The Client

Summary: Makoto is Minako's new client and hopes to be with Mizuno Ami. Will Minako fall in love with her client? Probably.

Disclaimer: I own nothing that is mentioned in this fic.

Chapter Seven: Day Off, Off Day

Yesterday was too surreal.

Sitting down at my desk, I sighed dreamily as I thought about the awesome, fantastic day I had with Makoto. It was very…interesting, to say the least.

Yesterday, Makoto and I had skipped.

Uh huh, we skipped school. Why? We slept in. By the time we woke up, it was almost second period. Considering how long we stayed up last night, that was pretty early. Personally, skipping was totally worth it, despite the doubled amount of homework we'd have to make up.

Makoto had woken up first. She said she was used to getting up early (that's another thing I learned about her). As a result, she woke me up, and we tried to figure out what to do from there.

After a while, I figured out the most obvious thing to do: go home. I had to let Mom know that I was safe and sound, and that Makoto had taken good care of me. Through her, Dad would know that I was fine, too. I suggested that she come with me, so I could show my new friend and savior to Mom. I was sure that Mom would appreciate her efforts in helping me.

Makoto agreed right away, though she was a little worried about us showing up when we should have been at school. It was a bit odd, yeah, because we never skipped – at least I didn't. Mom didn't like it when I didn't go to school, but she had to understand this time! Hopefully, she wouldn't get mad at me for skipping today.

Unable to reassure her of her worries, I told her to get ready for our next journey. She hurried off to shower while I waited for her. I decided that I would take a shower at home (where I would have a change of clothes), although I really wanted to take one now – yeah, right now with Makoto. I'm pretty sure I couldn't handle it, though, what with the whole fainting incident and all.

As I sat on the couch, I looked around the room, wondering where Makoto had put my bag. I searched all around the living room and the kitchen. It was nowhere to be found to my dismay. Deciding to go look elsewhere, I went off into Makoto's room. Now that there was a little light in the room, I could examine the place much better than I could hours ago.

Makoto's room was still pretty empty even without darkness. The only thing in there was her bed and dresser. Entering the room, I continued the search. Glancing at each corner of the room, I noticed the clothes on the bed. My eyes lingered on them, studying them intensely. There was a very small hint of femininity about them (they looked a little tight-fitting – girls have to show their curves, right?), but they contained a sort of boyish, Makoto-like charm. Tattered, worn-to-death jeans along with a black tee shirt. The shirt looked a little big for her, but that was probably because her…talent needed someone space – wouldn't want them to suffocate, right?

Moving on, I checked under the bed and around the dresser. Scratching my head, I sighed. Where could it have gone? Makoto was really good at hiding stuff, especially my stuff. Well, this was the first time she hid something from me, but hey, she was still a pro!

"I know you're feeling anxious about us and all, but let's wait a bit before we do anything naughty, alright?"

I turned around and rolled my eyes, not prepared for what I saw next. My eyebrows rose at the sight of Makoto half naked. She had a towel wrapped around her waist, and she was in a bra, oddly enough.

"That was fast," I said, trying not to get too distracted. She laughed like being half naked was nothing. "Yeah, I didn't want to keep you waiting," she explained. "I grabbed just my bra for some reason, but not everything else. Guess I was rushing." She went around me to get to the dresser, leaving a fragrance too heavenly to be true in her wake. "So, what were you looking for in here?"

My heat raced as I stared at her beautiful, bare skin. Her wet hair caused water to roll down her back. I had the feeling that I was going to faint again. "I was looking for my bag," I told her. She said it was behind the open door, and there it was. "What a conspicuous place," I said sarcastically. "You're welcome," Makoto laughed. I grabbed my bag and sat on the edge of the bed. Just as I started to look through my bad, I felt something damp – the towel – cover my head.

"Enjoy my essence," Makoto said. I definitely did. No matter how creepy that sounded, it was true. This towel had been through so much, and I was glad to have part of Makoto on me. Unfortunately, I had to take the towel off and glare at her. Couldn't let her know I was happy about it, right? However, pretending to be mad was impossible when she wasn't clothed. She put on her jeans as I stared in awe. I instantly became jealous, though not because I felt my body was inferior to the brunette's. One day, sometime soon, that body was going to belong to Ami. She would be the lucky girl who got to touch Makoto's nicely toned body, not me. Just thinking about it made me sick to my stomach.

