@ All: Thank you so much for your reviews. it means a lot to me, that you
are enjoying my story.
@ Leris: And thanks for your suggestion with the settings. I will try to make them clearer in the next chapters.
.
.
Chapter 8 - 17 Minutes
---------------------------------
He could have called her, but when the thought occured to him, he already stood on her doorstep. "I'm sorry to disturb you", he said, "I know, I'm being weird, but please, don't ask any questions. Please let me sleep a couple of hours, I'll explain everything then, and if you still want to kick me out, do it then!
"Who said anything about kicking you out? But get in the shower, before you touch anything in here.You smell worse than a sewer rat!"
Mamoru enjoyed the cool water running over his body. Nothing was more refreshing than taking a shower in the morning. Although, in a way, it felt like evening to him. Saori couldn't know, how close her remark about the sewer rat came to the truth. Now he had to make up a credible explanation, why he showed up at her place in the morning, and asked her to let him stay.
He still couldn't think of anything, when he came out of the bathroom. But it didn't really matter for now, since Saori was gone. She had left a note, that she had gone to the university and would be back around four in the afternoon. He should write down, if he ate anything, and could pay her back later. If he had time, he could get some coffee, she was low on that.
Fine! Why shouldn't he get coffee? He didn't have anything else to do, did he? The Senshi were looking for him, the Illuminati were chasing him, too, not to mention some alien or other, while all he did was getting coffee. It was a phantastic idea, if you thought about it. And besides, coffee was one of the basic nutrients. He knew that, Saori did, too, - hell, every college student in the whole damn country knew that. Coffee was the essence of live. Divine vengence on anybody, who kept a poor college student from drinking his coffee.
He didn't feel tired anymore. He got dressed, grabbed his wallet and went coffee-shopping. Of course he kept the bill, after all Saori would rather kiss a killer croc from the sewerage than take money from him. Maybe he would even eat some of the bio-natural cultivation grain and yogurt substance Saori called food. Then the poor girl would have to figure out, who owed money to who. Happy calculations! And a good morning to you, too, Rei, werever you were. Werever you got your screaming-fit, because you were outsmarted by a stupid male.
He drank a cup of coffee, but his drowsiness came back anyway. He crashed on Saori's couch. And waited for the darkness to return.
At first it was even more confusing than before. He felt the strange darkness as soon as he had gone to sleep, at least it seemed that way to him. It was everywhere. He didn't try to fight it this time, he forced himself to stay calm. He wanted to watch it like someone who didn't stand in the middle of it. Like someone who saw it from a distance.
Possibly it worked. The grip on him became looser. Whatever it was, it wasn't alert anymore. It thought it had won. It was getting careless. He forced himself to be patient. Still, it was not the right time to attack.
When he felt the time was right, he concentrated all the powers of his mind and heart against it. It burst apart, it burst into a thousand pieces. It vanished. It was defeated.
Sometimes it wasn't a good idea, to charge an opponent. It was better to stay back and watch. It had worked with Rei, it had worked with that thing, too. It was gone. He had broken free.
Usako! This time she wasn't close, she stood a distance away, looking at him. She wore a white long dress, her gown was flowing as she ran towards him. It was the dress of Princess Serenity. He was startled by her beauty, she appeared more like an angel, than a human being to him. He felt stunned at first, but realized he could move.
He took a few careful steps towards her. He still wasn't sure if it was her, or just some kind of illusion to trick him again.
She didn't rush into his arms, as one would have expected, but stopped before him to look at him, as if she feared he was an illusion, too.
She said something, he couldn't understand, he was only pretty sure it contained the words 'Mamo-chan'.
"Aishite, Usako - I love you!" he whispered.
She smiled at him. She stood on tiptoes to reach his mouth. Her face came closer, she turned it to get her nose out of the way. Something inside him yelled alert. He wanted to move, but it was already to late.
The black liquid welled up inside him. The darkness rose a wall between them, no matter how close she had been before, she was gone now. This time she tried to scream, but something suffocated the cry inside her throat. He wanted to force himself to stay calm, but he couldn't. Again he panicked and his mind charged inside the darkness. And it was darkness, it was not the emptiness, he felt after loosing her. It was something different. But it was too strong. It was an enemy, that didn't show.
