"See ya!" Makoto said, hanging up the phone. She smiled to
herself and wandered into the kitchen. Busying herself with
slicing vegetables, boiling water, and other culinary
preparations, Makoto drifted into that happy kind of daze that
comes with ritualistic activity. Occasional thoughts would
intrude ('I hope he doesn't try too hard' or 'I'd better add more
peppers, Ami really loves them', for example) but, in general,
the time passed quickly.
"Mako-chan? Are you here? Is it Ok that I let myself in?"
Makoto peeked out to her entryway, a large bowl in hand. "Ami-
chan, I've told you a hundred times that it is Ok for you to let
yourself in! That's why I gave you a spare key, silly."
As Ami removed her boots, the smell of dinner surrounded her.
Classes had been interesting, as usual, but long, and it was good
to be... home? 'I suppose it is like a second home to me,' she
considered. Actually, being completely honest with herself, Ami
realized that she felt more comfortable here than she did at home
sometimes. 'That's because Mako-chan is here; it is not so empty
like home can be.'
"How was school today?" Makoto called from the kitchen. Ami
stepped in to find her friend working diligently over a number of
pots and pans at once. Ami always enjoyed watching Makoto cook.
The precision, the joy, and the passion with which her friend
approached each meal never ceased to amaze her. Makoto brought
order and beauty from chaos. Though she couldn't cook, Ami still
liked to help as much as possible, so she began to set the table
in the dining room.
"A little long, truthfully, though interesting," Ami responded to
the question. "My test went well, I think, though I hadn't
prepared as well as I normally do."
Makoto came out with a salad bowl and set it on the table. "Ami-
chan, I never really heard why exactly it was that Urawa-san
showed up yesterday afternoon." Makoto remembered distinctly
when Ami had mentioned in passing during dinner the night before
that her old 'friend' Urawa Ryu had appeared unexpectedly at the
ice cream parlor. The thought had been plaguing her ever since,
though she chalked it up to simple curiosity.
Ami looked up at Makoto and was surprised to see that her friend
seemed annoyed for some reason. "I'm sorry, Mako-chan! I wasn't
trying to keep it a secret."
"Huh? Of course not!" Makoto exclaimed. "I'm just curious, that's
all. Why would it bother me?"
Ami lowered her gaze and replied quietly, "Well, it would upset
me if a good friend was keeping something important a secret from
me."
Makoto laughed, "No, it wouldn't!" She moved around and gave Ami
a quick hug. "You would be completely understanding and patient."
Gradually, Makoto became aware of the fact that she was hugging
Ami still. Dropping her arm quickly, she headed back toward the
kitchen, slightly breathless. "In any case, I'm not upset, but
you still haven't told me. You don't have to, of course."
Ami tried in vain to gather herself. Why was her heart racing
so? 'I suppose I'm relieved that she's not mad. She looked so
upset for that one moment, though,' she thought. She could still
feel the weight of Makoto's arms around her, though Makoto
herself was already back in the kitchen.
"He was worried about me, or that is what he said," Ami informed
her, continuing on with the table setting. "He's a psychic and I
guess he had a vision."
Makoto darted out of the kitchen. "A vision? Are you Ok? Did
anything happen to you?" Ami had not seen Makoto this agitated
since their last battle.
"No, no, nothing like that," Ami reassured her. "I was just
feeling a little blue. I went and talked to Rei and felt a lot
better."
Relief shifted to disappointment on Makoto's face. Some people
could hide their emotions, but Makoto wasn't one of them. This
was one reason she rarely played poker. "You went to talk to
Rei-chan, huh? Good, I'm glad that helped."
Ami stepped around the table and laid a hand on Makoto's
shoulder, smiling up into her emerald eyes. "Silly duck, I would
have talked to you, but you were busy." The smile faded. "I
believe you were at the sports center, with Shinozaki."
"Oh yeah," Makoto recalled. A quick trip to the kitchen and she
returned with dinner. Placing it on the table, she sat across
from her friend and started to eat. For a time, each focused on
their meal and the room grew quiet.
'Normally, I enjoy eating quietly with Mako-chan,' Ami realized.
'I love that she doesn't feel the need to fill a silence.'
