*Serena looked up and down the paved street of Tokyo. Seeing an ally, she ran down it and stopped at the dead end. The bricks were too smooth to scale, and there were no fire escape ladders for the first time in a long time. Slowly, she turned to face her attackers. Three giant men leapt at her from three sides of her. As each of them wielded a weapon, she wielded hers.
The first one came at her with his chains and tried to hit her. She simply dodged, then caught the chains and turned them on their owner. Pretty soon after that, the guy was laying on the cold cement tangled in a painful knot of chains. Next a man with a crow bar came after her. Swinging wildly, Serena noticed how it threw him off balance. Making him lunge for her, she quickly ducked to the side and gave him a kick on the back that sent him sprawling into the ground face first.
The final guy took the stand against her. His weapon was none other than her own, only a slightly different version. Lightly and skillfully he swung a long katana towards her. She drew her own broad sword and began to thrust and parry his blows. Soon enough she had disarmed him, both in terms of the sword, and in terms of his actual arm. He, too, fell to join his comrades on the ground.
Quickly, she whipped out a wooden stake and impaled all three undead men upon it. The black liquid that began to seep from their hearts was only more of a reminder of what they were. Then, as quickly as she had run into the ally, she rushed back out of the ally and down the street out of their sight.
Serena sighed heavily as she finally reached the safety of her apartment. Sitting down gracefully on the floor in the sunlight, she began to meditate. As she cleared her mind to prepare for the meditation, she had a quick flashback. She remembered her eightieth anniversary as a vampire. It had been the first day in eighty years she had been able to go out into the sun again.
She had just awoken from her nap and had decided to clear her mind before she left for the day. She had sit down in the exact same place as she was sitting in now, and she had not been able to concentrate because of her excitement.
That year had been the year 1985. Now it was well over that, in fact, it was now the year AC 198. She had been alive for so long, and yet only after her eighty years of confinement in the darkness did she begin living.
Now she lived just as every other person in the solar system did. She worked during the day, slept at night, and had fun in-between. All right, so she didn't work. She had no need to. Besides, she wouldn't be hired anyway. She looked too young. Seeing as how she was made a vampire when she was only fifteen years old, her looks hadn't changed since then. She still looked as though she were fifteen, and perhaps even younger.
Well, she didn't mind. She had already graduated school three times, and did not intend on going back a fourth time. She had no place to put another diploma anyway. And on top of it all, Pluto had kept true to her word. If Serena ever wanted anything, all she had to do was pull out a credit card and she could have it. Wonderful things, credit cards. They made dealing with money so easy for Serena.
She had also shortened her name. No one used names like Serenity anymore, not to mention Darien and his goons only knew her by the name of Serenity, so to make her life a lot easier and to make her appear more normal, she had dropped the last part of her name and just added and 'a' at the end. So far, it seemed to be working for her just fine.
"Well, so much for meditation." She couldn't focus her mind today, no matter how hard she tried. She decided instead to take a walk, and maybe feed. She hadn't eaten in almost a week. Once again, she threw her sword over her shoulder and sauntered out her door, intent on heading for the park across the street from her apartment building.
*
"And lift! Come on Trowa! Quatre! Put your backs into it! Come on!" A boy with violet eyes and a long brown braid jeered his friends on.
"Idiot Maxwell! Why don't you help them instead of taunting them on? It is your couch." A Chinese boy with a stern expression and a tight, black ponytail questioned.
"Because Wu-man, it's not just my couch anymore. It's our couch. That means they won't mind carrying it up the stairs to our new apartment."
"Damnit Maxwell! Do not call me Wu-man! My name is Wufei! Oh the injustices you commit." The Chinese boy yelled.
"Jeez, chill out mister justice. It was only a joke. That's right Quatre! Lift from your knees, not your back!" The two other boys who had been lifting a sofa up the stairs chose that moment to stop what they were doing and stare at the one yelling at them from the top of the stairs. Oblivious to the death glares he was receiving, the boy at the top of the stairs continued to bug the other three.
