Planet Bound: Mercury
by Marj
Author's Notes:
Hmm, the second chapter came two days before New Year! It's kind
of my fault - I would have been able to post this part earlier if it
wasn't for me not being able to decide on a proper name for a . . . now
why should I tell you? *^^*
The next chapter will take a while, okay? Okay, not okay for
those who really want to read it, but school is coming up, and I'm not
really sure if I'll be able to finish it on time.
Anyway, thanks to my editor Kismet-chan, to Joanne, Penny, Eva,
Sailor Soul, Small Angel, ChibiChibi, Remembrance and Z, for writing to
me and on my guestbook. Your messages mean so much to me!
Other Notes:
arigato - thank you
ganbatte - good luck
--hakase - Doctor --
iie - no
ja ne - see you later
minna - everyone/everybody
ohayo - good morning
okaa-san - mother
sayonara - good-bye
sempai - older classman
Please e-mail your comments and constructive criticisms at
. Arigato!
Disclaimers: The characters of Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon were created
by Naoko Takeuchi-san, its copyright owned by Toei Animation, Kodansha,
Nakayoshi, Sterling Animation Inc., and many other companies scattered
throughout the world. Meaning, I cannot claim the characters as my
own, and am mearly borrowing them. So please don't sue, as I don't
earn anything from this other than the satisfaction of making a story.
CHAPTER TWO: HIGH SCHOOL CONTESTS
Ami was passing through the hallway on her way to her classroom when
she saw a large group of students surrounding a large bulletin board
located at the middle of the wall. It was the results of their most
recent exam which they had taken a few days back, the one that Usagi
had emerged from practically wailing that she had failed.
Ami thought, though she was
already pretty sure what hers was.
To her surprise, Usagi and Makoto were already there. Makoto's hand
was patting Usagi's back, while Usagi looked *very* pleased with
herself. "Ami-chan!!!" Usagi said, her smile growing wider.
"Ohayo, Usagi-chan, Mako-chan. With that smile, I guess that means
that you passed, right?" Ami asked Usagi.
Makoto shook her head. "More than passed, Ami. She got an 84!!! And
she was just whining about how much she didn't want to see her grade
because she was *so* sure she failed!"
"That's wonderful! Congratulations, Usagi-chan!"
"Arigato, arigato! I couldn't have done it without my wonderful study
mates, especially Mizuno Ami!" Usagi said, looking and sounding as
though she had just won a contest.
Ami shook her head. "You did that on your own, Usagi. We just
encouraged you a bit."
Makoto smiled at Ami. "You're too modest."
"What was your score, Mako-chan?"
"Seventy. I had trouble with the second part of the exam." Makoto
shrugged.
"But you still did better than a passing grade!"
Usagi came up and embraced her friends from behind. "This calls for a
celebration!"
Makoto and Ami laughed along with their exuberant friend. "But Usagi,
lately you've been getting grades as high as that all the time!" Makoto
said.
"That's exactly *it*!! I *am* getting higher grades than my usual 30s!
This is the year Tsukino Usagi is going to prove to the world that she
can carry out her duties as the future queen of Crystal Tokyo!" Usagi
raised her hand in the air in a victory sign.
Students passing by who had heard her turned to Usagi with funny looks
on their faces before increasing their pace in their rush to get away.
"Or proving to Rei that you can graduate from high school," Makoto
said, winking at Ami.
Ami muffled a giggle.
Usagi started marching towards their classroom. "C'mon! Let's get to
class! I feel ready to take up derivations and integrations again!"
Pausing in mid-step, she turned around and sheepishly faced her
friends. "I can't believe I just said that."
Makoto groaned while Ami stifled another giggle. Turning her head to
her right, she glanced at the very top of the bulletin board and found
what she was looking for. Satisfied with what she saw - her name,
indicating that she was at the top rank again - she followed her
friends to their classroom, where calculus awaited them.
*****
While their math professor was in the middle of discussing triple
integrals in spherical coordinates, the loud speaker crackled and came
to life. The chalk stopped scratching a complex mathematical equation
on the board as the teacher paused to listen to the announcement.
