They were at the door of that mysterious girl that had entered the hospital hours ago. Weirdoes seem to call each other, was what one of them thought. The other nurse, a brunette that somehow remembered them of a younger Makoto, only had one thought on her mind: That poor girl! I hope she's alright! No one knows what this weirdoes could've done to her!.
The girls were speechless. How in the name of the Moon were there going to explain Mercury's presence in there? It was easy to bring up an excuse for them, but what about a Senshi? She suddenly felt ill and went to a hospital? Not even the most foolish of the human beings would believe that, looking at the energy and power Mercury seemed to be surrounded in. Pain and sickness were two words that just didn't go with her at that time. Besides, she should've gone to the main hall, and not into one of the farther away corridors of the building.
But, the problem was being taken care of. As they tried to think of something to say, a deep, low voice echoed through their ears. "Sleep. Sleep. You won't remember anything when you wake up. Close your eyes, and sleep." The nurses were dozing off, their eyes closing by the moment. They finally surrendered to the spell, and fell to the floor, completely asleep. Everyone was gasping. Six heads turned back, and looked at Hiroshi. The voice had being a man's one, and certainly not Mamoru's, so that only left him on the list. And actually, it was him the one who had done that.
His eyes were half closed, and almost black, so dark was the green on them. The voice had been low and deep, not his usual sing-song one. His hair was floating by an unknown power and was just returning to rest again on his forehead, the loose bangs slowly descending to their original position. He seemed to awaken from a dream, as his eyes fluttered completely open. Reiko touched his shoulder. "Ok, honey?" "Fine Reiko. Just harder than I thought." Mamoru blinked several times, looking at the sleeping nurses and then at Hiroshi. "What did you just do?" "I just put them to sleep. We don't need police after us, now do we? Makoto brushed her eyes, not believing what had just happened. "Hiroshi-san, you're gonna have to do a lot of explaining about your powers," was what she said, crossing her arms over her chest. He shrugged and said: "Sure. But let's first go somewhere else." They walked to the window, and opened it. They changed into the Sailor Senshi and their protector, Tuxedo Kamen, to then jump into the morning sky.
Sailor Moon jumped gracefully from roof to roof, every time hearing Tuxedo Kamen's fluttering cape, Mars' high heels tip-top on the hard roof tops, the dry click of Jupiter's short boots and the similar to the fire one's yet different tick-tack of Venus' heels, too. Suddenly, a strong wind lifted, as if a bullet train had just passed by her side. She saw nothing, the wind appeared to be coming from nowhere. She saw her pigtails flying in front of her, and felt her skirt going up and up. A few muffled cries were heard behind her, and she knew the others had felt it too. "What was that?" she asked, never stopping her jumping, and barely turning her head sideward. "Serenity knows" came the light angered reply, which she identified as Mars'. "Hey, Mercury, think you can find out?" Silence. No answer came. "Mercury?" Moon turned her heard backwards, and saw a red blur, a green one, a black one and a yellow one. And that was it. No blue, no other thing that would indicate where Hiroshi or Mercury were.
There was no one else behind them, but the Senshi she had already seen. Reiko and Hiroshi were missing. "Where are they?" she asked, trying to make her friends hear her. "They were just behind me!" said Venus, who was the last one and closed the march. They hadn't stopped nor slowed down, but were truly beginning to worry. Moon was about to order everyone to stop, and search for the couple when a low and barely hearable voice made her stop thinking: "Hey... hurry up!" She searched the horizon behind Venus, as did everyone, but not a single leaf was moving. The voice had been from Hiroshi, but the source of it was missing. "Where are you?" asked Moon, feeling a little silly for talking into thin air. She was just relaying on her legs not to fall, since her head was completely turned backwards. "Here! Turn around!" This time, it was Mercury.
