VI

I was very bored. Not a feeling I should be feeling, as I didn't have feelings first off, second off, I never got bored. It irritated me to feel that way, I was very self-sufficient and spent most of my time alone, not doing much but finding ways to entertain myself and keep busy.

One would not think that with the disappearance of one blond in my daily life would have had much effect on that, in fact, you would think I would be singing my praises to finally be free of the the obnoxious test and shoe thrower. Yet... it didn't turn out that way. I was lacking my verbal sparing partner. I didn't see her in the mornings, and I didn't see her after class, detention or no.

I wonder if she moved. Or was grounded from the arcade. Both would make sense, anything would more so than not just showing up. A complete change in her habits, nobody did that, for I didn't do that, everything was a process and had to make sense, otherwise, why fix something that wasn't broke?

My nights were terror free as well, the senshi weren't even reported in the news for fighting against any youmas. One article even wondered if we were done with that nightmare. I had a feeling people were beginning to forget, even if it was a couple of days, it wasn't a constant reminder at the moment, and people forgot so easily. We'd be something people took out in ten years as a 'if you remember the senshi and friend, then you were alive in the 90s' type of thing and a test to see who could remember the most pointless details of their lives that no longer mattered to anyone.

So I was doubly bored. Triply, actually, Motoki had found a girlfriend. So besides just studying at the arcade after class, I had not much interaction with him. I didn't even like his girlfriend, it was a model I had dated for all of two nights and he'd met her one day while I was on set and he'd tagged along. The relationship would not last. She was exceptionally gorgeous with her long black hair and darker complexion and green eyes, but she was also exceptionally vain. More so than any model I took out, she demanded to be spoiled in every way. She was also the naturally thin who worked out just to keep fit, not skinny, and would order from every course. She was not easy either, she expected two dates before she went home with a boy.

All very good traits, ones I preferred in a female, the ability to enjoy life's basics, ones that were echoed in a blond's eating habits I had noticed, but this model wanted jewels and flowers and candy and chocolates, all things I was unwilling to give. It was one relationship that had ended mutually, she wanted what I would not give and I would not give what she wanted. We decided that relationship would only hurt our own desires.

Motoki would be at her beck and call every moment, he already was, and would give her as much as he could, but one day he would wise up to it and dump her. Or she would get bored with him, she only wanted the richest, handsomest and ones that could get her places. An arcade worker would not get her there.

I opened my mouth and told him this, and he kicked me out for my efforts. Perhaps I should have chosen a better time, as she was sitting right next to me, but he still needed to know, but maybe I wouldn't warn him anymore if that was how he treated me.

So not only was I blond-less, I was also Crownless. I was a sorry sight. So I snuck into the Parlor Motoki's sister took care of. She gave me a look and shook her head, obviously already hearing of my words, or at least knowing from my presence alone, that I had stuck my foot in my mouth again. This had happened before, when I'd insulted Odango one too many times and was particularly nasty.

"Usa-chan again?" She asked ungraciously, she like everyone else, liked the girl, to my mind's greatest bogglement.

"Actually, I insulted his girlfriend." I responded calmly, last time, Lizzy had thrown me out too, but I wonder what would happen this time, as she didn't even know the girlfriend.

Her reaction though was to brighten and grin at me, before going into the back, only to return with a large dessert. "Dig in. I'm glad someone's said something, I don't like her. Motoki won't listen to me, so as long as you're on my side, you're welcome here."

"What did she do to you?" I wasn't curious, I was only asking because it was expected of me, as Motoki's friend and now Lizzy's co-conspirator.

"As soon as she came in the door, I greeted her, and she promptly insulted my clothes, telling me that they were outdated and worn out."

I shook my head and leaned forward, pretending the role of charmer again. "What did you do?"

"I threw a fit. I wanted her out." Lizzy huffed in annoyance. "Motoki told me I was just over reacting and to calm down." She shook her head and pounded on the table. "The nerve of the two!"

I chuckled for her benefit and sat back, leaning against the small back to the swivel chair. "He'll get over her soon and move onto another hussy."

Lizzy cracked up and nodded. "That he will. He's almost as bad as you! To think he's picked up your leftovers this time."

