Disclaimers: As per usual, don't own characters or series but writing and idea are my own.
Author's Note: I used a few Japanese sentences in this one but I won't make it a habit. Promise! It's definitely in context and not randomly sprinkled for anyone who hates how authors do that and they don't even make any sense sometimes. Translation is at the end.
More than a month overdue but I hope you will forgive me PriestessofFire0417, MoonGoddessMagic, sailormoon0630, sailorashes (I can't wait either actually), and aims (Mamoru's reasoning won't be revealed for a while). Thanks for reviewing!
Ch. 4 Polite Conversation
So deep in conversation were they that Usagi didn't realize the other girls had arrived until they were upon them, lugging bags of books and jostling the chairs in order to make room for everyone. It was as if everything else had come roaring back to life. She hadn't realized how much she had tuned out the ambient noise of the restaurant until Ami-chan sat down next to her and she jumped, startled.
She reddened a little, thinking that she must have looked stupid to the guy sitting across from her.
"And who's this?" cooed Rei as she slid out the chair next to Ami-chan.
Usagi hoped she hadn't thrown herself at him as openly as Rei was doing at that moment. Well, maybe thrown wasn't the correct term but Rei was rather unabashedly eyeing the poor guy. They all knew how tenacious she could be when she wanted something. Usagi glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and noted with some satisfaction that he was forcing a smile. Still, she couldn't help thinking that Rei was the better choice.
Rei was evidently more refined, having an innate balance and grace that she herself could never seem to keep up for more than a few seconds. With a fiery attitude, long ebony tresses, and a body that looked great in just about everything, Rei was the epitome of sexy. The fact that Rei also had the confidence to pull off those looks only made it a reality.
Usagi couldn't help feeling a twinge of jealousy. She felt like the kid sister that everyone thought was adorable and cute but didn't give a second glance. Her face did have a square-cut shape to it that made her appear much younger than she looked (of which she would probably be thankful for as she got older). However, her facial features alone weren't what made her seem childish. It was more the way she acted.
"This is . . ." She paused, puzzled. Did she ever find out his name last night? Did she even remember to ask? They all looked at her expectantly. " . . . yeah, who are you, by the way?"
Rei almost fell over as the others gave her an incredulous look. Mako-chan was the first to speak. "How can you be eating lunch with someone you don't even know by name?"
Mina-chin jumped in before Usagi had a chance to answer. "Her mouth was probably too occupied to ask him his name, if you know what I mean."
"Mina-chin!" Usagi could feel the heat rising off her face.
Ami-chan apologized to him even as he laughed, clearly amused. "You will have to excuse my friends. It seems the formula I put into the pancake batter this morning has made them more excitable than usual."
All side conversations stopped as they whipped their heads around to look at her. Mina-chin threw her arms around Mako-chan—well, as best she could given that they were sitting side by side and she couldn't twist the lower half of her body— just as Mako-chan lunged at Ami-chan, hampered by the added weight. Through gritted teeth, Mina-chin tried to placate her. "Now, now Mako-chan . . ."
"You were experimenting on us again?!" exclaimed an incensed Mako-chan.
Unperturbed, Ami-chan took one look at her, whipped out a notepad, and jotted some things down. Mako-chan was about to try again but Mina-chin, with Rei's help, succeeded in dragging her to the counter to order their food.
Usagi blinked. Feeling slightly mortified that the whole restaurant was staring at their table, she played with the utensils in front of her. She was so warm now she was sweating. She should've been used to it, really. She was quite the connoisseur at embarrassing herself after all.
It was like she was awkwardly outside the loop of existence that everyone else seemed to fit into so well. Usagi seemed to have the terrible luck of always laughing at the wrong times. The littlest things amused her to no end. She would laugh about something so long sometimes that others would end up being a little disconcerted and annoyed. It wasn't that funny. Or for several days in a row, she would continue to talk about a humorous event that happened. By then, the topic had outlasted its stay and most didn't really care anymore.
Maybe she just had no tact. Always saying things at the wrong time. Always saying the wrong things at the wrong time. Never saying what she was actually thinking. All the mistakes were beginning to weigh down on her and she wanted to be able to recognize them and let go; not hold onto them like they were her lifeline. But it was the only way she knew how to live.
Usagi followed Ami-chan with her eyes as she too got up to order food. The petite blue-haired girl was a head above them, in terms of brains at least. That was all anyone seemed to notice her for. That and the fact that her hair was died to the roots in an electric blue color. Ami-chan can certainly be eccentric when she wants to be. I can still remember how shocked we were when she suddenly came to school one day like that. All those people saying, "What happened to prim and proper Ami?"
It suddenly came to Usagi that it felt like each and every one of them was somehow existing on the outskirts of the norm: Ami-chan with her studious nature, Rei with her domineering attitude, Mako-chan with her overwhelming strength, Mina-chin with her uncanny intuition, and then there was herself and that clumsiness to the point of stupid. Maybe that's why only with them did she have nothing to prove and yet still she could not overcome her self-destructive nature.
