When I Was A Little Girl
Chapter 4
By: Chibi J
Rated: G
Disclaimer: Insert a fun and witty disclaimer here. I have a cold and do not feel up to being terribly clever at the moment. Just make sure that your disclaimer of choice features the fact that I do not own and never will own and make no claim to own Sailor Moon.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
After setting the black cat down in the alley and bidding her farewell, I ran as quickly as possible to my new school. I arrived about one minute after the first bell to the stern looks of several older members of the school staff. Luckily, being my first day, I was able to convince them that my tardiness was due to a poor judgment call on the amount of time it would take me to get to school. They accepted that, but insisted that I be on time in the future.
The youngest of the secretaries in the office, who was very pleasant, helped me gather my books, find a locker, and directed me to my new class. Butterflies were fluttering in my stomach as the secretary pushed open the door and waved out the teacher. The secretary introduced me to Haruna-sensei, who would become my teacher for the rest of the school year.
Haruna scooted me into the classroom with a brief word of thanks to the secretary. I stood at the front of the class while the teacher introduced me to the other students. As expected, I heard snickering and small chuckles rising from the other children. This, most likely, was due to my hairstyle. I have always felt the pain of being the punch line to many jokes when it comes to my hair. I wear it in two long pigtails with a small bun at the top of each tail. My mother gave me the style when I was little and I have been very adamant about keeping it. Besides, I have seen other people with styles crazier than mine.
After the class quieted, Haruna showed me to a seat in the back corner of the room. She apologized for the location, as it was the only one available. There was a girl with medium length red hair in front of me and a girl with short blue hair beside me. I tried to pay attention to the teacher, but easily became distracted. After several attempts at contacting Rei, I gave up. She was blocking me, most likely due to taking a test. She always blocked me during tests so that I couldn't cheat.
Why any teacher feels that lecturing endlessly is the best way to convey information is beyond my understanding. So, much like my previous school, I found doodling the only way to keep my mind from falling into a comatose state. After all, drool is terribly unattractive and most teachers are now equipped with sleeping student radar.
Now, I may not have Rei's ability to sense people or tell the future, but I can tell when I am being watched. That weird feeling kind of creeps up your spine and you just know that someone is staring at you. Sitting in class, drawing a bunny, I got that feeling. All of my subtle approaches at looking around the room where failing to determine who was so intent in memorizing my features and I was about to stand up and scream when the lunch bell rang.
*~*
'Rei, I don't know who it was, but it was driving me insane!' I hollered at my cousin who finally released the block on her mind.
'Usagi, chill. It was probably just your nerves. So, what are the boys like?'
'Hm, I forgot to really look.' I answered quietly. I was sure that Rei would blow.
'You WHAT!? How could you forget to look? You've just transferred to a school that has boys! I'm surprised that you didn't do that right away!'
Rei and I quite enjoyed scouting out boys at the mall and arcade, but never got to enjoy that pleasure much. Going to an all girls school made it impossible to do so throughout the day. I wouldn't be surprised if she closed her eyes and asked me to look around so that she could see.
'Usagi, look around. I want to see!' Do I know her well or what?
I immediately sensed that Rei had indeed closed her eyes, allowing her to see my thoughts clearly. This allowed her to look as if from my eyes directly. Her picture was as clear as if she were sitting next to me. Rei could do this easily, but it would always give me a headache when I tried to see through her.
'Oh, he's cute. So is he. Usa, who's the red headed boy? Or that one with short blonde hair? You always said I seemed to be a short blonde type.'
'Rei, chill. You're going to make explode with all those questions! Besides, it's my first day. How am I suppose to know them all?'
'Gomen Usa.' Rei apologized quietly. But only moments later she began again, causing me to laugh out loud.
"Excuse me... Tsukino Usagi, right?" A small voice asked from my side. I immediately stopped laughing and turned towards the girl whom had been sitting beside me in class. I was sitting under a large tree towards the outskirts of the lunch area by myself and had been so wrapped up in Rei's boy ogling that I didn't hear her approach.
"Hai! Please, call me Usagi. We are in class together, ne? Please, sit down." I responded to the quiet girl.
"Well, yes, but I think I know you from a couple of years ago. My name is Mizuno Ami."
