I'm sure I don't need to go into the whole owner business because obviously I don't own them and never will (a sad truth but truth non the less). Thanks to everyone who has left reviews and especially to those who keep coming back to read this fic- this chapter is for you guys and I hope you keeping reading.
Shopping and changes
The loud wailing of the alarm beside cut through Serena's less than pleasant dreams and with a groan she cracked the one eye open and looked at the somewhat offending item before throwing an arm over and hitting the large button on the top- just so she could stop that infernal racket from going off any longer. With a sigh, she closed her eyes once more and rolled over, pulling the duvet over her head as she did so trying to block the glare of the sun that was being let through by the curtainless window. Well, there had been curtains last night but she hadn't been able to sleep with that ghastly colour of pink hanging over her like it was so she had simply torn them down and thrown them somewhere in her room.
Artemis pushed the door open and slipped into the room, taking in the curtains before jumping over to the bed. He had heard the alarm (and rather thought half the dorms had to) and he guessed she had not even bothered to move other than to turn the thing off.
"Serenity, its eight. You said you wanted to get up early so you could go shopping." He pawed at her legs trying to rouse her.
"Go way," She turned over again, "Too early..." She threw an arm over her face as if to hide from him before yelping as he dug his claws into leg, "OW! Artemis!" She sat upright and glared at the white cat who merely stared back at her.
"Up," He ordered before jumping down and leaving the room and the grumbling girl.
Rena threw back the covers and slipped from the bed yawning as she did so. He was right, she really did need to get up or she would never be on time for the planned trip and hadn't she promised herself to change who she used to be? It was a pity that that also meant she had to change her sleeping habits- she liked her sleep thank you very much. She turned her head as she stood up and blearily looked out of the window, grimacing as the sunlight hit her face full on and she quickly turned her head and made her way over to the door. She really needed a shower- having slept in a rather pink bed she felt the need to cleanse herself.
As she slipped into the hot shower, she sighed and leant back against the tiles letting the water pound onto the top of her head. At least she could use this time to think over things and try and sort out her thoughts. She knew that they had struck lucky finding these people but really, was it a good idea to stay close to them when she guessed it would only be a matter of time before something bad happened? She clenched her hands and bit her lip. She wanted to believe she could trust them but she knew full well that nearly all of them didn't trust her as far as they could throw her and that rather strained matters- although it could also simplify things if she used that to push them away. She knocked her head against the wall and groaned. She couldn't do that, they had been nice enough to look after her and Chad....it simply wasn't in her nature to think bad of them. She would have to see how things played out- afterall, they might decide that they did not want to be lumbered down with the trio. Trust or not she didn't think they were bad people and in her book that meant she could trust them to a certain degree. Of course, then there was that horrible screaching creature they seemed to think was some form of princess (and god help the rest of them if people thought princess' were at that level of standard). She was going to end up attacking the girl if she didn't lose her voice and rather quickly. Rena couldn't remember the last time a voice had annoyed her so much- she paused- oh...wait....there was that one...and then there was that other....ok, so the screachy princess wasn't the first to grate on her nerves but she wasn't certainly high up there with the best of them. And why the hell was she obsessed with pink?
When Rena had walked into her room last night she had gagged. The curtains were pink, the rug was pink and the bed was pink. She dreaded to think if the boys shared the same fate although she somehow doubted it what with screachy being so 'in love' with Heero. Well, at least she could at least change the place after her shopping trip. As far as she could tell there were no rules about decorating your dorms as long as they were turned back to how they were before you vacated the premises and Rena was determined she would change the place in the next few days. It was far too pink and pink for her tastes.
Cutting her thoughts short she finished washing herself before stepping out and wrapping herself into a towel (trying to ignore the colour) before moving back to her room so she could dress in one of the other spare outfits she had managed to scrounge from the boys. Once she was dry she slipped the black combats on and searched for a moment for the white top that had been given with it. She soon located it and pulled it on before towel drying her hair since she had no dryer to do it for her.
"Ok, I'm ready," She announced as she walked out, throwing the towel into the bathroom as she did so. As she walked into the small sitting room she was slightly surprised to see Kunzite already there. "Your early," She gave him a dark look as if blaming him for the fact she too was out of bed far earlier than she was used to.
"Well princess, I did tell you we would be going early. You're the one who insisted on getting everything the first day you arrived- even more so when you called to tell me everything was going to get burned." He looked around him, "Although I must admit it is somewhat...colourful." She made a small snorting noise before she moved to grab her boots and pulling them on. "Ready?" He stood up and moved to the door and opening it to reveal Chad who had been about to knock.
