Chocolate Fixes Everything
Chapter Two
Disclaimer: insert standard disclaimer here
Warnings: AU, OOC, Usagi-centric, semi-Rei-centric, love polygons, anti-Mamoru (very little bashing)
Author's Note: I'm sorry this is so late. I haven't had the time to write lately. Oh yes, there's a cliffhanger at the end of this. Sorry.
Usagi woke up with a cramp in her neck. She blinked, wondering why she was sprawled over the sofa instead of snuggled up next to Mamoru in their king-sized bed. After a few moments, her memory returned to her and she rose, sighing— which she seemed to be doing a lot lately.
After crying for a few moments last night, she had raided the kitchen for chocolate and watched a depressing movie, which she fell asleep towards the end of.
She looked through the living room window and out onto the driveway. No black BMW accompanied her silver Jeep Rubicon, which meant that either Mamoru hadn't come home yet, or he was already back at work for the day. Speaking of…
Usagi craned her neck to see the kitchen clock, which read 8:29 AM.
"I'm gonna be LAAATE!"
Old habits die hard.
Rei paced the lobby of Luna Inc., a rolled-up newspaper clutched tightly in her hand. The other employees, mostly grunts, were avoiding her like the plague. It was a well-known fact that the CEO's personal assistant and best friend had an even more inflammatory temper than the CEO herself.
"Ohayo gozaimasu, Rei-san," Mizuno Ami said cheerily, ignoring the glare she received from the raven-haired girl.
"She's late," Rei grumbled, finally giving up on trying to intimidate the Financial Department head. Ami blinked and turned her head to the revolving glass entryway.
"I know it shouldn't surprise me, but it does," Ami said, before continuing her business as usual. Rei gave an exasperated sigh and began tapping the newspaper against her leg, glancing at her watch for the fifth time in the past seven minutes. It was around 9:00 AM when Usagi finally walked through the doors, maintaining the illusion of a calm, confident professional.
Rei knew better than to trust outward appearances. Usagi was running a hand through her bangs, and her lips were quivering slightly. Both, Rei had learned after six years of friendship with Usagi, were sure signs of nervousness. It probably didn't help that Rei was glaring at her, but the dark-haired girl was irritated that Usagi had regained the habit of tardiness from her teen years.
I thought I had rid her of that habit in senior year, Rei thought unhappily.
"Gomen, Rei-chan," Usagi said softly, trying not to show the distress she was feeling at the possible reprimand she would receive from her best friend. Fortunately for her, Rei took a deep breath, mentally counted to ten, and let the past hour (during which time she had been waiting) fly away.
"It's all right, just don't do it again," Rei assured the blonde, "especially not when we're in the middle of a crisis. Speaking of which, we have a development." At this point, Rei gave Usagi a significant look. The two nodded at each other simultaneously, and made their way up the levels to Usagi's office.
Once in the safe, soundproof area, Rei unrolled the newspaper and slammed it on the desk. The marquee proudly proclaimed "Wing Corp. Creates New Product; Luna Inc. Left in the Dust."
Rei had been extremely wise to wait until they reached the safe, soundproof area, because Usagi's scream of outrage reached three floors below as it was.
It also reached across the street, into the quiet office of Wing Corp. CEO Yui Hiiro. Duo smiled beatifically, violet-blue eyes dancing with glee.
"Music to my ears," he said, meandering over to the window of Hiiro's office to gaze at the window on the opposite side of the road, which he assumed belonged to Tsukino-Chiba Usagi. "We'll have them running away with their tails between their legs in no time."
"…Hnnn..." Duo rolled his eyes at Hiiro's grunt. He was one of the few people who understood Hiiro's limited vocabulary. This particular grunt meant "I'm sleepy," according to "The Handy Heero Dictionary on Tape" (by Shinigami no Kamikaze).
"Well, then, you shouldn't have stayed up all night making that new prototype," Duo said tartly, surveying the street below.
"Hn. Baka." Duo shot Hiiro a criticizing look.
"Now that's just cruel. I'm only looking out for your well-being, there's no need to call names."
"Omae o korosu," Hiiro growled, shooting Duo a death glare and rising from his seat.
"You don't mean that, do you Hii-man?" Duo gulped, glancing around for an escape route as he backed away from his boss.
"Prepare to die."
"QUATRE! HELP!"
Usagi was stumped. She sat, arms crossed and chin on her arms, at her cherry wood desk, wondering what to do about the situation at hand. Invent a product, invent a product, her mind chanted, as if the mantra would help her think of something to get her out of this mess.
