*Standard Disclaimer: No Sailor Moon characters belong to me and blah blah
blah.
Rabbit Test: Chapter One By Strawberry Wine
"Oh, my head!" Usagi complained as she woke up groggily. "Too many drinks."
Her brain was pounding and her body was numb. She groaned and rolled on to her side as she felt an arm lying beside her. Usagi relaxed a little and let out a sigh after realizing it was her own. Her sight cleared and the sense of touch slowly returned until she noticed something rather peculiar. There were three arms at her side instead of two. Two of them she knew as hers, but the other was much heavier, warmer, and encircled about her bare waist.
Then she realized, * I'm.not.wearing.any.clothes! *
Shaking with nervousness and fear, she tried to pry off the incredibly strong arm, yet didn't get very far before the person stirred with life. She felt them pull her closer to her and place a head at the back of her neck. A leg wriggled between hers.
'Yep, definitely a guy.' she thought.
He pulled her closer to his warmth, then murmured, "What a headache."
He moved his arm that held onto Usagi and stiffened, then patted her stomach as if making sure it was really there when it growled at him in reply. Usagi groaned.
Immediately letting go, almost flipping Usagi onto the ground, the male sat up and demanded, "WHO ARE YOU?! AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY BED?!"
Usagi scooted to the opposite side and covered herself in the blankets; both hands clutched near her chin. Turning to face the stranger, she got a surprise to last a lifetime:
"Mo. Motoki?" she stared at him.
"Usagi?" he stared back. Their gaze never left each other as their eyes widened in silence and terror before Motoki asked, "What happened here?"
"I don't know. Did you.?" she pointed to him, then to herself. "Did we.?
Motoki shook his head. "No! We couldn't. Ah, why can't I think? My head is killing me."
"Mine, too." Then Usagi pondered as an afterthought to herself, "What will Mamo-chan say?"
"Who said we were telling HIM? You can if you want, but I'd prefer to live. I've kind of developed a liking for life." He clutched the sides of his head in pain as his body shifted into a more comfortable position.
Usagi was irritated, "You've gotta tell him. You're his best friend."
"Who slept with his girlfriend."
"We don't really know if we slept together or not," she replied in a weak voice of denial.
He looked up at her, "It's pretty obvious, don't you think? How about we don't say anything about this? He'll never know."
She lowered her eyes, water forming at their base as the thought of lying to Mamoru came to her.
Motoki sighed; he hated seeing her cry. "Fine, tell him. But I'm warning you what would happen if you do. He'll-"
"I know what would happen," she interrupted him suddenly. "I won't say anything."
Motoki sighed again. "Let's get dressed. Then we can-"
A growl rose from Usagi's stomach. "Then can we have breakfast?" she looked hopeful at him with large puppy dog eyes.
He laughed, grateful she was back to her usual naive self. "Sure." He scanned the room in search of their clothes, finding them on the other side. "You can go first. The bathroom's the first door to your right."
She nodded and turned her bare back to him, standing and enveloping herself in a bed sheet, and went to retrieve her clothes, not noticing the longing gaze she received from Motoki as she pulled the sheet closer around her in a meager attempt to get a little warmth. In the restroom, she quickly changed and was searching his cabinets when she found a woman's perfume. Deciding it was better than nothing, she sprayed some on and checked her reflection in the mirror. The light pink spaghetti strapped dress she wore went down to her knees and curved vividly at her waist and chest. She sagged her shoulders at the lack of skin it covered. 'At least it's better than the sheet,' she thought.
Motoki was waiting for her in his living room, now dressed in sweatpants and shirt. He offered her a cup of coffee when she entered, also taking from her the flimsy blanket. Usagi sat in a chair on the opposite side of the room from her boyfriend's friend. She looked down at the steaming coffee, then out the window, and then down at her feet, anywhere but at Motoki. Motoki was just grateful there was a table between them. Usagi took a sip of her black liquid at the tense silence that surrounded them before immediately spitting it back out.
"What is this? It's horrible!"
He smiled. "I think the toast might be done. I'll go check."
She stared at the cup of poison below her, "Please do."
