PriestessHelene: Nope, but good guess!
Moonlight Phoenix: Don't worry; both these questions will be answered in this chapter.
Katie: Well, I'll try, and I have a pretty set outline of this, so it'll more than likely be completed.
inufan155687: Thanks. It dates back to when I was little, and I would doodle 'dream houses' in all my school notebooks.
When Usagi got back to the school, Mamoru was there waiting for her, leaning up against the brick of the building lazily wearing jeans, a white t-shirt, and a black leather jacket. All he needed was a cigarette and he'd be the perfect Danny Zuko or Jim Stark. He watched Usagi intently as she said good-bye to her friends and headed in his direction. Just as she passed him, he stuck his arm out, grabbing her and pulling her close to him.
"Hey!" she objected. She looked up and realized who he was. "Oh, it's you."
"What? You expecting James Dean to come and drive you away on his motorcycle?" Mamoru asked, eyebrow raised.
"No, I was expecting some psychopath trying to kill me," Usagi confessed as Mamoru handed her a black motorcycle helmet. Her eyebrows then knitted in confusion. "What's this for?" she asked.
"Come on," Mamoru ignored her question, leading her out to the parking lot.
"So what did you do all day without me to protect?" Usagi teased. "I hope you haven't found another damsel in distress to save."
Mamoru only chuckled at her. "I was at my company," he explained. "Even you must know about Chiba Inc."
Usagi stopped short, raising an eyebrow at Mamoru. "You?" she asked, seeming somewhat amused. "You're Mr. Fantabulous Playboy Chiba, the youngest head of a company that Japan has ever had?"
"Sixteen-years-old when I started," Mamoru confirmed. "I'm amazed I didn't get more criticism for my age when I first started working."
"Maybe people don't care about you as much as you think," Usagi countered.
"Ouch, Odango, you're hurting my feelings," Mamoru joked. "I believe that to make up for it, you must now wear that helmet the rest of the way to your house."
Usagi only chuckled and pulled the helmet down on her head. It was a lot harder to put on than she thought, but once it was on, it did, in fact, fit her head. Mamoru raised an eyebrow at her and burst out laughing. "I can't believe you actually put that thing on," he chuckled. "Though, it's a good thing you did, seeing as we're going home on..." He let his voice trail off as he clicked a button on his keys, causing a black motorcycle in the parking lot to start up. He got on and gave a little head nod to Usagi. "Hop on," he ordered over the sound of the engine.
Usagi grinned behind the helmet and hopped on the motorcycle, following Mamoru's instructions on how to position herself.
Usagi handed Mamoru's helmet back to him as she got off the motorcycle back at her house. "Thanks for driving me home," she thanked him before heading into her house. She was promptly met by her worried and curious parents.
"Oh, Usagi, are you okay?" Ikuko asked. "We heard you were going to see that palace."
"Did anyone hurt you?" Kenji demanded worriedly.
"No, no, I'm fine," Usagi assured them. "It was... rather interesting. The palace is run by the senshi. They want to help people, spread good and light and... stuff like that throughout the world. Uh, look, today was pretty busy, so I'm just gonna grab some leftovers and go to bed. G'night!"
Usagi rushed into the kitchen to grab some food before running upstairs to her bedroom.
It was on Saturday that Usagi got to go to the palace again, begging Mamoru to let her go. He allowed her, on the one condition that she would check in hourly via cell phone. She agreed, so there she was, talking with Minako as they went to go check the mail room, where all the resumes had been delivered.
"So why three classes?" Usagi asked. "Mine and Ami-chan's and Mako-chan's, Rei-chan's, and yours?"
"No, no," Minako objected. "The girls and I decided that we would bring your class here so you would have an excuse to get to look around the palace, but the other two classes were chosen at random to avoid suspicion. Your class went Thursday, another went Friday, and another is going on Monday. And lucky me, I have enough sick days unused at school, so I can be the tour guide for all three without being truant."
"Okay," Usagi replied, now in understanding as they reached the mail room. "Hey, why aren't the others helping us?"
"They are; they're just running a little late," Minako explained, opening the doors to the mail room, causing both girls to let their mouths drop.
The room was filled with resumes and job applications. Apparently word had spread that the senshi were looking for people to work in the palace, and many people responded, some even from other countries.
"I hope they get here soon," Usagi grimaced. "How are we gonna get all these upstairs?"
"I'd say one giant stack at a time," Minako replied.
Two hours later, the senshi were almost done... sorting the resumes by country.
