~*~*~*~
Even though their school was utterly destroyed, Hotaru still had an alternative. She had been mainly tutored by a hired hand in her own home for the remainder of the year before. Her father watched her mental state diminish over the past eight months. He was about the only person she would really talk to, she even shut out her friends. She had given up almost everything she had ever loved and somehow sank back into her own little hole of loneliness. She was acting just as she had when her mother had been killed. She seemed to have been making such good progress over the past two years, and now this. Out of no where, she had all of a sudden gone backwards. Her father had had to take time off from work too often to comfort her that he was afraid that he would lose his job, but he hadn't.
About a month before the school year had started, Professor Tomoe made a phone call to her old school and asked for her to be readmitted. She needed to get out of the house, be around kids her own age. If she had stayed home forever, she would never get over whatever was eating her inside. And although he knew it would hurt her at first, he truly believed that he was doing her bad by letting her stay at home with no outside contact other than himself and her care taker, Kaori.
Hotaru hadn't exactly fought her father's decision to go back to school for she had no will to. But now, as she stood outside her school in the main quad, as she had so many times before, she wished that she could just give up and say 'no', she would not be going to school no matter how much her father wanted her to.
Her first day back in a school environment had been hell. The kids, whom she remembered all too well, were at first afraid of her. They too seemed to remember who she was and her strange power. But, as the day drew on, one brazen little brat began to notice how quiet she seemed, just like the old days. The insecure Hotaru was all of a sudden back. The boy thus began his assault on the young Saiyan, saying anything he could to her. It wasn't long before the other children began laughing at her and poking fun at her as well. Hotaru didn't seem too interested in fighting back, she had almost completely given up on fighting. That was how her mother had died, on the battle grounds of the biggest fight in years. This kids took this as an open opportunity to tease her even further. And so went her day of stress. Up until the very end when school let out.
She stood at the very edge of the flight stairs which led to the front quad as she waited for Kaori to drive by to pick her up, thus was the arrangement between her and her father. She could hear a quiet trickling of water in the background quite easy thanks to her Saiyan hearing. But, the sound was soon drowned out by the sounds of a group of her classmates coming out from the front of the building. With her eyes watering up, she sighed and sat down, resting her head in the palm of her hands. She wasn't in the mood for any more laughter, yet she just couldn't bring herself to raise a hand at them. She felt completely weak and helpless.
One of the boys, the one who had made fun of her ever since he first met her two years ago, walked to her and smirked arrogantly. This would be too easy. She had made him look like a fool before the entire school once, her and that bratty blonde who also had a tail. But now, she wasn't around to do anything and Hotaru was all alone. He looked at her face, only to see that she was completely like a drone. "Yo! Freak! Why you just sittin here like this? You think you're better than us?"
Hotaru said nothing, she just curled up further with a look of worry deep in her eyes. Her plan was to ignore the boy, just as she had before. But she didn't know how long she could hold up against his rants. All day she had listened to questions pertaining to her tail, and everything else that was physically wrong wit her.
Not happy with Hotaru's failure to response, the boy nudged his foot into her back to grab her attention. "Hey! Freak! I was talkin to you!" He evilly grinned as he rubbed his hands together. He remembered the one thing that would always set Hotaru off. "So, freak, how's your mom doin? Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot! She was slaughtered like the monkey she was!" The boy and his group of friends laughed at the top of their lungs.
At first, after hearing that, Hotaru's power level grew with immensely with her rage, but she quickly calmed down as she thought of mother. She could still vividly remember, with great detail, walking into her house and seeing the body of her mother lying on the ground, being only three years old when it happened, but now she knew the truth. That hadn't been her mother, her mother had only been kidnapped, only to be killed three years later. Her mother was slaughtered, no doubt about it. Thinking of this only made Hotaru sink her head lower to her knees. She wished Kaori would get there soon, even though that woman, too, made fun of her, especially now. She felt as if she hadn't a friend in the world, even though she knew there were still many people who loved her.
She slowly turned her face up to the sky where she could feel a familiar Ki fast approaching. It belonged to someone whom she hadn't seen or heard from in a couple of weeks, but still someone who had visited her quite often. For the first time that day, Hotaru's lips slowly curled up into a quaint little smile.
~*~*~
Mamoru landed beside her, still in his black school uniform. The kids who had been picking on her slowly backed away from the newcomer, afraid that he might use his magic to really hurt them. The Senior glared at the younger students with hatred. He had watched out for the well being of Hotaru ever since the defeat of Beryl and he wouldn't stop even now as the school year started. His friends understood this, too. They too sometimes came to see how she was doing, though Usagi never knew of these meetings.
Mamoru looked down at the girl, who looked curiously back up at him. She had always thought of Mamoru as a sort of monster. How couldn't she? Ever since she knew him he had always tried to kill or severely hurt Usagi. But over the past eight months her views of him had begun to change. She began to see the true Mamoru, especially now that his true identity as the Prince of Earth had been revealed. He only seemed to get nicer, though he and Usagi were still rivals. She said nothing and returned his stare with one of her own.
