Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ The Dark Successor ❯ New Face Arrives ( Chapter 3 )

Characters This Chapter:

 

Osaka Naru = Molly, the curly-red-haired girl with the Brooklyn accent or something like that. Usagi's one-time best friend, who kinda fades out later on in the series.

 

Umino Gurio = Melvin, the dweeb. Gets called Umino even though Gurio is his first name, probably because no one wants to admit they're getting on good speaking terms with him!

 

Sakurada Haruna = Miss Haruna. Her first name is Haruna, but I put it in there so you might better recognize her. As a teacher she is called Sakurada-sensei, or Miss Sakurada.

 

Tsukamaru Hiryu = my Original Character from last chapter, back for more fanfiction-y shenanigans.

 

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Chapter 3: New Face Arrives

 

Usagi dragged herself out of bed very slowly. "I hate school..." she moaned. "I need breakfast. What time is it, anyway?"

 

She looked at her alarm clock. It was seven thirty-five.

 

"How did it get to be so late?!" she wailed, throwing on her school uniform in a frenzy. She scooped up her bag and flew down the stairs, nabbing a piece of toast from the kitchen and carrying it in her teeth as she ran out the door. Luna ran after her.

 

"Usagi!" Luna called out. "Don't forget that errand you were supposed to run!"

 

"I dumf herv tmm!!" Usagi mumbled through the toast.

 

"I can't understand you!" Luna snapped.

 

Still running the whole time, Usagi pulled the toast out of her mouth. "I said, I don't have time! I'll do it after school or something!!"

 

Luna sighed and stopped running, just as Usagi kicked into a burst of speed and zoomed down the sidewalk leaving a trail of smoke.

 

"Don't know why I bother," the cat remarked.

 

"It's tough work," came the voice of Artemis, from atop a fence.

 

"You can say that again," Luna replied dryly. "How long have you been there, anyway?"

 

"Long enough. Luckily for me, Minako made it on time."

 

"Usagi will too," Luna said amusedly.

 

"Hm?" wondered a confused Artemis.

 

"I set her alarm clock ahead 30 minutes. Late on the first day of school, that would just be too much. Maybe this will make her tired tonight, and she'll sleep earlier... I might fix the whole year!"

 

Artemis grinned at the amusing trick. "I don't think you should get TOO optimistic yet..."

 

Luna sat for a second, then lowered her head. "Yes, you're right. She'll probably break the thing in a few days. Though I doubt she'll figure out what's wrong with it..."

 

Luna hopped onto the fence beside Artemis. Neither said anything for a few moments, merely enjoying the presence of each other, and the warm morning sunshine.

 

"Whaddaya say we go do something?" Artemis suggested.

 

Luna looked away, insulted. "For a moment I thought you were enjoying the mood."

 

Artemis looked around innocently. "Well, we can't stay here FOREVER," came his excuse.

 

"I think I'll get a nap, so I have some vitality to keep an eye on that girl with," Luna decided.

 

"Right, sounds like a good idea. I'll see you around then, Luna," said Artemis, walking off down the fence post.

 

"What a dense cat..." Luna said under her breath, strutting the opposite way, back to the house.

 

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Usagi ran into the school building, only to see the halls packed with students. "Oh no, I must've missed homeroom entirely!! They're already going to claaaass!!!"

 

Doubling her speed, nearly hitting people left and right, Usagi burst into her classroom, only to see a select few students.

 

"Usagi-chan?!" Naru exclaimed. "What're you doing here early? On the first day of school, even!!" she walked over to her meatball-headed friend.

 

"I... I thought I was really late! I was running really fast to get here on time!" Usagi explained, still a bit out of breath.

 

"It's good to see you," Naru said, suddenly changing topics. She looked really happy.

 

"What do you mean?" Usagi wondered.

 

"I was out of town all summer, remember?" said Naru. "My mom had that traveling jewelry show, and I had to go too. I told you at the end of the year last year."

 

Usagi laughed at herself. "Yeah, sorry, I remember. My memory was just slipping. It's too early in the morning for my brain to work."

 

Naru laughed too. "It's okay. I'm used to that from you by now."

 

Usagi smiled, then looked around. "Do you know who's in our class this year?"

 

Naru glanced skywards in momentary thought. "Well... your friend Ami's in here..." she said, pointing to the back, where Ami was reading a book.

 

A large sweatdrop formed at the back of Usagi's head. "I didn't even notice her back there..."

 

"Yeah, she's real into books even on the first day," Naru noted in amazement. "Anyway, there's her, but nobody else we really know."

