Moonlit Masquerade
Chapter 1: Two New Friends?
By: Katsuya Maxwell

Author's Notes: Well, I'm back and... I got this chapter out! A lot sooner than I expected but that's good for you, right? Anyways, read and enjoy. I hope you like it.

Disclaimer: No matter how many times I wish on a star, my wish never comes true! So, that means I don't own anything. Boo hoo hoo!

*~* *~* *~* *~* *~* *~* *~* *~* *~* *~* *~* *~* *~* *~*
(Last Time)
Duo smirked and quickly scribbled a message on the sheet of paper. He tossed it to Heero when Ms. Hark had turned her back. Heero quickly uncrumbled the ball of paper and read the note. He responded to it just as fast.
Duo, are you going to leave her by herself?
Duo received the message and shrugged to signify that he wasn't sure. 'She's just another one of those smart kids. But... I thought she seemed so familiar... should I go?' Duo thought to himself.
*~* *~* *~* *~* *~* *~* *~* *~* *~* *~* *~* *~* *~* *~*
The bell rang and the students got up and hurried to the lunch room. "So what was all of the note passing about?" Rei asked. "Nothing except Duo wanted to know if we wanted to go to a party with his friends..." Hotaru answered absentmindedly. They walked into the lunch room and saw a crowd of people scattered everywhere.
"I wonder where we get to sit," Rei said and Hotaru giggled quietly. They walked around the lunchroom and found an empty table in a corner. "I wonder why this table is empty," Hotaru said and they sat down.
The girls didn't even get a chance to take out their when a group of boys approached them. "Hey girls. This is our table and you better move now!" one of them said with a smug look. "Well, excuse us, but we came, we saw, and we sat. So, if you want to eat, I suggest you sit at another table," Hotaru said coldly.
'I hate guys! They can be so immature and they are idiots! Well, maybe not all guys.' Hotaru thought.
"You must be new. Well, that's still no excuse for your mouth. Maybe my friends and me should help you around," another guy with dark brown hair cut short said with a grin. By that time, everyone in the cafeteria was staring at the group of guys and the two girls.
'Oh great! Does anyone in this school know how to speak correctly?!' Hotaru thought to herself in frustration.
"If they needed help from you, they would asked for swines. So... close your mouths and quit polluting the atmosphere, then walk away... If you don't, I might have to help you around," a familiar voice was heard, along with the cracking of knuckles.
Everyone stared at the person who spoke, and saw a tall girl with mid-back, wavy, sandy blonde hair, standing next to a shorter girl with silver and gold hair. Hotaru looked at the two and blinked, slightly confused.
~Hotaru! Don't they look familiar?~ Rei's voice was heard in Hotaru's mind. ~The tall one reminds me of Haruka-papa. The shorter one looks like...Usagi-hime?~ Hotaru answered slowly.
"And who are you?" the man that spoke before said in surprise and disgust. "A little late for introductions, isn't it, Mike?" another voice questioned jokingly. "Do you know them?" the man, Mike, asked, looking at a guy with braided chestnut hair.
"Didn't I tell you not to pick on any girls? Especially if they are new. Have you no respect for babes, Mike?" the man said with an amused grin on his face. He had four other guys behind him and they were all staring at the man, well, not all.
While the guys were talking, the other two girls sat down and introduced themselves. "I'm Karissa Jenkinson," the tall, sandy blonde said holding out her hand. "I'm Saria Reynolds," the other girl said smiling. "I'm Reiya Matutani, and this is my friend, Ayane Kinzuishi," Rei introduced Hotaru and herself to Karissa and Saria.
"So, you girls new here?" Saria asked, twirling a lock of her hair around her finger. "Yes, we are," Hotaru said watching them carefully.
'They can't be Haruka and Usagi. Can they?' she thought. ~Their aura is as normal as any other humans, Taru-chan.~ Rei informed Hotaru.
~Well, you can't forget that we, meaning you, me, Mina, Lita, and Setsuna, learned how to change our auras. Not to mention, we learned new attacks in and out of our ninja tenshi outfits.~ Hotaru said.
