"Shopping with my good friend, Rei-chan is so much fun. My eyes are up here, Rei-chan!"
"I know that! I have to see how the dress fits around your breasts, don't I?"
"This dress looks classy, doesn't it? Why are you staring at my bottom, Rei-chan?"
"I was only… Usagi! Look! There's a new enemy!"
"A new enemy? Just when things were going so well!
Hey, you mean golem! If you disturb the shop assistants while I'm trying out dresses for a perverted miko, We'll punish you!"
"Fashion shouldn't wear a woman out. Setsuna guides Rei and Usagi into a new era, acting with foreknowledge and mischief."
Rei bowing for anyone at Hikawa shrine was an exclusive rarity only a select few had been able to witness in their lifetime.
Usually, her friend, Yuuichirou Kumada, or her grandfather, Masao Hino, saw themselves forced to bow to the young woman.
But a recent change at the Shinto shrine had shaken up the pecking order among its residents.
For the miracle of turning Yuuichirou's heart away from her, the usually proud and defiant Rei Hino was all too willing to cow-tow to the young man's beautiful new girlfriend, Megumi Sakurada.
Especially since Megumi volunteered to take over Rei's afternoon shift at the shrine so that she was freed up to help Usagi pick a cocktail dress for a party with Mamoru.
A task that Rei was secretly hyped for when Usagi asked for her help, while at the same time she tried every expedient she could think of to try and escape the pleasure of watching her beloved friend try out lots of gorgeous ensembles.
"Every day I know you, I become more indebted to you," The young woman spoke in a clear voice while bowing deep before Megumi who was wearing Rei's red-and-white miko uniform.
"Think nothing of it, Rei-chan, please," The orangette smiled with slight embarrassment. "It's a nice change for Yuuichirou-kun and me to spend time together while working. It will be fun to get to know a different side of each other."
"I hope you take your task seriously," Rei heard Usagi sulk to her right. "Rei-chan works hard at the shrine. If you agree to take over her shift you better do a good job of it."
Rei narrowed her eyes at the blonde in the short light-green skirt and white-and-green horizontally striped shirt, feeling increasingly irritated as her crush stood by with her chin raised and her eyelids lowered in displeasure, a beige handbag hanging from her left shoulder.
"You bow too!" The blackette in the red French beret and matching jacket over a light-yellow shirt with a black belt around the waist and black trousers over beige canvas boots exclaimed in a sudden rage while pushing her protesting friend's head down with her.
"Please don't worry, Usagi-chan," Megumi sweat-dropped. "I understand what you mean and agree It won't do Rei-chan much good if I take over her shift and do nothing. I'll do my best to replace her;"
"You can't replace Rei-chan!" Usagi exclaimed while struggling against Rei who still pushed her head down. "Nobody can!"
"Say, Rei-chan? Megumi-chan?" Yuuichirou sheepishly approached his girlfriend in his white hakui and mint-green hakama. "I'm afraid I broke the broom while sweeping the sando. "Do either of you know where we keep the spare?"
Standing up and pulling Usagi up with her, Rei closed her eyes in frustration at the question while her companion smirked expectantly at Megumi.
The cheeks of the young woman in the white hakui and red hakama turned a deeper color than her long orange hair as she regarded her boyfriend.
"Why Yuuichirou-kun! Don't you remember Rei-chan told us the brooms and other cleaning instruments are stored in the shrine office store room!" Megumi scolded while shaking the young man with the long brown curly hair by the arms to hide her desire to embrace him because of the clumsy behavior she found so adorable in him. "Honestly, how many years have you been working here!"
Rei smiled and regarded the couple with satisfaction as they walked side by side to the shrine office.
"I don't know why you are letting her get away with this," Usagi said with a sour look.
"You should be kinder to Megumi-chan," Rei simply replied while she started walking to the shrine stairs. "Megumi-chan is a very kind person."
"I don't see how Yuuichirou-kun can ever be happy with a disagreeable person like her," Usagi countered with a whistful look behind her. "All she ever does is command him and yell at him. He was better off with someone else."
"And who might that someone else be, I wonder?" Rei sighed.
"I think you know who that might be," Usagi replied as they walked down the stairs side by side.
Rei observed the disgruntled expression of the twin-tailed friend.
Her heart softened at the obvious misplaced concern for her happiness.
"Stop meddling in other people's love life. Let's find you a beautiful dress to help you shine beside your boyfriend when he introduces you to his American friends," She said with a soft smile to a surprised Usagi. "We need to focus if we are to deceive those people into thinking you are a stylish and erudite young woman."
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Usagi fumed.
"It means we'll have to find a way to dress your charming self up so that those noodles on the sides of your head don't clash with the expensive dress we're going to buy for you," Rei winked at her friend.
"Mamochan likes my odangos," Usagi huffed despite feeling happy about the "charming" remark upon reaching the bus stop near the bottom of the stairs. "So I don't want to adopt a different hairstyle just for the party."
"I understand," Rei smiled. "And they make it easier to find you in a crowd."
"Besides," Her twin-tailed friend continued at the same time. "They make it easier to find me in a crowd."
"Bleh, Rei-chan," Usagi reacted with a quick show of her tongue and a shrug. "But it's true."
The blonde spotted the bus they were waiting for approaching in the distance.
