A/n: well…I was going to wait until I had 30 reviews but it doesn't seem like that is going to happen (cries). Ever heard that riddle: A man dies, the music stops, a man dies? This went through my head while writing this chapter- strange huh? If anyone can answer the riddle (without looking it up) a cookie to you! Explain the situation to me…
BWUUAHAHA…I just realized that my hair is as long as Usagi's! Well it's to my butt- yay! (I should wear it in Odango's for Halloween)
I love Sakurada Haruna, I think she's a blast- and I make her sort of harsh in this chapter although I know she really is a sweetheart. Oh…Some of you guys got cookies! I think I made Minako seem rather obvious (with the red bow and all) and yes the second couple was…..Michiru and Haruka! Yay for all who got it- here's your cookie-, and everyone else- the answers were interesting. Now I DO know that Haruka is a woman (:wink: what do you take me for?) but seeing as Usagi and Minako mistook her for a man during their first meeting, I think that it is entirely plausible that Mamoru, seeing Haruka from far away- and seeing as Haruka tend to be rather masculine- would mistake her for a man as well! I just love M/H so I had to establish them early on. Seems like Minako and Michiru both know something….
I made Mamo sort of an ass, but he was at the beginning so….We all know he's just mean as a defense mechanism- plus remember, he's not really happy before he meets Usagi-. And because he's a boy, and well….No offense to any males reading this but…That's enough said right there! (all you females can relate I'm sure : ) )
Wanna know something? I really REALLY hate writing dialogue… So…So…So…much. But I try to do it for practice. I really like to write descriptions and things that use a lot of imagery. Dialogue, I think, gets old. (You can't tell I don't like it can you? I use it so damn much in this chapter! And in a lot of the other ones come to think of it…)
And one more thing (the A/N's will be longer than the chapter at this rate!) I do know that the little H. Residence, Loudoun, Virginia, USA…etc… is getting ridiculously long- but I love doing it! Still, I will try to resist more than one-liners! Anyway…On to the story now..
Disclaimer(damn almost forgot): refer to chp. I
Now on with the story:
The Antique Locket.
Chapter III. The Tune
Juuban High School, Azabu Juuban, Minato Ward, Tokyo, Japan- Present Day (Day I post Discovery)
She could not remember the tune once the locket stopped playing. It was like air, it permeated throughout her comfy room and crowded against the window panes, but it was not tangible and it disappeared far too quickly.
It left her with a displaced feeling, like something was missing, but she couldn't discern just what it was. It was as if someone had moved around all the furniture in her room, in a very diminutive way, without telling her; she couldn't put her finger on what was wrong but something was. It was unsettling.
Usagi did not like feeling unsettled. It made her frustrated.
'I knew I shouldn't have taken the locket! How stupid could I have been! Firstly the locket practically grabs my hand, and then some crazy old woman tells me that it's broken except wait- it plays for me! And then the nutty woman gives me the thing for free! No one gave any one else things for free when a profit could be made! There must be a catch…'
"Tsukino-san."
'And what's more, why did my mother even let me accept the gift! When Naru's mom had offered me a pretty diamond bracelet for my 16th birthday two years ago, mom firmly put her foot down. A broken locket is pretty much the same thing,'
"Tsukino-san….."
'Well, it was the same aspect at least! Oh lord! My own mother is a hypocrite!' Usagi shook her head, 'This does not bode well for me…'
"USAGI!"
"Ah….yes," The girl snapped her head up. "Haruna-sensei?"
"Would you please answer the question."
"…." Usagi braced herself. "….What question?"
"USAGI TSUKINO HAVE YOU BEEN DAY DREAMING AGAIN! YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS; DETENTION!"
Later that day, 4:35pm: Detention
"Ah, Mizuno-san thank goodness there is going to be someone reliable sitting in while I take my very important phone call…" Usagi zoned out; everyone in the world knew that Haruna Sakurada's important phone calls were from her boyfriend and no other. It was just her luck that the new, genius, of a transfer student was coming in to watch over the people in detention. And there was only one person in detention- Usagi.
"Your welcome Haruna-sensei, take your time my Math Club meeting was canceled today and my sensei at Crystal Seminar has the flu so I don't have to attend classes today." Sakurada nodded her head, mind obviously on other things, and sent a dazzling smile at Ami, who blushed, and a fierce look at Usagi, who wasn't paying attention.
"You had better be doing your work Tsukino-san." Usagi gave an affirmative response and sighed. Best get to work, or at least look like there was work being done.
