A Bit of Fun and a Day of New Friendships

Shakaku stood back, and she held the door for Kaichuu. She walked into the store and waited for Shakaku, who was hesitant to enter. "Come on; I thought you loved animals," Kaichuu said as she tugged on her friend's sleeve.

"I do, but I have my reasons for not wanting to go in," Shakaku answered as she looked around the small pet store.

"You're impossible," Kaichuu said as she rolled her eyes. Shakaku entered after a few moments of standing at the door, and she walked slowly behind Kaichuu. Hades, who was inside the pocket of Shakaku's jacket, poked his head out.

"You know, I don't blame you for not wanting to be in here," he said as he took a look around the store. Shakaku and Hades both looked up at a tank that had a large iguana inside. The iguana looked down at the two; when it saw Hades, it panicked, and it ran to a spot in the tank where Hades could not see it. "At least the animals are scared of me," Hades said with a smile as he also noticed a pair of lovebirds fly to the farthest side of the cage, and they watched Hades cautiously.

"Maybe your ugliness is what's scaring them," Shakaku suggested. Hades looked shocked, but when he saw the smile on Shakaku's face, he grinned.

"That was cold," Hades said with a snicker.

"I know."

Hades looked up at another bird that had been staring at him. The large African Gray parrot stared at Hades for a while, turned its head up side down, and then it bobbed its head. "You're stupid," the bird said as it bobbed its head a few more times.

Hades came further out of the pocket, "Want to say that again?" Hades said as he made his claws clearly visible.

"You're stupid," the bird repeated, and then it began to laugh as if it knew that Hades could not enter the cage.

"Is the bird giving you a little bit of trouble?" Shakaku asked Hades, who was now ready to climb out of the pocket and onto the cage.

The bird looked up at Shakaku, "You feather brain," the bird said, and it did some form of a dance on the perch; it raised one foot, put it down, raised the other, and it continued to do so.

"Y tú tambien," Shakaku said as she rolled her eyes.

"You son of a clucker. Son of a clucker," the bird said with another laugh. Shakaku raised an eyebrow, and she walked away from the bird, which was still laughing. Hades went completly inside Shakaku's coat.

A second later, Kaichuu ran up to Shakaku and Hades with a large grin on her face. "Shakaku!" she yelled as she tried to catch her breath. Before Shakaku could ask what Kaichuu wanted, Kaichuu took Shakaku's hand, and she dragged her to an area where the fishes were kept. They passed tanks of gold fish, clown fish, parrotfish, and various other fish until they reached the back to the area; Shakaku saw what Kaichuu had been looking for. Ahead of them was a large display of male bettas, and they were all in separate tanks.

"So?" Hades asked after he poked his head out from within the jacket.

"So?!" Kaichuu said as she walked up to the display. "Aren't they pretty?" Kaichuu smiled, but her smile turned into a frown when she saw Shakaku and Hades look at the display with blank looks on their faces. "Well?" Kaichuu asked after some time.

"They're ok," Shakaku said at last.

"Well, I'm going to get some!" Kaichuu concluded as she ran off to find someone to help her.

"Some?" Hades asked as he looked up at Shakaku. Shakaku walked up to the display and she looked at each fish for a little while. Hades crawled up and out of the pocket, and he perched himself on Shakaku's shoulder, where he was able to get a good look at one of the fishes on the top. "This one looks like me," Hades pointed out after he had taken a better look at the fish. Shakaku looked up, and saw that Hades was right. The fish was black, but it had streaks of red on its tail and around its eyes; Hades climbed back into the pocket.

A young man, one of the workers, walked up to the display, and he carefully took two of the fish from the second row. As he was walking back, he looked at Shakaku for a moment, and he raised an eyebrow. Shakaku looked back at him with a cold stare that showed that she didn't want to be bothered. The guy quickly turned around, and he walked to where Kaichuu stood at the register.

"Was that just me or..." Hades asked, but he let the sentence trail when he saw a smirk on Shakaku's face.

"Jerk," was all that she had to say. Hades snickered as he told himself that the guy had tried barking up the wrong tree.

Shakaku's eyes widened when she saw Kaichuu running to her for the second time. "Did it die already?" Shakaku asked, and she was happy with her comment.

"I..." Kaichuu began, but she paused when she saw the look on Shakaku's face. Shakaku knew very well what Kaichuu was going to ask.

"How much?" Shakaku asked with a sigh as she took out her wallet. Kaichuu smiled with gratitude as she gave Shakaku the squeeze of death. From over Kaichuu's head, Shakaku saw the associate that had walked up to the display look at the two, but he turned to look the other way.

After a few minutes, Kaichuu walked back with a single tank in her hands, but the two fish were both inside it. "You know that they can't live together," Shakaku warned Kaichuu after she realized what Kaichuu was carrying.

