Double Trouble Makoto knew that her online girlfriend had a tendency to disconnect quickly, due to an apparently rude roommate. So when PBJ1978 typed out in the middle of a conversation that she had to go for a moment, Makoto wasn't surprised when she signed off. Makoto decided to wait since usually PB came back after only a few minutes or at most 20. Friday was typically their day to chat. The closest they could get to 'alone time' until they met in person. The two would talk about anything and nothing long into the night before turning in. When PB didn't come on, Makoto started to worry. She told herself that things just come up sometimes. Maybe PB was having computer problems or something. Makoto typed out an email telling PB she would try to be around if she decided to come on line later. Then Makoto turned up the volume on her computer so she could hear the chime anywhere in the apartment if PBJ1978 sent a message and decided to find something else to do. She decided to tidy up the spare room since she now had it on good authority that Ami would be visiting soon. She had recently moved into her new place and hadn't even finished decorating. As she cleaned, she found her thoughts wandering about the woman who had helped her move in, namely, Ami. Makoto had realized long ago that her and Ami would never have a relationship, but whenever she thought she was over her feelings for her unrequited love, she would find herself longing for it yet again. That was one thing Ami had in common with her old Sempai. Although Ami was a girl, she had a few qualities that reminded Makoto of him. Ami was intelligent, had beautiful eyes, and was downright cute when she blushed. Makoto had never told Ami this because she thought it would actually scare Ami to know how Makoto really felt about her. That was what she found so attractive about PB now that she was on the subject of people Ami had things in common with. The two seemed so much alike in Makoto's mind that it was almost uncanny. They were both smart, shy, easily embarrassed, and much to Makoto's annoyance corrected her spelling and grammar to no end. Though despite being a lot like Ami, PB had a few qualities Ami didn't have. PB seemed to have a lot more confidence in herself than Ami did. She was also willing to talk about subjects that Ami would probably have curled up and died on the spot just hearing others discuss. Makoto giggled to herself on that thought. The woman could be rather, uh, shocking when she wanted to be. The one other quality they didn't seem to share in Makoto's eyes was that PBJ1978 was more of a go-getter. If she wanted something, Makoto felt that nothing in the world would stop the woman from getting it. Ami, on the other hand, could be scared out of things she seemed to really want, just by worrying about what others would think of her. Makoto was so lost in her thoughts that she had stopped cleaning the room altogether. Somehow she found herself back at her computer. She checked the time on the menu bar and was surprised to see nearly two hours had gone by. That was a problem when living on her own sometimes. Makoto could lose track of time for hours. Much to her disappointment, however, PB still hadn't come back. Makoto didn't have much time to dwell on it though, because a few moments later the phone rang. "Kino residence, Makoto speaking," she answered politely. As the caller on the other end spoke, Makoto's mood quickly changed. ---------- When Makoto got to the emergency room's waiting area she saw her friends surrounding a woman who was speaking to them. At first Makoto thought it was Ami. When she got closer, she realized it wasn't Ami, but her mother. Makoto got close enough to hear Ami's mother finish up. "In short, she should be fine. Once we release her, she should take it easy for about a month. She may act a little strange for a little while after this. Some of it will probably be related to head trauma, and some to being a little scared by what happened." Then to Makoto she said calmly, "I'm sorry Makoto, but I have to be getting back to work. Your friends can fill you in." With that Dr. Mizuno went back into the ER. "Sorry it took me so long. I wasn't quite sure where to go so I wound up stopping by Ami and Minako's apartment then when I found the note on the door I headed here." Makoto looked at Usagi and said, "Well? Do what the doctor ordered and fill me in already!" Usagi answered, "I told you already Mako-chan. The three of us were out eating dinner, then when we finished that, we went back to Minako's to watch a movie. When we got there, we found they had been robbed and Ami was left knocked out on the bathroom floor, so we brought her here. They say she has a concussion but that it's not serious and she should be able to leave tomorrow." Rei sighed, then said doing her best impression of Usagi, "No Odango head, what you said was, EEEEEK! Ami-chan has been attacked! HELP!" Makoto felt Rei's impression of Usagi's phone call wasn't too