Two drabbles
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78. Addiction
Alicia Blade
575 words
Mamoru raced down the hospital corridor, sweat beading on his brow. He could see her friends loitering at the other end of the hallway-Ami and Makoto holding hands, Minako hunched over folded arms, Rei glowering at the white linoleum floor.
"Is she okay?" he said, breathless, and skidded to a stop before them.
"Mamoru-san?" Rei said, gaping at him. "What are you-"
"Motoki told me she was in the hospital. I came-I ran as fast as I could. What happened?"
The girls exchanged surprised looks.
“Tell me!”
Makoto frowned. "She overdosed."
Mamoru stumbled back, a thousand thoughts spinning through his head.
She overdosed?
Usagi did drugs?
But no, that wasn't possible! There must be a mistake. Maybe she mistook some drugs for her daily vitamins or something. Or perhaps... perhaps she was on medication, and accidentally took too much?
Or maybe... just maybe, it was on purpose.
He groaned, thinking of the argument they'd had that morning. He couldn't even remember what he'd said to her now, only that she'd burned with rage, and her bright blue eyes had darkened with hatred and glittered with tears, before she'd ran off, sobbing.
Guilt pierced his chest. Had he done this to her?
"Mamoru?" said Rei, waving a hand before his eyes. "Are you okay?"
"Can I see her?"
Another bout of exchanged glances, before Minako nodded, and they all parted, allowing him access to the closed hospital door.
He held his breath when he entered. It was as sterile and cold a place as he remembered it. How he hated hospitals. The smells. The tastes. The sounds. The too-polite expressions on the nurse's faces, so full of pity, so jaded.
His stomach lurched when he saw her in the bed. Her odangos were messed, her hair tangled against the pillows. But she was awake, one hand on a remote control, staring at a small TV. Her gaze darted to him and her eyes widened, and her lips formed the beginning of a startled question.
"Usagi," he cried before she could say anything, and collapsed on the bed beside her legs. "I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry for what I said. I-I didn't realize.... You stupid, stupid girl, why would you do this to yourself?" And then, before he could start crying, he leaned over and buried his face into her blanketed lap.
"Mamoru-baka?" she said, one hand tentatively finding its way to his hair and settling there, unmoving.
"Odango, don't you ever do anything like this again," he said into the blankets, fists bunching up at her sides. "If anything ever happened to you, I... I couldn't..."
"All right, Miss Tsukino, you're free to go."
Mamoru jolted at the sound and jumped off the bed. He grasped Usagi's fragile hand in both of his, heart thudding anxiously, as he faced the nurse who had just entered. "Are you sure? Don't you think you should keep her a bit longer? Make sure there aren't any adverse side effects? Make sure... make sure she's going to be okay?"
"Oh, she'll be fine," the woman said with a simple smile, then cast a stern frown at Usagi and waggled a pencil at her. "Just try not to eat so many donuts at one time again, okay?"
Mamoru’s jaw fell. He slowly-slowly-turned back to see Usagi with crimson cheeks.
“Donuts?”
She fluttered her lashes at him. “Your apology,” she said, gently patting his hand, “is heartily accepted.”
31. Weapon
Alicia Blade
730 words
“Mina, you’ve had a lot of dumb ideas since we’ve been friends, but this one takes the cake.”
“Don’t you mean, this one takes the heart-shaped box of chocolates?”
Rei scowled. “No-why would I mean that?”
“Oh, Rei-chan, you’re just jealous that you didn’t think of this first. Would you hand me the tape?”
Rei groaned but passed over the tape as asked, before standing to look over the building’s concrete ledge. The wind, frigid and sharp, whipped up her long black hair and made her think of all the hundreds of places she would rather be than on top of a four-story building. Alone with Minako and her crazy ideas.
“Do you see them?” said Minako, wrapping her hand-written note around the shaft of her arrow and securing it with the tape.
“Not ye-oh! Yes, here comes Usagi.”
Mina squealed and picked up the arrow and her toy bow, spray-painted bright pink and coated with glitter for the occasion, and joined Rei at the edge. On the street below, harried men and women darted around on the sidewalks, ignorant of the two girls peering down on them. And in their midst was Usagi, practically bouncing with joy, her arms laden with stuffed rabbits and cherry-red cards, happily devouring a chocolate truffle.
“And here comes Mamoru,” said Minako, pointing in the other direction. “Right on time.” She lifted her bow up and cocked the arrow against the string.
Rei groaned, sensing imminent disaster. “I can’t believe I let you talk me into this.”
“Hush, I need to concentrate.”
“If you kill an innocent bystander, I wash my hands of all responsibility.”
“Don’t be such a worry mole. I’m an old pro at this.”
