Chapter 3.
Disclaimer: I'm sick of writing these. I. Own. Nothing. There, we're done. No more disclaimers, 'kay?
"So you see, Luna, we need your help," Minako finished, her voice raw from the few hours of talking she'd done, explaining the situation.
"Ah. So it would seem that she's been found after all," a soft voice said from the middle of the circle of girls.
Ami nodded, her pretty face intense as she looked at the owner of the voice.
"Luna, we need you to do something in order to find out whether she is who we think she is. Can you do it?" Ami asked in her quiet, serious voice.
The speaker made a sound in the affirmative, and the girls let out a collective sigh of relief.
"Wonderful. The sooner the better," Makoto declared, cupping one hand and making a fist with the other, which she slammed into the cupped hand.
"I agree," the voice said. "Her test will be tomorrow. By this time on Friday… we'll know if she's the one."
Nodding the four girls and the speaker stood, and each left in their own direction, anticipation of what would come the next day filling each one's thoughts.
…
"Bye, mom!" Usagi called, rushing down the stairs, her hair flying in twin streamers behind her. "I'll be late tonight; I'm stopping at the arcade after school to talk to Motoki-san!"
"Good bye, dear," Ikuko said with a fond smile, holding a lunch out to the rushing girl. "Have a good day, and try not to be late."
Usagi nodded and grabbing her lunch, raced out the door, her normal mantra of 'go, go, go' racing through her head.
Rounding a corner, she slowed her speed down, thoughts of a certain ebony haired man filling her head, and with a grimace, she stopped, just in time to avoid running into said person.
"Think of the devil, and he will appear," she muttered under her breath, just low enough so that he barely heard her.
"Wow, Odango, nice going, you didn't run into me," Mamoru stated with a cheeky grin.
Rolling her eyes, Usagi made to move past him, and blinked when he stepped into her way.
"Um, excuse me, baka, I have to get going; I'm going to be late for school," Usagi said as politely as she could.
Mamoru's eyebrows rose in surprise, but instead of moving, he held his ground.
Cursing under her breath, Usagi again made to move around him, and again was blocked when Mamoru moved into her path.
"What do you think you're doing?" she screeched. "Get out of my way, baka, I don't want to be late to school!"
Mamoru smirked, and after a minute of staring down at the blonde, he moved out of the way.
"Sorry, Odango, I don't know what came out of me," he murmured. "Please, be on your way."
Glaring at the man, she hurried past him, only to trip over something walking in front of her. With a shriek, she fell to the ground, landing hard on her backside.
Mamoru smirked, holding back a laugh.
"Nice going, Odango," he commented. "Just can't keep off the ground, can you?"
Usagi looked up, tears filling her eyes, tell tale signs of an oncoming wailing.
"Why are you so mean to me, Mamoru-baka?" she burst out, tears falling from her eyes.
"Eh," Mamoru sweat dropped, rushing to comfort the girl. "I'm s-sorry." He nearly choked on the word as it came from between his lips, but it seemed to work, as the wailing seemed to subside.
"Really?" Usagi sniffed, looking up at him with watery blue eyes.
Gulping, Mamoru nodded. "Now, let's see what you tripped over, shall we?"
Looking down, Usagi saw a small black form lying on its side, and immediately she shrieked in horror.
"Oh, Kami, I've killed it!" she cried in horror. "I'm such a bad person!"
"Odango, Odango! Usagi!" Mamoru snapped. "Look. Its sides are moving; it's still alive. You didn't kill it."
Looking closely, Usagi saw the truth in Mamoru's words; the sides of the animal were moving up and down in a regular breathing pattern. Letting out a sigh of relief, she bent over the form and picked it up.
"Oh, the poor thing," she breathed softly, looking at the cat that she now held. "It looks sick! And look… a bandage on its forehead!"
Blinking, she reached down to pull the bandage off when suddenly, the cat's eyes sprang open, and with a hiss it jumped from her arms, but not before raking a claw across her face.
With a shriek, Usagi took a step back, her hands clutching at her face, where a single claw had cut her.
Mamoru gaped at the whole scene, his mouth hanging open in astonishment.
'That's… Luna!' He thought to himself in astonishment. 'What is she doing to Usagi?'
Looking at the girl, his mouth snapped shut, and he walked up to the girl where she stood whimpering.
"Let me see, Usagi," he commanded. "We need to wash off that cut, and get it bandaged u--"
His words cut off as she pulled her hand away from her forehead, and his eyes widened in astonishment. There, on her forehead, where the single claw had caught her, was a scratch in the shape of a crescent moon.
"Mamoru?" Usagi whimpered. "It stings. Does it look really bad? You're not saying anything. Did I get rabies, is it infected? Am I going to die?" Her last word ended on a wail.
Shaking his head and trying to regain a neutral expression, he leaned down to her.
"No, Usagi, you're going to be fine. We just need to get it washed up and bandaged, alright? Let's just stop in that restaurant across the street and get some napkins, and we'll have it cleaned in no time, alright?"
Usagi looked up at him with big, blue eyes, a hopeful expression lingering in them.
"You called me Usagi. Does this mean you'll stop calling me Odango?" she asked.
Mamoru smirked and brought a hand up to ruffle her hair.
"Not a chance. You'll always be Odango to me." With a wink, he led her into the restaurant.
