Author's Notes: Yay! I'm back! Uhm, first and foremost, I'm very, very sorry for the long delay. I know it's been almost three months since my last update (it IS really been a while, ne?) and I'm really really sorry. I won't give you all the details of my absence because, believe me, it would take up so much time it I would do so.
I'm very grateful, by the way, for all of the wonderful reviews. A million thanks to you guys! Hope you won't get tired of reviewing my story O_o!
And if you have suggestions, well, I'm very very open to it.
Anyway, as I have promised, here's Minako and Kunzite's chapter. Enjoy!
Chapter Six: Minako's first date with destiny
"If not for that stupid accident, I don't have to spend my entire savings for that stupid ball," the longhaired blonde mumbled moodily to herself as she strolled balefully in the sidewalks, her arms crossed on her chest.
Clenching her fist on her side, Minako stopped abruptly and kicked a stray rock on the pavement. "Minako no baka!!!"
The rock went flying on the streets before it hit a nearby trash bin with a loud crash, causing some stray cats to scamper to their feet and flee.
The blonde frowned and continued walking. With a sigh, she recalled the last week's incident.
"You're dead!" Minako yelled out with a grin as she leaped on her feet and gave the ball a fatal spike.
"Yikes!" her teammate, who was about to receive the ball, exclaimed and hastily ran and avoided the speeding thing.
With a loud thud, the ball hit the wooden floor and bounced back high into the air, and came crashing through the gymnasium's glass window.
Minako, mortified by the scene, bit her nails and glanced anxiously at everybody. 'Holy crap!' she muttered to herself.
A junior member of the volleyball club came up to her and patted her shoulder, "Looks like you're in trouble, senpai," she said with a taunting grin.
She, along with all the other members, hurried outside to find and retrieve the lost ball, and her jaw almost fell down when they found it.
Sticking out of a pointed branch of a tree, the ball, or rather the crumpled piece of rubber, was dangling from it.
"Mina-chan."
Minako spun around and saw their coach coming out from the gym.
"It's an original Wilson that you have just destroyed," their coach, though obviously annoyed, said with a quirky smile. "You have to replace it."
You have to replace it...
Replace it...
Replace it.
"Graaaagh!!!" she screamed in frustration as the words echoed in her head. She gave her head a hard shake before entering the Sports shop.
After the salesman pointed the direction to her, she proceeded to the shelf where all kinds of balls used in different sports are stored. She examined carefully all the brands for her coach told her that she must buy the exact replacement.
"Now, where could that be?" she muttered. She let her eyes wander all over the place for few seconds. And with a loud groan, she found what she was looking for. Unfortunately, it was on the topmost shelf. "Great! How am I supposed to get up there?" Then she frowned. "If Mako-chan was only here... "
First, she tried reaching them by stretching on her toes. No can do. Being inches smaller than the tall brunette, the task was very, very difficult for her. Then, she turned her head around and tried to look for a stool or a small ladder to stand on, but she found none.
"When the gods decided to punish you, they really punish you indeed," she muttered darkly, blowing air to her golden bangs. "Where the heck is everybody?!"
Minako then lifted her chin and stared at the ball above her. Judging from the height of the shelf, it must be one to two feet taller than her. She tilted her head and paused, making some quick mental calculations to herself. Then suddenly, an idea clicked on her brain.
"Hey, I'm the best spiker of Juuban High..., not to mention I was the leader of the inner senshis," she muttered fiercely to herself. "I don't need anything to stand on... All I have to do is... JUMP!!!"
The blonde grinned evilly and rolled the sleeves of her uniform as she took a few steps backwards. With a warcry that would make Xena, the warrior princess, proud, Minako lunged for the shelf and sprang from the ground. Smiling impishly while on midair, she made a grab for the ball and... landed flat on her behind with a loud thud.
"Owwww!" Minako wailed as she rubbed her back, her body still sprawled on the floor. "Of all the stupid, idiotic..." With her brows twitching, the blonde glared and, with her free leg, kicked the base of the shelf.
"Serves you right!" she spluttered indignantly and proceeded slowly to stand up.
