Dose One: Beasts We Are
"One more bar! One more bar!" Haruka started chanting. Her hands waved through the air, whiskey dribbling from her shot glass down her wrist. A resounding chorus rose behind her from Usagi, Makoto, Seiya and Minako. Michiru looked to her wife and sighed. She wasn't too opposed to the idea, but the night had been wearing on and she'd had quite a bit already. Usagi was red with giggling, and even Mamoru had developed the rosy haze common with overindulgence of sake. Makoto was talking mutedly into Ami's ear, pleading with her to come along. The Senshi of Lightning also had the glazed eyes and rose-colored blush, as well as the sake bottle responsible for her and her King's drunkenness.
"It hash been decreed! Onward my Shenshi!" Usagi chortled and slurred. Minako stumblingly approached the Outers, martini glass still in hand. She was wearing a short yellow sundress; pleated at the skirt and flowing upward into a single strap off of the shoulder. The neckline swept just so over her ample cleavage, and her white stockings complimented the yellow pumps she wore to complete the ensemble. Her trademark red bow was slightly off center. Michiru's eyes lingered around the bare gap of thigh where the top of her stockings ended, but before the skirt began. 'Keep calm Michi. I guess the rum's getting to me now.' She thought. A dreamy smile fell across her face as Minako asked, "So where exshactly is our next target, Haruka-chan?"
"There's a place across in Minato-ku called the Drunk Factory. It's closer to Koneko-chan's place, and with as much as she's giggling now she won't make it to Roppongi." Haruka explained. The Senshi of Wind was a somewhat controlled drunk, and after what was soon to be the third bar of the night was 'only getting started.' She recalled the last adventure like this, two years past, when she and the others had turned twenty-one. By Makoto's party, they had just settled for rum balls and a quiet social at her apartment.
"I'm surprised we've been to four places already and haven't had any problems. Much less Seiya and Tenoh-san agreeing on anything." Taiki observed. Somehow Minako and Yaten had managed to keep the paparazzi out of the loop on their little outing. Which was a feat considering their next scheduled concert being that weekend in Seoul. Setsuna tittered slightly, her wine glass nearly drained.
"I think it has something to do with the way Seiya-kun and Kakyuu-sama have been acting towards each other. But it could just be the liquor. Once she gets to Roppongi, there's no telling where we'll end up." She said ominously, swirling the glass before quaffing the rest down. The Kinmokuujin looked back over to where the rest of their entourage had been seated. Usagi and Mamoru were alternating between being lost in each other's eyes and socializing with the other couple in question. Yaten and Rei were at the bar, where Minako had crossed the room to the table where he had been seated with Makoto, Ami, and the Outers. That was until the Senshi of Uranus had decided to direct their drunken war party to devastate another establishment.
"Come on, Ami-chan. You need this more than anyone, with how much stress clinicals are putting on you." Makoto cajoled. The bluenette was hesitant to indulge too much, and her secret girlfriend pleading in her ear to cut loose didn't help matters pertaining to sobriety. Haruka looked at the lightning Senshi and winked knowingly. Ami whispered her relenting when Makoto pulled back with victory V's posted proudly on both hands.
"We have another, Kaichou!" She said. Haruka laughed and drank the shot she forgot she was holding earlier.
"He who makes a beast out of himself, gets rid of the pain of being a man…woman in this case." Ami said stumbling a bit from what little she had drank. Haruka grinned. 'Lightweight quiet ones are always the wildest inside.' She thought. Makoto was in for hell tomorrow for what Haruka had planned.
"Who said that, Ami-chan?" She asked.
"Hunter S. Thompson. He wrote several novels, most of them were very graphic and about controversial topics." Ami replied, rising from her seat at the Outer Table. Michiru turned languorously towards her wife and the other bluenette. The gleam that held in Haruka's eyes as she spoke precluded mischief in the making. If she had been more sober, Michiru would have been concerned.
Taiki and the others rose as well, preparing to trek to the next bar. Setsuna got swept up in an emotional hug from Minako, while Haruka flagged down a waiter. He dashed off and came back with two shots on a tray. She normally didn't tip this well, but it was important that she test this with the unsuspecting Inner.
"Arigato. Ami-chan, this is for you." Haruka said, "For the road ahead." She said, quaffing the shot in a fluid motion. She felt that she might later regret this decision, but kamikazes always gave her heartburn afterwards; so this regret was nothing new or serious.
"What is this?" Ami asked. She peered at the yellow and green swirling liquid in her shot glass with a mix of curiosity and incredulity. Haruka winked at Makoto before explaining.
