Disclaimer: All I own is the computer I'm writing on, the parrot sitting on it, and the crazy ideas in my crazy head!
It was almost springtime, a time where the gray clouds that covered the sun should be pouring down the rain that caused the flowers to coat the ground in April, but in the Juuban district of Tokyo, winter had not yet released it's grip. A cold, dry wind blew around the coats and hair of a group of teenagers and chapped any exposed skin, but they were determined to enjoy the weekend, their one break a week.
Tomoe Hotaru, not really worrying about her own short hair, had a tight hold on both of Tsukino Usagi's pigtails, as did Usagi herself. Both girls huddled together for warmth, Luna's furry black body in between them, and all three giggled at some peice of story or gossip.
Chiba Mamoru and Mizuno Ami stood together, the wind or cold not seeming to touch them, but it did try to blow the notes they held out of their hands as they compared notes on their shared anatomy class. Kino Makoto and Aino Minako stood behind them, making faces about school as they absent-mindedly stroked Artemis.
Tenou Haruka and Kaoi Michiru were both quite warm enough, as they both cuddled, lagging slightly behind the group and laughing at some little joke between them.
They refused to not smile and laugh at all, but the cold bleakness of the day had taken hold of the group. On most days, the would be running around in the park, climbing trees and acting like they were little kids again, eating Makoto's food, but today they were barely paying attention to anything around them. Other than them, the park was empty.
"Oh! What beautiful kitties!" the whole group snaped to sudden attention at the squeel from behind them, and spun around to see a little girl behind them, a little startled when Luna and Artemis jump neatly into her arms, purring loudly as she stroked them both behind the ears. "They're so sweet, too!" The girl speaking looked about seven, but with a skinny smallness to her, and extremely long auborn hair pulled into two pigtails, one on each side of her head and both looped around behind her head, kind of resembling messy buns that had fallen out, only held at the ends, and it was tied with purple ribbon that had tiny teal flowers on one side of her head and the exact opposite pattern on the other. Tiny wispy tendrils of hair constantly slipped in front of her quite pale face and her large, laughing eyes; the right one a violet color, the left bright green. A thin half-healed scar ran from the middle of her left cheek down into her thick sweatshirt. "Are they always this friendly?"
Usagi and Minako slowly shook their heads. Ami laughed. Rei and Hotaru both stared at her oddly.
The strange girl caught the suspicious looks that Rei and Hotaru were giving her, her smile slowly fading and her left eye slowly turning a light slate color. She unconciously played with the loose baby hairs around her face and bit her lower lip, then realized that she was doing that and quickly shakes her head, both eyes suddenly violet.
"Ibie!" A short but well-muscled man somewhere in his early twenties, with short golden hair and bright blue eyes called behind her, and she turned around with a huge grin on her face.
Turning back towards the group, she gently pried Luna's mouth off of the strange pin she was wearing, a tiny upturned crescant moon made out of blue, purple, and teal ribbons on a background of even tinier asteroids, and hands Luna to Usagi and Artemis to Minako, her left eye once again green and her grin back. "Thank you for letting me play with your kitties, sorry to bother you!" she giggled sweetly, "Byebye!" And ran off to grab the man's arm and skip away, half-dragging him.
"How weird." Makoto mumbled, half to herself.
Haruka idly fliped some of her short hair. "Well, there's always going to be weird people out there."
Minako glared at them, trying to fold her arms and more than half squeezing Artemis in the process, "Hey! She's just a happy little girl, there's nothing wrong with that! And besides, Art and Luna wouldn't have jumped on her if she was bad, right?" She looked down at Artemis for confirmation to her words, just then noticing how she was holding him. "Oh, sorry Arty. Anyway, what did get into you there? You're never so friendly to me!"
Still trying to catch his breath, Artemis mumbled a comment for Minako's ears alone, "You're never so nice to me."
Seeing Minako's quickly reddening face, Makoto quickly stepped in. "No, no, I meant her left eye. It couldn't seem to decide what color it was. And was that her brother back there? Her dad?"
"I would imagine her brother. He didn't seem old enough to be her father. But he did look like her, even with different hair. And yes, her eye was odd." Ami looked thoughtfull. "And I think it was blind, too."
"She was blind?" Minako was genuinely confused. "But she seemed to see just fine!"
"No," Ami giggled, "I meant just her left eye."
"Why do you say that, Ami-chan?" Michiru inclined her head towards Ami, curious about the strange child.
"Well, ... " Ami blushed as she notices most of the groups' eyes on her, but cleared her throat and continued. "First of all, a milky film covered all of it, the kind that forms when certain types of blindness occur later in life. Secondly, the whites of her eyes had a slight grayish tint, as if her brain had realized that that eye no longer worked and cut of the blood supply. Also, the pupil, the little black dot which draws in the light to see, was almost non-existant."
