Usagi and her friends' first day back at school brings new twists in the lives of the Sailor Senshi. This next part of my series takes place on the Monday following 'House Party'.
A Day in the Life
. . . . .
Chapter 1:
The petite sixteen year old girl emerged from her bedroom precisely on schedule, though she glanced at the face of the small oval watch adorning her left wrist just to be sure. Lightly stepping downstairs in the neatly pressed school fuku that she hadn't worn for what felt like forever, she reached her mother's kitchen and a waiting covered plate on the table that contained her modestly light breakfast.
Foregoing tea, she instead switched on the coffeemaker and reached for a white porcelain cup that hung alongside five others on a metal rack beneath a cupboard. She hummed softly to herself while she waited for the water to heat.
"Ohayou, Ami-chan. I'd love a cup too, please."
"Good morning, Mama." The smiling teen took a second cup from the rack and placed them side-by-side near the still-brewing coffee. "I'm surprised to find you up so early. Weren't you working the evening shift in your pediatric ward last night?"
"The usual" Mizuno Sakeo replied. "Until two. There's something I need to arrange before thinking of getting any more rest, though. I've been invited to that medical conference in Nagasaki I told you and Ryo about earlier. And the hospital administrator has specifically requested I attend. So I suppose I'll be catching up on my sleep on the plane."
"Oh." Ami filled the cups and carried both drinks to the table. "This is rather short notice. Doesn't that conference begin tomorrow?"
Sakeo frowned as she stirred cream into her coffee. "Tonight, in fact. There's a reception in the hotel I'll be staying at beginning at seven. So..." she paused to sip her beverage, "...I need to arrange a flight the instant the ticket agent opens for the day." She apologized to her daughter, "I'm sorry I won't be here for your first week back at school, Ami-chan. The conference runs until Saturday."
"That won't be a problem, Mama" her blue-haired offspring replied. "I'm quite looking forward to a new school year and the challenge it brings. I'm sure everything will go smoothly. Don't worry, just enjoy your time at the conference."
"Somehow I can't imagine my brilliant daughter ever feeling challenged by an insignificant detail like starting a new grade" Sakeo chuckled. "Or her fiancee either, for that matter." She produced a delicate blush on Ami's pretty face when she asked, "You really missed having your Ryo here last night, didn't you?"
"Hai. So very much."
"Well, now that school has restarted and he has all his clothing and textbooks prepared, I don't think I'm going very far out on a limb to assume he'll be staying here with you tonight. As well as every other night this week." The middle-aged doctor chuckled again as she watched the smile behind Ami's coffee cup grow.
"My Ryo-kun and I will take very good care of our home until you return. You needn't be concerned about a single thing."
"I'm sure you will" she smiled. "I'm also sure my daughter and that nice young man she's so madly in love with will take this opportunity to pretend they're already married. It will certainly help set the mood, knowing that I'll be out of town for the entire week."
"We'll both miss you very much" Ami said, but she found herself thoroughly enjoying and deeply intrigued by her mother's idea. "Have a safe trip."
"Don't forget to pay the electricity bill when in comes in." Sakeo continued, "And remember my rule about no smoking in bed, young lady."
"I won't, Mama" Ami promised as another faint blush appeared.
The woman couldn't resist a playful tease, her eyes twinkling mischeviously. "Unless of course, you really want a cigarette after you and your Ryo make lov-"
Her young daughter's blushing cheeks instantly flushed bright scarlet. "Mama!"
. . . . .
A few blocks away, Hino Rei tossed her bookbag into the passenger seat of her spotless and polished-to-perfection bright red Mercedes before taking her fiancee into her arms for a deep parting kiss.
"Will you miss me?" she asked him with coyly fluttering eyelashes.
"Oh yes, my love" Yuuichirou sighed. "Will I ever!" He opened the driver's door for the raven-haired love of his life and she slipped comfortably behind the wheel. "Rei darling, are you sure you want to take your car to school? It isn't very far and it's a beautiful day for walking."
"Of course I do" the miko purred. "If I have it, I'm certainly going to flaunt it, Yuuichirou honey." After starting the engine she added, "Besides, it's important to establish the correct pecking order early on, so the new girls at T.A. know exactly who's in charge."
"As if there was ever any doubt" the Shinto apprentice chuckled.
"Have fun at work and I'll see you later this afternoon, lover." She pulled her convertible out of the Hikawa Jinja's rear parking lot and blew him a kiss before driving out of sight.
'Fun? At work?' Yuuichirou frowned. 'With Hino-sensei ordering me around all day, that'll take a real stretch of the old imagination!'
. . . . .
"Shingo you idiot, get out of my way! I'm running late already! Within a two storey home a ten minute walk from the Mizuno residence across the Minato ward of Tokyo, this first day of classes was playing out much like any other school day for Tsukino Usagi.
"You're always behind, Usagi-chan" the youngest of the family teased his sister as she weaved around him in the upstairs hallway. "I bet you'll even be late to your own wedding. That is, if Mamoru-san doesn't smarten up and dump you first."
