"Serendipity" – a SM AU Fic. One shot. UM pairing. Includes some details about 9-11-01, if this bothers you, please don't read. R/R appreciated!
Author: Legendary Moon
"We're having a band party here at the house next Sat. It would be great if you could make it," wrote Rose4U803. Minako excitedly type her response.
"I'd love to! Can I bring a friend or two?"
"Sure, I'll IM you later this week to set up when we can meet. Security only allows residents to drive up to the fraternities and sororities on the weekends so you'll need a parking pass brought down to you."
"Great! Talk to you later!" replied Minako and she immediately picked up the phone and dialed.
"Moshi!" answered a happy voice on the other end.
"Usagi-chan! Are you at work?" Minako gabbled excitedly into the phone.
"Hi Minako-chan! No, just doing some homework. What's up?" Usagi replied, crunching into the phone. She was probably munching on some less-than-healthy snack while doing her homework. It was easier than walking across campus to the dining hall. This September in particular was cooler than normal.
"Well, I was just talking to this guy on IM and he invited me to a party next Saturday at his frat. I was wondering if you'd go with me…" Minako trailed off knowing full well that her friend didn't think highly of "frat boys" or of Minako talking to them online.
"Minako, you're not really thinking of going to meet his at a frat house of all places?!?" Usagi gagged on her popcorn, "You know what kind of things they say happen to girls when they go to those parties!"
"Well, that's why I want you to come with me! His college isn't far from yours..." Minako responded, playing with her fingers and semi-pouting into the phone. Usagi could hear the pout in her voice and sighed. She glanced at her planner, which had been lying open on the floor beside her. This coming week was a light week in terms of homework and she didn't have work scheduled for Saturday.
"Fine, I'll go with you," Usagi grumbled, "but you owe me one Aino Minako! You know I don't like these things!"
"I'll call you later this week. He's going to settle with me how to get up there. Their campus security is tight on the weekends," said Minako, her voice giddy with excitement once again, "And I'll come pick you up after I get off of work."
"Hai," grumbled Usagi, returning her attention to her organic chemistry homework and frowning, "Minako-chan, I've got to get going, this problem is going to need my full attention if I'm going to get it right."
"Okay Usagi-chan! Talk to you later!" Minako giggled and hung up the phone. It amused her that Usagi had chosen such a difficult subject to major in. To top it off, Usagi was double majoring chemistry with education. This was Usagi! In high school, Usagi had found a subject she enjoyed when she took an honors chemistry course under the urging of Ami. She had vowed to help Usagi understand everything if she had promised to just try the course. It turned out that Usagi didn't need Ami's help. She was brilliant with the lab work, though had a bit more difficulty with the theory part, and because of her giving nature, Usagi wanted to help other kids learn about chemistry in hopes that she could find the one thing that they were good at too. Minako smiled, shrugged to herself, and started to get ready for work.
That Tuesday, Usagi was walking back to her dorm room from her morning dance class when she had decided to stop in the café for breakfast. Walking up the steps to the building, she looked up at the bright, crystal blue sky and wondered to herself about how beautiful a day it was. She entered the café and walked over to the bagels and pulled a plain one from the pile. She moved to the cashier and paid for it, noticing the far-away look in the cashier's face. She looked around and saw that everyone was watching the small television and she looked at it too, curious. There were the Twin Towers, one with smoke furling toward the sky. Usagi's mouth fell open as the anchor described the events leading up to the smoke. A plane flew into the tower? No, that can't be… That didn't make any sense. She hurried to her dorm room to tell her roommate, Naru about what had happened. Naru didn't have a class until 1 o'clock in the afternoon on Tuesdays and liked to sleep in. It was still early, and Usagi thought that this was important enough to wake Naru. She pushed open the door to her room and found Naru already dressed.
"Usagi-chan, did you see?" she asked, concern in her face.
"Hai, Naru-chan," Usagi panted and nodded her head, "Umino's dad-"
"Umino's picking me up in a few minutes, he said that they're evacuating both towers just to be safe," Naru replied, "He talked to his dad a little while ago. He's okay and on his way out to the subway to go home, but Umino's so worried."
