"Bowling?" Ami asked, staring up at Minako. "You really do come up with the weirdest things for us to do…"
"We've never done it before so I thought it would be fun!" Minako smiled.
"Do you even know how to bowl?" Rei stared at her incredulously.
"No, and I'm sure you guys don't either, but that's okay! We can learn there!" She shook her hand. "It's just going to be the four of us anyway, because Usagi-chan didn't want to come."
"She's in her queen mode again, isn't she?" Ami looked down at the table. Ever since her announcement, Usagi had been treating her rather coldly in that persona, all but ignoring her. She hated being treated that way, for daring to take her future into her own hands, for daring to dream of more than just stoic heroism. Why was she the one being punished? Maybe some time away from her would do her good. Maybe she should just head back to Russia.
The girls nodded, not elaborating. They didn't need to.
"Well, it can't be that hard for us to learn! We can even play with bumpers!" Makoto chimed in.
The girls gathered up their things and headed to the bowling alley, Ami finding herself having to cover her ears from the noise. Pins loudly toppled over and older pop from when she was in middle school flooded through the speakers. She also felt out of place in her smart blue suit-dress and black blouse while her friends were dressed far more sporty. Makoto even wore her old jersey jacket and baseball cap!
The four women walked up to the counter and said they'd play four games and cited their shoe sizes, their total being rung up.
"5000 yen?!" Makoto asked in shock. "In this economy?!"
"It's a laugh, right?" Minako flipped her hair and pulled out her purse, dumping a ton of money onto the counter. "That should cover it!" She winked and started to slip on her bowling shoes.
"Minako-chan, isn't that kinda irresponsible? You didn't even bother to count it." Rei asked, sitting next to her and putting on her own shoes.
"I'm an idol now. That's not my money, that's the money from The Goddess of Love! She can be as careless or as careful as she wants!" She tugged her shoes one final time and ran over to an empty lane, sitting at a computer. "I'll put in our names…!"
Ami wandered over as she finished tying her shoes, wobbling a bit on the slick surface and the big shoes. She looked over Minako's shoulder and saw the first character of their names pop up on the overhead screen: Mi, Ma, Re, and A. She then ran over to a rack that held many different colors and sizes of bowling balls, instantly choosing an orange one. She swung her arm back and hurled the ball down the lane, making it swerve around and bounce off the bumpers several times. The ball still managed to hit eight pins, and she jumped up and down happily.
"Yes! I did it! Now let's try for a spare!" Minako cheered. She grabbed another orange ball and sent it spiraling down the lane, indeed getting a spare. "Yay!"
"Impressive, now watch me!" Rei teased, flipping her own hair. She grabbed a light green ball and walked over to the lane, gently rolling it out. The ball rolled slowly and only knocked down four pins, making her click her tongue and stare, distraught.
"You can do better than that!" Ami encouraged her.
Rei picked up the ball again and placed it in front of her face. Before sending it down the lane, she blew a small flame carefully out of her mouth and sent the ball rolling, the ball picking up speed, knocking down the rest of her pins. "Beat that!"
"Why is the lane smoking?" Makoto sniffed the air. "And burning?"
"You used your powers to cheat!" Minako pointed an accusing finger at her.
Ami huffed, taking a red ball. "Two can play at that game then!" She tossed the ball onto the lane and gently pushed it along with a stream of water from her finger. The ball sped up and knocked down every pin, earning her the first strike.
"Congratulations!" The other three cheered as she blushed.
"It was nothing!"
Makoto went up next, throwing her ball and dropping it too soon, making it meander and only knock down a measly three pins. When it was time for Minako's turn again, she got a strike, cheering.
"All I had to do was give the ball a gentle nudge with my Crescent Beam!" She laughed. The others sighed.
"Minako-chan…."
"What? Everyone else is doing it!"
"Not me! I play fair!" Makoto gasped hotly.
"You couldn't even if you tried though, you'd fry this whole place!" Rei laughed.
The girls continued to play through their first game, quickly getting more and more competitive as it went on. Even Makoto started using her powers, pushing her balls forward with her natural strength. At the end of the first game, Minako had won with Rei a very close second, Ami third, and Makoto last.
"No way, let's keep going! I have to win this next game!" She pushed, grabbing a dark green ball.
"We've been at it for hours, I need a break." Ami sighed, heading over to the food court and sitting down at a random booth. The other three joined her, Rei sitting next to her.
"Should we order something to eat?"
"I'm not hungry." They all answered at once.
