Disclaimer : I don't own Sailormoon. You think I'd be
writing a fanfic if I did? Heh -_-;
A.N. The title of this chapter is inspired by a book i read when i was
younger (haha yeah as if i'm not young enough already!) ^_^
Doesn't it sound pretty?
Oh and I just realised that Sharla's name is English for some really
odd reason when the story is set in Japan XD
Thanks for all the reviews!!!
In case you forgot or skipped part 6:
Usagi stood there, unable to move. Who had Mamoru
been talking to? She only heard the last thing he said,
about not telling 'her' even if he loved her. Was he
talking about herself? Usagi wasn't sure and she didn't
know if she wanted to find out. She still loved Tetsu and
after talking to him, she knew she had missed him. She
didn't even know what she felt for Mamoru or Tetsu. But
Tetsu was coming home and that was all that mattered
now, right?
----
And To Change, Is It Good?
By Artemis
----
Part 7 - I Never Promised You A Rose Garden
Mamoru sat in the office, waiting for Tetsu. His eyes were fixed on the
door as he sat nervously by the desk. He was usually nervous when he
was waiting for Tetsu, but right now, he was even more nervous. The only
sound he could hear was the sound of the clock ticking. Seconds ticked by
and minutes ticked by. Mamoru started fiddling with the papers and pens on
the desk, trying to make them neat and tidy. He glanced at his watch.
Tetsu was ten minutes late, which was unusual. Tetsu was always on time,
because it was in his nature and well, he was the boss after all. Mamoru
sighed and leaned back in the chair. Then, the door jerked open and Tetsu
walked in. Mamoru bolted up from his chair.
"Morning," he nodded to Tetsu.
"Morning."
"How was Paris?" Mamoru asked nervously as Tetsu sorted out some papers
he had in his hand.
"Good. Better than I expected," Tetsu simply nodded.
Mamoru almost wondered if he had dreamt talking to Tetsu on the phone
last night at Usagi's house. Tetsu had sounded too nice then, and now he
was back to his usual cool self.
"The project is going pretty well, but we still have to finalise a few things,"
Mamoru told him as he showed him a report and some plans.
Tetsu looked through them.
"Usagi wasn't too much of an inconvenience, I hope?" Tetsu asked, not looking
up from the report.
"No, of course not," Mamoru replied.
"Good."
There was a long silence while Tetsu read the report. Mamoru stood there
silently, watching Tetsu flick through the pages.
"Well, it all looks good to me," Tetsu told him as he put the report down on
the desk. Mamoru just nodded.
"Good job, I'm glad I left it for you to deal with," Tetsu smiled a little, satisfied.
Tetsu glanced at his watch.
"I have a meeting soon, so I'll leave you to it," he told Mamoru and
walked to the door.
"Uh Tetsu," Mamoru called him back.
"Yes?"
"How is... Usagi?"
"She's fine."
"She uh seemed a little upset when I left..."
"As far as I know, she's fine."
"Well that's good. Uh, if you ever need me to take care of her again,
I wouldn't mind."
"Mamoru, do you have a fever?" Tetsu frowned. "You're starting to say
strange things. Anyway, I have to go. I'll see you later."
And with that, Tetsu left the room, wondering what was wrong with Mamoru.
And Mamoru stood at his desk, wondering what was wrong with himself.
Mamoru sat at his desk, with his head in his hands. He sighed. He couldn't
concentrate at all. Suddenly, a head poked out from behind the door.
"Hey, Mamoru!" his friend Keiichi grinned.
"What do you want?" Mamoru frowned, not liking the grin on Keiichi.
"There's some crazy woman out the front asking for you," he laughed.
Mamoru frowned. Crazy woman? It couldn't be...... Sharla?
"And she's starting to yell out this incredibly interesting story," Keiichi
teased Mamoru.
"What's she saying!?"
"Oh, something about you and Tetsu's wife?"
Mamoru snapped the pencil he was holding. Sharla would do anything to
get him to talk to her.
He jumped out of his seat and ran out of the room.
"Hey! Who the hell is she!?" Keiichi shouted at him as Mamoru ran down
the stairs.
Sharla was sitting on the front office couch, looking happy to see Mamoru
out of breath.
"What the hell do you want?" he scowled.
"Just thought I'd drop by," she smiled pleasantly.
