Starlight
Princess of Video Games
"I thought it would be a good way for us all to...uh...make amends."
Mamoru looked up and found Beryl's sweet smile sparkling at him.
"Huh?"
He removed his glasses and stepped away from the cadaver and his other two antagonistic lab partners.
"The Mall's having a festival," she explained, "I got tickets for all of us."
She leaned closer, her eyes on Meioh and Midorikawa, and murmured:
"After what happened yesterday, I thought maybe we could all use some time to relax..."
Mamoru could smell the soft fragrance of her perfume – it was a dark yet pleasant smell, elegant and slightly minty.
He wrinkled his nose and answered:
"Alright."
Her look told him that she hadn't expected him to agree so readily, and that she was very pleased that he had.
He was a little surprised himself, but he needed an excuse to get out and why pass up a free offer?
"Great," she grinned, "I'll ask the others."
"Good luck," Mamoru muttered.
Somehow, he never knew quite how, he had ended up in the middle of the Mall's festival with Beryl beside him, Midorikawa making cynical remarks about adolescent fashion, and Meioh-san trailing along behind them in a stony silence.
"Look at that dress, Meioh-san!" Beryl exclaimed, "That would look so beautiful on you - with your coloring it would be very attractive."
Meioh-san only smiled grimly at this. Mamoru couldn't tell if she was insulted, apathetic or...pleased.
"Um, Chiba-san," Beryl turned to him, "would you care to visit the art shops?"
Mamoru shrugged.
He was about to reply when all of his breath was knocked out of him.
"Ow!" he heard a familiar voice whine.
"It's - you!" he wheezed.
"Not you!" the blond from the video store wailed. True to form she'd barged into him head long.
"Why don't you watch where you're going?" he suggested after he caught his breath.
"Why don't you watch where you're going?" she replied.
"Do you know each other, Chiba-san?" Beryl asked politely.
"I don't know him!" Usagi yelled, making a disgusted face.
"We're acquaintances," Mamoru frowned, "but I hope the association won't be long lasting."
"Same here," Usagi snapped.
"Oh," Beryl blinked, unsure of how to handle their animosity.
"This Mall isn't big enough for the both of us," Usagi griped.
"You've been watching too many Westerns, Odango-atama."
"Don't call me THAT!" she screamed, stomping her foot in fury.
"Usagi!" a male voice called in alarm.
Mamoru looked up from the petite blond's temper-tantrum to see a white haired man approaching.
"What's going on here?" the man asked.
"Is this man upsetting you, Usagi?"
Mamoru opened his mouth to reply, but the blond cut him off.
"No! But he is a royal jerk. Let's go, Artemis."
The white haired man stared at Mamoru in confusion, then his eyes narrowed. He looked as though he would have liked to have said something more but Usagi was dragging him away at an alarming speed.
"Well, that was interesting," Beryl commented.
"Yeah," he remarked. He walked on, lost in thought..
Usagi? What kind of a name is that!? And was that guy her father?...he looked too young and she didn't address him as if ...
"Chiba-san?"
Beryl was looking at him with a perplexed expression.
"Yes?"
"Meioh and I are going to look at jewelry, I though maybe we could meet up with you two later for dinner?"
"Sounds good."
He caught Midori's eye, but the other man only shrugged and flicked his green hair out of his face. They fell into step with each other as the women walked off.
They turned to walk East in a comfortable and companionable silence.
"So.." Mamoru asked, "did you sign up for an art class this coming quarter?"
"Yeah," Midori answered, "I have to reach the fourth level in art, but this is the last anatomy class I'll have to take."
"Being a medical artist must be like having a double major."
"Yeah," Midori snorted.
Just like that, Mamoru knew he'd been forgiven and his words of yesterday forgotten. Sometimes there were advantages to having a friend as surly and taciturn as himself.
Suddenly Midori veered sharply to the left and Mamoru looked to see where he was going. In a corner of the Mall was a flower booth set up with bunches of freshly cut flowers and arrangements. Midori headed for them without pausing - very much like a giant bee. Mamoru had never understood the other man's obsession with flowers, he himself preferred roses only, but he had nothing better to do so he went to look at them with his friend.
As he bent down to cradle the soft petal of a pale, drooping flower a stranger bumped into him, jostling him slightly. The stranger and Mamoru both apologized politely and the man went on his way. Midori watched them both, consideringly.
"That man just stole your wallet," he commented.
"What?"
Mamoru slipped his hand into his jacket pocket.
"Damn."
