#but. I really like him so. Senshi thought dump

[xan-from-space]

Senshi is probably the most fandomized character in Dungeon Meshi, and while I don't exactly mind it, I do think he has more depth than that. I find all his little quirks and idiosyncrasies to be fascinating; he's very stubborn and set in his ways about things that seemingly don't matter, he thinks about things that other people don't, he has a deeply set value system that informs everything he does. He cares A Lot, like, this man cares So Much. That's the kind of person you have to be to drop everything to help a random group of adventurers save one woman. But because he feels so strongly about things, he can also be surprisingly immature at times (although he's also the character most likely to admit he was wrong about something). I think part of that is because he's lived in the dungeon on his own so long that he's not used to working with other people. He will extend empathy and friendship to almost anyone, but he does things his own way, and he doesn’t always feel the need to explain his way of thinking because again, he's usually on his own. He's both incredibly wise and kind of childish in ways that seem contradictory at first, but make more and more sense the more we learn about him. Major kudos to Ryoko Kui's writing and pacing to make that transition so seamless and have all those details from his backstory click into place perfectly. And on a wider thematic level, Senshi is kind of a perfect counterpart to characters like Thistle (or any other dungeon lord). Senshi understands the dungeon in ways that even its creator doesn't. Although everyone is scrambling to take control of the dungeon, Senshi is the one who actually takes care of it. He's the one who thinks about things like nutrition and proper sleep and the ecosystem, all those things that it's easy to ignore when you get swept up by the grandeur of it all. He's the most important character to have present in a story that explores life and death and hunger. His constant, invisible presence holds everything together.

#I'm not finished it yet so I don't want to make any big sweeping claims about what his story means in the greater context of the manga #but. I really like him so. Senshi thought dump #I really thought this was going to be shorter...idk if I really got what I wanted to say across but once I started writing I couldn't stop #dungeon meshi #dunmeshi #delicious in dungeon #senshi #senshi of izganda #edit: yeah I should probably tag this #dungeon meshi spoilers #shouldn't I

[mocolococoffeesimp]

Hii, can I request laios (dungeon meshi) relationship headcanons please? Ty!

Ye shall receive, anon!

-Laios being Laios, is extremely dense and blunt when it comes to relationships. He wouldn't even get it, when you flirt with him. Even, if you were being open about it. Everyone else, but him got the hint. Even, when you two were on date he didn't realize it. You had to sit him down, to have the talk about dating. He just had thought you were really good friends. Holding hands, you calling him nicknames.

-Laios gets easily excited about things he likes. Monsters, dogs to mention few. Especially, monsters. He wants you to taste monsters, even if its odd. To him, it is a normal thing. So, he doesn't mention what he is cooking, if you don't ask. Not, because he wants to try to trick you... He is just dense, that he forgets not everyone is accepting eating monsters. But, when you do actually like the food, he will go on a lengthy talk about how he cooked it and what else monsters you two could cook.

-Laios would be delighted, if you wanted to explore the dungeon with him. He enjoys exploring the dungeons, so if you were exploring with his squad he would be overjoyed. He would be protective of you. He doesn't think you can't defend yourself, if anything he would love to see you protecting yourself and others. Protective in the sense, making sure you're fine and not overworking yourself.

-You have to often listen to Laios, info-dump on you. But, it is endearing. As he is sharing his interests, with someone that doesn't think his interests are odd. This does mean, whenever he learns something new about monsters, he wants to share it with you. To add to this, he shares his monster guide with you. He does hope, some of his enthusiasm for monsters will rub on you. If, you start to add notes on his monster guide he will be overjoyed. Finally being able to have a conversation about monsters, with someone other than Senshi and Falin.

-Laios wants to teach you how to handle a sword. He would be patient with you about it... But, he doesn't know how to teach about it. He knows how to handle a sword, but at this point for him its muscle memory. So, its less of Laios teaching you and more of him giving pointers, as you swing the sword around. If, you do know how to handle a sword, Laios would start practicing with you using wooden swords. It was good way for you two, to get closer and to workout.

-Laios has a small wardrobe. He has only few clothes, one casual pair and one more formal. So, when you bring this up with him you have to go clothes shopping with him. Nothing extreme, just some more clothes for him to choose from. He thought, it would be cute to have matching clothes. So, he does just that and got matching pairs of clothing.

-Laios loves to snack, like a lot. He will have snacks on him all the time. Not to mention, he likes to make his own snacks. From monster bits to actual baking materials. He just likes to cook. So, he will share his snacks with you. He tries to keep it a reasonable, so when the mealtime comes around you two will be hungry. Although, sometimes you can't help yourself but snack on them and feed them to Laios.

-Laios doesn't really get how he is supposed to act in a relationship. So, his guide is Marcille... Whose knowledge largely bases on her reading romance books. So, Laios at first tries the most romantic stuff, flower, chocolate and the usual romantic gestures. Once, you told him you appreciated the gesture, but would prefer him to try his own romantic ideas. So, that led to him bringing you monster parts and doing monster mating rituals (I think, that's the right way to put it.) Which, were bit odd. But, it was Laios' who was doing it. So, it was cute either way.

-Laios tries to sing every-now and then. Unfortunately, he can't sing. Not in the smooth velvety way, more of soprano voice. He can reach high notes, which he uses to sing the siren song to flirt with you... Which works. You find it charming, that he sings the song he has practiced for awhile. Even, if everyone else thought he was just wailing.

-Falin and Marcille are important people in his life, so it means a lot to him, if you got along with them. Falin and Marcille are pretty easy to get along at the end of day, but he still stressed out about it prior to you meeting them.

-Laios snores, so you have to turn him to his side in his sleep to make it stop. Only for it to continue a moments later. You get used to it, but others do wonder how you are sleeping with him, when even the monsters avoid his snoring. When you hear Laios counting, satyrs/fauns as opposed to sheep. It was cute and still is.

#delicious in dungeon laios #delicious in dungeon headcanons #delicious in dungeon laios x reader #delicious in dungeon laios x gn reader #dungeon meshi

[tiny012]

My main problem with Seiya in the 90s anime thinks that just because she likes Usagi she has the right to push all of her insecurities onto her with or without her permission when Usagi is already dealing with her more than enough trauma already and then added more to this by making her insecure about her relationship with Mamoru and then never gets called out for her manipulative, borderline abusive behavior.

That’s “ Am I not good enough” in a nutshell and people are not getting that. 

Saying “ Am I not good enough” which can be translated to “Hey what about me?” is not good time to say when the person you are saying it too is FIANLLY venting about missing someone and letting their OWN insecuries out. 

That’s what makes me so mad about that scene because I don’t care about Seiya at that moment. 

I watched 20 plus episodes of Usagi trying to keep a brave and strong face by writing letters to Mamo and not getting a respondce, dealing with Seiya not understanding “I have a boyfriend” or “I’m not dating you.” and getting all up in her space, having the girls acting like Starlight groupies and using her in order to get close to them, dealing with a new enemy who is the strongest she ever dealt with , new senshi and the outers coming back and for one min she finally have to herself to let everything out that’s she been holding in for so damn long she gets it snatch from her again? 

Usagi finally had the mic and stage in which she barely had though the whole season since Seiya pretty had it and Seiya ripped it out of hands yet again again and made it about them.

It wasn’t about them. 

It wasn’t even about Mamo. 

This was about Usagi . 

Usagi pretty much telling everyone “ Oh I’m ok by myself” even tho she’s breaking in the inside. 

Who finally said outloud that she’s lonely and she’s missing him before she finally vented. 

and you know what’s really funny? 

Mamoru is the complete opposite. 

Mamoru NEVER dumped his shit on her like that but everyone calls him cold... 

He never made the situation about himself but honestly always about her. 

Honestly one of the main problems they had as a couple is the fact he kept things to himself so it wouldn’t be a burden to her. 

The main problem with the break up arc like I said is the fact he thought he can handle the situation by himself and not involved her in it even though she’s deeply in it since the dream was about her.  Which was a bad idea because it hurted the both of them. 

That was his whole m.o with the Rainbow Crystal arc as well. Instead of finally teaming up Moon and telling her why he needed the rainbow crystals he made her start to believe that he was the enemy.  Sure Usagi finally found out why he needed them but it was pretty much at the end of the search. 

Dream arc in the manga that was the whole problem as well. He wouldn’t tell her he was sick cause he thought he could handle the situation and not brother her because he felt like she had other things to worry about and not him. 

An introvert’s  curse...

We care about others but we rather walk alone and not get help ourselves. 

But he learned that he need to start telling her things. 

Not dumping but telling. 

But it’s funny 

She always had the mic and stage when it comes to Mamo. 

She never had it sntach out of her hands when it comes to him. 

Honestly She have to push Mamo on the stage so he can talk about himself and his problems. 

#Anonymous #tanya rants about SM

[thetokenmuggle]

From First To Last

The Prologue Included : M, Jane, Sungjae,Minah, Daniel, Tyler, Emily, Lucas

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ The Beginnings ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

“And these are your quarters.” Prince Endymion, more commonly referred to as M by his inner circle lead the Moon Princess and her royal party to the left-wing of the castle. “All the rooms are fully furnished and the staff we will be more than happy to help with any of your needs,” he said. One of the maids scoffed glaring at the interstellar royals, M shook his head not understanding why his people were suddenly so against the treaty between Elysion and the Moon Kingdom. It was a step towards the future, a golden age for their people. “Ah,” he scratched the back of his neck. “I should let you all rest, you have all had a long trip,” he said. “There is a lot planned for tomorrow,” he said nodding awkwardly. “Goodnight,” he said bowing to the Moon Princess, “Ah should i -” he said looking at her royal guard who are also the Princes and Princesses of their respective planets. “No, I’ll just go,” he said with an awkward wave before turning on his heels and speeding away, hoping to get that tragic interaction out of his head.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。

“.... Not that i think you aren’t pretty, because you are, not that you are just pretty - i mean … ” Daehyung mocked as Eunha fell into a fit of giggles beside him. The two of them were putting acting training to good use and doing a dramatized version of M’s rather tragic interaction with Princess Serenity.

“So the Prince, is he, you know, an idiot,” Mars commented with a snigger. “Do earthlings not know how to form a sentence?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I think he was just nervous,” Jupiter responded. “It’s the first time Elysian has interacted with the Moon Kingdom in a century, he has a lot riding on this,” he pointed out.

“Your majesty,” Enzo said, cutting off Eunha and Daehyung. “Do you perhaps need some tips on how to talk to a girl?” he said. M looked up, eyes narrowed, Enzo was known around the kingdom as a bit of a ladies men. “I am sure Eunha can pretend to be a lady for five minutes for you to practice,” he teased as Eunha growled at Enzo.

“Daehyung should play the princess, his blonde and we all know how much he loves the attention,” Eunha said as Daehyung ran a hand through his blonde locks.

“Oh Prince Endymion.” Daehyung teased fluttering his eyelashes before puckering his lips and blowing a kiss to M. “I better stop, I don’t want our dear prince to fall in love with little old me, it would just make things too awkward,” Daehyung grinned.

“That and he was blown away by Serenity’s beauty,” Mercury said. “I think it’s sweet,” she said with a soft smile. “Someone is just being mean because his longest relationship is the one he has with his own right hand,” she teased her brother who threw one of the many, many cushions that littered Serenity's bed, at her head.