"I thought I told you to leave me alone."
"But I know you love me Mamoru. You're just being shy. Like your boss'
wife, right?" Sharla
giggled, then raised her voice. "What was her name again? Usagi? She
was awfully shy and naive when I first met her... And she was wearing...
Oh, what was it?"
Mamoru stood there, exasperated. His other colleagues were all looking
at them with interest. Thank god Tetsu had a meeting.
"Wasn't she wearing your shirt Mamoru?" Sharla laughed. "Yeah, that's
right. How did that happen?"
Her green eyes sparkled, seeing Mamoru turning red from anger and
embarrassment at the same time.
"Sharla, if you don't shut up right now, I'll kick you out of the building,"
he muttered quietly to her.
"I want to see you try," she grinned, then continued teasing him. "And
what was that rose for? It wasn't for me, so it was obviously for her, right?"
Mamoru grabbed Sharla and pulled her off the couch. She struggled as
he tried dragging her out of the building. This was just what he needed.
"Mamoru, what the hell are you doing?" he heard a familiar voice.
It was Tetsu. Mamoru turned and sighed. Nothing was going right today.
Tetsu was with some clients and they were all looking at him with a surprised
expression.
"Uh hi Tetsu, just trying to convince this crazy woman to leave the
building," Mamoru told him.
"Are you the boss?" Sharla asked, smiling sweetly.
"Indeed I am," Tetsu nodded, unaffected by Sharla's smile.
"Ohhh, so it's YOUR wife?" Sharla murmured.
"Sharla, shut up," Mamoru whispered.
"What about my wife?" Tetsu frowned.
"The one who I was asked to look after," Mamoru tried to cover
it up. "She's a little jealous."
"Are you Mamoru's wife?" Tetsu asked, puzzled.
"NO!" Mamoru shouted.
"Calm down Mamoru," Sharla giggled, enjoying Mamoru panic.
Mamoru shook his head and felt a headache coming on.
"I think you need some time off Mamoru," Tetsu told him. "You've been
acting strange ever since I came back to work. Maybe I've made you
work too hard."
"No, really, I'm fine," he mumbled.
"He's acting strange because he's in love," Sharla said in a
matter-of-factly voice. Mamoru couldn't believe how immature
Sharla was being. Tetsu gave him a 'what?' look.
"Sharla, you know I love you," Mamoru forced a smile.
If this was her way of making him say it, it was working.
"Oh? But I thought you loved that other girl, you know, the one with
blue eyes and...."
But Sharla's sentence was cut off by Mamoru, who kissed her. He couldn't
think of any other way to shut her up. Tetsu just stared, along with his
clients. And so did the rest of his colleagues. Only Sharla was the one
looking happy.
Usagi finished preparing dinner and left Tetsu's portion in the microwave.
She turned on the TV and sat down on the couch. For the whole day,
what Mamoru had said had bothered her. Was Mamoru in love with her?
If he was, how and why? Besides the fact that she looked like his princess....
And she had acted a little strange, asking him for dinner. But Usagi had felt
so unstable at the time that she also hadn't minded Mamoru holding her. She
knew that had been a huge mistake. Her whole body tingled when she thought
about it. Tetsu hardly ever touched her any more that it made her want to
remember the feeling again. And Mamoru made her remember the feeling.
She sighed and gazed at the TV screen. Tetsu wouldn't be home for another
two hours. And even when he did come home, he would just eat by himself
and then go to sleep without even murmuring a word to her. Then, Usagi
heard a car coming into the driveway. She frowned. Why was Tetsu home
so early? She sat on the couch, puzzled and unsure if she had heard things.
But soon enough, the front door opened and she heard Tetsu's footsteps.
Whatever the reason was, she was happy that he was home early for once.
She leapt up from the couch and hurried over to the kitchen to get his dinner ready.
"Tetsu?" she called out, but he didn't reply.
She got out his dinner from the microwave and set it on the table. Then, she
walked over to the front door. She froze. It was Mamoru. He stood there, looking
pale and fatigued. Usagi wasn't sure what to say or do, so she just stood there
and stared.
"Hi," Mamoru smiled.
Usagi didn't reply.
"I.... I came to tell you something..."
".... Yes?"
"Tetsu... Tetsu said he would be late so don't wait up for him. And this is
something he wanted me to give to you," he murmured, then handed her a
bunch of purple orchids.
