Sailor Moon is copyright 1992 by Naoko Takeuchi.

North American Rights for Sailor Moon are owned by

D.I.C.



Rating:  PG-13



~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*



~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  Life  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~



Part I - Recovery

Chapter V - Chatterbox





	In September, about three months after Jiro had

come in, two other gentlemen found their way to El

Café.  One was very tall, towering above Usagi at

5'11.  Upon his head were soft tones of brown waves,

sometimes burgundy, and he wore it long - it reached

the middle of his shoulder blades - and tied it back

into a ponytail.  His shoulders were broad and he was

very muscular.



	The other man was only about 3 inches taller

than Usagi's 5'3 frame.  His blonde hair curled just

above his shoulders and his eyes held a vast amount

of knowledge.  Although he didn't look quite as

strong as his friend, the aura of intelligence that

surrounded the man intimidated Usagi.



	The two had walked into the café and had begun

making small talk with Jiro, who had insisted upon

being the unofficial welcoming committee of El Café.

"Everyone should feel welcome," he always said.  Kai,

Usagi, and the others who had become acquainted with

him only shook their heads and hoped that he would

not scare the customers away, which had happened on

more than one occasion.



	As Jiro was chattering away about his own short

experiences in Tokyo, Usagi walked in and came over.

She saw the brunette smirking slightly at Jiro's

talkativeness and the blonde somewhat annoyed by it.

Feeling she had to do something, she interrupted Jiro.



	"Jiro, stop annoying the customers."  She

turned toward the two.  "Please, forgive Jiro.  He .

. . well, he . . ." She looked at Jiro, confused as

to what to say.  He just looked back at her.



	"He just talks too much."  Jiro pretended to be

hurt as the two males laughed.



	Usagi smiled at Jiro and said, "Just kidding.

Jiro actually works for the places competing with El

Café and is paid to scare away the customers."



	The men had another laugh at Jiro's expense.



	"Usagi!  You're killin' me!"



	"You make it sounds as if that's a bad thing!"

she exclaimed.



	"Usa, Usa!  You're breakin' my heart over

here!"



	Usagi grinned.  "Good, that means you won't be

around for much longer!"



	Jiro grinned back.  He had grown fond of the

shy girl.  He had helped open her up.  He was

actually a little proud of her now.



	Usagi, in turn, couldn't be happier that she

had met Jiro.  He had helped her live a little again.

She still feared the day when he would inevitably

find out about her past, but she kept that nagging

thought in the back of her head.



	They both turned to the other two, who were

laughing even harder than before.



	The brunette finally caught his breath.  "I

take it you two are friends?"



	"Yep.  Usagi here's the best.  First friend I

made in Tokyo."



	Usagi smiled.



	The blonde raised one eyebrow and said, "I'm

surprised she's not the first friend you've made,

period."



	Usagi began giggling.



Jiro looked back at him and said, "My, my.

Aren't we cynical?"



	He only grinned and continued to watch the band

that was playing on stage.



	"And what are _you_ laughing at, Usagi!?!?"

This only promoted more giggles to escape from behind

Usagi's hand.



	When their orders came, Usagi sat next to Jiro.

She hit him upside the head when he took her drink.

"That's mine, Jiro!"



	"Yeah, I know."



	Exasperated, Usagi turned towards the other two

shyly.  "Umm . . . I never got your names."



	The dark-haired man was Noriko.  The blonde was

Zared.  Both were new in town but were lucky enough

to have known at least each other and gotten on the

same plane.



	"So, what brings you two to El Café?"



	Jiro had also managed to re-develop Usagi's

ability to make conversation, although she used it

rarely.



	"We needed a place to snack," responded Noriko.

Truth was they had been drawn to the place by an

unknown force within them.  For whatever reason, both

were glad to have gone.



	Usagi found out that Noriko was the same age as

Jiro - 20, Zared was 19, and they were both new in

town.  Noriko had been transferred to become manager

of a fairly popular restaurant, and Zared was there

because his grandfather had passed away.  Now, he was

willing to stay, if he could get a job.  His parents

were rather wealthy, but they were always traveling

on business so they had no objection to his staying.

Noriko and Zared had moved from America.



	She learned that Zared and Noriko had been

prodigies, that's why they were so young and already

out of college.  Jiro was out early because he had

taken weekend and summer courses and AP classes

during high school and college.



	When they finished covering the basics, they

wanted to ask Usagi some questions, but . . .



	"Usagi!  Stop flirting with the customers."



	Usagi turned a light shade of pink and turned

her head to make a face at Kai.  She knew that he

knew she wasn't flirting and that she was just trying

to be friendly.  But Kai didn't like the thought of

his 17-year-old little sister talking to 3 20-year-

olds.  Jiro, he had learned to trust a little.  But

these other two . . .



	"Umm . . . I have to go anyways.  It was nice

meeting you two.  Ja ne!"



	On the street, as she was rummaging through her

bag looking for some change, she collided into a hard

wall of flesh and fell back.



	Thoroughly embarrassed, Usagi quickly started

to gather the things that had fallen out of her bag.

"I'm really sorry.  That hasn't happened to me in so

long.  Gomen nasai.  I'm so sorry.  I -"



	"It's okay," a male voice said.  He held his

hand out to her and she took it.  She lifted her head

and gazed up into what had to have been the lightest

bluest eyes she had ever seen.  "Are you okay?"



	Usagi smiled.  "Yes.  I'm fine, are you?"



	"Well, considering I didn't even fall, I'm

pretty good," the man grinned.



	"Yeah, I guess so," Usagi said, blushing.



The man grinned and laughed.  "See you around.

And be careful."



	"I will!  Sorry again!"



	The man only laughed.



	And, surprise, surprise . . . He walked right

into El Café.





~ ~ ~  End  ~ ~ ~





HoNeY

Hnymustd@hotmail.com

2/23/00