Egad! Such a fast update for me!
Hmm, just so you know, the beginning of this chapter is completely silly, but the mood was getting so heavy that I wanted to do something to lighten it up. Normally when I write (somewhat) humor-ish the general quality suffers, so be prepared for that during the first segment. After that, it'll do a 180 and become somber again. I thought it best to warn you. By the way, I own none of the movies mentioned.
xXx
Smiling into the bathroom mirror, Usagi studied her face for a moment before the expression faded and she sighed. She grabbed the hair tie from the edge of the porcelain sink and brushed through her hair, pulling the silver strands back into a ponytail before observing her outfit for the night's occasion; a pair of sweat pants and an oversized men's tee shirt, because every girl had to have one, of course. Usually from a boyfriend or other male counterpart, but Usagi couldn't bear the thought of donning the one she'd swiped from Mamoru.
Taking one more deep breath, the rabbit flashed a more genuine smile at herself as she thought of the night ahead. With a bit of laughter she stampeded out of the bathroom and down the stairs, where Tohru was just exiting the kitchen, no doubt finished with cleaning up after dinner. The blue eyed girl gasped, drawing the other girl's attention.
"Tohru-chan! You aren't dressed for the occasion!" Before the small brunette could say anything, Usagi began to pull her upstairs and towards the room she knew belonged to the older girl. She only paused briefly to glance around the surprisingly empty room before she said, "Okay, what's your most comfortable set of clothing?"
Ten minutes later found Tohru in pajamas, both of them heading back downstairs, the poor girl slightly bewildered and red in the face. Usagi tended to have that affect on people at times. They burst into the living room, where Hotaru was already seated pulling DVD cases out of the bag she'd brought with her. Yuki, sitting quietly and studying the black haired girl's movement, seemed a bit confused as to what was going on. To his left, Kyou sat muttering to himself and glaring at the growing pile of movies, wondering why he was there in the first place.
"Hatsuharu and Momiji aren't here yet?" Usagi asked, looking around the room expectantly.
"We are," the even answer sounded from over her shoulder, making her jump in shock and let out a small scream. She wheeled on Hatsuharu with an irritated look, as he fought off the urge to laugh and pushed past her to greet Yuki. Momiji engulfed her into a hug, which she returned enthusiastically. Hotaru called out to her, and she turned as the violet eyed girl produced the final item from her bag.
"Popcorn!" The rabbit cheered, running over and grabbing the box from Hotaru's hands, "To the kitchen!" A few minutes after the two of them disappeared, the sounds of popping filtered from the kitchen, along with the familiar buttery scent. They came back with a large bowl full, plus some chips they had confiscated from the pantry. Hotaru set the snacks on the table while Usagi turned to the rest of the group with a serious expression.
"Now, the first rule of movie night is it has to be on a Friday or Saturday so there's no pesky school the following morning, which we've already accomplished. Second, all scary movies are saved until after dark. Third, the person who finishes off the snacks is responsible for getting more." She paused, thinking, and then shrugged, "I guess that's it! So, what should we watch first?"
The silver haired girl turned, tilting her head sideways so she could read the titles on the stack of DVDs. Her face lit up as she pulled one from near the top, and she turned to the group with a smile, "How about a romance?"
(A/N: I normally don't cut in, but I just wanted to say that I'm using American movies because I don't know a lot of Japanese movies and it's just easier this way. Carry on.)
"No." Though said in various tones, this seemed to be the consensus among the male members of their group, and Tohru didn't respond. A frown passed over her lips as she turned back to the stack.
"Okay, fair enough. Aha! It's perfect!" Usagi turned back again, a DVD box held up in her hands and a grin on her face, "The Lion King!"
Silence followed, mostly from shock, until Tohru finally spoke up, "I've never seen that." The brunette instantly reddened under the look of horror Usagi sent her, and she practically shoved the DVD at Hotaru so she could put it in. Even she didn't trust herself with electronics.
"Never seen The Lion King? A travesty, really!" She said as she moved around the table for better popcorn access. Hotaru put the disc in the DVD player, pushing it closed and grabbing the remote from the top of the television. Taking the empty seat to the other side of Usagi, the seating went around the table as follows: Hotaru, Usagi, Hatsuharu, Yuki, Tohru, Kyou, and Momiji, much to the cat's displeasure. Raising the remote, Hotaru pushed play.
