Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ The Odango and the Baka ❯ Chapter 10 ( Chapter 10 )

The Odango and the Baka- Chapter 10

Lady Catherine

catty1324@hotmail.com

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon.

Author's Notes: Je suis desolee!!! I am profusely sorry for how long it has taken me to write another chapter of this story. I got incredibly busy with school and I haven't had more than a few days off at a time, during which I usually sleep. I am certainly very appreciative of all of the reviews that I have gotten since that last chapter and I thank those of you who have just recently reviewed my story. It was seeing all the reviews in the past few weeks that made me decide to continue. It has been so long that I had to go back and reread my story. I am rather appalled at the quantity of typos that I have found. I will try to proofread more carefully with this chapter. I don't really remember exactly where this story was going before I put it on hiatus but I think I can muddle my way through a decent plot. Please review me. I really need some serious criticism about my writing style. I think personally that it could use some work but that's what your reviews will tell me. (Mainly I think that my dialogue is a bit stilted but that could just be me.) Also, is my word choice appropriate or odd?

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~*Lunchtime*~

Usagi's morning had been going well and was now interrupted by her favorite subject of the day. Lunch. She went to the shelf that had her coat and lunch and grabbed them. She turned and waited for her friends to hurry up.

"Are you guys coming or what?" She began to shift her weight from side to side, becoming her usual self yet again. She had been slipping back and forth between the controlled Usagi and the normal Usagi and it was amazing to see the difference between the two.

"Hold your horses Usagi! The rest of us didn't make a mad dash for the door the second the bell rang." This was said by a panting Ami as she grabbed her things from where she had put them on the shelf next to Usagi's that morning. "I want to eat too you know. Just be a little bit more patient Usagi," she gently admonished her.

"I know. It's just that I have been so good this morning that I really need to get out of the classroom. I need to let out all the energy I stored up these past few hours." She was still hopping back and forth and Ami just sighed and walked out the door with a bouncing blonde right behind her.

Lunch was an enjoyable affair for Usagi because it included food. By the end she had driven her friends nuts and was on her way back to being the usual Usagi. However, as soon as the bell rang for the end of lunch she composed herself and was back to the calm Usagi of the morning by the time she reentered the classroom.

The rest of the afternoon was as interminably long to Usagi as the morning had been and by the time the final bell rang she was actually looking forward to her tutoring session with Mamoru.

"I never thought that would happen," she said quietly to herself as she collected her books and sweater and walked out the door. Her friends had gone on without her and she walked slowly to the front of the school. When she got there she saw Mamoru leaning against the side of a black sports car. He was wearing black sunglasses and (of course) his horrid green jacket and perked up when he saw her emerge from the doors of the school.

"Hey Odango! How was your day?" He grinned at her as she walked towards him.

"LONG! I swear when you actually pay attention it takes twice as long for lunch to arrive. And don't call me Odango!" She had reached him and was now looking up at him indignantly. He just smiled down at her and laughed.

"Come on and get in the car. We've got studying to do." He turned and opened the car door for her. She got in and was slightly awed by the lushness of the interior. It was black leather and had a very expensive looking stereo.

"WOW! Nice car."

"Thanks, I like it too." He grinned at her charmingly and started the car. As he pulled away from the curb he looked over at her and smiled. "We are going to have fun with this Usagi." She gave a small snort of disbelief but wisely refrained from commenting.

It was a short drive to his apartment building and he pulled into the underground parking lot. They got out and walked to the elevators. While they were waiting he surreptitiously looked her over. She looked like her normal Odango-ed self but there was a different air about her today. Shrugging, he guided her in to the elevator with his hand on the small of her back.

As they walked down the hall to his apartment after getting off the elevator on the 23rd floor, he realized where his hand was and quickly removed it. She hadn't seemed to notice but he wasn't quite sure why he had done it in the first place. He stopped in front of his apartment and unlocked the door. He ushered her in and showed her where to put her shoes and coat.

"I have plenty of snacks stocked up so I think that we should get whatever we want now and then sit down to work. Do you have a lot of assignments?" He looked at her questioningly.

"Kinda. Mainly I just need your help with the English and math. I talked with my teacher today and told her that I had gotten a tutor and she agreed that as long as I was working harder she would allow some assignments to be incorrect, as long as I showed improvement quickly that is. She also had only good things to say about you." Usagi smiled up at him and he couldn't help but blush lightly. "Can we have snacks now? I'm hungry." She headed in the direction of what she assumed was the kitchen, pausing only to put her schoolbag on the dining room table as she walked past it. Mamoru, still standing by the door could hear her opening cupboards and squealing with joy at the array of goodies she had uncovered.

