Sailor Moon and its characters do not belong to me. Warnings: possibly non-canon pairings, possible OOC minimal hints of shoujo ai

Plots and Consequences
By Rapunzel

Chapter 2: The Plot Unfolds

True to his word, Seiya returned the next day to see what Setsuna had decided. The problem was that she hadn't decided anything. The more she thought about it, the crazier the whole thing seemed. She'd stayed up half the night, mind full of doubts and guilt at the mere idea of trying to compete with her princess. Seiya's parting shot about loneliness and the thread of hope that Mamoru might love her were the only things that kept her from refusing completely.

When Seiya returned, she dragged him out of earshot of the others and hardly waited to close the door before saying, "I don't think I can do this."

Seiya looked genuinely disappointed for a moment before he realized that her answer hadn't been an absolute "no". "Why not?" he asked.

"For a lot of reasons."

"Such as..."

"For one thing," Setsuna said, "I still think that your chance of actually splitting them up is so small it doesn't even bear mentioning."

Seiya shrugged. "No harm in trying."

"And then I keep getting brought up short by the whole part where I have to pretend to date you."

Seiya blinked.

"It would seem rather sudden, wouldn't it?" Setsuna continued. "I mean, we never talked when you were on earth before, not really. Why now?"

"Why not? Wasn't the only reason you disliked me before because you thought I had designs on your princess?"

"You do have designs on my princess," Setsuna pointed out sourly. "That's why you're here."

"You know what I mean," Seiya said impatiently. "You thought I was a threat. Well, now you know I'm not. What's the problem?"

"I don't think I could convincingly date someone of such ambiguous sexuality."

Seiya blinked. "Excuse me?"

Setsuna blushed, but continued. "I mean, half the time, I can't decide whether you're a man or a woman."

"You could say the same thing about Haruka," Seiya pointed out.

"But not to the same extent. Anyway, you notice I'm not trying to date Haruka."

Seiya nodded. She noticed that he wisely made no mention of bringing Michiru into it. Haruka would have had his head, assuming Michiru didn't kill him first.

"I'm a man now," Seiya said, winking at her cheekily. "Isn't that enough?"

Setsuna shook her head. "Not now that I've seen you take on female form. Anyway, even in a male body, you have mannerisms of both genders. All three of you were that way. Half the time I could have sworn your teammates suffered from PMS."

Seiya laughed. "You're one to talk. What about Haruka? She's not exactly Ms. Cordial."

"Haruka doesn't suffer from PMS," Setsuna said. "She's just naturally grouchy."

"If I tried to act more like a man, would that help?"

Setsuna shook her head. "I'm telling you, it's not convincing. There's no rhyme or reason to it."

"Well, that's how it is with love sometimes," Seiya said. "What's so unconvincing about that?"

Setsuna sighed heavily. She didn't protest further, but she still didn't look convinced.

"You said there were several reasons," Seiya said. "Are there any more?"

"Those are the main ones, but there is one more."

"And that is..."

"Haruka's going to flip when she hears that we're a couple."

Seiya's face fell. "I hadn't thought of that," he admitted. His eyes stared off into the distance, no doubt imagining his unfortunate demise at Haruka's hands. "You get to tell her," he said. "She won't kill you."

"Wait a minute!" Setsuna cried. "I haven't said yes yet!"

"You said when," Seiya said seriously.

"What?"

"You said _when_ Haruka hears, not _if_ she hears. I think you've already decided."

Setsuna tried to think of something to say to that, but came up blank.

"So," Seiya went on, "do we have a deal?"

Silence was taken as assent.

~*~*~

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Setsuna muttered. "I can't believe I'm walking in on the arm of a transvestite just to try and win a lost cause."

"Sh!" Seiya hissed at her. "Don't be so negative. It's not a lost cause. And I am not a transvestite!"

"What would you call it then? Gender challenged?"

