The Road Less Travelled
Black Beyond
Black_beyond@hotmail.com
PG13
~'~
Alright, minna. I've been working on this ficcy for over
two years. I start on it, got about ten pages wrote, saved
it, and forgot about it. A few months ago I found it, was
disgusted at my writing style but thought, "Hey, this could
go somewhere!"
So the first few parts are going to be bad. Not bad, but
well... different from my usual style. It gets better, don't
worry. But bear with me, okay? I'm actually concentrating on
this one. I've made a lot of people mad at me because I've not
worked on my other ficcy, Indifference, for some time now
because of this one. So play nice!
Usagi is very OUT OF CHARACTER. No flames will be accepted
for that point. I warned you and that is that. Don't ask
questions, *puts on Yoda voice* everything will be explained.
~'~
Different.
That was the only word to describe Usagi. Silver
hair. Silver eyes. The cold and unapproachible aura
that hung around her. No one dared to go near her.
Well, there were other words, as one girl
poitned out. Shy, indifferent, strange...
But not one of them fit as well as the simple
word 'different' did. And even if they'd found a whole
book of things that described Usagi, still, not one of
them could grab the guts to talk to her.
But that was okay. That was the way she liked
it. If there were no people, then there were no people
to explain things to. Usagi had her own way of doing
things. If someone else didn't like it, fine. They
could deal with it.
She always looked pretty. Beautiful. Damn, she
was drop dead gorgeous! But if any boy asked her
anything, even if it was her *name*, they got that
glare with her odd silver eyes that chilled them to the
bone and made them run away, faster than they would if
she had pulled out a sword and told them exactly where
she could and would put it.
She wasn't exactly an orphan, though it was true her parents were dead. But she had made a pretty good life for herself, and friends that helped her out...
Until they came. The Social workers. They
discovered that she had no family, but not that she was
a witch. No one knew this. It was her own secret.
She was placed in a foster home, many of them,
in fact. Always moving. Until three days ago. Up until
three days ago she had been jostled around in different
homes for five years. Now she was sixteen. And someone
adopted her.
Adopted. The very word made her shudder. She
liked moving. That way she only had to stay in the same
school for a little while. Less time with the
ignorants.
But no. This new family liked her. Even though
she had been as rude as possible to them. She had a new
father, a new mother, and a new brother. As much as she
hated to admit it, she liked them. They gave her her own room, and enrolled her at Juuban High School. They gave her a family name, Tsukino. She had insisted she knew enough to enroll in college, and it was true, she did. But they just laughed at her.
She was being different again.
~*~*~*~*~*~
END PROLOGUE
'I hate this. More of those insufferable
innocent *things* who think the worse thing in the
world is being grounded.' She thought to herself as she
walked to school, dressed in her new school fuku. She
gave cold glares to anyone she caught looking at her,
until she reached the iron-wrought gates of Juuban. A
small, nagging sense of insecurity tugged at the very
edges of her conscious mind, but she shoved it away.
"Well, I might as well get the facts straight,
anyway." She muttered as she entered the courtyard. The
students were roaming around the grassy yard freely,
talking, chatting. She walked over to a seemingly
deserted tree and leaned up against it, looking over
her new victims.
"HIDEE HO!" A very annoying voice came from
behind her. She spun around. A boy, shorter than her,
with strange swirly glasses stood there. "I'm
Um..in...o...." He trailed off as Usagi gave him her
trademark glare. He giggled nervously and beghan
backing away. When hee was about three meters from her
he turned and ran off, yelling something about killers.
She turned back around and this time put her back up
against the tree. It was better to watch your back
anyway. No one else approached her. Even though she saw
guys looking at her, and girls staring. She heard a
bell and decided that these were like the rest.
Innocent. Ignorant.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Hello. My name is Mizuno Ami. What's yours?" It
was lunchtime, and Usagi had chosen to sit by the same
tree she had taken refuge by that morning. She was
surprised to see that the girl had blue hair. Odd.
