Working Title: Melody of a Summer Rainy Afternoon

Dedicated to the ever so elegant guardian of planet Neptune

By Melody Wind

(Special thanks to a friend for the pen name, you know who you are…)

Summary: A gloomy day inspired her composition as a gift for friend, but the gift was never received. One difference on the postal code, and the music arrived at his door. Coincidence, fated? This is no accident. A tale started from a simple mistake on the mailing address. Pairings: Minako x Yaten :D

Disclaimer: Owning Sailor Moon? One day when I invent the time machine, then yeah… But, I do own the plot…

"…" indicates conversation, italics indicate thoughts

Author's Notes: This story is completely AU, the inspiration was quite random. (The idea came to me when I was listening to "Eternal Snow" from Full Moon wo Sagashite.) It's not really intended for a fan fiction when I first wrote it, (and all my characters were named after a Greek god/goddess…sounds a bit pathetic, isn't it?) but I adored the Minako x Yaten pairing since like forever. It could really work on any of the "traditional" starlight pairing also. And I know that some of the characters are pretty out of their character, (not that I ever expect Minako turned out to be an excellent violinist and is the childhood friend of Michiru), but then again the story was not intended to be a fan fiction originally. Now, on with the story…

- Wind

Chapter I: 60012

The day is so gloomy. Rainy days always bring people's mood down, Minako thought dully and looked up from her laptop. She was in no mood to finish her boring English report on the history of Nigeria. Trying to calm herself down, Minako picked up her violin nearby and began playing a few notes. The violin had always been her favorite instrument since she started playing when she was six years old. After all, it was said to be "the saddest instrument", so it suits her well. She has two personalities. Most people only know her by her happy and outgoing side. But most of time, she acts like that to hide her lonely and depressed side.

The few notes started out well. As she continued to play, the notes became a part of a new composition. It had been a long time since her last composition, so she quickly wrote down what she just played. After a few tries, she was finally satisfied with the 5 lines of music.

Such a nice calming melody, I like it. She played the melody over and over again. But then a thought came to her mind: her famous violin friend's birthday was coming up. This melody was perfect for a birthday present, even though it's a little short. She was sure that the musician would be thrilled to see her composing again, and they would continue the piece together. This is perfect! She smiled faintly and went to get an envelope.

After copying the composition, she decided to write a note for once. Her friend is used to her sending mysterious little composition without a note all the time, but this is a birthday present. It's special. She began typing.

"Dear Kaiou-san,

Surprised to find a note within this little piece of music? I know I'm not a "note person", but since this is for your birthday, this is special. Hope you like it, we should finish it together. Hopefully it won't be one of those many pieces that were never finished.

Wishing you a Happy Birthday, see you on Saturday at the party!

Regards,

A."

Minako grinned as she finished the note. She's a person who like things to be mysterious, but this note would be an exception because of the special occasion. Still, she left many things out as usual, like her name for instance. Minako deliberately put down her return address and then wrote her friend's address at the bottom. As clumsy as usual, she did not notice that instead of "10012" for the postal code, she wrote "60012". She hastily put the things together. Never having the habit of checking her work, Minako went out and mailed her music.

As Minako once again set in front of her laptop, she stared at the sky. It had stopped raining a while ago; the sun was shining brightly with few clouds passing by. She smiled and went back to her research paper on the history of Nigeria.

"Yo, Yaten-kun, the mail guy just came by! Go pick up the mail!" Seiya called out from his bedroom.

"I know! For god's sake, you sound like my mother! And come on, it's Saturday! Can't I get any more beauty sleep?" Yaten sighed and got off the couch. Why do I have to go get the stupid mail anyway? Yaten thought unhappily as he glanced around. He lived with his two cousins. Taiki was always on his laptop; after all he was the Mr. Know-it-all. And as for Seiya, who knows what he's always doing inside that dark bedroom of his?

Yaten slowly got out of their apartment and opened their mailbox. As usual, a stack of envelopes fell out. Yaten sighed again. It's all those fan mail again. Thank god the mail man organized them for us. Yaten and his two cousins belonged to a popular band named the "Three Lights". The number of fan mail they receive everyday can stack up to half a room. The ones they usually receive at the mail are probably from those fan girls who stalked god knows how many people and got their private address.

Yaten went through the stack that was labeled "regular mails" as he walked back to the apartment. Bills, statements, loan offers, ads, are there any other things that can be mailed besides all these today? Yaten stopped at one of the mail though. It was addressed to a Kaiou-san, but there's definitely no one named Kaiou in his apartment. He checked the mailing address, and realized that the postal code was right, but the city was way far from where they lived. I guess the post office today only look at the postal code. Well, the street name was the same as ours. What a coincidence. Yaten chuckled at the post office's mistake and was ready to throw the envelope back in the return box. Then he noticed a few words on the envelope other than the addresses:

"Melody of a rainy summer afternoon"

Beside that line, there was a smiley face. It's from a girl alright. Well, since this is music inside, I wonder if I should go ahead and open it? Yaten debated with himself for a few seconds, and he went on and opened the envelope. Before he could read anything, Taiki's voice came up.

"Yaten-kun, what took you so long? Too much fan mail to handle?"

"Not really, but there's a wrong address." Yaten answered while reading the little note that came with the music composition.

"Put it in the return box then" Taiki didn't look up from his very scientific article.

"Don't want to." Yaten grinned and picked up his guitar ready to try this little piece of music. Then he saw in the top left corner that marked "Violin"; he silently cussed.

Taiki looked up momentarily and raised an eyebrow at his cousin's answer, "Why not?"

