All My Brothers – Part 13
By: Reba Jean, April 13, 2002
E-mail: rjean@ghg.net
Rating: PG-13
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.
Themes: Proverbs 19:19, "A hot-tempered man must pay the penalty; if
you rescue him, you will have to do it again."
"You must control your temper." Belle in Beauty and the Beast
Proverbs 19:11, "A man's wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory
to overlook an offense."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The girls were gathered for a senshi meeting after school at the little
teahouse on the temple property. Serena flopped down on a pile of
cushions as soon as she arrived, out of breath from just the small hill
on the way to the building. Ami, Mina, and Lita stared at her as she
struggled to catch her breath. "Wow, you were right, Rei. She is
absolutely humongous!" observed Lita.
Ami sniffed, "That wasn't a very tactful to put it, Lita."
Mina commented, "the Mother Goddess."
"What?" chimed in Lita and Serena.
"Prehistoric statues and images of huge pregnant women found across
Eurasia," Ami began to lecture.
"If you are just going to pick on me, I'm leaving. I didn't come here
to be insulted," said Serena, tears starting to form in her eyes.
"Oh no, those people worshiped those figures," said Ami.
"Yeah, she means you look like a goddess," lied Mina.
"Well I guess I'll stay for a while," conceded Serena.
"How come we didn't see you at school yesterday? I made a special
lunch," asked Lita.
"Darien made me leave right after class so he could drop me off for my
doctor's appointment before he had to go to his afternoon lab," Serena
explained. "I really wanted to see your cooking Lita, I mean see all
of you," she added. They laughed at her poor comeback.
"How come Cape Boy didn't come to the meeting today?" asked Rei.
"He's working evening shift at the hospital on Tuesday and Thursday
this semester," Serena answered.
"I thought he had that computer job most days," Ami commented.
"No, just on Saturday's this term. He's got labs MWF so that was the
only day left," Serena added.
"So you're by yourself again most of the time," commented Mina.
"Yeah, the story of my life these days," mused Serena sadly. "I
actually miss going to school everyday," she admitted. "To go see my
friends, of course," she added hastily, lest they get the wrong
impression.
"So what classes and schedule did you end up with?" asked Ami.
"I'm taking: poetry and calligraphy, medieval history, math for
business and finance, economics, and health and nutrition. Class is 9-
11 a.m. MWF, but Darien drops me off at 8 a.m. so he can get to his
8:30 a.m." she whined. "You'll never believe who my teacher was
supposed to be."
Rei commented, "That doesn't sound like the home ec track, more like
liberal arts. Aren't those classes a little 'intellectual' for you?"
"Oh, you're so mean. I like poetry and it sounded easier than grammar
and composition. Kings, queens, castles, samurai, and that stuff have
got to be more interesting than modern wars. And why on earth would I
want to take trigonometry and calculus? Isn't business math easier,
Ami?" asked Serena.
"Well probably. But don't you know that they use calculus in business
and also probability and statistics?" lectured Ami.
"Not problems and sadistics too!" moaned Serena. "So that's why Darien
laughed when I told him what I took."
"So who's your teacher?" asked Lita.
"Well after I went to the cafeteria and ate breakfast again since I got
there so early, I went over to the counseling office where the tutors
work. I was like 15 minutes early, so I was just drawing on the board;
there was nothing else to do. When she saw me there, her first words
were, "I've died and gone to hell! They're trying to drive me crazy!"
She started crying, ran out of the room, and slammed the door," Serena
began her convoluted story.
"WHO WAS IT?" yelled the girls.
"Well I sat around for another half hour and did my nails, when Mr.
Bakasama came in. He gave me my books, told me to read the first
chapter in each, and that I could go for the day. My new teacher would
start with me on Wednesday. So I don't know this new guy, Mr.
Kazebaggu."
"Who was the first one?" yelled Lita menacingly.
"Oh that? It was Ms. Haruna. Later, I heard the counselors saying she
had requested to transfer to the kindergarten class at the elementary
school, where at least the students act their ages. Like how
insulting!" Serena complained.
"Oh my goddess, that is so funny! Now you'll be known forever as the
one who finally broke Haruna," laughed Mina.