Fortunately, Seiya had no time to reply to that, for he had to concentrate on putting on a convincing look for the other senshi. Linking his arm more firmly with Setsuna's, he took a deep breath and opened the door to the arcade.

Setsuna quickly slipped on her normal mask of composure as she caught sight of Usagi and the other girls. This would be their first test of Seiya's plan, and it wouldn't do to appear nervous.

When Usagi had heard that Seiya was back on the planet, she had insisted that everyone get together to welcome him. Since the arcade was a traditional meeting place for most of them, she decided to hold a group meeting there. Now, she was standing over by Mamoru, who was chatting to Motoki. Seiya's eyes immediately went to her, and Setsuna resisted the urge to smack him and tell him not to be too obvious about it.

"Seiya-kun! Setsuna-san!" Usagi noticed and greeted them both. She seemed oblivious to the sight of their linked arms, but Setsuna noticed that all the others were surveying them with raised eyebrows. Haruka looked ready to gut someone. Only Hotaru seemed to notice the gesture without astonishment. Her pale face was inscrutable.

"We're so glad you could come!" Usagi continued enthusiastically, still oblivious. Setsuna wished that she would notice and get it over with; she was feeling distinctly uncomfortable.

"Did the others come back with you?" Minako asked eagerly.

"Not this time," Seiya told her.

Minako's face fell, but she mastered her disappointment after a moment. Setsuna had no doubt that she had been hoping to see Yaten.

"Well, we're glad that you came back," Ami said politely.

The others all piped up, echoing her sentiments with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Setsuna noticed that the coldest reception came from her housemates. Michiru's welcome was slightly less than convincing, and Haruka didn't say anything, opting to glare at Seiya instead. Hotaru softly murmured something that sounded vaguely like "Welcome back," but Setsuna wasn't sure.

The group then split up into smaller sections. Seiya somehow managed to seat himself next to Usagi and began playing video games with her. Setsuna didn't bother keeping track of the movements of the others, her attention fixed on Mamoru. He was leaning against the wall and watching Usagi with a smile on his face. Setsuna felt her chest tighten. Why didn't he ever smile that way at her?

She looked back to where he was looking, and saw Seiya laughing with Usagi over something the latter had said. To Setsuna, it was obvious that he was flirting, or at least trying to. She sent him a disgusted look which he didn't see. So much for sticking to the original plan...

Something nudged her shoulder, and she turned around in surprise to see Haruka standing at her back. Normally, the other woman would have hit the racing games already, ready to defeat whatever poor sucker was fool enough to challenge her. Now, however, she stood next to Setsuna, tight lipped and straight backed, like she was trying to assert herself. When she turned to look to her other side, Michiru was standing quietly next to her.

Sighing in resignation, Setsuna stood quietly between her housemates. The afternoon had never seemed longer.

~*~*~

As she watched Haruka pull away from the curb, Setsuna thought she felt a headache coming on. The afternoon had not gone at all as planned. After the initial entrance, Seiya had more or less ignored her. Several times, she had had to tug on his arm to get his attention, and remind him in hushed tones that they were supposed to be acting like a couple. Each time, Seiya had nodded solemnly and gone right back to watching Usagi. It was enough to make her want to bang her head into the nearest stationary object.

And then there had been Haruka, who had seemed determined to stick by her all day. It seemed that her fellow soldier was trying to fill the roll of a protective older brother, which Setsuna thought was ridiculous, since she was several times older than Haruka. The only saving grace was that when she told Haruka that she could get home alone and didn't need a ride, Haruka had believed her and left her to her own devices.

Seiya came ambling out and caught sight of her. "Oh, you're still here?"

Setsuna gave him a hard look, then caught his arm and dragged him off to a side street where there were fewer people. "You," she told him sternly, "are not acting right."

Seiya sighed. "I'm sorry," he said. "But I haven't seen her for a while, and I just..." He let that trail off, looking off at nothing.

