Act Five - Work Hard for the Money

The next weekend, Usagi and Mamoru were getting ready for the engagement party, which was to be held at Clouds, Makoto's five-star restaurant. As usual, Mamoru was already dressed in his tuxedo, while Usagi was still trying to figure out what to wear. He shook his head in mild annoyance. She was still the same old Usako, forever late as always.

"Usako, the party is supposed to start in less than an hour," he called out from the living room as he glanced at his watch. "We need to get going. You know how Tokyo traffic can get on Saturday nights."

She popped her head out of the bedroom and smiled apologetically. "It'll be just a few more minutes, Mamo-chan. I'm almost finished."

He had heard that before. On Usagi time, a couple of minutes had a funny way of becoming thirty. Sighing, he plopped down on the couch and put on a pair of small diamond cuff links. They were one of the few things he actually bought for himself with his newfound inheritance.

It was still hard for Mamoru to accept the fact that he was a millionaire. After years of working hard at dead end jobs just to put himself through college and law school and make a good living for himself, the successful lawyer still found himself pinching pennies, always trying to find the best deal. Even the cuff links were bought on sale. If they weren't, he never would have bought them in the first place. Mamoru supposed it was a fear of losing everything again that caused him to be so careful with his finances.

A stack of unopened mail sat on the coffee table. Figuring he might as well kill some time, Mamoru picked up the envelopes and began sorting through the mail. Most of the letters were for Usagi, who must have decided to have all her mail sent to his apartment now that they were getting married. He didn't mind. She rarely stayed at her own apartment anymore as it was. Maybe he should just go ahead and ask Usagi to officially move in with him so that she could get rid of the apartment. It was a waste of money to pay rent for a place that she hadn't used in over a month.

A smile crossed his face as he came across a letter from America. Mamoru ripped open the envelope and began reading the short letter from his best friend, Furuhata Motoki. In the note, he and Reika congratulated them on their upcoming marriage and apologized for not being to attend the engagement party, but assured them that they would make it to the wedding.

A few pictures of their new baby boy Joben were also enclosed, causing Mamoru to think about Chibi-Usa, his daughter from the future. He wondered when Usagi would become pregnant. From what he understood from their visit to Crystal Tokyo, their daughter was born a few years after they got married, but he wasn't exactly sure how long after. Was it a year? Two years? Mamoru couldn't wait to be a father. He hoped it was sooner, rather than later.

Setting aside Motoki's letter and photos, he picked up his bank statement and casually glanced at the numbers, not really worried about anything. Other than the engagement ring, the cuff links, and paying off his student loans, he hadn't really made any huge purchases, although he knew that Usagi had already bought her wedding dress and the bridesmaids' gowns, as well as planned the engagement party at Clouds. But how much could that be? A couple of thousand at the most, right? Maybe ten thousand, but he could live with that. He was sure that Makoto and Setsuna gave Usagi a good deal.

Boy, was he wrong.

Mechanically brushing her long dark green hair, Setsuna stared at herself blankly in the mirror. She was not looking forward to tonight. Despite her objections, Haruka went ahead and set her up with Suguri Yasashiku, her buddy at the race track. They were going to Usagi and Mamoru's engagement party together.

How did I let myself get talked into this? she asked herself as she pulled half of her hair up in a bun like she always wore it. The last thing she wanted to do was go out on a blind date. Blind dates were always disastrous, but Michiru was very insistent. When the ocean beauty set her mind on something, nothing short of nuclear war could stop her. Setsuna finally understood how Haruka must feel all the time. Poor girl.

There was a knock on the door, and Michiru herself entered Setsuna's bedroom, looking very elegant in a teal blue strapless gown and her aqua-colored hair pulled back in a simple French twist. A stunning pair of aquamarine studs Haruka gave her on her last birthday completed the outfit and provided her with the only accents she needed.

"Is that what you're wearing, Setsuna?" Michiru asked with a touch of disappointment in her voice as she saw what her friend was wearing.

Setsuna looked down at the black velvet gown she had decided to wear to the party. It was a very simple, very classic design with scooped neckline and a full skirt. A strand of Tahitian pearls adorned her neck, along with matching studs for her ears and she wore a plain pair of black pumps. She did look extremely beautiful, but the time guardian knew that it wasn't exactly the most sexy outfit in the world, especially compared to the clothes she normally wore. However, she didn't want to lead this Yasashiku fellow on, especially if what Haruka said about him was true. Setsuna had no plans to further this relationship anymore than just a single date. She only agreed to going out with him to get Michiru and Hotaru off her back.

"What is wrong with what I'm wearing?" Setsuna asked, sounding a little more defensive than she meant.

"Nothing! Nothing at all!" she exclaimed, not wanting to hurt her friend's feelings. "You look beautiful, but you are going on a date. Perhaps you should wear something a little bit more…date-worthy. Let me see what you have."

