Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of Gundam Wing, Sailor Moon, or "Thankyou." I am borrowing them for entertainment purposes only; no money is being made from the writing or reading of this story.
Bunny Moon
©2001-2002 by Kei
::Chapter 1 – And Everything's Perfect::
My tea's gone cold, I'm wondering why I got out of bed at all
The morning rain clouds up my window and I can't see at all
Bunny Moon tried hard not to stumble as she ran from her five-hour shift as a waitress to her apartment for her lunch break. She had only thirty minutes, half of which was used up by only getting there.
"Usa! Wait up, Usa!" a familiar voice cried from behind her, and pounding footsteps caught up to her. They went through this every day.
"Sorry, little sister, but you know how it is," panted Bunny as they rounded a corner to run along the block leading the small, decaying apartment they lived in.
"It's okay, Usa," smiled Hotaru.
"Little sister, you know I never get sharp with you, but for crying out loud, stop calling me Usa!" exclaimed Bunny while they thundered up the creaky stairs.
"Oops!" Hotaru blushed. "It slipped my mind, U—er, big sister. Sorry. I'll make sure not to forget again."
"That's fine. We're here!" Bunny grinned breathlessly, unlocking the seven locks on the door in a specific order.
At last, the two burst into the apartment and were greeted by Chibiusa's babysitter, Sayoko. Bunny gave the kind woman a smile in thanks and scooped up her daughter in her arms. The pink-haired little girl grinned and squeaked, "Mama!"
Bunny squeezed her close and kissed her, but looked at the clock on the wall and sighed. She had five minutes to get to her job as a cashier at the market across the street and down one block. She returned Chibiusa to Sayoko, nodded to Hotaru, and they once again dashed out the door, down the stairs, and went in opposite directions when they got to the road. Hotaru raced back to school while Bunny struggled to arrive on time for her job.
Three hours later, Hotaru and Bunny met back up in front of their building. They trudged up the stairs together and collapsed on the couch once they got inside the living room of the apartment.
"Miss Moon," Sayoko started, "some men came by and told me to give you this. They said something about movies." She handed the exhausted eighteen-year-old a slip of neon-green paper with EVICTION NOTICE written in boldface at the top.
"What?" shrieked Bunny, jumping up from the couch. "We can't be evicted! This is all we have!"
"Big sister, are you okay?" Hotaru asked, kneeling down beside the crumpled blonde on the floor and placing a gentle hand on her shaking back.
"No, little sister. I'm not sure if I'll ever be okay again," Bunny whimpered, handing the dark-haired girl the notice.
"Oh my god," Hotaru breathed after she finished reading. "Where will we go, big sister?" she questioned worriedly.
"You are always welcome to stay with me," Sayoko offered.
"No, Sayoko. I don't wish to burden you. You do enough for us already, taking care of the apartment and Chibiusa while we're away," Bunny declined, though she wondered for a brief moment afterward if she should have accepted. She had been working three jobs every day for the past two years to support herself, Hotaru, and Chibiusa. She'd had to drop out of school and move out of the house when she became pregnant by her ex-boyfriend, Mamoru Chiba.
She had to pay Sayoko a small sum every week for her services, not to mention the monthly rent for the apartment, which was the cheapest one available, considering the condition of the place. And not only that, she had to buy food, clothing, and other necessities so she and her charges could survive. Hotaru mostly wore hand-me-downs from Bunny. The older girl would also alter some of Hotaru's old clothes to fit Chibiusa, who had turned two the previous summer.
Hotaru would have stayed home to take care of the toddler, but Bunny insisted that she go to school and get the education Bunny herself had missed out on. She wouldn't wish her life on anyone, especially her beloved little sister. True, they were not actually sisters, but they were close enough to be. Hotaru had been in the hospital around the same time of Chibiusa's birth, and she and Bunny had gotten to know each other. At that time, Bunny had gone by the name of Usagi Tsukino, but when her parents booted her out of the house, her friends rejected her, and Mamoru abandoned her, she changed her name to Bunny Moon.
Bunny sniffled and stood up, still wiping away her tears. She straightened her dress, smoothed out her hair, and helped Hotaru to her feet. They hugged for a long moment before Bunny paid Sayoko and the babysitter left.
"Little sister, did you understand what that was about?" Bunny inquired, indicating the paper still in Hotaru's hand.
"Mostly. I'm unsure about some of it, though," Hotaru answered.
"We aren't being evicted because we've been late in paying bills or anything like that," Bunny began. "We have to leave because they're demolishing this building in favor of constructing a movie theatre. The old couple that owns the complex was instructed to empty it of the tenants, and we're the only ones. They're getting paid a huge amount of money and are going to retire to the Bahamas. You know we can't take everything. No beds, no nothing like that. Find all our suitcases and pack all the things we can take."
"Big sister," Hotaru said, her lower lip trembling, and Bunny swept her into another embrace.
"Don't cry, little sister," Bunny soothed, though she was crying into Hotaru's dark hair. "Everything will turn out okay, I promise. We'll still be together and we'll be okay."
Hotaru cried into Bunny's shirt for a while longer before drying her violet eyes and bidding goodbye to Bunny, who had to hurry to get to a mansion miles away where she had been hired as a maid two days before. She couldn't be late on her first day there.