[FFML] [Sailor Moon AU]

[John Biles]

A Chance Meeting

A Sailor Moon AU short story



By John Biles



*********************





         Ami didn’t really have time for this, but Umino had been a help to
her in the past, so she felt she had to help out when he called her, even
though it cut into her important study time.  Umino was very good with
electronics, better than her, though she was quite good, but she was much
better with anything mechanical.  It was all part of her studies to become
an aeronautics engineer and make better airplanes.



        She had to, after what happened to her parents.



        No one would suffer their fate on her watch.  And so, here she was,
trying to fix Umino’s bike.  She feared she would be late to class, but her
literature class was a waste of time, anyway.  Books couldn’t save people.



        “I’m sorry to call you out but I can’t get to school on time
without my bike,” Umino said, leaning on the nearby fence; they were in a
housing district, full of small houses and tiny yards.  He sighed, watching
Ami quickly fix the chain back into its correct position. “I ought to be
able to do this myself,” he muttered.



        “You should,” Ami said; she saw him cringe out of the corner of her
eye and sighed.  “Come on,” she said.  “Watch closely.”



        She started over, showing it to him; eventually, he would get it,
she knew.  Practice made perfect.  It was how she was teaching herself so
much; she couldn’t afford to go to a nice school, but the money saved on
tuition let her take special courses and buy the books she needed for her
studies.



        He watched her as she worked through it, gaze focused on her hands.
He had to learn this or he might hurt himself one day with another bike
malfunction.  He needed to take better care of it, anyway.  But Umino was a
dreamer.  A smart dreamer, but he was just no good at practical things,
though he might make a good biologist one day.



        One day.



        Then she made him do it himself, showing him how it came loose and
how to fix it.  They were *definitely* going to be late, but the idea of
him crashing and hurting himself haunted her when she thought she ought to
just go on to school without making him *learn*.  If only someone…



        But you can’t change the past and her father had known how to fix
cars, not how to fix planes, anyway.



        Damn that airline.



        Damn their sloppiness.



        “Kino-san, are you okay?” Umino said, sounding worried.  His hand
reached towards her shoulder, then pulled back.



        “I’m fine,” she said, wiping her eyes.  “Okay, that’s how you do
it.”



        “Mount up.  If I pedal like a madman, I can still get us there
barely in time,” he told her.



        “Riding double is *very dangerous*,” Ami said to him, feeling her
nerves jangle.  “Have you been doing that again after I told you not to?”



        He laughed the ‘I am so guilty laugh’, which she wished she didn’t
*know* so well.  “Come on, a guy can’t say no to a cute girl when she asks
for a ride,” he said weakly.  Then he stared off at a nearby house; if it
had any significance beyond blueness, Ami didn’t know; she lived closer to
school than Umino, but she didn’t know anyone in this neighborhood.



        Really, she didn’t know many people at all beyond her neighbors in
the building and a few people at school with similar interests.  And
Ten’ou-san, but that was a work thing.  Helping him with his car and bike
helped her afford to live here instead of having to move to Hokkaido with
her uncle and aunt.  Where the schools would be even *worse* than this one.



        “If you don’t listen to me, not only you but your rider will get
hurt,” Ami said urgently.  There wasn’t time for a safety lecture, but if
she didn’t…



        Umino breathed in and out and sighed.  “Okay, let’s go, then.  I’ll
walk with you, just in case.”



        “I’ll be fine,” she told him. This was not a high crime
neighborhood.



        But he insisted and they walked along, him wheeling his bike along,
holding it with one hand, while he pontificated about the new planetarium
and how he wanted to go see it but had no one to go with.  Ami listened,
feeling kind of odd.  Talking to Umino always gave her this odd feeling but
she didn’t know what it was.  Still, he was actually smart enough to be
worth listening to.  Unlike a lot of people.



        Caught in their own world, they didn’t notice the three guys
approaching them until one of them pushed Umino’s bike over on him,
tangling his pants leg in the chain and tearing it; Umino screamed like
he’d been murdered and Ami only barely avoided going down in the wreck of
the bike.



        The three guys wore all black uniforms with white undershirts and
they were all high school students, while she and Umino were second year
junior high.  Yagami High School, which was another mediocre high school;
Ami expected to attend Juuban High, which wasn’t much better but was closer.
These guys were clearly either cutting class or taking their own sweet time
to get to school.



