A/N: o.0 AACCK! I just did a search, and there's ALREADY been a fanfiction for this! ,0 Oo-oh. Well, I think it's with Usagi and Mamoru, but STILL! I had to look for a title at the last minute, and since Makoto and Ami are both girls, well, might as well use 'Princess', right? Well, someone else took the title! 0.o Better go back and change it! ^^; ((I changed the title, which was previously 'Coffee Princess'. ^^ Now it's what it is.))

DISCLAIMER: Coffee Prince and Sailor Moon don't belong to me, because if they did, I'd be doing wierd things to the characters and they wouldn't be near so great as they are now. ^^

If Only This Wasn't So Hard

A pair of warm brown eyes twinkled in excitement at her, and Makoto tried to keep the rolling of her eyes under the brim of her baseball cap.

Miki stood at her side, practically bouncing in her spot as she leaned on the doorbell, then took the old-fashioned western knocker and gave the door a good banging with the crisp gold handle. It never failed to surprise her the knocker was never stolen.

Maybe, with all the rich cha-ching cash rolling around, Ami's aunt bribed the thugs that would normally steal garbage off Tokyo's streets to not steal the obviously-fake door knocker.

Makoto arrived on the front steps of the Mizuno household, gently easing her sister off of the doorbell and stood waiting at the house's steps.

Or should she say mansion-hold?

Yes, their gigantic white house was something out of a dreamland world, and although Makoto had passed this same mansion numerous times throughout her deliveries every morning, it struck her as odd that she was standing in front of it about to deliver a pair of chopsticks.

Don't ask.

Shuffling in her shoes, Makoto refrained from slicking up her hair like a pre-teen about to enter a club under a fake ID. It wasn't as if she was here to do something outrageous like confess her love to Ami.

Especially with Miki there at her side, her seventeen-year-old demeanor coming out fully as she reapplied her lipstick and swung her bangs out of her eyes. She would NOT make a fool of herself in front of her impressionable relative.

But it was close, though.

After yesterday, Ami had called and had apologized about her transformation. Somehow the smaller senshi had assumed she was in touch with the other senshi, since she'd seen them running around together most times when they were not transformed.

Makoto was impressed despite herself. Ami had done her homework, and it was a close haul that she hadn't seen Sailor Jupiter or most of the senshi when transformed. It was almost as if the genius millionaire was the missing link of sanity in their otherwise-hectic group.

"So, Mako-chan, please. I'm requesting our first outing to my aunt. It'll be in our own house, and on my terms. And in return, you get to make a great sell of your special chopsticks and some hungry paparazzi will swoop down onto Andrew's cafe. Works for all."

At the time, it seemed so dry, black and white.

Now, though, as Makoto stood in front of the hulking white seemingly-porcelain doors, she wasn't so sure. The butterflies in her stomach had come alive, and she was surprised. Being a senshi, she had faced down the faces of hell itself, had smelled the foulest of breath that would make a caterpillar's toes curl, and only NOW she was nervous?

Insane.

Looking up at the sky, Makoto grimly smiled.

It was almost as if it was out of some horror story. Dark clouds had gathered over the main area of Tokyo, and she could already taste the raindrops on her tongue, it was that close to raining. Thunder hinted at loosening the cinches of its roar, and Makoto sighed.

She really did feel at ease during thunderstorms.

It was a part of her, feeling the currents of electricity in the air, the magic of heat and the danger of frying keeping her on her toes, even though she knew she was safe from harm.

Now, if only she felt at ease in her slightly all-too-revealing top.

For a guy, it was all-so-cool and showed off their natural guy muscles, but with Makoto, she felt as if she was revealing all her vulnerabilities in human form. Even though she wore much less during fights in her senshi uniform, this was her life, and she was responsible here.

Feeling Miki lean into her arm, Makoto raised an eyebrow and gently teased the smaller girl, drawing her arm up to waggle the chosticks.

"Aww, does wittle Miki-chan wanna be the one to give the pwecious chopshticks to the all-important aunt of Ami-"

"No way! I was just wondering why you brought me here!"

Makoto flushed bright, and she smiled her most confident. She wished right now she had told her blonde sister what was required of her job. Well, too late now. Besides, they said hand-on was better than explaining through words, right?

Right.

"Well, Miki, because that dummy Bojo you was dating-"

"His name is Boja!"

"Yeah, like there's a difference."

"There is!"

"Is not!"

"OH! Mi-chan! Hey, I was just passing by, and I heard this scrawny idiot talkin' all loud- please, Mi-chan. Will you marry me?"

