Overcoming the Past: Chapter 6
Charlyne
charlyne_o@hotmail.com
07/18/03
Usagi had no time to enjoy her dazed state, for the moment the girls heard the apartment door close they converged on her. It was like an ambush, but instead of enemies wielding weapons it was friends wielding questions. Usagi was surprised that Nariko hadn't come out of her room to see what all the noise was about. Usagi checked her watch. It was only seven o'clock. Had the toddler gone to bed early?
"How was the date?"
"Did he kiss you?"
"Was he a gentleman? He didn't try anything, did he?"
"Are you going out again?"
Usagi laughed softly. Each girl shot out her question before Usagi even got a chance to answer any of them. Usagi waited until they'd quieted before answering each question in the order it had been asked. She started with Ami's. "The date was nice." Then answered Minako's. "No, he didn't kiss me." Third, she reassured Makoto, "He was a perfect gentleman." And lastly she informed Rei, "He asked me out again."
"If he didn't kiss you, why did you look so dazed just now?" Minako probed.
Usagi blushed. "Okay, he kissed my hand."
"How romantic," Minako sighed.
"When is your next date? I hope we have time to recuperate from watching your little mons--I mean, angel--before you two go out again."
A grin curled Usagi's lips. "Don't worry, Rei-chan, he invited both me and my little angel to dinner at his apartment next weekend. You'll have plenty of time to recover. Where is she, by the way?"
"She wore herself out throwing a fit because Minako wouldn't give her chocolate. We put on one of her cartoons and she fell asleep. Honestly, Usagi, I'm beginning to like Nariko best when she's sleeping," Rei told her.
"She wasn't that bad, Rei," Ami admonished.
Makoto, Minako, and Rei all raised an eyebrow and looked at Ami in silence. The blue-haired girl threw up her hands in frustration. "All right, she was that bad. Jeez, I was just trying to make Usagi feel better."
Usagi chuckled. "I know my daughter very well, Ami-chan. She can be a little hellion. She probably just missed me. It's the second night in a row that her mother has left her to go out."
Ami nodded in understanding. It made sense that the two year old would not be used to sharing her mother with anyone else, Usagi had told them herself that she hadn't had many friends since she'd had the responsibility of Nariko.
"Well, we better get going, Usagi-chan. We'll see you tomorrow," Minako said. The girls gathered up the things they had brought with them, then filed out the door.
Usagi smiled as she waved good-bye to her friends. I'll tell them about Nariko tomorrow, she decided.
The next day at school Usagi did her best to ignore the vicious remarks and rude whisperings that followed in her wake. She didn't care what the other people thought of her, only that she'd made four wonderful friends that had shown, since the weeks that she'd known them, that they would stick around. A smile curled Usagi's lips.
"What are you grinning about?"
Usagi felt her happiness fade at the intrusion of that particular voice. "Hello, Beryl," Usagi greeted, though her tone was anything but friendly.
"I saw you with a guy last night. Were you feeling lonely? Needed to have a little fun?" Beryl smirked. "Just be careful you don't get pregnant again."
Usagi gasped. The nerve of her, insinuating that Usagi had slept with Mamoru. Seemingly without the instruction of her brain, Usagi's hand lashed out and slapped Beryl across the face. A red mark in the shape of a hand stood out against the other girl's cheek.
"You little bitch," Beryl growled. "You'll pay for that." The red-head turned on her heel and hurried up to the school building.
That was a stupid thing to do, Usagi, she told herself. Next time, think before you act!
Spotting a bench under a nearby tree, Usagi sat down and waited. There was no use trying to avoid the punishment she knew was coming. She was half expecting the principal to come outside and expel her. Well, Usagi knew that if Beryl had her way she would not only be expelled, it would be announced at an assembly in front of the entire school.
As expected, a few moments later Beryl exited the school with a teacher by her side. Usagi was happy to see that it wasn't the principal. The red-head was talking loudly, her voice furious as she explained that Usagi had walked up to her and, for no reason, hit her. Usagi rolled her eyes. Beryl had chosen the wrong teacher to tell her lies to. It was Haruna-sensei that walked along side Usagi's arch-nemesis. And, as Usagi's homeroom teacher, she knew Usagi better than most of the other teachers.