Mamoru frowned as he looked back up to the kids, who were about to run away in fear. "Get outta here! Scram! This kid may be pretty scrawny, but that doesn't excuse your behavior! Only I can make fun of her!" He looked back down to the child and winked. Not that he would really ever make fun of her anymore, he had no reason to. He had grown up, physically and mentally. He was seventeen already and was finally beginning to put behind himself all of his bullying of people habits.
The boys who had been making fun of her turned and ran away from the older kid. They weren't one to mess with those who could perform magic tricks, as they referred to it.
Hotaru smiled up at him, though saying nothing. She knew that probably wouldn't be the first time he saved her from being taunted. But she was thankful that he would take the time out of his day to do so. She looked back down to her feet with a long sigh.
Mamoru looked up into the air, where Michiru and Haruka had just arrived. They had yet to know about all that took place in the last eight months. He hadn't told them a single thing about his knowledge of the Senshi, or the Moon Kingdom. That wasn't something they should know. It was too serious of a subject for them to find out, considering the fact that Haruka, especially, wouldn't take it seriously. No, this was something to be kept from them.
He dropped his attention back down to Hotaru. "I'll see you around, squirt."
Hotaru nodded, and with an almost silent whisper, found the words to express her gratitude. "Thank you." She stood up just as Mamoru was leaving. The black car of Kaori was finally here. She would have to battle taunts once again, though from a person who should want to protect her.
She slowly made her way down the tall flight of stairs and to the car. Inside, she could see Kaori glaring at her as if she had done something to be punished for. She groaned as she opened the door and threw her bag in the backseat.
Kaori glared at the child. "Hurry up and get in, brat!"
Hotaru said nothing, as usual. She quickly crawled into the car and shut the door. Almost immediately, Kaori put her foot on the gas and the car flew off into traffic.
~*~*~
Usagi, Minako, Makoto, Ami, and Rei all sat on the stoop of Hotaru's house, awaiting her arrival. None of them had actually seen her for a couple of weeks, even though they had been trying to talk to her. Kaori only turned them away. But now they were determined to talk to her, or at least see how she was doing if she didn't feel like talking yet. They hadn't really been able to discuss her mother with her yet, not that she would want to anyway.
They all watched the black car of Kaori's pull into the driveway, Hotaru could be seen in the front seat with her face down. They weren't sure if it was because of something Kaori said, or something that happened at school, but she looked terribly sad, even for her current mood.
Usagi was the first to stand, but her friends soon followed her movements. They all glared at Kaori as she got out of the driver's seat. The red head did nothing but glare back at those whom she deemed to be brats. The truth of the matter was that she hated kids. She only worked with them so she could get closer to Professor Tomoe's research.
Hotaru was next to hop out of the car, though on the other side. She had already noticed her friends waiting for her and almost in a flash, as she let the realization sink in, she became somewhat happy. She wondered why they hadn't come to visit her in a while. It seemed like she hadn't seen them for ages. One day, they just all of a sudden stopped coming, which was another addition to her sorrow. She felt as if her own pain pushed them away, like they were getting angry at her for being sad all the time. With a smile growing wide on her face, she pulled her bag out of the back and made a running dash for her friends, only to find a firm hand on her shoulder. She looked up with heavy eyes at Kaori, her caretaker.
Makoto frowned as she advanced for the duo. Kaori frowned at the girl. She didn't much care for Hotaru's friends. They were much to vocal with their opinions. It was her idea that children should be seen, and not heard, but the Professor didn't think that at all. He loved his child, and her friends almost as much. He was grateful that she had found such good friends who actually cared about her. Kaori found them to be a nightmare. They were just more annoyances that she would have to put up with everyday, which was why she loved the fact that Hotaru had dipped back into being a zombie. It gave her a reason to turn the girls away every time they came. "You need to leave."
Makoto frowned as she placed her hands on her hips. "Why?" The others quickly found their places next to her. "We came to see how Hotaru is doing." She said, pointing to the girl in front of the red head.
Kaori frowned as she pulled Hotaru behind her. "She's still not talking. She didn't say a word all the way here, and she definitely doesn't want to talk now. As if you can't tell, she's still upset about something." She looked down to Hotaru with a frown of intimidation.
But Hotaru wasn't going to sit back and take this. Now she understood why the girls hadn't come to see her. Kaori must have constantly been turning them away every time they came. It wasn't because they were annoyed with her. She looked back to her friends, who were giving Kaori a frown of their own. "I don't mind." She whispered.
Kaori glared at the child with pure hatred. She hadn't wanted to be disturbed with more annoying brats running about the house. "You have ten minutes, brat." She said with gritted teeth. She pushed Hotaru away and began walking to the house.
The girls moved to the side and glared at Kaori until she was inside, all with clenched fists. Makoto glared the hardest. She hated Kaori the most. She always pushed Hotaru around, even more so now that she had gone into non-speaking mode. "I can't believe how rude she is!"
Minako walked to Hotaru and wrapped her arm around her shoulder. She was careful not to be too rough with her. "It's ok, Hotaru."