Makoto jumped and stared at the guy that appeared out of nowhere to kneel at their feet. Miki was staring, too, but not as shocked as Makoto was. Tossing her hair over her shoulder, Miki snorted and grinned down at the boy, ruffling his hair as she did so to ease her words.

"Sorry, Boja. I've gotta wait. Mako-neechan said so."

"! What do you MEAN, this fella's tellin' you ta- Wait. What? Mako-NEECHAN? Th-This guy? This SCRAWNY, tall, overbearing dark-head is a GIR-?"

"What about it, pup? I still can beat you with my hand crocheting doilies. And yes, I'm her SISTER, dumdum!"

Makoto couldn't help but snicker as those brown eyes widened in shock, then squeezed shut and tried to comprehend what was expected of him. The form that was slumped on his knees flew to his feet, and she calmly smiled at him.

"Yes, I'm her SISTE-"

"Why, hello, who must you be, eh?"

"BROTHER, such a nice, supportive, overwhelmingly strong BROTHER! Good morning ma'am, we've come to bring the chopsticks you'd ordere-"

"We don't need those anymore, thank you. Goodbye."

*SLAM!*

Makoto blinked.

What just happened?

Rewind.

"Well, Miki, because that dummy Bojo you was dating-"

"His name is Boja!"

"Yeah, like there's a difference."

"There is!"

"Is not!"

"OH! Mi-chan! Hey, I was just passing by, and I heard this scrawny idiot talkin' all loud- please, Mi-chan. Will you marry me?"

Fast-forward.

Ah, stop.

While in the middle of a VERY disturbing realization for Boja, a smug comeback from Makoto, and a bored let-down from Miki, the door creaks open on well-oiled hinges. Grey eyes stare stonily out, and no one notices.

Finally,

"Yes, I'm her SISTE-"

"Why, hello, who must you be, eh?"

"BROTHER, such a nice, supportive, overwhelmingly strong BROTHER! Good morning ma'am, we've come to bring the chopsticks you'd ordere-"

"We don't need those anymore, thank you. Goodbye."

*SLAM!*

And thunder rolls as Makoto, Miki, and Boja stand out in the streets of busy Tokyo, rain pelting hard on their faces as the skies let loose an angry roar. Makoto grit her teeth and glared at the doorway, stopping when she noticed the paint peeling from her unconscious senshi powers.

The woman had been tall, taller than Boja but still shorter than Makoto.

She'd stood with a rigid tautness to her posture, and Makoto wondered if her back had been installed with an extra spine. Those grey eyes had judged her in the span of two seconds, and while that first .075 second had been as a nice tall lady, the rest had been not welcome at all.

Ice had brittled the edges of her words, and Makoto had felt as if the woman had literally picked her up and dunked her into an ice cave full of poisonous snakes.

Creepy.

The woman had been creepy.

And what was more creepy, the woman looked exactly like Ami.

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Frowning down icily at the shivering guy at her feet, Makoto snapped.

The last time she had been treated like that, she was shoveling horse manure from her rare job of caretaker. When she'd signed on for the job, she was a girl who was looking for a quick buck outside of home, hoping to scrape enough money to buy some presents for her parents.

She'd quickly quit the job when the woman who hired her plopped her on top of a horse, thinking that Makoto could tame a wild, bucking horse as well as she could clean one up.

Snarling, Makoto spun on her heels and about ripped her shirt off in the process, grabbing the knocker and thumping the piece of colored brass against the door. It wasn't that she was angry. No, far from it. It was just that, manners were something that was taught to her and stuck, and if the woman behind that door had anything like a lesson in it, then she would be much nicer than she had been.

"Mizuno-san, you might not want these, but your niece has so kindly paid for these out of her own wallet! Now open up and accept these or these chopsticks will do the honor of shimmying the lock on this door-!"

"Really, Mako-chan, just WHAT kind of girlfriend have I gotten myself involved with?"

Makoto about swallowed her tongue when the door opened and Ami grinned at her from the other side. Her fist had went right through the now-not-there door and had headed straight for the smaller girl's face.

Ami reached up and gently tapped it away with a simple swat to her wrist.

"B-Blue, I was just trying to get your aunt to open up here and be a little friendly. ."

Those blue eyes that studied her narrowed in an amused smile, and Makoto exhaled. The ice wielder wasn't mad at her! She studied the figure propped up against the door frame and growled low in her throat at the nudge Miki jabbed in her side.

Smiling apologetically, Makoto grabbed her little sister's hand and twirled her, asking silently for her to behave. Boja seemed to notice the odd exchange and kept quiet himself, looking Ami over and letting out a low dog's whistle.

