Hey all!!!
Way past Christmas, right?
AND here is Chibi-Anon, STILL writing her Christmas
story...^^;;
insert standard disclaimer
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Jingle Bells, Usagi Sells, Mamoru a Diamond Ring!
Chapter 3
Chibi-Anon (chibianon_ymous@hotmail.com)
December 29, 2000
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It finally reached noon, time for Mamoru's date....
errr..... lunch outing with his friend, Usagi.
"Oh......dear.....what am I going to do, I don't
want Mamoru to propose to HER...."
Usagi paced back and forth, trying to think of a
plan, but nothing she thought of seemed to suffice.
Mamoru watched her, while he helped the customers,
wondering what was bothering her. When the last
customer finally left, he came up to her.
"Usagi? What's bothering you?" She laughed at him.
"What are you talking about? Nothing's the
matter..." His concern deepened.
"But there is, I can sense it, and it doesn't help
with you pacing like that." He smiled at her,
"besides, you might burn a hole into the floor."
"Ha ha... very funny Mamoru." He looked at his
watch and exclaimed that they'd better get going
now.
"We'd better hurry and get there, or they'll never
let us in." She nodded.
"OOooo.... before I forget!! I need to buy the ring
first! I don't want to lose this chance to buy it
now! Umm..." Mamoru paused, "Usagi? Do you think
that I could use your finger to fit the rings, your
hand is about the same size as Quinn's." Usagi
reddened, now she was helping him to his doom!
"Oh, uh sure... what kind of ring did you have in
mind?" He shrugged, and at this her eyes widened,
"But you helped other people get rings and such?!
How can YOU not find one for your own fiancée?"
Mamoru shuffled his foot.
"Well, you see... uh.... hehehe... I don't really
know what kind of ring Quinn would like.... She's
awfully romantic, but very head strong. Kinda like
you I suppose, do you think you could help me out?"
Usagi sighed, "Of course I will." She knew just
which ring to show him, which ring she wanted to get
for herself, someday.... or receive. It was a white
gold ring, with a diamond moon. In the center of
the moon, was a ruby rose. The stones were about
the size of her thumbnail. "Here... I believe this
is the kind of ring you were looking for." She
didn't dare look into his eyes... Usagi could almost
feel the tears forming.
"OH! Usagi! This is a.... the most beautiful ring
I've ever seen. And it's very expensive, I'm sure
that Quinn would love it." He hugged her so hard
that she almost lost her breath.
"Ok, Mamoru, you can let go of me, just let me ring
that up for you." She took the ring, and placed
into a small black ring box, she sighed. All this
for a... friend.
"Thank you Usagi.... you're a great friend!" He
checked his watch again. "Okay, now we'd BETTER get
a move on..." He dragged her by the wrist and led
her into his car. They sped off to Moonlight
Destiny.
~*~
All that time, Usagi had kept her jacket on,
embarrassed by what she wore. She had no idea why
she dressed up like that, it was just a little meal
between friends.
"Usagi, take off your jacket, it's going to be
extremely warm with that on." He offered to take
her coat and hang it up.
"If you say so." She shrugged off her jacket to
reveal her silk white dress. It's skirt spread out
a bit and was just above her knees. The straps met
at the back of her neck, and the whole dress was
slightly ruffly. She wore high heeled shoes of the same colour.
"You look lovely, Usagi." She blushed under his
sudden staring.
"Arigatou...." The maitr'de(sp?) came up to them
and showed them their table. Usagi had a sudden
tingling down her spine, as if something was going
to happen this night, something.... devastating.
Another attendant came up to them, handing them the
menus. He towered over them, waiting for their
orders.
"Have you two found what you want?" They nodded.
"I'll wait till Mr. Chiba orders, maybe I'll have
thought of something by then."
"All right, sir? Do you have anything you'd like to
order?"
"Yes, I'll have....." Mamoru pointed to several
things on the menu.
"And you, miss?"
"I've decided to have what Mr. Chiba is having,
AND...." she pointed to a couple more things on the
menu. ".... If that's all right with you of course,
Mamoru." He nodded, though he slightly paled at how
much food Usagi could eat.
"Your meals will be here shortly." The waiter left
them to talk.
"So....^^;; I didn't know that you could...well...
eat so much." Usagi blushed.
"Oh... I suppose I do. My brother used to say I'd
grow into a big blimp." She laughed.
"But you haven't, you're petite."