Hotaru continued to frown at the front door of her home where Kaori had just entered. "I hate her!" She cried out quite loud.
Usagi and Rei exchanged looks of surprise. That was the first time in eight months that they had heard her yell out like that. Rei looked back at the girl with a grin. "Don't we all..."
Hotaru clenched her fists, but quickly dropped them again. "I hate her!" She cried out again. It felt good to finally yell out like this after all this time. Her frown turned into a piercing scowl as she pulled away from Minako's warm grip. "I HATE YOU, KAORI!" Tears began to weld together in her eyes as she backed away into the car. Her legs soon let out from beneath her body and she slowly slid to be sitting with her knees against her chest with tears running down her cheeks. Her friends wasted no time in gathering around her in sympathy, their hate growing for Kaori by the second.
Minako wrapped her arm around Hotaru once again. She felt like crying herself. "Hotaru, don't cry. Kaori's always mean, we all know this."
Rei nodded as she grabbed Hotaru's hands in her own. "Yeah. Don't worry. Kaori may treat you wrong, but the important thing is that your dad still loves you."
Hotaru sniffled as she looked up at the faces of her friends. "It's not that." She whined as she leaned into the loving Minako.
Usagi glared back at the house where Kaori resided. She would never forgive her for this, that was for sure. She looked back at Hotaru, wanting to cry herself. She knew how horrible it was to have adults making fun of you all the time. She had put up with it almost every year of her school career. "Wanna tell us what's really wrong? Or do you just want to go inside to think?"
Hotaru shook her head. "I don't wanna go in there with her." She sniffled again. "She'll only make fun of me more, and then call me a brat." She looked up into the sky. She found herself speechless of any words but three. "I hate her! She will never be..." She couldn't even bring herself to say it.
Minako rubbed the child's forehead. "It's ok, Hotaru. We know."
Hotaru closed her eyes only to see the image of her mother. "I miss her." She whispered. "I wish I could see her just one more time. But she had to..." She lowered her head. "She had to..." The tears came faster as she pushed her face even further into Minako's chest. None of her friends knew what to say to comfort her. They were too amazed that she was even talking as much as she was. Maybe she was pulling out of her trance, or maybe talking about it would only make it worse. "Kaori doesn't help. She always tells me that I'm stupid for acting like this, that I'm just trying to get attention. She says I'm a spoiled little brat. She's always said that, ever since I was really little. She says to me, "Your mother's dead, now deal with it, brat", like it shouldn't mean anything to me. She's the only one who thinks that's why I've gone into a "mood" like this, and she's right. But now that I know she wasn't really dead, and NOW she is, it makes it worse."
Makoto stood up with a frown. This was all Beryl's fault. It was her fault that Akii was killed. Of course, without her, Hotaru wouldn't have been born into this world as a Saiyan, but who cared about that? At least Hotaru would have had a mother with her for all time. She looked down at Hotaru, who had already become silent. "Do you ever tell your dad about the way she treats you?"
Hotaru nodded. "Of course, but he doesn't believe me. Kaori lies to him and tells him that I'm just "acting out" because I don't want her to take the place of my mom."
Usagi clenched her fists at the sound of that. She had heard from many of her classmates in the past about people like that. They were usually women who wanted to move in on a single father who had children. She wondered if that was what Kaori was trying to do. Maybe she really was trying to take the place of Hotaru's mother. "I can't believe her!"
Hotaru sighed as she wiped the tears away from her eyes. "I hate this. I hate Kaori! I hate Beryl! I hate the people at school! I hate everything!"
Ami rubbed Hotaru's head with concern. It wasn't healthy for a seven year old child to be speaking like that. "You don't have everything, Hotaru. You're just vulnerable right now, you have to build up your resistance again. You have to learn to be strong again."
Hotaru lowered her head further yet. "I don't want to do anything right now. I don't want to go back to school. I don't want Kaori around anymore." She broke her sentence there and closed her eyes. More tears began to stream down her face. "I don't want to know the truth about my mom."
At that moment, Kaori came out from the house and glared at Hotaru with her arms crossed over her chest.
"Hotaru! It's time for your friends to leave! They've overstayed their welcome! You need to come inside now!"
Hotaru frowned as she opened her eyes and looked straight into Kaori's eyes. "Yes, ma'am."
~*~*~
Usagi flew home as fast as she could when she left Hotaru's. Her mother expected her home by 4:00 on schooldays, and by the time she left, it was already 3:30. It had already been an hour since school had ended. All the way home she could think of nothing but Hotaru and Kaori. That girl had it rough. Kaori treated her like dirt and at the same time, tried to take the place of her mother. Learning of her mother's real death had pretty much thrown Hotaru over the edge and Kaori had only caused more problems right under Professor Tomoe's nose. She would have to do something about the witch, but what? Kaori was an adult, and she herself was only a kid. She learned early that adults always had the winning hand in things like this. It would take time, but she would somehow find a way to help her friend.