"Hey! Why'd ya stop! Keep going! Come on!" The braided boy asked innocently.
"Duo. Shut up." Said one of the boys who had been lugging the couch up the stairs. His slightly reddish brown hair covered one side of his face, hiding one of his green eyes.
"What?" Asked the boy at the top of the stairs in disbelief.
"Did you just tell me to shut up? I think that's a first! You've never told me to shut up before! Of all things for you to say…Wow Trowa, I'm so proud of you! You deserve a lollypop!"
"Duo…" The final boy, a blonde with light, sky blue eyes sighed.
"If I tell you to shut up like he did, can I have a lollypop too?" Asked a sweet voice from behind the boy at the top of the stairs. All four of the boys turned to look at who spoke. Their eyes met with a peculiar sight. There, standing in the center of the hall was a beautiful girl. She had long honey colored blonde hair with silver highlights, azure blur eyes, a body to die for, and most of all; she had the most angelic look on her face imaginable.
"Babe, you can have a lollypop for just standing there and looking good." Said the boy at the top of the stairs with the braid. The girl laughed and all four of the boys were drawn to her. She sounded like a pixie when she laughed and her aura radiated a cool warmth that none of them had ever known before.
"I don't know if I could do that for you, but I do know I can help you move that couch." She said.
"What? You already look hot right there! Don't move! Let us men do the grunt work little lady." She looked at the braided boy. Obviously he liked to use his mouth more than the others.
"Well, from my experience, 'men' usually need help with their grunt work." She replied, with a mocking tone in her voice, but with a smile on her face.
"Woman, we do not need help. It is you who needs the help if you believe you could move that couch better than us." Answered the Chinese boy at the very bottom of the staircase.
"Suit yourselves, but I would like to be able to get out of the building tonight. I wanted to get to the grocery store. Think you can manage moving the couch before then, tough boys?" She said laughing, and at the same time trying to think of an excuse to get out of the apartment other than a walk. Besides. She ate. Just not the same types of food they did.
"Good. An woman who cooks for her man is a good woman." The Chinese boy nodded in approval. The three other boys watched the girl's eyes narrow and the blonde decided to break it up before it even started.
"Miss, my name is Quatre Winner, and these are my friends, The one closet to you is Duo Maxwell, the one on the other end of the couch is Trowa Barton, and the one at the end of the staircase down there is Wufei Chang. All five of us are moving into apartment 12H."
"Well, being your across the hall neighbor, and pretty much only neighbor, let me say welcome to the pent houses of the Tokyo Apartments. All five of you? There are only four of you."
"Yes. The last one of our group went to get food for dinner. He's not back yet." Said Duo.
"So I see. Well, speaking of food, I need to get down to shop, so…""Yeah, right. Ok guys, let's haul that couch up!" Duo cried. Serena watched as the two guys who had previously been tugging the sofa up the stairs gave the boy at the top a glare, and then do as he said and begin lifting it up once more. She studied them as they did this.
Duo wore a priest's outfit, but had such a happy personality that it cancelled out the black. He had long chestnut colored hair pulled back into a braid, and violet eyes that seemed as if they were constantly laughing.
Quatre, on the other hand, seemed to be a polite boy with well-bred manners. 'I thought they didn't make those anymore' she silently joked to herself. He had short blonde hair and light blue eyes.
Then Trowa came next. He hadn't spoken much yet, but she gathered that the others were used to it. He looked like a very perceptive boy, but at the same time, like he was open to other possibilities. He had the most unusual piercing green eyes and long brown bangs that covered on side of his face. When the boys finally got the couch out of the stairwell, she was able to see Wufei.
He was a Chinese boy with black hair and black eyes. She saw that he carried a katana on his back, and that he was a proud boy filled with honor. 'No wonder he didn't want a girl's help. He thinks women are weak. I'll have to show him differently.' She thought to herself. She vaguely wondered what the fifth boy looked like, and if he was as cute as his friends.