Before Setsuna could protest, Michiru plunged into her large walk-in closet and began tossing several dresses on the bed. The good thing about being a designer was that she always had tons of clothes to choose from, most which she never even got the chance to wear. Setsuna walked over and examined the aqua beauty's choices, all quite sexy and revealing. A faint blush crawled up her face as she held up one dress which was almost completely see-through. She had designed it several years ago but never could get up the nerve to actually wear the thing in public. If she did, she'd probably be arrested for indecent exposure.

"I'm not wearing this," she declared, throwing the dress back at Michiru, who put it back in the closet after letting out a sigh.

"I found it! How about this one?"

Michiru held up a maroon halter dress with a thigh high slit up the side. In the front, it was extremely low-cut, almost reaching her belly button, and the back was basically nonexistent. Reluctantly, Setsuna unzipped the dress she was wearing, letting it fall to the ground, and reached for the other. Again, Michiru looked disappointed. "Those undergarments are completely wrong," she said, going over to her chest of drawers. "You can't wear a bra with this dress and that underwear looks like something my grandmother would wear. Here, put these on."

Michiru tossed her a pair of black lace thong underwear. "I really don't think this is necessary," Setsuna said, catching the thong in her hand.

"You're right. Going without underwear is so much sexier."

"That's not exactly what I meant, Michiru. And since when have you become such sex fanatic? I thought that was Haruka's job."

Sitting down on the bed beside the rejected dresses, Michiru smiled. "I only want you to be happy, Setsuna. Yasashiku-kun is a very nice young man, despite what Haruka says about his reputation. Even though I know you are only doing this because I want you to, I'm still hoping that you and Yasashiku-kun will hit it off. It's been such a long time since you've had a lover. Can't you see that I want you to have what I have with Haruka? You're a special person, Setsuna, and you deserve to have somebody to share your life with."

Tears clouded her ruby red eyes as Michiru finished her speech. She was such a good friend. It was nice to know that she cared so much, although Setsuna could live without the fashion advice, especially concerning her underwear.

"Thanks, Michiru," she replied, giving her friend a hug. "And I appreciate you trying to help, but I can assure you that nobody is going to see my underwear tonight, so I think I'll stick with my granny panties."

"Are you sure?" she asked, a mischievous twinkle in her eye. "You know what they say, 'Never say never.'"

Heading to the bathroom, Setsuna only shook her head, trying to hold back her laughter. That girl was getting to be as bad as Haruka.

A few minutes later, Setsuna came back out and modeled the new gown in front of Michiru, who enthusiastically nodded her approval. A low whistle caused both women to turn toward the open door where a tuxedo-clad Haruka was standing, her eyes bright. "Am I dreaming, or am I in babe heaven?"

Michiru walked over and playfully punched her partner on the arm before helping Haruka with her loose bowtie. It was amazing that after all these years of dressing as a guy, she still didn't know how to tie a simple bowtie. Michiru always had to do it for her.

As she watched Haruka bend down and whisper something in her lover's ear, causing Michiru to blush prettily, Setsuna couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy. They truly did love each other even if Haruka did have a tendency to flirt with other girls. She wished with all her heart and soul to have a love like theirs, a love that went beyond time, space, and even gender.

After Michiru finished with the bowtie, Haruka came into the room and admired her handiwork in front of Setsuna's mirror. "Are you two ready to head to the restaurant? " she asked the two girls as she tightened the tie. "Hotaru-chan's already dressed and waiting in the convertible and Yasashiku-kun should be here any minute."

Michiru raised an elegant eyebrow. "I thought we agreed we would take my Mercedes instead of your Azurro Hyperion."

"But Michiru…" Haruka whined.

She couldn't help but roll her blue eyes. Michiru knew perfectly well why Haruka didn't want to take the Mercedes, because it meant that she would have to sit in the passenger seat for once. It was part of their agreement. Nobody but her was allowed to drive the Mercedes, just like nobody but Haruka could drive the convertible and the other three cars she owned, although she did sometimes allow Hotaru to drive her old Mustang which they had restored.

"No buts, Haruka. The wind will ruin my hairstyle, and you still haven't gotten around to fixing the button that puts the top up. I'm not going to ride in the convertible tonight, and that's final. Now go outside and tell Hotaru to get in the Mercedes."

Setsuna hid a smile behind her hand as Haruka left the bedroom, muttering some rather unkind words under her breath.

Mamoru simply stared at the bank statement in his hands, unable to speak or even move. This had to be some kind of terrible mistake. How could one girl spend so much on dresses and a small party? Reaching over to Usagi's purse and pulling out her checkbook, he flipped to the entries in question and just about fainted when his fears were confirmed.

