"Hello, may I speak to Aino Minako please?" Kenjo asked, though he was relatively certain it was her on the line. "Speaking," Minako replied, "Is that you, Kenjo-kun?" Her breath and heart quickened, but Minako would never let such things show in her voice. "Hai. Am I disturbing you, Minako-san?" Kenjo considered that it was a good thing they weren't using some sort of video phone, because he'd hate for her to see the stupid grin he had on his face at the sound of her voice. "No, I just finished dinner. Our meeting over at the temple went a little long." "How did it go," Kenjo asked anxiously. "Did your friends think we were nuts?" Minako shifted to the front edge of her chair. "You won't believe what Rei-chan told us!" she reported enthusiastically. "It seems that she and Ami had a long chat the other day, right around the same time you were talking to Makoto at the sports center. She had already become all but convinced that _Ami_ has a crush on _Makoto_!" "You're kidding! That's great!" Kenjo chalked off one obstacle with delight. "What did Usagi-san have to say?" 'He really does love Mako-chan,' Minako realized. She could hear it in his voice, full of pure joy at her news. Rather than something that made her jealous, she found it to be a very endearing trait. "Well, Usagi claimed that she'd had her own suspicions all along. We talked it about it for quite awhile, when we weren't sidetracked, and now we're all convinced." Minako sighed. At the same time it was both hard to believe and the most natural thing in the world that her dear friends Ami and Makoto should be in love. "You guys got sidetracked?" Kenjo couldn't resist asking. Of course, he knew, or suspected (or was that hoped?) that his date with Minako might have been on their discussion agenda, but he couldn't come right out and ask. He might as well have been translucent, given how easily Minako saw through him. "Oh, we didn't just discuss Ami and Makoto, Kenjo-kun," she said smugly. Kenjo really wished that Makoto could have been there, since he knew without a doubt that she'd have given him a full report. He reminded himself sharply that her not being there was sort of the entire point. "Anything you'd care to share?" he asked, not really expecting to get anything out her. "Well, I had to tell my friends how our date went, didn't I?" Minako continued. "Of course, Usagi had her own opinions, since she'd been spying on us!" Kenjo laughed warmly. "I think it's nice that you guys care about each other so much. Anyway, I hope the reviews were positive." "Maybe, but I would never tell," Minako teased. "So, did they have any ideas on what we might do to help the two of them?" Kenjo asked eagerly, getting back to the topic at hand. "Well, Usagi is going to talk to Haruka-san and Michiru-san. We figured they might have some insight," Minako reported. "Rei seemed to think that we might have some trouble from Ami's old 'boyfriend' Urawa Ryu. She was going to check up on him." "Urawa? Mako-chan mentioned him at one point. She seemed a little jealous of him," Kenjo recalled. "He wishes!" Minako snorted. "He keeps bugging the poor thing, no matter how many times she tries to tell him she only wants to be friends. Rei can be pretty determined, so she'll get to the bottom of things with him." Kenjo frowned. He knew guys that didn't like to take "No" for an answer and had little use for any of them. Some were just deluded or stupid, others were actually dangerous. He had little doubt that Sailor Mercury could take care of herself, but he worried nonetheless. With a smile, he realized that now that he suspected Mizuno Ami returned his Mako-chan's love, he felt almost as protective and worried about her as he did about Makoto herself. "And what was your assignment, Minako-san?" he inquired. "I was supposed to call you and fill you in. We figured you'd be dying of curiosity. You beat me to it, it seems," she added, very content with the fact that he'd called her first. "Not dying," Kenjo chuckled, "but close." "So, is that the only reason you called me, to find out what happened?" Minako asked in a flirty tone, fairly confident in the answer. "No, not really," Kenjo started, gathering himself together, "I was wondering, well, if you don't have any plans, maybe you'd like to get together Friday night?" Minako smiled, feeling the same rush of victory she normally got only after defeating a tough enemy. "Sure, I think my schedule is clear. What did you have in mind?" She felt a little embarrassed when she considered what _she_ had in mind, the fulfillment of a promise she'd made to herself after their date. "Mako-chan tells me that you enjoy karaoke, so I thought maybe dinner, then we could hit a club I know," he suggested. "Ooooo, I love karaoke," she squealed. "Sounds perfect. What time?" "I think I can find my way back to your place," Kenjo answered. "How about I pick you up at six?" "That works for me, Kenjo-kun," Minako agreed. "Well, I'd better get going. I need to get some school work done." "Ok, I guess I should do some readings, too," Kenjo sighed. "See you on Friday, Minako-san!" "Good night," she said, hanging up the phone. Just then, Artemis wandered into the room with her. "Mina-chan, why are you hugging your pillow like that, and why are you so happy?" her cat asked. Minako scooped the white ball of fur up in her arms and swung him happily through the air. "I've got a date for Friday night!" "Whoa! Put me down! You always have a date on Friday night!" Artemis exclaimed. "Not second dates!" Minako pointed out, setting Artemis down at the foot of her bed. Still beaming, she headed out to the other room to try to get some work done. 