Ami did not listen long so she could answer the problem on the board in
her notebook. As soon as she circled the final answer, she sat up
straighter and paid attention to their principal, who was supposedly
saying something of utmost importance.
" - time of the year when high schools from all over Juuban and
neighboring districts create groups of two and participate in the most
anticipated high school quiz bee contest, the Otani Tokyo High School
Competition. Two students, nominated by their fellow students and
teachers . . ."
Now why did Ami feel like everybody's eyes were on her?
". . . will undergo numerous study sessions with two other students
from our partner school in preparation for the said contest. This is a
special event, for our school has yet to present worthy contenders to
the crown.
Students, this is now your chance to nominate two of your best
graduating schoolmates in Juuban High School. Those nominated will be
screened by your professors, who will then decide who the final
contestants will be. The winners of the said contest . . . "
All the students already knew the prizes they could earn by winning the
tournament. Only college offers and scholarship grants from the most
prestigious universities in Tokyo, not to mention prize money, would be
given away to those who emerged successful from the contest. And who
wouldn't know? Ami had heard the same announcement every year of her
high school life, and the results were always the same - their team
would lose by a few points. Although Ami considered it a challenge -
and she *loved* mental challenges - she was not a graduating student
during the two years that they had lost, and therefore was not
qualified to compete. But now that she was . . .
When the bell rang, signaling the end of their math class, Usagi and
Makoto approached Ami at her desk. "Without a doubt, Ami's going to be
one of those competitors on our team," Makoto said, sitting down on the
nearest available chair.
Ami shook her head. "I'm sure there are others who are more qualified
than I . . ."
Usagi and Makoto looked at each other, and laughed. "Oh, c'mon, Ami!
You can't fool us! We know how much you wanted to be in that contest
years ago! Besides, did you see the looks our classmates and teacher
gave you as soon as the principal said "nominate"? They were looking
at you as if their lives depended on it!" Usagi said.
Makoto placed a hand on Ami's shoulder and nodded. "Yup. When it
comes to intellectual stuff, nobody could be smarter than you, Ami-
chan. It's known all over Japan that the name Mizuno Ami tops all the
national exams every year!!! I'll bet you'll win the crown for us just
by stepping on the stage and announcing that you're competing for the
Juuban team!"
"The other schools will give up right away!" Usagi laughed even more.
Ami could only smile. Sometimes, her best friends had the tendency to
exaggerate a lot.
Well, okay, not sometimes. Most of the time.
She soon found out that the rest of the Juuban High School population
shared the same sentiments as her friends.
"Ami-chan, ganbatte!" a girl Ami barely knew cheered as she, Usagi, and
Makoto passed by.
"You'll bring home the crown for us this year, Ami-sempai, we're sure
of it!" A crowd of underclassmen called out.
"Make your alma mater proud, Mizuno-san!" One of their teachers said.
By the time they were dismissed and were taking their shoes out of
their wooden lockers, Ami's face was an almost permanent shade of red.
Makoto whistled. "With the way everyone's acting, Ami can participate
as a one-woman team!"
Usagi giggled.
"There are other students who also deserve to be nominated!" Ami
protested.
"Like who? Mercurius?" Usagi asked, a sly look on her face.
If it had been possible, Ami would have blushed even more. Mercurius
was a student who had kept sharing the same highest scores with her
during the national high school mock examinations back in 8th grade.
Ami considered him her "greatest challenge" and actually "enjoyed" all
the studies and examinations she had to go through just to defeat him.
Sometime during those few weeks of sheer pressure and stress on her
behalf, she had deducted on her own that Mercurius was actually a youma
who was trying to beat her. By chance, a youma did visit her, and she
defeated it, thinking all the while that it was her rival.
Usagi, Rei, Makoto and Minako knew better though, as they had seen the
actual Mercurius himself - a guy whose appearance and behavior were
similar to Umino Gurio's. They never did told Ami until Mercurius
suddenly disappeared from the examinations and she had calmed down
considerably.
After that incident, it had become a regular joke - sometimes an excuse
- for her friends to say that they would not study anymore and let
their grades stay where they were, lest Ami consider them rivals and
kill them in combat.