Before answering, Usagi tried to get an idea of what
this girl would be like. Ami was not a good liar. Usagi
knew that already, for the blue-haired girl's eyes
revealed everything she thought about.
This girl was not an ignorant. Nor was she an
innocent. This girl knew what pain was.
"I'm Usagi." She answered. This was one who knew
of the dangers.
"Oh, good. I thought you weren't going to answer
me." Ami seemed releived.
"I only talk to some. Feel lucky." Usagi said,
looking off. "Why the fuck are all those guys staring
at me?" She muttered.
"Do you have a mirror, girl? You're gorgeous." A
blonde came out from behind the tree. Usagi didn't like
the idea that she was spying on her. "Oh. I'm Minako,
By the way."
"Hello, Minako." Usagi growled. "And you might
as well tell them they will have no luck what-so-ever."
"Why?" Another girl stepped out from behind the
infamous tree. This one was really tall, with brown
hair pulled up into a ponytail tied with green
knockers.
"Because. And why were you spying on me?" Usagi
glared at Minako, who shrank back a bit, and the other
girl, who didn't seem fazed at all.
"I'm Makoto." She said, holding out her hand for
a handshake. Usagi, for the first time in years, was
surprised. Full grown adult males had backed away under
that stare. Instead of taking Makoto's hand, she cocked
her head to one side.
"I think I like you, Makoto. No one else has
stood up to me in a very long time." her thoughts
flitted back to the one foster home she had liked. She
quickly shoved them away.
"I'll take that as a complament." Makoto
shrugged.
"Dude, your eyes are freaky. Silver! Way cool!"
Minako inched closer and looked more carefully at
Usagi's eyes. Usagi searched Minako's. What she found
was hurt. And pain. Lots of it. This girl was happy
only to cover her meloncoly mood. She was not a good
liar, either. Makoto's eyes, on the other hand,
revealed nothing. Just the same clear emerald gaze.
"You're freaky! Way Kewl!" Minako nearly
strangled Usagi as she hugged her. Usagi gasped for
breathe.
"Oh, look. The freak squad have found a new
member." A snotty looking like a moron surrounded by swooning
girls and tough looking guys snorted. Usagi pushed
Minako away and began to walk towards him. Makoto grabbed her wrist.
"No, Usagi. That's Ryco. He'll clobber you-- and
if *he* doesn't, his gang will." She pleaded.
"They cannot hurt me." Usagi murmured and jerked
free. If her fighting skills failed her, she had her
magic. No, not her magic. Her magic was a secret.
"Look at her! Silver hair! What a weirdo!" A
red haired girl with yellow-green eyes that clung to
Ryco's arms shrieked in a high pitched whine. The voice
made Usagi shudder. She supposed Ryco only used the the
girl for *ahem*. I'm trying to keep this at a low
rating.
"Damn right. there goes my rating.. If any of
you goddamn ingrates feel like trying to hit a girl,
try me." Usagi growled. Minako and Ami gasped. Makoto
stared hard at Usagi. She was sure the girl could take
them-- she was also sure the girl could and would kill
them. It was just something she felt. But she could not
stop Usagi.
"What?" It was a mocking, but surprised tone.
"The little pipsqueak challages me?! I know you're new,
but surely you know that I am my gang are all black
belts." Ryco said. He was a little fearful of this
girl, he didn't know why.
"Do not try to frighten me. You are a coward,
having others do your fighting for you. No honourable
warrior does that." Usagi said.
"Ryco, baby, you're not a coward. Show that
bitch where she belongs." Red-hair whined.
"Who are you calling a bitch? I wasn't aware I
looked like your mother." Usagi said, almost sweetly to
the girl. Red-hair let out a whine that made everyone
jump. Everyone. Including the non rattleible Usagi.
By now almost the whole school had gathered
around them, creating a ring that not even the trachers
could have woven through, even if they had dared. Thye
just assumed it was Ryco picking on someone. They had
learned not to deal with RYco.
