Minako and Usagi Adventures: Loving A Man Series: Minako's Mystery: Morning Rises

5 August 2004

Summary: When Minako wakes up one morning, it is to find that she is not alone in a bed she's never seen. Her greatest mistake was bolting that fateful dawn.

Chapter 7

She didn't have to raise her eyes past the broad chest to know her earlier guess was right, but she did anyways to see the reaction on his face. He gapped as recognition set in for him as well and Usagi bounced up and down next to Minako before he could cut into her.

"Kunzite!" Usagi grinned jumping forward to grab his arm. "This is Minako! I've told you all about her, remember? Isn't she as pretty as I've always said?"

Kunzite was glaring daggers at Minako, and it didn't look like he was going to answer, and if he did, it would probably have been something sharp and biting. Yet Usagi was waiting for a response and Kunzite pulled his eyes from the slightly taller blond in front of him to the shorter one at his side. His voice was gentle, belying the emotions that were no doubt rolling within him, and Minako was promptly impressed and disgusted by his control. "Of course Usagi, I know better than to disregard your observations, they're as sharp as ever. She's very beautiful, that is very present and cannot be contended."

Minako couldn't help but glare at that comment, it was an obvious lie if he thought her so keen on judgment, then he wouldn't hate Minako so much. Then why would he agree to her beauty in one swoop? Unless of course he was being cruel with his words, being ironic in his opinion, as being beautiful on the outside was all that she was. Usagi had noticed the tension as well, if not only a minute too late, because she had not been expecting it.

"Is something wrong, Kunzite?" Usagi removed herself from his arm and slid between her 'favorite people' as she didn't want either getting hurt. "Perhaps you should call off the party." Usagi bit her lip as her eyes roamed over his face.

Kunzite's own lips firmed and he shook his head in the negative. "I deserve a break, and you've been working hard on it like always, and I know you were looking forward to it. We'll have a fun night, I assure you." Kunzite took a moment before he relaxed his body and grinned at Usagi, and Minako's breath was punctured from her abdomen, she'd never seen anything like it before, it was beautiful. "I'm sorry, I was reminded of someone when I saw your friend, I'll behave."

Usagi spun towards Minako and took the taller girl's hand in her own. "Please forgive Kunzite." She tugged Minako the few steps forward and took Kunzite's hand in her other one. "I guess formal introductions are a little off, but I hope the two of you will get along well." Usagi was just bubbling over with excitement, and Minako felt that the pixie blond had been planning this meeting for a long time and it finally came to fruition and it didn't matter if it didn't go according to plan, as long as they tried. Minako felt a little cheated from her job, she was the matchmaker, she had many relationships under her belt, she always knew when two people were in love with each other, it just took a little prompting. Usagi couldn't be her replacement in this matter. For even though Minako already knew she was in love with Kunzite, there was no way this relationship would ever work. First off, he hated her and thought she was a tramp, second off, he was uncouth and rude. That was just what she knew about him already.

Over Usagi's head as they shook hands in greeting, Kunzite's icy stare was back and it felt as if Minako would be frozen to the spot before he took a mallet to her and shattered her apart, just like her broken heart, all over his expensive floor. He'd probably have his servants put plastic over it first so as to not mess anything up or even have proof that she'd even once ghosted a presence within these halls.

Minako felt herself fizzle out of the excitement she had once shared with Usagi about this party and it was all due to the man she had never wanted to see again but couldn't wait until their next run in. She now understood Usagi's plight all that much more. But where Usagi and Mamoru both knew they loved one another, and were afraid to show it, theirs was a friendly if annoying banter, Kunzite on the other hand would skin her alive and throw her in jail the first moment he could get his hands on her.

Kunzite and Usagi chatted for awhile, and he watched Minako out of the corner of his eye the whole time. Usagi tried to drag Minako into the conversation, but she had nothing to add and Kunzite found he had lost the ability to speak to anyone but the other blond, refusing to say another word. Usagi's cheerful expression and buzz was slowly dying as she realized that there was no way to get these two to get along and that they were determined to avoid one another with all of their might, and there was nothing she could do about it. She had been so assured that Minako and Kunzite would fall into one another's arms right away, and she knew it had all to do with the man beside her. Minako could see the dawning occur within those blue irises and the narrowing as another plan formed and Minako wished she could stop her friend in her tracks now. No matter what it was, it wasn't going to work. If Motoki and Minako putting their heads together for years wasn't successful in Usagi and Mamoru's case, Usagi had no hope on her own.

Every time Usagi would head in Minako's direction, Kunzite would pull her back with an intense question or slid between them, cutting off her path and if Minako twitched Kunzite overreacted and Usagi finally got frustrated and huffed, heading towards the kitchen with the claim she was going to check up on the progress and that the two of them should stop acting like children and pretend to at least get along.

Kunzite snapped his head to Minako as soon as Usagi was out of yelling distance. "What the hell do you think you're playing at here?"

