What Men Want
by Lady Aisheteru
Email: Lady_aisheteru@hotmail.com
Website: http://www.geocities.com/anniemaniac_99/index.html
Lady Aisheteru: I just went sledding today! My hair is nappy, my
mascara is streaky, and...I'm a coughing mess. But I had FUN, minna!
Also, I got to go with some friends and the guy I like! SUGOI! What
does this have to do with my fic? Well, you'll see. Ja minna! ^_*
Standard disclaimers go here.
~*~ around a person's name denotes point of view. For example,
~*~Mamoru~*~ denotes Mamoru's POV.
' ' denotes thought.
Chapter 3 - You Made Me Love You
~*~Usagi~*~
Bored. Bored, bored, bored, bored, bored.
Hey, ever notice that if you say a word enough times it starts to
sound weird?
.........
Well, anyways, where was I? Oh yes. I was bored.
"Ugh!" I said to Luna. "There's never anything to do around here on
Sundays!"
Luna opened one eye, regarding me with a less than loving look.
"Well, you COULD do your homework."
"Humph. Nice try, catnip for brains, but I already did that."
"Catnip for brains, hn? Your insults are getting better. Been
hanging around Mamoru?" Luna asked skeptically.
"Actually, yes."
"Meow?" asked Luna. She acts more like a normal cat when she gets
caught off guard or nervous.
"Yep. He tutored me last night."
"You went out without telling me? There could have been a youma
attack, or you could have been hurt, or..."
"Relax, Luna," I said, scratching behind her ears. "It went okay."
'No need to mention that I fell asleep at his place. But how I woke
up here is a mystery to me...'
"Well....be more careful," said Luna, tucking herself into a little
ball. 'How do cats DO that?' I thought. I tried that once, and it
REALLY hurt! Humans just aren't as flexible as cats, I guess.
Out of the blue, an idea struck me. I dialed Minako's number.
"Moshi moshi," said Minako.
"Moshi moshi. You doing anything?" I asked.
"I wish," said Minako.
"Wanna go sledding at the park?"
"Yeah!"
"OK, you call Ami, then she can call Rei, and Rei can call Makoto,
then she can call me back!"
"Why?"
I smacked my forehead. "So I can know everyone's been called."
"Oh. OK, I'll get to it."
Half an hour later, the phone rang again.
"Moshi moshi."
"Moshi moshi. What took you so long?"
"Gomen, Usa-chan. Ami got into this long boring talk about 'the
wonders of Calculus.'"
I giggled.
"'I'm only 5 chapters ahead!'" mimicked Minako.
"Yep, that's our Ami. So, is everyone in?"
"Yep. We'll meet at Suicide Hill, okay?"
"Oh no! Not Suicide Hill!"
"Yep, Suicide Hill. Don't worry, you got a new snowsuit, right?"
"Well, I kind of had to!" I said.
Minako was referring to the last time I went to Suicide Hill. I had
decided to be especially daring and took a saucer. Unfortunately, I
hit a bump, and when I landed, I was flat on my face. As for the
snowpants...I was wearing snowpants that I had since the 4rth grade.
They were trusty things, and hadn't failed me yet. Unfortunately, I
had forgotten to account for the wider hips and other...body changes
...that came with puberty. When I attempted to get up, somehow, my
trusty snowpants had decided to split the seams of my backside, giving
the entire park a lovely view of my polka dot underthings. Oh well.
At least I was wearing clean underwear.
"Well, I'm sure that won't happen to you again. Besides, I got a new
inner tube...."
"SUGOI! Well, ja ne!"
"Ja!" said Minako, then she hung up the phone.
~*~Mamoru~*~
"Snap."
"Click."
"Snap."
"Click."
"Snap."
"Click."
I sighed and put the pen down. I had been clicking my pen for half an
hour, and it was getting old fast. There is NOTHING to do on Sundays.
Just then, the phone rang.
"Moshi moshi."
"Moshi moshi. Are you as bored as I am?" said Motoki.
"Probably more," I said.
"Well, let's do something about it, shall we?"
"No way, man. Remember what happened last time you said that? I'd
rather risk boredom."
You see, Motoki's amusement ideas often started with an *innocent*
drink, then ended with an all-out drunken brawl and a trip to the
Tokyo police.
"Oh, come on. That llama was pretty happy," he said, chuckling.
