I don't own Sailor Moon or its characters, except for those that I create! If you have any questions or requests, please put them in the review! Enjoy!
Chapter One
"Prince of Pluto…my son…murderer…" The tall, voluptuous redhead with his eyes grinned at him, embraced him.
His sword was heavy in his hand, stained with blood of the enemy…
EJ jolted awake, the images of fallen soldiers, their shields scarred from defending against his magic and steel, grey uniforms stained with their own blood fading from his memory. Because they had haunted his dreams for the past few months, he shrugged off the feeling of the images being memories instead of dreams, but couldn't shrug off the surge of despair, pushed them away with his intense two-hour work out, building strength and speed.
He got into the shower of his apartment, stepped out minutes later, freshly cleaned and shaved away the stubble on his slightly hollow cheeks, strong jaw and chin, padded comfortably naked to the small chest of drawers and retrieved his outfit of loose but clean jeans, a white undershirt that molded his muscular torso but loosened on his arms. He had pulled on his dark blue t-shirt when a knock sounded on his door. "It's open," he called and inwardly groaned when Jane Stuart leaned on the doorway, her new and disgustingly thug-like boyfriend just behind her. "Forget something?"
Jane tried to hide the attraction she suspected she would always feel for her ex-boyfriend, forced down her shiver at his clipped British tone, or how the shirt held in all the right places, suggesting the rippling of powerful muscles she knew were beneath it. "I need a favor."
"Sorry, all out of those."
She blinked, surprised. "It's just a few dollars! Nothing major!"
He brought out a wrinkled pack of cigarettes, pinched off the first half of one and lit it. He was close to quitting, usually smoking maybe once a day. "You dumped me after cheating on me with Bobby there. That automatically disqualifies you from getting money from me."
"Royce," the new guy growled and sneered at the simple outfit. "What're you gonna do, go to class?"
"Whatever, it doesn't matter what your name is, Roger." He looked at his ex. "Go hit someone else up, Jane. I'm done with you, just as soon as you give me back my key."
When he didn't look to be willing to back down, she unhooked it from her key-chain and gaped when he continued to hold out his hand. "What?"
"The other three copies you made. Fork them over." He chuckled darkly at her shock. "I know you made them, just in case we ever broke up so you could steal some of my stuff." When she handed them over, he tucked them in his pocket and guided her towards the door. "See ya," he said before slamming the door and watching them disappear from the peephole. He picked up his phone and went with impulse.
"Mister Thomas? I'm just about to start packing. I'll bring the keys to you in…two hours," he surmised and smiled slightly. "Yes, she gave them back, but I would warn the next tenant about her and get a new lock. Yeah, see you then."
After he called his friend at a moving company, he hung up the phone and set to work on packing
Mina sighed, her large blue eyes soft and dreamy as she stared at the publicity shot of the young man the international magazine called the third sexiest man younger than thirty. "He's an actor, a musician, trained in ballroom dance, and a model," she sighed to her friends and showed them the picture of EJ King as they walked towards Lita's apartment after school. "And he just turned twenty, just barely two years older than me."
Amy looked over Sailor Venus' shoulder and skimmed the article. "They say there was an investigation into his past whether or not he killed someone. All because he played a serial killer really well in a movie?" she questioned, curious.
Mina shrugged. She'd already read the article three times. "That's when it came out that he'd grown up on the streets and had a lot of bad stuff. Which is why he's so amazing, coming out of that background and becoming famous," she exclaimed. She didn't see her friend's roll their eyes, for she was looking at a picture, this one of him shirtless.
He was leaning against a tree with long and powerfully muscled and partially tattooed arms crossed over his muscular chest and the sunlight gleaming against his six-pack and tanned skin. He looked off into the distance, his chiseled jaw and strong chin clean-shaven, his firm mouth unsmiling and his intensely bright amber eyes partially hidden by the straight, almost-spiky locks of black hair, the rest styled to fall just beyond his broad shoulders.
EJ King was perfect. And when she looked up from her magazine, she squeaked in surprise just before she walked into a brick wall of a back, bounced off and skidded on her butt.
"Ouch!" she exclaimed and stared at the immediately offered hand. It was long-fingered and blunt-tipped with the ridge of callus signifying the owner was a musician, and large. "Oh my God!" she breathed when she looked into the intense amber eyes of her latest crush. "You…you're…umm…"
EJ lifted a dark brow at her stammering and couldn't get a glimpse of her face with all that silky blond hair fallen in her face. "Extremely sorry for being in your way," he finished for her with a small smile. Oddly enough, getting the better of Jane and what's-his-name put him in a very good mood—thus, the smile. "Look, this isn't the most comfortable position at the moment, so could take my hand to pull you up?" Probably had buck teeth and a weak chin, maybe some extra facial hair, he thought, which would be just his luck.