The African style music blasted through the speakers, and the sun started to light up the screen in bright orange. Usagi and Hotaru sang along with the opening song; when it was over, the green eyed, black mane lion took over the screen, and Usagi gasped, "It's Scar! He's so evil!"
"I know," Hotaru agreed, nodding grimly. A few minutes later, she brightened, "Simba!" Tohru, down the line, was watching with much enthusiasm. They stayed quiet for a while, watching the movie with a fascination that would suggest they'd never seen it before. That is, up until the next song came on and the two girls sang along with, "I Just Can't Wait to Be King."
A glare from Kyou subdued them, all the way until the next song, sang by the villain Scar. They stayed ominously silent through the next seen, which was apparent when Mufasa was thrown from the ledge by the evil lion, and they burst into tears when the crumpled Mufasa was found by his son. Kyou rolled his eyes, muttering, "Stupid girls crying over a cartoon." When he heard the sniffling at his sides, Kyou looked down at Tohru and Momiji with a sweatdrop; they were also crying.
Once the movie ended, the orange haired boy immediately said, "No more cartoons or movies that suddenly burst into song."
"Aww, Tohru-chan liked it," Usagi said, grinning at the nodding girl beside Kyou. He was unconvinced, so she looked at the stack and turned back to him with a smile, "How about an action movie next? Well, action and superhero, kind of. Spiderman!"
"It has to be better than a cartoon," he responded, rolling his red eyes toward the ceiling. Nodding her approval, she handed the movie to Hotaru and they reclaimed their seats, starting the movie. Ten minutes into it, Kyou protested, "This isn't action; it's about some loser with a stalking problem."
"Well, he hasn't become Spiderman yet!" Usagi said, quickly followed by Hotaru saying, "And he isn't stalking Mary Jane, he's in love with her!"
"Whatever," Kyou grumbled.
In the other room, Shigure was chuckling into the phone as he listened to the shouting coming from his living room. The person on the other end of the line was still talking, completely oblivious, until they suddenly asked, "How's Chibi-chan?"
"Hmm? Oh, you mean Usagi," Shigure held up the phone as the loud shout of, 'Kyou-kun, stop complaining!'reverberated through the room. He brought the receiver back to his ear, hearing Ayame's laughter as he did so, "I'd say she's doing a bit better. Especially considering your mother stopped by earlier this week."
"What? And you didn't tell me?" The snake shouted indignantly, making Shigure pull the phone away from his ear as a reflex.
Shaking his head, the dog replied, "I called you twice, you weren't home. I left a message too."
On Ayame's end of the line, he looked over at his answering machine, which was blinking '37' in digital red letters. Laughing, he said into the phone, "Shigure, you know I have no use for that machine."
"Then why do you have it, Aya? Anyway, you don't have to worry; she stood up for herself and Yuki. She even kicked her out of the house," the writer replied with amusement, balancing a pen on his nose out of boredom. Back in the other room, the credits began rolling for Spiderman, and Usagi jumped to her feet, "Bathroom break! Kyou-kun ate the last of the popcorn so he must make more!"
The silver haired girl dashed out of the room, dragging Hotaru with her, and the two disappeared upstairs. The cat rose from his seat with the popcorn bowl in his hands, grumbling, "This was the dumbest idea ever."
When the pair descended the stairs again, Hotaru sent a glance out the window while Usagi inhaled the scent of freshly popped buttery popcorn greedily. Grinning, the violet eyed girl poked her companion in the ribs and pointed to the pane of glass, which caused an identical grin to appear on the rabbit's face. They reentered the living room, Usagi diving for the stack off DVDs and finding the one she wanted.
"Guys, it is now dark outside, which means..." she trailed off, drawing a dramatic break before holding up the movie and shouting, "scary movie time!"
"R-really?" Tohru asked, her eyes widening.
"Imouto-chan, Honda-san doesn't really like scary movies--" Yuki began, to which Usagi let out a gasp.
"Well, Tohru-chan! The thing about scary movies is, they're supposed to scare you. So, you always watch them with a guy. That way, when something scary happens, you can just do this," The blue eyed girl leapt at Hatsuharu, latching onto his arm and hiding her face against his sleeve. He looked down at her, expressionless, until she pulled away and grinned at Tohru. "See? You're in luck, because you have two wonderful candidates on either side of you."
