Chapter 11: No Thanks, Nurse Seiya! Outer Senshi Disaster House! “Is Taiki-chan awake yet?” Seiya asked nervously. “Yes, and it’s strange. How in the world did she get that mark on her forehead? It looks like she got hit by a vine,” said Princess Fireball. “A vine? How could that have happened?” Seiya asked, confused. “Weren’t you with her?” asked Princess Fireball. “No, the last thing I remember is Chibi-chan and I defeating some guy called Jedite and getting Minako-chan’s cat Artemis,” said Seiya. “Who’s Chibi-chan?” asked Princess Fireball. “Usagi-chan’s future daughter. Her hair looks like yummy cotton candy, but it’s not really that tasty. Also, she didn’t like me eating her hair,” said Seiya guiltily. Princess Fireball looked shocked. “Why would you try to eat a person’s hair?!” she gasped. “I dunno. It looked tasty...” Seiya was cut off as the phone rang. “I’ll get it, idiot sister! Hi, whoever you are!” said Yaten, answering the phone and pushing Seiya aside. The silver-haired girl listened for awhile, then turned to Seiya. “Hey, it’s that weird Hotaru girl you like,” she said, handing the phone to Seiya and walking away. Seiya glared at Yaten, then put the phone to her ear. “Hey, what’s going on, Hotaru?” she asked. “Seiya? Well, everyone but me in my house is sick. I thought that you could come over and help me with nursing them and with the housework. You can come this afternoon; we have school now,” said Hotaru. “That’s okay! The health of Sailor Senshi is more important than school! I’ll come over now!” said Seiya, and then she hung up and bolted out the door. “Oh no, Seiya’s grades are in enough trouble as it is,” moaned Yaten and Princess Fireball in unison. Meanwhile, it was lunch time at Juuban High. “Wow! I can see things so much clearer with my glasses! Like your lunch, Mako-chan,” Usagi gushed, reaching a hand for Makoto’s bento box. “Speaking of glasses, where’s Seiya-chan? And Usagi, eat your own lunch first. I’m hungry too,” said Makoto, putting a warning hand on Usagi’s outstretched arm. “Her? She went over to my house this morning, I think. Haruka-papa, Michiru-mama, and Setsuna-mama are sick with some strange disease, and she went over to take care of them,” said Hotaru. “Seiya-chan? From what I’ve seen, she won’t be a very good nurse. When she visited her sister Taiki-chan in the hospital, she brought some chocolate goo with her, and ended up dumping it on Chibi-Usa’s head,” said Usagi. “Well, she can’t be as bad as Minako-chan,” said Rei. “What about Aino-sempai? What did she do?” asked Hotaru. “It’s a long story...MMPPHHH!!!” shrieked Rei as Minako clamped her hand over Rei’s mouth. “Let’s change the subject. Well, after lunch, I have an eye doctor appointment. I may need to wear glasses like Usagi-chan. OWWW!!! No biting, Rei-chan!” said Minako, changing the subject quickly, then pulling her hand away from Rei’s mouth quickly. “Then don’t cover my mouth, you idiot!” Rei retorted, able to speak again. “Hey, maybe we can be twins!” giggled Usagi, ignoring Rei. “Sometimes I think you are,” mumbled Rei. “It’s good to be able to go to school with all of you. I guess something good came out of the tragic fire that burned Juuban Junior High just as you got into this school last year, causing the high school here to merge the junior high students into the building. Otherwise, Yaten-sempai, Shingo-sempai, and I would be still be going there, separate from you and my family as well,” said Hotaru, trying to change the subject so that Rei and Minako would stop fighting. “Yes, but you might still go to a different school later. The entrance exam might place you at a different high school than this one, Hotaru-chan. The merger doesn’t guarantee that students in the junior high grades will keep going here in high school,” warned Ami between bites of her sandwich. “All the more reason for her to enjoy being at the same school as us now. We even get to be in the same school as Haruka-sempai and Michiru-sempai Though I bet Seiya-chan and Yaten-chan would like to be separated,” joked Minako. “They do fight a lot. They even fought on top of their sister at the observatory,” added Ami. Earlier that morning, Seiya, as she promised, arrived at Hotaru’s house. And, as would be obvious, Hotaru wasn’t there. “Hey! I’m here for the patients!” called Seiya. Silence. “Where is everyone? Or does Hotaru live alone? But she said her family was sick,” Seiya wondered aloud, looking around and furrowing her brow in confusion. Then she saw a note on the table. “To Seiya--You should be at school, but I’m writing this if you’re coming anyway. Everyone is in their rooms, and they were sleeping the last I knew. We had breakfast already, but you can make lunch later if you want.