Ninja Usagi, Part 4- Nasty Promises
By Dudly
But not really.
She only had a minor weakness as her knees gave out under her, but she was caught right away by three pair of arms.
One was creamy and soft arms, a woman's skin. Minako's skin. So it obviously belonged to her twin-ish friend.
One was tanned and strong, the arms she knew and love the best. They were Mamoru's.
The last pair of arm, she had not seen for a while. The white skin on the skinny arms was covering well toned muscles. And when she analyzed the face which used to be familiar, she pinched herself.
"AOUCH!" she screamed in her high-pitch wail, Tsukino Usagi's fashion. "Kami-sama, you're real!"
The unexpected man merely smiled. "I like to believe so."
But Usagi wasn't looking at him anymore. "Mamo-chan," she whispered. "Go away! As gentleman as you may be, you shouldn't be there, holding a complete stranger in your arms."
Her husband stared at her with a weird look, but sighed and did as she told. When he got off-stage, she turned back to her previous wonder.
"It's so good to see you! What are you doing on Earth?" The last part wasn't above a whisper. A good ninja knew how to keep private stuff… private.
"We were passing by and the magnificence of this party attracted us," Seiya joked with a wink.
Usagi gasped loudly.
"Wow, it's such a coincidence! No, it's more than that… It must be fate!"
Usagi's eyes had brightened up at her realization whilst everyone else sweat dropped. The girl really was too gullible. But, who could blame her to believe in fate, when she had married a man she loved in another life, more than a thousand years ago?
Seiya would. But that was beside the point. "We got lucky, I guess."
On a pure instinct, Usagi squeezed the man in her arms. Mamoru let out a tiny groan, to Mikako's wonder.
"What is it, Mamoru?" she inquired, tilting her head to the side.
Mamoru bit his lower lip, searching for a quick answer. "She should just move on already. People will get bored."
Unfortunately for him, everyone around seemed to be quite taken with the new development. They all heard about the Tree Lights; their instant success, and their mysterious disappearance had been on every newspapers. The mystery had never been truly solved.
Usagi's face radiated happiness when she announced that they would sing with Minako.
Minako, being Minako, had cheered just as much and soon, Taiki and Yaten were coming on the stage, with a fake look of boredom.
Their voices still held the emotion they sang with, many years ago, when the song was the last hope they had. It was a song meant to touch their Princess's heart, and it still touched many others in the same way.
"What is it, Mamoru?" Mikako repeated as he narrowed his eyes in distaste, disapproval written all over his features when Seiya winked playfully at the blond hostess.
This time around, the dark haired man had to painfully force a smile onto his lips. "Nothing. Really."
"Are you getting bored?" Mikako asked, taking Mamoru's hand in her own.
Mamoru nodded absently, still focusing on the stage.
"Well, maybe you would want to… spice up things a little?"
The tall man pulled his hand away, shooting a disbelieving look to the woman. "Atsuo-san, I am married."
"And your wife isn't even with you," Mikako argued, pouting slightly. "We are two loners, Mamoru. We understand each other."
"You don't know me," Mamoru stated simply, his eyes scanning her warily. "And I do not wish to know you."
With that last dart to her ego, he walked away, leaving her gaping like a fish.
--
The following hours found Mikako staring greedily at Mamoru, who was chatting with every performers of the night.
She wanted to call him liar; wanted to confirm that he was as lonely as she felt, despite his married status.
Yet he wasn't.
He was nothing like the Chiba Mamoru she once knew. From what she saw, he listened carefully to everything that was said before discussing his opinions.
Teenager Mamoru never cared about having his opinion known.
She had seen him smile, and it wasn't a distracted smile or a forced one. It was a real, interested smile, a smile that encouraged his vis-à-vis to talk more.
Heck, he had even laugh when a blond man told him something!
Mikako thought the evening couldn't get weirder…
Until she saw him talk to her.
There was nothing to describe it- his entire body had relaxed, his mouth had twisted into a tender smile and his eyes had sparkled.
She could read him well enough to affirm that he was interested in her. Her hands clenched in two tight fists. He had the nerve to push her away, saying he was married, but it seemed like his restrictions didn't apply to the small woman.
So, okay, the woman was pretty- could even be described as gorgeous. Alright, she did seem like a funny, heart-warming person. Perhaps the most natural, friendly one Mikako had ever encountered.
But didn't he see the way she tried to escape him?
And, more important- hadn't he noticed the diamond on her ring finger?
Mikako felt hatred burning in her blood. She decided that she hated the blond hostess. And she promised herself that when she would have talked to her, that silly Tsukino Usagi wouldn't even stand being near Chiba Mamoru.
And, for once, that was a promise she could keep.