Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ What It Takes ❯ Chapter 3 ( Chapter 3 )

Special Notes:

 

Thank you everyone for the reviews I sure appreciate them

And also thank you for the constructive criticism! There's just a few things I want to let you know…well actually just one really.

If you see this <><><><> or this ><><><>< then it's a page break that way you don't confused when I switch perspectives. Other than that, hope you enjoy this chapter!

 

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Ami cringed with every step she took. Why was it that this was so painful? After all when they would fight monsters she hardly remembered being this sore afterwards. Could it be that working out was that much more difficult than battling real live demons? She shook the thought and sighed. Supposedly the soreness would go away after a week but this was lie. It had been two weeks and she could still feel the pain, of course her stamina had increased slightly but it wasn't enough to distract her from the aches.

 

She turned the corner and could see the cafeteria and the long line stretching from the cafeteria doors to the restrooms. Good thing she brings her own lunch. She continued forward weaving through the horde to get to her destination and stopped once she reached the outside of the crowd and sighed in relief. Sometimes people were just so inconsiderate they couldn't just congregate in an open area they had to do it where it was inconvenient. She shook her head and jumped when she heard the familiar shrieking she had learned to love over the years.

 

“AMI-CHAN!!!!!!!” the blonde ondago-atama barreled through the students having a bowling ball effect on them and Ami laughed. Serves them right for standing in the way. The blonde was waving a paper high above her head triumphantly heaving. Their tall brunette friend was close behind shaking her head in amusement apologizing to the group that had been tackled and giving dirty looks at the pigtailed girl.

 

“Usa, try to be more careful next time,” Makoto voiced smiling.

 

“Oh, right,” nodded Usagi and then shoved the paper towards Ami.

 

“What's this?” Ami asked and Usagi started jumping up and down with her hands together and her eyes resembling an upside-down U.

 

“Look at it!” She squealed.

 

Ami looked questioningly at Mako who shrugged in return. She looked at the paper and arched an eyebrow.

 

“SEE!”

 

“See what?” asked Ami a bit confused.

 

Usa's vehement jumping then stopped as disappointment showed in her eyes.

 

“Helloooo!” she said taking the paper and lifting it in front of Ami's face pointing at the letter at the top of the page.

 

“C minus,” read Ami and again Usa started to hop uncontrollably with her hands together.

 

“Isn't that great??” she cried pulling Ami into a tight hug. Ami choked.

 

“Th-that's fantastic,” she managed to spit out. Meanwhile Makoto was chuckling.

 

Usagi then released her and looked back at her paper.

 

“MAN!” she said excitedly. “I can't believe it!”

 

Ami looked at her in disbelief and then laughed. This was true Usa rarely got C's, matter of fact Ami was a bit unsure of how Usagi had been able to pass all these years. After all every time Ami checked on her she had an F…ah one of the unsolved mysteries of the world I guess. The three then proceeded outside to find a spot under a vacant tree.

 

“HA! And Haruna sensei thought I was gonna fail!” Usagi said with a humph.

 

They found a nice shady area and sat together. Ami pulled out her lunch and chopsticks and Makoto pulled out the two lunch pails from her bag, one for Usagi and one for herself. Usagi licked her lips and shoveled the food excitedly into her mouth as normal and the other two just smiled.

 

“Hey guys,” said a soft female voice. The girls looked up to see the violet haired blue eyes and they smiled back.

 

“Hey Sashimi,” they said in unison. The said girl then smiled directing her attention towards Makoto.

 

“Mako-chan,” she started. “Are you joining us today after school?”

 

Makoto choked as she heard this and had to cough to clear her throat. Crap! She forgot all about that.

 

“Uhh,” she droned. “Umm, I-I don't think I can-” she looked up and cringed as she saw Sashimi's head turning cherry red and expanding. Her eyebrows seemed to have spiked and her nostrils were flaring dangerously. Mako's eyes widened. “Uhh, yeah I'll be there!” And in the instant that she said that Sashimi's head immediately shrunk to its normal state her eyes bright and sparkling.

 

“Okay, I'll see you then,” she said cheerfully. “You won't be late will you?”

