"Peeping Toms"
By: S. Schumaker

Standard Disclaimers Apply

(AN: I've decided to revamp this story as well. I feel that it is my most original idea and I want to make it better! Please R/R to let me know what you think of the changes[PS: Yes, I am Sailor Sherry AND Watermelon Seeds. I've been getting e-mails saying I'm stealing their stories...but alas, they were mine to steal! Just wanted to clarify that!! Please let me know if you find any mistakes, Tokyo wise, or grammar wise. Thanks so much! Also, be sure to check out my profile page for dates of upcoming updates on all my stories! Thanks and Happy Independence Day!)

Chapter One - The Big City

Here I was, in a small town in Japan called Morioka, about to make it big. I was leaving the nest, moving out on my own, something that I have wanted to do my entire life. It was my chance to fly, to become something. The only problem, my father was a little hesitant to just let me go.

"Tokyo? Are you sure you want to live so far away?" my father asked, hugging me into his shoulder as we walked forward.

"Yes, Daddy, I'm sure!" I responded, smiling slightly at the worry evident in his voice.

"But Usagi, it's so far away! What if you need something? What if something happens? And, the crime rate is terrible there! What if you get kidnapped or something? We'd be so far away we'd never know if something happened to you!"

"I'll call! Don't worry! Besides, it's only three hours by train!" I said with a laugh in my throat. My father could be so protective. I picked up my bag and placed it over my shoulder. We were walking into the local train station, searching for the one that would bring me to my new life in the big city. Ever since I was little, I had dreamed of Tokyo. I thought it was the best city in which I'd make my dreams come true. Well, here I was, about to move there. About to live there! In high school, my senior class decided to take our class trip to Tokyo. It was an experience I'll never forget. One that helped me make the decision I was about to go through with.

"Okay, Sweetie, I packed my cell phone in your bag. Please call us as soon as you reach your new apartment. And I mean that!" My mother said, her tone stern.

I released a small giggle at the protective nature of my mom. She usually left that kind of thing up to her husband. They really were the greatest! "Thanks mom!" I said. I hugged them one last time, as my brother, Motoki, came around the corner toward us. Motoki is my only sibling and my other half. My twin. He looks a lot like me, blonde hair, shorter of course, but the exact same shade of golden blonde. The only difference between us, besides our genders, are his deep, green eyes (mine are blue). We have always been close, and lately, he's become a little distant with me. He's upset that I'm moving so far away when we have never been apart before. I know that he'll miss me and I'll miss him. But this had to happen. We certainly couldn't live with each other for our entire lives. His goodbyes couldn't be set aside any longer. I was leaving Morioka.

He started walking toward me, but stopped about two feet away. I could feel my eyes fill with tears as I stared at him. A lone tear rolled down his cheek as I suddenly found my body crashing into his. I held him so close, I thought my lungs would cave in, but I wouldn't let go, I couldn't. My tears flowed freely down my cheeks as I grasped him tightly to me. I felt like I was losing a piece of myself. I could literally feel my heart ripping apart inside of my chest.

"I love you!" I whispered into his ear.

"I love you too, Usagi! Now, get out of here." he said, softly pushing me away, quickly wiping his hands across his wet cheeks. "You'll never leave if you don't go now. Make me proud, Sis!" he said, handing me my train ticket.

"I will. I love you all!" I said, wiping away my tears as my train pulled up beside me. I grabbed the handle on the doorway, looking back at my family as they huddled together, silent tears dropping from us all. I waved at them quickly as I hopped into the train, hearing the door slide shut behind me and my Morioka life.

As soon as I entered the train, my anticipation began settling in. I was actually following my dreams! I resettled my bags on my shoulder and started heading toward my seat. The train was built for long journeys as I noticed that my seat and another were inside a small room. They were built to be not only chairs but small couches for napping. The other one in the room was already occupied by a woman with golden blonde hair, covering up her sleeping face. I shrugged my shoulders and took my seat, gazing out the window.

A loud whistle blew as the train began on its journey to Tokyo. It would only a couple of hours for me to reach my destination, but I was already feeling scared and very alone. I leaned my head back against the seat, a tear sliding down my cheek. I already missed Motoki. Suddenly, a voice broke into my thoughts as I hastily wiped away my tears.

"Tickets, please?" A tall man asked in the doorway of the little room. He was a man of small build, thinning gray hair atop his head. He smiled at me softly as I quickly stood and grabbed for my ticket.

"Here you are." I said to him, smiling back as I handed it to him. He took it from me, stamping it quickly and handed it back. He looked over at my "roomie" and was about to wake her when an arm suddenly reached out, a ticket in hand. Her face remained hidden as the man stamped it too and headed out of the room, a confused look upon his face. I sat down again, wondering silently if I was making a huge mistake rearranging my entire life.