Her thoughts were soon switched to her day at school and her encounter with the new kid, Tatsuo. For a reason she figured she would never understand, Makoto, Rei, and Ami thought that he was the strangest guy. He seemed pretty normal. He may have been a little strange, but she figured it was because he wasn't from around here. She grinned to herself as she came upon her house. She would show them sooner or later that there was nothing wrong with him, he was completely normal.
She landed on the ground and made a dashing run for her house. As she got closer, she noticed her father stretching outside. With sweat dripping down his face, he looked as if he had just gotten through with a spar. It was his custom to stretch before and after a fight, as was hers. The first time was obvious, but Usagi had always wondered about the second time. He had explained to her that it was to cool down your muscles. It isn't good to just fight and fight and fight and then all of a sudden stop moving. It was always good to continue to use them until you cooled yourself down.
She continued to run forward until she was at his side. "Hi daddy!" She chirped as she dropped her bag on the ground.
Goku smiled as he looked up to his daughter. He pulled his legs in and pushed himself up. "I didn't think it was getting that late."
"It's only...," She trailed off as she looked down at her watch, "3:47." She exclaimed.
Goku extended his arms out to stretch them a bit more before he would quit. "So, how was school?"
Usagi smiled wide, forgetting all about Hotaru. "Great! It was so cool! Way cooler than elementary school was! Our first period teacher let us have free time to get to know people in the class!"
Goku found himself smiling again. "Did YOU meet anyone new?"
Usagi nodded. "Yep. Well, actually, Ami did, but she introduced him to us."
Goku all of a sudden stopped stretching, quite abruptly, and glared down at his daughter with suspicion. He cocked a brow up. " 'Him'?"
Usagi nodded, not catching why her father had stopped so suddenly. "Yeah. That's what I said. His name's Tatsuo."
Goku continued to glare at his confused daughter. "And what did you talk about?"
Usagi turned her head up on its side in confusion. Why the sudden interest in what they talked about. "Stuff. Mostly about why I have a tail. He was really nice about it too. He didn't make fun of me like other people usually do. He said that everyone is different and that's just the way it is."
Goku nodded. He couldn't disagree with that. "Ok..."
"Daddy, what are you doing tomorrow after I get home from school?" She asked, hoping that he hadn't planned to spar with her brother's or anyone else. She really wanted Tatsuo to meet with her father. She wanted him to know exactly how much stronger her father was than Mr. Satan.
Goku sighed with much relief. "Well," he started, "I had planned on us sparring when you got home. I thought maybe we'd go see what Piccolo was up to." Usagi groaned, showing her father that she wasn't quite up with that plan. "Why?"
Usagi; "Well, I want you to meet Tatsuo." Goku's jaw nearly dropped to the ground after hearing that. It wasn't a good sign when a daughter wanted her father to actually meet a boy from what he heard from Gohan and Vejita. Usagi could see anger building up in her father's eyes, and for what, she didn't know. "What's wrong? You don't want to meet him? He's really nice. You'll like him."
Goku's ears burned. He had heard Pan spill that line to Gohan thousands of times. "Usagi..." He said with a queezing stomach. "You're too young." That was that. He had said it. Any further argument would be at no fault of his own.
Usagi looked up at her father, even more confused than before. "Too young for what? To bring him over here to meet you?"
Goku nodded with a firm frown. "Exactly. You're too young and I won't have it."
Usagi frowned. "But you've always let me bring my friends over here before. That's not fair!"
Goku stopped frowning. He wondered why she hadn't started complaining that all the other girls were doing it, and at this point he would have to tell her that she's not all the other girls. But not a single word like that came out. "I don't care if they're JUST friends, but you're too young to be bringing boys over for me to meet."
Usagi giggled. After hearing that she finally got the picture. "It's not like that, daddy." She said, her giggles turning into pure laughter. "I don't like him like that."
Goku's face turned red. "What?"
Usagi grinned. "I just want him to see that you're stronger than Mr. Satan."
Goku could have turned away right there and then and walked away from the conversation. He was too embarrassed to go on, but he had been through worse embarrassment than that with his daughter. This wasn't anything compared to Chi-Chi though, thinking that their daughter had a crush on someone only to find out that that wasn't what was troubling her. "Let me get this straight, you just want him to meet me so I can show him my strength?"
Usagi nodded. "That's about it." More giggling bubbled out of the young Saiyan's mouth as she looked at the red face of her father. "Don't worry dad, you'll know when I REALLY like a boy."
Goku playfully frowned as he grabbed his daughter and pulled her closer to him. "Don't worry, when you do, I'll kill him."
Usagi let out a quick laugh. "No you wouldn't, you're too nice."
All expressions of play were erased from Goku's face and replaced with a look of pure seriousness. "I would if one ever hurt you."