"What? I'm not with any guy you know this time!" Minako snapped back, irritated by the ice incarnate in front of her.

"No, you aren't, you are with someone a lot more vulnerable to your conniving ways. Stay away from her!" Kunzite growled. "Usagi is off limits in your plans. Leave her out of it."

Minako humphed. "Yeah right, she's my friend, you can't dictate to me who I talk to and who I don't. It's just unfortunate that you know a similar circle of people I do. But tough luck, deal with it."

Kunzite gripped Minako's upper arm, and pulled her towards him, and she twisted to stay away from his furious face. "Usagi stays out of this. Anything you are planning to get at me, you can't include her. She's already been through enough. If you even hurt a hair on her head, I will boot you out of this house as soon as I hear it snap and I will press charges against you in any possible way that I can. The only reason you are still standing here is because Usagi wants you presence, if that ever changes, you'll know before she does."

His warning chilled Minako to the bone, but Minako knew better than to take it lying down. Usagi would never change her mind on the Minako matter and if she knew that Kunzite was threatening her- ooh, it was her blackmail against him. "Maybe I should tell Usagi about your threat. What do you think she'd have to say about you manhandling her best friend?"

Kunzite shoved Minako away with a snort. "You are not her best friend, you might have managed to convince her of that in you devious schemes, but no one looks out for her more than I do and she loves no one more than me."

"You are sadly mistaken." Minako tsked while shaking her head. "Things change. Usagi has gotten over you. Haven't you heard? She loves another."

"I am watching you, one foot out of line and I don't care if Usagi protests or not, you will be gone. She doesn't know what's best for her."

"They aren't your decisions to make. I'm her roommate, or hasn't she told you that? I know all about what you've told her on other matters, and I have to say, you've been wrong the whole damn time. You're wrong about this too, and you'll be wrong if you ever dare touch me again. I will press charges if you assault me again."

"It'll be your word against mine, I've got proof you've been stalking me, this is the last straw, wiggling you way into her apartment, and now coming into my home?" Kunzite shook his head in disgust.

Their words, though unable to be overheard were said in fierce hissing and Minako lost her patience, she opened her mouth to yell at him and set him straight once and for all, but the door opened unannounced and people started filing in, dressed in elaborate fancy gowns and tuxedos. Kunzite left her side to mingle with them and be a good host.

Minako was left stewing and simmering until she cooled down enough to handle the pleasantries. She was recognized by a few and she hushed them to keep it a secret, she was trying to keep a low profile. She knew better than to let Kunzite realize that she was an actress it would either fuel his distrust or allow him to back out of admitting he was wrong to her face. She wanted to throw her own success in his face and see his reaction when he learned just who she was and why he didn't matter to her. That even that night not even a week ago had been a mistake.

Usagi was seen fluttering around between the groups and Minako heard her laughing several times, she apparently knew everyone, for the most part, there were a few new people and stragglers that had tagged along with the entourage. Usagi pulled Minako from a conversation and introduced her to a group of people, one of which was a very promising director on his way up and Minako was surprised to learn that her favorite movie of all times was his work. He wasn't very well known yet and he was flattered to hear that she preferred his work to those that were well esteemed.

The whole time, though he didn't let it appear like anything was wrong and was cracking jokes and was deep in conversation, Minako could feel his glare on her back. It burned hotter when she was near Usagi and Minako couldn't help wonder again what the relationship was between those two. Minako's eyes caught sight of him occasionally though, his pale blond hair like the threads off a cornstalk shinned in the light and he had it pulled back into a pony-tale at the nape of his neck. She knew from running her own hands through it, that loose it rested about his shoulders. It was a very unusual look for someone who ran in these circles and was as powerful and rich as he was. It wasn't very professional looking, she had thought he was an actor or an artist of some sort when they'd first met. It had been at a party her dear friend Chaz had thrown.

Chaz had been dating Rei before she had fallen head over heels for Jiro and couldn't be separated from since. Chaz was a bluesy artist and a free spirit, it had been a wonder that Rei would ever date someone so dark in the first place, but then again, Rei had a long time where she had been trying to find herself. But the two had only met when Chaz had taken a job at the temple Rei had been staying at with her grandfather when he tried to do an honest day's work, or at least research of it to see if it could motivate a new direction. Having met Rei, his work did take a new direction, but while it earned him millions, Minako couldn't agree it had done either of them any good. It only made them both more depressed.

Yet, after the two split, Minako remained good friends with Chaz and had been inundated with his circle of friends. Over the years, and many introductions, Minako realized that Chaz only knew artist types and it was only those types that stuck around for longer than a week, understanding him better than those who had a vague but fleeting interest into his psyche. That's what had drawn Rei and what had pushed her away. His work spoke for itself and his personal life was always questionable.