"Orchids!" Usagi smiled. "These are Tetsu's favourite!"
Mamoru wasn't sure if what he was doing was right, but he just couldn't
pretend he had no feelings for her. He couldn't live a day without seeing her
at least once. And even if she didn't want presents from him, if he pretended
they were from Tetsu, then.... Then she would believe him, wouldn't she?
"Thank you Mamoru san," she smiled politely. "Would you like to stay for coffee?"
Mamoru heard that she no longer called him just "Mamoru". His heart sank.
"No, it's all right," he smiled weakly. "Bye."
He turned and left, leaving a rather surprised Usagi standing by the door.
Mamoru sat in his car and sighed. He knew it was stupid making up lies, but
he couldn't think of anything else to do. And everything was so messed up
that no matter how bad it got, it wouldn't make a difference any more. Sharla
had ruined his day at work and even Tetsu was showing surprise. Mamoru backed
out of the driveway and drove home. He didn't particularly want to go home, but
he didn't really have a choice. Mamoru turned on the radio to distract his thoughts.
The music just floated around like a bunch of erratic sounds.
It's true
The way I feel
Was promised by your face
The sound of your voice
Painted on my memories
Even if you're not with me
I'm with you
The lyrics made Mamoru think about Usagi again. He switched channels to
stop thinking, but the song echoed in his mind. He hated feeling like this and
wished it would end.
Usagi lay in bed, thinking about the orchids. Were they really from Tetsu?
She wasn't sure, but a part of her wanted to believe it anyway. She tossed
and turned, trying to get comfortable. It was 2AM. Where was Tetsu? Mamoru
had said he was going to be late, but... Tetsu had never been this late before.
She got up from the bed and walked downstairs to the kitchen to drink some
milk. The fluorescent kitchen light made her blink. The house was silent, making
Usagi feel so alone. She wondered if Tetsu even loved her any more. But she never
had the guts to ask. Why? Because she didn't want to hear him say "yes". It was
something she didn't want to hear, even though he was hurting her anyway.
The warm milk comforted her and she sat at the empty dining table. She flicked
through some magazines, but put them away. She wasn't really reading them.
Then, Usagi heard the garage door opening. She sat, fixed in her chair, hearing
the usual jangle of keys and heavy footsteps. She heard the door open and
footsteps walking over in her direction. She saw Tetsu walk into the kitchen,
unaware that she was nearby. He flicked through the mail on the counter and
looked in the microwave for his dinner. Usagi sat there silently, watching.
While Tetsu microwaved his dinner, he made himself some coffee. The smell
of rich coffee reminded Usagi of Mamoru. She tried to get him out of her mind,
but then she saw flashbacks of him holding her, smiling and taking care of her.
Usagi shook her head free of the thoughts. Tetsu was walking over to the dining
table with his dinner and he saw her as he turned towards her direction. She just
looked at him, her eyes full of concern as well as sadness. He stared at her.
"You're still up?" he asked, not moving.
"I was wondering when you'd be home. I couldn't get to sleep," she told him.
"Didn't Mamoru come here to tell you I'd be late?"
"He did."
Tetsu just looked at her with no emotion, then sat down opposite her to eat
his dinner. He started eating without a word and Usagi watched him. She wasn't
sure if he was annoyed at her or not. It wasn't her fault she was worried about
him. It was one thing he never showed for her any more.
"Mamoru was acting strange at work today," Tetsu spoke to her without
looking up. "How was he when he came here?"
"Fine."
Tetsu continued to eat. Usagi played with the orchid petals. She started to
doubt if Tetsu really had wanted to give her these.
"What do you mean he was acting strange?" she asked quietly.
"He wasn't in control of himself."
"I see..."
Then, Tetsu looked up at her. He glanced at the orchids, then turned back
to her. Usagi wondered what was wrong.
"Do you know a woman by the name of Sharla?" he asked her, putting his
fork down.
Usagi's heart started to race. Sharla? Wasn't she the woman who Mamoru
had known?
"I.. I know of her," she nodded nervously. "Why?"
"Just wondering," he replied and continued eating.
"Was... was she there?"
"Where?"
"At work..."
Tetsu didn't give her a reply.
"Was she making Mamoru act strange?" she asked.
