|Chapter One|

Keeping composure had taken a lot of patience, but Makoto had been assured they would discuss the situation at length during brunch. With a small assurance, she had been diligently walked to her room after given a Tylenol relief. A cool shower provided relief as Makoto drank water by the cup-full deep in thought. How did she wind up in this strange situation? The more awake she became, the easier it began to remember. What baffled her most was the reckless decision made.

Deep breaths will help, she thought while sitting on her bed trying to meditate. A soft knock dispersed the gathering thoughts as she took one last look before answering. Long auburn curls brought a bit of brightness to her still slightly paled complexion. Keeping this meeting casual, Makoto sported a soft green baby-doll top with small white polka dots and light blue hip-hugging jeans while finishing off with green matching flats. Not keeping him waiting any longer, Makoto pulled open the door to be captivated once more by those eyes. It made her glad they had the same attire in mind, neither overdressing but slightly complimenting. Although she found herself finding his boxers were more complimenting to her features. On the walk to the elevator, she looked over his black dress shoes, dark blue jeans, and neatly tucked vertical stripped blue and white button-up.

If her memory served right, he was introduced as Heero Yuy. Silence surrounded them as she leaned lazily against the glass wall trying to remember. Check one: too much to drink. Check two: reason for being here. Vegas wasn't her usual playground but she was trying to expand into a franchise that may lead her to fame in the States. Vegas was one of the well know spots since she didn't want to be known as from Tokyo anymore. Makoto too the plunge, made a few phone calls, and snagged the chance of a lifetime.

Instead, she was poorly let down after find the true nature of the interviewer. The meeting itself hadn't went too well since the man didn't even look interested in the description of the product, which lead to high disappointment. To her, the set up was completely perfect. Wine, atmosphere, a balanced meal, and all at her expense. Gobbling the food greedily, Makoto painfully watched the disgrace. When asked how it was, the only remark received was a little shrug of the shoulder and, 'it was okay.' Deciding to let it slide, Makoto took a gamble at the prices for adding the dish to the menu only to be asked for the recipe. Each time she moved the subject back to business, he moved it back in a thievish manner.

No wonder I started drinking after dealing with him, thought Makoto impatiently as she tried to remember further only for a chuckle to come out instead. Catching it echo in their small, confined space, Makoto noticed the slight smirk spread like wild fire across Heero's lips.

"I'm sorry, I was remembering something from last night," she said and watched a curious brow arch before trying to retract her statement. "I mean, not that last night."

Admitting defeat, Makoto became silent as the elevator opened. Following him through the casino section of the hotel toward the restaurant, Makoto found hostesses stopping to gawk at the handsome man. Did he get around a lot or was he a well-known guest? Pausing near the entrance, Makoto found the hostess ignore a patron waiting for a table as she walked toward Heero.

"Welcome back Mr. Yuy, will you be sitting at the usual table?" she asked with a large smile. Feeling trapped in his glance, Makoto followed Heero's leading hand to his side before placing an arm surprisingly around her waist affectionately.

"Mrs. Yuy and I have a reservation in a private dining area," he said, surprising Makoto. The hostess glanced at Makoto with a nod and then led them towards a set of stairs and into a loft style balcony over-looking the scenic view of the waterfall in the restaurant. Taking her seat, Makoto frowned inwardly; this seemed more serious than a one-night stand and her brow showed the worried crease. Looking up to see Heero staring across the table, Makoto continued to wonder while matching his gaze. After all, he introduced her as his wife. Makoto Kino was NOT a woman that enjoyed being set up, especially with this extreme.

"Let's get down to business, what's going on?" asked Makoto, narrowing her eyes. Heero seemed amused and pulled the documents out that he had tucked into his jeans. This was it; he was going to go for it finally. Last night he made sure to take time in careful selection around the bar; sure, this was something shallow but it had to be done. He needed her to work into this plan very carefully and by the way she acted, it looked as if this was going to be as easy as pie. Heero pushed the documents toward her and watched her emeralds never leave him as if she knew he was up to something.

"This is to secure this formality," replied Heero. She was dumb-founded at what was even going on while she read over the top of the document. Feeling a headache starting again, Makoto heaved an irritated sigh.

"Wait, a formality? You mean a prenuptial?" Her kindness dissipated, and her patience was growing thin.

"It was a contract that you signed last night; you are legally bound to it," replied Heero, watching Makoto quickly picked up the papers and read over them carefully. Silence surrounded them only for Makoto to flop the papers toward Heero.

"Okay, look," she said, pausing to slowly start rubbing her temples, "I have a headache so just sum it up?"

Heero leaned back, an amused grin over his face as Makoto fought the inward anger down. Now things were just starting to get too weird. Not only does this guy pick up on her, he gets her to sign a contract, marry him, and now he's parading her around to be his wife casually? No freaking way, he had to be crazy!

"I need you to be my wife for a while," he explained. Makoto raised a brow curiously.

"Okay, so far I am but what else?" she inquired. A scornful annoyance graced his face, pleasing Makoto at the enjoyment it created in return.

"Hn. Woman, were you that drunk?" he queried, leaning onto the table. Man, there must had been some reason to why she drank that much and hadn't remembered when he talked to her about it the first time. From the look on her face, he decided to smooth things over. He didn't want her to get away when they were already legally bound to each other. "I need you to be my wife due to this situation that I got myself in. Entertain, and stick to the main story."

