Note: Now that I've seen the first five episodes of Weiß Kruez I feel more justified in trying to write a crossover with them. ^_^ So here is my first attempt at a SM/WK story! ta-da ^_^ (LOL) Please read and review honestly and kindly. (I don't take offense from flames provided they are reasonable and not rants.) Thanks!
Timelines: [WK] Between episode 8 and 9. [SM] Three years after Sailor Moon Stars.
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Makoto shivered slightly in the cool air as she carefully took stalk of the meat in the locker. Inventory of the meat locker was never one of her favorite tasks. Luckily, she only had to do the job every second Saturday of the month. Makoto glanced back towards the entrance at the locker's large metal door and sighed in relief. The stool she'd leaned against it was still holding the silver door open.
She chuckled ruefully as she recalled when she'd first come to work at the restaurant five months ago. It had been her week to go over the meat inventory in the large metal meat locker and she'd gone in without propping the door open. The door had swung shut while she was near the back of the locker and Makoto had been trapped in there for an hour before the other late shift worker, Dominica had come to her rescue. The petite blonde girl hadn't let Makoto forget the incident and tended to tease her a great deal about it.
"Hey Mako-san! Still alive?" shouted a soft voice of the said girl.
"Everything's cool!" punned Makoto with a grin, tallying off the last of the meat.
A girl with chin length blonde hair pocked her head around the door frame and smiled at her, her sky blue eyes scrunching at the corners.
"Careful Mako-san! You're starting to sound like Uncle Shuuichi," teased Dominica before ducking out of sight again.
"You're one to talk Domi-chan!" Makoto laughed good naturedly as she began to make her way out of the hanging meats at the back.
As she made her way out she remembered her first encounter with Uncle Shuuichi been when she'd answered an add in the local papers for a job at Lunaluz, a restaurant in the commercial part of Tokyo. Uncle Shuuichi was a dark haired man with a mustache and beard that made his face look longer then it was and dark framed glasses that were slightly tinted black. He had a tendency of making jokes unexpectedly and was easy to talk to.
When she'd met him for her interview five months ago, she'd been struck by his openness with her and how he seemed unsurprised that she'd been living on her own since a young age. He asked her unobtrusively about her life and after an hour Makoto found she had taken a liking to the man. Shuuichi had hired her and when she arrived at Lunaluz for her first day of work, she found out that she wasn't the only one who'd been impressed by the man.
At Lunaluz all of the workers were fond of him and privately referred to him as Uncle Shuuichi. He held the respect and trust of all his employees and Makoto had noticed that the man rarely came in to supervise his young employees. It seemed he trusted his employees as much as they trusted him.
Warm air gently washed over Makoto as she stepped out of the locker and she found herself shivering slightly. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Dominica bolting the back door and setting the alarm.
"Isn't it your turn next Saturday, Domi-chan?" asked Makoto with a slightly grin as she kicked the stool away from the locker door and shut it firmly.
"Iie. It's Shinji's turn to enter the cooler," joked Dominica, walked over to the door to the foyer. "I'm the week after him."
Makoto nodded and met the smaller girl by the door, "I forgot it was his turn. Sorry."
Dominica giggled and pushed the door open, allowing Makoto to go through first before following.
"Don't worry about it. Just don't forget your own day."
Makoto laughed and sat down in one of the chairs against the wall while her friend went over the cash register.
"I wonder where Shinji is now? He has the evening shift just like Domi and I, so why isn't he here?" wondered Makoto, her brow furrowing in concern. "In fact, Shinji seems to be missing nights more frequently."
"Dominica," asked Makoto, as the curiosity got the better of her. "Do you have any idea why Shin-san hasn't been showing up for his evening shifts recently?"
Dominica looked up from the cash register in surprise.
"You mean you weren't told?"
Makoto looked at Dominica in confusion and shook her head, "I wasn't told anything."
"Uncle Shuuichi is having Shinji do some work for him at his other business this week. He's not supposed to be back to work till next week." answered Dominca and rubbed a hand over the back of her neck. "I asked Shinji what it was but he wouldn't give me a strai...''