"It's a Kamikaze. Just a little shot drink. We're going to be around Roppongi and we can get these quickly." She said, raising her glass. "Banzai!" She exclaimed, to a resounding chorus from the bar. Ami followed suit, quaffing the liquid in a single, solid motion. The sour taste of lime and the fire of rum slid down her throat as the lemon coated her mouth. The blush she carried increased and her eyes glossed slightly more. The rest of their party gathered about them and as one headed outside. The stumble to the train station was uneventful—aside from Minako, Yaten and Usagi cackling madly at nearly anything. They received a few stares, but nothing more. The train ride across Tokyo was a hazy blur, with Usagi swinging from the loops and singing randomly. Taiki had begun to sober slightly, and scanned the lightly crowded car again. He couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched, and not in the jump-your-bones groupie way. Haruka and Setsuna were talking quietly, Michiru was seated next to Minako, Yaten, and Rei on their side of the car. Mamoru, Usagi, Fighter, Kakyuu-sama, Ami and Makoto were paired in Standing/seated pairs along the side he was on the end of. There was a white haired man at the other end of the car, but his eyes were focused on the window of the train. Still, the feeling remained.
"So, if I wanted to ask Michi to have a threesome with Koneko-chan, I should?" Haruka whispered, still puzzled at the pronouncement Setsuna had given her in a hushed tone.
"I wouldn't suggest that, if you don't want Michi-chan to skin you alive.. It's not meaning that kind of impulse. You'll know it once you feel it. It is due to the coming age; your planet is resonating. Uranus brings change, chaotic or otherwise. This is all I'm really allowed to to tell you." the Time Guardian replied. She gave one of those mysterious smiles that signaled some internal epiphany that she was not allowed to share. "Just continue tonight as you have been. The moment will reveal itself to you." She added, looking to the forward end of the car. Her eyes softened, and then went hard as her wall of stoic temporal isolation went back up. Taiki could have sworn she was looking at him, but there were quite a few people in the car. He averted his eyes from her and focused on the monorail map.
The monorail ground to a stop at Roppongi station. Unlike the ward they had come from, this place was packed with people. The large group squeezed their way through towards a large metal structure made to look like a manufacturing plant. There was a bit of a line, but they got in quickly after Minako had spoke to the security detail. The inside of the building was similar to the established theme. There were conveyer belts set up as the bar, with work benches for tables. The music was heavy, and a smoky haze filled the top of the building. Usagi went wide eyed as she saw a couple at the bar sharing a cocktail bucket.
"It's so much! Mamo-chan, can we get one?" She pleaded.
"That defeats the purpose of club crawling, Usagi-chan. We're supposed to get small drinks so we can hit the next place faster." Rei corrected. Her tone carried none of the fire and anger that she used to take with her princess. The shochu she had been drinking may or may not have helped her tolerance of Usagi's distraction.
On the other end of the bar, where Haruka and Makoto were ordering drinks, another discussion was being had. Ami was trying to keep what Setsuna was saying straight, though Haruka periodically handing her shots worked to defeat part of this effort.
"Have you seen her yourself?" Setsuna said. She'd ordered another flute of wine, and was sipping gingerly. Taiki sighed, swirling a glass of cognac.
"I haven't. But we found Aluminum Siren's star seed dormant on Haijikuusei." He replied. Maker hadn't wanted to spend their vacation discussing inter-senshi politics, but the Sailor Wars were still fresh in the minds of planes who still had Senshi. And other interested parties as well.
"If you haven't seen her yourself, then I wouldn't imagine she'd still be holding a grudge." Setsuna stated. She took another long drink from her wine glass, and turned her gaze towards Maker once more. "I'd be more concerned with the Imperium, Taiki-kun. You've seen what kind of judgments they hand down. All of Sol would be naught but ash, should they get wind of our contact." She added.
"Thus why Serenity had your Outer Senshi paranoidly guard your borders. If no scouts report back, and no transmissions leave the system the Imperium doesn't know life has risen here again." Taiki said mutedly. He noticed that Ami was trying to follow their conversation, though half of it had been in his mother tongue. Kinmokuujin was easy on the ears, but it required a certain change of inflection in certain words and tenses.
"There are other mitigating factors, but yes. Our princess has decreed we do otherwise now." Setsuna answered.
"Kaichou, there's a guy staring at you." Makoto said to Haruka. Ami lost the snippet she had caught from Setsuna and Taiki's conversation when Mako wrapped her arms around her from behind.
"You're kidding?" Haruka asked, incredulously. Normally, it was Michiru that had to rectify unwanted male attention. Most men thought she was one of them, although she had been hit on by a femme man in Akihabara.
