By
Moonlight Bunny
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the SM characters. Takeuchi Naoko-sama owns them.
Summary: Usagi and her friends finally graduate and live a normal life, after their last battle against Galaxia. Just as they thought that everything would be ok, something happens which put the whole future in danger. Mamoru goes back to the States to finish his studies, the Three Lights are back and accidents starts to happen, as well as broken hearts.
Previously
"Ano, Mamo-chan…"
"I don't want to complain, but I feel like we don't spend much time together anymore!"
"I know. I want to be with you all the time too, but I want to be a good husband for you. I want to have a great job so that I can support you and Chibi-Usa in the future. There for I have to finish up my studies. I'm this close to achieve it."
"You're already doing a great job, Mamo-chan! I don't care if we live in a big house or out in the streets. I would still love you. Mamo-chan, please? Please don't go… Can't you talk with your teachers or something and…"
"Usako! We've discussed this already. God! Can we, just for once, put this conversation down? I don't want to ruin a great night like this now, ok?"
"You're right... As always… I'm just being selfish. Gomen… Let's just spend the little time we still have left."
-----
"Maybe we both have changed? Mamo-chan… I wonder if you still love me? I wonder if I still love you?"
-----
Luna and Artemis had been on the party only for a short moment, just to congratulate the girls. They were going to visit the future… again. They knew something that the girls didn't, 'cause they went there a lot more often than they should.
Without noticing the three shooting stars out in the night, Usagi closed her window and turned the lights off before going into the world of dreams.
------
"Do you think they still remember us?"
"That's none of your business, if I came all the way back here just for her!"
"Yeah, right! It became my business since we were the one who comforted you through all those nights while you were crying, thinking about her."
-----
While they were walking, they noticed that they're friend was somewhere else in his thoughts. They knew whom he was thinking of and sighed sadly.
"I just hope that you haven't forgotten about me… Odango…"
Chapter three: Fun in the trees
Usagi woke up the next morning, hearing the phone ring. Who would call this early in the morning? She ignored the phone, hoping that one of her parents or Shingo would answer it. But no one came to pick it up and the phone kept ringing. Usagi suddenly remembered that her family was going to go away in the morning. She quickly got up and ran downstairs to pick it up.
Maybe it was Mamoru? She was hoping that it was him, but got quickly disappointed when it was her friend instead. Not wanting her friend to hear her disappointed voice, she gave out a cheerful…
----
On the phone
"Ohayou, Rei-chan!"
"Ohayou! Just wanted to make sure that you were awake. Don't want you to get back into your old habit again, now do we?" Rei teased on the other line.
"Well, what about you? You don't seen to grow out of that habit of yours too? With teasing and all."
"But you still have the tendencies of getting mad and spitting back... You'll never change, ne Usagi-chan? Anyway, I called because I wanted you to be the first to hear this."
"Nani?"
"Okay! Well, I… erm… well, you see after what you said yesterday about a new beginning, yadda, yadda, yadda… I decided to tell Yuu-chan about my feelings."
"Yuu-chan? Who is…? Yuuichirou-kun!
You sure are fast with giving him a nickname... Couldn't you have gotten faster about your feelings, like 3-4 years ago? Instead of letting that poor guy wait?" Usagi snickered.
"Well, Usagi… you know what they say, True Love Waits. And I had to find out if he really loved me 'cause if he did, then he should wait."
"Wait? Dear God, Rei! He's been waiting for what seemed to be an eternity. He's really head over heels in love with you. I wouldn't be surprised if he just decided to forget you and go on with another.
So… Rei-chan? What did you do to make him wait all this time? Did you put a spell on him?" Usagi laughed.
"No, unlike you I relied on my beauty and charms. Usagi-chan! I remember that you used to buy all those stones and mambo jambo, because you wanted a guy so much."
"Rei-chan, you're mean!" Usagi yelled, and then all of a sudden started to laugh, which made Rei a bit worried.
"Rei-chan, do you remember when he thought that Haruka was a boy?" Usagi asked.
"Yeah, I remember that. He thought that I was dating Haruka and when he saw her together with Michiru, he thought that she was a two-timer. That stupid man even tried to pick a fight with her." Rei shook her head as she remembered that event.
-
/ Flashbacks \\
On a rainy afternoon, in a muddy field, Yuuichirou faced Haruka.
"What kind of a grudge do you have against me?" asked Haruka.
"Just fight me," yelled Yuuichirou. Yuuichirou tried to attack Haruka, but she dodged his attacks easily. Yuuichirou fell in the mud every time, but he wouldn't give up.