(Wow, well now that's really shorter than usual. Sorry. But, this, I thought, was a good place to stop. It kind of goes along with what I'm going to do a little later. Phase one almost complete! ^_^ Then my setup of this book will basically be complete. Yay! Ok, well, I guess I'll Cya tomorrow then... Or Friday depending on my homework. Ugh! )
Even though their school was utterly destroyed, Hotaru still had an alternative. She had been mainly tutored by a hired hand in her own home for the remainder of the year before. Her father watched her mental state diminish over the past eight months. He was about the only person she would really talk to, she even shut out her friends. She had given up almost everything she had ever loved and somehow sank back into her own little hole of loneliness. She was acting just as she had when her mother had been killed. She seemed to have been making such good progress over the past two years, and now this. Out of no where, she had all of a sudden gone backwards. Her father had had to take time off from work too often to comfort her that he was afraid that he would lose his job, but he hadn't.
About a month before the school year had started, Professor Tomoe made a phone call to her old school and asked for her to be readmitted. She needed to get out of the house, be around kids her own age. If she had stayed home forever, she would never get over whatever was eating her inside. And although he knew it would hurt her at first, he truly believed that he was doing her bad by letting her stay at home with no outside contact other than himself and her care taker, Kaori.
Hotaru hadn't exactly fought her father's decision to go back to school for she had no will to. But now, as she stood outside her school in the main quad, as she had so many times before, she wished that she could just give up and say 'no', she would not be going to school no matter how much her father wanted her to.
Her first day back in a school environment had been hell. The kids, whom she remembered all too well, were at first afraid of her. They too seemed to remember who she was and her strange power. But, as the day drew on, one brazen little brat began to notice how quiet she seemed, just like the old days. The insecure Hotaru was all of a sudden back. The boy thus began his assault on the young Saiyan, saying anything he could to her. It wasn't long before the other children began laughing at her and poking fun at her as well. Hotaru didn't seem too interested in fighting back, she had almost completely given up on fighting. That was how her mother had died, on the battle grounds of the biggest fight in years. This kids took this as an open opportunity to tease her even further. And so went her day of stress. Up until the very end when school let out.
She stood at the very edge of the flight stairs which led to the front quad as she waited for Kaori to drive by to pick her up, thus was the arrangement between her and her father. She could hear a quiet trickling of water in the background quite easy thanks to her Saiyan hearing. But, the sound was soon drowned out by the sounds of a group of her classmates coming out from the front of the building. With her eyes watering up, she sighed and sat down, resting her head in the palm of her hands. She wasn't in the mood for any more laughter, yet she just couldn't bring herself to raise a hand at them. She felt completely weak and helpless.
One of the boys, the one who had made fun of her ever since he first met her two years ago, walked to her and smirked arrogantly. This would be too easy. She had made him look like a fool before the entire school once, her and that bratty blonde who also had a tail. But now, she wasn't around to do anything and Hotaru was all alone. He looked at her face, only to see that she was completely like a drone. "Yo! Freak! Why you just sittin here like this? You think you're better than us?"
Hotaru said nothing, she just curled up further with a look of worry deep in her eyes. Her plan was to ignore the boy, just as she had before. But she didn't know how long she could hold up against his rants. All day she had listened to questions pertaining to her tail, and everything else that was physically wrong wit her.
Not happy with Hotaru's failure to response, the boy nudged his foot into her back to grab her attention. "Hey! Freak! I was talkin to you!" He evilly grinned as he rubbed his hands together. He remembered the one thing that would always set Hotaru off. "So, freak, how's your mom doin? Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot! She was slaughtered like the monkey she was!" The boy and his group of friends laughed at the top of their lungs.
At first, after hearing that, Hotaru's power level grew with immensely with her rage, but she quickly calmed down as she thought of mother. She could still vividly remember, with great detail, walking into her house and seeing the body of her mother lying on the ground, being only three years old when it happened, but now she knew the truth. That hadn't been her mother, her mother had only been kidnapped, only to be killed three years later. Her mother was slaughtered, no doubt about it. Thinking of this only made Hotaru sink her head lower to her knees. She wished Kaori would get there soon, even though that woman, too, made fun of her, especially now. She felt as if she hadn't a friend in the world, even though she knew there were still many people who loved her.
She slowly turned her face up to the sky where she could feel a familiar Ki fast approaching. It belonged to someone whom she hadn't seen or heard from in a couple of weeks, but still someone who had visited her quite often. For the first time that day, Hotaru's lips slowly curled up into a quaint little smile.
~*~*~
Mamoru landed beside her, still in his black school uniform. The kids who had been picking on her slowly backed away from the newcomer, afraid that he might use his magic to really hurt them. The Senior glared at the younger students with hatred. He had watched out for the well being of Hotaru ever since the defeat of Beryl and he wouldn't stop even now as the school year started. His friends understood this, too. They too sometimes came to see how she was doing, though Usagi never knew of these meetings.
Mamoru looked down at the girl, who looked curiously back up at him. She had always thought of Mamoru as a sort of monster. How couldn't she? Ever since she knew him he had always tried to kill or severely hurt Usagi. But over the past eight months her views of him had begun to change. She began to see the true Mamoru, especially now that his true identity as the Prince of Earth had been revealed. He only seemed to get nicer, though he and Usagi were still rivals. She said nothing and returned his stare with one of her own.
