-1Author: Starling Sincliar

Story: Check

Chapter: Pinch Me pt. 1

Rating: M

Date: 10/1/2008

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon.

AN: This is part one of 3 of chapter 2 (the rest of it is still in rough draft form).

Chapter 2: Pinch Me

Hikawa Jinja was picturesque in the spring. The shrine itself was over five hundred years old and well preserved. It held its antique charm without revealing its modern wonders for the residents. Spring brought the cherry trees into bloom, and the petals danced around in the breeze. A small brook along the perimeter added the soundtrack to the image. The place looked like it came right off a postcard.

However, it was late fall, a season that always irked Rei. The trees were reducing themselves to skeletons by shedding all their leaves. Which ended up on the ground. Which Rei would then have to sweep up.

And, no, the trees couldn't just molt all at once; they had to spend days, weeks even, letting each singular leaf fall like they were preforming a striptease. So, of course, fall meant triple the sweeping chores for Rei.

But the chores were really the last thin on her mind, or at least a way of distracting herself. They were also the perfect reason to excuse herself from the early morning Senshi meeting and go outside and watch for Usagi. Luna had called the meeting the morning after Toki Masako's press release. She figured that the morning would all for heads to clear more without losing time preparing.

Usagi, being her usual self, was late. However, this time. It really worried Rei. This time, she really could be in trouble. This time, she didn't oversleep because Luna had said they had left at the same time. This time, she might not show up.

Safety was always a primary concern for the Senshi. When one's career involved late night slaying of unimaginable creatures, anything long term seemed out of the question. Yet, the life they'd cultivated before becoming a Senshi had always been a haven. Normal, risk-free. Life and death weren't pressing questions, but rather what shoes to wear - stilettos or wedges? However, the job security of being a Senshi was seeping into that separate world. This man hunt was blurring the lines.

Rei was okay, personally. She didn't have much left in the way of family. Just Grandpa, and as old as he was, wasn't ready to throw the towel in yet. Even if she were gone, Yuuichirou would watch over him. He'd become a trusted friend, and if it weren't for being Sailor Mars, could have become more than a friend.

Ami had her mother, who spent more time at the hospital than hours in the day. Minako had moved into her own place shortly after her parents had tried to steal her Sailor V royalites. Matoko and Mamoru were orphans. The outer scouts had made themselves their own family. But Usagi, Usagi was different. Out of all the Senshi, she was the only one with a real family - family dinners, sibling rivalry, cousins, and Christmas. To Rei, family only mean weaknesses, but to Usagi, it gave her strength. Rei wasn't sure how that insitution would hold up under this kind of pressure.

Now, with the manhunt in full swing, everything would spill out into the open. There would be no secrets anymore, a curse and a blessing.

"Rei, I think your taking OCD overboard. I can't see how your going to get that spot any more leaf-free than it already is," Usagi chided as she walked up the final steps.

Rei's train of though derailed, happy for the distraction as well as the assurance her princess was safe. But, sure enough, she was sweeping at what appeared to be the only leafless spot of concrete at the entire temple.

Rei looked up at her leader. Usagi was smiling, but it did not reach her eyes.

Unable to think of the right words to console her, Rei reverted to her usual banter. "Odango Atama, aren't you ever on time"

"Hey! I can't help it. I'm just that fashionable," Usagi retorted with a flip of her hair before skipping inside.

Rei sighed, and surrendered a brief smile before surveying Hikawa Jinja. The leaves covered everything (minus her bald patch) like a shroud of embers. She leaned the broom against the outside wall before following Usagi inside. After she left, a single leaf drifted into the empty spot.

Mamoru concluded that the Senshi meeting had accomplished nothing but increased hysteria. This, in turn, created a demand for solitude. On most days, that would have suited Mamoru just fine. However, most days he wasn't as concerned for his Usako. She hadn't confided in him (privately or publicly) about this whole...situation. It was very uncharacteristic, and that's what worried him.

Anxiety hid his hunger, but his logic reminded him that his body needed substance. And a friendly face. These two factors lead to only one conclusion: Furuhata Arcade and Fruit Parlor. There he would indulge himself in a refreshing chocolate shake and the second to best company (after Usako of course), Motoki.

After parallel parking his blue 3000 GT(a VR4 with twin turbos), he walked the block and half to the arcade. The facade hadn't changed much since Motoki had started working there when they were sixteen. The building was brick with large mildew stained windows. A neon sign blinked open, and the "e" in "Arcade" had burned out. Fogged over glass doors side open to allow Mamoru passage.

He was greeted with the nosologic beeps and rings of the game machine. The place smelled of nachos. Overall, it reminded him of an old movie theater that was ten years past due a good cleaning and renovation. Mamoru walked over to the fruit parlor bar, which was only slightly less grimy due to health codes.

"Well, well, look what the cat dragged in," Motoki greeted as Mamoru took a seat at the bar. "You haven't really been here since you started your residency at the hospital."

