All Around The Town
By Musou Misora
Chapter Four
Disclaimer: *winks* You know what I'm going to say! Sailor Moon characters, and the title, do not belong to me; they belong to Takeuchi Naoko and Mary Higgens Clark respectively.
***
It was sometime after midnight when Mizuno Sadako turned the keys to the apartment. The door swung open on silent hinges, to reveal only a faint light emitting its glow from her daughter's room. Curious, Sadako walked over to the room and turned the knob.
Nothing was amiss: the stuffed animals lay on their hammock above the bed, Ami's books neatly stacked on the pine shelves Kandan had made for her so long ago, the dresser and mirror were slightly dusty...Sadako made a mental note to remind Ami to clean them soon.
The girl herself was fast asleep under her light blue comforter and fleece throw. Sadako noted that she was still in her school uniform, which meant that Ami must be catching up on much-needed sleep. The woman shook her head; she knew that her daughter was very smart, and loved school, yet she wondered if Ami wasn't taking it a little too seriously.
Her daughter stirred slightly, bringing Sadako back to reality. She smiled, and softly hummed the tune of Ami's favorite childhood song, 'All Around The Town'. All was well...
***
Sunday dawned gloriously. And Ami cursed its coming. Last night's ordeal left no trace, and so the eighteen year-old dismissed it as hallucination.
Sleep was a rare luxury nowadays, since she was so busy preparing to enter the University after she finished high school. Ami studied more than she had when she was younger, much to the chagrin of Usagi. Ami smiled; the blonde haired girl had her best interests in mind when she insisted that Ami accompany her on shopping sprees and outings to the arcade and cafe instead of reading inside all alone.
Ami decided to spend the day at the pool.
It was sparsely populated during early morning, and attendance would not pick up for some time yet. The only people Ami could see were the pool staff, and even they were leaving. They obviously did not wish to stay for very long today.
After only an hour, Ami was the only person left. The Olympic size pool was cooling as the sun set upon the horizon, casting an eerie red glow over the sky.
She rubbed her eyes. The water must be rather reflective, she thought, to turn from light blue to...
Ami glanced at the filters alongside the wall of the pool.
Holy...
She screamed.
***
Her eyes fluttered open slowly. Noisy carts and stretchers were being wheeled along the polished floor of...the hospital? How in the name of Serenity had she arrived here?
"Ami."
Her mother was standing over her with a worried expression gracing her features. "Do you remember what happened?"
Ami thought for a few seconds. Everything seemed to be a blur. All she could remember was swimming, watching the sunset, and then she found herself here on the bed. "Iie."
"One of the workers at the pool heard you scream, and found you floating face down in the pool. She said you must've fainted while swimming. I tried to tell you not to over exert yourself, demo..."
Sadako stopped. "Gomen nasai, Ami-chan, I shouldn't be so cruel to you. You should rest now."
"Daijobou. Okaasan, did the pool-worker say anything was wrong with the water?"
"Iie, doushite?"
"It's nothing. I suppose I'm just imagining things."
"Hai."
***
He supposed that two warnings were not enough. Chibi-chan could not remember what happened at the pool, and dismissed the bedroom incident as a hallucination. Well, there would only be one more warning...
***
Azami and Irihi were worried again. Karasu smirked. She couldn't imagine why. Ami was such a wimp, like Chibi-chan, and wasn't worth protecting.
Karasu continued to file her almost-perfect nails to complete perfecting, while humming 'All Around The Town' quite idly. Of course she didn't care. Why would she?
***
As Ami returned to school the next day, she was almost run-over by Usagi.
"Ami-chan!" the girl cried. "Are you all right? You didn't get hurt too badly did you?"
"Iie, Usa-chan! I've just been tired, and must have lost consciousness while swimming," Ami replied. "It's nothing to worry yourself about."
Usagi frowned. "I'm afraid I'm the reason that you haven't been sleeping! Maybe I shouldn't ask for help to often, ne?"
"Usa-chan, you know I don't mind tutoring you!" said Ami quickly.
"You're sure?"
"Positive."
"Really?"
"Ee! Isn't that enough for you?"
"I guess..."
"Usa..."
"Okay, okay! Let's get to class before we're both stamped for detention!"
***
The day passed normally, the few interruptions coming from miscreant students. Ami found herself nodding off into dream land during her last class, unfortunately one of her favorites.
Don't ever mention our names...
Ami shuddered, even while dozing off, thinking about that day. She could all but feel the heavy hands smack her face, arms, and legs...
"Mizuno-san? Class is over."
Her head lifted to see Sensei Hiroshi standing over her. "Gomen nasai, Sensei!" she quickly said. "I guess I didn't get enough sleep last night..."
Hiroshi shook his head. "Your mother called the school this morning, explaining yesterday's incident. I think you should go to bed when you reach home."
"Hai. Sayonara, Sensei."
"Sayonara."
Minako greeted her outside the room. "Hiyas, Ami-chan! Have a nice nap?"
Ami blushed. "Mina, please don't spread that around! It's embarrassing..."
"Nani, that you fell asleep during class? Come on, everybody does that in world history!"
"Well, pardon ME for being behind in the trend. I usually pay attention in my classes, unlike SOME BLONDES I know..."
Minako giggled nervously and rubbed her head. "Ee, you got me there. Remind me never to say stuff like that to you again."
"Of course I will."
"Oh, I don't doubt it..."
"Hey!"
Makoto bounded up to them from the direction of the school office. "Ami-chan, you have a phone call."
"Oh, okay. See you later, minna!"
"Bai bai, Ames!" Minako called to her friend's retreating form.
***
"Excuse me?"
The lady at the front desk looked up startled. "Ah, Mizuno-san, you have a phone call. Go right into that office and use line three."
"Domo arigato, Yuubou-san."
Ami walked into the empty room and did as she was told. "Moshi moshi, this is Mizuno Ami."
"Ohayo, Chibi-chan."
She almost dropped the phone in horror. "Na-nani?"
"You've been a bad girl, Chibi-chan. It's time for you to pay."
"..." Ami was too frightened to say anything. The rough voice on the other end of the line chuckled.
"I'll see you and your odango friend very soon. She knows my name. It's too bad, though: she's very attractive, as are you, demo I'm going to have to kill you. Sayonara, Chibi-chan."
The phone clicked in her ear, yet Ami did not hear it. The phone slipped from her fingers as she ran out of the room to try and find Usagi before it was too late.
***
(*sighs* Hope you all like this one! It's going to end soon; I'll probably have another chapter or two and then the epilogue.)
---Musou Misora
"If swimming is supposed to be good for your body, how do you explain whales?"