*~*Flash*~*
When I was five years old, my parents started sending me to school. Since we did not have a lot of money, I went to Juuban Public Elementary School. I was a little shy on my first day, since I did not know any of the kids in my class. I often hid in the corner of my kindergarten class and played with the dolls by myself. One day, a new girl came into my class. When the teacher introduced her to the class, she only looked down at the floor. She seemed very quiet and shy like me. During playtime that day, I found her sitting in the corner where I usually hid. For some reason, I did not feel as scared of her as I did the other kids. I walked up to her and smiled.
"This is my doll, Betty. She is my best friend. She protects me from the kids in class."
"She is a very pretty doll. May I hold her?"
I smiled and handed the girl my doll. She hugged her close, as I often did when I was scared.
"My name is Usagi. What's your name?"
"My name is Ami. We just moved here because my momma got a new job. I don't have any friends here and it is kind of scary."
"Don't worry Ami. I'll be your friend."
"I would like that very much."
From that day on, Ami and I were inseparable at school. We stuck together when kids picked on us, helped each other during activities, and played together whenever we could.
When I entered first grade, the teacher sat Ami and I next to each other, even though our names did not line up alphabetically. I often wondered if the kindergarten teacher told her to do that. Ami was my best friend. She was very smart and helped me when I had trouble with my schoolwork. Once, when Ami was helping me with my writing, the teacher asked me if I was taking advantage of Ami. Since I did not know what she meant, I said yes. I was worried when the teacher looked at me with a frown, but Ami was smiling and giggling, so I figured it was okay.
When I went to second grade, the teacher was not as nice as my kindergarten and first grade teacher had been. She made Ami and I sit in alphabetical order. Ami was in the middle of the room, while I was in the far back corner. I was sad, but I could still sit with Ami at lunch and play with her at recess.
When I was halfway through second grade, my parents went on a trip and sent my brother Shingo and I to stay with my Grandfather Hikui. While I was there, I was unable to attend school, since my grandfather's shrine was far from school and he did not have a car to drive me. My parents told me that I was too little to ride on the bus and that it would be okay to miss a couple weeks of school. I disagreed, but really had no choice. The day before my parents left on their trip, I decided to tell Ami about staying at my Grandfather's and that I would be gone for a while. However, when I got to school, I found out that Ami had stayed home sick. I was saddened that I would not get to see my friend, but knew that I would see her as soon as my parents were back from their trip to America.
*~*Flash*~*
"When my mother, father, and grandparents were killed on the plane trip back from America, I fell into a terrible state. I became best friends with my cousin Rei and started a new life at the temple. Instead of attending Juuban Elementary, my Grandfather sent me to TA with Rei."
"Gomen Usagi, I never knew. The teacher had told the class that you had moved. For a while, well, I missed you and wondered why you never said goodbye." Ami ended in a near whisper. I felt tears filling in my eyes, but quickly blinked them back.
*Briiiing*
"That's the five minute warning bell. We need to get back to class." Ami stated very matter-of-factly. She started walking while I was still trying to stand and collect my books.
"Ami, matte!" I yelled as I ran to catch up with her. I finally reached her at the base of the steps into the school. "Please, I would love to make up for lost time. You were such a great friend to me before and I'm sure we could become great friends again."
Ami plastered on a rather large smile.
"I would like that very much."
I smiled as we walked back into class together and took our seats. I quickly asked Ami to go to the arcade before Haruna began to lecture, I mean teach, again. She said yes and I smiled happily. I quickly sent Rei a mental note to meet us at the arcade after school.
*~*
At 3:00, the final bell rang, signaling the end of the school day. I quickly threw my books and drawings, I mean notes, into my bag and headed to the front of the class where Ami was waiting for me. We began talking about random things as if we had been best friends for years.
A tinkling noise announced our arrival to the arcade. I immediately spotted Rei in a booth at the back of the small diner attached to the arcade. As Ami and I approached the table, I could sense Rei reading Ami's aura. Me, I knew that she had a good, pure soul. Rei, however, would always double-check everyone. A large smile graced Rei's face as we sat in the booth, confirming what I had already known.
Motoki came over to our table and took our orders. As he left the table, I noticed a slight blush cross Ami's cheeks, making her look very pretty. After the sundaes we had ordered arrived, we quickly fell into conversation. I was glad to see Rei and Ami hit it off so well and knew that we would always be friends.
