Chapter 5
Usa yawns and walks down the stairs while rubbing her eyes thankful that today was one of the days that her father allowed her to sleep late on. When she arrives in the dining room she notices that Hotaru is sitting there with a bowl in front of her. She waves a hand towards her Aunt and lets a smile grace her lips, but then frowns when Hotaru doesn't acknowledge her and gets up from the table then leaves the room without so much as a boo to her.
The blonde haired girl watches her Aunt walk out of the room and rubs the back of her head wandering what's going on with her, but shrugs her shoulders figuring that it'll resolve it's self soon enough before fixing herself a bowl of cereal. When she sits down she turns her head towards the door when it opens and in steps Haruka with Michiru right behind her.
"Hey, Usa, we're going to the temple today. Do you want to come with us?" Haruka questions, leaning a hip against the table then picks up an apple and bites into, chewing thoughtfully.
"Sure, I don't see why not. I've got nothing better to do later any way. Dad told me to take the day off from training and to just relax so that's what I was planning on doing anyway," Usa states before digging into her breakfast with childlike glee on her face.
Haruka and Michiru look at each other and roll their eyes together before sitting down with Usagi while she finishes her breakfast.
A hand reaches out from under the covers and turns the screeching alarm clock before blurry amethyst eyes look at the clock and groan softly noticing that it's six in the morning. 'Who in their right mind gets up at this hour?' Rei asks herself before getting out of bed and trudges towards her bathroom to shower and get changed into her priestess robes so that she can man the shrine with her grandfather who lives up there.
She walks back into her room and steps over Minako to grab her cell phone from on top of her bed side table then steps back over her before looking down at the girl slightly envying her ability to sleep in. With another yawn, she walks out of her room and heads towards the shrine, her priestess duties awaited her and her grandpa was not someone who tolerated tardiness in the least little bit. Today was a Sunday, which meant that the temple opened up at seven in the morning instead of the usual time during the week which was nine am.
After saying her prayers and finishing her cleaning duties around the shrine before people came, she went into her grandfather's house to have breakfast with him and her family. Breakfast was a quiet occasion though every once in a while the quiet was disturbed when they discussed various tasks that needed to be completed for the day.
"Hahahaha, Jiji, I saw Rei getting mad last night because some boy wasn't dancing with her. She had this really mad look on her face and …ouch!" Himiko cries out while rubbing the back of her head where Rei had popped her with her fan. "Mama! Rei just hit me!"
"Rei, don't be hitting your sister. Do you want her to get brain damage?" Their mother scolds with a crossed look on her face.
"Mama is Himiko allowed to gossip at the table during breakfast?" Rei asks with an innocent look on her face.
Rei's mother immediately rolls up the paper that she was reading and swatted the younger girl on the back of her head. "Himiko, you know better than to gossip at the table. It's not nice and you shouldn't be doing that!"
"PAPA!" Himiko cries out while leaning over to latch onto her father's arm with a pout on her face while she looks up at the older man.
"Aww, there, there Himiko. I'm sure that your mother didn't mean anything by it." The older man states while patting his youngest daughter on the arm.
"Honey, you're giving her what she wants again. That's the spoiling that you and I talked about," Rei's mother states while shaking her finder at her husband who smiles at her cheerfully.
"Come now Yori, don't pick on our little baby like that," Rei's father states while rubbing the back of his youngest daughters head.
'Little baby,' Rei thinks while her left eyebrow twitches. 'Did he forget that Himiko is ten years old or what? He probably just needs thicker glasses.' She looks over to where her father is making airplane noises while her sister eats and rolls her eyes. 'Nope, defiantly needs memory pills, instead.'
"Shall Papa take Himiko to the amusement park later today?" Rei's father asks Himiko who looks up at her with a hopeful look in her eyes.
A sweat drop falls down the side of Yori's and Rei's face while they exchange annoyed half lidded looks before looking back at the older man who was currently making faces at Himiko, causing her to laugh.
'Baka papa,' Rei thinks before shaking her head at the fact that her younger sister had once again suckered their father into giving her what she wanted once again.
One of the priests from the temple knocked before sliding the shoji open and entering. The priest bowed and then whispered something in grandpa Hino's ear. With a nod, he was dismissed while Rei's family waited intently for the old man to speak.
"It seems that there will be a large group of people coming from a very influential family today. I'm not sure how large it will be, but I suggest that we take every precaution to make them feel comfortable here so that they will want to come back here again at a later date. Does everyone understand what needs to be done?" Grandpa Hino asks while looking at his two granddaughters who nod their heads in acknowledgement.
"Hai, Jiji," the girls answer together which makes their grandfather smile at their enthusiasm.
Usagi whistles softly while waiting for Haruka and Michiru to finish talking to her grandfather. She rubs the back of her head and wonders what the two of them are talking with the older man about, but dismisses it when the thought of their marriage comes to mind.