"I know that, dummy," Kaichuu said as she pointed to the divider in the middle of the tank. The two fish looked at each other, and if they could have glared they would have. The deep red one batted its tale against the divider as if declaring war on the other fish. The blue fish seemed frustrated by this, and it too began to beat its tale against the divider. The two fish swam to opposite ends of the tank, and they charged at one another.

"At least they're doing what's natural," Shakaku said with a smirk.

***

Rei sighed as she realized that no one except she and Ami were going to be present. That had a good side, however, because then the two of them could get down to some serious studying. Rei wondered if Kaichuu, Shakaku, and the other Constellations held study meetings just like this. Rei snickered as she imagined Shakaku complaining about Kaichuu's lack of interest in studying, which rivaled Usagi's own hatred for studying.

Rei wondered if the other girls- Dorei, Hoshi, and Enzeru- were into studying. She also wondered how they looked upon Rei and the other senshi. It was weird how the Constellations knew so much about the enemy, and they, the fighters of the love and justice knew almost nothing. What if Kyuuteki was planning an attack this very moment, and the Constellations knew about it, and she and the other senshi did not? Would that make them look bad and inferior?

"Rei!" Ami said as she realized that Rei had been staring off into space. Rei got out of her reverie with a start, and she looked at Ami.

"I can't concentrate," Rei confessed as she set her literature book down. "All this commotion with the Constellations is really starting to get to me."

Ami looked at Rei for a moment, and then she too set her book down. "I know what you mean. It bothers me that we don't know anything about Kyuuteki, yet the Constellations seem to know a lot," Ami said.

"Do you think that we should work with them, or would that make us look too open?" Rei asked; she trusted Ami's opinion over anyone else's.

"Honestly, it couldn't hurt to open up once and a while. I keep thinking that maybe this will turn out to be similar to the events that happened with Haruka and Michiru," Ami answered. The two were quiet for a few more moments until Rei looked up from her textbook again.

"Why do you think that Kyuuteki is more concerned about them instead of us? I always thought that if anyone wanted to pick a fight, it would be with us," Rei asked.

Ami looked up, relieved to have an excuse from studying when her mind was clogged up with other things, and she said, "I once heard Shakaku say something about Kyuuteki being able to use them to his advantage. If I were them, I wouldn't want to get caught either," Ami replied.

"Use them?" Rei asked.

"Their powers, I mean," Ami corrected herself. "Shakaku said that if they were captured or if they had enough negative thoughts then Kyuuteki could mess with their minds. I'm sure that Kyuuteki would love to have Dracas on his side because it seems that she controls darkness."

"Can't he use any of us?" Rei asked as she became afraid that he could target any of the senshi without them knowing it.

Ami thought about this for a second, "I don't know," she said finally.

"This may not sound like me, but I think that it would be a good idea if we asked them to join us," Rei said, and she winced at the very thought. She was right; it was unnatural of her to say such a thing.

"Alright," Ami agreed.

***

The street slowly began to clear out from the day's rush, and people began to head home. The street that had been packed with cars a few minutes ago was beginning to clear out, and the people on the sidewalks decreased in number. After a while, the only thing that was left on the street was a pair of cats; one of the cats was white, and the other was black.

"We should work with the Constellations," Luna said as they walked slowly along the sidewalk with few people nearby.

"I don't want to work with those dragons until I have to," Artemis said; it was clear that he disliked Hades, Athena, and Pele quite a bit, and he did not want to have anything to do with them.

"I know, neither do I, but it looks like we might not have a choice," Luna said as she tried to reason with Artemis.

"We'll always have a choice; it's just the outcome that makes me think," Artemis corrected his companion in an angered tone. Luna did not say anything, but she knew that Artemis was upset about something.

"Artemis," Luna said after they had walked in silence for a few blocks.

"I know, I'm sorry," Artemis said as he lowered his head.

"Do you have any suggestions?" Luna asked him. She figured that perhaps something had been bothering him, which was possibly why he did not want to work with the Constellations.

"It bothers me that the Constellations are doing better than we are, and we are supposed to be a better team," Artemis said.

"It doesn't matter what team is better, it's just that they are able to work closer together than our senshi," Luna corrected as she mocked the same tone of voice that Artemis had recently used.

"I hate it when you do that," Artemis said as he realized that she had been mocking him. Luna smiled a comforting smile. "We must show the dragons that working together might not be so bad," Luna stated.

"Speak of the devil," Artemis said as he looked up at the sky. Luna looked up, and she saw what Artemis had been looking at. Hades, Athena, and Pele were in the sky a little distance away.

"We should go and talk to them," Luna suggested as she began to walk faster until she broke out into a run.

"In the sky?" Artemis asked with a puzzled look.