Five minutes later- Detention
"What are you humming?" Usagi jumped, her hand skittering across the page and messing up a, surprisingly good, doodle of a rose. She looked up at the blushing girl who was standing beside her desk.
"Humming?" Usagi blinked and then leaned forward, suddenly alert. "Was I humming? What was I humming?" She was looking so intently at Ami that the girl's blush brightened.
"Ah, I'm not sure." Ami got a look of confusion on her face as if she could not believe that she, the girl genius, did not know something. "Sorry." Another blush. "Maybe I was imagining it." Usagi sat back in disappointment and not a little frustration. This was the fourth person who had asked her about the tune she was apparently humming today! And she didn't know the tune, just that it must have come from the locket, and she didn't know that she had been humming! And all the conversations went the same way!
"S'ok…. Hey! I don't think we've been properly introduced! I'm Tsukino Usagi!" Usagi gave a little awkward bow over her desk, as she was still sitting down.
"Mizuno Ami, pleased to meet you." Ami also gave a bow though it was executed flawlessly and she flushed a light pink. "I'm sorry that I disturbed you, I just thought the tune was pretty. Now though, I can't even remember it…." The blond girl laughed.
"Oh, no worries! I didn't even know I was humming. Say," Usagi crossed her legs, her skirt riding up in a very un lady like manner, and laughed again. "I heard you weren't doing anything today, and you seem really nice. How about coming to the park with me after detention! They have a really good ice cream stand set up right now in preparation for Halloween!"
"Well…."
"AW…Come on! It'll be fun," Usagi clapped her hands, "I promise!"
"Well…" Ami gave a shy smile, which Usagi immediately returned. "Okay…."
"Great!"
"TSUKINO-SAN!" Usagi winced and Ami turned a brilliant shade of puce. Obviously the phone call had not gone well…
Same time, Hikawa Jinja, Azabu Juuban, Tokyo, Japan- Present Day (Day I post Discovery)
It had been a long, frustrating day and she had sat down in front of the large fire to meditate her away her troubles. There was an itching on the back of her scalp that had been persistant for the past month or so, and it made her hypersensitive. And even more tempermental than usual. She heaved a sigh, and gazed into the flames.
The fire spoke to her. It told her there was something coming, and the itch on the back of her neck escalated and soon her whole scalp was tingling.
'Something is on the horizon, just beyond my sight.' The pretty girl squinted into the flames, ignoring the eerie tingling from her scalp. 'I cannot see it, but it is there.'
The fire continued to crackle, speaking without words of the forthcoming event which no one would understand.
6:45pm, Azabu Juuban, Minato Ward, Tokyo, Japan- Present Day (Day I post Discovery)
'I feel like I've been hit by five trucks!'
Chiba Mamoru had a headache that was so bad it was inducing a severe feeling of nausea. Yet he had still managed to survive through his biochemistry, physics, and calculus classes which had been on his day's schedule. As a result however, he had a headache, was tired, nauseated, hungry, and even more frustrated than usual.
And the fact that he could be anymore frustrated than usual was a monumental occurrence.
So now he was walking- slouching- down the street. His usually immaculate person was chaotic. His sable hair, usually combed in a stylishly messy fashion, was just plain messy. His eyes were squinting in the harsh sunlight, and his jacket looked, if possible, even more tacky than usual. His reading glasses were balanced precautiously on the end of his nose and he had a biochemistry book stuffed under one, green jacket clad, arm. He was heading towards his apartment for a bit of shut eye- and studying- and he wanted this blasted headache gone!
"UMPH!"
'God Dammit am I sick of running into people!' Chiba Mamoru had such a scowl on his face it would have succeeded in scaring a blind person. It was his opinion that if someone was going to venture out into a city that had the amount of hustle-bustle that Tokyo did, they should very well make sure they could hold their own in a crowd. 'Obviously this girl can't hold her own. She plows into people!' Though he did note that this girl was even prettier than the one from yesterday- at least by his standards.
'Must be some sort of magnetic attraction I have that draws pretty women to me.'
He hadn't thought to reach out a hand to help the girl up, probably because one of his arms was holding a heavy text book and the other was massaging the raging headache at his temple. He watched, through his smudged reading glasses, as the girl scrambled up by herself.
'It's a wonder she doesn't trip over her hair it's so long…'
Obviously the girl didn't think it very gentlemanly of him for not offering his hand and when she looked up, it was with a furious glare alit in her blue eyes.
"Hey! Why don't you watch where you're going!"