"I think that I should just let you go it alone. It was a mistake to get involved in this in the first place," Setsuna said.

Seiya looked startled. "No, don't do that. I really do need your help."

"Really," Setsuna repeated dryly. "I didn't think you needed me for whatever new plan you had."

"Who said I had a new plan?"

"Well, you're obviously not sticking to the old one," she snapped. "If you plan on making her jealous, you have to act like you actually care about me."

Seiya sighed heavily. "I know," he said.

"You're a performer," she pointed out. "Or at least you were. Surely you can manage a little acting."

"I will."

Somehow, she didn't believe him.

~*~*~

As she closed the door behind her, Setsuna wasn't very surprised to see Haruka sitting and trying to look casual. She had expected that Haruka would wait and corner her about Seiya. She had made her displeasure known all that afternoon, glaring at the long haired man every chance she got.

Haruka stood when she saw that her housemate had returned, and Setsuna braced herself for the fury, the indignant questions, and the accusations.

"If you want me to beat him up for you, just say the word."

Setsuna blinked. That was definitely _not_ what she had expected.

"You mean Seiya?"

"Listen, Setsuna." Haruka was looking at her seriously. "He's not our enemy any more, and what you choose to do is your own business. But that man is a player. Women don't seem to matter. You, Michiru, Usagi, you're all the same to him."

"Oh, I very much doubt that," Setsuna said with a sardonic smile.

"You saw how he was acting today! He comes in acting like you're together, and then ignores you for the rest of the day! I don't think he's all that seriously attached to you."

/I know he's not,/ Setsuna thought, but aloud she said, "Well, as you say, it's my business."

Haruka gave her a hard look, but backed off. "It is. But if he hurts your feelings, just let me know, and I'll pound him into a pulp for you."

Setsuna smiled slightly, surprised and a little touched by the offer. "Thank you, but I don't think that it will be necessary."

"He'd better see to it that it isn't," Haruka muttered ominously, then turned and stalked out of the room.

~*~*~

"Oh, welcome home. Did Haruka talk to you yet?" Michiru looked up from the vegetables she was slicing to put the question to Setsuna, who nodded.

"She got me right as I came in. She was actually quite reasonable about the whole thing," Setsuna observed with mild surprise.

Michiru smiled to herself and nodded sagely. "Good. We had a little talk before you got back about privacy and personal decisions."

"Ah, that explains it." Setsuna smiled wryly. Of course, it had to be Michiru. She was the only one who could exert that kind of calming force on her partner.

"She still offered to beat him up for me," Setsuna told her.

Michiru laid the knife down on the cutting board and turned to face Setsuna. "She's just worried about you. I am too, for that matter. With the way he's fixated on Usagi, I'm not sure that Seiya's the best choice, and it is kind of sudden. But you will do as you see fit."

Setsuna winced as Michiru brought home the flaw in their plan. She and Seiya simply didn't make a very convincing couple.

"Is it really that hard to believe?" she murmured aloud.

"Not really, I suppose," Michiru answered. "Maybe you just have a thing for dark haired, blue eyed men."

Setsuna started violently, nearly knocking over a glass on the counter. "Who told you?"

"No one told me," Michiru said. "I've been around you long enough to notice these things."

"Does everyone know?"

"No, I don't think so. Mamoru certainly doesn't know."

"It wouldn't matter even if he did," Setsuna muttered gloomily. "He's destined to be with Usagi."

"And you somehow always seem to end up with the short end of the stick," Michiru observed. "That's why Haruka and I are worried about you."

Setsuna sighed heavily. It felt like her headache was coming back. "Send someone up to get me for dinner, will you please? I think I'm going to go take a nap."

/After this day, goodness knows I need one./

tbc

Author's Ramblings: Well, thank you to everyone who reviewed. Some of the replies I got were quite impassioned, and many of you have expressed opinions as to where I should take the story. Let's just say that it should become obvious fairly soon which way it's going to go.