Chapter 4: Rumor

I'm hungry.

I touched my stomach and swallowed painfully. While I still can't believe I said something like that last night, this time I meant it. All that cake eating made me want to throw up but did little to replace actual food. I secretly hoped that a certain idol was feeling as awful as I was.

So far, it seemed like the only event we've planned is a karaoke party for Minako's birthday in two days. Why? Because Usagi throws a party at the drop of a hat. Putting aside the fact that I hate karaoke, there's also something extremely unnerving about singing with the international superstar watching me, and I absolutely know that I would have to sing one way or another.

My stomach growled. I really should have eaten more proper food last night, no matter what happened.

It was barely six in the morning, and it didn't look like anyone is up yet. Well, considering the jet lag, I doubt that Usagi would wake up before noon. Quickly throwing on some clothes, I tiptoed out of the room and headed for the stairs that led to the kitchen, taking a disgusted note of the large cake box jutting out of the trash can. Honestly, I still couldn't believe that we actually finished the whole thing. I mean, shouldn't idols be more conscientious about their diet? I was betting on the fact that she would stop eating at some point but she just kept on going, so of course I wasn't about to back down either.

Well, it wasn't the brightest idea I've had, but the damage is done now. I just hoped that I will never have to see another cake in my life.

The kitchen was neatly cleaned from last night's mess and not a single plate was out. Whoever did this was definitely very thorough. I wonder if it was acceptable for me to check the cupboards and fridge for some left-overs.

"Rei?"

I turned around, finding Minako suddenly standing directly behind me. Since when did she sneak up on me?

"You're up early. Is there something you need?"

Was it not obvious enough that I'm in the kitchen?

Without waiting for my response, she went on, "Well, I'm going to cook breakfast. It's a bit early, but want some?"

Looking at her smiling face, I was sure that she was setting me up for something. "Sure?" I said uncertainly.

She took the answer as a yes and went straight to work.

Okay, no teasing about the amount of cake that I ate, nor that I got hungry early. Was there something else that I was missing?

I looked over at her from the kitchen table as she hummed to herself and went about the kitchen with ease. It wasn't very Minako-like, but somehow, I found the image nice nonetheless. Well, she is a star, so looking good is part of her job. But with all of her secret phone calls and that message that she left, I honestly did not expect to find her so carefree and relaxed. No, that's not quite it. If I think about it, this carefree image is exactly what I should have expected. With Minako, you always have to think the opposite of what she wants you to think.

"…eat…cake okay for breakfast?"

"What?!" I snapped. I knew it! She was going to tease me about cake!

My temper died down when I got a closer look at what was in her hands. Pancakes. A plate stacked full of pancakes. Oh. Okay, pancakes I can handle. Then I started counting the layers in what can only be called a pancake tower. Did she expect me to finish it all?

"Oh, I don't really know what you eat for breakfast." She retracted the plate at my prolonged silence. "I can make you something else."

My heart skipped a beat at the disappointed look on her face. Was this really Minako? Maybe I'm still asleep, because I think I'm confusing her with Ami-chan.

Struggling with my voice, I said, "Ah…no, but isn't this a bit too much?"

"But you didn't eat much last night, right? Well, apart from cake..."

On cue, we shared a look of disgust, and that somehow turned into a staring contest to see who would laugh or gag first. Good. I can deal with this familiar competitiveness. This is the Minako I know. But as the staring continued, the competiveness edge in her eyes gave way to…something else. Involuntary, my heart skipped a few more beats.

Some shuffling behind us diverted our attention. Honestly, it couldn't have come at a better time because I was really starting to feel uncomfortable. Not that I didn't like it, but…just what am I thinking about?

Turning, I barely caught her boyfriend dragging his feet into the kitchen. Lack of sleep was written clearly on his face, probably having to do with some major cleanup after a Usagi-style party. He didn't even acknowledge our existence and reached straight for milk in the fridge. After he poured himself a glass, he took a seat at the table beside me and helped himself to the stack of pancakes. My stack of pancakes. This sudden possessiveness over those pancakes struck me as odd, but I shrugged it off. I was probably just hungry.

Minako came up to me and quietly said, "He's not a morning a morning person." I nodded back, even though there was no need for her to apologize on his behalf. The fact that she did put me in an even worse mood. I only felt slightly better when Minako came back with two more plates, one for each of us as she also sat down at the table.

Her boyfriend greeted her with a kiss on the cheek. With half-lidded eyes, he smiled and said something in English, as far as I could tell, and she giggled in return.

Simple exchanges, but the familiarity, understanding, and appreciation, they all contributed to a very special atmosphere, the same ones that Usagi slips into whenever she's around her husband, I suppose. Usually I always teased Usagi afterwards, but this time I had an urge to accidently drop the plate just to remind them that I was still here.

"Good morning, Rei-san. I didn't know you were an early riser as well." Having becoming more awake after some milk and food, he casually pointed out in his thick-accented Japanese.

