&-Chapter 4-& Four people too many
enticer: They forgot to mention that he's a hopeless romantic, but I guess the cattier the women the less they see that quality in him.
Several months later things were closing down to a close. Life was back on track, last minute details were being decided and everybody was happy, well almost everybody was happy…
"I can't believe the news between Usagi, and Mamoru." Chika said to Kameko, they had become tempted light friends.
"Oh I know." Kameko shook her head in amazement. "That was a first in a very long time."
"Excuse me." A young voice from woman who was just as uncommon here as a blond American, she was of the African decent. "I'm Amoke, did I hear you correctly, that you both know Mamoru, I was walking by when I heard my boyfriend's name."
"When I said he liked his women dark, I didn't know how light I was in comparison." Chika stated nonpolitically. But she was being unfair, because even though she was darker in color she wasn't much darker than the Japanese women.
"Chika, I can't believe you. Amoke, you might want to sit down." Amoke joined them. "Where are you from?" Kameko asked politely.
"I'm from Switzerland." Amoke ignored Chika's dig to answer Kameko. "My name is from the Yoruban people, but my family has lived in Switzerland far to long to track where we started from originally." She divulged socially. "In fact the only reason I'm not named April or Sarah or Tiffany is because my parents wanted something interesting that wasn't along the same differences so I got my name." Amoke smiled ruefully. "I probably shouldn't have told you all of that."
"It's fine. What do you know about Mamoru and Usagi?" Chika made it her point to say his name first.
"I'm not quite sure, I know a lot about Mamoru." Amoke shrugged. The other two looked at each other before going off to explain to Amoke just the kind of guy she was dating.
After they finished Amoke had only one thing to say. "Well that's not going to happen to me."
"That's what we thought." They said at the same time that Amoke had to question if they planned this little meeting.
She shook her head trying to get things back in order. "I really think Mamoru's into me, we're getting really close, we spend a lot of time together. I may just be the one for him, at least for longer than those girls you've been talking about."
"Everybody hopes that one day they'll be the one to snatch Mamoru and keep him. This may or may not happen, but until it does, he won't change, he likes women, and he likes to be free." Chika told Mamoru's newest girlfriend.
"Until that happens though, he'll always return to Usagi, he's a sucker for her and weak when it comes to her." Kameko continued.
"But Usagi for the first time did not take him back, instead she stayed with her present boyfriend and soon she's getting married. I bet Mamoru's just livid at this info."
Usagi sat in the booth not to far away looking over the wedding magazines for a hundredth time trying to figure out what dress she wanted when she over heard the conversation. It was a popular place it seemed for Mamoru's girlfriends both old or new or the world was suddenly getting smaller as he dated an exponential amount of girls that they couldn't go anywhere without having dated him before.
But at their assessment of Mamoru's character Usagi smiled at the perfect opening. She got up, carrying the magazines under her arm, there were better places to look at them instead of at the bistro they were at now and walked over to the table. Her shadow fell over them. "They forgot to mention that he's a hopeless romantic, but I guess the cattier the women the less they see that quality in him. He's looking for that one girl, the one he can call his soul mate. Amoke, right?"
She nodded, recognition in her eyes but she couldn't place it. "Yes." She answered vocally.
"I'm going to head off you now before you go running around to try and find answers then coming to pop in at any time on me when I'm busy concentrating on something else. The last 4 girlfriends did that, so I'm going to give you a head start because you haven't actually come to find me yet. Talk to Mamoru, not me, he told me the last time he'd prefer it if I wasn't the one to explain our past. Trust him, talk to him, it's the least I can do for my best friend." Usagi turned away, but before she left she said over her shoulder. "And another thing, don't join up with them, and don't come looking for me to question your relationship, I like my sparse privacy."
She left through the back gate already paying for her food. Amoke had not eaten yet, but hurried after Usagi as it finally dawned on her where she's seen Usagi before. "Wait, Usagi!" She yelled spotting the blond through the crowd of black hair.
Usagi stopped and waited for Amoke to catch up. "This better be good." Usagi said levelly.
"It is, I was trying to place you through your entire speech and it didn't hit me where I knew you from until you disappeared." Amoke grabbed her free hand and Usagi looked at it skeptically. "Have you or are you ever called Akanke?"
"Yes." Usagi looked at her a moment. "Amoke? Are you the one I always called Smoke?"
"Yes." Amoke repeated Usagi's earlier word. "At the time I did not understand why you would change my name that way, but wow, all grown up and still you are the shinning girl you used to be."
"And you, I didn't even recognize you, how have you been?" Usagi questioned. "And your brother? I was going to call him all week, but I never got around to it."
"We're both good, actually we're both in Japan for the month. Odion would like to see you. But he thought you were still traveling the globe."
"Actually I took a 6 month hiatus because I'm getting married within the month. Oh it would be marvelous if you both could come to the wedding!" Usagi beamed.
"Mamoru didn't mention his plans to go to a wedding any time soon. But he does mention both you and Motoki every once in awhile, though he's never said your name. Its always been 'my two best friends were wondering if I could go with them to a game, you don't care do ya honey?' He says every once in awhile 'I'm going to the Crown and hooking up a shot with Motoki, see ya later.' But he's never once mentioned your name." Amoke looked peculiar at that one.
"He wouldn't mention the wedding because he probably forgets about it every time somebody doesn't mention it. And I spoke to him about getting the relationships cleared up in the beginning otherwise when something happens like this and it throws everything out of whack."