'Pretty eyes. Too bad her voice is so screechy.' Mamoru had winced at the high decibel's that had erupted from the petite blonde's mouth. 'My headache does not need this.' He searched for something to say, watching the cute blond grow redder and redder under his stare. His eyes alighted on her flaxen hair and then he had it. 'Ah, yes…'
"Odango Atama." The girl paused, mid- screech and for a moment was speechless.
"W..What?" Her eyes were full of confusion and Mamoru would have laughed had he not found her disturbingly cute. He pointed to the top of her head where there rested…
"You have two Odango's on your head. Thus the name, Odango Atama."
Well, the girl's confusion was gone, and she was no longer speechless.
"HOW DARE YOU CALL ME THAT YOU JERK! WHERE DO YOU GET OFF AT? WHO GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO CALL PERFECT STRANGERS NAMES HUH? DON'T YOU HAVE ANY MANNERS? I'M JUST A HARMLESS GIRL AND HERE YOU ARE HARRASSING ME-"
It went on like that, but the words started to blur themselves together. Frankly Mamoru was sort of impressed, and rather horrified, that she could yell at that volume for that long. She was rather entertaining; however, Mamoru was starting to get worried that she would hurt herself. Surely it was not natural for someone to be so red.
"Calm down Odango, I didn't mean anything by it." That just set her off again and this time Mamoru couldn't hold back a smirk.
"Look, if you'd been watching where you were going-"
"YOU ARE THE RUDEST-"
"Maybe you wouldn't have bumped into me."
"ME! BUMP INTO YOU!" The girl paused and took a breath, seemingly scandalized. "In your dreams."
Mamoru froze for a moment and then cocked a brow.
"Oh, you wish Odango Atama." And then, before she could gather a breath to shout at him, he winked roguishly and swaggered off down the street with a light step. Half way down the block he realized that his headache was gone and that there had been an unconscious smile tugging at his lips. And spreading across his face.
Yes, Chiba Mamoru was surprisingly content.
The girl watched as the smiling college boy walked past her. He did not notice her presence, nor did he perceive the presence of a uniquely white cat that was settled on the girl's shoulder. No indeed, the handsome youth had other things on his mind, and those other things were definitely not biochemistry. Or physics.
"Things are really moving," It seemed as if the blond made this remark to herself, but the cat on her shoulder seemed to twitch its tail in agreement. "Still," The girl continued absently as she turned in the other direction to watch another blond girl stomp away in anger. "Still, they got along better than I thought they would."
Oddly enough the cat's response to this was through a, almost sarcastic, snort.
But that, of course, was impossible.
Night, Tsukino Residence, Azabu Juuban, Minato Ward, Tokyo, Japan- Present Day (Day I post Discovery)
The locket sat on the dresser in the darkened bedroom, and after a moment there was a flash of bright light that seemed to emit from the trinket. It lit up the dim room, filled up the quarters with a radiance that was unearthly. Everything was thrown into sharp relief; the shadows seemed darker, the colors seemed bleached out but brighter.
And then, in a moment, it was gone.
The room was thrown into darkness.
But if one had cared to look around the room, a moment before the light went out; they might have very well seen something. A black cat had frozen in shock halfway through squeezing under the cracked open window situated on the far wall of the bedroom.
End Chapter III. The Tune
A/n: Oh. This chapter was too long. (nine pages, though it doesn't look it) I'm gonna start cutting them down. I almost ended with Minako, but then in my outline I hadn't so… I didn't… So… Who's the cat guys! Luna is arriving properly in the next chapter- is that inducement for you guys to review? I'm going to shamelessly rec myself: if any of you guys like Anne of Green Gables I've written some stories in that fandom- also another one from the Sailormoon fandom.
Oh, and I almost forgot! Thanks aserene, you totally got the thing with Mamoru in the previous chapter, I'm so glad you enjoyed the repetition! I thought it was a very important aspect of his character (that no one ever gets close enough to him) so I emphasized it! Yay!
And of course in the next chapter there will be more Usa/Mamo- maybe they will discover each other's names!-ooo more enticement- And! Another couple will present themselves…. But who? (someone had already mentioned them….) The next chapter is outlined so it should be out soon, I finished this one two days after the second one was out! (and started it after I posted the second)
AH! And HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAMO-CHAN (as of August 3rd) - I only know this because I was researching for this story (I'm not a dork I swear)
READ REVIEW ENJOY- and make me happy! (Lets get my reviews up to 40)
-kay