Hello again! I cannot tell you how much your guy's reviews mean to me! Thank you thank you thank you!! Usually, I can't show my fanfictions to anyone except this one person who shall remain nameless… (*cough* Dartxni *cough* ^_^) because no one at school can stomach hearing about Anime. Agh! Can you believe it??? Sadly, it's true… ^_^
Anyway, let's just say it's a long overdue ego trip (not that I'm boasting….well, maybe a little. You can't blame me… ^_^) and let me go on writing. Without your guy's reviews, I don't know if I would have gotten this far. THANK YOU!!!
Oh yeah, the following is the result of the poll as to whom Usagi should be with:
Usagi/Juri: 5
…They're weren't any other votes… (Well, maybe one Usagi/Touga; and I DO like the reasoning for Touga! Groveling! YES!! Make Touga grovel!!! BWAHAHAHAHA!!!! ^_^)
Cool! I thought no one would want Usagi and Juri together, so I kind of helped it along with writing about them, didn't I? Anyway, you usually don't see Usagi and Juri interacting, so I decided to write one, and I guess I did a good job of it, ne? Though I was kind of surprised to not see (really) any other votes… oh well. ^_^
You see, I DO listen (or read, whichever you prefer) to the reviews. Actually, you guys are the ones who help me decide what should happen next. Again, THANK YOU!!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Where was she?? Juri was just about to get worried when she spotted Usagi hurriedly running towards her. Sighing harshly, she swept back her bangs and pushed off of the wall. The blonde was just going to reach her when…she tripped.
Wait, what WAS that? Juri narrowed her eyes as she searched the area all around Usagi, looking for anything that could have caused her to fall. She was just about to shake her head, making her way over to the girl who was moaning about "How many times am I gonna fall today? Why me…?" when the shadows detached from the wall and a hand grabbed Usagi's wrist.
Increasing her speed, Juri reached out for the girl who had started to cry, furiously pushing against the wall in an attempt to dislodge the grasp. Usagi was pounding against the wall with her fist, trying to crawl back as two female-shaped shadows tried to draw her into the stone. Gritting her teeth; there was no way she was prepared to fight against shadow!
"Do you know? Do you know? Have you heard the news? There's a princess in Ohtori Academy!"
"Is there? Is there really a princess in Ohtori Academy?"
"Yes; a princess in Ohtori Academy!"
"Oh brave princess, you must meet the prince and gain your true power! Come with us; we will show you!"
Usagi wailed as another hand grabbed her other wrist. "Let go of me!" she sobbed, wrenching about, "I don't want to go to some prince! Let me GO!!!"
Juri finally reached her and grabbed her waist, pulling her back so the shadows were stretched off of the wall. They fell in a clump, letting go of Usagi with startled yells. The younger girl scrambled back, breathing hard, searching for Juri's arms to shield her from the shadows.
The smaller shadow with a pigtail shook her head and sat back, going into a cross-legged position. The other one sat next to her, drawing a beach chair and umbrella out from nowhere and set them up. Juri stared at the pure black girls, no features to them at all though the lines of their bodies could be seen when they turned.
"Do you think we should tell them?"
"What, that we're aliens?"
"No! About the prince, I mean."
"Oh, I don't know. What do you think?"
"I asked you that first!"
"Well, I want to know what you think!"
Growling, Juri stalked up to the closest shadow and slapped her across the cheek. She was kind of surprised when she was able to touch her, but of course that could happen. They had tried to drag Usagi, didn't they?
Narrowing her eyes, she stepped back and crossed her arms. Usagi, behind her, whimpered and shakily stepped up next to her. Turning slightly to look at her, Juri gave her a soft smile but turned back to the shadow that was holding her cheek and sniffing.
"You didn't have to hit me! I didn't really want to go to the zoo after all!"
The other shadow girl leaned over and hurriedly hissed in her ear. If a look could have crossed her face and been seen, Juri was sure that embarrassment would have been shining on her face,
"Oh! Sorry. Wrong script; I mean: I didn't really want to take her to the prince!"
"Then why did you try?" Juri barked.
Again, the shadows drew back to confer among themselves. Shaking her head, the pigtailed one stepped forward, twirling the umbrella around and bowed, "Gomen. We were only -!"
"What are you doing standing in the halls!? Class started ten minutes ago!" A tall gray-haired woman running down the hall brandishing a pointing stick yelled, adjusting her awful red glasses on the bridge of her nose.
Instantly the shadows scattered, melting back into the wall.
Cursing under her breath, Juri assumed once again her panther stance and stared down at the counselor. "We were only taking care of a slight problem. We promise we will be done shortly."
Usagi, behind her, nodded silently.
The counselor faltered a little under her glare and nodded. "Well, see that you don't linger," she said, her scratchy voice climbing up and down the decibel level. She disappeared down the hall as fast as she could. Juri smirked as she saw a little blue monkey clinging to the collar of her blouse.
Turning back to the blonde, Juri's fierce look softened, and she gently put her hand on the girl's shoulder. "Hey, you alright?"
