note:Confusion should be normal. Most clears up now. Luna's about 20,
Mamoru 17, last year
in high school. r&r
*^*^*^*^*^*^
NVR ment 2 B mun by zizi luna
Chapter 2: Strange is my life
On this day four months ago, I had received this locket. Luna had bumped into me, followed me around for a while, and then proposed the idea of being a super hero. I laughed thinking she was some psycho but I accepted her gift anyway. That gift had been this same locket.
From that day, count two years back about the time my mother died and my dad lost his job as an engineer. I had been moping around looking for a job myself, confident that I wasn't going to find one. The economy was really bad and my reputation of being lazy followed me around everywhere. Then I stumbled across Zlon's Jewelry Corp office building and went in to cool down. I only asked for a job because the receptionist kept on staring at me, I guess looking for a chance to kick me out of that fancy ass building.
But he wasn't the receptionist. It was Diamond Shard himself.
Somehow, I ended up Diamond's right hand assistant from one day to the next and there I am doing his dirty work and entertaining his clients. There's no pressure, really, it doesn't bother me. It's just that now Diamond gives me extra work and even though he pays me bonuses, I..... I don't know. I feel rather.....dirty.
My life's twisted, alright. Luna wants crystal and Luna will get crystal. As I said before, I never knew what it was for but I helped out just to amuse myself at first. Then it complicates and suddenly, I'm in a mini skirt in freezing weather and jumping across rooftops. Almost like my job at Zlon's Jewelry.
Well, anyway, it didn't matter. I no longer had to deal with Luna and her bossiness and I received my paycheck without the guilt.
But I sort of missed her and looking at the locket when I was walking one day to school, I was reminded of her and the two other scout girls --Reina and Amelia, I think their names were. But I wasn't watching where I was going, as usual, and bumped into a guy with jet black hair and wearing a tuxedo and sunglasses. My locket fell rolling his way and he picked it up.
"Divided loyalties, eh?" he said dusting off his pants. "Not an easy thing to cope with." He started walking away but his statement striked me so true that I couldn't help but yell out a smart comment to get him to look back. "What do you know? I don't even know you."
He stopped halfstep but didn't turn around. "I'm not so sure, Usagi, I think I might have met you before."
He began walking away again and I just looked dumbfounded for a minute or two until he disappeared around the corner. The school bell rung; I didn't move. Something about him *was* familiar. The second bell rung and I gripped my school bag so tight my knuckles were white. Then it dawned on me. He still had my locket!
"Hey, sir! Mister!" I yelled as I ran around the corner. I shoved people out of the way, ignoring the angry individuals I encountered because I saw him, only just a little bit through the densing crowd --he was so tall--, walking in his black tuxedo in clear daylight, with no effort at all and me --small petite me-- struggled against the ongoing traffic getting my hair pulled and getting screamed at for pushing people to the ground.
Then he disappeared around the corner again.
My heart racing, I made the extra effort of getting through, my determination increasing because that was my gift, my gift and no tuxedo mystery man was taking that away from me. Just as I thought this, I bumped into someone's chest, his chest and I smelled the wiff of elegance, of class.
"I thought you had to better things to do," he said. "Like going to school."
"Well--"
"--Would you like a cup of coffee? Might need it so you won't fall asleep in class. Must have slept late, huh?" The guy bought me a cup of coffee right there, in the small corner shop we were standing next to. He bought one for himself too and sat down in in the nearest table placed outside the coffee shop. "Sit."
I didn't sit down or take the cup in his hand.
He laughed and put the cup on the table. "It's not poisoned, you just saw me brought it from that man. Sit, sit."
I sat down but didn't sip from my cup.
"Do you want to tell me something?"
"Yeah, I believe you took my locket when we--"
The town clock started ringing and drowned out the rest of my sentence. Before I could repeat it, the guy stood up smoothing out his fine tuxedo and bade me farewell. "I must go.Late for my appointment. Don't you have the math or english test you gotta take anyway?"
"I know but--"
"It was nice to see you again and wish to see you more often around here," he said delicately shaking my hand. Then he drew me closer into a kiss on the lips, the taste of coffee evident and the perfection of it landing me in stupor that I did not easily recover.