"Yuuichirou!" Yuuichirou slipped and fell face-first into the mud at the sound of Rei's voice. Rei had been walking nearby and had heard the racket. Rei ran over to Haruka.
"Yuuichirou, what is the meaning of this!"
"I see you really are with him," said Yuuichirou as he knelt in the mud.
"Please, don't say anything".
Yuuichirou walked over to Haruka,
"Be a man. Don't make Rei sad. Please break up with that other girl." Yuuichirou left.
"Shouldn't you follow him?" asked Haruka.
"I don't know", said Rei, "He's such an idiot."
Later on, after an attackLater, Yuuichirou awoke. He was at the train station with his head on Rei's lap. Yuuichirou jumped up in surprise and asked where the monster was but Rei said that there was no monster and that he had just slipped and fallen. Rei used the string that Yuuichirou had given her before to tie his arm in a sling. Yuuichirou recognized it. Rei laughed and said that he should give her a ribbon next time.
"And," continued Rei,
"You have to apologize to Haruka. You tried to fight a pretty woman!"
"A woman!" Yuuichirou felt very foolish.
Rei and Yuuichirou headed back to the temple. Yuuichirou said he didn't need any help, but he was stumbling.
"Don't worry," chided Rei,
"Hang on to me..."
/ End of Flashbacks \\-
"It was cute of him, trying to defend my honour, but that was really a stupid act. Cute, but really stupid. I would never pick a fight with Haruka-san, knowing that she's good fighter. The only one who could ever match with her strength was Mako-chan. Aaah… Usagi-chan, remember that time when he found out that Mamoru-san and I used to date?" laughed Rei.
"Yeah, and he got so mad that he walked straight into a tree!" Usagi laughed, but abruptly stopped, when she remembered Rei seeing Mamoru naked.
"Usagi…? Hello…? HELLO? Usa-chan, are you still there? Hey, Odango Atama!"
"I'm still mad at you!"
"Mad at me? What do you mean STILL MAD?"
"You saw him naked!"
"What are you talking about? Saw whom naked?"
"Mamo-chan! You saw him bare naked."
"WHAT? Ma… Ohhh…" Rei said as she all of a sudden realized,
"I remember now... But it was his fault for showing himself naked. And yours too."
"My fault! How can it be my fault?"
"Well, if you hadn't been so reckless, then his apartment wouldn't have caught fire. And he wouldn't have to stay at my place."
"Hey…" Usagi was going to say something, when she remembered that it really was her fault. She then started to laugh,
"I guess you're right. But do you remember when I dressed up as a ninja just to spy?"
"If? Who could ever forget that? You looked ridiculous in those outfit, where do you actually get your clothes from, anyway?"
-
/ Flashbacks \\
At the shrine, Rei's grandpa is talking to Mamoru. He says that it's no trouble if he could stay for a year or two. He thinks that Mamoru is a nice young man and tells Rei to make sure to catch his attention. Grandpa tells Mamoru that he needs a grandson to inherit the shrine and Mamoru would be perfect for it. Usagi tries to go get Mamoru, but the girls hold her back. Yuichiro is behind them and says that he has never been asked to be married to Rei, and Usagi says,
"That's because you're you!"
Ami says that's rude even if Mamoru and Rei once dated, Yuichiro gets mad at this too and drops Mamoru's suitcase on his foot. Chibiusa asks if that's true and the girls say it was a long time ago, and Ami says that she's looking for a boyfriend right now. Yuichiro is mad because she's looking for a boyfriend when she has him. He gets mad and walks into a tree.
At night, Mamoru is in his room typing and Diana says that she'll never let anyone get into Mamoru-sama's room. Mamoru says just to call him "Mamo-chan." She says she can't because he's going to be king in the future. Mamoru gets up to leave and Diana asks where he's going. He's going to take a bath and he asks if she wants to join him, and she's very surprised.
Rei is going to take a bath and says that she can't stay at the shrine; she has dreams, and is going to have love, a job, and a beautiful life. She goes in the bathroom and Mamoru is towelling off and he jumps back in the tub. Rei goes outside and covers her eyes and Yuichiro asks what happened. Rei gets mad at him for not telling her someone was in the bath. Yuichiro looks in at Mamoru and says he looks very relaxed. Mamoru wonders what he means.
Rei runs into her room and calls everyone an idiot. There's a voice and says,
"Who's an idiot?" Usagi crawls out from under a table in a ninja outfit and Rei asks what she's doing here at this time of night.