"About you and Mamoru…?" She ventured.
"I still stand by my confront him, especially now that I know who you are. But from my point, we're fine; he's going to be Motoki's best man in the wedding. My other best friend, the girl they were telling you about, Rei, she's my maiden of honor."
"Why do Chika and Kameko keep spreading the lies though?"
"Chika wanted to interview me a couple of weeks ago about a lot of things and I turned her down, so ever since then she's been slandering me and Mamoru out of papers because she gave her word not to write a word about us because it was off the record. I haven't figured out why Kameko's not over it yet, she's such polite woman when she speaks to them. I think she's actually just warning everybody not to get so close to him." Usagi hugged Amoke. "I actually do have to go, I'll see you later."
Amoke met up with Mamoru later that evening. "I met Usagi today." She stated off handedly.
Mamoru's face dropped. "You met Usagi?" He asked again carefully.
"Well no, actually, I've actually discovered I've known her for ages. Odion was one of her very close friends in Switzerland. She invited me to her wedding, Odion too." She told Mamoru.
"Oh, ok." Mamoru brushed off whatever it was that was worrying him.
"I met her right after I met two other women, Chika and Kameko." She was talking lightly.
"Are you going to break up with me?" Mamoru asked suddenly.
"Do you want me to?" Amoke asked raising her eyes to Mamoru's.
"No, not really, I enjoy spending time with you." Mamoru supplied.
"I enjoy spending time with you too." Amoke responded. "But it'd be better if you could trust me, and tell me the truth."
And Mamoru did tell her the truth, a lot less bluntly and more considerate of his girlfriend's feelings than Usagi did. "That's all there really is between us, a great friendship that can constantly be changing to best support each other." Mamoru finished.
"Usagi once suggested that my friend and I date because it'd give us the experience without the strings attached and it'd pass the time away more quickly."
"What did you say in reply to that?" Mamoru asked on a laugh.
"I said that it wouldn't work and things would get sticky because I wouldn't be in love with my friend and I'd go onto a new boyfriend while still 'dating' my friend." She answered.
"It works with Usagi and I because we don't ever fall into the roles as boyfriend and girlfriend, it's a thing like casual dating where you meet somebody else it's fine, no hard feelings, it just passes the time away. Nobody has ever really understood it, I guess you just have to be special type of people to get it to work out." Mamoru changed subjects. "Now, pretty lady, would you care to dance?"
"Sure. And Mamoru, thanks for telling me." Amoke joined him on the dance floor.
A few weeks later Mamoru and Amoke were in the park watching everything take place around them. They were laughing because of a combined joke. They were having a blast together and getting immensely closer to one another.
They were having just another night on the town, when they bumped into a large group of people. "MAMORU!" The blond one of the group squealed and Mamoru had to cover his ears at the high pitched squeak.
"Hey Mina-chan." Mamoru greeted unwillingly, then brightened. "Rei-chan, Makoto-chan, Ami-chan, this is Amoke, she's here from Switzerland."
"Hi." They all answered back at the same time.
"You know the guys right?" Mamoru asked Amoke and she nodded giving them all a smile.
"So are you all going to be in Motoki and Usagi's wedding?"
"Pretty much." Makoto answered plopping down on the grass next to Mamoru and pulling her boyfriend Nepherite with her.
"Can you believe it, our best friend is getting married in only six days." Minako sighed. "It's so romantic."
"I guess." Mamoru smiled tightly as the rest of them joined them on the ground.
"It's a shame that you and Usa-chan never went farther than you did, you always seemed in such a better mood when you were with her." Rei jibbed and Jadeite grabbed her head in a kiss to make her shut up, it wasn't right for her to be doing that.
"Are you happy with Mamoru, Amoke?" Ami inquired.
"Very." Amoke took his hand, it felt like they were being attacked. Her brother came around the corner of the park and she was amazed at the amount of people that just kept showing up. Soon the trouble making two would show up and Usagi and Motoki would follow soon after that if she wasn't mistaken.
"Hey Odion." Mamoru waved him over, he had gotten to know Amoke's brother well over the last few weeks.
"Hey." Odion greeted plopping down across from them.
"Aren't you the guy who's constantly calling Usagi Akanke?" Minako wondered. "What does that even mean?"
"It means to know her is to love her." Odion had brown hair like his father and was lighter than Amoke, it almost looked like a darker tan. "I gave her that nickname long ago when she was still unsure of what she was going to become."
"It fits." Makoto agreed. "Did you ever date Usagi?"
"No, we were just friends." Odion answered. "I was actually going to meet Usagi and her fiancé here, have you seen them?"
"No, we haven't, Mamoru, have you seen her?" Malachite looked to his friend.
"Yes, actually I have, there they come now." Mamoru pointed to the other direction where Motoki and Usagi were walking hand in hand talking intimetly together. "Are you sure you want to join the gushy couple though?" Mamoru asked Odion.
"I'm not quite sure I want to, but I'll bare it because I need to talk with her about some things." Odion stood up and cut Usagi and Motoki off before they reached the large group of friends, Usagi looked around him at them, but as he talked she nodded and the three of them took off in the other direction.
"I wonder what that was about." Amoke commented as she watched her brother take off with the other two.
"I don't think it has any baring on any of us." Jadeite said quietly. "It's just two old friends talking with each other after a long separation."