Makoto frowned. She was being used.

"And if I don't?" she asked. His eyes suddenly became cold as he stared at her hard, watching her swallow slowly.

"You'll disappear and it won't be pretty." A death threat? Her brain was spinning while she was trying to remember how she had met this creep. At first, she thought he was cute but now he looked completely ugly. Did she get involved with the mob or the wrong person? Was it because she had shoved that cake in the guy's face that she had tried to do business with? It was hard to tell, but he was serious. If she didn't do what he said then something was going to happen. She had so much to live for, and especially her friends. Even though it felt like all her tasks were finished, Chibi-usa was born and Crystal Tokyo was finished, she was still needed. What if another enemy came? She needed to be there just in case. The only other option she had was to go along with it. But it didn't mean she couldn't make his life hell in the process.

"What's the story I need to remember?" she asked. Heero felt as if he was already winning, and knew it was going to knock the socks of the guys. They already knew Heero never really had interests in women to make them serious relationships, and hell he was even trying to get Relena to leave him alone still. This was going to be the final piece to the puzzle in order to help him finally be at peace. No longer would Relena flirt and bug him, and finally he would gain the respect of the other pilots. Heero went over the story with Makoto to help her get it straight but he watched her worried brow as she took it all in.

"Why don't we make it seem realistic?" she asked, leaning on her elbows staring at him. He didn't understand what she meant. "How about we've been emailing for a while now and just haven't told our friends about? You said you've been here for a week? So have I. We met here in Vegas, spent the whole week together and decided to get married as a spur of the moment thing? It's going to take some work to make it feel realistic but do you think these people will buy it?"

"Hn." Heero nodded in agreement and then looked at his watch, their plane was going to leave in an hour back to Snaq Kingdom and he needed to get her packed. They would be able to dine on the private jet. His friend, Quatre, made sure they rode in comfort and style whenever someone was going to visit him. "I need you to pack, our plane leaves in an hour."

"Wait, so soon?" she asked, as he stood and pushed in his chair. Slowly Makoto moved to her feet and felt his hand touch hers but grip harder when she tried to pull it away.

"It needs to look natural," he said, sliding his fingers between hers. Makoto would never understand how hard it was for him to even be doing this. It had taken him two years to even get the courage up into doing something like this, especially with all the plotting and planning he did. He had to look at this like it was another one of his missions in order to feel like what he was doing was right. There was a battle going on in Heero as he looked at the beautiful brunette. Heero admitted, he out did himself this time. Before, he would only glance at average girls but she was very different and it somehow felt as if she was going to make things more difficult then they needed to be. Already he was starting to see a fiery spark, but perhaps she was irritated. Who wouldn't be irritated when you find out you're tricked into playing a role in order to keep your neck?

Pushing her out of his thoughts, Heero turned his mind onto the plan. So far, they were going to be headed to see Quatre and stay there for a couple weeks for a get together since the pilots kept in some sort of contact but never had the chance to hang out like old times. He remembered when he left Duo making a joke that Heero wouldn't even bring back a girlfriend, let alone a wife and he took it as a challenge. Duo had just laughed at him, making Heero irritated, but he was going to show him. He didn't care if it was real or not, just to see the look on his face was going to be priceless, especially since he was sure Duo hadn't met a woman either.

Heero followed Makoto into the room and sat on the bed while she busied herself packing; for some reason, Heero watched. He remembered last night very well, especially how she told him the story of her business meeting. Not only had he picked a looker, but she was also a chef on top of it. Wufei would be impressed with that but he felt some pity for her. Why was someone like her alone? She had said she lived alone and wasn't seeing anyone. Was that just a ploy to get back to his room? But, she did have a good time drinking. When it came time for the moment, he already brought his tuxedo and found a shop on the strip he paid to stay open late in order to get her a dress for the moment. Sure, she was stumbling but the guys didn't have to know. He would explain she wasn't that great in heels and that big of a dress.

After that, Heero decided himself to drink and had to admit he let it get a little over the top when he brought her back to his room. It wasn't every day he found a woman that was swarming all over him; ok, it happened a lot but these were wanted advances for the sake his pride. Hearing a ringtone break the silence, Heero noticed a strange look grace Makoto's delicate features.

"It's my friend," she said, looking at her phone for a moment while deciding to answer it or not. Flipping open her phone, she greeted the woman on the other line while she moved around the room grabbing her things.

"Makoto, you will not believe where I am!" said the excited woman on the other line. Makoto let out a laugh and shifted the phone to her other ear, hoping Minako talk for long.

"Aren't you on tour?" asked Makoto only to hear laughing in the background and then a ding as if her friend was in an elevator.

"Yeah, but you would never guess where I am now," replied Minako. Makoto was already irritated and not in the mood for guessing games so she let out a sigh.

"Paris?" Minako told her to guess again just ask Makoto heard a knock at the door. Frowning, she watched Heero move and open it only to see Minako in her door way, about to hug the man and then pause, dropping her phone. "Mako, I'm sorry I didn't know you had company…"

Tucking her phone away, Makoto motioned for Minako to enter only to see the slender blonde stare at the company in disbelief. This was already the beginning of a LONG day.