Gomen nasai!! I can't believe how long it's taken me to get this chapter
out. Thank you all for your great e-mails!! ^_^ You really know how to
brighten a girl's day! To SailorV thanks for the support and pretty much
riding my ass to get this chapter out! *sweat drops * To Moon Venus-chan,
Yes, I do drool that much in public! Hahahahaaaa… No just kidding, I don't
wear a bib or anything, but if I saw Seiya… LOOK OUT!! @_@ Wow this got
long, especially since I wasn't planning on writing anything! To Trigun,
if you don't return my toaster I'm going to knock you on your butt!!!
Part VII
Yaten lead the girls down the street knowing that Seiya would be unable to resist following them. He wanted to make him mad but at the same time he didn't want him to talk to Usagi either. He remembered what happened last time he was forced to leave her and he couldn't even contemplate what would happen this time.
"Yaten!" Minako waved. He hadn't noticed the girls had stopped near a shop. The lights were out in the store but a pale light still lit up the window to display the elegant merchandise. "Yaten when you propose to me I would like a ring like that one!" She pointed into the store while Yaten and Usagi just sweat dropped.
Minako's hands were pressed against the glass as she peered longingly in at the ring. Usagi let out a slight giggle but then noticed a familiar pair of eyes reflecting back at her in the glass. Yaten, being able to see Usagi's reflection, noticed her surprise and spun around at the same time she did to see who, or what was behind her. There was no one. Usagi looked down in disappointment.
"Usako!" Mamoru came up to the three in front of the window. "Usako, what are you doing out this late at night?"
"Hello Mamo-chan. I just came out for a walk with Minako and Yaten." Usagi smiled seeing nothing wrong with the situation.
"Can I talk to you?" He asked looking questionably at Minako and Yaten.
Yaten figured that it was safe to leave Usagi alone with Mamoru, it's not like Seiya would dare approach her when she was with him, or would he….?
Minako took this as the perfect opportunity to drag Yaten off alone and I took this as my cue to get closer.
"Come on Helios!! We have to get closer!" I screeched pulling him behind me. I had seen Seiya come up behind the group and he spotted Mamoru about the same time I did and made his retreat.
"Don't pull. It's your fault that we lost track of Mamoru anyway!! If you weren't too busy googling over Seiya then we wouldn't have slipped up!" Helios snorted crossing his arms.
"You know, yelling at me now isn't going to change the fact of the matter!"
"And what is the fact of the matter?"
"We have to get Mamoru away from Usagi!" I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "God, it's so hard to get through to you sometimes!"
"Look who's talking!" He smiled at me, which I didn't exactly appreciate.
Mamoru lead Usagi to a bench near the bus stop and watched Minako and Yaten walk off in the distance, they weren't too far away however that Usagi was worried about losing them. I spotted Seiya standing not too far away from myself eyeing the same situation, and probably with the same disgust too!
"Usako…" Mamoru began as he got down before her in a kneeling position. "I know we were going to wait until you got out of high school but this just feels right."
"Oh my god!" My hand went up over my mouth.
"What?" Helios questioned.
"He's going to propose to her! We have to stop this quick!" I said looking around for a plan when suddenly the solution presented itself. In the distance I noticed Seiya slumping and beginning to walk away. "Come on!" I quickly grabbed Helios' arm and pulled him in Seiya's direction.
"Ow! You're hurting me!" Helios cried as I drug him across the street.
"Seiya!" I waved and continued to pull Helios along like a rag doll. To tell you the truth I was really enjoying being able to tear him around like that, it was pay back for the on slaw of rude comments that always seemed to pour out of his mouth.
Seiya froze still and I could see in his eyes that he was contemplating running away from me. Yeah, yeah, I know, I did look kind of like a circus freak girl but hey, this was my mission here! "Come with me for a minute please." I asked ever so nicely.
Seiya looked questionably from me to Helios who just shrugged in a reply. Without waiting for an answer I grabbed Seiya by his arm and proceeded to drag him in much the same way I had done to Helios, (except I was a lot more gentle with Seiya! ^_~)
Without further ado I lead them to my target. "Hey Usagi!" I screamed as the three of us came running up to her. I purposely stood right in front of Mamoru and blocked Usagi's view of him.
"Morgan!" Usagi's face lit up with excitement and she jumped on me almost immediately. Helios shot me a funny look as to why she had just called me Morgan but dismissed it. "Why aren't you staying with Setsuna anymore?"
"It's a long story." I said waving off her comment, I couldn't tell her the truth yet! "Look who I bumped into though?" I said pulling Seiya up like some magic trick from behind me.
"Oi Odango." Seiya said with a charming smile as he stepped closer to her. I don't think he was expecting the giant hug that he received from the blond because they were both almost knocked to the ground.
"Oh Seiya!!! You're back!!! I've missed you soooo much." Usagi was still clutching on to him while I just stood back and admired my handy work.
"Um… excuse me…" Mamoru said from the ground behind us. Helios moved a little closer to me cutting him off and blocking him completely from Usagi's view and gave me a smile.
I smiled back showing that I appreciated the help, finally.
Yaten and Minako noticed the commotion and before long Yaten was cursing the situation under his breath. "Damn it Seiya…" His words earned him a confused look from Minako who had no idea what was going through his head.
"Morgan!" Minako waved and came up next to Usagi.
"Hey Minako." I waved hoping that she didn't tackle me the way Usagi had.
Yaten came up behind Minako giving Seiya the evil eye but then turned his attention to the bewildered man getting up and brushing himself off. "Hello Mamoru." He smiled at Mamoru.
"Usako, I need to speak with you… now." Mamoru said breaking through the barrier that Helios and I had set up.
"But Mamo-chan…" She protested.
"Hey, Mamoru?" I spoke up to get his attention.
"What are you doing?" Helios hissed at me under his breath.
I shot him a smile and continued. "I would really appreciate it if Usagi could stay and hang out, I mean we're not going to be in town very long." An evil grin made it's way to my lips. "Besides, don't you remember what happened to you earlier?"
