A gentle snore can be heard from a figure with blankets pulled up over their head to form a lump in the middle of the bed, arms and legs a matching set of haphazardly thrown limbs. Curtains closed, the room is cast in darkness making a black hole of the room. Until slowly the door opens. Light from the hallway silhouettes a tall figure making it impossible to see who it is. This figure stealthily makes their way over to the bed only to quickly grab the edge and, lifting it up, throw the sleeping form flying. The once prostrated Usa treats the throw as a springboard and lands in a crouch before the sneaking figure. Still in a crouch she reaches behind and flicks on the lamp beside the bed before letting out a groan when she sees who the other person is.
"Do you really have to wake me up that way?" She mumbles in exasperation, looking over their shoulder towards a clock that rests on the night stand next to the lamp. "It's not even five in the morning yet. Not to mention I haven't needed training in weeks. Why are you now suddenly waking me up this way again?"
Usa stands up from her crouch her lithe form clad in boxers showing off her muscular legs that seemed impossibly long and a white tank top that was riding up on her midriff showing off a toned stomach. She stretches her arms above her head the muscles in her forearms and biceps ripping nicely under the skin before running her fingers through tossed platinum blond hair that is still sticking every which way from her current sleep. Her deep blue eyes narrow at the offending blond man standing in front of her. His goatee face in a large smile at the annoyance he can see radiating off his only daughter. The similarities between the two uncanny they could pass more as twins then father and daughter.
With a shake of his head and a chuckle her father ruffles her short blonde hair affectionately causing the youth to let out what could be described as a snarl.
"I was just making sure that you can expect the unexpected. You need to have those quick reflexes for whatever life may throw at you. That was very good, by the way. Now why don't you get dressed and come on down to the gym. I want to test you and see where you are before you start the first day of your fourth term," the taller man answers cheerfully with a large smile upon his face.
He walks carefully towards the door, but stops before he reaches it. "Oh, and Usa. Your Aunt Haruka will be down there too. She wants to see where you are with your training as well. She says she might have some new defensive maneuvers that you could learn," he states from over his shoulder before exiting the bedroom closing the door with a soft click.
Grumbling to herself, Usa begins to rush around the room to get dressed and down stairs to the gym so that no one would come to yell at her for being late for her early morning training session. Clad only in loose black baseball shorts and a gray tank top she runs out of the room, skids around the corner of the hallway to the grand stair case and taking two steps at a time; she bounds down the stairs. Her short blonde hair sticking up in odd directions due to her haste.
Upon entering the makeshift gym, she finds her two Aunts already dressed. The eldest of the two Haruka Tsukino, Ruka for short, stands taller than either of the two girls in the room, her blond hair falling into her green eyes that seem to sparkle with mischief. The muscles in her arms ripple noticeably beneath the skin as she stretches her arms over her head to loosen the muscles. Her black tank top ridding up to show a muscular midriff. She smirks lopsidedly when she sees her niece come into the room and offers a wave, mumbling something to her smaller sister. Hotaru Tsukino, known as Taru slaps Haruka's stomach and rolls her purple eyes. She pushes her black hair out of her eyes and shakes her head making her shoulder length hair swish back and forth against her bare shoulders. She adjusts her white tank top, pulling the hem out of her red basketball shorts. The shorter youth waves at her niece in greeting as well with a large smile which causes a slight frown to cross over Usa's face; she jogs over to them and leans against the wall as they continue their stretching.
"Well good morning, Usa. About time you get down here. So, are you ready to go back to school?" Haruka asks with a wiggle of her eyebrows.
"Yeah, I'm about ready as ever," she answers the shorter girl as she stretches her arms above her head an audible crack from her back echoes rather loudly in the silent, high vaulted ceiling room.
"Yeah, I'll bet you are. All those girls swooning over you, the hero worship when you beat someone in your kendo tournaments," Haruka comments, a sly smirk making its way upon her face towards, Usagi.
Usa lets out a scoff. "Oh, are you talking about the girls who constantly enjoy looking like utter fools, the boys chasing after me because they think I'm taking away their girlfriends and the constant fights? Yeah, I'm so looking forward to that, Ruka!" Usa exclaims; letting out a puff of air that shifts her bangs out of her eyes.
"Oh, it can't be that bad," Ruka states while laughing and wiggling her eyebrows at the constipated looking Usagi.
"Just because you like pretending to be a boy, Ruka, doesn't mean everyone else does!" Usa states before reaching over to slap her aunt gently upside the head.
Haruka lets out a sigh while reaching across Hotaru to ruffle her niece's hair. "I'm just poking fun, Usa. Don't get so bent out of shape. Leave that for the information I have for you," Ruka states with a chuckle.
