ano – well or 'um'
kun – used when referring to friends, usually to guys
onegai – please
gomen (nasai) – sorry. When 'nasai' is added, it's more formal
CHAPTER FIVE
In a large office, two people sat in silence. Both were women and were very beautiful. The woman behind the desk looked at the girl – no, woman – in front of her.
"So, do you like the change?" she asked in a sultry voice. She had long white-silver hair that trailed down her back. She look no older than thirty, but her eyes gave away too much for one to be that young.
"Hai. Before, I knew I was smart and mature, but now I can actually feel both. I know my father would be so proud of me right now. Trinity-sama, I promise you won't regret taking me in." she said confidently as she absently brushed a strand of red hair out of her face.
"I hope not. Now, in the mean time, go out so you will adapt to the change. And from now on, you'll be known as 'Marie'. Is that clear?"
'Marie' stood up and bowed her head. "Hai, Trinity-sama." With
that, the young woman exited the room quietly before shutting the door.
Trinity smiled darkly, pulling a small photograph out of her drawer.
Her eyes narrowed slightly and a low growled emerged from her throat.
"It wont be long now. Everything is going recording to plan."
**
She waited patiently in the shadows of the alley. Her next target
should be there any second now…
A small smile appeared over her pink lips when she spotted him.
'Time to make my move.'
Hoshino Seiji growled to himself as he crossed the street. He
had short brown hair that hung neatly around his head. He would be
considered handsome, if it wasn't for the angry scowl that covered his
young face. Today hadn't been a great day for him. He smiled
slightly. 'Well, getting paid did help a little.'
He pushed his way through the busy street as he reached the sidewalk
before slipping the check into the inside of his coat pocket; the last
thing he needed was to get mugged in this crowd. His thoughts were
cut short when a lithe body slammed into his larger one.
"Oh, itooshi! I missed you sooo much!" the girl – Seiji decided – shouted in his arms, immediately drawing attention from the people around them. This caused a red hue to surround the young man's face.
Seiji withdrew the girl from his body to find himself staring down into sky blue eyes, which was framed by long, yellow blond hair. And for a second he found himself speechless. You could almost see the tiny smirk appear on the young woman's face before it disappeared completely to be replace with surprise and bashfulness. Seiji was brought out of his trance when the girl suddenly jumped from his arms putting about a good three feet between the two.
The blond bowed repeatedly with an embarrassed blush gracing her face "Gomen nasai! Onegai, forgive me. I seemed to have made a mistake, and had mistook you for my boyfriend. I'm very, very sorry for that."
He nodded dimly, still not fully comprehending what the young woman had said before she turned around and dashed away in the crowded street.
"Wow," he said quietly as he ran a hand through his thick brown hair.
"She was… she was…" he paused for a second and narrowed his eyes in thought.
He reached his right hand into his now empty left pocket.
"A thief." He uttered unbelievingly as he stared down the sidewalk
where the girl ran off to.
"SHIT!!"
**
Aino Minako giggled as she scanned the cash in her hands. It
wasn't hard cashing in the check since she had a friend working at the
bank.
"Oi, that guy really must be steamed by now. Well, there's always his
next payday. I'm sure he wont starve in the meantime." She thought aloud
as she unlocked the door to her apartment room.
She was greeted by three women.
"I see you're back, Minako-chan. So, how did it go?" asked a tall girl with brunette hair and emerald eyes. She returned to her task of chopping vegetables as Minako slumped into the couch.
"As usual, Makoto-chan. He never knew what hit him." she replied with a proud smile on her lips.
Kino Makoto shook her head with silent mirth. She worked at a nearby café as a cook, but usually is known as Kino- the street fighter. For extra cash, she was a fighter-for-hire(*giggles*, does Rurouni Kenshin comes to mind?). But she didn't fight just anyone ofcourse, she had a friend check out the background of her would-be opponent and the hirer before she made any rash decisions. It was because of these factors was she still undefeated.
"Minako-chan, I still think what you're doing is wrong. Even if he was a Genesis soldier, he still has bills to pay and probably, a family to feed."
"Ami-chan! Like I told you before, it's just a little money. Besides,
we really need the extra cash for rent this month because as you all know,
we're falling behind. And that bastard downstairs is already looking for
a reason to throw us out of here." She said, referring to their landlord.