A slow creaking sound was suddenly heard and Minako, furrowing her brows, slowly whirled around, and then... "S-shimatta!"
An avalanche of volleyballs, basketballs, footballs, and other kinds of balls crashed onto the startled blonde, who, despite of the rapid succession of events, still managed to find the chance to scream.
Not far from where the so-called "disturbance" was happening, a certain silver head snapped up and quickly glanced behind his back. Settling his pen on the counter, he hurriedly went to the "source" of the scream and... stopped. Sighing, he shook his head and stared at the scattered sports paraphernalias on the floor. Somebody was victimized by that shelf again, he thought grimly. That thing really needs repairs!
Crouching, he helped remove the heap of balls from the poor victim. Balls shouldn't be placed on a rack. They should be in a big basket or something, he said to himself. "Miss, are you alright?" he said aloud.
He got no reply.
"Miss?"
He slowly removed the ball covering the head of the customer and gasped slightly at what he saw. Chuckling to himself, he gave the swirly-eyed face of the blonde girl a light tap. "Minako-chan?"
Minako's eyelids fluttered open and found herself staring at a pair of cool gray eyes. "K-kunzite-san? Am I in heaven?"
"Heaven?" he asked, perplexed. He then laughed quietly and smiled at the girl in front of him. "Minako-chan, you're not dead yet."
"I'm not?" she dazedly asked.
"Yes," he replied, standing up. "Here, let me help you up." Kunzite extended his hand and reached for Minako's. He gripped her hand lightly and started to pull her up when something flashed before his very eyes, magically transporting him to an unknown place of unknown time and circumstances.
Kunzite smiled warmly at himself, gazing at the goldenhaired goddess who was sitting gracefully under a big willow tree with her back resting on the tree's trunk. 'His' goddess, he amended thoughtfully with a chuckle.
The warm light of the setting sun casts a faint glow on her, accenting her beautiful features that made her renowned in the entire galaxy. A soft chuckle escaped from Kunzite's lips as he saw her lips and brows twitch from what appears to be that she's doing.
A massive scroll was balanced unsteadily on her lap as her right hand held a quill poised centimeters away from the scroll, ready to write. She glanced upwards, thinking for a moment, and scribbled something on the scroll but then abruptly crossed it out.
"Damn! When will I ever finish this?" he heard her say.
Stepping out of his hiding place, Kunzite decided to approach her. He made a quick stop, straightening his military uniform, and then walked slowly and quietly towards her. The tall general halted a few inches before her. Kunzite smiled. Even he stood there, towering over her, she didn't even notice that somebody was already behind her back.
He slowly crouched down as the girl tilted her back, still deep in whatever she is doing. Kunzite playfully put his hands on her eyes and whispered softly, "May I be of any assistance, princess?"
He felt her body stiffen for a moment and then gradually shook with laughter. "Well of course, milord," she replied, smiling, and covered his hands with hers. "But first, kindly remove your hands from me. However strong and warm they may be, they are still blocking my view."
Kunzite chortled and complied to her wishes. "What are these? The queen gave you some 'homework?'" he asked with a grin, settling himself on her side.
The girl pouted, snuggling closer to him. "I'm sorry," she quietly said. "I know I should be spending my free time with you but..."
Kunzite shushed her, placing his index finger on her lips. "I understand, you don't have to explain," he said, giving her a reassuring smile. "In fact, the prince send me into some stupid errand before I came sneaking up in here."
"Are you finished with it already?"
He shook his head. "No. I hand it to the others." He smiled. "Besides, it's just a trivial matter."
"What did he tell you to do?"
"He just told me to pick some roses for the moon princess. He said he'll give it to her when they meet tomorrow night."
To his surprise, the golden haired girl suddenly doubled over with laughter. "What's so funny?" he asked.
"Nothing," she answered, suppressing her laughter. "That is so sweet! Endymion is such a sweet guy. Why, my boyfriend doesn't even think of giving me flowers!"
Kunzite raised a brow. "Do you want me to give you one now?"
"Oh, he's getting jealous!" she taunted, poking him on the ribs. She then threw her arms around his neck. "I'm just kidding, love. You know I wouldn't want you to. I don't want them to get suspicious."
