The Art of Surprise
Menagi shook hands with the curator, and then left the office. She was still amazed that they had heard of her work, let alone to want to put it on display. She had a couple small displays in America, but nothing worth noting, to her mind. However, that's how it ended up. She had received a phone call from the Gallery Museum in downtown Tokyo a few days ago requesting the rights to show her art in a special exhibit of new, talented artists in the area. Menagi had the sneaking suspicion that it would be more of her family name on the wall, rather than the art itself, which was to be the main attraction. The young heiress was learning to become very jaded as the years went by. She watched as some young men started transporting her paintings to the closed off gallery. Not all her work was here, that would take a few days, but she had given them the few pieces that she had brought along with her to Japan.
The young girl smoothed the front of her gray twill business skirt down, and made her way toward the exit. Her violet eyes wandered absently over some of the works on the way out, until she spotted a group of incredible portraits. She stopped to admire them. One was a rendition of a dolphin mid leap in the ocean on a black background. It was so life like, it seemed to almost jump off the canvas. The next was a large canvas of some cataclysmic event. It looked as if several powerful meteors had smashed downtown Tokyo, with rubble filling the street, and bodies lying broken by the wayside. She shivered despite herself. The third was a picture of all the planets of the Solar system in a row, with a stardust comet streaking through. It reminded her of one of her own works. The last one, however, is what drew her attention. It was a rendition, gray on black, of two lovers locked in an intimate embrace. The artist intentionally left the lovers in shadow, as not to show any features of the pair. The lack of detail is what made it so interesting. It was like looking at a couple making love in the dark. The title read "When Wind Meets Sea".
"They're very good, ne?"
Menagi regarded the handsome young man who had come to stand next to her. His blue eyes were looking over each picture in turn, almost casually, as if he'd seen them before. His short, blonde hair fell in soft waves about his face, in what Americans would term a 'bob'. He was tall, taller than Menagi by about a head, and seemed to be athletic of build. He wore a blue shirt, tucked into light gray slacks, over which he had a light blue cocktail jacket. Stylish, and handsome, Menagi thought. And Rhea says I only go after guys with dark hair. Mmmm, cute.
Menagi turned to look back at the portraits again. "Yes, they're very good. I particularly like the gray on black. You can feel the depth of emotion the artist felt at the time. It's almost tangible."
The young man turned to look at the lovely auburn haired girl, an expression of astonishment on his face. "You see that?"
Menagi looked at his clear blue eyes and nodded. Drool. "Don't you?"
His cheeks blushed slightly; he coughed, and then turned away. "So, what's a beautiful young girl like yourself doing all alone in a place like this?"
"She's setting up her own exhibit. Isn't that right, Ms. Starnigh?"
A beautiful young woman with aqua blue hair in a pale lavender business suit had walked up behind the two of them while they were talking. The young man turned an even darker shade of red, and then looked at the ceiling, a guilty expression on his face. Enter the girlfriend. Damn, that sucks. Menagi nodded then bowed slightly to the newcomer. "Yes, it is. However, you have me at a loss. You know who I am. And you would be?"
"Michiru Kaioh. And this," she said, gesturing at the young man, "is Haruka Tenou." She bowed slightly, and the young man nodded once.
Menagi's violet orbs flicked to the plaque on the wall then back at the lovely young lady. A slow smile lit her features. She decided to put the cute guy on the spot for flirting behind his girlfriend's back. "So you did these works, then? They're quite good, as I was telling your friend. I had said I particularly liked the gray on black, because of the depth of emotion you managed to convey through it. It's poignant, and almost erotic in its beauty. It's an incredible piece."
Michiru's blue eyes slid briefly over to that of Haruka's, then back to Menagi. "Really? How kind of you to say so." Haruka's eyes wandered back to the ceiling again, studying it intently, for whatever reason.
Chuckling to herself, Menagi bowed slightly. "Well, it was nice meeting you, however, I must be going. Perhaps we'll meet again soon? Ja ne!"
"Ja." After the young foreigner had left the building, Michiru turned to Haruka, an amused smile on her face. She saw Haruka was studying her portraits intently, refusing to look the aqua haired woman in the eye. "She was cute, wasn't she?"
Haruka coughed, blushed, but refused to say anything else incriminating.