bad. Then Rei added, "and you couldn't have told Makoto about Ami's concussion because Dr. Mizuno just told us!" Mamoru spoke up next. "We think it was a simple burglary attempt. It looks like someone picked the lock to the apartment, and sucker-punched Ami from behind while she was just getting out of the shower. The place was a mess when we got there. Ami had already come to when we found her. She was extremely confused. I don't think she remembers what happened to her." Then he glanced over at Minako and said, "I'll let Minako fill you in on the rest." Minako had moved away from the main group to a less crowded part of the emergency room, waiting for Makoto. Once Makoto got to her, Minako had her follow her to the women's room. Once inside, and after making sure no one else was there, Minako said, "The outer planetary Senshi apologize for not being here, but their all out on patrol looking for anything unusual. Setsuna is really worried about this. She says that this isn't supposed to happen according to the time stream, and that she feels there is a lot more going on than a simple burglary." Minako stopped talking for a moment when she heard a quiet sound. Once she finished double checking to make sure no one was listening in, she continued. "She thinks we are facing a new threat that isn't supposed to happen. Her suggestion for the moment is that we should all stay at least in pairs to be on the safe side for the time being, and I agree with her. Usagi and Mamoru are married so they're not a problem. Ami and I live together, and the outer planetary senshi live together. So that leaves you and Rei. I hope you like Rei, Makoto, because you two get to hash it out over who moves where for the time being." Sometimes, Makoto felt Minako took her role as leader of the inner planetary senshi a little too far. This was one of those times. "Come on, Minako. I've lived on my own for nearly twenty years now, not to mention through every single threat we have ever faced in the past. Rei can more than handle herself in a fight. I'm not doing it even if you put your foot down about it." Then with a slight smirk she added, "Besides, Rei wont stand for it." Minako spoke very seriously to Makoto, almost uncharacteristically so. "Rei has already agreed and packed before coming. So where ever you decide to go, she's going with you. Her grandfather can run the shrine for a while by himself. I know how you like your privacy, Makoto, and I'm sorry. Please don't make me make this an order. This is for the good of the team." Then she added, pleading, "If you won't do it for your own safety, at least do it for Rei's. And it's only until we figure out what's going on, if anything at all." The door to the restroom flew open with a bang, causing Minako to nearly jump out of her skin. Rei walked in, saying quickly, "Come on you two. They're letting us in to see Ami." The walk to Ami's hospital room seemed long and quiet while everyone was lost in their own thoughts. They went up what seemed like several floors in an elevator, then made so many turns that Makoto was sure they were going to all get lost on their way out. Once they reached the wing Ami was somewhere entombed in, a nurse's aid showed them the way to her room then informed them they would only have ten minutes to see her, and afterward they would have to leave so Ami could get some rest. Ami's hospital room was very small. There was just enough room for the bed, a path around the bed on all sides, a small folding chair next to the bed, and a small bathroom off to the right. An equally small low hanging TV was hanging on the wall with a show that clearly interested no one. "Hi guys," Ami said weakly from her bed as her friends entered the room and formed a semicircle around the bed. Ami had a large bruise on the side of her head and several small cuts on her face. She looked tired, but happy to see her friends at last. "They say I can go home tomorrow afternoon. Any volunteers to retrieve me?" Minako said happily, "Haruka plans to pick you up after the race tomorrow." "Do you remember anything about what happened?" asked Makoto, ducking under the TV to get to a better vantage point, and doing her best not to hover over Ami in her concern for the shorter woman. Ami closed her eyes, trying to concentrate through a tremendous headache, and said, "No. All I remember was drying off and starting to brush my hair, then waking up on the floor surrounded by broken glass, with a splitting headache." Usagi handed Ami a bouquet of roses with a big bright colored balloon that had GET WELL SOON written on it. Indicating the balloon, Usagi said, "We mean it too, Ami. We need you right now, ya know? How are we supposed to find out what happened to you without our strategist?" Ami smiled up at her longtime friend and said, "Thank you, Serena". All of her friends looked down at her with worried expressions on their faces. Rei and Makoto shared a quick glance of confusion at each other. Minako stood there with her