"Why thank you Mamoru." They sat there, in a very
uncomfortable silence. Usagi put a spoon into her
water, and started stirring it. She didn't look at
Mamoru, and instead, looked past him.
You'd never guess who she saw there. Malevolent and
forebodingly lovely, Quinn. She was with another
man. So the stories were true. Quinn was cheating
on Mamoru. She laughed at all this man's jokes and
even kissed him on the mouth. Usagi couldn't bare
to tell Mamoru that his soon to be fiancée was right
behind him, in the next table.
But she needn't have said anything, because after
Quinn kissed the other man, she murmured something
to him about her current, 'boyfriend'.
"He's a doll, of course, but a square. I'm thinking
of dumping him, or maybe using him.... he is awfully
rich, wouldn't want to lose a chance like that. But
I need someone who can support my needs, someone
like you, Reggie." From the familiarity of her
voice, Mamoru automatically turned around.
His worst fears were confirmed.
"Quinn...." He looked at her, his mouth hanging
open.
She finally noticed him and choked on her food.
"MAMORU!!! LOVE!! What a surprise to see you here!
This is....my....friend...Reggie." But Mamoru had
heard every word she had said, he was not fooled by
her anylonger.... at least he hoped so.
"I loved you, Quinn, how could you do this to me? I
thought we had something special going on. And
don't call me your love, or anything anymore,
obviously it holds nothing with you." Quinn
suddenly became angry.
"ME?! What about YOU?! Isn't SHE," she pointed to
Usagi, "Motoki's friend? What are YOU doing here
with HER?!" She looked at Usagi with eyes ablaze.
"You can talk Quinn, she is MY friend too. Nothing
more! YOU however.... I don't even want to talk to
you, let alone see a glimpse of you again!" Quinn
puffed up.
"FINE THEN! But you don't know what you're missing
Chiba Mamoru!" She clamped her hand downon Reggie's
arm, obviously hurthing him. "Come on Reg, dear,
we'll find some other place." She looked back at
Mamoru, "you're going to beg for me back! I know
it!"
Mamoru looked after her in contempt. He held his
fists to his sides, his arms shaking.
"Mamoru? Are you all right?" Usagi looked him up
and down.
"Yes, I'm fine." He didn't look at her. "You were
trying to tell me the whole time, weren't you?"
Usagi nodded, trying to keep her tears away.
"And I didn't listen to you... I should have. Even
Motoki was trying to tell me." He shook his head.
And saw people staring at him. They looked away
after that and went back to their own conversations.
"It's not your fault. I wouldn't be able to believe
anything bad about anyone after I realize that I
truly love them. You loved Quinn, and she broke
your heart." She hugged him, trying to keep him
safe.
"Usagi, don't touch me. I need time to let myself
think." He slipped away from her.
"Don't do anything brash Mamoru!" she called after him.
The waiter came up behind her.
"Miss? Here's your cheque..." Usagi cried out.
"WHAT?! We didn't even have the chance to eat
anything!" Mamoru had left, and here she was left
to pay for the cheque. She sat back down. "Let me
eat this first!" But she couldn't. Instead, she
broke down and started to cry.
The waiter, not knowing what to do, ran into the
kitchen. Usagi, however, continued to cry.
After a few moments, Kino Makoto came from the
kitchen.
"Miss?" There came a muffled response from Usagi.
"Are you all right?" Usagi finally looked up.
"Yes...." but she shook her head, "NO!" she sobbed.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Usagi shook her
head.
"I still need to pay for the food...." she said,
trying to change the subject.
"Don't worry about that... you nor your friend
touched it. You can take it with you, on the
house!" the tall brown haired girl exclaimed. She
had green eyes and was wearing an apron.
"Who are you? The chef?" The girl laughed.
"Yes, and also the owner. I'm Kino Makoto. You can
call me Makoto if you'd like." Usagi stopped
crying, and was brave enough to smile.
"Thank you...Makoto." The tall girl lead Usagi into
the kitchen and told the waiter, "Put the food in a
container for ..."
"Tsukino Usagi... Usagi."
"Usagi.... onegai Mark? Arigatou!" she turned to
Usagi and smiled. "Shall we go?"
They entered the kitchen, rather than seeing a very
messy place, Usagi saw a neat kitchen.
"WOW! You cook great food! AND you can keep the
whole kitchen clean! I've got to learn how to do
that!" Makoto smiled a thanks.
"Now, to get back to the matter at hand." She
stared hard at Usagi.
"Yes...well...you see..." Usagi started to sob
again.
