An FY/SM Xover Romance
mbsilvana@yahoo.com
standard disclaimers
Author's Note: Yes, there's a prequel to explain how the Seishi ended up in our world, but it's not finished- just accept they're there, and enjoy the story, ne?
Makoto was bounding
down the street with a great deal of energy, smiling cheerfully.
It had been so very long since she hadn't had to worry about an enemy trying
to conquer the Earth, and she was bound and determined that she would enjoy
it. The sky was clear, her homework was finished, and there were
certainly some cute guys out there for her to fall in love with.
Every now and then
she would hesitate wistfully in front of a window, wishing one of her friends-
preferably Minako- were here with her, giggling. She never really
liked being alone, but today was one of those days where all the other
Senshi had other things to do, things that involved families.
Shaking herself out
of her reverie, she turned around a corner, only to crash head-first into
someone else. She had been moving with such speed that she bowled
the person over.
Makoto lay on top
the person for a moment, looking down into a pair of stunned purple eyes.
"Gomen!" she said hurriedly, rolling off of him, and coming to her feet
hastily.
"Not a problem," the
man answered, coming to his feet easily.
The man was beautiful,
and Makoto would have thought that he was a woman if she hadn't had a nice
feel of his chest. Only a few centimeters taller then herself,
he had unusual lavender hair to match his striking eyes, and his braid
hung down to his hips, the longest hair she'd ever seen on a male, aside
from the Starlights. His features were delicate, and he possessed
a lean build that reminded her of Haruka, in an odd sort of way.
Underneath his left eye was a delicate beauty mark.
She wasn't aware that
she'd been staring until the man laughed, a rippling sound that tingled
pleasantly on her ear. "Never seen a such a beautiful specimen
before, have you?" he teased.
Makoto felt a blush
creep across her skin, and her green eyes widened. "I..." she trailed
off as he giggled cheerily, and waved a hand with languid grace.
"It's not a problem,
I'm used to people viewing me rather... oddly," he said, eyes sparkling
merrily. "I'm Chou Ryuuen," he said, after hesitating a second.
She smiled at him
cheerfully. "My name is Kino Makoto, but my friends call me
Mako-chan."
"Well, Mako-chan,
I hope I can be one of those friends someday," he replied.
Normally, by this
point, Makoto would have been falling deep into "crush" at this point,
but something about Ryuuen prevented that. There was an aura of sadness
about him, something that called to her on a level she couldn't quite define.
"Unless you make me angry, I'm everyone's friend," she said.
He laughed again,
and she decided she liked the sound. "My philosophy exactly.
What are you doing today?" he asked.
She smiled cheerfully.
"I was going to shop, then maybe play some video games, then perhaps get
something to eat."
He grinned.
"I love to shop! Do you mind if I tag along?" he asked.
"Uh- I guess that's
ok," she said, not exactly sure if it was. A strange man, out of
nowhere, was voluntarily going shopping with her? It seemed
too good to be true- and as a Senshi, she had learned that it probably
was. Still, she could enjoy it until it ended.
Ryuuen wrapped his
arm through her own, and winked. "Where shall we go, m'lady?"
Unable to believe
her luck, she started for the mall.
The next few hours
were some of the strangest and most enjoyable of her life. Ryuuen
proved to be a good companion, and seemed to truly enjoy shopping as much
as any of her friends.
Makoto held up a long
dress in front of a mirror, trying to picture how she would look in it.
Ryuuen looked it over with a critical eye. "I don't think that one
is right for you- it'll make you look top-heavy," he said bluntly.
She spun around, trying
to refrain from hitting him. She was a strong girl, and could easily
send him flying. "Nani?!" she roared.
Ryuuen brought his
hands up in front of his chest defensively. "I'm being honest!" he
stated. "You have a great figure, but you have to keep it balanced!"
he declared.
She looked at the
dress, then at him. The dress was a beautiful piece of satin, but
it DID had ruffles around the neckline... he might just be right.
She frowned at it, trying to decide what to do. He must have sensed
her hesitation, because his kawaii smile returned and he grabbed her left
hand, pulling her along with an easy strength that surprised her, especially
when she looked at his lithe build. "I haven't been in town
long, but I did discover a store I like a lot. It might have the
right thing for you."