 

“Nope,” Makoto replied quickly. “Of course not,” she said laughing nervously and rubbing the back of her neck. Sashimi looked at her and nodded.

 

“Alright,” she smiled. “You guys have a nice day!” she said and ran off. Makoto dropped her head in a sigh of relief and groaned.

 

“Wow,” was all Usa could say about that situation. She sat there staring at the spot where Sashimi had just left Usa's mouth open in disbelief. Ami too was pretty surprised but ignored it.

 

“Its okay Mako-chan,” said Ami. “You should go.”

 

Makoto looked at her and nodded. She wanted to ask why but she figured Ami would explain later but Usa didn't get that message.

 

“But we have-”

 

“We'll skip today,” Ami stated. “I'll explain everything later.”

 

Usagi nodded disappointment clear in her façade.

 

“Besides,” interjected Makoto. “Now you can go home and show your mom your grade.” Usagi's demeanor then brightened.

 

“Oh yeah,” she yelped and bounced up and down. “Then I can rub it in Shingo's face.” She giggled maliciously and her comrades sweat-dropped.

 

><><><><

 

Minako smiled as she noticed the blue eyed American boy walking in her direction.

 

“Looking for something?” she asked playfully.

 

“More like someone,” he said giving that cute little lopsided grin. He fell into step with her and walked by her side his arms on the back of his head. She scoffed at his nonchalant manner and took interest in the huddled girls that kept throwing dirty looks at her. She heard him laugh.

 

“You got a lot of fans eh Minako-chan,” he said looking over at her. She rolled her eyes.

 

“Its all your fault,” she mumbled. “You keep hanging around me, don't you have any other friends?”

 

Duo exaggerated a huge gasp with a hand over his heart. “Ouch Minako-chan if I didn't know any better I'd say you wanted me to leave you alone.” Minako looked at him and shook her head.

 

“Duo, I have a feeling that even if I was serious you wouldn't leave me alone,” she scoffed. He laughed.

 

“Well I can't help it. You're too beautiful for me to leave alone,” he winked. Had this been the first day they met then she would have blushed but two weeks of this had seem to aid her in being accustomed to this kind of behavior from him. He was a shameless flirt there was no doubt about it.

 

“So what does one do around here in their free time,” he asked as they continued down the hall.

 

Minako shrugged. “I don't know, a lot of stuff I guess. Go to the movies, hang out with friends, play at the arcade.” Duo nodded and grinned.

 

“What do you do in your free time?”

 

She smiled. “Stuff,” she answered.

 

“What kind of stuff?” Duo asked. She stopped walking and looked at him. Her eyes traveling from his chest to his beautiful neck and then to his eyes, those cobalt blue eyes…She gently tugged at the top button of his shirt biting on her bottom lip and he subconsciously moved his head closer to hers their foreheads nearly touching. Her eyes were sparkling mischievously exciting him beyond control.

 

“Fun stuff,” she said with a shrug and opened the door behind her and walking in. Duo nearly fell forward and stuttered as the door shut behind her. He groaned. She was an evil tease! Nonetheless he smiled.

 

“Pfft and you blame me for why girls don't like you,” he scoffed straightening up his shirt and went his way.

 

Minako laughed as she found her seat. That Duo Maxwell was sure fun to flirt with. She smiled. Hopefully he'd be around for a while. Earlier he had explained that he was going to school as a kind of trial basis. He didn't know if he wanted to go to school overseas or in his homeland so he wasn't sure how long he'd be here for. She sighed. The boys in her school were nice and plenty good looking but she just hadn't felt that spark like she did with him. Not that it was a romantic spark it was just that she liked his company. He was easy to talk to and she never felt awkward in the sense that he was a guy and she was a girl and they should go out. They were just good friends.

She was snapped out of her reverie by the beeping of her watch. She looked to her sides and opened it once she was sure no one could see the screen.

 

Training canceled. Meeting at the temple 12PM.