“I am not being mean,” Mars huffed. “I am just pointing out that this Endymion is hardly princely, if acted like that Father would have Phobos and Deimos on my back like that,” he said with a click of his fingers. “And please we all know i have the most suitors apart from Venus,” he boasted, Venus looked up from brushing Serenity’s hair rolling her eyes at Mars and his antics.

“But you reject them all because you know your true love is out there, you’ve seen it in one of your premonitions,” Jupiter teased. “Could you imagine if people knew the Prince of Mars was a romantic,” he said with a whistle.

“Sungjae you are on my side right?” M said looking at his most trusted knight and oldest friend. “I wasn’t that obvious right?” he asked hopefully. Sungjae looked at him, a small smile on his face before shaking his head.

“Honestly M it was pretty bad,” he said with a frown. “But perhaps it's better this way, this is already a fragile treaty, we don’t want things to get more complicated,” he said seriously. Eunha and Daehyung booed from their spots.

“Don’t listen to Mr Moody pants over there,” Daehyung said. “Treaty Smchetty you should give the princess your meaty,” he giggled. His innuendo caused several reactions from the other shitennou, Enzo chuckled with a shake of his head, Sungjae looked disgusted and Eunha swiftly smacked across the back of the head.

“You are so lucky you prefer the company of other knights,” she said shaking her head. “M please for the love of Gaia do not take relationship advice from him,” she said rolling her eyes at her cousin. “If you really did like this Princess i suggest you be yourself, even if that does lead to some awkwardness - honestly is the best policy,” she said sincerely. Sungjae nodded in agreement but didn’t comment, not wanting to make anyone think he approved of this potential pursuit of the Moon Kingdom.

“Didn’t being yourself get you dumped by Lord Gideon,” Enzo questioned as both Eunha and Daehyung glared at him. “Okay shutting up now,”

“Min- I mean Venus,” Serenity said softly while the rest of her royal guard bickered amongst themselves. “What do you think of Prince Endymion?” she asked. When it came to opinions there was no one Serenity valued more than Venus, well apart from her mother ofcourse.

“I think he is a good man who wants what is best for his planet,” Venus said, placing the brush down on Serenity’s bed. “He is a little awkward but he has the whole planet's fate in his hands, its alot of responsibility to handle on your own,” she said. Serenity hummed, the death of the former King and his wife was a tragedy to say the least, she could only imagine what Endymion was going through.

“It must be hard,” Serenity said softly. “He seems so sweet,” she commented, a warm welcoming dimpled smile coming to mind as she spoke, her cheeks heating up as she smiled softly.

“ I am sure he is but did you forget about the rumours that Lord Jaehyun is going to start courting you when we arrive back on the moon,” Minah said softly but the warning was in her tone, don’t get too fond. “Let’s just focus on improving relations between our Kingdoms,” she said.

‘Do my ears deceive me or is the Princess of Venus telling someone to think with their brains and not with their hearts?” Mars commented in a sing-song voice. “The same Princess who was caught canoodling with several misters at her Debutante ball,” he asked, teasing.

“Your just jealous you weren’t one of them,” Jupiter laughed. “And shush you know Venus takes her position as leader of the Sailor Senshi very seriously,” he said.

“And she wishes you two would start taking it more seriously,” Venus commented. “Now off to bed you three, I will take tonight’s guard shift,” she commented getting up off Serenity's bed.

“What? Why? Venus you should rest as well,” Serenity said with a frown.

“Your highness, as much as Prince Endymion is trying not everyone else on Elysion shares the same good will,” Venus said softly, not wanting to upset her friend.

“As fun as teasing M is we have a big day tomorrow,” Sungjae commented, “We should let his highness get some rest,” he said seriously. The other Shitennou knew when he used that tone that the fun was over. “I’ll do a quick round on the Lunarian parties wing the rest of you should all go to bed, who knows who these talks will play out,” he said with a frown.

The other three stood up gathering their things and heading towards their respective rooms, not without a few quick jabs at M, Daniel telling him to dream off him before sending him another flying kiss. “M everything will be fine,” Sungjae said softly once they were alone. “You are a good ruler and everyone will see that,” he said with a quick nod before leaving to do his rounds.

M flopped back onto his bed, eyes closing as soon as his head hit the pillow, one single thought on his mind.

Tomorrow.

Tomorrow.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。

“Good morning your majesty,” Prince Endymion greeted Princess Serenity with bow as they walked into the dinning room“I hope you found the room to your satisfaction,” he said politely. Venus heard Mars snigger beside her muttering about how the prince learned to speak over night. Venus rolled her eyes knowing this wouldn’t last, as soon as the Earth Prince looked up and saw what Serenity was wearing or not wearing for that matter it would be back to mumbled words if they were lucky.

“Give her your jacket,” Venus said through gritted teeth as Mars rolled his eyes handing Serenity his jacket.

“Your highness.” Venus said carefully. “Forgive me if i am wrong but i believe Princess Serenity did not have anything planned for this morning so her attire isn’t exactly proper,” she commented stopping herself from snapping at him. Yes he was a Prince but he still had to follow protocol.

“Huh?” Prince Endymion looked up before quickly looking down, face bright red. “Oh uhm, I was just going to offer you all join us for breakfast,” he muttered.

“Why is there something wrong with the one your staff -” Mars started to speak before Princess Serenity spoke.

  “We’d love to,” Serenity said quickly, “Just give me a moment to get changed into something more appropriate,” she said looking down at her nightgown, sheer and shimmering in the Earth’s sunlight.

“Right of course, Sungjae,” he said, turning to one of his Knight’s. “Would you stay here and show them to the formal dining area,” he asked. The Knight looked between the Prince and their royal party, nodding with a frown. “Okay i’ll see you then,” Prince Endymion said with a huge smile, a huge smile that Serenity seemed to bloom under. Well this was tooth rottingly sweet, Venus knew this was going to be trouble.

“Your majesty shall we?” Venus commented as Serenity nodded turning away from Prince Endymion, a soft smile on her face. Venus and Mars moved to her sides as they made their way back to their quarters, the Prince’s Knight stood a few steps away from that all times but he was a looming figure, the sniggering staff all backed away at the sight. Something Venus appreciated because threatening to kill them in her native tongue just didn’t have the same effect.

“I’ll be right back,” Princess Serenity said to the three mostly to Endymion’s guard. “Mars, would you be able to wake Mercury and Jupiter up,” she said sweetly as Mars nodded stepping past the Elysion guard with a scowl. Venus rolled her eyes, Mars had a tough time believing that Elysian and it’s people truly wanted peace, especially after his father had filled his head with stories of the Solar wars.

Silence had fallen over the hallway, Venus standing inside of a slightly ajar door frame as to keep an on Princess Serenity. “I don’t doubt your Prince wants people but from how the staff is reacting to us i don’t your people do,” Venus said to the Guard who looked up brow cocked.

“It has admittedly been harder to convince some people that this is the best step for our future as a nation,” The guard spoke, his tone steady conveying no hint of emotion. “It has seemed to get worse of late,” he admitted. “The Prince is trying so hard to quell the situation,” he said, Venus noted their was a crack in his armor, one that mirrored her own, her Princess was always number one and she had a feeling that it was the same for this guard and Prince Endymion. With a nod silence fell over the two as they waited for the rest of the royal party to come back out. The other guards returned, Mars resuming his one sided glare off with the guard while Mercury and Jupiter looked over at him curiously.

“Mi-Venus,” The Princess shrieked, causing the four of them to rush towards the door.Only to find the Princess standing there holding up two pieces of jewellery.

“Sorry guys,” Princess Serenity said sheepishly, “I’ll be out in a minute,” she said shutting the door once Venus was in the room.

15 minutes later Princess Serenity walked back out fully dressed. “Uhm, Sungjae was it?” she asked as she stood in the hallway, her guards flanking her side. “Is this … I tried to replicate Elysian’s style,” she said smoothing down her gown. Sungjae looked her over, her outfit while a perfect replicate of an Elysian gown but the fabrics and intricate patterns was far more over the top then what an Earth girl would wear, especially not a breakfast, Sungjae knew better than to point that out.

“It’s a lovely gown your majesty, your dressmakers are very skilled,” he said softly as the younger girl smiled widely, “But please don’t feel obligated change your style to match ours, you are an esteemed guest you should be able to dress however you please,” he said politely. “Now if we are all ready,” Sungjae said ready to lead the party to breakfast. “Prince Endymion has planned a busy day for you, he is quite excited to show you all our humble palace,” he said looking at the Lunarians curiously. Today was going to be interesting.

➤ proceed to the library

➤ proceed to the gym

➤ proceed to the astronomy tower

➤proceed to the kitchen

➤proceed to the garden

[nautilusopus]

@death-rebirth-senshi i’ve complained about it before but recently as part of my hobby of archiving utter garbage for posterity, i went back and checked it and i’d like to make a few retractions of some details i got wrong, as well as screenshots to supplement previous points:

(again putting this under a cut, damn this was longer than i thought it’d be)

kaworu is letting himself get gangraped so he can pay for an abortion because he got pregnant from the other time he got gangraped (but keeps the baby because Good Girls Don’t Abort)

no one has even heard of The Gays and everyone repeatedly is confused by the notion if not outright disgusted

tifa does not leave her own bar. she lives there with rude, who she married, and is chill about him being responsible for the deaths of her friends. denzel is not kicked out of seventh heaven, but just dropped on tifa’s doorstep because that’s a thing you can do when you decide you don’t want a kid anymore because he yelled about how it’s kind of fucked that everyone’s popping out babies left and right in what was supposed to be some janky-ass analogy for homophobia that the author thought using a ten year-old boy was the best avenue for making a point and then handling said intolerance as though he were an adult. denzel has absolutely no lines after cloud kicks him out of the house so he can spend more time with his REAL children because he is not a child and thus has no thoughts of his own on this position that do not directly relate to him being used for the shittest analogy in the world out of nowhere. 

Good Writing

like man you sure fuckin changed your tune on that pretty quick, huh cloud. also tifa is objectively correct here just saying. 

eleven chapters later:

y... yay? this is the triumphant emotional climax of the fic by the way, when the author realised they ran out of antagonists so they just grabbed whoever was lying around that wasn’t sexy enough. i don’t know how i feel about being asked to root for a man that kicked a homeless orphan out of his house to live with people that don’t even like him for sassing him. once. 

denzel literally only exists to be used as a tool to make tifa look bad, first by showing how cloud loves him and tifa doesn’t, and then by showing how cruel The Curséd Hets are when cloud has him dumped on her doorstep after denzel winds up as a ten year-old strawman (strawboy). i don’t even like denzel but i’m honestly kind of at a loss for words and i hardly know where to start so i’m just gonna move on.

i think i failed to mention last time how this fic felt the need to turn their lizard brain sex pollen underage mpreg garbage into a commentary on gender roles while at the same time being teeming with so much fucking misogyny it physically hurts

cloud names his fucking kids kairi faith and riku hope

i know this sounds hypocritical coming from someone that dunks on genesis at every single opportunity i get, but there’s just something really distasteful about spending multiple paragraphs and a couple entire story arcs vilifying anyone who’s “in the way” of your preferred ship. 

like i’m sorry did i mention asuka raped someone she’d been calling “papa” for several days while he was unconscious and got herself pregnant and everyone’s fine with that and she doesn’t get kicked out of the fucking house? because i feel like i should mention again that asuka raped someone she’d been calling “papa” for several days while he was unconscious and got herself pregnant and everyone’s fine with that and she doesn’t get kicked out of the fucking house.

it’s always good to avoid ad hominem and personal attacks against the author when talking about these things but... god damn

#tw: rape #squid grumbles #tw: paedophilia #as always DO NOT SEND THIS PERSON HARASSMENT #at the end of the day they're still entitled to make whatever terrible content they want #and i do not have to click on these things and choose to anyway

[darkcloud-kcalifornia]

Alright, season finale time for My Little Pony.  I’ve been trying to avoid spoilers for this one.  No idea what’s going to happen.  So, let’s see what goes down in “Shadow Play”

* We open on the book that got the ominous sting at the end of the last episode.  So yeah, I guess we were in the finale then.

