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Morning came . . .

After Yaten and Star Fighter went their parting ways, Taiki looked back at Kira's door, standing there alone, the Starlight didn't know what to do, taking a step forward and about to knock on the door, Taiki hesitated. "If I do this... it might make things worse... Yaten might get pissed off if she sees me talking to Kira..."
Taiki frowned, everything felt separated. Everyone went their own ways.



And Kira? She had walked back to the bed and cried herself into a horrible nightmare... it went like this.

Everything felt normal enough, Kira woke up, sitting up. Her gaze shifted to her clothes, sure enough, they were ripped from the concert. Sighing, the archer looked at the clock on the wall and it was time for her to get ready to go home. Putting on the clean t-shirt, and jeans, tucking the t-shirt loosely into her pants to give it a bit of style, Kira bunched her hair into a high ponytail and shoved her phone into her jeans pocket.
Opening the door, she remembered she was at the Three Lights house. Wandering down the hallway, she seemed rather in awe of the large house. "Woow... this place is huge!" she said out loud, and turned into the main lounge where Taiki was sitting, by the window.

Stopping, Kira's footsteps came to a halt which caused Taiki to turn to face her, but he didn't look happy.
"Ahh.. Taiki, good morning." Kira said.
Taiki's gaze was unhappy. "Morning." his blunt tone spoke words he wasn't in the mood to talk.
"About last night... I um..."
"Doesn't matter, not anymore."

A bit taken aback by his response, Kira walked closer to him "Well, it matters to me."
Taiki shook his head, then stared up at Kira who was standing next to him. "You don't know yet, do you? Check the news."
Raising an eyebrow, Kira took out her phone and opened it up. There were dozens of messages from Usagi, Rei, Ami, Makoto, Minako, Mamoru... everyone.
Reading the first one, it was from Usagi.


Kira read that message out in confusion and looked at Taiki, as she finished, he stood up and pushed the seat in. "Three Lights... are no more. Yaten has called it quits, I don't want to be part of it either. Seiya has moved out and I'm going back to Kinmoku with the Princess. It's over... all because of you."

Kira felt her heart sink all the way to the ground, and felt like such an empty shell. "Because... of me...?"
"Yes, you. Think about it, if we take you away, there would never have been any disagreement between us, and Yaten wouldn't feel like it's her fault. Your stupidity has caused this mess in the first place. I've lost my sister, my bandmate, and Starlight."
"....What?" Kira uttered and shook her head. "No! This can't be happening!"

"But it is. There is no sign of Yaten anywhere, I've looked. She's gone." Seiya said, walking through the doorway and into the lounge. "Stay away from us."
Kira shook her head again. "This isn't real, this is not happening! You're lying!" Gritting her teeth, Kira didn't accept that and turned around to run past Seiya, pushing him out of the way. He felt real, which scared Kira more.

Running out the front door, some reporters lined up outside their house, snapping photos and pictures of the 'villain' who had caused this.
"Ms Kyudo, is it true?"
"Can you comment that YOU were the reason everything fell apart?"

"What?! NO!" Kira yelled, trying to push past the crowd of people.

"How does it feel to have the world against you?"
"No more songs, how cruel can you be?"
"You're not good enough for Yaten Kou!"
"This is what happens when you date a celebrity! You become everyone's enemy!"



"We're not dating!" Kira yelled, her eyes welled up with tears. Shoving the reporters out of the way, she took the chance to run as fast as she could.
The further she ran, it became darker and darker like nighttime.

"STARLIGHT HONEYMOON THERAPY KISS!" a voice called out.



Kira saw a beam of pink almost hit her, making her dive out of the way. "What the?!" Looking in the direction of where it went, the voice became closer.
"You're not a Princess... you're just poison!" Sailor Moon said bitterly.
"No wonder the Zodiac Senshi don't want their memories brought back, to remember someone like you? What a joke!"
"If we get rid of her now, then things can go back to the way they were!"
"Fine by me!"
"Yaten always deserved better anyways, thank goodness it's not you anymore, she saw sense and picked me!"
"Let's end this."
"Don't worry, you'll go out gracefully ~"

"Sorry everyone but... Kira was my friend first... I get to end her..." Star Catcher said, making her appearance as she hovered down in front of the archer, her red energy balls spun rapidly in her hands as she landed between Kira and the Eternal Sailor Senshi.
"Liara! Wait! LIARA!" Kira screamed, she could feel a burst of energy come at her from all the Sailor Senshi, the tension on her forehead was enough to wake the sleeping Kira up after being blinded by a white light from their attacks.