Usagi nodded, wrapping her arms around her chest. She was about to lean against the wall, but shrank back as if the shadows were there again, reaching out for her. "You'd think I would be used to this after fighting youmas almost every single day, wouldn't you?" she muttered, and Juri tilted her head.
"Excuse me?" she asked.
"Never mind," Usagi shook her head, "I think I need to go back to my dorm."
"Of course. I think I can get you a slip to skip the rest of your classes."
* * *
Ami frowned and reached under Usagi's pillow. Pulling out a slip of paper, she slowly turned and sat on the edge of the golden moon and white bunny covered bed. Slowly opening the envelope she had found, the blue-haired girl's eyes widened. Skimming over the lines written on the letter inside, she gasped. Dropping the envelope to the floor, she quickly brought her communicater to her mouth and pushed the all-call button.
"Minna, you better get in Usagi's room now. I think I know where Usagi is."
* * *
"Usagi-san? Are you in there?"
No one answered.
He knocked on the door again, "I heard you weren't feeling well so I took the liberty of bringing you your homework. May I come in?"
"Hai."
Frowning slightly at how quiet and sad the older girl's voice was, Miki gently opened the door and stepped in. Usagi was curled up on her bed, her blonde hair was taken out of her buns and was tumbling down her back and front, acting like a halo. She smiled tiredly at him,
"Hey, Miki-kun. That was very nice of you to bring the homework."
He couldn't help the slight blush that crossed his face. To hide himself, he held out the green book he always carried with him and bowed. Usagi accepted it, absently flipping through it to see what she had missed. When she put it down next to her, she patted the bed,
"Sit. Or, if you'd rather sit at the table, that's fine by me." A smile crossed her face and she winked, "Acting on our date early, ne?"
"N-no! I was just-!!" He dropped his head with a sigh, hearing her soft laughter. "I'm sorry," he muttered, feeling his blush crawl over his face and neck, "I don't want to intrude."
"Miki-kun, I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want company." She moved onto her knees and looked inquiringly at him, "Come. Tell me about Juri-san."
"What?"
"Juri-san. Tell me about her," Usagi repeated, resting her chin on her hand as she looked at the young boy, her big blue eyes curious.
"Okay…" Miki trailed off. Taking out the stopwatch he always had with him, he absently timed the period of silence he used to think. It was a habit, after all. Shaking his head, he clicked the button as he opened his mouth, "Well, Juri-san mainly keeps to herself and fences. She uhm – she had something happen to her when she was younger which made her hate miracles. She also fences to keep away what restrains her." He looked up helplessly, "Usagi-san, I really don't know what to say."
Usagi nodded, humming to herself as she lolled her head on her arms and gazed out to the side. "Tell me," she finally looked up, sweeping her hair back, "Who is in the locket she wears?"
* * *
"I've never heard of this place! This-this Ohtori Academy!! How and why did Usagi-chan get a letter accepting her there??" Makoto angrily stalked around the room, clenching her hands into fists at her side. She threw her hands into the air and walked over to where Ami was analyzing the rose-scented letter.
"I don't know. I should've thought that I would have heard of this 'Alma Mater'," Minako said, sitting where she was, her back pressed against Usagi's bed, "I mean, it sounds pretty prestigious from the letter."
The envelope swung from her fingers and fluttered to the ground. It slightly bounced as if chattering back at being dropped so much.
Rei humphed from where she sat quietly meditating, "Why didn't she tell us she was leaving?"
The blue-haired girl's fingers flew over the keyboard of her mini-computer and she shook her head. Reading some of the information that scrolled up the small screen, she frowned. "I don't know," she said quietly, "But I suspect that she meant to tell us. Something makes me think that she didn't actually leave that well prepared – or she left before she planned to."
Makoto took a seat next to her friend. Taking the initiative as Minako and Rei curiously crowded around, the brunette asked, "What do you mean?"
"Look around." Ami gestured at the general area of Usagi's room, "Barely anything's taken. You would think that more clothes and personals would be missing. Usagi-chan isn't the kind of person to leave things behind. Her parents even said that no money had been taken, and Usagi-chan certainly knew where they kept their money."
"So you mean she might have been taken against her will?"
"Yes," Ami sadly looked up, gazing out into space, "That's exactly what I think."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Maybe I should make this a mystery? Just kidding! ^_^ Though it IS kind of mysterious, ne? (Is it just me, or does this chapter seem the shortest? I don't know. Maybe it's just me…^_^)
Anyway, I really don't know what possessed me to write this chapter exactly how I did (and YES, I DO know that the shadow people aren't actually real, but I'm taking liberties here! I AM allowed to do that - - I think… ^_^) Anyway, you can flame me if you want, but I really can't give you anything but sincere apologies.
It's not my fault that my stories turn out the way they do; it's just the mood I'm in at the time I write that determines the outcome of the chapter. So please… not too harsh? Thank you.
Oh yeah, if you have any ideas where you want the storyline to go, just tell me, and I'll try. Thank you SO much!!! ^_^
Bye… ^_^