Disclaimer: Neither Gundam Wing nor Sailor Moon is mine. ;-; I haven't even seen all of either … ;
Chapter 6
"Wow…" Minako breathed, jaw hanging loosely and blue eyes wavering in wonder. "Don't tell me just the three of us will be living in there…" Her shoulders slumped defeatedly. "It's going to be so scary in there! All those rooms … that's got to be big enough to fit twenty-five people easily!"
The partition separated the relaxed and frivolous atmosphere of Minako and Usagi from the suffocating silence of Hiiro, acting both as guard and chauffer for the day. The limousine pulled into the driveway after bypassing twin gates of complex metalwork.
Minako glanced at Usagi and did a quick double take. Her companion was staring unseeingly out the opposite window back at the quiet isolation of the street they had just gotten off of, expression bland. Minako quirked an eyebrow, pouting faintly in bemusement. "You're not surprised at all? How much exactly does photography pay?" She narrowed her eyes suspicious, ready to pry whatever it was out of the girl beside her.
A pause accentuated only by the muted drone of wheels against pavement passed before Usagi jerked and turned to smile uncertainly at Minako as if the other girl's voice had just registered. "Yes, Miss Relena's primary mansion is pretty complex … I think Michiru Kaioh designed it as a challenge to take her mind off music and composing a while back." Usagi glanced out the tinted window at the building's façade and shrugged indifferently. "I once did a photographic article on Quatre Winner's assortment of mansions … once you see one, you've seen them all."
The car pulled to a stop in front of the door which immediately flung open to reveal a small assemblage of household staff, welcoming and curious smiles on faces. Minako stared. The picture was so idealistic that she was almost willing to believe that the human figures were just 2-D cardboard imitations, ready to fall over if a chance sliver of wind nudged them.
A small-statured old man straightened his collar and hurried to the limousine. Minako and Usagi stared up at his benign face as he blinked a couple of times in disbelief before opening the door completely and stretching his face in a warm smile of welcome.
"Miss Aino, Miss Tsukino … I am Pagan, your butler and chauffer. Though from now on, I should probably call both of you Miss Relena, huh?" His smile was slight as he shook his head incredulously, undoubtedly noting the striking resemblance between both girls and the real Relena.
Hiiro had opened the trunk and exited from the front, the door banging shut, disrupting the butler's brief moment of awe. Pagan reached for the suitcases as Hiiro moved to help.
"I'm sorry, my dears, for the lack of festivity, but this is really quite a somber time for us, with respect to Miss Relena's state, of course." Pagan shook his head disapprovingly. "I've always told her she took after her father … that man, never was one bit overweight. Where that child got the idea that she was fat, I have no idea."
"We're really sorry for this." Minako inclined her head slightly as Pagan hauled the suitcases out of the trunk with the help of Hiiro, still silent and worlds away.
Usagi mirrored her move. "And we can't assume to take the place of Relena but we hope to at least maintain her public reputation until she recovers."
Pagan nodded solemnly. "Yes, of course, of course. But please do make yourselves at home and of course you will be treated just as if you were Miss Relena … In fact, I could probably show the two of you around the house this evening or…" the same, small smile flittered over his face, "perhaps you would prefer for Mr. Hiiro to do the honors."
Minako looked askance at Usagi who thinned her lips. Pagan had left the taking of suitcases into the house to Hiiro who was doing the job without complaint and in stifling silence.
"M-maybe we'll just explore a little ourselves today," Usagi offered weakly. Pagan nodded understandingly.
"Of course. Mr. Yui is very difficult to get close to … in fact, Miss Relena probably achieved the best results, but of course she always hoped for more." He sighed and shook his head, gazing at the ground. "Perhaps she was never meant to achieve more."
Usagi's eyes met Minako's as they glanced at each other and headed towards the door, a quietly commentating Pagan in the lead.
…………………
They took the stairs slowly, Pagan going on about the making of the house – Usagi had been right in saying that it was designed and decorated by Michiru Kaioh – before finally arriving at the second floor. Their luggage sat in the middle of the hall.
"Please feel free to choose whichever rooms you want. Unpack and rest a bit and I'll call the two of you and Mr. Yui when meals are ready to be served." With a departing smile, he walked back down the stairs and disappeared from view.
"The bond between Miss Relena and him must be really strong," Minako murmured. Usagi nodded in agreement before sighing and beaming.
"So where do you want to live for the next however long period of time as a world-class diplomat?"
Before receiving an answer, Usagi peered into each room before coming to the last one. "Ah! This must be Mr. Hiiro's room." Minako glanced over curiously.
"I guess we should probably room next to him…"
Usagi stepped into the room adjacent to the closed door. "It's not too bad. Compared to the others, this will probably receive a lot of light."
Minako giggled as she followed Usagi into the room. "The instinct of a photographer, huh?"
"You want this room?"
Minako blinked. "Next to Mr. Hiiro? Yikes … he scares me." Her eyes darted to the wall the two rooms shared.