"A girl in love doesn't care if it's day or night. Where's Mamoru?" Rei says he's in the bath and to go see him if she wants.
"A bath? Did you take a peep at him?"
"What does that mean?"
Rei gets all red.
"I didn't want to see that!"
"You saw him naked!"
"O-only his back!"
"You saw his back!"
"You saw him naked!"
"Just a little bit!"
"You saw it, just a little bit!"
"What! It was his fault to show it to me!"
/ End of Flashbacks \\
-
"Oh, I'm so happy for you." said Usagi.
"Yeah, and I'm… huh…?" all of a sudden Rei remembered something,
"What time is it?"
"It's 9 a.m. Why?" asked Usagi.
"We were supposed to meet them in about… Ahhh! 20 minutes! We talked to long!" panicked Rei.
"I have to get dressed! I'm still in my pyjamas."
"Well, get ready quick and I'll pick you up in about ten minutes. Okay?" said Rei.
"Okay. Bye!"
-----
Usagi hung up the phone and stormed into her bathroom. After taking a quick shower she went to her closet and chose a new outfit that she had bought two days before her graduation. It was a short, pink dress with thin straps. Instead of pulling up her hair into the traditional odangos, she wore a bandana that matched the colour of her new dress and braided her hair. After applying lipstick, she took one last glance on the mirror and then grabbed her purse, running down the stairs. As she was putting on her new shoes, she heard a car beep.
"Must be Rei-chan,"
Usagi walked out, but stopped. It really is spring now, she thought seeing the trees in bloom. She would have to ask her friends soon when they would have their hanami. Last year's hanami was a disaster. Mamoru had gone to Kyoto for a seminar and the outers couldn't 'cause they were busy… as usual. It was only she and the girls who had picnic, but it wasn't one of those happy picnic trips.
Ami had gone to a secluded area as usual. They knew why she wanted to be by herself for a moment, even if it took her forever to go back and be with them. Minako, who'd usually suggest doing something fun, just sat quietly. If anyone asked her something, she would just nod, not even knowing what they were asking her about at first place. Rei and Makoto were the only ones who tried making their picnic as fun as it could be, but failed. And soon they were all sitting there, under the trees miserable, why the sky was clear and sunny and the birds chirping and other things that made the whole group not fit into the picture.
This time was going to be different. This time they would have a fun hanami, cause they were all happy, right? What could possibly happen? Mamoru would be here the whole week, before he went back. The girls had gone back to their cheerful ways and on top of that, they had their boyfriends who could follow them. The outers weren't busy this month with their tour.
Usagi smiled at her thought, but was interrupted by a car that was beeping. She turned around and saw Rei outside, while having her arm inside the car, on the steering wheel. Running up to her not so patiently friend, she laughed nervously.
"Finally, I thought I was going to wait 'til next year…"
"Haha! Very funny, Rei-chan."
"Well, are you going inside or are you just going to stand there all day? Come on!" Rei said, as Usagi jumped into her Mercedes.
-----
15 minutes later, outside the mall…
Three girls were standing outside the mall, a blonde, brunette and a blue-haired girl. The blonde one was walking forth and back, while the blue-haired girl was reading a book and the brunette thinking. The blonde girl then stopped walking and sighed, as she looked at her two best friends.
How come they weren't bothered by their lateness? Why were they doing something else instead of cursing the other two for being late? As if sensing something, the blue haired girl put her book aside and looked up to her blonde friend. She gave her friend a smile and nudged the brunette girl, disturbing her from her daydreaming.
"Where are they? We've been waiting here for a long time now. I feel like I've been waiting for hours." Minako exclaimed.
"Actually, it's only been 5 minutes." Ami said, while checking her watch and then went back to her reading.
"I thought that Usagi-chan had grown out of that coming-late-habit," Makoto shook her head, disappointed over that her friend was going back into her old habit.
"I did, but it was Rei-chan's fault. So blame her." a serene voice suddenly appeared behind them.
"Oh sure… Blame it all on me. Part of it was your fault too!" another voice was heard.
The three girls turned around, knowing whose voices it belonged to. There in front of them stood Usagi and Rei, smiling at them. The other three girls smiled back, as they ran up to them.
"You're late. Both of you!" said Ami, while putting her book in her bag.
"Yeah, how come you're both late?" asked Minako.
"Well, I have something to tell you all." Rei smiled.
"What is it?" Makoto said excited.
"No, I think I'll tell you later. But it's great news." Rei said knowing very well that the girls hated waiting, especially Minako who liked gossips.
