:::Chapter III:::
The weekend passed all too quickly for everyone. Kakyuu and the lights were barely settled in even though the girls had come over on Sunday to help them. It appeared that Kakyuu and Usagi were making themselves a pretty good friendship.
School was about to begin and there was no sign of Usagi or the lights. "Big surprise, Usagi isn't here yet!" Minako snorted as she put her chin in her hand.
"Come to think of it, how did you manage to get here on time?" Makoto turned around and slung her long arm over the back of her chair. Minako sat directly behind Makoto now and Usagi was diagonal from her.
Ami too stared at the empty desk. She wasn't worried, Usagi was always late, she would have been worried if she was on time! Her head came to attention as the bell signaled for school to start. The girls knew that the lights were going to be joining them in their class since they had gotten their papers yesterday. They heard a loud thunder some people saying watch it and then the door burst open. It was Usagi panting and heaving as she gasped for air. She flew to her seat and tried to look innocent.
"Miss Tsukino! This is no way to start off the week! You." The teacher went on and on yelling at Usagi while the other students just laughed. Usagi had gotten used to it and learned to drown her out.
A booming voice could be heard echoing down the hallway and when the name Usagi Tsukino was said Taiki, Yaten and Seiya all sweat dropped as they realized this was their class. "Some things never change." Seiya said as he walked in the door. Taiki and Yaten just nodded their heads in agreement.
The teacher stopped his ranting and raving as the three 'new' students walked in the room. He reintroduced them to the class and told them to take seats. Seiya spotted the open seat that Usagi was talking about in front of her and claimed it as his own. The other two found random seats scattered about the room, nowhere special. Minako was disappointed however that she didn't get to sit by Yaten again.
Usagi was happy that the focus was taken off of her for a while. She quietly sad a few choice words about the teacher to herself as Seiya chuckled at what he heard. Usagi noticed him laughing at her and decided that it was pay back time. All of those times when he used to sit behind her and bug her, flirt with her, distract her, and tempt her. 'Wait a minute, why did I think that!' Usagi made a funny face as she tried to focus on her objective.
The class went on as Usagi tried to think of something to do to him. As she thought about what she was going to torture him with she started trying to remember all of the times that he had bothered her. All of this thinking about him made her remember the good times that they had together, before she knew it class was over. Seiya had turned around to ask Usagi what she was going to do for lunch when he noticed her dreamily staring at his seat. 'What is she thinking?'
Usagi realized that she was daydreaming when her eyes were met with his. "Umm. Got to go, don't want to be late for my next class!" She got up and ran out the door before he could say a word. 'What an idiot I am!' She cursed herself as she stuck her head in her locker.
Seiya had a grin on his face a mile wide for the rest of the day as he thought his Odango was staring at him. Usagi had detention so he couldn't offer to walk her home. Instead he walked with Taiki and Yaten. Kakyuu wasn't going to school. She was slightly older than the lights and would have looked out of place in a high school. She planned on attending a university next semester but decided to just relax for now.
"Yup, school still sucks just as much as I remembered it!" Yaten said as they walked down the street. Their popularity must have died out since no one had heard from them in a year.
"I don't know, I had fun and I like taking the astronomy class that I'm in." Taiki said as he looked down at his books. "What about you Seiya?"
"Don't bother asking him, he sits by his 'Odango' in every class. Do you honestly think he pays attention?" Yaten teased making little quotation marks with his fingers in the air with the word Odango.
"I think about other things besides Odango!" Seiya yelled back.
"Not likely!" Yaten hissed back at him. "Why don't you give it up, there are plenty of other girls out there with blond hair and blue eyes, just pick one that doesn't already have a boyfriend!"
"Oh, you mean like Minako." The wheels were turning in Seiya's head. "You're right, maybe I'll go after her."
"Why would you want her?" Yaten said flatly. He didn't notice Seiya nudging Taiki to look at him and see him turning red with anger.
