Konichi-wa It's me Amethist! I'm sorry that I didn't write for awhile. My computer crashed, well sorta now that it's back on line I am typing down a long story so enjoy. If some of the material in this story is like the one in your fanfic, I am sure it is pure coincidence. All the characters that are associated with Sailor Moon and Co. in this story are the creation of Naoko Takeuchi and belong to her. Others are created out of my own sordid imagination. Complements, flames, etc. can be sent to Kcsw1234@aol.com. Arigato for reading this far. If you're getting confused with Hotaru and Hotawu, bear with me, it maybe hard at first but it will get easier. ps: I wasn't recieving mail lately and I was wondering why. When I looked up the adress I put in I found out I only put in my screen name, which didn't help because I found out that I need to put in the @aol.com thing. So I was internet impaired. But please write BACK at Kcsw1234@aol.com . *Hotaru in Japanese os pronounced Hotawu. So Hotaru and Hotawu sound very much alike, which makes the whole scene more confusing. *Hotaru is at this moment thinks like a 17 year old in a 17 year old body. If you don't know what I'm talking about then nevermind. *I don't know how the Tomoe Mansion looks like in the series' version, so I decided to make up how it looks like.* *~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~* Secrets of the Past Part III "This is the music room, here I practice my violin." said Hotaru showing Hotawu a fairly large room with music stands, a grand piano and other music media such as a metronome. "Wow, a Stienway." exclaimed Hotawu," Who plays the piano?" "It used to belong to my mother." Hotaru's voice was on the solemn side. "Oh... you miss her that much, ne?" Hotawu was familiar with that kind of tone, she last heard that tone when her friend's grandmother died. "She would play on the piano while I played the violin. We were the best duet. Now there's no one who can fill her place or some of the rooms in this house." Hotawu came over to the grand and pressed a couple keys. She then lifted the wooden lid that hid the strings and looked in there. "Achhoo!" sneezed Hotawu, she gently set the lid down and looked back at Hotaru," Hey I can get this baby tuned up tomorow? And what did you say about free rooms?" "Well there are a couple of empty rooms around this house. Why?" Hotawu was in pure bliss. "Cool! Can I have one or two, since they're not in use?" "I think father won't mind, but I would ask him before hand." "Alright." Hotaru checked they clock, it was 6:30. "Hotawu, It's dinner time now-" "Alright, FOOD!" Hotawu vociferated in delight. Hotawu ran down the stairs with Hotaru scampering behind. Hotawu stopped abruptly in her steps. She was rammed in the back suddenly. Hotawu fell foward with Hotaru. "groan..Why did you stop?" moaned Hotaru rubbing her head. Hotawu got up feeling alright, actually the impact didn't affect her that much. "You know what? I just realized this now." she laughed,"We look exactly alike." Hotawu whacked her head," Why didn't I realized this before?" "Now that you have mentioned it we do look identical. Come over here." said Hotaru tugging Hotawu's sleeve our to the nearest mirror. Both of them blinked at the same time. They looked at each other then back at the reflection. "Oh my Godess,this is so amazing. I look like you and (gasp) you look like me." Hotawu said in a bimbo sort of way,"Let's see, same hair style." "Check" "Same height." "Check" "Same eye color." "Check" "Hair color." "Check" "Hotaru how much do you weigh?" "101 lbs." "Check." "When were you born?" "January 6" "Age?" "17" "The only difference between us is personality." Hotawu smiled wickedly " tee hee This going to be interesting." Hotaru got the gist of what evil plot her similar was forming"I think we shouldn't confuse other people. Why don't we eat now, hmm?" "OK" In the dinning room, Professor Tomoe, Hotaru, and Hotawu sat patiently at the table. Professor Tomoe sat at the head of the table and Hotaru and Hotawu sat each side. A jet-emerald haired lady came in from a door that led to the kitchen with a couple of bowls. One of the bowls was filled with shark fin soup. The other had a couple of breadsticks in it. She served everyone at the table first then herself. She then took her place next to Hotaru which signaled the rest to eat. 'That lady looks familiar.' thought Hotawu 'Where did I see her before? A movie? Hmm... All I can connect her with is a miniskirt. A MINISKIRT?! What am I? A pervert? How could I think of that?" Hotawu took her spoon out of her mouth savoring the delicious liquid in her mouth. "Mmmmm.. this is really good, Miss. uh" "Meioh." Miss Meioh finished "But please call me Setsuna." "Setsuna-san can you teach me how to make this?" "It's quite simple. I can teach you how tomorrow. Does that sound OK?" "Alright." When they finished their soup, Setsuna beckoned Hotaru to the kitchen. Hotaru obediently followed. A few minutes later Hotaru carried a bowl of mashed potatoes in one hand and a small pitcher of gravy in the other. After she set those down on the table, she held the kitchen door open for Setsuna. Setsuna