"Come on Usagi... you can do this... just breathe
deeply, and try to calm yourself. It's okay to
cry... but first, you need to let it all out."
Usagi nodded her head.
"You're right Makoto...." and so Usagi started from
the very beginning. Explaining how she got the job
from her friend, Naru. Then her chance encounter
with Mamoru the next day after that.
Although she felt as if she might break down again,
the strength from Makoto gave her her own strength.
"And that's the whole story..." Makoto smiled at
her once more.
"Sounds like this Mamoru does like you." Usagi
started to shake her head. "I'm serious too..."
"No...Makoto! You don't understand...he's still in
love with Quinn. And like he said! We're JUST
FRIENDS!" Makoto agreed with her, to calm Usagi
down.
Deep inside though, Makoto knew that Mamoru MUST
have feelings for Usagi.
"How about you and I go out for a bit? Maybe talk
to Mamoru... see how he's doing... I mean... AND
tell him, he still owes me for the lunch..." Makoto
winked at Usagi.
"But I thought you said that lunch was on the
house..."
"RIGHT... but for you..." Usagi looked at her,
Makoto laughed, "I'm just joking!"
"Makoto!"
"Come on, I need you to meet a couple of friends of
mine!" Usagi looked at her doubtfully. "It will
keep your mind of some things." 'for now...' she
mentally added.
"We won't go and see Mamoru then?"
"Nope, not unless you want to." Distractedly, Usagi
pulled on a curl. "I can get my friend Ken to fill
in for me... he may NOT be as good a chef as I AM...
^_~ but he can cook."
Usagi laughed. "All right then..."
"Their names are, Hino Rei and Mizuno Ami."
"They sound familiar...somehow..."
"Really? Strange..." *shrugs* "Rei works at the
Hiwaka Shrine. And Ami's a doctor at Juuban."
"I still can't place them..." Usagi said, putting a
finger to her lips. "And you seemed familiar
too..." It was the same when she met Mamoru. And
Quinn. Although she hadn't thought of it, at the
moment. It was like a past recollection.
"Now that you mention it... I had that too." she
shrugged. "Oh well... deja vu is just a figment
of our imagination, as Ami would say."
Usagi nodded, not thorougly convinced. But she was
worried for Mamoru.
~*~
Christmas Eve, Mamoru was in a rut. He was, to sum
it all up, depressed.
"I've lost Quinn..." Or had he really had her?
He shook his head. There was nothing to live for
now. Quinn would never want him. He didn't think
that he could trust her.
"There's only one thing left for me to do." he took
the pills. Down they went, all 5 of them, it didn't
take much for them to take affect.
Mamoru crumpled down to the floor, the last thing
he remembered was Usagi's sad smile.
~*~
"First stop! The Juuban Hospital!" They entered
hospital, looking for Ami. But Usagi was surprised
to find someone else there.
"Motoki! What are you doing here?!" Motoki shook
his head.
"You mean you don't know?! Usagi.... It's Mamoru...
he's dying. He took an overdose of sleeping
pills... I'm just not sure if we made it here in
time. Usagi? Do you have any idea why he might
have done this?" This time, Usagi couldn't help,
but cry.
Makoto explained to Motoki what had happened in the
restaurant.
"THAT B****! (gomen...) It's all HER fault. She
had Mamoru trapped under her spell. If it weren't
for her..."
"STOP IT! Motoki.....please.... that's not going to
help Mamoru.... not at all...." Usagi screamed.
"Gomen... Usa... it's jut that I..." he put an arm
around her shoulders. Trying to calm her down.
"I'll go look for Ami-chan, she might be able to
tell us how Mamoru is doing." Makoto found Ami 20
minutes later.
"Konnichiwa. Tsukino-san, Faruhuta-san." Ami
bowed.
"Kon'wa..." Usagi and Motoki replied.
"I have bad news... gomen nasai.... Mamoru-san...
he does not haave the will to live I'm afraid. If
he would co-operate with us... more.... he wouldn't
be in this state."
Usagi looked at the blue haired, blue eyed doctor in
horror. Ami tried to continue.
"We've pumped him already, and he's stable. But
with such an ordeal... he's goen through. His body
needs to recuperate. Mamoru isn't doing that
however. He doesn't seem to have the will to live."
Usagi began to cry softly. Motoki was getting
misty-eyed too. Makoto blinked away several tears.
"You may seee him for 1 hour. He needs to rest, but
he also needs his loved ones around him..." Ami
shook her head, "So he has no living relatives?"