~~~~~
Two hours later found Minako on the sidewalk, a block away from Motoki's house. She turned a corner to see Usagi step out of his building and head in the opposite direction.
"That's weird," Minako commented. "Usagi!!" she yelled.
The blonde turned around and muttered something before smiling and waving. Minako hurried to catch up to her.
"Hey, what are you doing here? You usually aren't ever up this early."
"Well," Usagi hand went to the back of her head. "There's a first time for everything."
Minako glanced at Motoki's apartment door. "Yeah, I guess so. Hey, I've been meaning to ask you if you want to go to the movies with Mako-chan and me sometime soon."
"Umm." she thought of what might happen if Minako ever got word of what just happened inside Motoki's room. "Maybe some other time. I've got something I really have to go do at the moment." She started to move slowly backwards. "So, I'll see you later, okay?" She turned around and walked quickly down the sidewalk. In her mind, she responded, 'I'm so sorry, Minako.'
Minako tilted her head. "That was odd." She then bounded up the stairs to Motoki's apartment and pulled out an extra key he had given her, walking up a flight of stairs to his floor before entering her boyfriend's home.
~~~~~
Usagi sat on a bench on the sidewalk, eyes closed and legs outstretched, exhausted from the amount of walking she had done already. Just the thought that she wasn't even halfway home yet, set a wave of fatigue through her. She gripped her forehead, wondering why she decided on drinking so much last night. "Damn parties. I'm never going to another one again."
A deep voice interrupted her train of hateful thoughts. "And why is that?"
She opened her eyes to the sound of the familiar voice. "Mamo-chan?" A red convertible corvette sat next to her on the street with her dark haired boyfriend sticking out of it. "What are you doing on this side of town?"
"I could ask you the same question. I had to give Rei something she left in my car last night when I drove her home. By the way, I'm sorry I left early and had to leave you with Motoki. You had fun though, right?"
"I guess so." She had finally converted enough energy to her legs to convince them to walk over and lean on the car door.
"Good. I was afraid you wouldn't, being too drunk to even walk straight. Why are you still wearing that dress?"
"Umm. I haven't had time to change yet. All my clothes are in the wash at home. By the way, how do you work the washing machine?"
He laughed, "Your parents left town yesterday, I take it?" She nodded. "Hop in. I'll give you a ride home." He leaned over and opened the door for her, watching as she sulked down in the seat after entering. Mamoru pulled back onto the road. "Why didn't you go with them?"
"Some one had to feed the cat. Besides, it's good to get the house to yourself. No parents, no brothers."
"Ah, I see."
"Yep. But Luna picks on and bugs me enough to fill their places and more," she pouted.
He chuckled. "So, did Motoki take care of you after I left?"
"Something like that."
~~~~~
A week later was when Usagi and Motoki first saw each other again. She was coming out of a store with a bag dangling from each hand at her side when she accidentally bumped into him on the sidewalk. Her bags and the articles in them spewed across the ground. She immediately bent down to pick them up, as so did he, and when she looked up to thank the person and to excuse her clumsiness, she found herself staring into a pair of blue eyes. After a moment they both looked away, mumbling their "sorry" 's and walking in opposite directions.
~~~~~
Usagi swung her school bag across the room and plopped down onto her bed. Luna strolled into Usagi's room to see her sprawled out across her comforter with her head hanging off the bottom of the furniture and her feet on her pillows. Luna peeked over the top of Usagi's head to look her in the eyes not more than three inches away.
"Usagi?"
No answer. Not even a blink.
"Usagi?"
Still no answer.
"USAGI!!!" she yelled, licking her nose in the process.
"AH!" Usagi perked to life again, instantly sitting up on her feet. Then, rubbing the wet spot on her nose, "Luna! What was that for?"
"You were lying there in a dead heap. I was wondering if you had finally left me, yet," the cat replied in a matter of factly voice.
She gave the animal a glare. "No, Luna."
"Well, I know that now."
Extremely annoyed with her, Usagi laid back down on her bed with her head on a pillow and arms folded across her chest. "What do you want?" She rested her feet on either side of the bed, legs crossed.
The cat jumped on to the bed. "Nothing really. What are you thinking so hard about? I haven't seen you this deep in thought since your last dream about chocolate ice cream."