"You could say that."
There was a silence as Tetsu finished off his dinner. He drank the rest of
his coffee, then looked up.
"Nice orchids," he smiled a little.
"Yeah," she smiled back, happy to see some emotion.
Then he got up from his chair and walked away to the kitchen. Usagi
followed him. Tetsu put his dirty plate in the sink. They didn't say a word
to each other. Usagi felt like she was going to cry. Why was he so cold to
her? It hurt her so much, but she just couldn't find the guts to ask him.
She had so many questions she wanted to ask him, but she knew they
would never be answered. Usagi grabbed his arm as he started to walk
away. Tetsu looked at her, puzzled. She held his arm tightly.
"Usagi?" he frowned.
She looked up at him, her eyes a little teary. He looked at her silently, offering
her no comfort.
"Tetsu...." she whispered. "Kiss me..."
The air felt still while they looked at each other. Tetsu leaned down slowly
as he lifted her chin up. Usagi closed her eyes and felt his lips against hers.
If he didn't mind kissing her, then did that mean he still loved her? Usagi wasn't
sure. But Tetsu's kiss felt cold and empty. Not the way... The way Mamoru had
kissed her. Usagi opened her eyes and pushed Tetsu away. He looked at her
and frowned slightly.
"Sorry..." she murmured, then walked past him and hurried up the stairs.
Tetsu stood there, unsure of what had just happened.
----
END OF PART 7
----
A.N. Errr yup I'm dragging this on longer than maybe it needs to be, but hey! ^^;
Oh and the lyrics come from a Linkin Park song called With You. Yeah I know, I only
used the lyrics cos they sort of fitted Mamoru's situation. It would have been better
if I found lyrics from a sappy love song, but well, oh well! =P
Teaser:
Part 8 - They Say Paris is the City of Love
"What's with you and that Sharla woman?"
"Nothing."
"Yeah, sure, you just kissed her in front of all of us," Tetsu laughed,
showing a warm expression for once, despite the fact it was a bad
thing for Mamoru.
"She's just... I don't want anything to do with her."
"Why?"
"She's married but wants to get involved with me."
"So?"
Mamoru stared at Tetsu. Did he just hear right?
writing a fanfic if I did? Heh -_-;
A.N. The title of this chapter is inspired by a book i read when i was
younger (haha yeah as if i'm not young enough already!) ^_^
Doesn't it sound pretty?
Oh and I just realised that Sharla's name is English for some really
odd reason when the story is set in Japan XD
Thanks for all the reviews!!!
In case you forgot or skipped part 6:
Usagi stood there, unable to move. Who had Mamoru
been talking to? She only heard the last thing he said,
about not telling 'her' even if he loved her. Was he
talking about herself? Usagi wasn't sure and she didn't
know if she wanted to find out. She still loved Tetsu and
after talking to him, she knew she had missed him. She
didn't even know what she felt for Mamoru or Tetsu. But
Tetsu was coming home and that was all that mattered
now, right?
----
And To Change, Is It Good?
By Artemis
----
Part 7 - I Never Promised You A Rose Garden
Mamoru sat in the office, waiting for Tetsu. His eyes were fixed on the
door as he sat nervously by the desk. He was usually nervous when he
was waiting for Tetsu, but right now, he was even more nervous. The only
sound he could hear was the sound of the clock ticking. Seconds ticked by
and minutes ticked by. Mamoru started fiddling with the papers and pens on
the desk, trying to make them neat and tidy. He glanced at his watch.
Tetsu was ten minutes late, which was unusual. Tetsu was always on time,
because it was in his nature and well, he was the boss after all. Mamoru
sighed and leaned back in the chair. Then, the door jerked open and Tetsu
walked in. Mamoru bolted up from his chair.
"Morning," he nodded to Tetsu.
"Morning."
"How was Paris?" Mamoru asked nervously as Tetsu sorted out some papers
he had in his hand.
"Good. Better than I expected," Tetsu simply nodded.
Mamoru almost wondered if he had dreamt talking to Tetsu on the phone
last night at Usagi's house. Tetsu had sounded too nice then, and now he
was back to his usual cool self.
"The project is going pretty well, but we still have to finalise a few things,"
Mamoru told him as he showed him a report and some plans.
Tetsu looked through them.
