Hey Guys! Thanks for the reviews. They really mean a lot. Now it's time for the next part of my story. Enjoy!
This chapter is dedicated to a dear friend that inspired me to write. That dear friend is Serena.
Disclaimer: See chapter one.
Authors Note: Blah Blah Blah Indicates a character's thoughts.
Chapter 3
Strange Feelings
It had been a long, excruciating day, but Darien Chiba had managed to get through it. He was now on his way to the Crown Arcade and Restaurant to meet India for their date. All day he attempted to pay attention to his professors, but his thoughts kept going back to India. It always amazed him how much he thought about her.
Darien came out of his thoughts and looked around. He blinked as he realized that he had passed the arcade. This can't be normal. If it is, then it's definitely unhealthy. Turning around, Darien smiled and backtracked to the arcade. Just as he was about to walk in, Darien saw a dark figure within his field of peripheral vision. He turned, and saw no one there. He shrugged it off and went into the arcade. He smiled as his best friend, Andrew Furuhata, walked up to him and slapped him on the back. "Hey Darien! How was school?"
"Fine. I just couldn't focus today." Darien smiled.
"Let me see. Could it be because of India?"
"Yeah! How'd you ever guess?" Chuckled Darien.
"Ummm, 'cause that's always the reason?" Andrew asked with a smile. "Ya know Darien, I'm looking forward to meeting her."
"You're really going to like her. I can't wait to meet your girl as well. When are you going to set up a time for us to meet anyway? I'm sure that I will like her from all the things you've told me about her." Darien replied smiling.
"I know you will Darien. Trust me, I've been trying to, but its hard with her always having detention and then 'Study Buddies' with her friends after school. I made it a point to tell her not to come by and see me today though."
"Oh, really? Why is that?" Darien wondered.
"I told her a friend of mine was having a date here this afternoon. Besides, I didn't want to ruin your date by making you and India listen to Serena getting jealous. Her friends always flirt with me and Serena gets so mad."
Darien laughed. "That makes sense. Thanks a lot!" Darien smiled.
The two friends sat down at a booth and had talked for a few minutes when Darien looked at the clock with a worried look. I wonder where India is? She is always on time. It's not like her to be running late.
SHIT! I'M ALREADY 15 MINUTES LATE! DAMN TRAFFIC! India mentally raged. It was 5:15 and India had completely forgotten about the downtown traffic. Everyone was trying their hardest to cross the street, but the crosswalks were packed tight and they weren't getting anywhere.Finally, after several pushes and apologies, the girls were finally on their way to the arcade. India had left everyone far behind, hoping they would forgive her later. The other girls knew what was fueling India and decided to slow to a jog. They weren't the ones in a hurry, India was.
India rushed into the arcade at 5:18 and just stood there hunched over breathing deeply. After a few seconds of much wanted and needed breath, India looked up and scanned the arcade for Darien. She found him and a blonde haired guy, who she assumed was Andrew, sitting at a booth looking at her. She started to walk over to them when her knees buckled. She was falling fast and was sure she was going to hit the floor. The next thing she knew, she was being held by someone.
"India, are you all right?" Darien asked worriedly.
"Yes, I'm fine. Just let sit me down for a little bit. Don't worry." India added when she saw the worried look on Darien's face.
Darien knew what she was trying to do, but he wasn't going to argue. With Andrew's help, Darien began helping India to the booth where they were just sitting. As soon as Andrew touched India, they both thought the same thing. WHOA! What in the world was that? Andrew and India looked at each other and locked eyes. Then they blushed and looked away a few seconds later. Darien didn't see this and proceeded to seat India. Seeing that Darien had things under control, Andrew left to get India a drink.
Just as India sat down, Andrew brought her a glass of ice-cold water, and then slid in on the opposite side of the booth while a worried Darien sat next to India.
"India, what on earth is wrong?" Darien asked her as she drank the refreshing water.
When she finished drinking, she sighed and looked at Andrew. "That hit the spot. Thanks Andrew." She then looked at Darien. "Nothing. I'm just tired. I guess it's from the running. I'm not use to it."
"Why were you running?" He asked with dark blue eyes full of concern.
India smiled. "Because I made some new friends today and they invited me over to study with them after school. Well…"
India then thought back to what happened and remembered what Luna had said. "It is very important that you DO NOT TELL ANYONE WHO YOU ARE!" I guess I shouldn't tell Darien about the others and me. He probably doesn't even know who they are, but still, I don't want to put him in any form of danger.
"Well what?" Darien prompted.
"Well, I kinda lost track of the time and when I remembered to look at a clock it was already 4:45. I would have been here a little after five, but I forgot about downtown traffic. Ya know what?"
"What?" Andrew and Darien asked.