"Iie! Other students!" Ami said, placing her white and blue school
shoes inside her locker and slamming it shut.
A few minutes later, the three friends emerged from the front door of
the high school and proceeded to walk on their way home together.
Usagi had her arms behind her head, her school bag dangling behind her.
"It would be nice to know who the other students would be . . ." she
told her friends.
"Well, we were given the right to nominate the participants," Makoto
said.
"But the teachers get to choose the final two," Ami reminded them.
"Did you hear which school will be our partner this year?" Makoto
asked.
Usagi shook her head. "Iie. Although I certainly hope it will be Rei-
chan's. Her school has won the championship for four years, regardless
of who their partner was!"
"Well, T*A Girls High School *does* have plenty of intelligent students
studying there," Ami said. "It'll be worth the challenge if we were
paired off against them."
"You mean *you* would consider it a challenge if you were to play
against them," Makoto corrected, giving Ami a sly look that made her
blush - again. "Anything that has to do with other people beating your
high scores is something you look out for."
"Or a score you earned that is even one point below the perfect one!"
Usagi added, smiling widely.
"Pe - perhaps . . ." Ami said, slightly embarrassed at her friends's
descriptions of her, which were not really far from the truth.
"But back to my original question. Which school will be our partner
for this year?” Makoto asked once more.
Usagi and Ami shrugged. "The principal didn't say anything. Did he,
Ami-chan?" Usagi looked at Ami.
Ami shook her head as she replayed the announcement in her head. "Iie
. . . I don't remember him mentioning the name of a school other than
ours."
The three friends came upon a fork in the road where they were about to
go their separate ways. They paused on the sidewalk, continuing their
discussion for a moment before they parted for the rest of the
afternoon.
"Do you think Rei-chan already knows her school's partner?" Usagi
asked, moving slightly to the side as she let a group of kindergarten
students run past them as they scurried on their way to a nearby park.
"Why don’t you give her a call tonight and see?" Ami suggested. "We
would have been at the shrine to study today if it hadn't been for my
okaa-san being out late tonight."
"Another big operation?" Makoto asked.
"More of a big dinner meeting with the board of directors. Things
haven't been the same since she was appointed head of the surgery
department."
Usagi looked at her sympathetically. "Why don't you stay over at my
place? It gets really lonely when you're all alone with no one to talk
to."
Ami smiled gratefully at her friend. "Thanks, but no thanks. I'm used
to it already."
"Besides, have you forgotten, Usagi-chan? She has her books to keep
her company!" Makoto winked at Usagi. Usagi just laughed.
"Right. So we'll see you tomorrow, Ami-chan?"
Ami nodded. "Until then!"
"Just pick up the phone if you need someone to talk to, okay? Ja ne,
minna!" Makoto said, waving her free hand just before leaving.
"Sayonara!" Usagi started walking on the opposite street.
After seeing her friends off, Ami headed off towards the high-rise
building where her family's condominium was, just a few blocks away
from where they had parted. Her mind temporarily relieved of the
upcoming event, she focused on her mother's most recent promotion at
the hospital, and on how much this had affected their everyday lives.
Ami thought while putting her key to
the door of their quarters.
She walked towards her room to drop her school bag on her bed, then she
went back to their living room, where she noticed the flickering red
light on their answering machine. Pushing a button on the device, Ami
listened to the numerous messages the machine had recorded while she
made her dinner for that night. Most of them were messages that had
never been heard that morning when her mother rushed to the hospital
very early due to an emergency call.
"Mizuno-hakase, we just called to remind you of your 2:00 p.m.
operation with Kawashimi-hakase. The patient's name is Hayase
Sentarou, age 35 . . ."
"Don't forget the board meeting tonight, Risa! We'll be expecting
you!"
"Mizuno-hakase? This is Miyamoto Yukina, your patient? I was just
wondering what time you'll be at your clinic today . . ."
"Mizuno-hakase, it's Sayoko. I'll be a little late today - my
relatives had arrived unexpectedly, and . . . "
"Hello, Ami? It's your dad."
The plate that Ami had just taken from the cabinet smashed into
thousands of little pieces on the kitchen floor.
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