A War of the Roses by Aino ForSylvite@aol.com The Many Voices Minus One ~The Moment it All Went to Hell.~ (Chapter 6) School had been a blessing in disguise on that day of days when Mamoru flew away on the flight to Boston Massachusetts. It had been distraction for her as school often proves to be. And with the coming of Biology class, came the sleep she had craved all morning. The ring that was now securely rested around her ring finger drew its first attention while Usagi slept so soundly on the enlarged picture of a mitochondria on page 35. It was her teacher that surprisingly noticed it first. He walked quickly over to Usagi's desk with every intention of suddenly awaking her. It was then he caught a glimpse of it and snatched up her right hand curiously. Usagi did not awake. "Holy God what a rock! I wonder where Usagi picked up this little trinket?" The teacher was asking anyone who wanted to answer. He then cleared his throat in order to draw attention to himself. It was Michiru that leaned her head over the lab table and answered his 'call'. "I'm not sure sir." "It looks like an engagement ring maybe! But Usagi is how old?" He inquired facing Michiru. Michiru concealed a rushed breath. "No sir, I think it was a gift." "From whom? Who'd give such pocket emptying gifts to a high schooler?" he demanded talking above the conversations of the other students present. Michiru paused for a moment taken aback by the professor's rather crude way of describing the fine piece of jewelry. "I believe it was from her parents." She managed to recover hastily. The teacher persisted; he was a nosy one. "For what?" He inquired curious still. Michiru had never been what one may call an exemplary liar. She wondered if what she was doing could be considered lying and therefore if her standards applied. "Umm...an...academic..." She began. Award...no, punishment...certainty not. "An academic...umm a perk if you will." She blurted out leaning a poised head on an equally so fist. The teacher stared at her and at the rock for a moment. "Some freakin' perk. Oh...excuse me Michiru. Thank you." He did not seem satisfied with this answer but the spontaneous blasphemy had scared him back into his corner of the room. Michiru took a deep breath and turned her eyes to the sleeping blond. It must be an engagement ring Michiru thought to herself. Enter Brittany Good. "In case you were wondering Michiru, it IS an ENGAGEMENT RING! One of a kind, solid gold, real diamonds BUT an ENGAGEMENT ring none the less!" She caught her breath finally. Michiru swallowed hard. "Interesting speculation Brittany. I hope you didn't say that to anyone else here." Michiru chuckled nervously. "You know how fast rumors spread in this school." Brittany's eyes were cast downward all of a sudden. Michiru's brow hardened. "Well actually, I told Jill, and I told Mary. Oh and you, and Fred, and Maria and Andrea." She paused. Michiru felt a bit uneasy. "Is that it?" She asked her voice nearly cracking. She seriously hoped THAT THAT was it! "Well yah, that's pretty much it. Not counting Michelle and Henry and Jeff and May, Summer, Colleen, John, John and John. I might have said something to Christine or Tim or both. Plus Ashley, Barry, Kellie, Brenda, Kate, the other Kate, the other Kate, Phil, Susan, Becca, Julie, Rachael, Becky, Jenny, Laura, Erin, Emily, Lisa, Monica, Shannon. Oh yah and pretty much my entire Home Ec class. Oh yah...and also Tenno Haruka, she had the parking space next to mine. What a driver!" Brittany smiled sighing happily. Michiru's eyes were wider than widely open. "Oh yah, and I told you and...Hey Mr. A! You were totally right about the, well you know." She smiled once again delighted. Michiru had to do some more quick thinking. Obviously the ocean of students at the school already knew something of Usagi's engagement, she couldn't have the faculty getting wind of this too! "Brittany!" Michiru shouted, Brittany spun around a bit surprised. She blinked inquisitively at Michiru who pointed frantically out the window. Look...it's RYAN PHILLIPPE!" She screamed. In less than a second the ENTIRE Biology class, upper and under classmen alike squeezed out of the classroom windows like prisoners through their bars. To the parking lot they flew, helter scelter and ready to persue! Michiru stared in awe at the waterfall of teenagers falling from the first floor windows as she stood watching next to the door. Alas, no Ryan Phillippe was to be had, and the violence, the clawing and the scratching, the stomping and the kicking and the biting were all in vain. Michiru began to frown heavily, had that just been a 'quick fix'? Michiru despised the "quick fix, not to mention...USAGI was STILL sleeping! The classroom had been cleared, with the exception of Usagi, Michiru, a sleeping guy, who was dreaming next to the sink on a different table. Haruka had come in. Michiru turned to face her, she stood on the other side of Usagi. "Wake up Odango." Haruka spoke half heatedly. "Yah Brittany told me." She continued, hearing Michiru's unspoken question. "Not