Author's Note: What am I doing with a new story? I'm trying to go back to writing that is.. I want to finish my stories, but a lot of heavy stuff happened in my life. This will span very few chapters only, cause this will be like a conditioning exercise only. I still don't own Sailormoon. Please review as always

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Shingo have always had a fascination with his sister's best friends. He never admitted this to her though, it's simply not in his character. Him and Usagi had always been about teasing and getting under each other's skins. If he is being honest, to him, Minako has always been so beautiful and full of life; Rei seems to be so spirited and mysterious; Makoto was everyone's "to-lean-on-shoulder"; and Ami…

Ami is, and has always been, the nicest to him. Maybe Minako was every guy's dream girl; Rei was every guy's fantasy; and Makoto's gift is simply every guy's desire; but he longs for the simplest and brightest of them. Okay, granted, she had crushed his heart; but that doesn't take away the fact that she is very sweet and very caring and very responsible and very intelligent and… Yes, all the traits in a superlative degree and he almost said innocent, but then had to remind himself that it was back then, when she wasn't yet one of the earth's rulers. He doubted very much now if he had disillusioned himself of her innocence, because his sister had warned him (for the first time of so many) to not pursue her when he asked her back then for help.

He was in his second to the last year of senior high school when he decided that he's old enough to be pursuing a woman. Heck, as far as he knows, his sister has a boyfriend as early as her junior high years; and, she just seems to have matured greatly that he decided to approach her about her, the girl of his dreams, the girl that he had saved a few years back.

After all, she is his sister's best friend, right? His sister would be thrilled, right? Usagi would definitely support him, right? He was thinking as he took to the hallway leading him to his sister's new home.

Wrong

"Don't Shingo..." Usagi had started and she was very much still Usagi Tsukino-Chiba then and not Her Majesty; fiddling with the hem of her skirt and seemingly finding the right words.

So of course he was stubborn, and would never listen to her wisdom unlike nowadays, but he let her say her line.

"I'm not saying that she's not a good woman or that I don't want her for a sister in law or that I have anything against her; because she probably captured a lot of hearts without even consciously trying..."

"So it's about me?" He asked a bit irritated, cutting his sister off.

"Of course not!" Usagi hurriedly answered wide-eyed that he seemed to had blamed himself because of her words. "It's her Shingo... I know Ami... She..." She scratched her head and her eyebrows met; an obvious outward sign that she really was trying to mince her words. "She and the girls are... well... very bonded together... You could say that..."

He didn't see the point and simply rolled his eyes at his elder sibling. "Never mind, just don't tell her I asked you if I can court her." And he walked off and exited the apartment of his brother-in-law, not even getting a single hint as to how to 'turn the tides' in his favor. He can't grasp what his sister's point was, as far as he knows, Ami Mizuno was single and ready to mingle.

During that time, his sister's four best friends were all living together already; thanks to the fame and fortune of the then idol, Ms. Aino. So at least, he knows where to start.

He fixed himself one more time before knocking on the door of the girls' apartment and hid the bouquet behind his back. A familiar face opened the door for him but one that was unexpected: Haruka Tenoh. He couldn't remember the name back then but knew that 'he' wasn't a he but a she.

"Good e-evening, is... A... Ami-san home?" He asked and stuttered a bit due to the unexpectedness of who answered his knock. From his sister's profiling of her friends, he knew that this Haruka was not a good omen when trying to date one of the girls.

"Yeah, in the shower." She answered and let him in and led him to the sofa. He saw that she eyed the bouquet he was holding and then smirked before making his presence known. "You got a suitor, oh I mean a visitor Ami-chan!" She sing-songed before disappearing to the room that he knows was Ami's.

That was confusing to him, but forgot everything else because at that instant, Ami came out of the shower, wrapped only in a towel. He blushed and looked away instantly, but the image of damp and milky white skin remained in his head.