"So. Are you smart enough to walk away, or are
you going to 'be a man' and fight me, little boy?"
Usagi asked. A smirk cover her face. Only that both
angered and frightened Ryco.
"Usagi-- maybe we should go--" Minako attempted
to give Usagi a chance to leave.
"No. I want to see what he'll do. I haven't had
any challenges lately. Maybe he'll put up a fight."
Usagi said.
"SOMEONE DO SOMETHING!!" A cry from the crowd
arose. In reply, Ryco pushed red-hair away from him.
The boys steped forward, but Ryco motioned for them to
stay back also. Well, more like cussed at them, but
hey! What's the diff? Usagi smiled wickedly. She lived
to fight. Pity they didn't know that.
"Okay, girlie. You wanna fight so bad? Let's
go!" Ryco hissed, and lunged at her. She stepped aside,
and did a high round house that hit him in the face
twice. She took advantage of his stunned state and
began to attack with the feirocity of a grizzly. Ryco
managed to get in a few good hits now and then, but he
knew the moment her foot connected with his face that
the fight had already been decided. The students looked
on with awe.
"I will not let you get me this time, bastard!"
She hissed. Usagi had her training and her litheness going for her. Ryco had his brute force. The fight was
soon over, Ryco was battered. Beaten by a girl. His lip
was bleeding heavily. He wiped it away with as much
dignity as possible before shoving his way through the
crowd. His girlfriend and gang followed. Usagi stood
tall, her eyes throwing fire at the crowd. Her only
injury appeared to be a swollen arm. It didn't hurt
much.
"Us-Usagi-- c-come on." Makoto stuttered. Usagi
turned to her. A gasp escaped from Minako's throat at
the look of wild rage in Usagi's icey eyes.
"He will pay." She rasped.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Usagi! What if you had killed him? That was
uncalled for." It was much later and Usagi was in her
new room. A white panther paced around the room.
"Athena, calm down. He has dared to harm me. He
will pay. I'll just-- play a game with him." Usgai
said, streching out on the bed. The panther jumped up
there with her.
"Usagi," Athena, the panther, began, a look of
exasperation on it's face. "I trained you to fight
*for* good, not *against* it!"
"That beast is not good!"
"He is an innocent."
"I dislike these ignorants. They walk around, in
their own happy little worlds, oblivious to th
dangers."
"You are their guardian." Athena sighed.
"Doesn't mean I have to *like* them." Usagi
contradicted.
"You made some friends, I see." Athena changed
the subject.
"Yes, yes. Three. They are not like the others.
They know of pain-- they are not ignorant. Nor
innocent. They know of the shadows." Usagi said,
sitting up.
"No, they just realize there is more to the
world than happiness. None but you and I know of the
shadows. And it would be good for you to befriend an
innocent, as you call them. Make friends with one."
Athena said.
"Athena! I know what I saw! They know of them!
Whether they *know* they know or not, I saw it in their
eyes." Usagi jumped up.
"Well, then they were of the old kingdom. That's
it. And you must learn to control your anger. If I hear
of you injuring that boy again without his provoking
it, I will take away your powers for a day." Athena
said sternly. Footsteps were heard in the hall. Usagi
ran to the door and locked it, to give Athena time.
Athena muttred a few words of another tongue and she
shrank to the size of a house cat, her features melding
until she looked like an ordinary cat.
KNOCK KNOCK! "Usagi, may I come in?" It was
Ikuko, Usagi's new 'mother'.
"Yeah, hold on." Usagi took a final look at
Athena and unlocked the door. Ikuko stepped inside.
"There's some people downstairs. They say they
know you." Ikuko said. A scepital look was on her face.
Athena and Usagi looked at each other. Who could it be?
"Um, er, okay." Usagi said. Athena followed her
out the doors and down the stairs. In the living room,
talking to her 'father' and 'brother', were four very
old friends.