I groaned. "God, don't remind me!"
"Oh, man, that was a hoot!" he said, breaking into hysterical
laughter. "Your expression when I took that picture...that was
priceless!"
He was referring to the last time he had decided to 'do something',
which, of course, resulted in me getting rip roaring drunk. Motoki
had dared me to drink seven beers in an hour, and, baka that I was, I
did it.
Next thing I knew, I woke up next to a suspiciously happy llama,
wearing a garbage bag tied around my waist and a pair of pantyhose on
my head, with a hundred angry monkeys pounding on my caving skull.
Worse yet, Motoki had taken a picture...but fortunately, I found it
later and burned it. (Lady A: I don't know WHERE I dig this stuff up.
Honest!)
"Well, this time I had something a little...calmer...in mind."
"Reika?" I asked.
"Yep."
"You are SO whipped." I said.
"Shut up. You don't even HAVE a girlfriend."
"Stop rolling your eyes at me."
"How did you know?"
"I know you well."
"Well, what did you have in mind this time?"
"How about a trip to Suicide Hill?"
I sighed in relief. 'That sounds pretty harmless.' "Great. You wanna
drive?"
"You crazy? In my old jalopy? Last time, I had to jury rig the
windshield wipers and you had to pull the wires."
That was one scary drive. My Ferrari had been in the shop, and, true
to form, the last working part of Motoki's dilapidated rust bucket had
broken. He had attached wires to the windshield wipers to clear the
view for driving. Unfortunately, nature had decided to turn into a
nasty blizzard, and by the time I got to my apartment, my arms felt
like they were going to fall off.
"Hey! I got that fixed, remember?"
"Yeah, then your headlight blew out and I had to hold out a flashlight
when you drove for a week. Let's take my car, okay?"
"Humph," he said, feeling emasculated.
"Oh, come on. It's okay," I said. "It's not your fault they pay you
jack."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, see you soon. Ja!"
~*~Usagi~*~
About half an hour later, I arrived at Suicide Hill, Tokyo Park,
dragging my tube sled. I felt all decked out in my pink bunny
snowpants, my pink goose down jacket, my cute, fuzzy white earmuffs,
my white scarf and my white gloves. I scanned the park for my
friends, and I wasn't disappointed. Minako, Makoto, Rei and Ami
waited for me at the top of the hill.
"Hey minna! You up for some serious sledding?"
"You know it, Usagi." said Minako, grinning.
"Hey, I've got an idea!" said Makoto. "Why don't we all link arms and
go down in a line?"
"SUGOI!" Minako squealed.
"Oh no, that wouldn't work for me," I said. "I have to hold on to
this tube with both hands or I'll fall flat on my face!"
"Oh, don't be such a baby," said Rei, dragging me down to my tube and
linking arms. Someone gave us a push from behind.
"Wait, you guys! I don;t want to do thiiiiiiiiiiis!" I screamed, but
I knew it was too late as we careened down the hill.
At the first bump, Rei panicked and wrenched free of my deathgrip.
Fortunately, when the ride was over, I was still sitting flat on the
inner tube, on my bottom.
"Yea! I wanna do it again!" I squealed. But I was alone. "Aw,
MAN!" I said. I gathered my tube and began my slow march up the hill.
"Hey odango! It doesn't matter how slow you walk. It's still a
hill!" said a voice from the top of the merciless mountain.
"Shut UP, Mamoru. Don't you have anything BETTER to do than to ruin
my fun?"
'Nope,' he thought.
"Actually, I'm here with Motoki." he said, grinning.
I grinned. This could be interesting. "Boy's day out, ne?" I asked.
"Hai," he said, still grinning that sexy grin of his.
'STOP IT! That's your enemy you're talking to!' said my brain.
'Riiiiiiight. You keep on telling yourself that, sweetheart.'
'B...but...'
'But nothing! Do enemies offer to tutor you? Do enemies have wild
fantasies about kissing the daylights out of you? Those don't sound
like the thoughts or actions of an enemy. They sound like the
thoughts of a man very much in...'
"Penny for your thoughts, odango?"
"Hn?"
"Oh, THERE you are!" he said. "I was getting kind of worried there."
"Humph," I said.
I looked around the top of the hilltop, which I had somehow reached
without collapsing or wanting to vomit. No sight of the girls
anywhere.