"Haruna-sensei," Usagi said, standing and bowing.
"Tsukino-san, did you hit Kitou-san?" the teacher asked sternly.
Usagi blushed and averted her eyes. "Yes, Sensei."
The teacher frowned and looked between the two girls. Haruna knew Usagi well enough to know that she would not hit someone without provocation, but that did not dismiss the fact that she had hit Beryl. "You will have detention with me after school, Tsukino-san."
"I understand, Sensei," Usagi responded. Detention was much better than expulsion.
Beryl smirked as Haruna-sensei returned to the school. "Have fun in detention," she said.
Usagi sighed and walked away. She was beginning to detest that smirk even more than she already did and she could feel her hand itching to leave its print on Beryl's other cheek. Usagi sat under a tree until the bell that signaled the commencement of afternoon classes rang. Taking her seat beside Minako, she leaned over and whispered, "I can't meet with you guys tonight, I have detention."
"How did you get detention?" Minako asked.
"I slapped Beryl."
Minako's jaw dropped. "You slapped Beryl? I wish I'd been there to see that. I was wondering where you were, Mako-chan and I were waiting for you. Jeez, you wander off for one afternoon and I miss all the fun."
Usagi sighed. Well, looks like I'll have to wait until tomorrow to tell them about Nariko.
Nariko skipped along next to Usagi as she trudged slowly up to her apartment. She'd had to call the daycare center and tell them that she would be an hour late to pick up her daughter because something had come up at school. She was sure that Miya-san had known that the "something" was detention. The walk home had been filled with Nariko's excited talk about what had happened that day and she'd proudly shown Usagi a finger painting she'd made. Usagi, of course, gushed over the beautiful piece of art.
The elevator dinged as it stopped on the fifth floor. Usagi stepped out and headed towards her door, Nariko's hand held firmly in hers. As the numbers on door 552 came into view, Usagi noticed a man lurking out in the hallway. He looked vaguely familiar but she didn't recognize him fully until it was too late. The man spotted her.
"Usagi, so nice to see you," he said, smiling. His brown hair was slightly too long and his bangs fell into his piercing blue eyes. Usagi would have thought him handsome if she hadn't known him for what he was. A snake.
"Watanabe-san," she replied, her voice clipped and cold. Usagi forced Nariko behind her as she approached her door. "What are you doing here?"
"Such formality, Usagi. You used to call me Yukio." The man tsked. "And I would think it obvious that I'm here to see my daughter." He peered around Usagi to see the wide blue eyes of Nariko staring up at him with curiosity.
"You never wanted to see her before," Usagi snapped. She searched through her purse until she found the key to her apartment, then quickly opened the door and forced Nariko inside. She patted the little girl on the head and said softly, "I'll be inside in a moment, sweetie." Yukio moved his gaze back to Usagi as the door swung shut. Usagi wished she could be in the apartment with Nariko, away from this man, but she knew she had to talk to him. She needed to let him know that she would not let him anywhere near the little girl.
"I had some...issues...I needed to work through," he replied.
Usagi snorted. "Like whether the trust fund was worth sticking around for when there was a child in the picture?"
A scowl replaced the smile on Yukio's face. "I would like to take responsibility for my daughter."
"No. Go away, Yukio. You're not going to take her away from me, and you're certainly not going to get any money from me." Yukio's scowl deepened. Usagi felt fear rise within her. She knew what this look on his face meant.
"Bring the child back out here, Usagi, and hand her over to me." Yukio spoke slowly and calmly, a sure sign of his growing anger.
Usagi shook her head. She would not hand over an innocent child to this poor excuse for a man. She knew the only reason he would be interested in Nariko was if there was money involved. He probably thought that he'd get a nice chunk of Usagi's trust fund if he was Nariko's guardian. Which he probably would, if he could get his hands on the toddler. But Usagi knew that there was no legal way for Yukio to take Nariko. That fact frightened her even more. Yukio's greed knew no bounds, legal or not she knew he would try and take the little girl.
