Hi, minna!! Well, I did something I didn't think I was capable of.
I wrote a completely pointless and frivolous romance with no plot or
substance at all. And I think an okay romantic scene. Let me know
what you think, please. I'm not very good at writing stuff like kissing
scenes, and I'd really like to know what ya'll think of this fic. Just a
little ditty though popped into my head really.
Disclaimer: Sailor Moon does not belong to me.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The Mood Ring"
Recorded by Ziska Ames
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mamoru gently held the small ring between his fingertips. He
examined the rather real looking stone, before setting it down on the
white counter. "I don't know why you thought *I* would want this, Motoki.
What am I going to do with a ring?" He said it bitterly with a touch of
sadness. He almost wished he *did* have someone to give the ring too.
"I don't know. I just found it and thought you might like it. It's
a mood ring, you know. Changes colors with your mood." Motoki leaned on
the counter and picked up the small silver ring in his own hand. "It is
rather well made, you know. They usually are fake gold colors that chip
in about five minutes. And the stones always look so... I don't know...
but different from this one."
"What color does it turn when you are unhappy?" Mamoru asked as he
sipped at his rapidly cooling coffee.
"Black, I think. On second thought, you shouldn't wear. Seeing black
all the time might make you more of a social invert than you already are!"
Motoki proclaimed dropping the ring back to the counter with a faint
clatter.
Mamoru simply rolled his eyes in response and hunched over his
coffee. Suddenly, a small hand darted into his line of sight and snatched
up the mood ring.
"Oh, Motoki! What's this? Are you gonna give it to your girlfriend?"
a bubbly voice sang out, invading Mamoru's quite talk with his friend.
"Why, Odango Atama? Hoping he'll give it to you?" Mamoru said with
a saucy grin as he turned to face Usagi.
"I don't believe I asked you," she said with a frown in his general
direction, though she didn't turn to actually look at him. She continued
to face Motoki as her face and voice brightened again. "Well? Are you
going to give it to Reika?"
"I don't know," Motoki said cheerfully. "I've already given her so
many rings she complains she can't wear them all," he joked with a
lopsided grin. Usagi giggled and inspected the ring more closely.
"It really is pretty. And it looks well made. Not like those ones
you buy in a dime machine," she said softly before moving to put it back
on the counter.
"Strange, isn't it, Odango? Both you and Motoki seem to think this
ring is something special. It's just a hunk of stone and metal after all,"
Mamoru commented as he picked up the ring and slipped it in his pocket.
"Think I'll keep it after all, Motoki. You might try to give it to Odango
otherwise and how would she handle it when she found out it wasn't a
declaration of eternal love?"
"Oh, shut up, Mamoru! You're such a jerk!" Usagi yelled at Mamoru's
back as he turned and strolled out of the arcade. Damn that irritating
man. Damn him for being handsome and down right sweet when he wants to
be. Damn that down right perplexing, irritating, wonderful man.
Shaking her head in defeat she slid off the stool she'd been sitting
on and smiled at Motoki. "I gotta go. Mom's having guests over and dinner
is in half an hour. She'll go ballistic if I'm not there on time. See you
later!" She said as she literally bounced out of the arcade.
Usagi hadn't gone far before the glint of sunlight on metal caused
her to stop and look for the elusive bit of jewelry, as she assumed it
was. She sighed as she found only an old silver bubble gum wrapper. She
picked it up and turned to throw it away. She absolutely abhorred
littering. But as she turned, there it was again.
Something on the sidewalk glinted up at her cheerfully. Almost as
if it were asking her to pick it up. This time she saw it was a piece of
jewelry. A ring, in fact. Mamoru's mood ring.
She bent down slowly and picked it up. Quickly she looked around,
but didn't see his dark thatch of hair anywhere in the relatively sparse
crowd.
She looked down at the small silver ring in her hand and smiled
slightly. Sure, he hadn't actually given it to her, as she would have
liked, but she could pretend it was from him. With out a second thought
she slipped it on her finger. It fits so well! she thought, surprised.
Her smile grew even wider as the ring's color almost instantly changed
to a brilliant, dark blue.
"You bet I'm happy!" she proclaimed in response as she threw away
the gum wrapper and skipped off home, the ring winking happily in the
sunlight.
The Next Day
Motoki rolled his eyes as Mamoru looked under the counter for the
third time. "Stop! So you lost the ring, big deal! You didn't even care
in the first place," he said as Mamoru checked under his coffee cup,
again.
"I know. I can't figure out what happened to it though. Hell, I
can't even figure out why I *care* what happened to the darn thing."
