When I Was A Little Girl

Chapter 8

By: Chibi J

Rated: G

Standard Disclaimers.

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Saturday came quickly, bringing with it the most dreaded thing in an adolescent's life, entrance exams. Prepared only with scrap paper and a set of number two pencils, I entered the door marked S-T. Students from several different schools were present, all dressed neatly in their school uniforms. I took a seat in the third row and hoped that I would do well.

Four hours after the exams began, I closed my test book and walked to the front of the room. I was definitely not the first done, but I wasn't the last, which made me feel a little bit better. With all the help that Ami had given me, I felt confident that I passed. Unfortunately, test results wouldn't be posted for three weeks, giving me plenty of time to worry that I failed, despite Ami's tutelage.

I found Ami sitting under our tree reading a book. She looked up to me with a confident smile, assuring me that she had aced the exams. I sat next to her and leaned my head up against the tree. Ami resumed her reading and I closed my eyes. We promised Makoto that we would wait for her to finish and then head to the shrine together.

Makoto quickly became a part of our everyday routine. Although we had only known her for four days, she became a staple of everyday life. She had a wonderful personality, once you got past her rough exterior. She was a wonderful cook and spoiled us with special treats. Without any hesitation, Rei, Ami, and I accepted her into our hearts and lives.

Tonight we were going to be having our slumber party. Rei was at the shrine working, having no need to take the exams, and everything would be ready for us to simply enjoy the rest of the day. Ami and Makoto had already packed their overnight bags and dropped them off before we left for the exams.

I heard the ground crunching under someone's feet and looked up to see Makoto walking towards us. She had a smile on her face and gave us a thumbs-up.

"All done." Makoto said with a large grin.

"How'd you do?" I asked, but could tell by her face that she did well.

"Not too bad, you?"

"I think I did okay." I answered with a shrug. Deep down, I prayed to the gods that I had passed. There was no way that I wanted to repeat eighth grade.

"How about you Ami?" Makoto asked. I rolled my eyes. Knowing Ami, she probably feared that she missed a question.

"I did well. But there was a question in the science section that I may have missed. I suppose that I didn't study hard enough." Ami said with a sigh. I told you I knew her.

"You studied plenty." I said quickly, afraid that our slumber party would turn into a study session.

"Come on, let's get out of here." Makoto said with a smile. "It's time to relax and PARTY!"

I was laughing hard as Ami nodded her head in agreement. We began to walk towards the shrine when a motorcycle pulled up along the sidewalk.

"Yo! Makoto!" A voice shouted from behind a black helmet.

"Mamoru. What are you doing here?" Makoto asked the biker. I smiled. This was Makoto's roommate and best friend Chiba Mamoru. I secretly wished that he would take his helmet off so that I could see his face. I knew from seeing him fight that he had a well-toned body, dark hair, and a dark complexion. Yet I hadn't seen his face yet.

"Just came by to see how you did." He replied with a hint of humor to his voice.

"I'll be seeing you at school next year, don't you worry." She replied with a large smile.

"I never worry." He said with a laugh. "Who are your friends?"

"This is Ami and Usagi." She said, pointing to each of us in turn. "I'm staying at Usagi's place tonight, remember?"

"Oh, yeah. Well, have fun!" He said with a wave, taking off down the street.

"Well, now you have met the ever elusive Chiba Mamoru." Makoto said with a sigh.

Again, we began our journey towards the shrine. We were all silent, but my mind was spinning. Who was that guy? Why did he seem so familiar? There was something besides seeing him at the Martial Arts center that was floating in my mind, just out of reach.

"Makoto, why didn't he take off his helmet?" I asked, still upset that I didn't get to see his face. Perhaps that would have helped me to gain a grasp on these memories.

"I'm not sure. He was probably just in a hurry. That or he didn't want to show off his helmet hair." Makoto replied with a laugh. I just shrugged my shoulders. So the mystery of the man known as Chiba Mamoru would continue.