"What information is that?" Usa asks with a raised eyebrow at her older Aunt.
"There's a family reunion this weekend. Dad has arranged it and of course there's no talking him out of it, even with the amount of pleading that I've done. So, that means everyone will be there," Ruka answers with a scowl on her face as she crosses her arms across her t-shirt covered chest with a huff.
"That's great, just great. That means we will probably have to put up with those money grubbing assholes, in the guise of our relatives. Well isn't that just perfect?" Usagi asks with a sarcastic tone and a scowl that matches Haruka's.
Usagi blinks, turning her head to look at Hotaru when she feels the dark-haired girl nudge her in the side.
"It's not really a family reunion, Usagi. It's more of a way for Haruka to meet her fiancé and to introduce the soon to be wedded couple to the family. So, we get to meet our future in law," Hotaru states with a chuckle but the chuckle turns into a grimace when she hears growling coming from off to her side. "Oh, I'm sorry, Haruka. I didn't mean for it to sound how it did."
Usa stares at Hotaru wondering if the dark-haired girl had a death wish, running her fingers through her hair she sighs. "Let me guess, Grandfather, made the arranged marriage, didn't he?" She questions; placing her arms on her knees, cradling her head as she stares at her scowling Aunt.
Ruka lets out a sigh and nods her head. "Yeah, dad says that it's only fitting for me to be married that way since all my brothers were married the same way, well except for your dad, Usagi. Hotaru is the last one in line for these stupid arrangements'," she states; looking over towards Hotaru and a small smile graces her lips. "I'm sorry, kid, looks like this is what you both have to look forward too."
Usa and Hotaru let out a groan at the same time as they roll their eyes at the thought of the older man setting up an arranged marriage for Hotaru.
The three girls have always been very close even though there were some years separating the two younger ones from Haruka. The girls have a strong bond, but only because they have been forced by the older males in their lives to masquerade as the opposite sex throughout their entire lives. Well, Usagi and Hotaru were being forced into it. Haruka thoroughly enjoyed living the life of a male.
They stop talking when Usa's father comes into the gym and they begin their early morning workout session which consists of several different martial arts, kendo and some boxing thrown into the mix. The pace would be grueling to any outsider looking in, but Usagi's father looks on with pride at his daughter and two younger sisters as they put their all into his training regimen. After a couple of hours of working out, Usa's father announces that they are finished for today and congratulates them all on how well they have progressed over the years before letting them go off to take showers before it's time for them to go for the day.
After her shower, Usa dresses in her school uniform consisting of black slacks, a white shirt under a red blazer that has her schools crest on the left side of the jacket, and a red, green checkered tie around her neck. She looks at herself in the mirror; she makes faces at her reflection then lets out a sigh. Tousling her hair to give it a windswept look, she grabs her messenger bag and makes her way down to the kitchen.
She walks into the kitchen over towards the counter to select an apple for herself. She eats it slowly, leaning back against the counter listening to the early morning routine of Haruka and Luna arguing about some sort of historical fact. It appeared that the lively house keeper was winning against Haruka if the scowl was any indication upon her Aunts' face.
She chuckles at Haruka's baffled look, while Luna hides a smirk behind her hand. Shaking her head at the antics of the two older women, Usa tosses the apple core away; bids the two women a good day and walks out of the house with Hotaru next to her. She looks over towards Hotaru for a moment as she lets out a puff of air which causes the other girl to turn towards her with a raised eyebrow.
"Is there something on your mind, Usa?" Hotaru questions the girl who grumbles slightly under her breath. "What was that?"
"I said, yeah, actually there is. Why do we keep doing this, Hotaru? I mean, my father is a god damn loon, really, he is. He moved in with Grandfather because he said that it would help him out with me, but in all reality, it was so I could get formal training with you and Haruka so that we can become "boys" and for what?" Usa asks with a huff before looking back over at Hotaru who lets out a sigh. "To tell you the truth, Hotaru, I never wanted to run his business. I have no interest in it at all and I can't get that through his damn thick skull."
"Look, Usa, it's not like we have any choice in the matter. I mean at least you didn't have to have it beat into your head from birth. There was a period when you got to be yourself. Haruka and I never got that privilege. Maybe that's why it's harder for you then it is for us, but I can understand where you are coming from. Though what can we really do about it? Nothing is the truth of it all. We've ran away and got a beating for our troubles. So, we'll just have to put up with it, because there's no getting out of it I'm afraid," Hotaru states with a sigh and a sad smile on her face.
