Confused Heart
   by Marj

Notes:
	arigato - thank you
	daijoubu - are you okay? / I'm okay
	dou itashimashite - you're welcome
	hai - yes
	honto - really
	ittai - ouch
	kami-sama - god
	konnichiwa - hi / good afternoon
	okaa-san - mother
	sayonara - good-bye
	sensei - teacher
	yoroshiku - nice to meet you

Please e-mail your comments and constructive criticisms at 
.  Thanks!

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.  The characters Andy Spencer and
Ayukawa Himeru are mine though.  So please don't sue, as I don't earn 
anything from this other than the satisfaction of making a story.



Chapter Thirteen:  Back to Normal?

When Monday came, Usagi was in high spirits.  She came to school *very* 
early, slammed the classroom door open, and shouted, "I'M HERE!!!" to 
all those who were present at that time.  It was so loud, it made 
Makoto cringe and caused Ami to almost jump out of her seat.

Usagi bounded over to her chair, threw her bag on her desk and faced 
Makoto and Ami.  "So what's up?" she asked.

"My, Usagi-chan," Ami said, smiling.  "You sure look happier now than 
you did for the past few weeks."

"Yeah.  Her being here so early proves it.  Of course, you'll see her 
frowning again tomorrow.  Right, Usagi?" Makoto said teasingly.

Usagi shook her head.  She had a determined look on her face.  "You'll 
see a *very* happy face on this person from now on!"

Makoto winked at Ami.  "I'll bet.  I won't be fooled again!"

Their enthusiastic friend's head whipped from side to side, sensing 
that someone was still missing.  "Where's Mina-chan?" Usagi asked.

"Right here!" Minako announced from the door, waving her bag up and 
down to catch their attention.  She walked over to her place, left her 
bag and, with her hands on her waist, looked smilingly at Usagi with 
one eyebrow raised.  "Cheater.  I thought I was going to pick you up!"

"Yeah, well, how was I supposed to know if you were still going to be 
absent or not?" Usagi said as they watched Minako sit down on her chair 
and drag it around so that she was facing them.

Makoto laid a hand on Minako's shoulder.  "Well, we're finally complete 
again, aren't we?"

Ami nodded.  "You know, Minako-chan, our sensei missed you terribly," 
she informed her.

They all giggled.  "Yeah.  He always thought that you kept forgetting 
to answer the roll call instead of checking to see if you were around 
or not," Usagi added.

Makoto raised an eyebrow.  "I'm surprised you actually remember 
anything that happened last week, Usagi-chan."

Usagi made a face at her.  "Don't start imitating Rei-chan now, Mako-
chan.  It doesn't suit you."

"Oh, yeah!  Have I got news for all of you!!" Minako said, her eyes 
twinkling.

"You've finally found a boyfriend?" Makoto asked.

Her friend laughed.  "No, no, not that!  Although I wish that was 
true," she said, winking.  Her friend grinned back.

"So what's the news?" Usagi persisted.

"Remember when I told you that my okaa-san wasn't feeling well?" Minako 
asked Usagi.

The blond-haired girl nodded.

"Well, we just found out last Saturday that she's pregnant!!" Minako 
announced happily.

"Pregna - ?!" The three girls with her uttered, their eyes widening.

"You mean your okaa-san's going to have a *baby*?!?" Usagi asked.

Minako nodded.

"Oh, WOW!!" Usagi started jumping happily around the room.

Ami smiled widely.  "That's terrific, Minako-chan!"

"Yup!  I've always wanted a brother or sister myself.  You're lucky," 
Makoto said, a bit envious, but happy for her friend at the same time.

Minako held Makoto's hand and looked at her warmly.  "Hey, you're like 
a sister to me, you know.  You can help take care of the baby sometime.  
I'm sure okaa-san wouldn't mind."

"You sure?  Once I get my hands on that baby, you probably won't even 
get a chance to hold her 'till you're old and gray!" Makoto said 
jokingly.

Minako just smiled.

"Ooh, can I hold the baby, too?  Huh?  Can I hold her?  Can I?  Can I?  
Can I?"  Usagi said breathlessly.

The rest of the girls laughed.  Ami made Usagi sit down.  "Wait until 
the baby is out first, okay Usagi?" she advised.

"Wait a sec.  You said "her".  You said the baby's a girl," Makoto 
pointed out.