"Well, it did have mint swirls in it. I'm just thinking about things, Luna."
"Like what?"
"Nothing."
"It is too something or else you wouldn't be hurting your brain like you are now."
"I'm thinking about what to get Rei-chan for her birthday."
Luna jumped down, off the bed. "Fine. Don't tell me. But if you get in trouble, don't come crying to me."
Usagi mumbled "Whatever" as she watched the dark blob drift out of the room before going back to her previous thoughts. Shaking her head, she thought, 'Maybe I'll just go to sleep for a little while.' A pair of blue eyes suddenly flashed across her own. She blinked several times before shaking her head at the unexpected idea. 'You're not supposed to be thinking of this, idiot,' she scolded herself mentally. She forced to think of another pair of darker eyes, but found her thoughts constantly wavering and wanting to go back to the day when she awoke in Motoki's bed.
Memory Begins
Motoki smiled at her, "I think the toast might be done. I'll go check."
"Yes. Please do," she stared down at the black cup of coffee in her hands before getting up to join him in the kitchen. She found him cracking two eggs over a hot pan on the stove. Her eyes perked up at the sight and smell of the cooking food. "Ooh! Eggs!"
He turned around, surprised she had followed him. "Do you want to help? It'll be done faster."
"Sure." She took the spatula from him as he went to put the toast on a plate. She stared at the spatula as it was held immobile in her hands. "Umm. Motoki?"
"Hmm?"
She grinned, "How do you cook eggs?"
He laughed at her. "Here, I'll show you."
She gave the utensil a funny look before backing up so he could take it from her, only to find that she had bumped into what felt like a brick wall. Her neck turned upward to see him standing directly behind her. His arm wrapped around hers to grab hold of her hands while her eyes bored into his. She blushed and focused back on the frying eggs.
"Watch," he whispered in her ear.
He maneuvered their hands so the spatula went under the eggs and flipped them over. Her eyes widened, "Oh. I see. That was easier than I thought."
"Now you try."
She did the same motion as he, only she accidentally flipped one halfway out of the pan. He tried not to laugh at her. She growled and tried again, this time successful. She turned to smile up at him.
"See? I can do it."
"Yeah, but you're getting the broken one."
She closed her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him, almost immediately feeling something against it. Her eyes flew open. She made a little gasp as another mouth covered her own and a tongue brushed up against hers playfully. Usagi found herself instinctively pressing into the kiss as her vision blurred and then grew dark. A pair of arms wrapped around her waist and hers drifted to his neck. A clock chimed the hour in the background, bringing them both back to reality. They disentangled themselves from each other slowly. A blush crept up Usagi's cheeks as she backed away, looking down from his smiling face.
Memory ends
Usagi opened her eyes and let out a long and deep sigh. 'Why did you have to do that, Motoki? And so well, too?' She rolled onto her side and brought her knees up by her chin. 'Maybe if I go to sleep, I'll eventually forget it ever happened.' Her sight blackened as unconsciousness surrounded her.
~~~~~
Meanwhile, Rei was leaning over the counter at the arcade Motoki worked at. She had been waiting for Minako and Makoto, and in the process was talking to Minako's boyfriend. She had noticed how Usagi would suddenly vanish whenever they roamed near the arcade and how Motoki changed the subject whenever her name came up in conversation. Intrigued this discovery, she decided to dig deeper.
"Have you seen Usagi lately, Motoki?" she asked as he picked up stray dishes left by other customers, grateful at not having to look at her in the course of doing so.
"Besides the party last week, no. I wonder where Minako is. She's usually here by now."
"Yeah. Well, how did the rest of the party go after I left?"
"Fine." He placed the dishes in a sink on the other side of the bar. "Odd that Makoto's not here, either, don't you think?"
Rei mumbled, "Sure is. ANY WAY, What did you and Usagi do the whole night? I know Minako and Makoto went home soon after I did. Did Ami ever show up?"
"Ami? No. Why isn't Ami here?"
"She's studying."
"That's right." He continued to not look at her.
She was getting irritated and tried one last time to get him to talk about Usagi. "Are you alright Motoki? You seem tense. Does this have to do with you and Usagi being left alone at that party last weekend?" she said with aggravating calmness.
