Tsukino Usagi

The beep of her alarm permeates through Usagi's dream and she wakes up with a groan, blinking at the sunlight filtering through her blinds. She gets up and changes into her uniform before making her way downstairs. Her mother is sitting at the table reading the newspaper. Her father isn't there, but that's not surprising. Miharu-san is in the kitchen, and Usagi greets their housekeeper with a small smile and a quiet, "Good morning."

"Here you are, darling," the elder woman says, handing her some breakfast. "Is your brother up yet?"

Usagi shrugs. "I don't know," she answers as she takes the tray to the table. It's a full breakfast, though she knows she won't eat most of it. The housekeeper shakes her head before leaving to go get her brother herself. Usagi sits and glances at her mother, but she doesn't say anything.

She takes a couple bites of toast, but eventually the silence of the house becomes too stifling and she stands. Her mother doesn't say a word as she leaves. Miharu-san will likely fuss later about her unfinished food, but Usagi couldn't care less. She heads off to school without a word of goodbye.

There's no rush to get to school, so she leisurely strolls down the sidewalk enjoying the music playing from her headphones. The heavy guitar and drums distract her, and she's only half-paying attention to her surroundings when she catches sight of some boys huddled around something in the adjacent parking lot. It makes her pause as she squints to try and see what they're messing with, and when she sees it's a cat she gets annoyed. "Hey!" she snaps, drawing their attention. "Leave it alone!"

She stalks forward and the boys immediately scatter, leaving her alone with the cat prone on the ground. It looks rather pathetic lying there so Usagi crouches down to gently pick it up, clicking her tongue in annoyance when she sees the bandages the boys have put on its forehead. Then the cat starts twitching in her hands, meowing and rubbing at its forehead in a sudden frenzy. "Alright alright, I'll take off the bandages just hold on a second," Usagi mutters to the cat. She sets it on her lap and gently pries the sticky bandages off its furry forehead, trying to pull as little hair as possible. Miraculously, the cat stays mostly still through it all, to Usagi's relief.

"Oh," she says once the bandages are completely removed and the cat is now blinking its large red eyes up at her. "It's a crescent-shaped bald spot," she remarks with a grin. As soon as the words are out of her mouth the cat leaps out of her lap, using her head as a springboard to jump onto the roof of the car nearby. Usagi stands, frowning in annoyance, to find the cat staring intently at her from eye-level on the roof. The cat starts to approach, but Usagi decides she's not in the mood to play with the cat anymore.

She turns away from the cat, giving it one last glance over her shoulder before heading back to the sidewalk to head to school. As she walks she digs out her earbuds and plugs them into her phone, not wanting to get sidetracked again. She makes it to class minutes before the bell rings, sitting quietly in her spot in the middle of the room while she waits. The other girls in her class are gathered around Osaka-san's desk as she gushes about something. They all sound annoying though, giggling like they are, so Usagi tries her best to ignore them. Once Sakurada-sensei arrives they all scramble back to their chairs, and then class starts. English is her least favorite subject, but her mother has threatened to take away her allowance if she fails any tests, and if Usagi wants to do anything outside of the house she needs the money.

The rest of her classes drag on until she's finally free. Her feet trail as she leaves the school. Sakurada-sensei had passed back their latest test, and though she had passed, it hadn't been the grade she'd expected. Sakurada must've given points back somewhere, ruining the score Usagi had been aiming for: a perfect 60. It was a game she liked to play with herself, to see if she could maintain the grades of a perfectly average student. Sure, she might've had the brains to be outstanding, but where was the fun in that? Everyone assumed that because she was blonde she was a ditz, and that was something Usagi only encouraged. Being smart put her in a spotlight that Usagi wasn't interested in, and besides, acting like a clutz and trying to maintain an average score in all her classes was much more fun.