Mamoru frowned as he looked back up to the kids, who were about to run away in fear. "Get outta here! Scram! This kid may be pretty scrawny, but that doesn't excuse your behavior! Only I can make fun of her!" He looked back down to the child and winked. Not that he would really ever make fun of her anymore, he had no reason to. He had grown up, physically and mentally. He was seventeen already and was finally beginning to put behind himself all of his bullying of people habits.
The boys who had been making fun of her turned and ran away from the older kid. They weren't one to mess with those who could perform magic tricks, as they referred to it.
Hotaru smiled up at him, though saying nothing. She knew that probably wouldn't be the first time he saved her from being taunted. But she was thankful that he would take the time out of his day to do so. She looked back down to her feet with a long sigh.
Mamoru looked up into the air, where Michiru and Haruka had just arrived. They had yet to know about all that took place in the last eight months. He hadn't told them a single thing about his knowledge of the Senshi, or the Moon Kingdom. That wasn't something they should know. It was too serious of a subject for them to find out, considering the fact that Haruka, especially, wouldn't take it seriously. No, this was something to be kept from them.
He dropped his attention back down to Hotaru. "I'll see you around, squirt."
Hotaru nodded, and with an almost silent whisper, found the words to express her gratitude. "Thank you." She stood up just as Mamoru was leaving. The black car of Kaori was finally here. She would have to battle taunts once again, though from a person who should want to protect her.
She slowly made her way down the tall flight of stairs and to the car. Inside, she could see Kaori glaring at her as if she had done something to be punished for. She groaned as she opened the door and threw her bag in the backseat.
Kaori glared at the child. "Hurry up and get in, brat!"
Hotaru said nothing, as usual. She quickly crawled into the car and shut the door. Almost immediately, Kaori put her foot on the gas and the car flew off into traffic.
~*~*~
Usagi, Minako, Makoto, Ami, and Rei all sat on the stoop of Hotaru's house, awaiting her arrival. None of them had actually seen her for a couple of weeks, even though they had been trying to talk to her. Kaori only turned them away. But now they were determined to talk to her, or at least see how she was doing if she didn't feel like talking yet. They hadn't really been able to discuss her mother with her yet, not that she would want to anyway.
They all watched the black car of Kaori's pull into the driveway, Hotaru could be seen in the front seat with her face down. They weren't sure if it was because of something Kaori said, or something that happened at school, but she looked terribly sad, even for her current mood.
Usagi was the first to stand, but her friends soon followed her movements. They all glared at Kaori as she got out of the driver's seat. The red head did nothing but glare back at those whom she deemed to be brats. The truth of the matter was that she hated kids. She only worked with them so she could get closer to Professor Tomoe's research.
Hotaru was next to hop out of the car, though on the other side. She had already noticed her friends waiting for her and almost in a flash, as she let the realization sink in, she became somewhat happy. She wondered why they hadn't come to visit her in a while. It seemed like she hadn't seen them for ages. One day, they just all of a sudden stopped coming, which was another addition to her sorrow. She felt as if her own pain pushed them away, like they were getting angry at her for being sad all the time. With a smile growing wide on her face, she pulled her bag out of the back and made a running dash for her friends, only to find a firm hand on her shoulder. She looked up with heavy eyes at Kaori, her caretaker.
Makoto frowned as she advanced for the duo. Kaori frowned at the girl. She didn't much care for Hotaru's friends. They were much to vocal with their opinions. It was her idea that children should be seen, and not heard, but the Professor didn't think that at all. He loved his child, and her friends almost as much. He was grateful that she had found such good friends who actually cared about her. Kaori found them to be a nightmare. They were just more annoyances that she would have to put up with everyday, which was why she loved the fact that Hotaru had dipped back into being a zombie. It gave her a reason to turn the girls away every time they came. "You need to leave."
Makoto frowned as she placed her hands on her hips. "Why?" The others quickly found their places next to her. "We came to see how Hotaru is doing." She said, pointing to the girl in front of the red head.
Kaori frowned as she pulled Hotaru behind her. "She's still not talking. She didn't say a word all the way here, and she definitely doesn't want to talk now. As if you can't tell, she's still upset about something." She looked down to Hotaru with a frown of intimidation.
But Hotaru wasn't going to sit back and take this. Now she understood why the girls hadn't come to see her. Kaori must have constantly been turning them away every time they came. It wasn't because they were annoyed with her. She looked back to her friends, who were giving Kaori a frown of their own. "I don't mind." She whispered.
Kaori glared at the child with pure hatred. She hadn't wanted to be disturbed with more annoying brats running about the house. "You have ten minutes, brat." She said with gritted teeth. She pushed Hotaru away and began walking to the house.
The girls moved to the side and glared at Kaori until she was inside, all with clenched fists. Makoto glared the hardest. She hated Kaori the most. She always pushed Hotaru around, even more so now that she had gone into non-speaking mode. "I can't believe how rude she is!"
Minako walked to Hotaru and wrapped her arm around her shoulder. She was careful not to be too rough with her. "It's ok, Hotaru."