 

Minako whimpered to herself. She'd rather train and get her butt kicked than have a meeting at midnight that meant less sleep for her. Hopefully the meeting was short and to the point. Lately she could tell Ami had been constantly observing people in the streets and at school. It seemed like was always strategizing thinking about every possible aspect that could give them away and planning how to train without people finding out about it. So far everything seemed fine. Despite the fact that four of them were pretty much limping the first week of training she thought they were holding up pretty good and then Ami's quote popped up in her mind.

 

“Don't get comfortable, the moment that you are will be the moment that you get caught.”

 

Minako exhaled. All this training and still no lead on Luna's whereabouts. She frowned as she thought about Artemis. He was noticeably more frantic. He could hardly stay in one place while Luna was still missing. And with this he also became more paranoid. He hardly went out in the open and when he did he made sure to do so without anyone seeing him. As a matter of fact he often popped up out of nowhere with the girls and would leave without them noticing. Minako rarely was visited by him at school but understood why. Hopefully their luck in their search would improve because as of late there was nothing. Ami continued to do her hacking to find clues; Rei was constantly searching the fire for answers and Mako, Usa and herself were busy thinking of what they might come up against once the time came to get Luna. It was all they could do and she only wished they could at least get a name or some kind of sign and then everything wouldn't seem so useless.

 

><><><><

 

Rei was gasping for air when she reached the top of the stairs of the temple. Her white tank was drenched with sweat giving onlookers a clear view of her black sports bra. She could see older women shaking their heads in disapproval as she passed by but she could care less. She sat down at the top of the stairs her breathing steadily slowing down and looked out at the street. Lately the fire had been giving her strange visions that she wasn't able to decipher yet and she couldn't quite tell if it was something to do with Luna or if it was about a possible threat. All she ever saw was pitch-black. So really it was possible that it could be nothing at all. She leant forward resting her elbows on the inside of her thighs scanning the sidewalk. She noticed an elderly man making his way up the long flight.

 

“Good afternoon, young lady,” he called from half way up the stairs.

 

“Good afternoon sir,” she replied bowing her head respectfully.

 

“Quite a nice workout eh?” he said joyfully.

 

“Yeah, it is,” she smiled. “You can thank my grandpa for that.”

 

He laughed. “Ah, he must've picked this location when he was young and agile.”

 

“haha, well in my grandpa's mind he still believes he is young and agile so I suppose you're right.” She walked down and helped him up the rest of the stairs.

 

“Thank you,” he said and she nodded back. “You must be the young priestess I've heard so much about.”

 

Rei looked at him curiously and bobbed her head to confirm. “I wasn't aware that there was much talk about me.”

 

He chuckled. “You'd be surprised.” She looked at him again trying to see if she could recognize him. Maybe he was an old friend of her grandfather's?

 

“Did you want to see my grandfather?” she asked.

 

“Oh no,” he replied courteously. “I've actually come to see you.”

 

“Oh alright,” Rei responded. There were no bad vibes coming from him so she shook off her unexplained anxiety and took him into the temple. “Would you like some tea?”

 

“If it isn't any trouble…”

 

“Of course not, I'll be right back.” She went into the kitchen and put on a kettle of water. She took the time to quickly clean herself up and put on her robes despite her mental protests. She just went jogging she should've taken a shower first but she pushed the thought to the back of her mind. Somehow she felt a bit drawn to this man's aura. She couldn't feel it outside until she was closer. She couldn't explain it really it was extraordinary. There was no threat in it but it still unnerved her.

 

Soon the kettle started whistling and she turned off the heat. She grabbed the tea bags and pulled out two. She placed the cups yet to be filled on the tray along with the kettle and took it to where the man was waiting. She carefully set the tray atop the table and carefully poured in the steaming water.

 

“So how can I help you?” she asked handing him his tea. He bowed politely and sipped.

 

A deep sigh exuded from him and he looked her in the eyes.

 

“Actually, I've come to help you.”