Suddenly the front door was shoved open and both girls turned their heads to see young man standing in the door frame.
"Shinji!" exclaimed Dominica and Makoto in surprise.
"I need the phone," said Shinji ignoring their surprise and moving towards the counter where Dominica stood.
When the young man was fully in the light Makoto gasped at what she saw. Blood dripped down the side of the young man's face from a cut partially hidden by Shinji's blue hair. Large gashed in the chest region had stained his shirt a deep red and his arms were also covered in slashes of a similar style.
"It looks like some kind of beast attacked him," thought Makoto in horror. "Or a monster. But those haven't been around for three years since... Galaxia.''
"Shin-san!" exclaimed Dominca, obviously shocked at the young man's state as well. "What happened?"
"Don't worry about it. I need to call Persia."
"Uncle Shuuichi?" questioned Makoto softly.
Rarely did any of them call their boss by his second name. Uncle Shuuichi had asked them to call him Shuuichi, saying he wanted his workers to be more at home around him.
Shinji lifted the phone off of it's cradle and the two girls stood by in shock as he dialed and waited.
"Hello," Shinji said as the line must have been picked up. "Moonlight is soft but the wind is harsh. Death hangs like a cloak. Thank you."
Makoto's brow furrowed in confusion and she found herself looking away towards the large windows up front as Shinji hung up. Something was going on. Something Makoto had a feeling she didn't want to know about."
"Shinji, what is going on?" asked Dominica, sounding slightly afraid. "Please tell us what's wrong."
"No time. You girls need to get out of here," said Shinji, causing Makoto to look at him in surprise. "I'll explain it to you tomorrow."
A long howl resounded from outside and Makoto rose from her seat.
"That's not any dog," said Makoto grimly and looked over at Shinji who's brown eyes had grown slightly large in fear. "That's what attacked you, isn't it?"
Shinji's silence answered her question and slowly made her way over the large windows at the store front. Behind her, she heard Shinji whisper something about the lights and Dominica answer something back. Then the lights went off and the room was plunged into darkness. Makoto's eyes adjusted quickly to the change in lighting and she continued to move towards the window.
"Makoto. Stay away from the windows!" hissed Shinji's voice over the dark restaurant.
Makoto ignored him as her instincts from being a Sailor Senshi three years ago returned to her. The markings on Shinji's chest and the howl were things she'd only seen a Youma do. If the creature outside was a Youma, then that meant she'd have to protect her friends.
A dark silhouette passed over the window right in front of Makoto and she stopped abruptly. The silhouette was the size of a human being and hunched over slightly, as if looking at something on the ground.
"What could it be looking at?"
Inspiration stuck Makoto and she turned her eyes away from the shadow to the front door. There on the carpet leading into the foyer was a dark red stain. Her eyes swung back to the shadow in horror.
"Shinji, it's following your blood," whispered Makoto.
"Let's get out the back way," called Shinji softly. "Come on."
Makoto slowly began to back away from the window and glanced back to see the door of the kitchen swing slightly as Dominica and Shinji crept through it. Makoto was almost across the room when a window behind her shattered.
"Makoto!" screamed Dominica's voice.
"Run!" shouted Makoto even as she turned to face the creature.
The creature stood still looking at her and she inwardly shuddered. It was humanoid in size and covered everywhere in hair with the exception of the face that was twisted unlike anything she'd ever seen with jagged teeth hanging from it's open jaws. Long hooked claws projected from it's hands a good twelve inches and it's eyes seemed to glow with a feral green light.
"All in all. It's like a really ugly Youma," she thought to herself, even as she summoned her henshin wand into her hand.
The monster growled menacingly through bared teeth and a clawed hand raised threateningly towards her.
"Jupiter Star Power - Make Up!"
With that one call a euphoria of raw electricity crackled around Makoto in way she'd almost forgotten, and her body suddenly became bare of her normal clothing. Instead energy snaked around her body and left cool feel of the satin sailor fuku in it's place. Next, the cold touch of metal lanced over her forehead as her tiara spread from the middle of her forehead and traveled half way around her head. And finally, the feeling of firm leather boots graced the soles of her feet. They were feelings she had almost forgotten.