They were finally home and pick-on-Yaten-day seemed to be put on hold for the time being as a small girl with black hair opened their door for them. She didn't say anything just smiled up at the three. Kakyuu came up behind her. "This is Nehelenia." She said as she put her hands on the girl's shoulders.
Nehelenia was about ten years old, and had black hair done up in odangos on top of her head. The pigtails that hung down from these buns came to the tops of her shoulders. She sat lady like and had tea with the others. "Where did she come from?" Taiki asked being the only sensible one.
"I don't know. I came home from the grocery store today and she was in here sitting on the couch. Can we keep her?" Kakyuu asked.
"She's not a pet!" Seiya told Kakyuu. "Her parents must be worried about her, she's so cute."
"Seiya!" Yaten was shocked, he thought that Seiya disliked kids as much as he did. He calmed down a bit and spoke again. "She does look familiar." He said as he examined her a little closer.
This whole time Nehelenia said nothing and made no motion to tell the four who she was. She realized however that they would probably tell the Earth senshi and she could not allow that so she had to play the sweet and innocent act a little more. With a bat of her eyes she had them all hypnotized much the same way that Chibi-Usa did to Usagi's parents. "You will let me stay here with you. You will not tell the Earth senshi about my being here." When she finished she climbed up on Seiya's lap.
"You can stay in my room if you'd like." He smiled down at her and she knew she had them right where she wanted them.
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The days went by and the lights made no mention to the girls about their small visitor. "Hey Yaten, can I come over and see you after school?" Minako asked.
"No!" Yaten yelled at her. "Why would I want you to come over?" He brushed his hair back over his shoulder.
"Never mind I was just wondering." Minako actually looked down hearted for once.
'I should really try to be nice to her. There's no reason for me to snap at her any more.' He thought to himself. "I'm sorry Minako. We can't go to my place but we can go some where else if you'd like." He offered it up as an apology.
Minako looked right at him. "I don't want your pity, I know you don't like me."
Yaten actually felt bad now. "No, you've got it wrong. Its not that I don't like you, Kakyuu's having the carpets cleaned and we can't go in there 'til later on tonight." He had to think of some place they could go so that she knew he was sincere. "Would you like to go to Crown with me for a bite to eat? My treat!"
Minako smiled and jumped on him. Yaten brushed her off and she got the hint not to do that without him saying anything. When they walked into the café they noticed Rei sitting with a young man a little older than them in a booth. She must have seen them too because she waved for them to come over. "Hey guys, come and join us!"
"Who is that with her?" Yaten asked Minako quietly. The guy looked a little grubby and not really fitting Rei.
"That's Yuuricho. Rei's boyfriend." Minako smiled seeing nothing wrong with them.
"That's too bad." Yaten said as Minako gave him a questioning stare. "I was going to try to hook Seiya up with her."
Minako gave him a what-were-you-thinking look. "Seiya's way too nice to be with some one like Rei. He deserves some one like." Minako thought for a second about what she was going to say.
"Like Usagi?" Yaten questioned her.
It was true, Seiya did deserve some one like Usagi. "Yeah like Usagi, it's just too bad that she already has a boyfriend. Don't worry we'll find some one else for him." Minako tried to get the conversation off of Usagi and then they reached the table.
Usagi was just finishing up her sketch when Taiki came up from behind her. "It looks good." He complimented her. "I didn't know you could draw Miss Tsukino."
Usagi looked up at him with a smile. "Do you really like it, or are you just being nice?" She questioned him.
"No, I mean it, it has very good representation." Taiki looked over at the model. "Although, you could have picked a better model." He smirked.
Usagi laughed at him as Seiya got up from his pose. "I think I make a pretty good model." He crossed his arms on top of his chest. "Can I see it now?" He playfully tried to tug Usagi's sketchpad away from her.
"No, not yet it's not finished." She turned so that he couldn't get his hands on it. Taiki laughed at the clumsy gestures Seiya was making with his attempts to get the pad. Seiya finally gave up and sat back down on the bench.
They were in the park where they had been hanging out everyday after school before they met Rei at Crown for a drink. "Aren't you two going to head over to the café to meet the others?" Taiki asked as he noticed Usagi resuming her sketching.