She was amused as she went away to take care of other customers, her style of manager was different than Motoki's but they both worked.

The door slid open and I ignored it, enjoying my treat, perhaps I should come here more often, but then again, with my luck, I'd become a sumer wrestler in a week. But I had a soft spot for chocolate, and if anyone found out, it would be my undoing.

"Ami Mizuno?" A girl's voice reached my ears, and I listened intently as the name sounded vaguely familiar.

"Yes, that is I, thank you for coming to meet me here. I wasn't sure where else that would be neutral ground." That voice was very familiar, as it had put me in my place again last week.

I cocked my head to the side, obviously Ami hadn't seen my arrival, but I had been oblivious to her presence as well. I watched casually over my shoulder without either of their knowledge. It answered why I thought the name was familiar, but I didn't recall actually getting either names from Motoki or Odango since the blue haired girl's arrival. I wasn't interested in the conversation anymore and I tuned it out, trying to place why I knew the name and why it mattered.

It wasn't until the other girl got up, their meeting finished, and from the snippets I'd caught, didn't matter to anything I cared about either... and wouldn't harm Odango... I did frown that time at the stray thought. What did I care if she got hurt or not? Anyways, ignoring my mind's strange behavior from the norm, I finally realized why her name was familiar. "Thank you for your time, Mizuno-san." The two shook hands and the former left and the latter returned to her homework and smoothie.

I slid into the chair the girl just vacated and sat across from Ami. "So without the Odango, you come here? I'm hurt that you'd only weather my presence if the Odango'd one was there to buffer us."

Ami looked up, noticing my arrival and shook her head. "That's a boy's or couple's zone, only a few girls like to venture in there alone, and it is no place for me to study. It's too loud. I don't know what draws Usagi there, and its fun in the group, but alone, eh."

"I thought it was less noisy than most arcades."

"Then you obviously don't sit in the back, especially with a group of girls gossiping."

"Ah yes, the banshee can be quite bothersome to the eardrums." Ami's face fell at the insult and looked back down pointedly at her homework. I quickly tried to recover my lost ground, it seems as if I was determined to put my foot in my mouth at every juncture today. "Where is Blondie, anyways?"

"She's been under house arrest." I nodded, I figured as much, and Ami probably knew I'd like that terminology a lot better than grounded, as it wasn't as easy to make fun of.

"Caught stealing a car then?" I was just joking but Ami didn't look up from her assignment and even wrote a few answers before responding.

"What's the deal Chiba-san? Why the sudden interest in the girl you call the bane of your life?"

Ami's cold demeanor might be able to mirror mine had she not shown on several occasions she was able to let loose and have fun like the rest of them. That and she was always secretly manipulative, doing pranks and other sly maneuvers that nobody caught, even I had fallen pray. I'd almost liken her to the god Hermes. Cold on the outside for most to see, but also the prankster god as he relaid important information to his master god.

"No deal, I was just wondering why my bruises are fading, and I realized it was because the odango wasn't barreling head first into my chest."

"She's been getting rides to and from school, so she doesn't have detention anymore either."

"Wow, not even allowed to walk to her middle school?" Ami's lips quivered at the idea, as if she was holding back laughter. "What's the joke?"

"We don't go to middle school. We're both fifteen."

I had to reevaluate everything now, Odango had managed to get into a high school? She didn't look fifteen, she looked at the oldest, thirteen. I looked at Ami, she at least looked her age. I pushed it aside and asked what I came over for, my plans in life still outweighing everything else. "Did I hear it correctly? That you're family name is Mizuno?"

Ami looked up at the question and nodded her answer and spoke past it. "What's it matter to you?"

"Is your mother a doctor?"

"Yes."

"She's one of the best doctors in the country. Second only to her tutor, Sir Rupert." I knew she probably was already well aware of all of this, but I couldn't help it, it was amazing. "What are you doing being friends with a special needs girl like Odango?"

Ami huffed and slammed her books together and spoke as she made to stand up. "I enjoy her presence in my life, I wish you wouldn't be so hard on her and see the value she has to offer instead of picking on her faults."