It was dark here, very dark. And cold. Nothing lived, nothing moved, nothing flourished. It's perfect in its sterile beauty, she thought. Echoes of laughter floated through the air. Memories, the void was filled with memories. It had been like this for ages now it seemed. The woman with the floor length, indigo hair traced a black lacquered fingernail along the arm of a dusty throne. The throne sat in the middle of a great hall, which was once used to host meetings of the strongest and best warriors known throughout the Underworld. No longer, the armies had been vanquished. Pearl white skin shown against the gray-black skull shaped throne. Her Queen used to sit here, always planning, always plotting. The regal woman sighed, and turned away, her long indigo dress whispering across the floor.
"Lady Nightshade."
The woman turned slightly, her indigo eyes narrowing. "Ebonite, report."
The petite woman bowed low, her black sequin dress rippling. "I have found the next Fragment."
Her dark eyes glittered in anticipation. The Lady Nightshade said nothing, but looked at her sub-commander coldly. When next Ebonite spoke, her voice quivered a little. "No, I have yet to recover the previous Fragment. The barrier is very strong, and it IS being kept on Holy ground. Once I recover more energy and a few more Fragments, I think recovering that one should be child's play." She crossed her arms defensively across her chest.
"Provided you can GET the next Fragment. Personally, I think it's beyond you." Another being shimmered into existence. This was a tall male, with long black hair shot with silver. He wore a high-collared black and gray business suit. He was lounging insolently against one wall.
"Onyx!" Ebonite hissed. "What hole did you crawl out of, and why don't you go back there?"
Ignoring her, the handsome warrior addressed his Lady. "I, too, have located another Fragment. With your permission, I would like to begin work on collecting enough energy to put my plan into motion."
Ebonite ground her teeth together in frustration.
A fourth figure materialized out of the darkness. "I don't know, I think we should give the poor girl another chance. I mean, we knew about the existence of the Sailor Snots, but there is apparently a third party involved here." She ran slender fingers through her midnight-blue hair, and regarded the trio with mirthful blue eyes.
"You're head of Intelligence, Midnight. You should have more information available to us!" Onyx snapped, his gray eyes narrowing in anger.
Midnight shrugged her bare shoulders. "I'm working on it, but it's hard to do with what little equipment left around here, and no energy to feed it."
"Enough of this!" Lady Nightshade snapped. "This is why our Queen failed. All of the in fighting of her generals. There was no cooperation, and nothing got done. I want you 3 to get along, do I make myself clear? I don't care about your goals. I don't care about your dreams. All I care about is bringing our Queen back, and restoring our home to its former glory. And this is how we're going to do it..."
Later that week, the girls decided to take a break from studying and have some snacks at Crown. Rei called Menagi's cell, and asked her to join them. They crammed into their customary booth like sardines.
"You're buying, right, Menagi-chan?" Usagi grinned.
"Why, did you blow your allowance already, Usagi-chan?" Rei accused.
Usagi looked down at the table, and folded her hands in her lap. Beads of sweat formed on the rest of the girls' brows.
Menagi chuckled. "That's fine, I'll buy. Eat to your heart's content."
Makoto's eyes got wide, and she shook her head in alarm. "I wouldn't say that if I were you, you don't know how much Usagi-chan can eat!"
"Like you have room to talk," Minako whispered to Makoto, which earned her an elbow in the ribs for her troubles. All the girls laughed.
Amazingly, Makoto's prediction proved true. Menagi wondered how the lithe blonde could pack away so much food, and not look like a whale. Usagi had 3 shakes, 3 burgers, fries, onion rings, and 2 helpings of chocolate cake. The foreign girl kept looking under the table to see if she was stuffing the food in her pockets. The other girls were just as bad, with the exception of Ami, who sipped quietly on a diet coke and had a chicken salad sandwich. Makoto and Rei both had 3 pieces of pizza each, 2 shakes, and dessert. Minako said she was on a diet, and stuck to eating a salad, and then had 3 shakes to wash it down with. She also had a slice of carrot cake, which she claimed had fewer calories because it had a vegetable in it. As for herself, Menagi sipped on a chocolate shake, and toyed with a chicken Caesar salad. Her wallet was considerably lighter once the bill was paid. If I had to feed them on a regular basis, my fortune would be shot in a year! Man, can these girls eat!
"Hey, minna, I was wondering, do you girls like art?" Menagi asked.
Ami nodded and Minako shrugged. "Why do you ask?" the young blonde queried.
