Twins
Capture one: 'Finding Love! Minako's Brillant Plan!' or "Usagi: You Want Me to WHAT?"
I leaned my elbows down on the Formica of the counter, my vision trained and my mind completely focused. I could hear my heart beat in my chest but as my sense locked on target I completely forgot everything else around me, my mission became clear to me in that one, single moment of clarity every warrior faces before the final showdown.
The figure was at 3 o'clock and moving with confidence and grace out of the Crown Arcade. Tall. Blue eyes. My future husband. I just knew it.
Standing up, I readied myself.
This is it.
Minako Aino. Femme fatal.
I reached out and wrapped my fingers around the door handle.
Stumbling a little, the young student jumped as he felt his hand cover someone else's.
"Oh, excuse me!" he murmured politely. The girl who looked up at him just smiled in a way that made him half want to ask her number, half want to cut and run.
"No problem. It was my fault." She said, grinning with what should have been way too many blinding white teeth.
He smiled back, again having a quick debate with himself whether he ought to leave. She was cute and all, but-
"My name is Aino Minako."
Apparently he was fond of puns.
And a conversation ensued. His first name was Kazuaki, which he immediately gave her permission to use. Sitting across from him in a booth at the diner (they both "suddenly" had a craving for an impromptu cup of coffee),
Minako couldn't help feeling elated. Finally! Her time had come, true love was within her grasp. To think that all this time of dreaming and searching was over, and finally she was three little feet away from the person that complete her life, make her whole, make her forget all abo-
"Are you ready to go, 'nii-san?" a voice by her elbow asked. A very familiar voice.
Startled, Minako looked up into Kazuaki's blue eyes. But...wasn't he just...
Eyes the size of saucers, Minako whipped her head back and forth between the identical faces. "Nani?"
Kazuaki gave a little, sheepish half-smile. "Oh yeah. This is Kaworu. My little brother."
Twisting his mouth a little, Kaworu offered Minako, "We are twins."
Sweatdrop. "Of course," she murmured, "I knew that."
"I must apologize about our names," the apparently younger boy continued, "Our parents are so mundanely cutesy."
'Beautiful Child of Love' scowled a little.
"Well," sheepish-ness was replaced by embarrassment and regret as Kazuaki pushed his chair back to stand up, "we should really be going. It was nice meeting you Aino Minako-san."
"Let's meet again, Kazuaki-kun," she replied politely, inclining her head listlessly. She knew a rejection when she heard one.
Kaworu rolled his eyes at his brother and headed toward the door, waiting impatiently for Kazuaki.
The guy in question just shrugged helplessly at Minako's downcast face. "I'd really like to see you again, Minako-chan, but I won't go out unless my brother can, too."
Smiling at his bluntness, Minako confidently tossed glittering strands of blonde behind her shoulder. "Oh, don't worry, I have lots of friends..."
"We only date twins. Sorry." Kazuaki said firmly, turning to meet his brother.
DARN IT! Frustration and disappointment built up as Minako slid back down into her seat. Yet...
No! This was too close for her to blow this chance! Kazuaki was so... cute... the way his brown hair fell into his face, the way his eyes lit up when he talked about himself, and, most importantly, the way... he was there.
'Well, are you the Ai no senshi or not?' Minako asked herself, 'Don't give up on true love, it only comes to those who believe!'
Just as the boys were nearly out the door, the Senshi of Love, Aphrodite herself, the beauty Aino Minako stood up and held out a perfectly shaped, manicured hand.
"Wait!"
"YOU TOLD HIM WHAT?" a chorus of female voices shouted at the defenseless blonde.
Minako shrugged a little. "I told him I had... a twin sister?" She offered a nervous smile.
The dark-haired shrine miko slapped herself on the forehead. "Just when I think you can't surprise us anymore, Minako..."
"What? Rei, I don't do stuff like this all the time! Only when my future happiness is at stake!"
"Minako," Makoto added from her seat on the porch of Rei's grandfather's shrine, "you only talked to the guy for about five minutes. How do you know he's even worth the web of lies you'll have to weave?"
"Not to mention they are going to want to meet this 'twin' of yours sooner or later, Minako-chan," Ami said wisely.