*~*

"Makoto, is the next batch done yet?"

"Usagi! You just ate two dozen! Aren't you full yet?"

"Not likely." Rei and Ami answered in unison. The two girls were laughing, near hysterics, and Makoto joined them. I just stood there with my arms crossed in front of me.

"I can't help it. I have a fast metabolism and her cookies are good." I said, faking a pout.

"Oh, poor Usagi." Makoto faked a sympathetic face. "I promise they'll be done soon."

"And so will she if she forces down one more cookie!" Rei said, causing everyone to break out into laughter. She then proceeded to do her "Usagi, the floating blimp" imitation.

'Shut up Rei!' I yelled at her mentally. Everyone always picked on me. I was getting sick and tired off it.

'Oh, Usa, you know that we are just teasing.' Rei pleaded with me. 'Don't take it so seriously.'

I leaned against the kitchen counter and could feel tears rising in my eyes. Rei wasn't completely apologizing and Ami and Makoto were still laughing. Under most circumstances, I could take a joke at my expense. But for some reason, this upset me. Perhaps it was the memory of my mother making me cookies. Or my father praising my healthy appetite.

Rei must have picked up on my thoughts, for she was immediately throwing her arms around me in a large hug. I hugged her back and let the tears fall from my eyes. Ami and Makoto stopped laughing immediately and stared at Rei and I, confusion spread across their faces.

"I'm sorry." I said with a sigh as Rei released me from my hug. "I was just thinking about my parents."

"How did they die?" Makoto asked quietly as she reached into the stove to remove the cookies.

"They were shot on a plane." I answered. However, Makoto's reaction was not expected. She nearly dropped the cookies she was removing from the oven.

"Are you serious?" Makoto asked, turning from the stove. I could see that her face had gone a pale white.

"Yes. A man shot them on a flight back from America." I replied. Makoto fell to her knees in front of the stove. "Makoto! Are you okay?!"

"Yes, no. I mean...when." She stuttered out.

"When I was seven."

"Mine too." Makoto whispered. Then, as if for the first time, Makoto looked at me with wide eyes. "You were the girl at the orphanage."

"What?" I asked, dropping down to my knees in front of her.

"You were the girl who kept trying to talk to me. Our parents died together." She whispered. Behind me, I heard Rei and Ami gasp.

"You kept looking out of the window. You weren't eating anything. When I left, you still wouldn't say good bye." I said, almost as if in a trance. Memories of my stay in the orphanage flooded my mind.

"You left. I felt so alone. No one talked to me but you. Even when I wouldn't talk back, you still cared enough to talk to me." Makoto replied, tears flowing freely down her face. "Two weeks later, Mamoru came and talked to me like you did. But I talked back. I didn't want him to leave me too."

"Oh, Makoto!" I cried out and threw my arms around my friend and held her close. Tears were flooding from both of our eyes. In the background, I heard Ami and Rei sniffling as well.

We stayed that way for a few minutes, until the buzzer on the stove sounded, shocking us all out of our trance.

"The cookies are done." Makoto said, wiping the tears from her eyes. I nodded my head and we both stood. Makoto removed the cookies from the oven and I helped her bring the two batches to the table. Rei and Ami joined us at the table. The rest of the night we spent reminiscing about our families, tough times, the good times, and life in general.

The next morning, Rei, Ami, and I decided that it was time to see what Makoto could do as a senshi. With a bright and colorful light show, we all stood in our senshi forms in what had been dubbed "the training grounds." Really, it was the hill behind the shrine. Applause broke out from Grandfather and Shingo, who were sitting in lawn chairs on the side of the training grounds. Beside him, Phobos and Deimos were perched on a small tree and Luna was sitting at the base of the tree.

"Okay, lets start simple." I began. Somehow, I had taken on the role as a leader of the senshi. There was no vote, no display of power, or any word from Luna. Just one day, we needed to decide on a plan of action, and I provided it. From then on, I've been the leader.