'Second date?!" Artemis thought, trying and failing to recall the last time Minako had gone on more than one date with the same boy. 'Sounds serious. Well, good for her,' he decided before drifting off to sleep. ------------------ Urawa Ryu found a niche between two streetlights, about a block and a half from his quarry. It is possible that, if he could have seen himself, he might have paused, reconsidered, realized that he wasn't acting rationally any more, but he avoided such introspection. Over the years, normal admiration and interest had grown into friendship, but then slowly mutated into intense desire, a yearning forged in the fires of frustration only to emerge as obsession. He knew as surely as he knew his own name that Mizuno Ami was his, by right. He knew that he could make her understand this. So far, he'd tried to reason with her, to convince her, to make her see. As he watched her enter Kino Makoto's apartment building, a bouquet of pink roses in her arms, he realized that he needed to take more drastic measures. With a determined scowl, Ryu turned and headed back the way he came. So wrapped up in his thoughts was he, that he didn't even notice the beautiful, raven-haired young woman sitting alone at the bus stop as he walked past. -------------------- Rei sat in the cafe, sipping a cup of cocoa, waiting. It had been almost an hour since her quarry had entered Tokyo General. 'Maybe he's committing himself to the Psych Ward,' she hoped against hope. 'What is he doing in a hospital at this time of night?' --------------------- Ami rang the doorbell, nervously shifting the bundle from one hand to the other. Normally, she would have rung once and then let herself in with the spare key, but for some reason, that didn't seem appropriate tonight. When she'd left her last class, she hadn't planned on bringing flowers, but when she saw the pink roses at that little stand, she couldn't resist. Ami yawned, still tired from her lack of sleep. After last night's dinner, and the realizations that had accompanied it, she had had a hard time getting to sleep. In her classes, she'd found herself dozing off more than once. Worse still, when she wasn't fading into sleep, she found herself doodling little hearts in the margins of her notebooks. For her part, Makoto had found herself planning tonight's dinner throughout her entire day. Normally, she'd whip something up from whatever was lying around when it was just she and Ami. After all, she generally thought, that's just...normal. Sometime between that farewell kiss on the cheek and her return from classes, however, Makoto had come to realize that dinners with Ami were anything other than routine. Indeed, they were some of the most special occasions of her life. Tonight, she planned to let Ami know just how special she was to her. She had just lit the last candle when the doorbell had rung the first time. The second ring had been spent checking her hair in the mirror that hung in her foyer. Makoto was somehow not surprised that Ami hadn't let herself in. It was such a common thing for the two of them to be on the same wavelength, that it hadn't even occurred to Makoto that Ami might not realize how special tonight was going to be. On the third ring, the door opened. "Oh, they're beautiful! Let me get a vase," Makoto delightedly exclaimed, taking the bouquet that Ami had proffered to her upon entering. She blushed, and smiled deeply, as she fussed in a cabinet near the kitchen for a suitable container. While she'd never doubted that Ami would be thinking along the same lines she was, it was still nice to get confirmation of the fact. Makoto's heart raced as she pulled down a crystal vase that had been her parents' and arranged the roses therein. Ami gazed around the apartment. Makoto had dimmed the lights and lit what seemed like a hundred candles. As usual, the smell of food wafted from the kitchen and Ami was overcome with a strong sense of "home." Taking it all in, Ami's gaze finally came to rest on Makoto herself. No sweats or t-shirt tonight. Instead, Makoto wore a soft, green sweater with a matching long skirt. Her hair was done up in her typical ponytail, but was held in place with a delicate gold hair clip. As she watched her friend delicately position the roses, Ami felt a rush of warmth, and not to her face as usual. She allowed herself to do something consciously that usually she did without even knowing it; she examined this beautiful young woman before her carefully, thoroughly. Makoto's eyes, focused so intently on her task, shone with an inner light, crackling with energy. Ami noted the slightly paler tone to her skin along the nape of her neck, where her hair was pulled back. Letting her gaze trail down the line of Makoto's neck and past her broad shoulders, she remembered something said in jest long ago. 'You indeed should have been Snow White in that play, Mako-chan,' she admitted, noting the way Mako's sweater clung to her. Her eyes lingered in that area for some time, and that comfortable warmth inside her flared up considerably. Almost with regret, her eyes dropped down, over the full curves of her friend's hips and to her legs. 