…
Ten minutes later, Usagi rushed out of the restaurant, her forehead freshly cleaned and bandaged by the expert care of Mamoru.
"Arigato, Mamoru-baka!" She called over her shoulder. "I have to go now; Mrs. H is gonna kill me!"
With a squeak, she bolted, leaving Mamoru behind, shaking his head with a rueful smile on his face.
'That girl,' he mused. 'She's something else. And that scar on her forehead! Was that coincidental, or did Luna do that to her on purpose?' With a sigh, he shook his head to clear it of the unwanted thoughts. Sticking his hands in his pockets, he began whistling a tuneless melody as he walked away.
…
"Well thank you for joining us, Ms. Tsukino," Mrs. Haruna remarked snidely as the girl skidded into the classroom.
Usagi threw a faint smile as she rushed to her seat sinking down into it, her face a dark red.
"G-gomen, Mrs. H. I got held up, and then--"
"Save it, Tsukino, you have detention, as usual." Mrs. H cut in, a smirk on her face.
Groaning, Usagi tried to sink further into her seat, but as soon as the teacher's attention was elsewhere, she reached into her bag to pull out her history book, and looking over discreetly at the book on the person's desk beside her, opened her book to that page and settled back for a long and boring day.
…
"Usagi, what happened to your forehead?" Ami asked the girl as they walked down the hall to the doors heading outside.
"Oh, this?" Raising a hand to her head, Usagi gave a dry chuckle. "I picked up a cat, and I guess it didn't like me. One minute, it was unconscious, the next, it was trying to kill me."
Ami giggled slightly as the two met up with Rei, Minako and Makoto, sitting outside on one of the lunch benches.
"So, how bad is it?" she asked sympathetically.
"Oh, not too bad; at least, Mamoru said it wasn't," Usagi responded idly.
"You talked to Mamoru, and didn't bicker?" Rei asked, her eyes widening in shock.
"Well, actually, it was his fault that I tripped over the cat in the first place," Usagi grumbled, picking lightly at her food. "He refused to get out of my way, and when he finally did, BOOM! I tripped over a cat, and when bending to pick it up, it did THIS to me." She pointed to the bandage of her forehead in indignation.
There was silence at the table, and then everyone, even Ami, burst into gales of laughter.
"A cat tried to kill you?" Makoto asked incredulously. "I can't believe it!"
"That's what you get, Odango!" Rei crowed triumphantly.
"It's not funny!" Usagi cried, her eyes welling with tears.
"Well, you have to admit, Usagi-chan, it is kind of amusing," Ami put in with a gentle smile.
"Oh really? Well is this funny? I'm going to have to live with it for the rest of my life!" With those words, she reached up and yanked the bandage off of her forehead, revealing the shape of the crescent moon on her forehead.
Immediately, all the laughter stopped. Minako, Makoto, Ami, and Rei all looked at each other, their eyes wide in shocked disbelief, jaws dropped.
"That's what I thought," Usagi pouted, and quickly pulled a new bandage from her pocket, with the other hand reaching up to feel where the new scar was, and placing the bandage over it.
"Um, Usagi," Ami started slowly. "That's not…"
Suddenly, Usagi's eyes widened, and for a moment, flashes ran through her head: herself in a billowy, gorgeous white dress; at a masked ball, dancing with a tall, handsome man with black hair; later on with the same man, but without his mask, though she couldn't see his face. Then, as quickly as the images came, they left.
Usagi sat back, gasping for breath, looking at each of her friends with large eyes.
Minako looked at the girl, curiosity shining in her eyes.
"Usagi, what is it?" she asked, eagerness laced through her voice.
For a moment, Usagi stayed exactly as she was, her eyes wide, staring, and then, in a snap, she shook her head and her eyes went back to normal, and she smiled brightly.
"I'm sorry, what were we talking about?" she asked, her tone light.
Ami, Makoto, Minako, and Rei exchanged looks, with Usagi oblivious to the whole exchange.
Checking her watch, Usagi let out a small shriek.
"Oh, Kami, I'm gonna be late!" she cried. "Mom's gonna kill me; sorry, guys, I have to run. See ya later!" And with that said, she dashed off,
Ami let out a small sigh, and each of the other girls rolled their eyes.
"So, now what do we do?" Rei asked.
"We leave everything to Luna," Minako declared, her tone ringing with authority.
Makoto and Ami nodded their heads in agreement with the temporary leader.
"We have to trust what Luna is doing. I'm sure it's no coincidence that Usagi tripped over her this morning; and there can't be any other explanation for that mark on her forehead, either. It's a test, and Luna's expecting something to come out of it." Ami said logically.
Rei sighed and nodded her head.
"Alright. We leave this in her hands, then," she concluded. "And now, I have to get back to the temple. I'll see you tomorrow, alright?"
With a chorus of farewells, Rei left the other three girls alone, and after a short time, the other three left as well, heading in their own directions, unaware, but expectant, of the things that would take place in the very near future.
…
Well, there it is; chapter three. You know the drill, read and review. I was kind of iffy with this chapter; I wasn't sure how I wanted it to turn out. If any of you have suggestions, please, please, PLEASE send them to me, either through reviews, or just to my e-mail address, . Thanks so much, and have a good day!
Lady Tsukino