Chapter 2
May 3rd, 6:10 p.m.
Luna
I
returned home from wandering around with gloomy thoughts all afternoon
and went upstairs.
When
I tried to open the door to my room, it was thrown back, then someone rushed
out slamming it back right into my face.
"Ow!!"
I shrieked and turned around, rubbing my nose, in time to see Ami clatter
the first stairs down.
"Ahem!"
I called after her.
Ami
turned around — all in glue, glitter, and pieces of paper (don't worry,
she wore some clothing, too — Usagi doesn't own a night club, right?):
"Oh, Luna! I am sorry... Have I had hurt you?"
"No,
thank you," I replied grimly. "I'm just and perfectly FINE..."
I
saw that the door was slightly open and peeped in; but Ami ran up and closed
it in a flash, right along with my whiskers. (I knew! I knew I had to trim
them after all! They're too long! Or maybe I should just do an epilation?..
Much more convenient! They won't get stuck anywhere... Okay, I'm getting
off the subject.)
"Aaugghhh!!!"
I carefully pulled my poor whiskers out and straightened them off. (But
two of them were ruined! Sob... Hic... Epilation is right!) "What are you
guys doing there?"
"We...
umm... well..."
Suddenly,
that door was opened again, and Usagi raced out, shouting: "Ami! What're
you doing! When will you — " She noticed me, while I was trying to peer
into the room.
Usagi
shut the door immediately, and I'd nearly got my ill-fated whiskers stuck
again. (That did it! Epilation, that's it!)
"Luna!
What are ya doing here?" Usagi folded her arms.
"I
have the same question," I replied. "I want to go to MY room to take MY
walkman which I'd forgotten. That's all."
Usagi
sized me up, (probably thinking, 'She's about seven lbs, nine inches tall...'):
"You want the walkman, that is half your body weight, that won't fit your
head, that you can't use because you don't have hands, and managed to get
in spite of the fact that you couldn't buy it because you don't have money,
and a cat can't purchase things. Now you're saying to hand it over?.."
"Yeah,
right!" I gritted out. "Hand my walkman over!"
"That's
MY room. And MY walkman."
I
felt as though tears were going to stream down my broken, ruined, and bent
whiskers, but I managed to hold them from falling down (I mean, the tears,
not the whiskers!!) and ran down the stairs without uttering a word...
* * *
I
was sitting in the living room, in Mr. Tsukino's arm-chair, sipping a Coke
and watching 'Love & Hate' show on TV. If you could call it 'watching
and sipping', because I was staring into nowhere, Coke dripping down onto
the chair from the holes that my claws made in that can...
They're
jerks. Jerks. JERKS. *JERKS*. **JERKS**.
"Ahem...
Luna!"
I
turned my head around: "Get off, whoever you are!"
I
found myself speaking into a neatly-organized bunch of red, in the full
bloom, roses.
Artemis
was standing before me on one knee, stretching me that bouquet.
His
right cheek was bandaged.
"Artemis?!!"
I spat out a few petals.
"Luna!
Happy Birthday!" Artemis put the roses down before me and held out a box
of liquor bon-bons.
"Thank
you, Artemis! You're the best!!"
He
remembered! He remembered! He didn't forget! YAY!!
Pssshhhh
went my anger, like the air out of a bicycle tire, and I tugged Artemis
over and hugged him.
"Now,
Luna!" Artemis got out of my happy grasp. "Ahem... will you... will you
marry me?.." He handed me an open violet velvet box, containing a golden
ring shaped like a fish.
A
ring!? MARRIAGE???! He didn't even ask me DO I love him!!.. He never TOLD
me he loved me!!! He wants me to make such a great decision — in one second?!
"Artemis!
You SPOILED such a MOMENT! How could you!.. You're the same JERK as they
are! And an idiot, too!!" I poured out my emotions and uncertainty at Artemis.
(Oh, my dear Serenity!! He wants me to..! To..!! Right now??!? I can't!!
I don't know!!!! How?!? I mean, how it's all supposed to — !!? We never
— !!.. Mommy, how I wish you were here!!! You would tell me!!..)
Then
I 'clawed' his left cheek (yup, with gory chunks and all).
Artemis
grabbed it (I mean, not the CHUNKS, but his cheek!): "Aaauuggghhh!!! Luna!!"
I
angrily stomped upstairs and threw over my shoulder (note for those who
didn't get it: NO, I DID NOT throw up!): "Hate ya!!"