He grinned and then kissed the tip of her nose. "Yes. It would be a disaster if they found out that the prince and princess of the earth and moon are in love, and the head of their guardians are tolerating it."
"Because," she added, smiling playfully, "they are in love with each other, too..."
Kunzite's reverie was immediately cut short by a sudden loud 'oof!' Blinking his eyes and shaking his head abruptly, he glanced down at the tiled floor and gasped.
"Oh gods, I'm so sorry!" he apologized and quickly helped Minako up again.
"Hey, why did you drop me for?" the blonde whined, rubbing her behind, as Kunzite hoisted her up. "I'm not that heavy..."
Kunzite muttered another apology and picked up the volleyball on the floor. "Are you alright?" he then asked as soon as the girl was back on her feet. Damn, what happened to me? What was that all about?
"I'm fine," she replied and smiled at him.
"Sorry 'bout that," he said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "My hand must have slipped."
"It's okay, don't worry about it." Minako then took the volleyball from him.
"I'm really sorry," he said once again. Then, he gazed apprehensively at her. "Do you have something to do after..."
Minako's face lit up. "No, I don't," she replied excitedly. "Why?"
"I was wondering if you could come with me and have some snacks," he said, smiling at her reaction. "I was kind of hungry myself. I'll treat you out so I can repay you for..." at this he chuckled mildly, "...dropping you on the floor."
"Of course, I'll be glad to!" Her overbright smile could almost light up the whole establishment. "I'll just pay for this one." With that, the blonde girl went bouncing towards the cashier.
Kunzite watched her with a smile on his lips, admiring how her long golden hair sway with her every move. But, his smile gradually disappeared, remembering the strange vision that he had just minutes ago.
He slowly massaged his temples. He's very sure that the guy he saw there was really him. And the feeling is real too, as if he's the one who's walking, talking, and embracing that girl. As if it is something that happened to him not long ago.
And that girl, the mysterious golden haired goddess. Why did he have this feeling that he suddenly misses her? And why does she looked remarkably like...
"Kunzite-san?" Minako's smiling blue eyes stared up to him.
He rubbed his eyes and then slowly smiled at her. "Let's go."
* * * * *
"Where's Minako-chan?" Rei asked exasperatedly, her arms folded across her chest.
"She left early, she said she have to buy something," Makoto replied absentmindedly, her attention diverted by a thick romance paperback on her hand. "She'll just meet with us at Hikawa Jinja."
The raven haired miko plopped herself on the bench and sat beside the brunette. "Is there something weird going on here at Juuban High?" she suddenly asked.
Makoto tore her gaze from the book to stare at her. "What do you mean weird?" Her friend just gave her a sly smile. The brunette tilted her head. "Hmm, let me guess. You're asking about the message board, right?"
Rei shrugged her shoulders.
"Well, I don't know," the taller girl replied. "I haven't passed by the message board and I haven't seen Senpai yet."
"Mako-chaaaaan!!!" Usagi's loud voice suddenly echoed throughout the whole place.
"Oh Kami-sama, the loud speaker is here," Rei grunted.
Usagi, along with Ami on her side, went towards her friends but stopped upon seeing the miko and blanched. "R-Rei-chan? What the heck are you doing here? Aren't we supposed to meet you at your place?"
Rei rose from her seat. "Well, I've decided to come here." She raised a brow, sensing the blonde's anxiety. "Is there a problem?"
"Of course, there's none," she replied nervously. "Haha, why would there be?" She sauntered past her and sat beside the brunette after wiping the cold perspiration from her temples, which of course, didn't escape the miko's sharp gaze.
"By the way, Rei-chan," Ami said. "Your message caused quite a stir yesterday. I heard from my classmates that Jadeite-senpai wrote something in return, too."
"Ami-chan!" the odango blonde suddenly exclaimed with alarm, earning the appalled look of the three.
"What the heck was that shouting for?" Makoto asked amusedly.
"Um, nothing."
Rei's gaze narrowed into her. "Are you hiding something from me?"
"No, I'm not."