        “Man, he went down like a little bitch,” one of them said; he had a
scar on his cheek.



        Ami ignored them and helped Umino up and tried to disentangle his
pants leg.  You couldn’t negotiate with bullies or fight them.  But he
might… he had a cut and her gut churned.  She had a first aid kit… at home.
They had to get all the way to… She had tissues.  She could improvise a
bandage with her tape in her purse.  Maybe someone was home and would let
them get some clean water.



        “What the hell did you do that for?” Umino said angrily to the guy
who had knocked his bike on him.



        Distantly, Ami heard the sound of running but was too busy digging
in her purse to look.  “Just ignore them until they go away,” she whispered
urgently to Umino.



        “Because watching chumps go down is funny,” the second guy, who was
the tallest and strongest, said and now the first one kicked the bike down
on Umino, who now fell on Ami, who was caught off guard.  Ami cried out as
her body tried to move in ways it was not designed to do and the third guy
laughed.   He was the shortest but also the best looking and on another
day, Ami probably would have stared at him for a little bit, then died of
embarrassment.



        “Man, you cry like a girl,” the second one said.



        “She is a girl, you idiot,” the third one said and Ami wondered how
anyone could mistake her for a boy; she had a boyish figure but she was in
a girl’s uniform!



        “I am a girl,” she protested.  She’d never been mistaken for a boy
in her uniform before.



        “Don’t go hitting girls, you idiot,” the third guy said to the
first.



        “Yeah!  You should apologize to Ami!” Umino said angrily and Ami
knew he would do something crazy because he was, once again, out of touch
with reality.



        “It’s okay, let’s just get you patched up,” Ami said, not knowing
what else to do.  She’d been bullied a lot but usually by girls, who would
just say nasty things; they didn’t get *violent*.  She didn’t know how to
deal with violence; she certainly couldn’t fight three older boys.



        But Umino would try, because he never thought about consequences.



        Ami could never *stop* thinking about consequences.



        “Get away from them!  Can’t you see she’s crying?” a woman shouted
from down the street; she wore the Juuban Junior High Uniform but she was
taller than the shortest of the guys, with very short auburn hair, though
it was very curly.  She was the same height as Ami’s dead mother.  (Her
father had been huge but somehow, she hadn’t gotten her parents’ height at
all; she was shorter than Umino.)



        “Hah!  Make me!” the first guy said, and the woman whipped a phone
out of her giant purse; it was the size of her head and probably weighed
more; Ami could see an umbrella, the corner of a book, some pencils, a hair
brush, and some sort of plastic container sticking out and there was more
inside.



        “Hello, truant officer, there’s three guys here on the lam from
Yagami High School,” the woman said into the phone.



        “You bitch!” the first one said, throwing a rock at her but she
blocked it with her purse.



        “Run!” the third one shouted and they took off running.



        The woman now looked around and said, “I’m on… a street… somewhere…
I may actually be lost.”  She sighed and began punching buttons on her
phone, clearly going for GPS.



        “Thank you,” Umino said, resting his bike on the fence and seeing
his leg.  “I’m bleeding!!!!!”



        “Looks like we’re okay,” the woman said to her phone and then said
goodbye and put it away.  She pulled out a translucent box with an opaque
white top and a bottle of water.  “Okay, I’m going to wash your wound and
then treat it. This is going to sting,” she said gently.



        Ami gave a sigh of relief.  A first aid kit.  I have to carry one
henceforth, she thought.  She felt ashamed she wasn’t doing so already.  What
a smart woman, she thought admiringly.  And pretty too.  But she was a high
school student.



        Maybe.  Why was she in the junior high uniform?



        “I can take it,” Umino said, then howled like he was being murdered
when the woman applied disinfectant to his wounds.  Ami buried her face in
her hands.  But then he said, “Thank you so much. Do you go to our school?  I’m
Umino Gurio and this is Kino Ami.  We are the geniuses of Juuban!,” he said
proudly.



        Ami only wished she was a genius.  “Nice to meet you,” she said
softly.



        “I’m Mizuno Makoto,” the woman said. “And I’m just supposed to
start at Juuban Junior High today but I’m late because I got lost.”  She
sighed.  “I put too many apps on my phone again and can’t ever find any of
them.”



