7 Days in the Life of My Family by Hotaru Tomoe (Chap 4)

Chapter Four: Wednesday.

Hotaru finished putting the pillows down in the chair by her desk. After switching on her computer she sat gingerly down on the pillows, acutely aware of the pain lancing through her small body.
With tears in her eyes caused by the pain both in her heart and from her bruised backside, she began typing that day's journal.

Hotaru's P.O.V.

I hate my life sometimes, I really do.

Everything was great between Kimyo and I, not to mention Setsuna-mama and I, and I was feeling a lot better about myself. Then I get my butt kicked, literally, by a yoma today. In all I had a really crappy day today.

It started early this morning with a bad dream; bad dreams are nothing new to me, believe me. In this case though 'bad' might be a bit strong. 'Weird' or 'strange' might be more apt.

Basically I was stuck in an elevator with Usagi while she droned on and on about her 'Mamo-chan'. What's so odd about this? You ask. This sounds like practically every conversation you have with her. Ok, I'll grant you that, but I'm not usually tied to a chair, and she's not usually holding my Silence Glaive.

I awoke before my alarm went off and rolled out of bed. I was still thinking about the dream while I had a shower and got dressed. But I was determined not to let it ruin my day with Michiru-mama.
Heading downstairs I could smell the scent of bacon and eggs from the kitchen and hurried down.

"Good morning, princess. Sleep well?" Michiru-mama greeted me with a warm smile as I walked in. Haruka-papa smiled and hugged me before going back to her breakfast. Setsuna-mama looked up from her newspaper and smiled at me before going back to her paper.

"Good morning. I slept well, except for some odd dream that I had." I smiled as Michiru-mama dished up some bacon and eggs for me and for herself before she sat down. I took a sip of my orange juice.

"Really, what kind of dream? Tell us about it." Michiru-mama said. I told them and she and Setsuna-mama sat there looking as puzzled as I was. Haruka-papa-just chuckled.

"What's so funny Haruka-papa?" I asked.

"Well it sounds strange, but by an odd coincidence I had an odd dream involving Usagi as well." She replied.

"Uh-huh. Define 'odd' Haruka." Michiru-mama looked at her sceptically.

"Well maybe I shouldn't say this in front of the child." Haruka-papa stated, jerking a thumb at Setsuna-mama.

"Funny Haruka. Ha-Ha." Setsuna-mama grumbled. She went back to her paper.

"C'mon Haruka, I know you're dying to say something. So say it already." Michiru-mama said, rolling her eyes upward.

"Promise you won't get mad?" Haruka-papa asked. She had that look in her eyes again.

"I promise." Michiru-mama said in exasperation. Setsuna-mama just grunted and turned a page.

The next thing I knew Haruka-papa was running for her life from an irate, wooden spoon wielding, Michiru-mama. The only three words I heard Haruka-papa clearly say were Usagi, leather, and, whip before Michiru-mama chased after her. Setsuna-mama and I sat there shocked, although I suspect for entirely different reasons. I don't think I'll ever understand grown-ups.

We heard Haruka-papa's car start and take off down the street, tires squealing. She was off to the racetrack. Michiru-mama stormed back in, her face red. "Ooh Haruka Tenoh! You are sleeping on the couch for the next 6 months!" She growled as she sat back down at the table with her arms folded.

Setsuna-mama drank her tea in one swallow, grabbed a piece of toast, mumbled something like; "." And left. We heard her transform, then a portal opened and shut, and then I was alone with Michiru-mama.

I looked at her every so often while I quietly ate my breakfast. She just sat there eating hers not saying a word. Finally she looked up at me and smiled. "Are you ready for our day together?"

I smiled back. "You bet!"

"Great. Let's clear this mess up and get going then." Michiru-mama and I did the breakfast dishes, then we got into the mini van and away we went.

One of the things Michiru-mama likes to do a lot of is shopping. If there's a big sale on at the local mall (like there was today) you can bet Michiru-mama will be there. She would usually have Setsuna-mama in tow, but seeing as she agreed to take me out on Friday, which is her normal day to watch the time stream, she was stuck with me. And I loved every minute of it.

We spent almost 4 hours at the mall and we bought a bunch of stuff like clothes, CD's, DVD's, and a few household items. Michiru-mama also bought a little gift for Haruka-papa to show that she forgave her.