"Wow." Minako's eyes were open wide. "Amazing, Ami-chan."
"What, you mean her incredible amount of medical knowledge?" Haruka ruffled Ami's hair like an older brother. Or older sister, in this case.
Minako smirked. "No, I mean the fact that she explained something medical and I actually understood it!"
All but Usagi, Rei, and Hotaru laughed at Minako's unexpected joke. All the rest of the eyes turned to the three together after they noticed their silence.
"Hotaru-chan? Odango? Rei? You guys okay?" Haruka turned to the three.
Hotaru forced a smile, not ready to share her thoughts. "Of course I am, Haruka-papa."
Both Haruka and Michiru looked at their adopted daughter questioningly, noticing the lie but not going to call her on it, then turned to Rei as she started speaking.
"Her aura was ... funny." Rei looked almost confused, but her face was drawn in deep thought. "I can't explain it. I don't think she's bad, but I think we should keep an eye on her. She's much more powerful than she looks."
"I'm glad you're being more cautious, Rei. Wouldn't want another incident like the time when you read Usagi's aura and then attacked her." Ami said sarcastically.
Most of the group either snickered of looked shocked at Ami's quite unexpected tease, but Rei actually nodded, her face grimly serious. "Actually, I think this is much like that time."
Mamoru inadvertently cut her off, turning to Usagi, who had just bent over with her head in her hands, trembling slightly. "Usako, are you allright?"
"Y-yes." Usagi sounded neither sure of the answer nor sure of herself. "Just a little headache." But she stumbled even as she was saying that, and her voice was quite weak and strained from the obvious effort she was putting into walking.
"Headache, huh?" Haruka had her hands on her hips.
"Come here, my princess." Mamoru picked her up in his arms, cradling her gently and holding her close to his body. "That better?" It was all Usagi could do to nod weakly as they continued walking.
"Hey, sorry to break the mood here," Haruka just snickered lightly at that comment, who would want to stay in such an akward mood! "But didn't that older guy, her older brother maybe? look a lot like Usagi? And that kid's hair reminded me of Odango's odangos."
Usagi moaned slightly and hung limp in Mamoru's arms, totally unconscious.
- - - - - - - - - - - - } ----+---- {*:*} ----+---- {*:*} ----+---- { - - - - - - - - - - - -
Ah... not really that good. I think that the next couple of chapters are better though. And they will be here soon, I promise! And thank you, wingnut, for reminding me about my tense issues. I really do need to work on this. This rendition better?
It was almost springtime, a time where the gray clouds that covered the sun should be pouring down the rain that caused the flowers to coat the ground in April, but in the Juuban district of Tokyo, winter had not yet released it's grip. A cold, dry wind blew around the coats and hair of a group of teenagers and chapped any exposed skin, but they were determined to enjoy the weekend, their one break a week.
Tomoe Hotaru, not really worrying about her own short hair, had a tight hold on both of Tsukino Usagi's pigtails, as did Usagi herself. Both girls huddled together for warmth, Luna's furry black body in between them, and all three giggled at some peice of story or gossip.
Chiba Mamoru and Mizuno Ami stood together, the wind or cold not seeming to touch them, but it did try to blow the notes they held out of their hands as they compared notes on their shared anatomy class. Kino Makoto and Aino Minako stood behind them, making faces about school as they absent-mindedly stroked Artemis.
Tenou Haruka and Kaoi Michiru were both quite warm enough, as they both cuddled, lagging slightly behind the group and laughing at some little joke between them.
They refused to not smile and laugh at all, but the cold bleakness of the day had taken hold of the group. On most days, the would be running around in the park, climbing trees and acting like they were little kids again, eating Makoto's food, but today they were barely paying attention to anything around them. Other than them, the park was empty.
"Oh! What beautiful kitties!" the whole group snaped to sudden attention at the squeel from behind them, and spun around to see a little girl behind them, a little startled when Luna and Artemis jump neatly into her arms, purring loudly as she stroked them both behind the ears. "They're so sweet, too!" The girl speaking looked about seven, but with a skinny smallness to her, and extremely long auborn hair pulled into two pigtails, one on each side of her head and both looped around behind her head, kind of resembling messy buns that had fallen out, only held at the ends, and it was tied with purple ribbon that had tiny teal flowers on one side of her head and the exact opposite pattern on the other. Tiny wispy tendrils of hair constantly slipped in front of her quite pale face and her large, laughing eyes; the right one a violet color, the left bright green. A thin half-healed scar ran from the middle of her left cheek down into her thick sweatshirt. "Are they always this friendly?"
Usagi and Minako slowly shook their heads. Ami laughed. Rei and Hotaru both stared at her oddly.
The strange girl caught the suspicious looks that Rei and Hotaru were giving her, her smile slowly fading and her left eye slowly turning a light slate color. She unconciously played with the loose baby hairs around her face and bit her lower lip, then realized that she was doing that and quickly shakes her head, both eyes suddenly violet.