Unfortunately, Ami is a genius. I don't mean that in a bad way, but she is so much smarter than Rei and I put together, although she doesn't always act it and definitely doesn't act superior. So why is this unfortunate? Because all geniuses feel that they can never learn enough. Ami is the same. Shortly after we had finished our sundaes, Ami had to leave to attend Cram School. Although I was sad that our reunion was so short, Ami said that we could go out again after school tomorrow. That made me feel a lot better.
So, with Ami heading towards Cram School, Rei and I decided that we should head in the opposite direction to the temple so that we could get our chores done before Grandfather noticed our tardiness. Still in a joyous state, neither Rei nor I noticed that we were being followed.
*~*
"Race you to the top!" I shouted and took off, racing up the many stairs that led to the top of the hill where the shrine sat.
"No fair! You got a head start!" Rei yelled as she ran to catch up to me.
It's always amusing to watch people huff and puff their way up the stairs to the temple. When I was brought to the temple for the first time with my mom to meet Grandfather, I found them intimidating, as many others will agree. Now, however, it was a stroll in the park to hike up the stairs. Once, I counted the steps and came up with 86. Rei said that she counted and only got 85 and that that sound more accurate. Either way, it was a lot of stairs.
"Tie!" Rei and I shouted in unison as our feet hit the top step at the same time, which happened more times than not. Smiling and giggling, we headed over to get our brooms, quite grateful that Grandfather wasn't there to scold us for being late.
Rei started sweeping around the temple while I started my way to the stairs. I had swept about six steps when I had decided to stretch. The sun was hot and I felt slightly sweaty from the run up the stairs. I rubbed at my forehead and my eyes, trying to wipe off the sweat. Removing my hands from my eyes, I looked down the steps and thought I saw something in the middle of a step, about halfway down. It kind of looked like that black cat from this morning. I rubbed my eyes again, but when I looked there was nothing there. Putting aside the illusion as an effect of the sun, I returned to my sweeping.
"Done." I smiled as I looked down at the pristine steps. "And in record time."
"Only because I swept them so well yesterday." Rei said with a sinister smile. She was rounding the corner from the side of the shrine, apparently also done with her sweeping.
"Rei!" I whined.
"Usagi!" She whined back in imitation of me.
"Baka!" I said as I stomped off to put my broom away, Rei's footsteps echoing behind me.
Sometimes we had more fun insulting and teasing each other than we did having a normal conversation. I turned around to grab Rei's broom after putting mine away to find her with a wide grin on her face, desperately trying to retain her laughter. I took her broom with a straight, non-emotional face and put it in the shed. I slammed the door shut and turned to look at Rei with a growl. Now, she was practically falling over to retain her giggles. Of course, seeing her like this threw me into giggles and we both fell to the ground laughing out loud.
Finally, after several minutes, we composed ourselves. Well, we at least stopped laughing so hard that we could stand, but we both still had a bad case of the giggles. We started walking to the front door of the shrine when I stopped dead in my tracks.
"Usagi, nani?" Rei asked as she turned to see why I had stopped. I felt the color drain from my face as I starred straight forward.
At a black cat.
Again, I rubbed at my eyes, yet the illusion only stayed in place.
"Rei, do you see a black cat?" I asked with a slight sound of fear in my voice.
"Hai, I see it. Why?"
"Just making sure it wasn't my imagination this time. I helped this cat this morning and now it seems like it's following me. I thought I saw it on the steps before but it seemed to disappear."
Rei looked at me as if she had a question yet she refrained from asking it verbally and mentally. We walked over and squatted on the ground by the black cat. Rei put out her hand and the cat rubbed her head on it lovingly.
"She doesn't seem to bad Usagi. Maybe we can keep her." Rei suggested.
"Hmm, maybe. But what about Grandfather? And what about Phobos and Deimos? They may not like a cat." I stated, somewhat saddened that the cat may not be able to stay.
"I don't think that Phobos and Deimos would mind." Rei started, "After all," she looked down to the cat, "You wouldn't try to eat them would you?"
"Of course not!"
Rei's eyes jumped up to meet mine and we just starred at each other for a moment before looking down to the cat that appeared to be blushing and hiding her mouth in her paws.
I shrugged my shoulders at Rei. Weirder things have happened.
"You talk?" I asked, feeling that it was a stupid question to ask an animal who had in fact just spoke.
The little cat tried to shake her head no, not realizing that she was showing her complete understanding.
"It's okay little neko, we all have special gifts here at the shrine and we won't make fun of you." Rei said soothingly as she began to pet the cat.
