"I heard that there's been several break-ins around here in town." Ami told the girls nervously during their break at school one early autumn morning.
"Seriously? That's really scary!" Usagi cried. "Not to mention my whole family will be going somewhere tonight and want me to watch the house...I'll be alone! I don't trust myself!"
"What you need is a bodyguard!" Minako suggested.
"A bodyguard? I wonder who would make a good one for tonight..." Usagi wondered, looking around.
"Obviously someone really physically strong, and someone you can trust!" Ami said with a small smile on her face. While they were talking, Seyia ran up to them in his football outfit.
"Hey there, I heard you're looking for a bodyguard for tonight! Mind if I fill that position?" He grinned at her, and she glared at him a bit.
"Really? You jumped on it rather quick. Maybe you have something in mind for her?" Ami asked.
"It's fine guys, I trust him completely! Are you physically strong?" Usagi asked with stars in her eyes.
"Well-" He got cut off by Makoto walking over, shaking out her ponytail.
"Hello! Sorry I'm late, track ran really late today! They just wouldn't let me leave!" She laughed, then looked over at Seyia. "Oh, hey there to you too, Seyia-kun! Were you saying something?"
"Makoto-chan, what are you doing tonight?" Usagi blurted out, making everyone look at her.
"Nothing, I suppose. I was thinking about watching TV, why?" She responded shyly.
"Do you wanna be my bodyguard tonight?" Usagi offered with a smile on her face, and Makoto giggled and accepted.
"Do you need me to sleep over? If so, I have to go home early and pack everything!" Makoto said.
"Only if you want to, but you don't have to stay that long. It's just until my family gets back home." Usagi explained. "So most likely from five to about eleven."
"That sounds doable! I gotta get going though, I need to wash out my hair for my next class!" Makoto waved to everyone and walked away, leaving Seyia to give Usagi a confused look.
"I thought you wanted me to be your bodyguard tonight!" He protested.
"I was considering it, but I know Makoto-chan a bit better than you, and I'm really sorry!" Usagi apologized sincerely. "Perhaps next time my parents are gone?" Seyia simply turned away from her and walked away.
"Alright, I've cleaned almost every inch of this house in preparation for Makoto-chan's arrival!" Usagi beamed.
"I'm proud of you for inviting over a close friend of yours, Usagi-chan! For a second, I was afraid you'd invite over Seyia-san and get yourself into trouble!" Luna said.
"I wouldn't invite him over, I don't know him well enough! Besides, I don't know if he's physically strong enough to fight off an intruder, and she is, so I went with her!"
"Doesn't he play American football?"
"Yeah, but that has nothing to do with his physical strength!" Usagi smiled. "Now, what rooms do I still have to clean? I did the bedrooms, bathrooms, living room, and dining room...I did the kitchen...ah, the hallway!" She happily picked up her bucket and skipped into the hallway, instantly slipping on the still-wet floor. Makoto let herself in at that point and found all the spilled water on the floor.
"Usagi-chan?" She asked in shock. "I don't think house-cleaning is your thing..." She laughed awkwardly.
"Really? I thought I was doing a good job! I managed to clean almost the whole house for you!" Usagi laughed from her spot on the floor.
"How thoughtful! I do love a clean house!" Usagi looked up at her and found her in her usual dark green minidress with a turtleneck attached. Despite the neck, the dress had no sleeves and was very short. Makoto held her hand out to Usagi and she took it and got pulled back up to her feet.
"I should probably change out of these wet clothes." Usagi said, picking up the bucket. "There's some cake on the table in my room, so you can help yourself while I get changed!" Usagi offered with a smile, then went away to go do it. Makoto smiled back and walked into Usagi's room, amazed she knew where it was despite not visiting her house much. She looked around at the bright pink decorations and bunny ornaments that would look very childish in anybody else's room, but somehow made hers feel more nostalgic.
