A Prologue to a Wedding (AU)
"It's your bachelor party, you should look more enthusiastic!" Motoki tried to encourage his old friend. Motoki shook his head at the uncomfortable expression on the face of the tall, dark-haired man.
"This really isn't my sort of thing," Mamoru stated. He smoothed out his black shirt and shifted uncomfortably in his light, grey sport's coat. He turned to look at one of the others for support.
"It is tradition," Trowa pointed out bluntly. The emerald-eyed young man was standing quietly to the side. Mamoru was slightly surprised that his college roommate seemed unfazed by the fact that they were standing in front of a rather sketchy looking club in an even more questionable part of the city.
"If it makes you feel any better, it's the first time I've ever been to one of these places," Quatre piped up with a hint of nervousness. The shorter, blond had a youthful face and a mannerism that made him appear even younger. He tugged nervously on his purple vest.
Mamoru nodded hesitantly. "Where are the others?"
"I think that's Heero and Wufei over there." Motoki gestured behind Mamoru.
Mamoru turned around to see two young Asian men quietly stalk towards them. The young Japanese man walked in somber silence, his piercing blue eyes peering out from beneath his unkempt hair. The rigid Chinese man was walking with his eyes focused on the ground with an unhappy expression on his face.
"I'm only here because your fiancé asked me to come!" Wufei snapped at Mamoru upon his arrival. To emphasize the point, he glared accusingly at Mamoru.
Heero shook his head at his friend. Wufei had initially told the others he was not planning to go, because it was immoral. But Mamoru's fiancé insisted that Wufei attend the bachelor party since he was the only one of his friends that she trusted. In fact, Wufei was probably more her friend than he was Mamoru's friend.
"Well, I guess I can't blame Usa-ko," Mamoru admitted. "This wasn't my idea. It was Duo's. By the way, where is he? He was the most enthusiastic about going."
"He had to go to work. Last minute thing," Heero answered.
"Probably on a date, or possibly even two," Wufei snorted.
"Let's get this over with," Mamoru sighed.
He glanced up at the neon sign above the club: "Bunny Girls! Girls! Girls! Strip Club!"
"HURRY UP, USAGI!" Rei barked at the other girl. She was standing with her hands on her hips as she stared at the other girl scurrying around the apartment. She irritably tossed her long, black tresses. Rei was already fully dressed in a dark red blouse and black jeans. But Usagi was still trying to figure out what to wear.
"Okay! Okay!" Usagi replied, ducking her head as a pillow flew by. The blond girl was frantically running around their small apartment in her pajamas. She had two dresses in one hand, two pairs of shoes in the other, and some hair clips in her mouth. "Gimme a minute! I've never been to one of THOSE places before!"
"Well, if your fiancé gets to go to one of those places, we get to go to one of those places," Rei replied. "The other girls will be arriving here any minute. Hurry up."
"Who's idea was it go to a male strip club anyhow?" Usagi demanded.
Rei flushed slightly and coughed. "Let's not get into that again. I think all the girls agreed that it was a good idea. It's tradition."
Usagi glared with suspicion at her roommate and long time friend. But the doorbell rang and she dropped everything to answer it.
When she opened the door, she found three familiar and friendly faces.
"AMI! MAKOTO! MINAKO!" Usagi cried out happily. She grabbed each of her friends and gave them a fierce embrace.
Ami smiled awkwardly. The young blue haired girl was dressed in a white sweater and pale blue pants. She quietly made her way to the plush sofa.
"Why aren't you dressed?" Makoto asked curiously. The tall brunette was wearing a rather conservative brown turtleneck and blue jeans. "Did you change your mind? It's okay if you change your mind. We don't have to go to that kind of place."
Makoto turned and glared pointedly at Rei.
"Let's go and have fun! Makoto, you're such a brick in the mud!" Minako teased her friend. The pretty blond was wearing a bright orange top and denim skirt.
"I think you mean: 'stick' in the mud," Ami corrected her friend.
Minako blinked. "Really? Hmm, is that so? I'll remember that next time."
"Come on, hurry up, Usagi!" Rei folded her arms across her chest. "We don't have all night. Minako and I have got everything planned tonight."
