A/N: Yes, I am still alive, too! And still on my quest to catch up with the Mako story line, so I can defend poor Minako-chan when it gets to the Ran story arc. But until then, you'll have to suffer and not know how much she really loves Ran… BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! Yes, I'm being evil. :Innocent Smile:

Anyway, the characters still belong to Naoko-san, and this story is evil and weird.

So please read on, even if Mina is a baaaaad girl.

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Chapter 12: Moving Day!

Have you ever moved before?

Well, let me tell you right now, it's a huge pain in the arse.

I've moved two times in my life (this is the third), and I swear each time I have to pack up all my junk into boxes there are more of them… Junk I mean… well, and boxes, too, since I need them to fill up my junk.

Mom suggested I start selling my stuff on e-bay… I nearly whacked her for suggesting such a thing.

Yes, it's all junk, but damn it, it's MY junk.

Sorry, don't mean to sound cranky, but I hate moving. The only silver on my horizon is that I'm moving to Mako's NOT England.

Anyway, moving out and into Mako's place took all the friends I had, even Setsuna, though all she did was lend us boxes. Wonder what the Guardian of Time needs boxes for anyway?

It was kind of embarrassing actually, I really had no idea I had so many stuffed animals… enough to burry Mako, that's for sure.

Oops.

I help her out from under my anime stuffie collection. "I'm sorry Mako-chan. I guess I didn't close that box well enough."

I wonder if she regrets letting me move in with her yet.

Well, if she didn't then, she surely did, when it was time to move all of the furniture around the guest room, er I mean MY room. (Wonder if I'll get used to calling it that?)

Can I help it if I can't mentally picture how the furniture would look like?

I'm a VISUAL person, people, I need to SEE what it looks like to KNOW. I'm a lousy guesser.

"Make up your mind Minako!" Haruka finally exclaims. I guess she got tired of lugging the dresser back and forth across the room.

"I'm trying!" I retort. "I just can't decide if looks better there, or over by the window."

Give me a break, I'm a Libra, we're known for being indecisive!

"Ok, then I'm deciding for you!" Makoto declares. "The dresser stays right where it is. The bookcase will go over there, the bed there, and the desk there."

Mamoru nods. "Sounds good to me."

"Me too." Haruka concurs. The moving of the furniture goes much faster after that.

And to my surprise, I like it. "Hey! That looks really good!"

"I'm glad you like it." Makoto smiles back at me, as I'm practically beaming at my new room. "Now help the rest of us lug these boxes." She shoves a cardboard box full of stuffed animals into my arms, then proceeds to pick up a couple, before following me into my new room.

Inside the room, Usagi, Ami and Hotaru are unpacking the boxes and putting things away. They giggle over cute stuffies and the adorable statuettes that I've been collecting for years.

What can I say, I'm attracted to things that collect dust.

And I absolutely Hate dusting.

"Oh Minako! This mini-skirt is SOOOOO cute!" Usagi gushes. "Can I borrow it, PLEEEAAASSSE?" She pouts out her lower lip, bats her eyes and turns on her uber-kawaii 'Please-Let-Me-Borrow-Your-Clothes-They're-SOOOO-Cool' look (TM) full force on me.

Ack! Not again! Last time she did that I didn't see my favorite shirt in a year!

Of course, no one can resist that look. "Sure you can borrow it Usagi-chan. Just make sure you return it this time."

Hint, hint, nudge, nudge. I even elbow our princess in the ribs for added emphasis.

"Hey! I returned that blouse I borrowed!" Usagi retorts. "It was just a little later than I'd planned on, that's all."

"Usako, you had that shirt for two years before you gave it back." Mamoru reminded his girlfriend. We all laugh as Usagi blushes.

Geez, had it really been TWO years?

"Well, yeah, but I DID return it!"

Dang it, she's too cute. I can't resist her. Ever. "We're only teasing Usagi- chan, you can keep the skirt as long as you like." I say (stupid me, I'll regret this later) and embrace the shorter blonde.

Usagi perks up and it's suddenly worth it. "Really? All right!" She then proceeds to dance around the room, holding the skirt up to her waist, as the rest of us laugh at her antics. "Minako, you're the best!" She grins.

"Of course I am."

Can't beat logic like that.

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Later that night, once everyone has left after throwing us an impromptu 'moving-out/moving-in' party, Makoto and I are left alone, cleaning up the apartment. I'm in the living room, picking up trash, while the Love-of-My-Life-Who- Doesn't-Know-It, is in the kitchen washing dishes.

This is when it hits me… I didn't have to go home with the rest of the group because… Cue the triumphant trumpets:

I LIVE HERE NOW!

I'm so happy I do a victory dance right there in the living room. (My living room!)

