Chapter 3 – A Question Of Keys
"Hand over the keys right now!" The irate refrain came from the front of the room and it was not one voice but many. Makoto and Rei and their partners swiveled their heads in the direction of the soaring cry. It was getting louder, angrier, and more insistent.
"Uh oh," Jed said, stating the obvious. "That doesn't sound good."
"I think Minako's little mixer idea is going down in flames," Rei muttered.
"Well you'd know if anyone would, Pyro."
Rei shot Makoto a quick glare. "Very funny. Let's go check it out. Maybe we can get her to uncuff us."
By this point Makoto wasn't exactly sure she wanted to be uncuffed, but she knew if she even hinted at that, Rei wouldn't hesitate to blast her back to the Silver Millennium. Not to mention that Neil might think she was… well, the kind of girl she wasn't. She didn't want him getting the wrong idea, although he seemed the gentlemanly type. He was still a college guy, though. "I suppose."
The foursome picked their way through dancing couples toward the noise. It had spread out onto the sorority house's veranda. At the far end, up against a railing stood Minako, clutching a large, wide-mouth, clear glass jar full of keys and wearing a smile as bright as her sunshine colored hair.
"We want the keys right now!" roared a large number of decidedly unhappy young women, rattling the chains that bound them. A fair lot of young men whose faces were black studies growled their agreement. The crowd was getting ugly.
"Some bad drunks in this lot," muttered Jed. Rei dragged him along in her wake as she made her way toward Minako and possible freedom. Neil and Makoto, however, got hung up along the way and lost sight of Rei and Jed in the seething mass of bodies.
"Now everybody calm down," Minako chirped as merrily as if she were presiding over a Sunday tea party. "This is just a chance to break the ice and meet new people. Just relax and go with the flow."
"Hand it over or I'll take it by force!" screeched a young woman who looked about ready to rip Minako's golden blonde hair out by the roots. "You…or one of these other maniacs cuffed me to my ex!" The angry woman gave up glaring at Minako for a moment, to turn a fulminating glare on the unfortunate young man chained to her wrist who had the grace to blush.
"Yeah! And I got a nerd!" called one aggrieved voice from the crowd.
'Ouch!' Makoto's heart twinged faintly in pity for whoever that person's partner was.
"I've already got a boyfriend," whined another petulant voice, "and THIS isn't HIM! I swear, if he got cuffed to someone else…"
On and on it went. As if feeding on its own ire, the crowd seemed to grow uglier, pushing on toward Minako with malevolent intent.
Minako frowned, climbing up on the broad porch railing to get up and away from the irate students. "Jeeze…everyone's so touchy. Nobody wants to have fun anymore." Rei managed just then to push forward through the crowd and glared at the nearest agitators, who quailed slightly, slinking back under the fire priestess' fearsome gaze. Having a gained a measure of security, Rei turned her back on the crowd, focusing only on her friend.
"Just give them the keys, Minako-chan," Rei said in a surprisingly gentle tone for her.
"But…"
"Now, Minako-chan. Really. It's for the best."
A slight sly smile flitted across Minako face suddenly. "Okay," she agreed quickly, surprising Rei and Makoto both with her quick agreement. Usually Minako tended to be quite stubborn when it came to her little ploys. The sudden about-face was really unexpected.
"NOW HEAR THIS!" hollered the blonde loudly, garnering everyone's attention. "Everyone can come and get their keys!"
"Finally," muttered a few carrying voices, interrupting the blonde. Rei sighed in relief that Minako was, for once, being sensible.
"You'll just have to find them first," Minako finished as if she hadn't heard the voices at all.
Rei smacked her forehead. She should have known it wouldn't be that easy. Nothing concerning Minako ever was.
Makoto watched in shock as Minako spun nimbly on the railing and hurled the contents of the jar toward the sorority house's darkened lawn. There was one brief glimmering flash as the dozens of tiny silver keys caught the light of the full moon and then they were gone into the night.
There was a sudden massed shriek of outrage and then the stampede of bodies onto the lawn nearly crushed Makoto, who found herself drawn into an embrace against Neil's chest as he tried to shield her.
"You okay?"
"I think so," she murmured, feeling a sweet heat flood through her veins at his touch. 'Wow! More than okay…great!'