"Yes O'wise and powerful leader." Rei snickered. I never said that I wanted the position either. Especially with Rei always on my back.

"Rei against Ami and me against Makoto." Everyone nodded their heads in agreement as we split into groups. However, what started as simple sparring, turned into an all out battle of powers. From the sideline, I occasionally heard clapping, oh's and ah's, as well as shouts of "watch out!" I loved my family, but they seemed to think this was more of a movie than real life.

Makoto was strong and learned how to use her powers well. In fact, I was about ready to collapse from exhaustion when Ami came to my aid.

"Shabon Spray!"

"Well, guess that ends today's practice." I said with a sigh of relief.

"Sorry guys." Ami shouted out from somewhere in the dense fog she had created.

"It's okay Ami. Everyone meet back at the shrine." I said as I began to feel my way around. Ami may have had her visor, but the rest of us were blind.

I finally made it to the shrine steps, only to find everyone else had beaten me. I gave a quick sigh and sat down next to the other girls.

"Ami, you need to make us special glasses or something to see through that fog of yours." I said with a laugh. Knowing Ami, she would take that suggestion to heart.

"Oh! Speaking of making..." Ami said as she ran off into the shrine. Rei looked at me questioningly, but I had no more clue that her. A moment later, Ami returned with her bag.

"I made these for everyone. Since not all of us can communicate telepathically..." She said as she handed us each something that resembled a watch. "They are communicators. Just push the white button and you can call everyone. Push the blue for me, red for Rei, green for Makoto, gold is for Minako when she gets back, and silver is for Usagi. They work very easy and the picture and sound is very clear."

"Why is mine silver?" I asked. My senshi fuku was red and blue. Silver just didn't fit.

"I don't know. It just came to me. Beside, red and blue were taken." Ami said with a shrug of her shoulders.

"You could have made it pink." I said with a huff, causing everyone to laugh, myself included. The girls all knew of my disgust of the color pink.

*~*

Ami was right, the communicators did work well. Unfortunately, we got to test them out not two days later. A youma appeared in the park, big surprise, and was terrorizing people. This particular beast didn't seem content just to suck out the energy, but also to chase and "play" with the victims.

"Hey! Ugly! Wanna play with me?!" Makoto yelled as she entered the park. The ugly green...thing seemed to snarl in happiness. It ran over to where Sailor Jupiter had been standing, only to see her disappear. Makoto had used her quick speed and agility to jump out of the way, leaving the creature confused.

"Fire Soul!" Sailor Mars yelled out, singing the youma's skin. It screamed out in pain and began to charge at Rei. She gave a quick yelp and ran away, leading the beast to me.

"Moon Tiara Action!" I shouted and threw my tiara at the creature. It hit dead center and fell over unconscious. I ran to help Rei, who had tripped on a tree root on her run.

"Mars, are you okay?" I asked. She was about to respond when her eyes went wide.

"Sailor Moon! Look out!" A familiar voice screamed out. I turned around to find the beast charging up an attack towards Rei and I. As the power released from it's hands, I grabbed Rei and rolled us out of the way.

Quickly getting back to my feet, I fired my tiara again. Unfortunately, I missed center and only removed an arm. The creature was weakening, but still to powerful for me to take out.

"Supreme Thunder!" Sailor Jupiter shouted out.

"Sailor Moon! Shoot for his neck. That is his weak point." Sailor Mercury shouted out from behind her mini computer.

"Moon Tiara Action!" I yelled once more. This time, the tiara hit its target and destroyed the youma.

"Moon dust!" I shouted in happiness. Then I looked to my teammates. "Who yelled for me to watch out?" I asked. The other senshi shrugged their shoulders. The question then was, "If not you guys, who?"

Which was answered by Rei pointing. "Look." She simply said. All eyes turned to a person running away from the park. Three features were immediately recognizable, short blonde hair, a cape, and a mask.

