Authors Note: oh my god you guys... I thought that NOBODY had reviewed or followed this story, because I wasn't getting email notifications like I usually did. So I decided that maybe I just wasn't cut out to write sexy stuff, since people didn't like it. I guess I accidentally turned the notifications off? Then a bunch of drama happened in my life, but anyway, BASICALLY I'm really sorry I haven't updated this yet! I thought no one was interested! I'm so happy to have gotten some reviews and follows though, I hope you'll keep enjoying what you see! Sorry about the length of time! Now that I know some people are reading, it wont take me so long to keep writing lol!
Thank you all! I hope you enjoy this next chapter! Reviews always appreciated!
Angelina
"You wouldn't understand." Mamoru's voice finally carried over. Usagi closed her eyes, wishing she could will her legs to move away. She definitely wasn't supposed to be hearing this.
"I understand better than you think. But I can't allow it." Minako's voice was soft. "Stay away from Usagi Tsukino."
And then, even softer, so Usagi could barely hear the reply, "No."
Usagi fled.
Surely that hadn't actually been about her. There was no reason for it. She wasn't special, she wasn't anyone, really. She was just a country girl in a new school. Usagi tried to keep herself from crying, but a small tear crept its way down her face anyway. She brushed it away, angrily. What right did Minako have to tell her who she could and couldn't hang out with?
Not that she'd want to hang out with a gang member anyway.
Usagi went outside and sat underneath a tree, a small frown gracing her features. Ami, from her science class earlier, approached her with another girl who looked like an athlete. She didn't have the grace that Minako possessed, but she looked built. Maybe she was on the basketball team...her height would certainly be an asset.
"Hey. We saw you were eating lunch alone, so we thought we'd join you." The blue haired girl said with a quiet smile. "This is my friend Makoto Kino."
"Hey there." The bigger girl said with an earnest grin. Usagi felt immediately at ease. There was something about Makoto that radiated simplicity. There were no secrets, no ulterior motives, only strength and honesty. "You're the new kid right?"
"That's right. My grandmother passed-" Usagi's voice hitched and she stopped, picking at her food somewhat listlessly. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked into warm green eyes.
"Hey. I get it. My parents died when I was a kid. It must be hard."
Usagi felt a painful ache form in her throat and swallowed it away with difficulty. Her hands were shaking. Before she could say anything else, the girl had traded her beautiful bento box with her own colorless bland lunch.
"Here. Getting started on your own isn't easy. You should at least eat something special on your first day." Mako said cheerfully, ignoring Usagi's protests.
"Mako is the greatest cook on campus. You shouldn't insult her by rejecting the gift." Ami said with a small smile, leaning into her friend.
"I wouldn't say the greatest." Mako protested, obviously pleased at the compliment. "But hey, I'm up there." She fixed Usagi with a stern look, "And she's right. I would be very very insulted if you say no."
Usagi could hear the laugh behind her words and smiled shakily. "Thank you then...I appreciate it."
"Say...where's Minako? Isn't she supposed to be your guide?" Makoto asked suddenly, looking around at the other uniformed students. She noticed the blonde besides her stiffen and raised an eyebrow, glancing at Ami who looked equally concerned.
"I think she was busy." Usagi said, trying to sound indifferent. She took a bite of her lunch and her expression brightened, "Mako this is amazing!"
The brunette blushed prettily and took a hearty bight of her own sandwich. She valiantly tried not to make a face, but didn't quite manage it. Usagi loooked horrified, and had already started a stream of apologies before the two were interrupted by quiet laughter. Ami was holding her face in her hands, shaking from the barely suppressed giggles that were trying to surface. Usagi was next, and soon the trio were laughing so hard they could barely breath.
It had been three weeks since her first day of school, and thanks to the terrible monotony that high school brought, Usagi was settling into a routine. Makoto, knowing what it was like to suddenly have responsibilities thrust upon you, had taken to showing up at Usagi's every morning and walking her to school. Usagi enjoyed being mothered by the brunette. It made her feel less anxious at the start of every day to know she wouldn't have to be alone. It was only at night that terror overtook her, and she often found herself wandering the rooms in her small apartment, looking for something to distract her.
She had been having dreams.
