Angsty April 2013, continued
For shitennou_ai's Angsty April
Title: Frozen Dreams, Parts Three and Four
Pairings: um...kinda all of them. Kind of.
Warnings: Violence, death, angst. For some I need to warn b/c of the use of the "Pink Haired Demon."
Part Three
Jupiter was very strict during training sessions. She would correct my stance or run me through the same drill as many times as it took for me to get it just perfect, no matter how close I came before.
Perhaps that was why I began with her even worse than with Mercury or Mars. I was exhausted, and after running through the same drill twelve times, and not being sure what was different about the last time that she deemed perfect, I kind of snapped.
“You used to be nice!”
I’m ashamed to admit that there are sometimes, only sometimes, reasons why I’m called the royal brat.
Jupiter, however, was not fazed by my words or my tone. “I consider training you to fight well so you don’t get injured or killed to be nice.”
“You’re bleeding red ink.”
Makoto sighed as the accountant confirmed her worst fears. She rubbed her head in frustration as she asked the woman, “Is there anything I can do?”
The accountant nodded, “I would not say you’re lost yet. If you keep going in this direction, then yes, you will have to declare bankruptcy. I’ll be honest when I say you’re not far from that point, though.”
Leaning forward, the woman looked intently at Makoto. “All the reviews of your baked goods are glowing. The problem is reliability. You cannot build up a customer base when no one knows when you’ll be open. And as you know, with the current reviews, I do not think you’ll ever be able to resume catering. Which, as your accountant, I’m glad of. You were paying out more in reparations than you were taking in.”
She clenched her fist and forced herself to take a deep breath. This was nothing Makoto did not already know but hearing it from an objective professional was more difficult than she’d expected. “Thank you.”
I rolled my eyes. I have mentioned I was being a bit of a brat, right? “It’s not like I’m ever going to need to fight.”
“I hope not.” She shrugged, her voice remaining even despite my own tone. “However, if you do, I want you to be able to protect yourself.”
I huffed and crossed my arms, glaring at her.
“Mercury and Mars both told me what you tried to ask them, and I assume that’s what this is about.” Jupiter looked at me calmly, but I’m not sure the static electricity I felt was all in my imagination.
“Um...yeah.” Why did I feel guilty?
Makoto always cut through the park between her apartment and her shop. It gave her a chance to enjoy a bit of nature before she started the day.
She grinned as she stopped for just a moment to watch a little kids’ football team practicing with their coaches. The boys, and a couple of girls, ran around the field playing an elaborate game of freeze tag. The only reason she could tell it was a football team, were the uniforms they wore. There was laughter and squeals as one of the coaches was apparently the “It” and chased after the kids.
Unfortunately, she did not need the proximity alarm Ami had put on her phone to see the youma that formed nearby.
Cursing--both because attacking children was not ok and she was supposed to be starting a sale to save her bakery this morning--she dropped her bag and called out a warning before ducking aside just long enough to transform.
“I understand, or at least assume, you are asking because you care, but I doubt this is something any of us wish to discuss.”
At least Jupiter was honest in not answering the question I had not even asked. I bit my lip.
She smiled, and I know it was meant to be comforting but it felt cold, “We made the right choice, Small Lady, and we have accepted our lives.”
The coach had immediately snapped into action. From what little attention Sailor Jupiter could spare, mostly to assess the location of the children, he was making it a game as he got the children and other coaches to safety. Or tried to.
The youma seemed to view the children as an all you can eat energy buffet. With the children too close, Sailor Jupiter did not dare to use a lightning attack, so instead, she went with her other strength and attacked physically.
Long years of practice fighting the creatures, meant that Jupiter was aware that it would take more than physical attacks. No matter how strong she was, the youma tended to be stronger still. She just needed to distract the thing, keep it busy, keep it focused on her long enough for the kids and coaches to get away.
Having gotten thrown by the youma, she immediately picked herself back up.
“Hey! Asshole!” Jupiter blinked as the coach who had played tag and turned getting the kids away into game called out. “I doubt there’s anyone here your own size, so how about two?”
“What are you doing?! Get away!”
He shrugged before lunging for the youma as Jupiter got in a few good kicks. “Helping! Buying you a bit of distraction.”
