Version 1.0
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"You.... You put your own life in danger for her...." Yurika
said softly. Usagi nodded.
"I would do it again, for Miki."
Yurika pondered this, then smiled. "Maybe she is right, after
all, to give Miki over to you." Yurika stamped out her cigarette
and stood. "Very well, then. I give in. You can have her, Ms
Tsukino, on one proviso.... If anything happens to her whilst she
is in your care, I'll be coming for her." And with that, Yurika
nodded at them both, and started to leave. At first, Usagi wanted
to stop her.... To talk to her.... But her mother held her arm
firmly and let Yurika walk from the cafeteria.
"Why did you let her go like that?" Usagi looked at her
mother as she placed her shades back on.
"There wasn't any point arguing the issue any further with
her. Miki's mother warned me about what she is like. Once she
gives in like that, that's it. End of argument. She's always been
that way." Ikuko looked up as the waitress stepped over to their
table with a tray of tea and cake. "Looks like a peace offering
to me, courtesy of our dear Tanaka-san. What do you think, Usagi?"
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>From the Personal Journal of Neo Queen Serenity
(Tsukino Usagi I)
6/29/98
The waitress was bringing out chocolate cake. That looked
like a good "peace offering" to me.
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BISHOUJO SENSHI SAILORMOON
NOT A GOD
by nIGHT rIDER (Assistance by DDFA)
Disclaimer - all characters pertaining to the series Bishoujo Senshi
Sailormoon are owned by Takeuchi Naoko, Bandai and Kodansya. All
other characters were thought up by me. Well, its true, isn't it?
Chapter 3
Arguments of Responsibility
--------------------------------------------------------------------
>From the Personal Journal of Neo Queen Serenity
(Tsukino Usagi I)
6/29/98
After fairly stuffing myself silly with something that I
couldn't see very well, but what I could see was delicious (not that
I bothered much about the appearance after tasting it), our next
stop on the whirlwind tour of the city was the child welfare agency.
This I was not looking forward to, for various reasons. One
included the fact that bureaucracy and I never had the most
comforatble of relationships. On top of that, I'd heard quite a few
stories, thanks going to Mako-chan, about the kind of people who
worked there.
Mama, of course, didn't appear nervous at all as we entered
the front doors of the monolithic office building that was the
national Child Welfare Agency's head office. Of course, Mama would
never have had the opportunity of facing the likes of this, so one
can say that, in her case, ignorance was bliss.
Of course, I'm putting Mama down here.... Something I really
shouldn't do, considering the way she handled these events. Age
does tend to mellow one, as well as strengthen. As does experience.
Now if I really and truly believed that, I would have had more
confidence than Mama could poke a stick at, considering the number
of years one had amassed throughout my two lives (not counting the
ones in between).
----o
There was a soft beeping sound within the waiting room.
Seated next to the stark, wooden office door of the woman they were
here to see, Ikuko stared at her daughter, who did her best to stare
back, as if surprised by the sound.
"Can you hear something, Usagi-chan?" Ikuko wondered, putting
a finger to her mouth and staring at the ceiling.
----o
>From the Personal Journal of Neo Queen Serenity
(Tsukino Usagi I)
6/29/98
There really are times when I wonder how much Mama knows about
my life as Sailormoon/Serenity. She gives it away, on occasions.
----o
Usagi sweatdropped as Ikuko looked aside at her,
inquisitively. Usagi ummed and ahhed for a few moments, then stood
up from her chair, suddenly.
"Usagi-chan?" Ikuko frowned.
"I... uhhh... I gotta use the bathroom. I'll be back in a
couple of a few moments...." Usagi stuttered, then ran from the
room. Ikuko took a breath and smiled, shaking her head.
----o
Usagi entered the ladies room, just as a woman dried her hands
on a handtowel. The beeping continued, emanating from the pocket of
her overcoat. The woman looked at her for a second, questioningly,
then stepped past her and out through the door.
As it closed behind her, Usagi let out a sigh of relief and
began to check all the cubicles, in case there was someone else in
there.
Eventually, she stood up to the washbasins and leant against
the bench. After taking a few breaths, she took the communicator
from her pocket and answered the call.
"Usagi here."
"Usagi-chan.... It's Ami-chan..." Ami's face appeared on the
small screen of the communicator, a slightly concerned expression on
her face.
"Ami-chan? What's up? Let out of school early, today?"
"Baka... School finished twenty minutes ago." Ami closed her
eyes, shaking her head. "Besides, we don't use the communicators
for idle chat."
"Right." Usagi nodded. "Is something up?"
