A Lonely Heart Chapter 2
Chapter Two: Mamoru "Mamoru-kun!! Mamoru-kun! Wake up! Your flight is leaving!!" Motoki screamed in Mamoru's ear, attempting to wake him from his deep sleep. Mamoru was sitting in an airport chair at the John F Kennedy airport, and had fallen asleep waiting for his flight, which had been delayed for over 3 hours. "Uh…I'm awake…I'm awake! You can STOP shaking me now Motoki!!" Mamoru sat up groggily from the chair that he had been sleeping in for the past hour. He groaned as he worked out the stiffness in his neck. He blinked several times, the sun shining through the windows causing him to squint before he slipped on his dark sunglasses. "My flight is boarding now? Damn, it's about time! I've been waiting here forever." Mamoru said, annoyed that he had waited so long. He looked at his watch and was surprised to see how late it was. As Motoki escorted him towards the gate where a line was waiting, full of disgruntled flyers snapping at the flight attendant, who was attempting to take it politely. "So, why do you want to go to Japan so bad, anyway?" He asked, curious. "Well, to be honest, I have no idea! Ever since my parents died, I have been restless here in the United States. I hate to leave my native soil, but I need to get away, and for some reason I feel like I need to go to Japan. (Sigh) Thankfully, some of my father's relatives live there, and they were more than happy to have me come over. I get to practically start my life over." Mamoru sighed again, still somewhat confused why he wanted to go to Japan. He rubbed a hand through his thick black hair and took off his sunglasses, as he was getting closer to the front of the line. Once Mamoru reached the front of the line he and Motoki said their goodbyes. "As soon as I get to Japan, I'll call you Motoki! Ok?" Mamoru promised. "Yeah, sure! We have to keep in touch, you know? What are best friends for, right?" Motoki said, smiling sadly as he watched his best friend walk down the hallway and out of his life. He knew that it would be a long time before he saw Mamoru's piercingly blue eyes, or his boyish grin.* I'm gonna miss the guy.* Motoki sighed as he left the airport, looking up and seeing the large airplane shooting off into the sky, leaving behind a trail of exhaust. The warm sunlight heated the side of Mamoru's face as he stared out the window of the airplane with eyes blind to the scenery. The plane flew high over the ocean and through the clear blue skies. Mamoru wasn't thinking of the beauty of the ocean or the brightness of the sun as it hit him across the eyes, instead he was thinking of something that happened over 1 year ago It was nearly 8pm when the Chiba's finished eating their dinner at Nora. As they stepped out of the doors of the crowded restaurant, they were surprised to see it had been sleeting for a bit while they were in the restaurant. "Serves us right for not sitting next to a window, right honey?" Mr. Chiba said with a small laugh. Mrs. Chiba, on the other hand, was not amused. Her lips were pursed tightly and her face was white. She gripped her purse tightly and looked around apprehensively. Her hand shook as she ran it though her hair nervously, and her voice had a slight quiver as she spoke. "We have to get home and off the roads before this gets any worse! It could be very dangerous making some of the turns. I don't want to get into an accident!" Mrs. Chiba's voice rose as she spoke, and her words ended in a high squeak. "Mom, relax! It's only a little sleet… what could happen? We have driven through sleet hundreds of times. I'm sure it will be alright." Mamoru said soothingly, trying to calm his mother. As Mamoru attempted to calm his mother's fears, his father stepped off the sidewalk and onto the parking lot area to walk towards their car. His wingtips weren't much defense against the slippery ground, and he had only taken about five steps before he slipped and fell on his butt. He stood up and looked back to see his wife and son leaning against each other as their mirth caused their bodies to shake helplessly. Mr. Chiba shook his head sadly and continued walking towards his car, mumbling under his breath. He slipped several more times on his journey to the car, but never falling down again. A few minutes later, the Chiba's black Mercedes pulled to a halt in front of Mrs. Chiba and Mamoru, its wipers moving rhythmically across the smooth glass of the windshield. They pulled from the parking lot and continued their short journey to the countryside, where their house was. The streets were quiet due to the bad weather, and Mrs. Chiba continued to look out the window anxiously. "Mom! Relax, please! We will get home all right. There is no one on the roads right now, and I'm certain that Dad is being very careful about it." "Oh, Mamoru. I know he is being careful, but until we get home, I won't be able to relax." "Hon, if you