Chapter 4
A week had passed. Minako sighed as she walked up to Ami and Zachariah's condo. There was no word yet on her audition video. Perhaps she didn't make the cut.
The weather had warmed up, and she began to pull out her spring wardrobe. She began braiding her hair and pinning it up into a thick bun. She left her traditional red bow at home.
She stepped before the door of her friends and knocked.
She waited patiently holding a bag of food in one arm and a case of juice in another.
It was their group's monthly hang out night. This evening it was to be hosted by the Newly Weds (Zachariah and Ami). They all had agreed to bring a feast of junk food and grilled meats. She gave another knock on the door and waited.
She looked up at as the door opened. She forced herself from allowing her jaw to drop.
Kendal stared down at the young woman as she carried two heavy bags in her arms. Already he had not said a word and things were feeling very strained and awkward to Minako. Was she even at the right condo?
"AH! Minako!" spoke Zachariah from behind looking at her from over Kendal's broad shoulder, "You made it!"
He adjusted his body to allow her in the door.
She respectfully bowed a few times trying to escape his gaze before she dashed to the kitchen to put down the food and drinks."Hey guys!" she called out waving to the women who were here at the condo already. "I brought the goods!"
Usagi gasped as she opened the bag, "Ice cream?!"
"Don't go too wild," laughed Minako. "It's for us all to share."
"I LOVE ice cream!" exclaimed Usagi with joy in her gaze. She tightly hugged the other blonde woman, "I love you!"
She laughed in return, "Love you too."
"Those would go good with the brownies I brought," spoke Makoto with a wink.
"Hey hey! What about the fruit?" asked Ami as she slapped Usagi's wandering hand. "Don't you dare touch that."
"But it looks so good!"
"We are waiting for Rei and Jay. Can you at least wait till they come?"
The door knocked.
"I'll get it!" shouted both Minako and Usagi in unison.
Kendal observed silently as he watched the two women race to the front door. His calculating eyes took in everything he saw. He was quite curious if this was really how the women acted every time they met together. His attention turned to the dark haired man speaking with Zachariah.
They called him Mamoru.
He had a feeling he already met this man somewhere before.
Where?
He didn't know.
"We're all here!" announced Usagi cheerfully as she reached out to hug her fiancee.
They were indeed joined by a man wearing a beanie hat and a woman with long dark hair.
He noticed how beautiful all these women were. They looked familiar... not because of the photo shoot he helped Zachariah with all those months back. They gave an aura as a group. If he had known better, he was standing in the midst of all the Sailor Senshi.
"Grab a plate everyone," spoke Zachariah clapping his hands together, "Fill it up, and head to the living room! We've got a bunch of movies to choose from this evening."
"Oh!" exclaimed Usagi, "Let's watch Time to Die Tomorrow!"
"No!" scoffed Makoto, "Freeze That Monster! I've wanted to see it for a while!"
"Ooh! What about that Zombie Apocolypce Movie?" suggested Rei.
The three women turned their attention to Minako waiting for her suggestion. She was eeriely silent. She looked up to them after the feat of dead silence. "Uh... I'm a go for that Star Galaxy Wars."
Ami scoffed, "You know how horribly inaccurate that movie is about space and aliens."
Minako waved a hand in the air while balancing her plate of food in another, "I know, I know! It was just a suggestion."
Kendal raised an eyebrow as they began sitting down and finding a spot to rest. Like they had first hand knowledge of space travel and aliens? Yeah, sure. All either situated themselves on the couches, chairs, benches or rugged floors. Minako found herself situated beside the man of her internal anguish.
She offered him more room so he could sit comfortably. He thanked her sitting down. She turned her head and began stuffing her face. Oh boy, she really hoped this evening would be a peaceful one. It would really suck if a Youma decided to attack this evening.
The movie began as did the tension in the room. At least she felt it sitting next to Kendal. Her friends began screaming at the screen and making commentary and throwing out jokes while she sat back silent and slowly stuffing her face.
Kendal was in disbelief.
He still was.