"Hey, you like what you see?" Makoto teased, putting her hands on her hips. I looked up at her eyes and shrugged, grinning all the while. "It's alright," I answered. "I've seen better." Makoto laughed and walked over to me, completely forgetting we had a destination to get to. She gently grabbed my wrists and ran them all over her body. All over. Everywhere. Every. Where. My jaw dropped as my hands roamed over her body, molding to its shape. She was the softest thing in the history of soft things. My face was probably the reddest it had ever been in my life. It was my first time touching a girl like this – I loved it.

"Only alright?" she asked softly as one hand went over her breasts – this couldn't be real! – and the other lingered around her waist. What was going on in Makoto's head? This was insane! Why was she making me touch her? I wasn't complaining, but still! She got closer to me and gave me an innocent look, waiting for an answer. There wasn't a coherent thought in my head that could have been put into words. Well, nothing intelligent anyway.

"They're really soft…"

Makoto smiled as she put my hands in my lap, her mission apparently accomplished. "I thought so," she said. "Call your mom, tell her we're on the way." I sat there dumbfounded as she put on her shirt. She continued to smile at me, and that puzzled me completely.

Finally out of the apartment building, we walked down the street. It seemed so vacant, though that was to be expected. Everyone was "enjoying" their time at school while Makoto and I were out together. We were having much more fun than we would have if we had gone to school – if you can call the touching fun (it was, but it made me go crazy!). Makoto was acting as if it were nothing, so I decided to act like it was nothing, too. I had already proved that it was more than that earlier, but it shocked me that she seemed to think nothing of it.

I didn't know what to say during this walk. My mind was still whirling a bit from before, but I think I could make words if I knew what to say. Thankfully, she ended the silence, holding my hand firmly at the same time.

"You know how you told me not to fall in love with you?" she asked. I nodded without looking at her. "Well, I think you should worry about you not falling in love with me," she grinned. Crap, have I given my feelings away? Was I really that obvious? Here I thought she was a bit dense.

"It'll be hard for you, but I know you can do it," she continued. Sticking my nose in the air, I denied having feelings for her. Lying to her like that was hard. Sighing, I said, "You like Ami, Ami likes you, and you both are going to be together soon. I couldn't get in the way of that even if I tried." Makoto smiled and squeezed my hand.

"I think I'm going to tell her before the week is over. What do you think?"

I shrugged, not knowing how to answer that. The walk home seemed so much longer than it really was. "Whatever you think is right should be the best solution," I began, feeling a lot like Rei by saying that. "She'll wait for you as long as she needs to." Makoto gave me a quizzical look. "How do you know?" she asked. Again, I shrugged.

"She wants to be with you. I think she can wait."

Makoto laughed what seemed like a victory laugh. The last thing I needed to know was that she was having a fanfare in her head about this subject.

After that, there was another awkward silence, though Makoto was still holding my hand pretty tight. When I realized we were almost home, I decided to go through the 'get to know each other' phase again. The only problem was that I didn't know how to go about it, and I didn't want to make Makoto feel uncomfortable like I had before. Ugh, what am I to do?

"Minako," Makoto called, "you're in deep thought again. What's on your mind?" A nervous laugh escaped my throat as I shook my head. "Nothing really. I just don't know what to say right now," I answered. Makoto looked up in the sky, smiling and swinging our hands to and fro. "I can give you some trivia on me if you'd like." Smiling at her, I nodded.

Drawing ever closer to my house, I learned how young she was when she lost her parents, how they died, and how she was able to live by herself.

She was only ten-years-old when her parents died during a plane accident. Makoto had been with them, but she said that she has no memory of the crash. All she knew was that she woke up in a hospital and was told that her parents were gone. When she was able to leave the hospital, she sought refuge in her home. However, she was still a minor and had no relatives, so orphanages tried to take her with them. Makoto ended up hiding a lot so that she could stay in the place that belonged to her and her parents – her only family. Despite the constant hiding, she was found and sent away to an orphanage. She tried for years to prove that she was able to take care of herself. Once she was thirteen, she got her own place thanks to the government paying for a few expenses. Unfortunately, she got into a lot of fights, which meant she had to change schools and relocate herself to different places. After meeting Usagi, though, she hasn't had to move for two years (I'll have to thank Usagi for that later).