"I was in the area," Mamoru said through a grin, "and in serious need of some chocolate."

"Uh-oh, are you and Usagi having relationship troubles?" Motoki, the ever gossip,
asked while mixing a chocolate milkshake.

Mamoru waited for the whirring of the machine to subside before answering, "No. This media buzz about the Sailor Senshi has her really down though."

"Ah, she always did have a soft spot for them," Motoki said as he added whipped cream and two cherries for good measure. He slid the beverage over to Mamoru before leaning against the counter.

It was just before lunch time, and Mamoru knew that Motoki's business would be slow. At least slow enough to sit and chat. In his early days of college, he would come in about this time to hang with his friend before class - the days before he met Usako anyway. It's not that he didn't see Motoki anymore; it was just that it wasn't really at Motoki's job.

"Personally, I think the amount of times they've saved all of our asses at least deserves them a pardon if not a metal of honor," Motoki commented.

Mamoru smiled. It was nice to hear that not all of Tokyo was turning against him.

"Anyway, Mamoru, you know I'm not big on politics. So, you booked your honeymoon yet?"

The two drifted on to other conversational pieces. They talked about marriage (Motoki had married his high school sweetheart after she'd returned from Africa) and employment and what holiday blockbuster they would go see together. At some point, Motoki made a club sandwich for them to split.

The two were forced to end their meeting as the after school rush loitered in. Anyway, Mamoru needed to prepare himself for his weekly dinner with the Tuskino's. Usako's dad always made his life more...challenging. After a brief goodbye, and an arrangement to have lunch on Motoki's next day off, Mamoru left the arcade into the crisp, autumn afternoon air.

The wind tickled Mamoru's ear and flushed away the smell of exhaust in the city streets. He picked up his pace with a slight bounce in his step. Maybe a detour through the park would be nice. But first, he should drop his blazer off at the car since it was a perfect 68 degrees.

As he approached his car, humming softly to himself, a poster on a storefront caught his eye. It was a photograph of Sailor Moon. She was surrounded by a red circle with a line through it. Mamoru's walk trickled to a stop as he examined the poster more closely. Above the image, a caption read "Hero or Villian?" Below, it continued:

"Sailor Moon, we've had enough! No one is above the law. You have been charged with manslaughter and should pay the price like any other Japanese citizen!

"Anyone with information on Sailor Moon's whereabouts or any information at all should contact the Support Justice Cause at 555-8654.

"This poster is endorsed by Toki Masako, founder of the Support Justice Cause"

A chill snaked it's way down Mamoru's spine as he unlocked his door.

"Yeah, caught my attention too," an older man said at the door to the store with the poster in the window. "Glad someone doing something about those vigilantes."

Mamoru didn't bother with a response. He just threw himself in his car and turned on the heater.

Ami awoke with a start. Her head jerked up, and she frantically glanced around the room as if there was something lurking the shadows...Of course, there was nothing. Afternoon light seeped through the window illuminating flecks of dust and transforming them into something akin to silver nitrate.

She was in her library at her house seated at her antique, mahogany writer's desk. Her chemistry book was opened to page 1,093. Her olive desk lamp illuminated the pages with the soft, orange glow of a low wattage, incandescent bulb.

Ami yawned before wiping her eyes and the small wet spot on her chemistry textbook. A small throbbing was developing above her left eye. Try as she like, she couldn't shake the feeling that whatever she had been dreaming, had been important.

Of course, her paranoia was most likely the result of stress from the Senshi meeting that had manifested in the form of a bad dream. The throbbing in her head intensified.

Of the inner Senshi, only she and Usagi, surprisingly enough, acted with any composure to the Masako Toki issue. Panic would do them no good. Approaching this advesary with cool, collective reason was the only way. Rei on the other hand, had the idea to just burn down city hall.

Because of her "reasoning," Ami was left to determine the probability of Masako actually discovering them, and if so, just how long it would take. Ami lifted the palm sized Mercury computer off her desk. She'd set the parameters in a statistics program in hopes that it could do this ridiculous calculation for her. Honestly, how could she be expected to predict anything if key information like how long had Masako been working on the discovery of their identities or who comprised her staff were missing? Ami placed the computer back on the desk, leaving it to continue calculating probabilities that were probably wrong. In the meantime, she could continue focusing on the chore at hand, chemistry homework. And find some aspirin for her headache.

Of course, to Ami, chemistry always made sense. It was simply about balance. If one atom needed an electron, it had to take it from another atom who had too many. Or sometimes they shared. But balancing being a Senshi and a student was like balancing spinning plates on top of a 100 centimeter diameter ball. Then again, Ami always enjoyed a challenge.

Ami's life before becoming a Senshi was easy to balance. Ami's father had passed away when she was six, and perhaps instead of dealing with a grieving child, her mother had engrossed herself with others' sick children. Her mother was never around, even now. The only way it seemed her mother paid her any attention was when it came to school, which is what drove Ami to excel in the beginning.