She really wasn't
looking to buy anything today, but consented to his plans.
When he turned her off the main drag and onto one of the smaller side-streets,
a feeling of dread began deep inside. Usually it was small
shops that became a focus of energy-draining attacks, and though they hadn't
seen any such attacks since the Black Moon, things could easily change.
She swallowed that feeling, reminding herself that she was Sailor Jupiter,
the strongest of the Senshi. It was her duty to inspect anything
that looked suspicious.
Finally he came to
a small shop that had a beaded curtain for a door. He pushed
right through it, then dropped her hand and raced toward a small woman
who was sitting behind a counter, apparently embroidering something.
"Kimi-chan!" he squealed, lifting the woman to her feet and swinging her
around. Finally he set her down, merriment dancing in his eyes.
The woman was flushed,
and Makoto moved closer and was surprised to see that Kimi was easily in
her fifties. Kimi laughed lightly. "Flatterer. It won't
help you- I told you your clothes would be another two weeks, and I meant
it."
Ryuuen pouted playfully, and Makoto just stared. This certainly
hadn't been what she'd been expecting. Ryuuen was unlike anyone she'd
ever met before, but the closest she could come was... Fish-eye.
A cross-dressing man who wanted, more then anything, to be a women... and
Fish-eye had been a VERY homosexual man. "But Kimi-chan...." he whined.
She tsked, then smiled
up at Makoto. "Konnichi wa. My name is Kimiko, no matter what
this rascal may have told you. What can I do for you?"
Makoto started to
stammer something, but Ryuuen cut her off. "We're looking for a dress-
something she can wear on special occasions."
Kimiko's mouth pulled
up into a smile, revealing her wrinkles she had gotten through years of
smiling. "Something unique... perhaps in green?"
Ryuuen ran an eye
over Makoto's curves critically. There was nothing sexual in his
look, which started to confirm Makoto's suspicion that he was gay.
Then he lowered his long lashes thoughtfully. "I don't think so.
She wears green a lot, I bet- let's try something different. Brown.
A rich chocolate brown."
"I AM here, Ryuuen!"
Makoto finally protested.
He smiled at her,
something he seemed to do a lot of, though there was sadness in his eyes.
"Trust me on this one, Mako-chan. I've had a lot of experience with
clothing, and I want to make sure you look as beautiful as you are."
Kimiko had disappeared
into a room and finally emerged carrying a bolt of brown fabric.
With a proud smiled, Kimiko proffered it to her. Makoto looked at
it with a critical eye, but finally picked it up. She
inhaled in surprise- the cloth was unlike anything she'd ever felt before,
a combination of satin and the finest silk. The material seemed to
flow under her fingers, and she noted the subtle shading of browns and
even some copper in the weave. "This is beautiful!" she exclaimed,
then her face fell. "There's no way I'll be able to pay for it, though."
Kimiko waved a finger.
"I don't accept money, anyway. I work on a barter system."
"Barter?" Makoto asked
warily.
"Hai. My family
has plenty of money, but I get bored too easily to live in luxury.
So I make clothes for people who do me favors."
Makoto's spidey-sense
was tingling, but Ryuuen put it to rest. "I do housework- a
lot of heavy lifting, fixing things, stuff like that. You mentioned
to me you liked to cook. Maybe making some cakes or something would
be a fair trade?"
Kimiko's smile nearly
took in her ears. "If you know how to make a good chocolate-chocolate
cake, and maybe some lasagna, that would be wonderful."
"Just a meal in exchange
for an outfit make of material like this?!" Makoto asked.
"But the food has
to be good. I trust Ryuuen enough to assume that one of his
friends is reliable," Kimiko said, watching as the lavender-haired man
started to wander around her shop.
"I only met him today,"
Makoto felt compelled to inform her.
"And I've only known
him for a little over three weeks," Kimiko answered. "But there's
just something about him that makes you feel like you've known him forever.
He has a good heart, and there's something special about him- a good catch,
he is."