"Honestly, this place is pretty fun. Maybe I should take Mayumi here sometime." Makoto adjusted the cap on her head.
"You think a kid that young would like bowling?" Rei asked.
"Maybe. She's pretty weird, you know?"
"And how's the dating scene going for you? I bet tons of guys want to score with a gorgeous idol," Rei smirked at Minako, who laughed.
"No luck! Every guy I've been with was just a fling. Nothing sticks! I'm way too busy for a serious relationship anyway!"
"I don't even want to get married. Every guy has been tiresome in his own way."
Ami and Makoto just smiled awkwardly.
After their break, they went back to the game, getting heated. Ami got the first strike again, while Makoto got one right after her.
"Hi! I hope you guys are enjoying the game! You look super into it!" A young woman with orange hair cut into a pixie cut and a bright pink yoga outfit grinned at them. "You're naturals!"
"Would you believe this is our first time?" Minako smiled back. "We just have a knack!"
"You guys are doing great! I love your passionate energy!" She danced around before wandering off. Ami frowned a bit at her.
"Damn it!" Makoto swore when she threw the ball too hard and electrified the lane, making the scoreboard fizzle out.
"I told you that would happen!" Rei scolded.
"Hey, hey, accidents happen! She was just super into the game!" The woman winked at them.
"How long will it take to fix?! I want to beat the scores of my friends!" Makoto huffed impatiently, pale and sweaty.
"Mmmm…twenty minutes."
"I can't wait that long!" She grabbed the shirt of the girl, making the others gasp.
"Makoto-chan, stop!" Ami pulled her away. "It's just some game!"
"And? I'm actually having fun!"
"You need to calm down," Rei scolded again, a firm look on her face.
"You guys are just sore losers." She stormed off towards the bathrooms.
"She didn't look very good…" Minako said worriedly.
"She looks like you did at the snowball fight." Ami's eyes widened. "I think this place is a trap!" She looked around and saw other bowlers acting very competitive, some even manhandling others or arguing badly. At the center of it all was that woman, who kept smiling every time she praised a group. "We should transform." She pulled out her star-shaped transformation brooch.
The three girls transformed and jumped on the counter of the food court, posing. "How dare you ruin what's meant to be a fun time with intense competition!" Eternal Sailor Venus scolded. "You're collecting the energy from everyone, aren't you?"
The woman groaned. "Bothersome Sailor Senshi!" She pulled her clothes off and her hair turned fluffier and her skin purple with giant ball earrings. Her outfit was simply an upside-down bowling pin and nothing else. "Bála! I'll just deal with you alone!" She formed a giant ball in her hands and tossed it at the girls, knocking the three of them down. "Strike!"
"So you're the reason I was acting so mean!" Eternal Sailor Jupiter appeared from the shadows, punching the monster in the back and forcing her to her knees. "I regret how I acted, but I don't regret manhandling you!"
"Sailor Jupiter!" Eternal Sailor Mercury smiled wild at her. "Finish her off!"
"Jupiter! Coconut Cyclone!" She spun around much like in her other attack, except this time she twirled with one leg slowly raising up until she grabbed it and held it behind her, posing as coconuts flew out and pelted Bála with them. She screamed.
"My turn for a new move!" Eternal Sailor Venus posed cutely. "Venus! Wink Chain Sword!" Her sword formed in her hands and she drove it into the monster's chest, making her scream and vanish. She held her sword afterwards, placing it behind her back.
"I'm sorry for the way I was acting earlier. It was unjustified." Jupiter sighed. "I don't even really care about the game much."
"We forgive you! We know the enemy did it," Venus reassured her. "Now, let's finish up our games!"
The second game ended as a tie between Minako and Makoto, with Ami in last, and the third and final game had Rei win with Minako in last. She just laughed.
"The important part is that we had fun today!" She smiled.
"Yeah!" Makoto nodded. "What crazy thing will you ask us to do tomorrow?"
"Come on, don't be like that! This wasn't crazy, right? It was fun!"
Ami just smiled with the rest of her friends.
/+/
5000 yen is very roughly 35-40 US dollars.
Bála-Greek for ball.
Sorry for the bizarre updating schedule as of late. This fanfic is low-priority for me to update and there's a lot been going on in my life right now. Right now I'm training for my job for the next four weeks so we'll just have to see how I'll handle free time during that. This story won't be going on hiatus though, it'll just have a strange uploading schedule until I get more used to the groove of things during training.