Abruptly feeling like she was hit, Kira sat up fast and breathed in and out, placing her hand on her chest, she could feel her heartbeat a million miles per second. Trying to gasp for air, Kira sat in a dark room, with the sun peeping through, it was morning.
Once Kira caught her breath and the adrenaline rush subsided, she pushed the sheets off the bed and realized she was in the SAME house she woke up in during her dream. "No....." Kira whispered with dread, and went to stand up.
Walking a few steps, Kira still felt like half of her was dragging on the ground until she turned around, only to see her hair had grown. "What the heck?..."
Flicking on the light, Kira looked at herself in the mirror and rubbed her eyes, looking back again with shock.
"s**t... what the heck is all this? Hair?!" Thinking it was another dream, Kira's hair had grown so much it was touching the floor.
Since she had been partially woken, her Princess trait had started to show on the outside rather than the inside, being her memories that tried several times to seep through, something had to give. "No... no no no this can't be happening..."
All the current royalty are known to have extremely long hair. Princess Serenity... Queen Serenity... Neo-Queen Serenity... Princess Kakyuu... it was only normal for Kira to start having a similar trait in appearance to them.
Kira stood there for a good five or so minutes just... taking that in. The fact she looked so much like Princess Nova, with the blue nightgown had Kira just completely shell-shocked.
"I-I have to get out of here... but... I have to---" Opening the door, Kira knew Yaten's room was next door. Bunching her hair up and holding onto it like Rapunzel, Kira noticed Yaten's room was open, but she wasn't in there.

Dropping the bundle of hair, she held, the fear of her quitting the Three Lights and moving away made Kira panic (when in fact Yaten went to see Liara early)
Taking a few steps back, Kira knew NOT to go into the lounge, thinking Taiki would be in there, waiting to tell her the news.
Getting back into her room, Kira had to quietly, but swiftly shove everything into her backpack Yaten had brought over for her. Including her cell, which she refused to check.



There was a jacket she put on over top of her nightgown, she didn't want to be in that house any longer than she should be. Shoving her hair and bunching it into the jacket hood, and putting on her backpack. There was a notepad on the bedside desk, which the archer walked past and stopped, looking back at it.
Taking a deep breath, Kira summed up the courage to write something! She wanted to write how sorry she was, for causing so much trouble and words can't take back what happened. She wanted to write a novel about how much she loved Yaten, but her hand trembled just thinking about everything that happened. "They really are better off without me..." she thought to herself.



After writing, Kira turned to face the window and opened it, looking down to see how far down the ground was, it was at least two stories, two houses tall. Kira started to walk backwards slowly while thinking "If I really am a Sailor Senshi... if I truly am who they say I am... I would land, and not fall to the ground... there's... only... one way...to find out." she thought to herself. Feeling nervous, and scared, she needed to validate this, to wake herself up.

The archer took one last breath before taking off, she held onto the window ledge and jumped out, well... leaped out more like. Kira landed perfectly on the ground, with no scratches, nothing.
Standing up, the archer was shocked, standing there for a good few seconds before turning around to look up at the tall building behind her. "Holy s**t.... I... I can't believe that worked!" Getting a hold of herself from pure amazement she was able to jump down from that height, Kira turned back around and took off again, running as fast as she could. The thought of potentially Taiki witnessing that, or someone at least came into her thoughts briefly, but there was nothing she could have done now. It was done, a runaway Princess.

Slowing down into a jog, then her normal walking speed, Kira came into the city now, when the sun was coming out and shops began to open around her. Of course, she was dressed rather strangely, being half in a nightgown and wearing a puffy jacket with her hood up. Not suspicious at all!



Customers started to gather around the store shops, while the new magazines were being bought. It wasn't long until Kira started to hear chatter, of course, the first thing she overheard seemed to only be about the Three Lights, and the concert that happened last night. "Hey look! They're featured again! Front page!"
"Oh no..." Kira thought to herself, the dread of hearing they had all quit was the first thing Kira thought as she stopped outside one of the stores which had the magazines on display. Picking it up, Kira held it and looked closely, making sure she read it right.

"Kira Kyudo? Who is she!?"
"Kou Yaten kissing rising star Kira Kyudo!"

Quickly letting the magazine go, Kira saw ANOTHER one, a different one, and flicked through the pages.



"A star is born!"
"Three Lights hints of LOVE?!"

Seeing her face, with the symbol on her forehead made Kira gasp until the shop owner came out to see what looked like 'A strange homeless girl', he called out to her. "Hey, you... are you going to buy that or keep looking at the pages--hm?---HEY... IT'S YOU! YOU'RE ON THE FRONT PAGE" Instantly seeing her face, he pointed to the magazine she was holding which caused her to gasp, attracting the attention of the civilians around her.
"He's right! it's HER!"
"That's Kira!"
"Hey isn't that the girl Yaten kissed?!"
"OMG"

It was like the media in her dream, but this was real. Kira wasn't sure what to expect next, thinking it could be negative. Taking a few steps back as she threw the magazine down, Kira turned around and continued to run, not wanting to stick around to find out, holding her hood down further over her face as she ran. She could still hear what sounded like a herd of elephants running behind her, fans? ANGRY fans?! Kira was too scared to turn around and find out.

What could happen next?

Feeling a light pull on her wrist, she was yanked into a narrow alleyway quite swiftly by someone... someone important.
The hood on Kira's head finally came down and because she was pulled so sharply around the corner, her long hair dropped to the ground. Gasping, Kira looked down at it, trying to figure out what the hell just happened until she looked back up at the figure.

The woman who grabbed her had long hair too. It was two-toned, golden orange, and gradates into a bright red. Her piercing red eyes met with Kira, making the archer stand completely still, both of their hair flowed in the wind together.
"T-Thank you..."



