SAILOR MOON: DARK JEWEL
by: Marie Kelly
CHAPTER 1


	She was never the type of girl that could be  considered 
beautiful; not by a long shot. She was certainly pleasant to look at; 
that could be denied,  yet she was not the sort of person one would give 
more than a fleeting glance to, perhaps noticing her shock of hair, but 
that  was all she usually got, a fleeting glance. Not that she was unhappy. 
Some girls needed to be the center of attention;  they were always 
primping in front of the mirror, attempting to gain an aura of glamour 
that they did not have. Certainly, she did her fair  share of primping, 
like any normal fourteen year old. 
	Or, rather, she *had*. Yet, somehow, all that seemed silly, and 
childish.  She was still fourteen, and still in Junior High, yet, if you 
asked her about it, she would have said she was a woman beyond her years, 
far more mature than they were. For she had something none of the other 
girls had. She had a boyfriend
	Her green eyes narrowed, and she pursed her lips. Her boyfriend 
was late. She had rushed here as soon as she could, skipping the last 
class --  science, so she could be here early, not even  bothering to 
change out of her uniform, and he did not even have  the courtesy to get
here on time!
	"Oooh," she muttered, under her breath, making a fist  with  her 
hands.  "When that jerk gets here I'll tell him what  for! He was SUPPOSED 
to meet me here at three thirty-" she  glanced  at her watch "--and he's 
ALREADY FORTY  minutes late!"  Like all  stereotypical redheads, she was 
prone to anger, which  she usually  managed to temper remarkably.
	"I'm here! Sorry I'm late, Naru-chan," Umino Gurio said  
apologetically.
	Osaka Naru crossed her arms, and raised her chin just the slightest
bit. "Why were you late?" she asked bitterly. It wasn't like her to be that 
way, nor was it like Umino to be late. If anything,  he was always 
annoyingly early. 
	Umino laughed, a nervous, high pitched giggle. "Well...uh...I was 
kind  of in detention," he finally managed to say. 
	It was Naru's turn to look surprised. "You were in detention?" She 
tried not to keep the disbelief out of her voice. "How did *that* happen?!"
	"Well, uh..." Umino fidgeted, and Naru looked at him. He was not a 
handsome boy; extremely short, he had short, pale brown hair that stuck up 
in tufts all over his head. Naru wasn't sure *what* color his eyes were, 
since he wore such thick spectacles she had never seen them close up. "I 
was....I brought my ant farm  for science class and Usagi tripped over it 
and-"
	Naru held up her hand for him to stop. Usagi. He didn't have to 
say any more. She knew what had happened. Somehow, thanks  to  Usagi, 
Umino's ant farm had opened, and the ants had gone scurrying  all over 
the place. "I don't see why you have to get in trouble for what Usagi 
did!" she cried, her voice uncharacteristically angry. 
	Umino was the kind of person who had, as his greatest weakness,  
the inability to lie. "Well, uh, I wasn't supposed to  bring it to school
....so I got into trouble for that."
	"It's still Usagi's fault," Naru said. "Where is she?" 
	"She's still at detention. What's wrong with you, Naru? I've never 
seen  you act like this. Usagi's your best friend!"
	{Yes, yes,} thought Naru bitterly. {That scatterbrained, lazy, 
food-stuffing girl who couldn't pass a test if her life depended on it is 
my best friend. Ain't life grand?} She smiled, for Umino, and said to him, 
"Yes, you're right. Usagi may be a ditz, but she  *is* my best friend!"
	"Naru, I made you something," said Umino, sensing that  not all was 
right with Naru. He couldn't tell what it was, but there  was something 
distinctively  wrong with his ladylove. No matter. He  knew how to cheer 
her up.
	"Ta-da!" he cried, holding a covered plate of food in front of her. 
"I cooked you something special. Guess what?"
	It was spicy shrimp. What else could it be? The boy didn't  have 
much of an  ability to cook, and his imagination was so lacking that all he 
ever did cook was spicy shrimp. Still, Naru had to admit, he made a 
wonderful plate of the tongue biting curls. "Oh, Umino," Naru said, shyly. 
"I couldn't possibly guess."
        	"Come on, guess," he prodded her gently. This was a fun 
game they played, one the shy young gentleman enjoyed immensely. Even 
though he knew Naru knew what it was -- she *must*, for not only was it the 
only thing he cooked, but the spicy smell was beg- inning to waft up from 
the covering--he still appreciated her playing the game with him.
       	"TA-DA!" he finally shouted, pulling the cover off. "Spicy  
Shrimp!"
	"Oh, Umino!" Naru pretended to act surprised. "For me? You 
shouldn't have!"
       	"Food?!?!" an all too familiar voice greeted them. "I love food!" 
Usagi appeared, drooling over the plate. Without even waiting  to be asked, 
Usagi "dug in", using her hands to shovel food into her  mouth at a rapid 
pace, not even bothering to chew properly. Within  a space of time of less 
than a minute, the plate of spicy shrimp was empty, and a very full Usagi 
sat in front of them. 
     	Naru looked angrily at her friend. Usagi was wearing her school 
uniform, complete with the special brooch she always wore.  Naru had no 
idea how she was able to get away with wearing it;  every time she had the 
slightest discrepancy with her uniform she was punished! Usagi's long, blond
hair was pulled up into two  ponytails, which hung from odango like buns of 
hair on either  side of her head. 
       	"Usagi!" Umino sounded sad. "Those shrimp were for Naru and I." That
was the extent of what Umino would say; he never  could get into arguments 
with Usagi. Naru however, could say  more. 