"Besides, you know what they will say. The family doesn't want women to run their upper branches of the business. It's been like this for over one hundred years. Blah, blah." Hotaru comments making flapping gestures with her hands and bobbing her head around mimicking her father's over used excuse for their predicament.
Usa nods her head and flicks her bangs out of her eyes which cause's a group of girls, who are currently walking on the other side of the street, to swoon at the sight of the gorgeous boys standing on the other side of the street.
They walk down the sleepy streets of their town. Students making their way to school across the street or in front of them. Cars buzzing down the street on their way to work. Green, peaceful yards show the morning dew glistening in the early morning sunlight. Making it a peaceful morning. Each girl lost in their own thoughts as they make their way to school.
Usagi almost runs into Hotaru who just stops to stand in the middle of the sidewalk. She's about to ask her Aunt what was wrong when she looks over to where Hotaru is looking towards only to see a group of girls gawking and pointing in their direction.
The two Tsukino's turn their heads to look at each other before fixing their eyes upon the group of squawking girls across from them. Usagi raise's an eyebrow while Hotaru blushes a deep red at the comments being thrown their way.
"Look, its Taru and Ren."
"Oh, I love looking at Ren. His blonde hair brings out his blue eyes so well. He's so handsome!"
"I like Taru better. He's got such dark, mysterious eyes. He's so gorgeous!"
"I really hope that Ren will answer my letter!"
"No, way will he answer yours first, idiot, because he'll answer mine first!"
"They make their uniforms look so good! They are so sexy!"
Usa lets out a sigh at the girls almost in unison comments, she looks over towards Taru; rolling her eyes she lets out a chuckle which in turn makes Taru smile back at her.
"Oh, Taru, you're so cute. Won't you marry me?" Usa mocks as they continue their way down the street.
"Oh, Ren-kun, your eyes are so deep like the sea. I could just lose myself within them," Taru states her voice going an octave higher than usual which leaves them laughing while they walk through the gates of their school.
They smirk at each other before continuing towards home room chatting about what they thought they're last year of high school would be like, how they would avoid the ever-growing angry boy mob, which causes Usagi to mumble something about pitch forks and torches before switching the subject towards how they could get out of going to their family reunion that was coming that weekend.
They continue to talk animatedly to each other, the girls upon the street having broken the foreboding feelings that each of the Tsukino's were feeling. Soon the pair were walking past the tall hedges and high iron gates of the prestigious Hirotami Academy. The school itself looked like a medieval castle straight out of a fairy tale book. The brick and mortar standing through the hundreds of years of the schools' existence, pristine and majestic. It's jutting towers on each side of the huge building, guarding it like silent sentinels. Woods surround the back half of school where the football, soccer and lacrosse fields sit, blocking most of the sound from the town that lay sprawled out around the school as well as muffling the sound of the rowdy crowds that gather for games.
Just before walking into their classroom they hear someone call out to Usa. They both turn around at the same time only to see a gaggle of boys standing not too far from the entrance to the classroom. One of the boy's points at Usa, who rolls her eyes thinking that her hope for them to give it up for once was about to be dashed. She hands her messenger bag to Hotaru, telling her she would see her sometime later before dashing down the hallway while the gaggle of boy's stampede after her. They yell at the top of their lungs at the poor girl. Hotaru grows wide eyed as the rush past her thinking that she just saw a pitchfork in the mist of the boys.
Hotaru lets out an exasperated sigh once the cloud of dust has cleared and shakes her head. "This is going to be another long year," she muses to herself; turning on her heel she walks into the class room deep in thought about how to come up with once again, another excuse to explain her niece's absence on the first day of school.
Hotaru runs her fingers over face. "Why can't they worry more about their class work then chasing after Usagi?" She quietly asks herself before sitting down in her chair waiting.
Sometime later finds Usa trying to sneak around the campus in the hopes of not being seen by the boys that she had just lost a short time before. She pokes her head around a building and lets out a sigh of relief when seeing that there's no one standing around in the empty court yard. She steps around the building and walks cautiously through the silent court yard.
She isn't afraid to fight the mob of boys; it's just that she was sick of their daily attempts to beat the ever-living crap out of her like she was some sort of piñata. Plus, having to explain to her father that the fights were never her fault, but in self-defense was a pain considering that she was never the one that had bruises on her afterwards. How could she or Hotaru compete against the multitude of parents that would always call her father when their sons were all black and blue for their fights? She couldn't which was the answer and because of that her father would lecture her just before grounding her for weeks at a time. That was not fun, so it was just easier to avoid them than to go through the trouble of the inevitable.