Uopn laying eyes on me, Motoki ran to Mamoru's car, turned the keys in
the ignition, and sped off.
"HEY! BAKA! COME BACK HERE WITH MY CAAAAAAR!" screamed Mamoru. 'Oh,
he is SO dead,' he thought.
"It's all right, Mamoru. It's not that far a walk. Let's forget
about it and have some fun, okay?" I said, smiling reassuringly.
"Okay," he said.
I linked arms with Mamoru and we walked to the top of the hill.
~*~Author~*~
"Geez, get a load of THAT!" said Minako.
"Mamoru and Usagi an item. Who would have guessed?" asked Makoto.
Rei just smiled that mysterious smile of hers. The one that said that
she knew something and had no intention of sharing it.
"Ooooh, you know something, don't you?" said Makoto.
"What is it? Spill! Spill!" exclaimed Minako.
Ami smiled. "I think they make a cute couple," she said.
Rei smiled again. One night, Rei was sitting in front of the Great
Fire, and had ran out of questions to ask it about youmas, crystals
and generals. On a lark, she had asked what the future held for
Usagi, and a vision of Mamoru appeared in the fire. Curious, she
prodded further, and found out the whole story....
"I agree," said Rei. But she knew how much her friends liked to
meddle in the love lives of others, and she had the feeling that, as
usual, it would do more harm than good. "Let's go get some hot cocoa,
okay?" she asked.
"I could go for some of that," said Ami, cathing Rei's subtle hint.
Smiling, they walked to the snack hut.
~*~Usagi~*~
I got a wicked idea.
"Mamoru, let's go sledding!" I said.
"But we've only got one sled. That baka, Motoki, drove off with the
rest of them."
"So what? I've got an inner tube," I said, smiling devilishly.
'God, the things she does to me,' Mamoru thought, and I heard his
pulse rising in his throat.
"Come on, it'll be fun. You sit on the bottom, and I'll sit on top!"
"OK," he said. He laid back on the inner tube and smiled, but I could
tell from his thoughts that he was nervous.
I giggled and sat on top of him, smiling. As if on reflex, he sat up,
wrapped his strong arms around me, and I didn't resist.
'Hn, I would think that would get me slapped.' he thought.
"Well, here we go!" he said, pushing us down the hill.
I squealed as we turned around, careening backwards down the hill. He
just held me tighter, but not painfully so. Our tube stopped about
ten feet away from a cluster of trees, to my relief.
"I wanna do it again!" I said.
'I can't wait,' he thought.
After our third trip down the hill, I didn't get up after we stopped.
"Well?" said Mamoru.
"I'm tiiiiiired, Mamoru! I don't think I can make it up the hill!"
"Hn," said Mamoru, smiling deviously. "I know what YOU need."
"And what is that, pray tell?"
He picked me up and held me over his head. "You need to cool off!" he
said.
"Put me dooown!" I screamed as he ran up the hill.
"Are you sure you want me to do that?" he asked.
"YES! YES!"
"Whatever you say," he said. At this, he threw me into an unresisting
snowbank.
"BAAAAAKAAAAAAA! You are SO dead!" I screamed.
"Well, you'll have to catch me first!" he said.
"Ooooh!" He may have longer legs than mine, but I was a seasoned
marathon runner from my weekday races to Juuban middle school. Before
he knew what had hit him, I tackled him headfirst in the snow.
"Surrender!" I said, smushing his face into the snow.
"Never!" he said. While I was faster, he was stronger, and soon he
had tumbled us arouund so he was on top and I was pinned on the
bottom.
Suddenly, I was getting the tickling of my life. "Oooh! I give up!
Uncle, uncle!" I exclaimed between fits of laughter.
He stopped for a minute, and my pulse pounded in anticipation.
I don't know what made me do what I did. Maybe it was the rush of
blood to my head, or the crisp, cool air, or the slim, but strong
hands pinning me to the snow.
I reached my arms up and pulled his unresisting face the last few
inches towards mine. I knew from his thoughts that he had wanted this
for a long time. By reading his thoughts, I knew exactly how to kiss
him.
'WOW!' he thought as we broke the kiss.
"Usagi."
"Mamoru."
"I can't hold back any longer!"
Reading his...steamy...thoughts, I blushed a million shades of red.
"Mamo-chan! We're in a public place!" I exclaimed.