She found herself attracted by a picture on Usagi's desk and picked it up to look at it. It was a picture the girls had seen a dozen times over; it was a simple one of the future family in each others' arms happy, but to those three, it meant so much more. Makoto glared slightly at Mamoru in the picture. "Why won't you respond to her? Do you want her to be sad? Do you think we like dealing with her when she's like that?" She yelled at the picture, finally setting it face-down on the desk. Usagi came back in the room at this point in her orange shirt and jean capris and noticed Makoto setting the picture down.
"Hey, don't do that!" Usagi teased, setting it back up."Now I have a nice image to give me sweet dreams!" Makoto didn't respond to this and kept looking down, so eventually Usagi went over to the table and announced the cakes were ready. Makoto snapped out of her daze and smiled over at her, then sat at the table.
"Delicious,I love cakes! What kinds do you have for me?" She asked eagerly.
"I have a cheesecake and a shortcake!" Usagi pointed them out to her.
"I want the shortcake!" Makoto took it from her and started eating it. "Yummy, just like I knew it would be!" Usagi giggled and started eating her own as well. The two girls ate their cakes quietly, not knowing what to talk about. After a while, Makoto broke the quiet again. "Does he ever send you letters back? At least once?" She suddenly demanded, slamming her fork down. Usagi looked at her in shock.
"No, he hasn't. I keep sending him letters all of the time, but he never responds. I tell him all about our various adventures every day and tell him he's on my mind each and every day, despite Seyia-kun's advances..." Usagi said sadly, setting down her own fork. "Harvard is enough to keep a guy busy, I know, but surely he must get some vacation?" She looked over at Makoto, who could only look at her helplessly. "Maybe I should upgrade to phone calls. Everyone's using the phone nowadays, and he's probably too busy to read! But talking, well, nobody's too busy for that!" Usagi's cheerful demeanor instantly came back and she grinned. She twirled her engagement ring around on her finger.
"That's the spirit, Usagi-chan! You should call him tonight, after everyone's in bed. Late-night phone calls are some of the most romantic things ever, in my opinion!" Makoto swooned. When she picked her fork back up, however, she was suddenly assaulted by a flying piece of cheesecake that hit her square in the face. Usagi gasped in surprise.
"Chibi-Chibi! You're supposed to be with my family!" She scolded. Chibi-Chibi simply giggled and tried to eat the frosting off of Makoto's face, upsetting Usagi but making Makoto laugh.
"She's so adorable sometimes, right?" She asked, wiping some of the frosting off with her arm. "I'm all sticky now though..."
"Please, go take a shower! I can lend you some of my clothes if you need them." Usagi offered quickly, standing up with a squirming Chibi-Chibi still in her arms. Makoto thanked her and got up as well, then headed for the bathroom. She shut the door and started up the water. Usagi cleared away the plates, putting the leftover cake in the fridge and placing Chibi-Chibi on the couch. "Stay here, and don't move!" She directed sternly. "Here, watch some TV." She turned the TV on and gave her the remote, which made the toddler giggle. Usagi smiled a bit. "At least she'll stay quiet for now..."
She didn't know what else to do, so she sat down on the couch and started watching TV with her until she heard Makoto's voice calling her. She looked up.
"Usagi-chan, what should I do with my dress?" She asked, hiding her body behind a wall.
"Oh, just give it to me, I'll put it in the washing machine. Or you could do it if you want to." Usagi answered. "Did you find any of my clothes that would fit you? You're a lot taller than I am..."
At that point Makoto slid out from her hiding spot and revealed the outfit she picked out was a bit too small on her. It was Usagi's light blue blouse and dark blue overall set, which looked fine on Usagi herself but was very small on Makoto's body. The blouse stretched to show off a bit of her stomach, and the normally short shorts were very short on her and looked uncomfortable. Usagi stared at her in shock.
"Take those off, you look so uncomfortable in them!" She demanded instantly, jumping off the couch. Makoto blushed a bit.
"Really? They're tight, yes, but other than that I feel fine in them. Besides, nobody's going to be here to see me in them, so it'll be fine!" Makoto grinned. "Now, how about we start on dinner? I planned a sushi and curry dinner for us that'll take several hours just to prepare, so let's get started!"