Makoto turned and gave him a knock to the head.

Even if Ami was wearing something so damnably cute, Makoto was not going to let just any guy ogle her new 'girlfriend'. She had a reputation to uphold. Letting go of Miki, Makoto stepped closer to Ami and pressed her hand to a shivering cheek.

Somehow the rain behind her had slowed to a warm drizzle, and as Ami leaned into her touch and moved away to invite them all in, thunder gave a purring rumble and lightning slashed happily across the sky.

"Come in, would you?"

Giving her employer a smile, Makoto let the blonde go in front of her and snagged the tight hem of the black material and tugged as Boja flailed, trying to run frantically after Miki.

"Sorry, pup, you're staying outside tonight."

"B-But. .!"

"Mako-chan, he can come in. Besides, I'm sure Miki will need some company while my aunt inevitably questions your 'intentions' towards her 'moneybag'."

Blue eyes curled into hers, and Makoto sighed, bringing her bangs down to break the blush crawling across her cheeks. Ami was not doing her good, smiling like that, and she wasn't even in the front door.

Nodding, Makoto let go of the skin-head and he scampered after his unrequited love, calling out his awe when he glanced around. Walking inside herself, Makoto about froze when the new scent of disinfectant hit her.

White marble hit her eyes like a headlight coming from a monster truck, and she stumbled, gripping the banister close to her hand. Makoto cried out slightly when her hand slipped, and her body fell close after.

"Really, Mako-chan, you're supposed to have fallen for me at first sight. Don't you know that by now?"

Ami's teasing voice was near her ear, and Makoto shivered once more as she felt herself being hugged by the smaller girl, the warmth engulfing her something she wouldn't have thought capable from the senshi she had seen yesterday.

Blue was warm against her back, supporting her, guiding her to a more stable position, and Makoto felt the churning warmth curl deep inside her. Jupiter called faintly to her, and Makoto felt the gentle calling of her planet saying everything was right for once in the world.

"Sorry, Blue. I'll be sure to remember that next time she meet."

"Honestly! Mako-neechan, you should have called me when you first met her! I coulda given you obvious pointers!"

The jerking movement, and Makoto was once again herself.

Glaring over at her grinning sister, she pounced on the blonde and gave her a good noogie, making sure she was okay before going ahead and picking her up, twirling her threateningly.

"Oh yeah? What could you possibly ever teach me in the art of seduction, Miki? How to fall gracefully? Already got that down pat."

Freezing, Makoto stopped twirling when a cold hand landed on her arm.

"Falling, Mako-chan? When?"

Looking down into blue eyes, Makoto wished to anything she hadn't said that. Miki suddenly felt heavy in her arms and she let her slip away, turning to face her employer. Suddenly, making light of it all was something she wanted to do.

"Oh, it was a bad experience from my past, before I was taken in by Miki and her parents. I lived on the streets, and there was one guy who protected me and taught me how to survive when I was new on the street and being bullied. He. . I really liked him, but somehow, he just viewed me as a-"

Makoto's eyes widened when Miki jabbed her hard in the stomach. It didn't hurt, but that was at exactly the same time she remembered she was supposed to be a guy pretending to be a girl.

Cripes.

Think, Makoto, THINK!

"I respected him so much I thought I'd come to like someone wh-who's not of the opposite gender! A-Ahahaa, yeah, and, um, h-he only viewed me as someone he could care for, but as a- a brother figure! Yeah, and that's the end of that! C'mon, Miki, we need to find Boja before he gets himself in another wierd predicament!"

It was time for another slap to the face.

Makoto gave herself one as she ran off, dragging Miki after her and keeping an eye out for the blocky guy. She found him in the other room, chatting up a storm as he curled around an older Mizuno, grinning like crazy as he popped a piece of rich-woman's candy in his mouth.

"Oh, yes, Shelona-baby, I am VERY closely-acquainted to the. . riches of a man or woman's inner strength. Why, right now, I can very well show you just HOW much I know. ."

"Pup-boy! Just what in the world are you DOING? She's-"

"I'm very intrigued by Bohunk here, Chopstick Deliverer. He's. . Ami's kind of man."

Makoto was sure her jaw dropped to the floor and slid its way to the other side of the far wall. Miki's idiot suitor was making goo-goo eyes at Ami's aunt, and Makoto about barfed up all her innards if not for the fact she was in horror Ami's older self was returning the look with a gooey whisper of her own.

Red claws snaked their way over bald curls, and Makoto could swear she could hear the train whistle streaming out of the idiot's flaring nostrils.