"Usagi wasn't too much of an inconvenience, I hope?" Tetsu asked, not looking
up from the report.
"No, of course not," Mamoru replied.
"Good."
There was a long silence while Tetsu read the report. Mamoru stood there
silently, watching Tetsu flick through the pages.
"Well, it all looks good to me," Tetsu told him as he put the report down on
the desk. Mamoru just nodded.
"Good job, I'm glad I left it for you to deal with," Tetsu smiled a little, satisfied.
Tetsu glanced at his watch.
"I have a meeting soon, so I'll leave you to it," he told Mamoru and
walked to the door.
"Uh Tetsu," Mamoru called him back.
"Yes?"
"How is... Usagi?"
"She's fine."
"She uh seemed a little upset when I left..."
"As far as I know, she's fine."
"Well that's good. Uh, if you ever need me to take care of her again,
I wouldn't mind."
"Mamoru, do you have a fever?" Tetsu frowned. "You're starting to say
strange things. Anyway, I have to go. I'll see you later."
And with that, Tetsu left the room, wondering what was wrong with Mamoru.
And Mamoru stood at his desk, wondering what was wrong with himself.
Mamoru sat at his desk, with his head in his hands. He sighed. He couldn't
concentrate at all. Suddenly, a head poked out from behind the door.
"Hey, Mamoru!" his friend Keiichi grinned.
"What do you want?" Mamoru frowned, not liking the grin on Keiichi.
"There's some crazy woman out the front asking for you," he laughed.
Mamoru frowned. Crazy woman? It couldn't be...... Sharla?
"And she's starting to yell out this incredibly interesting story," Keiichi
teased Mamoru.
"What's she saying!?"
"Oh, something about you and Tetsu's wife?"
Mamoru snapped the pencil he was holding. Sharla would do anything to
get him to talk to her.
He jumped out of his seat and ran out of the room.
"Hey! Who the hell is she!?" Keiichi shouted at him as Mamoru ran down
the stairs.
Sharla was sitting on the front office couch, looking happy to see Mamoru
out of breath.
"What the hell do you want?" he scowled.
"Just thought I'd drop by," she smiled pleasantly.
"I thought I told you to leave me alone."
"But I know you love me Mamoru. You're just being shy. Like your boss'
wife, right?" Sharla
giggled, then raised her voice. "What was her name again? Usagi? She
was awfully shy and naive when I first met her... And she was wearing...
Oh, what was it?"
Mamoru stood there, exasperated. His other colleagues were all looking
at them with interest. Thank god Tetsu had a meeting.
"Wasn't she wearing your shirt Mamoru?" Sharla laughed. "Yeah, that's
right. How did that happen?"
Her green eyes sparkled, seeing Mamoru turning red from anger and
embarrassment at the same time.
"Sharla, if you don't shut up right now, I'll kick you out of the building,"
he muttered quietly to her.
"I want to see you try," she grinned, then continued teasing him. "And
what was that rose for? It wasn't for me, so it was obviously for her, right?"
Mamoru grabbed Sharla and pulled her off the couch. She struggled as
he tried dragging her out of the building. This was just what he needed.
"Mamoru, what the hell are you doing?" he heard a familiar voice.
It was Tetsu. Mamoru turned and sighed. Nothing was going right today.
Tetsu was with some clients and they were all looking at him with a surprised
expression.
"Uh hi Tetsu, just trying to convince this crazy woman to leave the
building," Mamoru told him.
"Are you the boss?" Sharla asked, smiling sweetly.
"Indeed I am," Tetsu nodded, unaffected by Sharla's smile.
"Ohhh, so it's YOUR wife?" Sharla murmured.
"Sharla, shut up," Mamoru whispered.
"What about my wife?" Tetsu frowned.
"The one who I was asked to look after," Mamoru tried to cover
it up. "She's a little jealous."
"Are you Mamoru's wife?" Tetsu asked, puzzled.
"NO!" Mamoru shouted.
"Calm down Mamoru," Sharla giggled, enjoying Mamoru panic.
Mamoru shook his head and felt a headache coming on.
"I think you need some time off Mamoru," Tetsu told him. "You've been
acting strange ever since I came back to work. Maybe I've made you
work too hard."
"No, really, I'm fine," he mumbled.
