Author's note:
Introducing a couple of minor Sailor Moon characters to this series along with a few more popular ones I hope everyone is enjoying these Sailor Minis so far.
This was the longest short story yet but I feel a little celebratory because I'm about to start the climactic battle of the third chapter in my sequel to The Road To Crystal Tokyo.
I also feel a little impatient, because this story will be a lot longer than The Road To Crystal Tokyo, so I have a lot more work ahead of me before I can start publishing the new adventures of the Sailor Senshi.
But let's look at things from the bright side: Crystal Tokyo is about to be born from a blaze of hope and passion.
Which you will be able to enjoy in the future. For now, I wish you much pleasure with Chibi-Usa's first date.
It's a date
A golden sun shone over Amishiro Park on the first weekend of proper springtime weather.
Neatly dressed in a long-sleeved white shirt and matching knee-length skirt bound around the waist with a big purple bowtie Chibi-Usa enjoyed the light, looking up at the sky.
The nine-year-old stood under a still-in-bloom cherry tree observing the people and children wandering and playing about the park while her companion sat on the wooden bench beside her leaning his chin on his right hand and leaning his left arm on his blue trousers.
"So where are we going to take our dates again?" Shingo asked the pinkette.
Chibi-Usa turned her eyes to the boy in the blue trousers and the thin buttoned-up light-blue jacket.
Her lips twisted into a slight smile over the obvious nervousness of her future uncle.
"First you and Kyuusuke-kun will treat us at Cherry-Pie Cake Shop," She reminded the boy with the dark-blonde hair. "After that, there will be a movie of your choosing - I advise you boys to choose wisely. And then we will hang out here and talk things over before we part."
"Sounds good," Shingo muttered. After a while adding: "Most of all I hope we don't run into you-know-who during this date."
"Don't worry about that," Chibi-Usa smiled while making a waving gesture with her hand. "I asked Rei-chan and the others if they would take her to watch the BayStars in Yokohama and visit the city for the day. You think I'd leave her any chance to embarrass us?"
"Over here, Kyuusuke-kun!" Shingo heard a girl call out. "We found them."
His eyes searched in the direction of the voice and grew wide when they saw a cute girl with purple hair done up in two buns at the sides of her head walking up to him.
The girl was wearing a stylish pink sheath dress with a salmon-colored shawl.
A boy in a beige jacket and dark-brown trousers came running after her and came to a standstill opposite Chibi-Usa.
"This is your date for today, Shingo-kun: Meet Momohara Momoko."
"Pleased to meet you, Shingo-kun," Momoko smiled and accepted Shingo's hand as he eagerly got up and took a step toward her.
"And I am Sarashina Kyuusuke," The boy with the messy dark green beside her greeted Chibi-Usa's companion.
"Nice to meet you," Shingo smiled and nodded.
"You look very cool, Kyuusuke-kun," Chibi-Usa complimented her date with a smile while resting her hands against the small of her back.
"Haha. Thank you, Chibi-Usa-chan," Kyuusuke grinned. "You look beautiful too in that white outfit."
"Erm… You look stunning, Momohara-san," Shingo tried to smoothly flatter his date. "Like a peach, wearing the name of a peach."
"Ah…" The violette grimaced. "Like a peach?"
"What's wrong with that?" Kyuusuke scolded his friend. "I thought that was a pretty clever compliment!"
"You would of course!" His classmate fired up.
"I have to agree that was pretty lame, Shingo-kun," Chibi-usa sighed. "But don't worry. You have the rest of the afternoon to make up for it."
"You girls have mountain-high expectations!" Kyuusuke againg came to the aid of the smarting Shingo. "If a guy troubles his mind to come up with a clever compliment, you should be gracious about it whether it sounds good to you or not."
"And I'm saying a guy should know when a compliment is tacky and when it's in good taste. These boys don't seem to realize we are taking them on this practice date for their benefit, Chibi-Usa-chan. The two of you are here to learn how to treat a girl on a date, got it?"
Shingo saw his cute but feisty date point her finger at him in a particular way with a slight flick of her wrist. The pose reminded him of Sailor Moon and made him smile.
"I'm sorry," He said. "I guess I was trying too hard. You just seem so classy and cute I wanted to come up with something really good."