that I needed to be told, I was there when it happened for god's sake, and still I have to hear it from that little incompetent." She shook her head. Michiru folded her arms. "Is it true Haruka?" Haruka blinked a few times. "Of course it is true Michiru, this is Mamoru we are speaking of, have you ever once heard any sorta of thing about him that was less than 100% true?" No answer. "Well have you?" Michiru shook her head. "Then why didn't you tell me? Never mind, there wasn't time I know. What are we going to do?" "What is there to do? She'll be the envy of every girl from here to America!" She shouted, Usagi stirred a little. Michiru's frown lifted slightly. "I doubt that Haruka, I think this is trouble." Michiru expressed her concern. Usagi finally awoke less then bright-eyed. She yawned once and looked at Michiru, then looked at Haruka, then looked at the sleeping kid and finally spoke. "Hey, that kid is sleeping." She giggled. Haruka joined the laughter, for different reasons of course and the two laughed together while the room remained empty and Michiru, silent. There is something truly fantastic about High School. Something to marvel at and fear at the same time, the overwhelming speed of gossip. Not just popular extra ordinary gossip, any kind of gossip. Therefore it was not surprising when Rei, and Ami slid into the doorframe having jogged all the way from the third to the first floor. They were out of breath...they were curious...and they were instantaneously knocked down by an eager Mako and Minako-chan more than desperate for some clarification. Apologies were made, rather hastily and all seven girls crowded around Usagi's desk. Usagi was still watching the sleeping kid, he was drooling now. His head rested in a rather long and slimy pool of saliva, born from he himself. Usagi remembered how she had once read something about how people could drown in less than two inches of water, if that was true and this was in fact 'drool', this kid was in bad shape. "Is it true?" Minako demanded pounding the desk with her fist. "I guess a congratulations would be in order Usagi." Ami softly wondered. "And if it is true why wasn't I the first to know?" Minako insisted once again. "That hormoniac! He couldn't wait a FEW more stinkin' years?" Rei spat obviously referring to Mamoru. "Hold it, hold it!" Makoto yelled, "Are we sure this is, well what this is?" She inquired excitedly. "Do you mind? I'm trying to get some freakin' sleep!" The boy (recently aroused) requested. He again put his head down. "Of course it is Mako!" Rei and Mina insisted at the same time, Makoto took a step back. "Sorry to have disturbed you!" Ami whispered to the young man. There was no answer. Usagi jumped to her feet nearly knocking Haruka over. "WAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTT just a minute here?" Everyone blinked confusedly in her general direction. "What is everyone talking about?" Rei accepted this question. "The ring Usagi. We're talking about the ring Mamoru gave you!" She explained. Usagi looked beyond confused. "Why would you want to go talking about that? It's real gold, but you knew that of course." She smiled contently gazing dreamily at her band. Ami began to roll her eyes. "No Usagi-chan, it is a great ring, very festive." Usagi remained as always ...confused. "We were just wondering when it's gonna happen?" Makoto asked keeping her distance from the group. "Or if it already happened?" Rei chimed in, trying to approach the subject subtly. Alas, to be subtle with one so blissfully detached is like trying to put a fire out with a piece of toilet paper, it just isn't possible. Leave it to Minako to spell things out. "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US YOU WERE GETTING MARRIED MRS. CHIBA!" Minako demanded appearing hurt. Haruka and Michiru had remained silent through this, not daring to interrupt the clarification. Usagi stared blankly at her friend for a moment, blinking sparatically, the wheels turning. Haruka went to the bathroom, and then came back, Usagi was still sorting things out, Makoto was sitting on the floor, tiring quickly. "WEEEEEEELLLL?" Rei spat, "TODAY maybe?" "Don't be silly you guys! I'm not getting married." Usagi was blushing violently, so violently that perhaps even the sleeping soul in the back of the room could feel it. Ami sighed slightly relieved. "Of course not, you're too young right? You'll want to attend college. And get a start on your career before you get married. Mamoru is a very sensible man, I am sorry I thought such a thing." Ami apologized. Usagi shook her head. "No no, I just don't think this looks like an engagement ring. Do you?" She glanced at the gold band and the single radiant diamond that sat so sturdily on top if it. Ami was taken aback. "That horrible, horrible little sex maniac! He can't wait a few years until she can stand on her own. NO he has got to steal her innocent youth away from her!" If anyone had spoken during the silence that followed Ami it would have been simply to whisper ouch as they hit the floor. All