"You're not going anywhere near Shinji," declared Sailor Jupiter defiantly as she glared up at the monster. "Or anyone else."
The monster growled, clearly understanding the defiance and open challenge and teeth flashed wickedly in the shadowed light of the room. Jupiter ducked as razor sharp claws raked the air where her face had been only moments ago and braced her body on her hands as she swung her body around, using her legs to sweep the monster backwards. It howled in anger and Jupiter backed away a few feet as it lumbered to it's feet.
Once again it charged at her and Jupiter used a spin kick to knock it away from her and into the counter where the cash register sat. The counter shattered upon impact and the monster gave a small cry of pain before once again getting to it's feet and coming towards her. More wary, it approached cautiously, keeping a foot away from her. Wary herself, Jupiter stepped backward and bumped into a table.
Distracted she was caught off guard as the monster swiped at her with it's claws and ripped into her waist. She gasped in pain and stumbled back into the table as she clutched her waist in pain. The monster made a sound suspiciously like a laugh and raised it's clawed hands for a finishing blow.
"No!" shouted Shinji's voice.
The monster reared back with a shriek of pain and Jupiter turned pained filled eyes upwards to see Shinji hanging onto a butcher knife now lodged into the monster's back, just below the neck. The monster turned around and with a howl of pain and anger, swept it's claws upwards in an arch and sent him flying backwards across the restaurant and against a wall. Jupiter's eyes widened with grief as Shinji's already tattered body slump lifelessly to the floor with three long cuts along the front of his body.
"No!" whispered Jupiter in a broken voice as she struggled to stand upright. "NO!"
The monster turned towards her and lifted it's claws into the air, still dripping with blood. A cold rage filled Jupiter's eyes and she clenched her fists.
"NO! I won't let you hurt any more people!" declared Jupiter, her voice raising with every word.
"Jupiter Oak Evolution!"
Already weakened from the stabbing, the monster was unable to avoid the energy attack as it ripped through it's body and Jupiter watched as it slumped over dead onto the floor. However, Jupiter felt no joy in her victory as she looked over towards the place where Shinji lay. Her fuku vanished and Makoto walked over to where Shinji lay. Unmindful of her own serious injury, she kneeled beside the blue haired youth and gently ran a hand over her face.
"I'm sorry I failed to protect you," whispered Makoto, beginning to cry. "I'm sorry."
"Don't cry," rasped the young man beside her.
Makoto's eyes widened and she looked more closely at the young man. Violet eyes, almost shut looked up at her and a rueful smile greeted her.
"Did I get him?"
"Yeah," choked Makoto, amazed he could speak still. "You saved my life."
"I couldn't let that thing hurt you."
Shinji coughed suddenly and Makoto clutched his hand, "Be still and I'll call for help."
"No!" gasped Shinji, looking at her urgently. "I sent Domi to do it."
Makoto nodded and continued to hold his hand. There were so many questions she wanted to ask. However, seeing his state she didn't want to push him.
"Mako... in my jean pocket. Give it to Persia for me," requested Shinji in a weaker voice.
Makoto gently brushed a hand long Shinji's side and gently pulled out a disk from his right pocket. Satisfied that she had the disk, Shinji nodded and smiled at her even as the faint sounds of sirens reached their ears.
"I will give it to him Shin-san. I promise," Makoto told him fervently. "For now, please live."
Shinji nodded and outside the sirens stopped before the restaurant. She could hear the sounds of the people outside as the scrambled.
"Makoto," Shinji rasped, grasping her arm. "Whatever happens, beware Takatori."
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TBC
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Author's Notes: I know the guys weren't in this chapter, but they will show up in the second! I promise! ^_^;; This is just a way to set things up. -- As a side note, I would like to give special thanks to Girl-chama and Amidala, who's stories inspired me to write this SM/WK story.
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