"AINO MINAKO, ARE YOU ON CRACK?!" Rei was busy blasting Minako, who was defending her party mixer idea. Jed watched, fascinated as the irate young woman attached to his wrist completely lost her temper. Rei had a lot of temper to lose. Oddly enough, though, he didn't seem put off by it. She was, in his opinion, really gorgeous when she was mad. He divided his attention between the catfight and the lawn brawl. For the masses of unhappy partiers were stampeding around on the grass, grabbing up keys randomly and trying them in the locks, flinging them away in a fury when they didn't work. There was no order to the process and no cooperation. It was pure, undiluted chaos.
"They're never going to get loose that way. It'd be pure chance…dumb luck if they did. They'd be better off calling a locksmith." Makoto heard Neil's voice somewhere near her ear. His breath was warm on the tender skin and ruffled her hair and she completely lost track of what she'd been thinking about.
"I said, don't touch me!" The sound of skin cracking against skin in a slap caught Makoto's attention, unwelcome in the dreamy haze she was in. It caught Rei's attention as well, distracting her just enough that Minako, quick to grab the opportunity, was able to slip away.
"That sounded like…Naru." Makoto was sure of it.
"Leave her alone!" That voice was all too familiar as well.
"Oh crud. Umino too? We'd better go check it out. Usagi'd freak if we let something happen to them."
"So much for the hope that the worst was over," Rei muttered under her breath.
The foursome again trouped across the porch, this time with Makoto in the lead. All the while both girls were wondering not for the first time how it was humanly possible for Naru to get into as much trouble as she did. She even seemed to draw monsters like sugar water draws flies.
This time, though, the menace appeared to be a couple of burly types who looked like they should be tackling people and making touchdowns. Evidently, though, the only touching they were interested in was on the petite redhead. Makoto scowled as she thought she recognized at least one or two from the whole raucous 'rating game' earlier in the evening. They reeked of beer and hormones.
"Come on, cutie," one of the Neanderthals slurred, reaching out for a frightened looking Naru who cringed back into Umino's embrace. "Dump the dweeb and let's party."
"Leave me alone!" she pleaded, tears welling up in her eyes. Behind his oversized and double-thick glasses it was hard to tell what Umino was thinking, but he seemed scared as well. He was also sporting a rapidly purpling bruise on his forearm. Given his penchant for going to Naru's defense, even in the face of overwhelming odds, it wasn't hard to figure out what might have happened. But at least he wasn't throwing spicy fried shrimp this time.
"I think," Makoto announced loudly, fisting one hand and propping it against her waist pugnaciously, "that you'd all better clear off. She's clearly not interested in the likes of you."
One of the slightly less bombed aggressors swung to face her. "Oh yeah...says who?"
"Me," Makoto informed him with a defiant toss of her hair and a stormy look that, if they'd been sober, might have realized meant they were in serious trouble.
"Hey guys...it's the chick with the big boobs!" The obnoxious fellow elbowed his drunken buddy who turned and gave Makoto a quick, lopsided leer. He did not, however, leave off pawing at Naru who cried out loudly and slapped his hands away.
Naru, though, looked suddenly hopeful of rescue as she realized that others had arrived.
"I said, let her go." Makoto's voice was turning steely. "In fact…just leave altogether. I know party crashers when I see them. Get lost!"
"No way," said the first man, "unless you want to take her place." He gave her an appraising once over that had her grinding her back teeth. "It could work," he said, ogling her chest, making her skin crawl and her temper kindle. The creep had no idea how close he came to death by electrocution in that moment. Makoto could feel the rage crackle through her veins, sparking her power.
Unexpectedly, though, Makoto heard a feral-sounding growl from behind her. Neil had come up behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder like a man staking a claim. He was shooting the big mouth a murderous glare. His blue eyes had darkened almost to black and glittered dangerously. "Oh no. I don't think so."
Makoto felt rather than heard Rei and Jed's approach as well. They too were glaring daggers at Naru and Umino's assailants.
Drunk though they were, the football players were capable of realizing that the two men were likely to be tough opponents and the dark haired one appeared quite protective of the busty girl in pink who was, in turn, quite protective of the tiny redhead. However, they were also drunk enough that they weren't capable of keeping their mouths shut or understanding that the best course would have been to withdraw.