"You looked like you needed some help, dear."
Narrowing her eyes a little bit, Kira couldn't help but feel her stomach tuning, something felt... weird. Their encounter...
Swallowing, Kira nodded slowly and managed to speak. "J-just a bit..."
Looking back behind her, Kira watched the people slowly disappear out of sight, but the voice spoke up once more. "Take better care of yourself, Princess..."
Kira's eyes widened after hearing THAT statement, sharply turning around to look at her, Kira hissed "What did you just call me?"
The woman took a step closer, and tucked a piece of Kira's front strands behind her ear. "You don't remember me, do you?"



Pulling back a little bit, Kira watched the woman's fingers touch the strands of her hair.


"Should I?"

"It's probably best you don't remember...right now anyways..."
The archer took a step away from her. "Who the hell are you?!"



The woman gave a faint smile, not expecting Kira to be so welcoming. "...Galaxia..."
A sharp inhale came from Kira's mouth, this dream, if it was a dream, just got ten times worse than the last one, but this WASN'T a dream. Princess Nova's symbol on Kira's forehead appeared again, like a trigger as Kira placed both hands on the woman, shoving her away from her "WITCH!"



Turning back around, Kira didn't want any further interaction from the woman, the symbol disappeared fast enough as Kira ran all the way back to her house, her hair was now loose behind her, but she didn't care. She wanted to get the f--- away from her as fast as she could.

"How interesting..." Galaxia thought to herself in amusement before disappearing into the dark alleyway herself.

Kira ran all the way back home, pushed the front door open, and then slammed it shut, locking it behind her. Panting, Kira took off her backpack and tossed it on the ground as she ran past it, running into the kitchen and shutting all the windows, then ran to her lounge, locking any form of outside contact, then ran upstairs, into the bathroom, toilet, guest room, and finally headed into her room, where she forgot she would be graced by Three Lights posters and stuff everywhere. Hesitating, Kira had to push out all the posters staring at her and she reached out to shut the window. The archer had locked herself inside her house completely, knowing that there were magical beings that could easily come through small entries. The archer did not want any contact with the outside world.
Finally able to catch her breath, Kira shut her eyes tightly "Wake up... wake up... this isn't real, nothing is real, it's JUST a dream!" Convincing herself that everything was a dream.
Nothing happened, causing Kira to open her eyes again. Standing there for a good few minutes, Kira just didn't know what to do with herself, her gaze shifted to the biggest poster, and walked towards it, staring up at it. "I'm so sorry... I just--" The usual alarm clock went off, which meant Kira needed to wake up around now.

Looking at the door, then back at the poster, Kira uttered another "I'm sorry, I messed up...I..." Gritting her teeth in her own annoyance with herself while feeling silly she only had the guts to apologise to a poster and not the actual people. She gathered her long hair from the ground and whispered as she exited the room "They're right, you're better off without me."

Having to run back downstairs to turn off the alarm, Kira took out the transformation wand and then pulled out her cell, silencing the phone. "s**t, I've got archery soon... I can't go looking like this!" she muttered to herself, brushing off all the loose hair strands, she made her way towards the kitchen, as she searched for some scissors, then walked into the lounge and stood in front of the mirror, threading her free hand through the loose hair trying to detangle it as she stared at herself, going into deep thought, looking back at her reflection.
"Why did this happen to me? Why did my hair grow this long? I'm turning into the Princess physically...
but why? Am I such a bad person I am being punished? I...I can't do this anymore..."
Swallowing, Kira felt nervous attacking her hair, she hadn't cut her own hair before but there was no one else she could turn to. Taking the scissors up to her hair, and taking a deep breath, she began to cut her hair to her usual length, bit by bit, sectioning it and then cutting.
Anyone would think Kira had a mental breakdown, her hair was half the length of her usual hair, which means they could assume she was bald or had super short hair.

Finally finished, Kira put both hands by her sides and let go of the last chunk of hair, watching it fall like feathers to the ground.



Once she was finished cutting her hair, Kira proceeded to head upstairs, and shower everything off, and came out afterwards, putting her hair in a high ponytail, putting on her white keiko-gi, hakama, obi, and tabi, taking hold of her phone, transformation wand, bow and arrows.
Stopping herself before she walked out the front door, Kira had to practice a forced smile in the mirror by the door. "Everything will be okay, they won't come. They won't come and everything will be alright." She at least looked like her usual self again, but her house was an absolute mess which she planned to clean up when she got home from the tournament.

Deciding to drive there, Kira didn't want the public eye to see her, not like her dream. As she arrived at the archery tournament, there weren't many people there yet, and that gave Kira some time to chill and focus on something she enjoyed without thinking about the Sailor Senshi.
"Good morning, Sensei!" Kira said, forcing that same smile she had briefly.
"Good morning, Kira-sama... how was the concert? I saw you up there, singing! You have such a talent! I bet you have seen the news already." she said, as she was practicing archery herself.