Usagi stepped out of the door way so Naru could leave, "Call me if you guys need anything!" she shouted to her friend as she disappeared from sight. Usagi walked to her desk and dropped her bag on the chair. She picked up her cell phone and called her mom, who was on a business trip in Connecticut.
"Moshi Usagi," her mom whispered into the phone, "I'm in a meeting."
"Mom, did you hear what happened?" Usagi spoke quickly into the phone as she turned her television channel to CNN.
"No, what's the matter?" Ikuko's voice suddenly tensed, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine mom, but a plane flew into one of the twin towers… they're saying it might have been a terrorist," she said, tears springing to her eyes as she saw a replay of the event captured by a tourist's video camera.
"My daughter's on the phone, she said a plane flew into one of the twin towers, turn the t.v. on," she heard her mom say in the background to the others in the meeting room, "Usagi, I'm going to go, there are people here that have loved ones in those buildings."
"Okay, Love you," said Usagi.
"Love you too," said Ikuko and they hung up.
Usagi began pacing in her room, thinking of the people on the burning floors and above them, wondering how they could get out. Suddenly the anchors' voices when higher and Usagi turned to see another plane fly into the other tower. Tears streamed down her face as she fell to her knees on the floor of her room.
'All those people…' she kept thinking to herself. She felt sick to her stomach. After what seemed like no time at all, they were showing the pentagon with a fifth of the building in rubble. Usagi sobbed for the loss of life as she sat on the floor staring in disbelief at her t.v. while the first tower collapsed, extinguishing nearly all life in the building or beneath it.
'This can't be! This has to be a terrible nightmare! What is going on?!?' She thought to herself.
The next hour was a blur as there were reports that another plane had crashed somewhere in Pennsylvania and the second tower collapsed. Usagi cried until her eyes couldn't make anymore tears. Her heart felt as if it had dropped to her toes. The classes on campus were canceled for the day as students tried to get in touch with loved ones who had been in the city. Exhausted from what she had seen throughout the day, Usagi fell into a fitful sleep.
The next morning, Naru returned to gather a few clothes.
"Everyone is okay, but I'm going to go home for a few days," she mumbled as her head disappeared into her closet. Usagi hugged her pillow. Classes had been canceled until Friday so she had nothing to do except think about what had happened. She could go talk to a counselor about her feelings, but she didn't want to take the place of someone who might've directly known one of the victims.
"That's good, Naru-chan," she said sadly, "You be careful."
"Hai, Usagi," Naru replied, zipping her bag, "Take care!"
And in a blink, Naru was out the door again.
Usagi sighed and climbed down from her bunk. She could at least talk to someone online. She turned on her computer screen to see messages from many of her fanfiction friends.
"Bunny, are you alright?!? I know you live close to NYC… Msg me ASAP!"
"Bunny, let me know you're okay!"
"Usagi-chan, is your mom all right?"
The last message caught her attention and she glanced at the author. VenusGoddess1022. That was Minako!
"Minako-chan, mom's okay. She was already in Connecticut by the time the whole thing happened," she replied, her hands flying over the keyboard, "She'll be driving home instead of flying, but she has to wait for a car to become available. Are you missing anyone?"
"Oh thank goodness for your mom Usagi-chan," Minako responded, "My uncle worked in WTC, but he stayed home sick yesterday. Who would have thought that having the flu would be a good thing!?"
Usagi sighed. She was lucky for living as close to all the destruction as she did, yet no one she knew personally had been involved. Then she felt guilty about all the families who were missing their loved ones.
"Minako, I'm going to go lay down, I'm not feeling so good," she typed.
"Okay, Usagi-chan, TTYL!" came the response. Usagi turned off the monitor and put her favorite movie into her VCR. The theme for Labyrinth filled her room as she lie down and drifted off to sleep.
Friday seemed to come too quickly and classes resumed. The campus was clear and cold but now dotted with the American flag and yellow ribbons. Usagi herself sported a small pin in the shape of the flag. Every professor for Usagi's Friday classes reiterated the country's intent to continue on and not let the terrorists' actions affect our lives more than they had.