After lunch and after bringing our stuff home we grabbed our swimsuits and headed to the pool. Michiru-mama has been teaching me to swim for a while now. I doubt I'll ever be as good as her, but its fun, and great exercise as well. I used to be rather frail, but between her, Haruka-papa, Rei, Minako, and Makoto, I'm a lot stronger physically than I ever was. I'm not going to be running any marathons soon, but at least I don't nearly pass out while trying to do any running at school now.

About halfway to the pool, our communicators went off. I answered so Michiru-mama could concentrate on her driving. It was Usagi. She was trying to be calm, but you could see the anxiety in her face.

"Guys, we need your help. There's a really big yoma tearing up downtown in the shopping district." A roar and an explosion behind her interrupted her.

"We're on our way, Usagi." I signed off and looked at Michiru-mama who nodded. I transformed (thank Kami-sama for tinted windows) while she accelerated and we headed into the battle. It wasn't difficult to figure out where it was, we could see the smoke and flames for miles, and the people running away screaming is usually a good tip off.

We managed to park somewhere secluded and Michiru-mama transformed into Sailor Neptune. I tried calling Haruka-papa but she would be on the track now and didn't have her communicator. I made a note to ask Ami about putting voice mail into these things. Hopefully Setsuna-mama was monitoring things and would be there.

"We'll have to get there on foot Saturn!" Neptune stated. I nodded and we ran to the battle, with the crowd parting before us a bit as we went.

I was breathing heavily by the time we got there, and what I saw wasn't good. The Inners had engaged the enemy already, and Jupiter was being knocked aside by the creature when we got there.
The yoma resembled a Centaur from Greek Mythology. Usually though a Centaur is half man/half horse. This one looked more like half devil/half horse. Its skin was the colour of blood, and its eyes were red and glowing. It had two horns on its forehead, and sharp, nasty looking teeth. The thing stood close to 8 feet tall on its four hooves. Its lower half was a lighter shade of red and it looked strong and powerful.

Mercury tried to hit it with her Shine Aqua Illusion attack, but it moved out of the way quickly. It turned and shot a jet of flame out of its mouth, which Mercury barely dodged. The car behind her was melted into scrap.

"Neptune! Saturn! We're glad to see you!" Sailor Moon shouted.

"Glad to be here! Let's see what we can do to our friend here!" Neptune replied.

"Submarine Reflection!" she shouted. The Centaur dodged most of the blast, but was grazed slightly and it bellowed in pain.

"It's a fire creature! Water and ice may hurt it!" Mercury shouted.
"And if we can hurt it…" Neptune began.

"We can kill it! Right!" I finished.

"We've got to catch the damn thing first! It's pretty fast!" Mars shouted as she moved out of its way.

"Let me try! Venus Love-Me Chain!" Venus hurled her chain at it but the yoma caught it and sent Venus flying into Mars. They both went down in a heap. The Centaur noticed this and charged at them.

"Venus! Mars! No!" Sailor Moon screamed.

Suddenly a red rose appeared in the Centaurs path, and it stopped in its tracks. It looked around for whoever threw the rose and spotted him standing on top of a parked car. It was our protector Tuxedo Kamen.

Out of a sense of mercy for my readers (and the fact that I've forgotten) I won't repeat Tuxedo Clichés, err, Tuxedo Kamen's speech. Despite the fact that it was silly, it did give us time to regroup.

"We need to prevent it from using its speed somehow!" Mercury shouted.

It suddenly reared and charged again, this time at Neptune and me!
"Silence Wall!" I shouted and a barrier of energy appeared between the two of us and the Centaur. It bounced off the barrier hard and staggered off in Mercury's direction again.

"Shabon Spray!" Mercury shouted and the battlefield was covered in a thick fog. The Centaur was confused and stumbled around blindly.

I was on the edge of the fog and couldn't see into it very well, but I could hear the creature bellowing. I could also see that Jupiter was having trouble getting up and I ran over to help her. My compassion for my friend overrode my common sense and I was about to pay for it.

"Are you all right Jupiter?" I asked as I ran up to her and bent down a bit to help her up.