"Yeah, I just have a little more to do and .. There all set." She put her pencil behind her ear like a carpenter and held the drawing up so that her and Taiki could admire it. "Better, ne?"
Taiki shook his head. "Now can I see it?" Seiya pleaded. Just to torture him Usagi said no. She put the pad back into her book bag and got up to follow Taiki to Crown's.
"Seiya aren't you coming?" She asked turning around.
Her hair flowed around her making her once again look angelic. Seiya had a hard time saying no. "I have something to look after at home. I'll see you tomorrow Odango and I'll see you later Taiki." He waved and then left in the direction of their apartment.
Usagi didn't question what he had to do, it wasn't really that important. Taiki knew what it was, Nehelenia. Seiya had taken quite a liking to this young girl, but Taiki sensed something was just not right about her but her couldn't put his finger on it. He laughed to him self, 'Maybe it's the odangos in her hair.' He looked over at Usagi and continued to smile.
By the time the two showed up at the café Ami and Makoto had also arrived. Rei introduced Taiki to Yuuricho who had never met before. The girls were planning on going to the movies that after noon and invited Yaten and Taiki to come along with them. Since they really had nothing planned for the evening they agreed. Another person joined them in their corner booth to fill up every available seat there was. "Mamoru!" Usagi had greeted him with a hug and a kiss.
Yaten noticed Minako sigh with hearts in her eyes and asked what was wrong with her. "I wish I had a handsome boyfriend that I could greet with a hug and a kiss." She still seemed to be off in her dream world.
"Don't hold your breath!" Yaten mumbled. Taiki over heard this and gave him a sharp elbow to the ribs. Yaten rubbed his ribs to ease the pain, he wasn't stupid he knew why Taiki had hit him. He looked at Minako to see if she had heard him also and immediately felt bad. The way the sunlight was coming in through the window behind her gave her a soft glow as the light danced with the strands of her hair.
"So Mamoru, are you going to come with us to the movies also?" Makoto asked. "We're going to an early movie, I mean it is a school night." She looked over at Ami with this last comment and Mamoru could tell that Ami was the one that made the others agree on an early movie.
"Actually I came by to see if Usako would like to go shopping with me." No sooner had Mamoru finished his sentence than Usagi was latched onto his arm. "I'll take that as a yes."
"Baka! You already have plans with us." Rei stood up and yelled across the table at Usagi. "You're just going to blow us off and go out with Mamoru?"
"Don't be so mad Rei, I'll go to the movies with you some other time. Mamoru doesn't have as much free time as we do with his studies and all, it's hard for him to make time to hang out." Usagi did have a point, but that still didn't make Rei back down.
"Yeah, well keep blowing us off and see how much free time we have for you!" She stuck her tongue out at Usagi and Usagi returned the gesture. Everyone knew that Rei didn't really mean it so no one said anything, and besides Usagi didn't catch her drift anyway.
Usagi and Mamoru walked off and out of the café, leaving the table of moviegoers to their day. "He's been taking her away a lot lately. Well maybe not a lot, but sure the hell more than he used to!" Rei commented as the others agreed.
"Do you like me?" The big pouting eyes were almost as large as saucers. Their blue irises were deep and calming.
"Of course I like you, why would you think that I wouldn't?" Seiya was put off by the question. Why would Nehelenia be questioning him about this?
The two were alone at the light's apartment. Kakyuu was out shopping. They sat in the living room on the carpet playing some sort of card game. "I really like you a lot." She said looking up from her cards. "What would you do if some people told you that I was bad?" She had a look of desperation in her eyes making her look frightened as though Seiya's answer would destroy her whole being.
"What do you mean bad?" Seiya laughed at her. She really was adorable. She was wearing a white sundress with sandals to match. "How could some one so cute be bad?" He patted her head.
She put her cards down and took his hand into her smaller two. "Don't believe them, I didn't mean to do it. There were only two people I could ever trust and I would never intentionally hurt them. I love you and my mother more than anything else in the entire world."
