Chapter One: Unexpected Encounter.

   Mizuki was working hard on her homework trying to figure out the question on it. She gasps when she finds the answer, then she wrote it down on her paper with a sigh of happiness.
   "I got it all done!" She smiles, closing the book and putting it on the table next to her bed.
   She threw her feet off the side of her bed and put them slowly on the ground, yawning.
   "It's pretty late… I better head to--" Her cell phone started to ring; she pulled it out of her pocket and looked at the number, shaking her head. "This better be good… Hello?" She said with a little annoyed sigh.
   "Hello, Miss!" A man said very kindly into the phone.
   "Mamoru, this better be good. You called me at one in the morning." She said as she placed her hand on her waist and looked around.
   "Yes, Miss. I'm sorry, I just had to ask you a question. He said with a hint of worry in his voice.
   Mizuki froze for a moment then looked down at her bed.
   "Yes? What is it?"
   "Can you come help me with my homework? I don't have time to do it before tomorrow." He said with a cough.
   Mizuki wanted to blow up on him but all she did was chuckle.
   "So you called me this late at night to tell me to help you with schoolwork?" Mamoru didn't say anything, then Mizuki heard a loud sigh.
   "Yes, but you're the only one up." He said to her.
   "Ah! So you would have called Kioshi if he was up?"
   "No ma'am." He said quickly.
   Mizuki giggles, putting one of her fingers on her lip with a smile.
   "I'm only kidding." She told him.
   "Do you want to come over?" He asked, rolling his eyes. "I'll pick you up?"
   Mizuki slowly runs her hand down her bed sheet until she reached the end of it.
   "S-sure." She looked out the window.
   "All right. I'll be there in about 20." Mamoru hangs up.
   Mizuki throws her phone down on her bed and crossed her arms. You always get what you want… Mizuki walked to her dresser and got some blue jeans and a green shirt. She changed and walked into the bathroom looking around the room that had blue paint, a toilet, sink, and bathtub. Everything else pretty much was blue. Mizuki grabs her toothbrush, knowing she would probably be staying the night with her very stuck-up friend.
   She knew Mamaru like an open book. She knew he was probably just lonely and needed someone with him. Not saying she didn't want to be with him, too, but she knew when he picks her up, he always says he got his homework done right before he got her. Mizuki laughed at the thought of it.
   She left the bathroom to enter her bedroom once again. She looked at all the things on her wall, like her pictures of friends and family… but she kept one next to her bed on her nightstand: it was a picture of her mother and father who had passed away a few years ago. She and her parents were so close… It's hard to believe it was going to be eleven years since that night when he father, brother, mother and herself were singing in the car. The last thing she can remember after that was the sound of screaming, steel coming in contact and the sight of blood. She can still feel her brothers arm around her to save her from most of the damage on her little body, and in doing so, it broke his arm in two and broke both his legs. All Mizuki had was a cut above her right eye, a broken hand, and soreness for a few weeks.
   When she thinks back about it, she was truly lucky… but her parents weren't that lucky.
   Mizuki couldn't help but think about how much pain they had to have been in. That thought alone made tears want to flow down her face. Even after so long, she was so lost in her memories that she hadn't even heard Mamoru enter the room.
   She turns to stare at his six foot seven body standing next to her five foot--generally shorter--one.  It made her feel so little when he was close to her, then it hit her that he was there. She jumped.
   "AHH! How did you get into my house?! It was locked!" Mamoru shrugged. "Through the window." he points, "I didn't want to wake up Kioshi." Mizuki hits him soft on his arm. "You freaking scared the daylights out of me." She laughed. "But that was kind of you." She smiled so big it almost made Mamoru feel pain in his face from it.
   "It was nothing…" He looked away from Mizuki's baby blue eyes.
   "Oh… okay." She looked away from him and started toward the window. Mamoru followed her soon after.
   The good thing was that Mizuki's bedroom was on the bottom floor which made sneaking out much easier for her. All she had to do was jump out the window and BOOM, she was on the ground. As her feet hit the soft grass underneath her feet, she giggled.