"And I was even early. I was going to be nice this year," whined
Serena.
Rei grinned, "I think I know your teacher; if he's the same one who
used to teach at my school. He's like a thousand years old and really
grumpy and prissy. Everyone has to be on time and he wants everything
'just-so', neat and orderly. Your paper can be absolute garbage, but
if your handwriting is neat and pretty you can still get a good grade.
'Old Wind Bag' was always dusting and cleaning and lecturing on proper
behavior. The hardest of all was having to laugh at his lame jokes."
Ami put in thoughtfully, "Actually if you play it right; you may get
along fine with him. He sounds like an older combination of Darien and
Andrew."
"Did you just insult my guy?" asked Serena and Mina simultaneously.
Lita jumped in first to begin the interrogation. "Hey, Mina. What's
this 'my guy' stuff? Spill it, girl."
Mina grinned, "Andrew and I have been seeing each other some this
summer. He even came to the movie set on location in Hawaii where we
were filming."
Rei crowded in and added, "We want ALL the dirt. Now." Serena and Ami
hovered behind Lita and Rei, just as curious.
"That's really all there is. He came down for a week and we went and
did all the tourist stuff on the island, you know. He stayed at our
suite," Mina answered.
"Woo hoo," chimed in Serena.
"So you two are, you know, doing stuff?" asked Ami.
"No, I didn't mean that," Mina denied.
"Well if he stayed with you?" questioned Serena.
"He stayed with me and my Mom. She and I shared a room. He got the
couch," Mina protested.
"So you guys didn't do anything?" asked Lita sounding disappointed.
"No, nothing. I don't plan to either. I don't want any unexpected
surprises," Mina replied, glancing at Serena.
Serena retorted somewhat annoyed, "I resemble that remark. I mean I
resent that remark. Ugh, now I sound like Mina." She finished weakly.
The other girls laughed; the two blondes were a lot alike in more than
looks.
Serena asked, "So Ami and Lita, what was your vacation like?"
Ami put in, "I spent my vacation the way I usually do, at the pre-
college math and science workshop. This year Greg and I went to the
one in Kyoto. It was very interesting and informative. I think it
will help us improve our scores on the national exams again. The
company guarantees an increase of at least 30 points. Would you like
to hear more about what we studied?"
"Uh no, I think I get the idea. Where were you Lita?" Serena
continued.
Rei, Mina, and Ami all looked at her expectantly as well. Lita hadn't
said anything about going anywhere to anyone. "You'll never believe
it. You know that cooking contest that the Culinary Institute sponsors
here in Tokyo, that I enter every year. Well this time I got one of
the scholarships for the three week summer session at the Cordon Bleu
school in Paris."
Mina squealed, "No way! You went to Paris and you didn't tell ANY of
us?"
"Traitor!" yelled Rei.
"What a wonderful learning opportunity for you," said Ami.
"You didn't have to speak French for class did you?" asked Serena,
thinking that would not be fun at all.
"Did you go shopping and buy lots of new clothes?" asked Mina.
"Yeah, you've got to show us all of them," added Serena.
"Whoa, too many questions. It was lots of fun. I learned lots of new
recipes. They took us on two days of guided tours, so I saw almost
everything. I had saved about 25,000 yen, so I got to buy a few
outfits," Lita explained.
Fixated on the comment about new recipes, Serena asked, "So when do we
get to eat all the new stuff you know how to make now? Do you have any
food made to try yet?"
"Serena! You're always thinking about food," sniped Rei. She made a
large spreading motion with her hands. The other girls giggled.
Ami commented, "If the food is as good as the reputation of the school,
we may all put on a few kilos, not just Serena."
Lita brought out a magazine and flipped it open, a sly expression on
her face. "I bought a copy of this teen magazine in Paris; the people
in this ad sure look familiar, Serena." A dark haired man in swim
trunks was looking entreatingly at a blonde girl and pulling her toward
him. In a second picture was a very pregnant girl with tears running
down her face. She was watching the man walk off in the middle of a
group of bikini clad models with his arms around the ones on either
side of him.
