When you think about your childhood and playing games with your friends,
what is the first image that comes to your head?
For me, it is playing one of those games where you say a rhyme and you hands clap along with it. I remember standing outside, on the street, waiting for it to become dark outside and saying those rhymes over and over again with my friends Makoto and Minako. Both Minako and Makoto lived on the same street as me, so we were always outside playing.
My friend Rei lived a few blocks up, at the only Japanese shrine in our city with her grandfather. (In fact, the whole reason why my grandmothers and grandfathers probably lived in this neighborhood was because of the Hino shrine. I wonder if my grandparents knew Rei's grandfather.) Rei could rarely ever join us because she lived father away.
Ami lived the farthest and she never came to my street because of the great distance she lived and her mother would never drive her over (her mother would only pick us up and take her to her house). She lived down in the neighborhood that had all those big, fancy one-family houses and announced back in first grade that she wanted to be the smartest person alive, so she was always studying and doing her homework perfectly. Ami had so little free time.
So it was just me and Makoto and Minako playing outside on my street ever night, until they moved and I was all alone.
~*~
The sun was just starting to set. Colors of orange and purple and red and blue were filling the sky. All the groups of kids on my streets were playing games. Some were clapping their hands to a rhyme. Others were playing hockey or shooting hoops. Younger kids were playing little versions of tag, drawing on sidewalk with brightly colored chalk, or playing hopscotch.
I would have joined them...
But each of them seemed to be in such perfectly formulated, always-been- that-way groups and I didn't want to barge in and ruin their fun.
It was time like these that memories of my once-upon-a-dream best friends came to mind.
~*~
Ami was the first to leave, back before 6th grade started.
It was back then that we first made the promise to always be friends, no matter how far anyone moved. Of course, back then I never imagined anyone else would leave.
The beginning of 6th grade was hard without our brainiack friend Ami. It was at the beginning that we all missed her the most and were all disappointed that she didn't write us. But time moved on and soon, sadly, it seemed that she had just never been there. Like she was just someone we had imagined.
Then Rei moved at the end of the first quarter of 6th grade. We were all shocked by the news that her grandfather wanted to send her to boarding school so she could be educated to become a better priestess. When she left; Minako, Makoto, and me at first started going to the shrine to see how she was doing, but her grandfather always seemed to be too busy to talk to us and so we grew tired of walking over their once a week to hear how our friend was doing and never getting a reply.
I did try to check up on her when ever my family went to the shrine for some relaxation and meditation, but Rei's grandfather would always pretend that I wasn't talking to him and tell my father that he needed to give more money to the shrine to keep it up. After awhile, when my family was there, I began to notice that he would only talk to the richer Japanese families at the Shrine, rather then us. I guess he only liked me back when I was Rei's friend.
Before I knew it, back before sophomore year at high school, the Hino shrine up and left the neighborhood and went to a new neighborhood in the suburbs that had richer Japanese people living there. A giant Cineplex, with the most theatres I had ever seen, was built where the shrine use to be.
Then, just before spring, Minako left. She was the most gorgeous of us and was a very talented actress, even though she was so young. She had been in tons of commercials and once made a 2-show appearance on some hit TV show. Her mother told us that she had saved up enough money from all those TV appearances to move away, to a better neighborhood, where Minako could get a better education and maybe become a model or even a real actress.
Minako leaving was the most tearful. Minako was a lover for dramatics and started crying and soon I followed her, and then Makoto. I swear, we must have cried for an hour before her father came and dragged her in to their station wagon. Me and Makoto of course chased after her, when their car pulled away, but our feet were not fast enough to keep up and soon she was gone.
A few months back. I heard that Minako was a model on some famous runway and was soon going to star in some movie.
I felt nothing for her when I heard that bit of gossip.
The last to leave, on the first day of summer break, was my best friend Makoto. Her leaving was the hardest. We had been friends since... since forever. We meet when were little babies, crawling outside our same apartment building. We never ever left each others side until the day she left.
There were no hugs or kisses or tears when she left, only a pain-full ache in our hearts. For weeks during that summer, I would lay in my bed and think of her and just start crying. I would cry a painful, lonely, pure heartache cry into the darkness of my room. That was before I realized that she was never going to write me a letter or call, just like the rest of my so-called-friends and I decided she wasn't worth crying over. None of them were worth crying over. So I did just that, I stopped crying.
It is a good thing Hiiro moved in though, because without him, I probably wouldn't have lasted the summer all alone.
~*~
The streetlamps would come on and the street would become completely dark.