* Huh, a different set of Elements being talked about here.  OK, we’ve got Rockhoof as Strength, Flash Magnus as Bravery, Meadowbrook as Healing, Mist Mane as Beauty, Somnambula as Hope, and who I’m guessing is Star Swirl the Bearded as Sorcery.  [note to self: look up actual names]

* And apparently they had been gathered together by somepony else to embody their ideals, like the Mane 6 were.  Was this Celestia, or somepony else?

* Ooh, the gatherer was a unicorn stallion, but the ancient Elements came to believe he was just wanting to use their power for himself and so they cast him out.

* Then he became Shadow Pony, and the Pillars stood as one against him.  They beat him but had to make some kind of sacrifice to do so, and created a seed to carry hope to the future.  I wonder, was that seed the origin of the Tree of Harmony?  I’m also seeing the emergence of the sun and moon on the sides of where I have it paused right now, so maybe it’s the origins of Celestia and Luna?

* Incidentally, I am loving this lore dump.

* Oh good, Sunburst was smart enough to make a report on this directly to the Alicorn Sisters and the Mane 6.  I guess he knows who has to deal with all the destiny crap around here.

* Huh, apparently Celestia never knew what happened to Starswirl, but these were apparently his last words before vanishing.

* OK, so Celestia and Luna were around back then, but young and had only ever met Starswirl.

* Reluctant nerd hoofbump. Also, I like how Celestia doesn’t know much Old Ponish anymore due to disuse.  It’s a nice nod to what happens when you don’t use something.  I can’t imagine how bad it would be after 1000 years. I’m a bit surprised Luna isn’t more familiar with it though, given how she spent most of the time sealed away. Unless she was fully cognizant of the passage of time during those 1000 years, which is… fairly nightmareish.

* So, more to Old Ponish than she thought, actual other languages being used, or Starswirl just had horrible hornwriting.  You decide!

* Ah, sloppy writing. Only readable by somepony who is ever worse at that kind of thing.  Anyway, the last stand was at the Temple of Ponhenge at the base of Mt. Foal.  …OK, I know they try and fit in horse puns, but “Ponhenge”?  Surely they could have done better than that.

* Those ruins look nice and ruiny.  Also not much like Stonehenge, which again makes me wonder why they referenced that.

* Be careful what you wish for Twilight.  Also, be careful where you place ancient magical tomes.

* Ooooh, ancient holographic display of the final battle.  So, sealed away, and the objects each pony carried are somehow related. Well, they’ve got the book, and they know where the mask is at least, so that just leaves the flower, the blindfold, the shield, and the shovel.  Gonna be honest, might be hard finding a flower after 1000 years.

* Never underestimate Twilight’s ability to be a nerd.

* Right, so banished to Limbo, but they had to take him there themselves and so got stuck there with him.  …Who’s gonna be the idiot to try and get them out and release the Pony of Shadows in the process?

* Twilight!  Twilight shall be that idiot!  Come over here so I can slap you!

* RD does not like demonstrative models.

* Boo!  The Map stepping in to help the search is cheating! Although this might be seen as the Tree of Harmony trying to get its parents back.  Kinda touching if you think of it like that.

* Skeptical archeologist is skeptical.  Somepony should tell her she’s in a fantasy series.

* Had no idea AJ was that strong.  Oh well, Shovel Get!

* Rarity’s problem to overcome is crappy gardening?  I can’t say I think much of Mist Mane’s descendant if it never occurred to her to, you know, perform upkeep.  Or hire others to do it.  Heck, just apply for a government grant if money’s the problem, that place has got to be a historical site, and once you attract tourists you can get money for, you know, upkeep.  Flower Get.

* Actually Flash Magnus’ shield being in the Dragon Lands makes quite a bit of sense.  It was made to combat dragons after all.  Makes sense that either it would accidentally get left behind after an expedition, or stolen by the dragons to keep it from being used.

* Also, neat to see a Spike/RD teamup, even if it’s likely gonna last a minute or two of screentime.

* Ugh, seriously, Garble has it?  Somepony just kick that idiot in the face so this can be over with.

* Garble is stupidest dragon.  Seriously, he just got outwitted by Rainbow Dash.  Well regardless, Shield Get.

* Fluttershy… just help to move the zap bee hive, and didn’t even need to do that to get the mask. She just felt like it.  But then arguably her trial was a few episodes ago anyway.  Mask Get.

* Pinkie’s trail… was very Pinkie.  And that ooze was a lot less dangerous then they made it out to be.  Um, Blindfold get?

* How is Starlight the voice of reason with regards to the risk involved in this plan?

* Why didn’t Pinkie wash that thing before bringing it >P

* Oh, gee, Starswirl is horrified that somepony broke the seal what are the odds?

* Way to summon the ancient evil, Twilight.

 And there’s the end of episode 1.  Time for a stretch and snack I think.  Let’s all go to the lobby, let’s all go to the lobby…

 * Yeah, having a backup plan in case the ancient evil escaped as well would have been a great idea, Twilight.  You still have that slap coming.

* Twilight and Starlight are able to hold the PoS back with a double tech… but can’t stop him from escaping at the speed of dark.  Nice going, Twilight.

* On one hoof, having the person you’ve revered all your life give you the dirtiest look for your incompetence must suck.  On the other, she really has this coming.

* Heh, Pinkie pointing out all of the other threats they’ve had to save Equestria from is a good one. And I like how Magnus is totally down for teaming up with the modern heroes to beat PoS into submission.  But Starswirl is going to be an absolute grumpy gus about this.

* Yay, source of Tree of Harmony, and the Elements, confirmed!

* And now Starswirl is planning on sacrificing the Elements to seal PoS again.  Despite the cost to Equestria.  Yeah, getting Outer Senshi vibes from this guy.  Which is a shame, because all of the other Pillars seem to be perfectly nice and affable ponies willing to work together.

* And Twilight’s search for a different solution… just has keeping the Pillars around while still sacrificing the Elements.  And yeah, the Pillars made the elements, but did so over a long incubation period. Try following Starlight’s advice and look for a non-banishment solution, stupid.

* Kinda funny how the heroes are having trouble tracking PoS down because Equestria is a better place, so all of the old dens of darkness are just fine these days.

* Starswirl needs to get his head outta his flank.

* I think some offense was taken.

* Yeah, the narrative is leaning pretty hard against Starswirl and towards Starlight here. Especially with the whole “Once a villain, always a villain” bit.

* Thank you, Starlight, for actually asking what happened all those years ago.

* Huh, Sirens confirmed as series canon.  Odd. Mind you I don’t know that much about them as I’ve never watched the movies, but some things are unavoidable knowledge if you hang out online in the fanbase.

* The PoS’s name was Stygian?  Man, it’s like his parents wanted him to go supervillain.

* So Stygian gathered them together to fight evil, but got jealous.  At one point he stole their artifacts to work some spell or another, but was discovered before actually finishing and was cast out.  And when he came back he did so as Dark Death Evil Man. But as Starlight helps to point out, they don’t know what exactly he had been trying to accomplish with his spell, though their guess is stealing their power.

* Yeah, Starlight has had enough of Starswirl’s crap.

* Now I’m wondering who build the temple to the Shadows, as apparently it already existed before Stygian came upon it.  Also, never listen to the mythos spoken from the depths of the Earth, dude.

* Oh look, there’s more to the story than meets the eye, who could have guessed.

* Well, Twilight’s been holding the idiot ball all finale thus far, but at least she noticed the pony of Stygian within the Pony of Shadows.  Not sure diving in was the right idea though.

* OK, Stygian’s side comes out, he wanted to make copies of their artifacts in the hope it would make him a Pillar and he could join the battles.  That’s still something you really need to talk about before you go stealing stuff.

* Rainbow Friendship Lasso Beam go!

* So The Shadows are banished, but Stygian remains.  Happy end!

* Aw, Starswirl commenting on how tall Celestia got is cute!  And Luna asking not to have to turn in the essays they were supposed to 1000 years ago is just funny.

* Can’t blame the Pillars for wanting to see what’s changed over the course of a millennia.  Of course there’s the problem of nopony’s gonna believe who they are.

 And that’s the end of the season.  It was pretty good all things considered.  Although this ending does make one question how things are going to work out with the non-reformed villains.  OK, Sombra isn’t likely to be a problem, but he is still awkward in that they killed him all kinds of dead.  But the new characters introduced seem decent enough now that we actually get to see them in something other than tales.  And I’m still curious about who built the shrine to the Shadows.  Evil cultist ponies!

Also, I may not care much about shipping debates and all that, but I can definitely see Rainbow Dash/Flash Magnus being a thing.  At the very least they’re certainly chummy with each other.

#tv talk #episode reactions #my little pony friendship is magic #MLP:FiM #mlp s7 e 25 #mlp s7 e26 #shadow play

[starlingsinclair]

FF.net link: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13165490/28/Sailor-Moon-X

