Chapter 12: Boy Talk vs Girl Talk

"Do you have the map, my love?"

Ryoto nodded, "Right here in my pocket, my beautiful princess. I'm really looking forward to seeing that famous museum's exhibits. And with you by my side as my resident expert on all things tank-related, I'm sure to learn lots more about them, sweetheart."

"You're flattering me again! And I love it!" Yukari kissed his cheek, collected the car keys from the coffee table and took her boyfriend's hand in hers. "Then let's get our wheels spinning, Ryoto. It's nearly eleven now, and we should try to be back at the house by three to leave us plenty of time to get ready for our romantic dinner together. I'll find out just how fast Minako's car can really go!"

Sitting on the sofa between her boyfriend and Miho, Saori leaned to whisper in her commander's ear, "Minako's car isn't the only thing Yukari will be driving hard this week, Miporin! Remember what we overheard in the bathroom last night?"

"I'll never forget it" Miho murmured. "Have fun at the museum!" she smiled brightly at her departing friends.

"We will, Nishizumi-dono!" Just after her team's loader and her boyfriend had left the house, Hana spied another couple walking downstairs together. "Minna, Mako and Toshiro are finally up."

"Exactly when I predicted they would be" Saori grinned at Miho. "Konnichiwa! You're looking very well rested today, Mako. Then again, you should be after sleeping so late in the day."

The team's driver gave the young man beside her a knowing smile before replying, "We weren't sleeping late, Saori. In fact, we've been wide awake for hours." She added, "And without any help from Yukari's evil bugle this time."

"It is a miracle!" the ginger-haired girl gasped. "Toshiro, how did you do it?"

The sixteen-year-old boy blushed, "Well... you know..."

Mako led her boyfriend over to the armchair beside the fireplace and settled comfortably onto his lap. "He did it by giving me a good reason to wake up early, Saori. Actually, plenty of very good reasons" she smiled sweetly at her handsome young lover.

Miho giggled, "Makoto was right. Her house really is full of Minakos!"

"Does that include you, Miporin?" Saori grinned at the Anglerfish commander.

"Me? Hai! Of course it... does..." The brown-haired girl's face abruptly flushed red. "Uh... I mean..."

"We know exactly what you meant!" her Panzer's radio operator laughed, reddening Miho's cheeks even more.

Miho quickly changed the subject. "Ok... then... minna, how about breakfast? It's my turn to make it today, so who'd like to volunteer to help me in the kitchen?"

"Your ever-faithful assistant is always ready and willing to lend a helping hand, darling" Yusei spoke. "Though I'm not very accomplished at cooking, I'll give it my best shot."

"I think I just lost my appetite" Masaru groaned. He told the girls, "Minna, I should tell you about the long weekend the five of us guys spent at Ooarai Campsite a couple of months ago. Yusei tried to make pancakes our first morning there, and it's not an exaggeration to say... they didn't turn out very well."

Miho's boyfriend grinned, "I admit they came out a little dark."

"A little dark? More like pitch black!" Masaru laughed. "They were tough as rubber too! I snapped a plastic knife in half trying to cut into mine! If Ryoto hadn't brought along that huge box of granola bars in his backpack, we would've all starved to death."

"At least I wasn't the guy in charge of putting up that big tent we rented" Yusei retorted, playfully teasing his close friend. "That was your job, Masaru!"

"Oh?" Hana giggled. "What happened to your tent, sweetheart?"

"It... uh... fell down in the middle of the night" her boyfriend confessed. "And we nearly suffocated trying to crawl out from under it in the dark."

"Completely flattened by a gentle breeze" Toshiro added with a grin.

"Boys!" Saori snickered. "How could they ever survive in life without help from us girls?" She snuggled closer to her Yosuke. "But there is at least one thing they're really good at. Isn't that right, Miho?"

"Hai! Absolutely!" her commander exclaimed a touch too hastily. "I mean... Oh! I've done it again!"

"Miho-san, you should try not to blush so often" Mako murmured. "It may become a permanent condition."

. . . . .

After enjoying a surprisingly edible breakfast, the couples decided on taking a walk together in the warm early-afternoon sunshine.

