Screams and the sound of clinging swords filled the air. The sound of blood came from all around me. My voice was weak and shaking as I struggled to call out anything. All I could feel was overwhelming guilt as familiar screams broke out. It was the only thing I could feel, but it wasn't for myself. It was the people around me, who I must've hurt to make this happen. I couldn't even feel sorry for myself at this point, it felt like it was too late. My vision was blurred as I felt tears dropping onto my cheeks and onto my now blood, white dress.
Before I could even look up, a bloodied sword came before me, pointed against my throat. My breath hitched as I looked up to see who it was. The bearer was a red-haired older woman. yelling curses at me. "You ruined this world so I shall ruin yours!" She screamed. I lifted my head, trying not to let the sword reach any closer to my throat. The woman harshly grabbed my chin, smothering blood all over my face with her rough fingers.
"You messed up our planet's life, and now for the sake of the people, I shall get rid of you. Once and for all!" Hearing her words, I promptly blacked out.
But then, I woke up.
I sat up from the wooden rusty desk, not keeping my head low to soothe rather, persistent pain. I placed my hand on my aching head. The dream or nightmare felt like deja vu as if it happened. "For some reason, I can't exactly place when or where the event happened. I wonder who made her so upset." I murmured as I got up.
I looked around and quickly figured out that I was in the library. I reached for my bag to obtain my watch. I checked the time as I put it on to see it was almost 6. "Ah, mom's gonna be upset if I'm not home by curfew," I said out loud. I tucked my phone into my bag as I left, stumbling out of the library.
I sped down the stairs of the school, constantly tripping on my shoes while my bag kept flipping from my side to my chest. My shoes constantly made a loud noise as I ran. "Click, Clack." They went.
I burst through the school entrance, running out the door. I soon stopped for a rest at the arcade, panting for breath. While I took my break, I stopped to look inside through the windows of the Game Center Crown arcade, just to see if anyone was inside working or even just playing games.
I peered into the window and saw a blonde-haired boy with hazel eyes flipping over the open sign to closed. He began walking back to the counter but before that, we made eye contact, making me jump in the process. He smiled at me and began walking to the door next to the window.
He unlocked the door, peeking his head out. "Hi! We're currently closed. What can I help you with?" I froze as he looked at my outfit and began stepping out the doorway. "Oh, you go to Juban High School, right?" "Yes." I nodded.
"I attend Juban High School as well, but I haven't seen you around before." He smiled. "You're pretty tall for a high schooler. At first glance, I thought you were an adult." I mumbled. He looked at me shocked, making me think I said something rude. But then, he started to smile and chuckle.
"Yeah, a lot of people say that as well!" He chuckled. "I almost forgot something..." He muttered. "What is it?" I asked. "I forgot to say my name. It's Motoki, Motoki Furahata." He told me. "What's yours?" Motoki asked as he peered more into my field of vision.
"My Name? Oh, my name, it's ... Honoka Koizumi." I replied.
The conversation seemed as if it was coming to an end so I just looked around. I spotted posters plastered on the window that had a girl named 'Sailor V.' "Pfft." I giggled. "Oh! That's our newest game, Sailor V. It's about a superhero who fights thieves in England." Motoki presented. "In ... England?" I questioned.
"Well, she's Japanese but currently lives in England." He answered. "You talk about it as if it's real." I laughed. "It's rumored that she's real!" Motoki went on. As he began to ramble about the new game, I realized that we'd been standing here for possibly more than 30 minutes.
I looked up at the now dim-lit sky and reached for Motoki's wrist with a watch wrapped around it, forgetting that I had my own. I held his warm hand as I checked the time. It was past my curfew! I looked up back at him with a tense expression as he looked both concerned and confused. "What's wrong, Honoka?" He asked me, releasing my hand from his.
"My curfew passed- and now my mom's gonna be really, upset and angry with me as soon as I get home! And I really-" I rambled as my body tensed up. "I just gotta get home!" I yelled as I scrambled out there. "Bye, Honoka!" Motoki shouted in the distance.
I continued to run down the sidewalk, slowly losing energy causing me to slow down. I checked my watch as I came to a stop. It was even later, but this gave me an idea. "I should buy my mom a gift, so maybe my punishment won't be as harsh and I can use it as an on why I was so late." I thought to myself.
I looked around to see if there were any gift or even jewelry stores around. I quickly spotted a jewelry store in the corner of my eye, flowing with customers. "If so many people are there, it must be full quality right?" I thought to myself as I ran to the store to get a spot in line.
As I walked into the store, I began feeling a bit uneasy. "Something about this store doesn't feel right." My gut told me. I just ignored it as I stared at my watch, watching the time go by. As I got more bored with just staring at my watch, I began looking around the store.
I quickly noticed a girl standing next to the clerk. She had brunette waves that shook when she moved, her hair came to her chin, and a green bow peeked behind her ears. She was also wearing the Juban Middle School uniform. The girl seemed to be looking around and staring at people, investigating them. I moved up the line, being next in line now.
But, I soon noticed why the girl was looking around.
All the customers who had purchased previously purchased the products in the store began to look sleepy. They began wobbling around the store, some even falling to the ground. Suddenly, the clerk began to transform into a blood-curdling monster and began to attack the brunette girl that was just next to her.
I scream in horror watching the monster lift the girl. Her legs dangled in the air as the monster brought her up by her arms. Both the monster and the girl looked at me, the monster staring directly into my eyes. It quickly put its hand over her face, dropping her as soon as it finished, and began charging at me.
