All My Brothers - Part 11
By: Reba Jean, Feb. 23, 2002
E-mail: rjean@ghg.net
Rating: PG13/R
Genre: Romance/comedy
Disclaimer: Characters are based on Sailor Moon copyright 1992
by Naoko Takeuchi/Kodansha, TOEI Animation, English language
adaptation copyright 1995 by DIC Entertainment. This story is
not intended for monetary gain or tangible profit, but purely
for entertainment of the readers.
Notes: This is an alternate storyline. Names are a mix of English and
Japanese versions.
Comments/feedback needed! This story will reach a natural break point
in a couple more chapters; should it end there? Will they have enough
kids (+ Rini of course)? How many should there be total? Should this
continue with more chapters or just a few episodes as sequels? "Spin-
off" stories about ___? What do you think? Thanks in advance.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Serena and her mother retreated to the kitchen, leaving Darien, Sammy,
and Kenji to watch the sports scores recap for the week. It was
something of a tradition for Kenji and Sammy to watch the Friday night
sports week in review show when they could.
Serena and Darien joined her family because their agent said their
commercials were going to air during the show. The fairy tale spot
would be during the ladies figure skating highlights and the locker
room scene would be during the local sumo wrestling championship bouts
in July. Serena knew that she would enjoy seeing Darien's reaction to
the actual broadcast version. She had told her mother about the "joke"
she played on him at their last party in June.
After fetching some snacks, they rejoined the "boys". Sammy's favorite
had won all his matches and made the final round. As their commercial
came on, Ikuko watched with interest and switched on the recorder.
Kenji sat in stony silence. Sammy punctuated it with gagging sounds.
Near the end Darien buried his face in his hands, slowly reddened, and
refused to watch.
Her mother commented, "Well that was interesting. You certainly did a
good job of playing your characters."
Serena elbowed Darien to get him to look up. Serena grinned at her
embarrassed spouse, "Oh we didn't have to do any 'acting' at all. It
was easy. I was really mad at first when they showed me the script. I
would never have agreed to do something so risqué if he had asked me
first. But Darien explained that we needed the money and that the
commercial would give us a lot of 'exposure'." She smiled at him so
sweetly; it was obviously false.
Kenji growled, "Exposure is right. How could you ever agree to have my
daughter appear in such a revealing show on TV.
Ikuko hit the replay on the tape, "Here's the part you missed." Ikuko
and Serena broke out laughing as Darien's expression changed from
mortification to puzzlement.
Serena gloatingly explained, "What I showed at the party was an outtake
that the film edit crew cooked up. They thought you deserved some
payback for the way you pulled that 'joke' on me."
Sammy butted in, "What did you show at the party? What joke did he
play on you? Why was he so embarrassed looking? Why won't anybody
tell me about this stuff?" The only response to his questions was
looks of amusement from the adults in the room.
In a lightning mood change, Serena's eyes flashed angrily at Darien;
she drew herself up to her full height and stared down at him. She
began frostily, "I respect your need to feel like you're the head of
the household and that you are providing for us. But if you EVER agree
to do something that raunchy or stupid again without talking with me
first; not only will you be doing it alone, you will be living in your
car down in the parking garage."
Sammy started laughing loudly and Kenji got up and looked ready to jump
in with his opinions. Serena glared at them both and said, "You two
stay out of this. It's not your concern."
Darien's jaw dropped in astonishment at his pint-sized little bunny
taking them all on at once. This wasn't like all the times he had made
her mad for fun. This time she was deadly serious and they all knew
it. It was as impressive as some of her confrontations as Sailor Moon.
He finally replied, "Umm, we'll talk about it at home." He turned and
looked at the others questioningly.
"You haven't seen her really mad very often; I take it. She gets it
from her mother. It doesn't happen very often; but when it does duck
and cover," Kenji offered his hard earned words of advice.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Darien looked up from his textbook as he felt the signal unused for the
last couple of months. Sailor Moon had transformed. Quickly he
materialized a rose and when the change was complete, leaped lightly
off their apartment balcony. He followed the pull toward Sailor Moon's
battle, to the Tsukino house.