"Rei-chan. The bus is here."
Rei looked towards the conveyance and both young women slipped their transit passes from their handbags.
"How nostalgic to be taking the bus here," Usagi smiled as the bus arrived.
Rei ascended the bus and showed her transit pass to the bus driver while Usagi followed and did the same.
"Sure," The miko smirked while seating herself on the second bench from the front. "For you, that's a nice memory. For me, it was the start of endless horrors and death while I basically became your servant."
"You made a lot of friends thanks to me though," Usagi retorted while she sat next to her friend.
"Yes, I did, noodlehead," Rei smiled. "And I'm glad I met you too."
Feeling Rei swinging her arm around her neck and pulling her into a hug for a moment, Usagi smiled happily at the confirmation of friendship.
"Anyway, we've taken the bus together at Hikawa before," Her friend said while looking out the window as she pulled her arm back, hoping Usagi wouldn't notice her guilty blush.
Through the windows to her left on the other side of the passengers' aisle, Usagi watched the rows of trees that only two weeks ago had been covered in clouds of cherry blossoms
Everything was so peaceful now.
Last year, Hotaru and Chibi-Usa had grown into their natural ages and started middle school again.
Minako had finally been able to debut as an idol.
Makoto had amazingly been scouted by a world-renowned chef.
Haruka had raced Gabriel Cobbler on the Fuji Speedway.
Michiru toured the country and South Korea with her orchestra.
Mamoru had finally been able to attend university in the U.S.A.
Setsuna could indulge in her fashion hobby while attending her third year of university.
Ami and Ryo started dating.
Even Rei, who had been so intense with her violent Muay Thai had mellowed a little thanks to teaching Minako how to write lyrics.
And even though Usagi didn't understand why, the blackette seemed strangely happy about Megumi taking Yuuichirou from her.
It had been such a wonderful year. Everyone was so happy.
"It's pretty amazing how you were elected Student-Council President, isn't it, Rei-chan?" The blonde smiled at her friend.
"Yes. More so to be elected for my last year of high school without ever having applied for the position," Rei deadpanned while crossing her arms.
"That's just because everyone at T.A. Girls' Academy loves you so much."
"I thought they did," Rei grimaced. "With a year of cramming for university entrance exams ahead of us, I have my doubts now."
"Asuka-chan told me she helped design the pamphlets," Usagi babbled. "And Junko-chan and everyone from the fashion club designed uniforms for them to visit the houses of students and teachers and convince them of your leadership capabilities."
Rei listened while sweatdropping apprehensively.
"There was even an event in Hinkochi Park and Minako-chan was asked to release a single. Ganbatte Ne reached 5th position in the hit parade," Usagi continued with a serious air while underlining her words with her pointer finger.
"That song was about me?'" Rei gasped.
"You achieved a landslide victory in that even your rivals campaigned for you," Her friend smiled and nodded.
"Ah… I have my responsibilities at the shrine, I have to be ready to fulfill my duties as a Senshi, I have my Muay Thai club training, I have to study for entrance exams next year, and now this," Rei sighed. "At least I don't have to help Minako-chan anymore and I now have a competent ally at Hikawa Shrine."
"But you won't be doing anything you haven't been doing already, Rei-chan," Usagi stated with a blank stare.
Rei calmly regarded the twin-tailed blonde.
"Asuka-chan tells me everyone at school is always looking to you when organizing the culture and sports festivals and the clubs always ask your advice. So you won't have to do any more work than usual," Usagi shrugged. "Your friends at school simply wanted to give you credit for all that you've already been doing."
Rei carefully considered the blonde's claim.
"I suppose put like that I might be spared extra demands on my time," She pondered. "I hope you are right because I'm aiming high for my choice of university."
"Good on you, Rei-chan! So am I! Let's work hard this year!" Usagi cheered.
She saw a look of pure shock on Rei's face.
Sparkles had been one of the hippest boutiques in Minato Ward for over fifteen years.
Founded in the early 1980s by designer Akari Tanaka, the fashionable two-story high-end retailer was the dream employer of now 32-year-old Chiemi Nomura long before her graduation.
One could hardly blame the slender young woman with the braided brown side bun for falling in love with the colorful yet respectable fashion Sparkles made its household style and the daring eighties interior design the store still sported, complete with multicolored tube lighting in just the right places and a similar motley assortment of furniture spread out over a checkerboard tiled floor.
That romance though resulted in a broken heart as her relationship with her place of employment soured over the past few years.
Seated at one end of the large table in the lunchroom next to the mail organizer against the wall, Chiemi was idly drawing a daydream fantasy for a summer fashion retail island display while eating a kombu onigiri.
When her colleague, Hisa Ganaha, entered the room, Chiemi made a low sound in surprise.
"What?!" The stylish silver-haired tomboy in the black bodycon and jacket threateningly exclaimed while staring hard at the brunette.
"You just had your break," Chiemi quietly bit back out of frustration for feeling intimidated by her colleague's behavior.
"What did you say?!" Hisa bellowed. "Your colleagues can't take their break when they please?"
Disgusted by her colleague's social strategy of pretending she was putting up some sort of imagined resistance to an equally imagined instance of tyranny by Chiemi, the brunette quietly averted her face while her blood boiled at the treatment she received for simply being surprised that her colleague entered the lunchroom while she enjoyed her scheduled break.