"Morning," He chirped at his sisted knowing full well she was not in the least bit a morning person, and was rewarded with his own dark glare. "We better get a move on, apparantly there is some party later and we've been ordered to turn up," Or Chad had and Rena was tagging along just because she was supposed to be related and he wouldn't have gone without her. Rena made no comment than to mutter about 'idiotic pink screachy princess'' The two men looked at each other and shook their heads at her before following her out of the small apartment.
It was only a short walk to the shopping part of the city but having planned to do a large shop Kunzite had borrowed one of the jeeps from the boy's with promises of bringing back exactly as he had received it. Rena looked out of the window watching the world go past lost in her thoughts once again before she suddenly thought of something that made her sit up and pay more attention.
"What about money?" She demanded, "We can hardly go in and wave our hands and get what we want."
Kunzite leaned over to the glove compartment and pulled out a couple of things he had placed in there earlier and passed them over to her, "Here," She looked over them and laughed softly. In her hands she held a drivers liscence and even better, a credit card.
"I'm not even going to ask," She murmered as she leant back with a small smile on her face. She had a good idea where these had come from and she had no doubt in her mind that she was suddenly rather wealthy in her own right. She also guessed the other two had their own as well so at least she didn't have to share.
"Well, you are a princess, its only logical you had a bit of cash stacked away somewhere- and I don't mean a bit like most normal people call a bit," He flashed her a grin before pulling into the car park and parking up. Jumping out he helped her out before locking it up behind them and stuffing the keys into his pocket. "Right, what are we doing first?" The two of them looked at her and she thought for a moment before she started walking in the general direction of the shops. She was sure she had seen a hairdressers around here somewhere. Ah, there it was. She led the way inside and looked about her before moving to the desk where she was greeted by a somewhat strained smile- this place was pretty high class and Rena knew she looked nothing but right now.
A flash of her card and she was soon being ushered into a chair whilst the two males simply collapsed into the chairs provided and accepted offers of coffee- they had the feeling they would need it, especially when they got back and Artemis saw what she had done to herself. Rena meanwhile was enjoying the pampering she was receiving- money might not buy happiness but it certainly helped things along a little bit. As she described what she wanted doing, she saw Kunzite's face go paler by the second and flashed him a wicked grin. She was well aware she was going somewhat against tradition, but tradition be damned! She was going to live this new life as much as possible and she was not going to be hampered down by thoughts of what had happened before this.
An hour and a half later she walked out with her head feeling a lot lighter than it had before she had gone in. Instead of hair almost to the floor, she had had most of it cut off so that it fell to just above her knees and instead of the bangs that had originally framed her face she had managed to have it styled so that her fringe fell over the one eye- effectively hiding it and giving herself an almost female Trowa look. She also loved the streak of black that they had put in that was such a striking comparison to her silvery hair she was already gaining looks from people they walked past.
"Artemis is going to have a fit!" She spun round so she could look at the two of them, "But it looks good?" she grinned as they gave reluctant nods- she knew they liked it but they had been so used to her hair long and in those stupid buns this was a somewhat startling change. "Now then, I think we better get some clothes shopping out of the way, and then maybe pick up some things for my rooms..." She turned around again and the two were subjected to her dragging them around nearly ever shop in the city.
Rena hadn't taken long to change her clothes into something a bit more appropriate than the male clothes she had been wearing. After a couple of shops she had slowly changed from combats to black skinny jeans and white top to a long electric blue top. She had soon accesorised this with a black waist cincher belt, a black handbag and heels to match her top. She looked at herself in the mirror and gave a small nod. It looked good and she felt like she had finally found who she was here. Ok, the heels were putting a small strain on her ankle but they weren't high and she had walked around with worse injuries hampering her. She wasn't the only one to change although her brother and Kunzite much prefered a simple casual look- and although they had bought quite a bit as well, they seemed to have ended up carrying their bags along with almost all of her hers. They were suddenly glad that they had to drive to the furniture places as it meant they could put her things down and rest their arms.
She looked around her and a smile spread over her face as she looked at the sign over the door. She looked at the two of them before she turned and headed straight towards it.
"Rena!" Chad looked scandalised and she knew that this would be rather fun after all. "Cutting your hair is one thing but this!"
Kunzite looked at her and tilted his head to the side slightly considering something before he nodded, a lazy smile coming over his lips. "Oh I think that would be a very interesting thing." He followed after her and was soon collapsed in a somewhat uncomfortable chair, shopping spilled around her feet. Chad followed, although at a much slower pace than the other two.