"Crossing downtown at five is a bitch." India said with a smile.
At this, the guys started laughing. Then Darien asked, "What are your friends' names?"
"Serena, Amy, Raye, Lita, and Mina." India replied smiling.
"Wait a minute, Serena Tsukino?" Andrew asked.
"Yeah, why?" India asked looking at Andrew.
"That's my girlfriend."
As if Darien had a light bulb turn on inside his head, he remembered to introduce them. "Oh my gosh! I forgot to introduce you two. India this is my best friend, Andrew Furuhata. Andrew this is the best girl of all time, India Present." Darien said proudly.
"Nice to meet you India. I have heard nothing but good things about you from Darien. In fact, you're all he talks about." Andrew said with a smirk, receiving him a scowl from Darien.
India blushed a little then laughed. "It's a pleasure to meet you Andrew. I've heard plenty about you as well. Darien talks about you a lot too."
Then Darien said, "I'll go get you some more water India."
Darien's comment fell on deaf ears as India and Andrew locked eyes again. What is going on? What is this feeling I have? I've never felt like this before. India thought.
Meanwhile, Andrew was thinking, What the hell is going on? This is my best friend's girlfriend. There is no way I can be having feelings for her.
After a few seconds of tension filled staring, India saw the girls walking up to the arcade. Thankful for the distraction, India stood up and went to greet her new friends. The girls entered with Serena in the back complaining about how tired she was. Darien was coming around the corner of a counter with India's water when he saw Serena and froze.
"Guys, I am so very sorry I left you all behind." India said hoping for forgiveness.
"It's okay. We knew you were in a hurry to get here." Lita said.
"Yeah. Besides, Serena was whining about how tired she was anyway." Raye said, looking at Serena.
"I was not Raye. I was just trying to get you guys to slow down. I was wanting to give India some time alone with her boyfriend." Serena thoughtfully covered.
Lita smirked and said, "Sure you were Serena." The group of friends then started laughing. Serena, on the other hand, was fuming because her friends were making fun of her.
India then noticed Darien standing nearby and said, "Oh! I almost forgot. Serena, Amy, Raye, Lita, and Mina this is my boyfriend, Darien Chiba. Darien, this is Amy Mizuno, Raye Hino, Lita Kino, Mina Aino, and…" India was cut off by Darien, who had thawed and was moving towards Serena.
"And this must be the famous Serena Tsukino I've heard so much about. It's nice to finally meet you. I've heard lots and lots of great things about you from Andrew." Darien said walking up to Serena and shaking her hand. When Darien and Serena touched, they both flinched at the spark they felt. What was that? They both wondered.
"It's nice to meet you as well Darien." Serena responded quietly.
At that very instant, everything in the world, except for Darien and Serena, seemed to disappear. I must have been running too hard. This feeling I have must be a side effect. Serena denied.
Oh! Now I know this can't be right. This is Andrew's girl and I have India. So why am I feeling something for Serena? Darien thought.
India, not seeing them flinch or the way they were looking at each other, went on with the conversation. "And I'm sure you all know who this is." India said motioning toward Andrew.
"Hey Andrew! What's up?" Amy greeted.
"Not much, just the usual. You guys are kinda early. I thought you would show up later. What's the occasion?" Andrew asked somewhat puzzled.
"Well, would you believe that Serena didn't have detention today?"
Andrew's jaw fell open. "Are you serious Raye? How in the world did she pull that off?"
It was Lita's turn to explain now. "We met India today at school and we wanted to introduce her to Raye when she was in a good mood. Well, Serena's snooze hour is after lunch so Mina, Amy, and I kept her awake all through class so Miss H. wouldn't give her detention."
"And with Serena not having detention and all, we convinced Amy to let us end 'Study Buddies' early. That, and we promised to get India here on time for her date. Which really didn't happen, did it?" Mina said.
"No, but that's okay. That allowed me to meet India." Andrew smiled and glanced at India. India glanced as well, but only after Andrew looked away.
Darien and Serena had broken eye contact and were now listening intently to the conversation, trying to figure out what was being said. As well as trying to avoid thinking about what had just happened.
"Say Mina, whose cats are you holding?" Andrew asked.
"Well, we're not sure. We found them at Raye's temple earlier. I think that Serena is going to take the black cat and I'm going to take the white cat."
"Cool! What are their names?" Andrew asked, as he went up and started petting them.
"Well, this is Luna and this is Artemis. Cute aren't they?" Mina said, smiling at the purrs that Luna and Artemis were making.
"They sure are."
"Well guys, since the introductions are finished, why don't we sit down and relax?" India asked.