While still outside he could hear her shrill challenge, "I will punish
evil and this means you. Prepare to be moondusted, youma!"
He hurriedly slipped inside the upstairs balcony doors and followed the
sound of her voice. Her back was toward the door as she stood
menacingly over her cowering target, hiding beneath the bed. "Sailor
Moon, stop!" he commanded. "You can't moondust your brother!"
Sailor Moon turned and crossed her arms, regarding him challengingly.
"And why not? Do you know what he's done? And then he had the nerve
to call me FAT!"
Tuxedo Mask knew he had to defuse this situation and quickly. "There's
no need to resort to violence. I'm sure we can talk this over. Tell
me what the problem is, love," he enunciated in his most soothing and
seductive tones. Moving over to Sailor Moon, he captured her in his
arms, effectively immobilizing her.
"I'll show you what he's done," she snapped angrily. Adding in a
quieter voice, that deadly question, "I'm not fat, am I?"
Tuxedo Mask sweat-dropped. "Of course you're not fat darling. You're
more beautiful than ever. You're positively radiant. But perhaps that
fuku isn't your best look just now."
The senshi uniform's stretchy white leotard and short skirt, clearly
outlined and emphasized the rounding of her belly, six months gone in a
twin pregnancy. Somewhat mollified, Sailor Moon snatched up a pile of
papers and thrust it toward Tuxedo Mask's face. "Here, look at this."
In full color was a printout of the latest edition of "Gossipbyter's
Ezine". The headline question read "Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask
Revealed? . . . Did Tuxedo Mask Bang My Sister?" Four photos were
arranged below it. On the left was the now familiar photo Sammy had
taken of Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask making out. Below it was the
second photo, previously unknown to them, of the same couple obviously
in the throes of heated lovemaking. The uncovered portions of their
bodies occupied the center of the photograph. His firm, well-defined,
and quite bare gluteus maximus was framed by her shapely legs, clasping
him tightly around the waist. The caption below read "Winning Celebity
Candid Photos from the Amateur Photographer Contest". On the right
side of the page were stills from the Rapunzel in the tower shampoo
commercial and the now infamous shower scene commercial. Encaptioned
below: "Celebrity Love Fantasies? Or Hot New Movie Rehearsal?" For
details see page 12.
Tuxedo Mask's face darkened with rage and he uttered a low growl. "So
that's what's been going on. I was pinched, patted, goosed and grabbed
by at least 37 women and half a dozen men at the grocery store and on
the subway today. I thought it was because of that stupid commercial.
There are displays of this damn rag at every grocery store, coffee
shop, and train station in town."
"Can we at least let Mars barbeque him a little?" wheedled Sailor Moon.
"I may use him for target practice myself," uttered Tuxedo Mask
menacingly as he threw a rose, inches from where Sammy was attempting
to slither out from under the bed and make his escape.
Sailor Moon thoughtfully said, "No, we need revenge in kind. Something
horribly embarrassing."
"And publicly humiliating," added Tuxedo Mask. "I say we hang him
upside down from the top of Tokyo Tower."
Sailor Moon smiled evilly, "Dressed as a girl." Seeing something pink
between his mattresses, she pulled and unearthed her pink bunny tee
shirt and Darien's missing white shirt. They had char marks, odd
discolorations, and random chunks cut out of them. "He can wear this
tee shirt," she added.
Tuxedo Mask grinned like a shark, "How about that pink lace thong with
the white bunny tail of yours, and the ears that go with it?"
Sailor Moon added, "My red sandals with the 10 cm. stiletto heels.
Mina would love to do a make-over, I'm sure. She has the kinkiest
lingerie' too."
"I'd be interested in seeing that. On second thought, keep your bunny
outfit," added Tuxedo Mask, ducking as Sailor Moon playfully swung at
him.
Scrounging in Sammy's stash of odds and ends, they bound and gagged him
with gray tape. Accompanied by Sailor Moon, Tuxedo Mask carried him
away across the rooftops to Mina's house.
