Chapter 3
May 2nd, 7:30 a.m.
Luna
    "Pi-pi! Pi-pi! Pi-pi!!"
    "Usagi, will you ever get up!.." I moaned sleepishly from the windowsill.
    "Shut up, Luna," came the reply.
    "Whom are you speaking to??" asked a new voice.
    I wide-opened my eyes: "Who's that?"
    "Where?.." Usagi muffled into the pillow. Then her shaggy head arose... on her bed's level.
    She fell off the bed?..
    Usagi squinted at her bunny clock, which was still pi-piing: "Luna, I'll be sleeping for fifteen more minutes; don't turn off the alarm..."
    Her hairy head disappeared...
    Then she sat up in her bed, staring at me, just like I was staring at her.
    Wait a minute! Since when Usagi dyed her hair white??.. And took away her hair buns?.. And wore long, lavender, silk night gowns to sleep?..
    Then it hit me.
    Ochitsukiko stretched her neck to look out of the window behind my back.
    I assumed she wanted to see if there was anyone Usagi was speaking to.
    Great. Now I can't talk. Fabulous.
    Ochitsukiko blinked blankly, sighed deeply, glanced at the bunny-clock behind her, and plopped its ears down. Then she stepped over Usagi, sprawled on the floor in a sleeping bag, and flew into the bathroom. (No, she's not a witch; don't burn her.)
    I got off the windowsill and jumped up on Usagi's bed, because I just LOVE to lie there for a while, after Usagi slept in it — warm!!
    But the place was already occupied. On the pillow was seated the white cat from yesterday.
    "Hey! You! King Kong! Get off!" I yelled. "Some cat... You can't even speak!"
    King Kong's eyes rode out.
    "Get off my bed, I said! This seat's saved!"
    The bathroom's door opened and Ochitsukiko peeped out.
    "Nyao." I grinned sweetly at her, showing my fangs.
    "Never mind," she told me.
    The door closed.

May 2nd, 8:13 a.m.
Mamoru
    I was standing before Usagi's house.
    I guess I really shouldn't shout at her yesterday.
    I wasn't right, after all.
    I'll apologize.
    I fingered a red rose in my hand.
    Usagi loves those.
    Hope that'll help me...
    Maybe everything'll be okay, and I could pick her up at lunch and we could have it together...
    After all, even if she's a child, I still —
    This moment, the front door was opened, and she glided out, closing it  softly behind her...
    Her long hair was parted in its usual two long and graceful tails...
    Her face was filled with serenity...
    Her uniform was neatly ironed and even seemed beautiful on her...
    CHILD!? NO WAY!!
    "Hi, Usagi!" I called out nervously.
    She stopped and stared up at me.
    No, I mean, she GAPED at me.
    Well, at least she isn't screaming, or slapping me, or stomping on me, or crying, or anything.
    Good sign.
    I thought that I should start.
    I gave her the rose.
    She accepted it, still staring.
    "Usako... I wasn't right yesterday... I shouldn't yell..." Then I had no idea what else to say, so I just added: "I'm sorry."
    She didn't react any way.
    Just gaped.
    I decided that it's time for a kiss.  "The best way to make up with your girlfriend, is to kiss her," a friend once told me.
    So I did.
    Then, to my surprise, she slipped her arms around me and kissed me back.
    I assumed she wasn't angry...
    I broke the kiss and gazed down into the familiar depths of her open blue eyes...
    Suddenly, a shaggy blonde head appeared in Usagi's window above.
    Huh?..
    The head disappeared.
    Next second, the front door flew open and there was boiling hot Usagi in a short, pink baby Tee, white lacy panties and one fuzzy bunny slipper.
    I didn't get it.
    I looked down at the girl I just kis —
    Oi.
    I jerked away from her.
    "Mamo-chan. What do you think you're doing?!" Usagi spat out.
    "Uh, I'm not doing anything now," I said hastily.
    She fumed. "But what WERE you doing, Mamo-chan?!! You!.. You!!.. You were kissing my COUSIN!!!"