Menagi pulled out several tickets. "Well, my artwork is being put on display at the Gallery Museum next week, and I wanted to know if you all wanted to attend the opening night ceremonies with me." Menagi looked down at the ground. "I mean, it'd be nice to have my friends there with me, but I'll understand if you don't want to go." Menagi felt a hand fall on her arm, and she looked up into 5 sets of smiling eyes.
"We'd love to go with you, Menagi-chan. That's what friends are for." Usagi smiled. "Hey, can Mamo-chan go, too? Onegai?"
Menagi nodded. "That's fine, I'd hate to see true love separated for any reason." She gave the girl a wink, and Usagi grinned. The amethyst eyed girl started handing out tickets.
"Got room for one more?"
The group looked up and saw Haruka approach. Usagi waved to the young man, and asked Menagi to scoot in, since she was on the end. Menagi happily complied, more than willing to be sitting next to the handsome young man. "Its nice to see you again, Ms. Starnigh. What an pleasant surprise," he said. "Its always nice to run in to a pretty girl again."
Menagi blushed slightly, and as she looked up, she realized something that had completely passed her by before. Sitting close like this, she was able to really get a good look at his face. Or, she amended, her face. Haruka was a woman. Surprise, surprise.
"You two know each other?" Rei asked, raising an eyebrow.
Menagi looked at Rei and nodded. "We met the other day at the museum. You're Haruka Tenou, ne?"
Haruka nodded. "You remember. You flatter me." She smiled at the foreign girl, her blue eyes twinkling.
"Not at all. I make it a point to remember every good looking person I meet." Menagi smiled back, and looked deep into the other girl's bright blue eyes.
"Psst, Menagi!" Usagi whispered. The other girls gulped nervously.
Haruka's smile widened. "Oh really? Was that a complement?"
"I'm just stating a fact."
"Psst, Menagi!" Usagi tugged on Menagi's sleeve, but the foreign girl swatted her hand away.
Haruka lounged back against the back of the seat, resting her arm on the booth and leaning her head against her fist. She turned her body at an angle to face Menagi. "Hmm, I get the feeling you and I are going to get along very well." Her bright blue eyes looked the young girl over from top to bottom, and her lips slid again in to a slow, sexy smile. "Very well." The auburn haired girl was trying hard not to blush profusely at the attention she was getting, but lost the battle. She felt her cheeks burning, and had to look away. The blonde leaned forward and whispered in her ear "You know, I think you look really cute when you blush" which caused the foreigner to blush even more. Haruka chuckled softly, and Menagi felt her arm being yanked.
"Nani?" Menagi turned to look at her assailant. Usagi had an anxious look on her face.
"Menagi-chan!" Usagi leaned forward and shook her head. "Don't. Haruka's-"
"Aww, Odago-sama, you ruin my fun." Haruka cut her off.
Menagi looked back at Haruka. "Why? Will your girlfriend get jealous?"
Haruka coughed and cleared her throat. "She's not my girlfriend." Now, the pretty blonde started to blush slightly.
"No? Then I don't see what the problem is." Menagi looked around. The other girls had beads of sweat forming on their brow, and were looking at the table. Menagi sighed, and turned back to the cute blonde. "So, are you going to the gala next week?"
Haruka scratched her chin. "I was thinking about it." Menagi pulled out another ticket, and held it up between two of her fingers. Her bright amethyst eyes flashed as she gave Haruka a questioning look. "For me? I guess that means I'll have to go, now doesn't it?" The blonde gave her a winning smile.
"Shouldn't you get one for Michiru-san?" Minako butted in. Haruka blushed again, and looked at the floor.
Menagi shot Minako a nasty look, and sighed. "Need two?" When Haruka's shoulders slumped, Menagi produced the last ticket from her purse. She had been given 8 free passes for friends and family, and now they were all gone.
"She's not my girlfriend," Haruka muttered under her breath as she accepted the ticket. She looked up as she heard Menagi chuckling softly. "Well, she's not. Not really."
"Then I don't see what the problem is." Menagi cocked her head to the side, and gave her a slow smile, which Haruka returned in kind. Once again, she felt a tug on her arm. Menagi spun around, and her eyes flashed, darkening slightly. "What? If you have something to say, then say it!"
"Haruka's a woman!" Usagi blurted. Now everyone at the table turned red, except Menagi.
"I know that," Menagi snapped. "So what's your point?" Six pairs of jaws dropped, and five of the girls blushed profusely. Haruka just raised an eyebrow, and smiled.