Mina was delighted to try her expertise in doing a make-over for Sammy.
Looking him over, she said, "I have the perfect outfit." She brought a
curly red wig, a bright orange skirt as short as a fuku, and high
purple platform shoes out of her costume box in her closet. Serena and
Mina giggled as they dressed the protesting Sammy in his new outfit.
Tuxedo Mask had shed his props and jacket and sprawled across Mina's
bed watching with interest.
Mina stood back and stared critically at Sammy. "Where to begin? It's
going to be quite a challenge to make him beautiful. Those bushy
eyebrows and hairy legs have got to go. Lucky thing I just restocked
my leg wax."
Sailor Moon clapped her hands and laughed, "Oh lets! I want to help!"
Tuxedo Mask cringed involuntarily, remembering his tortures at the
hands of Beryl and her minions. He believed that it would be better to
die in battle than to let some vicious female capture him again. His
love and her senshi were displaying the same cruel tendencies.
Sammy writhed and emitted muffled cries as Mina and Sailor Moon
gleefully applied the hot wax. Tuxedo Mask swore the screams as the
girls ripped off the backing and wax stuck to the hair rang out as
loudly as if the poor boy was not gagged. "Much better," commented
Mina.
"Now for his makeup," Mina brought out her cosmetics and applied
mascara, eye shadow and blush to bring out his features.
"The lipstick will have to wait until we drop him off and un-gag him,"
said Sailor Moon.
Mina called Lita who agreed to meet them at Tokyo Tower with her
camera. She called Rei and Ami as well. Ami protested, "This isn't
right."
Sailor Moon stood next to Mina and spoke to Ami as well, "Call up the
Gossipbyters website and take a look at the front page."
Ami quickly complied and came back on screen, "Oh my, some of the
people may figure out these photos are for real! And they're even more
embarrassing than those commercials."
Tuxedo Mask threw in, "You've got that right!"
Rei had just been listening and finally joined in the conference call
on the communicator to tease Ami and Darien, "The rear view when you
guys are transformed is even better than the one Ami liked so much at
your party."
"Rei!" exclaimed several outraged senshi.
"Seriously, Sammy does need to be taught a lesson he won't forget. He
endangered himself and your parents as well as all of us just to enter
a stupid contest," commented Rei.
The senshi met at Tokyo Tower and deposited Sammy on the observation
deck on the top floor. They withdrew to strategic locations to observe
the response to the "school boy prank", as they called it when they
notified the Gossipbyter's tip line and called Mika to come rescue her
boyfriend. Sammy was so intimidated by his "lesson" at the hands of
his sister and her senshi that he never did reveal the truth of what
happened to him. The story remained that he had been grabbed by
"unknown school boys" as a prank. It only merited a few short lines on
page 34 of the next edition and one extremely blurry photo. Mina was a
bit disappointed that the public did not get a better chance to view
her "artistic creation".
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Serena, your Mom called this morning while you were asleep. She said
there was a letter for you from the school at their house. She invited
us for lunch; we can pick it up then," Darien told his sleepy wife who
had finally wandered out into the kitchen.
"Ugh! I don't even want to think about school. It starts in two
weeks. My back hurts again. Can you do that thing to make it stop
hurting," she whined. She purred as he rubbed her back and manipulated
the acupressure points.
"What are you going to do about classes for the fall term?" he asked.
"I don't know. They didn't tell me anything when school let out for
summer break. I can check the list of what's available on the
computer. I guess I'll find out what they want me to do at
registration or maybe it's in the letter," she answered.
Sammy was conspicuously absent during lunch with Ikuko. Most of the
publicity flurry had died down as quickly as it started, as the
paparazzi went after fresh game. Sammy was avoiding Serena and Darien
after the photo fiasco. He was still afraid of their alter egos
according to their Mom. Ikuko had been rather upset at what Sailor
Moon, Tuxedo Mask, and the senshi had done to Sammy but did agree in
principle that he needed some type of "punishment".
Serena finally read the letter after they arrived back home. "We've
got to make an appointment and see the counselor together before the
beginning of school 'to discuss my enrollment and educational program'.