Usagi pointed to Kyou and Yuki, who both looked the other way. Hotaru shook her head, taking the movie and popping it in the DVD player. The room went dark for a moment, before the menu popped up and she pressed play. Shortly after the movie started, the screaming ensued and lasted onward for the whole 90 minutes of the movie.
"Ah! It's the cat boy!"
"It's coming from the ceiling!"
"Oh my god, get out of the stairway!"
"The thing is in her bed!"
"It's coming down the stairs!" Once the movie ended, and Tohru was pried off of Yuki's arm (she'd taken Usagi's advice quite literally), the brunette went to the kitchen to get everybody drinks. Hotaru convened with Momiji to pick the next movie, and Usagi's eyes followed Tohru out of the room. Without speaking, she rose and followed. When she entered, the girl was standing in front of the open fridge, panicking.
"Tohru-chan, I think everyone would like apple juice," the silver haired girl smiled, reaching past her to grab the unopened bottle of amber-hued liquid. Tohru jumped, startled, before she smiled also and began setting glasses out on the counter. Usagi began filling the first glass, and worked up her nerve before speaking, "I wanted to thank you, Tohru-chan."
"Eh? For what?" The girl asked, her brown eyes widening. A fond smile spread across the rabbit's face, but she didn't look up.
"For helping Oniisan. No, not just him, you've helped everyone. You don't know how much it means, coming back home and seeing people smile. Shigure's a lot different, and Kyou-kun and Yuki are living in the same house somewhat civilly. Even Ayame and Oniisan, who wouldn't even look at each other before, are getting along." Tears fell from her eyes before she could stop them, and she engulfed Tohru in a hug.
"I would've expected something completely different, but you're such a wonderful person Tohru-chan. Thank you so, so much," Usagi couldn't see Tohru's face, how red her cheeks had gotten or how her own eyes had filled with tears, but she knew the girl was smiling as she hugged her back.
xXx
The next morning, when Shigure walked downstairs he found the zoo that was his living room. Apparently, at some point the group had fetched pillows and blankets from upstairs, and had fallen asleep during Robin Hood because the menu was still open on the TV screen.
Hotaru was sprawled next to the table, blanket halfway covering her pajama-clad form. Tohru and Yuki had nodded off sitting up with their backs against the couch, her head resting against his shoulder. On the couch itself, Usagi and Hatsuharu had managed to tangle their blankets and their limbs. Momiji was using Tohru's lap for a pillow, and Kyou was sleeping some distance away. A grin came across Shigure's face as he headed for his study.
When he returned, seconds later, he had a camera in his hand and his grin was looking somewhat sinister. Only one thought was running through his mind, 'Blackmail!' Once his camera was full, he decided to leave and get them developed.
A while later, Usagi finally began to rouse; she could see the sunlight through her closed eyelids and remembered they most have fallen asleep in the living room. Vaguely she recalled Momiji requesting Robin Hood and falling asleep sometime after the animals were taken to jail for not paying their taxes. Yawning, she finally opened her eyes and realized she was not the only person awake, as predicted.
Her large blue eyes were inches away from Hatsuharu's dark brown, and the sudden shock would've made her scream if his hand didn't miraculously find its way over her mouth. He pulled it away, placing a finger over his own mouth. Usagi nodded, closing her eyes and trying to get her mind fully awake. Today promised to be a long day. Hatsuharu's hand was on her face again, touching the bruise along her cheek bone that had nearly disappeared. He whispered, "You're going today?"
"Yes," she whispered back, nodding along with this one word as though trying to convince herself as well. Hatsuharu frowned, and then gave her a look that absolutely wrenched at her heart. As opposed to anger, it was a lot closer to...sadness.
"You don't have to fix everything yourself." She smiled, before freeing her legs and crawling from the couch. Everyone else in the room was still snoozing, so she walked upstairs with Hatsuharu following her. Ignoring him, she walked in her room and began digging through her clothes for something to wear. After a while, she came up with a simple black dress and headed for the bathroom.
Before entering, she turned to the white haired boy still following her, and teasingly told him, "Okay, as flattering as the stalking is, I need to take a shower."
"Sure you don't need some company?" A grin spread over his face as Usagi's expression froze, her face flushing a deep red at the implication. She might've hit him if she'd though about it before he started walking away, not waiting for an answer. Instead, she entered the bathroom and started running the water, trying in vain to cool her heated cheeks.