'Mamo-chan? Does this mean...'
"Aisheteru, Mamo-chan," I said, rolling out from under him.
"But...how did you know?" he asked, his eyes still clouded with
passion.
"You want the truth?" I asked.
He nodded and sat up. I quickly followed suit.
"It happened after the accident," I began.
He nodded, motioning for me to continue.
"When I woke up, I discovered that I can see what men are thinking. I
learned a lot about people," I said. "But I was most surprised when I
learned about you."
"I thought you were just a heartless creep, who picked on me because
you hated me, and got pleasure out of seeing me fail and be unhappy.
But when I saw into your mind, I saw a caring and compassionate soul,
and I saw that you loved me. I didn't know what to make of it in the
beginning. At first, I thought you were stark, raving mad. I mean,
who could fall for an ugly baka like me?"
"Ugly? Baka?" he interrputed. "I may have said some cruel things,
Usako. But I never meant any of them. You're not stupid or ugly. In
fact, I have never known anyone more beautiful. Outside and in. Look
in my heart. What do you see?"
I smiled a wobbly smile. I didn't have to read his thoughts to know
what he meant. I could see it in his eyes, which radiated love and
warmth.
"I see love," I said.
"And what do I want right now?"
'I want a long, passionate kiss.' he thought.
I smiled and said, "You want to buy me a hot cocoa!"
"Ie! I've been misquoted!" he groaned.
"Cocoa now, kiss later," I said, smiling.
He sighed. "Very well, if I must."
"Yep," I said.
Smiling, he wraped his arm around my waist and I snuggled into his
embrace as we walked over to the Snack Shack.
"Usagi and Mamoru! Okay, now I KNOW the world's gone crazy!"
exclaimed Minako.
"Hey guys! Where were you?" I asked.
"We've been hanging around here for awhile, trying to get the feeling
back in our toes," said Makoto.
"Ah," I said. We all sat down at a table, and we talked for a long
time. The whole while, I saw the expression in Rei's violet eyes.
One that said that she knew this would happen all along and was just
waiting for us to come around. One that said she knew all about my
gift.
Lady Aisheteru: You like? Stay tuned for the epilogue!
by Lady Aisheteru
Email: Lady_aisheteru@hotmail.com
Website: http://www.geocities.com/anniemaniac_99/index.html
Lady Aisheteru: I just went sledding today! My hair is nappy, my
mascara is streaky, and...I'm a coughing mess. But I had FUN, minna!
Also, I got to go with some friends and the guy I like! SUGOI! What
does this have to do with my fic? Well, you'll see. Ja minna! ^_*
Standard disclaimers go here.
~*~ around a person's name denotes point of view. For example,
~*~Mamoru~*~ denotes Mamoru's POV.
' ' denotes thought.
Chapter 3 - You Made Me Love You
~*~Usagi~*~
Bored. Bored, bored, bored, bored, bored.
Hey, ever notice that if you say a word enough times it starts to
sound weird?
.........
Well, anyways, where was I? Oh yes. I was bored.
"Ugh!" I said to Luna. "There's never anything to do around here on
Sundays!"
Luna opened one eye, regarding me with a less than loving look.
"Well, you COULD do your homework."
"Humph. Nice try, catnip for brains, but I already did that."
"Catnip for brains, hn? Your insults are getting better. Been
hanging around Mamoru?" Luna asked skeptically.
"Actually, yes."
"Meow?" asked Luna. She acts more like a normal cat when she gets
caught off guard or nervous.
"Yep. He tutored me last night."
"You went out without telling me? There could have been a youma
attack, or you could have been hurt, or..."
"Relax, Luna," I said, scratching behind her ears. "It went okay."
'No need to mention that I fell asleep at his place. But how I woke
up here is a mystery to me...'
"Well....be more careful," said Luna, tucking herself into a little
ball. 'How do cats DO that?' I thought. I tried that once, and it
REALLY hurt! Humans just aren't as flexible as cats, I guess.
Out of the blue, an idea struck me. I dialed Minako's number.
"Moshi moshi," said Minako.
"Moshi moshi. You doing anything?" I asked.
"I wish," said Minako.
"Wanna go sledding at the park?"
"Yeah!"
"OK, you call Ami, then she can call Rei, and Rei can call Makoto,
then she can call me back!"
"Why?"