Usagi shoves her hands into her pockets oblivious to the maids that pass by. She wears a pair of yellow work boots, black baggy cargo pants, an olive green long sleeved shirt and a gray short sleeved shirt on top. A light brown bomber jacket completes her attire.
"USA-NIISAMA!" a loud cry sounds out before someone tackles her to the ground. She falls onto her back and winces when her head hits the hard wood floor causing it to bounce.
She lets out a groan wondering what the hell had just happened while lying there sprawled out on the floor. Still wincing from her fall, she opens her eyes only to see Haruka's face hovering above hers.
"Are you alright?" Haruka asks while raising an eyebrow at the groan that the girl lets out when the person that was still sitting on her begins to jump up and down on her.
"USA-NIISAMA!" a voice bellows in her ear almost causing her eardrums to explode from the close proximity. She quickly shoves her hand into the face that's close to her ear and pushes the person off of her, before finally sitting up. Blue eyes settled on the small figure dressed in almost the exact outfit that she's currently wearing. Short hair that's cut exactly like hers, but is spiked up to points while a ten year olds face with bright brown eyes looks back at her with a slight pout on their face.
"Shinzu?" Usagi calls out while looking at her younger cousin with a raised eyebrow.
"Huuuu... Usa-niisama's so mean to me! You're supposed to call me Shin-san," the ten year old whines while crossing their arms over their chest pouting harder.
Usa lets out a groan before Haruka comes over to help the girl to her feet and she looks down at her pouting cousin before turning back towards, Haruka.
"Why is she here?" Usa asks while pointing towards her cousin who looks up at her with bright eyes that are close to shedding tears.
"Your Aunt and Uncle on your mother's side called to say that they were going out of the country and they didn't know anyone that could take care of Shin, while they were gone. So dad offered for her to stay with us while they were gone. Now, come on. We have to go," Haruka states before picking up Shin and puts her on her shoulders and the two girls walk out with Shin giggling and holding her arms out like she's flying.
It's around eleven when the girls finally make their way up the temple steps. Shin despite having so much energy when they left the mansion is now having a little difficulty maneuvering the steps.
"Why do they have so many steps?" she whines while tripping over a step and falls onto her hands then lets a pout come to her face while she turns it up to look at Usa.
"Oye, oye don't complain you're here because you wanted to come. You said that you could handle it," Usagi chides while she helps the girl up to her feet then holds her hand to help her up another step.
Haruka frowns before looking back behind her only to see those who had started up after they did were now easily catching up to them. At the rate that they were traveling up the steps they'd be lucky to get up the steps before noon.
"Usa-niisama will you please carry me?" Shin whines while she struggles up another step only to fall down once again.
"Shinzu, just suck it up and continue moving. We'll get there eventually," Usa states before letting out an exasperated sigh when the girl begins to whine once again.
"Oh, Usa, I forgot to tell you that I was talking with Hotaru before we left this morning and I think she said something about Rei-Chan was going to be visiting the temple today and that you should be on the lookout for her," Haruka states which causes Usagi to gape at her thoughtlessness while Shin continues to whine that her knees where hurting from falling onto them so many times.
Haruka looks around for a moment then nudges Michiru who is standing beside her with her hand over her mouth and her eyes grow wide.
"Ara.. I think that's," Haruka begins, but stops when she gapes at Usagi's speed.
Before the blonde tom boy could finish her sentence the platinum blonde haired girl had Shin draped over her shoulder and was now bounding up the steps with speed that left others in awe.
Haruka grins evilly at Michiru before holding out her arm to her finance and they start back up the stairs with Haruka chuckling all the way up there. 'I was right to come to the temple. A good prayerful cleansing is an order,' She thinks before smiling at Michiru and the two of them engage in small talk while walking up the many steps of the temple.
When they finally reach the top, they see Usagi bent over with her hands on her knees panting for breath while Shin smiles happily at the ride that she had been on because of Usagi running up all those steps.
"Neh.. Haruka," Usagi whispers to Haruka who tries to look innocent while Michiru puts her hand over her mouth once again while Usagi pushes her sweat soaked bangs out of her eyes.
"Did you really see that banshee?" Usagi asks while Haruka puts a finger to her chin and a thoughtful look crosses over her face before she shrugs her shoulders and turns back towards Michiru whose shoulders are now shaking from trying to hold in the laughter that's bubbling up inside of her.
Usagi lets out another sigh before standing up right and pushes her stubborn bangs out of her eyes once again.
"Usa-niisama," Shin calls and offers a blue and black handkerchief to her.
Wearily Usagi takes it then wipes the sweat from her face and shoves it into her back pocket for later wash then the two girls follow Michiru and Haruka who is muttering something about prayer charms for marriage.
At around one in the afternoon the small group of girls was now done with their prayers and is currently weaving through the crowd that had grown from that morning.