I reached a hand out to stop her but she was already on her feet. "And if you must know, it was interesting to learn that while our mothers have been friends for years, we just never met until I transferred over to an actually very good school. One she goes to as well. None of this would matter though, as Usagi has a way about her that just draws friends to her like moths to a flame, she is a very nice and sweet girl. There are so many things you could learn from her."

"Like how to fall flat on my face?" I asked, already tired of this conversation, I had hoped to get into her mother's good graces as she was Sir Rupert's favorite pet student, but it seems like I blew it for the day and we had returned to the Odango, why was everyone so insistent to put her in the middle of the topic of conversation, it all seemed to rotate back to the ditz.

Ami half screeched her frustration at me and twirled on her outside foot and left out of the Parlor, without a glance back at me. Odango would have at least stuck her tongue out as soon as she was away from a verbal sparing.

"You know, you now owe me for her drink and your food. Any bonus points you got for not liking Motoki's girlfriend just flew out of the window as soon as you started talking bad about Usagi. It's even worse, because you are doing it behind her back." Lizzy stated from behind me and I slowly turned towards her, she had apparently overheard the entire thing. I grumbled and grudgingly handed over the money, before I too left the Parlor before I owed her for all of the customer's meals.

It was a month before I was let back into the Crown Arcade, a little longer before I was allowed to return to the Parlor and when I was finally let back into the Crown, Odango was sitting there, nice and innocent, as if she'd never left. Motoki had finally dumped his girlfriend, tired of her antics, and the monetary drain she no doubt had on his wallet. It was weird, but I had kept the same schedule to class and back, even though I wasn't allowed into the arcade. Motoki started talking to me again about two weeks before that but thought it best if I wasn't around the drama queen and for a change I wasn't referencing Odango.

I hadn't seen Odango before school or after, but that hadn't surprised me, it was why I kept the same schedule despite the lack of being able to get my morning coffee. It hadn't been for the chance that she'd be let out in parole and to allow me to see her again. No, definitely not that, it was because I hated change and I knew eventually I would be going back to the Arcade, so I might as well have kept the same schedule and get more homework done in the meantime. Yes, that had been it, then why was it that when I saw her sitting there, that I almost felt betrayed? She still didn't cross my path even though I kept the same schedule and route, but she had been coming here anyways after school? How was that possible? Unless her parents dropped her off here and let her walk home, but then why was she being driven anyways? Unless they also picked her up from here but let her out on good behavior but had to know exactly where she was at every moment. That sounded more likely.

I knew this wasn't a new occurrence as she was chatting with Motoki about his recently dumped girlfriend and how she hadn't liked her either, but wisely kept her mouth shut until she could know her better. Apparently it was Odango that keyed Motoki into the fact that they weren't right for each other and Motoki took her opinion seriously. "So I told you the same thing earlier, and I get kicked out for a month, but Odango tells you it and you dump the girl in question the next day?"

"It wasn't the next day." Motoki defended. "Besides, you had dated her, so your opinion was biased, and you were rude about it, to her face. Usa-chan chose a moment when my attentions were starting to fluctuate anyways to put in her opinion, not when it was all new and magical."

I caught myself making a disgusted face and I tried to smooth it over, but they'd both noticed with some surprise. "I dated her and warned you against her because I knew what she was like. It wasn't biased, it was informed. It could have saved you a month of agony."

"It wasn't all bad." Motoki mused and Odango's look of disgust was tangible as her face turned green and looked like if she heard any of this she might not make it.

I wasn't far from behind her, so I quickly cut in for the both of us. "You're such a sloppy romantic Motoki-kun."

"Humph." Motoki turned slightly to take care of something below the counter.

"Besides, Odango's opinion is the most biased one I've ever heard. She wouldn't like any girl you dated as long as it wasn't her."

Two shocked looks were aimed at me before Odango did something that out-shocked the both of us. She gave me the bird before limping off. I barely noticed the gait issue as I was too surprised that such a 'sweet, innocent and nice girl' would flip me off for such an innocent comment.

Motoki pointed towards the door, my recently rescinded expulsion was back into effect, but this time I would not go so easily, especially not because of the Odango. "What was wrong with that comment?" I demanded.