"Okay!" Usagi agreed and led her into the kitchen. Luna followed them purely out of having nothing else to do. Makoto told her everything they needed to make both dishes, and set Usagi to work on the curry while she worked on the sushi. As they were cooking, they suddenly became aware of the sound of rain drumming on the rooftop.
"It's raining!" Makoto noticed. She ran into the living room to look out the window and gasped. "Wow, it's already coming down pretty hard! It'd suck to be stuck in this kind of weather, and I feel sorry for anyone who is!" Right as she closed the curtain again, there was a knock on the door, and she went to answer it. There stood three very wet and upset-looking Inner Senshi. "Hey, look, Usagi-chan! People who got stuck in it!" She teased.
"We didn't plan on it! We were walking home from the park when this storm literally came out of nowhere!" Rei protested hotly.
"I'm sure you guys wouldn't mind if we waited out the rain in here, right?" Ami asked, and Makoto nodded. The three dashed inside.
"We're just making dinner right now, so feel free to help. I'm sure we can make extras too, if you'd like!" Makoto offered, going back into the kitchen. The three were afraid to sit on anything due to being saturated with water, so they all uncomfortably leaned against the wall and attempted to chat with each other. After a while, Usagi came out of the kitchen with towels.
"I'm sorry you guys got caught in that downpour! It looks pretty nasty out there!" Usagi said, handing them each a towel.
"Don't worry about it, it didn't kill anybody!" Minako grinned. "Could you please tell us what's up with Makoto-chan's outfit though?"
"Minako-chan!" Ami nudged her.
"Oh, Makoto-chan's dress got really sticky from the cake we ate earlier, so I gave her some of mine while hers are in the wash. I think we both forgot how much taller she is compared to me..." They all laughed awkwardly.
"Come on guys, now that we're drier, we should go help Makoto-chan cook dinner! Otherwise, she might not let us have any, and who knows how long we'll be here for?" Rei teased, tossing her damp towel back into Usagi's arms and walking into the kitchen. The other two followed her shortly afterwards, and Makoto was happy to put them to work. Usagi put the towels in the wash as well and went back into the kitchen to continue cooking.
The tasks went by very simply for a while, every girl having her own job and everyone laughing and joking with each other. They were all startled by the sound of the door again, so Minako volunteered to go see who it was. She came back into the kitchen with a small smile on her face. "It's Haruka-san and Michiru-san!" She beamed.
"What are they doing here?" Ami wondered. "Are they soaking wet like us?" Minako shook her head.
"Figures, messes are scared of those two." Makoto teased.
"They said their car's fan belt snapped, so they want to hang out here for a bit until the mechanic gets here." Minako explained.
"Let them in! I'm not making them dinner though!" Rei warned. Minako leaned back into the living room and called out to them, then went back into the kitchen and kept working. Shortly after she got back to work, however, she noticed a giant cockroach on the wall and promptly screamed.
"What's wrong, Minako-chan?" The other four demanded, running over to her side. She shakily pointed to the offending bug.
"It's a cockroach!" Usagi cried.
"Quick, someone get me something to smash it with!" Rei demanded.
"No, it'll fly!" Minako warned.
"It won't die anyway! Cockroaches can't be killed!" Ami screamed.
"Stop screaming everyone, or you'll attract attention!" Makoto directed, but nobody listened to her. She eventually grabbed a dirty spoon out of the sink and readied herself to smash it. "Get out of my way, I'm going to smash it!"
"No, look, it's flying!" Minako screamed, making a dive for her curry mix and accidentally spilling half of it on herself when she grabbed it.
"No, you have to save the sushi!" Ami said, leaping for the raw fish but grabbing the chopping board instead. The fish slid off the counter and hit the floor.
"Guys, the cockroach is still flying!" Rei said, grabbing a tin kettle and hurling it at the bug.
"DON'T DO THAT!" Everyone screamed at once. The kettle managed to get the bug, but it also splashed into the sink filled with water, splashing everybody and soaking them again. Rei tried to slow down her breathing, while everyone else looked over the damage on their clothes.