"No. He's been scanning this part of the bar since he got here." Makoto replied, pointing him out. The man in question didn't avert his gaze when pointed at, and after a moment of contemplation Haruka grinned and approached.
"Tsurugi-kun!" She exclaimed, catching the man in a swift hug. He returned in kind, with a shout of "Haru-kun! It's been a few years, ne?"
"That it has. You still knocking around home?" She asked. Michiru had now noticed that Haruka was missing from the cluster of super-heroines-in-disguise. The Senshi of the Sea did a double take as she noticed that the butch in question was chatting animatedly with a towards the entrance of the bar.
"Yeah. I'm just in Tokyo on business. Uncle Saotoro is doing well, but he complains that you never come around anymore." Tsurugi said.
"Well, I live in Tokyo when I'm not overseas for a race, or Michiru doesn't have a tour." Haruka replied. She felt some guilt over not seeing her father in so long, but the old savage was tough. Her, Michi, and Hotaru would be visiting him soon...
"Sounds exhausting. So, you crawling around town before you have to leave again?" Tsurugi asked.
"No. Just helping our friends out. Their anniversary, see." Haruka said in turn, pointing out Usagi and Mamoru.
"Ahh. Well, I'll be in Tokyo for another week. Stop by the Regency sometime and we'll do lunch." He stated, removing the glass of tequila sunrise from the timely and convenient tray that passed by their table. The waitress looked sidelong at Haruka as she walked back to the bar. 'I'd guess that's not the impulse I'm waiting on either...' Haruka thought. Out of her peripheral, she could see Michiru weaving her way towards them.
"Konbanwa. I'm Haruka's wife, Kaioh Michiru. Yoroshiku." She said, holding her hand out to the currently unknown man. Her elegance still maintained, despite the amount of alcohol she'd consumed. Haruka could detect the telltale smell of shochu oozing out of her pores and mixing with her perfume.
"Oh. Konbanwa. Tenoh Tsurugi. Yoroshiku, Kaioh-san." Tsurugi replied. "Haruka's my cousin; We were just catching up." He turned slightly, trying to catch a glimpse of the party that had just entered the bar. Michiru could feel the fear building in him now. "Well, I've got to get back to the hotel. Drop in sometime soon." He said quickly, draining the rest of his drink in one go. Haruka bid him farewell, and he left just as swift as he killed his drink.
"'Ruka. He was afraid of something... I'm not sure what, I'm a bit off to tell for sure." Michi said. She clung to her wife's arm, nuzzling her neck softly. Haruka chuckled for a moment.
"Probably you. Angry femmes are always scary." Haruka replied coyly.
"The only thing I worry about you and men is bailing you out of jail." Michi snarked. She brought her eyes to meet Haruka's.
"I have superpowers, love. If I ever went to prison for anything, I wouldn't remain there for long." Haruka said coolly.
"What about those men following him out of here." She stated, peering over Haruka's shoulder to get a better view. Her 'vision' wouldn't reveal anything else though. It was as if someone were blocking her from seeing into the future or very far into anyone's mind. The three men who had followed Tsurugi out were all jacketed, even though it was June. Michi heard three staccato rim shots that weren't there. The music still sounded, so her psychic senses were only muted not outright blocked.
Haruka turned behind her to catch the last one exiting, and then looked at her watch. 12:15... She looked around the bar to meet Setsuna's already waiting gaze. She nodded slightly, draining her wine glass and returning to her conversation with Taiki. She wasn't sure if this was what Setsuna had talked about, but she felt the strongest pull to follow Tsurugi back to his hotel.
She surveyed the bar once more. Minako, Yaten and Rei were doing their damnedest to set off as much sexual desire as possible with their tightly wound dance. Usagi, Mamoru, Seiya and Kakyuu had taken a table. Usagi was near to passed out and the three cocktail buckets scattered about said table were indicative of said Moon Princess' intoxication. Ami and Makoto were seated at the bar, the Lightning Senshi trying to convince the bluenette that another kamikaze would be a bad idea. Setsuna was pulling Taiki towards her and Michiru.
"Michi. Do you think you can ensure that Koneko-chan makes it home?" Haruka asked as the other Outer and the Starlight approached.
"I'm going to see what's going on with Tsurugi. The Regency is on the way to the Jinja, so I'll meet up with everyone there." Haruka stated.
"I can get the rest of them home with Mako-chan and Ami-chan to help me. If we can get Ami-chan away from the kamikazes" She tittered slightly at that. After embracing her wife once more, Haruka lead the other two out into the sweltering Tokyo night.