"That… That's okay," Momoko blushed. "Thank you. I think you look very handsome too and I like your outfit."
"Looks like you made a very successful save," Chibi-Usa whispered into the ear of her future uncle.
"Geez!" Kyuusuke sighed. "If that problem's solved let's go to the cake shop."
The boy with the dark-green hair suavely took Chibi-Usa by the hand and gently pulled the surprised girl toward him.
Looking up into his eyes, the pinkette wondered whether she should let him act this way with her and give in to the way his confident behavior made her feel.
"Yes. I'm in the mood for a mont blanc cake!" Momoko cheerfully declared.
Shingo was no less taken in than his future niece when the violette linked arms with him and told him she'd feed him his cake.
When they later sat at a deep-red table in deep-red seats in an otherwise snow-white interior with dark-green accents Momoko made good on her promise.
The gentle romantic melodies coming from the loudspeaker above them put the cherry on the pie of the romantic environment, inducing the girl to be especially motivated for the practice date.
"Open wide, Tsukino-san," The girl smiled while leaning forward with a piece of green tea roll cake on her fork.
Chibi-Usa leaned on her left elbow and ate her strawberry shortcake with her right hand as she smiled at the awkward happiness of Usagi's brother.
Kyuusuke felt less inclined to smile, being assaulted by a few pangs of jealousy when a blushing Shingo swallowed the piece of cake with a contented smile.
Searching for a way to make himself feel better the boy landed on something his pink-haired friend had told him earlier.
"How is that drawing you were making coming along, Chibi-Usa-chan?"
Chibi-Usa looked up with wonder upon being addressed.
"Oh! You mean the drawing I'm making of my Aunt and Uncle?" She smiled. "It's coming along great."
"You were doing something like that?" Shingo asked while turning her way.
"I've been using pictures I got from Usagi to base the drawing on. We plan to present it to aunty and uncle together on mother's day."
"Usagi…" Shingo grimaced. "How typical of you to leech off your niece to get a present for mother's day."
"It's alright," Chibi-Usa said. "Usagi Is treating me in exchange for making the drawing and I love doing it.
It's the first time I've worked on such a detailed drawing. I'm really satisfied with how it looks so far."
"You sure sound pumped up about it," Momoko smiled while eating the last of her mont blanc cake. "I always love seeing your drawings. Your aunt and uncle will be very happy, I'm sure."
"What are you going to gift your mother, Kyuusuke-kun?" Shingo asked.
"Kyuusuke-kun asked us to select a bouquet with the flowers Chibi-Usa and me grow in the gardening club," Momoko said. "I'm planning something very pretty, with white and red roses. It's sure to touch your mother's heart."
"I know it will," Kyuusuke said while he shared a warm smile with his classmate. "Thank you, Momoko-chan. I know I can rely on you to make it something special.
You too, Chibi-Usa."
"You can count on us, Kyuusuke," The pinkette smiled. "Oh! This is the song you've been practicing, Isn't it, Shingo?"
Shingo pricked his ears up and recognized the melody of the song playing through the speakers in the corners of the little hall at the back of the shop they were in.
"Yes. I think I'm starting to improve," He smiled while rubbing his hair in embarrassment.
"Wow! You're a musician?" Kyuusuke asked. "What instrument do you play?"
"I'm only just starting to follow lessons," Shingo said. "I went to Akio's Guitar Store with father and we bought a Yamaha model for my allowance. I started to take lessons last year and I'm allowed to practice at home after I do my homework."
"So cool!" Momoko smiled."This is good stuff to tell your date, Shingo-kun. You should have brought it up yourself."
"Haha," Shingo smiled, happy with the attention. At the same time, however, he spotted a group of three girls coming in from the cake shop to look for a place to sit at the crowded tables.
"Everyone, I think maybe we should make room for the new customers," Shingo said as he directed Momoko and Kyuusuke's attention to the newcomers.
"Ah… Well, the movie starts in twenty minutes anyway," Chibi-Usa said. "We might as well go to the cinema."
The two couples for the day happily sauntered in the sunshine of the afternoon on their way to the cinema.
The street they traversed was quite busy, but not so crowded that they weren't able to make headway without bumping into someone. This made the journey a pleasant one.
"So what movie do you guys want to watch?" Momoko asked Shingo who was once again linking arms with her.