Children would run into their apartments at this time and wait for their parents to come home. Shingo would go in to one of his friend's apartments, where he continued to play his games until Dad would call later and tell him to come home.
It was on an average end of the day like this that I was sitting on my stairs, that lead into the apartment building, waiting for my parents to come home, when he came outside.
He sat down beside me ,on the step, and we sat there for a few seconds before I finally acknowledged him.
"Hi Hiiro"
"Hn........."
We continued to sit there, not speaking yet feeling as if we were telling each others a thousand things. It felt like time was standing still, again, and all we were in was a soundless world that stared in to darkness.
I later found out that a friend is a person you can stay in complete silence with for up to 20 minutes. I wonder if that is how long we waited into my mom finally walked down the street towards me.
"Hi Mom! How was work? What for dinner?" "Goodness Usagi, be patient! I am going upstairs right now to start dinner. Way don't you wait down here for your father?"
"Kay"
I sat joyfully back down, happy that my empty stomach would soon be filled. I knew that at any moment Dad would be driving home in our 10 years old, rusty, small car and we would be having dinner.
When he did arrive I said good-bye to Hiiro and followed my Dad up the stairs to my home.
~*~
It wasn't until later that night that I realized I never asked Hiiro why he was outside waiting. Later on in the summer, about the middle of July, I did.
"My dad came home later from work then I expected that night. He got caught in some... traffic, yeah traffic."
~*~
I didn't know until that one horrible day, in mid-August, that Hiiro's father was a trained assassin and that he was the cause of the deaths of all the power-filled leaders of our cities that everyone had heard about on the radio. I didn't know that on that one day that Hiiro and I waited outside together, that Hiiro's father was running all around town trying to get the cops of his trail and not be caught.
I wonder if Hiiro ever played any childhood games.
His favorite game most have been hide-and-go-seek tag.
****
~Author's Note~
I am sorry that this chapter was just about Usagi's past and all her friends leaving. I hope it wasn't too boring for you and that the little part at the end with Hiiro and Usagi made you happy. Well my play is over with and I am feeling alittle sick right now, plus I have tons of homework but I feel like I should write something to everyone that has reviewed me so far (considering that this is the most reviews that I have ever gotten - so thanks everyone)
Warning: Please don't read if you don't want some mini-spoilers or are just happy with how the story is going so far. Basically, I am just answering ppl's questions as best as I can and not giving anything away but I hate it when an author sorta gives away the next chapter or the future of the story in their notes so I just want to warn ppl like me. Thanks/
Koori - thanks for being my first reviewer!!! =)
azure_chan- thanks for reviewing also!
¤°°º°º°°¤|çé ß|úé Éy駤°°º°º°°¤ - I think it is really cool how you formatted your name. =) Thanks for telling me that my new story is one of the few that are good at the moment. To answer your question about whether or not this is a Hiiro/Usagi fic, I would love to say yes but for the sake of the story, at the moment, I am forced to say no. I am emailing you a paragraph on why this story isn't. And if anyone else reading this story dreadful needs to know why they aren't together just tell me and I will email you the paragraph too. But just remember, this is an uncompleted story and you should just enjoy were it is at, at the moment. (God, life would be a lot easier if this was a completed story.)
Water Angel - I am sorry that my chapters are not that long but, well, I normally only write for about 20-40 minutes on each chapter. That is the most I can give on writing them because I normally have homework to do (some ppl are amazed by how much homework my teachers give). I also only write as much as my imagination and inspiration has given me for that day (which I guess isn't a lot). So I am sorry that my chapters are short but hopefully they don't lack in quality (which is what counts, right?)
Jupiter Angel - Wow! Lots of questions to answer. I will also be emailing you the paragraph that I am sending ice blue eyes to answer your first question. I am not exactly sure what Usagi wants to be when she grows-up because I haven't actually thought about it. Maybe I will say what she wants to be later on in the story (*wonders*). I am also unsure if Usagi will become Sailor Moon in this story (haven't thought about it much but trying to think of ways. Plus Usagi isn't 14 or older in this story and I try to stick as close as possible to the real data on the story). I don't know about Hiiro either but if I get really far into the story, I would have to say yes - especially since I have some idea how it ends. Hope your headache has gone away. =)
Lacking motivation - thanks for the two reviews!!!
Key - thank you also for the two reviews. People coming back and continuing to read my story really means a lot to me. Thanks a lot!!!