"I live with Mako! I live with Mako!" I sang in a whisper as I skip around the coffee table.

"Is this what you usually do when nobody is around?"

I eep and whirl around, almost nailing Rei with my feather duster (which I had been using as a microphone)

She doesn't even bat an eye.

"What are you still doing here?" I take my lethal weapon out of her face.

She ignores me, and goes into a Mars rant….an especially scary one.

"You know, I've been watching you and Makoto during the whole moving party, and the two of you are absolutely the most annoying people I know."

I blink. "We are? What did we do?" I ask all innocent like…cause honestly, I don't have a clue what Rei could be talking about. Seriously, it's like we're on completely different planets….

Oh wait…we are.

"You like her, it's obvious she likes you, yet you two don't do a damn thing about it. It's so irritating!"

"Uhm… sorry?" It's so hard talking to her when she's like this…especially when I'm more interested in watching the vein on her forehead get bigger and bigger. She sort of reminds me of that orange cat from Fruits Basket. Kami, I love that series. I wonder if Tohru will pick him over rat boy… Me, if I had a choice I'd do both of them at once… and Hatori too. Mmmmmmmm Hatooooriii….. DROOL.

"ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME!"

"Oops, sorry" I say, all sheepish like.

Rei sighs, in a very "Why do I even bother talking to you?" manner. (Don't worry, I'm used to this sigh.) "Well, let me just get one thing through that thick blonde head of yours… Makoto is hopeless. If you don't seduce her already, I'm gonna kill both of you!"

Eep… You do NOT want Rei threatening you. It is very scary. She's practically got me right up against the wall, and she's shooting death rays from her eyes. (I'm definitely not used to this!)

"Okay, okay, just let me go!" I wail.

"Good." Satisfied, she finally leaves, and I can breathe again.

I wonder what the heck that was about….

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I'm still mulling over what Rei said as I enter the kitchen and start helping Makoto put away the dishes. Why does she think that Makoto is so hopeless… does that mean that she actually talked to MY Mako-chan about all this?

I glance over at the Love of My Life, and she seems just as deep in thought as I am... Plus, come to think of it, it's kind of tense in here, like we don't know exactly what to say to each other.

I debate whether I should mention this all while I ask where everything goes while I put it away… I'm seriously gonna have to have a cheat sheet installed somewhere. Sweatdrop, sweatdrop.

Finally, I can't stand the suspense any more, so I blindly move ahead…

"Mako-chan? Are you keeping something from me again?"

She jumps like I seriously startled her. "What makes you ask that?"

"It just feels like it, that's all." I say all casual like.

"I had a conversation with Ami earlier that kind of.. I dunno... weirded me out a bit.."

"Oh? AMI weirded you out? How so?" Now, Rei I can understand weirding ya out. That's totally in character for her. But AMI?

"We had a talk about... about... sex."

Now that's a total shocker. I never even knew if Ami had… desires. I never sensed any hentainess coming off her… She must hide it well. "You had a conversation about sex.. with AMI?"

"I know! I couldn't believe it either."

"Well, what'd she say?"

"What?"

"What was the conversation about?" Maybe she has some good sex tips on how to seduce clueless brunettes…

"Er.. well.. she kind of thinks it's time that I found, you know, someone to be with. She said.. She said that it seems to her, that if I.. if I don't have... have... sex, with someone soon, that.. that I'm gunna explode or something..."

I'm am so stunned…How the heck did AMI know? She could be talking about ME for crying out loud! "What?"

"She thinks I shouldn't keep waiting around, that I should 'get off my butt' and go sleep with somebody already! Apparently though, SOME people can't keep their noses out of my business.."

"That doesn't sound like Ami.." It's too… interesting. Kami, I'm sorry Ami, but half the time you speak, it's sooo over my head.

S'what she said."

I spend the rest of clean up time wondering how much about sex Ami really knew…

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That night… I couldn't sleep no matter how hard I tried. New bed, ya know.

And knowing that Makoto was just a room away, snuggled up in bed, didn't help.

So, sleepily I crawl out of bed and walk into Mako's room and enter. To my relief she's still awake , sitting up reading.

"I.. I can't sleep.. new room you know." I sleepily say, clutching my white, stuffed cat to my chest. "And.. and I was just wondering if I could.. if I could.. maybe.. sleep with you?"

I give her a hopeful look, cause I wasn't sure if she'd go for this…

"Of course you can, Mina- chan." she grins, pulling the covers down on one side of the bed.

She WANTS to sleep with me! Oh, happy Night! "Thanks Mako-chan!" I scramble into the bed next to her. "Do you still want the light on?"

"No, you can turn it off. I was about done reading anyway." So I click off the lamp, then settle down to sleep….

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