Mamoru finally gave up and spun around on his stool to lean back against
the counter.
Motoki raised an eyebrow and removed Mamoru's empty coffee cup. "You
sure you can't think of a single reason you wanted that ring?"
"Only that I didn't want Odango to get it. She'd probably break it
and that would be a waste of a fairly nice piece of jewelry."
"Are you sure there isn't another reason? Maybe you did want someone
to have it? A girl someone?" Motoki leaned on the counter a little and
whispered conspiratorially. Mamoru groaned and glared at Motoki over his
shoulder.
"Dammit, you know I don't like anyone! Why do you keep insisting I
have some girl hidden in my closet?" he growled.
"It's possible. You probably have a lot of things hidden in your
closet," Motoki said as he straightened up.
"Everyone has skeletons in their closet," Mamoru grumbled in
response. He turned back to the counter and began to play with the sugar
packets, attempting to build a house. He was carefully working on the
third floor of his miniature pink mansion when a breath of air caused the
whole thing to collapse completely. "Hey!" he yelled whirling around in
his chair to face Usagi. "Why'd you do that?"
"Because it was so darn funny," she replied impertinently as she
giggled slightly. Mamoru glared at her then at the pile of sugar packets,
then back at her.
"It wasn't very nice, Odango."
"You're never nice to me," she retorted as she sat on the stool next
to his. But I wish you would be, her mind sighed, though her expression
stayed resolutely annoyed.
"That's beside the point, you lazy brat." Stupid, annoying kid,
his mind growled.
"Well, sorry!" Usagi yelled as she stood up. "Excuse me for
breathing in your predefined space, Mamoru-baka!" She whirled away and
slumped into the nearest booth out of earshot so she couldn't hear his
grumbles.
"Bratty little piece of--"
"You did it again, didn't you?" Motoki cut him off before he could
scandalize any mothers that might over hear his poor choice of words that
Motoki was sure were about to flood out of his mouth.
"Did what again? Let her annoy me? Damn that girl, she's such an
annoying little--"
"You could be nice," Motoki interrupted him again.
"Why the hell would I want to do that?" Mamoru asked suspiciously.
Motoki rolled his eyes and brought a hand up to massage his forehead.
"Have you ever looked at her, Mamoru? Really looked?"
"Why?" Mamoru asked, his suspicions growing. He turned slightly and
looked at the door. Motoki was sounding as if he was about to land a
complete lecture on politeness, which was a sure sign that Mamoru did
*not* want to be around any more.
Motoki noticed the little glance and quickly came around the counter
and pressed Mamoru into a chair. "Don't you have any hormones at all?"
he snapped.
"Wha-?" Mamoru asked startled.
"Damn it, look at her, Mamoru."
Shocked, and surprised at this sudden mood swing in his usually calm
and placid friend, Mamoru did as he was told.
"What do you see?" Motoki demanded after a moment.
"An annoying little cry-baby who couldn't get a good grade if her
life depended on it," Mamoru said quickly off the top of his head.
Motoki rolled his eyes. "Look harder."
"Okay, fine," Mamoru said in apparent defeat. "So she's a *clutzy*
annoying little cry-baby who coul--"
"You are impossible," Motoki cut in before he could recite the whole
list again. "Do I have to spell it out for you?!"
"Spell what out?"
"ARGH! Look at her! Can't you see how beautiful she is? Look at her
hair, at her face, at her legs! She's practically a young goddess and
she's head-over-heels in love with you but your such an idiot you can't
see it!" Motoki practically yelled before remembering to lower his voice
to a barely reasonable level.
"She is... not..." but Mamoru trailed off before he finished his
sentence as he finally did look. And, boy, did he look! He looked at her
long, golden hair that fell to her knees. He looked at her gorgeous long
legs shown off by the shorts she wore and the small, white shoes. He
couldn't see her face, but he could imagine the beautiful blue eyes that
would sparkle at him from within the perfect face with the perfect smile
and perfect skin.
Motoki smirked as realization hit Mamoru. But Mamoru shook it off
as quickly as it had come and that undeniable truth left his gaze. "She's
fourteen, Motoki. She's young. And as for the lov-- liking me part, I
don't know where you got that," he couldn't say it. Suddenly that was
what he wanted. He just wanted her to love him. But he couldn't say it.
He could hardly even think it.
"So what? You're eighteen. That's four years and a relatively small
age difference. Heck, Reika is two years older than me!" AN: Just for
the story... need it for the story.
"But--" Mamoru tried to protest before Motoki continued.