Menagi shook hands with the curator, and then left the office. She was still amazed that they had heard of her work, let alone to want to put it on display. She had a couple small displays in America, but nothing worth noting, to her mind. However, that's how it ended up. She had received a phone call from the Gallery Museum in downtown Tokyo a few days ago requesting the rights to show her art in a special exhibit of new, talented artists in the area. Menagi had the sneaking suspicion that it would be more of her family name on the wall, rather than the art itself, which was to be the main attraction. The young heiress was learning to become very jaded as the years went by. She watched as some young men started transporting her paintings to the closed off gallery. Not all her work was here, that would take a few days, but she had given them the few pieces that she had brought along with her to Japan.
The young girl smoothed the front of her gray twill business skirt down, and made her way toward the exit. Her violet eyes wandered absently over some of the works on the way out, until she spotted a group of incredible portraits. She stopped to admire them. One was a rendition of a dolphin mid leap in the ocean on a black background. It was so life like, it seemed to almost jump off the canvas. The next was a large canvas of some cataclysmic event. It looked as if several powerful meteors had smashed downtown Tokyo, with rubble filling the street, and bodies lying broken by the wayside. She shivered despite herself. The third was a picture of all the planets of the Solar system in a row, with a stardust comet streaking through. It reminded her of one of her own works. The last one, however, is what drew her attention. It was a rendition, gray on black, of two lovers locked in an intimate embrace. The artist intentionally left the lovers in shadow, as not to show any features of the pair. The lack of detail is what made it so interesting. It was like looking at a couple making love in the dark. The title read "When Wind Meets Sea".
"They're very good, ne?"
Menagi regarded the handsome young man who had come to stand next to her. His blue eyes were looking over each picture in turn, almost casually, as if he'd seen them before. His short, blonde hair fell in soft waves about his face, in what Americans would term a 'bob'. He was tall, taller than Menagi by about a head, and seemed to be athletic of build. He wore a blue shirt, tucked into light gray slacks, over which he had a light blue cocktail jacket. Stylish, and handsome, Menagi thought. And Rhea says I only go after guys with dark hair. Mmmm, cute.
Menagi turned to look back at the portraits again. "Yes, they're very good. I particularly like the gray on black. You can feel the depth of emotion the artist felt at the time. It's almost tangible."
The young man turned to look at the lovely auburn haired girl, an expression of astonishment on his face. "You see that?"
Menagi looked at his clear blue eyes and nodded. Drool. "Don't you?"
His cheeks blushed slightly; he coughed, and then turned away. "So, what's a beautiful young girl like yourself doing all alone in a place like this?"
"She's setting up her own exhibit. Isn't that right, Ms. Starnigh?"
A beautiful young woman with aqua blue hair in a pale lavender business suit had walked up behind the two of them while they were talking. The young man turned an even darker shade of red, and then looked at the ceiling, a guilty expression on his face. Enter the girlfriend. Damn, that sucks. Menagi nodded then bowed slightly to the newcomer. "Yes, it is. However, you have me at a loss. You know who I am. And you would be?"
"Michiru Kaioh. And this," she said, gesturing at the young man, "is Haruka Tenou." She bowed slightly, and the young man nodded once.
Menagi's violet orbs flicked to the plaque on the wall then back at the lovely young lady. A slow smile lit her features. She decided to put the cute guy on the spot for flirting behind his girlfriend's back. "So you did these works, then? They're quite good, as I was telling your friend. I had said I particularly liked the gray on black, because of the depth of emotion you managed to convey through it. It's poignant, and almost erotic in its beauty. It's an incredible piece."
Michiru's blue eyes slid briefly over to that of Haruka's, then back to Menagi. "Really? How kind of you to say so." Haruka's eyes wandered back to the ceiling again, studying it intently, for whatever reason.
Chuckling to herself, Menagi bowed slightly. "Well, it was nice meeting you, however, I must be going. Perhaps we'll meet again soon? Ja ne!"
"Ja." After the young foreigner had left the building, Michiru turned to Haruka, an amused smile on her face. She saw Haruka was studying her portraits intently, refusing to look the aqua haired woman in the eye. "She was cute, wasn't she?"
Haruka coughed, blushed, but refused to say anything else incriminating.