Gritting her teeth for a moment, Kira just wanted to go a day without talking about that. "No I... didn't have time to read any of it." she responded.
"Oh... I see. But you enjoyed yourself, right?"
Taking an arrow, Kira walked over to the target and aimed, then let go. Her aim hit the target, but it was completely off-center which wasn't like Kira at all, proving to the tutor that Kira wasn't focused at all. "It was a great night, then it ended."
"Well, I'm glad! You were telling everyone yesterday you got the VIP ticket... did you meet the Three Lights off-stage?"
Kira pulled back the arrow and paused, thinking back... it was here where it all started, Kira got the VIP ticket while at her archery class. She went to the concert, found out the truth, and it was attacked by the youma, then woke up at the Three Lights house.
Lowering her bow and arrow, she turned to her tutor slowly. ".....Yes." The hollow expression Kira displayed looked quite ghostly. "...Everything was perfect... Excuse me."

It wasn't long until her other classmates arrived, spotting Kira trying to leave the archery stage, they all called out her name.
"KIRA! OHMYGODDD WE SAW YOU ON LIVE TV!"
"I'M SO JEALOUS! YOU GOT KISSED BY YATEN! MORE THAN ONCE OHMYGODD"
"Yaten is really hot!"
"Really? I prefer Seiya! or even Taiki!"
"KIRA WHAT HAPPENED WHEN THE YOUMA ATTACKED?!"

As the team was basically screaming at Kira, asking her question after question, Kira dropped her bow and arrow and covered her ears, closed her eyes tightly to block out any voice or vision, and sharply cried out. "I'm sorry!" The overwhelming feeling took over and caused her to step backwards and run into the training room's staff room. Luckily enough no one was there. The first thing Kira did, again was lock the door and stand there for a few moments, then took a few steps backwards, sat down on one of the chairs, and covered both her hands over her face. Tears just streamed out her eyes, everything she had bottled up just came out, Kira didn't know what to do, and what was even real anymore? She wanted to call Liara, but she kept replaying that dream in her head, it truly felt real.
The Three Lights not being together, her turning into Princess Nova and lastly, Galaxia had returned. Kira couldn't deal with it on her own anymore, she felt like her whole world was being taken away from her once again, and painfully slow.

Kira's tutor watched Kira run away, a bit perplexed as to what Kira was upset about? She thought Kira would be over the moon! The media was practically singing her praises, there were compliments about her performance, and one or two questioned her forehead but otherwise they wanted more of Kira. The archer needed to stop and breathe, things weren't as she thought they were.
"She's been acting strange lately... hm?" The tutor watched a purple glowing butterfly flutter around her, and then sharply pierced into her chest like a knife. The tutor was now under a youmas spell. She became a Phage, and it was only a matter of time until signs started to show. Until then, she seemed to be acting normal, however, apart from Kira who still couldn’t sense any magical presences due to not having any magical abilities, this might spark concerns for some Sailor Senshi, having an unknown negative energy around the festival.

It had been a wee while since Kira had closed herself in the locker room. Kira seemed to have calmed down but was unaware of the negative energy around the festival, it was faint but it was there, somewhere. As she came out of the room, the archer noticed there were crowds of people around the festival, it had been about forty-five minutes since she had been in there, and if anyone had checked on her, she was in another world to this one, being deep in thought, replaying over last night and this morning. Taking a deep breath, Kira opened the door and was blessed by the bright sun, she used her arm to cover her gaze while she shut the door. Taking a few steps back, Kira noticed all her team were there and in line, firing the arrows one by one. Gazing at them, with no emotional expression on her face, Kira walked up the stairs and onto the stage to where they were. She could feel stares and gasps, but the muttering in the crowd was more obvious with the "That's her" "That's Kira!" "She's in the newspaper and on the media online!" "Oh my god" "Pstpstpst*whisperwhisper*" It was that, but ten times. Picking up her bow and arrow, Kira took a step back into her place and aimed at her target, being completely still.
Feeling the presence of the teacher checking in on Kira, the woman placed her hand on Kira's shoulder and quietly asked "You okay? You were gone for a while..."
Kira stood there, frozen, as she felt the weight of the teacher's hand on her shoulder, everything became dark, entering her into a vision. Kira's body had lit up, she wasn't in the dark, nor had any shadow around her body. "Hm?" From Kira's point of view; noticing her own arm had some sort of white glove on it with several blue trims wrapped around her elbow, and the bow and arrow she held was a purple and blue celestial flame. Taking a sharp gasp from fright, witnessing very briefly her Senshi form in her own body, Kira let go of the bow and arrow as it dropped to the ground. Everything returned back to normal rather fast and only seemed to affect Kira, and from the outside, Kira looked like she got a bit spooked, not expecting her teacher to come up behind her.
"What... what happened?... What was that?!" not realizing it was her own conscious mind, warning her of something.
Trying to fathom some sort of words out of her mouth to answer back while wondering what the hell she saw, Kira forced an answer, just anything! "Y-Yeah, just.. tired." Kira answered and picked up her bow and arrow when she heard a familiar voice in the crowd, which yelled her name.



"Kira-chan! Do your best!" Usagi cried out, seeing Kira seemed out of sorts, Kira seemed a bit nervous to the crowd.

This once again broke archer's focus and made her scan the crowd only to see that blonde Odango-haired girl waving her arms around to get Kira's attention with some other people aka Usagi's friends around her. "Who... is that?" She thought, not recognizing who they were. Kira appeared perplexed for a moment, then noticed there were a lot more people that had turned up than before, and the crowd, in general, was getting more lively.