I wonder what that really means?"
"They probably don't want you in regular classes," Darien commented
candidly. "You're a bad influence or some such thing; obviously
pregnant and notorious TV commercials and photos in the gossip paper."
"Yeah, and whose fault is all that?" [and so on, round and round].
Later that week, they met with the counselor at the school one
afternoon for the appointment. "Miss Tsukino, we believe it to be in
your best interest, considering your health requirements, to place you
in an alternative
tutoring program for the fall and winter terms," began the counselor
pompously. The remaining remarks appeared to be addressed to Darien,
as Mr. Bakasama turned in his direction and looked away from Serena.
"I have prepared a program for her placing her in the homemaking skills
for young ladies track.* It includes: communication skills for
homemakers, math for everyday life, modern history, nutrition and food
science, child development, and cooking and sewing lab. The second
year is: etiquette and protocol for home and business entertaining,
household budgeting and economics, law and government for the citizen,
first aid and home heath care, home decorating, and flower arranging.
This leads to the diploma in life skills. She will meet with a tutor
twice a week from 9 A.M. to 11 A.M. She may use the school library as
required, and schedule lab time and consultations with other teachers
on an appointment basis. Of course she will not be able to sit for the
national college entrance examinations."
His face assuming the unreadable expression usually signaling anger or
irritation, Darien answered most politely, with dripping sarcasm.
"Excuse me, Sir, but 'Miss Tsukino' has been 'Mrs. Chiba' since
February, two school terms ago. She already knows how to cook, sew,
and balance the household accounts. And I assure you that she more
than adequately fulfills all my other requirements."
Serena blushed and looked down. Darien continued 'his' meeting with
the counselor. "I do not believe she needs those easy courses that are
nothing but frills and filler. She will be attending the university.
I think she should enroll in the following college preparatory program:
composition and literature including kanji, college preparatory
mathematics, chemistry or physics, world history, English, French,
music theory, and art history."
Serena became increasingly angry with these two arrogant men, who were
talking about her as if she were not present, and presuming to decide
her course of action without even consulting her. She stood up between
them, slapped both hands on the table, and interjected loudly, "Iie!"
As they both regarded her with a look of dumbfounded surprise, Serena
continued, "I will chose my own courses, which will include both useful
'frills' (with a glare at Darien) and the minimum requirements for the
university examination, if I choose to sit for it."
Smiling sweetly at Darien, "You're all I ever wished for and I love you
dearly. But darling, we've had this discussion before about you making
decisions concerning what I do without talking with me first. Perhaps
Mr. Bakasama would like to know just who decided that I should appear
in that 'disgraceful' commercial, as he put it."
Darien reddened slightly as he was shot down in flames, ever so
sweetly. Serena concluded, "I think that about covers everything we
need to discuss. Let's go, dear."
As they walked out of the school she added, "I think I'll like school
better this year since I don't have to go every day. But I still want
to see my friends, especially since they'll all have been gone the last
few weeks of summer break except for Rei and Molly."
Darien smiled, "The counselor said you could use the library any time.
Why not just go there before or after lunch on the days you don't have
class scheduled if you want to eat with your friends? You can visit
with them every day if you want."
"I love it when you're devious. Let's go home. I'm worn out all of a
sudden; I missed my nap," she replied and sagged against him tiredly.
"I'm glad I've got you. I do need you, you know. I love you," she
whispered as she drifted off to sleep.
Darien looked down at his odango-shaped 'little bunny'. Serena laid
her head against his shoulder as he held her. Asleep on her feet;
amazing. He picked her up and carried her the rest of the way to the
car. Not exactly sweeping her off her feet, but it will do, he thought
wryly.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
* Some courses like these are actually available from correspondence
schools in the U. S. I don't think there are similar programs in
Japan. Homeschooling is also not common there.
Themes (Sammy & company): Proverbs 11:29 – He who brings trouble on
his family will inherit the wind, and the fool will be servant to the
wise. Proverbs 15:27 – A greedy man brings trouble to his family, but
he who hates bribes will live.
