TRAPPED!

By: Krysia

Setting: First Season, PG-13ish

Chapter 15

E-mail: Krysia2882@hotmail.com

Monday morning came in its usual way. The alarm clock buzzed and snoozed several times. Eventually, a teenage girl with long blonde hair raced about the pink bedroom readying herself for school. Her cat, lying on the end of the bed, opened a sleepy eye to watch her progress. The Tsukino family, oblivious to the ruckus going on upstairs, continued with their normal morning routine. Ikuko waited patiently for her hurricane of a daughter to make her token 'fly by' as she grabbed her breakfast and lunch simultaneously while propelling herself out the door towards school. This morning was no exception.

Their daughter raced by shouting, "I'm going to be so late!" Ikuko blinked as Usagi zoomed by with nary a 'Good morning' or 'Thanks, mom'. Of course, she was still standing in her usual place holding her daughter's breakfast and lunch. The slamming of the door jarred her out of her reverie. 'Now that was odd.' With a slight shrug and an exasperated "Teenagers", Ikuko headed back into the kitchen to resume her morning tasks. Kenji and Shingo had left for their destinations as well. Unnoticed, a white cat with a crescent moon descended from upstairs, retrieved the bento box sitting on the counter and hopped out a nearby window and headed in the same direction Usagi had ran minutes before.

Students were seated when the morning bell rang. Moments later, Tsukino Usagi entered the classroom and bowed to the teacher. "Please excuse my tardiness this morning, Haruna-sensei, I had trouble sleeping last night."

Mrs. Haruna shook her head slightly and motioned for the girl to take her seat. "I will excuse you this time Usagi, but please make more of an effort tomorrow."

"Yes, sensei."

Ami watched with growing horror as Usagi sat in a nearby desk. Naru leaned back to whisper to the newly arrived student, "You got lucky this morning Usa, but I hope you have your homework." Usagi nodded and smiled at the girl. Naru turned her attention to the teacher and Ami met the sky blue gaze of Tsukino Usagi. Ami narrowed her eyes and her suspicions were confirmed when the odango-headed girl flashed her a victory sign and winked. It took all of Ami's self-restraint to not sink down in her seat and hide from the world. They were doomed. A quick glance at Makoto and her lack of surprise indicated that Makoto was privy to Minako's plan. Ami tiredly rubbed her temple. It was going to be a long day.

It wasn't until the lunch bell rang that Ami uncharacteristically leapt from her seat and grabbed Usagi by the arm to head to their usual lunch spot. Makoto followed closely behind. None of the girls noticed the perplexed look that followed them out the door. Mrs. Haruna just shook her head. There must have been a full moon last night or something. She wandered off to lunch mumbling that even Mizuno-san was acting oddly. Maybe she was spending too much time with Tsukino Usagi, who was also acting out of sorts today. Even with her years of teaching experience, these teenagers still came up with new ways to catch her off guard. She doubted that she would have them ever totally figured out.

Usagi bubbled along merrily next to her companion, seemingly oblivious to the fact that the blue-haired girl was practically dragging her outside. Makoto tossed herself down on the ground and leaned up against their favorite tree. Usagi took her cue and settled herself next to her. Ami stood hands on hips, surveying the girls.

"This is your plan? Are you nuts? How do you plan on pulling this off?" Ami forced to keep her voice down lest she attract the attention of nearby students. Makoto reached up and grabbed Ami by the arm and pulled her down next to them.

"Chill out Ami. I've got everything under control."

Even though Usagi's voice was light and her eyes twinkled merrily, there was a slight determined undertone to her statement. Ami looked at her in amazement. Minako could possibly pull this off. With the exception of her slightly lighter blue eyes, she looked exactly like Usagi. 'She must have used the Luna pen,' Ami surmised.

Unnoticed by the three girls, Artemis arrived at school carrying Usagi's bento box in his mouth. He approached the girls and quietly set it next to Usagi. The blonde noticed her lunch suddenly sitting next to her. "Thanks Artemis. You're a real pal." The white cat nodded briefly, looked around surreptitiously, before bounding off quickly for a destination unknown and unmentioned to the girls.

