Chapter 4- An Unexpected Encounter
Monday didn't prove to be productive with the mysterious crisis at the police department as well.
Ami sighed as she filed a report by a different officer who had investigated a crime scene. If only she was allowed to actually check out one of the scenes in person...
She did contact Usagi and the others last night when she arrived home. Rei immediately did a fire reading at the shrine, but she didn't get any results. Michiru, who had finally arrived home in Japan early this morning, used her mirror Talisman to try to find a clue, but that didn't provide any results either. Everyone grew discouraged when they met Sunday night at Ami's place to discuss the new enemy.
--x--
"We should try to investigate one of the scenes secretly as Senshi," Ami said, using her mini Mercury computer to add data. Her friends nodded.
Setsuna pondered, frowning, and said, "There's nothing unusual in the Time Space Continuum."
Chibi Usa informed everyone that there was nothing wrong in the Thirtieth Century as well.
Makoto slammed a fist onto Ami's coffee table. "We've gotta figure this out! There's a growing number of attacks!"
Ami nodded with a frown on her lips, feeling Mako's anger.
Usagi stopped stuffing herself with Mako's fresh donuts for a moment. She had a habit of eating during serious times. Then she said slowly, "What if it's... a previous enemy?"
Everyone's eyes widened. "...But how?" Hotaru inquired.
"I don't know...," Usagi replied. "Yeah, I know it sounds crazy, but... that's something that's in my gut feeling, like there was a voice in my head..."
"Your mind is usually right," Rei said solemnly. "When I get back to the shrine, I'll do another reading."
Everyone agreed to meet again soon, and also agreed to investigate as Senshi when the next attack struck.
--x--
Ami sighed again. If only there wasn't a next attack....
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Monday night Ryo left work frustrated yet again. Leiko-san had worked with him once more, and he slightly forgot the case when she asked him to drive her home. Ryo wondered why- he was quite sure Leiko-san had a car.
As they traveled along, Leiko-san asked, "So, Urawa, do you think that if we work with the police we'll finally get on top this?"
Mizuno-san! "...We'll definitely need all the help we can get." Ryo replied, nodding grimly.
They fell silent. Finally they reached Leiko-san's abode.
"Thank you," she said gratefully. She leaned closer and asked, "Is it okay if I call you Urawa-kun?"
Ryo was startled, but then he smiled. "It's okay."
Leiko-san smiled too. "I'll see you tomorrow." She placed a hand on his shoulder before she left the car.
Ryo flushed a little and stared after her when she entered her home. Was it her perfume, or was he feeling lightheaded? He shook himself, and drove home.
After he talked to his mother briefly on the phone, discussing the difficult case, he ate some leftovers and moved to flick on the television.
No- wait! My power! Ryo thought suddenly. I almost forgot to use it!
The detective closed his eyes, letting his mind relax. His power was easy to control, but it required a sound mind.
Ryo's hair and clothes flowed as he began to glow in a white light. His back arched when he felt an overflow of power. A white light materialized from his forehead and shot up at Ryo's apartment ceiling.
Ryo stopped glowing and looked up at his ceiling. Pictures had appeared on the ceiling, almost like a television.
"Okay," Ryo said, "Let's see who's responsible for this."
The "screen" on his ceiling flickered, and then swirled.
"Black... with white sparks.... It's space!" Ryo said with wonder. He looked closer... He saw a splash of white, and then gold, but it was too hard to make out. The image shifted to what appeared to be Tokyo. There was a splotch of violet in the scene... but suddenly the image flickered and faded.
"Eh?" Ryo's visions were not usually this blurry and vague. He wondered why. It was like there was some kind of interference...
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"Good. I was able to disturb him." Galaxia smirked. "My powers are far greater than Earthlings, ha!"
Galaxia walked into the great stone room again, her steps echoing against the hard walls. The number of orbs of light had grown. She ran her hands on the marble columns in the cavernous space as she walked through, caressing them. Each swirling marble of light was a spectrum of colors.
"When I get what I want from Sailor Moon, her Senshi, and all of Earth, I will get my revenge. Her planet will become a planet of war."
Galaxia spent several hours in the room, gazing at the orbs' splendor. Then she suddenly turned, her long, flowing gold and red hair shortening and changing to deep violet. Someone was knocking on her apartment door. She made sure her stone room's door was closed when she answered.
"What is it? I'm busy!" she snapped. Then she blinked.
Ryo Urawa was at her door.
"Sorry to bother you, Leiko-san, but you left your briefcase in my car. I just remembered after I got home in my apartment a little later."
"Oh. Thank you," Galaxia replied, still slightly surprised. Then her eyes flashed.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Urawa-kun," Galaxia said in her most honeyed voice. She brushed his hand when he handed her her briefcase.
Pink patches stained Urawa's cheeks when he wished her good night before Galaxia shut the door.
She leaned against the apartment door, holding the briefcase. Her fake jet black eyes gazed at the door that led to the Memory Room. Urawa... he mentioned Ami Mizuno, also known as Sailor Mercury. It was so nice knowing the true identities of the Senshi, having controlled them at the Galaxy Cauldron.
Let's see how she feels when I take memories from Urawa, Galaxia thought joyously. Let's see...
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Ami awoke three days later to the birds chirping outside her window. She wished she was as carefree as they were. The last two days were very bleak in the police station. More and more reports had come in about the strange occurrences.
She yawned and blearily turned on her small tv in her bedroom. No good news regarding the case, as usual. The alarmingly large number of citizens were being attacked by people who thought the victim made him or her "forget" something was growing. Ami sighed.
She headed off to work and made it there safely- police were stationed in more parts of Tokyo due to the attacks.
