Moving Buddies

Written by MoonlightUsa

Chapter 1

Summery: Chiba Mamoru and Tsukino Usagi have been going out for four years, loving each other deeply. Living with their parents next door to one another, seeing one another daily made them grow together even more. However, Mamoru's father now wants to move to America, leaving Mamoru with the decision: family or love?

***

            'Please don't make me walk home today, Mom, please pick me up.'

            Tsukino Usagi looked up at the clock in her computer classroom, biting her lip. The day was going to end in a few more minutes, and with that luck snow was beginning to fall fast. The sidewalks were filled with ice; her school didn't provide bussing, and because of that students either had to walk or get picked up. She lived a mile away from the school, and it really was a bummer having to walk home in the snow.

            Sometimes her Mom – Ikuko – would be able to pick her up from school, along with her brother. Because her Mom owned her own business, her work varies in time. She could work from 9 – 5, 11 – 2… it mainly depended on her work load. However, lately the mortgage demand is rising, leaving her Mom working late.

            'Two minutes left… please Mom, I don't want to walk.'

            She looked down at her notebook. The math equations she was once writing down were now covered by the mindless squiggles she began to draw as she was lost in thought. Winter in this town was not a joyous season; it lasted for months on end. Even the wind entered through the windows through the classroom; that's just how cold the air was outside. Students would even wear their winter coat during the day! Oh how she couldn't wait for spring to come.

            BRRRRRRRRRRRRING!

            Students began to file out of the math classroom, egar to get out of the building and out into the world. Locker doors slamming and loud voices became the tune in the hallway; this was the typical after school conversation. She slowly went over to her locker, which was down the hallway from her math classroom. Standing in front of the tan locker, she did her combination and threw her textbooks in her locker. She did a quick check in the mirror, then grabbed her baby pink coat and slid it on. Slamming the locker shut, she grabbed her bag and made her way down to the stairway. She went out the door, the chill entering her warm body. It had to be at least four degrees! She let out a deep breath from her soft pink lips, a small cloud of air forming as she exhaled. She briefly scanned the area, and then strutted over to the tree off to the side of the sidewalk. She leaned up against the frosting branch, peering at the main doorway where students filed out in large groups. She looked threw her bag, shuffling around papers, house keys, and pens until she found her gloves. She slid them on her small chilled hands, and then shoved them deep into her pockets to keep them somewhat warm. She twiddled her fingers in her pocket as she noticed the cluster of students coming out the doors slim down. She let out a sigh; yet again he didn't come out on time. If her Mom came, she really didn't want to miss her ride. She pulled her cell phone out of her bag and looked at the time. '3:05' Her Mom would be leaving in a few minutes if she came to get her. She was just about to turn around until she heard her name being called.

            "Usako!! Usako!!"

            She looked in the direction of her name being called and saw a young man running towards her. He struggled to get his coat on as he ran towards her, his hair tangling itself with the wind. His deep sapphire eyes showed a glint of happiness as he darted towards her, a smile forming across his face. Once he reached her, he grabbed her hand and pulled her into an embrace.

            "Mamo-chan!" she wailed. "What took you so long?!"

            He grinned and then broke their embrace, motioning for them to cross the street. The light changed, and then they hurryingly crossed the street. He looked down at her, softly kissing her rosy cheek.

            "Gomen, Usako. Mr. Saiyama needed to talk to me about something."

            Usagi looked around the area, trying to spot her Mother's car. Grinning, she saw the light blue Saturn parked a few driveways down, and began to walk fast in that direction.

            "Why did the principal need to see you, Mamo-chan?"

            As she reached the car, she quickly grabbed the car handle and opened the door. She and Mamoru slid into the back seat of the car, letting the heat circle her chilling body. She leaned over and gave her Mom a kiss on the cheek, greeting her.

            "Hi, Mama! Arigato!"

            "Hi, sweetie." Mrs. Tsukino greeted. "What took so long today you two?" She looked at the two of them, and then signaled to pull out into the street and head home.

            "Mamo-chan was just about to tell me, Mama. He said the principal wanted to talk to him."

            "Hai." Mamoru interrupted. He broke out into a huge grin as he pulled out an envelope. "As it turns out, I have been accepted to be an intern at the hospital during the first four periods of the day!"