"And she does love you. She's told me so a number of times. She
doesn't have a crush on me. I'm the older brother that she comes to and
cries all her worries out to when a certain pig-headed idiot points out
all her faults."
"Well, if you like her so much, why don't you date her?" Mamoru
asked, reverting to the defense. He didn't like the way this conversation
was going.
"Because, in my opinion, Reika's more beautiful and special than any
other girl alive, even Usagi-chan," he said, almost flippantly, as he
left Mamoru sitting there. He quickly retreated to the back room knowing
it would be good to stay away from Mamoru for a few days till he realized
he did not want to kill Motoki.
Killing Motoki, however, was the farthest thing from Mamoru's mind.
He found that the only thing he could focus on was Usagi's hand. She had
her arms crossed, with her head resting on them, and he could quite
clearly see her small, delicate left hand. And what was sitting on her
tiny ring finger but his mood ring.
It fits so well, too... like it was made for her. He didn't notice
when he stood up and he didn't notice when he started to walk. It wasn't
until he was standing right over Usagi that he realized he had crossed
the room to her. She seemed to sense it too and she went instantly ridged.
"What do you want, Mamoru-san?" she asked tiredly, her voice muffled
from her arms. He couldn't speak, though. He was still shocked by seeing
his ring on her finger, and then he realized the ring was black. It even
seemed to be glaring at him.
Black, the color the ring supposedly turns when you are unhappy...
or depressed. He didn't want her to be sad. He'd never really wanted
that. Oh, he thought that was why he picked fights with her, because she
was so happy all the time and it just wasn't fair, but now his heart was
yelling the truth straight into his mind's ear. You just wanted to talk
to her.
It was true. He just wanted to talk to her. And, damn fate, he didn't
know how without being an insufferable jerk. So that's what he had done
and now Usagi was sad. The ring proved it.
But that was stupid. It was just a ring, it couldn't say if she was
really happy or sad.
"Well?" She said as she suddenly lifted her face to glare into his
eyes. "What do you want?"
He still couldn't speak. Shock was just beginning to leave him after
his revelation that Usagi was a beautiful young woman. And a woman quite
within his reach to have if he tried. And he would probably have to try
hard... unless... unless what Motoki had said was true...
"Oh, forget it!" she said forcefully as she slid past him and rushed
out the doors. It was all Mamoru could do to stop himself from breaking
down into hysterical, stressed sobs. This day had taken a horrible turn
for the worse in the last five minutes and his brain was still trying to
catch up and now, on top of everything, he had to go find that darn
Odango Atama. 'Cause he had to talk to her, he had to tell her how he
felt... now...
Where is that insufferable little brat?! His mind yelled
affectionately as he walked out of the park. He'd looked everywhere he
could think of to find Usagi. The area around the arcade, the mall, her
school, the park, he'd even gone to her house after getting the address
from Motoki, who seemed very happy that Mamoru was not intent on cutting
him up into little pieces and hiding him in the walls.
Although, right now he was very tempted to do just that to a certain
blonde girl when he found her. She surely didn't know she was driving him
up the wall, but he didn't care.
"When I find her I'm gonna--now how in Hades did she get up there?!"
he interrupted himself as he finally spotted his evasive prey perched
high on the walls of the Cherry Hill Temple.
She was sitting with her back to him, looking over the temple
grounds. The sun glinted off the ring on her finger and he almost lost
his train of thought. He couldn't see the color from here, and he hardly
dared to hope that it had changed from when he had seen it last.
He climbed the steps slowly till he was standing a little ways from
her perch, just far enough back that he didn't have to crane his neck to
see her.
She glared down at him without speaking and looked away, pointedly
ignoring him.
"How did you get up there?" he asked after a moment.
"I flew," she shot back bitterly without bothering to look at him.
"Odango..." he said warningly.
"What?! Why did you follow me, Mamoru? I just want to be alone."
There was a harshness, a sadness in her voice that made the breath catch
in his throat. Oh, Usagi...
She lifted her hand to push back an errant bang that had blown in
her face and Mamoru glimpsed the ring. Still black as the night without
stars, he thought, poetically, but quite at the wrong time.
Usagi's eyes widened and she quickly looked down at her hand. "You
want this back, don't you?" she said softly. "I found it on the sidewalk
and picked it up and I was afraid I'd lose it, so I wore it. I figured
you'd probably want it back and if I lost it after finding it you'd just
yell at me. Not that I expected a thank you, you're always yelling at me.
I guess I just have that effect on you. I don--"
"Usagi, can I come up there?" he asked softly, cutting off her
sudden flow of nervous babble. She nodded after a moment and he
contemplated the height of the wall. "Umm... how did you get up there?"