Feel free to continuing reviewing and questioning my story. I would really appreciate some insightful, deep feedback but even the basic - "I love it' 'keep it up' really raises my spirits and has made me dance around my house a few times. =)
For me, it is playing one of those games where you say a rhyme and you hands clap along with it. I remember standing outside, on the street, waiting for it to become dark outside and saying those rhymes over and over again with my friends Makoto and Minako. Both Minako and Makoto lived on the same street as me, so we were always outside playing.
My friend Rei lived a few blocks up, at the only Japanese shrine in our city with her grandfather. (In fact, the whole reason why my grandmothers and grandfathers probably lived in this neighborhood was because of the Hino shrine. I wonder if my grandparents knew Rei's grandfather.) Rei could rarely ever join us because she lived father away.
Ami lived the farthest and she never came to my street because of the great distance she lived and her mother would never drive her over (her mother would only pick us up and take her to her house). She lived down in the neighborhood that had all those big, fancy one-family houses and announced back in first grade that she wanted to be the smartest person alive, so she was always studying and doing her homework perfectly. Ami had so little free time.
So it was just me and Makoto and Minako playing outside on my street ever night, until they moved and I was all alone.
~*~
The sun was just starting to set. Colors of orange and purple and red and blue were filling the sky. All the groups of kids on my streets were playing games. Some were clapping their hands to a rhyme. Others were playing hockey or shooting hoops. Younger kids were playing little versions of tag, drawing on sidewalk with brightly colored chalk, or playing hopscotch.
I would have joined them...
But each of them seemed to be in such perfectly formulated, always-been- that-way groups and I didn't want to barge in and ruin their fun.
It was time like these that memories of my once-upon-a-dream best friends came to mind.
~*~
Ami was the first to leave, back before 6th grade started.
It was back then that we first made the promise to always be friends, no matter how far anyone moved. Of course, back then I never imagined anyone else would leave.
The beginning of 6th grade was hard without our brainiack friend Ami. It was at the beginning that we all missed her the most and were all disappointed that she didn't write us. But time moved on and soon, sadly, it seemed that she had just never been there. Like she was just someone we had imagined.
Then Rei moved at the end of the first quarter of 6th grade. We were all shocked by the news that her grandfather wanted to send her to boarding school so she could be educated to become a better priestess. When she left; Minako, Makoto, and me at first started going to the shrine to see how she was doing, but her grandfather always seemed to be too busy to talk to us and so we grew tired of walking over their once a week to hear how our friend was doing and never getting a reply.
I did try to check up on her when ever my family went to the shrine for some relaxation and meditation, but Rei's grandfather would always pretend that I wasn't talking to him and tell my father that he needed to give more money to the shrine to keep it up. After awhile, when my family was there, I began to notice that he would only talk to the richer Japanese families at the Shrine, rather then us. I guess he only liked me back when I was Rei's friend.
Before I knew it, back before sophomore year at high school, the Hino shrine up and left the neighborhood and went to a new neighborhood in the suburbs that had richer Japanese people living there. A giant Cineplex, with the most theatres I had ever seen, was built where the shrine use to be.
Then, just before spring, Minako left. She was the most gorgeous of us and was a very talented actress, even though she was so young. She had been in tons of commercials and once made a 2-show appearance on some hit TV show. Her mother told us that she had saved up enough money from all those TV appearances to move away, to a better neighborhood, where Minako could get a better education and maybe become a model or even a real actress.
Minako leaving was the most tearful. Minako was a lover for dramatics and started crying and soon I followed her, and then Makoto. I swear, we must have cried for an hour before her father came and dragged her in to their station wagon. Me and Makoto of course chased after her, when their car pulled away, but our feet were not fast enough to keep up and soon she was gone.
A few months back. I heard that Minako was a model on some famous runway and was soon going to star in some movie.
I felt nothing for her when I heard that bit of gossip.
The last to leave, on the first day of summer break, was my best friend Makoto. Her leaving was the hardest. We had been friends since... since forever. We meet when were little babies, crawling outside our same apartment building. We never ever left each others side until the day she left.
There were no hugs or kisses or tears when she left, only a pain-full ache in our hearts. For weeks during that summer, I would lay in my bed and think of her and just start crying. I would cry a painful, lonely, pure heartache cry into the darkness of my room. That was before I realized that she was never going to write me a letter or call, just like the rest of my so-called-friends and I decided she wasn't worth crying over. None of them were worth crying over. So I did just that, I stopped crying.
It is a good thing Hiiro moved in though, because without him, I probably wouldn't have lasted the summer all alone.
~*~
The streetlamps would come on and the street would become completely dark.
