Just Another Otaku
Chapter 1: Ordinary Girl
Rated: PG-13
The Moon palace was alive with light, laughter and clinking glasses as the Moon held its annual royal ball.
Every year Queen Serenity would hold the social event of the year, exactly three months before her daughter, Princess Serenity's birthday.
The Queen's annual gala was known throughout the planetary systems for its class and style. Anyone who was of any significant standing in the Silver Millennium Alliance would be in attendance, and not just for social appearances. This was the one party that absolutely everyone wanted to attend.
Well, almost absolutely everyone.
Serenity sighed as she glanced out the window at the still-arriving carriages, knowing that this year would be no exception to the last. She would be re-introduced to all of the royalty of the solar system. They would then bore her with meaningless chatter until men would start to ask her for a dance. She would refuse, of course, until her mother would glare at her for being impolite, and then when she finally did dance with them they would blabber on and on about sword fights this, and I won that. She would not even get a chance to see her friends, the princesses of Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and Venus. Well, not as themselves at least. They would be guarding the palace and her, as the Silver Millennium's planetary guardians, the Sailor Soldiers.
However, there was an upside to this year's events. Earth was having many internal conflicts, and it seemed as though Earth's royal family would not be in attendance. Which meant only one thing to the princess: she would not be graced with planet's crown prince's company.
A shiver of pleasure ran down her spine as she relished in her continued luck. True, her encounters with Prince Endymion were few, but they were times she did not think upon fondly. Her earliest memory of him consisted of he and his friends placing a sticky earthling substance known as honey in her hair at the gala held prior to her fourth birthday. The next year he proceeded to pour a bucket of water over her head in front of the entire court. After the later incident, Endymion was left at home for the next four years until his parents were confident that he would not create any more unneeded friction between Earth and its new allies.
Upon his return to the moon, Endymion was indeed much better behaved, but no less disinclined toward the princess who had caused him so much grief with his parents. He, then an arrogant boy of twelve, had smiled politely at his official introduction to the nine-year-old princess and even obliged his mother's request to dance with her. But with that dance started his new form of retaliation: insults. He insulted everything about her, from her hair to her dress to her age to her intelligence. Serenity was mortified. No one had ever dared speak to her in such a way. She was so shocked that she found herself unable to even cry. Instead she surprised herself by insulting him in return and stopping on his foot with her small heel at the end of their dance, before curtsying low and smiling graciously to her happily unaware mother.
He had gotten her back when their parents strangely insisted that they dance once more before the night was over, by tripping her when she curtsied. She had landed with a shriek and rather than prove him right in his taunt that she was a "tattle tale," she blushed and blamed it on her own clumsiness.
Every year since then was the same. At first their dislike was discreet, allowing their parents to keep a short-lived illusion that they were starting to get along. But their taunts and their attempts to sabotage the other soon escalated to such heights that no one in the same room as they could mistake their feelings towards the other as anything but unadulterated hatred.
Their parents finally opted to try and keep the two as far away from each other as possible while still maintaining close political relations.
Luckily, it had been almost three years since Serenity had seen him last, as she was too "ill" to attend the last gala, and by the blessings of all the gods had received her first courses the year prior to that. ("But Mother, I am far too weak to attend!") Her mother was too overcome with emotion over her daughter's coming of age to notice an ulterior motive.
Now at three months away from eighteen she was truly coming into her own as a woman, and this fact was not unnoticed by the males in her court. She had fabulously long blonde hair and dark blue eyes, having not yet undergone the Lunarian rights of passage upon which she would receive the trademark silvery-blonde hair and smoky blue-gray eyes of royal Lunarian women. Her body was curvaceous, a bit more so than normal for her age due to her affinity for sweets, though this factor only contributed to her beauty as it accented the essential angles of her body quite nicely. A few shunned her for not having the long and slim form of her mother, and it was whispered that she was not the beauty that her mother was at her age, or even now.
Serenity heard the whispers spoken about her on a regular basis. Sometimes by eavesdropping, but mostly through the haughty women in court who made it a point that she overhear them. All of this did nothing to contribute to her delicate adolescent self-image, which was not only present but heightened by her status. Despite the protests from her friends that she really was quite pretty and that the ladies in her court were just jealous, she could not help but feel slightly disgusted with herself when she looked in the mirror. So given her current low self-esteem, and newer confusing feelings about the men that did flirt with her, Serenity was in no position to put up with Endymion's insults and mockeries of her now more than ever. All she could say was that the gods must have smiled down on her once again to cause Earth its political problems. Her mother would not have tolerated a third missed gala and she would have had no other way of avoiding the loathsome Earth Prince.
Currently she sat on her bed in her undergarments facing her vanity as she wound her hair up into the customary style of symmetrical buns on either side of her head. As she was making the final adjustments to her appearance her ears perked up when she thought she could hear the distant sound of her name being called. Realization struck and she hurriedly tumbled off of her bed. She tripped her way to the door and opened it so that one of her family's feline advisors, Luna, could enter. She smiled apologetically at the cat who stuck her nose in the air before entering.
"It was about time." Luna huffed as she jumped onto the princess's bed and licked her paw instinctively.
Serenity rolled her eyes at the cat's ever self-important manor, choosing to ignore it.
"How now Luna?" She inquired sitting next to her on the bed.
Now with Serenity's full attention Luna slouched, if it was possible for a cat to do so, suddenly forgetting her earlier annoyance and now regretting having to say what she had rushed to tell the Princess in the first place.
"Well... I have... I have just learned that it seems King Eldred and his court will be in attendance at the ball after all..." she said slowly.