       	"USAGI-CHAN!" she yelled. "You are being way too selfish!  Umino 
made those shrimp as a special feast for the two of us!  Who said you could 
eat them?"
	"But I was hungry," Usagi whined. 
        "How?"
        "Well, I was late for school and I forgot my lunch, so..."
	Naru had heard *those* excuses before. "It doesn't matter, 
Usagi-chan," she said seriously. "You had no right to eat our shrimp  
without asking. Maybe if you got up earlier, and were more careful..." she 
let her voice trail off meaningfully. 
	Usagi looked up at Naru, and suddenly she understood. 
"WAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!! You're as mean as Rei!" she cried, tears flying from 
her big blue eyes. 
	Naru and Umino exchanged glances, and each had a giant sweatdrop on 
the back of their heads, as they listened to  Uagi's childish wail. 
        "Come on, Umino," Naru stood up. "Let's go home."
        "But what about Usagi?"
        Naru looked at Usagi, continuing to act like a small child. "Let's 
go," she repeated, more firmly. 
        Naru started walking away, and Umino followed her.  He was more 
certain than ever that there was something.... wrong.....with Naru, but 
couldn't place his finger on it.  Umino was deep in thought, as she walked 
by. {So, I'm like Rei!} Her thoughts on that subject were angry, and, yes, 
the slightest bit hurt. {Usagi has so many new friends...the least she could 
do is introduce me to them!} She gave a small  glance back at Umino, who was
following her. Was it time? Yes. Again. Tonight. A thrill filled her, and she
walked faster. 
	"Naru! Slow down!" Umino panted. "I'm not as fast as you," he added, 
unnecessarily. Forcing a smile, Naru slowed down and turned to Umino. "Oh, 
I'm so sorry,"  she said. The two held hands...Naru  noticing with distaste 
how cold and clammy Umino's was, and went to Naru's apartment. "We can get 
something to eat at my place."
        "Hello, Osaka-san," the doorman greeted her. He nodded to Umino, 
recognizing him yet not knowing his name. 
	"Hello Kei-san," Naru made small talk. "How are you?"
	"Fine, thanks. Who's your friend?"	
	"His name's Umino Gurio," Naru said. "We're going up to  study."
        "Study?" Umino was confused. "But, Naru, you said you wanted us to 
go up to your apartment and-"
        Naru, noticing the strange looks Kei was giving  her, giggled."No, 
I *didn't*, Umino," she said, through  clenched teeth. She grabbed him 
firmly by his upper arm, and half dragged him up the stairs to where her 
apartment was. The elevator worked perfectly well, yet her apartment was 
closer to the stairs and, besides that, it would have been *too* awkward to 
wait for the elevator. She fumbled  through the pockets of her school dress,
extracted the key, unlocked the door, and opened it.  "Umino!" she cried 
out. "Why did you say that?"
	"Say what?" Umino was perplexed. "I don't believe  in lying, Naru. 
It's not right. Besides," he added, "You didn't invite me up her to study. 
You invited me up here for dinner."
	"Dinner?" Naru was genuinely surprised, although perhaps she 
shouldn't have been. 
        "Yeah, what did you think I was going to say?"
"Ummm...nothing," Naru said. 
        It was time. She could wait no longer. She had  done it before; it 
wasn't that difficult. Poor Umino.  She could almost feel sorry for him. 
       	Naru gestured to the couch. "Sit down," she said, brightly. "I've 
got some things to do." {Or rather, some *thing*,} for it was only one 
thing that had to be done. 
	Purposefully, Naru strode towards her mother's chest. She already 
had the key; she had stolen it before she went to school. Her mother had 
already left for work, and so did not notice that it was missing. There was 
large cabinet, locked. In that cabinet was only one thing...and that was 
what she needed. 
        Naru made short work of it, and soon the object of her desire was 
cradled within her hand. A silver jewel, it was not particularly special to 
the naked eye, and probably would not be worth much on the market. Naru 
didn't know. For some reason, her mother had never tried to sell it, 
claiming it as a family heirloom. Never mind the reason. The important 
thing is that it was here. 
	Naru raised it over her head, and chanted, channeling her energy. 
The stone began to glow green,  slight at first, then greater, until it 
seemed that  the glow could no longer be contained within the jewel.
        "Naru...?" Umino sounded nervous, as he walked  up behind her. 
"What's going on? What are you doing?"
        Naru shouted out the final words of the incantation.  Then, the 
glow from the stone shot out like ribbons,  engulfing Umino. 
"Wha--!" he cried, agony in his voice.  Naru--!" Then he was silent, saying 
no more,  as the green ribbons encircled him and entered him, completely 
taking over him. Looking the other way, Naru smiled. Yes...yes...this was
the way it had to be. 
        Soon it was over, the green glow faded, and then died altogether. 
Naru made certain to put the jewel back in its place, and locked it up. 
        "Hello, love," she said, softly, slowly turning  around. 
Umino was gone. In his place was another. He  seemed to be in some sort of 
invisible shield, for his feet wavered a few inches off the ground. He was 
clothed in gray trousers, and a purple undershirt. His top was ripped, and 
evil looking scars crossed his chest and back. His hair was quite beautiful.
It fell  well past his shoulders, with a slight wave and auburn  coloring. 
His head was  bowed, and his bright blue eyes,  though open,  seemed to see 
nothing.  It was obvious he was a very tall, and extremely handsome, man.