Nanami's Corner: Hi, hi! OK, quick recap: Minako & Yaten slept together, Seiya is major crabby and Taiki and Ami are star crossed lovers. Get it? Good. Um…10 may be a long time coming, but not too long I hope. Will have plenty of time to work on it tonight and maybe tomorrow. Now on to chapter 9!
Usagi was having trouble sleeping at Mamoru's. He was out cold next to her, his arm across her stomach, holding her close. Every time she started to fall asleep, she would see Seiya's face swimming in her vision. I can't think about him, I'm here in bed with my love. The man I will marry and father of my children. For some reason, that thought made her cry. She wiped the tears from her eyes and finally managed to fall into the deep sleep of the exhausted.
All of the inner senshi came to see Mamoru off on his trip to America. There were few tears as none of them wanted that to be their last image of each other. They each gave him a picture of themselves with their regular selves on one side and their senshi forms on the other. He hugged them all before boarding his plane.
"Come on Usagi-chan," Minako said. "Let's go meet the guys at the studio. They are doing a photo shoot and they said we could get all dolled up and do it too. It's the perfect thing to get your mind off of Mamoru leaving."
She and the girls piled into Makoto's convertible and headed out to the studio. When they got inside they could see the guys in tuxedos. They had already finished the shoot in their usual blazers and slacks and were just beginning their formal wear shoot. The photographer was getting frustrated because although the guys looked great, there was something missing.
"Oi, you there, yes all of you, come in here," he shouted at seeing them.
"Are you sure we were supposed to come here, Mina-chan?" Rei muttered under her breath.
"Yes," she replied. "Yaten and Taiki both invited us to come this morning over breakfast."
"Over breakfast?" Makoto said. "You were up early enough to go over there for breakfast?"
"Not exactly, Taiki woke us up after breakfast was ready."
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN AFTER BREAKFAST WAS READY?"
Minako had the decency to blush at this point, "I'll tell you about it later. We've got to see what the photographer wants."
All of the girls sweat dropped as the photographer walked up.
"Perfect, perfect, go to dressing room C and change, all of you. There is someone in there that can do your hair and make up. Guys, take a breather while the girls get ready."
The girls were practically shoved into the dressing room where they were stripped, changed, made up and shoved back out the door before they could even say anything. They had all been dressed in floor length form fitting, silk dresses with spaghetti straps. Each, oddly enough, had been dressed in their own respective color: red for Rei, blue for Ami, green for Makoto, orange for Minako, and pink for Usagi. Even the photographer was awe struck by the beauty of the girls as they were paraded out of the dressing room.
The photographer arranged the girls so Yaten was paired with Minako and Rei, Taiki was paired Ami and Makoto, and Usagi and Seiya were paired alone. His first few shots were of the whole group arranged around Seiya and Usagi in the middle. Then he began to shoot just the small groups he had arranged. When he shot Seiya and Usagi, the remaining group could see that they made a very beautiful couple. Almost better than our future king, Rei thought to herself. She didn't hold to that thought for too long though, for all the inners knew what the future held for them.
After the initial shots, the photographer changed the background. Ami and Taiki almost jumped out of their skin when they saw it. It was one of a house on a bluff, and in the background was a crystal palace. The photographer gave the instructions to the clothing and make up artists and sent the group off to change again. The girls were changed to dresses of deeper color variations of what they had on before. They were no longer floor length and were still very flattering to the girls' figures. The guys were dressed in suits of navy, burgundy, and gold.
The photographer stayed with the same pairings for a while. He then asked Rei and Makoto to sit out and shot the three couple together, then each individual couple. He rotated Rei and Makoto in and out with each of the other girls but invariable landed on the same three pairings.
At the end of this round he again gave the dressers and the make up artists some instructions and marched them off to change once more, this time into more casual clothes. He shot each of them individually from many angles and then as a group in front of a park scene. He had them sitting at a picnic, tossing a Frisbee, playing games and so on.
At the end of the shoot the photographer took all of the girls' information and promised them that he would send them all copies of what he had shot. He also told them that if they ever wanted to pick up some extra cash he would love to have them come model for him again.
They were all surprised when they got outside and it was pitch dark. They had spent the entire day in the studio w/o a break or a meal. As if it they had just realized this fact, Usagi and Seiya's stomachs growled in unison. The group headed over to the Crown to get a bite and deciding what to do with what's left of the evening. After a hearty meal of hamburgers, french fries, and enough milkshakes to drown a small village, the group was finally satisfied.
"So, now do you want to explain what you meant by 'after breakfast was ready' Minako?" Makoto asked.
"Well, I…um…slept over last night."
"That didn't sound like sleeping to me," Taiki muttered.
"Aren't we a little young for that sort of thing!" Rei demanded. "And besides he just showed up again after being gone how long, and he never said anything before!"
"Hey, I had my reasons," Yaten prepared to defend himself.
"Wait," Usagi stopped Yaten before he could say anything more. "All of us are well aware of the circumstances of the last visit. All of the Three Lights had their mission and it is not fair to try and blame them for any actions they made that time. I mean come on, look at how the outers treated us the first time we met; and look at how close we all are now."
As if conjured up by her very words, Haruka and Michiru walked through the door of crown arcade. Haruka took one look at the crew at the table and Michiru had to plant her feet to keep her front running to see her neko-chan and friends. She put her finger to her lips and made little sneaky finger movements. Haruka nodded in understanding and followed her love to the table behind the girls.
"It's not as if he spoiled her honor or anything," Taiki piped in. "Those two are in love; anyone with eyes could see that. Don't you want to make love with someone you love?"
Haruka jumped over the bench, grabbed Seiya by the throat and slammed him onto the table. "I told you, Usagi, nekokaburi! I should kill you where you stand for dishonoring our Hime in such a manner," Haruka growled into Seiya's face.
"Let me go, you bakemono!" Seiya shouted. He kicked and squirmed as Haruka tightened her grip.
"Haruka-chan, what are you doing, you let him go this very instant!" Usagi shouted.
"But he spoiled you! His own brother said so. I must protect the honor of my princess."
"Taiki-chan wasn't talking about me; he was talking about Minako-chan."
Haruka's grip relaxed a little as a look of utter confusion passed across her features, "he slept with Minako?"
"No you baka. I did, now let go of my brother!"
Haruka reluctantly let go of Seiya and climbed down off the table.
"I do so love it when we all get together," Michiru laughed into her hand.
AN: nekokaburi means wolf in sheep's clothing, can you name the episode? I'll give you a special prize :)