Cat's Eye View
I was a guide for the girls for a long time. Minako longest, of course,
being her guardian and all it was only natural. Being with her all the
time, it gave me a pretty good insight into her personality, knowing
when she was wearing that damned emotional mask of hers, not letting any
of the other girls see what she was feeling, and I hated that. She had
gotten better over the years, but still hid when things got really bad
for her. It broke my heart to hear her crying, and knowing that the
other's could help somehow. I knew that Usagi knew sometimes that the
leader of her protectors wasn't always completely okay, but she was
usually the type to let her friends come to her most of the time, and
would quietly let Minako know that she could speak with her, but she
never would.
Which is why I was paying particularly close attention to the lately
developing friendships. After the whole deal with the Starlights and
Galaxia, all the senshi had finally really gotten closer together. I
knew Minako looked up to the older girls, even if I thought she was
pretty well their equal as Venus, but anyway...I was hoping that she
would maybe open up to one of them, like Michiru or Setsuna. She'd been
spending more time there than the others were, visiting during the week
after school when she wasn't with one of the others, avoiding her
mother, things like that. She seemed to be spending more time with
Hotaru in specific, and I liked that. There was just something about the
young girl that made me like her, a lot.
We were all currently gathered at the 'Outer House', everyone having
been invited us over for a cookout to celebrate the start of summer
vacation. Ami and Makoto were currently in the pool, Rei and Usagi
nearby talking to Michiru and Setsuna. Haruka was tending the grill with
Mamoru, and Minako? Well, Minako was sneaking up on the youngest of the
senshi, Hotaru, who had just gotten out of the pool herself, Minako
taking aim with a squirt gun.
Hotaru's shriek of surprise and Minako's laughter caught everyone's
attention for a moment, everyone laughing or smiling as Hotaru scrambled
to her feet to chase after my retreating charge. I jumped off the chair
Luna and I were settled on, and followed the two girls around the corner
of the house into the larger side yard. It was Minako's turn to yelp as
Hotaru got the ultimate weapon, the water hose itself.
Minako took refuge behind a tree. "Hotaru-chan, that's cheating!" She
laughed and shrieked as a spray of water came close to her head, and
soaked half her body.
"And hitting me with my back turned wasnt? You've got odd ideas of
cheating, Minako-chan!" Hotaru laughed as she tried to angle the spray
to get Minako. I had to blink as I heard the two use such a familiar way
of addressing each other...the younger girls had always had a habit of
calling the outer senshi 'san', even Hotaru, even if she was younger
than they all were.
Hotaru was creeping up on the tree, and I had to smile as I noticed that
Minako was no longer behind it, and had managed to climb up into it, and
across a branch into another one, out of Hotaru's sight. Minako had been
a senshi the longest, and I was always proud of how good she was at
things like that, not even making the tree rustle. When Hotaru got up to
the tree and jumped around it, I had to fight not to laugh out loud at
the look on the young girl's face as she discovered that Minako wasn't
there. She whirled around, and faced a grinning Minako, who was standing
in the middle of the yard with the hose in her hand, squeezing it closed
with a kink. She twirled the squirtgun in her hand, and winked. "I think
we could call this a draw, hey? I used up all my water on you, and well,
now you have none."
Hotaru giggled and crouched down, holding the spray nozzle just above
the ground. "I'll put this down when you put your gun down." She smiled
sweetly, disarmingly.
I didnt think that Minako's grin could get any larger. She laughed and
nodded, twirling the gun around again and holding the butt of it towards
Hotaru, letting go of the hose. "Here. I can never resist that cute
look." Hotaru giggled and reached to take the toy from Minako.
It was about then that the most interesting thing yet happened. You
could see the exact moment that Hotaru's fingertips brushed against
Minako's hand, and I swear I could feel the shock myself, simply seeing
it on their faces was enough, that short little moment seeming to
stretch out much longer then it actually was. Minako's eyes widened, and
Hotaru's cheeks flushed, both of them looking down to the contact before
looking up, blue locking with violet. So many emotions in that moment.