"And last, but not least, Meyer Gregory-san from California, USA," Makoto cheered, placing his resume in the section of the room that was holding American resumes. "So how are we gonna sort through these guys?"
"I'll look through Africa," Minako sighed.
"The Americas," Ami continued.
"I'll take Europe," Makoto shrugged.
"I'll sort through the Pacific Islands and Australia," Rei added.
"I guess that leaves me with Asia," Usagi finished, heading over to the continent of Asia's resumes. Unfortunately, that was the largest set of stacks, though also the easiest to read viewing that most of them were in Japanese.
And so, Usagi found herself either putting a red 'X' over the resume or putting it in another pile to be looked at by the other senshi. That was how they were narrowing it down: first it was separated by country by all of them, then they split into their own little continents and separated them by occupation applying for, then they went through and put red 'X's over the ones they decided not to give even a chance of hiring. If they made it past the first senshi it came across, it was passed on to the next senshi after they were all done with their own sorting to be checked over, and the process was repeated through all five senshi. Only the ones that made it all the way through stood a chance of being hired.
And Usagi... she was only on China, Chefs. Twenty chefs from China had applied, and she approved two of them. Knowing the girls, one, or even both, of them was going to get the boot within two passes. Next up: child care professionals! There were eight of those.
Usagi blushed slightly at the thought of having kids herself, and then she started daydreaming about her future husband and children. He would be tall, well-built, and a bit mysterious. There would be many children, some of them quiet, like him, some of them loud and rambunctious, like her.
"USAGI-CHAN!" Rei snapped her out of her trance.
"Sorry," Usagi blushed. "Where are Luna and Artemis, anyways? You'd think they'd help us..."
"They said they had some important recon to do involving the Ginzuishou," Minako explained. "I, on the other hand, think we'll be hearing little kittens running around soon enough."
"Huh?" Usagi asked in confusion, causing the other senshi to burst out laughing, partially from her comment, partially from Minako's comment.
"Well, it's okay, cause there's a pretty promising-sounding animal groomer from Egypt," Makoto joked, causing all the girls to burst into giggles again.
After that, they got back to work, and Usagi found herself on the phone, talking to Mamoru as she sorted through the Indian Dentists. "So what do you think of a guy who's had ten years of experience in the capital of India?" she asked.
"Sounds acceptable," Mamoru agreed. "But make sure to get a face-to-face interview and watch him work on at least three patients without him knowing to make sure he sterelizes everything properly and goes through the procedures properly."
"Okay, thanks Mamoru-kun. I'll see you around five-ish?" Usagi smiled.
"Fine by me," Mamoru grinned on the other line. "I'll see you then, Odango."
The two hung up, and the girls immediately began hassling Usagi. "You so like him!" Minako exclaimed.
"I do not!" Usagi refuted. "He's my bodyguard, and he knows part of our secret. I have to be nice to him."
"I have noticed that the pattern of your relationship with Mamoru-san has been gradual, indicating an adaption to his way of acting as he adapts to yours, as opposed to a forced reconsilliation," Ami stated coolly, earning her confused looks from the others. Sighing, Ami simplified, "You've got it bad, Usagi-chan."
"The only thing I have are a bunch of giant stacks of Asians searching for jobs to go through," Usagi objected, turning back to her work.
By the time she had to leave, she had made it most of the way through Israel, only having the jobs of veterinarian-related careers and zoologists left. She checked her watch before deciding to get through the three veterinarian-related careers and the one zoologist before she left. Two of the vets were eliminated immediately due to their lack of... well, anything good on their resumes, while the third, a veterinary assistant was accepted by her. The zoologist was accepted as well.
Later, as Mamoru drove Usagi home from his apartment, she found herself looking through the first of the Japanese. "Is it okay if I bring some work to your apartment tomorrow?" she asked.
"No problem," Mamoru replied. "But only if I get to help."
Usagi let out a small laugh, smiling brightly. "I think that can be arranged," she agreed as the car slowed to a stop in front of her parents' house. "I'll see you tomorrow, Mamoru-kun.
"See you tomorrow, Odango," Mamoru smiled as Usagi got out of her car and ran up to the door. "And by the way!" he called as she neared the front door. Usagi turned back to face him. "I am not a playboy."
Usagi let out a laugh and smirked. "I'll be the judge of that!" she declared before entering the house.
Aww. Semi-cute, semi-UsaMamo chapter. I know it was kind of fast-moving, but I really want to get to the next little part of the fic, where Serenity sort of introduces herself to the world. Please review!