*~*

(AN: Wouldn't you hate me if I ended it there? Well, I don't want you to hate me.)

*~*

Three weeks. It was a terrible time to wait. Three weeks. Three weeks of pacing, worrying, and completely distressing. Three weeks. Why in the world did we have to wait three weeks to get the results of our entrance exams? After all, a teacher can grade a whole class's tests in one day. What could possibly take a machine so long to grade our exams?

"Okay class. I have in my hands the results of the entrance exams." The sensei said with a smile on his face. "Of course, I am supposed to tell you that you are not allowed to open these envelopes. They are for your parents' eyes only. However, I will turn my back for five minutes to write today's lesson on the blackboard and not see anything that happens behind my back."

The entire class laughed at our sensei's wonderful sense of humor. Throughout the school, he was the only teacher that seemed to know what it meant to be a kid. He passed out the envelopes and, as promised, began to write on the blackboard.

I stared at my envelope for a moment. I was petrified to open it. However, next to me, I could hear Ami open hers.

"How'd you do Ami?" I asked, momentarily setting aside my fears and my envelope.

"Perfect score." She beamed. Of course, most of us expected the girl genius to get such a grade.

"Okay Usagi. You and I can open ours together." Makoto suggested. She seemed to be feeling the same as me, very, very nervous.

"One..."

"Two..."

"Three!"

*rrrrrrriiiiiiiiiippppppppeeeeeeeeee*

We tore open our letters. However, it didn't take much to focus on to the most important words... "May progress to the next level."

A quick look to Makoto showed that she also passed. Her eyes lit up as she looked into mine. Without a second thought, we both jumped out of our seats and began to chant.

"We passed. We passed! WE PASSED!!!"

"Excuse me girls." Our sensei said from the front of the room. "I'm glad to know that you are excited about the information you received in your letters that you are not suppose to open. But, perhaps we could quiet down a little?"

I smiled at my sensei and sat back down. Too excited to do anything else, I let Rei know the good news. She laughed at my excitement, but congratulated me on my success.

*~*

I arrived home in a great mood that day. I had passed my exams, school was out in two weeks, there had been no youma in a week, and it was Shingo's turn for chores. I bounced up the stairs of the shrine to find Rei waiting for me.

"Hey Rei, what's up?" I asked as soon as I noticed the expression on her face.

'Usagi, the man from the bank is here again.' She told me with an even voice.

'Why?' I asked with as much strength as I could muster. I really didn't want to see my good day ruined by terrible news.

'I'm not sure. Grandfather is blocking his thoughts from me.' Rei answered with an audible sigh.

I looked towards the door to the shrine and wondered what was going on inside. Unable to stop myself, I walked closer to the building. As if pulled by some unknown source, I found myself outside of the room that Grandfather was in with the man from the bank.

The door opened, slightly shocking me. There stood Grandfather with a soft smile on his face.

"Usagi, please come in. Mr. Smith (AN: I know, pathetic. But, I didn't feel like trying to make up a name for him.) from the bank is here." Grandfather said as he put an arm around my shoulder to bring me into the room.

"Hello Usagi." Mr. Smith said as he stuck out his hand for me to shake.

"Hello." I managed to weakly reply.

"Well, Usagi, I was just telling your grandfather that everything has been cleared down at the bank. The investigation has been concluded. They were unable to connect the money to any criminal activities." Mr. Smith said as he closed up his briefcase.

"Really?" I asked stunned. After two years, this was it? Everything's okay, see you later??

"Yes. Your money is back in the bank and trust fund." Mr. Smith said with a smile. "It has been a pleasure meeting you both." Mr. Smith said as he shook Grandfather's hand. "I'm sure you have a lot to talk about. I'll just let myself out."

After Mr. Smith had left, I turned to stare at Grandfather. He simply smiled his all-knowing smile. Without letting another moment pass, I leapt into his arms.

"See Usagi, I told you that everything would be okay."