    "Your... cousin?" I turned to the cousin and smiled nervously. "What's your name?"
    "Ochitsukiko," she whispered.
    "'Calmness'? Nice name," I complimented. "It totally describes you."
    I mean, really. At the moment she was as calm as a rock.
    To not compare to someone else in particular...
    "Mamo-chan!!?" Usagi's yelp broke the silence. "NOW what are you doing?!!"
    I faced her. "Quit yelling at me! Does a person not have the right to be mistaken, since you two look so much alike?"
    "Stop talking to me like I'm a child!" she shouted crossly.
    "And who are you?! Look at yourself!" I snapped.
    She looked. And blushed. "And so?! Look at YOURSELF!! You stand by my house, kissing some girl! Much better?!"
    "You know," I raised my voice. "I am becoming very sick of you!"
    "Boy, and how do YOU stink! I'll throw up!" She pretended to gag.
    I sized her up: "CHILD."
    "I'm NOT a child!! YOU always treat me like a child! I hate you! Jerk! Idiot! Darned protector! You don't protect me one bit! I don't know what I've ever seen in you!"
    What the hell does it have to do with this???????
    I clenched my teeth. "I better not tell you what I really am thinking; it is not for a CHILD'S ears." I whirled around and stomped away.
    As I was about to cross the street, I heard Ochitsukiko asking, "Does it mean you broke up? Is he free??" Usagi replying, "Yeah, he's free! He's totally and absolutely free and is waiting for you! Stick him to your butt, I don't care!" and the sound of a door slamming.
    Oh, great.
    So we broke up.

May 2nd, 8:25 a.m.
Usagi
    I stomped up the stares.
    Hate him!! How COULD he!!! Child's ears?!! No, that's it!! I can't stand him any longer!!! Is a boyfriend supposed to be like that?! Then I don't need ANY boyfriends, if they all act like this! Maybe Mamo...ru is really too old for me. Younger guys fit me better. Or at least if he'd treat me like who I am...
    SHIT!
    I went into my room, dark as night, (I was dark as night, not the room, I mean) and saw Luna at the windowsill.
    "I heard everything," she informed me.
    I had to shower my anger at somebody.
    "SO YOU EAVESDROPPED?!!" I yelled. "LUNA!! How dare you?!!!?"
    The traitor looked at me solemnly. "Actually, I wasn't eavesdropping."
    "And what else were you doing!?"
    "Listening."
    "Whatever! Who let you?!?"
    "I couldn't help it. And I'm sure all the neighborhood couldn't help listening to you guys screaming, too."
    "Oi."
    My knees gave out and I slumped down. "Man, why did we have to break up!.. It's so STUPID! I mean, he didn't have any dumb dreams, I didn't have any dumb dreams, nobody dumb attacked, nobody dumb's killed! WHAT'S the dumb problem??.." I wailed into the nowhere. I mean, Mamoru is really good, and nice, and sweet, and perfect. Except for the FACT that he kissed another girl!!!! How would you expect me to react to that?!?
    Luna sized me up, thoughtfully: "Maybe he needs a more mature woman?" she guessed.
    "You mean..." I looked down at myself. "He needs a woman with... woman with... with..." My tongue couldn't make it.
    Luna happily finished for me: "A woman with a more developed body!"
    "Aaugghhhhh!" I threw my arms across my chest protectively, my cheeks burning. "You really think so?! I haven't seen any developed things in Ochi-something's..."
    The cat nodded her head knowingly: "Well, he's a MAN, after all."
    I freaked out.
    Suddenly, thunder roared.
    Inside my room?..
    Lightning flashed.
    After the thunder??..
    POOF!
    The room was clouded with pink fog and something fell down on me from the ceiling.
    Something HEAVY.
    The lamp?..
    The mist settled down, and before me was rising... something. I mean, someone. Wearing baggy, splotchy, military, flared bell-bottoms about ten sizes bigger than they should be, 7.5 cm (three inches) high black platforms, and a black, see-through, long-sleeved top through which could be seen an also black, lacy bra. On top of that was a brown-eyed and white-pigtailed head.