Rei's face lit up as well. She razzed, "I saw that in a magazine I was
flipping through at the news stand last week. I thought you said you
gave up embarrassing ads, Serena. I mean do you really want everybody
at school to call you the 'I didn't say no' girl?"
"I have on all my clothes; and it paid good money," Serena protested.
"Well you sure haven't been doing a very good job of making that man of
yours keep his clothes on. I don't care how much he complains; I think
he likes all the attention he gets from the girls," needled Lita.
"He's dressed," Serena said. "Well he has a swim suit on anyway. We
ran into Haruka and Michiru and they were teasing me about it. Haruka
asked Darien if it really wasn't the attention from the guys that he
likes. It's a good thing she's so fast. He almost caught her that
time."
Ami sighed, "You guys are always good for a few laughs. I hope that
doesn't change too much."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Early one morning, later in September, a loud 'Thwap' resounded through
the bedroom. "Ow, why did ya do that?" complained Darien as he grabbed
the pillow that bashed his head.
"You wouldn't listen. You just rolled over and groaned," Serena
whined.
Darien came awake instantly. "Oh no. It's not TIME, is it? It's too
early."
"No, don't be ridiculous. I'm hungry. Go get me some picked eels and
salted plum candies, right now," Serena ordered.
"But it's only 5a.m. The market isn't open yet," Darien protested.
"I don't care. I want them now," Serena shoved him out of bed onto the
floor. Darien just lay there for a moment and groaned. He had heard
about cravings but he hadn't really believed it. So far all she had
done was to double the amount of ice cream and chocolate she ate.
Grumbling under his breath, Darien dragged himself up off the floor and
moved over to the balcony door. He transformed to Tuxedo Mask and
opened the door to leave. "I'll try the fish market in the warehouse
district. They should be open by now," he called back. There was no
answer. Tuxedo Mask slipped quietly back into the bedroom. Serena was
burrowed under the blankets, asleep again.
Tuxedo Mask exited through the balcony doors and leaped from building
to building through the shadows. The super hero was on a mission. He
dare not return until his quest was done.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Serena was foraging in the refrigerator for something to eat. She had
finally awakened at 1 p.m. from hunger. The phone rang again; the damn
thing had been ringing every thirty minutes or so and disrupting her
morning beauty sleep. This time she heard a forlorn voice, "Honey,
please pick up this time. It's Darien."
Serena thought a moment. He had left early that morning and had not
returned. She finally picked up the phone, "Where are my pickled eels
and plum candy?" she asked agrivatedly.
"I had them but the cops have probably eaten them by now. Please don't
hang up. Listen carefully. I need you to collect 150,000 yen in cash
and bring it down to the warehouse district police substation," Darien
instructed her.
"I don't have that much cash and the bank is closed today. Why do you
need it anyway?" she asked.
"I have to pay some fines to get out of jail. Do you remember that
ticket I got the time you were in the hospital? The one they never
sent the bill for? It went to the wrong place; I missed going to
court, and they were arresting everyone this week with warrants for
traffic tickets. I kinda got thrown in solitary for a fight in the
common cell too. That's an extra fine. Please come get me out; it
reminds me too much of Beryl's dungeon," he begged. "Bring some jeans
and tennis shoes too," he added.
"What?" she couldn't figure the last part out.
"I changed back to normal when I went to the store to get your stuff
and didn't notice what I was wearing. The store clerk called the cops
and then took a long time selling me the stuff until the cops came.
They ran a check for warrants and found the traffic ticket. The girl
thought I was some kind of pervert or something, I guess," he whined.
"Why on earth would she want you arrested?" Serena inquired.
"I was only wearing a tee shirt, those Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask
pajama bottoms that look like boxer shorts, and your pink fuzzy bunny
slippers," Darien admitted. He could hear Serena's and Luna's loud
laughter even with the phone held away from his ear to dampen her
screeching.
"Maybe the girls have some cash. Mom would loan me some money too,"
Serena told Darien after she was through laughing.
