Christmas With the Girl Next Door
A Sailormoon Fan Fiction by nishikaze
Chapter One: The Neighbor
The Shiro high-rise was a brand new state of the art apartment building, barely a year old. Ten stories high with facilities catering to upper middle class and rich Tokyo residents, it was no exaggeration to say the Shiro building was a great place to live. For Chiba Mamoru, it was ideal. Close enough to his job, without being too close and he loved the large size of his apartment in a city where small apartments seemed to be the necessary norm. True, he lived alone… But he enjoyed the space.
Too bad Mamoru was a busy man and didn't spend a lot of his time at home. But no man is too busy not to notice the local talent however, especially when they were so exceptional, frequent and varied. Not to mention that all the truly magnificent women that visited his apartment building seemed to like visiting his next door neighbor.
When he had first moved in 6 months ago a friendly Amazon of a brunette had helped him out with a few boxes. She was only a few inches shorter than his 6' 2" with legs a mile long and her figure was… generous to say the least. He was human, he noticed. She had also mentioned, when he had had the audacity to ask her for a date, that she was taken. She wasn't even awkward about it. She just smiled and turned him down. Then, after helping with a few more boxes she disappeared into the apartment next door. He had seen her in the halls several times since then. She and her fiancé had opened a popular coffee house and bistro in the area. Business was booming and no wonder; the food there was fantastic. It had quickly become his favorite haunt when he wanted to relax or just didn't feel like cooking.
Then there had been that incredible, exotic woman with the black hair and violet eyes. She was a priestess and a popular psychic advisor for a few government officials. He was not usually the type to believe in all that psychic mumbo-jumbo but there was something so disconcerting about the woman her, she made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end, simply by looking at him. If there was one true psychic on the planet it had to be her. He knew better than to even think about her in a sexual way, lest she read his thoughts. He just would watch her waltz right into the apartment next door without breaking her stride.
Oh… and let's not forget the drop-dead gorgeous blonde starlet. She at least flattered him enough to flirt with him, and she was an outrageous flirt. He enjoyed talking to her, she was a lot of fun… but not available if the papers were to be believed. She was in the middle of a very public, very steamy relationship with a brilliant young director. He tried not to be impressed, she was human too, but there was a reason she had become a star. She had an enormous amount of sex appeal, enough to make any red-blooded, hetero man's mouth water… and last time he checked he was red-blooded and hetero.
To top this bizarre list off, there was the genius. A fellow medical student, she was about to enter her residency at the same hospital as he. She was a few years younger than him, but her brilliance and hard work and brought her farther than the rest of her class. Considered to be one of the most intelligent people in the country, he would have been intimidated by her had she not been so quiet and unassuming. It did his ego a lot of good to talk to her; she was so respectful and attentive. She was quite pretty too; petite, with short hair and a soft smile. She was, quiet simply, a perfect genetic specimen. Fate seemed to feel this way too for her fiancée was also one of the most intelligent people in the country, handsome and talented, an engineer for a major software company. He couldn't help but smile every time he thought about it. Imagine what their children would be like!
These four exceptional women all had one thing in common; his neighbor. The neighbor he never saw. So many other people went into and out of that apartment every day, but not one of them seemed to be his neighbor. It was getting frustrating. He was not usually such a busy-body but his curiosity had been peaked.
So now he found himself staring at the name plate next to his neighbor's mailbox in the lobby: Tsukino U. Apartment 504. God he had to be some man, to be surrounded by such exceptional people. He shook his head and smiled. Damn man… you'd think you were jealous.
Hell yes! He was dying to meet this guy.
Lately he, Chiba Mamoru, emergency room resident, had been working the screwed-up shifts at the hospital. ER doctors often had to work long and odd hours, especially the residents. He was a senior resident now and would be required to help the new crew settle in. He didn't mind so much. He found the best way to learn and keep his mind sharp was to teach and tutor. To him it was a give and take relationship. He loved his job, but it could be exhausting and it didn't allow for much of a social life. Technically he was still a student, not a doctor, but he was close to graduation. Because he was so close to graduation he had been given a two week vacation from the hospital and he was bored out of his mind.
He sighed… School had been his life for the past… hell his entire life. He hated breaks. He never knew what to do with himself. And this one had to be during the holiday season. Now what was he supposed to do? He didn't have any family and Christmas was two weeks away. The holidays were a lonely time when you were alone. He sighed. Maybe he could visit his best friend and his wife…
He was lost in his thoughts as he made his way to the elevator, punching the button for his floor. The door had just begun to close when a desperate voice called from across the lobby. "Hold the door! Please!"
All he could see over the pile of packages was a pair of eyes and the top of a blonde head, wearing a pink winter cap. He instinctively put his hand out forcing the door back open and holding it there while the belabored woman carefully shuffled her way into the elevator. She had almost made it when she tripped. Falling forward, she dumped her packages onto the floor. He took her weight as she fell against him and stumbled himself, his back slamming against the far wall. Without his hand holding it open, the door closed and the elevator started to move.
He stood there for a moment, holding her up in shock. Her moan was what snapped him out of it. "Are you OK?" He asked, looking down.
"Huh…? What?" She looked up at him and blinked. Mamoru was struck dumb. Staring up at him were the largest, clearest blue eyes he had ever seen. "Oh!" She jumped away and out of his arms, her face bright red. "God, I am so sorry! Are you hurt? I didn't hurt you did I? And after you were so nice and held the door for me! It was totally my fault and I'll never forgive myself if I hurt you. I know I shouldn't have been carrying so many parcels but I have so many people to buy for and everything was on sale and I…" The speed of words spewing out of her mouth was astonishing, and enough to bring Mamoru back to reality.
"Stop!" He order and pressed his hand against his eyes to stave off the oncoming headache. "Calm down… I'm fine. Trust me. It isn't the end of the world. Accidents happen and besides… I doubt you have enough weight on you to seriously hurt me." It was true. The young woman had a petite frame and was slender, though it was hard to see her figure under the heavy winter coat she wore. "Relax, no harm done." He smiled.
She nodded and sighed as her face returned to a normal color, "OK." She looked down at the mess she had made and moaned again. "Oh… I am such a klutz." She mumbled as she bent to start piling them back up.
He shrugged and bent to help her. In for a penny… "Here let me help." The elevator stopped at his floor and the doors opened. Mamoru kept hitting the open door button as the two recovered her packages. "Wait a minute… What floor did you need to get out on?"
She looked up at him and blinked again. "Oh… I live on 5, why?"
5? That was his floor… Did she just move in? "Because we're here."
She looked up at the display and smiled, "So we are." She laughed. "Great! Easier for me!" She began to push the boxes out the door and into the hall.
Mamoru bent to pick them up, "Here let me help you with these."
"Oh I wouldn't want to trouble you."
"It's no trouble." Besides, he thought to himself, This way you won't drop them again.
"Do you live on this floor too?" She asked him as she stood.
"Yeah… 505, and you?" He asked, fishing for information.
"Oh! You must be the resident then! Chiba Mamoru right? Ami told me about you. She's going to do her residency at the same hospital." She smiled again.
"Ami…?" The genius?
She led him down the hall. "Yeah… She's one of my best friends… from way back in junior high. Isn't she a sweetheart?" She stopped, "Here we are," She announced. Mamoru looked up at the number on the door. 504. He stared at the number in disbelief.
"Oh! I didn't introduce myself. I can be so rude sometimes. I'm Usagi." She announced with a smile, not noticing his state of shock as she unlocked the door. She turned to him and took back her boxes. "Thanks again, neighbor!"
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Next Time: Just Plain, Ordinary Me