"I'll get him," Midori said, and dropped the bunch of yellow roses he was holding to run pell mell after the retreating man. Mamoru thought to call him back but decided to let him run. Once Midori had his mind set on anything, especially where his temper and Mamoru's well being were concerned, it was impossible to stop him. Mamoru located a mall guard instead and informed the man about the crime.
Then he began to wander aimlessly around the mall.
An hour later, Mamoru realized he was lost. He turned in the direction he thought was West in order to retrace his steps, but halted when a familiar voice accosted him.
"Hey, you!"
He groaned. He had been found by the last person he wanted to see.
"Odango-atama."
Her face turned red.
"Don't call me that."
He turned to go but she stopped him again.
"Where are your friends?"
"I don't know," he replied.
"You lost your friends!?" she asked, incredulously.
"I didn't lose them," he answered, "they lost me. And anyway where is your...uh..." he didn't know what their relationship was...
"I - I -I," she stuttered and to his surprise burst into tears.
"I lost Artemis!!!" she wailed.
"Don't," he pleaded as she cried, "just...don't." The noise was horrendous and it made him feel extremely uncomfortable.
"Can't you go be lost somewhere else?"
Usagi stared at him and only cried harder and louder.
"How can you say things like that!?" she sobbed, "You have no heart!"
"Uh, sorry," he apologized desperately, "why don't we -"
"I'm lost! And I'm hungry!!!"
"Well then go get something to eat."
"Artemis has the m-m-money!"
"Then I'll - uh -oh." He remembered belatedly that he was now as poor as she was.
"Sorry, I don't have any money either."
Her crying stopped.
"You're kidding," she said, candidly, "You look so rich."
It was so bizarrely honest that he started laughing before he knew what he was doing. She smiled hesitantly.
"Well, looks can be deceiving," he said, lightly, "let's just try to find -"
"But I'm hungry!"
"Well, I don't know what you want me to do about it," he snapped.
"Wait!" she yelled, her face transformed from misery to joy so fast it made Mamoru's head spin.
"I've got an idea! Come on!"
To his utter surprise and displeasure she grabbed his arm and half pulled, half dragged him to the Arcade.
"What are we -" he began.
"Look!" she pointed proudly at a large sign on the windows of the store. The sign read:
'TOURNAMENT TODAY ONLY. All contestants welcome.'
He read the cash prize at the bottom and nearly fell over.
"You can't be serious."
"Let's go!"
"You're going to win our dinner by playing video games?"
"Just let me do all the talking," she replied, pushing him inside and into a crowd of teenagers.
"You are seriously going to play video games for money, Odango?"
"Don't call me that!" She snapped, but she wasn't really paying attention, being too engrossed in the game displayed on the large, multi-player screen above them.
As soon as the last loser dropped out she thrust herself into the vacated spot and took up the controller. At first the other players, mostly teenage boys, hooted and jeered at her but they soon quieted down when the realized the extent of her considerable skills.
"Wow, you're not bad!" one of the guys called out.
Mamoru only shook his head.
"Your girlfriend's pretty good," the proprietor, an older man, mentioned to him.
"Uh - she's not, I mean - we're not -," Mamoru blushed.
"Oh, my mistake," the man coughed, "uh, but she is very good."
Mamoru watched the look of intense concentration on Usagi's cute face - it was rather adorable.
"Yeah," he replied, "she is."
Before he knew what he was doing he found himself chanting quietly along with the other teenagers who were rooting for Usagi to win. As the game drew to a close, Usagi's face only grew more determined. Then the screen burst into light and spinning images and Usagi jumped into the air, throwing her controller into the crowd.
"I WON!" she screamed, bouncing up and down with wild abandon.
"I woniwoniwoniwoniwoniwonionwon!" she sang.
"Yeah, you did, good job, Odango!" Mamoru laughed.
She froze in mid air.
"Don't call me that!" she glared.
"Hey, onisan, maybe you should pick on kids your own age!" one of the poorer losers yelled.
"What did you say to me?" Usagi growled.
"Yeah, grandma, you're too old to play games like this!" his girlfriend joined in.
"I'm not old!" Usagi shrieked, "I"m the princess of video games!"
"More like the old witch!" the girl retorted.
They instantaneously stuck their tongues out at each other as far as the would go.
"Let's go get your prize, Odango," Mamoru suggested, grabbing her firmly by the arm and propelling her toward the counter.
"Feel better now?" he asked.
She smiled and nodded as she slurped her chocolate milkshake.
"Good."
He pulled out the wad of left over cash from her winnings and pushed it toward her over the table.
She blinked at him uncomprehendingly.
"That's yours," she said.
"What? But you won it."