Makoto spoke quickly, "I think this is something better discussed elsewhere."

By mutual agreement, the girls turned their conversation more towards resembling schoolgirl gossip. Anyone nearby was assume as much and not realize that it was actually a cram course for the blonde girl regarding the normal daily associations Tsukino Usagi had. Ami resigned herself to this task knowing that she would have ample opportunity to grill her later.

Surprisingly, Minako/Usagi managed to avoid getting detention and met Ami and Makoto out in front of the school. Following their after-school routine, the girls headed towards the Hikawa Shrine to meet up with Rei for a brief meeting. The raven-haired miko's eyes widen in surprise, but after the girls reached the top of the stairs, the girl had resumed her normal composure.

"Hello Ami and Makoto. Hello Usagi." As she placed emphasis on the latter name, she then rolled her eyes and motioned everyone inside. Once everyone was settled in her room, she again turned and faced the blonde girl.

"So Usagi…how was school today?" The raven-haired girl sat herself down and waited for a response.

"It was fine. I was late this morning, but Haruna-sensei was gracious enough to not give me detention. Naru thought that it was due to her having a date tonight." As 'Usagi' began to prattle on, Rei reached over and smacked her on the back of the head.

"Just what were you thinking? How do you plan on living two lives right now? You can't be Minako and Usagi at the same time." Rei crossed her arms across her chest while glowering at the blonde girl.

Ami silently cheered inside while keeping her calm facade. 'Alright, Rei! I knew you would see the foolishness in this. It won't be long and we'll have ended this madness and I can beg Usagi's forgiveness.'

"Easy as cake, Rei."

The odangoed girl stuck her tongue out at the shrine mistress. "Minako is gone on a secret project having to do with the newest Sailor V movie, or at least that is what my parents think. They are not expecting me back for a month and have arranged with my school for me to be gone. I just have to make up the work when I get back and I'm sure Ami-chan wouldn't mind helping me study when this is all over." She turned and fastened her blue eyes on the girl sitting across from her.

"Would you Ami?" Minako pleaded with the girl genius.

Ami dropped her head in her hands and nodded reluctantly. Makoto watched the drama unfold with a smile tugging on the corners of her mouth. She wisely refrained from commenting at the moment. Minako was doing fine on her own and really didn't need her help. Rei considered her words and Ami's reaction. It was no surprise that Makoto seemed to be in on Mina-chan's scheme.

Rei shrugged and stood slowly. "Well, it sounds ok. We did leave it up to you to handle this part." She grinned suddenly. "For your sake, I hope this all works out. It would be awful to go though all that, have the enormous amount of school work and have Mamoru-kun and Usagi-chan still bickering."

Minako laughed. "At least I don't have to worry too much about doing Usa's work. She hardly does it anyway."

Ami lifted her head up and responded somewhat menacingly. "But you will have to do it. She is still expected to try. You have to keep up on her work; you can't let her fail. Her voice rose slightly, almost begging for clarity of thought from the rest of the girls. "And how are we going to keep her up on her studies while she's with Mamoru-kun? She will be even further behind!"

Makoto spoke up. "Maybe later this week we can slip Usa's books in somehow with a syllabus. Mamoru can help her study. It may be actually good for them to have a legitimate reason to be in close quarters."

"Sounds like a map!" exclaimed Minako as she bounced up from where she was sitting. "Let's go to the arcade and see Matoki-kun. Maybe he has heard from those two."

As Minako headed for the door, Makoto leapt up and blocked her exit. "Hello! You need to look like Minako before you go to the arcade. Don't you think Matoki-kun would be a little surprised to see Usagi walk though the door?"

Minako blushed. Rei and Ami just sighed and shook their heads. With a quick flash, Aino Minako was standing before them, complete with red bow in her long blonde hair.

"Now can we go?" And the girls trailed behind Minako who was on her mission of love.