“An old pro? Mina, how many times in your life have you used a bow and arrow?”
Mina snorted and shrugged Rei’s comment off as she pulled the string taut and took aim. “Never,” she said. “But I’m convinced I was Cupid in a previous life.”
…
The moment Mamoru spotted Usagi bustling down the street with her Valentine’s Day haul, a black cloud filled the sky overhead and lightning bolts flared up from his head to his clenched fists. How many admirers did the ditz have?
They clashed in front of the arcade’s glass double doors. Usagi, finally spotting her mortal enemy, stopped chewing mid-bite with bits of chocolate stuck to her lips, blinked up at the man, then creased her brow into a glare.
“Whadyouwann?” she mumbled, then gulped and licked her lips in an innocent gesture that tipped Mamoru’s blood to boiling.
“How pathetic,” said Mamoru, “that you feel the need to buy yourself all those presents just to make yourself feel loved on a stupid, corny holiday.”
Usagi’s eyes widened. Heat flooded her cheeks. She was used to cruelty from Mamoru, but that was just low. “I did not buy these for myself! They were all gifts from the guys in my class.”
“Right. And I suppose Cupid’s rea-”
Thwack!
Silenced and stunned, Mamoru slowly lowered his gaze to the thin wooden rod with the heart-shaped tail jutting from his chest.
Usagi also gaped, slack-jawed, and then looked up at the building tops, half-expecting to see a winged figure in a loin cloth darting away. She thought she heard an excited “Bulls-eye!” from far above them, but couldn’t be sure.
She looked back at Mamoru, who appeared frozen before her, and wondered briefly if her prayers had been answered and he was dead. But no, the arrow was little more than a suction cup on a stick.
Then she saw the roll of paper wrapped around the arrow and, reaching up, peeled the note away.
“Mamoru,” she read, “stop being an idiot and ask her out already. You know you want to. xoxo, Cupid.”
Another flush rose to her cheeks, just as Mamoru grabbed the note while simultaneously ripping the arrow from his jacket. “It does not say that,” he said, then read it, then sputtered, “Wha-? Who? I don’t-!” and then turned quite an endearing shade of red himself.
“Wait a minute,” said Usagi, snatching the note back and reading it a second time. “I know this handwriting….” She gasped and crumpled the note in her fist. “Minako!”
Her scream was loud enough to send a flock of pigeons flurrying into the air-but Cupid had already left the building.
78. Addiction
Alicia Blade
575 words
Mamoru raced down the hospital corridor, sweat beading on his brow. He could see her friends loitering at the other end of the hallway-Ami and Makoto holding hands, Minako hunched over folded arms, Rei glowering at the white linoleum floor.
"Is she okay?" he said, breathless, and skidded to a stop before them.
"Mamoru-san?" Rei said, gaping at him. "What are you-"
"Motoki told me she was in the hospital. I came-I ran as fast as I could. What happened?"
The girls exchanged surprised looks.
“Tell me!”
Makoto frowned. "She overdosed."
Mamoru stumbled back, a thousand thoughts spinning through his head.
She overdosed?
Usagi did drugs?
But no, that wasn't possible! There must be a mistake. Maybe she mistook some drugs for her daily vitamins or something. Or perhaps... perhaps she was on medication, and accidentally took too much?
Or maybe... just maybe, it was on purpose.
He groaned, thinking of the argument they'd had that morning. He couldn't even remember what he'd said to her now, only that she'd burned with rage, and her bright blue eyes had darkened with hatred and glittered with tears, before she'd ran off, sobbing.
Guilt pierced his chest. Had he done this to her?
"Mamoru?" said Rei, waving a hand before his eyes. "Are you okay?"
"Can I see her?"
Another bout of exchanged glances, before Minako nodded, and they all parted, allowing him access to the closed hospital door.
He held his breath when he entered. It was as sterile and cold a place as he remembered it. How he hated hospitals. The smells. The tastes. The sounds. The too-polite expressions on the nurse's faces, so full of pity, so jaded.
His stomach lurched when he saw her in the bed. Her odangos were messed, her hair tangled against the pillows. But she was awake, one hand on a remote control, staring at a small TV. Her gaze darted to him and her eyes widened, and her lips formed the beginning of a startled question.
"Usagi," he cried before she could say anything, and collapsed on the bed beside her legs. "I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry for what I said. I-I didn't realize.... You stupid, stupid girl, why would you do this to yourself?" And then, before he could start crying, he leaned over and buried his face into her blanketed lap.
"Mamoru-baka?" she said, one hand tentatively finding its way to his hair and settling there, unmoving.
"Odango, don't you ever do anything like this again," he said into the blankets, fists bunching up at her sides. "If anything ever happened to you, I... I couldn't..."