"Make us."
Perfect auburn brows snapped together as Makoto scowled fiercely, ready to hand the cretin his teeth. "With pleasure, pig."
Without additional warning she seized one man's arm in her strong grip, did something quick, efficient and brutal with her feet and the next moment found him on the ground, moaning. Jed gawked openly at the display of physical prowess from Makoto, who cracked her knuckles in preparation for what was to come.
Had he not been so surprised at her actions, Neil would have cracked an exceptionally wide smile just then. She was still a lady he'd like to get to know better…but she clearly had more than a passing knowledge of the martial arts as well. That was one of the coolest things he'd learned about any woman ever. 'Tough and kind and pretty. Damn!'
The drunkard's pals glared at her. "You hurt Daisuke, you bitch!" spat one, lunging at her.
"So?!"
A quick one-two punch to the gut and he too joined the first man on the floor. Makoto dusted off her knuckles and examined her manicure. Neil stepped forward, placing his shoe on the man's neck with a certain air of light menace. "That's no way to talk to ladies."
The second man gagged slightly at the pressure on his windpipe and lay very, very still.
"Some…lady," sneered the first man unwisely from his prone position.
"Cretin! Slime!" Rei responded by kicking him in the ribs with the very pointy toe of one of her heels. She grinned evilly as she felt a give that spelled a broken bone. By this point Jed had come out of his shock. When a third man tried coming after Rei, he neatly intercepted the threat and neutralized it handily using a form of martial arts that Makoto had never seen before but was highly intrigued by.
"Anyone else," Makoto invited in a dangerously cheery tone, beckoning with one pink-tipped finger, though she maintained her battle stance.
Nobody else, drunk or sober, seemed willing to take on the pissed-off brunette and her protective partner. Or the mean black-haired vixen and the big blond man either. The remaining hoodlums grabbed their downed companions and left in a hurry.
Naru slumped down on the floor as her shaky knees finally gave way and she burst into tears. Heaving a tremendous sigh of relief, Umino bent over her, helping her back to her feet. He shot both Makoto and Rei a look of gratitude…or at least they thought it was gratitude. Again, the glasses obscured his true expression.
"Thank you," he breathed, wiping his brow.
Rei patted his arm. "Don't thank us, Umino-kun. We'd do the same any time. Usagi'd never forgive us if we let Naru get hurt. Just get her out of here. Go someplace...any place but here. And watch out for those yahoos. They're a nasty, if cowardly, bunch."
He nodded vigorously and gathered his traumatized girlfriend into his embrace, shepherding toward the door. "Come on, Naru-chan. Let's go. I'll walk you back to your house."
"Well," Neil said, running a hand through his dark hair, rumpling it even more than the abortive fight had, "that was an interesting bit of entertainment."
"Special for parties," Makoto quipped, tucking back a stray lock of her own hair. Neil's eyes followed the motion of her hand. He couldn't help wondering if the curls were as soft as they looked. Having seen her in action, though, he decided to hold off, at least for the moment, on finding out. Maybe later, though…
Jed gave Rei's hand a quick fond squeeze that made her smoky eyes widen in shock. "You two were great! Girls who are beautiful and can kick serious ass! Is there anything better?" He grinned devilishly and shoved his free hand in his pocket, jingling his keys expectantly. "So…what do you ladies want to do next?"
Violet fire blazed up in Rei's eyes and she glowered at Jed, who ought to have withered under the onslaught. "Well, you can start by letting go of my hand unless you want to wind up like Makoto's sparring dummies who just left."
In spite of her temper, or perhaps because of it, Jed thought that Rei had never looked lovelier even while she was giving him her special patented Look of Death. It might just be worth getting his ass kicked to keep holding her. Maybe.
The look intensified and he felt himself begin to sweat.
Maybe not.
Before he'd made up his mind one way or the other the wail of a police siren became audible, even over the screaming stereo. And it was rapidly getting closer.
"Oh hell." Neil resorted to cursing in extreme frustration. "The party is over."
"I vote we get the heck out of here before we all wind up in the pokey," Makoto opined. "Hands?" She and Neil both raised their joined hands together without thinking. Rei and Jed were not far behind with their vote, though she still glared at the blond man as if the arrival of the police was his fault.