"None that we know of." Mamoru was an orphan?!
"Here is his room... I'll tell you when it's time to
leave."
"Mizuno-san?" Usagi said.
"Call me Ami..."
"Ami... arigatou. Although I wish that he had a
chance... he does... but..."
"It's all right, Tsukino-san....who knows what could
happen. A miracle may just happen."
"Ami? You can just call me Usagi...."
They smiled weakly at each other.
"Usagi...."
"Arigatou Ami-chan. I'll go in to see him."
Motoki was already in there, but Makoto was nowhere
to be seen.
"She went to the cafeteria to get us something to
eat nd drink." Motoki explained.
"Has he opened his eyes?" she asked timidly. He
shook his head, no.
"Mamoru is still unconscious." Motoki stayed there
for 20 minutes more. Talking to Mamoru about their
high school and college high jinx. Motoki had been
there for nearly 8 hours since he had brought Mamoru
to the hospital.
"Motoki-onii-san? You should go home and sleep."
"*yawn* I guess you're right.... *yawn* you'll tell
me if anything changes, right?" Usagi nodded and
gave him a hug.
"See you later onii-san..."
Usagi turned back to Mamoru. He looked deathly
pale. There were tubes sticking out of him, making
him seem like a science experiment.
"Mamo-chan..." there, it was out. The name she
wanted to call him. "I don't know if you can hear
me..." she knelt down beside his bed and took his
right hand in hers. She pressed her cheek against
the palm of his hand.
"I don't know whether you feel me here... or know
that I AM here." she bit her lower lip. "But I
need you, Mamo-chan.... We all miss you.... I miss
you." she sobbed out a few tears, but choked the
rest back. "Aishiteru Mamo-chan... I love you...."
She squeezed his hand.
"If there was one wish in the whole world I'd want,
it would be that you lived to be long and healty.
Oneagi Mamo-chan.... get better...."
She was tired, she fell asleep on the chair close
to the bed.
"....*yawn* ... I though that Makoto was going to
come back with something..."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It was early Christmas morning... a blonde haired
woman sat in a chair, close to an empty bed.
"Wake up Usagi...." someone was nudging her. Usagi
tried to hit that someone, but missed.
"Go away... I need sleep.... I have work at 8:00...
and it's.....ONLY 3 O'CLOCK in the MORNING!!!!" She
got up, ready to pound whoever it was. "MAMORU!"
What was he doing up and about?!
"Watch it Odango... you may give me a heart
attack..." he laughed.
She peered at him closely, the color had come back
into his face. Mamoru looked tired, but well.
"Don't joke about that please..." He gave her a
sad puppy face.
"AWww... Did the Odango miss me?" he chuckled.
"No...I did not..." she didn't forget the words
that she had poured out to him earlier, but.... he
didn't know... and he shouldn't know, her true
feelings. (AN: OO;; geez...)
"Odango...hehehe..." she glared at him. "...Usagi,
did you stay here all night?" she nodded. He
looked thunderstruck. "Wow... I never thought
anyone would do that for me... you truly are a
great friend, Usagi."
"Yes.... I'm your.... friend... Mamoru." But in
her mind she wanted to call him Mamo-chan again.
And in her heart, she wanted to love him, and
for him to love her. But it could never be, as
friends.
"I'm sure Motoki's worried... I scared him. And I
scared you too... I'm sorry."
"Promise me, that you'll never EVER do that to us
AGAIN.... Mamoru." he chuckled.
"I won't, not when I have friends like you." he
hugged her openly. She nestled her head into his
shoulder, close to tears. She smiled a bit.
She forced the smile wider. ".... you owe the
restaurant..." she showed him the bill.
"500 000 yen!!!!!!!!! OO;; But we didn't eat
anything....." she coughed.
"Correction... YOU didn't eat anything... I ate..."
she started to count off her fingers. She laughed.
"I'm joking... Makoto said that it was on the
house."
"Phew...Makoto? The owner?"
"Got that right, buster... AND you owe me a dinner
there!"
"...fine fine...okay then! Now, as a friend, and
Christmas present.... let me get some sleep!
Her eyes grew melancholy.... but she nodded and
quit the room.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
All right.... all right.... SAD I know...^^;;
GOMEN! But I am WRITING a sequel!!!! A one
parter this time!
Sheesh...hehehe...HAPPY NEW YEAR!
*NOTE: There are a few people who do try to commit
suicide by overdosing themselves. If you do know
someone who is thinking or has done this, be there
for them.
