Author's Notes:  And so the revisions continue.  While I re-released 
Arc 1 as a single entity, arc 2 isn't finished yet (but may be one 
day, ne?) so it will be released in the original part-wise format.

Rereading this part, I fleshed out a lot of the prose since I felt it
needed it (for an increase in word count of about 50%) and fixed
whatever grammatical errors I could find.  Let's just hope I don't have
to sit on chapter 19 for 5 years when I get around to writing it to get
it to look halfway descent.

For previous chapters, email me (fireangel37@yahoo.com or
ffml_tim@yahoo.com) or check the website
(http://www.angelfire.com/tn/twillia/) which will eventually be updated
with the new and improved revised versions.

Disclaimer goes here (Sailor Moon)


Arc 2: Chapter 1 (originally Part 12)
School Daze


Serenity didn't have a very good time at school on Monday, which had
more than a little to do with the fact that she actually had to pay
attention instead of just keeping Usagi awake.  For the fiftieth time
that morning, she doubted the wisdom of her plan.

Certainly it had been easy enough to carry off in a logistical sense.
Her records had been complete, detailed, and believable.  Mercury had
done a thorough job even if she had given Serenity some rather low marks
in mathematics.  Serenity grumbled a bit but accepted it.  Poor math
scores had always haunted her since her skills were more people oriented
than number driven and an imperfect record was even more believable than
a stellar one.

Her problem with the plan, however, was more practical, and some might
say petty.  Over the course of the years, Serenity had often grown
nostalgic for the days when she was just a simple student without any
real responsibilities or worries.  She would sometimes dream of having
nothing more fierce to tackle than an after school detention or a pop
quiz when she was knee deep in court intrigue.  Of course, by that point
she had forgotten what school had really been like.

For one thing, school ran on a very set schedule that didn't change to
suit her preferences.  That meant she had to wake up early, never an
attractive prospect.  Her mother had decided, after a little persuasion
from the Luna-P, to treat her as her own daughter, which, in a sense,
she was.  That meant tooth-rattling wake up calls for two.  Not that
anything less would have worked on either of them.

Then there were the uniforms.  They were so much like the Senshi
uniforms but also so much more boring.  As time had gone by, she had
work the plain old uniform less and less, favoring first frilly garments
and later more functional ones, though she had always had a weakness for
a little bit of flare.  Serenity contemplated doing a little enchantment
on hers to spice it up but rejected the idea as frivolous.  She would
just have to suffer through it, like everyone else.

At least, Juuban had very few restrictions governing jewelry, so long as
it wasn't too gaudy.  That meant that she could wear the earring and
choker devices that Mercury had provided.  One earring was a
receiver/transmitter with a subminiature directional speaker, the other
would summon up a visor display device reminiscent of the one that
Sailor Mercury had used in their youth, though far less powerful.  The
choker was an audio/video receiver that was capable of picking up sub-
vocalized commands through a tremble mic on the back and a gemlike video
intake on the front.

All in all, it was a nice bit of equipment.  Certainly more convenient
that the old communicator compacts that the Senshi had been stuck with
before.  At least being able to wear the gear made it possible to keep
it on their persons at all times, whereas the compacts always seemed to
get left behind at just the wrong times.  The necessary ear piercings
hadn't even been that bad, particularly since only the older Senshi
needed them.

The real problem, however, was something much more difficult to swallow.
Simply put, the biggest problem with being back in school was the other
students.  Although she was in the body of a fourteen year old, Serenity
was more than one hundred times that age and the shock of finding
everyone else acting, well, their age was a big one for her.

Well, at least it wasn't as annoying as palace life had been.  A single
alien invasion or monster attack every few hundred years just wasn't
enough to keep things from getting dull, and court intrigues were
exhausting, at best.  Here, at least, there was excitement to be found
in everything.  Constant excitement swept through the student body,
where the topic could range from who was asking who out to what the
latest new fad was going to be to which idol was the new favorite.
There was always something interesting going around.

Provided, that is, that you could find such things interesting.

Serenity tried, but most of the time found herself zoning out as the
gossip floated around.  If Rei and the younger Senshi hadn't been there,
she probably would have given up and just gone home.  But, as it was,
she needed to have a cover for living here and this would do just as
well or better than anything else they had come up with.  Being in
school with them also served as a good chance to be nearby in case
anything too dangerous were to spring up.  So far, however, this wasn't
looking like it was going to be much fun.

