Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Of Demons and Love ❯ Secrets ( Chapter 11 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Of Demons and Love
Author: Quintyss

Chapter 11 (K)
Secrets

Dr. Saeko Mizuno met her friend Ikuko at Minato General Hospital at 8 am sharp and had shown her badge at the staff entrance with instructions. Things had happened relatively quickly after that. Dr. Mizuno ordered chest X-rays for Usagi right away.

Rei called the Senshi to let them know Usagi was at Minato General and asked them to pray. She had packed her over-abundant stack of homework assignments... brought to her courtesy of Ami's mother. Shingo and Rei were shown to a waiting room where they both opened their books. Rei tried to keep her mind occupied while Usagi was being examined and helped. Only Ikuko was allowed to be in with Usagi. Rei wished her friends would come, but held little hope that would happen after a battle.

Thankfully, Ami's mother came to sit with them while they waited for the X-rays to happen and Rei politely set the homework aside she had worked on halfheartedly.

As she engaged Ami's mother in conversation, Rei discovered that all the senshi's parents either had gone to school together or had known of each other. Rei shyly asked Saeko if she remembered anything about her own mother. Saeko smiled and said her father had been so different back then. So gregarious and dashing. Takashi was the life of every party. Her mother had been a fragile beauty, ever a warm smile with sweet charm, and very much into her music. She was the first chair in the violin last two years of the high school orchestra. Risa was well-loved.

Kenji and her own husband had been best friends. She and Ikuko had done a lot of double-dating together. But after her husband left her, she found it too awkward and painful to be with Ikuko. She began to drift away from the very people who loved her most and could have helped her cope with the change. Saeko regretted her lapse in friendship with Ikuko, but these days, she was too tired most of the time to pursue old relationships. It was hard enough just to find the time to be with her own daughter, Ami.

Dr. Mizuno admitted she was lonely and Ikuko always knew how to make everyone around her seem special. Just as her daughter, Usagi, seemed to. She wished her friend, Ikuko, still worked in the emergency room. The whole department missed her cheerful efficiency. But Saeko understood completely why her friend had resigned. Kenji's job was sufficient.

The lab technician brought Dr. Mizuno the X-rays at that moment. Saeko excused herself to Rei so she could have a look at them and discuss the results with Ikuko.

Rei was alone with Usagi's ear-budded brother again. The knots in her stomach just wouldn't go away. The waiting room was bustling, noisy, and irritating to Rei. Shingo was a smart kid for bringing his music with him; she wished she had thought of the idea. Rei was grateful when Saeko returned a couple of hours later. Saeko smiled wearily and told her Usagi would be going home and would be fine. She was a tough kid.

Rei packed her books and followed Ami's mother to where her friend was wheeled out into the foyer by her mother. Ikuko went outside to bring her car around while Dr. Mizuno proceeded to the pharmacy. Rei stayed with Usagi and held her hand.

Rei noticed that Usagi listed to one side uncomfortably in the wheelchair and knelt on one knee next to her groggy friend. "Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable?" She asked curiously.

Usagi shook her head 'no' emphatically. "Not unless you can hand me a new butt. Please don't look at me like that! And don't touch my left cheek." The blonde answered plaintively.

Rei's eyes twinkled as she leaned over to kiss Usagi's face on the left side. "Big shot, huh?" Rei's upper lip twitched.

Usagi nodded miserably. "Long needle. Cold thick medicine." She replied gloomily.

Rei squeezed her hand. "My poor Princess Pincushion... and no lollipop or balloon either, the unsympathetic cads! Can I see your band-aid? Is it a Sailor Moon one? Inquiring minds want to know!" Rei requested sweetly.

Usagi shook her head 'no' again and batted Rei's hand away. Rei started to chortle. "Oooh wait, it has Sailor 'V' on it, right?" Rei began to rap in Mina's voice, "I Love BIG BUTTS..." Usagi glowered at her fire Senshi.

Ikuko's car pulled up then, so Rei wheeled Usagi out and helped her into the car carefully. She slid in next to Usagi while Shingo hopped into in the passenger's seat upfront. Rei didn't think he had gotten all of his homework done, either. Dr. Mizuno came out shortly after with the new prescription Dr. Wakai and Dr. Mizuno had agreed upon after they conferred. She handed them to Ikuko through her open window. "Saeko, since it's your day off, why don't you come on over for some tea. It's the least I can offer as thanks." Ikuko-mama invited.

Both cars rolled up to the house around noon and Kenji met them at the door. He hadn't gone into work when Ikuko told him Usagi needed to go to the hospital and was prepared to spend the day there with his daughter.

Rei put Usagi back into her bed. The girl had been out cold the entire trip home and still was. Since Ami's mother had followed her upstairs, Rei made an effort to behave herself.

Ikuko had gone into the kitchen to make tea for everyone and to comfort her distraught husband. Within seconds of her accomplished missions, she was up the stairs. She teleported over to her daughter's bedside.