New chapter!!! This was the most annoying chapter to write, but I think it came out pretty well in the end. And this will have to tide you over for a bit because I don’t know when I’ll be able to update again, but this story is not abandoned! The week following the Clock Shop was among the worst of Usagi’s life. Motoki was pissed at her, Makoto thought she was overreacting, and even Ami seemed to believe she’d made a bad choice. The only person who seemed to be on her side was Minako. At least she’d finally done something Minako approved of.She needed something to take her mind off her depression. So, she did what any reasonable woman would do  she spent the morning indulging in retail therapy. Several thousand yen poorer, she headed towards the Shibuya train station to meet Naru for lunch. Well, she still hoped they were still meeting for lunch. Usagi hadn’t met up with her friends for the last month or so. Between the odd hours at Crown, Mamoru, and Senshi business, she didn’t exactly have time for social activities.Usagi, Naru, and Umino had been meeting at the same train station sushi place since high school graduation. Granted, it was a fifteen-minute or more train ride away for any of them, but no one really complained about going to Shibuya. Plus, it was cheap. (And Usagi and Naru often went shopping at the 107 afterward.)To her surprise, Usagi was right on time. She entered the little storefront, scanning the bustling lunch crowds for her friends. Umino sat alone with a looming pile of sushi plates grim look on his face. Lugging her bags over, she sat across the table from him, shuffling her bags under her feet.“Hey, Umino! Long-time, no see,” she greeted.He returned her greeting with a scowl. “Oh, look who decided to show up this time. You look like hell.”She didn’t deign him with a response to that. Instead, she opened her menu and followed up with, “Where’ Naru?”Umino’s glare deepened, a feat she’d thought impossible. Usagi did her best to quirk a skeptical eyebrow. She hadn’t seen her friend this disgruntled in years, or at least, the lack of bottle-glass glasses wasn’t there to hide his annoyance.“Probably out with her new boyfriend,” he grumbled. “I mean, everyone seems to be hooking up and not even bothering to tell me.”Usagi blanched. Naru had a boyfriend? And didn’t tell <i>her</i>? To cover her own annoyance, she fiddled with the order screen, selecting various goodies off the menu (and secretly hoping Umino wouldn’t notice she was ordering on his dime.)“New boyfriend?” she asked, casually. “She didn’t mention anything about it to me.”Umino chugged his beer while she watched wide-eyed. It was very unlike the nerd to day drink. That was usually her and Naru’s Schick.“Yeah. Some guy she met at that club in January,” he continued. “I don’t know what the big deal is. Other than he has great hair.”While Umino ranted, she texted Naru under the counter: <i>You have a new squeeze and didn’t tell me?!?</i>“And you,” Umino said, turning on her, “Mamoru? Really?”Usagi looked away. “Not anymore.”“What? That’s a shame. I assumed you two were soulmates or something. He was the whole reason I stopped crushing on you in middle school.”Usagi blinked. “How much beer have you had?”“Not enough.”“Okay, but let’s backtrack a moment, Mamoru was the reason you stopped crushing on me?” Usagi pried as the server set some plates on the table. She tried to subtly pull them towards her, though Umino started to help himself.“You two were something,” he said. “Like, sparks and all that. Two comets headed towards a collision.”Usagi smirked, thinking about her youth and her legendary battles at Crown. Thinking about how her skin tingled whenever he touched her. Or when their lips collided underneath the fireworks.“Besides, we weren’t ever going to work,” Umino added, gesturing between the two of them. “So will Crown reopen?”“How have you always been the most up to date on things?” She stuffed another piece of sushi in her mouth.“Well, I actually check my Instagram,” Umino said.“But you never post!”“Secret to my success.” Sighing, he pulled out his phone (with its fancy camera that secretly made Usagi jealous because that would make her Instagram so much better). Unlocking it, he showed Usagi Naru’s feed.The photo was subtle as if Naru was trying to keep her subject from knowing he was being photographed. The red head’s face was mostly cut off, though the sparkle in her eyes certainly betrayed her excitement. However, Usagi’s stomach dropped as she recognized the man her best friend was with. Long auburn hair, sharp cheekbones, and an olive completion. Naru’s new boyfriend was Nephrite. <i>Fuck</i>.“So, what do you think, Usa?” Umino said, a sadness in his voice. “Trouble or true love.”Chewing her lip, she finally answered, “Trouble.”Umino smirked at this. “You think so? Then, we should certainly do something about it.”Usagi ordered herself a beer and she and Umino began their plot: Operation Naru Deserves Better.XXXThe plan was to lure Naru and her new beau to a hip little karaoke parlor. They would drink, be merry, and convince Naru she could do better. At least, superficially. What she was going to do about Nephrite, she was just going to wing it and hope the opportunity to purify him happened. This meant she needed backup. She lay on her bed looking waiting for her teammates to text her back.“I don’t see why you don’t just contact Minako,” Luna commented.“Because this is a delicate situation,” Usagi tried to explain. “And Minako’s solution would be to barge into the Karaoke bar in full Senshi hensin and start attacking.”“It is a rare opportunity to know exactly where an enemy may be. One that is likely to be off his guard,” Luna counted.“Yes, but, it would also destroy Naru. She’d be heartbroken, and frankly, if I were her, I wouldn’t trust the Senshi after that. Plus, she just thinks Nephrite is a normal guy, not a monster,” Usagi continued.The cat scowled and she lay on her paws beside the woman. “I see your point.”The phone chimed, and Usagi groaned.“Who is it?”“Ami. And she says, ‘I believe you are making a mistake. Talk to Mamoru and leave your friend’s love life alone.’”“Well, she does have a point,” Luna said. “Perhaps honesty is the best path forward here.”“You think I should tell Mamoru I’m Sailor Moon?” Usagi asked, surprised.“No. I think perhaps you should tell Naru that her boyfriend is an agent of the Dark Kingdom,” Luna chided.Her phone chimed again, and she groaned once more.“Mako has a catering gig,” Usagi grumbled into her pillow.Luna tilted her head.“Unlike Minako, I understand that the rest of us need income to survive.”Her phone pinged again with a message from Rei: <i>What if he recognizes us? From the club two months ago?</i>Well, shit. That was a good point, and it reminded her of her last run-in with Nephrite at Fitness Darque. Quickly, she typed back, He might already have recognized me.Three dots indicating typing. Usagi held her breath.And you didn’t think this was pertinent information?!?“What’s wrong?” Luna asked.“Rei is afraid Nephrite will recognize her,” Usagi grumbled.“Your glamour should protect you.”She chewed her lip. “He might have already recognized me.”“Usagi!”“He doesn’t know my name!”“And you think you’ll be able to keep that from him in this situation?” the cat scolded. “No, it’s best if Rei hangs back. Perhaps you should plead with Ami or Makoto..”“Yeah, he might recognize them too. Since we did that gym sting.”Luna rolled her eyes. “Well, you can’t go alone. You need someone as a back-up. Maybe you should bite the bullet and call Minako…”Usagi looked at her recent messages, thumb hovering over who she could possibly message for back-up. Then, one contact caught her eye. “Wait, I’ve got someone else in mind…”XXXThey walked along the sidewalk. Jadeite moved quickly, shoulders hunched forward and eyes looking at the ground as if this were single-handedly the worst decision he ever made.“This is a terrible idea,” he grumbled.“No, a terrible idea would be going in alone,” Usagi said as she walked beside him. “This just is a last resort idea.”With the utmost grace, he turned around mid-step as if to run away from the whole thing. She managed to loop her arm through his and keep him from fleeing.Jadeite sighed. “He’s going to know I’ve been tipping you off. They’re going to come after me, and try to bring me back or… kill me. That’s a real possibility.”“I won’t let them. I’ll protect you.”“That’s funny because here I was thinking you were bringing me along to protect you,” he grumbled.“We’re protecting each other. Besides, maybe Nephrite will surrender and I can heal him and he can go be with Naru or whatever.”Jadeite sighed, again.“I think you’re a witch,” he suddenly said. “You are insanely good at talking people into your bad ideas.”“I have never talked you into anything before!”“Not in this lifetime.”Usagi opened her mouth to press more on that issue when she noticed they had been arguing in front of the little cafe she and Mamoru had finished their first real date at. The window had been repaired, and it looked as though the place had used the disaster to remodel the entire interior. Gone were the little bistro tables, replaced by something chicer. She stared longingly into the window thinking about just what this hellish life was costing her.She noticed Jadeite’s reflection beside her. He was desperately trying to figure out what he was missing.“This is where Mamo-chan and I had our first date,” Usagi supplied.“Okay…”“I dumped him after I stopped that clock store youma,” Usagi continued. “I couldn’t keep the secrets anymore.”Jadeite nodded with understanding. “If it helps, I think there’s someone perfect out there for you.”“Yeah,” she continued with a bitter smile. “Hopefully he doesn’t mind waiting just a little bit.”She got the impression that he wanted to say more, or maybe pry more. Yet he kept his mouth shut. Something brushed against her leg and she looked down to see a very fat cat.“I know you,” she whispered as she knelt down to scratch behind the cat’s ears. “You should probably get home before your girl starts to wonder about you.”The fat cat looked at her as if she clearly didn’t understand the way cats worked before sauntering off down an alleyway.Deciding they had dawdled too much, Usagi threaded her arm through his and they walked a few storefronts down to the karaoke bar. As they opened the stairwell door, she paused to ask, “You don’t think this is some trap do you?”Jadeite gave her a look to say “really?”“You came up with an evil clock store. I mean, I wouldn’t put energy-draining karaoke club past your mastermind level schemes.”“Touche,” he said as he began his descent down the stairs to the first level basement. Jadeite opened the door while she double-checked her text messages to find out which room Naru was in. The reception clerked looked up with a smile as Usagi told them the room number, and they walked down the hall of muffled, unassuming rooms until they found the number that matched the text. The two blondes looked at each other, nodded, and entered.The room could fit maybe ten adults. The melody of a pop song from Usagi’s childhood played on slightly too loudly, the words scrolling on a screen just left of the door. The red upholstered booth formed a semicircle with a black table in the center. Two empty beers and three half-full ones sat on a table beside two unused microphones. Umino sat across from the new couple like an interrogator. Nephrite had positioned himself casually in a bend, clearly intent on trapping himself inside and keep from signing.“Usagi!” Naru greeted, energetically. “You here!” There was a silent <i>thank god</i> in the girl’s eyes. Slowly Usagi entered the room, her eyes flickering between Umino (who was stewing in jealousy), Naru (who seemed intensely uncomfortable), and Nephrite, whose head was just slightly cocked as he appraised Usagi.“This is my boyfriend, Masato. Masato, this is my best friend, Usagi.”Nephrite held out his hand, and Usagi reluctantly took it. He gripped it tightly, and her stomach sunk. Staring her straight in the eyes, Nephrite said, “Usagi. It’s nice to finally be introduced.”Ah. Shit.“Do you two know each other?” Umino asked curiously.“I remember her from my club before it was shut down. She and her friends had come by for a drink rather early one evening.”Usagi tried not to visibly grimace. Jadeite cleared his throat, and even Nephrite couldn’t keep his poker face.“Oh, I bought my new friend,” Usagi said, pulling her hand out of Nephrite’s and gesturing towards Jadeite. “J,” Jadeite introduced, studdering as if realizing he’d never picked a modern name. “Dite.”“Like the DJ?” Umino questioned.“Um, yeah.”“Whatever happened to that show?” Naru followed. “I really liked it.”Jadite blinked, clearly struggling to find an excuse. “The radio station went in a different direction.”“Well that sucks. I thought you had a good program,” Naru said.“So, anyway, how about we order some drinks?” Usagi said. They were going to need them.XXXWell, this couldn’t be any more awkward. Usagi caterwauled another song into the microphone with Naru hoping that as long as the music kept going, she buy her time to figure out a plan. So far, Nephrite was being a perfect gentleman, even if he was occasionally giving her the evil eye. She needed to get him alone, rattle him up.An opportunity finally presented itself when Umino stepped up for a duet with Naru. As he took the microphone from the blonde, Naru turned to her boyfriend. “Oh, do you think you could step out and check on our food? I’m getting really hungry.”Nephrite nodded with a grunt.