"King Eldred?" Serenity asked with vague recognition in her voice. "Wait, is he not...?" With a gasp Serenity shot up to stand on her bed, nearly knocking her head on the golden canopy covering it.
"WHICH King Eldred will be in attendance?" the Princess hissed knowing full well that there was only one king with such a name that both she and her mother knew of.
The ebony cat cringed; having known this would be the reaction from her future monarch did nothing to prepare her ears from the said heiress's outburst.
"King Eldred Takeuchi along with his wife, the Queen Helena, his son, Prince Endymion, and their four royal guards are all apparently," she swallowed nervously, "despite inner conflict, able to attend this year's gala... and will be arriving shortly," she finished quietly as her mistress sank to her knees at her side.
Serenity's face fell along with all her hopes of this being a pleasant ball. She groaned and flopped onto her side, covering her head with a golden-tasseled pillow.
"Now, now Princess," Luna said hesitantly, "It would do you quite a bit of good to learn to get along with the Prince Endymion."
"WHAT good would it do? I would just as soon never see that insufferable boy again," her muffled voice moaned from beneath the pillow.
Luna tried to think quickly for a sensible answer. "Well, you know, for diplomatic purposes. You will have to be gracious and deal with a lot of people you do not like. One of those people will most likely be the Prince Endymion as he will soon be King, just as you will be Queen." Luna patted herself on the back for the eloquent and at least partially truthful answer. The Queen would not have been happy with her had she said more.
Serenity rose to consider Luna's answer but as she did so trumpets dimly sounded from outside the palace. Serenity recognized the familiar tune as the announcement of the Earthen court's arrival, but to her it might as well as been her funeral taps.
Any resolve she might have gained from her advisor's speech was now lost and she flung herself back onto her pillows. "Luna! I know I will have to be courteous and diplomatic EVENTUALLY, but why does it have to be NOW?" She moaned.
Luna jumped off the bed with a sigh as she knew the Queen would want her to be at her side when she greeted the Earthen royal family. "I do not know what else to tell you, Princess, other than please, do try to be civil. Follow your mother's example. She does not exactly care for Queen Helena either you know."
Serenity blinked and looked over the side of her bed intently at Luna. "No. I did not know that!"
Luna smiled. "Exactly. It is difficult to hide these feelings, but possible. You do not have to see him but once or twice a year. You are an excellent actress. Surely you can pull that off. Besides," she added with a glint in her eye. "What would be better than causing Endymion to look like the uncouth, blubbering fool, and you the poised and well-mannered lady?"
Serenity caught Luna's knowing wink before she sauntered out the door. Serenity smiled wickedly upon realization and with her familiar's final sentiment in mind, she slipped on her gown, gave a few more tugs to her hair, and added a bit of rouge to her cheeks before she too exited her room to greet their guests.
"Sarah? Sarah! Sa-rah! Hey! Earth to Sarah!"
Sarah groggily opened her eyes as her best friend, Molly, pulled at one of her large circular earrings and repeated her name. "Five more minutes, dude. Good dream," she mumbled in barely coherent words to her friend before turning her head to the other side.
Molly sighed and pulled at her arms, wondering if she knew what a scene they were making. "Going back to sleep won't make the same dream come back! Sarah! The movie's over! Get up!"
"Movie?" she asked sleepily and yawned.
"Yes. The movie. You know, the one we came here, to the MOVIE THEATER to see?" She asked rhetorically in mock anger, though she was really only amused with her friend.
"Oh shit," Sarah said, jumping up.
Molly laughed pulling her to her feet. "Yeah! Oh shit!"
Sarah yawned and began to pick up her trash. "I'm sorry babe, my midterm projects are just killing me. I've gotten like twelve hours in three days... and I'm used to like, twelve in one! What did I miss?"
Molly shrugged as she picked up her own popcorn bucket and soda cup. "Nothing much, movie kind of sucked. I don't blame you for falling asleep, insomnia or no. The popcorn is really the only thing that kept me going. You know it's 30% of the reason to go to the movies in the first place."
Sarah nodded and munched on her remaining Junior Mints as they deposited their trash and exited the movie complex. "I'm so fat," she whined.
Molly rolled her eyes. "You only ever say that when you're eating, do you notice that?"
Sarah frowned and popped another Junior Mint in her mouth. "Maybe I should stop eating?"
"Then you would die. We've had this conversation. Dying is bad, equals NOT GOOD," Molly reiterated as she tossed Sarah the keys to her car. "You drive. My turn to sleep. You awake enough?"
Now it was Sarah's turn to roll her eyes. "Yes, mom."
"So what did you dream about?" Molly asked as she turned on a freshly burned Modest Mouse mix.
"Same old Sailor Moon dream. Me: Princess Serenity, I hate Endymion, Endymion hates me, I haven't seen him in two years, I don't want to, there's a ball, I HAVE to see him, Luna tells me I could be civil and catch him off guard, I take her advice and leave." Sarah recapped her dream for her in shorthand.
Molly seemed to contemplate this for a moment before shaking her head in pity. "Sucks for you, dude. I at least have sex in my dreams. If you're gonna dream about Sailor Moon, make it good! Fuck him already!"
Sarah laughed, "I can't just change the outcome of my dreams... I have the dream, but really it's like it has me, you know?"
"Not really but it's a start. Just apply that concept to Endymion – the part where he has YOU - and you're set!" Molly answered decidedly.
"One track mind," Sarah muttered, but obviously not quietly enough.
"EXCUSE ME? I have not, I repeat: not had sex in eight weeks as of today!" She screeched, causing Sarah to swerve the car in surprise.