Chiemi felt her fatigue threatening to overwhelm her again.
Why did she always feel so tired these past few years? Sometimes the brunette feared she might end up like her mother.
Chiemi's mother was a young woman with beautiful flowing curly shoulder-length white hair and a gentle face with a cute narrow chin.
But when Chiemi was six years old, her father left his family for a handsome outgoing woman with a black bob who worked at his company.
Chiemi's mother fell seriously after that and became bedridden.
The brunette vividly remembered how she always sat by the side of her lethargic poorly breathing mother.
Her hair was almost as pale as her mother's back then and equally long and curly.
Chiemi didn't remember her mother's eyes, but she remembered her mother always saying that her father would return.
As her mother's health went downhill, money and thus food became scarce.
Chiemi economized to buy medicine for her lonely mother whom she didn't remember saying anything at all during this period.
She would place the pill her mother needed between the teeth of the young woman and closed her mouth to help her swallow.
Meanwhile, her young mother just lay there, her long white hair spread out on either side of her frail cute face and her hands folded over one another and resting on her belly on top of the bed sheet that covered her
One day, a bunch of people entered their apartment after complaints of an unbearable putrid smell in the building.
Chiemi cried with tears rolling down her cheeks that she didn't want the people to take her away from her mother who would recover if she could just keep feeding her medicine.
But the men and women wouldn't listen to her.
The last thing Chiemi remembered of her mother was the long thin shape of the woman's skeleton underneath the bed sheet and the beautiful long white curly hair on either side of the frail-looking small skull with the cute narrow chin that was half-turned to dust and whose teeth had been half-pulverized by Chiemi trying to feed her long-dead mother her medication.
Chiemi was adopted by a state facility where people took good care of her and the girl was able to enjoy a happy enough time during elementary school, middle school, and beyond.
But the pretty brunette grew up with a slight distrust in people and a certain obsessive preoccupation.
She had a boyfriend or two for short spells but could never truly trust them.
Relationships with female friends were generally shallow and easily dissolved.
Chiemi thought she had a new home when she found employment at Sparkles ten years ago but was now increasingly considering handing in her notice of resignation and starting over due to the hostile behavior of her coworkers.
Realizing Hisa had left the lunch room during her musings and that her own break was almost over the brunette got up and hurriedly pushed the drawing she was killing time with into the box of the mail organizer reserved for her.
The paper sheet slowly whirled down to the floor as Chiemi sighed and opened the door to the store.
It was a rather busy day.
Chiemi saw Hisa talking to a young woman with long dark-green hair. The woman was a regular customer. She was dressed in a beige jacket two shades lighter than her tan over a dark-blue shirt and a long blue dress.
To her right, a woman and her daughter descended the stairs while two teenage boys and two girls ascended.
Kyoko was manning the ground floor cash register near the entrance to the hallway with the fitting rooms which ran parallel with the shop front.
Chiemi remembered how the bluette in the white sleeveless shirt with a star pattern and the short violet dress was promoted over her three years ago.
At an office party after Hisa was hired Kyoko slapped Chiemi lightly on the cheek, saying: "Watch out for Chimie-chan here. She has a poisonous mouth. But she knows she needs to behave around me."
The woman with the long blue ponytail was the one who slowly poisoned everyone against Chiemi.
Two more teens just entered the shop.
A young woman sauntered from the fitting room aisle to the display windows so her boyfriend could observe the dress she was trying out in natural sunlight.
Chiemi's eagle eyes spotted a pair of trousers and a blouse carelessly discarded on the corner of a display island.
"Try to sell something today," A harsh voice whispered behind her as she folded the clothes.
Chiemi turned to face a forty-something redhead in a long sleeveless white dress with a pattern of vertical undulating purple lines.
"I expect you to make a sale to those two girls after you return those," The store manager, Seiko Aburaya, sternly warned her while pointing at the trousers and blouse. "You are not here solely to tidy the store and manage the stock. There is real work to be done."
"Yes Aburaya-san," Chiemi bowed shortly while trying to show her dissatisfied employer a humble face.
Seiko glared at Chiemi as the brunette in the orange shirt and black short skirt walked off to bring the two items of clothing she found to their respective garment racks.
Feeling unjustly admonished, Chiemi reflected on the fact that rather than her needing to be more proactive about approaching customers - which was the subject of most of the fights her colleagues picked with her - the others might pay some more attention to tidying up the store instead of leaving it all to her.
Aside from that, she had been telling Seiko for ages that the hat rack needed to be placed near the summer blouse display island instead of the shop entrance. Her boss never listened to anything she had to say.
While placing the blouse neatly on the surface of the display island, Chiemi measured up the two girls she was assigned to.
One girl had a pair of unwieldy long blonde pigtails and seemed an unruly type herself. Her black-haired friend was about half a head taller and seemed more reserved and modest.
Although Chiemi vaguely remembered a similarly looking girl one time to Hisa's bewilderment vogueing across the second floor while trying on dresses with a tall curly-haired boy as her attendant.
That must have been a different girl.
In any case, Chiemi could tell both girls had a taste for gaudy and clashing pastel outfits.
