Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Alone No More - Minako's Story ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Alone No More: Minako's Story
by Jason C. Ulloa


Chapter 1

There was a sensation in the air this morning. For some reason, it felt like something was
going to change. Maybe for the better, maybe for the worse, but the feeling of change was
evident in the air.

Aino Minako tossed her blanket aside and sat up in her bed. As she swung her legs over to
the side of her bed, she yawned and stretched her arms. She glanced out the open window at
the morning sun. It looked so beautiful... wait. What was it doing so high up...?

"AAH!!!" she yelped as she glanced over at her alarm clock, which she forgot to set...
again. "I overslept! I'm gonna be late!!!" Minutes later, she was dressed and out the door
at breakneck speed.

**********************************************

"Oh h...," Minako moaned as she stood out in the hall with a sign around her neck saying, 'I
was late.' "And I almost made it, too." She sighed to herself as she glanced down the hall.
No one was around. Everyone was in class already. She glanced down the opposite end of the
hall and spotted somebody turning the corner and coming down the hall in her direction. It
was a boy wearing a light brown school uniform and reading a piece of paper in his hand.

'Who is that guy?' she thought to herself. 'He must be new here since he's not wearing our
school uniform.' He continued to come straight at her as if he didn't know she was there.
Since he hadn't lifted his eyes off the paper yet, maybe he didn't know. She was about to
tell him he was going to run into her when he suddenly stopped a few paces in front of her
and looked up at her.

Minako's eyes widened as she saw his face. He had the most beautiful, piercing gray eyes
she had ever seen. His long light brown hair was tied together in a short ponytail at the
base of his head. His expression was one of irritation at being lost at his first day in a
new school.

'He is so cool!' she thought excitedly to herself. 'And it's his first day here, so I get
first shot at him! I guess this day isn't going to be as bad as I first thought it would.'

"Excuse me," the boy said politely, "but can you help me? I just transfered here and I
can't find my class...." Minako was just about to introduce herself and ask him which
classroom he was looking for when he glanced upward and blinked in surprise. "Ah! Never
mind. I've already found it. Thank you anyway." He gave her a small, polite nod, opened the
door to her classroom and entered, closing the door behind her.

"He's gone...," she murmured softly to herself in disappointment. "So much for being
first." Her expression lifted as a sudden realization hit her. "But, he is in my class.
Maybe I still have a chance!"

The door to the classroom opened suddenly as the teacher's head stuck out the door with a
hard glare directed at her. "Quiet out in the hallway!" With that, the teacher slammed the
door closed with a loud bang.

"Ohhh....," she moaned in exasperation.

**********************************************
< br> As soon as school was out, Mina set out to find the new transfer student. He had to be
around here somewhere. Hopefully, no one had gotten to him before she could....

"Mina!" a voice called out behind Minako. She turned around to see her best friend, Hikaru,
running up to her. She had known Hikaru since elementary school and had been best friends
with her since. "Mina!" she shouted again. "Did you see him?"

"See who, Hikaru-chan?" Minako asked. "Are you talking about that new transfer student?"

"Yeah!" she replied with an excited nod; her short dark hair bobbing along with her head.
"His name's Kino Ryoku."

"Ryoku?" Minako repeated. "That name certainly seems to fit him."

"Anyway," Hikaru continued, "he told me he was looking for you."

"For me?!?" she shouted excitedly. "I must've made a great first impression when he saw me."

"Actually," Hikaru cut in, "he said he wanted to apologize for his rudeness in not
introducing himself earlier."

"What?" Minako blurted, her face showing extreme disappointment. "That's all?" Hikaru
nodded. "Oh...."

"Excuse me," a male voice asked from behind them. "Are you Aino-san?"

Both girls gave a start as they whirled around to see who spoke. "Oh! Kino-san!" Minako
said in surprise as they recognized the boy.