-----
Inside the mall
The girls were sitting at a café after a very tiring walk. They didn't dislike shopping, although whenever Rei and Minako was with them they always ended up helping the two girls carry the bags. Not only that, but Rei and Minako liked to walk around for hours without even getting tired. Ami, Usagi and Makoto felt that they were the luckiest girls alive 'cause there weren't any sales otherwise they would have died out of exhaustion, knowing that Rei and Minako would race and battle over clothes from one store to another.
As they were sitting and sipping their drinks, some people stared at them. They knew who the girls were, after all there had been articles written about them the past three months now. Ami and Makoto were blushing when they heard people discussing about them, while Rei and Usagi frowned out of irritation. Minako felt a bit bothered, but instead smiled and winked.
She was after all a celebrity and it wouldn't be good for her career if the media found out that she was ignoring her fans. They might call her a stuck up diva and that was the last thing she wanted to be called in the papers, columns, magazines…
-----
"Hey, Kouichi-kun. Isn't that the actress, miss Aino Minako?" a man whispered to his friend.
"Yeah. Man, she really is beau…" the man abruptly stopped, when he saw whom Minako walked with.
"Are… Are those two women, Makoto and Usagi?" asked Kouichi to his friend.
"Makoto and Usagi? Who are they?"
Kouichi stared at his friend. Thinking that he must be pretty stupid if he hadn't heard about them.
"You're kidding right? You must be a total idiot if you don't know them. Miss Makoto, the tall one, is a famous chef and the owner of that famous restaurant, Jupiter's Light. And Miss Usagi is an artist. You know that painting that I bought for my girlfriend? You know, that one with a couple standing under the stars? She painted it."
"Wow, they're really beautiful. And those two other women too, that's walking with them. God, I would give anything be around those girls." the man said.
"Look, it's Aino Minako."
"Isn't that the paint-artist? Hm, Tsukino Usagi, right?
"That's the Shinto priestess."
"I guess they were right about her beauty."
"Hey, that's Mizuno Ami!" said a man.
"Who? Mizuno Ami. You know they wrote about her having an IQ over 300."
"Oh my, there's the famous chef, Kino Makoto-san!"
-----
Hours later, after shopping
The girls were walking out of the mall, two of them were just happy that it was over, two others were arguing over outfits as they were walking, while the fifth one was walking and reading her book at the same time. The brunette girl halted, causing the others to stop, and faced her raven-haired friend.
"Now will you tell us?" asked Makoto.
"Okay… Well, guys. I finally said it. I told Yuuichirou about how I felt and how much he meant to me. And I kind of blurted out…" Rei saying the last sentence in a very low voice. So low, that the girls had to get closer to hear.
"What?"
"I… told… him… that… I loved him." Rei said slowly.
"No! Are you serious?" Minako asked, not believing what she just heard. Was this the same best friend she knows, who'd rather die than admit her feelings? Minako stared at her friends with shock reflecting in her eyes, but also happiness.
"No, I'm not! I was just curios about how you all would react." Rei rolled her eyes, before winking.
"Very funny, Rei-chan. But I'm so happy for you." Minako shrieked in delight as she hugged her friend.
"About time, girl. Yuuichirou-san must have fainted out of happiness, when you told him, right?" Makoto smirked.
"I'm glad that you finally told him." Ami smiled softly.
"Yeah, I'm happy too. And yes, Mako-chan, he actually did faint."
The thought of Yuuichirou fainting made the girls laughed. They could see Yuuichirou's reaction in their head, just seconds before fainting. Soon the park, which they had gone to, was filled with laughter from the girls, who were by now laughing hysterically. Makoto had her hand in front of her mouth trying to stop, while Minako and Usagi were laughing on each other's shoulders. Ami had a book in front of her. She didn't want to be mean towards Rei's boyfriend and tried to cover her face, but sounds from her mouth betrayed her. Rei on the other hand tried to hold back as she was scorning them about her not laughing over their boyfriends and that people were staring at them, which she was right about.
Their laughs had rustled in the winds, echoed among the trees. And those, who were walking by or stood near from where girls were, were staring at them. Among the crowd, stood three young men watching the five girls laugh. They had heard familiar laughs and decided to go over to where they were hearing them. One of them was looking at a certain blonde and smiled.
"Odango!"
A/N: Here's chapter 3. I didn't change much in this, like the two previous. But in the next chapters will be a lot of changes and a couple of chapters might be put together or disappear… or maybe not. anyway, don't forget to r/r.
Ja ne!
/ Moonlight Bunny