"Well, a few minutes ago there was a report on the tv in the
resource centre at school. I noticed it whilst I was looking up
something for my science project tomorrow. Apparently there has
been a monster sighting in town..."
Usagi put a hand to her mouth. "You're sure?"
"Yeah, it's on all the stations.... From the description of
the creature, it bears all the appearance of a Youma...."
"A YOUMA?" Usagi checked herself.... She shouldn't raise her
voice in here. "How on earth could there still be a Youma running
about? I thought that, with the change of the timelines and the
destruction of Beryl and Metallia, that they would have also
perished."
"Or ceased to exist. In fact, with the changing of the
timelines, it should have been possible that they were never spawned
in the first place. However, we might have miscalculated. It is
possible that the only things that were truly changed were the lives
of those, here on Earth. And even then, only a surface change,
after all, we seemed to pick up on our powers pretty damn quickly,
as well as our memories of, that time."
"So.... What should we do about it? Go out and hunt it
down?"
"Mako-chan has already raced off after it.... I thought I
should contact the rest of you before I try and stop the baka, lest
she cause herself a mischief."
Usagi clenched her fist. "Why does she always go off her twig
when these kind of things happen." Sighing, Usagi softened her
expression. "So what should I do?"
"In your current state, what can you do? Besides, aren't you
already occupied?" Usagi blinked at Ami's question, then giggled
inanely.
"Ah, yeah... The child welfare interview. Sorry, I got a bit
carried away there."
"Remember, this is for Miki. Just let us handle the Youma.
If we need help, we can still call you."
"Roger." Usagi put two fingers up to her temple in a salute
of sorts. Ami took a breath.
"See you later tonight."
"Yeah, seeyas."
----o
>From the Personal Journal of Neo Queen Serenity
(Tsukino Usagi I)
6/29/98
The others never expected to find the kind of Youma they were
to excounter.... I guess we've spent so long considering these
kinds of beings to be our enemy that we have automatically come to
expect their appearances to be malevolent.
This one was different. As Mama and I were going through the
horrors of the interview with the woman from child welfare, Mako-
chan and Ami-chan came face to face with the strange woman in an
alleyway that backed onto a small auto wreckers yard.
----o
Makoto watched from the top of the building, trying to relax
herself. Even as Sailorjupiter, moments like these always left a
sickened sense of nervous expectation. Her stomach would cramp up
and her throat would constrict. Her breathing became shallow and
the only thoughts that passed through her mind were of her late
parents. And that made her angry.
The creature... The woman... Whatever she was, had slunk
her way into the small alley, carrying a bag over her shoulder.
Before going any further, she peered around, looking for any
witnesses to her presence. Satisfied that there were none, she
continued on towards the wreckers yard.
It struck Makoto that she wasn't particularly threatening.
Indeed, she seemed more frightened than anything else. Naturally,
considering the Sailorsenshi were in this world, and she was but
one (that they knew of), she had good reason to be scared.
But it wasn't that kind of fear. It was something deeper.
How much deeper a fear could be than the fear of being killed,
Makoto didn't know.
"So, you decided to use a little restraint, this time?"
Makoto turned. Standing behind her were Rei, Minako and Ami,
also transformed into their Senshi personas. Makoto sniffed and
shot Rei a dubious expression.
"Give me a little credit for once, Mars." She shrugged and
turned back to the alley, where she could see the Youma woman
crawling over the back fence of the yard.
"I'm glad you remembered what it means." Rei stepped
alongside Makoto. "I don't feel evil intent from her."
"Hmm...." Makoto crossed her arms. "Even so, we can't just
let her roam about. Who knows what she might get up to in the
future, even if her intentions now are honourable.... Or
benevolent, as things appear."
"Her energy signals are extremely weak." Ami was pressing
buttons on her computer. "I'd say she's running desperately low on
energy."
"Enough to attempt to steal energy from someone." Makoto
nodded, grimly.
"And yet, she hasn't." Minako looked over Ami's shoulder at
the illegible script on the screen.... Well, it seemed that way to
her.
Makoto and Rei turned to her, putting Minako on the spot.
"Well, all we've heard are sightings on the media. Nobody has been
attacked, as far as we know."
"And with readings like these, I sincerely doubt anyone has."
Ami rubbed her chin with her best attempt at intellectual
thoughtfulness.
"Where is that Usagi, then?" Rei huffed. "Just like her to
be late in joining us."
"For Kami's sake, Mars...." Minako rolled her eyes. "She's
hardly in a fit state to be doing senshi business. You've seen what
her eyes are like."
Rei stuck her tongue out at Minako. "And whose fault is
that? The baka never thinks things through."