"I have a better idea. Why don't you go sit down and relax with Darien, while Serena goes with Andrew, and we will go discuss plans for 'Study Buddies' tomorrow?" Amy proposed, winking at India.
India, catching onto what Amy was talking about, winked back and said, "Okay Amy. Thanks."
So the group of friends divided up. Darien and India sat down at the booth, Andrew and Serena went to the counter, and the rest went to the farthest table away from the two couples so they wouldn't interrupt them.
As soon as the girls and the cats were alone, Luna asked, "Artemis, did you feel that?"
"Yes, I did Luna. Do you think it might be the enemy?"
"I think so. I mean I felt that before we came in here, but now…"
"There is the same feeling we had when we first saw the girls." Artemis finished.
The girls, now totally confused, all looked at Amy for an explanation, which she didn't have. "Wait a minute. What are you two talking about?" Amy asked.
"Opps. Sorry girls. We have a habit of doing that." Luna apologized.
"To put in simple terms, remember when we were explaining about the Negaverse and stuff? Well, we forgot to mention that our purpose is to be your guardians. Since we are your guardians, we have the ability to sense good and evil presences." Artemis said.
Luna continued. "On the way here, we sensed an evil presence near by that only got stronger and stronger the closer we got to the arcade. But, when we stepped into the arcade…"
"The sense of an evil presence diminished considerably and a sense of goodness took over. The sense of evil is still there, but it is very faint because of the overwhelming sense of goodness here." Artemis finished.
"I felt that too." Raye confessed.
"We figured you did Raye. You're a psychic after all, so you can sense the presence of good and evil as well." Luna replied.
"Well, if Raye can sense good and evil, then can we?" Mina asked.
"Yes, but it will take some time. You all are very new to this so it will be a while before you can sense these presences." Artemis explained.
"Okay, we understand. Do you think the evil presence you felt was the Negaverse?" Amy questioned.
"We're positive it was." Luna answered.
"Okay, that answers that question. What do you think the good presence was?" Lita asked.
"We are not quite sure of that yet, but we feel as if we will find out soon. Right Artemis?"
Artemis nodded and said, "Very soon."
While the girls continued chatting with the cats, Darien and India were sitting at the booth just mindlessly talking. "I'm really sorry for being late today Darien. I hope I didn't worry you too much."
"Well, not too much. I mean I was worried, but not a lot." Darien replied, his thoughts returning to Serena. What I'm worried about is what happened earlier with Serena.
They had been doing this for a while. One would talk and the other would reply and then both would slip into a confused train of thought. What's going on? I don't understand what happened between Andrew and me earlier. What does it all mean? India thought.
As far as Andrew and Serena were concerned, they were doing the exact same thing. "You know Serena, I am very proud that you didn't get detention today." Andrew said smiling.
"Well, as you know, it wasn't because I didn't want to sleep, it was because the other girls wouldn't let me sleep." Serena replied, smiling back.
"True, very true." Andrew said.
"I really am sorry I came to the arcade today, Andrew. I completely forgot about your friend having his date."
"It's okay Serena. Besides, everything worked out. I've been trying to get you and Darien together so you two could meet and I needed to meet India anyway." Andrew said.
At the mention of Darien, Serena spaced out. What happened? This is exactly what I have been trying to avoid thinking about. This feeling I have for him isn't right. What is it anyway?
But Serena wasn't the only one spacing. Andrew was doing his share of it too. This is driving me crazy! What is going on? I have Serena and she's a terrific girl. Why do I feel this way about India, Darien's girlfriend?
By now, everyone was doing his or her own thing, when suddenly…
"AHH! SOMEONE HELP ME! PLEASE HELP ME!"
Everyone jumped up and ran outside. "What the hell was that?" They all asked in unison.
"It seems that it came from the park. You guys go call for help and we will go check it out, okay?" Raye said.
"No. I'll go with you while Andrew goes and calls for help." Darien said, not wanting to leave India and, surprisingly enough, Serena alone.
All the girls looked to Luna and Artemis and they shook their heads. Raye could feel it too and by the look on Raye's, Luna's, and Artemis's faces, they knew it was "Scout business."
"No! It's fine Darien. We will be careful. Stay here with Andrew." India said.
The girls then ran toward the park not giving Darien the chance to argue. Darien stood there thinking, I feel as if I should be going with them to help, but why?
Well, there is chapter 3. Was that okay? It wasn't as long as the last one, but not short either. I was going to end the chapter with, "By now, everyone was doing his or her own thing, when suddenly…" but I decided not too. Mainly because that would be really mean and I wouldn't like an ending like that, especially with as slow as I update. So I decided to be kind and go a little more with the story. However, don't think I won't do it later on . Well anyway, that's enough out of me. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'll hopefully see you next time.
Ja Ne
Duos Gurl