mouth half open as if to say something then thought better of it and clamped her mouth shut. Usagi blinked, looking completely lost for words. Mamoru finally spoke up. "Ami? Her name is Usagi. You know that, right?" Ami looking puzzled said, "Oh. That's what I said, isn't it?" "No. You called me Serena, Ami. Are you sure you're OK? Should we get a doctor?" Ami seemed concerned as she fiddled with the hospital armband on her wrist for a moment, then said, "No no, I'm fine. I think I just need some rest for tonight." Then more confidently, she added, "Don't worry about me. I'll have my mom right here by my side most of the night. They don't allow visitors after eleven, but she has a bit of pull around here. I'll be fine. I have the best doctor in Tokyo looking out for me, after all." Minako said, hugging Ami before she left, "If you need anything, just give us a call. We will pick up everything and get here on the triple." Ami laughed, saying "That's drop everything and be here on the double. Thank you, Mina. I'll let you all know if I need anything. Goodnight." As the group started heading out of the room and back to their cars, Makoto looked over her shoulder one more time at Ami as she left. She wasn't sure why, but she got the feeling something was out of place. ---------- It wasn't a dislike for her friends that had Makoto not wanting Rei to stay with her. Far from it. It had a lot more to do with trying to keep her relationship with PBJ a secret. Ever since she had gone on what at the time her friends had thought was a date with Haruka back in high school, Makoto had always worried that they would think differently of her if she tried actually dating women. It had been merely out of wanting to get to know Haruka better and admiration for her, that she had gone on an outing with her and Michiru of course, not for romantic reasons. Makoto admired Haruka for being strong and talented, but also for being unafraid of going after what she wanted and never caring what society thought of her for it. However at the time, her group of friends had apparently assumed it was for romantic reasons. Minako, Usagi, and Rei had all made a pretty big deal about it at the time, and the memory of it had stuck with her. It didn't help much that they still brought it up at times to tease her about it either. Makoto knew they meant it in good fun, but it hurt her feelings sometimes, especially when she was thinking about or was with Ami. That was also one reason why Makoto had never actively tried to tell Ami her feelings for her. She was afraid that her friends would simply not see her as the same person even though nothing had really changed about her. The other reason she had never asked Ami was simply because when Makoto was honest with herself about it, she was afraid. What if Ami said no? What if she thought it was gross? What if she got angry? What if it changed the way her friends looked at not just her, but Ami on the off chance that she actually said yes? What if . . . the list went on and on. Because of these thoughts, and if it hadn't been so late, Makoto would have been screaming at the top of her lungs when not just Rei, but Minako entered her apartment later that night as well. Since Minako had made it a rule for the moment that no one was to be by themselves, and Minako's buddy was in the hospital, under the rules of this new little buddy system, Minako had declared she would crash with Makoto and Rei for the night. It was going to be bad enough she was going to have to hide her online relationship from a psychic like Rei for a while, but now she would have a hyper blonde who thought of herself as the living incarnation of cupid living with her for the night too. Makoto's new apartment was much nicer than her old one. It was on the top floor of a new high-rise apartment building with a balcony and a wonderful view. The living room had a skylight, and the kitchen was much larger than her old one. She also had two bedrooms. Makoto had decided her two uninvited guests could fight over the bed in the spare room. She had made two rules before she resigned herself to such an invasion of her privacy. No one was allowed in the kitchen because Makoto had just finished organizing it that morning and wanted it kept orderly for at least a little while. The first rule caused a bit of griping. The second rule was, no one was allowed in her bed room or near her computer. Period. Makoto threatened to throw anyone who broke said rules off the side of the balcony just to hear them scream. She looked so serious when she said the last part, that Rei was not so sure the brown haired amazon was kidding. While Rei was admiring Makoto's new TV and Minako was leaning so far off the balcony that Makoto both was afraid, and hoped at the same time that she would fall off, Makoto took the moment to sneak away and see if PBJ had emailed or sent an instant message to her. Makoto was very thankful that her computer was in her room. She felt disappointed again to