"We're not going to give them the satisfaction of knowing they brought our great country to a stop on this one day in history," said one of them, "Our plan is to stay on course for the subject matter. We are pushed back for a few days, but we'll catch up." They flew through the lecture material and were assigned twice their normal amount of homework. Usagi frowned as she thought about everyone who hadn't yet returned to campus. Indeed her classes seemed to be only half full as compared to normal. Those poor students would be so lost when they returned. After what seemed like a never-ending day, Usagi plopped into her desk chair and noticed another message from Minako.
"Usagi-chan, Mamoru-san wants to know if you're still up to coming to the band party at the frat."
"They're still having it?" she replied, glancing at the clock. She needed to start getting ready for work.
"Hai. If you're not up to it, I understand. I'll just go by myself"
"Aino Minako you are NOT going to a frat party by yourself!!! If you want to go that badly, I'm going with you." Usagi typed angrily, her brows furrowed so that they looked like one as they joined in the middle of her forehead.
"Ok, ok, I'll let him know we're both going to be there. Hold on a minute."
Usagi grumbled to herself and began changing for work.
"I have to work tomorrow afternoon, but I'll be there around 11pm to pick you up. He's going to meet us with a resident pass. I'll have to call him when we get close to his campus." wrote Minako. Usagi stumbled as she pulled up her sock quickly so she could respond to her friend.
"Alright. Give me a call when you get here. I've got to go to work. TTYL" Usagi typed and turned off her monitor. She pulled on her uniform vest and grabbed her tie before pulling on her jacket. She grabbed her keys and purse from her dresser and charged out of the room. She hated to be late, even though she only worked at the local movie theatre.
Usagi sat in her room, arms crossed and leg twitching. Minako was an hour late picking her up. She hadn't done anything special with her hair or make-up because if truth be told, she wasn't the slightest bit interested in attending. This was because she didn't want one of her best friends to be in a bad situation. She picked up the remote for the t.v. and started flipping through the channels. There was nothing worth watching on that late at night and Naru hadn't returned from her parents' house yet. Usagi needed something to keep her mind off of thinking that it was twisted of the fraternity to have this party in the wake of the tragedy of this country. She glanced at the clock. It was already 12:30am. Usagi sighed then jumped as the phone rang.
"Moshi!" she answered tartly.
"Usagi-chan! Gomen! I got stuck at work!" Minako said into the phone, "I'll be there in just a few minutes."
"Its ok Minako-chan," Usagi replied, "I'll meet you out front." She checked herself in the mirror before heading out the door. She wore a black sports bra with a fly-away tee tied in the front with her mid-section exposed and a black pair of pants. Her blonde hair was down, though she'd just had it cut slightly longer than shoulder length. She nodded her approval and headed for the front door. Minako was waiting outside and Usagi hurried to the car and clambored inside. Minako had a small car but it was thankfully warm inside. The air outside had the tell-tale nip of autumn to it. Usagi shivered as she settled into the passenger seat and buckled the seatbelt. Minako always drove like a bat-out-of-hell and Usagi chose to close her eyes for the duration of the trip. She's never been to this university before and they pulled into a parking lot she didn't recognize when she'd opened her eyes. Minako picked up her cell phone and jabbered to the guy they were meeting.
"Mamoru-san, sorry we're late, but if the offer is still open, we're waiting in the parking lot!" she yammered. Usagi rolled her eyes so that Minako wouldn't see. Her friend was so guy crazy it was sometimes annoying, but she was lovable all the same. Minako hung up the phone.
"He said he'll be down in a few minutes," she said, her voice barely containing her excitement.
"Oh that's good," Usagi replied sarcastically, but Minako didn't notice. She watched the entrance of the parking lot, her eyes sparkling with anticipation.
Mamoru stood in the basement of the fraternity house talking with a random girl that had shown up. The girl he had invited, Minako, was an hour and a half late. He'd given up on her and decided that he should just get on with his night when his phone rang. He excused himself from the conversation and stepped outside onto the quiet patio.
"Moshi?" he said.
"Mamoru-san, sorry we're late, but if the offer is still open, we're waiting in the parking lot!"
"Oh ok. I'll be down in a minute," he replied and hung up. He went back into the house to find that the girl he'd been chatting with started talking to one of his brothers.
'No loss there then,' he thought to himself. He grabbed the extra parking pass, his motorcycle keys, and helmet then headed out the door.