She could only attribute it to the stress from the death of her grandmother, but since the first day of school she had woken at least once a night, her face wet. She could never fully remember what she had dreamed, only bits and pieces surfaced.
Blue eyes. Fire. Hot, sticky blood on pale hands.
"Ms. Tsukino." The voice was coming from her English teacher, who had stopped the class and was looking at her pointedly when she jerked her head, "Please tell me you've read the chapters that were assigned last Friday."
"Um. Yes. I...did." She offered hesitantly, aware the entire class was staring at her. Romeo and Juliet. It was one of her favorite Shakespeare plays, but her class had already read it, and she had found that going over old material only made her drowsy.
"And you do know that there is a participation grade associated with this class, correct? What did you think of Mercutio's actions?"
Usagi cringed away from the question. She felt particularly impassioned about this part of the play, and didn't want to make a fool of herself by offering her peculiar opinions. A hand shot up, two rows from her. Minako, perhaps thinking that Usagi hadn't actually read the homework, had decided to save the day. Usagi gave her an uncertain smile from across the room. Things between them had been tense, since Usagi had overheard the conversation between the blonde and Mamoru. She could tell Minako had been trying to be better friends, but felt she might to better staying away from a girl who was obviously trying to control her. She hadn't seen Chiba in class since that day, anyway. Obviously she was a very strong influence on her classmates.
The teacher made a face when Usagi didn't respond and then rolled his eyes with a sigh.
"Yes, Ms. Aino?"
"Mercutio was obviously in the right! He was defending the honor of his family! Romeo should have stayed away from the entire feud. He wasn't thinking of how his actions could hurt the one that he loved-" She was cut off very suddenly.
"How could you say that?" Serena's eyes were a bright snapping blue and her cheeks looked a little pink. She plowed on, "Mercutio is the one who had too much pride to stop a feud that had been going on needlessly! Romeo believed his union with Juliet could stop any further tragedy and he ruined it!"
Minako looked shocked for a second and then gathered herself together, her own cheeks now sporting a fierce, humiliated blush, "But- but if he hadn't approached Juliet in the first place, neither of them would have died. Instead his actions lead them both to death!"
"His actions! His actions were the only thing that held the possibility for hope! They might have died at the hands of each others families if the feud continued anyway... Better to have tried and failed then to not have tried at all! Besides-" She took a deep breath, and then suddenly realized that the entire class was staring at her. She hadn't strung more than three words together since she had started to attend school. "They were in love..." She finished in a rather small voice, staring at her desk and wishing that she hadn't put her hair up in her signature style so it could cover her face.
She glanced over at Minako and saw her looking at her with an angry expression. Well now you've done it, Usagi. Now she really wont talk to you again.
"That's- That's FANTASTIC girls! Wonderful!" Their teacher exclaimed excitedly. "Isn't it amazing when stories make us love them so much you actually take a side! I hope the rest of you can learn from their example, because I really-"
He was cut off by the loud buzz of the bell and sighed, shouting their homework at them as everyone gathered their things. Usagi walked out of the door with her eyes glued to the floor, wishing she could just disappear. She felt a strong hand grab her arm and cringed, looking up at Minako guilitly. She was surprised to see that the other girl looked rather hurt.
"Usagi." She said with a quiet voice, "I'd like to talk to you during lunch."
"I...can't. I've got to..." Usagi looked for a way out of the confrontation she was sure was coming. She didn't want to admit that she'd been spying, but she still felt uneasy about the way the girl had shouted at Mamoru.
"Did I do something to you? Why are you acting like this? I just wanted-"
"It- it's nothing, okay? Nothing is wrong. I just really like that play." Usagi rushed, tugging her arm away from Minako's grip. She could see the uncertainty in her eyes and tried to smile encouragingly, even if her heart wasn't in it.
"Okay... Will I see you at lunch then?"
"Um. I'm busy. Really..." Usagi winced, feeling guilt twist her gut. She wished she could come clean. Surely Minako wouldn't be too mad that she had been spied on, right?
"Oh. Okay. Well... I'll see you after school?"
"Yeah. Maybe."