"You saw it, didn't you?"
Usagi abruptly shook her head. "No, I didn't."
Rei grabbed her hand and yanked her from the bench. "Come on, we'll going to see it!"
"Aww, do we have to? I mean, what is there to see?" the odango blonde wailed as the miko dragged her. "There are better things to do than go see that stupid message board. Why don't we just go to the shrine and study?"
Makoto and Ami looked at each other and decided to follow the two...
In front of the big message board, Rei's nose flared and she gritted her teeth after her whole name caught her eyes.
"Come on, Rei-chan," Usagi said, tugging the miko's sleeves. "You wouldn't take this seriously, would you?"
Rei didn't give an answer. Instead she muttered a dangerous: "I swear I'm gonna skin that jerk alive..."
"So what did Senpai write?" Makoto suddenly asked, approaching them.
The odango blonde pointed at the message board and the brunette and Ami followed the direction of her finger.
They both gasped audibly and stood flabbergasted on the spot.
"Oh my god," Makoto muttered slowly after recovering her composure. "That shittenou is going to be dead soon."
"That bloody idiot, how dare he assumed so," the miko bit out. "Just you wait. There will be hell to pay."
She glanced back at Jadeite's writings once again. Rei tightly shut her eyes but, like a ghost that was haunting her vision, the message kept on flashing in her mind like a neon sign...
Hino Rei is going to be my girlfriend, mark my words.
* * * * *
Minako glanced at the man on her side and giggled silently. This is really my lucky day! she said cheerfully to herself. She dared another glance at him as he took a bite at his burger. They were in a park because Kunzite suggested that it would be nicer if they were to eat outside, literally.
"What are you doing in the sports shop? Are you working there?" she then asked after dipping her tongue on her ice cream.
"Not quite," he replied. "Actually, my friend owns that store. I'm just helping him out a little."
"Oh."
Kunzite glanced at her and smiled. "I'm really sorry for what happened back there. I didn't mean to drop you unceremoniously like that."
"I told you it's okay. You've been apologizing to me for the past fifteen minutes," the blonde replied, chuckling. "I'm quite thankful I didn't break my back or something."
The fair haired man laughed softly. "So, tell me something about yourself."
"Me? There's nothing much to tell," she replied. "My life is a complete bore." Well, except for the times when some ugly youmas came out of nowhere and tried to kill us, she added mentally.
"Zoisite said that you've been kind to him when he had first met you. You and your friends had even asked them out."
Minako waved her hand and laughed nervously, remembering Rei and the incident at Crown Fruit Parlor. "That was nothing. We're just playing the part of a good... uhm, schoolmate."
A moment of silence passed them as they took a bite at their snacks.
"Uh, can I ask you something, Kunzite-san?" Minako suddenly said with hesitation.
"Sure."
"Do you... have a girlfriend?" The blonde braced herself for the dreadful answer and for the angry words for the unwanted intrusion in his personal life. Instead, she heard a soft chuckle emanating from his throat.
"Hell, I don't," he answered, grinning at her .
"What about Setsuna-san?" she blurted out. Minako hastily covered his mouth, mentally kicking herself for her tactlessness. Damn!
Kunzite glanced at the girl. "What about her?" he asked with amusement.
"W-Well, she's the one who introduced me to you, isn't it?" she stammered.
"Ah, yes I remember." He paused for a while, thinking. "Setsuna-san is just a friend. She was Nephrite's classmate in some subject, it was Advance Psychology, I think, and he introduced her to me. Since then, we've been bumping frequently into each other. She's really a nice person."
Minako absentmindedly took a bite at her ice cream. "So you mean Nephrite-san knew her before you did?" she asked, her brows furrowing.
"Yes."
This is not making any sense, the blonde girl thought suddenly. It's impossible that Setsuna-san knew of the existence of the shittenou and yet she didn't tell anyone.
"Hey." Kunzite waved his hand in front of the girl's face. "Are you alright?"
Minako smiled apologetically. "Oh, sorry. I had this bad habit of spacing out. You were saying something?"
"I was about to tell you that you're ice cream is melting in your hand and it's going to trickle down to your skirt approximately... now."