"Everything...?" Usagi asked nervously.
"Everything!"
Two hours later...the boys were still at the Bunny Girls! Girls! Girls! Strip Club.
The young men were sitting around a table in the dimly lit room. A large stage at the center of the club was the focus of their attention. A scantily clad women spun around the silvery pole. Her well-endowed chest bounced up and down as she danced vigorously on the stage. A couple men were sitting in front of the stage and tossing money at her. Loud music pumped out from the sound system.
"Are you okay, Quatre?" Mamoru asked with genuine concern.
The young blond had been blushing furiously for the past two hours. It was starting to look unhealthy. Quatre looked up and grinned weakly. "No, I'm fine. I've never seen so much.....uhhh...eerrr..."
"Sin," Wufei proclaimed loudly. He was sitting down with his arms folded across his chest and staring at the floor. "It's disgusting and sinful."
"You would think that Wufei was a monk or a priest with that attitude," Motoki noted, wrinkling his nose.
Mamoru chucked lightly. "He's just very opinionated about these kind of things."
"I think he's seems to be opinionated about everything," Motoki pointed out.
Trowa stood up. "I'm going up."
The other young men were startled as they watched the lean figure of Trowa Barton glide gracefully to the stage.
Trowa casually sat down in front of the stage. The dancer twirled about and came up to the young man. As she jiggled her ample bosom at him, he calmly produced some cash and tossed it onto the stage. The appreciative dancer bent down closer to the handsome young man and ruffled his long, brown bangs. He continued to coolly toss some money at her every so often.
"Uhh, he seems to be enjoying himself," Quatre observed brightly.
"Hi there, big boy!" breathed a throaty, sensuous voice.
The young men whipped their heads around to see a tall, voluptuous red-head hovering over Quatre. She leaned over and whispered something in his ears.
Mamoru watched as he saw his friend seem to turn an impossible shade of crimson. The red-head continued to whisper into Quatre's ears. Quatre turned and looked at his friends with wide-eyed and seemed to mouth the words: "Help!"
Before the others could react, however, the red-head gently pulled up the blond. She winked at the other men at the table.
"I'll be borrowing this one for a bit," she told them. Quatre looked helplessly at his so-called 'friends' as she quickly dragged him away.
"What do you think happened?" Mamoru asked in shock.
"She's probably shaking him down for a lap dance or something," Motoki shrugged. Suddenly, a mischievous grin spread across his face. "I'll be back."
With those words, the tall blond dashed off to some darkened part of the club.
Mamoru sunk into his chair and glanced at his two companions. Wufei had closed his eyes and folded his arms across his chest. Heero was calmly sipping his drink as he coolly watched the stage with apparent indifference.
"Have you been to these places before, Heero?" Mamoru inquired.
Heero nodded. "A few times. It seems that all bachelor parties end up being held at a strip club."
"I'm nervous," Mamoru admitted with a sigh.
"About the strip club?"
"No, about getting married," Mamoru frowned. "I love Usa-ko. But it's just..."
Heero nodded knowingly. "It's normal. Every guy is nervous about getting married. It's the second most important decision in your life."
"Really? What's the first?" Mamoru asked.
"You'll have to ask your 'wife'," Heero dead-panned.
Mamoru turned to look in confusion at his friend. He wasn't sure if Heero had cracked one of his rare jokes, or whether he was completely serious. But Heero's face was impassive and expressionless.
Mamoru stared off into the distance. "I wonder if she's as bored as I am right now..."
"TAKE IT OFF!" Usagi screeched loudly from her seat. The excited young blond was bobbing up and down at their table as her friend's looked simply embarrassed.
The five girls were sitting in a poorly lit club on the other side of town. The room was filled with other women. The music was loud enough to be noticeable, but not louder than Usagi.
"Calm down, Usagi!" Rei barked at her friend. She promptly turned and looked at Minako. "Minako, could you please take that silly hat off her head?"
Minako sighed and reached over to pluck the cone-shaped paper hat off of Usagi's head. The hat prominently displayed the words "BACHELORETTE HERE!" She held the hat in her hands and looked at Usagi.
