Minako walked along listening to Yuki and Furiko arguing. They were beginning to sound like Usagi and Rei and it was getting on her nerves. She needed to get a fresh perspective on whatever it was that was bothering her. It wasn’t that she didn’t get date offers, it was just, well, the boys were so dull. It wasn’t like she could tell these guys who she really was, what she really did when she ran out of a movie, or a picnic. Her excuses were becoming lamer, too. And she was beginning to brood over it - never a good sign. She didn’t know why Furiko’s question had so irritated her, but it certainly had. She sighed and looked up. She was walking along the street that Ami’s apartment building was on. Ami may not be not the best one in the world to discuss love with, but at least she could tell Ami what was on her mind. No need to prevaricate with another Senshi. I wonder how Ami-chan deals with it the stress, she thought. I mean, even Ami must have felt it... Making a feeble excuse about homework, Minako left the two younger girls and entered Ami’s building. Ami came to the door to greet Minako, looking pleased, if puzzled. "Minako-chan! What can I do for you? Won’t you make yourself comfortable?" Ami led the way to her small bedroom and held the door open for Minako. "Oh," sighed Minako wearily, "I just wanted to talk to someone without having to lie." Ami looked at her quizzically, but nodded. "I know what you mean. Let me make some tea - I’ll be right back." Minako sat at the low table in Ami’s room and supported her face in her hands. A low beep came from the computer on the desk. Minako looked up at it, as a message flashed onto the screen. "Hey Merc! Have I got something for you!" it said, with a smiley face. Minako laid her head down on her arms and sighed. Ami returned with tea. She placed pot and cups on the table, then minimized the message on the computer, before sitting down with Minako. "So..." Ami prompted. "So, I’ve been thinking. Do you know the reputation I have in school right now? I’m "Minako the tease." Do you know why? Because every boy I go out with, I end up having to make some stupid excuse and leave early or break dates or..." Minako broke off, exasperated. Ami nodded. "Well, obviously, I don’t date as much as you and Rei-chan, but I know what you mean. The last time I wanted to meet one of my online friends for lunch I...Minako-chan? What are you looking at?" Minako sat, staring over Ami’s shoulder, her mouth wide open in disbelief. Ami whirled around, her hand over her mouth, only to see the final pixels come into focus, of a full color picture of Sailor Venus, only partially clothed, head thrown back with pleasure, fingering herself in a lascivious manner. Ami leapt for the computer, but Minako was faster and grabbed the mouse away from her. "No you don’t!" Minako yelled, as she held Ami away from the mouse. A second picture came up on the screen, this time Sailor Mars and Sailor Mercury, both topless. Minako felt her eyebrow twitching as she turned to stare at Ami, whose face was now as red as Mars’ fuku. "You ecchi!" Minako shouted. "It's not what it looks like, Minako-chan..." Ami began a bit desperately. "Then what exactly *is* it?" Minako said, feeling a giggle well up within her.. "When I logged onto this network, I used the name Mercury," Ami lunged for the mouse, but Minako held her off. Ami blew hair out of her eyes. She tried to stop the next picture, but Minako batted her hands away from the keyboard. This one, Minako found, was an animated picture of herself and Usagi, well, Sailor Moon... oh my god! She turned to an increasingly embarrassed Ami. Ami spoke quickly. "So, someone thought I was, well, a fan of Sailor Mercury and he sent me some pictures...I thought it was funny, so I kept them. Now he, um, Fanboy1, sends me pictures he finds of us..." her voice petered out, and she dropped her eyes, mortified. Minako could not hold it in one moment longer. She burst out laughing. She laughed hysterically as a picture of Makoto and Ami, dressed in pajamas, and snuggling, appeared on the screen. She laughed as another picture of herself, in what appeared to be a physically impossible position came onto the screen. Finally, weak with laughter, Minako lowered herself into the chair in front of the desk. When she lifted her eyes once more, she was confronted by a deeply disturbing picture of Chibi Moon. Minako shook her head and turned to look at Ami. "I cannot believe this. Ami-chan! Who knew you were a closet otaku? A hentai otaku, no less! And here I was, wondering how you dealt with the stress of keeping our secret secret! " Minako held her stomach, which hurt from laughing. "So, you’ve been keeping this stuff?" she waved her hand at the pictures, which now included a very well done drawing of several of them in bathing suits. Minako giggled at the image. "I knew you had a sex drive somewhere under that cool exterior." Ami’s face couldn’t possibly have turned redder. "Um, yes. Please," she lifted her eyes to Minako’s, "please don’t tell anyone, please?" There was a look of fierceness in that gaze, but Minako just grinned. "Only if you let me see them." "What?" Ami was stunned. "I want to see them all." Minako kept grinning and slowly, Ami answered it with a smile of her own. "Are you sure? Some of them are pretty rude." Ami pulled up another chair next to Minako’s and took the proffered mouse. "Start with those." Minako giggled again, naughtily. "Ecchi." Ami clicked a few times and opened a file called, not inappropriately, "Venus." If anyone had passed that room in the next few hours, they would have heard a variety of snorts and laughter, punctuated by squeals of outrage and shock and of course, the odd "ecchi!" thrown in for good measure. When Minako left Ami’s she felt as if a weight had been lifted from her, even the night air felt good against her face. With friends like these, who needed dumb old boys anyway? She laughed into the night breeze and jogged towards home. As she lay in her bed that night, Minako recalled the pictures she had seen of herself and the other Senshi. There was something in them, she thought. Something their fans had seen that they themselves never had. Maybe love wasn’t so far away after all. Her last thought before she slept was of dark hair and dark eyes and postures that were more than a little suggestive.
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