"Hey, Shin, stay close to me," Usagi states only to find that the ten year old is no longer standing beside her. She turns her head when she notices that Haruka and Michiru are no longer beside her either. She turns her head and lets out a sigh when she sees that Shin is with the couple standing across from her on the other side of the court yard. She's about to go over to them when man tries to get past her only to accidentally push her forward which makes her trip over her feet and is sent flying towards someone. She closes her eyes and prepares for the blow only to land between something soft. Using her hands, she pushes herself up and off the soft object.
Blue eyes widened in horror when she realizes that her hands are now resting on top of slightly rounded breasts.
Amethyst eyes blaze with fury before a flaming punch is aimed towards Usagi's face. Using her reflexes that her father had pounded into her, she steps towards the side only just barely missing the lethal punch that was aimed at her head.
"Banshee?" Usagi asks before swallowing hard when she sees the girl that Haruka had warned that would be there standing in front of her.
The girl grits her teeth angrily at the blonde haired boy standing in front of her while clutching her handbag close to her body, a large black, cloud hanging over her head.
"Who are you calling a Banshee, you perverted freak?" Rei hollers before she uses her handbag to land a few hard hits to the side of the boys head then begins to chase him around the court yard while yelling at him at the top of her voice.
Himiko looks up from what she was doing when she heard Rei screaming at the top of her voice and lets out a sigh of relief when she notices that her older sister had changed out of her priestess robes before going out with her friends
'Thank the Kami, she changed before going out. It wouldn't look good for the temple if people were to think that we had an angry monster living in the jinja,' she muses before smiling brightly at the customer in front of her and hands them their good luck charm.
Later that day Haruka carries in an unconscious Usagi and places her gently on the couch before backing up to look at the girls injuries that she had acquired at the temple before shaking her head then lets out an exasperated sigh.
'What is the problem with those two? It's like they can't see each other without throwing insults and beating the crap out of one another,' Haruka muses before sitting down in an arm chair with a weary sigh then looks up at Michiru who hands her fiancé a cup of tea.
"You know, if I didn't know better, I'd think that those two had a thing for one another," Michiru muses out loud while looking at the unconscious form of her fiancé's niece.
"Well yeah, but with the way those two are always going at it. One or the other is going to be dead before they figure it out," Haruka scoffs before taking a sip of her tea.
"Well, then maybe they need a little help in figuring it out then," Michiru states with a sly look on her face that makes Haruka cringe slightly.
'Watch out, Usa. You aren't going to know what hit you after Michi gets done with you,' Haruka states before chuckling softly to herself while watching her niece slumber on with no knowledge of what her Aunts fiancé was currently planning for the two girls.
"Taru," a voice calls out in the early morning air while Hotaru walks to school with her briefcase tossed over her shoulder and a scowl permanently plastered on her face.
"WHAT!" the girl snaps out angrily before turning towards the owner of the voice her brows furrowed in consternation.
Rei, Minako and Makoto plaster a large smile on their faces while a sweat drop rolls down the side of their heads.
Hotaru blinks her eyes for a moment when she realizes who's standing in front of her then lets out a sigh before bowing towards her friends.
"Sorry... I didn't realize that it was you guys that were calling out to me," she states which causes the girls to wave their hands around while their faces remain pale from the encounter.
'Scary,' Makoto thinks before raising an eyebrow. 'I wonder what's going on that she's so mad.'
'I'll make sure never to get him mad at me,' Rei muses while scuffing a foot against the ground then looks up at the boy standing in front of her.
The three girls fall into pace beside their friend while they walk towards the school in silence. Makoto looks over at the girl with a worried look on her face wondering if everything was alright at home. She lets out an inaudible sigh before she begins to analyze the possible reasons as to the cause of Hotaru's foul mood, when she notices that Usa is surprisingly missing from her normal spot beside Hotaru.
Rei and Minako noticed the absence of the platinum blonde haired boy as well mostly because Rei and Ren-san aren't fighting.
"Ara... Re-" Minako begins, but feels a slight tug on her sleeve which causes her to pause and look over at Makoto, who shakes her head in warning to the blonde haired girl. It took several moments for Minako to comprehend just what Makoto's silent warning means before she looks up towards Taru who thankfully hadn't heard her while he continues to walk down the side walk with his head lowered. Rei had already gotten the message that Makoto had sent to her other friend before the three of them exchange looks with their eyebrows raised. Taru had sped up his walking and was now walking a long ways off in front of them. Rei shrugs her shoulders and continues on.
With the uneasy atmosphere that seemed to permeate the air around them, it left the girls to their own thoughts while they walked to school. Rei frowned slightly while she walked on down the street, because she was utterly confused about the annoying boy that seemed to be plaguing her thoughts lately. On the one hand, she was giddy with the thought of seeing him today at school, while on the other hand, she warned herself not to get too close to him. She lets out a sigh before she pushes back her hair and shifts her thoughts elsewhere trying to distract her thoughts away from the annoying boy and her conflicting thoughts. She smiled remembering that Ami had mentioned that she would be arriving to their school today before she had left the party. They didn't get to talk much while at the party, but the time they had spent together made them both feel like they've known each other forever.