came in with a golden brown turkey. The smell of it made Hotawu's mouth water. It was set down in the middle of the table with bowls of corn, peas, and biscuits. Setsuna handed Professor Tomoe an electric knife and a fork. (If you're wondering why am I going into detail about dinner, I'm just using it to kill space.) He cut the turkey into slices and distributed it among the attendants. Hotawu broke the silence"Uncle Soichi, I heard that you have some unoccupied rooms in this house and I'm wondering if I-" "Can have a couple?" Soichi interrupted,"O.K. What are you going to use those rooms for?" "I'm going to make studios out of them. For my artwork." "Oh, what kind of artwork do you do?" Setsuna was interested. "I do all sorts of artwork. Like painting, drawing, graphics, photography-" "Wow! you have a wide selection of talents. How do you find the time to do them all?" exclaimed Hotaru. "Its a complex system." Hotawu said smirking "Simplified, I switch from one activity to another according to the mood I'm in. These switches happen every once in two weeks sometimes. It varies, depending on how many projects-you know I going to go on forever about this." "Please go on." And the night went on. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The morning sun shone brightly through the bedroom window of the blue room. Hotawu opened her eyes as the light beamed into her eyes. She blinked twice and yawned. Off to the showers she stumbled to. But first she brushed her teeth. "Falling....asleep" Hotawu's head was bobbing"need something...to_ keep_ awake." Hotawu grabbed the remote control to her sterio and punched the buttons until the sterio blasted (well not actually blasted, just enough to keep her awake) out music. She then climbed into the hot steamy shower as the sterio played an old tune. (look at note 1 at the bottom) Do do do do do do..bum bum did day(people start singing 'a weemo wet' repeatedly) Hotawu was in the singing mood tha day "In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight." In the kitchen, Hotaru was eating a banana. She almost smashed it into her face when she heard a loud blast of music. She fwiped her head around,"What is that? It sounds like it's coming from upstairs." Hotaru got up and threw the banana peel away. She went up stairs listening for the source of the sound. Hotawu enjoyed the invigorating shower as it massaged and cleaned off the morning ills. Hotawu got out of the shower. Hotaru walked down the hall checking each door for the sound. Then she reached Hotawu's door. She definitly knew that the sound came from there. She popped opened the door. Hotaru's eyes went wide with her gaping mouth. Hotawu slid out of the bathroom in a white tank top and blue boxers when Hotaru popped in singing "Oieeeeeeeeeeee ee ee ee ee ee...." Hotaru burst out laughing at the site. Hotawu turned around and screamed. "AAAAAAHHHHH" "AAAAAAHHHHH"Hotaru screamed. "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH" "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH" "AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH" "AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH" "What's the matter down there?"Setsuna vociferated from down the hall. "Nothing."Hotaru and Hotawu chorused. 'How can she be here? I thought this was a dream. Well this looks like it isn't, hmm... I should just play along in la-la land and see what happens next. Strange, Nanny would usually tell me about this beforehand. Some how i have a feeling that Pluto would visit me again.'Hotawu was deep in thought.(This does sound like a jumble of thoughts, but hey whatever people think is a jumble of thoughts.) "Hotawu you should hurry up and get dressed for school." Hotawu was startled by a small voice from behind her. Hotawu scratched the back of her head and whined,"School? Aw do I have to go to school?" "For a promising future and a good education, yes."replied Professor Tomoe from the other end of the hall. "Can't you give me a day's rest. I mean I just came here and I'm just getting used to the new suroundings-" Hotaru's father was outside of Hotawu's room"You made yourself at home the last time you visit." "But I was little and I didn't know what was happening. C'mon can't you let me stay at home?"Hotawu's voice was getting whinier by the second. Professor Tomoe shook his finger and said,"The answer is no. Anyways you can meet new friends while you're over there. Hotaru can get you acquainted with some of hers." Professor Tomoe gave Hotaru and Hotawu a kiss on the cheek and said, "I have to go and redeem myself at the Science Association. Bye. And good luck at school" He then went downstairs to the door. "Hotawu, I'm going downstairs and finish my breakfast."said Hotaru leaving Hotawu's room,"Your uniform is behind your door." she added. "We have to wear uniforms?!?"Hotawu exclaimed"Oh, this is even worse." Hotawu was about to take a look at her uniform when the doorbell rang. "I'll get it." she called. She slid down the rail and answered the door. She saw a gorgeous platinum haired guy looking at his watch. He looked up and his face went into the gaping routine. Hotawu was a little irked by