I am infinitely sorry it took so long to update. I started my senior year of high school (scary thought...the only thing more frightening will be me when I go off to college next year. I'm not the sort of person you would want unleashed on the unsuspecting public.), and you know that's not really an author's picnic. I've been sneakily writing on my laptop during study hall, which the teachers would probably be peeved about if they were aware of it (thank God for large study hall classes and convenient stairwells, what can I say). Regardless, this is a relatively short chapter, but it took me weeks to write. It was also a bit hard because it is very to-the-point and cliffhanger-ish, but I didn't want it to be three or four paragraphs long. So, yeah...filler. And to add insult to injury, I had the finished draft just sitting here for about two weeks, with me being either A) too busy, B) forgetful, C) too lazy, or D) all of the above to actually take all of the two minutes to log in and post it. Next chapter will be out quite soon, I promise. I really do. On the consequence of never being able to eat an ice cream sandwich (I swear, they're gonna make me fat).
...Yeah, anyways. My sad little life has nothing to do with the story, so let's just read. 'Cause reading is good.
And it doesn't seem fair
That your wicked words should work
In holding me down
No, it doesn't seem right
To take information
Given at close range
For the gag
And the bind
And the ammunition round...
This is not about love
'Cause I am not in love
In fact I can't stop falling out.
-"Not About Love" by Fiona Apple
Minako Aino was, by nature, a very brash person.
Her sparkling energy, her hasty momentum, and her enthusiasm for life in general was nothing short of contagious. She possessed the remarkable ability to incite a hunger for the latest gossip in the most reserved of people---Ami Mizuno came to mind---and with her aura of liveliness she could inspire the most apathetic sloth to haul ass when the occasion called for it.
No wonder then that Usagi Tsukino was hauling ass.
Minako, perched on the edge of a wrought-iron chair of the coffee shop's patio, caught sight of the petite blonde sprinting up the sidewalk from almost three blocks away. Dodging past others on the street and practically leaping over crosswalks, it was a miracle she hadn't yet been smushed by a speedy city bus or raced right into an open manhole. A Cheshire-cat grin stretched across Minako's face. As morbidly amusing as those prospects might be, they couldn't beat the fun of toying with Usagi personally.
Usagi came to a grinding halt before Minako's table, doubling over in an attempt to catch her breath.
"Hello...Mina...chan..." Usagi panted.
"Hello, Usagi-chan. Why don't you sit down?"
Usagi eagerly collapsed into a chair and greedily snatched the bubble tea that Minako had pre-ordered. For a minute there was silence as Usagi alternated gasping for air and chugging the cold, sugary drink. Minako studied her with a thoughtful expression, slurping noisily on her strawberry smoothie. Finally, Usagi looked up with wide eyes. "So? What did you want to tell me?"
Minako set the glass down on the table and reclined back, closing her eyes. Her voice adopted an air of mystery. "Hmm? Whatever do you mean?"
"Minako-chan!" Usagi protested.
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
The senshi of love and beauty had to forcibly fight herself to not laugh as Usagi gave a dejected wail.
"Oh, alright then." She heaved the chair forward so it rested on all four legs once more. "I shall tell you. However, you must wait for a while longer."
She did allow herself to laugh as Usagi's sweet face crumpled into an agonized grimace. "Usagi, Usagi, Usagi! All in good time!" she chided.
"Why do I have to wait?"
"For...them!"
Usagi turned around in her chair to see what had caught Minako's eye. Amongst the many citizens walking along the busy Juuban street, she gradually took notice of a certain face, framed by wispy tendrils of brown hair escaped from its ponytail, bobbing above the other heads. A head curtained by a jet-black mane stepped along beside the first, and not far behind the two, another girl with blue hair scurried along industriously. The odango-ed blonde's face lit up with a smile. "Minna!" she cried happily. She turned back to Minako. "So this is big news, isn't it?"
"The biggest news, Usagi-chan."
Rei pushed back a sheet of glossy black hair. "So, Minako? What's the emergency? Since it seems to be so crucial."
Minako clapped her hands together. "Okay, okay! You guys are never going to believe this..." She trailed off, stirring the straw of her smoothie absently.
"Mina!" Came the chorus of four girls.
"Hai! Well, last night I was walking home from the Ivory Room, right? I was just passing the shopping center, when"---she giggled excitedly---"I saw a certain someone. Now, who can guess who it was?"
There was a brief pause, then...
"Setsuna!" Rei offered.
"No."
"Urawa-kun!" Ami chirped hopefully.
"Er...no."
"Who, then?"
It seemed Minako's grin was threatening to stretch literally from ear to ear. Her eyes caught Usagi's own, and she leaned forward, as though the information she was about to give was a secret to be cherished forever. "Usagi?" she said quietly. "Who do you think I saw?"
Usagi stared blankly at Minako, but a specific name suddenly swirled through her mind like a hurricane.
No. No, it couldn't be. That was impossible.
But the blonde's eyes sparkled with knowledge that ran deeper than the limited wisdom of her earthly self. She was, after all, Sailor Venus---the senshi of love. Although she didn't always realize it, she understood emotion. Usagi swallowed the rising lump in her throat and whispered, solely to Minako, "Who?"
"Usagi-chan...minna...it was Seiya-kun."
Inexplicably, Usagi felt as though the ground beneath her fell away. She only vaguely comprehended the squeals of the other three girls around her, her own dizzying silence was deafening to her. It was unfathomable. This couldn't happen. It just couldn't be true.
Then, a second, even more wretched thought manifested; one that Usagi didn't even want to consider.
Why did it matter this much?
