Chapter 11
"That was… one hell of a training session. Is it going to be like this
everyday for the rest of our lives?" Makoto exclaimed as she stretched out
on the soft Venusian bed. The five fifteen year olds were all relaxing in
the Venusian Wing after their first intense training. "All my muscles are
sore."
"Yea, it did look like it was a lot of work, Minako." The moon
princess said as she looked through all the shades of blue eye shadow.
"You didn't even have to do any of it, odango," Rei groaned as she
massaged her neck muscle.
Usagi was just about to retaliate when Minako interrupted. "Oh,
come on. It wasn't that bad! By the way, why is everyone putting their
cosmetics and clothes in my closet again?" She came out of the bathroom
after a quick shower and joined the other girls in her room. Her moist
hair clung onto her forehead and the back of her neck. Her sleeveless
peach dress was as light as usual and it seemed to bounce as she
walked. She took a seat in front of her vanity and began brushing her
soft hair.
"Because you have the largest closet in the whole castle and not
enough clothes. They expected you to have the most clothes since you
are the princess of love and beauty. Look at it this way, Minako, you
won't be late in the morning because we always have to come here to get
dressed. That way we can wake you up while we're here." Makoto
explained as she began to braid a thin strand of her hair in the front.
"Wouldn't you be embarrassed since you have to walk around in
your night gown to get to my room?" Minako asked curiously. She looked
back and saw Ami try to categorize the cosmetics by color and just
sighed. She grabbed a blue eye shadow, turned Ami around, and began
putting it on while Makoto worked on the fourth thin braid in her hair.
"We live in the same corridor. All we have to do is walk out the
door and walk about twenty steps across the hall and we can get here.
The fact that your bedroom is right behind the door that leads to your
quarters, we wouldn't have to go very far," Rei said as she looked in the
body length mirror while examining how she looked in Minako's only red
dress. Usagi had started to work on a pink blush on Ami.
The door burst open and all five girls froze and stared at the silver
haired man standing there. He blushed wildly at all the awkward
positions the girls were in. "I knew I should've gotten Luna to do this…"
he silently breathed.
"I'll be right there, Artemis, I'll meet you in the training room,"
Minako said as she simply returned to Ami's left eye. With that, Artemis
anxiously walked out. She simply closed the eye shadow and everyone
blinked and returned to what they were doing.
"Wait, Minako. Training room? We're not doing any more training,
are we?" Makoto said as she began to take out the braids while Minako
slipped on her training outfit.
"We aren't, but I am. Artemis and I always do extra training. After
that, I have to work with the soldiers. So I'll see you at dinner time," she
said quickly and headed for the door. Before exiting, however, she looked
at the ring on her index finger. It glowed a bright orange signifying the
close friendship everyone was building. She smiled and put the
remaining pieces of hair into her ponytail. Then she looked back and
sighed. "You're not going to stay in my room the whole time are you?"
Noticing that they were in her room, they walked out with her and
walked her to the training room. They decided to stay and watch how she
trains if their training was just practice. They all laughed when Artemis
saw everyone behind her. They figured that he must be shy around girls.
Either that or… "You know, Minako. I just thought of something we have
to do. We'll see you later, bye!" Makoto said as she dragged everyone out
and left Artemis and Minako alone. They just stared after them.
"What are you talking about, Makoto? We don't have-" Before Usagi
could finish, Makoto had clasp her hand on her mouth and dragged her
out of the room.
"That… was strange…" she said as she saw how nervous Makoto
seemed. She shrugged it off and looked back at Artemis, who was a little
dazed himself. "Well, let's start."
*in the hallway*
"What was that all about, Makoto?" Rei asked, annoyed. She never
liked it when she didn't know something.
"My itinerary doesn't say anything about any required activities,"
Ami said in a soft voice as she started to press the keys on her mini
computer furiously.
Makoto rolled her eyes and sighed while she placed her hands on
her hips. Making sure no one was a round, she said in a low whisper,
"Haven't you seen the way Artemis looks at her?"
All three girls peeked their heads back into the training room and
Rei and Usagi immediately shot back up. Noticing Ami was still trying to
figure out what they were talking about, they dragged her back before
anyone could see her. "I don't understand," Ami whispered.
"Artemis likes her!" Usagi said almost too loudly. Rei and Makoto
stared at her to be quiet and she clasped a hand over her own mouth.
"Well, naturally, he is her guardian and they grew up together. Of
course he's fond of her," Ami stated plainly. She still didn't understand
what all this fuss was about.
"Not that kind of like, Ami. I mean, Artemis likes LIKES her!"
Makoto whispered, a little frustrated. At first she'd thought he was a little
cute, but knowing that he's Minako's, she'd better back off.
Ami went a little wide-eyed for a second but then relaxed again.
"Let's go before they see us. If we get in trouble with her she might kill us
during training," Rei said as she pushed everyone into the next hallway.
