breaker@technologist.com When inspiration strikes... Ajax presents: AFTER SCHOOl Prologue : The Decision to Marry As the door to the small cafe opened and what the waiter would have described as a gorgeous creature entered, a girl sitting towards the back of the room jumped up, started waving and called out "Rei-chan, Rei-chan!", un- intentionally hitting a waitress with her hand. As she turned and started apologising with a red face, the newcomer walked towards the table with an exasperated expression on her face, taking off the stylish scarlet jacket she wore to reveal a sleeveless black top underneath. "Decidedly, Usagi-chan, you're never going to change." she said, sliding into the chair facing the blonde girl. "How long have you been waiting?" "Not long. I haven't been able to order yet. Waitress!" she called, scanning the menu. The waitress approached their table with a tired look. "Your order?" "I'll have five scoops of chocolate ice cream, with nuts and extra whipped cream and a coke at the side. And you Rei-chan?" The Big Sweatdrop appeared on the waitress's head as she looked over the girl and wondered how she could keep so thin if she ate like that everytime she went out. The other girl's order of a soda (just a soda? she thought) startled her from her thoughts, and she hurriedly wrote it down before gathering the menus and leaving. "So why did you want to see me, Rei-chan?" she asked, wondering why Rei hadn't wanted any of the others along. "Usagi, I haven't seen you since school let out. That's nearly two months now! And gosh, you have this huge thing coming up, isn't that enough reason to talk?" Usagi's face took on Threatening Look No. 8. "Rei-chan...." she growled menacingly, "You ARE over him, aren't you?" "Gees Usagi, calm down! Of course I am! Let's talk about that later, okay? So what have you been doing these past two months?" There was a pause in the conversation as their orders arrived and Usagi dug in with enthusiasm. "Well," she spoke, her mouth half-full of chocolate, nuts and whipped cream, "Mamoru, Mom and I have been going around preparing, mostly. It's been busy. Can you believe this is the first time I've gotten out since the end of school?" Her voice took on an accusing tone. "Not that there was anyone to get out with, besides Mamo-chan. Mako is training, Minako, Naru and all my other school friends are out of town, Ami-chan's in Germany and you went to visit your father. How did it go, by the way?" "Pfff. As good as can be expected, I suppose. This is the first time I've actually seen where he lives. I don't know why he shows this sudden interest in me. He finally seemed to want to learn more about my life. We did go to Okinawa for one week though, and that was pretty nice." "Cool." Suddenly, Usagi's face lit up with a huge smile. "Oh Rei-chan, can you believe school is finally over? Never, never again shall I set foot in that building, never shall I be punished by Mom for bad grades again, and I won't ever not wake up on time and be late!" "Yeah, you even managed to graduate," Rei said sarcastically under her breath. "It's only over for you, I'm afraid." she said aloud. "Oh dear, I totally forgot to ask you about that! Which universities did you win, Rei?" Rei took out some brochures from her bag and spread them out on the table. "Well, my points are just enough for the Economy&Finance Faculty of the Tokyo University, but I don't think that's for me. Can you imagine me in a business suit doing serious work?" "Hey, why not? You'd look pretty good in a red jacket and shirt." "No thanks. Anyway, I also won the Philosophy section, which they've informed me has a good course on religions. That's probably the best choice for me. But...well, there's also this." She chose one from the stack of brochures and pushed it across the table to Usagi, who read it with a surprised look. (Author's note: I have no idea if these universities and sections actually exist.) "Fashion School?" "Eh. It's not a college, but a very good school who guarantees a job. Besides, it's only two years. They accept students on talent, so I figured what the heck, took their test, and they told me I could have pretty good results." "So you'll be a designer?" "I haven't definitely decided yet, but I think it's an interesting and fun thing to do. I could always start university after I graduated from this school." "Well, when you become a designer, I will be one of your major inspirations, right? Right?" The Big Sweatdrop made its apparition on Rei's forehead. "Usagi the Twit the major inspiration for dazzling fashion shows? Sure." "Rei, why are you so mean to meeee?" the whining started, bringing tear floods with it and attracting the attention of the other customers, provoking yet another Big Sweatdrop from Rei. "Well, that's enough about me, ne? I came to talk about you, Usagi. So how is Mamoru-san?" The whining immediately stopped at the mention of his name. " We celebrated his birthday two weeks ago. He really liked your present, by the way. Other than that, he's been busy. I'm helping him ready his house, getting new furniture, moving my own stuff and all. We had work to do at the shrine as well, and also all the paperwork and other formalities, but your grandfather and Chad have been really helpful." Rei grinned a wicked grin. "Well, I did tell them they had better be... But gosh, Usagi, I still can't quite believe it! I mean, I'm really happy for you but isn't 18 a bit young to get married?" She was surprised when Usagi suddenly called the waitress over and paid the bill even though she still had some icecream left. "Rei-chan, do you mind taking a walk with me? I feel I need to clear my head." Dubiously, Rei put on her jacket while Usagi donned the pink sweater that had been tied around her waist over her blue sundress. As they left the cafe, a cold wind made Rei shiver and clutch her jacket closer to her body. The summer of Tokyo was dwindling to an end as the first days of September approached. "Rei-chan?" the blonde girl asked, a thoughtful, subdued expression on her face. "Remember that one time when you asked me what I wanted to later?" "Eh. You didn't say anything." "Because I couldn't think of anything, Rei-chan. I have never had any dreams about growing up, deep down I guess I always wanted to stay a child. You know, when we were in second grade, Naru and I, she went through this phase where she would every other day come up with something new she wanted to become when she grew up. Sometimes she would ask me, and I never could say anything. I never thought about the future beyond high school, and now that it is over, I still don't have anything I might want to do. Besides, I've never liked school