"So?" Usagi asked.

"Minako just confirmed that her mother was pregnant.  The baby's gender 
is still undistinguished.  How did you know that it's a girl?" Ami 
asked.

Usagi pouted.  "Well, I just guessed.  Besides, it's *much* better to 
have a younger sister than a younger brother."  She made a face when 
she mentioned "younger brother".   Usagi then slapped Minako's back 
*hard.*  "Right, Mina-chan?"

"Itta-!!" Minako exclaimed as soon as the hand landed.  She started 
coughing uncontrollably.

Usagi held her shoulders, a look of worry crossing her face.  "Mina?"

Makoto made way for Ami, who rubbed Minako's back until she stopped 
coughing.  "Daijoubu?"

Minako cleared her throat and smiled weakly at Ami.  "Yeah.  'Still 
haven't gotten rid of that cough."

"You went to the doctor yesterday, didn't you?"  Makoto asked.  Her 
friend nodded.  "Well, what did he say?"

"Get some more rest.  Don't over-exert yourself.  Keep drinking your 
medicine," Minako answered.

Ami nodded.  "That's good."

"Gomen, Mina-chan," Usagi apologized.

Minako waved her hand.  "It's nothing.  You didn't mean it."  She 
suddenly had a wicked gleam in her eyes.  "Okay.  Now tell me what 
happened last Saturday, detail by detail.  If you leave anything out, I 
swear I'm not going to stop chasing after you until you tell me 
*everything,* down to what you were all wearing.  Now start talking!!"

*****

"I've had enough of this!  Talk to me, Artemis!  And don't you dare 
tell me that you just feel tired or I'll push you off the tree!" Luna 
demanded.

She was sitting on a huge branch in a tree at the Juuban campus, 
feeling incredibly relieved that Mamoru had returned from America.

She felt as if everything was right in the world again.  That was, 
until she saw Artemis lying quietly on the same branch, tail and legs 
dangling, looking worn out and tired.  Attempts to make him reveal what 
was wrong were futile - before Luna lost her patience.

Artemis sighed.  "I told you, it's nothing!  I haven't been getting 
enough sleep, that's all.  Things have been so hectic at home that a 
cat can't sleep even if he wants to."

Luna was half - tempted to fulfill her threat when he raised his head.

"Look.  Mina-chan's okaa-san is pregnant.  We found that out last 
Saturday.  *Everybody's* giddy with excitement.  Now you expect me to 
be up and about when all the entire family did this weekend was 
scrounge around the house for Minako's old baby clothes?"  Artemis 
rolled his eyes.  "Not to mention that her parents are *seriously* 
considering giving me away for a while until the baby's born.  
Something about animals carrying around deadly diseases or something.  
Can you believe it?"

"With you looking around the trash for something to eat?  Sure, I 
believe it."

He glared at her.  "I do *not* rummage around in the trash!!"

"No.  You only dig for food under paper, plastic and other things."  
Luna was snickering.  "Why can't you act like a Lunar cat for a 
change?"

"The thanks I get for trying to cheer *you* up when you were down."

"What did I do?"  Luna feigned innocence.  "All I did was tell you the 
truth."

"Humph!  Why do I even bother speaking to you?"  Artemis stood up so 
abruptly that one of his hind legs slipped.  His body fell off the 
tree, bumping his chin painfully on the branch before his head 
followed.  Front legs and claws extended, he somehow managed to catch 
the tree branch with his paws.

Luna was laughing hysterically by then.

Artemis scrambled up and looked at Luna, embarrassed but not willing to 
show it.  He turned away from her, his straight tail pointed high up in 
the air, and started to walk away.  He paused before jumping off the 
branch, his head turned towards the window of Usagi and Minako's 
classroom, a worried look on his face.

Then he stared at the ground below him.  Artemis shivered and closed 
his eyes.  Giving the window one last glance, he leaped off, leaving 
Luna behind.

Luna stopped laughing long enough to see Artemis leave.   she thought, giggling.  

*****

Later that afternoon, a few minutes after the last bell rang, Minako 
could be seen walking down the halls with a stack of paper and books 
piled up in her arms.

"When they said, 'You'd better catch up,' boy, did they mean it . . ." 
she grumbled to herself, barely able to see what was ahead of her 
because of a piece of paper that kept flying towards her face.