Way past Christmas, right?
AND here is Chibi-Anon, STILL writing her Christmas
story...^^;;
insert standard disclaimer
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Jingle Bells, Usagi Sells, Mamoru a Diamond Ring!
Chapter 3
Chibi-Anon (chibianon_ymous@hotmail.com)
December 29, 2000
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It finally reached noon, time for Mamoru's date....
errr..... lunch outing with his friend, Usagi.
"Oh......dear.....what am I going to do, I don't
want Mamoru to propose to HER...."
Usagi paced back and forth, trying to think of a
plan, but nothing she thought of seemed to suffice.
Mamoru watched her, while he helped the customers,
wondering what was bothering her. When the last
customer finally left, he came up to her.
"Usagi? What's bothering you?" She laughed at him.
"What are you talking about? Nothing's the
matter..." His concern deepened.
"But there is, I can sense it, and it doesn't help
with you pacing like that." He smiled at her,
"besides, you might burn a hole into the floor."
"Ha ha... very funny Mamoru." He looked at his
watch and exclaimed that they'd better get going
now.
"We'd better hurry and get there, or they'll never
let us in." She nodded.
"OOooo.... before I forget!! I need to buy the ring
first! I don't want to lose this chance to buy it
now! Umm..." Mamoru paused, "Usagi? Do you think
that I could use your finger to fit the rings, your
hand is about the same size as Quinn's." Usagi
reddened, now she was helping him to his doom!
"Oh, uh sure... what kind of ring did you have in
mind?" He shrugged, and at this her eyes widened,
"But you helped other people get rings and such?!
How can YOU not find one for your own fiancée?"
Mamoru shuffled his foot.
"Well, you see... uh.... hehehe... I don't really
know what kind of ring Quinn would like.... She's
awfully romantic, but very head strong. Kinda like
you I suppose, do you think you could help me out?"
Usagi sighed, "Of course I will." She knew just
which ring to show him, which ring she wanted to get
for herself, someday.... or receive. It was a white
gold ring, with a diamond moon. In the center of
the moon, was a ruby rose. The stones were about
the size of her thumbnail. "Here... I believe this
is the kind of ring you were looking for." She
didn't dare look into his eyes... Usagi could almost
feel the tears forming.
"OH! Usagi! This is a.... the most beautiful ring
I've ever seen. And it's very expensive, I'm sure
that Quinn would love it." He hugged her so hard
that she almost lost her breath.
"Ok, Mamoru, you can let go of me, just let me ring
that up for you." She took the ring, and placed
into a small black ring box, she sighed. All this
for a... friend.
"Thank you Usagi.... you're a great friend!" He
checked his watch again. "Okay, now we'd BETTER get
a move on..." He dragged her by the wrist and led
her into his car. They sped off to Moonlight
Destiny.
~*~
All that time, Usagi had kept her jacket on,
embarrassed by what she wore. She had no idea why
she dressed up like that, it was just a little meal
between friends.
"Usagi, take off your jacket, it's going to be
extremely warm with that on." He offered to take
her coat and hang it up.
"If you say so." She shrugged off her jacket to
reveal her silk white dress. It's skirt spread out
a bit and was just above her knees. The straps met
at the back of her neck, and the whole dress was
slightly ruffly. She wore high heeled shoes of the same colour.
"You look lovely, Usagi." She blushed under his
sudden staring.
"Arigatou...." The maitr'de(sp?) came up to them
and showed them their table. Usagi had a sudden
tingling down her spine, as if something was going
to happen this night, something.... devastating.
Another attendant came up to them, handing them the
menus. He towered over them, waiting for their
orders.
"Have you two found what you want?" They nodded.
"I'll wait till Mr. Chiba orders, maybe I'll have
thought of something by then."
"All right, sir? Do you have anything you'd like to
order?"
"Yes, I'll have....." Mamoru pointed to several
things on the menu.
"And you, miss?"
"I've decided to have what Mr. Chiba is having,
AND...." she pointed to a couple more things on the
menu. ".... If that's all right with you of course,
Mamoru." He nodded, though he slightly paled at how
much food Usagi could eat.
"Your meals will be here shortly." The waiter left
them to talk.
"So....^^;; I didn't know that you could...well...
eat so much." Usagi blushed.
"Oh... I suppose I do. My brother used to say I'd
grow into a big blimp." She laughed.
"But you haven't, you're petite."