"Bring me out something too Usagi." He sat at the table and waited for her to bring him some sugar-laden sustenance. He was tempted to open her bag and get out her assignments but he knew that invading her privacy would only raise her ire and would not get the tutoring off to a good start. He started as she burst back into the room carrying a tray filled with chips, cookies, and sodas. "Think you've got enough there?" He chuckled lightly.

"Barely. Here is yours." She plopped down in the chair next to him and divvied up the booty. Next she opened her bag and pulled out her books. "I have an English passage to translate, 15 math problems, and some assorted history and geography. I can probably manage the last two on my own if we run out of time but the others I really need help on." She looked at him hopefully and something gave a quick twist inside of him at the sight of her expression.

"Don't you worry. We'll get everything done. It's only 3:30 and we have until 6 o'clock. Now let's get started." He took the English passage from her hand and had her read it out loud, occasionally helping her with some pronunciation. He soon realized that she knew much more than she gave herself credit for, but he was reluctant to bring it up for some reason. He liked her being in his apartment and was glad that he had accepted the job. That is, he was glad until it came time for math.

Math was Usagi's worst subject, plain and simple. It just did not click in her mind. The different equations and concepts, once learned, were soon pushed out by the new material meaning she learned next to nothing. Even worse, she was so discouraged and self-conscious that he felt badly for her. He spent over an hour trying to explain the intricacies of the quadratic equation, very little of which she actually absorbed. It was getting close to 5:30 and they had yet to look at her history or geography.

"Well Usagi, math is definitely something we need to work on but let's give it a rest for now and do some history." He leaned back and stretched as he watched her sigh heavily.

"I don't know why I have so many problems with math. I tried really hard today and it still is over my head." She slumped down in her seat and looked at him dejectedly.

Disturbed to see the normally bouncy Usagi so sad he quickly began praising her. "I think that you actually learned a lot today. The English went very well and I think that I will eventually be able to get the math into your head. Now however it is time to do history." He pulled out her history book and looked over the assignment. "This shouldn't be too hard." He smiled and they began. They were soon done and in record time Usagi had all of her homework at least attempted and most done. They had just finished when Mamoru looked at the clock, which read 6:10. "Oops Usagi, we have got to go now unless we want to be late."

They scurried to clean up the food debris and Usagi hastily packed up her bag. They rushed to the door grabbed jackets and shoes and were putting them on as they ran down the hall to the elevator. They made it to his car in record time and were soon on their way to Usagi's house for dinner.

They arrived on time thanks to Mamoru's agile driving abilities, about which Usagi would never tell her father. They were greeted at the door by her mother who looked pleased to see them on time.

"Welcome Mamoru. I am glad that you were able to join us for dinner. Don't worry, I his Kenji's shotgun so you are safe." Mamoru cringed at the mention of a shotgun and was determined ot be on his best behavior. "Usagi, take Mamoru into the living room to meet your father and then come to the kitchen and help me finish dinner." Ikuko smiled at the two and turned back into the kitchen.

Mamoru turned and looked at Usagi. "I'm not going to die tonight am I?"

"Not if my mom can help it, though I'm sure my father has a spare shotgun somewhere." As he blanched she let out a small giggle. "I'm kidding. My mom and I will keep you out of harm's way. Come on, it's time to meet your fate." Giggling, she led him down the hall to the living room.

Kenji was sitting on a chair and reading the paper. He looked up when they entered and scowled when he saw Mamoru. He beckoned to them to sit on the couch in front of him and they did so, Usagi with alacrity and Mamoru with a decided hesitancy.

"How did your tutoring session go today?" He looked stonily at Mamoru and smiled at his daughter.

"It went very well I think. We attempted to get all of her homework done correctly and I think that she did learn some new tricks to help her learn better." Mamoru was sitting rigidly straight and looked horridly nervous.

Taking pity on him Usagi spoke up. "It was good daddy. He really helped me with my English and I think with his help I might just have a prayer in math." She smiled at her father in her best attempt to charm him and it worked. Her father smiled at them both and Usagi got up to go help her mother, leaving Mamoru and her father to their conversation.

"So Mamoru what grade are you in?"

"I'm a senior at Azabu high school."

"What do you plan do to after high school?"

"I am going to go to college and then medical school. I don't know where yet."

"What do your parents do?"

Mamoru had paused after this last question but slowly he answered. "My parents died when I was six. I have an apartment of my own and a trust fund." Usagi had been coming to call them to dinner and had heard his answer.