Artemis
just stood there with those roses, bon-bons, and that damn ring.
* * *
I
grimly opened my room's door, and the moment I stepped in I was showered
with confetti and deafened with four voices shouting, "Happy Birthday,
Luna!"
I
saw Minako, Rei, Ami, and Makoto throwing their hands into the air. (No,
they weren't accompanying it with, 'We surrender! Don't shoot!!')
I
blurted out the only thing that was on my mind: "So, you remembered!!!.."
They
laughed, then pushed toward me a gigantic box nearly my height with a huge
ribbon on it.
My
eyes filled with tears, and my nose felt itchy.
I
blotted my eyes with my tail, saying, "You're too much, girls!.."
All
of them smiled.
"Well,
we're all gathered here!" Minako announced.
Rei
glanced at her watch. "Yeah, but that Usagi's late again; she went out
to take something."
I
gripped my paws together happily: "Oh, yay!!!"
May 3rd, 7:05 p.m.
Ochitsukiko
I
couldn't find Ginko anywhere, so I got upstairs and opened my room's door.
To find something I absolutely didn't expect to see, i.e. the bunch of
girls from the morning (excluding Usagi) watching the black cat, Luna,
wearing a birthday hat, perched on my bed with a giant, white, ice-cream
cake, complete with four burning candles on top, fussing with a small gift-wrapped
box.
Finally,
the animal pulled at the ribbon, opened the box, and took out a CD walkman
along with headphones.
"Oh,
boy!!" it cried. (I mean, the cat cried, not the walkman.) "Thanks, girls!!!"
"It
was nothing!" they chirped.
I
carefully, and slowly, and softly closed the door.
Relax,
calm down, Ochitsukiko... Calm down... All you need is Ginko... Maybe she's
in the living room...
I
was the first two stairs down, when I saw... something. I mean, someone.
At the beginning of the stairway. Standing next to Usagi. And my aunt nearby.
And that someone was wearing green, splotchy, and huge bell-bottoms, that
were practically sliding down her hips, very high platforms, which looked
more like a pair of bricks, and almost sheer black top (I had no idea for
what did she put it on, because you could see her black and lacy bra, anyway).
On top of that was a brown-eyed and white-pigtailed head. Her front locks
had three neon-pink-dyed stripes.
WHO
the hell is that???????
Just
then I heard my aunt gushing, "Oh, Serenie! I'm so happy!! You're finally
back home!!! Those six years were awful!"
"But
my education was worth it," said that Serenie.
Education??..
"Yes,
of course!" my aunt carried on. "Education is always at the first place!"
I
saw Usagi's eyes going bold. She tapped Serenie on her shoulder: "Education???
Excuse me, what do you mean, you were away??"
"Don't
you remember?" Serenie smiled charmingly, pretending to be shocked. "I'm
your little sister, who was away to America for six years!"
"S
— s — s — si — siss — sist — ?!?" Usagi sputtered.
My
aunt cast her daughter an exterminational look: "Be quiet! Stop hissing
at your sister!"
Serenie
turned to her older sister and flapped her eyelashes: "See, Mommy?"
Usagi
muttered something indistinctable. (On the other hand, it sounded like,
"Shut up, daughter!")
Okay...
Okay... None of your business, Ochitsukiko!.. None of your business...
I
walked by them into the living room, calling softly, "Ginko?.. Pussy cat!..
Come here, girl!.."
"What's
up, Usagi?" said a voice.
No,
that wasn't my uncle sitting in the arm-chair, reading a newspaper.
It
was a white cat. With blue eyes. Talking to me.
My
mind decided to give out.
May 3rd, 7:09 p.m.
Artemis
Usagi
gaped at me for three seconds, then toppled down.
What
did I say wrong??
Oi.
Usagi had white hair.
Ahh!..
So
it isn't Usagi!
Uh-huh...
May 3rd, 7:15 p.m.
Rei
Usagi
burst into the room: "See what I've got!!!!!"
Gleaming
Luna whirled around, clenching her new walkman to her chest. "A present???"
she squealed. "For me?? Another one??? Ooohh!.."
"Well...
You can take it, if you want, of course." Usagi shrugged indifferently.
"I don't need it." She stepped aside, and there, in the doorway, gruffly
stood... Serenie. I mean, Chibi-Usa.