The cat sat up from her attempted hiding position from her paws. She straightened her back and made a sound as if clearing her throat. "Yes, I can talk. My name is Luna."
"Well Luna, what brings you here?" I asked as if talking to a cat was an everyday occurrence. After all, I can share my thoughts with birds, why not a talking cat.
"I am looking for some important people. I was told that I might find them around here. Are you Usagi and Rei?" Luna asked looking between both of us. Immediately I wanted to ask how she knew our names, but as my mouth opened, Rei's said the exact words I wanted.
"How the hell do you know our names!?" Okay, maybe not the exact words I would have chosen. Rei seemed very shook up at the fact that this talking cat named Luna knew our names without being told.
"Oh, sorry to shock you so. Well, Phobos and Deimos told me to come here. They told me that you were two of the people that I was looking for. Usagi and I met this morning by pure chance, but I knew that Phobos and Deimos were correct."
"Correct about what?" I asked, a little unsure if I wanted to know the answer. Perhaps the crows had told this cat that we could communicate with animals and wanted to turn us into some kind of Dr. Do-Little animal specialists.
"You are Sailor Senshi. Soldiers of love and justice sworn to protect the Earth from any enemy that should arise to destroy it." Luna said very calmly and matter-of-factly.
Rei's response? She screamed. Then she broke out in to a freakish laughter that rivals the most insane scientists the heavens have created.
My response? Jaw dropped to the ground and starred out into space. The lights were on but nobody was home.
Author: well, now that Usagi is comatose, you probably would like to know what happened next. Well, poor Rei laughed herself hoarse and then ended up in the same state as Usagi. Luna again placed her paws over her head, trying to hide from the world. She pondered the idea of finding a new way of informing people of their Senshi-abilities. Meanwhile, Phobos and Deimos were in the tree laughing at the scene that had just played out in front of them. Grandfather and Shingo came out looking for the girls to tell them to come to dinner when they found the girls, slack jawed, and comatose at the black cat sitting in front of them that seemed as if it was trying to curl up and disappear.
"Well Shingo, looks like we have another new pet."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
This is a little shorter than the last part, but I thought it was a good place to stop.
Comments, criticism, cooking tips? Send to ChibiJ77@yahoo.com
Chapter 4
By: Chibi J
Rated: G
Disclaimer: Insert a fun and witty disclaimer here. I have a cold and do not feel up to being terribly clever at the moment. Just make sure that your disclaimer of choice features the fact that I do not own and never will own and make no claim to own Sailor Moon.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
After setting the black cat down in the alley and bidding her farewell, I ran as quickly as possible to my new school. I arrived about one minute after the first bell to the stern looks of several older members of the school staff. Luckily, being my first day, I was able to convince them that my tardiness was due to a poor judgment call on the amount of time it would take me to get to school. They accepted that, but insisted that I be on time in the future.
The youngest of the secretaries in the office, who was very pleasant, helped me gather my books, find a locker, and directed me to my new class. Butterflies were fluttering in my stomach as the secretary pushed open the door and waved out the teacher. The secretary introduced me to Haruna-sensei, who would become my teacher for the rest of the school year.
Haruna scooted me into the classroom with a brief word of thanks to the secretary. I stood at the front of the class while the teacher introduced me to the other students. As expected, I heard snickering and small chuckles rising from the other children. This, most likely, was due to my hairstyle. I have always felt the pain of being the punch line to many jokes when it comes to my hair. I wear it in two long pigtails with a small bun at the top of each tail. My mother gave me the style when I was little and I have been very adamant about keeping it. Besides, I have seen other people with styles crazier than mine.
After the class quieted, Haruna showed me to a seat in the back corner of the room. She apologized for the location, as it was the only one available. There was a girl with medium length red hair in front of me and a girl with short blue hair beside me. I tried to pay attention to the teacher, but easily became distracted. After several attempts at contacting Rei, I gave up. She was blocking me, most likely due to taking a test. She always blocked me during tests so that I couldn't cheat.
Why any teacher feels that lecturing endlessly is the best way to convey information is beyond my understanding. So, much like my previous school, I found doodling the only way to keep my mind from falling into a comatose state. After all, drool is terribly unattractive and most teachers are now equipped with sleeping student radar.