She turned her head to its correct position, and what she saw made her gasp in amazement. In front of her and all of them, more than a hundred meters away, standing over a pair of antennas that only God knows how handled their weights, because they were thinner that Usagi's arm, were the missing pair. She heard four gasps behind her, and knew the other Senshi had seen them too. "How... how did you do that?" "Do what?" was the faraway reply. "That. How did you move so fast?" "Fast? We were just moving at normal speed. You're the ones moving slow," said Mercury. "Hey girl, you know perfectly well how fast we can go, and you know we were moving very quickly. Then how could you get in front of us?" Hiroshi grinned, and said: "Watch." He then looked at Reiko. A bare eye-blink passed through them, and although it didn't mean anything to the surprised group, it mean quite a lot for the couple. They seemed to crouch over the antennas, as if preparing for a high jump... and then disappeared.
Just like that. A second before they were standing over there, and then he only sign that it hadn't been an illusion was the quivering of the electric poles. Usagi looked and searched for them, until something blocked her view. At first, she though it was a leaf, but leaves don't have eyes, now do they? Less blue ones... blue ones sparkling with wicked amusement. She took a step backwards, and saw that what she had thought was true. Reiko was just in front of her, a devilish smile curving her lips. She tumbled backwards, unsure of what to do. Unluckily for her, there was a loose piece of stone, and her foot caught just into it. She fell, a shriek escaping her lips. But, her cry was cut short, when someone grabbed her arms and made her stand up. She looked behind her, ready to thank whom she knew was responsible for her savior, when she noticed that Mamoru's eyes had turned green? She might have had a balance loss, but she would never misplace her Mamo-chan's eyes! She focused her gaze better, and gasped as she realized it was Hiroshi the one who was holding her.
"How... how did you... how could you...?" He grinned, and told her: "We had to ran fast remember? We didn't want to be caught because of our slowness. And now that we both have superpowers, our speed has increased a thousand fold. Everyone felt us. Felt that wind that surprised you so much? It was us. We passed right by your side." He helped her up, and Usagi brushed her skirt, with just a bare touch of her hand making every wrinkle disappear. Jupiter asked: "But... Mercury... you didn't have that speed a few months ago. I remember you always ran by my side, and you never seemed to be stopping yourself." The addressed Senshi smiled, and shrugged: "I couldn't let you know about that, now did I? I was just pretending."
"But... AHHH! All these is too confusing. Reiko, you and I need to sit down, relax, and talk about all this mess!!" said Rei, her arms grabbing her forehead and rubbing it while she closed her eyes. "Let's go then," answered Mercury. "As a matter of fact, where are we going?" asked Mamoru, one of the less surprised. He had seen so many strange thins during his life, that he was less amazeable than the rest. But, Mercury and Hiroshi had proven to be quite a handful of surprises by now, so his mind was open to weird and unnatural things. Mercury answered him: "Well, I thought my house would be fine." Everyone nodded, and resumed their jumping, this time the Senshi of Ice and the former secret spy stayed with them all the way. Though sometimes they went wild and speeded up, they kept more or less by the rest. Reiko's house was near, and they arrived there in no time. Getting inside through the front door, they sat on the living room, and the talking started.
"So, now that we're here, Reiko-chan, please tell us what happened after the accident." She sighed, and closed her eyes. She let herself fall to the couch, and relaxed into the soft fabric. No one talked, waiting patiently for her to start. The first thing she did though, was to lightly press the brooch on the center of her chest-ribbon, and her Mercury fuku disappeared. But, not as everyone had expected, she wasn't wearing the hospital robe, but a pair of light-blue jeans, and a short and loose white T-shirt. For everyone, it was quite difficult to assimilate how she looked wearing those clothes. They had never seen her in anything that wasn't a skirt, long or short. But, as they had just discovered, pants seemed to fit her perfectly. The rest de-transformed too, and the silence continued. Then, she broke it. "Do I really have to?" Hiroshi understood how painful it would be for her to reveal and re-live those events again, but he also knew it was necessary.