"Oh, I hope nobody sees this..." Minako moaned in embarrassment right when Haruka and Michiru peeked their heads in. Their eyes popped out at the huge mess and the filthy state of the girls.
"Have fun cooking? I'll bet the dishes taste heavenly now!" Michiru teased.
"Why don't we just order pizza? Cooking doesn't seem to be in our blood." Ami suggested, and everyone else quickly agreed.
Everyone had to pitch in to clean up the kitchen while Usagi ordered the pizza. Afterwards, the Inners decided to play some cards with each other while they waited. After several minutes, Usagi suddenly looked up.
"I just realized that I forgot to order drinks with the pizza!" She gasped.
"Don't worry about it, Usagi-chan, we can just drink water!" Minako reassured her.
"None for me though." Makoto rejected politely. "I have problems with tap water now, so I tend to stay away from it. The water at my apartment isn't very clean, and once I accidentally drank some and got really sick. Ever since then, I boil the water I use for cooking extensively and only drink bottled water, or none at all." She explained.
"Your tap water isn't clean? You don't live in a bad part of town!" Ami said in astonishment.
"I think it's just a fluke. Apartments that have low rent like mine tend to have terrible utilities. At least my power works, and I can still shower and everything. I just can't drink my sink water." Makoto turned her attention back to her cards.
"This is boring! If we're going to stay here, we need to do something fun!" Rei cried in annoyance. Everyone looked over at her.
"I read about this one game that's sorta like Hide-N-Seek in reverse. One person hides, and everyone else searches for them. If someone finds them, they don't say anything, they just hide with them. It keeps going until the remaining person finds everyone, and they win." Ami said, putting her cards down.
"Hey, I know that game! We used to play it at my elementary school! Let's do it!" Minako said enthusiastically, throwing down her cards and jumping up. "Oh, can I please be the first person to hide?" Everyone agreed, so she happily ran off to hide. After everyone counted to twenty and went off to look for her, there was another knock on the door. Ami was nearby, so she hurried over to open it.
"I wonder who would be out in this rain? Is it the pizza already?" She wondered, opening the door to find a very soaked Setsuna and Hotaru standing there. Hotaru looked downright miserable, but Ami couldn't read Setsuna's expression. "You two!" She said in surprise.
"We were supposed to get picked up at the park, but Haruka and Michiru never showed up. Then it randomly started raining, so we ran over here as fast we could." Setsuna explained.
"We got all wet!" Hotaru exclaimed.
"Please, come in! We ordered a pizza if you guys are hungry, and I'm sure Usagi-chan still has some leftover towels for you guys to use." Ami said, gesturing them inside and shutting the door. They leaned against the wall as well, and Ami left to continue searching for Minako. Usagi came in a few minutes later with two big towels.
"I'm sorry those two didn't pick you guys up! They're actually here because their car is broken." Usagi explained.
"I figured as much, they wouldn't purposely leave us behind. Still, I'm going to look for them and scold them!" Setsuna smiled slightly. Hotaru was busy drying her hair at a fast pace.
"Well we're playing Sardines right now, so I wish you luck in finding them!" Usagi said, taking Setsuna's towel from her.
"I remember that game. Chances are they're using it as a make-out session." Setsuna grumbled.
"They're not the ones hiding, they're looking for Minako-chan."
"Oh, then it'll be alright."
"I wanna play too! I bet I'll be the winner!" Hotaru tossed her towel to Usagi and ran away, and Setsuna ran after her. Usagi put the two towels into the washer and continued her search for Minako as well.
Rei kept searching extensively in various closets, eventually finding Minako in Usagi's closet. Rei started to say something, but Minako shushed her and pulled her inside, then shut the door. The closet was big enough for two or three people, but anymore and things would quickly become cramped.
"Why Usagi's closet, of all places?" Rei whispered.
"I figured everyone would assume I was in either a linen closet, a cupboard, or under a bed, so I decided to switch things up." Minako giggled. "Amazingly, you're the first person who's found me!"
"I wonder if anyone else has shown up here to get out of the rain." Rei wondered.