After that tender rather spontaneous moment, he kissed my cheek and patted my head wishing me good luck at school, as if nothing happened. I stood there, watching him leave, hands shoved in his pockets, his sunglasses now tucked into the inside of his jacket, and walking with such confidence that I was sure he wasn't aware that a normal person doesn't wear a tuxedo in broad daylight.
**^*^*/
"Give me the usual," I said as I sat gloomily in the Crown Arcade.
Motoki didn't ask me anything, handing me the choco fudge milkshake, whipped cream toppinng, six different sprinkles coating the top. "Did you that there's this criminal in town?" asked Motoki.
I nodded, scooping up the whipped cream and setting it on the counter to make a whipped snowman.
"Well, the criminal's supposed to be huge, hacking into computers from major corporations and banks, stealing millions from them and screwing up their computer systems. I heard it's a bigger deal than the monsters going about, but I personally don't think so," Motoki said. "Hey, come to think of it, they showed a video clip of her and she sort of reminds me of you, you know, with you're blond hair and small figure."
I laughed nervously. "Can you really picture me as a computer hacker, Motoki? I can't even turn my own computer on without frying it first."
Motoki laughed about the time another customer came in and sat four seats from me, playing with something in his hand and wearing a black tuxedo. My body tensed and my mind locked into place not thinking either backwards, or forwards. I just wanted to hide for no good reason so I lifted up my black bag and set it on top of the counter to conceal my face until some comprehensible thought could come in mind. After five minutes of thinking, another customer came in wearing a sleek gray suit, silver hair streaking down to his shoulders. My heart skipped a beat. Diamond.
As if to make matters worse, Luna came in, spotted me right away and sat down next to me. "Hello, Usagi."
"Um, hello," I said softly watching Diamond talking to the tuxedo guy. They laughed at some private joke and Diamond sat down to order coffee.
"Usagi, I've been thinking--"
"--I'd prefer if you called me Suzuka for now," I said irritated that she had to repeat my name so many times.
"Why do you want the name of a car?"
"Can you just get on with it?" I asked.
Luna called Motoki to order tea. "I'm not going to even ask why you have that ridiculous school bag on the counter because that's not why I came here for. I know that the argument three weeks ago was preposterous and we let our feelings get in the way and I really want you to stay, if that's at all possible for you but if you don't want to, I completely respect your decision to quit. What I want to say is that the locket can't stay with you if you're serious in quitting. I must have it back to give to someone else that can help with my mission. There's nothing against you at all. Strictly business."
"Um, Luna?"
"Hmmm?"
"If I tell you something really bad that happened, will you freak out?"
"Well, of course not," Luna said compassionately, "I'll listen to whatever you have to say."
"I lost the locket."
Luna's eyes widened and stood up from her chair at once, the chair toppling over in a loud crash. "You WHAT?"
Just as I feared, Diamond and the guy looked our way in curiosity. I hardly paid attention because Luna was livid, her ruby eyes ablaze, but at the same time nervous, screaming out every possibility to as where the locket could have gone to. I looked at my milkshake in complete humiliation, hoping they didn't notice me behind Luna's dark blue hair. Unfortunately, they did.
"Usagi, I didn't know you came here," Diamond said. "I thought you had school."
"Ah, well, school was out early because of--"
The two other scouts came in at that same time waving and smiling as if their was nothing better to do. "Usagi! I thought you'd be here!" The black haired one said.
"Um, well--"
"--Can't you believe the school gym caught fire?" the blue haired one said.
I looked confused for a minute and laughed. " I know, right? That was pretty strange. Isn't it great to be out of school?"
The two girls nodded in agreement finally noticing Diamond, the guy, and Luna who had pursed her lips once they had come over.
"Now, aren't you going to introduce us?" the black haired girl asked scrutinizing Mamoru with a strange look in her eyes.
I stood up, trying my hardest to be happy-go-lucky but feeling worse at each passing second. "Well, everyone, this is Diamond and this is--"
"Rei--"
"--Ami--"
"--Luna."