        Ami now tried to get Umino’s bike functional; fortunately, it had
done more damage to Umino than the bully had done to it.



        “You’re beautiful,” Umino said, studying Mizuno-san, who turned
beet red.



        “I… really?” she said weakly.  “Mother says I have to focus on my
studies, so I’ve never been on a date or anything.”



        “You are beautiful, you remind me of Mother,” Ami said softly,
studying her.  “And smart too, I see.”  Ami was aware she was not the
former but was definitely the latter, though she never felt smart *enough*.



        “But… oh,” Umino said, sagging after the first word.  “We’d better
hurry or we’ll be late. I can’t carry three people on my bike at once.”



        “That wouldn’t be safe,” Ami lectured him and sighed.  Best to get
to school before they were any later.



        They all walked together, but Mizuno-san had to keep slowing down
or she would outpace them; she moved with great vigor and had longer legs
than either of them.  “So are you two…” she began hesitantly.



        “We’re both students at Juuban,” Ami said.  “We can show you to the
Principal’s office to report in.”



        “Thanks,” Mizuno-san said.  “I meant… do you two…  normally go to
school together?”  She made an odd and incomprehensible set of hand
gestures during this, pushing her fingers together, while speaking.



        “I had to ask her to come fix my bike,” Umino said, sighing.  “I
was going to take her on my bike but the bullies showed up and then you
saved us.”  His voice got dreamy on the last part.



        “We met online, then discovered we went to the same school,” Ami
said.  Umino had insisted on meeting; she really hadn’t time for it, but…
he could be kind of fun if you kept him from wandering off into his
imagination too much.  “I can fix almost any machine and he’s a genius of
electronics.”



        “Hey, you’re good too with electronics,” Umino said.  “Kino-san is
a *genius*.”  He sounded as proud as if she was his daughter or sister.  “How
about you?”



        “I’m going to be a doctor, like Mom,” Mizuno-san said proudly,
pausing to let them catch up again.  “I’m already pretty good at it,” she
said, then licked her lips.  “I’m first aid certified already.”  She let
out a happy sigh.  “I just wish I could have stayed at Yagami. But then,
maybe not if the high school is full of guys like that.”  She sighed.



        Umino raised an eyebrow.  “What happened?”



        “Nothing, it was time to go,” Mizuno-san said frantically.  “I’m
going to have a special class with your school nurse, during club period.”



        “Oh wow.  Can you do CPR?” Umino asked.



        “I’m *good* at it but it’s kind of embarrassing,” Mizuno-san said,
wobbling a little as she walked.  “Mom made sure I learned that and
swimming early.  She’s a doctor and I’m trying hard to live up to that.”  She
made a fist with her right hand as it held onto her purse’s handle.  “This
is a fresh start!  It’s all going to go right this time!”  Then she
whispered something they couldn’t hear.



        She must have decided to transfer to do the special class, Ami
thought, feeling a little jealous.  Juuban didn’t have anything like that
she could do like that to advance her plans an extra amount.



        She could have better grades if she studied more but her studies
were all focused on things she’d need for engineering and only some of it
overlapped.  And she couldn’t bring herself to care about literature class
enough to do well.  Old boring authors couldn’t *save lives*.



        But doctors *could*.



        “So what made you decide to be a doctor?” Umino asked as they
continued to try to get to school.



        “A woman needs a career,” Mizuno-san said with an odd cadence to
her voice; it wasn’t quite *her* voice.  “Being a doctor lets me help
people like Mom does and will let me easily support myself on my own, since
I can’t…”  And then she cut off, looking gloomy.  “It’s all very hard, but
I keep trying, because I’m not a quitter.”  She said something Ami couldn’t
follow again.



        “I’m sure you’ll be a great doctor,” Umino said, patting her
shoulder; he had to reach up for that.  “You fixed me right up.  I just
wish my pants healed that easy.”



        “I’m sorry, I don’t know anything about sewing,” Mizuno-san said,
sighing.



        “I think they’re beyond saving but I can try later,” Ami said to
Umino.  “I usually keep torn clothing as work clothing and just patch it
up.”  She couldn’t afford a lot of new clothing.