Tonight, though, something was different and Ami began to imagine
the silence weighing down on her.
Makoto ate her meal, but didn't taste any of it. 'Why should it
matter who Ami goes to talk to when she's upset? The important
thing is that she feels better. She's known Rei longer anyway.'
Still, Makoto couldn't shake the glum feeling that had come over
her. To her credit, she never really let herself wish that
Kenjo had never come home. It was good to see him, after
all. But the thought made some attempts to creep in, from time
to time.
"Ami-chan, if Urawa-san came all that way because he was worried
about you, why did you end going to see Rei-chan?" Makoto asked.
Ami paused with a puzzled look. If she had known how incredibly
cute Makoto found that expression, she would have blushed deeply
as well. But, she didn't. "He was acting a bit strange. He ran
off quite suddenly." Concern washed over Ami's face. "Mako-chan,
you don't think there might be a new threat?"
Makoto shook her head, "I don't think we have any evidence of
that. Maybe he was just taken aback by how pretty you looked
yesterday. You know how he feels about you."
Ami did blush now, at the compliment. "I have explained to him
that I only see him as a friend. I hope he will respect that."
"Why only a friend, Ami-chan?" Makoto asked carefully.
"I just don't have those kinds of feelings, at least not for
him," Ami answered. Suddenly she stood up, "I don't understand
why everyone is so concerned about who I love!"
Makoto gasped and rose, "Ami-chan, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to
press you or get out of line. Please, don't be mad!"
Embarrassed by her outburst, Ami shivered and sat back down
quickly. "Oh Mako-chan, I should be the one to apologize. We
were just chatting. I didn't mean to yell like that. I guess,
first Ryu-kun, then Rei-chan, then you. No one ever asks me that
kind of thing, then all of a sudden..."
"It's ok, Ami-chan," Makoto murmured. "We can talk about
something else." Raising her voice back to normal levels, she
changed the subject. "So, how do you think Mina-chan is doing on
her date?" Ami's appreciative smile, and obvious look of relief,
made Makoto's heart quiver.
"I'm sure they are having a good time. Minako-chan is so sweet
and you say that your friend is very nice and kind," Ami
surmised. "It was very good of you to arrange their date."
Makoto laughed. She had some idea of what kind of torment Minako
could be making for poor Kenjo, either if he annoyed her
(unlikely in Makoto's mind) or if she really liked him (quite
possible). Ami, however, didn't seem to think of her friends
that way. "I hope so. You certainly seemed relieved when I said
that he wanted a date with her. Don't you find him interesting?"
she asked in a light tone.
Ami grinned, "No, it's not that at all. I'm sure he is very
interesting and I can certainly see where some women would find
him attractive." 'And it means that you aren't secret lovers,'
she added to herself, even if she didn't fully get why such a
thing would have bothered her so deeply, had it been true.
Finishing up her meal, Makoto grabbed her dishes and headed into
the kitchen, soon followed by Ami. Without discussion, they
moved to the sink and began washing the dishes together,
operating as a seamless unit. "So, he's not your type, then?"
Makoto inquired.
Ami blushed again and lowered her gaze. "No, not really."
"May I ask what is your type?" Makoto said quietly, hoping not to
upset her again.
Ami laughed, "Rei-chan asked me the same thing, yesterday, so
you'll understand why I have such a ready answer. Tall, gentle,
loving, light brown hair, bright eyes, supportive, strong.
Nothing too strange, I hope." She glanced over at Makoto,
looking up into shining green eyes. 'Oh my,' she thought.
Noticing that Ami had stopped taking dishes from her to dry,
Makoto turned to see what was up and found the young woman gazing
at her, seemingly lost in thought. Out of the blue, Makoto
remembered something Minako had said some weeks ago, something
about 'an old married couple.' She could feel sweat forming on
her brow, and suspected it had little to do with the hot
dishwater.
With a shake of her head, Ami grabbed the next dish and proceeded
with the drying. Makoto, too, snapped out it and got back to
work. Soon, they were done and Ami went to make some coffee
while Makoto placed some pastries on a plate for them to share.
A few hundred calories later, Ami asked Makoto a question. "So,
what is your type, Mako-chan?"