The weekend passed all too quickly for everyone. Kakyuu and the lights were barely settled in even though the girls had come over on Sunday to help them. It appeared that Kakyuu and Usagi were making themselves a pretty good friendship.
School was about to begin and there was no sign of Usagi or the lights. "Big surprise, Usagi isn't here yet!" Minako snorted as she put her chin in her hand.
"Come to think of it, how did you manage to get here on time?" Makoto turned around and slung her long arm over the back of her chair. Minako sat directly behind Makoto now and Usagi was diagonal from her.
Ami too stared at the empty desk. She wasn't worried, Usagi was always late, she would have been worried if she was on time! Her head came to attention as the bell signaled for school to start. The girls knew that the lights were going to be joining them in their class since they had gotten their papers yesterday. They heard a loud thunder some people saying watch it and then the door burst open. It was Usagi panting and heaving as she gasped for air. She flew to her seat and tried to look innocent.
"Miss Tsukino! This is no way to start off the week! You." The teacher went on and on yelling at Usagi while the other students just laughed. Usagi had gotten used to it and learned to drown her out.
A booming voice could be heard echoing down the hallway and when the name Usagi Tsukino was said Taiki, Yaten and Seiya all sweat dropped as they realized this was their class. "Some things never change." Seiya said as he walked in the door. Taiki and Yaten just nodded their heads in agreement.
The teacher stopped his ranting and raving as the three 'new' students walked in the room. He reintroduced them to the class and told them to take seats. Seiya spotted the open seat that Usagi was talking about in front of her and claimed it as his own. The other two found random seats scattered about the room, nowhere special. Minako was disappointed however that she didn't get to sit by Yaten again.
Usagi was happy that the focus was taken off of her for a while. She quietly sad a few choice words about the teacher to herself as Seiya chuckled at what he heard. Usagi noticed him laughing at her and decided that it was pay back time. All of those times when he used to sit behind her and bug her, flirt with her, distract her, and tempt her. 'Wait a minute, why did I think that!' Usagi made a funny face as she tried to focus on her objective.
The class went on as Usagi tried to think of something to do to him. As she thought about what she was going to torture him with she started trying to remember all of the times that he had bothered her. All of this thinking about him made her remember the good times that they had together, before she knew it class was over. Seiya had turned around to ask Usagi what she was going to do for lunch when he noticed her dreamily staring at his seat. 'What is she thinking?'
Usagi realized that she was daydreaming when her eyes were met with his. "Umm. Got to go, don't want to be late for my next class!" She got up and ran out the door before he could say a word. 'What an idiot I am!' She cursed herself as she stuck her head in her locker.
Seiya had a grin on his face a mile wide for the rest of the day as he thought his Odango was staring at him. Usagi had detention so he couldn't offer to walk her home. Instead he walked with Taiki and Yaten. Kakyuu wasn't going to school. She was slightly older than the lights and would have looked out of place in a high school. She planned on attending a university next semester but decided to just relax for now.
"Yup, school still sucks just as much as I remembered it!" Yaten said as they walked down the street. Their popularity must have died out since no one had heard from them in a year.
"I don't know, I had fun and I like taking the astronomy class that I'm in." Taiki said as he looked down at his books. "What about you Seiya?"
"Don't bother asking him, he sits by his 'Odango' in every class. Do you honestly think he pays attention?" Yaten teased making little quotation marks with his fingers in the air with the word Odango.
"I think about other things besides Odango!" Seiya yelled back.
"Not likely!" Yaten hissed back at him. "Why don't you give it up, there are plenty of other girls out there with blond hair and blue eyes, just pick one that doesn't already have a boyfriend!"
"Oh, you mean like Minako." The wheels were turning in Seiya's head. "You're right, maybe I'll go after her."
"Why would you want her?" Yaten said flatly. He didn't notice Seiya nudging Taiki to look at him and see him turning red with anger.
They were finally home and pick-on-Yaten-day seemed to be put on hold for the time being as a small girl with black hair opened their door for them. She didn't say anything just smiled up at the three. Kakyuu came up behind her. "This is Nehelenia." She said as she put her hands on the girl's shoulders.
