Friday the Thirteenth
Chapter 14: "Cradle to the Grave"
-
Usagi observed dazedly as Mamoru threw himself onto Enigma with the most primal growl of fury she'd ever experienced in his presence. The pair collapsed against a tree, Enigma pinned to the bark by Mamoru. His fists began pummeling like lethal weapons even as the deranged killer fought to bring his knife into the equation. The sight seemed to shake the girl back into greater awareness. Usagi slipped her hand into her pocket, fumbling for the panic button on her communicator and praying it hadn't broken in the throes of battle. Then she pushed herself up from the ground onto quivering legs.
"Mamoru-san, watch out!"
She took a few uncertain steps forward, and Mamoru must have heard her, because he cried out,
"Stay back!"
Enigma cast Usagi a triumphantly wolf-like smirk and kicked Mamoru in the knee, hard, forcing the ebony-haired college student away with a scary surge of strength. Mamoru stumbled backward, dodging a vicious swipe at his abdomen only to trip on a stray root. Enigma cackled, raising his arm to strike, but Mamoru took advantage of his imbalance to topple into the man's stomach. They fell onto the forest floor, rolling around in a power struggle for the knife. Usagi observed with terror as Enigma ended up on top, thus gaining the upper hand. He aimed the sharp weapon at his prey's chest and dove in for the kill. Mamoru clutched fiercely at his attacker's wrist, grunting in pain as he tried desperately to stem the downward trajectory. An inch or two more and he would be dead.
Usagi didn't even think. She launched herself at Enigma, yanking at his shoulders; tearing at his clothes. She was small, but she was also loud, and the blonde hoped her infamously inhuman screaming would debilitate Enigma's efforts enough that she could get him off Mamoru. For a long moment, not much registered in Usagi's brain; there was thrashing and white noise and a strange buzzing in her ears. At one point, she was pretty sure Enigma abandoned Mamoru to go for her, but then Mamoru was yelling "No!", the world tossed and reverberated, and other voices joined the fray. Something heavy gripped her and kept the weary fourteen-year-old at bay; Usagi blinked and saw it was an arm that had wrapped around her torso.
The arm connected to Rei.
"We got your distress call. It's okay now," she whispered shakily, face a violent mixture of fear and rage; white and red. "I've got you. It's okay."
Usagi let out a throaty sob; the best response she could muster. Her eyes frantically sought out Mamoru, and it was with relief that the girl saw her Senshi aiding where she herself had failed. Makoto and Mamoru had Enigma in a chokehold while Minako wrestled the knife out of the serial killer's hands. Ami- little Ami- delivered the final blow that knocked Enigma senseless. She glared down at him with unadulterated hate, and belatedly it was stowed into the recesses of Usagi's mind that she should never, ever endeavor not to be in the good graces of her normally mild-mannered comrade of Mercury.
For what seemed an infinite amount of time, nobody breathed. They simply stared, waiting, as if any moment now they should expect Enigma to jump up and slaughter them all. When the seconds ticked by and still nothing happened, Rei instructed Minako up to the house to check on Kotono and phone the police, then Fumara. Ami didn't trust that Enigma would remain out for the count, so she and Makoto hovered in case he began to regain consciousness. Mamoru went straight to Usagi, currently being helped to her feet by the raven-haired priestess.
"Usagi-"
At her name, uttered so seriously and so solicitously by the one person who'd never before shown this much genuine concern for her, the tears Usagi had been holding back erupted. Unable to contain either her exhaustion or her intense gratitude anymore, she crumbled into her unlikely hero's arms. And somehow, despite their tumultuous history, she knew she was finally safe.
oOo
Mamoru was frozen with surprise, but it didn't take him long to adjust to the feeling of Usagi's warm body in his. The eighteen-year-old exhaled sadly, cradling the odangoed blonde close as he regretted each and every horror the innocent teen had been forced to endure tonight. It made him sick to his stomach to remember waking up in the shed, to the sound of Usagi pleading for mercy only yards away; to recall with vivid detail the scene he'd lumbered into and what he had almost been too late to prevent. If he weren't gifted- or was it cursed- with such a strong moral compass, Mamoru knew he would not be able to stop himself from exacting cold-blooded revenge on Enigma. Tsukino Usagi of all people did not deserve to carry this memory with her for the rest of her life, and the man wished with all his being that could spare her the burden. It wasn't fair.
"Usagi... your legs. They're all bruised and purple..." Rei's voice was filled with barely contained fire. Mamoru felt Usagi twitch against him, but she continued to cry softly and did not respond to the question behind the statement. He gazed over Usagi's disheveled hair to find Rei looking ready to spout flames from her fingertips as she stared at torn pink panties laying in the dirt, mentally connecting the dots. "Did he...?"
"Almost," Mamoru answered with equal venom, tightening his hold on Usagi as if he could protect her from the mere thought.
"Oh my God, I'm going to fucking fry the bastard," Rei snarled, and suddenly Usagi came to life. She lunged, hanging off the dark-headed girl's shoulders, babbling about secrets and angels and tragedies, all laced between implorations of "I'm fine"s and "Don't do it"s. Mamoru was pretty certain it was one of the most peculiar displays he'd ever encountered, but then, considering the harrowing ordeal she'd just escaped, it didn't faze the man in the slightest that Usagi was delving into the nonsensical.
Rei took a deep, assuaging breath, probably for Usagi's sake. "I won't. But I'm sorely tempted," she added, and Usagi ceased her rambling with a quick nod. Rei's expression turned gentle. She pulled a tissue out of her pocket and pressed it against Usagi's neck, where a thin line of caked blood remained from what had undoubtedly been a ferocious skirmish. "Here."
Usagi flashed a uniquely Odango Atama smile that warmed the cockles of Mamoru's heart, bringing hope that with time, they would all heal and move on stronger than ever from this experience. It was already amazing, the difference he noticed in the interaction of the two before him. Mamoru used to think that of all Usagi's friends, Rei was the weak link in the chain; the odd man out. She and Usagi were like day and night; oil and water. But the eighteen-year-old supposed he should have realized, their constant bickering was not a sign of animosity. Rather, it disguised a sisterly bond transcending those Usagi shared with every other member of her posse. Rei guarded her friend with a passion few dared to cross, and Mamoru knew the feeling was probably mutual.
The aforementioned priestess gestured beseechingly toward Usagi's skirt. "May I?"
Usagi shrugged, conceding, her issues over decency long forgotten. Rei ducked her head to peek beneath the fabric for any injuries not visible to the naked eye, and Mamoru turned his back to give them privacy. Everything was peaceful, like the calm after a storm. The brilliant moon shone a silvery path up to the large Himo house, where he could just spot Minako's shadow, rocking a small child in one of the higher windows.
Something sparkled in the grass off to the side. Mamoru cocked a brow, leaving the girls briefly to go inspect the mysterious object. He recognized the familiar shape right away as Usagi's missing broach, and the young man scooped it up almost reverently. The tiny piece of jewelry felt remarkably heavy in his palm, and for some reason, holding it stirred up a sense of nostalgia in Mamoru. The princess flitted unbidden across his mind, but Mamoru pushed the dream maiden away with thoughts of Usagi. Off in the distance, he heard the telltale wail of sirens. Never before had anyone appreciated the comforting promise of salvation those sirens provided like Mamoru did tonight.
It was over. It was truly over.
Mamoru clutched Usagi's broach to his heart and silently wept for all that had been lost and all that had been saved.
He knew that when he woke up tomorrow, he would forever be a changed man. And even though that frightened him, Mamoru was glad he had received a second chance.
TBC
