Disclaimer: It still stands, biznatch. Ha ha ha.

Setsuna came down the stairs Friday morning wanting to die. She had just been in her study, having experienced a particularly nice dream about a certain blonde last night and feeling the urge to write it down while she could still remember it. Her diary wasn't there. Setsuna's world was turned on its ear just like that. Stoic face or not, it took a lot of willpower to refrain from biting her nails. She was anxious. Any minute, she expected one of the other Senshi to greet her holding the missing diary and asking for an explanation.

With the exception of Ami, as her face would be far too red to grant her speech, and Haruka, who would be laughing her ass off after reading it.

Her mind in turmoil, Setsuna almost missed her favorite blond sitting in front of the fire place. She snapped back to reality and plastered her usual small smile on her face. "Good morning, Minako." Was that all she could say? Gah. Setsuna was pretty sure that Senshis of Time were not supposed to be this hopeless. Minako turned around and smiled. The young woman felt her heart do that jackhammer thing.

"I'm busy now. Can I ignore you some other time?" Minako joked playfully, letting the fire lightly toast her upraised feet. It was about the only perk the place had to offer, in her opinion. Sure, there was snowboarding and snowball fights and snowmen, but Minako was getting sick of all the snow. She wanted something that was warm and gave her an excuse to be lazy. She wanted a fire. At Setsuna's upraised eyebrow, the blond laughed and went back to playing with the Rubix Cube she had yoinked from Usagi earlier that morning.

"So, anyway, Setsuna, I was thinking..." She began, fully intending to ask the older woman just what she had been smoking when she kidnapped all of them and stuck them in this house, but Minako found her sentence trailing off without her. How annoying.

"Ah, a thought crossed your mind? Must have been a long and lonely journey," Setsuna said, moving from the fireplace to the opposite couch and plopping down. She began flipping through the book abandoned on the coffee table. She had read it twice already, but there was nothing like a good speed-read. The image of her empty desk drawer tried to struggle to the surface of her mind again, but she fought it back down. She probably just misplaced the diary. No need to panic.

Oh, fuck that. There was need to panic. That diary held five years worth of fantasies and desires that would strike Setsuna dead with embarrassment if revealed. If the diary wasn't hidden in the drawer with the false drawer, then it could be out for anyone to pick up and read, as Setsuna had been thinking about mere minutes prior. Anyone. Even Minako herself. Oh God. Setsuna's face tried to blush at the thought. Finding that her features couldn't do it, she tried to distract her mind by flipping through the book again. It didn't help that much, really.

"Hey, act your age--senile," Minako retorted as she got up from her place in front of the fire and moved to an armchair just across from Setsuna.

She wanted to glare at the Senshi of Time but, finding that she couldn't, glared at the Rubix Cube in her hands instead. A whole side of it was done, but every time she tried to work on the other five sides she would get a lone orange square disrupting the wall of green. Or a blue one. It was all very confusing. Setsuna's eye twitched. Just like Minako with her intelligence, if there was one thing Setsuna was touchy about, it was her age. Not even the adorable blond sitting across from her could change that. The hands holding the pages of her book suddenly convulsed and tightened. There was a soft ripping sound.

Forcing herself to stay calm in spite of holding three newly independent pages in one hand, Setsuna shot a strained smile at her agitator."You must be an arithmetic girl. You add trouble, subtract pleasure, divide attention, and multiply ignorance."

From her hiding place behind the urn, Rei covered her mouth to hold back a snicker. The Senshi of Time versus the Senshi of Love, both filled with enough biting, caustic wit to make a statue cry. The miko grinned to herself and settled in to watch the show. Just like she had planned, after peeking at Setsuna's diary. She suddenly wished she had brought along a video camera. Minako narrowed her eyes for only a moment. Then it had passed and she was reclining in her chair, shifting to one side so as to watch the older woman with an almost catlike expression.

At Setsuna's perplexed look, she smiled. "Oh no, please keep talking. I always yawn when I'm interested." With that, the blond let out a huge exaggerated yawn.

Setsuna smiled a dangerously sweet smile and shut her book with a snap. "I see that you've set this time aside to humiliate yourself." Minako just shrugged and lounged out more fully on the armchair. Those who did not know her who have made the mistake of thinking it was a gesture of indifference. Rei bit her lip in anticipation as she peered out from between the urn and the wall, sharing her blond friend's eagerness to get the show on the road. Oh, this was most definitely going to be entertaining.

"Watch out, Setsuna. One more wrinkle and you'd pass for a prune."

"I refuse to engage in a battle of wits, as I will not take advantage of the handicapped."

"Says the woman who is so old her memory is in black and white."

Stung, Setsuna leaped to her feet and glared daggers at the snarky teenager. Rei's eyes widened at the rapid progress of her plan. First she felt shock, then a certain familiar smugness as the Senshi of Love abruptly stood up as well, hands curled into fists. "By the way, Minako, a rejection letter from MENSA wouldn't be to much of a surprise for you now, would it?" The green-haired woman all but snarled, every bit of composure fleeing from her mind as fast as possible.

Minako grabbed a pillow from the armchair she had been sitting on and flung it with all her might. It struck Setsuna right in the face. "You're so ancient, you walked into an antique shop and they sold you!" The insult rang in the Senshi of Time's ears as she fell backward onto the couch from which she had just risen. She bounced on the springs, once, twice, and then back to her feet. Setsuna reached for her own cushion just as Minako's hand strayed toward another one of her own.

And then the room was alive with fluffy projectiles and insults being screamed at the top of the two girl's lungs.

"Can I use your head for my rock garden?"

A pillow smacked off Minako's forehead as another struck her arm.

"You've got more issues than National Geographic!"

A flurry of cushions pummeled Setsuna's front and sent her tumbling over the back of the couch. Rei stiffened, afraid that her cover had been blown, then relaxed as the normally even tempered Senshi jumped back over the couch with two more pillows to do battle with. She hadn't noticed Rei at all. The battle raged on in a flurry of words and cushions. It was scary the things two girls could think up to yell at each other when they thought they were alone.

"When it comes to I.Q. points, you lose them every time you go to the bathroom!"

"Hey, Setsuna! Did your parents ever ask you to run away from home?"

Minako managed to dodge the first pillow, but wasn't fast enough to evade the second. It bounced off her shoulder and, to both of their horror, flew toward the open fireplace. The fight was temporarily forgotten as the pillow spun a slow arc through the air, landed in the fireplace, then hit the back of the fireplace and bounced back out. The blazing cushion began to burn away the carpet it lay on.

Minako and Setsuna screamed and rushed forward to put out the flaming pillow. Rei's eyes widened and she turned around and crawled away, not wishing to be privy to the scene any longer. The miko was suddenly grateful that she had not brought a video camera, as it would have impeded her getaway. Scramble as she did, she could not, however, escape the sounds of their attempts.

"Get some water!"

"I'll get it!"

"No, I'll get it!"

"Ow!"

There was a crashing and splashing sound as whatever container of water that was being carried hit the ground. An awkward silence reigned. Scurrying away as inconspicuously as she could, Rei's sharp ears caught Minako's last words from far behind her.

"Well, at least the fire's out."