    Ouchi-something??.. No-o-o... Paranoid, paranoid... She has blue eyes, while this one had brown.
    What if that's Luna, transformed into a human???
    Nah. Paranoid... Besides, the cat was at my feet.
    "Who you?!" I blurted out.
    The creature held up its head proudly: "I'm Serenity!"
    Ugh..?
    "Excuse me, which one?" eager Luna wanted to know.
    The girl blinked. "What do you mean; which one?"
    "Well, I mean that there was Queen Serenity of the Moon, and before her were approximately two hundred twenty eight generations of Queen Serenities..." The cat started ticking off each Serenity at her claws. "Then there was Princess Serenity of the Moon, then there will be Neo-Queen Serenity of the Earth, then Princess Serenity of the Earth, and then — "
    "Don't rush things," the girl interrupted. "I don't have a daughter yet."
    My mouth dropped down as the thought dawned at me: "Chibi-Usa????"
    "Yeah." She nodded.
    No-o-o-o!.. No-o-o-o-o!.. Lord, this isn't happening!!.. My dear daughter can't be like!.. Like!!.. Oi, no!!!
    I couldn't believe it. Period.
    "What have you done to yourself?!!?!" I screeched. She changed so-o-o-o much from the time I've last time seen her! What happened to that poor, pink-haired, innocent nine years old girlie??..
    Chibi-Usa plopped down onto my bed. "You mean, what have YOU helped me to do to myself, Mommy?"
    "WHAT! But, anyway, what are you wearing?!! Where did you take such... such... such CLOTHES from?!?!"
    "Oh, you gave me them, Mommy," Chibi-Usa replied innocently.
    With a trembling hand I touched her white pigtail. "What have you done to your hair??" I said in a small voice, barely above the whisper. Then I noticed three neon-pink stripes at her forelocks. "You dyed it!!?.."
    "Uh-huh."
    I numbly slid down to the floor. "Oh, my, gosh..."
    Luna climbed up on the bed and lifted Chibi-Usa's pant leg. "Hey, Usagi-chan!" she called out, fascinated. "Look! She's got an ankle tattoo!"
    "TATTOO!!!!!" I screamed.
    "Mommy, I'm twelve, after all! Relax!" Chibi-Usa patted me on my hand.
    "WHA — ?! You're — ! You're — !!!!!!"
    I fainted.
    When I regained consciousness, I saw two big brown eyes looking at me with concern.
    "Mom?.." a voice asked.
    I leaped up and clenched the eyes' owner: "You've got a TATTOO?!!!.."
    "Usagi-chan!!.." Luna yelled in my grip. "I couldn't possibly get one!!!.."
    "Uh, sorry." I released her. "So where's your tattoo?!" I yanked my daughter's pant leg up.  There was a blue-green delicate ornament around her left ankle.
    "Like it? Ami made it! She does perfect tattoos," she informed me.
    "AMI?!"
    Hell, the future's a madhouse or what!! Ami's making tattoos??!??
    "Yup! And here's another." She stretched out her middle finger.
    My eyes rode out.
    "And another." She showed me her shoulder.
    OH. MY.
    "And here's the last one I've got." She pushed down her bell-bottoms and turned around so I could see her lower-back tattoo (or maybe I should say, a BUTT tattoo?).
    "Wow! Cool!" Luna awed. Then she patted me on my foot. "Good job, MOMMY!" she added sarcastically. "You raised a picture-perfect daughter!"
    Grrrrr...
    Just then my stare fell at the bunny-clock — 8:52 a.m."
    "Aaauugghhhh!!! LATE!!"
    I sprang up and started hastily dragging up my skirt.
    Then I hit the brakes: "By the way, daughter, what the heck are you doing here???"
    "Um..." She scratched her head. "Good question... Uh... Well... Actually, I came here to ask you something."
    I didn't get it. "You mean, you went all the way here, to the past, just to ask me something??!"
    "Exactly."
    I continued with the skirt. "It must be a big question, then."
    "Yup."