The air of oppression didn't change in the slightest even when the four girls entered the court yard of the school. Instead it seemed as though the dark clouds were currently hanging over their heads had somehow spread quickly towards the student populace who now stood gaping in horror towards the girl's general direction. Actually it seemed as if they were staring more towards, Taru, then they were towards the girls. Judging from the looks on the faces of the students standing around in the court yard, Rei figured that them seeing an angry Taru was not an everyday occurrence because some students turned to look at him with their mouths dropping open, some of them were pointing towards him and others were backing so quickly out of his path that the fell down to the ground in their haste to get away from the angry boy. Because of that reaction she figured that a very pissed off, Taru, was someone that you didn't mess with which unfortunately, one poor sap would soon find out because he was coming up to the pissed off boy now.
"Oye, lover boy where's your tag along?" a boy asked while he looks down at the shorter boy standing in front of him with his shoulders slumped and his head pointed towards the ground.
Rei, Minako and Makoto assumed that the boy with the slicked back, red hair is from Mamoru's gang. They looked him up and down taking in his tall, bulky form trying to use his height to exude power over the shorter boy in front of him. His white dress shirt wasn't tucked in revealing a dark blue t-shirt underneath it and a thick, silver chain mail necklace around his neck. He stands there with a wide grin plastered on his face, his hands were stuck in his pants pockets while he leered down at Taru in a way that seemed to ridicule his size, but as they say, big things come in small packages.
Taru tilts his head to the slightly to the side while his eyes darken while he looks up at the taller boy in front of him causing everyone around him to gasp.
"Lover Boy?" he asks while smirking viciously causing the taller boy to take a step back at the weird look on the normally calm boys face.
"Who are you calling Lover Boy...? BASTARD!" Taru snarls before bringing her fist back and punches the boy in the face with more power that the boy had ever expected to feel from the shorter boy.
The boy staggers back from the blow and touches his now bloody lip with his fingertips before bringing it away to look at, his eyes growing wide at the sight of blood that rests there.
"You asshole!" he shouts angrily while his face twists into a look of rage.
Before Makoto, Rei or Minako can react to the situation, the boy charges towards Taru like a bull with his head down intending to tackle the smaller boy to the ground and teach him a lesson. A swift kick to the stomach sends the boy into a coughing fit while he kneels down on the ground and struggles to get some air into his deflated lungs.
She uses the tip of her briefcase to push his chin up so that he's looking her directly into the eyes while she narrows her eyes.
"Don't you ever call me lover boy or asshole again, got it?" she growls out in a low tone. "And don't you ever ask me about Ren either," she states in a deadly tone before stepping away from the fallen boy and makes her way into the school.
Minako pales at the sight of the injured boy in front of her, before imagining herself in a similar predicament had it not been for Makoto stopping her from asking about the other boy. She turns her head towards Makoto, who is currently watching Taru walking off towards the school with a worried look on her face while Rei glances around as the students that had stood around then quietly now begin to whisper amongst themselves at the scene that had unfolded in front of them.
"Hey, hey, what's this? Taru-san and Ren-san had a fight? That's unheard of."
"Wow, I think that guy needs to have his head checked for approaching Taru-san like that!"
"I remember what it was like the last time those two had a fight. It wasn't pretty."
"You were around when they had a fight last time? I thought that they were so close."
"Yeah, I have to agree with you on that one. Though I heard last time they ended up in a fight, Taru-san took down a guy that was ten times his size."
"Well with Ren-san being in the state that he's in then he'll probably not stand a chance against Mamoru-san and his gang..."
"I heard that the last time those two had a fight, it lasted for almost a month. My brother told me that their teachers all called in sick because they couldn't stand the oppressed feel in the room when those two were together Even the substitute didn't want to be in the same room as those two."
"Hey, maybe they'll let us out of school or something since I'm in a lot of classes with them."
"I love watching Taru-san when he's so angry. Taru-san is just so Kawii and cool. It gives me love chills just thinking about him."
"Oye, oye stop that or we're going to throw up!"
"Yeah, you'll get chills alright if it's you that he comes up against!"
"I really think that Ren-sempai would do a lot better if he didn't hang out with Taru-san so much. It's like he doesn't allow Ren-sempai talk to anyone and oh what I wouldn't give to go out on a date with him!"
Rei, Makoto and Minako sigh before shaking their heads at the whispering teens around them before walking towards the school each one thinking that those whispering teens should have something better to do with their time instead of wondering about Ren-san's and Taru-san's relationship. It was just so unbelievable how many people wanted the two torn apart for some reason or another. The boys were ranting about how big of an ass Ren-san was for stealing away all the girls and how he was going to get his ass kicked because of the oppression that was going on between the two boys. While the girls were divided somewhere going on about how hot Taru-san was when he was made, while other girls were hoping that Ren would finally break free from his best friend Taru and finally notice them for once.