She also saw they were having a friendly chat with Hisa's customer, which drew a sigh from her since she didn't feel like spending more time near the silver-haired tomboy today after their short clash in the lunch room.
"Hello, Usagi-chan. Rei-chan," Setsuna smiled when her friends walked over to her. "Are you here to check out the summer collection? Sparkles has a nice range."
"Hello, Setsuna-chan," Usagi smiled. "We're here to buy me a new dress. I asked Rei-chan to help me because I didn't want to bother you again."
"Oh! But you can always ask for my help concerning fashion, Usagi-chan," Setsuna smiled. "And the talented employees of Sparkles can provide you with all the assistance you need."
Hisa smiled and nodded at the compliment, waiting until Sestuna's talk with her friends was over.
"I can strongly recommend Nomura-san, who has been observing us over there," Setsuna said while looking over at Chiemi and drawing the eyes of her friends to the startled brunette.
Chiemi heaved a sigh and approached the group.
"Nomura-san may not be the best saleswoman here," Setsuna bluntly told Rei and Usagi. "But she knows the stock of this store and the location of every item of clothing in detail. This results in her being able to imagine from memory any outfit that might suit a customer. What's more, Nomura-san is Sparkles' future visual merchandising manager."
Chiemi blushed in affront as Hisa averted her face and failed to suppress an outburst of derisive laughter.
"I'm serious though," Setsuna soberly turned to the two young women. "Nomura-san will revolutionize visual merchandising strategy and find sincere mutual love with the junior brand manager for Moreau & Dubois."
An awkwardly sweat-dropping Rei and Usagi regarded Chiemi who struggled to retain her composure even though Hisa watched her colleague with a sly smirk.
Both saleswomen thought the brunette's professional shame had become so obvious she had turned into a practical joke to the customers.
"Setsuna-chan," Usagi whispered in her friend's ear. "Should you be doing this?"
The elegant greenette turned to her friend with a defiant smile which the blonde would vividly remember during the coming centuries.
"Usagi-chan," Setsuna calmly stated while looking into the kind eyes of her Queen. "This year I am going to do whatever I want."
"Welcome Okyaku-sama-sama," Chiemi greeted Usagi and Rei. "Please, can I help you?"
"My friend here and her boyfriend have been invited to an informal party by university students he befriended while studying in the U.S.A.," Rei addressed the woman while pulling Usagi close. We want to buy a cocktail dress that accentuates her grace and beauty. And we'll have to do it while somehow making these look complementary."
Usagi made a sour expression as Rei's hand moved down her left pigtail but fell silent as her friend gently weighed the long cluster of hair as if it was silk and allowed it to slowly cascade from her fingers when the weight of the blonde strands' length she already fondled exceeded that of the length that was still to come.
The blackette quickly added: "Ahem. And we should look at some swimwear too in case the party location has a swimming pool."
Setsuna grinned with glee behind Rei as the miko tried to look composed.
"Then let us first see what we can find to your liking among our dresses," Chiemi smiled at Usagi while leading the two teens to the garment racks near the window.
"I have no further need for assistance, Ganaha-san," Setsuna told Hisa. "I found what I'm looking for."
With a short bow, the tomboy left the greenette to join her friends.
While Chiemi was trying to make small talk with Usagi and gathering the dresses she thought would look good on the girl, a 46-year-old woman in a beige jacket over a white blouse and a dark-green skirt entered the store's stockroom via the backdoor.
Akari Tanaka was notorious among her employees for occasionally bringing unannounced visits to the various locations of Sparkles.
The woman with the shoulder-length curly black hair let her eyes hover over the shirts and blouses in the stockroom. She appreciated the cleanliness of the shelves while checking the stock of the store's merchandise.
But Akari's attention was divided.
Sparkles' brand appreciation was waning. Profit was down too for the last eleven months.
Akari knew where the problem lay. Sparkles hadn't evolved with the times.
The store could still offer a wide and trendy assortment of designs from the top brands at highly competitive prices.
Her cultivation of customer relations with her suppliers ensured the quality of the products she bought.
She had the right people in the right places to control that quality and ensure no subpar product would be distributed to the loyal customers of Sparkles.
The fault lay not with the products Sparkles offered. It lay with the image of the chain the blackette started over fifteen years ago.
Proud Akari had a hard time admitting so, but the creative vision of her youth had left her.
After a fierce personal struggle, she contracted a marketing firm to design a new image for Sparkles, but while the people she hired could not have shown more effort and enthusiasm while working on the marketing plan they eventually presented Akari with, the seasoned businesswoman could not envision her darling child dressed up that way.
Ever since, Akari was at a loss on how to proceed.
Should she contract another firm? She had a hard time letting go of creative control the first time.
Maybe she should be harder on herself? Surely she was only making excuses for herself at the expense of Sparkles' future?
With this internal dialogue occupying her mind, Chiemi's employer entered the employees' lunch room.
"And lastly," Chiemi smiled while handing Usagi another dress, which Setsuna took from her and hung in the fitting room with the brunette's other suggestions. "I think this beige sheath dress complements the color of your hair, which helps your pigtails to blend in."
Having stayed behind in the store where she had found two more dresses and a classy blouse-and-skirt ensemble she thought her friend would look incredibly sexy in, Rei arrived at the fitting room aisle a little later than the others.
