See! See! I'm not completely hopeless! Look how little time it took me to get this out!! I'm so proud of myself ^_^ Um…soooo…yeah. Well, I'm still working on this whole "plot" thing. *pulls out mixing bowl and spoon* Dammit Flirtatious! It won't thicken! *stirs rapidly* this is worse than Chem…and Home Ec…this is like Chem and Home Ec combined! Oo *stirs harder, sending batter everywhere* I'll make it thicken even if it kills me!! *studies what's left in bowl* Maybe it needs paprika…
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"Are things going as planned?"
"Yes, units 17 and 18 have been activated."
"What of the others?"
"They will not be needed for this particular objective," he replied.
"And what of your partner?"
"You do not need to worry about him any longer."
There was a small pause in the quiet conversation. "Then carry on,"
"Yes sir,"
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"Let's see…two cups of flour…one tablespoon salt…" Usagi was…cooking. "Stir until well blended…how blended is well blended?" She tapped the tapped the handle of the wooden spoon she held against her chin thoughtfully. "I just keep stirring til it looks good…" (AN: I'm on some cooking fetish type thing right now…Oo)
Twenty minutes, two broken dishes and a burnt pan later, Usagi picked up the phone and ordered take-out. Ten minutes later it arrived, and five minutes later, Minako walked through the door, back from one of her trips.
She took in the destroyed kitchen, and Usagi shoveling Chinese food into her mouth straight from the carton. "You tried to cook again didn't you?" she asked, raising a single eyebrow.
Usagi slurped one last mouthful of noodles before replying. "Well I didn't have work today and I was bored so I thought I'd surprise you for when you come home and make dinner…and…um…"
Minako grinned easily. "Did you order any Mushu?" she asked while pulling up a chair.
"Yup," Usagi passed her the carton.
"So how has your week been?"
"Um…good," she replied.
Minako must have sensed something in the way Usagi had replied, for her ears perked up immediately, and a strange look flashed in her eyes. "Really? What happened?"
"Well, not much, just work, oh, I found that sweater I was looking for on Monday! The blue one with the green stripe, you know?"
Minako looked at her strangely. "I get the sense that you're leaving something out, Tsukino Usagi,"
"Huh?" Usagi continued to play dumb. "What, nothing really happened, it was just another boring week!…except-"
"-Except what?!" Minako pounced on the lasted mumbled word.
The blood rushed to Usagi's cheeks. She was beginning to wonder if she was ever going outgrow that annoying habit. "Except…"
Minako waited expectantly, practically hanging onto the edge of her seat. "Is it a guy?!"
Usagi was about to die of embarrassment. "Maybe…" she mumbled, hiding her head in her hands.
"WHO?" Minako fairly exploded.
Usagi fell out of her chair and onto her back. After lying there dazed for a moment, she pulled herself back up by grabbing onto the edge of the table. She rested her chin on the lip. "My boss' son," she said miserably.
"Oh! …oh…Oh." Minako replied, her eyebrows rising upwards, becoming almost hidden behind her thick bangs.
"Minako-chan?" Usagi asked in a small voice.
"Yeah?"
"Is it right to like a guy even though you were in love with someone else?"
"Of course!" Minako said hastily. "I mean…well, that is, I guess, under the right circumstances it's okay,"
"What if…what if I end up liking him more than Mamo-chan? But that's impossible…Mamo-chan and I were pre-destined, we're soul mates," Usagi was rapidly becoming lost in her misery.
"Usagi-chan," Minako said firmly, trying to pull the girl out of the rapid spiral of depression. "What happens happens. You didn't ask for any of this. You can't sit here and say what if a thousand times, you'll just get old and tired, and die a lonely old spinster, alone and unhappy."
Usagi raised her head slightly, looking at her sideways. "So what are you saying? I should date him?"
"Yeah! If you like him, go for it! Don't let trivial things hold you back!"
"Death isn't trivial," Usagi mumbled unhappily.
"But fate is." Minako countered. "Our futures are uncertain now. We don't know what's going to happen. And I doubt it's going to be bad, because otherwise Setsuna-san would have shown up and been all cryptic and mysterious, saying our world was doomed, or Chib-" Minako cut herself off, suddenly regretting the tangent she had run off on.
"I'm going to go to bed now," Usagi said, deafly. She stood, and almost zombie-like, walked upstairs.
"Sorry," Minako murmured out loud. "Good job Minako-chan, just when you were doing well with the pep talk, you blow it,"
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'I hope you're okay…take care of each other, alright? And don't forget about me…ever,'
Two pearly teardrops fell and landed on top of the thin sheet of glass, sliding down the sheet, tracing the outlines of the figures in the photograph that lay underneath in the wooden frame. She placed a finger on the faded photo, feeling her eyes well up again. They had made such a happy, perfect family. The smart, handsome husband, the adorable joyous daughter…and her.
Usagi.
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"Begin the activation process for units 17 and 18."