It was dark here, very dark. And cold. Nothing lived, nothing moved, nothing flourished. It's perfect in its sterile beauty, she thought. Echoes of laughter floated through the air. Memories, the void was filled with memories. It had been like this for ages now it seemed. The woman with the floor length, indigo hair traced a black lacquered fingernail along the arm of a dusty throne. The throne sat in the middle of a great hall, which was once used to host meetings of the strongest and best warriors known throughout the Underworld. No longer, the armies had been vanquished. Pearl white skin shown against the gray-black skull shaped throne. Her Queen used to sit here, always planning, always plotting. The regal woman sighed, and turned away, her long indigo dress whispering across the floor.
"Lady Nightshade."
The woman turned slightly, her indigo eyes narrowing. "Ebonite, report."
The petite woman bowed low, her black sequin dress rippling. "I have found the next Fragment."
Her dark eyes glittered in anticipation. The Lady Nightshade said nothing, but looked at her sub-commander coldly. When next Ebonite spoke, her voice quivered a little. "No, I have yet to recover the previous Fragment. The barrier is very strong, and it IS being kept on Holy ground. Once I recover more energy and a few more Fragments, I think recovering that one should be child's play." She crossed her arms defensively across her chest.
"Provided you can GET the next Fragment. Personally, I think it's beyond you." Another being shimmered into existence. This was a tall male, with long black hair shot with silver. He wore a high-collared black and gray business suit. He was lounging insolently against one wall.
"Onyx!" Ebonite hissed. "What hole did you crawl out of, and why don't you go back there?"
Ignoring her, the handsome warrior addressed his Lady. "I, too, have located another Fragment. With your permission, I would like to begin work on collecting enough energy to put my plan into motion."
Ebonite ground her teeth together in frustration.
A fourth figure materialized out of the darkness. "I don't know, I think we should give the poor girl another chance. I mean, we knew about the existence of the Sailor Snots, but there is apparently a third party involved here." She ran slender fingers through her midnight-blue hair, and regarded the trio with mirthful blue eyes.
"You're head of Intelligence, Midnight. You should have more information available to us!" Onyx snapped, his gray eyes narrowing in anger.
Midnight shrugged her bare shoulders. "I'm working on it, but it's hard to do with what little equipment left around here, and no energy to feed it."
"Enough of this!" Lady Nightshade snapped. "This is why our Queen failed. All of the in fighting of her generals. There was no cooperation, and nothing got done. I want you 3 to get along, do I make myself clear? I don't care about your goals. I don't care about your dreams. All I care about is bringing our Queen back, and restoring our home to its former glory. And this is how we're going to do it..."
Later that week, the girls decided to take a break from studying and have some snacks at Crown. Rei called Menagi's cell, and asked her to join them. They crammed into their customary booth like sardines.
"You're buying, right, Menagi-chan?" Usagi grinned.
"Why, did you blow your allowance already, Usagi-chan?" Rei accused.
Usagi looked down at the table, and folded her hands in her lap. Beads of sweat formed on the rest of the girls' brows.
Menagi chuckled. "That's fine, I'll buy. Eat to your heart's content."
Makoto's eyes got wide, and she shook her head in alarm. "I wouldn't say that if I were you, you don't know how much Usagi-chan can eat!"
"Like you have room to talk," Minako whispered to Makoto, which earned her an elbow in the ribs for her troubles. All the girls laughed.
Amazingly, Makoto's prediction proved true. Menagi wondered how the lithe blonde could pack away so much food, and not look like a whale. Usagi had 3 shakes, 3 burgers, fries, onion rings, and 2 helpings of chocolate cake. The foreign girl kept looking under the table to see if she was stuffing the food in her pockets. The other girls were just as bad, with the exception of Ami, who sipped quietly on a diet coke and had a chicken salad sandwich. Makoto and Rei both had 3 pieces of pizza each, 2 shakes, and dessert. Minako said she was on a diet, and stuck to eating a salad, and then had 3 shakes to wash it down with. She also had a slice of carrot cake, which she claimed had fewer calories because it had a vegetable in it. As for herself, Menagi sipped on a chocolate shake, and toyed with a chicken Caesar salad. Her wallet was considerably lighter once the bill was paid. If I had to feed them on a regular basis, my fortune would be shot in a year! Man, can these girls eat!
"Hey, minna, I was wondering, do you girls like art?" Menagi asked.
Ami nodded and Minako shrugged. "Why do you ask?" the young blonde queried.