I attempted to run back in the direction I came from, my hair whipping me as I turned, but instead tripped on my shoes and fell flat on my stomach. Still, on the floor, I turned my head around. The monster seemed to be approaching me even faster.
"Someone help!" I screamed, even louder than before. As the footsteps got louder and closer, my stomach began to churn and I began to say small prayers, hoping for anything less than death. As a big shadow approached me, I shut my eyes tight, bracing for impact.
But nothing seemed to happen.
I peeked my eyes open to see a rose charging between the monster and me. The rose hit the ground, almost piercing the monster's hand as it jumped away from me. I looked up to see where the rose had come from. Still aware of my surroundings, I backed away from the monster and looked around.
"Huh, what?"
To my surprise, the rose had seemed to come from nowhere as there was nobody awake other than the monster, to throw the rose between us. I began to hear shuffling. I turned my head to see that the monster was no longer distracted by the rose, and began to chase after me once again. I swept up my bag, ready to swing it, as it came closer.
But before I could properly stand up, a pair of strong arms swept me up from under my feet and took me outside of the jewelry store. As they jumped up to a tall building, ahead of the jewelry store, their grip on my thighs hardened, turning them red.
The unknown person and I landed safely on the building, across from the jewelry store's roof, my heels clacking as they softly put me down. I turned around to thank the person who saved me.
"Thank you," I uttered.
I looked up to see a boy with messy black hair and deep blue eyes, covered by a white mask. A black hat, a black cape that's red velvet color on the inside, a white shirt inside a pitch black tuxedo, wearing white gloves, and a white bow.
He nodded his head as a scream broke out from below. We both looked to see a girl that looked almost identical to the video game Motoki showed me, Sailor V. She only had a few changes like a blue sailor collar that had three white stripes on it, white gloves with three red arm fittings that reach just below her elbows, and so on. She began dodging the monster's attacks while screaming out loud.
"Motoki, you weren't lying?" I thought to myself as my mouth went agape. I looked up to see the boy looking towards the girl, for some reason making my heart ache. Our eyes met as he looked at me, "Stay here." He sighed as he jumped off the building. I scrambled to the railing of the building to check on the boy.
I sighed as I sat on the building since I couldn't get back down on my own. My legs swung back and forth as I waited. "I'm gonna be in so much trouble when I get home, I couldn't even get the jewelry I was supposed to get," I murmured to myself. A shadow illuminated by the moon came before me. I looked up to see it was the masked man, staring down at me.
The masked man sat down next to me, he put his head down and hugged his legs. A ping of silence filled the air for a bit before he spoke. "Let's make a deal." I looked up at him, stunned. "A deal? What deal?" I asked. "I need to check something in the store and you need something from the store, right?" He clarified. "If I give my mom a gift now, she won't be as mad, right?" I thought to myself as I nodded.
I stood up and gathered my things. "Are you ready?" The masked man asked, peeking into my field of vision. "Ye-" Before I could even finish my sentence, he swooped me up into his arms. I attempted to muffle my screams with my hands but to do that, I would have to let go of him, but before I knew it, we were already down at the jewelry store.
As my shoes clicked on the sidewalk slowly traveling to the jewelry store, the masked man was already inside, going through every drawer in sight. "Ding!" The bell above the door went as I pushed open the door. "What are you doing?" I asked quietly. The masked man flinched, stopping in his tracks. "It's none of your business." Silence filled the room as he closed the last drawer. "Get whatever you want, I'm going." He murmured, trailing past me.
The door clinked as he left. "He's mean." I thought to myself as I looked at the display of jewelry. I choose a gold necklace as a gift. With my saved allowance, I left a bunch of money on the counter before leaving the store with the necklace. I ran home as fast as I could, making it around 7:20.
As I opened the door, my mom was staring at me with furious eyes. "Where were you, Honoka?" She shouted angrily. "I-" Before I could even finish my sentence, I heard my demise, Hana, my younger sister. "She was with a boy, mom." She yelled, burrowing down the stairs. Hana shoved her polaroid camera in my mom's face. I could hear my mom's gasp as Hana smirked mischievously at me.
I made it back home safely, arriving at 17:32 (5:32) p.m. I took my key from my bag and unlocked my door as quietly as possible, trying not to alert the mom of my presence.
"Bang!" The door flew open, making a loud sound and alerting my mom. I shiver knowing what's about to happen.
She races down the stairs and starts to yell at me. "Y/N! It's past your curfew! Don't you know how worried I was about you?" she screams. "I'm sorry, mom." Ah, I wasn't able to get the gift for her... Think Y/N, think! I thought to myself. I quickly thought of a reasonable excuse. "Ah.. um, I-I lost track of time when I was in the library. " I stammered nervously.
After my excuse, my mom bursts with frustration about my curfew and shoots her well-prepared and probably long lecture straight toward me.
After she finishes her lecture, noticing I haven't even been listening, she sighs, she sighs. "Alright, just go sit and eat dinner. There is fried rice with vegetables and salmon." "Okay," I said, trying to hide my excitement. My mom always makes the best food.
After I finish my food, I go take a shower. After my shower, I head straight to my room and flop on my bed.
I lay on my bed thinking about my day. Tuxedo Mask, Tuxedo Mask. I thought to myself. "He seems cool," I whispered to myself, burrowing my head into my cold pillow. I started to think about the Sailor Guardians as well. All the people I have met today seem familiar. "Eh." I brush aside my thoughts and head straight to sleep.