Usagi pokes her head around another corner before letting out a sigh once again when she doesn't see anyone. She turns back to look behind her then once more cautiously heads over to the building on the other side of the school's soccer field. Thrusting her hands into her pockets she walks on trying to act nonchalantly in case she happens upon a teacher while she makes her way towards a door that she knows from countless times of being chased would still be open because gym had just ended.
She eases slowly into the gym and slowly closes the door behind her to not make a sound that would surely echo through the silent gym. Her head shoots up when she hears male voices yelling from somewhere close by. With her heart beating rapidly against her ribs, she shoots out from the entry way of the gym. Twisting her head back and forth she manically looks for a place to hide only to let out a sigh when she sees the open entrance to the locker rooms not too far off to her right. She sprints towards it hoping that the boys wouldn't spot her while making a mad dash towards the entrance.
In her haste, Usa, doesn't notice the blue sign on the side of the entrance as she skids around the corner which indicates that she had just entered the girl's side of the locker rooms. She slams the door shut and rests her forehead against the wood grain with her eyes closed. Letting out a sigh of relief she opens her eyes when she hears a soft, not so audible gasp from somewhere in the room.
Ever so slowly she turns her head and lets out a sharp gasp of her own, eyes growing wide when she sees that her hiding place is occupied by a girl that's half dressed, standing in the middle of the locker room with her mouth wide open in a silent scream, her wide amethyst eyes bugging out in anger.
Opening and closing her mouth a couple times like a fish out of water, she tries to apologize to the girl standing in front of her, but nothing comes out. She just watches as the half-naked girl moves her head back and forth looking for something.
"Get out you, pervert," the girl finally screams lifting a tennis shoe that she had grabbed from somewhere.
Too stunned to react properly the shoe connects with the center of Usagi's forehead. The force of the throw snaps the girls head back and she bangs it against the closed door behind her. She hardly has time to recover from the last shoe when another shoe is suddenly hurtling towards her head. She shakes her head to come out of her stupor and quickly ducks her head before she turns tail and makes a hasty treat out the way she came.
The door closes behind her with a bang and she leans against it before touching her forehead tenderly with two fingertips. She winces when a stinging sensation emanates from the spot where the shoe had struck. Trying to get the pain to go away she gently rubs the spot only to wince for her troubles. Heaving a sigh, she pushes away from the door to get away from the mad banshee back in the locker room. She slowly makes her way across the gym hoping that no more mishaps befall her as she makes her way to class.
After a bit of negotiating around the boys in the hallways, Usa makes it to her third period classroom and silently slips into the room before the bell can ring. Hotaru looks up from her sketchbook when she hears someone flop into the chair beside her and is shocked to see a red, weird shaped welt on her niece's forehead she winces slightly in sympathy for the girls' plight.
"What happened? Did they catch you?" Hotaru asks in concern for her niece.
"No, they didn't and no I don't want to explain why my forehead is red right at this precise moment," Usa answers swatting at her aunt's hand that's touching her forehead.
Usagi yawns slightly behind a hand as she looks towards Hotaru for a moment. Rolling her eyes, she puts her head down on her crossed arms and closes her eyes.
"Right, well, we can talk about it at lunch time, okay?" Hotaru asks only to receive a wave of a hand in response before the sensei comes into the room.
Hotaru lets out a sigh and shakes her head at the quietly snoring girl beside her. She turns her attention towards the sensei when he begins to call out names in attendance. She lowers her voice slightly to answer for her niece when her name is called and lets out a soft sigh when he doesn't stop.
Looking over towards her niece she wonders just how long the girl can take these sorts of things before she's completely warn out and allows the boys to take whatever made up justice they have for her. The sound of Usagi's name being called from the front of the room pulls Hotaru out of her musings. She leans over and pokes her snoring niece in the ribs only to get a soft snort out of her. She leans back in her chair and lets out an exasperated sigh before leaning back over to start poking at the girl's side frantically.
Leaning back in her chair, Hotaru covers her eyes when he begins to walk over to Usagi's desk and slams his hands on either side of the snoring girl. Usagi jerks her head up almost clipping the sensei's chin with her head. Usagi begins to look around the room with a wide-eyed stare and a comical look of bewilderment on her face.
"What? What is it? Yes, No, True, False. It equals four hundred and thirty-five. George Bush. Lee Harvey Oswald. Umm is it Santa?" Usa rambles on while looking around the room for the source that had interrupted her peaceful nap.
"Thank you for coming back to us, Tsukino. That'll be detention after school with me for an hour," Mr. Davis states; walking away from Usa as she stares at her desk with a dejected look on her face.
Usagi looks over towards a sputtering Hotaru. "Why didn't you tell me he was coming?" Usa hisses quietly so that the dragon won't hear her.
