Part XVII

"Where would you even see an anvil?"  Yaten commented on the show him and Minako were watching.  Everyone was hanging out, talking and listening to music but these two were just sitting on the couch watching cartoons.

"I guess some people just like to carry them around in their pockets."  Minako didn't once take her gaze off of the screen.

"Yeah, I guess.  But seriously, why would the animator of this show pick an anvil of all things to drop on some one's head?  And they use them a lot too." 

"I think you're reading a little too much into this."  Minako sweat dropped as she looked over at him.  "Who knows, maybe his father owned an anvil company or something and it was a promotional tactic?  You said yourself that they weren't that popular, so maybe he was trying to jazz up the family business!"

"Now I think you're reading too much into this!"  Yaten saw how excited she was in the fact that she thought she had figured out the whole anvil mystery.

Seiya had over heard most of the conversation but still decided to sit on the couch with them.  "Yaten you never cease to amaze me with the idiotic comments that just continuously pour out of your mouth."  He smirked at Yaten who was at the other end of the couch.

"I guess I could say the same thing about you!"  Yaten mumbled back as he turned his attention back to the show.

"I see you and Haruka still aren't getting along that great."  Minako said when she finished laughing at Yaten's pissy mood turn.

"Who knows with her, I mean seriously, what have I done to her lately?  Come to think of it, what did I do to her at all?" 

"Well, I seem to remember Usagi telling us about how her and Haruka caught you about to undress Michiru in her dressing room after a show."  Minako smiled at him.  Seiya blushed as he remembered the incident.  "Don't worry, we'll keep it a secret from your girlfriend."

"Gee, thanks." 

"Alright everyone, let the fun begin!"  Kakyuu yelled as she burst through the door.  She looked like a giant red marshmallow in her red winter jacket and her arms flying around in the air.

Once you looked past the spectacle that was Kakyuu you could see Makoto carrying a rather awkward stack of containers holding all of her precious baked goods.  She hadn't trusted anyone else to carry them so had to do the dirty work by herself.  Taiki and Usagi were bringing up the rear and it seemed as though Usagi's mood had brightened up a bit with the help of Taiki.

"Oi Kitten."  Haruka came over and took her jacket for her.  "I'm amazed that Makoto even has any snacks to bring over seeing how they rode the whole way in the car with you!" 

Haruka was joking of course but Usagi got a steamed face.  "She slapped me!"

"What?"  Haruka looked back at her in disbelief but then saw Taiki about to burst with laughter.

"She."  Usagi pointed at Makoto and by now everyone was paying attention.  "Smacked me!"  She pointed back at herself.  "I just wanted one and she flipped out and smacked me!"

"It was pretty funny seeing how Makoto was driving.  She was trying to steer the car with her feet while taking care of Usagi with both of her hands."  Taiki explained the situation a little more but barely getting any of it out between his constant laughing.  Usagi shot him a you're-gonna-pay look and he immediately stopped.

The night went on and after dinner everyone found themselves breaking off into their separate cliques.  "Usako?"  Mamoru asked her when he noticed they were the only ones in the kitchen.  "Why didn't you tell anyone that we broke up?"

Usagi looked down at the floor but when she picked her face up she almost looked on the verge of tears.  "I don't know."  She mumbled out.

Mamoru looked at her confused.  "I've known you for how long now?  Do you really expect me to buy an excuse like that?"

Usagi got a half smile on her face as she was once again reminded of how good of friends her and Mamoru really were.  "I guess I just didn't want everyone to see how stupid I was."

"What?  How stupid you are?  What are you talking about?  You're not stupid."  Mamoru's face grew concerned.

"Yes I am.  I knew that Seiya loved me and I just kept pushing him away and then when I finally came to my senses and realized just how much I loved him back it was too late.  And to make matters worse, everyone would have thought that I had dumped you to be with him and probably would have just laughed at me even harder."  She was visibly upset and staring at the floor.

Mamoru felt horrible for her and understood her situation even if he knew that her friends would never have done that to her.  He wrapped his arms around her body and pulled her in close for a comforting hug.  "Shhh. it's alright."  He said as he held her.

Usagi didn't say anything at first and tried hard to fight back the on coming tears.  A few moments went by and they finally broke their embrace.  "I don't want to upset anyone else."  Usagi said lifting her head up to look around to make sure no one else had seen them.

"Don't worry about it."  Mamoru said while wiping some stray tears from her cheeks.  "Can I ask you something though?"  Usagi nodded her head in approval.  "I you still love him so much, then how come I haven't seen you to talk even once tonight?"

