Saturday 3:58pm
This day came much quicker than planned for Mamoru. He had been completely dreading his study session with Koan and hoped that it went on without any attempted advance from her. After he had showered from football practice, he followed the directions Koan gave him in class on Friday and came across a large house with a fenced driveway and yard. The house was ridiculously large for the family size he knew Koan had. Doesn't she only live with her mom and sister? The house was three stories and had white paneling. The windows had shutters and there were excessive amounts of statues in the front yard. He pulled up to an intercom system and hit the buzzer to be let in and was greeted with a crass female voice. "Can I help you?"
For some reason, the voice made him feel nervous. "Yes, uhm, I'm here for a study session with Koan?" Beryl's voice chimed through the intercom excitedly, "OH! You must be Mamoru! Please! Come right in!" BUUUUZZZZZZZZ!
The gate opened dramatically with a loud creak and Mamoru drove up the driveway. Oh, and they have a water fountain. Mamoru rolled his eyes as he parked and stepped out of his car. "Here we go…" He walked up to the front door and was greeted by an anxious Koan and what he could only assume to be her mother. "H-hello." The expressions on their faces made him uneasy. Koan was looking at him like he wasn't real with wide eyes and a hand stretched out to touch him. Her mother, who was wearing a pantsuit, was looking at him like he wasn't going to be allowed to leave with narrowed eyes and an encouraging nod that waved him inside.
Mamoru let out a huge gulp and walked through the front door. "Welcome to our humble abode!" The mother walked in front of him with sweeping arms as to suggest that he take in the entire sight of their home with her statement. "I'm Beryl, Koan's mother. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to make you feel at home."
"Thanks, Mrs. Spectre." Mamoru looked around and immediately knew they were people who wanted to look important. All the furniture was leather; there was modern and classic art on the walls along with seven large plants, two globes…Odd…and the biggest television he'd ever seen. What. The. Hell. Koan watched Mamoru examine their home with pride. She knew her mom had told the decorator to make it the downstairs part of the house both glamorous and intellectual. It was a great first impression to people they wanted to bring over. Koan was lucky that her mother had found such a rich second husband. After he had died, he left both his company and Usagi; the former was much more intriguing than the latter.
Annoyed with her mom's presence Koan snapped, "You can make us feel at home by leaving, mother." Koan shot her mom an urgent glance and Beryl left them to their studies. "I'm sorry about her. She's a little weird sometimes." Koan said as she pulled Mamoru by the arm towards the living room and dragged him onto the couch with her. Must be a genetic trait, he thought as Koan stared at him with expecting eyes. Expecting what, he didn't know. And he really didn't want to find out.
30 minutes into the study session, Mamoru was quickly realizing that nothing was going to get done. Koan had been touching his arm, leg, hand, and face while he was trying to get her to understand the elements that related to their assignment. Uncomfortable, Mamoru moved to another chair to sit across from her so she'd stop touching him. He sighed and looked at the papers that were across the coffee talbe. There were no additional notes and Koan kept leaning towards him to show her cleavage. She'd put her pencil in her mouth, rub her crossed legs together and turn her head sideways in an innocent manner while he spoke to her. He knew what she was up to since she wasn't the first girl to do this to him. To top it all off, Koan kept changing the subject and asking him his likes and dislikes, where he liked to hang out, his favorite things, and, what pushed Mamoru's limit on his patience, who his prom date was going to be. Frustrated, Mamoru sighed and stood up, "Can I use your bathroom?"
"Of course! Just follow the hallway down to the kitchen and it'll be on your right."
As Mamoru walked down the hallway, Koan sat on the couch in distress. It's not working! I've used all my moves! By now, we should be laughing, touching, and kissing. He's refusing to answer my questions and he moved to sit across from me when I started making my advances. I did what I could with my suggestive body language, but nothing! This is all wrong! Maybe he doesn't know it when a girl is interested. That has to be it. All of my moves have worked on my other boyfriends. Mamoru is a male driven by hormones just like the rest of them. I'll just have to be less subtle. Koan stood up to go primp in the mirror in the hallway to make sure she looked sexy enough for Mamoru.
While Koan was having her personal crisis, Usagi turned her key in the front door and walked in. After a long 8-4 shift at the Crown, Usagi was ready to relax and do homework. If she got all of it done, it would give her time to go to the mall with her friends on Sunday. Walking into the living room, Usagi let her hair out of her messy work bun and it fell down to her ankles in a wavy mess. While rubbing her scalp to alleviate the pain from the weight of her hair in one place, she saw Koan preening in the hallway mirror and scoffed slightly. The noise got Koan's attention and she looked over. "Ugh. What are you doing home?" Realization set in for Koan. Her eyes widen and she quickly added, "WAIT, Thank GOD you're home!" That's it! Smarts! Chiba Mamoru likes smart girls. Koan remembered how impressed he was with her outline on Wednesday. I need Usagi to write some notes so he won't leave!