"W-wha?" Minako then glanced at the ice cream on her hand and abruptly stood up, muttering a startled oath, and took the thing away from her to prevent it from smacking on her uniform. However, it didn't prevent her hand from being smudged with chocolate ice cream.
'Great,' she muttered exasperatedly to herself. 'You really have this habit of making a complete idiot out of yourself.'
She hastily wiped the excess ice cream on her hand with some table napkins and settled herself back at the bench. Grinning sheepishly, she gave Kunzite a brief glance.
"That's the reason why I don't eat ice cream," Kunzite said, smiling amusedly at her.
Minako's eyes widened. "You don't?" she asked, surprised. "You're missing a lot in your life!"
He chuckled. "Really now."
"Kunzite-san?"
"Hmmm?"
"Do you rem--"
A loud buzzing sound suddenly interrupted Minako's words and the blonde bit her lower lip in annoyance. Clutching her communicator in her pocket, she smiled apologetically at Kunzite and excused herself. She hurriedly walked away, placing herself a good few meters away from him.
Cursing under her breath, Minako slipped out the communicator and opened the line.
"WHAT?!" she snapped.
"Where the heck are you?!" Rei said exasperatedly on the other line. "Have you forgotten that it is you who's supposed to bring the snacks?! We're starving here!! How long would it have to take you to buy that stupid ball, anyway?!"
Minako sighed inwardly. "By the gods, Rei-chan! I was about to uncover one of the greatest secrets in the universe and you came beeping me ranting about food?! You have destroyed a perfect moment!"
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm with Kunzite-san."
"Who-- oof!"
Rei suddenly disappeared from the screen as Usagi came into view.
"You are?" the odango blonde asked.
"You'll gonna pay for that, you dumb blonde!" Rei's muffled shouts were heard from the background.
"Yeah," Minako replied, her brows twitching. "Now, do you mind? The goddess of love is having a date here."
"Yeah whatever," Makoto said behind Usagi, and then followed by shrieks of laughter.
The long haired blonde rolled her eyes at the sound of Makoto, Usagi and Rei laughing. "Do you have anything more to say? I'll turn the communicator off now."
This time, Ami appeared on the screen. "Uhm, Minako-chan? Rei-chan said you'll have to be here in 15 minutes of else she'll throw you to the great fire."
Minako grunted. "Alright," she replied, frowning.
She turned the communicator off and trudge grudgingly towards where Kunzite sat. The man seemed to be lost in thought but he immediately looked up when he sensed Minako's presence.
"I'm sorry, Kunzite-san but I have to go," she said slowly as she sat beside him. "My friends will kill me if I don't."
"Okay," he said, nodding. "If that's the case, I'll drive you there."
"Oh no, you don't have to," she said. "I'll be fine."
"But I insist."
Minako was tongue-tied. "But..."
"Come on, you'll reach the place much faster."
The blonde sighed, and then smiled. "Alright. They are in Hikawa Jinja."
"It's that one located in Sendai Hill, right?"
She nodded happily.
"Well, let's go. We shouldn't keep your friends waiting."
* * * * *
Usagi chewed exasperatedly on the eraser of her pencil as a drop of sweat trickled down her forehead. Glancing at the math problem in front of her, the odango blonde made a grumbling sound in sync with her grumbling stomach.
"Do we have to answer all this math problems?" the odango blonde whined. "I'm getting dizzy, my head's aching and I'm so hungry!" The last phrase was added with a wail. "I'm going home."
"Oh no you don't," Ami hastily said. "Minako-chan told me that the two of you failed again in your math test. You have to study so that you'll get a higher score next time."
"But I'm a having a headache..."
Rei gave her a mocking grin. "You know, odango atama," she said. "The head is like the stomach. It hurts when it doesn't have anything on it."
Makoto choked out her laughter while Ami rolled her eyes at the analogy.
Usagi gritted her teeth and glared at the miko. "Why you..."
Rei just stuck out her tongue in response. Suddenly, voices were heard and the four froze and stared at each other.
"It's Minako-chan," Makoto said in a low voice.