Makoto was tempted
to tell Kimiko of her suspicions over Ryuuen's sexual preferences, but
restrained herself. The two women fell into a chat over possible
cuts and designs, ignoring the occasional delighted squeals Ryuuen produced
when he found something that interested him particularly.
Ryuuen finally came
back to the pair of ladies. "Do you have any idea for a pattern,
Kimi-chan?" he asked.
"Like I'd tell you,
you silly boy!" Kimiko scolded.
Ryuuen tossed his
braid and put his hands on his hips in a very feminine posture.
"We-ell," he drawled, stringing out the word, "I guess that means Mako-chan
and I will just have to go somewhere else," he said. He wrapped a
firm hand around Makoto's wrist and started to pull her from the shop.
"Matte!" Makoto said,
wondering why she was letting this lunatic drag her around, "I haven't
even been measured!"
"I can tell by looking
at you, dear," Kimiko called. The older lady picked up her
embroidery, seemingly completely unoffended by Ryuuen's sudden rudeness.
Makoto finally gave
in and let herself be dragged off. "You're a strange one, Ryuuen-kun,"
she said as they returned to the mainstreet.
"I thought we had
already established that," he told her. Then he gave her a
smile that would melt the coldest heart, his lavender hair shining in the
mid-afternoon sun. "I remember you mentioning something about video
games, but I unfortunately have to go home to do my homework. Perhaps
we could do the arcade some other time?" he asked hopefully.
Makoto heard the loneliness
in his voice, and wondered about it. How could anyone like Ryuuen
not have a bunch of friends? With his friendly nature, it seemed
impossible for someone to hate him. She grinned at him. "Hai!
How about tomorrow?"
He nodded, eager and
graceful. "I'll meet you here?" he asked.
She agreed and they
exchanged phone numbers. Then with a careless wave, Ryuuen was off,
and Makoto was amazed that she had only met him a few hours before.
It seemed like a lifetime ago.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nuriko settled into
the comfortable chair, relieved that they were renting such a nice place.
Being housemates with the rest of the shichiseishi wasn't his idea of an
easy life, but things were never boring. At least they had been able
to find a seven-bedroom house, something he had believed was impossible
until he had seen it. Nuriko was relieved for the space, something
that the others would have believed impossible if they had known it.
Miaka's world was
as strange and wonderful as he had been told. But it was a lonely
place as well. His fellows were out beginning to discover new
lives for themselves, yet Nuriko was unable to move on as Chou Ryuuen,
a simple high school senior. He seemed to be more tied to the past
then the rest of them.
Not that he expected
the others to allow him to live in their pockets... it was he had no idea
how to live for himself, and not Kourin or Miaka. Kourin was at peace,
and Miaka had Taka to keep her company. So that left Nuriko at loose
ends.
None of the others
shared his interests, which wasn't surprising. While Hotohori could
occasionally be talked into going shopping for clothes, the times were
few and far between. Nuriko longed to have someone to gossip with,
and maybe someone who could understand the fear that had become a part
of his life. He just couldn't admit that the fear was there... cold,
snow... that monster... he shook his head before he could drown in those
images again. Waking up every night in a cold sweat was enough...
he refused to allow those dark dreams dominate his day as well.
Nuriko picked up his
textbook and opened it to his assignment. Luckily he had already
mastered Chinese, so this really was brainless work for him. He allowed
his thoughts to wander to the girl he had met earlier, and a smile traced
his lips.
Contrary to what others
might say, Nuriko was not gay. When he had been Lady Kourin, she
had fallen in love with the Emperor, just as her sister would have.
Lady Kourin was a distinct entity from Nuriko, and Nuriko supposed that
Chou Ryuuen would eventually become just as distinctive. Right now
he was working on establishing who he really was, and Makoto was Ryuuen's
first friend.
The girl had a sadness
about her that called to him, made him believe that if they ever got close
enough for him to tell her the truth of his background, she would be able
to understand what was so wrong with him... and she wouldn't laugh, and
he wouldn't lose her respect.
Besides, she knew
how to shop and could keep up with him. He looked forward to their
expedition tomorrow.. and used that thought to overwhelm the sense of desolation
that came when he flipped the page to see a painted winter scene.
Cold... snow... that
damn rock....
END PART ONE