"There's a ladder over there..." she said softly pointing to a tree,
where indeed, there was a ladder propped up. Mamoru flushed for a moment
as he noticed it was in plain view and most simpletons could have seen
it. To hide his sudden embarrassment, he quickly headed up and slowly
walked over till he was standing next to Usagi.
She wasn't looking at him; instead she was staring off into the
distance again. He sat down slowly and just looked at her. He studied her
profile and wondered for the hundredth time that day why it took him so
long to figure out what a beauty she really was. His gaze drifted down
to her hand and yet again the black ring seemed to be glaring at him.
"I'm sorry," he said after a moment, his gaze locked on that tiny object
on her hand.
"What?" she said startled. He's... what? The shock in her voice
pulled him out of the near trance and he looked up into her eyes, before
she quickly turned away.
"I'm sorry. I've been a total jerk to you and you don't deserve it."
Wait... I'm confused, her mind protested as she simply sat in
shock. Don't question it. Just accept it, a wise part of her conscious
counseled her. She nodded slowly and doodled small patterns on the wall
with her fingers. "I'm sorry too. I really was a brat."
"You had every right to get mad at me, Usagi."
She smiled slightly when he used her real name and then her eyes lit
upon the ring. Oh, Mamo-chan. Why can't you be sweet like this all the
time? And now I have to give back the ring... the one thing I have of you
and it isn't mine... She looked at it for a moment, debating, then
slowly drew it off her finger.
"You probably have someone you were going to give this to... here,"
she said pushing it into his hand. He didn't resist for a moment, simply
catching it before he dropped it, as she stood up and slipped past him
to the ladder. She was already on the ground when his mind caught what
had just happened.
"Usagi! Wait!" He cried as he leaped to the ground, not bothering
with the ladder. The impact made him grunt a little but he shrugged it
off and quickly hurried over to Usagi who was standing stock still at the
top of the temple stairs, frozen from his cry.
"Yes?" she said softly, refusing to met his eyes. She stared at her
hands as they fiddled nervously in front of her.
"You're right. There is someone I wanted to have this."
Her heart shattered. Right then and there. She felt his words hit
like a wreaking ball and pieces flew everywhere. I won't cry. Not here.
Not now. Not in front of him, she told herself firmly as she felt the
inevitable tears welling up in her eyes.
"But I didn't know it till today," he continued. She gasped lightly
as he suddenly took her hand and slipped the ring back onto her ring
finger. She looked up in shock and blushed at what she saw.
Mamoru was smiling down at her with adoration plain in her eyes and
something Usagi was afraid to hope for, but wanted desperately. She felt
her heart reassemble itself just a little, barely beginning to put itself
back together as he went on.
"I didn't figure it out till this afternoon actually. And Motoki had
to practically shove it down my throat before my brain finally
acknowledged what my heart was telling it." He stopped and Usagi was
tempted to hit him if he didn't keep talking.
After a while she croaked out "and?" from a dry throat.
"And it has been yelling at me for the past four months that the
girl I love to fight with is actually just the girl I love. The girl with
the long blonde hair and the wonderful blue eyes is the girl I want to
hold in my arms till doomsday and beyond."
She blushed and looked at his hand, which was still holding hers.
Usagi wasn't capable of speech anymore. That was all there was to that.
She felt her heart suddenly become completely whole again. He'd just told
her what she'd wanted to hear for months and she couldn't even move to
hug him. He seemed to sense this, and moved for her.
Suddenly she was wrapped in his strong arms with her head resting
on his shoulder. "I love you, Usako," he whispered in her ear.
Finally Usagi was able to move again and the first thing she did
with her freedom was to angle her head so she could look straight into
his dark blue eyes. "Really? You truly care for me, Mamoru?"
"I love you with all of my heart, Usako. I'm sorry it took so long
for me to figure it out," he whispered softly. A true apology that caused
her to giggle slightly and blush.
"I forgive you, Mamo-chan. And I love you, too. I have forev-" that
was all she got out before he kissed her. It was all she could do in the
next couple minutes to stop herself from melting into a puddle on the
ground.
As they pulled away slowly Mamoru opened his eyes to see her small
hand resting on his shoulder. And the ring on her finger was a bright,
brilliant, wonderful blue.
He no longer doubted that this was no ordinary ring. It seemed to
agree as it quikly disappeared from her finger in a sudden flash of light.