"I was poking you, but you didn't wake up!" Hotaru exclaims in a whisper after taking a moment to regain her composure. "Now, look forward before we both get in trouble"
Usa puts her head in her hands, letting a soft groan slip from her lips. 'This is going to be a long year.' She shakes her head then turns her attention towards the teacher that she wouldn't incur his wrath a second time in less than ten minutes.
Usa lets out a sigh as she lounges under a tree that she and her aunt have been sitting under since their first year of high school. Lying down with her arms under head she glares at the clouds over head that can be seen through the leaves of the tree. She lets out another sigh, dropping an arm across her eyes trying not to think of that morning or the detention she had to attend to after school. The thoughts seem to crawl through her mind uncaring of how hard she was trying not to think about any of it.
'Man, why do I have it so bad with those guys? I get chased around while my aunt is friends with just about everyone. What have I done to deserve all this abuse? I don't remember doing anything to them to begin with and Hotaru is just as popular with the girls as I am.'
She doesn't ponder these thoughts for long as a shadow falls over her. She takes her arm away from her eyes and looks up, but the sun around the person makes it hard to see their face. What she does know is that it's not her aunt that's currently in front of her due to the height difference and they are in a girl's uniform as well.
She gets to her feet and shades her eyes only for her mouth to drop open when she sees a familiar looking girl standing in front of her.
"Um, Hi, Ren?" the girl questions with a teasing smile on her face and a slight wave a hand in front of the blonde's girls face.
"Wow, Makoto, is that you? By god! It's been so long since I've last seen you!" Usa exclaims running towards the taller girl and picks her up to swing her around which makes the girls in the court yard swoon and some jealous of the attention the normally stoic Usa was giving towards this new girl.
"What are you doing here? How did you know it was me?" Usagi questions once she puts Makoto down on the ground.
"It's good to see you too, Usa and I'm here because dad's job transferred him here with a promotion. So, we moved over the weekend. He had me enrolled before we moved. I knew it was you, because well come on. Even with shorter hair and looking older, you still look the same from when we were younger. So, I guess all I can say now is surprise!" Makoto states while throwing her arms out wide before turning around in a circle laughing with her best friend.
"Wow, I can't believe you moved from our home town. The last time I saw you was right before I left with my father for here," Usa states, sitting down in the grass with her childhood friend.
"Yeah, I know. How's that working out for you?" Makoto questions before dropping her voice down an octave after looking around. "I see your father made you do what you said he was going to do before you stopped writing."
"Yeah, he did. I had to stop writing because he didn't want anyone to know after the decision was made. My grandfather had a hand in that," Usa whispers before waving towards Hotaru who she sees out of the corner of her eye.
Hotaru waves back making her way over towards the duo on the grass, in front of the tree. She sits down and smiles at the new person next to Usa. "Ren, you've made a new friend I see. Good for you," she states with a laugh which earns her a soft smack on the arm.
"Not a new friend, Taru, but an old one. I'd like to introduce my friend Kino Makoto. You remember me talking about her, right, Taru?" Usa asks which earns her a nod. "Anyway, Makoto this is my Aunt, Hotaru Tsukino. We both live with my Grandfather."
Hotaru and Makoto smile at one another in greeting. The girls fall into a conversation which consists mostly of school and Usagi's daily mob encounters. A couple of minutes into the conversation, Hotaru falls silent and leans back on her elbows to observe her niece's interaction with her old childhood friend.
She smiles to herself when she notices that Usagi's face and posture relaxes more the longer she talks with Makoto. The dark-haired girl nods slightly to herself thinking that maybe this year wouldn't be nearly as bad as she was thinking it would be for her niece after all.
After a couple, more minutes of talking, Makoto raises a hand and beckons to someone over Hotaru's shoulder for them to come over where the three girls are sitting. Usa and Hotaru raise an eyebrow at Makoto who only smiles at her friend and Hotaru.
"My dad worked with a couple of my friend's dad's and their fathers were transferred at the same time mine was, so we're at the school together which is really great, but not surprising since their dads were on the same negotiation team as my father. When I heard that they were moving with me, it made me feel a lot better about going to this school, but it also made me psyched cause I'd like to introduce my new friends to one of my old friends," Makoto explains with a smile on her face.
Usa chuckles and nods her head as a shadow falls over the trio. Usagi looks up only to see the same girl that was in the locker room earlier that morning. Usa lets out a yelp and scoots away from the shoe throwing, banshee that's standing in front of her with her hands on her hips.
The dark-haired girl looks down at the blonde-haired boy from before and frowns at him then looks towards Makoto. "That's the boy I was telling you about. He's the one that ran into the locker room while I was changing. He's the pervert that was sneaking peeks at me!" The girl exclaims which brings over another girl with long blonde hair.