everyone gaping at her. Awkward silence. "Hello, may I help you?"she asked tring to keep her temper down. Yaten broke out of his suprised trance and said,"Hotaru where's your uniform?" "I was putting it on until the door bell rang. Who are you?" said an unentertained Hotawu. Yaten got worried,"Hotaru what happened? Did you get amnesia?" He put his hand on her forehead. He then hugged her with his hand still on her forehead and said"Oh Hotaru-" "Yaten?"Hotaru looked at them with a curious look. Yaten abruptly released Hotawu. He looked at Hotawu, then at Hotaru then back at Hotawu and then back again. He swayed his had back and forth at the double. Hotaru giggled and pressed her fingers on his lips making him stop. Hotaru turned to Hotawu and playfully scolded "Hotawu you're still in your shorts, go upstairs and change." "Hai. Just give me a few minutes."Hotawu said running up the stairs, "Can you get me a couple of slices of toast." After the comotion Yaten's eyes were still wide open. "Yaten?" she asked again. "Are you sure you're the Hotaru I know and love?" he asked as he teasingly inspected her face tilting from side to side. "I'm sure."she cooed confidently. "Well there is only one way to know."he said grinning. He brought her chin up close to his and pecked her lips once. "Hmmmm.. I still don't know. Let me try it again." Yaten brought her back again. But this time it was a more passionnate. "Hey!" a voice called from above. Yaten and Hotaru quickly seperated. Hotawu jumped off the upstairs balcony and landed next to the couple. As she was buttoning up her shirt she said "So Hotaru, is my toast ready?" Hotaru and Yaten stood there blushing in embarassment. "I can get it myself." she giggled. At the door to the kitchen she turned around and added "You two look so cute together." and dashed into the kitchen. Later on as the trio were walking, Yaten walked in between Hotaru and Hotawu. "Hotaru where's my schedule?" Hotawu said in the middle of the conversation. "It's in your schoolbag." said Hotaru. "So as I said,", Yaten continued,"Seiya then burned his hair after he slipped on the water that came from the over flowing sink. Then he tried to use the fire extinguisher on the exploding microwave, but failed to do so since he dropped it. Now that that has exploded our house is considered a disaster area, yellow tape and all. Hazardous inspectors found these mysterious black rocks and found that they had high frequencies of radiation. Then Seiya comes by and says'Hey that's my special deluxe Seiya cookies-" "What!?! I have Home Ec!"Hotawu exclaimed in disgust. "What's wrong with Home Ec?" asked Hotaru. "It's so dumb. All it is is learning how to cook." "Of course." replied Hotaru "Looks like someone here burnt a few cookies."said Yaten mockingly. "Actually I do know how to cook. I can prove it to you after 5th period. Do you have lunch then?" asked Hotawu. "Well I don't know if I want to try your cooking." Yaten said,"I do have 6th period lunch."he added being cautious of the hostile waves that Hotawu was emiting. "Good. Where should I meet you?" Asked Hotawu going back to her calm state. "Where's your 1st period class?" "309 Chemistry" "Hey, that's my 1st period class. Hotaru I think I need you to be with me for lunch. I will need someone to bring in the nurse." "Grrr...You just wait." Hotawu grumbled. Later on, the trio were walking through the school courtyard. Yaten put his arm around Hotaru and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Hotawu noticed the short cold stares that the other students were giving them. She ran from Yaten's side to Hotaru's and whispered,"Why is everyone staring at us?" "Because they're jealous of me. Yo see I have a rock star for a boyfriend. They also think that you might be another lucky one." murmured Hotaru. "You mean this shcool is full of celebrities?" Hotawu squealed. "Well not exactly. Yaten and his two brothers are famous around Japan for their singing. Other than Haruka and Michiru they're the only celebrities that go to this school." "Oh" The three reached to the entrance of the school. Yaten opened the door and let Hotaru and Hotawu in first. Hotaru gave Yaten a quick kiss on the lips nd went to class. Hotawu followed Yaten up the stairs to their first period class. When they were at the door of room 309, Yaten said,"Wait here Hotawu until the teacher calls your name." and went into the room. "Ok" sighed Hotawu. Hotawu stood at the door and watched the other students go in to the classroom. Then she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around and saw a blonde with two buns from which streams of hair flowed down from. "Konichi-wa Hotaru!" the blonde smiled," Hey did you switched homerooms?" Hotawu stood there with a confused look on her face. Her face returned back to normal and said,"Do I know you?" The blonde gave an annoyed look. Hotawu quickly redeemed herself,"I'm sorry you must have mistaken me for someone else, most likely my cousin Hotaru." The blonde was about to bob her head up and down and say sorry simultaneously, but was stoppedby hotawu's fingers on her lips. Hotawu smiled,"You don't have to apologize. It's really easy to