"It's a music piece; I was going to play it. But too bad it was for violin; guess this girl is a violin player." Yaten tossed the opened envelope to Taiki.

Taiki took the envelope and scanned the piece, "Well, it's not that hard to play a violin when you know how to play other instruments. Hey, try it on the keyboard, they usually make sense. But still, you really shouldn't't open the note; it said that it was for someone's birthday."

"Exactly, it said that the party was Saturday, meaning it's today. So whether I open this thing or not, it's not going to matter anyway." Yaten got his keyboard and ready to try the music.

"Wait, it's to a Kaiou-san? As in Michiru Kaiou, the famous violin player?" Taiki took notice of the famous last name.

Yaten looked up for a brief moment and shrugged, "Dunno, maybe."

Their conversation was interrupted by a loud "bang", which is the "famous" sound Seiya made for tripping in front of his room for the hundredth time. Taiki shook his head while Yaten laughed.

"Hey, Seiya-baka, ever going to learn how to walk?"

"Shut up, Yaten-baka! Can't you see that I was distracted?" Seiya pulled out the same excuse he had used for the twentieth time now.

"Right-" Both Taiki and Yaten rolled their eyes and went back to their previous topic.

"So, whatcha talking about?" Seiya interrupted and noticed the open envelope.

"Discussing why Yaten-kun just opened a note that was sent to the wrong address just because it contained a piece of music inside, and not to mention it was also a birthday present." Taiki had lost interest in the conversation and decided to go back to his very scientific article, which was much more interesting than some composition, at least to him.

The little piece of note was picked up a third time. Seiya's expression was changed from mere curiosity to a grin.

"Hey, you know what, Yaten-kun? You should pick up where she left off." The mischievous grin still hasn't left Seiya' face.

Yaten glared at his cousin, but said nothing. The song itself was a beautiful piece of work. He could feel the sense of sadness and loneliness. Yaten played the tune for the twentieth time; he fell for these mere five lines. Suddenly, more music notes floated in his head, he plucked a pen and was instantly absorbed in the continuation of the melody.

It was an hour later till he was completely satisfied with his work. Stretching, Yaten looked around the apartment, finding both of his cousins absent. He didn't want them to know about his interest in those mere five-line violin music, and not to mention the endless of teasing from Seiya. He looked for a name of this girl, but on the return address, there was only an M. Aino. Well, this Aino-san sure is mysterious. Yaten chuckled, in his own strange ways of writing notes, he weaved a little poem.

Yaten mailed the note early next morning; he chuckled softly as he returned to his home base. I wonder how this Aino-san going to react.

The elegant violin melody rang through Minako's ears as she entered the front door of her friend's mansion. Ah, another great collection of Kaiou-san. I wonder how she got such great taste. Minako sat down on a nearby armchair thoughtfully. She wondered if her friend had received her composition yet. As she spotted Michiru Kaiou, who was absorbed in a conversion with a fellow musician, she decided that she would go join her friend later. Minako went to the refreshment table and grabbed a drink. She sat down again on the same armchair and was instantly absorbed into Michiru's "special" selection of her own compositions.

"Deep thoughts?" Minako followed the voice as she saw Michiru emerge and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Oh, just enjoying you newest collection." Minako smiled and hugged her childhood friend.

"Yes, they are actually a birthday gift from Setsuna-san. I have to say, her taste beats mine." She smiled faintly and pointed out their cello friend from a group of people.

"Oh, and by the way, did you receive anything by mail from me recently?" Minako grinned, hinting.

Of course Michiru got the hint, but she frowned and tried to recall her friend's birthday present. But she never received anything.

"Guess the mail people are late with your present." Michiru replied after she spent a few minutes recalling all her mails in the past week.

Minako frowned; she mailed her letter last Monday. Even if the post office are slow these days, the letter should definitely make it by now. Guess my clumsy nature did something again, she sighed.

Michiru, watching her friend going through her process of reasoning, understood perfectly what had possibly happened to her gift. After all, after 10 years of acquaintanceship, it is not like Michiru hasn't encountered any incidents involving Minako's clumsiness.

"Hey, why don't you give me a copy after the party?" Michiru took Minako's hands into her own and smiled warmly.

Minako nodded gratefully. They exchanged some more conversations, mostly about their life and music. After Michiru walked away to welcome some new arrivals, Minako sank down in the armchair and thought furiously, How could I got Michiru-chan's address wrong? Ugh, I hate it every time when something always turned out wrong whenever I have a brilliant plan. But most importantly, WHERE IS THAT LETTER?

- Fin -

Preview to Chapter II: A Poem?

As Minako carelessly yanked her mailbox open, a single letter fell out. She bent down and grabbed it. She glanced at the addresses and was utterly surprised at the content of the envelope. The sender shared the same street name with Michiru, but the city was far from where she lived. Minako glanced at the postal code of the sender and she instantly recognized her mistake. Impossible, I can't believe the receiver actually sent in a reply, or maybe they are just kind enough to resent my letter back in another envelope. Minako ripped open the envelope, half expecting her own unopened letter. She stared at the contents of the letter, speechless…

Author's Note: First, I want to thank all of you to have the sympathy to read my story. -bow- Please excuse any of my grammar mistakes and fragments, never been good at grammar and never liked grammar. Hope you enjoyed the story. Comments and Reviews are always appreciated. :) And thanks to all the friends that helped me with the grammar, you know who you are. (Ugh, grammar…) And Hayley, you are still going to be the first one to read my next chapter! (I'll force you if needed…no, just kidding)

Now I get to study for a test on Agriculture that I know absolutely NOTHING about… oh joy…

- Wind