Helios snickered again but recovered quickly when he realized the death glare that Mamoru was giving him. Mamoru narrowed his eyes at me. "Are you threatening me?"
"Mamo-chan! Of course she's not threatening you! That was rude!" Usagi linked arms with me and turned her back to Mamoru. "Come on Morgan, I'll see you tomorrow Mamoru!"
'Wow! She called him Mamoru.' I happily thought to myself. I glanced over to see Seiya's reaction to all of this and he just stood there flabbergasted but then a weird smile came to his face.
"So who is your friend here?" Usagi said once they were out of Mamoru's range.
"Huh?" I asked looking down on her, it was amazing how short she really was in person, or was I just tall?
Usagi pointed over to Helios who was following behind us with his hands in his pockets. "Him?" I signaled my thumb in his direction, he seemed to notice too because he looked at us as though we were talking about him, which we were, but that's beside the point.
Helios came up to come in on our conversation, Seiya was busy getting an earful from Yaten so Usagi had to keep herself occupied until she could speak with him. "Yeah, him. Aren't you going to introduce us?" Minako chirped as she walked with us.
"Oh yeah, he's… umm…" I couldn't tell him that he was Helios, that one seemed a little obvious.
"What's the matter? Did you forget my name already?" Helios mocked me. "My name is Aisoku." He smiled. The girls giggled and I shot him an annoyed look. I knew what that name meant, cute boy.
"So are you two boyfriend and girlfriend?" Usagi asked innocently.
"WHAT! NO WAY!" We both said at the same time. I looked at Helios and noticed his face turned a light shade of pink and I could feel a heat in my cheeks as well.
"Seiya-baka! I thought you weren't going to get involved with her this time?" Yaten cursed as they followed the girls and the guy with white hair.
Seiya didn't look at Yaten but instead just stared at Usagi's hair. "It wasn't my fault, that chick drug me over to her." He said signaling to the girl they didn't know. "Besides, I was going to have to talk to her sooner or later, I mean we are going to their school and all now."
Yaten sighed, it was inevitable after all. "I'm just worried about you that's all." He said as he looked down at the pavement.
A smile came to Seiya's face. "Thanks." It wasn't often that Yaten admitted that he cared or that he showed he was concerned about anyone but himself. The two boys came to a halt when the realized the group ahead of them had stopped and there were two very red faced people standing there.
"Geesh you guys is was just a question." Minako waved us off. "Hey Morgan, what are you doing tonight? Do you want to come back over to my house with Usagi and I to sleep over?"
I didn't know what I should say, it would be a good chance for me to try to lean Usagi's mind towards Seiya but I didn't even want to think about what would happen to me if the outers caught me again. Suddenly I was flying towards Minako. "Sure she'd love to!" Helios shoved me towards them offering me up as fresh meat.
"Great!" Usagi cheered. "Where do you live? We'll stop by your house on the way there to pick up some of your stuff."
"Um sure…" I said trying to think of what in the world I would pick up.
"Well girls we're heading home for the night." Yaten said as he and Seiya departed themselves from the group.
"Seiya wait!" Usagi called as they retreated. They hadn't gotten too far away and she made it to them easily. "I'm really glad that you're back, I've really missed you and I can't wait to catch up with you."
"I've missed you too Odango." Seiya smiled while Yaten just observed the sparks between the two.
"Hey, if you're not busy tomorrow we could hang out." Usagi fiddled with her fingers.
"I'm never too busy to hang out with you."
Usagi blushed but recovered and looked up at both of them. "Great! Give me a call! Ja!"
"What was that all about?" Yaten asked as they watched Usagi run back to the group.
"Beats the hell out of me but I can't say I'm complaining!" Seiya smirked and turned his sight back to the direction that they had previously been heading in. "Hanging out with Odango…"
Usagi came up to us after her 'private' talk with the Lights. "Ready to go?" She asked and we were on our way to the town house. Helios and I walked ahead while Minako and Usagi strolled behind us.
"Aishoku?" I said with a look.
"Yeah, I think it's fitting." He said as though he was proud of himself. "Besides, I just wanted you to admit it."
"Oh shut up!" I huffed and felt my cheeks get a little warm. Was I blushing? He was kind of cute…
Helios laughed at my gesture once again. "We can't let them in you know."
"I'm well aware of that. Kakyuu would have a conniption!" This odd mental picture of Kakyuu flipping out and throwing everything in the apartment at us came to mind. 'Not a pretty picture.'
"Are you mad that I offered you up?"
"No, I guess it's better this way. While I'm working though you should too." I looked at him seriously.
"What are you talking about? What do you expect me to do ask Seiya and Yaten for a sleep over? I don't think so!"
"No." I said as I looked forward and spotted the town house. "Work on a way to get me home." I said with a sad note to my voice.
"I will." Helios must have sensed the tone because he was actually being nice and no insults or mockings came out of his mouth.
"This is where you live?" Usagi said with wide eyes looking up the building. "This is incredible."
"Yeah it's really nice, I'd invite you up but…"
"But her mother is sleeping and she isn't very happy when she is woken up." Helios covered for me with a smile.
"So why are you going in with her?" Minako asked as she noticed Helios and I heading in together.
"I live here." He said plainly.
"You two live together?" Minako wasn't getting any of this.
"No, my family lives in this building too, that's how I met Morgan." He was very proud of himself for coming up with that so quickly.
"Oh…"
~@~@~@~
Seiya hesitantly picked up the receiver of the phone. It was Saturday and he was supposed to meet up with Usagi. His hesitation wasn't coming from him not wanting to call her but instead from his heart. "Don't be stupid Seiya, you can be her friend, you can handle this." He told himself before he brought the phone to his ear and dialed the numbers.
"Moshi moshi." The voice on the other end answered.
"Odango?" He asked hoping that it was her and not her mother.
"Seiya!" Usagi said ecstatically on the other end. "Good morning."
"Good morning. So what are you doing today?"
"Nothing much, I was waiting for you to call."
'She was waiting for me to call, she was waiting for me to start her day…' "I was wondering if you wanted to go on a picnic with me?"