"Who knows?" Minako shrugged, then shushed Rei again. She put her ear to the door, then walked to the very back of the closet and crouched down a bit. Rei followed her example, pushing some of the clothes in front of themselves so they would be better hidden. The closet door got slammed open anyway, flooding in bright light.
"Who's hiding in here?" Hotaru's voice demanded. Minako and Rei both looked at each other, then came out of the shadows. Rei pulled Hotaru in there with them and shut the door again. Hotaru promptly sat on one of the shoe boxes. "I thought I was going to win!"
"Maybe Ami-chan will win. I bet she'll act like she's playing when she's not, then when nobody else is looking, she'll announce herself the winner." Minako speculated.
"Ami-chan's not like that at all! She's not very sly!" Rei protested.
While Michiru was searching, she heard another knock on the door. "I'm coming!" She ran over to it and pulled it open, expecting it to be the pizza. It wasn't, and instead Seyia stood outside under an umbrella.
"Excuse me, isn't this Usagi-san's house? Is she home right now?" He asked nicely, and Michiru simply slammed the door shut.
"She's not in right now!" She yelled. She tried walking away from the door, but Seyia just knocked on it louder. She threw it open and gave him a dirty look.
"Look, if she's not home, could you at least give her a message? I wanted to discuss something a bit...personal with her." He explained. Michiru was about to refuse him again when Usagi showed up.
"Seyia-kun! What are you doing here?" She asked sweetly. "I don't remember inviting you over. Still asking about the bodyguard job?"
"No, the main reason I came over today was to discuss something with you in private." He said, dashing into the house before Michiru could shut the door on him again. He closed his umbrella and put in the nearby rack. "Since it's private, is there anywhere you want us to talk?"
"My house is filled with people right now...they all wanted to get out of the rain and are playing Sardines. So in reality, no room is private right now." Usagi shrugged. "I'm sorry, was it important?"
"I think it was. You sure not a single room is open? How about your bedroom?" He asked, and Michiru looked over at him.
"I suppose that's an option. Come on, let's go! It better be quick though, it's almost dinner time." Usagi led the way to her bedroom, ignoring Michiru's scathing glare. She shut the door to her room and sat on her bed. "Now, what did you want to discuss with me?" She waited for him to sit on the bed with her, but he remained leaning on the door.
"What's with Michiru-san today? Is that her name? She slammed the door on me!" Seyia asked.
"Don't mind her, I think she's upset because she hasn't eaten anything yet. None of us have because the pizza's taking a while." Usagi giggled. "What was your thing to tell me?"
"Well, it's a little hard for me to introduce it, so I suppose I should just jump right into it. Usagi-san, I'm..." He suddenly trailed off and looked away, a hand in his pocket. Usagi leaned over a bit. "I'm actually-"
"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" He suddenly got cut off by four girls jumping out of the closet and almost landing on top of him.
"Just what exactly were you planning to say to her, huh? In her bedroom, no less!" Rei glared at him, taking a fighting pose.
"We were just trying to have a fun game of Sardines!" Hotaru protested.
"And then you had to try and make the moves on our friend!" Minako added, crossing her arms.
"You should be ashamed of yourself! I'm her bodyguard, and I won't tolerate this!" Makoto finished, taking a fighting stance as well. Seyia held his hands up in surrender.
"I'm not going to do anything to her, calm down! You can go back to your game." He sighed. "Maybe fate just doesn't want me to tell you at this moment."
"Now's as good of a time as any, Seyia-kun! Just let it out!" Usagi encouraged him. He sighed again and tried to start over, but then Setsuna's voice announced that the pizza had arrived, so the four girls nearly plowed him over trying to leave the room. Usagi giggled. "I'm sorry everyone seems so against you today. How about you tell me after dinner? I'm sure it'll go over better." Usagi smiled, then went into the dining room herself.
The setup was very informal, and they even managed to order several stacks of paper plates from the place. Some of the girls had already gotten their food and were sitting down eating it. As soon as Seyia walked into the room, however, the slow but cheery atmosphere seemed to vanish as everyone stared at him.