Mamoru's last thought of the moment before he kissed Usagi again was how
much he hoped the ring would be as helpful to the next couple as it had
been for himself and his Odango Atama.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ja,
Zi-chan
I wrote a completely pointless and frivolous romance with no plot or
substance at all. And I think an okay romantic scene. Let me know
what you think, please. I'm not very good at writing stuff like kissing
scenes, and I'd really like to know what ya'll think of this fic. Just a
little ditty though popped into my head really.
Disclaimer: Sailor Moon does not belong to me.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The Mood Ring"
Recorded by Ziska Ames
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mamoru gently held the small ring between his fingertips. He
examined the rather real looking stone, before setting it down on the
white counter. "I don't know why you thought *I* would want this, Motoki.
What am I going to do with a ring?" He said it bitterly with a touch of
sadness. He almost wished he *did* have someone to give the ring too.
"I don't know. I just found it and thought you might like it. It's
a mood ring, you know. Changes colors with your mood." Motoki leaned on
the counter and picked up the small silver ring in his own hand. "It is
rather well made, you know. They usually are fake gold colors that chip
in about five minutes. And the stones always look so... I don't know...
but different from this one."
"What color does it turn when you are unhappy?" Mamoru asked as he
sipped at his rapidly cooling coffee.
"Black, I think. On second thought, you shouldn't wear. Seeing black
all the time might make you more of a social invert than you already are!"
Motoki proclaimed dropping the ring back to the counter with a faint
clatter.
Mamoru simply rolled his eyes in response and hunched over his
coffee. Suddenly, a small hand darted into his line of sight and snatched
up the mood ring.
"Oh, Motoki! What's this? Are you gonna give it to your girlfriend?"
a bubbly voice sang out, invading Mamoru's quite talk with his friend.
"Why, Odango Atama? Hoping he'll give it to you?" Mamoru said with
a saucy grin as he turned to face Usagi.
"I don't believe I asked you," she said with a frown in his general
direction, though she didn't turn to actually look at him. She continued
to face Motoki as her face and voice brightened again. "Well? Are you
going to give it to Reika?"
"I don't know," Motoki said cheerfully. "I've already given her so
many rings she complains she can't wear them all," he joked with a
lopsided grin. Usagi giggled and inspected the ring more closely.
"It really is pretty. And it looks well made. Not like those ones
you buy in a dime machine," she said softly before moving to put it back
on the counter.
"Strange, isn't it, Odango? Both you and Motoki seem to think this
ring is something special. It's just a hunk of stone and metal after all,"
Mamoru commented as he picked up the ring and slipped it in his pocket.
"Think I'll keep it after all, Motoki. You might try to give it to Odango
otherwise and how would she handle it when she found out it wasn't a
declaration of eternal love?"
"Oh, shut up, Mamoru! You're such a jerk!" Usagi yelled at Mamoru's
back as he turned and strolled out of the arcade. Damn that irritating
man. Damn him for being handsome and down right sweet when he wants to
be. Damn that down right perplexing, irritating, wonderful man.
Shaking her head in defeat she slid off the stool she'd been sitting
on and smiled at Motoki. "I gotta go. Mom's having guests over and dinner
is in half an hour. She'll go ballistic if I'm not there on time. See you
later!" She said as she literally bounced out of the arcade.
Usagi hadn't gone far before the glint of sunlight on metal caused
her to stop and look for the elusive bit of jewelry, as she assumed it
was. She sighed as she found only an old silver bubble gum wrapper. She
picked it up and turned to throw it away. She absolutely abhorred
littering. But as she turned, there it was again.
Something on the sidewalk glinted up at her cheerfully. Almost as
if it were asking her to pick it up. This time she saw it was a piece of
jewelry. A ring, in fact. Mamoru's mood ring.
She bent down slowly and picked it up. Quickly she looked around,
but didn't see his dark thatch of hair anywhere in the relatively sparse
crowd.
She looked down at the small silver ring in her hand and smiled
slightly. Sure, he hadn't actually given it to her, as she would have
liked, but she could pretend it was from him. With out a second thought
she slipped it on her finger. It fits so well! she thought, surprised.
Her smile grew even wider as the ring's color almost instantly changed
to a brilliant, dark blue.
"You bet I'm happy!" she proclaimed in response as she threw away
the gum wrapper and skipped off home, the ring winking happily in the
sunlight.
The Next Day
Motoki rolled his eyes as Mamoru looked under the counter for the
third time. "Stop! So you lost the ring, big deal! You didn't even care
in the first place," he said as Mamoru checked under his coffee cup,
again.
"I know. I can't figure out what happened to it though. Hell, I
can't even figure out why I *care* what happened to the darn thing."