   Mamoru jumped out of the window next and stood beside Mizuki again, making her feel short. Once she looked at his feet to see leather boots that had little straps. She looked up to find his knees were completely gone in his blue jeans. She looked up a little more to see that he had a black turtleneck on and his glowing ruby necklace. When she reached his face with her stare, she saw him looking at her with his deep green eyes that glow under the moonlight. She blushed and pointed at his dark gray Dodge Ram parked in her driveway.
   "Umm… yeah. Let's… umm… I mean…" She didn't know what to say.
   Mamoru let out a little laugh which wasn't like him.
   "You want to drive?" He asked as he started to the truck.
   "NO! I'll run into my brothers Jag!" She panicked.
   "Why don't you have shoes on?" He stops and looked at her funny.
   Mizuki crosses her arms over her chest.
   "So you can ask questions." She said with a nod at the end. Mamoru raised an eyebrow at her.
   "You forgot about them, didn't you?" Mizuki blushed and turned away.
   "Ahh.. No…" Even though all he had for light was the moon he could still see Mizuki's face turn as red as an apple.
   "You can just say you forgot. I wouldn't think less of you." Mamoru said without thinking.
   Mizuki drew her head back in disbelief. "Say what?"
   "I'll get the shoes." He started walking away, fast.
   Mizuki watched him leave with a That's-What-I-Thought look on her face. She then turns and started walking to his truck. When she passed the front of it is when she heard Mamoru jump out of the window with some white and green shoes. She watched him swing her shoes back and forth as he walked his long, skinny, touch looking body towards her. Mizuki smiles and walked over the passenger side and opened the door.
   She jumped into the truck and crabs the door to pull it closed but Mamoru grabbed it and threw her shoes in her lap.
   "Hey!" Mizuki said right about the time he slammed the door closed. She cut a glare at him when he jumped into the truck. "I have dirt on me from my shoes that you threw at me!" She put her shoes in the floorboard, patting her lap off. Mamoru watched her.
   "I'm sorry." He said, about the time he turned the key and started the truck, putting it in drive.
   Mizuki looked out her window and watched everything pass by until she had something warm in her lap.
   "Ma-Mamoru?!" She said looking at a black cat in her lap.
   Mamoru made a quick glance at her then back at the road.
   "You know I can't leave an animal in the street." He rubbed his nose with his finger.
   Mizuki smiled at him. Yeah, she knew that he could be an ass when he wanted to but deep down he was such a kind person; someone she wanted to be one day. The kind of person that people knew had a sweet heart--and maybe, just maybe--she could shareher heart with that some-
   "Mizuki!" Mamoru yelled in her face. Mizuki jumped and slapped him.
   "Don't do that when I'm thinking!" Mamoru rubbed his face where she just slapped him.
   She covered her mouth with one hand and put the other one on his now red cheek. "I'm so sorry…" She said almost completely upset. Mamoru sighed.
   "It doesn't hurt." he said as he pulled into his dirt road.
   His house was so huge. Mizuki could get lost in it if she wasn't careful… Ah, hell, she'd probably be lost anyway.
   Mizuki looked at his house with her mouth open.
   "Mamoru, when did you move here?" She asked.
   He turned off the truck and killed the lights to everything on and in the truck, leaving it dark.
   "I have been here about two months. I thought I told you." he said, opening his door.
   When the lights came on, Mizuki was looking at Mamoru with a weird stare.
   "Why didn't you ask me to help you move? I wou--" She was cut off by him.
   "Because you'd overdo yourself helping me." he shuts the door after he let the cat out.
   Mizuki takes her shoes and put one on, then as she put on the last one, her door opens. She looked at Mamoru.
   "What?" She asked.
   He didn't say anything as he turned and stared, walking to the house. Mizuki sighed and looked around. It was hard to believe that her and Mamoru were two years apart at the way he acted like a grown man, but Mamoru has half a year left in school… unless he screws up on this test, then he'd have to do the year all over again. But back to the main point.