Dr. Mizuno and Rei exchanged looks, amused at how much Ikuko and Usagi were incredibly alike personality-wise. Usagi had inherited Kenji's gift for writing, perhaps his height, and that was about it. Rei smiled, and Saeko smiled too at her old friend.

"Ikuko-chan, it was just too crowded to keep Usagi at the hospital or they would have let her stay. She's probably better off here at home in recovery, though, instead of a germ factory like the hospital." Saeko put a hand on Rei's shoulder and squeezed it. "Rei, your mother would have been so proud of you. I think you've grown into the woman she always wanted you to be. Wouldn't you agree, Ikuko?"

Ikuko's eyes watered for a moment and bit her lip. "Yes, Risa definitely would have been proud of you, Rei. She loved you more than life itself. She and the Kino's are deeply missed." Ikuko's eyes crinkled when Rei beamed with happiness, then she stood up to give Ami's mother a big hug.

"Thank you so much for everything you've done for Usagi today. I owe her life to you! Please don't be a stranger, Saeko-chan. I miss our friendship terribly. I get lonely, too. Kenji is great, but I miss my girl-talk!" Ikuko laughed.

Saeko smiled a little at that, too. "I'm glad I had the day off and could help your daughter. Let's see," Saeko began while she foraged through her purse, "I think I can fit you into my schedule somewhere." Saeko whipped out her pocket calendar and started to flip through the pages. She looked up and laughed at Ikuko when she heard her sigh.

"Gotcha!" She put her calendar away, "you know, you can come back to work any time... we could really use your talent. We would see a whole lot more of each other if you did, too, old friend." Saeko pointed out. Ikuko gave a wry expression then laughed.

"This is emotional blackmail, Saeko-chan! I'll think about it, but right now I'm needed here more. My little girl needs me right now and I have the privilege to stay home and take care of her. It feels pretty good. But, what was happening in that hospital did not go unnoticed by me, so I'll tell you what. When, and if, I change my mind about going back to work, I'll call you first. Meanwhile, how about on your next day off you give me a call and we'll go hang out at Azabu Springs together, alright?" Ikuko glanced over towards the bed when she heard Usagi snore.

Saeko squeezed Ikuko's hand. "It's a date. I'm going to pass on tea, I'm afraid. I need to go home and get some sleep, then spend some time with Ami. I'll see myself out. I hope Usagi recovers quickly, Ikuko-chan."

Usagi's room resembled a small flower shop by the end of the next day and Rei read every get-well card before she taped them to the wall near Usagi's bed where she could see them. Rei thought Usagi must have been the most popular girl in Juuban!

Ikuko had stuck to her guns and allowed only one of Usagi's closest friends to see her and only twice a day. So all the Senshi had taken turns to feed the ginsuishou their energy. Each of them enjoyed a rare intimate time with their moon princess. They either read or shared stories about current events with her while she was awake, then watched over her as she slept.

Rei had University and many duties at the Hikawa Jinja but spent all the spare time she had with Usagi. She still sat up with her Hime nights and shared her energy to speed the recovery process along. The night was especially hard on Rei and was now privy to every fear, pain endured, and every nightmare her Princess had. She had a new respect for Luna.

Miko also understood how much Usagi loved Mamoru and part of her felt guilty about her recent behavior towards her Prince. Perhaps she *had* been out of line and shouldn't have said anything while she was tired and angry. She too had found him attractive at one time but knew what they had was not love. Rei's other part wanted desperately to make Mamoru hurt the way he had hurt Usagi, brother in arms or not.

Rei learned through many unconscious utterances how all the horror they had faced as Senshi had really affected her. Usagi had always known that, ultimately, it would be up to her alone to face Chaos as her antithesis. She had approached each fate graciously and courageously despite fear. Usagi genuinely revered life and loved souls... especially those of her honored Senshi.

Usagi's encounter with Sailor Cosmos and her seed's guardian fairy had changed her somehow. She wouldn't talk about the experience, but Rei knew in her heart that the decision Eternal Moon made at the Galaxy Cauldron had saved them all. She was and deserved to be, a universal heroine. The love and respect Rei had for their indomitable leader was immeasurable.

By the weekend, Usagi was afforded longer sessions of coherent conversation and more restful sleep. It was the latter opportunities that Rei took full advantage of and could get the most schoolwork done. At the moment, Usagi teetered on the edge of sleep and Rei prepared to attack her gravely backlogged homework. When she asked Usagi if she had any 0.7mm mechanical pencil refills, Usagi flicked a careless hand towards her desktop drawer.

Amidst the incredible clutter, Rei saw Usagi's fat, well-worn sketchbooks. Homework suddenly forgotten about, she asked, "Hime-sama, May I look at your drawings?"

Usagi hesitated, then, nodded her assent. "Of course, Rei-chan. No secrets between us, right? You aren't allowed to laugh at them, though. Constructive criticism only!"