Mamoru finally gave up and spun around on his stool to lean back against
the counter.
Motoki raised an eyebrow and removed Mamoru's empty coffee cup. "You
sure you can't think of a single reason you wanted that ring?"
"Only that I didn't want Odango to get it. She'd probably break it
and that would be a waste of a fairly nice piece of jewelry."
"Are you sure there isn't another reason? Maybe you did want someone
to have it? A girl someone?" Motoki leaned on the counter a little and
whispered conspiratorially. Mamoru groaned and glared at Motoki over his
shoulder.
"Dammit, you know I don't like anyone! Why do you keep insisting I
have some girl hidden in my closet?" he growled.
"It's possible. You probably have a lot of things hidden in your
closet," Motoki said as he straightened up.
"Everyone has skeletons in their closet," Mamoru grumbled in
response. He turned back to the counter and began to play with the sugar
packets, attempting to build a house. He was carefully working on the
third floor of his miniature pink mansion when a breath of air caused the
whole thing to collapse completely. "Hey!" he yelled whirling around in
his chair to face Usagi. "Why'd you do that?"
"Because it was so darn funny," she replied impertinently as she
giggled slightly. Mamoru glared at her then at the pile of sugar packets,
then back at her.
"It wasn't very nice, Odango."
"You're never nice to me," she retorted as she sat on the stool next
to his. But I wish you would be, her mind sighed, though her expression
stayed resolutely annoyed.
"That's beside the point, you lazy brat." Stupid, annoying kid,
his mind growled.
"Well, sorry!" Usagi yelled as she stood up. "Excuse me for
breathing in your predefined space, Mamoru-baka!" She whirled away and
slumped into the nearest booth out of earshot so she couldn't hear his
grumbles.
"Bratty little piece of--"
"You did it again, didn't you?" Motoki cut him off before he could
scandalize any mothers that might over hear his poor choice of words that
Motoki was sure were about to flood out of his mouth.
"Did what again? Let her annoy me? Damn that girl, she's such an
annoying little--"
"You could be nice," Motoki interrupted him again.
"Why the hell would I want to do that?" Mamoru asked suspiciously.
Motoki rolled his eyes and brought a hand up to massage his forehead.
"Have you ever looked at her, Mamoru? Really looked?"
"Why?" Mamoru asked, his suspicions growing. He turned slightly and
looked at the door. Motoki was sounding as if he was about to land a
complete lecture on politeness, which was a sure sign that Mamoru did
*not* want to be around any more.
Motoki noticed the little glance and quickly came around the counter
and pressed Mamoru into a chair. "Don't you have any hormones at all?"
he snapped.
"Wha-?" Mamoru asked startled.
"Damn it, look at her, Mamoru."
Shocked, and surprised at this sudden mood swing in his usually calm
and placid friend, Mamoru did as he was told.
"What do you see?" Motoki demanded after a moment.
"An annoying little cry-baby who couldn't get a good grade if her
life depended on it," Mamoru said quickly off the top of his head.
Motoki rolled his eyes. "Look harder."
"Okay, fine," Mamoru said in apparent defeat. "So she's a *clutzy*
annoying little cry-baby who coul--"
"You are impossible," Motoki cut in before he could recite the whole
list again. "Do I have to spell it out for you?!"
"Spell what out?"
"ARGH! Look at her! Can't you see how beautiful she is? Look at her
hair, at her face, at her legs! She's practically a young goddess and
she's head-over-heels in love with you but your such an idiot you can't
see it!" Motoki practically yelled before remembering to lower his voice
to a barely reasonable level.
"She is... not..." but Mamoru trailed off before he finished his
sentence as he finally did look. And, boy, did he look! He looked at her
long, golden hair that fell to her knees. He looked at her gorgeous long
legs shown off by the shorts she wore and the small, white shoes. He
couldn't see her face, but he could imagine the beautiful blue eyes that
would sparkle at him from within the perfect face with the perfect smile
and perfect skin.
Motoki smirked as realization hit Mamoru. But Mamoru shook it off
as quickly as it had come and that undeniable truth left his gaze. "She's
fourteen, Motoki. She's young. And as for the lov-- liking me part, I
don't know where you got that," he couldn't say it. Suddenly that was
what he wanted. He just wanted her to love him. But he couldn't say it.
He could hardly even think it.
"So what? You're eighteen. That's four years and a relatively small
age difference. Heck, Reika is two years older than me!" AN: Just for
the story... need it for the story.
"But--" Mamoru tried to protest before Motoki continued.