'They just go on forever,' Ami realized with a sigh. She had just suppressed a brief, irrational wish that her friend might drop something on the floor behind her when Makoto finished with the flowers and met her gaze. Immediately, Ami dropped her eyes to the floor and cursed her complexion, feeling the heat on her cheeks now, not just in those other areas. 'She's blushing,' Makoto thought as she looked up. 'She is so adorable when she does that.' "You ok, Ami-chan?" she asked with a smile, "you look a bit flushed. Is it too cold in here?" Ami's eyes widened in horror as she swiftly checked her blouse. Realizing what she was doing, and why, she blushed even more, finding it hard to catch her breath. She was a trained warrior, however, and recovered quickly. "No, everything is fine, Mako- chan. Everything is perfect. Is anyone else coming tonight? You've gone to so much trouble." Makoto could feel sweat forming on her brow. Had Ami just done what it looked like she'd done, when Makoto had asked if she was cold? Mako swallowed quickly, trying, without much success, not to stare at those soft, gentle curves in her friend's white blouse. "No, it's just you and I tonight," she replied to Ami's question, regaining her focus. She stepped closer and added, "I hope that's Ok. I just thought that, well..." Ami's smile made Mako's heart leap in her chest. "I think it's a wonderful idea, Mako-chan. Is there anything I can do to help?" She also moved forward, stopping only a foot or so away from her closest friend. For a moment, they paused there in the living room, well within arm's reach of each other. Ami sighed as she gazed deeply into Makoto's eyes, feeling as if she was surrounded in a warm blanket. Makoto held her breath, her fingers trembling, aching to be lost in soft, blue hair. Each of them slowly leaned forward... "BUZZZZZZZZZZZ" The sound of the oven timer going off startled both them out of their reverie. Makoto gulped in air and dropped her hands to her sides. Ami shivered and took a deep breath, a wry smile on her face. "I'd better get that, or else we'll be having blackened tuna, and I didn't plan on cajun tonight," Makoto joked. Ami giggled and nodded, "Go ahead, Mako-chan, I'll put on some music, if that's all right." Makoto assured her that that would be fine and headed off the kitchen. Ami smiled wistfully. There was no doubt in her mind at all now and the thought of what the rest of this evening was sure to bring made her as happy as anything she could remember. The accursed oven timer could steal one moment from them, but nothing could stop fate. Ami was certain of that. Moving over to Makoto's stereo, she glanced through her CD collection, looking for something that would set the right mood, something romantic, but not too distracting. She was amused to find a Bonnie Raitt CD currently in the disc player. She thought she could guess which song Makoto might have been listening to earlier. 'Oh, we'll give them something to talk about, all right,' Ami thought wickedly. She carefully replaced that disc in its case and pulled out a different one, something Minako had introduced them all to, an English band called Dire Straits. Placing the disc of the same name in the player, she started it, adjusting the volume so that it would not override conversation, but would linger at an almost subconscious level. Before she turned back to the table, Ami caught a flash of green reflected in the glass door to the cabinet. Shifting a little bit, to get a better reflection, Ami soon could make out Makoto, holding a dish, standing in the doorway of the kitchen. The tall young woman had stopped and was apparently staring at her. With a very pleased smile, Ami realized that the tables had turned so to speak, but, unlike Makoto earlier, she knew she was being watched. Very deliberately, Ami reached up to a disc on a high shelf, stretching onto her toes. She could feel the muscles in her calves and thighs go taut as she held that pose for just a second or two longer than necessary. While she might not be as qualified to play Snow White as Makoto, Ami knew that her legs were one of her best features. 'This is just too much fun,' she realized. She'd never known how enjoyable being a tease could be. Suddenly, Minako made a lot more sense to Ami. Makoto's legs were trembling. 'Oh my,' she thought as she watched Ami reach up to grab a disc. All she could see was white hose stretching up and disappearing under a short blue skirt. She could imagine all too vividly how it would feel to lay her hand on one of Ami's delicate ankles and run it all the way up to... 'I'd better put this down,' she decided, remembering the plate in her hands, 'because if she drops that disc, it's all over.' At that exact moment, as if her thought had molded reality to its liking, Ami's hand slipped and the disc she had been reaching for fell to the ground. Makoto could have sworn that Ami darted a flirty glance her way as she bent over at the waist to retrieve it, her skirt riding higher up the back of her thighs. 'No way,' Makoto thought, 'not my Ami-chan!' Proud of the fact that dinner had survived this crisis, Makoto gulped and quickly set the plate down on the table. Ami suppressed a laugh as she watched Makoto rush over to drop the plate on the table. Somehow, she felt just as she had when she'd learned her Shine Aqua Illusion attack. With this weapon in her arsenal, there was no way this particular target could ever resist her. Feeling as happy and content with herself as she ever had, Ami moved over to the table and sat down. "It looks lovely, Mako-chan." "Thanks," Makoto mumbled. "Just a couple more things and we'll be ready to go." As she moved back into the kitchen, she began to reconsider things. Maybe Ami wasn't so innocent and pure after all. Makoto did know her friend very well, very well indeed, and that expression on her face had _not_ been one of innocence and purity. 