Minako moaned dramatically. "Actually, it's more like 'sooner'. We have a date planed for next Saturday. Only, Kazuaki-kun's expecting me to bring a date for Kaworu, and the only problem is she doesn't EXIST!"
Laughing, Rei shook her head. "You really got yourself into this one, Minako-chan."
She sniffled. "Love is worth a fair war, Rei-chan."
Sweatdrops all around.
"Minako I'm not exactly sure even what you mean, but..."
"The things I do for love!" she was still wailing dramatically, the back of her hand pressed against her forehead, blue eyes becoming water pools of misery dutiful heartbreak.
"Yeah. The things you do for love. Like that time you dated two men, *our enemies* no less..." Makoto was getting into this whole situation. For once, it wasn't her!
"...that time you told that guy you were a high school student but forgot you were still wearing your uniform..."
"...that time you yelled at those little boys picking on Chibi Usa just to attract a man, and it turned out that he was their father!"
Makoto sweatdropped. "Um...Rei? That last one was me."
"*Anyway*," Minako was quick to change the subject, "back to my date. What can I do?"
"Cancel." Ami said, giving Minako a very adult, mature look, "or tell him the truth and let him cancel. Those are your only choices at this point."
Pout.
"Aw, c'mon Minako, you wouldn't want this guy anyway," Makoto said helpfully.
Sulk.
"I mean, 'only dates twins'? That's just not normal. In fact, it borders on psychotic." Rei tried to calm her down.
Wavering eyes.
Ami searched her mind, "Well... you could just use a friend and say you are fraternal twins. You didn't say your non-existent sister was identical to you."
Minako brightened. "Yeah! Hey, Kaworu's really cute, you guys, you'd li-"
Mako-chan laughed. "No way. No one would believe we were related." The tall, lanky girl grinned.
The dark-haired and eyed Rei shrugged to the fair-colored girl. "Ditto, Mina-P. Not that I'd date one of the Bobsey Psycho brothers, anyway." She added for good measure.
Ami just raised an eyebrow at Minako's look, saying 'What do you THINK I'm going to say?' without even any words.
Minako felt herself sink even deeper into the darkness of hopelessness and despair. Why do the horrible things always happen to the beautiful people?
"What am I going to *do* you guys? I can't cancel. All I need is someone who could pass for-"
Yes, it was her entrance by every story clich‚ there could be.
Stumbling onto the grounds, out of breath and dragging all the fresh air of springtime with her, Tsukino Usagi brushed the blonde hair away from her baby-blue eyes and flashed the group a blinding smile.
"-my sister." Minako finished, trailing off.
"I have a *really* good excuse..." Usagi started, oblivious to pained looks on her friend's faces, "for being so late, you see..." she faltered as Minako started walking toward her, mouth curved upwards and eyes beginning to sparkle.
Usagi nervously backed away, but her feet weren't exactly used to pivotal, reflexive moments and suddenly she was sitting on her butt on the ground, with Minako nearly bursting with joy.
"Usagi-chan!" she squealed, "My best friend!"
'Uh-oh.'
Smiling shakily, Usagi climbed to her feet unsteadily. "Hi, Mina-P! Genki desu?"
The poor girl apparently didn't notice Ami's twitch or Mako's desperate attempt to write 'Save yourself' in the dirt with her foot. Rei went inside to go bang her head against the wall a few times.
Minako thoughtfully sucked in her cheeks, placing a cool hand on Usagi's face. "Hmm..." she tugged some curls down from where they were twirled into pigtails.
'Yeah, it's definitely lighter, and finer than my hair,' Minako appraised, 'and she is much paler than I am. And her eyes aren't as deep blue.' She sighed. 'We can't all be perfect, I suppose.'
But still... Usagi's eyes were nicely shaped, Minako supposed, and she had the luminous 'moon princess' type quality that could compliment Minako's sunny gold-centered complexion while still being similar enough to not draw any suspicions.
In fact...
"Usagi-chan, you are almost as pretty as me!" Minako exclaimed in surprise. She took Usagi's hand and dragged her into the temple.