Hours later, during science class, she wondered just what the hell was wrong with her. Minako had been nothing but nice to her. She had introduced her to other students, she had made sure Usagi knew her assignments, she had even taken to calling her every once in awhile to ask how she was doing. Usagi sighed heavily. If she was being honest with herself, her uncertainty wasn't just coming from the fact that she felt bad about the spying. Something that had been said had bothered her.
The quiet No that had been uttered by Mamoru had shot through her veins like ice, almost stopping her heart. And she realized that she had felt the sting of disappointment when day after day, he wasn't in her fourth period class.
It doesn't matter. He doesn't matter. God, I don't even know him.
Usagi glared at her paper and tried to concentrate. Ami cleared her throat and elbowed her a little.
"Usagi... We have to hand these in soon."
"Oh...sorry. Right. Um. I've done this bottom one... Trade you for the top answer?" She glanced over at her friends paper and sighed. Of course she was already done. "Oh never mind, you've finished as usual."
"You know I wouldn't let you cheat anyway." Ami reminded her gently, and then opened their heavy textbook to the correct page, "The answer is on this page."
Usagi read the page and started copying down the answer, only glancing up when she noticed Ami was staring at her with a concerned expression.
"Um... So...Minako was in my class last period..."
"Oh really? That's so funny! Hey I'm done, I'll take these up to the front for us." She said, trying to disguise her nervousness. Was Minako already trying to turn her friends against her already? She put the assignments down at the front and walked back, looking at Ami nervously. The blue haired girl smiled slightly and Usagi felt relief wash over her. Her anxiety returned when Ami's face turned serious again.
"Usa, what is this about? Minako is a really nice person...she doesn't understand what she did wrong."
"She didn't- it wasn't anything she did." Usagi played with her pencil, doodling on her book nervously. Why did Minako care if she was friends with her anyway? She was just the new girl.
"Then what is it?" Ami asked patiently.
"Ami...what do you know about Mamoru?" Usagi asked suddenly, looking up into her friends face. She watched different emotions flicker across Ami's face. Surprise, anger, and then a resigned expression.
"He- He's just a thug. Every school has one of them." Her voice sounded surprisingly bitter.
"I overheard Minako telling him to stay away from me-" Usagi began.
"And you should, Usagi!" Ami interrupted earnestly, "He's a bad guy. He just hurts people around him."
Usagi had to look away from her expression, which was intense and full of emotion.
"What...what did he do?"
"It doesn't matter what he did." Ami said quietly, "You should trust us."
The way she said it with utter conviction once again stirred the fear in her heart. Why should I trust them, though? I've only met them three weeks ago. She felt at war with herself. Of course they'd know more about the mysterious boy she'd seen the first day of school. But she felt almost as if there was some kind of giant omission. Something she was missing, something they weren't telling her. Usagi was glad when the bell rang and headed to her fourth period class after a subdued goodbye with Ami. The quiet girl hadn't said anything for the rest of class, and Usagi hadn't felt like breaking the silence.
When she walked in to class her eyes wandered to the back of the room and then away, feeling strangely disappointed when she found it empty once again. Her mind wandered then, listening to her teacher drone on about different historical events, and she waited for lunch. She had decided she was going to eat alone, on the roof. Somehow the idea of being around the girls was suffocating today.
After her class she headed to the roof. She had caught a brief glance of Minako and Ami talking together and was glad when a wave of students blocked their vision so that she could make her escape without them seeing her.
The sun warmed her limbs as soon as she went outside and she sighed happily, spinning slowly with her eyes closed. If she ignored the smell of hot rubber, she could almost pretend she was back home in the field of flowers she had become so fond of.
"You're not much of a dancer, are you?"
The cold familiar voice stopped her in her tracks. She could feel her heart beating quickly and suddenly her face was on fire. She whirled around and gasped. Mamoru was lounging against the wall, looking like a snake about to strike. The men she had seen ride with him on the first day of school were there too, relaxing in the sun and staring at her intently. She hadn't known she had an audience. She glared at the gangsters, trying to hide her embarrassment.
"What are you doing up here?"
"I could ask you the same thing." Mamoru replied lazily. She watched him as he took out an apple and began to peel it with a sharp pocket knife.
"I'm pretty sure weapons aren't allowed in school." Usagi said cooly, wondering if Ami and Minako had been talking about physical violence when they warned her about him. The boy looked up, his eyes laughing but his expression serious.