By: Reba Jean, Feb. 23, 2002
E-mail: rjean@ghg.net
Rating: PG13/R
Genre: Romance/comedy
Disclaimer: Characters are based on Sailor Moon copyright 1992
by Naoko Takeuchi/Kodansha, TOEI Animation, English language
adaptation copyright 1995 by DIC Entertainment. This story is
not intended for monetary gain or tangible profit, but purely
for entertainment of the readers.
Notes: This is an alternate storyline. Names are a mix of English and
Japanese versions.
Comments/feedback needed! This story will reach a natural break point
in a couple more chapters; should it end there? Will they have enough
kids (+ Rini of course)? How many should there be total? Should this
continue with more chapters or just a few episodes as sequels? "Spin-
off" stories about ___? What do you think? Thanks in advance.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Serena and her mother retreated to the kitchen, leaving Darien, Sammy,
and Kenji to watch the sports scores recap for the week. It was
something of a tradition for Kenji and Sammy to watch the Friday night
sports week in review show when they could.
Serena and Darien joined her family because their agent said their
commercials were going to air during the show. The fairy tale spot
would be during the ladies figure skating highlights and the locker
room scene would be during the local sumo wrestling championship bouts
in July. Serena knew that she would enjoy seeing Darien's reaction to
the actual broadcast version. She had told her mother about the "joke"
she played on him at their last party in June.
After fetching some snacks, they rejoined the "boys". Sammy's favorite
had won all his matches and made the final round. As their commercial
came on, Ikuko watched with interest and switched on the recorder.
Kenji sat in stony silence. Sammy punctuated it with gagging sounds.
Near the end Darien buried his face in his hands, slowly reddened, and
refused to watch.
Her mother commented, "Well that was interesting. You certainly did a
good job of playing your characters."
Serena elbowed Darien to get him to look up. Serena grinned at her
embarrassed spouse, "Oh we didn't have to do any 'acting' at all. It
was easy. I was really mad at first when they showed me the script. I
would never have agreed to do something so risqué if he had asked me
first. But Darien explained that we needed the money and that the
commercial would give us a lot of 'exposure'." She smiled at him so
sweetly; it was obviously false.
Kenji growled, "Exposure is right. How could you ever agree to have my
daughter appear in such a revealing show on TV.
Ikuko hit the replay on the tape, "Here's the part you missed." Ikuko
and Serena broke out laughing as Darien's expression changed from
mortification to puzzlement.
Serena gloatingly explained, "What I showed at the party was an outtake
that the film edit crew cooked up. They thought you deserved some
payback for the way you pulled that 'joke' on me."
Sammy butted in, "What did you show at the party? What joke did he
play on you? Why was he so embarrassed looking? Why won't anybody
tell me about this stuff?" The only response to his questions was
looks of amusement from the adults in the room.
In a lightning mood change, Serena's eyes flashed angrily at Darien;
she drew herself up to her full height and stared down at him. She
began frostily, "I respect your need to feel like you're the head of
the household and that you are providing for us. But if you EVER agree
to do something that raunchy or stupid again without talking with me
first; not only will you be doing it alone, you will be living in your
car down in the parking garage."
Sammy started laughing loudly and Kenji got up and looked ready to jump
in with his opinions. Serena glared at them both and said, "You two
stay out of this. It's not your concern."
Darien's jaw dropped in astonishment at his pint-sized little bunny
taking them all on at once. This wasn't like all the times he had made
her mad for fun. This time she was deadly serious and they all knew
it. It was as impressive as some of her confrontations as Sailor Moon.
He finally replied, "Umm, we'll talk about it at home." He turned and
looked at the others questioningly.
"You haven't seen her really mad very often; I take it. She gets it
from her mother. It doesn't happen very often; but when it does duck
and cover," Kenji offered his hard earned words of advice.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Darien looked up from his textbook as he felt the signal unused for the
last couple of months. Sailor Moon had transformed. Quickly he
materialized a rose and when the change was complete, leaped lightly
off their apartment balcony. He followed the pull toward Sailor Moon's
battle, to the Tsukino house.