"This is such a scenic and peaceful place to live" Miho sighed happily at her boyfriend as they lead the group, strolling along the two-lane road. "Makoto was very fortunate to inherit her big beautiful house out here in the countryside. Even though she usually only spends weekends and school vacation time here."

"Hai" Saori spoke from behind her. "So much open space, too. Miho, this would make for a really great Sensha-do practice area. It's a shame our friends can't enjoy the feminine art in this dimension."

"I guess we're all very fortunate... in our own unique way" Hana added. "It makes me wonder how many other dimensions there are, and what wonders they hold. But in this one, Usagi and the girls are Sailor Senshi, which is something so incredible, ordinary schoolgirls like us can only dream about what it must be like."

"I'm glad you mentioned that, my love" Masaru said. "It's hard to wrap my head around the idea that they're genuine superheroes in this world. Or that Usagi will someday become a real Queen, and rule over the entire planet from Tokyo. It boggles the mind."

"You just gave me an idea, Masaru!" Miho exclaimed. "We should think of an appropriate way to thank Usagi for making this wonderful holiday possible. And especially" she smiled at her boyfriend, "for her and Minako bringing us together with our guys."

"A party? Next weekend?" Saori suggested. "I'm so into that, Miporin!"

"I am too, Miho-san" Mako agreed. "As long as we have it in the evening."

"Why so late, Mako? Are you and Toshiro planning on getting up at eleven every single day we're here?" her ginger-haired friend teased. "You'll both sleep half your holiday away if you do that."

"Nani? Who said we'll be sleeping?"

. . . . .

As the hands on the living room wall clock neared two forty-five, Aino Minako's orange Toyota came speeding down the deserted road west of Nerima, its gas pedal still pressed hard against the floor by the curly-haired teenage girl at the wheel. After slowing down and pulling to a stop in the driveway, Yukari turned off its wheezing, scorching-hot engine while Ryoto hurried around the small hatchback and swung the driver's door open with a flourish. "We're back on time and our romantic dinner awaits, my princess! I really enjoyed our museum trip, even though they only had two tanks on display."

"I did too, darling!" Yukari giggled as she left the driver's seat, gesturing at the door he held, "You're spoiling me so much every time you do that for me, I may forget how to open the loader's hatch on my Panzer IV!"

The young couple shared a deep, deliciously lengthy kiss before rejoining their friends. As they walked up the steps to the front door, Yukari softly squeezed Ryoto's hand. "I never had the chance to get all dressed up for our other restaurant dinners. I hope you like what you see, my Ryoto."

The young man's eyes gazed into hers, shimmering with boundless love. "I already do. Whenever I look at you, I see the most stunningly beautiful girl in all the world."

"Which world, my Ryoto?" Yukari coyly asked him. "This one... or ours?"

He smiled, "Both."

His girlfriend stopped on the top step and flung her arms around him, kissing him again even more passionately than before. "I love you so!"

"And I love you, my princess. And my soulmate, and my tank expert, and..." he added with a shy blush, "...my lover."

"Hai" Yukari whispered. "Your lover. Just as you are mine."

. . . . .

Sometime later, Ryoto and Yusei stood in adjoining upstairs bedrooms, dressing themselves in their new suits. "Is my tie straight?" Yusei asked the boy in the room with him.

"Looks fine to me" his older brother nodded. "Put on your jacket and you'll be all set. You do look like a perfect gentleman" he grinned. "Or as much as any brother can."

"I hope Miho thinks so" Yusei smiled. "How are our girls doing?"

"Last time I checked, Saori told me they need another half-hour. They're letting their nail polish dry." Toshiro chuckled, "The ladies always need more time than us, Yusei. They have lots more to do."

"Hai. That was covered in the book."

"Chapter four" the other teen said. "Don't forget, you and Ryoto are supposed to wait here until your girls are downstairs with their shoes on and ready to go."

"Got it."

. . . . .

On the other side of the thin bedroom wall, Ryoto had also nearly completed his transformation from a typical teenage high school student into what he hoped Yukari would find much more visually pleasing.

