A House Filled With Evil Presence: The Beautiful Hotaru's Secret

Curious about the friend Chibiusa keeps gushing over, Usagi decides to tag along to the child's home rather than wait for details. The pair bring small gifts gathered from the other girls, and the address leads them straight to the residence of Professor Tomoe. Waiting inside, Usagi spots Kaorinite and freezes, though the scientist introduces her only as his household helper, Kaori.

The companion turns out to be Tomoe's fragile daughter, Hotaru, and Usagi is startled that the friend is a girl rather than the boy she had imagined. Meanwhile Mimete, laboring under the professor to feed the awakening Messiah of Silence, sets her sights on Ukon Katakuri, the very manga author whose comic the two visitors happened to buy on their way over.

Elsewhere, Mamoru crosses paths with Michiru, Haruka, and Setsuna, who recognize him from the Silver Millennium as King Endymion. The three transform and explain to Tuxedo Mask that they are the Outer Guardians, sworn to protect the solar system, and that the Death Busters are a menace only they should confront. During the visit, Hotaru suddenly buckles into a seizure, and the sight of Usagi's Cosmic Heart Compact stirs a dark presence within her that draws strength from the item's power.

When a signing flyer sends everyone rushing to the bookstore, Mimete and the Daimon U-Henshuu attack the author with razor pages and scissor fingers. Sailor Pluto arrives wielding Dead Scream, the other Outers join the fray, yet Tuxedo Mask insists the Inner Guardians prevail by fighting as one unit. As Mimete and her monster bicker, Usagi rises into Super Sailor Moon and finishes U-Henshuu with Rainbow Moon Heartache, returning the stolen crystal to its owner.

The episode first aired in Japan on November 12, 1994, and the CWi English dub retitled it "Rini's Risky Friendship" for its July 13, 2000 broadcast. Megumi Sugihara wrote the script and Kounosuke Uda directed. Set against the manga, the anime lets Usagi encounter Hotaru at the same moment Chibiusa does, ties the girl's brief trance to the compact, and revisits how her mother perished in her father's lab accident.

The victim's comic, titled "Drop Drop," is thought to nod toward the 1970s series "Candy Candy." A closing bath scene returns Usagi and Chibiusa to their earlier chat, where they agree that despite the odd household, Hotaru is a kind girl worth befriending.