Sarah shot her friend a look, but Molly seemed to be unperturbed by the movement of the car. "THAT is only because your boyfriend is in FLORIDA."
"I KNOOOW! Why you gotta be a bitch and remind me? What? Did you think that I was BRAGGING about not having sex in eight weeks? That is a travesty! A travesty! And YOU don't even have the decency to have sex in your dreams, let alone in real life. All men are not pigs as you think! Oh no! WHAT do I keep telling you? Find a nice guy, and have sex with him. There is no more to life, and no less." Molly finished her tirade triumphantly, pulling out her cell phone. "See what you made me do? Now I have to text my boyfriend." She sniffled a little.
Sarah waited to speak until she came to a stoplight so that she could fully face her friend when she said what she did next. "You know that you are insane, yes? Sex driven, whorishly insane."
Molly paused from text messaging and waved her hands aimlessly in the air. "Yes. And? Point?"
"No point. Just reaffirming that you knew that I knew that," Sarah concurred. "And not ALL boys are scum. Just most of them. The overwhelming majority of them... Okay, all of them that I have met, are-"
"We get it, we get it! Gosh! Oh! Turn here. I want some Starbucks."
Sarah yanked the vehicle to the left so forcefully that Molly fell into the side of the car, clinging to the handle on the ceiling for dear life. "WHHHY did I let you drive?"
Sarah grinned as she readjusted her parking spot for the tenth time. "Because I liiiiike it, and you haaaate it! So sue me, we live in New York, I haven't driven in like three months!"
Molly looked ready to kiss the ground as she stepped out of the car, but reconsidered once she looked at it. "I hate New Jersey," she bemoaned.
Sarah raised an eyebrow to her friend as she slammed her car door. "Would you prefer to be walking on New York streets on your way to class on a Sunday afternoon?" She laughed at Molly's expression. "That's what I thought. So quit whining and buy some coffee."
Molly pouted exaggeratedly and turned toward the Starbucks door, when she paused and eyed Sarah worriedly. She had stopped dead at the edge of the sidewalk, hands clutching her purse as she looked intently to her left. "You okay?"
Sarah shook her head, breaking her own trance. "It's nothing. That was weird. I just felt like... like someone was watching me. Have you ever had that feeling?"
Molly laughed and pulled at her arm. "Paranoid. You can take the girl out of the city..."
"Oh shut up!" Sarah quipped, swatting at her friend playfully and following her into Starbucks, but not without one last wary glance behind her.
Sarah readjusted the black messenger bag on her shoulder and turned up the volume on her ipod as she walked briskly down the busy streets of Manhattan. Alas her weekend had fled all too quickly and she found herself walking back to her dorm after just finishing her long and boring Monday classes.
A nipping wind threw her hair behind her in a wave of blonde curls and she pulled her black pea coat closer to her body, locking her arms around her chest.
Cursing herself for not wearing an extra layer in the name of fashion, she quickened her pace, eager to get back to her room and get some work in for her next day's classes before she joined blue collar America and the Starbucks Barista team. However in her determined pursuit of home, she failed to see the figure that she was on a direct collision course with.
WHAM!
Sarah hit concrete and the music streaming through her headphones died as they disconnected from her iPod.
"Shit..." she muttered as she struggled to rectify herself, however she only made it to her elbows before two strong, leather gloved hands took hold of her arms and pulled her up.
"You all right? You should watch where you're going, Blondie," the stranger teased, sarcasm thick in his voice.
Sarah scoffed. "I'M sorry, sir," she drawled with enough disdain to match her challenger's, "but I believe you bumped into ME as... well..." Her words slowed and finally caught in her throat when her eyes met his gorgeous blue ones, revealed just above his lowered shades.
He was, well... male, her body was definitely acknowledging him as belonging to the sex was attracted to. He stood a few inches above her. An unbuttoned black wool coat similar to hers covered what she could imagine was a pretty fit body. Underneath he wore blue jeans, and a purple and white track jacket on which was stitched her school's initials and emblem.
Her eyes continued their survey of him as they crept up from his neck to his lips, pursed in amusement, then on to his high cheekbones, and finally resting on his eyes once more.
With one quick movement he whisked away his shades and placed them in the upper pocket of his coat. He ran a hand through his sleek black hair to rest on the back of his neck as he gave her a wicked grin and turned around in a full circle.
"Did I pass your inspection?" he laughed and she flushed a rich crimson hue when she realized she had been staring and quickly turned away.
"Hardly! I just thought you looked like someone I knew, but I was sorely mistaken," she snipped, hurriedly searching for her purse and bag.
"A-hem," he coughed.
She whirled around to face him once more. "What-?" She snapped, but her blush only deepened when he sheepishly held up two bags with his left arm.
"Thanks." She sneered, grabbing her bags from his outstretched hand, fed-up with this infuriating man. Who did he think he was?
"Thanks for helping me up but I gotta go. You know, things to do..."
"People to bump into..." The man waved a hand casually in the air.
"Yes- NO! UH! You- you-" she stuttered.
"Jerk?" he offered.
"YES! Ohhh I'm leaving." She rolled her eyes and turned to walk away.
"See you around, Blondie!" he called good-naturedly after her. She whirled back around at the remark and he grinned.
"Blondie huh? Typical derogatory chauvinistic term. Way to classify me by appearance. I have a name, a personality, and a brain and you should learn to have more respect for women. We're not just dolls waiting to be categorized by the way we look by a man," she said smoothly, the well-practiced rhetoric flowing easily from her lips. She turned to leave, quite satisfied with herself but yelped in surprise when she felt his hand close around her arm pulling her back towards him.