Now, I may not have Rei's ability to sense people or tell the future, but I can tell when I am being watched. That weird feeling kind of creeps up your spine and you just know that someone is staring at you. Sitting in class, drawing a bunny, I got that feeling. All of my subtle approaches at looking around the room where failing to determine who was so intent in memorizing my features and I was about to stand up and scream when the lunch bell rang.
*~*
'Rei, I don't know who it was, but it was driving me insane!' I hollered at my cousin who finally released the block on her mind.
'Usagi, chill. It was probably just your nerves. So, what are the boys like?'
'Hm, I forgot to really look.' I answered quietly. I was sure that Rei would blow.
'You WHAT!? How could you forget to look? You've just transferred to a school that has boys! I'm surprised that you didn't do that right away!'
Rei and I quite enjoyed scouting out boys at the mall and arcade, but never got to enjoy that pleasure much. Going to an all girls school made it impossible to do so throughout the day. I wouldn't be surprised if she closed her eyes and asked me to look around so that she could see.
'Usagi, look around. I want to see!' Do I know her well or what?
I immediately sensed that Rei had indeed closed her eyes, allowing her to see my thoughts clearly. This allowed her to look as if from my eyes directly. Her picture was as clear as if she were sitting next to me. Rei could do this easily, but it would always give me a headache when I tried to see through her.
'Oh, he's cute. So is he. Usa, who's the red headed boy? Or that one with short blonde hair? You always said I seemed to be a short blonde type.'
'Rei, chill. You're going to make explode with all those questions! Besides, it's my first day. How am I suppose to know them all?'
'Gomen Usa.' Rei apologized quietly. But only moments later she began again, causing me to laugh out loud.
"Excuse me... Tsukino Usagi, right?" A small voice asked from my side. I immediately stopped laughing and turned towards the girl whom had been sitting beside me in class. I was sitting under a large tree towards the outskirts of the lunch area by myself and had been so wrapped up in Rei's boy ogling that I didn't hear her approach.
"Hai! Please, call me Usagi. We are in class together, ne? Please, sit down." I responded to the quiet girl.
"Well, yes, but I think I know you from a couple of years ago. My name is Mizuno Ami."
*~*Flash*~*
When I was five years old, my parents started sending me to school. Since we did not have a lot of money, I went to Juuban Public Elementary School. I was a little shy on my first day, since I did not know any of the kids in my class. I often hid in the corner of my kindergarten class and played with the dolls by myself. One day, a new girl came into my class. When the teacher introduced her to the class, she only looked down at the floor. She seemed very quiet and shy like me. During playtime that day, I found her sitting in the corner where I usually hid. For some reason, I did not feel as scared of her as I did the other kids. I walked up to her and smiled.
"This is my doll, Betty. She is my best friend. She protects me from the kids in class."
"She is a very pretty doll. May I hold her?"
I smiled and handed the girl my doll. She hugged her close, as I often did when I was scared.
"My name is Usagi. What's your name?"
"My name is Ami. We just moved here because my momma got a new job. I don't have any friends here and it is kind of scary."
"Don't worry Ami. I'll be your friend."
"I would like that very much."
From that day on, Ami and I were inseparable at school. We stuck together when kids picked on us, helped each other during activities, and played together whenever we could.
When I entered first grade, the teacher sat Ami and I next to each other, even though our names did not line up alphabetically. I often wondered if the kindergarten teacher told her to do that. Ami was my best friend. She was very smart and helped me when I had trouble with my schoolwork. Once, when Ami was helping me with my writing, the teacher asked me if I was taking advantage of Ami. Since I did not know what she meant, I said yes. I was worried when the teacher looked at me with a frown, but Ami was smiling and giggling, so I figured it was okay.
When I went to second grade, the teacher was not as nice as my kindergarten and first grade teacher had been. She made Ami and I sit in alphabetical order. Ami was in the middle of the room, while I was in the far back corner. I was sad, but I could still sit with Ami at lunch and play with her at recess.
When I was halfway through second grade, my parents went on a trip and sent my brother Shingo and I to stay with my Grandfather Hikui. While I was there, I was unable to attend school, since my grandfather's shrine was far from school and he did not have a car to drive me. My parents told me that I was too little to ride on the bus and that it would be okay to miss a couple weeks of school. I disagreed, but really had no choice. The day before my parents left on their trip, I decided to tell Ami about staying at my Grandfather's and that I would be gone for a while. However, when I got to school, I found out that Ami had stayed home sick. I was saddened that I would not get to see my friend, but knew that I would see her as soon as my parents were back from their trip to America.