            "Honto ne?!" Usagi clapped her hands together and giggled. "I knew my smart Mamo-chan would get that internship!" She threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. "Congratulations, Mamo-chan!"

            "Great job, Mamoru-san." Mrs. Tsukino commented. "I bet your father will be ecstatic."

            "Me too, Ikuko-san. He keeps saying how this is the best thing for me to do if I want to be a doctor." Mamoru replied, holding Usagi in his arms.

            "It is." Mrs. Tsukino responded. "Out of the entire district you got accepted to work at the hospital. You should be very proud of yourself, Mamoru-san."

            Mamoru nodded. "Hai, I am." He handed the envelope to Usagi, who pulled the letter out from the inside of the envelope immediately and began to read it.

Dear Chiba Mamoru,

                        After thoroughly looking through your school records, your grade point average has excelled beyond our minimal requirements. Out of the 50 candidates for the internship at Juuban General Hospital, you have been selected. Your first four periods of the day (which your schedule shows are free periods) will now be based at the hospital. You will need your own way there, but we can require transportation back to your high school. Please call us at 8007351728 to confirm your acceptance. Congratulations, we look forward to hearing from you.

                                                            Dr. Segi Kakumo

            "Wow, Mamo-chan. You are going to call them back, right?" Usagi looked up to him with a large grin.

            "Hai, Usako. I'm going to call tonight after I show my father the letter," Mamoru responded.

            The conversation came to a halt when the car pulled into the driveway in front of a beautiful two story white house. Opening the door, Usagi rekindled feelings with the chilly air, and began to walk to the front door of the house. She turned around and waved goodbye to her Mom, who was going to go pick up her younger brother whose school let out 15 minutes later than hers. She waved Mamoru to come in, and then walked into the warmth mixed with the potpourri scent of the house. She kicked off her sneakers, and then dropped her bag next to the closet. She took off her coat while grabbing a hanger from the closet inside.

            "Mamoru?" Usagi asked as she placed her coat on the hanger, "Can you help me in one part of my video game. I'm stuck."

            Mamoru laughed. He took his coat off and placed it over the railing of the doorway, sliding off his shoes at the same time. He grabbed his bag and slung it over his shoulders, then walked over to her and gave her a soft kiss on her forehead.

            "Anything for you, Usako," he responded lovingly.

            Giggling, she grabbed his hand and led him up to her room, where she plopped on the pink bean bag chair that nestled right in front of her television. She flipped on her PS2 and plopped down in her chair, loading up her saved game. She motioned for Mamoru to sit next to her, and then she thrust the controller in his hand and explained her dilemma.

            "Ok, it seems I don't have very good eye-hand coordination. I can't hit these button combos fast enough. Can you try and do it?" she looked at him with a puppy-dog face.

            Mamoru kissed her pouting lip. "Usako, I already said I would help, didn't I?"

            "... Hai," she replied, her face a little red. She handed him the controller and then sat and watched as he hit each combo quickly and accurately. In about ten minutes, he had the three most difficult stages completed, and they were heading on to the final destination. Usagi watched in excitement as she watched this scene of the game finally complete, and she threw her arms around Mamoru, who went and saved the progress so Usagi could go and beat the game on her own. He hugged her back tightly, and then kissed her softly on her forehead.

            "Ne, Usako, you said you needed help in Chemistry, right?" Mamoru brought up as he looked at the scattered textbooks under her desk.

            Wincing, Usagi gave a slight nod. She should have known that this afternoon wasn't going to be all video games, kisses, and treats; homework had to be involved somehow. Oh well, at least it would help her pass her classes, and with Mamoru's tutoring, she has been passing all of her classes with a fairly decent grade. Usagi crawled over to her textbook and slid it across the floor, spitting in disgust.

            "Ne, Mamo-chan, I hate Chemistry. Explain to me why I'm taking it again?" Usagi whined as she grabbed a few pieces of loose Leif paper and a pen. Writing the assignment down on the top of the paper, she crawled next to Mamoru and began to look over the text.

            "Because, Usako, Ms. Jybo said you needed another class to keep a full time schedule, and you're the one who thought blowing things up in class would be fun," Mamoru replied.