Before she could spit out a speech about sexual harassment he released her, and raised his index finger to tick of his following point. "Okay, one: Blondie is only a derogatory term if you think there is something wrong with being blonde. Two: I have no way of knowing what your said 'name' would be or anything else about you as you began spitting at me the moment I helped you up. Three: are you always this rude to strangers?"
Sarah pursed her lips. "I don't know who you think you are that you think you can bump into me, insult me, TOUCH ME and then have NERVE to tell ME that I am being rude."
He laughed, his blue eyes twinkling mischievously. "God, someone takes themselves a little too seriously. The city has really gotten to you huh?"
"At least it's gotten to one of us! You should know that you don't just TALK to strangers you meet on the STREET!" she sneered.
He only laughed again and quirked an eyebrow at her. "Well, aren't we the know-it-all?"
"Only in cases where I'm right," Sarah answered smugly, earning another laugh from him.
"You must go to my school," he replied.
Sarah blinked, caught off guard. "Yes, I do. How did you know?"
The man looked blankly at her for a moment before laughing again, a sound she was growing irritated with. "No! No, I only meant you sound like the people at my school, but now I see that's because you are one of the people at my school. Undergraduate, obviously," he stated matter-of-factly.
She opened her mouth to retort but gasped instead when his watch flickered in the light. "Oh my God, what time is it?" she asked anxiously.
"Um..." The man reached out and bent his arm to glance at his wrist. "Quarter to four, why?"
"Shit, I'm late! Thanks a lot! I was HOPING to get some of my assignments done before work, but now I'll have to finish them tonight!" she snapped.
"Hey! I HELPED you! You could at least show me a little bit of gratitude. Let me buy you a coffee, at least," he said mockingly.
Sarah scoffed. "Thanks, but NO THANKS. I think you've helped me enough for one day." She laughed and turned on her heels. "As if I would even consider letting him buy me a coffee," she mumbled to herself.
"Hey! Princess! I didn't even catch that name you were so righteous in defending that you had!" he called after her, but her middle finger was his only reply.
"That woman is really starting to wear on my nerves. And gods I am not looking forward to another verbal sparring match between Serenity and Endymion. I let my daughter's excuses not to see him slide if only to spare myself from the disaster of their meeting," Queen Serenity whispered exasperatedly to Luna as they walked to the front courtyards of her palace to greet the Earth's Royal family. "How much longer must I put up with this?" she moaned rhetorically but received an answer anyway.
"The rest of your time as queen? Oh, and the rest of your daughter's time as queen. Assuming of course that the contract still stands," Luna answered smartly.
The senior Serenity rolled her eyes but had the grace to smile at her adviser, who she considered an old friend more than anything. "Yes. Of course it still stands, given that they do not kill each other first."
Luna chuckled and rubbed her head against her queen's arm for comfort. "Selene my dear, do not fret. I have a feeling that this time will be slightly different regarding our young heirs," Luna comforted her, using her informal name as only she and few others were privileged enough to do. Selene raised a skeptical eyebrow at her, but Luna only shrugged. "Call it a hunch."
No sooner were the words out of her mouth did the two encounter a flustered Princess rounding the hallway and latching on to her mother's arm for support as she caught her breath.
"Small Lady!" the queen exclaimed, surprised to see her daughter so soon. She thought she would have to do a great deal of coaxing in order for her to emerge from her quarters at all this evening.
Serenity glared at her mother as she regained her composure. "I... I am far too old for that nickname mother!" She retorted, still a tad breathless.
Her mother's expression of surprise softened to endearment as she raised her daughter's chin. "Perhaps, but you will always be my Small Lady. Now tell me, what matter brings you here with such urgency?"
Serenity grinned and walked in stride with her mother and cat. "To greet our guests of course. We would not want them to feel unwelcome, would we?"
Selene could only stare, baffled at her daughter's sudden change of attitude concerning the Earth Royals. She suspected that her mischievous daughter had something ill advised up her sleeve, and the prospect did nothing to calm her already racked nerves. However, before she could think on it further the Earth entourage was upon them. She plastered on a smile and stretched her arms wide as the trumpeters parted to make way for the royal family itself. She embraced the Earth Queen, kissing both of her cheeks, before she curtsied to the Earth King as he bowed, taking her hand and raising it as he did so.
"Queen Serenity, it has been far too long since we saw you last. We are honored to accept your hospitality and look forward to the splendid evening that your galas always guarantee," King Eldred said jovially to his host.
"We were quite pleased to hear that you could indeed attend, King Eldred," she greeted him formally, then more quietly added, "I do not know of what help our kingdom might be to yours in your current situation but know that the Moon's services are at the Earth's disposal whenever they should need them. You need only ask." She meant what she said. Selene was actually was rather fond of the man. It was his wife that she held less than equal sentiments for.
Eldred was a little taken aback, but nonetheless touched. "We are immensely honored at your offer, and will gratefully accept any help the Moon is willing to give. But enough talk of politics! Allow me to present my son to you, milady, the Prince Endymion."
Endymion stepped forward from behind his parents and repeated his father's gesture. Selene bowed in turn and smiled warmly at the boy. "My, Endymion, how you have grown in only a year." 'Hopefully you have matured as well,' she added ruefully to herself. "Earth will see you as its king soon enough, and it will be lucky to do so."
Endymion smiled and graciously thanked her, though she could see that in his keen eyes he was far from blind to the still political atmosphere, and that he knew her compliment was made out of diplomatic necessity only. 'This trait will serve him well,' she thought. She knew many youths his age whose egos would be bolstered by any bit of praise. That could later prove dangerous if they thought themselves too great to fall.