"Here, I found these and wondered if they might look good on you," She told Usagi while handing over the dresses to her.
"Did you really, Rei-chan?" Setsuna asked in an insinuating tone while looking at the blackette with a suggestive smile. "How nice of you to give so much thought to the matter."
"Erm… I'm just doing what Usagi asked me to come with her for," Rei momentarily faltered under scrutiny.
She strategically averted her gaze towards the fitting room to her left, finding herself staring at the dresses Chiemi had selected for Usagi.
"There sure are a lot of beige, gray, white, and black dresses among that selection," The miko sweatdropped.
"Those are the colors of the approaching decade. We can finally leave the nineties with their garish pastel color combinations behind us," Chiemi chuckled amusedly. "If you look at our summer collections, they reflect a break with past trends. Sparkles is guided by a new era, acting with grace and elegance."
'Where have I heard that before?' Setsuna wondered.
"Thank you for being so helpful, everyone," Usagi smiled as she hung Rei's suggestions up in the fitting room. "I thought this looked cool too. I can't wait to try it on."
Rei and Chiemi watched the blonde hold up a fiery red short-sleeved Chinese dress with a couple of eye-catching gold embroidered long-tailed phoenixes front and back.
"Oh!" Chiemi exclaimed as an idea struck her. "I know the perfect accessory for that dress. I'll go to the stockroom for it."
"Then we'll start trying out the other dresses, Usagi-chan," Setsuna smiled while pushing her friend into the large cubicle. "I'll help you into the more challenging ones.
We won't bother Rei-chan with such a tedious task."
"What is that supposed to mean?" A suspicious Rei fumed as Setsuna closed the curtain before her eyes with a teasing smirk.
The miko turned around with her arms crossed, her thoughts returning to her duties as her school's student council president for the year.
Usagi did have a point about Rei not needing to spend more time on those duties than she did helping out the clubs last year, but Rei was acutely aware she didn't boast quite the brainpower of Ami, Ryo, Hotaru, Mamoru, or Setsuna.
If she wanted to get into Tokyo U she would have to cram like a demon.
What was Usagi talking about anyway, saying she was aiming high too?
"We are ready for your scrutiny, Rei-chan!" She heard Setsuna call out.
The curtain was drawn immediately, revealing Usagi standing next to Setsuna in a beautiful black off-the-shoulder ruffle dress with an asymmetrical skirt.
The longest part of the hemline fell over the blonde's right leg, leaving much of the left limb exposed.
Rei's enlarged pupils feasted on her friend's bare lower leg and shoulders while marveling at the perfect cohesion of cuteness and elegance in the "leaping white bunnies" print on the stylish black dress.
"Oh! I think Rei-chan likes this dress very much, Usag-chan," Setsuna gleefully whispered in the blonde's left ear.
"You do, Rei-chan?" A thus far neutral Usagi now eagerly giggled.
"It's nice," Rei quietly stammered while a low hissing sound rose from the handbag over her shoulder.
"Only nice?" Setsuna teasingly inquired while Usagi tilted her head.
"It's… It's c… cute," Rei embellished with a slight blush. "And sen…"
"Sensational?" Setsuna smiled.
"Sensual…"
Now Usagi blushed, hardly knowing why.
"Let's try on another dress then, Usagi-chan," Setsuna said, pulling the curtain that hid them from Rei's sight. "But we've established this one is a favorite of Rei-chan's."
Rei exhaled. She hadn't been ready for this, she now realized.
This fitting session seemed like so much of her idle daydreams of Usagi visiting her in the shrine while dressed in some alluring outfit were coming to life.
"What? But I thought…" She heard Usagi quietly protest in the cubicle behind her.
"I might have shot myself in the foot in agreeing to this," The miko muttered while facepalming.
"Did you say something, Rei-chan?" Usagi called out.
"No. Nevermind."
'But Usagi did look gorgeous in that dress,' a heated Rei reflected with a firm nod. 'I hope she buys it even if she doesn't wear it to the party.'
"Alright, Rei-chan!" Setsuna spoke up, urging the miko to turn towards the fitting room again. "We have another pretty ensemble for you to appraise."
Rei's jaw dropped when the curtain was drawn back and Usagi stood before her in a revealing violet floral halter top bikini and bottom that proudly displayed the bosom whose growth the miko had been taking note of during the past two years.
The miko's handbag sprang open as if exploding when Diana jumped out of it and covered Rei's eyes with her body.
"That's enough of your games, you devious temptress!" The catten furiously exclaimed to Setsuna's amusement and Usagi's confusion. "It's not the time for that yet!
My mission is hard enough as it is without your tampering!"
"Why was a blank furry spy hiding in my handbag?" Rei threateningly inquired while gently pulling Diana from her face and holding the white cat by the neck.
Diana grinned sheepishly and racked her brain to invent a plausible excuse as she stared into Rei's smoldering glare.
The visitor from the future was saved from her predicament when the boutique's front door swung open with a gust of wind ominously blowing into the store.
Rei and Setsuna simultaneously turned their heads to watch how Hisa pushed the door shut again. The apprehensive looks on their faces told Usagi and Diana all they needed to know.
"I sense an evil presence," The miko whispered.
"Yes! That's what I wanted to warn you guys about!" Diana hurriedly spoke.