 

><><><><

 

Makoto sighed before she opened the door trying to convince herself that this would be fun but it just didn't seem to be working. Sure she liked extracurricular activities but this club was just so boring. She could feel herself dying every time she was in there. These people really knew how to ruin a good thing and she wasn't sure she could handle another year taking a part in it. She would have quit a long time ago but Sashimi, the president of the club, was pretty scary even to Mako-chan. She didn't know what it was. Maybe it was her bi-polar attitude, or the way her head starts to throb when she hears something she doesn't like or how people always seem to have terrible mishaps when they disappoint or cross her…I mean that might be it but Mako couldn't tell for sure. She finally opened the door and groaned. Still the same faces.

 

“Mako-chan!” They all squealed in unison. She huffed and looked at them all with an `are you serious' kind of look and nodded.

 

“”sup,” she said and moved to a spot where hopefully she could avoid as many people possible. She then saw Sashimi who was glaring at her and Makoto smiled enthusiastically.

 

“I mean HEY GUUUUUUUYS! ISN'T IT A GREAT DAY FOR THE GARDENING CLUB TO MEET!” she said and they all started to nod vehemently in agreement commencing in a large discussion about how plants are the true heroes of the world and that they have been victimized by the human species too long and should take a stand because they are living organisms too and they nurture the planet and what not. Makoto had once been in a sadistic mood and mentioned that if they really wanted to make a statement they should commit mass suicide to get their point across. She was half joking but they took serious thought in this and declared it an outstanding proposal automatically calling her to the vice-president position which she stepped down from and gave to Carol who had been working for that position ever since she was a freshman. These people were pretty “abstract” as Makoto liked to say.

 

She sighed and sat there watching everyone mingle. She was going to quit this club, she was determined, she needed to end this. So what Sashimi approached her with that strange persuasive skill she had she was going to tell her or maybe she would leave a strongly worded letter…

 

“Hello everybody,” she heard Sashimi say and looked forward. “As president of the gardening club I would like to say welcome! For our first order of business, I would like to introduce our newest member, Quatre Winner.” Everyone cheered and unanimously greeted him.

 

`Poor poor Quatre joined the occult.' Makoto thought to herself feeling great remorse for the new blond student that had been winning Usagi's attention in the classroom. Hey you know what? That's probably how she got a C-; she cheated off of Quatre while she was staring at him with her heartthrob eyes. Makoto chuckled. But Quatre seemed like a smart guy so if Usa did cheat she was terrible at it.

 

“Hello everybody,” said Quatre. Sashimi had asked him to say a few things about himself and why he joined the gardening club. “I just recently moved here and thought that I should get involved in the school so I started researching the different clubs here. I thought it would be interesting to join this club so that I can learn about plant life and hopefully use the knowledge to help my homeland. You see, where I'm from the land is very barren and learning about botany will aid me in my research to making plants that can survive harsh terrains.” Everyone applauded his reasons and Makoto smiled. Mr. Quatre Winner as noble as ever.

 

Makoto looked to the side as she noticed another body had seated himself next to her. She smiled. “Sasha!” she greeted giving him a shoulder nudge. He chuckled with that deep low voice of his.

 

“Mako-chan,” he said with a nod and a smile. Or at least she thought he was smiling. Supposedly he had some kind of skin condition where he had to cover most of his body. He could get away with showing the top half of his face because his hair helped shade it so he wasn't completely covered. But man, Mako could tell from the way he walked that he was a fighter even though he often denied it. His posture and build clearly gave him away. And although he was pretty much covered everywhere, Mako could tell he was a hunk underneath his “disguise”.

 

“You working today?” she asked chewing on her pencil.

 

“Yeah,” he said staring at her with an arched eyebrow. She didn't notice it.

 

“Cool, you wanna walk with me?” she asked looking over to him and stopping. “What?”

 

He looked at the pencil and moved it from her mouth. “That's a bad habit.” Mako laughed in embarrassment.

 

“haha, sorry I didn't realize I was doing that.” He laughed.

 

“Yeah I'll walk with you,” he replied his charcoal eyes warm and cheerful.

 

“Cool,” said Mako and averted her attention to Quatre. She waved and he waved back making his way over.

 

“Hi Mako-chan,” he said in his usual kind tone.