He stopped, "No. Why do you say that?"
She straightened up. 'Bingo!' "What's going on between you two? What could possibly be so bad that you two are avoiding each other because of it?"
Sighing reluctantly, he turned towards her and looked her in the eyes. "You have to promise not to gossip this to anyone if I tell you."
Her eyes lit up. "Sure!"
"Okay," he leaned close to her and met her halfway across the counter. Then in a whispered voice, "After everyone left my house after the party, I took Usagi to-"
"MOTOKI!!!!!" a blonde girl bounded into the room, interrupting them. "Sorry I'm late. I had to pick up Makoto. Oh, hi Rei!"
"Hi, Minako," she pouted, sitting back down in her seat with arms now crossed. "Hey, Makoto."
"Hi. Motoki, can I have a strawberry shake, please?" Makoto noticed how his shoulders fell with their interruptance as if a burden was lifted from his chest.
'Damn. Just when it was getting good,' Rei watched as they continued to order drinks. 'I'll just have to think up more ideas, then.'
~~~~~
The telephone rang, awakening Usagi from her somewhat peaceful slumber. She stumbled off the bed and walked over to the phone muttering under her breath, "Please don't be Mamo-chan. Please don't be Mamo-chan. Please don't be." She picked up the phone.
"Usagi?" a voice questioned on the other end at the sudden silence of rings.
'Crap.' "Yeah?"
"What do you plan on doing tonight?" her boyfriend asked.
Yawning, she replied, "Probably sleep. Why?"
"Well, how about you and I go out to eat instead?"
Usagi perked up, "Food?"
"Yeah. I feel bad about leaving you with Motoki last weekend. I want to make it up to you."
"You don't have to. Really. You are in no way in debt to me."
"Yes I am. I'm picking you up at seven, okay?"
She sighed, knowing it would be pointless to argue with him. "Alright."
After saying their good byes, Usagi wondered how she would be able to keep from lying to Mamoru without giving herself away. All last week, she had the excuse of school as to why she didn't go out with him, but this time was different. She wandered back into her room and looked at her clock. "Two and a half hours 'til death."
Rabbit Test: Chapter One By Strawberry Wine
"Oh, my head!" Usagi complained as she woke up groggily. "Too many drinks."
Her brain was pounding and her body was numb. She groaned and rolled on to her side as she felt an arm lying beside her. Usagi relaxed a little and let out a sigh after realizing it was her own. Her sight cleared and the sense of touch slowly returned until she noticed something rather peculiar. There were three arms at her side instead of two. Two of them she knew as hers, but the other was much heavier, warmer, and encircled about her bare waist.
Then she realized, * I'm.not.wearing.any.clothes! *
Shaking with nervousness and fear, she tried to pry off the incredibly strong arm, yet didn't get very far before the person stirred with life. She felt them pull her closer to her and place a head at the back of her neck. A leg wriggled between hers.
'Yep, definitely a guy.' she thought.
He pulled her closer to his warmth, then murmured, "What a headache."
He moved his arm that held onto Usagi and stiffened, then patted her stomach as if making sure it was really there when it growled at him in reply. Usagi groaned.
Immediately letting go, almost flipping Usagi onto the ground, the male sat up and demanded, "WHO ARE YOU?! AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY BED?!"
Usagi scooted to the opposite side and covered herself in the blankets; both hands clutched near her chin. Turning to face the stranger, she got a surprise to last a lifetime:
"Mo. Motoki?" she stared at him.
"Usagi?" he stared back. Their gaze never left each other as their eyes widened in silence and terror before Motoki asked, "What happened here?"
"I don't know. Did you.?" she pointed to him, then to herself. "Did we.?
Motoki shook his head. "No! We couldn't. Ah, why can't I think? My head is killing me."
"Mine, too." Then Usagi pondered as an afterthought to herself, "What will Mamo-chan say?"
"Who said we were telling HIM? You can if you want, but I'd prefer to live. I've kind of developed a liking for life." He clutched the sides of his head in pain as his body shifted into a more comfortable position.
Usagi was irritated, "You've gotta tell him. You're his best friend."
"Who slept with his girlfriend."
