Sorry, this took much longer than I expected.. and I hope I didn't lost any fans of the story. – sadness – Hm, so enjoy and whatnot. Remember to review. Suggestions, comments, anything, long as it's good. :p

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Chapter Seven—Running on Empty Once Again

Silence.

"I asked you a question," I whispered huskily. Please, God, let this not be what I think it is. Let it be a misunderstanding. Let it belong to his sister or cousin or something. Please. I won't ask for anything else ever again.

"I…" he trailed off, silencing, not even having the guts to return my hard gaze. He sat frozen, arms dangling between his legs limply, gaze singeing into the carpet.

"Well?" I pressed through my anger and guilt. "Is it that girl? That pretty brunette?"

When I was met with more coarse silence, I lowered my arm and let the bra slip between my fingers and tumble haphazardly onto the floor. The absence of words spoke more than I wanted to know. My head tilted forward slightly, the tears threatening to fall, burning angrily against the crevices of my eyes. I let a moment pass by, then another, and finally, I took a long, deep breath, the tears soaking back into their place, some deciding to stubbornly remain.

"I see," I spoke in a low whisper. A salty drop made a wet trail down my cheek, but I didn't notice it much. I could see him shake his head, most likely at himself. For some reason, I continued to stand there, as if I thought at any given moment he would break the tension in the room with his calm, suave words that have soothed many other pains. None came. Not one. The air seeming to press even more harshly on my body, I treaded heavily to the front door, feet dragging with the weight of lead. I took my coat off the rack where it was so neatly placed, closing the door shut softly behind me.

The chilling night wind I met outside wasn't as refreshing as I'd hoped. In fact, it was like a slap in the face, forcing the tears cradled in my eyes to be pushed back into their place, the trails running down my warm cheeks turning into pure ice at the wind's unforgiving touch. The air entered my lungs, the sweet poison entering my body then leaving again. People crossed by me on the street, oblivious, lost in their own perfect worlds. Right now, I wish I was one of them. Right now, I wish I hadn't just seen or heard any of that. Right now, I wish I wasn't hurting so much that my felt like it was being squeezed until it was completely suffocated. How could he do that to me? Was all of that he said a lie? He sounded so sincere… and I fell for it. Like the idiot I am.

In the depths of my heart, I knew I missed him more than anything on earth. He made me feel special, something not many people have been able to do in my life. Despite being ignored, he was mine. He was mine to stare at, to dream about, to be with… forever, I had thought. I loved him so much, it hurt when he wasn't around. I tried to show my affection, but it showed to be clingy, which he didn't like too much and simply brushed me off whenever I'd try to hug him or show any kind of love I felt at that moment. Tonight, I let my guard down, and look what happened. I believed his words. I really did. I just wish they weren't all lies. For that moment, I felt like maybe, just maybe, we had returned back to normal, only better… but I guess that was wishful thinking. I refuse for my fate to be another notch on his bedpost. I guess I never really thought he'd be that type of person, but things can be deceiving.

With wavering pride, I took one last glance down the long, darkened street.

Dull blackness swallowed everything in sight.

-----

"You have three new messages," the familiar monotonous voice on the answering machine stated. "Message received… Sunday, November 13th, 10:31 P.M… 'Usagi? It's Mamoru… Look, I'm—' "

I pressed down the button harshly.

"Message erased… Message received… Sunday, November 13th, 10:48 P.M… 'It's me again. You didn't pick up so I'm guessing'—"

Once again, I pressed the button, beginning to be irritated.

"Message erased… Message received… Sunday, November 13th, 11:03 P.M… 'Usagi, I know you keep pushing the erase button, so don't.' "

I blinked, staring at the black machine blankly, my finger looming dangerously over the 'erase' button. How the hell did he know that?

" 'So now that I got your attention… I need to explain myself. You were gone for so long that I became lonely… Really lonely. Normally I am anyway, but it became much worse after you left. Then I met Mitsuki.' "

I scorned at the very sound of her name. Mitsuki.

" 'And take that look off your face… Anyway, Mitsuki was just another girl in one of my classes. She seemed nice enough, I guess, but one night, we were studying, and she forced me into talking about what happened with you. I must've told her about you for… an hour, at least. To comfort me, she kissed me. I don't know… One thing after another happened, and she ended up coming for study sessions a lot more. We began hanging out sometimes. Once she spent the night. That's where 'it' comes in. I guess she left that thing there… but she never spent the night again. I felt too horrible about it. And no, we didn't do anything. Even though you might not believe me, it's the truth. So… I hope you at least listened. You know where I'll be.'

… End of message."

Drained of any emotion, I crept into the dimly lit kitchen, feeling around the cabinets for my only friend: a bottle of alcohol. After all the incidents with Mamoru and living alone, it was hard to cope. So hard that I needed alcohol as some sort of secondary comfort. Never in my life would I drink, then go out and drive, or do something stupid. Each time I would take down enough to dull my senses, enough so I wouldn't have to feel. When the lightness numbed my head and my eyes needed to be focused, it would be time to go to sleep. Honestly, I don't like to drink, at all. It's better than lying in my bed, bawling endlessly throughout the night and doing nothing but feeling sorry for myself. Instead of being evil liquor that is one of the main causes of death, it's some sort of medicine. A bittersweet medicine.

The plastic cup half-filled with the remedy, I sauntered back into the living room, falling onto the couch. I shouldn't believe his words. His words, like candy, are sweet to your ears, maybe too sweet. He would sprinkle them with his own special romance and caring nature, making you want to believe them. I did. It didn't do me much good, but I figured it made me happy, so why not? 'Sorry, have to cancel our date' would be something a normal boyfriend would say, but not Mamoru. He would go 'Usako, I'll have to go without your smile another day, I have to work'. Like a fool, I'd soak up his words like a sad excuse for a sponge. It's easy to be blind when you stab yourself in the eyes.

Ugh, this stupid alcohol really burns your throat. Like it rubs up against my throat to purposely cause a burning pain. The aftertaste is even worse. You'd think the smell would drive me away. First time I spun the cap off the top, the acrid stench floated right up to where I was breathing. Now I hold the bottle away from me. At least I'm kind of getting used to it by now. Enough so I don't throw up. That itself wasn't very pleasant. Especially when you had a stack of fresh hamburgers right before drinking it. Not a good combo.

Mamoru… To think, one day, I pictured being fitted into a silky white dress and marching happily down a long aisle, where you'd be there, waiting with a smile. Flowers would be scattered around, mostly white roses, and red ones, because you love them to death. You'd be standing there in the sunlight, handsome as ever, as if you were born into a tuxedo. You'd make me feel like a princess. That's all I really wanted in life, to get married and have children. I even thought of skipping college just so we could raise children. If I would've told you any of that, would it matter at all? Would you change?

I don't think you ever will. I'm sure you have plenty of pretty-faced Mitsuki's to throw around like rag dolls, who'd giggle at any cute little comment you'd make, who'd let you screw them on your every whim. They'd satisfy you for, what? A week? Then what? You'd find someone else and do the exact same thing? I can't stand the thought of that. Sure, you told me that lovely story of how she accidentally left her underwear at your apartment, but honestly, you can do whatever you want. It's none of my business anymore. You do whatever you want. Tell your stories to anyone who will listen.

Once upon a time, I fell for your pretty words and sugar coated promises. Too bad my life isn't a fucking fairytale anymore.

-----

"Wake-y, wake-y!" a bright voice split straight through my head. Blinking two sleepy eyes open, I saw none other than the great Minako, hovering over me with a huge grin on her face. "Time to greet the day! It's beautiful out, take a look."

Skipping jauntily over to the curtain, she pulled the string, showering the room with vivid streams of light. I felt somewhat light-headed from drinking last night, not too bad, and checked the clock. Nine freakin' A.M. Craning my head, I could see her jumping around the room, rummaging around my closet like she usually does.

"Jesus, it's too early in the morning for you to be so chipper. Go out and come back in," came my unwelcoming grumble as I squeezed my pillow tightly over my head.

As you can see, I'm not the happiest person when I wake up, especially after drinking a full cup of bitter-tasting liquor. I could still feel traces of it resting in my mouth. Blech. Ask anyone, though, any given morning, you'd think I was sent from the Devil. I think I even bit Shingo a couple times when he pulled the covers off me. Then again, that was pretty fun.

"Now now, don't be so mean. There's this little thing called work, and you happen to have that today."

"Screw work."

I could feel her glare on me. "Fine, don't go. Get docked from a day's pay. Leave a stack of papers on the desk that just keep piling up until they reach the sky. Hell, might even get fired!"

"Good," I mumbled from under the pillow.

"Being the gracious person that I am, I decided to come over and give you a friendly wake-up call… and bring breakfast."

"Food?" I peeked from under my soft barrier.

"Thought that'd get your attention." She slipped a box of freshly powdered doughnuts, all stacked in neat rows, waiting for me to devour them. Mouth drooling, I finally sat up and began shoveling them down. Minako took a seat next to me, trying to sneak one, but I hit her hand away and carefully moved the box out of her reach.

"Geeze," she pouted. "You think you'd be nicer to someone who brought you breakfast AND saved you from missing work, but nooo… Nobody thanks nice little Minako, she has to be tormented in the savage ways of so many cruel, unloving people."

I licked off some extra white powder that was stuck to my finger. "You really oughta stop talking about yourself in the third person. It gets creepy after awhile."

"Funny, that's what my psychiatrist said to me, too."

"Can't imagine why."

Suddenly launching into her bubbly mode, she said, "Say, Usa, I have an idea. Why don't we have a sleepover."

"Sleepover?"

"Yeah, c'mon, it'll be fun! Just you, me, Makoto, Rei, Ami, Motoki—"

"Whoa whoa," I stopped her, placing my bitten doughnut back into the box. "Hold on a second there, cowgirl. I'm not having a sleepover so you can have some lame excuse to explore a new way to exercise your raging hormones. I mean, I just washed my sheets and all."

"Pleeease? I promise I won't make out with him on your bed… Just little pecks, promise. Plus we can play games and stuff. Mako-chan can bake us some of her famous creamy peanut butter cookies."

Even though I was shoving down doughnuts, the sound of cookies made my stomach growl.

"Okay, sounds good."

"Great! Annnnd, I just happened to know a few guys that might want to join us…"

"Mina-chan…" I warned.

"Give 'em a chance, Usa. I know this one great guy. He's a model and everything. I posed with him a couple times, already checked out the gay factor, which was negative. Great body and beautiful blonde hair, too. Well… You know, not as good as mine, but a close second. Plus, you know how those British guys are? Gotta love their accent."

"Mm, true. Accents are pretty cute," I nodded, smiling. "It'd be nice to have someone different over here. Should we invite him?"

"Well… I already did."

"Guess I shouldn't be surprised," I said, shaking my head at her.

"What do you think, gonna try anything romantically or what?"

"I dunno… A lot has happened lately."

"Liiike?"

"Like with Mamoru."

"Really!" she exclaimed, jumping forward on the bed and nearly knocking me over. "Tell!"

"You know after the club yesterday, how I went outside with Mamoru?"

"I wanted to ask you about that…"

"Yeah well… We talked for a bit and decided to go up to his apartment. One thing lead to another, and we ended up making out on the couch."

Instead of the cheerful response I was expecting, she crinkled up her nose at the idea. "Usa-chan, he's been a complete jerk to you. He doesn't deserve you. Seriously."

"I guess," I sighed, thinking to myself. "But Mina-chan, the setting was so perfect: room dark with a hint of light coming from the fireplace, warmness from the heat of the fire, his scent…"

At that, she grabbed my shoulders with her hands, forcing me to look directly in her eyes as she told me, "Listen, Usa. Mamoru does not deserve you. Not in this lifetime, not in the next. He dumped you because of his age insecurity, even though it really isn't that huge of a difference, went with some other girl when you left, and toyed with your emotions. Now, I consider myself a good judge of character, and I really, truly liked him. I thought he'd be good for you, until I heard all this crap he was pulling. Now I have no idea what to think of him."

"… I found her underwear in his apartment."

Her face drained, turning into a ghostly white. Then, seconds later, her cheeks began to burn, darker than I had ever seen them.

"What?" she choked out.

"He said she left them there, they didn't do anything… they were studying and she left it there."

"You believed that shit?"

"Well… Sort of."

"Usagi," she spoke my name dully, "Come on. Time for work."

Leaving me to sit there in slight awe, she pushed a mini-skirt and t-shirt toward me on the bed, then rushed out of my apartment, stomping on the ground so hard I thought the wood might break under her feet.

-----

It's pretty easy not to think about things when you're caught up in bundles of confusing paperwork. My typing skills even improved with doing so much on the computer. I'm no whiz or anything, but I can get by. The work itself was easy, it was just the paperwork; send those to management, proofread these files, order these according to exact date and time. Took a lot out of you.

When I got to the building, Minako was nowhere to be seen, which was rare for her. Normally I'd find her primping in the powder room, or at least prodding her face in some sort of mirror. She left in such a hurry. Not even a phone call. I hope nothing bad happened.

"My lovely best friend!" I heard a light voice exclaim. Looking up from the bright screen, I saw Minako standing there, haughtily, proud. I don't like that look. "Good, you made it to work. Didn't want you to fall back asleep or anything."

"Mina-chan, what happened to you? You're an hour late. And here you were badgering me about coming on time to work."

"I'm allowed to be late," she said airily, leaning on the desk.

"Yeah, yeah. Where were you?"

"Oh, you know… Home, beauty parlor, Mamoru's house—"

"WHAT?" I screeched so loud that people passing by stopped in their tracks to blink and stare blankly at me. Psht, take a freakin picture already.

She smiled oh-so-innocently at the passer-bye's to fend them off. "Calm down, girl, I handled it."

"Handled what? There was nothing to handle."

"Hm, I happened to think there was, especially after all the crap he fed me."

"What'd he say?"

"If I remember correctly…" she trailed off, "It was 'Ow, fuck, my balls'. But I could've been mistaken."

"What did you do?" I asked in horror. This can't be good, not with that grin on her face.

"Lets just say Mamoru won't be walking right for awhile."

"MINA!"

"What? He's a bastard, and bastards get what they deserve! So he won't be using his dick for anything useful for awhile, big whoop, serves him right."

"I can't believe you did that!"

"I can," she laughed. "Funniest sight, too. Ah, what a Kodak moment. Chiba Mamoru, kneeling down on the floor, face red as a hot steaming tomato. I think his eyes even crossed. Now that's a sight you don't see every day."

"Lord," I mumbled, burying my face in my hands. "Why the hell did you go and do that? I had the situation under control."

"Under control? You call making out in Mamoru's apartment and finding some girl's underwear 'under control'? I know you, Usa, better than you know yourself. I know that a couple weeks later you'd be back there, doing the exact same thing, forgiving him for whatever the hell he's done, maybe going even a bit farther."

I sighed. "You don't understand."

"Oh, I understand perfectly," she cut me off in an instant, on the brink of anger. "You almost had sex with a man that probably did the same exact thing with that brunette only days before on that very same couch. He thought 'Hey, might as well have a blonde! My quota needs to be met!' The bastard. As your almost-sister, I completely forbid you seeing him ever again, unless by accident."

"Mina…"

"Don't argue. It's what's best for you. I know, this is rough, but I can't stand seeing you like this again. He's going to keep gently pushing and pushing until he gets exactly what he wants, then throw you away into the trash. I tell you, I won't have it. I told him the same thing, so if he tries to contact you in any way, he'll be in for another ass kicking. Best part is, I'm a girl. He can't hit back."

With a triumphant grin, she sauntered off into the make-up room, an extra spring in her step. Left once again, I leaned back onto my chair, mentally exhausted. I guess I can't blame Minako. If I was in her position, and some guy did that to her, I'd defend her in an instant. She's right, it's probably best for me not to have any contact with him anymore. It'll only lead to pain. And I've had enough pain in a month than I can take. Maybe… it's time to broaden my horizons. Meet new people. Networking worked for Minako, why not me? I'm pretty friendly. Might work.

-----

My friends and I were gathered around the living room floor in a circle, dressed comfortably in our PJ's, with bowls of buttered microwave popcorn scattered around, along with a flurry of multi-colored pillows. We were all laughing at something Minako had said.

"So tell us the truth, Rei… Any guys we should know about that are in the picture?" Minako asked Rei with an evil smile.

"Of course not! Too busy with school," she told her indignantly. "Unlike you, I don't need a man to support me and stay by my side every second of the day."

"When it's Motoki, I think I can handle it," the blonde said with a giggle, landing a peck on Motoki's cheek. A faint pink blush appeared on his cheeks.

"Mina-chan…" he mumbled, embarrassed.

Minako squeezed her boyfriend's shoulders, needing the Jaws of Life to break them apart. "Aww, I love it when you're all shy. It's soo cute."

Rei shoved a handful of warm popcorn in her mouth, saying, "Will you two cut it out? You're gonna make me blow chunks over here."

We all laughed.

"Hey, if you do that, point yourself in another direction, will you?" Makoto added in. We heard the bathroom door creek open and there stood one of the most beautiful men I've seen in my life, no joke. When Minako said this guy was hot, she didn't say enough. Soft blonde hair layered over his head, reaching just past his shining emerald eyes. Full washboard stomach, golden tanned skin that was smooth to the touch, and delicate facial features that held a hint of masculinity. I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a crush already.

"Sorry it took me so long," he apologized, taking the nearest seat next to me, making my heart jump a bit. He radiated some kind of scent, smelled like a mix of fresh water and lilies. I nearly fainted right there.

"Finally! I'll bet twenty big ones you were staring at yourself in the mirror for ten minutes. I swear, London, sometimes you worry me," Minako teased. He simply laughed in response, showing off his warm smile.

"Be nice, Mina-chan," I warned her. "I'm sure he wasn't doing that."

"Oh, right right, he was probably doing something else. It did take quite awhile. Perhaps he could've used your help," she suggested, winking in my direction.

While they laughed, I could see a slight blush held on his cheeks.

I blinked, confused. "Did I miss something?"

"It's nothing," Makoto assured me, shaking off her laughter.

"Noo, I wanna know!" I whined, sticking out my lower lip in an attempt to pout.

Minako grinned. "Really, it's nothing, just a joke."

"Ugh, fine, but you'd better tell me later."

"I think I'll leave that to London."

Once again, his face turned a million shades of red, but he tried desperately to cover it up with his laughter. God, he was cute.

"Anyways, I'm starving!" Minako interjected suddenly, face lit up. "Say, Usagi-chan, could you go check on the cake?" Makoto and I started baking a huge double chocolate cake awhile ago. I could smell the aroma floating from the kitchen, and it made my stomach rumble. Food…

"Okay, I'll be right back."

When I got a look at the cake and poked it with a fork in the middle (like Mako said to do), it was too soft, so I closed the oven door again, the heat slowly disappearing. With quick glances around the room, I grabbed the bowl we used to mix the batter with and hopped onto the counter, swirling my finger all around the sides, gathering up some of the creamy goodness, and slipped it into my mouth. Mm, good stuff. Maybe I'll be a cook someday or something if I get good enough. I don't even burn cookies anymore. Well… There was a fire and all, but who knew you could actually leave the stupid tray in the oven for too long? I thought it was good for the cookies or whatever.

"Having fun?" a masculine voice asked, making me nearly fall off the counter. With surprised eyes, I saw London leaning up against the doorframe, a light smirk held on his features. Man, I knew it, Minako set this up. Should've saw it coming. Damn her.

"Err, hi. Sorry, taking a little break, I guess," I told him, sounding really corny.

"Yeah, me too. Minako can be pretty exhausting."

"Tell me about it. I've known her for a long time, and I haven't seen her tired once. She just goes on and on, like the Energizer Bunny."

With an amused laugh, he pushed himself off the doorframe and took his place next to me, instead leaning on the counter. I began shoveling the batter into my mouth, nervousness racking throughout me. Sure, I liked him and all, but I dunno… Something's stopping me.

"So… I like your apartment," he started off slowly, eyeing me. When I had the nerve to look at his face, I could plainly see the hunger held in his gaze. Shit, shit, shit.

"Um, yeah, I like it."

Wow, what a lovely conversation. Not.

"You decorate it yourself?"

"Nah, the girls hel—" before I could finish my sentence, something quickly pressed up against me, mainly London's lips. On instinct, I once again almost fell of the counter, but he locked his hands swiftly on my hips. This was all happening too fast. We just met today… but I guess I should try and enjoy it. He is attractive. So I leaned into the kiss slightly… and waited.

… And waited.

Nothing. No fireworks, no fluttering feeling in the pit of my stomach, absolutely nothing. My eyes creaked open carefully, only seeing a patch of hair blocking my view. I gaped boredly at the blonde patch of hair, waiting for this to be over. When he didn't pull back, I wondered if he suddenly turned into a statue. In an attempt to move away, he somehow mistook it for me trying to get further into the kiss by changing positions, and wrapped his arms tightly around my waist.

Stiffly, he graded his tongue up against the surface of my lips. I cringed. He didn't seem to notice, or care, and shoved the saliva-covered object into my mouth. Trying to wiggle away from his grasp, he let out a slight chuckle from his open mouth and began whirling his tongue around every corner of my mouth, like he was trying to give it a fucking spit shine. I could taste a hint of his afternoon lunch of pizza and soda as his tongue prodded my mouth. I felt like throwing up.

Knowing this had gone way too far for my liking, I placed my hands on his chest and shoved as hard as I could, nearly knocking him off his feet in surprise. He stumbled back, eyes wide.

"What'd you do that for?" he asked, then grinned evilly. "… Oh, I see, you like it like that. Okay, I can play the hard to get game."

I wiped the back of my hand against my mouth, attempting to get rid of his germs. "No offense or anything, but that was the most disgusting thing I've ever done in my life. And I've eaten frog's legs before. Think about it."

"Aw, come on, you know you liked it."

Was he seriously that dense? Did he not just see me wipe away his spit? Come on now. "Um, no, I didn't."

He shot a fake smile at me. "I think you did."

"I just said I didn't," I told him, getting annoyed.

"Right, right, I gocha. I should get back, but don't worry, though. I'll be back for you later," he threw a lame wink in my direction and finally went away.

Joy.

A trace of his nasty pizza breath lingered in my mouth. I leaned over the sink as soon as he was out of sight. Turning on the faucet, I rapidly shoved handfuls of water into my mouth, hoping to get rid of the taste. God, that was horrible… I thought I'd enjoy it. You'd think a model with (probably) tons of experiences with women would at least be a good kisser. I felt more like the dirt being sucked up by a wet, blonde vacuum. Blech. Remind me to never do that again.

They'd probably think I died or something if I didn't go back, so I did. When I took my seat, Minako had a hidden twinkle in her eye, while London's eyes kept roaming ravenously over my body. I made a disgusted look toward him and scooted away from his reach. Everyone turned away from throwing mounds of popcorn at each other and watched.

"So… The cake wasn't ready?" Makoto asked to break the silence.

"Nah, still needs awhile longer," I told her, acting like none of that happened. I wanted to forget all about it, so technically, it didn't. I decided to change the subject. "Do you guys wanna watch a movie or something?"

"Sure, I'll go put one in," Minako, always the eager one, popped up from her place in Motoki's arms and skipped over to the television. We all set up layers of blankets scattered at different places in front of the TV, making sure my 'bed' was as far away from London as humanly possible. Still, being the idiot he is, he continued to smile and smile with his perfect while teeth glowing like a headlight. He ended up lying next to Rei. She'd better be careful, or else she might get sucked up.

Soon as the movie started, Motoki and Minako slipped under the covers and went into a heavy make-out session. Faintly we could hear them giggle, but would stop moving as soon as they did, as if we already didn't know what they were doing. I think that after a month of them one way or another making out on my floor, I'd notice.

The movie was some routine romantic comedy. I didn't really pay attention. Lying on my stomach, I lay my head on top of my folded arms, not tired enough to fall asleep, but too tired to actually do anything. I stared out somewhere into the slightly lit room, hoping I'd just get bored enough and fall asleep. My attention span's too short.

-----

"Usagi," I heard someone's voice say, while the person shook my body. "USAGI!"

Groaning, I turned my head away from the sunlight burning against my closed eyes, too tired to care, and tried my best to fall asleep again.

"USAGI!"

I felt a poke at my side, but wrapped the blanket tightly around myself, relaxing into another position.

"Usaaaaa, come on, don't make me do this…" But I didn't pay attention to anything other than falling back asleep.

The blankets that were keeping me nice and heated were pulled out from under me, and once again I let out a long groan, squinting my watery eyes to see Minako with her second unneeded wake-up call.

"I was sleeping, you know," I grumbled, propping myself on my elbow, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. Soon as I did, I could see only Minako was in the room. In fact, even the blankets were gone. "Hey, what happened to everyone?"

"They left an hour ago. I tried to wake you up, but you're like a rock when you sleep. I don't think you were even breathing... But it's already nine, so I have to go soon. You, lucky girl, have the day off."

"Then why did you wake me?" I stuck out my lower lip, looking up at her with baby-ish eyes.

"Becaaaause, you got a letter you might find interesting."

I raised a brow at her and said, teasingly, "You go through my mail, too? Talk about making yourself at home."

"Yeah yeah, just look at it."

She handed me the white envelope, my excitement growing, the traces of sleep quickly fading away. I wondered what it could be, and without looking at the front, I ripped open the top part of the fold. Pulling the thick matching white paper out of its place, I stared at it for a long time.

"Minako… This is a bill."

"I know, but it's your first real bill! Isn't it great?" she exclaimed happily, hopping over to grab her coat from the floor. "Well, I'm off. Bye!"

Staring at her disappearing figure, I shook my head, laughing. Without fail, she could put me in a good mood, even at the dreaded early hours of the morning.

-----