"Why thank you Mamoru." They sat there, in a very
uncomfortable silence. Usagi put a spoon into her
water, and started stirring it. She didn't look at
Mamoru, and instead, looked past him.
You'd never guess who she saw there. Malevolent and
forebodingly lovely, Quinn. She was with another
man. So the stories were true. Quinn was cheating
on Mamoru. She laughed at all this man's jokes and
even kissed him on the mouth. Usagi couldn't bare
to tell Mamoru that his soon to be fiancée was right
behind him, in the next table.
But she needn't have said anything, because after
Quinn kissed the other man, she murmured something
to him about her current, 'boyfriend'.
"He's a doll, of course, but a square. I'm thinking
of dumping him, or maybe using him.... he is awfully
rich, wouldn't want to lose a chance like that. But
I need someone who can support my needs, someone
like you, Reggie." From the familiarity of her
voice, Mamoru automatically turned around.
His worst fears were confirmed.
"Quinn...." He looked at her, his mouth hanging
open.
She finally noticed him and choked on her food.
"MAMORU!!! LOVE!! What a surprise to see you here!
This is....my....friend...Reggie." But Mamoru had
heard every word she had said, he was not fooled by
her anylonger.... at least he hoped so.
"I loved you, Quinn, how could you do this to me? I
thought we had something special going on. And
don't call me your love, or anything anymore,
obviously it holds nothing with you." Quinn
suddenly became angry.
"ME?! What about YOU?! Isn't SHE," she pointed to
Usagi, "Motoki's friend? What are YOU doing here
with HER?!" She looked at Usagi with eyes ablaze.
"You can talk Quinn, she is MY friend too. Nothing
more! YOU however.... I don't even want to talk to
you, let alone see a glimpse of you again!" Quinn
puffed up.
"FINE THEN! But you don't know what you're missing
Chiba Mamoru!" She clamped her hand downon Reggie's
arm, obviously hurthing him. "Come on Reg, dear,
we'll find some other place." She looked back at
Mamoru, "you're going to beg for me back! I know
it!"
Mamoru looked after her in contempt. He held his
fists to his sides, his arms shaking.
"Mamoru? Are you all right?" Usagi looked him up
and down.
"Yes, I'm fine." He didn't look at her. "You were
trying to tell me the whole time, weren't you?"
Usagi nodded, trying to keep her tears away.
"And I didn't listen to you... I should have. Even
Motoki was trying to tell me." He shook his head.
And saw people staring at him. They looked away
after that and went back to their own conversations.
"It's not your fault. I wouldn't be able to believe
anything bad about anyone after I realize that I
truly love them. You loved Quinn, and she broke
your heart." She hugged him, trying to keep him
safe.
"Usagi, don't touch me. I need time to let myself
think." He slipped away from her.
"Don't do anything brash Mamoru!" she called after him.
The waiter came up behind her.
"Miss? Here's your cheque..." Usagi cried out.
"WHAT?! We didn't even have the chance to eat
anything!" Mamoru had left, and here she was left
to pay for the cheque. She sat back down. "Let me
eat this first!" But she couldn't. Instead, she
broke down and started to cry.
The waiter, not knowing what to do, ran into the
kitchen. Usagi, however, continued to cry.
After a few moments, Kino Makoto came from the
kitchen.
"Miss?" There came a muffled response from Usagi.
"Are you all right?" Usagi finally looked up.
"Yes...." but she shook her head, "NO!" she sobbed.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Usagi shook her
head.
"I still need to pay for the food...." she said,
trying to change the subject.
"Don't worry about that... you nor your friend
touched it. You can take it with you, on the
house!" the tall brown haired girl exclaimed. She
had green eyes and was wearing an apron.
"Who are you? The chef?" The girl laughed.
"Yes, and also the owner. I'm Kino Makoto. You can
call me Makoto if you'd like." Usagi stopped
crying, and was brave enough to smile.
"Thank you...Makoto." The tall girl lead Usagi into
the kitchen and told the waiter, "Put the food in a
container for ..."
"Tsukino Usagi... Usagi."
"Usagi.... onegai Mark? Arigatou!" she turned to
Usagi and smiled. "Shall we go?"
They entered the kitchen, rather than seeing a very
messy place, Usagi saw a neat kitchen.
"WOW! You cook great food! AND you can keep the
whole kitchen clean! I've got to learn how to do
that!" Makoto smiled a thanks.
"Now, to get back to the matter at hand." She
stared hard at Usagi.
"Yes...well...you see..." Usagi started to sob
again.