He put an arm on her shoulders, giving her the comfort she needed. "Yes. I need to know what happened, to see if what I believe is true." She sighed again, deeper this time, as if she was putting together the energy she needed to unlock those painful memories and share them with the group. "Funny you know. I had always longed for this to happen. To be able to tell you all about my past, to uncover the truth for you... and now that that moment has finally arrived, I can't seem to find words to explain how I feel...." Minako gave her a friendly pat on her shoulder, and said: "Hey, worry not Reiko-chan. You have all the time you need. Just take your time. Remember, good things came to those who pay!" Reiko got a huge sweatdrop on her head, and the others looked to the ground, wondering if their blonde friend was ever going to understand. "Mina-chan, that saying goes 'good things come to those who wait'." Minako got thoughtful with that, and then just shrugged it off. "The same, the same. You got what I meant." "I was actually wondering what did that saying had to do on this case." The blonde stood up, and sat again. "Uhh... well... I dunno... just start already Reiko!"
The blue haired girl nodded, that joking moment breaking the tension inside her. "Sure. You'll have to excuse me if I get a little to slow or if I stop talking suddenly. You've got some very sad and stressing story coming. After Hiroshi here left me asleep on the floor, and stupidly jumped into danger, the worst part of my life started..."
I wonder if every girl feels this way at some time in her life. I would like to know that I'm not the only one who feels like this. I believe that in some time in history, some girl has truly wanted to kill and kiss her love, all at the same time. But, it can't be done. At least on my case. I can't do any of those things, because I don't even know where I am. I feel sedated, tired, confused, and above all, angry. Yes. Angry. Angry at him, for being so stupid. Angry for me never realizing what he was doing, and to let that silly sedative take over me. I feel useless... I feel dizzy. . I feel... something cold pressed against my arm.
What can it be? It's cold and hard, as if it was a piece of metal. Although I'm feeling quite happy where ever I am now, I force myself to leave unconsciousness. A thundering order of my brain makes my mind come back to life, and I hear a groan near. I am surprised when I realize it's me. I'm the one who's groaning. I make myself stop. Someone or something is moving around me. I feel steps, runs and voices. The, for some reason I can't understand, I'm left alone again. No sound is heard, except for a continuos beeping and my own breathing. All I want to do is submerge myself on the endless horizon of unconsciousness again, but I know that's not an option. I need to know where I am. And for that, the first thing I need to do is open my eyes. I move my eye lids slowly, trying not to strain anymore my already abused of eyes. I feel weak... but I fight it back. I must recover. Immediately. Right away. NOW!
I open my eyes suddenly, my senses right and clear, although still a bit dazed. I quickly scan the room, looking for any danger that might be there, but there's nothing. Just a window, a sofa, a night table, and a door. I feel as if I had slept for about a day or two. I wonder what in the name of God did Hiroshi gave me? Never anything that I had drank, eaten, smelled or have been injected with had caused me to sleep more than five hours. Yes, I've had a training on that too. I need to have the ability to resist high poisons and sedatives, so that our enemies couldn't kill me or get me down so easily.
But then, I notice something strange on my head. I can't see through one eye. As a matter of fact, I can't even open it. I raise my hand, and carefully slid it down my face. On the right side, just soft skin, but on the left one, a mass of muslin and bandages that cover half of my head. I also see that my right hand is bandaged too. What happened? Where am I? Why am I so injured? Many questions pop in my head, but no one is there to answer me.
I look around, and see I'm connected to several machines. A respirator is on my mouth, which I yank off quickly. I take a few deep breaths, savoring the taste of real air. On my free arm, a plumb is pasted with a bit of sticky-tape. I feel the low beep-beep of a machine nearby, which I know is monitoring my heart. A bag of serum is hanging over me, and connected to my arm too. I don't like this. It feels as if I was tied up. So, the first thing I do, is take my left hand and start pulling all those layers of cloth out of it. It's hard. They are very glued and pasted together, and I have no more help than my left hand (which I now thank Hiroshi for teaching me to use it as well as the right one) and my teeth. After a lot of swearing, pulling and ripping, I've finally freed my it. As far as I can see, there's nothing wrong with it. I slowly try to move my fingers, and each and everyone of them work just fine. I now move my wrist, expecting to feel some sort of pain, but nothing happens. It's just a bit sore, and that gives me the clue that I've been on this hospital for more than just "a day or two." It takes at least four or five days for a part of your body to get sore. Before that, it works normally.