Usagi looked at her like she was crazy. Koan hated Usagi. She didn't even like to acknowledge her existence.
"What's wrong with you? Inhale too much hairspray?"
Koan responded with a mocking laugh before she grabbed Usagi's wrist and dragged her to the couch.
"My Advanced Chemistry lab partner is here for a study session and I really want to impress him so just look at what we have so far and write down a few notes so he won't want to leave!"
Usagi stood in front of the couch that Koan sat at and put her hands on her hips. "You know, this isn't technically homework, so it's not part of our deal."
Koan let out a growl. "Screw the deal. Help me or regret it, troll." Knowing that Koan had a raging temper, Usagi decided not to push her luck. Her last bruise on her shoulder from when Koan had thrown a textbook at her had just healed.
Pulling her golden hair over the front of her right shoulder, Usagi sat down on the edge of the couch in front of the papers that were strewn across the coffee table. "Why do you care what this guy thinks anyways? You have tons of guys at your feet that don't care if you're smart or not."
It was true. A rare day passed when Koan didn't have a guy at the door trying to take her out. Usagi didn't understand why she had her sights on just one. It couldn't have been because she had feelings for them because Usagi was pretty sure her sister didn't have a soul. Usagi looked up at Koan to wait for her response.
Koan expressed an anxious huff and said, "Well if you MUST know, he's the perfect guy for me, but doesn't realize it yet. He will, though, once he sees how smart I am. Beauty and brains is a hard combo to turn down. My plan is to draw him in with wits and seduce him with…well…you know," Koan winked as she shimmied her well-endowed chest. Usagi rolled her eyes and glanced at a paper. Ugh, she's so fake I'm surprised she hasn't hardened into plastic, she thought as she started writing down various notes in spots that needed more clarification and emphasis. I wonder who the guy is. Whoever he is, I feel bad for him for getting into Koan's sights. He does not have a chance in hell of escaping unscathed. Koan heard the opening of the bathroom door down the hall and panicked, "Quick!" Koan practically shoved Usagi off the couch and started fussing. Usagi quickly finished up what she was told to do, handed the paper to Koan, got up from the couch, and walked over to her work bag. While Usagi bent down to pick it up, she heard the footsteps down the hall get closer to the living room. And heeerrreee's bachelor number one!, she mused jokingly.
She chuckled as she zipped up her bag, but paused when she heard that familiar *ahem*. Her eyes widened. NO. Way. Before she was able to turn to confirm her suspicions, she heard him speak to her. "You live here?" Acting out on both her shock and confirmation that it was, in fact, Mamoru, Usagi spun around with her hair following gracefully behind her and she heard him let out a small gasp. My God. Her hair is even more beautiful down. Usagi and Mamoru's eyes locked. She had been wanting to see him again to talk to him more, but didn't have the guts. Since Wednesday, they had passed in the hall and exchanged looks that gave her butterflies. Now those butterflies felt like they had turned into stone and dropped to the pit in her stomach. Koan had her sights on him.
Mamoru lost his words when Usagi looked into his eyes. He knew she was working today, but he had homework all morning and couldn't pull away from the football practice he had afterwards to see her. At school on both Thursday and Friday, he'd wanted to talk to her, but never had the courage. He had gone over and over in his head how to go about asking her out on a date, but all of them sounded completely ridiculous out loud. He was so frustrated that he confessed his newfound feelings to Motoki earlier that day at practice. Mamoru was quite shocked to find that Motoki already had suspicions of his feelings towards the "Odango" and more than that, he actually was supportive! Having Motoki's support and being able to talk to him about his problem gave him the determination to speak to her the next time he saw her, but he didn't expect it to be now. Here. At Koan's house. He didn't even know Koan had another sister besides Petz.
Usagi tried to regain her composure when she knew that she could not compete with her eldest step-sister. As difficult as it was, she broke the eye contact she had with Mamoru and decided to resort to her talent in sarcasm. "Yeah. I'm the burden," Usagi said playfully as she started towards the stairs. I really hope he knows what he's getting into with her…
"Don't mind her, Mamoru," Koan said snidely as she put her hand into his hair and looked at him possessively. "She's society's problem, not ours." Mamoru took Koan's hand out of his hair and cringed at the comment made at Usagi. When he looked up at her though, he noticed that it didn't even faze her. Usagi stuck her tongue out at Koan, which made him smile, started walking up the stairs, and said, "That very well may be, but at least I don't believe that sodium chloride suspension will burn you if it touches your skin."
Mamoru raised an eyebrow at the comment and watched as Koan retaliated with, "If you dare to touch me with that acid again, I'll maim you for disfigurement!" Usagi laughed as she finished her ascend up the stairs and closed her bedroom door. Well at least he knows a little bit more about Koan's biting wit.