"Haruka!"
Black Beyond
Black_beyond@hotmail.com
PG13
~'~
Alright, minna. I've been working on this ficcy for over
two years. I start on it, got about ten pages wrote, saved
it, and forgot about it. A few months ago I found it, was
disgusted at my writing style but thought, "Hey, this could
go somewhere!"
So the first few parts are going to be bad. Not bad, but
well... different from my usual style. It gets better, don't
worry. But bear with me, okay? I'm actually concentrating on
this one. I've made a lot of people mad at me because I've not
worked on my other ficcy, Indifference, for some time now
because of this one. So play nice!
Usagi is very OUT OF CHARACTER. No flames will be accepted
for that point. I warned you and that is that. Don't ask
questions, *puts on Yoda voice* everything will be explained.
~'~
Different.
That was the only word to describe Usagi. Silver
hair. Silver eyes. The cold and unapproachible aura
that hung around her. No one dared to go near her.
Well, there were other words, as one girl
poitned out. Shy, indifferent, strange...
But not one of them fit as well as the simple
word 'different' did. And even if they'd found a whole
book of things that described Usagi, still, not one of
them could grab the guts to talk to her.
But that was okay. That was the way she liked
it. If there were no people, then there were no people
to explain things to. Usagi had her own way of doing
things. If someone else didn't like it, fine. They
could deal with it.
She always looked pretty. Beautiful. Damn, she
was drop dead gorgeous! But if any boy asked her
anything, even if it was her *name*, they got that
glare with her odd silver eyes that chilled them to the
bone and made them run away, faster than they would if
she had pulled out a sword and told them exactly where
she could and would put it.
She wasn't exactly an orphan, though it was true her parents were dead. But she had made a pretty good life for herself, and friends that helped her out...
Until they came. The Social workers. They
discovered that she had no family, but not that she was
a witch. No one knew this. It was her own secret.
She was placed in a foster home, many of them,
in fact. Always moving. Until three days ago. Up until
three days ago she had been jostled around in different
homes for five years. Now she was sixteen. And someone
adopted her.
Adopted. The very word made her shudder. She
liked moving. That way she only had to stay in the same
school for a little while. Less time with the
ignorants.
But no. This new family liked her. Even though
she had been as rude as possible to them. She had a new
father, a new mother, and a new brother. As much as she
hated to admit it, she liked them. They gave her her own room, and enrolled her at Juuban High School. They gave her a family name, Tsukino. She had insisted she knew enough to enroll in college, and it was true, she did. But they just laughed at her.
She was being different again.
~*~*~*~*~*~
END PROLOGUE
'I hate this. More of those insufferable
innocent *things* who think the worse thing in the
world is being grounded.' She thought to herself as she
walked to school, dressed in her new school fuku. She
gave cold glares to anyone she caught looking at her,
until she reached the iron-wrought gates of Juuban. A
small, nagging sense of insecurity tugged at the very
edges of her conscious mind, but she shoved it away.
"Well, I might as well get the facts straight,
anyway." She muttered as she entered the courtyard. The
students were roaming around the grassy yard freely,
talking, chatting. She walked over to a seemingly
deserted tree and leaned up against it, looking over
her new victims.
"HIDEE HO!" A very annoying voice came from
behind her. She spun around. A boy, shorter than her,
with strange swirly glasses stood there. "I'm
Um..in...o...." He trailed off as Usagi gave him her
trademark glare. He giggled nervously and beghan
backing away. When hee was about three meters from her
he turned and ran off, yelling something about killers.
She turned back around and this time put her back up
against the tree. It was better to watch your back
anyway. No one else approached her. Even though she saw
guys looking at her, and girls staring. She heard a
bell and decided that these were like the rest.
Innocent. Ignorant.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Hello. My name is Mizuno Ami. What's yours?" It
was lunchtime, and Usagi had chosen to sit by the same
tree she had taken refuge by that morning. She was
surprised to see that the girl had blue hair. Odd.