`That explains a lot about him. I noticed that there weren't any pictures in his apartment but I didn't want to ask.' Usagi shook her head and turned to go into the living room. "Dad that's enough interrogation for one night. Come on its time to eat." She beckoned her father out the door and grabbed Mamoru by the arm. "Come on. You'll like dinner. Mom made all of my favorites and I `m sure you'll like them." She smiled up at him, trying to get the slightly melancholy expression off his face.

"I'm sure I will too." He smiled down at her and she pulled him towards the dining room.

They sat at the table and waited for her mother and brother to join them. Usagi's father looked thoughtfully at Mamoru and thought about what the boy had told him. He was glad that the boy was determined to do something with his life and was sorry that his parents had died when he was so young. All in all he decided that he liked Mamoru and decided his former misgivings were unreasonable.

"Here's the food everyone. Eat up." Ikuko came in carrying several dishes of steaming, aromatic food and placed them around the table. "Shingo decided to stay at his friends house for dinner tonight so we can begin now. Usagi please pass the rice." Usagi obeyed her mother and soon everyone had full plates and was eating enthusiastically.

"This food is excellent Tsukino-san. Thank you for inviting me to dinner. This is the best meal that I have had in a long time." He smiled and then looked down at his plate to continue eating.

"I'm glad that you are enjoying it." She smiled at him and then smiled at Usagi. They continued eating in silence, concentrating only on the food. Once they were done and the dishes were cleared that sat at the table digesting to make room for dessert.

"So how did the tutoring go you guys?" asked Ikuko.

"It went great mom. We got my homework done and he really helped me with my English."

"Did you guys get along all right?" Mamoru and Usagi looked at each other as they both realized that they hadn't argued all afternoon. It was the second time in three days that they had gotten along without attempting to kill each other.

"Actually mom, I just realized that we haven't fought all afternoon. How odd." Usagi sat there looking perplexed as her mother just smiled.

"I knew that you two could get along if you tried. I'm glad that things are working out so well. Now however, lets have dessert." She got up from the table to get the dessert form the kitchen.

"I'll help." Usagi got up from the table and followed her mother.

"Thanks for helping sweetie. However did you manage to get along with Mamoru today? I thought that you two were mortal enemies."

"I honestly have no idea mom. We didn't even realize that we weren't fighting. It's a repeat of Saturday."

"What happened on Saturday?"

"When I went to the arcade I surprised Motoki so much he passed out so Mamoru and I had to run the arcade for a few hours and we didn't fight once. We didn't even realize it until the girls showed up and were shocked by it. It was really weird." Usagi shrugged and set about getting out plates for dessert. Her mother made no comment and they silently went back into the dining room.

"Here's dessert guys. I hope you like it. I made a cake. Chocolate."

"Mmm. Sounds delicious Tsukino-san. Thank you."

"Here's your piece Mamoru." Usagi handed him a large chunk of the cake. "Daddy." She sat down and started to eat her own.

Soon they had all finished eating and Mamoru decided that it was time for him to go.

"Thanks for dinner Tsukino-san. It was delicious and I really7 enjoyed myself this evening."

"Goodbye Mamoru. I am glad that you enjoyed dinner." Ikuko smiled at him and turned back into the kitchen.

"Goodbye young man. I am glad that you came tonight. I hope to see you again soon." Kenji nodded at him and went back to reading the paper.

"Come on Mamoru. I'll walk you to the door." Usagi led him to the door and smiled at him. "I'm glad that you came tonight and thank you for your help this afternoon. I really learned a lot. I'm also glad that we got along. It certainly made things easier. Thank you."

"I agree Usagi. I'll see you tomorrow at three. Good night." He smiled and was gone. Usagi simply stood there for a minute and then turned and then turned and went up to her room.

She entered her room and saw Luna sitting on the bed. She sat down next to her guardian and stroked her fur.

"How was tutoring and dinner Usagi?"

"It was great but something odd happened."

"What?"

"We got along again and we didn't even realize it. That's the second time in three days. This is weird. I don't understand how all of a sudden we can get along after fighting for so long."

"Don't worry about it Usagi. We'll ask Ami to look into it tomorrow. I'm glad that tutoring went well but now is time for bed. Who knows when the Negaverse will decide to attack again?"

"You're right Luna." Usagi got ready for bed and didn't notice that Luna looked just as perplexed as she felt. She got into bed, switched out the light and wiggled around until she was comfortable. "Goodnight Luna."

"Goodnight Usagi."

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That's all for now. I think that's the longest chapter I've written to date. Please give me feedback on my writing style. I want to be able to make my writing better for anyone who reads my work. Thanks again!

Lady Catherine