"WATCH OUT! AYANE!" Saria yelled, warning Hotaru of something. Hotaru immediately moved her head to the right, while Kariss and Saria moved apart, leaving a gap between them. Hotaru heard a 'whiz' and saw a small hole in the wall in front of her.
Instinctively, she grabbed the hand behind her and pulled it forward, making Mike land on the table with a slap. He dropped the gun as Hotaru twisted his arm, "You should watch where you point that thing. Someone could get hurt."
"Well, I was done with my lunch. Are you three done?" she asked looking at her friends. Karissa grinned and nodded, "I'm ready. Saria?" "I'm right behind you, Rissa-chan," Saria said with a grin. Hotaru let go of Mike's hand and they got up. "Should we take the gun?" Rei asked with a small smile.
"I'm a step ahead of you, Reiya," Saria said and pocketed the gun. As Hotaru walked by the braided man, she noticed it was Duo, and Heero, along with three other guys. Duo grabbed her wrist and stopped her before she could leave. "You better be careful next time. You aren't always going to have your friend to warn you," he whispered to her.
"I'm a tough girl. I can handle my own life, thank you. So... if you'll please excuse me, we have to get to our next class," she whispered back and he let go of her shocked. Karissa heard their small conversation and as she walked by she smirked.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The bell rang and the students filed out of the lunchroom, gossiping about how Duo had completely faded Mike and about the new girls. "Well, it looks like we can forget about trying not to attract attention, Karissa," Saria said. "I know what you mean. The students around here get gossip around faster than bees," Reiya said.
"What's our next class?" Ayane asked Reiya. "Well, we have gym. How about you two?" Reiya answered. "Looks like we will be in the same class. I just hope we don't have to do any gymnastics. Don't you, Saria?" Karissa asked looking meaningfully at Saria. Saria blushed slightly and murmured, "Yeah...well... It wasn't my fault. The teacher made me try and get on the wiggly balancing beam."
"You're right, Ria-chan. It was a very unstable beam, but still, you shouldn't have threatened her," Karissa said with a grin. "Saria threatened the gym teacher?" Reiya asked, slightly amused. "At our last school she did," Karissa said and Saria pinched her on the arm. "Hey! I was just telling them!" Karissa said rubbing her arm.
They walked into the girls' locker room and saw Duo sitting on a bench. "What are you doing in the girls' locker room?!" Rei, Ayane, and Saria all yelled. "Yeah, well... you see... I can explain. The coach still thinks I'm a girl!" Duo said quickly. "What?!" the quartet said with amused expressions.
"Why don't you tell the coach that you're a guy?" Ayane asked. "Don't you think I tried? Yeesh, the lady is as blind as a bat!" Duo exclaimed wanting to make at least one of them laugh. Suddenly, the coach came in and she saw Duo sitting on a bench. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN THE GIRLS' LOCKER ROOM?!" the coach yelled and chased Duo out.
All of the girls looked at each other, blinked, then went back to talking. There really was no purpose for the locker room since there were no gym outfits. They heard a whistle blew and everyone went inside the gym in their skirts or pants, depending on whether you're a lady or a guy.
The gym teacher began explaining everything as soon as we walked into the gym, "Okay students. Today, we're going to be working in groups. You will be divided into groups of eight; four boys and four girls in every group. Your group may be in gymnastics," Saria gulped at this, "archery, fencing, fighting, volleyball, or tennis."
"Well, we have four girls... we need guys now," Reiya said. "But we don't know anyone," Saria reminded us. The four of us sighed, but we heard someone shout our names. "Saria! Karissa!" one boy shouted. "Ayane! Reiya!" Duo shouted waving to us. We walked over to Duo and three other boys.
"Hey Quatre! Where's Relena?" Saria asked and had a hint of disgust as she said the name. "She went to gather three other girls," a monotone voice said. "Heero, you should really quit with the monotone. Your voice will get stuck that way, if you keep it up," Reiya said, muttering something else under her breath.
"Too late Reiya! That's his usual talk," Duo said with a smile. "Well, meet my friends. This is Karissa, Ayane, and Reiya. I'm Saria," Saria said pointing to the person each time she said their name. "Well, I'm Duo Maxwell and these are some of my friends. The Chinese dude is Wufei but he likes being called Wu-man or Wuffie. The n-" Duo was cut off as Wufei began to chase after Duo.