    Her and Mamoru had known one another for almost seven years now. He'd always been there for her when she called and the same for him with her. Their friendship was something truly strange; most people thought they were dating but NO. They had never done or ever will do something like that. It could hurt their friendship and… she'd never thought of Mamoru that way anyway. Even that one time when she kissed him quickly on the cheek to prove her and his liking was nothing more than a strange friendship, if that made sense. She knows that he's not her type… She likes more of the geek kind.
   Mizuki got out of the truck and closed the door smiling. She had all of her things when she started to the… very big house. She could see how Mamoru got lonely in it. It was completely easy to see now. Living alone with nobody to talk to would make anyone lonely after a while. Mizuki looked at Mamoru who was now on the porch unlocking the door. She watched his masculine arms work the lock as she walked up to him.
   He looked over his shoulder; her pinkish hair shined under the moonlight. He dropped the keys and they hit the floor. He cursed under his breath as he looked down. Mizuki chuckled and knelt down and picked them up. She stood there.
   "Here." She took his hand and placed the keys in his hand, then let go and looked away.
   Mamoru looked at the keys and put them in the lock and turned it. The door opens.
   "Thanks." He said walking into the castle-like house.
   "Anytime." She said, looking around his home.
   The light red and maroon striped walls and dark oak wood floors made her gasp.
   "Mamoru, this is truly something." Her gaze went to his couch that was black leather.
   She walked up and touched it. She looked at the table in front of it that was the same kind of wood as the floor with a piece of glass in the middle, holding a few books that looked very old.
   "It's nothing, really." He said walking into the kitchen.
   "Lies! You have no idea how wonderf--" She looked into his kitchen and smiled. "You have a-" Mamoru turned to face her.
   "There are seventeen more rooms, six bathrooms and four halls… plus seven staircases. You are going to keep saying the same thing… over and over again." Mamoru said, opening up the fridge to look around.
   Mizuki leaned on the doorframe and held her things close to her.
   "Hey… Mamoru?" She said, looking at him with a sorrowful look.
   He grabbed some cheese and turned his head quickly.  "What is it, Miss?" He asked standing up and closing the fridge door. Mizuki looked at him, then away.
   "D-Did you really have homework to do?" He didn't say anything as he got a knife out and started to cut a piece of cheese. Mizuki took a step toward him and put her hand on her hip. "Did yo-" He turned quickly and put a slice of cheese into her mouth. She blushed as she felt his fingertips on her lips.
   "No, I didn't. I was just lonely." He said to her, pulling his hand away.
   She looked down as she chewed the cheese. Mamoru's being weird tonight… Well, weirder than normal.
   "Mamoru… where did you get the money for all this?" She asked, wondering how he could even buy a pair of clothes to put on his back.
   He didn't answer her. Instead he gave her a kind smile.
   "You could say that I have a Very Nice job." He said.
   Mizuki was breathless as she saw his smile.
   "Oh, well…" She walked over next to the stove and put her things on the counter.
   She took out her phone and showed it to Mamoru.
   "Okay. So I have to use the bathroom and you need to get out your phone to make sure that if I get lost I can call you to find me." She said, serious as ever.
   Mamoru looked at her. He could feel the sides of his lips tighten as he tried to fight back the laughter.
   "All right, Miss." He said while still eating cheese.
   She walked away from his sight. He then looked back at the cheese and picked it up and put it into a little container to keep it fresh. He made his way over to the fridge. When he opened the door, his cell phone starts playing 'Dirt Road Anthem' which was Kioshi's ring tone. He took in a deep breath as he took the phone out of his pocket and brought it to his ear. As soon as he hit the button to answer, Kioshi was already yelling.
   "Mamoru! I swear you better answer! If you don't I'll beat your--" Koshi heard breathing on the other end.
   "Sorry Kioshi." Mamoru said as he put the cheese into the fridge.
   "You know why I called, then?" Mamoru stood up and closed the door once again.
   "Yes.. I have your sister. She's staying the night at my place."
   Kioshi didn't say anything for a moment and then he spoke.