mistake me for my cousin Hotaru.....I think you're late to class." "Oh my god! You're right!"she shrieked while running into the room, "Oh no I'm late again." "She's a silly girl."Hotawu chuckled to herself. *************************************************************************** "Hey Usagi you're late again." called Makoto. Usagi plopped down in her seat and slumped on her desk in melancholy "It was all perfect this morning.", she whined,"I got up on time (gasp can you beleive it she got up on time), had enough time to eat a full breakfast and *walk* to school." "What happened?" asked Minako. "I goofed. I met this girl who is just outside of this door who looks just like Hotaru. We got into a confusing conversation that lasted longer than I thought it would." Minako laughed,"Don't worry. You're lucky today, the teacher's late today because of last night's *masquerade*." Usagi let out a sough in alleviation. She sat up and put her backpack on her desk. Then she took a pencil and a notepad that had a celestial theme to it. She started the letter with: Dear Mamo-chan, Hey there cutie. Me and my friends are going ice skating this Saturday. Everyone is going to be there: Haruka-san She quickly put it away when the the Mrs. Haruna came in. She sat down at her desk and searched through the papers in her bag. When she found what she was looking for, she took out the piece of paper and read it. "We have a new student here. (Hotawu walks into the room and stood next to the teacher) Her name is Hotawu Tomoe and she comes from the U.S. Please welcome her." Usagi raised her hand and said,"Hotawu can sit next to me." "Why how polite of you Usagi."Mrs Haruna said,"Hotawu you can go on and take a seat next to Usagi." Hotawu went over and sat down. "Now class take out your texts and turn to page 94 and answer questions 1 thru 25." said Mrs. Haruna as she placed a book on Hotawu's desk. '(sigh) This is going to be a long day.'thought Hotawu. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ At lunch time Hotaru ran up to Yaten, hugged him and planted a kiss on his cheek. He smiled in content. A cloth bag dangled in front of Yaten's nose. "Hi Yaten!"cheered Hotawu"Judgement time!" On their way down the stairs Yaten sighted the bag that Hotawu was carrying,"That's a big bag. Did you add more yeast than you expected?" "No. I didn't know what kind of cookies you like and I got bored so I baked 9 dozen cookies."Hotawu replied. "9 dozen!"exclaimed Yaten and Hotaru said in unison. "Yeah! Isn't that great! There will be more cookies for us!" "I don't know if I would want more of your cookies."Yaten said under his breath. "What did you say?"Hotawu asked. "Nothing." The trio sauntered over to a shady spot under a tree. Hotawu sat down on her knees and set the bag down. She untied the knot on the top of the bag and unstacked two tupperware packages and open them up. "Here's your gourmet, there's your fruit topped,"she said as she pointed out the ravishing cookies. Finally she took out a little blue sack, "And here's your sugar." Yaten picked up one of the sugar cookies and scrutinized it. "Hmmmm...Looks like a cookie." he said as though it was a newly discovered substance. " Smells like a cookie." Hotawu laughed half-heartedly. Finally he closed eyes and took a bite. "Most important: tastes like a cookie." he said with a full mouth. Hotaru and Hotawu shield themselves with the cloth that once held the cookies. "Ugh lousy manners."Hotawu groaned. Before Yaten could make a comeback Hotaru put a finger on his lips and playfully chided,"Messy messy Yaten. You shouldn't talk with your mouth full." "Food...I need fooooood."someone groaned from the bushes behind Hotawu. Hotawu turned around and saw a yellow bun stick out of the bushes. " Udango you're so reckless." scolded Yaten,"You can't even wake up early in the morning to even get your lunch. I can't imagine you being a good housewife for anyone." "Oh shut up! It wasn't my fault that Umino (Melvin) used it as a weight for his experimental rocket. And besides Memoru thinks that I'm going to be a great wife for him." Yaten rolled his eyes. Hotaru's face was blank and had small sweatdrops on her temples. Hotawu picked up the plate of fruit topped cookies and held near Usagi who was still crawling out of the bushes,"Would you like a cookie?" Usagi greedily took about 3 cookies and stuffed them all into her mouth. "Hey,", Usagi said between bites," weren't you that girl who I met this morning and was the sub for Home Ec?" "Yeah, sorry I made you late."Hotawu apologized,"And weren't you that girl who drove the Home Ec teacher insane because you blew up one of the stoves?" Hotawu laughed. Usagi hung her head in embarassment. Hotawu comfortated her with a gourment cookie and said,"You're not the only one who has messed up somewhere in the kitchen. At one time I had long hair. One day I was making a cake, so when I was using the mixer, one lock got ah eeeh.. nnnevermind." "Ha, ha, ha"Yaten cackled,"How could you be sooooo stupid?, heh heh I knew you must have messed up badly! HA HA HA" "OoooooK"Hotawu's voice trembled worriedly. "Nothertheless these cookies taste delicious." said