Mamoru turned to a very flushed and aggravated looking Koan. "What was that all about?"
"UGH!", Koan stomped childishly in the direction of Usagi after Usagi slammed her door. Turning back to Mamoru she screeched, "That UGLY PYGMY tried to burn me once with that liquid she just talked about. She's so JEALOUS of me because I'm the eldest and have the looks of the family. I'M GOING TO BECOME A RICH, GLAMOROUS SUPER MODEL AND SHE'S GOING TO BE STUCK HERE FOREVER LIVING OUT HER USELESS EXISTENCE!"
Mamoru groaned in pain. Her bellowing echoed throughout the house and sent a jabbing pain through Mamoru's head. He covered both his ears waiting for Koan to stop. After she appeared to be finished, he hesitantly pulled the protection from his ears and looked at a fuming Koan with curiosity. He was shocked at Koan's abrupt hatred toward Usagi. It wasn't even a harsh comment, but it riled her up to the point where it showed Koan's true personality. That was probably her plan; that clever minx. With his realization, Mamoru chuckled and said, "Ok, but you do know that sodium chloride suspension is just saltwater, right?"
Koan's once angered face looked at him in puzzlement. "What?"
Her sudden baffled expression made Mamoru laugh. "Yeah. No reason to get frantic and overreact."
Koan immediately went back to anger when she realized that Usagi had said that in front of Mamoru on purpose. She couldn't believe that Usagi had the nerve to make her look like an idiot in front of him, but boy was she going to get it when he left. Koan pounded her fist into her hand as she thought about inflicting her revenge onto Usagi.
Koan's rollercoaster ride of emotions, along with her yelling, was giving him a headache. Hoping to move on, Mamoru rolled his eyes, and walked back to the couch. "Anyways…let's get back to work." Mamoru sat down in better spirits now than he was before. He relished in the fact that he now knew where Usagi lived and how clever her banter could be. Sighing, he looked down at the paper they were working on before and was pleasantly surprised to see notes that actually made connections and new theories to their assignment. Picking up the paper and turning to Koan, Mamoru asked, "Did you write these?"
Realizing that he was referring to the chemistry notes, Koan's mood changed. It's working! Now onto the not so subtle seduction. Koan smiled to herself as she flipped her hair over her shoulder and walked over to Mamoru in a sultry fashion. "Oh. Yeah I had a uhm...breakthrough while you were in the bathroom."
"Wow. These are great Koan. They make our assignment go into innovative directions!" Koan walked up to the sitting Mamoru and boldly sat on his lap. "You know, I had another breakthrough while you were gone." Mamoru raised his hands, careful not to touch her. His eyes widened and he immediately regretted his compliment to her. "Uhm. Koan. I think you've got the wrong idea. See…"
*Crunch* Petz walked into the living room eating an apple. Koan turned her head towards her sister in disbelief. She stood up to shoo Petz from the room and Mamoru took a sigh of relief. He was conflicted about how to feel about Petz interrupting his rejection to Koan. He wanted to be clear that he had no interest in her, but also wanted to get the hell out of there. While Koan talked to her sister in angry hushed tones, Mamoru took the opportunity to quickly gather his things.
After listening to Koan's harsh words, Petz went upstairs and Koan turned back to see Mamoru walking towards her with his bag packed up. Frustrated, Koan quickly tried to redeem herself and the situation. "Where are you going? We were finally getting somewhere!" Koan touched his chest and smiled suggestively.
"Uh. I've gotta go. I'll see you in class, ok?" Mamoru hurriedly went out the front door and vowed never to go back into that house unless it was for Usagi.
After Mamoru left, Koan stood in shock. She was sure that she would be at least hooking up with Mamoru if not dating him by the end of the study session. She immediately thought back to when Usagi came home and made her look foolish in front of him. It's her fault! Koan quickly fumed with anger and marched upstairs with the determination to make Usagi pay. She kicked in the door and tackled an unsuspecting Usagi that was lying on her bed doing homework. Usagi let out a scream and struggled under her step-sister. "GET OFF ME!"
To keep her within grasp, Koan pulled Usagi's hair when she tried to get away from her. "How dare you make me look bad in front of Chiba Mamoru! I need him to like me not think I'm an idiot! I am GOING to BE his NEW GIRLFRIEND!" And with that last word Koan punched Usagi with all the rage she had built up for her. Usagi tumbled backwards off of her bed from the force of the hit and her head slammed against the wall, effectively knocking her out.
With Usagi lying unconscious, Koan began to rip up all of Usagi's completed homework assignments; carefully avoiding hers and Petz's. After she was satisfied with her work, Koan carelessly left Usagi to wake up to her destruction and make her think twice about coming in between her and Mamoru again.
Author's Note: Wow. Koan finally revealed her true colors! How is Usagi going to react when she regains consciousness? Do you think she should've fought back harder? Let me know in the reviews what you thought!