I could feel my eyes twitch. Not that many people can get away with using my first name the moment we meet, and he's definitely no Usagi.

"I'm sorry, that was too forward of me," he quickly apologized, after a subtle jab from his girlfriend. "It's just that Minako tells me so much about her friends, especially you, so I feel like I've known you for years." He says so unabashedly and gave Minako a small smile, which was only returned half-heartedly. She was probably thinking of some way to end this conversation before it got any worse.

"Morning chores a must for me, so I'm afraid I've grown used to it." I chose to not comment about his last statement.

"Oh right, Minako told me you have your own Shinto shrine in Tokyo? Working as a priestess must be tough on a young woman."

Before I could reply, Minako quickly gave him another nudge. "You're going to be late. Come on, I'll let Dan drop by the airport before driving me to work." She turned towards me. "Rei, can I talk to you?"

And with that, she dragged me out of the kitchen in her usual decisive manner before either of us could protest.

"I apologize," she said as soon as we were out of earshot. "I tried to tell him…"

I held my hand up to stop her. "It's not your fault." This is ridiculous; why was she apologizing for him? It's like she's trying to get me to like him, which definitely cannot happen. What exactly does she see in him?

"Anyways, I have to take Michael to the airport, and then after that I need to go to work. I'll try to work out something for tomorrow, but as for today, there's nothing I can do."

I shrugged, trying to not look pleased that that guy was leaving so soon, "Is he going somewhere?"

"He's a special effects director, and they're filming in Hollywood for two weeks," she said. "I feel really bad for using his house while he's away, but my apartment is too small to fit everyone."

I nodded along, not particularly caring either way as long as I don't have to deal with him for the rest of my time here.

"Also, I will be a bit late coming back tonight. I need to pick up some stuff from my apartment. Artemis too; he must be worried sick that I didn't come home last night. But here," she handed me a large brown bag, and began explaining everything inside, "I put together some maps and materials for the city if you guys want to go sightseeing. There's also a dictionary inside. This is the house key, and here's my work address. If you have any problems, my number is in here as well." Taking a deep breath, she sighed, "If only I knew beforehand that you guys were coming…"

"You worry too much." I took the bag and wondered when she had the time to put it together. Just when did she get up this morning? "We have Ami-chan with us. We'll be fine."

None of us had particularly expected that she would skip work for us, except maybe Usagi. We had tried to reason with her on the plane ride here, and in the end, Makoto even proposed a bet, the condition being that Minako wouldn't take a single day off while we were here. Even Ami-chan agreed to take our side, but Usagi had said that she believed in her idol and took the bet against all of us.

But the bet aside, it has sure been a strange morning. We hadn't even broken into a verbal fight at least once.

In the end, Usagi did not get up until nearly one in the afternoon. We decided to just wander around town and see what we can. As usual, Ami-chan was a huge help when it came to navigating our way through London.

For most of us, this was our first time abroad, and Ami-chan patiently answered our questions one by one. Usagi was surprisingly quite knowledgeable about London as well. When we asked her about it, she puffed out her chest and proudly declared that her Mamo-chan had told her about his study abroad experience.

Makoto rolled her eyes as soon the name Mamo-chan came out of Usaig's mouth. "Should have seen that one coming."

"Mako-chan, that's mean!"

Usagi's dedication to her husband was something we constantly poked fun at. They still act like newlyweds that sometimes that it is questionable whether their passion will ever cool down. Given all that they've been through in this life and past, maybe it will never be enough to mend the wrongs.

For a second, snippets of our past lives flashed in my mind, but I was pulled back by Usagi suggesting that we visit Mamoru's old residence in London, which was almost immediately shot down. To erase the large pout from her face, we decided to stop for a late lunch. It worked like a charm.

As it turned out, Makoto was the one who enjoyed lunch the most, sampling new dishes carefully and critically. It really felt like our school days again. I haven't had this much fun in a while.

"Hey hey, isn't that Minako-chan?" Usagi, always the devoted fan, recognized the idol immediately on the cover of an English magazine another customer from the table to our right was reading. She nudged Ami-chan. "What does it say?"

I have no idea why it still surprised Usagi to see her idol on magazines. Besides, it was probably just baseless gossip. So I continued with my food until I heard Ami-chan gasp.

"What's wrong, Ami-chan? What does it say?" Usagi asked.

"I...Rei-chan, can I see the bag Minako-chan gave us?"

It turned out that she was looking for the electronic dictionary in there. The rest of us sat in awe. What word was too difficult for Ami-chan? Usagi tried to peek, but Ami-chan shut the dictionary quickly, her mouth hanging open.

"Um, how do I say this?" she said uncomfortably. "I thought there must be a different interpretation, but…"

Usagi laid a comforting hand over Ami-chan's, prompting her to continue.

"It said that, as far as I understand, that Minako-chan is…"

At this point, the worst possibilities jumped to mind. Was she sick again? Pregnant? Did she do something illegal?

"It said that Minako-chanlikeswomen."