    "So, what's up?"
    "I'd just like to know... how's the relationship between you and Daddy?"
    I blinked. "Daddy?.. Daddy's okay, I guess. He quit his journalist's job and is now working as a TV news reporter. He's now getting enough money to buy a new PC for himself, so he'd promised me his old laptop this week..."
    She smacked herself across her forehead: "No, not YOUR Daddy! I don't care about Grandpa! I mean, MY Daddy! Mamo-chan!"
    "Ah, you mean, Mamo...ru?" I turned my back on her, thinking that daughter's going to be crushed. Big time. But I had to say it. So... "We broke up," I announced.
    Behind me was a total silence. Could be heard a thumbtack falling off Mulder's — er, I mean, David Duchovny's poster and hitting the floor.
    I dared to peek around.
    Chibi-Usa's eyes were half that of her face. "You did WHAT!!!!!!" she screeched, terrified.
    "Uh, gotta go." I grasped my backpack, jumped into a sneaker, and charged out of the room, desperately hoping that when I'll come home from school, there will be seen no tracks of my daughter.
    Luna will explain her everything, and she'll be gone! Right?
    As I was about to race out of the front door, Mom blocked the way: "You have to eat breakfast! And how many times can you be late?!! (I glanced at the wall-clock — 8:58 a.m. Hey, a new record!!) Look at Ochitsukiko! It's the second day she's here, but she stood up at 7:30 and is long ago at school!"
    Let her stay there for good, Mommy...
    I tried to squeeze in between her and the door, but she stood her guard. "And if you're already late, anyway, then at least eat something!" She shoved me a tray with two peanut-butter-and-jelly toasts, a plate of chicken soup, a bowl of cereal, five fried eggs, a banana, and two glasses, one with milk, another with apple juice.
    SOMETHING!? Go, Mommy, feed a mammoth...
    "Mo-om! I'll be having all of this till two o'clock! And I'm on a diet!" I grabbed one toast and rushed out.
    Just then my watch peeped.
    NINE?! ALREADY?!! WHAT THE HELL!!!
    I let out a yelp and sped up to the crossing like crazy... when a yellow car nearly collided with me.
    I shrieked.
    "Usagi?!"
    It was just Haruka...
    "Oh, hi!! Could I use a ride??" Before she replied, I was in the passenger's seat.
    She shrugged and took off.
    "Haven't seen ya lately," I told her, as the wild breeze blew at my face.
    Haruka looked away at the car driving by. "Michiru and I were out of town..."
    "You and Michiru..??" I prodded her.
    "...for a month." She still wouldn't turn to me.
    "For a month???.."
    "Yeah."
    For a moment there could be heard nothing but the roar of the car.
    "Um... So have you met my sister?" Haruka asked, finally looking me in the eye.
    SISTER?!..
    "Sister?" I blinked. "What sister?"
    "MY sister! I mean, stepsister."
    "STEPSISTER??!!"
    "Yup. Ochitsukiko."
    "OCH — ?! That — that Poochi-something's your — ?!"
    I couldn't make it.
    "Well, yeah, I just found out recently... I'm sure you liked her! You two are SO much alike, it's frightening!" Haruka added.
    I grumbled something like, "Yeah, sure."
    Then it hit me.
    "But — that means!.. That means!!.. We're!!!.. I mean, you and me... We're!!!!!..." I choked.
    Haruka finished for me: "Cousins."
    I beamed. "Oh, yeah??? Boy, it's so-o-o-o nice to meet ya, cousin!!!" I shook her hand, grinning.
    She shot me a funny look. "Well, I guess we've known each other for two years... actually... So... um..."
    "Uh, yeah, right!"
    This moment Haruka yanked out her hand out of my grasp to make a wild turn, and hit the brakes before she'll smash into some jeep.
    But she touched it, anyway.
    "Oh, here's the school! See ya! Thanks for the ride... my dear newfound cousin!" I leaped out of the car and darted to the entrance, leaving Haruka speechless, and the driver of the crashed bumper's car yelling at her.

Chapter 4