A few minutes later, a tall man riding a motorcycle pulled up next to the car on Minako's side. Minako rolled the window down and he passed in a little green and white tag to hang on the rear-view mirror.
"Just follow me to the house," he said and then began to back his bike out of the parking spot. Minako rolled her window back up and started her car. They followed Mamoru through the security check-point (where thankfully they were waved straight through), and to a house on a hill. Mamoru pulled his motorcycle onto the front lawn of the house while Minako parked in one of the available spots. She pulled the tag off of her mirror and muttered, "Here goes," before getting out of the car. Usagi raised an eyebrow but also got out of the car. She had the feeling that she was in for a long night.
Mamoru was somewhat impressed by the girl he had spoken to on the internet. She was cute, but he was completely unprepared for her friend. When she had stepped out of the car, it was almost as if she'd been bathed in a golden light. His breath caught in his throat as she threw her hair over her shoulder and followed Minako to the sidewalk. Mamoru clumsily pulled his helmet off as they approached.
"Um ,hi, Minako-chan!" he said. Her friend barely offered him a glance as she looked around at the house and the other stragglers roaming the campus.
"Hi Mamoru-san!" she replied with a sparkling grin, "This is my friend, Usagi." Minako motioned to the girl standing behind her. She cracked a half of a smile and nodded to him. Mamoru noticed that Usagi was shivering slightly.
"The band is downstairs," he said and led them toward the front door. It was opened by one of the brothers and Mamoru stepped inside.
"Chiba," the brother smiled, "are both of these beautiful ladies with you?"
"Hai," Mamoru responded. Minako gushed while Usagi blushed slightly.
"Then please come in and join the fun ladies! The band is playing downstairs."
"Thank you!" Minako smiled again and they stepped inside.
Mamoru took their coats and purses to his room where they could be locked safely away from the general population's access. He'd returned to see Minako shrugging off something Usagi had been whispering to her.
Once Mamoru had disappeared down a hallway with their coats and purses, Usagi hissed to Minako, "So Minako, how's Motoki doing?"
"Oh... he's... good," she stammered guiltily. Before Usagi could ask another question, however, Mamoru had returned. Usagi frowned. She didn't approve of Minako cheating on Motoki and Minako knew it. Mamoru took them to the basement of the house. As soon as the door opened, they were berated with a loud beat and flashing music. There were many bodies dancing around and screaming to the band, and most of them held a can of beer. Usagi scowled. Minako and Usagi were both underage for drinking, so this was not a good place for them.
"I'm going to get something to drink," Mamoru shouted to the girls, "Would you two like anything?!" Minako and Usagi both shook their heads and Mamoru set off through the crowd. Usagi glanced over to see that there was a bar in the room and was surprised to see that the operator was carding everyone who'd asked for alcohol. He gave the carded and legal ones bracelets to identify those who could have alcohol. She was impressed against her will by this. She had been told through high school, television, and her parents that fraternities were dangerous and nearly lawless, but a place that carded couldn't be all of that bad stuff...
Mamoru returned holding a can of Coke and smiling. Usagi glanced at him and noticed his striking blue eyes, jet black hair that hung just slightly over his eyes, and dazzling smile. Her face softened as he looked back at her and she smiled.
Mamoru saw her smile at him and his heart just melted. He vagely registered that Minako was talking to him, but he wasn't hearing a word of it. Usagi looked away, trying to see some of the band but failing miserably. She was short but slight at the same time. She couldn't have been much taller than five foot, but then Minako was just about the same height.
"Can you hear me ok?" Minako asked, shouting at the top of her voice. Mamoru hadn't responded so she thought that she'd just check to see that she was talking loud enough.
"Oh, yes," Mamoru said, snapping back to reality. The band played on for an hour before announcing their last song of the night. Minako seemed, to Mamoru, to be having a great time and he even noticed that Usagi had loosened up a bit too. Then there was a loud howl as a song came over the sound system. Mamoru had placed his hand on each of their shoulders and pulled them toward a wall. Suddenly there was a mosh pit of all the fraternity members in the center of the room. Several of the members were lifted up during the mosh and Usagi and Minako laughed at them.
The song ended though Usagi couldn't tell as the screaming from the frat guys was deafening.