   "Why is she there?" He asked with an odd sounding voice.
   Mamoru didn't dare tell him it was because he was lonely. That felt kind of strange. Mamoru thought his way out.
   "She's helping me with something."
   "What kind of 'something'?" He came back.
   "What are you thinking?" Mamoru asked with a sickened tone.
   "Nothing. Never mind." The phone went dead. Mamoru looked at his phone.
  "Weirdo." He said under his breath.
He walked over to the counter and leaned on it, waiting for Mizuki to return. About that time his phone started playing 'Little Moments.' He answered:
   "Miss, what's--" He was cut off by Mizuki.
   "I'm lost!!! I went up stairs but then I… I forgot where I was. I mean, I went downstairs after I found the bathroom but now… I don't know where I am…" She said kind of upset that she was calling over something so stupid. She knew she was going to get lost one way or another.
   "Miss, what's on the walls or what room are you next to?" She started walking and looking.
   "Um." She opened the door to see about five cats. "A room with nothing but cats and cat things?" She said kind of shocked by that.
   "Oh, that?! Um.. Wait… Miss…." Mamoru said looking right at her. "Turn around…"
   She did as he said and as she saw his face, she hung up the phone and ran to him, holding on tightly.
   "Your house is so scary when you're alone!" She said.
   He blushed as her body was tightly hugging his.
   "I-I know what you mean…" He said as he put his hand on her head and began running his fingers through her hair.
   "What are you doing?" Mizuki asked as she felt him doing that while her head was laying on his chest.
   "Nothing…" He said, stepping away to face the counter again.
   Mizuki frowns a little then looked out the window and started walking toward it.
   "You know…" Mizuki said as she placed her hand on the cold glass. He looked up at her. "It would be so lonely… to live in the night." She said, running her hand down the window with a sorrowful look.
   "What do you mean, Miss?" Mamoru asked as he saw her rub her shoulder.
   "You know… to be a vampire, or something." She turned to face him.
   "I'm sorry but what made you think that?" Mamoru asked as he put his elbows on the counter and put his head in his hands, still looking at her. She smiled and shrugged.
   "I have no idea. You know I say random things." She said as she yawned. Mamoru smiled at her.\
   "You are going tired on me already?" He removed his hands and elbows from the counter to stand right. She waved her hands in front of herself.
   "No! Not at all! I'm just…" Mamoru made his way over to her. "…sleepy." She said as Mamoru kissed her hand.
   "I'll take you off to bed." She nodded and found herself blushing and smiling for no reason whatsoever.
   Mamoru took her hand and started walking her through his house. Mizuki watched him as he walked, and moved. It was like he was always in pain or something. Maybe he had leg problems even though he'd never told her. He was six-seven, after all. He must have growing pains… or it's his ong legs… that could be why he walked that way. They both started up the stairs.
   Mizuki was looking at their locked fingers thinking about how odd he was tonight.
   Oh, god! Wait!
   Mizuki jumps and looked down at her feet. Tonight could be when he makes his move on her… or something… Mamoru isn't that stupid… is he?
   What would she do if he did? Slap him like always.
   "Are you okay?" Mamoru asked, now looking at her with a worried look.
   She nodded and blushed even deeper.
   "Mamoru… I told you not to do that when I'm thinking." She giggles, trying to push t hat thought away that he maybe was making a move.
   He gave her a tight lipped grin.
   "Please, forgive me." Mizuki looked away from him as he started taking her to his bedroom again.
   She looked at all the things he had. It was truly strange that less than three months ago, he was begging for money just to live another day; that he was killing himself with two part time jobs, plus cleaning some of his families houses at night. Even though Mizuki and him had known each other so long… Mizuki hardly knew anything about Mamoru's family. He didn't seem to like them very much. All Mizuki knew was his father and mother had died in a house fire. Luckily Mamoru was at his grandparents that night.
   In that thought, him and her were a lot alike: two kids without parents. That might b e why him and her were so close to one another.
   "Here we are." Mizuki looked at him and as he opened the door she pulled back from him.