want to relax, I'll tell you a joke! Ok, there was this one plane that was starting to crash to the ground, and one lady stood up and said, ' I have always wanted to be treated like a real woman! Will someone here treat me like a woman? I don't want to die until I feel like a woman.' Suddenly a tall handsome man stood up from the front row and began to walk towards her. As he got closer, he began to unbutton his shirt. The rest of the passengers were silent as he got close to her. He was standing before her and he took of his shirt, leaned close to her and said…… 'Iron this.'" Mamoru cracked up and kept laughing as his mother glared at his father. "HONESTLY! Where do you come up with those?" she exclaimed. Mr. Chiba and Mamoru laughed, and eventually their laughter filled the inside of the car, and relaxed everyone inside the car. They were so relaxed that they didn't see the dog dart out onto the road at first. The bright headlights of the luxury car flashed across the body of the small dog, and Mr. Chiba forcefully turned the steering wheel to avoid impact with the animal. Mrs. Chiba screamed as the car turned over and began to cruise headfirst into a large brick building. Mamoru's side of the car was scraping along the cement as the car began what seemed a long collision course with the old mom and pop grocery store. Mamoru was jerked forward as the car impacted with the brick building, crashing through the wall and smashing the windshield glass; the car's wipers still attempting to keep the glass clear of the sleet. The glass rained across the faces of Mr. and Mrs. Chiba, causing more yells and screams of pain from the front seat. Mamoru's own window shattered and one piece of glass lodged in his upper arm wrenching a scream from his throat. The last thing he remembered before he blacked out was his parents' screams of pain. Mamoru cracked his eyes open to the sight of flashing red lights and lots of voices. He struggled to sit up, wondering where his parents were, but a pair of arms appeared out of nowhere to hold him down. As he resisted the bonds, he felt pain pierce his upper arm and gasped in pain. Mamoru looked down at the source of his pain to see fresh blood trickle down his arm. He looked around desperately, looking for his parents, only to see two stretchers with body bags. "NOOOOO!!" He screamed in anguish and blacked out. Mamoru jerked forward in his seat, covered in a sweat. Those damn memories…always coming back at inopportune times. I wish I could just forget… "Are you ok, sir?" A soft voice asked to his left. Mamoru turned to answer and found himself staring into a pair of violet eyes framed with long dark eyelashes. Her face was pale with cheeks slightly flushed. She smiled slightly with concern, her pale lips curling slightly at the corners. As she was waiting for an answer, she lightly tossed her long, dark hair over her shoulder. Mamoru smiled in return, "I'm fine… just a bad dream, I guess. No need to worry." "Well, I was concerned as you began to thrash about in your seat, but then you suddenly stopped. I wasn't sure if you were going to wake up. You have been napping since you got on the flight!" She said with a small laugh. "Yeah…" Mamoru began with a small laugh, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. "Oh! Excuse me…where are my manners? I'm Hino Rei, future priestess of the Shinto Shrine! I just love to travel and learn about many different religions, and I'm going back to Japan to be with my grandfather. I just came back from Washington D.C. What about you? What are you going to be doing in Japan?" "I'm going to be staying with some relatives for awhile and going to school there. I decided that I didn't want to stay in the United States right now, and decided to take a break from it all. My father's relatives are very nice and I'm anxious to see them again… its been years." He said a bit sadly.* The only reason I'm going to Japan is because my parents are dead. Was there NOTHING I could have done about the crash? Maybe if we hadn't gone out to dinner… Maybe… oh why am I focusing on 'maybe'? It won't change anything now… * "Are you alright?" Rei asked, concerned. She laid the back of her hand against Mamoru's forehead. "Hmm…no fever. Is there something wrong? Anything that I can do?" "There is nothing anyone can do right now, but thanks for trying to help." Mamoru smiled weakly and went back to staring out the window for the remainder of the flight, his thoughts once more returning to the past. Two hours later, the plane landed safely at the Tokyo Airport and Mamoru exited, smiling once again at Rei as he walked off the plane in search of his new parents. She gave a small wave and smiled in return. * I'm never going to see him again, am I?