"We don't really know if we slept together or not," she replied in a weak voice of denial.
He looked up at her, "It's pretty obvious, don't you think? How about we don't say anything about this? He'll never know."
She lowered her eyes, water forming at their base as the thought of lying to Mamoru came to her.
Motoki sighed; he hated seeing her cry. "Fine, tell him. But I'm warning you what would happen if you do. He'll-"
"I know what would happen," she interrupted him suddenly. "I won't say anything."
Motoki sighed again. "Let's get dressed. Then we can-"
A growl rose from Usagi's stomach. "Then can we have breakfast?" she looked hopeful at him with large puppy dog eyes.
He laughed, grateful she was back to her usual naive self. "Sure." He scanned the room in search of their clothes, finding them on the other side. "You can go first. The bathroom's the first door to your right."
She nodded and turned her bare back to him, standing and enveloping herself in a bed sheet, and went to retrieve her clothes, not noticing the longing gaze she received from Motoki as she pulled the sheet closer around her in a meager attempt to get a little warmth. In the restroom, she quickly changed and was searching his cabinets when she found a woman's perfume. Deciding it was better than nothing, she sprayed some on and checked her reflection in the mirror. The light pink spaghetti strapped dress she wore went down to her knees and curved vividly at her waist and chest. She sagged her shoulders at the lack of skin it covered. 'At least it's better than the sheet,' she thought.
Motoki was waiting for her in his living room, now dressed in sweatpants and shirt. He offered her a cup of coffee when she entered, also taking from her the flimsy blanket. Usagi sat in a chair on the opposite side of the room from her boyfriend's friend. She looked down at the steaming coffee, then out the window, and then down at her feet, anywhere but at Motoki. Motoki was just grateful there was a table between them. Usagi took a sip of her black liquid at the tense silence that surrounded them before immediately spitting it back out.
"What is this? It's horrible!"
He smiled. "I think the toast might be done. I'll go check."
She stared at the cup of poison below her, "Please do."
~~~~~
Two hours later found Minako on the sidewalk, a block away from Motoki's house. She turned a corner to see Usagi step out of his building and head in the opposite direction.
"That's weird," Minako commented. "Usagi!!" she yelled.
The blonde turned around and muttered something before smiling and waving. Minako hurried to catch up to her.
"Hey, what are you doing here? You usually aren't ever up this early."
"Well," Usagi hand went to the back of her head. "There's a first time for everything."
Minako glanced at Motoki's apartment door. "Yeah, I guess so. Hey, I've been meaning to ask you if you want to go to the movies with Mako-chan and me sometime soon."
"Umm." she thought of what might happen if Minako ever got word of what just happened inside Motoki's room. "Maybe some other time. I've got something I really have to go do at the moment." She started to move slowly backwards. "So, I'll see you later, okay?" She turned around and walked quickly down the sidewalk. In her mind, she responded, 'I'm so sorry, Minako.'
Minako tilted her head. "That was odd." She then bounded up the stairs to Motoki's apartment and pulled out an extra key he had given her, walking up a flight of stairs to his floor before entering her boyfriend's home.
~~~~~
Usagi sat on a bench on the sidewalk, eyes closed and legs outstretched, exhausted from the amount of walking she had done already. Just the thought that she wasn't even halfway home yet, set a wave of fatigue through her. She gripped her forehead, wondering why she decided on drinking so much last night. "Damn parties. I'm never going to another one again."
A deep voice interrupted her train of hateful thoughts. "And why is that?"
She opened her eyes to the sound of the familiar voice. "Mamo-chan?" A red convertible corvette sat next to her on the street with her dark haired boyfriend sticking out of it. "What are you doing on this side of town?"
"I could ask you the same question. I had to give Rei something she left in my car last night when I drove her home. By the way, I'm sorry I left early and had to leave you with Motoki. You had fun though, right?"
"I guess so." She had finally converted enough energy to her legs to convince them to walk over and lean on the car door.
"Good. I was afraid you wouldn't, being too drunk to even walk straight. Why are you still wearing that dress?"
"Umm. I haven't had time to change yet. All my clothes are in the wash at home. By the way, how do you work the washing machine?"
