Never Gone R

By: Jecir

Chapter One: A Choice that Changed Fate

Fate and Destiny, though powerful, can be altered by a choice; a choice, say, like waking up on time. What if a young girl prone to sleeping in woke up on time? What if, instead of pulling the covers over her head and falling back asleep, she got up? What would that day look like? It may look like any other day. She would eat breakfast, go to school—though with a little less pep in her step—and hang out with her friends. She would sulk when her most recent test was returned to her with yet another failing grade, but she'd cheer up when her best friend in the whole wide world invites her to her mother's jewelry shop after school. She would marvel at beautiful jewels, gush over how wonderful it would be to have them, and then, with reluctance, go home to face the consequences of her failing grade.

Overall, it would be a normal day. This girl would go to sleep, never suspecting that she had changed her fate. She would not know that today, she was supposed to run late, for, in running late, she would stumble upon a poor black cat being tormented by elementary boys. She would save that cat, and her true purpose would be revealed. That special encounter did not happen, for today, she woke up on time, and today, Fate had to choose another hero to defend the world again the Dark Kingdom...

Chiba Mamoru stood in front of a Tokyo jewelry store, watching intently as women of all ages fought to get inside. It was a normal day in Tokyo, sunny and warm, and seemingly ordinary save for him—the mysterious young man standing in a tuxedo watching the shop. Passersby might assume he was there to buy a special something for a special someone. They would never suspect that his true purpose was a mythical crystal he was not really sure actually existed.

Mamoru continued to watch the store. It looked like the dozens of other stores he had broken into over the last few weeks. He was not a thief; he reminded himself of that every day. He was on a mission; that fact set him apart from the common street thug. It had not spared him the rumors that were beginning to circulate about the Ballroom Thief! Mamore hated that name. He preferred Tuxedo Kamen. If he ever met someone during his break ins, he would need to remember to tell them that.

Mamoru put his hands in his pockets and strolled away. He had seen enough. He knew his entrance point and his exit strategy. He would come back after the store had closed. Surely, the Silver Crystal would be there. The store was drawing a large crowd. Mythical gems drew large crowds, right? He wondered...

"Ah!"

Mamoru's thoughts were interrupted when someone ran into him. Mamoru stumbled back in shock. His sunglasses were knocked askew, and his chest hurt. No, it burned! Mamoru yelped as the sensation sank deep. He, like any person in his situation, pulled his shirt off of his skin as best he could to remove the source of the burn.

It was coffee. Coffee was spilt all down the front of his silk white shirt and black waste coat. He groaned in annoyance. This outfit was expensive! Or so he thought, he had never actually paid for it. One night, a few weeks back, he had woken up from a recurring dream to find himself wandering the city wearing it. He had eventually figured out how to summon it. Now it was stained with coffee. Great, just great...

"Oh, that looks bad," said a voice from below him.

Mamoru looked down at the sight that would change his Fate forever.

A young man with long brown hair and equally brown eyes blinked up at him. He was dressed in a long, white lab coat; the sleeves rolled up exposing semi-tanned arms; and the front hanging open, revealing casual clothes underneath. A bright green bandana held back his hair, and a pair of goggles rested on his forehead. He was crouching next to a crushed paper cup, a stack of disordered papers in his arms.

He grimaced as he looked at Mamoru's shirt. "I am so sorry, sir!" He said. "I was not—" He continued to ramble, but Mamoru couldn't understand him.

It took the ebony-haired teen a moment to realize this stranger was not speaking Japanese. "Ano," Mamoru muttered. "Sir?"

"Yes?" The stranger blinked in surprise at being interrupted, then his eyes widened and he jumped to his feet, an embarrassed flush on his face. "Did I do it again? Snap, so sorry! I'm still relatively new to Japan and Japanese and Japanese culture...I tend to ramble off in English." He laughed uncomfortably. "I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and, well, looks like we collided." He eyed the stain. "That doesn't look good. Listen, I live just down the way. Come with me, and I'll see about getting that cleaned."

Mamoru gaped at the young man, baffled by the offer. It was overly familiar for someone who had just met him. "I, uh...don't even know you," Mamoru stuttered out.

The brunette's embarrassment increased. "Right! Sorry!" He shifted his papers into one arm and extended his hand. "Seiya Unami, at your service! Or, um, Unami Seiya. Is that right? Last name first?" Mamoru nodded, still at a loss as to what to make of this situation. "Good!" Seiya said with a relieved smile. "Unami Seiya, Professor at Tokyo University."

"You can't be," Mamoru blurted out as he hesitantly took the lad's hand. Seiya could not be much older than him.

"It's the truth!" Seiya beamed. "Technically, I should be in eleventh grade, or..." He looked up in thought. "Um...second year high school? Ah, the systems here are so different! It's taking me some time to get them right. My students laugh all the time at my Western slips."

"It's alright," Mamoru assured him. He was not sure why, but he found Seiya's ramblings rather funny. "I was surprised, is all. I'm Chiba Mamoru, second year, Juuban High."

"A pleasure to meet you, Mamoru. Chiba! San?"

"Chiba-san, yes, Unami-san."

"Great!" Seiya shook Mamoru's hand. "Sounds so formal, but that's just great. Come on, Mr. Chiba-san, that shirt is not going to clean itself!"

And that was how Mamoru found himself sitting in a stranger's apartment wearing a stranger's borrowed shirt drinking English tea while a mad scientist mixed chemicals in hopes of saving the secretly magical shirt.

"So, why were you wearing this?" Seiya asked from the kitchen. "It seems rather inconvenient for daily life."