"Kami, this is so horrible! I never realized how big those two were on campus," Makoto states while shaking her head at all the whispering that was going on around them.
"I wonder how, Taru feels about all of this," Minako wonders out loud while they walk into the school and down the hall towards their lockers.
"Why don't you keep an eye on her Rei since he's in your class and make sure he comes to lunch," Makoto states with a worried tone to her voice.
"That sounds like a plan Mako, I'll see you guys at lunch time then," Rei states before watching the girls go off to their class rooms before she enters the one that she was in with Ren and Taru, but before she can enter the class room a bunch of girls mob her.
"Rei-san, Rei-san. Is it true? Did Taru-san and Ren-sempai have a fight?" The girls ask while looking at her expectantly, waiting for the raven haired girl to answer their questions.
"Uhh," Rei manages to get out while looking at all the girls standing in front of her with eager looks on their faces. She hadn't expected them to surround her and start asking her questions nor did she even know that they knew her by her name for that matter.
She opens her mouth to tell them that she didn't know anything about what was going on, but can't get out a word because of the continuous flow of questions while the bodies in front of her begin to close in around here which starts to bring on a panic attack. She's about ready to bolt when she hears a voice behind her yell out.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?" A familiar voice asks in a very loud, very angry tone.
The loud voices that were reverberating along the hallways became deadly silent instantly and the girls that were once surrounding Rei part when they see a platinum blonde boy standing off down the hallway, glaring at them with his eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. Rei's eyes widened and are in danger of popping out when she sees the boy before her looking nothing like the boy that she had seen on Saturday who had bowed before her in a gentlemanly manner, though she left out Sunday because she was still slightly trying to forget the feel of him on top of her. Messy platinum blonde bangs fell across icy blue eyes. One hand was shoved deep into his pants pocket, while the other hand was currently holding his schoolbag over his right shoulder. Rei notices that the boy isn't wearing a school tie and that his normal appearance had changed as well. His shirt was unbuttoned all the way down and hanging loose under his blazer, which was also unbuttoned, which reveals a blood red t-shirt beneath the shirt with a large black and white dragon design on it, that shirt was partially tucked into the waistband of his black pants showing off his silver studded black leather belt with holes that ran in between the studs, while clipped to his belt loops where two silver chains that rain alongside his thigh and to a pocket in the back of his pants.
'Dangerous,' she thinks before taking a deep, breathe of air and lets it out slowly. 'Sexy.'
Usagi glares at the girls who were surrounding Rei. She lets out a mental sigh while the other girls look at her with sheepish looks on their faces. The last thing she needed right was for Rei or any of the girls to be hassled by those girls for information about the fight that's currently going on between her and Hotaru. Wordlessly she reaches out and grabs Rei's hand before pulling her towards class while glaring angrily anyone stupid enough to try and stop her progress. When they finally reach the classroom door, she notices one of Mamoru's cronies standing against the door frame with his arms crossed. He tilts his head towards Usa who nods her head back before looking over towards Rei.
"Rei-san, could you hold onto my bag for me? There's something I need to do." Usa states before handing Rei her bag while the other girl nods her head and she walks off with the crony.
Once Usa's out of the site the hall erupts into whispers.
"Did you see how angry he looked?"
"He just reached out and grabbed her."
"Isn't that so romantic and did you see how hot he looked when he arrived?"
"Hey, has anyone heard if those two are going out or something? He looked like an over protective boyfriend just then."
"I've never seen him talk to any girls except for Makoto-san and she hangs out with the other girls, but he doesn't talk to them."
"I'm surprised that he even knows her name. He doesn't usually take an interest in girls like that."
"Hey, maybe it was all her fault that Ren-san and Taru-san are fighting. I've seen Taru-san hanging out with her more than Ren-san."
"I'm so better looking than her. She's so ugly. Why doesn't he notice me instead?"
Rei sweat drops at the whispers then fumes about the crack about her looks. Shaking her head, she enters the classroom and notices Taru seated at his desk while gazing out the window with a look on his face as if he was a million miles away. With a sigh, she places Ren's bag on his desk before sitting down at her own desk. Inwardly she smiles at the way he had rescued her from the mob of girls before addressing her by her name instead on of the many insulting names that he came up with on a daily basis. Feeling several sets of eyes on her, she looks up only to see the mob of girls from before and a few boys peering in at her from the doorway. A sweat drop falls down the side of her head when they averted their eyes from her and pretend that they are talking about something with the rest of the group.
"Yeah, like that wasn't obvious at all," she whispers to herself before letting out a frustrated sigh. "Today is going to be one hell of a day. I can feel it."