"Yes sir. What objective would you like to have programmed?"
"Mission A,"
"Yes, sir."
'I'm finally going to be able to clean up that mess Tomoe left behind,'
"Dr.Gero?"
"What is it?"
"17 and 18 are ready,"
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"Stupid job, stupid job, stupid job that needs to diiieeee," Well, not only can Usagi not carry a tune to save her life, but she happens to be a little bit less than proficient when it comes to song writing. "Die die die die die die stuuuuuupiiiiddd joooooobbbb," She was being careful to murmur this song however, as Bulma was just down the hall in one of her labs.
The inspiration for this song? The blonde was currently stuck going through the Capsule Corp. archives, and organizing them. And…as you can guess, the archives happened to be extremely large, old, and dusty, and were in very great need of organization.
"Hmm…where did I put that other folder with the A on it…" Usagi began to search through a crate, almost falling in as she searched. "Stupid job, stupid job, stupid job…hey!" Usagi's song stopped in mid-verse as she encountered something of vague interest. A pile of newspaper clippings lay pinned together near the bottom of the box, underneath several files and notebooks. Carefully, she tried to extract the clippings from the pile. After a bit of poking and prodding, she managed to pull them loose, in the process of which disrupting a large amount of dust.
"Achoo!" Usagi lost her grip on the edge of the box and sent both her and it toppling over, the box spilling its contents to the floor. "Ow…" she groaned, rubbing her backside. "Oh I really hate this job…I'm going to be here all night organizing…" she stared down at the newspaper pages she held in her hands. A name jumped off of the page at her. "Dr. Tomoe? Again? What does he have to do with Capsule Corp.?"
She began to scan over the articles, searching for any clue as to what her former enemy had to do with her new job. 'Professor Souichi Tomoe, renowned genetic engineer is under investigation due to immoral and unethical experiments involving humans and the altering of genes…' Usagi glanced at the date of the article. It was over years ago. "That was way before the explosion…and Pharaoh 90…but he wasn't evil then, what could he have been doing on his own free will?"
She looked for the rest of the story, but found that the next page was missing from the clippings. "Weird…" After a few more moments of pondering and puzzling over her new findings, she cast a glance at the clock on the wall, realizing that it was almost six. "Eh, I'll finish tomorrow, Bulma-san won't mind."
She stood and dusted herself off, and then cleaned up the mess the box tipping over had caused. She gathered up the rest of her things and headed towards the doors that led back to the outside world. As she did so, she passed by one of the many indoor gardens that existed on the floors of Capsule Corp. They were huge, and it was sometimes hard to believe that they were actually situated inside.
She paused as something, or rather someone caught her eye. She halted and backtracked to the door in time to catch sight of Trunks' back walking in the other direction. He halted, as though sensing her, and she dove behind a nearby shrub.
Her heart pounded in her chest as she prayed that he hadn't seen her. He didn't seem to have noticed, and continued walking again, turning to the right onto one of the garden paths.
"Should I go talk to him?" Usagi whispered to herself. "No, I can't do that…but…I should! Minako-chan said I should pursue happiness! Bt what if I make a fool of myself? But when will I get another chance like this? What if he doesn't have any interest in me? Yes…no…yes…no…" She shifted her weight from one foot to the other with each suggestion, all the while pushing her two index fingers against one another nervously.
"Usagi-chan!"
"Nani?!" Usagi jumped three feet in the air and promptly landed in the shrub she had been hiding behind.
"Are you okay? I didn't mean to scare you," Bulma helped Usagi out of the bush. "What were you doing?" she asked curiously.
"Huh?!" Usagi felt her cheeks rapidly grow hot. 'Excuse, excuse! Think up a good excuse dammit!' "I was…exercising! Yeah, that's what I was doing!"
"Exercising?" Bulma looked lost.
"Um…yeah! You see it's this new…erm, ancient martial arts technique! It's supposed to be really great for the mind and the body!" 'Oh I am so disowning you, you crappy brain!'
"Oh! I didn't know you were into that kind of thing! You don't look like you'd be very interested in fighting," Bulma said with a smile.
'At least she bought it,' "Well, yeah, I mean, in this day and age, every young woman should know how to defend herself!"
"So how exactly does it work? I'd love to learn a little bit myself," Bulma tried to put her fingers the way Usagi had had them.
"Oh, well I was doing a very advanced move! You have to practice a lot to get it right! Maybe some other time I could show you some beginning moves, but I really need to catch my bus, and I don't want to miss it again," Usagi's speech became faster and more unintelligible as she spotted Trunks walking towards them.
"Uh, okay," Bulma said, as Usagi blew by her, rushing out of the building as fast as her legs could take her.
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Whew…I am so freaking tired…but I have a prom dress now! *dances* ''Cept my friend almost bought the same one -_-;; oh well, at least I have a reason to go now…*grabs eggbeater* This damn plot is going to thicken or I shall die mixing!!