The Truths of Love: Chapter eight
Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon. Never have, never will, so please don't sue me.
Usagi and Mamoru arrived at the Crown Arcade and Café at 7:25 that night.
After hours of debating on what to wear, Usagi had finally chosen something casual yet elegant.
She was wearing a white silk blouse under a tan suit jacket, and tan pants with black embroidery. On her feet she wore inch high black heels, and from her ears dangled small gold hoops.
Mamoru, on the other hand, had thrown anything he could find that was decent on, and ended up wearing black pants and a rich midnight blue sweater, complementing his eyes.
As the two of them walked into the crowd, Motoki looked up and let out a low whistle.
"Well, with you two all dressed up, we have to go some place nice," he joked, his green eyes alight with laughter.
Usagi wrinkled her nose and swatted at Motoki playfully.
"Well, you didn't help matters by not telling us where we're going," Usagi retorted. "How was I supposed to know what to wear? If we weren't going somewhere fancy, you should have told us."
Motoki laughed and lightly patted Usagi on the shoulder.
"Don't worry about it," he said. "After all, knowing the other girls, they'll all be as dressed up or more so than you are."
Usagi laughed, knowing how true Motoki's words were. Even Ami, who had gotten a job as a bioengineer, delighted in having fancy clothes in which she could go out in. And Minako being a model had a wardrobe, in Usagi's opinion, to die for. Makoto, who had traveled all over the world as a chef, had also picked up an impressive selection, and even the priestess Rei didn't hesitate to buy whatever caught her fancy.
"The girls aren't here yet, so you might as well sit down. Do you guys want anything to drink while you wait?"
Mamoru grimaced.
"Motoki, if we are going out to some expensive restaurant, I brought only enough money for Usa and myself. If I even have enough for what she'll eat," he confided in an overly loud whisper, earning a glare from Usagi.
"I don't eat that much," she pouted.
Mamoru grinned.
"Sure you don't," he said with a smirk. "That's why I've had to restock my kitchen twice in the past week, right?"
Usagi turned a brilliant shade of red and looked away.
"That's because... you told me I wasn't fat, and that I was too skinny! I was just trying to make you happy by eating more!" Usagi explained frantically.
Mamoru and Motoki both laughed.
"Who told you that you were fat, Usa?" Motoki asked curiously.
Immediately Usagi looked at Mamoru, asking him to come up with an excuse, or at least not to tell him.
"Usagi... he already knows about him. I told him the other day."
Usagi looked at the ground, a frown marring her features.
"I see," she said softly.
Watching this interplay, Motoki frowned and said "So it was him that told you you're fat, eh? That stupid, no good..."
"Motoki, please calm down," Usagi begged. "And don't say a word to the girls. They want to kill him enough as it is already. I don't need them to find out about this and have them add one more thing to kill him for. Besides," at this point, Usagi paused and threw a small smile in Mamoru's direction. "someone has shown me that what Matt says isn't the truth."
Motoki glanced from Usagi to Mamoru and back again, understanding dawning in his eyes. With a grin, he stepped in.
"Usagi, do you mind if I steal this man away for a minute? I need to talk to him."
Usagi blinked, confused, but shrugged.
"Go ahead, Motoki."
With a smile, Motoki took Mamoru's arm and led him a ways away, where they could keep and eye on Usagi, but still talk in private.
"So, you and Usagi are together now, eh?" Motoki asked bluntly.
Mamoru's face turned a funny shade of crimson.
"Ah, I suppose you could say that. But, Motoki, it's different. I love her. It's not just idle feelings, its actual love."
Motoki looked at Mamoru, studying him intently, before letting out a sigh.
"Look, Mamoru. You're my best friend, but Usagi's like a sister. I don't want to see her hurt again. So take care of her, alright?"
Mamoru looked hurt for a moment, that Motoki would even consider the possibility of Mamoru hurting her. But he quickly shrugged it off and nodded, a grim mile on his face.
"You can count on it. I will keep her safe from everything," Mamoru responded fiercely.
Motoki grinned wolfishly and clapped Mamoru on the back.
"That's what I wanted to hear. Now, let's get back to her, because I think the other girls are beginning to arrive. Fashionably late as usual, too."
Mamoru looked over his shoulder to see that Motoki was right, the girls were coming. And when he checked his watch, he noticed that Motoki was right on that account, too. It was 7:50. The girls were 20 minutes late.
"Way to be on time, girls," Usagi teased. "I was here five minutes before we were supposed to be."
"Oh were you, Odango?" Rei teased. "And I bet you'd be coming even later if you weren't staying with Mamoru, wouldn't you?"
Usagi's face turned a fiery red at the girls comment, and she was about to yell when a hand on her shoulder stopped her, and she turned to look into Mamoru's face.
"Now now, Usagi," He chided. "We don't want to throw a fit, do we?"
