InsaneJournal

Despite the fact that five of her classmates were now dead, and The Darkness had actually gone through with her most brutal attack to date, Nic couldn't help but think that things were beginning to look up. With each new attack that The Darkness went through with, a new senshi popped up. And a new senshi meant that Nic therefore had another member to her team. Not only that, but with each new girl, it meant that that was just one more person that Nic knew in a past life...which, naturally, she thought was pretty cool. Every once and a while, she would have a dream, explaining more and more about her past as Kino Makoto; Sailor Jupiter--granted, she had dreams that depicted scenes from her past life every now and then prior to being awakened, but now that she was knew that she was Sailor Jupiter, these dreams came more and more often...at least once a week, it seemed. And though it sounded foolish, Nic couldn't help but feel at peace with herself, simply by knowing that she wasn't as alone in this world as she had thought. She was bound to these other girls, just because they were all sailor senshi; and it felt good knowing that she wasn't alone anymore.

Everyone knew about the attacks, so it was no surprise that when Nic returned to work the day after the attacks, she was greeted by her boss (a portly, older woman who seemed so caring that Nic wasn't too sure that she was really a New Yorker at all), who had informed her tearfully that she had been blubbering all day after having heard the tragic news about The Darkness's latest attack. It seemed as though Nic couldn't make a single movement that day without her boss dissolving into loud sobs and either wrapping her arms tightly around the sixteen year old or rushing to the backroom as quickly as possible--it seemed as if her boss was taking the news harder than she was. By the end of her work shift, quite ready to get the hell out of the bakery for the first time ever, Nic was surprisingly stopped by her still sobbing boss. As it turned out, she had been on the phone with a York Prep staff member and the bakery would be donating cookies and punch for some preview of the school musical that York Prep was putting on...and donating those two items was, after all, the least that she could do. Furthermore, she was giving Nic the next night off; sort of. Instead of working at the Milk & Cookies Bakery, Nic was instructed to attend the musical preview and help hand out the cookies and punch.

And surprisingly enough, this didn't bother Nic too awfully much. It didn't matter that she was a NYHS student, serving cookies and punch at a York Prep school organization; the school rivalry seemed to vanish since The Darkness's latest attack. Besides that, Nic had planned on going to see the school's preview of their musical anyway...had she not been scheduled to work that night. So in a way, it was sort of like a blessing that she was assigned to hand out the cookies and punch. Arriving at the bakery a few hours early to complete the order of cookies (she was going to prepare the punch actually at the school), Nic finally left her place of employment (cookies and punch in tow) right at seven. A few minutes later, the auburn-haired NYHS student had arrived at the school. With the program scheduled to take place at around seven thirty, she quickly unloaded the donated cookies and (still unmade) punch from her car, hauling them into the school. More than just a little bit relieved to see a table already set up, Nicole placed the cookies out neatly before disappearing momentarily to prepare the punch bowl. A minute later, she returned, carefully balancing the red liquid contained in an ornate glass bowl between her two arms before gingerly lowering it down to the table. Organizing the napkins and stepping back to take a final look at the table she set up, Nic was actually pretty pleased with the 'display' of cookies, punch, and napkins that she had set up--all by herself.

Now all that was left to do was wait. Wait for York Prep staff members to arrive (when she had gone to make the punch, Nic had already briefly met the drama teacher...who seemed nice enough), wait for the cast members (hopefully Lukas would have time to talk before he had to go get ready), and wait for anyone who came to see the preview of the school's musical. Plucking up a chocolate chip cookie, Nic nibbled slowly on it as she waited. As the minutes ticked on, Nic became more and more aware of the fact that there was something different about tonight. In her blood, she could feel that something was going to happen--and it was going to happen tonight; here. Shifting uncomfortably from one foot to the other, Nic put her cookie down, suddenly not feeling like eating anymore. Chewing on her lip, she pulled out her purse, rummaging through it until her eyes finally fell upon her green henshin pen. Feeling relieved that she had it, Nic plucked it from her purse and placed it in a closer, safer location (i.e. her pocket), before focusing her eyes back onto the empty room around her. If something was going to happen tonight, she was going to make sure that no one got hurt. No one was going to get hurt anymore, not if Nic could help it anyway.