I smacked my forehead. "So I can know everyone's been called."
"Oh. OK, I'll get to it."
Half an hour later, the phone rang again.
"Moshi moshi."
"Moshi moshi. What took you so long?"
"Gomen, Usa-chan. Ami got into this long boring talk about 'the
wonders of Calculus.'"
I giggled.
"'I'm only 5 chapters ahead!'" mimicked Minako.
"Yep, that's our Ami. So, is everyone in?"
"Yep. We'll meet at Suicide Hill, okay?"
"Oh no! Not Suicide Hill!"
"Yep, Suicide Hill. Don't worry, you got a new snowsuit, right?"
"Well, I kind of had to!" I said.
Minako was referring to the last time I went to Suicide Hill. I had
decided to be especially daring and took a saucer. Unfortunately, I
hit a bump, and when I landed, I was flat on my face. As for the
snowpants...I was wearing snowpants that I had since the 4rth grade.
They were trusty things, and hadn't failed me yet. Unfortunately, I
had forgotten to account for the wider hips and other...body changes
...that came with puberty. When I attempted to get up, somehow, my
trusty snowpants had decided to split the seams of my backside, giving
the entire park a lovely view of my polka dot underthings. Oh well.
At least I was wearing clean underwear.
"Well, I'm sure that won't happen to you again. Besides, I got a new
inner tube...."
"SUGOI! Well, ja ne!"
"Ja!" said Minako, then she hung up the phone.
~*~Mamoru~*~
"Snap."
"Click."
"Snap."
"Click."
"Snap."
"Click."
I sighed and put the pen down. I had been clicking my pen for half an
hour, and it was getting old fast. There is NOTHING to do on Sundays.
Just then, the phone rang.
"Moshi moshi."
"Moshi moshi. Are you as bored as I am?" said Motoki.
"Probably more," I said.
"Well, let's do something about it, shall we?"
"No way, man. Remember what happened last time you said that? I'd
rather risk boredom."
You see, Motoki's amusement ideas often started with an *innocent*
drink, then ended with an all-out drunken brawl and a trip to the
Tokyo police.
"Oh, come on. That llama was pretty happy," he said, chuckling.
I groaned. "God, don't remind me!"
"Oh, man, that was a hoot!" he said, breaking into hysterical
laughter. "Your expression when I took that picture...that was
priceless!"
He was referring to the last time he had decided to 'do something',
which, of course, resulted in me getting rip roaring drunk. Motoki
had dared me to drink seven beers in an hour, and, baka that I was, I
did it.
Next thing I knew, I woke up next to a suspiciously happy llama,
wearing a garbage bag tied around my waist and a pair of pantyhose on
my head, with a hundred angry monkeys pounding on my caving skull.
Worse yet, Motoki had taken a picture...but fortunately, I found it
later and burned it. (Lady A: I don't know WHERE I dig this stuff up.
Honest!)
"Well, this time I had something a little...calmer...in mind."
"Reika?" I asked.
"Yep."
"You are SO whipped." I said.
"Shut up. You don't even HAVE a girlfriend."
"Stop rolling your eyes at me."
"How did you know?"
"I know you well."
"Well, what did you have in mind this time?"
"How about a trip to Suicide Hill?"
I sighed in relief. 'That sounds pretty harmless.' "Great. You wanna
drive?"
"You crazy? In my old jalopy? Last time, I had to jury rig the
windshield wipers and you had to pull the wires."
That was one scary drive. My Ferrari had been in the shop, and, true
to form, the last working part of Motoki's dilapidated rust bucket had
broken. He had attached wires to the windshield wipers to clear the
view for driving. Unfortunately, nature had decided to turn into a
nasty blizzard, and by the time I got to my apartment, my arms felt
like they were going to fall off.
"Hey! I got that fixed, remember?"
"Yeah, then your headlight blew out and I had to hold out a flashlight
when you drove for a week. Let's take my car, okay?"
"Humph," he said, feeling emasculated.
"Oh, come on. It's okay," I said. "It's not your fault they pay you
jack."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, see you soon. Ja!"
~*~Usagi~*~
About half an hour later, I arrived at Suicide Hill, Tokyo Park,
dragging my tube sled. I felt all decked out in my pink bunny
snowpants, my pink goose down jacket, my cute, fuzzy white earmuffs,
my white scarf and my white gloves. I scanned the park for my
friends, and I wasn't disappointed. Minako, Makoto, Rei and Ami
waited for me at the top of the hill.