"What are you yelling about Rei?" The blonde-haired girl questions while raising an eyebrow.
"That's the sicko that was looking at me with his mouth open while I was half nude. Came into the locker room, looking to get a peek at someone didn't you, you peeping tom?" Rei yells while pointing a finger at Usa who is now cowering behind Hotaru, which causes Makoto and Minako to let out a sigh of exasperation.
"Rei, will you just calm down! It was probably a mistake. I know it doesn't seem likely, but it does happen," the blonde states; crossing her arms over her chest looking over at the blonde-haired boy with a smile on her face eyes twinkling with mischief.
"Well, maybe, but I still think he's a pervert, Minako," Rei states with a huff while crossing her own arms over her chest and glares daggers at the hapless boy.
Usa frowns when the girl calls her a pervert again and she comes out from around Hotaru seething.
"Yeah, well, if you weren't such a banshee and hadn't gone off the handle, maybe then I could've explained that I had just gone into the wrong room by mistake, but no, you had to go and throw your shoes at me instead of letting me explain!" Usa exclaims with her arms crossed over her chest, glaring back at the dark-haired banshee.
"What's there to explain? You're a boy in a girl's bathroom! You had no place being in there. You can read, can't you? Besides I'm sure that you've been going to this school longer than me, so why would you make a mistake like that? The only reason I can come up with is that you're a hentai!" Rei accuses, pointing a finger at Usa once again.
Usa jumps to her feet and points a finger at the girl. "I'll have you know that I was looking for a place to hide until some guys left. I didn't feel like getting into a fight today if you must know."
"Oh, is that so, huh? What? Did you peek in on those boy's girlfriends too?" Rei asks in a scoff which causes a vein to pop out on Usa's forehead.
"I don't have to deal with this! Makoto, it was great seeing you, but I'll see you later. Just have Taru give you my cell phone number so that we can get in touch later. You'll know where I'll be at Taru, come get me when this banshee is gone," Usa huffs before stalking off away from the girls who watch her leave before turning back towards Rei in a mix of confusion and anger.
Though the only one confused is Hotaru while Minako and Makoto look at her in anger.
"Rei, you really need to think before you go off at the handle. It was a simple mistake, Ren isn't like that," Makoto states while crossing her arms over her chest and glares at her friend.
"Yeah, well, you didn't see him standing there with his mouth open. You would've thought the same thing," Rei offers in defense, sitting down in the grass next to her friend.
Makoto shakes her head and looks at Rei in surprise. "No, first I would've covered up then I would've asked him what he was doing in there and if the answer didn't satisfy me then I would've started to throw things at him."
Minako looks from where Ren was once standing then over towards Rei with a smirk on her face. "I would've asked for his phone number. He's really cute," She states while wiggling her eyebrows at the two girls sitting in front of her.
"You would," Rei mumbles rolling her eyes at her friend before chuckling along with Makoto.
"Oh, yeah, I forget to introduce you to my friends. The boy crazy, blonde, is my friend Minako Harris and the one with a shorter fuse then a fire cracker is Rei Winters. This is Taru Tsukino," Makoto states with a smile while the two girls give a small wave towards Hotaru.
Hotaru smiles back before running her fingers through her hair. "It was very nice meeting the three of you, but I think I better go and find Ren before he gets into trouble," she states before writing down her niece's cell phone number and hands it to Makoto. "Here's his phone number, Makoto. I'll see you later."
"Bye, Taru," the three-girl's state in unison, to which Taru gives a brief wave, trotting off to find Ren.
Hotaru lets out a sigh while walking off towards where her niece's usual hiding spot. 'Okay, so maybe I was wrong. This year is going to be bad, but at least it can't get any worse than it already is.' She thinks while she brushes some branches aside to go down into the field behind the school only to see Usa and some boys fighting it out in the field below her.
She rolls her eyes then breaks out into a run I order to give her niece some help. 'God, damn it! I should've just kept my big mouth shut!'
Rain falls gently to the ground and making soft noises against the window of Usagi's room while she stands beside her window, watching rain fall down to earth. Her platinum blonde hair illuminated by the occasional lighting strike which throws her room into an unearthly glow just before the thunder rumbles across the sky.
She lets out a sigh and moves away from the window and goes over to her desk where she sits down gingerly before starting in on her homework. She looks up from her work when she feels hands on her shoulder and turns her head to see Haruka standing behind her. She smiles while she leans her head back against Ruka's shoulder as the weariness of the day washes over her.
"Has it been that long of a day? It's only your first after all." Haruka comments; stroking her fingers through the younger girl's blonde locks.