She had so much work to do, she wasn't able to find any free time to 
spend at all that night.  This made her upset - she had planned on 
talking to Artemis, but it looked like that would have to be set aside 
until the next day.

The night before, Artemis accidentally woke her up when he suddenly 
jolted awake from his sleep, eyes wide, chest heaving.  Minako asked 
him what was wrong, but he just stared at her and said nothing.

Minako frowned.   she thought while coughing.  


She started thinking about her mother's pregnancy.  The news had 
shocked her when her parents made the announcement right after they got 
back from the hospital last Saturday.  For sixteen years, she had been 
an only child, since she was told her mother wasn't supposed to be able 
to give birth.  Her father told her it was a miracle that she was born 
at all.

 
Minako bit her lip.  

She paused, head tilted to the side, brows lowered in confusion.  She 
was standing right under the doorway that led from the department rooms 
to the main hallway of the first floor of their school building.  There 
was supposed to be a door - she should have bumped into it.  But she 
hadn't.  Where was it?

Minako turned around.  There was a young man holding the door open for 
her.

"You know, you should watch where you're going.  You wouldn't want to 
injure yourself," the guy said, smiling.

Minako blushed in embarrassment and nodded slowly.  "Yeah . . . 
arigato.  I was too deep in thought, I didn't notice . . ."

He eyed the stack of books and papers on her arms, then looked back at 
her.  "You're also distracted by your load.  Doing a lot of research?"

"Not really.  I'm just playing catch-up.  I was sick last week."

"If you've just recovered, you shouldn't be carrying anything that 
heavy."

Minako shrugged.  "I can manage."

"Here, let me have some of that," the guy said, taking more than half 
the stack, which Minako gave over gratefully.  Then he fell into step 
beside her.  "Wow, you must have missed a lot of classes."

"You can say that again,"  Minako said, rolling her eyes.  She looked 
at him more closely.  "Say, I haven't seen you around here before.  
New?"

"Hai!  'Came to look at my test results.  I passed, and the principal 
told me I could start classes anytime now."

"Are you an exchange student?"

"No."

Minako's eyebrows raised.  "A regular student enrolling near the very 
end of the school year?  That's new."

"Yeah, well . . ." He cleared his throat.  "That's a time for change, 
isn't it?  Besides, I don't think I could wait around until the next 
school year.  This is a big campus, by the way."

She smiled at him.  "Did you get lost looking for the office?"

He grinned.  "Not really.  Lots of kind people around.  Most of them 
girls . . ." He blushed.

Minako laughed.  "Well, you're not exactly bad-looking."

He blushed even more.  "Arigato."

 Minako sighed to herself.    She started coughing.

The guy shifted the weight he was carrying to one hand and held 
Minako's shoulder with the other.  "Daijoubu?" he asked, concern 
marring his face.

"Hmm?"  She looked up.  "Oh . . . daijoubu.  This'll pass.  I'm not 
over my sickness from last week."

"I can definitely see that.  Sure you don't want to give me the rest of 
this load?"

Minako shook her head, a determined look on her face.  "No.  No, I can 
handle this.  Besides . . ."  She indicated the pile he was carrying.  
"You've taken more than enough."

They started walking down the hall that led to Minako's classroom, 
where her friends were waiting.

"I hope you don't mind if I ask, but . . . what were you thinking back 
there, when I opened the door for you?" the young man asked.

Minako coughed slightly before speaking.  "I don't mind.  See, my okaa-
san's having a baby."

"Honto?  Thinking about what to name the baby, then?"

"Not really.  I'm just . . . I was wondering what it would be like to 
have a younger brother or sister.  I've been an only child all my 
life."

"Oh.  Well, I can't help you there.  I'm the youngest one in my 
family," the guy said.

"What does it feel like to have a sibling then?"

He looked at her seriously.  "I . . . I wouldn't really know.  My 
brother . . . he looks after me a lot, but most of the time he's at 
work.  Like you, my brother was already kind of old when I was born."

"I see."

They stopped a few feet from the door leading to Minako's classroom.

"My friends should be in here, waiting for me."  Minako turned to face 
the guy, taking the stack of papers and books he was holding, which he 
hesitantly gave back to her.  "I appreciate your help . . . and for 
opening the door earlier."

He nodded.  "Dou itashimashite.  Anything else I can do for you?"