"You know my name," he said, his eyes slowly narrowing. When he noticed Hikaru, he suddenly
nodded as if he just realized something. "Oh, so she told you. I suppose she told you why I
was looking for you as well?"

"She did," Minako replied. "There's no need to apologize...."

"Maybe," he said with a shrug, "but I feel that I do need to apologize. Please forgive my
rudeness," he finished with a small bow.

Hikaru started to smirk as Minako began to blush. "Uh... okay," she stammered in
embarrasment.

"You may already know my name, but I'll introduce myself anyway since I'm in your class,"
he stated with a small grin. "My name is Kino Ryoku."

"I'm Aino Minako," she replied with a smile.

"And I'm Torashima Hikaru, Kino-san," Hikaru replied.

"Kino-san...," he grimaced. "That sounds too formal. Ryoku's fine."

"I prefer Minako, myself," Minako added.

"Hikaru's fine by me," Hikaru added.

"So, we're all agreed to go by a first name basis, ne?" Ryoku asked with a small chuckle.
"Sound's fine to me. Well, I've enjoyed speaking with you two, but I have to go."

"Go? Already?" Minako asked disappointingly.

"I have important matters to attend to at home," he replied. "Well, I'll see you two
tomorrow, then. Ja!" With a small nod, he turned and began to jog off.

"He took the trouble of looking for you, just to apologize for being rude," Hikaru observed
partly to herself.

"Well, I suppose it's a start," Minako said with a shrug. "At any rate, I'm getting kinda
hungry. Wanna go get something to eat, Hikaru-chan?"

"All right!" she agreed eagerly. "I'm starving! Let's go!"

**********************************************

Ryoku opened the door to the apartment he was forced to get on such short notice. It was a
two-bedroom apartment, which was the only option he had in that specific complex. No
matter; should Mako-chan be forced to transfer as well, she could live with him in the
apartment. It was close to many different middle schools, including the one he was
attending.

The phone rang just as he stepped through the doorway. He threw his stuff onto the floor
and all but dived for the phone.

"Mako-chan?" he said as soon as he grabbed the phone off the hook.

"Who else knows your number?" his younger sister asked with a small laugh. "I suppose you
can guess I got your message saying that you've got an apartment... and a phone now."

"That's right," he replied. "So, how are things over there, right now? You gotten into any
fights since I left?"

"Not a one, Ryo-chan," she replied almost disappointedly. "Not since you got transferred
for breaking that guy's nose."

"No one touches my sister like that and escapes unharmed," he growled in a harsh, lethally
quiet tone. "He never got one quarter of what he deserved."

"True, but ever since, most guys have been avoiding me."

"That's because they also know that I took the blame for the rest of what you did to the
guy," Ryoku added. "I just broke his nose. You broke his right arm and his jaw!" He could
hear Makoto laughing on the other end of the line.

"Okay, so I also went a little overboard," she admitted. "Still, we could've shared the
blame and the punishment, and I would've been transferred with you. I'd be with you right
now, Ryo-chan...."

"Enough of that, Imouto-chan," Ryoku said firmly. "You know that they never would've
believed that we both did it. Besides, I was the one who started it. The blame truly is
mine. Sure, you would've done the same had I chosen not to act, but the fact of the matter
is that I threw the first punch."

Makoto sighed in vexation. "As you say, Oniichan...."

"Anyway, Mako-chan," he continued in a lighter tone, "let me tell you about my first day at
school. I did get lost looking for my first class, but then I met this girl named Aino
Minako who helped me find my class, which just happened to be the same one she's in...."

**********************************************

"S o, you live by yourself?" Hikaru asked as Minako stepped up to the volleyball court. A
week had passed since Ryoku had came to their school, and he was beginning to become
adjusted to his new schedule.

"Well, since my younger sister, Makoto, is still at my former boarding school, I do live by
myself... for now," he added as an afterthought.

"Wow," she said in amazement. "It must be great to live by yourself and not have your
parents telling you what to do all the time."