"You need to learn how to talk nicely to girls for one." Motoki was still looking towards the door, hoping no doubt that I'd be beyond them. "Secondly, Usagi is like a sister to me, we've known each other longer than you've been in my life. So anything you might have taken as a crush might be adoration, but it is also just our sibling-like banter."

"Sorry, jeez, but I can't help but think that way when she's constantly batting her eyes at you and always in your space, wanting to talk to you."

Motoki's blue eyes pierced me in my space. "It might be friendly, but we both know that there is nothing that will come from that. You might not receive it, but Usagi is naturally a little flirtatious with all boys. Might be easy to think it doesn't actually matter gender, as that's just her way of interacting with people."

"Sounds like another girl I know." I mumbled, thinking back to the flirting I had gotten from Moon, but that might have been her natural behavior as well, and not actually flirting, and I had kicked her to the curb for her senshi to take care of rather than risk her in my presence any longer with her looks and actions, that weren't even meant for me, just a part of her. "That will get her in trouble." I mentioned casually, and Motoki gave up trying to shoo me out of his establishment.

"Yeah, I've warned her, but she's able to easily get herself out of those situations as well, without hurting the guy's feelings."

"And the girl's?" I raised an eyebrow, if she flirted with everyone, no matter gender, then it wasn't in the romantic sense, but rather the playful kind that some might play with babies with winks and smiles and eye contact because the other was so enraptured with the adult.

Motoki laughed. "I don't think that occasion has ever occurred, as all know it doesn't mean anything and they play into it."

I'd seen girls when I walked down the hall of our school who had boyfriends, call each other their wife or girlfriend, all in the nature of having fun, and some got a little carried away, with the name calling like baby and sexy and such, but it never actually meant anything. Odango's was more her attitude than anything actually said, and I had caught that, as I had seen that in how she interacted with Motoki, but his explanation opened up a lot of occasions for me to reference where I guess I had seen what he was talking about. In some way that relieved me, and I told myself it was because I was comparing it with Moon's behavior, and reassuring myself there was nothing there either. Those thoughts though, seemed to dampen my mood a tad.

"What's wrong with Odango's leg?" I asked instead, taking a sip of the coffee that finally appeared now that Motoki knew I wasn't leaving.

"She's gotten the cast taken off, its still apparently tender, but it's usable."

"It healed in a month?" I asked, feeling this sounded too similar to another blond with Odangos.

Motoki shrugged. "She said it was just a hairline fracture and the cast was overkill."

"How, did this injury occur?" I was tensing up, waiting for the words that would make everything click into place, as I had a foreboding that his next words were important. If he didn't know-

"She fell into traffic. It's lucky she didn't do more than the fracture." I agreed as I looked back at her, understanding now why her parents had driven her around so long, not only I'm sure from the injury and hassle of getting to class on time with crutches or a cast, but also they feared a repeat and assured it's non-happening by driving her safely to the doors of her school and then back.

His words had driven away any thoughts of a conspiracy and I turned back to my coffee, ignoring Motoki's evaluation look, he'd been giving me a lot of those recently and it was getting tiring. He was seeing more into nothing than what was there. I shouldn't even give him anything to think into. So I turned the tables on him. "There a new girl you're interested in?"

Motoki laughed, caught, but he didn't fall for it as easily as I hoped. "When is the great Chiba-sempai interested in my love life when it used to be yours that was filled with a girl every day. What happened, Mamoru-kun, date all the models in your company? And yet, still refusing to take out would-be models at our school who just throw themselves at you?"

"I'm over the model-mentality." I replied, I was only doing the job now because it paid well, it had lost any other appeal it could have possibly held at one point. My future goal was getting closer to obtain every day and I would be done with the modeling and focusing solely on that and the money I would be getting that would make what I was currently making seem like pennies.

"Can we get a refill, Motoki-san?" Ami asked, coming up to the counter at my elbow, studiously ignoring me, no doubt hearing what I'd said in gory detail.

"Sure thing."

I turned to Ami with a plastered smile that I used for my photo shoots that photographers absolutely loved and said sold millions of magazines. "So... Ami..."

I caught her just where I wanted her, and had an in with her mother. Perhaps she could introduce me to Sir Rupert, if not, at least I could use her to put a good word in for me.