Author's Notes: All right, now I know most of you have either forgotten about me or been plotting my mysterious murder, presuming that I wasn't already dead, but I'm back and you're not allowed to kill me quite yet. That is, at least, you can't kill me if you want to see the end of the story. Moving on…
As always as usual, I don't own any of this stuff except for the plot. Even then, its kind of a common one, so I'm not sure I can totally claim it as my own.
Hugs and chocolate to my beta readers, Cheryl and Janine, who help me fix whole bunches of screwy grammar, spelling, and ideas.
Quote of the Week: "I love deadlines. I especially like the whooshing sound they make as they go flying by." ~ My apologies for ignoring this story for so long!
I Have A Headache - Chapter 4
By: Eternal Rose
~* SM Dimension *~
In spite of being significantly creeped out by Usagi's behavior, the inner senshi had pulled themselves together and gotten on with doing their homework. To their unending shock, Usagi had quickly and quietly completed all of their assignments. When Ami, who finished ten or so minutes after Usagi checked over her work, she was astonished to find that all of Usagi's answers were correct!
"Usa, have you been studying? You're work on this is amazing, especially given your previously mediocre performance." Ami blushed. "Not that you didn't do decently, but your work is levels higher than it was even yesterday."
"Hn." Was the only response Ami received. Well, that is of course excluding the glare, and Ami wasn't even sure that she could consider that a response.
"Since you've already finished, do you want to head down to the arcade with me?" Minako asked. The others leaned forward in anticipation of the response. Usagi had never once in her life refused a trip to the arcade, and it was highly unlikely that she would start.
**Hn. I don't really have anything else that I can right now. It would probably be a good way for me to scout out the land. I can lose these girls once I have a better idea of what's happening to me. Besides, maybe they'll have an Internet accessible computer so that I can email Dr. J and find out what's going on.**
Usagi's head bobbed up and down, and she rose.
And the blank stares returned.
And stayed.
And stayed.
"Are we going to the arcade or not?" Usagi finally asked, with only the slightest hint of annoyance and aggravation in her voice. No screams of excitement, no joy at the idea of going to the arcade. The other senshi were severely freaked out, and had once again been reduced to staring morons.
"Well?" She asked again, still not using any emotion other than annoyance. Finally, the other girls came back to reality and rose to join her. Books were hastily shoved into bags. Usagi, somewhat reluctantly, and with a look of mild disgusted, packed her bags into her bunny back pack and picked it up.
"Do any of you have something I could use to tie this hair back?" Usagi asked when she noticed the way the end dragged along the ground. It was horrendously heavy, and she longed for her short hair.
"A hair tie?" Rei inquired. "Are you going to go back to being Odango Atama again?"
Usagi glared at her, raising an eyebrow slightly. Rei quickly rummaged through her bag and retrieved the requested item. Usagi mercilessly yanked her hair back into a ponytail and wrapped the tie around it tightly. The savagery and cold detachment with which it was done, not to mention the fact that it was the second new hairstyle they'd seen on her in two hours after not seeing one in two years, shocked her companions. After persistently clingling to those damn odangos for Kami knows how long, she threw them out the window without a second thought.
As they headed out the door, Rei, Minako, Ami, and Makoto exchanged glances. Usagi noticed it in the same manner that she had been catching on to everything since she had awoken. All the girls had the same thought as they quietly left - **She's lost her mind.**
~* GW Dimension *~
"Are you all right?" Heero asked gently, rising swiftly from the bed. He walked gracefully over to Quatre and helped him to sit down. Then, he carefully but without a problem lifted Wufei from the floor and placed him on the bed in his place. Seeing that Duo had yet to move, Heero led him to the bed as well and pushed him gently onto it.
**OK, so I'm surrounded by a bunch of adorable, if somewhat crazy guys, who are just staring into space. It's not like I haven't done the same thing a hundred times before, but it just looks creepy on them.** Heero thought. ** I wonder what happened to that other guy. He at least seemed to stay somewhat normal when I started laughing. Honestly, freaking out at laughter - who the hell are these guys? And for that matter - who the hell am I?**
Heero reached up to run a hand through the hair he had left down earlier that day, only to discover that it was a heck of a lot shorter than the last time he had done so. **Oh, right, I'm not in my body anymore. As much as I miss my old hair, this is really more convenient. And it takes a lot of stress off my neck.**
"Sally is on her way." Trowa said as he re-entered the room stealthily. The soft steps of a Gundam pilot were second to almost none.