“Oh! I’ll go with you!” Usagi intruded. This was not suspicious only because she was Usagi and therefore, always needed to know about the food. Nephrite narrowed his eyes at her and she gave Jadeite a look as she passed that she hoped he interpreted as <i>if I’m not back in five minutes send for help</i>.She shut the door behind her, her hand lingered on the doorknob as she steeled herself. With the music muffled, the awkwardness intensified. She breathed deeply to turn towards Nephrite, however, he was halfway down the hall. Damn, that man had some long legs.“Wait!” He stopped and took a deep breath before turning around. He glared at Usagi. “Yes?”“So,” she floundered for words. Now what? She had him alone; did she interrogate him? “Is this some energy-draining scheme? What are the microphones designed to suck your lifeforce.”The difference between his resting face and his scowl was minimal. “No.”“Then what are you doing here? What do you want with Naru?”He turned and faced the wall, staring at the generic painting of a lighthouse as if it would provide the answer. “Is it so hard for you to believe that I have no ulterior motive here? Can you say the same? That you’re only here because Naru really wanted us to get along?”She opened her mouth to retort, but, what <i>was</i> she doing here? She had planned to convince her friend she was dating a monster but was that true? Jadeite wasn’t a monster when it didn’t involve the Dark Kingdom, maybe Nephrite deserved the benefit of the doubt too.“If you’re just going to stand there gaping like an idiot, I’m going to check on the order.”She watched him continue down the hallway and thought, maybe Ami was right. She should stay out of her friend’s love life. Perhaps she was just jealous of Naru, bitter her own love life had been tested and failed.In the distance, he talked with the host, who became quite embarrassed. Nephrite did nothing nefarious, nothing to intimate the poor man or even suggest that he was using his power. Why did he have to be a semi-decent boyfriend? That made all of this that much harder.After the host was gone, she moved down the hallway. She needed to talk to him without prying ears.“I propose a truce.”He startled a little at her voice, a small jump of his shoulders. When he turned to face her, he was only slightly less stoic.She held out her hand. “I propose neither of us uses Naru against each other. I won’t tell her about your day job and you won’t tell her about my moonlighting gig.”He quirked his head with a bit of a <i>really?</i> expression at her pun.“Whatever happens between us, we leave Naru out of it. This also means no using her to find out info on me, and I will do the same,” she finished.Nephrite chewed his lip, mulling over her proposition. If he said no, then she’d know he was a monster once and for all. If he agreed to her proposal… “Agreed.”“And no going after Jadeite either,” she added. “He came here as a favor to me. I don’t want that to be what kills him.”“I wish no ill-will on that fool. Some of my cohorts will not be so magnanimous.”She nodded. Before she could say anything else, the host came out, teetering with two trays of food. Nephrite carefully took a tray from the man, and they returned to their room.XXXThe remaining time at the karaoke parlor passed with surprising ease. Jadeite was hiding a surprising set of pipes under that unassuming exterior, and Nephrite even awkwardly joined Naru for a duet. Usagi ate her feelings in snacks. She was having entirely too good of a time.When they exited, the group was tipsy, smiling, and discussing dinner plans, until a scream ripped through the air. Usagi sobered immediately.It was the little girl and her cat - a cat she’d saved before. This time, Zoisite flanked the youma beside him, cornering the girl against the cafe wall. Usagi clenched her fist, eyes darting around to her allies, trying to maneuver a plan in her head.She barely had time to think before Jadeite stepped up, positioning himself between the group and the danger. “Get out of here, now!” Nephrite coordinated with Jadeite in a way that only comes from years of teamwork. He took Naru’s arm with a nod, yielding the battling to the blondes their battle. The screaming continued as the cat was engulfed by dark energy.“It was the cat!?” Usagi exclaimed.The creature jumped from the little girl’s arms as it shifted and grew into a werewolf cat of horror movies. The child fell to the ground, screaming. The Great Youman growled deep, something like a bastardized purr.The violet crystal floated between Zoisite and the newly formed monster. Shit! They were going to get yet another crystal, and there was nothing Usagi could do about it. Though, what would Minako say about the scenario? Reveal her identity or lose a crystal? A rose struck Zoisite’s hand, and the gem scattered to the ground as the general found himself grappling with Tuxedo Kamen. It rolled across the pavement, hitting the sobbing little girl’s side. Zoisite’s youma lackey turned its attention to the new barrier between it and its master’s prize.In the most surprising event, Umino raced forward, past Jadeite, scooping the little girl into his arms as they dodged scooping claws. Their maneuver knocked the crystal even farther away.“Umino!” Naru screamed.“Shit,” Jadeite muttered, hesitating just a moment before rushing into the fray.The cat monster looked at Umino and the girl, head cocked, as Jadeite joined their side.“Kill them! Get the crystal!” the lackey commanded. Instead, Great Youma turned and struck the monster. Well, that was unexpected and very cat-like. Still, there was too much at risk to just sit on the sidelines.She looked over her shoulder at her hysterical friend. Naru didn’t know the nuances at play; all she knew was her friend had rushed into danger and that she was afraid.“Get her to safety,” Usagi commanded.“I would never let anything befall her,” he replied. Without hesitating, he swooped Naru off her feet to carry her away. She was angry, beating her fists against Nephrite’s shoulder.“We can’t leave them! We have to do something!”Usagi didn’t hear his answer as she messaged Rei before stepping off to the side and summoning her transformation. Armored and as ready as she’d ever been, she headed into battle.Sailor Moon analyzed the scene before her. Jadeite was living up to his reform, doing his best to distract the giant cat monster from Umino as he picked up the child. Tuxedo Kamen and Zoisite were engaged in some battle of flowers - razor roses and cherry blossoms swirled in floral warfare. The lesser youma was still on the ground, wounded but being as it wasn’t dust, not dead. The violet crystal glistened, calling to her. The Great Youma seemed unsure of which prey it really wanted. She knew what she needed to do.“Hey, pussy!” Sailor Moon called, trying to catch the monster’s attention. She hoped her gut was right. “They’re trying to help the girl. If you need someone to pick on, pick on me.”That seemed to capture the cat’s attention, and it turned its focus to Moon. She smirked.As Jadeite tried to help Umino escape, the wounded lackey turned its attention towards him, blocking their path. “Just where do you think you’re going, traitor?”The former general tried to side-step the monster while providing cover for Umino and the girl, but the monster parried step for step. There was no way he was getting past.“Get her to safety!” Jadeite instructed. Umino paused only long enough to process the situation, before nodding to the other man and carrying the crying child away. Alone now, he looked around, searching for some kind of weapon no doubt. Moon had to trust that he could hold his own; he had been a formidable enemy before. Right now, she had her own monster to battle.The giant cat monster stood upright on two strange hind legs, looming over Sailor Moon. It tilted its head at her, analyzing. She circled, trying to wrap her mind around what was happening. Why wasn’t it attacking? Why was it so calm? So cat-like? Looking into its eyes, it was almost as if the creature recognized her. Did it remember her saving it weeks ago? It was possible; it had defended its owner. Ryo had resisted attacking Ami. It wasn’t unprecedented.Carefully, she held her hand out, as if she were going to stroke the massive cat. “It’s okay, Rhett. You remember me? I’m not going to hurt you.”Its ear twitched, but it didn’t move. That counted as a good sign from a cat, right? As she reached out, she froze. The air around her was heating up. She knew that feeling - back-up had arrived. <i>Oh no</i>.Mars’s fire pelted into the youma, and it screamed. Moon’s face fell. <i>No</i>. She had been so <i>close</i>.Moon heard the heels clicked on the pavement beside her before she registered her fellow Senshi out of the corner of her eye. “What were you waiting for?” Mars asked.“It wasn’t going to attack me!”The monster looked up at the two girls, fury in its eyes. Whatever kindness it had considered had evaporated. With an angry growl, the creature slammed its massive paws into the ground between Moon and Mars. The girls dodged.“Mars,” Moon commanded. “Go help Jadeite. I’m going to try to calm this beast again.”“Why should I help that former Dark Kingdom scum?”She rolled her eyes and groaned. “Because he’s not a monster! And I’ve got this!”Emotions wrestled over Mars’s face as she listened to Moon’s direction. Usagi didn’t waste anymore time on her ally, instead she pushed past. Reluctantly, Mars moved to help Jadeite.Hands out, and using her calmest voice, Moon cried, “Rhett! Calm down, she didn’t know!”The giant monster before her responded to its old name. It blinked at her, as if trying to wake through the fog. “It’s okay. You’re going to be <i>okay</i>.”It was working; the cat youma stepped towards her.“That’s right. Who’s a good kitty?”Then, it stepped on something. Both Moon and the monster looked down at the violet crystal that blended into the pavement. Usagi’s brain worked overtime and she tried to suss out just how she could save the monster and get the crystal.“Bakene!” Zoisite cried as Tuxedo Kamen pinned him against a wall. “Get me that crystal!”In a moment of true cat-like nature, Bakene looked at the crystal then to Zoisite before batting the crystal away with one of its long claws.“No!” Zoisite screamed. Seeing his chance, Tuxedo Kamen let the general go before rushing towards the crystal.Zoisite started to follow, when a flying bicycle hit him in the side. Jadeite and Mars stood side by side, a smoldering pile of ashes near Mars’s feet. Moon almost expected the pair to high-five.Tuxedo Kamen dove for the crystal, snatching it up before dashing away. Moon bit the inside of her lip in resolve. She needed to let the mask man get away. It was better in his hands than the Dark Kingdom. As she turned to challenge the general, Bakane growled at her. <i>Shit.</i>Kamen turned his head, slowing his run. He was weighing his escape verus her protection“No!” Jadeite cried. “Run! I’ll protect her!”Kamen seemed surprised by this, but as Jadeite moved to her side, the masked hero took off again. Mars moved to intercept Zoisite, flames glowing in her hands.“You little bitch, you better let me pass,” Zoisite growled.“Yeah, I don’t think so,” she answered, throwing a fireball towards him.A trash can slammed into the Great Youma, sending plastic drink bottles and bags scattering. Ears flattening, the cat turned towards Jadeite. Still, it was enough to distract the monster, and that was all Moon needed.“Moon Healing Escalation!”As her magic washed over Bakane, it looked up to the sky before calming reverting back to a very fat cat. As if nothing happened, the cat flopped down and began licking its butt.Moon barely had time to feel pleased with herself when she noticed Jadeite rushing across the battlefield. Mars was covered in small, little cuts, drops of blood glistening like rubies on her skin.“Shit,” Moon cursed under her breath. Without hesitation, she pulled her tiara from her head and sent it flying.Jadeite, however, sent an entire ice cream vending machine flying into Zoisite. While the General dodged the Senshi attack, did did not dodge the machine.Jadeite moved beside Mars, awkwardly trying to figure out how he could help.Prying himself through the machine like he was a human-shaped can opener, Zoisite emerged with a grunt. “You traitorous dick!” he cried as he wiped the blood from his mouth.“I’m not the traitor Zoi,” Jadeite said in that cryptic way he was so fond of.Moon readied her wand, yet, before she could summon her magic, a portal opened and a new general stepped through. This man cut an imposing image: tall with long white hair. Carefully, he lifted Zoisite up into his arms, princess style.Mars summoned more fire, but Jadeite placed his hand on her shoulder shaking his head. “Not the time.”“Kill them Kunz,” Zoisite whined. “Kill them all.”“I see that Jadeite lives,” the white haired man said, his voice deep and laced with menace. “And that he has chosen a different side.”“I’m not on the wrong side, Kunzite.”Moon walked slowly towards the others, making sure that she was between the bad guys and the cat, and to stand by allies.“Do they have the crystal?”“No, that Masked asshole ran off with it,” Zoisite grumbled.“Then we have no business here.”“What? Kunz, no! We make them…” Zoisite’s tirade was cut off as the two generals disappeared into the black portal.Jadeite breathed a sigh of relief. Sailor Moon bend down and picked up Rhett Butler, which reminded her just how heavy the damn cat was.“Well, that was unexpected,” she commented.“So, where the hell is Nephrite?” Mars asked, turning to Moon.Moon snuggled the cat, who started purring. “I don’t think he’s really going to be a problem.”“Don’t underestimate him,” Jadeite added. “He may not risk your identity right now, but if Naru were out of the picture, there would be nothing holding him back.”“He knows your identity?!?”Moon turned to start walking the cat back to its owner. “I guess that just means I need to heal him,” she called back in a sing-song voice.