"Sorry about that," Mamoru said, still laughing as he walked back over to them, "but that's our song. I would've warned you-"
"Oh its no problem," Minako giggled.
"Would you like to sit down?" Mamoru asked the girls and showed them to a few couches that had been returned to, what Usagi assumed was their normal positions. Minako nodded and plopped into the nearest couch, flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder. Before sitting, Mamoru asked if they needed anything to drink. They had nodded and asked for sodas. Usagi was wary that he'd come back with cups full of liquid, which she'd suspect of course but he surprised her again when he returned with unopened cans of Coke. He opened them just before handing them to each. They thanked him and sipped the cold liquid.
"So you got held up at work?" Mamoru asked Minako. Usagi winced. She loved her friend to death, but now Minako would launch into a discertation that might last until dawn. She decided that she'd at least be comfortable and leaned back into the comfortable leather couch and tried to occupy her mind while her friend flirted the night away.
Mamoru listened intently to Minako's rant about someone not showing up for work on time but his mind quickly wandered to the other blonde. He smiled inwardly as once in a while she rolled her eyes at her friend and tried to keep herself awake. He mentally scolded himself for not listening to the girl he'd invited in the first place and proceded to make a more conscious effort to carry on a conversation with her, hoping the blonde would run out of things to talk about so he could talk to Usagi some. Little did he know how much verbal ammunition Minako had. Before he knew it, dawn was threatening to break the darkness into light.
"Is anyone else hungry?" Minako asked as she looked at her watch and gasped, "Oh my! It's almost 4am!" Usagi's stomach growled in response and she smiled sheepishly.
"Yeah, I'm kind of hungry" she replied.
"Sure, I could go for some breakfast," Mamoru smiled. Maybe he'd finally get to ask Usagi about herself, if fortune smiled at him anyway.
"Um, Usagi-chan, do you know of any places to go?" Minako asked her friend.
"Yeah, There's a good diner by my college," she answered after a moment of thought, "Naru and I often go there to cram the night before an exam or just to do homework."
"Sound good," Mamoru said, anxious to get going. He went to get their coats and purses from his room and returned to see them standing and stretching. Usagi arched her back, exposing a flat very toned mid-drif and Mamoru made sure to keep that image for his daydreaming later. He cleared his throat and the girls jumped.
"Gomen," he said, shrugging. They put on their coats and Minako drove them to the diner.
Usagi happily downed her omlette as Minako and Mamoru chatted some more. The topic of favorite movies came up.
"Usagi-chan, what is your favorite movie?" Mamoru asked, taking advantage of the fact that Minako had just stuffed a large piece of pancake into her mouth.
"I'm sure you've never heard of it," she replied, "but it's called Labyrinth. It has David-"
"Bowie," Mamoru finished her sentence, "I haven't seen that movie in ages!" Usagi blinked in surprise.
"Oh, I was just watching it last- I mean Friday night," she smiled, maybe this frat guy wasn't so bad after all.
"I love that movie too," Minako gushed, now that her mouth was free of pancake, "Usagi, you have that movie, right?"
"Of course Minako-chan, it's in my dorm room," said Usagi, putting the last bite of omlette in her mouth.
"I know, we could go watch it!" Minako shouted, drawing looks from other early morning customers.
"Um, sure, if you want to-" Usagi began.
"YES!" Minako squealed. Usagi was inwardly thankful that she had cleaned her room the day before as Minako drove them to Usagi's dorm.
Mamoru glanced at the clock in the diner as they all threw money onto the center of the table for their breakfasts. It was 5:30am. Usagi stifled a yawn and pulled her coat back on before heading out to Minako's car. Usagi signed them in as visitors before leading the way to her dorm room. Since she attended an all girls school, it was in much better shape than a regular college dorm would have been. Mamoru chalked it up to girls being cleaner than guys to start with. He was having a hard time paying attention to Minako as he kept wanting to look at Usagi and he felt bad for it since it was Minako he'd wanted to meet in the first place. He didn't really care for the movie Labyrinth, but he would watch anything to get more time with Usagi. She took off her coat and hung it in the closet and draped Minako's and Mamoru's coats over her desk chair before starting the movie. She pulled her pillow down from her bunk and lie down on the floor as Minako and Mamoru sat on Naru's bed. In what seemed like no time, Mamoru noticed that both girls had fallen asleep, Minako lying on his arm. He wished that it had been Usagi next to him. He sighed quietly and watched the movie while the girls slept.