            "Oh yea. Well, that went right through the roof. Ok, Mamo-chan, I'm having problems with the acid and base colors. When it's an acid, it's blue? Or was it pink?" Usagi's nose wrinkled as she thought about the different substances that she had to memorize and how she has not been experimenting too much with these chemicals.

            "Actually, Usako, you just need to switch what you said. Acids are pink and bases are blue when you use certain identifiers," Mamoru stated as he pointed it out in the textbook.

            "Really? So I was close? That's pretty good for me," Usagi exclaimed as she continued to examine through her book. She pointed at some information she didn't understand well, and Mamoru gladly helped her as he worked on some of his physics works he had just pulled from his bag. The two concentrated on science work for about 45 minutes until Mrs. Tsukino ringed from the hallway.

            "Mamoru, would you like to stay for dinner tonight? We're having chicken curry."

            Mamoru pondered for a second, and then remembered the envelope he had to show his father. Glancing at the clock, he realized it read 4:30pm, and then looked out the window. His father's car wasn't home yet, meaning he was going to be late. His dad, Aki Chiba, worked at the science lab downtown as one of the heads of the department. His work usually kept him busy until 4 o'clock, meaning he would be home around 4:15, if not 4:25 at the latest. Sometimes he would have to stay late if he wasn't home before 4:30, meaning that tonight he would most likely be home around 6. He looked over to Usagi, who had a glint of hope in her eyes that he would stay. Smiling, he responded: "I would love to stay for dinner tonight, Ikuko-san."

            "Ok then, Usagi, come down in 15 minutes to set the table. Your father will also be home for dinner tonight so remember to set a plate for him."

            "Ok, Mama!" Usagi shouted as she looked at Mamoru. "Mamo-chan, I'm so glad you stay tonight. Does your Dad have a meeting tonight?"

            "I'm not sure. He said he had some presentation coming up, but I'm not sure if it was today or tomorrow. So knowing the lack of dad's car in the driveway, the presentation was most likely today," Mamoru responded.

            "Ah, well, I'm glad you're staying tonight. I love it when you stay late here," Usagi grinned.

            "Usako, I live next door to you. Our parents are best friends. I see you every single day until you go to bed. You're so silly," he said as he tickled her sides.

            The two began to tickle one another, laughing, screaming, and kicking at the floor. The two tumbled across the room as they both fought in this war while at the same time trying to stop the tickling they were receiving. Mamoru flipped Usagi on her back and began to tickle her sides, making her laugh and cry out to stop.

            "Beg for mercy!" Mamoru exclaimed as he began to tickle under her arms.

            "Never!" Usagi replied as she squirmed around, trying to break free of his hold.

            "Then surrender to the extremely handsome prince who is going to make you wish you never thought of tickling him in the first place." Mamoru laughed as he continued his hold on her.

            "What prince? If there was one in here I would have already kissed him to death," Usagi slyly replied as she teased Mamoru.

            "Ok that's it, I'm going to make you wish you never knew me," Mamoru replied as he began to tickle her feet.

            "Iee! Mamo-chan!!! MAMORU STOP!!!" Usagi laughed as he kicked her foot around, trying to break the hold. Her foot finally freed itself of Mamoru's hand, but her freedom wasn't to last. Mamoru pounced on her, hovering above her body. He looked deep into her sky blue eyes and then swiftly captured her sweet lips with his own. Usagi's arms slowly wrapped around Mamoru's as the kiss lingered on; his hands sliding through her hair. The gentle kiss was interrupted by the sound of the front door closing with the booming voice of Mr. Tsukino.

            "Hi, Hun!" Mr. Kenji Tsukino said as he put his briefcase on the door and go to hang up his coat. He looked over to his wife and smiled. "How was your day?"

            Ikuko popped her head out of the kitchen and smiled softly at her husband. Her pink lips parted as she began to speak: "I'm good, love, I'm just making some dinner. I'm glad you're home now." She walked over to him and gave him a soft peck on the lips, then turned around and went back to the kitchen to finish up her preparations. 

            Trampling down the stairs in a fit of laughter was Usagi and Mamoru. Usagi jumped into her father's arms and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

            "Welcome home, Papa!" Usagi cried out.