"Yeah, something like that," Usagi answers before opening her eyes and moves away from her Aunts comforting embrace to continue her homework.
"The boys still giving you problems, aren't they?" Haruka asks before moving away from Usagi to sit on the girl's bed.
Usagi runs her fingers through her hair, but remains quiet while working on a problem for her math class, but nods her head instead and winces when her hand runs across a lump on her head from where a boy had whacked her with a large branch.
Haruka studies the girl in front of her with her head leaned slightly to the side before letting out a chuckle. "That's not the only thing that's bothering you, is it?"
Usagi looks up at her Aunt with a startled look on her face before letting out a grunt then goes back to her homework once again trying to figure out the math problem that has been plaguing her since she started her homework a couple of hours earlier.
"Well in any case. Hotaru and I are down in the parlor. Why don't you take some time off from your homework and come down stairs? Some of the relatives are coming through the house. It'd be nice to have you with us to fend them off," Haruka states with a glowing smile that she knows Usa won't be able to deny.
"I really shouldn't, Ruka, I've got homework and then dad wants me to do some exercises before I go to bed tonight. He said something about a challenge or something like that. I didn't really pay him that much attention during dinner," Usa states while trying not to look up at Haruka, but Haruka won't let her get out of it that easily.
"Oh, come on, Usa. It's just tea and some cards. It won't hurt for you to take some time away from your homework. Michi is here," Haruka states knowing that will get her to come with her.
Sure, enough Usa's head picks up and looks over at Haruka with a look that's a cross of annoyance, humor and a good dose of disgust because she's easily distracted.
"Yeah, fine, alright. I'll come on downstairs with you to the parlor, but only a couple of games. I can't afford not to get my homework done; Ruka and you always distract me from it!"
"I only distract you when I know you aren't getting anything done anyway. So, let's go," Haruka states with a smirk crossing, unseen, over her face.
Usagi lets out a sigh before putting her notebook into the text book to mark her page then gets up from the chair and follows Haruka out of the room to where Haruka had stopped. She looks up at her Aunt who smiles down at her affectionately then places her arm around the younger girl's shoulders before setting off downstairs for a couple games of cards and some good conversation.
Later, Usagi sits next to Michiru with her arms crossed while watching her Aunt deal out the cards to her and Michiru.
"I really think they are cheating," Usagi mumbles to herself, but Michiru hears the girl and smiles to herself.
Outwardly, Michiru looks very calm, but on the inside the woman is having a conversation with herself about the girls that sit around her, like she always does when she's in Haruka's families company.
'They are so young to have this responsibility put on their shoulders and there's nothing they can do about it. Outwardly, Usa is refine and dignified, but from talking to Ruka who talks to Hotaru, I know that she doesn't want to do any of this. She just wants to be herself and break free from the shackles of family responsibility.' She looks over at Ruka who's smiling, but she knows that there are dark thoughts swirling around in the older girl's mind.
The older girl's eyes meet for a moment before looking at the younger girls in the room and they share an unspoken agreement before turning back to the game at hand. Shaking their heads, they entertain the younger girls and make sure that they laugh a great deal before they must leave again.
After a couple, more hands of cards, Usa looks up only to see a dark form standing inside the doorway. She stands up and growls under her breath which makes Haruka, Hotaru and Michiru look up from their hands when the dark form walks into the room.
"Usa, you look well," a dark haired, youth dressed in cargo pants, black shoes and a blue long sleeved shirt and a black t-shirt over it, states with a condescending smile on their face.
"Mamoru," Usagi growls out and her eyes narrow as does Haruka's and Hotaru's.
Michiru draws in a deep breath at the way the rooms warmth and happiness had now dropped to a menacing coldness as soon as the young man had walked into the room and she wonders what this all about and who exactly this Mamoru person is.
"What are you doing here, Mamoru?" Haruka asks with her arms crossed over her chest before standing closer to Usagi with a menacing look on her face.
"Oh, you know, father came to talk to Usa's father about some arrangements that were made when She was born," he states his smirk growing colder at the statement.
Usagi pushes the sleeves up on her long-sleeved t-shirt before stepping around Haruka then walks over to Mamoru with a hard glint in her eyes. "If you think for once that I am going to honor this ridiculous proposal then you are more out of your mind then I thought, Mamoru."
Mamoru lets out a snort and narrows his eyes at the girl in front of him. "You have no choice, Usagi; the arrangement was made when we were children before your father decided you'd be best suited as a male. Besides, I know your secret. How do you think the kids at school would react at finding out that their golden boy is actually a girl?"
"Are you threatening her?" Michiru asks from her place on the couch beside Hotaru who now is standing up to go stand next to her sister.