 

“Hey,” she replied with a smile and introduced him to Sasha. Quatre was surprised at the mention of his name and tried to hide it but Makoto could still see it. She didn't blame him though. She too thought it was a pretty girly name for a guy but Sasha didn't seem to be bothered when people laughed at his name. In fact, Sasha hardly ever cared about what people thought of him. When he was first there people would stare and point fingers calling him names but he was unfazed…pretty enviable really.

 

“Well, we should probably get started filling out this worksheet,” Makoto said with a grimace. What kind of club gave you worksheets? She groaned putting her head on the desk. Quatre laughed and Sasha shook his head as he patted Mako on the back.

 

“Don't worry Mako, we'll get the answers pretty quick.” He said and started writing. Makoto nodded and sat up answering everything. Luckily this worksheet had questions where the answer came to her quickly otherwise she would've quit on the spot. After all if she did it wasn't like Sashimi could do more damage to her than one of her previous enemies could…could she? She pushed the thought from her mind.

 

“Eh you know,” Mako started. “I don't think this year'll be that bad in here.” She shrugged.

 

“Duh, Mako-chan,” said Sasha with a nudge. “It's cause I'm in here.” She scoffed.

 

“No, Sash,” said Makoto teasingly. “It's cause Quatre joined so now I think it'll be more interesting,” she said with a wink and Quatre smiled.

 

“Well, I'm finished!” she said and stood up stretching. “How bout you Sash?”

 

“I've been done,” he stated sitting with his arms crossed. Mako rolled her eyes and looked over to Quatre.

 

“I think I'll stay behind and mingle,” he said with a smile.

 

“Okay,” replied Makoto. “See you in class.” She waved as she and Sasha went to give Sashimi their papers. Sashimi looked at them critically and sighed signaling Mako and Sasha's exit. Thank goodness it was over!

 

<><><><>

 

Usagi snored loudly as she lay sprawled on her bed sheets. Originally she had wanted to go home and gloat about the C she got on her test but Shingo was nowhere to be found and she remembered he had soccer practice. Then she went to go tell her mother who had said something like “Good, that's what you should be getting in your sleep!” which was pretty depressing really and her dad well…he was buried behind the newspaper. So she made her way upstairs tossed her bag on the floor of her room and dropped onto her bed. In an instant she was fast asleep. Those training sessions really took their toll.

 

“Usa.”

 

….

 

“Usa.”

 

…

 

“Usa.”

 

…

 

“Usagi-chan.”

 

…

 

Shingo laughed as he stood at the door of her room.

 

“That's no way to wake her up,” he said with a scoff. “Here lemme help.”

 

He walked in with a camera in hand and you could hear the shutter snap.

 

“AWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!” came a loud shriek from the blond as she jumped out of her bed chasing the young brunette boy.

 

“HAHA!” He teased as he ran in circles around Ami who was sweat-dropping. “I'm gonna email this to everyone in your school!”

 

“You little UGH!!!!” screamed Usagi as she ran after him. Surprisingly she managed to pin him to the ground and grab the camera.

 

“Ami!” she yelled. “Come hold him down!”

 

Ami cringed. “Umm, what?” she stammered.

 

“HOLD HIM DOWN,” she cried as she struggled to keep him pinned.

 

“I-I think I'll pass,” she managed to let out.

 

“ARGH!” she growled and again pinned Shingo to the ground and his expression was like “wtf?!” Now that Ami could laugh at.

 

Usagi opened up the camera and her eyes widened as she let out an ear-piercing screech. “It's empty! You little turd!” she yelled throwing the camera at the laughing Shingo.

 

“You're such a loser Usa!” he said as he stood up and walked out. Usagi was breathing heavy waiting for him to exit and then slammed her door.

 

“SORRY FOR PUTTING YOU ON THE SPOT,” Usagi yelled still amped up from the little wrestling match she had.

 

“No problem,” she said cleaning out her ears. Usagi finally calmed down and exhaled.

 

“So, what's going on?” she asked and Ami seated herself by the table in Usa's room.

 

“I've decided that in order to prevent people from detecting us in our activities, we need to be more sporadic.”

 

“Yeah…I agree?” Usagi replied. Ami laughed.