Children would run into their apartments at this time and wait for their parents to come home. Shingo would go in to one of his friend's apartments, where he continued to play his games until Dad would call later and tell him to come home.
It was on an average end of the day like this that I was sitting on my stairs, that lead into the apartment building, waiting for my parents to come home, when he came outside.
He sat down beside me ,on the step, and we sat there for a few seconds before I finally acknowledged him.
"Hi Hiiro"
"Hn........."
We continued to sit there, not speaking yet feeling as if we were telling each others a thousand things. It felt like time was standing still, again, and all we were in was a soundless world that stared in to darkness.
I later found out that a friend is a person you can stay in complete silence with for up to 20 minutes. I wonder if that is how long we waited into my mom finally walked down the street towards me.
"Hi Mom! How was work? What for dinner?" "Goodness Usagi, be patient! I am going upstairs right now to start dinner. Way don't you wait down here for your father?"
"Kay"
I sat joyfully back down, happy that my empty stomach would soon be filled. I knew that at any moment Dad would be driving home in our 10 years old, rusty, small car and we would be having dinner.
When he did arrive I said good-bye to Hiiro and followed my Dad up the stairs to my home.
~*~
It wasn't until later that night that I realized I never asked Hiiro why he was outside waiting. Later on in the summer, about the middle of July, I did.
"My dad came home later from work then I expected that night. He got caught in some... traffic, yeah traffic."
~*~
I didn't know until that one horrible day, in mid-August, that Hiiro's father was a trained assassin and that he was the cause of the deaths of all the power-filled leaders of our cities that everyone had heard about on the radio. I didn't know that on that one day that Hiiro and I waited outside together, that Hiiro's father was running all around town trying to get the cops of his trail and not be caught.
I wonder if Hiiro ever played any childhood games.
His favorite game most have been hide-and-go-seek tag.
****
~Author's Note~
I am sorry that this chapter was just about Usagi's past and all her friends leaving. I hope it wasn't too boring for you and that the little part at the end with Hiiro and Usagi made you happy. Well my play is over with and I am feeling alittle sick right now, plus I have tons of homework but I feel like I should write something to everyone that has reviewed me so far (considering that this is the most reviews that I have ever gotten - so thanks everyone)
Warning: Please don't read if you don't want some mini-spoilers or are just happy with how the story is going so far. Basically, I am just answering ppl's questions as best as I can and not giving anything away but I hate it when an author sorta gives away the next chapter or the future of the story in their notes so I just want to warn ppl like me. Thanks/
Koori - thanks for being my first reviewer!!! =)
azure_chan- thanks for reviewing also!
¤°°º°º°°¤|çé ß|úé Éy駤°°º°º°°¤ - I think it is really cool how you formatted your name. =) Thanks for telling me that my new story is one of the few that are good at the moment. To answer your question about whether or not this is a Hiiro/Usagi fic, I would love to say yes but for the sake of the story, at the moment, I am forced to say no. I am emailing you a paragraph on why this story isn't. And if anyone else reading this story dreadful needs to know why they aren't together just tell me and I will email you the paragraph too. But just remember, this is an uncompleted story and you should just enjoy were it is at, at the moment. (God, life would be a lot easier if this was a completed story.)
Water Angel - I am sorry that my chapters are not that long but, well, I normally only write for about 20-40 minutes on each chapter. That is the most I can give on writing them because I normally have homework to do (some ppl are amazed by how much homework my teachers give). I also only write as much as my imagination and inspiration has given me for that day (which I guess isn't a lot). So I am sorry that my chapters are short but hopefully they don't lack in quality (which is what counts, right?)
Jupiter Angel - Wow! Lots of questions to answer. I will also be emailing you the paragraph that I am sending ice blue eyes to answer your first question. I am not exactly sure what Usagi wants to be when she grows-up because I haven't actually thought about it. Maybe I will say what she wants to be later on in the story (*wonders*). I am also unsure if Usagi will become Sailor Moon in this story (haven't thought about it much but trying to think of ways. Plus Usagi isn't 14 or older in this story and I try to stick as close as possible to the real data on the story). I don't know about Hiiro either but if I get really far into the story, I would have to say yes - especially since I have some idea how it ends. Hope your headache has gone away. =)
Lacking motivation - thanks for the two reviews!!!
Key - thank you also for the two reviews. People coming back and continuing to read my story really means a lot to me. Thanks a lot!!!
Feel free to continuing reviewing and questioning my story. I would really appreciate some insightful, deep feedback but even the basic - "I love it' 'keep it up' really raises my spirits and has made me dance around my house a few times. =)