"That sounds great!" The butterflies in her stomach were almost too much to bear, she couldn't keep this up much longer even though she was hardly saying anything. 'I don't remember feeling this was last time he was here. Duh! You didn't know you loved him last time he was here!'
"I'll be over to your house in a half hour, ja ne Odango."
"Ja." Usagi hurriedly hung up the phone and flopped on her bed.
"You look like a love-sick teenager!" Luna jumped up next to her. "I take it that was 'Mr Wonderful'?"
"Yeah and he's taking me on a picnic today. Oh Luna isn't this great that they're back?" Usagi said staring up at her ceiling. The sweet spring air was blowing in from the window next to her setting her thin curtains in motion.
"Yeah, just wonderful, don't forget Mamoru though."
"Oh why do you always have to ruin my fun?"
"Just be careful OK?" Luna knew Usagi's confusion about what she should do but she also knew that there was nothing she could do to help guide her now either. There was no going against what the heart wanted and Usagi's heart wanted Seiya. She just didn't want to think about what would happen to her future, everyone's future.
The same spring breeze that brought Usagi's good mood also brought Seiya to her front door with two spies not far behind him. Before Seiya could even knock on the door Usagi was standing in its place. "Ready?" She asked as she closed the door behind her. "Trust me, you don't want to see the circus that's going on in there right now." She smiled as Seiya laughed.
They walked side by side down the walk and the two spies set in motion behind them. "So Seiya, where exactly are we going?" Usagi asked looking over at him.
"I have no idea, you're the one who wanted to hang out."
Usagi got a hurt look on her face. "You don't want to hang out with me?"
'Could she be any further from the truth?' Seiya thought as he looked at the sky. His lips curled into a smile and he looked down and over at the blond. "I can't think of anything I'd rather do."
This answer seemed to suffice Usagi and she was soon back to her chipper self. "I know, let's have a picnic!"
"Is that all you ever think of? Food?" Seiya smiled at her.
Usagi suddenly felt stupid and looked down. "Are you making fun of me?"
"Gomen, gomen, but I wouldn't be me if I wasn't, ne?" He winked at her, he figured that if he made fun of her a bit then maybe it would take his mind off of his true feelings. But it was hard, even when he made fun of her she looked so cute.
Usagi had to admit that she did like his flirtatious teasing but for some reason she was so self-conscious right now. She smiled up at him realizing that she was overreacting she kept in step. An odd feeling crept up on her and caused her to suddenly stop.
"What is it?" Seiya asked concerned as he looked from her face to the area around them and noticed nothing unusual.
Usagi looked behind her and caused her two spies to jump quickly and conceal themselves. "I think we're being followed." She shook the idea out of her head and laughed it off. "I bet it's just because I'm hungry."
"Maybe you did your odangos too tightly." Seiya patted her bun and smiled at her.
I let out a long sigh as the threat of having a heart attack passed. "They're on to us." I looked over at Helios who was stuffing donuts in his face. "What are you doing?"
"I missed breakfast!"
"So did I and you don't see me making a pig of myself in some shrubbery!" I stood up and brushed myself off.
Helios polished off the last of the donuts save one. "Would you like the last one?" He said with a sneaky smile.
"What did you do to it? Lick it?" I questioned narrowing my eyes. No way would he just be nice to me out of the blue.
"Nope, I swear." He said holding the donut a little closer to me.
My hand came up to grab it. "Ariga…" I started but then saw him swiftly take it away and shove it in his mouth. He was having a hard time keeping the donut in his mouth while trying to control his laughter. "Why you…" That was it, I had had it with him and decided now was pay back time so I jumped on him.
Helios' eyes went wide as he saw me lunge at him in attack mode, he was too surprised to react and was soon knocked to the ground. "Go…m…en…" He laughed at my pitiful attempt at a come back.
"You two aren't going to get anywhere that way." A voice said from above us.
"Kakyuu!" I said removing myself from Helios and standing up while he was just now getting his laughter under control.
"Do you even know where they went?" She asked tapping her foot impatiently. Helios and I looked down in shame. "Well here's a hint." She pointed to the bus that Seiya was helping Usagi on to.
I realized we were going to be left behind if we didn't high-tail it out of the bushes and get on that bus, but before I could do anything Helios was dragging me in the direction of the bus.
~@~@~@~
"She must have met up with Helios and Kakyuu then." Michiru thought out loud as she focused on a vase on the other side of the room.
"I'm telling you, she deliberately kept me from speaking to Usagi…" Mamoru sniffled like a little baby.(- Yeah!! That's for all you flamers out there!! evil grin) "And she tripped me too!" He pouted and crossed his arms.
"We have to keep her away from Koneko, her and those Starlights." Haruka looked in Mamoru's direction, he was eyeing her giant sandwich. "You tried to propose to her and she rejected you?"
"No, I didn't get a chance to finish before that retarded, dumbass, blond from another dimension bitch named Morgan or Odango, which ever you want to call her, came and butted in with her cheesy boyfriend and Seiya."
Setsuna let out a slight laugh at Mamoru's description of their little pest. "Well what are you waiting for Mamoru?"
Mamoru eyed Haruka's sandwich one last time and then looked up to Haruka who just shook her head. "Fine, I'm leaving." He said before getting up.
~@~@~@~
We followed Seiya and Usagi around all day. I felt like I was on a stake- out without the coffee and stale donuts. "This is so boring!" Helios whined.
I shot him another annoyed look. "You just don't know how to appreciate romance." I said sharply.
Helios sighed and looked to the side. "It's a joke." He said lightly and I almost didn't hear him.
"What are you talking about?" I asked not taking my eyes off the couple in front of us. We were sitting at a table on the patio of a quaint restaurant in Tokyo. Usagi seemed oblivious to everything but Seiya so I didn't fear getting caught. "Look at how happy those two are." I said gesturing in their direction.
"Yeah, they're happy now, but what happens when he has to leave? What happens when she rejects him and tells him that they can never be together?" He huffed as he continued to push things around on his plate.