"Seyia-kun? When did you get here?" Ami asked in confusion.
"I feel like this house has too many people in it. One of us needs to leave." Haruka commented, glancing over in Seyia's direction.
"I agree, I can't eat in a crowded atmosphere. All the food would just end up coming back up." Michiru sat down next to Haruka.
"Come on, you two, he's just here for dinner! We have so much pizza anyway, we might as well share it! Be civil!" Usagi scolded.
"As long as he sits next to me, I don't mind what happens!" Rei suddenly announced, taking a nearby seat and scooting the one next to her closer. Seyia chuckled a bit and sat down next to her. Ami managed to boil tea for everyone to drink while they ate. They all made cheerful banter with each other, although several times during the meal the four Outers cast unfriendly glares in Seyia's general direction. They only stopped when Usagi shot them a warning glare back. After a while, however, their distrust couldn't be contained in stares.
"It's funny how rain can really bring people together!" Hotaru said suddenly in a cheerful tone. "Even if they weren't invited in the first place!"
"Yeah, why are you even here? Did Usagi-chan invite you?" Minako asked out of genuine curiosity. Seyia shook his head.
"I invited myself! Although, I would already be here if she made me her bodyguard!"
"Oh? Is somebody jealous?" Makoto teased.
"I'm glad she didn't. If you were here, then your buddies would join you and what a disaster that would bring us." Haruka said, not looking up from her food.
"Isn't this pizza good? It's good, isn't it? I wonder what kind of sauce they used?" Ami said, trying desperately to change the subject. She found everyone staring at her, so she quickly took a giant bite out of her slice. "Hmmmm, I say romano sauce. It's so good!" She faked a preppy voice the best she could with her full mouth. They were soon quickly distracted by another knock on the door.
"Who else could show up?" Setsuna asked.
"Let's find out!" Rei said, standing up and going to answer the door. She opened it to find a reporter standing there. "Hi, can I help you?"
"We're from a TV show where we interview people at their dinner table! Tell us, what are you eating for dinner right now?" He asked enthusiastically.
"Just some pizza, but-" Rei got cut off.
"Perfect! Let's start right away!"
"Wait! You can't film us right now!" She cried, looking back at the others, who were peeking from behind a wall. "I need to make sure my friends are okay with it first!" She gently shut the door and looked back over at them.
"What an obnoxious reporter." Sestuna noticed.
"This is bad for me and my publicity if I'm seen here on TV at a fan's house at night! I can just see the tabloids now..." Seyia grumbled.
"Probably should've thought about that before randomly coming over here!" Michiru snapped.
"Guys, the reporter can't wait forever! Just go hide somewhere while I talk to him!" Minako offered.
"You're a good friend, Minako-san!" Hotaru beamed, and everyone quickly ran off to hide somewhere.
Makoto and Usagi both hid in her closet and shut the door.
"What's the point of us hiding? It's just Seyia-kun that's in trouble." Usagi wondered.
"I think the Outers are worried about their own reputation too? After all, their lifestyles aren't easy ones to explain to the public." Makoto said. "Besides, maybe some people wanted to catch up on the missed-out Sardines game from earlier!" She smiled, and Usagi smiled back.
"I wonder what he was trying to tell me earlier? I know it sounded like a love confession, but what if it wasn't?" Usagi continued to wonder.
"Who can know with him? He just became our friend out of literally nowhere. I'm not as hostile towards him as the Outers are, but I can't help but question his motives just a bit." Makoto said.
"I think they should just give him a chance, and then they'll see he's not a bad guy! He's arrogant and a bit rude, but he's got some sweetness under there." Usagi smiled slightly.
"Hey, did I ever tell you what my mom originally wanted to name me?" Makoto asked randomly. Usagi shook her head. "She wanted to name me Mamoru because, according to her, when she first saw my vibrant green eyes, she knew I would grow up to protect somebody. She didn't know who or what, she could just sense my protective spirit. Since the name means 'to protect', it would've been really fitting."