Nehelenia was about ten years old, and had black hair done up in odangos on top of her head. The pigtails that hung down from these buns came to the tops of her shoulders. She sat lady like and had tea with the others. "Where did she come from?" Taiki asked being the only sensible one.
"I don't know. I came home from the grocery store today and she was in here sitting on the couch. Can we keep her?" Kakyuu asked.
"She's not a pet!" Seiya told Kakyuu. "Her parents must be worried about her, she's so cute."
"Seiya!" Yaten was shocked, he thought that Seiya disliked kids as much as he did. He calmed down a bit and spoke again. "She does look familiar." He said as he examined her a little closer.
This whole time Nehelenia said nothing and made no motion to tell the four who she was. She realized however that they would probably tell the Earth senshi and she could not allow that so she had to play the sweet and innocent act a little more. With a bat of her eyes she had them all hypnotized much the same way that Chibi-Usa did to Usagi's parents. "You will let me stay here with you. You will not tell the Earth senshi about my being here." When she finished she climbed up on Seiya's lap.
"You can stay in my room if you'd like." He smiled down at her and she knew she had them right where she wanted them.
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The days went by and the lights made no mention to the girls about their small visitor. "Hey Yaten, can I come over and see you after school?" Minako asked.
"No!" Yaten yelled at her. "Why would I want you to come over?" He brushed his hair back over his shoulder.
"Never mind I was just wondering." Minako actually looked down hearted for once.
'I should really try to be nice to her. There's no reason for me to snap at her any more.' He thought to himself. "I'm sorry Minako. We can't go to my place but we can go some where else if you'd like." He offered it up as an apology.
Minako looked right at him. "I don't want your pity, I know you don't like me."
Yaten actually felt bad now. "No, you've got it wrong. Its not that I don't like you, Kakyuu's having the carpets cleaned and we can't go in there 'til later on tonight." He had to think of some place they could go so that she knew he was sincere. "Would you like to go to Crown with me for a bite to eat? My treat!"
Minako smiled and jumped on him. Yaten brushed her off and she got the hint not to do that without him saying anything. When they walked into the café they noticed Rei sitting with a young man a little older than them in a booth. She must have seen them too because she waved for them to come over. "Hey guys, come and join us!"
"Who is that with her?" Yaten asked Minako quietly. The guy looked a little grubby and not really fitting Rei.
"That's Yuuricho. Rei's boyfriend." Minako smiled seeing nothing wrong with them.
"That's too bad." Yaten said as Minako gave him a questioning stare. "I was going to try to hook Seiya up with her."
Minako gave him a what-were-you-thinking look. "Seiya's way too nice to be with some one like Rei. He deserves some one like." Minako thought for a second about what she was going to say.
"Like Usagi?" Yaten questioned her.
It was true, Seiya did deserve some one like Usagi. "Yeah like Usagi, it's just too bad that she already has a boyfriend. Don't worry we'll find some one else for him." Minako tried to get the conversation off of Usagi and then they reached the table.
Usagi was just finishing up her sketch when Taiki came up from behind her. "It looks good." He complimented her. "I didn't know you could draw Miss Tsukino."
Usagi looked up at him with a smile. "Do you really like it, or are you just being nice?" She questioned him.
"No, I mean it, it has very good representation." Taiki looked over at the model. "Although, you could have picked a better model." He smirked.
Usagi laughed at him as Seiya got up from his pose. "I think I make a pretty good model." He crossed his arms on top of his chest. "Can I see it now?" He playfully tried to tug Usagi's sketchpad away from her.
"No, not yet it's not finished." She turned so that he couldn't get his hands on it. Taiki laughed at the clumsy gestures Seiya was making with his attempts to get the pad. Seiya finally gave up and sat back down on the bench.
They were in the park where they had been hanging out everyday after school before they met Rei at Crown for a drink. "Aren't you two going to head over to the café to meet the others?" Taiki asked as he noticed Usagi resuming her sketching.
