*Chapter
1: Starting New*
By:
Kohan
Haruka was sitting on the sofa next to Micharu watching TV while
Hotaru read a book. 'My God, how can she not be tired?!' Rei
thought, looking at Hotaru. Rei was putting together a breakfast
while Usagi watched and read the latest Teen magazine.
"Rei, when we get to where we're going, do you think we'll
have to go to school?" Usagi asked.
"Since we're starting our last year of highschool, I imagine
so. I think it will be great, Usagi, I'll get to
go to school with boys this year." Rei said and sighed.
"I just wonder if I'll fit in." Hotaru said, coming in.
"We all will." Said Rei. "Because we're starting
new."
"Hai." Hotaru said, and yawned.
"What's for breakfast, Rei-chan?" Haruka called from in
the other room.
"Fried eggs and toast." Rei yelled back.
"Honestly, Rei, I don't understand why you have a TV if you
don't like it." Hotaru said.
"Usually the people who come over like it,
Hotaru-chan." Rei replied, putting eggs and toast on a plate
for Usagi.
"Eat." She ordered. "Does anyone want milk?"
"Yes!" Said Micharu, Haruka and Usagi.
"I'll have orange juice." Said Hotaru, disgusted by the
thought of milk.
"Okay, come on, it's ready!" Haruka and Micharu came in
and sat down.
About midway through breakfast, Sailorpluto appeared in the
kitchen, timestaff and all.
"Have some breakfast, Pluto?" Haruka said.
"It's time to go," Pluto said, and opened the gate of
time.
"Um, that's a no, not until I finish my breakfast."
"Come on, Haruka. Take your toast with you," Micharu
said, she was ready to go, and had been for a long time
now.
Even though Haruka grumbled all the way, Micharu got her into the
gate. They landed gracefully, except for Usagi and Haruka, who
landed on their butts.
"Hey!" Haruka yelled, outraged. "Where the hell
did my toast go?!" Hotaru giggled. Usagi, however, had
crumbs
on her face and blushed heavily.
"I guess I can't kick that habit." Usagi said.
"Yup, your surely one sandwich short of a picnic." Rei
said, and winked.
"So, where are we, Setsuna?" Hotaru asked, looking
around. It seemed that they were in a park by a school.
"Oh, that's your school." Said Pluto. "It goes up
to grade 14, so Micharu and Haruka will be in the same
school as you. There's a large apartment over there that you can
share, I've already registered you at the school. The apartment
key is right here. You can duplicate it for each of you
later." Pluto handed Hotaru the key. "I also got you
money." Pluto handed the money to Haruka. "Use it
wisely, I'll check up on you all in a few days. School doesn't
start for about a month, I've written it on your calendar. Ja
ne." Pluto jumped backwards into the time gate.
"Did she say that apartment?" Usagi asked.
"Hai, number 6." Hotaru said, looking at the key, which
had a 6 printed on it.
"Wow, I've never seen money like this, how do you suppose we
use it?" Haruka asked.
"I don't know, we'll just tell everyone that we're foreign
exchange students." Micharu suggested.
"Let's go," Rei pointed to the apartment complex, and
they started walking towards it.
***
"Holy God this place is huge!" Haruka yelled when
Hotaru opened the door.
"I get first choices on rooms!" Usagi yelled, and ran
into the hallway.
"After all this, you'd think she would have been
phased." Hotaru said, and walked down the hall to find a
bedroom of her own.
***
When Hotaru first saw the light violet room, she knew it was the
right one for her. Setsuna must have known
this when she picked out the apartment. Hotaru looked around it,
and noticed that the closet was full of
clothes. 'Setsuna really outdid herself this time.' She thought.
"Hotaru! Rei and I are going to go see the sights, wanna
come!?" Usagi yelled from the kitchen. 'Still the same
Usagi.' Hotaru said, and sighed, walking out of the room to go
with Usagi and Rei.
"Okay, I need a map." Usagi said.
"I don't think they make maps of places like this," Rei
said, and Usagi facefaulted.
"I guess your right." She said.
While Hotaru, Usagi and Rei were deep in conversation, not really
paying attention to the scenery, Usagi bumped
into someone.
"Gomen, I wasn't paying attention." Usagi said. The boy
she had bumped into had black hair tied in a ponytail.
"Weak onna." Hotaru heard him mutter.
"Who are you calling weak?" Hotaru asked, drawing quite
a few stares from his four friends.
"Injustice, how dare you talk to me, onna?!" He yelled.
"Wu-man! Chill!" Said a boy with brown hair in a long
braid. "She didn't mean any harm!"
"Yes she did." Said Rei, lightly.
"I see we haven't been properly introduced," He said,
"I'm Duo Maxwell, at your service. Wufei is the one you
bumped into," he said to Usagi.
"Quatre Rabera Winner," A boy with blond hair said,
"The two silent ones are Trowa Barton and Heero Yuy."
He said, pointing to a boy with light brown hair and one with
messy dark brown hair.
"I'm Usagi Tsukino, and these are my friends, Rei Hino and
Hotaru Tomoe." Usagi said, introducing them.
"Your new here, right?" Quatre asked.
"Yup, just got here today." Usagi said
matter-of-factly.