"I promise to be good." Rei was overjoyed. The fire Senshi carefully removed one of the thick tomes from the drawer. She peeked behind the book and reached for the rumpled masses of paper mashed against the back of the drawer. Most of them were old, unfinished homework papers with scads of doodles embroidered around the edges. Rei uncrumpled them one by one, flattened them out, and held them up to Usagi accusingly.

"I wondered where all my homework went!" Usagi grinned sheepishly. "I thought Luna ate them. I'll have to apologize."

"Usa, you weren't planning on turning these in like this, right?" Rei asked, shocked.

"Of course I was! Oh Rei, I'll never fit into your neat, tidy, square world! I think the bulk of my teachers really appreciated my deviant behavior because it relieved them of their mind-boggling boredom." Usagi proclaimed. "It was my moral, kind-hearted duty." She nodded solemnly.

Rei normally would have snapped at her but realized Usagi had merely suggested she led a very structured life. Usagi was anything but.

"I think maybe we need each other to be the way we are." Rei smiled a little. She opened the art book and was blown away. She carefully flipped through page after page of recognizable manga drawings and storylines scribbled among the artwork. Rei turned to talk to Usagi, but the girl had fallen into an exhausted sleep.

Rei sighed, then, began to tidy the drawer in earnest. She found more portfolios and tomes in the top left-hand drawer of the desk. Rei decided to put the latest effort in the desktop drawer and tidied up the art supplies in it. The rest went back into the other drawers by date. The thickest one representing her 13th and 14th years, obviously pre-Senshi.

Rei found a padded manila envelope. Curious, she peeked inside and found a thick manga, an art book, and some paperwork. Rei slid the contents out and gasped. The manga had been one of her favorites last year and the artbook was beautiful. No wonder Usagi had smiled and not minded when Rei had said it was the one manga that could not be borrowed! She had seen the art book, too, but couldn't afford it. She treasured the perusal now.

The paperwork was from the publisher and offered congratulations to Tsukino Usagi as the author. She had used a pen name, but Rei recognized it. Rei's face flushed at the amount of money awarded her for proceeds. The paperwork also named the Hikawa Jinja for a percentage of all the royalties. At 17 Usagi had published two books and would probably make enough money to pay for as much college as she could stomach. Rei never knew, and guiltily, didn't think she was supposed to. She doubted even her own parents knew. All donations to Hikawa Jinja were generally anonymous, no matter where it came from. Rei tried to swallow through a constricted throat.

Usagi had seen the shrine on a daily basis and knew it needed repairs. She also knew Ojiisan couldn't afford them. Rei blinked the tears away that suddenly blinded her. "You have always been my Shugotenshi, haven't you?" Rei whispered. The last two drawers contained scores of music composition and lyrics. Usagi had a brilliant, unfettered mind.

She had managed to graduate with honors from high school, as had all the Senshi had, due mostly to Ami's tutelage and perseverance over the years. Ami had managed to invade Usagi's dream world and, somehow, disciplined the girl's indifference to subjects that hadn't interested her in time to graduate. Usagi consequently had received a music scholarship she obviously didn't need. Rei had a music scholarship as well and was grateful for it.

Next to her desk was the Les Paul on its upright stand that was Usagi's pride and joy. She spent hours listening to Eddie Van Halen licks for inspiration. And Ojiisan's battered old Kohno case propped against the wall near it. She brushed the case lightly with her fingertips over the names printed with indelible ink between the latches, then slowly opened it. She still couldn't bring herself to take the relic out of the case. The last time she had seen it was when she turned five. That was when her mother had shown her how to hold it and taught her a few chords. She shut the case gently and locked it. The memories of Ojiisan's family were still raw. Probably always would be, she thought with another lump in her throat. Rei was the only immediate family he had left. Usagi had needed an acoustic, though, so it had found a good home here.

Usagi had a clutter of electronic equipment connected by snarls of cables. Rei did notice, with amusement, that the cables were either labeled or color-coded and connected to a powered mixer. She had taped a skull and crossbones near the power switch. Usagi was so kawaii! Rei made a list of the cable connections and arranged everything neatly. She was careful not to disturb any of the current settings on the equipment as she re-connected everything neatly.

Rei was glad she had an uncomplicated piano to play. Her digital piano only needed to be plugged in, which she did after she moved Usagi's keyboard out of the way to make room for it.

When Rei finished, she cleaned the rest of the room because she was on a roll. Nothing else there was of note, except an ancient metal box that, frankly, looked Silver Millennium. Curious.

Rei gently brushed the damp bangs from Usagi's forehead and watched her chest rise and fall a few minutes as she slept unperturbed. Satisfied with Usagi's comfort, she donned a pair of padded headphones and happily began playing her piano.

To be continued...

Japanese Terms

Risa- reason
Shugotenshi- guardian angel
Kawaii- cute