Author's Note: Before you get started, want you to know I am very very proud of the ending of this chapter- and though I've been thinking about posting two chapters one of these weeks... It can't be this week. It has to wait. This ending deserves anticipation. I'm really excited to hear your opinions. I really really enjoyed writing this and I hope you all enjoy reading it just as much!
Sheba.
3:45 P.M. Crown Arcade
Mamoru threw himself in next to Rei, while grumbling a short "hello" to the table.
Motoki smiling, as always, sat down opposite of him next to Minako. "Let make this quick, I have to start working at 4."
The previous day they had each decided to take on different aspects of the Usagi Investigation. Mamoru and Motoki would try and get more out of Usagi at school and keep tabs on her. Minako and Ami would investigate the history of her new family. Makoto and Rei were to talk to her family, Umino, Naru, or anyone with any Usagi gossip.
Ami looked to Motoki, laptop in front of her ready to take notes on everything that everyone said. "Anything new from her today."
Mamoru scowled while Motoki replied, "Sorta. We hit a dead end with Serenity." He scratched his head as he tried to figure out how to word his sentence. "According to her body guard. She spoke with me because she knew I'd let her close friends know she was okay, fill them in on her disappearance. She spoke with Mamoru, because his questions were meaningless extensions of those asked by me. And from this point forward we were not allowed to approach her. Mamoru for her safety. Me because she didn't want Mamoru to send me."
Rei snorted, "Sounds like Usa. I called Usa-san's parents last night. Usagi's mother seemed surprised that I was asking for her. It sounded like she really wanted to help, but she said that she wasn't allowed to give out any information. It was weird."
"I talked with Naru-chan she said Usagi had called her and told her about the transfer to Azubu and they agreed to hang out when Usagi had time. Umino told me about the grades and test scores, he'd hacked into the school computers. Apparently she didn't miss a thing on her entrance exams. But other than that he was drawing a blank. No one else new anything else."
Ami finished taking notes form Makoto and spoke up to fill the group in on what she had found. " Minako and I found that the name goes back as far as the oldest birth certificates, death certificates and marriage certificates. Records have been lost, destroyed in fires, thrown away, misplaced, but from the ones I could gather it looks like every generation married at the age of 20, had a daughter precisely a year to the day before the husbands death and died shortly after her husband. I've ordered copies of all the birth, marriage, and death certificates. A few included pictures and they are sending those as well. The family is very prominent, and seems to have moved all over the world."
Minako made a face, "Its creepy." She seemed to shrug it off as she continued, "From what we could dig up the company, Mare Serenitas Incorporated, started out as a shipping business in India and grew. As the company grew so did the number of offices around the world. Tokyo's office is the most recent, added just after WWII." Minako bit her lip. "Umm, there is something that Ami didn't mention." She seemed to look at Mamoru from down cast eyes.
Still irratated with the topic of conversation and the lack on information on his parents Mamoru yelled at the girl, "Quit looking at me and spit it out."
"Well there was one family member that didn't follow the patern of birth, marriage and death. Usa's mother. She died in a car crash with her husband. According to the newspaper, a drunk driver forced their car off the road. They were traveling along with another family, only the children, including Usagi, survived the accident." Minako paused nervously, angry that Ami was to shy to mention this, frightened by Mamoru's mood. She looked Mamoru straight in the eyes as the silence built tension in the air. "The other family was Akiyama, Etsu and Mamoru Chiba."