Usagi walks out of the school and toward a glade of trees behind it with the boy from earlier in front of her. She knows that it's stupid to go with the boy, but at the same time she was tired of running from Mamoru and his cronies. She figures that maybe if she stands up to all of them once and for all then maybe they would stop running after her all the time or at least that was what she was hoping for.
When they finally arrive, she notices Mamoru is standing in the middle of the glade with his arms crossed over his chest and smug grin on his face. The boy that had been leading her goes over and behind Mamoru then stands at attention while waiting for their leaders orders.
Usagi stops a couple a feet away from Mamoru then shoves her hands into her pockets before arching an eyebrow at the smug looking baka in front of her.
"I'm here. What do you want?" She asks while staring into the bastards eyes with a cold look in her own.
"Well, I figured with all the harassment that my guys and I've been giving you that I'd stop for a moment to talk about the "arrangement" that was discussed a couple weeks ago. If you agree to it then the harassment will stop. If you deny it then it'll be like open season on your ass. I'll give you a little time to mull it over," Mamoru states while his smug grin becomes an evil one.
Usagi cocks her head to the side and thinks over the proposition that the jerk was offering her. 'Let's see. Marry that conniving asshole or be running until I'm finished with school. How long is that again?' She thinks to herself before letting out a sigh and drops her eyes to the ground.
They narrow at the possibility of being hounded or being married for a moment until Rei's smiling face comes to Usagi's mind. She lets a soft gasp escape her lips while her mind plays over some scenes of their interaction together when they weren't trying to kill one another or abuse each other with their words.
The day at the beach while it was a bit of a terror for Usagi with Rei's clumsiness coming into play it wasn't half bad either. The raven haired girl had looked at her with a soft, glimmer in her eyes that had been unnoticed by the girl before. Her hand remembers the feel of Rei's hand within her own when she had rescued the girl from the mob of girls earlier. The bewildered look in her eyes when she had bowed in front of the girl at the party on Saturday. Her eyes widen while she stares at the ground. She had come to have some strong feelings for the raven haired girl. When they had developed she wasn't sure, but she knew that they had, because after a while the name calling wasn't so much abuse as it was to get a reaction from the girl even if said reaction was a shoe to the head or a bag to the head. It was a reaction.
Usagi nods her head slightly to herself after coming to a conclusion. 'So, that's what it's going to be then. Well I surely can't figure out just what my feelings are for her if I'm engaged to asshole over there, now can I?' She asks herself before raising her head, her eyes narrowed and stormy.
"You can take your proposition and stick it up your ass. I'd rather have you idiots breathing down my neck then to take you up on your ultimatum," Usagi spits out before sliding back into a fighting position that was second nature to her. "So, let's get this started. I want to wipe your faces with the ground before lunch time because I have more important things to do then to stay around here with you morons."
The evil grin on Mamoru's face had melted away in exchange for a look of rage. "GET HIM!" He exclaims while pointing towards Usagi.
Like a tidal wave, the boys that were once standing still behind Mamoru now surge in front of him to get at the lone, platinum blonde haired boy standing in front of them, but they stop when they hear a couple of whistles come from two directions. Half of the group turned one way while the other half turned the other only to see that Makoto was standing at the other end of the glade with her arms crossed over her chest and on the other side was Haruka and Ami.
"Seems you boys think you're really manly for taking on one boy, but how about four against the rest of you?" Haruka asks before striding over to where Usagi stands with Ami making her way along side of her with an angry look on her face while Makoto strides over from the other side to stand beside Usagi with a grin on her face.
"Saw you leave with idiot number fifty over there and figured you could use some back up. Good thing that you left your cell in Haruka's car otherwise you'd be on your own," Makoto states before sliding into a fighting position as well.
"I was bringing Ami over when Makoto called," Haruka states with a shrug when Usagi looks over at her Aunt. "We figured you could use the backup as well."
"Right, let's get this over with. I've got someone I want to talk to," Usagi states with a grin on her face before rushing with the three girls towards the pack of boys.
Usagi kicks out her right leg and connects with the first guy that stands in front of her. She uses her momentum to jump onto the kneeling boys back before spring boarding over the heads of some other boys and lands in a crouch in front of Mamoru who is sputtering because of the unfolding scene in front of him.
"You want me so damn bad, well here I am. We're going to end this here and now," she growls out before sliding back into a fighting stance then brings a hand up and flexes it in a 'come hither' motion.
"My pleasure," Mamoru states while his eyes narrow to slits before rushing at her.
Mamoru moved like lightning, catching Usagi off guard. Coming in low, he lashes out with his foot, trying to incapacitate the blond teen by breaking her ankle. Usagi counters the boys attack with her right foot catching Mamoru's left and knocking it away from her. However, the blond teen cursed out while pain lashes up her ankle, the energy of the blow making its way up her leg. Limping ever so slightly, Usagi wastes no time while her opponent fights to regain his balance.