"And you're willing to sacrifice me?" Usagi managed a wounded look. "Come on, Minako! You're taller! You can beat him up." Just the thought of Minako fighting Hiiro Yui in a Mortal Combat-esque way made her laugh. "I'm shorter and so much easier to squish."
Tilting her head, Minako tapped her chin thoughtfully and thought it out carefully. "Rock, paper, scissors."
"What?"
"Rock, paper, scissors. Whoever loses can stay in this room."
Usagi blanched. Rock, paper, scissors, eenie meenie minie moe, whatever. She had never been lucky at those chance games in her life.
"Ready?"
Reluctantly, Usagi raised her fist to the palm of her left hand. At the final beat, she decided on scissors.
Only to have Minako reveal a rock.
"B-best seven out of fifteen."
Minako eyed her strangely. "Y'know, Usagi … most normal people would ask for best two out of three." She blinked quizzically before realizing her victory and laughing triumphantly. "Sorry though. It's best one out of one."
Usagi sighed. "Minako is so cruel."
Turning back to Usagi, Minako flashed a victory sign. "I like to call it natural selection."
…………………
For the first time since the onset of Relena's illness, Hiiro felt like smiling. He suppressed it but not without some difficulty.
He had never quite understood why Relena had ordered Michiru Kaioh to only put the bare essentials in the walls – insulation, plaster and whatnot – but leaving a majority of it hollow to facilitate the transfer of sound from one room to another. It was hard to believe that Relena's recent paranoia had existed that far back in time.
But after some deliberation, he came to realize that he hadn't understood a lot about Relena. Of course, his keen observation skills didn't miss anything on the outside – her habits, her goals, her moods – but in a way, Relena never quite let anybody get acquainted with her weaknesses, her states of mind. It was just like her to be pragmatic like that but it also led her down the road of chronically putting on an act of strength, courage, belief.
But that was irrelevant. The smile that had encroached upon him was gone now but the pleasant memory remained. Minako Aino and Usagi Tsukino had been arguing over who had to sleep in the room adjacent to his, their unrestrained voices easily picked up by his sharp and fine-tuned hearing. Their fear of staying in the room next to his almost made him sound like some type of terrorist or rapist out to get them. Just the thought was laughable. The argument sounded childish and that was really what was so appealing – the naïveté and unabashed sentiment of it.
He leaned against the wall and decided to partake in the entertainment.
A slight twist to the hackneyed phrase "walls have ears" – now, the walls have Hiiro's ears.
…………………
"Usagi! Need help?" Minako grinned as she flung open the door and skipped in.
"You're already done?"
She nodded.
Usagi stared at her skeptically. "I shouldn't open your closet door, should I?" She shook her head. "I'd hoped Miss Relena's habit of being neat would rub off on you."
Minako made a face and smiled sheepishly. "Fine, you caught me. But really! How can I spend hours on putting everything away when I know half the time, we'll be shuttling from one place to another, giving speeches?"
Usagi shrugged, folded another shirt and flung it into the open closet, several feet from her sitting position on the bed. It remained folded though not as impeccably so as before. Minako sighed and jumped onto the bed next to her, gazing curiously at the backpack next to Usagi.
"What's in here?"
"Photography stuff. Albums, negatives-Hey! At least let me finish speaking before you start digging through it!"
"Wow! You were so cute as a child!"
Usagi gaped. "H-hey! Don't look through that…!"
Minako's eyes widened. "And who's this girl…? She looks so familiar." Her expression turned thoughtful.
Usagi glanced over. The smile drooped a notch. "She's my sister."
"What? You two look nothing alike!"
"She was adopted."
Minako cocked her head. "So why does she look so familiar?"
"Her name…" Usagi looked aside and bit her lip. "Her name is Michiru Kaioh."
"Ah! You mentioned her before…" Minako's voice trailed off as she looked over at Usagi. "Are the two of you not on good terms…?" she questioned tentatively, careful about going into potentially dangerous terrain.
"No, that's not it. Once we even lived together by ourselves in her apartment … for about a year." Usagi straightened and leaned over Minako's shoulder to flip the album a bit more. "Guess who this is." She pointed to a blurred picture of vibrant colors.
"Is it you…?"
Usagi giggled. "That's close actually … It's you."
"Wow! How did you get it to blur like that?"
"Took one of those self-developing pictures and before it was finished, rubbed water over it." Usagi beamed at her. "It was an experiment."
Minako grinned back and scrutinized the picture some more. "Can I keep it?"
Usagi nodded. "There're pictures of Miss Relena that I did a while ago for various jobs too." She flipped to the back of the album and pulled several pictures from the plastic pocket.
"Some of these are familiar to me … I analyzed her fashion a bit in Elle." Minako laughed embarrassedly. "Really … it's not bad but it was never quite equal to Michiru Kaioh's. But of course, who can expect otherwise?"
A loose picture fluttered down onto Minako's lap. "And this picture…?" Her eyes widened. "Mr. Hiiro?"
………………….
On the other side of the wall, Hiiro started and barely avoided choking on his own spit.
…………………
"It was another experiment."