I looked over to the guy, not knowing what to say but he stood up and introduced himself as Chiba Mamoru. The memory of the kiss was so hot in my mind, after all only a few hours had passed since I had first met him. They excused themselves after that, having more important matters to talk about than hanging around high school girls, and I watched them leave, catching a rare glimpse of the locket being tossed up and down like a playing ball. I would have gone up there and demanded it back, I always did that sort of thing, but something held me back and this 'something' annoyed me like I never imagined it would.
Luna's bad temper flared at their departure and she took this opportunity to scream at me at the top of her lungs criticizing my stupidity, my carelessness, my laziness, and most of all, my clumsiness. Rei and Ami watched, at lost to where Luna's temper had come from.
"--There's no choice in the matter. You're stuck with us until that locket is returned in my hands!" Luna concluded.
"WHAT?" Now it was my turn to be angry. "Why do I have to be involved in this? I already told you I quit and that is final --unless you don't know the meaning of that."
Luna narrowed her eyes, pointing her slender finger at my nose. "Look, you little brat, it wasn't my fault that Artemis wanted *you* as a scout. Actually, I was completely against it and now look, you lost the freaking locket! I *knew* this was going to happen." Ami gasped. " Usagi. But how?"
Rei smirked. "This is so like her. Luna's right, she isn't scout material."
I stood up indignant at all three. "If that's how you all feel, then never contact me again 'cause I'm not helping. You can get the stupid locket yourselves."
*^*^*/
I walked into the arcade and found Mamoru sitting there with his cup of coffee. Anger boiled up inside of me because I blamed him for the horrid week I had just concluded. Sitting two seats from him, I ordered a coco choco milkshake, sipping with such force, I got a brainfreeze.
Even after that argument about the locket a week ago, Luna still pestered me every chance she got trying to force me into looking for the locket. I knew where the locket was but refused to tell Luna, which angered her more. Most of the time, I saw her as a cat walking on the ledge of my classroom window or after school clawing my socks as I walked home. It annoyed me so much that I stopped walking near the shrine where Luna and the scouts held the meetings.
But when I did that, Rei and Ami passed by my house to visit and my father always let them in. To keep them out, I locked my door and pretended not to hear them telling me about the monster they had defeated the other day. The third day, they climbed the tree leading to my open window before I got home one day and I screamed in surprise as I opened the door to find them laying on my bed and on the floor, reading magazines and listening to music, as if it were their house.
There is only one way to stop this, I thought as I stood up.
I walked towards Mamoru quietly. Today he was dressed like a high school senior, much to my surprise. I cleared my throat to get his attention, however, he was engrossed in a newspaper article headlined, "Computer hacker Strikes Again: Fall of Bank Guru."
"Excuse me--"
Mamoru looked up and my words got caught in my mouth. The way he looked at me seemed disturbing, like he could see right through me. I looked down. "Oh hi! How're you're doing?" he asked.
"Actually, I'm not doing fine. I been meaning to ask you, about something, about my locket --you r emember, right? We bumped into each other the first time we met and you must have taken it accidently --I'm not accusing you of *stealing* it but I really , REALLY, need that locket so if you could just--"
"--what locket?"
I gazed back at his blank eyes. "Th-the locket, remember? It's sort of gold with a crescent moon on it. Pinkish looking. Remember?"
"No, I don't remember, sorry. I just remember your black school bag."
All hope of having a semi-normal life dissipated and it was all his fault. If he hadn't been there when I was running late for school, if he hadn't picked up the stupid locket, I would be home-free and no more scout business, no more Luna.
"You-you bastard!" I yelled. " Do you know how my life has been since I lost that damn locket?!"
Mamoru looked back at his newspaper and kept on reading. " I don't think that's any of my business."
"Of course it is, you idiot. It's all your fault that I lost that cursed locket! It's--"
"--Do you know that your hairdo looks like meatballs and spaghetti?"
I blinked, my anger almost disappearing. "What?"
"You won't mind if I call you meatball head, do you?"
He had done it again. The sudden switch of subject confused my poor hotheaded brain and now he stood up, ready to leave, tucking his newspaper in his school bag, leaving a tip for Motoki to take.
"My name is not meatball head it's--"
"--Bye meatball head! See ya tomorrow!"
Rei and Ami came in the same time that Mamoru left with cat Luna in Ami's arms. "There you are! We've been looking all over for you!"
