Cafe Eclipse was situated in the heart of Tokyo, only a few blocks away from the Hikawa Shrine. The location was prime, as it was near a main park where festivals were often held. With an important festival only two weeks away, Akiko was often outside of the Cafe to assist with artistic decorations and setup, leaving Makoto to busily bake desserts for the cafe. Minako had offered to help, which only resulted in copious amounts of dough exploding all over the kitchen. She and Tsubaki spent nearly a week pulling dough out of the cabinetry.
It was 9am and already Akiko and Makoto began furiously kicking up their old rivalry, challenging each other to a bake-off. Their rivalry had a tendency to gather crowds, as they found it rather entertaining to see modern style face off against traditional arts. Not to mention, the food which resulted in their competitions was always superb.
Today's crowd was relatively small, gathering about 10 people around the counter as they watched the two cooks face off. Makoto had already begun beating the brownie batter, and Akiko had begun to pound the red bean paste.
Minako wasn't necessarily interested in their competition. It was far too early for any of this. She hadn't even fully woken up yet, despite the three cups of coffee she'd already downed. Slumped into a booth, she stared up at the poster on the wall. It was the newest poster put out by the super hot boy band, ShinY. Not only were they good singers, they were excellent dancers who had a tendency to pelvic thrust the audience during their concerts. Such hot pelvises they had.
Minako sighed dreamily, not realizing she was drooling down her apron as she stared at the poster.
"You're drooling again, Micchan~" Tsubaki took a seat across from the blond, crossing her knees under her frilly uniform skirt. The amount of lace, ruffles, and tulle involved in the Cafe uniform was just her style, especially because it came in blue for her. Minako wore a golden yellow variant.
Minako groaned, wiping her mouth off. "You just don't get it, Tsubaki-chaaaan! The boys are so cute, and the way they move is aaaaaah so wonderful!"
"They are certainly beautiful~ " Tsubaki agreed, leaning on the table with her elbow and propping her head up. She'd turned sideways so she could stare at the poster too.
"Ohoho, so scandalous, Tsubaki-chan!" Minako jeered coyly. "What will Kasumi-chan think if you're looking at boys?"
"My beautiful heart will always belong to my Kasu-hime and our beloved daughter~ " Tsubaki countered, admiring the wedding band around her finger. It was a silver band with inlaid blue sapphire hearts, very suited to Tsubaki's style. Kasumi's was similar, though with jade roses embedded within the band.
Their wedding was most unusual but still a thing of beauty. Kasumi and Tsubaki wed shortly after Usagi and Mamoru had. It was a traditional Shinto wedding with Rei performing the ceremony. Tsubaki had chosen traditional women's garb, a white kimono with copious amounts of traditional layering. Kasumi hadn't been so formal, though she wore her black kimono with a spiderweb pattern. Everyone they knew and held dear had come to celebrate.
"But," Tsubaki added, "if I ever did dress like a boy, I'd dress like them~ "
Minako giggled. Despite Tsubaki keeping her hair in a bob cut since the day Porrazorite had forcibly cut it short, Minako just couldn't see Tsubaki as a boy and she constantly forgot that Tsubaki really was a boy underneath all the makeup, jewelry, and tulle. She'd never seen the blue-haired girl dress like a boy. It was a strange thought, really. "I think that'd be cute! You should do it sometime for Kasumi-chan!"
Tsubaki laughed. "I don't want to give Kasu-chan a heart attack~"
"Definitely not!" Minako giggled. The idea was rather amusing, if not slightly morbid. It was enough to get both girls to giggle like children. "But for now, we can just drool over their posters."
"Mhm~ " Tsubaki agreed, looking up at the poster as well. It sure was a sexy poster.
"Yanno they're performin' here next month, yeah?"
Minako and Tsubaki both looked up to find someone had approached them and neither had noticed. She was shorter, couldn't have been much taller than Minako. Her long purple hair was half-pulled back into a braid, much as Minako wore her own hair. Her complexion was a dark contrast to Minako and slightly to Tsubaki. She seemed pretty casual wearing blue jeans and a silver t-shirt with a green star in the middle. She had multiple piercings, a hoop and two studs in each ear.