"Hey, look over there. It's Relena and the other girls," Quatre said gesturing to a small group of girls approaching them. "He's right! Let's go!" Duo said grabbing Reiya's hand. Wufei grabbed Saria's hand, while Quatre grabbed Ayane's hand. Karissa and Heero stood in the same spot staring at each other. Saria came back and grabbed Karissa while Duo grabbed Heero and they hid behind the bleachers.
"Yeesh Heero! For someone that hates Relena you sure are weird! You just stood there and she could have latched onto you again!" Duo said looking at Heero. Heero sent a death glare at Duo and Karissa while everyone blinked.
"So wha-" Saria was cut off as a loud yell was heard. "HHHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOO!!"
Duo, Quatre, Wufei, and even Heero shuddered slightly and the girls blinked. "What are you all doing here?" a coach suddenly popped up scaring Duo. "AH!" Duo screamed and made the girls giggle quietly. "We're sorry miss. I thought I dropped something behind the bleachers," Ayane said in a sweet voice.
"Oh. Did you find it?" the coach asked immediately softening up because Ayane was part of her class. Ayane looked on the ground and picked up a purple yo-yo. "I found it. What will we be assigned to?" Ayane asked and spotlight shined on her making her look like some innocent girl. "What do you want?" the coach asked kindly. Reiya, Karissa, Saria, and Duo were coughing in the background while saying, "Suck-up." The coach immediately glared at Duo and the other three girls shrewdly. "I would be very grateful if we were assigned to tennis," Ayane said kindly.
"Tennis? You do know that you'll have to go against another group, then," the coach said looking at her. "I know that. So what are we assigned to?" she asked again. "Tennis. You are going against Relena's group," the coach said and put an 'A' next to Ayane's name. "Okay. Thank you," Ayane said and as soon as the coach left she relaxed.
Everyone was staring at her, either because they were annoyed by her act or were surprised. "What?" Ayane asked innocently. "Well, let's go beat Relena's butt!" Duo yelled as they ran off to the tennis courts.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
(A few minutes of playing tennis)
"Well, your team is good, Ayane. But, my team is much better," Relena said and stuck her nose in the air. "RELENA! LOOK OUT!" Mike yelled trying to warn Relena. It was too late because Saria had just served the ball. It hit Relena directly in the face leaving a round, red mark.
Saria and the three girls did a high five and smiled at each other. "Right on target!" Saria said with pride. It was now Dorothy's turn to serve the ball and Saria was too busy congratulating herself to notice the ball speeding towards her face.
"SARIA!" Reiya yelled and grabbed Saria, pulling her down and out of the way of the fast ball. Ayane, who was very determined not to be beaten by some snobs ran to her right, so she could hit the ball. Duo, who also had the same idea, ran to his left and.... WHAM! They knocked right into each other, making Ayane fall to the ground rubbing her head. Duo fell to the ground as well and was knocked out, mumbling, "Mommy... I don't want to go to school today. I want to stay home and back cookies with you..."
Karissa was right in the path of the ball and did a front hand swing making the tennis ball go flying towards Dorothy. Dorothy tried to hit it buy missed and her face was hit hard. "Well, that wasn't so bad," Karissa said with a grin. As soon as everyone got up, they heard clapping coming from the side of the court.
"Good game," a lady with waist-length, wavy, aqua blue-green hair said and smiled at everyone. "And who are you?" Relena asked with a snobbish voice. Saria threw her racket at Relena and hit her in the face, making her fall down again. Relena began to whine, "HEERO! I command you to kill that girl!"
Heero ignored the whining Relena and looked at the mysterious girl. Relena began to cry.... LOUDLY. "WWWWWWAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!" Relena cried. Karissa tossed an orange handkerchief at Duo, "Gag her so we can hear this lady talk!" Duo happily gagged the loud and annoying Relena and returned to his spot.
"I'm Cherri Faye Walds. And you are?" she asked raising an eyebrow. "I'm Shinigami but you can call me Duo. The Chinese dude is mmphp.. Hmph! hm hum HMPH!" Duo tried to shout but Ayane and Saria had their hands over his mouth.