"Why didn't she then?" Usagi asked.
"Dad said he thought it sounded too masculine, but then he named me after his father! He said the name meant 'strong', which was close enough to her idea, and she wasn't one to argue with him, so his name won. I was known as Makoto from that day on."
"My parents said they named me Usagi because one of the nurses had a bunny-shaped hair clip in her hair and I instantly reached out and tried to grab it. They thought it was adorable, so I became Usagi." They both laughed. "Mamoru would've made an interesting name for you though. You're much more a protector than you are anything else."
"I'm just doing my job as a bodyguard." Makoto laughed again, but was suddenly cut off by the sound of someone screaming. "Someone's being attacked!" She announced in a serious tone, pulling out her pen. Usagi nodded and pulled out her brooch.
"Moon Eternal, Makeup!"
"Jupiter Crystal Power, Makeup!"
Meanwhile, Sailor Aluminum Siren and Sailor Lead Crow were hanging around in the kitchen, waiting to see if the Star Seed they'd gotten was pure or not. Siren eventually found herself bored of the waiting and sat down at a random seat and started eating the half-eaten pizza slice there. Crow glared at her.
"Siren! We're not here for eating, we're here to see if he has a pure Star Seed or not!" She demanded.
"Hmmm? Alright, if you insist!" Siren simply stood back up and fired her bracelets' energy at the reporter, making him scream again. "Let's hope you have a good Star Seed!"
"Hold on! We're not letting you take anything!" A voice demanded. The two women turned to look at it. Out stepped Super Sailor Mercury, Super Sailor Mars, and Super Sailor Venus.
"Yeah, just return the Star Seed right now and we won't have trouble!" Mars demanded as well.
"You foolish girls! You think you run everything around here? What if his Star Seed is a pure one? Then we'd have to take it with us!" Crow grinned, tugging on her whip. The Star Seed finally revealed itself to be a blank, making the two gasp. "Another blank? I was so sure we had it this time!"
"It's fragile, just like a flower..." Siren breathed sadly. Crow glared at her.
"We'll just be taking that back now, thank you!" Venus grinned and started to grab it, but Crow stretched out her whip and snapped it at the three girls, wrapping them up in it tightly.
"Our monster will finish you three off quickly anyway!" Crow smirked.
"Not if we have anything to say about it!" Super Sailor Pluto and Super Sailor Saturn stepped out of the shadows, twirling their weapons.
"More Sailor Senshi?" Siren asked happily, clearly not threatened.
"Just release our friends and give the reporter his Star Seed back and we'll leave you alone!" Saturn asked nicely, but Crow laughed at her.
"Why would we listen to you guys? Come on, let's go Siren. Our monster will take care of things here!" She grinned and shoved into the tied-up Inner Senshi, causing them to fall over. Siren nodded and jumped into the phone booth with her.
"Wait! You can't just leave!" Mars demanded uselessly.
"Watch us!" The two villainesses smirked and vanished.
"Damn, they got away!" Mercury cried from the floor. The monster also appeared as well and looked at Pluto and Saturn.
"You two must be my guests for the evening! Please, take your seats and serve yourselves!" He formed a wine bottle and popped the cork off, proceeding to send a torrent of red wine at the two girls.
"Deep Submerge!" Neptune called out, separating the wine and spilling it on the floor with her attack. Her and Uranus stepped out of the greenhouse.
"More guests? Well, the more the merrier! Enjoy the dinner!" The monster pulled a pizza from a nearby box and chucked it at Neptune, who dodged it by leaping onto the table.
"You can't forget about us!" Super Sailor Jupiter scolded, showing up with her back on Eternal Sailor Moon's. "We might've missed the enemy, but you're still here, so we're bound to still have some fun!"
"Just watch what you're doing! I don't want to clean up a huge mess!" Eternal Sailor Moon warned. Jupiter nodded and walked away.
"Sparkling Wide Pressure!" She threw her attack at the monster, who simply caught it in his wine bottle and popped the top back on.
"What an electrifying taste!" He grinned, and Jupiter stared at him in shock.