It didn't. Her train of thought kept make its way back to the track that stopped by the audacious headline and the evil (for she was convinced that he was, in fact, the most evil being on the planet) Yui Hiiro.
There was a knock on the door. Usagi called out a welcome, thankful for the distraction. Aino Minako (who in spite of the fact that Usagi had yelled at her the day before, was one of Usagi's old friends) peeked around the door.
"Hey, Usagi-chan, I brought you something," Minako said, entering the room. She held a small tray in her hands, a steaming mug of hot chocolate perched on top of it. Usagi smiled gratefully.
"Minako-chan, you are an angel!" she said, accepting the hot chocolate with exuberant thanks.
"You're welcome," Minako laughed, sitting down in one of the visitors' chairs. "So, how goes the brainstorming?" Usagi shook her head dejectedly, sipping some hot chocolate. She didn't notice the whipped cream mustache left behind, nor would she have cared much about it if she did.
"Not so hot. You know, Minako-chan, maybe I should quit the communications business and look into making chocolate, as that seems to be the only thing I like anymore."
"I wouldn't advise it. You were always bad at cooking," Minako said with a teasing smile. Usagi smiled for a moment along with her, but then suddenly frowned.
"A mini-computer, damn it!" she cried, banging her head on the table and jogging the mug of hot chocolate. "We were just going through the plans to make one of our own, too!"
"You know, Usagi, stressing will get you nowhere. It'll just make things harder on yourself," Minako said worriedly. Usagi's frown deepened as she removed her head from the (now dented, she was sure) table.
"I don't have time for that, Minako! If we don't get an edge over Wing Corp., Luna Inc. will go down the drain! I'll lose everything."
"You have Mamoru-san," Minako said, attempting to cheer Usagi up. The blonde girl didn't respond, and Minako didn't notice the flash of pain that trespassed on Usagi's features. "Look, Usagi-chan, go home and relax. Watch a movie, go shopping… Do something to take your mind off of business, because it's obvious that you can't think under this kind of pressure."
"But—"
"Go. I'll make your excuses to Rei-chan." Usagi giggled.
"I don't envy you, Minako," she said, remembering the look on Rei's face that morning. Minako gave a pained look.
"The things I do for friendship… Go now, before I change my mind." Usagi laughed and rushed out of the room.
It was raining when Usagi emerged stelthily from the building, and Usagi wished she'd had the sense to actually bring the roof of her Jeep with her instead of opting for the free, shelterless adaptation. Oh well, it was too late now. She hopped into her car, shot a glare at Wing Corp., and sped off, happy for the lack of traffic that came standard with a rainy day at ten in the morning. She was home within fifteen minutes, smiling sleepily at the quaint little house that she shared with Mamoru. She parked her car and unlocked the front door, inhaling the pine scent once more. She stretched luxuriously and closed the door behind her, shutting off the sound of the rain.
As the rain faded out, she heard a new noise. Mamoru can't be home yet, can he? Usagi made her way to the source of the noise— her bedroom. Was it a burglar? She pushed the door open a fraction and froze.
I think it's quite obvious what's going on, but I'm leaving you there anyway. ;-P
My beloved reviewers:
Anya No Gin Hoshi: I guess I probably should include a glossary of terms, ne? Thank you for the advice.
Lady in Red1: I'm glad you like it so much! I need some chocolate about now… I can't even think straight enough to type…
Usa-neechan: Learn from me? Oo We'd probably have a whole lot worse fics than we already do! I did try to keep the characters in character, though…
¤°°º°º°°¤çé ßúé Éy駤°°º°º°°¤: Mou, please don't hurt me! Since when is being hooked a bad thing… ah. Yes, when an author doesn't update in ages. Bad Riru, bad!
Heeros Bunny: I'm so sorry! TT I don't think this constitutes as soon. --
Moon Mage Goddess: Sandry? As in "The Circle Opens"? I'm a major Tamora Pierce fan. I find it hard to believe that there are no flaws. I'll probably make millions of them before this is done.
Deidre Marie: Ah yes, this is the age where the experienced writers fall from power to the newbies who think they know fanfiction… To think I used to be one of them… TT Thank you for the compliments to my writing style… though I'm not quite sure I have any. (Style, that is. )
angelwings6117:glomp: Wow! Someone who reads my stories! XD Yes, I guess I do have Usagi drumming her fingers a lot… I think it's because it's a habit of mine… you know, drumming the fingers…
Until next time!