* Rei sighed sadly and went to find her grandfather. Mamoru was surprised to see his uncle, aunt, and cousin waiting for him in the airport lobby. His little cousin was holding a sign that said, 'WELCOME TO JAPAN MAMORU!!' in her childish handwriting. As soon as she noticed him, she quickly ran over to him and hugged him around the waist, still holding onto the sign. "Did you like the sign? I did it with only my favorite crayons!! See? Welcome is in red, To is in Blue, Japan is green, and Mamoru is in Orange!! Do you like all the hearts on it too?!" She asked excitedly, her voice rising with excitement. Her dark brown eyes bright with her youth and as she smiled she showed her missing front tooth. She absently brushed a loose strand of hair off her eyes. "Megumi! Calm yourself! Mamoru just got in!" chided Arina Chiba. Arina smiled gently and gave Mamoru a little hug as she welcomed him. Her head barely reached his chin as she hugged him and as she pulled back, she looked into his eyes, seeing the sadness and hurt. "Mamoru! It's so good to see you again! You have grown so big!" Hikaru Chiba said with his booming voice and gave Mamoru a whack on his back in welcome. His wide smile hid his concern for his nephew, who appeared to have lost a lot of weight since the pictures were taken of him from the previous Christmas. His dark eyes filled with concern for the health of his nephew. He quickly shook of the sadness, intent that his nephew would enjoy himself while he was staying with the family. "Come now, its time to see the house. We have your room all set up. Arina, can you and Megumi take Mamoru to the car and I'll get his luggage?" She nodded her ascent and Megumi grabbed Mamoru's hand,chattering about all the good manga she had been reading lately. Megumi talked to Mamoru the entire way to their car, which was parked just outside the doors. "Mamoru, where will you be going to school? I don't believe that you told us which school you selected. I certainly hope that it is near our home, so you don't have very far to walk." Arina commented as she opened her passenger side door and sat down. She turned around in her seat to be certain that Megumi also buckled up and smiled at Mamoru in question. "I believe I will be attending Azabu High School. It seems like a prestigious school, and I hope to continue my education there. It's only a mile from your house! Don't worry, I can make it there just fine." "Ah! There he is! My, your luggage must have been some of the last off the plane!" Hikaru quickly loaded the luggage into the trunk and they drove from the airport towards the Chiba home in central Japan. Their small sedan was able to move around some of the slower moving trucks and they reached their home in less than 20 minutes. "Its good to be home! C'mon Mamoru, I want to show you what your room looks like!" Megumi grabbed Mamoru's hand and dragged him into the house. She quickly pulled off her shoes and put her slippers on. Megumi straightened her pale yellow dress as she waited impatiently for Mamoru to put his slippers on. She grabbed his hand once again when he had finished and brought him to his room. Quickly opening the door, she ushered him into the spacious room. "What do you think??" She asked anxiously. Mamoru looked around the room, his eyes wandering over the white walls, and shining oak floors. He quickly panned past the futon, covered with a dark blue comforter and his eyes centered on a family photo taken at Christmas, only months before the crash. He blinked away fresh tears and continued his assessment of his new room. There was a large desk in the far corner of the room and also quite a few empty shelves. On the other side of the room there was a closet and attached to the closet handles were several Mylar balloons all welcoming him to his new home. "I think it's wonderful! Thank you Megumi. Did you make this picture?" He asked, walking over to his bed to find a crayon drawing of a family of four. Above every person was a name: Mommy, Daddy, me and my new brother Mamoru. "Yes I did!! Do you like it?" she asked excitedly. "I will treasure it forever, Megumi. Thank you!" Hikaru entered the room to bring the luggage in and Megumi left so that Mamoru could unpack. "I'll come get you when dinner is ready, Mamoru!!" Megumi called, as she was lead from the room by her father. The evening passed quickly for Mamoru in his new home. The laughter at the table brought back old memories. * I refuse to think of the past! I must move on to the future. Mother and father wouldn't have liked for me to be sad. I will no longer think of the past. The past is over…they are dead! NOTHING CAN CHANGE THAT! * Mamoru laughed at something Megumi said, but left the table early, pleading fatigue. Once he got to his room, he lay down on his bed and tried to sleep. Tomorrow is a new day, a new school, and lots of new people to meet. Everything will be fine… Morning came too soon, and Hikaru dropped him off for school. "Only for the first day!" He called out as he drove away from the school. Mamoru