Aftermath

3:09pm
        “Mi-chan, where is your concentration? He grumbled as he moved his queen to take a diagonal winning position on the chessboard knocking out one of her rooks, it was the third consecutive piece that he had won from her without even having to seriously think, “check.
        Ami glanced upwards quickly and battered her eyelashes once, removing her right arm from the position that had previously propped up her chin; she sighed and moved her bishop, “hmm...
        Groaning he moved his rook, “check again, you’re losing Mi-chan.
        “Hmm... she tapped her fingers against her cheek before once moving her the castle, “checkmate, you lost Bai-S-kun. She grinned at him in satisfaction, as she watched the realization dawn on him that he had been trapped by her seemingly irrational moves.
        “I think I like your modesty better last time we played at...  his voice trailed off when he suddenly appreciated that those words had alluded to times less pleasant.
        “You remember...  I’ve... I’ve been meaning to ask you about that, just how much do you remember? Ami asked softly.
        “Everything, and after reading some newspapers I’ve figured out that the Tokyo ‘myths’ of the Bishoujo Senshi are true because even though they have never had any substantiated evidence, the type of work that they do happens to coincide with something that I had contact with.  Mi-chan, I’m going to tell you the truth, I know one of them is you and I’ve figured out who the rest of them are.
        “You remembered that time when they were not transformed.
        “And when I saw them again with you... yes I remembered.
        “You remember everything?"
        “Yes I believe so."
        “Tell me what happened." It wasn’t a request, Ami had somehow made it a demand by using her soft determined voice.
        “What do you want to know?"
        “How you got there."
        “That’s the part that I am a little hazy with; I was walking from the station to the university and something caught my eye.  I thought I heard someone scream, and a shadow of a woman being attacked in the corner of a small alleyway, so I went to take a look and maybe help.  When I got there, there was no one there and then, as weird as it seems to a normal person, someone from behind got a hold of me and then the world disappeared.  I don’t mean like I fainted or anything..."
        Ami smiled as his clarification, trust Bai-S-kun to be sure that he didn’t faint, but then, it was probably his first travel by teleportation.
        "...but one moment I was there, and then the alleyway vanished and then I was in a dark room standing in front of two people whom I was later instructed to call father and mother.  Now that I know, I was teleported away from the world.  They locked me in a room and did something magical to me, its strange now that I think about it but I never questioned it then, I just seemingly found myself a complete different person."
        “When did you know that you were who you were?"
        “I don’t know, I can’t pinpoint the exact moment but I knew that something was wrong, and I knew that I could trust you somehow.  I... Even though you had betrayed my trust, I knew that you were right, I don’t know why I knew it."
        Neither of them referred to the matter of the betrayal, they both knew that to speak of it, they would be treading on extremely dangerous ground since their friendship was still on the early stages of mending and thus extremely fragile.  “Ami-chan, thank you for giving me a second chance for being your friend."
        “Bai-S-kun, you are the only friend I have from my childhood now, I couldn’t stand not being friends with you.  I used to tell you everything about me, you know what I like, what I don’t like, what I’m scared of, how could I give you up as a friend?"
        He nodded in understanding, “I’m sorry for your friend, I read about him."
        Dipping her head she studied at the chess set in front of her with immense focus, “he made his choices, I can’t blame him for it.  While I cannot agree with it, I have to accept it, and I do, there is nothing to be sorry about."
        “Are you trying to convince yourself?" He prodded gently.
        “I have to or I’ll never let him rest."
        “I understand that." There was a brief silence as he raised her chin so that their eyes met and he handed her a handkerchief in anticipation of the tears that threatened to overflow from her bright eyes.  She shook her head and refused the offer; he knew that it was because if she did accept the handkerchief, she would surely being to cry.  The bell-tower behind them chimed 3:30pm and he smiled, “Mi-chan, we better get you to the skating rink for you lesson at 4, I wouldn’t like you to make a habit out of being late."
        “Um." She slowly packed away the chess set that was between them, silence reigned between them due to the tension and sadness that hung to the air between them.  When the last piece was placed away, she looked up at him, after having resolved the feelings of turmoil that had passed in her mind, she was determined to end their rendez-vous on a happier note.  “Bai-S-kun?"
        “Yes?"
        “You promised me ice-cream five years ago."
        He laughed and reached forward to pinch her nose softly, “well hurry up then or we’ll never get you there in time and youll start blaming me."