It was a long, long day in the district jail. Darien was tired of
sitting, tired of pacing, tired of thinking, and very, very tired of
waiting. He wondered if she would ever come get him. He heard
catcalls further down the row of cells, "Lookie there. It's the 'I
didn't say no' girl. Hey baby, after you drop the litter, you can
forget to say no to me too." His rescuer was on the way.
The guard accompanying Serena stopped outside Darien's cell. "Is this
the guy?" he asked her.
Darien saw Serena's face peering in the slot. The panel slid shut
again, but not before he heard her laughter and reply that it was her
husband. The door opened and the guard tossed in a pair of jeans and
some shoes. As Darien looked up, he saw Serena's father standing
behind her glowering at him. Darien dressed as quickly as he could and
followed them down the row, apologizing profusely to her stone-faced
father.
There were more catcalls and comments accompanying their exit. "Bye,
Bunny Boy. Come back and visit us."
"Hey Buns, come show us some more ass!"
Last was an even more excited exclamation, "That's not the 'I didn't
say no' girl; it's Legs! The one on the poster with Bun Boy!" Darien
cringed; he hoped her father hadn't picked up on that one too.
Serena prattled, "All I could raise was 50,000 yen. I borrowed from
all the girls and pawned the black pearl set you gave me for my
birthday. I want it back. I called my parent's house, but Mom was out
and Dad answered the phone. He gave me the rest of the money. He
wants interest though." Mr. Tsukino maintained an icy silence the
whole way out to his car.
"What did they mean by Bunny Boy and Legs?" Serena asked.
Darien reddened and glanced over at Mr. Tsukino, he was gripping the
steering wheel so tightly his knuckles were white. His angry aura was
almost visible. "Apparently someone made a poster out of that
compromising photo of us that Sammy sold to Gossipbyters. Some long-
term inmate put it on the jail cell wall. He grimaced in remembrance.
That's why I got in a couple of fights. You don't want to know what
they wanted to do to me!"
Serena giggled, "My poor baby is just too popular for his own good."
"Hey, I never did get my pickled eels and plum candy." Serena shifted
her attention to her father. "Daddy, can you please stop by the market
and get me some?" she whined. "I'm sooo hungry!"
By: Reba Jean, April 13, 2002
E-mail: rjean@ghg.net
Rating: PG-13
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.
Themes: Proverbs 19:19, "A hot-tempered man must pay the penalty; if
you rescue him, you will have to do it again."
"You must control your temper." Belle in Beauty and the Beast
Proverbs 19:11, "A man's wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory
to overlook an offense."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The girls were gathered for a senshi meeting after school at the little
teahouse on the temple property. Serena flopped down on a pile of
cushions as soon as she arrived, out of breath from just the small hill
on the way to the building. Ami, Mina, and Lita stared at her as she
struggled to catch her breath. "Wow, you were right, Rei. She is
absolutely humongous!" observed Lita.
Ami sniffed, "That wasn't a very tactful to put it, Lita."
Mina commented, "the Mother Goddess."
"What?" chimed in Lita and Serena.
"Prehistoric statues and images of huge pregnant women found across
Eurasia," Ami began to lecture.
"If you are just going to pick on me, I'm leaving. I didn't come here
to be insulted," said Serena, tears starting to form in her eyes.
"Oh no, those people worshiped those figures," said Ami.
"Yeah, she means you look like a goddess," lied Mina.
"Well I guess I'll stay for a while," conceded Serena.
"How come we didn't see you at school yesterday? I made a special
lunch," asked Lita.
"Darien made me leave right after class so he could drop me off for my
doctor's appointment before he had to go to his afternoon lab," Serena
explained. "I really wanted to see your cooking Lita, I mean see all
of you," she added. They laughed at her poor comeback.
"How come Cape Boy didn't come to the meeting today?" asked Rei.
"He's working evening shift at the hospital on Tuesday and Thursday
this semester," Serena answered.
"I thought he had that computer job most days," Ami commented.
"No, just on Saturday's this term. He's got labs MWF so that was the
only day left," Serena added.
"So you're by yourself again most of the time," commented Mina.
"Yeah, the story of my life these days," mused Serena sadly. "I
actually miss going to school everyday," she admitted. "To go see my
friends, of course," she added hastily, lest they get the wrong
impression.