If she had not been fighting a youma, she would have told him exactly what she thought of his stubborn “helping” self. However, she did not have the time as the youma had decided to focus on the less powerful target.
“I just...” How had I gone from feeling certain to ashamed so quickly. “I want you all to be happy.”
“We know. You’re very much your mom’s daughter.”
One of the many problems with fighting a youma is that they tended not to be shaped exactly like humans. Some had more arms which meant that it could choke a civilian who thought he could help while still managing to fight off a Senshi.
She had no choice. The youma was killing him, and physical attacks were not going to prevent that. Desperately hoping that he’d somehow survive, she charged a massive lightning strike, releasing it with a punch to the youma’s midsection in a desperate attempt to get it to drop the man.
It did not, and she clenched her jaw as she watched the youma disintegrate and the man drop lifelessly to the ground.
I nodded and muttered an apology as I left, afraid to even look back at Sailor Jupiter as she finished putting away the training equipment.
As the papers were signed and hands shaked, Usagi stayed next to Makoto. Once the last businessman and lawyer left, she wrapped her arms around the taller woman. “It’s not fair! This is not what I wanted for any of you!”
Makoto nodded and placed a hand on Usagi’s back. “We know, Usagi, but we have to protect this world, the people in it, and you. We can’t let anything get in the way of that.”
Part Four
I was sitting a flat part of the roof, meant for observation, when she landed beside me. “Do I not get a turn, Princess?”
Twisting to look up at her, I shrugged. “Would you actually answer? Or tell me how much you believe in Mom?”
Venus sat beside me, a small smile quirking her lips, though it seemed bitter. “I won’t judge the others for avoiding your questions. I don’t think they fully know the answers.”
We sat silently for a couple of minutes before I asked, “Are you happy?”
“No.”
I blinked in surprise. The last thing I expected from any of the Senshi, especially the always serious leader Venus, was a honest and simple answer. “Why not?”
“Let me tell you a story.”
“Minako! Look at you! You’re a mess!” The young woman shook her head as she lead the pop idol to a chair, a couple of other people immediately moving over to take care of her hair and make-up, while a third rummaged through a rack of clothing.
Minako shrugged, “At least I’m here, Kiyomi.”
“Barely!” The woman sighed and started sifting through the papers. “Five more minutes, and I don’t think we would have been able to salvage this.”
“I’m sorry.” She smiled to her assistant, “I’ll give you a bonus to thank you for putting up with me. You definitely have the harder job.”
“You think?!” Kiyomi waved a hand dismissing that discussion. “Anyway, you got a call back from the audition last week.” When Minako sat up a bit straighter and turned to look at Kiyomi, causing both the hairdresser and makeup artist to complain, the other woman held up a hand in caution. “But they have reservations.”
“Of course they do.” Minako sighed and sank into the seat, again drawing complaints and a “Stop moving!”
“They want to know that you can commit to a regular shooting schedule. And said that their good will can’t be bought through charity concerts you may or may not show up to.”
Letting out a huff, Minako rolled her eyes. “Let them find someone else.”
“You could have been on a TV show?” I looked at Venus with big eyes.
“Yeah, but they wanted something I could not commit to.” The woman whom I knew as a pure warrior shrugged. “It turned out to be a very good thing that I did not try.”
For me, running in the mornings was not about staying in shape--at least not for being in idol shape. It was about staying fit as a Senshi, and it was a kind of patrol, not that youma could be counted on attacking when convenient.
Minako was almost done with her run for the day when she saw an attractive man waiting outside of a coffee shop at the end of the next block. Grinning, she decided to go a little bit further. She could use a cup of coffee.
As she jogged toward him, Minako imagined a meet-cute, a conversation over coffee and pastries, exchanging phone numbers. She was grinning as she thought about how it would go.
She was still grinning when she heard the scream. “You’ve gotta be kidding me!”
Turning into an alley she transformed and then ran toward the scream. She was reaching for her chain when she realized that there was someone else running in the same direction. Yelling over her shoulder, she called out, “I’ve got it!”
Reaching the youma, she was quickly relieved to see that whatever civilian had screamed had managed to flee. “Hey, ugly!”