As she walks through the shopping district downtown she happens to pass by Osaka-san's family business, a rather large jewelry store by the name Osa-P. They appear to be having a massive sale, if the signs all over the windows are any indication, so the place looks packed even through the opaque doors. Usagi briefly entertains the idea of trying to find something to buy, but then she remembers her grade. Glancing at the paper she still held, the bright red 66 circled at the top, she grimaces. It's not a failing grade, but her mother has high expectations of her - well, more like her father does and her mother just agrees with him - and she might think taking away her allowance will motivate Usagi to do better or something like that. She doesn't want to take the chance, so it'd be better to save what she has.

'Then again,' she thinks to herself, 'if Mom never sees the grade, she'll have no reason to suspect a thing. .'

Without a second thought she crumples the paper into a ball and tosses it over her shoulder, uncaring of the fact that she's littering. She won't have anything to do with that paper anymore, and, feeling marginally better, she decides to head to the arcade. Last she'd heard there's a new Sailor V game out, and she wants to see if they have it yet.

Only, before she even takes a single step, she hears an indignant, "Hey, you hit me," from behind her and freezes. "You trying to put bumps on my head too?" the person asks. She flinches and turns around, only to realize in horror that he's unwrapped the paper ball she made and is looking at her test grade. "Only 66 percent?" he asks, and the condescension in his tone immediately irks her.

"Mind your own business!" she snaps, glaring at the guy. 'It's a perfectly average - well, slightly above average - grade,' she thinks, a little offended. But when she meets his gaze she feels a spark of something that halts her momentarily. The abrupt disappearance of her anger seems to surprise the guy and he pauses as well. He looks almost as if he wants to speak, but neither of them says anything for several moments.

The air is broken when a car drives by honking its horn, startling both of them. Usagi jumps and hurries to pick up her dropped bag, quickly turning and heading away from the man. She grumbles under her breath about the weirdo guy she ran into as she walks to the arcade, but her mood quickly improves when she sees the new Sailor V posters on the shop's windows. She contemplates for a moment whether to go in or not, but eventually decides against it; she needs to save her allowance, after all.

"I'm home," she calls out when she gets home, and there's a muffled response from the kitchen from Miharu-san. She peeks into the living room as she heads over to the kitchen, but it's empty save for the elder woman. "Is Mom not here?" she asks.

"No, your mother went out to dinner with some of her friends," Miharu-san responds.

"Ah," Usagi mutters, though internally she's grinning in triumph. "I'll be in my room then."

"Alright, dear. I'll call you when dinner is ready."

Usagi nods as she heads up to her room, tossing her bag onto her desk as she flops back on her bed. For some reason she feels more exhausted than normal, and lying down only makes her eyelids more heavy. Before she knows it, she's halfway into a doze.

A loud noise startles her into consciousness, and Usagi sits up with her nerves on edge, breathing heavily. She looks around her room to determine what the noise was, only to be surprised to see the very cat she'd just been dreaming about sitting on her windowsill. "The kitty with the bald spot," she muses, already calming down from the startle. "What are you doing here?" she asks, though she isn't expecting a response from the animal.

Somehow, the cat looks indignant. "It's not a bald spot!" it growls, and Usagi blinks.

"The cat just talked. I must still be dreaming."

"My name is Luna. I have been looking for you, Usagi-chan," it – she, judging by the voice – continues, to Usagi's stunned surprise. "Thank you for removing the bandages. It disabled my ability to speak and look for you. The kids around this neighborhood are so annoying. But I'm glad I found you. I don't know what I would have done if I couldn't."

"Right," Usagi mutters, turning to lie down with her back to the window. "I'm going back to bed. Good night."

"Wha – Usagi-chan!" the cat scolds. "This isn't a dream!"

"Yes it is." Then she hears a tiny sigh from behind her.

"All right then, I'll prove it," Luna says. The cat lets out a grunt and then Usagi feels something drop onto the bed behind her. She has a brief horrifying thought that the cat has just taken a dump on her bed when Luna says, "Here's a gift for you, Usagi-chan."