My life's a hell. There was no doubt. But maybe I didn't mind it so much. It was getting sort of......interesting.
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*^*^*^*^*^*^
NVR ment 2 B mun by zizi luna
Chapter 2: Strange is my life
On this day four months ago, I had received this locket. Luna had bumped into me, followed me around for a while, and then proposed the idea of being a super hero. I laughed thinking she was some psycho but I accepted her gift anyway. That gift had been this same locket.
From that day, count two years back about the time my mother died and my dad lost his job as an engineer. I had been moping around looking for a job myself, confident that I wasn't going to find one. The economy was really bad and my reputation of being lazy followed me around everywhere. Then I stumbled across Zlon's Jewelry Corp office building and went in to cool down. I only asked for a job because the receptionist kept on staring at me, I guess looking for a chance to kick me out of that fancy ass building.
But he wasn't the receptionist. It was Diamond Shard himself.
Somehow, I ended up Diamond's right hand assistant from one day to the next and there I am doing his dirty work and entertaining his clients. There's no pressure, really, it doesn't bother me. It's just that now Diamond gives me extra work and even though he pays me bonuses, I..... I don't know. I feel rather.....dirty.
My life's twisted, alright. Luna wants crystal and Luna will get crystal. As I said before, I never knew what it was for but I helped out just to amuse myself at first. Then it complicates and suddenly, I'm in a mini skirt in freezing weather and jumping across rooftops. Almost like my job at Zlon's Jewelry.
Well, anyway, it didn't matter. I no longer had to deal with Luna and her bossiness and I received my paycheck without the guilt.
But I sort of missed her and looking at the locket when I was walking one day to school, I was reminded of her and the two other scout girls --Reina and Amelia, I think their names were. But I wasn't watching where I was going, as usual, and bumped into a guy with jet black hair and wearing a tuxedo and sunglasses. My locket fell rolling his way and he picked it up.
"Divided loyalties, eh?" he said dusting off his pants. "Not an easy thing to cope with." He started walking away but his statement striked me so true that I couldn't help but yell out a smart comment to get him to look back. "What do you know? I don't even know you."
He stopped halfstep but didn't turn around. "I'm not so sure, Usagi, I think I might have met you before."
He began walking away again and I just looked dumbfounded for a minute or two until he disappeared around the corner. The school bell rung; I didn't move. Something about him *was* familiar. The second bell rung and I gripped my school bag so tight my knuckles were white. Then it dawned on me. He still had my locket!
"Hey, sir! Mister!" I yelled as I ran around the corner. I shoved people out of the way, ignoring the angry individuals I encountered because I saw him, only just a little bit through the densing crowd --he was so tall--, walking in his black tuxedo in clear daylight, with no effort at all and me --small petite me-- struggled against the ongoing traffic getting my hair pulled and getting screamed at for pushing people to the ground.
Then he disappeared around the corner again.
My heart racing, I made the extra effort of getting through, my determination increasing because that was my gift, my gift and no tuxedo mystery man was taking that away from me. Just as I thought this, I bumped into someone's chest, his chest and I smelled the wiff of elegance, of class.
"I thought you had to better things to do," he said. "Like going to school."
"Well--"
"--Would you like a cup of coffee? Might need it so you won't fall asleep in class. Must have slept late, huh?" The guy bought me a cup of coffee right there, in the small corner shop we were standing next to. He bought one for himself too and sat down in in the nearest table placed outside the coffee shop. "Sit."
I didn't sit down or take the cup in his hand.
He laughed and put the cup on the table. "It's not poisoned, you just saw me brought it from that man. Sit, sit."
I sat down but didn't sip from my cup.
"Do you want to tell me something?"
"Yeah, I believe you took my locket when we--"
The town clock started ringing and drowned out the rest of my sentence. Before I could repeat it, the guy stood up smoothing out his fine tuxedo and bade me farewell. "I must go.Late for my appointment. Don't you have the math or english test you gotta take anyway?"
"I know but--"
"It was nice to see you again and wish to see you more often around here," he said delicately shaking my hand. Then he drew me closer into a kiss on the lips, the taste of coffee evident and the perfection of it landing me in stupor that I did not easily recover.