He looked up again when he heard a room door open, thinking that she had exited safely to her room; but no, she was still there and the door opened because Haruka came out of Ami's room but with Michiru in tow. A Michiru dressed in only a huge shirt that appears to be Makoto's size. "You done cleaning?" She asked Ami teasingly while batting her eyelashes. Ami nodded shyly and blushed furiously.

"Thank you snowflake..." Michiru threw a passing look at him before pressing a kiss to her cheek and heading to the bathroom.

Haruka patted Ami's head afterwards. "Go and dress up, someone else needs you." And then, she pointed at him.

That was the only time he could remember that she had looked at him eye to eye and blushed. She couldn't even greet him and seemed to be caught like a deer on headlights. Looking back now, what he saw then was very mild compared to what he had just witnessed; and yet, it was then that she had blushed.

The spell was broken however by Haruka when she kissed Ami's other cheek, the one not kissed by Michiru. She leaned in to her and whispered something; Shingo didn't hear but saw that it had made Ami color even more and run to her room.

The tomboy had laughed out loud heartily afterwards and shook her head. She even followed with her eyes the running woman and smiled affectionately.

What happened next threw Shingo totally off guard. The main door banged open and in came Makoto with two guys. Both had long and brown hairs; one was straight and held in a low ponytail while one was wavy and flowing freely on his back. He knew at least one of them, for he was a famous face too: Kou Taiki of the Star Lights.

"Oy Haruka!" Makoto had greeted, sounding a bit annoyed. "And here we were thinking that Ami-chan was late because of her books again!"

The called woman chuckled. "Nope, not me, it was Michiru." She smiled and waved in his general direction. "And she'll be a bit more late."

Makoto looked at Shingo and raised both eyebrows wonderingly.

"Shingo-kun! How are you? What brings you here?" She asked one after the other while placing her bag on the kitchen counter and fetching him a glass of water. This she placed in front of him.

He was about to answer but had to blink because there was a bright flash of light that rendered him temporarily blind. It smelled of rose petals suddenly too.

"You cheater!" He heard the idol holler and pound on Ami's door.

To his surprise, it wasn't Ami who opened her room access but a blonde guy (Just how many people can fit in that room? He was wondering). "If I were you Kou-chan, I wouldn't bother us in here! I'm trying to make our muse look presentable, okay?" He answered flirtingly before closing the door to the tall guy.

"Fine…" Taiki grumbled. "But make sure she wears the dress I bought." He followed.

The other brunette guy laughed with the whole exchange. "One point for Earth." He said to the idol patting him on the back.

"Neph, be nice?" Makoto admonished.

"Kids…" She mumbled and he saw her roll her eyes before focusing on him again. "So what brings you here?" She asked again cheerfully.

"Well… I came for…" He stuttered again, getting confused at all that was happening. "What was that bright light?" He asked.

"Ah… that…" Makoto scratched her head, very obviously thinking up of an excuse. Of course, he didn't know it back then; but he knows for certain looking back now. "Power fluctuation…" She replied unconvincingly. "So what brings you here?" She asked again, a little too excitedly.

"Are you and Ami-chan going out?" He asked instead; concluding that if the girls were going out, then they'd all be annoyed at him now if he proposed.

Makoto nodded. "Yeah, we all are. Hey! Even Usagi-chan will be there, want to come?"

He debated with himself, but before he could give his answer, Ami came out of her room wearing what looks like a body hugging dress in midnight blue hue. She was also wearing high-heeled Spartan type sandals to match her outfit.

"Tadaaa!" The blonde guy said proudly, holding her hand and presenting her to Kou Taiki.

The idol smiled. "Good job Zoi." He had said before wrapping an arm around Ami who giggled at the antics of the two guys.

"Ah, ah, ah…" The guy called Zoi shook his head slowly, looking at the arm around Ami. "My hard work and you're reaping all the product?"

To Shingo's surprise, it was Taiki who pulled Zoi closer and wrapped said man's arm on Ami's waist also. "Your hard work, my dress, so we share?" He gave a smile and Ami pulled both of them closer to her, and getting on her tip-toes, looked about to be gifting them with a kiss each.