see that there were no messages of any kind so she emailed her secret lover to tell her good night, then shut off her computer. Then she changed into her pajamas and went back to the living room to see what her guests were up to. Minako looked over her shoulder to make sure no one was looking, then pushed open the door to the kitchen and poked her head in. Makoto's new kitchen was huge, but what really interested Minako was the fridge. No doubt, Makoto kept all kinds of homemade goodies in there. She snuck quietly across the tile floor tiptoeing all the way. Then when she was halfway there she felt a hand grab her shoulder. Minako gasped expecting it to be Makoto. Instead when she turned to see who it was, she saw Rei. The black haired miko whispered to Minako frantically, "Hide, you fool! She's coming!" Both girls looked frantically for a place to hide in the huge kitchen. Rei decided the cabinet under the sink looked nice and cozy. Minako went for the pantry. Just as they both eased their respective hiding place doors closed, they heard the kitchen door fly open with a bang. Minako nervously gulped down air and looked through the small opening in the door to see Makoto in the center of the kitchen saying to herself, "Where could they be, I wonder?" Makoto was holding something, but Minako couldn't tell what it was. Then Makoto left Minako's view for a moment. Suddenly when Minako didn't expect it, the pantry door flew open and she was face to face with an angry looking Makoto glaring down at her. Before Minako could say anything in her defense, a pillow came out of no where, smacking her on top of the head and sending feathers flying. Minako ducked around Makoto's second swing running for the kitchen door. As she ran by Rei's hiding place, Minako screamed "Pillow Fight!" Then she continued on to find herself a defensive weapon that matched with the rules of conflict in such matters. With that Rei came out of hiding, getting whomped with a pillow on the behind by Makoto. The three of them then wound up in the living room, running around the coffee table in circles like a bunch of little kids. With all the excitement about Ami's ordeal, then later her guests altering her nightly ritual, and PBJ1978 not contacting her at all, there was little sleep to be had by Makoto Kino. She still made herself get out of bed on time in the morning though. One good thing about living on your own since the age of ten. You learned to get moving in the morning no matter what. Besides, she now had a business to run. It would hardly set an example for her employees to show up late for her first day as 'The Boss'. As soon as Makoto finished her shower and was dressed for work she immediately regretted opening the bathroom door to leave. The moment she did, Minako and Rei ran in so fast they nearly knocked Makoto over. Once the tall brunet regained her balance she turned around to yell at the two of them, but her complaint stopped somewhere in her throat before she could say anything. Minako and Rei were taking their clothes off as fast as they could. Once they realized Makoto was still there, the two stopped in the middle of undressing like statues, looked up and both turned bright red. Minako said "We wandered around your apartment last night and realized that the bathtub has jacuzzi jets in it. Since we both can't take a bath at the same time, we figured whoever got in here first after you would use up all the hot water. So we decided to race to solve the issue." Ending her story, Minako blushed an even darker red for a moment. Then she heard the water in the tub start running and realized Rei had taken the moment to strip naked and beat her to the tub. "Why you! You cheated!" Makoto stood there another moment with her eyes wide open looking shocked for a second more. Then she regained her composure and said, "Alright, I'm going to be late as it is for work so I gotta get going. Now that I know more about you and Rei than I ever wanted, I'm leaving. Just remember that anyone who puts so much as a toe in my room is a dead woman, and this time I mean it!" Minako flashed a salute at Makoto, and said, "Scout's honor!" Without another word, Makoto left. Minako wrapped a towel around herself and made sure Makoto had truly left, then came back to the bathroom for a moment, looked at Rei, gave a big smile and said, "Of course you know what the first thing I'm going to do is!" Minako walked into Makoto's bedroom. The first thing Minako noticed was that it was actually smaller than the guest room she had stayed in the night before. Despite how moody Makoto was being toward the two of them last night, she always put her guests first. The room was also pretty plain. Minako guessed Makoto hadn't finished decorating yet. It had a picture of Makoto's parents on the nightstand next to the bed with an alarm clock, a dresser, and a computer on a small desk. Minako laughed at the thought of the 6 foot Makoto hunched over trying to look at the screen. Then Minako