"Let us introduce everyone. It's better this way," Ayane said and Saria, Reiya, Quatre, and Karissa sweatdropped. Everyone began to introduce their self. "Well... I have to get going. You might want to hurry up or you'll be late for your next class," Cherri said with a smile and walked away. Saria and Ayane removed their hands from Duo's mouth and Duo began to pout.
"Well...you two were rude! Didn't even let me talk to the nice lady... Quatre! They hurt my feewings!" Duo said in a false pout. Quatre sweatdropped and him being the nice boy that he is, said, "There there Duo. It's alright. I mean, they didn't mean to." "We meant it alright. Didn't need a Tom and Jerry show going on!" Saria said and Ayane nodded her head.
The bell rang and everyone looked at each other. "Look at what you did! You made us late!" the four girls shouted, scowling at the boys. The girls rushed down the halls with the boys hot on their trails. Ayane stopped calmly at the history class and walked in, as if everything was alright. Saria, Karissa, and Reiya followed Ayane's example while the boys crashed into a wall and landed in a pile on top of each other.
"You, eight, can go to detention! I don't like late students in my class!" the teacher shouted in an angry tone. The girls walked out and each grabbed a guy's ear except for Ayane who didn't even try to hurt Quatre. Duo wiggled free from Saria's death hold on his ear and grabbed Ayane's hand pulling her into a different direction.
"Hey! Where are you leading us?" Ayane asked. "Just follow me everyone. Unless you want to go to detention," Duo said looking at Ayane carefully. "Are you crazy?! Of course we don't want detention!" Saria said and they disappeared out of the building. "Where are we going Duo?" Ayane asked as they ran through alleys and busy streets. "That's a secret that you'll find out about soon enough," he said mysteriously. They turned into another alleyway but it was a dead end.
"It's a dead end Duo," Ayane said and the girls sighed. Suddenly, a shot was heard and Quatre gasped as he clutched his chest. Before he fell to the ground, Duo caught him and looked at the person who shot his friend. "OZ," he muttered with pure hatred in his voice.
"I found them! I found them!" the amateur soldier shouted still pointing his gun at them. Saria pulled out the gun from the lunchroom and shot the soldier right between his eyes. He fell to the ground dropping the gun on the concrete. "Come on! We have to get out of here!" Wufei said to them. Duo carried Quatre and the group began to run out of the alley and through busy city streets.
Duo was getting tired because Quatre can get heavy after a while. "I'll carry him Duo," Heero said and grabbed the young blond pilot. They turned another street and came to a large mansion. "Come on! This is Quatre's mansion, so you four can come in," Duo shouted to the girls. They burst through the front door and ran to Quatre's room.
"Here, let me take care of this," Ayane said as Heero set Quatre down on the bed. She took off his vest and unbuttoned his shirt quickly. Red blood was smeared on his right side of the chest, ruining the clean complexion of the young boy. She ripped a piece of her skirt and said, "Get me a basin of warm water." He ran into the bathroom and the sound of running water was heard. The sound then faded away into nothing as Duo popped back into the room carrying a metal basin with warm water.
She put the ripped cloth in the water and ringed it out. Ayane began to clean up the blood and the wound. "We need to get out the bullet. But, it's too deep in him already," Ayane said as she looked at the whole. Quatre's breathing was shallow and everyone could tell he was dying. "He lost a lot of blood," Reiya stated. Ayane looked at Reiya with a questioning gaze and Reiya nodded.
"Ok. EVERYONE OUT!" Ayane and Reiya shouted in unison. "What?!" the guys, excluding Heero and Trowa, (AN: He was so silent, I forgot he was even in the story. ^_^;) yelled in confusion. "You heard what they said. OUT!" Saria shouted and glared at the guys. Karissa grabbed Wufei's ear and pulled him out of the room. "Baka men," she muttered. Saria dragged Duo by his braid with one hand and Heero by the ear with the other. Everyone except the three, left the room and waited outside the door.
"Well, Hotaru, go do your stuff," Rei said with a sad smile. Hotaru nodded and held her hand a centimeter above the pale skin. A soft, purplish pink glow emitted from her hands and swallowed Quatre's body. As quickly as the glow had come it disappeared and Hotaru gasped as something flew into her hand quickly. She looked at her hand and saw the dull bullet there. "Well, he's all done," Hotaru said with half closed eyes. "All he needs is a night's rest, then he'll wake up better than new," she said as she crawled on the opposite side of the large bed and lay down. "I need a night's rest as well," she murmured before falling into a deep sleep.