There was a pause.

"What?!" Both Usagi and Makoto had stood up, shouting. The other customers in the restaurant looked at us weirdly, but none of us were calm enough to care.

Ami-chan gave me a weak but meaningful nod. I felt the fork slip out of my hand, but the only thing I could hear was the beatings of my heart.

By the time that Minako came home at night, Artemis in tow, the four of us had come up with numerous creative ways to explain what we did during the day apart from playing detective. Newsstands and magazines were literally turned upside down, and we were prepared to do much more. As it turned out, we didn't need to search very far. Nearly every magazine covered it in varying degrees, and the locals seemed to know the story very well. It amazed me how something this big has not spread to Japan by now. Her PR team must be pulling a lot of strings behind the scenes.

As the initial shock wore off, I realized that the four of us had different reactions to the news. Usagi, for all her disbelief, seemed uncharacteristically smug for some reason. Ami-chan kept it professional, but from all the years of knowing her, I could see something in her eyes that went beyond mere curiosity. Makoto didn't buy a single word of it, taking the whole rumor as insult to her friend, and physically threatened anybody we asked whom said they did. Actually, we heard a lot of personal opinions about Minako—not all of them positive—and we had to take turns holding ourselves in check before we were all arrested for assault.

The thought of Minako having to bail us out of jail for defending her in public did amuse us for a little while.

Apart from personal opinions, though, we didn't get much of anything else. As far as Ami-chan explained, Minako has yet to confirm either way. In fact, her recent reluctance to appear in public only seemed to add fuel to the fire.

The whole thing was one confusing mess. Clearly she was in a relationship, but Ami-chan guessed that this could be related to the reason why Minako seemed so reluctant to talk about it. It could be a new advertising strategy, but we all quickly shot down that explanation.

Like Usagi had shouted, "Minako-chan would never use something like this to gain popularity! She's popular enough already!"

Regardless, it looked like we wouldn't get any real answers unless we ask Minako herself, but both Usagi and Ami-chan were convinced that it was a bad idea. I didn't know about Ami-chan, but I had a bad feeling that Usagi was up to something. It wasn't any day that Usagi voluntarily held her tongue when it came to her number one most favorite idol.

But held her tongue she did. When Minako walked through the door, Usagi pulled her idol aside and lavished her and her guardian cat with our made-up trips, adding in her own flare that made the whole day feel impossibly fun and exciting. It was overdone by a long shot, but Ami-chan subtly corrected her along the way. Somehow, Minako was convinced that it all happened.

"Can you believe it? Usagi is actually fooling them!" Makoto had whispered when we heard another wave of laughter from the living room reached the kitchen. As always, Makoto decided to thank the host with authentic home-made Japanese food.

I looked up from the cutting board, smiling at the memories of Usagi and Ami-chan teaming up on me to become their friend. "Usagi and Ami-chan are scary when they work together. Didn't they set you up with Motoki?"

"Hey! I told them not to tell anyone!"

"A new species of turtles that looked like…"

"Rei!"

"Oh! And the double date with—!" A piece of half-cooked lettuce flew past my head. Makoto wiped her hands on her apron and laughed embarrassedly.

"By the way," Makoto said, lowering her voice. "What do you think about, you know?"

At the mention of the rumor, I felt my heart speed up again. Strange, it's been doing that for the whole day. At my silence, Makoto continued.

"Do you think that Minako is really—"

"It's just a rumor," I said, probably a lot louder than appropriate. Makoto was by my

side the next second with her hand over my mouth, and we stood absolutely still, only relaxing when we confirmed that the others were still talking in the living room. Releasing a breath that I didn't notice I was holding, I added, softer this time, "Besides, she has a boyfriend."

"True, but hypothetically speaking, if she were, what kind of girl would she be interested in?"

A sudden heat stirred in my chest. "I—wha—!" I clamped my mouth shut to avoid being too loud again. "Makoto!"

"What?" she said, her eyebrow raised, as if we were having a completely normal conversation. "Why are you so flustered? I'm just curious. I mean, it's all hypothetical, because like you said, there's no way that Minako is like that."

I grunted in response. Can we talk about something else, was what I meant to ask, but a part of me desperately wanted to know what Makoto thought on the matter. Before I thought better of it, or thought at all, I blurted, "So what's your opinion?"

"Me? Well, I don't know about Minako's other friends, but within our group, I'd say…" Makoto paused to think, and I found myself twitching impatiently. "Maybe Usagi? Minako always seems to have a soft spot for…wait, Rei, you're bleeding!"

"Eh?" I glanced down at my hand, where blood from the knife cut was dripping onto the carrots I've been cutting. The pain kicked in a few seconds later. I bit my lip as I wrapped some tissue around the wound, vaguely seeing Makoto rush around to find some Band-Aids. The others ran over from the living room as soon as they heard the commotion. The pain on my hand was numbing, but not enough to stop my heart from skipping a beat when Minako took my hand and personally treated the cut.

To be continued…