~A few hours later~
"Hey, girls, what's up?" Minako said as she opened the door. She
stepped aside and let her friends into her room instead of standing in the
doorway. They all settled down at a spot in the room as Minako closed
the door.
"Well, you see. Rei here had a vision in the fire," Makoto said,
nudging the raven-haired girl beside her with her elbow. She received a
glare from the amethyst eyes.
"Yea, Rei? What did you see?" the host asked as she brushed her
damp blonde hair that she apparently just finished washing. She had on
a peach bathrobe and slippers and her hair was wrapped up in a
matching towel.
"Well… I… I saw… Artemis and uh… you. Actually, Makoto here
was just wondering if you like Artemis. You know, not just plain like, but
LIKE like him." Rei got another nudge in the stomach from the tall girl
beside her.
Minako stared for a second, and then began to laugh. Everyone
just stood there, confused. "No, I don't 'like' Artemis that way. He's like a
brother to me. I admit, sometimes I get jealous when he pays a lot of
attention to a different girl. That's just because I have to get used to the
fact that he's not mine and that he can't pay all his attention to me all
the time. I'm sure he feels the same way also. After all, we grew up
together." In her mind, however she debated the fact. But then another
silver-haired man filled her mind and she held her breath. 'Yes, that's it.
My heart belongs to someone else. I'm sorry, Artemis.' Everyone else
nodded understandingly, slightly embarrassed by their mistake.
*right outside the room*
From the small crack of the door, Artemis stood still as he listened
to the conversation. He didn't mean to eavesdrop, he just happened to
walk by and hear his name. He leaned against the wall and tilted his
head as he stared at the ceiling. His clear eyes became foggy and moist
as he listened to Minako's confession. He sighed and shook his head as
he walked down the lonely hall. "She was never mine…" he whispered.
Around the corner, a beautiful girl with blue eyes stared at the
silver haired man. Her eyes saddened at his pained expression on his
face and her own eyes became misty. "Why must you torture yourself
so?" she whispered as she turned away.
On the balcony, she looked up at the Earth hanging in the sky.
She recalled a sweet childhood memory from when she was only three
years old. She'd been sitting on a swing by herself as always when
suddenly a handsome young boy with glistening silver hair walked
towards her and sat next to her. He gave her a bright smile and his clear
blue eyes sparkled with understanding. He was willing to become her
first friend. That's all it took for her to fall in love. "It's not fair," she
whispered to herself.
"That was… one hell of a training session. Is it going to be like this
everyday for the rest of our lives?" Makoto exclaimed as she stretched out
on the soft Venusian bed. The five fifteen year olds were all relaxing in
the Venusian Wing after their first intense training. "All my muscles are
sore."
"Yea, it did look like it was a lot of work, Minako." The moon
princess said as she looked through all the shades of blue eye shadow.
"You didn't even have to do any of it, odango," Rei groaned as she
massaged her neck muscle.
Usagi was just about to retaliate when Minako interrupted. "Oh,
come on. It wasn't that bad! By the way, why is everyone putting their
cosmetics and clothes in my closet again?" She came out of the bathroom
after a quick shower and joined the other girls in her room. Her moist
hair clung onto her forehead and the back of her neck. Her sleeveless
peach dress was as light as usual and it seemed to bounce as she
walked. She took a seat in front of her vanity and began brushing her
soft hair.
"Because you have the largest closet in the whole castle and not
enough clothes. They expected you to have the most clothes since you
are the princess of love and beauty. Look at it this way, Minako, you
won't be late in the morning because we always have to come here to get
dressed. That way we can wake you up while we're here." Makoto
explained as she began to braid a thin strand of her hair in the front.
"Wouldn't you be embarrassed since you have to walk around in
your night gown to get to my room?" Minako asked curiously. She looked
back and saw Ami try to categorize the cosmetics by color and just
sighed. She grabbed a blue eye shadow, turned Ami around, and began
putting it on while Makoto worked on the fourth thin braid in her hair.
"We live in the same corridor. All we have to do is walk out the
door and walk about twenty steps across the hall and we can get here.
The fact that your bedroom is right behind the door that leads to your
quarters, we wouldn't have to go very far," Rei said as she looked in the
body length mirror while examining how she looked in Minako's only red
dress. Usagi had started to work on a pink blush on Ami.
The door burst open and all five girls froze and stared at the silver
haired man standing there. He blushed wildly at all the awkward
positions the girls were in. "I knew I should've gotten Luna to do this…"
he silently breathed.
"I'll be right there, Artemis, I'll meet you in the training room,"
Minako said as she simply returned to Ami's left eye. With that, Artemis
anxiously walked out. She simply closed the eye shadow and everyone
blinked and returned to what they were doing.
"Wait, Minako. Training room? We're not doing any more training,
are we?" Makoto said as she began to take out the braids while Minako
slipped on her training outfit.