Usagi froze near the top of the stairs, her hand tightening its grip on the railing. "What did you just say?"
"I said you'll be late to your own-"
"Not that! The other part!"
Shingo grinned evilly at her as only a younger brother can. "I said, if Mamoru-san doesn't dump you-"
"That's it! You're dead!" Usagi spun around and made a lunge for him but the nine year old boy dashed into his room and slammed the door, leaving Usagi to stumble over the top step onto her knees. "I know there's no lock on that door!" she yelled. "I can still get you!"
"Usagi-chan!" an older female voice called up the stairs. "Your breakfast is getting cold!"
"Coming, mother!"
Abandoning further thoughts of revenge against Shingo at least for the moment, the sixteen year old blonde bolted downstairs, trailing impossibly long twin golden braids behind the two buns that had been a part of her unique hairstyle since she was a child in this life, as well as in her life before. She sat the table and began attacking her breakfast with vigor. The first piece of toast vanished in an instant. "I'm starving!"
"Don't gulp your food, Usagi-chan." Ikuko sat down beside her. "Excited about your big day, honey?"
"No!" Usagi groaned. "Summer is over already, my Mamo-chan is back at that stupid university of his, and now I have to sit through boring classes for the next million years! It's not exciting, Mama. It's terrible!"
"When you're older, you may find yourself looking back on this time as some of the best days of your life, Usagi-chan."
"Why do parents always say that?" the blonde asked herself aloud. She quickly gulped down the last of her orange juice, kissed her mother on the cheek and rocketed toward the front door. "Sayonara!"
"Usagi-chan! Don't forget your bookbag!"
"Oh! Arigatou, Mama!" The girl grabbed her satchel and was quickly gone.
. . . . .
Usagi's initial burst of speed soon tapered to a crawl as she trudged with shoulders slumped along the sidewalk toward Juuban High. "Stupid school!" she muttered. "Why can't life always be like last summer was, with sea cruises and trips to Hawaii and fun stuff like that?" Still sleepy, her mouth hinged open in a wide yawn.
"Usagi-chan! Wait up!"
A brisk patter of footsteps from behind quickly grew louder until another girl strode up alongside.
"Ohayou, Mako-chan. Ready for another year of jail?"
"Am I ever?" the tall brunette asked with a chuckle. The pair settled into a steady pace amid a growing crowd of business people and students. "I'd give anything, anything for just one more week of vacation" she sighed. "Just one! I miss my Yuji so much."
"Sounds like someone is suffering from a bad case of fiancee withdrawl" Usagi grinned.
"Hai. I definitely am" Makoto admitted. "Ami and Rei have it so good, living at home with their guys. Those lucky, lucky girls!"
The teens soon passed through the gate and reluctantly began climbing the steps to their temporary prison, only to pause at the familiar sound of an approaching hatchback being driven at its absolute limit. With its engine screaming, the small orange car zoomed into the school parking lot, sending panicked students scattering left and right before screeching to a stop in the last available parking space.
"And Minako-chan has made yet another grand entrance" Makoto observed with a grin. "Looks like there's no casualties this time."
The blonde in question leapt from her vehicle and sprinted over to meet them. "Whew!" Aino Minako gasped. "For a minute there I thought I wasn't going to make it!"
"Funny you should say that. I feel the exact same way every time I ride with you in your car" Makoto chuckled. "Minako-chan, how on earth can you drive here and still almost be late? We other poor peasants have to walk to school."
"I was talking to my honey muffin on the phone, Mako-chan. I missed hearing my Taro's sexy voice."
"And you miss everything else about him too!" Usagi laughed. The teens joined a throng of other students and disappeared into the building.
. . . . .
Finding their new class, the girls noticed that the desks were arranged in joined pairs. They weren't at all surprised to see Ami and Ryo already in their seats, the studious couple sitting side by side at the very front of the class with books and pens poised at the ready.
"I wish my Taro-love was here with me" Minako sighed jealously. "This week is going to feel like an eternity. No, two eternities!"
"Hey, if we have to suffer through this then you can too" her brunette friend grumbled back. "Deal with it."
After an exchange of greetings with their classmates, Usagi and her friends chose places considerably more rearward in the classroom, propping their bookbags against their chairs.
"Minna, did you hear the big news?" A girl with reddish shoulder-length hair walked over, accompanied by a thin, nerdy-looking boy with thick round spectacles.
"Hi, Naru-chan. Ohayou, Umino-chan. What news?" Usagi asked. She suddenly brightened, "Please tell me today's classes are cancelled!"
"If only!" her female friend laughed. "Rumor has it that we're getting a substitute teacher for our first week or so, on account of Haruna-sensei still being away on her honeymoon."
"Nani? The slave driver finally got married?"
"My sources say that is correct, Usagi-chan." Umino pushed his perpetually-slipping glasses further up his nose. "She and her new husband went on their honeymoon to..." He paused to consult a small notebook, "...Hawaii."