[forkanna]

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Thanks for your reviews, I'm glad you guys seem to be enjoying! Forkannukkah will keep chugging along!

WARNING: Themes of depression and underage drinking. Also, Naru is "Molly" for those who grew up with the old DiC dub. (Similarly, next chapter "Makoto" is "Lita" from the DiC dub. I probably don't have to tell you this but... better than help when not needed than not help when needed!)

Act 3. Naru: Moving On

"I'm really worried about her."

Usagi could scarcely spare Ami a glance as they walked along the pavement, their schoolbags clutched in front of their legs and bumping up and down with the rhythm of their steps. This had been something she was avoiding thinking about lately. How could she live with herself? Her friend had been out "sick" for nearly a week, and she had barely even tried to visit her twice. It was simply easier to mentally check out and avoid the entire situation.

The fact that Naru Osaka had lost someone very dear to her was a very large part of what complicated matters. Just because she had no idea Masato Sanjouin was the same person as Nephrite of the Dark Kingdom didn't mean it was easy for Usagi to let the matter go. How could she care for him as if he were a real man? How could he have been an agent of evil, frequently sending monsters after herself and Rei and Ami, her close friends and fellow Sailor Senshi, and Naru never see it, never question why he was so evasive when she would attempt to get closer to him? It boggled her bun-headed brain.

"Me, too," was all she wound up saying as they walked. Then she sighed. "Do you want to come to Crown with me today?"

"The Game Center or Fruits?"

"Either one. Just… to relax for a little while."

Ami didn't exactly look thrilled with the idea. The reason was revealed a second later when she said, "I'm taking an extracurricular math course, hoping to improve my high school placement scores. And I need to study for tomorrow's assignment. Sorry."

"Oh."

"Why don't you go and see her? I'm sure once you do, you'll probably feel a lot better."

Frowning down at her shoes, she sighed and said, "You're right. Just, like… it's hard. He was the Enemy! How are we supposed to forget about that?"

"Believe me, it's hard for me, as well. And for Rei. But I can appreciate that to Naru-san, Nephrite was a completely different person. And maybe… she's the one who was right about him."

"You think so? I mean… I know he seemed really different at the end there, but like, if he's not around to put his money where his mouth is…" She squirmed uncomfortably. It was hard, since she always wanted to see the best in people. But when it came to the enemies of the Moon Kingdom, they had done so much widespread damage to humanity that was it was a lot more of an uphill battle for her to give them any second chances. Even in memoriam.

Ami had stopped walking. Usagi was about to cross the street when she noticed, wobbled for a second, then went down like a tonne of bricks. Rolling her eyes, Ami paced over and helped her up.

"Try not to think of this as being about Nephrite. Think of it as… Naru lost a friend. One you didn't know — considering that none of us knew him the way she did, he may as well be a separate person. Focus on Naru and what she's going through."

Nodding, Usagi looked sufficiently chagrined as she brushed off her knees. "You're right, I guess. I'm… yeah, I'll go over there right now."

"Good. That's the spirit."

"Thanks for the pep talk!" Then she dashed toward a side street that would take her to Naru's apartment.

                                                                ~ o ~

The room was dark when Usagi creaked open the door. Her mother had let her right in, hoping that she could help figure out why her daughter was "being unreasonable". Considering the only explanation Mrs. Osaka had was that she had an older friend who suddenly passed away and no more details than that, it wasn't that hard to understand why she had little empathy for her grieving daughter.

Second to the darkness, Usagi noticed the smell and her nose wrinkled. It was a little ripe in there. Not bad enough that she needed a gas mask, but she certainly couldn't see herself hanging around for very long. Unless her nose started to get used to it after a while.

"Naruuuu-chaaaan!" she called out cheerfully. This was one of the first times in her life she could remember having to do this as an act; normally, she really was in a good mood, but now she was feigning it for Naru's sake. "It's the weekend! Come play the new Sailor V at the Game Center!"

Her friend's matted red hair turned in her direction very slightly from where she sat curled in on herself, back against the headboard. The blanket was still draped over her knees, though it only looked as if she had sat up from where she was sleeping to put it there. The dark circles under her eyes told a very clear story of sleepless nights and crying. It only took a second for her face to turn away, back to the blinds drawn in front of the window.

"It's a gorgeous day!" Goose-stepping across the room, she pulled the blinds open, ignoring the slight grunt from the bed. Maybe it was a little selfish, but she also threw the window open so the wind could freshen the stale air.

"Ngh…"

Hopping back over to the bed, she sat on the edge of it and smiled at Naru. "Hey, I was also thinking — we're a little young, but maybe we if we went with Ami and Rei, we could all go to Okinawa or something! Wouldn't that be great? Beaches, stuffing ourselves with soba and tonkatsu, sightseeing?"

No response.

"Hmm… maybe we need to wait for the break; a weekend isn't long enough to really have fun. Well, what about going to the movies? Feels like forever since we saw a movie together."

Nothing. Her arms curled a little tighter around her knees, but her expression was just as dead and empty as it had been before. Usagi was trying not to let it affect her; she had sworn going in that her one mission was to cheer her up, and not to let the gloom spread in the other direction. That wasn't going to help anyone.

"Alright, we're going to the Game Center today, at least." No response, but she didn't expect one. So instead of trying to talk to her more, she started pulling her from the bed by the arm. "C'mon, let's go."

"Ugh…" Naru winced, and she was frowning, but she also wasn't fighting her.

Once down the hall, she pushed her into the bathroom and sat her on the toilet while she got the water running. Naru did get up and try to go back to her room once, but Usagi catching her arm was enough to get her to give up that fight instantly. Seemed that actually putting effort into something was even less desirable than being forced to bathe.

"You take care of this, and I'll go find some clean clothes," she ordered once the water was drawn. "And then we'll have a nice day out. Sound good?" No answer, of course. "Faaaabulous! Let's do it!"

Once she was out of the bathroom, having briefly stayed to watch Naru roll her eyes and start peeling off her shirt, Usagi could let her own smile drop. She felt awful. It was harder than she thought, maintaining a facade of cheeriness when all she wanted was to cry for her friend. Even if she didn't understand why she cared so much about the ex-villain, the last thing she wanted was for Naru to be in pain.

When she came back, she was at least satisfied to see her friend in the bath, though she didn't look any better otherwise. Usagi shoved her head underwater, which at least got her limbs flailing, then pulled her back up once her hair was good and damp.

"Usa-chan, what the HELL?!"

"Oh, so you don't have laryngitis?" Usagi laughed easily. "Good! Was kinda worried for a minute there." She received a grunt in response as she began to shampoo her, working the suds up into a lather.

"Shut up."

Shaking her head as she took a washbowl and collected some water, she said, "Sorry, I can't. If you won't say more than five words to me, then I gotta be the one to keep up the whole conversation." No reply, again, so she dumped the water over her head, rinsing away the shampoo. "Feels weird doing this in the tub instead of outside it. So Western."

"Sure."

"Naru… I'm sorry I didn't come by earlier. Just didn't know what to say after you wouldn't talk to me last time." Silence. "Like, I wanted to think of something else to say, but…"

"Don't worry about it."

"Okay. Um… how have you been?" No reply as she handed her a washcloth. Naru only stared at it, so she put the bar of soap in the middle to help prompt her along. It worked; she sighed and started lathering it up. "Okay, um, I'm gonna get out of here. But if you take more than like, fifteen minutes, I'm coming back in to wash your butt for you."

"Usaaaa," she whined out in sheer frustration and annoyance. But finally, she looked over her shoulder at Usagi's expression for a few seconds before casting her teal eyes back down into the water. "Fine."

"Great! See you in a few!"

Once outside the bathroom, she moved off to the kitchen to dry off her arms. She hadn't wanted to hang around in there, since she could tell Naru was about at her wit's end with her.

"Were you able to get through to her?" Naru's mother asked when she followed her in there.

"Not really," Usagi sighed, leaning back against the counter. "But I got her to take a bath? Like, that's better than nothing, right?"

The woman sighed, and somehow even the sigh was elegant. Mayumi Osaka was a lot more glamorous than her daughter, wavy hair always short and sporty, yet perfectly crimped and soft-looking, wearing the jewellery pieces from her own shop that complemented her figure and features best. Usagi always wondered if that was why Naru kept her own sense of style rather simple; when your mother always looked almost too perfect, why try to compete?

"I just don't understand what I'm doing wrong. Yes, I understand this friend's death was a tragedy, but it's been a week now. She should at least be able to go back to school, come to dinner. I've had to leave her food at the door, and sometimes she doesn't even eat it…"

Usagi wasn't sure what to do. How does one go about comforting a grown-up? That was definitely nothing she had ever needed to do before. So she only shrugged and said, "Hey, she yelled at me when I dunked her head underwater to get it wet, so if she's strong enough to yell, I guess she's okay, right?'

"Suppose so. Anyway, thank you for trying." She flashed her a tight smile and moved off to check on her daughter.

                                                                ~ o ~

Half an hour later, Naru was dressed and in her room, sitting on her desk chair. Usagi had to cajole and prod her a little more to get her ready to leave, but she did it with few vocal complaints. Then they were on their way to Game Center Crown. She thought Naru really looked sweet with her blue-and-white-striped top and her khaki shorts, but she didn't seem to care either way.

"So!" she burst out with a huge smile. "What about a movie later? Like, the newest one from Ghibli? We could… go see that after the Game Center!"

Still nothing, but she was at least putting one foot in front of the other. After a few seconds, Usagi reached over to take her hand and began swinging it back and forth. She was pretty worried that she would fling her arm away, or at least dig her nails in to cause her slight pain, but no such thing occurred. She simply accepted the reality that she was going to be hanging out with her today.

Even if she didn't seem to like it much.

When they got to Crown, they walked into the Game Center with vastly different expressions. Usagi's remained hopeful, but Naru looked dead inside. She was hoping no one else would notice. It didn't take long for her to spot Ami and Rei crowded around a Sailor V machine, and she started leading the both of them over to it.

"Hey!" Ami said immediately, smiling sweetly at Naru. "It's good to see you!" Rei remained focused on her gameplay, of course; she had been bound and determined to get as good at the game as Ami was without even trying. She was already almost as good as Usagi, despite having played it far less.

"Rrrrgh! These stupid monsters are really gonna get it now!" Obviously not improving much today.

"Naru was looking a little pale, so I thought maybe she needed to get out for a while!" Usagi provided, feeling stupid for having to make a weird excuse. But she hoped that would be less weird than if she didn't make one, and Naru just stayed silent.

"Of course, of course." Ami seemed hesitant to pat her arm, but she made herself do it. There wasn't much reaction. "Would she like to play? I've got plenty of spare change…"

"She can hear just fine," Naru sighed, though she didn't look like she wanted to be talking. Even Rei looked up at that, a little concern in her gaze. "Just… don't like talking much right now."

After a brief silence, a horrible noise came from Rei's machine of squealing death. She suddenly whipped around with a muttered "Damn!" and tried to save her last life.

