- Huh?

Makoto stumbles a little, looks around, and says:

- Hey Rei, maybe we should go back see if everyone's alright.

Usagi blinked a little a the lights came back on. 

"Ami-Chan, Minako, maybe we should meet back with the others and see if they found anything?" she asked.

The lights coming back on surprised Rei. She wanted to search more but being separated for too long could mean trouble. 
"That sounds like a good idea," Rei replied, "maybe the others found something."

Ami was a bit releaved to see the lights come back on. "Yea lets head that way to see whats up with everyone else." she said with a nod and leading the blonds back to everyone else.

Haruka was glad to see Michiru join their group. With everything going on, she had been afraid that maybe Michiru had been caught up in all of this, especially since she hadn't seen the other woman in a little while. But seeing her, taking in the sight of her hair that fell in gentle waves, and the soft porcelain of her skin, Haruka couldn't help but to smile in relief, despite the severity of their situation.

The lights going off was a bit of an annoyance, however. It felt too contrived to be a coincidence, which meant that this was most definitely a planned attack of some sort. That only put Haruka even more on edge.

The other girls decided to split off together to go look in the other rooms, but Haruka felt it better to simply just stay here with Michiru. Someone should stay close to all of the fallen bodies, in case someone tried to do something to them. It would be better to keep watch, rather than to allow whoever was responsible the free reign on these poor souls.

Though, it was incredibly difficult to see in this dark.

Haruka frowned. "Seems like this won't be just a relaxing night after all," she said to Michiru.

Since listening was the main sense still left to her in this darkness, Haruka as listened intently as she could for the sound of anything that sounded off. But she couldn't help but have her mind wander a little. Who was behind all of this? Were the other girls were okay to be alone? Maybe she should have gone with them to help protect them, but surely they would be okay in pairs. Right?

The lights suddenly came on, and Haruka blinked against the sudden brightness until her eyes adjusted. Then she looked around, but saw nothing different around her. That was good.

"Good thing the lights are back on, eh?" Haruka turned to face Michiru, a smile on her lips. With the lights back on, things didn't feel quite so dire.

But the smile died on her lips in an instant.

"Mi... Michiru?" Haruka fell to her knees by Michiru's side. She reached out, even though a part of her was afraid to touch the unmoving woman. "Michiru! Wake up!" Gentle prodding was not eliciting any kind of response, and a slight panic began to settle in and so she shook a little harder. "Michiru!"

"Fine, I'll stay and keep you both safe," Minako claimed bravely, trying not to hold onto her friends so tightly anymore. The three of them proceeded to move into the lounge, though she wasn't sure what they were looking for exactly or why they were groping around for it in the dark.

The good news: not long after that, the lights came back on. Minako nodded eagerly when Ami suggested they go back to the ballroom and meet up with the others. "Yeah, that sounds like the sensible thing to do." When they arrived back, however, something seemed to have happened during the blackout. Michiru appeared to be unconscious, with Haruka looking panicked beside her. Minako rushed to the both of them, the color draining from her face.

"What happened to Michiru-san?"

Ami didn't even bother asking what happened she just ran up dropping down by Michiru checking over the other girl. She seems to be all right." she said re leaved. "Haruka-San did you see or hear anything suspicious?" she asked the blond.

"Well, let's see if..... MICHIRU!!!! Are you okay?" Usagi screamed as she noticed the unconscious Michiru lying on the floor, being examined by Haruka and Ami, while Makoto and Minako stood nearby. "Did you see who did it, Haruka? You're fine too, right?"

Upon her arrival back in the Grand Ball room Rei saw an unconscious Michiru surrounded by the girls. It was Haruka who had spent the black out with her, if it wasn't her it would have been impossible to be near Michiru and not hear or feel anything and if it was her... This was very suspicious. Rei stood back as the other girls questioned Haruka. She watched for any sign that would give her away.

Usagi was trying to make sense of it all. Michiru had just been knocked out, and the only other person she'd been in the room with was Haruka. Both Rei and Makoto thought that she had done it, but she wouldn't hurt her lover, right?

Except when people are brainwashed, they don't really act like themselves.... you've seen this with Mamoru.....


Don't think about that! It'll just make it worse!


She cleared her throat and began to talk "I'm sorry, Haruka, but I agree with Rei and Makoto in believing that you are the most likely culprit in injuring Michiru. However, there's also a slim chance that the person who injured her did it while we were all splitting up, as it'd be harder for them to be seen."

Haruka couldn't believe what she was hearing. They were accusing *her* for this? Part of her wanted to just ignore the absurd accusations and focus on trying to get Michiru to wake up. But she couldn't just let these girls go on accusing her of  attacking the woman she loved. What were they thinking?