Before answering, Usagi tried to get an idea of what
this girl would be like. Ami was not a good liar. Usagi
knew that already, for the blue-haired girl's eyes
revealed everything she thought about.
This girl was not an ignorant. Nor was she an
innocent. This girl knew what pain was.
"I'm Usagi." She answered. This was one who knew
of the dangers.
"Oh, good. I thought you weren't going to answer
me." Ami seemed releived.
"I only talk to some. Feel lucky." Usagi said,
looking off. "Why the fuck are all those guys staring
at me?" She muttered.
"Do you have a mirror, girl? You're gorgeous." A
blonde came out from behind the tree. Usagi didn't like
the idea that she was spying on her. "Oh. I'm Minako,
By the way."
"Hello, Minako." Usagi growled. "And you might
as well tell them they will have no luck what-so-ever."
"Why?" Another girl stepped out from behind the
infamous tree. This one was really tall, with brown
hair pulled up into a ponytail tied with green
knockers.
"Because. And why were you spying on me?" Usagi
glared at Minako, who shrank back a bit, and the other
girl, who didn't seem fazed at all.
"I'm Makoto." She said, holding out her hand for
a handshake. Usagi, for the first time in years, was
surprised. Full grown adult males had backed away under
that stare. Instead of taking Makoto's hand, she cocked
her head to one side.
"I think I like you, Makoto. No one else has
stood up to me in a very long time." her thoughts
flitted back to the one foster home she had liked. She
quickly shoved them away.
"I'll take that as a complament." Makoto
shrugged.
"Dude, your eyes are freaky. Silver! Way cool!"
Minako inched closer and looked more carefully at
Usagi's eyes. Usagi searched Minako's. What she found
was hurt. And pain. Lots of it. This girl was happy
only to cover her meloncoly mood. She was not a good
liar, either. Makoto's eyes, on the other hand,
revealed nothing. Just the same clear emerald gaze.
"You're freaky! Way Kewl!" Minako nearly
strangled Usagi as she hugged her. Usagi gasped for
breathe.
"Oh, look. The freak squad have found a new
member." A snotty looking like a moron surrounded by swooning
girls and tough looking guys snorted. Usagi pushed
Minako away and began to walk towards him. Makoto grabbed her wrist.
"No, Usagi. That's Ryco. He'll clobber you-- and
if *he* doesn't, his gang will." She pleaded.
"They cannot hurt me." Usagi murmured and jerked
free. If her fighting skills failed her, she had her
magic. No, not her magic. Her magic was a secret.
"Look at her! Silver hair! What a weirdo!" A
red haired girl with yellow-green eyes that clung to
Ryco's arms shrieked in a high pitched whine. The voice
made Usagi shudder. She supposed Ryco only used the the
girl for *ahem*. I'm trying to keep this at a low
rating.
"Damn right. there goes my rating.. If any of
you goddamn ingrates feel like trying to hit a girl,
try me." Usagi growled. Minako and Ami gasped. Makoto
stared hard at Usagi. She was sure the girl could take
them-- she was also sure the girl could and would kill
them. It was just something she felt. But she could not
stop Usagi.
"What?" It was a mocking, but surprised tone.
"The little pipsqueak challages me?! I know you're new,
but surely you know that I am my gang are all black
belts." Ryco said. He was a little fearful of this
girl, he didn't know why.
"Do not try to frighten me. You are a coward,
having others do your fighting for you. No honourable
warrior does that." Usagi said.
"Ryco, baby, you're not a coward. Show that
bitch where she belongs." Red-hair whined.
"Who are you calling a bitch? I wasn't aware I
looked like your mother." Usagi said, almost sweetly to
the girl. Red-hair let out a whine that made everyone
jump. Everyone. Including the non rattleible Usagi.
By now almost the whole school had gathered
around them, creating a ring that not even the trachers
could have woven through, even if they had dared. Thye
just assumed it was Ryco picking on someone. They had
learned not to deal with RYco.