--Hotaru,” the note read. “Well, okay, I guess I should wake them up and tell them I’m here now,” said Seiya, thinking aloud. She first went into Haruka’s room. “HI, HARUKA-CHAN!!! Doctor Seiya-chan’s here to make you feel ALL better!” Seiya gushed, pouncing on her unfortunate patient. “Yes, one thing to do would be to get off of me,” grumbled Haruka dryly. “Okay! Do you need anything?” asked Seiya, sliding to the floor. “How about more time to sleep,” said Haruka. “Okay! Bye-bye!” bubbled Seiya, bouncing out the door. She then went to Michiru’s room, and pounced on her, with the same greeting (except, of course, she didn’t call Michiru “Haruka”). “I do have something for you to do, Seiya-san. You can go to the bathroom, get our laundry, and wash it,” said Michiru. “Really? Well, I’ve only seen other people do it, but I think I can do it,” said Seiya. So, after she had greeted Setsuna, she went to the bathroom. Sure enough, they had a large basket of laundry. Seiya carried that into the basement, then she went back upstairs and collected every bar and squeeze bottle of soap they had, and the shampoo as well. Then she stuffed ALL the clothes at once in the washing machine, and dumped all the soaps into it as well. “Well, that was easy. Maybe I should ask what else they want while I wait,” said Seiya, thinking aloud again. She went into Haruka’s room; not jumping on her this time. “Haruka-chan, do you need anything? What’s exactly wrong with you and the other two there?” asked Seiya, kneeling by Haruka’s bedside. “Well, do you know what Taiki-kun’s symptoms are? We probably all got the same disease,” said Haruka. “Why do you call my sister that? I heard somewhere that it’s used for boys, and Taiki-chan’s a girl,” said Seiya, confused once again by the Japanese name suffixes. “I know that she’s a girl. Sometimes -kun is used for boyish girls as well,” explained Haruka. “It’s the same thing as when she got sick the last time; dizziness, weakness, throwing up,” said Seiya. “The same for us...what IS that weird creaking noise?!” exclaimed Haruka. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s just the house settling,” said Seiya. “Seiya-chan, it sounds more like it’s the washing machine,” said Haruka. Sure enough, the washing machine was a mess. It was jammed full of clothes, and they were all stuck together in a huge gooey mound. Some of the soap was oozing over the top as well. “Oh well. The stickies will dry off outside,” said Seiya, and she took the sticky clothing mess and dumped it outside on the front lawn. Then she went back in Haruka’s room. “The scary noises are all gone now. You can sleep while I make lunch,” said Seiya. “What did you do with the clothes? My bedroom’s right above the washer and dryer, so I should hear the dryer going,” said Haruka suspiciously. “What dryer? I just put them on the lawn to air-dry,” Seiya responded in a non-chalant voice. “WHAT?!?!” Haruka exclaimed, sitting bolt upright. “What’s going on?” asked a sleepy voice in the doorway. Setsuna was standing there, her pine-green hair frizzed up and looking like an evergreen tree. “That...that mullet-haired IDIOT put the clothes on the lawn instead of in the dryer!” Haruka accused angrily. “I didn’t know what the dryer was!” sobbed Seiya, starting to cry. “Seiya-san, the dryer is right next to the washing machine. What did you think it was?” asked Setsuna sleepily. “I dunno. I thought it was a weird big box,” Seiya sniffled. “How can you be that stupid? How can you not know what a dryer is?!” chided Haruka. “I never used one! Fireball-chan and Taiki-chan always did the laundry!” Seiya protested. Haruka groaned, putting her head in her hands. “What’s wrong?” Seiya asked, concerned. “What’s wrong--is that YOU, miss idiot-girl, have probably just destroyed many of our clothes!” shouted Haruka, whipping her head back up. “What are you yelling about?” asked Michiru, coming into Haruka’s room. “This...IDIOT!! She dumped our clothes on the lawn after she washed them!” accused Haruka, pointing her finger at Seiya, who was crying again. “You what?! Now we’ll have to buy new ones!” shouted Michiru. Seiya cried even louder and harder, slumping to the floor. “I don’t think she knew any better. Well, maybe she’s a better cook. I’m actually a little hungry,” said Setsuna, trying to calm everyone down. Seiya immediately jumped up, her sky blue eyes shining with tears and hope. “Really? Well then, I’ll make lunch! You go back to your room and rest, everyone!” she called happily as she bounced out the door. Seiya raced in the kitchen and pulled out the blender. She then started grabbing chocolate candy, carrots, strawberries, fish, anything she could find, and dumping it in the blender. Turning the blender on, Seiya’s hope rose. Maybe this time she could do things correctly! When her “potion” was all mixed, she first chose to take the first bowl to Setsuna, who had been the kindest to her. Setsuna eyed the strange mixture suspiciously, her nausea beginning to come back. Then she looked at Seiya, so hopeful, and decided to at least try it. When she tasted it, though, she immediately vomited, right on Seiya’s blouse. “I didn’t mean to...” Seiya started, her eyes welling up with tears again. She then ran out of the room, sobbing, dropping the bowl to the floor. Seiya stayed in the living room, sobbing, for a long time, then she heard someone come into the door. It was Hotaru, and Minako, wearing her new glasses, was with her! “Eww, Seiya-chan! How did THAT happen to your shirt?!” shrieked a very grossed-out Minako. “Setsuna-chan threw up on me because she didn’t like my cooking,” Seiya choked out, still sobbing. “Well, let’s get you washed off--why were there gooey clothes in the yard?” asked Hotaru. “I washed them and left them out to dry,” sniffled Seiya, calming down slightly. Suddenly, as she and Hotaru washed Seiya in the bathroom, Minako started laughing. “What’s so funny?” Seiya asked. “Well, once when some of the other Senshi, not the ones here, were sick, I tried to take care of them but I messed up horribly. I understand your situation, Seiya-chan,” said Minako comfortingly. “Aww, Seiya, you know who you remind me of? Usagi-sempai. She’s such a klutz and isn’t very smart, but she really tries to be good and kind. She also seems to have quick emotional changes like you do,” said Hotaru.