"I sensed it too," Setsuna nodded. "I think you better both enter the fitting room and transform in case trouble starts."
With a stern nod, Usagi and Rei entered the cubicle and closed the curtain while Diana jumped on Setsuna's shoulder.
Chiemi, meanwhile, reached the entrance to the stockroom when a conversation between Hisa and two teenage girls caught her ear.
"And why are you giving those to me if you don't want to buy them?" The bluette asked the two girls with black ponytails in the T.A. Girls' Academy uniforms.
"The lady with the brown hair once told us to bring clothes we fitted to one of the employees if we're not buying them," The tallest girl said.
Obscured from view by a garment rack behind her colleagues' back, Chiemi stealthily hid behind a neon blue pillar to spy on Hisa's reaction.
Hisa looked at the green sweater and black short skirt the girl held up to her.
"Ah…" She grinned. "I know what you're talking about. I'm afraid that person is experiencing psychological problems. You girls can simply leave any clothes you don't want to buy on the display tables wherever you see fit. We'll fold them or hang them up in their proper place."
The vicious remark and the suspicion that Hisa or Kyko had said similar things about her to other customers cut Chiemi like a knife.
Tears pricked her eyes. She felt like screaming out her pain.
It was Seiko turning down her suggestion to organize the discarding of rejected fits at the entrance to the fitting room aisle that made Chiemi feel forced to appeal to customers in order to create some sort of system.
The handling of this situation was increasingly pushed onto the brunette as a result of her professional insecurities and the lack of respect shown to her by her colleagues.
Overwhelmed by the cold empty sensation inside of her, Chiemi fleed to the storeroom.
'Meioh-san used to seem like a nice person,' Chiemi reflected while wandering around in the storeroom. 'Perhaps her nasty jokes from earlier originated from Kyoko or Hisa turning her opinion against me after such talk too.'
The woman leaned against a shelf of skirts and rested her head against the cold steel of the support beams, feeling tired again.
This wasn't the first time Chiemi felt like quitting her job.
But she was always held back by her love for Sparkles and her indefatigable urge to learn everything about the boutique and the nature of her job.
The brunette knew the ins and outs of the store as thoroughly as Seiko.
This extensive knowledge, or rather the need for that knowledge to feel confident in her function, was keeping Chiemi from leaving Sparkles more than anything.
But she was also horrified of immediately being found out as a fraud of a saleswoman if she tried to get a job at a different store.
After these past few years, the brunette was afraid of again finding herself among colleagues who despised her if she changed jobs
Chiemi's love for Sparkles had been her anchor once. But that anchor was dragging her down and shipwrecking her in the depths of despair.
At this moment, when Chiemi found the gold-colored silk shawl with an embroidered red dragon for Usagi, Christoph Wagner walked up behind the depressed woman.
"It is an unbearable sin to corrupt knowledge into an excuse for inertia," The wiry young man with the neatly trimmed caramel-blonde mustache and marquisetto beard sharply condemned Chiemi as he brought forth a ball of clay from the pocket of his long blue robe.
The pulsating clay ball fell from the scholar's hand and rolled towards its prey.
"My faith is with you, Seepocke. I am sure you will be able to procure our merchandise." The Soul Merchant muttered while observing its advance.
Chiemi lifted the gold-and-red shawl from the pile and humourlessly admired the fabric.
'Maybe this time,' She reflected. 'I should gather my courage and leave. I don't know how fast I can find employment elsewhere, but I can't deal with this constant harassment and obstruction anymore.'
"Golem."
'If I don't want to end up like Mother I need to cut myself loose and save myself. I have to do it now.'
"Golem."
'Who said that?' Chiemi wondered upon finally hearing the low hollow voice behind her.
When the brunette turned around, her comprehension of the physical world failed her in a crashing tumbling dizzy sensation.
Before Chiemi stood a bald woman dressed in a yellow blouse with white horizontal stripes and a gray yoke waist skirt.
What had Chiemi gasping in fear and losing her grip on the shawl for Usagi no less than on reality was the realization that the woman had no face.
Chiemi felt her consciousness slip. Emotional exhaustion and the shock of what stood before her finally overtook the woman.
Before the muscles of her body gave way, however, the creature in front of her dissolved into a gigantic blotch of gray clay that sprayed all over her.
Meanwhile, in the employee lunch room, Akari Tanaka wandered towards the mail organizer against the wall while noting the slightly dirty table in the middle of the room.
The woman in the beige jacket and dark-green skirt spotted a piece of paper lying on the floor between the table and the mail organizer.
With a sigh, she kneeled on her left knee and grasped the paper with her right hand before lifting it from the floor.
Upon getting up, Akari took the paper sheet into both hands.
Her facial expression changed into one of deep wonder as her eyes traced the lines of the intricate drawing they found on the paper.
She saw her child's adventurous neon eighties soul reformed into a confident adolescent Sparkles guided by a new era and acting with grace and elegance.
Akari was amazed at the creation by the person who had so perfectly achieved what she had been striving for in vain these past months.
But before she could search for the creative mind responsible for this amazing design, the woman with the shoulder-length black curls turned towards the door to the store from where she heard a frightening howl.
"Please allow Seepocke to redesign your worn-out image, Okyaku-sama-sama! It will only take a minute of your time for me to create the new you!"