A rare sweatdrop appeared between the smaller girl's eyebrows. "Um...arigato?" she answered, still trying to think about what was going on. Not exactly being a perceptive mastermind, the perplexed girl had no choice but to keep wondering until someone explained it to her, very slowly and using small words.
No one had such a chance, and so that's how Usagi found herself inside, suddenly standing before someone she used to love and trust and cherish as a true friend, but was now very frightened of. Aino Minako suddenly became almost evil looking when she held a hairbrush and a make-up kit.
"Matte... Mina-P... " holding up her hands in a surrender-like motion, Usagi found herself looking around desperately for her friends. Who seem to have disappeared. Oh sure. They dive in front of her to prevent the relatively mild sting of horrendous death by youma, but when *Minako* had make-over mode attacks, they are *nowhere* to be found. 'Where's Rei? This is *her* house for godsakes...'
"What is this all about?" Usagi asked, trying to distract Minako from her suddenly, very egocentric craving to apparently make stuff look like her.
Minako blinked. And paled. Obviously she forgot Usagi still had to *agree* to this entire thing.
Biting her lip, Minako stood back a little and observed the situation. Usagi was eager to help out any friend in need, especially for the sake of love. However, due to rather obvious reasons, she also didn't like pretending to be someone she wasn't, when she could help it. Then again, she was very open-minded about meeting new people. On the other hand, there was that pesky little morality of Usagi's that would really turn out to be a pain in the butt.
But she was Aino Minako! She could talk her way into anything! Taking a deep breath, widening her eyes, and biting her lip sadly, she turned to Usagi.
"Do you believe I deserve love?" she asked.
This was going to be child's play.
"You want me to WHAT?"
Or not.
"Look, Usag-"
"Are you CRAZY?"
Placing a hand on Usagi's shoulder, Minako said, "Usagi, please! You have no idea what this means to me!"
Usagi gave her a Look. "I am not pretending to be your sister, Minako!"
Minako's eyebrows knitted together. Usagi was hardly *ever* so irrefutable, why was she acting so out of character? And where did she learn that Look?
"Why not? Is there something wrong with me?" Tears formed along the sides of the actress's eyes. "I always wanted a sister, Usagi-chan," she whispered, "and when I met you... we were so alike and got a long so well, for a while... I felt I'd found one." Minako gave Usagi a shaky smile. Pressing her fist to her own heart, "Right here."
Touched, Usagi reached out to her friend, "Oh Minako, it's n-Wait a minute! You are just saying this so I'll date that guy for you!"
Darn.
"Not true!" Minako said, "I'm horrified you'd accuse me of such a thing."
Narrowing her eyes, Usagi returned Minako's pout with one of her own. "You are so MEAN, Minako!"
Clutching both of Usagi's shoulders with her hands, Minako faced her friend desperately. "Don't cry, Usagi! Just help me, please!"
Minako threw out one of the last cards in my game. "For me!"
Usagi opted to use her best defense. "Minako-chan wants me to cheat on my Mamo-chan!" she screamed in misery. Taking a deep breath, she shut her eyes and *wailed*.
Birds flew off the branches outside, and people on the street below stopped and stared.
Behind the door, three girls jumped a mile and fell down on top of each other. Climbing out of the pile of herfriends, Ami picked up a cracked piece of glass and stared at it in amazement.
"Her voice cracked the glass..."
"Next time remind me to use plastic cups for eavesdropping." Rei muttered, putting an injured finger in her mouth.
"Who needs a glass, anyway?" Makoto asked dryly. Usagi's wails still shook the temples foundations.
"It's a testament to the holy ground this is build on that she hasn't made it fall down years ago." Rei said under her breath, as all three girls dared the dangerous mission to enter the room.
The two girls stood at odds, feet apart, on guard. Usagi looked apprehensive, tears still streaming down her face. Minako's eyes were dry but desperate. Both had fists clenched and a gleam in the blue of their eyes.
'Ironically, I see Minako's point,' Rei thought, 'they DO seem an awful lot alike sometimes...'
Minako watched Usagi's expression. 'Damn, I forgot about Mamoru-san.' That was a major kink in the works.
'Well, I hoped it wouldn't come to this but...'
"Usagi-chan?" she said sweetly.
Swallow. "Hai?"