"Shimabukuro Emi," she introduced herself. "Just moved here from Kyoto, yeah. Been followin' ShinY since they started, yanno?"
Kyoto was in the Kansai region, which wasn't exactly known for their linguistics. At least that was how the Kanto region saw it. There was always an east-west rivalry between the two regions, dating back to the age of the samurai. Despite being nearly two millennia since the fall of the samurai, that rivalry still stood strong. At least Emi spoke a rather light dialect of Kansai-ben, making her a bit easier to understand than some.
"Aino Minako," she introduced herself, brushing her hair with her hand dramatically. "I've been following ShinY since they started too."
"Hana Tsubaki," she introduced herself as well. "Charmed~ " Tsubaki laid on the charm thick as she introduced herself.
And Emi seemed to eat it up. "The pleasure's all mine, Tsuba-han," she flirted back.
"Hey hey!" Minako interjected. "We're talking about ShinY here, not flirting! Cute. Boys. Besides, Tsubaki-chan is married," she added with another flick of her hair.
"Would you rather I flirt with you, Mina-han?" Emi shifted her attention to Minako, taking her hand and giving it a flirtatious kiss. Minako simply gaped in return. She attempted to mouth a few words but nothing came out. This Emi just appeared and was already making a considerable impression on the two.
"So, what brings you to this beautiful crystal city, Emi-chan~ ?" Tsubaki asked, breaking the stunned silence.
"Jobs, yanno?" Emi replied, nudging Minako further into the booth so she could sit next to her. "'n that the people here're so much cuter. Couldn't pass up the opportunity t' see ShinY in concert either."
"I bet the concert's sold out," Minako groaned, stretching across the table before dramatically face flopping down on it. They always were, and she always seemed to miss the sale in the box office. She'd tried to win tickets on the radio before too. Sure, she could throw her weight around as the goddess of love, Sailor Venus, but that seemed more like an abuse of power than a good idea.
"Got that covered, yeah," Emi smirked. "I~'ve got a pair, but I need a date t' accompany me, yanno?"
"I'll go!~ I'll go!" Minako suddenly revived back to life, excitedly waving her hands like a schoolgirl. She would do most anything to actually see ShinY in concert, even go on a date with a chick. She couldn't deny that Emi was cute, and she certainly had a strange gentleman charm to her. Sure, she had her sights set on Saito Kun, but she could always flirt to get a pair of coveted tickets.
...
The Hikawa Shrine had become the world's most revered and recognized shrine. It had grown crystalline, as all of the city had, and expanded further up the hillside to accommodate the increased visitor traffic since the dawn of the Era of Peace. While Grampa had retained somewhat of a spry youthfulness due to the effects of the Silver Crystal, Rei continued to head the shrine.
The head miko, Kasumi, sat on the floor where the ceremonial fire burned brightly. Something had called her to venture to the fire, and she sat before it, tucking her feet beneath her. She offered the proper reverence to the fire and it heeded her, dancing back and forth.
Kasumi shuffled her tarot cards, pulling the cards from the bottom and placing them on the top at random intervals. The cards felt as though they were calling out to her along with the fire, and far be it from her to ignore such a call.
She placed a card out on the ground, then placed another and another. She paused, biting her lip, placing a hand on the deck. Hesitantly, she drew another card and placed it on the ground. "It can't be."
…
Artist's notes:
Shimabukuro Emi 島袋 絵美. The name is more done for the sound than the meaning, as the meaning is rather silly. Shimabukuro broken up means island 島 bag 袋. Emi 絵美 means beautiful painting.
-han is the Kansai-ben version of -san. From what I understand, -han is only used if the name doesn't end with "i" , "u" or "n". So she's shortening names here. Kansai-ben is often translated as having a deep southern accent. Japanese speakers have told me this isn't exactly right, and Kansai-ben is more seen as the language of bad boys (at least according to Kantou folks) and that Okinawa's dialects would be more suited for a southern accent. So I've translated it as heavy slang with a bit of badassery thrown in. As badass as Emi can sound, as she's more of a flirt than anything else.
Kudos if you get the real-world reference of ShinY.