And that was all before class actually got started.  Things got worse
from there.

After getting the class under control, Ms. Haruna went through the usual
announcements and then, much to Serenity's distaste, chose to introduce
the new students.

"Class, we have two new students joining us today, Ms. Tsukino Serenity
and Ms. Hino Taika.  Please make them feel welcome here at Juuban."
Bows were exchanged and some whispered comments made their way between
various students.

Serenity and "Taika" had the distinct feeling that they were being sized
up by the male population.  It was true that neither Rei nor Usagi had
much luck with boys when they were in Junior High, but that was a little
odd considering their attractiveness.  Rei's problems probably stemmed
more from the fact that she went to a Catholic girls school and didn't
have much in the way of opportunity.  Usagi's problems were mostly due
to her generally flighty behavior and clumsiness and preoccupation with
Motoki.

The thing was, Serenity and "Taika" were both about as good looking as
fourteen-year-old girls can manage and they virtually radiated maturity
and poise.  Someone noticing the way the guys were currently looking at
them would likely have had the phrases "beating them off" and "with a
stick" float through their minds.  As much as the elder Senshi were
attempting to keep a calm face about the situation, someone who knew
them well would know that they were likely contemplating the use of
mallets, instead.

Makoto and Minako were both more than a little envious of the glances
that the two newer new comers were getting.  The two needed to keep a
low profile, and this type of attention would only make that more
difficult.  Besides, their welcome just a few days before hadn't been
quite so... warm.

Usagi, for her part, wasn't paying attention to the introductions and
engaged in a whispered conversation with Naru.  Though she seemed to
want to go back to her manga, she was still dutifully answering Naru's
questions about the origin of the new girl.

"Who is she, anyway?" she asked, eyeing the new girl intently.  "Is she
a relative of yours?  I mean, Tsukino isn't exactly a common name."

"Yeah," Usagi nodded, "She's a distant cousin or something.  She just
moved back here from America and she's staying with us for a while."

Naru nodded, satisfied.  "Yeah, she had to be a relative, you two look a
lot alike.  The same hairstyle, even."

Usagi laughed nervously.  The truth was that they were physically
identical, down to their hairstyles, which had been a matter of
contention only briefly.  Both understood that the other wouldn't change
and that was that.  However, the no one seemed to notice that they could
have been twins because of the other girl's poise.  "Must run in the
family," she said, a little nervously.

"I guess... So, what's she like?  And do you know anything about this
Taika girl?"

"Serenity's nice, but she can be really bossy sometimes.  She can act
like a real princess when she isn't getting her way.  I saw Taika for
the first time yesterday, so I don't really know much about her."  It
was all true enough, in it's own way.

***

That afternoon at lunch, "Taika" was far too dignified to hustle, unlike
everyone else, Serenity included, and found herself walking outside
alone.  It was because of this that she heard the angry conversation
taking place between Umino and a few of the school bullies.  Well, most
of the anger was being directed at the nerdy student, and Taika knew a
shakedown when she saw one.

Normally, bullies left Umino alone out of a kind of pity or sympathy, or
it may have been that there just wasn't any challenge in it.  However,
every once in a while they decided that he was too annoying or lucky or
intelligent for his own good.  Or they just needed a little bit of extra
money.  This was one of those times.

Taika heaved a sigh and turned from her intended path and entered the
hallway where the altercation taking place.  Four hulking young examples
of bad attitudes had the much smaller Umino cornered up against a bank
of lockers and were making menacing gestures with clenched fists.  One
of the junior thugs was even brandishing bundle of half a dozen rulers
like a makeshift club.

"Come on, guys, I don't have any money today, and I already gave you my
lunch!  Why don't you just leave me alone?" Umino asked as calmly as he
could manage, his voice edging up an octave into something approaching a
simper.

"We done tole you already.  There's a tax around here and you gots to
pay just like ever'body else.  Now, you can-" the leader broke off when
he heard someone clear their throat loudly behind him.  The boys all
whipped around, ready to bolt, but relaxed when they saw that it wasn't
a teacher.  "What do you want?"

"I'm just wondering why it takes four of you to harass one little guy,"
Taika said sweetly.  To the naked eye, it may have seemed as though she
was simply standing nonchalantly in the middle of the corridor, but a
more expert analysis would have indicated her readiness to leap and
attack.  "I mean, are you boys really that weak?" she placed special
emphasis on the word 'boys' knowing full well what macho pride could
drive someone to.  "It's quite pathetic, when you think about it."