Usagi, being used to spending a couple of hours washing, combing, and drying her hair, was surprised at how much easier the process became since her hair didn't nearly reach the floor. Finishing in a little over a half hour, she walked from the bathroom with a sigh of contentment, running her fingers through her still slightly damp hair. After fetching a pair of black sandals from her room, she walked downstairs to find Hotaru waiting for her.
"Sorry Usagi, I have to go," the violet eyed girl said as she hugged her, "I promised Haruka-papa that I'd be home before lunch, but I didn't want to leave without saying good-bye. Be careful, and if you need anything, anything at all, just call me. Okay?"
Usagi nodded, and watched as Hotaru left the house before walking in the kitchen, where the smell of breakfast hit her full force. As enticing as it was, her stomach was doing flip flops inside her, so she grabbed a single slice of dry toast and sat next to Kyou to munch on it, sending a half-serious glare at Hatsuharu. Tohru brought the rest of the food to the table, smiling as she did so.
"You look nice, Usagi-chan. Are you going somewhere today?" The brunette asked, earning a slow nod in response. Usagi swallowed the bit of toast in her mouth before she spoke.
"Yes. I'm going to the main house," she responded. Though she didn't come out and say the reason, it was blatantly obvious to them, and even Kyou send her an odd look from his spot beside her. She stayed poised under the attention, finally setting her half-eaten piece of toast down and standing, "See you later, then."
"Wait a minute," To her surprise, it was actually Kyou who pulled her back into her seat as Yuki pushed a plate of real food in front of her. Big blue eyes widened as she looked between them, wondering if they'd planned this and even more shocked that they'd agreed on something. "You're at least going to eat. I mean have you looked in the mirror? What do you weigh, like 90 pounds?"
Actually, 96 as of this morning, the blue eyed girl thought gloomily, at least ten pounds shy of a healthy weight for her miniscule height of five foot and one inch. (1) Tohru supplied her with a glass of orange juice, and even the cheerful brunette did not offer any sympathy to her situation. Sighing, she subdued and lifted her fork, eating slowly with small bites. Her face turned all different shades of red under the scrutiny of everyone in the kitchen.
"You guys are making me nervous," Usagi finally protested, frowning at each of them in turn. They turned back to their own plates and she sighed inwardly with relief. Normally, eating was not a problem for her, but she just had no appetite. Observing her now half empty plate, she glanced at each person at the table to make sure they weren't looking at her, before a mischievous smile came to her lips.
Springing from her chair, she sprinted from the room and out of the house, leaving a temporarily stunned kitchen in her wake. Kicking herself into I'm-late-for-school speed, she didn't slow until she'd gotten at least halfway to the main house. Bending, with her hands on her knees, she tried to catch her breath but found a few seconds later that Kyou had caught up with her, apparently employing his I'm-being-chased-by-Kagura speed.
"Kyou-kun! Er, hi," the blue eyed girl laughed nervously, shrinking under the glare he sent her, somehow made more menacing by the color of his eyes. Biting her lip, she asked, "You're not going to take me back now, are you?"
"No," he said grimly, and Usagi exhaled the breath she'd been holding, "But I am going to force feed you when we get back."
If it weren't for the lack of humor in his voice, the rabbit might've thought he was joking, but she just chuckled and began walking again. With nothing else to do, the cat followed, grumbling the whole way.
xXx
(1) I looked up on a height-to-weight ratio that the proper weight range for a 5'1" person with a small frame is 106-118 so yes, 96 would be veryunderweight. Also, Usagi was 4'8" in the series, but she was also 14 and in junior high, so I figure she would've grown at least a few inches since then.
This cliffhanger (sort of) is my revenge! Well, the reviewing wasn't as enthusiastic as it has been; which I guess I understand because last chapter was a bit dull. It was necessary, to explain Hotaru and to introduce Sailor Moon, plus get Usagi into the flow of school and living at Shigure's. This chapter was, basically, me having some fun and trying to inject a bit of lighthearted-ness into the fic since it's so dark and depressing.
Next time, Usagi has her second meeting with Akito. Will she get through to the head of the family? Or will she just get hurt all over again? Is that a youma I see? Why does Setsuna need to talk to Usagi so badly? All that and more, coming up! Review, they keep me alive. (twitch) Or something like that.
♥SachiNyoko♥