'Well, two can play at this game.' Before grabbing the last dish, she reached up and unbuttoned two buttons on her sweater. "Here, let me put this on your plate," Makoto said, returning from the kitchen with a bowl of rice. Ami thanked her and leaned back in her seat to allow Makoto access to her plate. Her self- satisfied serenity took quite a shock, however, when Makoto leaned forward to ladle out the rice. The way she was bent over the table, Ami could see right down her sweater! 'I shouldn't be surprised that that's green, too,' Ami considered, though the majority of her attention was certainly not focused on Makoto's undergarments. After an eternity, Makoto straightened up and moved to her own place. 'Did she just wink at me?' Ami tried to determine where her imagination ended and reality began. 'Hmmm, it would seem that being teased is almost as much fun as doing the teasing!' For the next thirty minutes or so, the two young women ate their meal, talking mostly about the same kinds of things they usually did: daily events, things learned in classes, speculation about their friends (mostly Minako), etc. Throughout the meal, however, a subtle tension began to grow. Each ate slowly at times, savoring the growing anticipation, then quickly at other times, impatient to get through it and onto other things. At no other meal had so many dishes been passed back and forth, fingers lingering longer and longer during the transfer of plates and such. The comfortable silences that characterized their time together remained, but contained many more contented sighs and intense gazes. Finally, it was time. Makoto rose to clear the table. Once again, normally, Ami would have helped her, but today they both knew that that wasn't necessary. Instead, Ami went to the stereo once again, changing discs to something a little more modern and upbeat. Makoto dropped off the dishes in the sink, not even bothering to soak them, and returned to the living room to find Ami waiting for her. She'd moved the coffee table to one side, clearing a space in the center of her floor. Makoto paused, fairly certain what was coming. As Ami moved slowly across the floor to her, she knew she was right. Deja vu struck briefly, reminding her of that night in the school gym, long ago. "Would you care to dance?" Ami asked with an encouraging smile. "I would love to," Makoto answered, shyly bowing her head. So often, because of her height or her mode of dress, people assumed she was some sort of tomboy. Inside herself, though, Makoto rarely if ever felt that way. Now, just as she had long ago, Ami made Makoto feel just like she always wanted to feel, like a princess in a fairy tale, about to be swept off her feet by her prince. As Ami's hands took her and led her into the dance, Makoto sighed contentedly and placed herself literally and figuratively into Ami's care. The song she had chosen started out with a brisk tempo, so Ami led Makoto through an upbeat dance that soon had them both laughing and swooning through spins and dips. As she'd planned, though, the song soon slowed down and Ami drew Makoto in close. As Mako laid her head down on top of Ami's, resting on her shoulder, Ami knew that this was exactly where she wanted to be, always. Makoto gently shifted her head back and forth, rubbing her cheek against Ami's skin. Ami responded in kind and soon they both lifted their heads back to look into each other's eyes. Makoto closed hers and shifted her cheek to Ami's other shoulder. Soon, though, they went through the same dance, cheeks caressing each other and then, heads drawn back, eyes meeting. Just as Makoto's eyes closed and Ami was leaning forward... "BUZZZZZZZZZZZZ" Ami jumped, dropping her hands from a very confused Makoto. Grabbing at her side, she pulled her beeper out of a pocket hidden in her skirt. Makoto looked at her, disoriented and disappointed, as Ami stared at the number on the beeper. "What is it, Ami-chan? Is everything all right?" Makoto whispered hoarsely. "No, I mean yes, I mean...I have to go, Mako-chan," Ami exclaimed, almost in tears. So close... but there was no way she could ignore this particular message. "Don't!" Makoto pleaded, before remembering herself. "I mean, do you have to? What is it?" "It's my mom," Ami replied in a disconsolate tone, even as she hurried over to the foyer to put on her shoes. "She had me memorize a series of codes, so she can use the beeper for a variety of messages. This one means I have to go home immediately." Makoto began to ask if she couldn't wait just a little bit, but realized that that would be unfair. Whatever had been about to happen, that moment was now lost and if she asked Ami to stay, it would only make her more unhappy. Given her state of agitation, ignoring Mom was clearly not an option for Ami. "I'll call you! I promise!" Ami shouted as she headed out the door. "I'm sorry, Mako-chan, more than I can say!" 'Me too,' Makoto thought. 'Me too.' As Ami vanished down the hallway, she leaned over and blew out the nearest candle.
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