The leader growled and clenched his fists tightly, the shakedown
momentarily forgotten.  "You're lucky that I don't hit girls or you'd be
in for a world of hurt right now, babe.  Now why don't yous just move
along before I have to break my own standards?"

"Oh, like you scare me.  Now, why don't you nice little fellows just go
on and play before I do something that you're going to regret."

The leader, not one to back down from what he believed to be an easy
fight, began to stalk toward her.  "Listen, girlie, I don't think yous
should be talkin' like that to a man."  He poked his finger into his
chest with the last.  Burly as he was for a young teenager, he wasn't
really that impressive.

"Yes," she said sweetly with a smile like that of a hunting cat sliding
across her face.  "But talking that way to little boys like you is
perfectly acceptable?"

The other gang members had moved up behind their leader who was now
fuming in rage.  Umino had a perfect chance to escape, but he was far
too fascinated with this new student who was taking it upon herself to
defend him.  Him, of all people.  A girl.  A pretty girl, at that.  His
eyes were just about as heart shaped as they could get.

The leader of the boys stepped forward and made to grab the front of
Taika's uniform, probably intent on shaking some fear into her.  Almost
lazily, she leaned back a few inches and he grasp only think air.  "Oh,
come on.  If you're really THAT bad of a fighter, you're going to get
hurt no matter how easy I go on you."

"Shut up!" he spat out between clenched teeth and lunged at her again.

"Alright then, but don't say that I didn't warn you."

While it was true that elder Rei, now calling herself Taika, always
dreamed of an international business woman's life, it wasn't really
meant to be.  She'd tried it for a few hundred years, but eventually the
monotony of it all got to be too much for her.  Somehow, the pursuit of
the almighty yen seemed to loose its value in the grand scheme of
things.  In the end, she had returned to the life she had known as a
teen, the life of a shrine maiden and the pursuit of spiritual
enlightenment and physical perfection.

Also, it might be noted that she spent a good deal of her time
practicing any and all martial arts that anyone would teach her and even
a few that she had to reconstruct from aging scrolls.  Drawing upon the
abilities granted to her by Mars, she was able to develop a unique style
that incorporated the speed and quickness of a flickering flame while
including the devastation and force of a pent up explosion.

Of course, in this fight she was making a direct effort to keep from
manifesting the mantle of flame that usually flowed around and through
her while she was fighting, but that didn't give the boys any more of a
chance.  In fact, the most difficult part of the entire engagement was
avoiding the deadly and crippling strikes that had become almost second
nature to her.  In the rare instances when she had been in real combat
with other beings, mercy had not been an option.

She made two quick pokes into the leader's shoulder and hip, totally
ignoring his amateurish efforts to guard himself and causing him to
double over, virtually paralyzed.  A snap kick to the thigh dropped the
boy on her left and the two on the right went down in quick succession
to her second round of attacks.

Casually, she stepped over their groaning and twitching bodies and
walked over to Umino who was still staring at her through his incredibly
thick glasses.

"You really shouldn't have let them corner you like that.  Why don't you
run along to lunch, I need to talk to these lads for a little while.
We've got some things to discuss."

Umino, for his part, just stared at her dreamily.  Well, that is until
he noticed the leader staggering to his feet behind her.  He snapped out
of his stupor to point at the bully.

Taika turned, slightly surprised that the boy was up again so quickly.
She had only made a couple of stunning strikes to vital nerves, but she
hadn't meant for them to last more than a few minutes.  Most people
would have taken twice as long to shake off the hits.

"Bitch!" he cast at her through a grimace of pain.  "You're going to pay
for that."  He pulled a knife from his pocket.

"Oh, come on, I thought this school system was supposed to be safe!
What are you doing with that thing?" Taika frowned.  Most of the easy
methods she knew for disarming a knife wielder had the potential to
cause serious damage to a normal human.  She hadn't really bothered to
learn the non-damaging ones.  "Just put it away before I really hurt
you."

She decided to play it safe and just channel a little heat into the
blade.  There was a faint sizzling sound and the boy screamed and
dropped the knife.  Perhaps that had been a bit too much heat.  Either
way, the boy decided that he'd had enough of this and began to warily
back away.

"Oh," Taika called after them, "and if you mention this to anyone, I'll
make sure and tell them that it was Umino that saved me."  The boys
blanched.  If anyone actually believed that, they would be ridiculed
until they had to change schools or move.  Even then, they might have to
flee the country to outrun the rumors.

