Chapter 7: Maybe There is a Chance
Quick A/N: sorry this is a short chapter but I wanted to get something out there instead of writing a single long chapter for 5 more months. So I hope you enjoy!
Don't own anyone or anything, except Itsuko but that doesn't matter.
Rei lead Ami into the crown parlor. She scanned the seats for Makoto and Itsuko. But didn't find them. Ami still shaken, kept her gaze down. They sat down in a booth.
"Hey guys!" Unazuki greeted. "Oh, Ami-san. Hold on I got something for you." Ami and Rei looked at eachother in confusion. When she came back they saw Unazuki had one of the Crown's special drinks. There were 5 of them. The one set on the table was a smoothie made to tribute Sailor Mercury. There were four others symbolizing the other four senshi. "Here ya go!"
Ami panicked. How did she know she was Sailor Mercury? She looked to Rei who had the same amount of panic.
"This is from Mako-san." That snapped them both out of their thoughts. "She ordered it and asked me to give it you." Unazuki smiled. "Oh and she also wanted to say sorry. Though, I'm not sure why."
"Mako-chan bought this for me?" Ami repeated in disbelief. The cup was chiseled almost as if it was frozen.
"I had to put it in the freezer for a while. But it adds to Sailor Mercury-chan's powers doncha' think? I should tell my boss about this."
"How much do these cost?" Rei asked mostly for herself but also curious seeing how well done it was.
"50."
"Cents?" Rei pleaded.
Unazuki laughed. "I wish, no it's in dollars. They cost a lot of money but the are so worth it."
"Can I...uh get the one for the red senshi?"
"Oh you mean Sailor Mars? I love her!"
"Really?!" Rei cleared her throat. "I mean-yeah, she's cool...very beautiful, so I've heard."
"Yeah! I know no one has actually seen her but from all the figurines I've seen she is very pretty. I've heard she has dark hair and mysterious eyes." Unazuki wrote down in her notepad. "Any pastries? We also have some that go with the drinks."
"Anything for Jupiter?" Ami asked making Rei smirk.
"Oh I love all of Sailor Jupiter-chan's specials. They taste so good! Yeah, we have three for each senshi." she pointed to a certain part of a menu. "I recommend the Chocolate Thunder Cupcake, cheesy name, I know. But it's really good. Or the Vanilla Oak Evolution. It's my favourite, it has chocolate and vanilla. The Chocolate Strawberry Hurricane is awesome too."
"Every pastry of hers has chocolate." Rei commented.
"Yeah, that's because people have seen Sailor Jupiter before! And they all say she's a brunette. My boss thought it'd be neat if we involved chocolate in the desserts. But I wish I got a chance to see her, they all say she's also very attractive." Ami blushed. "So would you like any?"
"I'll have all of Mars' pastries. I just want to try them." Rei gave the menu to Unazuki. "Oh, and which Sailor Venus pastry do you recommend?"
"Hmm, I'd say the Crescent Cake."
"Can I have that to go? It's for Minako-chan, she likes Venus."
Unazuki nodded. "Ami-san?" The genius had been quietly pondering which pastry to get but instead pointed to all. Unazuki scribbled down the orders. "Then I'll be right back!"
Rei dug into her purse. "Hopefully I have enough." she pulled out two twenties then continued to scavenge. "Do you think if we came up here in our transformations they'd give us these things for free?"
Ami looked up from her drink. "Are you saying you want to do that?" Rei only smiled.
"So, Mako-chan bought you a drink? And she said sorry. This could go two ways." She said lifting up two fingers for emphasis. "Either she wants to apologize for being an idiot. Or two, she wants to apologize because she's an idiot who decided to be with another idiot."
"But why a drink?" Ami asked still somewhat entranced by the beauty of the drink.
Rei shrugged. "It looks good...maybe Mako wanted you to know she was thinking about you and she's sorry about all the stupid things she's done?"
"...that's not a bad guess." Ami sipped her drink. "I want to apologize as well, this is all my fault."
"No it's not. It was all a misunderstanding. I personally blame Minako-chan."
"Speaking of which…" Ami smiled deviously. "You bought her the...what's it called again? The Crescent Cake? How...unexpected of you."
"Unexpected? I'd never hear the end of it if she finds out we came here without at least bringing her something." Rei said shifting to a more comfortable position in the booth. Her eyes scanned Ami. "Makoto is in denial right now, you're gonna have to snap her out of it."
With another sip Ami met amethyst eyes. "But what about Aie-san? What if Mako-chan denies it while I go and talk with her? So many things could go wrong and-"
"Fuck Aie-san." Ami winced at the profanity. "She doesn't matter right now, you go to Mako and kiss her if you have to, in front of Aie-san would be even better. But do something that'll get her attention then just tell her right then and there how you feel."
Unazuki returned with Rei's drink. "Here ya go! You're pastries will be out in a bit." Rei thanked her before she turned to leave.
Ami digested what Rei had said. "I don't know. The first time we kissed was an accident." She said feeling herself turn red. "Then the second time was…"
Rei choked on her drink. People turned to look at her. "Second time?!"
"Rei-chan, lower your voice, people are-"
"Ami-chan! How do you expect me to keep my voice down!? Why didn't you tell me this?!"
"It only happened this morning." Ami responded quietly.
"THIS MORNING!?"
"Hey guys, could you keep it down just a little bit?"
"Unazuki-san." Rei responded ignoring all the chilling stares she was getting from everyone. "Ami-chan kissed Makoto, for the SECOND time, THIS MORNING."
Ami just about lunged at Rei, slamming a hand on her mouth. "Rei-chan!"