Hotaru," But no matter how good cookies are it's not healthy to have too many.,"she said directing towards Usagi," Usagi you should balance out a healthy meal." "Yeah right." Usagi said between bites. "Doh!" exclaimed Hotawu," I was so busy watching you two make out I forgot my lunch." "Hentai" Yaten spat. "Your brother." Hotawu hissed. "What do you mean by that?!!?" "Well..hmmm.. let me see, Sega-" "Seiya." corrected Hotaru. "Oh. right. Seiya pestered a girl who was already taken, and he knew it, he forced her on a date and got a real good look at her." "Who told you this shit?" "Makoto, who is now coming over here with something. Hi Mako-chan!" Makoto came and sat down near Usagi. Usagi turned around and crossed her arms. "Oh Mako-chan, thank-you for those cookies that you promised to give me but gave to someone else." she said sarcastically,"What was his name?" "Cat Fight!" Hotawu cheered. Makoto ignored Hotawu's inappropriate outcry,"It was Chadchu-" "Bless you." interrupted Hotawu. Makoto made a fist at Hotawu as a threat, Hotawu made a comical face. Hotaru stuffed a cookie into Hotawu's mouth to silence her a bit, "This is not the time Hotawu." In quick response, Hotawu grabbed a cookie and sent it flying towards Hotaru's face. Hotaru swiftly dodged projectile. (Hey, she was pretty agile in the manga) The cookie went smashing into Yaten's cheek, turning into little bitty crumbs and fractures. The crossfire starts! Yaten took a bunch of cookies and chucked at Hotawu. Hotawu backfires with skill and expertise. Hotaru, caught up in this war, joined up with Yaten and flung a myriad of cookies at her rival. Hotawu said in an English accent,"Oh, so the peasants are rebelling, well take this, you bloody paupers." Meanwhile, Makoto was opening the package she was carrying,"It turned out that he was a jerk and he only wanted to insult me, so I punched him down. After he was beaten to a pulp, I thought to myself,'Now I have a bunch of ruined cookies and a upset friend who's stomach I can hear from half a school away. So I got cooking and whipped up a special lunch for a special friend." she said as she took out a lunchbox. "FOOD! Lovely precious food." Usagi cried as she hugged the lunchbox. "Do you forgive me?" asked Makoto timidly. " yes I do. "Usagi huffed. "Don't inhale it Udango!" Yaten called from outside of the conversation. "Hey Yaten, inhale this!" bellowed a crumb covered face Hotawu as she crammed a cookie into his mouth. Yaten, with cookie bits all over his face, tripped Hotawu. She fell backwards and landed with a large crash. (Don't worry folks she just fell a couple feet, nothing broken, just got the wind knock out of her. Yeah she's still conscious.) Yaten went over to her and pinned her arms down. "Hotaru, quick! Jam a cookie into her face." Hotaru above Hotawu's head. She then took a cookie and raised it high above her head, execution style. "You see Michiru, I knew he would show his true colors." a haughty alto voice interrupted. Before Hotawu could scream for help, Hotaru stuck the cookie in it. Yaten released Hotawu, satisfied by the well job done. Hotawu smashed a cookie in the middle of his forehead. Hotaru turned around to see who interupted her ministrations,"Hi Haruka-san! Hi Michiru Mama. This is-" "Not around in public!"Michiru broke in. "OK. Michiru ma- san, Haruka-san this is my cousin, Hotawu. (Hotawu bowed in response) She came from-" "Oh this is even worse," said Haruka in mock distress,"he's raping your cousin right there in front of you!" Michiru laughed,"Haruka you should't be so dirty." "Oh looks who talking, Miss'There-are-some-things-in-this-world-that -only-adults-can-enjoy."Haruka jokingly sneered. Hotaru giggled and murmured,"Like a bickering old couple." While Haruka and Michiru were clamoring, Hotawu caught sight of Michiru's violin "Oh that reminds me."said Hotawu,"Hotaru, do you know where's the music room?" "Yeah, it's easy to find."said Hotaru. Hotawu gave a great sigh of relief,"That's great. I usually have trouble finding the music room because they're commonly tucked away behind the auditorium." "This one would be easy to find." "No, without help, it most likely wouldn't." "How so?" "Let's put it this way. The last time I tried to find the music room, I got lost. So I picked a door out of the multitude of the uniform doors in the hall. When I opened it I was met by shrieking half-naked boys." Everyone around her laughed hysterically. Hotaru laughed,"Oh you poor girl." Yaten rolled on the ground cackling. Hotawu waited until they stopped guffawing. Hotaru laid her hand on Hotawu for support,"I'm sorry Hotawu."she panted,"I couldn't help but laugh." "Me too."huffed Yaten. He was lying on his cack with his hands resting on his stomach. Hotaru looked through the class windows for a clock. When she finally found one she got up"It's almost time for next period. Let's go, I also have chorus next." Hotawu followed Hotaru into the school. Michiru kissed Haruka on the nose and said,"I've got to the music roon too, bye." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * "That wasn't too hard, was it?" asked Hotaru as they entered a big wide chorus room. "Thanks Hotaru. Oooooooo... a Steinway." Hotawu skipped over to the piano and sat at the bench. "May I? Tee hee" she asked in a little cutsy girl manner. "Yeah, the music teacher is liberal with the piano. Just don't play 'Heart and Soul'. She gets vehement whenever someone plays that tune." "Oh yeah, because almost anyone can play it, but I'm not going to play something so easy. Listen to this." Hotawu's finger gracefully pressed that keys to the melody 'Arabesque No.1' by Claude Dubussy. Hotaru sigh as she listened to the soothing melody. Hotawu's expert footing tapped the damper pedal punctually, making the music flow like a river. The swift movement of her fingers also glided across the keyboard with the smooth naturalness of a stream. "It's so beautiful. This piece reminds me of the french watercolors." said a suave flowing voice,"Debussy?" Hotawu nodded yes. "Michiru, doesn't it sound nice?" asked Hotaru,"Do you think she's good enough to play with us in our performances." "Why I do think so myself." When Hotawu finished playing her performance, Michiru asked, "Hotawu,how long have you been playing?" "Let's see," Hotawu pondered out loud,"I've been playing ever since I was 4 years old...and I'm 17 right now. That would be 14 years now." "Hmm..that's pretty good. How were you rated for Audition Competition?" "Whoa that was a while ago. Let's see the last time I got rated, I got a concert wide circle." "You fit up to all of my stanrdards and surpassed some. Would you like to see our concert, Hotawu?" "Ok, when and where and how much for the tickets?" "At the Tokyo Tower, next week on the same day." said Hotaru. "And the tickets are for free." added Michiru. "Arigato." Hotawu turned to the piano and danced her fingers to the melody of Bach's 'Invention No. 5'. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Alright! Test scores" chirped Ami cheerfully. She sauntered towards the test score result wall with Taiki beside her. "Sorry to break your bubble," sighed Taiki in a snotty manner. "But you're gonna do it anyways."added in Ami. "We all know that I the star will beat you again." Ami slammed him over with a big ass chemistry text book. (Ow that would displace some joints in his skull but he's all right folks......I hope) Taiki stood straight back up and rubbed his head. "What was that for?" asked Taiki. Ami kept on walking with a loathing silence. At the score board Taiki and Ami raced down the strip of names searching their own. "Hah! 100!" screached Ami. "Oh!" sighed Taiki sarcastically,"I also got 100." "Hey what's this?!?" "AUGH! Someone actually beat us!!!!" "Konichi-wa!"said a cheery voice from behind. Ami and Taiki turned around to see who was greeting them. "Oh hi Hotaru." said Ami,"They spelled your name wrong on here." Hotawu passed between Taiki and Ami and eyed the score board. "No, they spelled my name right." she said stepping back then coming back to take another look. "YEAH," she screeched jumping up and down,"I got a 101! Now I'm going to get a ton of candy. YAYYYYY" Ami gripped her fist in anger,"Do you know how long I studied for that test? 15 freakin' hours." "I studied none." said Hotawu running down the hall (in a C-Ko happy manner). "I went through 6 bags of coffee."hissed Taiki,"And a girl with a personality of a five year old beats me." Taiki turned around and banged his head repeatedly on the wall saying,"Stupid boy! Stupid Stupid Stupid!" Ami backed away from him with a sweatdrop on her right temple. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After school, Yaten, Hotaru and Hotawu met again at the same meeting spot they met for lunch. A guy wear the same uniform as Yaten ran up to the trio. "Konichi-wa Yaten. Konichi-wa Hotaru." he greeted,"And who's this?" "Hi Seiya." sighed a unentertained Yaten. "Hey Seiya." chirped Hotaru,"This is my cousin Hotawu, for the billionth time." "Konichi-wa"Hotawu cued in with a bow. "Nice meeting ya Hotawu. Bye guys, I've gotta go to football practice." Seiya said as he continued walking down the hall. "They've got football here?"Hotawu cheeped with a little hop. "Yeah" called Seiya,"You can come and watch." "I don't want to watch. I want to play." "You can't play." "Why not?" "Because you're a girl, and girls can't play football."Seiya jumped down the stairs and whistled on his way. Meanwhile Hotaru edged closer to Yaten, who was also feeling uneasy in Hotawu's aurora of anger. There was a conceptual fire around Hotawu. "So girls can't play football huh?"she hissed"Well I'm going to make sure he's going to eat his words. heh heh heh ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha" "Yaten she's scaring me." cried Hotaru. "What do want me to do about it?!? she's *your* cousin." quivered Yaten. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I'm really ashamed, Umino. You've only been here for two days and you're quiting." soughed a heavy man in a vertical black and white shirt. "Well you see sir. Practice is too hard on my weak body and I can't keep my studies up with all this." said Umino scientifically. "Education is much more important than sports, I'll have to agree. So you have good enough excuse to leave, but before you go may I ask you a question?" "What is it?" "I know that you're a smart kid and that you know your abilities and disabilities. If you could take all of the stress of playing football, why did you join?" "Well it's kinda personal sir." The coach got up and stared out of his window"I wager that's it's a girl problem, am I right?" "How do you know sir?" "Not too much passes these eyes, son. Who's the competition?" "Well ever since that big shot Seiya of the Star Lights came, all of the girls went wild over him, even Naru." Umino said with an exasperated tone, "When we passed the football field she saw Seiya running down the field and kept her gaze. She practically drooled as she watched the football star do his fancy jumps and sprints. So I joined the football team without thinking. I thought this would impress her, but it just made both me and her embarassed." "Now look Umino, you and Naru had a good relationship before this, right?" Umino nodded his limping head. The coach patted Umino on his back."From all of my experience as a coach and guidance, I've learned many things from watching my students grow up. One thing I learned is that *true* friends always come back." He gestured Umino to get up and signaled that he was free to leave. When Umino was partially out the coach said,"All you have to do is wait and she come back." When Umino left, a girl came in a few minutes later. "How may I help you miss?" the coach asked. "Hi,"said a husky voice,"I would like to sign up for the football club." The coach chuckled in a non-intimidating way. He offered her the chair that Umino was sitting at. Then he around his desk, sat back down and pulled up his chair,"So what makes you think you can join the American Football Club?" The girl put her backpack on her lap and searched through it. She took out a semi-thick folder from it and propped it on desk. The coach pick it up and flipped though the carbon pages. His eyes showed great interest in the content of the pages. "This shows that you have alot of potential. And you've learned alot from one year of playing. Did you do any other sports before?" "I studied chinese kung-fu before I took football. Coach..uh" "Takahashi."he interupted,"Are you worried that you will be ridiculed and harrassed for joining football?" "No otherwise I wouldn't be here. And I'm only going to be in one session." "Only one session?" "Yeah, I'm trying to prove to a certain football player on your team that girls are just as good in sports as boys." Takahashi chortled"Oh I get you, the anti-sexist situation. Well, you're in luck, a young man had just left today and I think his uniform is in nearly perfect condition for you. They're in the knapsack beside you." he pointed in the corner of the room. "Go change in the girl's bathroom and meet us at the field." "Hai" Hotawu grabbed the knapsack and skipped over to the exit. "And one more thing" the coach said, stopping Hotawu in the middle of the door,"What's your name again I couldn't read the writing." "Oh, my name is Ramna. Ranma Nibunnoichi." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Alright men meet your new teammate Ranma Nibunniochi."vociferated Coach Takahashi. The shoulder pad claded players greeted the new member with pats on the back and hand slaps. "NOW LETS GET INTO A GAME." Everyone dispersed into two teams. "OK" yelled Seiya to get everyone's attention,"Who ever's on my team has to wear a band around their waist. The other team has no waist band." All followed Seiya's instruction. As Seiya went to his position, Touya, his friend, casually nudged him,"Seiya do you think the new guy would last longer than Umino?" "Not really, he's about the same size as him, probably even smaller." * "15 32 8 hut" The football was passed to the quater back and then to Seiya. Seiya sprinted down the field. He spiraled around the incoming opponent. Pushed over the next. 'Great start.' he thought to himself. Suddenly a blue blur zoomed by his range of sight. From what he saw it was a about ten feet in front of him. It flashed by again passing in front of one of his defense. 'What the hell was that?!?' he said in his mind. BOOM Seiya found himself lying on his side, hugging his torso that was writhing in pain. He then felt a hand push him on to his back. Everything he saw was partially hazed over with black. He tried to see what was waving in front of him. A mixture of millions of voices were floating around him making him feel more nauseated. "Seiya, how many fingers am I holding up?" Seiya heard that quite clearly. * Everyone was surrounding the half concious Seiya. Ranma recieved a shower of praising and regarding head rubs. The football field was filled with clamoring: "Whoa Ranma actually knocked down Seiya." "Not too many people can do that." "Cool" "Kakkoii" "Do you think someone should get an ambulance?" "Cool, I never rode on an ambulance. ;p" "Quick someone get the coach or a doctor." "Hey look Seiya's getting up." "Seiya how many fingers am I holding up?" "He looks worse than roadkill." "How about that cardboard flat squirrel we saw this morning." "I stand corrected." "I hope I will not be on Ranma's bad side." "Have you ever notice that Ranma never took his helmet off?" "Who would? It's a cool helmet." "Seiya?" "He looks like my parrot after I slapped it across the room." "Do you think he's acting retarded?" "No, you retard. He just got tackled down by a train." "Uhh.."Seiya moaned,"Get your hand out of my face. (which was quickly done) What wuz that?" "You just got bashed by Ranma." said Touya. Seiya groaned out of physical pain. "Seiya! Seiya! are you all right?" asked the coach worriedly. "I'm all right."he murmured,"Just the wind knocked out of me." Touya and Ranma lifted Seiya to his feet. Seiya put his arms around both of them, one arm over one shoulder. The three traveled toward the nurse's office. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "You know Seiya, you should really cut down on your burger intake." said Touya. Seiya sat up on his bed and turned to Touya,"What do you mean by that?" "On the way here we- I mean I had a pretty hard time getting you up here." "Am I really that fat?" asked Seiya. His question was answered by a couple of coughs from Touya. Seiya pushed that aside and turned to Ranma,"Hey Ranma that was a good tackle. You're pretty strong for a little guy." Ranma cleared her throat and said in a husky voice,"Well I'm not exactly a guy." "You mean you're circumcised?" asked Touya. "I really don't have anything to circumcise."Ranma's voice rose in pitch. "Y-you're a-"Seiya stuttered. Ranma bent her head down and pulled her helmet off. She whipped her head of semi shoulder-length ebony hair up and yelled,"Sha-WAM. Recognize me you sexist pig?" "HOTAWU!!!!?!!?!!" Seiya shouted. "I have a sudden feeling that there was a fight before this."said Touya. "Seiya dropped back into his bed muttering over and over,"Beaten_by_a _girl." Hotawu left the room in sheer triumph. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Yaten and Hotaru were waiting under a large oak tree. Yaten was sitting at the base of the tree with his arms around Hotaru who was sitting beside him. Taiki leaned against the tree standing. He was also waiting. "Hey guys!"vociferated Hotawu as she was running up to them. Hotaru saw Hotawu rising from the horizon. Then she saw Seiya coming up from behind Hotawu in full vehemence. When Hotawu reached the tree that Hotaru and Yaten were sitting at, she put one hand on it and leaned against the tree. After she caught her breath she said,"Thank for waiting up for me. I hope I didn't make you wait too long." "No. We kept overselves busy."said Yaten sensually giving Hotaru a peck on her cheek. Hotawu went up to Taiki "Taiki, I'm sorry for shoving my test score in your face earlier today so I got you something." "What is it?"he curiously asked. Hotawu handed him a box that was labeled 'Pixie Sticks'(This product belongs to some rich and hyper guy. This is to keep myself out of trouble... I think I just did the opposite of what I intended to ^_^;) (These are the big ones, Not the dinky little paper straw things.) "I usually mix a couple of straws of this with some high caffine soda." explained Hotawu,"This makes a really explosive result. According to my book, this is better than coffee." "Gee uh thanks."said Taiki reluctantly,"But there is no such thing as a sugar high." "HOTAWU!!" screamed a furious and familiar voice. "Hmm?" asked Hotaru. "That's my name don't wear it out."chirped Hotawu. Seiya ran up to Hotawu and breathed heavily for a minute or so. When he cought his breath, he bellowed,"HOTAWU! HOW COULD YOU EMBARRASS ME LIKE THAT?!?!?!?!!!!!!!!" "Simple, I joined the-"said Hotawu. "I KNOW THAT." "Then why did you ask?" "WOULD YOU STOP BEING A SMART ALLEC!" "Only if you will stop yelling at me. My ears are going to explode." Seiya closed his eyes and breathed at a normal rate. While Seiya was meditating, Hotaru and Yaten got up. "Hotawu, Yaten and I are going home. I hope you won't mind."called Hotaru. "No, I don't mind. This may take a while.,"said Hotawu," Seiya is surely taking a long time. Typical of a thick skulled football player." This ticked Seiya off," I'm not going to hit you because you're a girl." "Another sexist remark. Oh well, you know I can whip you your poor little butt." 'Maybe I can pretend that she's a boy.' Seiya thought. "WATCH OUT, HERE I COME."hollered Seiya as he running towards Hotawu with his arms crossed over his face. Hotawu jumped up and stomped down on the top of Seiya's head. She flipped over him and landed gracfully in front of Seiya. She quickly got into a dropkick form and jarred him in the chin before he landed on the ground. "Uhh...I think we have to take him back to the nurses offices."huffed Hotawu. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "See ya Usagi."called Minako as she left the classroom. Usagi sighed "Detention again. Might as well make the best of it." She then took out the notepad with celestrial theme and continued her letter to Memoru. After writing a few sentences a dark lightning streak flashed from the outside. The energy waves from it were so intense the teacher, who was staying with Usagi for detention, fell from her chair and was knocked unconscious. Usagi looked out of the window,"Youma."she whispered. *continued*