Chapter 2
Usagi closed the bathroom door gently behind her. She walked to her bedroom, expecting to see Mamoru in there. But he wasn't. Usagi was getting a little worried. She decided to call his cell phone. She sat on the bed and dialed, then pressed the receiver up to her ear.
"Moshi Moshi." Usagi sighed. "Mamo-chan, where are you?" Mamoru coughed. "There was nothing I felt like eating at home so I decided to go get something to eat. I'll be home in about ten or twenty minutes, 'Kay, Usako?"
"Okay." She hung up the phone and laid back into bed. Even though she knew Mamoru was alright, something still felt… wrong. But she couldn't put her finger on it. She decided to go to sleep and get some rest. Maybe I'm just overtired, she thought to herself. My mind is going crazy because I need some rest. She sighed and nuzzled into her pillow and shortly began to fall asleep.
Mamoru pulled into the driveway of his home. He sat in the car for a moment, checking his appearence. He smoothed down his hair and adjusted his blue button up shirt. Then he proceeded to the front door. With a creak it opened. He shook off his arms, damp from the rain, and took off his shoes. He climbed the stairs quietly, trying to get to the bathroom to take a shower. Usagi heard the stairs creak and quickly awoke. She smiled and crawled out of bed. She saw Mamoru enter the bathroom down the hall. As she walked to it, she heard the shower turn on. She grinned.
She peeked in and caught Mamoru taking off his shirt. "Maaaaamo-chaaaaan… I caught you…" she said in a soft voice, but loud enough for Mamoru to hear. He looked at her. "Hey. What's up, beautiful?" Usagi entered the bathroom and closed the door behind her. "Nothing. Just missed you this afternoon. I was hoping you'd be home when I got here, but you weren't." Mamoru stopped unbuttoning his shirt. "I already told you, I was getting some food." Usagi sensed he was getting defensive. "I know, you already told me. I was just saying I missed you." Mamoru looked to the side. "Oh." Usagi took a couple steps to him and placed her hands on his chest. She began to kiss his neck. He placed his hands on her shoulders and gently pushed her away. "Usako, not now, I want to take a shower." Usagi giggled. "Well we can do it while you take a shower, if you want." He turned around and started to take off his shirt again. "I'm kinda tired." Usagi felt her face turn a little red. "Oh, um, okay." She stammered. "maybe later, okay Usako?" Usagi looked down. "Um, sure." She looked up and smiled. "Enjoy your shower!" She left the room.
What the hell! Why did he turn me down! Usagi plopped herself into bed angrily. What kinda guy turns down sex! Usagi turned on the TV, but wasn't really paying attention. Instead she was thinking about how angry she was. Come to think about it, we haven't been having sex that often anymore… and when we do, it's not as good as it used to be. Is Mamo-chan getting bored of me! Usagi tried to think of some new things to try next time she and Mamoru made love. But nothing came to mind. Usagi wasn't into the weird stuff. She thought sex was a pure romantic thing, bounding two people together. She felt it was a way of giving someone a piece of your heart that you can't take back, and also taking a piece of someone's heart that they can't take back. She didn't think it was about whips and stuff. At heart Usagi was a shy girl, and that wasn't about to change.She blushed and covered herself up, embarrassed by the thoughts in her head.
"Usagi!" Usagi yelped and looked up. Ah, it's only Luna. "Ugh, what! You scared me half to death ya know?"
"Oh never mind." Luna sighed and plopped on the edge of the bed. Usagi reached her foot over and kicked her off. Luna landed right on her head! "What the hell was that for Usagi!" Luna leapt back on the bed and glared at her. "That was for scaring me!" Usagi turned over and shut her eyes. Luna sensed something was up, but she figured she would let Usagi calm down.
A few moments later Mamoru climbed into bed. "Goodnight Usako." He kissed her cheek and snuggled in. "Mamo-chan? Are you bored of me?" Mamoru laughed. "Is this about me not wanting to have sex with you?" Usagi pouted. "I'm serious." Mamoru chuckled. "No! Like I said, I'm just tired. Some other time." He rolled over and began to fall asleep. Usagi sighed and did the same.
The next morning, Usagi rolled over to put her arms around Mamoru. But he wasn't there. Usagi sighed and got out of bed. She half expected him not to be there. She walked downstairs to the kitchen where Mamoru was already dressed, drinking coffee and reading the daily paper. "Good morning," he said to Usagi, without looking up. "Morning." She replied in a bit of a cold tone. She sat down and stared at Mamoru through his paper for a good three minutes. She would even clear her throat or cough every so often to get his attention. But nothing worked.