"Why, are you afraid?" The way his voice rumbled made the hair on her neck stand on end.
Usagi felt herself decide this was a very bad idea and began to walk away, but his voice stopped her.
"Wait, odango. Why don't you join us?" He could see her hesitation and he laughed, "Ah, too scared I guess."
That made her start. "I am not scared!" She snapped suddenly, and marched over to where they were, sitting down huffily. Mamoru was watching her with an interested expression in his face, and he bit into his apple.
"Aren't you going to introduce us, Chiba?" The voice belonged to a boy with long silver hair. "No need to keep the pretty blondes all to yourself."
"We all know you're really only interested in one pretty blonde, though, Kunzite." Mamoru said, stretching.
"I think I could make room in my heart for another." Kunzite replied, eyeing Usagi with undisguised interest. She felt herself blush and she tried to concentrate on her meal and ignore him. She winced when Mamoru suddenly threw his apple at Kunzite with unexpected force. The other boy caught it easily and took a bite with a wink thrown at Usagi, ignoring the death glare Chiba was sending him.
"Ignore him." A voice besides her said. A smaller, more effeminate looking man gave her a small smile. "He only gets like this when he's hungry. I'm Zoicite. The one with the brown hair is Nephrite. And that's Jadeite. I guess you already know Mamoru."
"I'm Usagi...We've never been formally introduced, actually." She offered Zoicite a grateful smile. "We're only in the same class. Or...I think we are. He hasn't shown up since the first day."
"You noticed? How sweet." Mamoru said sarcastically with a wolfish grin that made Usagi blush and take another bite of her food. She felt comfortable among them, in a way that felt similar to how she felt comfortable around her new friends. As if she had known them already, and she only had to remember a little bit.
"Mamoru doesn't go to classes. He thinks he's too good for them." Nephrite said without raising his eyes from the book he was reading.
"I am too good for them." Mamoru said lightly, "I'm only going here because it's convenient for me right now."
"Yeah, or to get close to a certain somebod-" Kunzite yelped when Mamoru suddenly lunged, pulling on silver hair and holding his blade to the other mans throat, his eyes snapping dangerously. The change was so instantaneous that Usagi had barely blinked and it had happened.
"Not another word out of you, Kunzite." He hissed. The air was tense for a few moments and then he snapped his blade shut, reclining once again as if nothing strange had happened. Kunzite too, only rubbed his neck and rolled his eyes when he had been released. Mamoru blinked when he noticed Usagi standing, holding her bento box to her heart, a strange expression on her face.
"Hey Odango, sit down, huh? You're blocking the sunshine."
"I should...have listened to them." She said, through lips that were deathly pale. "How could you do that to one of your friends?"
It took him awhile to identify the emotion in her voice and when he did he was surprised. She was angry.
"Listened to who? Do what?" He asked, his eyes completely flat, his face unreadable.
Usagi could tell he wasn't sorry. Would never be sorry. Instead she focused on the rest of his friends, glaring at them. "You should get away from this psychopath. I can't believe you would be around someone like this." She felt more than betrayed. Why hadn't she listened to the other girls when they'd told her he was dangerous? And here was her proof, right in her face. She didn't understand why she felt so upset. Why she had needed him to be someone else. Someone good.
"Hey Usagi, it's no big deal, he was just kidding." Kunzite said uneasily. She noticed the other boys weren't looking at her. She turned to Mamoru and glared.
"You're nothing but a bully." She snapped, her fingers tightening, knuckles going white. She couldn't understand why there were tears gathering in her eyes. Instead of trying, she turned and fled.
Mamoru jerked up to follow her, but Nephrite held him down with a vicelike grip. "Let her go, Endymion. Venus was right. You should stay away from each other. We all should."
Mamoru ripped his hand out of his grip and stalked away. The others got up to follow but Kunzite shook his head.
"He wont follow her." He said with quiet certainty. His suspicions were confirmed as they heard the engine of a motorcycle and saw the black speck that was their former king drive off. Jadeite, who had been silent for the whole encounter, lit a cigarette and inhaled.
"Well. That was certainly interesting." He exhaled, his eyes gleaming. "I can't wait till Rei finds out about this."