"See? I'm already bringing everybody down just being here. Sorry…"

"What?" Ami gasped, blinking in shock. "Oh, don't worry, you aren't bringing-"

Naru left so fast that Usagi didn't have a chance to snag her first. Barely glancing back at her other friends, she had to dash out afterward and chase her a few blocks before she caught up to her. Plenty of passerby gave startled cries or had to leap out of the way, but she couldn't spare them any concern when all of hers was focused on one person.

"Let me go, Usagi!"

"Why are you running? Come on, Rei didn't really care that she lost that game! We all care a lot more about you than about Sailor V!"

"I don't know why! I'm just…" Her hands came up to pull at her freshly-brushed hair as her eyes screwed down shut. "I don't care about anything anymore! Masato's gone! I couldn't save him, I couldn't… Sailor Moon had to help me, and she couldn't save him, either! And why did I have to fall for him if he was a bad guy? He never was to me, b-but Zoisite said… he used to work with them! Whoever they are! What's wrong with me?!"

They were both quiet for a moment, Naru quivering with the effort of trying to hold in such a huge explosion of some emotion or another that neither of them was sure what it would be. Tears were already pricking at the corners of Usagi's eyes, but she was determined not to be the "big baby" everyone thought she was this time.

"Naru… it's not you, there's… nothing wrong with you, okay? Oh my God, I'm so sorry you thought…"

"There is," she whispered when Usagi didn't finish her sentence right away. "I fell for the wrong guy! Like you kept acting like going out with that Mamoru creep was the worst idea in the world, but Masato was an actual killer! Wasn't he? I m-mean, I know you wouldn't know, but like, if he was friends with those crazy monster people…"

Biting her tongue so she wouldn't give anything away about her secret identity, she slid her arm tightly around Naru's shoulders and pulled her in close. She tried to pull away — actually fought back against the hug, and she felt a few tears spill over at that.

"Naru, I'm not trying to hurt you! C'mon, it's me! We've known each other our whole lives, right? You can just… anything you need to say, or yell at me, o-or whatever, I'm not going anywhere! Okay?"

"But I don't want you to stay! Makes it too hard to… to punish myself f-for ignoring your warnings!"

That took Usagi aback. "Warnings? What do you mean, 'punish'? You don't have to-"

"I remember what you said," she growled through her teeth. "About him being bad, a-and I didn't wanna see it, didn't wanna know anything like that about him because he was so glamorous and strong, handsome, and he was paying attention to me! B-but he was probably just using me…"

"I'm sorry, Naru! I wasn't… I just wanted to protect you, but like, I didn't know for sure he'd turn out to be a jerk, it was just… I mean, an older guy wanting to date a girl our age? Kinda fishy… but that isn't saying you're not worth it! Don't be ridiculous, I know you are!"

"How am I worth it? Me, who's got nothing goin' for her but… well, nothing! Lame hair, lame clothes, decent grades that won't get me in anywhere besides a junior college!"

With a slight laugh, she squeezed Naru a little more. "Like I'll even get in there. Seriously, don't sweat all this right now, okay? We have years before that even happens." Naru pulled to get away from her again, and she let her go this time. But when she felt herself being released, the other girl turned with a bleak expression.

"I'm sorry, Usa-chan. I really am… it's just too soon. My head's not right." Shaking it out, she whispered, "Can I come by tomorrow, maybe? I'll… if I'm not…"

"Yeah," she told her, so that she wouldn't have to keep trying to finish her sentence. "Sure, tomorrow. And Naru?"

"Yeah?"

"Love you. I hope you know that."

The other girl's cheeks began to get back some of their colour as she forced a slight smile. "You're sweet. Lying, but it's sweet. See ya."

"Later."

Even though being accused of lying felt awful, she forced herself not to respond to it. Naru was right; her mental state was the lowest it had ever been. This wasn't the 'real' Naru talking, but it some ways, it was the realest version of her she'd ever seen; her grief was dissolving her tatemae, that public politeness that most people used to hide their honne — their true feelings. But she also knew that the grief was changing her honne, warping it from the way Naru would normally be, her feelings and hopes and dreams. It was literally a broken heart. Only time could heal that, not just Usagi trying to cheer her up.

"Usagi?" When she turned back, she saw Naru was waving from a little further along the street. "You're a great friend! Me, not so much, but you are for sure! Okay?"

"Okay!" she called back. She wanted to argue with her, but had a feeling that would go nowhere fast. Might as well leave it for tomorrow.

                                                                ~ o ~

She didn't hear from Naru the next day. Luckily, their school was one of the ones that had a five-day schoolweek, so she didn't have to endure staring at Naru's empty seat again. Filling the day with manga-reading and hanging out with the Senshi helped distract her from worrying.

Sunday, she had just about given up on her, as well, but before dinner she heard the doorbell, and then her mother's voice calling for her. Sighing, she put down the Jump she had been flipping through without any true interest and clomped down the stairs to see if maybe Ami had dropped by to tutor her again.

Instead, it was Naru.

"Oh!" she found herself gasping. "What are you doing here?"

"Usagi, don't be rude," her mother muttered out the side of her mouth, one of her eyebrows twitching even as her polite smile remained in place.

"Thank you, Ikuko-san," Naru said with a very formal bow. Even though she was usually quite comfortable calling her "Auntie Ikuko" or "okaasan", since they grew up around each other so much, there was something different about her today. Usagi wasn't sure what it was, but she was wearing nice clothes and makeup, and her behaviour was very stiff. "I was wondering if I might borrow your daughter for the evening?"

The woman laughed, elbowing Usagi very gently. "Would you listen to Naru? She sounds like a boy asking you to dinner." That made Usagi grimace; she was definitely not looking forward to going through that in the future with her parents. Any mention of a boy sniffing around their daughter seemed to effortlessly send her dad into a frenzy.

"Well, I might not be a boy, but I am asking Usa-chan to dinner. To pay her back for trying to cheer me up Friday." Her smile was very shy, and she was still bowing a little, even if she had mostly straightened. "Do you mind?"

"Not at all! I'm just glad to hear that my daughter is doing something other than eating sweets and tormenting Shingo." At the words "doing something", Usagi was already turning to run upstairs and get her purse. That way, she could ignore any further teasing, and the laughter that followed.

Once away from the house, she asked Naru, "You really want to get me food? I mean, I'm not… y'know, I would have done that for you anytime, it's not something you need t-"

"I was a real wreck," she told her right away. "You put up with me, and I appreciate that. It wouldn't be right not to show you somehow instead of just saying 'thanks', so like… yeah, just let me?"

"Okay," she muttered, poking her index fingers into each other nervously. "Maybe just ice cream?"

"No way," she teased, holding up her hand to forestall her. "This is gonna be a big deal! Fancy dinner, then ice cream, and then maybe karaoke! Really wanna make up for lost time, y'know?"

"Cool! I mean, do you wanna go by a payphone and invite Ami? I know Rei would probably just drag us down-"

"Nah. This is about me and you, Usa-chan. Best friends forever."

Something about the way she said that made it feel more important than usual. Her heart squeezed in her chest as she looked at the smile on Naru's face, and felt one growing on her own. "Okay then, that's great, too! An 'old friends' day just for us."

"YES!" she shouted, pumping her fist into the air. "Ain't nobody gonna stop us now!" Usagi giggled, and grabbed her arm so they could skip along down the road.

First, she took Usagi to a nice sushi restaurant. Not that Usagi liked sushi all that much, but she was flattered that Naru wanted to spend her pocket money on her like that. They talked about anime and manga, movies, boys; nothing of consequence. Basically, learning to be around each other again after a week of isolation. It was nice, even if a little strained in the beginning. They were just out of practice.

After that, Naru said they could head straight for the karaoke place and just order some sweets there, which was fine by Usagi. Really, anything her friend wanted at that point, she was more than willing to indulge her; maybe she needed the control. After losing her would-be boyfriend to circumstances she couldn't control, that made total sense.

"Let's go to that one," she said, pointing to a reasonably-priced place. "Their boxes are totally private; I'm not interested in anybody poking their nose in and making fun of my voice."

"But I like your voice!" Usagi reassured her. It earned her a wider smile. "But that's fine by me; I can't afford the higher-end places, either, and the cheap places are so scuzzy."

Giggling, she said, "Told you, I'm paying. Oh — you go in and book us the room." She handed her a decent-sized bill. "I'm gonna pop over there and get something."

Usagi followed her gaze and saw Naru meant a row of vending machines. It was true, there were high prices inside karaoke joints for everything, so if she got a drink or gum or whatever from those machines, it would help them save their money for desserts and more time in the room. "Roger! I won't fail you, sir!"

"You're a loon," she snorted as they split up.

Not long after, they were being shown to their box. Naru had been right, the door only had a small window in it with a curtain on the inside that could be drawn, instead of most of the door being frosted glass, or glass with a large emblem on it. Maybe she was afraid she would have another breakdown, and didn't want to risk the public display.

"Cozy," Usagi giggled as they looked around. For a few seconds, they just took in the room with its semi-comfortable orange couches, the cheerful white wallpaper with the multicoloured dots. Then Naru went to get some of the song catalogues from the tiny bookshelf so they could start flipping through to look for a song to choose.

"How about, um, 'Midnight Taxi'?" she suggested, pointing to the selection. "I love Miho's voice…"

"That one's so sad and gloomy," Usagi grumbled. Then hastily added, "O-oh, but if you want to sing it, I'm sure you'd sound great!"

Shaking her head, she said, "You're right, it's… gloomy. What about 'Mellow'? At least the music's a little more upbeat."

"Uh-huh! Yeah, sing 'Mellow'!"

So Naru did. Usagi wanted to order food, but she decided to just listen to her friend sing. No one would have faulted her for not wanting to do this where anyone else could witness it; her voice was sweet, but she definitely didn't have any kind of future as a pop idol. All the same, Usagi was content just to sit back and watch her friend lose herself in singing along with the lyrics on the screen. Way better that she do that than still be moping around.

Of course, the lyrics were just as lovelorn as those to "Midnight Taxi", but at least they went along with a happier beat. And she knew Naru probably needed the catharsis after everything she had been through with Nephrite.

After that, they discussed sweets, and Usagi sang the theme song to Yuyu Hakusho, which Naru teased her about but she didn't care. In fact, she continued to annoy her with the theme from Ranma ½, and was just about to move on to Hime-chan no Ribbon when Naru forcibly removed the microphone from her hands.

"Boooo!" she called out as she laughed and wrestled it away from her, stocking foot jammed into her neck to keep her away as she cradled the microphone against her chest. "Unfair, unfair! I just want to sing my songs!"

"All you like is stuff from anime!" They only struggled for another moment before Usagi gave up and flopped backward. Then they both had to take a few breaths, Naru giggling as she sat up. "Alright, you can sing it, but I want a turn first, okay?"

Pouting, she added, "Shouldn't have made fun of my songs if you wanted that!" But Naru was already flipping through one of the books, so she turned her attention to the menu. "Hmm… maybe just something small? Or we get this huge sundae, and split it!"

"Yeah, okay," Naru said absentmindedly. "I'm not that hungry after dinner, so whatever you want's fine."

"Or we could eat what you got from the machine. What was it, anyway?"

The smirk that came from Naru was a craftier one than she was expecting in response to a simple question like that. But she understood why when Naru reached into her purse and brought out…

"BEER?!"