"Thank you for taking it off," Usagi told her friend primly.
"Are you sure you don't want to wear it?" Minako looked at her hopefully.
"No way!" Usagi exclaimed vehemently. "I am not going to wear that hat! It's so tacky!"
Minako shrugged and turned around to place the hat on Ami's head. Ami's eyes widened in surprise.
"I'm not the bachelorette!" Ami protested.
"Too bad," Minako told her. "I bought it with my good money, so someone has to wear it."
Ami looked dubiously up at the hat. "What's the point of the hat?"
"You'll find out soon," Minako smirked. Before Ami could speak any further, Minako hushed them all. "The show's about to start! Quiet down!"
The lights in the club dimmed until it was almost impossible to see and the music stopped. The women sat in the silent darkness for several minutes.
A white light pierced through the darkness and beamed onto the stage. More and more multi-colored lights turned to focus on the stage as the female audience waited anxiously. The curtain lifted to reveal half a dozen men an assortment of different uniforms and outfits.
"This doesn't seem so bad..." Makoto began.
Suddenly, there was a loud boom and the music began to pound furiously from the speakers. On cue, the men on stage began gyrating and ripping off their clothes.
"Oh no! I spoke too soon!" Makoto cried out, covering her face with her hands.
"Oh my gosh! Ohmigosh! Ohmigosh!" Minako cried out excitedly. But after a few moments, something bothered her and she glanced over at her friends.
Rei was staring with her mouth agape in stunned silence. In fact, she seemed absolutely frozen in shock. Makoto, meanwhile, was holding up her hands in front of her face, but Minako suspected that Makoto was peeking through her fingers. Ami was dumbfounded. The blue-haired girl sat there blinking in confusion. Usagi's face was split into a big grin and she was laughing.
Laughing?
"What's so funny, Usagi?" Minako asked with a furrowed brow.
Usagi took a moment to control herself. "You know how I always think about Mamo-chan every waking moment?"
Minako nodded.
"The minute I saw those men on stage...I imagined that they were all Mamo-chan...and dancing...and..." Usagi lost control and began guffawing loudly. She would have fallen over except for the fact the Minako caught her.
"You're a strange girl," Minako told her friend.
"I can't help it!" Usagi continued laughing. "But just imagining him dancing like that! Heehee!"
The loud voice of the DJ shouted out over the noise. "ARE YOU LADIES HAVING FUN?!"
There was a loud, raucous cheer from the female audience.
"ALL RIGHT, THEN!" the DJ cried out. "THEN LET'S GET OUR LUCKY LADIES UP HERE ON STAGE! YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE! WE KNOW WHO YOU ARE!"
"Lucky ladies?" Makoto asked curiously, as she noticed the male dancers dispersing into the crowd.
"It's the bachelorette, silly," Minako explained with a patient smile. "Almost all the women are here for bachelorette parties. They have a package where the bachelorette gets to go on stage."
"I'm not going on stage!" Usagi protested, shaking her head vigorously.
"Looks like you don't have a choice," Rei observed. She gestured at two well-oiled, shirtless men approaching the table. "I think they're coming to get you."
"No!" Usagi cried and hid behind Minako.
"There, there," Minako assured her. "You have nothing to worry about."
"Why not?" Usagi whimpered fearfully.
"Because they don't know you're the bachelorette," Minako smiled sweetly.
"How can they tell...?" Usagi asked.
There was a surprised yelp from Ami. Usagi watched in surprise as the two beefy men hoisted the blue-haired girl up into the air.
"Here's our bachelorette!" one of the men cried out, taking the offending cone-shaped hat from Ami. He tossed the tacky-looking hat back at the other girls. He smiled warmly at Ami. "We'll be taking you on to the stage for an up-close and personal show!"
"Have fun!" Minako called out, as poor Ami was hauled off to the front stage.
One hour later...and most of the boys were tired and ready to go home.