Now that my arms are free, I need to pull off these plumbs. I know how to do it and avoid bleeding to death. Hiroshi taught me. I yank off quickly the serum and the plastic circles pasted on my chest. The beep stops immediately. But, that's not what worries me now. What I'm concerned about is the bleeding on my arm. I grab the sheets, and with my fingernails, rip off a piece. Then, I put it over the injury, press it first and then tie it firmly, not caring about the red stain that appears on it. When I'm satisfied about the knot, I put my arm up in a 180 degree angle with my shoulder. That way, the blood will go down, and the bleeding will soon stop. It does, and now I can worry about other stuff, such as my head.
This thing on my head isn't very comfortable either. Using my now both free hands, I pull off the fastener, and start taking the bandage off too. It goes all around my head, several times. I'm beginning to freak as I try to think of the less damage that I could have on my head that it was necessary so much amount of cloth on it. When the bandage finally comes out completely, I take a deep breath before slowly raising my hands and start touching. I had expected to discover my hair had been cut, but no, it's still there, and even the same length! What a weird hospital this is to keep a patient with long hair. It's one the first things they do when taken to a medical center. If your hair is as long as mine, they cut it up to your shoulders, so it won't interfere with the surgery, plumbs, bandages, etc.
My trembling hands now reach for my forehead. Nothing. Soft, plain skin as usual. Then, my eye. As soon as the cloth fell, I could open it, and I could see clearly, not even a bit blurred. My cheek-bone. It's there. My cheek. Nothing wrong with it. I am so surprised at this, that before I know what I'm doing, I bring my hand back, and lightly brush it against the side of my neck. God, what a mistake that was! Immediately, a burning pain spreads through all of my body, making me stiffen and bite my lips hard for not screaming. It's as if a million of needles were being pushed into my body, on every single part of it. But then, the sensation fades, to be replaced with another type of pain. Now, it's as if I was being burned alive. I can see the burning ashes over my skin, slowly burning me into death. I then realize they're not ashes, but little red dots I have on my gaze. They are the result of what I'm feeling. Finally, I can't stand it anymore. Tears come out of my eyes, and I open my mouth to scream when... it ends. As if I had pressed the right button. It just stopped. I could've believed it was an illusion, but my tears were there, and that was enough proof to me.
What did I have on my neck? Nothing, not even the worst of injures could give so much pain with just a bare touch. My hands remain on my lap, not daring to even go up my chest. I'm gasping, my body aches all over, as if it was a small repetition of what I had just gone through. I'm senseless now though, I can't feel anything. The sensation was so much it overloaded every nerve on my structure, and now I'm as sensible as a rock. I could receive a speeding bullet right into my heart and I wouldn't even know it. Air. I need air. I am breathing openly mouthed now, trying to get as much air into my lungs as I can. It's the only way of recovering after *that*. Sweat ran down my forehead, mixing with my tears. My hands clutched together on my chest, so tight my knuckles are white. My head bends down, and I look at the whiteness of the sheets, really not seen them. Red spots still dance in front of me, and I blink trying to make them go away.
Soon, I'm feeling better. My nerves seem to awaken, and I feel as my muscles start aching. That's a good sign. It means I recovered my sensitivity. When the pain has subsided completely, I calm down. I realize that whatever happened just now, is something that could happen again if I just brushed my neck again. I thank now that the hospital robe I'm wearing is collar-less. I look in front of me, and see the medical report hanging from the bed. I crawl up until I can reach it, and pick it up. My eyes look at it, not believing what I read: