Alicia Blade
As always, a HUGE thanks to everyone who has reviewed! Please keep them coming, with compliments and critiques! I definitely want to know what you're thinking!
I know that there have been some questions concerning the timeline and the role of the Outers, and I hope that these will all be cleared up as the story progresses. Just stick with me. .wink.
Enjoy!
...
"So, Motoki," Emily said, leaning over the counter. "You know Usagi-chan, right?"
"Oh, sure! How do you know her?"
"Oh, we just met yesterday. She's a sweet girl."
"The best. She has the biggest heart of anyone I've ever known."
"Uh-huh. And what's up with her and Mamoru?"
Motoki looked surprised for a moment, before sadly shaking his head. "I wish I could say. They've been fighting since the day they met."
"Fighting?"
"Yeah. I don't really know what sparked it, but I doubt either has ever said a nice word to the other. They can't be in the same room without bickering. It's a shame, too. They're both such nice people."
"Right. See... here's the thing, Motoki." Emily inhaled a deep breath, looking into Motoki's brown eyes. "I think we should hook them up."
He frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, I think they would make a cute couple and you should help me play matchmaker."
Motoki was silent a long minute, before he let loose a yelp of laughter. "You must be kidding."
"Well, why not?"
"Did you hear what I said? They can't stand each other! What part of you thinks this is at all a good idea?"
Emily smiled. "Think about it. You said yourself they're both such nice people. They're both attractive and kind..."
"They have nothing in common."
"I bet you'd be surprised. I mean... they have you in common, for one. And just think, no more fighting."
Motoki grinned. "Look, I see what you're trying to do, and it's not going to work. Trust me, they will never look twice at each other."
"I have a dollar—er, yen—that says I'm right."
He rolled his eyes. "You'll be poor if you keep making those bets."
"Oh, come on! What's the worst that could happen?"
"Um, it completely backfires and I end up alienating two of my best friends?"
"And don't you think the possible benefits outweigh that unlikely possibility?"
He laughed.
"Look, Motoki-san, I REALLY think I'm right about this. All the tension between them can't be honest-to-goodness animosity, can it? My instincts tell me there's a lot more to them than meets the eye."
"I think you AND your instincts are nuts."
"I won't deny that's a possibility. But if I'm right?"
He frowned speculatively, before finally sighing in agitation and leaning down on his elbows. "If you're right, I think I might die of shock. Besides, what is it exactly that you plan on doing?"
"Oh... you'll see." With the perfect timing that can only happen in an alternate universe, Emily spun around on her stool just as Mamoru walked into the arcade, wearing a familiar green jacket and carrying the same black book he'd been reading the day before. He smiled at Motoki and Emily, then claimed his usual booth beside a row of windows. Emily grinned evilly to herself. Standing, she walked over to the booth. "Do you mind if I sit with you, Mamoru-san?"
He shook his head, leaning up against the window with his feet up on the bench. "Just so long as you don't mind if I ignore you. The chapter I'm on right now is really intense."
"No, not at all. You just enjoy your reading. I'm waiting for someone anyway."
"Yeah? Who?" he asked, opening the book.
"Usagi-chan."
He looked up, his blue eyes flashing in annoyance. "Is she going to sit with us, too?" he grumbled.
Emily grinned. "I hope so. Oh, there she is. Usagi-chan! Over here!"
Usagi looked over toward the booth at the sound of her name, and immediately gave a huge, friendly smile to Emily and walked toward her. Her pace slowed, though, upon seeing Mamoru sitting across from her new friend, eyeing her with a glimmer of mischief in his eye. She groaned.
"Does he have to sit with us?" she muttered.
Emily giggled, imagining the distaste in Usagi's voice to be nothing more than a teasing joke, and stood from the booth. "Have a seat. I'll go order us some food."
As Usagi begrudgingly slid into the booth, Emily wagged a cheerful finger at Mamoru. "Now, you play nice."
He quirked an eyebrow as Emily walked toward the counter, before turning to the blonde girl glaring at him. "Oy, Odango Atama. Assault anyone with a shoe today?"
Usagi's glare only deepened, before being replaced with a smug frown. "Mamoru-baka, you should know I only reserve such special treatment for you. Besides, your head is so big, it makes for a fantastic target."
From her place at the counter, Emily could easily hear the exchange of words, and rolled her eyes. They were so irritatingly adorable at this stage of their relationship. She noticed that Motoki was watching her with a little smile.
"I told you so," he said, chuckling. "They're absolutely impossible."
She smiled back. "Oh, ye of little faith. You're talking to a professional here."
He quirked an eyebrow.
"Anyway, can I get an order of onion rings, cheesy fries, buffalo wings, and two chocolate shakes, please?"
He chuckled. "You must eat like Usagi-chan. Sure, I'll bring it right over."
Emily returned to the booth, where Usagi and Mamoru continued to exchange heated insults, and sat down beside the furious, red-faced girl, who was too busy calling Mamoru a stream of not-so-polite names to notice her.
"So what are we studying today?" Emily asked, effectively cutting Usagi off before she could reach the finale of her insults.
Usagi blinked, her mouth still open from the impending remarks, and looked over at Emily, who was trying her hardest to look innocent and unaware that she had interrupted anything. Quickly, Usagi closed her mouth, and glared at Mamoru again. "Can we go to another booth?"
Emily giggled, again pretending that Usagi was only joking. "Oh, he won't bother us. Will you, Mamoru?"
"Don't be so sure."
"Ooh, you're so obnoxious!" Usagi hissed as Motoki set down two shakes in front of them.
"Your food will be up in a minute."
"Thanks! Did you want a shake, Mamoru-san?"
He snickered. "No, thanks. I don't want to end up like her."
Usagi's blue eyes shot icicles at him, a spoonful of whipped cream hanging only inches from her lips. "And just what's that supposed to mean?"
"That you eat more junk food than . . ."
"Do you have any literature? I'm really good at literature!" Emily jumped in, forcing the bickering couple to look at her, though she made a point to look only at Usagi, who took a moment to compose herself before answering Emily's question.
"No. I have history and earth science. I also have an algebra test coming up, but I don't think I'm ready for that. Next week is finals." She sighed longingly. "And then three months of freedom."
"What? You're here to study?" Mamoru barked. "Dear Diary, I fear Hell has just frozen over."
Emily glared at him, before picking the cherry off of her shake and throwing it at his face. It glanced off his cheek, leaving a spot of whipped cream, before tumbling into his lap. He yelped in surprise, before chuckling and reaching for a napkin. "Very mature, Emily-chan."
"No more immature than teasing an innocent girl like you were."
Mamoru looked ready to respond, but his attention was diverted at Usagi's shrill giggling. He frowned.
"Emily-chan, you're great! That was ALMOST a waste of a perfectly good cherry, and yet still so very worth it."
Emily giggled. "You're right. Motoki-san? Can we get a bowl of cherries?" Turning, she winked at Usagi. "In case we need more ammunition."
Mamoru rolled his eyes, and threw the cherry back at Emily, who squeaked in surprise. "Don't tell me you two are ganging up on me, now."
"Of course not, Mamoru-san!" Emily said very seriously, while wiping off a spot of cream.
Usagi blinked, looking slightly disappointed. "Oh, we're not?"
"No! You're two of my favorite people in Japan! I could never choose sides. But," she said, looking at Mamoru slyly, "I know a man who needs to get hit with a cherry when I see one. Now then! History and earth science, you said?"
Usagi nodded, breathing a sigh of relief as Mamoru reopened his book, a hint of amusement on his face.
"Well, how about we go alphabetically and start with history, then?"
Frowning, Usagi ran the statement over in her head, before deciding that it wasn't important and pulling her history book out of her bag. "Okay, we're learning about the Meiji era right now. Um… it's Japanese history. Are you sure you'll know about it?"
Emily grinned. Her slight obsession with the anime Rurouni Kenshin had led her to study everything she could about the Japanese Meiji era, and she thought she could probably hold her own on a history test about it, but, sadly, she knew that her expertise would come in little help to her, or Usagi-chan, today. "Oh, sure! We talked about it in world civics last semester!"
Smiling, slightly reassured, Usagi opened her textbook and pulled out a crumpled study sheet. Emily gladly noticed Mamoru watching them over the pages of his book.
"In 1868, the capital of Japan moved from this city to Tokyo," Usagi read off of her handout.
"Oh! I know this one!" Emily squealed. And, indeed, she did.
Usagi looked at her hopefully.
"But I shouldn't tell you. Do you know what it might be?"
Her giddy expression falling, Usagi disinterestedly looked down at the textbook. It didn't get past Emily that she wasn't even looking at the right chapter, but rather focusing on an essay that dealt with the Muromachi period. Just then, Motoki came by and set down their food, to which Usagi's eyes widened, drool almost visibly forming at the corners of her mouth. "Oh, sugoi!" she squealed, reaching for an onion ring.
Emily smiled, asking as she reached for a fry, "Would you like some, Mamoru-san?"
He grunted a negative.
"Suit yourself. So, the early capital was…"
Usagi sighed through a mouth full of batter and tartar sauce.
"I dowwo."
Mamoru snickered from across the table and was promptly met with a cherry in the eye. Emily glared at him with a silent reprimand.
"So... you don't have any idea what the answer is, Usagi-chan?"
She stared blankly at the study sheet. "Mmm...Kamakura?"
Emily shook her head. "No. Close, though. It's actually Beijing."
Mamoru gagged on his coffee. "No it's not!"
The girls looked at him—Usagi with annoyance, Emily with accomplishment—as he cleared his throat.
"Beijing is the capital of China."
Looking at Emily, Usagi raised her eyebrows in question.
"Oh," said Emily, "my bad. The answer is actually Hong Kong."
Usagi frowned as Mamoru burst into laughter. "Isn't Hong Kong also in China?" she asked suspiciously.
"Yes," answered Mamoru, "but only as of recently. It was a colony of Britain up until 1997."
Usagi glanced at Emily from the corner of her eye. Giggling nervously, Emily shrugged. "Right. I must have my Western Hemisphere confused."
"You mean Eastern Hemisphere."
"Whatever! Alright, Mr. Smarty Pants, if you're so smart, what's the answer?"
"Why don't you try looking it up? You must have that textbook for a reason."
"What do you think we're doing, Nimwad?"
He rolled his eyes and pulled the history book around to face him, flipping to the table of contents. He scanned it a moment before turning to a page about three-quarters through the text and sliding it back to face Usagi. "Try that," he gently commanded.
Usagi harrumphed in agitation and stuck a chicken wing in her mouth, but did as she was told. A moment later, she looked up at Mamoru, who was watching her with a prompting smile, none of the smug irritation she would have expected. "Kyoto?"
His grin grew a bit and he nodded. "Kyoto."
As Mamoru's attention returned to his own book, Emily noticed Usagi's eyes lingering on him with a confused glimmer, before she finally turned to her less successful tutor. Emily smiled proudly. "Good job. What's the next question?"
"The principles of Confucianism, one of the traditional religions of this era, were derived from the philosophies of what man?"
"Oh, simple! It's Socrates!"
Mamoru groaned. "Emily, I believe the purpose of being a tutor is that you know more than the person you're tutoring! A minute ago I would have thought that meant anyone in Japan could tutor Usagi, but..." He was silenced by a cherry colliding with his cheek.
"Confucius!" Usagi said, throwing another cherry. "Also known as Kong Fu Zi."
"Hey!"
"One for me and one for Emily," she announced proudly.
"Usagi-chan, how did you know that?" asked Emily.
She shrugged, removing her glare from Mamoru as he cleaned his face with a napkin. "It's right there," she said, pointing to the textbook.
A proud smile erupted on Emily's lips. "Good job, Usagi! You should write that down."
Usagi did so before reading the next question. "Theoretically, under the Meiji constitution, the emperor held sovereign power. In reality, though, power first laid with this group of people."
Emily glanced at Mamoru. "Well? Any smart remarks before we continue?"
"I'll let you know when you get another one wrong."
"Well, that is not going to happen, mister, because I know for a fact that the answer is the Vikings."
Mamoru groaned, hitting his forehead with his book's spine. "No, the answer is NOT the Vikings. You must be the worst tutor I've ever seen!"
"Do you think you could do better, Mr. Straight-A Student?"
"I most certainly could."
"Prove it!"
"Fine. Move."
Emily smiled, the venom leaving her expression, and stood from the booth as Mamoru claimed her seat beside Usagi. Emily ignored the girl's horrified countenance and turned on her heel. "Have fun!" she called over her shoulder.
As she approached the counter, she noticed Motoki watching her with a bemused expression.
"No sweat," she said with a wink.
He shook his head. "A momentary truce, perhaps, but you're still way out of your league."
"A little faith, mon amie. Just a little faith."
...
Usagi eyed Mamoru from the corner of her eye. "You aren't really going to try and tutor me, are you?"
"What, would you rather have Emily try some more? You just might pull a 20 on the next test."
Her eyes narrowed. "I am not going to sit here and listen to this. Move, I'm leaving!"
Mamoru sighed. "Fine. As soon as you answer all the questions on that study sheet."
"But that'll never happen!"
"It will if you try, Usagi. Now, you got that last question right without any help."
"Yeah, because it was just staring up at me from the page!" she said, exasperatedly gesturing at the textbook.
"There you go. Half the battle of studying is knowing where to find the information. After that it's easy."
"So says you."
"What harm will it do to give it a try, Odango Atama?"
"Having to sit next to you."
"Fine. Fail middle school. It'll just give me something else to tease you about." Mamoru leaned back and opened his book again, ignoring Usagi's reddening face and refusing to let her out of the booth.
Just as Usagi felt her temper reach the boiling point, it occurred to her that Mamoru presented a good case. Failing middle school would provide him with significant taunting material. But, at the same time, raising her horrid grades would take away some of his prime ammunition.
Her anger sizzled away with a quick hiss of breath.
Mamoru felt the charge on the air, but retained his disinterested composure.
Inhaling deeply, Usagi reread the study question and began calmly flipping through the textbook, scanning the subheads.
"Fine," she mumbled. "But one stupid remark and I'm leaving."
"Fine." Mamoru slammed shut the book that he hadn't really been reading. "Okay, like I said, the key to studying is knowing where to find the information. So I would begin my scanning headings and subheads for topics that look like they relate to the question. Like this one: 'Economics in Meiji Japan' probably won't have anything to do with sovereign power, so you can skip this one."
"But this one," said Usagi, pointing, "is talking about the role of the emperor and how it relates to the people. That sounds like a possibility."
"Indeed, so then you can scan the section looking for key words, such as sovereign or power, or any mention of a group of people who ranked high on the hierarchy system."
"Oh, here it is!" Usagi squealed. "While the Emperor theoretically held sovereign power over the political and militaristic aspects of the country, in reality, the real power laid with the oligarchic genro."
"That's it! Good eye."
She quickly jotted down the answer on her study sheet.
"Then, after you've found all of the information, you can go through the study sheet and work on memorizing. That's when it comes in handy to have a study partner, so you can quiz each other."
"Hold your horses there, baka. One thing at a time."
Mamoru chuckled. "Fine, what's next?"
Usagi read the question and began flipping through the pages, scanning headings and titles and occasionally pausing to read a picture caption or a particularly fascinating paragraph. Soon, Mamoru's assistance was hardly needed, though his encouragement every time she got another answer correct made Usagi beam with pride.
Mamoru was surprised to find himself watching her from the corner of his eye, smiling along with her excited achievements. He didn't realize that he was memorizing the color of her eyes and the way she nibbled her pencil until after the bits of information were already ingrained in his mind. He quickly looked away, ashamed of himself for staring.
His palms became suddenly sweaty and he nervously wiped them off on his pants, telling himself that the arcade was warmer than usual. And when Usagi unconsciously scooted closer to him, the fabric of her sleeve brushing his hand, he so swiftly jerked away that Usagi looked up at him in surprise.
"Are you okay?" she asked, seeing the evident shock on his face.
His first thought was to ask if she'd felt it too—the strange shot of electricity that had flowed through him—but he immediately decided against it. "Fine. I'm fine. Did you figure out that last one yet?"
She pouted and turned her attention back to the pages before her. "No. It doesn't say anything about the daimyo anywhere!"
"You're probably not looking in the right places. Have you gone over all the headings?"
"Yes, twice. Could it be in another chapter?"
"Is the test on any other chapters?"
"No."
"Then don't be a ditz. Why would your teacher put in a trick question?"
Usagi glared up at him. "It was only a thought! You don't need to jump down my throat about it!"
"Well why don't you look it up in the index? Can't you at least try to use your brain?"
Her mouth fell open for a moment before Usagi's stunned eyes took on a look of fierce anger and betrayal. "Evidently not! I'm sorry that I'm so stupid! I must be SUCH a hopeless pain to you!"
"Your words, not mine."
"You know, you offered to do this!"
"Then I guess I'm the stupid one for thinking you could ever be helped."
"I guess you are," she spat, attempting to hold onto her anger, but ashamed tears were quickly flooding her eyes. She slammed the history book shut and shoved her papers into her bag. "Move! I'm going home."
"Gladly," he muttered, standing and picking up his own book before heading toward the doors. He desperately tried to ignore the feelings of stupidity and guilt welling inside of him and refused his conscience the pleasure of an apology, instead storming out of the arcade. Usagi was only moments behind him, tears now flowing freely down her cheeks as she ran the other way.
...
Emily watched the scene with a deepening frown, her nails digging into her forearm, and didn't notice Motoki's approach until he was beside her.
"I'd call it love at first sight, for sure," he said sarcastically. "Can't imagine how I ever missed it before."
"Patience, my dear Watson," Emily scolded, her scowl melding into a mischievous smirk. "These things take time. We must have patience."
He shook his head and walked away, muttering, "Yeah, if you have the lifespan of a sea turtle."
...
"I am here, my child," a serene voice spoke from the other side of the curtain.
Sailorpluto sighed. "Father, I ask for forgiveness."
"I am listening, my child."
"Please forgive me for what I'm about to do to you. You have something I need, Father. This is for your own good."
"My child?"
Clutching her time staff, Pluto opened the curtain and held her palm out to the stunned priest. Soon, his anguished screams filled the otherwise empty church.
Less than a minute later, a fuku-clad woman fled from the church, an orange crystal clasped in her hand.
...
xoxo
Alicia