   "Okay, you came to your bedroom. Where is mine at?" She said, glaring at him.
   "Miss? Is it weird to sleep in the same bed?" Mamoru had hardly got the words out before he saw her go pale. He took her hand and smiled. "I'm only kidding. I have two beds in here. I just have to pull them apart." He said.
   Mizuki gave him a look that could kill.
   "That wasn't funny." She said and pushed her way into his bedroom.
   Mamoru sighed out loud when he closed the door behind him.
   "The sooner we get the beds apart the happier I'll be." She said, already trying to pull it away.
   "M'lady… is something wrong? You're acting so strange." He asked as he walked his way over to the bed to help her.
   "No… This is just the first time staying with you." She said kind of awkwardly. "And not only that, but we are in the same room a--" She was cut off.
   "My lady! I assure you, I'm not a sick man like most." He said as he started pulling the bed with her.
   It moved away from the other bed. Mizuki bit her lip at his words.
   "I-I know that." She said as she sat down on the bed and started taking off her shoes.
   "Now go do whatever you want. I'm going to sleep." She said with a smile.
   "Yes, Miss." He said, walking over to his table on the other side of the room and sat down in a chair.
   Mizuki went to close her eyes to fall asleep then she remembered that she needed to brush her teeth. She slowly removed her feet from the bed and placed them on the floor. Standing up, she walked over to him and went to put her hand on his shoulder.
   "Miss? I thought you were going to sleep?" He said kind of cold right before she touched him. She pulled away.
   "I just thought that I didn't brush my teeth." She said standing behind him.
   "Do you have sleep clothes with you?" He asked, not facing her.
   She swallowed and rubbed her head.
   "Umm… I didn't think about it…" She said.
   He pointed over to a door not turning his head to face it.
   "Take one of my shirts. I should have pants in there." He said to her.
   Mizuki put her hand on her chest, then walked over to where she could see his face.
   "Mamoru, I'm sure your legs are too long for me to fit in your pants. She said, rubbing her arm awkwardly.
   He turned to face her and put his pen down, then he put both hands down on the table to raise up to his full size.
   "I don't have women clothes in there." He said with a dull tone.
   "I can just wear my jeans… It's not--" he put his finger to her lips.
   "Shh…" He said low.
   Mizuki blushed and looked down at his fingers.
   "We both know that they pinch you in your sleep." He said, putting his hand down and walking passed her.
   Mizuki turned quickly to see him already in front of the closet door.
   "Mamoru…" She said taking a step towards him. "How did you get over there so fast?" She asked, putting her hand on her chest again.
   He looked at her with his deep green eyes that made her breathless.
   "I guess I'm just a fast walker." He said, swinging open the doors to the closet to show all his leather pants. Blue jeans, shirts… guns?
   Mizuki gasped.
   "Mamoru?!" She said. "You have guns?!" He got a maroon shirt and pants.
   "Yeah… but I'm the only one able to shoot them." She turned her head with disbelief.
   "What do you mean?" She said, reaching out to take his clothes.
   "I don't mean anything but it, Miss." he said oddly. "But you'll know what I mean one day." Mizuki arched a brow at him.
   "Okay…" She said slowly and she went to find his bathroom to change.
   Mamoru went back to his table and started writing again when Mizuki came out.
   "Mamoru?" He looked over his shoulder to find Mizuki in his shirt that came little lower than her knees. "I thought that it was long enough that I don't have to wear your pants. They're too long for me. Plus it's hot in here, which is odd because it's so cold outside." Mamoru rolls his eyes at her.
   He stood up with a very little grin but didn't let her see it.
   "Sorry if I'm annoying you…" Mizuki said as she watched him walk over to his door and open it.
   The air that came through made Mizuki shake with a little chill. She ran her fingers through her hair. She saw Mamoru's dark brown hair glow under the moonlight… that was, until he turned and stepped toward her, and she saw that he had a deck.
   "M'lady… come and see this." He said as he rested his hand on the door.
   She took a step forward and looked down, taking a deep breath.