About an hour into the trip, as I was reading a cheesy harlequin romance that my mother bought me at the train station, I heard the sounds of someone waking nearby. I glanced over and found the blonde haired woman stirring slowly. She rose on the small cot, took notice of me, and smiled gently my way, moving to sit up before me.

Her arm outstretched before me, "Minako Aino." I took her hand in mind, shaking it firmly.

"Usagi Tsukino. It's nice to meet you." I replied, smiling at her gently. She was a very beautiful woman with soft blue eyes and bright pink lips. She was in her early twenty's yet had a very graceful, business-like quality to her.

"So, why are you heading to the big city?" Minako asked me, as she got more comfortable on the couch-like seat, leaning back against the wall, her long hair dangling down and over her.

"Actually, I'm moving there. What about you?" I asked her, following suit, and getting a little more comfortable on the hard seats as well.

"Oh, I'm just heading home. I had some business out in Hokkaido. I've been riding these blasted trains for hours." She smiled at me. As we continued on our journey, I began to learn more and more about the beautiful Minako Aino. I discovered that she worked for a very high class firm as a secretary. She was often shipped around the country doing various errands and chores for her employers. She was recently married and lived happily in one of the suburbs of Tokyo.

Minako and I continued to learn more about each other during the trip. We shared our family photos with one another and discussed serious topics like our hopes, dreams, and fears. She also helped to reassure me about my decision to move across the country, one of the biggest fears of my entire life. "Don't worry, you'll absolutely adore living in Tokyo. It's one of the best places to start your life." Minako smiled at me, her kind words already returning my own self-confidence in my decision.

After a while, we both decided to try and get in a nap before we reached the city. I laid my head down on that hard couch-seat and was out like a log. Before I knew it, I was being shaken awake by that same gray-haired man who stamped my ticket.

"Miss, the train has stopped now. This is your stop. Welcome to Tokyo!" He smiled at me, offering his hand to me to help me up. I took advantage of it, thanking the man quietly for waking me. I turned to wake up Minako, to find her and all of her baggage already gone. The smile from my lips disappeared as I realized I missed the chance to say goodbye to her. I might never see her again. I sighed before lifting up my bags and turning to leave.

"Miss, you dropped this!" The man's voice halted me. I turned to face him and saw him holding out a small folded piece of paper towards me.

"Thank you." I said, unsure of what it was. I opened it quickly and was surprised to find a note from Minako written in neat handwriting. It read: "Now don't you forget about me, Usagi! I plan on hearing from you in the next week or so! Minako!" She had also written down her telephone number and address.

"You can count on it!" I said to no one in particular as I smiled to myself and stepped from the train. I walked out of the train station and found myself in the center of a bustling town with people moving everywhere. I took in a deep breath to steady myself as I hailed myself a taxi. Soon, a cab was waiting at the curb for me. I quickly slipped inside of it.

I told the driver the address of my new apartment, and we were off. I had been here a few months ago to look at some apartments with Motoki. The only one I could afford was a very old, small, one bedroom. I'm surprised that I even found the place, normally it would take forever to find an apartment in Tokyo, but I got lucky. After I nearly lost my life six times in the taxi, it came to a screeching halt in front of the building that was my new home. I paid the driver and stumbled out of the car, my stomach doing somersaults.

I escorted myself, and my heavy luggage, into the old building and up the elevator. I would be on the eleventh floor, with an "excellent" view of all the tall buildings around me. Now, I wouldn't say that my apartment was terrible, but it certainly needed some work. The paint on the walls was chipping, something that would definitely need to be redone, the sinks and bathtub were lined with rust, and the previous owners left some furniture that seemed to be from 1972. However, I was upbeat about it all, and well, was too tired to give a damn. I opened up my bag and began to go through it. I found my mother's cell phone quite easily and then after that the keys to my apartment. The elevator doors pinged open and I walked to my door. The numbers on the door were crooked and I tried to straighten them, but they immediately jumped back into their original positions. I sighed as I unlocked it and opened up the door, a strong musky scent filling my nostrils. I took one last look behind me before I stepped into my brand new home.

Boxes and bags littered the entire apartment, each that I had personally sent to myself from back home. I smiled, dropping my bag as I turned to begin locking the door behind me. The neighborhood I lived in now wasn't the greatest, and it seemed that the people that lived here before me understood that, five locks lined the door, two on every window. I quickly bolted them all, protecting myself and my belongings carefully.

