It was early morning, and from the lack of sounds she heard, no one else was up yet. She moved to rub her eyes, then stopped and looked down at her bloodstained hands. She looked away quickly, rising to go into her bathroom and shower. At least it was a weekend, she had plenty of time to clean up. She turned on the water and stepped into the stall. The liquid spilling down her cleansed her, the dried blood running off her and leaving her-- Red. Red red red. Like the sky... in her dream... or was it a nightmare? She clutched her head and leaned against the wall, crying out softly. She couldn't stand these crazy visions. Her heart was pounding quickly. Her head... hurting... right in the center of her forehead... What the-- She could see a reflection in the rippling water on the floor of the stall, a strange aqua light... a trident of sorts... on her forehead?! She quickly shut off the water, flinging the curtain aside as she leapt to her mirror. She leaned against the counter, shaking all over. Gone. It was gone. What had happened? Was she imagining things? What was going on? She carefully dried up the water on the floor, then got back in the shower to wash her hair. After drying off, she walked to her closet and unconsciously selected her school uniform. Sailor... A sailor outfit... The woman in the dream, she had one... And when she grabbed that rod, Michiru had one... She let it drop to the floor and leaned back against the wall, trembling again. What was going on? It was just some dream... nothing more... why were all these strange things happening? She threw on a robe and ran downstairs, calling out to her family. No one answered. Where was everyone? What was going on? She went to the kitchen, puzzled, and saw a note lying on the table. She picked it up and read it over to herself. "Michiru-- Gone to visit your father's parents. Will be back tomorrow. Kanpeki is over at Murasaki's if you need anyone. Love, Mama." Just like that? Just leave, with only some note? Why didn't they wake her up? Could they have told her parents what happened? Michiru stumbled again, leaning heavily on the table. No... no, they wouldn't do that... besides, Ki wouldn't believe it, she wouldn't believe anything like that of her children... God, if she knew that every one of the triplets were homosexual... Maybe she'd just go for a walk, clear her head a bit. She stepped out into the fresh air. It was so pleasant... She walked, and walked, and walked... She was soon in the city, the bustling people and traffic. It normally excited her, but she could only glance around nervously. This is the place... the red sky... the wind... She felt like she was being suffocated... she raced for a park, stumbling to her knees in front of the lake. No one was around. It was perfect silent. The Silence... She gasped for breath, and suddenly heard a horrible yelling behind her. She whirled around and saw a giant shape loom over her. Her eyes widened in terror. Some kind of monster?... A long but bloated maroon form, a mouth lined with spiky teeth, evil eyes glaring at her... From the dream... She couldn't find the energy to scream. She turned to run, but it felt like she was running in syrup. Her limbs wouldn't respond, they had frozen in fear. What the hell? A shadow? Someone was standing there... Michiru looked up with wide eyes and took a step back, her mouth wide in a silent scream. "No... no!... you're just a dream... that monster is a dream... you're figments of my imagination... THIS ISN'T HAPPENING!!" A woman stood there, her long, dark emerald hair falling to the back of her knees, at least, the part that hung from the bun she wore in her hair, with wispy bangs on her forehead, intelligent crimson eyes, her skin darkly tanned and showing her taut muscles well. She was clad in a sailor suit of sorts-- a white leotard sewn in three pieces, a top section with the bottom forming a line tracing the bottom of her breasts, and a midsection with a thick white piping separating it from the bottom section, hidden under a short, pleated black skirt with a black bow in the back of it. Centered on the top section in the middle of her chest was a round, flat gem, maroon in color, which held a dark brown bow in place. A black collar, like that of a sailor's, extended from this. Around her neck was a black choker with a smaller version of the gem on her chest dangling from it. She wore maroon earrings shaped similarly to upside down, elongated chevrons. On her forehead was a gold tiara, in an V shape, with an oval shaped maroon gem in the center. She wore tall white gloves that came to her elbows, where three pieces of thick black piping encircled her arm. Her high-heeled boots were black, with the top of them cutting off in an upside down V, trimmed in white. She carried with her a tall, thin, silver staff, reminiscent of a key, topped with an unusual piece-- a silver heart shape about as large as her head, a large maroon orb affixed on the bottom center piece, with two much smaller gold balls on each side, a gold ball slightly larger than these meeting in the center of the arcs, a smaller silver heart coming up from this with a matching gold ball in the center. "This isn't a dream, Michiru; you're very much awake, and you are very much in danger." "Get away from m--" She raised her staff high in the air. The monster was right on top of them... And suddenly, the woman whirled around quickly, and it seemed as if mists were encircling her. She whispered, "Dead Scream," and a large ball of magenta energy shot out from the orb on her staff. It smashed into the monster and stunned it, knocking it to the ground. Michiru stood there trembling, glancing back and forth from the monster to the woman. "W-what do you want with me?" "I've come to awaken a part of you." "I don't know what you're