"Hey minna! You up for some serious sledding?"
"You know it, Usagi." said Minako, grinning.
"Hey, I've got an idea!" said Makoto. "Why don't we all link arms and
go down in a line?"
"SUGOI!" Minako squealed.
"Oh no, that wouldn't work for me," I said. "I have to hold on to
this tube with both hands or I'll fall flat on my face!"
"Oh, don't be such a baby," said Rei, dragging me down to my tube and
linking arms. Someone gave us a push from behind.
"Wait, you guys! I don;t want to do thiiiiiiiiiiis!" I screamed, but
I knew it was too late as we careened down the hill.
At the first bump, Rei panicked and wrenched free of my deathgrip.
Fortunately, when the ride was over, I was still sitting flat on the
inner tube, on my bottom.
"Yea! I wanna do it again!" I squealed. But I was alone. "Aw,
MAN!" I said. I gathered my tube and began my slow march up the hill.
"Hey odango! It doesn't matter how slow you walk. It's still a
hill!" said a voice from the top of the merciless mountain.
"Shut UP, Mamoru. Don't you have anything BETTER to do than to ruin
my fun?"
'Nope,' he thought.
"Actually, I'm here with Motoki." he said, grinning.
I grinned. This could be interesting. "Boy's day out, ne?" I asked.
"Hai," he said, still grinning that sexy grin of his.
'STOP IT! That's your enemy you're talking to!' said my brain.
'Riiiiiiight. You keep on telling yourself that, sweetheart.'
'B...but...'
'But nothing! Do enemies offer to tutor you? Do enemies have wild
fantasies about kissing the daylights out of you? Those don't sound
like the thoughts or actions of an enemy. They sound like the
thoughts of a man very much in...'
"Penny for your thoughts, odango?"
"Hn?"
"Oh, THERE you are!" he said. "I was getting kind of worried there."
"Humph," I said.
I looked around the top of the hilltop, which I had somehow reached
without collapsing or wanting to vomit. No sight of the girls
anywhere.
Uopn laying eyes on me, Motoki ran to Mamoru's car, turned the keys in
the ignition, and sped off.
"HEY! BAKA! COME BACK HERE WITH MY CAAAAAAR!" screamed Mamoru. 'Oh,
he is SO dead,' he thought.
"It's all right, Mamoru. It's not that far a walk. Let's forget
about it and have some fun, okay?" I said, smiling reassuringly.
"Okay," he said.
I linked arms with Mamoru and we walked to the top of the hill.
~*~Author~*~
"Geez, get a load of THAT!" said Minako.
"Mamoru and Usagi an item. Who would have guessed?" asked Makoto.
Rei just smiled that mysterious smile of hers. The one that said that
she knew something and had no intention of sharing it.
"Ooooh, you know something, don't you?" said Makoto.
"What is it? Spill! Spill!" exclaimed Minako.
Ami smiled. "I think they make a cute couple," she said.
Rei smiled again. One night, Rei was sitting in front of the Great
Fire, and had ran out of questions to ask it about youmas, crystals
and generals. On a lark, she had asked what the future held for
Usagi, and a vision of Mamoru appeared in the fire. Curious, she
prodded further, and found out the whole story....
"I agree," said Rei. But she knew how much her friends liked to
meddle in the love lives of others, and she had the feeling that, as
usual, it would do more harm than good. "Let's go get some hot cocoa,
okay?" she asked.
"I could go for some of that," said Ami, cathing Rei's subtle hint.
Smiling, they walked to the snack hut.
~*~Usagi~*~
I got a wicked idea.
"Mamoru, let's go sledding!" I said.
"But we've only got one sled. That baka, Motoki, drove off with the
rest of them."
"So what? I've got an inner tube," I said, smiling devilishly.
'God, the things she does to me,' Mamoru thought, and I heard his
pulse rising in his throat.
"Come on, it'll be fun. You sit on the bottom, and I'll sit on top!"
"OK," he said. He laid back on the inner tube and smiled, but I could
tell from his thoughts that he was nervous.
I giggled and sat on top of him, smiling. As if on reflex, he sat up,
wrapped his strong arms around me, and I didn't resist.