"And she does love you. She's told me so a number of times. She
doesn't have a crush on me. I'm the older brother that she comes to and
cries all her worries out to when a certain pig-headed idiot points out
all her faults."
"Well, if you like her so much, why don't you date her?" Mamoru
asked, reverting to the defense. He didn't like the way this conversation
was going.
"Because, in my opinion, Reika's more beautiful and special than any
other girl alive, even Usagi-chan," he said, almost flippantly, as he
left Mamoru sitting there. He quickly retreated to the back room knowing
it would be good to stay away from Mamoru for a few days till he realized
he did not want to kill Motoki.
Killing Motoki, however, was the farthest thing from Mamoru's mind.
He found that the only thing he could focus on was Usagi's hand. She had
her arms crossed, with her head resting on them, and he could quite
clearly see her small, delicate left hand. And what was sitting on her
tiny ring finger but his mood ring.
It fits so well, too... like it was made for her. He didn't notice
when he stood up and he didn't notice when he started to walk. It wasn't
until he was standing right over Usagi that he realized he had crossed
the room to her. She seemed to sense it too and she went instantly ridged.
"What do you want, Mamoru-san?" she asked tiredly, her voice muffled
from her arms. He couldn't speak, though. He was still shocked by seeing
his ring on her finger, and then he realized the ring was black. It even
seemed to be glaring at him.
Black, the color the ring supposedly turns when you are unhappy...
or depressed. He didn't want her to be sad. He'd never really wanted
that. Oh, he thought that was why he picked fights with her, because she
was so happy all the time and it just wasn't fair, but now his heart was
yelling the truth straight into his mind's ear. You just wanted to talk
to her.
It was true. He just wanted to talk to her. And, damn fate, he didn't
know how without being an insufferable jerk. So that's what he had done
and now Usagi was sad. The ring proved it.
But that was stupid. It was just a ring, it couldn't say if she was
really happy or sad.
"Well?" She said as she suddenly lifted her face to glare into his
eyes. "What do you want?"
He still couldn't speak. Shock was just beginning to leave him after
his revelation that Usagi was a beautiful young woman. And a woman quite
within his reach to have if he tried. And he would probably have to try
hard... unless... unless what Motoki had said was true...
"Oh, forget it!" she said forcefully as she slid past him and rushed
out the doors. It was all Mamoru could do to stop himself from breaking
down into hysterical, stressed sobs. This day had taken a horrible turn
for the worse in the last five minutes and his brain was still trying to
catch up and now, on top of everything, he had to go find that darn
Odango Atama. 'Cause he had to talk to her, he had to tell her how he
felt... now...
Where is that insufferable little brat?! His mind yelled
affectionately as he walked out of the park. He'd looked everywhere he
could think of to find Usagi. The area around the arcade, the mall, her
school, the park, he'd even gone to her house after getting the address
from Motoki, who seemed very happy that Mamoru was not intent on cutting
him up into little pieces and hiding him in the walls.
Although, right now he was very tempted to do just that to a certain
blonde girl when he found her. She surely didn't know she was driving him
up the wall, but he didn't care.
"When I find her I'm gonna--now how in Hades did she get up there?!"
he interrupted himself as he finally spotted his evasive prey perched
high on the walls of the Cherry Hill Temple.
She was sitting with her back to him, looking over the temple
grounds. The sun glinted off the ring on her finger and he almost lost
his train of thought. He couldn't see the color from here, and he hardly
dared to hope that it had changed from when he had seen it last.
He climbed the steps slowly till he was standing a little ways from
her perch, just far enough back that he didn't have to crane his neck to
see her.
She glared down at him without speaking and looked away, pointedly
ignoring him.
"How did you get up there?" he asked after a moment.
"I flew," she shot back bitterly without bothering to look at him.
"Odango..." he said warningly.
"What?! Why did you follow me, Mamoru? I just want to be alone."
There was a harshness, a sadness in her voice that made the breath catch
in his throat. Oh, Usagi...
She lifted her hand to push back an errant bang that had blown in
her face and Mamoru glimpsed the ring. Still black as the night without
stars, he thought, poetically, but quite at the wrong time.
Usagi's eyes widened and she quickly looked down at her hand. "You
want this back, don't you?" she said softly. "I found it on the sidewalk
and picked it up and I was afraid I'd lose it, so I wore it. I figured
you'd probably want it back and if I lost it after finding it you'd just
yell at me. Not that I expected a thank you, you're always yelling at me.
I guess I just have that effect on you. I don--"
"Usagi, can I come up there?" he asked softly, cutting off her
sudden flow of nervous babble. She nodded after a moment and he
contemplated the height of the wall. "Umm... how did you get up there?"