"No, not a threat, more of an observation, really," he states with a cold smirk which makes Usagi leap at the black-haired boy, but is restrained by Haruka and Hotaru.
"GET OUT!" Haruka yells while struggling with Usagi who is trying to wipe the condescending smirk from his face.
"You can't hide behind Haruka and Hotaru forever, Usagi. You will be mine," he states coldly before turning around and walks out of the room chuckling softly under his breath.
Haruka puts Usagi down on the couch and tries to calm the girl down while Hotaru and Michiru sit on either side of the girl and holds onto the girl while she fumes at what Mamoru had said.
"Usa, it's okay. Dad won't let you be married off to Mamoru the jerk. So, it's alright," Hotaru states while hugging the girl beside her who is still beet red from trying to get away from Haruka.
Haruka and Michiru look at each other knowing that, that statement doesn't hold much water since Haruka was being made to marry off to someone else that isn't Michiru while Michiru was in the same predicament, but decide against saying that, instead they agree with Hotaru and slowly calm, Usa down enough that they can all talk civilly without Usa flying off the handle.
"It's time like these that I'm sort of glad that my father decided to raise me as a boy," Usa mumbles into Haruka's shoulder who laughs and pats the girls head before leaning back and away from her niece.
"See there are good things that came out of this and now if only you could find a nice girl to settle down with, then Mamoru won't be such an issue nor would his gold digging father," Haruka states with a smile on her face when Usagi goes red.
It was indeed common knowledge that the three girls were more inclined towards the fairer sex then they were to boys, which helped them with their male upbringing that seemed to be important to their family and the business that they dealt with, but the constant threat of being found out was enough to make them not pursue such activities except for Haruka who had found Michiru while they were still in high school. Michiru kept turning down Haruka when she asked the girl for a date until one day Haruka came up to ask Michiru why she wouldn't go out with her. Michiru mumbled to her friend that she was into girls not boys and so Michiru became the first person to know the three girls secret.
Usagi had wondered about that many times. What were the odds that the girl, Haruka was in love with would turn out to be into girls to begin with? She had once asked Haruka, who proceeded to laugh before shrugging and saying that it was fate. Usagi would frown at that before wondering if maybe she and Hotaru were indeed destined to be with someone. That was when Mamoru started to come around with his father to pressure her father into giving Usagi's hand to his son as was arranged at their births.
When Usagi had asked Haruka why that man would want his son to get married to her when she was living a life as a boy. Haruka would just shake her head and tell the girl that everyone had their own agenda and that it was probably because she was the heir to her father's fortune while his partner was just a greedy asshole.
Usa lets out a sigh and shakes her head to get away from such intense thoughts when she felt fingers on her sides and begins to squirm around laughing while Haruka and Hotaru attack their moping niece on her very ticklish sides.
"Stop, stop. Please, God, Stop!" Usagi screams out breathlessly while wiggling around on the couch from her aunt's attacks.
Haruka and Hotaru laugh, but let up on their attacks then sit on the couch with Hotaru next to Usagi and Haruka next to Michiru, but not before Haruka and Hotaru share a look then look back towards Usagi who is whipping some tears from her cheeks.
"So, Usagi, tell me about this girl that you met at school," Haruka states with a shared, evil grin between her and her sister.
Usagi's aura darkens and she clenches her hands into fists. "Why are you brining up that Evil, Banshee? I don't want to talk about her. First, she attacks me with a shoe then she calls me a Hentai because I walked into the girl's locker room by accident. Then she accuses me of being chased by boys because I'm stealing their girlfriends and peeping on them in the locker room," Usagi spits out vehemently while crossing her arms over her chest and sits back on the couch. "She's evil. The devil incarnates I'm telling you!"
Hotaru leans over Usa and looks over at Haruka. "She's purely human. She's not the devil here to torment Usa as she likes to think."
Haruka chuckles then leans over and ruffles the hair on the girl's head. "Aww, it sounds like you like her."
Usa slaps the other girls hand away from her head and shoots her an evil glare that would make a lesser human being, spontaneously combust. "I do not like that banshee! I never want to see her again!" Usagi exclaims before jumping up and away from the couch. "I'm going to bed."
Usagi walks out to room fuming while her Aunts laugh at the predicament their niece is in. Michiru watches the girl walk out of the room before slapping her girlfriend upside the head.
"That was mean, Haruka!" Michiru states while her girlfriend looks at her with a wounded look on her face before beginning to apologize profusely to her girlfriend for her childish behavior.
Hotaru rolls her eyes. 'This is what Usa and I have to look forward too? I just hope we don't end up with girls like Michiru.'