"Huh?" Makoto realized she'd been lost in thought, but couldn't
recall what she might have been contemplating. "My type? Well, I
guess I've got a quick answer, too. Kenjo-chan asked me
something similar."
"What did you tell him?" Ami prodded, with some intensity.
"You know, the usual, dark hair, blue eyes, smart, caring,
someone you can trust and protect and lean on." Makoto grinned.
"Not him, of course. We figured out way back that that just
doesn't work very well. Now, we spend half our time together
trying to set each other up. I really hope he and Minako hit it
off. I think they'd be good for each other."
Ami realized with a start that she'd stopped listening somewhere
around "lean on". 'Oh my,' she thought again, as a warm feeling
of light trickled through her body.
"Ami-chan, what was it that had you so upset the other day,
anyway?" Makoto asked, noticing that Ami seemed a bit spaced out.
"Just feeling a little lonely, that's all," Ami answered with an
embarrassed smile. She really hoped that Makoto wouldn't grill
her. She thought she might have a lead on it, now, but needed
some time to think it through.
"Is the feeling gone now?"
"Yes, Mako-chan, everything is just fine now."
"I'm glad," Makoto beamed at her. "I don't like worrying about my
little Ami-chan." Though she'd said such things in her
'motherly' way often before, both Ami and Makoto noted the change
in tone this time. 'Motherly' was the last thing that Makoto was
feeling at the moment.
"Mako-chan, would you be terribly upset if I left early tonight?
There are some things I need to...take care of at home." Ami knew
that she needed some time to sort out her thoughts. Though the
idea of leaving brought with it a sharp, cold twinge, she
understood that she'd never figure out what was going on in her
head if she remained. The look of disappointment on Makoto's
face warmed the chill, though Ami felt guilty about taking joy
from her friend's unhappiness.
"Sure, that's fine. I need to review some things for class
tomorrow and there's a match I wanted to see on the sports
channel," Makoto replied, almost convincingly.
"Thank you for dinner, as always, Mako-chan," Ami said as she
moved toward the entry. She put on her boots as Makoto came over
to get the door for her.
"You're always welcome, Ami-chan, you know that. My home is your
home!" Again, something Makoto had said to Ami a hundred times,
tonight came out quite differently.
Ami smiled and leaned up to Makoto, laying her hands on her
friend's shoulders. Pulling herself up on her toes, she kissed
Makoto lightly on the cheek. Stunned by her own audacity, she
paused, losing herself for a moment. "Till tomorrow, silly
duck," she whispered, and then she was gone.
Makoto stood for some time by the doorway, the warmth of Ami's
lips lingering on her cheek. 'Oh my', she thought.
----------------
Urawa Ryu watched from a shadowed doorway as Mizuno Ami left the
apartment building and headed toward her own place. Looking at
his watch, he noted that it was still quite early. She'd only
been in there a couple of hours. That was a good sign, he
figured. He wished he had the nerve to go after her, but in all
that time, he hadn't been able to think of an excuse for why he
might be in this neighborhood at this time of night. Though he
knew he was doing nothing wrong, he sensed that Ami might not
understand. 'She has never understood. She needs me to help her
understand. She's confused, but I'll help her see the way things
are.'
All in all, Ryu felt quite relieved. When he'd checked the
mailboxes in the lobby of that building and seen Kino Makoto's
name, he'd gotten a nasty premonition. However, leaving this
early, it was clear that they had just shared dinner. Yes, he
was certain, Ami certainly wasn't 'that way.' Tomorrow, he'd
track her down after her classes and he just knew that he'd say
the right things, to make her see.
As he got ready to head home himself, Ryu looked up at the moon,
high above. Suddenly, a chill went down his spine, and all of
his certainty vanished. There, up high, he saw it. And he saw
Her. Standing, on a balcony, also looking up at the moon.
Though the distance was great, he just knew it was Kino, and deep
within the core of his very being, he knew that he'd been on that
balcony, if only in a vision.
'It's not me.'
Ami had taught Ryu something very important, though, long ago.
The future was what you made of it.
'No, it _wasn't_ me. But it will be. It will be.'
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