"I have to calm down, and focus, ignore everyone, it'll be over soon... everything will be okay. It's all just a dream." Kira could feel that same stage-fright feeling in her stomach, the nervousness creeping up it’s ugly head, she tried to ignore it but seemed impossible to do so.



The festival was beginning. Knowing she needed to calm down and focus, the archer picked up her bow and arrow again, inhaling and exhaling, she took her stance and pulled back the arrow, holding it. Kira had regained her focus again, blocking everything out in that moment.









Muse ~

After de-transforming, Haruka got into the car and waited for the other three to do the same. "Actually... we'll go tomorrow... I didn't realize it was almost one in the morning." Looking in her rear-view mirror, she gazed at Chibi-Usa and then Hotaru. "They'll want to get up early for the festival..." she thought to herself.
Once all of them got in, Haruka put her foot on the accelerator and took off.
After getting home, the four of them had an extremely late dinner, or very early breakfast and then said their goodnight's to each other.

It didn't take long until morning came, and Haruka's alarm went off at eight in the morning. Placing the pillow over her head, to drown out the obnoxious ringtone, her hand reached out from the bed and felt around for the phone, smacking it off the bedside table.
"Stupid thing." she mumbled, and rubbed her eyes to turn towards her love, Michiru. "Morning, Michiru..." she said, smiling as she brushed off a few strands of her teal-colored hair off her face. "I guess we should get up...I would much rather lounge around with you all day, but I can hear the kids up and about." referring to Hotaru and Chibi-Usa, knowing if they heard that term there might be some barking.

Rolling herself out of bed, Haruka proceeded to put on her dressing gown and head out to see the girls, who were in their kimonos ready for the festival. "Geez you guys seem lively at this hour." Haruka said, passing by them to make herself and Michiru some breakfast. Once the two had finished eating, they tidied up and helped each other out putting on their kimonos for the festival.



Finally ready to go, Haruka, Michiru, Chibi-Usa, and Hotaru got into the car and headed to where all the cars were parked at the festival. Pulling up, she unbuckled herself and got out, taking hold of her fan, of course, her henshin wand, and closed the door, waiting for everyone else to get out before locking it.
Now, all four of them headed towards the large swarm of people, it was just past nine, and already it started to get rather busy. "I had no idea there were so many people who liked and supported archery, this is quite impressive." Or maybe they are here for Kira's story from last night. As the four of them wandered to the archery crowd, Haruka could easily spot none other than Kira Kyudo, who had her own fan club of civilians and of course, the media, press, and other live stations which seemed strangely interested in her life, because of a certain someone from last nights concert.
Having missed Kira's mini-meltdown, Kira now seemed to be in control of her emotions and was completely focused. Looking in the crowd, Haruka could hear the cheering of the high-pitched Odango's voice screaming out Kira's name.

"Kira-chan! Do your best!"

"Ahh... that was easy." Haruka said, shuffling past the mass amounts of people. "Hey, kiddos, you want to get something to eat? We'll save you both a spot with Odango and the rest of the group." Haruka said, passing Hotaru her wallet. They knew they might be there awhile, but that was okay, most of the Inners and Outers seemed to be making their appearance bit by bit.
"Yo!" Haruka said, waving at Usagi. "We could hear you from a mile away, nice cheering by the way." She smirked and looked back at Kira, noticing her targets were the only ones that weren't hit on the actual bullseye. "Owch... why is she missing? Is she doing it on purpose?" Haruka commented as she sat down with the group. Artemis was sitting on Minako's lap and looked towards Haruka. "Not sure, but today isn't her day it seems. Before she stopped and started, she just dropped the bow and arrow. I think she is distracted, she's just been staring at the target while everyone else is still pulling their hits." Artemis explained. Haruka could understand Usagi's cheering now. "She is most likely thinking about yesterday's events..." Haruka mumbled to Michiru, but she was only half right, unaware there was more that went on at the Three Lights house. Speaking of... where are they? Haruka seemed a bit suspicious, something wasn't right, she couldn't help but scan the crowd, and then her gaze shifted to the stage Kira was on. "...Something is there... near Kira..." She thought, but she couldn't quite grasp what it was yet. Narrowing her gaze, she lightly but subtly nudged Michiru who was beside her, that was a hint to be on guard, something didn't seem to add up. Has anyone else picked up on this yet? Was it a youma, maybe? Haruka pondered on that thought.