Maybe being around Minako had rubbed off on me, and I felt more able to
spy and figure out the different feelings...yeah, yeah, Minako's the
avatar of Love, why would she know other emotions? Minako once said to
me that everything could stem from love. Jealousy, anger, fear,
confusion, joy, rage, depression, calm, elation; they were all simply
facets of some sort of love, at the core. The greater the influence of
love was in the emotion, the easier it was for her to pick up, and made
things difficult for her sometimes...as if she needed anything else.
But, at the moment as I watched the two look at each other, I could feel
massive amounts of confusion. The intensity of the feeling, well...there
was a lot of love in there, I could confidently say that. But since it
was confusion, as well, I knew that they didn't really understand what
was going on, and I knew that Minako wouldn't be able to really feel it
herself, since when it came to her own feelings or things directed
towards her, whatever power had seen it fit that Minako should be able
to feel things so strongly, had also decided that Minako's personal life
should be more of a mystery. Thankfully.
But, anyway, back to Minako and Hotaru. Hotaru had pulled her hand away
from Minako, and I faintly winced at the soft look of loss I saw on
Minako's face. They both blushed and looked away, and Minako cleared her
throat lightly, reaching up and rubbing the back of her neck. She smiled
softly and turned to look back to Hotaru. "Uhm..."
"Hime-chan! Minako-chan! Food's up!" Haruka either saved Minako from an
awkward moment, or interrupted something that needed to be said, a
mutual look of frustration crossing over their faces. Minako leaned
close to Hotaru and clearly said something to her, causing Hotaru to
blush and nod lightly before she dodged ahead and past me as Haruka
called again.
Minako stood there for a moment, then started walking back towards me,
and I stepped out from behind the corner, startling her a bit. "Artemis,
hello." She opened her arms and I hopped up quickly, climbing to her
shoulders and curled around, nuzzling at her cheek.
"So...is there something you want to tell me?" I smirked at her
expression. She then gave me a look out the corner of her eye.
"Were you watching us?"
"Of course." Minako laughed, and I purred and rubbed against her cheek.
She walked about to the garden where the patio was set up, and paused
before really getting into view. "Minako?"
"I think I'm falling for Hotaru, Artemis. The times we've been together
lately, its just...there's something about her that just draws me to
her, you know?"
I swished my tail about against her shoulders. Of course I knew, I had
been hoping for it. Where Usagi could sense that something might be
wrong, she never directly confronted anyone to find out and try to help,
but Hotaru seemed to know when it was a good idea to say something, and
I had a feeling that she could see past Minako's mask. "I've noticed."
She gave me that look again, but I could feel the confusion over her
feelings behind it. "Is it bad?"
"Why the heck would it be bad?"
"I don't know! What if she hates the idea of us in a relationship?"
It was my turn to give her a look. "Minako, did you even hear what you
just asked? Hello, look at her parents!" I gestured past Minako's face
to where Haruka and Michiru were standing, Haruka with her arm about
Michiru's waist.
Minako reached up and rubbed her forehead. "I know, I know, but
everytime I think about this my brain just like, short circuits and I
forget like, everything I know it seems."
I nuzzled against her cheek again. "Just follow your heart, my Venus. I
know you might be confused, but if you follow what you feel, things will
work out."
She sighed lightly and nodded a little, giving me a small smile. "Yeah,
I guess..." Her cheeks flushed a soft pink as Hotaru started to approach
her, holding two plates of food. "I guess...now to just find the right
time, hum?"
Another nuzzle to her cheek, and a reassuring purr. "You'll figure it
out." I hopped from her shoulder then, and meandered over to Luna, who
was inspecting the food Usagi had brought over for us. Casting a look
over my shoulder, I smiled as Minako accepted the plate from Hotaru
before they went to join the others in the chairs around some tables.
"Everything alright?" Luna asked as I hopped up next to her again.
"Oh, yes, everything is quite alright. I think it'll be even better than
alright, really." I couldn't stop myself from purring, and Luna tilted
her head a bit, glancing over to the girls.
"Something happening that I should know about?"
"All in good time. Things have to go on their own, I think."
"Well, if its nothing bad, then good I suppose."
I laughed and nosebumped her cheek as laughter echoed about the yard
from the girls, smiling as I watched Hotaru move just a little closer to
Minako. "It's a very good thing indeed..."
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