"I can't believe you guys forgot about me!" Sailor Star Fighter protested, also coming out from the greenhouse. "I'm a wandering shooting star, breaking through the evil darkness, Sailor Star Fighter!" She posed.
"I think we have everything covered here, thank you." Neptune glared at her.
"I beg to differ! We're still tied together on the floor!" Venus yelled, and Uranus ran over to untie them.
"There must be some attack you can't absorb!" Saturn cried.
"Dead Scream." Pluto fired her attack at the monster, and since he wasn't ready for it, it knocked him over. Eternal Sailor Moon looked at her since she took several chairs out with it. "Don't look at me like that and perform your attack!" She directed, and Eternal Sailor Moon pulled out her wand.
"Starlight Honeymoon Therapy Kiss!" She fired her attack at the monster, who turned back to normal and fell over.
"It just suddenly occurred to me that your kitchen is very small..." Saturn noticed, looking around.
"And we just made a mess of things..." Mars added, jumping up.
"Well, it was great seeing you again, but I bet our car is repaired now so we must get going!" Neptune said in a rush, and the other three Outers ran out of the room with her.
"Hold on! You can't just leave! You helped make this mess, so you can help pick it up!" Eternal Sailor Moon yelled at them.
"Hey, I don't hear the rain anymore! It must've stopped!" Venus gushed.
"That means we can go home now too!" Mercury waved, and the three Inner Senshi dashed out of the room as well.
"You guys are terrible, I can't clean up all by myself!" Eternal Sailor Moon complained. Jupiter put her hand on her shoulder.
"Hey, I'm here too. We can clean it up together." She smiled, and Eternal Sailor Moon smiled back. They both looked over to see if Sailor Star Fighter had anything to add, but to both of their surprises, she had mysteriously vanished.
"Oh my gosh, that was so hard! And that's coming from someone who loves to clean! I thought it would never end!" Makoto sighed and fell into a chair. Her dress was finally clean, and she had put it on earlier and thanked Usagi for letting her borrow her clothes.
"It only took so long because it was just the two of us! I have no idea why the others skipped out on us." Usagi grumbled.
"I had a lot of fun today being your bodyguard, even if I didn't do a lot of actual guarding." Makoto giggled.
"Just for the record, I think you would've made a great Mamo-chan." Usagi teased, and Makoto moved a bit closer to her.
"Yeah, Mamo-chan instead of Mako-chan...I think I like that." Without warning, she suddenly pulled Usagi close to her and kissed her romantically on the lips. Usagi's eyes grew wide with shock, but she didn't pull away. Makoto noticed this and started kissing her a bit deeper, and Usagi kissed back this time. The two went on for a while until they were interrupted by the sound of something shuffling under the stairs. They pulled away and stared into the darkness.
"What was that?" Usagi asked nervously, standing up.
"Probably some sort of hideous monster. You'll go over there and find the rotted corpse of a once-proud man, munching on someone's leg! And he'll turn around and notice you there, and tell you that since you saw him eating human flesh, you'll just have to be his next target!" Makoto speculated in a creepy voice. Despite her proud exterior, she was just as nervous as Usagi was.
"Shut up, Makoto-chan! Stop trying to scare people!" Usagi snapped at her. The two slowly walked into the darkness, their guards up and ready to take a fighting stance at any second.
"I say that on the count of three, we both jump it. Ready?" Makoto asked, and Usagi nodded. "Alright, one, two...THREE!" They both tried to jump but somehow ended up tripping on each other and fell flat on the floor. Chibi-Chibi popped out from the darkness and smiled at them, offering a cake to them.
"It's just Chibi-Chibi! Don't scare us like that ever again, now I have a new mess to clean up!" Usagi whined. Makoto smiled at her and helped her up.
"Come on, we can clean it up together. Doesn't that sound like fun, Usagi-chan?" Makoto beamed at her.
"Yes, it does...Mamo-chan." Usagi smiled at her. "Let's make that our own private nickname, alright? It really does suit you."
"Yes, let's! It really does!" The two laughed again and ran to get the broom.