When she entered, immediately Chief Kana went up to her and said, "Mizuno, there you are. I need you to go to a crime scene, where you'll meet with detectives who are already there."
"I'm on it, Chief-san." Ami turned, exited the station, and climbed into a police cruiser. The siren blared as she raced to the scene. She finally had a chance to check out a scene herself.
The chief had told her that the attack came from the Juban area. Immediately, Ami worried about the safety of her friends. The incident had taken place at the very park where Ami and herfriends had had their picnic.
Ami turned off her siren and rushed toward the scene. A young girl with pale blue hair lay on the ground in the middle of a crowd, covered with bruises. She barely moved.
"Someone call an ambulance!" Ami commanded, taking charge. A man nodded and dialed quickly with his cell phone.
"Thank God you're here," said a male voice behind her. "We need all the help we can g-"
He cut his sentence short when Ami turned. Their eves widened.
Ami Mizuno was face to face with Ryo Urawa.
"U-Urawa-kun!"
"M-Mizuno-san!"
"...W-What're you doing here?"
Urawa-kun adjusted his tie nervously and said, "I'm a detective now."
"I know."
"Eh?"
Ami blushed. Now he'll surely think I'm weird, she thought.
"Uhm...," Urawa-kun stuttered, "I-I saw your picture in the paper."
"Huh? When?"
This time Urawa-kun blushed. "N-nothing." He suddenly turned businesslike. "So... what do you think, Mizuno-san and Leiko-san?"
Ami noticed another young woman behind Urawa-kun, with wavy deep violet hair.
"Oh! Hello, Leiko-san," Ami said politely, bowing. Leiko-san bowed slightly, and then turned her attention to Urawa-kun.
"I think we should let the girl speak before she's taken away by the paramedics," Leiko-san said.
"Right," Urawa-kun replied.
The police officer and the two detectives moved closer to the teen, after asking the crowd to step aside. They tried to wake her, and thankfully she did.
"Are you all right?" Ami asked, concerned, as she held the girl.
The young girl nodded slightly, then winced from her wounds. "It was... terrible," she whispered. Ami, Urawa-kun, and Leiko-san listened to her story. Apparently, she had been walking alone in the park and was suddenly stuck hard on all parts of her body by a young man. The girl couldn't identify him.
The ambulance arrived and the paramedics quickly took control.
Before the girl was swept away, Ami asked, "Why do you think he attacked you?"
The victim responded by saying that there was something the man said about "forgetting."
Ami grew discouraged, as well as Urawa-kun and Leiko-san. She turned to face Urawa-kun and was going to say something, but immediately Leiko-san started to talk with him, discussing the case. Ami's heart thudded, and she turned away.
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As Leiko-san droned on about the case, Ryo found himself staring at Mizuno-san. She looked very good in her police uniform. Her pants followed the curves of her legs...
"Are you paying attention?" Leiko-san asked irritably.
Ryo blushed. "Sorry."
After several hours talking to the witnesses, examining the crime scene, and searching for the attacker Ryo, Mizuno-san, and Leiko-san ceased for the day and agreed to meet again soon.
Mizuno-san was about to enter her police cruiser, but Ryo stopped her by tapping her on the shoulder.
She jumped and turned, her face red.
"Y-yes?"
"Uhm..." His heart pounded. "I-I was wondering if you... if you'd like to go have lunch sometime?"
Mizuno-san was startled, but then she smiled her warm smile.
"Sure!"
"Great! So... how about this Saturday?"
Mizuno-san smiled again. "I'll see you then! Oh! Here's my cell number." She scribbled on a scrap piece of paper in the cruiser and handed it to him.
"Thanks," Ryo replied nervously, his cheeks slightly pink. "Here's my cell number too." He pulled out his decorative pen from his breast pocket to retrieve a scrap of paper. When he did, another scrap of paper fluttered from his pocket and landed in front of Mizuno-san.
"A-Ah!" Ryo stammered. He forgot- he hadn't taken this shirt to the cleaners yet, so Mizuno-san's number was still in his pocket. He stooped quickly, fumbled with the paper so Mizuno-san couldn't see it, and found a fresh piece in his pocket. He scribbled his own number and gave it to Mizuno-san.
"Thank you! Bye!" Mizuno-san waved cheerfully before she drove away, and her face was still a little red...
Ryo waved briefly and looked down at her number. "Mizuno-san..." he whispered.
The whole time Leiko-san was watching him, though Ryo didn't realize it.
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Galaxia carefully studied Urawa's relationship with Sailor Mercury. Interesting..., she thought. This will be valuable.
"Urawa-kun," she said in her sweetest voice, "we'd better go back to the office."
Urawa snapped to attention. "Ah! Y-Yeah."
When they got back, Urawa and Galaxia headed to Urawa's office to gather their things to leave, for it was past eight o'clock.
Urawa sat at his desk to put away his laptop. Then his head crashed onto the desk.
"What a day... I'm so tired..."
Galaxia walked behind him and slipped her hands onto his shoulders. "You just need rest," she whispered.
Urawa sat up quickly. "Uh, Leiko-san...?"
"Shhh..." Galaxia started to run her hands slowly against his shoulders and back. Then she leaned close to his ear and whispered huskily, "I used to be a massage therapist... I'm good at comforting people. Especially men."
Urawa didn't turn around, but Galaxia could see his ears redden.
"Ryo... I can show you wonderful things. If you'll let me." Galaxia snaked her arms in front of Urawa and loosened his tie.
Urawa finally turned, stiffly. "Uhm... I-I gotta go. Er, I'll s-see you tomorrow, Leiko-san."
Urawa gathered his things quickly, scrambled toward the office door, and exited just as quickly, accidently stumbling into his coworkers.
Galaxia licked her lips.
"Heh."