Usagi cackled, "You mean there were two witches in Hawaii?" Seeing her friends' puzzled expressions she boasted, "I was there two weeks ago with my Mamo-chan! Rei's future in-laws flew us there, along with Mako-chan and Yuji and Ami and Ryo and-"
A ringing bell drowned out her next words and a middle-aged, dour-faced woman promptly entered the classroom, scowling deeply as she strode purposefully up behind the teacher's desk. "Minna, take your seats at once." Several of her young charges didn't obey her order expediently enough and the woman picked up a long wooden ruler, slapping it hard against her desktop and startling everyone into immediate action. "Now!" she growled.
"Here we go again" Makoto muttered, sliding into a chair near the window. "Another day in the dungeon."
"You got that right!" Usagi giggled, sitting beside her.
"You there! Silence in the back!" The substitute teacher sternly glared at them before announcing to the class, "My name is Ibaraki Yasu. I'll be filling in for Haruna-sensei for the next ten days." She stepped around her desk, still brandishing her ruler. "And unlike your regular teacher, while I'm in charge here I will expect nothing less than perfect attendance, respectful obedience and hard work from everyone in my classroom. I tolerate no slacking, no talking and no failure! Now... does everyone understand me?"
An unenthusiastic chorus of "Hai, Iberaki-sensei" reached the teacher's ears.
"Excellent. Open your chemistry texts to chapter one, page one, and we'll get started. I'll learn your names and whatnot as we go along."
"I hate this stupid year already!" Usagi groaned.
Chapter 2:
Usagi sat motionless, her eyes fixated on the large clock above the blackboard while her sensei droned on at length about atoms and molecules and other things that were of absolutely no interest to her. 'I can't believe we've only been here for half an hour!' she thought glumly. She glared at the clock's long spindly second hand as it crept lethargically around its dial. She tried mentally willing it to move more quickly but without success. "Come on!" she suddenly blurted in frustration. "Go faster!"
The teacher stopped in mid-sentence and spun around. "Who said that?"
Usagi instantly ducked her head, burying her face behind the textbook propped up like a shield on her desk, while several faint snickers echoed around the room. The woman's eyes darted across the sea of unfamiliar faces and her perpetual frown deepened slightly before she returned to her lecture.
"That was close!" a grinning Makoto whispered from the seat beside her.
"Hai! Thought I was busted!" Usagi giggled back. She breathed a sigh of relief but her eyes grew heavier with each and every passing incomprehensible word the sensei uttered.
The white chalk Yasu held gradually ground to half its length, clicking and scraping away against the dusty blackboard as the woman sketched a chemical formula across it. "...and when we combine the two compounds sodium and chlorine, we get sodium chloride, or common table salt. Are there any questions?"
She turned to face her pupils, finding the blue-haired girl in the front row frowning and ever-so-slightly shaking her head. "Do you have a problem with this, uh... what is your name?" She noticed with displeasure that this girl was sitting beside a boy who had exchanged loving glances with her a number of times that morning.
"My name is Mizuno Ami, Ibaraki-sensei."
"Mizuno... Ami... where have I heard that name before? Anyway, it doesn't matter!" Yasu snapped. "Don't you understand this formula? It's really very simple."
The girl's voice was soft-spoken and apologetic as she continued. "I understand the formula you've written quite well, Ibaraki-sensei. My issue is that the formula is... incorrect."
The teacher's face began to redden with anger as whispers and random tittering sounded around the class. "Incorrect?" She leaned forward, placing her palms flat on her desk. "Child, I've been teaching basic chemistry since before you were born! You obviously have no idea what you're talking about."
Three other girls near the back of the room, two blondes and a brunette that Yasu had already pegged as troublemakers, began snickering amongst themselves. The sensei tossed her chalk onto the desk so hard it snapped in half before marching down the aisle toward them. She stood glaring down at the nearest, an attractive blonde girl with a bright red bow in her hair. "And you are?"
"Aino Minako, Ibaraki-sensei!"
The woman took an immediate dislike to the teen's bright bubbly personality. "Would you mind telling the class, Aino-chan, exactly what you and your friends find so funny?"
"Only that you just told Mizuno Ami that she doesn't know what she's talking about!" Minako answered with a giggle. "That's the funniest thing I've heard all year!"
"Is it now?"
"Ami is the smartest high school student in all of Japan" Usagi interjected. "You're a sensei. Haven't you heard of all the awards she's won and all the perfect scores she got on her exams?"
At the front of the class, the studious girl blushed with embarrassment but felt so proud that her friends had stuck up for her. Ryo reached under the desk and gently took her hand in his, adding his support.
The teacher's scowl deepened to an even more frightening level. She spoke, "Mizuno-chan! If you really are as bright as these girls think you are, why don't you step up to the blackboard and demonstrate my so-called 'mistake' to the rest of the class?"
Ami promptly walked around the sensei's desk and reached for an eraser. She rubbed away the number 2 from the end of the formula. "It was just a slight error, Ibaraki-sensei. You meant to write the symbol for chloride which is indeed a component of salt, but accidentally used the symbol for chlorine which is a toxic gas."