"Ibie!" A short but well-muscled man somewhere in his early twenties, with short golden hair and bright blue eyes called behind her, and she turned around with a huge grin on her face.
Turning back towards the group, she gently pried Luna's mouth off of the strange pin she was wearing, a tiny upturned crescant moon made out of blue, purple, and teal ribbons on a background of even tinier asteroids, and hands Luna to Usagi and Artemis to Minako, her left eye once again green and her grin back. "Thank you for letting me play with your kitties, sorry to bother you!" she giggled sweetly, "Byebye!" And ran off to grab the man's arm and skip away, half-dragging him.
"How weird." Makoto mumbled, half to herself.
Haruka idly fliped some of her short hair. "Well, there's always going to be weird people out there."
Minako glared at them, trying to fold her arms and more than half squeezing Artemis in the process, "Hey! She's just a happy little girl, there's nothing wrong with that! And besides, Art and Luna wouldn't have jumped on her if she was bad, right?" She looked down at Artemis for confirmation to her words, just then noticing how she was holding him. "Oh, sorry Arty. Anyway, what did get into you there? You're never so friendly to me!"
Still trying to catch his breath, Artemis mumbled a comment for Minako's ears alone, "You're never so nice to me."
Seeing Minako's quickly reddening face, Makoto quickly stepped in. "No, no, I meant her left eye. It couldn't seem to decide what color it was. And was that her brother back there? Her dad?"
"I would imagine her brother. He didn't seem old enough to be her father. But he did look like her, even with different hair. And yes, her eye was odd." Ami looked thoughtfull. "And I think it was blind, too."
"She was blind?" Minako was genuinely confused. "But she seemed to see just fine!"
"No," Ami giggled, "I meant just her left eye."
"Why do you say that, Ami-chan?" Michiru inclined her head towards Ami, curious about the strange child.
"Well, ... " Ami blushed as she notices most of the groups' eyes on her, but cleared her throat and continued. "First of all, a milky film covered all of it, the kind that forms when certain types of blindness occur later in life. Secondly, the whites of her eyes had a slight grayish tint, as if her brain had realized that that eye no longer worked and cut of the blood supply. Also, the pupil, the little black dot which draws in the light to see, was almost non-existant."
"Wow." Minako's eyes were open wide. "Amazing, Ami-chan."
"What, you mean her incredible amount of medical knowledge?" Haruka ruffled Ami's hair like an older brother. Or older sister, in this case.
Minako smirked. "No, I mean the fact that she explained something medical and I actually understood it!"
All but Usagi, Rei, and Hotaru laughed at Minako's unexpected joke. All the rest of the eyes turned to the three together after they noticed their silence.
"Hotaru-chan? Odango? Rei? You guys okay?" Haruka turned to the three.
Hotaru forced a smile, not ready to share her thoughts. "Of course I am, Haruka-papa."
Both Haruka and Michiru looked at their adopted daughter questioningly, noticing the lie but not going to call her on it, then turned to Rei as she started speaking.
"Her aura was ... funny." Rei looked almost confused, but her face was drawn in deep thought. "I can't explain it. I don't think she's bad, but I think we should keep an eye on her. She's much more powerful than she looks."
"I'm glad you're being more cautious, Rei. Wouldn't want another incident like the time when you read Usagi's aura and then attacked her." Ami said sarcastically.
Most of the group either snickered of looked shocked at Ami's quite unexpected tease, but Rei actually nodded, her face grimly serious. "Actually, I think this is much like that time."
Mamoru inadvertently cut her off, turning to Usagi, who had just bent over with her head in her hands, trembling slightly. "Usako, are you allright?"
"Y-yes." Usagi sounded neither sure of the answer nor sure of herself. "Just a little headache." But she stumbled even as she was saying that, and her voice was quite weak and strained from the obvious effort she was putting into walking.
"Headache, huh?" Haruka had her hands on her hips.
"Come here, my princess." Mamoru picked her up in his arms, cradling her gently and holding her close to his body. "That better?" It was all Usagi could do to nod weakly as they continued walking.
"Hey, sorry to break the mood here," Haruka just snickered lightly at that comment, who would want to stay in such an akward mood! "But didn't that older guy, her older brother maybe? look a lot like Usagi? And that kid's hair reminded me of Odango's odangos."
Usagi moaned slightly and hung limp in Mamoru's arms, totally unconscious.
- - - - - - - - - - - - } ----+---- {*:*} ----+---- {*:*} ----+---- { - - - - - - - - - - - -
Ah... not really that good. I think that the next couple of chapters are better though. And they will be here soon, I promise! And thank you, wingnut, for reminding me about my tense issues. I really do need to work on this. This rendition better?