Someone shook him, and it took him a few moments to realize were he was. "I think, you had some kind of a nightmare", Saori said helplessly, "I didn't know if it was the right thing to do, but I woke you up."
"No, that's fine," he answered, "I'm not feeling too well, I keep having those nightmares."
"You shouldn't worry about them. Dreams are simply unsolved problems in our subconcious.They go away, once the problem's solved."
Of course, Saori would say something like that. He was still wondering how he could explain to her, why he wanted to stay at her place. "I must have shocked you, I mean, I just stood in your door."
"Why that?" Saori seemed confused.
"Well, I...oh nevermind. I wanted to ask you, if I could stay at your place for a couple of days. Being at home is a little difficult right now."
She nodded. "You don't have to explain anything. I said, I wanted to help you, if I could. I just can't be home all the time, I have so much stuff to do. I'm not used to living together with someone" She stopped talking, then she added shyly :"I don't know what I could say to comfort you, I'm not used to that kind of situation either."
He smiled at her. In a way she was very much like Ami. "Don't worry about it. I try not to turn your life upside down. Mine already is!"
"You forget, that this is not about you alone. You may have lost a person, but Earth has lost its guardian!"
Mamoru jumped up "What? How can you know that?"
"I've known it for a long time, once I've seen her transform. It was well over a year ago. But, don't worry, I never told anyone, and I'm not going to."
He remembered the day the Amazon Trio had tried to destroy Saori's dream. It probably had been that day, when she had witnessed Usagi's transformation.
And she had kept the secret for so long. Maybe he could trust her and tell her more about what happened. He had to think about it.
"Well," she said "I have to get going. I have classes in the evening. I see you later then."
"I guess, you don't know how to even spell the term 'semester break', do you? I wonder were you squeeze out the time to go out with me."
She turned around. "Intelligent talks with intelligent people are a part of education, too, aren't they?"
"You're flattering me!"
Saori was almost out the door, when she turned around again. "Now that you mention going out, you forgot your umbrella last Saturday. I tried to call you on the phone in your car, but you didn't answer."
"I guess I was already home then."
She shook her head. "You were about seventeen minutes gone. Even a Porsche can't go that fast."
The door fell shut. Mamoru was alone.
@ Leris: And thanks for your suggestion with the settings. I will try to make them clearer in the next chapters.
.
.
Chapter 8 - 17 Minutes
---------------------------------
He could have called her, but when the thought occured to him, he already stood on her doorstep. "I'm sorry to disturb you", he said, "I know, I'm being weird, but please, don't ask any questions. Please let me sleep a couple of hours, I'll explain everything then, and if you still want to kick me out, do it then!
"Who said anything about kicking you out? But get in the shower, before you touch anything in here.You smell worse than a sewer rat!"
Mamoru enjoyed the cool water running over his body. Nothing was more refreshing than taking a shower in the morning. Although, in a way, it felt like evening to him. Saori couldn't know, how close her remark about the sewer rat came to the truth. Now he had to make up a credible explanation, why he showed up at her place in the morning, and asked her to let him stay.
He still couldn't think of anything, when he came out of the bathroom. But it didn't really matter for now, since Saori was gone. She had left a note, that she had gone to the university and would be back around four in the afternoon. He should write down, if he ate anything, and could pay her back later. If he had time, he could get some coffee, she was low on that.
Fine! Why shouldn't he get coffee? He didn't have anything else to do, did he? The Senshi were looking for him, the Illuminati were chasing him, too, not to mention some alien or other, while all he did was getting coffee. It was a phantastic idea, if you thought about it. And besides, coffee was one of the basic nutrients. He knew that, Saori did, too, - hell, every college student in the whole damn country knew that. Coffee was the essence of live. Divine vengence on anybody, who kept a poor college student from drinking his coffee.
He didn't feel tired anymore. He got dressed, grabbed his wallet and went coffee-shopping. Of course he kept the bill, after all Saori would rather kiss a killer croc from the sewerage than take money from him. Maybe he would even eat some of the bio-natural cultivation grain and yogurt substance Saori called food. Then the poor girl would have to figure out, who owed money to who. Happy calculations! And a good morning to you, too, Rei, werever you were. Werever you got your screaming-fit, because you were outsmarted by a stupid male.