I looked from the couple to my now severely depressing partner. "Hello? That's why we're here, to prevent that from happening. Did you forget everything?"
"No, but who's to say that it's going to work out?"
I slumped down in my chair, he was right. "I don't know how everything is going to turn out. I'd like to believe that if Seiya and Usagi get together it will complete the fairy tale but that doesn't make it true." The breeze picked up and I felt a shiver at the thought. "You miss her don't you?"
Helios didn't answer me right away but then I saw his head pick up. "They're leaving." He said flatly and without looking at me. I watched him get up and followed a moment later.
"Odango." Seiya said as they walked through the city. People seemed a little calmer and in higher spirits today, perhaps it was because it was the weekend. "I had fun hanging out with you today." He smiled.
"Me too." Usagi smiled up at him. "There's something I've been meaning to ask you though."
"Shoot."
"Why are you guys here? I mean don't get me wrong I'm thrilled that you are, but is there something wrong?" Usagi seemed genuinely concerned.
Seiya sighed as he thought about the events that brought them back to Earth. "Not too long ago the princess asked Yaten, Taiki and I to return to Earth. We were completely confused as to why she would ask that of us and refused to leave her side." Seiya looked at Usagi to see what she thought of his story so far. There seemed to be a hurt expression on her face. He knew that it was because he had just, in not so many words, told her that he had refused a chance to see her. "The Princess was missing when we awoke the next morning and since then we've been searching for her."
"So you're only here to look for your Princess again and you are to leave us after that?" Usagi looked near tears.
Seiya felt a sharp pain in his heart at the sight of her. "Odango, you know that we don't belong here. We are destined to protect the Princess and Kinmoku, and that destiny has nothing to do with Earth."
Destiny, there was that damn word again. Usagi started fuming inside at the mere mention of the word. Screw destiny! But she couldn't… "I understand." She muttered putting her head down.
"How 'bout this? We'll still come back and visit you guys." Seiya said trying to give her good mood back to her but also to tell himself that this wouldn't be the last time he could see her.
Usagi nodded her head and they continued walking not too far away from Usagi's house. Seiya started chuckling to himself. "You want to hear something funny that Yaten told me?" Usagi looked up at him. "He said that Minako told him she was going to find our Princess first and keep her hostage from him."
Usagi laughed along with him. "Yeah, that sounds like Minako." 'Not a bad idea!' She thought to herself.
I chuckled a little at Seiya's statement but then noticed a very pissed off Haruka heading their way. "Shit look!" I pointed in their direction to Helios.
"Uh… uh… I can handle taking on Mamoru but Haruka is a different story!" He said backing away with his hands in front of him.
"We have to stop them!" I thought out loud as Haruka neared the two. Suddenly without even thinking about it I ran out from my hiding spot and brought myself right in front of Haruka.
"What the hell?" Haruka said as she noticed who I was. "Get back here!" She called after me as I suddenly took off again and gained her chase.
'Shit! I'm gonna get caught and get pounded!' Was all I could think as I ran as fast as my legs would carry me. There was no way in hell I was going to out run Haruka and unbelievable morbid images of what she would do to me began to pass through my head when I suddenly saw two arms hanging out of the tree ahead of me. Without questioning them I grabbed on and was hoisted up before Haruka knew what happened.
"You can run pretty fast." Helios snickered at me.
I put my finger up in front of my face to sush him. "Do you want her to beat you too?" I asked. Haruka ran right below us without even slowing down, we soon saw Michiru hot on her heels. "That was close!" I said knowing that we were in the clear.
Helios cleared his throat and crossed his arms. "Ahem?"
"What?"
"Don't I even get a thank you?" He asked.
I could feel the smile growing on my face. "Sure, I'll give you a pat on the back." I said as I slapped him so hard he fell out of the tree and landed on a couple below.
"Aisoku?" I heard a familiar voice say from below. It was Usagi.
I jumped down from the branch I was sitting on to join them on the ground. "That freakin hurt!" Helios yelled at me when he saw me standing next to him. I just smiled.
"There's my guardian angel now." Seiya smiled at me and I almost lost it, but then I quickly thought about what he had said. 'Me, his guardian angel?' Then it dawned on me that he must have seen the whole seen with the outraged Haruka.
"What were you guys doing in the tree?" Usagi asked helping Helios up when she realized no one else was going to.
"Um… um…" He scratched his head.
"What did your fall knock your marbles loose?" I nudged him. "We were bird watching!"
"That was a stupid answer." Helios hissed so that I was the only one that could hear him.
Usagi just looked at us with a raised eyebrow but Seiya already seemed to know why we were there. "Well ja!" Helios waved as he started walking away.
I stepped up to Seiya to whisper something in his ear. "Kakyuu says hi." I pulled back with a smile and then turned to catch up to Helios, but not before I saw the furious expression on Usagi's face. I had done that for two reasons. 1. To let Seiya know that I was important to his mission so that they would trust us to some extent. And 2. To bring Usagi's emotions to the surface and make her realize her jealousy.
Seiya just stood there and stared after us.
~@~@~@~
"Helios come here for a minute will you?" Kakyuu called from the living room. When he came to her she addressed him again. "Where's Odango?"
"She's sleeping, she got quite a work out from Haruka today." He laughed to himself. "Why?"
Kakyuu pointed to the television screen in front of her. "I never watch TV and when I finally give in a sit down, look what I find."
"Is that who I think it is?" He asked incredulously. "What is she doing there?"
"It appears that our little Odango isn't from this world, it seems that she is a fictional character from this TV show that has somehow made her way to our world." Kakyuu voiced her hypothesis to Helios.
"Masaka… She told me the other day that she was from the 'real' world… How can we tell her that she is really the fictional character?" Helios for once actually felt bad for the pest he had for a partner. "I'm not telling her." He said coming out of his thoughts.
Kakyuu just looked at him. "You have to."
"No way! We'll just tell her that we can't get her back and never tell her about this."
"What are you going to keep her from watching TV for the rest of her life?" Kakyuu mused.
