The Day

The day started out typical. Awaking from a disturbing dream of a realistic princess who had practically stalked his mind since he was four. Ever since Fiore left…it was so easy to use his imaginary friend as a scapegoat for the dreams. Every night, going to bed, praying for restful sleep and receiving instead haunting images and headaches when he awoke. From there it had gone downhill.

            Falling out of bed, late for classes because of a power out in the night, out of tasteful jackets to wear…Sighing disappointedly he grabbed his least favorite, the forest green one. Well, it wasn't really forest green exactly, it was more of an olive green, which turned vile puke green in bright light. Too bad it was forecasted to be sunny all day long.

            That's when he remembered, today was Yuki's funeral. Yuki had been his best friend. Sliding onto the bed, he shut his eyes in a vain attempt to block the barrage of pictures from the day of Yuki's death.

            Yuki had been just like his name, cold, with silvery white hair. Ice colored eyes completed his look of winter, while his aloofness kept people from knowing the truth about him. Mamoru knew the truth.

                        Yuki's parents had abandoned him when he was five, after physically and emotionally abusing him. It made Mamoru feel lucky in some ways, but empathetic in others. Mamoru was not unlike his best friend in terms of personality. They both projected uncaring and arrogance to the world, while their real lives were completely different.

                        Yuki had died from a five-car pile up crash. Apparently, some drunk teenagers had been driving around at break-neck speed, and had swerved around a corner, only to find a line of cars headed towards the same direction. His best friend had been the first one killed in the accident. Mamoru had sworn never to drink again.

                        There was one simple problem with this. While he wasn't what you would call a drunk, or addict, he depended on alcohol to keep himself from thinking about what could have been with his parents. He had turned to Motoki, and upbeat arcade owner in his time of need, and they had become quick close friends. It was then that Mamoru had discovered the liquid of life; coffee.

Cursing his luck, Mamoru headed to his survival source, the coffee machine. Waiting patiently, he was about ready to kill when he realized the power surge must have messed up some circuitry in his coffee maker.  

                        Aggravated, he ran his hand through his hair, trying to think up a solution to his predicament. Deciding the only good coffee place within miles was the arcade, he headed in that general direction.

Entering the arcade, he 'borrowed' Motoki's apron and was happy to see no-one he recognized in the arcade. But, this was a bad day, and two seconds later, some kid ran into him, spilling his fresh coffee all over the apron. While Motoki worked at the arcade, Mamoru had a reputation to keep. Taking off the jacket-coverer, he let fate have its way. The putrid green jacket would have to do. He spoke briefly some more with Motoki before taking his coffee leaving.

Mamoru wasn't in the mood for chat.

                        Mamoru, for once, had skipped class. Yuki's funeral was that important, although it was long and hard. Mamoru had to say the eulogy and was quite emotional by the time it was over. The other people attending seemed too chipper and upbeat to be at Yuki's funeral. But then again, his friend hadn't really been very social.

Watching as they lowered the casket into the ground made him feel like he was being used as an acupuncture patient. The finality of the coffin, the total death that surrounded his friend as he was covered by the soft earth Mamoru use to love, but at the moment despised made it hard for him to see.

Everything was in black and white as he exited the graveyard ignoring the people around him. He was completely unaware he was headed straight  for the arcade.

Sighing, he seriously considered just giving up on his princess for the first time in his life. If she didn't show up soon, he would surely go insane. Giving a quick prayer to any god there was that he would live through this, Mamoru continued down the street, pulling his sunglasses out to cover his tearing eyes.

Fate heard his cry for help and sent an golden-haired, blue-eyed angel towards him to save him a crumpled test paper.

Authors Notes: Okay folks, that's it for this story! If people like this story enough and bug me enough, I MIGHT do a follow up chapter, but I probably won't unless I get like...what…twenty emails on this? Remember, everyone who reads this MUST at least look at my contest and see if they're interested in entering. I'm not dependant on reviewers anymore, so if you feel too lazy to review, or just don't want to, feel free not to, although reviews are still appreciated.