The apartment was already equipped with a stove, fridge, and even a dishwasher. I went to the fridge and flipped it on, causing the air to cool inside of it. Then, I took a seat on the floor of what would soon be my living room. I picked up my mother's cell phone and dialed home.

"Hello, Tsukino residence." My mother's voice answered.

"Hi Mom!" I replied, a smile plastered on my face at the familiar voice.

"Usagi! Is everything alright? Are you hurt?" She questioned worried.

"No Mom, I'm okay! I just wanted to call and tell you that I made it here all right. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine, we're all fine. Motoki hasn't left his room all day, but I'm sure he'll be okay soon. Do you want to speak with him?"

"Yes, please." I heard a shuffling of the phone being passed around before Motoki's voice came through the line.

"Usagi? Is that you?" Motoki asked, a smile in his voice.

"Yes, Motoki. I miss you so much already."

"I miss you too. How was your trip? Did you catch up on some sleep?"

"It was pretty good. A little boring, but I did meet the most amazing woman! Her name is Minako and she lives right here in Tokyo. I'm really glad because I was sure that I wouldn't meet anyone here for quite some time."

"That's awesome, Usagi. So tell me, can you see ANY stars from your new apartment's HUGE window?" Motoki was referring to the very large French doors that led to my balcony in my living room. Motoki was studying to be an astrologer. He loved anything and everything to do with the stars. It all started when on our 10th birthday my mother bought us both matching telescopes. I rarely used mine, but Motoki's is still set up in his room. He knows hundreds of different constellations and star names.

"Um," I stood up from my place on the floor and stood in front of my window. "Well, I can see at least two." I joked. Motoki had decided to go to college and become something great. Me, no! I hated high school. I didn't think I'd be able to graduate from that! There was no way that I was going to go to college! I'd probably flunk out my first semester! So, instead, I went to a small two-year school where I studied computers and how to fix them. I guess I'm pretty smart about that, but I also grew up playing computer and video games constantly.

"Only two stars! Ah well, I will still take a look at them this Christmas vacation!"

"You'd better! Well, I should get going, I don't want Mom's phone to go dead. I love you!"

"I love you too! Be careful okay? Tokyo is very dangerous." Motoki's tone of voice turned a little serious.

"I will! Bye, Motoki." I smiled into the phone.

"Bye, Usagi!" I pressed the end button on the cell phone, a deep feeling of loneliness settling over me.

I already missed Motoki so much. We were so close; I don't know why we have to be so far away. I started to doubt my decision of moving here. Why did I really choose to move here? Why didn't I just stay at home with my family? I know that I'd have to leave home someday, but it's just so hard.

I continued to think about Motoki and my parents until I couldn't handle it anymore. I wanted to be close to them, close to Motoki, and the only way I could do that was to do what he loved. I searched through box among box until I came upon it. My telescope. I pulled it out, covering myself in dust, and took it from its protective box. I walked over to my balcony and started to set it up. It took me awhile to figure out how to, but once I had, I flipped off the light to see the sky better. I looked through the lens, focusing in on the stars I could see. I already felt closer to him. Motoki was probably gazing up at the same stars as me at that exact moment. I stood up and smiled. Tokyo would be hard for me, but it was something that I had to do.

I walked away from the window, intending to go through some more boxes. If I wanted to get my apartment feeling more like home, unpacking would be the fastest way! Before I even made it one step away I tripped over the 'invisible' box I had pulled my telescope from. My body flipped over the box; my leg painfully hit my telescope as I fell to the floor, my elbows and knees rubbing against the hardwood floors painfully. I slowly stood up, rubbing my body from the fall. I walked, more carefully and more slowly, back to my telescope to see if I had broken it. The outside seemed all right, so I decided to look through it to see if the focus was off. The view my eyes saw was just a black. I was looking at the wall of the building across the street! I glanced up and saw a room with the lights still on. I would just test the focus out on that room to make sure that everything was still in working order. I looked in the lens once more and began scanning the wall until my view landed on the single room.

And that's when I saw him! A very handsome man was standing up by the window of his apartment. He was watching something down on the street, his hands running roughly through his raven locks. He was the most gorgeous man I had ever seen and I desperately wanted to get to know him. He was wearing khakis and a white button up shirt. His sleeves were rolled up and his pants were as well, giving him a very boyish appearance. I could almost see his muscled chest beneath his shirt. This was one GOOD telescope!

For some reason, I stood there, minutes, hours, who knows how long. I watched him drink his coffee, read his book, he paced for a while. Something was definitely on this man's mind, something that would require a lot of thinking. I wanted to help him; I wanted to calm him, to reassure him that whatever it was that was bothering him would be all right. But I couldn't. All I could do was observe him from a distance. The mystery man from across the way…

To Be Continued…