As the youma turned, she quickly whipped her chain, grabbing a protrusion and pulling the creature down. Unfortunately, it did not stay down long, and as she readied her chain for a second attack, the attractive stranger caught up to her and shot at the youma--not to much effect.
“But...civilians can’t take on youma!” I blinked at Venus. “What did he think he was doing?”
“Helping.” She shook her head, and I realized there were tears in her eyes.
“What are you doing?! I don’t need a civilian getting in the way. Move!” Sailor Venus moved to throw energy at the creature without hitting the man who now made the use of her chain difficult as he engaged the youma in more direct combat.
Fending off the monster, which had now turned its attention completely toward him, the man called back. “Not a civilian, Ma’am!” He blocked a blow, “Police.”
“Great, I’ve worked with police before. Love you guys, but you can’t fight youma!” She managed to land a few strikes of energy against the youma, knocking it off balance but failing to attract its attention.
“I have a duty. I’m not letting you fight this alone.”
Venus grew quiet for a moment, barely moving. I was afraid to disturb her. It seemed to me as if she were somewhere else. After a couple of minutes had passed, I quietly asked, “What happened?”
With a shake, she looked to me and frowned. “It was not that strong of a youma. I could have defeated it. I did defeat it. But not before it got a lucky shot in.”
With the youma destroyed, I moved to check on the man. He was bleeding, but I had not realized how serious his wounds were.
“You foolish, stupid man! I could’ve taken care of it without anyone getting hurt if you’d stayed back.” Minako knelt beside him.
It was then that she saw how pale he was, how much blood there was. Even without Ami’s training, she knew he was dying. “No, stupid idiotic man! You can’t die!”
“I’m sorry.” He looked at her, weakly, but smiled. “I had a duty. I’m sorry.”
“I realized who he was before he died. I think he did too.”
I could see how sad Venus was, but the last comment did not make much sense to me. “Who was he?”
“Kunzite.”
I’m ashamed to admit it took me a minute to realize who that was. I did listen to my history lessons, but sometimes I got distracted, which is totally not my fault! Before I could say anything else, Venus looked at me.
“That’s why my dreams changed, Princess, because he reminded me of something, something I’d forgotten. I have a duty.”
Title: Frozen Dreams, Parts Three and Four
Pairings: um...kinda all of them. Kind of.
Warnings: Violence, death, angst. For some I need to warn b/c of the use of the "Pink Haired Demon."
Part Three
Jupiter was very strict during training sessions. She would correct my stance or run me through the same drill as many times as it took for me to get it just perfect, no matter how close I came before.
Perhaps that was why I began with her even worse than with Mercury or Mars. I was exhausted, and after running through the same drill twelve times, and not being sure what was different about the last time that she deemed perfect, I kind of snapped.
“You used to be nice!”
I’m ashamed to admit that there are sometimes, only sometimes, reasons why I’m called the royal brat.
Jupiter, however, was not fazed by my words or my tone. “I consider training you to fight well so you don’t get injured or killed to be nice.”
“You’re bleeding red ink.”
Makoto sighed as the accountant confirmed her worst fears. She rubbed her head in frustration as she asked the woman, “Is there anything I can do?”
The accountant nodded, “I would not say you’re lost yet. If you keep going in this direction, then yes, you will have to declare bankruptcy. I’ll be honest when I say you’re not far from that point, though.”
Leaning forward, the woman looked intently at Makoto. “All the reviews of your baked goods are glowing. The problem is reliability. You cannot build up a customer base when no one knows when you’ll be open. And as you know, with the current reviews, I do not think you’ll ever be able to resume catering. Which, as your accountant, I’m glad of. You were paying out more in reparations than you were taking in.”
She clenched her fist and forced herself to take a deep breath. This was nothing Makoto did not already know but hearing it from an objective professional was more difficult than she’d expected. “Thank you.”
I rolled my eyes. I have mentioned I was being a bit of a brat, right? “It’s not like I’m ever going to need to fight.”
“I hope not.” She shrugged, her voice remaining even despite my own tone. “However, if you do, I want you to be able to protect yourself.”
I huffed and crossed my arms, glaring at her.
“Mercury and Mars both told me what you tried to ask them, and I assume that’s what this is about.” Jupiter looked at me calmly, but I’m not sure the static electricity I felt was all in my imagination.