        “Mom throws it out if it tears much,” Mizuno-san said. “Unless it’s
really, really nice.”



        Umino’s phone rang.  “Hey, Tsukino-san.  Yes, I’m late; my bike
broke, then Mizuno-san had to come fix it, then we got bullied and a new
student saved us.  She’s a genius doctor,” he said.



        “I’m not a genius,” Mizuno-san said weakly but she smiled.  “Who is
Tsukino?  Your girlfriend?”



        “I tutor her in science,” he said, hand over his phone, then
removed it.  “Wait, you’re at the gate, waiting for Mizuno-san?  She’s with
us,” he told her.  “We’ll hustle.”



        Ami was not good at hustling but she knew Tsukino-san just enough
to know that you did *not* want to be late when she was waiting for you;
being on the student council got her assigned to all sorts of weird jobs,
Ami had noticed.  Everyone knew Tsukino-san at least vaguely; she was one
of the leaders of the school.



        “AAAAAAAAA” a woman screamed behind them.



        Ami knew that panicked scream.  Clearly, Osaka-san was late to
school *again* and trying to catch up.



        “Hi, Osaka-san!” Umino shouted as the blonde haired schoolmate of
theirs, Osaka Minako, caught up to them and then passed them, still yelling
in a panic.  “Coach, I’m late, I’m sorry!”  She waved as she went past them.
She wore a rather nice eagle pendant which was flying around wildly; Ami
had heard she made it herself with her mother’s help.



        Everyone but her still had a mother.  Ami sighed.  And a father.  But
she’d lost both.



        “Tsukino-san is…” Ami began, too late.



        “Yes, that’s Osaka-san, late to school again,” Umino said to
Tsukino-san on the phone.  “She just passed us.”



        “Wow, I could never run that fast,” Mizuno-san said, stopping to
let them catch up.



        Ami wasn’t so sure about that, given her height and vigor, but she
didn’t argue.



        They spent the rest of the way there, telling her about their
school; Tsukino-san was at the gate, pacing back and forth and talking on
her phone as they approached; she now put it away and said, “You’re all
*late*.”



        “It’s all my fault, they both had to help me,” Umino said firmly.



        Ami started to speak, then fell silent when Umino made a handsign
at her, telling her to stop, but then Mizuno-san said firmly, “I was late
and it was my own fault but they were kind enough to help me find the
school.  I’m sorry.”



        “Did you really blow up a lab at your old school?” Tsukino-san
asked flatly.  Tsukino Rei was taller than Umino or Ami but shorter than
Mizuno-san and quite beautiful, Ami thought.  And very much the take-charge
type.



        “It was an accident!  I didn’t mean to and I won’t blow your labs
up,” Mizuno-san said frantically.



        Umino stared, while Ami wondered what happened but was too shy to
pry.  “What happened?” Umino asked.



        “Please don’t tell anyone, I want a fresh start,” Mizuno-san said
frantically to Tsukino-san, who pushed back her black hair and sighed.



        “Umino, don’t tell anyone.  You gossip too much.  The staff knows
but I will give you a second chance, because I am kind and merciful and…
Umino, what the *hell* is wrong with your pants?”  Tsukino-san turned in
mid pontificate and stared at Umino’s damaged pants legs.



        He told the whole story and Tsukino-san’s face hardened.  “I
see.  Okay,
you two get to class, I’ll show Mizuno-san around,” Tsukino-san said.  “And
I’ll tell the Principal about that; we can’t let people from other schools
harass good students.”



        “Thank you,” Mizuno-san said, giving a sigh of relief.  “I’m in
your hands, Tsukino-san.”



        “Coach, I’m soooorrrryyyy!” they heard Osaka-san shout in the
distance and the roar of angry coach shouting.  “I didn’t mean to stay up
all night watching the new Sailor S special over and over but it was just
THAT COOL.”



        Tsukino-san twitched, then sighed.  “Coach will handle her.  Okay,
everyone, let’s go.”



        “I’ll see you two at lunch!” Mizuno-san said, then licked her lips
nervously. “Okay?” she said softly.



        “Okay,” Ami said; she usually ate alone or sometimes with Umino-san.
It was a good time to get ahead on her extra reading.  But she owed
Mizuno-san a favor.



        She always paid her debts.



        The ones she *could* pay.
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