"And she's with someone," Ami added. "They're probably at the temple steps."
A moment of silence passed.
"Food!" they all suddenly exclaimed in unison as they scrambled to their feet, hurrying towards the temple's main hall.
The four raced outside but to their utter dismay, they only found Minako standing at the topmost step of the temple stairs with a dreamy look on her face.
The longhaired blonde, sensing her friends' presence, whirled around and smiled at them. "Hey there, guys."
"Hey there, yourself," Rei managed to wheeze out in between gasps.
"So," Makoto said, panting heavily. "Where's your Kunzite-san?"
"Oh, he left already," the blonde replied. "But, he bought you guys some food." She then lifted the two boxes of pizza on her right hand. "Isn't he nice?"
"Well, yeah," Usagi said. "Come on, let's eat that thing. I'm staaaaaaaarving." The odango blonde started to walk but Minako's giggle stopped her. "What's so funny?"
"Nothing," she replied, still giggling.
Rei, Ami, and Makoto looked at her incredulously.
"But guys," the longhaired blonde continued. "Is wearing other's shoes the thing today?"
The four hastily looked down and gasped.
Usagi is wearing Makoto's school shoes (which is much bigger than her), Makoto is wearing Rei's slippers, Rei is wearing Ami's brown shoes over her miko robes, and Ami is wearing Usagi's shoes.
Minako snickered. "I didn't know school shoes can look good on a miko robe."
"We're hungry!!!" the four exclaimed in unison and dragged the laughing blonde inside.
* * * * *
Kunzite stifled a yawn as his left hand slowly rubbed his bleary eyes. Settling his pen and his notes on the study table, he gave the clock a brief glance. It says 32 minutes after ten.
Gently, he rose from his seat and walked towards the window where the inky darkness of the night greeted his sight. "The stars have gone out tonight," he whispered to himself. "Nephrite wouldn't be so happy." He closed his eyes for a moment and the image of Minako eating her ice cream and beaming at him flashed on his mind.
A smile tugged the corner of his lips. That girl is really quite a charmer, he thought pensively. Her smile alone could light up even the darkest place on earth. Kunzite chuckled to himself and to the place where his thoughts are heading. He can't be attracted to a high school girl, can he?
And besides, the thought of him falling for a girl seven years his junior wasn't such a good idea. He may be accused of being a pervert or worse, a pedophile. And she's a friend of his youngest brother for crying out loud!
Kunzite slapped his forehead. He must be really stressed out.
Who says anything about falling, anyway? a voice at the back of his mind suddenly said but Kunzite chose to ignore it. Because, he knew, it would be trouble if he agreed with it.
A small note haphazardly inserted to one of his books caught his eye. Kunzite's brows furrowed as he walked towards the table and slowly pulled the piece of paper out. He stared at the numbers written on it and recognized it was of his own writing. The fair haired man laughed.
He remembered sneaking to his brother's room and rummaging in his things just to get those numbers from his phonebook. He didn't know what possessed him that night to do something like that but never again would he repeat it.
Kunzite then stared at the phone on his night table and then back at the piece of paper in his hand. One phone call wouldn't hurt, would it? Besides, it's just a friendly call. Where's the harm in that? And it's been a week since they saw each other.
Slowly, he sat on the edge of his bed and lifted the handset from it's cradle. With long and nimble fingers, he dialed the numbers and reminded himself to breathe as he awaited for the other line to answer.
The phone was ringing but nobody seems to be around so Kunzite decided to put the handset down. Suddenly, he heard a voice huffing and puffing as if trying to catch her breathing.
"Moshi-moshi?"
Kunzite's breath was suddenly caught in his lungs and he immeadiately put the handset back on his ear.
"Moshi-moshi? Is anybody there?"
He softly cleared his throat and let out a sigh of relief.
The voice on the other line suddenly get irritated. "Hey, listen here you pervert! I have no time for games--"
Kunzite chuckled. "Minako-chan...? It's me."
"K...Kunzite-san?"
(A/N Extras: Well, that's it for now. Please review and let me know what you think. ^_^ Until next time! Ja ne!)