talking about," Michiru said in a trembling voice. Her mind was on her dream. This was definitely the same woman... Did she have that same rod with her? That "henshin pen"? "Please, Michiru, ju--" "Don't be so familiar with me!" Michiru snapped. "I don't know you!" The woman lowered her eyes. "Not that you remember." "What... what's going on here?... does this have something to do with my visions?..." The woman took out a rod, seemingly out of nowhere, and handed it to Michiru. She sat staring at it a long time. It fit perfectly in her hand, as if it was made specifically for her. It was aqua in color, about as long as an ink pen, a bit thicker than the width of her eye, topped with a small globe reminiscent of a planet. "Michiru-chan, please listen to me carefully, all right?" Michiru looked up from the rod and nodded. "The daimon will awaken soon. I want you to do something for me." "Um..." "Hold it high up in the air... right... that's it. Now, repeat what I say, but make sure you really mean it, got it?" Michiru nodded. "Don't be scared when your fuku appears; that's what's supposed to happen. Ready?" "Yes." "'Neptune Planet Power, Make-up.'" Michiru paused a moment. Odd thing to say. She squinted her eyes tightly shut, her hand shaking a bit, and shouted, "Neptune Planet Power... MAKE UP!" She felt like she was thrown into the ocean, water rippling all around her, and couldn't see anything but a swirl of aqua light and cloth around her. She gasped out for air, and stood there shaking when it was finished, looking down at herself. Her fuku was styled in the same way as that woman's, at least most of it. Her collar, skirt, choker, and glove piping were aqua, however, the bows on her skirt and top dark blue. Her gloves only came to her mid-forearm, and for shoes, she had delicate aqua slippers that laced up like a ballerina's. Her choker had a round aqua gem set on gold pieces, her earrings dangling gold hoops, the gem on her tiara aqua as well. She had sleeves, however, three pieces of white piping like that separating her skirt and leotard. "Oh my God... Oh my God..." "Calm down, it's all right--" She felt herself hit with a wash of memories, a big jumble mainly, she couldn't clearly tell what they were, but she somehow knew that when she needed to recall something, she probably could. "Michiru?! Are you al--" "What the--" The "daimon" leapt up again, and dove at Michiru. Michiru screamed, wanting to dive out of the way... Something in her snapped. She was filled with rage, but was calm. She leapt right back at the daimon, leg extended, and kicked it in the center of its "forehead." Landing on her feet, she whirled around and lifted her arms in the air. Water was swirling around her, a wave gathering and separating behind her, and she screamed, "Deep Submerge!" The wave smashed into one ball of energy and sped at the daimon, hitting it dead center, and it suddenly mutated, becoming the girl again, lying unconscious on the ground. Michiru stood shaking, and fell to her knees. The woman came up behind her, and drew her staff in front of her face. An elaborate gate seemed to appear in front of her and open up, and they passed through it, into... her room? "W-What just happened?... W-Who are you?! What is this crazy get-up we're in?!" The woman closed her eyes a moment and sighed, then opened them again. "My name is Meiou Setsuna. In this form you see me in," she gestured to her fuku with her staff, "I am called Sailorpluto. I am a Sailor Senshi, currently the only one awakened. I am bound by another obligation, however. I am the Keeper of Time. I watch over the Gate of Time, and am only allowed to leave for very important things... such as this. The Senshi are a team gifted with magical abilities; we use them to fight an evil that threatens the world. There are nine other Senshi besides me. You are one of them." "You... you expect me to believe that?" Sailorpluto narrowed her eyes and sighed. "Please... I'm telling the truth, even though it sounds very much like some silly story to you at the moment. You'll understand soon..." She let her staff rest again the wall and sat down in a chair. "Let me explain some of our past... you should have felt something when you transformed, seen things... they probably don't make sense to you right now, but I'll try to explain them to you, all right?" "O-okay... I can't guarantee I'll believe it..." "Please, try." Michiru sighed and rubbed her temples. "Fine..." Pluto cleared her throat and briefly closed her eyes. "Over a millennia ago, a kingdom existed known as the Silver Millennium. Back then, all the planets were livable and were inhabited by large populations. Each of these planets had a designated representative that would lead their people as a member of the royal family as well as protect them in time of war. These women were known as the Sailor Senshi. "The Sailor Senshi were originally called together to protect the princess of the Moon Kingdom; this was on the moon of Earth, and was the center of the Silver Millennium. Their duties expanded later, however. "Each Senshi was called by her planetary name, such as how I am Sailorpluto, since I'm from Pluto. We were also broken into two groups-- the Inner Senshi and the Outer Senshi. The Outer Senshi were comprised entirely of planets in the outer solar system, however, Jupiter was considered an Inner Senshi. The Inners' main duty was to protect the princess, while the Outers' was to protect the galaxy from outside invasions. "I, of course, am an Outer Senshi. You are as well." Michiru raised her eyebrow. "Oh _really_? And why is that?" Pluto sighed and rolled her eyes. "You don't believe me, do you?" Michiru clenched her fists. "You are the Guardian of Time, you said. Do you know everything that goes on, anywhere?" "... After a fashion, yes."