 

Usagi nodded. "Umino-kun got put in another class," Naru added, hard to tell if she was upset or happy.

 

"Maybe we'll see him next year?" Usagi suggested, watching her tone, never ever wanting to sound like she liked the guy, but not sounding disgusted either. "Maybe a year away from us will cool him off."

 

Naru laughed. "Yeah... as if."

 

They both laughed.

 

A bland, middle-aged man came in and sat at the desk. "So much for Sakurada-sensei," Usagi noted.

 

"You don't seem disappointed," Naru joked. "I thought you liked her!"

 

Usagi gave Naru a cold glare. "That's not funny... she was so critical and judgmental of me, and she was just waiting for a good chance to embarrass me in front of everyone! Sakurada Haruna was a low-down, awful teacher!!"

 

Naru looked around nervously. "Um, keep it down, Usagi-chan," she said nervously.

 

"I'm just a substitute," the man at the desk interjected. "You'll have Haruna tomorrow."

 

"So much for that..." Usagi sighed, her face collapsing onto her desk.

 

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Minako came into her new classroom and looked around. She realized she didn't know anybody in there except a few names and faces, vaguely.

 

"Ah, the lovely Miss Aino Minako!!" rang an annoying voice. Minako took a fearful step back as a strange creature surfaced in front of her. A short, nerdy individual with ridiculous glasses.

 

"Eheheh... who might you be?" she humored him, sounding interested.

 

"I'm glad you asked," he responded properly. "My name is Umino Gurio. I'm a good friend of your friend Usagi, and I'm looking forward to spending the next year learning with you!"

 

"Wonderful," Minako groaned.

 

He raised his finger in a fact-stating manner. "Among my interests are geology, electronics and computers, entomology (that's the study of insects, if you didn't know) and-"

 

"Listen, we don't have time to go on like this," Minako told him, desperate to get his mouth shut. "Class will start soon!"

 

"You know, you're right," he said, putting his thumb to his chin. "I have my grades to keep up."

 

"Yeah! Grades!" Minako agreed with unbridled mock enthusiasm. "So why don't you go find a seat and start getting in a good mindset to learn!"

 

"Excellent idea, Miss Aino! I guess Usagi was wrong when she said you were a bad student like her."

 

"She said what?!" Minako growled, but Umino was already walking to a desk. Noticing that he was sitting near the front, Minako took a seat near the back.

 

The seats began filling, and the clock dwindled down... Minako noticed the only desk left was one next to her. Then the bell rang.

 

"Welcome to your new year of school, class," said the teacher, a middle-aged lady, with dark hair and a committed expression. "I will be your new teacher, Funaki-sensei. I'm not too strict and I look forward to having a good year with all of you. But first off, I will take attendance, and make sure all of you are here.

 

Hiroyuki? Hiroyuki Yuji?"

 

"Here!" called a boy.

 

As role call went on, Minako glanced the room for cute boys. None were all that impressive... maybe, just maybe... a real looker would come in last-minute and sit next to her, she hoped.

 

The doorknob turned, and opened slowly... the kid Rei saw at the shrine came in hesitantly.

 

"May I help you?" Funaki-sensei asked.

 

"I'm in this class," he said timidly.

 

"You are? What's your name?" she inquired.

 

"Hiryu. Tsukamaru Hiryu."

 

"Well, you're late," she said, "but go ahead and find a seat. I'll overlook it today."

 

"Tsukamaru Hiryu?" Minako asked herself in a whisper. "Looks kinda weird. Can't really tell if he's cute..."

 

Hiryu lowered his head as he went, avoiding the countless stares from his new classmates. He took the seat by Minako and looked at the desk emptily.

 

"He is sorta cute I guess," Minako decided, "In that quiet sort of way."

 

The most obvious thing Minako noticed was that Hiryu was extremely shy and nervous. His head kept aiming downwards and his eyes were always escaping from making contact. Something was interesting about him, though.

 

"Um, Hiryu-san?" Minako said quietly. Hiryu glanced over at her.

 

"Yes?" he asked.

 

"You're new here, aren't you?"

 

"Yeah," he said.

 

"Do you need me to show you around?" she offered politely.

 

"No... that's okay," Hiryu replied.

 

"Really? Well if you change your mind, let me know."

 

"Ok."

 

"My name's Minako, by the way."

 

"Aino Minako?" the teacher's voice called out.

 

"Um... here!!" Minako answered.

 

"And then Tsukamaru Hiryu's there next to you? All right, let's begin class, then."

 

"I'll talk to you after class, ok?" said Minako.

 

"Sure," Hiryu said weakly.

 

Minako laughed softly and started paying attention as the class began.