"Shhh!" she hissed at her in warning, waving her other hand frantically. "Keep it down, willya?! It's just one!"

"But we're in junior high! I mean, I know nobody's gonna care that much, but I didn't think I'd try anything like that until high school!"

Already cracking open the can, coughing to cover the sound of the perforated metal seal being broken and the hiss of air, Naru set it down on the table and then fixed Usagi with an impatient stare. "Look. I've had a rough few days, and I'm tired of not experiencing anything. Just… don't be some kinda prude, okay? You don't have to have any, but if you rat me out-"

"I wasn't going to, geeze!" Though Usagi still had to keep glancing at the can. True, she had tried sake before once, at some party where her parents were having some, and that had been a few years ago. But it was only one sip; this was an entire can for Naru's little one-and-a-half meters. It seemed like a lot.

"Is this really going to make you uncomfortable?" She glanced at the can, frowning. "Crap, I already opened it…"

"N-no, it's fine," she assured her with a nervous laugh, scratching the back of her head. "Hey, maybe I'll try it! It's… something we can say we did today!"

After studying Usagi's face for a moment, making sure she was really going to be alright with this, Naru nodded. "Yeah. Just not to our parents." They shared a smile, and she knocked back a huge gulp. Then she made a face and set it down. "Ugh! Oh wow, that tastes weird!"

"Really?" She tried it, and made a similar face. "Eww, it's bitter! I thought it would taste more like Coca-Cola!"

"Why Coca-Cola?"

"Well, it's brown, isn't it?" Naru giggled, and Usagi smiled through her cheeks reddening. "Shut up!"

"Nope! Now all brown drinks are the same to Usagi! Beer is Coke, coffee is Coke!"

"HEY!"

Once they figured out what sweets to order, Naru suddenly had to figure out how to hide the beer. In the end, they just set it next to their bags and threw Naru's gauzy blue cardigan over the top of everything. The attendant who delivered their things never noticed. What they wound up getting was a large sundae, some french fries, a Pocari Sweat and, of course, a Coca-Cola. A little comparison verified that beer was definitely not anything like that.

"Oh, I'm so winded!" Naru breathed out as she flopped back on the couch. She was being a little silly; Usagi knew that it was because for every sip of the beer she'd taken, Naru took five or six. It was a touch disconcerting, but then again she didn't want to pass judgment. After all, she'd never lost a friend like this.

After a second's contemplation, she scooped up one of the last bites of sundae, already melting and gooey, and held the spoon up. "Hey, have some more of this."

"No thanks. I just wanna keep singing! Sing all night!"

"All night?! We didn't pay for that long!"

"So we'll pay more when the phone rings to tell us we gotta get out! C'mon!" She went up to punch in the numbers on the machine again, so she could belt out yet another old idol hit that Usagi barely knew. Even if it was a little annoying dealing with her like this, at least it was entertaining to watch.

After that song, Naru did at least munch on one of the cold fries while finishing off the can of beer. Apropos of nothing, she commented, "It's not so bad, once you get used to it."

"What? Oh, the beer?"

"Uh-huh." She let out a loud belch, then slapped both hands over her mouth, the beer can bouncing across the floor. By the time it came to a rest, she was completely red in the face. "Oh my GOD…"

To fill the following silence, Usagi laughed and patted her back. "It's alright, had to come out sometime!"

"Noooo, I sounded disgusting!" She bowed low, hair brushing Usagi's knee below the hem of her shorts. "Forgive me!"

"Oh, stop," she snorted, pushing at her shoulder. "It's not that big a deal."

Slowly, Naru slumped forward until her face was pushing into the knee below. "Mmm… your skin is so soft. Did you know about that? Well, of course — it's your skin! Just Naru being dumb again."

This left Usagi completely stunned. What the hell was she doing? Of course, she knew it wasn't completely Naru; it was the beer mixing with the grieving process. So eventually, she just petted over her hair and said, "My mom was right; you do act like a boy who wants to show me a good time. Now you're trying to get into my shorts."

"Oooh, somebody has a high opinion of herself," Naru joked, poking her in exactly the wrong spot due to Usagi having mentioned it. Its owner let out a puff of exasperated air. "Squishy!"

Both of her cheeks were blazing by now. "N-Naru, no! Stop that!" Another poke made her tingle all over, so she quickly snatched the wrist of the hand and held it away. "Why are you… I mean, do you need me to get you some water?"

"I'm fiiiiine."

"No, you're not. Like, if we weren't both girls, I'd think you were coming onto me."

One of Naru's shoulders shrugged. "So what if we're both girls?"

"NARU!"

That finally seemed to snap her out of her dazed, drunken rambling. Eyes widening, she sat back, blinking a few times before she stared up at Usagi. "Oh… oh no, that was probably weird, I didn't…" Both of her eyebrows knitted together. "What was I saying? What was I doing?"

"Y-you were getting a little handsy, yeah," she said, trying to laugh it off. Though she could still feel Naru's face against her leg. Not so much the finger going where no one else's finger had gone before; that was too brief and too bizarre for her to be able to hang onto it. Maybe her own mind was hazy from the few sips of beer in her own stomach.

"I'll go," Naru promised as she stood, then wobbled. "Ooh… oh, I'm…"

She began to tip to one side. Having to use her Sailor Moon instincts, Usagi snapped her arms out and managed to grasp Naru's body, then stood and rolled so that she effectively slung her friend into the seat she had just left, laying her across the sofa.

"AH!" she burst out.

"Are you alright?!" she demanded, leaning over her. "Let me get you some water! Yeah, that's-"

"Wait…" A hesitant hand reached up to brush over Usagi's neck. "I… I'm alright… thank you. You're saving me again. How do you do that? How do you always know just what I need?"

The colour rushed back into her cheeks, which must have looked so blotchy given how pale she was just before. Naru was acting even weirder than the "weird" she had already observed in her, but it was still better than a couple of days prior when she had been little better than a zombie. So all she whispered was, "I'm your best friend forever, right? It's my job to… do what I can."

"You'd probably make a great boyfriend. Too bad you ain't a boy."

"I thought you were the boy," she tried for with a slight smile. "Picking me up, wining and dining me. Getting me drunk and alone in a karaoke box."

"Stop it," she giggled softly, though it was still a touch more shy than usual. "I'm just trying to feel something again."

Heart breaking afresh, Usagi whispered, "I'm sorry, Naru. I want to help you feel, help your heart get better, I just… don't know how. But you can't give up, okay?"

Swallowing hard, she nodded that she had heard her. Then she breathed, "Help me feel…"

The kiss was almost a given in retrospect. Drunken and sloppy, and sweet, and frantic, and Usagi didn't know how to stop it. Her hands tried to push Naru back down, but the minute they wrapped around her shoulders, she couldn't do anything other than kiss back, to feel those soft lips sliding all around her own, the bitterness of beer lacing with the sweetness of ice cream. They both moaned at nearly the same moment, apparently deciding it wasn't yet time to break apart even though the voice in the back of Usagi's mind was screaming for her to consider the consequences. All she wanted was to let Naru do all the exploring she wanted.

Maybe they both wanted. Scary as that thought was.

By the time their mouths broke apart, they were on the floor between the sofa and the table, panting and flushed and bearing a light sheen of sweat. All concept of time was gone; it could have been seconds, or half an hour. Naru looked completely dazed, but definitely not displeased if the way her hands were clinging to her back was any indication.

"Usa-chan…" Her bottom lip trembled as their bodies slid over each other slightly, and Usagi felt a tingling that she'd only felt a handful of times before. This was a mistake. They weren't in the right state of mind to make wise decisions, and she was only going to make worse ones.

"Naru, I d-don't… I think we sh-"

"Usagi… m-move!"

Startled, Usagi jumped off of her just in time to stand back and let Naru rush to the trash can. It took her a moment, but she was able to stumble after her and pull back her hair so she could empty the contents of her stomach into the bin, feeling thoroughly chagrined. What she was worried might be a confession of love turned out to be impending vomit.

After they cleaned off Naru's mouth and she downed a little more Pocari to get rid of the taste, they got the call that their time was up. Rather than hanging around and dealing with the potential fallout of what they had just done, especially when they were still alone in a private space, they cleared out of the room, throwing the beer can away once outside. Then Usagi dragged her into a MOS Burger to get something quick and greasy that would hopefully help Naru feel less wobbly, based on advice she'd heard her father telling her little brother — even if it made her mother smack him on the shoulder for telling such a young boy things he shouldn't need to know for many more years.

"Thanks, Usagi-chan," she sighed as she walked, leaning on her shoulder while Usagi supported her around her waist. "I'm so embarrassed… I feel like the worst friend in the world."

"Don't be ridiculous. I know you've had… well, 'a rough week' is kind of an understatement."

"Yeah. But you were right, I gotta remember that I'm still here, and you guys are, too. And… and I'm gonna miss him for a long time, but that doesn't mean I quit living."

"Did I say all that?" she giggled. "Doesn't sound like me, sounds more like Ami or someone."

"You're a lot smarter than you act like you are," she teased, poking Usagi — this time in the stomach, thank goodness. "Anyway… I'm serious, thanks for trying to get me outta my funk."

Giggling, mostly from the poke, she said, "No problem. I mean, I'd say you moved on a little if you're already getting hammered and trying to make out with me!"

Though Usagi was laughing up a storm at that, Naru wasn't. Just smiling and clinging to her friend as they walked. Eventually, she breathed, "Yeah… pretty hilarious."

"Eh? I m-mean, um, not that the idea of it being you is hilarious! Just us, together… two girls, best friends… that's ridiculous. We'll both find men, won't we?"

"Maybe I'm done with men. Maybe now I just want an onee-sama to treat me right." When Usagi made a choking noise, she just squeezed her closer. "Okay, okay, you're right; that's stupid, calling you the older sister."

"Whew."

"I'm taller by a couple centimeters. Pretty sure that makes me the onee-sama."

And while Usagi was still trying to form any thoughts about that whatsoever, having been lulled into a false sense of relief and now trying to figure out where they actually stood, Naru stopped, leaned over and took her lips softly. But it was a much more chaste, brief, sober kiss than before… yet at the same time, even more flustering because it was planned, and purposeful, and patient. In the karaoke, she had been too shocked and slightly buzzed from the sips of beer to even know what to think, but now…

She didn't hate it.

"Anyway, thanks for a great first date," Naru whispered when she pulled away, eyes twinkling and voice rich with amusement. Was she kidding, or was she actually serious?

"I… I'm… we… I… Naru…"

"My thoughts exactly. Goodnight, imouto."

As Usagi watched her go dumbly, then made her own wandering way home, she couldn't help trying to figure out how she had gone from "best friend" to "little sister" in such a short period of time. Or how she had not only let Naru kiss her, but practically have been encouraging it by the end. And she wasn't sure whether or not this was an odd crush, a stupid grief-borne mistake, or something deeper. Something that was forbidden between two women, especially once they were older. A change in her relationship with her oldest friend that she couldn't have seen coming.

But one thing was for sure…

"No more beer!" she wound up telling Luna as she paced frantically around her room that night, watching the poor purple cat scamper out of the way so her tail wouldn't get stepped on. "Ever! Not even a drop, not for my whole life, I'm never having more beer again!"

                                                                THE END

                                                                [Next: Makoto!]

#through the moon prism #forkanna writes #sailor moon fanfiction #usagi x naru #sailor moon #forkanna the writer