She looked at the door in front of her, then stared at her quite full 
arms.  Her cheeks turned red.  "Umm . . . you can open the door again."

The guy grinned as he opened it for her.

Usagi, Makoto and Ami were sitting and talking when they heard the door 
open.  They looked up and saw Minako standing by the doorway with an 
armload of papers and books.  They heard her say "Arigato" to somebody 
hidden from their view before she entered.

Minako unloaded her burden on her desk.  "Whew!"

Usagi eyed the huge stack her friend had been carrying, feeling *very* 
sorry for her.  "Maybe you shouldn't have gone to the faculty room," 
she said.

Ami smiled at Usagi.  "The teachers wanted her to go there so that they 
could help her catch up.  She should go."

"You call this *helping*?!"  Minako pouted.  "Can't you just teach me, 
Ami-chan?"

Makoto and Usagi nodded in complete agreement.

"I can help you study, but you still have to read those," Ami said.

The other three girls groaned.  Then they started gathering their 
things from their desks.

"Here, let us help you with that . . ." Usagi said when she noticed 
that Minako was having a hard time holding both the stack *and* her 
school bag.  She and Makoto took almost all but one fourth of their 
friend's load.

Minako smiled.  "I guess if I'm sick all the time, you guys will pamper 
me a lot, won't you?"

"Yeah, well, you do the same to us.  Of course, we'd rather . . . umm . 
. . uhh . . . we'd rather . . . err . . . *ahem*.  Just don't get sick 
again, okay?" Makoto stammered, blushing.

"I assure you, Mako-chan, I could not possibly get any sicker."

Usagi started pushing her friends outside the door.  "C'mon!  School is 
over, and I can't stand another minute inside this classroom!!"

"Don't forget our study session at Rei's today!" Ami reminded them.

The three girls groaned again.

*****

"Who were you talking to earlier, Minako-chan?" Makoto asked as Rei 
placed a tray full of cookies on the table.  Usagi started to grab as 
many as she could, until Rei swatted at her hands.  Usagi started 
whining, Rei started scolding, and Ami started comforting.

"Huh?  Who?" Minako asked, looking up from the book one of her teachers 
wanted her to read.

"You know.  The person that you said "Arigato" to before you entered 
the classroom."

Minako's face brightened.  "Oh!  You mean that cute guy!  His name is . 
. . his name is . . . uhh . . ."  She thought hard for a while, then 
scratched her head.  "Gee, Mako-chan.  I forgot to ask his name."

All her friends stopped whatever they were doing and stared at her.  
"Come again?" Rei asked.

Minako shrugged.  "I forgot to ask his name."

"He's a guy, right?" Usagi asked.  "A *very* cute guy?"

Her friend nodded.

"And you forgot to ask his *name*?!?" Makoto said incredulously.

Usagi looked thoughtful.  "Come to think of it, the other day Minako 
said, "It's raining cats and dogs."  She actually got a saying right!!"

Minako made a face at her.  "Ha ha.  Very funny.  And you actually 
remembered something for once."

"But you did give him *your* name, right?" Rei asked.

"Hmm . . . Come to think of it . . . I didn't give him my name either."

"Are you serious?!"

"Absolutely."

Now even Ami was checking if she still had a fever.

Minako shrugged them off.  "C'mon, guys!  Give me a break!  So there's 
a first time for everything!  Besides, I'm bound to see him around 
school.  So we'll just have a formal introduction some other time."

Two shadows stood in front of Rei's room - one small, which Rei 
recognized, and the other quite tall.  The door slid open, and Rei's 
grandfather's smiling face peeked in.  "Rei, somebody's here to see 
your friend."

Usagi stood up, expecting to see Mamoru.  When the door slid open 
further, though, Himeru was standing where Mamoru should have been.  
"Konnichiwa," he said.

"Himeru-san!  What are you doing here?" Makoto asked, rushing towards 
him.  "How did you find me?"

He was smiling at her.  "Well, you mentioned that you study at Rei's 
place a lot.  You also told me that Rei was living at Hikawa Shrine, so 
I went around looking for this place to find you.  I just wanted to 
thank you and your friends for cheering for me."

"How did the exam go, Himeru-san?" Ami asked.

Himeru beamed.  "I passed!!"

Usagi, Ami, Rei and Makoto cheered.