"Yeah, and I'm sure we'd all have let Miki burn if we'd been
stuck in the same situation."
Rei cracked her knuckles. "You looking for a fight?" Minako
sneered back.
"Whenever you're ready, girl."
Ami stepped in between them, holding out her hands to keep
them separated. "Now now now.... We don't want to get involved in
any petty bickering. We have a job to do."
"Like a regression." Rei, Ami and Minako turned to Makoto,
who was staring off into space, thinking.
"What do you mean, a regression?" Rei held up a fist. Makoto
stared at her, calmly.
"It's like we've regressed in our personality development
since Galaxia ripped our starseeds from us. We're trying to build
our characters again.... We're all acting like we did before we
first met.... The same immaturities and insecurities."
They thought this over for a while, Rei and Minako looking
rather embarassed at their foolishness. Makoto turned back to the
edge of the building. "So...." she took a breath. "What do we
do?"
----o
>From the Personal Journal of Neo Queen Serenity
(Tsukino Usagi I)
6/29/98
The relationship the others share with each other has
always been an extremely tenuous one. It has often been
difficult for me to understand exactly how pivotal I have been in
keeping them together. Without me, in many ways, all hell would
have broken loose between them.
The first two to go would be Rei and Makoto. The pair of
them have extremely active, and sometimes overbearing,
personalities. However, they look at things from opposite sides.
----o
Usagi stepped into the waiting room, smiling nervously at
her mother.
"You took a fair old while. What if the lady called for us
whilst you were in there?"
"Eheh... Sorry about that. Too much to eat and drink at
lunch." Usagi patted her stomach. Ikuko shook her head.
"You are incorrigible, you know that? When I was your age,
I never ate half as much as you do."
Usagi put on a dubious smile and gave her mother the evil eye.
"Oh yeeeesss?" She leaned closer, her mother sweatdropping.
"That's not what Papa has told me."
"Uhh... Just what has he told you?"
"That I have as healthy an appetite as you used to have. At
least, that's what he used to say. Remember?"
Ikuko went red faced with embarassment. "Really, I never used
to eat THAT much."
"What do you mean, eat THAT much?" Usagi looked scandalised.
"What do you think I am, the blob?"
"There have been moments." Ikuko looked away, suppressing the
smile she had on her face very badly.
The door at the far end of the waiting room opened, and both
Usagi and Ikuko looked up into the severe expression of the middle
aged woman who popped her head through the opening.
"Tsukino Ikuko and her daughter, Usagi, I take it?" She
pushed her rimless glasses up her nose, looking from one to the
other as if studying an alien form of life.
Ikuko stood and bowed slightly. "Hai. We are they.
Konnichiwa... Takashi-san, is it?"
The woman raised her eyebrows, looking down her nose at the
pair. "Indeed. Please enter my office, shall you?"
As the woman turned, Usagi stuck her tongue out at her, and
quickly whipped it back in again as her mother shot her a look.
"Behave yourself. Now is NOT the time to be immature.
Whether or not you become Miki's legal guardian, for the time being,
is up to this woman."
Usagi took a breath and nodded. "Gomen, Mama."
"I know you don't like officious old maids.... That's always
been one of your faults."
"I'm not the one who said 'officious old maid'." Usagi pursed
her lips and crossed her arms, staring at her mother dubiously.
"Oh... Did I say that?" Ikuko put a hand to her mouth,
giggling. "How absent minded of me." And with that, Ikuko stepped
through the door into Takashi's office.
----o
>From the Personal Journal of Neo Queen Serenity
(Tsukino Usagi I)
6/29/98
Now, I don't know about you, but there are times when I begin
to wonder about the seriousness of Mama's scoldings. As I grew
older, I began to recognise in her elements of my own personality.
Or was it that I was becoming more like her?
It's rather frightening, in a way, to see how much you begin
to emulate your parents. Perhaps one of the things that frightens
me the most about my inheritence of the monarchy.... I am slowly
growing, with each passing day, to resemble my "other" mother....
Queen Serenity. It's like looking at a ghost every time I look into
the mirror.
And so, one must wonder.... What is it, exactly, that I've
taken on board from BOTH my mothers.... It brings into question
just what aspects of me is really... me.
It always gives me a headache thinking about it.
I've had a lot of headaches in my life.... Every time it
comes to having to think deeply about things....
----o
"Please take a seat." Takashi gestured to the two spartan
chairs that sat on the opposite side of her large, wooden desk. Her
office gave Usagi the jitters.... It looked.... Well, for want of
a better term, old.