The woman stood speechless with rage as Ami scurried back to her seat amid loud cheers from every other student in the room, and a warm, loving smile from the boy who sat beside her.
. . . . .
The substitute teacher could scarcely conceal her anger at losing face in front of her students. "Very well! Since everyone here thinks they are an expert in chemistry, I believe it's time we move on." She had everyone take out their history books and launched into an even more mind-numbingly boring lecture on the history of medieval Japan.
Usagi's mind again soon drifted away, remembering warm sandy beaches and happy moonlit nights spent with her Mamoru in Hawaii. Makoto wasn't faring much better, finding herself staring through the window at a nearby tree where several small birds were singing. She thought of Nerima, of her beloved Yuji and what their future together may hold, while gently caressing the small diamond engagement ring that sat on her finger. Her smile and her daydream lasted scarcely a minute, only to be shattered by her sensei's sharp reprimanding voice.
"Kino-chan! Is there something more important you'd rather be doing right now than getting an education? Stop looking through that window this instant and pay attention!"
The brunette faced the front of the room. "Gomen, Ibaraki-sensei."
"I told everyone that I will not tolerate slacking off in my class, but I see that my words have meant nothing to some of you. Kino-chan, you will report to room twenty after school for one hour of detention."
Makoto ignored Usagi's giggle, sidelong glance and evil smirk, answering her sensei with a frown. "Hai."
"That's the problem with you kids nowadays" Yasu scowled. "No desire to learn!" She eyed the brunette's left hand. "And stop playing with that ring you're wearing or I'll take it from you!"
"No chance of that happening" Makoto muttered.
The woman hurried down the aisle and was at her desk in an instant. "Pardon me?"
The tall brunette defiantly looked her straight in the eye. "Nobody touches this ring. It's my engagement ring."
"You?" the sensei scoffed. "A girl of your age? Engaged to be married?" Yasu laughed coldly, "Now I've heard everything!"
Usagi could feel the tension quickly mounting between her close friend and this new teacher with a massive chip on her shoulder. "Sumimasen, sensei. It's not unusual that Mako-chan is engaged at sixteen. I'm engaged too!" She paraded her hand in front of the woman, displaying the glittering symbol of love and commitment Mamoru had given her that happy afternoon in Okinawa.
"And me!" Minako piped up from across the aisle, proudly waving her left hand in the air. "And Ami is engaged too!"
"You children are merely playing at this" Yasu snorted. "What could teenagers possibly know about true love?" Taken aback, she retreated again to her desk and resumed the history lesson.
. . . . .
The first day of class was proving to be too much for a drowsy Tsukino Usagi to handle. Her eyelids drooped more by the minute and her head slowly slumped forward, her blonde odango soon disappearing behind her book as the teacher droned on.
"Now. Who can tell me the year when Minamoto no Yoritomo defeated the Taira clan at the battle of Dan-no-ura?" she asked. Noticing that Usagi seemed to be deliberately crouching behind her history textbook, she singled out the odango-haired teen.
"Tsukino-chan, perhaps you'd like to answer this question?"
"Tsukino-chan?"
The dozing girl's only reply pushed the substitute teacher far over the edge.
"Zzzzzz..."
The ruler came crashing down against Usagi's desk scant seconds later, followed by a bellow from Yasu.
"TSUKINO-CHAN!"
"Huh? Nani?" Usagi's eyes sprang open and she bolted upright, knocking her textbook on the floor. "Oh! Uhh... 1185?" she guessed wildly.
"Wrong! You were caught sleeping, and in my classroom this is simply unforgivable! Report to room twenty after class! You can join your friend Kino-chan there for an hour!"
"Hai, Ibaraki-sensei" the blonde groaned.
This time it was Makoto who wore the smirk. "Thanks for the company, Usagi-chan" she whispered behind the teacher's back.
Feeling pleased with her latest exercise of authority, Yasu whirled around but her satisfaction was short-lived when she realized that the blue-haired know-it-all at the front had her hand raised.
"What is it now, Mizuno-chan?"
"Ah... I'm sorry to be bringing this up, Ibaraki-sensei" Ami softly spoke. "But Usagi-chan is correct. That battle did occur in the year 1185."
"You seem very sure of yourself" the teacher growled threateningly.
"Hai" Ami answered with her most disarming smile. "I'm quite sure."
"Well if there's one thing I hate, it's a smug little girl who thinks she has all the answers! Mizuno-chan, report to room twenty after class!"
Ami's mouth fell open amid gasps of disbelief from her classmates. "Nani? You're giving me detention?"
"I'm glad you figured that out all on your own" the teacher growled. "Maybe you are somewhat intelligent after all."
Chapter 3:
The first day of classes had finally drawn to a close for most of the students attending Juuban High, but not for four girls of Ibaraki Yasu's class. They left their teacher sitting scowling at her desk and obediently filed down the hallway to serve their time.
"I'm not even sure where room twenty is located" Ami confessed. "I've never had a detention before."
Makoto and Usagi exchanged knowing grins. "Welcome to our world" the brunette chuckled.