It takes her a moment to find the motivation to turn over, still expecting a nasty surprise, but when she does she is surprised to find a small brooch resting on her covers. She picks it up and the small gold piece fits comfortably in the palm of her hand. The large center design has a gold crescent the same color as the rest of the piece facing upwards where a small pink circle sits. On the outer rims of the brooch are four tiny gemstones colored red, green, yellow, and blue on the top, left, right, and bottom, respectively. It's cute, and Usagi looks at the cat in confusion.

"It's for you," Luna says, but then grows serious when she starts talking again. "Listen, Usagi-chan. Right now in Tokyo, many vicious crimes are occurring as we speak. You are the chosen Guardian. You have a mission: find your allies and defeat the villains! Then, please, save our princess…"

"What? Luna…" Usagi trails off, starting to feel overwhelmed. She shakes her head. "I'm not a Guardian, or whatever you think I am. I'm just your average middle school girl. I don't fight monsters and villains after school like some shoujo heroine. You've got the wrong girl." She sets the brooch back down on her bed between them.

"Usagi-chan, you're wrong," Luna says. "I know you're the one I'm looking for. And I can prove it." She gets a determined glint in her cat eyes, and Usagi swallows apprehensively. "Pick up the brooch and shout 'Moon Prism Power Make Up!'" Seeing her hesitation, Luna urges her again. "Do it!"

With a grimace and, feeling a little ridiculous, Usagi picks the brooch back up. She glances at Luna once more, but when the cat only watches her expectantly, she repeats the phrase with slightly less determination than Luna had managed. "Moon Prism Power Make Up!"

The brooch starts to shine brightly, enveloping the room in blinding light. Usagi shuts her eyes against the onslaught and a warm sensation washes over her body. When she opens them again, her school uniform has vanished, replaced with a modified sailor uniform. She stands and rushes over to her full-body mirror to get a good look at herself.

Her white shirt has changed into a leotard, with a blue collar that has two white stripes on it. The red bow on her chest is a much more vibrant color, with the brooch she'd been holding pinned right in its center. A blue pleated skirt is directly attached to her leotard, and it's much shorter than her school's uniform, reaching her upper thighs. On her arms she's wearing white gloves that reach her elbows, with red bands at the top, and on her feet are red knee-high boots with a white stripe at the top and a yellow crescent moon in the center point. And it's not just her clothes that have changed. She's wearing a red choker with a moon, little golden earrings, a golden tiara with a red gem in the center, and these red and white hairpieces on her buns.

"Do you see it now?" Luna asks, her tone smug.

"I –" Usagi begins, and then falters because this is sort of unbelievable. "I don't know what to say. What am I supposed to do with this?"

"You fight the monsters and defeat the villains, just like I said," Luna said. "You have powers, Usagi-chan, and you have me. I'll be right by your side to help you."

"But…why? Why me?" she asks wondrously.

"Evil cannot be allowed to exist in this world," Luna stated. "And as for why you've been chosen, I'll explain that later. Now, we need to get going."

"What?" Usagi turned quickly, looking at the cat in alarm. "Go where?"

Luna meets her gaze calmly. "Just relax, and focus. See if you can tell yourself."

Usagi scowls. "That's not very helpful. Focus on what?"

"Anything out of the ordinary," Luna says. "You are Sailor Moon, a Sailor Guardian; trust your instincts to feel where the evil in this world gathers."

Usagi huffs, shooting a brief scowl at the cat before closing her eyes to better concentrate. She still feels a little ridiculous listening to what a cat is trying to tell her, but the longer she stands there in her new getup the more it starts to sink in that maybe there's something special about her. She takes a deep breath to clear her mind and focus on anything she feels out of the ordinary. At first she feels nothing, too aware of herself to realize there's anything else there, but as her breathing slows and her mind starts to focus she begins to detect…anomalies that make her instincts tingle and she knows she's found something. Then she hears it.