"Come on Usagi... you can do this... just breathe
deeply, and try to calm yourself. It's okay to
cry... but first, you need to let it all out."
Usagi nodded her head.
"You're right Makoto...." and so Usagi started from
the very beginning. Explaining how she got the job
from her friend, Naru. Then her chance encounter
with Mamoru the next day after that.
Although she felt as if she might break down again,
the strength from Makoto gave her her own strength.
"And that's the whole story..." Makoto smiled at
her once more.
"Sounds like this Mamoru does like you." Usagi
started to shake her head. "I'm serious too..."
"No...Makoto! You don't understand...he's still in
love with Quinn. And like he said! We're JUST
FRIENDS!" Makoto agreed with her, to calm Usagi
down.
Deep inside though, Makoto knew that Mamoru MUST
have feelings for Usagi.
"How about you and I go out for a bit? Maybe talk
to Mamoru... see how he's doing... I mean... AND
tell him, he still owes me for the lunch..." Makoto
winked at Usagi.
"But I thought you said that lunch was on the
house..."
"RIGHT... but for you..." Usagi looked at her,
Makoto laughed, "I'm just joking!"
"Makoto!"
"Come on, I need you to meet a couple of friends of
mine!" Usagi looked at her doubtfully. "It will
keep your mind of some things." 'for now...' she
mentally added.
"We won't go and see Mamoru then?"
"Nope, not unless you want to." Distractedly, Usagi
pulled on a curl. "I can get my friend Ken to fill
in for me... he may NOT be as good a chef as I AM...
^_~ but he can cook."
Usagi laughed. "All right then..."
"Their names are, Hino Rei and Mizuno Ami."
"They sound familiar...somehow..."
"Really? Strange..." *shrugs* "Rei works at the
Hiwaka Shrine. And Ami's a doctor at Juuban."
"I still can't place them..." Usagi said, putting a
finger to her lips. "And you seemed familiar
too..." It was the same when she met Mamoru. And
Quinn. Although she hadn't thought of it, at the
moment. It was like a past recollection.
"Now that you mention it... I had that too." she
shrugged. "Oh well... deja vu is just a figment
of our imagination, as Ami would say."
Usagi nodded, not thorougly convinced. But she was
worried for Mamoru.
~*~
Christmas Eve, Mamoru was in a rut. He was, to sum
it all up, depressed.
"I've lost Quinn..." Or had he really had her?
He shook his head. There was nothing to live for
now. Quinn would never want him. He didn't think
that he could trust her.
"There's only one thing left for me to do." he took
the pills. Down they went, all 5 of them, it didn't
take much for them to take affect.
Mamoru crumpled down to the floor, the last thing
he remembered was Usagi's sad smile.
~*~
"First stop! The Juuban Hospital!" They entered
hospital, looking for Ami. But Usagi was surprised
to find someone else there.
"Motoki! What are you doing here?!" Motoki shook
his head.
"You mean you don't know?! Usagi.... It's Mamoru...
he's dying. He took an overdose of sleeping
pills... I'm just not sure if we made it here in
time. Usagi? Do you have any idea why he might
have done this?" This time, Usagi couldn't help,
but cry.
Makoto explained to Motoki what had happened in the
restaurant.
"THAT B****! (gomen...) It's all HER fault. She
had Mamoru trapped under her spell. If it weren't
for her..."
"STOP IT! Motoki.....please.... that's not going to
help Mamoru.... not at all...." Usagi screamed.
"Gomen... Usa... it's jut that I..." he put an arm
around her shoulders. Trying to calm her down.
"I'll go look for Ami-chan, she might be able to
tell us how Mamoru is doing." Makoto found Ami 20
minutes later.
"Konnichiwa. Tsukino-san, Faruhuta-san." Ami
bowed.
"Kon'wa..." Usagi and Motoki replied.
"I have bad news... gomen nasai.... Mamoru-san...
he does not haave the will to live I'm afraid. If
he would co-operate with us... more.... he wouldn't
be in this state."
Usagi looked at the blue haired, blue eyed doctor in
horror. Ami tried to continue.
"We've pumped him already, and he's stable. But
with such an ordeal... he's goen through. His body
needs to recuperate. Mamoru isn't doing that
however. He doesn't seem to have the will to live."
Usagi began to cry softly. Motoki was getting
misty-eyed too. Makoto blinked away several tears.
"You may seee him for 1 hour. He needs to rest, but
he also needs his loved ones around him..." Ami
shook her head, "So he has no living relatives?"