"Won't you please do me this favor? I'll return it, I promise."
"Minako, I SAID-"
Before she could explode Minako hurried to finish her statement. "By never telling the others about-you know."
"You *wouldn't*!"
"Desperate calls measure time, Usagi-chan." Minako said sagely.
"Tell us what?" the girls cried eagerly.
Blushing, Usagi gave Minako dagger eyes. "I call your bluff. I'm never, ever, by no stretch of the imagination, under any circumstances, going to pretend to be your twin and go out on this date!"
Saturday Night.
Usagi scowled as Minako added the finishing touches to the orange/red bow that had taken the place of the usual Odangos.
"You look so wonderful with your hair like this, Usagi-chan," Minako chattered to her happily. Lately, she was all too happy to cater to Usagi's every wish, now that she had gotten what she wanted. 'By threat of blackmail,'
Usagi remembered darkly. However, she refused to allow Usagi the comfort of wearing her usual hairstyle.
"Everyone should wear their hair this way, though, I think," Minako was thinking to herself out loud again. "But especially people with the amazing good luck of resembling me." Smiling at Usagi the way a child does a doll,
Minako twisted a curls around her fingers, brushed some soft blush power over Usagi's cheeks and handed her a container of lip gloss.
"Some of this and we are almost set! I'm so glad your parents aren't home tonight. I mean, this gives us so much room to prepare! And forget what Artemis would say if he knew what I was doing."
Usagi's face resembled a thundercloud. "When I'm ruler of the world, Aino Minako, you will suffer. Slowly. Painfully..."
"Did you say something?" Minako breezed, still smiling and smelling of perfume and make-up and confidence.
Usagi glared at her.
Offering the girl one of her own 1000 watt grins, the taller girl ordered, "C'mon smile!"
*Ring*
Baring her teeth in a rather eerie parody of any emotion other than homicidal rage, Usagi walked over the phone.
"Moshi moshi. Tsukino desu." She bit out through her teeth.
Then she screamed at the top of her lungs and held the phone in front of her face, holding it as if it was a poisonous snake.
Minako giggled. "Just tell them 'No, I don't like scary movies', and hang up," she joked.
Not cracking a smile, Usagi lifted the phone back up to her ear. "Gomen nasai, for screaming, Mamo-chan, " she said, wondering if her tiara would still work, and if it would work against so-called friends with ugly hair bows.
"What? Oh. Nothing. I am doing nothing tonight! No. Oh! Well, I'm studying. Yeah. Big test...gotta get an A..."
Minako was making cutting motions across her neck. "Usagi-chan, you're choking!"
"Right, well I know I don't usually study... but tomorrow I have this huge... Right! Tomorrow! On Sunday, I know . It's weird. Well! Um..." her voice went up a few octaves. It was difficult to hear her but the neighbor's dog started barking. "I really have to go now, I love you bye!" She slammed down the phone, breathing heavily and very pale.
"Smooth," Minako commented.
"I really, really hate you right now, Minako."
Hate? Uh-oh... This really was unlike Usagi. Maybe this date wasn't worth threatening a friendship. "Look, Usagi-chan, if you don't want-"
*Ding-dong*
Suddenly forgetting everything she was saying and thinking, Minako jumped in the air and squealed. "They are here!"
She ran downstairs as fast as anyone in high heels can.
Then she ran back upstairs, pulled Usagi away from staring at the telephone, and dragged her downstairs.
Sighing, Usagi reached out and pulled the door open.
Here goes nothing.
Famous. Last. Words.
End part one.
Part two ( 'A New Horror Approaches! High School Boys and Dating!' or "He's Ain't Severely Neurotic, He's My Brother") has... some popcorn. A chick flick. The patented "yawn" move. Some scary encounters of the third kind, and the underlying bitterness to an unfair world, as expressed in headless gummy bears.
Ok, ok, and maybe a banana phone or two as well.
~Semi-inspired by Full House, believe it or not. Also by the episode where Usagi and Minako chase Haruka around. They looked like twins.
(No, I have *no* idea what kind of backmail paydirt Minako has on Usagi that the others don't. Use your imagination. I think I've overworked mine. )
~Antigone
2000