*~*Flash*~*
"When my mother, father, and grandparents were killed on the plane trip back from America, I fell into a terrible state. I became best friends with my cousin Rei and started a new life at the temple. Instead of attending Juuban Elementary, my Grandfather sent me to TA with Rei."
"Gomen Usagi, I never knew. The teacher had told the class that you had moved. For a while, well, I missed you and wondered why you never said goodbye." Ami ended in a near whisper. I felt tears filling in my eyes, but quickly blinked them back.
*Briiiing*
"That's the five minute warning bell. We need to get back to class." Ami stated very matter-of-factly. She started walking while I was still trying to stand and collect my books.
"Ami, matte!" I yelled as I ran to catch up with her. I finally reached her at the base of the steps into the school. "Please, I would love to make up for lost time. You were such a great friend to me before and I'm sure we could become great friends again."
Ami plastered on a rather large smile.
"I would like that very much."
I smiled as we walked back into class together and took our seats. I quickly asked Ami to go to the arcade before Haruna began to lecture, I mean teach, again. She said yes and I smiled happily. I quickly sent Rei a mental note to meet us at the arcade after school.
*~*
At 3:00, the final bell rang, signaling the end of the school day. I quickly threw my books and drawings, I mean notes, into my bag and headed to the front of the class where Ami was waiting for me. We began talking about random things as if we had been best friends for years.
A tinkling noise announced our arrival to the arcade. I immediately spotted Rei in a booth at the back of the small diner attached to the arcade. As Ami and I approached the table, I could sense Rei reading Ami's aura. Me, I knew that she had a good, pure soul. Rei, however, would always double-check everyone. A large smile graced Rei's face as we sat in the booth, confirming what I had already known.
Motoki came over to our table and took our orders. As he left the table, I noticed a slight blush cross Ami's cheeks, making her look very pretty. After the sundaes we had ordered arrived, we quickly fell into conversation. I was glad to see Rei and Ami hit it off so well and knew that we would always be friends.
Unfortunately, Ami is a genius. I don't mean that in a bad way, but she is so much smarter than Rei and I put together, although she doesn't always act it and definitely doesn't act superior. So why is this unfortunate? Because all geniuses feel that they can never learn enough. Ami is the same. Shortly after we had finished our sundaes, Ami had to leave to attend Cram School. Although I was sad that our reunion was so short, Ami said that we could go out again after school tomorrow. That made me feel a lot better.
So, with Ami heading towards Cram School, Rei and I decided that we should head in the opposite direction to the temple so that we could get our chores done before Grandfather noticed our tardiness. Still in a joyous state, neither Rei nor I noticed that we were being followed.
*~*
"Race you to the top!" I shouted and took off, racing up the many stairs that led to the top of the hill where the shrine sat.
"No fair! You got a head start!" Rei yelled as she ran to catch up to me.
It's always amusing to watch people huff and puff their way up the stairs to the temple. When I was brought to the temple for the first time with my mom to meet Grandfather, I found them intimidating, as many others will agree. Now, however, it was a stroll in the park to hike up the stairs. Once, I counted the steps and came up with 86. Rei said that she counted and only got 85 and that that sound more accurate. Either way, it was a lot of stairs.
"Tie!" Rei and I shouted in unison as our feet hit the top step at the same time, which happened more times than not. Smiling and giggling, we headed over to get our brooms, quite grateful that Grandfather wasn't there to scold us for being late.
Rei started sweeping around the temple while I started my way to the stairs. I had swept about six steps when I had decided to stretch. The sun was hot and I felt slightly sweaty from the run up the stairs. I rubbed at my forehead and my eyes, trying to wipe off the sweat. Removing my hands from my eyes, I looked down the steps and thought I saw something in the middle of a step, about halfway down. It kind of looked like that black cat from this morning. I rubbed my eyes again, but when I looked there was nothing there. Putting aside the illusion as an effect of the sun, I returned to my sweeping.
"Done." I smiled as I looked down at the pristine steps. "And in record time."
"Only because I swept them so well yesterday." Rei said with a sinister smile. She was rounding the corner from the side of the shrine, apparently also done with her sweeping.
"Rei!" I whined.
"Usagi!" She whined back in imitation of me.
"Baka!" I said as I stomped off to put my broom away, Rei's footsteps echoing behind me.