He slipped an arm down his jacket's sleeve and finished pulling it on. "That's it, Yosuke. This is the best-dressed I've ever been in my life. How do I look?"

"Fine... except for one small detail" Yosuke grinned. "The price tag is still attached to your pants."

"Nani? Oops! Thanks for catching that!" Ryoto removed the tag and set it aside. "What are your plans for dinner tonight?"

"Masaru is already hard at work in the kitchen. We'll pitch in after you leave." He laughed, "I don't know what he's making yet but it's bound to be way better than Yusei's infamous pancakes!"

. . . . .

In the master bedroom, Nishizumi Miho and Akiyama Yukari sat on a single bed each, wearing their gowns and being fussed over by their three female classmates. "Give your nail polish a couple more minutes to dry" Saori told them. "Then you can apply your lipstick. That's a really nice shade of red Rei gave you, Miho. And Ami's favorite shade is perfect for you too, Yukari. It compliments your pastel pink gown perfectly!" She boasted, "In my not-so-humble opinion!"

"You're sounding more and more like Minako every day, Saori" Miho giggled. She fretted, "Are we still on time?"

"Your reservations aren't for another forty-five minutes, Miho" Hana reassured her. "You'll be ready with plenty of time to spare."

"Don't forget to bring your purses" Mako murmured. "It would be rather embarrassing if you or your boyfriends forgot to bring enough money to pay for your dinners."

"Hai, our purses!" Miho exclaimed. "I'll need my driver's license anyway, a place for the car keys, and I'll bring the lipstick along in case I need to freshen up. Hmm... anything else...?"

"Don't forget your cigarettes, Nishizumi-dono" Yukari reminded her. She grinned expectantly at her commander, "Are you going to try doing that thing Minako mentioned in one of her lectures, where you exhale smoke in your boyfriend's face? She said it was guaranteed to turn him on."

"I was thinking about it, Yukari. Sure, why not?" Miho decided. She giggled, "Oh, good luck on that footsie idea with Ryoto. Remember what Minako said, try not to overdo it!"

"If I smoked, I'd try both tonight!" Yukari laughed. "I'm sure your tease will work on Yusei, Nishizumi-dono. You always look so elegant and feminine when you have a cigarette."

"I do?" her commander puzzled.

"Mako doesn't smoke because she's worried she'd fall asleep and start a fire" Saori mused. "And Hana doesn't want anything to affect her crazy-good sense of smell with flowers. I'm curious... why don't you smoke, Yukari?"

"I'd like to try it but my parents told me I have to meet three conditions before they think I'm mature enough to, Saori. The first is that I have to be at least sixteen."

"You are sixteen... so what's their second condition?"

"I need to have good grades in school."

"You're always in the top six in your class, so that isn't a problem. And the third?" the ginger-haired girl pressed.

"That I have a steady boyfriend first." Yukari's eyes suddenly widened. "I meet all of those conditions now!" she gasped. "Nishizumi-dono, would you teach me how?"

"To smoke? Sure, if you really want to learn. But there isn't enough time today, Yukari. How about... tomorrow?"

"Hai! Arigatou!" the curly-haired girl beamed. "Though I will ask my Ryoto first, just to make sure he doesn't mind."

"I'm sure he won't mind at all" Saori reassured her friend. "Your boyfriend is just like Ryo, and he doesn't mind that Ami likes to smoke. Actually, I think he enjoys secretly watching her."

"The physical similarities between our guys and our friends' fiancees are rather striking" Mako remarked. "I have to wonder if they're similar in certain other ways too."

"Like... in bed?" Saori giggled.

"That thought did cross my mind" the Anglerfish driver smiled. "After hearing so many tales from the girls about Minako and Taro, and knowing what my Toshiro is like when we're intimate together... I'm inclined to believe they are."

"Hontou? Are we going to have wild stories to tell about you and Toshiro, Mako?"

"In time, perhaps you will, Saori" she smiled. "Perhaps you will."

Yukari couldn't resist repeating Makoto's comment from the previous day, just as Miho had earlier that morning. "Minna, this house is full of Minakos!"

. . . . .