Helios turned from her to look upon the TV screen near them. There was a shot of Odango smiling and laughing at something funny one of the other characters did. A smile broke onto his face. "She really is a pain…" He laughed.
Kakyuu saw what was happening and just gave him a weak smile. She hadn't planned on this. "Maybe she'll just go home the same way she had gotten here when everything is done."
"Maybe."
~@~@~@~
Part VII
Yaten lead the girls down the street knowing that Seiya would be unable to resist following them. He wanted to make him mad but at the same time he didn't want him to talk to Usagi either. He remembered what happened last time he was forced to leave her and he couldn't even contemplate what would happen this time.
"Yaten!" Minako waved. He hadn't noticed the girls had stopped near a shop. The lights were out in the store but a pale light still lit up the window to display the elegant merchandise. "Yaten when you propose to me I would like a ring like that one!" She pointed into the store while Yaten and Usagi just sweat dropped.
Minako's hands were pressed against the glass as she peered longingly in at the ring. Usagi let out a slight giggle but then noticed a familiar pair of eyes reflecting back at her in the glass. Yaten, being able to see Usagi's reflection, noticed her surprise and spun around at the same time she did to see who, or what was behind her. There was no one. Usagi looked down in disappointment.
"Usako!" Mamoru came up to the three in front of the window. "Usako, what are you doing out this late at night?"
"Hello Mamo-chan. I just came out for a walk with Minako and Yaten." Usagi smiled seeing nothing wrong with the situation.
"Can I talk to you?" He asked looking questionably at Minako and Yaten.
Yaten figured that it was safe to leave Usagi alone with Mamoru, it's not like Seiya would dare approach her when she was with him, or would he….?
Minako took this as the perfect opportunity to drag Yaten off alone and I took this as my cue to get closer.
"Come on Helios!! We have to get closer!" I screeched pulling him behind me. I had seen Seiya come up behind the group and he spotted Mamoru about the same time I did and made his retreat.
"Don't pull. It's your fault that we lost track of Mamoru anyway!! If you weren't too busy googling over Seiya then we wouldn't have slipped up!" Helios snorted crossing his arms.
"You know, yelling at me now isn't going to change the fact of the matter!"
"And what is the fact of the matter?"
"We have to get Mamoru away from Usagi!" I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "God, it's so hard to get through to you sometimes!"
"Look who's talking!" He smiled at me, which I didn't exactly appreciate.
Mamoru lead Usagi to a bench near the bus stop and watched Minako and Yaten walk off in the distance, they weren't too far away however that Usagi was worried about losing them. I spotted Seiya standing not too far away from myself eyeing the same situation, and probably with the same disgust too!
"Usako…" Mamoru began as he got down before her in a kneeling position. "I know we were going to wait until you got out of high school but this just feels right."
"Oh my god!" My hand went up over my mouth.
"What?" Helios questioned.
"He's going to propose to her! We have to stop this quick!" I said looking around for a plan when suddenly the solution presented itself. In the distance I noticed Seiya slumping and beginning to walk away. "Come on!" I quickly grabbed Helios' arm and pulled him in Seiya's direction.
"Ow! You're hurting me!" Helios cried as I drug him across the street.
"Seiya!" I waved and continued to pull Helios along like a rag doll. To tell you the truth I was really enjoying being able to tear him around like that, it was pay back for the on slaw of rude comments that always seemed to pour out of his mouth.
Seiya froze still and I could see in his eyes that he was contemplating running away from me. Yeah, yeah, I know, I did look kind of like a circus freak girl but hey, this was my mission here! "Come with me for a minute please." I asked ever so nicely.
Seiya looked questionably from me to Helios who just shrugged in a reply. Without waiting for an answer I grabbed Seiya by his arm and proceeded to drag him in much the same way I had done to Helios, (except I was a lot more gentle with Seiya! ^_~)
Without further ado I lead them to my target. "Hey Usagi!" I screamed as the three of us came running up to her. I purposely stood right in front of Mamoru and blocked Usagi's view of him.
"Morgan!" Usagi's face lit up with excitement and she jumped on me almost immediately. Helios shot me a funny look as to why she had just called me Morgan but dismissed it. "Why aren't you staying with Setsuna anymore?"
"It's a long story." I said waving off her comment, I couldn't tell her the truth yet! "Look who I bumped into though?" I said pulling Seiya up like some magic trick from behind me.
"Oi Odango." Seiya said with a charming smile as he stepped closer to her. I don't think he was expecting the giant hug that he received from the blond because they were both almost knocked to the ground.
"Oh Seiya!!! You're back!!! I've missed you soooo much." Usagi was still clutching on to him while I just stood back and admired my handy work.
"Um… excuse me…" Mamoru said from the ground behind us. Helios moved a little closer to me cutting him off and blocking him completely from Usagi's view and gave me a smile.
I smiled back showing that I appreciated the help, finally.
Yaten and Minako noticed the commotion and before long Yaten was cursing the situation under his breath. "Damn it Seiya…" His words earned him a confused look from Minako who had no idea what was going through his head.
"Morgan!" Minako waved and came up next to Usagi.
"Hey Minako." I waved hoping that she didn't tackle me the way Usagi had.
Yaten came up behind Minako giving Seiya the evil eye but then turned his attention to the bewildered man getting up and brushing himself off. "Hello Mamoru." He smiled at Mamoru.
"Usako, I need to speak with you… now." Mamoru said breaking through the barrier that Helios and I had set up.
"But Mamo-chan…" She protested.
"Hey, Mamoru?" I spoke up to get his attention.
"What are you doing?" Helios hissed at me under his breath.
I shot him a smile and continued. "I would really appreciate it if Usagi could stay and hang out, I mean we're not going to be in town very long." An evil grin made it's way to my lips. "Besides, don't you remember what happened to you earlier?"
Helios snickered again but recovered quickly when he realized the death glare that Mamoru was giving him. Mamoru narrowed his eyes at me. "Are you threatening me?"
"Mamo-chan! Of course she's not threatening you! That was rude!" Usagi linked arms with me and turned her back to Mamoru. "Come on Morgan, I'll see you tomorrow Mamoru!"
