Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ To Be All ❯ Chapter One: All Stories Have a Beginning ( Chapter 1 )

This is the first story in my trilogy Of Love and of Men, which is continued in Only My Life, and concluded in Time Will Tell.

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon, or any of its characters.

This story, if it were legally rated, would probably be rated PG-13, due to language, violence, and gay-as-hell raters.

Please R&R!

To be All

Chapter One

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Dateline: A cold, dark wilderness. None of us knows where we are. All we know is that we must explore, report, and send when possible. All my life I thought this is what I wanted. Now that I have it, I'm not sure I want it anymore. I want to be at my own home, with my sister, my brother-in-law, and my niece. I want to see the Skyline of Tokyo again, to see all those great towers that were built by my grandfather's generation.

I suppose that a consolation is to know what lies beyond, what there is beyond the reaches of the known world. It seems that we are in Russia, Northern Mongolia maybe, or somewhere similar to that.

Perhaps if I hadn't publicly rejected the Shinto religion, I wouldn't have had so few options. I just can't accept it any longer. For 2

Even though I chose this when I probably had options that I couldn't see, I can't help but feel that all my friends and family wanted me to go, as if to banish me, all because of my religious decision.

However, the true light of our situation is this: We are doing the world good. Finding plants that have never been seen before, seeing "new" animals that have never been seen by human eyes. This land is a sheer mystery to all of us in the party; Adam Carlson, a scientist from America; Purattu Sari, a writer and navigation specialist; Antruu, a literal genius in the art of Zoology; Miendertsma, a close friend of Adam's and an expert scout; and Kapolka Sakuragi, a Japanese-American who is quite the explorer.

As we venture onward I am finding life that none of my resource books can identify. Things that are like wolves, and yet are as the tiger. Plant life that must be trees, but at the same time could never be anything but bushes, or maybe even weeds. I think that I am truly in uncharted territories with my five companions.

But it simply doesn't compute. We six, combined with the 200 some villagers we've come across in the 5 villages we've been through, seem to be the only people to have the ability to see this place.

The only solstice I find is in the literary works of the great J. R. R. Tolkien. Though I must admit, I'm running short on material. Sari-san only brought so many books.

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I still can hardly believe that I found that entry to my journal/article for the modest yet wondrous newspaper I worked for, which, by the way, shut down 3 months after I got home. I thought it had been lost at its writing place, like most of the other. Becoming a journalist, I now know, was not a good solution to my problem. And with how horrible I was, it was probably the worst choice on the table.

At the time that I wrote that, I was an explorer, not to mention an almost literal kid, having just graduated from High School, who didn't know when he had choices or not.

Oh, what times those were, the times of my great exploration of the cold unknown utter wilderness. My guess of where we were was very far off the mark, however. We were on an unknown island just off the Eastern Coast of Canada.

As it was, I thought that my return to Tokyo would be unwelcome. To my surprise, however, all my family welcomed me dearly. All except one.

My father still was furious at me for my sheer rejection of his sacred religion of Shinto.

My father, the one person who I could always turn to, who would always be there for me, all but hated me. But it shouldn't surprise me. At that time, he was one of the most loyal people to the Shinto religion that I knew.

But, at the moment, that's beside the point.

My name, to those who don't know, is Tsukino Shingo. I'm a successful computer programmer who lives in a much-less-than-successful-looking apartment.

My mother is Tsukino Ikuko, and my father is Kenji. My sister's name is Usagi, and her husband's is Chiba Mamoru. Their daughter, and my niece, is also named Usagi, but we call her Chibi-Usa.

And then there's my love, Kayama Mika. Despite the fact that we've known each other since the 2nd grade, we never considered a relationship until the 11th grade. Some of you may know that we liked each other a lot in the 5th and 6th grades, but nothing really came of that, at least not until High School. We've been going out ever since the summer going into the 11th grade, save for my time in Canada.

A few weeks ago, I had to buy birthday presents for my sister and her 7-year-old daughter. It was about seven o'clock, and I was on my way to the mall, to by a set of matching bracelets for the Mother-Daughter duo.