Mamoru was sitting with his face buried in his hands. He had seen quite enough of the female anatomy tonight to make his head spin. He glanced up and noticed that poor Quatre was still somewhat dazed from his encounter with the red-head. Heero had been sitting solidly for the past three hours without any sign of exhaustion or weariness. But it was clear that he was bored, since he was spending more time looking at his PDA than at the scantily clad dancers. Wufei was slumped over and staring at the floor. Mamoru could have sworn that the Chinese man had not looked up the entire time they had been there. Trowa was calmly sitting at the table with an indifferent eye to the stage. Even Motoki looked completely worn out and was nursing his drink.
"I think it's time we left," Mamoru told his companions.
There were a few grunts and acknowledgments from his friends. The young men picked themselves up and shuffled out of the club. The bachelor party had not proved as much fun as had been hoped.
One hour later...and the girls were still at the male strip club.
"It's always the quiet ones that are the most crazy," Minako whispered to Usagi.
Usagi nodded.
Both girls were watching with amazement as Ami was sitting near the stage throwing money at the dancing men. The young blue-haired girl had quickly gotten over her shock at being brought onto the stage to dance with the men. After her special show, she decided that it would be more fun to sit up near the stage. So for the past hour or so, she was sitting at the edge of the stage. The blue-haired girl was cheerfully throwing money at the men. It didn't take long for Rei to join her friend. Rei was also tossing money at the men, but was more conservative both in terms of proximity to the male dancers as well as the amount given.
Makoto snorted. "This is boring."
"I hope Mamo-chan isn't going crazy over those scantily clad women at those strip clubs," Usagi wondered aloud.
"Don't worry, Wufei is with him," Minako assured her friend. "He wouldn't let them do anything crazy."
"I suppose," Usagi agreed, nibbling on a pretzel.
The male dancers cleared the stage as the song finished up. Ami and Rei quickly made their way back to the table. Ami was flushed brightly red and seemed almost faint.
"Did you have fun, Ami?" Minako ribbed her friend gently.
Ami blushed slightly and sat down without a word.
"Should we get going...?" Makoto suggested hopefully.
"AND HERE'S A SPECIAL TREAT FOR ALL YOU LADIES!" boomed the obnoxiously loud DJ. "THIS IS ONE OF OUR MOST POPULAR DANCERS IN TOWN. GIVE IT UP FOR THE ONE AND ONLY...AMERICAN COWBOY!"
Rustic country music began pouring out of the loud speakers as a mist filled the stage. A silhouette of a lean figure wearing a ten-gallon hat stalked onto the stage. As the mist cleared, it revealed a handsome man with bright eyes and a roguish smile. He was attired in an American cowboy outfit, boots and all. He whipped around and bucked his hips to the rhythm of the music.
"Well, let's stay for one more..." Ami ran back to the stage, a fistful of cash in hand.
"I better watch after her." Rei excused herself and hurried after the blue-haired girl.
The cowboy dancer began to slowly peel off his shirt to reveal a lean, oiled body rippling with muscles. A loud cheer erupted from the throng of women surging to the stage.
Usagi, Makoto and Minako could barely see the stage and the dancing cowboy. The shirt flew into the air and was greedily grasped by a crowd of middle-aged women.
The cowboy spun around and lifted his ten gallon hat. A long, thick chestnut braid spilled out from beneath the man's hat and swayed luxuriously against his body. The women screamed wildly and clawed at him.
The cowboy paused for a moment and stared at the crowd. He danced up to the edge of the stage and extended his arms out. With a fluid motion, he pulled onto the stage a petite, blue-haired girl.
"Is that AMI?" Usagi exclaimed. "That's twice she's been on stage!"
The cowboy playfully pranced around the young girl. He would occasionally lean up against her suggestively, causing the crowd of women to go wild. Ami was mindlessly throwing money at the man as he twirled about her.
But the crowd grew so big that Usagi, Makoto and Minako lost sight of their friend and the cowboy. They resigned themselves to wait patiently for the next five minutes, enduring the screams and cheers of the huge throng of women surrounding the stage. Once the music stopped, the crowd of women eventually dispersed.
Usagi could see Ami and Rei make their way unsteadily back to the table. Ami was clearly a little woozy and she was clutching something in her hand.
"What's that?" Minako asked with some curiosity.
Rei shook her head in stunned disbelief. "You don't want to know. Trust me. You don't want to know..."