He sat next to the woman who reflected Sailor Venus EXACTLY as he remembered her. What didn't help is he got three additional moments alone with the senshi herself, which Minako completely reflected to the tee.
If he would have known better, he would have thought she actually was Sailor Venus herself! But that was impossible. He definitely believed that Minako had some sort of friend-based connection with the Senshi of Love and got to practice acting like this person.
Hm...
And now while all her friends were tearing apart one of his colleagues movies, she remained completely silent. Even the three men were making comments which the women were either agreeing with or arguing about.
Very odd.
He saw her stand up from her spot and begin to leave for the kitchen. His ice blue eyes watched her carefully as she carried her plate with her. He glanced at it noticing it was empty.
She ate fast!
That was another thing too. Why was there so much food in the kitchen? It was enough to feed at least twenty men. Did the women really eat that much food? And Minako...
His memories wandered back to her audition video. When she took off her over-sized sweater, he saw her wearing a bright orange sports shirt and dark biker shorts. He never realized how muscular she really was. Yes, she was tiny, but he realized the clothing she wore hid all this well trained muscle from exposure. She auditioned with words and coordinated movements of what Sailor Venus would say. He could also tell in the tape that Zachariah had assisted her with the video camera and fed her lines to practice, which she did with ease and confidence. Her video also included her own stunts which consisted of gymnastics, rock climbing, and even the basics of martial arts at the gym.
As much as he hated to admit it, she really was perfect for the part.
Now, he just needed to learn to like her. Perhaps he might develop an admiration towards her. Yes, a mutual respect, towards her appreciation and authenticity to the Senshi of Love.
She returned to the spot she sat in prior and began eating like a horse.
He noticed she stacked her plate a mile high with nothing but protein. She was putting it away quite well too. Perhaps she needed it to maintain all the muscle strength and endurance.
Kendal didn't care much for what was playing on the television, though his attention remained on the screen. He listened in carefully on all the women as they began shouting at the movie as if it could hear them. PSH. What a joke. There were a few instances where Usagi stood up with Rei both shouting, "THAT'S A LIE!" and began spewing insults at the movie. Jay began laughing out of amusement to the reaction of the women. Zachariah seemed too satisfied sitting so close to his love as they both snuggled closely together with his arm around her shoulder.
Makoto began making puns in the middle of the movie.
A huge monster grabbed a fake doughnut from the top of the building to throw it at the main characters.
"I doughnut know if they're going to win," spoke Makoto offhandedly.
Rei shrugged, "Doughnut ask me."
"Doughnut you see they're going to get turned to jelly?," Mamoru (surprisingly) added in.
"Doughnut you see they're going to become creamed instead?" added Jay drinking from his cup.
"Wow," huffed Minako, catching the attention of her friends. They all looked at her surprised she finally spoke up as she rolled her eyes, "You doughnut just go there, did you?"
The women laughed as did some of the men.
Kendal gave a ghost of a smile at the horrible pun.
"Oh, my goodness."
Zachariah pointed to his film making friend, "Are my eyes deceiving me? Is Kendal smiling?"
The silver haired man gave a blank face, and he crossed his arms over his broad, muscular chest. It became awkward again as the movie continued to play in the background with crashes, smashes, and people screaming on the video. After a moment of silence and people unsure of how to react, Kendal finally spoke. "I doughnut know what you're talking about."
Minako burst into laughter as did the rest of the group. The Senshi of Venus patted his shoulder with dirty fingers accidentally putting bar-b-que sauce on his nice, clean shirt, "Welcome to the group!"
He didn't notice the stain till work the next day.
Author's Note: YOU DID IT! 10 Reviews! 10 more reviews says Chapter 5 will be up in 24 hours.
So I noticed this story didn't have a book cover... how about an art contest? Would anyone be interested in drawing a Minako/Kunzite fanart related to this story? Perhaps the first place winner will have it featured for this story as the story's book cover? What do you think? First prize will also receive the choice of who they would like a one-shot fanfic of. Perhaps even the topic?
Couples to choose from are Usagi/Mamoru, Ami/Zoi, Rei/Jade, Mina/Kunz, Mako/Neph.
Give me feedback. What do you think?