decided it was time to try to find out if her hunch was correct. With her goal in mind, she sat down at Makoto's computer. She flipped on the power and waited patiently for the computer to load. Then she heard a voice from the doorway say, "Just what the hell do you think you're doing?" Minako looked up at Rei who had a red towel wrapped around herself and was standing in the doorway. "My god, Makoto is going to kill you . . . kill us, if she ever finds out about this, you know that? I'm not just talking a quick death, either, Minako. I mean a slow, agonizing one and when we can't stand it anymore it'll be over that balcony of hers for sure, and I won't blame her one bit." Minako smiled and said, "I need to find something out. I have a hunch about Makoto and Ami, but I need to make sure I'm right before I actually do it. Otherwise, it could be a little . . . embarrassing if I'm wrong. But if I'm right, Makoto might just thank me!" With her curiosity growing larger than her common sense, Rei finally walked in and looked over Minako's shoulder. "OK, I give up. What are we looking for?" "Evidence that will help the soldier of love," answered Minako, trying to sound cryptic and failing horribly at it. The computer had finished loading now. The first thing Minako and Rei saw was that the wallpaper for Makoto's desktop was a picture of Ami from the last time their little group had gone to the beach. It was simple and innocent enough, just a harmless snapshot of Ami, wearing a simple, one piece, blue swim suit playing volleyball. Not enough to prove what she wanted to know, but it still brought a smile to Minako's face since it made her think she was on the right track. Minako opened a folder on the desktop labeled pictures. Minako started laughing as if she had gone insane, saying, "I was right! I was right! I was right!" over and over. At first Rei didn't quite get it. It was just a folder with jpeg images that Makoto had taken of her friends. Then Rei looked closer at the thumbnail images and realized that there were a surprising amount of pictures of Ami compared to the rest. One was titled Ami looking cute, and was a picture of Ami, with her face smashed in a book and her glasses half on apparently after falling asleep while reading. Another, Gorgeous Ami as this one was titled, was another picture of Ami at the beach. This one was a little more provocative than the desktop wallpaper. Ami was sunbathing in it, apparently right after getting out of the water. The simple bathing suit was now wet, skintight, and suddenly looked far more provocative than its owner probably intended since it left little to the imagination as it clung to Ami's body. The blue haired woman probably had no idea she was being photographed since her eyes were closed. Her still-damp short hair looked a little longer and surprisingly sexy in a slightly tussled way. The rest of the pictures of anyone else were just the generic file numbers the camera put on the pictures when they were loaded onto the computer. Anything, however, with Ami in it was labeled with some kind of name. Rei looked at Minako with wide eyes as she realized where Minako was going with her little spy trip. "Are you serious?" was all Rei could find to say. She also made a mental note to put a password lock on her computer when she got home just in case. ---------- "Boys and girls, ladies and germs, you're listening to Minako in the Morning on WKLTX 103.5, and this is Minako Aino broadcasting to you live from the Tokyo Speed Way for the Tokyo Speed Way 500! I'm pleased to announce to the whole of Tokyo that one of my biggest dreams is about to come true! At the end of the race I get to wave the checkered flag! Only 224 more laps to go!" Minako continued speaking excitedly over the radio Hotaru was holding. She was using it as a way to help her monitor the race while she, Michiru, Setsuna, Rei, and Usagi watched from the stands. "I don't understand why Minako is so excited about waving a flag," Hotaru said, sounding unimpressed. "Me and Michiru Mama got to do it several times last year. There isn't much exciting about it really. She's mentioned it every time they come back from a commercial break or music." Rei piped up with her reason. "It's because Minako-chan is a glory hog." "You're so mean, Rei. Don't listen to her, Hotaru. To us who haven't done it, it's just one of those things that is neat to say you got to do. Plus they usually pick beautiful women to do it so . . . " Usagi was interrupted by Rei. "It's like I said. She's being a glory hog. And on top of it, she's increasing her already rather large ego," Rei finished while Usagi huffed in response. Setsuna spoke up next, trying to end the argument between Usagi and Rei before it got into full swing. "It's also good advertising for her radio station. It gets their name out to everyone here at the race track, and to anyone watching the race on TV." "Just as a reminder to everyone, we are here to support Haruka. She hasn't done as well as