Fear Not the Dark
Part 04
By Amidala
Once again, this one is but two pages. Sorry if that's too short, folks, but I
really couldn't
think of anything else for it ::sweatdrop:: Expect the next chapter out in a
few months ::very
nervous grin::
Enjoy!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Makoto awoke the next morning feeling entirely groggy and with no idea of
where she was. There
was a weight on her right side that she could not place and the room was not
any that she could
remember having been in before. She looked, very slowly, from one side of the
room to the other
until she noticed Omi sleeping, leaning over on the bed. The Senshi smiled
slightly at the
innocent looking boy, but it was banished when she remembered why she was
there, why he was
there, and what he did. With a small groan of pain Makoto sat up in the bed
and slid out.
she sighed and threw the blanket over the sleeping boy.
She paused before walking out of the room to watch him for a second.
the Senshi thought with a small smile, heading out
the door.
By the time Makoto stumbled down to the living room she realized it was about
12:00 in the
afternoon. She could smell something good coming from the kitchen, but was
hesitant to go in and
try to get anything to eat. The one thing she did not want was to deal with
Ran or Youji or Ken,
not now. A loud growl from her stomach and a slight nausea signaled that she
had not eaten in a
long time. She stood there in indecision, looking from the kitchen to the
front door and back.
"Makoto-san?"
Hearing her name said by the overly worried sounding Ken, Makoto cringed. The
very people she
had been trying to avoid had found her. Though she thought she remembered Ken
being there in the
middle of the night, her feelings towards him were not completely favorable.
Ran and Youji stood
behind Ken, who held a tray of food.
"We were just going to check on you and see if you were awake. Are you
hungry?"
The young Senshi nearly drooled at the sight of it all, not to mention the
smell; she was
starving. She almost nodded and accepted the food, but memory struck and
Makoto forced herself
to glare at them coldly, ignoring the way Ken cringed.
"Iie. Kaeru. Sayonara," she bit out and stalked to the door, nearly
shoving Youji out of
her way.
"Matte!" Ken shouted, "You don't really understand what's going
on! We *need* you to help
us."
Makoto was listening, but she refused to stop her journey to the door. The
former soccer player
saw this and all but dropping the food onto the couch, he ran to her, ignoring
the annoyed
exclaimations from Youji. Ken stopped behind Makoto and reached out an arm to
grab her wrist,
but thought the better of it and dropped his hand, instead following her.
"If you don't help us, sooner or later the Dark Kingdom is going to get
the upper hand,
and then we'll all be *screwed*. Haven't you been fighting to prevent
that?" Ken pleaded.
The Senshi stopped dead in her tracks.
"You think. ... You think that by *forcing* me to become an assassin, I'm
going to join
you? Zakkenyao, kisama! The Sailor Senshi's battle is with the Dark Kingdom,
yes, but we *do*
*not* involve the civilians. I *will* *not* kill people just to get close to
your targets!"
"You think I *like* killing people for a living?! You think *we* like
it?! None of us had
much choice you know. It was either join or die. And because you now know what
we do, *you* have
the same choice!"
"Well then, I choose death. I've died before, my Princess can bring me
back if she
chooses."
Ken stopped and punched the wall closest to him, swearing loudly in
frustration.
"BAKA YAROU!!!" he shouted, "I'm not any happier with this than
you are, but I will not
see you die because of this."
"I'm very sorry, but you can't stop me."
Makoto tried to walk out again, but and hand on her arm stopped her. While she
had been arguing
with Ken, Ran had come up behind her and now had her arm in a vice-like grip.
She glared at him,
a glare that rivaled his own, and the red head nearly cringed. Years of
training did not allow
for that, though, and he glared right back.
"Hanase," the Senshi demanded coldly.
"Iie. Ken is right. I will not waste a life."
"But you're willing to let *me* waste lives? You hypocritical -- "
Makoto broke off, not
daring to continue.
Ran did not reply, only tightened his grip. He pulled her away from the door
and flopped her
down on the couch, standing over her and looking decidedly dangerous. When he
spoke, he used
neutral tones that were far more effective with her than any shouting could
have ever been.
"You don't seem to understand," he said, cooly, "No one in Weiß
*enjoys* killing people.
Often one of us will wake up come midnight due to a nightmare. You have not
had any harder a time
than we have in life, and I know this for a fact. So stop this righteous
bullshit, because it is
not impressive."
The Senshi looked at him with wide eyes. He was presenting points of view that
she had never
considered, but now that he mentioned them, they made quite a lot of sense. A
flash of movement
caught her eye; Youji had set the food tray on the table in front of her.
"You need to eat," the blonde man said gently.
Makoto shook her head, stubborness getting the better of her. He sighed and
ran a hand through
his hair, before resorting to giving her the slightly hurt look that always
worked in his favor
with women.
"Look, it's not poisoned. Ken and Aya made it for you, and they wouldn't
do something
like that. Now eat. ... Please?"