Timeless Creations 273,469.23

Clouds 92,419.52

He quickly added up the totals in his head. The two checks totaled exactly 365,888.75, well over a quarter of a million dollars. Feeling the anger burning in his blood, Mamoru stalked over to the door to his bedroom and went in, not even bothering to knock.

Usagi, dressed in a pretty pink ball gown, turned around, surprised at the rude interruption. "Mamo-chan, what's wrong?" she asked, noticing the fire in his eyes. He held out a piece of paper which she took.

"This is what's wrong. What is the meaning of this, Usagi?"

Oh-oh. Mamoru was mad at her. He never called her by her given name unless he was angry. Usagi looked down at the paper, which was the bank statement, and shrugged her shoulders in confusion. She didn't understand what he was so upset about. "What is the meaning of what?" she asked innocently, giving him back the paper.

"These two checks. The one to Timeless Creations and the other to Clouds?"

"I told you about the checks, remember?"

"Yes, but you conveniently forgot to mention how much you made them out for. Do you realize that you've already spent over a quarter of a million dollars on this wedding, and we've only been engaged for two weeks?"

Trying to calm him down, Usagi wrapped her long arms around his neck, which he immediately pushed away and sat down on the bed, his head in his hands. She was getting scared now. Mamoru had never acted this way before. She didn't like it.

"Mamo-chan, I don't understand why you're so mad about the checks. You're a millionaire now. We can afford to have a big wedding."

"You're right. You don't understand," he said bitterly. "How can you understand when you've never had to go hungry just so that you could pay the rent? How can you understand when you've never had to buy your clothes at the local resale shop, not because it was in style, but because it was all you could afford? How can you understand when you've never had to hold down two part-time jobs just so you could pay for your college tuition?"

His voice became louder and more hysterical with every question directed at his fiancée, who was practically in tears. Usagi never knew about this part of his life. She always knew that he was an orphan and that he was poor, but she never suspected just how hard he worked just to make a life for himself. Heck, she even thought he bought his clothes at the resale shop because it was in style. How could she have been so blind?

"I'm sorry, Mamo-chan," she said, enveloping him in a hug. "I'm so, so sorry. I had no idea!"

Mamoru found himself pulling away from her embrace. He loved her, but he didn't know if he could forgive Usagi for what she'd done. How could she not know how much this inheritance meant to him? How could she disobey his wishes that they talk to each other before making any more big purchases? How could she just throw money away as if it grew on trees?

"We'll talk about this later, Usagi," he said in a deliberately calm voice, walking to the door. "Freshen up and be in the car in no more than ten minutes. We're going to be late."

"We're still going to the party?" she asked, looking up.

"Of course we are. We might as well get our money's worth out of this thing," Mamoru replied. "And all I have to say is that Makoto's double chocolate cake better be the best damn cake I've ever eaten or I'm demanding a full refund."

With those words, he walked out of the apartment, slamming the door behind him. And for once, Usagi was on time.

Again, Setsuna had to question her sanity as she impatiently stood on the veranda, glaring at the expensive gold Rolex on her left wrist. Yasashiku was late. Tardiness was not a quality the time guardian valued in a man.

Strike one.

"Haruka, are you sure your friend is coming?" she finally asked after another five minutes had passed. "The party begins in less than fifteen minutes. We're going to be late."

"He'll be here, he'll be here," Haruka said, taking off the front driver's side tire of Michiru's Mercedes. As luck would have it, they all came outside and found out that the car had a flat.

"He better, or somebody's sleeping on the couch," Michiru fumed. She actually seemed more upset about the whole thing than Setsuna was. "And Haruka, can you try just a little bit harder to stay clean? That tux is a rental."

"I'd like to see you try and change a tire without getting dirty. Why couldn't you realize you had a flat before I got dressed?"

Hotaru, who was sitting in Michiru's car, popped her head out of the window. "Why don't we just take my Mustang? I'll drive," she suggested, to which the three adults shouted a decisive "NO!" While the teen was a brilliant student, she was most definitely not the best driver in the world. Just last month, she almost found herself in a head-on collision with Setsuna's BMW and got herself grounded from her car for two weeks.

"I'd let you take my car, but I'm afraid it's too small for all of you to ride comfortably," Setsuna said, handing Haruka a wrench. "Why don't you take one of your other cars?"

"Because they're all in the shop getting detailed," Haruka explained. "The Mustang too, so we can't take Hotaru's car. But I'm almost finished here. It shouldn't take too long."

True to her word, Haruka finished changing the tire in record time, although she managed to make quite a mess of her clothes in the process. Michiru merely groaned, "Why me?"

"I thought you liked it when I'm dirty," her lover said wryly, winking at the aqua haired beauty, who rolled her eyes.

"Go back inside and at least change your shirt. It's filthy."