"There's a ladder over there..." she said softly pointing to a tree,
where indeed, there was a ladder propped up. Mamoru flushed for a moment
as he noticed it was in plain view and most simpletons could have seen
it. To hide his sudden embarrassment, he quickly headed up and slowly
walked over till he was standing next to Usagi.
She wasn't looking at him; instead she was staring off into the
distance again. He sat down slowly and just looked at her. He studied her
profile and wondered for the hundredth time that day why it took him so
long to figure out what a beauty she really was. His gaze drifted down
to her hand and yet again the black ring seemed to be glaring at him.
"I'm sorry," he said after a moment, his gaze locked on that tiny object
on her hand.
"What?" she said startled. He's... what? The shock in her voice
pulled him out of the near trance and he looked up into her eyes, before
she quickly turned away.
"I'm sorry. I've been a total jerk to you and you don't deserve it."
Wait... I'm confused, her mind protested as she simply sat in
shock. Don't question it. Just accept it, a wise part of her conscious
counseled her. She nodded slowly and doodled small patterns on the wall
with her fingers. "I'm sorry too. I really was a brat."
"You had every right to get mad at me, Usagi."
She smiled slightly when he used her real name and then her eyes lit
upon the ring. Oh, Mamo-chan. Why can't you be sweet like this all the
time? And now I have to give back the ring... the one thing I have of you
and it isn't mine... She looked at it for a moment, debating, then
slowly drew it off her finger.
"You probably have someone you were going to give this to... here,"
she said pushing it into his hand. He didn't resist for a moment, simply
catching it before he dropped it, as she stood up and slipped past him
to the ladder. She was already on the ground when his mind caught what
had just happened.
"Usagi! Wait!" He cried as he leaped to the ground, not bothering
with the ladder. The impact made him grunt a little but he shrugged it
off and quickly hurried over to Usagi who was standing stock still at the
top of the temple stairs, frozen from his cry.
"Yes?" she said softly, refusing to met his eyes. She stared at her
hands as they fiddled nervously in front of her.
"You're right. There is someone I wanted to have this."
Her heart shattered. Right then and there. She felt his words hit
like a wreaking ball and pieces flew everywhere. I won't cry. Not here.
Not now. Not in front of him, she told herself firmly as she felt the
inevitable tears welling up in her eyes.
"But I didn't know it till today," he continued. She gasped lightly
as he suddenly took her hand and slipped the ring back onto her ring
finger. She looked up in shock and blushed at what she saw.
Mamoru was smiling down at her with adoration plain in her eyes and
something Usagi was afraid to hope for, but wanted desperately. She felt
her heart reassemble itself just a little, barely beginning to put itself
back together as he went on.
"I didn't figure it out till this afternoon actually. And Motoki had
to practically shove it down my throat before my brain finally
acknowledged what my heart was telling it." He stopped and Usagi was
tempted to hit him if he didn't keep talking.
After a while she croaked out "and?" from a dry throat.
"And it has been yelling at me for the past four months that the
girl I love to fight with is actually just the girl I love. The girl with
the long blonde hair and the wonderful blue eyes is the girl I want to
hold in my arms till doomsday and beyond."
She blushed and looked at his hand, which was still holding hers.
Usagi wasn't capable of speech anymore. That was all there was to that.
She felt her heart suddenly become completely whole again. He'd just told
her what she'd wanted to hear for months and she couldn't even move to
hug him. He seemed to sense this, and moved for her.
Suddenly she was wrapped in his strong arms with her head resting
on his shoulder. "I love you, Usako," he whispered in her ear.
Finally Usagi was able to move again and the first thing she did
with her freedom was to angle her head so she could look straight into
his dark blue eyes. "Really? You truly care for me, Mamoru?"
"I love you with all of my heart, Usako. I'm sorry it took so long
for me to figure it out," he whispered softly. A true apology that caused
her to giggle slightly and blush.
"I forgive you, Mamo-chan. And I love you, too. I have forev-" that
was all she got out before he kissed her. It was all she could do in the
next couple minutes to stop herself from melting into a puddle on the
ground.
As they pulled away slowly Mamoru opened his eyes to see her small
hand resting on his shoulder. And the ring on her finger was a bright,
brilliant, wonderful blue.
He no longer doubted that this was no ordinary ring. It seemed to
agree as it quikly disappeared from her finger in a sudden flash of light.
Mamoru's last thought of the moment before he kissed Usagi again was how
much he hoped the ring would be as helpful to the next couple as it had
been for himself and his Odango Atama.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ja,
Zi-chan