King Eldred's chuckle broke her from her reverie. "The boy will be twenty-one this August; his time to rule will come soon –"
"But hopefully not so soon that your time will be cut short, father," Endymion intervened, clapping his father's shoulder.
"Here, here!" Queen Serenity agreed quietly but firmly, before realizing that she had another unexpected formality to attend to. "Oh, I also have an introduction to make, for you have not seen her for much longer than you have not seen me. Allow me to present my daughter, the Princess Serenity."
Selene cast a well-hidden, but nonetheless worried glance to Serenity as she moved forward, greeting both Eldred and Helena in the same manner as her mother. But when Serenity came to the source of Selene's concern, her worry turned to amusement at Endymion's flabbergasted expression when her daughter curtsied low before him. It took his father's cough to finally cause him to bow and raise her out-stretched hand to his lips respectfully. Whether it was her presence or her appearance, and Selene was quite sure it was both, her daughter had made quite an impression upon the young Prince of Earth. Selene looked to Luna who only smiled smugly. She made a mental note to later ask her feline counterpart just what she knew of their current situation.
Princess Serenity stepped back to stand at her mother's side with a completely neutral look on her usually so-expressive face, and Selene only smiled to herself before she gestured to her guests to join her in the main hall. "Enough with the formalities, come! Eat, drink, dance, and be merry! The festivities are in wide array and the night is young."
Sarah hummed along to her iPod as she walked briskly to class, mulling over the dream she'd just had. Molly had been wrong. Were she to have gone back to sleep in the movie theater, her dreams would have picked up right where they left off. Though she identified herself as Serenity, her dreams were aerial and she could hear and see the perspectives of all the people involved, not just her own. She also felt powerless over her dreams, like they weren't some contraption of her mind, but rather that they were being shown to her by some exterior source. When she had them it was like being in a virtual reality movie. She was involved, had a role to play as one of the characters, but her lines were set and she could not deviate from the course of the dream.
Hate work as she may, she loved the product she sold: coffee. And she definitely needed some this morning. So with enough time on her hands she swung into the nearest Starbucks and got in line.
She closed her eyes and inhaled the mingling scents of hazelnut, vanilla, and caramel coffee as she made her way to the counter, beaming at the attractive young man behind it.
"Hey Rick!" She greeted cheerfully. Rick was a senior in high school, a year younger than her, and was incredibly, madly in love with her younger sister, who was two years younger than he. Her sister was lucky enough to have found quite possibly the only good man in all of New York City. Rick was friendly, smart, open-minded, sweet and funny. Though Sarah was skeptical of him at first because of their age difference, she came to approve of her sister's high school romance.
"Sar! Hey what can I get for you today? The usual?" He winked a brown eye, openly flirting with her.
She feigned a blush to humor him. "Of course!" she chirped, handing him enough money for a Caramel Macchiato and a lemon tart. He took it and grinned as he moved to make her drink for her. She moved over to the raised counter and rested her head in her arms, patiently waiting as he went through the familiar movements.
"So Rick, when are you gonna leave Diana for me, huh?" she teased him about his girlfriend.
She took a step back to display her curves to him through the buttoned coat. "I mean, my sister is great and all, but I've got STYLE."
He laughed as he shook the whipped cream, "Yeah, leave Di for her sister. THAT would go over well."
Sarah shrugged and moved back to the counter when Rick squirted the caramel onto her drink and closed the top. "Congratulations Rick, you once again overcome OVERWHELMING temptation and earn the right to be my sister's boyfriend for another day," she stated triumphantly, taking a sip of the macchiato, but the sarcasm lining her voice was unmistakable.
Rick gave her an incredulous look. "Please. Like Di would listen to anything you had to say about us." Sarah rested her free hand on her hip in mock indignation as he grinned.
Rick moved to switch with the current cashier, but leaned over the counter first, placing a quick brotherly kiss on Sarah's forehead. "But seriously girl, don't be so hard on yourself. I know you were kidding about being temping, but seriously, you are one fine lady."
Sarah laughed and smiled gratefully but sadly to one of the few boys in this world that she could tolerate. "Thanks Rick. You're a good guy. Possibly the only good guy I know."
Rick laughed too, ignoring her jaded statement and shoving her head playfully. "You just need a brother is all. Get yourself a mocha latte next time and you'll be set."
Sarah rolled her eyes. "Been there done that. Black, white or blue they all find some way to screw me over! Now if you could get Taye Diggs for me..."
Rick chuckled and waved her out. "You know I got connections! I'll call him up after work tonight! He'll be at your place at five! Be ready!"
Still laughing Sarah waved her goodbye as she existed. She checked her watch hoping that she had not wasted too much time talking to Rick, and was pleasantly surprised to find that she still had ten minutes in which to get to her class, which was only a block away.
Walking through the door she found only about half the class assembled and was happy that for today at least she would not be with the tardy half of the class.
"Dude! Up here!" She heard a familiar voice call and beamed when she spotted Molly sitting in the midsection of the auditorium seating of the classroom. Setting her bag down on the floor she sat next to her friend and yawned as she stretched.
"Late morning?" Molly asked sardonically, having been up herself since seven for her eight o'clock class.
But her mockery was lost on Sarah as she nodded tiredly and pulled down the mini desk from the side of the seat. "Yeah, but I have coffee. So I'm good."
She looked to her right to see her friend with a shy smile on her face and her hands gripped tightly in her lap. Sarah rolled her eyes. "What did he say THIS time?"
