Okay, well, I decided to go along with this part (even though I *really*
want to finish SE) mainly because I think Ni will kill me if she doesn't
find out what I have planned for Hotohori's reaction to the *real* world.
Anyway, this one has a couple more chapters to go, but I think "SE" only has
one, unless I up and do something crazy. According to a *ahem* request, my
next fic will have less comedy and more sadness in it 'cause *somebody*
(glares at editor) wanted to see just how badly I can write serious stuff!
(J/K, please don't kill me...I'll help you play a prank on Ben Franklin if
you promise not to hurt me) LOL. Anyway, I guess I should get started now...
(looks at glaring fic readers) Um...yeah


Searching
Part 8


_____________________________________________________________________

    ...she turned around.
    And burst out laughing.
    Hotohori had tried his very best to get dressed, but things in the
present day were just different enough for him to not know how to put
anything on.
    Somehow he had gotten a shirt sleeve to go over one leg and the collar
on the other so it hung on his hips. He had an arm in each pant leg, and a
pair of boxers on his head.
    "How does it look?" the usually elegant emperor asked, wondering how
anyone could ever wear such uncomfortable clothes. "Is it so bad that you
must laugh at me?"
    "It's worse!" She managed somehow to tone it down to giggles and walked
over to him. "You don't have anything on right!"
    "I don't?"
    "No."
    "Not anything?"
    She pursed her lips together to hide a smirk and shook her head. "Not
even close."
    "Oh. Then I guess we shall have to call some servants to help?"
    "We don't have servants here. Here, we're just normal people. Well....I
don't know if either of us will ever be considered normal but...oh, never
mind. Here, I'll help you." She stepped forward, then began to blush,
realizing what she'd gotten herself into. Her husband was a very sexy man
and...
    Selene, help me.
    She pulled the boxer shorts from his head and explained to him how to
put them on, motioning to her own panties for emphasis. Then she explained
the pants and the shirt. He said he understood and thought he could get it
right, and because Usagi sensed that his pride was somewhat injured, she
decided to let him try again. She turned to go back to the dresser, still
trying to decide what to wear. Hotohori reached out and grabbed her bra
strap then let it go. The snap it made was not nearly as audible as Usagi's
shriek of surprise.
    "Ow! Hoto!"
    "I apologize," he looked at her bra, "but what is that?"
    Usagi found herself blushing. Embarrassed in front of her own husband,
who'da thought? She haltingly explained the main purpose of it and his eyes
grew wide.
    "I do not have to have something like that, do I?"
    She giggled. "No! Of course not!"
    He breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank Suzaku! I was afraid for a
moment there. That thing appears very uncomfortable."
    "Well, it is." Usagi turned her burning face away and went back to
getting changed. She finally settled on a short, white sundress with roses
on it. Once it was on, she turned to check on her husband. Her reaction this
time was slightly different then it was the last time.
    Her sharp intake of breath made Hotohori look up. He grinned boyishly.
"Did I get it right this time, my love?"
    "Yes, very."
    Crap, she was blushing again.
    Oh well.
    Hotohori was wearing a pair of faded blue jeans and a dark red, slightly
tight T-shirt that showed off his muscles. The ensemble proved that he would
fit into any timeline and still look incredible.
    "Hotohori, you look hot!"
    "But these garbs are much cooler then those I wear formally-" he looked
confused.
    "That wasn't what I meant," she interrupted, placing her arms around his
neck. "I meant that you look, um...handsome."
    "Oh, thank you. And you look amazing." His eyes traveled to her legs,
which the dress showed off wonderfully.
    She grinned. "We better go. The others are probably wondering about us."
    "Usagi, do you think anyone else had problems getting dressed?"
    She had to giggle, remembering the way he had looked. "Oh, definitely.
Don't worry about it. Besides, only I know. Everyone else can go on
believing you're perfect." She kissed him quickly before he could respond,
then released him only long enough to grab his hand. "Let's go."
__________________________________________________________________