"He's acting strange because he's in love," Sharla said in a
matter-of-factly voice. Mamoru couldn't believe how immature
Sharla was being. Tetsu gave him a 'what?' look.
"Sharla, you know I love you," Mamoru forced a smile.
If this was her way of making him say it, it was working.
"Oh? But I thought you loved that other girl, you know, the one with
blue eyes and...."
But Sharla's sentence was cut off by Mamoru, who kissed her. He couldn't
think of any other way to shut her up. Tetsu just stared, along with his
clients. And so did the rest of his colleagues. Only Sharla was the one
looking happy.
Usagi finished preparing dinner and left Tetsu's portion in the microwave.
She turned on the TV and sat down on the couch. For the whole day,
what Mamoru had said had bothered her. Was Mamoru in love with her?
If he was, how and why? Besides the fact that she looked like his princess....
And she had acted a little strange, asking him for dinner. But Usagi had felt
so unstable at the time that she also hadn't minded Mamoru holding her. She
knew that had been a huge mistake. Her whole body tingled when she thought
about it. Tetsu hardly ever touched her any more that it made her want to
remember the feeling again. And Mamoru made her remember the feeling.
She sighed and gazed at the TV screen. Tetsu wouldn't be home for another
two hours. And even when he did come home, he would just eat by himself
and then go to sleep without even murmuring a word to her. Then, Usagi
heard a car coming into the driveway. She frowned. Why was Tetsu home
so early? She sat on the couch, puzzled and unsure if she had heard things.
But soon enough, the front door opened and she heard Tetsu's footsteps.
Whatever the reason was, she was happy that he was home early for once.
She leapt up from the couch and hurried over to the kitchen to get his dinner ready.
"Tetsu?" she called out, but he didn't reply.
She got out his dinner from the microwave and set it on the table. Then, she
walked over to the front door. She froze. It was Mamoru. He stood there, looking
pale and fatigued. Usagi wasn't sure what to say or do, so she just stood there
and stared.
"Hi," Mamoru smiled.
Usagi didn't reply.
"I.... I came to tell you something..."
".... Yes?"
"Tetsu... Tetsu said he would be late so don't wait up for him. And this is
something he wanted me to give to you," he murmured, then handed her a
bunch of purple orchids.
"Orchids!" Usagi smiled. "These are Tetsu's favourite!"
Mamoru wasn't sure if what he was doing was right, but he just couldn't
pretend he had no feelings for her. He couldn't live a day without seeing her
at least once. And even if she didn't want presents from him, if he pretended
they were from Tetsu, then.... Then she would believe him, wouldn't she?
"Thank you Mamoru san," she smiled politely. "Would you like to stay for coffee?"
Mamoru heard that she no longer called him just "Mamoru". His heart sank.
"No, it's all right," he smiled weakly. "Bye."
He turned and left, leaving a rather surprised Usagi standing by the door.
Mamoru sat in his car and sighed. He knew it was stupid making up lies, but
he couldn't think of anything else to do. And everything was so messed up
that no matter how bad it got, it wouldn't make a difference any more. Sharla
had ruined his day at work and even Tetsu was showing surprise. Mamoru backed
out of the driveway and drove home. He didn't particularly want to go home, but
he didn't really have a choice. Mamoru turned on the radio to distract his thoughts.
The music just floated around like a bunch of erratic sounds.
It's true
The way I feel
Was promised by your face
The sound of your voice
Painted on my memories
Even if you're not with me
I'm with you
The lyrics made Mamoru think about Usagi again. He switched channels to
stop thinking, but the song echoed in his mind. He hated feeling like this and
wished it would end.
Usagi lay in bed, thinking about the orchids. Were they really from Tetsu?
She wasn't sure, but a part of her wanted to believe it anyway. She tossed
and turned, trying to get comfortable. It was 2AM. Where was Tetsu? Mamoru
had said he was going to be late, but... Tetsu had never been this late before.
She got up from the bed and walked downstairs to the kitchen to drink some
milk. The fluorescent kitchen light made her blink. The house was silent, making
Usagi feel so alone. She wondered if Tetsu even loved her any more. But she never
had the guts to ask. Why? Because she didn't want to hear him say "yes". It was
something she didn't want to hear, even though he was hurting her anyway.
The warm milk comforted her and she sat at the empty dining table. She flicked
through some magazines, but put them away. She wasn't really reading them.