"Anyway, he looked pretty young. And I don't think he had any family
to support, but he was kawaii though." She added as she pulled some
of her blond hair up, only to be tied back with a red ribbon.
Mizuno Ami sighed in defeat. She had short, dark blue hair that matched her intelligent eyes that were framed with reading glasses as she sat in front of her computer. Ami worked at a local shelter as a doctor, and often found herself helping many people who couldn't afford to pay for one. But sense she didn't demand being paid, she rarely brought in any decent money for rent.
"Let's just hope we can find a new place soon. I hate living in this
cramped apartment anyway." a girl with raven hair responded. She had violet
eyes that radiated with
wisdom and a temper to boot. She was Hino Rei, and usually told
fortunes on the side of being a waitress at the café where Makoto
works. Rei had a gift – or in her opinion sometimes, a curse – of being
psychic. Many women aging from young to old came to her wanting to
know about future and past loves. Even though she knew her 'gift'
wasn't being used to it's best credentials, it did help bring in the rent
money.
But lately, Rei has been getting visions of what seems to be a 'past
life', and many times a image of a young woman with silver-blond hair and
sapphire blue eyes appeared before her in her dreams.
She has yet to tell her friends about this, but she knew somehow these
visions had something to do with their past, and maybe even their futures.
**
Usagi opened her room door and made her way down the hall. Her thigh-length
hair was still slightly damp, for she just stepped out of the shower not
too long ago. Dressed in jean cut-offs and a t-shirt, her small feet
patted on the hardwood floor. As she passed by the kitchen, the aroma
of dinner drifted to her noise. 'Good ol' Quatre-kun.' she thought
with a smile.
When she reached her destination she knocked twice before entering
.
Duo sat on the floor of his bedroom in front of the television, which was seven feet from his bed. His concentration was at it's peek as he played one of his many games he had stored around the house. Usagi smiled at the picture he made as part of his tongue slipped out of his mouth while he stayed glued to the screen.
Duo cursed as the screen suddenly flashed 'Game Over' in bold red letters.
He noticed Usagi at the door and smiled boyishly, "Right on time, Usa.
I was beginning to wonder if you were letting me off the hook." He
stood up from his spot on the floor and made his way to the edge
of his bed.
Usagi giggled and tossed him her hair comb before sitting down in front
of him on the floor. "C'mon, Duo-kun. You should know by now I wouldn't
stand you up without telling you first. Besides, you lost the bet fair
and square, and there's no way I'm letting you get out of this one."
After the first month they moved in together, there was still tension between the male pilots and Usagi. Quatre and Duo tried making her feel in place, but there still wasn't any bonds or partnerships forming. Then one night, Duo was about to tell Usagi that dinner was ready when he found her in her bedroom crying with a comb tangled in her bottom-length hair. Usagi was so embarrassed that he had caught her in a moment of weakness and not to mention the fact how ridiculous she must have looked with a comb stuck in her blond-silver tresses, that she yelled and cursed at him to leave her room. Duo, ignoring her insults, had made his way to her before sitting next to her on the bed and began untangling the knots she formed while trying to comb her wet hair. Usagi at the time was too stunned to move, and just sat there as Duo began the task of removing the comb from the tangles of her hair. And surprisingly enough, he was able to free the comb and untangle her hair without having to cut any off. Usagi had even found herself smiling as he explained to her how he had to learn tricks like that since he himself had long hair. After that, it was like a dam had broke, and Usagi told him everything. About her nervousness about moving in with them, her feelings on Setsuna, and even her strange night and day-dreams…
And she met with him or vice versa a few days a week, just to talk about
the week they had or feelings and thoughts that were bothering them.
At first it was hard trying to get him to open up and speak about his past,
but now it was like they had been friends for ever, and it seemed as if
they knew each other for years. And in some ways, it was therapy
that they both relied on.
And now, Duo was more than a friend to Usagi, he was almost like an
older brother to her. They even teased and played jokes on each other
sometimes(when not on the other house-mates), just to get under the other's
skin.
Duo wrapped the rubber band at the end of her thick braid before he playfully tugged at it. "So, what's on your mind, Usa-chan? Have you finally come to admit that you're head-over-heals in love with me?" He asked with a teasing smile on his face.
Usagi scuffed as she stood up and purposely smacked Duo in the face with her rope of long hair as she swung her head to face him. "Yeah right! Get over yourself, Maxwell. I was just too lazy to braid my own hair, and you owed me from that game of pool." She told him while running her hand through her hear-shaped bangs.