She turned to ask Umino if he was injured and caught the that look he
was giving her.  Uh-oh.

***

Serenity would have been concerned about the fact that "Taika" hadn't
shown up for lunch yet, but she was rather busy fending off various
other students.  The first group had been the boys but she made it clear
to them that she already had a boyfriend.  They didn't seem very happy
about it, many questioning how she'd managed that after being in the
country for only a few days, but they seemed to accept it and left her
alone after that.

Then came the girls who were even more inquisitive than the boys.  They
wanted to know virtually everything about her, why she had moved to
Juuban, who she was dating, and the like.  Somehow, she managed to avoid
any major slips and keep her accent in place, but it wasn't easy.

Her story was that she was a distant cousin of Usagi's who had been
living in California until her parents died in some mysterious accident
that she refused to give details on.  Then her only other relative in
the country, an uncle, had decided that he was unable to care for her
and found a relative back in Japan that would look after her for a
while.

That relative was Usagi's mother.

It was a decent cover, at least, and she didn't have too much trouble
getting them to believe it. Especially considering that her accent went
a long way to back it up.  Acting skills could really pay off in
situations like this and a queen developed those in spades if she
expected to remain in power for very long at all.

Eventually, the girls seemed satisfied and went off into their own
little cliques again, leaving Serenity alone with the younger Senshi and
Naru.  Soon thereafter, Taika came out of the building with Umino
following closely behind her.  She didn't look very happy, either.

Taika came over and sat with them, and Umino, noticing the group to be
composed solely of girls, decided that it was wise to go and find his
own friends instead.

Serenity turned to her.  "What's with Umino?  And why do you look so
sad?"

"I saved him from some thugs and now he's following me around like a
lost puppy."  She drew in a deep breath and sighed.  "I wish I knew how
to get rid of him without feeling like a total heel."

"I've known him a long time, and he doesn't give up easily."  Naru
chimed in.  "The only way he'll leave you alone is if you've already got
a boyfriend.  He's persistent, but he's really a nice guy and won't mess
with a relationship."

Usagi nodded in a agreement.  "That means that we'll just have to find
you a boyfriend!"  Under her breath she added in without breaking
stride, "Youcan'thaveMamouro."  Then she smiled and started surveying
the area, "See anyone around here that you like?"

"Around here?  Yeah right, these guys are all so... young."  She
shivered.  Regardless of her physical age, robbing the cradle was the
last thing she wanted to be doing.

"Well," Minako said.  "You haven't got many other options."  She, for
one, was enjoying seeing Taika with a problem she couldn't solve.

***

Elsewhere, General Jadeite of the Dark Kingdom was reviewing
reconnaissance reports from the drone youma he had sent out to monitor
anything interesting that was happening around Juuban area schools.

The Senshi certainly looked young enough to be attending either high
school or possibly junior high.  Perhaps something would turn up.

For the first time since being released from the stasis that the Dark
Kingdom had languished in for so many centuries, one of his plans was
actually bearing fruit.  Right now one of the small, batlike drones was
relating an event that had transpired in Juuban just that moment.

"Then lady says," the youma's voice crackled and suddenly changed into a
precise imitation of Ms. Haruna's.  "Class, we have two new students
joining us today, Ms. Tsukino Serenity and Ms. Hino Taika.  Please make
them feel welcome here at Juuban."

Jadeite smiled widely.  "Tsuki no Serenity.  How stupid does she think I
am?  Princess Serenity is here, it seems.  I'll just handle her and then
the Sailor Senshi won't be a problem at all."  He took a moment to laugh
maniacally and then again addressed the youma.  "Do you have a visual
image of this girl?"

The youma's small, scaled head bobbed quickly up and down.  "Well, then,
produce it for me."  In a flash of light, it produced a rectangular
piece of hide with an image embedded in it.

"So, Ms. Serenity of the moon, we shall soon see exactly what you are
made of."  He broke out into a bout of maniacal laughter, but perhaps he
would not had he know the truth.

Unfortunately, the batlike drones were the most mindless of youma, even
more so than the "drain and dust" variety that were being used for these
early attacks.  Certainly, they were not bright enough to decide which
of two people being introduced was which, and, even more stupidly, they
weren't bright enough to point this out to their masters.  The picture
that Jadeite clutched in one gloved hand was not of the one who called
herself Tsukino Serenity but of Hino Taika.

END


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