On my way, I walked past Usagi's best friend, Osaka Naru's, jewelry shop. As I walked past, I saw the most spectacular ring I had ever seen. It had one diamond, shaped as a moon, inside one ruby, shaped as a heart. On one side it had an emerald, an aquamarine, and a smoky quartz, coming up from about halfway to meet the ruby. On the opposite side it had a sapphire, a topaz, and an onyx, in the same pattern.

It appeared I was unlucky on two counts. One, the store had just closed, and two, I didn't have enough money to pay for the ring.

"Oh! Shingo-kun!" a young woman, who was aged at 27, exclaimed as I turned. "I thought I saw you looking at the display case. Any way I can help you?"

"Oh, hey Naru-san I was just looking at that ring, to buy for Mika. Not now, but next week, after I get paid." I said, pointing to the ring.

"Does this mean… that… you're uh... planning on… proposing?!" she said with the same reluctant excitement Usagi used to get whenever she saw food, particularly mom's pancakes.

"Yeah, you could say that."

"I'll tell you what, since you're Odongo's brother, and a close friend, I'll sell it to you half off."

"You sure you can afford that?"

"In the name of love, I'm positive."

"What about your mom? Won't she be upset?"

"She's off to a Jewelers Convention in Kyoto, right now. I'm in control of the shop. Besides, she'd do the same."

"Ok then, I'll buy it."

"Now then, which one was it, again?" I pointed it out to her again. "Ah, the Rainbow Heart. I know we can afford to sell it to you at half price, but can you afford it? Even at half price its still ¥50,000."

"Trust me, Naru-san, I can afford it easier at full price than you can to sell it to me at half price."

"Oh really?" she inquired with a look of disbelief. "Just how much money do you have?"

"Well over ¥75,000. And that's just on me. I have almost too much for one bank account."

"Well then, let's go in and get you that ring!" As we turned to do so, we saw my sister and her family, with Mika trailing a bit behind.

"Hey guys! Headin' somewhere?" I asked while they all stopped.

"Yeah, we were heading to the mall, to meet up with the others at the restaurant. You wanna come with us?" responded Usagi.

"Ok but I'll have to meet you there, I've got to drop these files off at home, first." I said, trying to contain my joy and stop myself from proposing to Mika right then.

"I'll meet you there, too, I've gotta lock up," Naru explained

"Ok, Uncle Shingo, Aunt Naru, we'll seeya there!" came the energetic voice of my niece.

"Bye, Chibi-Usa!" I said in response. I walked down the street and into an alley, until I was confident they were gone. After I checked and saw them to be nowhere in sight, I walked back up to Naru's store and went in to purchase the ring.

As I entered the building, I saw that Naru had already gotten the ring out of the display. "This ring is one of a kind, Shingo-kun," she stated with a smile, "and I just know Mika-chan will love it. Anyway, that'll be ¥50,000."

"Gladly given for a cause so great as love," I responded, instantly knowing I should've kept my mouth shut.

"Aww, that's so sweet, lover-boy."

"Just shut up and put it in the case."

"What, I can't call you lover-boy?"

"No. Now shut up and put the ring in the case."

"What if I do and don't?"

"What?"

"What if do call you lover-boy and don't put the ring in the case?"

"Then you don't get my money, so put the ring in the box."

"Oh so now it's a box, lover-boy?"

"Shut up."

"Aww, c'mon, Shingo-kun! Lighten up!" And at that she finally put the ring in the case and proceeded to leave.

As we left the building, and Naru locked it up behind us, she asked me, "Shingo-kun, what were you planning on getting the Usagi duo?"

"I was gonna buy a set of bracelets that I ordered a couple of weeks ago."

"And you didn't order them through our store? Shingo-kun, I'm hurt."

***

When we got to the mall, Naru decided on an all-expense-paid, two-night trip to the Fujikama Resort on the far side of Mount Fuji, for just the two of them.

