~Emerald Eyes~
	~(PG) Chapter 4 By Callisto~

	"Bad Things Always Happen!"

	The hiss of the kettle broke the morning 
silence of Makoto?s kitchen. She poured a cup of 
the steaming tea and drank a small sip. She set 
it on the counter and flipped the sizzling 
pancakes over.

	A few minutes later she was drizzling syrup 
over them and just about to take the first bite. 
As she was lifting the fork to her mouth she 
heard a noise outside the hallway that made her 
stop. She put the fork back on the plate and ran 
to the door. She tied her robe as she opened the 
door to see a little girl standing outside in the 
hallway crying. 

	"Ari-chan? What?s wrong?" Makoto asked her 
softly. "Did you lose Mi-Mi again?"

	"Yes, Mako-chan." She replied through her 
tears. "I was eating breakfast and dad had left 
for work, but the door... it didn?t shut, and I 
didn?t know. She must have wandered out, and now 
I don?t know where she is!"

	She began to cry again but Makoto just said 
gently," Don?t cry Ari-chan. We found her last 
time, remember? We?ll just look all over, and 
we?ll be sure to find her! She must be on this 
floor, because she can?t work the elevator, 
right?" Mako smiled and Ari gave a little giggle.

	"Right." she said quietly.

	"Mi-Mi wouldn?t happen to be a little gray 
kitten would she?" A voice came from down the 
hall. Mako and Ari turned to see Shin holding a 
tiny gray kitten.

	"Mi-Mi!!" Ari cried as she got up and ran 
over to Shin. "Thank you for finding her for me!" 

	Shin handed the kitten to her." You?re 
welcome. I was just down getting my newspaper and 
I saw her walking around the hallway. I was going 
to bring her home with me!"

	"Thank you. You too Mako-chan!" Ari said 
happily.

	"Sure. Come over soon Ari, and we?ll bake 
cookies again, OK?"

	"Ok, Mako-chan! Bye bye." Ari opened the 
door next to Mako?s house and carefully shut it 
behind her.

	"A friend of yours?" Shin asked Makoto.

	"Yes. I?ve known Ari since she was very 
little." Mako said.

	"So is it only me who you?re so mean to?" 
Shin asked.

	"What does that mean!?!" Mako asked.

	"Well I?ve never seen you act that nice to 
me."

	"What reason have you given me to?"

	Shin shrugged as Makoto turned the door nob 
to her apartment and opened the door.

	"You cook?" Shin asked.

	"Why?" Makoto wondered.

	"Well, you just told that little girl that 
you would make cookies with her again, so I was 
wondering, do you cook?"

	"Yes, I do."

	"Well, I can?t cook anything. Do you think  
you could come over and help me sometime?"

	"I suppose so..." Makoto said warily, not 
sure she could endure a cooking lesson with him.

	Oh, I?m so late! I?ll never make it to 
school!" She cried as she saw the clock on the 
wall insode of her doorway."Shin-San, bad things 
always happen when you?re around!" She called as 
she ran inside and slammed the door.



*	*	*	*	*	*

	"Sit in a desk quietly, and no talking until 
the hour is up!" The detention teacher yelled out 
to Makoto and the two other students in the empty 
room.

	The door opened slowly and Usagi poked her 
head inside, smiling sheepishly. "Am I late?" She 
asked the teacher.

	"Yes you are, and for that I?m going to 
double your detention!" The teacher yelled. "Go 
and take a seat!"

	"Oohh, I get detention for being late to 
class and another detention for being late to 
detention! Can?t I make it on time anywhere?" 
Usagi wailed as she sat down and spotted Makoto 
across the room. "Hi, Mako-chan!"

	"Hi Usagi-chan." Mako whispered back, then 
pointed to the teacher who had sat down at the 
desk in the front of the room and was reading a 
magazine.

	Usagi smiled and nodded. She quickly pulled 
a peice of paper out of her note book and 
scribbled a message on it. After folding it into 
a paper airplane, she sent it flying across the 
room to Makoto.

	Usagi: "Why do you have detention mako-
chan?" 

	Mako scribbled down an answer and sent it 
back.

	Makoto: "I was late to school. It wasn?t my 
fault though. I was helping this little girl, and 
then Shin showed up and distracted me and made me 
mad, and I forgot what time it was! Do you know 
he lives in my building? Three doors down from my 
apartment! He?s so annoying, and I have to give 
him a cooking lesson tommorow!!"

	Usagi giggled and wrote down another 
message.

	Usagi: "Mako-chan, I think he likes you!"

	"What!" Mako yelled as she read the note 
jummping out of her chair  so quickly she knocked 
her desk over.

	"Miss Kino, is there some sort of problem?" 
The teacher asked angrily.

	"No, sir!" Mako picked her desk up and 
quickly sat down. Usagi smiled, but Mako just 
looked at her and shook her head.