"Praise Allah!" Quatre exclaimed. "I don't know what we would have done if she hadn't been able to come."
"Who's Sally?" Heero asked curiously. The other pilots turned to stare at him, almost as though they had forgotten he was in the room. Duo finally regained the ability to function, and it was he who answered Heero.
"Don't worry, He-man, she's one of the nicest ladies you'll ever meet." Duo laughed slightly. "Even Wu-man likes her, and that's saying something."
"Why?" Heero pondered aloud. The innocence on his face sent shivers through the other pilots. **Wow, a Heero who acts like a normal human being is definitely not something I ever thought I'd see.** Duo thought. **Me, Quatre, heck, maybe even Trowa and Wu-man, but Heero? Mr. Perfect Soldier without his solemn, quiet expression is definitely a scary sight. Maybe I can talk him into playing a trick on Wufei with me.** A mischievous smile lit up his face.
"Not important." Duo said flippantly. "Hey Trowa, Quatre, you think you can take care of Wufei? I wanna talk to Heero for a little while."
"Duo, I'm not sure that's a good idea." Quatre said. "He's obviously not himself at the moment, and I don't think you doing any more damage would be helpful right now."
"I'm not some porcelain doll! I think I can make decisions for myself." Heero said with a slight glare. Quatre's face fell slightly - his trademark glare had faded to a mere hint of what it had once been.
**Oh dear, I think I hurt his feelings!** Heero thought as he saw Quatre's reaction. **You moron, isn't Rei always telling you not to be so mean to other people?**
"Of course, if you really think it's a better idea, I can just stay here with you." Heero said quickly, the glare disappearing swiftly. The apology was completely unexpected and unwanted as far as the pilots were concerned.
**This is worse than I suspected.** Trowa thought. **I hope Sally gets here soon!**
Heero, meanwhile, was spending some time staring at Duo. Out of all of them, he seemed like the only one resembling normal. As for the rest, well, there was only one thing that needed to be said - **Presuming they had them to begin with, they've lost their minds.**
~* SM Dimension - Arcade *~
**These machines are archaic.** Usagi thought as she looked around the arcade. **I wonder why they haven't been replaced yet.**
"Oh, look, the New Sailor V game!" Minako exclaimed. **And that explains that.** Usagi concluded. She found a quarter in her backpack, put it into the machine, and began to play.
Slowly, a crowd formed around her as she passed level after level with flawless precision. Her friends, who had never seen her beat level 4, stared in amazement as she flew past level 400.
"Usagi, have you been reading the cheat section in some book for this game?" Makoto asked, a sweat-drop forming on the back of her head as her hand came up to rest thoughtfully near it. **Wow!** she thought. **She's even better than my old boyfriend!**
"Of course not!" Rei exclaimed. "She's not smart enough to come up with a brilliant plan like that. Aside from which, it's not like she ever actually reads anything. If meatballs for brains over there did any reading she might actually pass those tests of hers!"
"Oh!" The crowd exclaimed as Usagi executed a particularly death-defying move. The little figure on the screen danced gracefully out of the way of her enemy, spun on its heel, and fired a quick shot that killed it in a matter of seconds.
"Hey, what's all this?" asked Motoki as he wondered casually over. **Game-Machine Joe must be back in town. I hope Makoto isn't hanging all over him again. He was so so embarra-** "Usagi?!?!?"
"Hn." The terse response lead to Motoki's giving her and the other girls a distinct *look*. The kind of look that is just screaming, Someone tell me what's going on here! Someone tell me right now! Still caught in the same daze they'd been in all day, none of the others answered.