backed away as Ami's fists lowered once again to her sides and her face began to burn. She tried to banish the evil, evil thought out of her head, knowing that Mamoru was an honorable man as far as she knew and that everyone within a five mile radius was watching her squirm. Never had a sound been so sweet to Ami as the sound of that blissful bell chiming away radiantly for all the world to hear. There was no missing it and no mistaking it. "OOPS, time for class!" She nearly cheered walking nervously from the huddle of very scared and very confused girls who were still, very much in the dark. The cabin pressure had risen and one of Mamoru's ears had blocked up. He swallowed once to remedy it. He could hear the wheels of the beverage cart squeaking closer and closer but they were still pretty far off. Mamoru felt tired, but it was a good kind of tired, a relaxed tired. The kind that keeps you from sleep but doesn't let you awaken. He had pulled from his carry on a picture frame. It had been nestled into the black computer case along with, the laptop, the box of Lucky Charms, the box of pop-tarts (wild berry blast), a magazine and a book on philosophy that he enjoyed reading over and over again. Unlike the book, the frame was in good shape. The frame itself was not important, nor was the glass, nor the many finger prints that dirtied it's surface. And even more important than the picture itself was the girl it had been taken of, Usako. The picture was a heart warming one. He was grasping Usako around the waist and she was giggling. He remembered the strange face Motoki had made while snapping the photo. This had been possibly the first time Mamoru had ever coddled anything or anyone. When he had been a young boy, he had claimed the left side of the bed for himself and the clean, sanitary Teddy bear was granted the right side all for it's lonesome self. It used to be that there was Mamoru, and then there was everyone else. She had changed everything, it was the two of them now, together and this picture had been the first glimpse that the world have ever had into the soul of it's Chiba Mamoru. "Excuse me ladies and gentlemen. This is your captain speaking. I wanted to warn you that we will be encountering further turbulence within the next few minutes. So, if you would all stay in your seats with your seat belts securely fastened, it would be...a...in your best interest. Thank you." The intercom clicked a few times and then was silenced again. Most people were already in their seats, Mamoru observed. Those that were not included a small family in the center of the aircraft. The mother and father were switching seats, apparently to please their young son. Personal business in an aircraft, a small aircraft, quickly becomes the business of everyone, ready or not. The turbulence hit and Mamoru thought it felt like the bus ride from the park to tenth street shopping. "Excuse me ladies and gentlemen, I...um...please stay in your seats." The intercom then clicked again and was silent. Mamoru felt no ease, there was something going on, and he could feel it approaching. There was apprehension in the pilot's voice, and the man sitting next to Mamoru was becoming uneasy as well. He jammed his thumb down on the stewardess button hastily, three times. Mamoru realized that, with this heavy turbulence, the flight attendant would probably be better off in their seats as well, so he tried to assist. He had not spoke to this man in the hour and a half that they had been together, they were just strangers on a plane. "Excuse me sir, can I help you?" Mamoru asked as gently as possible. The man shook his head lightly back at Mamoru, he was an American, Mamoru had heard him speaking with an accent earlier in the flight. His books were American, and evidently, so were his nerves. "Aw, no thanks pal, I'm just waiting for the stewardess to get the hell over here." He replied huskily. He was a heavy set man, in a business suit. He was desperately trying to wiggle and shake the jacket off. "I think they will probably be seated just like us, here let me." Mamoru took hold of one sleeve and began tugging at it. The way Mamoru saw things was thus, he was just trying to help the man, if he wanted to see it as an annoyance, that was his problem, but something was up. "Where abouts in America are you from?" he asked. Mamoru spoke to the man in English because, hearing Japanese come from the mouth of this 100 percent American man, set in his ways and as suborn as they come, might be painful. "Uh, I am actually from the big apple, New York I mean." "Oh really, I'm headed to Boston." The man nodded profusely halting suddenly. "That so? Do you think there is something wrong with the plane maybe? I mean, all this turbulence." Mamoru shook his head calmly. "I wouldn't worry about it, I think it's just moist air or something. We are probably just going through some suborn condensation." Mamoru reassured. The man smiled slightly. "Oh a college man I see?" "Yes, how could you tell?" Mamoru relaxed a little. His tense muscles settling into his