“Um...yeah.” Why did I feel guilty?
Makoto always cut through the park between her apartment and her shop. It gave her a chance to enjoy a bit of nature before she started the day.
She grinned as she stopped for just a moment to watch a little kids’ football team practicing with their coaches. The boys, and a couple of girls, ran around the field playing an elaborate game of freeze tag. The only reason she could tell it was a football team, were the uniforms they wore. There was laughter and squeals as one of the coaches was apparently the “It” and chased after the kids.
Unfortunately, she did not need the proximity alarm Ami had put on her phone to see the youma that formed nearby.
Cursing--both because attacking children was not ok and she was supposed to be starting a sale to save her bakery this morning--she dropped her bag and called out a warning before ducking aside just long enough to transform.
“I understand, or at least assume, you are asking because you care, but I doubt this is something any of us wish to discuss.”
At least Jupiter was honest in not answering the question I had not even asked. I bit my lip.
She smiled, and I know it was meant to be comforting but it felt cold, “We made the right choice, Small Lady, and we have accepted our lives.”
The coach had immediately snapped into action. From what little attention Sailor Jupiter could spare, mostly to assess the location of the children, he was making it a game as he got the children and other coaches to safety. Or tried to.
The youma seemed to view the children as an all you can eat energy buffet. With the children too close, Sailor Jupiter did not dare to use a lightning attack, so instead, she went with her other strength and attacked physically.
Long years of practice fighting the creatures, meant that Jupiter was aware that it would take more than physical attacks. No matter how strong she was, the youma tended to be stronger still. She just needed to distract the thing, keep it busy, keep it focused on her long enough for the kids and coaches to get away.
Having gotten thrown by the youma, she immediately picked herself back up.
“Hey! Asshole!” Jupiter blinked as the coach who had played tag and turned getting the kids away into game called out. “I doubt there’s anyone here your own size, so how about two?”
“What are you doing?! Get away!”
He shrugged before lunging for the youma as Jupiter got in a few good kicks. “Helping! Buying you a bit of distraction.”
If she had not been fighting a youma, she would have told him exactly what she thought of his stubborn “helping” self. However, she did not have the time as the youma had decided to focus on the less powerful target.
“I just...” How had I gone from feeling certain to ashamed so quickly. “I want you all to be happy.”
“We know. You’re very much your mom’s daughter.”
One of the many problems with fighting a youma is that they tended not to be shaped exactly like humans. Some had more arms which meant that it could choke a civilian who thought he could help while still managing to fight off a Senshi.
She had no choice. The youma was killing him, and physical attacks were not going to prevent that. Desperately hoping that he’d somehow survive, she charged a massive lightning strike, releasing it with a punch to the youma’s midsection in a desperate attempt to get it to drop the man.
It did not, and she clenched her jaw as she watched the youma disintegrate and the man drop lifelessly to the ground.
I nodded and muttered an apology as I left, afraid to even look back at Sailor Jupiter as she finished putting away the training equipment.
As the papers were signed and hands shaked, Usagi stayed next to Makoto. Once the last businessman and lawyer left, she wrapped her arms around the taller woman. “It’s not fair! This is not what I wanted for any of you!”
Makoto nodded and placed a hand on Usagi’s back. “We know, Usagi, but we have to protect this world, the people in it, and you. We can’t let anything get in the way of that.”
Part Four
I was sitting a flat part of the roof, meant for observation, when she landed beside me. “Do I not get a turn, Princess?”
Twisting to look up at her, I shrugged. “Would you actually answer? Or tell me how much you believe in Mom?”
Venus sat beside me, a small smile quirking her lips, though it seemed bitter. “I won’t judge the others for avoiding your questions. I don’t think they fully know the answers.”
We sat silently for a couple of minutes before I asked, “Are you happy?”
“No.”
I blinked in surprise. The last thing I expected from any of the Senshi, especially the always serious leader Venus, was a honest and simple answer. “Why not?”
“Let me tell you a story.”
“Minako! Look at you! You’re a mess!” The young woman shook her head as she lead the pop idol to a chair, a couple of other people immediately moving over to take care of her hair and make-up, while a third rummaged through a rack of clothing.