Molly beamed as she revealed the cell phone she had cocooned with her hands and flipped it open before handing it to Sarah to read. Sarah sighed and rubbed her eyes before taking the outstretched phone and orated, not really reading the words in front of her. "I hate you. I hope you die. I hope you know I'm having all of my stuff sent back to me here in Florida where I will be living permanently now because I hate-"
"Give me that!" Molly grabbed the phone from Sarah's hands and slapped her arm. "I hate YOU. What it SAAAAYS is 'You are a fantastic girlfriend and I know that you are blushing right now and it's so sweet – I can't wait to hold your small body in my arms again.'" She clasped the cell phone to her chest and sighed dreamily while Sarah stuck her finger in her mouth and made a gagging sound.
"All right class. Take your seats so that we may begin. Due to last class's incident I will remind all of you that you are to keep your cell phones off and silent or suffer the consequences of narrating the entire homework assignment to the class, with corrections." The professor warned in low monotones and Sarah could already feel herself about to drift off, until the aged professor said something that perked her interest.
"I would like to introduce to you my teaching assistant. He is a first year grad student and was assisting me with my Wednesday classes, but due to a new schedule conflict he will now be with my Tuesday classes for the final weeks of the semester. His name is Darren Takeuchi, feel free to ask him any questions you might have and seek his counsel outside of the classroom as well as in."
Gasps and whispers were heard from among the females in the classroom as Darren stepped forth to be acknowledged. Molly even gripped Sarah's arm when she saw him and Sarah could hear her softly chanting to herself, "Boyfriend, I have a boyfriend..." She laughed at her friend's moral conflict until she too took a look at the young man at the front of the room and her voice promptly caught in her throat.
"I can't believe it..." she said, staring at him incredulously, studying him to make sure she was absolutely right. Apparently she was for when he caught her disbelieving stare he returned it, recognizing her instantly.
It was the rude jerk that had bumped into her the day before.
His look of disbelief soon melted into a smirk and he winked at her before turning back to scan the rest of the class.
Sarah sunk unhappily into her desk only to be pulled back up by Molly as she whispered harshly in her ear, "You KNOW him? You met a gorgeous guy and you didn't TELL ME?"
Sarah busied herself with retrieving her homework, avoiding her friend's glare. "I don't know what you're talking about," she lied coolly but was rewarded with a swat on the arm.
"OW!"
"LIES! He winked at you! You totally know him," she retorted, smug in the knowledge that she had caught her friend in a lie.
"All right. Yes. I know him."
Molly's face fell and she buried her head in her hands. "Noooo! No Sarah! Tell me you weren't a bitch to him."
"Well I wouldn't have been if he wasn't such a smug asshole! He's a jerk. He called me 'Blondie' like I was some sort of... BARBIE doll and then he proceeded to mock me AND sucked up the time I was going to use to do today's assignments but instead I had to stay up until, like, one to finish them."
Molly folded up her legs Indian style in her chair and rubbed the bridge of her nose in frustration. "Did it even OCCUR to you that he might be FLIRTING?"
Sarah scoffed. "Hardly, and if he was then I showed him just how far that kind of chauvinistic behavior got him."
"SARAH!" she hissed. "Guys aren't like Tuxedo Mask or Tamahome or Seiya! They aren't going to sweep you off of your feet and follow you around with poetry and serenade you under your balcony. You would file for sexual harassment if they did, or dismiss them as being too 'emo' anyways. As you've said A MILLION times before, prince charming is dead, well save for my Melvin, so guys have got to work with what they've got."
Sarah rolled her eyes. "He was a jerk, full of himself and not concerned for others in the least. He teased me to stroke his ego and show himself off as the "manly man," cocky, chauvinistic pig that he is."
Molly just shook her head and rubbed her eyes, arranging her own schoolwork on her desk. "Dude, you have got some serious issues."
"No. I'm just a realist." Sarah sighed, stealing a glance at Darren, only to find him grinning sadistically at her, obviously aware that he was the source of her previous conversation. Sarah made yet another rude gesture in his direction and refocused her attention on the notes the teacher was writing on the board, determined to ignore his insufferable presence completely.
They remained silent for the rest of the period with Sarah drifting in and out of her daydreams, vaguely hearing the professor's lecture on variables and not understanding any of it. Before she knew it class had come to an end and her classmates began to move about around her. She noted with disgust that a horde of girls had surrounded Darren, flirtatiously asking him to help them with their assignments. Sarah rolled her eyes and finished off the rest of her coffee, stuffing her notes in her bag, save her essay which she handed to the teacher on her way out.
"I totally didn't understand a word he said," Sarah moaned to Molly once they were out of the professor's earshot and had safely made it past Darren and his fan girls. "I HATE math, WHY do mandatory credits exist? I HATE them! For that matter why does Darren exist? I hate him too!"
"Well, as far as mandatory credits go, they exist so that those of us who know that they matter, i.e. me, can listen to undergrads moan about them and laugh at them with our friends," a deep voice answered from behind her. "And I exist, now as all T.A.'s do to make your life miserable."
"Ouch..." Molly whispered as Sarah turned around to face her challenger.
"Is that so? I'm flattered. And you have friends, Darren? How surprising. I would never have guessed," she retorted smartly.
"Har-har. You're funny. But again so rude to not introduce your lovely friend here," he said, winking flirtatiously at Molly who promptly giggled in response.
Sarah rolled her eyes. "Don't even try it, she has a boyfriend."
"Try it? Try what? Don't be jealous just because I'm being polite to your friend," he scolded condescendingly.
"WHAT? JEALOUS? YOU PI-" Sarah's tirade was silenced as Molly clamped her hand down on her friend's mouth, effectively silencing her.