 

“We can't leave a pattern,” she explained.

 

“Oh, okay,” said Usagi. “So what does that mean?”

 

“If we continue like we have these past two weeks then someone will wonder what we're up to. We need to continue to do the things that we would normally do and then train on top of that but not at a scheduled time. Also we can no longer verbally discuss when we're going to meet to train. Just recently I found out that our communicators do not use satellites to transmit, it actually manipulates the stars and the moon to transmit. Therefore, we won't be able to be traced,” said Ami.

 

“Really?” asked Usagi in amazement, as she looked her watch over.

 

“Mmhmm.”

 

“So how come you're telling me this now?” she asked.

 

“I just want you to know first Usa. I was planning on telling everyone else tonight.”

 

Usagi nodded.

 

“As you might of guessed, it is important that we all be familiar with computer systems, codes and viruses, having to depend on one person being able to do this is detrimental its better that everyone be able to comprehend how systems work…”

 

“oooooh,” groaned Usagi as she shrunk in her place. Ami smiled.

 

“I'm going to begin tutoring sessions again amongst us, however those tutoring sessions will be over regular course work and then we'll have individual tutoring sessions involving computers.” Usagi's eyes nearly bulged out of her head.

 

“TWO??” she shrieked and Ami nodded.

 

“Usa, just like how we said its important that everyone be able to fight well in hand-to-hand combat its important that we be able to analyze and think fast in case we get separated or captured. I don't want us to miss something,” she informed and Usa frowned in compliance.

 

“I understand.”

 

“Good,” said Ami. “Now, you can't go let others know what you're doing concerning computer science but for the other classes feel free. Just be careful.”

 

“Don't worry Ami, I hardly talk about school when I'm there I don't think that'll change.”

 

“Alright then, another thing.” Usa grimaced. “We need to be able to practice on our own. We can't always meet together as a group but we can do it individually or in pairs. Either way we can't be seen. We must convince onlookers that we haven't changed in one bit else they'll start paying more attention.”

 

“Wow, Ami you've really been thinking a lot about this haven't you?”

 

“Well when I can't find traces of where Luna might be I spend time thinking of ways we could be inconspicuous.”

 

Usagi frowned being reminded of their situation and suddenly a wave of determination surged through her. She was going to do what ever it took to find and get Luna back even if it meant a lot of sacrifice. After all, Luna was worth it…wasn't she?

 

“Okay,” said Usa. “When do we start?”

 

Ami smiled and pulled a ten-inch thick text onto the table and Usagi's face slammed straight into the floor. Ami laughed nervously scratching the back of her head.

 

“It's not as long as it seems, you'll see!” She said and opened the flap.

 

“Eh, I'll just pretend like I believe you,” Usagi muttered staring disbelievingly at the book from the side of the table. Boy…the things she had to do…

 

><><><><

 

Rei rubbed her head slowly bringing herself from the ground. “What happened?” she muttered to herself the room dark and still a bit fuzzy. She shook her head as if to clear her vision and looked around. Everything seemed to be in order…

 

She looked down at the table expecting to see something but it was clear and shining like any other night. She looked skeptically around her thinking she was forgetting something but could find nothing to help her regain what that might be. She sighed. She probably was just too tired that's it. With a decisive nod she accepted that excuse and went to the kitchen. She put on a kettle of water and paused feeling as though she had done this before. She shook it off and stood across from the stove leaning on the counter. She stared at the flames caressing the bottom of the kettle enjoying the intricate dance it was performing. She enjoyed watching fire she had to admit. It was pretty soothing for her; it made her feel as if she was dancing too.

 

She continued staring, her headache slowly receding. Her unblinking eyes had a perfect reflection of the wild fire. Soon her mind was so engrossed in her own thoughts that all she could envision was pitch-black. There was nothing to be seen, no light, no objects, nothing. Her mind was completely blank. A small glimmer however then caught her attention. Curiously she willed her mind to zoom in on it. As she got closer she could see the object grow larger and realized it was much taller than she expected. It stood stories above her and appeared to be a large robot. She gently placed her hand on the cold metal and could feel an enormous amount of potential energy seeping out of it. Rei continued to examine it her mind racing with possibilities of what this could mean. She then stopped as she saw a familiar face. Her heart raced excitedly quickly abandoning the large robot and pursuing another figure. Just a little closer, she kept telling herself and soon she was sprinting. Her eyes shined with exhilaration her heart so high it nearly lifted her from her feet.

