Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Senshi: Gathering of the Five ❯ Chapter 11

Senshi: the Gathering of Five

Part Eleven

A blur of motion, then...

CLACK!

... with a sound very like a clap of thunder the wooden practice blades came together, then they slid apart. Makoto leaned forward nervously in her seat as she watched from the sidelines while the two figures dressed in protective gear fought. One of them was taller, heavily muscled, the other small and slim, but they still seemed fairly evenly matched.

Back and forth they went, the slim figure dodging as often as she parried his blows. Makoto's eyes widened, the tall brown haired woman watching from the audience as the match progressed. 'She's wearing him down,' she realized.

Finally the smaller figure moved in against the slower, now tired figure, in a blur of motion scoring the final points to win the match. There was a extended moment of stunned silence in the hall, then a round of vigorous applause. The taller man pulled off his helm and then offered his hand, "I'm very impressed, young lady."

Usagi pulled her own protective helmet off, her long blonde hair falling down her back in a braid. "Thank you, sensei," she bowed gravely.

"Congratulations," Makoto gave Usagi a little smile as the girl walked by her on her way towards the showers.

"Thanks," and Usagi flashed a smile.

"I've been watching you do that for over a week now, but I still get pretty nervous when you do that," Makoto quietly noted as they walked away from the school later on that afternoon. She gave Usagi a curious look, "And why did the crowd seem so surprised that you won?"

"That was the district kendo champ," Usagi shrugged slightly.

"Wow," Makoto gave Usagi a surprised glance, "then maybe you should enter those championships next time?"

"I'm just doing this to help me fight against the youma," Usagi shifted the sword case that she carried over her shoulder.

"Oh, really?" Makoto gave her a look.

A faint blush colored Usagi's pale cheeks, her long blonde hair flowing behind her. "Well, it is fun," she softly admitted.

They passed by a low stone wall, and Luna jumped down from the top, the little black cat agilely clambering her way over to sit on Usagi's shoulder. "The others are waiting for you over at the shrine," she reported.

"What's up?" Makoto asked, surprised.

"Ami may have made a breakthrough," Luna reported eagerly.

Usagi's eyes narrowed slightly, her voice showing a dangerous eagerness. "Then it's finally time to move?" she asked softly.

"Let's see what Ami has to say, first," Makoto quickly cautioned her. She didn't want to see her friend get her hopes up too much.

Usagi puffed out a breath, "You're right, of course."

Makoto smiled suddenly. "Not that I'm not looking forward to a rematch with that pasty faced Nephrite," she added cheerfully

Luna groaned softly, "You two.."

Usagi reached up to scratch behind the little cat's ears, "Don't worry, Luna. I promise that I won't do anything too rash."

The two of them reached the shrine quickly, walking up the long flight of steps to the buildings themselves. They went across the courtyard, then Rei's grandfather emerged from the shadows. "They're waiting inside," he smiled.

"Thank you," Makoto bowed slightly, and they continued on.

The room they entered was spacious, a large table sitting at the center. A few bowls of snacks

waited untouched, as well as a pot of tea. Rei came from her room, dressed in the red and white of a traditional shrine maiden, "About time you got here."

"Rei," Usagi gave her a crisp nod. Eagerly she asked, "What's going on?"

Rei shook her head, her long black hair flowing around her as she said, "Ami hasn't told me anything yet, either." She gave Luna a welcoming smile as she put the saucer and bottle of milk down, "Care for a drink?"

"Why, thank you," Luna jumped down from Usagi's shoulder onto the table as Rei poured out the milk, drinking eagerly.

"Sorry for the wait," Ami walked in a few moments later, wearing much more casual garb than her usual professor clothes. A white shirt, blue pants and a comfortable vest made up her outfit, and she was carrying that large shoulder bag with her again.

Usagi just had to smile slightly at the way Makoto seemed to light up when ever she met the professor. Of course, Ami seemed to gain almost as much pleasure from being around Makoto. "It's good to see you," Makoto murmured softly.

A faint blush appeared on the blue haired woman's cheeks as she answered, "I'm glad that you.. I mean all of you came so quickly."

"Hello, Ami," Usagi gave her a slight smile before dispensing with the pleasantries to ask, "What is going on?"

"Not that I mind the suspense," Rei said, her eyes flashing with sudden anger, "but it gets a bit much at times."

Makoto was about to speak up in her defense when Ami shook her head slightly. "Sorry, but I wanted to be sure before I said anything," she quietly explained, "but I think I've found their nexus, the location in Tokyo the Negaverse uses to teleport through."

A long moment of dead silence, then Usagi cheered, "YES!" Bouncing to her feet she threw her arms around the startled Ami, spinning her around, "Thank you!"

"Hey, wait a moment.." Ami blushed fiercely, struggling a bit in Usagi's grip.

Rei hesitated, feeling so many emotions running through her. On one hand she felt relief that they finally knew where the enemy was, but she was also just a bit scared. This meant that the next battle was coming, and she had no idea what sort of odds they might be facing down there. Or what they might have to do to win..

"Nice job," Makoto was a bit more low-key, but the sunny smile that she gave Ami more than made up for it. "Are there any downsides?" she asked thoughtfully.

"That's the major question," Ami agreed. "The nexus is beneath a normal enough seeming arcade, but what sort of defenses they might have are unknown."

"Luna?" Usagi asked the little black cat softly.

Luna looked up from where she was cleaning the milk off of her whiskers. "They won't leave it unguarded," she said, "but I can't say what the exact nature of the force there is."

"There's quite a few youma in there," the quiet voice surprised them all, "I tried to get in there on my own and failed." Sailor V stood in the open doorway, the white mask covering her eyes, the girl's sailor fuku blowing gently in the breeze.

"I was almost expecting you to turn up," Usagi said calmly, looking over at the masked blonde. There was a bit of anger in her voice as she asked, "If you knew where this nexus was, why didn't you just tell us?"

"She didn't know," Artemis spoke up, the white cat crouched on her shoulder. "She was pulled along in an enemy's teleport, and had to leave the same way."

"Artemis." Luna growled out, and the little white cat flinched.

"So why are you here now?" Makoto asked as she carefully moved herself between where Sailor V was standing and Ami, just in case.

"I'm here to help," Sailor V said to them calmly, "if you'll let me."

Rei narrowed her eyes, while both Makoto and Ami looked towards Usagi. The slim blonde studied Sailor V for a moment, almost as if she was trying to see past the mask. "I don't trust you," she finally said, "you're far too mysterious." As Sailor V was turning to leave Usagi added, "But that doesn't mean we don't need your help."

Rei got up from her sitting position, the others following suit. "So we're going in there?" she asked, meeting Usagi's eyes.

"We're going in," Usagi agreed firmly.

To be continued...