"I think Minako's rubbing off on you," Luna pointed out after Artemis realized what Luna had been talking about. The two ran together in the direction that the dragons were. They had been out of breath for a while when they finally reached the dragons, and Athena noticed the cats trying to get their attention.

"Look who it is," she told her mate. Hades looked down, and the three dragons stopped in midair.

"What do they want?" Hades hissed in frustration. It seemed that he couldn't even go out for a nice peaceful night on the town without being interrupted.

"Let's go see," Pele suggested to her parents. The two older dragons were hesitant in going down, but curiosity made them give in, and they flew down to where the cats where. When the dragons landed, Artemis and Hades both extended their claws, and they growled at each other.

"Stop it," Athena said as she hit Hades on the head slightly; instantly, Hades obeyed. Artemis was about to say something when Luna stopped him; they were not there for a blood bath.

"Can we help you," Athena asked as civilized as she could. The cats did not say anything because it shocked them that at least one of the dragons was trying to be civil and courteous.

"We wish for our senshi to work together with yours," Luna said after she overcame her initial shock.

"Yeah, right," Hades blurted out, but Pele and Athena both shot him a look. "I mean... uh... why?" Hades finally composed himself. Artemis knew that it was his turn to speak since the male dragon had spoken, but he did not trust himself, and he knew that he was going to blurt out something just like Hades had done; he did not want to sink down to the dragon's level.

"You of all people should know that working together in teams brings better results," Artemis said after he had composed himself.

"The dragons thought about this for a few moments. "He's right, daddy," Pele whispered to her father. Hades took in his daughter's words, and he nodded.

"We'll see. That's not our decision to make," Hades said, using the best answer that he could come up with. It would be better if he left it up to the senshi themselves to decide.

"Our senshi would love to work with the Constellations," Luna said, trying to make it sound as if the two groups of senshi would enjoy working with each other. Artemis kicked her back leg with his, but he kept the same expression on his face.

"We'll see," Hades repeated as he, Athena, and Pele got prepared to take off. The sun, which had begun to set, stayed frozen for a few seconds, but then it continued to set, and the sky began to turn from blue to orange to deep blue.

***

Kerai narrowed her eyes as she watched the dragons land near the cats from atop a nearby building. She smiled as she saw the tension between the male cat and Hades. Perhaps they weren't going to make a deal as Kyuuteki had predicted. A slight breeze played with Kerai's deep green hair as the sun continued to set. Kerai frowned as she noticed that the two groups of guardians were actually holding a conversation, and she began to believe Kyuuteki's prediction. It angered her that instead of the senshi growing farther apart, they were growing to understand and tolerate each other.

It seemed possible to Kerai that if the cats and dragons were willing to work together, then it was surely possible for the senshi to find it within themselves to work together. Damn friendships for all Kerai cared, but she knew that she could not break up the senshi no matter how hard she tried.

The breeze grew stronger, and Kerai pulled her jacket closer to herself; she realized that it was not the wind, but Kaboku had just appeared a few feet away from her.

"Any changes?" Kaboku asked as he walked to the edge of the building where Kerai was, and he looked down at the dragons conversing with the cats.

"It's just as Kyuuteki predicted," Kerai said. It was clear to both of them that the cats and the dragons had come to reach an agreement.

"It's not good," Kaboku said. He looked up to watch as the setting sun stopped, and it tried to illuminate the sky one last time. The sky turned a deeper red and orange, which was a beauty that both intrigued and sickened Kaboku.

"Somehow," Kerai began, "I feel as though this might actually work to our advantage." Kaboku nodded as he watched the sun begin to set once again, and the sky began to dye itself with shades of deep blue and purple; the other colors of the sky deepened to prepare for the coming night.

"That's possible," Kaboku said after the sun had set completely. Kerai smiled to herself as she realized that she and Kaboku were looking at the rising stars together. Perhaps working with him would work out after all.

After a few awkward moments, Kaboku spoke, "You know, the senshi working together could lead to their downfall."

Kerai raised an eyebrow, and she stared at Kaboku in shock; she did no know how this was possible. "If they feel closer together, one small little fight could break them up permanently," Kaboku suggested.

Kerai began to see Kaboku's logic. The senshi would try to work together, but when they realized that they would be unable to stand each other, they would break up the alliance, and it would be easier for Kyuuteki, Kaboku, and she to attack the senshi.

The two left shortly after the cats and dragons had departed, and the sun had completely set, leaving nothing but a deep blue sky and a few stars behind. A few stars twinkled, and Kaboku tried to see if he could locate Virgo, but he couldn't before Kerai suggested that they leave and report to Kyuuteki. Kyuuteki would be pleased with Kaboku's prediction, but he would not be happy that the guardians were going to form an alliance among each other.