After that tender rather spontaneous moment, he kissed my cheek and patted my head wishing me good luck at school, as if nothing happened. I stood there, watching him leave, hands shoved in his pockets, his sunglasses now tucked into the inside of his jacket, and walking with such confidence that I was sure he wasn't aware that a normal person doesn't wear a tuxedo in broad daylight.
**^*^*/
"Give me the usual," I said as I sat gloomily in the Crown Arcade.
Motoki didn't ask me anything, handing me the choco fudge milkshake, whipped cream toppinng, six different sprinkles coating the top. "Did you that there's this criminal in town?" asked Motoki.
I nodded, scooping up the whipped cream and setting it on the counter to make a whipped snowman.
"Well, the criminal's supposed to be huge, hacking into computers from major corporations and banks, stealing millions from them and screwing up their computer systems. I heard it's a bigger deal than the monsters going about, but I personally don't think so," Motoki said. "Hey, come to think of it, they showed a video clip of her and she sort of reminds me of you, you know, with you're blond hair and small figure."
I laughed nervously. "Can you really picture me as a computer hacker, Motoki? I can't even turn my own computer on without frying it first."
Motoki laughed about the time another customer came in and sat four seats from me, playing with something in his hand and wearing a black tuxedo. My body tensed and my mind locked into place not thinking either backwards, or forwards. I just wanted to hide for no good reason so I lifted up my black bag and set it on top of the counter to conceal my face until some comprehensible thought could come in mind. After five minutes of thinking, another customer came in wearing a sleek gray suit, silver hair streaking down to his shoulders. My heart skipped a beat. Diamond.
As if to make matters worse, Luna came in, spotted me right away and sat down next to me. "Hello, Usagi."
"Um, hello," I said softly watching Diamond talking to the tuxedo guy. They laughed at some private joke and Diamond sat down to order coffee.
"Usagi, I've been thinking--"
"--I'd prefer if you called me Suzuka for now," I said irritated that she had to repeat my name so many times.
"Why do you want the name of a car?"
"Can you just get on with it?" I asked.
Luna called Motoki to order tea. "I'm not going to even ask why you have that ridiculous school bag on the counter because that's not why I came here for. I know that the argument three weeks ago was preposterous and we let our feelings get in the way and I really want you to stay, if that's at all possible for you but if you don't want to, I completely respect your decision to quit. What I want to say is that the locket can't stay with you if you're serious in quitting. I must have it back to give to someone else that can help with my mission. There's nothing against you at all. Strictly business."
"Um, Luna?"
"Hmmm?"
"If I tell you something really bad that happened, will you freak out?"
"Well, of course not," Luna said compassionately, "I'll listen to whatever you have to say."
"I lost the locket."
Luna's eyes widened and stood up from her chair at once, the chair toppling over in a loud crash. "You WHAT?"
Just as I feared, Diamond and the guy looked our way in curiosity. I hardly paid attention because Luna was livid, her ruby eyes ablaze, but at the same time nervous, screaming out every possibility to as where the locket could have gone to. I looked at my milkshake in complete humiliation, hoping they didn't notice me behind Luna's dark blue hair. Unfortunately, they did.
"Usagi, I didn't know you came here," Diamond said. "I thought you had school."
"Ah, well, school was out early because of--"
The two other scouts came in at that same time waving and smiling as if their was nothing better to do. "Usagi! I thought you'd be here!" The black haired one said.
"Um, well--"
"--Can't you believe the school gym caught fire?" the blue haired one said.
I looked confused for a minute and laughed. " I know, right? That was pretty strange. Isn't it great to be out of school?"
The two girls nodded in agreement finally noticing Diamond, the guy, and Luna who had pursed her lips once they had come over.
"Now, aren't you going to introduce us?" the black haired girl asked scrutinizing Mamoru with a strange look in her eyes.
I stood up, trying my hardest to be happy-go-lucky but feeling worse at each passing second. "Well, everyone, this is Diamond and this is--"
"Rei--"
"--Ami--"
"--Luna."
I looked over to the guy, not knowing what to say but he stood up and introduced himself as Chiba Mamoru. The memory of the kiss was so hot in my mind, after all only a few hours had passed since I had first met him. They excused themselves after that, having more important matters to talk about than hanging around high school girls, and I watched them leave, catching a rare glimpse of the locket being tossed up and down like a playing ball. I would have gone up there and demanded it back, I always did that sort of thing, but something held me back and this 'something' annoyed me like I never imagined it would.