It was almost as if she had wrapped herself in a blanket of
antiquity.... Something that she felt comfortable in. It was her
little parlour, and they were the flies who dared to venture within.
Not that Ikuko seemed to give it much thought. She nodded and
sat down, crossing her legs and sitting poised, as if trying to look
like an attentive student. Usagi, on the other hand, slunk into her
seat and tried her best to not look like something the dog dragged
in.
Takashi sat in her large, comfortable leather-bound seat and
picked up a wad of papers from the top of the desk. "Well well
well. A most unusual case we appear to have, here." She looked
over her glasses at Usagi. "You're the great hero, Tsukino Usagi.
How very pleasant to meet you."
"A... arigato..." Usagi croaked.
"Hmm... A shy little one, is she not, Tsukino-san?" Takashi
smiled condescendingly at Ikuko, who smiled back. Takashi raised an
eyebrow and nodded, as if accepting Ikuko's challenge. "So, this is
a most unusual meeting for me.... It's not often that I get
requests such as this on my desk...." She gestured with the papers.
"After all, having been promoted to the managing director of the
child welfare and services department, one would have thought I was
over accepting work such as this."
Usagi swallowed, sweatdrops appearing on her forehead.
"Normally, that would be the case. However, it would seem
that several esteemed members of the community wish for this to be
handled by only the best. And so, I was directed to you." Ikuko
smiled through this wanton gratiation. Takashi smiled.
"Indeed. But I have to ask you, what makes you think your
daughter is old enough and mature enough to take care of a six year
old child?" Takashi rifled through the papers, selecting one or two
from the pile. "I have been studying your life history, Miss
Tsukino."
Usagi could feel the sweat running through her clothes,
creating a small ocean around her seat.
"Your scholastic achievements, thus far, have been less than
exemplary. Indeed, I have talked to one or two of your teachers.
One detected the patent frustration in their voices. How about
this...." She pointed to the top paper. "From one of your most
recent teachers.... A Miss Haruna...." Takashi pushed her glasses
back up her nose. "I quote... 'Usagi is disruptive, lazy,
inattentive and lacks dedication and perseverance. Her schoolwork
is almost always below her capacities, and her capacities are
already near the bottom of the class....'"
Usagi began to fidget as Takashi put the paper down, hanging
her head and staring at the floor. Her mother rescued her from a
fate worse than death.
"So, now perhaps you'd like to answer the question, Miss
Tsukino.... Do you think you're old or immature enough to take care
of Miki?"
"Perhaps you'd like to read on, Takashi-san." Ikuko's smile
hadn't faded through Takashi's onslaught.
The woman frowned, then picked up the paper again, reading out
loud. "'However, considering the condition she has suffered since
early childhood, and the way these negative aspects to her education
are dissipating with great rapidity, I must say that she has
achieved a great deal in an almost heroic manner.'" Takashi looked
daggers at Ikuko. "Very well. Granted, she may have improved, and
she had the mind to rescue Miki when the girl's life was in
danger..."
"Not to mention the fact that Miki has grown attached to
Usagi." Ikuko added.
"To be expected of a young child when someone has rescued them
like that. However, Your daughter is still quite young, and
according to this, has engaged in many immature behaviours. On top
of that, there has been a complaint levelled at you by the child's
in-laws, regarding your application as an interference in their family
affairs." Takashi pointed her statements in Usagi's
direction. Ikuko's smile started to falter.
"We already dealt with Miki's aunt. She has, tacitly,
accepted Usagi's application as guardian." Ikuko's jawline
hardened, which made usagi even more nervous than before, if that
was at all possible. Takashi stared at them, archly, smiling.
Usagi wanted, desperately, to do her over at that point, but
noticed something sitting on a nearby cupboard. A photograph of
Takashi with a girl. A girl that Usagi recognised....
"So.... What about you makes you think you're even vaguely
worthy of being Miki's guardian?" Takashi leaned forward, staring
at Usagi demandingly.
"Mako-chan?"
"Eh?" Takashi frowned, struck dumb at the comment which
seemed to come out of nowhere. She then turned to the photograph
that Usagi was looking at.
"You.... You were the woman who handled Mako-chan's case when
her parents were killed?" Usagi's mouth hung open, disbelievingly,
an expression mirrored on Takashi's face when she turned back to
Usagi.
"Usagi.... You're THAT Usagi?"
Ikuko's smile returned to its former strength.
END OF PART 3
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Apologies to people who have been waiting for this chapter. A few
gripes and grouches with an insurance company has been taking up
my time and thoughts. ^_^;;
JTW
nIGHT rIDER ikari@wantree.net.au
Member of the AJAS Fanfic Circle
31st May 1998