He drank a cup of coffee, but his drowsiness came back anyway. He crashed on Saori's couch. And waited for the darkness to return.
At first it was even more confusing than before. He felt the strange darkness as soon as he had gone to sleep, at least it seemed that way to him. It was everywhere. He didn't try to fight it this time, he forced himself to stay calm. He wanted to watch it like someone who didn't stand in the middle of it. Like someone who saw it from a distance.
Possibly it worked. The grip on him became looser. Whatever it was, it wasn't alert anymore. It thought it had won. It was getting careless. He forced himself to be patient. Still, it was not the right time to attack.
When he felt the time was right, he concentrated all the powers of his mind and heart against it. It burst apart, it burst into a thousand pieces. It vanished. It was defeated.
Sometimes it wasn't a good idea, to charge an opponent. It was better to stay back and watch. It had worked with Rei, it had worked with that thing, too. It was gone. He had broken free.
Usako! This time she wasn't close, she stood a distance away, looking at him. She wore a white long dress, her gown was flowing as she ran towards him. It was the dress of Princess Serenity. He was startled by her beauty, she appeared more like an angel, than a human being to him. He felt stunned at first, but realized he could move.
He took a few careful steps towards her. He still wasn't sure if it was her, or just some kind of illusion to trick him again.
She didn't rush into his arms, as one would have expected, but stopped before him to look at him, as if she feared he was an illusion, too.
She said something, he couldn't understand, he was only pretty sure it contained the words 'Mamo-chan'.
"Aishite, Usako - I love you!" he whispered.
She smiled at him. She stood on tiptoes to reach his mouth. Her face came closer, she turned it to get her nose out of the way. Something inside him yelled alert. He wanted to move, but it was already to late.
The black liquid welled up inside him. The darkness rose a wall between them, no matter how close she had been before, she was gone now. This time she tried to scream, but something suffocated the cry inside her throat. He wanted to force himself to stay calm, but he couldn't. Again he panicked and his mind charged inside the darkness. And it was darkness, it was not the emptiness, he felt after loosing her. It was something different. But it was too strong. It was an enemy, that didn't show.
Someone shook him, and it took him a few moments to realize were he was. "I think, you had some kind of a nightmare", Saori said helplessly, "I didn't know if it was the right thing to do, but I woke you up."
"No, that's fine," he answered, "I'm not feeling too well, I keep having those nightmares."
"You shouldn't worry about them. Dreams are simply unsolved problems in our subconcious.They go away, once the problem's solved."
Of course, Saori would say something like that. He was still wondering how he could explain to her, why he wanted to stay at her place. "I must have shocked you, I mean, I just stood in your door."
"Why that?" Saori seemed confused.
"Well, I...oh nevermind. I wanted to ask you, if I could stay at your place for a couple of days. Being at home is a little difficult right now."
She nodded. "You don't have to explain anything. I said, I wanted to help you, if I could. I just can't be home all the time, I have so much stuff to do. I'm not used to living together with someone" She stopped talking, then she added shyly :"I don't know what I could say to comfort you, I'm not used to that kind of situation either."
He smiled at her. In a way she was very much like Ami. "Don't worry about it. I try not to turn your life upside down. Mine already is!"
"You forget, that this is not about you alone. You may have lost a person, but Earth has lost its guardian!"
Mamoru jumped up "What? How can you know that?"
"I've known it for a long time, once I've seen her transform. It was well over a year ago. But, don't worry, I never told anyone, and I'm not going to."
He remembered the day the Amazon Trio had tried to destroy Saori's dream. It probably had been that day, when she had witnessed Usagi's transformation.
And she had kept the secret for so long. Maybe he could trust her and tell her more about what happened. He had to think about it.
"Well," she said "I have to get going. I have classes in the evening. I see you later then."
"I guess, you don't know how to even spell the term 'semester break', do you? I wonder were you squeeze out the time to go out with me."
She turned around. "Intelligent talks with intelligent people are a part of education, too, aren't they?"
"You're flattering me!"
Saori was almost out the door, when she turned around again. "Now that you mention going out, you forgot your umbrella last Saturday. I tried to call you on the phone in your car, but you didn't answer."
"I guess I was already home then."
She shook her head. "You were about seventeen minutes gone. Even a Porsche can't go that fast."
The door fell shut. Mamoru was alone.