Luna's bad temper flared at their departure and she took this opportunity to scream at me at the top of her lungs criticizing my stupidity, my carelessness, my laziness, and most of all, my clumsiness. Rei and Ami watched, at lost to where Luna's temper had come from.
"--There's no choice in the matter. You're stuck with us until that locket is returned in my hands!" Luna concluded.
"WHAT?" Now it was my turn to be angry. "Why do I have to be involved in this? I already told you I quit and that is final --unless you don't know the meaning of that."
Luna narrowed her eyes, pointing her slender finger at my nose. "Look, you little brat, it wasn't my fault that Artemis wanted *you* as a scout. Actually, I was completely against it and now look, you lost the freaking locket! I *knew* this was going to happen." Ami gasped. " Usagi. But how?"
Rei smirked. "This is so like her. Luna's right, she isn't scout material."
I stood up indignant at all three. "If that's how you all feel, then never contact me again 'cause I'm not helping. You can get the stupid locket yourselves."
*^*^*/
I walked into the arcade and found Mamoru sitting there with his cup of coffee. Anger boiled up inside of me because I blamed him for the horrid week I had just concluded. Sitting two seats from him, I ordered a coco choco milkshake, sipping with such force, I got a brainfreeze.
Even after that argument about the locket a week ago, Luna still pestered me every chance she got trying to force me into looking for the locket. I knew where the locket was but refused to tell Luna, which angered her more. Most of the time, I saw her as a cat walking on the ledge of my classroom window or after school clawing my socks as I walked home. It annoyed me so much that I stopped walking near the shrine where Luna and the scouts held the meetings.
But when I did that, Rei and Ami passed by my house to visit and my father always let them in. To keep them out, I locked my door and pretended not to hear them telling me about the monster they had defeated the other day. The third day, they climbed the tree leading to my open window before I got home one day and I screamed in surprise as I opened the door to find them laying on my bed and on the floor, reading magazines and listening to music, as if it were their house.
There is only one way to stop this, I thought as I stood up.
I walked towards Mamoru quietly. Today he was dressed like a high school senior, much to my surprise. I cleared my throat to get his attention, however, he was engrossed in a newspaper article headlined, "Computer hacker Strikes Again: Fall of Bank Guru."
"Excuse me--"
Mamoru looked up and my words got caught in my mouth. The way he looked at me seemed disturbing, like he could see right through me. I looked down. "Oh hi! How're you're doing?" he asked.
"Actually, I'm not doing fine. I been meaning to ask you, about something, about my locket --you r emember, right? We bumped into each other the first time we met and you must have taken it accidently --I'm not accusing you of *stealing* it but I really , REALLY, need that locket so if you could just--"
"--what locket?"
I gazed back at his blank eyes. "Th-the locket, remember? It's sort of gold with a crescent moon on it. Pinkish looking. Remember?"
"No, I don't remember, sorry. I just remember your black school bag."
All hope of having a semi-normal life dissipated and it was all his fault. If he hadn't been there when I was running late for school, if he hadn't picked up the stupid locket, I would be home-free and no more scout business, no more Luna.
"You-you bastard!" I yelled. " Do you know how my life has been since I lost that damn locket?!"
Mamoru looked back at his newspaper and kept on reading. " I don't think that's any of my business."
"Of course it is, you idiot. It's all your fault that I lost that cursed locket! It's--"
"--Do you know that your hairdo looks like meatballs and spaghetti?"
I blinked, my anger almost disappearing. "What?"
"You won't mind if I call you meatball head, do you?"
He had done it again. The sudden switch of subject confused my poor hotheaded brain and now he stood up, ready to leave, tucking his newspaper in his school bag, leaving a tip for Motoki to take.
"My name is not meatball head it's--"
"--Bye meatball head! See ya tomorrow!"
Rei and Ami came in the same time that Mamoru left with cat Luna in Ami's arms. "There you are! We've been looking all over for you!"
My life's a hell. There was no doubt. But maybe I didn't mind it so much. It was getting sort of......interesting.
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