"I'm sorry Darren, don't mind Sarah, she's really a nice person, she's just a little cranky in the morning, especially before she's gotten more than two lattes in her," Molly hurriedly excused her friend before Sarah could escape her grasp.
"Oh, no harm done," Darren answered cordially, flicking a piece of imaginary lint off of his shirt as Sarah finally broke free from Molly's grip. "So, it's Sarah then? Finally a name to put to the rude personality."
"Why you arrogant prick, what makes you think that you're so great? What? Do you have a free ride? Mommy and daddy pay for everything?"
Molly cringed at the insult and even more so when Darren's face fell. Sarah had really gone too far this time. "No, no seeing as they are dead, they really don't pay for anything."
Sarah's smirk fell clean off of her face and she gulped, stuttering for something to say. "I- I didn't know."
He gave her a cold smile and brushed past her, turning slightly to respond, "Then perhaps you should think before you speak." And with that he was gone.
Sarah turned to look guiltily at Molly who had her arms crossed and looked very unhappy with her.
"Oops?" she offered, shrugging meekly.
The following Monday Sarah walked unhappily into Starbucks, her feet almost dragging behind her with fatigue. She felt truly wretched for what she had said to Darren almost a week before, and could think of nothing else since but what a bitch she had been. She had gotten little sleep with the combined stresses of midterms around the corner, so she had had only one dream in the past week, and the lack of REM sleep was wearing her down even more.
Mechanically she ordered her usual and slumped down into a chair, setting up her laptop on her table of choice.
It just killed her because he was the one who had been so positively rude, not her. And yet she was made to look like the bad guy. This happened each and every time with her. The powers that be somehow managed to turn whatever situation she was in around on her and make her pay for it. She knew what her mother would say to her now. "Sarah, he's not worth it. No man is. They all do this to you; they set you up and then knock you down. They are here to make us look like fools. Whatever you gave him, he had it coming."
She sighed. How like her mother she had become. There was a time when she lived to prove her mother wrong. She was bound and determined to find love and then she would show her mother that not all men were evil, that there were still some good guys out there. She looked long and hard for love and when it came, it was wonderful, and everything was fantastic. She had felt like she was on top of the world... until everything came crashing down with such force that she went running, crying back into her mother's arms, learned every piece of man-hating rhetoric that she could teach her, and ended up proving that her mother was right all along.
Shaking her head to clear her thoughts Sarah put on her glasses and typed in the memorized URL, taking a small bite out of her lemon tart as she did so. Sailor Moon Fan Fiction was her one romantic salvation. Serenity and Endymion, Usagi and Mamoru, Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask, whatever they were called they were meant to be together. Her fan fiction never betrayed her, and so that, and her schoolwork, was where she put all of her emotional and romantic energies.
Sarah had been following this one story for quite awhile, and was thrilled to see an update when the page finally loaded. The author had such a sense of drawing her readers into her world. Sarah could almost feel the touch on her skin, the warmth on her neck... Sarah closed her eyes reveling in the feel, when she realized that she was no longer reading, and that what she was feeling was actually happening.
She turned around quickly and when her eyes opened they were met with familiar smiling blue spheres, similar to hers except for one big difference. They were male.
She jumped back and almost fell out of her chair, but two strong arms grabbed onto hers, pulling her back upright. Deep laughter rang throughout the shop.
"Boy, is it just around me? Or do you have a problem with falling down ALL the time?"
Sarah flushed and brushed off her skirt. She looked up, trying to see just who this guy was, but her eyes only met air. She furrowed her brows, but soon felt a small tap on the shoulder. Flustered, she whirled around; ready to tell him the many ways she was trained in self defense but the words caught in her throat when the face across the table from her was quite familiar.
"Darren?" she gasped incredulously.
Darren smiled and looked behind him, as if searching for something. He turned back to face Sarah and grinned. "No one else is here."
"Uh huh. And what are you doing here?" Sarah asked cautiously and leaned back in her chair, sipping timidly on her drink with a straw.
"I think that's a bit obvious." Darren countered as he crossed his arms and eyed her challengingly.
Sarah hung her head. "Look Darren, I'm really, REALLY sorry about what I said last week. I was out of line and..." She looked up at him, took a sip of her coffee and swallowing it with her pride so hard it was almost painful, she continued, "and you were right. I should have thought before I said anything." Sarah nervously took another bite of her lemon tart, refusing to look at him as he remained silent. When she finally did dare to glance at him she saw a cocky look pass over his features, but then he shook his head and took a seat across from her.
"Don't worry about it. It was provoked..."
An awkward silence passed over them again but this time they both broke it at once.
"I think that-"
"It was just-" Sarah smiled shakily. "Go ahead."
Darren smiled in return and ran his hands through his hair before folding them on the table in front of him. "I think we just got off to a bad start." His hands parted and he reached his right one across to her side of the table. "My name is Darren, what's yours?"
Sarah laughed uncertainly, wondering if this was a trick. But when his hand stayed where it was she realized he was serious, and she hesitantly took his hand in hers. "Sarah. Nice to meet you."
"So, Sarah, what are you reading?" he asked jokingly.
Sarah flushed immediately and closed her laptop. "It's nothing. It's stupid."
Darren raised an eyebrow at her in query. "What makes you so sure?"
Sarah hesitated and took another sip of her coffee before she resolved to tell him. "Do you know about this comic book... and TV show, it's Japanese... Sailor Moon?"
Darren laughed outright and Sarah frowned. She knew it had been a set-up from the beginning. "You know what? Forget it!" She bit, shoving her laptop back into its case.