Usagi jerked awake as her alarm went off at 8 am. Mamoru had been flipping channels since the movie had ended a while ago.
"Good morning," he smiled as Usagi leapt toward her alarm clock.
"Baka," she muttered at herself. She should have remembered to turn that horrid thing off.
"Good morning," Minako grinned at Mamoru then glanced at her watch. She jumped up and smacked her head off Usagi's bunk.
"Oh-mi-gosh!" she squealed, rubbing her head then hurriedly pulling on her shoes, "I'm gonna be so late for work! Usagi-chan, could you please, please take Mamoru back to his dorm?!? I have to get going!"
"Sure thing Minako," Usagi giggled back, "Let me walk you down and sign you out. Mamoru, you can stay here, I'll be right back."
Usagi walked Minako to the door and signed her out.
"Thank you Usagi-chan! You're the best!" Minako hugged her, "Isn't he just too cute?!?"
Usagi nodded, "Minako-chan, you'd better hurry up..."
"Oh hai, bye Usagi!" she yelled and took off down the front steps.
Usagi made her way back to her dorm room to find Mamoru still channel surfing. He smiled at her as she stepped back into the room.
"Whenever you're ready," she said. He turned off the t.v. and stood up.
"I really should get back, I need to help clean up after the party," he said, picking up his coat.
"Okay, let's go then," she said and led the way out of the dormitory.
It seemed as if it took no time for them to walk to Usagi's car across campus, but then he marveled at how small her campus was when compared to his. They chatted about majors and general subjects until they reached the frat house. Usagi pulled up to the front walkway to let Mamoru out. Mamoru noticed that some of his fraternity brothers were peering through the window at them. He cleared his throat, no girl ever made him this nervous to ask for a number before Usagi.
"Mamoru-san, can I ask you something?" Usagi spoke quietly. He nodded. "Why did you guys have the party after what just happened?"
He paused a moment before answering her question, "Because we felt that it was important for people to get their minds off the tragedy for a little while. Like the president said, we can't let them jeopardize our way of life. If we didn't have any parties, if we didn't get back to life as we know it, they'd win. Every small victory for them is another step closer to what they wanted to accomplish, which was sending the country into self-destruct mode."
"Oh, okay..."
"Um, Usagi?" he asked, trying to keep his voice even.
"Hm?" she responded, looking around at the campus in the daylight.
"Would you mind if I gave you a call sometime... or maybe IMed you?" Mamoru questioned as he pulled out his black book for such things. He cursed himself for not being able to steady his hands to write down her number. Glancing up at her face, he saw that she was smiling. It was a genuine smile, more dazzling to him than the sun.
"Sure," she replied, "My screen name is MoonRabbit630." Her bright blue eyes sparkled in the sunlight.
"Awesome," he said, relieved, "Thank you for bringing me back."
"No problem," she smiled again, "I wasn't going to make you walk back here you know."
Mamoru laughed and pushed open the car door, "Well, I guess I'll IM you later then."
Usagi nodded and he closed the car door. It felt as if he was walking on clouds as he strode back to the house.
"Wow Chiba, two at a time?" came a smart response from one of his brothers.
He frowned. Normally he didn't care what remarks he got from others, but he wasn't about to let the guys talk about her like that.
"Yeah, Chiba, next time you ought to share if you're gonna have hotties like that here," came another response.
"Alright that's enough," he grumbled and started down the steps to start mopping.
Usagi smiled to herself as she drove herself back to her own campus. She had noticed his hands shaking as he'd asked for her screen name. She had to admit that she had gotten her fair share of followers, but there was never a time that a guy that handsome had seemed nervous asking for her information. She had felt bad since Minako was obviously interested in him, but he hadn't shown any interest in Minako. She would have to talk to Minako later before answering any IMs from Mamoru. Maybe, just maybe this would be something good for her.
Okay, before you yell at me this IS the end of this story. However, this is only the first of a series of stories I have planned for these two. - Look for the next part out soon (I hope). It's called "The White Rose". Thank you for reading and reviewing!!!! LM