Menagi pulled out several tickets. "Well, my artwork is being put on display at the Gallery Museum next week, and I wanted to know if you all wanted to attend the opening night ceremonies with me." Menagi looked down at the ground. "I mean, it'd be nice to have my friends there with me, but I'll understand if you don't want to go." Menagi felt a hand fall on her arm, and she looked up into 5 sets of smiling eyes.
"We'd love to go with you, Menagi-chan. That's what friends are for." Usagi smiled. "Hey, can Mamo-chan go, too? Onegai?"
Menagi nodded. "That's fine, I'd hate to see true love separated for any reason." She gave the girl a wink, and Usagi grinned. The amethyst eyed girl started handing out tickets.
"Got room for one more?"
The group looked up and saw Haruka approach. Usagi waved to the young man, and asked Menagi to scoot in, since she was on the end. Menagi happily complied, more than willing to be sitting next to the handsome young man. "Its nice to see you again, Ms. Starnigh. What an pleasant surprise," he said. "Its always nice to run in to a pretty girl again."
Menagi blushed slightly, and as she looked up, she realized something that had completely passed her by before. Sitting close like this, she was able to really get a good look at his face. Or, she amended, her face. Haruka was a woman. Surprise, surprise.
"You two know each other?" Rei asked, raising an eyebrow.
Menagi looked at Rei and nodded. "We met the other day at the museum. You're Haruka Tenou, ne?"
Haruka nodded. "You remember. You flatter me." She smiled at the foreign girl, her blue eyes twinkling.
"Not at all. I make it a point to remember every good looking person I meet." Menagi smiled back, and looked deep into the other girl's bright blue eyes.
"Psst, Menagi!" Usagi whispered. The other girls gulped nervously.
Haruka's smile widened. "Oh really? Was that a complement?"
"I'm just stating a fact."
"Psst, Menagi!" Usagi tugged on Menagi's sleeve, but the foreign girl swatted her hand away.
Haruka lounged back against the back of the seat, resting her arm on the booth and leaning her head against her fist. She turned her body at an angle to face Menagi. "Hmm, I get the feeling you and I are going to get along very well." Her bright blue eyes looked the young girl over from top to bottom, and her lips slid again in to a slow, sexy smile. "Very well." The auburn haired girl was trying hard not to blush profusely at the attention she was getting, but lost the battle. She felt her cheeks burning, and had to look away. The blonde leaned forward and whispered in her ear "You know, I think you look really cute when you blush" which caused the foreigner to blush even more. Haruka chuckled softly, and Menagi felt her arm being yanked.
"Nani?" Menagi turned to look at her assailant. Usagi had an anxious look on her face.
"Menagi-chan!" Usagi leaned forward and shook her head. "Don't. Haruka's-"
"Aww, Odago-sama, you ruin my fun." Haruka cut her off.
Menagi looked back at Haruka. "Why? Will your girlfriend get jealous?"
Haruka coughed and cleared her throat. "She's not my girlfriend." Now, the pretty blonde started to blush slightly.
"No? Then I don't see what the problem is." Menagi looked around. The other girls had beads of sweat forming on their brow, and were looking at the table. Menagi sighed, and turned back to the cute blonde. "So, are you going to the gala next week?"
Haruka scratched her chin. "I was thinking about it." Menagi pulled out another ticket, and held it up between two of her fingers. Her bright amethyst eyes flashed as she gave Haruka a questioning look. "For me? I guess that means I'll have to go, now doesn't it?" The blonde gave her a winning smile.
"Shouldn't you get one for Michiru-san?" Minako butted in. Haruka blushed again, and looked at the floor.
Menagi shot Minako a nasty look, and sighed. "Need two?" When Haruka's shoulders slumped, Menagi produced the last ticket from her purse. She had been given 8 free passes for friends and family, and now they were all gone.
"She's not my girlfriend," Haruka muttered under her breath as she accepted the ticket. She looked up as she heard Menagi chuckling softly. "Well, she's not. Not really."
"Then I don't see what the problem is." Menagi cocked her head to the side, and gave her a slow smile, which Haruka returned in kind. Once again, she felt a tug on her arm. Menagi spun around, and her eyes flashed, darkening slightly. "What? If you have something to say, then say it!"
"Haruka's a woman!" Usagi blurted. Now everyone at the table turned red, except Menagi.
"I know that," Menagi snapped. "So what's your point?" Six pairs of jaws dropped, and five of the girls blushed profusely. Haruka just raised an eyebrow, and smiled.