"I won it for you," she replied, as though this were the most obvious thing in the world.
"But don't you want to buy video games or manga, or milkshakes?"
She shrugged.
"Keep it," she said.
Mamoru looked at her in amazement. Just when he thought he had finally figured out some part of her personality she somehow managed to surprise him.
"So was that red-headed lady your girlfriend?" she asked, curiously.
"Uh -no," he replied, "I don't have a girlfriend."
"I'm not surprised."
"Why?" he asked, his eyes narrowing.
"Because," she slurped, "you just don't strike me as the type of guy who's good at relationships."
Mamoru sat in a shocked silence.
"How old are you?" he finally asked.
"I just turned twenty," she replied happily.
"There's no way."
"I ought to know how old I am," she retorted.
"You act like you're twelve and you look fifteen," he countered.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Are you in college?"
"No."
"Are you...married?"
"No!" she blushed.
"Then what do you do with yourself?" he asked, exasperated.
"I do what I want."
"You mean you're wasting your life," he answered, crossing his arms.
She grew furious.
"Why would you say something like that!?" she yelled, "You don't even know me!"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he amended, "It's just that I can't stand to see anyone waste their potential like you are."
"What makes you think that's what I'm doing?" she countered.
"What do you want to be?" he asked, suddenly, "more than anything else?"
"Um...a bride," she blushed very red.
"I mean besides that," he tried to hide his annoyance.
"Uh, well, in high school I wanted to be a...a mangaka." she admitted, with a dreamy look in her eyes.
His cheek twitched.
"You want to draw manga?"
"Why do you say it like that!?"
"You have no other ambitions? No other goals?"
"What's wrong with that?"
"It's useless and silly, that's what's wrong with it!" he declared.
"It isn't useless and silly if it makes people happy!"
Her harried cry rang through the empty silence as they both regarded each other with angry, mistrustful eyes.
"Alright," he sighed at last, "So you want to be a manga artist. Have you ever thought of taking classes?"
She slurped on her milkshake in deep thought.
"Well, I'd like to...but how? Where would I go?"
"You could go anywhere!" he cried.
"All you have to do is enroll in private classes, or in a university. You could even enroll in my school."
"Really?"
Her blue eyes sparkled with a kindled excitement that he found fascinating.
"Of course," he answered softly. His breath stirred her bangs.
"There you are," a voice rang sharply.
They jerked away from each other and suddenly realized how close they'd been leaning toward one another over the table. Usagi's face was red, and Mamoru felt his own cheeks were a little hot.
Why should I feel guilty? He wondered, I haven't done anything wrong.
Beryl was looking at him with an odd expression in her smoky amber eyes.
"I'm glad you found us - uh, me," he muttered, rising. As he did he saw the white haired man, Artemis, over Beryl's shoulder, striding toward their table with a sour expression.
"Uh, maybe we should go now," he mumbled.
Usagi caught his eye and winked.
"I'm glad you're here," she said to Beryl, "He's been talking about you so much that I could cry from boredom."
Beryl blinked in surprise.
"Really?"
"Oh, yeah," Usagi yawned, "well, gotta go. Thanks for the milkshake!" she called back.
"But you're the one who-" he began, then sighed, "Never mind."
He watched her go with a mixture of relief and...regret. He felt suddenly cold again, as though there were some strange warmth simply in her presence.
He turned to see Beryl regarding him with an inscrutable look.
"Is she your...friend?" she asked curiously.
"I don't know," he replied without thinking. Then he smiled at her.
"Do you want to get something to eat?"
She returned the smile with a sunny one of her own and nodded.
That night Mamoru lay on his bed, thinking over the events of the day.
True to his word, Midorikawa had apprehended the thief with the help of the Mall guard and Mamoru now possessed his wallet with cards, money and identification intact. Plus, he now had the added bonus of Usagi's video game winnings.
He turned the wallet over and over in his slender hands as the moonlight falling softly through his bedroom window played over his fingers and cast a pale glow.
She's a very warm hearted girl - he considered -even if she is irresponsible and lackadaisical.
In his mind's eye he saw her frank blue eyes staring at him. He heard her voice say:
"You just don't strike me as the type of guy who's good at relationships."
That's true, Odango, but then I haven't had a lot of practice.
He watched her wink at him and remembered Beryl's odd expression - suddenly the two things connected in his mind.
Maybe it's something I can work on.
Sugimoto-san is a nice woman, he thought sleepily, very nice...
The moon was hidden by a cloud as he finally drifted off to sleep. The stars twinkled in his dreams - sometimes amber and sometimes blue.