sighed, tightened his hold on his schoolbag and entered the school, heading directly for the office. The school was still fairly empty and his shoes echoed on the hallway floors. He entered the office and was greeted by a nice secretary with friendly eyes and thick glasses. After filling out the forms he was directed to his first class. He entered the classroom with some trepidation and was surprised that so many students were already in the classroom. The teacher had already seated him when a blonde girl walked into the room. Her hair was up in a different hairstyle… different than any he had ever seen. Her eyes were lowered, and she quickly made her way through the other students and sat at her desk, only three seats away from his own desk. She quickly bent over her homework instead of talking to the other students, as all the other people in the classroom were.* I wonder why everyone is ignoring her? She is really beautiful and seems pretty nice…* As class went on, he paid attention to the teacher but his eyes kept drifting to the mysterious blonde girl. * I wonder why everyone treats her like she is a curse? I guess I'll just have to find out for myself. * Once he decided what he was going to do, he became determined to find out why she was treated so differently. The classes passed quickly and it wasn't long until it was time for lunch. Many students went off to a popular picnic area on the school grounds, but he was more interested in following the girl so that he would get a chance to meet her. He looked around the area and glimpsed her as she went around the corner of the building. * I wonder where she is going to…I hope she isn't going home! I want to get to know who this person is.* Mamoru quickly followed her and found that she had sat down on a tree stump not far from the building. He straightened his clothes, cleared his throat and cautiously walked over to where she was sitting. She quickly looked up from the book she was reading as his shadow passed over her, her pale blue eyes wary. "Uh… hi. My name is Chiba Mamoru, and I noticed that you were sitting out here and was curious as to what you are reading." Her eyes widened and he got a better look into the depths of her ocean blue eyes. * I wonder why she is so surprised. * "Hi! I'm Tsukino Usagi. I'm just reading the assigned chapters for History. I'm surprised anyone saw me out here! Usually no one comes over here." She said with a smile, her full lips parting into one of the most beautiful smiles he had ever had the luck to see. * Wow… * * Oh god…have I interrupted something? What if she becomes really angry with me? I just wanted to get to know her…I better go! How embarrassing, intruding on someone else when they wanted privacy…*His face flushed a little as he attempted to get out of her hair, "Oh! I'm sorry! Did I disturb you? I'll leave." He turned around quickly, practically tripping over his feet as he rushed to get away. "No! Wait! That's not what I meant. I just meant that people just don't come over here. I'd enjoy some company. Please have a seat." Usagi said in a rush, her arm gracefully swept around the glen in which they were sitting as he turned around again. He looked around the area uncertainly. * Where should I sit? Not too close…not too far away…*He quickly sat on a tree stump not too far from where she was sitting. Mamoru placed his elbows on his knees and leaned forward before asking, "So why are you sitting out here all alone? I noticed you in class, and you didn't say much and I hoped to get a chance to say hello to you during lunch, but you were very hard to find." "Oh, I sit out here a lot, it's a very relaxing place to be at and it gives me time to get away from the other students." Mamoru gave a little laugh, "You are avoiding my question. I asked you why you are out here; you gave a very general response. There must be a more precise reason than that." "You are very curious aren't you? Well, to be honest…I'm not very well liked around here, ok? Is that a good enough reason? They treat me like I'm some sort of…of FREAK! I just don't want to be around them unless I have to. I get really sick of being treated like something that I'm not." Usagi said in a rush, her voice angry, and her words harsh. "Well, there is one thing that I will promise you now, and I will mean it forever." "And what promise is that?" Usagi asked, her head lowered to hide her tears. Mamoru stood up and walked up to where she was sitting. He knelt down in front of her and tilted her chin up with his right hand and with his left hand he wiped away the tears that were slowly flowing down her cheeks.* How could I do this to her? I just wanted to get to know her. I am such a jerk! *He looked deep into her eyes, his own eyes intense as he made his pledge. "I promise to always be there when you need me, Tsukino Usagi."
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