'Hn, I would think that would get me slapped.' he thought.
"Well, here we go!" he said, pushing us down the hill.
I squealed as we turned around, careening backwards down the hill. He
just held me tighter, but not painfully so. Our tube stopped about
ten feet away from a cluster of trees, to my relief.
"I wanna do it again!" I said.
'I can't wait,' he thought.
After our third trip down the hill, I didn't get up after we stopped.
"Well?" said Mamoru.
"I'm tiiiiiired, Mamoru! I don't think I can make it up the hill!"
"Hn," said Mamoru, smiling deviously. "I know what YOU need."
"And what is that, pray tell?"
He picked me up and held me over his head. "You need to cool off!" he
said.
"Put me dooown!" I screamed as he ran up the hill.
"Are you sure you want me to do that?" he asked.
"YES! YES!"
"Whatever you say," he said. At this, he threw me into an unresisting
snowbank.
"BAAAAAKAAAAAAA! You are SO dead!" I screamed.
"Well, you'll have to catch me first!" he said.
"Ooooh!" He may have longer legs than mine, but I was a seasoned
marathon runner from my weekday races to Juuban middle school. Before
he knew what had hit him, I tackled him headfirst in the snow.
"Surrender!" I said, smushing his face into the snow.
"Never!" he said. While I was faster, he was stronger, and soon he
had tumbled us arouund so he was on top and I was pinned on the
bottom.
Suddenly, I was getting the tickling of my life. "Oooh! I give up!
Uncle, uncle!" I exclaimed between fits of laughter.
He stopped for a minute, and my pulse pounded in anticipation.
I don't know what made me do what I did. Maybe it was the rush of
blood to my head, or the crisp, cool air, or the slim, but strong
hands pinning me to the snow.
I reached my arms up and pulled his unresisting face the last few
inches towards mine. I knew from his thoughts that he had wanted this
for a long time. By reading his thoughts, I knew exactly how to kiss
him.
'WOW!' he thought as we broke the kiss.
"Usagi."
"Mamoru."
"I can't hold back any longer!"
Reading his...steamy...thoughts, I blushed a million shades of red.
"Mamo-chan! We're in a public place!" I exclaimed.
'Mamo-chan? Does this mean...'
"Aisheteru, Mamo-chan," I said, rolling out from under him.
"But...how did you know?" he asked, his eyes still clouded with
passion.
"You want the truth?" I asked.
He nodded and sat up. I quickly followed suit.
"It happened after the accident," I began.
He nodded, motioning for me to continue.
"When I woke up, I discovered that I can see what men are thinking. I
learned a lot about people," I said. "But I was most surprised when I
learned about you."
"I thought you were just a heartless creep, who picked on me because
you hated me, and got pleasure out of seeing me fail and be unhappy.
But when I saw into your mind, I saw a caring and compassionate soul,
and I saw that you loved me. I didn't know what to make of it in the
beginning. At first, I thought you were stark, raving mad. I mean,
who could fall for an ugly baka like me?"
"Ugly? Baka?" he interrputed. "I may have said some cruel things,
Usako. But I never meant any of them. You're not stupid or ugly. In
fact, I have never known anyone more beautiful. Outside and in. Look
in my heart. What do you see?"
I smiled a wobbly smile. I didn't have to read his thoughts to know
what he meant. I could see it in his eyes, which radiated love and
warmth.
"I see love," I said.
"And what do I want right now?"
'I want a long, passionate kiss.' he thought.
I smiled and said, "You want to buy me a hot cocoa!"
"Ie! I've been misquoted!" he groaned.
"Cocoa now, kiss later," I said, smiling.
He sighed. "Very well, if I must."
"Yep," I said.
Smiling, he wraped his arm around my waist and I snuggled into his
embrace as we walked over to the Snack Shack.
"Usagi and Mamoru! Okay, now I KNOW the world's gone crazy!"
exclaimed Minako.
"Hey guys! Where were you?" I asked.
"We've been hanging around here for awhile, trying to get the feeling
back in our toes," said Makoto.
"Ah," I said. We all sat down at a table, and we talked for a long
time. The whole while, I saw the expression in Rei's violet eyes.
One that said that she knew this would happen all along and was just
waiting for us to come around. One that said she knew all about my
gift.
Lady Aisheteru: You like? Stay tuned for the epilogue!