As she was paying for the trip, I went on to the custom embroidery shop and picked up the bracelets I had ordered 2 weeks ago. Usagi's was silver and had chiseling all the way around it saying "Mother Rabbit of Moon and Earth," while Chibi-Usa's was gold and read "Small Daughter Rabbit of Earth."

Having done what we set out to do, we headed to Mako-chan's Heaven, the restaurant Kino Makoto opened 2 years ago.

The entire walk to Makoto's restaurant we were silent. I could never quite put my finger on why, but at that mall, on that half-mile walk to the restaurant, I felt as if I really got the opportunity to know Osaka Naru. I realized why Usagi was so close to her.

Eventually, my thoughts drifted to another part of my imaginative world. I couldn't help thinking of how to propose to Mika. And, somehow, my thoughts drifted from there even. To the past…

***

"Sari-san! Wake up!" I yelled, as my friend and partner slept.

"Let me sleep Shingo-kun!"

"Fine, Purattu, you sleep. But we'd prefer not to be found by the wolf-things," Adam put in with a sneer.

"Ok, ok, I'm up!"

"Alright, let's tear down camp and move out!" I ordered my group.

For nine hours, we hiked to the nearest town, nearly 30 miles away, with our packs on our backs, good spirit in our hearts, and the ambition of one who strives for a goal that's suddenly come into reach.

We got nearly a third of the way there, when I noticed that Adam had a strange look on his face. "Hey Peach-head, what's wrong?" I questioned my friend as I slapped him on the back.

"I gotta go to the bathroom!" he screamed as he ran off in the woods.

"Ok…"

***

And suddenly, we were there, and as we entered, we spotted the Chiba family, Ami, Minako, Rei, and Mika, sitting in the biggest booth in the restaurant, with plenty of room to spare.

"Hey everybody! Order your food yet?" I asked them as we walked over to the booth.

"Shingo-kun! Naru-san! C'mon over and sit down! The waitress hasn't come to accept our orders yet, so you still have time to decide," came the masculine voice of Mamoru. Wisely, we listened. I sat on one end, next to Mika, while Naru took he opposite end, next to Ami.

"Shingo, can I have a word with you?" asked my girlfriend.

"Ok, That gives me a chance to talk to you about something, too."

We stepped outside the restaurant, and I saw that Mika was wearing a sad expression, and yet it was downright pissed off, as well.

"What's wrong, Mika-chan?"

"As if you care, you insensitive bastard!" she yelled as she tried slapped me, her attempt in vain as I caught her arm.

"What's this all about?"

"You were out with Naru-chan all night, when you were supposed to be at MY house! You have no idea how mad I am at you, you damned two-timing, cheating son-of-a-bitch!"

I drew the line there, and I tightened my grip on her wrist. "Don't you ever call me that again, do you hear?! That's my mother you're talking about, and you of all people should know that I do not allow my mother to be talked about in that way!"

"Oh? Why should I listen to you?! You were cheating on me, and we both know it! I don't care what you ha-"

"Mika-chan, shut up and listen to me. I had to work late at the office, and I tried to call you at your house. But the line was busy every time I called. Explain this to me: How do I get the blame here?"

"A likely story, Mr. Two-timer. You get the blame because you and I both know that you're lying. And, if the line was busy, why didn't you call me on my cell? Explain that to me! "

"Perhaps I would've. That is, if you hadn't left it at my office when you came to meet me for lunch." At that I unknowingly released her arm and reached into my back pocket and produced her cell phone. "So, is it still my fault?"

"I… Shingo-chan… I'm sorry…" She looked down and started to cry.

"Mika-chan, stop crying. It's ok." Slowly, I stepped toward her and embraced her, bringing my body closer to hers.

"No, it's not alright. I thought you were cheating on me…. I… I gotta go…" And at that, my girlfriend left.

With me standing there in wonder.

All I could ask was why. Why did his happen?

Of course, it was just another day, and the sun rose the next morning with me going off to work. Little did I know that it would be days before I'd see or hear from Mika.

Well, that's it for this chapter. I'll try to have the next chapter up late next week, but I can't guarantee anything.