"Help, anyone…My mom!"

Her eyes snap open and she looks at Luna, who as a proud expression on her face. "I know that voice," Usagi mutters, thinking over where she remembers it from. "Osaka-san! What do we do?"

"We go help her," Luna says. "Come on, Usagi-chan!" She leaps out of the window, easy as can be, and Usagi falters when she tries to follow. Everything she knows says jumping out of the second story window is a bad idea, but Luna seems unconcerned and she hasn't lied about anything yet this evening, so Usagi takes a leap of faith.

It's almost like she's flying. She's still falling, yeah, but she feels way more in control than she'd have expected, and as the ground approaches she braces herself, landing heavily but unhurt on her feet in a crouch. Luna is sitting in front of her, watching. Usagi stands. "Let's go." Luna nods, and then the two of them are running down the street towards the shopping district where Usagi knows Osaka's family's store and apartment are located.

The store is dark when they arrive, but the doors open automatically when she approaches. She can see something vaguely humanoid behind the counter, and though she can't see her classmate, she can hear the girl whimpering. More horrifying, though, are the bodies that lie crumpled all over the shop's floor. Usagi stares at the one closest to her long enough to determine the woman is still breathing and it calms her nerves just slightly enough to allow her to focus. "Hey, old hag!" she calls out, drawing the thing's attention.

Its skin is a tanned brown and wrinkly, and its hair is a kinky mess of brown. There's a red starburst in the middle of its forehead, and its teeth are sharpened to impressive points. Usagi briefly recalls Luna mentioning she has powers, but the cat definitely never told her how to use them and she's not sure her meager - and by meager, she means purely theoretical - fighting skills will be enough to take down whatever that thing is.

"Luna, what do we do?" she whispers angrily to the cat beside her. She doesn't get the chance to respond before the thing is growling at her.

"Who are you?" it snaps.

"Uh…I'm…" Usagi trails off, glancing imploringly at Luna. The cat turns around and glances pointedly at the sky behind them, where a large waning moon hangs behind them. Something calming settles over Usagi. "I am the Guardian of Love and Justice, Sailor Moon. In the name of the Moon, I'll punish you," she finishes, pointing at the creature.

"Sailor Moon? I've never heard of you!" it snarls. Then it raises its hands. "Rise up, all the servants who contributed their energies to our great master!" it shouts. Usagi tenses as the bodies she'd dismissed earlier all start to groan and stand. Their eyes are glowing, and she knows without a doubt that they're under the creature's control. Her thoughts are confirmed a moment later when the monster shouts, "Get her!"

They start throwing themselves at Usagi. She dodges the first one, shoving her to the side as another approaches. She lashes out, trying to recall basic martial arts moves. They don't fight very well, so she doesn't need to hit or kick them very hard to push them aside. The only issue is there are so many of them, and just one of her. She's forced to retreat several times or risk getting overwhelmed.

When she finds herself near Luna on one of the displays she asks the cat, "What do I do?!"

"You need to fight her, Sailor Moon!" she shouts back.

"How?!" she snaps. "I'm a little busy at the moment!"

"Then take care of them first, or run!"

Usagi scowls, glancing around the area. The biggest thing is the display case beside her so she leaps up onto that, the jump easier than she expected given it's nearly as tall as her waist. She starts leaping from case to case in the store, making her way away from the crowd and towards the monster still standing behind the counter.

"Okay, now grab your tiara!" Luna instructs, and Usagi pauses. She reaches up to grab the thing off her head. "Now shout 'Moon Tiara Action' and throw it!"