"You have no idea," Mamoru muttered as he looked around. The apartment was huge! He had entered the front door into a spacious living room furnished with two couches and a chair. The newest entertainment systems were here, including a bigger than needed flat screen television. A hallway led to two bedrooms and two bathrooms, and the kitchen—state of the art—was to the left of the living room. Mamoru whistled appreciatively. His apartment was nowhere close to this big.

"I guess if you want to wear a tuxedo in the middle of the day, that's your choice, I was just wondering. It must be murder on the dry cleaning." Seiya continued to ramble as he worked. Mamoru walked back to the kitchen and leaned against the doorframe.

Seiya had his shirt spread out on a counter. He was bent over it, goggles covering his eyes, dabbing at the stain with a cotton ball held by long metal tweezers.

"I wouldn't know," Mamoru said. "I've never washed it."

Seiya looked up at that comment. "Servants do it for you?" Before Mamoru could correct him, Seiya turned back to his work and continued. "I hear you. Back home, my valet took care of everything. It was quite the shock to everyone when I came out here alone. I've never cooked or cleaned or done anything for myself, but I told them, 'Hey! It's not rocket science!'" Seiya laughed as if that were the funniest thing he had ever heard. When he realized Mamoru was not laughing, he coughed and continued. "I..uh...have a double doctorate in astrophysics and calculous. So, it was funny to me that they thought I couldn't work a dryer."

His tone grew more and more uncomfortable the more he explained. It was as if he was expecting something negative from Mamoru. The thought made Mamoru frown. Why would he think that? Mamoru took a sip of his tea; it was not Japanese tea but it was still good, and then asked with a teasing lilt in his voice, "And can you?" Seiya looked up at him again, this time with a confused look. "Work a dryer?"

Seiya gaped at him for a moment. Mamoru could see that the teasing barb had worked. It had, at least he hoped, let Seiya know that, whoever had put him down in the past, Mamoru was not them. Seiya grinned. "I may have ruined a few dozen loads of laundry."

The two teens laughed at that. It felt good to laugh with someone. Mamoru had so little in his life to laugh about, and even fewer in which to share it. This Seiya, though eccentric, was nice. Mamoru felt strangely comfortable with him. "Please don't ruin my shirt. I need that."

"Important shirt," Seiya hummed. He straightened for a second and raised the tweezers and cotton ball in a salute to him. "I shall endeavor to save it."

Mamoru nodded his head magnanimously. "Appreciated."

The next half an hour passed in much the same manner. Mamoru pulled a chair up to the counter and watched Seiya work. They passed the time talking like old friends who had not seen each other in forever (though neither would know just how true a feeling that was for a long time yet). Seiya talked about life back home in America—growing up in the north eastern United States as the son of a wealthy businessman. "My father was not pleased when I refused to go into business with him," he confessed. "But I wanted to learn and Tokyo University gave me that chance. I teach full time for them; they let me study anything I want free of charge and fund any research I wish. It's a pretty sweet set up. if I must say so."

It helped that Seiya had a practically bottomless trust fund that he had brought with him; though, Seiya assured Mamoru that he was not one of those trust fund babies who spent his money willy nilly. He had vowed to live off of his professor pay.

"Right," Mamoru said, looking back at the very expensive television and entertainment set up with a raised brow.

Seiya had the decency to blush when Mamoru pointed it out. "Ok, so I did use it to furnish my home, but that was it!"

Mamoru shared about losing his parents and living alone most of his life; something he never told anyone. "I'm not always alone," he assured Seiya before the lad could continue with looking at him with that sympathetic look. He wanted to say he had friends, but the thought of said friends—well, said friend knowing what he had been up to as of late made him wonder just how long that friendship would last. He kept it to himself for now.

"I understand," Seiya said. "More than you know."

Mamoru believed him, but he did not pry. Being alone was the worst. No one chose it. It was a painful lifestyle thrust upon those who did not conform. If Seiya wanted to share, he would, and Mamoru would listen and empathize.

"Are you hungry?" Seiya asked suddenly. "I'm hungry.

Thirty minutes later, the shirt finally freed of coffee and, after a quick soak in the sink to get the chemicals out, was hanging to dry; the two teens sat in the living room watching a movie and eating take out.

"You never did tell me why you were wearing that," Seiya said, eyes riveted to the screen.

Mamoru grinned around a mouthful of noodles. "What does it matter? You said it was my choice."

"Yeah, but there must be a good story there if you are smiling like that," Seiya observed.

"There is," Mamoru confessed. A mischievous glint entered his eyes. "And maybe I'll tell you about it one day."

"I have a hunch that you might," Seiya said. He turned his attention back to the screen, watching the brightly clad heroes battle over-dramatically with the badly done CGI villain. "Yes, you just might."

A.N.: Welcome to Never Gone R. This fanfiction is an Alternate Reality retelling of my original Sailor Moon Fanfiction Universe "Never Gone". If you have not already read the Never Gone Series, I recommend you stop reading and head into my profile. Never Gone, in chronological order (but not in order of posting, so you will have to do a bit of searching), consists of "My Immortal", "Incomplete", "Here Without You", and, of course, "Never Gone". You can continue reading "Never Gone R" without reading "Never Gone" first, but there will be a few things that may confuse you. Like...who is Seiya?

To those of you familiar with the Never Gone Universe, welcome back! I am so excited to be writing a fresh and new installment. I have had this idea in my head since long before Never Gone came to light. It was one of my first Sailor-Moon-With-The-Shittenou-Being-Good story ideas. I could never work it past the first few chapters, but, a few nights ago, it came to me, and here we are! I hope you enjoy.

Warning: I am human, ergo I err. If you come across typos or miss-use of proper words, please ignore them. I know they are there, despite how hard I try, so apply grace and keep reading.

As with all things, Reviews are love and Flames stop my process. If you would like for me to continue, Review! If you want me to stop, go away.

All my love!

Jecir