Haruka dutifully went back inside to change as Setsuna looked down at her watch for like the tenth time in the last five minutes. This was getting ridiculous! Yasashiku still wasn't here, and they were due at the restaurant in exactly nine minutes. Maybe he decided to stand her up. She wouldn't mind if he did. It wasn't like she wanted to do this in the first place.

Just when she was about to give up and go back inside, a bright red Ferrari sped down the street and pulled into the driveway behind the Mercedes. A handsome man with short black hair and chocolate brown eyes dressed in a well-cut tuxedo, jumped out of the sports car without even opening the door and walked to the veranda where Setsuna and Michiru were standing. A cleaned-up Haruka came out of the house and greeted the man.

"Yasashiku-kun, how's it going?" she asked, shaking his hand. "Did you ever manage to figure out what was wrong with your baby?"

"Yeah. Turns out that it was the engine that was giving me all those problems. Couldn't have come at a worse time, with the big race coming up. Hachiko's in the shop. We have to replace the entire engine."

"Too bad, man. So does that mean you're pulling out of the race?"

"Looks like it, unless some miracle occurs before next Friday. And I would have won that race, you know."

Setsuna simply rolled her eyes as Haruka and her date continued their little dialogue about cars. Ugh, another car freak and this one was even worse than Haruka. At least she didn't name her cars that Setsuna knew of.

Strike two.

The time guardian looked down at her watch, her ruby eyes glaring. The party was probably already starting, and Setsuna absolutely, positively hated to be late. Clearing her throat, she went over to Haruka and tapped her hard on the shoulder. "Are you going to introduce us, Haruka? Or should us other girls just leave you two here so you can continue your conversation?"

"Oh, right. Sorry," Haruka apologized. "Suguri Yasashiku, I'd like you to meet my very good friend, Meioh Setsuna, your date for the evening, and my daughter Tomoe Hotaru, who's sitting in the car. And of course you already know Michiru."

Yasashiku nodded his head toward Michiru, who smiled. "Nice to see you again, Kaioh-san. You look beautiful this evening."

"Thank you, Suguri-san."

He then turned to Setsuna and kissed the back of her hand, which she quickly yanked away. "And I must say that you look absolutely gorgeous tonight, Setsuna-san. Even more beautiful than Haruka described. Feel free to call me Yasa-kun."

"And you may call me Meioh-san," she replied sharply, none too happy with his familiarity with her when they had only just met.

Strike three. He's out!

Either he didn't notice the tone of her voice or chose to ignore it, though, because he took her arm and led her toward his car as the rest piled into Michiru's Mercedes. She considered yanking it away from him, but figured that it wouldn't hurt to spend at least a couple of hours with the guy since Michiru and Haruka had went through so much trouble to set them up. Who knew? Perhaps underneath that arrogant exterior was really a nice guy. Maybe she was being too rough on him.

Yasashiku opened the passenger-side door and helped Setsuna get in, earning him a brownie point, but it was quickly erased after he jumped back in.

"So, Setsuna-san, you ever driven in a Ferrari before?" he asked, quickly pulling out of the driveway and racing down the street after the Mercedes, which Haruka had finally managed to convince Michiru to let her drive.

"No, I can't say I have," she answered, staring out the window, watching the houses zoom by. "And I asked you to call me Meioh-san."

"Right. Just forgot. Anyway, this baby is one of the fastest things on the road today. Brand new. I just bought it little over a month ago and paid a pretty penny for it too, but I assure you that it was worth every last cent."

"Do you have a pet name for this car too?" she asked sarcastically, which he again didn't seem to catch.

"Of course. This one I call Sayoko, after my mother. She's a great woman. You'd like her. Maybe we can have dinner sometime at her house."

"I don't really think so," Setsuna muttered softly under her breath so Yasashiku couldn't hear her. Not that it mattered. He was still too busy talking to have heard her anyway.

"Do you like Italian? My mama makes the best lasagna it town. When my parents first got married, my dad was stationed over in Milan for a couple of years, so my mama became a pretty good cook. Spaghetti, fettuccini, pizza…you name it, she can fix it. She can even speak a little Italian. I guess that's why I've always been attracted to Italian cars, they remind me of her."

Great, he's a mama's boy too, Setsuna thought bitterly. She wished she never agreed to this date. At least at the party she would have some other people to talk to and maybe she could pawn Yasashiku on one of the other girls. Minako and Makoto were always on the lookout for boyfriends, even though Minako and Asai appeared to be a couple now and Makoto was so obviously in love with Shinozaki that sometimes even Setsuna herself wanted to hit her on the head and knock some sense into her. Well, surely Usagi and Mamoru had some other single friends who would be all too happy to take the handsome, yet completely annoying, Suguri Yasashiku off her hands.

She was going to kill Michiru and Haruka for this.