He laughed, "Your parents left town yesterday, I take it?" She nodded. "Hop in. I'll give you a ride home." He leaned over and opened the door for her, watching as she sulked down in the seat after entering. Mamoru pulled back onto the road. "Why didn't you go with them?"
"Some one had to feed the cat. Besides, it's good to get the house to yourself. No parents, no brothers."
"Ah, I see."
"Yep. But Luna picks on and bugs me enough to fill their places and more," she pouted.
He chuckled. "So, did Motoki take care of you after I left?"
"Something like that."
~~~~~
A week later was when Usagi and Motoki first saw each other again. She was coming out of a store with a bag dangling from each hand at her side when she accidentally bumped into him on the sidewalk. Her bags and the articles in them spewed across the ground. She immediately bent down to pick them up, as so did he, and when she looked up to thank the person and to excuse her clumsiness, she found herself staring into a pair of blue eyes. After a moment they both looked away, mumbling their "sorry" 's and walking in opposite directions.
~~~~~
Usagi swung her school bag across the room and plopped down onto her bed. Luna strolled into Usagi's room to see her sprawled out across her comforter with her head hanging off the bottom of the furniture and her feet on her pillows. Luna peeked over the top of Usagi's head to look her in the eyes not more than three inches away.
"Usagi?"
No answer. Not even a blink.
"Usagi?"
Still no answer.
"USAGI!!!" she yelled, licking her nose in the process.
"AH!" Usagi perked to life again, instantly sitting up on her feet. Then, rubbing the wet spot on her nose, "Luna! What was that for?"
"You were lying there in a dead heap. I was wondering if you had finally left me, yet," the cat replied in a matter of factly voice.
She gave the animal a glare. "No, Luna."
"Well, I know that now."
Extremely annoyed with her, Usagi laid back down on her bed with her head on a pillow and arms folded across her chest. "What do you want?" She rested her feet on either side of the bed, legs crossed.
The cat jumped on to the bed. "Nothing really. What are you thinking so hard about? I haven't seen you this deep in thought since your last dream about chocolate ice cream."
"Well, it did have mint swirls in it. I'm just thinking about things, Luna."
"Like what?"
"Nothing."
"It is too something or else you wouldn't be hurting your brain like you are now."
"I'm thinking about what to get Rei-chan for her birthday."
Luna jumped down, off the bed. "Fine. Don't tell me. But if you get in trouble, don't come crying to me."
Usagi mumbled "Whatever" as she watched the dark blob drift out of the room before going back to her previous thoughts. Shaking her head, she thought, 'Maybe I'll just go to sleep for a little while.' A pair of blue eyes suddenly flashed across her own. She blinked several times before shaking her head at the unexpected idea. 'You're not supposed to be thinking of this, idiot,' she scolded herself mentally. She forced to think of another pair of darker eyes, but found her thoughts constantly wavering and wanting to go back to the day when she awoke in Motoki's bed.
Memory Begins
Motoki smiled at her, "I think the toast might be done. I'll go check."
"Yes. Please do," she stared down at the black cup of coffee in her hands before getting up to join him in the kitchen. She found him cracking two eggs over a hot pan on the stove. Her eyes perked up at the sight and smell of the cooking food. "Ooh! Eggs!"
He turned around, surprised she had followed him. "Do you want to help? It'll be done faster."
"Sure." She took the spatula from him as he went to put the toast on a plate. She stared at the spatula as it was held immobile in her hands. "Umm. Motoki?"
"Hmm?"
She grinned, "How do you cook eggs?"
He laughed at her. "Here, I'll show you."
She gave the utensil a funny look before backing up so he could take it from her, only to find that she had bumped into what felt like a brick wall. Her neck turned upward to see him standing directly behind her. His arm wrapped around hers to grab hold of her hands while her eyes bored into his. She blushed and focused back on the frying eggs.
"Watch," he whispered in her ear.
He maneuvered their hands so the spatula went under the eggs and flipped them over. Her eyes widened, "Oh. I see. That was easier than I thought."
"Now you try."
She did the same motion as he, only she accidentally flipped one halfway out of the pan. He tried not to laugh at her. She growled and tried again, this time successful. She turned to smile up at him.