Unazuki was frozen in place, "...she did?"
Trying to pretend Unazuki didn't exist. Ami closed her eyes taking in a long, shuddering breath. "Can we take the pastries to-go, please?" She nodded still staring wide-eyed at Ami. "Rei-chan."
Rei only responded with a head shake. "I didn't even get to enjoy my first taste." She mourned.
Ami took the bag Unazuki brought back. "Let's go before you embarrass me anymore."
0o0o0
Makoto was alone now. A walk at night by herself sounded good. She quietly trudged along a sidewalk, her mind drifting off.
Do I really like Ami? In that sorta way? She asked herself. It had been a question she pondered on a lot. But yet she hadn't been able to answer it. Sure, she continued. She's hot. But am I willing to sacrifice our friendship? If Rei was right and Ami really loves me, should I tell her I do too? Even though I'm not sure if that's true? Makoto stopped walking, a tug on her lips lead to a frown. That wouldn't be fair. I would just be playing with her feelings
The sound of footsteps echoed in her ears. Her eyes narrowed before she turned her head to face the idiot who couldn't get a hint. "I thought I said I wanted to be alone?"
Itsuko shrugged. "You looked upset." Makoto bit back a laugh. "I thought leaving you by yourself would be a bad idea." She moved closer to Makoto. "Wanna talk?"
"No." She replied simply. Hoping that she would just leave. When she didn't Makoto continued. "Leave me alone for a bit. I've got a lot of things on my mind."
"It's better to talk about it then to leave your thoughts bottled up." Itsuko put a hand on Makoto's arm. "Please, Koto-chan?"
Deep in her gut, Makoto felt like shoving the girl away and telling her to just piss off. But she couldn't bare to say it. Instead, Makoto pulled away. "Itsuko-san." She said moving her eyes to meet the shorter girl's. "I don't think this'll work out."
Pain struck her. "Wha...what are you saying?" She asked moving closer. Tears formed slowly and Makoto felt her heart tighten.
She caused that pain, for being a complete moron. She accepted the girl's feeling even though she knew she didn't recuperate them. She already had them for someone else. Makoto sighed, "Sorry. I would be pretending if I said I like you. I did want to give it a shot but...there's someone else."
"It's Rei-san, isn't it?"
"What?" She asked back in shock feeling her eyes expand at the sudden, unexpected accusation. "No...no it's not-"
"Then who else?" Itsuko thought of any other candidate but Rei made the most sense. She moved closer to hold onto Makoto's shirt. "I can change! I'll be like her! I promise!"
Makoto shook her head before opening her eyes. When she did her eyes widened in shock. Blue ones looked back at hers, full of tears and sadness. Ami's shoulder's shook as she silently cried. "A...Ami-chan?" She whispered feeling her voice go dry.
Sapphire eyes turned back into plain brown ones. Makoto blinked.
"Ami-chan?" Itsuko asked. "Oh...so it's her…"
Silence engulfed the two, Makoto rubbed her eyes before shaking her head. Not in denial, in confusion. To Itsuko, there was no difference. There had to be a reason why she saw Ami there. Seeing her cry like that broke Makoto's heart. "Sorry." Was all she could manage out.
Itsuko frowned feeling her whole body tense up. "I can change Koto-chan. For you, I'll do anything!"
"Stop it."
"I-It doesn't matter who you want me to be, I'll become the person you love…" The tears continued to roll down her cheek.
"I said, stop it!" She took a deep, shaky breath. "Just because I don't like you, doesn't mean you have to change!" Her hand lifted Itsuko's chin to force eye contact. "I know it'll take time to get over this, stuff like this usually does, but please don't change because of me. There's someone out there that's way better for you than me. You have to be yourself to find them."
"Don't...don't say those things! Don't comfort me!" She pulled away from Makoto's arms. "I-It'll make things harder…"
Makoto nodded, taking a step back. "I...I should go." Itsuko didn't respond. "Take care, Itsuko-san." She turned away to face the moon. Only one step was taken before something tugged the bottom of her shirt. Makoto turned cautiously.
"Tell her." She said simply.
0o0o0
Nighttime was peaceful. The calming wind brushed through Ami's blue locks, soothing her for what she was about to do. Rei had said repeatedly that Makoto shared her feelings. But there was a voice in the back of her head telling her not to risk it.
You already blew your chance, why bother? Still, she didn't turn back. Even if the little whisper began to shout at her. Ami pushed away all the denial. She chose someone else! She'd rather be with someone she barely knows then be with you! Quiet sobbing filled the bluenette's ears.
"Y-your...Mizuno-san...r-right?" A voice choked out.
"Yes, I...Aie-san?" The moonlight reflected on the tears that stained Itsuko's cheeks. "What's wrong? Why are you crying?"
She wiped away the tears away shaking her head. "Makoto-san was looking for you." She said.
"Makoto...san?"
"She broke up with me." Ami gasped making Itsuko frown. "Do you know why?"
Ami fidgeted under the minor glare she was being given. "No...I don't."
"She likes someone else." She stood up. "Do you know who that person is?" Itsuko asked walking closer.
"I don't think so…"
Itsuko shook her head, her eyes showing she didn't believe what Ami was saying. "Makoto-san left a little while ago." She turned away. "Even if I can't be the one for her, I want Makoto-san to be happy."
Itsuko turned to walk away before Ami got a chance to respond. The wind got stronger, making her hair blow in front of her face. She swept a bang behind her ear with one thought lingering in her head. Mako-chan broke up with Aie-san because she likes someone else… Despite the situation, Ami smiled.