"I still think this is a bad idea....Haruka is going to kill me!" He dropped his head into his hands, trying to block out the buzzing sounds coming from around them. He was sure this was a perfectly respectable and clean place but really, what on earth was she thinking? Oh, of course. She was going to do everything she could to rile Ruka up....that would be just like her. He gave another groan. He was so dead.
Meanwhile she was leaning on the counter talking to the young man who was dealing with her. She was looking at the pictures and pointing to the ones she liked before commenting on things like the design and colour changes. After a few minutes debating they agreed on a design and she followed him into his working area and sat down on the chair with her back facing towards him. She bit her lip as he started and shut her eyes tight. Goddess, it hurt! But she just kept reminding herself that she had had worse and this was nothing compared to that heart break and pain.
As soon as it was finished she was off the chair and looking in the mirror. A large smile came over her face as she inspected it.
"Its beautiful, thank you," She loved the design and couldn't wait to show it off as soon as it was healed. Her eyes swept over the moon and the rabbit and she nodded to herself- yes it was perfect. She loved the shading of the moon but he had managed to make the tribal rabbit stand out wonderfully even though they had originally been seperate designs.
She paid her bill and quietly set up another appointment to come back in a few weeks to have a few more things added to it- she didn't want those two knowing she was planning on having more. She gave the man her new phone number and waved to him as she went back to the other two.
"Lets see then," Chad figured since he was going to hell anyway he may as well see the damn thing. She pulled her top up to reveal the tattoo on her side- it was half hidden by her jeans but it didn't bother her that much. "Rabbit of the moon......figures..." He shook his head.
"It looks good at least, now cover it back up you're starting to bleed," She eeped slightly at Kunzite's words and put the covering back on it. It hand't been that painful and she figured since she was coming back soon she would have her other tattoo done along with a piercing or two...oh goddess, she was already hooked! She bit her lip before grinning. She was rather proud with herself- she had managed to shove nearly all of those horrid rules back into the faces of the people who had tried to lock her up like some doll. Don't get her wrong she loved the girl's to pieces but sometimes they were just choking her!
"I think we better get a move on," She looked at her watch and then at the others, "We still need to get some paint and the furniture ordered, I'll have to get all the other things I need at the weekend now." They had this stupid party to get ready for yet! And so, they made there way back to the jeep and only just managed to get the bags into the back before getting in themselves.
It wasn't hard to find the stores they needed and within an hour had picked out paint for the rooms along with a few other bits and pieces she had seen as they had browsed and within another hour had ordered a new bed and dressing table- she would have to order the rest of it another time since they were so pressed for time now. But at least she had managed to get most of it sorted, and it would do until she was able to get back into the city again to finish it.
*******
Back at her apartment she looked around her at the sea of bags and groaned. What did she buy all these for when she didn't even have anywhere to actually put them? Oh well, it was too late now. She picked her way through them and started to take them into her room so they were at least out of the way.
"Princess Serenity what have you done to yourself?!" She jumped and whirled around only to see a livid cat in front of her.
"I got it cut?" She suggested and winced at the hiss she recieved.
"Cut? CUT? You've massacred it! And what have you got in it?" He paced in front of her and she crouched down to pout in his face, ignoring the twing of her back.
"But Artemis, I wanted to change from what I was before, you know that. I finally feel like I'm finding the real me and it feels so good!" He sighed and shook his head.
"Completely un-princess like," He ignored her 'good!', "But don't you have a party to be getting ready for?" She gave a small yelp and went diving into her bags trying to find an outfit suitable for the night.
*******
Quatre knocked on Rena's door and was startled to see her yank open the door, hopping on one foot as she pulled on her boot before she hopped out and shut the door behind her.
"I'm ready," She finally got the thing on and stood in front of the two boys in front of her, and blushed ever so slightly. What on earth were they staring at her for? She looked down at herself and frowned. She didn't think there was anything wrong with her outfit. The black dress and boots had looked fine when she had tried them on in the shop.
"Wow," Due shook his head and offered her his arm with a grin, "Babe you look hot!" She took his arm and allowed herself to be dragged down the hallway, Quatre following shaking his head in amusement. She did look good, if somewhat different to how they had seen her for the last few days. It looked as if all she had really needed was some good old fashioned retail therapy. Duo was so busy chattering he missed Chad's form appear behind him a scowl on his face as he listened to what was being said to his little sister.
"Maxwell!" He growled, and the pair turned in surprise, "What do you think you're doing?"
"Erm....escorting your sister?" The boy tried before unhooking his arm quickly, "Not touching see?" He held his hands up.
"Maxwell! You pitiful male!" Wufei decided to make his entrance, an equally annoyed scowl on his lips seeing the boy trying to back away from the taller boy.
