Usagi began walking towards her school as she contacted the Senshi of Ice. Mercury? Are you there?
I’m here, Usagi.
The Moon Princess’ words took on a somewhat apologetic tone as she transmitted, I’d take you out, but I’m feeling kind of tired…
I know. Uranus is currently in a lot of hot water about that.
I hope she doesn’t get into too much trouble…
Back in Usagi’s mind, Uranus had quite a bit of explaining to do.
“What were you thinking?!” demanded a particularly angry Jupiter.
“Look, I was bored, okay?”
“Bored? Bored?! You call that an excuse?”
“No, it’s not an excuse. It’s the answer to your question.”
“Don’t get smart with me!”
“Chill out, Jupiter. I know it was pretty stupid, but I just wanted to see what she was capable of.”
“I could have told you that! Usagi’s body can not handle the type of physical stress you put her under unless she’s transformed—and it’s going to be a while before I build her up to the point where she can. And besides, adrenaline is only designed to be used in emergencies. You can’t just put the pedal to the floor whenever you’re feeling bored.”
“Look, it was an honest mistake, okay? It won’t happen again.”
“You expect to just get off that easily?”
“Jupiter,” interjected Endymion, who’d been observing the exchange, “I know, you’re only worried about the Princess’s well-being, but you have to remember that Uranus loves Usagi just as much as you do. I’m sure she’s won’t be doing that again for frivolous reasons.”
“But—”
“Besides, have you considered the effect a prolonged disagreement between any of us might have on her? Just because there are younger versions of ourselves running around outside doesn’t mean we have the luxury of not working as a team—in fact, since we’re all connected to her Star Seed, I’d think that teamwork would be even more important than before.”
Jupiter sighed; Endymion was right, of course. He had been closer to Usagi than any of the others currently residing in her mind—in fact, he was residing in the part of her mind that dealt with her capacity for love (both romantic and platonic), which was arguably the most integral part of her personality. “Arguably”? Who am I kidding? Usagi’s ability to love is what sets her apart from almost every other human being in history! She turned back to Uranus. “Sorry, Haruka.”
Uranus smiled at the use of her “old name.” “Don’t worry about it, Mako-chan. If someone else had done something as reckless as what I did, I’d be mad too.”
“Friends?”
“I wasn’t aware that we’d stopped being friends.” The two of them embraced in a hug, much to Endymion’s relief. Usagi had enough problems to deal with as it was; she didn’t need any internal conflict in her head adding to them.
I wouldn’t worry about it. Endymion is there to serve as a mediator if necessary. But we need to get back to the subject at hand—your plans for Setsuna and Hotaru. After going over your ideas, we think that staged conversations would be the best, simply because they’re the simplest to pull off, which means that there’s less that could go wrong with them.
Okay. So how is this going to work?
It’s fairly simple. You’ll just take one of us out, and then you’ll recite lines from a script. Instead of having an actual conversation, the other person will just prompt you on your lines, so you won’t have to do too much memorization. Neptune is going to write several out while you’re at school today, since she’s the most creative one. You can go over them with us when you get home and we’ll pick the best ones.
Sounds good. Anything else?
As a matter of fact, yes. Pluto’s been doing her best to anticipate the way Setsuna will react, and she thinks there’s a chance that Setsuna will wake Haruka and Michiru up early to help her find Hotaru, if she hasn’t already—though she can’t be entirely sure…. Mercury suddenly paused, as if she’d just realized something.
Mercury? Is something wrong?
Um, Usagi, perhaps we should finish this conversation later—you’ve only got five minutes to get to your class!
Yikes!
Usagi almost arrived at school late, as her adrenaline reserves were a bit low because of the rush Uranus had given her earlier. She managed to get to her seat seconds before school began—and then proceeded to wait for Haruna-sensei, who was uncharacteristically late.
As the minutes ticked by with no sign of her teacher, Usagi started to get antsy. Why is she so late? She felt certain that there was an explanation for this—and important one, but she couldn’t quite figure out what it was. It wasn’t until an obviously tired Haruna stumbled into class that Usagi remembered what was going on. The Midnight Zero scam!
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(Posted Sat, 22 Apr 2006 21:50)
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