Hotaru continued to frown at the front door of her home where Kaori had just entered. "I hate her!" She cried out quite loud.
Usagi and Rei exchanged looks of surprise. That was the first time in eight months that they had heard her yell out like that. Rei looked back at the girl with a grin. "Don't we all..."
Hotaru clenched her fists, but quickly dropped them again. "I hate her!" She cried out again. It felt good to finally yell out like this after all this time. Her frown turned into a piercing scowl as she pulled away from Minako's warm grip. "I HATE YOU, KAORI!" Tears began to weld together in her eyes as she backed away into the car. Her legs soon let out from beneath her body and she slowly slid to be sitting with her knees against her chest with tears running down her cheeks. Her friends wasted no time in gathering around her in sympathy, their hate growing for Kaori by the second.
Minako wrapped her arm around Hotaru once again. She felt like crying herself. "Hotaru, don't cry. Kaori's always mean, we all know this."
Rei nodded as she grabbed Hotaru's hands in her own. "Yeah. Don't worry. Kaori may treat you wrong, but the important thing is that your dad still loves you."
Hotaru sniffled as she looked up at the faces of her friends. "It's not that." She whined as she leaned into the loving Minako.
Usagi glared back at the house where Kaori resided. She would never forgive her for this, that was for sure. She looked back at Hotaru, wanting to cry herself. She knew how horrible it was to have adults making fun of you all the time. She had put up with it almost every year of her school career. "Wanna tell us what's really wrong? Or do you just want to go inside to think?"
Hotaru shook her head. "I don't wanna go in there with her." She sniffled again. "She'll only make fun of me more, and then call me a brat." She looked up into the sky. She found herself speechless of any words but three. "I hate her! She will never be..." She couldn't even bring herself to say it.
Minako rubbed the child's forehead. "It's ok, Hotaru. We know."
Hotaru closed her eyes only to see the image of her mother. "I miss her." She whispered. "I wish I could see her just one more time. But she had to..." She lowered her head. "She had to..." The tears came faster as she pushed her face even further into Minako's chest. None of her friends knew what to say to comfort her. They were too amazed that she was even talking as much as she was. Maybe she was pulling out of her trance, or maybe talking about it would only make it worse. "Kaori doesn't help. She always tells me that I'm stupid for acting like this, that I'm just trying to get attention. She says I'm a spoiled little brat. She's always said that, ever since I was really little. She says to me, "Your mother's dead, now deal with it, brat", like it shouldn't mean anything to me. She's the only one who thinks that's why I've gone into a "mood" like this, and she's right. But now that I know she wasn't really dead, and NOW she is, it makes it worse."
Makoto stood up with a frown. This was all Beryl's fault. It was her fault that Akii was killed. Of course, without her, Hotaru wouldn't have been born into this world as a Saiyan, but who cared about that? At least Hotaru would have had a mother with her for all time. She looked down at Hotaru, who had already become silent. "Do you ever tell your dad about the way she treats you?"
Hotaru nodded. "Of course, but he doesn't believe me. Kaori lies to him and tells him that I'm just "acting out" because I don't want her to take the place of my mom."
Usagi clenched her fists at the sound of that. She had heard from many of her classmates in the past about people like that. They were usually women who wanted to move in on a single father who had children. She wondered if that was what Kaori was trying to do. Maybe she really was trying to take the place of Hotaru's mother. "I can't believe her!"
Hotaru sighed as she wiped the tears away from her eyes. "I hate this. I hate Kaori! I hate Beryl! I hate the people at school! I hate everything!"
Ami rubbed Hotaru's head with concern. It wasn't healthy for a seven year old child to be speaking like that. "You don't have everything, Hotaru. You're just vulnerable right now, you have to build up your resistance again. You have to learn to be strong again."
Hotaru lowered her head further yet. "I don't want to do anything right now. I don't want to go back to school. I don't want Kaori around anymore." She broke her sentence there and closed her eyes. More tears began to stream down her face. "I don't want to know the truth about my mom."
At that moment, Kaori came out from the house and glared at Hotaru with her arms crossed over her chest.
"Hotaru! It's time for your friends to leave! They've overstayed their welcome! You need to come inside now!"
Hotaru frowned as she opened her eyes and looked straight into Kaori's eyes. "Yes, ma'am."
~*~*~
Usagi flew home as fast as she could when she left Hotaru's. Her mother expected her home by 4:00 on schooldays, and by the time she left, it was already 3:30. It had already been an hour since school had ended. All the way home she could think of nothing but Hotaru and Kaori. That girl had it rough. Kaori treated her like dirt and at the same time, tried to take the place of her mother. Learning of her mother's real death had pretty much thrown Hotaru over the edge and Kaori had only caused more problems right under Professor Tomoe's nose. She would have to do something about the witch, but what? Kaori was an adult, and she herself was only a kid. She learned early that adults always had the winning hand in things like this. It would take time, but she would somehow find a way to help her friend.