 

“I-“

 

“REI!” cried out a familiar voice. Rei jumped.

 

“Grandpa?” The scene in her mind quickly dissipated and she looked to see the short bald man running with a bucket of water towards the stove and dumping it unceremoniously. Rei blinked looking perplexed at the scourge marks on the counter and around the kettle. There were even signs of char on the bottom of the cabinet above the stove.

 

“Are you okay?” he asked grabbing Rei.

 

“Y-yeah, I'm fine,” she stammered still trying to piece together what just happened. Her grandfather was speaking but she couldn't hear him. Her vision stayed focus on the stove and she kept reenacting what had happened. The flames were ridiculously large they pretty much engulfed the kettle and how? Even if the gas valve was faulty it wouldn't have caused such a large flame. There were no flammable objects next to the fire or on the kettle so what happened? She gulped as a small voice in the back of her mind echoed in her thoughts but she shook her head in disbelief. Her mind then quickly paced back to what she saw before her grandfather had entered and her enthusiasm was quickly resurrected. The meeting tonight would not be futile.

 

><><><><

 

“Order up!”

 

Makoto looked up quickly grabbing the plate and walking to the table where their last customer for the night sat patiently.

 

“Here you go sir, sorry for the wait” she said carefully placing the plate in front of him. “Is there anything else I can get for you?”

 

The elderly man looked up at her with a meek smile. “You remind me so much of my granddaughter,” he said his voice raspy and worn. Makoto smiled.

 

“I'm flattered,” she replied and again asking if he needed anything else. He looked to the seat across from him in thought and finally nodded his head slowly.

 

“Actually if it isn't any trouble…” Makoto raised an eyebrow. “Could I get some ketchup?” She let out a small laugh and he smiled.

 

“Of course, it wouldn't be any trouble at all.” She then retrieved a bottle of ketchup and placed it at his table.

 

“Thank you young lady, you in deed live up to your reputation,” he smiled and commenced eating his dinner. She was somewhat taken aback by this. What did he mean by that? If anything her reputation was quite intimidating or so people thought. She was known as the girl you don't mess with, the “karate maniac”…she grimaced at the thought.

 

“Anytime,” she muttered although puzzled she still appreciated the compliment.

 

She walked back to the counter and took a seat, and Sasha was behind the counter cleaning.

 

“You okay?” he asked. Makoto looked up.

 

“Yeah, why wouldn't I be?” she asked with a shrug. He shrugged back.

 

“I don't know. You just look like you're deep in thought,” he commented momentarily pausing from wiping. “That guy say something to make you think?”

 

She smiled. “Nah, I'm just daydreaming.”

 

He sighed. “You should stop daydreaming about me Mako and just ask,” he said with a wink and she laughed.

 

“Ask what?” she retorted playfully.

 

“If I'm single,” he responded. She shook her head. “I am by the way…”

 

She smiled looking affectionately at him. His untamed black hair and charcoal black eyes complimented his glistening golden brown skin. “I don't date co-workers,” she said apologetically and he laughed.

 

“That's too bad,” he replied. “Ah well.” Makoto laughed.

 

“You bounce back quick.”

 

“I'm not one to stay down,” he smiled, or so she imagined. She then turned to check on their customer and was surprised to see he had already left. She didn't even hear the door close. Strange…

 

She walked over to the table and took the cash he had left for the meal and put it in the register. She cleared off the plate and gasped when she picked up the silverware dropping it to the ground.

 

“Ouch,” she cringed waving her fingers to try and wave away the pain.

 

“You okay?” asked Sasha.

 

“Yeah, I'm fine,” she said as she examined her finger. “I just got a little shock.”

 

“Stop dragging your feet,” he said over the counter. “You're making too much static electricity.”