3:17pm
        “We can’t buy her cosmetics, she won’t use it!"
        “Well she should start then, everyone in university at least wears lipstick!" Minako protested at the fact that her suggestion was being rejected.
        “She doesn’t even use lotion regularly.  Minako-chan, even Ami-chan’s mum doesn’t use makeup very much, remember that time we were at their house when she went out on a date?  She wore lipstick and maybe some blush, but that was it." Rei argued back.
        “She used an eyeliner?"
        “The point is, if Ami-chan’s mum doesn’t wear much makeup the probability of her starting to wear it to university it is going to be very low."
        “And she doesn’t go out enough to wear it at night."
        “Fine, anyone with better suggestions for her present?"
        “I saw a really cute bunny soft-toy?"
        “Usako, I doubt it would be really suitable for her, unless she is going to operate on it I would have never thought her to be a soft-toy lover." Mamoru took his girlfriend’s hand as he said it, “maybe we should get her something medical?"
        “Like those really cold things that they listen to our chests with?"
        “Stethoscope?" Mamoru offered.
        “Yeah, those."
        “Or those little flashlights?"
        “You know what would be really fun?" Makoto grinned, “we could get her one of those fake skeletons sets that they have in biology classrooms."
        “EWWW!!!!" Everyone but Mamoru yelled simultaneously.
        “Or a dissection kit." Luna suggested.
        “I think she already has a set."
        “What about a pen?"
        “She has a lot of pens."
        “Odango-dama, with all due respect to our future queen of Tokyo, duh!!" Rei gave her an irritated look and stuck her tongue out.
        As they argued the other girls began to discuss the arrangements.  “And we could engrave it with her name on it!" They began to talk excitedly about the type of pen they would get for Ami’s birthday present, and argued relentlessly over the brands that they would be suitable for a future whilst not exceeding their budget.
        When they passed an ice-cream shop, Usagi and Minako suddenly simultaneously announced, “I want ice-cream!" They all sighed and followed the two blonde’s lead into the small shop.

        Sitting at the back of the ice-cream shop, the two of them ate their ice cream hungrily in order to cool their bodies from the sticky, hot summer that was still with them even in September.  Whilst neither mentioned it, both of them were wary of the time, knowing that their time together today was limited and it was drawing to a close.  As he looked at her, he smiled at the satisfaction beaming from her face as she dug into her chocolate ice cream happily.  He imitated her actions, feeling the cold lump slide down his throat and melting in the heat of his insides; he could almost feel the coolness drip into his stomach.
        He hadn’t spoken to her for a long time, yet it was almost like nothing had changed over time, indeed, people were expected to remain basically the same, yet with her it was as though she had merely grown from the person she was before.  Her likes and dislikes remained, her ambitions, goals, personality, and despite his knowing that the pure innocence of a child had been lost, there was still a twinkle in her eye that reminded him of a youngster.  Time had aged her mentality, and it was clear from her eyes that she had seen much more than a normal girl of nineteen, yet there was still a part of her that was protected and untainted from cynicism and hurt.
        The last time he had really seen her was when she was but a child.  Last year’s episode did not count.  Her features were still clear and he could still see her as the five year old girl that he used to tease and humor, but there was now an additional grace and quietness, almost elegance that came with her quiet retiring personality.  She was not quiet now though he could still see traces of her basic traits.  As the sun shone on her face, it was as though the profile of her face had been laced with gold, despite the comforting feelings that coursed through his body, his spine shivered as he saw her as an angel emitting the rays of god.
        “Mi-chan?"
        He was abruptly cut off from behind as someone yelled, “AMI-CHAN!!"

        Usagi stopped short as they stood in the back doorway of the ice-cream shop; she stared at the sight before her.  She had yelled out her friend’s name before even realizing that she was with someone, and now, as the person turned around she nearly dropped her sundae onto the ground.  Ami was not only going out with a man, but him of all people, and behind their backs when they had been the culprits for bring the two old friends together.  However, the greatest surprise was Ami’s reaction, instead of ducking and seeming like she wished to be swallowed by the earth, she smiled at them and waved them over to join her.  It was a shock to see Ami out with a man, they had all supposed themselves to be linking up with someone before Ami; not because she wasn’t pretty ?she was, in an unconventional way, but because she always seemed so painfully shy with men.
        As they joined their table Ami smiled happily, “I’m sure you already know who he is, you’ve been hinting at it all week."
        So, despite her seemingly not understanding the meaning behind Minako’s question of ‘anything interesting happen to your life?' Ami had known of their hand in this matter.  “Ami-chan, you’ve been keeping secrets from us!"
        “Well, you never told me that you were going to tell Bai-S-kun where I went after university, doesn’t that make us even?"
        “But... but..." they spluttered, “wait a minute, Bai-S-kun?"
        He laughed at the comical expressions on their faces, “that’s what Mi-chan calls..."
        Minako looked as though the two of them had sprouted a second head and her eyes were about to pop out of her sockets, “Mi-chan and Bai-S-kun?  Aren’t you two getting a little TOO familiar?  I mean, nicknames... Ami-chan, you two are going too fast!"
        “Hey, I knew her as a little girl."
        “So?"
        “Mi-chan was cute and she used to listen to be babble on about schoolwork, so, I called her ‘little ear'  And Bai-S-kun, well, my surname was Saito-Sato, so she called me ‘double-S' she couldn’t very well call me Kun-kun, could she?"
        *beep beep*
        The girls all looked at the watch/communicator in alarm, they all knew what that meant, either Luna or Artemis (since neither of them were here), was trying to inform them of a youma attack.  With Kunki there, they couldn’t answer it without exposing their identities, so they sat there, silently hoping that they could be excused.  Catching the panic on their faces, Kunki gave Ami a questioning look, and when she nodded he stood from his seat, “well, I have to get going, I’ll see all of you later."
        Once he was out of sight, they sprinted into the closest alleyway and transformed, "Crisis Makeup!"
        "Mercury Planet Power, Make Up!"
        "Mars Crystal Power Makeup!"
        "Venus Crystal Power Makeup!"
        "Jupiter Crystal Power Makeup!"
        Leaping on rooftops, they began to journey towards the sighting of the youma, little was said between them as their minds became focused.  Only SailorMars gave Mercury a pointed glare as they were about to leap, “I can’t believe you told him about us."

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