Minako shrugged, “At least I’m here, Kiyomi.”
“Barely!” The woman sighed and started sifting through the papers. “Five more minutes, and I don’t think we would have been able to salvage this.”
“I’m sorry.” She smiled to her assistant, “I’ll give you a bonus to thank you for putting up with me. You definitely have the harder job.”
“You think?!” Kiyomi waved a hand dismissing that discussion. “Anyway, you got a call back from the audition last week.” When Minako sat up a bit straighter and turned to look at Kiyomi, causing both the hairdresser and makeup artist to complain, the other woman held up a hand in caution. “But they have reservations.”
“Of course they do.” Minako sighed and sank into the seat, again drawing complaints and a “Stop moving!”
“They want to know that you can commit to a regular shooting schedule. And said that their good will can’t be bought through charity concerts you may or may not show up to.”
Letting out a huff, Minako rolled her eyes. “Let them find someone else.”
“You could have been on a TV show?” I looked at Venus with big eyes.
“Yeah, but they wanted something I could not commit to.” The woman whom I knew as a pure warrior shrugged. “It turned out to be a very good thing that I did not try.”
For me, running in the mornings was not about staying in shape--at least not for being in idol shape. It was about staying fit as a Senshi, and it was a kind of patrol, not that youma could be counted on attacking when convenient.
Minako was almost done with her run for the day when she saw an attractive man waiting outside of a coffee shop at the end of the next block. Grinning, she decided to go a little bit further. She could use a cup of coffee.
As she jogged toward him, Minako imagined a meet-cute, a conversation over coffee and pastries, exchanging phone numbers. She was grinning as she thought about how it would go.
She was still grinning when she heard the scream. “You’ve gotta be kidding me!”
Turning into an alley she transformed and then ran toward the scream. She was reaching for her chain when she realized that there was someone else running in the same direction. Yelling over her shoulder, she called out, “I’ve got it!”
Reaching the youma, she was quickly relieved to see that whatever civilian had screamed had managed to flee. “Hey, ugly!”
As the youma turned, she quickly whipped her chain, grabbing a protrusion and pulling the creature down. Unfortunately, it did not stay down long, and as she readied her chain for a second attack, the attractive stranger caught up to her and shot at the youma--not to much effect.
“But...civilians can’t take on youma!” I blinked at Venus. “What did he think he was doing?”
“Helping.” She shook her head, and I realized there were tears in her eyes.
“What are you doing?! I don’t need a civilian getting in the way. Move!” Sailor Venus moved to throw energy at the creature without hitting the man who now made the use of her chain difficult as he engaged the youma in more direct combat.
Fending off the monster, which had now turned its attention completely toward him, the man called back. “Not a civilian, Ma’am!” He blocked a blow, “Police.”
“Great, I’ve worked with police before. Love you guys, but you can’t fight youma!” She managed to land a few strikes of energy against the youma, knocking it off balance but failing to attract its attention.
“I have a duty. I’m not letting you fight this alone.”
Venus grew quiet for a moment, barely moving. I was afraid to disturb her. It seemed to me as if she were somewhere else. After a couple of minutes had passed, I quietly asked, “What happened?”
With a shake, she looked to me and frowned. “It was not that strong of a youma. I could have defeated it. I did defeat it. But not before it got a lucky shot in.”
With the youma destroyed, I moved to check on the man. He was bleeding, but I had not realized how serious his wounds were.
“You foolish, stupid man! I could’ve taken care of it without anyone getting hurt if you’d stayed back.” Minako knelt beside him.
It was then that she saw how pale he was, how much blood there was. Even without Ami’s training, she knew he was dying. “No, stupid idiotic man! You can’t die!”
“I’m sorry.” He looked at her, weakly, but smiled. “I had a duty. I’m sorry.”
“I realized who he was before he died. I think he did too.”
I could see how sad Venus was, but the last comment did not make much sense to me. “Who was he?”
“Kunzite.”
I’m ashamed to admit it took me a minute to realize who that was. I did listen to my history lessons, but sometimes I got distracted, which is totally not my fault! Before I could say anything else, Venus looked at me.
“That’s why my dreams changed, Princess, because he reminded me of something, something I’d forgotten. I have a duty.”