"Yeah, I just have a little more to do and .. There all set." She put her pencil behind her ear like a carpenter and held the drawing up so that her and Taiki could admire it. "Better, ne?"
Taiki shook his head. "Now can I see it?" Seiya pleaded. Just to torture him Usagi said no. She put the pad back into her book bag and got up to follow Taiki to Crown's.
"Seiya aren't you coming?" She asked turning around.
Her hair flowed around her making her once again look angelic. Seiya had a hard time saying no. "I have something to look after at home. I'll see you tomorrow Odango and I'll see you later Taiki." He waved and then left in the direction of their apartment.
Usagi didn't question what he had to do, it wasn't really that important. Taiki knew what it was, Nehelenia. Seiya had taken quite a liking to this young girl, but Taiki sensed something was just not right about her but her couldn't put his finger on it. He laughed to him self, 'Maybe it's the odangos in her hair.' He looked over at Usagi and continued to smile.
By the time the two showed up at the café Ami and Makoto had also arrived. Rei introduced Taiki to Yuuricho who had never met before. The girls were planning on going to the movies that after noon and invited Yaten and Taiki to come along with them. Since they really had nothing planned for the evening they agreed. Another person joined them in their corner booth to fill up every available seat there was. "Mamoru!" Usagi had greeted him with a hug and a kiss.
Yaten noticed Minako sigh with hearts in her eyes and asked what was wrong with her. "I wish I had a handsome boyfriend that I could greet with a hug and a kiss." She still seemed to be off in her dream world.
"Don't hold your breath!" Yaten mumbled. Taiki over heard this and gave him a sharp elbow to the ribs. Yaten rubbed his ribs to ease the pain, he wasn't stupid he knew why Taiki had hit him. He looked at Minako to see if she had heard him also and immediately felt bad. The way the sunlight was coming in through the window behind her gave her a soft glow as the light danced with the strands of her hair.
"So Mamoru, are you going to come with us to the movies also?" Makoto asked. "We're going to an early movie, I mean it is a school night." She looked over at Ami with this last comment and Mamoru could tell that Ami was the one that made the others agree on an early movie.
"Actually I came by to see if Usako would like to go shopping with me." No sooner had Mamoru finished his sentence than Usagi was latched onto his arm. "I'll take that as a yes."
"Baka! You already have plans with us." Rei stood up and yelled across the table at Usagi. "You're just going to blow us off and go out with Mamoru?"
"Don't be so mad Rei, I'll go to the movies with you some other time. Mamoru doesn't have as much free time as we do with his studies and all, it's hard for him to make time to hang out." Usagi did have a point, but that still didn't make Rei back down.
"Yeah, well keep blowing us off and see how much free time we have for you!" She stuck her tongue out at Usagi and Usagi returned the gesture. Everyone knew that Rei didn't really mean it so no one said anything, and besides Usagi didn't catch her drift anyway.
Usagi and Mamoru walked off and out of the café, leaving the table of moviegoers to their day. "He's been taking her away a lot lately. Well maybe not a lot, but sure the hell more than he used to!" Rei commented as the others agreed.
"Do you like me?" The big pouting eyes were almost as large as saucers. Their blue irises were deep and calming.
"Of course I like you, why would you think that I wouldn't?" Seiya was put off by the question. Why would Nehelenia be questioning him about this?
The two were alone at the light's apartment. Kakyuu was out shopping. They sat in the living room on the carpet playing some sort of card game. "I really like you a lot." She said looking up from her cards. "What would you do if some people told you that I was bad?" She had a look of desperation in her eyes making her look frightened as though Seiya's answer would destroy her whole being.
"What do you mean bad?" Seiya laughed at her. She really was adorable. She was wearing a white sundress with sandals to match. "How could some one so cute be bad?" He patted her head.
She put her cards down and took his hand into her smaller two. "Don't believe them, I didn't mean to do it. There were only two people I could ever trust and I would never intentionally hurt them. I love you and my mother more than anything else in the entire world."