The blue-haired girl followed her friends up a flight of stairs and along another nearly deserted winding corridor before finally reaching the room of infamy.
"I can't understand for the life of me why I'm here" Minako muttered. "I didn't say anything to offend our new sensei. Not one word!"
"Maybe she got tired of watching you doodle Taro's name all over your notebook" Makoto remarked. "Instead of taking proper notes, like Usagi and I... weren't doing either."
"That miserable old monster has absolutely no sense of humor" Usagi grumbled. "She even tore up my sketch!"
The tall brunette pushed open the classroom door that served as the school's detention area. "You mean that stick figure you drew of her? The one with her head shaped like Pac-man?"
"It was a good likeness, Mako-chan" the odangoed blonde protested. "Although if I did it again" she snickered, "I'd make her mouth a lot bigger!"
"You might have gotten away with it if you hadn't written her name at the bottom" Makoto laughed.
Ami was most pleasantly surprised when Ryo ran up and entered the room behind her. "Ryo-kun! Why are you here? You didn't get a detention."
The boy smiled shyly at the love of his life. "I didn't, but I still want to be with you more than anything, Ami-chan. No matter where you are."
"My Ryo!" Despite the studious teens' shyness, they shared a brief blushing kiss.
Makoto surveyed the deliberately unkempt room with distaste. "Looks like it's business as usual. Usagi-chan, do you want to clean the blackboard or sweep the floor this time?"
"I'll sweep." Usagi grabbed a broom that was propped against a wall and promptly leaned on it. "This has to be the only filthy room in the entire school! No wonder they keep sending us here!"
"Minna, what am I supposed to do?" Ami asked. "This experience is quite new to me. And... rather unsettling."
"Our star student and best friend doesn't have to do a single thing" Usagi insisted. "You and Ryo can relax and sit together over there in the corner. But don't get too lovey-dovey!" she grinned. "After all, this is a public school."
Makoto tossed Minako a spare eraser. "You can start on that side of the board, Minako-chan. And then help me dump the waste bins after we're done." She turned to Ami. "Usagi is right, Ami-chan. You've earned a nice break after the way you handled that old battle axe." She grinned, "I loved the way you kept correcting her mistakes!"
Usagi half-heartedly began pushing her broom down an aisle. "And the worst part of this nightmare of a day, is that I'm going to miss dinner all because of her! A whole hour of cleaning and working my fingers down to the bone like this, and I'll be wasted away to nearly nothing!"
"Tough it out" Makoto chuckled. "You'll survive." She watched Ami and Ryo sit together, pulling their chairs close so the boy could slip his arm around his fiancee. "I wish my Yuji was here" she sighed wistfully at the sight. "Another four days..."
"Don't remind me, Mako-chan!" Minako groaned. As she spoke, she began wiping the blackboard faster and faster. "All I can think of now is being with my Taro-love. The way he holds me..." she sighed wistfully, "...his beautiful eyes... his delicious kisses... his strong sexy body... and when he and I make sweet, sweet-"
"Knock it off!" her future sister-in-law hissed. "That daydreaming of yours isn't helping either of us!"
Minako suddenly ceased her frantic erasing, which had generated a small cloud of chalk dust around her school fuku. "Minna, I just had an idea!"
"Oh oh, here we go again" the brunette sighed. "What is it this time, Minako-chan? Should we make a rope or something and try escaping through the window like they do in those prison movies?"
"No, silly! I just thought that since we're all going to miss dinner at our homes because of detention, and we were going to study at Rei's shrine later anyway, why not kill two stones with one bird?"
"Nani?"
"How about after we get out of here, we pile into my car, stop somewhere along the way and pick up some take-out food, then bring it back to Rei at the shrine?" the blonde suggested. "We can all have dinner together before we start our first study session of the new school year."
"I'm good with that!" Usagi beamed brightly in approval. "Excellent idea, Minako-chan!"
"I thought so too!" Minako giggled.
After the other teens had agreed to the plan, Ami nestled her head against her fiancee's shoulder. "My first detention, Ryo-kun" she sighed. "And now I have a black mark on my permanent record, too. What will my mother think?"
"After I tell Sakeo-san exactly what happened today, I know precisely what she'll think, Ami darling."
"You do?"
"Hai" he smiled. "She'll be very proud of you, as she always is. Just as we all are. And especially me."
. . . . .
An hour later and having served their penance, the teens emerged into the parking lot just as Tokyo traffic was reaching its rush-hour peak. As they climbed into Minako's vehicle, Makoto joked, "Minna! All aboard the Banzai Express! Now departing from Juuban Jail. Our next stop will be... either a noodle shop or the nearest hospital."
"Mako-chan, you're such a kidder!" Minako giggled. "Everyone roll down your windows, please" she asked her passengers. "It's stuffy hot in here!" Windows were dutifully lowered, seat belts were tightly secured and the blonde's orange car roared onto the street, only to soon come to a lurching halt behind two long columns of stationary cars. "The traffic here is completely insane!" she groaned.
"You mean like the driver of this car is?" Makoto teased. "You're traffic too, in case you forgot."