'Wow! She called him Mamoru.' I happily thought to myself. I glanced over to see Seiya's reaction to all of this and he just stood there flabbergasted but then a weird smile came to his face.
"So who is your friend here?" Usagi said once they were out of Mamoru's range.
"Huh?" I asked looking down on her, it was amazing how short she really was in person, or was I just tall?
Usagi pointed over to Helios who was following behind us with his hands in his pockets. "Him?" I signaled my thumb in his direction, he seemed to notice too because he looked at us as though we were talking about him, which we were, but that's beside the point.
Helios came up to come in on our conversation, Seiya was busy getting an earful from Yaten so Usagi had to keep herself occupied until she could speak with him. "Yeah, him. Aren't you going to introduce us?" Minako chirped as she walked with us.
"Oh yeah, he's… umm…" I couldn't tell him that he was Helios, that one seemed a little obvious.
"What's the matter? Did you forget my name already?" Helios mocked me. "My name is Aisoku." He smiled. The girls giggled and I shot him an annoyed look. I knew what that name meant, cute boy.
"So are you two boyfriend and girlfriend?" Usagi asked innocently.
"WHAT! NO WAY!" We both said at the same time. I looked at Helios and noticed his face turned a light shade of pink and I could feel a heat in my cheeks as well.
"Seiya-baka! I thought you weren't going to get involved with her this time?" Yaten cursed as they followed the girls and the guy with white hair.
Seiya didn't look at Yaten but instead just stared at Usagi's hair. "It wasn't my fault, that chick drug me over to her." He said signaling to the girl they didn't know. "Besides, I was going to have to talk to her sooner or later, I mean we are going to their school and all now."
Yaten sighed, it was inevitable after all. "I'm just worried about you that's all." He said as he looked down at the pavement.
A smile came to Seiya's face. "Thanks." It wasn't often that Yaten admitted that he cared or that he showed he was concerned about anyone but himself. The two boys came to a halt when the realized the group ahead of them had stopped and there were two very red faced people standing there.
"Geesh you guys is was just a question." Minako waved us off. "Hey Morgan, what are you doing tonight? Do you want to come back over to my house with Usagi and I to sleep over?"
I didn't know what I should say, it would be a good chance for me to try to lean Usagi's mind towards Seiya but I didn't even want to think about what would happen to me if the outers caught me again. Suddenly I was flying towards Minako. "Sure she'd love to!" Helios shoved me towards them offering me up as fresh meat.
"Great!" Usagi cheered. "Where do you live? We'll stop by your house on the way there to pick up some of your stuff."
"Um sure…" I said trying to think of what in the world I would pick up.
"Well girls we're heading home for the night." Yaten said as he and Seiya departed themselves from the group.
"Seiya wait!" Usagi called as they retreated. They hadn't gotten too far away and she made it to them easily. "I'm really glad that you're back, I've really missed you and I can't wait to catch up with you."
"I've missed you too Odango." Seiya smiled while Yaten just observed the sparks between the two.
"Hey, if you're not busy tomorrow we could hang out." Usagi fiddled with her fingers.
"I'm never too busy to hang out with you."
Usagi blushed but recovered and looked up at both of them. "Great! Give me a call! Ja!"
"What was that all about?" Yaten asked as they watched Usagi run back to the group.
"Beats the hell out of me but I can't say I'm complaining!" Seiya smirked and turned his sight back to the direction that they had previously been heading in. "Hanging out with Odango…"
Usagi came up to us after her 'private' talk with the Lights. "Ready to go?" She asked and we were on our way to the town house. Helios and I walked ahead while Minako and Usagi strolled behind us.
"Aishoku?" I said with a look.
"Yeah, I think it's fitting." He said as though he was proud of himself. "Besides, I just wanted you to admit it."
"Oh shut up!" I huffed and felt my cheeks get a little warm. Was I blushing? He was kind of cute…
Helios laughed at my gesture once again. "We can't let them in you know."
"I'm well aware of that. Kakyuu would have a conniption!" This odd mental picture of Kakyuu flipping out and throwing everything in the apartment at us came to mind. 'Not a pretty picture.'
"Are you mad that I offered you up?"
"No, I guess it's better this way. While I'm working though you should too." I looked at him seriously.
"What are you talking about? What do you expect me to do ask Seiya and Yaten for a sleep over? I don't think so!"
"No." I said as I looked forward and spotted the town house. "Work on a way to get me home." I said with a sad note to my voice.
"I will." Helios must have sensed the tone because he was actually being nice and no insults or mockings came out of his mouth.
"This is where you live?" Usagi said with wide eyes looking up the building. "This is incredible."
"Yeah it's really nice, I'd invite you up but…"
"But her mother is sleeping and she isn't very happy when she is woken up." Helios covered for me with a smile.
"So why are you going in with her?" Minako asked as she noticed Helios and I heading in together.
"I live here." He said plainly.
"You two live together?" Minako wasn't getting any of this.
"No, my family lives in this building too, that's how I met Morgan." He was very proud of himself for coming up with that so quickly.
"Oh…"
~@~@~@~
Seiya hesitantly picked up the receiver of the phone. It was Saturday and he was supposed to meet up with Usagi. His hesitation wasn't coming from him not wanting to call her but instead from his heart. "Don't be stupid Seiya, you can be her friend, you can handle this." He told himself before he brought the phone to his ear and dialed the numbers.
"Moshi moshi." The voice on the other end answered.
"Odango?" He asked hoping that it was her and not her mother.
"Seiya!" Usagi said ecstatically on the other end. "Good morning."
"Good morning. So what are you doing today?"
"Nothing much, I was waiting for you to call."
'She was waiting for me to call, she was waiting for me to start her day…' "I was wondering if you wanted to go on a picnic with me?"
"That sounds great!" The butterflies in her stomach were almost too much to bear, she couldn't keep this up much longer even though she was hardly saying anything. 'I don't remember feeling this was last time he was here. Duh! You didn't know you loved him last time he was here!'
"I'll be over to your house in a half hour, ja ne Odango."