    Chichiri slouched with his back against a wall, fingering his beaded
necklace and observing his companions. He was wearing a pair of baggy shorts
and a Hawaiian style shirt and was really quite comfortable. The others
looked perfectly happy, too. Most of the group was with him in the large
house's living room where they'd decided to meet after getting dressed. Only
three people were missing.
    Okay, make that two now.
    Nuriko came out from his room wearing black leather pants and a bright
pink tank top with thin straps. Something looked wrong with it though. He
kept pulling down the collar in an unhappy way. Miaka looked at him and
laughed.
    "Nuriko! You have your shirt on backwards."
    "Oh..." Without even thinking about modesty because of the way the shirt
was at the moment and it was just way too uncomfortable, he took the shirt
off.
    Jaedite blanched. "You're a man??"
    "Do you have a problem with that?" Nuriko questioned threateningly,
fixing his shirt and pulling it back on.
    "Um...no. Just please don't hurt me."
    "You mean we're in a group with two of them?" Neflite questioned. He
huffed in mock annoyance.
    "Two of what?" Nuriko asked, clueless.
    Kunzite began to grin. "My Zoisite is a man, too." He squeezed the
blonde's shoulders. "Isn't that right, Zoi?"
    "Sure, announce it to the world..." Zoicite sniffed indignantly.
    A door opened down at the end of the hall and Hotohori and Usagi soon
entered the room. Chichiri noted that their arms were around each other and
that they were smiling. They had an odd situation and the monk really wanted
things to go well for the couple.
    Usagi surveyed the Seishi with a critical eye, then finally nodded,
satisfied that everyone looked okay.
    "Did anyone have any trouble?" she asked in a sweet voice that betrayed
a hint of laughter. The Seishi (minus Hoto) looked down at their hands and
mumbled something, blushing. Usagi giggled. "See?" she asked her husband. "I
told you so."
    He muttered something back that only she heard but made her blush.
    "Um..heh heh, okay. Well, I've got to go to the shrine and see my
friends, anyone who wants to can come. If you have your own agenda, that's
fine."
    Nuriko snorted rudely. "Like we have appointments here in the future."
    "...right." Usagi began to pull her hair, which had been down, into two
ponytails. The way she did it without even a mirror showed it was a style
she wore often, but Chichiri had never seen her with it at the palace. When
she was done, she looked into a mirror, sighed, and let it back down.
    "No more odangos?" Jaedite asked.
    "It just doesn't seem like me anymore, you know?"
    "Yeah."
    It didn't take them long to reach the shrine even though they walked the
whole way. The worst part was the many steps that led up to it, but those
were soon over with. A boy with shaggy brown hair was sweeping the yard,
singing very badly. He looked up at their approach.
    "Uh, can I help you?"
    "Yes, can you tell me if Rei is here?"
    "I think she's in her room with her friends. I don't think she wants to
be disturbed though."
    "Oh, she's used to me disturbing her," Usagi laughed, giving one of her
winning winks. "Don't worry. I can find the way. Thanks. Come on, everyone."
She led the way through a hall and to a door that stood partially ajar.
Female voices could be heard from inside, but what they were saying could
not be determined. Without hesitation, Usagi opened the door and stepped
inside.
    The room was crowded with several people; seven girls, a guy, and a
person that could be either. They looked up in surprise at Usagi's entrance.
    A girl with long black hair frowned and stood from her seat at the long
table everyone was at. "I'm sorry, but this place is closed to visitors."
She mumbled something under her breath about killing the boy in the front
for letting them back there.
    "Oh, I'm not a visitor," Usagi replied, sounding amused.
    "Look, lady, if you aren't going to cooperate, I'll have Haruka and
Mamoru here throw you out. You aren't allowed back here, no matter who you
think you are."
    True, they were in the future, but Chichiri never dreamed someone could
talk to the Empress like that.
    Even more surprising was the way Usagi's smile grew.
    "I am. Gee, Rei, you haven't changed a bit. 'Course, it's only been
what, a month? Still..."
    "Alright, you are wearing my patience. I wasn't kidding about having
you kicked out."
    "Don't I know it!" The young empress laughed and pulled out her small
bag of yu ye. "Does that mean you don't want this? I went all the way to
China to get it for poor Naru, but..."
    "Usagi!" A girl with a red bow in her long blonde hair screeched,
jumping up and launching herself at the empress.
    "Hi, Mina-chan!" she responded happily.
    "You can't be Usagi, you're too grownup-looking," Rei said in doubt,
staring.
    "Well, I am. Growing up is just something that happens, Rei-chan. Now
come here and give me a hug. You don't always have to be yelling, do you?"
    After Rei, the others came forward to greet their friend as well. They
were introduced to Miaka, the Seishi, and the Four Kings when things calmed
down a little. Everyone looked too happy for words.
    "And I thought you were cute before, Usagi, but now..." Haruka, who they
still hadn't figured out the gender of, whistled. Usagi laughed as Hotohori,
frowning in what could only be called jealousy, came to her side.
    "Where have you been?" Makoto questioned, trying to discreetly brush up
against Chichiri and failing since she nearly toppled him over! She blushed
and picked herself up off the ground. "Setsuna said just this morning that
she'd lost your energy signal."
    "Oh, you know, just normal stuff. Mother sent me to the past and blocked
the time streams from Puu's sight so she couldn't interfere, that's all."
    "You've been in the past!?!?"
    Everyone stared at Ami after her outburst.
    "Um, yeah. I'm not gonna go into details right now though. Puu promised
to return us to the exact time we left, so we have lots of time to hang
out."
    Chichiri frowned. She was still avoiding telling everything about who
they really were.
    Usagi handed the bag of yu ye to Ami. "Here. Is this enough?"
    "Yes. If I make it into a tea and give her some every two hours until it
is gone, then she should wake up...sometime next week."
    "Oh, good. Hey, look, guys, we can hang out tomorrow, right? Puu didn't
give us any food so I want to go to the grocery store. Kunzite, you're in
charge of making sure everyone gets back to the house without an incident."
    Her friends stared. Usagi was issuing orders, not just any orders, but
intelligent, understandable orders. That was a new one...
    Usagi took Hotohori's arm. "You wanna come with me?"
    "I would be honored to do so," he answered although he had no idea
*what* exactly a grocery store was. They turned to leave.
    "Hey, wait, koneko-chan. Which store are you going to?"
    "Umm...Walley-World I guess." (LOL, where I live, that's what we call
Wal-Mart)
    "Here." Haruka tossed her some keys. "Take my car. It'll be much faster
then walking.
    Usagi's eyes widened in surprise. No one was allowed to drive Haruka's
car. No one. "But Ruk..."
    She winked. "I trust you with it. You've grown up a lot since you've
been away, and not just on the outside. I can't place what's so different
about you but...well, have fun."
    "Okay, I will. Thanks, Haruka!"
    "Oh, and koneko? Don't let that guy mess up my car. Men always have the
habit of screwing things up."
    Usagi smiled and gave her friend a hug. "No problem. See you all later."
_____________________________________________________________________