Mamoru had slept a lot more restfully than he thought that he might, considering everything that had transpired over the last several days. After two whole years of peace, Mamoru had started to get accustomed to normal life. No universe-ending threats, or invaders from another dimension. No memories of a life-lived once upon a time. Just him, Usako, and their talking cat. Ok, maybe normal was never really in the cards, but as close to normal as could be.
He hadn't really had time to process it til now, but it almost frightened him just how seamlessly they had all slipped back into their roles as the Earth's Guardians. There must have been some part of him that always knew that the peace was not to last, he just didn't expect it to be shattered so suddenly.
Then there was the return of the Sailor Starlights. Mamoru had never been formally introduced, seeing as he was a little preoccupied being not alive during the majority of Galaxia's campaign... he had, however, heard the stories once all had been returned to normal. He found the friendship shared between the one called Seiya and his Usako to be of particular interest. Now, Mamoru was not the jealous type. He understood Usagi's needs more than most, he would never begrudge her seeking some kind of comfort. Had he remained dead, he would even have hoped that she might find someone else and moved on one day. He would never in a million years wish that she be left alone. Mamoru did, however, find issue with what he perceived to be this Seiya's conduct. From his, admittedly limited, understanding, Mamoru believed that Seiya preyed on Usagi at her most vulnerable. Attempting to take advantage of her when she was at her lowest. This was something that Mamoru felt was downright unforgivable. However, all of that was simply water under the bridge... until Seiya and the Starlights found themselves thrust into their lives once more. Mamoru said nothing, as nothing needed to be said. He would remain cordial, for Usako's sake... but that didn't mean that their would be any love shared between the two any time soon.

Mamoru was, presently, seated beside Usagi and among their friends in the stands of the Archery tournament. He wore his usual green blazer, black turtleneck, purple-pleated pants, and two-toned brown shoes. He sat with his arms crossed, observing silently. He did not know Kira for very long, but in the short time he knew her he knew that she was an exceptionally talented archer. So talented, in fact, that Mamoru knew better than to think that whatever was going on down there could be chalked up to simple nerves or stage fright. Something was wrong... and Mamoru could sense it. "Usako", he spoke in a hushed tone; his dark brows furrowing, his sapphire gaze not once shifting as he continued to investigate what was happening below. "Something isn't right. Stay on your guard." He would finally glance in Usagi's direction, meeting her gaze with an intensity that he hoped would communicate the severity of his words. They needed to be prepared for the worst.

It was frustrating, but not at all surprising, that Usagi did not yet fully grasp the gravity of their situation. After all, Mamoru had been there at the concert, and this whole affair was starting to give him an acute sense of dejavu.
It's not like he could blame her, however. Usagi was forever the optimist, it was her nature; and Mamoru would not change that for the world. Truthfully, as frustrating as it might sometimes be, it was one of the many things that he loved about her.

With all that said, now was not the time to be passive. Now was the time to act. When Luna hopped on his lap to communicate her concerns to the girls, Mamoru felt a bit relieved that he was not the only one that had noticed that something was clearly not right.
When they had finally decided to get moving, Mamoru would rise to his feet and lead the way down, brushing past other people in the stands as they all made their descent. "Excuse me, pardon me." He spoke as their group was shot sideways glances and irritated looks from the other patrons.

As the group neared the lower stands, they would notice the entrance of the Starlight called Taiki. Mamoru's hands fell into his pants pockets, his dark brows narrowing just slightly. They appeared to have arrived alone. Odd, it seemed like that group was often a packaged deal. He was unable to continue down this train of thought, as his attention was suddenly captured by Usagi.

"You know who I haven't seen? Liara-chan, Kira-chan's best friend! She told us she would be here... although I don't know what she looks like outside of being you-know-who. Do you think that's why Kira-chan isn't doing anything yet?"

Mamoru listened, then shook his head. "I don't think so. Look at her Usako, can't you see it? There is clearly more to this than simple nerves, or stage fright. Something isn't right, I can feel it. I think we should be ready for the enemy to make their next move."

Not meaning to be late at the festival gathering. Two individuals in brightly colored kimonos stepped off of one of the trains that lead into town. They weren't the only ones dressed in brightly colored outfits, as soon as they exited several other classmates and working class individuals dawning colors of traditional attire spilled out along the walkway that was leading towards the lantern festival. It was definitely a sight to see!



Ami cast her gaze downwards at her communication watch and saw the time, "Oh gosh! Look at the time, Setsuna! Do you think we're late?"

"Easy Ami, we arrived here early. Providing ourselves at least a good fifteen minutes head start. With Usagi's history for loss of time, in regards for being late to school, she will more than likely be arriving a little later than usual."

Ami's blue eyes rose back up to meet with Setsuna's eyes, as a bright smile appeared as she giggled. Not before she subtly shook her head from side to side. "Not this time, Mamoru is with Usagi and he will more than likely make sure Usagi arrives in a timely manner in order to meet up with the rest of us."

The two senshi traded looks and laughed. Setsuna reached up and delicately rubbed the bottom of her chin in thought as she scanned the surround crowd around them. "Hmm...I wonder if everyone is planning on eating breakfast first or heading directly towards the tournament. What do you think?"

"Knowing Usagi? I figure that she will more than likely be the first one in line to grab some food before hitting the stands. Can't support a fellow teammate without a little grub for energy." Ami placed her hand to hover over her mouth to hide a heartfelt giggle. Gesturing with her fan off to the side, as the two of them walked beside one another. ""Look Setsuna! Wow... there's really a crowd starting to grow by the different food venture stalls." Placing her fan just under her arm, she pulled out her cellphone and sent a text to just about everyone that they were meeting that morning (i.e. Usagi, Mamoru, Makoto, Minako, Rei, Haruka, Michiru, Hotaru, Chibiusa and quite possibly the Starlights too heart )





Setsuna in the meanwhile, as the two of them walked among the sea of people, had been monitoring their surroundings. It was truly amazing to her just how many people had gathered for this archery tournament today. Sensing that Ami had stopped briefly, she didn't want to venture on too far ahead. It was at that very moment she was about to say something to Ami when they both heard shouting above all of the conversations surrounding them.