she usually does this year mostly due to mechanical problems," Michiru said as she watched Haruka's car struggling to maintain its place in the standings. The sound of screeching tires brought everyone's attention back to the race just as one of the lead cars slammed into the wall sending parts flying across the track. All eyes in the small group focused on Haruka's car as more and more cars became involved in the crashup. Michiru covered her eyes as her lover, Haruka, came up on the accident at full speed. Setsuna put her hand on Michiru's shoulder to try to let her know Haruka would be OK. "I can never watch this part," said Michiru, her voice muffled from behind her hands. Haruka's car flew through the assortment of parts, between and around the other cars, passing through smoke so thick at one point that no one could see her car. Then she emerged from the other side, finally able to slow her car down to a more manageable speed. Everyone let out a sigh of relief as Usagi yelled out excitedly, "Yeah! Go Haruka!" Setsuna spoke to Michiru reassuringly, "You can uncover your-" Setsuna was interrupted by a loud banging sound. Everyone looked down at the track again to see Haruka's Toyota Camry suddenly start pouring out smoke from the engine and slow to a crawl as parts actually started coming off her car, making a small trail behind it. Then, as the car worked its way to the side of the track to get out of the way, they watched as car after car passed Haruka's. They could also see the driver of car 21 banging her helmeted head against the steering wheel in frustration as her car came to a complete stop. ---------- Ami waited patiently on a bench outside the hospital. She had been released earlier that morning and had decided to take the extra time between then and whenever this Haruka person showed up to pick her up, to quietly think about the previous night's events. "So there are a few differences," she said to herself quietly. "I don't think it will affect things though." Someone beeped a car horn. Ami looked up and saw a yellow sports car. Not recognizing the sandy blond haired man behind the wheel, she went back to her thinking. "The names are the strangest part so far," the blue haired woman said, continuing on with her train of thought. "Different names was not something I anticipated." Ami heard the car horn again as its occupant rolled down the window. Then she heard the man shout out, "Hey Ami, It's me! Get in already!" This time when she looked up she blinked then said not realizing how stupid it must sound to the person she was addressing until after she said it, "Haruka?" Haruka flashed Ami an award winning smile. "The one and only. You still wanted a ride home or were you planning on sitting there all day?" With that, Ami got in the car. Once they pulled away and were driving, Ami got a better look at this Haruka. Realizing once again only after she said it how stupid it must have sounded to the person she was with, Ami blurted out, "You're . . . a woman?" Haruka looked at Ami, somewhat surprised. "The others warned me you would be a little confused so I'm going to play nice and not even tease you since it would be too easy and unfair at the moment." She also reminded herself that Michiru would have her sleeping on the couch for the next week if she did. "I dress like a guy, and have what would be considered masculine hobbies and tastes. Yes, I'm a woman. Have been since I was born, and since you met me, remember?" Ami decided being quiet and staring out the window was the best course of action at this point. Haruka was trying to figure out what was different about Ami. Then she noticed. "I thought you wore glasses. Did they get you contacts while you were there or something?" Ami looked at Haruka with a lost expression on her face for a split second saying "I don't . . ." Then she answered almost too quickly, "I mean yes! I thought it might be nice to try contacts and get rid of my glasses." After a moment of silence as Haruka thought about the fact that she felt Ami actually looked better with glasses, she asked, "So how are you feeling?" as she weaved in and out of traffic much faster than Ami was apparently comfortable with. As Ami gripped her seat with both hands, she said, "Oh, I'm fine. They just say I'll be a little out of it on a few things now and then for a day or so. Should be back to my old self in no time." "I don't suppose you watched the race?" asked Haruka, swerving to pass yet another car. Seeing Ami shake her head no, Haruka started explaining how the race had gone to her passenger. As Haruka relayed the embarrassing story to Ami about how she had placed 35th out of 40, Ami listened only half-heartedly. She was looking out the window and was trying to memorize as much of the town as she could on the way to her apartment. Quiet enough for Haruka not to hear, Ami said in astonishment to herself, "It seems the entire city is laid out backwards."
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