"The course of true love never did run smooth". William Shakespeare in A Midsummer Night's Dream (I, i, 134)
"The heart has its reasons, of which reason knows nothing". Pascal
It was true; Mamoru hadn't been at the Crown for days after that. Though not the reason the girls thought. He needed another job. The old one wasn't paying him as much as he would like to get. So, he looked up his old agent when he was a part time model.
Luckily he hadn't gotten out of shape and his agent- Tetsusai- was able to land him an interview.
"Right this way Chiba-san." The secretary said.
"Arigato." Mamoru bows slightly to her as he stood. He straightened out his business suit a little, before he walked into the decorated office of one of the top fashion magazines in the world- Transcendences.
He glances around at the interior noting that the person liked the color blue very much.
"Ah, Chiba-san." The feminine voice almost purred bringing his attention to the petite woman behind the desk. She was dressed in a business suit as well- pinstripes he noted- and work a red silken shirt underneath it. From where he was standing, he could see her shoes were black pumps with a silver buckle on top.
The woman was not only stylish but beautiful as well. Black hair pulled up into a French roll with tendrils of curled hair framing her face chocolate brown face. Her eyes were not wide but not small either and her cheekbones were not high but high enough to give her that soft look.
She rose and smiled at him with those pouty lips- she seemed to be wearing lip-gloss only- and offered her hand.
"Welcome to Transcendence." She said, her mint green eyes were warm. " I am Maya Johnson."
He shook her hand and felt…something. It was odd, but then again, some people were like that for him. "Mamoru Chiba. It's a pleasure to meet you ma'am."
"Now lets get down to business shall we?"
He had parked his cherry red motorcycle a little ways off before walking down the shopping district sidewalk. Mamoru was in a rather good mood; he had landed the job and signed on with the company. Maya-san was rather happy to have him as one of her models.
He was going over to the Crown to see Motoki and ask if the golden haired man would join him in a drink to celebrate. Though as he walked with his sunglasses blocking the glare of the sun, he felt himself frown. He was forgetting something…but what?
Still the man shook his head moving towards the Arcade. He must've been in deep thought for he didn't notice whom he had bumped into.
"Oh, gomen ne." He said looking at the red haired woman.
The woman looked up at him with her crimson eyes blinking slightly before smiling, " Chiba-sama." She said genuinely surprised. " No, excuse me, I wasn't looking where I was going."
Mamoru took off his sunglasses getting a real good look at her still surprised that he hadn't recognized her right off. Possibly because the princess was not wearing her black and gold crown and she was dressed in modern Earth clothing that, he noted, looked very good on her.
She wore a light blue sundress with a light yellow jacket and white sandals. Her hairstyle was the same and the way she held herself made the outfit work very well.
"Kakyuu-hime." Yaten and Taiki rushed out of the arcade to see if they could catch up to her and halted.
Kakyuu turns slightly smiling " Look who I found." She smiles a bit, " actually I just bumped into him."
"It's nothing really." He said looking slightly embarrassed then he looked up. He could tell who it was without even hearing a voice. Probably after all those years of being around her he would know instantly when she walked into a room.
"Hey, Yaten, Taiki, did you catch up to.." Usagi's words died off as she spotted Mamoru. " Mamo-ch..Mamoru-san." She tried to smile up at him as she felt Seiya's hand on her shoulder. "What are you doing here?"
Mamoru only looked from her to Seiya's questioning glance then back at them all. Probably was understandable, there was still tension between the two former lovers that was thick enough to cut with a knife. Still, the image of them burned in his memory and he puts his hand in his pocket almost casually to hide the fist that was in there.
Closing his eyes for a second Mamoru pasted on a smile, " Actually, I was going to see Motoki-kun."
"Oh?" Usagi tilted her head back curiously, "Why?"
He raises a brow before answering, " Well, to celebrate of course."
Kakyuu clapped her hands once, "Oh! Then we must be in your way, Chiba-sama." The red haired woman moved slightly, "By the by, what is the celebration for?"
"A new modeling job with Transcendence." He moves by them to stand at the crown door.
"No way!" Usagi gaped at him, "That's the biggest name in the fashion world."
Yaten looked thoughtful, "Hmm hm. Even we couldn't get them. They're very selective. Something about we looked too feminine for male models…" His lime green eyes flickered to him for a moment looking him over, " Say, how did you even get an appointment with them anyway?"
"Luck." Was all Mamoru told them, "Anyway, I must be going. I'm heading over to see Haruka-tachi."
Kakyuu nods before bowing slightly, "We'll see you later then, Chiba-sama."
The guys said their goodbyes though Usagi lingered for a moment more, "Mamoru." She looks him over, "Are you okay?"
Mamoru stares into her eyes for a long time. No, he wasn't all right. He still felt the sting and it didn't seem to be lessening, but he wouldn't let her know that.
"Of course Usagi."
Still, she hesitated for a bit. "We can be friends still, right?"
"Of course."
"Usagi!" Seiya was calling her.
She smiles a bit before running off waving to Mamoru, " Ja!"
"Ja…" Mamoru said to the air softly before turning with a smile on his face, " Oi! Motoki-kun!"
"We're forgetting something." Dark purple eyes turned towards the women around her. Though she should've been only a few years younger then some of them, Hotaru still had the body of an eleven year old and was still growing. Though the young girl in white didn't mind it much since none of the others ever treated her like a little kid.
"Something…important."
Haruka leaned back and frowned herself. "She's right." She glances towards the other two women in the room, "It's on the edge of my memory but I can't remember what it was."
"Setsuna?" Michiru turned towards the dark woman, " Do you know?"
"Yes and no." came the cryptic reply, " I am unsure which is true and which is lie."
"Well that helps a lot." The wheat blonde sighs and runs her fingers through her hair before flipping on the TV. The newscaster was talking about some earthquake or Tsunami off the coast of Africa and India- though she wasn't paying close attention to tell which is where and what happened when.
Setsuna set her teacup down and smoothed out her dark green skirt, "I cannot be asked about such things when it comes to Time and Space."
"There's something else, " the dark haired child announced, " Something else is coming as well."
Something shifted in the darkness, and the chest rose and fell without rhythm. Slowly, it moved a little- dirt and rock shifted along with it and fell to the unseen floor.
Something was disturbing it's slumber. Another- but who were interrupting the dreams?
Slowly, an eye lid slid open showing nothing but dark brown for a moment before bright green pupil with a golden center was seen as it rolls it's eyes.
Again rock and dirt shifted even more then before as it sat up and breathed it's first breath it had had in eons.
It glances over as more shadowy figures appear. The eyes flickered upwards and one of the figures disappeared.
It had awakened.