"M-Mrs. Mizuno, I think you'r-"

"MS. to YOU, Chopsuey. What ARE you doing here in my house? And along with that- that poodle-like blondie?"

Makoto saw red.

Sure, she delivered chopsticks.

Sure, Miki looked like a poodle right now, with her insane hair-skills, but she was a heckuva NICE poodle, all big eyes and nice, not slobbering up a lather like a CERTAIN SOMEONE was over a decrepit YOUNG idiot who had the nerve to suck up to long-claws like herself.

Before she could counter, though, Ami was there.

"Shelona-chan, what did I TELL you in dressing up like me and flouncing around in front of our guests?"

The ice wielder's voice was disapproving, but what made Makoto's head hurt was the soft warmth in the tone used. In Boja's arms, the woman was slowly turning younger and younger as she jumped up out of the embrace and whipped off a head of short blue hair.

!

Makoto then understood.

It seemed wigs were popular nowadays, and people not only used them for actual need, but for disguises and costume complements. The woman that stood before her was now a red-head, and Makoto saw the perfect glint of fire-like orange matching the red hue of her sharp nails.

Boja was staring up at the small woman, his brow twisted in confusion, and Makoto almost laughed, she felt the same way. The cold glint in those grey eyes were pulled away, and she realized, again, it was a simple switch of color.

Contacts.

Sweet.

Shelona was a curvy red-head, and the challenge in those flaring green eyes were enough color to paint the whole of the blinding white walls and make it comfortable again.

"So, Chopsticks, what's your name?"

Smiling wryly, Makoto held out her hand and replied, shaking her head.

"Makoto Kino. Karate teacher, cook, cafe partner."

"Ah, so YOU'RE Ami-chan's girlfriend she was talking about all the time. Whoa, don't choke there honey, she HAS told me a lot about you. Yet I STILL wasn't expecting. . this."

The laughing glint in those eyes spoke positively, and she relaxed, sighing as she glanced over at Ami. A blush was apparent on those smooth cheeks, and Makoto had the intense urge to pinch those cheeks between her fingers and kiss the stings she knew she'd make.

"Oh, Koto-honey, behave yourself. Ami's REAL aunt doesn't handle affectionate glances all that much like cute Poodle here does. What's your name, fluffy?"

Jerking her gaze away, Makoto answered for her little hell-demon of a relative.

"That's Miki. She's my little sister, and the one that was hooked around your little finger is pup-boy Boja. He's hers, even if he's like a feral stray."

Makoto glared over at said boy himself, and he grinned back at her, recognizing permission to properly court Miki if there ever was one. Giving her a thumbs-up, he jumped high and sidled over to the tan blonde, who only rolled her eyes and pushed him away as he leaned gently on her.

It had turned out to be an unnerving way to enter Ami's house through the front door for the first time, but Makoto admitted, it could have been worse.

"Ami-san! Just WHO in the seven hells are THESE three?"

A rasping voice that Makoto could only describe as grated poison on the tips of sharp claws screeching at chalkboard reached her ears, and she turned, only to be met with the eyes of Medusa herself.

She was lost in those cold icicles of piercing silver, and she now knew the feeling when someone described a bucket of ice cold water had been dumped down her shirt early in the morning when it was below freezing outside.

It was hella scary and frigid cold.

Ami's hand trailed over her arm, and the impending doom she felt retreated in the dark recesses of her mind. Hearing Miki growl behind her, Boja gasp in horror and whimper, and Shelona's dark mutter, Makoto nodded.

This was definitely Ami's aunt.

Yet somehow, as Ami's hand trailed down her own, curling into her palm and spreading her fingers to interlace with hers in an intimate hand cupping, Makoto didn't feel any apprehension at all.

Everything melted into the sky, and she smiled down at Ami, who smiled back.

"Obaa-san, this is Makoto Kino, my girlfriend. I'm deeply in love with her."

And the silence in the room was broken by the rasped gasp of disgust itself.

"Kino. Ah, yes. You were the ones who sabotaged the plane so that Mizuno Co. had to use its self-destruction method of crashing into the hardened plantation otherwise disguised as any other part of the ocean. Yes. Ami-san, you knew this, yet you still chose her. Why?"

Makoto heard the crack of thunder cracking outside, but it didn't drown out Ami's response.

"Because this is who I am."

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A/N: *GASP!* 0.o WOW, what happened here? I think I just made a complete turnabout as to where this is headed. ^^; But it makes so much more sense, for what I'm thinking in the future! 0.o Thanks for reading this far! ^^