"See? I can do it."
"Yeah, but you're getting the broken one."
She closed her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him, almost immediately feeling something against it. Her eyes flew open. She made a little gasp as another mouth covered her own and a tongue brushed up against hers playfully. Usagi found herself instinctively pressing into the kiss as her vision blurred and then grew dark. A pair of arms wrapped around her waist and hers drifted to his neck. A clock chimed the hour in the background, bringing them both back to reality. They disentangled themselves from each other slowly. A blush crept up Usagi's cheeks as she backed away, looking down from his smiling face.
Memory ends
Usagi opened her eyes and let out a long and deep sigh. 'Why did you have to do that, Motoki? And so well, too?' She rolled onto her side and brought her knees up by her chin. 'Maybe if I go to sleep, I'll eventually forget it ever happened.' Her sight blackened as unconsciousness surrounded her.
~~~~~
Meanwhile, Rei was leaning over the counter at the arcade Motoki worked at. She had been waiting for Minako and Makoto, and in the process was talking to Minako's boyfriend. She had noticed how Usagi would suddenly vanish whenever they roamed near the arcade and how Motoki changed the subject whenever her name came up in conversation. Intrigued this discovery, she decided to dig deeper.
"Have you seen Usagi lately, Motoki?" she asked as he picked up stray dishes left by other customers, grateful at not having to look at her in the course of doing so.
"Besides the party last week, no. I wonder where Minako is. She's usually here by now."
"Yeah. Well, how did the rest of the party go after I left?"
"Fine." He placed the dishes in a sink on the other side of the bar. "Odd that Makoto's not here, either, don't you think?"
Rei mumbled, "Sure is. ANY WAY, What did you and Usagi do the whole night? I know Minako and Makoto went home soon after I did. Did Ami ever show up?"
"Ami? No. Why isn't Ami here?"
"She's studying."
"That's right." He continued to not look at her.
She was getting irritated and tried one last time to get him to talk about Usagi. "Are you alright Motoki? You seem tense. Does this have to do with you and Usagi being left alone at that party last weekend?" she said with aggravating calmness.
He stopped, "No. Why do you say that?"
She straightened up. 'Bingo!' "What's going on between you two? What could possibly be so bad that you two are avoiding each other because of it?"
Sighing reluctantly, he turned towards her and looked her in the eyes. "You have to promise not to gossip this to anyone if I tell you."
Her eyes lit up. "Sure!"
"Okay," he leaned close to her and met her halfway across the counter. Then in a whispered voice, "After everyone left my house after the party, I took Usagi to-"
"MOTOKI!!!!!" a blonde girl bounded into the room, interrupting them. "Sorry I'm late. I had to pick up Makoto. Oh, hi Rei!"
"Hi, Minako," she pouted, sitting back down in her seat with arms now crossed. "Hey, Makoto."
"Hi. Motoki, can I have a strawberry shake, please?" Makoto noticed how his shoulders fell with their interruptance as if a burden was lifted from his chest.
'Damn. Just when it was getting good,' Rei watched as they continued to order drinks. 'I'll just have to think up more ideas, then.'
~~~~~
The telephone rang, awakening Usagi from her somewhat peaceful slumber. She stumbled off the bed and walked over to the phone muttering under her breath, "Please don't be Mamo-chan. Please don't be Mamo-chan. Please don't be." She picked up the phone.
"Usagi?" a voice questioned on the other end at the sudden silence of rings.
'Crap.' "Yeah?"
"What do you plan on doing tonight?" her boyfriend asked.
Yawning, she replied, "Probably sleep. Why?"
"Well, how about you and I go out to eat instead?"
Usagi perked up, "Food?"
"Yeah. I feel bad about leaving you with Motoki last weekend. I want to make it up to you."
"You don't have to. Really. You are in no way in debt to me."
"Yes I am. I'm picking you up at seven, okay?"
She sighed, knowing it would be pointless to argue with him. "Alright."
After saying their good byes, Usagi wondered how she would be able to keep from lying to Mamoru without giving herself away. All last week, she had the excuse of school as to why she didn't go out with him, but this time was different. She wandered back into her room and looked at her clock. "Two and a half hours 'til death."