Pushed into the corner between the cash register and the entrance to the fitting room aisle, Hisa Ganaha stared in horror at the hulking brightly colored humanoid coral reef creature that somehow wore Chiemi's face.
"Please… Please…" The terrified young woman with the short boyish silver hairdo whispered while staring in shock at the bright red number 23 on the monster's forehead.
Kyoko and the customers in the store stood transfixed in horror.
"Let's take a look at the new you!" Seepocke exclaimed, taking a screaming Hisa by the hand and twirling her around.
Seiko slowly moved towards the door to the lunchroom, hoping to slip out of the store unnoticed and call the police on the only telephone in the store.
The store manager watched how Seepocke seemingly permanently attached Hisa to the wall by way of a formless coral structure covering her body and silenced the young woman in the black bodycon by stopping her mouth with a pacifier.
The door Seiko was trying to reach was stealthily opened by Akari, who carefully peeked out.
"What is going on out there?" Seiko's employer sissed to the startled redhead in the long sleeveless white dress.
"I think now is a good time for you to transform," Setsuna whispered to Rei and Usagi.
In an instant, the Eternal Moon Article appeared and opened its lid, revealing the crystal inside. Usagi brushed her hand past the crystal while exclaiming her transformation command: "Moon Eternal, Make Up!"
A bright pink light radiated from the Eternal Moon Article while feathers twirled all around. Four swirls of golden light coalesced and formed the crescent moon on Sailor Moon's forehead.
Sailor Moon spread the wings that appeared on her back and extended her arms to the sides, revealing that she was clothed in her white leotard with pink puff shoulder pads, a dark-blue neckerchief, and a white feather-shaped bow over her breasts with a golden heart embraced by a crescent moon.
The young woman covered her chest with her arms and spread them out again.
Feathers gathered around the limbs to form her long white gloves.
She then twirled around her axis and, in another swirl of feathers, her red-and-blue bordered yellow skirt appeared.
So did her long white boots and the red hairclips that covered her odangos.
Eternal Sailor Moon spun around once more while her wings became smaller and the two long red ribbons attached to the back of her skirt trailed around her.
Then she finished her transformation by posing with her left knee bent and raised while looking to the left with her left arm extended behind her and her right arm bent at the elbow above her head.
The Mars symbol activated on the fiery red Mars Orb as Rei exclaimed her transformation command: "Mars Crystal Power, Make Up!"
Rei raised her Crystal Change Rod in her right hand, the Mars Orb attaching itself to the rod.
The red Mars symbol then launched itself from the orb of the Crystal Change Rod and five swirls of blazing fire streamed from the tips of the star on top.
The young woman twirled around her axis while the fiery swirls morphed into circles of fire that danced around her as her long black hair streamed upward.
Standing with her feet wide apart, Rei raised her arms with the Crystal Change Rod still in her right hand.
The circles of fire narrowed around Rei's body and legs, forming her glowing red high heels, her red skirt with the large red bow on her lower back, her long white gloves, her white leotard and the fiery red heart at the center of the purple bow over her breasts, her segmented white shoulder pads, her red neckerchief, and the golden tiara with the glowing red crystal on her forehead.
Super Sailor Mars spun around once more, the two long red ribbons attached to the back of her skirt trailing around her while her long black hair slowly lowered over her shoulders and back.
A glowing red bow and arrow appeared behind her as she struck a pose in a wide left-leg-forward A-stance with her left hand on her left hip and her right arm parallel to her left leg.
"Mars!"
The symbol of Mars appeared in the palm of Mars's hand, unleashing a veritable inferno.
"Flame!"
A startled Sailor Moon jumped back when she realized her friend was about to launch her attack without exiting the fitting room cubicle.
Mars got down on her left knee and bent her right knee, balancing herself on her right foot while a fiery bow appeared in her right hand. She drew a glowing arrow with her left hand.
The Senshi of Fire and Passion's glaring purple eyes peered at the shadows she discerned through the fabric of the fitting room curtain. Her ears listened intently at Seepocke's ramblings when the creature addressed a trembling Kyoko at the cash register.
"Sniper!"
As Mars jumped up, the air around her bow spontaneously burst into flames from the heat of the several thousand degrees Celsius hot arrow of fire the young woman launched through the fitting room curtain.
The entire sequence took less than ten seconds and the flaming arrow that pierced a hole in the fitting room curtain and set it on fire consecutively took Seepocke entirely by surprise.
"Salvation!" The coral giant cried out when the huge beam of fire blasted the creature and melted it away from Chiemi.
Its clay shape was reduced to a small gorgeously enameled porcelain homunculus that fell on the floor next to Chiemi's unconscious body with smoke rising from it.
Akari, Seiko, and the customers in the store slowly and cautiously gathered around Kyoko and Hisa's coral-covered bodies, and Chiemi, whose trembling eyelashes showed that the woman was recovering from her earlier shock.
"That… That didn't take long," Sailor Moon muttered with some astonishment.
"I have a talent for pottery in my blood," Mars smugly reacted, blowing at the tip of her left Fire Soul finger. "What's more: I can't spare the time to fight these things.
I'm glad we were able to handle the situation quickly. Let's de-transform."
A smiling Moon nodded her consent.