Makoto cleared her throat audibly and tilted her head towards him, reminding the other girl of his presence. Once again, Ami blushed and let go of the two guys.

"Hey…" She greeted, approaching him and gifting him a smile. "What brings you here Shingo-kun? Ruka-chan said you were looking for me?"

He reached at his back and gave the bouquet of blue roses to her. "I… well…" He scratched his head when she reached for the flowers and blushed a bit. "Wanted help on my Advanced Number Theory…" He reached for the glass of water after telling his excuse and gulped it all down in one go.

"Ow… Of course…" Ami had somehow looked confused but took the flowers and placed them on a vase. She came back after a while and took the space on the sofa next to him. "But you see, Kou-chan here just came back from… well, a long while… So… We're all going out since it's a Friday night…"

"I see…" He acted as if to stand up and leave but she grabbed his wrist to stop him.

"You can come back tomorrow though, and every Saturday after and I'll tutor you, but party with us tonight." She had invited and smiled the smile that made him weak kneed and freeze on the spot and nod his head.

For the life of him, he would never understand why he said yes that night. He shouldn't have, it only confused him and shattered his perfect image of her (well, it shattered his image to her also). He would never understand why she has that great of an effect on him. He's not even legal aged yet to drink alcohol or drive. He wasn't even supposed to ever be inside a high-class bar and sitting beside his brother in law and his group of friends. He was never asked for identification though, for apparently, Ms. Aino was a VIP in the club.

"What are you doing here?" Usagi had shouted at him because of the blaring drum beats and melody.

"They invited me." He shouted back succinctly, pointing at Makoto and Ami. He was saved from further poking from his sister though when Seiya had pulled at her through her waist. Usagi bit her lip but she didn't seem surprised at all to be handled like that by a guy who isn't her husband.

Time passed and he still was simply sitting down and watching them all dance and drink and dance and drink while sipping on bottles of beer the entire few hours that they've been there. There are a total of five girls and eleven guys including himself; a ratio he can't help himself notice and speak of: two guys for each girl, including his own sister who keeps dancing with both Mamoru and Seiya. Minako was obviously with the two silver-haired guys; Rei was with a short haired blonde guy and a guy he knew to be working at their temple; Makoto was with the other brunette and Motoki; and his Ami, was in the arms of the two guys who were fighting for her attention earlier in their apartment.

He watched as they all were obviously doing something more than 'dancing' and he can't help but wonder if it was the alcohol or they're really like this when in the presence of the world that doesn't know them. The Ami Mizuno he saw in that bar was very far from the Ami Mizuno that he had always looked up to. Anyway, all the girls and guys were acting different from how he knew them all.

To his surprise, she plopped on the nearest chair beside him suddenly. "Won't you be joining the dance floor?" She had asked him and extended an arm as if inviting.

He stared wide-eyed at her hand and debated with himself as to what kind of dance he should be doing with her. Should he act like the other guys around her? Is he allowed?

However, before he could take it and take her on her offer, blonde tresses showered over it as Minako sat herself on Ami's lap, hiking her dress up, effectively taking her attention away from him. "Hey, no sitting down! You've been too busy all week already and you were late!" She whined at her while reaching for a cherry sitting on the cake on their table. She placed this on her lips, partly biting it.

"I have a guest." Ami answered and tilted her head towards him.

The pop star looked at his direction and then smiled before taking all the cherry with the stem in her mouth. "I'll let you go, but tie this first." She told Ami while pouting.

To his surprise (again, well, the whole night was full of surprises, he thought), Ami smirked at the blonde before pulling her head to herself and dipped her mouth to her lips. They looked to be locked in a passionate kiss for a while and Shingo can't help but feel like he was watching something akin to porn.

But it wasn't porn as they parted for air and both girls laughed. Ami reached into her mouth and took out the now tied cherry stem and disposed of it in the ash tray.