"I was thinking of watching Eko Eko Azarak: Wizard Of Darkness," Kyuusuke casually started until Chibi-Usa pulled his face down by his right cheek.
"But I remembered Chibi-Usa might get scared," The boy grinned at his glaring date.
"How about we go see the Sailor Moon Super S movie?" Shingo suggested.
"That's a much better idea," Chibi-Usa gratefully smiled back at the proud boy with the dark-blonde hair.
"Hey, isn't that a friend of Usagi's?" Shingo asked the pinkette while looking ahead.
Chibi-Usa frowned and looked in the direction of his gaze, spotting Setsuna and Hotaru in conversation at the exit of a small supermarket.
The girl saw the tall greenette carrying a grocery bag in her left arm and wearing a thin short green summer coat and white trousers.
Her older friend looked aside and recognized her in an instant.
"Chibi-Usa?" Hotaru smiled as the two couples approached the duo. "What a strange day to run into Setsuna-chan and now you and your friends."
Kyuusuke and Shingo silently regarded the shiny and sweaty black-bobbed teen who stood before them in bright new running shoes with black shorts and a light-grey T-shirt.
"Good afternoon, Small Lady," Setsuna greeted her young friend. "Are you out on a walk with your friends?"
"Chibi-Usa-chan and Shingo-kun are on a date with friends," Hotaru quickly whispered in the young woman's ear.
"Oh!" Setsuna released as her eyes grew wide. "How exciting, Small Lady. And you are all dressed so smartly…"
"The two of you met in the supermarket?" Chibi-Usa inquired to save herself and her friends from an awkward moment.
"Setsuna-chan just finished grocery shopping when I met her outside," Hotaru clarified.
"You've been jogging, Hotaru-chan?" Chibi-Usa smiled.
"I've been enjoying PE class at school," The girl's older friend grimaced. "But my stamina isn't good enough to let me keep up with the other girls. So this morning when I saw how the weather was I decided to shop for some shoes and shorts and start jogging."
"I'm sure you'll get better in no time at all, Hotaru-chan."
"Haha. Thank you, Chibi-Usa," Hotaru smiled with such outgoing charm it made Shingo's jaw drop.
"And I was just leaving the supermarket after having bought the ingredients for the beef stew Haruka is making for dinner," Setsuna smiled as she got her mind around the situation. "Won't you introduce us to your dates, Small Lady?"
"Oh right! Shingo's date is my classmate Momohara Momoko, and my date is Sarashina Kyuusuke. Also a classmate."
"Nice to meet you both," Momoko bowed while Kyuusuke bowed his head.
"We are taking our dates to the movies right now," The latter revealed.
"Oh! Then we shouldn't keep you up for much longer," Hotaru realized. "Let's get going, Setsuna-chan. I'll race you home."
Momoko giggled at the arch wink the black-bobbed girl flashed her guardian.
"Enjoy your date, everyone," Hotaru smiled at the younger children. "And be sure to tell me everything, Chibi-Usa-chan. I need to learn about dating too, after all."
Chibi-Usa heartily laughed at the remark as her friend turned around and went up the street at a trot while waving back.
"Have fun!" The pinkette called out in parting.
"And I wish you much fun for my part, young friends," Setsuna greeted with a wave of her free hand. "I'll see you later, Small Lady."
Chibi-Usa saw the young woman elegantly traverse the street in the direction Hotaru had taken.
"Thank you, Puu! See you later," She said.
"Wow! Chibi-Usa!" Momoko exclaimed when the greenette was out of hearing. "You know such classy people? Who are they?"
"I didn't even know you were so well acquainted with them," Shingo frowned. "I only know they are friends of Usagi's. How old is that girl? How do you know them?"
Realizing what a stir Hotaru and Setsuna had set in motion in her friends, Chibi-Usa felt not a little proud at the impression the duo left on people.
She was glad Hotaru was doing well at school since her rebirth and was having fun playing sports
But at the same time, the pinkette was relieved at not having been invited to the outer's place when Haruka was making beef stew from which she would feel embarrassed to try and pick the carrots under Setsuna's gaze.
"I'll tell you all about them later, guys," She smiled upon turning to face her friends. "Let's first go and watch the Super S movie together."