"I guess we just grew apart."  Usagi's eyes began to dry up a bit but her depression sank a little lower in trying to remember how they had drifted apart.  "Ever since I came back from America and he had found his girlfriend he just didn't seem to have the time for me anymore.  I was a little upset that he could spare one of his precious moments on me and so I figured that I wouldn't waste any of mine on him."

"That doesn't sound like you." 

"I know, but I was confused and that was the simplest way to avoid being tortured by the fact of the matter everyday."

Mamoru showed her a smile.  "But you know what?"

"What?"

"What happens if he breaks up with his girlfriend down the road?  You two will be like nothing more than strangers that share the same friends.  Would you really want that either?"

Usagi chewed on that thought for a minute and realized just what she was doing.  Pushing away the one person that she loved more than anything else.

"Damn it!"  Yaten yelled coming into the kitchen.  "Who left the plate of my favorite cookies in front of Piggy Usagi?"

Usagi looked down at the plate of crumbs in front of her and realized that she had eaten the entire thing during her conversation with Mamoru.  She giggled slightly when she looked up at Yaten's angry face.  Laughter could be heard emanating from the living room.

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Christmas was in a few days and the girls hadn't quite finished their shopping yet.  The mall was over crowded and it was like a wrestling match trying to break through the tense shoppers.  Usagi, Minako, Rei, Ami, Makoto, Kakyuu and Taiki were out together.  It was hard to keep a group that size together but they tried their hardest.

"This is impossible!"  Kakyuu grumbled as a little kid once again kicked her.  "I have an idea!"  She shouted as they tried to make their way into a store filled with patrons.

The others just looked at her like she was crazy but she had gotten used to it by now.  "Hey, look everybody!  It's Taiki from the Three Lights!"  She had her hands cupped around her mouth to amplify her voice and talk over the chattering.

Taiki immediately sweat dropped and looked at Ami for help but then at Kakyuu.  Just before he was about to pounce on her and strangle her he was bombarded with an onslaw of teenaged girls.

"I know I'm gonna pay for that one when I get home."  Kakyuu shook her head but waltzed into the cleared store.  She heard laughter coming from behind one of the racks and decided to take a peek.  "Yaten?"

Yaten was dying laughing with one of his classmates behind the rack of CDs.  "That was great!"  He continued his laughing.  "He's gonna kill you when we get home!"

Kakyuu smiled as she knew Yaten had seen her brilliance in action.  "I know, I'm great!"  Yaten was at the mall with the guy Kakyuu had been trying to hook up with forever.

"I didn't know you were cunning and beautiful."  The kid said as he smiled at Kakyuu.

Kakyuu blushed at the compliment and was about to ask him if he wanted to get something to eat with her when Yaten broke in.  "What?  You think she's cunning and beautiful?!"  He laughed.  "Oh please!  She just gets lucky sometimes."

Kakyuu started fuming, turned and walked off.  The girls saw her storm past them and to the sales counter.  "Kakyuu what are you doing?"  Minako asked her tapping her on the shoulder.

"Minako, go ask Yaten to borrow a dollar." 

"OK, why?"  Minako was confused to say the least but complied with what she had asked of her.

"Sir, could you do me a favor and play this tape?"  Kakyuu asked the man behind the counter.  She gave him one of those hypnotizingly beautiful smiles and he couldn't resist.  Kakyuu made her way back to where she had left Yaten and saw Minako asking him for a dollar.  "This is pay back squirt!"

Yaten looked confused until he heard his voice booming throughout the store.

"Star date December 4th. Operation: Minako Aino's date. Time: evening 7:00. Setting: the mall. Minako's date, in one word, dork. This guy has no fashion sense at all, who cut his hair? Harry the blind barber? Hideous! The guy walks like a fairy, you'd think he was a girl in disguise or something! Wait a minute, I guess I can't really criticize him on that one.  Is that a unibrow I see? God, pluck that thing! Some one should definitely tell this guy that tight pants are not in! Talk about wedgy!  Few! The tall dumb ass almost spotted me. God only some one totally desperate would date this guy! But then again, he may be smarter than I am, he may not live with two other guys, and it obviously looks like he isn't afraid to approach the beautiful goddess Minako.  Just face it Yaten, you're too late, she's gotten over you! You had your chance and you blew it! Why did you have to be so mean to her all of the time? Maybe you would have felt better if you knew Seiya was going to live with a broken heart with you but no, now you have to do it all alone!"

Yaten looked totally mortified as everyone in the store stared at him in utter disbelief, especially Minako.  Yaten turned timidly to look at her reaction and only caught the blur of a red bow as she tackled him to the ground.  "Hmm. We'll have six kids, and live by the ocean and and ."  She was going on and on while he just held his head and groaned.

"That's what you get for trying to embarrass me squirt!"  Kakyuu smiled down at him.  "Now, as I was saying, would you like to get a bite to eat with me?"