While still outside he could hear her shrill challenge, "I will punish
evil and this means you. Prepare to be moondusted, youma!"
He hurriedly slipped inside the upstairs balcony doors and followed the
sound of her voice. Her back was toward the door as she stood
menacingly over her cowering target, hiding beneath the bed. "Sailor
Moon, stop!" he commanded. "You can't moondust your brother!"
Sailor Moon turned and crossed her arms, regarding him challengingly.
"And why not? Do you know what he's done? And then he had the nerve
to call me FAT!"
Tuxedo Mask knew he had to defuse this situation and quickly. "There's
no need to resort to violence. I'm sure we can talk this over. Tell
me what the problem is, love," he enunciated in his most soothing and
seductive tones. Moving over to Sailor Moon, he captured her in his
arms, effectively immobilizing her.
"I'll show you what he's done," she snapped angrily. Adding in a
quieter voice, that deadly question, "I'm not fat, am I?"
Tuxedo Mask sweat-dropped. "Of course you're not fat darling. You're
more beautiful than ever. You're positively radiant. But perhaps that
fuku isn't your best look just now."
The senshi uniform's stretchy white leotard and short skirt, clearly
outlined and emphasized the rounding of her belly, six months gone in a
twin pregnancy. Somewhat mollified, Sailor Moon snatched up a pile of
papers and thrust it toward Tuxedo Mask's face. "Here, look at this."
In full color was a printout of the latest edition of "Gossipbyter's
Ezine". The headline question read "Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask
Revealed? . . . Did Tuxedo Mask Bang My Sister?" Four photos were
arranged below it. On the left was the now familiar photo Sammy had
taken of Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask making out. Below it was the
second photo, previously unknown to them, of the same couple obviously
in the throes of heated lovemaking. The uncovered portions of their
bodies occupied the center of the photograph. His firm, well-defined,
and quite bare gluteus maximus was framed by her shapely legs, clasping
him tightly around the waist. The caption below read "Winning Celebity
Candid Photos from the Amateur Photographer Contest". On the right
side of the page were stills from the Rapunzel in the tower shampoo
commercial and the now infamous shower scene commercial. Encaptioned
below: "Celebrity Love Fantasies? Or Hot New Movie Rehearsal?" For
details see page 12.
Tuxedo Mask's face darkened with rage and he uttered a low growl. "So
that's what's been going on. I was pinched, patted, goosed and grabbed
by at least 37 women and half a dozen men at the grocery store and on
the subway today. I thought it was because of that stupid commercial.
There are displays of this damn rag at every grocery store, coffee
shop, and train station in town."
"Can we at least let Mars barbeque him a little?" wheedled Sailor Moon.
"I may use him for target practice myself," uttered Tuxedo Mask
menacingly as he threw a rose, inches from where Sammy was attempting
to slither out from under the bed and make his escape.
Sailor Moon thoughtfully said, "No, we need revenge in kind. Something
horribly embarrassing."
"And publicly humiliating," added Tuxedo Mask. "I say we hang him
upside down from the top of Tokyo Tower."
Sailor Moon smiled evilly, "Dressed as a girl." Seeing something pink
between his mattresses, she pulled and unearthed her pink bunny tee
shirt and Darien's missing white shirt. They had char marks, odd
discolorations, and random chunks cut out of them. "He can wear this
tee shirt," she added.
Tuxedo Mask grinned like a shark, "How about that pink lace thong with
the white bunny tail of yours, and the ears that go with it?"
Sailor Moon added, "My red sandals with the 10 cm. stiletto heels.
Mina would love to do a make-over, I'm sure. She has the kinkiest
lingerie' too."
"I'd be interested in seeing that. On second thought, keep your bunny
outfit," added Tuxedo Mask, ducking as Sailor Moon playfully swung at
him.
Scrounging in Sammy's stash of odds and ends, they bound and gagged him
with gray tape. Accompanied by Sailor Moon, Tuxedo Mask carried him
away across the rooftops to Mina's house.