So even if Kunzite was a business person, to Minako he had to be in the arts somehow. Looking around his mansion by the sea, she had to rethink that theory, art drew in a lot of money, but not enough to support all of this. Minako removed herself from the party, she was tired of being stared down when there was nothing wrong with her in the first place. She had just made a colossal mistake by sleeping with him. She couldn't even understand how he had gotten to that conclusion.

Ok, so she was hanging all over Chaz, but that was one artist to another, it was typical and she wasn't the only one doing it at the party. It meant absolutely nothing, and everyone knew it. If two people were dating in that world, they stayed apart and socialized with others, because their passion rested in a strange, intense way only in the bedroom or when they were alone and cropped out in other ways, with a song dedicated or a painting drawn in likeness or in Chaz's case with Rei, his interest torn apart by a flock of ravens. Rei had seen it and shivered, bolting from his apartment and life with the same steps. It had gone too far, Minako agreed, ravens were sacred to Rei to the point that they were almost her guardians, not something that was suddenly going to turn on her and destroy her, but she knew Chaz would, eventually.

But Minako hadn't been doing anything with Chaz, she hadn't even kissed him on the cheek like she usually greeted good friends. Something about that night kept her friendly but more reserved than she had been in a long time. So she was leaning over Chaz' back to look at what he was showing the table when she looked up and caught the man in tattered jeans that still screamed tailored and expensive, and a border-line punk tee-shirt, with a leather jacket slung over his shoulder. Nothing like the man she had seen this night, the one in a black tuxedo, and elegantly pressed slacks and white top. They were two different men, and against all cliches, it was the punk who had been gentle and sweet and caring and knew how to caress and talk to her like she was all woman and needed to be cherished. It was the 'gentleman' who had been rude and crass and unfitting of his position in society. Perhaps that too was a cliché in of itself, all those movies trying to prove the cliché the opposite.

Minako sighed and leaned against the wall outside and breathed in the salty-sea air and relaxed. She grew up in Japan so she should have been used to being near water, but she had always lived in the heart of Tokyo, a bustling city and you were lucky to see the sun, much less see past the high rises into the harbor that rested beyond.

She only planned to be out there for a breather, and then head back in, resolve reformed and beat Kunzite at his own game, but she was afraid that he'd do as he promised. However her plans shifted slightly when another person she'd been introduced to by Usagi slid out the same door and lit a cigarette, she obviously hadn't seen Minako yet. However Minako could see the red circle glowing and watched it rise up to where no doubt were lips and then towards her hip as she let out a sigh of contentment. The smoke wafted over to Minako and she coughed despite herself. She should be used to it, working as an actress and having artist friends, but she never did it herself and it was such a contradiction after the fresh sea air. The smell of ash clung around her and to her hair and face.

The woman started in surprise at not being alone and then she realized it was only Minako. "Oh, do you want one?" She asked in a still soft voice despite being a smoker.

"No thank you." Minako denied politely. "I was just out here for a break."

"Honey, you haven't seen anything yet. We're the responsible and respectable crowd. Wait until the less formal one later this weekend. Some of us transcend both. Although I don't know if you'd actually call us all that respectable, maybe just well bred in speech."

Minako sank against the wall again and watched the woman take another puff. She could see that, the woman spoke the way old Hollywood actresses did or in her more immediate case, the old style of movies in Japan, but she acted... more high class but discontented with her allotment in life and was only doing what she needed to get by but would hate anything less than the riches she possessed. Perhaps it was the people she associated with or the way she had to act with them? Minako studied this woman, she could use all she learned in a future role, if the occasion called for it.

"Setsuna, right?" Minako asked letting the cool tile of the bricks oppose the feeling of the moist warm air.

The woman's garnet eyes, clearly contacts, slide lazily over towards her. "Of course." A long stream of white air came floating out and spread before dissipating. "Who else could I be?" She laughed a slightly husky laugh and took another puff. "Don't worry child, the future isn't written in stone."

Minako could have felt annoyed at being considered a child, but she refrained from correcting the woman, she was actually more than slightly older. There was probably 10 years between them. Minako wanted to whistle, she hoped that she had the stamina to party like this woman in 10 years. "What does that mean?"

"I just think the future will surprise you is all." Setsuna finished her cigarette and put it out on the wall behind her before flicking it into a nearby trash can. "Well, enjoy the party." Setsuna returned to the indoors and Minako stood there against the wall trying to get her head around everything. Usagi was inside with the man that up until five minutes ago had thought she had finally gotten over Mamoru with, and that very same man was the man she had just slept with only a week ago. That man thought she was a gold-digger who wanted her to hurt her friend in the process of getting to him. And she was stuck with him all weekend, when all she really wanted to do was yell at him then bolt.

Minako sighed and pushed away from the wall, she had to go back in; she couldn't hide the entire weekend. She squared her shoulders, determined to have a good time, despite Kunzite. It was nice to finally learn his name though.