Pairing: Tsukino Usagi (Sailor Moon) x Seiya Kou (Sailor Star Fighter)
Fandom: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon
Theme: #18. "say ahh ..."
Rating: PG ... Just a dash of suggestion.

Disclaimer: Tsukino Usagi, Seiya Kou and Kino Makoto are not my property, and neither are any other characters mentioned in this drabble. They belong to Naoko Takeuchi. The cakes don't belong to me, either, though I wish a had a slice or two right now.

Strawberry Flavored Taste Tests

"C'mon, Seiya! Say 'ahh' ..."

The dark-haired teen idol stared blankly at her. "You're kidding, right?"

Kino Makoto sighed, setting down the forkful of cake - the eighth one that day. She looked mournfully over at the other slices of cake, ranging from the basic rich chocolate to the exotic Sans Rival. "Seiya, please. I really need your help in this!" she pleaded, trying to imitate Usagi's puppy-eyed look that always made the singer melt.

The odd look that he gave her indicated that she was unsuccessful, but eventually he sighed and bit down the forkful. "Remind me again - why I have to do this?" he said around a mouthful of Black Forest goodness.

"It's for the school's upcoming Food Festival. I'm going to enter the cake contest this year. I need someone to sample my cakes, and tell me which ones are the best or which ones need improvement," the tall brunette explained, looking over her cakes and trying to pick out the next one he would sample. "Originally, I asked Taiki-san, but I think something came up and he sent you over instead."

"Yeah, I'll bet," Seiya said grumpily, thinking about his friend. Knowing Taiki, who would never turn down a lady's request, he was probably in cahoots with Yaten over something. They must be plotting revenge for that stunt he pulled with the showerhead the other day.

Seiya clenched his fist. Oh, those two ... They would get their just desserts ...

Actually, saying that made him feel a little queasy. Makoto's cakes were great, but even he couldn't tolerate having to sample one after another consecutively, sometimes having to go for seconds in order to properly critique the food.

"Why didn't you ask Usagi?" he said in a nonchalant tone, though something inside him fluttered just a bit at the mention of the blonde's name.

Makoto shot him a dry look over a plate of frothy carrot cake. "Usagi thinks everything edible is delicious."

"Ah."

The aforementioned blonde popped her head into the kitchen. "Did someone call?" she asked, before catching sight of all of the cakes. The girl squealed in delight - no matter how much she had matured over the years, she could never quite get rid of that habit - and attacked the cakes with all the force of a rabid junkyard dog. Or rabbit, take your pick.

Makoto glanced from the enthusiastically munching Usagi to the awestruck Seiya, and smirked. "Usagi-chan, what about this one?" she asked, holding up a slice of white frosted cake with a big, juicy strawberry on top.

The girl quickly abandoned the cheesecake she was devouring to accept the one Makoto was offering. She went through the actual cake in record time, and held up the strawberry to the light, taking the time to examine the delicious fruit. A quick peek at Seiya indicated that he was also observing something intently - just not the strawberry.

Oblivious to it all, Usagi took a bite of the strawberry. Time seemed to slow down for Seiya, all of his entire being focused on her perfect white teeth biting down into the fruit, her glossy pink lips closing around it before pulling away. A bit of juice dribbled down the side of her mouth, and she brought up a finger to swipe at it, popping the digit into her mouth to suck at the liquid.

Seiya's mouth hung open wide enough to fit a cantaloupe inside. Makoto valiantly tried to hold back her laughter, wishing that Minako and her camera were there. Usagi, however, had a completely different point of view on the situation.

"Oh, Seiya, are you hungry?" she asked, hopping down from the counter. The pop idol tried to force his brain back to work, but the strawberry scene was firmly imprinted on his mind, and set on replay. In slow motion.

Usagi shrugged, and tossed the rest of the strawberry into his mouth. Seiya started to choke and Usagi giggled, leaving the kitchen with a quick wave.

The brunette took sympathy on the choking singer and handed him a glass of water. After all, it wouldn't do to kill a friend, not to mention the vocalist of one of the most popular bands of today. Well, at least, not when she had this much blackmail material on the poor kid.

Makoto propped her chin up with a hand as she watched him try to regain his composure. She couldn't resist - he was much too fun not to tease.

"Ne, Seiya-kun, did you know that sharing the same food counts as an indirect kiss?"

She wisely ducked the spray of water that shot from his mouth, and made a mental note to tell Taiki to add strawberries to the Seiya Kou Blackmail list.