Mina was delighted to try her expertise in doing a make-over for Sammy.
Looking him over, she said, "I have the perfect outfit." She brought a
curly red wig, a bright orange skirt as short as a fuku, and high
purple platform shoes out of her costume box in her closet. Serena and
Mina giggled as they dressed the protesting Sammy in his new outfit.
Tuxedo Mask had shed his props and jacket and sprawled across Mina's
bed watching with interest.
Mina stood back and stared critically at Sammy. "Where to begin? It's
going to be quite a challenge to make him beautiful. Those bushy
eyebrows and hairy legs have got to go. Lucky thing I just restocked
my leg wax."
Sailor Moon clapped her hands and laughed, "Oh lets! I want to help!"
Tuxedo Mask cringed involuntarily, remembering his tortures at the
hands of Beryl and her minions. He believed that it would be better to
die in battle than to let some vicious female capture him again. His
love and her senshi were displaying the same cruel tendencies.
Sammy writhed and emitted muffled cries as Mina and Sailor Moon
gleefully applied the hot wax. Tuxedo Mask swore the screams as the
girls ripped off the backing and wax stuck to the hair rang out as
loudly as if the poor boy was not gagged. "Much better," commented
Mina.
"Now for his makeup," Mina brought out her cosmetics and applied
mascara, eye shadow and blush to bring out his features.
"The lipstick will have to wait until we drop him off and un-gag him,"
said Sailor Moon.
Mina called Lita who agreed to meet them at Tokyo Tower with her
camera. She called Rei and Ami as well. Ami protested, "This isn't
right."
Sailor Moon stood next to Mina and spoke to Ami as well, "Call up the
Gossipbyters website and take a look at the front page."
Ami quickly complied and came back on screen, "Oh my, some of the
people may figure out these photos are for real! And they're even more
embarrassing than those commercials."
Tuxedo Mask threw in, "You've got that right!"
Rei had just been listening and finally joined in the conference call
on the communicator to tease Ami and Darien, "The rear view when you
guys are transformed is even better than the one Ami liked so much at
your party."
"Rei!" exclaimed several outraged senshi.
"Seriously, Sammy does need to be taught a lesson he won't forget. He
endangered himself and your parents as well as all of us just to enter
a stupid contest," commented Rei.
The senshi met at Tokyo Tower and deposited Sammy on the observation
deck on the top floor. They withdrew to strategic locations to observe
the response to the "school boy prank", as they called it when they
notified the Gossipbyter's tip line and called Mika to come rescue her
boyfriend. Sammy was so intimidated by his "lesson" at the hands of
his sister and her senshi that he never did reveal the truth of what
happened to him. The story remained that he had been grabbed by
"unknown school boys" as a prank. It only merited a few short lines on
page 34 of the next edition and one extremely blurry photo. Mina was a
bit disappointed that the public did not get a better chance to view
her "artistic creation".
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Serena, your Mom called this morning while you were asleep. She said
there was a letter for you from the school at their house. She invited
us for lunch; we can pick it up then," Darien told his sleepy wife who
had finally wandered out into the kitchen.
"Ugh! I don't even want to think about school. It starts in two
weeks. My back hurts again. Can you do that thing to make it stop
hurting," she whined. She purred as he rubbed her back and manipulated
the acupressure points.
"What are you going to do about classes for the fall term?" he asked.
"I don't know. They didn't tell me anything when school let out for
summer break. I can check the list of what's available on the
computer. I guess I'll find out what they want me to do at
registration or maybe it's in the letter," she answered.
Sammy was conspicuously absent during lunch with Ikuko. Most of the
publicity flurry had died down as quickly as it started, as the
paparazzi went after fresh game. Sammy was avoiding Serena and Darien
after the photo fiasco. He was still afraid of their alter egos
according to their Mom. Ikuko had been rather upset at what Sailor
Moon, Tuxedo Mask, and the senshi had done to Sammy but did agree in
principle that he needed some type of "punishment".
Serena finally read the letter after they arrived back home. "We've
got to make an appointment and see the counselor together before the
beginning of school 'to discuss my enrollment and educational program'.