"Do you speak?" Rei asked Trowa.
"..."
"I'll take that as a 'no'" She answered herself,
"How about you," She asked Heero.
"Um, Miss Hino?" Duo said, "You don't want to mess
with that one, he's hostile." Duo said. "You guys want
us to
show you around or something?"
"Sure! That would be great!" Usagi yelled. "Do you
guys know any good place to get some icecream?" She asked
Quatre.
"ICECREAM? Did you say ICECREAM?" Duo yelled. "I
LOVE icecream. Quatre, will you buy us some icecream,
PLEASE?"
"Well..." Quatre seemed to be thinking very hard.
"Do it, Quatre, if it will make him shut up." Wufei
said.
"I suppose,"
"EXCELLENT." Duo stated, and they started walking.
***
"Ouch," Hotaru said while they were walking. She took
off her right shoe. "I think Micharu gave me the wrong
shoes. I don't know whose shoes these are." She told Rei.
"Weak woman." Wufei muttered. Hotaru took off both of
her shoes and hit Wufei over the head with one. Trowa and Heero
stared at her.
"OW! THAT HURT, YOU KISMA!!!" Wufei yelled holding onto
his head.
"It serves you right, if I had a gun I would shoot
you." Hotaru said.
They finally arrived at the icecream parlor and sat down. When
the clerk asked Duo what he wanted, he ordered
almost the whole menu, the same with Usagi. Wufei, Trowa and
Heero ordered nothing. When the clerk asked what Hotaru wanted,
she said a cola smoothie.
"This is an icecream parlor," the clerk said, "You
don't want anything with icecream?"
"Icecream has milk in it, I don't like milk." Hotaru
countered.
"But you won't get your calcium, you'll be weak!"
"HA!" Wufei yelled,
"Omaeo o korosu," Heero said, he had a gun pointed at
the clerk. "Get the woman her smoothie, or would you
like us to leave?"
"One smoothie, coming up." Said the clerk.
"Um, Heero, we're not leaving, not without my
icecream." Duo said.
Hotaru yawned, and said nothing..
"I knew that it would catch up with her," Rei said.
"What are you talking about?" Usagi asked,
"She didn't sleep at all last night, when you were snoozing
away in that comfortable bed, Hotaru was loyally
answering phone calls and lying for you..."
"Lying about what, up all night where? I'm confused."
Duo asked, stuffing his face with icecream.
"I don't think we should tell you..." Rei said.
"It's okay, Rei-chan, go ahead." Usagi said, licking
her icecream cone. "Go on, besides, I'm not *that* Usagi
anymore."
"You look like the same Usagi to me..." Rei said.
"Okay, Usagi has had some bad luck with boys."
"Ha." Usagi said, and then, "Go on,"
"Anyway, her boyfriend, Mammoru, cheated on her." Again
Usagi added a fake laugh. "So we got our friend, Setsuna to
bring us here."
"So where exactly did you come from?" Asked Quatre.
"Another dimension."
"What?"
"The past."
"Oh." Said Quatre. Usagi was now on her second scoop of
icecream.
"So where do you two play in on this?"
"I went to Rei's house at 1 o'clock in the morning, and
Hotaru came over when Rei called her. She answered all
the phone calls and did all the lying. Unfortunatly, I don't
think they all believed her." Usagi said.
"She doesn't lie very well." Rei said.
"And she hits hard." Wufei added.
"And she's sleeping." Said Heero.
"Yup." Usagi said.
***
"I think we should go home now, Haruka and Micharu are
probably worried." Usagi said, half an hour later.
"Okay, you may have the honors of waking Hotaru up."
Rei said.
"You can."
"You."
"No, Rei-chan, I insist that you wake her up."
"You will wake her, Usagi."
"Why don't you just let her sleep?" Quatre said.
"Brilliant! Now, how do we get her home?"
"..." Trowa said.
"..." Heero added.
"You could carry her." Quatre said.
"Or you could." Said Usagi with a smile on her face.
"Duo could" Said Quatre.
"I am not worthy!" Duo yelled, "Not worthy!! Heero
will."
"..." Heero picked up Hotaru's light body, and
they walked out the door.
***
"Where have you been?!" Haruka yelled, when they came
in.
"This way, Heero." Usagi said, leading Heero into
Hotaru's chosen room.
"Yeah, and you were where?" Haruka said. "Hello?
Am I a wall? Who's he?" Heero put Hotaru on the bed, and
Usagi closed her door.
"This is Heero Yuy. We met him and his friends today and
they treated us to icecream." Usagi said.
"Hotaru ate icecream?"
"No." Rei answered.
"Thanks Heero." Usagi said, Heero grunted a reply and
left.
"So, did you have a good time?" Micharu asked.
"Yep, now we know where the icecream parlor is!" Usagi
said.
"I'm going to bed." Rei said.
"Not me! I'm wired!"
"We're going to bed, too." Said Micharu.
"I'm still wired, with nothing to do." Rei, Micharu and
Haruka left and Usagi sat on the couch. Out of her
pocket, she took a crumpled picture of Mammoru.
"Mamo-chan." She whispered and touched the picture,
then she tore it in half and threw it into the fireplace.