"I'm all right Saturn, thank…LOOK OUT!" She suddenly screamed.
I tried to turn around in time but it was too late. I felt it kick me in the backside and I flew away from Jupiter screaming. I flew over a few parked cars and landed on the roof of one and had the wind completely knocked out of me.

In all honesty I can't tell you exactly how the battle ended from where I was lying, facing away from the battle. I heard Sailor Pluto, who had just arrived, screaming; "Saturn! You bastard!" Followed by her Dead Scream attack going off. There was more roaring and explosions followed by Venus, Mercury, Neptune, and Jupiter hitting it simultaneously, followed by someone shouting; "It's down! Now Sailor Moon!" Another blast, a lout roar, and the cry of "Dusted!" from Sailor Moon. The battle was over.

I just lay there on top of the car groaning in pain. I don't think any ribs were broken, but it felt like my butt sure was! If a Centaur has never kicked you before (or a horse at least) let me tell you something, IT REALLY HURTS!

A pair of powerful, yet gentle, arms that could only belong to one person picked me off the car and stood me on the ground. "Are you all right sweetie?" Jupiter asked me, her face filled with concern.
I threw my arms around her waist and started wailing like, well, a little girl. She put her arms around me and held me while I cried until Neptune and Pluto arrived. I threw myself into their arms, bawling, and I choked out in a quiet voice; "It hurts Michiru-mama."

"I know baby, I know. We'll take you to the hospital to see Dr. Mizuno." Dr. Yuriko Mizuno, a.k.a. Ami's mom, was my doctor and a friend of ours. We had told her our identities a while ago after Ami told her about being Sailor Mercury. She put two and two together about the rest of us, and we decided that we could trust her. She became the Senshi's unofficial medical advisor. We go to her whenever one of us gets really hurt, like me.

"Hey you jerk! Get lost before I make you eat that camera!" Jupiter was shouting at a cameraman that we hadn't noticed until now. He was filming us having our private moment and Jupiter and Mars chased him away. I wouldn't know until later how much he had filmed.

We quickly made it back to the mini van and we all managed to squeeze in there with Setsuna-mama driving, Ami in the passenger seat, and Michiru-mama, Rei, and Usagi sitting in the back with me lying on my stomach across their laps. Makoto and Minako were sitting in front of us, while Mamoru had his motorcycle stashed away during the battle and he preceded us to the hospital. Ami called her mom to let her know we were coming.

We arrived at the hospital, and Makoto carried me inside to find Dr. Mizuno waiting for us. I was laid on my stomach onto a gurney and whisked into an examination area. She shooed everyone out and closed the door.

She examined my injuries and determined that nothing was broken. There was a bit of bleeding but nothing serious. There would be a huge bruise on my butt for a while, and I would have problems sitting down for a few days. She prescribed some ointment and, after I had calmed down a bit, gave me a hug and a Tootsie Pop. I hugged her back and we exited the examination room.

The others, including Haruka-papa who had just shown up, were waiting for us in a lounge area. Haruka-papa came over and gave me a big hug and an apology.

"I'm sorry I didn't make it in time kiddo. I'll make it up to you tomorrow though." She said.

"Promise?" I looked at her hopefully.

"Promise." We hugged each other, and Michiru-mama and Setsuna-mama joined us.


"Hey, we made the evening news!" Minako shouted as she pointed at the TV. Crap! I had forgotten about that cameraman.

It looked like he had filmed most of the battle as well, including my unscheduled departure, and my subsequent little girl impression. I felt myself going bright red from embarrassment. At least the announcers weren't making light of what happened. But I imagined people across the city laughing them selves silly at me.

"Aw, don't take it too hard Hotaru." Usagi said as she hugged me.
"Yeah, you'll bounce back, don't worry." Rei stated.

Everyone else offered their words of support and I am grateful to each one of them. Still I felt embarrassed at what had happened. I don't think that I will be able to show my face in public as Sailor Saturn for a long while without being a laughingstock.

After leaving the hospital, we dropped everyone else off at Rei's home, picked up my ointment, and came home. I just wanted to go to bed and stay there until the founding of Crystal Tokyo. There are only two problems with that: 
1) Michiru-mama, Haruka-papa, and Setsuna-mama won't let me, and 

2) I have to sleep on my stomach for a while, and I don't sleep well on my stomach. I really hate my life sometimes.