Sometimes we had more fun insulting and teasing each other than we did having a normal conversation. I turned around to grab Rei's broom after putting mine away to find her with a wide grin on her face, desperately trying to retain her laughter. I took her broom with a straight, non-emotional face and put it in the shed. I slammed the door shut and turned to look at Rei with a growl. Now, she was practically falling over to retain her giggles. Of course, seeing her like this threw me into giggles and we both fell to the ground laughing out loud.
Finally, after several minutes, we composed ourselves. Well, we at least stopped laughing so hard that we could stand, but we both still had a bad case of the giggles. We started walking to the front door of the shrine when I stopped dead in my tracks.
"Usagi, nani?" Rei asked as she turned to see why I had stopped. I felt the color drain from my face as I starred straight forward.
At a black cat.
Again, I rubbed at my eyes, yet the illusion only stayed in place.
"Rei, do you see a black cat?" I asked with a slight sound of fear in my voice.
"Hai, I see it. Why?"
"Just making sure it wasn't my imagination this time. I helped this cat this morning and now it seems like it's following me. I thought I saw it on the steps before but it seemed to disappear."
Rei looked at me as if she had a question yet she refrained from asking it verbally and mentally. We walked over and squatted on the ground by the black cat. Rei put out her hand and the cat rubbed her head on it lovingly.
"She doesn't seem to bad Usagi. Maybe we can keep her." Rei suggested.
"Hmm, maybe. But what about Grandfather? And what about Phobos and Deimos? They may not like a cat." I stated, somewhat saddened that the cat may not be able to stay.
"I don't think that Phobos and Deimos would mind." Rei started, "After all," she looked down to the cat, "You wouldn't try to eat them would you?"
"Of course not!"
Rei's eyes jumped up to meet mine and we just starred at each other for a moment before looking down to the cat that appeared to be blushing and hiding her mouth in her paws.
I shrugged my shoulders at Rei. Weirder things have happened.
"You talk?" I asked, feeling that it was a stupid question to ask an animal who had in fact just spoke.
The little cat tried to shake her head no, not realizing that she was showing her complete understanding.
"It's okay little neko, we all have special gifts here at the shrine and we won't make fun of you." Rei said soothingly as she began to pet the cat.
The cat sat up from her attempted hiding position from her paws. She straightened her back and made a sound as if clearing her throat. "Yes, I can talk. My name is Luna."
"Well Luna, what brings you here?" I asked as if talking to a cat was an everyday occurrence. After all, I can share my thoughts with birds, why not a talking cat.
"I am looking for some important people. I was told that I might find them around here. Are you Usagi and Rei?" Luna asked looking between both of us. Immediately I wanted to ask how she knew our names, but as my mouth opened, Rei's said the exact words I wanted.
"How the hell do you know our names!?" Okay, maybe not the exact words I would have chosen. Rei seemed very shook up at the fact that this talking cat named Luna knew our names without being told.
"Oh, sorry to shock you so. Well, Phobos and Deimos told me to come here. They told me that you were two of the people that I was looking for. Usagi and I met this morning by pure chance, but I knew that Phobos and Deimos were correct."
"Correct about what?" I asked, a little unsure if I wanted to know the answer. Perhaps the crows had told this cat that we could communicate with animals and wanted to turn us into some kind of Dr. Do-Little animal specialists.
"You are Sailor Senshi. Soldiers of love and justice sworn to protect the Earth from any enemy that should arise to destroy it." Luna said very calmly and matter-of-factly.
Rei's response? She screamed. Then she broke out in to a freakish laughter that rivals the most insane scientists the heavens have created.
My response? Jaw dropped to the ground and starred out into space. The lights were on but nobody was home.
Author: well, now that Usagi is comatose, you probably would like to know what happened next. Well, poor Rei laughed herself hoarse and then ended up in the same state as Usagi. Luna again placed her paws over her head, trying to hide from the world. She pondered the idea of finding a new way of informing people of their Senshi-abilities. Meanwhile, Phobos and Deimos were in the tree laughing at the scene that had just played out in front of them. Grandfather and Shingo came out looking for the girls to tell them to come to dinner when they found the girls, slack jawed, and comatose at the black cat sitting in front of them that seemed as if it was trying to curl up and disappear.
"Well Shingo, looks like we have another new pet."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
This is a little shorter than the last part, but I thought it was a good place to stop.
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