<I really should. I don't really *want* to die. But this is unacceptable,
killing people
for a living. It's disgusting,> the Senshi argued with herself,
With an unspoken consent to stay where she was, to join them, she reached out
and took hold of a
piece of toast. Ken sighed in relief and offered her a small smile, both
hopeful and aplogetic,
as she ate it. She shrugged at him then looked pointedly at Ran, telling him
with her eyes to
explain himself. Youji picked up the cue instead.
"Kitei kudasai. We don't go around killing just anybody. We are sent
after the criminals
that the police wouldn't dare to deal with. The inhumane characters that
dominate the Black
Market. Rapists, drug-dealers, slave traders, those who sell young women as
whores to old men."
Makoto nearly choked on her toast and looked up at Youji in horror. He nodded
gravely, and Ran
in the background looked more solemn than she had ever seen him.
"There was once a case," Youji continued, "we had in which a
man chose young men who were
black listed and set them against each other on a big chess board. These young
men were given
weapons and told to kill the other, or be killed. We were sent on the case and
took down the head
of the organization, and Human Chess was never heard of again."
"As I recall, Youji, you declined to go with us," Ken chided, trying
to bring some humor
into the discussion, or at least lighten the serious atmosphere that had
descended upon them.
"That's right," the blonde nodded, "You can also choose not to
take a mission."
Makoto sighed and slumped into the couch, sighing heavily and hanging her
head. She knew she was
beaten, she had known from the moment that Ran had set her on the couch. She
would join them:
she would become a White Hunter. She could not quite figure out *why* exactly
she had let him,
but at the moment she did not particularly care.
she sighed internally.
Then she looked up at the older men.
"Fine. It seems I have no choice but to stay."
"Yoshi," chirped a new voice, one that sounded much too happy for
this situation.
The Senshi snapped her head around to see Manx walking into the flower shop.
She glared at the
woman, who just smiled back. That nearly sent Makoto off growling, but she
managed to contain
it. Manx walked over and sat down next to her on the couch, pulling out a cell
phone.
"Now, how would you like us to tell your parents that you're dead?"
the red headed woman
asked, sweetly.
"That test of loyalty won't work," Makoto muttered.
"How do you figure that?" Manx asked, looking mildly curious.
"Well ... you can knock yourself out trying to find them, for one thing.
They don't live
in the city, though we talk often."
"Oh, so you want me to call them, is that it?"
"Iie. That wouldn't work well either."
Manx sighed. She grew tired of these games easily, for they bored her and she
could usually beat
the answer out of the person without them realizing it. This one however,
refused to talk and
she was growing impatient.
"Then *how* exactly, am I supposed to let them know you're dead?"
she all but snapped.
"Well," Makoto said, a strange lilt to her voice, " ... you
can't. They won't be able to
hear you, being six feet underground! They're already dead, OK?! I lost 'em
when I was five in a
plane crash. Now *you* tell *me* how you plan on telling them that *I'm*
dead."
Ken winced, Youji cringed, Ran remained emotionless, and Manx became both
serious and shocked.
"You mean that, don't you?" she asked Makoto.
"Oh, no. I tell people my parents are dead for fun, you know? I mean,
doesn't everybody?"
the brunette snapped, sarcasm quickly becoming her line of defense.
Manx bowed her head to keep from getting frustrated with the newest member of
Weiß. She knew
this girl had been placed in a horrible situation, with no real reason for her
to want to be
there, but the red headed woman saw no reason for the girl to be so damned
rude.
Just then sounds of panicked running sounded down the stairs.
"Makoto-san's gone! I'm late for school! But she's gone! I don't know
where she went!
Have you seen my school bag? Where is she?!" shouted Omi's voice.
"Gakkou?! K'SO! Taka-sensei is gonna *kill* me if I'm late!" Makoto
cried, jumping up
from the couch.
All thoughts of assassins and dead parents and loyalty tests were put aside as
she and Omi looked
at each other. Omi stared, pointing a finger and the Senshi grinned at him,
surprising the
others. Ran narrowed his eyes, old feelings stirring in the back of his
conscious. Youji
noticed this and smirked, filing it away under Stuff To Piss Off Aya With. Ken
just smiled, glad
that Makoto did not hate them so much that she refused to smile.
"Omi-kun. We gotta go to school, and I don't have my book bag. Therefore,
you have
volunteered to come with me and get it. I refuse to be late on my own,"
Makoto informed the boy.
He nodded dumbly, grabbed his own bag, and followed her out of Koneko No Sumu
Ie at a brisk
sprint, leaving the others staring after them.
"You think she's gonna try something?" Youji finally asked.
"I'll go after them," Ran muttered and walked out.
The blonde man snickered and ran a hand through his hair, looking very pleased
with himself. Ken
looked at him questioningly, but the older man shook his head. Manx gave them
both strange looks
and shook her head.
"I'll be back later tonight with your mission, but I have work to
do," she informed them,
and walked out.
~Owari, chapter four~
Fushichou = Phoenix. You'll find out who that is soon enough, though I'll bet
Girl-chama can
figure it out.
Go to Part 05
Go Back to Part 03
Go Back to the WK/SM Crossover Section
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