"None that we know of." Mamoru was an orphan?!
"Here is his room... I'll tell you when it's time to
leave."
"Mizuno-san?" Usagi said.
"Call me Ami..."
"Ami... arigatou. Although I wish that he had a
chance... he does... but..."
"It's all right, Tsukino-san....who knows what could
happen. A miracle may just happen."
"Ami? You can just call me Usagi...."
They smiled weakly at each other.
"Usagi...."
"Arigatou Ami-chan. I'll go in to see him."
Motoki was already in there, but Makoto was nowhere
to be seen.
"She went to the cafeteria to get us something to
eat nd drink." Motoki explained.
"Has he opened his eyes?" she asked timidly. He
shook his head, no.
"Mamoru is still unconscious." Motoki stayed there
for 20 minutes more. Talking to Mamoru about their
high school and college high jinx. Motoki had been
there for nearly 8 hours since he had brought Mamoru
to the hospital.
"Motoki-onii-san? You should go home and sleep."
"*yawn* I guess you're right.... *yawn* you'll tell
me if anything changes, right?" Usagi nodded and
gave him a hug.
"See you later onii-san..."
Usagi turned back to Mamoru. He looked deathly
pale. There were tubes sticking out of him, making
him seem like a science experiment.
"Mamo-chan..." there, it was out. The name she
wanted to call him. "I don't know if you can hear
me..." she knelt down beside his bed and took his
right hand in hers. She pressed her cheek against
the palm of his hand.
"I don't know whether you feel me here... or know
that I AM here." she bit her lower lip. "But I
need you, Mamo-chan.... We all miss you.... I miss
you." she sobbed out a few tears, but choked the
rest back. "Aishiteru Mamo-chan... I love you...."
She squeezed his hand.
"If there was one wish in the whole world I'd want,
it would be that you lived to be long and healty.
Oneagi Mamo-chan.... get better...."
She was tired, she fell asleep on the chair close
to the bed.
"....*yawn* ... I though that Makoto was going to
come back with something..."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It was early Christmas morning... a blonde haired
woman sat in a chair, close to an empty bed.
"Wake up Usagi...." someone was nudging her. Usagi
tried to hit that someone, but missed.
"Go away... I need sleep.... I have work at 8:00...
and it's.....ONLY 3 O'CLOCK in the MORNING!!!!" She
got up, ready to pound whoever it was. "MAMORU!"
What was he doing up and about?!
"Watch it Odango... you may give me a heart
attack..." he laughed.
She peered at him closely, the color had come back
into his face. Mamoru looked tired, but well.
"Don't joke about that please..." He gave her a
sad puppy face.
"AWww... Did the Odango miss me?" he chuckled.
"No...I did not..." she didn't forget the words
that she had poured out to him earlier, but.... he
didn't know... and he shouldn't know, her true
feelings. (AN: OO;; geez...)
"Odango...hehehe..." she glared at him. "...Usagi,
did you stay here all night?" she nodded. He
looked thunderstruck. "Wow... I never thought
anyone would do that for me... you truly are a
great friend, Usagi."
"Yes.... I'm your.... friend... Mamoru." But in
her mind she wanted to call him Mamo-chan again.
And in her heart, she wanted to love him, and
for him to love her. But it could never be, as
friends.
"I'm sure Motoki's worried... I scared him. And I
scared you too... I'm sorry."
"Promise me, that you'll never EVER do that to us
AGAIN.... Mamoru." he chuckled.
"I won't, not when I have friends like you." he
hugged her openly. She nestled her head into his
shoulder, close to tears. She smiled a bit.
She forced the smile wider. ".... you owe the
restaurant..." she showed him the bill.
"500 000 yen!!!!!!!!! OO;; But we didn't eat
anything....." she coughed.
"Correction... YOU didn't eat anything... I ate..."
she started to count off her fingers. She laughed.
"I'm joking... Makoto said that it was on the
house."
"Phew...Makoto? The owner?"
"Got that right, buster... AND you owe me a dinner
there!"
"...fine fine...okay then! Now, as a friend, and
Christmas present.... let me get some sleep!
Her eyes grew melancholy.... but she nodded and
quit the room.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
All right.... all right.... SAD I know...^^;;
GOMEN! But I am WRITING a sequel!!!! A one
parter this time!
Sheesh...hehehe...HAPPY NEW YEAR!
*NOTE: There are a few people who do try to commit
suicide by overdosing themselves. If you do know
someone who is thinking or has done this, be there
for them.