"All right, Miss Tsukino, you're free to go."
Mamoru jolted at the sound and jumped off the bed. He grasped Usagi's fragile hand in both of his, heart thudding anxiously, as he faced the nurse who had just entered. "Are you sure? Don't you think you should keep her a bit longer? Make sure there aren't any adverse side effects? Make sure... make sure she's going to be okay?"
"Oh, she'll be fine," the woman said with a simple smile, then cast a stern frown at Usagi and waggled a pencil at her. "Just try not to eat so many donuts at one time again, okay?"
Mamoru’s jaw fell. He slowly-slowly-turned back to see Usagi with crimson cheeks.
“Donuts?”
She fluttered her lashes at him. “Your apology,” she said, gently patting his hand, “is heartily accepted.”
31. Weapon
Alicia Blade
730 words
“Mina, you’ve had a lot of dumb ideas since we’ve been friends, but this one takes the cake.”
“Don’t you mean, this one takes the heart-shaped box of chocolates?”
Rei scowled. “No-why would I mean that?”
“Oh, Rei-chan, you’re just jealous that you didn’t think of this first. Would you hand me the tape?”
Rei groaned but passed over the tape as asked, before standing to look over the building’s concrete ledge. The wind, frigid and sharp, whipped up her long black hair and made her think of all the hundreds of places she would rather be than on top of a four-story building. Alone with Minako and her crazy ideas.
“Do you see them?” said Minako, wrapping her hand-written note around the shaft of her arrow and securing it with the tape.
“Not ye-oh! Yes, here comes Usagi.”
Mina squealed and picked up the arrow and her toy bow, spray-painted bright pink and coated with glitter for the occasion, and joined Rei at the edge. On the street below, harried men and women darted around on the sidewalks, ignorant of the two girls peering down on them. And in their midst was Usagi, practically bouncing with joy, her arms laden with stuffed rabbits and cherry-red cards, happily devouring a chocolate truffle.
“And here comes Mamoru,” said Minako, pointing in the other direction. “Right on time.” She lifted her bow up and cocked the arrow against the string.
Rei groaned, sensing imminent disaster. “I can’t believe I let you talk me into this.”
“Hush, I need to concentrate.”
“If you kill an innocent bystander, I wash my hands of all responsibility.”
“Don’t be such a worry mole. I’m an old pro at this.”
“An old pro? Mina, how many times in your life have you used a bow and arrow?”
Mina snorted and shrugged Rei’s comment off as she pulled the string taut and took aim. “Never,” she said. “But I’m convinced I was Cupid in a previous life.”
…
The moment Mamoru spotted Usagi bustling down the street with her Valentine’s Day haul, a black cloud filled the sky overhead and lightning bolts flared up from his head to his clenched fists. How many admirers did the ditz have?
They clashed in front of the arcade’s glass double doors. Usagi, finally spotting her mortal enemy, stopped chewing mid-bite with bits of chocolate stuck to her lips, blinked up at the man, then creased her brow into a glare.
“Whadyouwann?” she mumbled, then gulped and licked her lips in an innocent gesture that tipped Mamoru’s blood to boiling.
“How pathetic,” said Mamoru, “that you feel the need to buy yourself all those presents just to make yourself feel loved on a stupid, corny holiday.”
Usagi’s eyes widened. Heat flooded her cheeks. She was used to cruelty from Mamoru, but that was just low. “I did not buy these for myself! They were all gifts from the guys in my class.”
“Right. And I suppose Cupid’s rea-”
Thwack!
Silenced and stunned, Mamoru slowly lowered his gaze to the thin wooden rod with the heart-shaped tail jutting from his chest.
Usagi also gaped, slack-jawed, and then looked up at the building tops, half-expecting to see a winged figure in a loin cloth darting away. She thought she heard an excited “Bulls-eye!” from far above them, but couldn’t be sure.
She looked back at Mamoru, who appeared frozen before her, and wondered briefly if her prayers had been answered and he was dead. But no, the arrow was little more than a suction cup on a stick.
Then she saw the roll of paper wrapped around the arrow and, reaching up, peeled the note away.
“Mamoru,” she read, “stop being an idiot and ask her out already. You know you want to. xoxo, Cupid.”
Another flush rose to her cheeks, just as Mamoru grabbed the note while simultaneously ripping the arrow from his jacket. “It does not say that,” he said, then read it, then sputtered, “Wha-? Who? I don’t-!” and then turned quite an endearing shade of red himself.
“Wait a minute,” said Usagi, snatching the note back and reading it a second time. “I know this handwriting….” She gasped and crumpled the note in her fist. “Minako!”
Her scream was loud enough to send a flock of pigeons flurrying into the air-but Cupid had already left the building.