"Bou bidn't hab to fweeze by tongue bou know…" Minako was saying, sounding gibberish.

Ami tilted her head while laughing heartily but affectionately at the blonde. "Your fault, you wouldn't stop moving." She replied and smiled.

Minako scrunched up her nose, obviously disagreeing with whatever Ami did to her and left then calling for Rei. He followed with his eyes the woman to the dance floor and saw that Minako had grabbed Rei for a kiss also. Whowwww… He remarked in his head.

He didn't see that Ami was watching his every reaction. He didn't know that she was gauging him. He didn't know yet then that he had failed miserably in her eyes with his actions and reactions. He was excusable of course, since he was just a kid then even if he considered himself old enough.

Ami had left him alone at their table after seeing him entranced with Minako's and Rei's kiss. She joined the others and continued to party, leaving him no room for her time.

Morning came, at least, that's what he remembers, and he has a terrible headache and he obviously was lying down on a couch judging by the way his head was tilted and the way his left foot was dangling. He overhead voices so he shut his eyes tighter, not that they were ready to open anyway. The smell of strong coffee wafted towards him.

"Morning snowflake…" A voice that he recognized as Makoto's greeted to the footsteps approaching.

"Morning Mako-chan…" That's Ami, he was sure. He'd recognize the voice even in a stadium.

He heard a kitchen stool being pulled and he heard the sound of liquid being poured to a mug.

"Bacon? Ham? Spam? Pig or Turkey?" Makoto asked. "There're toasts in the oven. I placed them there to keep them warm."

He heard the stool move again and something that smells delicious was making a sizzling sound.

"You seem still energized… Was I too easy to handle?"

He was confused with that question and tried his hardest to see who really were talking. He blinked several times and saw that it really were Makoto and Ami.

Ami has her arms around Makoto's waist while the taller woman was busy with preparing a feast for breakfast it seems. She flipped the pan to empty out the bacons to a plate before turning the stove's knob off. She turned around to face her friend and removed her apron. "Now that, is a blatant lie. And you know that very well…" Makoto bent down and kissed the shorter woman in the lips. Ami reached up and placed her palm on the other woman's neck, and responded tenderly to Makoto's ministrations.

They stayed like that a while and only parted when a door opened and revealed Rei. "Hello you two… I suppose all the terrans have hangovers again?" She asked, seeing that no one else was there and walked towards the kitchen.

Both of them nodded.

Rei pecked a kiss first on both of them before grabbing her own cup and settled down on a stool also. The other two followed her and seated themselves after placing all the cooked foods on the counter they were surrounding.

"Kinmoukians hold their liquors worse than terrans…" Rei was saying, or rather complaining, in between mouthfuls.

Ami grinned as well as Makoto. "Don't we know that?" The brunette threw a meaningful glance at Rei.

Rei laughed. "So Ami-chan landed beside you instead?"

No one answered but Rei laughed again, so Shingo supposed the answer was positive. "Those two were spoiling you so much last night only for them to sleep on it."

Even Makoto snorted with that, although he doesn't find anything particularly funny.

"I bet Yui-chan had the time of his life again last night." Ami interjected, and that was when he realized that the two were making fun of her two guys. "With Mina-chan and you…" Her tone was leveled, but it was obvious that she was teasing.

"Of course, you'd control his alcohol intake just to make sure." Makoto added, and now it's Rei's turn to be the topic. "And you can't deny anything from your best friend…"

On and on their bantering and gossip went. Listening to their chatter, he realized that he really was still young – no, inexperienced then; for he found their topic very uncomfortable for him. Minako, from what he heard, was still asleep in the arms of two guys. His sister, apparently is still asleep also, and he doubts very much if she was alone. Funny how he could find out a lot of things just by pretending to be asleep; these guys are lawyers, doctors, engineers, writers, and idols. He was a mere student, what fight does he have? He couldn't even afford that obviously expensive dress Ami was wearing last night, he was thinking. He sighed internally, accepting his defeat for now. He will be back though, when he's got the position and money already.