    Hotohori stopped and stared as they neared the car. "What is this?" he
asked in wonder, eyes wide.
    "A car. Don't push any buttons, Haruka is way protective of it. Get in
and have a seat."
    "Are you sure?" He stared at it with misgiving. Usagi laughed and opened
the passenger side door for him.
    "Of course I'm sure! Get in and buckle up, no, not like that..no..yes,
that's right." She shut the door and went over to the driver's side, feeling
happier than she had in ages.
    Hotohori fidgeted with the shoulder strap of the seat belt. "What is the
use of this thing? It is very uncomfortable. Do I have it on wrong?"
    "No. It's there to protect you in case we have a wreck." She started the
car.
    "Wreck?" He gulped.
    "We won't though, if I so much as put a scratch on this car, Haruka will
stalk me for the rest of my life!"
    If the young emperor found the car and driving on the road fascinating,
there are no words to describe what he thought of Wal-Mart. The people in
the store stared at them, none of them having ever seen two people as
beautiful walking with their arms around each other before. Mostly though,
Usagi's arm was around Hotohori to keep him from touching.
    He was acting like a small child seeing everything for the first time,
and he still innocently acted like he ruled the world though. The two put
together were not exactly a good combination. He wasn't oblivious to
everything around him though, despite the many new things. Ever since he had
married Usagi, he'd kept a close watch out for any man who would dare to lay
an eye on her.
    Many did and only returned his menacing glares. He had to remind himself
that he wasn't the emperor here like before where he could sentence anyone
to death. It wouldn't do for anyone to think he was crazy.
    As they were walking,something caught his eye so he picked it up. It
looked really weird..
    "Usa, what is this?"
    She looked over and immediately blushed a deep crimson. "Um, that's
a...football cup."
    "What is it for?"
    A pair of young girls walking by looked at him and giggled
flirtatiously. Usagi's glare made them scamper away though.
    "Well, um, it's for...um..never mind. It's not important. Football
doesn't exist in Hong-Nan anyway. Please put it down."
    "As you wish." Whatever it was for, she was obviously embarrassed about
his asking about it. He began to grin. She looked very cute when she
blushed. For a brief instant, he wondered if she was angry at him, but then
she looked at him and smiled and he knew that it was all right. He leaned
down to her ear. "I love you," he whispered.
    Her blush deepened. She turned to him and opened her mouth to say
something when-
    "Usagi? Oh, my gosh, is that you?" In front of them stood a man with a
long black ponytail.
    "Seiya!"
_______________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________
To be continued
I've found that having our heroine shout a name is
one of the best ways to leave off a chapter. Hope
the cliffie is okay.
    I NEED FEEDBACK! I'M TIRED OF MY BOX BEING EMPTY
AND I AM ON THE BRINK OF BEGGING! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE!