Chapter Two
Mamoru stroked Usagi's hair gently. Her eyelids fluttered, but she did not wake up. There was a knock on the door, and he rushed to answer it so that the noise did not wake Usagi. "Come in, come in," he said softly to Minako. Shortly thereafter Rei and Makoto. They spoke quietly in the kitchen.
"What did you see, exactly?" asked Minako, who had been confused by the rushed explanation Mamoru had given her on the phone. He took a deep breath, and prepared to tell the whole tale again.
"Another Sailor Moon," he said. "Looked just like Usagi. Fought like – fought like – fought like you couldn't believe." Brows furrowed with worry as Mamoru began to continue. "She was so – " but a knocking cut him off. The Senshi were startled by the stealth and speed with which he made it to the door.
Two faces peered inside Mamoru's apartment. "Kioko?" he said, surprised.
"She caught me on my way out," said Ami. "She said you two had study plans soon any way, and she asked if she could tag along." Mamoru was annoyed. How could they have a discussion now? He opened the door wider so the two could enter. Kioko frowned.
"What's – " Mamoru put a finger to his lips, Kioko continued, whispering, "wrong with Usagi?"
"Sick," said Mamoru, frowning. "All of a sudden she was sick something awful." Kioko looked surprised, and frowned. The six people convened in the kitchen. Rei opened up the fridge to get a drink, and Kioko spotted some chicken. She looked at Makoto, and smiled.
"Well," she said finally, "wouldn't it be nice for Usagi to wake up to something nice and hot?"
The others were confused, but Makoto smiled. She had seen the chicken too. She stepped over to Mamoru's cabinets. "Stock," she said, "We need some chicken stock." Ami smiled, understanding.
"Rei and I will go down the street and get some veggies!" she said. "Carrots and peas and – " She tapped her lip thoughtfully as she and Rei crossed the room, Ami snatching up her bag. Minako grinned as she took a pot down, plunking it on Mamoru's head for a moment before he began rinsing it out.
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Usagi woke to the clattering of metal on metal. In their excitement, her friends had forgotten themselves. Usagi stretched and walked slowly to the kitchen, finding her friends gathered around the stove, popping the lid on and off of a large pot, throwing things in and stirring often. Mamoru turned around at the sound of footsteps. He took Usagi up in a great embrace, and Kioko began ladling soup into mugs.
"Aw, you guys," said Usagi, slurping her soup loudly. "This was really too much!"
"It was fun!" said Minako, squeezing her friend's hand before greedily beginning to eat her own soup. The group sipped, nibbled, and slurped their soup happily. Before long, however, Usagi's head had begun to hurt and she frowned. "I think I should go home," she said. Mamoru nodded.
"I'll walk you! We have to talk about dinner plans any way."
"But you were going to help Kioko with algebra, weren't you? I can call you later about dinner." Mamoru frowned, it was true, but wasn't this more important?
"We can handle getting Usagi home," said Makoto. "It's about time I got going any way."
"Me too!" said Ami. "I've got homework to do!"
"Ami," said Minako, rolling her eyes, "It's Saturday."
Ami frowned, confused. "And -- ?"
Laughing softly, the girls thanked Mamoru and Mamoru began to put away the soup. Kioko smiled and talked merrily as she helped.
"Usagi is just such a sweet girl. No one's so thoughtful as her!" Mamoru nodded, smiling. "Thanks so much for helping me with math, Mamo, I know it must be a drag." He shrugged.
"It's really okay, I always have fun," he smiled.
"I do, too. You make so much more sense than Kasawa-sensei." She snapped a carrot stick in her mouth and began washing mugs. As she talked, she stole glances at Mamoru. He was so handsome. She knew that at many points in time, the other girls had had crushes on him. As he spoke softly back to her, she thought she understood why.
"Have you always lived here all alone, Mamoru?" Kioko asked suddenly. Mamoru, putting a sheet of cellophane over the soup, frowned.
"For a very long time, Kiki," he said. Inside, she smiled, she liked when he called her Kiki. She noted the change of his demeanor, and tried to be comforting.
"I'm sorry. I live alone, too. It gets very lonesome, doesn't it?" Mamoru nodded.
"As long as I've known Usagi, it's been okay."
Kioko smiled up at him, and he made a note of the way even in the harsh, unnatural, fluorescent light, her eyes sparkled. "I'm glad, Mamo, I really am. I know that she's been a great friend to me since I've moved here." Kioko went to her books on the table.
"Yes," said Mamoru. "She loves everyone." Kioko flipped through a book idly.
"Shall we begin?" she asked. Mamoru nodded,
"But lets go to the coffee table. The couch is much better than these seats."
Seated on the couch moments later, Kioko smiled as she shifted closer to Mamo, trying to get a better look at the book. Mamo cleared his throat, uncomfortable, and wondered exactly what it was about this girl that made him so nervous.
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Usagi convinced the girls that they needn't walk her all the way home, and she now trotted down the sidewalk, feeling better out in the air. After looking both ways, she walked into the crosswalk, and let out a short scream as a speeding blue car stopped feet from her. A boy jumped out, shocked, and not caring about traffic behind him.
"Ma'am," he said, his accent strange and foreign. "Are you alright? I'm so sorry! I don't know where my mind was!"
"Yes," said Usagi, shaken and trembling. Twice today she thought she had seen her last of the world.
"May I give you a ride home, miss?" said the boy, his anxious voice becoming softer as he saw how he had scared the poor girl. He wanted to comfort her.
"What? No, no, it's fine."
"Please, it's the least I can do and traffic's being held up behind me. They're not going anywhere until I do." He grinned. "You'd do them all a favor by getting in!"
"Fine but if you kidnap me there are a lot of witnesses!" said Usagi, getting into the passenger's seat. The boy smiled and got in.
"Luke Wesley's the name," he said. "Or, excuse me, Wesley Luke. You'd think I'd've gotten the hang of that by now."
"I'm Tsukino Usagi," said Usagi. The boy took off at rapid speed once more. Usagi told him her address, and he nodded.
"We'll be there in no time."
Usagi pressed herself back against her seat. "I imagine so!" she said. The boy laughed.
"Sorry, Usagi-san," he said, slowing the pace.
"Your accent is a little strange," she said thoughtfully, trying to place where this boy was from.
"I'm working on it," he said. "I'm here from America for the semester. Probably really improved your impression of us today, huh?"
Usagi grinned. "Indeed!"
"I'm here studying my Japanese for the term. It's simply wonderful. You're so lucky you get to live here full time." She studied the boy. He was lean and blonde, with mischievous, shifty blue eyes. His accent was actually fairly good.
"Your accent isn't so bad," she said.
"No need to coddle me," he said with a wink. Usagi looked out the window and was shocked. They were already at her house.
"You drive too fast!" she teased, getting out. He reached after her.
"How about dinner tonight?"
"What?" she was shocked.
"I nearly killed you. I owe you dinner."
"No!" she said with a giggle.
"Fine! You made fun of my accent and bruised me emotionally; you owe me dinner!" She laughed and shook her head again. "Aha!" he said. "Taken?" She nodded. "No dinner, even as friends?"
"I'm sick, Luke," she said. "Remember, the name's Tsukino Usagi. Maybe we can hang out some time." He smiled.
"Alright then," he said, "See you around, Usagi-san." She waved feebly and stumbled into her house. She'd have a nap, and then she'd call Mamoru.
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Mamoru snapped the book shut. "Enough is enough?" he said.
Kioko laughed and smiled, agreeing whole-heartedly, "Indeed!" They ambled back into the kitchen, and Mamoru was shocked at the time. He felt as though he should offer Kioko some supper, at least, but his fridge was empty, save for left over soup. He looked toward his refrigerator, and under a square magnet he spotted some old gift certificates. He cleared his throat.
"Well, then," he said. "I hadn't realized how late it had gotten." Kioko nodded. "Do you wanna go grab a bite to eat?" Kioko smiled.
"That sounds really nice."
"Alright then, let me grab my coat."
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Usagi frowned. Mamoru wasn't home. She'd tried calling several times. Her parents and brother had gone out without her because she'd told them she'd be seeing Mamoru. She sighed, a little sadly to herself, and put a coat around her. She could get her own dinner.
After stopping at a sandwich shop, she walked through the park, eating it slowly. The sky was darkening and stars were coming out. She stared at the moon, and smiled. She hummed a little as she strolled, the grass tickling her bare ankles and clouds moving lazily across the stars.
She reached the end of the park, to a place where there were little shops and open-air cafés. She walked along the sidewalk leisurely, taking her time. She looked into the restaurants, watching couples and friends, and suddenly a wave of loneliness swept over her once more. She noticed one couple in particular, leaned over the small table, talking intimately. The girl giggled, and pushed her hair back from her face. Kioko? But who could that be she was with? Usagi's face dropped as she saw Mamoru lean in once more to chat with Kiki. Her mouth dropped, and she couldn't even let out a cry. Mamoru caught sight of her as she trotted away unhappily, and wanted to go after her, but he didn't know where to look.
Usagi walked back through the park, uncharacteristically discarding the rest of her sandwich. She sat on a park bench, looking out at a river that ran past swiftly. Curling her knees into her chest, she wished she had stayed to let Mamoru explain himself. After all, he and Kioko hadn't been doing anything really. They just looked so happy, and so intimate. And Mamo had been looking at Ki the way Usagi thought he looked at her...
She gazed up at the moon, conflicted. She had been hasty, she thought, silly even. What had caused her to react like that? She studied the stars, eyes settling on a bright orb. Mercury, she thought. The little planet shone strongly despite the competition from the bright moon and stars. She put her head in her knees, and moments later, felt a presence on the bench. She leaned against the person, assuming it was Mamo.
"I'm sorry, Mamo," she began, but the person cleared his throat uncomfortably. She looked up and jumped back, startled. It was the boy from earlier!
"Sorry, Usagi-san. It's me – Luke – from today?" There was a question in his voice, as though he didn't expect her to remember.
"Yes, Luke, I remember."
He looked at her, eyebrows furrowed. "I'm sorry," he said finally. "I just saw you sitting here and – " She shook her head and dismissed his anxiousness with a wave of her hand. "Its hard not to recognize your pretty hair, miss." She blushed in the darkness. Luke twiddled his thumbs and looked at his shoes, feeling awkward at seeing this girl so upset. He cleared his throat again, and pointed to the sky.
"Orion's always been my favorite constellation. I've always found something so noble in the way he's always there, with that bright belt. I don't know much about mythology, but for me, he's like a guardian. And of course, there's Mercury. I haven't seen that in a while," he sounded wistful and reminiscent. Usagi wondered who he used to look at the stars with. A pretty American girl, no doubt, she thought.
Usagi shivered. "It's chilly," she said, "I should be getting home."
"Would you like a ride?" asked Luke. Usagi smiled, though this boy was sweet, she couldn't help finding something a little creepy about him. She stared at him firmly for a moment. His large blue eyes were no longer shifty or mischievous, they were fixed solidly on her.
"Alright," said Usagi tentatively. "That'd be really nice." He smiled, looking, for some reason, relieved.
"Okay then," he said, hopping up eagerly. "Let's go."