"Mamo-chan, are you even going to ask me how yesterday went with Naru!" Mamoru still didn't look up from his paper. "Oh, yeah. Sorry. Uh, how was yesterday with Naru?" Usagi sighed. "Good." Just then the phone rang. "Don't bother to tear yourself from your paper. I'll get it." She made her way to the telephone. "Moshi moshi… Rei-chan? What's up!…What?… Okay. I'll b there soon. Bye." Usagi ran upstairs and threw on a white hooded sleeveless shirt, a light blue pullover dress, and a moon pendandt. She burst downstairs. "Mamo-chan, something's up. Everyone wants me to meet them at the Hikawa Shrine. You wanna come?" Mamoru just shook his head. "Okay then. Bye." She ran down to the shrine.
She raced up the stairs to the shrine, out of breath. When she reaced the top, she collapsed on the stairs of the shrine. Rei was using a broom to dust off the ground in front of the shrine. Makoto was leaning against the wall. Minako was standing next to Ami, who was sitting patiently on the steps, hands clasped together. Haruka was standing with her arms crossed, as was Michiru and Setsuna. Hotaru was putting a prayer on the branch of the tree. Usagi smiled. It had been a while since everyone was together like this. "Okay, someone tell me what's going on," Makoto said. "Am I gonna get to kick someone's ass or not?" Rei stopped cleaning. She looked down. "Maybe…" Everyone looked at her, trying to read her face for any emotion. But it was blank.
"Last night I was doing some fire-reading. I felt an evil presence. I tried Aku-Yo-Tai-San, but it didn't help any. It was something much bigger than a lost spirit." Everyone waited for more. Rei was silent for a moment. Minako broke the silence. "So, are you trying to say it might be a new enemy?" Rei looked up. "I don't know. But we have to be alert. It can't hurt to be prepared to fight again." Usagi sighed. No… I don't want to fight again. Nobody does… but we don't have a choice, do we? It's our destiny. If we don't do it, nobody will. Usagi looked at everyone's faces. None of them looked happy. They looked sad. Everyone has been leading normal lives for the past three years, thought Usagi. No one wants to fight. Hopefully Rei's prediction is wrong. Hopefully it was just a spirit, lost on it's journey to the other world.
As Usagi made her way home, she thought about the battle with Galaxia. It was a heart-wrenching battle. We came so close to losing. Usagi thought about Chibi Chibi, and then thought of Yaten, Taiki, and…"Seiya…" she said his name out loud. She had missed him over the years. She often thought about him. I wonder how he is doing. I wonder what kind of life he is living? She smiled. She thought of the times she thought Seiya was going to make a move on her, like the time Chibi Chibi, Seiya and herself were under a cabinet in her house when he was over to protect her from a "burglar" when she had to stay home alone one night. She giggled when she thought of the time when everyone was standing at the doorway, and Seiya walked out in a little towel, and Chibi Chibi tried to pull it off. As humiliating as that moment was at first, it made her laugh now.
Usagi approached her home. She let herself in and saw Mamoru laying on the couch, watching some baseball. She walked by him and was about to make her way upstairs. "Usako." She turned and looked at him. "Usako, I'm sorry. I know I haven't been paying much attention to you lately. I've just had things on my mind. But that's no excuse." She walked over to the couch. "Apology accepted." He took her hand and pulled her to the couch. He laid her down and started to kiss her. Usagi was relieved. He took off her panties from under her dress and undid his pants. They made love on the couch. After, they cuddled and watched the rest of the game. Usagi smiled. Things were back to normal. She looked up at him and blushed. He caught her staring and kissed her on the forehead. "I love you, Tsukino Usagi." Usagi giggled. "I love you too, Chiba Mamoru."
After the game Usagi got up to make some fodd for dinner. She was busy chopping carrots when Mamoru walked in. "What happened at the shrine?" Usagi stopped cutting and wiped her hands off on a dish towel. "Rei said she felt an evil presence the othr day at the shrine." Mamoru put a hand on his chin. "hmmm." Usagi plopped the dish towel on the counter. "We have to be prepared to fight. We don't know what is going to happen. So just be prepared." Mamoru looked at Usagi closely. "You don't wanna fight anymore, do you?" Usagi laughed and scratched her nose. "I never wanted to fight. Fighting isn't my thing." She looked down at the cut up carrot pieces. "I hated it from the beginning." She paused. "but there is nothing I can do. It's my destiny. I have to fight until the day I die. And then, when I am reborn, I will have to fight again. I will fight for an eternity." She felt tears well up in her eyes, but quickly pushed them away. She wasn't going to cry. She was over crying. She just had to deal. This is her destiny. The red string of fate had bound her and fighting together forever. She had no choice. Everything was already pre-determined. And to her, that was kind of sad. In the end, I have no ocntrol over what I do. Every choice I make in life is pre-determined. It was planned to happen. Everything I think and feel has already been decided. She forced a smile and started chopping carrots again. "Usagi, I thought you hated carrots?" she didn't look up. "I don't. I just like cutting them." She placed the knife down and took the cutting board to the trash, and threw all the carrots away, along with her depressing thoughts.
It will all be okay.