'Come on, Usagi. You can do this,' the girl thinks to herself for a moment. 'You have to do it if you want to know the answer to your questions.'
Taking a step forward, Usagi's left elbow swings up and connects with Mamoru's face. The crack of bone can be heard throughout the glade while Mamoru falls back from Usagi, his hands going up to his nose which was now spurting blood.
"Yof, bifch! Yof bwok mah nophs!" Mamoru cries out through his fingers while blood seeps through them.
Mamoru pulls his hands away from his nose and lets out an animalistic growl before hurtling back towards Usagi once again. He swings in high, his fist making a beeline for Usagi's collarbone. Usagi ducks sharply, the fist clipping her on the side of the head above her eyebrow dazing her for a couple of seconds. She shakes her head and focuses her vision only to see a foot coming for her face. She jerks her head away from the foot only to have it clip her jaw.
Swearing, Usagi jumps and spins into the air, body perfectly aligned into a smooth twist. She brings out a leg while she passes through the air and hits Mamoru in the side of the head with the tips of her toes on her uninjured foot.
She lands awkwardly on her injured leg and is sent into a cursing fit once again before muttering slightly before forcing herself to her feet. When she finally gets to her feet, the blond teen feels the air rushing in from the front of a blow that was being aimed at her. The throbbing pain in her jaw jump starts her reactions, and she swings an arm up to block it before the punch can touch her.
Without thinking, she closes her eyes and digs deep within side herself to try to remember everything that her father had taught her before clenching her fist at her side and thrusts her arm out, her fist becoming a blur to the dark haired boy. The counter punch she aims at Mamoru sends the attacking boy reeling backwards, a crunch echoes throughout the glade once again indicating that she had broken his jaw. Once he's done reeling backwards he topples over into unconsciousness from the pain that he had been dealt out to him.
Usagi stands up on her uninjured leg and looks around her noticing that almost all the boys are either laying on the ground or are running away from the fight. Smirking slightly and rubbing her jaw, the girl limps over to the other girls and lets out a soft chuckle.
"Well, I think they'll think twice before messing with me," the girl states with a smirk on her face before reaching up to wipe at some blood that is trickling down the side of her face.
"Yeah, I think they will, but could you try from now on to not get into fights? You look like something, someone poured out of a blender," Haruka states with a slight smirk on her face.
Usagi shakes her head before rolling her eyes at her Aunts comparison. "You should talk. How are you going to explain those bruises to Michi-Chan?" Usagi asks while chuckling at the look of horror that comes to the other blondes face.
"Oh, no! Michi is going to kill me!" Haruka explains before turning to Ami to ask if she had a compact in her briefcase.
"Don't worry about it, Ruka. Just tell her that you were helping me and she'll calm down then be all worried about your injuries," Usagi states with a scoff at the frantic look on her Aunts face.
Haruka stops pacing around in her frantic, muttering rant and stares at Usagi for a moment. "You know, you have a good point there," Haruka chuckles sheepishly then rolls her eyes at herself. "She always did have a soft spot for you kid. Good thing you like someone else or I'd be worried."
Usagi rolls her eyes when Haruka winks at her then shakes her head slightly. "You'd better get to work before dad wonders where you are and you know how he can get when we run out of coffee."
Haruka and Usagi look at each other before shuddering then Haruka makes her way back to her car while Usagi turns to look at her friend and cousin standing over to the side holding each other up or more like Makoto's holding Ami up.
"Are you guys alright?" Usagi asks before limping quickly over to her friend and cousin who nod their heads slightly.
"Yeah, I'm fine, but Ami got thrown to the ground by one of the big oafs that Mamoru calls his gang member. She'll be alright. Just needs to stand up for a bit and let the air come back to her after it being knocked so brutally out of her," Makoto states with a smug smirk, her face covered in grime and what looked like grass stains.
"What the hell? Why do you have grass stains on your face?" Usagi asks while the three girls start towards the school slowly.
"One of the guys thought it would be fun to smash my face to the ground and rub it in, but I don't think he liked my foot, meeting his balls in a none friendly encounter," Makoto states before looking sideways towards her friend who shakes her head and lets out a small chuckle.
"You never could resist a fight. Even in grade school you were in at least five fights in a week. I remember when you ended up getting my involved with one of your fights and our fathers were called to the school and was told that we were caught fighting again. When your father had asked why you told him it was because all the bullies need a bully so they'd leave the smaller, weaker kids alone. My father had looked at me and asked if that was true and I said yes. I think that was the best day of my life. Our dad's took us out for ice cream after shouting at the head master for not having the balls to stand up to the kids that were making other kids lives miserable," Usagi smiles while thinking about that day when she had met Makoto and ended up getting into a fight to help a small, raven haired girl that she didn't even know, but she knew what the other kids were doing to the small girl wasn't right.