Minako held it away from her face and then close up. "I like it. It's an interesting angle." She sighed and slipped the photographs back into the folder part of the album. "You're so talented, Usagi. I'm jealous."
She looked up, startled. "Talented…?" Her eyes turned to the album in Minako's lap. "I don't think I've ever been called that."
Rolling her eyes, Minako pushed her on the side of the head with one finger, drawing out the word, "Iiiiiiidiooooooot. If this is talent, then what is?" She realized too late that she had gone too far. Usagi's arms frantically tried to grab at air as she lost her balance and fell to a giggling heap onto her side on the bed.
…………………
Lunchtime was the three of them, Minako, Hiiro, Usagi, sitting at a small rectangular table, in absolute silence with Pagan anxiously hovering over them.
Hiiro reluctantly put down his fork and cleared his throat. Both Usagi and Minako looked up questioningly.
"The first appearance as Relena requires something like an arrival speech, announcing her return to the public and political world. This will be held at Quatre's mansion for familiarity purposes so that the two of you will be able to have a more gradual entry into the world of politics. Quatre and the others have prepared a speech and have decided that it would suit you, Miss Minako, better."
Minako blinked, eyes slightly fearful as if timidly asking, "Me?"
"All you have to do is memorize the speech and deliver it to the guests at that dinner party. It's fairly short." He looked up at her and gazed assessingly, sharp sapphire eyes scanning for giveaways of weakness. He saw her hands ball into fists.
"I don't want to use that speech."
"What?" both he and Usagi replied at the same time.
"I want to write my own speech, based on my own opinions and feelings. It'll be more genuine, right? That'll make it more like Miss Relena."
Hiiro stared at her curiously before shrugging gruffly and standing up, ready to leave. "It's up to you. If you think you're up to it. But the others have to approve of it first."
Minako gritted her teeth at his faintly condescending words. "Of course."
Hiiro shot her another strange look before exiting the dining room and heading back upstairs.
A moment of silence passed before, in a small voice, Minako asked, "I don't suppose you know how to write speeches … do you, Usagi?"
…………………
Longer than usual … I was afraid this chapter would have very little information in it so I tried my hardest to come up with … "stuff" … and ended up with overkill. xD According to the outline … romance [or major hints of it] doesn't really show up until next chapter … that's 8 chapters into the story! I wonder if I'm always this slow … ;
Actually … I feel largely unsatisfied with this fic … and though I've attempted to slow it down and take longer to update … the quality [or whatever] doesn't seem to improve. Lol. I'm so disappointed in myself. :P But if it keeps on going like this … I don't' know what I'll do. Probably put it aside for half a year or something … Lol. Like I did with Gray Matter/Picture This/etc. I don't know. Just … please don't take this as a cry for pity … lol. However if you have any suggestions … I would love to hear them! :D It's just a heads up. ^^;
AznxAngel: Lol. I do believe your description regarding the story "burning into your head" transcends mine of Hiiro's fear … xD
C06 aka Lady Artemis: I'm sorry you're sick! Hopefully you're better already [since it's been awhile since I've updated] but if you aren't … get better soon! ^^ And that was most definitely an error … lol. ::embarrassed::
Liquid Ice: Would it be bad if I said I have no idea what exactly I'm doing with Usagi…? Lol. I don't know … I tried to make her more like her old self in this chapter, partially as a reaction to your comments but … I don't want her to get completely out of character and become apathetic [like she seems right now] but … there IS a motive behind it … lol. [I think] By the way … I'm still curious as to what evident you can find … lol. I don't think I'm dropping any hints though … ; Maybe unconsciously. :3 Yikes … I'm so flattered with your comments on the Hiiro paragraph but … honestly … I think you exaggerate. :x But! You have now improved my self-esteem. :D [for the time being ^^;]
Gackt Camui: Lol … the relationship between Hiiro and Relena…? :3 I'll remain mute. :D Thanks for the review! It was really …cheery. Lol … somehow I always picture a SD anime character when I think of you … ; [and according to MS Word, your name should be … urk … "Gasket Camay" :D]
Kolinshar Benito: Lol … it's the thought that counts. :D Inuyasha…? o_o nonono … don't remind me…!! I've just gotten rid of the withdrawal. :P Lol.
Tenshi-Hotaru: Wow! You sound more enthusiastic about this fic than I am … Lol. But thankyouthankyou. :D Taking on Relena's traits … ::fufufu:: I think it's interesting … ;D
Kazzeh Sodapop: ::tears at hair:: I don't know who's going to end up with who!! ;-; I'm veryvery indecisive about this … lol. Minako or Usagi or neither or both…? Both seems a bit unlikely because the plot doesn't work so that I can have alternate endings [or … this version of the plot doesn't work … ] I'm not sure how exactly I can do neither unless I kill Hiiro … lol. So that leaves the two either or choices … ::sigh:: I'm really not sure. ;-; Romance [or … urk … heavier hints at it … will probably appear next chapter. :D]
Xixi: Lol … it's hard to imagine it … Usagi and Minako made-over so that they look like Relena … I almost want to do fanart. x3 Just to see what it'd look like, ne? ^^;