"Oh, Grandfather, I know. I just was so scared of the dishonor on my dead relatives." I said with a sigh.

"But we do have some things to discuss." Grandfather said with a tone that meant that we had to be serious for a moment. "Rei, please come in."

Rei, who had evidently been standing right outside the door, entered. We all sat around a small table in the little lounge area.

"Usagi, you have a decision you must make." Grandfather started. I nodded, but really had no idea what he was talking about. "You now have the funds to begin attending TA again. You could once again go to school with Rei. Or...you can remain in the Juban public school system."

I suddenly realize the weight of the decision that I was about to be forced to make. Do I return to TA and classes with Rei or stay with Ami and Makoto at Juban? Both schools were equally successful and had wonderful reputations with universities. Money was no longer an issue and couldn't base it on anything simple, like location.

"Grandfather, I don't know. I would really like to be back at school with Rei," I said as I smiled at Rei, "But I don't want to leave my new friends."

"I understand." He replied with his voice of knowledge and caring. I hated that voice. It never lent me any guidance.

"Rei, what do you think?" I asked, knowing that I didn't want to hurt her.

"Usagi, it's up to you. You have been going to Juban for two years and seem very happy there." She answered in a not so helpful manner. Why was everyone making me make such a big decision?

"Grandfather, can I answer tomorrow?" I asked. I needed more time before I could decide.

"Yes. But I need to know soon, so that you can be registered." He responded. Then he and Rei left me to contemplate my choice.

I spent most of the time that night and the next morning trying to decide what to do. When I first switched to Juban, I was very upset. But in the end, the only thing that I left at TA was Rei. I could do without the bossy nuns, the lack of boys, and people who didn't like me because I was an orphan. At Juban, I had friends, two especially wonderful friends, nice teachers, and boys on the campus that were easy on the eyes.

"Grandfather, I have made my choice." I said at dinner. I had promise to make a decision and I had. "I'm sorry Rei. I want to stay at Juban."

"Usagi, are you certain?" Grandfather asked. I hated when he made me doubt my decisions.

"Yes." I answered with a tone of certainty in my voice.

"Okay. Then Rei, you may go register on Monday to go to Juban High School." Grandfather told Rei. I immediately looked up to my Grandfather's smiling eyes. I then turned to look at Rei, who had the same look in her eyes.

"What?" I asked, feeling very left out.

"Grandfather told me that I could go to Juban next year and be with you." Rei answered with a large smile.

"You're going to Juban next year?"

Rei nodded her head.

"You're going to Juban next year, with me?"

Rei nodded her head again.

"AGGHHHH!" I screamed and jumped out of my chair. Rei did the same and we began to dance around the kitchen in circles.

Grandfather let out a loud sigh and turned to Shingo, who had been sitting quietly at the table.

"Girls. Sheesh."

"But Rei...you didn't take the entrance exams. You need to pass those to get into Juban and the exams are over for the year!" I shouted quickly, making everyone in the room cover their ears.

Rei simply smiled at me. "Silly Usa, I know that. That's why I took the exams three weeks ago." Rei said holding up a letter that she had pulled from her pocket. "I left after you left and got home before you. It was a surprise!"

"I'll give you a surprise!" I yelled and began to chase after my dearest friend and cousin. Shingo soon joined in the chase, leaving Grandfather shaking his head.

"Kids! Sheesh!"

*~*

"Youma, in the park." Ami informed me by the wrist communicators. It appeared that she and Makoto had been walking through the park when a large, blue, fuzzy monster appeared.

"Be there in a bit." I said and shut off the communicator. I quickly alerted Rei to the situation and she met me at the back steps. We quickly transformed and took off to the battle scene.

"Shabon Spray!"

"Supreme Thunder!"

Rei and I could her the shouts and feel the power in the air as we approached the battle.

"You know, they really ought to shut down this park." I told Rei as we got into fighting stances.