            Kenji gave her a bear hug as he laughed loudly. "Hello my Usagi. How was your day at school?"

            Usagi stuck her tongue out. "School schmool. It's all the same to me."

            Kenji looked up and saw Mamoru. He walked over to him and gave him a slap on the back. "Mamoru-san, how was your day?"

            Mamoru grinned up at Kenji. "Great, Kenji-san. I got my letter saying that I've been accepted into the internship at the hospital."

            "Ho ho… that's great! I bet your father will be proud." Kenji boomed.

            "Hai, unfortunately he isn't home yet, so Ikuko-san said I could stay for dinner, sir." Mamoru responded to him.

            "Of course! It's always a pleasure having you over for dinner, Mamoru-san." Kenji smiled.

            "Eep! That reminds me! I need to go set the table!" Usagi ran over to the cupboards and began to take out 5 plates. One for her Mom, one for her Dad, one for herself, one for Mamoru, and one for Shingo. Wait a sec… where was Shingo?

            "Mama? Where's Shingo?" Usagi asked. She hadn't seen him all day and was kind of curious why he hadn't busted into her room and stole Mamoru from her to play video games.

            "Oh yea, Shingo went over to his friend's house. He won't be home until 7 o'clock tonight." Ikuko responded.

            "Ok Mama." Usagi put back one of the plates and then went and set the table.

***

            "Chiba-san, as you know, Kaki-Fujitaka Corps has been expanding, launching our technology into the next stages of advancement. Seeing as you are our head of the department, we have a proposal for you. There has been rumor of Kaki-Fujitaka expanding into the American industry, and frankly, it is all true. Chiba-san, we would like to ask you if you would be in charge of the corporation in the States."

***

            Usagi placed her dish in the sink and stretched her arms out. "Mmm, Mama, that was delicious!"

            Mamoru laughed as he placed his dish in the sink as well. "Thank you, Ikuko-san, it was very good."

            Ikuko smiled as she looked up from the table where her and her husband continued to sit. "I'm glad you guys liked it," she smiled. Usagi and Mamoru ran upstairs to her room, leaving Ikuko and Kenji alone.

            "Thank you for dinner, hunny," Kenji smiled.

            "Kenji, you know I always cook for you," Ikuko giggled, "but you're welcome."

            Kenji stood up from his seat and wrapped his arms around his lovely wife. He kissed her neck softly, then pulled out a long box from inside his pocket of his business coat. Swiftly, he placed a white gold necklace lined with diamonds along Ikuko's neck. Ikuko gasped as she felt the cool piece of jewelry be placed on her warm body. Looking up at Kenji, she smiled.

            "Happy Anniversary, Ikuko, my love."

***

            Usagi flopped over her bed as she looked at Mamoru, who was currently into his psychology book.

            "Mamo-chan? I think you're crazy for actually wanting to read textbooks," Usagi stated.

            "Usako, Usako. You say that every day we're together, silly."

            "I know, but still, I don't understand how you can read all the time!" Usagi spat out.

            "What can I say, I love knowledge," Mamoru laughed as he continued to read. His reading was interrupted as the sound of honking interrupted his train of thought. He stood up to look out the window, only to see that his father had come home. He slammed his textbook shut and gathered up his belongings as he looked over to Usagi.

            "Usagi, my father just pulled into the driveway. I'm going to go over and talk to him, then I'll come back over, okay?" He bent over and gave her a kiss on the forehead, then walked out the door and left.

***

            "Dad?" Mamoru's voice echoed throughout the hallway of his house as he dropped his bag on the floor next to the coat rack. He slid his coat off and hung it up, grabbing the envelope that was in the pocket in his jacket. He walked into the kitchen and looked around, finding his father rummaging through the refrigerator.

            "Ah! Dad, I have great news to tell you!" Mamoru waved his letter in the air.

            "Mamoru!" Aki stated. "So do I!"

            "You tell me yours first, Dad. How was your presentation?"

            "It went well son, but it was the news I received afterwards that made it superior!"

            "What's that?"

            "Mamoru, we're moving to America!"

***

A/N: I hope you guys liked this story. Hehe, I even left you guys a cliffie. Please review my story! I'll update soon!

-MoonlightUsa