In the rear, Usagi leaned forward until she nearly gagged on her seat belt and thrust out her finger between Minako and Makoto. "That cross street a half block or so ahead of us doesn't have nearly as many cars, Minako-chan. Why don't you take a short cut?" She groaned, "My poor tummy can't handle much more of this cruel punishment!"
"I can't move, Usagi-chan" the blonde at the wheel grumbled in reply. "The only empty space around here is... the... sidewalk." A sly smile suddenly appeared on Minako's pretty face, followed by an evil giggle. "He he he!"
"Oh no!" Makoto grimaced, expecting the worst. "Usagi-chan, don't go giving Minako any more crazy ideas! She's bad enough as it is with her-"
Her future sister-in-law didn't disappoint. Minako abruptly wrenched the steering wheel to the left and pulled her car up onto a section of vacant sidewalk, shocking her passengers into momentary speechlessness. They trundled slowly along, eliciting a bevy of angry scowls from other motorists they passed by who were still hopelessly stuck in traffic.
Ami slunk down in her seat as low as she possibly could. "Oh dear! This is so embarrassing!"
"Not to mention illegal" Makoto added.
"Not much further!" Minako reassured her friends while weaving perilously close around a bicycle rack. "Just another fifty meters or so and we'll be in the clear!"
Ryo peered out through the rear window. "I can't see clearly through the traffic, Ami-chan. Is that a police car over there?"
"A police car?" Minako gasped. "Where?"
"Oh no, not this again!" Makoto groaned. "Minako-chan, don't try anything dumb, like-"
"Hang on, minna!" the blonde at the wheel blurted. "We're making a break for it!" Before anyone could object, Minako jammed the accelerator all the way down and her tiny Toyota spurted forward.
"You're going to run someone over, you lunatic!" the brunette yelled. "People walk here!"
"Relax, silly! I don't see a single person in front of us and we're almost at the intersection. Just a few more... Nani? What's that thing?"
Just before they passed a small bookshop, its front door swung open and a large plastic trash bag was tossed onto the curb directly in front of the car. With no other choice, Minako kept on going, ramming into the bag and bursting it open. A thick cloud of day-old newspapers fluttered past the teens, one of which plastered itself across the windshield.
"Can't see!" Minako blurted in panic. She fumbled for her car's wipers and flicked them on, only to have the sliding blades push the paper off the glass where it promptly blew inside and wrapped itself around the steering wheel.
Minako looked down at it and her eyes went wide. "Minna! There's a big shoe sale on at Tokyo Esperanza! I must have a pair of those sexy yellow slingbacks!"
"Give me that!" Makoto angrily snatched the paper off the wheel, crumpled it up and tossed it out the window. "Watch the road, baka, not the shoe sales!"
The little orange car made it to the intersection without further incident just as the light changed. Minako wildly spun the wheel and screeched around the corner amid a cacophony of honking horns. Keeping the gas pedal pressed hard against the floor, she glanced breathlessly in her mirror. "Did we lose the police yet, Ryo-chan?"
Ryo straightened himself from where the sharp turn had squished him against a boggle-eyed and gasping Usagi and took another look behind. After a few tense moments, a car with a familiar sign on its roof drove slowly across the intersection. "Gomen, Minako-chan. I was mistaken. It wasn't a police car after all. It was just a taxi."
Makoto slowly turned to face her future sister-in-law, her jaw set in fury. "You nearly wrecked us trying to run away from a stupid taxi! Baka baka BAKA!"
"Oops!" Minako giggled in embarrassment. "Gomen nasai!"
Chapter 4:
Makoto's reprimanding glare and still more heavy traffic up ahead quickly persuaded Minako to slow her car to a more reasonable pace. "At least we made it around that silly jam!" she announced with a bright smile. "Minna, where should we stop to pick up dinner?"
"I know a good place!" Usagi answered at once. "There's a really nice restaurant two streets down that has fast take-out. And the best part is, their servings are huge!"
"Quality is always more important than quantity, Usagi-chan" the brunette in the front seat reminded her.
"But having both of them is the best of all, Mako-chan" the blonde grinned. "That's one reason why everyone loves your delicious cooking so much."
"I know exactly what you mean, Usagi-chan" Minako enthused. "And with my Taro-love, I always have the best of everything!"
"We were talking about food, Minako-chan" Makoto sighed.
"Well, love-love is food too, Mako-chan!" she swooned. "Food for my passionate heart!"
Makoto stared out the window while muttering to herself, "Sex-crazed, name-doodling, sidewalk-driving maniac!" She felt fresh pangs of jealousy when she then overheard Ami tell her love about her mother's absence during the remainder of the week.
"We'll be alone until Saturday?" Ryo happily exclaimed.
"That's right, my Ryo-kun. Nearly the entire week together. Just the two of us. Tomorrow evening I'll try out some of the cooking ideas Mako-chan has given me and prepare a full course meal for us." Ami smiled sweetly at her young man. "A romantic candlelight dinner together that I think will lead to something even more pleasurable for us... later that night."