Setsuna and Diana observed how Seiko and a few men who had entered the store when people outside saw what was happening occupied themselves with the disgusting task of breaking Kyoko and Hisa from their coral reef prisons.
Akari moved to Chiemi's side when the brunette crawled up.
"What happened?" The half-conscious young woman muttered.
"What happened?!" Seiko repeated in anger. "What you did. That's what happened."
"I don't think any ordinary human being can cause such strangeness, Aburaya-san," Akari said. "Your employee seemed to have been under the influence of this thing."
Chiemi saw the small baked clay figure on the floor beside her green pumps and remembered the clay figure looming over her in the storeroom.
Shuddering at the recollection, the brunette couldn't get her head around what had happened.
One thing was crystal clear to her: If that thing had caused her to have Kyoko and Hisa covered in the disgusting gue they were being freed from, she couldn't stay at Sparkles after today.
With a look of mingled anger and gratitude, the internally screaming brunette put her heel to the dead husk of the golem that had taken control of her and crushed the clay figure.
"I'll contact a firm I know to clean up the store, Aburaya-san," Akari addressed Seiko. "And I'll run the cash register for the rest of the day.
You call an ambulance to get these women checked out at the hospital. I'll call the rest of your staff with my cellphone and see who can come to work.
Of high importance is also who drew this."
Chiemi recognized the drawing in Akari's raised hand.
"That is mine. Can I have it, please?"
Stunned at finding the person she wanted so fast, Akari allowed a semi-instinctively acting Chiemi to grasp the paper from her, fold it, and pocket it.
"Excuse me, Aburaya-san," Chiemi next bowed to Seiko. "I can no longer remain at Sparkles after what happened today. You can expect my letter of resignation on your desk if the doctor allows me to resume work tomorrow."
Seiko and Akari dumbfoundedly looked on as Chiemi left them and walked to the storeroom.
"I think I'll pick this one after all," Usagi smiled, admiring her reflection wearing the red Chinese dress in the mirror. "It's so cool."
"It suits you surprisingly well," Setsuna observed with her hand on her chin while Diana regarded the greenette suspiciously. "The dress with the bunnies looked good on you too though. If you have the money to buy two dresses… What do you think, Rei-chan?"
"Hmm," Rei reacted. "Buy this one for the party. Buy the dress with the bunnies for another occasion."
"Taiki-kun's birthday is coming up," Setsuna smiled. "That would be a perfect moment to show it off."
"Excuse me, Okyaku-sama-sama," Chiemi smiled while presenting Usagi with the golden shawl featuring the embroidered red dragon draped over her hands. "I think you'll find this a perfect addition to your dress."
Setsuna and Rei watched the brunette cover their friend's shoulders with the accessory.
"I knew that would look glorious on you," Chiemi smiled as she stepped back.
"An ensemble fit for an Empress. Or a Queen," Setsuna grinned.
"For a Princess in any case," Rei soberly corrected her friend.
"My apologies Okyaku-sama-sama, but I won't assist you beyond this. Due to some accidents just now in the store, I have to accompany two colleagues to the hospital.
But this does result in you having the exceptional opportunity of getting the items you buy checked out with the founder of Sparkles, Akari Tanaka-san, at the cash register," Chiemi bowed.
As the woman turned away, Setsuna detained her by placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Excuse me, Nomura-san," The greenette smiled.
Chiemi frowned at the younger woman.
"I just want to tell you one more thing," Setsuna said. "Tanaka-san doesn't give up easily when she wants something for Sparkles.
Don't worry about any future decisions you will have to make. Certain things are set in stone."
"Tha… Thank you," The confused Chiemi bowed.
"I have to agree with Usagi," Diana sweatdropped when the brunette returned to her employer in the store. "You just can't go around telling people about their future."
"According to a certain someone, it is our highest endeavor to fight the laws that keep us from improving the quality of life, catten," Setsuna muttered while watching one of her all-time heroines meet with destiny.
"Yes," Diana groaned. "And mentioning them in the present day is dangerous in itself."
"But it looks like our life of peace and happiness is ending," Rei spoke up behind them."We'll have to tell the others a new enemy has emerged."
"Do we have to?" Usagi sulked. "I don't think one creature means we're facing a major threat."
Rei turned to face her friend with an annoyed expression.
"These things don't usually come alone though," She said. "From experience, we can tell…"
"It's one creature, Rei-chan," Usagi reacted in an equally irritable tone while tapping her foot. "I say we still live in peace until we see at least three more creatures."
"Usagiiii. Remember how usually when a new enemy surfaces we laugh and play around without forming any real plan and get into trouble because we don't take them seriously until things get really scary?"
"Scaredycat, scardeycat," Usagi whined. "Rei-chan is a scaredycat."
"What?" tumbled from a cross-eyed looking Diana's tongue.
Setsuna watched how Rei closed her eyes and controlled her breathing to temper her frustration.
"You know what?" The blackette then smiled viciously. "I needed this. Thank you. I can't believe I almost forgot about this side of you."
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Usagi flared up.
"It means you are a pain in the butt!"
"See?" Setsuna smiled at the white catten sitting on her shoulder.
"Oh yeah?!"
"Yeah!"
"Don't lose any sleep over your assignment, little one. Change doesn't occur that easily."