Minako - whose back was towards the door, turned around, finally 
getting a chance to see Makoto's dream guy.  When she saw who it was, 
her eyes widened in recognition.  "It's you!" she exclaimed.

Himeru looked past Makoto to the blond-haired girl sitting on the 
floor.  He blinked when he saw her, grinning even more as he remembered 
her as the girl who had almost bumped into the door back in school.  
"Hi!!  Nice to see you again."

Minako took an even closer look.    She thought, shaking her head.  "So . . . you're Makoto's new 
friend!"

He snapped his finger.  "And you're her friend who wasn't able to 
attend Saturday's meeting because . . . because you were just getting 
well from being sick!"

She nodded and smiled slowly.  "Right."

Himeru tilted his head, eyes shining brightly.  "It's strange how we 
couldn't remember those facts when we saw each other earlier today."

The other girls looked back and forth between him and Minako.  "Wait a 
sec here, let me get this straight.  You guys already met?"  Makoto 
asked.

Minako pointed a thumb towards Himeru.  "He's the same guy we were 
talking about earlier.  You know.  The one person whom I didn't get to 
introduce myself on the first meeting."

"Well, maybe it's about time you did!" Usagi said.  "Come over here!"

Makoto led Himeru to the low table and had him sit between her and 
Minako.  Rei thanked her grandfather and closed the door.

Usagi stood up, towering over the now seated people.  "Let the "proper 
introduction" begin then!  Aino Minako," she said, gesturing to the 
blond girl.  "Meet Ayukawa Himeru.  Oh, did I get it right this time?" 
Usagi whispered the last line to Ami.  Ami nodded, then giggled.

"Himeru-san, this is Mina-chan," Usagi said, completing her 
introduction.

Himeru never took his eyes off Minako's as they shook hands.  
"Yoroshiku."

"Yoroshiku," Minako said back.  She was well aware that Himeru was 
looking straight into her eyes.  She looked away, feeling uncomfortable 
all of a sudden.

"This is great!  Now you know everyone in the group!" Makoto said 
happily.

Rei pulled Usagi back down to the floor.  "Not exactly.  Artemis isn't 
around," she said.

"Artemis?" Himeru asked.

"Minako's faithful companion," Makoto explained, laughing a bit.

"That's right - I didn't notice.  He's always around wherever you go.  
Where is he now?" Ami asked Minako.

Minako noticed that Himeru was looking at her kind of funny.  "I think 
Luna dragged him off somewhere," she answered.

"Luna?  Usagi's black cat?" Himeru asked again, looking *very* 
confused.

Ami nodded.  "Usagi has a black cat, and Minako has a white one.  The 
cat's name is Artemis."

"The cat's na- . . . oh . . ." he said, nodding slowly, blushing all of 
a sudden.

Makoto giggled.  "Why?  Did you really think Artemis was a guy?"

Himeru blushed even harder.

Rei grinned.  "Jealous, Himeru-san?"

"Huh?  No!  No, I just met . . ." He looked at Minako again.  "I just 
met her."  Himeru started laughing weakly.  "Besides, why should I be 
jealous of a cat?"

Makoto and Minako laughed weakly as well.  "Yeah, why should he?"
Makoto asked.

"Hmm . . ." Minako agreed softly.

The two girls stared at each other, enveloped in an uncomfortable 
silence.  Minako was the first to give in and look away.  She started 
gathering her things.  "I . . . I have to go if I want to finish all of 
these by next week . . ." she stammered.

"But . . . but you and Himeru just met!" Usagi protested.

Minako smiled at Usagi.  "Don't worry - we talked for a long time 
earlier this morning.  I think that was enough for a first day, right 
Himeru-san?"

Himeru's mouth was slightly open and he looked like he was about to say 
something, but he closed it and nodded.  "Yeah.  It was enough . . ."

"Besides, my okaa-san wants me home early so I won't relapse."  Minako 
stood up, somehow managing to carry her bag and the pile of papers and 
books at the same time.  "'Till tomorrow then.  Sayonara," she said.

Rei slid the door open for her as she walked away. 

Usagi and the others watched as she descended the stairs.  "Gee, you'd 
think she was avoiding somebody by the way she's acting," Usagi said, 
frowning a bit.

Ami looked at Himeru and Makoto.   she thought.

    Source: geocities.com/tokyo/field/4723/stories