"Full... meal?" Usagi's ears instantly perked up. "Ami-chan, can I come over tomorrow after school and try... your..." The look the blue-haired girl gave her made the odango-haired blonde chuckle. "Oh. I guess this week wouldn't be a very good time to visit, would it?"
"Now now, Usagi-chan" Minako chided her. "You'd only be interfering with all the studying Ami and Ryo will be doing!" She glanced in her mirror to witness yet another of her shy friend's expected and all-too-predictable blushes, but Ami stunned everyone in the car with her calm reply.
"That's correct, Minako-chan. I'm planning on some rather intense study sessions with my Ryo-kun this week. And we may even find enough time every now and then to eventually open our textbooks."
"Ami-chan!" Usagi gasped. "Whatever happened to that shy, modest girl we all used to know? What have you done with her?"
"Usagi-chan, the question should be what has Ryo done with her!" Minako giggled. "He's made her a changed woman. And that kind of change is something I definitely approve of!"
"You would" Makoto groaned. "I'm not going to survive until next weekend listening to this kind of mushy talk!" She looked skyward in desperation, "My Yuji, where are you?"
The blonde behind the wheel tittered, "You weren't missing him a week ago at that secluded lagoon, Mako-chan. Remember who you're talking to here. I'm the Goddess of Love! I could see right away that something very special happened between you and your lover boy during that little so-called hike you went on!"
"Nani?" the brunette sitting beside her instantly reddened.
"You can tell me. Was it... love-love?" Minako pressed, adding with a wink, "You and your Yuji getting all frisky together in the big outdoors?"
"Never mind what happened that day, Minako-chan!" Makoto growled. She quickly tried changing the subject. "Look, there's that restaurant up ahead. Please try to stay off the sidewalk when you park this time."
"So it was love-love!" the blonde cackled evilly. "I knew it! Mako-chan, you're almost as wild and carefree as our quiet little Ami has been lately!"
The blue-haired girl spoke up in her friend's defence. "Don't let Minako tease you like that, Mako-chan. A spontaneous act of total intimacy between a girl and a boy who deeply love one another is nothing at all to feel embarrassed about. Providing there is suitable privacy, of course."
"And it's good for you too!" Minako giggled. "I should know!" She was thoroughly enjoying the sight of the tall, green-eyed brunette squirming uncomfortably in her seat. "Haven't you heard the old saying, Mako-chan? An orgasm a day keeps the doctor away!" She abruptly began babbling to herself, "But what girl could possibly settle for just one a day? That's ridiculous! I always make sure my stud muffin pleasures me at least-"
"Minako-chan!" Makoto pleaded. "Please shut up!"
. . . . .
At the shrine, Yuuichirou stood patiently waiting in the parking lot, his handsome face breaking into a big smile when Rei's convertible finally pulled up. He hurried over and opened the door for her then gathered the ravishing raven-haired beauty tenderly in his arms.
"How was school, Rei darling?" He pouted, "Were you too busy to think of me?"
"Hardly, lover." The couple embraced, kissing so deeply and so passionately that when Hino-sensei happened to walk around the corner, he spotted them and hastily turned and scurried away, retreating with a wry chuckle.
'I still remember my younger days' he thought. 'But not like that!'
The young apprentice retrieved his fiancee's bookbag from her Mercedes and they strolled together into the shrine's living quarters. "I was a little late getting home because I've been placed in charge of a talent show my school is putting on in a few weeks. Have you closed for the day?"
"Locked the front gate ten minutes ago" he grinned. "And I've closed down the charms booth, taken out all the litter, swept the shrine, polished the komainu and even fed the Sensei."
"You're acting like Grandpa is a cat!" the miko laughed. "Wait, he's had dinner already?"
"Hai, we both have. Yours will be arriving very soon."
"Mine? I don't understand."
"Ami called from a restaurant not long ago, sweetheart. The girls and Ryo are bringing food over for the study session tonight, including your meal."
"That's very considerate of them" Rei smiled, though the smile didn't last long. "But this means I'll be dodging baka Usagi's flying elbows again. That girl has all the table manners of a hungry hyena."
The fast-approaching scream of a tortured engine and a blaring horn a moment later announced the imminent arrival of Minako's hatchback and dinner. "Will you be joining us?" Rei asked her love.
"Not for a while. Hino-sensei wants to teach me more about our finances. Balancing the shrine's books and other exciting stuff like that."
"Then have fun at sensei school" the miko teased her beloved.
"I sure will!" Yuuichirou chuckled. "Every day is a non-stop party here at the Hikawa Jinja!"
. . . . .
Urawa Ryo and the girls were soon seated around the low wooden table where they had spent countless hours on homework, daydreaming and more than a little bickering. Usagi looked up from her nearly empty bowl of udon with an smile of pure bliss. "I so needed this! That grumpy substitute teacher had me on the brink of starvation. Miserable old bat!"
"Detention again, I assume?" Rei chuckled. "And on your very first day of class, too." She shook her head in mock disgust. "Hopeless!"