All that changed when Ami moved to Tokyo and met Usagi. Suddenly, she had school, Senshi, and social responsibilities to juggle. Complex chemistry. Still, Ami took it all in stride and graduated a year early from high school (only because the other Senshi had asked her to stay as long as she could) with a year and a half of college credit due to advanced placement testing. Now she was studying biochemistry at Tokyo University.

Ami smacked her lips and decided now would be a good time to get some juice and that asprin. She only drank soda or other artificially enhanced sugary drinks when she was with the girls. At home, she preferred simple, organic tastes. Ami pushed herself away from the desk, and put her bare feet on the chilly wood floors in order to walk to the kitchen.

As soon as she left the room, her phone rang. The blue Samsung cell flashed and vibrated. The fish bell charm (a present from Usagi) jingled with the ringing.

Ami's bare feet pattered against the floor as she rushed to the phone. She delicately lifted it and saw the caller ID. Ryo Urawa. A puzzled look crossed Ami's face. It's not that she had lost touch with Urawa, but he had been engrossed in his studies on Greek Literature in America. He rarely called, and mostly e-mailed.

Gingerly holding the phone up to her ear, Ami answered, "Hello."

"Hey Ami," Urawa said hesitantly over the phone.

"Urawa, is everything okay?" Ami asked leaning against the desk.

"Oh, yeah, I'm great. I've been helping translate part of those ancient Greek scrolls they found a couple of years back. That really large one that was in the news? Anyway, I think I've found part of Sophocles' missing Oedipus Rex dramatic cycle," he babbled.

"That's great!" Ami said awkwardly. It really was, but it wasn't something he usually called about.

"Yeah, um, is everything all right with you, and you know, things?" He asked after a momentary pause.

Ami brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear. Had he heard about Masako all the way in America?

"Why do you ask." It was more a statement than a question.

Another pause. "I had a dream"

Ami's eyes widened. Of course! Urawa was once a nijizuishou carrier gifted with prophetic sight. He knew about the Senshi, and their identities, but he would never use that information against them. After the nijizuishou was extracted, Urawa's psychic abilities dwindled. He usually contacted Ami when he had one, but they were rarely of value.

"It was very vague," he continued. "There was someone hunting you. You're a threat to him. A not just you, but all the Senshi"

"Yes," Ami confirmed. "A woman by the name of Masako Toki."

"I must really be rusty," Uwara laughed nervously. "It was a man in my dreams. A very old man."

"Hmm," Ami murmured as she meandered into the kitchen. "Please, continue."

"Well, I don't remember all the details, but there was blood. Something in the blood."

Ami listened intently. So much so that she nearly spilled her grapefruit juice.

"Then there was something about a swat team and Matako." Uwara paused, "I think they were going to arrest her."

"Are there any other details you remember?" She asked before taking a sip of the bitter beverage.

"No. I just have a feeling its going to be soon," he said then sighed. "I just wanted to warn you."

Ami smiled. Intelligent and kind-hearted. "Thank you, Uwara."

"Hey Ami? I'm heading back to Japan for a little while. My flight leaves Thursday."

"But it's the middle of the semester! What about your work on Sophocles?" She was surprised. Uwara cared about his studies as much as Ami did. What could compel him to do something so impulsive?

"The Greek scrolls will still be around when I get back. Besides, I think I might be homesick," Uwara reasoned.

Ami was silent. She understood even though he didn't say it. He had the same feeling about school as Ami did: it came second to friends and loved ones.

"Thank you, Uwara," she said sincerely.

She could feel him smiling through the satellite transmissions. "I'll call you when I get in," he beamed. "We have a lot of catching up to do."

"Yes, we do. I'll see you soon then."

"I'll talk to you then."

"Goodbye," Ami said before terminating the call.

When you realize a guy my size might take a while

Ami returned to her desk with her juice. Her book was still open to page 1, 093. Chapter 8: Chemical components of DNA bases and their importance to biological make-up.

She rubbed her eyes. She knew the material. It was all just review. She excelled at reviewing. Reviewing problems and data and applying their interpretations.

Interpretations. Uwara's dream required interpretations. What does the blood mean? Is there something in teh blood or is it going to end in blood? And what about Matako? She should call and warn her. But then again, like Uwara said, his dreams weren't what they use to be. Maybe she's just over reacting.

Her computer beeped signaling it was done processing information. Ami reached across the desk again and casually picked up the diminutive machine. The results were clear. The pain above Ami's eye changed into a migraine. She'd forgotten about that asprin. It could wait just a little longer though. It was not a matter of if Masako would discover the Senshi's identity, but when.

Ami plucked her communicator from her subspace pocket and pressed the symbol for Jupiter.

AN: And that's the beginning of chapter 2. The rest will be out asap. This was originally intended to be a songfic (this chapter set to Barenaked Ladies "Pinch Me"), but this version is sans lyrics as you can see. I'm trying to post this else where in its original state, but that's taking a little time.