"So. Are you smart enough to walk away, or are
you going to 'be a man' and fight me, little boy?"
Usagi asked. A smirk cover her face. Only that both
angered and frightened Ryco.
"Usagi-- maybe we should go--" Minako attempted
to give Usagi a chance to leave.
"No. I want to see what he'll do. I haven't had
any challenges lately. Maybe he'll put up a fight."
Usagi said.
"SOMEONE DO SOMETHING!!" A cry from the crowd
arose. In reply, Ryco pushed red-hair away from him.
The boys steped forward, but Ryco motioned for them to
stay back also. Well, more like cussed at them, but
hey! What's the diff? Usagi smiled wickedly. She lived
to fight. Pity they didn't know that.
"Okay, girlie. You wanna fight so bad? Let's
go!" Ryco hissed, and lunged at her. She stepped aside,
and did a high round house that hit him in the face
twice. She took advantage of his stunned state and
began to attack with the feirocity of a grizzly. Ryco
managed to get in a few good hits now and then, but he
knew the moment her foot connected with his face that
the fight had already been decided. The students looked
on with awe.
"I will not let you get me this time, bastard!"
She hissed. Usagi had her training and her litheness going for her. Ryco had his brute force. The fight was
soon over, Ryco was battered. Beaten by a girl. His lip
was bleeding heavily. He wiped it away with as much
dignity as possible before shoving his way through the
crowd. His girlfriend and gang followed. Usagi stood
tall, her eyes throwing fire at the crowd. Her only
injury appeared to be a swollen arm. It didn't hurt
much.
"Us-Usagi-- c-come on." Makoto stuttered. Usagi
turned to her. A gasp escaped from Minako's throat at
the look of wild rage in Usagi's icey eyes.
"He will pay." She rasped.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Usagi! What if you had killed him? That was
uncalled for." It was much later and Usagi was in her
new room. A white panther paced around the room.
"Athena, calm down. He has dared to harm me. He
will pay. I'll just-- play a game with him." Usgai
said, streching out on the bed. The panther jumped up
there with her.
"Usagi," Athena, the panther, began, a look of
exasperation on it's face. "I trained you to fight
*for* good, not *against* it!"
"That beast is not good!"
"He is an innocent."
"I dislike these ignorants. They walk around, in
their own happy little worlds, oblivious to th
dangers."
"You are their guardian." Athena sighed.
"Doesn't mean I have to *like* them." Usagi
contradicted.
"You made some friends, I see." Athena changed
the subject.
"Yes, yes. Three. They are not like the others.
They know of pain-- they are not ignorant. Nor
innocent. They know of the shadows." Usagi said,
sitting up.
"No, they just realize there is more to the
world than happiness. None but you and I know of the
shadows. And it would be good for you to befriend an
innocent, as you call them. Make friends with one."
Athena said.
"Athena! I know what I saw! They know of them!
Whether they *know* they know or not, I saw it in their
eyes." Usagi jumped up.
"Well, then they were of the old kingdom. That's
it. And you must learn to control your anger. If I hear
of you injuring that boy again without his provoking
it, I will take away your powers for a day." Athena
said sternly. Footsteps were heard in the hall. Usagi
ran to the door and locked it, to give Athena time.
Athena muttred a few words of another tongue and she
shrank to the size of a house cat, her features melding
until she looked like an ordinary cat.
KNOCK KNOCK! "Usagi, may I come in?" It was
Ikuko, Usagi's new 'mother'.
"Yeah, hold on." Usagi took a final look at
Athena and unlocked the door. Ikuko stepped inside.
"There's some people downstairs. They say they
know you." Ikuko said. A scepital look was on her face.
Athena and Usagi looked at each other. Who could it be?
"Um, er, okay." Usagi said. Athena followed her
out the doors and down the stairs. In the living room,
talking to her 'father' and 'brother', were four very
old friends.
"Haruka!"