cushioned seat. The man's smile faded into a confidently eager expression. His eyes widened and his eyebrows lifted slightly. "Oh that was easy, you didn't just say that we were going through a cloud, you said we might..a...we might be...a...well," the man chuckled, "you sure didn't say nothing about a cloud." Mamoru smiled slightly as well realizing what had given him away. The turbulence was beginning to subside and the conversation progressed ardently. The man noticed the picture Mamoru clutched so firmly. "And a who?s this pretty lady? Sister?" The man inquired. Mamoru shook his head hastily. He lifted the picture a little higher so the man could have a better look at her. "This is Tsukino Usagi, my girl friend, I'm sorry, my fianc饮" "She a college gal?" The man asked pulling his wallet from his back pocket. Mamoru grinned a little, this part was recently slightly amusing to him. "No sir, she is in high school, a sophomore." The man paused for a moment. Mamoru wasn't expecting a reply, usually no one knew how to reply to a truth so rare. Mamoru was getting used to the silence. The man fished quickly through the credit cards jammed into his large black wallet and pulled from the mass a photograph. Mamoru looked upon a middle-aged woman and a little daughter, both with black hair and large, sincere smiles. Mamoru thought that Usagi would reply to this picture based on how happy the family seemed. Mamoru knew she looked for the good in all. "This here is my beautiful daughter Madison, and her mom, my wife Lilly. Aren't they so great. I mean I know you don't know 'em. But just... just by lookin' at 'em, can't you see how terrific they are?" He chuckled heartily now totally at ease with this foreigner. Mamoru answered with a yes because he believed that these people were good people, and he knew that the kind, balding middle aged father and husband whom lived for his family, would except no other reply. "I gotta start tellin' them more often though." He smiled shaking his head. One thing leads to another. "So tell me about your girl, Usa...Usaki." Mamoru smiled a little at the mispronunciation. "Usagi actually." Mamoru wasn't about to explain the relationship that was he himself. How does one explain a miracle? How could Mamoru help anyone to imagine what he was blessed with? He would try. He would try because he knew that Usagi could do anything, and he hoped that she could hear him now. "She is everything. She is everything inside of me and everything that I love about anything. I live only for her and I guess you know what I am talking about." Mamoru looked down at the picture the man cradled to gently in his palm. The guy nodded and smiled once again. It hit, the crash. The little family in the middle of the plane was flung about like large rag dolls. Mamoru looked at the man for a moment. His face was suddenly panic-stricken as he clung to his wife and child for courage. Mamoru looked away and peered desperately out of his window. There was nothing out there but dead air. Mamoru climbed out of his seat, over the man and over a newly awakened woman that had been resting comfortably. And he saw her for the very first time. She was all in gold and an icy cold chill ran up Mamoru's spine as he realized that she saw him too, and the woman...was beckoning him. Mamoru could feel that death had him around the neck. It's pointed black fingernails dug threateningly into his flesh. Mamoru did what Endymion had ordered him to do. In the presence of all these people, he transformed into the man behind himself, Tuxedo Kamen. Tuxedo Kamen released the latched of the emergency exit and took hold of the metal bar next to it. The suction power was amazing, and he knew that was why no one was trying to assist him. By now many people had noticed the brilliant woman on the wing of the plane. This all seemed a bad, horrible, beastly dream. Death would not let go but Mamoru proceeded without fear and without the good sense to hold him back. He had learned centuries ago that the universe could not be saved but any perfectly sane individual. He could only venture out so far onto the wing in order to keep his footing. The woman spoke only once. "Give me your star seed." Her voice was thunderously soft and it penetrated everything in the world. Mamoru did not know what a star seed was but he would not give up his so easily. He did not speak at all he was the silent soldier of justice and truth, words were just wasted energy. A beam shot from the woman's arms and before Mamoru could resist, the pain hit. Something reached into his chest and broke through his ribs. It shot through his heart and grabbed at something. He was powerless to stop her now and death had caused him to bleed. The man could not control the pain as he so often times had, this woman, was some kind of terrible being with a terrible power and a terrible purpose. No, Mamoru was out of the game, and he had been beaten. He lost his footing and was sucked out into the purple of the void grabbing hold of her image and shrieking her name one last time. "Usako!"