Duo feigned to be hurt before he crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eyes, "I see. Well, so you know, that was an one-in-a-lifetime deal. Oh and if you tell anyone about this, I'll have to truly live up to my namesake. Is that all?"
Usagi smiled, shaking her head as she made her way to the door.
"Well, I also came to tell you that dinner's ready. Coming?" Duo's
eyes shot open and another boyish grin spread over his 18 year-old features.
"When do you ever have to ask if I'm coming to dinner?"
With that, the two exited his room, and raced to the kitchen.
Because in this house, it was usually first come…first serve.
**
She wiped the sweat from her brow and sighed contently as she smiled up at the gundam, Chaos. She was one of the few people who were still around who helped built it. Even at 19 she was well known for her skill and knowledge about mobile suits. Ever since she was 13 as she worked at a junkyard with her father, she knew she was into machines and almost anything to do with mechanics. But her favorites were cars and mobile suits. And surprisingly enough, someone else had noticed that skill of hers. So now for the past six years, she has been working for Meioh Setsuna, and even had the experience of meeting Usagi, the young pilot of Chaos. She, was Ten'ou Haruka.
Haruka ran a hand threw her short blond hair and looked around at the almost empty garage. Only a few people still were there, who were working instead of going out to lunch. "I wonder what Koneko-chan is up to. It's been awhile since I last saw her." Haruka stated with a faint smile on her face.
The first time Haruka had met Usagi, she had been 16 and Usagi 14. Haruka had immediately took a liking to the younger girl, and had found herself looking out for her. And even though Haruka knew that Usagi could very well take care of herself, she couldn't help but feel as though she had to protect her. But from what? .…She didn't know.
Haruka was brought out of her thoughts by a quick nudge to the ribs.
She looked at the aqua haired woman beside her and blinked in surprise.
"When did you get here, Michiru-chan? I thought you had violin lessons
today."
Michiru smiled. "They cancelled, so I thought I'd stop by and see if
you wanted to go out for lunch. Are you almost finished here?"
Kaiou Michiru had been a roommate with Haruka since they were 15.
Michiru had met Haruka at a concert that she was performing, and Setsuna
had introduced them to each other. The two hit it off quickly and
it was as if they were kindred spirits. After Setsuna had helped
them pick out an apartment, it was easy enough to pay rent with Michiru
being a professional violinist and teaching violin and art lessons while
Haruka was a mobile suit mechanic. But one day when they found a
four-year-old little girl on their front step, they ended up being more
mature and responsible then they already were. Ofcourse they had tried
to find the girl's parents or relatives, but everywhere they turned, it
was a dead end. And by the time they decided to go to children services,
they had already grown attached to the small child. So, somehow Setsuna
was able to help them adopt her, despite their young ages; and now, the
three of them were like a small family.
Haruka nodded at Michiru's question and checked her watch. "Hai. Just
let me get cleaned up first. Ano, where's Hotaru-chan?"
Michiru, "She's still at school. She's starting to finish whole
school days now, and she hasn't had one of her coughing-fits in awhile."
"That's good. But she's still having those dreams, ne?" Michiru sighed before nodding, "Hai. But there just dreams, Haruka-chan. A lot of young girls dream and talk about beautiful princess and monsters. It's perfectly normal."
Haruka fixed Michiru with a sober stare, "I'm sure it is. But is it perfectly normal for them to dream and talk about them while a purple symbol is glowing on her forehead?" Michiru eyes widened slightly and she signaled Haruka to talk quietly. Haruka smiled bashfully for a second before running a hand threw her sandy blond hair, "Gomen. Let's hurry and get out of here. I'm famished."
Setsuna watched quietly as the couple walked past her and frowned slightly.
"It seems that Hotaru's powers are starting to awaken. That must mean trouble
is nearing faster than I anticipated. It wont be long before the others
start experiencing their repressed memories and senshi powers. I better
start pulling them together ….before it's too late."
**
Yosh, I've finally gotten the 5th chapter out! Gomen about the delay,
minna, and for this being kinda short. But I'll try to get the next one
out sooner. And thank you guys sooo much for reviewing. Even if it doesn't
seem like it at times, it does inspire me to continue writing. So, keep
the reviews coming, no da! ^_^
Hikari no Tenshi