"So what classes and schedule did you end up with?" asked Ami.
"I'm taking: poetry and calligraphy, medieval history, math for
business and finance, economics, and health and nutrition. Class is 9-
11 a.m. MWF, but Darien drops me off at 8 a.m. so he can get to his
8:30 a.m." she whined. "You'll never believe who my teacher was
supposed to be."
Rei commented, "That doesn't sound like the home ec track, more like
liberal arts. Aren't those classes a little 'intellectual' for you?"
"Oh, you're so mean. I like poetry and it sounded easier than grammar
and composition. Kings, queens, castles, samurai, and that stuff have
got to be more interesting than modern wars. And why on earth would I
want to take trigonometry and calculus? Isn't business math easier,
Ami?" asked Serena.
"Well probably. But don't you know that they use calculus in business
and also probability and statistics?" lectured Ami.
"Not problems and sadistics too!" moaned Serena. "So that's why Darien
laughed when I told him what I took."
"So who's your teacher?" asked Lita.
"Well after I went to the cafeteria and ate breakfast again since I got
there so early, I went over to the counseling office where the tutors
work. I was like 15 minutes early, so I was just drawing on the board;
there was nothing else to do. When she saw me there, her first words
were, "I've died and gone to hell! They're trying to drive me crazy!"
She started crying, ran out of the room, and slammed the door," Serena
began her convoluted story.
"WHO WAS IT?" yelled the girls.
"Well I sat around for another half hour and did my nails, when Mr.
Bakasama came in. He gave me my books, told me to read the first
chapter in each, and that I could go for the day. My new teacher would
start with me on Wednesday. So I don't know this new guy, Mr.
Kazebaggu."
"Who was the first one?" yelled Lita menacingly.
"Oh that? It was Ms. Haruna. Later, I heard the counselors saying she
had requested to transfer to the kindergarten class at the elementary
school, where at least the students act their ages. Like how
insulting!" Serena complained.
"Oh my goddess, that is so funny! Now you'll be known forever as the
one who finally broke Haruna," laughed Mina.
"And I was even early. I was going to be nice this year," whined
Serena.
Rei grinned, "I think I know your teacher; if he's the same one who
used to teach at my school. He's like a thousand years old and really
grumpy and prissy. Everyone has to be on time and he wants everything
'just-so', neat and orderly. Your paper can be absolute garbage, but
if your handwriting is neat and pretty you can still get a good grade.
'Old Wind Bag' was always dusting and cleaning and lecturing on proper
behavior. The hardest of all was having to laugh at his lame jokes."
Ami put in thoughtfully, "Actually if you play it right; you may get
along fine with him. He sounds like an older combination of Darien and
Andrew."
"Did you just insult my guy?" asked Serena and Mina simultaneously.
Lita jumped in first to begin the interrogation. "Hey, Mina. What's
this 'my guy' stuff? Spill it, girl."
Mina grinned, "Andrew and I have been seeing each other some this
summer. He even came to the movie set on location in Hawaii where we
were filming."
Rei crowded in and added, "We want ALL the dirt. Now." Serena and Ami
hovered behind Lita and Rei, just as curious.
"That's really all there is. He came down for a week and we went and
did all the tourist stuff on the island, you know. He stayed at our
suite," Mina answered.
"Woo hoo," chimed in Serena.
"So you two are, you know, doing stuff?" asked Ami.
"No, I didn't mean that," Mina denied.
"Well if he stayed with you?" questioned Serena.
"He stayed with me and my Mom. She and I shared a room. He got the
couch," Mina protested.
"So you guys didn't do anything?" asked Lita sounding disappointed.
"No, nothing. I don't plan to either. I don't want any unexpected
surprises," Mina replied, glancing at Serena.
Serena retorted somewhat annoyed, "I resemble that remark. I mean I
resent that remark. Ugh, now I sound like Mina." She finished weakly.
The other girls laughed; the two blondes were a lot alike in more than
looks.
Serena asked, "So Ami and Lita, what was your vacation like?"