"Ja." Usagi hurriedly hung up the phone and flopped on her bed.
"You look like a love-sick teenager!" Luna jumped up next to her. "I take it that was 'Mr Wonderful'?"
"Yeah and he's taking me on a picnic today. Oh Luna isn't this great that they're back?" Usagi said staring up at her ceiling. The sweet spring air was blowing in from the window next to her setting her thin curtains in motion.
"Yeah, just wonderful, don't forget Mamoru though."
"Oh why do you always have to ruin my fun?"
"Just be careful OK?" Luna knew Usagi's confusion about what she should do but she also knew that there was nothing she could do to help guide her now either. There was no going against what the heart wanted and Usagi's heart wanted Seiya. She just didn't want to think about what would happen to her future, everyone's future.
The same spring breeze that brought Usagi's good mood also brought Seiya to her front door with two spies not far behind him. Before Seiya could even knock on the door Usagi was standing in its place. "Ready?" She asked as she closed the door behind her. "Trust me, you don't want to see the circus that's going on in there right now." She smiled as Seiya laughed.
They walked side by side down the walk and the two spies set in motion behind them. "So Seiya, where exactly are we going?" Usagi asked looking over at him.
"I have no idea, you're the one who wanted to hang out."
Usagi got a hurt look on her face. "You don't want to hang out with me?"
'Could she be any further from the truth?' Seiya thought as he looked at the sky. His lips curled into a smile and he looked down and over at the blond. "I can't think of anything I'd rather do."
This answer seemed to suffice Usagi and she was soon back to her chipper self. "I know, let's have a picnic!"
"Is that all you ever think of? Food?" Seiya smiled at her.
Usagi suddenly felt stupid and looked down. "Are you making fun of me?"
"Gomen, gomen, but I wouldn't be me if I wasn't, ne?" He winked at her, he figured that if he made fun of her a bit then maybe it would take his mind off of his true feelings. But it was hard, even when he made fun of her she looked so cute.
Usagi had to admit that she did like his flirtatious teasing but for some reason she was so self-conscious right now. She smiled up at him realizing that she was overreacting she kept in step. An odd feeling crept up on her and caused her to suddenly stop.
"What is it?" Seiya asked concerned as he looked from her face to the area around them and noticed nothing unusual.
Usagi looked behind her and caused her two spies to jump quickly and conceal themselves. "I think we're being followed." She shook the idea out of her head and laughed it off. "I bet it's just because I'm hungry."
"Maybe you did your odangos too tightly." Seiya patted her bun and smiled at her.
I let out a long sigh as the threat of having a heart attack passed. "They're on to us." I looked over at Helios who was stuffing donuts in his face. "What are you doing?"
"I missed breakfast!"
"So did I and you don't see me making a pig of myself in some shrubbery!" I stood up and brushed myself off.
Helios polished off the last of the donuts save one. "Would you like the last one?" He said with a sneaky smile.
"What did you do to it? Lick it?" I questioned narrowing my eyes. No way would he just be nice to me out of the blue.
"Nope, I swear." He said holding the donut a little closer to me.
My hand came up to grab it. "Ariga…" I started but then saw him swiftly take it away and shove it in his mouth. He was having a hard time keeping the donut in his mouth while trying to control his laughter. "Why you…" That was it, I had had it with him and decided now was pay back time so I jumped on him.
Helios' eyes went wide as he saw me lunge at him in attack mode, he was too surprised to react and was soon knocked to the ground. "Go…m…en…" He laughed at my pitiful attempt at a come back.
"You two aren't going to get anywhere that way." A voice said from above us.
"Kakyuu!" I said removing myself from Helios and standing up while he was just now getting his laughter under control.
"Do you even know where they went?" She asked tapping her foot impatiently. Helios and I looked down in shame. "Well here's a hint." She pointed to the bus that Seiya was helping Usagi on to.
I realized we were going to be left behind if we didn't high-tail it out of the bushes and get on that bus, but before I could do anything Helios was dragging me in the direction of the bus.
~@~@~@~
"She must have met up with Helios and Kakyuu then." Michiru thought out loud as she focused on a vase on the other side of the room.
"I'm telling you, she deliberately kept me from speaking to Usagi…" Mamoru sniffled like a little baby.(- Yeah!! That's for all you flamers out there!! evil grin) "And she tripped me too!" He pouted and crossed his arms.
"We have to keep her away from Koneko, her and those Starlights." Haruka looked in Mamoru's direction, he was eyeing her giant sandwich. "You tried to propose to her and she rejected you?"
"No, I didn't get a chance to finish before that retarded, dumbass, blond from another dimension bitch named Morgan or Odango, which ever you want to call her, came and butted in with her cheesy boyfriend and Seiya."
Setsuna let out a slight laugh at Mamoru's description of their little pest. "Well what are you waiting for Mamoru?"
Mamoru eyed Haruka's sandwich one last time and then looked up to Haruka who just shook her head. "Fine, I'm leaving." He said before getting up.
~@~@~@~
We followed Seiya and Usagi around all day. I felt like I was on a stake- out without the coffee and stale donuts. "This is so boring!" Helios whined.
I shot him another annoyed look. "You just don't know how to appreciate romance." I said sharply.
Helios sighed and looked to the side. "It's a joke." He said lightly and I almost didn't hear him.
"What are you talking about?" I asked not taking my eyes off the couple in front of us. We were sitting at a table on the patio of a quaint restaurant in Tokyo. Usagi seemed oblivious to everything but Seiya so I didn't fear getting caught. "Look at how happy those two are." I said gesturing in their direction.
"Yeah, they're happy now, but what happens when he has to leave? What happens when she rejects him and tells him that they can never be together?" He huffed as he continued to push things around on his plate.
I looked from the couple to my now severely depressing partner. "Hello? That's why we're here, to prevent that from happening. Did you forget everything?"
"No, but who's to say that it's going to work out?"
I slumped down in my chair, he was right. "I don't know how everything is going to turn out. I'd like to believe that if Seiya and Usagi get together it will complete the fairy tale but that doesn't make it true." The breeze picked up and I felt a shiver at the thought. "You miss her don't you?"