"Kira-chan! Over hereeee! We are here for you!"

A look of surprise was evident upon Ami's face as she pocketed her cellphone. As instincts took over, both Setsuna and Ami said simultaneously to one another, "Found them!" Their comment made the two of them laugh in unison. It was funny, that in that very moment they knew that they could hone in on where Usagi and the others were just by the general direction of where the shout was emitting from.



Moving forwards, the two of them bypassed the food vendors and made their way over to where the small gathering of friends could be seen along the stands. Waving towards their friends, the two of them couldn't shake the feeling that there was something going on other than the archery.



From their point of view, some of their friends were focused on Kira while the rest, apparently shared expressions that something was wrong. "From everyone's body language, something is amiss." Ami agreed with the nodding of her head, "By the looks trading between Mamoru, Luna and Makoto something needs to be investigated pronto." The closer they got to the group, the clearer the message was. Waving towards their friends as they moved up seeming to walk in on a big conversation going on.

"We should get a bit closer to Kira..."
"Owch... why is she missing? Is she doing it on purpose?"
"No... how can someone like her miss? She is a born fighter, an archer. Something isn't right. We are going to get closer to her.."
"Not sure, but today isn't her day it seems. Before she stopped and started, she just dropped the bow and arrow. I think she is distracted, she's just been staring at the target while everyone else is still pulling their hits."

An apologetic expression was on Ami of 'sorry we're late' but felt like there was no need for that to be said. Trading a glance at Usagi and then over at Minako as she somehow heard Minako whispering.
"What's going on? Why all the whispering?"
"Ah! Minako-chan, they think something is wrong with Kira-chan, but she seems to be fine. She was like this during the concert too! ehehe maybe she needs encouragement from a certain someone eheheee..."
"You're right, Usagi, Kira was like this at the concert. Minako and I were at the front and she froze like this... and that's when--..."

Said innocently. Thinking who wouldn't freeze when an idol picked out a single person in the crowd and asked a couple of questions? An idol that is worshiped by many! Hard to concentrate in a situation like what Kira had been placed in when Seiya and the Three Lights placed her in the limelight at the time.

"She's stood still for over five minutes, something is clearly wrong." Ami blinked a couple of times as she turned her head to look over at Luna curiously for a moment before darting her glance over at Kira who appeared to be standing motionless like a statue frozen to time ... and yet, Ami could tell that Kira was still breathing. It was hard to see from the distance that they were all standing at just what expression Kira had on display then.

"You are overthinking it Luna! Give Kira-chan a chance! She has done this many times! Good things take time!"
"You're not listening, Usagi! We need to get closer to Kira!"
"Come on, Usagi!"

Ami looked over at the others with a quizzical expression, wondering just what all they had missed out on. The urgency in Luna's voice, made her realize that something was terribly wrong. Reaching into her inside pocket of her kimono where she had her transformation wand, cellphone and palm sized computer. She withdrew the computer and started to type in an analyzing program to hopefully gather more intel on their new friend Kira. At the same time, Ami reached up and initialized her computerized visor. Which appeared like a pair of blue colored shades to the public, nothing more than that.



While taping of coordinates of where Kira was standing at, she saw that they came up to a barrier that was preventing them from getting closer. Making some small adjustments on her computer she became slightly distracted as Usagi shouted louder.

"KIRA-CHAN!! DO YOUR BEST! YOU CAN DO IT!!"

Feeling a bit rattled and dazed slightly by the shout it took her a moment to focus once more to see what readings she was able to pick up on Kira's health and well being presently.

There was some conversation going on at the side, which sounded like Chibiusa scolding Usagi for the shouting. The telltale arguing that commenced thereafter, verified it was indeed Chibiusa and Usagi going at it. Remaining focused, she happened to notice movement off from the side. Lifting her blue eyes up, she recognized the individual who had approached their small gathering. Feeling like a deer in headlights she recognized the person to be Taiki!

"TAI---"
"Shhh!! M-Minako!"

"How's she doing? Have you guys been able to speak to her yet?"
It took Ami a good minute to realize that Taiki actually addressed them. When he cast his glance at each of them, and when Taiki's eyes settled upon where she stood. Ami purposely glanced back down at her computer and found that she was at a loss of words at that very minute. Completely embarrassed and shy for some reason!



"No, we haven't been able to get close to her yet. Something... doesn't feel right, and we can't quite pinpoint what it is yet... or where exactly it is coming from, so for now all we can do is keep a sharp eye on her, and her surroundings."
"…I see."

Sensing that Taiki had his attention focused on Luna, she breathed a sigh of relief. Talk about embarrassing! Now was not the time on frilly little emotions to get in the way. Taiki was most definitely a distraction! It was time to be serious and focus on the task at hand. Getting to the bottom as to what was going on with Kira presently!