A dark, sad expression spread across Ryoku's face. "I don't know about that, Hikaru-san,"
he said quietly. "If I had my way, Mako-chan and I would be back with our parents again."
He shook his head ruefully. "Never mind about that. You're just gonna have to deal with
your parents for the time being."

Hikaru snorted sullenly. "Doesn't stop me from wishing, though."

Ryoku chuckled softly. "I suppose not."

"Look out!" Minako shouted just moments before barreling into Ryoku, just as the volleyball
she had been chasing smacked him in the back of his head. Both of them came crashing to the
floor in a tangled heap as the ball bounced away.

"Oooh...," Hikaru breathed as she knelt down at her friends' side and
winced in sympathy. "That looked like it hurt."

"Itai...," both Minako and Ryoku murmured painfully.

"Aino!" the gym teached yelled from the other side of the court. "What are you doing? Why
didn't you watch where you were going? Point for the other team."

"But...," she began, but sighed instead as she and Ryoku untangled themselves and stood up.

"It was my fault," Ryoku said. "I was standing in her way when she bumped into me." Both
Minako and Hikaru looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"What are you trying to say, Kino?" the teacher asked.

"Just don't be so hard on her for something that was my fault," he replied, then turned and
started for a different section of the gym where some boys were playing a game of
basketball.

After gym class was over, Minako rushed over to where Ryoku was sitting underneath one of
the trees scattered around the grounds.

"I just want to thank you for what you said earlier, Ryo-kun," she said with a grateful
smile as she sat down beside him. "You knew it was my fault for not paying attention to
where I was going, yet you took the blame for me."

"You're my friend, Minako-san," he replied simply. "I do that sort of thing for my friends.
Anyway, no thanks are needed."

Minako nodded as she paused in thought. "Ryo-kun... would you walk me home after school?"
she asked suddenly.

"Of course," he replied with a warm smile.

**********************************************

"I' m home!" Minako shouted as she opened the door to her house.

"Mina, who's that boy standing behind you?" her mother asked as she walked out of the
living room.

"This is Kino Ryoku," she replied. "He's in my class at school."

"I walked your daughter home from school," Ryoku said bowing respectfully.

She gave him a considering look as she looked him over intently. Ryoku suddenly began to
feel slightly uncomfortable under such scrutiny. "Young man, what, may I ask, are your
intentions toward my daughter?" she finally asked in a very straightforward manner.

"Mom!" Minako exclaimed indignantly while both she and Ryoku blushed red. "You're
embarrassing me!"

"I'm just her friend," Ryoku replied seriously.

"Just a friend?" Minako's mother repeated questioningly, but not as intently as before.

"Yes," he answered. "I'm not looking for a girlfriend. Minako-san is just my friend." He
then turned to Minako. "I think I'd better go now. I'll see you tomorrow at school." He
then turned back to her mother. "It was nice to meet you. Good day." He gave a polite bow,
then left.

"Mom, why did you ask him those questions?" Minako asked irritably.

"I thought you were introducing him to me because you two were planning on going on a
date," she replied. "I didn't know he was only walking you home as a friend. I'm sorry,
Mina."

"I'm going to go take a bath," Minako muttered as she stalked away. She couldn't help but
remember the words that Ryoku had said before he left: he wasn't looking for a girlfriend,
and that she was just a friend. She would apologize to Ryoku tomorrow for what her mother
had said, but for now, she just wanted to soak in the bathtub and forget everything. Her
chance may have been lost with him, but at least he would remain her friend.

A small consolation.

**********************************************
Disclaimer: All original materials belong to their respective owners. Sailor Moon belongs
to Naoko Takeuchi and a bunch of big companies. No copyright infringement is intended. This
story belongs me, so I would appreciate it very much if you would ask for permission before
posting it anywhere else. Thank you.

The Question and all stories included are:
Copyright © July 6, 2001 Jason C. Ulloa.
All Rights Reserved.