Her story ended when we were at the front door of my house. She claimed that I almost knew more about her than anyone else she knew, and that made me glad. She let my hand go as I knocked on the door. Hopefully, Mom wouldn't yell at me once she opened it.

Almost immediately, the door swung open, catching the both of us off guard. My heart skipped a beat when my eyes met hers instantly. It was as if she had expected to see me at this very spot. She was scolding me quickly and quietly with her eyes, not happy that I was here instead of at school. When she turned to look at Makoto, she smiled and bowed.

"You must be Kino Makoto," she said at last. "Thank you for taking care of my daughter in such a time in need." Makoto scratched her head nervously, saying it was no problem. Mom grabbed her hand and pulled her inside, surprising Makoto a great deal. Mom never did like giving anyone warnings for her following actions. I told Mom that I would be in the shower and raced up the stairs. I didn't want to leave Makoto alone with my mother – this wasn't a good idea at all – but I couldn't walk around the house without a shower. That's just gross.

Running up to the bathroom, I mentally noted that I would probably need a cold shower after what happened with Makoto today.

Fully clothed and completely refreshed, I ran down the stairs, hoping nothing bad had happened while I was away. Their voices sounded far away, so that meant they were in the kitchen. Walking over, I assumed things were going well. Mom looked over to me – this time with less menacing eyes – and smiled. This looked like that mother I knew and lived with (well, half the time, anyway).

"Minako, you're lucky to have a friend like Makoto-san," she said. "I know don't what I would do if it weren't for her kindness." When she said I was lucky to be friends with Makoto, she meant she was lucky I was friends with Makoto. I'm pretty sure she thought as long as Makoto was around, she wouldn't lose her daughter.

Makoto laughed and said it was no trouble. Smiling, I thanked her for everything. Turning to Mom, I asked, "Is it ok if we can go out?" That glare from before came back. I was prepared this time, so I continued. "You can't fault me for fainting, Mom," I sighed. "I would have gone to school today if I could have. Just let me have fun today and suffer tomorrow."

Mom seemed to brighten up at the suffer part, so she agreed to let us go. Guiding Makoto out, she whispered, "What are you planning now?" I shrugged. My mind was blank, and I had no clue what I was going to do next.

In the end, Makoto and I went to the Fruits Parlor. Neither Motoki nor his sister, Unazuki, was there, so no one could interrupt us. We both ordered a milkshake, and that's when we got down to business.

"You understand you're still my client, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, when you ask Ami out, you're still mine. We'll have unfinished business."

Makoto raised an eyebrow, silently asking what I meant.

"Just don't kiss her for a while. Preferably for a month."

"A month?"

"Yup."

We stared at each other quietly, drinking our milkshakes without glancing away. If she was trying to see if I was serious, then she should have gotten the hint. She leaned back and sighed, agreeing to my terms. It was then that I noticed that Makoto could rarely say no to me anymore.

Well, upon reflection, the day wasn't all that spectacular. After the conversation, the day wound down, and we went our separate ways. I had a feeling that Makoto would do something about the whole Ami thing once I got home, though I couldn't estimate how soon. Makoto had a habit for being spontaneous.

"Minako-chan!"

Jumping at the sound of my name, I spotted Usagi running into the classroom, grinning from ear to ear. Chances are something Rei-related happened. Once in front of my desk, Usagi grabbed my hands and squeezed them tight, digging her nails into my skin. I groaned and glared at her.

"What is it, Usagi-chan?" I growled. "Ami-chan, Mako-chan!" she said. "You did it!"

The world around me froze and shattered into a million pieces. My heart stopped beating.

Now, there was no hope for me.

To be continued…

Uh oh, sounds like trouble! This chapter came out relatively quickly XD Awesomeness! And I got to expand a bit on Makoto's character :3 Hope you liked the chappy. Til next time

Serenity101