"How can you girls possibly thinking that?" Haruka shook her head. "Just because I was in the same room doesn't mean that I had to be the one to do this. Why would the culprit decide to be in the same exact room as their victim, wouldn't that be a little suspicious?"

She faltered for a moment, glancing back down at the unmoving Michiru. Seeing the beautiful woman this still and unmoving was a frightening thing. "How could you possibly think I would ever harm Michiru?" This was said almost to herself as she watched Michiru for moment longer.

But then she pushed those feelings aside to glare up at the girls once more. "Besides, have any of you even checked the area for clues before jumping on me?" The words were angry, and Haruka felt surprised by them. To think that any of them would do something like this was absurd. But this whole night was full of twists and turns everywhere, and dammit, Michiru was lying on the floor right now, and Haruka wanted answers!

She looked specifically at Makoto and, sadly, Usagi too. "To me, accusing someone instantly without any real reason or clue, that sounds more suspicious. Maybe you're trying to cover up for something."

"Haurka, I'm sorry about Michiru, but I'm innocent in this matter" Usagi said, "and I wasn't in the room long enough to do anything. The only people who possibly could've done it were you and Minako, as she spent some time alone in here before joining Ami and I."

"However, I do think searching this area of the ballroom is a good idea. Does anyone else agree with me?"

Ami said Michiru was alright, but she was clearly unconscious, so she couldn't be that alright. What could have caused her to collapse? Haruka seemed to be fine aside from the fact that she was obviously shaken. What surprised Minako was when Mako immediately jumped on her, accusing her to be the one who did this to Michiru. Minako was horrified. Haruka was the person that loved Michiru the most, but she had to admit if they were standing so close, to not notice anything amiss would have been suspicious. Still, Mako was also being uncharacteristically aggressive about all this.

There was actual fear on Haruka's face - fear for Michiru - and it was something she didn't see often. When Usagi spoke again, however, Minako looked at her in surprise. "Um, I was holding Ami's arm the whole time. When you guys moved, I moved. Ask her." Minako was hurt that Usagi would even say that she could have possibly done it. She was starting to get suspicious of her friend for throwing such an accusation that made no sense.

"Well, let's go look for clues around here before we point fingers at anyone else," she said, suppressing her annoyance and suspicion by focusing on trying to be the sensible leader that she was supposed to be.

"I guess I'll search this section of the ballroom (section 2)" Usagi said, hoping for more evidence to turn up.

Besides Haruka being in the same room as Michiru they had no real evidence of anything at this point. Before things got more crazy and more groundless accusations were thrown around Rei decided that more clues were needed.  "Why don't we search Michiru's body for evidence or what caused her to faint?"

mercury_viola_rhapsody wrote:

"I guess I'll search this section of the ballroom (section 2)" Usagi said, hoping for more evidence to turn up.

"To specify, I'd like to see if we could find anything here that could've knocked out Michiru"

Since she was already kneeling next to the aquanette Ami decided to see if she could find the cause Michiru's KO by searching her body.

Quote :

As everyone searched for pretty much the same thing, I'll announce the findings here:

You find that Michiru was knocked out via someone hitting her in the head, hard! 




Another blackout will start in one hour; if you would like to knock someone out, now's the time to try.

Quote :

In this midst of discussion and discoveries, THE LIGHTS GO OUT AGAIN!


You may choose to stay put or head out to search. Blackout ends in four hours.

So whomever knocked Michiru out did it with a heavy object? But there isn't really anything nearby that could.... unless you count those wineglasses on the snack table.


I'm hungry...


And then the lights went out again.

"Ah! Um, does anyone want to search the area near the snack table with me?"

Rei decided to stay in the ball room.  It's possible that Haruka wasn't the culprit but then who was?

Quote :

The lights flicker back on! Looking around, everything seems to have stayed the same. Mamoru, Michiru, and the other adults at the party were still out cold, but at least no one else had joined them.

The lights kept flickering on and off, though this time it seemed to die for only a brief moment. Nobody had left the room, and nobody seemed to have been mysteriously knocked out either once the light was back on. Minako had been looking around the room for clues when suddenly her gaze fell on something on the table near Michiru's unconscious body.

"Guys?" She picked the item up; it was an advanced sciences book. "Did someone say she was knocked out by a heavy object?" Minako felt coldness in her body as she looked toward Ami. This book could only be hers...

"hey don't go looking at me after all you had a hold of me the whole time we were out of the room so you would have known if I had left." the bluenette said looking at Minako. she may not have had a hold of her arm tightly but the blond still would have known if she had done anything.