Ami put in, "I spent my vacation the way I usually do, at the pre-
college math and science workshop. This year Greg and I went to the
one in Kyoto. It was very interesting and informative. I think it
will help us improve our scores on the national exams again. The
company guarantees an increase of at least 30 points. Would you like
to hear more about what we studied?"
"Uh no, I think I get the idea. Where were you Lita?" Serena
continued.
Rei, Mina, and Ami all looked at her expectantly as well. Lita hadn't
said anything about going anywhere to anyone. "You'll never believe
it. You know that cooking contest that the Culinary Institute sponsors
here in Tokyo, that I enter every year. Well this time I got one of
the scholarships for the three week summer session at the Cordon Bleu
school in Paris."
Mina squealed, "No way! You went to Paris and you didn't tell ANY of
us?"
"Traitor!" yelled Rei.
"What a wonderful learning opportunity for you," said Ami.
"You didn't have to speak French for class did you?" asked Serena,
thinking that would not be fun at all.
"Did you go shopping and buy lots of new clothes?" asked Mina.
"Yeah, you've got to show us all of them," added Serena.
"Whoa, too many questions. It was lots of fun. I learned lots of new
recipes. They took us on two days of guided tours, so I saw almost
everything. I had saved about 25,000 yen, so I got to buy a few
outfits," Lita explained.
Fixated on the comment about new recipes, Serena asked, "So when do we
get to eat all the new stuff you know how to make now? Do you have any
food made to try yet?"
"Serena! You're always thinking about food," sniped Rei. She made a
large spreading motion with her hands. The other girls giggled.
Ami commented, "If the food is as good as the reputation of the school,
we may all put on a few kilos, not just Serena."
Lita brought out a magazine and flipped it open, a sly expression on
her face. "I bought a copy of this teen magazine in Paris; the people
in this ad sure look familiar, Serena." A dark haired man in swim
trunks was looking entreatingly at a blonde girl and pulling her toward
him. In a second picture was a very pregnant girl with tears running
down her face. She was watching the man walk off in the middle of a
group of bikini clad models with his arms around the ones on either
side of him.
Rei's face lit up as well. She razzed, "I saw that in a magazine I was
flipping through at the news stand last week. I thought you said you
gave up embarrassing ads, Serena. I mean do you really want everybody
at school to call you the 'I didn't say no' girl?"
"I have on all my clothes; and it paid good money," Serena protested.
"Well you sure haven't been doing a very good job of making that man of
yours keep his clothes on. I don't care how much he complains; I think
he likes all the attention he gets from the girls," needled Lita.
"He's dressed," Serena said. "Well he has a swim suit on anyway. We
ran into Haruka and Michiru and they were teasing me about it. Haruka
asked Darien if it really wasn't the attention from the guys that he
likes. It's a good thing she's so fast. He almost caught her that
time."
Ami sighed, "You guys are always good for a few laughs. I hope that
doesn't change too much."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Early one morning, later in September, a loud 'Thwap' resounded through
the bedroom. "Ow, why did ya do that?" complained Darien as he grabbed
the pillow that bashed his head.
"You wouldn't listen. You just rolled over and groaned," Serena
whined.
Darien came awake instantly. "Oh no. It's not TIME, is it? It's too
early."
"No, don't be ridiculous. I'm hungry. Go get me some picked eels and
salted plum candies, right now," Serena ordered.
"But it's only 5a.m. The market isn't open yet," Darien protested.
"I don't care. I want them now," Serena shoved him out of bed onto the
floor. Darien just lay there for a moment and groaned. He had heard
about cravings but he hadn't really believed it. So far all she had
done was to double the amount of ice cream and chocolate she ate.
Grumbling under his breath, Darien dragged himself up off the floor and
moved over to the balcony door. He transformed to Tuxedo Mask and
opened the door to leave. "I'll try the fish market in the warehouse
district. They should be open by now," he called back. There was no
answer. Tuxedo Mask slipped quietly back into the bedroom. Serena was
burrowed under the blankets, asleep again.