"We aren't, but I am. Artemis and I always do extra training. After
that, I have to work with the soldiers. So I'll see you at dinner time," she
said quickly and headed for the door. Before exiting, however, she looked
at the ring on her index finger. It glowed a bright orange signifying the
close friendship everyone was building. She smiled and put the
remaining pieces of hair into her ponytail. Then she looked back and
sighed. "You're not going to stay in my room the whole time are you?"
Noticing that they were in her room, they walked out with her and
walked her to the training room. They decided to stay and watch how she
trains if their training was just practice. They all laughed when Artemis
saw everyone behind her. They figured that he must be shy around girls.
Either that or… "You know, Minako. I just thought of something we have
to do. We'll see you later, bye!" Makoto said as she dragged everyone out
and left Artemis and Minako alone. They just stared after them.
"What are you talking about, Makoto? We don't have-" Before Usagi
could finish, Makoto had clasp her hand on her mouth and dragged her
out of the room.
"That… was strange…" she said as she saw how nervous Makoto
seemed. She shrugged it off and looked back at Artemis, who was a little
dazed himself. "Well, let's start."
*in the hallway*
"What was that all about, Makoto?" Rei asked, annoyed. She never
liked it when she didn't know something.
"My itinerary doesn't say anything about any required activities,"
Ami said in a soft voice as she started to press the keys on her mini
computer furiously.
Makoto rolled her eyes and sighed while she placed her hands on
her hips. Making sure no one was a round, she said in a low whisper,
"Haven't you seen the way Artemis looks at her?"
All three girls peeked their heads back into the training room and
Rei and Usagi immediately shot back up. Noticing Ami was still trying to
figure out what they were talking about, they dragged her back before
anyone could see her. "I don't understand," Ami whispered.
"Artemis likes her!" Usagi said almost too loudly. Rei and Makoto
stared at her to be quiet and she clasped a hand over her own mouth.
"Well, naturally, he is her guardian and they grew up together. Of
course he's fond of her," Ami stated plainly. She still didn't understand
what all this fuss was about.
"Not that kind of like, Ami. I mean, Artemis likes LIKES her!"
Makoto whispered, a little frustrated. At first she'd thought he was a little
cute, but knowing that he's Minako's, she'd better back off.
Ami went a little wide-eyed for a second but then relaxed again.
"Let's go before they see us. If we get in trouble with her she might kill us
during training," Rei said as she pushed everyone into the next hallway.
~A few hours later~
"Hey, girls, what's up?" Minako said as she opened the door. She
stepped aside and let her friends into her room instead of standing in the
doorway. They all settled down at a spot in the room as Minako closed
the door.
"Well, you see. Rei here had a vision in the fire," Makoto said,
nudging the raven-haired girl beside her with her elbow. She received a
glare from the amethyst eyes.
"Yea, Rei? What did you see?" the host asked as she brushed her
damp blonde hair that she apparently just finished washing. She had on
a peach bathrobe and slippers and her hair was wrapped up in a
matching towel.
"Well… I… I saw… Artemis and uh… you. Actually, Makoto here
was just wondering if you like Artemis. You know, not just plain like, but
LIKE like him." Rei got another nudge in the stomach from the tall girl
beside her.
Minako stared for a second, and then began to laugh. Everyone
just stood there, confused. "No, I don't 'like' Artemis that way. He's like a
brother to me. I admit, sometimes I get jealous when he pays a lot of
attention to a different girl. That's just because I have to get used to the
fact that he's not mine and that he can't pay all his attention to me all
the time. I'm sure he feels the same way also. After all, we grew up
together." In her mind, however she debated the fact. But then another
silver-haired man filled her mind and she held her breath. 'Yes, that's it.
My heart belongs to someone else. I'm sorry, Artemis.' Everyone else
nodded understandingly, slightly embarrassed by their mistake.
*right outside the room*
From the small crack of the door, Artemis stood still as he listened
to the conversation. He didn't mean to eavesdrop, he just happened to
walk by and hear his name. He leaned against the wall and tilted his
head as he stared at the ceiling. His clear eyes became foggy and moist
as he listened to Minako's confession. He sighed and shook his head as
he walked down the lonely hall. "She was never mine…" he whispered.
Around the corner, a beautiful girl with blue eyes stared at the
silver haired man. Her eyes saddened at his pained expression on his
face and her own eyes became misty. "Why must you torture yourself
so?" she whispered as she turned away.
On the balcony, she looked up at the Earth hanging in the sky.
She recalled a sweet childhood memory from when she was only three
years old. She'd been sitting on a swing by herself as always when
suddenly a handsome young boy with glistening silver hair walked
towards her and sat next to her. He gave her a bright smile and his clear
blue eyes sparkled with understanding. He was willing to become her
first friend. That's all it took for her to fall in love. "It's not fair," she
whispered to herself.