Then, Usagi heard the garage door opening. She sat, fixed in her chair, hearing
the usual jangle of keys and heavy footsteps. She heard the door open and
footsteps walking over in her direction. She saw Tetsu walk into the kitchen,
unaware that she was nearby. He flicked through the mail on the counter and
looked in the microwave for his dinner. Usagi sat there silently, watching.
While Tetsu microwaved his dinner, he made himself some coffee. The smell
of rich coffee reminded Usagi of Mamoru. She tried to get him out of her mind,
but then she saw flashbacks of him holding her, smiling and taking care of her.
Usagi shook her head free of the thoughts. Tetsu was walking over to the dining
table with his dinner and he saw her as he turned towards her direction. She just
looked at him, her eyes full of concern as well as sadness. He stared at her.
"You're still up?" he asked, not moving.
"I was wondering when you'd be home. I couldn't get to sleep," she told him.
"Didn't Mamoru come here to tell you I'd be late?"
"He did."
Tetsu just looked at her with no emotion, then sat down opposite her to eat
his dinner. He started eating without a word and Usagi watched him. She wasn't
sure if he was annoyed at her or not. It wasn't her fault she was worried about
him. It was one thing he never showed for her any more.
"Mamoru was acting strange at work today," Tetsu spoke to her without
looking up. "How was he when he came here?"
"Fine."
Tetsu continued to eat. Usagi played with the orchid petals. She started to
doubt if Tetsu really had wanted to give her these.
"What do you mean he was acting strange?" she asked quietly.
"He wasn't in control of himself."
"I see..."
Then, Tetsu looked up at her. He glanced at the orchids, then turned back
to her. Usagi wondered what was wrong.
"Do you know a woman by the name of Sharla?" he asked her, putting his
fork down.
Usagi's heart started to race. Sharla? Wasn't she the woman who Mamoru
had known?
"I.. I know of her," she nodded nervously. "Why?"
"Just wondering," he replied and continued eating.
"Was... was she there?"
"Where?"
"At work..."
Tetsu didn't give her a reply.
"Was she making Mamoru act strange?" she asked.
"You could say that."
There was a silence as Tetsu finished off his dinner. He drank the rest of
his coffee, then looked up.
"Nice orchids," he smiled a little.
"Yeah," she smiled back, happy to see some emotion.
Then he got up from his chair and walked away to the kitchen. Usagi
followed him. Tetsu put his dirty plate in the sink. They didn't say a word
to each other. Usagi felt like she was going to cry. Why was he so cold to
her? It hurt her so much, but she just couldn't find the guts to ask him.
She had so many questions she wanted to ask him, but she knew they
would never be answered. Usagi grabbed his arm as he started to walk
away. Tetsu looked at her, puzzled. She held his arm tightly.
"Usagi?" he frowned.
She looked up at him, her eyes a little teary. He looked at her silently, offering
her no comfort.
"Tetsu...." she whispered. "Kiss me..."
The air felt still while they looked at each other. Tetsu leaned down slowly
as he lifted her chin up. Usagi closed her eyes and felt his lips against hers.
If he didn't mind kissing her, then did that mean he still loved her? Usagi wasn't
sure. But Tetsu's kiss felt cold and empty. Not the way... The way Mamoru had
kissed her. Usagi opened her eyes and pushed Tetsu away. He looked at her
and frowned slightly.
"Sorry..." she murmured, then walked past him and hurried up the stairs.
Tetsu stood there, unsure of what had just happened.
----
END OF PART 7
----
A.N. Errr yup I'm dragging this on longer than maybe it needs to be, but hey! ^^;
Oh and the lyrics come from a Linkin Park song called With You. Yeah I know, I only
used the lyrics cos they sort of fitted Mamoru's situation. It would have been better
if I found lyrics from a sappy love song, but well, oh well! =P
Teaser:
Part 8 - They Say Paris is the City of Love
"What's with you and that Sharla woman?"
"Nothing."
"Yeah, sure, you just kissed her in front of all of us," Tetsu laughed,
showing a warm expression for once, despite the fact it was a bad
thing for Mamoru.
"She's just... I don't want anything to do with her."
"Why?"
"She's married but wants to get involved with me."
"So?"
Mamoru stared at Tetsu. Did he just hear right?