"Hey, yeah. I remember that. That little girl stayed by your side until your father left with you for here. She was like a permanent fixture to you. Where ever you went she went with you. It was the worst case of hero worship I had ever seen and she was in our grade too if I'm not mistaken," Makoto states with a chuckle while tightening her grip when she feels Ami stumble for a moment.
"That's an interesting way for you two to meet," Ami states after being helped by Makoto and they start off on their trek to the backdoor of the school.
"Yeah, and it wasn't the worst thing that she helped me get into either. I remember when she took Akio's sling shot and said it was hers. You know his mother came around to my house and told me I had to get you to give it back to him?" Usagi asks while raised eyebrow at her friend who is currently chuckling.
"She came to you? But you weren't the one that took it. I did!" Makoto exclaims through her chuckling.
"I know, but she didn't know where you lived. So she came to my house figuring that I'd tell you and you'd give it back to him," Usagi states with a chuckle of her own.
"Wow, I'm sorry about that, Usa. I didn't know she'd do that," Makoto explains with a sympathetic look on her face at the thought of Akio's banshee of a mother coming to her friend's house looking for her.
Usagi waves a hand before letting out a chuckle. "Ahh, it was worth it, really. I mean, I didn't know a human's face could turn an interesting shade of purple."
The two girls look at one another before dissolving into a fit of giggles that have Ami looking at them with a raised eyebrow. The two girls see the look on Ami's face and try to compose themselves for a moment in order to explain the woman they are talking about.
"Sorry, Ami. Let me explain something about this woman. See, she's this little woman that thought since her husband was a part of my grandfather's company meant that she was above everyone else within our town and no one was better than her son, Akio, who was so spoiled that if he had even the slightest pout on his face, she'd rush around to try and get whatever it was that he wanted. Anyway, Makoto and I were out walking one day when we ended up finding a sling shot that had either been forgotten or was hidden in this small metal box. Well, I thought that I had seen, Akio with a sling shot and in a moment of stupidity had mentioned that to Makoto, who didn't like Akio at all. So, Makoto being well, Makoto, saw Akio and decided to lord it over him that she had found "his" sling shot and was keeping it for herself. Akio must've told his mother, because she came that day to my house and demanded her sons sling shot back. Now, I didn't have the dang thing because Makoto was the one that found it, but the woman wouldn't listen to me when I tried to tell her that she's wrong and no one tells her that. So she started to turn this interesting shade of purple because I kept telling her that I didn't have it," Usagi explains while Ami holds a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing.
"Did she ever stop coming by to try and get the sling shot back?" Ami asks after her shoulders stop shaking from trying to contain her laughter.
"Oh, yeah, she finally did. When dad and I moved away," Usagi chuckles then shakes her head. "I'll bet if she knew where we were that she'd be still coming over to my house demanding for that stupid thing."
The three girls laugh at that and each one shake their heads at the thought of Akio's mother driving all the way to Usagi's house to try and get something that she didn't have in the first place. They stop walking when they hear the bell ring then look at their watches.
"Hey, it's lunch time. Why don't we just go to our usual spot and wait for everyone else to get there?" Makoto asks while the other girls nod their heads before changing the direction that they are walking in to the court yard where they have lunch.
"So you two got into a bunch of trouble huh?" Ami asks while they sit gingerly down on the ground in front of the tree while Ami brings out some medical supplies that Haruka had handed to her before they ran to where Makoto had said she saw Usagi going to.
"Oh, not a whole lot of trouble, but more trouble than most kids did at that age," Makoto states while wincing when Ami applies antiseptic to a cut on her cheek then puts a Band-Aid on it.
"And it wasn't like we went out looking for it, it just sort of happened to us. We could be sitting on hiss the swings and someone hiss would come up to us hiss then goad us into a hiss fight," Usagi hisses while Ami applies some antiseptic to the cut above her eyebrow then places a Band-Aid over it before applying some cream that would cut down on the swelling that was beginning to show in her jaw line.
"Well, if you ask me, it doesn't seem as if either of you have out grown that," Ami states before doctoring her own wounds with antiseptic and Band-Aids.
Usagi lets out a groan at the throbbing in her jaw and temple before she's pulled down to the ground and her head is placed into Ami's lap while the girl leans against Makoto's shoulder.
"So tell me. Who was the girl that was always following my cousin around?" Ami asks from her position against Makoto's shoulder who is blushing slightly at the contact.
"I don't remember her name after all of these years, but I sort of remember what she looks like. She had short raven colored hair, her skin was so white that it looked like milk or that she was about to pass out at a moment's notice and those eyes. Those eyes were so expressive and such an interesting color as well. I think the color I'm looking for is close to Amethyst," Usagi states with an unconscious smile on her face while she thinks of her childhood crush that had followed her and Makoto around like a little puppy dog.
Ami and Makoto look towards each other when they recognize the description that Usagi had given them and they both think the same thing. 'Rei!'