Helios didn't answer me right away but then I saw his head pick up. "They're leaving." He said flatly and without looking at me. I watched him get up and followed a moment later.
"Odango." Seiya said as they walked through the city. People seemed a little calmer and in higher spirits today, perhaps it was because it was the weekend. "I had fun hanging out with you today." He smiled.
"Me too." Usagi smiled up at him. "There's something I've been meaning to ask you though."
"Shoot."
"Why are you guys here? I mean don't get me wrong I'm thrilled that you are, but is there something wrong?" Usagi seemed genuinely concerned.
Seiya sighed as he thought about the events that brought them back to Earth. "Not too long ago the princess asked Yaten, Taiki and I to return to Earth. We were completely confused as to why she would ask that of us and refused to leave her side." Seiya looked at Usagi to see what she thought of his story so far. There seemed to be a hurt expression on her face. He knew that it was because he had just, in not so many words, told her that he had refused a chance to see her. "The Princess was missing when we awoke the next morning and since then we've been searching for her."
"So you're only here to look for your Princess again and you are to leave us after that?" Usagi looked near tears.
Seiya felt a sharp pain in his heart at the sight of her. "Odango, you know that we don't belong here. We are destined to protect the Princess and Kinmoku, and that destiny has nothing to do with Earth."
Destiny, there was that damn word again. Usagi started fuming inside at the mere mention of the word. Screw destiny! But she couldn't… "I understand." She muttered putting her head down.
"How 'bout this? We'll still come back and visit you guys." Seiya said trying to give her good mood back to her but also to tell himself that this wouldn't be the last time he could see her.
Usagi nodded her head and they continued walking not too far away from Usagi's house. Seiya started chuckling to himself. "You want to hear something funny that Yaten told me?" Usagi looked up at him. "He said that Minako told him she was going to find our Princess first and keep her hostage from him."
Usagi laughed along with him. "Yeah, that sounds like Minako." 'Not a bad idea!' She thought to herself.
I chuckled a little at Seiya's statement but then noticed a very pissed off Haruka heading their way. "Shit look!" I pointed in their direction to Helios.
"Uh… uh… I can handle taking on Mamoru but Haruka is a different story!" He said backing away with his hands in front of him.
"We have to stop them!" I thought out loud as Haruka neared the two. Suddenly without even thinking about it I ran out from my hiding spot and brought myself right in front of Haruka.
"What the hell?" Haruka said as she noticed who I was. "Get back here!" She called after me as I suddenly took off again and gained her chase.
'Shit! I'm gonna get caught and get pounded!' Was all I could think as I ran as fast as my legs would carry me. There was no way in hell I was going to out run Haruka and unbelievable morbid images of what she would do to me began to pass through my head when I suddenly saw two arms hanging out of the tree ahead of me. Without questioning them I grabbed on and was hoisted up before Haruka knew what happened.
"You can run pretty fast." Helios snickered at me.
I put my finger up in front of my face to sush him. "Do you want her to beat you too?" I asked. Haruka ran right below us without even slowing down, we soon saw Michiru hot on her heels. "That was close!" I said knowing that we were in the clear.
Helios cleared his throat and crossed his arms. "Ahem?"
"What?"
"Don't I even get a thank you?" He asked.
I could feel the smile growing on my face. "Sure, I'll give you a pat on the back." I said as I slapped him so hard he fell out of the tree and landed on a couple below.
"Aisoku?" I heard a familiar voice say from below. It was Usagi.
I jumped down from the branch I was sitting on to join them on the ground. "That freakin hurt!" Helios yelled at me when he saw me standing next to him. I just smiled.
"There's my guardian angel now." Seiya smiled at me and I almost lost it, but then I quickly thought about what he had said. 'Me, his guardian angel?' Then it dawned on me that he must have seen the whole seen with the outraged Haruka.
"What were you guys doing in the tree?" Usagi asked helping Helios up when she realized no one else was going to.
"Um… um…" He scratched his head.
"What did your fall knock your marbles loose?" I nudged him. "We were bird watching!"
"That was a stupid answer." Helios hissed so that I was the only one that could hear him.
Usagi just looked at us with a raised eyebrow but Seiya already seemed to know why we were there. "Well ja!" Helios waved as he started walking away.
I stepped up to Seiya to whisper something in his ear. "Kakyuu says hi." I pulled back with a smile and then turned to catch up to Helios, but not before I saw the furious expression on Usagi's face. I had done that for two reasons. 1. To let Seiya know that I was important to his mission so that they would trust us to some extent. And 2. To bring Usagi's emotions to the surface and make her realize her jealousy.
Seiya just stood there and stared after us.
~@~@~@~
"Helios come here for a minute will you?" Kakyuu called from the living room. When he came to her she addressed him again. "Where's Odango?"
"She's sleeping, she got quite a work out from Haruka today." He laughed to himself. "Why?"
Kakyuu pointed to the television screen in front of her. "I never watch TV and when I finally give in a sit down, look what I find."
"Is that who I think it is?" He asked incredulously. "What is she doing there?"
"It appears that our little Odango isn't from this world, it seems that she is a fictional character from this TV show that has somehow made her way to our world." Kakyuu voiced her hypothesis to Helios.
"Masaka… She told me the other day that she was from the 'real' world… How can we tell her that she is really the fictional character?" Helios for once actually felt bad for the pest he had for a partner. "I'm not telling her." He said coming out of his thoughts.
Kakyuu just looked at him. "You have to."
"No way! We'll just tell her that we can't get her back and never tell her about this."
"What are you going to keep her from watching TV for the rest of her life?" Kakyuu mused.
Helios turned from her to look upon the TV screen near them. There was a shot of Odango smiling and laughing at something funny one of the other characters did. A smile broke onto his face. "She really is a pain…" He laughed.
Kakyuu saw what was happening and just gave him a weak smile. She hadn't planned on this. "Maybe she'll just go home the same way she had gotten here when everything is done."
"Maybe."
~@~@~@~