Luna
waved her paw: "Oh, no, I don't need it. Thanks, anyway, Usagi. I thought
that's something important..."
"Thanks
a lot, Luna," Chib — I mean, Serenie grumbled. "You, too, Mommy!"
"You're
welcome, daughter!" Usagi smiled.
Chibi
— er, I mean, SERENIE, looked around the room, and her stare fell at Luna.
"I see ya're chillin' out... Sweety B-day... Lunie."
"Thanks,
Chi — Serenie." Luna nodded.
"So,
Luna! Did Artemis congratulate ya??" Usagi leaned her chin at her hands,
grinning like an idiot. Well, she IS an idiot, after all, so what am I
talking about?..
"Yes.
He did," Luna said darkly.
Usagi's
(and everyone's, actually) eyes sparkled: "And what??"
"Nothing."
"Why???
What happened??"
"He's
a fool!" Luna exploded. "Dumb and dumber! He'd totally ruined my dear fourth
birthday because of some darned stupid marriage! And I've never loved him!
How could I ever fall in love with a purely stupid, foolish, idiotic, dumb,
male feline?!"
"Whoa."
I blinked. "But I thought that I've seen some glances of yours and stuff...
You know, lovey-dovey stuff between you two."
She
sized me up. "Are you crazy?!?"
Chib
— I mean, Serenie chimed in: "Oh! Ya know, in the future, you're such a
sweeeeety couple!! Lots of kitties and all!"
"Are
you insane?!" Luna croaked. "Don't be ridiculous! You know that I hate
him!"
But
her nose blushed.
I
saw it!!! Swear!!
"Ah-ha!
You're BLUSHING!!.." I pointed out triumphantly.
The
blush spread to her whiskers. "I'm not blushing!" she protested.
"Wooooo!!!!!"
we all awed.
"SHUT
UP!! You know I hate him!!! I HATE HIM! And shut up, you all!!!!!" she
yelled.
(Now
her ears were blushing, too.)
Before
we could let out another group 'Woooo!!' the door creaked.
We
turned into that direction. There was Artemis's sad butt going away, with
his tail trailing along (mournfully, too).
Everybody
was quiet for a full minute.
"Ugh,"
said Luna.
Suddenly,
that white-haired, Usagi-like girl from the morning staggered into the
room, went by us and into the bathroom.
Then
she stuck her head out: "Oh, hi, guys... There was some note by the door...
I think it's for a cat named Luna. If she can read it, though... Or maybe
you should buy her contacts."
She
put a scrap piece of paper on the bed.
We
heard the sound of the shower, accompanied with the girl's voice singing,
"La, la, la... I'm not going ma-a-ad... La, la, la, laaaa..."
We
exchanged looks.
Luna
picked up the note. Read it. Then jumped up and raced out the room and
down the staircase at a good racing cockroach's speed. (You know, the good
ones can do at least 240 km/hour!)
We
were left speechless.
Then
we all rushed to the note, tripped at each other's feet, fell down, but
Usagi managed to grasp the paper before anyone did.
"SO?!
READ IT!" I yelled and showed Usagi my fist...
Usagi
stuck her tongue out...
I
pulled up my sleeves, getting ready...
Usagi
stuck her tongue even further...
The
usual scuffle.
"REI!!
USAGI! QUIT THIS!" Minako, Makoto, Serenie, and Ami pulled us apart.
"Usagi-chan,
please, would you mind to read us what has been written on this specific
piece of paper which you are holding at the moment?" Ami asked timidly.
Good
one, Ami! Way to go!
Usagi
raised her eyebrows: "HUH?"
I
lost my temper: "JUST READ IT, YOU!!!!!"
"Oh,
yeah, right!.." she said, glaring at me, then scanned the note. And popped
out of the room and downstairs the exact same way as her eyes popped out
of their orbits.
"What?!!"
cried Serenie, Minako, Makoto, and me.
Ami
took the poor slip of paper which fell out of Usagi's hand and read it.
"Oh, my Lord!!" She clasped her hand over her mouth, then sprang up, and
ran out.
"WHAT!!?!"
Makoto,
Minako, and Serenie managed to read the note at the same time. "OHMIGOSHNESS!"
and they galloped out of the room.
"WHAT
WHAT WHAT WHAT?!?! Why hadn't I read it first!?" I grabbed the pathetic
paper piece. Read it. And rushed out after the whole herd: "WAIT FOR ME-E-E-E!!"