I wonder what that really means?"
"They probably don't want you in regular classes," Darien commented
candidly. "You're a bad influence or some such thing; obviously
pregnant and notorious TV commercials and photos in the gossip paper."
"Yeah, and whose fault is all that?" [and so on, round and round].
Later that week, they met with the counselor at the school one
afternoon for the appointment. "Miss Tsukino, we believe it to be in
your best interest, considering your health requirements, to place you
in an alternative
tutoring program for the fall and winter terms," began the counselor
pompously. The remaining remarks appeared to be addressed to Darien,
as Mr. Bakasama turned in his direction and looked away from Serena.
"I have prepared a program for her placing her in the homemaking skills
for young ladies track.* It includes: communication skills for
homemakers, math for everyday life, modern history, nutrition and food
science, child development, and cooking and sewing lab. The second
year is: etiquette and protocol for home and business entertaining,
household budgeting and economics, law and government for the citizen,
first aid and home heath care, home decorating, and flower arranging.
This leads to the diploma in life skills. She will meet with a tutor
twice a week from 9 A.M. to 11 A.M. She may use the school library as
required, and schedule lab time and consultations with other teachers
on an appointment basis. Of course she will not be able to sit for the
national college entrance examinations."
His face assuming the unreadable expression usually signaling anger or
irritation, Darien answered most politely, with dripping sarcasm.
"Excuse me, Sir, but 'Miss Tsukino' has been 'Mrs. Chiba' since
February, two school terms ago. She already knows how to cook, sew,
and balance the household accounts. And I assure you that she more
than adequately fulfills all my other requirements."
Serena blushed and looked down. Darien continued 'his' meeting with
the counselor. "I do not believe she needs those easy courses that are
nothing but frills and filler. She will be attending the university.
I think she should enroll in the following college preparatory program:
composition and literature including kanji, college preparatory
mathematics, chemistry or physics, world history, English, French,
music theory, and art history."
Serena became increasingly angry with these two arrogant men, who were
talking about her as if she were not present, and presuming to decide
her course of action without even consulting her. She stood up between
them, slapped both hands on the table, and interjected loudly, "Iie!"
As they both regarded her with a look of dumbfounded surprise, Serena
continued, "I will chose my own courses, which will include both useful
'frills' (with a glare at Darien) and the minimum requirements for the
university examination, if I choose to sit for it."
Smiling sweetly at Darien, "You're all I ever wished for and I love you
dearly. But darling, we've had this discussion before about you making
decisions concerning what I do without talking with me first. Perhaps
Mr. Bakasama would like to know just who decided that I should appear
in that 'disgraceful' commercial, as he put it."
Darien reddened slightly as he was shot down in flames, ever so
sweetly. Serena concluded, "I think that about covers everything we
need to discuss. Let's go, dear."
As they walked out of the school she added, "I think I'll like school
better this year since I don't have to go every day. But I still want
to see my friends, especially since they'll all have been gone the last
few weeks of summer break except for Rei and Molly."
Darien smiled, "The counselor said you could use the library any time.
Why not just go there before or after lunch on the days you don't have
class scheduled if you want to eat with your friends? You can visit
with them every day if you want."
"I love it when you're devious. Let's go home. I'm worn out all of a
sudden; I missed my nap," she replied and sagged against him tiredly.
"I'm glad I've got you. I do need you, you know. I love you," she
whispered as she drifted off to sleep.
Darien looked down at his odango-shaped 'little bunny'. Serena laid
her head against his shoulder as he held her. Asleep on her feet;
amazing. He picked her up and carried her the rest of the way to the
car. Not exactly sweeping her off her feet, but it will do, he thought
wryly.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
* Some courses like these are actually available from correspondence
schools in the U. S. I don't think there are similar programs in
Japan. Homeschooling is also not common there.
Themes (Sammy & company): Proverbs 11:29 – He who brings trouble on
his family will inherit the wind, and the fool will be servant to the
wise. Proverbs 15:27 – A greedy man brings trouble to his family, but
he who hates bribes will live.