Usagi blinks, but she doesn't have much time to question Luna's instructions as the minions start to swarm her. She changes her grip in preparation to throw it and shouts per Luna's instruction. "Moon Tiara Action!" she says as she flings it at the monster. As she does the tiara changes shape into a sealed golden disk, glowing brightly with some kind of power as it hurtles towards the monster, gaining speed. It hits her squarely in the chest and the monster screams in pain. They watch as her skin starts to crumble, breaking until she's just a pile of dust on the counter.

"You did it, Sailor Moon!" Luna praises.

Usagi is still standing on the case, gaping in surprise, when she hears a movement from the upper balcony. She quickly turns, gaze searching, to find someone standing behind a pillar in the shadows. Then the shadow quickly moves, jumping out the window. Usagi rushes out of the store to try and catch a glimpse, heedless of Luna's shouts. She barely sees a figure touch briefly on a streetlamp before disappearing.

"Who was that?" Usagi asks, just as Luna joins her outside.

"Who was what, Sailor Moon?" the cat asks.

Usagi shakes her head. "Never mind. We should get back, yeah?"

"Probably," Luna agrees. "Those women will all be waking up soon. It would be best if we're not seen just yet."

"Alright." Usagi begins running back to her home, but all she can think about is the crazy night she's just had. She's still not entirely unconvinced it's not a dream, but for now she can go along with it.

When they get back to her house she doesn't even hesitate before jumping right into her room, landing softly on the windowsill. Luna follows moments later. She steps into her room feeling out of place in her new getup. Her left hand comes up to clasp at the brooch. "How do I get out of this?"

"Just concentrate, and let the transformation fade away," Luna instructs. She does as Luna says, finding it much easier to focus this time around, and soon that warm feeling is brushing over her again. When she opens her eyes – she hadn't even noticed they'd shut – she's back in her school uniform. Wordlessly she begins to change into her pajamas.

"Why me, Luna?" she asks, sitting back down on her bed. A wave of exhaustion hits her and she wants to fall asleep for real this time.

"I'll explain that later, Usagi-chan," Luna deflects again. Usagi would scowl but she can't muster the energy.

"I'm not a hero, Luna," she tries to explain.

"You could be," she distantly hears Luna say, and then she's falling fast into unconsciousness.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Usagi wakes to the light shining in her eyes again, and holds up a lazy hand to give herself a brief reprieve. Then she sits up, glancing around her room but there's nothing out of the ordinary. She shrugs and sluggishly gets out of bed, going through her morning ablutions. She's too tired to deal with Miharu-san and possibly her mother, so she skips breakfast entirely and heads straight for school.

In the classroom, the girls are all clustered around Osaka-san again, but from what Usagi can tell they're not gossiping about jewelry anymore. She pauses her music to listen in, her curiosity getting the better of her. Her crazy dream last night featured her classmate, and something about it unsettles her.

"I passed out when the robber attacked me!" Osaka-san is saying, her movements animated. "But I swear, before I lost consciousness I saw a Sailor Guardian come to save me!" The girls exclaim appropriately over this, but Usagi freezes, the phrase catching her attention. Before she can fully make the decision she's out of her seat and rushing out the door to the bathroom. She passes a surprised Sakurada-sensei, but she doesn't stop to talk to the woman.

Instead of the bathroom she finds herself in an empty corridor of the building and leans on an opened window to catch her breath. What Osaka-san was describing had been a lot like her dream, but it can't have been true, right? Before she can truly panic, a voice speaks up beside her.

"It was real, Usagi-chan." She startles and looks on the stairs beside her to find Luna sitting and watching her. "You are Sailor Moon, and it is your destiny to fight the evil that will come."

"I'm not a hero," she says, vaguely recalling saying something like that the night before.

"You can be, and I think you'll be a good one," Luna tells her.

"I don't want to be a hero," she clarifies. "I don't want to die. I just want to be average."

Luna shakes her head. "It's too late for that now. But, I think you might not mind it as much as you believe you do right now. Just give it some time, Usagi-chan, and no matter what, I'm here for you."

Usagi watches the cat for several moments longer. "Okay…"