Rena shook her head and simply turned to Quatre and pulled him away, leaving the other three to get on with whatever they seemed to get up to when Duo said or did something stupid.
"So, is this party going to be any good?"
"I'm not sure, Miss Relena usually organises one whenever we come but I think its only to force Heero to go near her. We don't exactly get much choice when it comes to things like this." Only because the girl seemed to think that it was a good idea to throw a bunch of rich kids together in one room- then the pilots had to come just to make sure nothing happened, which tended to make things even worse between Heero and the all annoying one.
"Great..." Rena stuck her tongue out as if she felt sick before she looked down the hall where a large group of people were already massing. "Guess we've arrived..." She looked around her soon spotting Trowa by the wall and Heero (the poor sod) in the middle of said group with Relena latched onto his arm talking a mile a minute and not giving anyone else the time of day. Of course she soon shut up when she realised that people had stopped trying to get her attention since they were all looking at the new arrivals. Rena blushed ever so slightly as she faced the curious gazes before she scowled.
"What are you all looking at?" She demanded, pulling her arm from Quatre and crossing them so her glare would be slightly more effective. They quickly turned their eyes away and started talking to each other once again. She frowned as she unfolded her arms- honestly what was so damn interesting about her tonight? After racking her brains she decided she didn't really care and made her way to where the drinks were. She looked down at the table and her face must have betrayed her confusion because Trowa seemed to appear behind her and answered her silent question.
"Pop only," He picked up a glass and handed it to her before he walked off and melted into the crowds. Her eyes tried to follow him but she soon gave up- the boy tended to disappear like a ghost when he wanted to. She turned and took a sip of her drink as she looked around the room. There were certainly a lot of people here and from the looks of it they were all stinking rich if their clothing was anything to go by. She was distracted by a small group who approached her. She took them in before she smiled to herself. Ok, these were most certainly not the rich kids of the school.
"Hey," The smallest- a blonde with rather vivid green streaks- bounced over to her and gave her a small grin, "Well, you're obviously one of the newbies everyone had been talking about," She looked over the slightly taller girl and her grin widened, "But you're nothing like what miss prissy was saying."
The only boy of the three in front of her nodded, "We were expecting some green slimy monster to come charging in here and ripping our heads off...I'm somewhat disappointed..."
Rena laughed, "I'm not surprised, but not to be rude but who are you?" She looked at them before taking another swig of her drink.
"I'm Vogue and these two are Satin and Shade....obviously so not our real names but names are just something else to label us don't you think?" The hyper blonde took a glass of fizzy drink and downed it.
"I'm Serenity, and I love the names," She could see herself liking these three, they were a lot different to any of the friends she had ever had before.
"Serenity? Thats so sweet but I think we need to think up a nickname for you.....give me a day and I'll figure one out for ya," Vogue looked about her and wrinkled her nose, "I'm glad you're actually turning out quite cool, it gets boring being the only three in the school that dare to do anything slightly different."
"And the only reason we didn't get chucked out is because you dad loves us and gives this dump a lot of money to keep us here," Satin snorted as she rubbed Vogue's hair in affection, before turning to Rena, "What brings you here?"
"I got dragged here with my brother. We're new in the area and we happened across some people who let us stay with them...and the rest is history," The three followed her eyes and Vogue almost screamed in delight.
"You know them? I'm somewhat jealous, you know...not that I am mind its just that out of the five of them only two have ever said more than three words to the rest of us."
"Yeah, they weren't exactly sunshine and daisies when we met them either but Quatre is nice and Duo...well, he's Duo..." She wrinkled her nose, "But I'd rather be around Heero than that thing in pink." She made a vague gesture in the direction of Relena's voice.
"I think we are going to get on brilliantly!" Vogue announced as she hooped her arm through Rena's, "And the fact you hate miss prissy is even better!" Rena laughed at her antics and the other two simply sighed before they two joined in the new group hug.
Rena could suddenly see life being so much more interesting now that she had found some new people to hang out with and these three were obviously the leaders of the 'we hate Relena club' which she was more than willing to join. Yes, it was certainly going to be interesting at the school now and at least she wouldn't be the only one out of place- these three seemed to thrive off it and they were already rubbing off on the girl as they sat around and talked to one another and having random dances across the floor when a song they happened to like came on.
Chad watched with a smile on his lips. His sister had already found people to be around and he could tell that these three were going to be incredibly good friends to her- he doubted they would turn their backs on her when she needed them and he was glad that he was getting such a good gut reaction to them. He couldn't wait to pass the news onto Kunzite, but first, he had a party to enjoy.
End Chapter
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