"Give her to me!" Yukio shouted. He grabbed Usagi roughly by the arm and shook her.
"I won't!" Usagi yelled. She refused to flinch from the pain of his hold on her arm.
Yukio growled. He clenched his free hand into a fist, his arm shaking with the need to hit something. Giving into the urge, he brought his arm up and swung. The smack of fist against skin and bone was satisfying. Usagi cried out and crumpled to the floor.
Mamoru frowned as the doors of the elevator parted. He could hear two people arguing loudly just around the corner, and one of the voices sounded like Usagi's. Exiting the elevator quickly, he hurried down the hall. The scene that came into view left him paralyzed with shock for a moment. Usagi and an unknown man stood outside her apartment yelling at each other. He stood, watching silently, until he saw the man's fist connect with Usagi's cheek. Jolting into motion, Mamoru ran forward and shoved the man away from Usagi.
"Usagi, are you okay?" Mamoru asked, kneeling down beside her.
"Yes," Usagi replied softly. She looked up at him pleadingly. "Don't let him take Nariko."
Mamoru nodded and stood. Without a word, Mamoru turned and slammed his fist into Yukio's nose. The other man howled and grabbed his face, blood leaking from beneath his hand. "Leave Usagi and Nariko alone," Mamoru told him, his voice deadly.
Yukio glared at the black-haired man. "The little girl is my daughter, I have every right to take her."
"The little girl has a name, which you obviously don't know. That doesn't make you much of a father," said Mamoru. "Get out of here before I hit you again."
Yukio hesitated, then took Mamoru's warning. His hands still cupped around his bleeding nose, the man headed towards the elevator. Mamoru waited until Yukio was out of view before crouching down next to Usagi. "He's gone." He gently helped Usagi to her feet.
"Thank you, Mamoru-san," Usagi told him. "If you hadn't been here, he might have taken Nariko." Tears filled her eyes and began rolling down her cheeks. "I...I can't thank you enough." Without a thought, Usagi threw herself against Mamoru's chest and started sobbing.
Awkwardly, Mamoru wrapped his arms around the crying girl and patted her back. "It's all right, Usagi. I would never let anyone hurt you or Nariko. Maybe you should have your friends walk you come from school from now on, in case he comes back. I'll give you my cell phone number so you can call me if you need me."
Usagi sniffled. "Okay."
"Come on. I hear Nariko starting to call your name, she must be getting worried. And we better put something on your cheek, you're going to have quite a bruise from that bastard."
Usagi made a sound that was half-hiccough, half-laugh. She let Mamoru lead her into her apartment and sit her down at the kitchen table. Nariko immediately crawled onto her lap.
"Why you try-ing, mommy?" she asked.
"I'm crying because that man was very bad and he hit me," she replied gently. There was no use lying to the little girl, there would surely be a bruise forming already. Usagi sighed. Thank God Mamoru had come along when he had, there was no telling what might have happened if he hadn't. She could only pray that Yukio would leave her alone, but she knew it was unlikely. There was only one thing to do: she had to make sure that she was never alone and that Nariko was always supervised. Why did Yukio have to come back when things had finally started looking up?
Author's Note:
Mamoru to the rescue! All he needs is his cape and top hat. :-p Anyway, unlike
last chapter I knew what I was doing with this one. Thanks to everyone who
reassured me that chapter 5 wasn't as bad as I thought, I really appreciate it.
FYA (For Your Amusement), Kitou, which is the last name I gave Beryl, means "Devil-Head" in kanji.
Question: should I start a mailing list to let you all know when I update this story?
Chapter 7: The truth is out. (finally, what you've all been waiting for)
My dream is to make it to 100 reviews... ;-)
Sailor Moon is copyright © 1992 Naoko Takeuchi/Kodansha, TOEI Animation. English Language Adaptation copyright © 1995 DiC Entertainment.