At that moment, everyone decided to walk in and they saw a sleeping Ayane and Quatre. Karissa's eyes slightly flared up when Quatre turned on his side and moved closer to Ayane. ~A bit protective over Ayane, ne?~ a voice said in Karissa's mind. ~Koneko-chan! I'm sorry but she reminds me of....~ Karissa trailed off there.
~Of Hotaru. I know what you mean but everyone died in that explosion except for us. Haruka, don't worry. They'll probably be reborn after a few years. I mean after all, we are over 100,000 years old! We are powerful senshi and even more powerful since the find of the Bronze Crystal.~ Saria said.
~I just hope we find other survivors soon...Usagi.~ Haruka said with a mental sigh. "Well, I think Q-ball and Ayane have a good idea. It's getting late so we should eat and go to sleep!" Duo said with his usual grin. "Let's move Ayane to another room," Karissa said quickly. She picked up Ayane and carried her out of the room and into one of the many rooms. "Weak onna," Wufei muttered under his breath as Karissa walked passed him and into his room. "You weak onna! This is my room and no weak onna is going to sleep here!" Wufei shouted at Karissa.
Karissa glared at him and put Ayane on his bed for a moment. "Who are you calling weak you baka?!" Karissa shouted and threw a punch at Wufei's face. Wufei, who wasn't listening, got a very bad nosebleed and tried to kick Karissa. She caught his leg and flipped him over and on the floor. "Don't call anyone a weak onna, ever again!" she threatened and dropped his leg carelessly.
She picked up Ayane again and carried her out of the room, but not before she kicked Wufei in the stomach, making him cough and fall to the ground. "Rissa! I've told you from time to time again, never beat up someone weaker than you! Especially if it's a guy! You know they can't handle the pain," Saria scolded while Duo laughed at Wufei. "HA! Wu-man got beat by a girl! Wu-man got beat by a GIIIIIIRRRRLLL!!! HAHAHAHA!" Duo shouted and laughed.
Wufei grabbed Duo's legs and pulled on them, making Duo fall to the ground hard. Karissa carried Ayane to one of the many guest rooms and put her on the bed. She pulled the covers down and Saria picked Ayane up and set her gently on the bed. Reiya, whom had followed the two, smiled at her sleeping friend and pulled the covers over her. "Thank you...friends," Ayane murmured and went back to sleep.
The three walked out of the room and shut the door softly behind them. They heard a lot of noise coming from Wufei's room and saw Duo and Wufei running about. Karissa stuck out her foot and Wufei was sent flying onto the floor again. "You should really watch where you're going," she said coolly and grinned. "So now what?" Duo asked looking at everyone.
*~* *~* *~* *~* *~* *~* *~* *~* *~* *~* *~* *~* *~* *~*
Author's notes: Well, another chapter done! Yay! This one took forever to write! Sorry I ended it right there, but if I didn't it would be way too long! I hope it was funny and please tell me what you think in your review... if you write one that is. Oh yeah! Before I forget... We have a change in plans. Ignore my message in the prologue about the end of voting...
Here are the couples you can vote for... I forgot a few things before...

Hotaru & Duo or Quatre (Duo's winning)
Rei & Trowa or Wufei (Wufei's winning but I might put her with Trowa.. special reasons!)
Usagi & Wufei or Heero OR Trowa (Forgot about Trowa ^_^;. Heero's winning)
Haruka & ????? (Wufei's winning! YEAH BABY! *everyone sweatdrops* What?!)
Cherri & ????? (The "new" girl in this chapter. I am not giving out who she is though.)

Well... keep voting until I say something like VOTING POLLS ARE CLOSED!!!! in an author's note so... beware. By the way, you can tell I suck at action parts.... But how did you like the tennis? Review or e-mail me at KatsuyaMaxwell@betaweb.org
I am running out of ideas! Help me out please! Thank you! Ja ne!
I love reviews! I do I do I DO-OOOO!! hehehe