Her thoughts were soon switched to her day at school and her encounter with the new kid, Tatsuo. For a reason she figured she would never understand, Makoto, Rei, and Ami thought that he was the strangest guy. He seemed pretty normal. He may have been a little strange, but she figured it was because he wasn't from around here. She grinned to herself as she came upon her house. She would show them sooner or later that there was nothing wrong with him, he was completely normal.
She landed on the ground and made a dashing run for her house. As she got closer, she noticed her father stretching outside. With sweat dripping down his face, he looked as if he had just gotten through with a spar. It was his custom to stretch before and after a fight, as was hers. The first time was obvious, but Usagi had always wondered about the second time. He had explained to her that it was to cool down your muscles. It isn't good to just fight and fight and fight and then all of a sudden stop moving. It was always good to continue to use them until you cooled yourself down.
She continued to run forward until she was at his side. "Hi daddy!" She chirped as she dropped her bag on the ground.
Goku smiled as he looked up to his daughter. He pulled his legs in and pushed himself up. "I didn't think it was getting that late."
"It's only...," She trailed off as she looked down at her watch, "3:47." She exclaimed.
Goku extended his arms out to stretch them a bit more before he would quit. "So, how was school?"
Usagi smiled wide, forgetting all about Hotaru. "Great! It was so cool! Way cooler than elementary school was! Our first period teacher let us have free time to get to know people in the class!"
Goku found himself smiling again. "Did YOU meet anyone new?"
Usagi nodded. "Yep. Well, actually, Ami did, but she introduced him to us."
Goku all of a sudden stopped stretching, quite abruptly, and glared down at his daughter with suspicion. He cocked a brow up. " 'Him'?"
Usagi nodded, not catching why her father had stopped so suddenly. "Yeah. That's what I said. His name's Tatsuo."
Goku continued to glare at his confused daughter. "And what did you talk about?"
Usagi turned her head up on its side in confusion. Why the sudden interest in what they talked about. "Stuff. Mostly about why I have a tail. He was really nice about it too. He didn't make fun of me like other people usually do. He said that everyone is different and that's just the way it is."
Goku nodded. He couldn't disagree with that. "Ok..."
"Daddy, what are you doing tomorrow after I get home from school?" She asked, hoping that he hadn't planned to spar with her brother's or anyone else. She really wanted Tatsuo to meet with her father. She wanted him to know exactly how much stronger her father was than Mr. Satan.
Goku sighed with much relief. "Well," he started, "I had planned on us sparring when you got home. I thought maybe we'd go see what Piccolo was up to." Usagi groaned, showing her father that she wasn't quite up with that plan. "Why?"
Usagi; "Well, I want you to meet Tatsuo." Goku's jaw nearly dropped to the ground after hearing that. It wasn't a good sign when a daughter wanted her father to actually meet a boy from what he heard from Gohan and Vejita. Usagi could see anger building up in her father's eyes, and for what, she didn't know. "What's wrong? You don't want to meet him? He's really nice. You'll like him."
Goku's ears burned. He had heard Pan spill that line to Gohan thousands of times. "Usagi..." He said with a queezing stomach. "You're too young." That was that. He had said it. Any further argument would be at no fault of his own.
Usagi looked up at her father, even more confused than before. "Too young for what? To bring him over here to meet you?"
Goku nodded with a firm frown. "Exactly. You're too young and I won't have it."
Usagi frowned. "But you've always let me bring my friends over here before. That's not fair!"
Goku stopped frowning. He wondered why she hadn't started complaining that all the other girls were doing it, and at this point he would have to tell her that she's not all the other girls. But not a single word like that came out. "I don't care if they're JUST friends, but you're too young to be bringing boys over for me to meet."
Usagi giggled. After hearing that she finally got the picture. "It's not like that, daddy." She said, her giggles turning into pure laughter. "I don't like him like that."
Goku's face turned red. "What?"
Usagi grinned. "I just want him to see that you're stronger than Mr. Satan."
Goku could have turned away right there and then and walked away from the conversation. He was too embarrassed to go on, but he had been through worse embarrassment than that with his daughter. This wasn't anything compared to Chi-Chi though, thinking that their daughter had a crush on someone only to find out that that wasn't what was troubling her. "Let me get this straight, you just want him to meet me so I can show him my strength?"
Usagi nodded. "That's about it." More giggling bubbled out of the young Saiyan's mouth as she looked at the red face of her father. "Don't worry dad, you'll know when I REALLY like a boy."
Goku playfully frowned as he grabbed his daughter and pulled her closer to him. "Don't worry, when you do, I'll kill him."
Usagi let out a quick laugh. "No you wouldn't, you're too nice."
All expressions of play were erased from Goku's face and replaced with a look of pure seriousness. "I would if one ever hurt you."
(Wow, well now that's really shorter than usual. Sorry. But, this, I thought, was a good place to stop. It kind of goes along with what I'm going to do a little later. Phase one almost complete! ^_^ Then my setup of this book will basically be complete. Yay! Ok, well, I guess I'll Cya tomorrow then... Or Friday depending on my homework. Ugh! )