"It wasn't just me. Even Ami got a detention today, Rei-chan" Usagi said. She burped loudly. "Oh! Gomen!"
The miko was too stunned by this revelation to scold Usagi for her uncouth table manners. "Ami-chan, they kept you after school?"
"Hai, they did" the embarrassed girl murmured. "I feel so ashamed about it too."
"Don't be" Makoto grinned. "It gets easier every time. Trust me, I know."
"Hai!" Usagi cackled. "If they gave out grades for detention, you and I would be at the top of the class, Mako-chan!"
"That's hardly something to be proud of, Usagi-chan" Rei grumbled. "Even Setsuna told you that you need to try much harder in your studies."
Usagi glowered across the table at the miko. "Well excuse me for not being perfect!"
"I've even been given a very important job at my school" Rei boasted. "I'm in complete control of the T.A. Academy's talent show this semester."
"I have talent! Maybe you should invite me along to that show thing!"
"Sorry Usagi-chan, but there's no category in my show for whoever can devour the most noodles in under a minute. Or ice cream. Or cake. Or soda. Or-"
"Then be quiet about it!"
"Is there a category for fashion, Rei-chan?" Minako asked the miko. "I could model the latest in stylish autumn wear!"
"And probably fall off the stage while doing so" Makoto snorted.
"Sorry, but this event is exclusively for students of my academy" Rei replied. "Perhaps we'll allow you outsiders to participate some other time. If we're desperate enough."
A beleagured Kumada Yuuichirou slid the door open and stepped inside. "Whew! I need a break from all those numbers Hino-sensei has been throwing at me. Mind if I sit in for a minute?"
Rei shifted to one side. "Right here, honey. You do look a little tired."
The apprentice collapsed on the floor close beside her. "Now I know what a calculator feels like! The batteries in the one in the office died and your grandfather is making me do everything by hand with a pencil. My fingers are killing me!"
"You'll survive, lover boy" Rei chuckled. "Just don't tire those fingers of yours out too much." She purred, "I have plans for them later."
Ami offered the apprentice, "I happen to have a spare calculator you can borrow, Yuuichirou-chan".
"You do? Arigatou, Ami-chan! I'll take it!"
As the studious girl opened her book bag, Minako teased, "Trust Ami to carry two of those calculator thingys with her! I bet she probably has a half dozen more at home!"
The blue-haired teen produced the device and as she reached over to hand it to Rei's very grateful fiancee, a disposable lighter slipped from her bag and clattered onto the table in front of the other girls.
"Oh goodness!" Blushing deeply, Ami quickly snatched it up but not before eagle-eyed Minako had spied it. The mischevious blonde instantly pounced on her.
"Ami-chan!" she exclaimed. "Is that what I think it is? Do you smoke too?"
"That lighter belongs to me, Minako-chan" Rei told her. "It must have fallen into Ami's bag by mistake."
"It's ok, Rei-chan" Ami spoke with a deep sigh. "I was going to inform the other girls of my secret little pleasure eventually. Now... I guess I won't have to."
"Well well well!" Minako clucked. "This day is just filled with big surprises, isn't it? First we find out that Haruna-sensei got married, shy little Ami gets her first ever detention, then Mako-chan admitted she and Yuji made sweet love-love outdoors in the wilds of Hawaii, and now this!"
"I never admitted anything!" Makoto glared daggers at her future sister-in-law. "So don't you dare mention it ever again!"
"So what's the big deal about Ami smoking?" Usagi shrugged before taking the last bite of her noodles. "Mako-chan and I knew about it all along."
Ami was stunned. "You knew, Usagi-chan?"
"Sure we did. We saw you buying cigarettes from a vending machine near your house a few months ago. But I didn't mention it because unlike sneaky snoop Minako over there" she pointed at the blonde across the table, "I would never pry into my friends' private lives." She haughtily stuck her nose in the air. "Everyone knows I'm the very picture of a discreet and tactful person."
"You are?" Rei snickered. "Since when?"
"Since... be quiet, you!" Usagi scowled back.
After her fiancee had reluctantly left the table to finish his master's toils, the raven-haired girl stood and collected her purse. "Let's go down to the park together for an after dinner cigarette before we open the books, Ami-chan. I want to personally thank you again for helping me through that difficult time at Mako-chan's house last weekend. We'll leave busybody Minako to clean up the mess in here."
"Go right ahead, Ami darling" Ryo smiled sweetly at the love of his life. "I'll stay here and get our notebooks ready."
The blue-haired girl nodded happily. "I'd love to, Rei-chan."
Minako's lips donned a deep pout as she watched the two girls leave. "Minna, why am I stuck cleaning up everyone's trash? Am I supposed to be a janitor or a waitress now? This just isn't fair!"
Makoto reached into her blouse pocket and found some stray lint and a crumpled tissue, adding them to the collection of stained take-out boxes, empty soda cans and disposable chopsticks cluttering the table. "Here you go, Minako-chan" she grinned. "Just think of this as your well-deserved tip."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Note: The series continues with 'A Night to Remember' (in two parts).