Tuxedo Mask exited through the balcony doors and leaped from building
to building through the shadows. The super hero was on a mission. He
dare not return until his quest was done.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Serena was foraging in the refrigerator for something to eat. She had
finally awakened at 1 p.m. from hunger. The phone rang again; the damn
thing had been ringing every thirty minutes or so and disrupting her
morning beauty sleep. This time she heard a forlorn voice, "Honey,
please pick up this time. It's Darien."
Serena thought a moment. He had left early that morning and had not
returned. She finally picked up the phone, "Where are my pickled eels
and plum candy?" she asked agrivatedly.
"I had them but the cops have probably eaten them by now. Please don't
hang up. Listen carefully. I need you to collect 150,000 yen in cash
and bring it down to the warehouse district police substation," Darien
instructed her.
"I don't have that much cash and the bank is closed today. Why do you
need it anyway?" she asked.
"I have to pay some fines to get out of jail. Do you remember that
ticket I got the time you were in the hospital? The one they never
sent the bill for? It went to the wrong place; I missed going to
court, and they were arresting everyone this week with warrants for
traffic tickets. I kinda got thrown in solitary for a fight in the
common cell too. That's an extra fine. Please come get me out; it
reminds me too much of Beryl's dungeon," he begged. "Bring some jeans
and tennis shoes too," he added.
"What?" she couldn't figure the last part out.
"I changed back to normal when I went to the store to get your stuff
and didn't notice what I was wearing. The store clerk called the cops
and then took a long time selling me the stuff until the cops came.
They ran a check for warrants and found the traffic ticket. The girl
thought I was some kind of pervert or something, I guess," he whined.
"Why on earth would she want you arrested?" Serena inquired.
"I was only wearing a tee shirt, those Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask
pajama bottoms that look like boxer shorts, and your pink fuzzy bunny
slippers," Darien admitted. He could hear Serena's and Luna's loud
laughter even with the phone held away from his ear to dampen her
screeching.
"Maybe the girls have some cash. Mom would loan me some money too,"
Serena told Darien after she was through laughing.
It was a long, long day in the district jail. Darien was tired of
sitting, tired of pacing, tired of thinking, and very, very tired of
waiting. He wondered if she would ever come get him. He heard
catcalls further down the row of cells, "Lookie there. It's the 'I
didn't say no' girl. Hey baby, after you drop the litter, you can
forget to say no to me too." His rescuer was on the way.
The guard accompanying Serena stopped outside Darien's cell. "Is this
the guy?" he asked her.
Darien saw Serena's face peering in the slot. The panel slid shut
again, but not before he heard her laughter and reply that it was her
husband. The door opened and the guard tossed in a pair of jeans and
some shoes. As Darien looked up, he saw Serena's father standing
behind her glowering at him. Darien dressed as quickly as he could and
followed them down the row, apologizing profusely to her stone-faced
father.
There were more catcalls and comments accompanying their exit. "Bye,
Bunny Boy. Come back and visit us."
"Hey Buns, come show us some more ass!"
Last was an even more excited exclamation, "That's not the 'I didn't
say no' girl; it's Legs! The one on the poster with Bun Boy!" Darien
cringed; he hoped her father hadn't picked up on that one too.
Serena prattled, "All I could raise was 50,000 yen. I borrowed from
all the girls and pawned the black pearl set you gave me for my
birthday. I want it back. I called my parent's house, but Mom was out
and Dad answered the phone. He gave me the rest of the money. He
wants interest though." Mr. Tsukino maintained an icy silence the
whole way out to his car.
"What did they mean by Bunny Boy and Legs?" Serena asked.
Darien reddened and glanced over at Mr. Tsukino, he was gripping the
steering wheel so tightly his knuckles were white. His angry aura was
almost visible. "Apparently someone made a poster out of that
compromising photo of us that Sammy sold to Gossipbyters. Some long-
term inmate put it on the jail cell wall. He grimaced in remembrance.
That's why I got in a couple of fights. You don't want to know what
they wanted to do to me!"
Serena giggled, "My poor baby is just too popular for his own good."
"Hey, I never did get my pickled eels and plum candy." Serena shifted
her attention to her father. "Daddy, can you please stop by the market
and get me some?" she whined. "I'm sooo hungry!"