 

Yeah he was probably right. She continued to clear the table and pulled out the chair to see if any crumbs had fallen onto the floor. There on the seat was a small daisy. She looked at it curiously and picked it up subconsciously bringing it to her nose to smell. It was surprisingly strong, so strong she had to shake her head a little to knock out some of the aroma. She put the daisy in a pocket and finished cleaning. What a nice man she thought as looked again at the flower.

 

“Ready to close up,” asked Sasha as he removed his apron. Makoto nodded.

 

They then locked up the shop and parted towards their homes. Makoto rubbed her eyes. Whew she was more tired than she had anticipated. She reached her apartment complex nearly falling asleep as she climbed the stairs and opened the door. She dropped her bag on the floor set the timer to go off in an hour and sat down at the table. She pulled the flower up for another sniff and sighed…that was nice…she struggled to keep her eyes open until she finally gave in. Her body dangled dangerously and fell off the side of her seat laying motionless on the ground.

 

><><><><

 

The boys sat quietly in the living room awaiting the arrival of the infamous Dr. J. He was finally coming to explain why it is they were all stationed there and what their mission was beyond finding this new enemy and destroying them. Duo yawned obnoxiously and stretched out his arms.

 

“Gah, when's he gonna get here I got school tomorrow,” he complained with a lopsided grin.

 

Wufei looked at the American scathingly and Duo laughed nervously. “Geez Wum- I mean Wufeeeei, chill out I'm just asking.”

 

The Chinese shook him off and went back to meditating. Trowa looked at the two of them and then went back to staring off into space. Quatre sat comfortably reading a book while Heero sat observing photos they had received after the destruction of one of the last operating space colony.

 

“He's here,” said Trowa pulling everyone out of their thoughts. Quatre then got up to open the door.

 

“Hello Doctor J,” he said allowing the said man to enter.

 

“Hello,” he nodded. They all looked attentively at him ready to absorb whatever it was he had to say.

 

“As you all know the last space colony was attacked by an unknown contender and until recently we were unable to track any leads in who this might be. We were unable to acquire an image of the weapon used but through much tribulation, I have been able to detect a particular energy signature unlike anything we've ever seen. This energy signature has been spotted in this district. Now, only three soldiers survived from that colony and from the information we got from them we think that the unknown energy signature belongs to a mobile suit. We've devised that the destruction of the space colony was a “test drive” for the newly developed suit so their intentions are yet to be unveiled. We have no leads as to who is behind this or what they're next move might be. You're mission is to identify the new threat, infiltrate if possible and retrieve as much information as possible about their motive, origin and founder.”

 

“So basically we're swimming in the dark?” asked Duo.

 

Dr. J nodded. “Do you accept the mission?” Duo sighed knowing full well what the answer would be.

 

“Mission accepted,” replied Heero. Dr. J smiled and went to the door.

 

“Good. I expect daily status reports from each of you, good luck.” With that he walked out and Duo groaned.

 

“We don't even know where to look!” he complained and the others ignored him. There was no doubt that they would be staying there for a long time.

 

<><><><>

 

Artemis' ears perked up as he lay on the end of Minako's bed. He pushed himself up and went to the window.

 

“What is it?” asked Mina as she looked over from her desk. Artemis just stared out watching the clouds gather. That was odd.

 

“Artemis?” said Minako as she stood over him at the window. She looked out to see what he saw and frowned.

 

“Looks like we're gonna have a thunderstorm, I better wear a jacket tonight huh?” she said petting Artemis on the head and walking back to her desk. Artemis' eyes stayed trained on the clouds. Something strange was happening…he could feel it.

 

><><><><><><><> ;<><><><><

 

Hey that was pretty long. I wanted to stop at a lot of places but then I was afraid that if I did I'd forget what I was trying to do lol. Anyways let me know what you think! Was it boring? Interesting? Confusing? Review please! If you have any questions feel free to ask! Well thanks for reading hope it was enjoyable ^^

 

JPandS

 

Mood: Pretty good

Feeling: the urge to use the restroom

Listening To: With You by Chris Brown