Darren rose as she did, his eyes darting from her laptop to her in surprise. "What? No! Wait!" When she did as he asked and waited, impatiently tapping her foot, he pushed lightly on her shoulders indicating that she should sit down. She did so with a huff and looked at him stony faced before he continued. "I... of course I know what Sailor Moon is. My aunt only created the damned thing," he said slowly, his nerves shaken by her sudden outburst.
Sarah rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. Do you think I'm stupid?"
Darren waved his hands in this air, trying to keep himself from laughing at how skeptical she was. "No, no! I mean it! Didn't you hear Dr. Lawson introduce me? My last name is Takeuchi, my father was Japanese. Naoko is my aunt."
Sarah's eyes furrowed together as she pieced the memory and his name together and silently kicked herself for not realizing it sooner. Molly hadn't gotten it either, which made her feel a bit better, but she was still in Melvin La-La land when he was introduced, so she probably had not even realized the man was speaking.
"That- that's insane!" she cried, laughing a little. Here she had almost become sworn enemies with the nephew of Naoko Takeuchi, creator of her romantic salvation. How horribly ironic.
"You don't really look Japanese... Maybe your eyes do, a little. But they're blue," she stated bluntly, her previous anger forgotten.
He laughed again and took a sip of his own coffee. "Yeah, everyone in my mom's family has blue eyes, I guess it's an abnormally dominant gene in her line, but I get my tanning and my hair from my father, along with the almond shaped eyes... Or so I've gathered from pictures."
Sarah fell silent again, her previous shame coming back to torment her. But Darren smiled encouragingly and shrugged it off as she guessed he had been forced to do all of his life. "It's not like I knew them. But you don't have to worry about me, I'm pretty well put together... as well put together as any grad student is I guess," he joked, provoking a bit of a smile from her finally.
"I guess so..." she replied sheepishly.
"So, Sarah, I am now required to ask you what any two new friends in college must ask each other," he announced importantly.
Sarah raised shaped eyebrows at him. "Friends?"
He smiled and nodded. "Friends."
She smiled shyly in return and took another sip of her coffee before turning her focus back to his original statement. "What must you ask me?"
He grinned and leaned in comically, propping one arm up on his knee, "What's your major?"
Sarah laughed outright and finished off her lemon tart before answering, "Gender and Sexuality Studies."
Darren kept himself from laughing but could not contain his grin. "Of course."
"And you?"
"Computer Science."
Sarah nodded emphatically. "Oh right. Duh. Wow, dork."
"Feminist." He countered good-naturedly.
"Damn straight." She smirked.
"So," Darren introduced, taking a sip of his own venti latte, "how is college treating a freshman like yourself?"
He watched her as she chatted happily if not a bit cautiously with him about her schedule and horrible roommates, pleased that he had been able to make amends with this strange and outspoken girl. However, Darren was not the only one watching her as she talked. Unbeknownst to both of them, another duo sat quietly across the shop from them, studiously making note of Sarah's every move.
"There are small differences, but she is without a doubt the one we are looking for," the taller of the two women confirmed, pushing the long bangs of her otherwise short sandy blonde hair out of her eyes. "With a few changes, no one will be able to notice the difference."
The other woman at the table was smaller than she but with longer, gorgeous, wavy hair. She nodded and squinted her eyes, turning her attention away from Sarah finally and on to her male cohort.
Her partner scoffed and downed the rest of her water. "I don't think he's quite your type, Michiru."
Michiru turned back to her, raising an eyebrow. "And just who might my type be, Haruka?"
Haruka grinned and winked at her. "Exactly," she answered.
Michiru furrowed her brows in confusion. She went back over her sentence in her mind and rolled her eyes when realization dawned on her. Haruka just grinned as Michiru ignored her and turned her attention back to the younger couple. "He just looks slightly familiar is all."
Haruka shrugged and rose. "He is inconsequential," she stated as impartially as she could while Michiru rose as well.
Michiru disposed of their drinks and strung her arm through Haruka's, softly teasing her. "Do not be jealous, you know you have no competition."
"That's only because I have already beaten them all," Haruka replied cockily before turning her attention back to the more serious matter at hand. "It should not be long before she has all of the memories she needs."
Michiru frowned, buttoning her coat higher as a cold wind passed through her. "I'm worried. She's starting to sleep less and less... I'm worried that at that rate... We don't have that long Haruka. We need... we need to find her now." Her voice almost cracked as she said this, the knowledge of their current dilemma weighting heavily on her heart.
"Shh, I know. We will find her. Don't worry. Venus and the others are looking now, and when we return we will take over. We will find her..." she repeated to reassure herself as much as she did to reassure her companion.
"But Haruka," Michiru squeezed her arm urgently, "this girl drinks too much of that damn coffee. If she doesn't sleep..."
Haruka waved her free hand in the hair, silencing her partner's worries with her interruption, "I'll take care of that. We'll retrieve the key from Pluto as soon as we can teleport again... Then leave the rest to me."
Michiru opened her mouth to question her about her plan, but then thought better of it. She would dislike it, whatever it was, but her disapproval would do nothing to stop Haruka from doing whatever she had set her mind to do. She would just have to be content with yelling at her after the fact.
Hey guys, so... I started this story seven years ago, re-wrote it four years ago, and am now finally getting around to continuing it. Rather than go back, again, I'd rather move forward. I've made minor cuts and changed to these first two chapters, and am hoping to give you guys a brand new chapter here in the next day or so. Wish me luck everyone! I am so sorry for disappearing when I hit college, like I swore I wouldn't do, but now I'm back, have a BFA in dramatic writing, and am seriously missing all of you in the fandom. So I hope you enjoy the rest of this story, finally. I have some fun things planned. :)
-Claidi