Turning to the four girls who'd just come in, he smiled.
You all look lovely, ladies. And I do believe Motoki has changed his mind about taking us to some inexpensive fast food restaurant. Especially seeing you girls."
Motoki chose that moment to come out from the back, his usual apron gone, and underneath it a light blue shirt, and black dress pants.
Minako gave a low whistle and smirked.
"Motoki, you look nice. It's a good thing we dressed up, because you obviously have an expensive place in mind, don't you?" She said with a wink.
Motoki turned a deep shade of red at Minako's comment, and then scratched the back of his head with a faint smile.
"Well, you obviously read my mind. I mean, look at you girls. Dressed to kill, aren't you?"
Laughing, Minako self consciously brushed a piece of nonexistent lint from her orange silk dress. Yellow beads in the design of flowers ran down the side of the dress, and a yellow silk ribbon was tied around the waist. Her long blonde hair was pulled off of her back and tied with an orange ribbon. On her feet were yellow slippers, and around her neck a simple gold chain.
Beside her, Ami was wearing a light blue blouse and a dark blue, floor length skirt. The buttons of her blouse were made of stones shaped and polished to look like small pearls. Her short azure colored hair was pulled up in an elegant twist, held in place by a rhinestone studded hair pin. She wore a delicate pearl necklace around her neck, and small pearl earrings dangled from her ears. Her light blue shoes peaked out from beneath the hem of her skirt.
Makoto wore a forest green silk shirt with black and pink embroidering. Her long black pants clung to the curves of her body, and flared out slightly at the bottom. Her auburn hair hung down her back for once. From her ears were tiny pink rose earrings, and she wore a small rose on a chain around her neck. Forest green stilettos on her feet completed the outfit.
Rei wore a violet colored top, and a short, black skirt, coming down to just below her knees. Her black hair was loose, as usual, but diamond studded clips held the sides back, giving her an elegant and graceful look. On her feet she wore simple black high heels, and around her neck a plain silver chain.
The group was getting stares from other customers of the Crown. And with good reason; it wasn't every day you saw seven people dressed up in such a casual place.
With a grimace and a look around, Motoki asked, "Well, should we go? We've drawn enough stares from this place. Let's go somewhere that we'll fit in."
Minako, Makoto, Rei and Usagi burst into laughter, and Mamoru and Ami smiled.
"What's the matter, Motoki?" Minako asked with a small smirk. "Don't you like being stared at?"
Motoki grinned at Minako.
"I like being stared at," he remarked casually. "But I don't like having people look at you when you're dressed like that. That's my honor. Come on, let's get out of here."
Minako looked stunned for an instant, and then shrugged it off and held her head high walking from the Arcade and out onto the sidewalk, followed by Ami, Rei, Makoto, Usagi, Mamoru, and finally Motoki.
"I call shot gun!" Minako sang as the seven people ran to get into a car.
"Not if I get there first!" Makoto shouted, and with that, a mad dash for the front seat of the car ensued.
Usagi laughed as she and Mamoru stepped out of the car in front of the apartment.
Dinner had been great, and the seven of them had sat and chatted for hours after they were finished eating, catching up on the latest gossip. Finally, though, Mamoru and Usagi had excused themselves, said goodnight, and left.
The drive home had been full of laughter and joy, Mamoru and Usagi talking more about themselves, telling stories about things that had happened.
As they got into the apartment, their laughter died down. Walking up the stairs to Mamoru's own room of the apartment, his arm wrapped around Usagi's waist, holding them both up, they whispered in each other's ears, resulting in more laughter.
Finally they reached his room, and opening the door, their joyful moods vanished.
The room had been trashed. Couches and chairs were tipped over, and the pillows had been slashed through with a knife. Feathers from the pillows were everywhere, on top of the couches and chairs, on top of dressers and chests. Red paint had been splashed on the walls, and, walking into the bedroom, a message had been written above the bed: I'm watching you.
Usagi sank to her knees when she read the writing on the wall, putting her face in her hands, all earlier gaiety forgotten in the face of this threat. Even the bedroom had been trashed. Once more, the pillows had been slashed open, the feathers strewn around the room and on the bed. The sheets had been torn apart, and red paint dripped from the ceiling and onto the bed.
"It's all my fault," she whispered. "He knows I'm here. I told you what would happen, Mamoru! You're lucky he hasn't killed you! I... I should leave! I shouldn't give him any more reason to hurt you, and--"
Her voice was cut off when Mamoru lightly laid his lips upon hers, effectively silencing her.
"You're not going anywhere," he whispered softly, looking deeply into her eyes. "You are staying with me. Matt isn't going to hurt us anymore."
Walking over to the phone, Mamoru quickly dialed Motoki's number, praying that he was home by now.
Two rings, three rings, then a click.
"Oh, good, you're home," Mamoru breathed out.
"Hi you've reached Motoki Furuhata, I'm not available right not, but leave a name and number and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks!"
"Dammit!" Mamoru cursed, slamming the phone down on the receiver. "Why is it, the one time I really need to talk to you, you're not home?!"
With a sigh, he picked the phone up and began to dial the police.
"If Motoki isn't home, then the police will have to--"
"No!" Usagi cried. "Don't call the police! We'll... we'll clean this up, and forget it happened. Just don't call the police."
Mamoru looked at her oddly.
"Look, Usagi, I have to call them. Not only did he abuse you, now he's vandalized my home and threatened both of us. The phone call earlier? The first one was from him. He threatened to..." Mamoru gulped and shook his head. "Well, I'll spare you the details. But he threatened your life today, and he's threatened mine as well. We can't just sit by idly and let him do this to us. I'm sorry, but I'm calling the police."
"Mamoru, no! He said..." She paused, looking away from Mamoru. "He said that if I ever called the police against him, he'd... he said he'd kill me! Please, Mamoru, don't call them. Please," she finished in a whisper, dropping her head into her hands, sobbing softly.
Mamoru sighed and put the phone back on the hook, walking over to her and putting his hands on her shoulders.
"Alright, Usagi," he said quietly. "I won't call them. I promise I won't call them yet. But if anything else happens, a threatening phone call, him vandalizing my house, him doing anything that involves either of us, then I will call them. No questions asked. Fair enough?"
Usagi breathed out, scrubbing her eyes with the back of her hand and nodding.
"Alright, Mamoru. That makes sense."
Mamoru nodded and leaned forward, kissing her head softly.
"Come on," he said softly. "We have a lot of work to do. We have to clean the feathers up, and then remake the bed. Let's burn the sheets instead of just throwing them away; that way, no questions will be asked. And then we'll go to sleep and forget this whole thing ever happened, alright?"
Usagi nodded and stood up, her knees shaking slightly before she could get a hold of them.
"I'll start cleaning in here, Mamoru, if you want to start out in the den. I don't think he stopped at just those two, either. We should check the rest of the apartment as well."
Mamoru nodded, heading to the door of the bedroom, where he hesitated.
"Will you be alright in here alone? If not, we can clean up together."
Usagi looked up at him, and grimaced slightly.
"Mamoru, I'm fine. I don't need to be babied all the time," she responded.
Smiling, Mamoru nodded and left the room.
After a few hours of cleaning up feathers, each of them taking turns using the vacuum cleaner, Usagi walked over to the bed, picking the torn sheets up and shuddering slightly.
"Mamoru," she called, "what should I do with the..."
Her eyes were caught by something shining on the floor, and her interest piqued, she went to see what it was. Picking it up, she realized it was the picture of her and her family she'd brought from her house. Smiling, she turned it over...and screamed.
Mamoru was in the den, just finishing turning over the couches when she screamed. Panicking, he dropped the end table he was holding and ran to the bedroom, where Usagi was standing over the bedside table, holding a picture in her hands, her eyes wide with horror.
"Usagi what is it?" Mamoru asked frantically. "What happened? What's wrong?"
Not saying a word, Usagi only pointed to the picture she was holding.
Taking it from her, Mamoru looked down at the picture and his eyes widened.
The picture was of Usagi, Shingo, and their parents, and the joy that had filled each of their faces made his heart ache. But what caught his eye was what had been done to the picture.
Usagi was just fine; nothing had been done to her. But Shingo, Ikuko and Kenji all had red paint dripping from what looked to be slashes drawn on their necks. In the background, the image of a plane crashing had been crudely drawn in. Red and black paint, mixed together to make a dark brown, almost charred looking color, were on their arms and legs, making them look charred and burnt. The person who had done this had drawn the mouths bigger, so it looked like they were screaming instead of laughing, with the red paint looking like blood dripping down from the mouth.
Mamoru dropped the picture to the floor, moving over to Usagi and taking her into his arms.
"It's alright, Usagi. Don't let it get to you. He's just using this to scare you," Mamoru murmured into her ear. "Don't let it bother you. He's a jerk to do this to you. I'm so sorry it happened."
"How can I not?" Usagi mumbled, too distraught to cry. "How can I not let it bother me? He used the one thing he knew that I wouldn't be able to ignore. Mamoru... why would he do this? Why does he hate me so much? I don't understand..." Usagi whispered softly.
Mamoru sighed and held the girl tighter in his arms.
"Don't worry, Usagi. He's just upset. In time, it'll all die down."
Usagi looked up at him, her eyes finally filling with tears.
"Do you think so, Mamo-chan? Do you really, really think so?"
Mamoru hesitated, and then nodded firmly.
"Yes, Usako. I do believe it. And I know it will stop soon."
'At least,' he thought to himself, 'I hope it stops soon. Because if it doesn't, I'm going to have one very distraught girl on my hands.'