"Hey . . ." Mamoru touched her hand briefly. She breathed in sharply, eyes refocusing as she turned her head slightly to look at him. "You ok?"
She blinked at him, still occupied in her thoughts. Her face was in a polite smile as she tilted her head in the form of a question.
"You just had this look on your face . . ." He trailed off, well aware that maybe it was too early to be saying stuff that made it sound like he understood or knew anything about her.
She shook her head. A full-fledged smile drew across her lips as her eyes began to sparkle. It was like with a breath this happiness, a life force, something he couldn't quite name was flowing into her system. He paused to stare while he watched in a stupor, awed by the way she was literally coming to life in front of his eyes. He was sure he would never witness anything quite like it.
Her lips curled in a smirk as she said, "So, yeah . . . I never did get your name." She stuck her hand out. "I'm Usagi, by the way."
"As in 'bunny'?" He asked as he shook her hand lightly before almost reluctantly releasing it. Or maybe he was just busy trying to decipher her name. Well she could hope, couldn't she? "The na—"
A little surprised, she answered quickly, cutting him off, "Yeah. You know Japanese?"
He laughed at her enthusiasm. "Maa, nihonjin dakara . . . Mamoru to moushimasu. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu." He nodded his head a little in a slight bow.
She colored a little at the formality but nonetheless did the same. It was weird considering that she was younger than him and she thought for a second that he was mocking her since he knew she was. Looking at him, though, she realized there was no malice in his intent; he was just being polite. Still, the pinch in her cheeks would not go away. "Ah." A nervous pause as the pinch seemed to deepen. "Sou desu ka. Nihonjin da to omoimashita kedo, kyuuni nihongo de hanashitara shitsurei deshou."
"Jya, doushite minna—" he gestured at the other girls returning to their table "—to eigo bakari hanasu ka."
She shook her head. She seemed to be doing that a lot today. "So as not to be rude to you. Besides some of us aren't as good at it since we were born in America or other countries and were raised speaking English." She raised her hand sheepishly. "Like me. That was the extent of my Japanese."
He nodded in understanding. Some of his roommates were like that too but he didn't doubt that they didn't try.
A weird thrill had gone through her when the Japanese had started pouring out of his mouth. She rubbed her hands across her cheeks nonchalantly while all the while trying to get rid of the warmth still emanating from them. What was wrong with her today? She feared that she would end up with a constant blush on her face if this kept up.
The others arrived at the table just as their orders were called out. Usagi and Mamoru squeezed out of the aisle, both thinking that maybe they should have chosen a better spot. One where the tables weren't so close together. Although it probably wouldn't have made much of a difference considering how packed the restaurant was starting to get with the lunchtime rush.
After the two came back with their trays of steaming food, proper introductions were made and they idly chatted until the rest of their orders were called. Everyone immediately dug into their meals. They were beyond the point of starving if they already hadn't been when they first arrived.
After scarfing down the food, Mina-chin and Rei ran off to job interviews. The others followed not soon after. Mako-chan had to take care of some things for the business sorority she was in and Ami-chan set off for work to make sure she was at least half an hour early. At this, Mamoru raised an eyebrow and she shrugged as if to say, "That's just how Ami-chan is."
Usagi wished that she was at least punctual. She didn't have such a great track record though. No one felt she was reliable enough for anything—it was true that she was often late to things and could never get her homework in on time, even when she tried. She felt the overwhelming sense of drowning that often seemed to plague her nowadays and swallowed hard, breathing deeply.
She grabbed her tray and went to stack it among the other dirty dishes as Mamoru followed suit. They stepped out of the bustling restaurant into an even busier sidewalk. Usagi stumbled as a number of people paraded past and bumped into her. Mamoru grabbed her elbow to steady her and she murmured her thanks as they surged forward into the crowd. They both had work today after all.
Japanese Translation:
Maa, nihonjin dakara . . . Mamoru to moushimasu. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.
Well, because I'm Japanese . . . I'm called Mamoru. Please look after me. (The last two are quite literal. You can also translate them as "My name is Mamoru. I'm in your care." Doesn't have quite the same meaning though. The last phrase is a pretty common greeting among strangers and is meant as a polite gesture; it just sounds awkward through translation and is therefore often translated as "Nice to meet you." Even when that is entirely incorrect.)
Sou desu ka. Nihonjin da to omoimashita kedo, kyuuni nihongo de hanashitara shitsurei deshou.
Is that so? I thought you were Japanese, but if I suddenly spoke to you in Japanese, wouldn't that be rude? (There's a lot of grammar here so I'm not going to give you a whole lesson but you are welcome to AIM me at my penname if you would like to know. A few basic things: to you is implied, the comma comes after the conjunction, she is being polite by using desu and masu, and there are a few ways to say but in Japanese just like we have a few in English.)
Jya, doushite minna to eigo bakari hanasu ka.
So why do you speak nothing but English with the others? (minna means everyone but Mamoru specifically pointed to the other girls so it is implied who is in that 'everyone'.)