"Uh, you're alone? Where is Seiya-kun and Yaten-kun?"
"Seiya is on their way and as for Yaten... who knows."
Ami's fingers stopped moving along the keypad of her computer when she heard that both Seiya and Yaten weren't with him. Casting her glance off to the side, she wondered why Taiki whispered the last part of his statement in regards to Yaten. Glancing up past the rim of her visor Ami happened to notice that there was signs of emotional distress written along the features of Taiki's face then. She had never seen Taiki appear distressed like this before. Perhaps something happened that he isn't willing to forthcoming at the moment?

An ice breaker entered into the fray then by Usagi. Apparently at some point the bickering contest going on between Usagi and Chibiusa ceased. "You know who I haven't seen? Liara-chan, Kira-chan's best friend! She told us she would be here... although I don't know what she looks like outside of being you-know-who. Do you think that's why Kira-chan isn't doing anything yet?"

"I don't think so. Look at her Usako, can't you see it? There is clearly more to this than simple nerves, or stage fright. Something isn't right, I can feel it. I think we should be ready for the enemy to make their next move."



Setsuna had moved along with the group, slightly separating herself further down the line. Narrowing her gaze over at the archer who's body language just screamed she didn't want to be there. There was a part of her that understood to a degree as to what Kira might of been experiencing then. She could also tell that Kira was stumped. Setsuna gathered that the young woman wanted to be there and yet, the struggling expression appeared as though Kira was having some kind of internal battle with emotions. Unable to complete multiple tasks at hand as well as perform at capacity.

"Hey Hotaru-chan? Let's go and get Mamo-chan something to eat while they watch! Let's go! Donut time! We'll be back everyone!"



Upon hearing 'Small Lady' speak up, brought Setsuna out of her thoughts then. Redirecting her line of sight over at Chibiusa who was addressing Hotaru, while pulling her friend along for a great escape. Well an escape to gather food and return. Still.. seeing 'Small Lady' scamper off with her friend Hotaru did make Setsuna wonder if those two would be alright, alone in this massive crowd without an adult escort. Watching as the two vanished out into the crowd, she felt a tugging at her heart along with the sense of duty to protect by following after them.



Casting a glance over towards Mamoru and Usagi, she hoped that they would understand her concerns. Feeling as though that there were enough senshi present to protect their future Neo Queen Serenity and King Endymion. Setsuna provided a mutual nodding of her head towards Usagi and Mamoru before backing away from the barrier to follow after Chibiusa and Hotaru. Not that they couldn't take care of themselves, she gathered that it would be safer in numbers.

By the time Setsuna had departed to follow after Chibiusa and Hotaru. There seemed to be a sudden exaggerated ground shaking moment of a rather large flock of fans started to run past where they all stood screaming loudly.

"AAAHHH OMGOD IT'S SEIYAAAAA"

Causing several of those in their group to stand there in slight shock as the stampede of people raced off into the direction of where the famous idol Seiya had appeared. In the wake of the stampede were hand fans, tournament pamphlets, among other trinkets littering the ground. At least their small gathering area around the barrier wall had lessened and there was now more breathing room available without feeling cramped!

A shaded guy emerged off from the side, with someone following in tow. Ami somehow was able to look past the hazy dust cloud that had dispersed since the crowd of fans ran off chasing after their dream idol. "Yo, Tai." A very familiar voice spoke up, causing Ami to turn around see that Seiya had arrived and was now talking to his bandmate, Taiki. Smiling a little to see that two of the Three Lights was now present, she wondered where their third bandmate was. Shifting her gaze slightly, Ami was pleased to see that Rei finally made her appearance too! Breaking the serious expression long enough to wave and smile in greeting towards their fellow friend and senshi priestess!

"Oi, Odango, you going to ignore me?" Seeing how Seiya greeted Usagi, she couldn't help but snuff out a small laugh that dared sneak out. For Mamoru's benefit, Ami politely refrained in reacting to how Seiya always acted around Usagi.

"…Mamoru. Everyone."



"Hi Rei! Hello Seiya!" Trading a look between all of them before glancing back at Seiya and Rei, "Welcome to the party!" Knowing how that might of sounded coming from someone like her, she was trying to make the greeting feel more welcomed than distressed. With circumstances presently taking place, the ground they walked upon felt like eggshells were just about everywhere.

Mamoru's focus shifted when he heard the crowd shout for Seiya, his cerulean gaze shifting away from Usagi. "Oi, Odango, you going to ignore me?"

He bristled slightly when the idol, so familiarly, stepped into Usagi's space to pat her head. Seiya's return was already not sitting well with The Earth Guardian, but this interaction only served to add more fuel to the fire. It didn't help that it was made abundantly clear that Seiya had not even bothered no notice or consider Mamoru before initiating their greeting. "…Mamoru. Everyone." Instinctively, Mamoru would step in beside his fiance. Draping an arm tenderly around her waist, as his free hand slipped into his pant's pocket. He would smile pleasantly at Seiya, returning the greeting. "Good morning, Seiya. How... delightful to see you again."



As everyone's focus returned to Kira, Mamoru's eyes would narrow as he continued to look on, vigilant for whenever the enemy might make their move. Mamoru's attention once again shifted when Rei finally joined the group. It became immediately clear to Mamoru that something wasn't right. He shifted to face her, his brows furrowing, as he called out to her. "Rei, you had a vision didn't you? What did you see?"