Over the years, Serena had dated many men. Some older, some younger, never dating one twice. She could never bring herself to do it. All of them had bored her the first date, and she most certainly didn't want to be bored. Her train of thought was cut off by Duo.
"So babe. What's you name?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot to give it. I'm Serena. Serena Tsukino. I'm living in the only other pent house in the building, the one right across from you. In fact, it's the only other apartment on the entire floor."
"Huh. This place is big. Where did you find it Quatre?" Duo asked him.
"Oh, the classifieds." Answered the blonde.
"Wow. They must have been desperate to rent it out then. Hmm, I wonder why. With what they charge me for living here, you'd think they could live on that alone."
"Oh yeah? Who do you live with? Your parents?" Asked Trowa.
"I live alone." Serena answered lightly. She was used to getting the third degree, and by now it was routine.
"Alone? How could a babe like yourself live alone? Where are your parents? You seem young…" Duo asked her.
"My parents are dead. As for my age, well, I'm not that young, I just look like it, that's all."
"Oh. Sorry. I didn't mean to pry or anything like that. It's just that…" Duo began trying to apologize.
"Don't worry about it. I'm used to all of the questions anyway, so it doesn't make any difference." Just then, another boy walked through the doorway of the stairwell. Serena stood, trying to look indifferent; when in reality she was nervous. There was something about him, this new comer. He was cute, but that wasn't it. There was something else. Her stomach began flip-flopping about and though she tried to will it to stop, she couldn't.
"Hiiro! You're back! Did you get food?" Cried Duo enthusiastically.
"Hn." Was the new boy's reply. He looked around the hallway and his eyes met those of a beautiful blonde's. He quickly scanned her over. She had long honey colored blonde hair; deep azure blue eyes, long, graceful legs, slender body, and looked as though she had seen a ghost.
"Are you alright?" Hiiro asked the girl. He watched as she was shaken out if her reverie.
"What? I'm sorry, I didn't catch what you said." Her voice sounded like a wind chime.
"I asked if you were alright. You're pale." He said.
"Oh, yes, I'm fine. I'm naturally this color. Even if I lived under the sun all day I would look like this. Not that I mind." She chirped, rambling on in her nervous state. "I don't burn, which is always a major plus." She answered him lightly, knowing full well she was so pale because she was dead.
"Hn."
"So then you got the food Hiiro?" Serena watched as 'Hiiro' shoved a bag with Chinese writing on it into Duo's hands.
"Alright! Chow Mien! Thanks Hiiro! Oh, by the way, Serena, this if our fifth friend, Hiiro Yui. Hiiro, this is our neighbor from across the hall, Serena Tsukino. She lives alone." Duo quickly introduced them.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Hiiro." Serena held her breath.
"Likewise." Was the only response she received. Then came an uncomfortable silence in which they all just stared at each other. Then Serena, who was beginning to become extremely hungry, knew she had to leave. She hadn't eaten in over a week, and now her thirst for blood was getting out of control. She had seriously considered taking one of the these boys right now, but that would look just a bit odd. Besides, she didn't want to eat them, they seemed like nice people. She just wanted to leave for food.
"Well, if you'll all excuse me, I am getting staving, and I still have to go shopping for food, so…"
"Eat with us! Come on! Hiiro bought Chow Mien!" Duo cried.
"Yes, won't you please have dinner with us, Miss. Tsukino?" Added Quatre.
"Oh no, I couldn't impose. Besides, Chinese food isn't really my forte. Anyway, I have to be going, I'll see you all around. Bye!" She called out. By the time she had finished her last sentence, she had been half way down the stairs, leaving five very confused boys behind her. *
~~~Anyone notice a change in the length of the chs? This one's much longer than the others! Yippy! More for you all to read! PLEASE REVIEW TOO! Much love, Vixen~~~