Tsukino Usagi smiled as the now clearly old woman signed the
manga book and passed it over, "Here you go."
"Thank you," the redhead beamed at her, "I've been reading your
"Pretty Guardian" since I was a little girl, and it just keeps getting
better."
"Thank you," Usagi blushed faintly.
The signing went well, the bookstore soon selling out on the
copies they had ordered, Usagi doing drawings and sketches for a few
lucky customers. As she was leaving the manager caught her, "Thank you
very much, sensei."
"You're welcome," Usagi smiled, her now silvery blonde hair
falling down her back, her body bent a little with age.
"I'm astonished how well you've aged," the woman sighed softly,
"I hope that I look that good when I'm that old."
Usagi smiled back, "I've taken good care of myself." She bowed
slightly, "Excuse me, my rise will be here soon."
The black sports car waited outside by the entrance, a man
leaning up against the door. Both gray and white was mixed in with his
black hair, giving him a distinguished looking air. He slid his
sunglasses down a bit and smiled, "Usako."
"Mamo-chan," Usagi smiled back then the two elderly figures
kissed lingeringly. They both climbed inside, and with a graceful style
he slid them out onto the road. Makeup marked both their faces, granting
the illusion of age...
"So how did it go?" Mamoru asked softly.
"Pretty well," Usagi smiled. She sighed softly, "It's so hard to
pretend to be old, drawing hesitantly like that, moving that way..."
"You think it's time?" Mamoru asked softly.
"I don't want to," Usagi said softly, "but I'm not sure how much
longer we can keep this up." With a sigh she confided, "Someone remarked
on how well I've aged."
Mamoru actually chuckled a bit at that. They should see you
without your makeup on," he said with a little smile.
"Only you and the others do that now," Usagi sighed. As they
drove through Megatokyo the street lights illuminated her face, then
cast it into shadow.
"With or without the makeup," Mamoru reached out one handedly to
gently stroke her cheek, "you're still lovely to me."
"Thanks," Usagi sighed, tipping her head to the side to enjoy
the caress.
The car pulled up in front of the apartment building then turned
to coast down into the underground parkade. They got out of the car
together then hurried over to the elevator, hitting the key for the
proper floor. A familiar tune played and they both smiled, recognizing
one of the songs by idol singer Minako Aino.
"She's almost as popular as the Three Lights were," Mamoru
chuckled.
They exited into a hallway, walking together to a apartment
door. Usagi tapped it with her knuckles and it was soon answered by a
smiling Ami Mizuno. "You're just in time," the blue haired woman said
softly.
Almost as soon as they entered the apartment both Usagi and
Mamoru straightened up, moving with vigor and confidence. "Do you mind
if we both change?" Usagi asked.
"No problem," Ami smiled, "we've got time."
When the two emerged from the bathroom the makeup was gone, both
looking at best in their early twenties. They walking into the living
room together, smiling happily as their friends called out greetings to
them.
Minako Aino hugged Usagi fiercely, her long blonde hair falling
down her back in waves. "It's so good to see you." she laughed.
"I just heard your latest song," Mamoru offered with a smile,
"you're as popular as ever."
Minako laughed softly, "Thank you. Ami even helped come up with
a new cover story for me. Supposedly I've had several facelifts and a
rare laser reshaping procedure on my face."
Ami blushed, sitting over on the couch with Rei. Rei Hino
herself looked elegant in her miko garb, an odd serenity around her. She
grinned suddenly as the black haired woman looked over at Usagi, "How
did your editor take your latest plot twist?"
"Naru wasn't happy with it," Usagi smiled, "but she accepted it.
So now two of my Pretty Guardians are lovers, just like their real life
counterparts."
"I still can't get over the popularity of Pretty Guardian," Ami
chuckled.
"Dinner's ready," Makoto said, the tall brown haired young woman
walking out of the kitchen. The apron clad cook smiled a little sadly,
"It's nice to cook for the group of us again."
"I noticed Natsuna wasn't here," Usagi said to Minako softly as
the others talked.
"She has a pretty good idea of what we're going to be talking
about tonight," Minako answered softly, "and she knows her presence
reminds Makoto of Haruna." She sighed, "It's only been a few months
since she passed away."
"Are the Outers coming tonight?" Makoto asked the group
curiously.
"No, I don't think so," Mamoru spoke up as they walked to the
dining room, "from what Setsuna tells me they've already taken steps."
"Which brings us to what we came here tonight to talk about,"
Ami said seriously, looking around the table at her fellow senshi.
"After we eat, please," Minako flashed a smile, "I don't want
all of Makoto's efforts in the kitchen spoiled by a serious discussion."
"Oh yeah," Usagi agreed, looking hungrily at the plates laid out
on the table.
With quiet laughter they sat down, settling in to eat. The
dinner conversation was light as they worked through the lovely meal,
speaking their honest enjoyment to the cook sitting beside them.
"That was good," Rei finally sighed happily, pushing away from
the table.
"I'm impressed you were able to get seconds of everything down,"
Makoto smiled over at Usagi, her tone gently.
"Trust me Mako-chan," Usagi offered with a cheery smile, "it was
easy." There was a moment of silence, then she said, "I hate to say
this, but I think it's time."
The others around the table were quiet as they took that in.
"Ami's plan for us to establish new identities," Rei said softly, "you
think we should?"
"All of us are having problems hiding our actual ages," Ami said
softly. "Rei has regular pilgrimages to her shrine to look at the
'ageless' miko, and a few of my fellow researchers have begun to ask me
difficult questions," she confided.
"I've wanted to stop being Makoto Kino for months now," Makoto
said, the tone of her voice very different that the other's.
Minako looked over at her worriedly, then shook her head
slightly. "Being so youthful has helped me get some good parts," she
said, "but people are beginning to look at me oddly too." Minako sat
forward, "So Ami, how do we do this?"
Ami took her glasses out, slipping them on more out of force of
habit than any actual need. "I've already hacked into the public record
archives," she said simply, "so creating our new identities won't be
difficult." She paused a moment, "But we'll have to determine what story
we want to use to explain all of our disappearances."
"You all heard about the accident that killed the family of
Haruka, Michiru, Setsuna and Hotaru," Rei said, "a cover story that
Setsuna and Haruka devised." She smiled wryly, "But all of us being
slain in the same incident might look odd."
"First, are we all decided that we want to do this," Usagi said,
giving Mamoru a look.
Mamoru nodded, "It's past time, I think."
"We'll figure out how to do this then," Usagi said, looking
around the circle at some of her closest friends in the world,
"together, we can do nearly anything."
"Nearly," Makoto agreed softly.
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