and I can't imagine having to go through some more of it. It's not sure I would have gotten a place in any college anyway, considering my notes. You guys, all of my friends, they are all continuing basically not changing anything about their lives. The ones who are not continuing, like Mako-chan and Naru-chan, already know what they are going to do. "And me, I'm going to marry the man I've loved for over a thousand years. Something tells me that's my path to take. I can't see myself doing anything else." Rei was amazed at the wise words coming from Usagi's mouth and the serene, contented look on her face. She tried to imagine herself, married and settled in a month's time. It just didn't click. She had so many things to do, so many places to see, before she even considered getting married. It also required a lot of courage, she admitted to herself. For the first time in her life, Rei looked upon her friend with respect, for here was a young woman who, unlike her, wanted nothing from life and was perfectly happy with what it had already given her. Deciding she couldn't take any more of Usagi being serious, Rei changed the subject. "What about Naru?" "You'll never believe this, but she is going to be a nurse at the children's hospital. She's starting this fall. Apparently, there is a shortage of children's nurses, so the education is given on place." "Really? That's such a hard job, though." "I know, but it's just right for Naru-chan. I've known her for over twelve years, somehow I can't imagine her doing anything else. Oh, and you know what? Mako-chan finally found a place to open her restaurant!" "Are you kidding me? Wow, I missed a lot when I was with my dad, it seems. Where is it?" "Come on! I'll show you!" yelled Usagi, breaking into a run to catch the bus which was waiting at the stop a few meters away. As they settled into their seats, breathless, Usagi started reading the street names until they came to a building the groundfloor of which was being restored. "That's the place," spoke Usagi, "the rent is also pretty cheap. It's going to open in about a week. Mako-chan told me her teacher at the culinary course said she was a first-class chef." "I don't see why she had to drop out of school a year early to attend that course, though." "Money, Rei-chan. Makoto didn't have enough money to attend high school and that course at the same time. Besides, she needed time to find a place and get permission to open a restaurant." She paused the time to get off the bus and started walking towards her house. "Usagi, speaking about money...How are you two going to get by? I mean, Mamoru still has...what? Two years? Three years? You won't have a steady income until he graduates." "He already has a part-time job between classes. And," she raised her chin proudly, "I'm going to work too." "You? Work? What kind of work could YOU possibly do? You're too clumsy!" So much for respect. "Am not! I'm going to work at Mako-chan's place. This way, she won't pay me as much as she would have to pay another waiter, and the rest of my salary will be cooking lessons!" "Cooking lessons. Oh yeah that's right, you're going to have to cook for Mamoru-san. Poor guy, I hope he has a strong stomach. Remind me to say no when you invite me to your house." "Rei! As if you can cook yourself! Why don't you just shut up?" On cue, they both stuck their tongues out at each other and continued walking like that, attracting bizarre looks from the rest of the people on the side- walk. **************************************************************************** Explanations in order: This story is going to be my attempt at describing the senshi's life after high school. For convenience, this story ignores everything that has happened after the defeat of Beryl except the senshi getting their memories and powers back. So no more enemies, no Outer senshi (I might introduce Michiru and Haruka later on, I haven't decided.) This also means the senshi never visit the future and don't meet Chibi-Usa. Please keep that in mind as you read this story. The rest of this story is going to be written in script format. You may have noticed that this story contradicts everything I wrote in my "Stories of Life-Makoto". These two works are not related. For those wondering why I do not use Chad's Japanese name, I just can't bother spelling it each time. The inner senshi are now 18 while Mamoru is 22. He also has his memories back, so no Moonlight Knight either. He still has about three and a half years to go before he finishes college. (Medicine takes longer than other brances, though I don't know exactly how long.) If we take Usagi to be 14 in 1992 (the year the animated series started) then we are now in 1996. Thanks to everyone on the FFML who helped me sort out the problems about the Japanese school system. I love hearing what people think about my stories, so please send any comments to breaker@technologist.com (unless you read it on the FFML, then you can just mail the C&C there. Finally, here's a little timeline to help you along. 3rd August,1974 Birth of Chiba Mamoru, the reincarnation of Prince Endymion 1978 Birth of Tsukino Usagi, of the Sailor Senshi, and also of Osaka Naru and Umino Gurio 1980 Death of Mamoru's parents. Mamoru is taken into an orphanage and starts his education there. 1984 Usagi and the other senshi start school. Usagi meets Naru. 1990 Death of Makoto's parents Mamoru leaves the orphanage. 1991 First apparition of Sailor V. The Aino family moves to London. 1992 First apparition of Sailors Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter and later Venus. First meeting of Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen and also of Usagi and Mamoru. Mamoru graduates from high school and starts studying medicine in the university. Defeat of Beryl and the Dark Kingdom Death and subsequent reincarnation and reawakening of the Sailor Senshi and Mamoru 1995 Makoto drops out of high school so she can attend a culinary course and open her own restaurant. Makoto's friend Ken starts studying Business in college. Ami graduates a year earlier than her classmates and is invited to Germany on a scholarship to study medicine. Mamoru and Usagi are engaged. End of March, 1996 The rest of the senshi graduate (Usagi just manages to) from high school. 30th June Usagi's 18th birthday Beginning of July The Aino family goes on vacation to Okinawa. Rei is invited by her father for the summer. Mamoru and Usagi decide to get married. Preparations start. 3rd August Mamoru's 22nd birthday 19th August Rei arrives back in Tokyo. 21st August Prologue of "After School" Disclaimer: Sailor Moon belongs not to me, but to the folks at Toei and also Naoko Takeuchi.