"I agree. The money they must put into restoring this place could easily care for three parks." Rei said with a snicker.

"Moon Tiara Action!" I shouted as my tiara released from my hand. "And I'm sure that they could easily put up a nice building here." I laughed.

"Fire Soul!!" Rei shouted. "Really. Or maybe a couple of houses."

"Okay girls. Enough joking. This guy's mean." Makoto shouted out from her position towards the right of the monster.

"Alright." I sighed. "Sailor Mercury, find a weak spot, I'll cover for you."

"You won't find a weak spot on this youma." A voice said with an evil chuckle from above. I looked up to see a man with short blonde hair hovering above me.

"Oh yeah! Says who?" Rei yelled at the floating man.

"General Jadeite. Fourth General under Queen Beryl." He said with a sense of pride. Myself, I found him quite disturbing. "The Queen is tired of you senshi getting in the way of her plans. I'm here to stop you."

"Doubt it. Moon Tiara Action!" I shouted, only to have the man blink out of sight. He then reappeared behind Ami.

"Mercury! Behind you!" Rei shouted. Ami quickly turned and fired off her bubbles, causing fog to cover the landscape. She dropped her visor over her eyes and began to give everyone directions.

"Sailor Jupiter, the youma is five paces to your right. Sailor Moon, fire straight ahead. Mars two steps to the left. If you all fire at the same time, you have a chance."

"Moon Tiara Action!"

"Supreme Thunder!"

"Fire Soul!"

A loud scream filled the air. As the fog lifted, we could see that the youma was injured and lying on the ground. Along with a lot of burns, a rose was imbedded in the beasts back. We fired one more round at the creature at the same time, effectively destroying the youma.

"Sailor Moon! Watch out!" Too voices shouted at me. I jumped from my spot, not even looking to see what I was avoiding. I looked back to where I was standing to find a four- foot crater. Above it, Jadeite was hovering.

"So much for a lack of weak spot, eh Jadeite." I mocked the obviously upset General. He sent another attack towards me. Before I had a chance to jump, someone grabbed me from behind and jumped.

"Fire Soul!"

"Supreme Thunder!"

The two attacks rushed through the air and headed straight towards the general. He blinked out of sight again. However, when he came back, he was holding his arm. Apparently he hadn't been as fast as before.

"Sailor Moon, do you have the moon stick yet?" A very masculine voice asked from behind me. I turned to find my savior, a dark haired man with a mask. He also wore a tuxedo with a black cape and top hat. A quick check of his thoughts gave away the name Tuxedo Kamen, but everything else was blocked.

"No." I answered. What was a moon stick?

"Too bad. Try firing off another attack while he is distracted by your friends."

I nodded my head in agreement and fired up my attack. Jadeite didn't hear it coming and was hit square in the back. It didn't kill him, but did appear to cause some damage.

"Damn you!" He screamed and disappeared. I quickly ran over to the other girls, who were staring behind me at the masked man.

"Who are you?" Rei shouted.

"A friend." Tuxedo Kamen answered simply. He then turned and took off, jumping from rooftop to rooftop.

"Well, that was interesting." Makoto replied. Ami was quickly entering all the information she had just learned into her computer. She was done in seconds, her hand moving quickly over the keypad.

"How do you type so fast?" Makoto asked Ami with a laugh. Ami just rolled her eyes. Ever since Makoto tried to "steal" the mini-computer, she had wanted to find out more about it.

"Alright, guess we can go home now." I said and transformed back to normal. Rei, Ami, and Makoto quickly followed my lead.

Suddenly, I heard a sound of leaves rustling in a nearby tree. A moment later, a body fell from it. It was the person who had been at the battle the other day, the blonde with the cape and mask.

"Odango?" The person asked, moving closer to us. "Ko-neko, is that really you?"

I knew those names. One person had only ever called me those names.

"Haruka?"

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Mwhahahahaha! I feel evil! That was quite fun to write. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

ChibiJ77@yahoo.com