   "Mamoru…" The words hadn't even left her mouth good when her hands were locked with his.
   She quickly took a step back.
   "Why do you keep doing this? Acting like something strange is going on. You keep walking so fast that it's not right… That--" Mamoru took his fingers under her china nd moved her head up to look into her eyes.
   Mizuki swallowed as she looked into his eyes that were kissed by the moonlight coming from the open door.
   "One look is all you need." He said to her.
   His voice made her quiver to her toes.
  "O-oh. All right." She said to him. He bent down to whisper.
   "Close your eyes." Mizuki blushed as she could feel his breath on her neck.
   "I'm only doing this because I want to." She said, trying to break the awkwardness between them.
   She closed her eyes and did what he asked. Mamoru put his hands over her eyes to make sure she couldn't see and started leading her out onto the deck.
   When she stepped out on that cold wooden deck, she gasped.
   "Mamoru, it's freaking cold out here." She said to him.
   "You won't care in a minute."
   Mizuki's body met the fence.
   "What is that?" She asked, patting her hands on it trying to find out.
   Mizuki's eyes were still tightly closed and covered by Mamoru when she felt him remove one hand to move her hair away from her neck.
   "Mizuki." He said to her, sweet and tenderly. "You know… the night doesn't have to be lonely… not if you share it with someone close to you." He moved his hands away from her and took a step back. "You can open them now."
   Mizuki went to open her eyes but the window started to blow her pink hair in a way that Mamoru thought should be a sin. Mizuki gasped as she saw what his deck overlooked. It was a lake. The moon danced over the water in a way unlike Mizuki had ever seen, and at the far side was a waterfall.
   She smiled so bright and started to laugh at how pretty the view was.
   "Mamoru! This is truly wonderful!" She said, looking around.
   "I thought you would think so." He said, walking up next to her.
   "I can see why you loved this place." She said, looking up at him.
   Mamoru looked at her eyes that looked like the bright sky. He moved his hair out of his face and nodded.
   "Yes… but it also reminds me of how lonely it is… to never be able to have or hold anyone." He said, looking at the ground right under them. Mizuki put her hand on his back.
   "What do you mean, 'can't have or hold anyone'?" She asked.
   He moved away from her.
   "It's getting late. We better head to bed." He said, walking into the house without another word.
   "M-Mamoru…" She whispered then walked into the house herself. Closing the door, she saw Mamoru's bare back.
   She looked at him as she walked over to her bed and sat down. Mamoru sat down and fell back into his bed.
   "If you need anything--I mean anything--just wake me up." Mamoru said, pulling his blankets over his body.
   Mizuki nodded.
   "Okay." She said, laying down.
   Mamoru reached over and flicked the light off. When the darkness went over the room, Mizuki became a little worried. She pulled the blankets over her and closed her eyes. She didn't hear or saying anything but then she heard Mamoru take a deep breath.
   "Is something wrong?" She asked.
   "Yes!" He yelled. Mizuki jumped at his voice.
   "What's up?" She asked, still shaking.
   "I don't have room on this little bed." Mizuki heard him turn over and over again.
   "I'm sorry." She said.
   "I have a question…. Can we pull the beds together?" He asked.
   Mizuki turned in her bed.
   "That wouldn't give you much more room."
   "I know, but if I only get one more foot of room, I'd be happy." He said, kind of annoyed.
   Mizuki didn't say anything. It was so silent that you could have heard a pin drop. Mizuki then spoke.
   "Fine… whatever." She said to him.
   She heard him jump out of his bed and started pulling it across his hardwood floors, then his bed bumped into the other one.
   "Sorry…" Mamoru said lowly as he got back in bed.
   Mizuki didn't say anything. He covered himself up and turned to face her.
   "The only bad thing about the dark is I can't see your face." He said, then felt a hand hit his chest.
   "Stop being silly." Mizuki said.
   Mamoru smiled and closed his eyes.
   "Good night, Mizuki." He whispers to her.
   "Night…"
   A few minutes later they both fell asleep.

                                   

                                    To Be Continued…