**I wonder what I should do when I beat the next level?** Usagi wondered idly. **Options: Defeat the evil villain once and for all and watch the screen get all bright and firework - type - thing - - which is surprisingly entertaining. The way they just go *BOOM*, like an OZ base, its definitely pretty cool. I could just die, and get a ridiculously high score, or I can hack into the hidden level. Hmmmm, the hidden level could be interesting…**
"Usagi!" A loud voice echoed through the room. Everyone's head, excluding hers, turned to see Mamoru standing in the door. He strode over to where she was playing and shoved his way through the huge crowd. He wrapped his arms around her in what would have been a tender expression of love except…
"NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The gallant heroine on the screen died as the hormonal moron caused Usagi's hand to slip off the controls at a crucial moment. It was hard to say who was more upset - the fans or Mamoru, who was wondering what she would do to him for this. She jerked out of his embrace with alarming speed and moved swiftly toward the table the other girls had gotten and took a sip from a soda they had ordered for her.
Slowly, she turned around……
**Oh crap!** Mamoru thought as he received the harshest glare one person can give another. Frightened, he stepped back. **Can this really be Usagi?**
Jaws hit the floor. No one bothered to pick them up. In a way, they were all proud of her - she was finally giving the jerk what he deserved. A malicious sense of satisfaction settled in among the observers.
**I guess I can live with this new body.** Usagi thought with mild amusement. **If possible, I think my patent-pending glare of death gets an even better reaction out of these people. I wonder what would happen if I said Omae o korosu to one of--**
Usagi's thoughts were cut off by loud screaming from outside. **Yes, Danger! Finally a chance to do some fighting.** She paused and looked at her shoes. **My feet are going to kill me after this. Damn shoes.**
~* GW Dimension *~
"Where is he?" Sally asked apprehensively as Quatre opened the door to his mansion to let her in. "Trowa told me he was laughing. I think this could be something serious."
"Follow me." Quatre said. The Arabian led her swiftly up the stairs and into the room where they had been keeping Heero.
**This is worse than I thought.** Sally realized as she entered the room. Heero was seated on the bed, listening attentively to a rambling Duo, laughing occasionally as he made dumb jokes. Duo looked somewhat disturbed, but kept right on going. Most unsettling of all, though, was the light in the sound, the rare purity of it. **If I didn't know better, I could swear he was a normal teenager!**
"Hello Heero, how are you today?" She asked tranquilly, allowing herself to expect an answer. She pulled up a chair and sat down. No answer came - Heero was too busy listening to Duo to hear her. He hadn't even noted that she entered the room. "Heero?"
"Wha- " Heero's head swiveled around so that his eyes were staring into hers. Instead of the traditional glare - o - death, Heero smiled politely at her. "Hello. I don't believe we've met yet. I'm Heero, what's your name?"
Sally was rendered speechless. **That settles it.** She decided mentally. **I'm dreaming. I'm definitely dreaming.**
"This is Sally Po." Quatre stated as the silence started to drag on. "She's a doctor. We think she might be able to figure out what happened to you."
"OK." Heero acknowledged. His voice was trusting, calm, and relaxed. Quatre's words were serenely accepted. - the other's worry grew.
"I - I - Could you excuse us for a moment?" Sally asked Heero. She looked at the other pilots and gestured toward the door. The others left without comment. Before exiting, Sally turned back to her patient. "We'll be back in a minute."
"Take you time!" Heero called cheerfully as the door closed. Sally shuddered as it clicked into place behind her.
"What happened to him?" She marveled aloud. "He's so different!"
"We know that, onna." Wufei said. "What we don't know is why. It is your duty as a physician to find out and tell us, not the other way around."
"Listen, Wufei, I'll do the best I can, but you have to admit that you guys aren't giving me a lot to go on here. All you've told me is that he's acting strange. If you don't give me a little more background - "
Sally's voice was cut off as the vid phone sounded. Duo flicked it on, and Dr. J's face popped into view. The pilots exchanged worried glances.
"We have a new mission for you five." He said. "Princess Relena of the Sanc Kingdom has been kidnapped. You must rescue her immediately."
As the four pilots visible to him on the screen continued to say nothing and simply stared at one another, J shifted uncomfortably on his feet. They were really starting to hurt. He thought, **Damn shoes.**
~* End Chapter 4*~
Heehee, it's done!!! Don't you feel special? Review and I'll write more, ne?
~Rose
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