Dumbly, Mina laid her hand in his and noticed immediately that hers was much smaller. The next thing she knew she was on her feet and had to step back and still tilt her head back a little to see his face. "Wow, you're taller than you look in the magazines."
The smile was still in place, still as easy-going. "I usually am not six inches tall, sorry. Here, you dropped these." He stooped and gathered the magazine and her schoolbag, handed them to her after glancing at the cover of the magazine. His agent was still pissed he'd been voted third, but EJ had no issue with it, hardly ever did.
Then he froze after she got her hair out of her face, but just for a moment. Her eyes were huge, and a deep blue that seemed to glitter in the sunlight like her hair, which fell to mid-thigh. Her features were perfect, the straight nose, smiling mouth, slightly pointed chin, clear peaches-and-cream skin, and a long, willowy frame that held soft curves beneath the school uniform.
He'd never met someone so perfect. Gaining his composure with less speed than he'd like, he took her hand shook it. "Emerson J. King, miss…?"
Had he just introduced himself with his full name to her? "M-Mina Aino. These are my friends, Serena Tsukino and her fiancé Darien Chiba, Amy Mizuno, Raye Hino, Lita Kino, Trista Meioh, Michelle Kaioh and her girlfriend Amara Tenoh."
EJ greeted them all with a small smile and hello and realized his hand was still holding hers and a blush was rising on her cheeks. "Sorry." He opened his mouth to say something, anything that would come to mind, when his cell rang. "Great, look it was nice meeting all of you," he called as he stepped away for a sense of privacy.
They said the same and entered the building, Lita leading the way. Mina was the last to follow, a dreamy, star-struck look in her eyes. EJ glanced back at the entrance when the door closed and brought the phone to his ear. It was strange, the feeling that he'd met those girls and the man who was with them before. At a concert maybe?
"What?"
It was Tommy, his best friend and agent. "Whoa, someone's cranky."
"I repeat: what?"
There was a sigh on the other end. "Have you found a date yet for the ball in two weeks?"
"No, and why the hell did you sign me up for it? You know I hate formal events."
"Because you're the princess' favorite singer, and it'll be good press. Find someone or I'll do it for you while I'm on the look-out for myself." There was a moment of silence on EJ's end of the line. "EJ? Yo!"
"I've got someone in mind. Call you back when I get word." With that, he cut short his agent's protesting and moved towards the call box by the front door, skimmed it with the girls' names in mind, stopped at "Kino, L." He smiled when he saw that she was just a floor below and two to the right of his own apartment.
Serena swallowed the last of her cookie with a sigh. "Lita, that was great!"
The redhead blushed slightly, pleased as always at the praise of her cooking. "Thanks. Hey Mina, do you think EJ will like some, since he's apparently moved in the building?"
Mina lifted a brow at her teasing tone. "You're going to go find him aren't you? Want me to go along?"
"And watch you make goo-goo eyes at him? Not a chance!" With that, she race towards the door, Mina in hot pursuit as she opened the door and stopped short when EJ lifted his hand, apparently to knock. "Oh, hello!"
"If that isn't good timing, then I've no idea what isn't," he said easily and rubbed the back of his neck uneasily. "Miss Kino, can I talk to Mina for a minute?"
"Sure, and it's Lita."
Mina ignored the look, complete with wiggling eyebrows that Lita shot her before giving her the plate of cookies and closing the door after Mina stepped out into the hall. "Hi again."
He smiled. "Hi. I'd like to make up for knocking you down."
Her eyebrows rose in surprise. "It was an accident, so you really don't have to." Please, please, please, ask me out!
Best to say it right out, or you'll never get the nerve. "Would you like to go to the ball for Princess Dia with me in two weeks? I'm performing a few songs for her and need a date. And since I so rudely knocked you down—however unintentionally—I'd-"
"I'd love to," she interrupted. "Wait, what will I wear? Oh, I have to go shopping!" She turned and bolted into the apartment, back out into the hall and handed him the plate of cookies. "What time will you be picking me up?"
"The ball starts at seven, so at about six-thirty? But I'd like to get to know you better, so why don't I take you out to lunch this Saturday?" He grinned when she nodded her agreement and looked past her to the kitchen. "Oh, and Lita?"
The tall redhead looked up from her cookbook. "Huh?"
"Can you go with my agent? He's a pompous pain in the ass with a tendency to nag, so if you have anger issues, I'll take care of all the legal matters if you want to beat him up."
Lita laughed at that. "I'll be ready by six-thirty and I'll bring my issues with me."
He chuckled, lifted Mina's hand to brush his lips across her knuckles. "See you Saturday at the cafe by the arcade?"
Maybe I should get knocked down by him more often if I'm going to go on dates with him that way..."Sure. I'll see you around noon, okay?" He nodded and walked away, already munching on the cookies. She sighed, forgetting that she'd failed her math exam and decided it was a great day.
